Like Bloom Into You is cute, but the anime literally just up and ends halfway through the story with no conclusion or even climax to the story (yes, I went and read the manga afterwards and the complete story was good, particularly in how it reached a point where the characters all realized how silly the central driving internal conflicts of the first half were), and when I look at relevant MAL stacks it’s like “these aren’t bait - well ok this one is, and that was is, but uh…” or “alright so it’s an incestuous loli story but…” and all I can think is kind-vladimir-ilyich so this is basically the only place I trust to ask.

Side question, is there anywhere I can actually find translated light novels that’s better than nyaa.si? Because as consistent as that’s been there’s still occasionally things like the Bloom Into You spinoff that’s either not there or not complete.

  • TanneriusFromRome [they/them, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    12·
    4 months ago

    I liked the below, if you don’t mind a bit of fantasy isakei being in the mix.

    JP title: Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei

    EN title: The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

    • KobaCumTribute [she/her]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      10·
      4 months ago

      I’ve read the novels that covered the initial Rae/Claire story and it’s 100% not bait, and I think the story itself is good even though its protagonist is sort of a piece of shit.

      I'm in Love with the Villainess light novel spoilers

      Rae and Claire end up not exactly married but effectively so, raising adopted daughters in the aftermath of the revolution. The story itself is run through with explicit discussions of queer issues through both Rae’s self-reflection (which acknowledges that she’s kind of a piece of shit whose actions are selfish and bad, regardless of how she tries to rationalize them) and plot points like the story arc where one of the characters is a trans allegory that’s actually ok as such allegories go. One thing I did like about it was the explicit acknowledgement that unrequited love is a poison that eats you alive even if one thinks one can handle it, and that it’s unfair both to oneself and to the target of it, even if it then turned around and basically went “but that’s ok, because this an escapist fantasy story, so the protagonist actually gets to win the affection of her unrequited crush thanks to accumulating enough official Good Girl points through doing good deeds to redeem her as a prize.”

      I started reading the first novel of the second major arc, but didn’t get too far before getting distracted with something else, and it’s on my old computer so I haven’t picked it up again.

  • silent_water [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    8·
    4 months ago

    Revolutionary Girl Utena. the show is the main part of the story and it completes in the movie, so watch them in that order.

    people sometimes skip the show and go straight to the movie because a) it’s gayer and b) it seems like it’s retelling the same story except faster. it’s not. the movie takes place after the events of the show and it’s about the consequences of the events in the anime, with the benefit of substantial character growth.

    the story is bizarre and benefits from multiple watches and a close reading. reality, surreality, and absurdity blend together constantly, so prepare for a lot of weird. it’s genuinely one of my favorite works of art, period.

    and the gay isn’t bait. they kiss by the end - but only after destroying the patriarchy and escaping the cycle of trauma that’s entrapped their psyches as children, forever frozen in their most painful moments. the story messes with gender a lot too - I’ve never felt more seen.

    CW for CSA, including familial. it’s implied but not exactly subtle.

    • KobaCumTribute [she/her]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      6·
      4 months ago

      I watched the first third or so before getting distracted and losing where I was in it. Also watched Yurikuma Arashi from the same director which was even more impenetrable and “everything is stilted symbolism, nothing is literal.”

  • Aquilae [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    7·
    4 months ago

    “How Do We Relationship?” is some of the most realistic depiction of relationships in general I’ve ever seen in fiction tbh. No anime yet but the art is damn good.

    It’s not finished but it’s at 121 chapters. Be prepared for some heartbreak and keep reading (the score on mal is only 7.9 cuz alot of people dropped it then I’m guessing), that’s when it really gets good.

  • machinya [it/its, fae/faer]@hexbear.netEnglish
    4·
    4 months ago

    yuri is a heavilly abandonned genre in anime. there are a couple of series that are not bait but they either very badly adapted, incomplete or controversial. sadly, most of the series that get near yuri are either bait or pseudo-bait because they will never adapt more than the beginning. there are some good shows but there are too few so I expect there are already somewhere in the thread.

    that is the main reason I stopped expecting to watch good yuri ever and I jumped to manga (altough I watched all bait shows this season with great dissapointment). even if not everything there is great, at least there are lots of works that address queer topics with different points of views and conclussions.