Focslain

On 3/28/2026 at 5:33 PM, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

I am kinda surprised 2nd season did not capstone with that arc, having said that..  that story would require more then 1 or 2 episodes..   

So word is this is why they cut the season short. So that way they could use a full season to do the Golden Arc. 

On 3/28/2026 at 5:33 PM, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

Debating Oshi no Ko S3,   S2 left a bad taste in my mouth and I have not heard much about S3.

Oshi no Ko S3 returns to it's darker roots. I have a feeling that S2 was to develop the side cast as most seem to be returning for a movie project involving the MCs.  

3 minutes ago, azrael said:

Haven't watched this (topic) show yet, but...

It is doubtful any of these Trek-productions will get a greenlight anytime soon, given the current financial landscape of Paramount-Skydance-WB-Discovery. The only way I see anyTrek happening is if it can be done on the cheap. 

Year One would be the best bet then as it seems the sets for SNW sets are still around. Plus that looks like what they were heading to do after SNW had it's run. 

38 minutes ago, Big s said:

I didn’t hate the remake, but it did make me rewatch and really enjoy the original much more. The old one had very minimalistic things going on, but it really was great fun and much more enjoyable overall 

Agreed, Orange's take on the series does seem a little darker then the OG anime. When you mentioned bailing on Stampede I figured you didn't finish it so just wanted to give a heads up on Stargaze. 

11 hours ago, Big s said:

I kinda figured. That is really ugly animation on the new one

I take it your not a fan of the original manga art style then. 

22 minutes ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

TRIGUN STARGAZE,   dunno.   I bailed on the first remake.   I can't see this being any better. 

As a heads up, this is the continuation of Stampede, so if you didn't finish that your going to be lost in this one cause it assumes you watched the prior season.

9 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Thanks for the heads up.  I have a feeling I'll probably decide to pass on Clevatess S2.  Clevatess S1 has already pretty much lost me.

Figured I save you some headache. I'd be more interested in a S2 if....

On 12/16/2025 at 8:32 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

Since the season's winding down, I decided to go back and give Clevatess a whirl.  It seemed like a promising work of dark fantasy for the first couple episodes... but it definitely feels like that promising start is being wasted past the halfway point.  After spending half a dozen episodes on the existential threat posed by Clevatess and the dark beasts and how all of the humanoid races are confined to one small corner of the world by unnatural apex predators they have no hope of defeating, abruptly changing gears from that to "generic evil wizards want the baby" is such a massive f***ing downgrade that it's hard not to feel disappointed.  There's no depth to them either.  They're just psychopaths.  Pretty boring fare.

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It's not helped in the slightest that every evil wizard so far feels compelled to immediately destroy any tension they might created by accident or design by monologuing to all and sundry about how their respective unique magic works.  It's not even well done or situationally appropriate, like the braggadocio of a Jojo villain or Jujutsu Kaisen's cursed technique users getting a power boost from the implicit contract of explaining their technique to the enemy.  It's just the kind of pace-breaking soliloquy that makes you wish the protagonists would tell them to shut up or demand to know who f***ing asked.

 

Nearly as bad is how Clevatess's blood magic removes the stakes and tension from any confrontation with a Human or Humanoid.  For Alicia and Nelluru, death isn't merely cheap... it's a glorified revolving door.  Injuries still hurt, but as long as Clevatess's magic sustains them there's no way to make them stay down.  They both also seem to have superhuman strength from coming back from the dead too.  

 

I enjoyed Clevatess, was better then the other edgy fantasy slop we've have in recent years. The humaniods fighting each other is on par with human infighting even during an existential crisis. 

1 hour ago, DarrinG said:

Just watched Critical Drinker's review. He's saved me from so much sorrow.

I CANNOT believe this was made. They should have put Jar Jar Banks in it...

 

That must be a nice super power it review a movie that doesn't release for 7 months from now. Can does he give out lotto numbers?

On 5/15/2025 at 10:04 AM, Big s said:

Is this a different version than the one that already came out?

Yeah, the Delta version has a catgirl pilot. 

18 hours ago, sh9000 said:

My set just shipped today.

Says the same for mine, though tracking it hasn't left the warehouse yet. So guessing arrival of next week?

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Started watching The Apothecary Diaries today since the new season simulcasts haven't started yet, and this one is unexpectedly a lot of fun.

Considering your coming off of Ameku MD, Maomao will be a treat, plus all the drama of a royal court drama. It will be a decent palette cleanser. 

3 hours ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

Sakamoto Days -    The way the final episode was setting things up its almost guaranteed to have more coming.     I'll admit it was entertaining,   and I would watch more whenever Netflix green lights more of it.  

It was already announced to be split into two cours of 11 eps each with a break season between them. So it will be back in the summer.

Satelight is also doing A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School and co-producing Ubel Blatt with Staple Entertainment. 

So they are doing 3.5 projects currently?

9 hours ago, Graham said:

Yeah, it is so fun......I'm so enjoying it.

Just unlocked the Extra missions last night. Really enjoyed fighting Hikaru in his VF-1S using an untuned VF-0A....I died. LOL!

Turned the tables on him using my tuned VF-31A though....hahah

Using the untuned/detuned stuff is a challenge. Generally just took Makina as my copilot for infinite missile spam and got good at dodging.

On 2/3/2025 at 7:16 AM, Urashiman said:

cool, congratulations - I am thinking about getting a vita TV for scramble, as it apparently works properly on the big screen. Scramble is probably the only game I want to play on Vita, maybe uncharted too, but I've been told Golden Abyss pretty much sucks and does nothing to Nathan Drakes story. I don't want to purchase a console to play only one game on it (again).

Pretty much the only reason I got a PSVita TV was to play this game. It does work just fine, haven't played it in months but over time I've gotten everything unlocked/maxed out and almost platium'd the game. Just can't SS rank this one mission. Still a fun run. 

So finished a (re)watch of 86 yesterday, that ending still gets me even after 3 rewatchs (was a friend's first run). 

Saturday we are going thru Arifureta. Enjoying it more then I thought I would, but I just turn my brain off for it and enjoy the ride. We're about to hit S2 and plan to swap to SLF S2 after that.

Sunday group watch is a little behind due to the holidays. 

SAO Alternative GGO - Enjoying it, not as much as the first season, but it's doing ok.
Mechanical Arm - This has TRIGGER written all over it and has been a ride, if massively predictable. The last little twist was a nice touch of minor mis-direction.
Teacher Scared at Ghoul School - Not my thing, but the group is enjoying it so... meh.
Demonlord 2099 - the world building is neat but V3's OPness is a bit much. Fact they swapped to a magic school in the second half while leaving the crux of the problem discussed the first half was a huh moment.
I Parry Everything - Not going to lie, this series, while it had one main joke, was a decent one. Hope it doesn't get another season. It was fun for the ride.
Ranma 1/2 - Enjoying the reboot, liking the new art style and hope they continue this. We're doing the dub version and it's just fine. We just got to Shampoo and it does sound like they got some-one that english is not their first language. Which is a nice touch.

The votes are in for next season which we are doing:

Violet Evergarden
Sakamoto Days
Solo Leveling S2
Dr. Stone (final season)
Dandadan
I May be a Guild Receptionist

Not sure what Mondays are going to be. we're still deciding on that. 

The USAGS has it for the cheapest I've seen so far at $480, get a discount code or two and it would be cheaper.  

2 hours ago, Froy said:

Holy I'm so in. Always wanted imperial knight. Need to check when it comes to see if I have enough time to save the money.

It's up for pre-order now, estimated release is June/July of '25

15 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

First Astartes, then the Knights... Joytoy Warlord titan engine when? 🤣

(In the same 1/18 scale, a Warlord titan would be 1.82m tall.)

Speaking of Warlord titans, this thing stands nearly as tall as the FW one. Strongly considering getting two (one to keep, one to convert) to make a cheaper titan. 

So mine arrived saturday. Got home after a long day mecha piloting (40k tournament, played Imperial Knights) and it was on my porch. Thankfully it was flat and the porch pirates seemed to have truely moved on. 

I don't normally get special editions like this, last one I got was the LoGH one Senti did years ago.

This thing is awesome. Artprints are nice and going to frame/mount some in my new den. I do need to get a separate DVD holder just so I can store those with the rest of my anime collection. Though I didn't have any issues popping them out and placing them back in. 

Will read through the book over the winter. I kind of hope they do something like this for others, at least for the Delta version make it a translated collection of the book inserts they did for the first run. 

Had to check cause my card didn't ding like it tends to do. Was charged and found shipping email. Should arrive soonish.

This looks neat and in the style I like that I might have to get one. Will check on the pricing, I can wait for the long term shipping. I have more then enough other model projects on my plate.

edit: Just looked at the price, free shipping and only $120, chances are good I'll be grabbing this next month.

Thanks @mikeszekely for the find.

15 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I am really enjoying The Apothecary Diaries. It is so good.

MaoMao is a treat, if your watching the sub version there are several points where she channels Tanya. Cause same VA.

Can't wait for the next season (been announced at least) 

16 minutes ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

So I'm pretty far in on Oshi no Ko S2,  ep 21 at this point.    And in the course of 2 episodes they may have just killed the entire series for me.   S1 was far superior to whatever this is,   S2 is falling into the character over exposition trope that is treating the viewer as if they are idiots.    There are still a few episodes to go,  and they spent waaaaay too long on this play.  However that is the least of its issues currently,    when you remove the driving factor from an MC it makes them dull.     Congrats. 

Soooo about that...
 

1 hour ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

I have Given Oshi no Ko Season 2 enough time to develop a good head start so I will start watching it.   Hopefully its as good as the first season was.

Oshi no Ko S2 seems to have been split into two arcs, the Aqua/Theater arc and the Ruby arc. It just got to the Ruby arc. First half focuses on Aqua and the theater group he is working with. So not as good as S1, but still interesting.