The Official Anime Thread

[Natalie]

Since people chat about anime on the server a lot, I thought it'd be neat to have a general thread for anime discussion that doesn't fit anywhere else. Everyone is still welcome to make other threads for specific stuff, but sometimes having an ongoing thread already in place feels cozy.

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Glad that's out of the way. Anyway, all I've been watching lately is DBZ Abridged and a little bit of One Piece, but when I have time again soon I'm hoping to start a more serious series. Has anyone seen anything lately they'd recommend?

[Jens]

From the top of my head, two anime I really enjoyed and would wholeheartedly recommend are Your Lie in April and Erased.

[Natalie]

What sort of shows are those, in terms of genre/content?

[Jens]

Erased is a murder mystery and (without spoiling too much) there's a teensy tiny bit of time travel involved.

Your Lie in April is a show about a kid who is a genius piano player but somehow developed a mental block which makes him lose the ability to hear whatever he's playing. He ends up meeting someone who inspires him to play again, despite still struggling with that mental block.
I must say though that this show made me cry, and I happen to like shows that do that, but I understand it might not be for everyone. Clannad is also a great example, but I haven't finished that one yet.

[Emily]

-*takes deep breath*-

SWORD ART ONLINE!

Okay so I've had Sword Art Online-related avatars on forums and Discord for years now, starting with a very specific server. They've almost entirely been Sinon, a sniper character who later became an archer when she switched game types, but I've also done Asuna (speed-based swordfighter) and Alice (heavy knight with magic sword).

I think the first arc of the show is really good, it's about characters who get stuck in a video game where if you die in the game, you die in real life. The challenge given to them is that if they can defeat the boss on the 100th floor of the game, they will all be released from the game. The main character is Kirito but he's ENTIRELY UNIMPORTANT. Asuna is great, and I love her.

The second arc is ENTIRELY UNIMPORTANT AND BAD.

The third arc is about "Gun Gale Online", which is a dystopian sci-fi shooter, and where we meet Sinon, the best character. Kirito has to save the day but I don't care about that. Sinon is really cool and I like her a lot.

There are a few arcs after that that I think are neat. One's about them going through Alfheim Online, where they're searching for the lost sword Excalibur. It's a break from the super serious and high-stakes parts of the original few arcs, and they're just having fun. The intro for that is maybe my favourite, because it references the main spots in the previous two arcs but it's very upbeat and video-gamey. The other is about Asuna (very little Kirito! GOOD CHOICE) meeting this girl and them having an adventure together. I loved it, cried lots. Very recommend.

Do not watch that second arc though. Don't do it.

Anyway, they started A NEW ARC at the end of 2019, but I didn't start watching it until the forums were down and we were doing our own thing. It's actually so good, I really liked it. It's a very toned-down Kirito, but he's in another "can't leave the game" situation. This time he's there with other characters who aren't part of a weird harem the series tried to make work but never did. Anyway, I think it's super good and it made me happy except the one episode that was bad.

Recommend. But don't watch the second arc (second half of the first season). SKIP IT. I mean it. It's actually really problematic and bad.