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#the anime binge-watcher
animebw · 5 months
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Me watching I'm In Love With the Villainess: Man, I want to like this show more, but it's so frustrating how the protagonist is a walking possessive lesbian stereotype.
I'm In Love With the Villainess: So here's a five minute conversation all about the protagonist's experience as a gay woman and how she purposefully plays into the possessive lesbian stereotype as a defense mechanism build from years of heartbreak and prejudice to avoid the risk of her sincere feelings being rejected.
Me: ...you goddamn son of a bitch.
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animebw · 11 months
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Everyone say thank you to Madhouse and JC Staff for keeping shoujo/josei anime alive in the modern anime era.
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animebw · 7 months
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The Anime Binge-Watcher's Queer Anime Ship Tournament!
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The second round rages on! This match-up has me absolutely terrified that my number-one pick is going to be crushed by the titan that is Victuuri. But I can hold out hope, right? Right??? Cast your votes now!
All Round 2 Match-Ups
Rules and Full Bracket
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animebw · 11 months
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So! In order to keep myself from losing my goddamn mind in the aftermath of that G-Witch episode (how are we supposed to wait two weeks for the next episode I swear to fuck), I want to take a second and focus on something this show has done exceptionally well, but that I haven’t really seen talked about at all. Namely, the fact that Suletta is one of the best examples of an overpowered protagonist I’ve ever seen.
And yes, she is canonically overpowered. As long as she has Aerial by her side, she can curb-stomp pretty much every opponent without breaking a sweat. Time and again, she goes up against impossible odds and wipes the floor with them The best duelist at school? Chump. Facing multiple opponents alone and outnumbered? Child’s play. And honestly, I was starting to get annoyed by it around the end of the first season. How are we supposed to believe Suletta’s ever going to be in danger if she’s so ludicrously stronger than everyone else?
And then The Slap happened, and everything turns upside-down.
See, what makes season 1′s cliffhanger ending so goddamn powerful isn’t just the sight of our cheerful bumbling protagonist liquifying a living person into red paste in front of her horrified fiance. It’s not just the realization of how deep Prospera’s manipulation has twisted Suletta’s sense of identity. No, the real secret behind The Slap’s brilliance is that it retroactively makes every single moment of Overpowered Suletta fucking terrifying. Suddenly, we realize that her overwhelming strength in battle is a direct result of Prospera’s influence, raising her to be the perfect pawn in her little scheme. The reason she’s able to knock the socks off every single opponent she faces isn’t just Latent Protag Syndrome; it’s because her mother crafted her into a relentless warrior with the strength to destroy any obstacle in the path to her revenge. Suletta’s strength in battle isn’t just overwhelming; it’s dangerous, to herself and everyone around her. And the second she has to unleash that strength in a situation more serious than a no-casualties school sporting match, it becomes instantly, horrifyingly clear that she is in no way ready to grapple with the great responsibility that comes with such great power.
In other words, what first seemed like just a case of another anime protagonist winning every fight because reasons turns on its head and makes that overpowered nature a source of fear, both for the audience and for Miorine. So instead of ending up a boring tension-killer where we’re never afraid for Suletta’s safety, the fact that she’s capable of such force becomes the most critical source of tension and conflict driving her and Miorine’s story in the second season. Suletta being so overpowered is an explicit character flaw, at least as long as Prospera’s claws are in her. Because just because she can punch away any physical threat in her path doesn’t mean she’s not vulnerable in countless other areas. She may be the strongest in a fight, but she has nowhere near the strength of character to deal with the political schemes and emotional burdens that come about as a result of that strength. All that skill on the battlefield doesn’t mean shit when you can’t see how that skill is being manipulated for dark ends, or causing you to take on stress and trauma you have no healthy way of coping with. Suletta can smash her way to victory in any fight, and yet she’s the most vulnerable, least protected person in the entire cast, in no small part thanks to the forces that made her so strong in the first place.
There’s a reason characters like Saitama from One Punch Man and Mob from Mob Psycho 100 are so beloved, despite being so overpowered. ONE knows that in order to make an overpowered character interesting, you need to give them struggles beyond the scope of their powers to fix. Saitama can punch a mountain in half, but he can’t punch his way out of existential ennui; that’s just as much of a struggle for him as any normal person. Mob’s psychic powers can’t solve his emotional turmoil or provide him the perfect path toward maturity; he has to figure that out himself. They are overwhelmingly strong in fights, but the primary conflict of their stories has very little to do with those fights and everything to do with their growth as people. They’re stories about how even being the strongest person alive doesn’t protect you from the challenges of life that everyone on this planet faces, and their journeys to self-actualization are enormously compelling as a result. No one remembers the overpowered exploits of Isekai Harem Protagonist du jour; everyone remembers watching Saitama and Mob slowly find their way forward in life, one simple step at a time.
Suletta, in my eyes, is very much in the same vein. Like Saitama and Mob and all the best overpowered protagonists, her writing understands that being incredibly skilled in one area doesn’t mean you can’t be challenged in others- and in Mob’s case especially, how that incredible skill can actually be the biggest obstacle for the challenge you actually need to overcome. Suletta’s skill in battle is made compelling by her lack of that same skill in other areas, and the ultimate conflict of Gundam Witch is a conflict she cannot punch her way out of. If she’s going to survive this chaos and live happily every after with Miorine, she will need to struggle to overcome her years of conditioning and emotional uncertainty. She will need to struggle just as Mob struggled, just as Saitama struggled, not just to learn the skills she hasn’t developed yet, but to push back against the influence that resulted in her being so freakishly strong in the first place. Suletta is an overpowered protagonist who’s overpowered nature is, itself, the greatest challenge she will have to overcome in order to truly save herself and the people she loves. And I think that’s really damn neat.
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animebw · 1 year
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This is the single most depressing headline I have ever read.
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animebw · 1 year
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Bocchi the Rock is a work of art.
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animebw · 1 year
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okay
alright
okay
I need all of you to do me a huge favor
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watch the first episode of this show
go in blind
read nothing about it
just do it
please
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animebw · 8 months
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-Only wore girl’s clothes when she was with her abusive, controlling foster family
-Cut her hair and started dressing like a boy the second she was out of their grasp
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-Expressed discomfort with her feminine name “Hana” before changing it to the more masculine “Hatchin”
-Often mistaken for a boy
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I’m just saying, there’s probably a transmasc reading in here somewhere that you don’t need to look too deep to find.
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animebw · 1 year
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I’m gonna be honest, I thought going into Winter 2023 that this was gonna be a bit of a dump season. One of those seasons where anime just kinda sits around farting and we all wait patiently for the actual Good Shit to start coming out again while pretending to catch up on our backlogs.
That... has not been the case.
Bofuri Season 2: Seriously, how does this show get so many incredible action cuts?
Buddy Daddies: Look, it’s probably not gonna be gay, but Spy x Family meets Tiger and Bunny is something we all need in our lives, okay?
Campfire Cooking in Another World: Couldn’t even last a full episode of this one before my eyes glazed over. Dropped.
Endo and Kobayashi Live: Now this is pretty charming! Pity the animation’s such garbage, though.
Giant Beasts of Ars: It’s a damn good season for fantasy anime, y’all.
Handyman Saitou in Another World: Could actually end up a halfway decent isekai SOL if it stops being so goddamn terrible at structure.
High Card: This is exactly my brand of Anime Bullshit(tm) and I am so on board.
Ippon Again: An actually great female-led sports anime? With major A Place Further Than the Universe vibes? Do not sleep on this one, y’all.
Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Damn. Good. Season. For. Fantasy. Anime.
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible: As far as Takagi-san knock-offs go, this one is pleasant enough.
The Magical Revolution of the Oh Fuck It These LN Titles are Impossible to Remember Just Call it “MagiRevo”: Buckle up, folks, we might just have another Actually Good Isekai on our hands.
Malevolent Spirits Mononogatari: It’s Noragami but shit. Dropped at 1 episode.
Nagatoro-san Season 2: Yeah, turns out I’m still not above the occasional well made trash.
Nier Automata: Genuine question, is this gonna be an acceptable substitute for the game or will I just be spoiling the experience for myself?
Onimai: I fucking hate the Mushoku Tensei studio so much and I hate myself even more for deciding to stick with this one.
Reborn to Master the Blade: This one might be soon for the chopping block, but I’m holding out hope that its story can overcome its middling production values. We’ll have to wait and see.
Revenger: GEN UROBUCHI’S BACK BABY YEEEEEEHAW
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale: Take notes, Every Isekai: this is how you explore slavery in a fantasy setting.
The Tale of Outcasts: Feels like a 13-year-old’sedgy  Ancient Magus Bride fanfiction. Honestly, though? I kind of really dig it.
Tomo-Chan is a Girl: LET. TOMBOYS. BE. TOMBOYS. WITHOUT. SHAMING. THEM. FOR. IT. Dropped at episode 2.
Tokyo Revengers Season 2: At this point, I’m just watching out of morbid curiosity of how bad the manga’s ending supposedly was.
Trails of Cold Steel: The Northern War: Easily the weakest fantasy anime of the lot. Giving it one more episode to impress me, otherwise it gets the drop.
Trigun Stampede: Y’all are buggin, the CG here is incredible.
Tsurune Season 2: Good god, the glow-up from season one is nuts. KyoAni just does not miss.
Vinland Saga Season 2: Okay, manga readers, let’s see if watching a bunch of sad men farm is as incredible as you say.
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animebw · 1 year
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Okay, but before we all lose our minds gushing over Suletta and Miorine’s big scene in that last G-Witch episode (too late, I know, but still), can I also bring up how fantastic this scene is?
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Basically this whole episode takes place on a zero-gravity ship, and we spend a lot of time watching the characters float around all throughout. But even though Suletta’s sitting perfectly still here, the camera spins around her as if she’s still floating. Because right now, that’s how she feels. Adrift. Tetherless. Floating aimlessly with nothing to hold her in place, a speck in the uncaring cosmos.
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I also want to really highlight this shot, because it feels like very... loaded imagery. Suletta’s talking to her mom, the one person she still feels like she can confide in. Stripped of the confidence she’s been building up, she retreats into a girl dependent on her mother to keep her from falling apart. And fittingly enough, the way she’s positioned in this shot immediately makes me think about a fetus in the womb. Right now, Suletta isn’t the Holder or Miorine’s groom or Aerial’s pilot: she’s a child. A child scared of a world she doesn’t understand, taking shelter in her mother’s metaphorical bosom.
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At least until Miorine bangs on the symbolic door to her heart and makes her spin right back down to earth.
God, this show’s so fucking good.
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animebw · 11 months
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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animebw · 2 years
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yo this OP fucks
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animebw · 7 months
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The Anime Binge-Watcher's Queer Anime Ship Tournament!
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The second round rages on! And good lord, this one is going to leave blood in the streets no matter who comes out on top. Will the victory go to Kawoshin or Kumirei? Cast your votes now!
All Round 2 Match-Ups
Rules and Full Bracket
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animebw · 5 months
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In case you missed it, Mage and Demon Queen's final chapter just went up! This has been one of the most delightful fantasy stories I've ever read, and I encourage everyone to give it a look now that it's come to a close. Action! Adventure! Lesbians! Dumbasses! Too Gay To Function! What more could you ask for?
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animebw · 6 months
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*patiently waits for the list of titles you're giving a chance this Fail season*
WELL WAIT NO LONGER MY FINE FRIEND
Must-Watch
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You
Listen, do you know how good a harem anime has to be for me to recommend it? This was one of the funniest manga I've read and the adaptation does it justice and more.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Yeah, it lived up to the hype. Let's see if it can match the strength of those incredible opening episodes for its whole run.
Spy x Family Season 2
THEY GOD MASAAKI GODDAMN YUASA TO DO THE NEW OP WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME
Runners-Up
Firefighter Daigo: Rescue in Orange
I guess Brain's Base has decided that making Kennjirou Tsuda narrate everything is a recipe for success, lol. But this is shaping up to be a really strong mix of character drama and disaster movie, with the courage to really take its time and let the weight of its sequences settle.
Migi and Dali
I don't think I can properly describe this one except to tell you to watch the first episode knowing nothing about what to expect.
Overtake
Good season for adult workplace drama between this and Daigo. More of an inspirational sports story for F4 racing, but done really well so far.
Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions
Honestly the detective side of this one is kinda weak so far. Thank god the characters are so entertaining and the production is so wonderfully energetic so you barely mind.
Shy
I was initially gonna recommend just reading the manga on this one, but then the second episode turned out lightyears better than the first, so hey. If you're looking for a superhero show to tide you over until MHA's next season, put this on your list.
Undead Unluck
Now this is a much better use of Fire Force's director than Fire Force was. Also, I have it on good authority that the gross groping gags vanish pretty quickly into the manga, so breathe easy on that front.
If You Have Time
Arknights: Perish in Frost
I'm still waiting to see if this can follow up on the first season's actually really good finale or if it'll settle into being just kinda boring again. Fingers crossed!
I'm in Love With the Villainness
I remember bouncing off the manga for this one, and the adaptation isn't exactly a stunner. But it's breezing through the most annoying parts of the opening chapters at a strong clip, so here's hoping it gets to the good stuff soon!
Stardust Telepath
Look, the main character's voice being really squeaky and annoying is usually a dealbreaker for me, but this has enough charm for me to stomach it for now. Love seeing CGDCT shows with this much energy in the production.
Uma Musume Season 3
I'll admit, that was probably the strongest opening episode we've had for an Uma Musume season. Will this be the moment the weird horse idol show finally clicks for me? Let's find out!
On Thin Ice
Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 Part 2
Ugh, this is really turning into a drag. I want to be on board with more Magus Bride, but the increasingly limp production and complete lack of focus on the main relationship are running my interest into the ground.
My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer
I would very much like the main female character to gain a second personality trait beyond loving her daddy please and thank you.
Shield Hero Season 3
I... have no excuse for myself.
Already Dropped
16Bit Sensation Another Layer
Like I said:annoying squeaky moe voices are usually a dealbreaker for me. I made it seven minutes into the first episode before I couldn't stand listening to the protagonist for another second.
Bullbuster
I'll give you this, Bullbuster, it takes effort to take a premise like mecha vs monster battles filtered through realistic corporate and engineering bureaucracy and make it boring.
Faraway Paladin Season 2
God, did I really use to like this show? I'm sure I did, but this first episode really make me question what was ever interesting about it
Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess
It took all of five minutes for the show to get into an extended sequence of the main character almost peeing herself in her pajamas. Hard pass.
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animebw · 1 year
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Something I’ve noticed about RWDE and the asshole side of RWBY criticism is just how bad they are at reading anything into the things they don’t like beyond their initial dislike of them. They never say “I think X was done poorly, the writers were probably trying to accomplish Y but they fell short because Z and it hurts the show because ABC.” It’s always “X SUCKS AND THE WRITERS ARE AWFUL PEOPLE WHO HATE WRITING.”
Like, perfect example: I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about the pacing in the most recent RWBY episode, and I agree with a lot of their complaints. We weren’t given any time to see WBY’s reactions to Ruby’s choice in episode 8, how it affected them and what they thought about it before finding her at the tree. Hell, the way the start of the episode is written it basically feels like everyone forgets they exist so they can deal with Jaune’s trauma; nobody even really acts like Ruby just, you know, Did That. I get that WBY knows by now ascension isn’t death and Ruby’s probably not gone for good, but it’s still a hell of a sight to witness. And there needed to be, like, two more minutes dealing with that fallout before connecting it to Jaune’s catharsis and their mutual understanding that the people they care for aren’t gone forever. I know RWBY doesn’t have unlimited money to throw around, but it really feels like a critical scene was just cut out wholesome.
But there is a stark difference between how regular fans and RWDE voice these complaints. On one side, you’ve got normal people saying “Yeah, that was rushed, it needed a scene of WBY processing what just happened and it feels kind of callous for them to seemingly get over it so fast.” And on the other side, you’ve got the usual asshats going “OMG YANG HATES HER SISTER AND MILES AND KERRY ARE JERKING OFF JAUNE CAUSE HE’S MILES’ SELF-INSERT AND THEY HATE RUBY AND THEY HATE WOMEN ARGLABARLG.” No, you insufferable nimrods, it’s a very simple writing error, nothing more, nothing less. And you really don’t have to expend much brainpower to take that failure in context and move on. It doesn’t ruin the episode, it doesn’t take away from Yang’s scene with Ruby’s tree form, and unless you’re either stupid or deliberately arguing in bad faith, it’s not hard to take it on its own terms without blowing it out of proportion.
Despite what RWDE would have you believe, RWBY fans are fine with criticism. The reasonable, measured complaints I’ve seen from fans about this episode are proof of that. We have no problem discussing the issues with this show. But the bad-faith, poorly-researched, bias-driven, self-serving drivel that spills from these so-called critics’ mouths has no business sharing the same space as actual analysis. And we’re not going to insult our own intelligence pretending otherwise.
In short: RWBY fans have no problem with reasonable critiques. Maybe all these “critics” should try actually, you know, making some one of these days.
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