S*** I was gonna go watch some anime. I'll do the SparkNotes version.

I completely agree with you about the last few episodes being kinda weird. Like you said, the back story about the girls killing themselves due to a Big Bad undermines much of what happened in the show. I agree with you about the exposition as well. I actually complained about it when it aired, because like you said, the focus of the show was (and rightfully should be) focused on the characters and their journeys.

I interpreted episode 12's Sawaki as a representation of Ai's fear, anxiety, and distrust around Koito's death. Her killing him off is the conclusion of her personal journey because she's not going to succumb to those same problems. She found the courage to tackle those problems head-on in the real world, is at peace with the fact that Koito is gone, and is content with Sawaki and his role in her life. I don't think it has any deeper meaning to the demons of other characters.

I don't agree with Koito's suicide being a mystery to be disappointing. I think Ai's entire journey was about getting over the fact that she will never know and that she would never get better if she couldn't find a way to move on. As for Ai fighting the Big Bad, I think that's just Ai. The other characters, Neiru especially, have talked about how Ai's presence and willingness to help saved them (or something along those lines.) So I don't think she is doing anything out of character.

As for saving their friends. I always interpreted it as a way for the girls to come to terms with their death. Maybe they don't come back to life, but you could interpret it as they helped them move on to the afterlife (and the girls themselves moved on emotionally.) I think the whole saving thing was more symbollic than literal.

At the end of the day, I think the show was generally about a grief support group. It was about the girls coming to terms with the death of their friends, and whatever personal problems they themselves had. All in all, I agree with your general sentiment about the show. It's one of the few shows that are truly unique with a strong vision, but toward the end the writing just kinda started falling apart.

I don’t mind symbolic, metaphorical stories (like The Alchemist) about character exploration. This is exactly what I wanted WEP to be about.

But it’s hard to look at it this way when they decided to do all this exposition and specifics about the world. Now I have to interpret it literally and ask myself questions about the world’s logic and rules.

If they dropped the exposition and kept the world mysterious, and instead focused on closure for all the characters (not just Ai) it would’ve been way better.

the last stretch of WEP episodes really tanked the series' whole narrative for me, now that i've had some time to let it sit myself

the reveal that all of these teenage suicides are actually being influenced by an evil AI is one of the stupidest twists i've ever seen, all the darker themes that the show was juggling just gets undercut when you introduce this sci-fi bullshit to it so late into the series. instead of diving even deeper into these themes of suicide and trauma, im just left wondering whether it was even suicide at all or just flat out murder

the technical details of the show like the art/animation as well as the subtler character moments are all stellar and the reason i can still talk about WEP somewhat positively. i did lowkey think that the way these heavy topics were dealt with in this monster-of-the-week format was kinda hamfisted in its execution and the main draw for me was the mystery behind "the end" and how exactly the girls would come to terms with their guilt and trauma, especially Ai. seeing the direction that the show is steering towards in the end though, i cant say i like the way its going at all. them reconciling their feelings over the girls they were trying to save will probably be in the final episode, but i cant say that i liked how they are so far just used for shock value to set up the big bad AI lol

alright, first 3 episodes of Dynazenon were pretty dope. definitely heavy vibes + dope action scenes over plot so far, but i’m enjoying the bits and pieces of the narrative being put together even if it’s coming along a bit slowly.

excited to see where it goes. also the character design + animation are both amazing as expected from Trigger

I can already tell this Nen stuff is about to be complicated, its divided in 6 categories and here i was thinking those 4 basic stuff was all

started jjk last night and watched the first 5 episodes.. so far s*** is just

ngl tho not feeling the character design/how the characters look in this at all. will prolly finish (I think lol) tho since it’s so much hype on this.. I’m assuming it gets better?

hxh hooked me from the jump and matched + slightly exceeded all the hype on ktt so was willing to give this type of show another try but this jjk just ain’t hittin for me like hxh.

like I would rather watch mha over jjk for shonen s*** (as of now. maybe it will get better tho )

(in b4 mha and jjk aren’t even similar why are you comparing them or whatever. stfu dude idc))

prolly not if the first few episodes didnt click for you instantly. its one of the few shonens out rn that i can say that almost every character was done well

id keep pushing through if i were you though

they just introduced a s*** ton of new characters at the end of ep 5 so feel like I should at least give it another 6 eps before deciding if I wanna finish.

started to your eternity last night was blown away by how strong and depressing the first episode was

was not expecting to get hit with the feels that early

also started 86 too and the premise of the show seems cool so far gonna see how this one plays out

yea keep going with it it only gets better from then on

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - 7/10
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2 - 9/10

This isn't even a review. I don't even have an intended audience for this. This is just a scattering of thoughts that came to mind about the discourse surrounding shows like Uma Musume in the anime community so it gets attached to the Uma Musume post.

I've found that most people's top anime lists don't show off much personal taste. Part of that is because a lot of fans are fairly casual and haven't seen much outside the top 100, so it's kind of expected that their top lists are filled with the standard shows.

But there are a subset of people whose top anime lists are so boring and bog-standard because they feel this need to fit "real" art into a neat little box that shouldn't be strayed from. There's an all-female cast, the show can't possibly be good. It tone isn't dark and gritty, the show can't possibly be good. There aren't any complex themes, the show can't possibly be good. Shows like Uma Musume are the ones that least fit into those neat little boxes which people use to define art, and as a result you get incredulous reactions from people when they find out there are people who rate those types of shows higher than "real" art. It feels like they're missing the point that art can take different forms for different purposes, and that's a shame.

The thing is, their personal taste isn't even a problem. They're free to enjoy what they want, but when they start pushing their personal taste as "objectively correct" is when I cringe a little. Saying stuff like "Show A is objectively better than Show B," as if its possible to scientifically quantify a rating for one piece of art in comparison to another. I don't even know what their logic was that led to them believing one show can be objectively better than another. At that point, it kinda ruins all discourse because they're too irrational to even talk too.

I'm not saying good taste or bad taste doesn't exist just because personal taste exist. In my opinion, it completely does. But it's not about what show you happen to enjoy. Good taste is a mindset and willingness to entertain viewpoints that might not match-up to your own. Good taste is about inclusivity and seeking to understand stuff outside your comfort zone. It's not about being a snob and disparaging people because of what they like or dislike.

Anyways, racing horse girls was a pretty cool sports drama about shattered dreams, finding hope, and the quest for redemption. I cried like four times during the series, not gonna lie.

Gon vs Hisoka went so f***ing hardddd

Osamake feels like it’s gonna be... garb... but I’m still gonna keep up with it anyways... maybe it’s that good kind of... garbo

surprised hxh hooked you from the jump when it has a pretty slow start. slow show overall

jjk definitely gets better tho but to most people it was fire off rip

I think it'll grow on you. there are some aspects of their power system that reminds me of nen so maybe you'll fw it

JJK eps 14-24 easily body any stretch of MHA so far

If y’all going to watch demon slayer in the theaters PLS TAKE A SHOWER. That’s it thanks bye.

Bruh

Ktt’s antagonist

@lilkuya @proper

If you guys have ever went to any anime conventions you guys would understand, a majority of these mfs DO NOT SHOWER

Never been to one before but I might honestly pull up to one whenever they start doing it again

I’ll make sure to load up on Chanel Bleu to shield myself

you mean JJK episodes 1-24 lmao

started Black Lagoon just now, what y’all think of that one??

the fortunate thing is the theaters in most places are cut down on capacity so it's likely to be seated away from other people

I bet. Conventions probably smell hella musty.