Cy~

Actually, this is true. If you're watching something in this genre, then I think that Overlord is honestly the stronger show. Quite frankly, they have a lot more fun with it. The focus is more on the "let's be goofy" than on the "let's explain this world!" Another show that's in the same vein is Konosuba, which is basically comedy gold if you don't mind a bit of ecchi.

I've been debating getting this actually. I watched and sorta enjoyed the anime, but haven't purchased the VN, yet. Would you say that it's really worth it?

I know that zin already replied to this, but I wanted to chime in as well from the perspective of someone that has actually worked in retail at a food storefront (paid to serve). I'll caveat this, first, by saying that I think there may be some kind of culture gap here. In the US, it's very common for total strangers to say "thank you" and "please" to total and complete strangers. However, a lot of people completely disregard local courtesy when they're dealing with people in the service industries. Instead of the normal greetings and interaction, people allow themselves to become animals, treating people in a way that is borderline harassment and sometimes in a way that is literally verbal or physical abuse. This. Is. Common. In your post, you say, "I don't think I should be given any special privileges just because I'm a human". That's completely orthogonal. We're not talking about special privileges. We're talking about the baseline treatment that most people give other people over here. Have you ever heard the saying, "I wouldn't even treat my dog like that!" Maybe not, but in the Southern US (where I'm from), it was a common criticism directed at people that treated servers poorly. Because, they DON'T tend to treat the workers like they're human. That's obviously bad. Back to the topic, I'll just say that I also value treating people with respect and decency. I grew up with this particular trait deeply embedded into me, and I have a lot of respect for people that treat people equivalently, regardless of rank and circumstances.

@Orius Oh, okay. Sorry you feel that way.

That isn't what I wanted. I'm honestly interested in other shows that have similar stories, and I was just playing around in my response. I have a shit ton of respect for you and your views, and I was actually really interested in what you had to say. An argument wasn't really what I had in mind, I was just playing around.

Disagree! Clannad There's never really any ambiguity in the anime on this for me. The guy has a lot of female friends, sure, and they're close to him, sure. However, it's very, very, very clear that Nagisa is the one. In fact, she's right there with him in most of the cases as he helps and supports others. It really doesn't feel like a harem at all, and that's Clannad, which was NOT what I referenced in my original post. After Story After Story is definitely not a harem. The guy gets married. He has a kid. It may contain tropes, but I think that they're overshadowed by the power of the story. What is the story? It's a story of loss, in a boring domestic setting. It's a story of degradation, the humiliation foisted upon us when we fall short of our childhood hopes and dreams. It's about the pain of grief, and it's also about the pain of hope. I don't think that there are a "lot" of slice-of-life anime that developed later than After Story and did the same thing better. I have looked for them and I really, really, really could not find any of them. I think that this is a true statement only if you ignore basically the entire familial component of the After Story (which was, literally, the bulk of it). Now, come at me, Orius... You say that it isn't timeless and that other anime have done the same thing but better. You know what, I'll tell you what. I actually wouldn't mind if that was true. I loved After Story, so if you could point me at something that had the same family-based story that takes place with adults in an adult world, then I would be happy. You see, I want you to prove it. I challenge you! Come at me!

By the way, I have to be honest here. I totally lied to you with my response. HOWEVER, there's a good reason for this! If I screw everything up and no one finds out, then wouldn't I be outing myself? Gosh, what's the point in answering this kind of question seriously. You're going to get me in trouble!!! Don't you know... My spouse is a mod on this site, omfg.

I think that a lot of visual novels are fully voiced, but the animation is not a thing yet. It turns out that animation is actually jaw-droppingly expensive, even if you're using a sweat shop. Actually, I'm working on my own visual novel right now, hahaha. I had a moment of sheer terror when I first saw the cost to develop high quality music and non-animated art for a novel sized visual novel. When I calculated it out for the millions of words that some visual novels had, it was actually insane. Voice stuff? That's also pretty expensive. Animation? Oh god, it's ridiculous. With THAT said, there are actually a few VN series that might count - Danganronpa Ace Attorney (does this count?) Tokyo Dark (current in development, but shaping up to possibly be one of my fave games) I feel like I'm missing a few, but these are a start?

Would you say that visual novels fill this gap? I get that they don't have the animation, but they often have the story elements and fairly impressive static graphics and music?

I just purchased this as well! Believe it or not, I've never played Steins;Gate. I'd only watched the anime, but your VN related posts have convinced me that I need to give this a try. I think I'll love it.

What are the things that cause you to raise your estimation of someone? I don't mean the things that impress you. Nearly anyone can be impressed by anything. I'm talking about the things that IMPRESS you. Capslock, underline, italics, bold impress. Things that force you to think of someone in a better light. For me - Acts of tremendous kindness, for the fuck of it. It's way too easy to just go on, every single day, living the same way without acknowledging others. I think it's important for people to give forward. Getting the shit kicked out of you and getting back up. Toughness is a virtue to me. There aren't many that I respect more. Someone that can fall apart and put themselves back together, emotionally or physically, I have a lot of respect for the simple ability that some people have to keep standing back up. Creativity. It can be writing, it can be talking, it can be reviewing, it can be anything. I just respect people that can be creative in any way form or fashion. What about you?

I think that my favorite book is Thud by Terry Pratchett. I went into it expecting something silly, and I left it feeling... Well, moved. It was something silly, but it was also something that was gripping, raw, and unintentionally passionate. Not quite what I expected from comedy fantasy. Clearly, I was an idiot. Since then, I've read all of Terry Prachett's other books. Just throwing this out there, but he's my favorite author. I cried like a bitch when he died. It was just so fucking unfair.

What are the anime that someone simply must see to call themselves a "fan"? Is there no such thing as this? Do they have to view every episode, or is it good enough to just give a try and then walk away? Keep in mind, this topic is just for fun. Basically, pretend that a martian just landed and they want to understand anime. What would you tell them to watch? Here's my own list of "required" anime: Azumanga Daioh Clannad: After Story Black Lagoon Everything by Studio Ghibli (actually, I feel like I could have just said this and then walked away, lmfao) Black Lagoon (just for the laughs of seeing their expressions at the flawless violence and bombast)

I really fucking think that there will be no other posts in this topic that are filled with nearly as much passionate feeling.

To me, the true test of a show is how well it holds up in ten or even thirty years. What about in a hundred years? What about in a thousand years? What about when aliens log into Crunchyroll while cruising around in space? Errr... You get what I mean? Some shows age poorly. It can be due to terrible production values, terrible writing, overuse of tropes. However, some shows age well. For whatever reason, they never seem to get old. The stories they tell could easily move people (or space aliens), even in a thousand years. I guess, if I had to name an example, I would say that I think Clannad: After Story is timeless. The story that the anime tells is built on family, an appreciation for the things that we overlook, how time changes things, and the substance of hope. None of those things will ever get old, and the production values were perfect for the story that they were telling. What are your timeless classics?

What are the things that you almost never see in anime? Is there a type of anime or a genre that you feel is simply not well represented? Have you ever watched an anime and then realized that it was the only one of its kind? For myself, I wish that there were more honest to goodness mystery anime that were well-made and actually bothered trying to be a decent mystery. It's weird, but one of the best mystery anime that I have ever seen was actually classified as a thriller - Monster. I guess I understand why there aren't more mysteries. A good mystery is really, really hard to do, and many people are tempted to take a formulaic, boring approach. However, those formulas only work in books and carefully crafted movies. For anime, I think that you have to try harder to "thread the needle". What are the things that you have seen to be underrepresented (or impossible to represent) in anime?

Anime wizards, I call upon you. I feel like @zoop and I have hit a phase where we have watched almost all of the things that we want to watch, and yet, we're certain that there's a lot of stuff still left to find. The problem is finding it. Once you get out of the top 100 or so shows, there don't seem to be many easy ways to filter down to the weird stuff that we might like. This particular issue has resulted in us just not having as many new things to watch as I would like, particularly during weak anime seasons. It also resulted in my wondering how others deal with this problem. How do you find shows that you're interested in? Do you rely on tips from others? Read reviews? Look for specific studios? Or, do you close your eyes and throw a dart? Talk to meee. o3o

Okay, so time to talk seriously about shoe durability. Do you know what kills shoes fast? Hiking. Hiking kills shoes fast, especially if you're flatfooted like me. This is why people usually recommend that you use sturdy tennis shoes or some kind of hiking boots. Well, I'm a rebel, so I don't use any of the above. Instead, I've done all of my hiking in Converse high tops. Before you mock me, can I just say that I actually struggle with more "serious" shoes. I'm flatfooted and I have permanent tendinitis throughout my body. Normal shoes are annoying for me. When I started hiking, my high tops started dying. They've been dying every fucking day since then until I discovered... WEATHERIZED CONVERSE HIGH TOPS. The weird looking things in the top left of the shoe pile in my original post? They're water proof, durable Converse. I have taken them on a half-dozen or so hikes at this point, and I have to say that they've been awesome. They're still in fantastic condition, and I expect them to last quite a while longer. I'm so happy!

Update time! I'm on vacation for a week, and it's time to hike the hell out of things. We'll start tomorrow with an easy (but pleasant) training hike. Do the same thing the day after, then wait a couple of days and do something crazy, then wait another couple of days and go to one of the most beautiful hikes in this region. FINGERS CROSSED. I'm desperately hoping that the weather will hold up well. It's been up and down, rainy and sunny. I just want sun, but ummm... Not too much?

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I thought that's what the car was, but I was too afraid of making a fool out of myself to take the guess! DX I have so much respect for the shit that you've done with those cars. That's, quite frankly, completely badass. I'm actually hoping to be the proud owner of a Fairline within the next few years. @zoop's dad (thus my dad) has one in reasonably good condition. He's hoping to work on it and bring it up to spec. If he does, then I want to try to buy it from him with a decent offer. I love fords, too! I didn't put it in my opening post, but one of the first vehicles that I drove in life was a 1970s ford truck. I ended up helping an uncle rebuild it, painting it, and doing all kinds of maintenance on it. I've been partial to fords ever since, hahaha.

Hahaha, I doubt it's any stranger than mine. If you want to test the waters, then feel free to send me a PM. We could talk on discord or something? I'm well spoken but crippled by social anxiety, myself, so I tend to be a friend to the weird, assuming that we don't automatically run from each other screaming in terror (which may yet happen, depending).

My sister is every moe anime trope. I'm perfectly serious. When I'm hanging out with her, I feel like a character from K-On broke out of the anime and managed to avoid being apprehended by truancy officers. It's kinda fun, tbh, but I definitely need a break after a while, hahaha.

I have to drive to the station, but it's only 5 minutes away. Once I'm there, it doesn't take me very long to get to my job. Other than that, I prefer to drive, since I'm a vehicle addict.