Does any of you losers like Anime? TV series or films? I always loved anime since I was a child and watched religiously each episode of "AstroBoy", 'Sapphire: Princess Knight' followed by "Leo, The White Lion' (which Disney ripped off and renamed it The Lion King without paying a dime to the Japanese author) and "Marine Boy" plus "Speed Racer" to name just a few from the 60s. Most of the greatest shows and movies from this genre are adaptations of Manga (graphic novels or comicbooks). Later on Robotech was the craze as well as Gatchama (Battle of the Planets), Voltron and Transformers (during this period I wasn't interested in these kind of stories so I took a sabbatical). However the medium has offered in recent decades a whole range of diverse genres and stories for every taste. In recent years "Attack on Titan" has brought wide appeal to the genre thanks to great storytelling and characters development. You like comedies? "Uzaki Chan Wants to hang Out" will make you laugh hard. Like sexy Harem escapades? Oreshura has typical Harem situations but with actual good comedy and engaging characters. Last year "The Quintessential Quituplets" redefined the genre of Harem comedies by actually portraying the girls as real human beings with problems and daily situations and not actually infatuated with the male protagonist from the get go. In fact season one has zero romance and only hints here and there that some of the sisters actually have developed feelings for their tutor. This series have created a big fandom where everyone is rooting for a different girl to eventually become 'the bride' similar in magnitude to dueling fans on Team Edward and team Jacob from the 'Twilight' films years ago. Season 2 was recently released and still no resolution to whom will become the bride, so many fans went to the original source, the Manga series...and spoiled the ending for everyone. Similar to what happened with Game of Thrones and Lost this Manga ending was such a letdown that fans are hoping the Anime can correct that mistake and come forward with a more satisfying conclusion. Currently I am watching a great scifi tale with a very misguided dumb title "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai", which posses a solid storyline with serious Rod Serling-like tones. This could make a great scifi movie if Hollywood adapts it faithfully. I highly recommend this one season series for anyone who likes intelligent storytelling without resorting in gimmicks. It is the best scifi story I have watched since 'The Matrix'.
Asian girls cosplaying as the sisters from The Quintessential Quintuples. Wait a second...BRAZZERS??? WTF?? This girl looks identical to Miku Nakano except for the lack of proper blue eyes.
Gentlemen, I found two anime gems. "Your Lie in April" & "Oregairu". "Your Lie in April" is a beautiful series that rivals anything that Disney animation has done and is far superior in human drama. It tells the story of two 14 year old musical geniuses who impact each other lives in a positive way without actually knowing it for the most part. Themes of friendship, disciple, depression and first love are explored against a classical music world background. By the end when the title lie in April is revealed, it so heartbreaking that if you don't cry you are not human. "Oregairu" which has the very misleading English title 'My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU' is a 3 seasons drama about a high school loner, Hachiman, who is a pragmatic anti-social who is forced by his teacher to join the school service club in order to help him socialize with others and hopefully make friends. The service club consists only of three misfits: Hachiman the cynic loner, Yukino the beautiful smart girl who shuns everyone around her for being so deadly honest in speaking her mind and rarely smiles and Yui, the super nice air head girl who can be easily manipulated by others due to her eagerness for being accepted. While Hachiman has persuaded himself that he doesn't care about anyone or anything, while working together with these two girls he is constantly negating himself to help others and learns to accept and actually treasure the friendship with these two girls. The series is like a sociologist field day. It explores so many characteristics that are real in high school teenagers and society in general. The hypocrisy of masks just to fit-in in a very superficial social group or clique is one of the things Hachiman hates the most; however at certain point he comes to realize that he and the girls are actually doing exactly the same thing to protect their own fragile friendship from the mutual feelings of love that have developed among themselves. But in order to obtain the 'genuine thing' like Hachiman requests in a crucial scene it will require the sacrifice of hurting one of the girls and probably end the trio's friendship. "Oregairu' is an amazing series adaptation of a popular manga. The first season was mostly a fun one introducing each character and the club's beginnings. The animation is very cartoonish in the first season which might turn off some people. For season two a different animation studio was hired and the animation was more realistic than season 1 and put aside the comedic elements and emphasized the drama. Season 3 is the final one which can be viewed as either a tragedy or a triumph depending on which character you were rooting for. Besides the main 3 characters, other secondary characters were also well written and have their own story arcs. My favorite secondary character is the junior freshman Iroha Isshiki, an adorably funny cute girl who knows how to use her feminine charms to manipulate others, in particular Hachiman, who is fully aware of what she is doing but neverthless like any heterosexual male simply can't avoid her because she is so damn cute.
Raise your hand if you're completely shocked that Panchy watches Anime. Next, you're going to blow our minds by telling us the only Olympic sport you watch is "women's" gymnastics.
For comedy I also recommend everybody's favorite anime KONOSUBA: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World. It is about four idiots trying to make money in a fantasy world with hilarious outcomes. The main character and the only male of the team is Kazuma a young man from our time who died trying to save a girl from being hit by a truck. While in the afterlife he meets the goddess Aqua, an airhead who laughs at the way he died and gives him these options: go straight to Heaven as an old man, reincarnate as a baby or just be sent immediately to another world bringing whatever thing he wants. He chooses to go to the fantasy world and to bring HER, Aqua, with him because he got pissed that she laughed at his death. Of course she protested, cried and whined, but was sent down with him. While in this world he decides to become an adventurer and is joined by Megumim, a teen demon sorceress whose only ability is to blow up things and Darkness, a tall blonde bombshell knight who can't hit her target no matter how hard she tries and who is a closet masochist. Since the three ladies are quite sexy and Kazuma is still a virgin, but a full blooded Man of Culture, many situations turn quite comically embarrassing for the members of the quartet. Like I mentioned this is a very popular series that unfortunately only got two seasons when it first aired, but has made more fans in the last few years. Megumim excited with her brand new magical staff. Darkness enjoying pain from an attacking enemy Aqua whining about booze (she usually wastes all their money on alcohol) Kazuma being a Man of Culture...
Watch this funny clip of a Dragon Lady getting impaled a hard rod in her ass with unexpected reactions.
Here you go, Panchy. Now the bad news for you is that 2018 Silver Medalist, Evgenia Medvedeva is 21 now. The good news? She was only 17 in this event.
This might be more your speed, Panchy. Medvedeva's rival, Russian teammate and fellow dicktease, 2018 Gold Medalist, Alina Zagitova. She was 15 when she won the gold medal. (Medvedeva had the highest score in the history of Olympic women's figure skating until Zagitova beat it fifteen minutes later.) She's 18 now. And this girl is supposedly a Muslim.
Just for fun: dream casting for a live action 'Rent a Girlfriend' tv series. Nicholas Hamilton as college student loser Kazuya. McKaley Miller as perfect rental girlfriend Mizuhara. Odeya Rush as obsessive/possessive trial girlfriend, Ruka. Francesca Capaldi as shy sexy bombshell Sumi. Olivia Holt as most hated cunning bitch ex-girlfriend Mami chan.
Recently finished the solid scifi/action "Vivy: Fluorite Eyes Song" which is nothing short of a masterpiece. The plot centers around a female A.I., Diva, whose main proram is to make people happy with her singing, however one day another A.I. from the future shows up and tells her that she is the key to prevent a series of events that will lead to a future A.I. revolt that will end with the total annihilation of mankind. It will be a 100 year journey where the singer A.I. will have to encounter many dangers and acquire combat skills in order to save humanity. Here is a clip from one of the most kick-ass episodes were the theme song is heard, but not from her, but Grace, the first A.I. that fell in love with a human. While in the process of protecting her loved one, Grace inadvertently kick started the whole A.I. revolution. Vivy is in a race against time to destroy Grace. Is a very sad episode while full of adrenaline.
An 80's icon is making a comeback: Lum, the sexy alien in tiger bikini, as "Urusei Yatsura" is returning in a brand new anime series. The original series started in 1980 and ran for 15 years with 195 episodes and 10 movies and specials. This anime is always referenced as the most influential to modern romcom animes and builded the foundation for what we know as harem anime.
IMO 2022 Anime of the Year is "My Dress-Up Darling" (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru) about a shy loner teenager guy, Goyo-kun, whose secret passion is to become a hina doll craftsman master just like his grandfather. He makes beautiful dresses for the dolls, but still is learning how to make heads. By accident he meets and befriend's the school's beauty, Kitagawa Marin, a bubbly social butterfly who also has a secret passion: eroge cosplay. When she realizes Goyo is so good at creating dresses she persuades him to make her cosplay outfits. So their journey begin full of comedy, embarrassing situations and a lot of innocent teasing from Marin towards the poor virgin Goyo. This is a wholesome anime with a lot of 'fanservice', but it is charming how the relationship between these characters slowly evolves into, hopefuly, romance. This anime series became an instant hit both in Japan and internationally, even beating the audience ratings of "Attack on Titan" final season. Its main girl, Kitagawa Marin has become an internet sensation and many memes have been made with her. Even the ending song by newcomer Akari Akase went viral with over 8 million views. I admit I love this song too.
I have been watching anime since I was little boy in the 60's (AstroBoy, Leo the White Lion, Princess Knight, Speed Racer, Marine Boy, Agent S-5, Space Ace, Kimba, etc to name just a few). In the 70's I watched Robotech, Battle of the Planets, Space Cruiser Yamato, Sam the King of Judo, etc. In the 80's Mazinger Z, Transformers, movies like My Friend Totoro, Akira, Kikis Delivery Service, Fist of the North Star, Castle in the Sky. In the 90s I didn't watched much since most of what was the rage wasn't appealing to me like Sailor Moon or Yugi-Oh and Dragon Ball Z (those titles remain very popular today, but I still don't care about them, nor Naruto). In the 2000s I was more picky with what I watched but some titles that stuck with me where Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, and since I introduced my daughter to anime she was hooked with Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, Ouran High Host Club, and the amazing movie "Spirited Away" which if my memory doesn't fail me, was the first anime film to win an Oscar for Best Animated Film. So in these times of pandemic shutdowns, unemployment and age of retirement I have indulged myself in the medium I always loved since I was a child. No shame on that since many anime have more mature and intelligent storytelling than anything on live action or Disney.
LOL @ China's censors who found offensive the blood splattered on the face of this anime girl (Yor from this springs hit "Spy x Family). Their solution? They replaced the blood stains with...white fluid stains? That's even worst!! LOL
Not anime, cosplay, but you might have a point... (before accusing me of anything be aware that this female is 18+ as her chest gives proof)
