That people can like different things?

 

HeroAca is an interesting show. Not so much for the show itself as the conversation around it. Personally I dont mind it but I also dont really like it that much. Its very middle of the road, inoffensive stuff to me.

But lots of people do talk about it as if its a One Piece killer, which it doesnt even come close to. The show is like distilled essence of shonen, taking every single cliche and integrating them into one whole, but because of that it has nothing special about itself. I dont dislike the characters, but I dont really care about them either.

The protag fits into this category as well. I liked Shinji as the wreck of a person that he is. His charcter made a point about weak people and how that affects their lives. This guy makes no such point, because hes the shonen hero. Of course hes going to become strong. I dont give a single shit if he cries over some dumb struggle because I know it doesnt matter.

Also the show's insane reliance on exam or tournament arcs sucks. I would really want to see something different but I doubt I will for a long time. I just dont understand the hype around it. It has cool designs and some decent fights but it really is not interesting.

 

Following this line of reasoning, no piece of fiction has anything special about itself. Every great anime was a product of dozens of influences that came before it. You mentioned One Piece, but One Piece distilled the tropes of the shounen manga that came before it. Evangelion did the same thing - Anno was heavily influenced by shows like Space Battleship Yamato, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Space Runaway Ideon - alongside other media such as Ultraman and Godzilla.

Boku no Hero Academia distilled shounen tropes, and mixed them with comic book tropes. It's utilizing already known archetypes to resonate with the audience's experience. Just like every good story.

As for what makes Boku no Hero Academia special? It's an endlessly optimistic story, beyond pretty much anything else airing right now IMO. The heroes are good people, the government is competent (for the most part), and most of those working within the government try their best to do the right thing. I almost have to wonder if Kohei Horikoshi has read Watchmen, because Boku no Hero feels like something of a response to it.

It also has an interesting take on superheroes beyond that. The profession isn't just treated as selfless, but selfish as well. With branding, and the importance placed on popularity. It reminds me a lot of Booster Gold. The characters all work towards becoming heroes - at least partially for fame and glory. Midoriya says it in the first episode - it's the story of how he becomes the best hero.

I think it might be fair to say that individual elements are cliched, but they're constructed in such a way that the story, nonetheless, feels unique and interesting.

 

You make some good points, but nevertheless I feel like as the minority in not loving BnHA I want to keep explaining my POV.

With regards to tropes and cliche, its true that theres no such thing as an 'original anime' like you say. But its possible to be saying something new or interesting and BnHA is not. Simple themes like working hard to protect your friends are, at this point, boring. The optimism is an interesting change, but the selfishness of some heroes doesnt make the world nuanced, since those heroes still arent bad people. It doesnt seem so much like a worldview but rather a marketing view. Ive never got the sense BnHA is saying something about the nature of society, just that its targeted at the broadest demographic including small children, so they made it a wholesome show.

The thing about it is that Hero Academia is pretty well made. The pacing (sadly due to reliance on tournaments and exams) is good and the animation has a high standard. But I just cant get interested in shonen protagonist #3481. The world of superheroes has been quite thoroughly explored, and if I wanted to look into it I would probably look into comics for a more nuanced take on it.

 

Based on what you said I'm going to assume you've only been watching the anime. The Hero Killer arc jumpstarts a look into what makes a hero, a villain anmd society that, if not exactly breaking new ground does become more nuanced then your typical shonen story.

As for wholesomeness.. let's just say there's a progression. As Midoriya matures as a hero so to does his realization that the world isn't as shonen as it seems. You really get to appreciate how dark the world really is.

 

Gintama. Satire of historical and sci fi genres. Funny, but not hilarious.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun. Satire of shoujo genre. Absolute hilarity.

 

Came across this post when checking if Shirobako had been recced before.

I know exactly what episode you’re talking about Banta. I drew some funny looks at work while watching that episode.

 

After watching Hunter X Hunter 2011 (which was pretty good all around and the Chimera Ants Arc was probably the best arc in shounen period) I got into watching anime again and caught up on season 2 of My Hero Academia.

Now, it's true that Deku isn't as annoying as he was in season 1 and he does get a bit better. It's also true that season 2 was the better season over all and the tournament arc had its fun moments. However, overall, I have to say, I am just not seeing the appeal in this show. The characters overall are pretty weak and bland. No one there is carrying the series. I don't hate anyone outside of the short pervert guy who can die in a fire but I don't really love anyone there either. They are decent, I suppose, but just too many. I like explosions guy, weirdly enough and the gravity girl had a pretty intense scene what with her reaction after her fight, making her really the most human and relatable character in the series so far. Frog girl is fun, the guy with the raven head is at least memorable and I'd be lying if I didn't say the acid girl is rather cute but overall, they aren't really interesting people, or rather aren't given enough to be interesting, at least for now. The rest of the cast is super forgettable and lame. Deku himself is not the most gripping protagonist and the focus so far has been on characters that I honestly didn't like very much. Todoroki is boring and the class president guy is annoying.

The Stain thing was probably the highlight of the show so far and even there, haven't exactly been blown away by anything. Don't get me wrong, it is fun enough while watching, but dunno, just not seeing why it has gotten everyone so excited. Neither the characters, nor the plot is all that great.

All Might is the stand-out character, of course, especially his normal design.

So yeah, good enough but not exactly the next big thing, imo. Granted, it's unlikely to crash and burn like Naruto or Bleach did but I also don't see it reaching their heights.

 

Alright so I'm completely new to this whole anime thing, legitimately only got interested because the actress in this movie was playing as the female lead of this manga which was turned into an animated series and a movie.

Yeah, weird story, I know.

Anyways, After the Rain is weird AF and if it weren't for the other themes that are actually interesting beyond the blatant pedophilia within that one I would've stopped watching it already.

So, I'm here looking for recs, preferably in the romance/tragedy genre, although if it's good I don't actually care about genre. @Vira has already given me Your Name (which I'm probably watching during spring break next week), and A Silent Voice (which is currently downloaded).

So yeah, I need material to watch over the next week, so hit me with your best!

TIA.

 

My favorite feelgood romance is probably Amagami SS. It's an omnibus show, with arcs of four episodes each, where each arc a different scenario of the protagonist experiencing romance with a different girl in his life. Particular highlights for me are the second, the fourth, and the last arc. The others definitely aren't bad, though, just less so. If you liked it, there's a sequel out, Amagami SS+, which follows up on the scenarios. There's also Seiren, by the same writer, but it doesn't live up to its predecessor.

Also fun (and a bit more recent) is Tsuki ga Kirei. Middle school sugary sweet shenanigans. There's also Net-juu no Susume, about a woman fired from her job getting addicted to MMOs (again) and finding romance there.

Some other classic anime romance, in no particular order: Toradora, Golden Time, Kokoro Connect, Boku no Pico, 5 Centimeters per Second. And a bunch of technically harem anime that I'd still recommend, like My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU/Yahari Ore No Love Comedy Ha Machigatteiru.

If you somehow manage to burn through all of those in the next week, you can always start here for what some people thought you might like because you liked Your Name/Kimi No Na Ha.

 

@Miner, the Greatest Love Story Ever Told: Ore no Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wakeganai

 

Ero manga sensei

 

Two sources for you: The Ultimate Anime Flowchart and r/anime's Anime Recommendation Chart v. 6.0.

Personal recommendations for romance/drama: Your Lie in April, Toradora, Excaflowne, AnoHana, Kimi no Todoke, and Nodame Cantable.

Since you are a member of a Harry Potter forum, I'd also strongly recommend you check out Little Witch Academia, which is basically (as both charts correctly state) Anime Hogwarts.

 

Blatant pedophilia? She is 17 years old.

As to recommendations. Unfortunately, anime and romance (as in pure or almost pure romance) rarely mesh well, and I mostly go with mangas if I look for stuff like that. Still I can recommend White Album 2 (note though, that the production values are pretty poor). I think you may also like Koi Kaze (though I haven't watched the anime, still I've heard that the adaptation is good).

Koe no Katachi is pretty good, even though it has a problem with a pointlessness of side characters and shader overuse. Heard good things about Kimi no na wa, but it's Shinkai and longer than 15 minutes so I'm doubtful.

For the "genre doesn't matter if it's good" - 7 is good.

Let's be straight here. Seiren was just terrible. I even liked the first girl, but still couldn't finish her arc

+1 for that one.

Toradora is meh. Golden Time anime is abysmal with the "Ghost Banri" going to such stupid levels that it's unimaginable. Both also have annoying as hell main love interests. Kokoro Connect starts well, but is stuck on repeating the same stuff but with different gimmick and worse execution. If you stop at the TV series it's ok, the OAV is really bad though. 5 cm/s is stupid and sloooooow plot over beautiful backgrounds. SNAFU is pretty good. Boku no Pico is joke so old and tired that you should be ashamed of even throwing it around.

MAL userrecs? Really? Really?

r/anime is trash and so are their recommendations.

Your Lie in April starts promising but crashes pretty hard about 1/3 in, when instead of anything progressing, characters restate the same thoughts and feelings over and over again. AnoHana is incredibly stupid with "How can I prove that this ghost who can move things isn't my hallucination" going on for most of the show.

[/quote]Since you are a member of a Harry Potter forum, I'd also strongly recommend you check out Little Witch Academia, which is basically (as both charts correctly state) Anime Hogwarts.[/QUOTE]

I highly recommend watching Anime Mirai movie, then OVA and then just ending animation of the TV series for the glorious FX animation at the beginning.

 

I didn't realize that a 28 year old age difference between them + the fact that the girl is underage wasn't pedophilic.

 

If you don't mind some mecha in your romance than there is Eureka Seven and Gundam X.

 

No idea how Made in Abyss hasn't been mentioned in this thread. It's great. Watch it.

 

Now, this is really pedo.

 

Soul crushing pedo