Rejoice comrades, february's thread is here
Manga
I returned and picked up Ah! My Goddess and Oresama Teacher again. They're both still fun manga. I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class made a positive first impression on me; as far as kinda generic romcoms can be. Unique in that regard was the manhwa Skill of Lure, which does have a really eyebrow-raising premise, and was somehow shockingly well written (and short) for what it was. Less r/incel and more r/relationshipadvice kind of stuff, I suppose. It not being in the dreaded long strip format made it easier to read.
Anime
I finished Season 1 of Full Metal Panic! (2002) and it's fun in how it merges end of history era brainwormed action movie tropes and a romantic comedy with the most unhinged male and arguably female leads in anime (Chidori Kaname is a total girlboss). A ...which leads into Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (2003), a slice of life spinoff set between S1 and S2 and animated by KyoAni, which two episodes in is already one of the funniest anime I have seen. How did this show fade into relative obscurity?
Speaking of hilarity, Cautious Hero (2019) is an isekai so similar in spirit to Konosuba that it feels like a spin-off of that show. I did not go in expecting actual quality, but the show does have it. Ristarte does have some great facial expressions in the show. I have not finished it yet.
Instead of sharing the comedic aspects of FMP (well... usually), New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995) shares an oddly similar main character. The show is better and less so-bad-it's-good as the initial impression left on me, even if it does heavily borrow from the entire UC Gundam universe to the point of feeling a bit like a recap of 0079 to CCA. Definitely worth checking out, even if imo not as good as either G Gundam or After War X Gundam. B+
The Apothecary Diaries S2 (2025) Maoism is back, and is the same quality it was in Season 1. Hell yeah, A
Midnight Eye: Goku (1989) is not about Son Goku, but a 60 minute cyberpunk OVA. For what it was, pretty good, even if it had some B movie qualities. B
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated! (2025) is fun, and, even though it has a neat twist, fairly generic. For what it is, it's decent. B
directly related Games
Super Robot W is one of the best written games in the franchise I have played so far, but much like other games in the series, the further you go into the game, the longer the missions get. Beyond an exciting boss fight, the difficulty is medium to easy. A
Been super busy, so not a whole lot of anime for me recently.
Gridman Universe (2024) I think this series peaked with the original SSSS Gridman show, but this was still a nice capstone movie. B
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011 - 8/49) Enjoying this so far, but I think I would have preferred a game by Level-5 instead. I'm curious how they're going to make the generations stuff work in a 4-cour show.
Eureka Seven (2005 - 7/50) I watched a little bit of this when it aired on Toonami. It's pretty cool - I'm enjoying the day-to-day life stuff in it.
Fang of the Sun Dougram (1981 - 31/75) Love this show, but I just need more time to dig into it. "What if Gundam was about an anti-colonial guerilla war" - amazing!
Eureka 7 is peak. The first third is 7/10, but get ready. The back half of that series is some of the best stuff out there.
I'm watching it alongside the Great Gundam Project podcast (watching ~2 episodes a week), so I'll probably be super hyped about this in like 3 months lol
Is the AO sequel stuff any good (or at least a solid "extremely mid Sunrise mecha")?
I remember it being garbage but it was just such a pale imitation of the original.
The OG might be the epitome of this prozd sketch, but that's also why it rocks. Renton eventually quits being a totally insufferable shinji clone.
https://youtu.be/4ikGvLUbOuU
Finally, DONT SLEEP ON ANEMONE. Ami Koshimizu puts in a 10/10 performance, she'd go on to do Kallen right after this, and her only notable credit before this was Tenma in School Rumble. Anemone is amazing and it really is great work from the VA
He's such an Amuro clone (aren't all these robot boys lol) - right down to stealing the robot and getting tossed in the brig. It's pretty clear they're setting him up for some serious growth, I'm just hoping it's not all driven by Eureka.
She's had some great roles - looking forward to seeing her in this.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: