OT 19/3: COVID-19 Isolation Chamber/Panic Room

[Felonious Python]

Crazy how Friends alone pulls so many subscribers.

Netflix feels shaky to me given how dependant they've indicated they really are on Friends and The Office.

 

[Hoek]

ESPN+ is great as a soccer fan. Otherwise I'm not sure it has enough for most folks. Tempting bundle to add Hulu and Disney+ for just a couple bucks more.

 

[These Are The Days]

I think I've lost my mind or I just really miss hockey. Would this not be awesome as hell for our boys to come out to? Either way.... Great rendition of one of Bach's many masterful fugues. Somewhere Dave Mustaine nods in approval as he once used 1:50 in a Megadeth song

 

[Felonious Python]

I'm seeing that kids in Florida are going back to school today (FYI for the rest of us BTW).

I'm surprised they weren't already back. I recollect starting school on like August 3rd sometimes.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[Hoek]

I already do this on BoltsProspects forum but figured I'd cross post it here since there's some interest in anime here as well.

Here's what I've been watching lately...

First of all, in light of recent events I've been working on my backlog of Kyoto Animation works alongside the new stuff.

Hyouka [Funimation] - I started off with this one because it's set in the town of Takayama, which I visited during my trip to Japan back in June. There were posters of the show still up in various shops and restaurants which was pretty neat to see. I figured it was worth watching while my memories of the location were still fresh, and yeah it was pretty amazing to see the bridges I crossed and the shopping sections I walked through rendered so beautifully! Anyway, if you enjoy figuring out mysteries, definitely check this out. It starts off a bit slow but what really hooked me was the first arc where you'll figure out what "Hyouka" really means. I enjoyed trying to figure stuff out before the main character reveals what he knows. There's a lot of slice of life and comedic elements as well that makes the show so charming and some great character development in the end. The MC goes from lazy and detached to someone who is more invested in a believable way. Just so well written and animated, the former of which probably speaks to the quality of the novels it's based on. Chitanda's (the main girl) curiosity is so sweet and infectious! The way it ended makes me hope that KyoAni returns to it one day, maybe as a movie. Watashi kininarimasu!

Now for Summer 2019's offerings:

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san (Teasing Master Takagi-San) [S1 on Crunchyroll, S2 Netflix/fansubbed] - This is actually the show's second season, but I took the time between seasons to catch up on the first one and it was worth it. The premise for this is very simple, but so cute and funny! It's about a middle school girl who teases a boy she very obviously has a crush on, but he's oblivious to (of course). He's always plotting to get back at her with various ideas for challenges he's so sure he can win at, but it always backfires (of course). Predictable, but always delivers. There's side characters and stories to break up the monotony just enough. Honestly, Takagi's voice actress is what makes the whole show for me, she's so good at hitting the perfect tone between being a tease but also being sweet about it.

Cop Craft [Funimation] - One of my favorite opening songs this season. It's kind of the highlight of the show as it appears to struggle from a low budget for animation, resorting to still shots during what should be action scenes from time to time. Regardless, this buddy cop show between your typical gritty human detective and his alien girl partner is still fun enough to keep me coming back week after week. It has an old school vibe to it that I can enjoy, and I like the concept of first contact with aliens resulting in an earth city where both cultures interact including in criminal ways. Nothing special but as a wild card show it lives up to my expectations.

Tejina Senpai (Magical Sempai) [Crunchyroll] - This is a half length short. Very funny but also fairly perverted. A girl tries to run an after school magic club but her stage fright causes her to mess up her magic tricks in hilariously embarrassing ways. Her straight laced assistant tries to keep her in check but her enthusiasm for magic is just too much to contain.

Sounan desu ka (Are You Lost?) [Crunchyroll] - Another short. High school girls get stranded on a deserted island and learn survival tricks from their classmate who grew up in the wilderness with a dad who was basically Bear Grylls. Good comedy and somewhat informative. Well.. at least you can pretend you know how to survive after watching it!

Kanata no Astra (Astra Lost in Space) [Funimation] - Kind of following the same theme, except in the future where you can get stranded in space instead! I think this might be my Anime of the Season, just because I always have a hankering for sci-fi and this one is actually somewhat realistic and well-executed. Anyway it's set in the future where "Space Camp" literally means going to space and camping out on an uninhabited planet. But things go horribly wrong and now they have to find a way back home with a strangely uninhabited spaceship. There's mysteries to unravel in the meantime as well, such as why they were selected from different classes to camp together, and a potential saboteur/murderer on the ship. Plenty of intrigue in this one and I can't wait to find out what happens next! The planets they visit on their travels are pretty cool and interesting, too.

Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru (How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?) [Funimation] - Probably the surprise hit of the season? Maybe not so much for me, as I've loved everything Doga Kobo studio has put out these days so I knew what to expect. This is an edutainment anime about weight lifting and working out in general, using cute anime girls, fanservice, and humor to motivate you. Each episode ends with a workout you can do at home if you're brave enough. Whether or not you actually follow up on its advice, the show is worth watching, IMO!

Machikado Mazoku (The Demon Girl Next Door) [HIDIVE] - Supernatural slice of life? Sign me up for another one of these! This time it's a girl who wakes up with demon horns one day, suddenly discovering her family belongs to a blood line of demons. It turns out they were cursed to poverty by the magical girl clan. In order to restore their honor and lift the curse, she must defeat a magical girl who turns out to be going to her school! But... she's horribly weak! Hilarity ensues as the magical girl actually turns out to be quite nice and actually tries to help train her. The pacing of jokes threw me off at first but I like this show a lot now. The main character is so adorable, especially her voice acting!

Dr. Stone [Crunchyroll] - Objectively, this is probably the show everyone should be watching this season. Crunchyroll has pushed it hard and for good reason. Humanity gets frozen into solid stone by some unexplained phenomenon. The main character Senku, a prodigy in science, wakes up and breaks out of it somehow, thousands of years later, and realizes he has to rebuild civilization from scratch. He figures out how to break out others and sets about his task, but one of the people he frees has other designs. Really cool story that's easy to get sucked into. As a science major I enjoy being able to predict some of the things Senku is hinting at inventing next and I'm really invested in the progress! Good stuff here.

Enen no Shouboutai (Fire Force) [Crunchyroll] - This show is really good as well and should have a broad appeal. Interesting world building going on here as special fire forces composed of people with pyrokinetic abilities are tasked to deal with a rash of spontaneous human combustion throughout Tokyo. There is a conspiracy afoot as the various fire companies don't exactly cooperate fully with each other. The fight sequences are gorgeously animated with the fire effects and such. The only thing that bugs me about it is some of the "cinematography" or editing. Lots of weird cuts during conversations that don't really make sense and just throw me off. There's also a character that just seems to be there as a punching bag for fanservice, which might turn some people off. They had to delay one episode and censor a bit of the credits scene because of the KyoAni arson. I have to admit it's definitely a bit harder to watch now than it would have been before, the last episode that just aired especially.

DanMachi S2 (Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II) [CrunchyRoll] - Not sure I mentioned the first season of this. There is a recap episode that will get you caught up somewhat quick on this, but it's worth watching it all if you haven't. In many ways it's just a classic fantasy adventure anime, but with the dynamics of the adventurers joining "familias" run by various gods and all the political undertones that result. The main character is easy to root for as he's only overpowered in his ability to level up fast, which makes his battles interesting as he actually has to depend on others a lot. I really like the character designs as well and it has good production value that seems to have only gotten better this season.

Okaa-san Online (Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?) [Funimation] - Anime titles keep getting more and more ridiculous, but it got my attention and I had to check this out as a result. It's the transported to another world trope yet again, but this time the protagonist has his mom come along for the ride. Apparently the game is designed to improve relations between a child and their mom. As a result, it's his mom that is the overpowered one! Which is funny because being a mom she barely understands game mechanics to begin with compared to him. Some of the humor also involves observing and dealing with the dysfunction of the other mothers in the game. I'm having fun with this one.

Joshikousei no Mudazukai (Wasteful Days of High School Girl) [HIDIVE] - THE best opening song of the season. So dang catchy and clever (Wa moon dass cry! is a pun of the title, Mudazukai). Funniest show of the season as well. Reminds me of Daily Lives of High School Boys, but less skit based. The characters are all so quirky and interact in such amusing ways, I can't help but laugh at how stupid it all is.

Granbelm [Crunchyroll] - Underrated show, IMO. I think a lot of people ditched it after a first episode that was all action and almost no explanation, but it's worth sticking with it for a bit if you're one of those weirdos like me who somehow likes both magical girls AND mechs as they battle with each other to determine who can be the one true mage. It also hurts that it is a TV original show without the built in fanbase of a show that is based on a manga or light novel. The character designer also worked on Re:Zero which explains why they look somewhat familiar. I'm really enjoying the conflict in this show and it kind of has a Madoka Magica vibe to it.

 

[LightningStrikes]

The only anime I’ve watched was Detective Conan / Case Closed (obviously not all 900+ episodes plus all movies) and Death Note. Both pretty good actually.

 

[These Are The Days]

@Hoek

Lil Sunny freaking LOVES the Dragonball franchise. I think the original Dragonball might be too uhhh taboo for her at times. Do you have an anime suggestion for a girl who will be 12? I have heard Attack On Titan was good but haven't really checked it out yet.


Edit: preferably dubbed series. She cannot always read subs fast enough and gets frustrated sometimes. We've found it easier for episodes just to be in English

 

[Stormbreaker]

@Hoek

Lil Sunny freaking LOVES the Dragonball franchise. I think the original Dragonball might be too uhhh taboo for her at times. Do you have an anime suggestion for a girl who will be 12? I have heard Attack On Titan was good but haven't really checked it out yet.


Edit: preferably dubbed series. She cannot always read subs fast enough and gets frustrated sometimes. We've found it easier for episodes just to be in English

My Hero Academia is great fun I'm working my way through season 2 at the moment and the dub is real good. Attack on Titan is fantastic but I wouldn't recommend your 12 year watching that one though, a metric ton of violence.

 

[Hoek]

My Hero Academia is fantastic. I agree with that recommendation!

She would also probably like Naruto. It's been done for a couple years now and I think most if not all of it has been dubbed at this point. It might be a little more bloody/taboo than MHA at times, though, but it never struck me as gratuitous. I dunno. Take a look at it yourself first. Maybe Boruto the sequel might be a little less edgy? I haven't seen much of it beyond clips.

Black Clover is another similar type series. At this point I'm just naming long run shounen series with dubs, lol. One Piece is yet another massively popular on worth a look.

Attack on Titan is definitely too mature if you're worried about content. You should check it out for yourself though!

It's nothing like Dragonball, but Fruits Basket could be something up her alley? It's more of a romance with some supernatural mystery. Pretty cute and funny and targeted towards young girls. There's a remake airing now that I'm not sure is dubbed yet, so you can watch the original. I really enjoyed Vision of Escaflowne. It's got mechs, but also medieval stuff and magic, and romance. It's actually kind of targeted to girls more than boys, but not in overt way.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[Steazy Doo]

Is Cranston gonna be in that errrr

 

[These Are The Days]

My Hero Academia is fantastic. I agree with that recommendation!

She would also probably like Naruto. It's been done for a couple years now and I think most if not all of it has been dubbed at this point. It might be a little more bloody/taboo than MHA at times, though, but it never struck me as gratuitous. I dunno. Take a look at it yourself first. Maybe Boruto the sequel might be a little less edgy? I haven't seen much of it beyond clips.

Black Clover is another similar type series. At this point I'm just naming long run shounen series with dubs, lol. One Piece is yet another massively popular on worth a look.

Attack on Titan is definitely too mature if you're worried about content. You should check it out for yourself though!

It's nothing like Dragonball, but Fruits Basket could be something up her alley? It's more of a romance with some supernatural mystery. Pretty cute and funny and targeted towards young girls. There's a remake airing now that I'm not sure is dubbed yet, so you can watch the original. I really enjoyed Vision of Escaflowne. It's got mechs, but also medieval stuff and magic, and romance. It's actually kind of targeted to girls more than boys, but not in overt way.

Thanks I appreciate that! I'll have to look into it.

 

[BowDownToVasilevskiy]

Can't wait for this

 

[Hoek]

I've been watching Sound! Euphonium lately and just hit this scene today and I'm completely awestruck. The attention to detail is just insane. It really LOOKS like they're playing. The level of animation more than matches the musical level of performance. Couple that with the emotions that lead to this point and how attached I am to these characters and damn... it's just a lot to take in, and then I think of all the talent behind this that was lost...

 

[Felonious Python]

#hunkerdown2019

 

[Felonious Python]

I did my #hunkerdown2019 shopping. There was a big rush on baked beans for some reason. Camping logic I suppose.

Underrated #hunkerdown supplies from what I'm seeing people are buying.
-canned or pouched chicken, chili, and fish (not just tuna): Pouched is healthier, but canned is generally cheaper. There's also canned fished beyond tuna to consider. Canned salmon can be cheaper than what you get at the fish counter, and I'm of the opinion that thinks that the sardines in olive oil taste good. Don't @ me.

-apples and raisins: apples don't need refrigeration, and if you keep them away from other fruit, can allegedly last months, although I'm not willing to test that theory.

-peanuts: Publix has BOGO on Planters peanuts right now. Lightly salted or unsalted is probably the way to go. Their regular peanuts have some unnecessary additives, although I'll admit they taste better with the extra flavoring. Peanuts have tons of protein.

-Triscuit: My Publix had them at 2 for $5 on regular-sized boxes. Lots of fiber which will fill you up. Organic Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil is what I got. Basically the same as the regular version without the garlic and onion powder.

Yes, I'm buying organic at the end of the world.

Publix also normally have some basic playing cards, dice, etc. near the stationary/school supplies. Might want to pick up some if you don't have anything analog to pass the time.

Obvs buy the usuals like water. My local savings flyer had Publix brand spring water at 2 for $7, but I'm not sure if that deal is still good. Most carts I saw had 2 anyway.

Fill your gas tank, have batteries for your radio and flashlights, maybe board up some windows, and that's about all you can do. Not a big deal really if you shop early and preferably during hours when most people are still working.

 

[Alicat]

I picked a great time to relocate huh?

Had my 3rd round of interviews so you may see me around these parts more if things pan out.

I hope you all stay safe and have enough booze to get you through the storm.

 

[Felonious Python]

I picked a great time to relocate huh?

Had my 3rd round of interviews so you may see me around these parts more if things pan out.

I hope you all stay safe and have enough booze to get you through the storm.

I know someone who bought her first house like a week ago.

Strangely, I did not see beer missing from the store shelves. At least not yet.

 

[Alicat]

I know someone who bought her first house like a week ago.

Strangely, I did not see beer missing from the store shelves. At least not yet.

Must be a northern thing.

When we get snow many people grab bread, milk and eggs plus they stock up on booze.

You use the snow to keep everything cold in case the power goes out.

 

[Felonious Python]

Must be a northern thing.

When we get snow many people grab bread, milk and eggs plus they stock up on booze.

You use the snow to keep everything cold in case the power goes out.

I have no doubts that the beer run is coming, it just didn't happen when I was there. I went early enough that the restock could have just happened. Right across the aisle, people clearly had been buying potato chips.

Hurricane shopping is based around not having power in the heat so it's mostly non-perishables. Maybe I should have bought ice today (which is another premium item, after the storm), but I can't remember a time it really ever came in handy. I've been cooking the stuff in my freezer the past few days so I don't need to worry much about that.

 

[Felonious Python]

Celeste and Inside are free on the Epic Games Store this week.

Celeste was a big deal when it came out a few months ago, although it looks like it's best played with a controller.

also free DiRT Rally
Get DiRT Rally for free

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

I'm seeing that kids in Florida are going back to school today (FYI for the rest of us BTW).

I'm surprised they weren't already back. I recollect starting school on like August 3rd sometimes.

Is this an American thing ? What is this

 

[Felonious Python]

Is this an American thing ? What is this

A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the direction of teachers.

School - Wikipedia

Pretty sure they got them in Canada too.

 

[Felonious Python]

Hurricanes starting after dark is the worst. When it's still daylight, you can see what is going on. When the wind really picks up for the first time at night, a lot is left to your imagination.

remember to do laundry and dishes before the storm comes, fam.