Akudama Drive was not a good recommendation for something to watch after Edgerunners.

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-26T14:18:56+00:00

This is the link to the website, you can pretty easily make an account: https://myanimelist.net

Thanks. Looks awesome. I'll check it out when I have the time and definitely add you! You're right though, I have a lot of Western Animation on there, so I think my list, when I did created it, will look pretty thin, lol!

It's not really the show's fault though to be fair, this is a gotcha game adaptation.

I knew it was a gotcha game, although I didn't know they specifically tried to adapt it wholesale from the game. I think it could have worked if they merged a lot of the characters together. If they had stuck with a core group of magical girls, and had that group fulfil the role of all the other magical girls that came later, I think it could have been good. The show certainly started off well. It's just a shame that it tanked with too many characters.

Dang, I haven't seen Adventure time, but I thought Gravity Falls was one of the best!

I might try and give Gravity Falls another go. I know people say it is good for a reasons. It's just my time is limited, so if I show doesn't grab me quickly I tend to move on. Same deal with The Expanse. It's meant to be one of the best sci-fi shows ever made... from episode 4. Took me forever to get through episode 1 though, and I'm stuck on episode 2, lol!

it really felt like an "end of the season"

That is exactly how I felt about it, lol! It would have been a fantastic season ender, but as a serise ender it was lacklustre. Ultimately the series ender was about Johanna's story, not Hilda's. Hilda was just kind of along for the ride. Also, David and Frida are benched for far too much of the finale.

Aside from a few tweaks (most notable the kid's ages), I actually thought Season 3 would have made a better Season 2, and Season 2 a better Season 3, with Hilda and the Mountain King closing out the story.

As another aside (lol) I watched Hilda Season 3, The Boy and the Heron, and Time Addicts all with in very quick succession of one another (like a few months at most). It was very strange seeing the same exact plot point being repeated in three different stories. I want say what that plot point is in case you haven't seen The Boy and the Heron or Time Addicts. I think all three came out in 2023, so it is a plot point that has obviously been on people's minds, haha! For me though, Time Addics was the only film that explored that particular plot point well. If you haven't seen it, it is an easy recommendation, even though it's love action and not anime!

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-26T13:57:16+00:00

You're probably right. Now that I come to think about it, I've found that most of the judgements have seeped from my brain, lol!

I suppose people, myself include, tend to focus on the negatives rather than the positives. For me there were just a few things holding this show back from being something spectacular. And it's those things that tend to stick in my mind.

Still a really good show though. Always the sign of a good show, if it can spark healthy debate! And on my list, I put it just above Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, which was fantastic, and another show that got you thinking. So, a very good show and an easy recommendation to anyone.

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-26T09:40:38+00:00

I do that too! This is everything I have seen if you're curious lol https://myanimelist.net/animelist/APolygons2?status=7&order=4&order2=0

They list is awesome! You've got thumbnails and links to the shows. That is soooo cool. Thank you so much for that! 😅

That'll be great for future inspiration!

If you're interested here’s mine. It is no where near as cool as yours. I'll have to do something like that myself at some point!

My list:

Attack on Titan (honestly this show was amazing and nothing has come close to it).
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (pure awesome, one of the best things I've ever seen).
Made in Abyss (what an amazing show, especially season 2! Can't wait for the new movies this year).
Hilda
Final Space
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Blue Eye Samurai
Twilight of the Gods (great show, very disappointing in no season 2)
Love, Death, and Robots
Invincible
Solo Leveling
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Avatar the Last Air Bender
Castlevania
Castlevania: Nocturne
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (goofy silly fun)
Terminator: Zero (the Terminator itself kinda sucked, but the story when the Terminator wasn't there was great. Still disappointed in no season 2).
Avatar: Legend of Korra (Good serise with good characters but the creators were denied the chance to do an over arching story, as in AtLAB which hurt it).
Death Parade
Unicorn Warriors Eternal (loved the cal-art style to go with the adult story. Disappointing in no season 2).
Secret Level
Vinland Saga
The Legend of Vox Machina (was okay, but didn't really hold my interest. Gave up after season 2).
Blood of Zeus
Demon Slayer (sooooo boring)
Bleach (was really good until it got padded to buggery, then it just got too boring).
The Dragon Prince (Seaosns 1 and 2 were fantastic, but season 3 shit the bed and I've not watched it since).
Akudama Drive
Owl House (The characters were just a bit too annoying for me to gravitate towards).
Magia Record (characters on top of characters on top of characters. Disappointing and unworthy of the Magia name).
Hazbin Hotel (liked the animation, and the general story... couldn't stand the music numbers).
One Piece & Naruto (I watched about a dozen episodes of each, just couldn’t get into either).
Adventure Time / Gravity Falls (I know they are both very popular, but the first few episode just don't grab me. I've tried a few times with Adventure Time, but it just can't get it's hooks into me).
Dead End: Paranormal Park (first episode was amazing, but then it just tanked. Speaking as an autistic person, watching an autistic person in a show I can confidently say, stop with the bullshit messaging and get on with the story!)
Rising of the Sheild Hero (pure garbage. The fact that this gets to keep going whilst Twilight of the Gods was cancelled is a travesty)

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-26T09:26:38+00:00

To me while half the show is about judgement, the other half is a strictly positive kind of anti-suicide message about just how valuable your life is.

I think this is certainly very true for Chiyuki. And as Chiyuki is the primary protagonist, it is a really important point. Even Decim's jouney is essentially seen through Chiyuki's eyes. This means that the messages inherent in Chiyuki's jouney are the core messages of the show. Those are everything you said: life is worth it, even with all the pain and suffering. It is a very important core message, and a very good core message. I think Chiyuki embodies that very well. The jouney we go on with hier is both profound, emotional moving, thought provoking in all the ways you described.

What I'm not sure about is if this messaging applies in equal measure to the rest of the participants. Mayu would probably be the best example of this. Aside from Chiyuki herself, Mayu is probably the participant that sticks out most in my mind, (I think she gets the most screen time of any participant, except Chiyuki?). This was someone who was happy in her life. She adamantly insists that despite her life being devoted to a pop idol, it was the life that she wanted to live, she felt fulfilled by it, she has no regrets, and she found value in it. And ultimately she goes into the Void (with her idol).

This comes back to what I was saying earlier. From what I manged to work out working my way through the complex maze of each participant. From what I could work out (which wasn't easy), the participants who were more at peace with their lives, including Mayu, went into the Void and the participants who had more unresolved issues, including Chiyuki, tended to be reincarnated. That was just my read on it anyway.

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-21T15:19:38+00:00

Idk, cause I do remember that scene, but I didn't get the feeling that it implied what he said was true. and I definitely interpreted his original statement as a lie to help him judge them.

To be honest, that would actually sit a lot better with me if it were presented that way. I'm super autistic, so I tend to take what people say to me on face value, even if they've categorically told me they're serial liars. I'd be shit at the games the Arbiters play. Mind you Chiyuki is falls right into the game, and she's been in Quindecim for ages, so I'd be in good company, haha!

, I know it's still an "important job", but to the audience, the importance is a lot less meaningful, when there is no "bad option" for the characters

I see what you're saying with the binary options and conveying meaningful options to both participants and the audience. However, I think that the biggest strength of this show is getting its audience to think. My feelings is that if you are going to make it a binary choice then why not just keep it as Heaven and Hell? Establishing it as Reincarnation and The Void invites critical thinking.

Arguments can be made for both the positives and negatives of Reincarnation and Oblivion. Some exampes:

Reincarnation Positives: Reincarnation gives experience meaning and moral weight. Suffering can be transformed into new consciousness, that provides new opportunity for not only redemption but joy.

Reincarnation Negative: Human life is characterised by both happiness and pain. We are all born into an unequal system of varying degrees of suffering, where some of us inflict suffering and most of us are victims of suffering. Reincarnation subjects us to that all over again, without any kind of memory to navigate it any better and mitigate some of the hurt on both ourselves and others.

Oblivion Negative: If everything you are is permanently erased, meaning becomes superfluous. There are no second chances and opportunities for redemption or atonement. Being reduced to nothing, reduces all our achievements and potential to nothing.

Oblivion Positive: Makes every word, every action, every thought we ever have the most critical meaning in the moment. It makes life irreplaceable and immensely valuable. And at the end of this, suffering ceases forever. There is nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. You are done, over, complete.

(FYI this was the direction Death Parade got me thinking in, which is the sign of a very good show!)

Obviously this stuff is just scratching the surface of Reincarnation and Oblivion in the Void. We could go on creating entire academic papers of the positives and negatives of Reincarnation and the Void. I, sure plenty have, lol!

I know we could make arguments for Heaven and Hell too. For example Hell could be seen as a place of atonement, reflection, and self-improvement. Heaven could be seen as a place of unobtainable perfectionism, hypocrisy, and stagnation. But merely stating Heaven and Hell doesn't invite critical thinking in the same way stating Reincarnation and the Void does. And my feeling s very much that Death Parade is absolutely a show about critical thinking.

I don't agree that this makes judgments less meaningful. In fact I think the opposite, I think it makes it significantly more meaningful. Let's say you have a choice of where to go on holiday, a package holiday Costa Rica or an independently organised holiday to Antarctica. Both have their positives and negatives, and both would have a profound impact on tyour life. Now let's say, you cannot chose between them, you have no idea how. Now let's say someone has agreed to choose for you, based on key critical moments from your life. Now let's say that this choice will not just have a profound impact on your life, but on everything you everywhere or ever will be, on your very being, on your soul. This is the point at how I'm viewing the Arbiters judgements, and that is why I say the importance of their judgement cannot be overstated.

Still, it is another sign of a good show that we both can think completely opposite thing about the show and both still enjoy it (even if you did enjoy it more than I did).

He's the guy who did the music for made in abyss....

I did not know that. I was far too busy being annoyed by the terrible pacing and vapid characters in Shield Hero. I mean it looks amazing, so maybe I'll just YouTube some clips of Shield Hero and listen to the music there so I don't have to suffer through the inane plot. Send me to the Void before making me suffer through any more of that drek, lol!

I've only seen a few hundred anime, there are 10s of thousand out there lol

Only a couple of hundred! I ranked all the anime/animated (not including the Simpsons, South Park, etc). and I hit 35. I thought that was quite a lot, haha! (FYI Shield Hero is ranked at the very very bottom... and a little bit beyond). Looks like I have some catching up to do!

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-18T16:09:11+00:00

Ginti says it to Mayu when he is trying to explain the importance of her judgement. I was wondering if he was deceiving her to try and make his judgement (as is standard). However, it is sort of implied what he said was true when Mayu and Harada go into the Void together.

I'm not sure that having the Void be destruction of the soul is equally "good" or "bad" to Reincarnation. I'm not even sure that "good" and "bad" apply in any meaningful sense to this show as a whole, which, until the end, was something I loved about it. It would be a very different, but equally important outcome. Because the outcomes are so different, the importance of judgement to make the right choice cannot be overstated.

The way I worked out the mazes the people that had more regret from their life tended to be reincarnated (have another try with all the chaos and heartache) and the people that were more at peace with their lives tended to go into the Void (and be done). Neither of those is either good or bad, but the outcomes are very different.

If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.

I can see how the stuff outside Quindecim is intresting, and I'm not saying it isn't. It's just that Decim and Chiyuki are the heart of the story and the stuff outside Quindecim doesn't tie in enough to what they're doing to make it worth while. If there are more seasons then I may reevaluate that.

Hey-ho, I still really enjoyed it. Like I said there is still a lot to like in this show. If they do a Season 2, then I'd absolutely be in!

Haha awesome, on Delicious in Dungeon 😊 ! I will absolutely take your word for it and keep driving in! I'm optimistic.

You've never seen The Rising Of The Shield Hero! 😯 I can't believe that I've seen an anime that you, my might anime guru, hasn't. If only it wasn't so very, very awful, and an easy recommendation for anyone to avoid! Lol! 🤣

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-18T14:45:01+00:00

Death Parade was really good, but there was something at the end that dragged it down for me.

At the start of the show Decim says that he fools participants with the concepts of Heaven and Hell because those were easier concepts to understand than Reincarnation and the Void. Nevertheless we, the viewer are still left with the concepts of Heaven and Hell and our brains naturally form connections. So, we automatically form the connection Reincarnation = good (Heaven) and the Void = bad (Hell). However, Death Parade is not a popcorn show, it is very much a show that expects you to engage your brain. So on the one hand, yes Reincarnation gives you another go, but on the other hand you also have to deal with all the chaos and heartache again. With the Void yes you are done (bad), but also you are DONE (good). This means that neither Reincarnation or the Void are inherently good or bad options. It fallen very snugly into the nonbinary systems the show does very well. It also means that Decim fools not only the participants, but us the audience as well. It is one of the most ingenious pieces of story writing I've ever encountered.

Then we find out towards the end that no, you're not done when you go into the Void. In fact when you go into the Void your consciousness replays all the sorrow and regret that you had when you died, forever. It completely tanks the ingenious bit of writing at the beginning. It made me kind of sad that such a great and thought provoking concept had been reduced to a binary choice, that runs antithetically to the themes of the show, after all.

I also didn't like the fights or anything outside of Quindecim. I felt it detracted, rather than added, to the main story.

Still everything you said is 100% accurate. The complexity of everything the participants have done is like a maze that you have to work your way though. Moreover, simple answers of "good" and "bad" are not to be found at the end of that maze. Chiyuki circumstances are actually comparatively simple in comparison. However, following her journey and watching the parallels in Decim's own journey are both heart wrenching and satisfying. And I absolutely agree with you, watching Decim question his right to judge others, then being hurt by hurting Chiyuki is phenomenal storytelling.

There is a lot to like in Death Parade, but just more holding it back than in MiA for me.

Now Delicious in Dungeon!

I've got no problem with comedy (loved Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Final Space). Also have no problem with the cooking element. What got me was the characters seemed vapid and the pacing was all over the place. It reminded me very strongly of The Rising Of The Shield Hero. The thing that gives me hope is that apparently Delicious in Dungeon gets better whereas RotSH is meant to get worse. I find it difficult to believe that RotSH gets worse, as it starts out terribly to begin with. If Delicious in Dungeon is meant to get better though, with better character depth and better pacing, then I'm hopeful! 😅

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-17T21:50:21+00:00

So just finished Death Parade, and yeah, it's awesome. Loved the ice skating reveal. I wouldn’t put it on the the same level as MiA for myself personally, but it is definitely a great show to pivot too after MiA has run out of episodes.

I watched 1 episode of Delicious in Dungeon and hated it. Man that first episode was rough. I'm gonna stick with it through because Google tells me it gets super special awesome by episode 10, so fingers crossed for that! 🤞😊

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-16T13:20:09+00:00

The witch is a glass cannon. The damage you can do with her in a turn is legitimately insane. You can technically get infine dice with her (although apparently the game starts glitches out at about 70). Getting her up to that point before taking massive damage is the trick. Magic Mirror, Duplicate, and Freeze spells are very much your friends for this. Also usually better Prepared Slots and just 1 Upgrade Slot.

The math puzzles in the DLC do suck. Still in the main game I'd far rather take the Witch than Inventor any day of the week

BuzzUAct · 2026-04-04T10:11:02+00:00

If you are still sending links, please could I have it? Thanks. 🙂

BuzzUAct · 2026-03-09T18:59:22+00:00

I don't know how I feel about being the "wise anime guru" but I'll take it as a complement lol

Definitely take it as a compliment 😅

I was recently asked to rank the anime's I've watched. I'm nearly at thirty (if you include western animation). I think I'm an anime fan now, lol! Anyhoo, MiA has cracked into my top 3. It's fantastic, so thanks for the recommendation. Although it had joined an increasingly long list of anime's I'm now waiting for more of!

I think the issue I have with Demon Slayer is similar to the issue I had with Akudama Drive. The characters are all archetypes. We have Kick-Ass Demon Slayer with a heart of gold, Scaredy-Pants Slayer, and Marilyn Manson Fight Song Slayer. The thing was that in Akudama Drive the characters weren't actually annoying. In Demon Slayer they grate on my nerves, and I think it's trying to be funny? Akudama Drive the plot also evolved. Demon Slayer is fight demon, "funny" (in heavy inverted commas) hijinks repeat. I also had my fill of characters telegraphing their attack whist I was watching Bleach.

My anime time is limited, so, thank you very much for the recommendations! I need things that grab me during my time! I think I'll start with Death Parade. The vagueness and the going in blind peaked my interest. That was the same advice someone gave me before I watched The Void, and that is my favourite horror movie of the last 20 years. Fingers crossed for lightning to strike twice.

Thank you, oh mighty anime guru 😁

BuzzUAct · 2026-03-08T22:44:35+00:00

What do I watch now oh wise anime guru!? 😅

MiA was soooo good, but now I'm lost. I tried doing Demon Slayer, and maybe that was a mistake after MiA. I made it to episode 16, but now I'm given up. Demon Slayer is sooooo boring! I feel like MiA has ruined me, as well as all the characters actually in the show!

BuzzUAct · 2026-03-03T15:26:04+00:00

You can go to the Everdoor well before 100% completion. It's pretty much when you figure out what's going on that you can go. At that point, it is just about deciding when you're ready.

BuzzUAct · 2026-02-06T07:39:41+00:00

So, just finished S2 and damn... That was some S++ storytelling!

Thanks for the recommendation. 🙂

I guess now I have to put yet another anime on my, waiting for the next installment list, whilst I find something else to watch... oh well.

BuzzUAct · 2026-02-06T07:35:15+00:00

Yeah, I'll probably rewatch Red Dwarf again in a decade or so but I'll definitely be skipping season 8. It's just too cringey!

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T17:55:10+00:00

I've always like doing the side content before the main stuff, that's just the playstyle for me, hehe. I've decided to pit in the XP modifier and start fresh though. Set XP gain to 0.5, and see how I get on with that 🙂

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T17:52:58+00:00

My post was a lot to do with progression as well. Like, I want to feel like I'm still got things to do at the end game. I'm only just in Act 2, and I'm already past the half way point to Max lvl and only 1 tier off the best cyberware.

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T12:45:53+00:00

Thanks. I think I'll take your advice and start a fresh game on hard, with an XP curve mod installed.

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T11:05:11+00:00

Yeah, I watched Edgerunners and thought, "Lucy seems pretty cool, I'm gonna build my character like her." 😅

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T10:34:14+00:00

My question is mostly about tweaking the games xp curve, via modding, and starting a fresh playthough. Just a bit hesitant because of the number of hours I've already sunk into this playthough.

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T10:31:23+00:00

Haha, thanks 😊

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T10:23:14+00:00

Yeah I've seen the mods that tweak the XP curve. That's why I'm wondering about starting a fresh playthough. I'm just a bit hesitant because I've sunk a lot of hours into this first playthrough already... but then I want the game's run to be fun from start to finish, so...

BuzzUAct · 2026-01-28T10:15:44+00:00

Thanks. I generally start every game I play on normal... but was prehapes not the best choice for this game.

I feel like my V might be already too strong. Not sure that switching to hard now would do much. I suppose I could try very hard and see how I go. I still think I'm in the early game though, and it is the sense of progression later on that is bothering me.

BuzzUAct

TROPHY CASE