What else are people watching this season? I've been busy so I don't know what is trendy or good. I know that firefighter (serious) anime is on my list but what else should I check out?
i have freed myself from the tyranny of seasonal anime so i've been rewatching revolutionary girl utena, finishing victory and turn a gundam and getting started on g gundam, and watched some more nichijou with friends
I'm watching my first Gundam series right now! I've almost wrapped up The Witch from Mercury and its been a real interesting watch. Is the rest of the franchise like, related chronologically?
the tl;dr is not at all, but i've been hyperfixating on gundam for the past year ever since getting into it with witch from mercury so i'm going to go into more detail
gundam is a longrunning franchise that started in 1979, and was created by yoshiyuki tomino. the "main timeline" is called the universal century, and was what the franchise was focused on for the first 15 years or so. the anime mobile suit gundam (1979) (aka 0079, because it takes place in year 0079 of the universal century), zeta gundam, gundam zz, and char's counterattack are the core of that timeline, with plenty of spinoffs and sequels having been made over the last 40 years. in 1993 tomino made victory gundam, a show that was a big flop for a lot of reasons, but one of them was that it was simultaneously very connected to the lore of the series that had been building up over hundreds of episodes but also didn't have any familiar faces in it. there was no char, no amuro, the earth federation barely shows up in it and there's no zeon. kinda similar to the problems a lot of modern hollywood franchises face tbh
so in 1994 they decide on a new approach. they make mobile fighter g gundam. this is the first alternate universe gundam, and it wouldn't be the last. au gundams are mostly 50 episodes (sometimes 25) and then done, with some side stories in manga and maybe a movie. they take place in entirely new settings with no real relation to prior entries beyond thematic similarities and being about mobile suits, at least one of which is called a gundam, fighting. what makes a gundam a gundam depends on the show, sometimes they have special technology that only gundams have, sometimes it's literally just that they have the v-fin and they're otherwise identical to other mobile suits.
the two au's that i really love are turn a gundam and iron blooded orphans. turn a was the last cel animated gundam, and it's gorgeous. it's very studio ghibli aesthetically with a killer yoko kanno ost that i can't stop listening to. it starts in a place roughly analogous to pre ww1 europe when people from the moon come down to earth and announce that this is their ancestral home and they want to come back to live there. the people who already live there aren't pleased, but initially can't manage to fight back because of the vast technological gulf. but when a young person* from the moon who's lived on earth for long enough to want to prevent the violence finds a gundam sealed within a statue and other mobile suits are unearthed by archaeological digs they start to be able to fight back. that's only scratching the surface, but this is long enough as is. it's quickly become one of my favorite shows of all time, just an incredible work of art
*i cannot get into my thoughts on loran's gender rn. not cis tho
iron blooded orphans is somewhat more traditional, in that it's a story about a boy getting in the gundam to protect his friends who ends up in a larger conflict beyond his control, but most gundam main characters didn't start out as child soldiers who were already part of a pmc. this has kind of the structure of a mob movie, it's gritty and violent and has some sick action scenes that you cheer for and some incredibly shocking violence that made me gasp. it's just a really well executed show with some really neat political intrigue
tl;dr: if you're curious about more gundam the 3 places i'd recommend starting are 0079 (the first one, the one that all the others are in some ways in conversation with. if you like it then you can get into other universal century stuff), turn a (the best one, looks great, sounds great, feels great to watch. benefits a lot from having seen other gundams, but g-witch is probably enough for that) or ibo (have you ever thought a linkin park amv went hard but also like it when you can think about the politics and themes and enjoy that too?)
have you ever thought a linkin park amv went hard but also like it when you can think about the politics and themes and enjoy that too?
what if Victory Gundam was a Linkin Park AMV
ranking gundam's from most to least linkin park amv based only on vibes
ibo>wing>00>seed/destiny>victory>zeta>g>x>g-witch>g-reco>zz>0079>age>turn a
wing's only as high as it is because it was grandfathered in tbh, it should probably be around zeta
as a big fan of both, i think wing is in the right place, i think it's more linkin park than 00
i've only seen a few episodes of wing and i don't remember it super clearly. my gut said it should be lower but obviously i had to put it in number two out of respect. it wasn't going to overtake ibo though, that's for sure
The Gundam Wing boys would definitely all listen to Linkin Park, but all for different reasons.
Character who is most likely to listen to Linkin Park, by Gundam show:
MSG: my gut says Garma
Zeta: Kamille, 100%
ZZ: Glemy
CCA: Hathaway
0080: Uhhh maybe Chris
F91: Cecily
Crossbone: Kincade, but Berah introduced him to it
0083: Kou, but Nina introduced him to it
Victory: Katejina
G: Domon, especially at the gym
Wing: Hero, but with Wufei as a close 2nd and Trowa as a close 3rd
08th MS team: Michel, but Eladore will put it on in the truck and always sings along
X: Tiffa, but Jamil introduced her to it
Turn A: Gyn, but only because he thinks they're ancient warrior songs
G-Savior: I can't think of a character with enough Linkin Park energy tbh
SEED: Sai
SDGF: Grappler Gouf
SEED Destiny: Shinn
00: Haven't seen it all, but probably Allelujah
Unicorn: Riddhe
G-Reco: Noredo
IBO: Azee
Thunderbolt: Claudia
Hathaway: Hathaway, but from a semi-ironic "I used to love this as a kid" way. Mihessia totally unironically
WfM: Guel
ok here's mine, but only the ones i've seen
0079: i think amuro, tbh
zeta: obviously kamille, but i think four would also like linkin park
zz: beecha and mondo listen to pop punk, iino listens to emo, judau doesn't listen to music. elle listens to linkin park
cca: hathaway
0080: chris likes them but wouldn't call herself a fan
0083: most of the zeon guys consider themselves above linkin park and the federation guys are too soulless. it's cima
f91: cecily
victory: marbet
g: only seen a few episodes but you're so right about domon
turn a: your gyn take is incredibly true
00: allelujah. if setsuna gave them a chance he'd like them but he doesn't listen to music
ibo: azee. but also i think tekkadan only has a few cds they play on loop on their ship and they're all nu-metal, plus one miles davis record kudelia brought along
g-witch: guelwait i forgot the origin. real char does not listen to linkin park but origin char does. and by origin char i mean casval, not the guy he replaced, i just mean he's a totally different character
zeta: obviously kamille, but i think four would also like linkin park
Four is more of a Nine Inch Nails fan, but she listens to Linkin Park because she enjoys spending time with Kamille.
ibo: azee. but also i think tekkadan only has a few cds they play on loop on their ship and they're all nu-metal, plus one miles davis record kudelia brought along
Kudelia has Kind of Blue. Atra saves up and buys her Bitches Brew as a sign of friendship, thinking she would like it, and Kudelia pretends to like it despite hating jazz fusion.
Kudelia also initially asks the Tekkadan boys if they like Flyleaf.
yeah, linkin park isn't four's favorite or anything but she likes them well enough and likes them even more because of kamille
after kudelia and atra get married she has to finally tell atra that she was never really a fan of bitches brew she just liked spending time with atra
the tekkadan boys wouldn't hate flyleaf but would think it was the worst cd they owned
Is the rest of the franchise like, related chronologically?
Kind of, but not really (unless you're obsessed). There's a main "Universal Century (UC)" continuity that branches off from the first Mobile Suit Gundam show, and a handful of alternate universes that will echo motifs and elements from the original story.
If you're looking for more, I'd recommend Mobile Suit Gundam. It's old, but it's a classic for a reason. From there, you can watch Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, and the Char's Counterattack movie for the core of the UC.
If that makes you think "Oh god, that's a big commitment. This is just a scam to get me to buy plastic toys, isn't it?" Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans and Turn A Gundam (this is literally the best one) are great standalone alternate universe shows to watch.
I've been watching Spy X Family's current cour. It's more or less exactly what's in the manga. I like the cute family stuff, so I'm enjoying it.
Been thinking about trying Overtake or Bullbuster, but I'll probably just wait for those to finish before I start them (or just skip them altogether). I've been working my way through Bocchi the Rock like a year after the hype, but it's been fantastic.
There's lots of great weird animation gags in this show, even a whole stop motion segment lol
Bocchi is my favorite anime. I'm just patiently waiting for season 2, as I don't watch a lot of anime otherwise.
Spy x Family is still Spy x Family.
Jujutsu Kaisen S2 is so bad my friend group stopped watching it lmao.
Frieren is on my list but it'll be a while. Same for I'm in Love with the Villainess.
JJK
I'm glad I'm not the only one disappointed with this show omg, it is so thoroughly mid and I have literally parsed all of them in terms of Naruto characters.
I didn't realize that I'm in Love with the Villainess got an anime, quickly to the top of my list
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is a really good drama set in ancient China. I had dropped the Manga early on for no real reason, and watching the show I regret it. Maomao is quite the good MC.
Shangri-la Frontier is the definition of slop, and I have no idea how it's this popular. I'll keep watching to see if it pays off, I suppose.
MF Ghost and Overtake are racing Anime. One by the author of Initial D, the other a realistic insight into motorsports. I admittedly fell behind on both.
I'm in Love with the Villainess is an explicitly gay Yuri Isekai. Supposedly it's got decent politics, but even if it doesn't - it's entertaining.
16bit Sensation is a time travel story by one of my favorite mangaka (Wakaki Tamiki), whose stories always manage to hook me in spite of unorthodox premises.
I’m watching Frieden, which I thought was the second coming of Mushishi and was really happy with until the story took a turn and now the main characters have to fight the ontologically evil bad guys, which is a development I’m less than thrilled by; and Apothecary diaries which is a neat little historical period drama about the world’s unluckiest medical student single handedly fighting the patriarchy one lead poisoning case at a time.
Probably going to binge watch Pluto next when I have the time, heard good things about it as a more serious spin-off of Astro boy
Also I’m on like episode 600 something of One Piece now so I’m honestly pretty good on anime for the rest of my life lol
Currently just Spy x Family and Helck. Helck has turned surprisingly based as we got into his back story.
I watched all the available eps of I'm in Love with the Villainess last night. Very cute.
I watched all the episodes of the firefighter show so far, it really has its moments, then it goes and ruins the immersion by doing something silly and anime, if it keeps to being serious I'll probably watch it through.
I'm enjoying Ron Kamonohashi's forbidden deductions, it feels like a slightly more silly version of the BBC Sherlock series from a few years back.
I know it's from last season but if you haven't watched it I liked zom:100, the art design is great.