Hello, my dears! This is going to be a short entry, but I'd love to start conversations with anyone who's seen the shows I've watched in quarantine!   I don't know if they have enough interest to justify an entire thread in Other Fandoms, so I thought I'd just put them here and await your replies!

To preface: I didn't watch much anime growing up (mostly just Sailor Moon since it was on Cartoon Network—and I 100% acknowledge that Amara and Michelle greatly influenced my sexual awakening), so I'm just now catching up on being an anime fan well into my 20s.   Which also sort of means that I'm only now watching shows that ended like a decade ago, haha. All the same, if you've seen any of these, for sure let me know so I'm not totally alone!

• The Dragon Prince (available on Netflix)
  • Okay, the only animated show (but non-anime) I'll list from my Quarantine Media Consumption list is this lovely little Netflix original series. It's precious and adorable and made by the same guys who created Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra (two of the best shows ever made tbh).

• Yu Yu Hakusho (Hulu)
  • Possibly the most '90s thing I've ever watched, but wow does it have some good pacing. It's a very tournament-centered show, but that means it moves really nicely. Also, ain't nobody gonna convince me that Hiei and Kurama aren't a canon couple.
• Hunter x Hunter (Netflix)
  • Holy wow. This may be my favorite anime of all time. The last two arcs (well, last real arc and then a mini-arc) aren't on Netflix yet, but the whole show is so good. It has some pacing issues (like...some arcs are 20 episodes and others are 60), but the characters are just so fabulous. The artist/writer who created YYH (see above) also created HxH. Unfortunately, he's since had a huge bout of burnout and been unable to continue writing the HxH manga...so the anime is also "over" for the time being.
    • My HxH stories: "Crime Family"
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Netflix)
  • Go. Watch. This. Show.
  • This is also in the running for favorite anime, but it absolutely wins for best anime. It is so well written. It's stunning. It's perfect. It's paced well and drawn well and the lore makes sense and every character is compelling and interesting. And just...ldagkhdalgk. Ugh. It's just amazing.
  • Also, Greed. (AKA the most perfect character to ever exist)
    • My FMAB stories: "Greed"
• Death Note (Netflix)
  • All right, so this one is very short and a very quick watch (37 episodes, ~14 hours), and yeah...it's way darker than any of the above-listed shows. But one of the main characters (the detective, L) is autistic-coded and just a lovely character who's wonderfully written. He definitely made me enjoy the show a lot.
    • My Death Note stories: "Longing," "Self-Destruction," "Harm (n.), Harm (v.)," "Tenderness"
• Assassination Classroom (Hulu)
  • Okay. Y'all. Please. I could probably rewatch this forever. It's so underrated. It's an absolute gem—so wholesome and adorable. And yeah, maybe twenty-eight 14-year-olds are trying to kill their superhuman genetic experiment of a teacher, but still! It's so sweet.
  • And it somehow successfully got me invested in twenty-eight kids. I want to adopt them all.
    • My AssClass stories: "Class 3-E"
• Run With the Wind
  • Another underrated anime that's just so wonderful. It's one of the cutest, most subtly gay things ever. The characters are lovely, and the plot is very well structured. Highly recommend.
• Yuri!!! On Ice
  • I have a lot of thoughts about this one. It's wonderfully canonically gay, but ideally there could have been better structure. But the animation is pretty, and it's one of the few canonically gay anime out there.
• Haikyuu!! (first 2 seasons are on Netflix)
  • Omg volleyball. Also, like all sports anime, subtly gay. The characters are great and very ship-able. Another fab series.
• Danganronpa: The Animation (Hulu)
  • ...Wtf. I wouldn't recommend this. It's insane. Definitely not my cup of tea.
• My Hero Academia (Boko No Hero Academia) (Hulu)
  • This is a super popular anime (and manga), and for good reason! It's really fun and exciting, despite having some genuinely terrifying villains. But the heroes are so cool and compelling. It's easy to get invested in these kids and their growth.
• Your Lie in April (Netflix)
  • Hm. This one is interesting. I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities, if I'm honest. And I'd been really excited to watch something with a girl as one of the main characters, but Kaori fell flat for me and poor Tsubaki existed only in relation to the boys (as did Kaori, if I'm honest). So...it could have been better. The music was lovely, though!
• Demon Slayer (Netflix)
  • Omfg. This is incredible. The manga is apparently much further along than the anime (which was only dubbed to English in 2019), but what exists of the anime already is phenomenal. It's absolutely gorgeous and really interesting and the characters are fantastic. I FINALLY HAVE A WONDERFUL GIRL MC! (Maybe I've been watching too much shonen anime...) But honestly, the brother/sister duo at the heart of this series is amazing. I love them both so much, but Nezuko truly holds a special place in my heart.
• Free!
  • So gay. Such swimming.
    But honestly, it's a pretty good show. For an anime ostensibly about swimming...there actually isn't that much swimming in it, haha. But it was decent and the characters were sweet.
• Kuroko's Basketball (season 1 on Netflix)
  • Well, only the first season has been dubbed, and I'm a plebe who only watches dubs. So I'll have to wait to have a real opinion of this one. But so far, so good! Not as gay as most sports anime, unfortunately.
• Ouran High School Host Club (Netflix)
  • Oh man. What an adorable show. Also, it's got a really great relationship with gender identity! The main character is gender fluid, as is her dad. And the other protagonists are such himbos. So rich, so dumb.
• Code Geass (Netflix)
  • I only made it through one of the two seasons of this show. It wasn't bad, per say, but not really my style. I would describe it as "aggressively heterosexual." And also...I wasn't all that fond of the characters, if I'm honest. But I know other people who really like it, so maybe it's just not my cup of tea.

• The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
  • This show can do no wrong. I binged it in a matter of days, and it's amazing. It's based off a comic book series and has a phenomenal soundtrack. And literally every character is awesome in some way, even the ones who are assholes or just generally suck as people. The dynamics between the Hargreeves siblings are amazing. And Klaus and Ben are true life goals.
• Chernobyl (Amazon Prime Video, I think)
  • I saw this with my dad, and it's really cool! It's intense, but it's really well made. And it shows a very important moment in history, obviously. If you're a history buff, you'll love this. Even if you aren't, it's a good watch.

Okay! That's it for now! I'll update this post as our QMC expands! You're all lovely. [original blog posted 6-26-20; edited 2-14-21]

P.S. - What have you been watching lately? Any recommendations?