I want to try something different to encourage more engagement on this community.

Let's share what we're reading and watching this month! Whether you're one or one hundred chapters/episodes deep, whether you love it or hate it, whether it's a new series or an old favorite, this is the place to share what comics and/or animation you've been consuming lately.

Friendly reminder that this community is specifically for folks 30-years-old and up; you can still participate in this discussion if you're younger than that, but please mark your comments with "under 30." Thanks!

To all who've stumbled across this new community, welcome! To kick things off I wanted to elaborate a little on why I think there's a need for a community specifically for older fans of animation and comics. It's a long explanation and not required reading to participate here by any means, but for those who might have questions I hope this clears things up a bit.

Here are the four main issues I've encountered as an over-30 fan of animation and comics (especially when it comes to searching for new series to read/watch) that prompted the creation of this community:

1) Age-appropriateness (in reverse): Usually when people talk about whether media is "age-appropriate" they're referring to if it's something too mature for younger audiences. However this is actually a two-way street: sexual content involving younger characters (especially minors) that feels "fine" to watch as a teenager can feel skeevy and uncomfortable to watch when you're significantly older than the characters in question. When I first got into anime as a straight teenage girl, I was quickly desensitized to "fan service" (aka sexualization of female characters, many of whom were minors): the panty shots and bouncing DD-boob close-ups present in so many series were neither titillating nor interesting to me, so I tuned them out. Even as I got older the presence of naked/partially dressed female minors didn't bother me: after all I had seen my own body plenty of times, and the naked bodies of lots of other women young and old in changing rooms, bath houses (I used to live in Japan), etc. However I recognized this blind spot regarding (female) nudity in media after realizing my husband did not feel the same way: there were certain shows that I thought we enjoyed watching together that he would suddenly refuse to continue watching because, to paraphrase: "they keep showing the characters in their underwear; aren't those girls supposed to be 14!? Of course I'm not going to be comfortable watching that." Now it's one thing to feature context-appropriate nudity: I think it's excessively prudish to take offense at the bathing scene in My Neighbor Totoro for instance (the scene is realistic to Japanese culture, plot-relevant, and not the least bit sexual). But the oh-too-common anime trope of the onsen episode where the girls in the women's bath are playfully fondling each other and commenting on each others' chest sizes? That's just gratuitous (and as a frequent onsen-goer I can confirm: straight-up fantasy).

2) Content of interest: People of different ages will of course be interested in different content. Just like I'd expect most 10-year-olds to be bored by both Teletubbies and by The West Wing (albeit for opposing reasons), I'd similarly expect most adults to be bored by the latest shonen action or high school romance series. Many times I've heard on the internet about a series that's a "10/10 awesome, dark, philosophical masterpiece," but when I check it out I'm completely underwhelmed by its I'm-14-and-this-is-deep content and wonder why the heck it came so highly rated... until I realize the person raving about it probably was 14 and did find it deep. A few years back I got a lot of crap for saying I liked The Legend of Korra better than Avatar the Last Airbender, until I explained that while yes, ATLA is objectively a better series, as an adult I wasn't that interested in watching the ATLA cast deal with their pre-teen issues, and found the cast of Korra overall more relatable and the sub-plots more interesting (I still felt like I was watching a kid's show, but at least it was an older kid's show). Similarly there are a lot of great manga and graphic novels that completely fly under the radar because they don't appeal to the average teen/young adult demographic. What 15-year-old wants to read about a 42-year-old office worker who quits his job to take over the family radish farm after his father suddenly passes away? (But I do! Seriously though for a traditionally agrarian society you'd think there would be more agriculture manga out there. Plenty of cooking manga though...)

3) Overexposure to tropes: Many westerners (myself included) got into anime and manga because it was different than what we were used to. Whether it was the art style, the premises or plots, the archetypes or settings, there was appeal in the inherent novelty of the medium. Similarly I've heard from folks in East Asia that they enjoy western media for the same reason: it's different than what they grew up with. While this is perhaps less true nowadays—thanks in part to the exchange of cultures that has created cartoon-like anime, anime-like cartoons, and collaborations like Edgerunners and Scott Pilgrim—the core concept is the same: people find it interesting when a series does something they've never seen before. The reverse is perhaps even more true: generally audiences are going to be bored by media that feels overdone, trite, tropey, been-there-seen-that. "Marvel fatigue" and "isekai fatigue" are recent examples of this phenomenon (for me personally, it's "you'd better swear on the life of your first-born that it's an A+ genre-inverting masterpiece work before I check out yet another 'I woke up as a noble from a novel I read with a vaguely 19th-century fantasy Europe setting' webcomic recommendation). Alas there are only so many stories that can be told, and the older you get and the more media you're exposed to the harder it becomes to find something that feels truly fresh and exciting. More and more as you age new series come out that in theory should be right up your alley... except you've already seen series just like it many times before. "Oh, so it's basically X-Men," "oh, so it's basically Naruto," "oh, so it's basically Harry Potter," "oh, so it's basically Love Hina." Maybe this déjà vu sensation isn't so bad the first few times, but after a certain point the tropes become downright painful. To be clear, this phenomenon of recognizing similarities and repeating patterns in art isn't always a bad thing: the "hero quest" is a well-trodden format for good reason, the montage is a convenient shorthand for a long period of activity condensed into a few moments, and what good is a parody if you're not familiar with the material being lampooned? Genre-subversion too relies heavily on familiarity with an overdone concept: it's the unique twist, the betrayal of expectations that makes the premise novel and interesting. Sometimes this novelty can even overcome the issue raised in point #2 above: "this looks like a series for kids/teens, but it appears that they're exploring something new and different so I'll check it out" (example: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse utilized a jaw-dropping art style, while also exploring a Spider-Man—actually numerous Spider-People!—beyond the standard Peter Parker). Unfortunately genre-subversion only really works the first time it's done; going back to my previous example, "I'm reincarnated in a fantasy romance novel, but as the villain!?!1" has become even more of a trope than being reincarnated as the heroine.

4) Finding common ground across generations: This is a bit of a bonus purpose for creating this community. Maybe you, community visitor, are still young and squarely in the target demographic for most animation and comics, but you want to find series to recommend to older friends/family to either enjoy together or share your love of the medium. However since you're not old and experienced enough to recognize what's fresh and what's overdone, what's relevant to older audiences and what's no longer relatable, or even what's skeevy and age-inappropriate, identifying series that would be good to share is a bit of a crapshoot. I know when I was a teenager and getting into anime and manga I wanted to share my new passion with my family, but the adults almost always seemed bored or put-off by the stuff I showed them. Looking back now I totally get why my mom wasn't interested in that ten-volume middle-school romance-drama manga I gave her to read, or why my dad didn't seem impressed by the cool fight scenes in the hottest new shonen (he'd seen every action movie of the 80s, after all!). Hopefully this community can give younger visitors some hints as to what to share and what to avoid when crossing the generational boundary.

Put these four issues together, and I think there's value in a "for older fans by older fans" animation and comics community on Lemmy. To be clear, this is not intended as an exercise in gatekeeping, hating on younger fans, or disparaging new media as lesser than the classics (let's be real, a lot of what we grew up with was straight garbage). Rather, it's about continuing to find entertainment and enjoyment in drawn and animated media at any age, and connecting with peers who are also part of what is essentially a niche subgroup of the larger fandom.

What do you all think: does this resonate with your experiences as an older fan? Are there other reasons that you think there's value in a 30+ animation/comics community?

I haven't been able to keep up with recent releases this year, so 2026's question is:

What are the gayest/queerest/transiest(???) titles in animation/comics currently being released?

I'm talking any anime/manga/animation/comics that dropped this side of June 1, 2025 (continuing series are OK). Did 2025-26 have anything that could top (heh) this cover of Gay Comix #12 from 1988?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47050142

Hi everyone! Guys, I’m inviting all animators to my Fluxer server. I just set this server up today, and I’ll be slowly tweaking it. Some of you might say there’s Discord, but honestly, it’s full of communities. I decided to create a server specifically on Fluxer (Link🔗: https://fluxer.gg/DBTvODdm )—this link expires in 7 days, so hurry up. Of course, I’m still new to animation, so I’ll be learning from you all—feel free to make suggestions and help improve this server!

Title: Vampire Syndrome

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2023-2024

Country: South Korea

Genre: Action/supernatural

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

When it comes to webtoons, especially Korean ones, I often find myself making the same criticisms over and over: this is just a new twist on a tired concept, there's no novelty to the art style, the pacing is terrible (and drags on for way too many chapters), and the big one: this series is all plot and no substance (it has no thesis, nothing it "wants to say," it's only goal is to be entertaining).

Then in strides an underrated action/supernatural series, catching me completely by surprise because it's about one of the most tired concepts of the 21st century, vampires, and yet feels like one of the freshest new entries to the webtoon scene in years. The art is super unique, stylish, and flashy (and for once does not completely clash with the 3D-generated backgrounds), the characters are all distinctive and interesting (and relevant through the whole series, no "introduce, use, and dump" here!), the series wrapped up comfortably in an engaging 80 chapters, and the entire premise is an analogy for social issues facing 21st century South Korea (and most of the first world):

::: spoiler spoiler The villains are vampires, specifically the vampires at the top of the food chain who are mostly wealthy old men who became vampires seeking immortality by consuming people younger and less privileged than themselves. Most of the protagonists are in their 20s or 30s, although there is a spread from teens to 60s, and there's a very strong "the older generations should sacrifice themselves to ensure the success of the younger generations, not the other way around" theme throughout. Like any good social analogy there's debate over preserving the status quo vs inciting a chaotic revolution, and what "revolution" would even look like. While the themes are presented from a South Korean perspective, I think most everyone will resonate with the "pass the fucking torch already, Boomer" messaging. :::

The dialogue can be a bit clunky at times, although it's hard to say whether that's a result of a poor translation. The series engages in a lot of time jumps, and although I think they're handled well some people may find them confusing. The series has the emotional subtlety of a teenager's poetry diary and the social analogy thesis is pretty superficial, but it carries a sincerity that, combined with the art style, makes it all just work. The surreal rubber-people art, character-driven plot, and stylized body horror all remind me a bit of the Land of the Lustrous manga.

If you can stomach some (highly stylized fantasy) violence and noir-level brooding, Vampire Syndrome is a series I'd recommend to anyone looking for something different, or at least less superficial, in the action genre.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Hell of a Romance (Original: 불지옥 로맨스, 불地獄)

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2023-2024

Country: South Korea

Genre: Slice of Life/Romance/Fantasy

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Contrary to what its title suggests, Hell of a Romance is a cute, wholesome slice of life series. Yes there is a romance story in there, but it takes a back seat for 90% of the series to the slice of life elements: at its core this is a story about two failures teaming up in an attempt to create a hit webcomic.

While nothing about this series stood out to me as a must-read, it's a great choice for when you're in need of a lighthearted pick-me-up or a low-stakes read before bed. The art is basic but distinctive, the pacing is decent (I hated the frequent use of cliffhangers, which made no sense given the general lack of action, but I thought overall pacing was fine and the series length was appropriate), the characters are charming enough, and there's just enough plot to keep the series interesting (although maybe not bingeable). I really liked the portrayal of hell, and while a bit of a cliche, I found the use of the angelic demon and demonic angel trope a good fit for the premise. There aren't quite enough jokes to call the series a comedy, but there are a decent number of amusing moments sprinkled in. All the characters appear and act like adults in their 20s-30s, and there's nothing I noted that would be a particular turn-off to older readers.

A relatively short series, Hell of a Romance is a great pick for when you want an easy, comforting read that's a bit more engaging than your standard slice of life, thanks to the supernatural premise.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Lore Olympus

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2018-2024

Country: New Zealand

Genre: Drama/romance/fantasy

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Lore Olympus is one of the best-known and popular Webtoons, and it 100% deserves that distinction. There's so much that's fresh and unique about the series while also having a lot of classic elements. For the uninitiated, Lore Olympus is a retelling of ancient Greek myths in a hybrid 21st century/ancient Greek setting. Webtoons bills it as a romance, however I call it a drama because there is so much going on beyond the romance plot: action, political scheming, revenge, trauma recovery, familial relationships, independence and interdependence...

The art style is bold, stylish, unique, and very aesthetically pleasing. The characters are fresh and interesting, drawing heavily from ancient myth mixed with more contemporary traits and personalities. The overall fusion of ancient and contemporary is fantastic; the entire series is full of little details pulled from old myths, right up to the end. The plot is engaging, and the pacing is mostly consistent. The main cast is huge, the supporting cast even bigger, and they all get fleshed-out personalities and storylines, and most undergo significant character development. Even though much of what happens in Lore Olympus was composed thousands of years ago, I didn't feel like the plot directed the characters, rather the characters drive the plot. For how much happens in this series, it's all surprisingly well organized and balanced. Yet a surreal, dreamy tone persists through the series, beautifully complementing the serious plot elements. This webcomic really utilizes its medium well.

I think Lore Olympus gathered some hate during its third season that I completely chalk up to the weekly release format. Readers complained that the plot wasn't moving as quickly as they wanted, which I attribute to readers' expecting the exciting pace from the previous arc's climax to continue (which would be bad storytelling) as well as frustration from fast-pass readers that they weren't "getting our money's worth" out of each chapter. I binged the series instead of reading it weekly, and thought the pacing perhaps got a tad slower than it should have during season three, but the story was clearly progressing and at a fairly consistent pace and wrapped up well. There are plenty of Webtoons where the story pace grinds to a halt or starts flailing as the author runs out of ideas while their editors push them to artificially extend their golden goose, but Lore Olympus isn't one of them.

I've also seen some hate around how some of the characters and/or relationships are handled, which I think a full read of the series combined with researching the original myths would generally dispel. In my opinion, Lore Olympus does a fantastic job maneuvering around the elements of Greek mythology we'd consider especially tasteless today (such as the incest), and given that the original myth is literally called "the rape of Persephone," I think the author's renditions of myth to better appeal to 21st century tastes is brilliant (from non-consensual encounters to giant age gaps). Mild spoiler: ::: spoiler spoiler Persephone herself grows tremendously as a character, from an example of the immature, "born sexy yesterday" trope to an empowered woman. Her early-season naivete is fully explained by her upbringing and relationship with her mother, who herself has reasonable if somewhat misguided reasons for her parenting style. Season 3 is all about girl power, and I really enjoyed the subversion of typically male-centric mythology. :::

The characters span a wide range of ages, but generally look and act like young adults and middle-aged adults. The characters express both maturity and immaturity, and overall I think this is a series that older readers will greatly enjoy, especially as the older characters are introduced and take more prominence in the plot.

Lore Olympus is a truly unique and well-made series that I would unreservedly recommend any fan of comics at least give a try.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Train to the End of the World (English); 終末トレインどこへいく？(Japanese)

Type: Anime

Year: 2024

Country: Japan

Genre: Surreal

Status: Completed

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: No, but I (mostly) enjoyed it anyway

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Train to the End of the World (TEW) is perhaps one of the worst "cute girls doing cute things" series I've ever watched, and yet it's probably the series I've enjoyed the most this year so far.

Much like Girls' Last Tour, this is an entry into the "cute girls doing cute things, but in a dystopian setting" sub-sub genre that in theory hinges upon the bizarre juxtaposition of two seemingly incongruent elements. However unlike Girls' Last Tour, (or the currently-airing Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction), TEW probably would have benefited greatly from having literally any other cast of main characters. I thought the girls were really cliche, annoying, and forgettable, with painfully uninspired dialogue, and were regrettably-yet-unsurprisingly subject to a level of sexualization that would probably make most older audiences uncomfortable (nothing extraordinary, just the anime standard treatment of high school girls). Honestly I zoned out during most of the scenes involving the girls chatting amongst themselves, and I doubt I missed much plot at a result.

Despite all this, the premise/setting/world building of TEW makes up for its flaws. Once the girls STFU, the show gets to show off its weird, fun, creepy side. This is a series that makes you go ah, this is what the animated medium is for: surreal nonsense that would require a buttload of fake-ass CGI to even attempt to portray in live action. I really like the tone of the series, which is generally upbeat but with an uneasy aftertaste that puts you on edge while never actually venturing into tragedy (as can happen with surreal/dystopian series, looking at you Kaiba). There's a good balance of exploration and action, with some decent comedy tossed in on occasion.

Maybe I'm biased because my first trip to Japan, I spent a few weeks living at a guest house in Oizumi-Gakuen along the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line featured in this anime, and I'm a complete sucker for series that utilize real places (and TEW has a whole train line of them). Regardless I absolutely loved the premise of riding a train through a vast, unknown land of magic and horror, stopping at each station to learn what became of various previously-sleepy commuter towns in bizarro-Tokyo, intensity growing the closer you get to the city-within-a-city of Ikebukuro. TEW is a bit like Kino's Journey, but with socio-political commentary replaced with the train scene in Spirited Away albeit with more menacing vibes.

In summary, TEW is weird and atmospheric and I am here for it, despite the obnoxious (and occasionally uncomfortably-portrayed) main cast of cliche anime high school girls. Perhaps the creators didn't quite nail what they set out to do, but I couldn't help but really appreciate the attempt.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Nonesuch

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-2024

Country: United States (?)

Genre: Thriller

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

If you're like me with decades of comic reading under your belt, you're likely on the hunt for series that have something a little different to offer, and Nonesuch delivers. While a bit rough in spots, Nonesuch is a solid series, with good pacing, an engaging plot, and quite a bit of novelty, plus it's short enough that you could complete it in one or two sittings.

First, the novelty: this series is set in rural Appalachia and that''s not just an aesthetic; the characters are gun-toting, Christ-loving, red-blooded Americans. To each point: I know jack-all about guns, however my impression is that the series portrays them accurately. In the creator notes at the end, the author mentions that her intent was to create a "Christian" series, which I think is quite interesting given that I spent most of the series wondering if the Christian elements were supposed to be dismissive of the religion or not (in other words there's nothing preachy about Nonesuch, and the inclusion of Christianity definitely adds quite a bit of realism to a series set in the Bible Belt). Overall I really felt the setting in this series, which is a huge breath of fresh air not only in the world of comics, but American media overall (which are very California/NYC-centric).

Further bits of novelty: the art style, while not my favorite, is bold and distinctive. The plot/premise share vibes with various horror/thriller/mystery series (strong zombie and X-Files notes), but regarding the specifics I can't think of any examples that are similar. Probably my favorite aspect of the series is that one of the main characters not only has a disability, but it's a rare (yet real) condition that most readers probably haven't heard of, and it's an invisible disability, and it's integral to both the plot and character development. I'm assuming the author has personal experience with the condition, because it's handled with significantly more understanding and gravitas than nearly all depictions of disability/non-lethal health conditions in media.

The rough edges: while distinctive, the art style feels a bit clunky at times, with occasional bad anatomy and a limited range of facial expressions (I get that none of the characters are having a good time, but does "grimace" have to be everyone's default expression?). The series also does the thing where the characters often make reckless decisions that, while perhaps justified by the situation they are in, are nonetheless frustrating for the audience to witness (and indeed, often lead to completely preventable bad things happening). I think one other misstep happens when the characters discover what's causing the supernatural situation they're in (minor spoiler):

::: spoiler spoiler

I found the explanation given for the clones, the mint, and the trapped space unconvincing and unsatisfying. It's a really hard line to walk in series like this, between explaining the supernatural happenings and leaving some things dangling. There's a bit of a midi-chlorian phenomenon going on, where knowing exactly how the magic works kills the suspension of disbelief, especially when you try to use hard science to explain something blatantly supernatural. In the case of Nonesuch, the explanation tried to be highly scientific, but came off as total bullshit (at least to me and my personal level of scientific understanding; maybe a subject matter expert would differ). :::

Of the three main characters, two are in their mid-twenties and the third is middle-aged. Everyone acts their ages, for better or worse (the younger two can be a little grating with their inexperience/immaturity in various things, including their relationship with each other). Other than this, there's nothing in the series that would turn off an older reader.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: 1HP Club

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-?

Country: Unknown (comic published in English)

Genre: Dungeons & Dragons (fantasy/action/adventure/slice-of-life/comedy)

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter 130)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

1HP Club is a webcomic series about a group of adults playing Dungeons & Dragons. That's it, that's the premise. However due to a combination of eye-candy art, rapid pacing, engaging action scenes, and interesting characters, 1HP Club actually manages to be a surprisingly fun and easy read.

There are a number of works out there that take place in the D&D (or similar) universe, ranging from the live-action Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among Thieves, the animated The Legend of Vox Machina, and webcomics like The Weekly Role. However 1HP Club takes the approach of primarily taking place in the D&D universe but occasionally pulling back to a (also fictional) table-top setting. In my opinion this dual-setting is handled quite well and overcomes the issues frequently inherent to D&D fiction that primarily focus on one or the other: bouncing between table-top and in-game action helps facilitate good pacing and avoids "downtime" in both settings, helps ease the issue of "suspension of disbelief" (because not only is it "just a story," it's "just a story within a story"), and adds padding to character development (because every character also has a character playing them).

Do you need prior knowledge of D&D for this series to make sense? Not necessarily, but without at least some basic knowledge of game mechanics and/or general tabletop gaming experience readers are likely to miss at least a few references, plot points, or jokes; the series isn't quite a parody, but it does assume prior D&D knowledge. However even the completely uninitiated may still find the action/adventure plot and eye-candy art to be more than sufficient to enjoy the series. On the topic of art, I really like how it's handled: both the table-top and in-game settings done in a colorful and aesthetically-pleasing style, but the table-top characters look more like normal people while the in-game characters are more attractive with some occasional mild cheesecake (interestingly of the male characters only, which is strangely refreshing given that nearly all non-romance fantasy series are more about sexualizing their female characters).

Ages of the table-top characters and in-game characters aren't mentioned, but they act and look to be in the 20s-30s range. There's no content "objectionable" to older readers, and while zany antics abound, they're thankfully of the standard D&D/role-playing variety. It shouldn't take more than the first ten chapters or so to figure out if this is a series you'll enjoy or not, and with each chapter being about a one-minute read, why not give 1HP Club a try?

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Featured: Revolutionary Girl Utena (Shoujo Kakumei Utena / 少女革命ウテナ), a manga and anime series from the 1990s with a bisexual, gender-queer protagonist and an equally 🏳️‍🌈 colorful 🏳️‍🌈 cast of supporting characters.

Title: Live with Yourself!

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2016-2024

Country: United States

Genre: Comedy/Sitcom/Sci-Fi

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Live with Yourself! (LWY) is one of those many-genres-in-one series: mostly a comedy, but with a sci-fi premise, a sitcom style, and plot-lines that vary from action to slice-of-life to romance to drama. The plot is organized with one large over-arching plot that lasts all 545 chapters, and lots of tiny sub-plots, some of which only last a few chapters, some of which pop in and out every few dozen chapters, and some chapters are standalone one-shots. In other words, this series is kind of all over the place, but in a mostly good way. Like most semi-episodic series, some plotlines/chapters are way superior to others and you'll encounter a few duds along the way, but fortunately the chapters are so short that even during its lowest points LWY typically doesn't take more than a few minutes of reading before it picks up again.

For a mostly fluffy, goofy series, the premise and plotlines can be somewhat heavy: after interacting with a mysterious machine, the protagonist, 20-something-year-old Todd, accidentally becomes four versions of himself (Todd the baby, Todd of today, Todd of tomorrow, and Todd the old man) and is thus forced to "live with [him]self." While he tries to continue life as normally as he can while dealing with constant time paradoxes and shenanigans, he encounters a variety of other supernatural and weird individuals and experiences, culminating in "Time City," a place outside of time that regulates and polices time anomalies (such as himself). However don't expect hard-core sci-fi out of LWY: the rules of comedy prevail, and when your entire premise is based in a paradox, it's easy to make logic take a backseat as needed for the plot or a joke.

LWY is a fun, albeit somewhat forgettable, easy-read series. Most sub-plots are only a few chapters long, and the chapters only take a minute or so to read. There aren't a lot of laugh-out-loud jokes (this is more an "amusing" comedy series than a "funny" comedy series), and the goofiness factor can sometimes get out of hand, but if nothing else, LWY is unique and generally engaging. It's a doozy to try and marathon, but fortunately its episodic nature makes it an easy series to pick up and read a few chapters here and there whenever you have downtime but don't want to get into anything too engrossing (like on a work commute, or when you're stuck on hold). The characters are a mixed bag: Todd is IMO a bit too much of a typical "white guy nerd" in that he is techy, likes video games, is a bit of a bumbling idiot when it comes to "adulting," is slightly socially awkward, and... that's about it. This primary character blandness can pull the series down a bit at times (especially given that it's a sitcom/ensemble series, and a full quarter of the ensemble--baby Todd--has basically no personality at all), but fortunately as the series progresses more characters are added to help add substance (even though most of them are also pretty two-dimensional). LWY is a bit like the old days of newspaper comics: not a lot of depth (except in occasional small chunks), but that's not what you're here for anyway. There's not anything in LWY in particular to attract or repulse the 30+ crowd, except that Todd can be annoyingly immature at times.

While far from groundbreaking, LWY is amusing, easily digested, generally upbeat, and definitely different. I found it lagged a bit somewhere around/after chapter 400, but it picks right back up around chapter 500 for a solid, albeit slightly abrupt, ending. While a bit lacking in substance and subject to quality variations, its fun nature that isn't afraid to play around with its paradoxical premise and try different things throughout the series makes Live with Yourself! a (mostly) worthwhile read.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.

Title: One Room of Happiness (Original Title: 幸色のワンルーム)

Type: Manga

Year: 2017-2022

Country: Japan

Genre: Drama/Psychological

Status: Completed

Platform: Licensed by Crunchyroll (license discontinued?)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Warning: One Room of Happiness contains difficult subject matter such as suicide, abuse, and rape. Many of the characters are or have been victims of abuse, and as such this series has multiple scenes and chapters that can only be described as "emotionally unpleasant." However the series also has many "warm and fuzzy" moments, and while there is tension that things could suddenly go horribly wrong underlying much of the series, this is balanced with joy and hope. In this way the series shares a lot of thematic and tone overlap with Oyasumi Punpun.

Given that Oyasumi Punpun is an infamous emotional trainwreck of a series, and given that the premise and initial chapters of One Room of Happiness send off super-skeevy vibes, here's a mild spoiler about just how bad One Room of Happiness gets:

::: spoiler spoiler The ending of One Room of Happiness is bittersweet: nowhere near as devastating as Oyasumi Punpun, but certainly not a fully happy ending either. The "kidnapper" does not attempt anything untoward toward the "kidnapped;" their relationship is generally wholesome, albeit in a fucked-up way. However rape-attempt scenes involving other characters do occur on two occasions in the series. :::

The core of the series is in its character study of abused individuals dealing with trauma, and the character development that comes with working through it and connecting with others also scarred by abuse. The plot is fairly engaging, and there's some cat-and-mouse as the "kidnapper and kidnapped" try to evade the police. The art, pacing, and dialogue are all quite good. Because one of the core themes of the series is recovering from trauma, the series is overall more wholesome, heartwarming, and uplifting than most "psychological" series, which depending on the series can border on torture porn. IANAP (I am not a psychologist), however I left One Room of Happiness feeling like the difficult subjects handled in this series were done respectfully, gracefully, and at least somewhat realistically.

The two main characters are on the younger side (14 and early/mid-twenties), however the subject matter is mature and, likely due to their trauma, the characters act mature for their age. The series's overall quality is high, and the "turn-offs for older audiences" that I try to watch for with these reviews are basically absent. As long as you are prepared for the heavy subject matter and can get through some of the more questionable content/vibes of the early chapters (including one chapter with non-sexualized 14yo nudity), I think this series is both appropriate and enjoyable for older audiences.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.

Title: Clinic of Horrors

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2021-?

Country: It's complicated (distributed team; comic's original language is English)

Genre: Horror/Comedy/Dystopia/Sci-Fi

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter #116)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Maybe

My rating: 2.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

The early chapters of Clinic of Horrors are real rough. The dialogue is so clunky the comic reads like a mediocre fan translation of an East Asian series, the comedy element is weak, the bizarre setting (while intriguing) is barely explored, the art is bright and snazzy but anatomically questionable and lacking in details, and there's no character development or plot to speak of (the format is monster-of-the-week, but with each chapter only being a few panels long each concept is introduced then resolved in the blink of an eye, like if Black Mirror tried to make TikTok shorts). Fortunately the series improves dramatically as it progresses, especially once the chapters get longer, more is revealed about the setting, and an overarching plot kicks in.

Unfortunately the progression is only enough to drag the series out of "not good" to "just okay albeit with potential." There's a definite attempt to tell a dark dystopian, anti-capitalist/anti-monopolist sci-fi tale, but unfortunately the quality is still a bit lacking. While there are some interesting ideas being played with, none of them are all that original, and while this particular concoction of concepts is perhaps unique, each individual dystopian/horror/sci-fi concept has already been explored much better in other works. For example there's a plotline about a fungus that is taking over people's bodies, effectively killing and turning them into zombies, to create a mycorrhizal network of sorts; this is an interesting enough premise except that it was resolved when the protagonist dumps a handful of antibacterial vaccine vials into the water supply and triggers the sprinkler system (which is... incorrect on so many fronts). If the art were truly bad (like, early chapters of Tower of God-bad) I doubt Clinic of Horrors would have ever gotten off the ground, because the other aspects of the series are definitely not good enough to carry the series.

However, that's not to say Clinic of Horrors is completely without merit. If you're looking for a bubblegum series with bright and colorful art, short and easily-digestible chapters, and a mildly-creepy pop-sci-fi setting, this series isn't a bad way to burn an hour or so (the chapters, especially at the beginning, are really short, so even at over a hundred chapters you should be able to blow through the whole series in one sitting). There's nothing in particular that stood out to me as "older audiences won't enjoy this" other than the series's general mediocrity. Because it is so short and such easy reading, I'll probably stick with the series and hope that it continues to improve.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.

Title: Heaven's Design Team (original: 天地創造デザイン部)

Type: Anime TV

Year: 2021

Country: Japan

Genre: Comedy/Educational

Status: Completed

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

The greatest irony of Heaven's Design Team is that a series about creationism is actually one of the best science anime out there (not that there's a lot of competition). While some elements of the show would undoubtedly make many biologists squirm (for instance, the show's premise inevitably leads the series to portray evolution as intentional rather than incidental), however if you're willing to brush off certain scientific inaccuracies as a consequence of artistic liberty, this is a really fun, mildly-educational show.

The premise of Heaven's Design Team is simple: God burned out when having to create Earth and everything that lives there, so He outsourced the work to a team of designers (the main cast). Most episodes revolve around the design team receiving a specific request from God for a new animal (like "an animal with bones as weapons" or "make more stripey animals") and then they walk through different possible ideas and why that would/would not work given physiological limits and environmental pressures. It becomes a bit of a puzzle show: can the viewer guess what real-world animal the design team is building up to? (Or for the more obscure animals: have you even heard of this species before?) Between the brainstorming and trial-and-error, there's a lot of failed designs along the way to a design that God deems "accepted," and IMO the most interesting part of the show is when they go into why certain designs failed and the tweaks necessary to get around it (for example: bigger eyes means better eyesight, but then the eyeballs take up so much room in the skull there's no room for the musculature necessary to move them, so the design team extends the animal's neck so it moves its head rather than its eyeballs).

The show has very little objectionable material in it (a PG-rating at worst), and the deluge of "fun facts about animals" is reminiscent of kid-oriented nature shows (like Wild Kratts), however I think Heaven's Design Team has plenty of entertainment value for adults too. I consider myself quite well-educated on animals for a layperson, but most of the facts and many of the animals I had never heard about before, so there were plenty of surprises and much trivia learned. There's also a good dose of (G-rated) adult-oriented humor, mostly of the office workplace variety. Mostly though I think older audiences will appreciate the series's solid execution: the animation is bold and colorful, the dialogue is decent, the pacing is snappy (exceptionally so for a comedy anime), and the humor is on the gag side but the jokes usually land. While the characters are extremely two-dimensional and undergo minimal character development, that actually works in the show's favor, as it gives each animal designer a "style" that influences the creatures they create (whether they're more likely to come out cute, creepy, delicious, etc). While some topics of humor are used multiple times (e.g. "Tsuchiya/Saturn is obsessed with making everything into a horse!") on each occasion the reused humor was always presented with a fresh spin and never wore out over the series's 13 episode run (sadly rehashing the same tired joke over and over is par for the course in comedy anime, so this is impressive). I think the series goes a little off the rails at times in the last few episodes and gets extra goofy (although bonus episode 13 brings the series back to its roots), but even the weaker segments of the series are still very watchable.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.

Title: An American Tail, and the sequel: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

Type: Western animated movie

Year: 1986; 1991

Country: United States

Genre: Kids/comedy/action

Appropriate for 30+?: Unable to judge

My rating: N/A

Note: IMO it's impossible to give a piece of your childhood a fair review (nostalgia and dozens of rewatches heavily warp one's perception of a work), so I decided to go in a different direction from my typical reviews and focus on the rewatch experience instead.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (hereby: FGW) was one of my favorite movies as a young kid. I watched it so many times I could practically recite the dialogue from heart. After learning that it was actually a sequel I watched the original 1986 movie (hereby: AAT) once or twice, but didn't like it as much. I remember feeling that while the sequel was a laugh-a-minute romp with engaging action scenes, the original just wasn't as fun and was instead a bit of a downer with some scary/creepy moments (especially the climax when the cats attack and the Mouse of Minsk is released).

Several decades since my last viewing, I decided to give the two movies a watch to see how they held up. I started with AAT and found it somewhat rougher around the edges than I expected, but still above-average for a kid's movie. I then watched FGW, and wowza I was not wrong as a child: the sequel is such an improvement on the original. It's the kind of sequel where they basically go through the plot of the original again with a different setting (ala The Hangover), but FGW is such a superior movie that it was more like watching a wildly successful reboot. The animation, soundtrack, pacing, dialogue, humor, and villains experience a huge improvement over the original. There is mild value in watching AAT first (as it explains a few confusing parts of FGW, like why Fievel is willing to risk his life for a hat, and why his father is confident he'll survive getting lost by himself in the desert), but 99% of FGW stands up on its own.

One major difference between the two is that FGW is infinitely goofier, and is possibly one of the best examples of Looney Tunes-style slapstick humor out there. I haven't been a fan of slapstick this side of elementary school, and had I had been introduced to these movies as an adult this aspect might have put me off to the sequel, however whether through the power of nostalgia, quality choreography, or the fact that the slapstick is intertwined with other types of humor, I did not mind the slapstick segments much. Additionally, it was quite fun whenever a joke or bit of dialogue came along that made me go, "aha, I'm pretty sure I didn't catch that as a kid!" I know I didn't properly appreciate the performances of John Cleese and James Stewart! FGW runs at a mile-a-minute, and there's so much nonsensically-brilliant dialogue, tight choreography and cinematography, and easy-to-miss details that elevate the movie beyond just a kid-pleasing goofy romp.

I walked away from this exercise in nostalgia relieved that AAT and FGW still hold up over 30 years later (there are some racial stereotypes in both that probably wouldn't pass muster today, but they're mild compared to the stuff from that era that didn't age well). I was impressed with how effortlessly AAT and FGW were able to portray "the American story" in a way easily digestible for young children while still including subtle real-life details (like the pogroms that pushed the Mousekewitz family out of then-Russia-now-Ukraine). I don't know if an adult watching the movies for the first time would enjoy them, but I definitely had a blast.

Title: Spy x Family

Type: Anime TV

Year: 2022-2023 (Seasons 1 & 2)

Country: Japan

Genre: Comedy with some thriller/action

Status: Ongoing? (Movie forthcoming, and sequels likely)

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Somewhat

My rating: 3/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Watching Spy x Family can feel like rolling a roulette wheel: is this week's episode going to be a spy thriller? A gorey action sequence? A goofy comedy of misunderstanding? A slice-of-life? A heartwarming tale of family? All of the above smooshed together? At its core, the series is a sitcom: the premise rests heavily on the unique traits of each cast member, so the plot almost always revolves around how those characters interact with each other and resolve a variety of situations that get thrown their way, usually in an humorous manner (so yeah, situational-comedy).

The series' elevator pitch: because of circumstances, a super-spy undercover in enemy territory, a secret assassin, and a child psychic (and later a dog with precognition) form a fake family that slowly becomes real as they spend time with each other, while frantically keeping their secrets from each other. The series introduces various side characters, like the sis-con brother who covertly works for the secret police, who also have amusing traits that interact with the main cast in funny ways (that's the idea anyway). And sure, there are some funny scenes and moments that result from these interactions. But like most sitcoms, both character and plot development are horribly stifled by the fact that the entire series revolves around each character's set bio, and any change to that would disturb the series' delicate balance. This removes a lot of tension from any action scene or occasion where a character's identity might be found out, because we the audience know that any major plot development would spell the end of the series, thus encapsulating everything that happens in a thick layer of plot armor. It also results in repetitive situations (how many times can you joke about the sis-con brother's unhealthy obsession with his sister before it gets stale?) because there's only so much material to work with without changing the base dynamic, and as nothing can be taken seriously in a series with such a preposterous premise, the wacky-hijinks factor is quite high. It can feel like watching Saturday Night Live: some skits are haha-funny, some are heh-funny, and some are not funny at all (and feel like a drag to get through). There are some cute and hearwarming moments and I'd say that this was at least a turn-your-brain-off wholesome-comedy series, if it weren't for the sporadic fight scenes, which are sometimes "TV-Y7" levels of violent, and other times quite bloody.

One of the difficulties with being a long-time fan of anime is that the cliches really start to wear on you after a while. While Spy x Family has some novelty to it, it also has jokes (so many jokes) about how the mother character's cooking is terrible to the point of inducing severe illness. Throw in the complete lack of character development among the 2-dimensional cast, multiple boring "skits" (there's an episode where the entire plot is two characters look for a lost cat and surprise! hijinks ensue, 'nuff said), lackluster plots revolving around the spy/thriller/action sequences (while there is a TON of room for political drama and nuance given the setting, the series is way too frivolous to include any), stir it all together and you get a series that's just okay.

Despite all this I'm not surprised Spy x Family is a popular series; I'm sure I would have enjoyed it quite a bit had I watched it as a teenager, especially because anime has historically struggled with making comedy that's actually funny—part of this is the lost-in-translation factor, part of this is just the vast heaps of mediocrity out there—and Spy x Family is undeniably funnier-than-average when compared to other comedy anime. But it's not funny enough (or consistently funny enough) to be a pure comedy series, it falls horribly flat when judged by any other genre, and it overall has a feeling of immaturity of plot and premise. It's not a show that couldn't be enjoyed by adults, but I definitely felt like I was watching a show aimed at the teenage demographic. At least the parts I found cliche were boring rather than grating, which saved the series from getting a much lower rating.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free country fediverse.