Was glad last weekend to see a few of us get talking last weekend in the One Piece thread. Lemmy is way too dead when it comes to anime and manga talk. So let’s see what we need to be talking about.

What have you been watching, what is it, and why do you think it’s worth watching?

  • Oh yeah, also just finished Farming Life in Another World. More light fanservice than any actual farming, but I loved the spider! I didn’t find any of the harem annoying and there wasn’t anything outright pervy, so it was fine. It does bother me a bit how emotionally unattached the MC is, especially to his kid.

    Also watching Helck, which I went into blind. So far, nothing at all like I expected. Very silly in a good way. The demons are the good guys and the humans bad. Lots of cool powers, and some really cute side characters. In the midst recent episode, some dark things were hinted at, so we will see some serious moments ahead. Really fun so far though, and I look forward to it each week.

    • I also appreciate that the harem in Farming Life is so matter of fact, but it does mean the MC comes off as cold or distant a lot of the time. Agree that Makuro (spider) is great and everybody from the world is low-key terrified of Makuro. I also love the wolves Kuro and Yuki.

      Helck has been interesting. It has had a very slow start, but it feels like it is doing a lot of work in establishing things. I mentioned in the last episode thread that the slow, unspoken worldbuilding they are doing in Helck reminds me a bit of Adventure Time. A pretty silly cast of characters that is set in a world harboring a very dark past.

      • I just actually read that Helck thread. It seems I haven’t been seeing them because I have bots blocked. I’m torn turning it off, but there’s so many posts with no talking.

        I had expected Helck to be like I Quit Heroing, but it started more like the arena scene from Thor: Ragnarok. Even the fights so far have been relatively comedic with things like the shield guy that needs constant snacks and people calling Vermilion cutesy things and she gets all mad. The last episodes finally started hinting at dark things though. I’d like the plot to get deeper, but I really like a lot of the fun interactions. I also love Piwi, especially when he plays dumb like he was a regular bird.

        The reactions to the spiders and wolves are one of my favorite gags in Farming Life. I like when the spider just waves hello to the people cowering in fear and then she just goes off and eats potatoes. The drunken slime is also fun. I’d party with that guy.

        I read a bit of the wiki and it seems MC just guess around knocking everyone up, so I’m torn continuing watching the show. I like all the girls and animals, MC is just so bland though. He doesn’t have any struggles. He doesn’t seem to care much for anyone in particular. He didn’t even sweat fighting any monsters so far. If they ditched him and just had fantasy Yuru Camp in the forest, I think I’d prefer that.

        • I am up to date on the Farming Life manga (not read the LNs) and it doesn’t really change in those regards. I would consider it an Iyashikei series (even though MAL just has it as SOL), so by design it is mostly just chill vibes and character-driven gags occasionally. I do think that the MC and supporting cast could be more dynamic though. It sometimes feels like the author just wants to nerd out about some topic of the week related to farming/village construction rather than character writing. There are other examples on that MAL page of Iyashikei series that have very interesting characters (including my favorite show of all time, Mushishi) and Farming Life is just so bland in comparison.