Mr Hunter’s Otaku Overview
I’ve been bouncing between a lot of media recently, and was finding it hard to zero in on a specific topic for this week. So instead, I thought I’d just do a bit of a scatter shot and mention all the different things I’ve been checking out lately.
TV:
After being without it for almost 5 months, I finally caved and got Netflix. Getting used to Netflix here in Japan has been a bit of an adjustment, but a lot of the same things have still been available thankfully. Youtube being the only source of English speaking video that I’d been watching was starting to get old, and I hadn’t realized how much I had been missing western TV.
The Gentlemen
The very first thing I watched on Netflix was The Gentlemen. It was a pretty solid 8 crime drama, following an aristocrat who inherits his father’s estate, including a weed empire. The two main characters make for a fun duo, and watching their misadventures made for a fun ride, though I couldn’t find myself caring about many others in the cast. I had a fun time with it, but it was definitely a junk food show, in one ear and out the other.
The Three-Body Problem
Netflix’s new hotness, The Three-Body Problem was a lot more engaging. I love a good science fiction story, especially if they dumb down and explain just enough of the science to make me feel smart. By the end of the first episode I was already more interested and invested in the story than the whole of The Gentleman.
I enjoyed watching the way the story unfolded over the season, as the mystery slowly unraveled, and each character had to answer the question of “now what will you do?”. It did feel a little disjointed in places, the smaller character drama love triangle never quite fit when there were world altering crises happening.
Overall, this was quite the compelling watch, and I hope to see more seasons of this show in the future. There were some great set piece moments, the characters had a good amount of complexity (most of them anyway), and the plot developed at a good pace. If this show gets a second season I’d happily tune in to see where the story goes.
Archer
Archer got another season? And was also canceled? A show that really doesn’t seem like it’d be for me, ended up being a weirdly comfortable comedy series. I was always glad every time a new season got added, so this being the end of the series was a bit bittersweet. While it is a comedy series, it didn’t often get a lot of laugh out loud moments from me. It got lots of snickers, but I mostly enjoyed the familiarity of its jokes and characters.
Season 14 shakes things up in some fun ways, Lana steps into a new role and a new character, Zara, joins the cast. It is too bad the showrunners weren’t able to end things on their own terms, and you can tell they scrambled to bring the show to a close in the end. I doubt they would have introduced a new character to the cast if they knew this would also be the end of the series.
I’m sad to see this show come to an end, though I’m sure I’ll still return to it when I’m in need of some warmth. As mean spirited as this show often is, I find it comforting, returning to familiar jokes, spending 14 seasons with the same characters in different settings. I’ll miss Archer, in some ways it feels like saying goodbye to a friend, even if they were kind of an asshole.
Anime:
You’ll never believe this, but Netflix in Japan has a lot of anime! Who could have guessed! The catch is, not all of these shows have English subtitles. Netflix as a company is usually pretty good about providing plenty of language options for its shows, so I’ve been a little disappointed when I tried watching a series only to find my options are only Japanese audio, or Japanese subtitles.
Made In Abyss
This series is a prime example of when that really becomes a problem. I’d seen this anime around, and when I saw it was on Netflix I was happy to check it out. It starts off pretty innocent, but I could tell there were darker implications behind the surface of this cheery show, and I was excited to see how it unfolded.
After I finished the first season, I was eager for more. There were some dark, intense moments, alongside plenty of wholesome ones with fun adventures. Before jumping into the second season, there’s a movie that I hear I’m supposed to watch. Thankfully, that movie is also on Netflix. The catch? There’s no English language options. The series had English subtitles available, but for whatever reason, the movie does not.
This put quite a damper on things, and it may be a while before I can find another way to watch the movie with English subtitles. It’s a shame, I was really enjoying this series, and it’s a bummer I can’t watch it all in one place. I’m glad to have Netflix again, but using Japanese Netflix as an English user can be rather unfriendly at times.
Blue Eyed Samurai
Okay, it’s maybe not technically anime, but it is an animation inspired by anime and set in Japan, so it’s more anime then it is TV. Whatever it is, it rocks. I really enjoyed my time with Blue Eyed Samurai, and can’t wait to watch more when its second season drops. Set in 17th century Japan, we follow a young samurai on a quest for vengeance.
Angry at their father for making them different, Mizu sets out to kill any white men remaining in Japan. The cast is really strong, with both our protagonist and the other characters being compelling to watch, and all growing in their own ways. The action is top notch, the animation is stellar, it just all hits for me.
When shows are this good it’s almost hard to talk about. It’s just great. It’s a compelling watch that I'd recommend to almost anyone, unless you can’t really deal with gore. This show is plenty bloody, and it doesn’t shy away from violence. Unless that’s a deal breaker for you, go watch Blue Eyed Samurai.
Oshi No Ko
This show got a lot of hype when it came out last year, but it never came to Crunchyroll so I never had a way to watch it. Lucky for me, it’s on Japan’s Netflix library, and has English subtitles available! I don’t love the whole reincarnation premise, it kinda makes the main character feel kinda gross, and he wasn’t terribly likable in the first place. Ai as a character is really compelling though, and made me interested enough to stick with the show.
Exploring the darker side of the entertainment industry in Japan has a lot of potential, and was interesting to see. I’m still not super sold on the main character, but I’m invested enough in the other characters to keep going. With some small tweaks I think this show could be even better, but that’s being a little nitpicky I suppose.
It’s a lot of fun watching this show now that I live in Japan, since idol culture is still something that seems very alien to me. After watching this show though I’ve been more interested in trying to attend an idol show while here in Japan, I think it’d be rather interesting to see in person. It feels like I have this revelation every time I watch an idol themed show, but it really is unlike anything we have in the west.
Games:
I’ve slowed down a little on games since I got Netflix, but I’m still playing probably more than your average gamer. While they aren’t any new releases I’m interested in coming out until about mid-April, I’ve still had plenty of games to play.
Unicorn Overlord
After around 60 hours, I finished this game! I really loved it, the combat really shined throughout my playtime. I have some nitpicks, I wish the game was a bit more difficult, or had some more varied objectives throughout the different stages, but overall it was a lot of fun. I could spend ages just flipping through menus, tweaking my units, adjusting each character’s equipment, and tuning their various tactics.
It really scratched a good itch in my brain, and I’ll probably get around to doing another run through on the higher difficulty. I don’t quite know if that’ll give me the challenge I was missing, I’m not too hopeful, but I really enjoyed the game, so it’s a good excuse to play it again regardless.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
After about 30 ish hours with Dragon’s Dogma 2, I made it to the final area of the game. I could have gotten another ending, but I wanted to see the “true” end. I got to the new area that unlocks, and just felt myself run out of steam. I find this game a lot more interesting than I really find myself enjoying or really liking the game.
Over time, the friction of the game just tends to wear on you, and I began to find it more tedious and frustrating, then intentional. Managing my inventory and the weight system, the limited enemy types, your max hp being reduced, it all just got annoying. I’m glad I tried the game, but I’m not so sure I’ll be coming back to it.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
What I have come back to is this lovely game. As soon as I booted it up and heard the menu music, I immediately had feelings of fondness I never really got with Dragon’s Dogma 2. I have some complaints about this game too of course, sometimes the minigames are annoying, the plot feels a bit meandering, and some sections feel a little unnecessary, but I just love it.
This game has charm in spades, from the characters to the voice acting to the music, it just all feels like it’s done with love and adoration for the series. When I played the original FF7 I never dreamed I would come to care about it as much as I have, and this revisiting/reimagining of the source material has been a huge part of that.
I don’t yet know where it’ll land by the time the credits roll, but either way I’m on the hook, and I’ll be seeing this journey through to the end.
That’s All Folks!
Well, that’s (pretty much) everything I’ve been watching and playing over this past little while. Trying this shotgun approach was fun, since it let me cover lots of little things I probably wouldn’t have mentioned. Let me know how you liked it, or if you think any of these pieces of media deserve its own article, or a second article!
