Working full time with a long commute sucks. I also think my depression is coming back. Oh well. Anime time.
Picking up again after last month's thread, here's some manga I read and anime I watched this month:
Manga:
Nothing. I was looking for some good story-driven plots, especially in new releases on like r/manga or mangadex, but there's only so many loser guy, gyaru gf and even worse generic isekai or two page chapter web comics you can read. Maybe I should look at Chinese or Korean ones, but I do not like the long strip format.
Anime:
Aa, Megami-Sama! (2005)
Almost done with season 1, will definitely be continuing with season 2. It's got a totally unique chill, while earnest vibe that most anime period do not. Maybe something like ReLife? Once Belldandy's sisters are introduced, the show becomes more fun, with magi-technological hijinks happening on the regular. A
Genshiken (2004)
Picked this one up on a whim, expecting it to be weeb brained nonsense... and it is! But it's also shockingly good in character writing and remains grounded as a slice of life, yet narrative-driven anime. I'm on season 2 and tbh the first one was better (even ignoring the significant artstyle downgrade), and I heard 3's also not as good. But I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. A
Full Metal Panic (2002)
I read the manga a few years ago after playing SRW V and loved it, but remember being disappointed by the sequel and dropping FMP Sigma. Coming back to the anime, all the things I loved about the show are there. A hilarious comedy with unhinged main characters and "End of History" era lib / Steven Seagal movie logic? You bet. A
I also started Scrapped Princess (2003) and it's good so far, but too early to comment on it. I've also been re-watching Azumanga Daioh, and it's still the GOAT.
I finished Toradora not too long ago. It was decent. By myself I've been continuing Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card. I'm about midway through now, and I'm liking it so far, I'm getting used to the changes from the original.
With my mom we've mostly been watching Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu, and I'd say I'm hooked on it. I'd say it's on about the same level as Mitsuboshi Colors (if we are to compare anime adaptations of manga by Katsuwo) but they're also clearly very different types of slice of life. Like Mitsuboshi feels like it was more pure gags while Hitoribocchi is more about, like, actual character growth. You want to see Bocchi succeed!
We've also been following along on the Ranma 1/2 reboot as it releases. It's decent, but I don't know if I'd say it surpasses the original.
We've watched a little more Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and The Boondocks as well. For the latter we've just started the third season now, and I've heard it is around this point that the show starts to fall off. But I have low standards so we'll see if I actually notice it.