I may be biased, since the manga was my first experience with the story, but I think it really enhances both the horror and the yuri from the LN. The apes, for instance, seemed to be described too flatly and quickly in the LN, while the manga really dwells on them and displays their 'process' really well. I also like the highly detailed 'jumpscare' pages. My only complaint about the manga so far is that Toriko's 'unwinding' around the Windmill Woman didn't seem nearly as dramatic as it was described in the novel.

It'll be great if the anime covers the end of Volume 3 of the LN, which I assume it will, but I'm a bit worried about how they'll adapt the final chapters of the first two volumes, which are also somewhat longer than the average chapter. They'll probably have to cut a significant portion of the scientific explanations and theories, which is sensible for an anime, but I hope they still get across the general ideas about the Otherside's workings and DS Lab's history. The final chapter of the first volume in particular has a lot to cover: Toriko and Sorawo's argument > first encounter with the Time-Space Man > meeting Kozakura and encountering the three women > walking through the Otherside while telling Sorawo's backstory, encountering Kunekune, and discussing the Otherside's mechanics > climbing ladder, seeing Toriko in the glitch town, going to the glitch town > encountering Time-Space Man again, seeing the town fill up with plants, finding Kozakura > following Sorawo doppelganger to Toriko, listening to her, killing the Windmill Women, leaving the blue light. Ideally, they would get two episodes for it, which could happen if the series is at least 13 episodes or they compress another two chapters into one episode somehow.

Where might I be able to watch the anime? The usual sites I use don't have it

^ It's on Funimation.

Question is, do I get premium plus just to watch this or wait for it elsewhere...

On the other hand, have you guys seen Iori Miyazawa's views on Yuri? like holy cow that dude is a diehard Yuri fan. Most male yuri authors don't know a thing or two about Yuri but this dude explains the nature of Yuri perfectly, and even better than many female yuri authors I know! He is my spirit animal. I am honored to read such an amazing work by him.

I've been thinking about that interview nonstop since I reread it a few years ago. the

I.M."Two wild beasts glaring and pouncing at each other. It's yuri, isn't it?"

Is what especially resonated with me and several of the other gay women and folks into yuri I've shown it to lmao. He really resonates with me with this like off the wall avant garde yuri talk.

As for the Anime: First episode was nice, I felt like the whole deal with the Kunekune was better in the LN or Manga for sure though. I can kind of expect that as I feel like 'trippy' stuff might be harder to depict in animated mediums. Kunekune itself looked fine, though a bit more menacing than just otherworldly and eerie like they do in the manga. I'm frankly really curious on where the story is going to pace out to. Like people have pointed out that there's volume 3 references in the opening, but god I hope they don't rush it too hard.

Episode 2: A better adaptation, I think.
I liked Kozakura. The kabedon at the beginning was kept, which is good. Sorawo's thoughts are mostly cut again, and this time I'm not sure her ambivalence about Satsuki was translated into the anime. She does ramble on about Satsuki a lot in the novel.

Less wonky CGI this time around, or at least I didn't notice as much. I was amused that they didn't even try to animate Abarato's ghillie suit. Can't blame them, that would have been a pain.

I had this very mild complaint about the novel already, which was that it was too soon to face an entity that exploited Sorawo's feelings for Toriko. They barely know each other at this point.

The sound design was good, again. I'm glad they kept Hasshaku-sama's "popopo" sounds. There was just one part towards the end where the music got really loud and overwhelming and it kind of took me out of the episode for a moment.

All this nitpicking is obviously just me obsessively comparing the adaptation to the source material, so feel free to ignore all of it.

Next week's episode is actual horror, so I hope they don't mess it up. There's a lot to cover. And File 4 is longer! Agh, there's so much to adapt and so few episodes. I miss the good old time where shows were 24-26 episodes long.

Welp, I take back my words. I'm kinda disappointed with the anime adaptation. I think the pacing was better in episode 2, but they failed to animate Abarato's messed up mentality. He had no impact on me in the anime and felt like a plain character whatsoever. I also liked his design in the manga better, as they didn't even bother to draw his get-up in the anime, I also don't remember that Arabato pointed his gun towards the girls in the light novel. The encounter with Hasshaku-sama was also meh, they don't even bother with the jumpscares. Skipping Sorao's internal monolouge and her comments about Toriko's beauty makes her coming-out-of-the-closet gay realization realization that she needs a friend like Toriko way out of nowhere. I think it's because the manga is just that good and at the of the day it's the anime creators own interperation of the light novel, but still, Taking up 4 anime projects at once doesn't seem wise and I can clearly see the rush in the making of this anime. Guess I'll stick to the manga and LN for now and binge-watch the Anime once it's finished because I don't think the rest of the episodes will be anyway better. It will turn into Berserk 2016 once the action comes up in the later arcs. I'm sad because I was looking forward for the anime and the trailer was promising.

last edited at Jan 11, 2021 11:21PM

Episode 2 mostly worked better. Some problems animating the characters expressively?. Not a huge problem since the voice acting carries how the characters feel, but it is kinda awkward. I wonder if this shouldn't have been pushed back a season

I had this very mild complaint about the novel already, which was that it was too soon to face an entity that exploited Sorawo's feelings for Toriko. They barely know each other at this point.

This didn't jar me in the manga but was very noticeable in the anime.

Some of the music cues were really cool, the elevator ride for instance.

I had this very mild complaint about the novel already, which was that it was too soon to face an entity that exploited Sorawo's feelings for Toriko. They barely know each other at this point.

This didn't jar me in the manga but was very noticeable in the anime.

Yeah, I guess it was to be expected after they got rid of all of Sorawo's thoughts about how beautiful Toriko is.

Ah well. This is still enjoyable, just don't do what I do and watch the anime for what it is instead of re-reading the corresponding novel chapter after watching the episode.

I also don't remember that Arabato pointed his gun towards the girls in the light novel.

He doesn't pointed either in the manga

Also yeah, how is this man in the anime ? It's clearly not the Arabato i remember and why did they give him glasses ?

Also yeah, how is this man in the anime ? It's clearly not the Arabato i remember and why did they give him glasses ?

A ghillie suit would have been a massive pain to animate, though. I can understand the change to a hoodie. As I said on Discord however, they really could've made Abarato sketchier. He's a smelly middle-aged man whose sanity is gone; in the anime he looked like a regular guy who was mildly unsettled by the Otherside. Just making his hoodie more ratty and his eyes more unhinged would have worked. They also should have mentioned how long he'd been in the other world.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the official website has a new key visual on the main page. It looks good, I like this one a lot more than the awkward embrace one.

last edited at Jan 13, 2021 4:21AM

Episode 3: An anime-original.

Okay. Um. Why??

I'm at a loss here. Are they skipping the stories with the American soldiers? There is already so much to adapt as I keep saying, why add an anime-original story? Does this mean that all the references to specific chapters in the OP sequence are about chapters that will be skipped, then? Is the anime just going to do its thing and ignore most of the novels?

Well, fuck if I know. Not like I have the answers. I'd love other opinions on this, though.

If only the episode had been a good original story. But it felt like an inconsequential monster-of-the-week episode. I'm kind of annoyed, I won't lie.

Is everything that has the yuri tag attached to it meant to get done wrong in one way or another? Is it really that hard to follow either source material. Aot fans complainin at Mappa, but I wish we coulda gotten the anime done by them.

If only the episode had been a good original story. But it felt like an inconsequential monster-of-the-week episode. I'm kind of annoyed, I won't lie.

You're not the only one. And that gut-burstingly funny end gag.

If only the episode had been a good original story. But it felt like an inconsequential monster-of-the-week episode. I'm kind of annoyed, I won't lie.

You're not the only one. And that gut-burstingly funny end gag.

You be surprised that it was written by the LN author itself.

I wouldn't bet on Kisaragi station being forgotten; my wild guess is that File 3 will be merged into File 5, perhaps with flashbacks giving context for the rescue mission.

last edited at Jan 18, 2021 3:12PM

I wouldn't bet on Kisaragi station being forgotten; my wild guess is that File 3 will be merged into File 5, perhaps with flashbacks giving context for the rescue mission.

That would really suck if that’s the case though. Kisaragi station was the file that really had some good horror in it (especially the end) and is personally one of my favorites. It also has a lot going on it, so it would end up being extremely rushed if it was merged with file 5, another file that has a lot going on.

I honestly thought this episode just existed to flesh out glitches and transport more. It seems more like a prequel to file four than file three as well. If they include Kisaragi station then this episode would be redundant, they might have seen that there wasn’t enough space to fit all of file three/five in it, so instead used an anime original to flesh out some info? Or the story is being told out of order, so this was just background to file 4, and then file 3 and file 5 will be adapted back to back?

Not really sure, but it was mentioned somewhere that there are three anime original episodes, so that means that they either are taking the place of other chapters, or the adaptation is doing up to the end of volume two and there’s time to spare.

You're not the only one. And that gut-burstingly funny end gag.

You see, it's funny because Sorawo wants to kill Toriko. What's character development?

You be surprised that it was written by the LN author itself.

Yeah, the script credit was the first thing I checked in the ED. That both is and isn't reassuring. This episode might have worked in novel format with creepy descriptions, but the CGI made sure the big-head things couldn't be taken seriously.

I wouldn't bet on Kisaragi station being forgotten; my wild guess is that File 3 will be merged into File 5, perhaps with flashbacks giving context for the rescue mission.

I hope you're right, although I don't know how they would squeeze both stories into one episode. But the girls do have to end up in Okinawa somehow.

Not really sure, but it was mentioned somewhere that there are three anime original episodes, so that means that they either are taking the place of other chapters, or the adaptation is doing up to the end of volume two and there’s time to spare.

That's good to know. I still think File 11 is the best end point for the whole Satsuki situation, but who knows anymore. I hope they don't write an original ending, those are almost always terrible.

If Liden is rewriting the parts of the novels they think they can't adapt for whatever reason, it changes things entirely. Come to think of it, this studio heavily rewrote Hanebado when they adapted it, changing entire subplots and characterizations. I... didn't like that anime at all. Because I was familiar with the source material, I kept comparing the anime to it and disliked most of the changes.

I'm willing to keep an open mind and wait and see what the next few episodes will be like, especially if Miyazawa is involved in the rewrites. But if they keep changing the characters' personalities, like they already have with Sorawo being more reluctant to follow Toriko in the Otherside, then that's going to be a problem. Characters are more important than plot to me so I don't mind too much if we take a different path as long as we get the same developments and revelations. If I can't recognize the characters I've come to love, however, the anime will be a disappointment.

There is still potential, though. Now if only they could so something about that freaking CGI.

Episode 4: That was a good episode! I'm genuinely surprised by how well it worked despite all that was cut. Some cuts were obvious, like the Kunekune encounter, and others less so, like telling Sorawo's trip to Toriko's apartment through a short flashback, but it flowed well. They did a good job shortening that massive chapter into one episode. The important part where Sorawo flatly tells Kozakura about her past was handled well. Loved Hanamori Yumiri's delivery, it's hard to believe she also voices Nadeshiko from Yurucamp this season.

Also really appreciated the lack of weird CGI.

One of the things I like about Otherside Picnic is that even though it's creepy as hell, it can also be really funny. Like this exchange that didn't make it into the episode:

I'm guessing that next episode will be an anime-original that will have the girls end up in Okinawa somehow. Since we won't be getting the Kisaragi Station stories, here's one of my favorite lines from File 3:

I watched the first 3 episodes first and then caught up with the manga after. I didn't mind the filler ep. I felt it was a fun, weird story that gave us some nice yuri moments. Seeing the differences between eps 1 and 2, I enjoy both for different reasons. I like how the anime is going the more mystery route. They don't explain much and it gives it this choppy uneasy feeling that keeps you watching because you want to find more answers. I like that the manga fleshes things out more so you know more about the world. I think the manga also follows a more standard plot pacing.

I was really disappointed with ep 4 though. I don't like that they skipped Kisaragi Station because I think that the character development that happens for Sorawo there, makes a lot more sense for how Sorawo acts in Space Time Man. Like her confidence when she's the leader for the first time. I also thought it was ridiculous that they shoved 10 chapters into 1 episode. They took away a lot of what I enjoyed in that arc. Discovering the photographs was some of the creepiest shit that happened in the manga and I was really sad to see it just flash by in 3 seconds. I also wished they did the initial argument better. Their fight in the anime didn't really capture why it would make Toriko disappear on her own.

I'm gonna guess they'll do kisaragi station in one go, back to back. I'm interested to see how it'll go, because I do think that by having the time skip like they did in the manga really added to the impact of the rescue later on. Also I think Sorawo did a ton of character building in Space Time Man arc, which they didn't capture too well in the anime. I guess we'll just see.

Sigh the problems that come after seeing another source that let's you compare changes. Maybe I should've put off reading the manga until after the anime finished haha. At the pace it's going though, I think it'll pass by the manga soon though.

The ending to newest episode, mannn, the way they kinda played it off as comedic with Kozakura being still trapped and waiting for Sorawo, is yeah kinda funny with the way her VA delivered the line, lmao she's great, but not really, kinda rough since if you've read either sources ya know our girl got traumatized, not all too funny, it hurts to know that she hella suffered and then they go and do her like that. Don't really like how they try to implement comedic parts where there is no need for them, but then not put them where they really are smh. Well, whatever I guess they won't touch on what happened to her after if they did that.

Now I'm trying to not to compare so much to the sources and I actually kinda did enjoy this episode. Probably the best by far to me. Still bummed they ain't include Sorawo's line about the big ass windmill woman, but ofc they couldn't since there was no windmill woman, though it was one of my favorites. Same thing with Sorawo's that woman spiel, they didn't really capture it, how much she had already gotten attached to Toriko, cementing that she can't let her go and go back to how she used to be before her or something like that I haven't re-read stuff ina while, I probably should.

Okay, according to the official website the next episode will be "Station February". You guys were right! Who knows if they'll adapt only one chapter or both. It's a fantastic chapter in any case, so I'm glad it's being adapted.

I haven't re-read stuff ina while, I probably should.

I honestly don't know if I recommend doing that. I'm re-reading each chapter after watching the episode once then I re-watch it for comparison, and all it does is make the changes stand out even more. I love the novels so re-reading is fun, but it's making me enjoy the anime less, I think.

Okay, according to the official website the next episode will be "Station February". You guys were right! Who knows if they'll adapt only one chapter or both. It's a fantastic chapter in any case, so I'm glad it's being adapted.

I haven't re-read stuff ina while, I probably should.

I honestly don't know if I recommend doing that. I'm re-reading each chapter after watching the episode once then I re-watch it for comparison, and all it does is make the changes stand out even more. I love the novels so re-reading is fun, but it's making me enjoy the anime less, I think.

Well, sometimes when you've read the sources of the anime your watching, looking for the changes and whatnot is part of the fun or well at least for me, so I figured why not re-read. Since I already enjoy the anime less with the way they try and make things comedically scary. And with the way things have been progressing/getting adapted. An example being: having Kisaragi Station be after The Time Space arc. Though I'm happy we're gonna get it at least.

Well, sometimes when you've read the sources of the anime your watching, looking for the changes and whatnot is part of the fun or well at least for me, so I figured why not re-read.

Ah, you're lucky! I still need to re-read the Kisaragi station file. I'll have to do that soon, and rewatch the last two episodes afterwards. It shouldn't be too frustrating this time since they didn't cram one chapter into one episode and skip a third of the dialogue.

Episode 5 was really slow, but 6 wasn't half bad. The pacing didn't feel off, the English wasn't the worst I've heard in an anime and the face dogs looked appropriately creepy. The scene on the train at the end was an odd choice though. I guess they felt there was too much of a risk of turning it into unintentional comedy, as bad horror often is, if they tried to animate it. I can live with that. I'd rather have flashes and glimpses than something that makes me laugh.

What I'm wondering is, if they are in Okinawa now, as the beach at the end and the after-credits scene imply, does that mean the anime-verse soldiers get to stay stuck in the Otherside? Or will the girls have their beach adventure, go back to Tokyo, and then end up in Okinawa again after rescuing the guys? Or is the beach somewhere near home as a fake-out and they'll go back for the soldiers next episode? That seems more likely.

The yuri is progressing nicely. I like how both Sorawo and Toriko often find themselves looking for physical contact. It was especially apparent this episode with the situation being so tense.