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ok imma just say this right away: yaoi people are fucking weird.
And this is not coming from a homophobic place since I myself am part of the LGBT community. This is coming from a concerned place. I've read my fair share of Yaoi and BL but I always have to ask myself: WHY the fuck is there so much sexual assault in these stories????

This manga is just a therapist taking advantage of his patient who's got an extreme fear of germs. The therapist over and over sexually assaults his patient in the name of getting rid of his phobia. I wouldn't even water ... it down and call it "co-ercion", the first time they have sexual contact its absolutely clear that the patient doesn't want it.

How is that senstive? How is that romantic? How am i not supposed to see the therapist as an inconsiderate monster?

I'm also mega concerned because i read this when I was 14. My friends, 13, made me read it because they loved it so much but back then and still now, I say: "This is not romantic or good. This is borderline rape."
They'd say: "No but he secretely wants it! Its ok because he secretely wants it!"
And my heart would break out of fear and anger.

Having sexual assault be a plot device for instigating something, wether it's a twist, or emotions or catharsis, or whatever, is exploitative, but still ok if the assaulting character is an antagonist. But I just can't bear it when I'm supposed to sympathize with someone after they've sexually assaulted someone.

I've read 26 chapters as of now.
Whooo boy. This started out as an interesting story about an alternative fantasy world in a secluded village, ruled by strict gods and even stricter customs and traditions - and one very curious girl's journey to find out what lies beyond the mountains. If the story had continued that way, I would've probably given it a 10/10. It gave me heavy Dororo and To your eternity vibes.

However, I literally have no idea where this story is going anymore or what the author wants.





(The following lines have spoilers)
...



I have a deep seated hatred in my soul for fantasy stories that turn out to be: "actually this isn't an alternative fantasy dimension, it was all a government experiment/training facility/reality TV show thing all along and we're actually in the modern age."
The reveal of this plotline was just..... frustrating. I was crying in pain. Another fantasy child has been ripped away from me in service of always having an explanation for something, no matter how stupid it may be.
All i can ask myself is just. Why. Literally why?? Why does it have to be like this??
Who is this in service of? Is this some kind of convoluted allergory about the nature of humans?? A statement about Japans rising average age in the demographic, falling birth rate and the aging of the population??? Welfare and pension??? Is it cultural relativism all along?? "The goal of capitalism is breeding loyal, good, unquestioning workers"?? No matter what excuses I can imagine, all of them involve the story going off the goddamn rails and becoming messier and messier. Just what the hell does the author want??
Why?
Just why?

K. So.
I thought this was gonna be another psycho pass. It's not. Watch psycho pass instead please.

The cutesy big eyed character design and light colours are at odds with the shows dark themes and pseudo psychological thriller elements (why are the eyes so close together....).
Its got some cool ideas, but most of it is just laughable. All of this show is just dollar store psycho pass including cute female rookie police officer protagonist, outlaw police officer, mysterious big bad guy connected to every case (BBC Sherlock's Moriarty really left a deep scar on detective media huh?)

Cognition particles? Are you bastardizing physics?
A ... thing that measures your urge to kill???? Walmart sybyll system

I was willing to suspend my disbelief but then an officer shot a guy who had a hole drilled through his forehead and the bullet went straight and perfectly thru that hole and out on the other side. I think I never felt more insulted.

Mostly Spoiler-free review and discussion

Dororo is a story about Bodily Autonomy as well as the question about the sacrifice of one for the needs of the many - it's also interesting in context of this being a japanese show. Is it right for few people to suffer so that many people can survive? Everyone has their own take on it and purely logically speaking, the needs of many people should be prioritized.
However, most people would probably choose their own bodily autonomy instead of taking the sacrifice. No matter how demonic or humane Hyakkimaru may become, we always side with him. He ... doesn't need a reason for wanting his body back, even if it means the people of his father's land will suffer again. It's his, so he wants it back. I'm glad the show favored this side of the debate - you don't need a reason to want control over your own body. Bodily autonomy is a human right.

The cultural context in it - considering this is actually a story from the 60s by someone(a.k.a. "the father of manga"), who was 17 in 1945 - is also very interesting. Historically speaking, it was forbidden or shameful for japanese soldiers to run away or surrender (if you compare statistics of surrendered soldiers japanese vs. other nations). Families would rather commit suicide than be captured.
"...1942 Americans learned that Japanese servicemen regarded surrender as unthinkable. Virtually every Japanese unit fought near to annihilation—a record unparalleled in modern history. Voluntary surrenders were rare." (Source: nationalww2museum.org: There are no civilians in japan)
Ever heard of Kamikaze pilots? Those pilots that flew aircrafts full of bombs into their enemies naval personnel, essentially commiting suicide? A Suicide, or rather sacrifice of one person for the japanese military and population.

Knowing all this puts the shows message about how the needs of many people (on his father's land) do not outweigh Hyakkimarus needs (to have his body back), no matter how humane or evil one side is, into a surprisingly progressive perspective. It's against all established cultural norms of "your suffering will be for the greater good" - progressive for a nation that has a word for when you work so much, you die (Karoshi 過労死).


Should you watch this, tho?

The story is a monster-of-the-week travel format that offers a diverse range of sub-stories shining a light on the daily lives and problems of japanese villagers dealing with demons. The animation is some of the best I've seen from Studio MAPPA (tho the quality does tank at around 15 ep in - it picks up well again and delivers a good finale).

Someone in the comments of an episode said: "Its like watching a baby growing up, but with swords" At the end you feel like you've seen Hyakkimaru regain and loose his humanity over and over again. You feel like you've seen him suffer from his disability enough to justify wanting his body parts back, yet everytime he regains a sense, his first exposure to it is too overwhelming or sad. Dororo feels like a dark and gritty fairytale, a tale of tragedy.

It is definitely worth watching.

Honestly the art isn't good enough for me to overlook the flaws of this show. I'm a big fan of supernatural detective stories, especially when those are about urban legends. This show just doesn't do it for me. The pacing is all over the place, the pay-off doesn't hit, it's straight up boring at times, the characters are nothing new. I'll keep watching to see if its still gonna end up being worth it. The first episode had some amazing horror elements that reminded me of Shiki the Anime, but that gets shoved away for demon slayer-shounen-knock off plotlines. The horror of the first episode ... alone was enough to drive a mystery story for at least 5 episodes but man. I'm disappointed. A fun watch, still.

This anime fucks. Give it a try!

Honestly, a masterpiece is not a flawless anime. This one sure isn't flawless. But if you time and time again siff through mediocre show after mediocre show with mediocre animation and if you don't have commitment to watch Naruto or One Piece or any of the big animes, pleASE WATCH this one. If it doesn't immidiately grab your attention after 2 or 3 episodes, drop it. It's fine.

But if you've been waiting for an anime where you can feeel the amount of fun the writers had with the source material, an anime where you are going to ... have just as much fun as them, then, baby, this is the one. I know I've been waiting for an anime that reminds me how much fun the shounen genre can be.

The characters are lovable, the tropes are very tongue-in-cheek, the animation is consistent and great. I don't know what about the show makes it ooze so much charm for me. I didn't like the manga that much, i even dropped it. But the anime is better than the manga, dare i say.
Peace

This is why its very bad build expectations from others ppls recomendations for a movie being 'I cried so hard!! You have to watch it'

Literally what


I'm really disappointed. I thought this was going to be another A Silent Voice type of tearjerker. But the story just isn't build that way.
It's an okay movie. The characters aren't great or memorable. They're realistic. The plot isn't great and tragic and memorable. It's just realistic. The story doesn't barge into the door promising great tragedy and drama. It's not loudly emotional like other movies. Its just like real life, and that is not what I watch ... anime for. I watch tragedies for catharsis.
I'm sure it's a great movie to dissect in class and analyze in terms of themes about dying and what-not. I'm sure I would grow fonder of it if i did that. Maybe I'll do that some day.
The two main leads, that are supposed to be romantic in nature too (i guess) were very forced. They have 0 chemistry. Not as friends, or romantic partners.



But right now, its just an okay movie.
It's realistic, anticlimactic, shy, undramatic and unconventional. Predictable. Boring.
Nothing to cry for. Nothing to grasp your soul and stay with you.
The twist is interesting. It could've been shocking for the audience. It could've been, if what came before the twist was in any way competent character writing.

Its really disappointed. I wish i was one of those people who loved it.

It was so promising. This was one of the anime that i looked forward the most and had the highest expectations for. But it just had to go and disappoint me.

Honestly, I've been starving for sex-positive non-ecchi anime. Teens coming into contact with sex has to much comedic potential. Its nice not to see it shunned too. Sometimes when I finish an anime I have to remind myself that kissing someone on the lips isn't nearly as scandalous as anime portrays it to be.
I thought this was going to be the second coming of Yamadas First Time: B Gata H Kei.
A sexual-romantic ... high school comedy that doesn't slutshame or is only for the male gaze/ecchi fanservice? Count me in!

OOf. Watching this is like watching the corruption of a loved person into a demoralized husk of its former self. I recommend you watch the episodes up to where the main leads get together. Don't watch past that.
It started out sooo good. All the jokes hit. Characters where tropey but likeable. We even got a crumb of lesbian representation. EHhhh questionable teacher/student relationship but hey I like risky scandalous (even age-gap) relationships if its fictional! But it delved head first into annoying melodrama..... that isn't even played for funsies or anything.

Spoilers: male lead borderline cheats on the female lead, who is his girlfriend at that point (i if remember correctly) with her friend. Cool cool. You seriously want me to take his "I am romantically attracted to u, but sexually attracted to ur hot best friend" bullshit? What is he, my ex?

Besides that this is one of the other anime where a girl is unpopular bc she's ugly but HuOUHAHahOOHOO oh shit. she take off glasses and make hair loose - she hot now??
Spare me. I'll be damned if I dont admit that the confession scene was cute tho.

The first episodes was a banger. I wish this anime hadn't disappointed me and had kept up the sexual/awkward/innuendo comedy

God, i saw this anime in the recommendations of another animes recommendations list. The memories hit hard. I genuinely thought this whole show was just a fever dream, and honestly thats how it feels like to watch it. Its got a lot of awkward pauses and silence.
The art is typical low budget 2010s anime. Acceptable but not good.

I like it for the fact that i love femboys and the whole premise is that a couple of dudes get dressed up as girls in an all-boys school for the biz

..and get harrassed for it. Harrassed, not in the homophobic way, but in the catcalling way. ... Talk about walking a mile in womens shoes.
TW:
Most BL/Gaybaitey/Yaoi stories have some sort of harrassment/non-con/dub-con/sexual assault subplot. I think at this point its a given in the genre and thats why most shows like these leave a sour taste in my mouth. so yeah.


I still think this is a classic in the genre. Something about its atmosphere and weirdness stops me from straight up hating it. Check it out if u like niche BL classics

I am not even that big of a fan of ecchi. This ecchi comedy tho.....

Keep in mind that I've been obsessed with this show since i watched it when I was a teen. Yamada played a part in my bi awakening.

The main character is a girl obsessed with the idea of having 100 sex partners, but she can't reach her goal until she overcomes her insecurities (like the way her lady parts look weird or her B-cup boobs). This show isn't about her overcoming her insecurities and growing or character developement, its about how this arrogant perverted teen girl fails time and time again ... to seduce one of the most seduceable boring milk-toast guys. Honestly? Queen shit
This stupid bimbo knows exactly what she wants and she sure as hell is not gonna get it cuz she's that much of a bimbo.

I wish i could roll my eyes at the ecchi comedy. I wish i could call this male-gazey. I wish i could call this anti-feminist. My bisexuality will be the downfall of me
I think I've just been so starved for sex-positive non-slutshaming slutty characters (that aren't very sexy late twenties pencil-skirt-so-thin-you-can-see-her-thong red lipstick buisness succubus type of women), that this one anime still hits different 10 years later.

Please check it out. Don't mistake it for a shoujo heartthrob anime tho
Peace