Well, we're already neck deep in the new season, but here's a few highlights.
TRIGUN STAMPEDE
(Crunchyroll)
Vash the Stampede's a joyful gunslinging pacifist, so why does he have a $$6 million bounty on his head? That's what's puzzling rookie reporter Meryl Stryfe and her jaded veteran partner when looking into the vigilante only to find someone who hates blood. But their investigation turns out to uncover something heinous—his evil twin brother, Millions Knives.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Northern War
(Crunchyroll)
Lavi was born in North Ambria, the poorest region in the northwestern Zemuria. She enlists in the Northern Jaegers, the largest in the continent, to protect her hometown and distinguish herself from her grandfather Vlad, who was once a hero but betrayed North Ambria. Her devotion to her missions often earned her violations of regulations, and one day, she is ordered to assemble a platoon with Martin, Iseria, and Talion for an impossible spy mission to Erebonia to gather information on the "Imperial Hero" a mysterious threat to North Ambria.
Vinland Saga - Season 2
(Crunchyroll)
A new millennium begins in the southern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. Thorfin was bought by the landowner Ketil as a "slave" and engaged in land reclamation work on his farm. Thorfinn meets a young man there, Einar, who was also a slave like him. The encounter of Einar led Thorfinn to face the sins he had committed and began to find meaning in life. On the other hand, Canute, who became the King of England, attempted to extend his territory for the establishment of "the promised land."
Attack on Titan - The Finale of the Final Season - Final Special (1 of 2)
(03/23, presumably Crunchyroll)
The Rumbling has begun. Eren and his unstoppable titan army are out to destroy everything outside of the walls: and everyone unfortunate enough to get in his way.
Can Mikasa, Armin, and what's left of the Survey Corps stop him before the entire world burns to ash in the name of freedom?
Nier Automata Ver 1.1A
(Crunchyroll, on Covid hiatus)
The distant future, 5012.
The sudden aerial invasion of Earth by < Aliens > and their creations <Machine Lifeforms>led mankind to the brink of extinction. The surviving number of humans who took refuge on the moon to organize a counterattack using <android> soldiers to recapture Earth.
Tomo-chan Is A Girl!!
(Crunchyroll)
Tomo Aizawa and Junichirou "Jun" Kubota are the tightest bros you would ever see. They roughhouse and spar, but through thick and thin, they have got each other's back.
Yet, there is just one small problem: Tomo is in love with Jun!
Buddy Daddies
(Crunchyroll)
Assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa meet Miri, a girl looking for her father on Christmas Day. Kazuki, Rei, and Miri unexpectedly end up living together.
Follow Kazuki Kurusu, a criminal contractor/coordinator who lives with his best friend, and Rei Suwa, a professional assassin who has been raised from childhood to be a contract killer. Kazuki is outgoing and loves gambling and women, while Rei is a man of few words who spends his off time playing video games. One day, the two buddies end up caring for Miri Unasaka, a four year old girl whose father is a mafia boss, after Miri accidentally wanders into a firefight in a hotel while looking for her father.
Malevolent Spirts: Monogatari
(not that one)
(Crunchyroll)
Tsukumogami—spirits or "marebito" can possess objects of considerable age and gain a physical form. Although he is part of the Saenome clan that is in charge of peacefully sending them back to their own world, Hyouma Kunato despises them because one took away what was very precious to him. In order to cure him of this loathing, Hyouma's grandfather sends him to live with Botan Nagatsuki, a girl who is the master of six "friendly" tsukumogami and lives with them as a family.
The Way of the Househusband: Season 2
(Netflix)
Don't make him say it again: he's a cleaner. Literally.
Lupin III VS Cat's Eye
(??)
Lupin III, the great phantom thief—the man who loves freedom and lives in romance—never fails to steal his prey. The Cat's Eye are the ladies who run the night splendidly and create commotion in the world. They are sometimes phantom thieves, other times three beautiful sisters who run a café.
And a ton of isekai, far too many to list, though you're welcome to point out
noteworthy ones I may have missed.
Posts
Are we playing Mad Libs at this point?
I did a One Piece on it
Which is to say I stopped reading it entirely until I can read a couple dozen chapters or so in one go and ideally get a better sense for what the fuck is going on
*Brofist.*
I'm not crying shut up.
That whole sequence (not sure how far in it you are) is fantastic.
Anya is adorable.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Clip:
Thoughts:
Also, it's heavily implied one of the samurai Yamato meets is Zoro's father, right?
General notes:
-The desert mission begins (and is basically over). Jackass joins for the whole mission instead of just being a weirdo you see at the start.
-Please pay no attention to the phrases coming out of the Machines' mouths (?), it's fine. It's probably fine.
-THIS. CANNOT. CONTINUE. (is horribly ironic considering the production pause for the anime's release schedule). I was quite pleased to see that the nature of the activities the machines were up to was not changed or obscured for the TV version. Good sign for not shying from the adult themes/content.
-The introduction to some pretty key characters here at the end of the episode.
Superfan commentary:
-They're really interested in pulling from the whole franchise for this, a big flashback to Nier Replicant this time with the city of Facade and the wedding (which goes horribly in the end because Nier).
-Beastlord that 2B was using in the episode 1 flashforward visible at the weapons store.
-I wonder if a full heel turn is possible for Jackass in this version. The game introduced her as this very sussy weirdo and then did nothing with her, ever.
-Popola and Devola "want to help" huh? Yeah, that's one way to describe it.
-Adam's initial form was brand new and made 9S' confidence that it was a machine lifeform make a lot more sense. Eve seemed to literally emerge from a rib, which was a nice choice. The boss fight was pared down to just stabbing him to death immediately.
I hope the hiatus is just till like February or something and that they don't just scuttle the entire project because of it...
Really clever reference to the game levelling system, that sadly they didn't use much if ever again in the game. But in that moment? Fucking genius.
It also only works in NG, coming back NG+ he doesn't match your new level, so the power of it is lost.
Nier
This arc has been up and down but this chapter was great.
The whole point is that the protagonist is from another world.
But so many of them are just immediately like, "Well, fuck it, I guess I just live here now. What? Friends and family? WON'T MISS 'EM!"
And then it's basically never mentioned again.
Like, imagine watching Attack on Titan or something, and in the first episode they were like, "Oh, BTW, Eren is from Earth, he just got Isekai'd into AoT" and then the rest of the anime just plays out exactly the same and it has no bearing on anything.
Does it count as an isekai is the character is simply taken to another world. Not a fantastical world or one they can't recognize at all, just a different world?
Yep. Isekai = another world = Portal story = not here and now.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/portal-fiction
I dunno how old it is for sure but "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells (edit: 1895) is 100% an isekai, it just uses time hopping instead of dimension hopping as the jump.
Some anime seem to get classified as Isekai if a protagonist just dies and then gets reincarnated again in the same world.
Neverending Story, for example. Pretty classic example.
Honestly the most interesting thing is why they've suddenly become so popular. I'm seeing a fair few of them that are basically office workers that get moved from their old life somehow and the fact that they straight up don't give a shit about their previous life doesn't seem to be considered a problem. Considering how popular those are that seems to indicate a lot of their readers wish they could do that too. And they really don't give a damn if its not mentioned, because they don't even wanna think about it. If you think about that too hard it's kinda a downer.
Which, if that's the case, I am judging 95% of all other Isekai pretty harshly...
You're gonna have to narrow this one down a bit.
"This week our Sci-Fi show is going to spend a swift 44 minutes in your sub-genre and just blow everything else out of the water. This isn't a warning, its a declaration."
That and the finale of the entire show are just fucking wtf levels of quality.
You know. It's the one where the guy uses his knowledge of video games and comic books to save the world. The one where the only other male characters are either evil or old men? It takes place in a realm of sword and sorcery.
This is true.
Can Inner Light be considered an Isekai if Picard didn't actually go anywhere, except in his own mind?
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