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(Not so) Shameful Confessions - Nerds/Geeks/Dorks - SHARE YOUR PASSIONS

Magnus Aurelius

Magnus Aurelius

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Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Hello. I am a nerd. I have a stupid obsession with Warhammer 40k lately and a desire to share. Unfortunately for me, I have very limited opportunities to share my nerdy passions.

I also love to hear about other people's weird passion/obsessions. Be it some obscure book series, or something a bit more mainstream. I want to hear you ramble about whatever it is that's lodged in your brain and has no way out. I would LOVE to know about that something that you've been wanting to share or talk about. This thread, I'd like to devote to the notion of sharing those niche, or even not-so-niche ideas, fandoms, and whatnot that people have been reading up on constantly, playing or whatever else. GEEK OUT TO ME AND YOUR FELLOWS! NERDGASM TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! DORK! Just... Just dork. But yeah!

Tell me about what you've been shamefully obsessed with lately!
 
Definitely a thread that I can get behind, since while I have friends with similar interests I usually leave the gushing about specific series for myself unless asked more etc, and could definitely use an outlet to voice and gush about my current obsessions, even if people might not be interested in what I have to write (contemplated on doing mini-reviews on my Journal at one point, but have yet to done any)

My recent obsession has been:

Tokyo Babylon and X/1999​


I have been on a huge CLAMP-animanga spree lately, and to prepare myself for the Magnum Opus-duo of theirs called Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and xxxHolic I have gone through their catalogue, and finally made my way to what has beenacclaimed to be their darkest work, as well as one of the best, if not the best they have ever done.

Tokyo Babylon​


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Tokyo Babylon as a manga was only seven volumes long, but man did I fell in love with those seven volumes. As the rumors said the series is extremely dark, sort-of episodic tale about a powerful heir of an old Onmyoji-clan Subaru Sumeragi, their twin-sister Hokuto Sumeragi and a mysterious vet Seishirou Sakurazuka who's true nature is revealed at the end of the series, and how they solve a spirit-related issues around the Tokyo.

Pretty standard anime-shenanigans, but what makes this stand out among the crowd how it is not afraid to critique social and other issues that 90's Japan and many other countries are going through even to this date. Some stories have a nice and more positive outlook, others not so much, and this series does not shy away from really hard subjects such as how a victim of an sexual assault is being viewed through a judgemental lenses or the ridiculous rise of the living-costs after the Economy bubble exploded driving people to not only kill themselves, but their families also, while also making a point that even dying is way too expensive in general in Japan.. These subjects are always intertwined with a current otherworldly issue, and despite my rambling probably giving a picture that these subjects are handled in a pretty wishy-washy way the fact that the creators actually delve on these quite a bit, and clearly critisize the landscape at the time is what really elevated this manga for me.

The overarching story linking this to the X/1999 is also great, and the twist at the end makes you absolutely hate and despise one of the key-characters in the series (Would also go as far and say that the betrayal is as good and heart-rending as Griffiths betrayal in Berserk was (Berserk spoilers)), and makes a great conflict to see a resolution in the sequel. Topped off with a great main-trio, lovely 90's shoujo-art and distinct CLAMP-style and I got myself one of the biggest positive surprises in manga immediately at the start of 2025.

There also exist two episode OVA, which features a completely new stories with some influences and themes taken from the manga... And it was a disappointment. It was basically just a crime-drama with Tokyo Babylon cast helping police in the field, which they never did in the original manga (at least directly). It also takes all the hard-hitting critiques off and all the conflicts basically boil-down to "Greedy big corporations bad" and "Murder not ok". Only thing that they kept in place somewhat was romantic tension between Subaru and Seishirou intact, but yeah the gay storyline that was pretty clear in the manga was still kept pretty minimal. It is animated well and has a nice soundtrack at least.

X/1999​


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Now I'm making my way through X/1999, and since I am only at the beginning (6/18.5 volumes through) I can't say much other than I really like it. It takes time to build the story and set everything in place clearly, since even in volume 6 there was characters introduced and some exposition done, but I really like where the story is going, and man I never would've guessed that people who made such a heartwarming comfy series like Cardcaptor Sakura and Kobato could draw such a gory scenes. It still has that magical feeling that most CLAMP-work has, mainly through the amazing and dreamlike-art, but man the comfy dreams that they usually paint have turned into a scenes from a nightmare in this one... Quite fitting for a manga about the end of the world.

While the social critique, at least for now is pretty much out of the picture the larger than life story they carefully craft definitely makes up for it, and the cast so far has been really interesting and fun to follow.

I also watched a movie adaptation of the manga by Madhouse... And while it features some of the most beautifully animated scenes in 90's anime movies and gets the basic gist of the story it just is only worth a watch if you want to see some solid animation. The story is changed, there were only six volumes of manga released when the movie was made so A LOT of stuff had to be written to make this a somewhat coherent movie, and like the source material it takes a lot of time to set the stage while changing it, but it just does not work with movie. After the exposition is done there's not even a half of the runtime left, so they have to speedrun everything and then give it an original ending.

I will watch the TV anime after reading manga. Hoping it's a more solid adaptation in terms of story.


Now that that's out of my system time to go continue reading X/1999!
 
Not gunna lie, the 80's/90's were the renaissance on Anime. Nothing since has really come close to just how beautiful of an artform it possible could be. Maybe Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, but that's a bit of an outlier. I remember reading xxxHolic and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles a BILLION YEARS AGO when it was still being released and couldn't help but think that it was really dope that there were a bunch of different stories running parallel in different genres and 'dimensions' simultaneously. Almost like a precursor to the connected universes that DC and Marvel either have, or are trying to establish these days.

Haven't really seen anything about x/1999, and the darker stuff like that hasn't really been my taste, but not gunna lie it does sound interesting. I used to live in Japan (for a year) and while it's really nice place to live, there's definitely a dark side. I do remember around winter over there, the number of times that trains would be delayed due to 'Human Intervention'. Take a quick guess as to what THAT might mean. And I remember watching a whole thing about the Japanese Economic Miracle post WW2, and how the bubble burst in the late 80's/early 90's. Yeah, I can totally see a lot of those themes being BIG issues at the time.
 
Despite really loving the 80´s, 90´s and 00´s anime to bits there's a lot of great stuff even to this date. However most of those series don't seem to get a lot of mainstream attention (Some exceptions of course exist like Frieren, Dungeon Meshi and Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) despite the fact that being into anime and manga seems to be more popular now than ever. Will say that there seemed to be a lot more variation in terms of stories and themes at the time (insert some funny joke about isekai shows with long and weird titles here... Though in 00's the harem ecchi-stuff was pretty much like the isekai is nowadays lol).

The reason why I am reading through the previous CLAMP work is the fact that most of those dimensions in Tsubasa and xxxHolic are based off of some of their works. If I remember correctly at least one of the arcs in the series is based in the universe of X/1999, so covering my bases so that I can get the maximum enjoyment out of both of them (though the fact I can see more Sakura and Syaoran pretty much guarantees that already)

If dark themes is not usually your thing then I do say that it is a bit of a gamble to pick this one up. Some stories did make me feel genuinely bad, but that's also a testament to how well the themes were handled and how grounded the stories were despite the supernatural flare to it all. X so far has not been as dark as Tokyo Babylon... But it also got put on indefinite hiatus thanks to some really messed-up events reflecting the real life a bit too well at the time and causing a stir in Japan (with the addition of the magazine it was published quitting), and even after 20+ years it is still three or so volumes short of being finished, so it might go as dark, or even darker than the prequel.
 
I'm an odd duck in that even if something isn't exactly what I generally enjoy, I'll occasionally find an exception to the rule. I mean, I used to read stuff like Berserk. Still sad about Miura and that he didn't get to see it through to the end. I might give it a go, seeing as most manga that I read currently go months without updates.

I won't lie though, for a while (and to a degree still) I was a big fan of all the isekai stuff. The who haremy, OP MC shenanigans as they all have. Lately I've been enjoying the ones that involve more 'world building' than anything else. There was one where the Demon King (tig biddy Demon Lady) was in love with the Hero and the entire anime was literally about agriculture and improving the lives of medieval people, breaking down the barriers between Humans and Demons, religion and superstition. Dope anime that I can't remember the name of. Also, SERIOUSLY LOVE Saga of Tanya the Evil. I think I watch that yearly while I sadly wait for season 2. Also, Neon Genesis Evangelion (the original run) was the first anime I ever watched so... yeah, I've got some taste for weird/dark/bleak animes. Just gotta hit me and hook me right I think.
 
I have... 50+ manga according to my MAL that I've caught-up at some point and need to do so again at some point. I just usually wait for a nice amount of chapters to come out and then binge-read them. Berserk is among those as well. And yeah. It's still hard to believe he's gone.

I definitely am not above some isekai from time to time, but the over-saturation of extremely same-y mid-tier stuff has made me (and many other) anime-fans push the whole genre to the sidelines. There are some great ones out there (Re:Zero, Mushoku Tensei, Ascendance of a Bookworm, Konosuba, Drifters, The Eminence in Shadow, Now and Then, Here and There) that I really enjoy, and the whole otome-isekai, villainess-isekai etc. stuff is my not-so-guilty pleasure . Description sadly does not ring any bell for the Demon King and Hero anime. Tanya I've watched as well, and will probably watch S2 when it comes. Admittedly not the biggest fan of it, but it is unique and entertaining so want to see where it goes at least.

NGE was the first anime I ever watched while acknowledging what anime was (so excluding Pokemon, Digomon, YGO and that sort of stuff) and just done rewatching it for the fifth or so time. Love the original series + EoE to bits, and Rebuild of Evangelion is fine as well. Not nearly as good as the original in my opinion though.
 
I think I've got over 25 manga that I'm currently keeping up with. THAT SAID, probably around 2/3 of them update on a monthly or more basis, so... Really, it's closer to 8? Even that number seems a bit high. But yeah, I love to binge read manga. I'll also usually wait for an entire season of a show or anime to come out before I actually sit down and watch it. Did it with both seasons of Arcane and kinda trying to hype myself up to watching season 1 of Dandadan.

The one I was thinking of is called 'Maoyu'. Not an isekai actually, but still a pretty fun and different anime outside of the usual, even if it has similar tropes. But yeah, I've read/watched a fair few of those that you've listed there, but I'll totally admit that I couldn't do Re:Zero. Total misery-porn and I couldn't get through it. I know it's meant to be a deconstruction of the whole isekai trope, but that's just one kind of bleak and dark that I just can't digest. I've been on the fence about watching Mushoku Tensei, mainly due to the high levels of fanservice and borderline porn I've heard is in it, but I have also heard that it's really good? Ascendance of a Bookworm was really good. I seem to really enjoy the isekai anime when they focus more on building the world and developing it, as opposed to the ones where MC IS UBER OP AND GETS EVERY HOT GIRL THAT LOOKS AT HIM. Which is funny, because Eminence in Shadow is also one of my favourite isekai, but I think it's because I feel like it's taking the piss on all the isekai tropes. Kind of like Konosuba, but in a more ironic way? I'll also fully admit that I've fallen down the Villainess rabbit hole.

I think the other anime genre that's been sucking me in lately has been the... Oh, I can't remember the Japanese 'title' of them, but they're like... Soul food. Just chill anime about chill stuff that soothes your weary heart and soul. Laid-Back Camp is a really good one. I used to go camping ALL the time with my family when I was younger and after watching it made me really keen to start going again (which I did just over Christmas! In Australia where it's blazing hot over Christmas!).
 
For me?

Professional wrestling. Is it dumb? Yes. But it's also sick as FUCK. The hype that comes from a good wrestling match is unmatched. It's indescribable, really.
 
Knew a guy that wouldn't stop talking about wrestling. Basically had an encyclopedic knowledge of it. Some of the most fascinating shit I've ever listened to and I haven't really paid any attention to professional wrestling since the 90's.
 
Magnus Aurelius said:
I think I've got over 25 manga that I'm currently keeping up with. THAT SAID, probably around 2/3 of them update on a monthly or more basis, so... Really, it's closer to 8? Even that number seems a bit high. But yeah, I love to binge read manga. I'll also usually wait for an entire season of a show or anime to come out before I actually sit down and watch it. Did it with both seasons of Arcane and kinda trying to hype myself up to watching season 1 of Dandadan.

The one I was thinking of is called 'Maoyu'. Not an isekai actually, but still a pretty fun and different anime outside of the usual, even if it has similar tropes. But yeah, I've read/watched a fair few of those that you've listed there, but I'll totally admit that I couldn't do Re:Zero. Total misery-porn and I couldn't get through it. I know it's meant to be a deconstruction of the whole isekai trope, but that's just one kind of bleak and dark that I just can't digest. I've been on the fence about watching Mushoku Tensei, mainly due to the high levels of fanservice and borderline porn I've heard is in it, but I have also heard that it's really good? Ascendance of a Bookworm was really good. I seem to really enjoy the isekai anime when they focus more on building the world and developing it, as opposed to the ones where MC IS UBER OP AND GETS EVERY HOT GIRL THAT LOOKS AT HIM. Which is funny, because Eminence in Shadow is also one of my favourite isekai, but I think it's because I feel like it's taking the piss on all the isekai tropes. Kind of like Konosuba, but in a more ironic way? I'll also fully admit that I've fallen down the Villainess rabbit hole.

I think the other anime genre that's been sucking me in lately has been the... Oh, I can't remember the Japanese 'title' of them, but they're like... Soul food. Just chill anime about chill stuff that soothes your weary heart and soul. Laid-Back Camp is a really good one. I used to go camping ALL the time with my family when I was younger and after watching it made me really keen to start going again (which I did just over Christmas! In Australia where it's blazing hot over Christmas!).
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With anime I am seasonal anime viewer, so if a show is airing I follow it weekly. Dandadan definitely was a positive surprise to me, especially since newer battle shounens are more miss than a hit for me. Sakamoto Days that just started last week however has also been pretty fun watch. I have yet to watch Arcane at ll, but maybe someday I'll get to it.

Oh yeah that one has been in my PtW-list for a long time. ReZero at first was one of those shows I saw extremely overrated, but after the plot started to roll more it rill won me over. It definitely is really bleak and dark at times, but Subaru for me is one of those main characters I love to follow precisely because he has to crawl through hell to get the best possible outcome, and for a person who definitely has burnt-out from your traditional self-insert power-fantasy type isekai the series always provides something pretty unique.

Mushoku Tensei definitely has some... Questionable scenes and the main-character is not exactly a morally good person to say the least, but it provides a great worldbuilding and a plot that has a nice amount of mystery and made me actually get invested to the characters in it. Rudeus definitely is a flawed character who has done some questionable things during the shows, but their characters has also improved a lot from where he started, and if one goes in the show with the mindset that it is not meant as a self-insert power-fantasy then I think it's worth a shot, and then if the MCs decisions start to rub them in the wrong way then drop the series. The porn description in my opinion goes a bit too far, but it has some sexual scenes in it and some things implied.

And I agree. Worldbuilding-isekai is usually a lot better than the usual power-fantasy stuff, with the exceptions of the clear parodies of the trope like Eminence in Shadow.

Could Iyashikei be the term you're looking for? If so then that's also one of my favorite anime genres. Love shows like Aria, Mushishi, Natsume's Book of Friends, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Non Non Biyori and Yuru Camp you already mentioned. In general chill shows and 'cute girls doing cute things' stuff is something I love. Out of the forementioned shows Aria and Mushishi are both in my TOP 10 anime of all time if I'd have to choose some, and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou in my TOP 3 manga of all time so I can definitely recommend those.
 
I might try and brave walking into Mushoku Tensei. Like I said, I've heard plenty of good stuff about it, and I can just drop it if it gets too much for me. Something about not following through and finishing an anime or something just rubs me the wrong way though... IT MUST BE COMPLETE! EVEN IF IT'S BAD!

And there are several anime that you've thrown out there (Iyashikei is the term I was thinking of!) that I haven't seen yet. I'll have to take a look at more than a few of them for when I need something chill to relax with!
 
I used to be extreme completionist with anime, but when me forcing my sorry ass to watch shows I absolutely despiced just because "I have seen previous seasons" or "It might get good" sucked the fun out of watching seasonal anime I just stopped it, and now only force myself to watch currently airing season over at max, unless it is absolutely terrible and joyless experience.

I however am extremely bad at skipping fillers, which is why I always go with the manga with most big battle-shounen series like I did with Naruto, Bleach and One Piece for example.

They are all worth checking out. Currently in the middle of watching Natsume's Book of Friends so can't say about that 100%, but the three seasons I've finished so far have been fun and comfy watch, with some serious moments here and there.
 
Don't get me started on fillers. Once upon a time I did sit down and watch all of Naruto's fillers, and Bleach's fillers. I was never crazy enough to try and slog through One Piece, but I did read the manga for years. Depending on whether the world or One Piece ends first, I might just have to go through it again once it's done. Not the anime though. I don't think I've enough decades left in me to get through all of that.

But yeah, being completionist with those kinds of things does turn into a chore after a while. That's generally why I try and curate what I actually sit down and watch, though that does come with the unintentional consequence of watching far fewer anime than I might've once upon a time. I think I only really sit down and am in the mood to watch anime maybe once every three months or something these days. There's just so much slop that just looks like you newest generic whatever that you can basically tell the entire plot from the cover. Only occasionally is there anything that sounds interesting enough to warrant getting invested in.
 
I was in the very deep end of anime for years but somehow have hardly watched a thing since around 2020. Too many repetitive tropes, too many shows that never get more, and my probably unpopular opinion- too much seasonal anime leading to stories getting picked up too soon. The finishing blow was a season or two where there was nothing I wanted to watch, which was unusual since I was watching 10+ shows a season just a few years before.

The time away has made it trickier to get back into I think. I'm so much less interested in watching the high school setting now, which wipes out most things I could watch. That being said, A Silent Voice is easily near the top for me so maybe it's less the setting and more the writing of the characters. Anime was my biggest obsession by far and still is in some ways. Next up for me would be MMO's but life really likes to get in the way of that one!
 
I agree on the tropes being overdone, animes being picked up too early and whatnot. Some of the best animes ever done were ones that had the entire manga run completed before they started producing the anime. Hellsing: Ultimate and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood being possibly the best examples, mainly because both of them had the rather mediocre runs previously that had to be cut short and make their own endings that were just... Just bad. Then you get stuff like Dragonball and One Piece that drag on forever because of Shounen Jump and wanting to milk the popular stories forever... And yeah, High School settings get a little less interesting as you get older, AND they're in 90% of most anime/manga. Some of them can still be fun though.

If I could throw out a reasonably interesting anime that I really need to watch the latest season of that isn't really (I think in the later season that I haven't watched they go to A school?) centered around high school or anything; The Ancient Magus' Bride. Very interesting story with a unique world and different kind of relationship between the MC's.
 
Magnus Aurelius said:
Don't get me started on fillers. Once upon a time I did sit down and watch all of Naruto's fillers, and Bleach's fillers. I was never crazy enough to try and slog through One Piece, but I did read the manga for years. Depending on whether the world or One Piece ends first, I might just have to go through it again once it's done. Not the anime though. I don't think I've enough decades left in me to get through all of that.
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I had to switch to reading manga with Bleach since Bount-arc was such a drag to sit through. With Naruto I never even tried anime-version and went straight with manga. One Piece is nearing it's end as far as I know and based on the latest plot developments I read (I am 20-ish chapter behind) so you might actually get a chance to go through it and not have to dedicate your whole life waiting for it to end hah hah!

There's definitely over-saturation in certain genres, and some tropes have been run-ragged long time ago, but I just can't help but love most of them even after spending a better part of my time in this mortal plane consuming anime and manga. I definitely am more picky with certain genres than others, and won't jump into every hype-beast shounen-adaptation just because it's popular anymore, but still in every season I find 10-ish show to sit through, and am generally having a great time with them.

I can second The Ancient Magus Bride recommendation. While not my favorite show to come out recent years it is one of the more interesting ones and definitely a series I am waiting more of. Also collect the manga of it slowly but surely.
 
Magnus Aurelius said:
I agree on the tropes being overdone, animes being picked up too early and whatnot. Some of the best animes ever done were ones that had the entire manga run completed before they started producing the anime. Hellsing: Ultimate and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood being possibly the best examples, mainly because both of them had the rather mediocre runs previously that had to be cut short and make their own endings that were just... Just bad. Then you get stuff like Dragonball and One Piece that drag on forever because of Shounen Jump and wanting to milk the popular stories forever... And yeah, High School settings get a little less interesting as you get older, AND they're in 90% of most anime/manga. Some of them can still be fun though.

If I could throw out a reasonably interesting anime that I really need to watch the latest season of that isn't really (I think in the later season that I haven't watched they go to A school?) centered around high school or anything; The Ancient Magus' Bride. Very interesting story with a unique world and different kind of relationship between the MC's.
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Yep... I think Attack on Titan would have been so different for me if that aired all at once. I guess someone who starts watching it today gets to enjoy it that way. The first season aired the first season I started watching seasonal anime so it's a bit special for me despite not being a number 1.

Ancient Magus' Bride is good, I watched season 1. Frieren and Cyberpunk are at the top of my watch list when I eventually cave in.
 
Frieren is one that I waited for the whole season to come out first, but goddamn was it good. Absolutely looking forward to the next season. Also, I'm not going to lie that I'm reasonably obsessed with Cyberpunk 2077. I think I've got roughly 1000 hours on the game and the... Yeah it's one of those things where I don't think it's technically anime, but it is an animated cartoon? I think I'd call it an 'animation'. BUT, regardless of definitions, Edgerunners is actually really good as well. I will say that it does get dark and bleak in parts and it's one of those cases of exceptions where I think it's used in a really good way to enhance the story, rather than being bleak and dark for the sake of being bleak and dark.
 
Still really surprised how popular Frieren got (and Dungeon Meshi as well). Followed manga over a year before it got the anime-adaptation, recommended it to a lot of my animanga-pals, nobody ever picked it up, and as soon as it got anime they were hyping about how good it was lol. Frieren however is one of those rare cases where I think anime actually beats the manga. Both are amazing, but the atmosphere the anime manages to create with the music, use of colors and animation makes it in my opinion better experience.

Edgerunners definitely is an anime, if we go with the western definition that animation made in Japan = anime, since it was made by Studio Trigger.

One thing that however ruffles my feathers every time is when people call anime-styled western-cartoons like ATLA/Korra and RWBY an anime series. Anime-inspired? Absolutely! Anime (at least in western definition)? No. Petty thing to get so passionate about, but it is what it is I guess lol
 
You know, totally going to admit that I forgot that Studio Trigger was a Japanese animation studio. I'll own that one. Which is funny because I REMEMBER that there was a hubbub about CDPR wanting them to change or cut Rebecca's character and ST basically told them to sit down and let them cook.

But yeah, I agree on the whole ATLA, RBWY, or even stuff like The Dragon Prince being called 'anime' is wrong. Anime inspired? Yes! incredibly well animated! For the most part! But yeah, by definition, not 'anime'. I'll die on that hill.
 
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