Arifureta Season 2 Watch Order

I just finished season 2 and will start season 3 shortly, but first Crunchyroll includes in it's season 2 some additional episodes that they place all at the end.

What Crunchyroll calls season 2 episode 13 the Detour episode actually seems like it's best watched as an optional bonus episode between season 1 and season 2.

The OVA is a single episode on MAL but CR split in two for some reason.  They seme to take place between episode 6 and 7, but they again should be watched with the knowledge that they aren't part of the main plotline.

Katsuyuki Sumisawa is my favorite Sailor Moon Anime Writer

For the 90s Anime I consider him being the writer a more reliable predictor of quality even then Ikuhara being the director.  

That should not be taken as an insult to the other writers, each of the other 4 to write for the first 3 seasons have some episodes I consider great and I haven’t memorized who wrote what as much for SuperS and Stars, but Youji Enokido I can confidently say never wrote a bad episode.

Sumisawa didn’t only write for Sailor Moon of course and so I will mention some notable facts about what else he wrote when chronologically appropriate, but by no means everything.  Beginning with that he was already working before Sailor Moon, but mostly on shows now forgotten or that the West never got in the first place.

NG Knight Ramune & 40, one of the shows Snake Eye Dreams talked about in their 1990: A Year in Anime video has Sumisawa on the staff. As did a few of the late 80s/early 90s shows on TV Asahi that this wordpress blog post has documented.

https://animetics.net/2014/09/03/timeslot-history-anime-on-tv-asahi-1994-2000/

But one notable show among those he worked on was Dragon Ball Z, he wrote a lot of DBZ episodes, many of them seem to be Anime Original “Filler” episodes including most of the Garlic JR Arc.  

The first Sumisawa episode of Sailor Moon is the 3rd episode, but second in the DiC Dub where it was named Talk Radio, (I use a lot of DiC’s episode titles as shorthand even though that’s not the version of the show I’m actually thinking of).  And honestly I would say it's the first good episode of the show, it’s pilot I already reviewed as a weak adaptation of the first Act of the Manga. It's really better to just watch Crystal if you want an Anime version of Usagi’s origin story.  And the second episode really hasn’t aged well.  Talk Radio however feels like the first episode that has much of what 90s Anime Apologists love about the show.  Really there is no reason not to just start with this episode.

The second Sumisawa episode is also the first Ikuhara episode, and one of the episodes DiC didn’t include, so my shorthand name for it is the Smooth Jazz Episode (I didn’t invent calling it something like that though, the Sailor Business Podcast did).  A lot of what’s memorable about this episode is its visual presentation but its script is also solid.

Third is the 9th episode of the show and 6th of the DiC dub where it’s titled Time Bomb.  The gimmick of this episode makes it very fast paced and fun.  And as the only episode that both begins and ends with our Magical Girl team as a Duo it’s in hindsight kind of unintentionally proto-Pretty Cure, especially given how often the Blue PreCures are clearly modeled after Ami Mizuno.

In Japan Ami/Sailor Mercury was always the most popular Senshi as documented by polls in Japanese Anime Magazines.  Why that is I think starts with how Naoko Takeuchi seemingly based Ami on herself more than any of the others.  But as far as the 90s Anime goes I find it notable that while it often Flanderizes her character she does also have some stand out moments and during this early period those often come from Katsuyuki Sumisawa episodes.  And that starts with him writing our second impression of Ami in this episode after episode 8 was again a weak adaptation of its Manga/Crystal counterpart.

Next is Cruise Blues the penultimate episode of the Jadite arc and what happens in it is arguably why the next episode was his last.  Overall this is actually the episode I have the least thoughts on so far, but it is good. 

He only wrote two episodes during the Nephrite Arc, which are coincidentally also the two episodes Ikuhara directed during that arc.  An Unnatural Phenomena is neat in how you can call it a plot that could've been used for Poison Ivy, and it’s DiC version was adapted to an Audio Cassette which is oddly fun to listen to. 

But An Animated Mess is the big one off stand out of this arc. Its Yuri subtext is thick which is amusing given these guest characters are essentially based on actual women on Sailor Moon’s animation staff, were Sumisawa and Ikuhara shipping their co-workers?  

Returning to an earlier point both these episodes have what I think are Ami’s most stand out moments from the Nephrite arc, including her standing on Nephrite’s car in this one.

Sumisawa’s first contribution to the Rainbow Crystal Arc is Mercury’s Mental Match, perhaps the first real Ami spotlight episode since her introduction.  The two episodes featuring “Greg” are among the few I’ve never watched the VizDub versions of due to who voiced “Greg”.  But that was a decision I made back when I underestimated how many performances from that frustrating individual I was already a fan of.  But regardless of how you choose to watch it it’s a good episode.

Kitty Chaos is the last Sumisawa and Ikuhara collaboration until Sailor Moon S.  It’s in general one of the most memorable and talked about episodes, and perhaps oddly influential given how I can’t help but wonder if Rhett Butler inspired aspects of The Cat Returns?

Sumisawa also wrote for Yu Yu Hakushu starting with episode 5 which aired the same day in Japan as Kitty Chaos, November 7th 1992, Yu Yu Hakushu aired at 18:30 JST and Sailor Moon at 19:00 JST, but not on the same channel it seems.  They also share Sukehiro Tomita as a writer.  Their Manga Authors being married makes this sharing of writers even more interesting, were they invited to the wedding?

A Crystal Clear Destiny and A Reluctant Princess are a two parter and the first time Sumisaya is writing episodes that definitely can’t be considered Filler by any metric.  They are equivalent to Acts 8 and 9 of the Manga and Crystal but how things play out are dramatically different.  And both are great, both these versions of this point in the story can coexist as equally valid.

And one of my arguments against the concept of Continuity LockOut is that I know from the Sailor Business Podcast that the first of these was the first episode of the show watched by one fan and she loved it.  It’s an episode that at face value doesn’t seem like a good jumping on point but it didn’t matter, it was Good and that’s what mattered.

Ski Bunny Blues is the first of these episodes that I barely remember, as bad as that sounds I have no bad memories of it, I probably just haven’t rewatched it recently enough, I often skip Rei centric episodes.  I do think this brief era of the show is the weakest of the first series, returning to an episodic format after the big climatic reveal as the last two episodes was pretty awkward since the Manga is already setting up the finale, but Gems were still produced here, not all of them being Sumisawa ones, (the two episodes directed by Kazuisa Takenouchi are standouts).

Tuxedo Unmasked is the other “Greg” episode and it too is great both as a time to shine for Ami and the first time the 90s Anime’s take on Evil Endymion really worked.  And it’s Sumisawa’s last episode for the original series.

For the Makai Tree Arc of which I am a notable apologist, Shigeru Yanagawa was the main writer of its main plot, but perhaps the second most important writer of the Arc is Sumisawa.  First he wrote the second episode which restores the memories of the Inner Senshi and helps set the new Status Quo quite well.    Then he wrote the Venus and Rei centric episodes from around the middle of the arc.  Kindergarten Chaos is one of my personal favorite episodes, this is when the 90s Anime finally finds its footing with its take on Minako.  And Detention Doldrums is very good at both being fairly stand alone and setting up that the following two episodes will finish the Arc.

The Black Moon Saga I love in Crystal and mostly hate in the 90s Anime, this is where my sympathy for Manga Purists is at its strongest.  Thing is, all the episodes of this saga I do consider good in-spite of how the main plot was messed up are the ones Sumisawa wrote. The two Ikuhara directed are very watchable and I understand why one of them is among some people’s favorites, but for me they are Mid at best.

I’m not even gonna cover all of Sumisawa’s Black Moon Saga episodes, some are maybe just good relative to what’s around them.

Sailor Mercury Moving On is the last Ami spotlight episode Sumisawa wrote and is thus the Capstone of a thesis I presented earlier.  I don’t think the Ami episodes of S or Stars or even SuperS are bad or anything, but they are mostly just elaborating on what was in the source material.  Thing about this Ami episode is it’s plot was remade as a sub-plot of the Summer 1994 Sailor Moon Musical though there reworked into the Death Busters era, which in turn was reworked into the first Last Dracul Musical which I really love.  If I wrote my own remake of the Makai Tree Arc I would replace the bad Babysitting episode with a remake of this episode.

Enemies No More is one of the few where I also want to say the English Translation of the Japanese Title “Battle of the Flames of Love! Mars vs Koan”. This one is definitely not just good for a Black Moon Saga episode but one of the absolute best of all 200 episodes of the show, a must watch for those who want to understand why the 90s Anime version is good for more than just goofy filler.  I already talked about it on my Theology Blog.

No Thanks, Nurse Venus! Is hilarious and the best episode of the Esmeraude arc.  Brotherly Love is a good send off for a number of characters.  Follow The Leader is the recap episode that technically ends Sailor Moon R and I note it here only because watching it’s Dub is one of my earliest Sailor Moon memories. 

Driving Dangerously! Is the proper introduction of HaruMi and the final Sumisawa and Ikuhara collaboration, and it’s great, Iconic, legendary.

Birthday Blues! Is the two parter that ends the first Cour of Sailor Moon S which I have specifically fond memories of renting on VHS (where it shared a tape with a Venus episode Enokido wrote) and I’ve watched it’s modern VizDub version, I think it holds up well. 

Art Appreciation is one I don’t remember a whole lot but it is pretty important to the second Arc of S. 

It's in the Cards is the last episode of Sailor Moon that Sumisawa wrote, and it may not be a perfect swan song but it’s pretty good.

Between those two episodes Macross 7 started which two Sailor Moon writers wrote for, Sukehiro Tomita as the head writer and Sumisawa.  It also featured Oohashi Yukiyoshi who wrote with Tomita for Wedding Peach and then a lot of really good Pokémon episodes.

Katsuyuki Sumisawa spent 95 and early 96 as the head writer of Gundam Wing, which would become most Americans’ introduction to Gundam.

He also wrote a bunch of episodes of Cutey Honey Flash which took over Sailor Moon’s timeslot when it ended.  When I watched it I didn't keep track of who wrote which episodes but most episodes were pretty good, I liked it’s second Arc the best.

Sumisawa wrote 18 of the first 26 episodes of Corrector Yui in 1999, episode 17 specifically reminded me of Enemies No More.

He wrote a lot of Inuyasha episodes I just learned.

He also wrote Gundam The Origin which I have mixed feelings on.

And the first 5 and 7th episodes of Yashahime which I did watch, so it seems he’s still got it though I haven't seen most modern shows he’s worked on.

Characters I interpret as Ace

This is not a complete list of every character in works I’m into that can be interpreted as Asexual and/or Aromantic.  They are characters I have a particular interest in interpreting this way, and largely came to this interpretation on my own before seeing any evidence that anyone else had also interpreted them as Ace.

I’m not Ace myself and so none of this is driven by a desire to see myself in these characters and in fact some of what I say may unwittingly reflect my own lack of understanding of Aceness.

Being Ace is a nuanced identity, besides the Sexual/Romantic distinction many make, there are some who wind up in sexual or romantic relationships in spite of identifying as Ace.  So some of these may be characters who the Canon gives a partner eventually but that doesn't invalidate my reading.  Some may even be characters who I myself also Ship with another character, but Shipping to me is not inherently Sexual or even always Romantic, it’s ultimately about liking the chemistry between two characters and wanting to see more of them together.

So I’m not even going to clarify whether I think a given character is Asexual or Aromantic or both as I’m not even sure I understand the line between them.

Cassandra Cain/Batgirl:  Since Batman is my oldest Fandom I figured I should start with the Bat Family member on that list. My direct experience with this character is limited, mostly Comics after she was no longer Mute but before Infinite Crisis, and even within that time frame is by no means complete.  But she does show a lack of interest in Romance.  

She is the main reason for one of my above clarifications since I’m also a StephCass shipper, but how I view Steph’s orientation is solely defined by this Ship either.

Terra Branford: A good deal of her early game dialogue is about being unaffected by flirting of the charming male character and feelings like she lacks something because of it.  She’s from Final Fantasy VI originally released in the US on the SNES as Final Fantasy III.

Paul of Tarsus: Is not a Fictional Character but I wanted to cover him here anyway. Much of my efforts to debunk Puritan and Ascetic readings of the New Testament involves stressing how in 1 Corinthians 7 Paul expresses hesitance to even talk on this subject and clearly says he’s NOT speaking with the Apostolic Authority he is on other issues. The fact is he clearly has a lack of ability to even relate to the desires that most people have.

Rei Hino/Sailor Mars in the Manga/Crystal:  Rei in the Manga canon is quite adamant about her lack of interest in men.  And as someone more sympathetic to the Manga fans complaints about the 90s Anime then most it still bugs me when they default to framing how Rei was changed as Straight Washing a Lesbian.   Rei’s wording it as not interested in “Men” does not mean she is interested in women, we live a Heteronormative society where often the default way to express a lack of interest in Romance is to say you're uninterested in the other Sex. 

Anri Sonohara: There is a lot made in Durarara about her inability to Love in a traditionally romantic sense.  Made all the more awkward by her being bonded with a sentient magical Yandere Katana.

Akito Yamada: It’s particularly awkward when you are coming to an Ace reading of a Romantic Lead in a Romantic Anime, and one example of that happening to me is with the title character of My Love Story with Yamada-Kun at Lv999.  This character very heavily comes off as Asexual and the knowledge that the genre setup sees that as an issue he needs to overcome is problematic.  But at least that’s a Het Romance.

Yuu Koito: Bloom Into You is one of the most beloved Yuri Anime of the last decade, yet the Asexual vibes of its protagonist are just as thick.  Yuu isn’t the only possible Ace character in this show however. Seji Maki is definitely Ace, and there is the scene where he distinguishes his lack of interest in Romance from Yuu’s, but I don’t really think that means only one of them can qualify as Ace.

Ai Amatsu: Injuu Seisen is a Hentai series, so this might be the most baffling of all, how can I argue a Hentai character is Asexual?  Well the story involves evil Lust Demons as you might expect, and Ai seems almost completely immune to their lust inducing powers.  Now you might think that’s simply because of her own super power as one of the Twin Heroines of this series.  But her sister Mai who has the same magical gifts is absolutely NOT so immune, she is very very horny actually.

Anime was always Seasonal in Japan

In the Anglophonic Anime Fandom an interesting subgenre of "things aren't as good as they were back in the day" discourse is complaining about the nature of Seasonal Anime Discourse where shows people were so hyped about all season are seemingly instantly forgotten when the new hot shows drops.

The structure of how Anime broadcasts was always seasonal like this in their home country.  But overseas fans were always behind and often getting what did get in big chunks rather then one episode a week consistently for 12-26 weeks.

So whatever old show an Anituber is currently trying to sell you on while complaining about this was also being talked about in Japan a lot less when it wasn't currently airing anymore.  However it's easy to look back now with hindsight of knowing what shows did "stand the test of time" and find the documentation that they were indeed still being talked about by a loyal fan base.  But guess what so are plenty of these modern seasonal shows on their own dedicated subreddits or discord servers or even on regular social media apps when you seek their Tags specifically.

The other thing that's different now is the nature of Social Media making what we used to call "water cooler conversation" more amplified and documented.  But you can still find the evidence that what I'm claiming is true.

Ghost Stories did NOT flop in it's original Japanese Broadcasts, a few Antitubers have already debunked that myth.  But part of the reason the myth seemed so believable is because it didn't stay popular, it topped polls in Anime magazines for the year it came out but it never became a permanent staple of 2channel culture.  Unless it did, I don't know.

Mother's Basement thought Classroom of The Elite was one of those forgotten seasonals and then when season 2 dropped he sought out and found the vibrant fan community that had been hiding in plain sight the whole time.  And that's only one of a number of 2017 seasonals to suddenly get a new season in recent years.

Thing is plenty of old shows that didn't "stand the test of time" also had active loyal fanbases for awhile or even to this day.

Lost Kitten

Noir is my long time Favorite Anime.  Of every one off target of the week episode with no bearing on the main plotline the episode I consider the best is the 6th episode titled Lost Kitten.  It’s the one I think about the most intently.

And that’s no small feat since I love all of them. In the many times I’ve rewatched this show the only episode I’ve ever even considered skipping is episode 5 and it’s technically not a one off, it’s the one that names the villain organization.

Maybe you find that weird if you remember how in 2018 I misremembered the name of the episode as Snow.  But that just shows how great and memorable Yuki Kajiura’s music in this show is. Snow is the name of a song from the soundtrack that only plays in this episode since this is the only episode to feature any snow.

I shall spoil what happens in the episode for the rest of this post, you have been warned.

Our assassin protagonists have been hired to kill an old man living in some vaguely Eastern European city devoting his time and energy to helping all the poor and homeless people.  However decades ago he was a participant in an ethnic cleansing.  He has a pet kitten that Kiraka kind of befriends and so they bond some.

But we then learn that way back when he was a child his people were ethnically cleansed by the people he massacred later.  Mirielle talks about how that doesn’t make what he did forgivable and in the end Kirika kills him and he accepts his fate.

One of the themes of the episodes is clearly Violence and Revenge being a cyclical.  It’s a theme I see in Anime a lot but it hasn’t been unheard of western media.

But it’s a theme some online Leftists are uncomfortable with, it reminds them too much of the “Reverse Racism” BS of American Conservatives.  The righteous vengeance taken by the oppressed against their oppressors can never be morally equivalent in their minds.

The YouTube Channel M Laser History has a video on what happened to the Germans of the Sudetenland after WW2 called Germans of Czechoslovakia : What Happened?  The truth is what happened there is inexcusable, no matter how much you view it as payback for what the Nazis did.  I can’t prove that is what inspired this episode of Noir but I definitely think about it.

Kaitou Ace and Sailor V

The original serialization publication dates of the chapters of the Codename Sailor V Manga are not easy to find, they aren't on that Manga's Wikipedia page or Wikimoon or MAL.  Fortunately I found this Forum Thread with the dates provided for both Sailor V and Sailor Moon.

https://www.sailormoonforum.com/index.php?threads/timeline-of-the-mangas-original-serialization.34386/

For most people the main thing they know up front about the Sailor V Manga is that it came before Sailor Moon.  However it was published in a sporadic schedule and in fact only the very first chapter actually came out before Sailor Moon did.

However what I really want to talk about in this context is the character of Kaitou Ace or Phantom Ace.  It's easy to read the Sailor V Manga assuming it predates Sailor Moon more completely then it actually does and then observe how the Kaitou Ace storyline is both similar to and different from Tuxedo Mask and think that Tuxedo Mask was subverting expectations set by Kaitou Ace.  But in fact Kaitou Ace isn't introduced until Chapters 9 and 10 which were published in February and April of 1994 when Sailor Moon was starting the Infinity Arc the source material of Sailor Moon S.  Meaning it's the opposite, Ace subverts what a Genre Savvy reader expects based on Tuxedo Mask.

Now I shall have the Spoil the Manga to discus that subversion.

Kaitou Ace does in fact turn out to be a villain, he's given a sob story backstory but still is revealed to have been working for the Dark Agency the whole time.

There is also dispute about how much the Sailor V Manga and Sailor Moon actually work as being in the same continuity, some things arguably don't line up.  But still I think the idea that future readers might read Sailor V in relation to Sailor Moon chronologically may have been part of the idea.

Because Sailor Moon pretending there is any ambiguity to if Tuxedo Mask is one of the good guys or not tends to be one of things Genre Savvy viewers/readers with decades of hindsight find pretty silly, of course the love interest in a Shoujo Manga isn't going to be evil.  In that context Kaitou Ace may have been written explicitly to say, yes it was theoretically possible.

I do kind of wish the genre would do a Reverse Femme Fatale type villain more often.  When there is Romantic Tension between a Magical Girl and a villain it's usually more that it's what leads to his redemption rather them him at all trying to be seductive.  In Shoujo Manga based Anime that aren't any type of Superhero story like Nana the melodrama of the protagonist being seduced by a Hot guy she knows is bad for her can be quite compelling.

Shoujo Vibes

D.N. Angel is an Anime adapted from a Shoujo Manga in-spite of the fact that it's a story with a male Protagonist with Hair that looks right out of Shonen Jump and more then one female love interest.  

I however could tell it was Shoujo off it's first episode from it's hard to describe Vibes even though I know full well there are Shonen Manga based Anime with a high emphasis on Romance or even Romance being the main genre.  Shows like Rent-a-Girlfriend I like but I would not ever confuse with Shoujo.

Maybe you think I was prepared for this to be Shoujo because of how it's like a Male Counterpart to Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne and Saint Tail, but I'm also well aware of how this High School double life Phantom Thief genre started in the 80s with Manga like Magic Kaito which was Shonen.

Thing is I have detected these Shoujo Vibes in Anime that turn out to not officially be Shoujo or even Jose Manga or Otome Games for that matter.

Shonen Manga based Anime like Blood+ and Karin have enough Shoujo vibes to make not impossible that a Shonen Phantom Thief Manga could be this Shoujo.

But it is Shattered Angels that most surprises me when I see it classified as Shonen.  I've long memorized that it isn't officially Shoujo but I keep misremembering it as a Seinen.

Often the most Intense Shoujo Vibes are in Otaku Visual Novel adaptations like Rumbling Hearts and White Album, these are actually the Anime I'm inclined to recommend to people who loved Nana and want something with similarly great Melodrama.

Assassins Pride is a fall 2029 Light Novel adaptation that defies the usual Otaku Seinen vibes of that ecosystem to feel very very Shoujo.  It's so Shoujo that Mother's Basement hated on it.

And that's without even touching the messy debate of which Yuri are and are not legitimately Shoujo.

The Pseudo-Mainstreaming of Anime

So I’ve done a series of posts on this blog trying to debunk the notion that Anime is Mainstream now, and this recent hype over “The Vatican has Embraced Anime” has helped me realize part of the problem is how a vague understanding of the Anime Style is somewhat Mainstream.

Luce is not proof that anyone in the Vatican has seen any Anime just as someone throwing around the term “Big Brother” isn’t proof they’ve read 1984.  It’s just proof that everyone now knows how to draw the basic concept of an Anime Girl.

I realize this kind of distinction sounds to some like it’s related to the rhetoric of GateKeepers.  I don’t think you need to have seen all the Anime I’ve seen to at all qualify as being into Anime, I haven’t seen a lot of things others consider essential viewing like Gurren Lagan or any Satoshi Kon stuff.  I considered myself into Anime when I’d only seen a fraction of what I’ve seen now.  But my point has never been about how well versed in Anime culture any individual is.

In order for Anime as a whole to truly be mainstream the pool of specific shows and movies that are well known even to people who aren’t particularly into Anime needs to be much wider.

Feral Historian is a YouTube channel I stumbled upon recently, they are fairly conservative and so someone I disagree with a lot, but unlike a lot of Conservative who talk about Nerdy stuff on YouTube he has actually insightful and interesting things to say rather than raving about Wokeness every time a protagonist isn’t a White Male.  He largely talks about Sci-Fi and some Fantasy stories often with a focus on War, Dystopia and Alternate History.  He’s covered some very mainstream well known franchises and some fairly niche books and forgotten movies and tv shows.

So anyone who is very into Anime reading all that can probably quickly come with a long list of Anime right up his alley, but in fact the only Anime he’s covered is Cowboy Bebop a very mainstream show that feels barely relevant to the general themes of his channel.  For me 86 pops into my mind as the first thing I’m curious to hear his take on, but I’m sure others more quickly jumped to Gundam, Macross, Gunbuster, Evangelion, Code Geass, Psycho Pass, Attack on Titan maybe Darling in The FranXX.  But other niche even within the world of Anime options would include Muv-Luv/Schwarzesmarken, Rahxephon, Aldnoah Zero, Kado the Right Answer,Babylon and the Sekaikei trilogy.

If Anime actually had the mainstream pervasiveness of Star Wars or Star Trek or Marvel and DC Superheroes there’s no way none of those Anime would have been covered by now especially since Bebop proves he doesn’t have an innate bias against Anime.

Update: Feral Historian's interest in Bebop stems form an interest in Western tropes translated to a fantastical setting.  And I have a prior post on the other Anime that cna appeal to that.

https://mithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2024/04/anime-neo-westerns.html

Update December 19th 2024: I realize I really need to explain better why I think this Random YouTuber not talking about Anime much proves anything.

It shows how much trouble the vast majority of Anime has leaving the existing subculture of people already particularly into Anime that there is so much Anime that is exactly the kind of SciFi this guy is inot that he seemingly hasn't even heard of.

Anime with Messy Characters

There are a number of Anime I’ve watched where a lot of the appeal is how all the characters are very flawed making very human mistakes but ultimately no one is truly a Bad Person, (or very few at least).

But then watch the YouTube videos about them and their takeaway is that they are shows where no one is a good person.  Clearly we are mostly seeing the same thing but they simply have a much more cynical outlook than I do.

Take for example Shoji in Nana, I think one of the most compelling things about this show was their willingness to depict him so sympathetically even as he cheats on the main character in a Shoujo Manga adaptation.  But nope all the Antiubers feel they have to boil it down to simply him being a Jerk.  

Nana is a show where the only character I wouldn’t object to calling a bad person is Takumi (well there’s also Takeshi but I barely count him as a character) and even he has nuance.

Now maybe some will think my sympathy for Shoji is simply a biased result of my being an AMAB who identified as Male for most of my life.  But I feel the same watching Rumbling Hearts where Mitsuki cheats on the male protagonist in this Anime who’s source material is a male targeted demographic, anyone calling her a bad person I would also object.

Heck I’ll go further than that.  I think I find most unrelatable about the comments section under most NTR Hentai is how harsh they are the female lead even though she’s usually being Raped.  I’m the opposite, even in the rare one where it’s completely Consensual I still sympathize with her.  Even if she’s literally cheating for no reason other than the other guy is bigger I still can’t consider that entirely invalid.

And it’s the same with Nana which kind of is a prolonged NTR in its latter half.

Both White Albums are also similarly messy relationship Melodramas that I quite enjoy.

I think someone is only a Bad Person if their behavior is consistently harmful and unrepentant.

Woke Leftists like to claim they have a purely Harm based understanding of Morality, but then try very hard to define Harm so abstractly that they wind up becoming pretty Puritanical.