Thanks. I just wanna make sure I wouldn't ruin the flow of the series or the intended resonance of the movie.

I don't think it's necessarily caused by skittishness. While there is obviously ultra pervy things, and even tropes about "old man letches" in even children's anime or fantasy shoujo younger woman older man stuff (hello Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon), I think there's always been a lot of value in the purity of younger relationships. A lot of the basic harem anime has pervy instances but the main character(s) is basically super innocent and unwilling to give into temptation/lewdness (sometimes this is for story reasons because they need to stay platonic). It does play into the fetish of wanting the girl to act/be younger/infantilization, like "look I'm a little kid and I need praise/reassurance." I don't think Sentenced to be a Hero is going that fetishization route but after Usagi Drop, let's just say I will never take that for granted either.

Back on topic I watched the first episode of Witch Hat Atelier and it is as beautiful as the manga, which is saying something (English simuldub, which my kids prefer because I'm a terrible parent, seems great as well). Looking forward to it.

Never heard of Usagi Drop. Looked it up and read about the ending of the manga. Damn. I definitely do not see Sentenced To Be A Hero ever going in that direction, even with


By the way, I saw some of the first episode of The Beginning After the End. It looked odd but interesting.

Agreed, I don't see it going that way but man I did not see Usagi Drop going that way either...

I've heard lots of people who apparently loved the source material for The Beginning After the End who hated the budget cutting and general adaptation in the anime, but I was going to check it out now that the second cour is coming out. But it's got a lot of competition this season so not sure I'll get to it.

It is fun revisiting these older anime, but I am also trying to broaden into newer stuff. Today I tried to watch The Apothecary Diaries, but was annoyed that instead of subtitles for the Japanese audio, it uses the same Closed Captions used for the English track. That immediately made me suspect dubtitles (although I didn't listen to the English track to confirm) and it annoyed the heck out of me. I thought we were past those days.

I read about the animation issue but, given I was at work, I didn't get to pay close attention. I just had the show playing on a TV in the background.

I just watched Session #11 Toys In The Attic of Cowboy Bebop. I do not remember that one at all. What a weird episode, although what Ed did at the end cracked me up, along with the use of Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers. I am so glad to be revisiting this show.

I watched The Boy and the Heron on UHD recently. I went in totally blind, even somehow avoiding so much as a plot summary. Lovely looking film, but hardly Miyazaki's best work, given how obvious the plot was long before it all gets started. But Miyazaki's fun imagination makes up for how simplistic the whole story is. Great sound too. It's not a bombastic movie but it has this laid back yet enveloping sound design (even a subtle use of the height channels when the heron is walking on a roof). Overall, I enjoyed it.

I don't necessarily agree that it was Oscar worthy but I thought the Boy and the Heron was good. Agreed about the atmosphere and imagination but that's par for the course, even something as beloved as Totoro or Kiki has a pretty bare bones plot.

Watching the second season of Wistoria: Wand and Sword. Nothing about the plot really makes it stand out among the otherwise tropey "outcast who can't do what everyone else can is secretly stronger than everyone" but it's coming up on the part where the hero breaks through and I'm such a sucker for that.

I adore Kiki. Don't get me wrong. The Boy and the Heron having a simple plot doesn't make it bad. Not at all. But given the air of mystery surrounding its release (no trailers or promotional stills of the film released before its premiere with the exception of a single poster), I was surprised by how simplistic the whole thing is. I mean, sure, all you needed was Miyazaki's name to sell people on it, but the whole mysterious release approach seems silly in hindsight.