I've been planning to do this for a few weeks now, which is having weekly rotating topics about entertainment that we're consuming.
Having a weekly cadence is too much for a specific topic (i.e.games like Half-KIA has tried), but I imagine we can rotate stuff like anime, manga and games plus any other hobby since we're nerds of varying extent and it's fun to discuss these things.
This week: what movies, animes, or other videos have you watched recently or watching?
I got the Columbo box set a few weeks back. The original run was fantastic, and the box set had some newer episodes from the late 80s-early 90s that are...weird. Also feel more propagandistic than the original run.
The never released Goldeneye xbox 360 port was leaked a few days ago, so now I have to figure out how to play that.
Columbo's pure kino
I also recommend you check out Perry Mason (no there's no new one). The episodes are all good and also check out the movies that Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale did. If you watch 'em back-to-back you'll recognize a lot of the similar characters but they're all great.
Also since Paul Drake's actor died in between the show and movie they had to get a replacement in the role of his son and the guy that plays the role really looks and acts a lot like Drake did. Interestingly enough the guy is Barbara Hale's son
I've been replaying Archer, also I've picked up Legend of Galactic Heroes after someone here suggested it.
How does LotGH feel so far? It's a series that I see recommended frequently, but making the long-term investment makes me shy away. I imagine I'll get to it eventually, just don't know when.
Anime wise, been watching Reincarnated as a Slime and Yuru Camp season 2. Just finished up Cobra Kai, thought it was decent. They sometimes lean real hard on the nostalgia and there's some "woke" moments but are kinda played up as jokes.
Also been getting into older films as recent stuff has been garbage. Recently saw Lawrence of Arabia and the dollars trilogy. Great stuff!
Cobra Kai was a pretty fun watch. Season 3 was definitely a little weaker but it's still better than it has a right to be considering it was a Youtube exclusive.
Been rewatching the X-Files too. Up to season 3 now. Just gotta get through 2 more so I can watch the movie in chronology
Anime:
Gal and Dino (finally finishing this, one of the better comedies I've seen in a while. Gives off some late-night adult swim vibes imo)
Horimiya (Anime of the Season for me, good romcom)
Redo of Healer (Its just a rape fiesta. Censored version
butnot worth your time)Urasekai Picnic (Its STALKER but with anime grils)
I loved the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games and Roadside Picnic, too. Would you recommend Urasekai Picnic?
Not him, but I'd recommend the manga over the anime. I'm too normie to try the light novels. They push the lesbianism a tad too much in the anime for me, and they're cutting out some of the interesting analyzation of how/why all the supernatural stuff happens. The lezzer stuff has some hints of narrative justification in the manga, but I think the author's gonna drop the ball there in the long run.
Relatedly, have you seen the Stalker movie? Foreign and slightly aged, I thought it was a nice primer into that niche type of supernatural. Though at this point, I think I'd find it frustrating to rewatch. I only mention it since you're probably hungry for more of that kind of thing.
Thanks, I'll give the show a try. I usually watch the anime, then go straight for the source if I enjoy it.
As for the movie, I watched that one before I played any of the games or read the book. I always fall asleep at some point whenever I start it up.
Pretty much exactly what evilmathmagician said. If you don't like yuribait, the anime might have a bit too much of it, but there's less in the manga
The one shot fights in Cobra Kai are amazing. I couldn't stop smiling.
Do you want a chart to an uncensored version.
Lol I meant to say the censored version was not worth the time. Stupid autocorrect making me give bad advice
I'm enjoying it as well. The long censor scenes are becoming hilarious. Big Bluray sales in the future, haha.
Uncensored versions are available now, no need to wait for BluRay release. I have EMBER ones for episodes 1-4.
Oh yeah, I've seen some of the episodes uncensored. I was kinda let down based off discussions I'd heard. So I'll stick with my more extreme imagination and laugh during prolonged still shots.
I was just being sort of mocking of the studio for taking such a blatant strategy of pushing bluray sales.
I haven’t really been watching much programmed television at all lately, mostly just streamers and YouTube I’m sorry to say.
I was re-watching classic Simpsons, but the only place to do that is Disney + so fuck that. My friend recommended me this series called Banshee, it looks pretty cool so I might check it out.
I might stay re-watching Deadwood. Best HBO series hands-down if you ask me.
Movies wise I’ve mostly been watching a lot of 80s-90s action movies, I love Schwarzenegger even though he’s a hack sell out. I recommend pretty much any of his 80s movies for a great time.
I don’t watch a lot of Anime, but I’ve been meaning to re-watch Trigun and maybe BeBop. I loved Goblin Slayer and I might watch the newer Berserk, I’ve heard some bad things though. Everyone and their mother have been trying to get me to watch JoJo and it’s just never gonna happen.
Books wise I’ve been reading a lot of Howard. His Solomon Kane and Conan stuff is awesome but I’d recommend most of his work, very good stuff, still absolutely holds up. Looking for newer authors I read all of Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter books and I liked them a lot, I might get into his other series.
That’s about it from me, happy to look at other people’s recommendations.
From Correia, I loved his Grimnoir Chronicles the most. It's steampunk-ish alt history in the 1930s with superpowers. Which probably is not everyone's taste, but it was amazingly entertaining to me.
80s-90s action movies are the best. I've got True Lies on right now, and I'd forgotten how much I like it.
I haven't started yet since I am slow to watch anime, but I plan to see Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi (Redo of Healer).
Been replaying Elfen Lied, have only the final episode remaining. Saw it when I was a kid and didn't remember much.
Video Games:
War on the Sea: Made by the same studio that made Cold Waters, its basically the old Battlestations: Midway with a more updated look and more realism, simulator aspects. Although it can stand to have some automation in unit AI, but the Devs have been on the ball and listening to the community so I have high hopes for it.
Synthetik: I have been singing the praises of this for a while. Excellent roguelite, easily to learn and difficult to master, do not skip.
Frostpunk: Felt the need to get back into this since I am currently living in that world here in the Midwest. Always gorgeous, if a little repetitive in play.
Anno 1800: A game I had been meaning to get more into, and have been loving so far. Yet another "Easy to learn, difficult to master" instance.
Movies:
Midway: I got to see it in theaters when that was still a thing, and I loved it. It was good to see a movie that was true enough to the actual history, and it was interesting to also see it from the Japanese perspective for a few scenes.
John Wick: Always good to watch, and yet another example of one of a handful of modern movies that still remember what they are doing.
The Pacific: Made by the same people who did Band of Brothers, but it follows a Marine unit in the Pacific instead of the Airborne in Europe. As I am sure you can guess, even more brutal and in your face about it, as that is just how the war was.
Anime:
Girls und Panzer: Its silly, its over the top, the story is extremely predictable, and I love it. Now I just need to figure out where to go to find the final season, since I know it exist just not where.
Rising of the Shield Hero: Still one of my favorites, I always go back and watch it from time to time. And Raphtalia is the greatest waifu.
Heavens Design Team: Another pretty good one I have just seen. Seems like it is going to be silly but fun to watch.
Check nyaa torrents or animetosho if you haven't yet. If you can get into the private tracker somehow then animebytes is really worth it.
The spider manga was great. No social crap or drama. Just constant verge-of-death action with heavy vidya mechanics. Then I saw the show, wowee, you're in for a disappointment. Cutting out good stuff to make room for a bunch of human playtime that's happening 10 years after the real story. I hear the show's actually adhering to the light novels, so kudos to the manga guy cleaning it up.
I'm happy with this show so far. Having an isekai where the mc has special talent but still can get his ass beat is top tier for the genre. Haven't tried the manga, so if there's a notable difference you notice, I'd be interested to hear. I'm really appreciating that they didn't take the easy narrative path of fast-forwarding to teenage years for that cheap demographic pop.
I've been enjoying watching well made movie versions of games I'll never play. There's an excellent series of movie versions of the Arkham games I enjoy watching.
I'm reading and listening to audiobooks/podcasts. Read tao te ching, the way of hermes and listen to joko podcast. Amazon Kindle has a ton of free books/audio books. Right now I'm finishing beyond good and evil.
As far as anime is concerned, you should try Dr. Stone, The Promised Neverland, Re: Zero, and Jujutsu Kaisen. Attack on Titan is in it's final season, and if you haven't seen it, now is the time to start. Also, I've been watching Uchuu Kyoudai, which translates to "Space Brothers." This is an older anime, but it's definitely worth looking into. If you haven't tried Vinland Saga, then give it a go. I've also been watching Made in Abyss. There is a short anime series and a movie accompanying it.
For video games, I've been playing Portal, Portal 2, and Slay the Spire. I've been meaning to finish Hollow Knight and play Wizard of Legend. I just bought Danganronpa and I plan to try that out at some point. I started playing Terraria some time back but stopped after a while. I'll get back to that eventually.
Started a re-watch of Spice and Wolf. Finished the first arc. Not sure when I'll find time to fit in the next. I enjoyed the show enough to buy the novels.
Recently re-watched Ride Back. I remember liking it more the first time I saw it. This time around I noticed how rushed the ending was. I still consider it an enjoyable show, but the sudden resolution of the larger conflicts at the end might disappoint some.
For filler I occasionally catch an episode of Yuru Yuri, Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time, or Armor Shop for Ladies & Gentlemen. Just short comedies when I don't want to commit a large block of time to following through a show.
Haven't really touched Anime in a while, so I'm out of the loop on pretty much everything.
Gaming-wise, I've been feeding my usual Warframe habit (playing, not paying. DE can take their woke bullshit opinions and shove it up their collective ass). Beyond that, I've been trying to get into Total Warhammer, as well as playing indie stuff from publishers that haven't voiced any uber-woke opinions, while working my way through my Steam backlog.
TV Shows - we tend to have older USA shows in heavy rotation around here. Psych, Monk, Royal Pains, Burn Notice, and Suits are frequent fliers. We recently signed up for a Peacock account and have been watching things here and there. Limetown came up on our radar, so we figured we'd give it a go since neither my wife or I had heard of it. I may have to go check out the podcast it was based on, because it sounds like the show itself isn't going to get another season. I'm definitely digging it, though - it has a very "Wayward Pines" feel to it.
The Young Pope is good. The second season, called The New Pope, is meh, but epsiode one rips Francis.
Redo of Healer, Dungeon only I can enter, Log Horizon 3, Kings Raid.
I might actually see that Willy's Wonderland movie, though. The clear FNaF reject script turned into an over-the-top Nic Cage horror comedy.
It looks kinda fun.
Watching a lot of anime this season:
Mushoku Tensei
Redo of Healer, there is an uncensored version out btw
Jujutsu Kaisen
Dungeon Only I can Enter
Horimiya
Promised Neverland Season 2
Dr. Stone Season 2
Re Zero Season 2
Beastars Season 2
Attack on Titan Final Season
Trying to rewatch Gundam Wing but I’ve been working like a dog and don’t really have time. Book wise I just finished up Babylon by Joan Oates, which was sporadically interesting. Also in the last week finished up The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem. Not one of his better books but he's a great scifi author and I'd like to clear his bibliography. I'm aaalmost done with Vol 2 of Cerebus, High Society, getting ready to start Church and State Pt 1 next week. Amazing comic. The author famously went nuts and started hating women and blaming them for the downfall of society. So I can't wait to get to that part.
Just started reading Mercenaries and Their Masters, a history of warfare in medieval Italy. Pretty fascinating so far. I’m about halfway through Christianity, the First Three Thousand Years which is a long, long slog but I’m hoping to complete it by June. And another on my long slog stack is Capitol in the 21st Century, which is an interesting look at the economic mechanisms that drive wealthy inequality, though I disagree with the author’s policy views. I'm halfway through that and have stalled out, but hopefully when work slows down I'll pick it back up and muscle through the end. And I just ordered The White People which is a 19th century horror short story. Should be able to clear that one off my desk quickly.
Full Metal Panic has been entertaining.
I don't know much about anime, but I like this one so far.
Gargantia in the Verdurous Planet, Escaflowne, and Black Butler were pretty good as well.
Any recommendations?
My wife and I are loving Fufumo.
I only watched through TSR and dropped reading the later novels since the plot was growing weird and I never liked the Boy Meets Girl stuff the author was going for (Chidori sucks). It's really amazing that it got a 4th season so late.
Expelled from Paradise was also written by Gen Urobuchi and has similar themes.
A well meaning friend got me a subscription to Hulu. I been watch Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and am really surprised how entertained I am by it. Haven't read the books but the word play style of Adams comes across really well and the story is structured in a way that makes me want to keep watching. Its main failing are the woke casting of people who are pretty bad acters. Haven't gotten to season 2 yet so it might fall off without Max Landis. Still the rare show that I have found to be worth my time.
I started watching Redo of Healer after the SJWs lost their shit over it. It's not very good though
I'm currently playing through Greedfall right now, decent game. For anime, the last few I watched were Midnight Occult Civil Servants, KonoSuba, and Unlimited Psychic Squad, all rather enjoyable. With regard to movies, last week I finished watching Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Collection (Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears), as well as Solomon Kane. I'm thinking about watching Kamen Rider Agito next.
I’m gonna rewatch Kill la Kill for the third time, and I wanna give Desert Punk a rewatch.
I got into old Clint Eastwood recently. Dirty Harry, Fistfull of Dollars, and The Good The Bad and The Ugly. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was especially amazing despite its age. The spaghetti westerns are good and I love the soundtracks.
After I finished Legend of the Galactic Heroes I vowed never to binge watch another series again. So I watch one episode of one show each week.
The ones I'm watching are:
Berserk (1997) - Excellent.
Redo of Healer - Meh, I think it's a budget version of Rance.
Log Horizon S2- Fun, but nothing special.
Monster - I'm liking it so far. A nice change of pace from all the fantasy stuff.
Inuyasha - I'm watching this one with JP subs. Too many strange terms are thrown around, so It takes me a long time to get through each episode. I chose this one because I watched it when it was being aired all those years ago.
Yuru Camp S1- Re-watching in preparation for the second season. Mein Comf, 10/10 would recommend.
I sometimes watch Terrace House with JP subs, but it's a bit boring. I wish the girls were cuter...
"While many can pursue their dreams in solitude, other dreams are like great storms blowing hundreds, even thousands of dreams apart in their wake. Dreams breathe life into men and can cage them in suffering. Men live and die by their dreams. But long after they have been abandoned they still smolder deep in men’s hearts. Some see nothing more than life and death. They are dead, for they have no dreams." - Griffith
I can understand why Log Horizon got an anime adaption, because it's a popular novel. Looking at it from the perspective of source material, however, it seems like a bad choice.
Though it was a long time ago, I read the first 6-7 novels before it was licensed and fan translations stopped. I haven't revisited it since.
None of the contents really seemed extremely exciting in terms of action, so anything outside of literature as a medium feels non-ideal. Of course, that's just my opinion, but I feel that way for a lot (but definitely not all) in the isekai genre.