TV-based/Episodic Anime

[Ogilvie]

Technically a thread for all things Dragon Ball, though I think discussion is going to be heavily geared towards Super.

For those unaware, a new anime and manga series in the Dragon Ball franchise, Dragon Ball Super, has been ongoing for almost two years. It is almost up to 100 episodes in the original Japanese, with the English dub about 70 episodes behind.

Dragon Ball Super spends about 25 or so episodes adapting the two hit animated movies, Battle of Gods and Resurrection F, before forging its own path and having a completely original storyline. The main premise of Super is that of multiversal exploration; having established himself as one of the most powerful mortals in his universe, Goku finds himself regularly facing off against rivals and threats from other timelines and universes. The current arc is focused on 8 separate universes sending their strongest fighters to compete in a battle royale; any universe that loses will be erased from existence completely.

I don't want to get too bogged down in the details to avoid scaring you away, but I'd highly recommend it. While there is some division on where it stacks up compared to the other three Dragon Ball anime, it is extremely popular so far, having a right mix of seriousness and humor that keeps you invested in where the plot is going. It generally isn't as serious as Z, but can certainly be so as necessary.

 

Case in point: one of the main characters of the show is Beerus, introduced as the God of Destruction in the Battle of Gods saga. Despite his scary title (and his tendency to blow planets up at the slightest annoyance, such as his food not tasting right), he is a constant source of comic relief, being as much as a goofball as a world-destroying deity. It is through Goku's interaction with Beerus and various other Gods that the plot of Super is often driven. Despite originally appearing in the show as an antagonist, he has since befriended the Z fighters, though he claims he only spares Earth because of its delicious food. Because of his absurd amounts of power (he is capable of destroying the entire universe by himself, and has the ability to destroy a person's soul if he so wishes), the dynamic of the show has been changed, as Goku and co. cannot simply hope to overcome any obstacle through brute force alone. This is particularly true given there are beings far more powerful than Beerus himself that have forced Goku and his friends to rely on their brains as much as their brawn.

Let's have some appreciation for some of the show's theme songs, as well. This is the current theme song, having been used since the start of the recent arc:

Dragon Ball Super airs new episodes in Japanese every Sunday morning in Japan (so Saturday evenings in the USA), and every Saturday evening in English on Adult Swim.

P.S. If you're a member of the furry fandom, the show has become a gold mine for anthropomorphic characters, as can be seen here:

 

While cartoon animals have always been a part of Dragon Ball, Super gives them real plot importance, having several as extremely powerful fighters as well as Gods of Destruction.

[Mike Arcade]

Oh boy, Dragon Ball...I'm not sure how to start posting in this topic, I grew up as it reached America during the mid-90's and saw it's effect as well as that of Toonami's revised block with the Original TOM (voiced by Krillin's VA as a matter of fact) that replaced Moltar so I was for sure encapsulated by Dragon Ball Z and it's later airing of the original Dragon Ball. Course I also caught Dragon Ball GT and all the Movies with it, even had the whole Original Budokai Trilogy as a kid. After Budokai Tenkaichi 1 though I stopped as the series had worn out for me. Granted it took longer for me to get worn out by it then Pokemon but it was mainly the games and how despite a few small additions in future games I was tired of playing through the same old story again and again where nothing changed other then smaller details that I had limited control over.

I mean I couldn't be bothered with it anymore, and honestly other then a few additions here and there I didn't miss too much, the latest game I got was Dragon Ball Xenoverse 1, which is a Budokai Tenkaichi game in MMO form which actually HAD a plot that sounded interesting where you could time travel and...prevent interesting changes both good and (mostly) bad...I haven't bothered with the sequel though that looks a little better, sorta.

For me the series goes like this, Dragon Ball had some wacky adventures that were fine minus some jokes at the expense of an underaged Bulma...seriously what the heck Toriyama
But it at least had heart and a sense of wonder, but wasn't afraid to be dark during King Piccolo's Arc. Things got interesting and it had you guessing at times to see how it goes, heck the filler of the anime itself was very fitting in tone for the series and even crossed over with Toriyama's earlier success Dr. Slump with the robot girl Arale.

Dragon Ball Z as it was dubbed in it's anime form (it just kept the name Dragon Ball in the Manga) continued with Goku and his often neglected son Gohan as a visit and revelation from Goku's Alien Brother shook the foundation of their lives. From then on it was a struggle to fight alien warriors, soldiers, and an emperor as Goku's human friends and allies soon became completely moot and basically pointless as he furfilled an alien prophecy turning into the Legendary Super Saiyan in a millennia. Then Future Trunks showed up being one, then Vegeta was one, then Gohan, as they fought "Androids" (two of which being actually Cyborgs) who threatened the world being the remains of this army Goku annihilated as a kid. People died and came back to life like a revolving door, Gohan was a super hero, there was a Pink Djinn blowing stuff up and the day was saved. I just summed up the entire series of DBZ for you here.

It's main problem was not just the writing and obviously neglectful adults but the complete and utter castration of humanity, if you weren't part of the Saiyan Master Race you were completely worthless in DBZ, double goes for DBGT.

Dragon Ball Super somewhat tries to rectify that in small ways but still if you aren't Goku or Vegeta then the world is doomed, and yet everyone else gets a chance to save the day in smaller ways that make you root for them. Bulma gives the God of Destruction Beerus some food and everything is A-OK, it's not perfect but at least it's something. Heck Krillin even gets his confidence back regarding being a fighter and while obviously they won't ever match up with SAIYAN GODS NOW still it's something of depth that makes us care not for the Super Saiyan Gods but everyone else. Heck Beerus is an odd yet fun villain that they can't kill off and is even nessesary for the messed up world of DB. As for the Multiverse, well thankfully it's not like say Marvel or DCs endless copies of Duplicates and Expies believe it or not, and while there's another universe of Saiyans they can't (so far) match up with Gogeta Vegito. It's odd how they've escaped that constant trap of never ending tangents that MANY other fiction both old and new fall into yet keep making the same and even worst mistakes. Heck Goku is almost to the point of a sociopath and has risked not just his but other Universes in this latest Story Arc. I stopped after Goku Black which does however use Multiverse Theory regarding timelines...well I gotta retract that previous statement then.

I will say how funny it is Anthro Characters have become some of the strongest characters in this series compared to how they were in DB and DBZ though,

With multimedia games, card video games, and SO MANY SUPER SAIYANS it's not even funny, I don't know the series is in this odd loop even in it's main canon story now. I don't hate Dragon Ball but I don't like it as much as I used to as I can usually tell what good writing is in a story, perhaps it's due to the medium it was made in as Manga Chapters are made every week or so and THAT is crazy. I do think it's unfair that a lot of Anime and Manga can just be called trash as there ARE good stories out there from the media, for some these mediums and it's stereotypes have turned a lot off to them. I can't blame them for that as both International and Domestic Fandoms and Otakus don't paint a bright picture of it.

Still for it's time Dragon Ball was an interesting look at storytel...well mainly Fantasies from another country of a Monkey Tailed, Journey to the West inspired misadventures.

[Ogilvie]

 

And so the first universe has been wiped from existence.

It was kind of nonsense how U9 was eliminated, given they were tossing the Idiot Ball between each other by doing tactical blunders like standing close to the edge.

RIP Trio de Dangers, though. How I hope there's some way to bring back people who are erased.

I'm just glad they were unconscious when it happened, so they could go out with dignity.

I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed seeing Roh go, though, haha. A massive ham to the very end.

[Mike Arcade]

I haven't been catching up with Dragon Ball Super, mainly because I usually let some anime take their course and catch up later if I'm interested, although I gotta say it's very eerie and messed up how those Zen-Oh things are happy and content to wipe out an ENTIRE UNIVERSE.

That is some heavy stuff right there, just a blink and they are GONE. For those who don't know it was Goku who asked The Omni Kings (Zen-Oh and...Zen-Oh, time shenanigans) to have a Multiverse Tournament in the first place, what he didn't know was that they would do this. Because of this Goku is still responsible for all of this, the main "hero" of this series has let this happen and can only win the tournament if only to not be blinked out of life itself along with everyone he knows. Yet he's still the cheery ditz that we've known for years AND got Freeza back from the dead for a day to be his teammate.

You read that right, not to mention from that one scene up above is that some of these Angels (yes the blue skin white hair guys and gals are Angels in that world) were smiling over a UNIVERSE getting destroyed. So yeah there is some shifty things going on here, heck even Goku's friends are questioning his actions especially having Freeza on the team. Yeah they have the excuse of the Super Dragon Balls being able to wish the universes that are destroyed in this tournament back but no, that's no excuse for me anymore.

TRILLIONS are dying because Goku wanted to fight strong guys, nope I'm borderline done with this series, no amount of Gender Swapped Broly can convince me otherwise this series has gone far past the Event Horizon for me. I'll find out what happens after the saga is over sure but I can't think of Goku the same way ever again. Heck his whole "Light of the Universe" lines in the Original Funimation Dub of DBZ was made by them alone and not in the source material. So yeah Goku has always been a Battle Hungry Manchild who never grows up despite being a grandfather. Heck him being a Saiyan isn't an excuse for me as Vegeta has more empathy then he does, the former mass murderer who blew up planets has more empathy than the main hero and he barely if at all had a true redemption arc. I mean yeah Goku understands the basics of morality when it comes to friends and family but so little else. I blame Little Me from the 90's for getting hooked on it, cause I've gone this far watching DB, DBZ, and DBGT so hey might as well see how this mad show ends right? Heck even before this arc I hit burn out after Goku Black for how borderline nonsensical it was regarding Time Travel and all that cool Future Trunks finisher aside.

So yeah this is my 2nd Dragon Ball Burn Out, I liked the series as a kid but it's gone far beyond what it should have been to me, if you still like the series that's fine but as for me I'm pretty done.

[Mike Arcade]

http://www.dbmovie-20th.com/

So lately some big news has been revealed, the 20th Dragon Ball Movie is officially coming out in Japan Late 2018 and soon after internationally Early 2019, but that's not the big news about it. What makes this interesting (or hilarious depending on your viewpoint) is that for the first time in quite awhile anyway is that a character from Dragon Ball Canon is actually being made Canon now. See with this Manga called Dragon Ball Minus (A Prequel to the Series) it basically made Bardock (Goku's Dad) Canon. Now we have another character being made officially canon, the Legendary Super Saiyan himself....Broly!

That's right, one of the most popular characters not technically canon is becoming and official part of the Dragon Ball Main Continuity! While this will be his 4th film it'll be essentially a new take on the character with Akira Toriyama at the helm besides in just character designs. So, any of you excited to see how this new version of Broly will turn out? Do you think he'll be more of an actual character this time around? It'll be quite interesting I'll say that much, gotta wonder what other sort of characters will be made canon in the future if that's a possibility now.

I'll say this though, for as absolutely crazy this sounds, it actually makes a lot of sense from a marketing standpoint. I mean Broly is still popular to this day, especially in Japan with all the different forms he got in that Super Dragon Ball Heroes Card Game over the years, of course I don't need to tell you folks how popular yet polarizing he is in the west as well. The way I see it is that this'll possibly be a whole new character using Broly's name and status mainly for marketing purposes, for all we know he could have originally been an original Saiyan. I mean I kinda got that vibe a bit maybe in the earliest steps of this new film, but still. In any case the future of Dragon Ball is...honestly I have no idea at this point. I mean hopefully it'll be much better then that slog called the Tournament of Power Story Arc.

[TheRedStranger]

Expanded this topic to include all anime for the small screen, cable, streaming, ect, ect.

[Akessel92]

Alright @Nagolwhat are your thoughts on Attack on Titan?

As for my thoughts. I found it a fascinating show. Granted it’s brutal, bloody, violent and excruciating visceral violence in visuals. But yet, it has everything for entertainment family bonds, comradeship, triumph and betrayal, but most of all passion and drama.  (And also some toe tapping music especially in the intro)

So the series begins with Eren Yeager, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman and his friend Armin Artlet living in the Walled kingdom of Paradis, supposedly the last settlements of humanity due to the scourge of the Titans. It’s surrounded by three massive walls the outermost Wall Maria which contains a small city called Shiganshina where Eren, Mikasa, and Armin lived with their families. The innermost walls where the rest of humanity live are Walls Rose and Sheena. The three of them had hopes of seeing what’s beyond the walls but then everything changed when the Collosal Tian and Armored Titan attacked; breaching Wall Maria and attacking the city of Shiganshina. Though Eren, Mikasa, and Armin survived they were now orphaned. Eren’s mother, Carla was pinned under rubble and was then eaten by a Titan before Eren’s very eyes. As for his father Doctor Grisha Yeager went missing but assumed to be among the dead. Armin’s only family, his grandfather initially took them Eren and Mikasa in in the aftermath but later volunteered to take part in what would be the ill fated first attempt of retaking Wall Maria and left the three orphaned. Eren vowed revenge against the Titans with intent to wipe them all from existence. 
 

To make that vow Eren and the others would join up with the military cadet regiment there they would meet other important characters; Jean, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, Bertolt, Crysta, Ymir, Marco, and Annie. After training and graduating from the cadets and before they would join the three branches of the military of Paradis; the survey corps., the garrison, or The military police Eren and his comrades were stationed in the city of Trost. Which they would receive their baptism of fire with the Collosal Titan breaching Wall Rose around Trost and titans making their way in. It tested all of them. And it was revealed after being eaten alive by a Titan, Eren Yeager could transform into a Titan and back again. With his abilities and the help of his comrades were able to seal Wall Rose back up and slay all the titans that got in.
 

After those events, Because of being such an asset and a perceived threat because of being a Titan shifter, a military tribunal made the decision for Eren to be inducted into the Survey Corps. Under Commader Erwin Smith but would be monitored and supervised by Captain Levi Ackermann and studied by fourth squad leader Hange Zoe. As for Mikasa and Armin they would join the survey corps with Eren voluntarily along with Jean, Connie, Sasha,Crysta, Ymir, Reiner, and Bertolt. (Annie joining the military police and Marco being killed at Trost by a Titan with mysterious circumstances).
 

For at least from season 1 to season 3, the show focuses on the retaking of Wall Maria, the secret of the titans, the origin of the walls, and the reality of their world. Which I will create a long spoiler thread for what leads to season 4. 

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Akessel92
Additions to intro

[Akessel92]

Now for some lore which I will prompt in the spoiler section.

the origins of the titans

Spoiler

The story of the titans began two thousand years ago, with a girl named Ymir. She was a slave for an Eldian warlord known as Fritz. However, she ended up letting the warlord’s pigs she cared for out of their pen. When the lord found his pigs gone he threatened every slave in the tribe that he would gouge out one their eyes if one didn’t fess up. So the slaves pointed to Ymir out of fear and Ymir confessed to the crime. The other slaves were spared of punishment but Ymir faced far worse. Not only she would have one of her eyes gouged out she would be set loose into the woods and be hunted by Fritz’s men and his dogs. 
 

Ymir ran from her captors as fast as her wounded self could (now having received arrows to her heel and shoulder) in the forest. She came upon a very massive and old tree with a hole in its trunk in the middle of the forest. She went inside hoping to find a place to hide. Instead, there was hole inside and she fell into it leading down into a flooded underground Cavern at the roots of the tree. As she was drowning inside the cavern a spindly creature attached itself and bonded to Ymir. Then there was bright flash and she bursted from the tree transformed into the first Titan shifter. She towered above all the trees (At 230 meters in height) and let out a deafening howl which could be heard for miles. 
 

Ymir would return to warlord Fritz. However, She would not return to punish him for the pain and torment he wrought upon her but would return to him as his slave once again and transformed back into her human form and healed from all the wounds she received. Fritz took her back and put her to work. He made her use her powers build everything to what would ultimately become the kingdom of Eldia, from building roads and bridges, clearing land, and crushing the enemies of the Eldians, such as the kingdom of Marley. Not only that he had her bear his children which she gave birth to three girls; Maria, Rose, and Sheena.
 

Thirteen years after she obtained her powers, a Marleyan prisoner of war attempted to assassinate The now King Fritz and Ymir took the spearpoint to her heart meant for her king and father of her children. Normally, she could heal from such a grievous wound even in her human form. This time however, it was different. She no longer  had the will to live (which is a major aspect in  all Titan shifters in terms of healing and life span who come about after her).

 

Before her body was cold, King Fritz wasn’t going to let the power of titans die with Ymir. He forced his daughters; Maria, Rose, and Sheena to eat their mother’s corpse including her spinal fluid (Which is where all the Titan power comes from). He would in his dying breath many years later tell his daughters to have as many children as possible and have each generation  eat the predecessors’ spines and every generation after till the end of time. 

As a result there were would be Over 145 Generations of Eldians amongst nine families of Titan shifters and all ethnic Eldians (Including half blooded ones) can be turned into Pure Titans. Not only that, but an Eldian empire reaching far across the continent was created thanks to the power of the titans. 

Now comes defining titans

pure titans are Eldians, an ethnic group of humans or sometimes called “subjects of Ymir” whom are transformed from human form into titans through the injection or ingestion of Titan spinal fluid. They can range between 3 meters to 15 meters in height. they can regenerate damage to their bodies but any damage to the nape of the neck or a decapitation can kill them.

titan shifters are from the same lineage as pure titans but, the are far more intelligent and can transform back into human form. They have some of the same weaknesses as pure titans (nape of neck weakness but also having a human body that can be cut out of their Titan body as well as limits to their transformations) but they can mitigate their shortcomings through their powers and abilities tactically and strategically. There are only nine of these Titans: the attack Titan, the founding Titan, the armored titan, the female titan, the colossal titan, the Jaw Titan, the beast Titan, the cart Titan, and the warhammer Titan. Now their holders as of season 3:
 

Spoiler

The founding Titan: Ymir, King Karl Fritz, Rod&Uri Reiss’s father, Uri Reiss, Rod Reiss’ daughter Frieda, Grisha Yeager (after fighting and eating Frieda in Titan form) whom would pass it onto Eren Yeager, currently

attack Titan: Eren Kruger, Grisha Yeager, and Currently Eren Yeager 

armored Titan: Reiner Braun

colossal titan: Bertolt Hoover and currently Armin Artlert

Female Titan: Annie Leonhart

Cart Titan: Pieck Finger

Beast Titan: Thomas Zsaver, Zeke Yeager, half elder brother of Eren

jaw Titan: Marcel Galliard, the girl named Ymir (no relation to Ymir the founder), Porco Galliard

warhammer Titan: Laura Tybur, currently Eren Yeager during the attack of Liberio

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Akessel92
Edit for season 4

[MoKat]

This news dropped today...

Funimation folds into Crunchyroll to create one giant anime platform [Polygon]

Quote

Crunchyroll announced that starting on Tuesday, the entire library of Funimation anime — including shows, movies, and previously exclusive upcoming simulcast premieres — will live under the Crunchyroll brand. This move follows the acquisition of Crunchyroll by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., who last year purchased the anime streaming service from AT&T and WarnerMedia for $1.175 billion.

Funimation’s anime library is moving over to Crunchyroll [The Verge]

Quote

The consolidation of Crunchyroll doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Last August, Sony — which also owns Funimation — completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion and announced plans to unify both services under a single subscription.

An FAQ page notes that Crunchyroll subscribers will now have access to simulcast content that was previously only available on Funimation and Wakanim, as well as 80 percent of Funimation and Wakanim’s “most popular existing series.” It’s unclear whether Crunchyroll will house the entire Funimation library (since there is some overlap between the content on both platforms already). Funimation will also no longer stream any new anime series starting this spring — they’ll be available on Crunchyroll from this point on — but will still add new episodes of continuing series.

 

[Mike Arcade]

Because Current Star Wars and Star Trek is a lumbering, undead corpse, I've recently gotten back into Gundam as a Series. Mainly looking over the Original Timeline, the Universal Century. Since I watched the Mobile Suit Gundam Film Trilogy and The Origin some years back, I've slowly gotten into Mobile Suit Gundam's sequel series, Zeta Gundam. I know the 3rd upcoming episode I'd watch will have a dark moment in the series for our main character, but I'm still looking forward to the journey of it all. Debating if I should skip Double Zeta though. @Sorzo What do you think?

[MoKat]

14 hours ago, Mike Arcade said:

Because Current Star Wars and Star Trek is a lumbering, undead corpse

🤣 It's funny cuz it's true.

I just realized that I've never seen Double Zeta, so we'll just wait for Sorzo to weigh in on it. Gundam Wing was the first series I saw (thanks to Cartoon Network).

[TheRedStranger]

@Nagol@MoKat Thoughts on this?

[MoKat]

I wish I could say that I'm surprised by this, but actually their working environment has been terrible for decades. It -does- seem to have gotten worse these days though

The business model is in serious need of an overhaul.

 

[MoKat]

I just saw this...

Meowth’s voice actor is retiring from the Pokémon anime due to cancer [Polygon]

Quote

James Carter Cathcart, the English-language voice actor for James and Meowth and others in the Pokémon anime series, is retiring from his roles after 25 years due to cancer. His work on the show will conclude at the end of season 25 of the show, called Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, his wife Martha Jacobi said on Monday.

Cathcart was first diagnosed with cancer in late January. Per his wife’s description, the cancer started at the base of his tongue and later spread to both sides of his tongue and lymph glands in his neck. On April 17, Jacobi said on CaringBridge that his tumors did not respond to the chemotherapy as anticipated and that more aggressive treatment was needed. Additionally, he would be ending his work on the show.

“Jimmy has decided to retire from script adapting and voice dubbing for Pokémon USA, effective at the conclusion of Season 25. He has been with the series since the 1st episode, so it is a timely decision as the series transitions to new characters and story lines,” Jacobi said on CaringBridge.

Cathcart’s voice is a familiar comfort to many who grew up watching the Pokémon series. He has played the recurring roles of two members of Team Rocket, the flamboyant James and the special-speaking Meowth since the series started in addition to characters like Professor Oak and other Pokémon. Although he played the role of two of the series' “bad guys,” both James and Meowth are fixtures of the franchise and have grown into beloved characters as fans watched their antics over the years.

 

[Mike Arcade]

That's so sad, I pray for him and his family.

While I never watched ALL of Pokemon, it was apart of my childhood growing up.

[MoKat]

3 hours ago, Mike Arcade said:

While I never watched ALL of Pokemon, it was apart of my childhood growing up.

Same with me, Mike.