dr. b

Those look really nice!

I must say, I’m not super hyped for the winter season. But we’ve gotta have a seasonal thread, so here we are Links: MAL Winter 2024 AniChart I’ve looked over the MAL page a couple times now and honestly nothing is jumping out at me. Once I know what Crunchyroll will have streaming, I might take a closer look at a couple things. I think I would love to watch a good slice-of-life or light-hearted teenage romance story (e.g. something along the lines of Horimiya or Skip and Loafer) this winter. I’m not sure if anything new is going to scratch that itch though. This winter might end up being a backlog-catch-up season instead. Is there anything you are looking forward to?

Still feeling pretty confused watching Tower of God but I am enjoying it nonetheless. Viole is Baam, right??? Mayonaka Punch has had a couple moments but overall is falling a bit flat for me. Probs keep watching it anyways. Tonight I have the second episode of The Elusive Samurai queued up to watch

Finished Claymore on Sunday. Man, I flew through that one. I really enjoyed the story. There were some flaws and some rather predictable moments, but overall I liked how it all came together and the ending. Vague spoiler re: the ending: I was expecting more tragedy and devastation at the end but was pleasantly surprised with a relatively good/happy ending. I like that. I definitely recommend taking a look if it’s something you’ve had on your reading list.

First episode of The Elusive Samurai was fantastic @Psycho666Soldier you’ve got to check it out.

Double Dragon is getting a 3D beat ‘em up made by Arc System Works Might be fun!

I watched the first episodes of Tower of God and Mayonaka Punch this week. I’m struggling to remember what the heck is going on in Tower of God, but I’ve got the gist of it. Characters started to look familiar even though I could not remember any names Mayonaka Punch is goofy and certainly an original premise. The main character is really not likeable at all though IMO. I will give it two or three more episodes but I might drop it. Also! I have no clue how I missed this, but The Elusive Samurai got an anime this season! I have added it to my watch list and I will watch the first episode tonight https://myanimelist.net/anime/54724/Nige_Jouzu_no_Wakagimi

Finally started reading Claymore. Only ~15 chapters in but I’m loving it so far. Clare is badass

That is exciting and unexpected! It has been so long since I read the manga. Hardly remember anything about the story, if I’m being honest But I’m hyped for it anyway

I absolutely blazed through Kaiju No. 8. Only started reading it like three days again (from chapter 40) and I’m up to current as of today! I am loving the showdown with No. 9 and everything that’s happened building up to it. Gonna read the B Sides spin-off tonight

I’m all caught up on Undead Unluck now. I really enjoyed the most recent arcs. The Unchaste (Kururu) chapters with Fuuko’s parents making an appearance was very nice. They nearly have the full squad assembled now! Next up on the reading list is Kaiju No. 8. The anime was solid but I like the manga more. Wish I hadn’t slept on it this long. I love the style. It’s relatively simple. Very clean and easy to read, easy to follow the action. I really like the character designs. I also appreciate that the dialog is more concise. E.g. compared to Undead Unluck which I just binged. Some pages in that one can feel more like a novel, with so many rules and things needing to be explained in depth.

Happy Canada Day MT!

Sweet Jesus. The ending to Hibike! Euphonium was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I am dead The final episode, particularly the second half of it, a masterpiece. God damn I love this story and these characters

Spring 2024 season has nearly wrapped. Hibike! Euphonium S3 was easily my favourite thing to watch this season. The final episode is this weekend. Will they finally win at The Nationals??? My guess is no, because we don’t often get the perfect ending in these kinds of stories. But I’m hoping for it anyways Kaiju No. 8 and KonoSuba were runners-up for my favourite. I’m looking forward to continuing the Kaiju No. 8 manga. The last few episodes of KonoSuba were solid too. The ending was fairly predictable but well executed anyhow. I enjoyed the mini-drama with Darkness leaving the party. Train to the End of the World had a weird ending / non-ending that kind of made me question what was the point of even watching any of it It was a weird and at times fun ride I guess. Bartender was a good-but-not-great, comfortable watch. ——————— Summer season incoming! Links: MAL Summer 2024 page AniChart Summer 2024 page Crunchyroll Summer 2024 Lineup I’m not gonna watch a lot this summer. I’ll check out S2 of Tower of God even though I hardly remember anything about the first season at this point Mayonaka Punch sounds like it could be fun too. Nothing else is jumping out at me.

Yep, still watching baseball. Watching the Jays is like some kind of torture this year. The team is so bad. They’re on a seven-game losing streak right now Happy to see the M’s atop the AL West though!

Spy Fam #99 was a pleasant surprise today! I’m getting more invested than I thought I would in the Henderson/Martha story.

"Lest we forget" There were some good moments leading up to the ending mixed in with all the meh, but I agree that it could have been something so much better. I was pretty hyped for the final showdown when all the past titans were popping out. Seeing them all come back in manga was great, but it fell a bit flat in the anime. That was a let down.

@Psycho666Soldier we've been letting this thread collect dust for too long! Slow and steady, I've been chipping away at Undead Unluck. I've ready ~70 chapters now. The first 30 or so chapters were a bit of a tough slog for me, but it had some qualities I liked so I kept with it. Now it's hit a groove and I am enjoying it more. Just finished the showdown with Feng and now they're up against Summer. Shen's story was very touching. It was really nifty how he passed the Untruth ability on to Mui. I have managed to keep current with everything else. There is still some good action in The Elusive Samurai, but the current battle doesn't feel as high-stakes as some of the previous. I hope we move along to the big showdown with Takauji before too much longer. Sakamoto Days and Akane-banashi are still tied for my two favourite series in Jump right now. I am still feeling nervous about Maikeru's situation..! And that whole showdown with Mr. Takamura in Sakamoto was something else. Wild stuff. Kagurabachi is pretty damn cool too. Not sure if you ever gave that one a try..?

The Astros may actually work their way back to .500! The Rangers hit a rough patch. Nice to see Seattle in first place. The Royals have got to be one of the biggest surprises so far this season.

I love Super Mario Land, warts and all. So many fond memories of playing that on my Game Boy. I guess most recently, I played it on the 3DS Virtual Console... so, I guess within about the last 10-ish years? I don't recall feeling like it hadn't aged well at that time. I don't have a Switch Online membership right now to give it another go on the Switch otherwise I'd be playing it right now!

Big things are about to happen in Elusive Samurai! #156 leads into what is going to be a decisive battle. Obviously some major death flags for Akiie… but maybe that’s a red herring? Akane #109 — I’m feeling nervous about Maikeru’s promotion test but I’m hoping he crushes it! Sakamoto #165 — Mr. Takamura is too OP and needs to get nerfed

Yeah dude, those two series are the best thing going on Jump right now! Totally agree re: the art and style of Akane-banashi. Those smiles Sakamoto oozes with a more edgy/gritty kind of style in its own way too. Especially when Takamura shows up.

I really enjoyed that chapter too. Spy x Family does that kind of side-story stuff really well. I felt like this chapter regained some of the charm that the series is so well known for.

Doesn’t matter for the Jays right now if the other team is hot or not. They lose anyways They just lost a series to the Nats Washington was 5-5 in their previous 10 games, but four of those five wins were against the Marlins who are a truly bad team. Basically, Washington is not a great team. They took two of three against Toronto without much trouble though!

The Jays are simply not good enough. I think their window to complete for a World Series with this core group of players has closed. I won’t be surprised if some players are on the move at the deadline. Problem is the theoretically most valuable guys (Vlad and Bo) are both struggling this year. Trade value feels low ATM. Maybe they could cash in on some of their good starting pitchers as well. Blow it up.