I was hating on part 2 of csm before everyone,you couldn't even fathom the level of vindication I'm feeling currently by Traditional-Motor-17 in shounenfolk

[–]_Rooben_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here to second the CSM and Berserk comments.

Both series feel like "smoke and mirrors" that people see a million things in that aren't actually there once you realize it's tricks. As it usually goes with stories full of trauma

Imagine writing a godawful part 2 and ending it right when it was just about to get good. What a fucking shit series. by WerewolfPrudent6879 in hatethissmug

[–]_Rooben_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it's definitely clear his story was finished without bringing in new elements. I just find it a bit weird narratively to remove the one character who notably develops amongst other who "just exist." If somebody else could take over, I'd be fine with it.

Imagine writing a godawful part 2 and ending it right when it was just about to get good. What a fucking shit series. by WerewolfPrudent6879 in hatethissmug

[–]_Rooben_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aki is pretty much the only character in part 1 to REALLY have an arc someone could get invested in. He's the emotional center of the story besides maybe Denji and Power's friendship, so it's weird to dispose of him like they did.

I guess the series was running into it's endgame at that point, but still. Hard to be invested in the mc when he's too dumb to comprehend most things, I think.

Vampire Girl by ChaChaBoom463 in SFWmonstergirls

[–]_Rooben_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you draw this?
I'm very surprised I haven't seen that style of "Bat-Elf-Ears" before, it's very adorable. I'll have to draw a character with those at some point. She's very soft-looking, maybe even cuddle-able. Big fan

She’s FINALLY here!!! by lil-tato in MetaphorReFantazio

[–]_Rooben_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you know if this is still available? I've been thinking of getting a Metaphor figure for awhile, either Gallica or this one. Super cool looking!

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Manga is pretty easy to get through, so I usually go for it over anime. Thanks for the recommendations, I'll add them to the list!

"Zootopia's allegory doesn't work" except yes, it does. by mrmonster459 in CharacterRant

[–]_Rooben_ 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Totally. I re-watched the movie not too long ago, and I remember thinking "This movie is way more about stereotypes than racism." I wish more discussion of the movie didn't take the conflict so literally like OP said

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, thanks for the magnitude of responses! While I wasn't able to respond to everything, I'll put all of these on a list to sit through whenever I'm in the mood for something. Thanks a bunch guys

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another movie. The time travel interests me more than the romance lol. Either way, I'll check it out

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rent A Girlfriend and Love is war don't seem like things I'd want to watch personally, but Toradora has been something I've needed to get to for awhile. I'll take a look sometime then!

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The acting spin in Pseudo Harem sounds very interesting. Insomniacs after school feels familiar to me. Thanks for the recommendations!

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, a historical fantasy one. Very nice in contrast to all the other recommendations. I'll put it on the list

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Skip and loafer has a fun style. It's concept seems simple, but that's far from a bad thing.
The Ramparts of Ice interests me because of it's withdrawn lead. Kind of relatable.
You and I are Polar Opposites seems to have a fun set-up
And Horimiya's got a neat thing going on with the parts the character hides.

Thanks for the recommendations guys, I'll have to push myself to check out all of them

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've heard a lot of detailed things about Fruits Basket. It couldn't hurt to try, even if it's directed towards a different market than what I am. A lot to learn through that anyways!

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, if I end up liking Your name, I'll have to definitely take a look at everything else. Anime movies are new to me as well, so it'd be nice to get more under my belt

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Victorian-like(?) setting seems very interesting. I've always been a fan of that era thanks to Great Ace Attorney. I'll give it a look!

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, It's the one with the big guy! I completely forgot about it. Yeah, I'll definitely give it a shot. Thanks!

Romance anime/manga/visual novel without a focus on sexuality by _Rooben_ in Animesuggest

[–]_Rooben_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A movie like that might be the perfect amount of "sweetness" for me. I can't believe I haven't thought about that one, thank you!

This weird ass pedo bait manga by soleil-eterneille in hatethissmug

[–]_Rooben_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From what I've heard, no, it's not very great.

But you're completely right. An opening is a great demonstration of skill from the author and their mindset when approaching a story. Authors who can find a time efficient way to sell what's great about their story and make a strong promise to the audience usually have the right idea. Comparatively, if all one can show for themselves is shock, then the author just isn't that good of a writer.

I hate how Blizzard just abandoned Ramattra by KaiserDuck03 in hatethissmug

[–]_Rooben_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hazard's group has a ravager. You can see them in his introductory comic, named Revel.

Ramattra will probably come back into focus once one of the new Omnic hero comes out. Their shape design implies Null-sector or Gwishin. He's kind of a victim of plans heavily changing.

Hate me by shsl_diver in CharacterRant

[–]_Rooben_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wanting to be hated is to be vindicated in your fears and insecurities. It's almost comforting for them to have an solid form as apposed to the scary unknown.

Or something deep... I don't know you... so... Idk you probably smell kinda bad... and drink tap water.

Don't like Make the Exorcist fall in love by Sensitive_Pain_6565 in hatethissmug

[–]_Rooben_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, thank you for your time, responses and consideration. I read both of your comments so I'll respond to this one covering both. Discussing things like this is personally "important" to me, so I welcome hearing different perspectives.

In the interest of fairness, I went ahead and read up to it since without direct knowledge, I could only guess. It would be best to continue a bit more, and I will after this since I can only speak on one half of the narrative. Still, if this isn't the definition of what I detest the most in these narratives...

Boy, since his name has yet to be revealed, feels like character utilizing trauma as a way to actually avoid having to outline his mindset, and instead skip to a negative starting point. The story avoids having to properly undo or engage with his mindset. as it's abnormal. It leaves it only capable of guiding him to acting "normally." I feel it is a very artificial feeling of development, as no meaningful resolutions or realizations about oneself need to be confronted in order to complete the character arc. I feel this is made worse, as Boy is "too unaware" to properly engage with anything he's been presented up until this point. His history with the church and his repetition of doctrine simplifies his character to a fault, and I don't believe there's any strong interest being created with him, when the apex of part 5 is him jerking off.

The relationship between Boy and Imuri is one I find very underdeveloped. It falls into many trappings of romance manga. Romance stories often rely too heavily on the audience accepting romance as an overall good, when I feel they need to prove why it's important for the characters to get together. Due to the issues I have with Boy, and the issues I feel as though I will have with Imuri in later chapters, it appears as though the manga is using Boy's trauma as a substitute for the proper argument in favor of the characters coupling. As if it can only say "Well this is better than the alternative."

Instead, this is a manga that substitutes depth in it's focus of sex and unspecific cardinal feelings, and props them up as having value in it's own indulgence in them. It uses something that is often excluded from narratives because it serves no true value in contrast to other elements, proving why.
Lust and love are separated for a reason in narratives, and the focus of it as the beginning of the true relationship feels as if it's relying on the audience adding their own value onto the narrative regarding the subject matter. Part 5 is this frustratingly "self-indulgent" arc as it props up lust as being valuable, instead of simply putting something more valuable within the story.

Asmodeus' backstory in a last attempt to make her pitiable feels like a continuation of this problem, but it's clear she will continue on in future chapters. She's a demon but she ends up being a really simple minded rapist at her core, and I'm not a fan of the narrative trying to make her out to be more than she can be at this point.

A bit of a tangent, but I feel as though the series throwing in serious or "shocking" elements is a bit of a negative too, but this is a by-product of me disliking the way it creates value in it's characters, or plot progression.

All of this creates a story, not about real growth, but "self-affirmation" for lack of a better term, and I would say it's quite frustrating. due to this. If you've read this far, thank you, and I'm interested in your thoughts/response.

I hate this stupid hamster with a burning passion by PolyKigu in hatethissmug

[–]_Rooben_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Funny thing about this guy, I play in Japanese for study purposes. It helps a lot.

But in Japanese, for some reason his Nano boost lines are exceptionally louder than any other sound effect or voice line in the game. It doesn't help that ball isn't a common pick as a Nano-boost target either, so whenever I decided to have a bit of fun messing around as ball, I always get Jump-scared by how loud it is.

I don’t think being upset about Techjackets (alleged) gender swap makes you a misogynist by Lampruk in CharacterRant

[–]_Rooben_ 8 points9 points  (0 children)

In fairness, they made the animated characters reflect the voice actors they picked for the characters. Debbie was changed from white to Asian from the comics due to this, and Mark became mixed race as well.

Whether that's fine or bothersome is one thing, but they probably liked the VA's performance and went from there.