I really liked Little Lies We All Tell from the winter 2023 season.
Recommended for those who enjoyed Asobi Asobase, Nichijou, etc. - it’s an absurdist comedy in which each of the major characters is keeping a secret from the others.
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Yes, that was good. I also enjoyed that. Their secrets were all funny too. Have you ever watched Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of High School Boys)?
Also along those lines. Absurd.
Paprika is absolutely bonkers! I felt like I was tripping first time I watched it. I’m loving this thread, a few new things to follow up. Our young daughters grew up with Studio Ghibli when I discovered “Spirited Away” by reading about it in the local TV Guide (The Age “green guide” for any Melbournites) - I was so impressed with the artwork I went out immediately and bought the DVD. That started a lifelong appreciation for Japanese animation. Loved Cowboy Bebop, Ghost In The Shell. We were very lucky when we went to Japan in 2017 and got tickets to the Ghibli museum. There’s a theme park now too. Also feel extremely fortunate to have seen Joe Hisaishi not once, but twice conducting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (a few years apart).
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Have you heard of the conspiracy theories surrounding My neighbor totoro? Of course ghibli and miyazaki denied them but it was pretty odd… If you have no idea what I’m talking about I’ll dig up a link.
Anyways spirited away is great. You’ve seen princess mononoke? That’s another that comes to mind in the same vein. My favorite Ghibli might be either whisper of the heart or the cat returns.
I mean there’s so many good ones from them, even kiki’s delivery service has it’s charm.
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Yeah, there’s a whole YouTube breakdown of some very dark interpretations of a few Ghibli films, but I think the Totoro one is the most well known. Princess Mononoke is brilliant. My eldest made a Princess Mononoke Costume for her 21st birthday costume party. I went as Kaonashe/No-Face. 
Spirited Away is up there in my top ten movies, along with Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and (now) Everything Everywhere All At Once.
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Those are both good films, spirited away as well. I’ve seen so many movies and anime shows/films sometimes when I try to think of specific titles my mind turns into homer running around on the floor in a circle.
It sounds like you really enjoy films with an existential thematic, do you remember I Heart Huckabees from maybe the late 90’s?
As far as anime, there are some great Yuasa titles that have that feel to them.
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Cool, I added it to my watchlist. Thanks,
The description reminds me of Outcast Dreamer Boys, which was more about a level-headed girl who is accidentally drafted into the Hero Club, which is full of delusional boys.
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I’ve seen so many movies and anime shows/films sometimes when I try to think of specific titles my mind turns into homer running around on the floor in a circle.
SNAP!!
Re: Heart Huckabees, no, I’m not familiar with that one, thanks I will look into that.
Here’s a photo of my eldest wearing the mask she made and me in my No-Face outfit.
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That’s interesting because this reminds me of the recent one bishonen tantei bu, although this might be better, I was disappointed in that.
I like kenjiro tsuda a lot but he’s the only seiyuu I really recognize from this cast, I’ll check out an episode or 2 and see what I think, thanks.
this is fucking incredible.
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I have a fondness for chuunibyou characters because it reminds me of myself and fellow misfits in middle school getting to D&D and being dorks, though none of my schoolmates openly bragged about being the avatar of a demon lord or anything like that. The show is somewhat episodic but each episode is well written imo.
It does end with an arc in which someone plots to get rid of Hero Club, which I suppose keeps it from just being episodic.
I liked the first season of chikyuu defense bu, I think that’s the name. I’ll find it in a minute. Similar premise, absurdia, except they become the equivalent of boy mahou shoujo, so it’s a parody of that genre sort of. I liked D&D many moons ago.
Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE! this is fine if you like parody and know the magical girl genre is ridiculous with the exception of some sub magical girl like madoka or Flip Flappers (flip flappers is great)
technically kill la kill is basically magical girl genre but it’s a lot of fan service which some people are sensitive about.
I think it’s funny because I used to have a saying about star trek that it’s like religion and politics, you don’t discuss them in mixed company but I’ve since amended that description to incorporate anime because it can be equally touchy. Some people don’t get it and that’s ok, I watched some anime in the 90’s but I didn’t fucking nerd out on it until I was a full blown adult because somehow a few years ago I realized anime was the missing link in where comic books had been ruined by the publishers so I couldn’t be interested in them anymore, but there was still a lot of good anime I hadn’t seen. And now there’s not much anime I haven’t seen to be perfectly frank, I struggle to find titles I haven’t watched or started and given up on.
I like chuuni characters but I don’t know about the glamifying of them like in the one with the girl rika or whatever I can’t remember the title but chuunibyou something or the other.
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!) is what I was referencing
But I like the chuuni character from oregairu,
and I really like the kid kyle? sorry, kaido shun from saiki K with the sealed hand haha dark reunion.
Sometimes my mind blocks out specifics to retain the bulk of everything else I’ve ever learned.
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Yeah. I love it furiously. Would get couple of mounts of Crunchyroll just for it.
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One of my favorite fantasy / pseudo romance series is Spice and wolf. It’s not really that action packed but a lot of good dialogue and entertaining plot, plus one of the best anime intro songs ever written.
intro song in 3/4? time signature
If you have seen Spice and Wolf and want something similar Maoyū: Maō Yūsha might entertain you. I liked it in the same vein.
A lighter version of the same basic premise as maouyu (good and evil getting along) but with some slice of life elements and fantasy world mixing in with our world: The devil is a part timer, Hataraku Maō-sama! The first season is pretty good, just pretend there is no second season and you’ll be ok.
A more random less well known, slightly darker pick. is Kara no Kyoukai, the garden of sinners series. Literally “the boundary of emptiness”, really well produced film series but some content is a bit disturbing so not something for a light watch. Fantasy supernatural type elements, set in the “real world.”
One more random pick, pseudo sci-fi mecha colonization of mars interplanetary war action/drama that I thought was pretty good overall was Aldnoah.Zero, a few elements in common with Iron blooded orphans but not quite as dark I guess. Still sci fi and war though so if you aren’t into that you probably won’t like it.
Myanimelist website is currently down, I’ll update the links later.
Oh wow, there’s a new Spice & Wolf adaptation in the works
No idea if it’s a remake or a sequel to the 2008-2009 TV show.
I’ll probably still be working through my anime watchlists/queues by the time this new anime is released.
Watched Devil is a Part Timer season 1 when I had Netflix. Fun show. It’s a reverse isekai - instead of somebody leaving our world for a fantasy world, it’s people/entities/creatures/etc. from the fantasy world coming to this one… to work in the fast food industry.
I only hope it’s a sequel but it’s hard to say because the story in the novels is so far ahead, they had a kid who is already grown up in the series Wolf and Parchment. Not sure how far they’ll take it. Good call though.
Oh yeah on Reddit, some peeps are already posting huge spoilers re: Teasing Master Takagi-san.
Those are annoying spoilers in the form of images - one look and you already know… granted it’s not the most shocking, unexpected thing, but still…
Spoiler description
Images of adult Takagi and her kid, sometimes with the dad who is who-dafuck-else
I couldn’t get into that title, I don’t really go for “romantic subtext” it’s either romance, or it isn’t.
A great one is Lovely Complex about the really tall girl and the really short guy. A little older but pretty funny overall.
I was pretty stoked to hear they’re doing another season of Sono Bisuku Dōru wa Koi o Suru so soon, strike while the iron is hot I guess. That has a lot of funny moments.
Paranoia Agent (series), also by Satoshi Kon, will also take you for a ride.
I’m particularly nostalgic about this series. I watched it on cable TV, before streaming. It was either presented on Toonami or Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. 12+ years ago, Adult swim wasn’t just rick and morty and family guy, they rotated through serials.
Anyway, I just remember it being absolutely necessary that I be in front of the tv at 11pm or something just to watch 1 episode…
I need to get my hands on a copy of perfect blue…
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