Uma Musume just aired its last episode. THAT WAS SO MUCH HYPE. And they finally brought back the idol dancing after being absent for almost all of season 2. It was beautifully animated too and no CG despite there being CG in the actual race. Speaking of the race, while it was obvious who was gonna win, the effort put into showing how tense it gets and the overall execution meant I just got immersed in it. Also, for ONE FRAME, McQueen appeared before Teio in the race just as she accelerated and that was really gay. I loved it. Season 2 really improved over season 1.

Yuri in things I watched this winter:

Back Arrow has been surprisingly non-straight? Like, there's one male-female relationship that matters, and any romantic elements have been beaten out of it. It's still not really yuri, but Elsha x Atlee and Prax x Fine are both easy to ship

Non Non Biyori's first season remains the gayest (and the best in general), but this one did pair off all the characters

Otherside Picnic has been discussed to death already

Wonder Egg Priority ended up only dealing with homosexuality in passing, and generally kinda fell apart as it went on. It is in favor of trans rights, at least

Tropical Rouge Precure makes it feel like Laura is trying to acquire a harem

Tropical Rouge Precure makes it feel like Laura is trying to acquire a harem

Will Laura be the harem successor to Mana?

Personally, my feeling is that Laura is just very egotistical so that's why it seems like that. That said, I do think we'll get something genuine out of her and Manatsu once she gets some development (they meet in a cove where there was a heart shaped hole).

I'm also interested to see what comes of Asuka and the Student Council President. I have a feeling it won't be yuri (I guess I should say the might be stuff we could see as subtext, but not high levels of subtext). In fact, for some reason I'm getting a similar feeling from what I feel about the Yuri x Momoka. I personally like the idea of it, the whole “reserved not expressive girl x energetic girl”, but there really isn't anything beyond there friendship. Would I like to be proved wrong? Sure.

Well, Wonder Egg Priority is... not over. Thanks to a messed up schedule and overworking the animators, the true last episode will be released on June 29. I don't think it will fundamentally change my opinion of the show, so here are some thoughts: I did not like it very much. Normally I'd keep negative opinions to myself, especially if I think I'm in the minority, but I've seen enough discussions on Discord (and even participated in some of them, look at me socializing!) to know I'm not the only one to ultimately be disappointed. Hell, Hylarn above me doesn't seem to be impressed either. I think WEP tried really hard to be deep, but ended up just being pretentious and edgy. And heterosexual. Which is borderline offensive for a magical girl anime.

A lot of people were waiting for WEP to be over to check if they'd want to watch it, so here's my recommendation: if you like trainwrecks that happen to be extremely well-animated, or grimdark magical girl anime and don't mind discussions and/or depictions of suicide, bullying, sexual assault, transphobia, rape and gruesome murder of cute animal sidekicks, then give it a try. Absolutely do not watch it if you're just looking for yuri.

Speaking of the yuri, I'd be curious to read other opinions but the show came across as straight up homophobic to me. Probably not intentionally, but it was the kind of clumsy, fake-benevolent homophobia a lot of straight people have before they get their head out of their ass, if they ever do. I mean, you could say it had homosexuality as trauma for the straight girl who got hit on. Might just be me being overly sensitive though. In any case, that's strange considering the show did okay with the trans character.

last edited at Mar 31, 2021 10:45AM

Speaking of the yuri, I'd be curious to read other opinions but the show came across as straight up homophobic to me. Probably not intentionally, but it was the kind of clumsy, fake-benevolent homophobia a lot of straight people have before they get their head out of their ass, if they ever do. I mean, you could say it had homosexuality as trauma for the straight girl who got hit on. Might just be me being overly sensitive though. In any case, that's strange considering the show did okay with the trans character.

There's a few caveats that you're missing: It's implied that most of the girls hitting on her were straight and just going for the most masculine thing they could get at a girls' school. The one that actually seems to be a lesbian is the one she's trying to resurrect. But, yeah, tying the bulk of the gender/sex stuff to a cishet girl who's thing is wanting to be recognized as a cishet girl is definitely a choice, and not one I felt worked in it's favour

^ That's true. Haruka is the one girl who fell in love with Momoe while seeing her as a girl.

But, yeah, tying the bulk of the gender/sex stuff to a cishet girl who's thing is wanting to be recognized as a cishet girl is definitely a choice, and not one I felt worked in it's favour

I think this is the main problem with that storyline, you hit the nail on the head.

My God, look at the staff on this work! https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-04-01/mamoru-hosoda-belle-film-unveils-trailer-designs-by-frozen-jin-kim-july-opening/.171399

That is actually such a strong and eclectic mix. I'm sure it'll be good, it's gonna be exciting in the next decade if we continue to see more cross-continent works like this!

SSSS.Dynazenon's first episode was alright. Nothing special but still good.

Best anime of 2021 started airing https://youtu.be/emrOpnSCYao

Mug Cup pulled a "They got us on the first half, ngl" move on the very first episode with a yuri love confession, was it a real love confession? probably not... or just half haha I wonder if they'll keep like this.

One thing is sure.. The cups... Are REALLY pretty!

By the way, I'm up to date with Wonder Egg now, it's amazing what they're telling here... I don't know if they'll manage to get a satisfying ending in a couple months but so far is very good, it has some flaws like for example the girls not pushing hard enough to get answers, considering they're 4, they fail to communicate (specially in the last episodes) but I just have one critical and personal concern; what people normally do with the rage and discomfort after seeing some of these victims? I'm late to the discussion, but stories like that gymnastic girl or the transgender boy make me so enraged that I didn't know what to do, because is fantasy but the stories are too real, and unlike Persona where you fight in the "other side" to fix problems from our side, in wonder egg, these fights are contained and the monsters are like ghosts, even if you save the girls from their traumas, they're still dead and the abuser is probably still out there,

Because they're not heroes trying to solve crimes and there's no mention of the police being involved, but I really need some justice in the real world, because I don't want to feel the disgust of Gekidoll again, considering that this time it would be way stronger if the ending is just tragedy.

Edit: There's also one part I didn't understand, the whole deal with the protagonist SUDDENLY being in love is one thing (you know, youth with mixed feelings) but when she came out of the shower and the mom said "hey I took this thing you forgot in your hoodie" how does that translate to the Awakening of the protagonist feeling the rush to come back to school IMMEDIATELY ? like "I need to go back to school AND I NEED TO GO NOW!" that part was confusing to me.

last edited at Apr 6, 2021 1:07PM

All of the potentially yuri anime have started now, so initial impressions:

Battle Athletes Victory ReSTART! is shit. There might end up being some yuri in it, but why would you watch something that dull and ugly?

Blue Reflection Ray isn't yuri yet, but does have a pretty classic set-up for it. One of those dark magical girl shows, skewing more towards the social commentary end of things than the death and violence one. I personally felt like it had one of the better premieres this season

I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level is basically a cute girls doing cute things story, and is doing a perfectly acceptable job of it. Actually the gayest take on this story, with a lot of blushing from Laika

Let's Make a Mug Too already has some yuri teasing. I find the show itself pretty bland, though

Super Cub is definitely on the pure slice of life side of things. Decent for what it is, but I wouldn't go into it expecting yuri

Been a fairly strong season otherwise, though. My personal favourites (aside from the above) would be 86, Mars Red, and Dynazenon

The new Battle Athletes is exactly my kind of stupid. Dumb jokes, cartoon sound effects, and an overall plot that sounds incredibly idiotic. Inject it directly into my veins. It's a gratuitous throwback to the 90s and I'm here for it. I don't even care if we don't get yuri, I want more ridiculous tests like the ones from the original where contestants had to run through a minefield or bike along a rollercoaster track. In fact, the first episode made me want to rewatch the 1997 original so much, I actually started doing it after years of telling myself I should.

To sum it up:

Zombieland Saga Revenge started out really serious... and then the fight broke out. That's more like it.

Have yet to watch Blue Reflection, the game has been sitting in my Steam wishlist forever, but I can't justify spending the money for it, even at -50%...

Super Cub, more like Super Quiet. There's a thoughtful and patient air to it that's not too common in anime. And the use Debussy's La fille aux cheveux de lin felt like subtext.

And Cup mug had another Confession but not really? like first episode hahaha

And yeah Super Cub is too relaxed, is not for everyone and it looks like the protagonist isn't ready to let go off her gray lifestyle quite yet

I can't watch Super Cub, because CGI is absolutely atrocious and takes me away from any positive experience I could have. If they can't be arsed to animate/draw half the shit, why keep cutting to it. Now I'm worried that the same studio is animating season 2 of Uma Musume.

Season 2 of Uma Musume is already done and is very gay. I think you're referring to season 3? Studio Kai did get help from PA works (who animated s1 of Uma Musume) for season 2 so maybe there might be problems for season 3 if ever. However, I'd like to believe with Cygames backing Uma Musume, they won't let that happen.

There it goes, zombieland making me cry and it's only ep02

myrrhmidon posted:

Season 2 of Uma Musume is already done and is very gay. I think you're referring to season 3? Studio Kai did get help from PA works (who animated s1 of Uma Musume) for season 2 so maybe there might be problems for season 3 if ever. However, I'd like to believe with Cygames backing Uma Musume, they won't let that happen.

I didn't finish season 1 yet, so no, I'm talking about season 2. I checked what else studio Kai did after that garbage episode 1 of Super Cub was (I dropped it mid through, unwatachble) which is a shame, cos I feel like I'd actually enjoy this low energy show.

last edited at Apr 15, 2021 6:06PM

I didn't finish season 1 yet, so no, I'm talking about season 2. I checked what else studio Kai did after that garbage episode 1 of Super Cub was (I dropped it mid through, unwatachble) which is a shame, cos I feel like I'd actually enjoy this low energy show.

Ah okay I get it now. I hope you're enjoying Uma Musume. Season 1 does seem more toned down compared to s2 but I think it's cause s1 is more of an opener introducing the cast and the world. I still enjoyed s1 especially since rewatching it recently gave me a new appreciation for it but I do think s2 was way better.

There it goes, zombieland making me cry and it's only ep02

Oh I need to catch up. Episode 1 gave me a lot of questions like lol timeskip (it wasn't much but having something dramatic happen offscreen is questionable) and feels like a restart button. I was hoping they'd follow up on the reporters finding out the identities of the girls.

myrrhmidon posted:

I hope you're enjoying Uma Musume.

I saw first 4-5 episodes I think? Liked what I saw so far, just didn't get around to continuing yet. Was positively surprised consider all the backlash series got initially when they announced the premise. Was going into it kinda expecting to hate it.

Anime of Kageki Shoujo trailer! she's tall! https://youtu.be/dMKr0CSYeEM

Do not confuse with

Shoujo Kageki Starlight https://youtu.be/z5hfWlnhTqk which is totally different (But actually the same... but no) movie

Planetarian: Snow Globe had a little surprise. A female employee at the Planetarium admits that if she were a boy she would have proposed to the robot girl, Yumemi. She does say just kidding right after, but it seems to me she was serious in what she said.

To celebrate the 10 Anniversary of the Franchise, they finally FINALLY decided to make the fourth and ... most likely last movie of Madoka Magica! https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-04-25/madoka-magica-gets-new-anime-film-as-sequel-to-2013-rebellion-film/.172103

Unless they split it in two parts to make more money.

I finally sat to watch Vivy - Fluorite Eye's Song but After the end of episode 02 I lost all interest... Too bad, it seems really nice but I can't stand the death of an innocent just to shock the audience while this guy from the terrorist group that I hate already gets to live and most likely become too important at the end But it has nice visuals

last edited at Apr 25, 2021 8:42PM

This is from last year, but I started watching Dokyuu Hentai HxEros (great name I know) and it had a surprise yuri in ep 3. I had heard about it at the time, but what I assumed was it was just two girl in a crowd that seemed to be a couple, but nope: flat out a couple (Kind of like how I thought Pretty Cure All Stars Memories would just add some shipping to Nagisa and Honoka based on a screenshot but then had an actual declaration of love). Nice.

I do know somethings happen in one of the OVAs, but from the previews that seems to be brainwashed fanservice rather than actually yuri (maybe I'll be wrong or they'll have a hint that the characters actually feel that way).

Well, Zombieland Saga officially has yuri subtext. I had zero expectations when this season started, especially after episode 2, but this is the show that has a trans girl as a main character. I don't think it's delusional to think that the yuri could go somewhere.

Spoilers: It's very easy to read Junko as having feelings for Ai. There's a scene where the cop side character teases her about love (sure, it's a play on ai/Ai, but it feels significant to even have this sequence), and at one point Kotaro tells her to go get what she wants and she immediately gets a bunch of flashbacks of Ai. Plus, there was the conversation about dating back in episode 2 and Junko looked like she'd had a revelation. The climax could feel like Ai reciprocating, but the whole thing felt more like foreshadowing than a conclusion. I may feel stupid in a few weeks, but I think we'll get more of these two.

That was an amazing climax, in any case. Both funny and heartfelt, Zombieland Saga at its best. RIP Kotaro's guitar.