Gankutsuou / Monte Cristo anime definitely uses it as a stylistic choice. It kinda gives it a stained glass look, where each “panel” has its own complex 2D pattern.

In general though it’s kinda a middle ground where you get characters who wear textured clothing more interesting than a single color without requiring a ton of time and effort to create. I can’t really bring myself to complain about it when it would take 10x the effort to make it look 1.5x as good (though I do appreciate it when they DO take the time and effort to make animated textured clothing)

Like most Oshii movies imo, the Sky Crawlers was really boring. But, in a way I didn’t really mind; it was a good kind of boring, like 5 Centimeters Per Second or Christmas in January

What’s the one right center?

Excited for Mahou no Shimai Lulutto Lilly. The first anime-original Pierrot magical girl show since the 90s. It’ll also be a new entry in the mostly dead-ended evolutionary branch of magical girl shows that aren’t about fighting bad guys, but about being magical idols. In fact, this show looks SO similar to Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami that I’d almost call it a remake, based on the trailer. They even have the same familiars: a blue cat with pink eyes + a pink cat with blue eyes.

I’ve been studying Japanese for almost six years now and I would say YES kanji is difficult, but it’s not insurmountable. It’s also one of the most interesting and fulfilling parts of learning the language.
There’s a certain level of “you have to know the rules before you know how to break the rules” but kanji can often be used in interesting nonstandard ways in literature & manga and just in general carry so much meaning and depth.
There’s always something new to learn. Did you know that there’s another version of 探す (to search) that has a slightly different connotation? 探す is usually used to search for something you want, but 捜す is used to search for something that’s missing.

By the way, do we have a Japanese learning community on Lemmy?

Depends on what you mean by “similar”. If you’re looking for the right thing, there are often a lot of phonetic hints in kanji.

For example, 矢 and 夫 sound completely different, totally unrelated. These are pretty basic kanji though; I think it’s analogous to how O and Q are totally different, or i and j.

If there’s more complex similarities though, then yeah there can be an implied phonetic relationship. Look at: 同胴洞銅恫桐粡. These can all be pronounced the same: どう (dou). Though, many of them have kunyomi readings that are totally unrelated.

I really got into anime in 2018 with Little Witch Academia but as a kid my first anime ever was probably Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind or another early Ghibli movie. Also as a kid I watched the Cardcaptor Sakura movies.

My first impressions were very positive. I was kinda primed to expect all anime to be trash and cringe so I was surprised when Little Witch Academia was actually just a great show. I’ve been watching non-stop since then, learned the language, translated some manga, etc.

My favorite series since I first watched it in 2020 has always been The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Every arc is amazing, the characters are so interesting, and the presentation is so creative. Though I just recently started PaniPoni Dash! and it’s the first thing that’s ever challenged Haruhi for me; it might be my new #1. It’s 2005 Shaft and it’s kinda the peak of Shaft’s style and quirkiness and it’s also really funny.

I also just recently watched absolutely the worst anime I’ve ever seen: Kennel Tokorozawa. It is funny, which is a positive, but not enough to outweigh how overwhelmingly awful it is as a whole.
The worst things I’ve seen that (somehow) have an actual level of popularity and acclaim: Shinsekai yori, 86, The Boy and the Heron. All bad for different reasons, but each one irredeemably terrible.

You didn’t ask, but I’ll also mention what I think is the most underrated anime ever: Christmas in January. Amazing short movie. Not very popular or well-regarded, but very subtle and emotional and whimsical. Definitely the most “hidden gem” thing I’ve ever found.

I would recommend Mushishi to anybody from age 5 to 105. I just finished rewatching it with my mom.
It’s kinda like Pokemon but instead of animals the “Pokemon” are usually fungi or diseases or natural phenomena. The series takes place from the point of view of a traveling doctor / scientist who uses his knowledge to help people.

While I do think it’s appropriate for any age group and I think I would have liked it as a kid, it might be scary or boring for a little kid.

The first episode is pretty uncharacteristic of the rest of the series, so if you check it out I’d recommend judging it based on episode 2.

The idea that July and August were added and shifted the months to be wrong is actually a misconception afaik. The months they replaced were already basically “fiveuary” and “sixuary”.
The numbering got shifted off when they decided January should be the first month; it used to be March. February was the last month, which explains why leap days are added to February.

I found out a few of my friends have never eaten a bunch of classic fruits. Things like mango, pomegranate, kiwi, and even tangerine.

I’m planning a fruit party for everybody to try and then judge different fruits.

If I could find something like AltSnap on Linux I would move like, this week.
I know some of the features may already be part of Linux but I use this program pretty extensively and I don’t know much about Linux desktops and how they control.

But anyway I’m gonna move to Linux anyway, I have a date in my calendar later this year and my friend is gonna help me switch to it.

I haven’t read it in a few months but I’ve generally kept up with the manga for the last four years. It’s mostly interesting in a meta way, where you see how long they can keep up the stupid premise.

There was an author interview that was translated and included in one chapter of the manga where the author revealed that although he had planned all 100 girlfriends from the beginning, some of the prospective characters had already started to overlap with existing ones and will have to be reworked. Is it really possible to write 100 good unique characters?

Practically, no. I think the manga falls off really hard after the 23rd girlfriend (currently it’s at #36).
I’m hoping that the 100th girlfriend is a girl who already has 99 boyfriends and I’m like 95% convinced that doing anything else would be sexism.

I occasionally have really detailed dreams with plots and allegory and everything. Sometimes someone will tell a joke in my dream, and I don’t get the joke until I wake up and think about it. My subconscious is sometimes more clever than I am.

Anyway, the best dream I ever had was one of those really detailed ones with a complex plot. I don’t remember any of those details, but it was some kind of mystery story where two children are on the run from a detective. It was full of plot twists and complex lies. As the plot unfolded, it seemed like there were some contractions in the narrative. One character says it happened like this, but another character claims the opposite. Typical mystery story stuff.
But as the dream went on, these little inconsistencies built up and up until I concluded that a key event in the plot must have happened two different ways at the same time. Irreconcilably, both ways must have been true, but they absolutely contradicted each other. It’s not that somebody is lying, there must actually be something wrong in the timeline itself.
This is when the dream drops its biggest plot twist: why is it inconsistent? Because it’s not real; it’s all a dream. And then I woke up.

I know the “it’s all a dream” plot twist is usually cheap and stupid, but like, it WAS all a dream. I sat in bed for like 15 minutes just being impressed with how incredible the twist was, and how it was quite impossible for anybody else to experience the same story.

I used to think about this a lot too. I think it’s just because it’s a given that people would wear pants. They only need to clarify shirt & shoes because that’s what they expect people are coming in without; they don’t need to define their whole dress code because pants are implied.