There was a lot of romantic framing in the episode even before the last scene IMO, like textbook romantic buildup. Honestly the first episode felt to me like it was setting up a romance, but I brushed it off at the time because every yuri fan knows that super gay meet-cutes don't mean shit. Maybe I was onto something though!

Like if this gets no follow-up I think it would just break a basic rule of storytelling. Not that I'm saying it can't happen (remember Gekidol? lol), just that it would be seriously amateurish writing.

Time for a new round of "something gay happened on a show, should I allow myself to be excited even if I'll most likely end up disappointed" !

I've been thinking about it, and you know what, I think it's okay to get excited. I've watched and read enough serialized media to know that this excitement rarely ends up justified, but I still think it doesn't negate the emotions that we felt in the moment. I may look back at this post and my gushing in the Dynasty Discord server in three months and feel like an idiot. But an anime made my heart flutter, and that's a very rare occurrence these days for me, so fuck it. I'm excited.

This is about the jellyfish anime btw.

I have to admit it's pretty good, but sadly I have to disagree about animation. It is very bare-bones and lackluster. You can tell they do everything they can to avoid animating and when they do it's very basic and repeats a lot. Sure it has few better moments, but they're very rare and don't really compensate for how poor animation is overall. Honesty if anything anime made me want to read manga over it, because the quality of drawing there is actually pretty good. Nowhere near Teppu level (rest in peace), but still way better than your average mango.

In my mind I was comparing it to Farewell my Dear Cramer, so I do believe that Mou Ippon is a major step up in terms of animation, haha. Then again, what isn't?! I personally don't mind long panning shots and limited animation in non-crucial scenes, I'd rather have that than weird melty animation that's a bit more dynamic.
Of course, the best would be to have neither of those flaws, but, well. That never happens.

We do agree that Nagumo is very gay though!

About MagiRevo, I was also annoyed by the situation in the latest episode, but although I haven't read the LN or WN, I'm fairly confident a better solution will magically appear. This seems to call for a Deus Ex Machina of some sort.

I'd like to plug what I think may be my favorite anime this season, Mou Ippon (English title Ippon! Again).
I hadn't heard of the source material for this anime about girls' judo before it started airing, but it's so charming it immediately grabbed me. I'm used to anime about girls' sports being either all-around mediocre, or decent-to-good with lackluster animation that brings the whole thing down...
This one, though? It has moments like this.

It's very good at keeping you on the edge of your seat, straightforward enough you don't need to know anything about judo to pick it up, and does a great job of balancing judo matches with character-focused moments. The characters themselves are all great and the opponents are fleshed out enough you don't find yourself wanting the main girls to just wipe the floor with them.

The main character starts out wanting to find a boyfriend, but that doesn't last because who needs boys when you've got judo? While this isn't a yuri anime, it has an all-female main cast so you're very free to ship the girls together if that's your thing. One character's subplot about joining the club and her reasons for doing so are pretty freaking gay.
I personally have a soft spot for the teacher/student pair. I wouldn't even call it subtext, but I've got my goggles on tight enough I don't even need that much.

Anyway, please watch the judo anime. It's very good.

I'm late to the party too but I finished Birdie Wing this past week. I don't actually have much to say, but thanks so much to the people who recommended it over the last few months! The Eve/Aoi pair has such fun dynamics. I'm not quite delusional enough to hope for any ending where they get together (they're totally sisters, aren't they?), but I really hope s2 is as strong as the first. Was a real joy to experience.

Ooh, that's interesting because I mentioned in the Birdie Wing thread on the Dynasty Discord a while back that I'd seen several people mention this theory, but I hadn't seen the slightest hint of it myself. I'm not the most observant person though, so I'm hoping to sit down and rewatch the first cour before the second season airs. It seems to be a theory that people either don't believe in at all, or think it has a high chance of happening.
If it turns out to be true, it would make for an awkward situation since Aoi and Eve are pretty explicitly (IMO) attracted to each other. Not that characters being related has ever stopped us yuri shippers...

In any case, glad you got to experience this great show.

There's a trailer available for Birdie Wing's second cour. The mafia plot makes a return. I personally think there's a lot of room for more insane shit, and I don't think the school tournament arc will take up that much more room.

In fact, that trailer made me wonder if the anime was initially meant to have two consecutive cours, but production issues forced the staff to delay the second half.

TB posted:

and thus it's functionally pretty similar to some of the most prominent "bait" anime out there.

Nooo, not you too, fellow subtext enjoyer Pekoe :(

Don't misunderstand! I accept that the average yuri fan is moving away from non-explicit works and can see why that might be. Doesn't mean I'll stop enjoying them anytime soon though!

Oh, thanks for clearing that up. My apologies for doubting you! Subtext 4eva.

and thus it's functionally pretty similar to some of the most prominent "bait" anime out there.

Nooo, not you too, fellow subtext enjoyer Pekoe :(

Lots of replies to stuff I wrote but I have nothing new to add to the conversation because my mind is currently being blown by Birdie Wing. I have no idea how I overlooked this one.

Yes. Everything is going according to plan. rubs hands

Thanks, Koveras. I wish my Japanese went above the level of "knows some grammar and can recognize some kanji and decipher the rest with a dictionary" so I could pick this up myself.

The manga ended last year with 10 volumes, and I think it did some interesting things that I didn't expect when I started reading it. It turned out to have a surprising amount of depth to its characters. If I didn't pointedly ignore all the people who dismiss Kirara manga or 4koma manga in general, I'd point them to this one as an example of what can be done with the format.

At the end of the day the result is the same, and I can't say I have any respect for writers who place pleasing that particular demographic above everything else.

I don't think this is the writers' decision, behind every writing team is an investor who only thinks of anime in terms of profits. And of course the people who want to make all the money will pander to the demographic that spends the most.

these formulaic CGDCT yuri baits

Again, not necessarily bait! Many of the authors of those CGDCT manga that get adapted are genuinely yuri fans.

Feels like the entire medium has driven off a cliff over the past few years.

Maybe? Seems to me that the vast majority of anime has always been trash for as long as I've been following the new seasonal releases, just like the majority of everything that comes out in every single medium is mediocre and uninspired. But there is definitely an ongoing crisis in the anime industry--every year there are multiple production disasters, so producers could be less willing to try new things. Also, this is me talking out of my ass, but I have a suspicion that the Japanese incels are becoming increasingly radicalized and unwilling to think of even fictional women as more than objects, hence the flood of shitty power fantasy harems. I don't think that's going to get better any time soon.

I watch fewer anime than I used to, but I think it's worth keeping up with what's being released (even if you don't subject yourself to it personally) because once in a while something comes along that's actually worth watching. Last season's Birdie Wing isn't everyone's cup of tea because of its unabashed absurdity, but it's the most fun I've had with an anime in more than a decade. And the main characters are so openly gay for each other I don't think it caught on with the waifu crowd at all (or with any crowd; in fact, the Blu-Rays sold terribly). There are exceptions that make the research worthwhile (I personally let other people do most of the researching).

I'm going to stop because I can't express myself well and I'm afraid of coming off as patronizing, but there's nothing wrong with engaging less (or stopping completely) with a medium that doesn't make you happy anymore. I stopped watching live-action movies and television years ago because I realized they brought me more annoyance (and straight up anger) than happiness. Haven't heard of a single one since that sounded like I'd enjoy it.

I think the meaning of the term "Yuri bait" should change as time goes by. In the year 2022, I completely understand if some people say that a series like Lycoris Recoil is bait. To use that term only for when the protagonists end up in a heterosexual relationship would be setting the bar way too low.

And I really think it shouldn't, we don't need more people dismissing everything that isn't explicitly yuri as bait garbage. Lumping Lycoris Recoil (or, hell, anime/manga like Flip Flappers or Machikado Mazoku) in the same category as stuff like Euphonium or Love Lab isn't helping anyone.

Sure thing. MadoMagi is subtext. LycoReco is bait. There's certainly no confusing it when they explicitly had a canon male couple - this is not a series that feels the need to render homosexuality to reading between the lines.

Subtext isn't bait. LycoReco is subtext. The scriptwriter is a yuri fan. "We want to write yuri but don't want the waifu lovers to send us death threats" isn't the same as "We want those gross yuri fans to give us their money and social media engagement but we need to make sure they know we think they're delusional degenerates". LycoReco definitely didn't feel like the latter. An original anime production has more moving pieces, people and money involved than a manga, so less risk-taking is a given. The suits weren't going to make any figures of Mika, so him being gay isn't a marketing risk IMO.

Also, I recommend not forcing yourself to sit through something you dislike! Wait for comments about the ending to see if it's worth your time. I watched all of Wonder Egg Priority as it aired hoping to understand why everyone seemed to love it, even though I disliked it from the start. I hated almost every second of it and I'll never get those hours of my life back.

Maybe I'm naive, but the only reason I'm unwilling to assume "not confirmed relationship = bait" is simply, because I still believe there can exist well done subtle relationships that are never outright stated, but nonetheless still a clear text of the work aka true subtext and not just bait. It's unfortunate yuri (and other lgbt+ works) have a long history of giving them a plausible deniability to not alienate straight audience and maybe unless we start getting tones of mainstream works that confirms them, only then this kind of subtext can again be given the benefit of the doubt and not automatically assume the worst of creators motives, but I'm just not willing to give up completely on it just yet.

I'm with Nevri here. There are plenty of stories where the staff clearly want the yuri pair(s) to be taken seriously, but can't be as explicit as they want due to marketability concerns. They fully know that the weirdos will burn their figures if the girls are confirmed to be unavailable to them (because it has happened before), and the investors don't want their potential new franchise to be a flop.
There's an element of cynicism on the creative team's part, sure, but I also think of it as being realistic.

(I actually don't have a horse in this race, I thought LycoReco was a decent "turn your brain off" anime but I'll probably have forgotten about it by next week. I just wanted to get involved in the Discourse.)

I don't know if all of them qualify as obscure, but here are some of mine:

My Love Live OT3 is YouChikaRiko. Finding poly fanart and doujins that aren't porn or love triangle drama is exceedingly hard.

Ellis and Nadie from Bee Train's El Cazador. Every single time I reminisce about this show, I find myself snickering about that ridiculously cheesy love song. I unironically love it.

Sanae and Maki from Sakura Quest. A great "bickering married couple" kind of relationship. I followed supplementary materials at the time the show was airing and I'm fairly sure some people in the staff shipped them too.
Also from the P.A. Works working women series, Miyamori and Yano from Shirobako. Everyone please read this doujin.

Reona and Zara from Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai/The Magnificent Kotobuki. I think they were canon?

Saori and Mako from Girls und Panzer. My memory is fuzzy, but I believe this one is because of the artists I liked who started drawing doujins about them and made me realize their dynamic was fun.

Misaki and Roko from Action Heroine Cheer Fruits. Cute show, but I'm still not sure what these two were supposed to be.

Teru and Kayo from Stella no Mahou. The... complicated senpai and the kouhai who is in love with her.

Torako and Touma from Hyakko. Still sad the manga just stopped and never got a proper ending.

Connie and Yuika from Hanebado. Wasted Potential: The Pairing.

Shihatsu and Ichizaki from Baggataway. Shame the translation stopped, but buying the phonebook-sized magazine every month for like five years was absolutely worth it, and these two are part of the reason why.

That was quite a few of them, huh. There's probably more I can't remember right now. Guess I enjoy the frustration of having no one to talk to about ships.

I think it's stuck at the translation stage. The manga is still ongoing, with 9 volumes out.

I'm sorry I don't have any better news. I'm glad there are still people waiting for new chapters. I like this series too, and I hope the translation can resume some day.

Super Cub ended up being a cute, relaxing anime that I enjoyed watching. My only minor gripe with it is that it worked perfectly fine as the Koguma&Reiko show and introducing a third character, then spending a lot of time on her in the back half, made the show less compelling for me. She isn't annoying or anything, just less interesting than the other two girls. Overall can recommend the show to fans of slice of life stories.

Zombieland Saga handled its end-of-season drama much better than the first season where it left me with a sour aftertaste. Great season with a seriously wild stinger implying we'll be getting more of the zombie idols.

The owl is definitely real! It seems to be active early morning? I still haven't been able to see it, only hear it.

Ooh, I love owls! Let us know if you manage to see it. Keep an eye out for pellets, too.

^ Agreed, they're adorable.

Yuri in the new one would be nice, too.

Again, waiting to watch the new Battle Athletes anime, but people I follow (like yuriempire) are talking about it and it does seem to have some nice yuri. I definitely look forward to watching it.

Now that I'm caught up, I can say there is some yuri subtext. I wonder how far it'll go. Keep in mind though when you watch it, apart from some characters' last names and the Cosmo Beauty competition theme, it has very little to do with the original. I won't spoil more, but it's actually quite baffling.

^ Hmm, I doubt it'll have a dub as it probably isn't very successful, but I guess it could get one. It would reach a larger audience if it got dubbed, so that would be nice.

I don't know if the rest of the manga will ever get translated, but I've also seen some raws and it looks more yuri than both anime combined. Yuri in the new one would be nice, too.

Finally remembered to finish Uma Musume and it's as good as everyone's been saying. It may have a silly premise, but it really is a fantastic sports anime with one of the best rivalries I've ever seen in the genre.

Also, I'm done with my Battle Athletes rewatch. I doubt many people care to read an opinion about a 90s anime and this write-up got long (sorry!), but if even one person watching the (very weird) new anime is curious about the original, I think it's worth it.

There are a bunch of parts in the Battle Athletes franchise. Anime-wise, there's a 26-episode TV show and a 6-episode OVA, both long out of print in North America but recently re-licensed by Discotek.

I should warn that there are two glaring flaws: the racism (I can't imagine audiences in China liked the original, maybe making the character named after the comedic relief Chinese cheat a serious lead in the sequel is a way to make up for that whoopsie?) and the fact that main character Akari is possibly the biggest crybaby in all of anime. She gets better, and the other characters carry the show when she fails at it, but holy shit can she be annoying during the first arc of the TV anime.

Said TV anime has three arcs: the Earth arc, the University Satellite arc, and the what-the-fuck-is-this arc. In each of the first two arcs, Akari has a best friend/love interest who helps her reach her full potential. Ichino is too busy dealing with her internalized homophobia to get the girl she's obviously in love with, but Kris, who falls in love with Akari at first sight and isn't shy about expressing it, succeeds. The yuri is canon in every iteration of the story. I think it's okay to spoil this about an anime from 1997. (If you're so inclined, you can read the ending as Ichino joining the relationship at the end of the TV anime. I like this interpretation as it would neatly solve the love triangle, although it isn't supported by the other versions.)

The OVA only covers the University Satellite arc but the story is completely different from the TV version. Some different choices are made, Akari is generally less annoying and overall it's a serious, streamlined version of the second arc. The romance is also treated more seriously. However, I found the ending less satisfying and there's a reveal about one character (that doesn't happen in the TV anime) which is handled in a way that has aged really, really poorly.

Two volumes of the manga out of four have been translated and are available here.

TL;DR It's my favorite sports anime and I highly recommend it if you've watched every recent show in the genre and are craving more. I personally recommend the TV version, but the OVA is more straightforward and Akari is much better in it.

Cute birbs!

Also, if I'm just gonna have to find some Harvest Moon style games, any recommendations?

My Time at Portia was pretty fun.

Caught up on Super Cub after initially dismissing it as too slow-paced even for me (which is saying something), and I'm glad I gave it another chance. It's very charming, I like the detailed visuals and the music and the characters are cute.

As a bonus, the main character and her new friend are very easy to ship.

^ Thank you for the link! According to the J-Novel website, volume 5 will be out on August 19th.

I think I'll pass on the pre-pub and wait for the whole volume to come out, otherwise I'll get way too impatient to read the rest.

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.

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%...

Oh wow, this is getting translated. It's actually one of my favorite 4koma manga and I'm really happy that people will get to read it in English now. It has guys in it, but I didn't mind them.

It's such a shame that Harikamo disappeared after ending Urara Meirochou, I was hoping to see more of her work.