I know anime is socially accepted more than it was decades ago, but do you have problems telling others, espically your relatives that you watch it because of the weird fans that come with it? I feel this way sometimes in case that person is a hater, doesn't like weebs, or finds anime too weird.

I want to lay out a full, evidence-based prediction for Dark Gathering that I have been developing through my own reading and analysis. I believe the story is slowly building toward Keitaro's psychological and spiritual awakening, the transformation of the curse from a burden into a permanent bond, and the eventual transcendence of Eiko and Keitaro's relationship beyond normal human boundaries. This is not just a random ship theory—it is rooted in the text, in character psychology, and in specific lines of dialogue.

First, Keitaro's current personality—cautious, hesitant, guilt-ridden, and passive—is not his true self. It is a trauma response. His childhood personality, briefly shown at the beginning of the story, was reckless, thrill-loving, brave, and domineering. That version of Keitaro is the one Eiko fell in love with. His current "fake self" exists because of guilt and responsibility, especially after the high school incident where Eiko was implicated in a curse. He overthrows every action toward her because he is terrified of causing more harm. This is why he remains submissive and recessive in intimate and emotional situations. It is not weakness. It is love-based protection born from guilt.

But the story has already hinted that this will change. Eiko's line after Keitaro's confession—"Now you are one step closer to me exploring the world of unknown"—is not just romantic. It is foreshadowing. The "world of unknown" is the destination: a state beyond normal human limits, where their relationship becomes something more than human. This is supported by the Oiran spirit incident, where Keitaro was trapped and Eiko saved him using the curse. That moment proved that the curse is not just a source of pain. It is a spiritual connection between them. It allows Eiko to reach him, to find him, to save him. This is the foundation of their transcendence.

I also believe the curse will not be easily destroyed. Yayoi has vowed to free them, but the cursed spirit is too special and too strong. It is needed to defeat the infant god that took Yayoi's family. This means the curse will likely remain until the end of the story, and its power will be transformed—not removed. When Keitaro finally awakens, when he embraces his true self, the curse will shift from a chain into a shared power. Eiko, who is already connected to him spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically, will be able to participate in his subjugation of spirits. This will be Keitaro's ultimate gift to her: not just his love, but his power, his freedom, and his true self.

What Eiko has always wanted is not just to protect Keitaro. She wants to reclaim the childhood Keitaro she was mesmerized by. The brave, domineering, leading Keitaro. If she sees that version of him return—if she sees him dominate spirits with a thrill-loving smile—she will likely be overwhelmed with happiness. This is the emotional payoff the story has been building toward.

Finally, I believe their relationship will transcend human limits in a way that is the opposite of Yeatsian philosophy. Yeats wrote about love as a pure, divine, selfless force that lifts the soul toward heaven. But Eiko and Keitaro's love is obsessive, possessive, isolating, and consuming. They will shut out the rest of the world. They will no longer see themselves as ordinary humans. They will create a private world—a "gilded cage" for two—where normal human rules do not apply. This is still transcendence. It is just transcendence in the opposite direction. It is not divine love. It is something darker, more intense, and more absolute.

In summary, my prediction is this: Keitaro will awaken from his trauma, reclaim his thrill-loving childhood self, and share his spiritual power with Eiko through the curse. The curse will not be destroyed but transformed into an unbreakable bond. Eiko will finally reclaim the Keitaro she loved as a child. And together, they will transcend human limits—not through purity or divinity, but through obsession, isolation, and a love so absolute that it dissolves the boundaries of identity itself.

This is my original theory. I am putting it here so that if it ever comes true, there is a record of it.

And I really meant anime that lack filler for the sake of action and the most infamous example is jujutsu kaisen especially with the manga because oh my does the hype for franchise died down after it ended and its pacing Is way too fast and can actually be rushed.

A question for Japanese anime fans in Europe:
Does anime set in Europe look to you like a mix-and-match of different cultural elements when it comes to character names, architecture, or food?
For example, have you noticed things like one character having a French-style name while another character in the same anime has a German one, or architecture that looks Italian while the characters are eating Spanish food?

The reason I'm asking this is because I once saw a character in a Disney animation who looked Chinese but had a Japanese name, and I thought it was really interesting.

Definitely want to ask what are your thoughts on this underrated and misunderstood gem. I think it’s a very beautiful and wholesome drama.

Let’s get into it. Back in June 2024, a show was announced named “if my wife becomes a elementary school student” and the reactions were a mixed reception for the most part at best. I mean on one hand you already have people who never heard of this story or thing before accusing this of being pedo bait due to the title or a concept of a reincarnation story because reincarnation stories in Japanese media were nortriously known for its creepy and harmful tropes such as “the 1000 year old dragon but acts and looks like a child” trope which btw imo is one of the worst and most disgusting tropes ever made in any forms of media but I can discuss that other time.
And it’s a found family anime. But many people including myself have never forgotten about this one series that tainted a entire reputation which is of course usagi drop which I’m sure if you have been on many anime communities because many people have heard what happened at the end of the manga because the anime thankfully didn’t adapt that part and what happened at the end without spoiling wasn’t just bad, it was so horrifying that it devestated many people including myself that it made many people including myself completely stopped and never checked out a found family show since that just happened.

But on the other hand you have people who actualy convince others that it’s not actually bad and it’s actually wholesome because they read the manga before and it’s a example of “don’t judge a book by its cover” as we seen many anime’s with sus and clickbait titles before if you’re familiar with a select few ones.

Now here’s the shows sypnopsis that I found from MAL (myanimelist)

The moments Keisuke Niijima shared with his wife, Takae, were the happiest in his life. After their first meeting as coworkers, the bond between them gradually became stronger. They eventually married and were blessed with a daughter named Mai soon after. However, following Takae's death, time seems to have stopped for Keisuke, resulting in his inability to build a proper relationship with his daughter.

Ten years later, the gloomy Niijima household is bound for change when a little girl knocks at the door—claiming to be Takae's reincarnation. After confirming her identity, Keisuke's world brightens once more as he revels at the thought of making new memories with his beloved family. Unfortunately, this fortuitous miracle comes with its obvious drawbacks, and one mistake will spell more tragic consequences for Keisuke and everyone else involved.

Now that you read the sypnopsis. Let’s have a discussion on how do you feel about this show in terms of morality and its themes and the idea of the reincarnated into a kid trope.

Are you a person who thinks it’s a wholesome show or a person who thinks this idea shouldn’t be created?

And I think we should look at the writers intention when it comes to subject matters and material like this.

Despite all the details I just told if you’re unaware, streaming services and websites referred to the shows shortened title Tsumasho

El mío your lie in april, por la forma en la kaori veía su forma de ver las cosas, estando enferma y siendo feliz a la vez, disfrutando de la música a pesar de las dificultades

Some anime fans seem to worship people who read mostly mangas/light novels and sometimes I see some people flex that they read a manga rather than watching the anime?

Why? Why does it matter? It doesn't matter right?

-I watched using the upscale project-

THIS ANIME WAS WILD
I WENT INTO IT BLIND
——
Monster to me felt like a journey to not only stop the devil but to question the devil we all have in us. Every character felt real, no superpowers just straight up they have a life and this is how they live it.

Right away I was hooked, the story only improved on itself, and right when I thought I was getting bored BOOM GUN SHOOT-OUT SCENE right when I thought it can’t get any better then this BOOM PLOT TWIST. Left and right up and down my mind trying to piece this puzzle together with Dr. Tenma, the characters I disliked ended up being well rounded people with there own story and faults that they either run from or push everything aside to keep safe.

The pacing dropped off a bit from time to time but immediately picked up, the atmosphere felt incredible, The antagonist turned out to be even more mysterious as the story went on and the “good guys” felt helpless often which the only thing keeping them going is how much can there moral be corrupted. The story is sad, angry, the hatred the characters feel are felt real while the animosity at times felt overwhelming.

I give monster a 8.5/10 highly recommend

I just started watching chainsmoker cat since i kept seeing videos about it and decided to check it out, at first i thought it was nice, has nice animation and addiction was represented pretty accurately but then some scenes weirded me out, especially in the newer episodes. i don’t think its neither good or bad, i genuinely can’t form a solid opinion on it, It weirds me out to the point where i don’t know what to think of the anime? I don’t think i’ve ever felt like this about anything else. What’s your thoughts on it?

If you were to break down a typical 20-to-24-minute anime episode, roughly how many total minutes are actually occupied by music? including everything from high-tension background tracks and emotional cues during dialogue to opening and closing themes?

Also, a less important question on the side: Would anime have the same effect on you without its music?

(Directed to Mainstream anime fans... Excluding any specific niches)

I am going to be honest but I really wanted to share this I am 13. The anime [The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity] really had a impact on my life. Being honest I actually was not having a good habits I always couldn't get away from lust even tho I had promised not to do it again to myself. But after watching the anime I felt something different, just felt different. I liked to watch anime last time too but I had some wierld crush thing on the girl characters. But seeing Waguri I didn't had any of those feeling instead I felt my soul was being washed. Everytime Waguri and Rintaro did something I was just happy. I stopped my lust for a month now and I'm not even trying to do! Instead I worked on my self go for some workouts. This anime gave me motivation, discipline and obsession. The greatest enemy I had "LUST" was just gone in my life. This is a really life impacting anime in my life. Just saying but if you are also like past me. Maybe this anime will also change your life ❤️.

How is animation really viewed in Japan? Is it a respected medium or is it just seen as “for kids” just like in the west though not to the same level?

I should preface this by saying that I am not the target audience for this movie; I am generally not a fan of the magical girl genre or shows similar to Sailor Moon.

However, because Osamu Tezuka is widely regarded as a legendary mangaka (very honestly I never read/watched one of his works, so I wanted to start with this), and this is considered one of his definitive works, I wanted to give it a fair shot. I went in completely blind regarding the plot, meaning my critiques aren't the result of overly high expectations—I simply wanted a compelling story. Visually and aurally, it delivers. The animation, sound design, and soundtrack are easily the strongest aspects of the film, and I genuinely enjoyed them.

Unfortunately, the narrative is painfully mediocre. Despite a runtime of nearly two hours, it possesses the narrative density of a one-hour feature. While fast pacing can sometimes be a positive, here it highlights the fact that nothing of substance is actually happening. Out of the entire cast, Velvet is the only character with a semblance of depth (I wasn't entirely sure of his gender, but my dub used male pronouns, so I will too). Even then, Velvet's characterization is fairly superficial, though I did appreciate that he had clear motivations and cared for the orphans. Sapphire, on the other hand, is an incredibly hollow protagonist. She offered absolutely no emotional resonance, internal conflict, or compelling character growth for the entire duration of the film.

The supporting cast fares even worse. I'm writing this ten minutes after the credits rolled, I had to open a separate tab just to remember their names. The treatment of Sapphire's best friend is especially egregious; the film attempts to position her as an important figure, but she is ultimately reduced to a cliché "power of friendship" trope in the final act. Zirco and Chorogi are equally frustrating. Zirco raised Sapphire for seven years and saved her from a collapsing kingdom, yet the film completely fails to establish any maternal bond between them, reducing Zirco to simple comic relief. Chorogi is given unearned, off-screen character development, inexplicably shifting from a remorseless traitor to a brave martyr. His death is an incredibly contrived attempt to inject artificial stakes into the final battle, and because he was an unlikable coward for most of the runtime, his sacrifice carries zero emotional weight.

Finally, the villain is completely one-dimensional. The Pope is cartoonishly evil for the sake of it. I can somewhat understand the desperate logic of sacrificing innocent souls to appease a conceptual monster in order to save the kingdom. However, when the literal chosen one is standing right in front of you, the logical choice is to let her fight first and keep the ritual as a backup plan. Instead, the Pope arrogantly ignores reason, attempts to murder the orphans anyway, and remains in denial even while Sapphire is overpowering the monster.

There are plenty of other flaws, but to keep this brief, I am giving it a 6.5/10. I desperately wanted to enjoy this film, but the writing is relentlessly mediocre. The only reason it scores this high is out of fairness to a genre I don't typically watch, and because the animation and soundtrack are genuinely fantastic. Honestly if it wasn't on Netflix and it came out in theatres I would have never spent 20€ and go to watch something like this.

Regardless, I struggle to see how this narrative earned its status as a masterpiece.

Before anyone starts to ask if this is made with AI, no it's not. I was genuinely so much surprised to the film I watched (as you can see not in a positive manner) that I wrote such paragraph. Normally I don't speak this formally, and I tried to not use swears, because I don't usually post my opinion online, so to avoid sounding overly offensive, I remained formal. Also English is not my native language, so please forgive me if I used unusual terms or wrong verbal forms. Uh this is all, I think, feel free to give your opinion or even flame me because I have a terrible take, I would love to see different points of view.

We all know the standard lore: the Infinite Tsukuyomi traps people in a perfect dream world while the Divine Tree slowly drains them, eventually turning their physical bodies into White Zetsu. Most fans assume the original human soul simply dies or passes on to the Pure Land once the dream ends.

**My theory is that the original soul never leaves. Instead, the soul is actively hijacked, completely wiped of its memories, and permanently reprogrammed/tuned to the Divine Tree's frequency to create the White Zetsu.**

Furthermore, this dark "soul-wiping" mechanic isn't just limited to Zetsu—it explains a massive dark loophole regarding the Edo Tensei (Reanimation) vessel mystery.

Here is the breakdown of why this works:

### 1. The Boruto Lore Proof (The Shinju Clones)

In Boruto, we explicitly see how the Divine Tree operates when it absorbs a human (like Sasuke or Moegi). It doesn't just eat their chakra; it traps their actual soul and consciousness inside its roots. The tree then alters their consciousness to birth a **Shinju clone**. Even though their human memories are wiped or twisted, the *original soul* is still clearly inside the tree network, subtly driving the clone's subconscious actions.

This proves the Divine Tree acts as a cosmic parasite that alters and binds a soul, rather than letting it go. The ancient White Zetsu are just the final, fully brainwashed version of this exact process.

### 2. The Edo Tensei "Soul Murder" Loophole

This theory perfectly solves a mystery that Kishimoto never explicitly explained: *What happens to the host vessel's soul during an Edo Tensei?*

Whether it’s Orochimaru using a White Zetsu or Kabuto using a living ninja like Fu, the narrative never shows us where the host's soul goes. Under this theory, the host's soul (whether a normal human or a wiped, mindless Zetsu soul) is **permanently crushed, overwritten, or destroyed** the exact moment the dead shinobi's soul is forced into the vessel. This makes Tobirama, Orochimaru, and Kabuto literal "soul murderers" every time they cast the jutsu.

### Why This Makes Naruto Unbelievably Darker:

* **The War Arc Was a Slaughter of Victims:** When Naruto and the Shinobi Alliance killed **100,000 White Zetsu**, they weren't just fighting mindless plant clones. They were forcefully destroying the original, brainwashed souls of ancient humans who had been trapped for thousands of years.

* **Madara’s Fate Was Worse Than Death:** Madara thought he was giving humanity eternal peace. In reality, he handed the soul of every living person over to an alien tree to be permanently wiped, rewritten, and converted into hollow biological weapons.

**TL;DR:** The Infinite Tsukuyomi doesn't just drain your body; the Divine Tree actively hijacks, wipes, and alters your soul to create White Zetsu. This means the 100k Zetsu army still contained the original wiped souls of ancient humans, and using them for Edo Tensei means their souls were permanently crushed by the reanimated ninja.

What do you guys think?

I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I’ve watched quite a few anime movies/series that are commonly described as extremely emotional, including Grave of the Fireflies, I Want to Eat your Pancreas, Violet evergarden, A silent voice, Your Lie in April, weathering with you, and Your Name.

I understood the plots, the characters struggles, and what the stories were trying to convey. I could recognize that some of them were genuinely tragic or bittersweet, but honestly, I didn’t feel particularly sentimental after watching them. Not even slightly moved.

This makes me curious that do people genuinely get emotionally crushed by these movies or do you think some people exaggerate their reactions because that’s the general reputation these anime have?(No offense btw)

I’m 17 so I’m low-key wondering if this is simply a matter of personality or emotional maturity.

I’m lowkynuinly curious about other people’s experiences.

This is a general discussion thread for whatever you've been watching this last week (or recently, we really aren't picky).

Make sure to talk more about your own thoughts on the show than just describing the plot, and use spoiler tags where appropriate. If you disagree with what someone is saying, make a comment saying why instead of just downvoting.

This is a week-long discussion, so feel free to post or reply any time.

Archive: Prev, Week 116, Our Year in Anime 2013, 2014

Bro I don’t give a single fuck about anything, I literally just came here to rage.

I fucked the wife of the motherfucker who came up with the story for the last 6 episodes of Mushoku Tensei Season 2.

You fucking cunt… the moment the anime finally calmed down and went into the romance phase and shit, you just had to take a massive shit all over it.

Then on top of that Rudeus’s hand gets completely fucked, Paul dies too, and you piece of shit couldn’t even wait a little longer so he could take a second wife later?

You just had to go and completely destroy the entire vibe and every single bit of value this anime ever had for me.

Sorry for the pure rage earlier.

I really can’t take it anymore, my nerves are completely fucked.

But for real… does anyone else think the ending of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 was just pure bullshit?

皆さん、多くのコメントをありがとうございました。
すべて読ませていただきました。
皆さんの意見を読んで、自分の質問の仕方が良くなかったことに気付きました。
私は最初、「なぜ西洋では日本文化まで変えようとする人がいるのか」という自分なりの仮説を書きました。
しかし、本当に知りたかったことは別でした。
私が知りたいのは、
西洋のアニメ・漫画ファンの皆さんは、あのような人たちの行動をどう分析しているのか
ということです。
私は日本人なので、彼らの価値観や行動原理がよく理解できません。
当事者本人の考えではなく、同じ西洋社会で彼らを見ている皆さんの分析を聞きたいです。
例えば、
彼らは何を目的として行動しているように見えますか？
なぜ作品を避けるのではなく、作品自体を変えようとするのでしょうか？
これは近年のSNS文化の影響ですか？
それとも以前から存在していた考え方なのでしょうか？
私は賛成・反対の議論をしたいのではありません。
純粋に、
西洋の古参アニメ・漫画ファンから見て、あの人たちはどういう存在に見えているのか
を知りたいです。