Report GentleDragonite's Profile

Ah sorry I wasn't clear lol, I meant the unnamed Aria episode you were referring to as being one of the best w/ Clannad AS ep 18 and Ougi Dark ending but I guess you were talking about 9 & 12/13, which I would definitely agree with being among the best.

That pretty much encapsulates how I feel about the series, I'm so glad I got into it. I'm not sure how much I would've gotten out of it had I seen it a few years ago, but nowadays it's just the kind of show I appreciate. But yeah, those moments of character culmination towards the end as all their hard work pays off were truly wonderful, who knew an SOL could hit you in the feels like that? I agree with what you said earlier, it's one of the best ensemble casts in anime, don't think there was a single character I didn't really like, and I love how at the end while they all have to go their separate ways, they're making sure to not let their bonds with each other fall apart.

Overall just fantastic stuff, the pinnacle of SOL no doubt. (Btw you mentioned an ep being one of the best when we were talking about Clannad, which one was it? I can honestly think of multiple eps that would fit there lol)

I just couldn't help but keep watching because of how much it sucked me in haha. You took the words from my mouth, pretty much every episode made me smile, there's so much love put into the world and characters that you can't help it. Akari is such a good main character too, her interactions with everyone and explorations of the city are fun to watch. It's really a series that teaches you to appreciate all the little things in life, just very heartwarming all around.

Gintama is so many-sided. It can be a really funny or a serious episode one minute, and can be emotional surprise the next. It's always parodying/referencing something in such a silly way like One Piece, Naruto, Dragonball, Berserk, Bleach, Hxh, etc all the time which I can't really think of anything else that does that other than Monogatari here and there, It also breaks the 4th wall all the time lol which all in all makes the show an interesting viewing experience.

But really I have had a lot of time on my hands, other than work and sleep has all just been Gintama for the most part. 😂💀

Also yeah, I guess. One Piece isn't really that long as it's made out to be tbh.

Apothecary Diaries is definitely my fav, it's sowing some interesting seeds for future drama and the episodic court mysteries and Maomao shenenigans are always fun to watch. Ave Mujica has been quite interesting, I saw some people calling it the Madoka of band anime and I can't even disagree. Though I know manga is the best experience I've been getting really invested in Medalist ngl.

Btw I'm starting Aria the Natural tomorrow, looking forward to getting more immersed in Neo-Venezia :D

I'm really enjoying it, very cozy and wholesome vibes and I like how upfront and sincere it is with its themes of enjoying everyday life. The characters are nice and make you want to root for them, the world is fascinating too with the sci-fi Venice theme.

It's not afraid to take it's time to build up the feeling of the scene, with that lovely OST and natural sounds like rain, wind, footsteps.
Aqua is such a cozy place and constructed with care.

I can already tell that as our young Undines grow, I’m going to feel so proud of them.

Suffice to say, I'm loving this so far.

You're right, its portrayal of family and life in general was excellent with how it emphasizes the importance of those bonds you have with loved ones and despite how sad it gets it's a series whose overall message is positive and hopeful. Plus we all need an Akio and Sanae in our lives haha.

Yes for sure, I'll start it today or tomorrow probably, I've been wanting to watch more SOL/iyashikei and it seems right up my alley so I'm certain I'll enjoy it.

I thought I was keeping it together during that episode but then when that scene came and the music hit... geez the feels were really something else. I swear this series had to have some of the highest emotional peaks I've ever seen in anime, just brilliantly executed. As you said before it can be an inconsistent series at times but the strength of its themes about family and maturing combined with the payoffs later in the show made it a very memorable experience in the end. And now that dango song will forever be stuck in my head lol.

Haha yeah it's quite a change of pace from reading Berserk and Blood on the Tracks, I gotta maintain the equilibrium lol.

This show is pretty chill and has a great atmosphere to it, plus I want to watch some older things anyways.

Vibe:

Yeah, the beginning parts weren't anything too remarkable but I still found enjoyment in seeing some of the underutilized characters like Miyazawa and Misae get attention. Once the actual "after story" part began it's been picking up, it's refreshing to see what happens after the highschool days and it's interesting watching Tomoya begin to navigate his newfound adulthood and figure things out. Not sure if I'm ready for what's next lol... bring on the emotions.

That's cool to see, some really great picks in there and I'm glad to see Monogatari is still number 1 for you haha. The gif you chose for Madoka reminds me of the movie coming out this year, damn am I excited to watch that in theaters. I'm expecting some change in my top anime list as well in the coming times too, lots of good stuff I've yet to see.

I know it's After Story where the story/drama really picks up but I'm still liking the first season fairly well. I'm enjoying the characters and their dynamics as well as the kind of SoL feel with some bits of drama mixed in, for an introductory season I'd say it's doing its job.

There's an old tenet that an old English professor from school taught us - "Play fair." What it essentially meant was to meet the media halfway. Is your media trying to be profound, or is it trying to be purely for entertainment? Is it plot-driven or thematically-driven? Is it absurd or grounded? Essentially, it's encouraging us to put ourselves in the headspace of what the media asks of us as audience members to understand and perceive, and then judge based on how well we think it does these things. I remember being so upset at reviews decrying "The 100 Girlfriends" as some kind of morally-bankrupt / romcom-killing show, when it was pretty clear from the first 2 minutes that you're not supposed to take it seriously in most respects aside from Rentarou treating his girlfriends properly. It's one thing if it's comedy isn't for you - that's completely fine (God knows I hated a couple of its jokes, even if I liked the show on the whole), but it's another to somehow say anime fans have a "double standard" by strawmanning "Mushoku Tensei" or other stuff that is CLEARLY meant to be straighter character-driven drama.

To perhaps put it another way, reviews to me are the mediation or conjoining between your own ego and the "ego of the text." The result is a wholly-unique experience that a review seeks to make clear to the audience. A number / rating at the end can never encapsulate that. I have stuff rated on my profile mostly because it's there if people want a quick signifier of what I do or do not like, rather than a "truly accurate" summation of my feelings. And yes, it is very easy for a bad review to default to words associated with writing (like the ones you included above) but remove any specificity.

AniList is my preferred place for doing most commentary since it allows you to write comments for every entry on your profile in a simple way, as well as a VERY easy way to provide episode-by-episode or chapter-by-chapter updates. I'll include a link here for your convenience so you can see what I mean. I mostly maintain MAL as a backup in case something goes wrong with AniList, so I don't check it as often as I do that. But if you do happen to make the conversion (and the site has an option to import your MAL lists), I hope to see you over there. And if not, I have no problem communicating with you via MAL instead.

Be well, and thank you for everything that you've said. It's always nice to see (lol so to speak) a friendly face! :)

Wow, I'm so flattered! Thank you! I have to confess that in terms of displaying my favorites and whatnot, my AniList page is far more nuanced and up-to-date than MAL. More customization, more displays possible, etc.

Indeed, the main goal is not to "make people agree with me" so much as to write something that has a coherent central "theme" / thought, and have each paragraph try to move more fluidly from one idea to the next. I take far more satisfaction from someone saying that they liked what I wrote, even if they still disagree with my final analysis. Separating stuff by STORY, CHARACTERS, SOUND, etc. is an approach that I have NEVER liked even when I was younger, nor have I liked the idea of the reviewer as positioning themselves as "above" the rest of the fanbase by being haughty or fashioning themselves as important. I don't want to read something that I feel is insulting, whether I'm the "target" of that insult or otherwise.

There are, in truth, very few reviewers I read. That's purely a matter of reviewing ideology or method rather than who they are as people or as animanga fans. Writing well is hard, and writing something that wants to position itself as SOME kind of authority on a piece of media is even harder. There are still plenty of times where I doubt I'm even any good at this. But I try nonetheless because, beyond anything, it's genuinely fun to do :)

Yeah, definitely the first time I've seen a recitation anime, it could get dull pretty quickly but as long as we get more scenes like the one from the end of episode 1, it should make for a nice watch. It looks like you stopped Orb at episode 2, it's episode 3 where the big "hook" happens for what it's worth, that's where the story really gets going.

Actually I'm planning to watch Aria right after Clannad, I'm expecting great things from both and I'm ready to be hit with all the emotions 😭