Obvious topic.
So, uh. Episode 15 of Bakuman was pretty much all filler. What the heck? I'm starting to think (especially with that awful OP) that the producers are trying to sell this as a love story or something at the expense of everything else. I mean, we have 10 episodes left and we haven't even met Fukuda or Aoki yet and Nakai has appeared for like 10 seconds. Filler at this point (that adds nothing, really) is not something we need at this point.
I'm not saying Azuki isn't important to Bakuman (she is a pretty big part of it), but she isn't the focus of the story, only on one aspect of it.
Seriously, if you're going to do filler, at least use one of the lesser used manga characters and don't tell us what we already know from three panels of the manga.
(By the way, we are nowhere near Detective Trap and I'm starting to get worried.)
I haven't seen past episode 1, and EK told me that it's a pretty straightforward adaptation towards the manga, so I'm not missing much.
But that really happened? Damn, my hopes for the show have sunk a little now.
It's pretty faithful overall despite somewhat slow pacing compared to the manga, but they seem to be putting more of a focus on the romance aspect than I feel like they should. I mean, i't important sure, but it isn't the focus of Bakuman's plot and really only involves a small handful of the characters.
I mean, that OP has nothing to do with Bakuman. Especially when they play it after a speech by Eiji before we get back to Hattori giving Ashirogi Muto advice.
But then we get stuff like Money & Intelligence and the Two Earths animated and I'm back to being confused. That's really what I want out of this show. If you're going to do filler, how about more of like how they slipped Koogy into the background (which was great foreshadowing) and more of like how Eiji thought of Crow. I mean, they wasted this episode pretty much telling us what the manga did in less than a page. Considering how much further we have to go until apparently the 25 episodes are complete, this seems like a pointless waste.
Honestly, I'm really bored with the Bakuman anime by this point. Its faithful enough as an adaptation, but like Desensitized said, the producers are pushing the romance aspect of it way further than they should. The manga is fantastic and completely interesting because its primary focus is always on educating the reader on the complex processes involved with creating manga and its reception among readers. The anime in comparison pushes that aspect aside in favor of trying to emphasize relationships, which in the manga is mainly just a way to kind of add a story around everything, but its clearly not its main appeal. Honestly, at this point I kind of feel like I might as well drop the anime. Its certainly not bad, but it is pretty boring since it rarely ever does anything new or interesting for people who have already read the manga, such as myself, and anytime that it does something new its usually useless filler. The points where we got to see their ideas in animated form such as with Money and Intelligence are only brief moments of brilliance among the people responsible for making the anime. If they did more of that, this would easily be one of my favorite anime of last year and this year, but really, the Bakuman anime adaptation comes off as plain lazy. I wish it could have had as good of an adaptation as Death Note did. At least with Death Note the people making the anime attempted to please both non-manga readers as well as people who had already read the manga by adding in some of their own new elements into the mix to keep up a level of unpredictability, and also even changed some stuff around (sometimes it could make things worse, but at other times it was actually for the better ,and at the very least I appreciated the effort).
By comparison, Bakuman's anime is way too predictable and kind of useless to watch for anyone who has already read the much better manga. If it doesn't end by episode 25 and still keeps up its painfully slow pacing after that point, then I'll likely just drop it.
Watched Saint Seiya volume 10 and 11 yesterday. volume 10 had way too much flashbacks, the scenes dragged out too long and there was a lot of falling through infinite space but at least it had this unintentionally funny exchange:
Shiryu: Seiya, what did I just step on?
Seiya: Let's see...it's a man's face!
Shiryu: What??? A man's face!!!!
Volume 11 was better though. I think the next volume is the last of the show. Not sure...
Magical Witch Punie-Chan was a nice kick. I think GSF would enjoy it.
I tried to find the English dub version of Saint Seiya, if only because I heard that Mike McRae voice acted for a character in it, but I couldn't find it so I went with the Japanese version with subtitles. Anyways, I watched the first 3 episodes, and I assume it follows the manga's story line pretty closely since the first episode seemed to be a straight-up adaptation of the beginning chapter of the manga. So far I like the set-up and it has more substance to its characters than just the basic character tropes for shonen series, which is impressive for this series being as old as it is (but then again, its really a lot of the older shonen classics that stand out these days compared to the extremely generic ones of today). So far I've been enjoying the anime, and I'll try and check out some more episodes later.
I'm also enjoying re-watching Hunter X Hunter, though I plan on taking a break from that now to watch Kino's Journey, and then perhaps after that I'll either watch or read Please Save my Earth. I also need to finish watching the last 2 Shounan Junai Gumi OVAs.
Angus, what's that magic show aout? An EK, I'm glad you're liking Saint Seiya. I have no complains about the show up until the arc I'm on. They're doing a little bit too may shounen mistakes there but before that it's fine.
And what episode would that be at?
Currently I'm at the beginning arc where they are all going through that Galaxian tournament. The show is great though the static-ey sound quality of the voice-acting (which is understandable since in Japan this series was made and voice acted in the early 1980's) can take some getting used to just like with Fist of the North Star, which kind of makes me want to see if the English dub is accurate enough to the main script, since then I'd just watch that version of the show instead (mostly to see Mike McRae's fine voice acting in the series). Still, the Japanese voice actors are pretty good at their roles, for the most part (well, for the male characters, anyways, since all of the female characters sound as generic as they possibly could, or at least so far).
I'll probably watch some more episodes after I finish studying for Immunology tonight.
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 15, 2011, 05:10:01 PM
Angus, what's that magic show aout? An EK, I'm glad you're liking Saint Seiya. I have no complains about the show up until the arc I'm on. They're doing a little bit too may shounen mistakes there but before that it's fine.
It's a typical magical girl parody except that Punie uses wrestling submission holds, and it's short enough so you don't have to be bothered with real plot or romance. The last episode even briefly references one of the AR's favorite movie series.
I need to watch Puni Puni Peomy next.
Quote from: Angus on February 15, 2011, 06:14:54 PM
I need to watch Puni Puni Peomy next.
It's a pretty good watch if you like the Excel Saga anime, if I remember correctly.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on February 15, 2011, 06:02:21 PM
And what episode would that be at?
Currently I'm at the beginning arc where they are all going through that Galaxian tournament. The show is great though the static-ey sound quality of the voice-acting (which is understandable since in Japan this series was made and voice acted in the early 1980's) can take some getting used to just like with Fist of the North Star, which kind of makes me want to see if the English dub is accurate enough to the main script, since then I'd just watch that version of the show instead (mostly to see Mike McRae's fine voice acting in the series). Still, the Japanese voice actors are pretty good at their roles, for the most part (well, for the male characters, anyways, since all of the female characters sound as generic as they possibly could, or at least so far).
I'll probably watch some more episodes after I finish studying for Immunology tonight.
Let's just say I'm WAY ahead of you so I won't spoil anything. You have nothing to worry about for a long time. Up until where I am at, all of the arcs are short and fast paced. The show doesn't seem like it knows what to do with longer arcs though.
Quote from: Angus on February 15, 2011, 06:14:54 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 15, 2011, 05:10:01 PM
Angus, what's that magic show aout? An EK, I'm glad you're liking Saint Seiya. I have no complains about the show up until the arc I'm on. They're doing a little bit too may shounen mistakes there but before that it's fine.
It's a typical magical girl parody except that Punie uses wrestling submission holds, and it's short enough so you don't have to be bothered with real plot or romance. The last episode even briefly references one of the AR's favorite movie series.
I need to watch Puni Puni Peomy next.
Having the words "submission" and "anime" in the same sentence scares me.
Watching Eden of the East now. Pretty cool that they're using real Washington DC references like the International Spy Museum and the National Air/Space Museum billboard.
Been watching Katanagatari. Everybody talks so fucking much in this show, whether it be about the mission, their special moves, the swords, or what else.
Watching Gungrave, but wow, they're spending a lot of time developing the back story in volume 2.
I just finished re-watching the Hunter X Hunter TV series, and now I'm just going to finish the 8-episode OVA series that concludes the York Shin City arc. After that I'll continue watching Kino's Journey, and then move onto some other stuff after that.
I really should post more about the HXH anime in its thread, though. I mean, I liked it a lot before, but after re-watching it this time I somehow suddenly realized how little credit people give that anime adaptation. Its not the fault of the director or anyone that Togashi started taking a hiatus every single year and that they had to end the series abruptly rather than drag it out with pointless filler that would hurt its overall quality. Also, I noticed that a lot of Desensitized's complaints for the series, and some of my own as well, are fixed in the TV series, and also in a lot of cases they don't even really apply to the parts of the story that are covered by the TV series and the first OVA, but rather only come into play much later on in the manga during the Chimera arc. I still find Yu Yu Hakusho to be the better shonen anime by a considerable amount, but I can't deny that HXH is a great series on its own, though admittedly it doesn't have a very broad appeal for people, even in its genre. I'm not entirely sure other AR members would necessarily see the appeal in it, but I'm sure glad that I re-watched it, personally. The anime itself can be quite phenomenal in its later portions, and also I feel that director Furuhara really brings a lot of additional life to the series. I do like his style of direction when he's at his best, just like with the Kyoto arc for the RK anime as well as the Trust and Betrayal OVAs.
Anyways, I'll post more about that in the HXH thread later on when I have the time. Anyways, I'm going to be putting off re-watching the Greed Island OVAs for a while, since I'm in no rush to get back to those.
Quote from: Angus on February 25, 2011, 07:34:48 PM
Watching Gungrave, but wow, they're spending a lot of time developing the back story in volume 2.
Ah sweet, Gungrave.
I dunno why it's such a big deal that Kosuke Fujishima (Oh My Goddess) did the mech designs for the series, I hardly see any of that, nor is it the focus of the show, maybe it's more so in the video game since that's supposedly a third person shooter. But at least it's Yasuhiro Nightow's other major project besides Trigun. :thumbup:
It's so weird that my anime watching tends to cluster in genre, like how the heck did I end up watching 3 gun-based anime (Eden of the East, El Cazador, Gungrave). Must shift over to One Piece asap.
I somehow got snagged into watching the first 3 episodes of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Episode 1 was moeshit. Episode 2 was moeshit. Episode 3 was--D8 What in the name of bleeding WhiteChapel was that?!
I'm just wondering, Dr. Insomniac....Do you have a strange fetish for torturing yourself with terrible shows? Maybe its just me, but you always seem to be most attracted to checking out those kinds of titles. :thinkin:
As for me, I just finished re-watching Hunter X Hunter up to the end of the 1st OVA and I am perplexed as to why more shonen don't try to copy THIS series that actually got successful based off of good ideas and an actual story rather than just copying the same idea of endless battles over and over again and just hoping by chance that a bunch of kids find their series to be the next knew hit fad for a while. I find it funny how the shonen series that actually have well-crafted writing and well-directed anime adaptations seem to be the most overlooked by just about everyone.
What's probably my favorite thing about HXH is that Togashi actually humanizes quite a few of the villains. Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkJxKPEIGeo) is a great scene in which I actually found myself rooting for the "bad guys," though if seen out of context it does seem more like meaningless violence (but, its still bad-ass....and either way its a really non-conventional scene by shonen standards). I like how Togashi ties fanatasy elements, which are typical of shonen, in with some interesting real world sort of elements like Mafias and underground crime and corruption and internal conflicts within countries and stuff like that. Meanwhile something like Hitman Reborn just recycles ideas that we've seen a billion times before yet gets a hundred times more popular because of it (it also has nothing to do with hitmen or mafia or anything like that....it just uses that title because the author probably thinks it sounded cool or something like that).
**Ahem**
Anyways, I decided to move onto Kino's Journey now. The 1st episode was slow, but I already suspected that this is meant to be a very slow-paced series. At any rate, it was still a decent episode that explored a good idea. I suspect the rest of the series will be very episodic in nature and explore different themes each time, which could definitely be interesting if most episodes are well-executed.
Maybe it looked good on paper with Akiyuki Shinbo (Pani Poni Dash) directing?
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on February 28, 2011, 01:25:44 AM
I'm just wondering, Dr. Insomniac....Do you have a strange fetish for torturing yourself with terrible shows? Maybe its just me, but you always seem to be most attracted to checking out those kinds of titles. :thinkin:
Watching shit helps expand my horizon.
And besides, it's not like I only watch horrible shows.
Yes but for some reason it seems that those make up about 90% of the anime shows that you end up trying to check out. :>
I would like to expand my horizon, myself, but college and stuff refuses to give me time to do that until the Summer, unfortunately.
Crud, I had that on my Plan to Watch list too. Is it ending up like Umineko?
Quote from: Angus on February 28, 2011, 03:10:54 PM
Crud, I had that on my Plan to Watch list too. Is it ending up like Umineko?
I haven't watched beyond the third episode yet, but I heard actually it becomes really good later on. I doubt it'll meet anywhere those expectations, but when critics and bloggers I usually agree with are praising it...
I'm currently 2 episodes into Kino's Journey. It definitely has its interesting moments, though at the same time while I was fully aware that its a slow-paced episodic show, I have to admit that its one of those shows that's more enjoyable to watch sparingly rather than all at once, since it requires some patience.
Just finished the second half of Eden of the East. Yikes, that's a page turner all the way through. Must avoid Wikipedia since they have major spoilers on the Movies.
Dragonball Z Kai's moving along. 3 Discs in, and they're already on Planet Namek. Only regret is that Vegeta shouted it's over 8000 instead of 9000 in both dub and sub. Maybe in Japan it wasn't such a classic line?
I started actually watching Super Hero Time + Girly Bugface Power Rangers a few weeks ago when Gokaiger and Suite started, and I ended up liking Suite enough to check out the previous series, HeartCatch.
Holy shit, I can see why this series attracted so many non-fans. Getting crew members from Casshern Sins and Ojamejo Doremi to work on this was a gamble, but it totally works in its favor. A really unique art style, some hilarious characters and some well choreographed fights make this not so embarrassing to watch. Enough that I think I'll show my little sister when I go home for spring break. The only real flaw I've seen so far is how one of the fairies literally poops out a medal at the end of each episode. It always comes out of nowhere, and it never gets any less disturbing when I watch.
What disgusts you about it? And did you watch the movie or the TV series?
Vash: What are you doing?
Wolfwood: Don't ask ridiculous questions. I'm gonna save the child.
Vash: With your bare hands?
(Wolfwood frantically checks his clothes and then looks as the bus drives away.)
Wolfwood: (holding head) Oh shiiiiiit!
(Vash gives Wolfwood a knife.)
Vash: You would have gone anyway, huh.
Wolfwood: (picks up knife) Of course I would.
Wolfwood: Okay, that was fun. So, what do you want to do now?
Vash: I lost 80 billion double dollars at poker, but there's a little left.
Wolfwood: Well, a real man would lay it all on the table.
Vash: Alright, then, let's find ourselves a casino.
Caved in and finally decided to start Legend of the Galactic Heroes. So far, I'm liking Yang more than Reinhard.
Did you start with the first movie or the first OVA episode? I heard some people recommend to start with the movie first, as that's supposedly supposed to be the beginning of the story, chronologically, but I'm not sure where I should really start the series, TBH.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on April 10, 2011, 11:36:00 PM
Did you start with the first movie or the first OVA episode? I heard some people recommend to start with the movie first, as that's supposedly supposed to be the beginning of the story, chronologically, but I'm not sure where I should really start the series, TBH.
The first OVA episode. So far, it doesn't feel like I missed any details.
Let us know how it's going, by all means. It's something I eventually would like to dive into, as well.
Same. I'd love to give the show a shot, but I don't know if I have the time for the investment just yet.
I've been caught trying out newer animes like Tiger & Bunny and Battle Girls: Time Paradox, along with all of the anime that Hime and her friends chose out for me. ^_^
Still trying to pencil in more time to watch anime... :whuh:
About 14 episodes in LoGH. Heard that it'll take 6 more episodes for it to hit its stride.
EDIT: Now at 16. What the hell is Palpatine doing here?
Thought Summer Wars was cute. There's such a difference in animation quality between movies and TV series stuff. More things going on. Plot-wise it's rather average so worth a rental. Also relatively family friendly.
I'm already 2/3rds through the show. Reinhard is the most flamboyantly gay character I have ever seen in fiction, to the point where I couldn't help but laugh when Oberstein and the other guys were having major concerns about how he hasn't knocked his aide up yet.
Episode 82: :shit: Just... what the hell?
I'm going to restart LOTGH myself(watched the first few episodes a while back but ended up pausing shortly in and never went back). I'll be watching at a snail's pace, but it should be worth it.
I started NGE from scratch with episode 1 (I'm watching it in Japanese with subtitles, unless anyone here thinks that the dub is better for me to watch), but I don't think I'll continue with it until after my finals, since I really feel like I'm falling behind in my studying against my will.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on April 30, 2011, 10:52:50 PM
I started NGE from scratch with episode 1 (I'm watching it in Japanese with subtitles, unless anyone here thinks that the dub is better for me to watch), but I don't think I'll continue with it until after my finals, since I really feel like I'm falling behind in my studying against my will.
Dub hasn't really aged well, at least in comparison to Rebuild's (though I don't like how Misato sounds like a chain smoker there).
Yeah, I don't recommend the dub, either. It improves as it gets along, but the sub is where it's at.
...and done with the show.
So yeah, best anime ever.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 01, 2011, 01:21:39 AM
...and done with the show.
So yeah, best anime ever.
I await this piece! :swoon:
So, as soon as I get the time to watch another 100+ episode anime series, this will be on the top of my "to-watch" list.
Wow, that's a good way to hype up a review. Rarely do we see a series that breaks into the top 10 let alone become #1 in someone's eyes.
Boys Be - standard rom-com goodness, you might like it if you're into Honey and Clover, Hatsukoi Limited, or 5 centimeters per second. It's funny to hear Liam O'Brien in a goofy role after hearing him in Monster. Although some of the theme music sounds like that love song from St. Elmo's Fire and another reminds me of My Little Pony.
Kaleido Star - I know Foggle can't stand it, so I'll just recommend that for anyone who likes stuff from Junichi Sato (Princess Tutu, Pretear, Aria) because it's more of the same. It's girly but it has a lot of that Rocky-like hard work ethic and positive vibes, and it's suitable for PG audiences.
Evangelion 2.22 - wow, hmm, mixed feelings on this as it has great graphics and animation, and it diverges from the TV series, but it's not as artsy as EoE. Disc 1's commentary is mainly interviews with the voice actors, but the last interview with Nathanael Harrison has some really good info on sound production styles. Disc 2 has mostly trailers, a 30 minute "making of" thing with combos of storyboards to final product, and some inconsequential partly-CGed deleted scenes.
I'm watching Bleach, Busou Renkin, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt and Tears to Tiara(which I'm trying to watch at Animax)
Aside from my current viewing of NGE, I've seen the first episode of LotGH. While I'm sure the series is going to prove its greatness shortly enough, I have to admit I felt pretty overwhelmed by the scope of the first episode in terms of how it crammed in so many character introductions at once. I'm sure I'll actually get to know most of them and even remember their names as I learn more about them as the series progresses, but I must confess that so far I can barely remember the names of the main characters, let alone the dozens of other ones that got introduced in the first episode alone.
Now that I finished End of Evangelion, I think I'll watch a series that is much more streamline to give my brain a bit of a rest from all of the mind-fuckery that I have taken in, before I move onto LotGH. I think now is as good a time as any to give Digimon Tamers another chance, since I already re-watched both seasons of Adventure a while back.
*gulp* :sweat:
I thought Tamers was you favorite season, Desensitized. :sly:
Oh, BTW, in regards to the dub, is there any reason why they have Davis's voice narrating the "To-Be-Continued" bits at the end of each episode?
Also, ughhhh....I forgot how much I hated the inclusion of that card game into the series, but maybe I'll get over it this time around.
Need a show to watch in-between Doctor Who and reading. Thinking maybe I should finally start watching Lain, Utena, Planetes, Nadesico, or whatever. Question is, which one first?
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 20, 2011, 05:49:54 PM
Need a show to watch in-between Doctor Who and reading. Thinking maybe I should finally start watching Lain, Utena, Planetes, Nadesico, or whatever. Question is, which one first?
Well, Davis being there just seems like a way to link this series with the previous ones (just like how they include the odd reference to 01 and 02). And thankfully, the card game fades away a bit once the D-Reaper arc starts.
What Insommy said.
Rika even narrates season 4. Despite season 4 being pretty lousy all together.
Watch Nadesico, Insommy. I want to get a thread going with the three of ya here who've seen it.
Watching the first episode right now, and this kid sounds and acts exactly like Shinji.
I can't argue with you there. Though I do like Akito better as a character as the show goes along.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 20, 2011, 06:35:49 PM
Watching the first episode right now, and this kid sounds and acts exactly like Shinji.
Yep, that's Spike Spencer again in the English dub. Nadesico's the perfect followup to the NGE brain scramble. Light late 1990s sci-fi. I watched Lain too although it can get boring.
I guess that's better than trying to watch green haired women with big boobs and glasses.
Quote from: Angus on May 20, 2011, 07:29:37 PMI guess that's better than trying to watch green haired women with big boobs and glasses.
Sigh, don't remind me. :'(
I finished the re-watching the first 10 episodes, and I have to say that I'm really annoyed with how the writers handle Rika's character in the series, so far. Initially she's fine, being the typical "Digimon aren't real and their for fighting and blah, blah, blah" type of character (sort of like how Ken was during the first half of Adventure 02, though much less extreme and twisted them he was), but then a few episodes in she shows that she cares for her Digimon which gets her to digivolve. Fine enough, and I didn't expect her to be completely different, but thought that maybe there would be some subtle change in which she showed her digimon more understanding, but she just went back to being a brat about Digimon right away after that incident, making it feel very insignificant in terms of either plot progression or character development. Then in the episode with the evil ice Digimon who wanted her to become his tamer, she ended up showing signs of caring for her own digimon again and once again that cause another digivolution, so I thought that at least this time she might have shown some change (its been a long time since I've seen this series, so I don't remember how a lot of stuff plays out), but nope....she just says that she hates all Digimon now for now apparent reason.
I'm not sure, maybe the writers are intentionally playing her out to be too bratty for her own good or something, but its annoying when they make you believe that she has at least experienced some change or development during a significant incident only for her to regress completely back to being snobby right after that.
Other than that, the show's OK so far. I can't fault it for having an average start since neither of the seasons of Adventure had a strong start, themselves, so I can only hope that the quality of writing improves as the series progresses, like how it got much better with season 1 of Adventure.
Quote from: Desensitized on May 20, 2011, 07:33:49 PM
Quote from: Angus on May 20, 2011, 07:29:37 PMI guess that's better than trying to watch green haired women with big boobs and glasses.
Sigh, don't remind me. :'(
uh oh which show did you see? Maybe it's the same one I'm trying to fall asleep to? (Rin and Popotan)
Quote from: Angus on May 21, 2011, 11:22:07 AM
Quote from: Desensitized on May 20, 2011, 07:33:49 PM
Quote from: Angus on May 20, 2011, 07:29:37 PMI guess that's better than trying to watch green haired women with big boobs and glasses.
Sigh, don't remind me. :'(
uh oh which show did you see? Maybe it's the same one I'm trying to fall asleep to? (Rin and Popotan)
I don't want to mention the title for several reasons, but you aren't far off the mark.
Watching Utena alongside Nadesico since I need a show to fuck with my mind. So far, things seem to be disappointingly lucid.
So, I finished Digimon Tamers. I suppose I'll write my overall thoughts on it now. First off, I will say that I did find it to be better on the whole than I did as a kid, and now that I actually saw the final quarter of the series its certainly a lot better than anything else I had seen up until that point. Just for the record, Adventure season 1 is still my favorite Digimon season, but there are a few noteworthy things that I find Tamers did better.
First off, I noticed that the quality of the English dub was MUCH better than in the first 2 seasons. The writers for this series clearly had more respect for the source material, and while I'm sure there were some added jokes and inaccuracies in the English script, they pale in comparison to the horrendous amount of needless jokes and off-key lines added in the first 2 seasons (especially season 2, which oddly enough to a worse dub than the 1st season, for whatever reason). I also think that the music used in the dub for Tamers was used a bit more properly than it was back with both of the Adventure series, as JO had pointed out that while the music composed for the dub was actually quite good whoever was responsible for matching it with the proper scenes did a terrible job. In Tamers, its definitely not perfect, but at least they didn't use it all the time and kept certain moments silent when they needed to be, so I'll give it some credit for that.
In terms of characters, though, while it was done well, I actually feel that the characters were balanced out a little better in Adventure season 1. Its weird because Tamers chooses to focus on less characters, even though it ends up having 8 Tamers in total just like how there were 8 digi-destined in Adventure (but it only focuses on 4 of them in terms of developing their characters, whereas Adventure actually tried to develop all 8 kids to some degree). That said, I think the whole idea of the kids' problems and their relationships with their parents was handled a bit better in Adventure, probably because in that series they also showed the parents reflect on their relationship with their kids which made things feel a lot more fleshed out.
To give Tamers some credit, though, I feel that it handled its story better than Adventure did. I do think Adventure had some good writing, but the problem was that it was never meant to last that long and only got extended past 13 episodes when it was already airing, so the writers hadn't planned things out and literally had to pull stuff out of their ass on occasion to move along the plot, and while the plot was overall fairly good for a kids show it had some pretty obvious plot-holes. I noticed a few things that I would consider plot-holes in Tamers, but overall it was much more consistent than Adventure in its story-telling, and it was also a bit more ambitious in how it tried to actually make things seem more sensible than they needed to be for a kids show (in how they had the adults play a big part in the story and try to explain the logic of what was going on).
One other thing I like about this season was that it didn't rely nearly as heavily on stock-footage of the digivolutions as Adventure did. I hated when they did that in Adventure because it was obviously there to pad things out and save cost on the animation budget by recycling old footage, but at the same time it made things feel more dragged out than they should have. In Tamers, they are still guilty of using this trick to an extent, but compared to Adventure it comes off as relatively mild and certainly much more tolerable.
Having said all of that, I still feel that the first half of this series was pretty average on the whole, and I do think that the arc where they make it into the Digital World could have been handled better, but I feel that the D Reaper arc was the best thing I've seen in Digimon since the Myotismon arc from Adventure (that's not counting Our War Game, though, which I still firmly believe is the best thing in the Digimon series, period).
I'll probably move onto watching LotGH pretty soon.
Make sure to get some of The Wire and Doctor Who in between that anime binging.
Do you know of any place I can watch those? I might be able to convince my brother to let me use his Netflix account to get those since he doesn't really rent any DVDs from there (he basically just streams stuff using his XBOX360). Also, I forgot if there was a specific place you wanted me to start from or any particular recommendations you had from the franchise since Dr. Who has been around for decades. I'll also check out The Wire when I can.
I'm pretty sure that all the new seasons of Dr. Who, besides maybe the most recent one, are on Netflix. The Wire, I'm not so sure of.
I'm just glad that EK doesn't seem to outright loathe Tamers any more. :o
... But, uh, you might not wanna bother with Frontier. :imnothappy:
Quote from: Desensitized on May 22, 2011, 10:03:17 PM
I'm just glad that EK doesn't seem to outright loathe Tamers any more. :o
I never loathed Tamers, but honestly I got really bored with it and stopped watching it around episode 30-something when I was a kid. To be fair, I still do think that the first half of the series was kind of lackluster in parts (not bad, but just kind of average for me and a bit underwhelming), though I have come to appreciate it far more than I used to be for its ET-esque beginning and the fact that it actually decides to be more original and take place entirely in the real world and only introduce the digital world much later on, but I do think that the series picked up in the 2nd half a great deal, and I had never seen the D Reaper arc before now since I had stopped watching the series shortly after everyone came to the digital world back when I was a kid, so I couldn't judge that arc.
I guess like JO said in her top 25 list, though, there are some themes to the series that you actually would appreciate more when you're older whereas they would have gone over your head as a kid. I think that holds true enough for this series, though once again, most of that stuff comes into play around the 2nd half. So, overall its a good series, but I do think the characters could have been handled a bit better, or rather, while the main 3 characters were handled relatively well I felt that every other Tamer got little to no characterization at all which struck me as a bit of missed opportunity, especially since the first season of Adventure did such a good job with that element (IMO).
Quote... But, uh, you might not wanna bother with Frontier. :imnothappy:
I'll be interested to see what JO has to say about it when she does her retrospective (as someone who's never seen anything Digimon-related past Tamers). That if, of course, if that review comes out at any point in my life-time.
Now that I finished Tamers, I'm actually pretty interested to see JO cover that in her upcoming part of the retrospective, which will hopefully be put up at some point this summer.
Finishing up Nadesico. So far, it's quite good. Kind of like the Animal Man to Evangelion's Watchmen.
And done. Ending was kind of rushed. Been told to never so much as touch Prince of Darkness, so I'm pretty much finished with Nadesico.
The ending will tell you nothing and open up more questions. It's also not very good. Don't know what they were thinking with that one.
Just was I was about to drop Brotherhood due to lack of interest, [as] picks up Durarara!!
Now I have something to look forward to every week.
That reminds me, I still need to finish Baccano!, among other things. I may just hold off on LotGH for a little longer so that I can finish that up and also get a start on watching Dr. Who.
Well, I decided to rewatch Digimon Season 1 all over again for the hell of it. I haven't seen it in years. Let's see if its aged good or not.
I watched the first 4 episodes of Big O yesterday. I've never seen all of the first episode or any other those 4 episodes. That explained a lot. Anyway, my library doesn't have the other 2 discs of season 1 so I believe that means that I'd miss a few episodes but they do have season 2 which makes no sense.
On episode 77 of LOTGH now. It takes a lot to go through, but it's so engrossing.
Finished LOTGH the other night. What Insommy said.
Now I'm starting my rewatch of Higurashi. I forgot how slow the first episode is, but I know I'll be rewarded for my patience soon.
Has anybody here seen Desert Punk? If so, I wanted to ask a few questions about it, especially regarding the ending. But I don't want to dedicate a thread to it.
Went through a marathon of Lain yesterday. Is it weird that it made sense to me?
Watching Mawaru Penguindrum. Nothing makes sense, and I'm creeped out by half of the cast. Good.
It might make sense. I watched Lain about a month after Evangelion, so my brain was already trained with screwed up realities.
Only 15-20 episodes in, but I'm thinking Monster will easily make it into my top 5.
Juu and I just suffered through Happy Lesson. How this show got good reviews is anyone's guess.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on September 22, 2011, 06:19:35 PM
Juu and I just suffered through Happy Lesson. How this show got good reviews is anyone's guess.
Is that the harem thing from a few years back? I have yet to get into a harem show that wasn't Tenchi.
Negima is the only Harem I'm willing to get into, and that's more of a Shounen disguised as a harem than a comedy harem.
So after going through Guilty Crown and remembering Code Geass, and finding out that both shows have the same writers, it gets weird how they seemed so focused on the cruelty of the Occupation of Japan. I know awful things were committed at that time, but honestly, that's like if a U.S. series started out with complaining about the stress of victory gardens, Hoovershacks, or war bonds without any sign of being a period piece.
I actually don't mind stories basing themselves off of real-life historical events of oppression, even if they set it in a time-period that's far off and completely different from when and where such acts may have really happened, but it actually needs talented writing, great directing, and overall brilliant execution to make it all work and for you as a viewer to actually feel that sort of connection. Maybe its just me but the reason that I feel series like Code Geass or other series of this type fail is because even if they have these sorts of set-ups or whatnot, they have really half-assed writing but get boosted along mainly by good production values (even if I personally feel that the character designs look like ass). To me, CG's writing is mediocre at best but its made out to be a lot bigger and more grandiose of a series than it really is, and apparently that's enough to get a lot of people to like it. :-\
What I'm currently watching is Durarara! and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Though I do have hard time watching both.
I finally got around to watching Macross, and I quite enjoyed it. Then again, I have a bit of an affection for this type of anime, and I found it engaging throughout. If you're not into mecha/space operas and find series from this era a little hard to sit through, you may not like it, though. I admit that Minmei was annoying as fuck, and her relationship with Lynn Kyle was super creepy.
I'm almost done rewatching Macross Plus (I caught it on AniMonday a couple of years ago), and I think after it, I'll get to watching either Macross 7 or Wolf's Rain. Which should I do?
Well, now that you mentioned it I was actually thinking of checking out Wolf's Rain sometime soon, so if I get around to that before you do I'll let you know what I think of it.
Regarding Macross: No character in that show annoyed me more than Minmei's cousin.
"We're under attack by giant aliens that wants to exterminate us all, but I'm going to keep bad-mouthing the people that defend us and insist that the Macross crew and the rest of the military consists of warmongers, for no reason beyond being a self-righteous douchebag."
Prick.
As for me, I'm currently making my way through 12 Kingdoms. So far, it's been great, the initial premise recalls Fushigi Yuugi: A young girl get sucked into a mystical fantasy world where she turns out to be the missing leader of one of it's kingdoms. However, the world presented in 12 Kingdoms is presented in greater detail than the one in Fushigi Yuugi, the main character is more interesting and so far there have been no cheesy melodrama or tawdry "will-they-won't-they" love stories. For these reasons, I have to declare 12 Kingdoms the superior show. If the 24 episodes that remain keep the same high quality, it might well end up in my top ten.
I watched a little bit of Nisemonogatari, and I feel dirty just looking at it.
And continuing Steins;Gate, which gets much better during the second half.
Spent most of Feb and March watching Fate/stay night and reading Fairy Tail. I'm also trying out an old romance short story anime series called Sentimental Journey.
I'm bored, so I'm watching an anime on Netflix called Girls Bravo. I'm on the third episode, and it's kind of weird so far, should I keep watching?
I've honestly never heard of it, but the title makes it sound like the type of shit that I would hate, personally.
I suppose, if harem shows are your thing. It's fairy old, but I haven't seen enough of it to determine whether it's better than Rosario+Vampire. I fell asleep trying to watch it on Netflix. It does feature the Bang Zoomers from L.A.
Beat liked Girls Bravo, so I guess it depends on how much your opinion aligns with his.
Quote from: Rosalinas Spare Wand on April 12, 2012, 04:19:54 PM
Beat liked Girls Bravo, so I guess it depends on how much your opinion aligns with his.
I should be surprised by this... how?
I watched that show, and pity those who follow my mistake.
Who's Beat?
Quote from: Angus on April 12, 2012, 08:37:27 PM
Who's Beat?
Guy on ToonZone. Was kind of a prick.
How about Gunslinger Girl? That one sounds cool.
It's good-ish. Don't watch the second season, though.
If you want something different, watch Fruits Basket. If you guys still have it on there. I know it's not popular around here, (and it's not really an action or a comedy show) but I quite like it.
That one is in my Instant Queue. I wasn't going to ask about it since I was pretty certain you'd recommend it.
I wanted to watch Redline, but it's not on Netflix or iTunes(actually most anime on iTunes is on Netflix, so it's kind of pointless). My buddy has it on his computer, so I'll see if I can copy it tomorrow.
Quote from: Comeau on April 12, 2012, 09:07:41 PM
How about Gunslinger Girl? That one sounds cool.
I got to about episode 5 but it was too depressing. Not like Black Lagoon.
There's a bunch of stuff I'd like to check out on Netflix though.
I tried the first 2 episodes of Gunslinger Girl a few years back and got pretty bored of it rather quickly. Black Lagoon is a much better action-oriented anime that would be one of the few series I would actually consider recommending to some non-anime fans if they just like action series in general. It helps that it has a really solid English dub behind it as well. That said I have no idea if that is, or was ever at any point, on Netflix, but if its not it really ought to be. The series deserves more viewings.
Rewatching a bit of Eureka Seven to prepare for Ao.
Apparently, one of the tidbits I heard was that this was originally a Saturday morning cartoon for kids back in Japan, contrasting with how this got aired on Adult Swim.
That would explain why it showed up on Sunday mornings on the local foreign channel in the LA area.
I'm about to start Denpa Onna, been meaning to check it out for a long time but I kept putting it off. Here's to hoping its not just Shaftshit.
So, after hearing everyone praise it so much, I decided to check out Kids on the Slope. Its pretty good.
I actually really enjoyed Fruits Basket.
I started watching a show called "High School of the Dead". It's sort of trashy and full of facepalm inducing fanservice that feels totally out of place (at least in the first couple episodes) but it's a pretty fun show. Of course, I'm a sucker for zombie apocalypse stories. I'm only about four episodes into it though.
I read the the first 14 or so chapters on the manga, and yeah, its kind of entertaining for what it is, but it didn't take me long to get tired of it when the series started drifting more towards the fan-service side of things and further away from the actual zombie part of it. That was honestly the only thing that kept me reading it for as long as I did.
I watched High School of the Dead after a recommendation from a friend. I quite liked it.
I read a bunch of the manga until I realized they were killing off characters with potential instead of the ones with boobs. Then there's also the plot completely running out of steam.
Highschool of the Dead is good for what it is. There's a suprising amount of depth hidden beneath the fanservice, which makes stuff like the matrix boob bouncing pretty aggravating.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 14, 2012, 06:56:37 PM
I read a bunch of the manga until I realized they were killing off characters with potential instead of the ones with boobs. Then there's also the plot completely running out of steam.
I've only counted that happening two or three times so far. But I do think it's kinda annoying that whenever someone looks like they're going to join the group, they usually get offed not long afterwords.
I just watched episode two of Kuroko, and I approve. I really enjoy how they seem to be fleshing out the early chapters which seemed a bit too dry.
I may decide to check it out once the summer starts up and I have more free-time on my hands. It'll be nice to have a good shonen anime to look forward to on a weekly basis since the genre has been pretty dry and stale (including sports shonen series) for the last few years.
As for me, Hunter X Hunter is the only anime that I've been keeping up with on a weekly basis for the last few months. For what its worth, I think its been a great adaptation of the series so far and is constantly improving and impressing me with how it handles the subject material from the manga. I know most people aren't into shonen in general on this site, but if anyone was looking to get into one of the better long-running shonen anime, I'd certainly recommend this iteration of it, myself.
The only reason I don't watch/read HxH is the same reason that I stopped reading Berserk... the author is lazy as hell and the story may never be finished. :-\
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on April 15, 2012, 03:53:50 PM
I may decide to check it out once the summer starts up and I have more free-time on my hands. It'll be nice to have a good shonen anime to look forward to on a weekly basis since the genre has been pretty dry and stale (including sports shonen series) for the last few years.
Yep, the genre has been pretty boring. But something about KNB hooked me from the start and I've been impressed on how it manages to match the sense of intensity of the old sports manga like Slam Dunk. And unlike say, Prince Of Tennis, it doesn't get insulting to viewers/readers.
The OP is pretty sweet, too. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHq_tlxxnEk) Again, reminds me of old school sports anime.
QuoteAs for me, Hunter X Hunter is the only anime that I've been keeping up with on a weekly basis for the last few months. For what its worth, I think its been a great adaptation of the series so far and is constantly improving and impressing me with how it handles the subject material from the manga. I know most people aren't into shonen in general on this site, but if anyone was looking to get into one of the better long-running shonen anime, I'd certainly recommend this iteration of it, myself.
I've been holding off on watching it, for various reasons, but I'm glad to hear it holds up. Is it outdoing the original at this point?
The Berserk author isn't really lazy. He just has his series released bi-weekly rather than on a weekly basis, and he sometimes has to take legitimate breaks to do some research on stuff or plan out future story arcs. Togashi just writes whenever the fuck he feels like it and takes break for no reasons whatsoever (except for his first major hiatus, which in all fairness was because of legitimate health problems, but that doesn't excuse his other 7+ breaks).
As for HXH, its more about each individual arc to me than the overarching story. The only main ongoing theme it has going for it is that Gon is looking for his father. Other than that its the type of series that has a lot of its focus put on its individual arcs, without necessarily having to heavily connect them story-wise (they are intertwined so they should be read in order, but they don't heavily reference one another, so they can stand well enough on their own, the way I see it). With Berserk, I feel like its just one major ongoing story that you need to see through from start to end, which is why I refuse read past volume 3 (which is where I left off back when I was reading it a few years ago) until I find out that the series has been ended for good.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 15, 2012, 04:01:13 PM
But something about KNB hooked me from the start and I've been impressed on how it manages to match the sense of intensity of the old sports manga like Slam Dunk.
That reminds me that I need to read Slam Dunk one of these days, as well.
QuoteI've been holding off on watching it, for various reasons, but I'm glad to hear it holds up. Is it outdoing the original at this point?
It handles certain elements better though I admittedly have more bias for the original so that's still currently the version that I prefer. That said, this version certainly has the potential to surpass the original. Stuff that started out weak in the original like the OST, the voice acting, and the pacing have been gradually improving over time, so it shows me that the people working on this anime are getting better as they go along. I'm REALLY excited to see how they handle the York Shin City arc, which isn't even that far away at this point.
Oh, okay, I'll probably watch one of the anime versions then.
Berserk's author isn't really "lazy," but the most recent chapters have been really lacking and have had fuck all to do with anything. Complete style and tone changes have been going down, and now it's basically Bleach with good art.
Got to watch the first ep of Kids on the Slope and the first 2 of the new Lupin. Enjoying both so far.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 14, 2012, 06:56:37 PM
I read a bunch of the manga until I realized they were killing off characters with potential instead of the ones with boobs. Then there's also the plot completely running out of steam.
I liked what I read of the manga; still quite fanservicey, but enough to
wastespend many hours updating the Wikipedia entry for their character list, which was a total wreck before I messed with it. Episode 6 also has my favorite dub line from the anime series:
Takashi Komuro: "So she lives here with a friend of hers, isn't that right? Who is she? Sarah f--king Palin?"
And then the series just stops completely; no new chapters since last summer?
I believe the Mangaka are putting it on hiatus (again) and one of them is busy working on his other manga (Triage X).
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
:wth:
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 20, 2012, 04:07:14 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
:wth:
Full House. Elfen Lied. Maybe I'm being too cruel by suggesting The Tomorrow People to you guys.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on April 20, 2012, 04:07:49 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 20, 2012, 04:07:14 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
:wth:
Full House. Elfen Lied. Maybe I'm being too cruel by suggesting The Tomorrow People to you guys.
Yeah the last thing we need is to have Adam and Megabyte fight the corn flake conglomerate.
...god that show..... WHY?!??!?!
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 04:29:16 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on April 20, 2012, 04:07:49 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 20, 2012, 04:07:14 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
:wth:
Full House. Elfen Lied. Maybe I'm being too cruel by suggesting The Tomorrow People to you guys.
Yeah the last thing we need is to have Adam and Megabyte fight the corn flake conglomerate.
...god that show..... WHY?!??!?!
Because a man by the name of Roger Price looked at the crappy effects and blatant homoeroticism of Doctor Who, and said, "Not enough..."
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on April 20, 2012, 04:31:14 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 04:29:16 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on April 20, 2012, 04:07:49 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 20, 2012, 04:07:14 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
:wth:
Full House. Elfen Lied. Maybe I'm being too cruel by suggesting The Tomorrow People to you guys.
Yeah the last thing we need is to have Adam and Megabyte fight the corn flake conglomerate.
...god that show..... WHY?!??!?!
Because a man by the name of Roger Price looked at the crappy effects and blatant homoeroticism of Doctor Who, and said, "Not enough..."
Well at least he got Christopher Lee.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
Quite possibly my least favorite anime of all time. I hate that shit with a passion... always have.
Quote from: xXxFoGgLe=420xXx on April 20, 2012, 05:12:20 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on April 20, 2012, 03:53:17 PM
A couple of days ago I marathoned the entirety of Elfen Lied. I wish I hadn't.
Quite possibly my least favorite anime of all time. I hate that shit with a passion... always have.
I've seen worse... but not much.
Well, Umineko and Genocyber (among others) are definitely "worse," but they also aren't faux-deep and filled with lots of uncomfortable, meaningless violence and pedobait (well, okay, those two do have tons of worthless gore scenes). The fact that some people actually buy into EL's "it must be intelligent 'cuz it's dark and edgy" boggles my mind.
Quote from: xXxFoGgLe=420xXx on April 20, 2012, 06:12:34 PM
Well, Umineko and Genocyber (among others) are definitely "worse," but they also aren't faux-deep and filled with lots of uncomfortable, meaningless violence and pedobait (well, okay, those two do have tons of worthless gore scenes). The fact that some people actually buy into EL's "it must be intelligent 'cuz it's dark and edgy" boggles my mind.
Actually I was talking about Master of Martial Hearts and that certain episode......... :whuh:
as in episode 5?
Betterman. Utterly boring. Utterly incomprehensible
Quote from: Angus on April 24, 2012, 12:09:17 PM
as in episode 5?
The one and only.
In an effort to keep myself from turning into the "Stop liking what I don't like" guy, I've gone looking for the rest of Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and started watching them to keep my mind off Smile PC and its horrendous fans.
It may have been Toei's first attempt at a proper team and its definitely rough around the edges, but at least it doesn't actively try to piss me off like Smile is doing.
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:02:36 PM
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
There actually usually are in magical girl shows.
Because they aren't (mostly) made for middle aged manchildren.
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:02:36 PM
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
The bane of my existence.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 28, 2012, 11:04:30 PM
There actually usually are in magical girl shows.
Because they aren't (mostly) made for middle aged manchildren.
[/quote]
Aw that's no fun :(. I need my lesbian subtext.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 28, 2012, 11:04:30 PM
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:02:36 PM
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
There actually usually are in magical girl shows.
Because they aren't (mostly) made for middle aged manchildren.
BUT THIS MEANS THAT THEY AREN'T TEACHING THE IMPORTANCE OF PURITY TO JAPAN'S CHILDREN
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:05:26 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 28, 2012, 11:04:30 PM
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:02:36 PM
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
There actually usually are in magical girl shows.
Because they aren't (mostly) made for middle aged manchildren.
BUT THIS MEANS THAT THEY AREN'T TEACHING THE IMPORTANCE OF PURITY TO JAPAN'S CHILDREN
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE
Yeah, how dare Japan try to get something resembling a positive birth rate?
Maybe this "purity" shit is all caused by brainwashing from American occupying soldiers after WW2. They're killing the rest of Japan slowly and subtly. :whuh:
SCREW THE PURITY! I WANT LESBIANS!
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:02:36 PM
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
Hilariously enough, Yes5 is the season with the most male love interests, and the only one where the girls actually end up having serious relationships with boys.
Also, the boys are the fairy mascots of the series. That some weird shit there man.
Quote from: Rynnec on April 28, 2012, 11:07:58 PM
SCREW THE PURITY! I WANT LESBIANS!
http://youtu.be/BNxxP1NwJUo (http://youtu.be/BNxxP1NwJUo)
Enjoy your subtext. Also, avoid those that ship them. They're terrible people.
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:07:37 PM
Maybe this "purity" shit is all caused by brainwashing from American occupying soldiers after WW2. They're killing the rest of Japan slowly and subtly. :whuh:
My god, Ishihara was right!
Quote from: Rosalinas Spare Wand on April 28, 2012, 11:09:28 PM
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:02:36 PM
Hopefully there are no dreaded male love interests. :sly:
Hilariously enough, Yes5 is the season with the most male love interests, and the only one where the girls actually end up having serious relationships with boys.
Also, the boys are the fairy mascots of the series. That some weird shit there man.
!
Someone took the MinakoXArtemis stuff too far!
Quote from: Rynnec on April 28, 2012, 11:07:58 PM
SCREW THE PURITY! I WANT LESBIANS!
There's always Gunsmith Cats and Noir!
Just to elaborate, Foggle was referring to this screencap (https://p.twimg.com/ArnF2qFCAAAjk3J.jpg) I posted on Twitter. It didn't bother me, but knowing how wacky those japanese get over waifus, and Cure Peace currently being popular as fuck, its probably gonna get some backlash in some form or another.
My issues with Smile have more to do with the team being absolutely terrible at their jobs.
People would really get upset about that? That's been in the genre since it started! :wth:
Yeah, it's no fun to watch a show where the main characters are completely incapable of getting shit done, even when it's played for laughs. But I rather like it when the protagonists are extremely bad at what they do and manage to accomplish their goals purely by accident. Usually makes for some good comedy.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 28, 2012, 11:24:32 PM
People would really get upset about that? That's been in the genre since it started! :wth:
No different from how Fujoshi get riled up over female characters stealing their boytoys/husbandos/yaoi fodder really.
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:27:18 PM
Yeah, it's no fun to watch a show where the main characters are completely incapable of getting shit done, even when it's played for laughs. But I rather like it when the protagonists are extremely bad at what they do and manage to accomplish their goals purely by accident. Usually makes for some good comedy.
I truly wish it was the latter. It sure seemed like it at first until they kept repeating the same mistakes for 12 episodes. There's honestly only one member here that's capable of fighting smart and she gets the least amount of screen time. Also, she has an ice sword in the opening that she's never used in the show so far. That kind of dickteasing is just pure unadulterated rage material.
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:27:18 PM
Yeah, it's no fun to watch a show where the main characters are completely incapable of getting shit done, even when it's played for laughs. But I rather like it when the protagonists are extremely bad at what they do and manage to accomplish their goals purely by accident. Usually makes for some good comedy.
Except for Excel Saga, of course. They always fail their missions.
Quote from: Foggle on April 28, 2012, 11:07:37 PM
Maybe this "purity" shit is all caused by brainwashing from American occupying soldiers after WW2. They're killing the rest of Japan slowly and subtly. :whuh:
Purity? What's that? Not when they put out adaptations with tons of fanservice or from adult visual novels.
Quote from: Angus on April 30, 2012, 08:15:11 PM
Except for Excel Saga, of course. They always fail their missions.
True, but if they succeeded, then the series would end. ;)
Quote from: Rosalinas Spare Wand on April 28, 2012, 11:09:28 PM
Quote from: Rynnec on April 28, 2012, 11:07:58 PM
SCREW THE PURITY! I WANT LESBIANS!
http://youtu.be/BNxxP1NwJUo (http://youtu.be/BNxxP1NwJUo)
Enjoy your subtext. Also, avoid those that ship them. They're terrible people.
Wonderful! You can practically
smell the sexual tension in the air! :swoon:
If only I could show you some other clips, like the time Tsubomi started crushing on a trap, or when Waon had to help Hibiki study for a test, or just about any moment with Love and Setsuna.
Maybe I could reupload them later and just hide the links.
So, if anyone here who's a Trigun fan wanted to watch that movie that came out in 2010 and still hasn't gotten around to it, you might like to know that FUNimation has uploaded the entire feature (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5nMYIESYBc&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1) (Japanese with English subtitles) on youtube, for free. I'm going to go ahead and watch it right now. :thumbup:
I didn't like it very much, honestly.
Haven't seen it myself, but I'll post my thoughts when I'm done watching it.
I've resumed watching Betterman, one of the most nonsensical absurd messes of a show I've seen in the last ten years.
I finally got around to finishing the first season of High School of the Dead and, I have to say, I enjoyed it. I wish there were more. The fanservice is really aggravating though because this show doesn't need it. It's interesting enough on its own and the bouncing boobs and panty shots hurt it more than help it.
Seriously, the slow motion bullet flying between Saeko's breasts in that one episode with the repeated slow motion jiggling boobs on Rei each time the gun was fired made me feel straight up embarrassed to be watching it. :whuh:
I take it you're not counting that bonus episode (unreleased in US) that has even more adult fanservice.
The beach episode? Yeah, I'm not even counting that as canon. I went online to find that one and it's obvious it was just made an an excuse to have fanservice. (Though the ending was kind of funny.)
Been live tweeting the poor quality of El-Hazard The Wanderers for the past few days. God that show is a clusterfuck.
Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari which is apparently a Tenchi Muyo sequel. I think.
So did you ever end up watching the Trigun movie, E-K?
Oh yeah, I did watch it but forgot to comment on it.
I, uh....kind of liked it, actually. Its not really bad or anything, but it does feel like an over-sized filler episode with some decent animation rather than the big feature that I was expecting. I mean, I was disappointed because I felt the movie could have been a good opportunity to expand on the key characters of the series and delve more into their personalities and develop them a bit with a grand old-style Trigun anime plot (also, it wouldn't have to worry about being faithful to the manga since the anime already deviated from it to begin with). Even so, it was still mildly entertaining and nothing about it was downright bad or awful, so I enjoyed it on that level.
Still, this whole thing was one huge missed opportunity, IMO.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on June 13, 2012, 12:43:21 PM
Its not really bad or anything, but it does feel like an over-sized filler episode with some decent animation rather than the big feature that I was expecting. I mean, I was disappointed because I felt the movie could have been a good opportunity to expand on the key characters of the series and delve more into their personalities and develop them a bit with a grand old-style Trigun anime plot (also, it wouldn't have to worry about being faithful to the manga since the anime already deviated from it to begin with). Even so, it was still mildly entertaining and nothing about it was downright bad or awful, so I enjoyed it on that level.
Still, this whole thing was one huge missed opportunity, IMO.
My thoughts exactly! I, personally, didn't like it very much, but it's definitely not bad, either - just disappointing and a bit overlong, especially compared to the Bebop movie.
Finished watching Murder Princess a few minutes ago. It was alright, the action scenes, while nothing to write home about, and the lesbian subtext made the show worth watching for me. What really knocks it down is the ending, it felt completely rushed and hardly concluded the main body-switching plotline at all. What's worse is that quite a few of the characters die-off at once, yet because the anime is only six-episodes long, not enough time was given to develop them enough to really make me feel anything. This anime really should've been at least twelve episodes long so it could develop its plot and characters more.
Currently torturing thyne self with Gundam Seed Destiny... its... actually worse than I remember. MUCH WORSE.
This is my favourite dub. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmEESOXQJso)
Heh, I never did finish this series. It was interesting though.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on May 21, 2012, 09:23:27 AM
Been live tweeting the poor quality of El-Hazard The Wanderers for the past few days. God that show is a clusterfuck.
Really? That's a shame. I haven't seen
Wanderers but I thought the first OVA was great. The second one, however, was largely forgettable.
Quote from: Pharass on June 24, 2012, 01:50:12 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on May 21, 2012, 09:23:27 AM
Been live tweeting the poor quality of El-Hazard The Wanderers for the past few days. God that show is a clusterfuck.
Really? That's a shame. I haven't seen Wanderers but I thought the first OVA was great. The second one, however, was largely forgettable.
Yeah I love the first OVA. Hell its probably my favorite OVA of all time, and the tv show is like hellbent to screw up every single thing that the first did right. Its like kicking you in the balls when you're dead.
And yeah E-H2 and Alternative World are forgettable filler. Why bother to make interquels that are ultimately meaningless when we already know how it all ends?
Well, they are the company that did Tenchi Muyo and all their retellings around the same time.
Quote from: Angus on June 25, 2012, 01:43:41 PM
Well, they are the company that did Tenchi Muyo and all their retellings around the same time.
Yeah but the thing about El-Hazard is it clearly wasn't intended to be anything more than a one off, which probably explains why most of the creative staff declined to be involved with the later series to any serious degree.
So I finished watching Fate/Zero. No review for season 2. Sorry guys, I just don't have the time.
But I will say that it was fucking amazing and everybody should give it a look. Episode 24 was mind-blowing. The final fight scene did not disappoint (best animation I've ever seen in a TV anime, easily) and I'm a complete sucker for the kind of surrealism they tossed in during the latter half. Loved it.
Quote from: Foggle on July 02, 2012, 01:27:14 PM
So I finished watching Fate/Zero. No review for season 2. Sorry guys, I just don't have the time.
But I will say that it was fucking amazing and everybody should give it a look. Episode 24 was mind-blowing. The final fight scene did not disappoint (best animation I've ever seen in a TV anime, easily) and I'm a complete sucker for the kind of surrealism they tossed in during the latter half. Loved it.
Having finished F/Z as well, I completely agree with you. The only things I would change would be making episode 24 double-length (there was also a distressing lack of EMIYA in that fight scene), hopefully the Blu-Ray's will do the job.
Unfortunately, it seems Aniplex has no plans to bring the series over to the US. Which is a damn shame, because if there's any anime from the recent years that deserves to air on TV and get a shot at mainstream popularity, it's Fate/Zero.
Quote from: Rynnec on July 02, 2012, 01:47:42 PM
Having finished F/Z as well, I completely agree with you. The only things I would change would be making episode 24 double-length (there was also a distressing lack of EMIYA in that fight scene), hopefully the Blu-Ray's will do the job.
Oh fuck you're right, WHY DIDN'T THEY PLAY EMIYA DURING THAT SCENE!!?!? Also, hoping for longer Saber vs. Berserker fight on the BD. My body will never be ready.
QuoteUnfortunately, it seems Aniplex has no plans to bring the series over to the US.
You mean for less than $380. :sly:
QuoteWhich is a damn shame, because if there's any anime from the recent years that deserves to air on TV and get a shot at mainstream popularity, it's Fate/Zero.
Amen. Dare I say the best action anime since FMP TSR. I don't know why they aren't bringing it over, either; Type-Moon has tons of fanboys all over the world. I really really really really really really really really really really hope ufotable does an adaptation of UBW and/or Heaven's Feel and/or Hollow Ataraxia sometime in the future (fuck the Fate route tbh). I need more of their awesome animation in my life.
On a similar note, I'm reading Tsukihime right now, and I think it's at least 10x better than F/SN. The story and main characters are far more engaging and the writing is a lot more refined and less draggy (which is ironic, since this is the older of the two). Maybe Fate just didn't have the greatest translation. If that's the case, then I feel really bad about insulting Nasu's writing in the blog. I'll have to do a followup to that once I finish this.
Unfortunately they can't even get Fate/stay night out of licensing limbo, making it as rare as Higurashi, although Sentai did manage to put out Unlimited Blade Works a few weeks ago.
I tried the first few episodes of Fate/Stay Night about a year ago. For whatever reason I couldn't really get into it. Maybe I'll try it again and then go to Fate/Zero if its really supposed to be that good, though.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on July 02, 2012, 02:40:02 PM
I tried the first few episodes of Fate/Stay Night about a year ago. For whatever reason I couldn't really get into it. Maybe I'll try it again and then go to Fate/Zero if its really supposed to be that good, though.
Watching the FSN anime isn't really required to enjoy Fate/Zero (though, it helps if you know at least the basics of FSN). In fact, watching FSN will probably leave newcomers even
more confused when they get to F/Z, as there are
tons of plot points in the latter that don't get brought up in the formers anime adaptation.
The F/SN anime is awful and the UBW movie is even worse. You'll be fine just watching Fate/Zero. The first episode explains everything you need to know about the universe, really.
It does have quite a few spoilers for F/SN, but I don't really think you'd like the visual novel much, so I wouldn't let it bother you.
I saw F/SN a couple of years ago and didn't really like it at all.
Is Zero that much better? If so, I'll totes check that out.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 02, 2012, 04:10:57 PM
I saw F/SN a couple of years ago and didn't really like it at all.
Is Zero that much better? If so, I'll totes check that out.
Zero is better than F/SN in general and the F/SN anime is a bad adaptation in general. The F/Z anime is miles above it and perhaps even one of my all time favorites. Also, Zero is extremely different from its precursor. Maybe check out my season 1 review (again?). ;) http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=279
It does get a bit slow occasionally (the first few episodes especially aren't all that exciting), but it's very intense and interesting for the most part.
Hmm, I've heard the opposite, but that's good to know you can watch F/Z without having all the F/SN background. :thumbup:
QuoteI really really really really really really really really really really hope ufotable does an adaptation of UBW and/or Heaven's Feel and/or Hollow Ataraxia sometime in the future (fuck the Fate route tbh). I need more of their awesome animation in my life.
Have you seen ufotable's Kara no Kyoukai adaptation? They're a series of (usually short) films, so their animation is absolutely
gorgeous. The plot is rather hard to follow, and it requires you to watch all 7 films in order to get a sense of what's going on (I myself have only seen the first 3 films), they're all available for rent on PSN.
Quote from: Rynnec on July 03, 2012, 01:41:21 AM
Have you seen ufotable's Kara no Kyoukai adaptation? They're a series of (usually short) films, so their animation is absolutely gorgeous. The plot is rather hard to follow, and it requires you to watch all 7 films in order to get a sense of what's going on (I myself have only seen the first 3 films), they're all available for rent on PSN.
Love 'em. You gotta' watch the rest! Didn't even realize those movies were Nasuverse until my friend told me last year, haha. Gonna' check out the Blu-Ray rips pretty soon for that sexy picture quality I no doubt missed on the first viewing.
Apparently it takes place in a alternate Nasuverse (according to Type-Moon's mythology, there can only be one person who posseses the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception), this was all confirmed in Melty Blood Actress Again (where Ryougi Shiki appears as a playable character).
I'll be sure to check out the remaining movies once I have enough PS points (between this, Jet Set Radio, Guilty Gear, and possibly Rival Schools coming out this year, I'll be needing a lot of PSN cards XD).
In between my NGE rewatch, I'm finally watching Cardcaptor Sakura. I watched the Nelvana dub back when it was on Kids WB and Toonami, but that isn't really the same thing. It's not bad. In fact, I think it's funny that Sakura acts more mature than Bunny/Serena, even though she's younger.
I'm surprised that it didn't catch on more when it was on though. I mean, it was popular stateside, but it wasn't a DBZ or Sailor Moon-level hit. Considering the different abilities of the Clow cards, Kero's adorableness, and Sakura's constant outfit changes, you would've thought that this had the potential to be a marketing goldmine for girls.
It didn't catch on because that horrendous dub was its mainstream representation. It's the same reason One Piece was crippled over here as well.
CCS is way better than OP though, IMO.
I haven't seen more than a few episodes of CCS. Admittedly the few I did see were the dub, so I'm pretty sure that's what turned me off. That said I'm not sure if its the type of show that I'd really like even if seen as it was intended to be seen, but I may give it a chance one of these days.
As for OP, it was pretty much in its prime between Enies Lobby to the Marineford arc. Everything before that was mostly only OK (like the Arlong arc or Alabasta) or bland (like most of Skypiea) standard-shonen stuff, and everything since then has been downright boring, IMO. During its prime, though, it was one of the best shonen around. Too bad Oda feels like dragging his series through the mud just because its popular (well, I'm sure WSJ would pressure him to, anyways). I can actually believe that this series was only supposed to last for 5 years, because its clear that Oda is just forcing it to continue at this point.
CCS is okay, but like Sailor Moon, I can only watch so much of it in a specific amount of time. When I can think of something better to watch when I'm online, I'll drop it and come back to it later.
Yeah, I dropped Sailor Moon as well. Its one of those shows that I can only think fondly of in nostalgia. I tried watching the series in Japanese with subtitles and I just found myself getting bored. I actually do kind of enjoy the dub, but once again that's only from pure nostalgia.
I like the story episodes of Sailor Moon, the filler (MOTW stuff) varies greatly in quality to me, but the main story has always been enjoyable to me.
I can't tell if a lot of those beginning episodes were filler, but it sure felt that way to me. I mean, I know that the series is naturally repetitive, but I can't see a lot of those early episodes as being anything other than filler because it was just such lazy writing and using the same plot-lines for almost every episode.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on July 18, 2012, 07:33:56 PM
I can't tell if a lot of those beginning episodes were filler, but it sure felt that way to me. I mean, I know that the series is naturally repetitive, but I can't see a lot of those early episodes as being anything other than filler because it was just such lazy writing and using the same plot-lines for almost every episode.
They are. Sailor Moon is in more need of a 'Kai' treatment than even DBZ was. The actual story episodes are pretty good, IMO, and easily the best of the magical girl genre.
Problem is you have to wade through a lot of boring stuff.
I'll look up a list of the canon episodes so that I can skip the filler. I'll try and give the show another shot, or if I still can't get into it I may just end up trying to read the manga instead.
You know, I find it kind of funny and ironic that not only is YYH the only shonen anime that I can think of that not only avoids filler episodes, but it even manages to cut out quite a bit of material from the manga while never slowing down its pace too much or feeling rushed at the opposite extreme. Seriously, YYH's anime treatment is like a freak thing. The only other long-running shonen series that might possibly break that trend is the currently airing HXH reboot, but even that is questionable since Togashi loves his hiatus-time and still seems far off from an ending. In that regard, though, it'd still take the current anime at least a couple of years to catch up to the manga.
In general, though, I notice that Togashi's work gets the most quality treatment when it comes to anime adaptations. I really wonder why that is. I mean, even the first HXH anime was pretty spot-on (it had filler, but it was pretty limited compared to most shonen anime).
Funny that you bring up the manga and YYH.
I think the SM anime (filler aside) made some really good story tweaks to the original. I think the very first arc was improved a lot by giving Nephrite a character, Zoisite and Kunzite a relationship, and basically making the story flow a bit better. The manga's pacing is a bit stranger and the bad guys a lot shallower.
But yeah the filler is an issue, and the biggest one. Even the American version skipped a ton of filler to get to the other characters, and it STILL has a filler problem.
But that's no guarantee you'll like either. Magical Girl is not the most welcoming genre to get into, and while I like some of them, most tend to put me off.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on July 18, 2012, 07:49:53 PM
I'll look up a list of the canon episodes so that I can skip the filler. I'll try and give the show another shot, or if I still can't get into it I may just end up trying to read the manga instead.
You know, I find it kind of funny and ironic that not only is YYH the only shonen anime that I can think of that not only avoids filler episodes, but it even manages to cut out quite a bit of material from the manga while never slowing down its pace too much or feeling rushed at the opposite extreme. Seriously, YYH's anime treatment is like a freak thing. The only other long-running shonen series that might possibly break that trend is the currently airing HXH reboot, but even that is questionable since Togashi loves his hiatus-time and still seems far off from an ending. In that regard, though, it'd still take the current anime at least a couple of years to catch up to the manga.
In general, though, I notice that Togashi's work gets the most quality treatment when it comes to anime adaptations. I really wonder why that is. I mean, even the first HXH anime was pretty spot-on (it had filler, but it was pretty limited compared to most shonen anime).
Would you consider FMA a long-running shounen? Brotherhood had no filler episodes either.
Quote from: Rynnec on July 18, 2012, 08:06:31 PM
Would you consider FMA a long-running shounen? Brotherhood had no filler episodes either.
Oh yeah, I forgot about Brotherhood. It is long-running, but I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of the 100+ episode shonen series like YYH.
Ah, speaking of Fullmetal, I finished Brotherhood during the two weeks I was (mostly) gone.
I didn't care for the final fight too much and it think it's ironic how what the brothers do at the end is similar to the first anime.
Speaking of the first anime, I thought it got better (much better) during it's 2nd half while Brotherhood peaks right before Fuhrer pulls the plug on Mustang's operation and separates all his mean, so I like the 2nd half of that show less. What else? I like Greed a whole lot less in Brotherhood. He seems out of place, so does all the generic anime characters. You know, all the people from Shing or whatever. The first series was great without them.
I also watched a lot of Berserk episodes until when freaked me out, then I just went to YYH.
I also watched a lot of Fist Of The Northstar (around 20, I guess)...until an end of an episode disgusting me and seemed like filler. Seriously, where did that tattoo come from out of nowhere? Completely random.
I also finished this show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtZoVveJhwg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtZoVveJhwg)
It's such a shame that season 2 took such a budget cut..and then they just stopped making episodes. I believe I watched about 20 episodes.
And I watched all of that in less than 2 weeks.
You know, I think my problem with CCS and SM is that now that I'm older, I grow weary of monster of the week anime. I like the characters and what I recall of the stories enough to get behind them, but there's too much filler for me to sit through. Even with something like DBZ, a lot of the filler actually did contribute to the story, even if you could cut most of it out.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 19, 2012, 05:00:52 PM
You know, I think my problem with CCS and SM is that now that I'm older, I grow weary of monster of the week anime. I like the characters and what I recall of the stories enough to get behind them, but there's too much filler for me to sit through. Even with something like DBZ, a lot of the filler actually did contribute to the story, even if you could cut most of it out.
Or maybe you need some Madoka to reinvigorate that interest in magical girls. :blush:
Maybeeee :sly:
Quote from: Avaitor on July 19, 2012, 05:00:52 PM
You know, I think my problem with CCS and SM is that now that I'm older, I grow weary of monster of the week anime. I like the characters and what I recall of the stories enough to get behind them, but there's too much filler for me to sit through. Even with something like DBZ, a lot of the filler actually did contribute to the story, even if you could cut most of it out.
Basically. I've never really been a fan of the monster of the week formula, though if the story is good enough in canon material it can keep my interest.
It's kinda why I wish the SM anime wasn't in legal limbo, because honestly a Kai situation would really help the series out.
Yay for CCS! :) I agree it's dreadfully slow as a local bus, but it's really cute for a kids show. The manga series goes much quicker and has some interesting twists.
The slow magical girl development and multiple series holds me back from getting into SM and Pretty Cure. So many episodes, so little time.
Dog Days
....I don't need your pity.
You still have it.
Why not just watch something that you at least don't already know will suck going into it?
Where would the fun be in that?
Quote from: Lord Dalek on July 29, 2012, 10:33:00 PM
Where would the fun be in that?
Enjoying a good series that's well written, I suppose. :>
On episode three.
Frankly compared to the last 7 weeks of Gundam Seed Destiny this is a refreshing kind of terrible.
Episode 4 now... I'm not sure if this supposed to be some sort of parody of old 16-bit rpgs or is just incredibly uncreative.
........on the plus side, I'm rewatching Black Lagoon for the first time in a while.
Wow, they've really dedicated 2 episodes to the kids learning how to cook.
I'm pretttty sure the Nelvana dub cut these eps out. I sure hope so. Even Inuyasha would've been ashamed of filler like this.
HEY GUYZ! GUESS WHAT I JUST FINISHED?!?
Quote from: Lord Dalek on August 10, 2012, 09:29:03 PM
HEY GUYZ! GUESS WHAT I JUST FINISHED?!?
If it's not The Tomorrow People, then I don't care.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on August 10, 2012, 09:29:53 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on August 10, 2012, 09:29:03 PM
HEY GUYZ! GUESS WHAT I JUST FINISHED?!?
If it's not The Tomorrow People, then I don't care.
I watched all that shit in 95.
Is the cooking one where she learns how to fry stuff?
I found Redline on Blu-Ray for 10 bucks. Now I just have to find the time to watch it, I still haven't watched HISMV
Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers (TWICE)
I REGRET NOTHING.
Also: Labyrinth of Flames. @_@
Shameless plug. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsi-Hc1gbOg&feature=em-subs_digest)
Madoka Magica. I be scared.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on November 23, 2012, 08:18:31 PM
Madoka Magica. I be scared.
It's like a Six Flags ride. You go in expecting a life-changing thrill ride from so much hype and walk away with empty satisfaction and a sense of retreaded ground.
I went in expecting girly bullshit and magical girls, but found a decent program(but not the sensational program I was promised) with some themes that would have filled me with emotion, if I didn't loathe magical girl shows.
Also I'm watching Robotics;Notes, and find it enjoyable, but the show is in the process of shit getting real, so I'll hold off on any opinions about it for the time being.
Well its the final stretch... this show has been pretty crazy ever since episode 6.
So I'm watching the first episode of Fate/Zero. Probably won't be able to continue until winter break, but the series proves to be an interesting beast from the getgo.
Now what am I supposed to watch besides the.... ugh... "bad .hack fanfic adaptation half-hour".
Quote from: Lord Dalek on November 27, 2012, 12:05:20 AM
Now what am I supposed to watch besides the.... ugh... "bad .hack fanfic adaptation half-hour".
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnhe73_legend-of-galactic-heroes-001-central-anime_animals?search_algo=2
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnhe7q_legend-of-galactic-heroes-002-central-anime_animals?search_algo=2
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnhe7y_legend-of-galactic-heroes-003-central-anime_animals?search_algo=2
Quote from: Lord Dalek on November 27, 2012, 12:05:20 AM
Now what am I supposed to watch besides the.... ugh... "bad .hack fanfic adaptation half-hour".
Clearly you watch Jewelpet Kira☆Deco next.
That or that little sister harem show airing right now.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on November 26, 2012, 11:52:31 PM
So I'm watching the first episode of Fate/Zero. Probably won't be able to continue until winter break, but the series proves to be an interesting beast from the getgo.
Glad you're liking it! A lot of people think the first episode is "boring", but I really enjoyed it. Kiritsugu really is one of the best characters ever, I can't wait 'til you get to see some of his later scenes. Make sure not to spoil it for yourself!
Quote from: Rosalinas Spare Wand on November 27, 2012, 11:22:18 AM
That or that little sister harem show airing right now.
Loli harem?
:light:
Also, am right at this moment watching Supernatural: The Animation Area 88, the newer one, for nostalgia.
Wow, that second episode. This show has definitely sparked my interest.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on November 27, 2012, 10:00:44 PM
Wow, that second episode. This show has definitely sparked my interest.
It's definitely my favorite anime of both this year and last year. I guess this proves that you don't need to have any prior experience with F/SN to enjoy it!
I really do need to see this series, even though I did not care for F/SN at all.
Quote from: Avaitor on November 27, 2012, 10:58:51 PM
I really do need to see this series, even though I did not care for F/SN at all.
F/SN anime is shit. The VN is great, but uneven. Fate/Zero is one of my all-time favorite series.
I basically say as much in my season 1 review. ;)
I might check it out eventually....
All I know about Fate is the sex scenes.
I blame Foggle for that.
Quote from: Jay L. Corbell on November 28, 2012, 06:19:53 PM
All I know about Fate is the sex scenes.
I blame Foggle for that.
The sex is one of the best things about F/SN!
(https://animationrevelation.com/404j.png)
(https://animationrevelation.com/404k.png)
(https://animationrevelation.com/404l.png)
So, F/SN is basically 50 Shades of Grey the visual novel, except with fantasy elements thrown in? :>
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on November 28, 2012, 08:23:05 PM
So, F/SN is basically 50 Shades of Grey the visual novel, except with fantasy elements thrown in? :>
It's 60% awesome modern-day fantasy, 35% horrific harem and "romance" bullshit, 5% 50 Shades of Grey.
Meanwhile, Fate/Zero is 40% badass action, 40% brotastic feels, and 20% nihilist philosophy.
:happytime:
I have restored Juu's faith in humanity with Madoka.
Tomorrow I will take it away with another round of SAO.
Clannad managed to screw up a fight between Cotton Hill and Kuwabara.
Sword Art Online episode 23.
Clannad makes me wanna cut myself in places I have never seen before.
:whuh:
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on December 02, 2012, 11:28:49 PM
Clannad managed to screw up a fight between Cotton Hill and Kuwabara.
I watched the first episode of Madoka Magica. To be honest, I was more confused by what was going on than anything else. Is that intentional for the first episode or am I just an idiot because I don't know the genre conventions of the magical girl anime so therefore I don't know what aspects of it this anime is deconstructing in the first place?
Thinking about that, it kind of makes me realize how a series like HXH's brilliance in twisting around shonen genre conventions would be totally lost on someone who wasn't all that familiar with shonen series in the first place.
That said, Madoka is interesting enough that I'm willing to watch at least a few more episodes before I can decide how I truly feel about it as a show.
Watch the next two. Trust me on this.
I just watched episode 2, which cleared a bit more stuff up.
That said, I don't get why Homura has to be so damn cryptic to Madoka, though. Whenever stern, serious, and mostly silent characters like that are cryptic to the main character in their warnings, then no fucking shit does it foreshadow bad things are going to happen.
OK, That damn cat thing (Kyubey) is WAY too fucking suspicious. I'm calling right now that it can't be trusted. I mean damn that thing is really pushy in trying to contract Madoka.
I finished episode 3, and I have to say that while I was expecting one of the 2 magical girls to die, for some reason I was actually expecting that Homura would get screwed over instead of what's her face (I can't remember her name, honestly), so the show definitely pulled one over on me there. I'd probably be more shocked by that scene if I wasn't already desensitized to gruesome death scenes in deceptively cutesy shows (courtesy of HXH, for better or worse).
OK, So now I admit that I'm interested to see more of this series.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on December 25, 2012, 03:13:10 AM
I finished episode 3, and I have to say that while I was expecting one of the 2 magical girls to die, for some reason I was actually expecting that Homura would get screwed over instead of what's her face (I can't remember her name, honestly), so the show definitely pulled one over on me there. I'd probably be more shocked by that scene if I wasn't already desensitized to gruesome death scenes in deceptively cutesy shows (courtesy of HXH, for better or worse).
The blonde-haired girl's name is Mami. :)
Homura's the dark-haired mysteroious type, while Mami is the slightly-older mentor type. And as everyone knows, the mentor characters always die first over the mysterious fangirl/boy-baitey ones. XD
I suppose that makes sense, but when I think of the older mentor type, I think of someone genuinely wise who's heart is truly in the right place. I know that Madoka and Sayaka bought the whole bit about her being a selfless heroine until the very end, but as the viewer we could see clearly well that Mami was playing them into her hand to get them to contract with Kyubey. In the end she had her own motives as well. I figured that she'd stay around a bit longer to use Madoka and Sayaka to her own advantage in some way and then turn on them later. I think that the writers of this show intentionally lead you to believe that the show was going in that direction to surprise you with Mami just being abruptly killed off in the 3rd episode.
At any rate, I went into this show expecting that all of the starting characters are going to die by the end, and I still expect that. The morale of the show so far seems to be about the cost of making bad decisions that are essentially too good to be true. That's at least the vibe that I've gotten from it, so far.
Rule #1 of Madoka. DO NOT TALK ABOUT MADOKA UNTIL AFTER YOU FINISHED IT. The reason will become obvious later.
So, I completed Madoka Magica. You know, the more I think about the ending the more certain things don't make sense to me. For instance, being that Madoka essentially erased the existence of witches across all of time and space entirely, how exactly does Sayaka meet her end in the new reality? She could have never turned into a witch and it was said by Kyubey in the new reality that magical girls simply just have their soul gems disappear when they die, and don't turn into anything whatsoever. Well, I'm sure that some nerd who has studied the hell out of this show more than I would care to could explain all of it better, but I don't really care to listen to all of the specific details, to be honest.
As for the show as a whole, it was good. I found it interesting and entertaining. I don't know that I consider it to be one of the absolute greatest anime ever like a lot of people seem to feel, maybe because these kinds of stories aren't really up my alley to begin with, but that said it says a lot that this still appealed enough to me that I enjoyed it, so I'd say its a show that earned its popularity and high ratings. I just don't like it enough to consider it a personal favorite, but I'd definitely recommend it to others and its easily one of the best anime I've seen out of what's been released in the past few years.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on December 26, 2012, 06:57:41 AM
Rule #1 of Madoka. DO NOT TALK ABOUT MADOKA UNTIL AFTER YOU FINISHED IT. The reason will become obvious later.
Well, I finished it and I still don't get this rule of yours. You can express your opinion of a show as you watch it the first time through, even before you finish it.
Honestly, I'm not really into anime these days since they don't come out with anything new for me, so for the time being I've been catching up on shows that I've started, but never got the chance to finish. With that said Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit is something that I started watching on adult swim, but for whatever reason that I don't remember I stopped watching it on tv. Now that I have it on dvd (packaging is terrible) I've continued where I left off with this masterpiece. I have to say that I'm a big fan of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and I can see a lot of it here in Moribito. I don't know what it is, but the conversations really suck me in, and then the animation itself is really a site to see. Fights, I love it.
If only Beat was here to go full autistic on such positive praise for the show.
Ah, yes. I remember Beat's stance on Moribito. Truth be told I had no issues with what he was saying about it either, but it's not like we share the same taste in anime either. If I'm not mistaken he wanted shows like Witchblade, Panty and Stocking, or something off the wall with fanservice on adult swim, and I hate stuff like that.
Evangelion and Paranoia Agent. At the same time.
Not seeing why Shinji gets so much hate. Not only is he not annoying, I actually find him decently likeable at times.
Quote from: Graywulf76 on January 03, 2013, 12:17:17 PM
Not seeing why Shinji gets so much hate. Not only is he not annoying, I actually find him decently likeable at times.
I agree. I still have no idea why people hate on him so much. I've heard complaints about him acting too depressed or cowardly most of the time. I don't know what the people who say that were watching, but it certainly wasn't the same thing that I was watching. He is scared to pilot the Eva maybe the first 2 or 3 times he has to step into the thing, and who can blame him? Its a completely normal reaction for a kid who has lived a completely normal life up until that point to be forced into life or death battles with the whole city at stake. That kind of puts a lot of pressure on a person, I would think. After that, he pretty much has no problem getting into the Eva and going into fights as he gets used to it, which is for a majority of the series, so that complaint about him acting like a coward makes no sense. As for the depression thing, he has his moments where he's down obviously, mainly when he has a lot of pressure put onto him by his father or he feels completely antagonized by everyone else....which IDK about everyone else, but once again, that actually makes sense for a person to be down for those reasons. Other than that, he acts completely normal and is even pretty cheerful for a good portion of the series.
For comparison, I've seen quite a number of characters in FMA (both versions) break down and cry more times than I have seen Shinji have, yet none of those characters ever get any heat for it. That's just an example. The point is that I've seen plenty of other anime characters from other series act way more emotionally unstable than Shinji (who seems pretty normal on a mental level to me), yet somehow Shinji gets labeled as the "emo kid." Go figure. :-\
Finished Evangelion and Paranoia Agent. NGE was enjoyable, even if I'm not terribly found of the last two episodes, but I can defiantly see why it ranks so high on many lists. Paranoia Agent was interesting, if a little hard to follow at times, but I'm a fan of odd visuals so I'm glad I watched it. Both great series, though I don't know if I like them enough to buy the DVDs.
Now enacting Phase 2 of Operation: W.A.S.O.A (Watch A Shit-ton Of Anime) by watching Outlaw Star, Kids on the Slope, and GIT: SAC.
Still watching Moribito for now, but Sengoku Basara arrived yesterday so I'll be giving that a whirl soon enough.
So I watched the first episode of Fate/Zero. Being that the first episode was 40+ minutes long and had a lot of exposition, I found the first half of the episode to be pretty slow, and to be honest I didn't get a lot of what was being talked about (its been a while since I saw any of Fate/Stay Night, and I didn't even watch all of it, at that). Namely, I still don't seem to understand the whole point of The Holy Grail War. I also don't really get what exactly qualifies a magi as being chosen to become a master.
That said, I did like the art design of the series and I always do enjoy when a series has an extensive mythos behind it, even if there's currently a lot of it that I don't understand despite the heavy exposition. At any rate, the episode picked up the pace in the 2nd half and got a bit more interesting. I like how it did take the time to give all of the masters a chance to introduce their characters and even explore quite a bit about them, their personalities, and what makes them who they are. It also ended just as the servants were being summoned, so of course now I have to at least watch the next episode to see how things unfold from here.
Oh, also, I finished watching Kaiji Season 2 last week but forgot to mention it. God damn was that a lot of episodes for a game of Pachinko. I also noticed that there is a shit-ton of crying in this series, not just from Kaiji, but from everyone. Oh well, it was definitely an entertaining series, and I'll probably continue it via the manga, but I do feel that it'd probably have a low re-watch value for me due to the dragged out nature of the content, which is fine the first time through because you're genuinely interested in seeing what happens next, but it may not hold up so much on re-viewings when you already know what to expect.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 10, 2013, 05:11:32 PM
I still don't seem to understand the whole point of The Holy Grail War.
That may or may not have been what Nasu and Urobuchi were going for. ;)
Oh, I didn't realize that Urobuchi worked on Fate/Zero. Well, I liked Madoka Magica, so I'll trust that his writing shines as good in this series as it did in that one.
Fate/Stay Night is by Nasu, Fate/Zero is by Urobuchi, with a little bit of supervision from Nasu. ;)
Evangelion 3.0 - You Can (Not) Redo
with subs.
Excuse me while I cream my pants.
I need to catch up on those Eva movies when I get the chance.
Also, I watched the first 5 episodes of Slam Dunk. I have to say, those 2 bumpers they have for before and after the commercial intermission are among the most hilarious uses of 'Engrish" that I have ever seen. I wish I could find a Youtube clip of them.
Mdawg was morbidly curious to see SAO. I could only oblige....
Finished watching Moribito earlier today. Had some time to let it sink in a little bit. It's pretty good. Very informative for a fantasy type series. It's no longer in my top 10, though, mainly because I'm an animal person, and I was holding back a lot of anger watching disc's 6-8 (might've been 7 & 8) since they held nothing back when it came to showing animal corpses (and that's a good way to really get under my skin)
Anyway, the characters, the only people I actually cared about were Balsa and Chagum. Everyone else, while they aren't bad, they didn't do much to stand out.
Action, when there is action it's great, but it's very scarce. I suppose the one issue I had was they went from fighting people to fighting creatures, and, well, the fighting wasn't that great, but suspense is there to make you want to know if anyone'll make it out alive.
I'd recommend it, but only to those that're looking for something that had a lot of talking rather than fighting.
I'm currently watching Sengoku Basara, and this might be one of those "spur of the moments" type of thing, but I have to say this series is quite something. It has a lot of wacky moments, but the fighting is pretty good. The pacing of it is pretty fast, perhaps too fast, since the only characters I feel that're getting fleshed out is Yukimura, Nobunaga, Shingen and Date, at least that's from what I've gathered so far. When it comes to samurai series I'd rather they go at least 20 episodes so other characters can be fleshed out. Of those who're fleshed out so far, I favor Date. Yukimura is too much of a gullible idiot for my liking, and Date is the badass of the series.
This is shaping up to be a top favorite.
I'm around 45+ episodes into Slam Dunk, and it looks as though I've finally hit filler territory, so I'll probably take a break from it for now. Overall, though, as someone who has hardly ever read any other sports manga (and what I have read, I generally haven't cared for) and consequently has never bothered to watch any sports anime, I do have to admit that I find this series to be surprisingly entertaining. Most of the characters are kind of one-note, like Sakuragi and Rukawa, but they don't come off as annoying either and somehow they still manage to stay entertaining in their own ways. In general, though, I tend to prefer characters like Akagi, Ryota, and Mitsui who seem to be a bit more layered and dynamic (but ironically are only the supporting characters).
One thing I don't get, though, is how Sakuragi was supposedly a really good player on level with another top-tier team during that one practice game in the beginning, but when the interscholastic preliminaries start, he automatically reverts to being a joke player in the beginning who fouls out of every game and gradually has to get better as the season goes on. It just felt jarring and kind of a forced way to give him a character arc in which he had a specific problem that he had to overcome. At any rate, the anime still managed to keep me interested, so I'll probably still stick with it, but if the filler is too drawn out, then I may just switch over to the manga at that point.
I haven't read it in a while, but I remember Sakuragi being way too full of himself to the point where he wasn't paying attention to the rules and leading the other players to take advantage of his inexperience. I know that is what leads him to want to become better when he realizes he's the team's weak link and not the star player. Then he becomes way better by using his own weaknesses as his strength.
Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm not the biggest fan of sports manga, but this is one of the exceptions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkCAE8UBeYo
Quote from: Foggle on January 22, 2013, 07:42:12 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkCAE8UBeYo
:happytime:
I'm 85 episodes into Slam Dunk, so I'm almost done with the anime (though I'm not sure if it covers all of the manga's story). Damn that be some intense basketball playing! :SHOCK:
Shohoku's rematch with Ryonan was the longest match yet, however it moved by surprisingly fast to the point that I didn't even realize that I made myself stay up until 3 AM watching the whole damn thing, and effectively only got a few hours of sleep before getting up for my 8 AM class this morning. And this is why its a bad idea for me to watch long-running addicting anime (especially if its shonen) when I'm in college. :sweat:
The anime doesn't go to the end, but I think the OVA finished it up.
But yes, it is quite intense. ;D
The thread going on in the fun & Games board reminds me to post this article. (http://io9.com/5971053/why-robotech-is-the-greatest-love-story-of-the-20th-century)
I just finished watching Slam Dunk. Overall, it was pretty good, but it doesn't cover the entire story (it only covers the first 197 chapters of the manga), and as far as I know there is no continuation of the anime that finishes the rest of the story. I looked up to see if there were any OVAs or anything of the sort, but all I found were a few movies/TV specials that weren't based off of anything from the manga. So, I'm basically just going to finish the rest of the series by reading the manga.
Now I once again have an open spot for watching an anime in my spare time. I think I'll finally get around to watching The Twelve Kingdoms, and then I'll probably go ahead and get through Fate/Zero, and after that I'll probably come back here to ask for some recommendations, I suppose.
You should watch The Wire! :happytime:
Are you writing a review of that console war anime, Foggle?
I hear Tails dies.
Quote from: Foggle on January 27, 2013, 02:33:50 PM
You should watch The Wire! :happytime:
Send me all of the DVDs free of charge and I'll watch it. :sly:
Either that, or write a letter to HBO telling them not to be fucking snobs and just stream the damn show on Netflix.
Yeah, The Wire is a show I cannot recommend watching online at all. You need to be able to watch it as distraction-free as possible, preferably without taking breaks while watching an episode.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on January 27, 2013, 02:53:13 PM
Are you writing a review of that console war anime, Foggle?
I don't think so, maybe you can tackle that one. ;)
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 27, 2013, 03:05:08 PM
Send me all of the DVDs free of charge and I'll watch it. :sly:
Either that, or write a letter to HBO telling them not to be fucking snobs and just stream the damn show on Netflix.
I'm sure there's somewhere you can stream it. Or maybe not.
Quote from: Avaitor on January 27, 2013, 03:15:02 PM
Yeah, The Wire is a show I cannot recommend watching online at all. You need to be able to watch it as distraction-free as possible, preferably without taking breaks while watching an episode.
Just full-screen the video and close your instant messaging programs, then you can watch it on the computer. That's what I did for the first season. ;)
Quote from: Avaitor on January 27, 2013, 03:15:02 PM
Yeah, The Wire is a show I cannot recommend watching online at all. You need to be able to watch it as distraction-free as possible, preferably without taking breaks while watching an episode.
Well in that case, its out of the question for me to watch it while I'm in college. Hell, I won't even be getting a Summer this year as I'll be moving straight into rotations as soon as this semester ends, and if I get a part-time job on top of that, I could be working anywhere from 40-70 hours a week depending on how lax or intense my variable schedules might get. So maybe I'll never have time to watch a show that gives me no time to take breaks from it. :??:
Oh, I just meant sit down and watch one episode al the way through at a time. Thanks to online synopsis's and episode recaps, you can easily refresh yourself if you don't have time to watch much more.
Well, that wouldn't make streaming a problem for me. When I was watching stuff on Netflix I could stream videos in full-screen and there were no commercial interruptions that I ever had to worry about, so I don't think it'd do The Wire any injustice if I were to stream it instead of ordering the DVDs. But, that's a moot point, since it seems as though HBO will never have any intentions of streaming any of their popular shows.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on January 27, 2013, 02:53:13 PM
Are you writing a review of that console war anime, Foggle?
I hear Tails dies.
I decided to check the first episode of this anime out since you reminded me that it exists.
I've heard people say before that its one of those "so bad its hilarious" sort of anime. To those people, I disrespectfully disagree. Personally I'd say that from what I've seen, its so bad its atrocious. Seriously, what the fuck did I just watch?
Somebody needs to review this thing and tear it to pieces. I'd do it but I'm bad at doing negative reviews and making them humorous. Foggle, you NEED to do a review of this anime. You're the only one qualified to write about it. :>
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 27, 2013, 03:48:35 PM
Well, that wouldn't make streaming a problem for me. When I was watching stuff on Netflix I could stream videos in full-screen and there were no commercial interruptions that I ever had to worry about, so I don't think it'd do The Wire any injustice if I were to stream it instead of ordering the DVDs. But, that's a moot point, since it seems as though HBO will never have any intentions of streaming any of their popular shows.
Then putlocker it, you cheap bastard.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 27, 2013, 06:13:25 PM
Then putlocker it, you cheap bastard.
I'm sorry that having $40,000 a year on college tuition hanging over my head counts as being a cheap bastard. :unimpressed:
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 27, 2013, 06:19:07 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 27, 2013, 06:13:25 PM
Then putlocker it, you cheap bastard.
I'm sorry that having $40,000 a year on college tuition hanging over my head counts as being a cheap bastard. :unimpressed:
If $40,000 is your burden, then adding a couple hundred more must be like a drop in the bucket.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 27, 2013, 06:25:31 PM
If $40,000 is your burden, then adding a couple hundred more must be like a drop in the bucket.
Not when you are taking out loans and will have a shit-ton of debt on your hands as soon as you graduate from college (and that's not even taking into account all of the interest that will accumulate). In such cases, people typically save as much money as they can, and if I want to get something that's worth a couple hundred dollars, I'll have to save up for it, which I never really do because I don't make a lot of money being that I barely have time to work in my ridiculous schedule and I do sort of like to eat to stay alive and not faint from mal-nourishment. There's also the fact that my dad who is the only person who is actually able to pay off any of my active tuition fees barely makes enough money to do so and is constantly struggling financially, so I'd kind of consider it to be a dick move to just recklessly spend a shit-ton of money on leisurely things. Typically I'll use whatever spare funds I have to help contribute towards my tuition fee, however small it might be.
So in other words, you suck at finance. :srs:
Filibuster as much as you want, sir. All I see is a fool unable to reach for the gold in front of him.
Cool it, guys. I'm pretty sure - after knowing you lot for more than six years - I'm qualified to say that E-K is not a cheap bastard and Insommy doesn't suck at finance. Let's keep it friendly.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 27, 2013, 05:56:54 PM
Somebody needs to review this thing and tear it to pieces. I'd do it but I'm bad at doing negative reviews and making them humorous. Foggle, you NEED to do a review of this anime. You're the only one qualified to write about it. :>
Fine fine, I'll do it! :happytime: What's its name again?
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 27, 2013, 06:46:36 PM
Filibuster as much as you want, sir. All I see is a fool unable to reach for the gold in front of him.
So, I'm a fool because I don't recklessly spend a lot of money just to buy and watch some TV show that you really like? In other words, you're saying that one's level of intelligence or common sense is determined by what shows they do or do not watch, or even more basically what forms of entertainment they choose to spend money (or not) to indulge in?
Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me. I'm sure that you will make it real far in life with that logic. :>
Quote from: Foggle on January 27, 2013, 06:53:45 PM
Cool it, guys. I'm pretty sure - after knowing you lot for more than six years - I'm qualified to say that E-K is not a cheap bastard and Insommy doesn't suck at finance. Let's keep it friendly.
We're just kidding around here (I think). The bickering that goes on between me and Dr. Insomniac is merely just a slightly more mature version of the bickering that goes on between me and GSF. In both cases I'm completely right, of course. :humhumhum:
Quote
Fine fine, I'll do it! :happytime: What's it's name again?
蒼い世界の中心で (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aoi_Sekai_no_Ch%C5%ABshin_de)
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 27, 2013, 06:19:07 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 27, 2013, 06:13:25 PM
Then putlocker it, you cheap bastard.
I'm sorry that having $40,000 a year on college tuition hanging over my head counts as being a cheap bastard. :unimpressed:
It's like... the diploma of Damocles. :blush:
Except instead of a sword its a cumulative loan fee hanging by a single thread. Personally, I'd prefer the sword. :D
Indeed. Better chance of survival.
Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de. @_@
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 28, 2013, 03:34:42 PM
Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de. @_@
So, I take it you're a fan. :sly:
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 28, 2013, 03:52:31 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 28, 2013, 03:34:42 PM
Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de. @_@
So, I take it you're a fan. :sly:
Well being an old school Sega fanboy, I'm getting most of the jokes.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 28, 2013, 04:11:25 PM
Well being an old school Sega fanboy, I'm getting most of the jokes.
So tell me, being that I've never played Fantasy Zone before, did Opa-Opa ever have a fantasy about being raped by Sonic?
Also, was said ship ever implied to be a female with bouncy boobs? Just asking....
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 28, 2013, 04:22:28 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 28, 2013, 04:11:25 PM
Well being an old school Sega fanboy, I'm getting most of the jokes.
So tell me, being that I've never played Fantasy Zone before, did Opa-Opa ever have a fantasy about being raped by Sonic?
Also, was said ship ever implied to be a female with bouncy boobs? Just asking....
:unimpressed:
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 28, 2013, 04:22:28 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 28, 2013, 04:11:25 PM
Well being an old school Sega fanboy, I'm getting most of the jokes.
So tell me, being that I've never played Fantasy Zone before, did Opa-Opa ever have a fantasy about being raped by Sonic?
Also, was said ship ever implied to be a female with bouncy boobs? Just asking....
....I'm.... not going into that.
Also Alex Kidd was never that much of a badass but that probably explains why he was thrown in a dungeon by Bub and Bob and Golden Ogre.
Finished up Sengoku Basara recently. Right now I'm too lazy to give a detailed review of the series, but I will say that it's a pretty good series for what it is. Wackiness set aside, the action is good if you're looking for that high-octane type of fight.
I just started watching Trigun again as well.
I'm rewatching my 12th favorite anime, the second Lupin the Third series, dubbed, on Hulu.
It's as awesome as ever. ;D
Oh look, there's a forum on this corner of the internet, iddn'it?
Currently watching Robotics;Notes episode 15.
Someone needs to start watching it so I got someone to talk about it with ;_;
Just finished Trigun. It's been so long since I've watched this series. I will say that, while it still drew me in, it took a little longer to actually draw me into the series. I mean, sure, Wolfwood spiced things up just a little bit, but I wasn't really drawn in until Legato made his appearance, and, man, that appearance is still as great as ever. Don't get me wrong, Vash and Wolfwood are great characters, but Legato truly made this series shine imo, but then again I'm probably demented. Anyway, there are some episodes I could've done without. I forget which episode it was, but the episode that mainly focused on Milly and Meryl is one that I didn't care much for.
Not exactly sure what I'm going to watch next.
I just finished Trigun too. Enjoyed it a lot, and it definitely picks up during the second half (though I liked the comedic first 10 episodes too). Legato really is a good villain despite being somewhat 2-dimensional. Knives was rather dissapointing though, he could've been more fleshed out. I suppose the other Gung-Ho guns could've been more fleshed out too (especially Chapel and Mr. Saxophone), but I'm fine with them as is.
Also watched Badlands Rumble. It was enjoyable, nothing special, but enjoyable. JYB still has it as Vash, and the recasted VA's for Meryl, Milly, and Wolfwood sound close to their originals. If this movie eventually leads to more standalone Trigun films, or better yet, an adaptation of Trigun Maximum, then that'd be pretty cool.
Recently I've been importing Pyun Pyun Maru DVDs from Japan.
A brief info: it's an anime made by Toei Animation back in 1967 that ran for 26 episodes. It was based on a manga by Jiro Tsunoda called Ninja Awate-maru, which literally translates to Confused Ninja.
Basically, Pyun Pyun Maru is a ninja kid working for a detective agency with his kid brother Chibi-Maru ("Chibi" meaning short, tiny). Their boss is an old guy who has a long beard that essentially acts as his second pair of arms. Seriously, it's weird.
The whole show is insane. It's full of Japanese puns, Tex Avery-ish visual gags, and jokes that are otherwise pure nonsense. In a way, I think this is Japan's equivalent of Jay Ward.
Here's the first episode of the show. Sorry, no English subtitles; everything's in Japanese.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMvwVrhnv4I
I said that they made 26 episodes of the show, but the network only aired 12 of them in 1967; it was yanked due to poor ratings. Now Japanese TV rarely do something this drastic, so something really went wrong; somebody speculates that the sense of humor was too insane for Japanese TV at the time and the sponsor forced the network to remove it.
Eventually, though, the remaining 14 episodes aired in early 1970, three years after they were made. After all the episodes aired, the network replaced the show with Japanese-dubbing of Wacky Races in its timeslot.
Sometimes I feel like the only person who really liked both halves of Trigun.
Quote from: Graywulf on February 10, 2013, 10:27:52 AM
Sometimes I feel like the only person who really liked both halves of Trigun.
I like both halves, but I
love the second half. Not so fond of the movie, though.
RDG isn't bad but isn't necessarily good either.
Red Data Girl
Vividred's ending was terrible but depressingly superior to Maoyu's (which just sorta...ended).
Monster
:joy: :joy: :joy: :joy: :joy:
Also, is it necessary to watch any of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes movies, or can I just jump into the series proper?
It helps a bit, but it's not particularly necessary.
Just blew through the first 8 episodes of Monster.
New third favorite anime acquired.
Finish Kids on the Slope. Jazz makes everything better.
Going to try to finish GTO too. I'm guessing the sub is the way to go?
I also checked out the first episode of LOGH. :zonk:
I'd watch the dub of GTO just to see the same three people doing every voice. It's quite funny in its own way.
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on April 27, 2013, 09:28:46 PM
Just blew through the first 8 episodes of Monster.
New third favorite anime acquired.
Just wait until you get to the end. It's quite the journey, but it's worth it.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 29, 2013, 04:01:57 PM
I'd watch the dub of GTO just to see the same three people doing every voice. It's quite funny in its own way.
Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with JO. The dub somehow makes it funnier.
I like both versions, myself. The sub has voice acting that's pretty much as legit as Japanese voice-acting can be (at least coming from someone who doesn't speak the language), whereas the dub is entertaining in a so bad its funny sort of way. Either way, its still one of my personal favorite anime ever.
I'd watch the Great Teacher Onizuka anime if I could find it easily. But my library doesn't have the dvd's and I would only buy them if I could get the complete series for a relatively cheap price. Is it available for streaming legally anywhere?
Guys, I think Valvrave might be the funniest anime of the last few years.
I watched the first 20 minutes of Redline last night, and Foggle was right, its excellent stuff! :joy:
Unfortunately I was also feeling really sick at the time, so I had to stop watching and go to sleep early. I'm definitely going to try and finish the rest of the movie today, though. ;)
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 04, 2013, 09:15:35 AM
I watched the first 20 minutes of Red Line last night, and Foggle was right, its excellent stuff! :joy:
I knew you'd like it! :joy: :joy:
Since you're already past the first race scene, I will warn you that the next part can be somewhat slow (still great, though), but the entire second half of the movie is non-stop awesome.
Just finished From the New World, great show, with some really stellar world-building and characterization. The society the main characters lived in was messed-up and oppressive (got caught cheating in a game? Time for you to be purged, young man!), but as the series progressed we learn how it turned out that way and that the rulers of the society weren't simply tyrants because they enjoyed it. Character-wise, I found Yakomaru to be the most interesting character. Definitely was one of the most well-crafted antagonists I've seen in an anime. A liar and a mass-murderer he may have been, but once the true reason behind his atrocities became clear it was hard not to sympathize at least a little bit with the guy.
That said, now I really could use something fun and uplifting.
Well, I can establish that anybody who does not watch Redline is pretty uncool.
Yes, I can pretty much say also, that Redline IS SOME OF THE COOLEST FREAKING ANIMATION that I've ever seen..!
I can see why some would not enjoy watching this, I can also see that such people don't absolutely adore incredible animation :whuh:
Aside from the animation being unbelievably over the top and downright gorgeous to look at, its also entertaining as hell, and has some pretty entertaining dialogue (at least in the English dub) if that interests anyone at all. :thumbup:
Also I'm just curious, Foggle, but as far as anime movies go, have you watched Summer Wars yet? I wasn't sure.
Quote from: Micki! on May 04, 2013, 09:54:59 PM
Yes, I can pretty much say also, that Redline IS SOME OF THE COOLEST FREAKING ANIMATION that I've ever seen..!
I can see why some would not enjoy watching this, I can also see that such people don't absolutely adore incredible animation :whuh:
REDLINE IS THE SHIT, BITCHES!!! WATCH IT NOW. NOW. I MEAN IT.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 04, 2013, 09:59:02 PM
Aside from the animation being unbelievably over the top and downright gorgeous to look at, its also entertaining as hell, and has some pretty entertaining dialogue (at least in the English dub) if that interests anyone at all. :thumbup:
Have you finished it yet? You must...!
QuoteAlso I'm just curious, Foggle, but as far as anime movies go, have you watched Summer Wars yet? I wasn't sure.
No, but I've meaning to. I definitely will soon!
Quote from: Foggle on May 04, 2013, 10:01:04 PM
Have you finished it yet? You must...!
Yes, and its one of the best anime movies that I have ever seen!
Of course, I've only seen, like....5....but still! :thumbup:
Quote
No, but I've meaning to. I definitely will soon!
Well, I highly recommend it. Its the best Digimon movie ever made without actually having any ties to the Digimon franchise whatsoever! ;)
Redline feels like a modernized (as much as you can modernize it, anyway) Death Race 2000, but in anime form.
That is a good thing. A very good thing.
Quote from: Avaitor on May 07, 2013, 06:19:02 PM
Redline feels like a modernized (as much as you can modernize it, anyway) Death Race 2000, but in anime form.
That is a good thing. A very good thing.
OK, now I'm interested.
Currently spend today watching Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt for the... I lost count how many times ive watched this series.
Mite watch I Dream of Mimi (or Buttobi CPU) once im done
Good Times ^_^
Back to the foul fanservice festival that is.... Dog Days Dash. :thinkin:
What I've recently finished:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F24.media.tumblr.com%2F725d449f729708f1d86b05b8553e24c7%2Ftumblr_mmkb7fO6wc1r6toezo1_400.gif&hash=bebf5b058240c29a7f153947d02615aac17aade1)
Now on to watching Maison Ikkoku...
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fyfrog.com%2Fscaled%2Flanding%2F195%2Fjrz.png&hash=20ec90a3b0e569aeae55adf4a358dcbbbee6a55f)
This was the most coherent part of the show.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 09, 2013, 11:15:39 PM
This was the most coherent part of the show.
The fudge is this?
Totally coming to Toonami. ...totally. :hayguyz:
At the moment
Viewing the Eva Rebuild films (1.11 and 2.22). Will be posting my thoughts on them at my blog sometimes this weekend.
Hmm, after that...Diebuster or FLCL? tough cookie decision...
What recent anime should I watch. I already have Redline, HXH (I'll watch the original series first), the new Lupin, Hajime No Ippo and maybe the new Saint Seiya on my list.
Quote from: gunswordfist on May 11, 2013, 08:44:35 AM
Quote from: Foggle on May 09, 2013, 11:47:53 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 09, 2013, 11:15:39 PM
This was the most coherent part of the show.
The fudge is this?
Not your sex life.
Aye, I generally do not go "whoosh" after I have sex with cartoon teenagers.
Quote from: gunswordfist on May 11, 2013, 08:49:57 AM
What recent anime should I watch. I already have Redline, HXH (I'll watch the original series first), the new Lupin, Hajime No Ippo and maybe the new Saint Seiya on my list.
Redline, then new Lupin.
Watch them in this order:
1. Redline- Because its just a movie and will take you less than 2 hours to watch
2. Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine- Because it is the shortest of these series, at only 13 episodes
3. Hunter X Hunter (1999) + the first OVA (but ignore the Greed Island OVAs)
4. Hunter X Hunter (2011) from the Greed Island arc and onward
5. Hajime no Ippo- Because its pretty long, though HXH is longer as far as the anime goes, but HNI has the longest manga
6. Saint Seiya- Because its the longest of these series as far as the anime goes
That makes the most sense to me.
Actually, the funny thing about that order is that Saint Seiya is clearly the most up your alley being a classic shonen series involving characters with super abilities and whatnot. But, while it is a classic, I just really want someone else to get around to watching Hunter X Hunter, already. Its great in how much it deviates from most other shonen series, IMO.
Perhaps I will watch HXH this summer as well. ;)
Alright! ;D
Just be weary that the series starts out slow and is more like a typical shonen (though, much better written) until the York New City arc. Also, I like the 1999 anime a bit better in what it adapts, but it does make things even a bit slower (there are a few filler episodes that you can skip, though). Also, stay away from the dub at all costs. Its absolutely horrendous (and this is coming from a guy who usually prefers dubs).
And just for the sake of comparison, here are some direct, side-by-side comparisons of choice scenes in regard to the animation (without any voice-acting or actual audio from the series):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw8Io09FeL4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOAzDr_alV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5uVoqafQWs
Personally, I prefer the darker art-style and more fluid animation of the 1999 series to the remake, but of course the remake has the advantage of less filler and actually goes past what the original anime was able to cover.
One thing I like about Monster is that despite being about the greatest murderer of all time, it's not contently dark or feels the need to kill of characters all the time. At least so far.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 11, 2013, 11:55:08 AM
Watch them in this order:
1. Redline- Because its just a movie and will take you less than 2 hours to watch
2. Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine- Because it is the shortest of these series, at only 13 episodes
3. Hunter X Hunter (1999) + the first OVA (but ignore the Greed Island OVAs)
4. Hunter X Hunter (2011) from the Greed Island arc and onward
5. Hajime no Ippo- Because its pretty long, though HXH is longer as far as the anime goes, but HNI has the longest manga
6. Saint Seiya- Because its the longest of these series as far as the anime goes
That makes the most sense to me.
Oh yeah, I still need to finish classic Saint Seiya. I'm on the Greece episode where Shiryu or whatever his name is is gets lent his master's weapons. Yea, I'm way behind so I'll watch HXH before catching up. Thanks for the list.
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on May 11, 2013, 08:51:07 PM
One thing I like about Monster is that despite being about the greatest murderer of all time, it's not contently dark or feels the need to kill of characters all the time. At least so far.
It never gets too bleak or hopeless because thankfully Tenma is a great protagonist.
Also there's the good inspector to keep the story fresh. ;D
Quote from: gunswordfist on May 11, 2013, 09:15:38 PM
Oh yeah, I still need to finish classic Saint Seiya. I'm on the Greece episode where Shiryu or whatever his name is is gets lent his master's weapons. Yea, I'm way behind so I'll watch HXH before catching up. Thanks for the list.
No problem. Though, now that I think about it, as far as HXH goes, while I love the original anime, I have to admit that its partly an acquired taste and a personal preference. You're probably better off just going with the 2011 anime altogether, mostly for the sake of consistency. I feel that watching the 1999 anime and then going to the 2011 anime after that would be way too jarring of a transition, especially since all of the voice actors are different in the 2011 version. Also, the 2011 version just has faster pacing, and there's a lot of stuff that I know you wouldn't care for in the Hunter Exams arc that the remake pretty much rushes by to get to the more interesting stuff. On top of that, you can watch the show for free, and legally at that, on Crunchy Roll (just use an actual computer to watch it instead of the app).
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on May 11, 2013, 09:30:00 PM
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on May 11, 2013, 08:51:07 PM
One thing I like about Monster is that despite being about the greatest murderer of all time, it's not contently dark or feels the need to kill of characters all the time. At least so far.
It never gets too bleak or hopeless because thankfully Tenma is a great protagonist.
Also there's the good inspector to keep the story fresh. ;D
Yeah, the story can be very dark at times, but its never meant to come off as a gritty, depressing tale. When you really look at Monster, its honestly more of an up-lifiting series on the whole, exploring both the worst AND best that humanity has to offer (at least in regard to these characters). For every downright evil person you come across in the series (Roberto), you come across multiple more mixed characters who can certainly do wrong but also aren't beyond redemption. And then there are just great characters, who aren't perfect people but really show you the good that people can offer, like Kenzo Tenma, Anna Liebert (Nina Fortner), and Wolfgang Grimmer (AKA The best character that Naoki Urasawa has ever written....IMO....but you all know that its just the truth).
Hell, Roberto's scenes are entertaining and borderline fun. There's nothing to worry about.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.minus.com%2FiZ4C8NYcMm4SX.gif&hash=58fb46aefaec96456f10c3fa87c551612376e9c1)
Attack on School
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 12, 2013, 04:42:32 PM
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Attack on School
This wins the internet.
So the Thaumatrio is currently going through the process of watching the original El-Hazard. So far its going well. :D
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_lt8js1AxdH1qbv5izo1_400.gif&hash=ac6b785e81e1baa2757d1c9ed5498939a7353b4c)
If you don't think Redline is awesome, then you are objectively wrong.
Whoa, that's how the show looks?
Its not a show. Its a movie. There's a difference.
Well,
watched Girls und Panzer
watching Youre Under Arrest OVA and KO Beast OVA (bit by bit) on DVD
watching Vividred Operation now on Hulu
hmm ill just watch the first episode lol
Quote from: TheEclecticDude on May 15, 2013, 09:10:27 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 15, 2013, 08:52:58 PM
Quote from: TheEclecticDude on May 15, 2013, 08:51:23 PM
watching Vividred Operation now on Hulu
Why?
Well why not? Be more substantive in your inquiry and response.
After all, the show is a bland magical girl series where panty shots are as common as the stars in the sky. No one shows unique character development, while fight scenes have the amount of unsettling voyeurism that would make KissXSis seem modest.
Bile Fascination makes people do the craziest things.
Yeah I noticed the panty shots, quite off-putting.
Like I said, might watch the first episode. 'Bout halfway through it, mite as well finish it before moving onto the other stuff im watching this evening.
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on May 15, 2013, 09:17:34 PM
Bile Fascination makes people do the craziest things.
Yeah quite. I on occasion will watch a show simply based on curiosity without any kind of expectations for it. That way, I don't get disappointed.
Well, that was a waste.
Oh well moving to You're Under Arrest ep 3-4 (subbed)
then KO Beast ep 4-5
Quote from: TheEclecticDude on May 15, 2013, 09:30:29 PM
Well, that was a waste.
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I just watched the first 2 episodes of Gundam Unicorn. The artwork and animation is top-notch, and the action scenes are stellar, but I can't for the life of me understand more than the basic gist of the story. There's a lot of techno-babble regarding Gundam terminology and references to other characters and events in the Universe that makes me feel that Unicorn is meant more for long-time fans. It kind of makes me appreciate how self-contained 0080 managed to be without feeling like it was completely cut off from the rest of the Gundam Universe. I think that I'd probably like Unicorn a lot more if I watched some of the other canon Gundam series before-hand, or at least the original MSG, as I believe that's what Unicorn seems to reference the most.
You don't need to watch prior Gundam to understand what's going on in 0080. Outside of a few easter egg references, the two are fairly distant in plot interaction.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on May 17, 2013, 12:15:21 PM
You don't need to watch prior Gundam to understand what's going on in 0080. Outside of a few easter egg references, the two are fairly distant in plot interaction.
I made a typo on my last sentence. I meant to say Gundam Unicorn instead of 0080 (I just fixed that).
I agree with you. I think that 0080 was probably the most appealing Gundam series to me because at the end of the day, its just a stand-alone story with characters that you can invest in, whether you know or care about the rest of the Gundam franchise or not. For that matter, 0080 is honestly one of the few mecha anime that I love, as I'm not a huge fan of the genre, myself.
Been binging on Psycho Pass. The second-half of the show gets really amazing, barring that one scene involving the "great deal of stress".
Watching Pani Poni Dash on DVD-got the Funimation SAVE Edition Complete series
Prepare for the lolz.
If you're wondering what you're in for TheEclecticDude, Pani Poni Dash is a really bizarre and obtuse anime. Not Bobobo levels, but almost. That said, it drags at parts, but it's a pretty funny anime at the end of the day.
Oh this isn't the first time Ive seen it
It was one of the first show I saw subbed then dubbed.
Way back when (in 2006 mind you)
Gargantia is really good. Everyone should watch it.
What is it?
Quote from: gunswordfist on May 19, 2013, 04:26:58 PM
What is it?
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamikes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F07%2Fcrispin-glover-in-what-is-it.jpg&hash=b2fa49492a2d829d97db789b91a038edfc64ecd3)
Giving From The New World a try. So far its interesting (and far better than SAO).
I started Shingeki no Kyojin a few days ago. Pretty sure all the SoL/idol shows have ruined me because the first thing that came to mind is how I found moe appeal in every single main character of the show.
It's a decent adaptation all things considered. Kind of slow paced but not to the point where I just want it to be over.
Re-watching Bodacious Space Pirates again
one and only anime series that I bought that came out this year
very good show, overall
Shin Sekai Yori was pretty damn good.
I've been busy in my anime watching recently:
What I've re-watched:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.myanimelist.net%2Fimages%2Fanime%2F13%2F15460.jpg&hash=647111245708c4bd3ebd2ac77ca8dc32dcb237fc)
I should've re-watched Pani Poni Dash sooner. It was even funnier than I remembered! How was this not a top favorite for me before? Hmm...
What I've finished:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstereootaku.files.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F03%2Fseries_black_lagoon.jpg&hash=b5c2798e7e6d24c8458ad5c308056abe62f51bdc)
Shouldn't have jumped the gun on saying I didn't care that much for this series. I hadn't watched the Japan arc and Roberta's Blood Trail yet. Now I have. And they were EPIC AND BADASS. But more importantly for me, they had lots of great plot and character development, which are things I value the most in any series. Those arcs definitely make up for the mehness of the first Roberta arc and the Hansel and Greta arc tenfold. Assuredly a top favorite for me now.
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My brother is a huge Togashi fan (about as much as Ensatsu-Ken) and loved this series to death, and I checked it out after he recommended it to me. It was good, and I laughed a fair bit, but it wasn't the funniest show in the world for me. Not to say it wasn't solid because it was, and in fact there are quite a lot of memorable moments, but viewing it side by side with Pani Poni Dash it fell a little flat in comparison. And while I liked the plots, Prince Baka, and Captain Kraft a lot, to be honest all the other recurring characters kinda did nothing for me by themselves. Still a really fun and enjoyable series though, even if I didn't find it the funniest in the world.
Blargh, I still need to finish Maison Ikkoku. I've got 80 episodes to go :sweat:. But I feel like going through a re-watch of Gargoyles after watching a shit ton of episodes from the various DCAU shows over the past few months. Oh geez, so many shows to watch, but too much of a life to live....
Ooh Level E, that was a fun one.
I should probably go and read the manga, actually.
I'm glad to see that you liked Black Lagoon. Its a great series. Though, I still need to finish Roberta's Blood Trail, myself.
As for the first Roberta story arc, I actually enjoyed that, myself, but I fucking HATED the Hansel and Gretel story arc. I like pretty much the rest of the series out of what I've seen and read, but I fucking detest that arc. It has a lame premise and just feels so unpleasant to watch, IMO. Its easily the low point of the series for me.
Quote from: Cartoon X on May 27, 2013, 09:42:29 PM
My brother is a huge Togashi fan (about as much as Ensatsu-Ken) and loved this series to death, and I checked it out after he recommended it to me. It was good, and I laughed a fair bit, but it wasn't the funniest show in the world for me. Not to say it wasn't solid because it was, and in fact there are quite a lot of memorable moments, but viewing it side by side with Pani Poni Dash it fell a little flat in comparison. And while I liked the plots, Prince Baka, and Captain Kraft a lot, to be honest all the other recurring characters kinda did nothing for me by themselves. Still a really fun and enjoyable series though, even if I didn't find it the funniest in the world.
To be fair, I don't think that the entire thing was meant to be a flat-out, balls-to-the-walls, comedy series. It was more just an anthology of stories that, if I remember correctly, were Togashi's way of experimenting with different story ideas he could do for a future manga (I read that in some old interview that I don't have a link to, so take it with a grain of salt). Either way, the series is most notable for having Togashi's trademark weirdness more than anything else. Its what I'd call a fun series, but it wasn't necessarily all that funny for me (some parts were, like the Color Rangers episode and whatnot). Some episodes were also serious stories, so its just a really bizarre anthology, on the whole. If I could give it credit for something, its certainly the most unique shonen series that I have ever seen. I don't think anyone could rightfully deny it that.
Quote from: Avaitor on May 27, 2013, 09:46:32 PM
Ooh Level E, that was a fun one.
I should probably go and read the manga, actually.
I wouldn't bother with that, if I were you. The anime follows it faithfully while also being generally better in pacing and design. The funny thing is that I find all of the anime adaptations of Togashi's work to be superior to the manga. That's not a blemish on Togashi's writing talent at all, as he deserves the credit for all of the good ideas and characterization that goes into his story. Its just that the anime adaptations of his work usually give his series a much needed polish, as if I could describe all of Togashi's negative writing aspects in one word, it would be that he's pretty freaking sloppy. In his manga, his narrative is all over the place, and he can get extremely lazy at times when he really doesn't give a shit, and just jump to another part of the story where it really feels like a lot of essential stuff could have been filled into some gaps that he leaves. That extra bit of polish in the anime form of his work really makes the difference in turning already great stories with some flaws into even greater stories with much less problems.
To put it simple, just watch the anime for all of Togashi's stuff. Its ironically the best way to get the fullest out of their best qualities.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 27, 2013, 10:07:08 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on May 27, 2013, 09:46:32 PM
Ooh Level E, that was a fun one.
I should probably go and read the manga, actually.
I wouldn't bother with that, if I were you. The anime follows it faithfully while also being generally better in pacing and design. The funny thing is that I find all of the anime adaptations of Togashi's work to be superior to the manga. That's not a blemish on Togashi's writing talent at all, as he deserves the credit for all of the good ideas and characterization that goes into his story. Its just that the anime adaptations of his work usually give his series a much needed polish, as if I could describe all of Togashi's negative writing aspects in one word, it would be that he's pretty freaking sloppy. In his manga, his narrative is all over the place, and he can get extremely lazy at times when he really doesn't give a shit, and just jump to another part of the story where it really feels like a lot of essential stuff could have been filled into some gaps that he leaves. That extra bit of polish in the anime form of his work really makes the difference in turning already great stories with some flaws into even greater stories with much less problems.
To put it simple, just watch the anime for all of Togashi's stuff. Its ironically the best way to get the fullest out of their best qualities.
Usually the source material is the way to go, but in Togashi's case I agree with Ensatsu-ken. Togashi rushes when he feels like, drags when he feels like, over-explains things that don't need elaboration, and under-explains things that need explaining.
I think the only manga that might be worth reading in addition to the anime is the first part of YYH since it has a lot of fun stuff that the anime cut. Otherwise, you aren't missing anything by sticking with the anime versions.
I don't really like the Hansel & Gretel arc either. I mean, it's well-done, but it's not very enjoyable to watch and comes completely out of left field. Tonally it just doesn't match up with the rest of the show at all and it fails to play to the series' strengths. It feels more like an unrelated three episode OVA than a part of the BL canon.
To be fair, though, I do think that Togashi deserves credit for the YYH manga up to the end of the Chapter Black arc. Before he went insane with the Three Kings arc, the manga was genuinely well-paced and was still entirely great in terms of plotting and characterization. The anime was still an improvement for helping to further enhance the story, but the manga was still easily one of the best shonen out there....up until the Three Kings arc, but I digress. I know it may seem like me and Desensitized (Spark) hate Togashi sometimes (and sometimes we do), but while I can't speak for Desen, I do genuinely consider Togashi to be among the legendary shonen mangaka, and easily one of the greats, when I look at all of the good stuff that he has brought through his stories. I just find it SO frustrating that a guy with so much talent can churn out some real shit when he just flat-out doesn't give an effort. Its frustrating because he never gets punished for it while other mangaka have to work their asses off despite the quality of their series.
That said, Yu Yu Hakusho is my favorite anime ever, and even though the anime improves over the manga, I still give Togashi the credit for most of YYH's greatness. I feel like if the guy was less lazy and actually allowed people to help him with his manga (I've heard many times that he refuses to use assistants like most other mangaka do), he would easily have stories twice as good as what he's done, and that's saying a lot.
Togashi has the most potential of any living shonen writer out there next to Toriyama (and he may even have surpassed him) but he makes some very frustrating mistakes that he really shouldn't.
Since he can't seem to focus on anything, I would wager that he should do anthologies and one shot ideas like the early section of YYH and Level-E instead of full on series. That way it probably wouldn't annoy people so much that he keeps taking these ridiculous breaks.
Honestly, I really have no idea what he has left to accomplish with HXH at this point. He literally had the PERFECT spot to ended at. If he had ended it at chapter 339, even if it was a little abrupt, I would have had no qualms with that. Sure, some of the supporting characters might not have had proper closure, but fuck it, I could live with that. I still could have given Togashi credit for a mostly good run, in the end. But he of course doesn't want to flat-out end his own series because keeping it going, whether he takes a hiatus or not, ensures that he's still keeping interest alive in it and making money from it. Business-wise, its probably ingenious. When thinking of the author's integrity, though, its despicable. Togashi is so strange a case in that he has so many qualities that I both love and hate about his manga, yet in the end I'm still just another sucker and will still read new chapters of HXH the moment he comes out with them. Yes, something is wrong with me, but part of me shamelessly doesn't care, I admit. :-\
I liked the whole election part and especially the ending to the plot but unfortunately it probably won't lead to anything. But I bet it would have been a great stand alone story idea.
But yeah, HxH doesn't really have a plot anymore. The characters have no goals, there's no overlooking threat (since the Ryodan have been shunted aside), and no real drive. He should have just pulled in all the old characters and enemies from the old arcs in the Chimera Ant arc and ended the whole thing there. Having Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika somehow take down some enemies instead of... "that ridiculous thing that happened to Gon" would have been way more rewarding than some of the things that happened. He wrote himself into a corner.
Anyway, when it comes to Togashi always just go with the anime first.
The only major loose-end to the story would be Gyro. I mean, clearly Togashi was hyping the shit out of that guy to be the biggest, baddest villain in all of HXH. He had an interesting back-story and whatnot....but nothing has actually been done with him yet. Over a hundred chapters after his introduction, and we know nothing more about him. That's a mistake that rookie shonen mangaka would make. Seriously, why did Togashi even introduce that character if he had no intention to use him for a long while? At least if he didn't go on hiatus, I could forgive it, but whatever. Even if that loose-end wasn't tied up, I'd still rather have had the series end at chapter 339, which concluded the Chairman Election arc. It would have honestly been a pretty sweet and warm-hearted ending to a surprisingly (at times) disturbing series. Mainly, it would have just put this whole thing to rest and opened up Togashi to some new possibilities.
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Watching what's hip with the kids.
The other day me and a friend (whose a big Toonami fan) sat down and had an anime binge. We watched the following:
Dragon Half
Full Metal Panic Volume 1
Evangelion 2.22
Angelic Layer Volume 1
then finished up Diebuster from the last time he came by to visit.
Today will consist of Pizza Night followed by me and my brother finish watching Pani Poni Dash
Re-watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Hellsing Ultimate and Sengoku Basara (season 2 and Last Party) arrived so hopefully that'll renew a spark for me to get interested in anime again.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.animevice.com%2Fuploads%2F1%2F10361%2F249322-ster341qx3.jpg&hash=f9d7fc5d10b4d66a5e779d42b373c848ae4153a5)
...fuck.
That's probably one of the genuine saddest parts of Monster, for me. In any other series killing off a character like that would probably just piss me off. But the way its handled so carefully over here, it makes sense and really tugs at my heart strings. Its just written so well with such perfect build-up, that its easily one of the most memorable parts of the series for me. Thank god there weren't too many more segments in the series on this level, though. There were plenty of other sad, dark, and depressing parts to be sure, but this one really got to me, and I really don't think my heart could take it if there was more of it in the story.
He's always at his most wretched and vicious when he deals directly with his targets. At some point you almost envy the ones who meet Roberto or one of his lackeys instead of meeting him. I doubt they suffer nearly as much.
Currently watching Aria the Animation, via Nozomi Ent. channel on youtube.
Girls and Gondolas yahoo ^_^
Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar is about as boring and generic as the last time I watched it, no joke.
Rewatching Nichijou....one of the best anime comedies ever.
Quote from: TheEclecticDude on June 06, 2013, 09:28:37 PM
Rewatching Nichijou....one of the best anime comedies ever.
I keep seeing a lot of animated gifs from this series. Lots of clips in AMVs as well. I'm curious to give this a watch. Seems to be along the lines of Azumanga Daioh. Good, mindless entertainment. lol!
---
Currently watching To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S, which, around in the second episode, surprised me to learn it was somewhat of a prequel to the To aru Majutsu no Index series.
Accelerator is one scary bastard. O_o
My nephew recently recommeded Attack On Titan. Let me know if anyone can recommend it (or otherwise).
I do.
I don't. The show has a great premise and then episodes 5 and 6 turn it into some edgy teenagers wet dream.
Quote from: Grave on May 31, 2013, 01:24:46 PM
Re-watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Hellsing Ultimate and Sengoku Basara (season 2 and Last Party) arrived so hopefully that'll renew a spark for me to get interested in anime again.
Still watching this. I think I said this once before. Despite it being one of my favorites, and while Ed and Al aren't nearly as annoying than the 2003 version, but the more I watch this the more annoyed I become of both of them.
I will say that when things jump off it still has that impact to keep me tuned in though (considering right now I'm also watching SSF4 matches on youtube). It sucks that the guy voicing younger Toguro didn't come back to voice Scar. I have nothing against Brotherhood Scar's voice (he's good), but the other version is more memorable to me.
Quote from: Grave on June 08, 2013, 03:15:23 AM
Still watching this. I think I said this once before. Despite it being one of my favorites, and while Ed and Al aren't nearly as annoying than the 2003 version
IMO they are much more annoying than in the 2003 version, here. In this version they act way more with the typical shonen mentality and idealism. I like how in the 2003 anime, they had to learn to grow out of that mentality. That said, I've never really been a fan of these characters to begin with, so I say: meh, either way.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on June 08, 2013, 10:43:37 AM
IMO they are much more annoying than in the 2003 version, here. In this version they act way more with the typical shonen mentality and idealism.
I dunno. Personally Ed came off too much like a jerk in the original anime, and more over kept brooding and was too easily irritated with others, at least that's how I felt. I don't see a difference between Alphonse in either series. They learn pretty much the same lessons and act pretty much the same, although I guess I sympathize with original anime Alphonse more because if only because it always felt like he was getting more screwed over unfairly in the series and his whole identity crises during/after the Fifth Laboratory events was handled better.
Anyway, I enjoy
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as a fun action show, not because it's some philosophical and dramatic masterpiece like most of the fans think it is.
Fullmetal Alchemist the original anime is sorta better on that front in the way it handles it themes, and I legitimately think Mustang, Winry, and Scar's character arcs were handled far superior in it, but overall I preferred the story of Brotherhood and the anime because it was more fun to watch and I enjoyed the characters more.
Quote from: Cartoon X on June 08, 2013, 11:12:30 PM
I dunno. Personally Ed came off too much like a jerk in the original anime, and more over kept brooding and was too easily irritated with others
He does that in Brotherhood as well. Hell, just his teacher mentioning the name of his father gets him to start brooding about how much he hates his father (this was an actual scene in the manga and show). I can't stand stuff like that. And he acts selfishly at times in Brotherhood as well. In the original anime, he acts like a jerk at first but develops out of it later. After that, he has to make some hard decisions at times which aren't always idealistic, but that's precisely what the original anime does better than the manga. It doesn't always resort to the idealistic option. Unless you can cite any specific examples from the original anime in which he was being clearly mean-spirited or an ass-hole in a way he never was in the manga/Brotherhood.
QuoteI don't see a difference between Alphonse in either series. They learn pretty much the same lessons and act pretty much the same, although I guess I sympathize with original anime Alphonse more because if only because it always felt like he was getting more screwed over unfairly in the series and his whole identity crises during/after the Fifth Laboratory events was handled better.
An interesting thing to note is that I hated the identity crisis dilemma in both the original anime and Brotherhood. It always felt like such a cheap emotional ploy, to me, and I never found that it was handled particularly well, myself.
QuoteAnyway, I enjoy Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as a fun action show, not because it's some philosophical and dramatic masterpiece like most of the fans think it is. Fullmetal Alchemist the original anime is sorta better on that front in the way it handles it themes, and I legitimately think Mustang, Winry, and Scar's character arcs were handled far superior in it, but overall I preferred the story of Brotherhood and the anime because it was more fun to watch and I enjoyed the characters more.
Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of either version of the show, but I felt that the original anime characters weren't any less likable than in the manga/Brotherhood, and I felt that while the philosophical elements of the original weren't as great as people used to make them out to be, I did still appreciate them for what they were. I'm all for a series that's more about entertainment value, myself, but I guess I only found Brotherhood mildly entertaining at best. There were also a lot of slow parts in it that bored me. There were slow parts in the original anime, to be sure, but for me they were less frequent.
Meh, how Ed felt about his father made sense and Brotherhood is clearly much more entertaining.
Quote from: gunswordfist on June 09, 2013, 12:54:55 AM
Meh, how Ed felt about his father made sense and Brotherhood is clearly much more entertaining.
If by more entertaining you mean more like a typical shonen, then yeah. I'd expect you to say as much, considering that you seem to be allergic to anything remotely intelligent. I'm sure that all it took was a lot more action scenes to win your feeble mind over. ;)
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on June 09, 2013, 01:41:52 AM
Quote from: gunswordfist on June 09, 2013, 12:54:55 AM
Meh, how Ed felt about his father made sense and Brotherhood is clearly much more entertaining.
If by more entertaining you mean more like a typical shonen, then yeah. I'd expect you to say as much, considering that you seem to be allergic to anything remotely intelligent. I'm sure that all it took was a lot more action scenes to win your feeble mind over. ;)
For the most part you're definitely nailing it on the head when it comes to anime pleasing me, but then again, I've been so far outta touch with anime these days I highly doubt that action scenes alone will have that effect on me. While I will say that action is the 1st thing I look for, I'd say characters is right there with it, and for FMA (both 2003 and Brotherhood) I'd probably go as far as to call Ed and Al bad protagonists (I've seen worst though). The reason I find them more tolerable in brotherhood is because Ed's obnoxious behavior came off as more comedic and not a lot of it was taken seriously whereas in the 2003 version was just straight annoying. I mean as refreshing as it is to watch anime to try to relate to characters, that's not why I watch it. I don't remember the scene all that well since I don't the 2003 version anymore, but I recall Al trying to talk to Ed and he just up and run away, and then the scene with Marcoh and the stone just irritated me to no end. Al, for some reason just comes off as whiny (which I know he isn't). Like I said, though, the more I watch brotherhood the more annoyed I become with Ed, and it's practically for the same reasons. I guess I'm at the point where I'm finding things to be less tolerable.
Like I said, I find Ed and Al to be bad protagonists (but even then I've always had a hatred for kiddy protagonists. Yusuke is an exception), but the secondary characters is what makes the series for me, especially people like Mustang (and Kimblee). Honestly, I'd be a lot happier if Mustang had his own show with all of his subordinates. The episodes where he "fought" (could that really be called a fight?) with Envy really put the show over for me.
Anyway, I really need to watch the rest of Darker Than Black, but can't seem to get past the 5th episode. I get so bored of it at that point to where I just don't feel like being bothered looking at the rest.
Quote from: Grave on June 09, 2013, 12:19:17 PM
For the most part you're definitely nailing it on the head when it comes to anime pleasing me
Actually, I was just trying to mock GSF like I usually do. I don't actually think of fans of Brotherhood that way at all. And I can understand your preferences for anime. Typically I'm not a huge fan of the more philosophical stuff as well, and just like something that entertains me, whether it has any depth or not.
QuoteI'd probably go as far as to call Ed and Al bad protagonists (I've seen worst though).
I wouldn't call them bad, myself, but for me they just aren't very compelling to follow.
QuoteLike I said, I find Ed and Al to be bad protagonists (but even then I've always had a hatred for kiddy protagonists. Yusuke is an exception)
I actually wouldn't even call Yusuke a kiddy protagonist to begin with. He has a subtle but clear character arc where he matures throughout the story, and the types of decisions he makes as the series progresses in many cases turn out to be more thoughtful and well-thought out than what he might have done early on in the series. That, and the guy isn't afraid to get his hands dirty if he has to. Essentially he doesn't act like a little goodie-two-shoes like the majority of shonen protagonists, which I really like.
I only meant kiddy as an age thing. Tired of the 12-17 year old heroes.
FMA is a show where the plot is more interesting than any of the characters. They don't really seem to drive the story and aren't very interesting in themselves. That said, I still don't think the story is all that special despite what I just said. It's better than your generic shonen show but I don't think it's anything great.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on June 09, 2013, 01:27:38 PM
FMA is a show where the plot is more interesting than any of the characters. They don't really seem to drive the story and aren't very interesting in themselves. That said, I still don't think the story is all that special despite what I just said. It's better than your generic shonen show but I don't think it's anything great.
This is probably my 3rd time watching Brotherhood, and I'm definitely see that, although, I'm more fond of the characters (minus Ed, Al and Gluttony) over the story.
I don't quite agree with that, I found the characters quite enjoyable personally. I actually think the plot of FMA isn't really all that unique ( I still really liked it, but it's not all that original when you think about it), but the characters and the great fights make the series really fun to watch. I enjoy Hoenheim, Ling, Greed, Alphonse, Scar, Winry, Bradley, Hommunculus, and Pride especially, and I think Hoenehim and Greed in particular would make my top 30 characters list. I will agree that at times it feels like the story drives the characters and not the other way around, but I still find most of them interesting and entertaining regardless.
Oh, I like some characters. In fact you listed the ones I liked, but it sometimes feels as if they have no bearing on the story and it is the story that moves them. All in all though, I don't hate it or anything.
Both FMA's are great, but I don't see it as the greatest shounen ever that most of its fans see it as. Greatest modern shounen maybe (and that's really not saying much). Part of that has to do with the main protagnists and antagonists being lackluster, and a few characters being underdeveloped. The series does have its moments though, such as the Ishvalan War flashback, and the Promised Day, but on the whole, I wouldn't say it's anything too special.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on June 09, 2013, 01:27:38 PM
FMA is a show where the plot is more interesting than any of the characters. They don't really seem to drive the story and aren't very interesting in themselves. That said, I still don't think the story is all that special despite what I just said. It's better than your generic shonen show but I don't think it's anything great.
This basically sums up my feelings on BOTH FMA series in a nutshell. The story is above average but nothing truly great, and the characters are likable, but also more shallow and less interesting than what some people like to believe.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on June 09, 2013, 02:43:46 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on June 09, 2013, 01:27:38 PM
FMA is a show where the plot is more interesting than any of the characters. They don't really seem to drive the story and aren't very interesting in themselves. That said, I still don't think the story is all that special despite what I just said. It's better than your generic shonen show but I don't think it's anything great.
This basically sums up my feelings on BOTH FMA series in a nutshell. The story is above average but nothing truly great, and the characters are likable, but also more shallow and less interesting than what some people like to believe.
Sounds like you're describing FMP.
Quote from: gunswordfist on June 09, 2013, 03:05:06 PM
Sounds like you're describing FMP.
A comeback like that only works if you've actually watched the series you're trying to insult. With someone else, that might work, but its way too obvious that your dumb-ass has never tried to explore anything passed what's aired on any basic cable channel.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on June 09, 2013, 03:13:57 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on June 09, 2013, 03:05:06 PM
Sounds like you're describing FMP.
A comeback like that only works if you've actually watched the series you're trying to insult. With someone else, that might work, but its way too obvious that your dumb-ass has never tried to explore anything passed what's aired on any basic cable channel.
Actually, I watched it on dish on demand. I'm curious, exactly where can you watch FMP on basic cable? Stick to trying to make Gauron sound like he's more than a generic smiling villain. You somehow sound less stupid when you say that ;)
Quote from: gunswordfist on June 09, 2013, 05:48:04 PM
Actually, I watched it on dish on demand. I'm curious, exactly where can you watch FMP on basic cable? Stick to trying to make Gauron sound like he's more than a generic smiling villain. You somehow sound less stupid when you say that ;)
Which is also complete bull-shit because you've never watched the series or read any of the novels.
Also, I find the villain comment amusing considering that you're favorite villains are the most generic guys possible. Greed is easily the weakest and most forgettable villain in FMA. Hell, the guy basically even admits how 1-dimensional he is and is proud of it. Meanwhile more complex and elaborate villains like Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho or Shishio from Rurouni Kenshin are lost on you because you're an idiot who only looks to see how pyschotic and powerful a villain is. Hell, you even said that Shishio was nothing more than a power-hungry villain back on TV.com since you were just too stupid to get that his disdain came from his beef with the government and how badly they fucked him over, as well as how his ideals were built on a Darwinist structure as opposed to just him wanting to rule lots of things, which in reality you could tell he didn't really give a shit about being a leader rather than just totally turning the sociopolitical structure of Japan on its heels.
Yes, you certainly are an idiot, GSF.
I watched the first FMP series, just not the 2nd one, moron. You can even recall me saying that and you saying it's ok, at least I gave the series a try.. I'll give a second to remember this ;D
Now be careful, EK. GSF might have a tantrum and do something as violent as give you an angry private message if you play with him enough.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on June 09, 2013, 06:26:58 PM
Greed is easily the weakest and most forgettable villain in FMA. Hell, the guy basically even admits how 1-dimensional he is and is proud of it.
The fact that Greed takes pride in being exactly who he says he is and why he wants what he wants is exactly what makes him awesome in both series in my book. I never felt he was generic at all; in fact his more laid back personality combined with his charismatically greedy and rationalizing nature made him stand out to me in his very first appearance, whereas it took some time for other villains in the series to grow on me. Of course, Greed is also not totally one dimensional; he has some character development in
Brotherhood where he recognizes that his friendship with Ling and Ed was fulfilling for him even though he knew that he could never have everything he desired in the world, but those friendships were enough. Like, he's far from a complex character or anything, and is no where near the league of really great villains/anti-heroes, but I found him extremely likable and honestly think he's one of the most memorable characters in the show.
Alright, let me just stop you there, CartoonX. There's something that you have to realize if you haven't already, but me and GSF have a history of fucking around with each other and basically making comments that would piss the other person off. In that regard, I purposely bash his opinions because I know he's a moron and that it'll tick him off to no end. I usually exaggerate my opinions just for that sake.
As for Greed, he's certainly not one of my favorite villains, but I don't actually think he's terrible. I do believe that he's shallow, though, and in that regard, I'm attacking GSF more than the character, by insinuating that he's too stupid to like more complex and well thought-out villains. That's really what the objective of that post of mine was.
Yeah, GSF is made of thick skin, so it's perfectly okay to make fun of him.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on June 09, 2013, 06:41:48 PM
Yeah, GSF is made of thick skin, so it's perfectly okay to make fun of him.
And I take this as a compliment. ;D
Quote from: Lord Il on June 07, 2013, 05:54:05 PMMy nephew recently recommeded Attack On Titan. Let me know if anyone can recommend it (or otherwise).
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on June 07, 2013, 06:03:24 PM
I do.
Quote from: Rosalinas Spare Wand on June 07, 2013, 08:59:41 PM
I don't. The show has a great premise and then episodes 5 and 6 turn it into some edgy teenagers wet dream.
hmm.... That good, huh? ;)
Well.. curiosity got the better of me last night when I watched episodes 1-3. Not bad so far. I'll continue with it.
Now I finally know what all these weird potato girl references are I keep seeing. lol!
Titan is great, but outside of a couple action scenes it hasn't really "wowed" me as much as everyone else. The storyline can often be too DARK N EDGY for my taste, and only maybe three characters are actually likable.
The final episode of Master of Martial Hearts may just be the most hilarious piece of anime ever produced.
Quote from: Foggle on June 21, 2013, 06:54:59 PM
The final episode of Master of Martial Hearts may just be the most hilarious piece of anime ever produced.
:>
Spent the past week watching Railgun S1 (both dubbed and subbed) and Hyakko
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNzy3jiCQAAnnQH.jpg)
Thank you for the most stupid show of the year, Sunrise!
Spent the last week FINALLY watching Monster, and now I've only got seven episodes left...
Looks like I'm not going to sleep tonight. ;)
Still gotta get around to finishing Maison Ikkoku at some point. Maybe finally watch the last two Urusei Yatsura movies too. Hell, I got so many things on my backlog that I could spend a month straight doing nothing but watching television and I STILL wouldn't be finished... :sweat:
Quote from: Cartoon X on June 27, 2013, 10:11:49 PM
Spent the last week FINALLY watching Monster, and now I've only got seven episodes left...
Looks like I'm not going to sleep tonight. ;)
The last 5 episodes of Monster:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tumblr.com%2F538f3c2a1c4baffd838e850eb0ddca7d%2Ftumblr_inline_mob9naoGPQ1qz4rgp.gif&hash=7d1ddbec4397353ebd750678b27c0618e5401ce6)
Well, this week Ive watched Momo The God Girl of Death
Now, after watching CyberCity Oedo 808,
I am watching Ef (got both seasons at a local anime event I went to today)
Just completed the #BESTANIMEOF2013!!!!LOL!!!! Aku No Hana!
Spoiler
...and by that I mean the single worst.
Tru Story Yo. (https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/351453586741399552)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2F312e27289d37505e52a45c8602d2d3d8%2Ftumblr_mp7qeeZsR91r6toezo1_500.png&hash=5303cc77fc68b7b2c103d25e9c5268aff038d2ab)
Quote from: Cartoon X on June 30, 2013, 05:34:15 PM
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2F312e27289d37505e52a45c8602d2d3d8%2Ftumblr_mp7qeeZsR91r6toezo1_500.png&hash=5303cc77fc68b7b2c103d25e9c5268aff038d2ab)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F24.media.tumblr.com%2Ff30ecc9d3a88d5144fb9abca858f14e6%2Ftumblr_mp3bm4GILH1s5g4ddo1_500.jpg&hash=ab8493760f4847e2e940d63e0eec406188f03217)
And then he became that one guy from 20th Century Boys, as well as Epsilon from Pluto.
The monster is gone.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv92%2Florddalek%2FCfuck1_zpsf6f5da49.png&hash=b3f517566ac9be0e443ea1eb1578306448f7467c)
...truly another GRRREEEAT anime season this summer. :>
Brothers Conflict makes me wanna cut myself.
Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei - The Animation makes me want to cut myself harder.
Quote from: Jay L. Corbell on July 05, 2013, 11:31:45 AM
Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei - The Animation makes me want to cut myself harder.
Oh come on, its not as horribad as Brothers Conflict and C Cubed.
Day Break Illusion makes me wanna rip my intestines out more than the aforementioned series.
Current watching Crest of the Stars :D
Full Metal Panic is okay, though pretty entertaining, particularity Sousuke's comedic seriousness. From all the good things said about the 2nd Raid around here, I mostly just waiting to get to that.
I really like the first season and Fumoffu, but I love TSR and the books.
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on July 11, 2013, 08:33:20 PM
Full Metal Panic is okay, though pretty entertaining, particularity Sousuke's comedic seriousness. From all the good things said about the 2nd Raid around here, I mostly just waiting to get to that.
While I do really enjoy the 1st season, I'm in the minority on that. I can totally understand your opinion on the series, and you're actually in the majority. Actually, most people find season 1 to be dull and boring, and looking at it more objectively, I can admit that its not that great (aside from Gauron, who I think is fucking awesome, but maybe that's just me).
Fumoffu, the 2nd season, is just a spin-off series that completely revolves around the comedic aspect of Sousuke's high school life. I really do enjoy that as well, but its not for everyone since comedy is a subjective thing, so I only recommend if you like the over-the-top shenanigans of the high school bits from the first season. Other than that, the season can completely be skipped if you want to, since it has absolutely no baring on the main plot or story whatsoever.
Now, The Second Raid is a fucking masterpiece, IMO. They actually got the original author of the light novels to co-write a lot of the episode scripts, and he had a lot more input on the adaptation in general. Its clear that this was more of a passion project than a cheap cash-in for what was, at the time, a popular light-novel series. It should also be noted that the 1st season was done by Gonzo, an anime studio (which I think went bankrupt a few years ago, if I'm not mistaken), which has a pretty bad reputation among anime fans for cheap budget anime and mostly mediocre shows, with maybe just a few stand-out exceptions. Fumoffu and TSR were done by Kyoto Animation, and while they are pretty much a moe-centric studio these days, they have always been known for putting a lot of passion and effort into whatever they do, and their FMP adaptations are no exception, so in turn its one of the few things that I actually enjoy from that company. Everything from the directing to the pacing to the writing to the animation is top-notch, and even the English voice-acting is vastly improved. Its all the same English voice-cast as in the 1st season, but you can tell that the voice-actors had much better direction with the English dub of this season in particular, and it really shows how much they had improved at portraying their respective characters since dubbing the 1st season.
Its like I said before: I kind of consider TSR to be The Wrath of Khan of the FMP anime series. I make the comparison more on a level of quality than on any themes or anything like that. Season 1 is like The Motion Picture, in which most people find both of those things to be boring. TSR is like WoK, in that most people find both of those things to be awesome, and completely forget about the forgettable first installments after watching them. So, yeah, I think its worth sticking around to watch TSR.
Gonzo's still around, but they're worse than ever.
I don't think season 1 is dull at all aside from a couple of moments in the Behemoth arc.
I've actually seen some people who prefer S1 to TSR, if you can believe that.
Quote from: Foggle on July 11, 2013, 10:37:27 PM
Gonzo's still around, but they're worse than ever.
I don't think season 1 is dull at all aside from a couple of moments in the Behemoth arc.
I don't think its dull, either. I was just acknowledging that I was in the minority opinion in really liking it. And to be honest, that mostly has to do with the dub, as I LOVE the voice-cast they got for that series.
I actually think that season 1 is a bit better on a re-watch than it is the first time through, for some reason. Particularly AFTER finishing TSR, and even the light-novels. You can actually see that even in this sloppy adaptation (which has its fair share of inaccuracies and liberties taken from the original books), there are some key elements that clearly show how later elements of the story were cleverly planned out, and even manage to come back toward the end of the series in the novels. I think that makes the series surprisingly a little bit more valuable of an experience when you go back to it knowing about the rest of the story.
QuoteI've actually seen some people who prefer S1 to TSR, if you can believe that.
I can sort of believe that. Season 1 did have one unique thing going for it, and that was in how it balanced both the serious and comedic aspects of the show, which made for an interesting mix. Fumoffu was ALL comedy, and TSR was MOSTLY serious with only 1 somewhat comedic episode in the entire season. On that end, I can get how some people prefer season 1's balance, but TSR ultimately wins for me due to its great character arcs, smart story-telling, and extremely tight-pacing thanks to having absolutely no filler thrown into the mix.
Yeah, Gatoh is a fantastic writer. The earlier books/anime have a lot of really well-done foreshadowing.
You're right, there isn't much humor in TSR except for the second episode and the scenes with Mr. Gates (which are much darker than any of the comedy in S1 or Fumoffu). On a related note, I personally see Fumoffu as a very valuable addition to the series. While it really is little more than a silly sitcom, it serves to make the characters a lot more likable in preparation for the seriousness of TSR and the subsequent novels.
Its worth mentioning that Fumoffu is one of the rare, few anime in existence that actually has an obligatory "hot springs" episode that I not only like, but even find to be legitimately, genuinely funny the entire way through. It also makes me wonder why that was the only episode in which Kurz and Mao were incorporated into with Fumoffu. They were such gold in that series. But, I suppose that being the only episode they appeared in with that season was what made it so special in the first place. The heart of that part of the series was mainly supposed to be around Sousuke's antics as he tries to fit into his high-school life while trying to balance it out with his military duty of protecting Kaname.
I think you'll like the hot springs chapters in the Excel Saga manga a lot. ;)
When I think about it, Kurz and Mao are actually some of my favorite FMP characters. Then again, I love nearly every character. Even the villains (especially the villains?).
You know which FMP character makes the most "bad-ass" villain?
Spoiler
Kalinin
He's not my favorite villain. Gauron's my favorite, mainly for how bat-shit insane that motherfucker is, but the specific character who I mentioned is incredibly bad-ass in the final 2 novels.
Yesterday I received a bunch of black and white anime from the 1960s on DVD. They're pretty interesting.
Here's one I like: Hustle Punch from 1965. Hayao Miyazaki worked on this show as an animator, one of his first jobs in the field. I added English captions (turn annotation on) so that you can understand it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WFfdJjQ6E
Quote from: Mr. Big on July 12, 2013, 03:52:56 PM
Yesterday I received a bunch of black and white anime from the 1960s on DVD. They're pretty interesting.
Here's one I like: Hustle Punch from 1965. Hayao Miyazaki worked on this show as an animator, one of his first jobs in the field. I added English captions (turn annotation on) so that you can understand it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WFfdJjQ6E
Thanks for sharing! Very interesting.
Also, I don't think FMP is boring, just kind of...okay, at least so far. I am quite enjoying it.
>_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_< >_<
aka Gatchaman Crowds.
Watching Read or Die the TV series
This had to be done. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiBlU2JVl0o)
Okay, I FINALLY watched the Lupin the Third vs. Detective Conan tv special from four years ago...and, it was okay, I guess, but still incredibly disappointing.
First off, it's too long, at 105 minutes, and it doesn't really get interesting until a good 50 minutes in, and even then the ending is really slow and is kinda lame. The title is also a big lie; Lupin doesn't face off against Conan in a battle of wits like how Conan's encounters with Kaitou Kid usually go; instead Lupin is doing his own thing for the majority of the special, only really interacting with the main plot and Conan in the end, and basically their encounter amounts to Lupin helping Conan explain the murder case in the special. Speaking of the special's plot, the new character focused on in the special is also as generic and common as they come, and the very first time you see her you already KNOW how the story is going to turn out and end. The mystery is just too predictable; Case Closed at it's best keeps you guessing and makes you really think to try and see how the murders were accomplished, but this one was too plain and simple to guess. This made the 7 minute long resolution where they explain the murder really dull, aside from some funny moments thanks to Lupin.
But that brings me to another huge complaint; Lupin barely gets enough screentime in the whole thing. He has plenty of great scenes, typical of the character, mind you, but not only is his job this time basically the same as his in Castle of Cagilostro, but it also lacked the traditional fun and coolness of typical Lupin escapades. The special focuses waaaayyy too much on the Case Closed cast, so viewers who are only Lupin fans would have been confused to heck about who they were and why a kid is solving mysteries and doing crazy stunts.
Now, I did like a few scenes in the special, and as a fan of both franchises it was neat to see the characters play off each other, but at the same time I don't think it does any of the characters any justice nor uses them to their potential, and coupled with an uninteresting plot it doesn't do much for fans of either, much less both. I hope that the movie will be a lot better than this, at least on par with the best Lupin and Case Closed films, because as a fan of both franchises I know that they can make an entertaining flick if they truly come together and play off each other's strengths. At the very least they can structure the story in the same way as the Conan vs. Kaitou Kid stories. Those are at least always a lot of fun, which I can't say this special really was for me. :-\
I also FINALLY watched Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever. I liked it much better than the Lupin v. Conan special, but at the same time the plot of the movie felt really disjointed, with a lot of things happening without explanation or good logic to them. It was a very interesting film, more so than Movie 3 for the most part, but it's too muddled and confused in it's narrative and it's message for me to enjoy it as much as Only You, much less the fantastic, also untraditional, Beautiful Dreamer. In any case, it's still a movie that I'd feel like watching again, which is much more than I can say for a lot of anime films based on anime tv series. Now that I've watched it, I'll only need to see The Final Chapter and I'll have seen all the canon Urusei Yatsura movies. Maybe then I'll go back and watch through the anime, but 195 episodes feels like too much to commit to solely, so I'd probably end up watching it at a more leisurely pace alongside the shows I will go through in my usual fashion.
My Anime Watching Schedule for Fall 2013 (tentative)
Marathon-style Runthroughs:
Serial Experiments Lain - July
Fate/Zero - Aug
Squid Girl - Aug
Tiger and Bunny - Aug
Martian Successor Nadesico - Aug/Sept?
Fullmetal Panic! (All of Them) - Sept/Oct?
Michiko to Hatchin - Oct/Nov?
Mobile Suit Gundam - Nov/Dec?
Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket - Nov
Read or Die - Dec
Noir - ?
Texhnolyze - ?
Welcome to the NHK - ?
Gankutsuou - ?
Gunslinger Girl - ?
Higurashi - ?
Okami-san and her Seven Companions - ?
Genshiken - ?
AnoHana - ?
Space Brothers - ?
Magi - ?
Hayate the Combat Butler - ?
Skip Beat - ?
SKET Dance - ?
Kaiji - ?
Digimon Tamers - ?
Usagi Drop - ?
Girls und Panzer - ?
Bodacious Space Pirates - ?
Viewtiful Joe - ?
Pretty Cure - ?
Galaxy Express 999
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - ?
Whenever Watches:
Urusei Yatsura - Currently at episode 5, no hurry to finish. ;)
Maison Ikkoku - Currently at episode 24, plan to finish by the end of the year.
Lupin the Third Series 1 & 2 - This is a rewatch. Probably watch just one or two episodes a week when I want some good old pure fun.
Weekly:
Thursdays:
10pm Silver Spoon
Saturdays:
10:30pm One Piece - Simulcast
11:30pm Hunter X Hunter (2011) - Simulcast
1am One Piece - Toonami
1:30am Soul Eater - Toonami
Sundays:
9pm The Eccentric Family
10pm Blood Lad
This is just a plan for watching. I've got 100+ series on my backlog when it comes to anime, so my viewing schedule will likely change as things come up or are available, or I just really get the desire to watch something. If anyone's got suggestions for something I should be watching ASAP, I'm all ears, of course.
Quote from: Cartoon X on July 19, 2013, 04:11:31 AM
Serial Experiments Lain - July
Fate/Zero - Aug
Fullmetal Panic! (All of Them) - Sept/Oct?
Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket - Nov
Read or Die - Dec
Texhnolyze - ?
Welcome to the NHK - ?
Good choices. :)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F24.media.tumblr.com%2Fda0354047febdca841eb1bec9fe81959%2Ftumblr_moa4srjG721sszegyo1_500.gif&hash=a20c66a3582061aeb30d5c818f96e8c47eefe245)
Onizuka is the only anime character in existence who can do something like that and not only get away with it, but in fact be even more likable and more of a total bad-ass for doing so. If anyone else doesn't get it, watch the series for proper context, and you'll see why he's basically my favorite anime character ever.
So I'm currently trying to re-watch Yu Yu Hakusho, and pretty much like last time, having a hard time getting past Flowers of Blood to even care to continue (I just don't watch the Spirit Detective arc at all) and it's mainly due to Kuwabara. I know there are so many characters worst than him out there, but for me him and Keiko are the worst in this series.
Keiko is that damsel that I just hate, and Kuwabara, while I've never said anything about it before, I just don't care for that "manly" role. It's normally backed up by attempts at comedy but I call it stupidity. Case in point, Alex Louis Armstrong (at least he's had some success at making me laugh), but then again, most anime never had much of a success in getting me to laugh. Anyway, like I said, it was really hard getting past Flowers of Blood, at least the first half of it with Kuwabara fighting that child (names escape me at the moment). Then again I never cared about anything pertaining to Kuwabara's development. I know everyone loves to root for the underdog, but much like Naruto, I hate them, at least when it comes to anime.
Then we get to this announcer chick. I understand this is a tournament, but she's definitely not needed. Another one that's on the annoying side.
I'm a little past where you are in YYH (I stopped at the start of Yusuke's fight with Chu). While I don't really have an opinion on Keiko, I do kinda like Kuwabara, he isn't quite as obnoxious as other characters of his type (like Naruto, as you mentioned), and I find his interactions with Hiei to be pretty funny, which is saying something since most shounen humour makes me either give a light chuckle at best, or makes me cringe at worst. He's not my favorite of Team Urameshi (that would be Hiei), but I do find him tolerable.
As for Koto (the DT announcer), I kinda like her too, but that's mostly because I like girls with cat/fox ears. :sweat:
First of all, Flowers of Blood is one of my top 10 favorite episodes in the series (I even made a top 10 list explaining why). Admittedly its more for the Kurama half than the Kuwabara half, but all the same, I must first say this to you in response to your post: :anger:
Quote from: Grave on July 19, 2013, 10:28:09 PM
So I'm currently trying to re-watch Yu Yu Hakusho, and pretty much like last time, having a hard time getting past Flowers of Blood to even care to continue (I just don't watch the Spirit Detective arc at all) and it's mainly due to Kuwabara. I know there are so many characters worst than him out there, but for me him and Keiko are the worst in this series.
Well, as far as Keiko goes, the series pretty much seems to forget she exists except for at key moments, so she hardly bogs the story down in any significant way for me. As for Kuwabara, I like him just fine as a character. He serves his purpose as the most "human" member of the group, both literally and figuratively. He brings a moral center to a group that honestly needs it. At the end of the day, Yusuke really isn't a pure good guy in any sense, and Kurama and Hiei are really only out for their own interests throughout most of the series, and are easily the most morally gray characters in the show. Kuwabara is necessary to keep the group balanced and help them lean towards the right side, in that regard.
I can get if he's not your type of character, but just how the hell does he bog down the series so much that you can't get past his parts? Its not like he's in every fight or anything like that. Personally, I like this type of character, as he has a lot of heart to him. I feel that too many modern shonen series either don't get how to do this character right, or have this mentality that you just need to have as many cool, dark, and grim characters as possible to be seen as a more mature series, which is the most amateurish thing to do for a writer and is why most modern shonen series that do this suck balls in the first place. Whether you like him or not, Kuwabara is a character who has substance to him. He has a clear personality, and a character arc in that he develops throughout the series, and rather than just getting stronger, he also matures greatly as a person.
QuoteKeiko is that damsel that I just hate, and Kuwabara, while I've never said anything about it before, I just don't care for that "manly" role. It's normally backed up by attempts at comedy but I call it stupidity. Case in point, Alex Louis Armstrong (at least he's had some success at making me laugh), but then again, most anime never had much of a success in getting me to laugh. Anyway, like I said, it was really hard getting past Flowers of Blood, at least the first half of it with Kuwabara fighting that child (names escape me at the moment). Then again I never cared about anything pertaining to Kuwabara's development. I know everyone loves to root for the underdog, but much like Naruto, I hate them, at least when it comes to anime.
Kuwabara isn't anything like Naurto, though. You pit these "underdog" characters together just because they fall in the same category, but I don't think you are quite giving them the fair analyses here to see the huge difference between some of them. In Kuwabara's case, he's not an idealist like Naruto is. He just has a strong sense of morals and wants to do the right thing when he can. He's WAY more than just a comic-relief character, and this is even proven by his HUGE relevance to the plot in the Chapter Black arc, so I definitely can't agree with you there. Either way, though, even if you don't like the character, I think you're REALLY over-blowing his impact within the series. I mean, yeah, he has plenty of his moments which may not do anything for you if the character himself doesn't do anything for you, but its not like he's the only character in the series, and its not like it puts way too much focus on him overall.
QuoteThen we get to this announcer chick. I understand this is a tournament, but she's definitely not needed. Another one that's on the annoying side.
Eh, She never bothered me. Its a valid nit-pick, I suppose, but once again its just an announcer. I kind of feel like your grasping at straws with this one. Maybe the voice-actor is more annoying, for you? The character herself is just there for the purpose of it being a tournament, in which case an announcer is an effective way to both get it to feel like a legitimate competition (like how in real-life we have announcers for any given sports that we watch), and she basically serves her purpose well, in that regard. Its also a great way to get in some dialogue without having the characters have to pick up the slack and talk even more during their fights. I suppose she's not really necessary to the plot, but like I said, I just can't find any problems with her being around, myself. Its a tournament arc, so....that kind of goes with the sub-genre, doesn't it? Either way, I still personally think that the Dark Tournament arc is the best of its kind in the entire shonen genre, so I continue to gladly re-watch it and enjoy the hell out of it once every couple of years.
D'oh. Forgot to add the Great Teacher Onizuka anime to the list of shows I need to got to. Maybe I'll start it once I'm done with the manga (I'm currently at chapter 124). Also need to finish Birdy: The Mighty Decode and Pumpkin Scizzors once of these days (I've been putting off the latter for almost 4 years :sweat:)
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on July 19, 2013, 11:20:46 PM
First of all, Flowers of Blood is one of my top 10 favorite episodes in the series (I even made a top 10 list explaining why). Admittedly its more for the Kurama half than the Kuwabara half, but all the same, I must first say this to you in response to your post: :anger:
Heh, I could tell you to have a coke and a smile and piss the fuck off, but I'ma be cool because I'm not up for a pissing contest at the moment. And truth be told this is exactly why I don't talk about anime anymore. Too much pettiness, but for the sake of conversation
QuoteWell, as far as Keiko goes, the series pretty much seems to forget she exists except for at key moments, so she hardly bogs the story down in any significant way for me. As for Kuwabara, I like him just fine as a character. He serves his purpose as the most "human" member of the group, both literally and figuratively. He brings a moral center to a group that honestly needs it. At the end of the day, Yusuke really isn't a pure good guy in any sense, and Kurama and Hiei are really only out for their own interests throughout most of the series, and are easily the most morally gray characters in the show. Kuwabara is necessary to keep the group balanced and help them lean towards the right side, in that regard.
I can get if he's not your type of character, but just how the hell does he bog down the series so much that you can't get past his parts? Its not like he's in every fight or anything like that. Personally, I like this type of character, as he has a lot of heart to him. I feel that too many modern shonen series either don't get how to do this character right, or have this mentality that you just need to have as many cool, dark, and grim characters as possible to be seen as a more mature series, which is the most amateurish thing to do for a writer and is why most modern shonen series that do this suck balls in the first place. Whether you like him or not, Kuwabara is a character who has substance to him. He has a clear personality, and a character arc in that he develops throughout the series, and rather than just getting stronger, he also matures greatly as a person.
Out of that little bit I said, you got "Kuwabara bog the series down" from that? Hell, I just don't like Kuwabara, nothing more than that. Seriously, I never said anything about him bogging down the series or can't get past his parts, just the first half of Flowers of Blood, but if you MUST know so badly, outta fights I find him annoying, in fights I find him boring. Hence, not caring/liking anything pertaining to him.
QuoteKuwabara isn't anything like Naurto, though. You pit these "underdog" characters together just because they fall in the same category, but I don't think you are quite giving them the fair analyses here to see the huge difference between some of them. In Kuwabara's case, he's not an idealist like Naruto is. He just has a strong sense of morals and wants to do the right thing when he can. He's WAY more than just a comic-relief character, and this is even proven by his HUGE relevance to the plot in the Chapter Black arc, so I definitely can't agree with you there. Either way, though, even if you don't like the character, I think you're REALLY over-blowing his impact within the series. I mean, yeah, he has plenty of his moments which may not do anything for you if the character himself doesn't do anything for you, but its not like he's the only character in the series, and its not like it puts way too much focus on him overall.
I pit them together because they are underdogs. Nothing more, nothing less. All underdogs in anime (Makunoichi Ippo being the only exception) I don't like them. Only reason I said Naruto is because he was once the biggest underdog, and the only name that popped into my head.
As far as me overblowing his impact, I'm probably being more dramatic than I need to be, but if anything, your love for this series is over blowing this whole thing.
Quote from: Grave on July 20, 2013, 12:27:43 AM
Heh, I could tell you to have a coke and a smile and piss the fuck off, but I'ma be cool because I'm not up for a pissing contest at the moment. And truth be told this is exactly why I don't talk about anime anymore. Too much pettiness, but for the sake of conversation
Dude, speak for yourself; I wasn't even being serious. Here's a word of knowledge about me: If I'm being serious, I'm not exactly going to use a "smiley" to express my opinion towards you. :sweat:
QuoteOut of that little bit I said, you got "Kuwabara bog the series down" from that?
You said that you "couldn't bother to continue the series" and the main reason for that was Kuwabara. That's how.
QuoteI pit them together because they are underdogs. Nothing more, nothing less. All underdogs in anime (Makunoichi Ippo being the only exception) I don't like them. Only reason I said Naruto is because he was once the biggest underdog, and the only name that popped into my head.
Yeah but I can't stand Naruto as a character, even if I don't mind most other underdog characters. So having Kuwabara pitted with the likes of him kind of makes me cringe, personally. But, that has more to do with the fact that I hate idealist characters in anime/manga.
QuoteAs far as me overblowing his impact, I'm probably being more dramatic than I need to be, but if anything, your love for this series is over blowing this whole thing.
Yes, but I actually meant to over-blow it since being an ass to people is the best way to get them to respond to me. :>
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on July 20, 2013, 01:39:38 AM
You said that you "couldn't bother to continue the series" and the main reason for that was Kuwabara. That's how.
Quote from: MeSo I'm currently trying to re-watch Yu Yu Hakusho, and pretty much like last time, having a hard time getting past Flowers of Blood to even care to continue (I just don't watch the Spirit Detective arc at all) and it's mainly due to Kuwabara. I know there are so many characters worst than him out there, but for me him and Keiko are the worst in this series.
If this is what you're referring to, like I said, outta fights he's annoying. In fights he's boring. The fight itself bored me, and that little tidbit with him running around to Yusuke annoyed me. That little bit gets me so annoyed to the point of almost ejecting the disc immediately. But because I know Kurama's fight is right after I don't. It's a phase I go through everytime I start off with disc 1 of the Dark Tournament.
QuoteYeah but I can't stand Naruto as a character, even if I don't mind most other underdog characters. So having Kuwabara pitted with the likes of him kind of makes me cringe, personally. But, that has more to do with the fact that I hate idealist characters in anime/manga.
Sorry,but in the words of the FGC, hold dat. In all fairness though, I have to do the same thing since Kuwabara's not going anywhere. At least not until I get to 3 Kings
1. Who the hell is FGC?
2. Eh, whatever. I'll still take Kuwabara over 99% of the generic, boring shounen characters of today.
Fighting game community. I don't know if any other community uses the phrase "Hold Dat", but it's stuck with me since getting with folks from there..... Anyway.
Heh, you act as if I care about modern shonen, let alone shonen in general. Honestly, shonen is probably that last type I'd go to, especially these days.
Watched 4 or 5 more episodes of Hunter x Hunter.
Keiko isn't a damsel. She only gets captured and except for an attack from Sensui, a fight or two at DT and the destruction of the stadium, she gets in no danger after Saint Beasts. Thats one of the things I like about what Togashi did with her.
One thing I'm enjoying about GTO is that whenever Onizuka helps a student or someone else with their problems, it doesn't seem forced but really genuine. I also like how the students that cause a lot of trouble make a change and become his friends after he helps them.
And more HXH episodes were watched in the early morning. I'm loving how fast the adventure started and this is the one shonen where I like frequent new characters. The part with the mist forest reminds me of Genkai's tournament and I believe one of the dudes that attacked Hisoka had Kuwabara hair
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on July 22, 2013, 09:39:11 AM
One thing I'm enjoying about GTO is that whenever Onizuka helps a student or someone else with their problems, it doesn't seem forced but really genuine. I also like how the students that cause a lot of trouble make a change and become his friends after he helps them.
That's what this series gets down that so many other shonen series fail at. I mean, yeah, most of those are different kinds of series entirely, but if you think of them at their core, a lot of shonen have the good guys fight other guys who are on the verge of becoming bad guys but can be turned back to the right path in life. Really, Onizuka and his students are no different, in that regard. The difference is that unlike most shonen series where it comes down to beating the crap out of another guy in a fight to get him to join your side (which is entirely a terrible message to send to kids), Onizuka does it the right way. He gives the rotten kids the treatment that they deserve, of course, but if you really look at what he's doing, not once does he ever force his way of thinking down their throats. Hell, he downright encourages them to make their own decisions, but his point is usually that they need to take responsibility for who they are and what they do, and they can't just single-mindedly blame adults for all of their problems. He also does this in a way where he talks to them as equals. He doesn't look down on them for who they are as people, but rather teaches them not to look down on others just because of what they don't like about them.
I also like how downright self-aware Onizuka is. He's a total goof-ball and he clearly knows it, even if he'll never downright admit it. But the best thing about his character is that without even having read about his own days as a student in the original series, SJG, you can still clearly get that his character is one that really went through many struggles himself when he was as young as the kids in this series, so he really can understand them on that level. You don't need a flash-back to understand that, which is what most shonen series would resort to. In this case, you can just understand this based on his personality and general character, alone.
Oh, and the best thing about Onizuka, which almost single-handedly helps make him my favorite anime character ever, is that the dude isn't a fucking, brown-nosing, goody-two-shoes like most other shonen protagonists. The dude has a lot of vices and is hilariously downright proud of that fact. But for all of his uncivil manners, he's just generally a better person than a lot of the uptight ass-holes that work at the Holy Forest Middle School, and who are the ones likely making most of these students' lives more miserable than they need to be in the first place.
The other important aspect that makes this series great is that the students aren't just douche-bags for the sake of being foils to Onizuka. They have legitimate reasons for having turned out the way that they did, and like ShadowGentleman, I also particularly admire how the series doesn't just write off these characters after they have learned their "after-school lesson" of the day, but instead they stick around with Onizuka, become awesome friends of his and great characters in general, and most importantly CONTINUE to learn from him and his actions as the series progresses, showing that there is a lot more for kids like that to learn besides just a convenient lesson addressing their primary problem in life.
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 22, 2013, 11:29:31 AM
And more HXH episodes were watched in the early morning. I'm loving how fast the adventure started and this is the one shonen where I like frequent new characters. The part with the mist forest reminds me of Genkai's tournament and I believe one of the dudes that attacked Hisoka had Kuwabara hair
Yeah, Togashi is good about not wasting time in his stories and getting right to the meat of what makes his material good, in the first place....well, at least he used to be like that. I'd say that somewhere around Greed Island, he kind of lost his touch in that department, but he's still one of the best writers in all of shonen, regardless.
You nailed it EK. :thumbup:
Onizuka teaches his students how to be good people. While being delinquent himself. That alone is awesome.
Over the last two days, more HXH. Two days ago, I saw episodes up to and past episode 20. Yep, pretty dark. As of early this morning, I am up to the first time they meet Hisoka at Heaven's Arena. Random comments: the HA episodes have been slow so far, I am surprised at how fast they got Killua back and without having to fight anyone, no less, I love the first end credits and the fight music that sounds like it is straight out of a game show.
Still doing my little marathon of Yu Yu Hakusho, although, I haven't really been watching it. It's been more like watching me sleep. Not saying it's boring me to sleep. I have an ear infection at the moment and I've been taking some antibiotics for the pain which has been putting me to sleep.
Anyway, I've made it up to Kurama's Stand, I believe that's what it's called. Nothing to really say about the episode at the moment.
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 24, 2013, 05:11:58 PM
Over the last two days, more HXH. Two days ago, I saw episodes up to and past episode 20. Yep, pretty dark. As of early this morning, I am up to the first time they meet Hisoka at Heaven's Arena. Random comments: the HA episodes have been slow so far
That's because Heaven's Arena is mostly just a training arc. Its meant to introduce the concept of Nen, more than anything else, which as you may have noticed, is heavily based off the concept of "territories" which were introduced in YYH.
You'll get to see how clever the battles get in York New City, which is my favorite arc in the series by far.
QuoteI am surprised at how fast they got Killua back and without having to fight anyone, no less
I LOVE the fact that they didn't have to fight anyone to do it. That's such a tired trope, and Togashi was too smart to resort to such a thing. I also like that Killua himself didn't need any convincing from his friends to want to join back up with Gon. He decided for himself that he wanted to do that, which is a very big part of his character: Up until he had met Gon, he had never really been able to truly break away from his family. All his life they decided everything for him, and he hated that. Even during the Hunter Exams when he said he had run away from his family, his whole mind-set and thought process was still based on how they brought him up, and he had never truly escaped since his brother was following him all along. I also like that his father pretty much came to him and gave him his blessing of sorts to follow his own path in life. Once again, it would have been easy to make his dad a cliche, stuck-up, douche-bag, but instead they made him someone who could understand his own son, which is once again something that's refreshing for a shonen series to do.
Just finished ROD the TV Series tonight, will post my review on it this week.
Now rewatching Bodacious Space Pirates. Title/associated quote for that eventual review will be "Work for? I don't work for anyone; I'm just having fun." lol
Yeah, how the small visit to the Koldyck eststate was handled was really clever. Togashi is good at working around cliches.
So two days or so ago, online I see that my brother started watching HXH. Looks like I indirectly got him into the show. Ironically enough, he got me into Yu yu Hakusho (and Lupin)
I am on episode 40 of HXH as of within this hour and I am still afraid of spoilers in its designated thread so I'll be here until I catch up. Last night or early this morning, on I believe episode 33 and 34, it was hilarious seeing Killua scare those handicapped Nen users. I assumed they would have felt forced to fight the ghost arm guy and that it would have been a tough fight for both since they're Nen rookies. For the same reason, I would have never thought Killua could intimidate them. It was a seemingly typical part that ended up being something unexpected and entertaining. Those room visits were easily the best part of Heaven's Arena and shows how clever Togashi is. What else: I thought the trip back to Whale's Island was likely filler but was proven wrong half way through. So much Nen info. I couldnt remember most of it. I love Kurapika's (sp?) detective skills.
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 26, 2013, 09:28:00 PM
I am on episode 40 of HXH as of within this hour and I am still afraid of spoilers in its designated thread so I'll be here until I catch up. Last night or early this morning, on I believe episode 33 and 34, it was hilarious seeing Killua scare those handicapped Nen users. I assumed they would have felt forced to fight the ghost arm guy and that it would have been a tough fight for both since they're Nen rookies. For the same reason, I would have never thought Killua could intimidate them. It was a seemingly typical part that ended up being something unexpected and entertaining. Those room visits were easily the best part of Heaven's Arena and shows how clever Togashi is. What else: I thought the trip back to Whale's Island was likely filler but was proven wrong half way through. So much Nen info. I couldnt remember most of it. I love Kurapika's (sp?) detective skills.
Yeah, Heaven's Arena is the right way to do a training arc. It introduces the concept of this shounen's energy system. Its a cliche that Togashi executes well by actually going into extensive detail on what Nen is, and makes it feel as though it is really a part of the world that he has created in HXH. Most other shonen authors throw in some form of energy that is not well-defined and is apparently able to do whatever the fuck anyone wants it to do. In HXH, Nen has a ton of variety, but its always completely unique to the individual who uses it, and the whole class-system is something that works really well in a series like this, and leads to battles that are almost always more strategic than power-driven.
As for the bit with Killua, he did a pretty smart thing. Those guys that he threatened were more skilled Nen users than both him or Gon, and they were going to take advantage of that fact. Killua however is just an insanely skilled assassin, so while they could only really take out Gon and Killua in the ring, Killua made it clear that he could take them out ANY time he wanted to if they didn't hall ass out of Heaven's Arena and leave the 2 of them alone.
Also, if you're on episode 40, I'm fairly certain that you are already in the York New City arc, which is my favorite arc in the series. It has so many great character moments, and is largely a terrific character piece for Kurapika, who as you can see is pretty much the main character of this specific arc (for once, Gon and Killua take the back-seat). It has the perfect combination of great protagonists and villains, and both cross the morality line on many occasions and each of them exhibit characteristics that you wouldn't even expect. Its an arc that's just as much about wits as it is about fights. Hell, its even more story-driven than fight-driven, with only a few fights really taking place in this entire arc, yet the fights that are there are completely memorable.
Hmmm, I had no clue Kurapika would be pretty much the lead but it makes sense after the mansion episode where he meets the other bodyguards.
Quote from: Ensatsu-KenEh, She never bothered me. Its a valid nit-pick, I suppose, but once again its just an announcer. I kind of feel like your grasping at straws with this one. Maybe the voice-actor is more annoying, for you? The character herself is just there for the purpose of it being a tournament, in which case an announcer is an effective way to both get it to feel like a legitimate competition (like how in real-life we have announcers for any given sports that we watch), and she basically serves her purpose well, in that regard. Its also a great way to get in some dialogue without having the characters have to pick up the slack and talk even more during their fights. I suppose she's not really necessary to the plot, but like I said, I just can't find any problems with her being around, myself. Its a tournament arc, so....that kind of goes with the sub-genre, doesn't it? Either way, I still personally think that the Dark Tournament arc is the best of its kind in the entire shonen genre, so I continue to gladly re-watch it and enjoy the hell out of it once every couple of years.
I left this unanswered. Yes, it is definitely a nit-pick. Again, not really trying to blow this out of proportion. I actually don't mind the v/a behind her. If anything it's her script. When she say's something along the lines of "________ is delicious" even though it's someone that just got cut or something, it annoys me (I don't know, I have a low tolerance for a lot of things these days). I know she's a demon and all, but she just don't sound right to me. Much like Kuwabara, this is more of a phase I go through though.
Just finished up disc 2 of the Dark Tournament. Out of this bunch of episodes, while I do like the fights that involve Kurama, the highlight was definitely Yusuke vs Jin. I remember when I 1st saw Jin, I was wondering what was the big deal with him considering everyone was saying he was such a great character. He just have such a great personality.
Quick question. Is the V/a for Jin the same persona voicing Suzuka?
I am up to I believe episode 43 of HXH. Man, ek was right, Togashi is kill happy in this series.
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 28, 2013, 12:51:32 PM
I am up to I believe episode 43 of HXH. Man, ek was right, Togashi is kill happy in this series.
Heh, You really haven't seen anything yet. If you think this is bad, just wait until the Chimera Ant arc....:sweat:
The Yorknew City arc heated up and heated up fast. I am up to episode 53 now. I am loving the current fight. Before all that, I was surprised at Kurapika's ability and it was interesting seeing Gon and Killua powerless against the Troupe.
I love the ending of this arc for how non-conventional it is. I mean, its climactic, but not in the epic final battle sort of way. It just goes so much deeper than that, IMO.
Early this morning I finished the Yorknew City arc (and the first Greed Island episode). The last few episodes were intense and heartwrenching.
I'd be interested to hear what you think of Greed Island.
I'm scared. I will be starting another series (likely Black Lagoon) and watching HXH here and there.
Greed Island gets pretty boring half-way through and ends up little more than a transition to Chimera Ant, but it's not total shit either, I would say, and has some fun moments here and there. I haven't watched the anime adaption, but I don't think it lasts more than 15 episodes or so, so it flies by quickly enough. Don't expect it to be anywhere close to being as good as Yorknew, though.
I love how the ending of the York New City arc is such a big fuck-you to most cliche shounen series in general (admittedly, that includes even some of the ones that I like), in that:
Spoiler
Its an ending where neither side really wins, and both sides have to deal with heavy losses in some regard. Its not a sad ending by any means, and it has just as many (if not more) bright and uplifting aspects to it as it does dark ones, but its just so unconventional for the genre, but handled by a writer who has the talent to deal with that kind of subject-matter and not completely botch it. On the one hand, Kurapika manages to save Gon and Killua and keep his life in the process to live and fight another day (he does, of course, come down with a huge illness to add some more of a bitter taste to the ending, but at least he recovers from it). On the other hand, though, he's denied his revenge, at least for the time being, and it'll be nigh impossible for him to ever get the jump on the Genei Ryodan again like how he did in this arc, making it that much harder and unlikely that he will ever be able to carry out his vengeance on them. On the other side of the coin, the Genei Ryodan managed to stop Kurapika from wiping them out for good, but it as at the cost of 2 casualties among 2 of the oldest members of the group (and for a close-knit group like this, that's a BIG deal), AND they pretty much lost their leader for the time-being and have no way of making direct contact with him. Also, one of their members (Hisoka) completely betrayed them and help set all of these things into motion, so there's that, too. I like it. It just feels so believable, and doesn't come off like a generic, really annoying Deus Ex Machina sort of ending where everything is happy and the story and characters return to status-quo. While their may not have been a winner between either group in this arc, there was definitely progression. Tons of progression. The best kind of progression. Character progression.
Greed Island is just an average shounen arc. By the standards of most other shounen in general, its fine. By the standards of HXH, its seriously below the level of quality that this series itself set the bar for with the York New City arc.
Quote from: gunswordfist on May 11, 2013, 08:49:57 AM
What recent anime should I watch. I already have Redline, HXH (I'll watch the original series first), the new Lupin, Hajime No Ippo and maybe the new Saint Seiya on my list.
The Crunchyroll app doesnt have Fujiko, Psycho-Pass or Black Lagoon. I already know it has the Saint Seiya remake so I'll also look for HNI.
I watched a few more Greed Island episodes...all of this expostion is killing me.
Yeah....you're going to kind of have to get used to that for this arc. The whole thing about Hunter X Hunter is that it never sticks strictly to any one specific genre. Each new arc is completely different from what came before it. In that regard, Togashi draws inspiration from stuff that he's a fan of, and its no secret that he loves classic JRPGs and card games, thus the whole theme of the Greed Island arc is based off that concept. In concept, it could have been a great arc, but Togashi gets a it too wrapped up in the "rules" of this game world that he creates, that it feels more about the game itself and really seems to forget about the characters and the story at times. Hell, as far as the story goes, its basically just a glorified training arc, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that all of this training is rendered completely useless when the characters have to train again anyways in the next arc.
Well, at any rate at least this arc is relatively short. I'll give you fair warning, though, that the Chimera Ant arc that comes up after this is extremely dark, and the beginning of that arc suffers from playing it too heavy on shock-value. The arc gets great after a certain while, but it starts out slow, so you'll have to bare with it for a while before things pick up.
I'll keep that in mind.
I watched episode 1 of Saint Seiya Lost Canvas. Uh yeah, I am skipping this one. It was dry and filled with typical anime tropes, including a few creepy ones. And the hero is dumb as a rock. He goes to save his friends...by punching a rock then leaves them the next day because some stranger in golden armor says he can give him a chance to save other people by being a Saint of Athena, which of course should be a completely unbelievable statement.
Damn, Maison Ikkoku got really addicting after that mini-arc with Kyoko's parents. I've been watching it copiously now, and it's easily becoming one of my favorite animes. I can see why everyone considers this to be the best of Takahashi's works, even though this is the anime adaption and not the manga; it really is quite down to earth and a truly engaging romance story, with likeable, plausibly realistic, relatable characters (Yotsuya is probably the most unbelievable character in the cast, but he's so damn funny and has a charm to him that it doesn't distract from the illusion at all). At the rate I'm going, I just might finish the series before the weekend is over! After that... I'll get back to Lain and Fate/Zero. Damn backlog... :sweat:
After two episodes of Saint Seiya Omega, I gave up on that version of Saint Seiya too. Painfully generic. I'll just trudge through Greed Island unless I can find another show to watch in between episodes of hxh.
I just watched the first Berserk: Golden Age Arc movie, The Egg of the King.
It was...eh. The use of CG in the film came across as odd and rather clunky to me, and didn't quite gel well with the traditional animation. More importantly, I didn't really feel engaged in the film. Not because of the fact I already knew how everything was gonna play out because I've read the manga, but more in the way it was executed.
I haven't finished the Golden Age arc, I'm at volume 9, but I've really enjoyed it so far, and honestly, in my opinion, this film really didn't do it much justice. In fact, if I hadn't read or seen Berserk before at all, I probably would have been rather bored, and that's criminal for something as exciting and engaging as Berserk. Geez, I'd say it was worse than One Piece: Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta; that was also a heavily abridged and meh-worthy retelling of a great arc, but at least that had some fun fight scenes and pacing once the Alubarna portion of the movie came up.
Oh well, hopefully the next two Golden Age Arc movies will be better. By the time I've seen them I should be long done with Golden Age, so I'll hope to see a more interesting adaption of the material in those films. Either way I'm going to probably watch the anime series sometime down the line, although "down the line" in my case could mean in two years or so. Damn my backlog... :sweat:
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 02, 2013, 01:46:28 AM
After two episodes of Saint Seiya Omega, I gave up on that version of Saint Seiya too. Painfully generic. I'll just trudge through Greed Island unless I can find another show to watch in between episodes of hxh.
Omega doesn't get good until the 30's. Though it honestly isn't worth watching unless you want to marathon entire chunks of the show in one sitting or you really like Umakoshi's character designs.
I finally watched the first 13 episodes of Fate/Zero. I'm loving it so far. Fate/Zero is probably going to become one of my favorite anime if season 2 ends up being just as good as season 1 (if not better).
RSW, I want to do neither. lol
Hmmm, I might actually want to start Fate/Zero.
I just watched the first 5 episodes of Martian Successor Nadesico. So far, I quite like it. It's really quite funny, and the main characters are quite likeable, although some of the minor ones aren't quite that well characterized, at least yet. However, the series is really fast paced, and during the first episode especially things were going to fast for me to really enjoy what was happening on screen. The jump cuts were also a little jarring, but I got used to them by the third episode. The characters also have the tendency to yell every other line and talk over each other, which is sometimes a little annoying. I think this might be a dub thing, though, so maybe I should be watching the sub if that would be better.
The biggest problem I have with it, right now, is that sometimes there is mood-whiplash. Like, there is a scene that's supposed to be serious, but then immediately following it is an over the top, zany comedy scene. It's kind of hard to soak in the impact of something like Jun fighting against the Nadesico crew or Gai's (brilliantly) unceremonious death, when the scene right after involves Yurika obsessing over Akito. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on, but it sometimes it feels like the series is trying really hard ot be both funny and dramatic, and it's not managing to balance things out well quite yet. I still enjoyed watching these episodes, though, and I'm actually quite eager to watch some more, but I'd like to see some of these problems I'm having with it mitigate as I continue forward.
Anyway, I'm only 25 episodes to the end of Maison Ikkoku. That's still a lot of episodes, but that's quite a bit of progress I've made in watching it over a week. It's easily become one of my favorite animes, and might break into a top tener if the final 25 really grasp me. I should finish the series this week, so I'll be curious to see the how everything is going to end (being a Takahashi series, it could very well have a open ended ending, but I have my hopes) :).
So, watching Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, which I got at the FYE the other day. Episodes 1-4 make for an interesting series, essentially its a love story with a ghost girl. Nice blend of comedy, drama, and horror that don't overstep each other.
Also, the DVD collection comes with 2 OST CDs in it, so once i'm done might take a listen to these.
I remember being interested in that show, but never watched it. I'll have to sometime!
Watched episodes 6-10 of Martian Successor Nadesico yesterday. I still like it, but it's not balancing it's comedy and drama as well as I like. I mean, when the Admiral sacrifices himself in episode 7 everybody makes a big deal of it, but the character barely did anything in the past 6 episodes and only became important when Akito discovered he was responsible for abandoning a bunch of innocent people when the Jovians attached the ship he used to be on, leaving them to get murdered. Same with the death of all the Mars refuges in the episode prior; it happens all too quick and doesn't leave as much of an impact as it should. It's a shame because Nadesico has a lot of neat ideas, but they get squandered by weak buildup and payoff. The love triangle stuff fairs better, although developed through standard-ish execution and ideas I've seen before in other anime (the main female leads can't cook! What a surprise! Hilarious!...not), and I have no idea how Ryoko gained a crush on Akito. I guess I must have missed something, but it seemed to come out of nowhere an episode after she was introduced and the fact she's a typical "tsundere" doesn't help my enjoyment of it. Another thing that bothers me is that the cast at large doesn't have much development, and the few that do have the same kind that I've seen before in other anime and were done better (Akito reminds me too much of Shinji without as much to sympathize with, I gotta say), with Yurika being the only really standout character for me so far. It's still a fun show, though, but it's plot and characters could be better fleshed out and explored than they are, so hopefully the next 16 episodes will improve on them.
10 Episodes left of Maison Ikkoku. I can't wait to get to them, because I have a good feeling they'll provide great payoff and closure to a great series. After I'm done with Ikkoku I'll get right on to finishing Lain and then start off Fate/Zero, which, from what my brother's told me, is a definite must-watch series.
I finally finished Fate/Zero............................................IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!! :shakeshakeshake:
Quote from: VLordGTZ on August 06, 2013, 06:15:13 PM
I finally finished Fate/Zero............................................IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!! :shakeshakeshake:
Nice! I love the second to last episode.
Quote from: Cartoon X on August 06, 2013, 06:11:24 PM
Watched episodes 6-10 of Martian Successor Nadesico yesterday. I still like it, but it's not balancing it's comedy and drama as well as I like. I mean, when the Admiral sacrifices himself in episode 7 everybody makes a big deal of it, but the character barely did anything in the past 6 episodes and only became important when Akito discovered he was responsible for abandoning a bunch of innocent people when the Jovians attached the ship he used to be on, leaving them to get murdered. Same with the death of all the Mars refuges in the episode prior; it happens all too quick and doesn't leave as much of an impact as it should. It's a shame because Nadesico has a lot of neat ideas, but they get squandered by weak buildup and payoff.
There's much more pay-off later, but the early stuff is mostly for setting up tone. I think the Admiral's sacrifice was only really done to show that war isn't as simple as Akito might have thought it was. I do agree that the death doesn't really have much of an impact and could have been handled better.
QuoteThe love triangle stuff fairs better, although developed through standard-ish execution and ideas I've seen before in other anime (the main female leads can't cook! What a surprise! Hilarious!...not), and I have no idea how Ryoko gained a crush on Akito. I guess I must have missed something, but it seemed to come out of nowhere an episode after she was introduced and the fact she's a typical "tsundere" doesn't help my enjoyment of it. Another thing that bothers me is that the cast at large doesn't have much development, and the few that do have the same kind that I've seen before in other anime and were done better (Akito reminds me too much of Shinji without as much to sympathize with, I gotta say), with Yurika being the only really standout character for me so far. It's still a fun show, though, but it's plot and characters could be better fleshed out and explored than they are, so hopefully the next 16 episodes will improve on them.
Ryoko is probably the worst character in the show, I'm not kidding. She's not a good replacement for Guy, and she's just a typical tsundere character that never actually develops at all beyond hey typical traits. Even her friends get a bit more added to them as the show goes, but she gets nothing worth mentioning. Most every character in the show gets something to them in some aspect, which makes rewatches on the series more enjoyable.
I think Akito gets less "Shinji-esque" as the show goes, but in the beginning I think he has an excuse to be depressed considering what happened to his friend.
All I can say is keep watching. The show has some surprises later on. (I also really dig the theme song)
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 06, 2013, 10:11:54 PM
Ryoko is probably the worst character in the show, I'm not kidding. She's not a good replacement for Guy, and she's just a typical tsundere character that never actually develops at all beyond hey typical traits. Even her friends get a bit more added to them as the show goes, but she gets nothing worth mentioning. Most every character in the show gets something to them in some aspect, which makes rewatches on the series more enjoyable.
Well, as long as the rest of the cast gets fleshed out more then I'll be alright, so long as Ryoko doesn't get
too much screen time, that is.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 06, 2013, 10:11:54 PM
I think Akito gets less "Shinji-esque" as the show goes, but in the beginning I think he has an excuse to be depressed considering what happened to his friend.
The depression (at least over Gai's death) makes sense to me and was resolved more or less in episode 8 when Akito resolved himself a reason to fight. It more other aspects of him that are too Shini-esque, namely his mannerisms, attitude towards other people, self-doubt, resistance to fighting, character design...heck, even his voice! :sweat:
Akito's personal problems aren't as sympathetic to me as Shinji's, though, and while he's a likeable protagonist, the feeling he is basically Shinji 2.0, except less depressed and having a bigger gaggle of girls who like him, doesn't make him really stand out to me yet. I just hope he becomes more of his own character as the series goes on.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 06, 2013, 10:11:54 PM
(I also really dig the theme song)
Yeah, the theme song is pretty awesome! I haven't skipped it once. ;)
I just got done watching episodes 11-15 of Martian Successor Nadesico and I have to say I really liked all these episodes and have little to complain. The cast at large is getting explored a little more, Nagare's in episode 11 and Ruri's in episode 12 being the most enjoyable among the minor cast, Megumi and Yurika continue to be likeable, and Akito seems to be progressing into his own sort of character beyond being Shinji-ish. The Recap episode was one of those rare ones that made me laugh, although most of that came from the Gekkigengar stuff which was a pretty hilarious parody of old-school giant robot anime (although I've only seen enough to enjoy the parody, and by that I mean Voltron :D). As for the big, big twists, the Boson-jumping issue and the Jovians being humanlike, well, I enjoyed them and this (hopefully) more serious direction the story seems to be going, and it'll be interesting to see how the next few episodes will progress. :)
Just completed the original Eden of the East series. Now to watch the wrap-up films.
Finished GTO. Onizuka really is the Greatest Teacher the World has Ever Known.
Started Digimon Tamers a EK's recommendation.
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on August 08, 2013, 09:20:58 PM
Finished GTO. Onizuka really is the Greatest Teacher the World has Ever Known.
Yeah, its one of my favorite anime ever. When you get a chance, I definitely recommend reading the manga Shounan Junai Gumi. Before being the greatest teacher of all-time, Onizuka was the greatest delinquent of all-time. On top of that, though, you also get to learn a lot about his close friend Danma Ryuji, and their friendship is one of the strong points of the series. At its core, SJG is really the story about 2 really close friends as they grow up together in the rough and impoverished streets of Shounan, and what they go through for each other. Of course there are a ton of other great characters in the mix as well, and its a very different manga from SJG, but you can still see that Onizuka is Onizuka, and its great to see what he was like in his youth. :sweat:
QuoteStarted Digimon Tamers a EK's recommendation.
If you're watching the dub, give it at least 8-10 episodes to get better. The voice-acting itself is fine, but their is a lot of bad slang and puns added in the dub because the writers thought it would sound cool to the kiddies. You'll see that as the story progresses and starts getting more serious, the dialogue also starts to take itself more seriously. It takes some time to get things going, but once they do, the series becomes hard to stop watching until it ends.
What's the better way to watch Digimon, dubbed or subbed?
Probably subbed, but I just have a lot of nostalgia for the dub voice-actors, so that's the way that I usually prefer to watch it. The music is much better in the subbed versions of the show, though, and the voice-acting is far more consistent, without the terrible one-liners.
Finishing up Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
Episode 10.....wow, just wow.....god that's sad....
Finished two great shows last two days, so I'll talk about 'em.
Martian Successor Nadesico really surprised me. At the beginning, I though it was going to progress as a light-hearted comedy, then later with some Evangelion-esque elements. But by the middle it became it's own thing, a great blend of comedy and drama, and a good, compelling story about idealism and war. I thought the contrast between the black and white nature of the Gekkiganger show with the realities the crew faced was a great juxtaposition used to move the story forward, and of course revelations about how the war started and who was responsible for keeping it going and preventing avenues for peace to be reached was an interesting exploration as well. Of course, the characters all became really memorable by the end and were the heart of the show, with Akito evolving out of his Shinji-esque nature by the middle of the series, and Yurika developed into more than a clueless ditz, but a capable, resourceful captain. I also enjoyed Ruri, although her role in the series was fairly small, and everyone else from Megumi to Tsukumo, were all engaging characters as well. Superfluous moments and some missteps at the beginning aside (the Admiral's apparent death and then reveal as alive was poorly done), I think the show is pretty damn good, and a new personal favorite of mine.
I also watched the Nadesico movie, The Prince of Darkness and the Gekiganger 3 OVA. The movie...was alright. It was a little too serious, I think, and it's ending unsatisfying. While the beginning of the movie was pretty fun with nice visuals and some eeriness to the mysteriousness of the situation and what the Martian Successors and the "Prince of Darkness" were after, after the focus shifts to reuniting the old crew to take down the forces of the Martian Successors the movie started to be less interesting to me. While it's certainly bold for the series to not give Akito and Yurika a "happy" ending, and while Yurika's scenes in the movie were effectively disturbing, I think that the total destruction of Akito's character into some bland, stoic-ish figure, while making sense considering he was tortured and all, made him less of a character in the movie so much as a plot device, and when he gets revenge, going against the principles he decided to abide by at the end of the series, I can't really say I felt much of anything except disappointment.
Besides him, the other characters from the show aside from really Ryoko, Minato, and of course Ruri don't really do much and basically amount to glorified cameos, while the new characters, while likeable and interesting, also don't end up getting rounded development due to time spent focusing on the old ones. Pacing-wise the middle focusing on getting the crew together moves too slow and doesn't build up to anything that comes into play in the climax, and the resolution feels really, really quick. Too much so, and moving the focus to Akito taking revenge doesn't help things much either in that regard. I wouldn't say the movie was bad, but it was rather unsatisfying, and while there were a lot of good ideas in it I think it could have been executed much better as maybe a thirteen episode season rather than a short movie.
The Gekiganger 3 OVA was alright. It was basically a parody of old 80's robot show movies, and even a lot of modern movies based on shonen tv shows or manga. In that regard it was predictable, but I wouldn't lie and say I didn't enjoy it on the "fluff fun" level. If Gekiganger was an actual anime I probably would like elements of it, although the repetitive episodic structure of those kind of shows usually don't quite gel with me much. Still, a fun little OVA.
Now, the other show I finished was Maison Ikkoku, which is easily a top 5 anime and top 10 favorite tv series in general show for me, now. It's hard to describe just why I really got into the series. I usually don't find myself favoring a lot of romance-focused stories, but Maison Ikkoku not only got me into to it's relationship struggles, but even got me to cry at parts. And I NEVER cry at this stuff!
A lot of it has to do with it's characters, specifically it's main ones. Godai is just one of the most relatable protagonists I've ever seen. His struggles with education, work, people, and his usual shyness and incapability to express himself properly reflects situations I've had in life myself and how I act in a lot of situation as well. Godai is just a really honest, well-meaning guy, but he makes mistakes, gets into trouble due to bad circumstances or his own faults, and has to deal with his doubts and grievances daily. But he never blames other people, he just moves on and tries to work harder, whether that works out or not, and makes the best of whatever situation he finds himself in. In a way, his struggle through life is rather inspiring, and the moments where he manages to find genuine happiness always brought a smile to my face. Kyoko is also a really interesting character. She could have just been one of those perfect, always in the right kind of love interests, but she has her own problems, inadequacies, and doubts to deal with, and can be just as irresponsible, jealous, and overreactve just as Godai. And so the relationship between these two progresses from both Godai's AND Kyoko's perspectives, and all the good times, the heartbreak, and the eventual closure ends up being one of the most intense, fulfilling, wonderful romantic journeys I have seen so far in my experiences with works of fiction.
I could go on and on about these two, plus Mitaka, Asuna, Yagami, Yotsuya, Akemi, Ichinose, Yukari, and Lioka all day, but I don't have the time to write that much on how great these characters are, at least not right now, but trust me when I say they make the show the great experience it ends up being. Even though the series is 96 episodes long plus an OVA and a pretty damn great, albeit untraditional, movie, the pacing only feels slow between episode 16-22, and everything before and after moves at a brisk, realistic, and engaging pace with loads of memorable moments to behold. While I'm not sure I would call this my favorite of Takahashi's works, since I LOVE Urusei Yatsura also (though I have yet to watch more of it's anime adaption) it is easily my favorite romance story and one of my favorite shows ever, and as Jason Thompson so aptly put it, it's hard to think of a better anime or manga about love.
Sad to finish both shows, but I've got plenty to look forward to. I plan to get through both Serial Experiments Lain and Fate/Zero next week, and I can already tell both will be great rides. This is going to be fun. :)
I just watched episode 2 of Fate/Zero.
I'm also still in the process of re-watching the 1st season of FMP.
The Nadesico movie is actually three films condensed into one (the replacement for a canned trilogy) and is also a direct sequel to an untranslated visual novel, which was a direct sequel to the TV series, so that's probably why it's generally considered unsatisfying.
I'm re-watching Black Lagoon so I can better enjoy Roberta's Blood Trail now that the dub is out. I know I'm in the minority, but I never really cared for the Roberta arc in the original series. I think the first two-thirds are really good, but I feel it loses all momentum in the third act and just ends up being kind of dull.
Yeah, the Nadesico movie is pretty disappointing considering the series was so good, and it being so undercooked in comparison doesn't help. I find it easier to just stick with the series.
Glad you enjoyed it, though!
EDIT: I forget words a lot, it seems.
I watched episode 3 of Fate/Zero. So far Waver is my favorite master since I just have a thing for the obvious underdog characters. My least favorite character is the psycho-dude, since he seems too much like a "gimmick" character, and the perverse psychopath is an anime cliche which I've never been fond of, and this is no exception. Hopefully he and/or his servant get killed off relatively quickly.
I enjoy perverse psychopaths as long as they're played for comedy (like Mr. Gates from FMP) or are actually interesting characters under it all (like Kakihara from Ichi the Killer). Uryu's decent in my book - not the best of his kind, but certainly not the worst. As an aside, if you just hate them in general, you might dislike one of the books I'm writing. ;)
That said, you won't be seeing much of Ryunosuke. He, Tokiomi, and Kariya don't get as much focus as the other four. Which is good, because they're the least interesting characters to begin with. My favorite Master is Kiritsugu and my favorite Servant is Rider.
Yeah, Rider has a pretty fun personality, and I really like how much he contrasts Waver.
Rider and Berserker are my favorite Servants, and Kiritsugu, Kotomine, and Waver are my favorite Masters. I like Saber and Archer too, but I feel the fanbase overrates them.
My favorite servants are Archer, Lancer, and Rider and my favorite masters are Kiritsugu, Waver, and Kirei.
Currently re-watching Magic Users' Club OVA (first dubbed, then subbed).
What a definitely charming little series, a bit of good 90s anime.
Certainly doesn't hurt that the director of Sailor Moon and the future writer of Digimon Tamers worked on this.
Just started watching season 2 of Black Lagoon again now. I can certainly understand why everyone else hates it, but personally, I really like the Vampire Twins story arc. I mean, yeah, its dark and depressing tone doesn't match up with the rest of the series at all, and it's by far one of the most disturbing slices of anime I've ever seen (I have no idea how it was allowed to air on TV), but I think it's very well done on the whole and a truly affecting piece.
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. Just a fun, fairly basic shonen show.
Just finished up the last portion of the Dark Tournament of Yu Yu Hakusho. I think once I find a site where I can actually watch anime (that has Hajime no Ippo) I'm going to move on to something else that I actually haven't seen (or haven't seen in a while), preferably Tiger and Bunny.
I'm almost done re-watching FMP (just the 1st season). It'll still take me a while to write up my portion of the entry for it, though.
I watched Serial Experiments Lain all last week. Now that was a show I had some trouble understanding (seriously Evangelion and Big O aren't that complicated, at least for me). But I did "get it" eventually, and it's interesting message, tense, spooky mystery/horror elements, and compelling plot I was really, really invested in it and was sad to finish it. A Top 15er for me, personally.
Still haven't gotten to Fate/Zero yet. Putting that on hold due to my desire to read a shit-ton of manga before I leave for college next week, which includes finishing Excel Saga (well, up to volume 26, but I want to be caught up asap so that I can enjoy the anticipation for volume 27 like other Excel Saga fans ;) ).
OREIMO2 IS OFFICIALLY THE WORST THING I'VE SEEN THIS YEAR NOT TITLED AKU NO HANA.
Mad Kuroneko/Ayase/Manami fan detected.
I also want to watchClaymore and Blade of the Immortal.o
Been watching Digimon Adventure since it was added to our Netflix.
Wow, this show is fast-paced. I don't remember it being this fast. (That's a good thing)
I finally saw Trigun Badland Rumble.
Yeah, it's basically an extended episode, but it's more Trigun so I can't complain.
Watched two more episodes of Hunter X Hunter early yesterday morning after a few weeks break and a few more episodes last night/early this morning. I had no clue it would be time for Killua Hunter Exam retry within the arc. I thought they would have been put off forever. I actually wish it was much longer because I wouldn't mind a side mini-adventure. Anyway, there are no glaring problems with this arc besides some wonky pacing imo. It's just too uneventful.
I'll warn you that upon completing the Greed Island arc, the Chimera Ant arc gets off to a slow start, and is also needlessly violent to a point that I don't particularly care for. That said, it's a really interesting premise, and it starts picking up around the point where they actually encounter one of the Royal Guards.
The Second Raid is glorious.
Quote from: ShadowGentleman on August 20, 2013, 07:59:32 PM
The Second Raid is glorious.
Told you! :thumbup:
I'm glad to see you're enjoying it. The first season, which I honestly like, was still the weakest part of the series, but it is better in retrospect when you go back and understand later parts of the story that it was setting up for (and I mean stuff in the later novels, not TSR). That said, it had its problems with pacing and the like, and the fact that it was done by Gonzo hurt its overall quality as well.
But TSR pulls out all the stops, and really ratchets things up to a new level in every regard, from the writing (it helped that the original author was involved in the script), to the characterization, to the fucking kick-ass action scenes. The pacing was also perfect.
Also, just out of curiosity, did you already watch Fumoffu, or did you skip it and plan to watch it later?
Been watching through SDF-1 Macross recently, the show really surprised me with how good it's been so far.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on August 20, 2013, 09:07:41 PM
Also, just out of curiosity, did you already watch Fumoffu, or did you skip it and plan to watch it later?
I skipped for now. I'll probably watch it after I watch some other things on my list.
Alright, I finally finished re-watching FMP season 1, but I'll just need a couple of days to put together my portion of the entry for it, and then I can collaborate with Foggle on how we can organize our article from that point.
On that note, I assume Fumoffu is next on our list. Is that correct, Foggle? ;D
Article 2 will be the KyoAni seasons. Fumoffu first, then TSR. :)
Quote from: Foggle on August 21, 2013, 05:22:03 PMArticle 2 will be the KyoAni seasons. Fumoffu first, then TSR. :)
Sounds good, although rather than doing them both in one article, I think that it might be better for us to do a short article for Fumoffu, and then a separate article for TSR, since I think that TSR is significant enough to deserve it's own individual entry. :thumbup:
Ok, so I'm on episode 1 of the Chimera Ant arc and so far I noticed that I've seen characters in HXH with similar powers to these YYH characters;
Kurama (well if chains count lol)
Toguro (2x)
Shizuku (sp? I'm refering to the self cloning power)
Yo yo kid (forgot his name)
Sensui
Hiei
Genkai
Karasu (I always loved his Gambit-like powers)
Other random thoughts:
Gon really shocked me in the last Greed Island fight)
I think Kite reminds me of Roberto from Monster just because of his nose.
I like how the villains constantly go up against the heroes while knowing little to nothing about their powers. Togashi is excellent at that. The Bomber and his friends literally thought they were going after 3 helpless kids. This kind of reminds me how Karasu in YYH that Kurama would be helpless against him. He had no clue about his hidden power.
I love how many games are in GI. Dodgeball being my favorite one.
Ugh, lets see if I can give a damn about this Chimera Ant queen. I was so invested in hearing about Ging that her appearances were just annoying distractions to me.
Please no more little hints about this season, EK. I actually skipped the OP and will continue to do so to go in blind.
Ok, off to episode 2 or 3 of this arc.
You probably won't care too much about the Chimera Queen. That's all I'll say about that. ;)
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 21, 2013, 11:57:25 PMKurama (well if chains count lol)
Toguro (2x)
Shizuku (sp? I'm refering to the self cloning power)
Yo yo kid (forgot his name)
Sensui
Hiei
Genkai
Karasu (I always loved his Gambit-like powers)
It's like I've always said. Nen is basically like a more intricately detailed version of territories from YYH.
QuoteGon really shocked me in the last Greed Island fight
Is it in that he came up with a good strategy, or that he was willing to sacrifice his own arm just to get a hit in on Genthru?
QuoteI like how the villains constantly go up against the heroes while knowing little to nothing about their powers. Togashi is excellent at that. The Bomber and his friends literally thought they were going after 3 helpless kids. This kind of reminds me how Karasu in YYH that Kurama would be helpless against him. He had no clue about his hidden power.
Well, the brilliant thing to me is that it goes both ways. There are also many instances in the series where the heroes are completely clueless about the powers of the villains, so a lot of the early stages of these fights, as you've already noticed, deals with opponents trying to outwit each other into revealing their main abilities, rather than to try and overpower one another.
QuoteI love how many games are in GI. Dodgeball being my favorite one.
The dodgeball part was easily the best part of that whole arc, IMO. You could tell that Togashi was having a ton of fun with writing it, and that translated pretty well to me, as I had fun with it as well.
QuoteUgh, lets see if I can give a damn about this Chimera Ant queen. I was so invested in hearing about Ging that her appearances were just annoying distractions to me.
Well, that's just Togashi's usual nature of trolling you. Every time he gets you interested and completely invested in learning about a significant revelation, he immediately throws in some new dilemma by some ass-hole to drive the main characters' attention (and consequently the viewers') away from it. It's both frustrating and hilarious at the same time, especially if you catch on to the fact that he's doing it in the first place.
Yeah, witty, the fights are. Togashi writes them smarter than pretty much everyone else.
The dodgeball game is also my favorite part of the arc.
And Gon willing to sacrifice his arm was what surprised me.
Oh and speaking of territories, all that talk about taboo had to be a nod to them.
I forgot to mention this: I liked Greed Island's nod to Dragonball when they said the winner may have a dragon be summoned that'll grant them 3 wishes. At the end, I figured out that that's what the 3 cards are supposed to be like.
The Chimera Ant arc really is dark with episodes like Evil And Terrible. I am not too shocked by the character deaths so far but the last episode I saw made me sick from what happened to a character and the atmosphere feels like how FMA did when they made it seem like anyone just about could die but HXH feels like it could actually go that far.
I knew Gon was going to say scissors with how long he took but :o at the power he used.
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 23, 2013, 01:51:22 AMThe Chimera Ant arc really is dark with episodes like Evil And Terrible. I am not too shocked by the character deaths so far but the last episode I saw made me sick from what happened to a character and the atmosphere feels like how FMA did when they made it seem like anyone just about could die but HXH feels like it could actually go that far.
Spoiler
Do you mean Ponzu (girl who got shot to death and then eaten), Pokkle (Guy who got his brain probed and then was butchered alive), or a certain other character who I won't name yet in case you haven't gotten that far in the story? Either way, I hated all of those scenes.
I should make it clear that I don't mind characters being killed of at all. I do however hate it when it is clearly just done for shock value, and isn't handled well, which is my problem with the first 3rd of the Chimera Ant arc in HXH. Togashi just exploits his gore fetish (and he has admitted that he enjoys gore and violence), and doesn't give any of these characters proper send-offs at all. I mean, even if you're going for shock value, the death scenes can still be handled better (Joss Whedon does it all the time ;) ).
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on August 23, 2013, 05:04:49 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 23, 2013, 01:51:22 AMThe Chimera Ant arc really is dark with episodes like Evil And Terrible. I am not too shocked by the character deaths so far but the last episode I saw made me sick from what happened to a character and the atmosphere feels like how FMA did when they made it seem like anyone just about could die but HXH feels like it could actually go that far.
Spoiler
Do you mean Ponzu (girl who got shot to death and then eaten), Pokkle (Guy who got his brain probed and then was butchered alive), or a certain other character who I won't name yet in case you haven't gotten that far in the story? Either way, I hated all of those scenes.
I should make it clear that I don't mind characters being killed of at all. I do however hate it when it is clearly just done for shock value, and isn't handled well, which is my problem with the first 3rd of the Chimera Ant arc in HXH. Togashi just exploits his gore fetish (and he has admitted that he enjoys gore and violence), and doesn't give any of these characters proper send-offs at all. I mean, even if you're going for shock value, the death scenes can still be handled better (Joss Whedon does it all the time ;) ).
The death scenes in Chimera Ant aren't handled very well at all, in my opinion, aside from certain ones later on. The only one I think was handled really well were the last ones, honestly. Sure, it ratchets up the tension, but they could have been done in much better ways than random mass slaughter.
If it wasn't for his gore fetish, Chimera Ant could have really been something special. He just needed some restraint that he clearly didn't have.
Well, I'd still say that the Chimera Ant arc is special. It's just that some of it is special in a really fuck-awful way, while the rest of it is special in an awesome way. Either way, there is some kind of "special" feeling to this whole arc in how all-over the place it is.
And how it's longer than the rest of the manga on its own. :D
Man, was that a marathon to get through.
Just started Chapter Black of Yu Yu Hakusho.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on August 23, 2013, 05:04:49 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 23, 2013, 01:51:22 AMThe Chimera Ant arc really is dark with episodes like Evil And Terrible. I am not too shocked by the character deaths so far but the last episode I saw made me sick from what happened to a character and the atmosphere feels like how FMA did when they made it seem like anyone just about could die but HXH feels like it could actually go that far.
Spoiler
Do you mean Ponzu (girl who got shot to death and then eaten), Pokkle (Guy who got his brain probed and then was butchered alive), or a certain other character who I won't name yet in case you haven't gotten that far in the story? Either way, I hated all of those scenes.
I should make it clear that I don't mind characters being killed of at all. I do however hate it when it is clearly just done for shock value, and isn't handled well, which is my problem with the first 3rd of the Chimera Ant arc in HXH. Togashi just exploits his gore fetish (and he has admitted that he enjoys gore and violence), and doesn't give any of these characters proper send-offs at all. I mean, even if you're going for shock value, the death scenes can still be handled better (Joss Whedon does it all the time ;) ).
I didn't know he gets butchered (I assume it happens offscreen). Anyway, I am referring to those too (About an hour ago I am on the episode where they first meet Bisky again for more training and watched the episode where they first meet the Royal Guard earlier this morning after I made my last post here) I thought those two were expendable enough so I didn't mind too much. I thought Killua was going to die within the first two episodes of the arc from the way y'all have been talking about the show here and in another thread.
No, Togashi will never kill off any of his main characters. Any supporting characters, minor or major, are fair game for him, though.
Grrrrr, why'd you tell me that :D
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 25, 2013, 12:18:58 AM
Grrrrr, why'd you tell me that :D
Because it's the one cliche he clings to no matter what.
There are parts in Chimera Ant where you'll wonder how come Gon or Killua didn't die seconds after someone far more powerful than either bit it. It doesn't bother me all too much (the arc has other problems), but it's hard to not notice.
I wish Monogatari would just die already.
I just watched episode 4 of Fate Zero. The fight between Saber and Lancer was SO shounen. ;D
To be fair, if you're reading the same title (HxH) where
Spoiler
a serial killer is forced to watch his own heart get crushed
I'd figure it to be a bit gory. :P
Also, I've been slacking on watching Macross and Suite Precure; need to get back to that ASAP.
I just finished episode 1 of Fate/Zero. Man was that a lot of information to process.
Space Adventure Cobra is the greatest anime you've never seen.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FysqZ11f.png&hash=a45a676bb17bcbf641bbd0144e043bce3aecedff)
Quote from: Foggle on August 27, 2013, 08:20:04 PM
Space Adventure Cobra is the greatest anime you've never seen.
I've heard of the manga before, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I didn't know it had an anime; I'll put it on my backlog (assuming it's actually good and you're not just joking :D )
Anyway, today I was in a mall randomly browsing when I came across a store called FYE that had a
huge anime selection, with some stuff over a decade old, like the original pioneer
Dragonball Z and
Tenchi Muyo! dvds..and a lot of them were never used! However, the main thing that caught my eye was the
Mermaid Forest television series collection, which I never expected to find being sold anywhere considering it's not a well-known title from the now defunct Geneon and a decade to boot, so as a fan of the manga and Rumiko Takahashi's works in general I decided to pick it up. They were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale, so I also purchased the complete series of
Beck, which I've heard great things about, and
Solty Rei, which I know nothing about but seems decent at least and I got it basically for free so what they hey. So now I've got three new anime in my collection, and while I don't' have a lot of time anymore, I'm definitely going to start watching them once I'm done with
Fate/Zero, which I'm going to try and finish before the end of September, hopefully. Does anyone have any opinions on any of these series before I start watching them?
Quote from: Cartoon X on August 29, 2013, 10:05:38 PM
Quote from: Foggle on August 27, 2013, 08:20:04 PM
Space Adventure Cobra is the greatest anime you've never seen.
I've heard of the manga before, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I didn't know it had an anime; I'll put it on my backlog (assuming it's actually good and you're not just joking :D )
It's AMAZING. I promise you'll love it.
QuoteSet in the far future, the series tells the story of Cobra, who lived an adventurous life until his enemies began to hunt him down. Cobra surgically altered his face and erased his own memory in order to hide from his foes and lead a normal life. Eventually, he regains his memories and re-unites with his old partner Lady Armaroid and his ship Tortuga. Cobra travels the galaxy, fighting the outlaw Pirate Guild, but also fleeing the law-enforcing Milky Way Patrol. Along with his charm and wit, Cobra survives thanks to his Psycho-Gun, a weapon embedded in his left arm.
That sounds pretty cool.
The music is done by the same composer as Lupin III.
Seriously, watch it. It's awesome.
Quote from: Foggle on August 29, 2013, 10:56:39 PM
The music is done by the same composer as Lupin III.
Seriously, watch it. It's awesome.
:huh:
I watched another episode of FZ,The King's first two episodes in HXH and an episode of Fist Of The Northstar for the first time since summer, this week.
On HXH, man two characters were killed for no reason right after The King's birth. Now that was appalling. At least the other character deaths this arc set the dark mood. These were practically random.
I just watched up through episode 11 or Fate Zero tonight. So....just how much power do these servants have at their disposal? I mean, if Rider can summon an entire fucking army at will, and the other servants are presumably at a comparable level of power in their own way, then I have to believe that everyone else has been seriously holding back until now. :sweat:
I decided to see what all the hubbub about Titan was. I'm not sure it's necessarily all that great, but it's entertaining.
It's a hilariously over the top series that people think is legitamately good. I think it's enjoyable, but for all of the wrong reasons.
My friend lent my his copy of Outlaw Star Complete Collection.
I already blew through the first part. :sweat:
Currently watching:
Patlabor OVA
Sound of the Sky aka that other Klimt anime as Dalek puts it
Trying to watch Ghost Hunt, but it's put me to sleep several times.
I just watched episode 16 of Fate Zero.
Damn! Lancer got screwed....
I'm now 21 episodes into Fate/Zero. Alright, since when the hell has Berserker been able to shape-shift?
Also, Gilgamesh is an ass-hole. I just had to say that. :D
Berserker's shapeshifting is one of his Noble Phantasms. It's basically what prevents people from knowing his identity and abilities.
I just watched Wolf Children: Ame and Yumi. Easily the 2nd best Hosoda film.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on September 12, 2013, 05:03:34 PM
I just watched Wolf Children: Ame and Yumi. Easily the 2nd best Hosoda film.
I've been meaning to see that film myself. On a side not, being that I'm not familiar with the works of Hosada (since I haven't watched many non-franchise anime films) which film of his is the best in your opinion?
Well, I've seen all of his feature-length films up to this point, and I think that they are all good to some extent. He hasn't been doing movies as long as someone like Miyazaki, though, so he only primarily has 4 full length movies, so far. I think he has done some short films as well, but aside from Our War Game, I haven't seen any of them. I'll just go ahead and rank his 4 major movies in order of my personal preference for them:
1. Summer Wars
2. Wolf Children: Ame and Yumi
3. The Girl Who Leaped Through Time
4. One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island
The last 2 films are decent watches, and the top 2 I find to be downright amazing. If I were to count Our War Game in there, though, then it would rank right in the middle, between Wolf Children and TGWLTT.
I still want to see Summer Wars.
Anyway, just finished Outlaw Star. Still as good as I remember it being.
I just finished Fate/Zero. Overall it was really good, despite the fact that I just downright didn't get the stuff about the Holy Grail. This series was thankfully mostly character driven, which is why it was still interesting. I also liked how the epilogue in the final episode tied into the beginning of Fate/Stay Night, and almost made me want to re-watch that series (the key word being almost).
The studio that made Fate/Zero is going to make its own version of F/SN sometime in the future, so that'll be a better alternative than dipping into some DEEN.
Will they be adapting a different route from the visual novels?
The only thing we know about Fate/ufotable is that it's happening.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on September 14, 2013, 06:59:17 PM
Will they be adapting a different route from the visual novels?
No way of knowing. If I had to guess though, it'll probably be either UBW or HF, both of which are far superior to the Fate route.
I just watched episode 96 of Hunter X Hunter, which was fucking great. I also started watching Hajime no Ippo, which is also pretty great (at least so far).
So, I decided to try and watch the Great Teacher Onizuka anime again, solely dubbed this time, and started from the beginning again because it's been over half a year since I last tried to watch it, and I only got up to episode 4 before anyway so I figured I might as well, and as of today I've finished the first 7 episodes.
Now that I've finished the story through the manga, and know what to expect in terms of plot and the characters, I'm actually enjoying the anime more than I did previously. Steve Blum absolutely nails Onizuka and I can't imagine anyone else doing a better job. Wendee Lee's Fuyutski is great, and Uchidayama sounds perfect as well although I'm blanking as to who plays him right now. The other voices are a lot more hit or miss, but sound so weird at times, like Mrs. Sakurai, that they turn around and become hilarious. So bad it's amazing indeed.
However, one of the biggest things I'm getting a kick out of is that Noborou and Kickuchi, not only do they sound exactly the same... they both also sound EXACTLY LIKE DON PATCH! I mean, I've heard Kirk Thorton in other roles before (Rai-Dei, The Claw, The Baby, Mad Pierrot, Saito Hajime, etc.), but his signature role, in my opinion, will always be the Don. Just like how Mel Blanc will always be Bugs Bunny, and Dan Castellaneta will always be Homer Simpson, Kirk Thorton IS Don Patch; nobody else could possibly do that psychotic loon any better, and he's a big reason as to why I love that character so dearly. And his Noborou and Kickuchi sound so exactly like the Don I can't help but chuckle whenever they speak. I mean, "Don't be absurd. I think FIVE evil steps ahead"? With lines like that, in Thorton's Don Patch voice...it makes me half-expect Noborou or Kickuchi to suddenly start forcing people to buy churros, or use a stick of butter as a guitar to (very poorly) sing a rock version of "Old McDonald," or recite haikus about ramen-stealing ninjas called "Ninja Tongue," or for one of them to scream at the top of their lungs "YOU IDIOT! BOBOBO IS NOTHING! I AM THE MAIN CHHAAAAARACCCTTTEEEEEERRRRR!!!!!!!"
So...yeah, I'm enjoying the Onizuka dub. ;D
Quote from: Cartoon X on September 15, 2013, 02:12:03 PM
So...yeah, I'm enjoying the Onizuka dub. ;D
Told yah. :thumbup:
Well, watching Hyakko (a gift from Okazu's Yuri-con herself). Won it in a contest from that website on the condition I do a review/writeup on Disc 2 for the Okazu website. So, currently working on that.
I'm 15 episodes into Hajime no Ippo, and it's excellent so far. If it keeps up this level of quality throughout the entire anime, it may even manage to take Slam Dunk's place as my favorite sports anime (though to be fair, I haven't even watched that many to begin with).
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on September 15, 2013, 03:50:17 PM
I'm 15 episodes into Hajime no Ippo, and it's excellent so far. If it keeps up this level of quality throughout the entire anime, it may even manage to take Slam Dunk's place as my favorite sports anime (though to be fair, I haven't even watched that many to begin with).
Ah, now you're talking my language. I don't really watch sports anime, but Hajime no Ippo's the only exception, and even then I treat it like it's an action series. But yes, it really is a masterpiece. If you don't mind me asking, how are you watching it? What site? I haven't been able to find a site that stream anime so I've been missing out, and I've been wanting to rewatch HnI as of late.
Oh, I probably should have mentioned how I'm watching this one, before. I'm actually not streaming it. I've been renting out the DVDs from my local library (that's right, those old Geneon releases). They don't carry that many anime that I'm interested in, but I noticed that they recently added this to their catalogue, so I decided that it'd be the perfect oppurtunity for me to check this series out.
I really like how HNI is one of the few series that actually manages to make me give a shit about other characters' fights besides just the ones involving the main character. I also think Miyata is one of the best rivals in a shounen series that I've seen so far, since he is actually a likable character. While I like Slam Dunk, I always felt that Rukawa was an extremely 1-dimensional prick until much later into the series, and even then I never felt too interesting in any of his character moments, because he just wasn't the type of character that I could get behind. Usually the rival characters in these types of series are always the goal for the main character to strive to beat, but I like how HNI throws a curve to this logic and instead has Miyata be the underdog compared to Ippo, ever since Ippo took him down in their second match, and Miyata couldn't make it to the finals for his third match with Ippo because of losing his fight with Mashiba (which was an excellent match, BTW). The other cool twist is that despite being the underdog compared to Ippo, Miyata is still considered to be the boxing prodigy for his insanely good technique, and he has that calm and composed nature that you'd expect a rival to have, except the creator of this series (or writers for the anime, since that's the version that I'm watching right now) knew that just because he was like that didn't mean that he had to come off as a dick to other people to look cool. I wish that more shounen series would follow suit with this kind of logic.
Ippo vs. Vorg was yet another amazing match. The last few minutes of that fight were some of the most intense that I've seen in this series so far.
I just finished watching the first series for Hajime no Ippo. That final championship match between Ippo and Sendo was insane; probably one of the best fights that I've ever seen in a shounen series (and that's saying A LOT). Yeah, this was an excellent, EXCELLENT shounen anime, and even overtakes Slam Dunk as the best sports series that I've seen. Now I just need to find a place to watch New Challenger, or hit up the manga if I have to continue the series that way.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on September 15, 2013, 03:50:17 PM
I'm 15 episodes into Hajime no Ippo, and it's excellent so far.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on September 18, 2013, 02:48:50 AM
I just finished watching the first series for Hajime no Ippo.
You watched the other 61 episodes in only three days? I'm impressed! :worship:
I've been meaning to check out
Hajime no Ippo myself, and maybe I'll finally get around to it sometime this year. I might try and read the manga also, but it's 1000+ chapters and still ongoing, and I'm not really sure I want to commit to reading through it before other manga on my backlog. If I watch the anime and get a grasp on the story and characters enough, though, I could probably follow the new chapters as they come out, much like how I started to keep up with the
One Piece,
Case Closed, and
Toriko mangas, where I hadn't read all of the series to their current points, but had watched/read enough of them to keep up with their newest chapters while I took my time reading the previous story arcs I hadn't read yet (it helped that, in
One Piece's case, I started keeping up with the manga during Impel Down ;) ).
Quote from: Cartoon X on September 18, 2013, 03:18:54 PMYou watched the other 61 episodes in only three days? I'm impressed! :worship:
Yeah. Since this is my last week off, I basically marathoned through all of the DVDs over the past few days. That's definitely the fastest that I've ever watched 75 episodes of anything.
QuoteI've been meaning to check out Hajime no Ippo myself, and maybe I'll finally get around to it sometime this year. I might try and read the manga also, but it's 1000+ chapters and still ongoing, and I'm not really sure I want to commit to reading through it before other manga on my backlog.
From what I have come to understand, the first series, movie, OVA, and second series collectively cover the first 400 chapters of the manga, without any time wasted on filler material whatsoever. Also I don't think that the manga takes too long to read since I imagine that a lot of pages would be full of fighting scenes without any dialogue, which explains why the anime is able to cover 3 to 4 chapters of the manga per each episode. Even if you don't want to read the manga because of its length, though, the first series is a completely manageable length and ends at a really good stopping point, which honestly could have been the ending point of the series if the original mangaka had wanted it to end there.
Also speaking of the anime, today I just watched the movie which was actually included in the DVD bundle, and it is actually based on material from the manga which continues the story, so it was definitely a great watch.
I watched two more episodes of HXH. It's becoming too obvious that Meruem is based off of Cell. Also, what's up with the show barely animated action now? Also watching Palm's animation is getting painful.
Quote from: gunswordfist on September 18, 2013, 06:12:28 PM
I watched two more episodes of HXH. It's becoming too obvious that Meruem is based off of Cell.
How so?
Also, watch Meruem's full character arc (which has barely even started yet where the anime is currently at), and then try and call him a Cell clone. Seriously, the comparisons between this character and Cell only boil down to their looks, and the fact that they believe themselves to be the strongest beings in existence. Their ambitions and philosophies (you know the things that actually make up characters), however, couldn't be more different.
QuoteAlso, what's up with the show barely animated action now?
It's called cutting corners due to budget. This happens with a lot of long-running shounen series. More episodes means that you'll have less money to spend on animation per episode, so they save their expenses only for the really big action scenes and such.
QuoteAlso watching Palm's animation is getting painful.
That's the idea.
I couldn't find New Challenger streaming anywhere, and there were no English releases of the DVDs, so I just said screw it and watched the whole thing on YouTube in pretty crappy quality. At any rate, it was a good continuation of the story, and now I'm finally caught up with the anime in time for season 3's premiere.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on September 20, 2013, 05:03:48 PM
I couldn't find New Challenger streaming anywhere, and there were no English releases of the DVDs, so I just said screw it and watched the whole thing on YouTube in pretty crappy quality. At any rate, it was a good continuation of the story, and now I'm finally caught up with the anime in time for season 3's premiere.
New Challenger nearly ruined the entire series for me. Fight-wise, everything was great, but I just hated the way Ippo was playing the mentor role, especially considering at the time there was no plan for a season 3, and we were left wondering if Ippo was going to fight Miyata or go after Ricardo (of course I could've continued with the manga, but back when I first saw HnI, I didn't feel like going through 1000+ chapters. Still don't). For me, that left a sour taste in my mouth, but knowing that there is a season 3 now, I suppose it's not so bad lol.
That's why I said based off of, dork. Now if I said he was a carbon copy of Cell... :sly:
I finished watching the entire first season of Kuroko on Crunchyroll. Good stuff. The second opening and closing are.... pretty awful, though.
That said, it was a pretty good adaption even if they stopped right before the best stuff. I'm glad it's getting a second season either way.
Quote from: Grave on September 20, 2013, 05:17:40 PMNew Challenger nearly ruined the entire series for me. Fight-wise, everything was great, but I just hated the way Ippo was playing the mentor role, especially considering at the time there was no plan for a season 3, and we were left wondering if Ippo was going to fight Miyata or go after Ricardo (of course I could've continued with the manga, but back when I first saw HnI, I didn't feel like going through 1000+ chapters. Still don't). For me, that left a sour taste in my mouth, but knowing that there is a season 3 now, I suppose it's not so bad lol.
I actually liked that he became a mentor figure to Itagaki. It's not like it even took up that much of the story in the first place, and what I like about it is how it shows that Ippo has grown as a Boxer, being that he is now the veteran training the rookie who actually looks up to him for a change. It's something different for a change, yet it doesn't become such a huge part of the story as to ruin it, either. What I hate is when shounen series like this are so hellbent on maintaining the status quo, and never allow any sort of change. That's when things start to get boring for me, personally.
I think my only problem with New Challenger is that, like you said, it ended at such an odd place. The first season obviously didn't cover all of the manga, but they chose a really goo place to end it at, which let it work as a good standalone piece. With New Challenger, being that it's a continuation, it lacks both a beginning and an end. It baffles me that they decided to leave it off right at the start of a new story arc. There was more than enough material in the manga by that point to adapt further story lines, and even if they wanted to keep it short, they could have at least just ended it at episode 25 with the conclusion of Takamura's WBC World Jr. Middleweight Title match against Bryan Hawk (which was another amazing fight, BTW). Choosing to leave it off on a cliffhanger just didn't make much sense to me, though.
Let me rephrase some of this (all of this is pretty moot at this point though). Ippo playing the mentor role, while it's not bad, my problem is that while he was mentoring Itagaki he wasn't fighting anyone worth mentioning (despite me saying the fights were great, but I meant that in terms of visually. Ippo's fights were not memorable). Hammer was his only standout fight, and I barely remember that. First season you had all these great fighters, and I would've preferred one of them (outside of Sendo) to come back for a rematch, or at least spar or something.
But now that there's a season 3, and I have been reading some of the manga (I'm actually trying to find the spot where New Challenger ended), and I've been enjoying the stuff I've been seeing, although the mangaka might to dragging out to another level. Hopefully, the team that did the animation for HnI and New Challenger will make a return, because there are some fights I'd love to see animated. Just when I was beginning to give up on anime this series comes back with a 3rd season.
Quote from: Grave on September 21, 2013, 10:18:42 AMLet me rephrase some of this (all of this is pretty moot at this point though). Ippo playing the mentor role, while it's not bad, my problem is that while he was mentoring Itagaki he wasn't fighting anyone worth mentioning (despite me saying the fights were great, but I meant that in terms of visually. Ippo's fights were not memorable). Hammer was his only standout fight, and I barely remember that. First season you had all these great fighters, and I would've preferred one of them (outside of Sendo) to come back for a rematch, or at least spar or something.
I agree that the fights weren't nearly Ippo's best, but the way I see it, that's only because the series set such a high standard for quality fights in the first place, so a fight that would be good by any other shounen series's standards would merely just come off as average in this series. And, I can't fault the series too much for that because obviously you can't expect every fight to stand out as much as something like the Ippo vs. Sendo fight, or even his fights with Miyata, Vorg, or Date. For me, the fights in New Challenger weren't great, but they were interesting enough to keep me watching through the whole thing at a quick pace, and the season ended leaving me wanting more, which I am soon to get with the 3rd season.
QuoteBut now that there's a season 3, and I have been reading some of the manga (I'm actually trying to find the spot where New Challenger ended), and I've been enjoying the stuff I've been seeing, although the mangaka might to dragging out to another level. Hopefully, the team that did the animation for HnI and New Challenger will make a return, because there are some fights I'd love to see animated. Just when I was beginning to give up on anime this series comes back with a 3rd season.
If I'm note mistaken, I think that they actually had completely different teams for the original series and New Challenger. I believe that the team for New Challenger just did a good job of mimicking the animation style of the first series. It actually did feel like a little bit of a step down to me, though, as there was less of the realistic types of movements and motions seen during the fights in New Challenger, and there was more of the cliche use of pauses and key-frame animation that you typically see in battle shounen series.
As for where New Challenger ended in the manga, it's a little bit weird. For the most part, it stopped somewhere between chapters 398 and 399, however the last episode skipped ahead and had Ippo training to upgrade is Dempsey roll, which happened between chapters 415-417 (and some of that content was left out of the anime as well). That said, knowing that you don't like flash backs, you can probably just skip the stuff between chapters 400-414, and start around 415 and just go on from there, though keep in mind that my numbers may be a little off.
Ugh, I caught up all the way on HXH a few minutes ago and hate myself for doing so. I stayed a few episodes behind to avoid having to wait for new episodes. Now the wait will be painful.
So I didn't know where to post this. I wasn't sure if it warranted a new thread, and this thread is the closest thing I could find to a general anime thread.
Apparently they are making a 4-part Pokemon anime about the original video games staring their main characters, Red and Green. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokemon_Origins
Quote from: talonmalon333 on September 26, 2013, 12:34:33 PM
Apparently they are making a 4-part Pokemon anime about the original video games staring their main characters, Red and Green. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokemon_Origins
The most interesting thing about it is that TPCI is actually going to dub it, and release it online over the course of four weeks starting sometime in November. Otherwise, I'm not
that interested in it, but I'll still check it out, since it should be more fun to watch than the main anime at least.
I'm still gonna wait and see if I can watch the sub version first, then I'll check out the dub when they post it on the website. I've been excited for since I heard about it. I will admit that it is kind of nice to see another animation studio helping out with it.
Got around to watching more of The Big O yesterday. The opening is growing on me.
I started watching Maison Ikkoku yesterday. It's pretty good so far.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BVWYKlUCcAEc6Nr.jpg:large)
This is so sleazy, it becomes hilarious.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-10-04/crunchyroll-to-stream-hajime-no-ippo-rising-anime (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-10-04/crunchyroll-to-stream-hajime-no-ippo-rising-anime)
2pm, tomorrow. I'm sure E-K and Grave are pretty excited about this. I think I'll check it out too, even though I haven't caught up on the series, since from what I've been reading of the newest chapters it's quite interesting and fairly accessible no matter where you start it. ;)
Yeah. Expect a review of this from me for the anime seasonal clusterfuck.
Yep, very excited. Although, I really need to get a Crunchyroll account.
You don't need to have an account to watch videos on CR. If you get an account and pay for a subscription, then you can watch all of their videos as soon as they release. However, if you just wait a week after each new episode is uploaded, then anyone can watch them for free. If you ask me, it makes much more sense to save some money if the only caveat for doing so is that you'll be a week behind the current releases.
Ah, so that's how that works. I was never a fan of having to register to a site just to watch something, and then I heard that you had to pay so I bypassed CR altogether. Hmm, glad that's cleared up.
And while you're over at Crunchyroll, there's another show you need to watch... :humhumhum:
Quote from: Grave on October 05, 2013, 11:49:23 AM
Ah, so that's how that works. I was never a fan of having to register to a site just to watch something, and then I heard that you had to pay so I bypassed CR altogether. Hmm, glad that's cleared up.
I believe it used to be a premium-only service, but they changed it a while back to waiting a week for free users.
I just watched the first episode of Hajime no Ippo: Rising. I'll have my review up later tonight, but they are doing a really smart thing by cutting so much content out of the Shimabakuro fight, which I honestly found to be pretty boring in the manga.
Anyways, it was a good episode. I also LOVE how they are using most of the OST from the original run of the anime, which IMO is the best soundtrack for this show to have.
Just watched the premieres of Kuroko no Basket 2 and Kill La Kill as well. Both were also good.
Yay, you watched it! :joy:
Quote from: Foggle on October 05, 2013, 12:25:03 PM
And while you're over at Crunchyroll, there's another show you need to watch... :humhumhum:
And that is?
Quote from: Grave on October 05, 2013, 10:08:27 PM
Quote from: Foggle on October 05, 2013, 12:25:03 PM
And while you're over at Crunchyroll, there's another show you need to watch... :humhumhum:
And that is?
Here, use Daisuki instead. http://www.daisuki.net/movies/watch/UFc/JGc
Ah, that. I did check Kill la Kill before going to bed last night. I thought the animation was spot on. The fighting and the animation are the main reasons I'm so curious about Birdy the Mighty and Corpse Princess. That said, the wackiness don't really cut it for me. I was never a fan of Gurren Lagann (and I see a bit of that here) or Fooly Cooly so I don't really get a kick out of that craziness, but the high octane animation really was good.
I guess I'm at that splitting point where the animation could really be a draw point for me, while everything else is a turnoff. Speaking of turnoffs, I really hope Ryoko (sp?) isn't going to be dressed like that throughout the series. I stopped myself from going on a rant about Fairy Tail throwing fanservice in my face every chapter, and that could be a breaking point for me.
I'm not dismissing this yet, because it definitely has the draw to get me back into anime, but because I have such a low tolerance level, I can't guarantee I'll be sticking with this.
I'd assume it's only going to get sillier from the first episode, so it's probably not for you. :( Glad you liked the animation though!
Quote from: Grave on October 06, 2013, 12:01:28 PM
Ah, that. I did check Kill la Kill before going to bed last night. I thought the animation was spot on. The fighting and the animation are the main reasons I'm so curious about Birdy the Mighty and Corpse Princess. That said, the wackiness don't really cut it for me. I was never a fan of Gurren Lagann (and I see a bit of that here) or Fooly Cooly so I don't really get a kick out of that craziness, but the high octane animation really was good.
I guess I'm at that splitting point where the animation could really be a draw point for me, while everything else is a turnoff. Speaking of turnoffs, I really hope Ryoko (sp?) isn't going to be dressed like that throughout the series. I stopped myself from going on a rant about Fairy Tail throwing fanservice in my face every chapter, and that could be a breaking point for me.
I'm not dismissing this yet, because it definitely has the draw to get me back into anime, but because I have such a low tolerance level, I can't guarantee I'll be sticking with this.
Except for the fact that I like FLCL, this.
Currently viewing Watamote...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAIAXFQ0T74
That opening...
...and, in other news...
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Foi42.tinypic.com%2F2s91wk2.jpg&hash=c43b7f2f15f45d2a0006574f7a35e9e28f27ce2a)
...so true, so true.
I really enjoyed Watamote. I thought it was simultaneously hilarious and depressing. :D
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F31.media.tumblr.com%2F23463cc17b699f523ae031199e7d7a40%2Ftumblr_ms6ah4FSs51r6k1two1_500.jpg&hash=cae6e147e9c25e10208d0a4a55da27c6c8cbcd01)
What watching Watamote felt like.
I've been wanting to watch Watamote for some time now, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I should just set up a time during the week where I can watch a bunch of streaming anime, like Kill la Kill, One Piece, Hunter X Hunter, The Eccentric Family etc. back to back. :D
I feel like a total hipster for saying it but read the manga. A lot of jokes were gleamed over and Tomoko isn't nearly as unlikeable in print.
Also I'm not a big fan of Kill la Kill but I'ma keep watching because of Ami Koshimizu.
I don't think Tomoko is unlikeable in the anime, but yeah, the manga is better.
The voice acting in KLK is the best I've heard in an anime in a long time.
I think by the time I got around to Gurren Lagann the show had been so hyped up for me, that it simply couldn't meet my expectations. I think someone here or somewhere else said it best where the show kind of laid the over-the-top hyper craziness on a bit too thick, which made trying to feel anything for the (sort of?) mood whiplash that happened down the road a bit difficult. Animation was still fantastic. I only saw it when it aired on Animondays, but I do have the complete series dvd and plan on giving it another watch down the road.
And the Yoko cosplays it gave us... oh my yes. :joy:
Quote from: Nel_Annette on October 08, 2013, 12:20:02 AM
I think by the time I got around to Gurren Lagann the show had been so hyped up for me, that it simply couldn't meet my expectations. I think someone here or somewhere else said it best where the show kind of laid the over-the-top hyper craziness on a bit too thick, which made trying to feel anything for the (sort of?) mood whiplash that happened down the road a bit difficult. Animation was still fantastic.
Yeah, I felt exactly the same way the first time I tried watching it. The over the topness doesn't bother me anymore, though; in fact, I absolutely love it. Guess my taste just
really changed over the years. :sweat:
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 07, 2013, 04:39:44 AM
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F31.media.tumblr.com%2F23463cc17b699f523ae031199e7d7a40%2Ftumblr_ms6ah4FSs51r6k1two1_500.jpg&hash=cae6e147e9c25e10208d0a4a55da27c6c8cbcd01)
What watching Watamote felt like.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi407.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fpp160%2FDaxdiv%2FGIF%2520Party%2Frightinthefeels.gif&hash=f5a44d92b789c2998de211f5594a0fc31d4b3e9f)
Sometimes, I feel sorry that kid. Still, I wonder how long we'll have to wait for season 2, can't wait to see her new rival, Kotomi Komiyama in animated form.
Watched episode 99 of HXH. Another good episode that hints what'll happen in later episodes.
NEXT TIME ON THE AOTY
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So glad someone made a gif of this.
Finally got a chance to see the 1st episode to the new Hajime no Ippo. Depending on the amount of episodes will determine if I have a problem or not. For the most part I don't really have a problem, but I do have somewhat of a concern with the pacing. Which is ironic because the manga feels more like it's dragging things out whereas, here it feels a bit on the rushy side. Hopefully episode 2 or 3 (or whenever this fight ends) will explain who this guy is so it won't feel like another nobody being thrown at Ippo, although, I probably got all the info I need.
I'm hoping for at least 50 episodes (which I don't think was said to be happening) because 26 don't really do this series any justice. I think the reason I like season 1 so much was (minus the fights) because the characters were fleshed out. With HnI being 1000+ chapters strong and don't look like it'll end anytime soon, 26 or less episodes is too little to really get to know the characters that're being introduced, and this is probably one of the other reasons I didn't care much for New Challenger.
Watching Diabolik Lovers, and the vampire date-rapist of the episode yells at his victim, saying that it's her own fault for being so weak.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 14, 2013, 07:02:09 PM
Watching Diabolik Lovers, and the vampire date-rapist of the episode yells at his victim, saying that it's her own fault for being so weak.
So feminist.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BWmEjHNCEAA9Ko-.jpg:large)
Re-watching Fujiko Mine, and yeah, this is by far the best anime of 2012 IMO. The first two Goemon episodes aside, it's pretty much perfect. Easily the best Lupin III title.
Quote from: Foggle on October 16, 2013, 05:05:18 PM
Re-watching Fujiko Mine, and yeah, this is by far the best anime of 2012 IMO. The first two Goemon episodes aside, it's pretty much perfect. Easily the best Lupin III title.
Agreed on all of this. :thumbup:
I kind of want to write a review now. For whatever reason, it seems to have been criminally overlooked and underrated by most anime fans. Guess modern anime watchers don't appreciate the classics and just gloss over stuff like Lupin on principle? Also, it seems like a fair amount of the people who've seen it failed to understand the underlying social commentary of the show.
Watched episode 100 of HXH for dinner last night. Man that was brutal.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2F13010e346c9b6303dd19282460b8675b%2Ftumblr_mtvd5cJRwt1qeg82xo1_500.png&hash=bd7d2bf739e5c2ad78e9d65f679c0a85f1f8bb04)
The Magi dub is bleh but passable. That being said, the Thaumatet seems to have mostly enjoyed the show.
Well
Watching Neo Ranga DVD one volume at a time each Sunday
Current Anime Im Watching:
Walkure Romanze (Sunday)
Arpeggio of Blue Steel (Monday) might drop though if ep 3 doesn't impress
Coppelion (Wednesday)
Kill la Kill (Thursday)
I just started Hunter x Hunter (1999) a few days ago.
Every Thursday I watch Samurai Flamenco (and of course Kill la Kill). Both are amazing.
Snagged a copy of FLCL for $6 online earlier today, so I'll be sure to give that another look once it gets here.
I'm also trying to decide whether to finish Attack on Titan or Legend of the Galactic Heroes first. AoT is shorter, but I'm a lot more interested in LoGH. Hmm.
Quote from: Foggle on October 20, 2013, 11:49:43 PM
I just started Hunter x Hunter (1999) a few days ago.
:happytime:
Just keep in mind that it gets off to a slow start, but I think it gets good by the 12 episode mark. After that it can still be a bit slow paced, but that's because it becomes more about character building rather than fighting.
QuoteEvery Thursday I watch Samurai Flamenco (and of course Kill la Kill). Both are amazing.
Yeah, Kill La Kill is a pretty fun series, so far.
QuoteI'm also trying to decide whether to finish Attack on Titan or Legend of the Galactic Heroes first. AoT is shorter, but I'm a lot more interested in LoGH. Hmm.
I honestly haven't watched past the first episode of AoT since it seems to be like a carbon copy of the manga. I also happen to find that the manga is becoming progressively more stupid as it goes on. Honestly, the first season of the anime seems to cover as far as the best parts of the story, anyways.
I need to restart Legend of the Galactic Heroes, myself.
I tried watching Gundam Unicorn a few months back, and I just couldn't get into it. I just think that, on the whole, the Gundam franchise isn't for me, with the lone exception of 0080, which I found to be excellent since it just worked as such a great stand-alone piece with minimal references to the rest of the Gundam Universe. On that note, I plan on re-watching that series this weekend.
I also think I'll hit up Digimon Adventure for a re-watch on Netflix (the sub, this time). I've been re-watching Tamers, and really my only problem with the series is its slow start, but once the team starts coming together, that's when I feel that the writing and characterization start to go far beyond the quality of what you'd expect out of most kids shows.
Watched episodes 3 and 4 of Fate/Zero. Now I am starting to like the series.
Quote from: TheEclecticDude on October 20, 2013, 10:58:54 PM
Well
Watching Neo Ranga DVD one volume at a time each Sunday
Current Anime Im Watching:
Walkure Romanze (Sunday)
Arpeggio of Blue Steel (Monday) might drop though if ep 3 doesn't impress
Coppelion (Wednesday)
Kill la Kill (Thursday)
I might have to space things out like this instead of trying to catch up on everything at once, especially since I hardly feel like I can watch anything to begin with.
Anyway, I watched some of the 4th movie to Bleach, and from what I saw of it, I thought it was pretty good. Then again, I thought Bleach movies (except for the 1st movie) were better than the actual series. The story is nothing special, but at least you get an actual story with the movies. Anyway, at this point I'd say if you're looking at Bleach for a story you should just kick yourself. Animation wise, this is some pretty good stuff. I know there's more effort put into the movies because of a higher budget, but one would think they can put this amount of quality into the series itself.
Fairly decent with good fighting. Nothing that you wouldn't expect from this one.
Quote from: Grave on October 25, 2013, 05:03:10 PM
I might have to space things out like this instead of trying to catch up on everything at once, especially since I hardly feel like I can watch anything to begin with.
Anyway, I watched some of the 4th movie to Bleach, and from what I saw of it, I thought it was pretty good. Then again, I thought Bleach movies (except for the 1st movie) were better than the actual series. The story is nothing special, but at least you get an actual story with the movies. Anyway, at this point I'd say if you're looking at Bleach for a story you should just kick yourself. Animation wise, this is some pretty good stuff. I know there's more effort put into the movies because of a higher budget, but one would think they can put this amount of quality into the series itself.
Fairly decent with good fighting. Nothing that you wouldn't expect from this one.
It's kinda sad when the true villain of that movie is a better villain than any of the canon villains. :sweat:
Quote from: Rynnec on October 25, 2013, 05:08:19 PM
Quote from: Grave on October 25, 2013, 05:03:10 PM
I might have to space things out like this instead of trying to catch up on everything at once, especially since I hardly feel like I can watch anything to begin with.
Anyway, I watched some of the 4th movie to Bleach, and from what I saw of it, I thought it was pretty good. Then again, I thought Bleach movies (except for the 1st movie) were better than the actual series. The story is nothing special, but at least you get an actual story with the movies. Anyway, at this point I'd say if you're looking at Bleach for a story you should just kick yourself. Animation wise, this is some pretty good stuff. I know there's more effort put into the movies because of a higher budget, but one would think they can put this amount of quality into the series itself.
Fairly decent with good fighting. Nothing that you wouldn't expect from this one.
It's kinda sad when the true villain of that movie is a better villain than any of the canon villains. :sweat:
Agreed.
I finally finished Maison Ikkoku. It's definitely one of my favorite anime now.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on October 28, 2013, 06:17:50 PM
I finally finished Maison Ikkoku. It's definitely one of my favorite anime now.
:swoon: :e_hail: :el_hail:
Awesome! Watch
Urusei Yatsura next! (start from season 2 with episode 28, though, since you won't be able to find season 1 subbed very conveniently).
I watched episode 5 of Fate/Zero, last night, I believe. I am really starting to like this show. I wish more series had more than two sides in it.
This review is for you, E-K: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/gto/great-teacher-onizuka/dvd-complete-collection
I watched episode 7 of Fate/Zero for dinner. Time powers, you say?
Quote from: Foggle on October 31, 2013, 12:48:34 AM
This review is for you, E-K: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/gto/great-teacher-onizuka/dvd-complete-collection
It's a well written review from one of the better ANN editors. That said, I disagree with the author that GTO only works as a nostalgia piece. I only first watched it when I was in college, and it never felt dated at all, to me, outside of the animation.
Watched episode 102 of HXH. I had a feeling Melereon's power was based off of DBZ's Guldo when he first explained it. When demonstrated its 2nd use, that confirmed it.
Just came back from seeing The Wind Rises.
Twas a good story for Miyazaki to end on, especially considering his love for aviation and aircraft. A very touching, human story, but with plenty of the wonder that his films always seem to capture so amazingly. I can't say I thought it was a perfect film, since it more chronicles a life than tells a story with a clear direction and goal, but it was definitely a good movie, maybe my favorite film I've seen this year. And it was nice seeing it in a theater in it's original language, especially seeing how that's a first for me, and it was nice to do that with Miyazaki's last film. He's ended on a high note, in my opinion, and that makes me happy. I'll probably see this movie again when Disney dubs it, so I'll hold off on more elaborate thoughts on the film for now until I've seen it twice, but I definitely recommend checking it out as soon as you guys are able to.
I don't see how stories that chronicle a life can't be as good as films with a clear, direct story (I'm referring to how you used that to follow-up the statement that the film wasn't perfect; though, IMO, no film is perfect). Some of my favorite films ever are like that, and if anything it's just that the story is about someone's life. Sometimes that's pretty refreshing when there are so many movies about some crisis or issue that has to get resolved in a relatively short amount of time.
Wolf Children: Ame & Yumi is essentially just about a mother raising her kids from infancy into the late parts of their childhood, and I like it just about as much as something as action-packed as Redline. It doesn't have the flash or fancy animation of the latter, but it makes up for that with a lot of insight into family values and issues, and has characters that you just like to see grow up, and it's just as interesting to watch for that very reason.
Anyways, I'm not a fan of Miyazaki films, but I do respect the guy as a creator/animator, and it's always a shame to see such a talented figure leave the world of animation behind. Of course his work will still be around for a long time, so I doubt that he'll ever be forgotten.
Well, first I meant "perfect" as far as films can be "perfect," not in a total masterpiece-gauging sense. My favorite films, after all, are hardly perfect themselves. :D
What I really meant was, the movie never really built up to anything. It was more of a collection of particular moments in Jiro Horikoshi's life, detailing his inspiration for becoming an engineer for planes, his struggles and successes in building his dream plane, and the story how he met, courted, and married his wife. There wasn't really a goal or main plot consistently worked toward and payed off in the film, and I myself didn't find that to be a bad thing (in fact I loved it), but for other people I could imagine them wondering "what was the point?" This may be my favorite Miyazaki film, actually (though I must give it a re-watch before I decide that for sure), so I definitely never meant to imply that stories that chronicle a life can't be as enjoyable as films with direct stories, just that for a lot of people it might not work for them as an experience.
Watched episode 15 of Fate/Zero for breakfast, episode 103 or 4 {I forget) of HXH for lunch and episode 16 of FZ for dinner(a few minutes ago)
For FZ, that was a nice ending to the Caster fight, episode 16 was intense, sad and unexpected. I thought it was a cooldown episode but they continued their duel. As for the end of the episode, I actually wondered if a Command Spell could make a Heroic Spirit do that...
As for HXH, how clever the end of "the game of Tag" impressed the hell out of me. I also liked how he called him an idiot. :D
Pokemon Origins first episode was dubbed and the cast was pretty good in this. Wasn't your typical NY voice actors, but rather LA. Red was voiced by Kirito, Oak by Adult Gohan, Brock was Ichigo Kurosaki. I was not expecting this in the slightest. They also reduced Charmander's blood curling scream by giving them new voice actor as well.
Finished Fate/Zero yesterday morning.... :shit:
Watched episode 105 (I think), of HXH. I knew she would say "My life." but didnt expect the heartfelt explanation.
Episode 817: Spooky Shelter! Espurr Watches You!! (January 30th 2014)
Holy shit, even the anime writers know that Espurr is a creepy bastard! :o
didn't know where else to put this ^^,
I've been watching the FUNi dub of Level E. They've really done a good job with this series. I actually find Togashi's cynical sense of humor to shine through with the dub more than ever. I also have to say that while it's just a short anthology series, this show is proof that Togashi is a damn clever writer. I struggle to think of any series besides his own that are consistently as unique and unpredictable while still being backed by actual good writing and some semblance of interesting characters.
I know that Level E and Hunter X Hunter are a bit too out there and won't appeal to everyone, but if you go into them with the right mindset then they can be tremendously fun series. I'd recommend at least checking both out if you haven't already tried them.
Yeah, I also thought the dub for Level E was excellent. Vic Mignogna's performance as Prince Baka in particular was perfection, and made the show even better for me than in the episodes I watched subbed.
I remember hearing people being disgruntled that Mignogna was playing the Prince, thinking it was an odd choice. But when thinking about it, Vic Mignogna playing a blonde, flamboyant, egotist is rather his type, eh?
Well, let's see some of his most notable roles besides Prince Baka:
Edward Elric (FullMetal Alchemist/Brotherhood/Those shitty movies)- Blonde, flamboyant, egotistical teenager
Tamaki Suou (Ouran High School Host Club)- Blonde, flamboyant, egotistical rich-teenager
Kurz Weber (Full Metal Panic!/Fumoffu/TSR)- Blonde, flamboyant, egotistical mercenary who acts like a teenager
Yes.
Honestly, despite just being an experimental project on Togashi's part, I didn't initially give Level E enough credit. It's a legitimately entertaining sci-fi/comedy anthology, and while it's maybe not laugh-out-loud funny, it's one of the freshest and most appealing anime comedies that I've ever seen.
I also find it funny that in the preview for the dub, they advertised the show as being from the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho AND Hunter X Hunter, so they know that the latter is a popular enough title among anime fans if they even bothered mentioning that (still kind of niche, but a lot of fans have at least heard of the series). Wouldn't it be something if FUNi got their hands on it? Then they'd have all 3 of Togashi's main series, and a stellar dub would be almost guaranteed given the talent that they have on hand. Right now I'm hoping that the only reason it hasn't been licensed yet is because what Cartoon X said was true, about Madhouse somehow not wanting the series to be licensed overseas until it finishes airing its initial anime run. Perhaps it has something to do with CR's rights to stream the series, and I suppose if another company licensed it that might be seen as competition or something? I don't know if that actually applies, though, because I'm pretty sure other series have gotten licensed by FUNi while still being streamed in CR, but I can't think of any specific examples off the top of my head.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on November 24, 2013, 10:24:45 AM
I also find it funny that in the preview for the dub, they advertised the show as being from the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho AND Hunter X Hunter, so they know that the latter is a popular enough title among anime fans if they even bothered mentioning that (still kind of niche, but a lot of fans have at least heard of the series).
They aired the 1999 series on FUNimation channel back in 2009, so yeah, I think they know of it's popularity.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on November 24, 2013, 10:24:45 AM
Perhaps it has something to do with CR's rights to stream the series, and I suppose if another company licensed it that might be seen as competition or something? I don't know if that actually applies, though, because I'm pretty sure other series have gotten licensed by FUNi while still being streamed in CR, but I can't think of any specific examples off the top of my head.
When FUNimation licensed
Fairy Tail, Crunchyroll still simulcasted the new episodes...except they were off-limits to watch if you lived in North America, unless you got a premium membership or something. Because that's a precedent for what could happen if
Hunter X Hunter was picked up by FUNi while still running, I don't think Crunchyroll streaming it is the biggest issue for them to license it. I still think it has something to do with Madhouse not wanting to let the series be licensed before it's finished, or at least that's the only real reason I can think of as to why it hasn't been yet, since the show is pretty popular from what I can gather and you'd think they'd notice that. I really do hope that when/if it does get licensed FUNi gets it, for the same reason that it would be cool to have all three anime adaptions of Togashi's works be released by the same company, but also because I don't trust Viz or god-forbid Aniplex with giving it a good dub either.
The ending to Gurren Lagann.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.animevice.com%2Fuploads%2F0%2F3419%2F197152-kencry2.jpg&hash=ea9b9169fc14830d4492aaa8932bf38d98cd7550)
Here's what I recommend you try whenever you have time to getting around to some more anime on your backlog, in order of quality:
1. Summer Wars
2. Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
3. Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal (sub)
4. Hajime no Ippo
5. Hunter X Hunter (either series, sub only)
6. Level E (sub or dub, but I like the dub better so far)
7. Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu
#'s 1-3 are must-sees. Everything after that is kind of a stretch, but I felt like they are at least worth a try. Hajime no Ippo is long, so if you don't want to watch at least 75-episodes, you may want to pass that one (same with Hunter X Hunter, regardless of which version you might pick). Level E is only 13 episodes but it's certainly not for everyone (it's very much what I'd call an acquired taste). FMP Fumoffu is entertaining, but once again, it may not be everyone's brand o humor.
Also, I'm not sure if you've already watched Ouran yet, but if you haven't, then that's what I'd recommend. It's probably the best anime comedy that I've personally ever seen.
And here's some stuff I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't seen them yet.
1. Maison Ikkoku (It's by far Viz's best dub, imo, but you can't go wrong subbed either)
2. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (SUBBED. Do not watch UY, in any form, dubbed under ANY circumstances. Seriously)
3. The Slayers Franchise (or at least the original tv anime trilogy. Preferably dubbed for the tv series and subbed for the movies (though you'd be missing out on Kelly Manison's Naga...), but you can't go wrong either way.)
4. Martian Successor Nadesico (but stay the fuck away from the movie.)
5. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
6. Samurai Flamenco
7. School Rumble
8. Azumanga Daioh
9. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (Dub, no question ;))
#1-3 are must-sees, especially since all three are regarded as genuine anime classics. Aside from that, though, 1, 3, and 4 are anime I honestly think everyone here would like.
As for the rest, Magi is one of the best recent shonen anime I've seen in a good while, and really addictive once you hit the Balbadd arc in episode 7. Even Dalek, who hates most modern shonen series, loves this show, so if that doesn't pique your interest in checking it out, watch it anyway. You won't be dissapointed. As for Samurai Flamenco, that one is a little recent and I don't know where it's going, which is my I put it sixth, but it's definitely one of the best anime of the season so far and it's super sad that not a lot of people seem to be watching it, so do give it a try if you haven't already. School Rumble and Azumanga Daioh are two of the best anime comedies I've seen, and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is my favorite anime comedy ever (it's also my favorite anime, but you all know that), but of course comedy can be subjective, so these series may not be everybody's brand of humor.
Now for Beautiful Dreamer... Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is probably the hardest sell for people here even though I put it #2. It's my favorite anime movie, no question, but to be honest you have to watch at least some of the show to REALLY appreciate it. It's definitely worth watching, since it's the movie that brought Mamoru Oishii to his early fame and UY fans aren't alone in loving it since it's one of the most critically acclaimed anime films based on a shonen manga, but it's probably best if you know how some of the nuances of Lum and Ataru's relationship, personally, so you might want to watch Inaba the Dream Maker (the third OVA) or the first movie to at least familiarize yourself quickly with the characters. Again though...it is a highly acclaimed anime film so I very well could call it a must-see, and it can work fine standalone. I just think some more knowledge about the characters and series enhances the experience, is all.
I'm on episode 10 of Magi. I don't find the Balbadd arc quite as addicting as I was promised, but it's still a fun shounen series, nonetheless.
I need to catch up on Kill la Kill and Samurai Flamenco (and maybe the Big O) first, but thanks for the suggestions. :)
I started watching Space Brothers. It's definitely something that seems up my alley. I'll see how long it manages to hold my interest.
Ah sweet, Hulu Plus has the new Guyver. Those ads though. :srs:
Finished re-watching Madoka in preparation for Rebellion on Sunday. It was pretty fantastic - a lot better than I remembered. Probably one of my favorites now. God, my taste has changed so much over the years...
Quote from: Foggle on December 04, 2013, 01:12:31 AM
Finished re-watching Madoka in preparation for Rebellion on Sunday. It was pretty fantastic - a lot better than I remembered. Probably one of my favorites now. God, my taste has changed so much over the years...
I'm also going to see Rebellion on sunday! I don't have time to re-watch the show before then, but I've seen it thrice, so I remember everything that happens in it. :awesome:
Madoka was my #1 favorite anime for most of 2012, but after watching it three times it fell lower on the list. I still think it's an amazing show, though, and I'm excited to see Rebellion.
Watched episode 107 of HXH. Whoa..that fight ended faster than I expected. Good to see Killua and Gon again. I really enjoyed how they show stayed interested with a few episodes without them though.
This generation's End of Evangelion tickled my fancy.
I'm gonna be watching it tomorrow. Can't wait! ;D
Quote from: Cartoon X on December 07, 2013, 02:13:42 PM
I'm gonna be watching it tomorrow. Can't wait! ;D
...ANNNNNNDDD new favorite anime movie acquired!
I like Akira, but Summer Wars is still my favorite anime movie by far.
I was talking about Puella Magi Madoka Magica 3: The Rebellion Story. There are only a few movies that I've ever believed I got my money's worth seeing on the big screen, and that was one of them by far. Now I have an anime film fav trio of Rebellion/Beautiful Dreamer/End of Evangelion, which all are neck in neck in terms of quality, enjoyment, and satisfaction for me. Funny how they are all films based on anime franchises though. :D
After seeing Akira on Toonami, though, it is also one of my favorites now. The animation and direction in that is ungodly, and Otomo does a good job fitting in 1000 pages of story in 2 hours all things considered. I admit I still prefer the manga, which is also one of my favorites now, as far as the story/characters go.
Now, Summer Wars. I will finally watch that on Toonami this saturday E-K, and I can't wait. I've honestly had a lot of opportunities to watch the film for the past few years but never got around to it for some reason. Enough is enough though, and I'll be watching it. I'm sure it'll also be one of my favorites. ;)
I'm on an anime movie high now thanks to Rebellion and The Wind Rises, so if anyone's got films to suggest for me to watch, please do. It'd be best to make the most of this motivation while it lasts. 8)
I've also been on a Kenshin high after finishing the manga and re-watched the Oniwabanshu portion of the Tokyo arc in the anime. I'll probably start up Kyoto over my Winter Break. But first, to also make use of my movie high, I'm going to watch Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal. RIGHT NOW. No seriously, RIGHT NOW. In two and a half hours time I'll tell you guys what I think of it, though I'm 100% positive I'm going to love it. ;D
Whoops, for some reason I thought that this was the Toonami thread. :sweat:
I still haven't even watched the first 2 Madoka Magica movies, but from what I've heard they are mostly recaps of the TV series.
Oh, wait, if you're going to watch the RK movie, stay away from the dub. It's god-awful.
I didn't watch the first two movies because I was told that they were just retellings as well. But the third movie is a whole new story. You think there'd be nowhere to go after the anime ended, but....WOW. So glad I didn't spoil myself on the movie beforehand, seriously.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on December 09, 2013, 12:54:33 PM
Oh, wait, if you're going to watch the RK movie, stay away from the dub. It's god-awful.
Thanks for the warning!
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on December 09, 2013, 12:52:36 PM
I still haven't even watched the first 2 Madoka Magica movies, but from what I've heard they are mostly recaps of the TV series.
Don't bother if you've seen the show. Unless you're looking for a slightly shorter re-watch, I suppose.
Rebellion was fuckin' good. Hopefully I can get my review up tonight.
Ah, this Saturday. I don't even know what Summer Wars is. I'll check it out then.
I just watched the movie. Overall, I liked it, but I do feel like the last half hour got a bit too convoluted for my liking (not unlike End of Evangelion). I mean, all of a sudden I was being hit with constant exposition that was only interrupted by really gorgeous visuals. As a stand-alone movie it's clearly not meant for newcomers. As a companion piece to the show it fairs quite well, though as far as endings go, I do have to admit that I felt the show left off at a better place.
I lament how I would buy this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_170630_73348470_pe_button/?ASIN=B00E68991S) if only it was half the cost or at least was the complete series and/or subbed. It'd admittedly be mostly a nostalgia-buy, but one I'd go for if it was any cheaper. Though, I would rather Kodansha USA re-release the manga in Omnibus format here in the states, since it's much better than the anime at any rate. Oh well.
Of all the Viz series that could be rescued and re-released though, the one that I would totally nostalgia-impulse buy would be a complete release of dubbed Hamtaro. MAKE IT HAPPEN NEW VIDEO GROUP.
Watched half of Hunter X Hunter ep. 108 then talked to my brother about it. I will start over and watch the whole thing later.
Finished episode 108 at the end of the last hour. lol @ Youpi's reactions to Pitou and whatshernames' craziness.
I liked how another person The King killed for no reason was brought up.
Just got around to finishing the second season of The Big O. Overall, I didn't like it quite as much as the first. I'm kind of disappointed it didn't have the same tone the first season had, and it was pretty damn confusing at times, but I still liked it.
I started watching Psycho-Pass yesterday. I'm enjoying the series so far.
I've been watching Space Brothers and Ashita no Joe, lately.
With Space Brothers, I'm up to the part where Mutta has passed the third exam and has just arrived in Houston, Texas for his interview at NASA. The anime has still managed to keep my interest without slowing down its pace, so I'll likely be catching up to this series before too long.
As for ANJ, I've just been watching the first anime in order to see its differences from the manga (of which their are a number) as well as to pass time by until new scans of the manga are released so I can continue with the story. I really have to say that this anime shows its age in terms of animation quality, as the dirt-cheap budget that this show obviously had to work with leads to some really clumsy looking motions for the characters. At the same time, the shoddy look of this series kind of fits with its tone of depicting lower-class Japan of that era, so in a weird way it has a sort of indescribable charm to it. The minimal use of instruments for the music also kind of gives this anime a distinct vibe, and it also got me to realize how much modern anime can over-use "big" musical scores as a cheap way to increase dramatic effect, whereas this series has to try and work around that stuff as much as possible. One really noticeable thing is that rather than having an official instrumental version of the main theme, each episode that I've seen so far plays it in a different way, which I find to be incredibly creative. In the first episode, for example, you see Joe whistling it; and how bad-ass (and incredibly meta) is it for the main character to be able to whistle their own theme-song? In another episode you hear it in the form of a piano, and in another it might be by guitar. I think that's a pretty cool way to make the limited amount of soundtracks that this show has to work with feel fresh and new each time, so that you don't feel like you've been listening to the same damn music a thousand times after just a few episodes.
Overall the anime has quite a few flaws, but for a relatively early anime-adaptation, it's certainly got some merit to it, and is just different enough from the manga to warrant checking out both versions (though the manga is still the better, more concise version of the story, of course).
As for other anime, I'm still in the middle of the Balbadd arc of Magi, and it's....OK, I guess. I mean, it's good stuff compared to a majority of the crap in shounen series these days, but I'm just not getting that "feeling" you get when you like a series so much that it compels you to keep watching or reading it until you finally catch up with it. I mean to say that while it's good, it's not quite the series that I would lose sleep over. For a reference point, something like the aforementioned Space Brothers or Ashita no Joe (manga only) are the types of series that can get me so hooked that I'd stay up late into the night watching them if I were stuck in the middle of a story-arc, until I actually got to some point of resolution. For what it is, though, it's still a fun shounen series that I watch at an even pace (about one episode every other day, at this point).
I've also been keeping up with Hunter X Hunter (obviously), Kill La Kill, Samurai Flamenco (I'll comment about my thoughts on the current status of this series after I see next week's episode), Hajime no Ippo: Rising, Kuroko no Basket 2, and Ace of Diamond. Of those series, I'm finally dropping Ace of Diamond. Out of all of the shounen sports manga/anime that I've seen so far, this is by far the weakest one. Really, it's just a steaming pile of mediocrity in the form of tons of genre tropes and boring, completely conventional characters. It also doesn't help that I find Baseball to be a painfully boring sport, and this series, unlike much better series in the shounen sports genre, doesn't do anything to convince me otherwise.
Finals are over, so I just marathoned episodes 3-10 of Hunter x Hunter (the original). I'm really starting to get into this show now. :)
Good man! :thumbup: I'll be watching the original once I get a good computer.
Quote from: Foggle on December 15, 2013, 06:54:58 PMFinals are over, so I just marathoned episodes 3-10 of Hunter x Hunter (the original). I'm really starting to get into this show now. :)
:swoon:
Just keep in mind that the anime kind of hits a training arc around the middle that's not necessarily the most interesting thing, but everything outside of that is great, and the arc following it is the absolute best part of the series.
I've watched quite a lot of stuff this last week. No series besides the obvious stuff I'm keeping up with, but a bunch of great movies and OVAs. I don't think I can write good write-ups on them right now, but I'll leave some brief thoughts:
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal - Pretty much what I expected. The basic story wasn't much different from the manga content-wise, aside from the climax, changing details so as to make Kenshin depressed/broken on his way to Tomoe instead of enraged, which I actually quite liked and might even prefer to the manga's depiction. Otherwise it was the Remembrance arc in all that made it so excellent already in the manga, with some small changes that I think made it even better. If I had any real complaint about it, it's that it doesn't feel like Rurouni Kenshin tonally, wheras the original manga version did, and the OVA's Kenshin almost came across as a different character in some respects. In the manga Kenshin is clearly different in the past than in the present, yet he still feels like Kenshin, but the OVA seemed to make him too serious, and maybe the removal/toning down of some of the more comedic scenes of the arc played a part in that. It's not a problem so much as an odd way to characterize him, though it does help the OVA series stand on it's own as well as compliment the main series. Overall I loved it, but I refuse to consider this anymore of a movie than something like Pokemon: Origins when it's an OVA series, but if I did consider it one I would rank it fairly high up as a favorite.
Dead Leaves - Man this movie is just so much damn fun. Classic Imaishi crazy-ness and proto-Gurren Lagann art stylings, plus a bloody and insane story that pulls no punches and keeps an eccentric ride rolling for 48 minutes straight - I couldn't help but smile the whole way through.
Pokemon: Origins - It was pretty fun, with lots of nice gags for longtime fans of the franchise and some great cuts of animation. I honestly wish this was a full anime series. Easily ten times better than the normal anime as it is. The dub especially is excellent, the best dub any Pokemon anything has ever gotten. The best part of the entire OVA series for me was hearing Jamieson Price (aka Jelly Jiggler from Bobobo) as Giovanni. This is the best part of all of Origins AND THAT IS UNDENIABLE FACT...but, uh, seriously that just made my day. :D Overall Origins was probably the best crafted Pokemon anime I've seen in forever, and a real treat to watch. I don't think it was any much "darker and edgier" than the normal series or Adventures like people were claiming, but it certainly had a more mature tone to it which made it more palatable to me than the normal show usually is nowadays. I'd hope they make more specials like this in the future, or a new Pokemon anime in this vein, because it was nice to like watching Pokemon after so many years. Or, they could just give Pokemon Adventures an anime adaption. That would be awesome.
Aside from these, I have also now watched all of the anime films directed by Mamorou Hosada, all in the course of one weekend. I did so because Summer Wars was airing on Toonami, and I've been wanting to watch some of his other work for a while anyways, so it seemed like a good as time as any to do it. I decided to watch his non-franchise films yesterday, and then watched his franchise ones today.
Digimon Adventure - First work he did and I watched this last. Heh. Anyway, this "movie" is only 20 minutes long, so it's more like a pilot episode for the anime than a real film. However, in that regard, it was a really fun pilot, and the fight between Red Greymon and the bird digimon was pretty cool and the animation really holds up. It actually makes me want to give Digimon Adventure a proper re-watch since outside of a few eps on Nicktoons here and there I last watched the series in....2004? I'm not gonna lie, I remember very little about it, so maybe I'll watch it again when I get done with Hajime no Ippo and some other stuff. I only wished that the series looked as good as this film, though.
Digimon: Our War Game - Seeing some of the influences Summer Wars takes from this movie was interesting to me. Plot-wise it didn't quite grab me (outside the small commentary on how actions online can have consequences/ global internet community and communication themes) because it as basically "a digimon is causing havoc on the interwebs, let's destroy it" and so there wasn't any character/emotional weight I really saw to invest in more than a Pokemon film. What makes this movie kick the ass of any Pokemon film (besides maybe Lucario and the Mystery of Mew) is it's visuals and animation which are pretty damn gorgeous, and the fight scenes were pretty fast and hard-htting as well. I thought it was a pretty cool film overall, but in execution I think Summer Wars does more with the idea and has more character weight to it too.
One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island - This was a better than average shonen movie. The creepiness/subdued tone was nice, and overall the movie was great stuff and I'm glad it actually had a theme/idea to get out of the story, but I didn't find it to be a exceptional film either. While I'm glad I've finally watched it, it's not really something I would watch again. Same for the Digimon movies; I enjoyed them, but they didn't leave much impact on me (outside of the Digimon ones making me want to watch the show).
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - I honestly loved this movie. Mainly because Makoto was a easily likable and entertaining protagonist from the get-go, and the movie wastes no time getting the plot rolling and establishing and developing the characters, overall making the end story a highly satisfying experience for me. It's easily one of my favorite anime films, now.
Summer Wars - This movie is simply excellent. Obviously visually the movie is gorgeous and I loved that, but it's the plot/characters which wins me over. It's amazing how they introduced such a big family, yet retain each member with a specific and distinguishable personality and design, and capture the awkwardness and personality types of large families as well. Honestly, the stuff in the real world was more interesting than the stuff in the OZ for me because of the excellent characterizations and interactions. I don't agree that the movie is slow at the beginning at all. It moved fast and took the time to introduce these characters and their personalities, and while not many of the characters got massive development or anything, they were characterized effectively enough to carry the movie forward. As far as the plot goes, I liked the commentary on how interconnected all our activities are thanks to online information trafficking/socializing and the ramifications activities on the internet can have in real world consequences. Also the core idea of family sticking together through hardships was excellent and blended in with the other themes seamlessly. Overall the movie was easily one of the most well-crafted anime films I've watched. I think it's now my second favorite anime film now, after Beautiful Dreamer.
Wolf Children - Maybe I had too high expectations for it after 9 months of being hyped up to see it, but while I liked the film, I couldn't end up loving it like I expected to. I mean, yeah, the animation, music direction, and art direction was all beautiful and perfectly implemented and lived up to my hopes. Lots of amazing scenes in this movie. But the story was as effective for me. That's mostly because of the uneven perspective in the movie. What starts out as Hana's story becomes Ame and Yuki's story in the end. While that itself isn't a problem, it didn't feel like Hana reached a apex point in her character arc in the same way Ame and Yuki did in their final decisions on the path of life they wished to take. The third-person narration, while fair, prevents Hana from really being explored much as a character, and she doesn't make many mistakes nor seems to learn anything throughout the story. I mean in terms of raising the kids, since she did learn to open up to other people for help, but her troubles understanding how she should raise Ame and Yuki were her main problem for most of the narrative and this seems almost forgotten by the films end. Just some things about Hana's character arc felt a little unsatisfying to me, and this disappointed me since I have been hyped up on the movie for so long. Ame and Yuki's development and character arcs were excellent though, and the movie as a whole was full of great moments. I'm just disappointed I wasn't as enthralled with it as I wanted to be. Maybe I should re-watch it when I can get the dvd and then re-evaluate it, as I feel more mixed on the movie than I feel I should be, right now.
Overall I would rank Hosada's works:
1 - Summer Wars
2 - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
3 - Wolf Children
4 - One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island
5 - Digimon: Our War Game
6 - Digimon Adventure
I liked all of them, but I LOVED 1&2, have mixed feelings of like/love on Wolf Children, and think 4-6 are fun watches, but not more than that. In any case, I'm glad I finally watched these films, and now I can move on to the other anime films on my backlog like Redline, Naussica, Castle in the Sky, and Grave of the Fireflies. I should also finally get back to watching Hajime no Ippo, but my interest has been piqued on Shin Sekai Yori, which I've heard several people claim as one of the best animes of this year, and I also have yet to watch Watamote and start Gundam Build Fighters, so I might try getting through those first.
Good impressions.
Glad to see that you liked all of these movies to some degree.
I don't really agree about Wolf Children, though. I think the perspective was always mostly from Hana's side throughout the film, while each of the kids got about the same amount of screen-time between each other, and each had well-defined character arcs. I've seen this complaint come up before, but I just flat-out don't see it, myself.
And Hana makes plenty of mistakes and learns a lot throughout the story. She is not portrayed idealistically in the slightest. She constantly runs into problems while trying to raise her kids and the whole point of her character is that she's a woman who "learns" how to work around those problems. When she initially forbids her children from going to school because she's scared of people realizing their secret, that's a clear mistake right there, and she eventually realizes that it's not right upon seeing how much it upsets her daughter. The whole movie is full of moments like that, so I definitely didn't see it the way that you did.
And the whole point of her character arc was in regard to raising her children, which is actually a big thing. With her daughter she has to be as supportive as possible and keep her encouraged to live out her path in life, which is a huge jump from how in the beginning of the film she was very reserved and wanted to just hide her kids from the outside world. On the other hand, her son chose to be a wolf, and she had to learn to let him go off into the wild. She had to come to grips with that just being in his nature.
Anyways, I do respect your opinion as always, but somehow I saw it almost the exact opposite as you did. Sorry if it didn't do much for you, though. I still honestly think its one of the best animated films ever, though, and easily my 2nd favorite Hosoda film.
Putting that aside, I'm really glad to see that you enjoyed Summer Wars about as much as I did. I think it's the full realization of what Hosoda clearly wanted to do with Our War Game, but couldn't because of its ties to the Digi-verse, which honestly held it back more than anything else.
I pretty much agree with you wholeheartedly on the One Piece movie. It's definitely a very interesting watch, but it's also the weakest Hosoda film as well.
As for The Girl Who Leapt Though Time, it's not a favorite of mine, but it's a very well-made film. I personally didn't find Makoto's development to have been handled as food as the characters in Summer Wars and Wolf Children, but not being compared to those 2 films, the characterization certainly was admirable.
And yeah, the Trust & Betrayal OVAs were glorious, though I do personally prefer the manga's version of the story, myself.
Thanks! They were all enjoyable movies.
On Wolf Children, I really do feel the perspective shifts from Hana to between Ame and Yuki around the middle of the film, with Hana's presence diminished until Ame leaves home for good and she chases after him. But I actually do agree with you on some of the actions she takes early on in raising the kids as mistakes and perhaps I shouldn't have said I didn't feel she learned anything about raising them because she did in the way she adapted to her children's needs. Somehow, though, I felt many of Hana's issues didn't resolve themselves organically, or were touched upon but only somewhat. I don't think Hana is an idealized mother figure to quite the degree JO or some others so, but I do feel that a lot of her mistakes are resolved fairly quickly as they are introduced or focused upon in the film, and the lack of more heated conflicts with her children, more scenes depicting her stress/confusion on how to raise the kids, etc. is a shame since I think they would have helped make her a more rounded and believable character. The shift in focus also makes her character arc feel unsatisfying to me. It just really didn't feel like her film by the end of the movie, but Ame and Yuki's, since their development reached more defined conclusions, at least for me. At the end of the day, I agree that it's a great film, but these issues I have with Hana's character arc just prevent me from liking it as much as I should, and since I was hyped for this movie for a long time that does disappoint me a little. When I re-watch the film I'll pay closer attention to her character arc to track her development through the film, and perhaps then I'll be able to see it more in the same light as you do.
Quote from: Cartoon X on December 15, 2013, 09:48:55 PMOn Wolf Children, I really do feel the perspective shifts from Hana to between Ame and Yuki around the middle of the film, with Hana's presence diminished until Ame leaves home for good and she chases after him.
But you seem to be forgetting the fact that Hana was still very involved with her children I. These processes. With Ame, just who was it that was taking him to the Zoo in the first place to meet that wolf? And of course when he found a teacher, there was a whole scene where he took his mother to see him, and later they had that argument where Hana didn't want hi to spend so much time outside. As for Yumi, the mother was always in the background supporting her. For instance, when she ended up scratching that boy, Hana came to her side right away. And she was the one who pushed Yumi to make friends with hi whenever he was around. So she certainly wasn't forgotten about in the latter half of the movie. Her presence was as strong as other. The only difference is that now her kids were becoming more independent from her, which was the point. That's a natural part of growing up.
QuoteSomehow, though, I felt many of Hana's issues didn't resolve themselves organically, or were touched upon but only somewhat.
Like which ones? If you mean to say that not everything about her character was tied up and wrapped up in a neat little bow by the end, then I think that was wholly intentional. People never stop growing and developing in terms of who they are, so that's just another part of life. That said, I do feel that she had an overall complete character arc throughout this film.
QuoteI don't think Hana is an idealized mother figure to quite the degree JO or some others so, but I do feel that a lot of her mistakes are resolved fairly quickly as they are introduced or focused upon in the film, and the lack of more heated conflicts with her children, more scenes depicting her stress/confusion on how to raise the kids, etc. is a shame since I think they would have helped make her a more rounded and believable character.
They aren't really resolved that quickly, though. It just seems that way because the movie takes place over a number of years, so you have to keep in mind that time moves by rather quickly in the solan of just a 2-hour film. Many issues that come up are implied to take months to resolve. As for having more heated conflicts with her kids, for one thing her issue with Ame wanting to leave home was VERY heated, IMO, to the point where he just up and left her and she ended up chasing him outside in the middle of a storm. And let's not forget that this movie isn't JUST about Hana. It is called "Wolf Children" after all, and the siblings also have a very heated dispute with each other. And as for wanting more conflict between the mother and kids, all I can say is that it's just not who Hana is as a character. She's not confrontational by nature, so complaining about that is like saying you'd rather have a completely different character.
QuoteThe shift in focus also makes her character arc feel unsatisfying to me. It just really didn't feel like her film by the end of the movie, but Ame and Yuki's
Maybe because it's NOT supposed to be her film. It's called WOLF CHILDREN. Why am I the only one on the planet who apparently gets that? :P
No, but seriously, it's not just her film. And it's not a shift in focus at all. It's a spread of focus. As Ame and Yumi become independent, they start getting more individual focus. However Hana is certainly not diminished as a character. I already used my evidence to support my point, but basically my argument is that people making that complaint maybe got too used to seeing her get all of the focus in the first half of the film, that it may just be jarring to see her have to share that focus with the kids in the second half.
Anyways, different strokes (https://animationrevelation.com/DifferentStrokes.jpg) I suppose, but I did at least want to defend my opinions a little bit.
Lets see...
Kill la Kill - Arguably the best anime of the year. Trigger really knows how to blend together action, comedy, and drama, all of which are top notch, as well as playing with the the viewers expectations. Sure, I'm not as big on the humor as other people are, but this is still an amazing production. That said...
Samurai Flamenco - I think I might be enjoying this anime slightly more then KLK. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about Hazama's desire to be a hero really gets to me. Even with the recent twist, I'm interested to see where this goes.
Akira - Having always wanted to see this, but being to lazy to actually sit down and watch it, hearing it was airing on Toonami was the perfect opportunity to see the so called classic after I recorded it of course. And...yeah, it was awesome.
Summer Wars - I'll confess to not enjoying the family as much as the online portion of the film, it was still well done. One of the best anime films I've seen in a while, EK. :thumbup:
JoJo Bizarre Adventure's (2012) - Just finished marathoning the Phantom Blood half of the series. I've heard the series gets better in the latter parts, but I actually really enjoyed Part 1. Jonathan and Dio are pretty one dimensional, but there still fun and entertaining. It's one of those shows thats so insane that the cliches and melodrama actually make it better, IMO. One of my new favorites. I'll get to Battle Tendency latter.
Now the real question is whether I start Legend of the Galactic Heroes or finish my first run of the Simpsons. :thinkin:
I actually don't have a problem with the twist itself in Samurai Flamenco. My issue is with how the general people seem to be reacting to that twist within their own Universe....which is to say, not at all. Considering how the series started out as something grounded in some form of believability, it just doesn't make sense to me that there wouldn't at least be a few characters raising their eyebrows or speaking out and asking WTF!? all this crazy shit starts happening all of a sudden. That said, oddly enough, I'm still compelled to keep watching the series, so obviously it's still doing something right.
Watched episode 109 of HXH today. The tension is killing me.
Been a while since I've seen any anime and posted in this thread.
DBZ: Abridged
It's probably sad that this is the only way I can actually watch this series now considering this is what I grew up on, and for 2 different reasons at that. Growing up, I was watching DBZ only for the fights and nothing more. Over time I've come to like other elements in anime other than fighting (although that still remains to be my #1 priority) and that's when I started to grow out of DBZ, and then I finally got to see Cowboy Bebop, and a couple years later Ghost in the Shell: SAC and then for me I grew out of DBZ altogether, although, I must admit that I'm fairly bias when it comes to GitS (and will even admit that it can be a little bit unfair to even compare a lot of series to it). Eventually I tried to get back into it before coming across hardcore fans of the series which was pretty much the final nail in the coffin.
Anyway, fast forward to now with watching Abridged (my sister got me into it) which I don't watch for the fights but because I find it funny. Another thing to consider is that I don't particularly care for is parodies or comedies, but I find this pretty funny, and that's mainly because of Vegeta and Piccolo. The things they say are off the wall. Right now if I had to say what my favorite episode is, it'd probably be episode(s)10-12 (I think those're the ones where Goku fights Vegeta). Krillin (I swear I hate him in DBZ) has some very funny moments along with Frieza.
I'm thinking about checking out Team 4 Stars version of Hellsing as well, but I'll wait until I actually watch the rest of Ultimate
We should make a separate thread for Abridged series, since they aren't "legitimate" shows, being fan-based parody series. But yeah, DBZ Abridged is seriously one of the funniest things ever. They make the effort, in terms of writing, editing, acting, visuals, etc. to make the series feel wholly unique and quality entertainment. The professionalism in the series is amazing, so much so that after watching it it's hard togo back to the original, even in Kai form. :D I seriously think LittleKuriboh's Freeza trumps any other version of the character. It's just that great, and hilarious, a performance. Piccolo and Vegeta are similarly great, but of course, what they did with Nappa was legendary. ;)
But while DBZ abridged is my favorite abridged series, Yugioh abridged is the first, the original, and still at least the second best. I can go back to DBZ (in manga and Kai form) after DBZ abridged. I can't say the same thing for Yugioh. LK really has made those characters his own, completely, and gave them stronger personalities than the original ever did. His Bakura and Marik in particular far outstrip the original characters, in the same way Space Ghost: Coast to Coast's Space Ghost, Zorak, Moltar, and Brak are far more interesting and memorable characters than their originals as well. Though, that's no surprise, since SG:CtC is essentially the original abridged series. :lol:
Y'know what, lemme go and make a thread for Abridged series right now...
After the fad of abridging series died down, and I look back at it all, I can safely say that the only 2 that hold up for me are DBZ and YGO abridged. And even with those series, the early episodes were very amateur and not all that great. DBZ only started being legit funny once they got around to the Namek arc, and with YGO it was toward the finals in the first arc.
But, yes, LK and Team 4 Star (who also work together on DBZ abridged) have gotten really professional about it at this point.
Just finished Ashita no Nadja. Liked it a lot, I'm thinking of reviewing it for the site. I've also resumed watching Ashita no Joe, I put it on-hold for awhile since other shows more strongly demanded my attention, but recently I got in the mood of catching up on it. I'm glad I did, the story-arc I'm currently on (focusing on Rikiishi starving himself so that he and Joe end up in the same weight class) have been excellent, so far.
There are other shows I'm currently watching (such as Kill la Kill, which is highly entertaining) but I can't think of anything to write about them at the moment.
I decided to resume watching Magi, and it's definitely gotten a little better (I'm still in the middle of the Balbadd arc). It's still very much in the "good but far from great" side of things for me, but I can definitely see the potential or this series to become great later on down the line. I really am attracted to the themes of the relationships between kingdoms, politics, and corruption in this arc, but I think what holds it back for me is the characters, who aren't bad by any stretch, but none of them feel particularly memorable to me, which is rather disappointing since if the characters were as interesting as the plot, then this could easily have been a favorite series of mine. As it stands, it's just an entertaining watch, for now.
Quote from: Pharass on December 22, 2013, 04:36:44 PMI've also resumed watching Ashita no Joe, I put it on-hold for awhile since other shows more strongly demanded my attention, but recently I got in the mood of catching up on it. I'm glad I did, the story-arc I'm currently on (focusing on Rikiishi starving himself so that he and Joe end up in the same weight class) have been excellent, so far.
I'm only 5 episodes into the anime, but I find it interesting how it both differs from the manga in many respects yet still tells the same general story; as in, all of the major events remain the same, but the way events unfold and when certain characters are introduced can differ from the manga on more than just a few occasions. Overall, I still prefer the manga, but the anime is definitely worth watching even if you have read the manga because of its differences (and in some cases, they are actually improvements over the manga).
I can't wait to see what you have to say about the events that occur after the fight between Joe and Rikiishi takes place. It easily solidified this series as an instant classic for me.
Just looked it up, and Ashita no Nadja does seem like something I'd be interested in. I've been itching to read/watch another good shojo series lately, but I'd like to know more about this series first before I try it, especially since 50 episodes is a bit of a commitment for me these days. I'd be keen to hear your opinions on this one if you do write a review on it, Pharass. :)
I watched about ten more episodes of Hajime no Ippo last tuesday, so I'm on episode 21 now. My time has been preoccupied in more pressing matters than television, and I've been more interested in comedies lately, so it took me quite a while to get into the mood to watch more HnI. I loved every episode, as I expected, but it's still something I have to get in the proper mood for and find time in order to watch, since I prefer watching it in bunches of episodes. I plan to finish the series before my break is done, but a little something called Breaking Bad has taken up most of my tv watching time recently, and there are other shows/movies I need to get through during this break as well, so I'll probably be getting back to and going through this series more slowly than I'd like, unfortunately.
Vlord showed me a few episodes of Psycho-Pass recently and now I'm itching to watch that show too. I really hate how many shows I have on my backlog... :srs: :sweat:
Heh, Breaking Bad is way too addicting to the point that I actually ended up losing sleep over watching as many episodes as I could in a single day. I recently started watching the second half of season 5 (the final season), so I'll probably be done with the show in a few more days. It's as exciting as ever, and it really is a wonder how the writers of this show managed to keep it constantly engaging without the slightest hint of it ever slipping in quality. I can definitely see how this would take priority over any anime that you've been watching, recently. ;)
As for HnI, I think that episodes 30-50 are probably the weakest part of the anime (that's not to say that they are anywhere close to bad, of course), and the last third of the series is easily its pinnacle, for me. It's still the best sports "anime" that I have seen, by far, though Ashita no Joe has already taken the reign of being the absolute best in its genre as far as the manga goes.
Started the 3rd season of Fist Of The Northstar on Sunday. So far it's pretty good.
Been a while since I've watched anything on CN. Checked out that Trigun movie, and I may step on a few toes. That movie actually made me realize that I don't like Vash, but then again, I was never huge on Vash to begin with (Legato and Wolfwood were my favorites), but even then his antics never really bothered me. Before I go on I have to preference this by saying that it's been a while since I've seen Trigun so I don't know if I'd have the same reaction or not. Vash's antics comes off as obnoxious more so than humorous, and think I was gonna change the channel twice because of it. I'm probably at the point where I don't find any of that stuff funny anymore (actually, come to think of it, I'm sure I wouldn't find a lot of his antics all that funny, outside of the 1st episode)
Anyway, there were some good moments, mainly the gunfights. To see Wolfwood, I don't know... I didn't really have a reaction to seeing him. If anything, his appearance was more "meh". Overall, I won't say the movie was bad, but it didn't really do much either. I suppose, in it's defense it's been a while since I've really watched anime as well, so I may be a little harsh.
I also managed to catch the mini Bebop marathon. That took me back. To start off with Ballad of Fallen Angels (one of favorite episodes) was really enough to get me over the disappointing Trigun movie. Actually, the whole line-up was a great selection considering majority of them were Spike stories, although, admittedly I was never a fan of Mushroom Samba (although, I watched it this morning and thought it was very funny) or Hard Luck Woman (Faye and Jet episodes tend to bore me), but still, I had no problem with those being in the line up. It reminded me how great Cowboy Bebop was. I will say that Cowboy Funk should've been played instead of Hard Luck Woman, but that's just me.
You're going to base your impression of Vash over a lackluster movie that's clearly very different from the TV show as well as the manga?
Does it really matter? I'm not trying to be snappy or anything, but does or is something I'm saying going to affect how you feel about Vash (or said thing)? If not, you really should move on. There's not much to discuss at this point (and I don't feel like reading some big wall of text trying to explain to me that there is so much more to him than what I think, which is not going to do much of anything but waste time), so, yeah.
I'd say it matters if its not an accurate representation of the series. I mean, that's like judging Alucard based on the crappy TV series, or any RK characters based on the terrible OVAs that came out a couple of years ago.
Come on, man. We are grown men here. Me saying "I don't like Vash" really matters? It matters so much that it has to be debated over?
Quote from: meThat movie actually made me realize that I don't like Vash, but then again, I was never huge on Vash to begin with (Legato and Wolfwood were my favorites)
That should've been the end of it right there. I was never a fan of Vash, just watching the movie really brought out how much I dislike of him. It's not like I'm bashing him nor the series for that matter so there's really no point in even trying to defend his antics simply because I'm not a fan of it.
This is like that Kuwabara debate we had months ago where it led to nowhere.
All I'm saying is that the movie version sucks because of bad writing for the story and the characters. I don't really care that you don't like Vash and I never even claimed that. I just wouldn't really base my opinion on the movie version of these characters (even Wolfwood was lackluster in the movie).
But, whatever.
I just marathoned through all of Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. It was fucking awesome!!
The only scene where Vash was written properly in the movie was in the flashback at the start. As someone whose favorite hero in anime is Vash, that he is one of my least favorite parts of the movie in how he is so out of character bothers me. "Diablo" sort of makes his entire predicament seem shallow since the Gung-Ho Guns were far more dangerous and he had no issues taking them down and in Diablo he dealt with an enemy that had just as much regard for human lives and did far more damage. Even the more comical Vash in the early episodes wouldn't have let him get away with as much as he did.
Wolfwood was just inconsequential to the whole story. It wouldn't have mattered much if he was there or not.
Really, I would have preferred if they did some sort of movie on the parts of the manga they didn't adapt into the series and make it into a film. The movie is okay, but its hard to judge the series on it since it's only vaguely similar in certain ways. I think the writers were rusty.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on December 29, 2013, 08:19:11 PM
I just marathoned through all of Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. It was fucking awesome!!
:thumbup:
Watched episode 111 of Hunter X Hunter...you see, this is why I don't like watching anime that isn't complete yet. It left me wanting so much more. :'(
So, Attack on Titan got an early start on Netflix. (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Attack_on_Titan/70299043?sod=search-autocomplete) Color me intrigued.
I should probably get around to checking out the anime. From what I hear, the first season ends after a certain plot-twist around chapter 30-something from the manga, meaning that it basically covers the best part of the series. Personally, I think the story and characters become progressively more stupid as it goes on from there, so that's not a bad spot for the first season to end on.
But how can it be stupid with the intelligent plot twist where Armin crossdresses and gets fondled by some guy?
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi0.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Fnewsfeed%2F000%2F674%2F451%2F82b.png&hash=42a01a50c5857308033452cbdaa10c73f2925436)
Just got done watching episode 112 of HXH. I need to give this series a break until I can watch like 10 episodes in a row because this waiting is killing me. I want to see so much more. :light:
112 Episodes, the same amount as Yu Yu Hakusho, and by next week, it'll officially surpass it as the longest anime adaptation of a Togashi series. I just had to mention that for some reason. :P
Anyways, putting my gripes with the narration working better in manga form aside, I do really love the actual content of these episodes. It shows you just how carefully and precisely these characters act in the heat of the moment. That scene with The King and Komugi at the end was a thing of beauty. It was something that was built up to gradually, but he is clearly not the same character that he started out as. Were this to happen earlier in the arc, the King would strike back at Netero and Zeno without a second thought (and keep in mind, these are 2 of the strongest guys in the entire world), but his priority here was clearly to bring Komugi to safety and have her revived. Yet all the while, Meruem is none the less more menacing than he ever was, which is a true testament to how good Togashi is at writing villains. This is on par with someone like Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho in terms of overall quality and memorability, IMO.
That's right, 112 episodes. Amazing.
That episode of Fist Of The Northstar I watched last week was DBZ-esque. I watched a few more sense then.
Finished episode 1 of Space Dandy about 10 minutes again... :wth: The hell was that?
Just watched Hunter X Hunter episode 113....and this is why I say the 1999 anime is better as an adaptation. It changes some things around from the manga to better fit a TV show that you want to watch, not just listen to. In the manga, Togashi could get away with the narration because it's meant to be read and using narration to tell a story in comic book format isn't that uncommon. In an anime, though, it tends to feel rather awkward. It's still good stuff that's unfolding on screen, mind you, but we're getting it at the pace of about a chapter's worth of story stretched across an entire 22-minute episode, which is the exact same shit that Toei did with Dragon Ball Z and One Piece to make them so goddamn boring. And the worst part is that the common HXH fans will praise this over the 1999 anime for the producers just being lazy fuck-holes and just copying and pasting the original work without any thought put into trying to improve upon the source material by using animated visuals to its advantage. As it is, it's still a good anime to watch, but I'm severely disappointed in the lack of effort put into adapting the Chimera Ant arc, on the whole.
Anyways, other than that I've watched a bit more of Ashita no Joe recently. The anime is continuing to prove my counter-point to the HXH anime that I just talked about. This actually makes changes from the manga, and SENSIBLE ones at that, in order to further flesh-out the story and characters. One caveat is that it does feel a bit slower-paced at times, and really choppy and disjointed at other times, so it's certainly not perfect, but I definitely respect the effort, and it feels worth experiencing as a legitimate companion-piece to the manga, even if the manga is the superior version, IMO.
I also skipped ahead and watched the first episode of Ashita no Joe 2, which as it turns out picks up right where Part 2 of the manga does, so it's still material that I've already read, but I have to say that it was a really well-directed episode that shows a ton of respect and admiration for the source material. I couldn't help but notice that this anime pretty much proves my point of how the time-period that a series comes out in is mostly pointless. This series is timeless. It quite honestly trumps almost any current cartoon series that I'm keeping up with, both on a level of simple entertainment value as well as in terms of having genuinely good drama and insightful character-development. If anyone has heard of this series and just assumed that it was something that was significant for it's time but probably won't entertain you as much as modern series, trust me when I say that a good chunk of modern anime that you like probably owes something to the vast influence of this series, and at that it still trumps a ton of them in terms of general quality. It's really just so well-written that it's practically immune from the effects of aging. And, I'm saying this about a series that was created more than 20 years before I was even born.
Watched episode 113 of HXH last night. Again, I can't wait to see more. :worship:
Quote from: gunswordfist on January 22, 2014, 01:33:24 AM
Watched episode 113 of HXH last night. Again, I can't wait to see more. :worship:
I just wish that we were getting more from each episode. They easily had enough time to cover another chapter in this episode. But, yeah, pacing aside, this is the most exciting part of the Chimera Ant arc.
So, I'm kind of conflicted, here. I watched episode 2 of AnJ 2 and the first episode was no fluke, this is a QUALITY anime adaptation and unlike the manga, I believe the subs for this are already finished. That said, I started this series with the manga, and I kind of want to finish that version first. That said, the releases for it are slow and it could take years before the rest of it is translated. Meanwhile, the story is so damn good that it's just so damn hard for me to resist completing it via the anime, so I'm definitely going to have to ponder this one over.
But, yeah, remember how I said that the anime adaptation for part 1 is good because of the appreciated and sensible changes it makes from the manga, while still essentially being faithful to it, yet it's not quite as great if only because of the pacing problems? Well this anime has all of those strengths and completely fixes the problems of the first one. Now, mind you, this is only based off the first 2 episodes, but the presentation and clear respect for the source material from just that was enough to convince me of this show's quality, which is honestly even superior to the manga for the part that it adapts (and that's saying A LOT). One scene at the graveyard, which wasn't even present in the manga, was just so well-done that it felt like it always belonged there, and didn't feel like filler in the slightest. It figures, too, since the author of the manga had heavy involvement with both anime adaptations.
Man, this anime is making me realize just how long it's been since I've seen another anime that constantly wows me at every turn through genuinely good writing and memorable characters. Don't get me wrong, I've seen plenty of great ones like Hajime no Ippo, Kaiji, and the currently airing Kill La Kill, which are all some of the best things I've seen out of the medium in recent memory. But this series is one of those rare gems that I can really connect to and enjoy on a whole other level like I can with Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, or Monster. So yeah, when a series that good comes to my attention, you can bet your ass that I'll get excited about it.
I have six volumes to go, myself, but my plan with Ashita no Joe is to finish the story via the anime. If it's as good as you're saying then I especially see no reason to wait. Listen, I've been waiting for fan translators to translate the final arc of Bobobo for 6 damn years, and they still aren't even farther than the parts Viz translated. The fan-translators have lives and do this for fun. They aren't in any rush and they'll take their time. Who knows how long it'll take for them to finish Joe, if they ever do? Why wait when there is another, maybe superior way to experience the story available? Just my thoughts on the subject.
Anyways, I've watched a lot of anime in the last month. So much this'll have to be a double post...
MOVIES:
One Piece: Strong World - I was excited to get this movie on blu ray. I hadn't seen it before, but I had been hyped for it for nearly 4 years, so I had high expectations. What I got...was a fun movie, don't get me wrong. Oda wrote the story, and it shows since it certainly feels like truer to the tone of the manga than most shonen movies do. I adored the animation in this. Probably the best I've seen in the franchise to date. Probably my favorite thing about the movie is Shiki, though. He's just another one of Oda's quirky villains that always finds the balance between silly and threatening, and a lot of fun to watch. It's too bad he;s only a movie character, since he could have made for an excellent recurring antagonist in the manga. There was honestly a lot to like in this movie, and I did like it. But plot-wise I didn't think it was that special or atypical of what I would expect from a Shonen Jump series-based anime film. I didn't expect anything that would explore an reveal things about the characters in a unique way with some interesting themes like Beautiful Dreamer or Lum the Forever or anything, but I did expect something along the lines of a solid mini-arc that could have been in the manga. I guess it's that typicalness, and the general meh-ness of the antagonists besides Shiki that weakens it for me.
But I will say one thing I loved was Luffy's reaction to Nami's goodbye message. He rarely gets worked up like that. In the Arlong Park arc he just firmly told Nami he wouldn't leave until he get her back, but he didn't get upset over it. But her, it makes so much sense for him to be hurt and pissed when one of his friends, who's seen and knows what he can be capable of, doubts him. It's probably my favorite scene in the movie since it does do something new with a character that plays on elements from the series and creates a really meaningful moment there. Overall, while I think this is a fun movie I do think One Piece fans overrate it. It's got moments of greatness but isn't as good as I think it could have been. Ian Sinclair as Brook in the dub was worth purchasing this on blu ray, though. He should turn out a fine performance as him in the main anime as well.
Lupin the Third: The Secret of Mamo - I actually found this a little boring. There's interesting stuff involving Mamo that I felt I should have been more into, but compared to Cagilostro this left little impression on me after I finished it. Still, the dub was the Geneon/Pioneer voice crew, and that's by far my favorite Lupin voice cast, so that made it a bit more enjoyable for me.
Redline - REDLINE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BADASS GORGEOUSLY DESIGNED AND ANIMATED ANIME FILM EVER MADE.
... So yeah, basically, I loved it. It's not a complicated film. It's all style. And it does style, so, so, so so so so so so so so so well. There should be more animated films as bombastic and creative as this. I hope Takeshi Koike makes another film soon.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey - ...Well, it was slightly better than the first film. The battle for Doldrey and the confrontation between Griffith and Guts and the end of the movie were done well. I can't say I liked much of everything else. The CG still looks cheap and ugly, and doesn't blend in with the 2-d animation at all. Casca's backstory was told though that god-awful incoherent blurred stills montage that was used for Guts' in the first movie, and it's just as terrible here as it was then. Guts and Casca's growing relationship did not develop as strong here as in the manga, and the other Band of Hawk members barely get any scenes so I couldn't imagine someone who hasn't read the manga caring about them. I won't say I found this movie as god-awful as the first, but it was still mediocre and a poor telling of the story. I hope the third film will be better, since that will cover "some" material that has not been animated before, though from the clips I've seen I'm not holding up much hope for that.
Gintama: The Movie - I've seen some Gintama eps and chapters over the yeas, but I really have only read the first three volumes of the manga, all of which I only read about a day before I decided to watch this movie. I was pleasantly surprised. This was a really entertaining film; funny, action-packed, the works. The story is actually an arc from the manga, but since most of the characters besides the villain had already been introduced in the three volumes I had read, I had no problems following or enjoying it. I do think it got too serious at times for it's own good. I like this series best when it's funny, not when it tries to be semi-serious battle shonen. But it didn't get too bad in this movie and it certainly got me interested in reading more Gintama. I will also say that the dub was really good and it's a shame that Sentai won't dub more of the series, since I would think I'd enjoy watching it on Toonami. Overall, I actually enjoyed this movie more than Strong World. I told it's story well, with good character moments, and while it wasn't necessarily fresh material it was still entertaining. One of the better shonen anime-based films I've seen in a long while.
Re-Watches:
Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine - Me and Vlord marathoned through the dub of this one glorious sunday afternoon. It is SO good. I loved how they brought back Michelle Ruff to play Fujiko. Whenever I think of Fujiko I associate it with Ruff's vocal performance in the red jacket series, and she does an extraordinary job here capturing her. While it's a shame they couldn't get Tony Oliver to reprise Lupin as well, Sonny Strait does such a good job I don't think Oliver would have made it any better. And of course, I love, love Richard Epcar as Zenigatta. He's been Goemon and Jigen, now Zenigatta. Next time they should let him be Lupin, or failing that, Fujiko. :D But yeah, since this is a serious incarnation of Zenigatta it only makes sense for him to have a voice you can take seriously, and Epcar was awesome. Admittedly, I would have loved for him to reprise Jigen instead, but Sabat is so good that I don't mind. Really, the FUNimation dub is a dub of love. The blu ray comes with a bonus interview with the dub cast, and you can tell they really do love this franchise and Ruff and Epcar specifically took time off from their busy schedules just to play these roles because they love them so much. I'm really grateful that this excellent series got dubbed and it sits on my shelf as a valuable part of my collection. And of course, the series itself makes me yearn for more Lupin in it's vein. Or just more Lupin in general. ;)
Lupin the Third (Red Jacket) - And it was in my yearning for more Lupin that I decided to re-watch the second series. I gotta say, while I still firmly believe Fujiko Mine is the best Lupin series, I no longer think that by a wide margin. The second anime is just so consistently awesome. It's such an episodic show, but every episode is a mini-adventure and chock full of fun. Some of my favorites are the more character focused ones (though Jigen's episodes always end with the woman he loves betraying him, poor guy), but the more ridiculous adventures are always a blast too. And, of course, the Pioneer dub is fucking hilarious and it's a shame they only dubbed half the series and not the whole thing. They are my favorite Lupin voice cast by far. There's a reason that when I think of this series that I think of the Red Jacket anime first, and that's because it's a combination of style, fun, and cool that really can only be attributed to the name Lupin the Third. Really, we all need more Lupin in our lives. We really do.
Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail - Dub for this was excellent as fuck too. Toonami really should air this when they are done with the main series, since it's some of the finest Black Lagoon material, at least in the anime. Although, the final episode of this OVA was not really quite as excellent as I remembered it. It's still great, of course, but I wouldn't call it one of my favorite anime episodes anymore. I think the ending of the Tokyo arc was much stronger after all. Still, I fucking love this OVA and arc, and Ocean and FUNi did a damn great job in making it an even better experience dubbed. I'm glad to have this on blu ray, though I really must look into getting the series for my collection as soon as can as well.
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo - As it often does, my umpteenth re-watch of this happened by accident just by hitting up a random episode when I felt like watching nothing else. I focused only on the second half of the series this time, since I re-watch the first half five times more often since those are my favorite parts of the anime, so it's been a while since I've actually watched the Third Baldy Bald Empire and Chrome Dome Empire Playoff arcs in full. Toei cheapness being at it's worst aside, I no longer dislike the anime's version arc as much as I used to. The first half isn't great, and they ruin some good jokes with poor timing, but once they hit the Coin Machine arena battles the classic Bobobo hilarity shines through. Still a series I can watch whenever and bring a smile to my face and brighten up my day. It's no wonder why it's my favorite anime.
FULL SERIES:
Tiger and Bunny - I've been meaning to watch this series for a long time, and wow, was it good! To be honest, it doesn't feel much like an anime, but more of a U.S. superhero series. But it really does well with playing off the concept of superheroes as television and media celebrities, and has fantastic character and plots arcs through and through. Though, I will say that I'm not a fan of how some stuff still isn't resolved at the end, like Lunatic and the Ouroboros society. Still, a great show, one of my favorites now, and boasts the single best dub Viz media has ever put up to date. Really, I cannot fathom how Toonami and [adult swim] have passed on this series for so long. It really does have a lot of casual appeal.
Silver Spoon - I watched the first season in order to watch the second season airing now. I marathoned through it. This series is a wonderful, a light-hearted feel-good story that makes you laugh while teaching you a bit about the world of agriculture as well. I found Hachiken to be very relatable and refreshing as a protagonist, and the other characters were introduced and integrated into the narrative so seamlessly it was quick for me to like them as well. This is just a great slice-of-life series and a far more likable high school anime than most of what I see coming out these days. I honestly like it more than FMA already. Arakawa has pulled off another great series.
Psycho-Pass - I only watched the second half of it because that's the part Vlord was on and we ended up watching it together. But it was really damn good. I plan to go through the series from the beginning before the second season starts up in April.
I am also watching a shit-ton of currently running anime. This is very, very new for me. A year ago I was not watching ANY running anime. Before last year the only anime I ever kept up with as they came out in the past were One Piece, Pokemon, Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, and Toriko...the last three of which I eventually found to be utter shit and dropped accordingly, Pokemon I dropped when Black and White turned out equally terrible, and One Piece I stopped watching after Fishman Island proved even more unbearable in Toei's bloated version that it was in the manga. So, in January 2013 I was not watching any new anime at all. Then, of course, this fall came Kill la Kill, Samurai Flamenco, etc. that I found to be absolutely excellent series, and that's what started my return to watching anime as they come out. However, I only decided to watch those shows from recommendations. As such, I decided that I would try discovering which new anime to enjoy on my own. Here are my thoughts on the shows I've tried:
Still Watching: (in order of how much I like them)
Silver Spoon 2 episodes 12-14 - Yeah, a no-brainer since I loved the first season. The second season has been just as fun so far and that's a really good thing. This might be an unpopular opinion, but this honestly my favorite of Winter 2014 season as of right now.
Space Dandy episodes 1-3 - While it's no surprise that I like it, it may be a surprise I like it less than Silver Spoon. Well, I AM more invested in the characters since that series had, y'know, an 11 episode first season and all that. But really, it feels more "whole" an experience to me than Dandy right now, which really hasn't quite put forth an episode I haven't "seen before" yet. The second episode felt like a mix of an Urusei Yatsura and Sgt. Frog (immediately episode 99 of the former came to mind when I was watching it), while I swear that I've seen the plot of episode three a dozen times in various different shows. This sense of "been there, done that" just makes it hard for me to unconditionally love the series as of right now.
Don't misunderstand. I think Dandy is amazing. What it lacks in the originality of it's plots it's more than made up for in it's sheer animated excellence, with some of the most mesmerizing trippy scenes I've seen. Humor is a bit more hit and miss, but I do laugh quite a bit. It's just a hella fun show. I'm disappointed that so many people seem to have a negative opinion of this. All Dandy is trying to be is silly fun and a throwback to 70s/80s anime like Lupin and Cobra (some of the promotional images even reminded me of some Cobra artwork I've seen). And the jokes, for the most part, do work for me. It's along the lines of the Urusei Yatsura anime's understated character jokes and weirdness to me combined with a Lupin sense of fun, and otherwise just reminds me of a combination of Sgt. Frog and Level E's humor (especially since the alien designs remind me a bit of both shows). I can see how that may not be some people's cup of tea, but to see so many people HATE this show is bewildering and saddening. But whatever the reactions of others, I'm personally very happy with this show so far, and for the 23 weeks of fun there is still to be had. And I've been waiting to see the zombie episode tonight ever since the first Toonami trailers showed scenes from it. It should be fun. ;D
Noragami episodes 1-3- Man, I really hate ghost-fighting shonen series. Not Yu Yu Hakusho, I'll always love that, but stuff like Bleach, D.Gray-Man, Blue Excorcist etc. are such poorly plotted and contrived crap and it feels like they are EVERYWHERE these days. So I wasn't expecting to like Noragami, but surprisingly, it's really, really fun so far. Granted, it boasts a pastiche of cliches I've seen in other ghost-fighting shonen, but the thing is, it mixes them up, and puts out enough twists and likableness that it makes for a pleasurable viewing experience. Also the production values, animation, and OST are top notch. That's expected of Bones, but still, it helps make the show fun to watch, and hopefully it continues to be for the rest of it's run.
Nobunagun episodes 1-3- This is just pure dumb fun, nothing more. But I like fun, so I'm enjoying this show.
World Conquest Zvezda Plot episodes 1-2 - First episode was terrible, but then I was informed the second was hella better, and it was. I do enjoy the ridiculous concept and quirky villain protagonists, so if the show is more like the second episode and not the first, I'll be quite pleased.
Nisekoi episodes 1-2 - Man, this series is terribly unoriginal. Shafts production values almost single-handedly make it worth watching. Otherwise, I might as well watch Ranma 1/2 or My Bride Is A Mermaid since the premise is essentially like those series (arranged marriage between two characters who can't stand each other) but nowhere near as funny or clever. But...it's a romantic comedy, so until I can discover something better I could do worse than this one. Sigh... I wish there were more Maison Ikkoku's out there, not more Ranma 1/2's. I really do. :imnothappy:
Now, of course I wouldn't like everything I tried to watch...
Dropped:
D-Frag episode 1 - Okay, I did laugh at some of the jokes in this and I don't think it's bad in the slightest, but I'VE SEEN THIS SHOW BEFORE. So many times before. And I didn't care for a lot of them, and I'm not particularly interested in more of the same. Maybe D-Frag will prove to be something truly wonderful, and if that happens I will try it again. But for now, I have other shows to watch that I find more worthy of my time.
Wake Up, Girls movie and episodes 1-2 - I thought the movie was okay. But then the series gets into rather depressing territory right off and it isn't pleasurable viewing. And then the second episode... Nope, not interested. Fuck you ANN and JO. Of course, after Aku no Hana, I don't know why I decided to check out a series they recommended in the first place. That is a mistake I won't make a third time, I will tell you that.
Hamatora episodes 1-2- First episode was decent enough mystery stuff. The second was poorly written and contrived Angel Beats-esque over the top sob story with a stupid ending. Yeah, no. Fuck that shit.
Overall I only found three shows to really get into this season, but the others I'm still watching aren't too bad either, so this experiment of mine is off to a good start. Of course, these are only the Winter 2014 anime. I have leftovers...
Detective Conan 701-724 - I haven't tried keeping up with the Conan anime...ever, for some reason. I just kind of never got around to it. I decided, since I was watching all these anime anyway, why not just watch this too? I am kicking myself for not doing so earlier. I've always preferred the anime over the manga, and the first episode of this year, the first part of the "Kaitou Kid and the Blush Mermaid" story, was more enjoyable to me watching it than reading it! So I was happy to see that the anime was as good as ever, but then unfortunately the fansubbers didn't put up part two in time the week later. So I decided to just check out some earlier episodes, so I started from 701, which, to my pleasure, was the first part of the anime's adaption of the "Raven Train Murder Case" arc, the final part of the Bourbon storyline which I extremely enjoyed reading in the manga. And the anime made it, surprise surprise, even better! Maybe it's because Aoyama's manga is so wordy, but the series really does feel more exciting to watch than to read a lot of the time. The anime also surprised me in that it paced the arc really well. No one chapter an episode pacing, but legitimately well-thought out and paced episodes that made for an optimal execution of the story. The episodes afterwards, some of them filler, were all highly enjoyable too! God, after 700+ episodes this series still manages to be consistently entertaining! No wonder it's still one of the highest rated anime in Japan. I should have never waited so long to keep up with the anime. I'll probably go back sometime an run through the series fully, at least from Ai Haibara's introduction onwards. Before that I will probably finally watch the "Confrontation Between Red and Black" arc since EVERYONE says that's the best part of the series so far but I have yet to read or watch it yet. I expect it to be truly as awesome as everyone says. ;D
Also, FUNi should dub the Lupin/Detective Conan crossover movie, if only to throw a bone to fans of both. I don't think the movie is anything fresh as far as crossovers go, but really, more dubbed Lupin and Conan is always a good thing, so why not? ;)
Oh, and this opening is totally badass. Watch it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDtQVlqP2UY).
Kill la Kill - This show is pure awesome. Best anime currently airing, no contest.
Samurai Flamenco - This show is....well, it's still really watchable. But where's the heart? It's just a bunch of sentai cliches now, and the only thing holding the series together is Masayoshi's internal struggles of whether he's doing the right things/whether he's capable of being a leader, etc. I miss the old Flamenco. Still, I've stuck out so far, I might as well see where they are going with this. But I'm no longer in love with the show like I was with the earlier episodes. Sigh...
Magi: The Kingdom of Magic - Nothing much to say, it's as great as ever and now it's covering the best story arc in the series yet, the Magnostadt arc. Well, there are a few missteps so far that make me prefer the manga's version. Especially the ending of episode #15, where they used the ending song to close the show while Mogamett was still finishing his backstory. Total tonal disconnect, and weakened a powerful, revelatory scene as I had read in the manga. Hopefully this is a one-off mistake and they do better with the remaining material, because this arc is truly fantastic and deserves as great an anime adaption as Balbadd received.
Hunter X Hunter episodes 111-113 - I timed the time to start watching the anime pretty well I'd reckon. Though, the anime's decision to use the narration instead of rework it as silent scenes and dialogue disappoints me. Pacing is also slower than it probably should be. I have to say, they are really handling a lot of great scenes well. Sometime I will watch the Chimer Ant arc from the beginning and see how they handled the material there too (although, I have seen a few eps here and there already with Vlord, like the episode Kite died).
One Piece episode 729 - I decided to start watching One Piece again now that Dressrosa has started. Despite only adapting one chapter, I was very entertained by this episode. Maybe it's because there is so much content crammed into Oda's chapters these days, but this episode felt fine in pacing and I got some laughs out of it, especially with the bit of filler involving Buggy. Very hopeful to see some more good episodes from the anime as the year and arc progresses.
Oh, and I love the new opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KttpUvA4eoA).
Gundam Build Fighters episode 1- So I FINALLY watched this...only one episode right now, but still. As someone who knows next to nothing about Gundam, I did enjoy this show quite a bit. It's like a mon show with Gunpla models, but it's very well done and better than most of recent memory. I look forward to catching up as soon as I'm able too.
If I had to rank all the anime I'm currently watching in order, it'd look like this:
1. Kill la Kill
2. Hunter X Hunter
3. Magi: The Kingdom of Magic
4. Silver Spoon 2
5. Space Dandy
6. Detective Conan
7. One Piece
8. Noragami
9. Samurai Flamenco
10. Gundam Build Figthers
11. Nobunagun
12. World Conquest Zvezda Plot
13. Nisekoi
Well, that about does it. With all this new anime I watching now, I wonder just how I will find the time to watch Mushi-shi before the new anime comes in April, much less the other series I've been itching to get too. Looks like I'll be busy this Spring Break. :humhumhum:
For AnJ2, my only reservation is because it's different from the manga in more than just a few ways, and from what I hear it kind of alters the ending a tad to be more ambiguous than the manga's ending, which itself was supposed to be more definitive (sort of like how the ending to DN was changed in the anime and could be interpreted in a number of ways, as opposed to the manga's more set-in-stone type of ending). I want to be able to compare the anime to the manga, but I'll still probably finish this series via the anime, since as you mentioned it'll take forever for the rest of the manga to be translated. Still, I fully plan on finishing part 1 of the anime first before continuing on any further with part 2, and I suggest that you do the same since the first anime is much like Dragon Ball, in that it has a lot of really thoughtful filler material and changes that can actually enhance the experience more than hinder it.
As for One Piece: Strong World, it's by no means a great movie, but it's pretty much the best that you're going to get out of a shounen movie that doesn't have the ability to take the risk of telling canon stories and take the characters to new places in terms of their development.
And yeah, my problem with SF is not that all of a sudden Sentai stuff is real. That twist could have worked. It's that there is also no heart to the story anymore, and now it basically only IS a cliche Sentai show. It's almsost as if they just completely changed the team of writer's after episode 7 of the show. That said, I did kind of enjoy the most recent episode in which Samurai Flamenco gives that speech to Japan to take care of each other and work together in the time of crisis. That was the closest this series has gotten to having some heart in the story since the plot-twist happened.
And as for KLK, it's definitely getting better with each new episode. I can't wait to see where it goes next. This is something that TTGL never really managed to do for me, personally.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 25, 2014, 03:06:28 PM
For AnJ2, my only reservation is because it's different from the manga in more than just a few ways, and from what I hear it kind of alters the ending a tad to be more ambiguous than the manga's ending, which itself was supposed to be more definitive (sort of like how the ending to DN was changed in the anime and could be interpreted in a number of ways, as opposed to the manga's more set-in-stone type of ending). I want to be able to compare the anime to the manga, but I'll still probably finish this series via the anime, since as you mentioned it'll take forever for the rest of the manga to be translated. Still, I fully plan on finishing part 1 of the anime first before continuing on any further with part 2, and I suggest that you do the same since the first anime is much like Dragon Ball, in that it has a lot of really thoughtful filler material and changes that can actually enhance the experience more than hinder it.
Sounds good. I'll make sure to watch the first anime as soon as I'm done with the manga translations.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 25, 2014, 03:06:28 PM
As for One Piece: Strong World, it's by no means a great movie, but it's pretty much the best that you're going to get out of a shounen movie that doesn't have the ability to take the risk of telling canon stories and take the characters to new places in terms of their development.
The
Urusei Yatsura movies say otherwise...but those are lightning in a bottle, I suppose. :P
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 25, 2014, 03:06:28 PM
And yeah, my problem with SF is not that all of a sudden Sentai stuff is real. That twist could have worked. It's that there is also no heart to the story anymore, and now it basically only IS a cliche Sentai show. It's almsost as if they just completely changed the team of writer's after episode 7 of the show. That said, I did kind of enjoy the most recent episode in which Samurai Flamenco gives that speech to Japan to take care of each other and work together in the time of crisis. That was the closest this series has gotten to having some heart in the story since the plot-twist happened.
Yeah, that was a good scene. It's just too bad that the series seems to care only about twist after twist at this point, which the ending of the episode hammered home enough. :imnothappy:
Here's what I've been keeping up with lately:
Space Dandy
Kill la Kill
Hunter x Hunter
Magi: The Kingdom of Magic
Samurai Flamenco
Gundam Build Fighters
One Piece
Detective Conan- I have only watched the episodes that Funimation has dubbed so I'll probably go back and watch the episodes I haven't seen at some point. The series is pretty easy to understand though, so the new episodes are still quite enjoyable.
Aside from watching those series, I'm finally getting around to finishing Monster (I keep procrastinating on doing it). I also plan to watch Lupin the 3rd (Red Jacket) and Silver Spoon pretty soon as well.
You started watching Build Fighters too? How far are you?
As for Detective Conan, where did you start in that? I think if you just want to watch more recent episodes for now, you should start at episode 646 since that's basically the beginning of the Bourbon storyline which has A LOT of great sub arcs, plus the payoff in the "Raven Train Murder Case" will be more exciting as well.
Yeah, I started Build Fighters last week. I completely caught up with the show right now. As for Detective Conan, I started with episode 710 (mainly because it had Heiji Hattori in it) and then watched up to 724.
I see. Since you haven't read the manga though, I do think you should try and watch through the Bourbon arc of Detective Conan since it has some really great stuff in it and introduces two very important characters while building upon a third. Though, I myself wish I did a proper read/watch-through of this series from at least Ai Haibara's introduction, since I wouldn't have been spoiled on a few things from past arcs in the Bourbon arc and newer chapters. :D
Anyone who finds Secret Of Mamo boring is a monster. It's clearly better than CoC.
Some thoughts about what I've been watching lately:
Ashita no Joe: The match between Rikishi and Joe definitely lived up to expectations, being a very suspenseful and intense match with both rivals being pushed (and pushing themselves) to the limit. However, the after-math of the match proved even better in terms of raw, emotional drama. I won't say anything more because I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet, but suffice to say that episode 51 is my favorite episode so far in the series, great stuff.
I've also finally gotten around to watching Samurai Champloo. I'm ten episodes in and while it's not quite Cowboy Bebop level, I find it to be a very enjoyable show and will keep watching it. The end theme is great.
As for more recent shows, I find myself looking forward to each new episode of Kill la Kill.
Quote from: Pharass on January 26, 2014, 08:10:22 AMAshita no Joe: The match between Rikishi and Joe definitely lived up to expectations, being a very suspenseful and intense match with both rivals being pushed (and pushing themselves) to the limit. However, the after-math of the match proved even better in terms of raw, emotional drama. I won't say anything more because I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet, but suffice to say that episode 51 is my favorite episode so far in the series, great stuff.
The aftermath is what sealed this as one of my favorite manga of all time. I seriously wondered if the series could maintain its high level of quality passed this heated confrontation between destined rivals, and quite frankly it flat-out surpassed my expectations. I'm glad I'm not the only person to have discovered how great this series is, and just why it's retarded as such a classic in Japan.
I watched the first episode of A Woman Named Fujiko Mine and I liked what I saw. :thumbup: It has one of the better cases of a different kind of art direction. I usually find those to be annoying.
Finished episode 114. Man was there a lot of slomo. Anyway, I think this is the most I've ever worried about any fictional characters, excluding The Walking Dead. I kind of hate feeling like this. :'(
Yeah, the stakes have never been higher in HXH. You really get the feeling that these characters are hanging onto their lives by the thinnest of threads, and the tension still only keeps on building from here.
:'( This is going to be rough on me. :D
I just watched episode 2 of Ashita no Joe 2, and it has me really conflicted, but in a good way. What I'm referring to is a big change from the manga in regard to the Carlos Rivera arc. In the manga, there's a whole section where Joe is off by himself for a period of time before deciding to come back and challenge Rivera. However the anime completely forgoes this section for a completely understandable reason, because it's kind of redundant of an earlier story arc, but at the same time this other section of the manga was done so well that it didn't really feel redundant for me, and felt like a natural part of Joe's character arc. Also, in excluding this section, the anime has to change the circumstances in which Joe meets Rivera, so knowing that the anime can make changes from the manga that are this big, I'm once again unsure if I want to finish the anime first since part of me wants to experience the original version of the story first.
Having said that, the change itself, despite cutting out stuff that I really like from the manga, is....still really, really, really good stuff. I mean the director of this anime clearly knows what the fuck he's doing, and the story still flows as good as ever. Also, I do still really appreciate the change. It shows careful thought and effort, and isn't like these lazy shounen anime adaptations that you see these days, which really just copied and pasted from the source material. I actually kind of wish that more anime could be like this?
I also love how, like in the manga, there are so many little touches in this anime that just add to the substance and personality of it all. Like when Joe is talking to Rivera's manager to get him to agree to a sparring match with him, all the while testing Rivera's temper by flicking popcorn at him very casually, and Rivera just trying to ignore it with a slight smirk on his face showing a bit of amusement at Joe's shenanigans. It adds a bit of levity to the scene without going overboard with humor (which is what most shounen anime these days would do), and nobody ever explicitly says anything about it, but you can see their reaction to stuff like that in just their facial animations alone. I know it seems like such a small and petty thing to praise, but the manga and anime are FULL of scenes like that, and it all really just adds up to make it feel like something with a very human personality to it. It's the type of stuff that you would see and appreciate in an anime like Cowboy Bebop too, which is why that series felt like it had so much personality as well.
Anyways, this is on the fast-track to becoming one of my favorite anime of all-time (I'm talking top 3 material here), and of course the manga is already a favorite. Really, I find this series to be one of those rare entities that I would personally like every member on this board to experience. It's like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Monster, or Legend of the Galactic Heroes (which admittedly I still need to watch), in that I think most anime fans should at least give it a shot. Having said that, the only reason I don't pester people about it more is because the full manga is not available in English, and while both parts of the anime are great, part 1 might be a tad bit too slow for some people, while part 2 won't be nearly as great of an experience unless you've either read or watched part 1 of the manga or anime. So, it puts me in kind of a shitty situation when it comes to recommending this series, but if it ever does get finished, you can all bet your asses that I'm going to send out AnJ awareness PMs. :humhumhum:
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on January 29, 2014, 04:57:55 PM
I just watched episode 2 of Ashita no Joe 2, and it has me really conflicted, but in a good way. What I'm referring to is a big change from the manga in regard to the Carlos Rivera arc. In the manga, there's a whole section where Joe is off by himself for a period of time before deciding to come back and challenge Rivera. However the anime completely forgoes this section for a completely understandable reason, because it's kind of redundant of an earlier story arc, but at the same time this other section of the manga was done so well that it didn't really feel redundant for me, and felt like a natural part of Joe's character arc. Also, in excluding this section, the anime has to change the circumstances in which Joe meets Rivera, so knowing that the anime can make changes from the manga that are this big, I'm once again unsure if I want to finish the anime first since part of me wants to experience the original version of the story first.
Actually, that part of the manga IS adapted in the anime. One of them, anyway. After I finished the scans yesterday (my thoughts on which I will post later), I became curious about the anime. Pharass said that the aftermath of Joe and Rikishi's fight was handled in episode 51. The aftermath, of course, was the conclusion of part 1 of the series. The first anime is 79 episodes long though, so I figured they must have adapted some of part 2 as well. I decided to check out the most recent subbed episode of the first series (episode 71, which means the fan-subbers still have 8 episodes to go until they finish...), to confirm my suspicions. And indeed, those suspicions were validated, as episode 71 shows Joe watching Carlos' fight with Nangou as he did in the manga during the time he was with the underground boxers. That said, there were
several notable changes as well, some of them rather surprising.
Of course, that got me curious as to seeing what changes to the story you were referring to in regard to
Joe 2. After checking out the 7th episode (which I assumed you meant instead of episode 2, which you had already posted about watching before), I see that
Joe 2 actually restarts back to the beginning of part 2, just going through it faster than the parts adapted in the first anime. That makes perfect sense, considering there is 9 year gap between the end of the first
Ashita no Joe anime and the second. The difference in the style of adaption can be attributed to the fact both series have different directors too.
Regardless of the crossover of content or redundancies, though, I'll be going through both anime. And after seeing those episodes, I'm quite excited to see how both anime take this fantastic series and possibly make it even greater.
In other news, I dropped
Nobunagun and
Nisekoi, am putting
Noragami, new
One Piece, and
Gundam Build Fighters on the backburner until I have more time, and have started watching
Pokemon XY (subbed of course) after being pleasantly surprised by a few episodes. Aside from
Ashita no Joe, I plan to finish
Mushi-shi and
Psycho-Pass before their new seasons start in Spring. And, as always, I'm still trying to get through
Hajime no Ippo, though I've made little progress and will probably not make much more until summer at this point, especially since I'll probably focus all my (increasingly small) free-time on
Joe. :D
Yeah, I actually found that out about a day or so after I posted that when I realized that the first anime covered a significant portion of part 2 before it ended. Anyways, I'm loving both series, so I'll be sure to continue them.
I can't wait to see you post your thoughts on the rest of the scans now that you've finally caught up to them. ;D
I finished the Battle Tendency portion of the 2012 JoJo's Bizarre Adventures anime a few days ago. It's defiantly an improvement over the first part (and I like the first part more then most people as it is). Joseph is one of the best shounen protagonists I've seen in a while. I seriously love the way he can be an idiot half the time and then pull off great strategies the other half. And the Pillar Men have the best villain names ever.
I'm going to try and read through part 3 of the manga in preparation for the new anime.
Yeah, Joseph is an awesome protagonist, the Pillar Men (Wham especially) are fun villains, and part 2 as a whole is a much stronger story than the first part. I don't think I'll read Stardust Crusaders before the new anime (mainly because I'm not sure I have the time to go through 150+ chapters), but I am very excited for it. With Stardust Crusaders, Mushi-shi, Keroro, and Psycho-Pass, spring in general in going to be a good season of anime for me. :D
Ok, watching Saint Seiya feels like a chore to me, at least right now. I will probably just go back to watching Fist Of The Northstar.
I need some help here, I'll be starting Hunter X Hunter 1999 and Dragonball soon but I need to know whether I should watch the dub or sub of DB. (I already know sub for HXH. Not ever going to hear Gon in English ;D)
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 05, 2014, 12:49:37 AM
I need some help here, I'll be starting Hunter X Hunter 1999 and Dragonball soon but I need to know whether I should watch the dub or sub of DB.
The sub would be an interesting experience if you've only ever watched the dub before. You really can't go wrong with it, and that way you can watch the entire show legally through Hulu.
That said, my preference has always been for the dub, and since it's one of FUNi's best, I don't think you can't really go wrong with it either. :D
I remember liking the dub. Dub it is. Thanks!
I watched the 2nd episode of HXH 1999 after the first. So Leorio is supposed to be an honorable thief? :whuh:
He's not a thief. He'll just do whatever it takes to survive.
I'm currently about a third of the way through AnJ2. I swear I don't know how this series keeps doing it, but somehow it just keeps on getting better and better. This is honestly one of the best anime of all time, and contains perhaps the most sophisticated story-telling and character-development that I've ever seen from an animated series of any kind.
Just finished episode 4 of HXH 1999 and watched episode 3 early this morning.
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 07, 2014, 05:33:58 PM
Just finished episode 4 of HXH 1999 and watched episode 3 early this morning.
You're watching them out of order?
I hope that was a joke. :D
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 08, 2014, 01:30:02 AM
I hope that was a joke. :D
I meant to phrase that as a question, but forgot the question mark. Seriously, you're watching them out of order?
No, I clearly said that I watched Episode 4 and watched Episode 3 EARLIER. :sly:
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 08, 2014, 02:40:50 AM
No, I clearly sad that I watched Episode 4 and watched Episode 3 EARLIER. :sly:
I'm clearly sad too.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on February 08, 2014, 02:13:10 AM
I meant to phrase that as a question, but forgot the question mark. Seriously, you're watching them out of order?
He meant, "I watched episode 3 in the morning and just now finished episode 4."
I needed some noise to keep me up on a project, so I ended up watching Toonami Aftermath thursday night. Haven't done that in a while. I took breaks from my work to catch the last episode of
Trigun, some good
Lupin episodes, and the always hilarious "Ukyo's Secret Sauce" episode of
Ranma 1/2. I'd kill for that kind of lineup on the actual Toonami. Seeing those episodes again made me want to re-watch
Trigun and
Ranma sometime, though with my backlog I'm gonna have to wait a while. :sweat:
I'd kill to see Trigun and Lupin on Toonami in the same lineup.
Wow, episode 23 of AnJ is some intense shit....
I spent my day marathoning through all of Tiger & Bunny. I'm kind of disappointed that the stuff with Lunatic and the Ouroboros is left unresolved, but it was still a great show overall.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I too was disappointed that stuff was unresolved. I think the movies address those issues, though. I still need to see the first one, but I totally plan to see the second one in a theatre on March 15th. Should be fun. :)
I just watched the first three episodes of Ashita no Joe 2. I decided not to watch the first anime first for a few reasons. 1) I don't have that much time, and just to get through Joe 2 I'll have to drop almost all the other stuff I'm watching for a while. 2) The first anime and the second aren't related, having different directors and the final 20+ episodes of the first adapting the early parts of part 2 differently. 3) The fan-subbers aren't even finished translating all of the first anime, having 8 episode left to go. 4) I still want to get through Mushi-shi and Psycho-Pass before April, and watching both series will take time away from that. At some point I will watch the first anime, especially since I love this story and won't tire experiencing it again, but right now there are too many other things eating up my time and other shows on my queue, and I want to finish the story of Ashita no Joe more than anything, so I'm jumping right into Joe 2.
Anyways, I think the anime is a quite a well-handled adaption so far. For the most part, though, I think I prefer how the events played out in the manga than how they are in the anime. I will say that the anime added two great scenes though; Joe visiting the graveyard in episode 2 and his and Yoko's meeting in episode 3, where he challenges the latter to find him a new source of inspiration. I loved those moments. Otherwise I'm a bit surprised at the rearranging of some stuff and some things being taken out, but it doesn't really hurt the story. In any case, I've only watched the first three episodes, and I don't think the Carlos Rivera arc ends in the anime until episode 12, so I've got a while before I get to the stuff I haven't been able to read in the manga yet. It'll be interesting to see how the anime handles Joe's string of defeats before he meets Carlos.
I'm on episode 26 of Joe 2 right now, and all I can really say is that it has not yet failed to impress me. I'm not sure how faithful the anime is to the rest of the manga, but suffice it to say that it's well-written enough to a level of quality that I could buy being straight out of the manga.
Watched episode 5 of HXH. Still loving the more in-depth Hunter Exam arc. :) The next episode should be the start of my favorite part of the Exam (the start being when they meet up with the other applicants.)
I watched episode 6 of HXH last night and finished episode 7 within this hour. I can see why they took out that Illusion Tree part in the remake. It was good to see a more in-depth look on Leorio and his goals though.
That was filler material, but IMO it was good filler since it expanded on a core character's backstory in a meaningful way.
Hmm, I thought it might have been filler....so that means that Killua does have bombs in his pockets? :'(
Just finished episode 8 of HXH. I definitely prefer how they handled the part where Hisoka attacks all those guys in the remake than this version. In the remake he seems to only attack people if 1. They are deemed strong enough 2. They attack him. 3. He goes all bloodlust. The swamp battle fell under all of that in 2011 while in 1999, he didn't get attacked first and then just start attack whoever else showed up, he just started throw cards at nobodies for fun. Also watching Hisoka's display of speed in 2011 was incredible. Interesting that Pikkou was there in that part and not 2011, iirc. Of course Killua went back for Gon in 2011, iirc, because they seems more modern day friendly but I can see that Killua hasn't become that attached to Gon yet in 1999.
Also, they did a much better job with how the man monkey looks in 2011 (he didn't even look like the proctor in 1999). I've also been meaning to ask, what the hell did Hisoka do to the guy in the tunnel? He made he melt into the wall?? Plus, I still think when they guy bumped into him and made his arms turn into flower petals or whatever, it was his most incredible feat yet.
I thought the flower petal scene was stupid, personally (and it didn't even happen that way in the manga). And Hisoka is a psychotic. He will kill people even without being provoked by them. The 2011 anie was just initially trying to play it safe with stuff like this until they were sure that they could get away with the more risqu? stuff from the manga. His behavior at the beginning of the 2011 anime isn't consistent with who he is portrayed as later on.
It is kind of stupid but having someone's arms transform into flower petals just from touching you is a pretty incredible in and of itself.
He is pretty crazy but I like that there's more of a reason to it (if that even makes sense) in the 2011 anime.
I finished episode 9 of Hunter X Hunter tonight. Not much happened but it was the funniest episode so far.
And I watched episode 10 of HXH. It was interesting seeing 1999 Netero. I'm still getting used to all the different looks and hair colors characters have.
Episode 11 and 12...can't say I cared for Anita at all. Yeah, that part was dragged out and cliched. I sensed I wouldn't like it when I first saw her stow away on the airship.
I didn't care for the character herself, but she did reveal a lot about Killua's dark nature, which I did like since he's my favorite character. I love the scene where he's trying to assassinate her.
I am going to finish Wake Up Girls! if it kills me.
God save me guys.
Watched episode 13 and 14 of HXH 1999 early this morning. It's the start of the Third Phase of the Hunter Exam. Right before the OP started, I was thinking, "Hmmm, I'm starting to really like this" because I've been thinking in the back of my head about how it's kind of catchy and after watching it again for episode 13 I ended up liking it. I believe that part of the story in 2011 is when I started to really like that show.
Ok, this episode makes me think that the Illusion Tree part was really filler. At worst, they seemed somewhat annoyed by Tonpa's presence, don't mention that he tried to get them killed at all, and in episode 14, they were surprised when he revealed that he was a rookie crusher, which they shouldn't have been, especially Leorio who heard him say that when Tonpa dropped him off under the Illusion Tree and pretty much the only yime it was referenced was when they flashbacked Gon seeing Kurapika having red eyes.
Anyway, I love how clever this majority vote and the contests with the prisoners are. I was planning on going to sleep after seeing one episode but just had to watch another. Also, the show's soundtrack sounds better and better to me. I already liked some of the music that I thought was RPG-esque and that kind of goofy sounding action scene music.
Episode 15 and 16 - Hisoka killing that guy was predictable more gruesome. Also, Illumi took longer to complete phase 3. If I remember correctly, in 2011, he came out right after Hisoka. Not that bad but I knew anime from the 90s would at least show some blood. In this version, the soldier type guy was the one to wager bets on whether snaggletooth was alive or not instead of the girl. I liked how they used transmitters instead of notes, which were kind of stupid. So the girl is a twisted psychologist instead of a gambler in this one? That makes more sense. It was funny when Tonpa closed Gon's eyes while in 2011 Gon just stood there and watched Leorio feel her up. And Johness didn't kill snaggletooth in this one. Lastly, the exchange between Leorio and Killua on how he doesn't think Killua was that smart is hilarious. I really like Leorio's voice actor.
I just finished watching Ashita no Joe 2 not too long ago. Those last 4 episodes were....wow....just, WOW! Yeah, definitely one of the greatest works of fiction ever conceived. It's a type of ending that just suits this series so well. Those last few episodes were some of the most emotionally powerful that I've ever seen in animation. I can't wait to read all of this stuff in manga form.
Saw Little Witch Academia and found it to be an enjoyable short with fun characters. I'd definitely like to see this get turned into a full-length series that can better expand upon the cast and the universe they inhabit.
Watching Natsume's Book of Friends.
My favorite type of anime show. ^^ Funny and sweet, with likeable characters.
I viewed episode 17 of HXH yesterday. Now Phase Three is over. :)
Just watched Hakuoki.
I barely kept from turning it off. I don't mind the tropes of reverse-harem (some of my favorites are in this genre) but found the heroine VERY tedious and pathetic, the other characters undeveloped and not very interesting, and the plot totally failed to engage me. Maybe it was just my mood.
Seriously, though--the Shinsengumi for some reason let this girl tag around with them because she supposedly was good enough with a sword to protect herself...and then she never uses a sword, and has to be rescued by one pretty boy or other three times an episode.
(Just Season 1, BTW, and will not be going on to Season 2)
After 12 AM, I watched episode 18, after 12 PM I watched episode 10 of HXH. Being on episode 18 reminded me how much more content 1999 has than 2011. Episode 20 in 2011 is when Killua finds out who's Illumi, right? Anyway, I like all of this team, myself. HXH reminds me of 2 things YYH didn't really have, which is adventure and the 4 main characters working alongside people that aren't their friends. Hunter Exam has a lot of both. :)
Finished episode 20 within the hour. So that was still Phase Three, huh? ...hmm, Illumi showed his normal self in this episode. Interesting.
I watched episode 21 yesterday and episode 22 through yesterday night and past midnight. Ah, the first island hunt episodes. All of these episodes are my absolute favorite part of the Hunter Exam. Still love watching Gon train himself and hunting Hisoka. Also, 22 reminded me that Illumi's kinder than you'd think he'd be. I also think he really really cares about Killua from what I've seen.
Kill La Kill this week was really good.
Hunter X Hunter was good, but I'm still not over the inexcusably slow pacing of these episodes.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on February 20, 2014, 03:14:21 PM
Hunter X Hunter was good, but I'm still not over the inexcusably slow pacing of these episodes.
Funny thing is... I went back and skimmed through some of this arc and I've realized that
Hunter X Hunter 2011 has actually been adapting an average of 3 chapters an episode right now. It hasn't been adapting less chapters; actually, considering there are 2 chapter and even 1 chapter an episode stuff in the the earlier arcs, it's arguably adapting MORE, and certainly 3X more than other shonen shows right now (except for
Toriko which has been adapting 4 chapters an episode recently apparently). So...I guess that says more about the pacing of the arc in the manga than anything. I mean, if this is the case maybe they should be adapting 5 chapters an episode or something, but it's not like they're dragging this out unreasonably. :sweat:
I'm aware of that, but here's th thing: in the manga it works because you can read at your own pace (unless you were reading it on a weekly basis). In the anime's case, they are clearly going to catch up to the current manga whether they want to or not, since Togashi still hasn't resumed the story. So essentially, it's better to go for quality and adapt more chapters per episode to even out the pacing rather than trying to keep things going on longer. If they have to do 5 or 6 chapters per episode, then so be it. At least they have a good point to end the anime at with the conclusion of the election arc, and if the manga ever resumes after that then they can wait a few years and then do a Final Act type series to finish up the rest of the story (assuming that the series is done by that point in time).
Finished episode 23 of HXH 1999. My favorite part of the Hunter Exam is over. Gon got Hisoka's badge. The part where Hisoka meets Leorio and Kurapika is better in this version than what I remember in 2011. Kurapika seemed to have better planning and I'm sure he wasn't willing to fight at all in 2011 nor did he show that he had two blades (that was a surprise to me). lol At Hisoka wearing the blow gun guy's hat. I have always loved that Gon said he doesn't want to owe anyone anything. A good trait for a child to have.
I liked the realistic portrayal of Gon getting poisoned by the blow dart. He was paralyzed for an entire day, obviously felt like shit, and even had gag reflexes such as vomiting. It really gives you the sense of just how dangerous and cruel things can get in this series. In the 2011 anime, it just feels like he's over it in no time, which made it feel considerably less threatening.
I agree, I'm just saying that at least Madhouse isn't pulling a Toei by stretching it too thin. 5 or 6 chapters an episode for most of this part of the arc would be a benefit.
I think the real thing that's causing issues, though, is the narration. Reading about what people are going through is fine, but listening to it is very tiring and makes things seem like they are dragging longer than they really are. In addition to this, I feel some of the music goes on too long and is over-repeated and monotonous at parts. It's not quite as obnoxious, but this is almost
InuYasha-level music misusage territory imo. When the music isn't timed right with the scenes it makes things feel slower and less engaging than they should. I think these issues are what's been bugging me more than how much happens in the episodes, personally.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on February 20, 2014, 04:19:30 PM
and if the manga ever resumes after that then they can wait a few years and then do a Final Act type series to finish up the rest of the story
Seeing Madhouse try and cram 90 chapters of story into 6 episodes would be
amazing. :joy:
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on February 20, 2014, 05:22:31 PM
I liked the realistic portrayal of Gon getting poisoned by the blow dart. He was paralyzed for an entire day, obviously felt like shit, and even had gag reflexes such as vomiting. It really gives you the sense of just how dangerous and cruel things can get in this series. In the 2011 anime, it just feels like he's over it in no time, which made it feel considerably less threatening.
Damn, it was a day? I wasn't paying attention. In 2011, the dart guy gets killed right after he leaves (his body falls by Gon's) so Gon basically got up in minutes (then got KOd by an uppercut that looked just like the one Leorio gets hit with in 1999, lol)
I watched episode 24, 25 and 26 this early morning. So that's what ek was talking about with the poison. Silly me.
I remember thinking the snake cave part was boring and expected to be lousy watching that part/episode. I was wrong. I forgot about Gon getting stung and strangled by all of those snakes while trying to get an antidote that may have not been there. Overall, I like my favorite part of the Hunter Exam more in 1999. That's a good sign.
Episode 26 was pretty funny. A good calm before the dark part.
Episode 27 is finished. Hisoka vs. Kurapika was first in this one. I see what they were going for in the 2011 version and I respect both versions of the fight. Also, there goes Hisoka seeming even crazier than his 2011 counterpart again.
Yesterday, I watched the first 4 episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. I'm not too familiar with the Gundam franchise (I've only seen Build Fighters and a few eps of Mobile Suit Gundam), but I found Unicorn to be quite enjoyable. I'm definitely going to watch episodes 5 and 6 when I find the time.
Found out that my local Landmark Theatre is going to play Princess Mononoke subtitled at midnight tonight. It'll be fun to see the movie on the big screen, though the trade-off will be missing Toonami (supposedly) airing Viva Namida after all this damn time.
Watched episode 28 yesterday. Gon vs. Hanzo was more brutal in this one. I don't remember Gon ever getting a chance to fight back in 2011 though. It found it interesting that Killua didn't understand why everyone was laughing. Interesting in a good way. I like how they are showing how he is different from others.
Finished episode 29. I really liked Gon's talk with Satotz.
I missed part of my Anime Club meeting this week, so caught up by watching Sound of the Sky episode 9 (even though I've seen the whole series a couple of times now) and still have to figure out which SGT Frog episode(s) I missed.
About to start Penguindrum (once I finish watching Game of Thrones Season 3!)
Just finished Samurai Champloo. My initial opinion of the show remained pretty much the same throughout; while not quite on the same level as Cowboy Bebop this was still an excellent anime. The only episode I outright disliked was the one with the treasure-hunting zombies, that one felt pretty pointless. I also think that Kariya could have been introduced earlier, for a guy who was meant to be the show's final antagonist he didn't leave much of an impression, he was just kinda there.
Those are minor quibbles though; all in all, I certainly enjoyed accompanying Mugen, Jin and Fuu on their journey. Shinichiro Watanabe needs to make more shows.
Finished episode 30. So 9/10 episodes later than in 2011, Illumi reveals who he is. In 2011, I thought that part was far creepier with how his eyes looks..and of course 2011 Illumi looks a lot less human. Anyway, there's maybe an episode of this arc left then Hunter Exam will be finished. I enjoyed this saga in this version more than 2011, which says something since Hunter Exam is what made me fall in love with HXH in the first place. The only problems I had was Illusion Tree and Battleship Island kind of slowed things down a bit but even then both added something to the show (Leorio's flashback and in BI, we get to see the applicants work with each other. Again, I like seeing Togashi's characters work with non-essential characters.)
And now episode 31. I forgot to mention that ever since Killua beat that wabbit weirdo in 2011, I've been thinking that needle device or whatever is what mindcontrolled him into killing that martial arts guy in the Exam tournament. I was surprised that Gon actually fought Illumi. That fight also made me think that maybe it was just Illumi's Nen that hypnotized Killua and not both his Nen and that needle thing. IDK and I don't want to know. I'll find out myself. Something else I want to find out myself: Is Ging a Double Star Hunter in this version? I swear he was in 2011. Did Satotz not tell him on purpose? Does he become a Triple Star between now and Greed Island? Also, it was great that the card Kite got from Ging played a part in this and I got to hear some extra info on Ging. And that concludes Hunter Exam. I loved it!
Just watched episode 32. Nice costume changes Kurapika and Leorio. Anyway, I don't remember them fighting wolf...things or the train ride in 2011 (I may be wrong). 1999 is really showing me how much more I like Leorio. I don't even remember him making me laugh at all in 2011.
Episode 33 just got completed. I forget if they ever trained in that guest house in 2011. Anyway, it seemed like a forced excuse when they decided to train anyway because Gon was so adamant about thinking friends shouldn't have to test themselves to see each other. I was thinking "Why doesn't Gon use his fishing rod to get over the get?/Will something happen if someone tries to go over the gate without opening" then minutes later he tries to climb over it with the rod. I'm also impressed that Leorio could push 200kg pre-training. Probably thanks to how fucking huge the fish at Whale Island is in 2011, I thought Gon was the 2nd strongest out of the 4 at that point. Watching the Mike part was nice but it kind of undermines his power (kind of like Illumi vs. Gon). In 2011, they made it seem like instant death if you went through that door, kind of like how you get killed quickly when you cross a border in a PS1 game. Funny how I'm asking for less action in a show. Who would have thought? Also, Canary looks terrible in 1999.
Episode 34..lol @ the fact that the sound effect when Canary hits Gon sounds like Super Smash Bros. I giggled. Anyway, this episode was kind of touching. I love the coloring book style art change in the flashback.
Did you also get that the flash-back was all in her head? That's precisely whey they did in in that art-book type coloring style. It's little directing touches like that which I love about this anime so much. Essentially it goes a step further than the manga and really analyzes the character, even if she's minor. In this case she was so alone that she had to make-believe having a real friendship with Killua. In this case she over-exaggerated things for her own sake. For example, when Killua left her the skateboard, she made it seem to herself like he was giving it to her as a gift, when in reality he was just leaving it there with her because he didn't need it anymore and just decided he could dump it with her. Of course, Killua isn't totally cold to this character, but even so, her mental image of him is handled really well in this episode.
Heh, I actually thought he left it there on purpose. This is all kind of heartbreaking...
FINALLY managed to watch more Ashita no Joe 2. Got through episode 12, which means I've polished off the Carlos Rivera arc. I have to say, I really loved the anime adding in some more drama with Carlos being pressed to return to Venezuela to prepare for his fight with Mendoza, and expanding upon Carlos and Robert's relationship. That was some brilliant stuff that really made the character feel more rounded than he already was in the manga. Episode 10 is up there alongside some of my favorite episodes in any anime now. It was a great expansion on the source material that fleshed out Robert and Carlos more as well as Carlos and Joe's similarities and significance to each other. It might have lost some more subtle elements from the manga, but it was presented in such a rich, beautiful way that it was far more impactful, to me at least. I suppose I was a bit disappointed that they merged the exhibition and official fights together and discarded the sparring match in between, but the end result made for a great, memorable fight that was intense even though I knew what was going to happen. This is easily one of the best anime adaptions I've ever seen. Hopefully I can get through some more today, though I think I'll finish volumes 14 and 15 of the manga first before that if I can.
I think I prefer the manga on the whole, but at the same time, I REALLY, REALLY love this anime in its own right for taking risks and changing things up from the source material while still managing to mostly stay faithful to the source material. Quite frankly I wish that more adaptations were like this. Granted that, going by volumes 14 and 15, I think that the anime starts to deviate a bit less from the original story since it got past what the first anime covered by that point.
One thing that I'm really noticing in the manga, though, now that I know where the story is going via the anime, is just how damn good Kajiwara is at subtle foreshadowing, giving you hints as to what big things will develop later on without you even realizing it at first. Both the anime and the manga make me appreciate each other even more in that respect, which is the mark of a truly great series.
Finished episode 35. Got to see the rest of the family in the 1999 version. This has me wondering about Killua's future...Also, his mother is more of a robot in this one, from what I can remember.
A few hours ago, I finished watching the 36th episode. Ah, they all came together and then parted ways in the same episode. I always liked the coin flip "game" with Gotoh.
At about episode 5 or 6 in Penguindrum. It started out a bit slowly, but keeps getting weirder and funnier!
Just finished episode 37. Hmm, the Amori brothers are in this one. And they are started to talk about Ren (Nen?)
Finished episode 38 within the last hour. Nen was finally expanding on and ahh, red hair Hisoka.
Last night I watched episode 39 and a few minutes ago, I finished episode 40. I can't believe I'm 40 episodes in already.
Episode 41 is over with. I've been meaning to say, I like how Nen looks so much better in this version. One of my least favorite things about 2011 is how the basic white Nen/aura looks so boring. When Gon and Killua's Nen was just white, it looked like cool steam. It has already changed color too. Also, same goes for Gyo. Gyo looks so damn stupid in 2011 while it looks like flaming eyes in 1999.
And with episode 42 completed, Heaven's Arena is completed. Now this time I like the 2011 version much much more. 2011 had my favorite parts with Killua and the 3 handicap Nen users, longer and more fight (Kastro/Hisoka is a 1000 times better in 2011, Killua didn't even fight when he got to the 200th floor in 1999, etc. etc. I can't remember if the spinning top guy fight was actually better though) and I liked how Hisoka was the one to tell a little bit about his past in 2011. I did love how good the animation for Hisoka vs. Gon was. That probably matched up with how much I like the 2011 fight. Plus, 1999 is just straight up funnier.
Well, IMO, Hisoka vs. Gon was done MUCH better in the 1999 version, animation-wise. The whole damn fight streamed along so fluidly.
I loved how that sweat looked. :D I haven't really been impressed with how fast action has looked in the series before that. Also, the end of that fight is pretty funny.
I watched episode 43...ok, now I feel stupid. I thought Heaven's Arena was over after the Hisoka fight. It was interesting seeing Killua get hurt against that spear guy and even more interesting seeing him use assassination mode with Nen. I've only seen him do that in Chimera Ant once.
Also, my favorite part from 2011 did happen in this episode. I liked the part where he met Gido and whatshisface in their apartment better in 2011 because of the parts where it looked like Killua was teleported around the room here and there and scaring the crap out of those guys. I also didn't know/forgot that Gido fought Hisoka.
Episode 44 is in the books! Ok, NOW I finished Heaven's Arena. It's a nice little training arc. Over this version of the episode was funnier execution of the ending of Gon's fight with wheelchair whip guy and Pokkle being actually shown struggling with Nen was much funnier in 2011. Now starts the great part.....
York New City is way better in the 1999 anime, IMO. It just feels so much more intense.
;D
Just finished episode 45, the first Yorknew episode. Good to see Kurapika again, they went more in depth with his training and there was a little bit of action.
2/3rds. OF. ASHITA NO JOE 2. FINISHED. 16. EPISODES. LEFT. MUST. MARATHON. THE. REST. BUT. CANT. WHY. DONT. I. HAVE. MORE. TIMMMEEEE!!!! :h_dead:
The Dragon Kim and Hawaii arcs were awesome. I'll reserve elaborate thoughts on those once I'm done with the entire series. Though, I'm perplexed as to why there needs to be another arc between the Hawaii arc and Joe and Jose's match, but it'll probably be great anyway so I don't mind. I just wan't to finish it soon now that I'm so close Unfortunately, there is A LOT of work that I need to take care of that I haven't been able to complete these last few days, and that takes higher priority. If I work fast, though, I still might be able to finish by sunday, but it'll be tough...
Since Vlord already had the first dvd set checked out from the library, I decided to start watching Patlabor. 6 episodes in, and it's proving to be a very entertaining robot series. All the characters are likable and humorous in their own ways, though Ota's character type does tend to annoy me normally in other shows. Visually, the show holds up tremendously, and the animation is pretty wowing to boot. And the opening and ending themes are fantastic. It's still in episodic mode right now, but I'm sure it'll start getting into an arc or two the further I get into it. The first dvd set only has twelve episodes, so it's feasible for me to get through that much before my break is done. Hopefully I can manage to do so.
The whole ordeal with Hisao was probably my least favorite part of the series, and felt the most filler-ish, but it was short, and also it's only weak in comparison to the rest of this great series. On its own it's a solid story arc and even though it's not immediately apparent, it does serve a purpose and leads into the end of the series.
The Dragon Kim arc was amazing, though. It really shows that Asao Takamori (the author's real name) was not just a one-trick pony, and he gave Joe an opponent who was VERY different from anyone he had faced before, yet still just as compelling, from his back-story to his fierce in-ring ability. And of course there's the whole weight-loss thing in that arc. Isn't it just poetic how Joe undergoes the same pain and hardship that Rikiishi had to go through for their match?
Man, it's no wonder this is my 2nd favorite anime, now.
Also I've been watching the first anime for AnJ at a really slow pace, but it's definitely a pretty worthy adaptation so far. I'm currently 20 episodes in, and it's about half-way through the Juvenile Prison arc, so it's moving at a pretty decent pace as well.
Episode 46 is over for me. Nice seeing Gon return home and this gave a look into how different Killua is from others.
Just completed episode 47. In this episode, I learned more about Ging. They have more info on him in this version.
Ah, episode 48. This part with the test at one of Kurapika's employer's mansions is longer here. So far it's interesting though.
Finished Penguindrum. It turned very dark and angsty, but stayed completely weird....to the point where, at the end, the making-sense to WTF ratio was about 1/3. Still, good show, very interesting, and was worth seeing. I won't be buying my own DVDs though.
Saw some of Aria at anime club this weekend. It's very cute, and will probably make a nice, light-hearted break after all the heavy stuff, if I can dredge up time and possibly DVDs.
Chrome-shelled Regios also looks promising.
Haven't gotten through any more Joe 2 yet, unfortunately, but I did finish up to episode 12 of Patlabor. Episode 10 and 11 were the first really plot-related episodes, and they were pretty interesting. Hopefully the next set has more of those kind of episodes. I do enjoy the episodic ones though. It's a matter of execution; even when they are technically "filler" material or have been done before in other series, they are done so well here that they become episodes well worth watching. So far, I'm enjoying Patlabor, and hope to watch even more of the franchise come summer.
I also ended up re-watching the first 11 episodes InuYasha: The Final Act by accident, this time dubbed. Considering the dub is one of the reasons I don't like the anime, I have to see that everyone does a much better job in The Final Act, and I don't really mind Kagome and Sesshomaru's voice changes that much (in fact, I like Kagome's a lot better, actually). Unfortunately not every line is delivered effectively, some downright embarrassing (My legs is stuck), and others which almost ruin the scene for me (InuYasha's shaky words as he's talking to the dying Kikyo).
Despite this, I have to say that I have a better appreciation for this adaption than the last time I watched it, though. While I liked the Moryomaru arc in the manga, for where it ended up, it didn't need to be as long. Removing all of the less important sub-stories and combining events next to each other not only makes for a fast, engrossing watch but also leads to a lot happening in a single episode. There is never a dull moment or a wasted scene. I wish more shonen anime were produced in seasons adapting about 100 chapters in 26 episodes, like Magi. If Final Act can take the 90 chapter long Moryomaru arc and condense it down to 6 coherrent and fun episodes, then surely it can be done. The One Piece anime would be so, so much better if Toei did that.
I think the best changes in Final Act, though, were adding some extra scenes exploring Kanna's relationship with Kagura setting up her ultimate betrayal of Naraku. In the manga there was only a few scenes of her reacting/reminiscing about Kagura after her death, but they are too spaced out so the end result didn't feel as effective as it should have to me. Final Act carefully places new scenes for her throughout episode 10, though, which really helps out in setting up her actions in her final battle with InuYasha in the next episode. If only the original anime or the second half of Final Act made such effective changes. I probably won't finish rewatching this for a while, since I want to finish Joe 2 and watch Mushi-shi, but I'll have to consider moving the show up into my top 30 on my fav anime list. Though, then again, there is that whole "meaning behind Kagome's name" bullshit the anime added for no good reason in episode 16, so...
I rewatched The Wind Rises in the english dub with Vlord when we went to our local theatre last friday. I have to tell you, I was in such a shitty mood before, but quickly once the movie started I soon forgot my troubles and became immersed in the beauty of it. Some of Jospeh-Gordon Levitt's deliveries as Jiro bothered me, and there was something...off about Naoko's voice. I dont' know how to describe it, but it seemed "scratchy," if that makes any sense. Kayo's crying was also waaayy sadder in the original too. While I prefer the original cast, the dub was still very good overall, and I'm happy that Disney didn't edit the film visually either. There wouldn't have been a point to it, since kids wouldn't be interested in a film like The Wind Rises; it's too grounded and goes at it's own, steady pace, and kids tend to prefer something with fast, high-energy action like The Lego Movie. Overall, I came out in a very good mood seeing the movie in theaters again. It still such has such a profound effect on me, and is inspiring to me from a creative perspective. I don't like to get movies on home video anymore, but I'll have to get it on blu ray when it comes out, since I can see myself watching it again very, very often, and that's not something I say about a movie or tv show readily.
I also finally watched Nausicaa yesterday. A pretty great film, and I'm kicking myself for taking this long to watch it. A strong protagonist in the title character, interesting, layered antagonists, and solid environmental and anti-war messages. Just good stuff overall. I might call it my second favorite Ghibli film if it still as enjoyable on a rewatch, though it'd still be a distant second from The Wind Rises, to me.
Finish episode 49. Whoa at that heel on nuts grinding part. And it looks like Killua and Gon will finally be going to Yorknew City.
Speaking of Hunter X Hunter, I just caught this week's episode of the current anime. Now we're finally getting into the best part of the fight between Knuckle, Morel, and Youpi.
Dammit, I need to hurry up and finish this series so I can stop running away from spoilers in 2011.
In that case....
SPOILERS!!!!
EVERY GOOD GUY DIES AT THE END!!!! GON AND KILLUA ARE BRUTALLY MURDERED, AND THE CHIMERA ANTS WIN. THE REST OF THE SERIES IS ABOUT HOW THEY DOMINATE THE REST OF THE WORLD AND HOW HUMANITY HAS NO HOPE LEFT, AT WHICH POINT THIS SERIES HAS A MAJOR PLOT TWIST AND TURNS INTO ATTACK ON TITAN SOMEHOW!
And that's what's going to happen. Enjoy. :thumbup:
that reminds me, the way you and Spark were talking about how character get killed off the nothing in HXH years ago (pre 2011), I expected to see Leorio and Killua tortured-murdered in some tournament. Seriously...
Finished episode fiddy. Gon and Killua left Whale Island and arrived and Yorknew City. Killua seems to have a lot more personality in 1999 which I of course love.
Episode 51 is over with. I loved seeing this version of the Phantom Troupe. The youngest looking male member doesn't look stupid in this one (seriously, he looked like a grown man with a giant kid's head in 2011. So painful to look at.) while mummy guy and I think one other looked stupider. This episode reminded me of the only thing I don't like about 2011...Neon. I can't stand her.
Killua and Gon meet Leorio again. I like both Leorio and Killua more in 2011. :thumbup:
Man, fuck that. The 1999 version of Kailua is far better done. You get more of a sense of how layered he is as a character. The 2011 version tries to play him off as a bad-ass more often, but in turn he doesn't feel as 3-dimensional as in the 1999 version.
I actually meant to say 1999. :D
Oh, well....you'd better! :>
I've said that a few times. :bleh: I don't remember either making me laugh in 2011 (in fact, I'm not sure if the show has ever made me laugh) and they have a lot more charisma in 1999.
I watched episode 52 yesterday and just finished episode 53. Things really picked up in episode 52 with the auction massacre (Jeez, hundreds?). You could really feel the tension. I love Uvogin's fights in this episode. The part where he hit that hair guy that was impaled onto his arm and then it made a bounce toy sound effect when Uvo tried to smash him into that fat leech guy or in the ground, then Uvo sound that I thought disgusting thing were supposed to taste delicious when he bite off a piece of leech guy's head and that freaked out reaction he gave when that teenage or whatever Troupe member told him about how death via urine pain from hatched leech eggs would kill him were all moments that made me lol.
Just got done with Episode 54. Oh man, that made me fall in love with this arc and show. Now that's how a villain should act when they get captured. I like how Ba-whatshisname, the body guard leader, went out in this one. In 2011, Phinks quickly took him out and that was it, iirc. His death ended up being even more brutal in this one but he went out trying to buy the others some time to escape and that made him more memorable. I LOVE the way Kurapika and Hisoka's meeting was directed. So they last time they met was 6 months ago meaning they met again after the Hunter Exam, right? Anyway, I can really feel the tension in this arc right now.
I got back from seeing Tiger and Bunny 2: The Rising about an hour ago. Man, I just missed them giving about the last poster, which pissed me the fuck off. But the movie was so much damn fun. It was the most fun movie watching experience I've had in a while, actually. Not only was the theater huge, but everyone was just so into the film. Laughing, hooting, clapping; everyone watching the film was having a blast, and that just enhanced my personal viewing experience as well. And it was a good as fuck movie too. Every character had a significant role and great development, and the animation and action scenes were top notch. Fire Emblem's nightmares about his trauma from when he came out as gay was especially brilliantly done, and really left an impact on me, but of course seeing him overcome it and kick ass again was so, so satisfying. Vlord will be glad to know that the movie can be seen as a direct continuation of the tv anime's story, though he might be disappointed that the Ouraboros' plot wasn't addressed or resolved (Lunatic was in the movie though, and he was awesome as always). But really, this movie was wonderful, and makes me really excited that the story is getting continued in these movies like this. I might even go and watch the second showing on Tuesday, time permitting (partially to try and get that goddamn poster), but I encourage every Tiger and Bunny fan here to go watch it as soon as possible, since it's just so much damn fun and great to see these characters develop forward in a new story.
Just completed episode 55 of Hunter X Hunter 1999. I'm loving the directing in this episode, I'm liking Uvo more and more in this one and this reminded me that Shal is a Hunter and Kurapika became the bodyguard leader.
Wow, two deaths two episodes in a row in Joe 2. The series has never hid the boxing world is a brutal world, and we've had major characters die and get bruised beyond repair before, but it's still depressing. Leon's death in particular was pretty fucked up, because of just how realistic the situation felt.
12 episodes left. I wan't to try and see if I can finish the show by the weekend. After that, I am going to start up Kimagure Orange Road, which I'm really, really excited about watching, which isn't a feeling I've had about starting a show in a long time. I know I said I wanted to watch Mushishi-shi...but at this point, I just don't have the time to finish it before the second season debuts anyway. Maybe I can still breeze through the manga, though, since it's only 10 volumes and my library has them all.
Yeah, there's a reason that AnJ is listed under "tragedy," among the other genres that it covers (which is basically sports and martial arts/battle shounen). I can't wait for you to finish the series. It's impossible for me to tal about what I'm most interested in talking about this series until you finish it. All I will say is that the ending is downright iconic, and you'll understand exactly what I mean when you see it for yourself. Few manga and anime have managed to end on such a hi note, in terms of pure quality, for me, but this is one of those few.
While eating Keylime Pie I watched episode 56 of Hunter X Hunter 1999...Uvo Vs. Kurapika. I loved the music during the fight and the animation was smooth. The end of the fight was one of the most intense moments I've ever seen in an animated series. That really stuck with me. Dark themes like revenge and killing someone for the first time where well explored here.
Finished episode 57 of Hunter X Hunter 1999! It's a slower episode (Zepile's first episode) but I still found it to be interested. I remembering liking the 2011 version better due to how Zepile outsmarted the guy that tried to trick Gon and Killua.
Re-watching Steins: Gate. Just as awesome as the first time!
Yesterday I finished marathoning the parts of Blue Exorcist I had not watched. I hated myself afterwords.
Today I am marathoning Tiger & Bunny. The experience has been far more positive.
I think Tiger and Bunny is awesome, pure fun myself. It's kind of like an american superhero show in many respects, and while it's not a particularly substantial story there's a lot of good in it and the characters are all likable and have multiple chances to shine. The only downside to the show is all the loose ends left at the end of it. Hopefully the third movie onwards starts to address those.
Anyways, I watched two more episodes of Joe 2 two days ago, so I only have ten episodes left, now. I like the idea of this Harimao arc, which I feel is Yoko trying to get Joe to rekindle the raw passion he had for boxing in his earlier matches, and return to being the wild brawler he used to be. It is, in some ways, not necessarily needed but it's a good concept for a kind of breather arc before the big finish, and with ten episodes left, I don't think it'll drag for me. Really, now that I'm so close to being done I just want to marathon to the end, but I don't have the kind of time to watch ten episodes in one sitting. Still, I might be able finish the show before next monday, at the earliest.
I don't dislike the Harimao arc. I simpy just feel that it's the weakest part of the show compared to how great all of the other arcs are. As for the ending, I would at least recommend watching the final 3 to 4 episodes in one sitting. Hell, whether you have the time or not, I dare you to try and stop yourself from finishing all of those episodes in one sitting. I know, because I did try, and I flat-out couldn't do it. I had important shit to do, myself, but at that moment I just couldn't bring myself to care until I had finished that entire final battle between Joe and Mendoza.
Oh man, another good episode (58). It was a powerful moment when Kurapika finally came back after killing Uvo. that music got to me. Silva and Zeno have been hired by the mafia and Kurapika has been asked to join them. I wonder if he actually told his boss that he killed Uvo. Apparently Gon telling Killua on the airship that he tracked Hisoka in Hunter's Exam was filler because both Killua and Leorio were surprised by the news. That explains the strange line from Killua when he asked Gon what kind of magic did he use. It was interesting watching Gon and Killua track down Nobunaga (I think I'm starting to look him more in this version) and whatshername? Machi? IDK. I loved how Chrollo didn't tell them that he sent Phinks and whatshername to help track whoever was after them. Phinks having Killua's leg skin swiped off in this version was more gruesome. God do I love the music that was played on that part. And now on to the part where they are taken hostage by the Phantom Troupe.
Episode 59. Emotions ran high among a few of the characters. I like how Killua assessed the situation when the Phantom Troupe questioned them. Nobunaga displayed how much heart he has. Definitely my 2nd favorite HXH character. They showed Killua's intense fear for the first time, iirc. That makes me wonder why he decided to keep on going after two people he clearly was weaker than. Also, Phinks and Feitan's hair color is different in 1999.
Random stuff: This episode reminded me about how Gon is becoming more like Uvo in 2011 (I'm still on episode 113/4 so no spoiler answers to this post, please). I thought I might have thought this when Gon screamed at that owl Chimera Ant but maybe I've been thinking about this all the way back when Nobunaga compared the two.
I like little moments in the show you have to pay attention to like when Gon and Killua lied to Wing about how long the doctor said Gon had to recover from his match against the spinning top guy (3 instead of 6) so he'd have plenty of time to recover but not be out too long so he wouldn't miss his fight deadline and be thrown out of Heaven's Arena. Or when Leorio said that he only took a short walk but in all actuality, he looked all over Yorknew for Kurapika.
Just finished the 60th episode. I love how the time Chrollo spent with Neon was longer here. I was a good look into his mind (and I didn't know he was my age).
Kurapika met up with Zeno, Silva and the other assassins and Gon and Killua escaped.
What happened to Carlos was fucking heartbreaking. He's a total shell of what he used to be, no memory of who he once was, his mind reverted to that of a child and his once lively self made pitifully slow and weak. I nearly shed a tear during that "fight" he had with Joe, and that "gong, gong, gong" line at the end of episode 41.
Otherwise the show is setting up the punch-drunk syndrome as something that will come back to really hurt Joe soon enough. I feel like I can predict where that's going. Seeing Yoko's determination to meet with him and get him checked by Dr. Kinninsky, and then ultimately sending him a vital piece of information removing him from feeling guilty over Carlos' condition was just more excellent stuff that just reinforced how great a character she is. I think I'll try and finish up the show tonight if I can, since there's only 5 episodes left.
I also finished InuYasha: The Final Act dubbed, and episode 16 aside, it's damn great stuff. It makes me sad that Takahashi stalled the story so much with all those average monster of the week stuff and repetitiveness for the first half of the manga, since after the Band of 7 arc started everything started to get really good and even better towards the ending, and The Final Act covers the final 20 volumes brilliantly and at a great pace. I'd have to re-evaluate how highly this ranks among the anime I enjoy, but it's certainly higher now, at any rate, thanks to the dub, which, some flubs aside, is so much more enjoyable than how it was in the first series, which I could barely stomach most of the time what with all of Cox's obnoxious yelling (and all those "InuYasha!" "Kagome!" stuff that really grates on the nerves). Now, if only someone would make a Ranma 1/2: The Final Act, or something...
Otherwise I find myself re-watching random Ranma and Slayers episodes. I wish I didn't have such a big backlog, or else I'd rewatch those shows properly (Slayers, especially, is something I want to rewatch again since it's been years since I've seen it in full). But after I finish Joe 2, I probably will watch a comedy or slice of life, probably Princess Jellyfish and/or Welcome to the NHK since those are on Netflix (though I still want to watch Mushi-shi sometime...). And I've got Hajime no Ippo to finish, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes after that on my list, and there are other anime and live-action shows I have yet to get too....yeah, I'm not rewatching anything for years to come. :sweat:
Yeah, when you get down to it this series is pretty dark. That said, I think its also as uplifting of a series as it is a grim one. Its an odd combination that somehow works, and I think that a lot of that is due to Takamori's writing talent, but it vould also come down to whether you interpret what he wrote in a positive or negative light.
Im really interested to hear your thoughts on the ending, but when you write about it, make sure to put it under spoiler tags. ;)
There's a balance between the uplifting and grim stuff, really. It works because the series is following the ups and downs of Joe's life. Even at the lows the series is more optimistic than pessimistic, it just doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of the boxing world. It acknowledges them, but also the fact that these things happen and are a part of this career, and you have to have a strong love for the sport to accept this and push forward, and Joe's dedication to his goal is inspiring (imo) because of all the roadblocks and tragedies that he's had to overcome to do what he loves. I think there are as many heart-warming moments as there are heart-breaking, and there's always satisfaction in seeing Joe or other character succeed and be happy even though it's sad to see him or others suffer. It's a fine balance that I think is hard to pull off, but the series does it excellently.
I think it's one of those things where you can just tell that the author is writing through personal experience. Of the very little data that I've been able to find out about Asaki Takamori (and by data I mostly mean Wikipedia and other unreliable sources), it seems like his life was anything but perfect behind the scenes. But, you get the feeling that these rough aspects of his life have translated into his work, for the better.
As for being uplifiting versus being grim, though, at the end of the day the series was still unquestionably inspiring, by influencing literally hundreds of successful mangaka to even pursue that career. That alone says a lot about how important this series was to the history of both manga and anime.
Episode 61...ah, the episode where Chrollo tells all the Spiders, except for Nobunaga, to "Wreck Havoc/Make a big show.". Besides me liking him saying "Go wild" much more than that and the superior music, I thought their attack on the mafia was much more entertaining in this version. I don't even remember Hisoka killing even one person in that part. Next up, Chrollo vs. the Zoldycks.
Just finished episode 62...so the OVAs finish Yorknew right? I assumed that "the regular episodes" ended with Yorknew and then the OVAs were Greed Island.
Anyway, I don't remember Silva using his hair to heal a knife wound from Chrollo or Chrollo using Owl's power and them showing a picture of Owl in the book in 2011 like they did in 1999. I can't wait to watch the side by side comparison of the two versions of the fight on youtube. And I remember Zeno saying that he was sure Chrollo would kill him if he actually was serious in 2011 while in 1999 he just said he'd have a chance at doing it. Also, Zeno Nen Dragon looks much better in 2011. In fact, that's one fight I liked better in 2011. I also like that they showed Illumi's infiltration and assassination of the Ten Dons and a flashback with Chrollo and Silva in 2011. But then again not having that Illumi part gave the little twist an added element of surprise.
Some random stuff: I thought that Tiger Claw whatshisname game from Heaven's Arena was the one who was supposed to have Rando-like powers for some reasons (because him failing to master his abilities was what ultimately made him lose) but it's been painfully obviously that its actually Chrollo that does. I think I finally figured it out after episode 61. IDK.
I've been meaning to say this for awhile: In 2011, I like how in the Chimera Ant arc, there's 3 generations of a group of 2 featuring a simple and earnest guy (except Knov or Morel. I keep on forgetting who is who since there names are barely said. I'm guessing his years of experience made him into an intelligent Nen User) and a colder but fearful Nen user (Shoot doesn't seem as cold as gambling dude or especially Killua though.) I find that to be pretty interesting.
Zeno's Nen Dragon, and that whole fight in general, animates much better in the 1999 version. Also it doesn't look any better in 2011 aside from just having a different color.
So I'm guessing you thought I was asking a rhetorical question and I'm guessing your non-answer means I answered my own question. :srs: I'll go through all the OVAs today. Maybe I'll eat more chocolate pie and homemade pizza while I do so.
I completed OVA #1. I love the part when Hisoka changes the contents of his poem. I'm not exactly sure why he made himself look like a traitor in his rewrite. Maybe he couldn't come up with something else that both had similar lines to the others and let him stay at the hideout.
Just finished OVA episode 2. All that Sword of Oath stuff is confusing. Did Phinks really call Ubo..I mean Uvo an idiot? The translations for these episodes aren't as good is the first 62.
And now I'm done with OVA 3. They chased the Spiders and were spotted.
OVA 4. Squalla has been killed and Gon and Killua have been captured. That was kind of intense.
OVA 5. It was heart pounding waiting for the moment when the hotel when dark. I don't remember their little fight in the dark being this cool in 2011. lol @ Uvo having an afro back in the day. I'm confused at whether or not Paku actually found out about Kurapika's abilities when she touched them since she said she didn't because she thought he kept them as a secret from them but then they showed her thinking about the flashback when he did reveal them. I also forgot/didn't know she could extract memories from notes.
Speaking of HXH, I just have to say this:
Paku's death scene in the OVA >>>>>>>>>>> Paku's deat scene in the 2011 anime
I can't wait to see it then. ;)
Watched OVA 6 and 7 while drinking hot cocoa. ;D
OVA 6. Whoa, Kurapika really beat the shit out of Chrollo. Lmao @ Phinks being an awful hostage negotiator. I don't remember him getting punched by Paku in 2011 or kicked in the back by Machi, just punched by Machi and Nobunaga. I also don't remember if he almost got into a fight with Nobunaga and Nobunaga being knocked out. I love how Paku is so willing to betray the Spiders in order to save Chrollo and that sad little scene of Squalla's dogs watching his body being carried into an ambulance.
OVA 7. Kurapika calms down yet again and using his head instead of completely going off the edge. I loved that intense moment when he's cycling through his thoughts and emotions trying to decide whether his plan is good or not and then he decides that it is. I also loved how he asked Paku questions and how Melody and Chrollo had thoughts on what their respective friends are doing. So sister Zoldyck distracts the Phantom Troupe and then Hisoka gets replaced by a robot? That haven't revealed that in this episode but it's pretty obvious (lol @ the robot dropping a card. Nice foreshadowing). I also loved the view of Paku walking the kids to the airport was mostly in first person. I'm guessing that memory will be important later.
I finished Ashita no Joe 2 friday night. I'll post my thoughts in the AnJ thread, but needless to say it was everything I expected and hoped for.
I also just ran through the entirety of Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket today. I haven't really watched many Gundam series before (I did watch all of 00 back in '08 on Sci-fi...damned if I remember any of it, though), but I knew that people on this board consider 0080 to be the best, and since it was nicely short, I figured I should finally watch it. I'm glad the series was so accessible for Gundam newbies, and at it's core, it's really just a well-written war story. Children have this naive view of people, death, and war, and the series explores how misguided that naivety is through Al. He and the other kids think of war as something cool, and talk about people dying and killing people like it is inconsequential. It's cause it's impersonal to them. The war is something far away from the Riah colony, so they can't really grasp it's ramifications. Even when the war spills into the colony, because nothing from it personally affected them, they are still able to see it as something cool. Except Al. He learned the hard way, after getting to know people on both sides of the conflict, that war is not something to take lightly. It is deadly, and it has costs, and people suffer and die. It took the danger of loosing those who were closest to him, and loosing someone who was very dear to him, and seeing another person he loved get hurt, to fully understand that war was not something to take lightly, nor is human life.
It was a very well-told story, and I found Al and Bernie to be strong leads. I appreciated how all the characters were rounded in characterization so that there are no heroes or villains in the story, but people trying to do what they think is right (well, except Colonel Killing. He's pretty stereotypically villainous. But he didn't do much anyway, so I don't care.). That outlook on war is the kind I prefer. We see and hear people talk about doing cruel things, like Garcia wanting to kill Al so he wouldn't tattle, but this is never portrayed as villainous acts, but the fact of warfare. It's what has to be done in order to win, and protect what you must.
Personally, I love how the last scene is the children are talking about how they can't wait for another war, and what they'll collect from the battles, and all the while Al is just crying. Unlike Al, the other children don't understand the pain and consequences that comes from military conflict, and that ignorance is going to pave the way for future death and destruction down the road. Overall, I think the series executes and develops really strong themes and messages about war, and handles them maturely and in a way that complements a character-driven story perfectly. I can see why people here regard this as the best Gundam, and even Giant Robot, series. It's easily the most well-written analysis of the consequences of war and are self-destructive and provincial naivety that I've seen in animation, so far.
Overall I'm just happy to check off another show from the backlog. With Joe 2 done, I'm diving right into Princess Jellyfish, and will likely hit up Mushi-shi (finally) afterwards. I can also finally catch up on all the currently running series I put on hold. I've missed Silver Spoon...
I'm glad to see you liked the AnJ2 ending as much as I did (and I posted about that on the AnJ thread), and am just as glad to see you liked Gundam 0080 (both of these are in my top 5 favorite anime series ever).
As for Gundam 0080, I highly recommend checking out SF Debris's analytical reviews of each episode. As a complete Gundam newbie himself, he still brings a lot of good insight not the characters and themes of the series. I've tried to get into other Gundam series, like the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Wing, and the Unicorn OVAs, but this is the only one that really grabbed me and drew me in, and think a lot of that, as you said, has to do with it just being a well-written war story more than a Gundam story.
I've heard good things about SF Debris' reviews. I'll make sure to check out his 0080 reviews sometime. :)
As for other Gundam series, I do remember liking 00 and what I've seen of the original, but I can say I found 0080 on another level story-wise. That said, I haven't seen many Gundam series, so I'll try and see if I can check out some of the more well-regarded ones in the franchise sometime in the future.
I just noticed that the entirety of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, dubbed, has been uploaded onto Netflix. Interesting. I might give it a re-watch sometime.
If Aniplex is starting to add more of their shows to Netflix, I hope to see Durarara! and Gurren Lagann on there soon.
OVA 8 is complete...
So Chrollo would die if he spoke to any PT member? Dammit, looks like I haven't been paying attention. lol It's sad that Chrollo couldn't talk to Paku. Hisoka vs Chrollo is still a massive cock tease but it was more interesting here. I felt kind of bad for Hisoka. So Illumi's the Hisoka doppelganger in this version and 2011 had a robot? Interesting. I like how they seemed to take more time with Paku and Hisoka after Hisoka got done with Chrollo and the scene with the cat was touching. And yes, Paku's death scene was a lot better in this one. Nobunaga telling them to trust her was more or less the same, though.
So that's the end of Yorknew, right? I officially like 1999 more than 2011. I'll start catching up on 2011 soon, possibly today.
:) So is that the end of the arc or what, you bastard?
Well, what do you think? You've already seen the 2011 anime, so you know where it ends, dumb-ass.
And besides, would it really make sense for them to do an OVA series that specifically only "kind of" covers the rest of the arc? Obviously they did it to finish the entire arc, so the answer is yes, dick-for-brains.
Thanks, old friend. :)
I finished Princess Jellyfish today. I would have done so yesterday, but I had to stop and do work. I was seriously into it from the moment I started it, though, and I found myself clearing 7 episodes in a row yesterday. The show packed with comic energy, from the way the characters move and react, to the flow of the direction to the wide amounts of verbal and sight humor, and hilarious fantasy bits like the "Clara" segments and Shu's dream sequences. The characters act like natural , real people despite their eccentricities and the awkwardness of the Sisterhood, and behave to their circumstances in a fashion that I, who have also been shy of others and awkward, completely related to, and felt organic to me. And the emotional component of the show is superb; exploring the doubts, inner turmoils, and griefs of the characters without ever feeling angst or melodramatic. Everything about the series, from the animation, the characters, the storyline, and the humor really appealed to me, and I'm really disappointed that not only is it so short, at 11 episodes, but it ended with so much left unresolved. Of course, the manga is still running, and I am going to get right on catching up to that to get more of this series stat, but this anime adaption was incredible and I wish they would make another season. We could always use another good Josei anime, especially one that has so much broad appeal and wit like this one. Seriously, I think everyone here should give it a shot, especially if in you're in the mood for something completely different from normal anime comedy/slice of life series. I really cannot possibly see anyone not liking it.
I have decided to finally start watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Galaxy Express 999. My plan is to watch an episode of each every day, which is a good pace and will wear me out less than trying to marathon through them. I won't start LOGH until tomorrow, but today I have watched the first two episodes of Galaxy Express 999 instead. This show has been on my backlog forever, but I just never got around to it somehow. Nowadays, with a series as long as this, I would have preferred to just read the manga, but I can only find the first chapter translated. But, I'm glad I finally started watching the series, and I have to say, I'm already loving it. It's being handled much more maturely with a lot heavier concepts than many contemporary series, especially shonen ones, and it's doing so flawlessly. Not to mention visually it looks great, despite being a late 70's/early 80's show. Man, how Toei has degenerated since then....I'm really digging the show so far, and those first two episodes left me excited to keep watching.
Aside from watching an episode of both 999 and LOGH (and maybe HnI) a day, I have a rigid schedule to help me clear some of my backlog. I wan't to get done with every series I'm most interested in watching before July 10th, which will mark my 10th year anniversary of when I consider myself to have "gotten into" anime. Obviously I'm very busy and have a lot of work to do, so this is a flexible schedule, but I'd be pleased if I can make it work. So, on my queue this month, I plan to go through Welcome to the NHK, Mushi-shi, and the entirety of the Fullmetal Panic! anime franchise. That's a tall order, and a lot of episodes, but if I don't watch anything else (except for Stardust Crusaders, obviously), then I think I can just barely do it. Here's hoping, because I've got a lot I want to get through before July. :sweat:
I've been on a Slayers high recently, and re-watched the movies and the OVA's. Man, as much as I love the tv series, I have to say that I love the movies and OVAs even more. There's really one simple reason why: Naga the Serpent. Lina and Naga are probably one of the best comedic duos in anime, and play off each other so well because of how different, yet similar, they are. A lot like Excel and Elgala, now that I think about it. Lina and Naga's interactions are always comic gold and I them as a duo better than Lina and Gourry (and I like the guy, but he's doesn't play off Lina anywhere near as well as Naga does). Man, I wish they made a Slayers Special tv series that chronicled all of Lina and Naga's misadventures. Slayers Special is over twice the length of regular Slayers as it is, so there's plenty of material to adapt. Unfortunately, I don't think Revolution/Evolution-R did well, so I don't know if they'd ever make any more Slayers anime. A pity, since I could never tire of seeing Lina and Naga in action.
I've also resumed watched Hajime no Ippo. Like with LOGH and GE999, I plan to watch at least one episode a day. Right now I'm on episode 25, and while Miyata losing to Mashiba was predictable, it was a well-done fight that really endeared me to Miyata's determination. I also enjoyed seeing Ippo so determined to avenge Miyata's defeat instead of getting depressed, and seeing another side to Mashiba as well. I don't care for scenes involving Ippo and Mashiba's sister, though. Awkward romantic comedy hijinks don't really do it for me much in fighting series, at least, the way Ippo is so over-the-top weird about it. I'm certainly looking forward to Ippo's fight with Mashiba, though.
I haven't been able to start the LOGH OVA series yet, but I watched the first movie and I really liked it. It did a great job establishing a huge ensemble cast and portrayed the characters on both sides very fairly without giving good or evil judgements on them, and I loved how the battles relied so heavily on well-timed strategy. Reinhard and Yang are well-characterized as dual protagonists, and I look forward to seeing them interact and oppose each other later on. I plan to watch Overture to a New World next, and then I'll start the series proper.
And Galaxy Express 999 is still entertaining and well-written. I'm impressed with the themes the series explores, and so early on. While I expect it to be mostly episodic, every episode so far has been a pleasure, and one episode a day should make for a fine viewing experience.
Quote from: Cartoon X on April 06, 2014, 03:17:28 PM
Man, I wish they made a Slayers Special tv series that chronicled all of Lina and Naga's misadventures. Slayers Special is over twice the length of regular Slayers as it is, so there's plenty of material to adapt. Unfortunately, I don't think Revolution/Evolution-R did well, so I don't know if they'd ever make any more Slayers anime. A pity, since I could never tire of seeing Lina and Naga in action.
I would kill to see an adaption of
Slayers Special (I wish someone would translate those novels so I could read them :cry:) or the second half of the
Slayers light novels. Honestly, I think it might have been better to adapt those instead of making
Revolution/
Evolution-R, especially since tons of people already hated
TRY just because it wasn't an adaption of the novels. (SCREW THEM!!! TRY WAS AMAZING!!! :anger:)
They probably didn't adapt the second half of the light novels because they don't have Amelia and Zelgadis in them. Let's face it...how many Slayers fans (especially internationally) do you think probably care more about seeing Luke and Milina animated than just having the original quartet together again? Revolution/Evolution-R also really played to people's nostalgia for the original series (as evident by how important Rezo is, bringing back Zanaffar, a bunch of gags and references, "Nama," and E-R's opening, among other things), so I think their goal was more of a nostalgic, celebratory adventure than legitimately making a conclusion to the story.
That said, they did include elements from the light novels they previously omitted, like Duclis, a Zanaffar closer to how he was in the LN than in the first anime, Zumma, Wizer, among other aspects, so there were additional "canon" elements added to those series as well that I think hardcore Slayers fans appreciated. I really should read the light novels sometime, myself, since from what I've heard over the years they and the anime are a fairly different experience.
Taking an anime break to watch The Avengers complete Emma Peel episodes. :P
Lined up to watch next are Aria the Animation, a re-watch of Kino's Journey, and a bunch of odd stuff I got in Crunchyroll's 30-disc random clearance box some time ago.
Will be starting Jojo and Magi on my 360's Crunchroll soon enough. :)
Fate/Zero was recently added to Netflix. I've been putting off watching it for far too long now, but with this, I have good incentive to finally start. :D I'll start it up once I'm finished with Space Adventure Cobra.
So, my plan to watch one episode of HNI, GE999, and LOGH everyday failed after the first week, so I'll have to try that again next month. In the meantime, I'm half-way done with Space Adventure Cobra, and it's kicking all kinds of ass in a Lupin (red jacket)-y sort of way. I can't wait to see the new story arc that'll start up in the second-half.
I've been continuing to watch AnJ (the first series). I finally hit some filler episodes in the mid 30's. One of them involved Joe sort of conning one of his fans who wanted to be a boxer by pretending to coach him in exchange for some extra cash. By the end Joe feels terrible about it when he finds out that the guy wasn't rich like he thought and was basically spending everything he was making because he believed Joe. Overall, not a bad filler for something that could've easily been more mundane. I think what helped it is that the humor really fit in line with something you'd find in the manga. That said, my main problem is that it doesn't fit within the context of Joe's character arc. I like to believe by this point he was past that phase in his life, and was more focused on being driven to fight Wolf, and later Rikiishi. Had a similar plot happened in the first arc of the anime, though, then it would have for in just perfectly with Joe's behavior before being sent to prison.
The second filler episode was just about Nishi overcoming his losing streak. It could've been a good supplemental story for the character, but instead it was just generic boring filler. It doesn't look like there should be too many of these filler episodes in a row, though, so we should get back to the main story-line soon enough.
Also, just like how AnJ2 adders that reporter character, this series has its own original recurring filler character in the form of some strange doctor. He doesn't really add anything to the series, but he's sort of an amusing addition, so far.
Mahouka has become my go-to show this season. Not because it's good, because it's absolutely abhorrent. It's become my new Sword Art, something to watch and see how stupid things will get in the next episode.
From what you've written about it in your articles, it certainly sounds egregiously obnoxious and poorly written like Sword Art was. I do look forward to reading your write-ups on the series as it continues, to see how bad it can possibly get, since I don't have time to invest in watching a terrible show myself. ;)
As for me, I'm swamped with work and this being the last week of school I'm scrambling to get things done in time. So the only anime I've been watching besides JoJo's is Space Adventure Cobra, which I'm about 2/3rds done with. That's really all I can manage, right now. :sweat:
Just finished watching episode 127 of Hunter X Hunter. I admit I kind of chuckled at how they screamed "Your Majesty" at the end. Also, that music seemed like something from a bad (sad) ending of a video game. Also, Gon has seriously flipped seeing as he threatened to kill Komugi and set up a hostage situation.
Cardcaptor Sakura is getting its own special release here. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-04-30/nis-america-licenses-cardcaptor-sakura-tv-anime#KWyttPbBuiLgXizb.01)
I still enjoy what I've seen of it lately, so I might consider it. Although I don't think I could afford the Blu.
That's waayyy too expensive for me, but it's nice that's it's gotten a re-release. Hopefully my library picks up some copies and I can watch the show that way.
I've started watching anime again for the first time in years (I think the last show I watched was, like, Big O?).
I just finished Watamote, which I loved and was able to identify far too much with the main character. I'm just about to finish up Madoka Magica, which went places I never expected a magical girl show to go. Next I plan on watching Kill La Kill and Attack on Titan.
I just got finished watching episode 128 of Hunter X Hunter. The first 10 or so minutes of the episode was some of the most trippiest animation I've ever seen.
Digimon season 3 was just added to our Netflix.
I know what anime I'll be watching next. :)
Burned through Kill La Kill in just a few days and absolutely loved it.
Huh. Looks like Doraemon is finally coming to the U.S., airing on Disney XD starting this summer. (http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Consumers/Doraemon-plans-to-make-US-debut-this-summer) I'm surprised it's taken this long for any of the series to come over here, honestly. It's a fun kids show from the few dozen episodes I've seen of it, and I'll be curious to see how the english dub preserves the spirit of the show despite making changes to americanize it and whatnot.
I watched the first episode of Fate/Zero. Even though it was basically 45 minutes of people expositing stuff, it did a good job getting me interested in watching the rest of the series and seeing where things go.
I'll be honest, the first 6 episodes were way too exposition-heavy and kind of boring, IMO, but it gets really good at some point after that.
I just thought the first episode was kind of boring and that's it.
Got all the GTO dvds from the library, so I decided to once and for all finish watching the anime. I've tried 4 times now, but the farthest I got was episode 7. I still decided to start at the beginning again since it has been a while since I last tried to watch it. I blew through the first two discs today, which means I've finished through episode 11. I must say that watching it on tv is a much better experience than online, and I find myself able to get into it and enjoy it a lot more than I did previously. Since I'm already a fourth done, I think I'll be able to finish the series over this weekend.
And I still think Onizuka is Steve Blum's best role ever.
You spelled Guyver 3 wrong.
Eikichi Onizuka, Guillmon, Spike Spiegel, Makoto Shishio, and Jamie = Steve Blum's top 5 roles
I also liked him as the Green Goblin from TSSM and Red Skull from AEMH, and he did a decent Wolverine as well.
I still need to rewatch GTO sometime. What with my unfinished article and all... :humhumhum:
I'll probably check out the Shonan Junai Gumi one of these days.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 10, 2014, 09:34:57 AM
Eikichi Onizuka, Guillmon, Spike Spiegel, Makoto Shishio, and Jamie = Steve Blum's top 5 roles
I also liked him as the Green Goblin from TSSM and Red Skull from AEMH, and he did a decent Wolverine as well.
I can't remember if I knew he was Red Skull. My favorite 5 roles of his are Spike, Mugen, Shin, Agito and Jamie. Probably in that order, once I think about it.
Quote from: The Shadow Gentleman on May 10, 2014, 12:29:05 PM
I still need to rewatch GTO sometime. What with my unfinished article and all... :humhumhum:
Article? :o
Anyway, my favorite Blum roles are:
1. Eikichi Onizuka
2. Roger Smith
3. Shishio Makoto
4. Spike Spiegel
5. Starscream
Oh yeah, Roger Smith...
Got done through episode 27 of GTO today, which means I watched a good 16 episodes in total. I wasn't expecting the series, short as it is, to have anime-only episodes. I didn't really care for the curses episode or the second episode of the Nao Kadena story (why did they change who the school nurse is in the anime anyway?). I also don't remember if the episodes where Asuza goes to Hakuba were in the manga or not, because I remember the parts where her female students were picking on her and boycotted her class and she ran away and stuff, but the parts with her former student I didn't, so either I skimmed that part when I first read it or that was added on in the anime. Anyway, the first half of this two-parter about Tomoko's idol career was pretty enjoyable, so I look forward to watching the second episode of that tomorrow, and then after that I assume comes that whole missing school trip money arc, which was probably my least favorite part of the manga, so I'll see if the anime's version makes me like it better. I'm really enjoying the show a lot though, I think more than I did this same stuff in the manga. I think the main reason why is the dub. It can be so awkward and definitely reuses a limited voice pool, but every performance is memorable to me and the deliveries (especially Blum's as Onizuka) make the material even funnier than in the manga. And of course, I just like hearing some of my favorite voice actors in so many roles. I still get a kick of hearing Beauty's voice as Tomoko, as I haven't heard Philece Sampler in too many other roles (I know she was Misao too, but her performance as Beauty was much more memorable to me, grating as it could be in the second half of the show). I didn't realize at first Tony Oliver was Murai until I looked it up, but he uses his Lupin voice as Tomoko's manager so I got a kick out of that as well. Michelle Ruff's Urumi is great too, and fits the kind of voice I imagined her having when I was reading the manga. And of course, Kirk Thorton is everywhere in this dub and the Don Patch fan in me is loving every second of that. :D
Anyway, I'm definitely going to try to polish the show off tomorrow since I only have two and a half discs left. I want to return them to the library as soon as possible since I have all of the Slam Dunk manga on hold, and the max limit for checkouts is 30 items. :sweat:
I'm watching a harem show where one of the girls is a quadriplegic in a maid outfit. Did I mention this is by the author of Elfen Lied?
Last disc to go! I'll watch it later tonight. While I didn't enjoy the lost field trip money part of the story in the manga, mainly because it felt like it was dragging and I was getting a bit tired with the series, I found it really good stuff seeing it again in the anime. That anime-only episode about Tomoko and Saejima was kinda dumb, though, and the following two episodes fell a bit flat to me though I remember enjoying those chapters in the manga. Anyway, the Okinawa arc was where I started getting into the series again in the manga so I'm sure I'll enjoy it plenty in the anime. I'm curious as to how they end the anime since it has to be much different than the manga's considering the only adapted half of it.
The field trip arc was OK. The arc with the teachers competing in the points system was fucking stupid. Easily tge worst arc of the manga.
I liked the Okinawa arc. It was the part of the story where Onizuka lost the money for the field trip that I didn't originally like when I was reading the manga. I'll agree that the dumbest written part of the series was the points system arc, but that part of the story was where I almost started to lose interest.
This show I'm blogging is literally preaching how anti-discrimination groups only exist because the followers are stupid enough to think equality can happen.
Geez. The more I read your blog posts on Mahouka and hear stuff about it the more I'm tempted to watch it to see how asinine it is for myself.
Quote from: Cartoon X on May 11, 2014, 05:15:09 PM
Geez. The more I read your blog posts on Mahouka and hear stuff about it the more I'm tempted to watch it to see how asinine it is for myself.
Yeah, it's tripe. What boggles me is how much padding the show has, but then I read up on the source material, and it turns out they already remove most of the padding from the book for the adaptation. And these novels are supposed to be best-sellers in Japan.
Welp, finished with GTO. I have to say that the Okinawa arc was probably one of my favorite parts of the manga, and the anime's version is just as good to me, and probably some of my favorite episodes in the series overall. The final two episodes surprised me a bit, but I felt the ending was a bit weak, though at least the situation was much better than the whole points system arc in the manga. Miyabi's reason for hating teachers was certainly much darker than in the manga, but I easily prefer the manga's version, and the manga's ending. It was funny to see Onizuka move to America to teach at a school there, though, I'll give it that. The GTO anime certainly was a great experience overall, and I'm glad I was finally able to finish it. Now, the next dubbed anime I watch will probably be Beck or Gankutsuou. I just bought the dvds for those two, so I might as well finally watch them.
Okay, so CrunchyRoll has the first 6 episodes of Jojo up right now, but I think I need to remember my old account's password to watch the sixth.
They have the first 26. Scroll down and click the other tab.
Oh damn, thanks!
Heh, I was looking at Stardust Crusaders. Let's see if I can fit the first episode or two in tonight.
I'd skip the first arc and go straight to episode 10. Phantom Blood's good but a bit dull.
I'm 2 episodes in, and the backstory's pretty good, but I'm not in love. I'll take your word for it, but stick around anyway.
It gets much better once you get to Part II.
I like the first four episodes of Phantom Blood, but it kind of peters out for me in the second half. But as everyone says, Battle Tendency is so awesome it more than makes up for it.
Anyway, I started watching Beck yesterday and got done with the first 7 episodes. I must say, there are few anime.manga out there that have dialogue that legitimately sound like real conversations, so that's a refreshing change of pace. The show is very well made with great atmosphere and I love it's slow build and focus on developing the characters and the story gradually. Time-permitting I'll try and finish the anime by tomorrow, and then I'll go back to reading the manga (which I only ever read the first two volumes of).
The anime betters the manga in the material it covers. The only difference is that the anime (of course) has to use fictional bands instead of real ones, but in my opinion that only adds to the atmosphere. It saddens me that they never adapted the rest of the manga, but I guess all the music would have been costly to produce. Still, it's one of my favorite shonen for sure.
The climax of the anime is probably going to make you want to read the manga, though. It's really something else.
I watched the old Fate Stay Night anime, which was overall mediocre and unpleasantly poorly animated.
Just wondering what, if anything, ufotable will do to improve this other than making it look much prettier to the eye.
Quote from: Souther on May 13, 2014, 10:11:58 PM
I watched the old Fate Stay Night anime, which was overall mediocre and unpleasantly poorly animated.
Just wondering what, if anything, ufotable will do to improve this other than making it look much prettier to the eye.
They'd have to base it on one of the other routes (or make a new one, which is apparently what they're doing). Fate route is dreadfully boring IMO.
I was late to the party and just watched Attack on Titan and loved it. I've been fortunate enough to really love the last four anime series I've watched (Watamote, Madoka Magica, Kill la Kill, Attack on Titan). Who knows where my anime watching adventures will take me next? :light:
The first anime covers what I consider to be the best part of the manga. After that things start to get kind of stupid, IMO, but it'll be interesting to see how the second anime handles those plot points whenever it comes out.
I watched episode 129 of Hunter X Hunter yesterday. I like how Pouf continues to play against both sides for what he believes is the benefit of one. Right now, he's the only villain who's actively antagonizing the group. Also, does anyone find it weird that Komugi can touch Godspeed Killua at all without dying? Killua being able to power it down enough to where it's just tingly is what I'm guessing is the explanation but that still doesn't make too much sense to me. I'd expect Killua would think it'd be useless against Pouf if it's really that powered down. Also, when he first powered up and moved fast enough to instantly dodge Pouf, the electricity should have killed her. I'm not complaining, I just felt like pointing out shonen shenanigans. :> Also, it seems to be a running theme for Killua to carry unconscious characters on his back (Zushi, Komugi and Gon. He KO'd the last two himself with Komugi of course being an accident.) I suspect Killua having an unconsious Komugi should be the start of some trouble though..
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 14, 2014, 01:34:21 PM
The first anime covers what I consider to be the best part of the manga. After that things start to get kind of stupid, IMO, but it'll be interesting to see how the second anime handles those plot points whenever it comes out.
From what I understand the original intended ending for AoT was to have the main characters all die in battle, right? But due the unexpected popularity they decided to pull a Dragon Ball Z and keep it going after the intended ending. (DBZ was supposed to end after Frieza and then again after Cell.)
I also went and watched the OVAs for Attack on Titan, which I really enjoyed.
Not sure about AoT, but as far as DBZ goes, I believe that those other intended ending points were just rumors. CX linked to an article that explained it, but I don't remember where that is.
The only originally intended ending for the series that we know for sure is that it was supposed to end with the Emperor Pilaf arc, but was forced to continue due to massive popularity.
You're right that AOT's ending has been changed from the original planned one because of it's super popularity. However, I do not believe the original ending was going to have all the main characters die in battle. In fact, I do not believe any information on what the original ending would've been like has been released at all except for the fact it would have been harsher.
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 14, 2014, 02:25:29 PM
Not sure about AoT, but as far as DBZ goes, I believe that those other intended ending points were just rumors. CX linked to an article that explained it, but I don't remember where that is.
Here!: http://www.kanzenshuu.com/intended-end/ (http://www.kanzenshuu.com/intended-end/)
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on May 14, 2014, 02:25:29 PM
The only originally intended ending for the series that we know for sure is that it was supposed to end with the Emperor Pilaf arc, but was forced to continue due to massive popularity.
Actually, Toriyama wasn't forced to continue the series after the Pilaf arc. His original plan was for the series to last one year, but it actually wasn't that popular during the Pilaf arc. So, Toriyama decided he wanted to try and make the series more popular, and remembering how popular the Penguin Grand Prix races were in
Dr. Slump, he decided to create a tournament arc, which was what led the series to grow in popularity. He still didn't think he would continue the series after that arc, because again, he thought he'd only work on it for a year, but when the series grew in popularity he must have been motivated into continuing it just a little bit longer, though of course that amount of time increased as the popularity of the series continued to grow and Shueshia realized what a hit they had on their hands. :D
Finished Beck. An excellent series, through and through, and one of the most true to life anime I've ever seen. Though, it's clear they had to rush the ending in order to get to where they needed to for a satisfactory conclusion, but it works sweet enough and makes the anime feel like a complete experience. I'll make sure to resume reading the manga starting sometime next week or so.
With Beck finished, I'll make Gankutsuou my next series to watch. I'll marathon through all of it on either Friday or Saturday.
Well, somebody else on this board had to eventually watch it. :P
Glad you liked it.
That's another series I've wanted to try for ages, but never got around to.
Ah, I remember Beck. I need to watch that again sometime.
The second arc is definitely better than the first. That chariot race!
Quote from: Eddy on May 14, 2014, 01:16:46 PM
I was late to the party and just watched Attack on Titan and loved it. I've been fortunate enough to really love the last four anime series I've watched (Watamote, Madoka Magica, Kill la Kill, Attack on Titan). Who knows where my anime watching adventures will take me next? :light:
I'm on the fence about how I feel about Attack on Titan but that's actually a nice lil list of recent titles - Watamote, Madoka Magica, and Kill la Kill have all been great in my book.
-----
Currently watching Hitsugi no Chaika (Chaika - The Coffin Princess) which is currently running. I was close to dropping it after a weak first episode (Lord Dalek's review was spot on) but I'm glad I didn't. The characters have been a lot of fun for me so far with a plot that's full of mysterious goodness.
I watched episode 130 of HXH within the last hour. I need new nails because I'm biting them all off.
Just finished season 1, which was good stuff.
I'll get to Stardust Crusaders later!
I finishes season 1 a few weeks ago, but forgot to mention it. It's not necessarily a personal favorite of mine, but I enjoyed it a great deal on the whole. I'm going to be starting Stardust Crusaders soon as well, but I'll be reading the manga for that part first rather than wait for the anime version to finish.
Meanwhile I'm continuing to watch AnJ part 1, which I took a hiatus from before due to some sub-par filler episodes, but now I'm back to the good stuff again, and I'm around the part where Joe is training to fight Wolf, which is a personal highlight of the series for me (one of the many).
Ah, I forgot to mention I finished Silver Spoon 2 last thursday. Some powerful, fantastic stuff that I think really puts this series on a whole other level compared to many shonen manga/anime currently running. I really must catch up on the manga as soon as possible.
Finished watching Karas. The story was pretty confusing at first, but everything made sense by the second half. The fights and animation were fucking awesome though, it almost felt like I was watching an anime version of Metal Gear Rising crossed with Tokusatsu. I really really hope Tatsunoko does more with this concept, it has a lot of potential.
I'm watching Patlabor, it's a really enjoyable show with nice characters, and some animes of the season like Gokukoku no brynhildr and Mekakucity actors.
Finished re-watching Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector. I had a good time, but this series is always a little hard to recommend to other people other than as dumb fun.
I don't think anyone who hasn't played the SRW Original Generation games will really get much out of this. Character development is both limited and predictable given the huge cast available, plus there's like four different enemy factions that can make following the narrative rather messy. But it's got some entertaining action sequences, the characters are charismatic enough, there are instances of great animation despite the recycled footage and the series provides both literal and figurative fanservice (it's a Masami Obari show, what else could you expect?) for those already familiar with these characters and their respective robots.
Just finished episode 131 of Hunter X Hunter. Not sure how to describe what I watched. I just can't get over feeling kind of cheated because adult Gon was kind of spoiled for me when someone mentioned it at comicvine. That's literally all they said but I was piecing it together by the time it happened. Dammit, I was still hoping I was wrong and thought there might have been a time skip in the series or something.
Anyway, yeah that was another clear nod to Toguro's and Genkai's powers. Also, while they obviously didn't do the same power with it, Gon using life energy reminded me of Yusuke greatest feat, imo, when he used life energy to protect Kayko while he was in another dimension. Rant over.
I finally set down and watched Nausica? of the Valley of the Wind. While I loved the visuals and the design of the world, I didn't care to much for the story or the characters. Maybe it's just me, but a lot of it just seems...dull to me.
I get the feeling that Nausicaa was just a prototype for Princess Mononoke, since the latter has many of the other movie's plot details but more polished.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on June 08, 2014, 07:03:44 PM
I get the feeling that Nausicaa was just a prototype for Princess Mononoke, since the latter has many of the other movie's plot details but more polished.
Yeah, I did kind of got that feeling too. At the very least, I was intrigued by the premise to check out the manga. Maybe it's more fleshed out there?
I've heard the Nausicaa manga is much better than the film, and one of the best.
Personally, I really enjoy the film. I do agree Mononoke improves on various aspects common to both films, though.
Quote from: The Shadow Gentleman on June 08, 2014, 06:47:41 PM
I finally set down and watched Nausica? of the Valley of the Wind. While I loved the visuals and the design of the world, I didn't care to much for the story or the characters. Maybe it's just me, but a lot of it just seems...dull to me.
So, basically it's just like every Miayazaki movie ever made? :sly:
Oh you.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on June 08, 2014, 07:52:58 PM
So, basically it's just like every Miayazaki movie ever made? :sly:
Have you seen
The Wind Rises yet? I personally think it's the most intimate and "human" of his films, and a fascinating quasi-factual life story as well. It's easily my favorite Studio Ghibli film.
Quote from: Cartoon X on June 08, 2014, 07:34:42 PM
I've heard the Nausicaa manga is much better than the film, and one of the best.
Yeah, I have a couple of issues of the manga (remember when we'd release comic-length issues with a couple of chapters for manga in the US?), and the story definitely seems more developed there.
I finally finished Space Adventure Cobra this morning. Didn't really care for the last episode. I would have much preferred if Dominique stayed dead and Doug stayed alive, and Salamander being the spirit of a mummified Hitler was kind of random. Overall I thought the show was a lot of fun, though. The best part was easily the Rugball story arc, but the Nelson's Treasure arc and a lot of the shorter stories were enjoyable too in the same kind of fashion Lupin III is for me. I'm going to watch the OVAs at some point, but first I think I'll finish a couple other things on my backlog that I really want to get to.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 26, 2013, 01:56:23 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 25, 2013, 12:18:58 AM
Grrrrr, why'd you tell me that :D
Because it's the one cliche he clings to no matter what.
There are parts in Chimera Ant where you'll wonder how come Gon or Killua didn't die seconds after someone far more powerful than either bit it. It doesn't bother me all too much (the arc has other problems), but it's hard to not notice.
I think only Gon has been in situations where he clearly should have been killed by a much more powerful character. I don't remember Killua being in any (sorry, I only found this because I was looking for another post)
I just finished the 2004 Area 88 anime. I...thought it was fun to watch, at the very least. The thing about it for me was that I really enjoyed the 29 chapters of the manga that are available to read in english (illegally) online. It's not even close to the entire series, which is over 170 chapters long and will probably never be fully translated in english, but there was more than enough interesting story and characters in those 29 chapters alone to endear me to the series. I went into the anime expecting it to be even better since I thought it would be a good adaption and tell more of the story than I can read in the manga right now. But, surprisingly, the anime tells incredibly little of the story and is organized in a very episodic way, with it's overarching plot, completely different from in the manga, which, while not bad, was rather standard stuff I felt I've seen before in a "eh" way. Even more annoying to me was how the characters barely had a smidgen of the characterization and development they had in the manga, and the series went out of it's way to introduce characters that were introduced in the manga later on early and expanded the role of Shinjou the photographer, an incredibly minor character in the manga who is killed off four chapters after he's introduced, into a main character who gets more screentime than Mick, Saki, and fuck, even Shin, who is supposed to be the main character, but barely gets any nuance to him like in the manga and is just in a cool/stoic mood most of the time. So, that kind of annoyed me. Don't get me wrong, I found the series fun to watch, but honestly, if I hadn't already read what I've been able to read of the manga before, I doubt I would have enjoyed as much. So in that sense, I think it's a rather disappointing series, especially since it's source material is so good and there are plenty of other series that I've seen that have told much better stories with more fleshed out characters with the same amount or even fewer episodes.
I'm going to try the OVA series from the 80's next. I've heard mixed opinions on those, but they apparently told more of the series than this 12 episode anime did, so I'm curious to see some of that. I'll also check out the movie too, if I can find it.
All the adaptions of Area 88 are incredibly different from each other. There's no real way to guarantee which version of the story someone will like best because of it. Though they're never going to make a full series adaption of it, as it's too old and niche for most anime fans nowadays.
Personally, I liked a lot of the OVA, except the ending which was a bit too typical "80s OVA anime" for me and I thought they made it a bit too overly melodramatic at times. I actually thought the anime's ending was much better.
But the best version is probably always going to be the manga.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdidyouknowanime.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F07%2FDYKA-tenchi-muyo-03.png&hash=96e4b73312c65ee76bfec91f6f945b2ba4717bc1)
Huh, I can't believe I never noticed that! Such a neat, weird oddity.
Today, I finished watching season 2 of Silver Spoon. I think it probably has become one of my favorite slice-of-life anime. I'm definitely going to start keeping up with the manga.
I didn't know there was a Did You Know Anime. I was actually wondering about that. I'd follow them if I wasn't scared of spoilers.
Well, you could always just watch their episodes on shows that you've finished. I think you'd like their Outlaw Star (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1YWBHQIQzY) and DBZ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YQLgYYOs1I) videos, in particular.
I actually have finished neither show. :sweat:
You haven't finished Outlaw Star? That's a surprise. So exactly how much have you seen of it?
I just finished watching all of Kino's Journey in one sitting. I wasn't planning on watching the whole series today, but once I started, I felt compelled to just keeping watching more of it. I thought it was a very thought-provoking and interesting series and I really enjoyed Kino as a character. I sort of wish there was more of it, since the light-novel series it was based on is still ongoing, and I definitely would have enjoyed seeing more of the kinds of stories it tells. Still, I always appreciate watching a great short series, and I'm satisfied with it as it is.
Quote from: Cartoon X on July 08, 2014, 12:32:27 AM
You haven't finished Outlaw Star? That's a surprise. So exactly how much have you seen of it?
20 something, probably. I also have never seen the unaired on Toonami episode
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 08, 2014, 01:33:23 AM
Quote from: Cartoon X on July 08, 2014, 12:32:27 AM
You haven't finished Outlaw Star? That's a surprise. So exactly how much have you seen of it?
20 something, probably. I also have never seen the unaired on Toonami episode
Oh, that's a fun one! :D
Yeah, "Hot Spring Planet Tenrei" is easily the funniest episode of the series, imo.
I finished Fate/Zero today. I thought it was a very entertaining action series and enjoyed how wonderfully cruel it was. I was kind of surprised that the ending was basically a darker version of what happens at the end of InuYasha, though (the Holy Grail is pretty much the Shikon Jewel and what happens to Kiritsugu inside the Grail is kind of a more violent version of what happens to Kagome inside the Jewel), but that most certainly wasn't a bad thing. I'm looking forward to watching the new Fate/Stay Night anime in the fall.
Watching Planetes while simultaneously reading Space Brothers. :D
Quote from: Cartoon X on July 14, 2014, 09:05:12 PM
Watching Planetes while simultaneously reading Space Brothers. :D
Be sure to read Planetes, too. It goes in a bit of a different direction from the anime but still good.
Space Brothers is a fun series. I need to get back to it sometime soon.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on July 14, 2014, 09:15:07 PM
Be sure to read Planetes, too. It goes in a bit of a different direction from the anime but still good.
Already read it, my friend. I went through it in a single day after I caught up with
Vinland Saga two months ago. ;)
Half-way into the anime, and I honestly prefer the manga. I appreciate it's not a direct adaption and enjoy a lot of the original characters, but overall I enjoyed the more serious story and character development of the manga to the more comedic nature of the anime. But I hear the second half takes itself more seriously...as I can already see from the episode I'm watching as I type this, so I'll see how I like it overall once I finish it.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 14, 2014, 09:16:30 PM
Space Brothers is a fun series. I need to get back to it sometime soon.
I remember you mentioning you were watching it last december. Personally, I didn't really care for the first two volumes. It was decent stuff, but basically beat the same ideas of "follow your dreams" and "take risks" a bit too much and had some rather corny and forced emotional moments. I didn't start to really like the series until Mutta's third round of testing, after which I've really enjoyed it a lot (though it still has some corny moments every now and again). Don't really think I'll watch the anime, since from what I can tell it only adapts two chapters an episode and even less than that as it goes on, but I might try checking out a few moments I really liked from the manga and see how well they adapted it later on.
I'm half-way caught up with the manga and will probably try to finish it by tomorrow. I only have my free Crunchyroll membership until Friday, after all, and I still need to read all their exclusive Takao Saito manga! :D
Eh, I disagree with you completely, but whatever. I mean, yeah, anything upbeat as that can be corny at times, but I definitely didn't find it to bore. What worked for me was Mutta's very snarky attitude. He was optimistic and all, but he also had a fun personality to him and a sense of humor, whereas most characters of his type are just bland and stoic. Anyways, I was watching the anime before I took a hiatus due to studies, and then I kind of got into other stuff before remembering that I still had to finish this series. I was also watching Magi at the same time and took a hiatus from that for the same reason, though SB definitely caught more of my interest at the time.
I never said I didn't like Mutta. I love Mutta. He's a great main protagonist that has good wit and determination, and is a likeable, normal guy that I enjoy rooting for. I have no problems with him as a character. I just found some moments early on in the series, such as when Mutta played the saxaphone (the significance of which was set up just earlier in the chapter) immediately after receiving the letter that he passed the initial examinations, or when was pressed up against the space suit display box exactly like Serika's father, tried a little too hard to be poignant moments and instead came off as silly. The series improves on this quickly after the first two volumes though and it's not a problem anymore outside of occasional moments (Serika's whole "dancing astronaut" business in the chapter where she gets the news she's been hired as an astronaut for JAXA, for example).
And I still don't see a problem with any of that. It's a manga. Perhaps a more realistic one than most, but it's still manga. It's not supposed to play out like a super serious drama. It was always meant to be a fun series, and I don't find any of those moments to feel out of place or too corny in terms of fitting in tone with the series (that, and the fact that the series itself is clearly self-aware of the silly elements, given character reactions to stuff).
The series being a manga has nothing to do with my problem, I never said anything about those moments feeling out of place, and I did not go into this series expecting a "serious drama". My problem was that those moments came across to me as trying to be genuinely poignant scenes, but having seen similar moments in other series, I just found them a bit forced and rather rote in execution.
I think you are focusing too much on a problem I mostly just had with the first two volumes of the series. As I said before, I like this series! I've read 13 volumes by this point, and I'm enjoying this story quite a bit. I just found the beginning few chapters a bit underwhelming, especially since I had heard good things about it for a long time, but I feel like that about a lot of things. For example, I thought the first volume or so of The Seven Deadly Sins was incredibly tedious to read, but around the time Ban and King got introduced the series started to get considerably better, and I now find it to be one of the more consistently enjoyable weekly battle shonen I'm currently reading. I do think Space Brothers started off a bit weak, but it also quickly improved for me. That's what I meant to get across in my initial post, though it seems it came off more negative than I intended. :P
I watched PriPara last night and realized I have reached the point of no return.
I've watched a few episodes of the Doraemon dub. Name changes and a few (but not frequent) edits aside, it's pretty well-done and hopefully the series can find an audience here. Of course, Disney XD is only airing it twice a day, 12:30pm and 12:30am, so I'm not holding my breath on that.
Finished Planetes. Overall, I quite enjoyed it, though I do think I like the manga a bit more. One of the things I liked about the anime, though, was how it was a fairly loose adaption with it's own unique storyline, which makes experiencing both the anime and manga great experiences in different ways. I think that some characters like Tanabe and Hakim were better characterized in the anime, while the original characters like Claire and Chiang-Shin were welcome additions too.
Now to figure out whether to finally finish Ippo or start Utena...
So, I just saw the character designs for the Parasyte anime... (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-29/parasyte-anime-cast-staff-revealed/.77112)
Why the fuck do the characters look completely different? I mean, jesus, Shinichi looks nothing like how he is in the manga. The only character who looks much the same to me is Gotoh, though I guess Reiko looks decent as well. This reeks of modernizing it to appeal to modern otaku sensibilities, and I'm kind of wary about that. The character designs of the manga might be too 90's for modern fans, but I thought this series was getting an anime and a movie after all these years because of it's enduring popularity or whatever, so I'm confused on why they are changing what doesn't need to be changed, here. Still, this is an anime adaption of fucking PARASYTE, so I'm still hopeful it turns out well, especially with Madhouse working on it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see...
Huh, Zatch Bell! is on Hulu now. (http://www.hulu.com/zatch-bell) I've already got the dvd set, but it's nice that it's gotten legal streaming again. I do wish they had the subs available, though.
I'm currently watching Nichijou and it's hilarious. Completely mindless but insanely entertaining.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BucOmjwCAAAJcGA.jpg)
Teeheehee....
Currently rewatching Outlaw Star. Not only does it hold up just fine, it's even more fun this time around seeing it uncut. I'm up to the hot springs episode, by the way. .3.
I wanted to reach that episode. I got up to the underwater ship episode, I believe.
Crunchyroll will be streaming all of Cardcaptor Sakura starting from next tuesday at 9pm. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-08-08/crunchyroll-streams-cardcaptor-sakura-anime/.77443)
I've never seen the show, myself, so I'll probably be checking this out. I wonder if it'll hold my interest for me to finish it in a short while, or I'll end up putting it off for a long time, like certain other shows I started a while ago...
Just finished watching the first season of Jormungand. Super fun action series, and the dub was a blast. I'll try and check out Perfect Order soon as I can (hopefully dubbed as well).
In this week's Mahouka, Tatsuya massacres an entire ship of illegal immigrants for daring to live in Japan. But that's okay, because all of the on-screen immigrants are gun-toting Chinese bastards who came from the darkest corner of Chinatown. Also, Tatsuya just walks off from getting shot in the chest by a sniper, and manages to reverse-trace the shot to kill the sniper.
Why are you still watching Mahouka? ???
In any case, I started watching Utena and finished the first third of it. So far, story-wise, it's been disappointingly straightforward, but still entertaining stuff. I guess it becomes more nuanced/complex like NGE did the further on in the show.
I started watching Death Note (I know, I'm super late). I must like it because I only started two days ago and I'm already on episode 17. The way the episodes end have me going "Well, shit, I need to see what happens next!"
Death Note was my very first ever manga, so it's a really special series for me, which I have a lot of bias for. Most people feel that it goes way downhill with the last 12 episodes (or the second half of the manga), but while I agree that the first portion of the series is better, I still think that the rest of it is mostly pretty entertaining if you don't get all nit-picky about it. It's a fun series that is, for the most part, pretty well paced. Most series or this type would get all pretentious and up their own ass, but I'm glad to say that this series was always self-aware of what it was, and doesn't try to go the philosophical route. Light is flat-out acknowledged as a villain, and the series just roles with it and shows all of the most insane situations that he can get himself in and out of.
I also love the dub for this series, and I say that as someone who read the manga first and then watched the sub before finally seeing the dub.
The same is actually true for Black Lagoon, though in that case I watched the anime first (subbed), then read the manga, and them finally saw the dub.
I really appreciate the tone of the show. It's serious and suspenseful while, at the same time, has got some great comic relief. Ryuk, in particular, gets a lot of laughs out of me. And not to mention a few other scenes here and there.
"I'm going to take a potato chip... and eat it!"
The preview for the upcoming Parastye anime is out (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-08-15/parasyte-anime-special-video-posted-additional-cast-revealed/.77646), and I have to say, it's gotten me pumped up. Even though I was a bit hesitant about the designs when I first saw them, now that I've seen them in motion, they're looking great to me (Shinichi still doesn't need glasses, though, but whatever). Now I really can't wait until this starts! ;D
I just finished episode 25 of Death Note.
I'm sad now.
Just FYI, the first 2/3rds if episode 26 is a recap, but DON'T skip the entire episode. For some reason they decided to include hugely important plot points in the last third of it. I think that most people feel that the series goes downhill after this point, until the ending (which is amazing, IMO), but personally I still like it for it's entertaining characters and usual over the top tone.
But, yeah, episode 25 was one of THOSE episodes where many people's favorite character dies. It really shocked me back in the day, but watching a series like Game of Thrones has kind of desensitized me to it. :P
This particular character was my favorite character in the show (Ryuk's pretty great, too) so I'm quite distraught.
Fuck you, Light.
Ah, yes, the being anally pissed off at a villain for actually winning thing. Yet another thing that GOT forced me to get used to. Still, DN hasn't ended yet from where you're at, so you can't really know how it might end for the rest of the characters. I personally love the ending, myself, but I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on it when you get there.
Quite a long time I haven't posted here, so current anime I'm watching now are:
Sailor Moon Crystal
Accel World
And probably I'll get my hands on Clannad
Watching Baccano. About half way through, now.
I hope it will have a truly epic ending that will justify the hours of watching thugs gorily and sadistically slaughtering people in a confusing mish-mosh of timelines....
how will an epic ending redeem a series?
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 18, 2014, 11:38:16 AM
how will an epic ending redeem a series?
I guess he's hoping that will turn the series on its head that will show that the violence had a purpose in the story.
I don't think that usually happens, though.
I'm probably the only person on this board who didn't particularly care for Baccano! as a series. I do think that Ladd Russo is a blast, though, but upon finishing the series, my reaction could be summed up like this: Eh....:-\
I do like the little that I've seen of DRRR, though.
Heh, I'm just hoping that all the story bits will pull together into something coherent and interesting, because so far the story seems mainly a thin and garbled excuse for splashing buckets of blood around. No hope for that, are you saying? Ah, well, at this point I'll go on and finish anyway.
I will admit, I find Isaac and Miria fun. Without them, I'd probably have stopped watching after Ep. 3 or so. Still, it's getting so that they really need to add something new to their we're-silly-buggers routine...
I thought Baccano's story was pretty interesting, actually. It also gets a lot better near the end, IMO.
Terra Formars is..........................................nope.
I just saw a picture of Kenshin killing Shishio in that stupid anime movie thing.
:whuh:
Why does Japan not understand why this arc is so good?
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 20, 2014, 11:25:21 PM
I just saw a picture of Kenshin killing Shishio in that stupid anime movie thing.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 20, 2014, 11:25:21 PM
Kenshin
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 20, 2014, 11:25:21 PM
killing
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 20, 2014, 11:25:21 PM
Shishio
:srs:
Whoever decided on that clearly doesn't understand what Kenshin's character arc in the Kyoto arc was about, much less the themes of that arc in general. Like, at all.
That whole Shin Kyoto Hen OVA bullshit was the worst butchering of a classic manga series since Reflection. I know that someone knows how to get the series right, since the TV anime did a good job of adapting the Kyoto arc and remaining faithful to it, and the Trust and Betrayal OVA/movie was excellent. Yet rather than finally adapt the a revenge arc, some dick-for-brains decided to re-adapt an arc that was already done perfectly and completely fuck it up in the process, by flat-out managing to miss every single fucking point of the series and characters in the first place.
It just floors me how many OVAs they keep making that completely miss the point of the series.
Watsuki should make some sort of stipulation to these people that unless they're going to adapt the Revenge arc they should just go peddle their idiotic fan-fiction elsewhere.
What's worse is that Kenshin doesn't even react to his supposedly accidental kill. The whole thing was just meant to pander to braindead idiots who want their shounen to be grimdark and edgy (there's even a pointless sex scene for crying out loud!). Fucktards should go watch crap like Akame ga Kill if they want their dark shounenshit.
And they shove the Aoshi fight in the last five minutes because they can't pace worth shit.
Aoshi had one of the coolest fights in the Kyoto arc against Okina, which is both really intense and creative, and actually has enough violence to pander to the idiots who just want their dark shounenshit, but does that make it into these OVAs? Heh, I guess they really needed that extra time for the pointless sex scene and Shishio killing off Usui himself for absolutely no reason.
This shit seems like what happens when terrible writers butcher awesome comic book characters by trying to make them darker because they think that's cool or something. Now I know how Batman fans must have felt after reading ASSBAR, of how Marvel fans probably felt after Ultimatum. SKH is basically just that for Rurouni Kenshin.
I had to go look this up to even confirm it. He does. Kenshin kills Shishio. And he doesn't just kill him, he splits his head in two.
the youtube comments must be gold.
I just finished Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki OVA 3. I feel sorry for the Tenchi fans who waited 8 years for this piece of shit. I want to buy the dvd just so that I can throw it in a furnace.
Just finished episode 1 of the Jojo remake. It's so interesting going into series mostly blind. I hope no clue it was set in the 1800s.
This episode was like the start of a good movie. My attention is definitely held.
Railgun season 2. I'm glad I stuck with the series after having an "eh, it's okay" reaction to the first dozen episodes of season 1; it's gotten much more engaging, especially once the "cloning" plot kicked off.
Within the last hour, I believe (and before I just started Dead Island), I watched Jojo episode 2. Boy, did he go down the wrong alley. Also, things started to get really supernatural. I'm still curious to where all this leads to. I have few clues on that. Very few.
I think that Part 1: Phantom Blood has the best start, but the rest is just OK. Part 2: Battle Tendency, which starts on episode 10, is when the series really starts getting good, IMO.
I watched episode 3 of Jojo yesterday (Thursday). That was like the end of a decent horror movie (I already knew that wasn't the end but you get what I mean). I watching episode 4 about an hour ago. So that's what people in Jojo derive their power from? I actually theorized that the music somehow gives the main characters powers (and not just Dio and his minions). This is a good time as ever to mention that I did not think this show would be this bloody and gruesome. Yeesh. Anyway, did I say that I'm hooked before? Because I am!
Just finished episode 7 of Jojo *sniffles*
Just wait until episode 9, and then after that the series really starts. This first arc really just feels like a well-done but overly-extended prologue to me.
I'm not into much of a mood to marathon through any anime series (though I really should get to finishing HnI, Galaxy Express 999, and Utena sooner than later), so instead I decided to try and cover my bases and finish a bunch of anime films I still haven't gotten around to watching. Today I watched both Barefoot Gen and Grave of the Fireflies. Both were great movies that looked at the consequences of war in interesting ways, and offered unique perspectives on the plight of japanese citizens during the final days of WWII and after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I particularly enjoyed Barefoot Gen, even if it was the least subtle of the two, and I hope to finally get around to reading the manga and watching the sequel film sooner or later.
Watched episode 8 of Jojo last (Saturday) night.
Just finished episode 9 of Jojo. That had to be a Day Of The Dead nod in there. Anyway, whoa, didn't expect things to get that bad.
I have 2 episodes left until I'm caught up with Adventure Time, and I think after that, I'll finally give Fate/Zero a try.
Today, I finished the "Clash of Red and Black" case of Detective Conan. It was definitely my favorite case so far, as well as a great conclusion to the Kir arc. Though, I am a bit sad that Eisuke only appears in 2 episodes after this point in the story. :( Hopefully the series continues to be entertaining for the remaining 200+ episodes I need to watch before I'm caught up.
I finally watched the Area 88 OVAs a few days ago. It was definitely a better adaption of the source material than the 2004 tv anime, though this version also didn't cover that much material, just around the first 30 or so chapters (from what I can tell) and invented it's own ending, which...was rather cliche, but appreciably open-ended and understandable in the context that Shin does not want to abandon Area 88 before he sees the job through, for the sake of the friends and comrades he made there. However, it's clear that there is no anime adaption of this series remotely as good as the manga, and that's a shame since I can't read more of the manga than I have unless I learn japanese or fan-translators pick it up for some reason and release new scans for it. Still, I enjoyed the OVAs for what they were.
Whenever I loan out my anime DVDs, I get a terrible urge to watch whichever series is no longer on my shelf. :D
I loaned Fantastic Children to my brother, and got the library's copy to tide me over. (He probably will stop watching at the slow points in the story, anyway. XD) Marathoned the last 2/3rds of the show yesterday, and as usual, it refuses to let go of my head, and the theme music and OST keep jangling around in there. At least I think I will get away this time without having to do any more fan comics or sequel fanfics. ^^
I loaned him Moribito, too, so that will probably be the next series I watch.
Quote from: Cartoon X on September 20, 2014, 06:53:27 PM
I finally watched the Area 88 OVAs a few days ago. It was definitely a better adaption of the source material than the 2004 tv anime, though this version also didn't cover that much material, just around the first 30 or so chapters (from what I can tell) and invented it's own ending, which...was rather cliche, but appreciably open-ended and understandable in the context that Shin does not want to abandon Area 88 before he sees the job through, for the sake of the friends and comrades he made there. However, it's clear that there is no anime adaption of this series remotely as good as the manga, and that's a shame since I can't read more of the manga than I have unless I learn japanese or fan-translators pick it up for some reason and release new scans for it. Still, I enjoyed the OVAs for what they were.
I like the OVA except the ending. That's one thing the series did better, in my opinion.
That said, it's the manga that is really its own thing. It really either needs a better translation or a better adaption.
I watched the first 2 episodes of Fate/Zero last night, or maybe 3, since the first episode is double-length. That last one went in a crazy dark direction, and I want more.
It sort of reminds me of Game of Thrones what with all of the noble families, magic, and betrayals going on. It's a really well-made series, though admittedly I found the first 6 or so episodes to be a bit too exposition-heavy, and I didn't really get hooked until the middle act where shit really started to go down. Anyways, my favorite Master and Servant duo is definitely Waver and Rider, who both bring a lot of much needed humor as well as heart to the series, which helps balance out how viciously dark some of the other main cast can get.
It's the day before it premieres, and there is still no announcement for legal streaming for The Seven Deadly Sins anime. Hmm. It surprises me Crunchyroll hasn't grabbed it, since it simulpubs the manga. Perhaps something will come up tomorrow. It's kinda weird that a popular battle-shonen title like it wouldn't be picked up by anyone, though.
Also waiting on legal streaming for the Parasyte anime. I'll be pissed if no one picks it up, but hopefully someone will.
Its an Aniplex show, expect Daisuki at least.
I keep forgetting Daisuki is still a thing.
So, the World Trigger anime is shit. No surprise. Any modern Toei show is pretty much dead on arrival. I'll still try and read more of the manga sometime, since the WMR guys keep praising it so highly every week and I want to be caught up with every major currently running Jump manga for novelty's sake, but like hell will I give yet another crappy shonen-shit anime any of my time.
You pretty much just summed up my Seasonal Clusterfuck review I'd it. ;)
The manga isn't anything great, but it's definitely far more enjoyable than this piece of shit from Toei.
Definitely just stick with that version whenever you get to it. It doesn't really start to get interesting until after the first 2 volumes though, IMO.
Huh, I didn't think you were reading it, especially considering our discussion on currently running shonen series two weeks back. What do you think of it?
Two volumes sounds about right. I remember that the WMR guys actually hated it for a good while when it started, but then it started to get better for them later in the year, and now they rave about it every week. So, that kinda got my interest in checking it out.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 04, 2014, 10:04:11 PMHuh, I didn't think you were reading it, especially considering our discussion on currently running shonen series two weeks back. What do you think of it?
As I said, it's OK, but not great. To be fair I'm not completely caught up with it, but it's certainly entertaining. The characters kind of feel a bit flat to me, though, with the exception of one or two (who aren't even the main leads).
Also, as far as our conversation from last week goes, as I already said, it wasn't meant to be a piece complaining about how "all modern shounen series are shit and the older ones were the best," but as I elaborated, I genuinely wanted to see if there were any great modern series along the lines of the classics that I loved. I got into WT because I heard good things about it and I just wanted to find a good currently running series to read. As it stands I'm not loving it yet, but it's still decent enough to hold my interest.
QuoteTwo volumes sounds about right. I remember that the WMR guys actually hated it for a good while when it started, but then it started to get better for them later in the year, and now they rave about it every week. So, that kinda got my interest in checking it out.
Based on that, perhaps it'll get much better by the time that I finally catch up to it. I'm about half-way there, so far.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 04, 2014, 10:17:16 PM
Also, as far as our conversation from last week goes, as I already said, it wasn't meant to be a piece complaining about how "all modern shounen series are shit and the older ones were the best," but as I elaborated, I genuinely wanted to see if there were any great modern series along the lines of the classics that I loved. I got into WT because I heard good things about it and I just wanted to find a good currently running series to read. As it stands I'm not loving it yet, but it's still decent enough to hold my interest.
And yet you still haven't read
A Silent Voice. :thinkin:
Anyway, sounds fair. I find that most modern battle-shonen series aren't that interesting at the beginning. For instance, as Vlord can testify, I personally found
The Seven Deadly Sins really goddamn boring for the first two or so volumes, and then the most interesting characters in the series showed up (aka Ban and King) and I started to like it much more, and now I really quite enjoy it. WT will probably be the same way for me.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 04, 2014, 10:17:16 PM
Based on that, perhaps it'll get much better by the time that I finally catch up to it. I'm about half-way there, so far.
A bit of forewarning, but technically you can't get "caught up" on WT right now unless you have a subscription to Shonen Jump Alpha. From what I can see the scans only go up until chapter 55, but there are actually 77 chapters out. It seems Viz must have cracked down on the fan translators to stop translating the series. I'm sure someone will resume it at some point down the line, of course (DCTP got shut down earlier this year, and some other group quickly took up translating new DC chapters two weeks later), but I dunno when that will be since this isn't that popular a series from what I can gather.
Yeah, I noticed that, but I can't do anything about that right now as I don't have the funds to subscribe to Viz. I guess I'll just have to wait a few years after that point until Viz stops caring enough to allow someone else to translate the manga, or just wait until they release full volumes of later chapters that I can buy individually.
I just watched the first episode of the new Magic Kaito anime, and boy did I sure have a blast. The plot was all over the place and there were a fair amount of holes in the story, but dammit, the darn thing moved so fast, with such a frenetic pace and great humor, that I just couldn't care less. Every Detective Conan fan, myself included, loves Kaitou Kid for a reason, and I just know that I'm going to have a ball every week watching a full two-cours anime series featuring his zany misadventures. ;D
Welp, watched the first episode of The Seven Deadly Sins. Was a basic adaption of the first chapter, which is pretty much what I expected. The series is looking to be a straightforward adaption of the manga, unlike with the first season of Magi, where A-1 put in more effort and worked things around to improve upon the original material. This is a bit disappointing to me, since I didn't really find the series all that interesting (in fact, I found it pretty damn boring) at the start and it took until the introduction of two more of the main characters for things to really start picking up. I will say that I would say I enjoyed watching this material than I did reading it, which is sort of a plus in it's favor. I just hope they get to the good stuff relatively quickly.
Watched the first episodes of Rage of Bahamut and Kaitou Joker. The former looks to be one of this season's best: a swashbuckling action adventure epic that promises a hell of a good time, while the latter is surprisingly entertaining for a show clearly intended for young children, with some good humor and characters that makes it an enjoyable, fun watch. I'll certainly be making an effort to keep up with both series from here out.
It's funny, because I just wrote pieces on both of them for the Seasonal Clusterfuck today.
And I completely agree with you.
The former feels like a really awesome Hollywood fantasy movie along the likes of Pirates of the Carribean (but better than any of the shitty sequels), and while not much has been revealed about the plot or characters so far, it's good enough to make me want to see more. It's actually my favorite "original" anime premiere of the season (I consider F/SN UBW to be a sequel to F/Z, even though it's based off of the VN).
Mysterious Joker, on the other hand, is a surprisingly fun kids show that heartens back to the classic Saturday morning cartoons that I would watch as a kid. It's like Lupin III for kids, and I mean that in a good way. It's easily better than most modern shounen anime, at that, and I can see myself sticking around for at least a few episodes to see where it goes.
You and I seem to have the exact same opinion on a lot of stuff without ever actually having conversed about it beforehand, CX. It's almost scary how in sync our opinions are, at times. :sweat:
It's nice that both of the "Phantom Thief" shows that have come out this season are both pretty entertaining. Certainly, their premieres were leagues more fun to watch than those of the battle-shonen series that have come out.
At this rate, it seems I might be keeping up with more anime this season than I ever have. I'm already at five with
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works,
Magic Kaito 1412,
The Seven Deadly Sins,
Rage of Bahamut, &
Kaitou Joker, and then I'm still planning to watch
Psycho-Pass 2,
Build Fighters Try,
Mushi-shi, and
Parasyte. I'm pretty confident those four are going to turn out well, so that'd make nine anime right there. This is certainly shaping up to be a pretty good season of anime overall, perhaps one of the better ones in a long time.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 06, 2014, 11:17:13 PM
You and I seem to have the exact same opinion on a lot of stuff without ever actually having conversed about it beforehand, CX. It's almost scary how in sync our opinions are, at times. :sweat:
Great minds just think alike, I guess. :D
I'm at 3 so far (I'm pretty sure you know which ones), but I do want to check out Parasyte. As for The Seven Deadly Sins, I may just go with the manga since you said that it takes a while to get good, anyways.
Meanwhile, I'm super disappointed by When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace. I saw Trigger's name attached to the project, and I was thinking of the stuff that they've done that I like, being Inferno Cop, Little Witch Academia, and Kill La Kill. But what I got was a show with boring and predictable jokes, forgettable characters, and admittedly above average animation, but nowhere near as lively as Trigger's previous productions. The soundtrack is also really boring. Naturally the people at ANN seem to love it. Go figure.
It's an LN adaptation, so I figured it would be lame from the start. Every studio has to pay their dues in between making great shows, unfortunately.
It's a shame Trigger can't avoid having to make shows like that to pay the bills, but hopefully their next project will be another great original from them like KLK.
Quote from: Foggle on October 06, 2014, 11:50:33 PMIt's an LN adaptation, so I figured it would be lame from the start.
But, FMP is an LN adaptation and it's awesome! :butbut:
Anyways, to Trigger's credit, they seem to have made the series way more bearable than it has any right to be. Normally I'd hate this kind of show, as evidenced by the premise. Thanks to their effort, it just feels inoffensively mediocre, which by all rights is better than any other show of this type that I have seen. That said, their heart and passion clearly isn't in this project like it was for all of their previous stuff.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 07, 2014, 12:01:24 AM
But, FMP is an LN adaptation and it's awesome! :butbut:
True, but LNs like FMP are sadly the exception rather than the rule. Most of them seem to be on the same level as Twilight, if not lower. Speaking of FMP, I hope you're ready for Amagi Brilliant Park, an adaptation of Shoji Gatoh's latest work. It looks... well... godawful. :cry:
Yeah, I purposely avoided it because talks from FMP fans who can read Japanese were that it wasn't exactly great material from a guy who's clearly capable of better stuff, sadly. :(
It seems that this stuff just sells better though, whereas FMP, while financially successful as an LN series, is nowhere near as profitable as these sorts of shows. Hence why Gatoh would rather write this shit, now.
Phew, looks like Crunchyroll will be streaming the Parasyte anime after all. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2014/10/07-1/crunchyroll-to-stream-parasyte-the-maxim-anime) I love the manga, and have been looking forward to this adaption for months now. I really hope Madhouse did a good job with it, because if they did, this should easily be one of the best anime not only of this season, but of this entire year.
Well, Amagi Brilliant Park isn't godawful, but it's certainly not brilliant, either. The fact that Kyoto Animation would rather adapt this than actually finish adapting FMP proves to me that this is a company that wants to cater to a fan-base who just want cutesy anime with no sense of real progression, threats, or consequences. I'm actually not pissed at KyoAni or Gatoh. They are clearly just doing stuff that makes more money, which is good business. I'm angry at the fucking idiots who only seem to support these sorts of shows and nothing else. The fact that we got TSR proves that KyoAni is more than capable of handling a serious action show with good character development. They just haven't done it because the show wasn't nearly as profitable as their moe-shit. I've just learned to accept that fact and move on.
For anyone who wants to experience FMP, the anime adaptations for the first half of the story are there, as well as the English translated LN releases by the now defunct Tokyopop, which covers up to the events of TSR. If you want to experience the rest of the story, the rest of the LNs have been fan translated into English for years, and can be found for download via a google search. If you don't feel like reading lots of plain text, then the manga Full Metal Panic! Sigma adapts the entire second half of the story, and has also been completely translated. As someone who's read through both, they are each worth experiencing, IMO.
Ai Tenchi Muyo makes me wanna go on an axe wielding rampage.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on October 07, 2014, 11:49:58 PM
Ai Tenchi Muyo makes me wanna go on an axe wielding rampage.
Does it make you want to exterminate the Norma?
I just checked out Parasyte. It seems like it'll be a pretty fun and interesting series. Mark that as the 4th anime this season that I'll be keeping up with.
Originally I would've done a write-up for it, but since you wanted to do it, CX, I'll let you have that one since I've already done a bunch, anyways. Just remember to get your entries for this week PM'ed to either Foggle or myself by tonight.
He already PM'd them to me. ;)
Cool! :thumbup:
Yeah, I've been pleasantly surprised by this season, though. There is no shortage of pure garbage, to be sure, but for a season that I honestly wasn't looking forward to, I've found 3 seemingly great series to watch, and one amusing kids' show that has some merit to it as well. All things considered, this is a good Fall season in my eyes based on quality over quantity (as in the few shows that are good are REALLY good). Of course, there are still some shows that I haven't checked out yet, so maybe there's more stuff to watch, but from everything else I've heard, it doesn't really seem like it (Terra Formars doesn't really look up my alley, to be honest).
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 07, 2014, 03:03:50 PM
Well, Amagi Brilliant Park isn't godawful, but it's certainly not brilliant, either.
I laughed.
I chuckled at maybe one joke in the entire episode. Personally, I'll just stick with Fumoffu.
Yup, the Parasyte anime is pretty damn good. I do have a few minor quibbles with how they rearranged and changed some things, but I appreciate how they modernized it and think they are telling a strong story through the presentation nonetheless, and enjoyed a few bits of foreshadowing they've added in there too. After waiting months for it, it didn't quite live up to my personal hype, but as a fan of the original manga, I'm pretty satisfied regardless. The music kinda sucks though. I really don't like the opening, in particular. But maybe it will grow on me, who knows.
I actually like the background music playing in the episode. It suits the tone that they are going for with this anime. The opening theme I'm not crazy about, and in general I find Fear and Loathing's songs to be way too annoyingly high pitched (they are the same guys who did the opening for Kaiji season 2 and the first ending them for Hunter X Hunter 2011), but I don't really hate it, either. I'd probably skip it in future episodes, though.
As for the art-style change, I can understand the dissatisfaction with that, but at the same time, I don't blame them for doing it. While I haver read the original manga, I can see that the art-style from that has more of an old-school 90's vibe to it, which I like, but which also wouldn't be as popular or marketable in today's anime market. As a business decision, modernizing the art style makes sense.
It guess the music wasn't all bad, but the placement was weird at parts to me. In particular, that electric/metal theme they played during the scene where Shinichi and Migi fight the dog-parasyte seemed to go on a bit long and not mesh well with the scenes, and I didn't really care for the tune itself, and don't feel it quite fits with the kind of series the original Parasyte manga was that well. Tracks like that make me feel like they will be playing up the action scenes for "epicness" or "coolness," and I'm worried that might rob them of the suspense and intensity most of them had in the manga. I'm hoping there are some subtler tracks they'll use for some of the fight scenes in the OST, especially for a few certain ones near the end.
I don't care about the art style change. The original manga's art stands out amongst most anime/manga nowadays, but it wouldn't translate to animation that well. The character designs in the anime works great and allow for some incredible and really expressive animation. I think they've done a great job with that. What I have issue with is how they've arranged some of the story content, moving scenes to different places, abridging or completely omitting others. I didn't want a direct adaption, and appreciate it taking liberties, but some of what's presented does not work quite as well as it did in the manga because of where they put it or how they executed it. Nothing is done bad or anything, but a lot of the same scenes in the manga just made a lot more impact and set up a much different tone for the story. Though, the pace of this anime is bound to be fast since they are adapting a fairly dense 10-volume manga into 24 episodes, so some scenes are going to need to be faster than others and a few things are going to not get across the same. I suppose it's just a matter of personal preference, for me, as a fan of the original work. However, there are many moments and scenes in the episode that did make me feel that the team behind this really does know exactly what Parasyte is about, so I am confident they'll do a good job adapting the story at the end of the day, and it will be a high-quality anime worthy of the original work through and through.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 08, 2014, 06:53:43 PMIt guess the music wasn't all bad, but the placement was weird at parts to me. In particular, that electric/metal theme they played during the scene where Shinichi and Migi fight the dog-parasyte also seemed to go on a bit long and not mesh well with the scenes, and I didn't really care for the tune itself, and don't feel it quite fits with the kind of series the original Parasyte manga was that well
Eh, I can't speak for the original manga, but I disagree about it not fitting the scene. The music had a tense sort of vibe to it that fit the tension of that scene, and I actually really like electric/metal-type instrumental themes. It fits with the science fiction nature of the show itself (once again, not speaking for the original manga).
QuoteTracks like that make me feel like they will be playing up the action scenes for "epicness" or "coolness," and I'm worried that might rob them of the suspense and intensity most of them had in the manga.
I definitely didn't get the feeling that it was trying to be epic or cool. That sort of music doesn't fit either of those descriptions at all. I felt that it was more about emphasizing escalating tension of the situation at hand. And yes, it didn't come off as "suspenseful" if that indeed was the original intent, but since I haven't read the manga, I can't factor it into my judgement, hence the music in that scene didn't bother me at all. That said, I'd say that the episode had other moments that came off as legitimately mysterious and suspenseful, so it's not like that entire tone was lost from the show. It was just that one scene.
QuoteI'm hoping there are some subtler tracks they'll use for some of the fight scenes in the OST, especially for a few certain fights near the end.
Well, I don't really see how "subtle" goes with a fight scene. I mean, subtle tracks are definitely necessary, but that seems like it should naturally fit in with the more suspenseful scenes of this series that you were talking about. Not when a guy is actively being chased down by something trying to kill him. If it was a scene where the assailant was trying to kill him more sneakily, then I could see that subtle sort of music being more fitting, but he was being chased down in broad daylight. Hardly what I would call subtle in tone. As for the tracks, though, we're only one episode in. We'll naturally get more music later on. And for an example comparison, I hated Hunter X Hunter 2011's soundtrack at first, but it grew on me eventually when they added in much better tunes in later episodes.
QuoteI don't care about the art style change. The original manga's art stands out amongst most anime/manga nowadays, but it wouldn't translate to animation that well. The character designs in the anime works great and allow for some incredible and really expressive animation. I think they've done a great job with that. What I have issue with is how they've arranged some of the story content, moving scenes to different places, abridging or completely omitting others. I didn't want a direct adaption, and appreciate it taking liberties, but some of what's presented does not work quite as well as it did in the manga because of where they put it or how they executed it. Nothing is done bad or anything, but a lot of the same scenes in the manga just made a lot more impact and set up a much different tone for the story. Though, the pace of this anime is bound to be fast since they are adapting a fairly dense 10-volume manga into 24 episodes, so some scenes are going to need to be faster than others and a few things are going to not get across the same. I suppose it's just a matter of personal preference, for me, as a fan of the original work. However, there are many moments and scenes in the episode that did make me feel that the team behind this really does know exactly what Parasyte is about, so I am confident they'll do a good job adapting the story at the end of the day, and it will be a high-quality anime worthy of the original work through and through.
Ah, well yeah, that's bound to happen. In my case, I haven't read the manga, so I won't be able to spot the problems with the show's changes because this is the only version that I'm actually seeing, right now. I can see how it'd be a little awkward to see scenes moved around or rushed through if you've already read the source material, though, but that's why I'm glad that I haven't read it yet. Since it sounds different enough, I'd be happy to check out the manga after I finish the anime, just like I did for Trigun, but like with that, I'm glad to not have read the manga first, as it may have tainted my opinion of the anime. That same logic also applies to ASOIAF and Game of Thrones. I really do like the novels from where I'm at so far, but I'm glad I watched the show first so I can appreciate it for what it is. If I had read the novels first and seen how many liberties the show took, I might have been disappointed, but since I got introduced to the show first, I can see that as a stand-alone piece from the novels, it holds up fine on its own, and some changes aren't necessarily flaws, but just differences, even if I prefer how some scenes played out more in the source material.
The bottom line is, it may be a good thing for the anime version to be different even if the changes make it not as good as the original. In that regard, even if I had read the manga, I'd prefer a good adaptation that does take liberties, even if it's not as good as the source material, as opposed to one that plays it safe and does everything accurately, but in the process sort of kills its point for even existing since you can just read the manga (Monster is the perfect example of that).
Maybe it's more of a personal taste thing, since I didn't get quite the same feeling from the theme. I also guess "subtle" wasn't the right word for what I want. I've pictured the OST of Parasyte like having the OST of a good horror-action movie, and when I think about that, electric/metal tracks, at least the one(s) I heard in this episode, weren't what came to mind. As the show goes on and uses more of it's music, though, it might grow on me.
Like I said before, I appreciate the anime is not a carbon-copy of the source material and is taking liberties, especially since it means there's a different experience to be had between the versions. It was still an excellent episode and premiere at the end of the day. I just felt, in comparison to the manga, the material came across better there, but nonetheless as a fan of the series I still think it was really well done. So I am happy with how this premiere turned out, overall, and am confident the show as a whole will be consistently excellent, even if it might not perfectly capture everything that (imo) makes the original manga as great as it is.
Finished watching basically all the anime I was interested in checking out for the season, except for the second cour of Mushi-shi: The Next Passage, since that won't be coming out until the 19th.
Psycho-Pass 2 is off to a great start. The new characters will take some getting used to, but Akane is now badass and awesome, which is cool. It should have a solid season overall.
Gundam Build Fighters Try is just as fun as the first series. A shame only a few of the previous seasons' characters are in it, but I'm already digging the new characters, so it should be all good. I should also get around to finishing the first season, sometime, but I'll make sure to not to lose track of this season.
Based on the preview, I thought Shirobako would end up being some moe shit with barely anything to do with how to make animation at all. But, surprisingly enough, it's a pretty serious and interesting look at the japanese animation industry. Whether it'll provide any commentary or satire on the subject, I dunno, but it looks to be an entertaining story with good characters regardless. I was pleasantly surprised with the first episode, and am definitely interested in keeping up with it. I think I'd also like to contribute a Clusterfuck entry for it, if nobody has a problem with that, of course.
And then finally, I decided to check out InouBattle and Amagi Brilliant Park, since a lot of people apparently liked them. I thought they were good premieres, but at the same time, they didn't really grab me either, perhaps because outside of a few moments the humor didn't click with me, and the general premises and characters seemed too typical of other anime of this sort. I'll keep an ear out for what people think of them as the season progresses, but for now, I already have 10 series I've decided to keep up with, and I think that's plenty, and these two didn't do enough to change my mind on that.
So, ten series I've decided to keep up with. Dang, that's more series than I've ever been interested in an anime season. Some will likely fall by the wayside as time goes on, since, from experience, I'm pretty busy and usually only really special series like KLK or Space Dandy get me eager to watch them every week, but I can definitely see myself keeping up with certain series here all the way through. Nice season, overall.
Here's my personal rankings of all the premieres I watched:
1. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
2. Parasyte -the maxim-
3. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
4. Psycho-Pass 2
5. Gundam Build Fighters Try
6. Magic Kaito 1412
7. Garo: The Animation
8. Kaitou Joker
9. Shirobako
10. Amagi Brilliant Park
11. The Seven Deadly Sins
12. When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace
So Psycho-Pass 2 wasn't FUBAR, then? Good to hear.
For me, this season is Fate > Amagi > Bahamut > everything else at the moment, though I do still need to watch Parasyte and Psycho-Pass.
Yeah, I thought PP2 had a solid premiere. No real issues or problems in it that I could see. It all still felt like Psycho-Pass. Obviously, that might change later on, but I think we'll be good.
So FUNi picked up and subbed GARO recently. Has anyone here watched it? I did and I think it shows a lot of potential. 7/10 so far, which will probably go either up or down as the series progresses. It's like a really mature, medieval dark-fantasy tragedy, featuring Power Ranger knights. Sounds weird, I know, but I'm really digging it. :thumbup:
The detailed CGI armor is an unfortunate fit with the art style, but it's not badly animated and I got used to it pretty much.
Also, naked manly men in my anime? I'm not gay, but this is refreshing somehow. :lol: Seems to be a thing this season, I've seen it in 3 shows so far.
I guess I'm the only one who didn't really care for Amagi. I just don't see it as that funny or that compelling, but I may give it a few more episodes simply because of the fact that it's created by Gatoh.
For me, it's:
Fate > Bahamut > Parasyte
There were some other good premieres, but these were the 3 that really stood out to me.
Quote from: goody2shoes on October 09, 2014, 08:42:37 PM
So FUNi picked up and subbed GARO recently. Has anyone here watched it? I did and I think it shows a lot of potential. 7/10 so far, which will probably go either up or down as the series progresses. It's like a really mature, medieval dark-fantasy tragedy, featuring Power Ranger knights. Sounds weird, I know, but I'm really digging it. :thumbup:
The detailed CGI armor is an unfortunate fit with the art style, but it's not badly animated and I got used to it pretty much.
Also, naked manly men in my anime? I'm not gay, but this is refreshing somehow. :lol: Seems to be a thing this season, I've seen it in 3 shows so far.
I haven't seen Garo yet, but I'm thinking of watching it. Hopefully it's better than the live action show...
Initially I was avoiding Garo because from what I heard about it I thought it was going to be one of those action anime that sacrifices good story and characters to be overly edgy and stuff, but having actually watched the first episode, it looks to be a pretty fun action show and I got interested in it's story/characters well enough. Chock it up as the 11th anime I'll try keeping up with this season.
I've also thought about it some, and I suppose I did like Amagi well enough to want to try out it's second episode, at the very least, so...I guess that's 12, for now.
So yeah that crappy Twin-Tails show we all thought was going to be the worst thing of the season? ...turns out its Akibaranger Season 3.
I thought the second episode of Amagi Brilliant Park, though wholly predictable to the point I could guess what characters would say next (including the T&A line at the end of the episode), was more enjoyable, and I'm liking the characters and humor more now. Though still not one of the better anime of this season for me, I do like it enough to want to keep up with it for the time being.
This episode was slightly better, but I'm not getting any scenes that make me laugh out loud like this one: http://youtu.be/goDPezNGwVo
Or this one: http://youtu.be/vj1SzURv0uM
And while we're at it: http://youtu.be/ylOqGrOTn_c
Well, now I just realized that I have to re-watch this show, didn't I? Well, FMP-marathon, here I come!
This reminds me that I should finally get around to watching Fullmetal Panic!. I'll start it up after I finish catching up on the first cour of Mushi-shi: The Next Chapter.
Crunchyroll is going to start simulcasting Detective Conan!!! (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2014/10/10/crunchyroll-adds-case-closed-to-anime-simulcasts)
HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT! I never thought this would ever happen, but boy, I am sure glad it finally has! YESSSS!!! :joy:
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Quote from: Cartoon X on October 10, 2014, 06:19:52 AMThis reminds me that I should finally get around to watching Fullmetal Panic!. I'll start it up after I finish catching up on the first cour of Mushi-shi: The Next Chapter.
Just keep this in mind:
Season 1- While I like it more than most people, a lot of others find this season to be the boring one, but I found that it's fairly entertaining as long as you're not expecting anything super high quality; I love the villain, ESPECIALLY in the dub, and the main characters are all solid enough to carry the series forward, for me; nothing outstanding here, but decent, above average fun
Fumoffu- Completely filler as far as the story goes, but totally worth watching as a comedy
The Second Raid: A complete 180 from Fumoffu; this one is all plot and little to no filler, and the tone is completely serious for the most part, and also much darker than the first season ever was; this is one of my favorite anime, as well as one of my favorite story arcs, as I'm sure you're aware of ;)
Also, thus is one of those series where I'd definitely recommend the dub. I've seen both version and the Seiyuu are great, but Chris Patton, Mike MacRae, and the late Mike Kleinhenz's performances alone make the dub the version that I always go back to.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on October 10, 2014, 11:17:29 AMCrunchyroll is going to start simulcasting Detective Conan!!! (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2014/10/10/crunchyroll-adds-case-closed-to-anime-simulcasts)
Interesting. That said, I think I'll just stick with the manga whenever I finally get around to this series, which I will, eventually. I remember really enjoying it back when it aired on the old school anime block of Adult Swim. Hopefully the manga has that same spark to it.
The anime for Detective Conan is better than the manga, imo, so I'd advise you to watch it over reading it, especially since you can skip the cases that aren't related to the plot much easier. Not to say the manga isn't good, it is, but the anime is just a better way to experience the series, since there's a lot of talking in it so the manga gets pretty text-heavy sometimes, which makes it much harder to marathon read, whereas the Conan anime doesn't have that problem at all since, even though it's still a lot of talking, the direction, music, voice acting, etc. is all so good it really keeps your interest much tighter. Again, I do like both, but I do think the anime is a preferable experience over the manga if you were just to choose one.
Alright, I'll go with the anime, then, but I'll have to look up a guide of filler episodes beforehand so that I know which ones to skip.
Season 1 of Full Metal Panic alternates between awesome and mediocre. Some episodes are interesting, exciting, and/or hilarious, while others are just boring. The pacing can be kind of wonky and the animation is generally pretty bad (thanks Gonzo), but the villain is great, certain episodes are fantastic, and overall, it's definitely worth watching as a lead-in to the much better Fumoffu and TSR.
Quote from: Foggle on October 10, 2014, 12:51:02 PM
Season 1 of Full Metal Panic alternates between awesome and mediocre. Some episodes are interesting, exciting, and/or hilarious, while others are just boring. The pacing can be kind of wonky and the animation is generally pretty bad (thanks Gonzo), but the villain is great, certain episodes are fantastic, and overall, it's definitely worth watching as a lead-in to the much better Fumoffu and TSR.
I second Foggle. The good outweighs the bad for FMP, but it's just a taste of the awesomeness that's to come.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 10, 2014, 12:38:12 PM
Alright, I'll go with the anime, then, but I'll have to look up a guide of filler episodes beforehand so that I know which ones to skip.
Here's a pretty good list of all the most essential episodes in the series that I just found. (http://members.shaw.ca/makimura/DCN/EPS/DCNCRITEP.html) :)
I think Vlord is using a different list than this one, though, so maybe he can chime in and share that one as well.
Personally, I got into
Detective Conan thinking it was an episodic mystery series and wouldn't have any real story, and I can dig that, and so that's why I like watching pretty much every episode, even the ones not related to the overarching story, especially since most of the cases are and have always been so incredibly well done. But, since the plot
is so addicting/good and there are just so many episodes, I do recommend skipping the non-essential episodes until you get caught up, and then maybe go back and watch the others later.
As for FMP!, I'm pretty sure I'll like the first season just fine, despite whatever minute issues it might have. And since the entire dub is on Hulu, it'll be easier for me to watch more of it in chunks and while doing other things, so it should all be good.
Thanks for the list, though I actually just meant episodes adapted from the manga in general, rather than just the ones about the main plot. I actually do want to watch some of the good mystery episodes that have nothing to do with the main plot, but I don't want to get bogged down in too much filler, which is why I'd watch the ones adapted from the manga rather than the anime only ones, unless those are also just as good.
As for FMP, I definitely think that the good outweighs the bad in the first season, but just be ready for some really boring episodes in the middle. Both the 2nd and 3rd seasons are worth it, though, as well as the first season, for that matter. And then after that you can either read the LN translations or the Sigma manga to finish up the rest of the series.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 10, 2014, 12:58:19 PM
I think Vlord is using a different list than this one, though, so maybe he can chime in and share that one as well.
This is the list that I use:
http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/Anime
Some of the anime-only episodes are good, but the manga adapted eps tend to be consistently better, imo.
So, should I take it that any episodes with any symbols attached to them are the ones worth watching, and that the ones without symbols are mostly just filler and can be skipped?
The ones with symbols next to them are the most essential to watch in order to understand the overall story. However, you said you wanted to watch all the cases adapted from the manga, in which case you should watch all the episodes that list the chapters they are adapted from next to them, and skip the majority of the episodes listed as TV Original (not all of those, though, since the ones with symbols next to them are recommended viewing as well).
If you're going for pure overall plot relevance it looks like there's a lot of dead space in there. I'd imagine you would catch up fairly fast that way.
Oh, and FMP has a few pacing issues, but the overall experience is worth it. It's just a shame they never adapted the rest of the story.
Well, looking at it again, for some reason they don't list certain episodes which are a part of multi-part episodes/arcs with symbols, so you gotta be wary of that. Overall, about half the series is comprised of plot-important episodes...which still amounts to around needing to watch 350+ episodes. So, it's still going to take a considerable amount of time to get caught up, overall. :sweat:
Hey, I've managed to marathon over 300 episodes of One Piece before, back when I was first getting into the series and had already caught up with the manga, so it's definitely possible for me to do. That said, I no longer have the time to pull something like that off in just a matter of weeks. It's probably take me at least all year long to do. :P
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 10, 2014, 07:32:21 PMOh, and FMP has a few pacing issues, but the overall experience is worth it. It's just a shame they never adapted the rest of the story.
Well, if we're talking about the anime, than no. But, I'd like to point out that the manga, in and of itself, is an adaptation, and that has finished adapting the rest of the story for well over a year now. Hell, it even adapted one some of the short stories, particularly Voice From The North, which I consider to be an excellent one-shot chapter in both the light novel and manga series that details Sousuke's origins, and his history with Kalinin (the story is told from Kalinin's point of view, which is brilliant).
"If you have time to say all that, you have time to run, you little brat."
Okay, Stardust Crusaders is growing on me.
I said I never wanted to watch Cross Ange again.
...some people won't let me. :pedro_nooo:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FOwG5cud.png&hash=4cc936f9dc3db4ff779519bb639fe3af5d9c8a59)
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
Why is no one streaming an anime made by fucking Studio Ghibli? You'd think somebody would jump right on that.
Yeah, I was originally going to review this for the Clusterfuck, but nobody has even bothered to sub it yet. I just find that kind of odd.
Since a dub was already announced, (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-08-13/ghibli-when-marnie-was-there-ronia-the-robber-daughter-listed-with-dub/.77537) I suspect the accursed N is behind it.
I finally caught up with Akame ga Kill. Gonna do the same with Sabagebu and Terror in Resonance hopefully from last season.
This season definitely going through Build Fighters TRY, Reconguista in G, and of course Cross Ange.
This is a pilot post for my wonderful signature.
We watched kids anime tonight...
World Trigger Episode 2: meh show is meh. Still not getting the hate.
Mysterious Joker Episode 2: Absolutely godawful mashup of Lupin and Time Bokan. Looks even cheaper than a show from the 70s
Magic Kaitou 1412 Episode 2: Great animation, horrible character designs, story is done to death.
Tribe Cool Crew: ...still regrettably Sunrise's best show of the season that I've watched (still haven't gotten to BoyFriends Try). Otherwise shit.
Eh, I disagree. Mysterious Joker is a pretty fun kids show. I mean it's kind of foolish to go in expecting Lupin quality entertainment when that was never meant for kids to begin with. For its intended audience, though, Joker is fine. You guys will just overly criticize anything because you have nothing better to do. :bleh:
I'd say pretty much every anime adaption of Lupin besides The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and a few other exceptions were intended as family entertainment. The fact that it's technically seinin is about as meaningful as the fact that other long-popular mainstream series like Shin Chan or Oishinbo are seinin. It's a family friendly franchise, overall.
The first half or so of Lupin III Part 1, Fujiko Mine, and some of the films/specials are aimed at adults, but in terms of anime, yeah, it's considered a family series overall.
Yeah, but it's still not intended for as young of an audience as Joker is, which is my point. The content itself is family oriented, but most modern little kids wouldn't appreciate the more sophisticated sense of humor and characters from a series like Lupin, until you get to at least the 12+ age range, and even then, I'm not sure if modern day Japanese kids and teens are really that into the series. As for Joker, that's clearly a series aimed at the younger spectrum of kids as it is. I'm talking like 6-10 year olds, here. For that target audience, it's a harmless fun show.
To make my point clearer, take American cartoons. The Simpsons is a "family show," but has humor that adults will appreciate. Of course, with a TVPG rating, technically it's still appropriate for kids in some capacity, but you don't see people comparing Nick Jr. cartoons to it. That's just silly, and begs the question: what were you expecting?
Quote from: Foggle on October 14, 2014, 12:33:05 AMThe first half or so of Lupin III Part 1, Fujiko Mine, and some of the films/specials are aimed at adults, but in terms of anime, yeah, it's considered a family series overall.
You also forgot to mention the original manga. :humhumhum:
That's why he said, "in terms of anime." :D
Hmmm....missed that part. :thinkin:
The manga (and Part 2's English dub, for that matter) don't apply to what I wrote. :P
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 14, 2014, 12:42:54 AM
To make my point clearer, take American cartoons. The Simpsons is a "family show," but has humor that adults will appreciate. Of course, with a TVPG rating, technically it's still appropriate for kids in some capacity, but you don't see people comparing Nick Jr. cartoons to it. That's just silly, and begs the question: what were you expecting?
I can't say for Dalek, but I think I was expecting less Nick Jr., more straight up Nickelodeon.
Quote from: Foggle on October 14, 2014, 12:50:22 AM
The manga (and Part 2's English dub, for that matter) don't apply to what I wrote. :P
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 14, 2014, 12:42:54 AM
To make my point clearer, take American cartoons. The Simpsons is a "family show," but has humor that adults will appreciate. Of course, with a TVPG rating, technically it's still appropriate for kids in some capacity, but you don't see people comparing Nick Jr. cartoons to it. That's just silly, and begs the question: what were you expecting?
I can't say for Dalek, but I think I was expecting less Nick Jr., more straight up Nickelodeon.
Have you
seen Breadwinners?
Eh, even then, I don't see the point in a grown adult purposely watching and picking apart a show clearly not intended for them. If it was offensively bad for kids, then yeah, I'd get it, but it's a very safe, child-friendly series, based on the premiere episode that I saw for the write-up (I didn't actually continue watching it, obviously). Whether you were expecting Nick or Nick Jr., it's still a kids show, not a family show. There's a difference.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 14, 2014, 12:52:31 AM
Have you seen Breadwinners?
Unfortunately. :whuh: :shit:
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 14, 2014, 12:54:45 AM
Eh, even then, I don't see the point in a grown adult purposely watching and picking apart a show clearly not intended for them. If it was offensively bad for kids, then yeah, I'd get it, but it's a very safe, child-friendly series, based on the premiere episode that I saw for the write-up (I didn't actually continue watching it, obviously). Whether you were expecting Nick or Nick Jr., it's still a kids show, not a family show. There's a difference.
The only show we watch to pick apart is Sword Art. :D
Humorously enough, you can pretty much see the difference by just comparing Mysterious Joker to Magic Kaito 1412, since both have the same sort of concept, except the former is intended for kids, while the latter is intended as a family show, and that shows in the execution of those respective series.
Well, I'm not going to dwell on the Nick Jr. of anime, anyways, so whatevs....Also I was mostly just referring to Dalek over the top verdicts, not you or anyone specifically
Also, I actually checked out WSBBC's 2nd episode just because it's Trigger and I wanted to give this at least one more chance. I can now safely say that this show is a pile of cow dung. Whereas I couldn't say that anything in the premiere was downright good or bad, just mediocre, now I can safely call this show a piece of shit. That clears things up much more. Best of luck on your next project, Trigger. I know that you guys are way too talented for this junk, but you also need to make a living somehow.
Yeah, the second episode of Inou-Battle was truly awful. I can't believe ANN actually praised that shit...
Why couldn't Trigger just animate something like Hayate X Blade instead? :gonk:
Quote from: Foggle on October 14, 2014, 01:05:07 AMYeah, the second episode of Inou-Battle was truly awful. I can't believe ANN actually praised that shit...
JO gave it a 4/5, and Zac a 4.5/5....and that explains way too much....
ANN praised Wake Up Girls!. I kind of stopped taking their opinions seriously after that.
Quote from: Rynnec on October 14, 2014, 01:09:08 AM
Why couldn't Trigger just animate something like Hayate X Blade instead? :gonk:
If Trigger is going to adapt any currently-running manga, then it HAS to be this one:
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I would watch this.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 14, 2014, 01:11:33 AM
ANN praised Wake Up Girls!. I kind of stopped taking their opinions seriously after that.
I still remember when the last episode compared the dramatic intensity of an idol competition to 9/11.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 14, 2014, 01:17:47 AM
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 14, 2014, 01:11:33 AM
ANN praised Wake Up Girls!. I kind of stopped taking their opinions seriously after that.
I still remember when the last episode compared the dramatic intensity of an idol competition to 9/11.
:wth:
Yeah, here's the clip where they inexplicably pull out a 9/11 speech. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKDIAxyJS-w)
:whuh:
Yikes.
A new Lupin the Third TV anime is coming out next spring. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-10-14/1st-tv-anime-show-starring-lupin-iii-in-3-decades-to-launch-in-italy/.79924)
Watched episode 10 of Jojo earlier. I did not see that heel turn coming. Also, I am really liking Joseph. I expected him to be Johnathan's son, not grandson. What a twist
Just finished episode 11 and 12. Yes, Stroheim! (sp?) Hearing how Street Fighter 2 ripped of Jojo is one of the reasons I wanted to start watching this show. (among other reasons, like Foggle saying it's a show I'd deeply love)
Watched Inferno Cop recently and wrote a short piece about it on ye olde blogge. Spoiler-alert: I enjoyed it.
I watched episode 2 of Parasyte today. It has a nice flow to it and I like that it has a good sense of humor. It really does play out like a really engaging horror comedy, which is awesome to see in anime forms the actual suspense of the show is legitimately intriguing, and the comedic aspects are perfect without being overdone and taking over the horror and mystery elements of the show, so from my perspective (as a non-manga reader, in this case) it's really great stuff.
I watched Jojo 13 earlier. Until next time, Guile.
...still not liking the OST for the Parasyte anime. This dubstep/electronic stuff just does not fit this series at all, and distract from the point of some of the scenes they are used in. Everything else is still great, though, and I do think this is still a good adaption so far, but these music choices are really bringing it down from being as great as it could be, imo.
But I did like how they made the random parasyte in the beginning of this episode be A instead, and had the ending scene of the episode tease Reiko. Those are some of the kinds of scene changes/additions I appreciate, even if they aren't totally necessary.
I want to follow that series soon. I assumed it was already out assumed it was oldy moldy when I read about it on tvtropes under the body horror section.
After I play catch-up with Stardust Crusaders, my queue of what to watch is likely going to look like this-
-Regular Show Seasons 3+ (not anime, but bear with me here)
-Ashita no Joe 2 (I might switch this with RS if I finish the manga up to that point by the time I'm ready to watch either or)
-Fujiko Mine
-Kids on the Slope
-Terror in Resonance
-Maybe a Trigun rewatch?
I think I had more planned, but I can't recall.
Quote from: Avaitor on October 15, 2014, 10:12:00 PM
-Ashita no Joe 2 (I might switch this with RS if I finish the manga up to that point by the time I'm ready to watch either or)
Assuming you mean that you plan to start watching it once you get to the point in the manga where AnJ2 starts, then you're already there. AnJ2 starts right after the end of part 1, beginning with "The Downfall of Joe Yabuki" arc, which you've already read. So, you could start it any day, if you feel up to it.
I still need to rewatch/watch all of Trigun. It's right there on Netflix. I also plan on doing the same for Regular Show on probably an even later date.
Also:
-Catch up on what I missed on Hellsing Ultimate (bits of what I missed on [as]. I'll just watch it on Toonami, excluding full episodes I might miss)
-Saint Seiya
-Fist Of The Northstar
-Dragonball..sheesh, these last 3 seem like distant future candidates. I've been dragging my feet.
-Black Lagoon...same as above, likely.
-I want to say Big O but some part of me refuses to watch it online. It should be on Netflix, dammit!
Continuing Jojo is a given (I didn't know Avaitor was watching it) and I'm still saving the last episode of HXH for later. I just can't let go of this show easily. :'(
Yeah, I still don't agree with you on the music at all, CX. Then again, going by your taste in the competition threads, I'm not surprised. :>
Anyways, I'm enjoying the anime just fine. The only thing that I really dislike about it is the opening theme and some of the gore effects seem to be a little bit overdone. I have no problem with violence, but something about the way people get sliced up feels a bit too cartoony for an otherwise more serious looking art style. Maybe it's just something that fit in better with the manga's artwork or something along those lines. But, it's a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things.
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 15, 2014, 10:28:20 PMContinuing Jojo is a given (I didn't know Avaitor was watching it) and I'm still saving the last episode of HXH for later. I just can't let go of this show easily. :'(
Normally I'd say that you still have the manga, but considering that it's only 10 chaoters ahead of where the anime ended and Togashi still has it on hiatus, now you can suffer the wait with the rest of us. :D
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 15, 2014, 10:18:14 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on October 15, 2014, 10:12:00 PM
-Ashita no Joe 2 (I might switch this with RS if I finish the manga up to that point by the time I'm ready to watch either or)
Assuming you mean that you plan to start watching it once you get to the point in the manga where AnJ2 starts, then you're already there. AnJ2 starts right after the end of part 1, beginning with "The Downfall of Joe Yabuki" arc, which you've already read. So, you could start it any day, if you feel up to it.
Well yeah, but I wanted to start watching it after I finish reading the arc, or at least as far as it goes to from the link you and EK showed me a while ago.
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 15, 2014, 10:28:20 PM
I still need to rewatch/watch all of Trigun. It's right there on Netflix. I also plan on doing the same for Regular Show on probably an even later date.
Is it? I checked the other day, and couldn't find Trigun streaming anymore.
The arc ends with the end of the 11th volume. After that is the Carlos Rivera arc which is also quite different in the ani em and that arc lasts up until the end of volume 13, so by the time you finish that arc, you could probably start watching the anime to see what it does differently. It gets pretty close to the original story again by the time it hits the Dragon Kim arc, but still refreshingly changes things up and makes some additions, so it's definitely worth experiencing both versions.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 15, 2014, 10:53:32 PM
Yeah, I still don't agree with you on the music at all, CX. Then again, going by your taste in the competition threads, I'm not surprised.
Feh, you've never read the manga. I have, and for my money, dubstep/electronic music simply does not fit the series, especially in the scenes it's been used in so far. That kind of music feels more appropriate in a show that emphasizes cool action and fights over everything else, and that's not what
Parasyte is about, at all. The action scenes are great, mind you, but it's the message and themes of the series, which were subdued and contemplative, that made it resonate with people back in the day and made it one of the highest regarded manga out there. Dubstep/electronic music is loud and in your face, which does not reflect at all the tone Iwaaki was going for in his manga in the slightest. So...:bleh:
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 15, 2014, 11:18:01 PMFeh, you've never read the manga.
Exactly. This is an anime adaptation and I'm judging it on its own merits. I. Glad that I don't have to play comparison and can just enjoy it for what it is. I can always just check out the manga after I finish the anime.
QuoteI have, and for my money, dubstep/electronic music simply does not fit the series, especially in the scenes it's been used in so far.
This isn't the manga, though, so your point is moot. The music I'm hearing fits in with the tone of the anime that I'm watching. What I'm seeing isn't some super subtle slow-paced, atmospheric Sci-Fi thriller, since the first 2 episodes at least have been mixed in even parts with comedy and action. If this was A story along the lines The Thing, you would have a point. Based on these first 2 episodes of the ANIME and not the manga, it's not, so the music fits the horror comedy nature of the SHOW.
QuoteThat kind of music feels more appropriate in a show that emphasizes cool action and fights over everything else, and that's not what Parasyte is about, at all. The action scenes are great, mind you, but it's the message and themes of the series, which were subdued and contemplative, that made it resonate with people back in the day and made it one of the highest regarded manga out there. Dubstep/electronic music is loud and in your face, which does not reflect at all the tone Iwaaki was going for in his manga in the slightest.
Look. I'm telling you as someone who has NOT read the manga and is judging this as it's own entity that based on what I've seen, the music clearly fits what's happening on screen. If the tone is supposed to be different, then that's a failure of the anime, not the music itself, since even without this music, I wouldn't be getting the tone that you are describing based on what I have actually seen. In that regard, I'm glad that I haven't read the manga first, because clearly I'm enjoying the anime for what it is more than you are. I'd be happy to read the manga after it finishes, but until then, I'm happy to view the anime as a standalone product.
That said, looking at other people's opinions of this anime on message boards (specifically comments from people who have read the manga), I haven't particularly noticed any complaints about the soundtrack outside of the opening theme, so as far as I can tell, your either in the minority on this opinion, or no one cares enough about the music either way for it to bother them to mention it. :bleh:
Also, the music isn't dubstep. Look up actual examples of dubstep on YouTube. There is a completely different sound style to that and the music that you hear in the series. I don't exactly know what genre of music you'd call the type in the series, but it's definitely not dubstep.
Wuh-what? Like a month or so, Trigun was on there. If you jinxed this for me, I'll never forgive you, you bastard. :anger:
Fuuuuu...it's gone. :cry:
So before all of this, Jojo 14 was watched
Spoiler
When Mark said he was going to get married, it was so obvious that he would die in that episode. One of the most blatant uses of a trope I've ever seen.
What is Parasyte like? Is it a comedy, horror? Or is it a gorefest like Gantz or Elfen Lied?
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 15, 2014, 11:39:08 PM
Wuh-what? Like a month or so, Trigun was on there. If you jinxed this for me, I'll never forgive you, you bastard. :anger:
Yep, Funi took it down a couple of weeks ago. Totally lame.
Well, CX is probably more equipped to answer that question since he's so anal about how only HE HAS READ THE MANGA which thus disqualifies anyone else from having an opinion. :>
However, based on what I've seen of the anime, it plays out like a horror comedy.
Parasyte is one of the greatest action-horror manga ever, if not the greatest. It is not a horror comedy. Bad shit happens to people in this story. But at the same time it's not an overly grim series, and there is a healthy dose of light-hearted scenes and comedic moments throughout, so it certainly never becomes completely devoid of humor...but it really becomes a very serious, at times tragic, story starting from the second volume. I suppose it is a gory manga, but the content is honestly tame by today's standards. The point of the series is not the gore, though, and it doesn't go overboard with the violence, because that wasn't what Iwaaki was drawing the story for, and it wasn't what readers really connected to in the series either (which is evident from the Q&A sections if you read the print volumes). At it's core it's about a fairly basic environmental message, much more complicated moral ones, and most importantly, it's a story about what it means to be human. It's a highly regarded classic and widely considered one of the best manga ever made.
I figured that it gets darker later on, but I'm just going by the first 2 episodes so far.
That said, it made me realize how awesome a full-fledged horror comedy manga or anime would be. And no, I don't mean like Franken Fran. I mean more along the lines of Evil Dead, except as an anime.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 16, 2014, 12:45:47 AM
What is Parasyte like? Is it a comedy, horror? Or is it a gorefest like Gantz or Elfen Lied?
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 15, 2014, 11:39:08 PM
Wuh-what? Like a month or so, Trigun was on there. If you jinxed this for me, I'll never forgive you, you bastard. :anger:
Yep, Funi took it down a couple of weeks ago. Totally lame.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.meme.am%2Fimages%2F100x100%2F5816432.jpg&hash=b361f8434d32ab368391fa351af2661e0541ebf8) Come on, Funi? Jeez, why is it so hard for Netflix to keep or have anything? I swear if Blockbuster didn't completely ignore them, they'd still be here.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 16, 2014, 01:07:12 AM
Parasyte is one of the greatest action-horror manga ever, if not the greatest. It is not a horror comedy. Bad shit happens to people in this story. But at the same time it's not an overly grim series, and there is a healthy dose of light-hearted scenes and comedic moments throughout, so it certainly never becomes completely devoid of humor...but it really becomes a very serious, at times tragic, story starting from the second volume. I suppose it is a gory manga, but the content is honestly tame by today's standards. The point of the series is not the gore, though, and it doesn't go overboard with the violence, because that wasn't what Iwaaki was drawing the story for, and it wasn't what readers really connected to in the series either (which is evident from the Q&A sections if you read the print volumes). At it's core it's about a fairly basic environmental message, much more complicated moral ones, and most importantly, it's a story about what it means to be human. It's a highly regarded classic and widely considered one of the best manga ever made.
That sounds a lot like how I feel about The Walking Dead comics. :swoon:
I really should get back to The Walking Dead comics. Great characters and great writing make all around. It puts the TV show to absolute shame, for sure.
How far did you get? It's of course my favorite ongoing book.
I finished the first 3 volumes, and then took a break from there, and that was at least 2 years ago.
Nice. I think I am a Volume or 2 behind. Couldn't tell you how many issues behind. I haven't read it in two years myself.
Watched JojoBA episode 15 earlier. Jojo coughing very loudly to get the Pillar Men's attention and him playing dead and then crawling away repeatedly was funny. I like this show's charm.
I got up to episode 18 a little bit past midnight. I did not expect Cyborg Stroheim to show up that fast. Let's see what Guile can do.
So, I realized that, for the first time ever, I'm legit keeping up with 10+ anime this season. This got me to thinking I should do a weekly anime recap just like how I always do my weekly manga recap for all the manga I'm reading, since I'm watching enough shows for it to make sense. It would also help get me motivated to stick with watching all the shows on time, since oftentimes I neglect to watch an anime for a week and suddenly I fall so far behind I end up dropping it, so this could help me avoid that. So, starting from next week, I'm going to try and do that. Not this week, though, since I'm too busy this weekend to spend time writing one on top of my usual manga recap (which takes surprisingly long oftentimes). I will, however, post my customary rankings of what I watched this week (all episode #2's):
Rankings:
1. Parasyte -the maxim- - 9/10
2. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis - 9/10
3. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works - 9/10
4. Amagi Brilliant Park - 8/10
5. Psycho-Pass 2 - 8/10
6. Garo the Animation - 8/10
7. Shirobako - 8/10
8. Gundam Build Fighters Try - 8/10
9. Magic Kaito 1412 - 7/10
10. The Seven Deadly Sins - 5/10
Overall, while not too many stand-out episodes, it was a pretty good week with a lot of solid ones regardless. There was only one really meh episode, but I already knew Sins will stay that way until Ban shows up, so that doesn't bother me. I really think this is a good crop of shows, and I'm looking forward to each of their next episodes quite a bit, so hopefully next week will have some really great stuff (I've already watched the newest Amagi, and I continue to like the show more and more each week). On another note, I also want to check out Ronja as well, so I'll get to that later this weekend.
I still need to check out Ronja, myself, since it finally got subbed. As for me, I'm only following 4 anime for the time being:
1. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
2. Parasyte -the maxim-
3. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
4. Amagi Brilliant Park
So fate/stay night on Crunchyroll is the new show and not the old one?
Yeah, it's the new one.
Also, since CX brought it up, I suppose I'll update my thoughts on each new episode of each series that I'm following every week, since I'm only following 4 of them, anyways:
Rage of Bahamut: Genesis (Episode 2)- Just as much fun as the premiere, and helps to develop the plot in an interesting way. I just like how much fun this show is. With much darker shows like Fate and Parasyte, it is refreshing to have at least one genuinely more light-hearted adventure epic to follow this season.
Parasyte -the maxim- (Episode 2)- I'm really enjoying the "alliance" and interactions between Shinichi and Migi. I also like how this situation brought up the possibility that Migi could betray Shinichi at the drop of the hat, prioritizing his life over his host, if it turns out that it's true that he can move to a more beneficial hose and leave his current one without dying. However for now, he's prioritize Shinichi's life since he'll die if Shinichi does, but at the same time, he warns Shinichi not to try anything that could compromise his existence or he could still make his life a living hell without actually killing him.
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (Episode 1)- not much to say about this episode as I already wrote a piece on it that never ended up getting used, but overall, it's just as strong as the prologue and gets me pumped for what's to come.
Amagi Brilliant Park (Episode 3)- This show is still just decent, but nothing great. I do like how Seiya is finally on board and trying to help out by increasing the park's business with incredibly risky maneuvers, and some of the humor between him and Moffle actually works. That said, Latifa is still a pretty flat and uninteresting character, whereas Isuzu feels like a much less funny female counterpart version of Sousuke from FMP (particularly of his persona in Fumoffu). Part of what made his ultra serious militaristic tone funny was that he was legitimately trying to understand the nature of normal people and just failed miserably at comprehending it and fitting in, and he ended up getting punished for his incompetence in this regard in hilarious ways. Isuzu seems to have that same sort of nature to her, but nothing is really done with her character beyond being quirky, so it's just not as interesting to me. Overall, the show is amusing enough for me to keep watching it, at least, but I'm definitely jot as big of a fan of it as everyone else seems to be. Seiya and Moffle are really the only two characters that make it worthwhile to me, so far.
Dammit.
Hmm, CR has Parasyte too. I have some watchin' to do, Lucy.
Just FYI, you don't need to have watched the old one at all to watch this one. The old one was actually pretty bad, as it is, and from what I understand, even fans of the source material don't care for it. It also adapts a completely different route from the VNs than what this one is doing, from what I understand, so it doesn't even have anything to do with the new one, in that regard. What you SHOULD watch before it is Fate/Zero, which is also streaming on CR. That works as a prologue to this new series, and also works as a standalone series that is a perfect entry point into the franchise.
Fate/Zero as in the series you know I have already watched? :D I started the show right after you.
Anyway, that makes me feel better. Thanks.
Right now I'm keeping up with:
1. Parasyte
2. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works
3. Psycho-Pass 2
4. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
5. Amagi Brilliant Park
6. Magic Kaito 1412
7. The Seven Deadly Sins
I also plan on following the second half of Mushi-shi: The Next Chapter, and I'll probably check out Ronja when I find the time. I'm gonna hold off on Build Fighters Try until I finish the first series.
Since HXH ending and I haven't started anything else yet, I have no list. lol
Earlier I watched Jojo 19. That random laugh Kars did was amazing.
I saw Parasyte and Bahamut based on comments here.
Parasyte was strange. I'll probably need to see more of it to gain a handle on it. Bahamut was a really fun swashbuckler. I'll definitely try to see more of it.
What the hell is Bahamut?
You know, you always ask these questions, but I was just wondering, have you ever just tried looking stuff up on Wikipedia or something like that? It'd be a lot quicker than always having to wait for one of us to respond to you.
But, since you already asked, I'll just answer it anyways. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis is an adventure anime based off of a Japanese trading card game. And....that's about all there really is to know about it, so far.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 17, 2014, 04:33:22 PMI saw Parasyte and Bahamut based on comments here.
Parasyte was strange. I'll probably need to see more of it to gain a handle on it. Bahamut was a really fun swashbuckler. I'll definitely try to see more of it.
Based on the first 2 episodes of each, I find Parasyte to be a good combination of horror, mystery, action, and even some humor (so far). I just like stories where one of the "monsters" or "creatures" ends up aiding the main character in some way against its own kind (I like Gremlins for that reason as well, though unlike that, Migi is neutral so far, and not really on Shinichi's side other than to keep himself alive).
As for Bahamut, I also love how fun-spirited the show is. It has so many elements that I love, like sword-fighting, magic, demons, a middle-age style world, and a great element of adventure.
Wikipedia is unreliable.
Looks like I have more stuff to watch this weekend!
Oh, but I met with my production group for one of my classes today, and the guy has a killer library, including a big selection of anime. After we got some work done, we watched Paprika. I liked it! I see how the film works as a proto-Inception, but I think that I might like it better. The lack of exposition allows for it to feel like a more unique experience.
I still do like Inception, since I did appreciate the science behind it, but Paprika, man.
Episode 20 of Jojo... :cry:
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 17, 2014, 05:08:44 PM
Wikipedia is unreliable.
myanimelist.net (http://myanimelist.net)
:il_rope:
Garo might become a slow burn. It hasn't grabbed me since episode 1, but who knows if or when it will come around (Code Geass R1 had a huge payoff for the shoddy first episodes). I wish I could like it more, though.
I just started og. Lupin III, 5 eps in and so far it's def. not what you would expect. It's made during the infancy of anime, and they're clearly still looking for the formula. Which makes it interesting in its own way. Looking forward to the Miyazaki episodes.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FiIUjGvrl.png&hash=a313431ab6079cd80c3b3a8b352685fa4535438a)
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PISS OFF HATERS.
It has grown on me with each passing episode. It's a very likable series, at the very least.
Eh, I still think it's the anime equivalent of that TV show that you will just settle with watching because you're too lazy to see what else is on TV. It's still improving with each episode, though, so maybe it'll eventually get to the level of "show that I like to watch to pass the time by during my favorite show's off-season." :>
Quote from: goody2shoes on October 17, 2014, 06:36:52 PM
I just started og. Lupin III, 5 eps in and so far it's def. not what you would expect. It's made during the infancy of anime, and they're clearly still looking for the formula. Which makes it interesting in its own way. Looking forward to the Miyazaki episodes.
It's an interesting series, to be sure. Definitely improves a lot once Miyazaki takes over. Some of the really early episodes feel uncomfortably chauvinistic to me. Be sure to watch Part 2, as well (but skip Part 3)!
And I remember how you used to tell me that Pink Jacket was great, been though I never cared for it. :>
Anyways, it's been such a long time since I watched Green Jacket, but while it's great as a historical piece of animation, I've always felt that it's a bit wonky in terms of quality. My personal favorite is Red Jacket, which just flat-out holds up the best out of all 3 parts of the classic series.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 17, 2014, 07:32:10 PM
And I remember how you used to tell me that Pink Jacket was great, been though I never cared for it. :>
It has its moments, but as a whole, it isn't particularly enjoyable. I'd probably only seen the good episodes back then. :shit:
QuoteAnyways, it's been such a long time since I watched Green Jacket, but while it's great as a historical piece of animation, I've always felt that it's a bit wonky in terms of quality. My personal favorite is Red Jacket, which just flat-out holds up the best out of all 3 parts of the classic series.
I think green jacket has the highest highs of the original three series, but red jacket is the only one of consistent quality where you can just pick any ol' episode and have fun.
Well with over a hundred episodes, even Red Jacket had its duds, but there weren't many truly bad episodes. I'd say about 10-20 were just mediocre, and the rest ranged from good to great to amazing.
Come to think of it, though, I don't believe that I've watched every episode of it ever. There are still at least a few that I never got around to. I'll have to fix that someday.
Also, I can't lie, but as bad as some of the dialogue changes can be from the original, I really love the Geneon dub for Red Jacket. Consider it a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 17, 2014, 07:53:10 PM
Well with over a hundred episodes, even Red Jacket had its duds, but there weren't many truly bad episodes. I'd say about 10-20 were just mediocre, and the rest ranged from good to great to amazing.
Yeah, for such a long-running episodic series, its consistent level of quality is remarkable.
I remember back on TV.com when I tried to get Avaitor into this series, and I gave him a list of episode recommendations that I came up with myself. I'll have to see if I can find that list to see how well those specific episodes hold up for me now.
I do remember that I recommend that he watch the first episode just because it's the first, but he didn't like it much, which I suppose I can see since that's probably one of the more average episodes, but he wasn't all too impressed by my other recommendations, so I just figured the show wasn't for him, but then eventually he just seemed to think it was pretty good out of nowhere, or at least had a newfound respect for it. That always baffled me. Perhaps people just don't like the things that I specifically recommend to them. Maybe I should just stop doing that from now on, otherwise I'll jinx their experience somehow. :sweat:
Well, people's tastes do change dramatically over time, especially in the transitions between kid-teenager-adult. Like, there was my angsty period where I hated almost everything including my old favorites, and now I love everything good again. ;)
Yeah, I think I warmed up to the franchise after a viewing or two of Castle of Caliogstro and trying some of the episodes you suggested again.
I'm still not as well-versed as either of you guys, but I do really appreciate Lupin now.
Quote from: Foggle on October 17, 2014, 07:26:06 PM
Some of the really early episodes feel uncomfortably chauvinistic to me.
What, you're not a fan of men acting like real men? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SwVqDeoK4g) :thinkin: Yeah, you can definitely tell it's a product of its time. :lol:
As for the later series, I was thinking of just watching the best episodes based on various recommendations. Red seems a bit long while Pink seems very inconsistent. For Red, this (http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php/lupin-iii-part-2-credits) seems like a decent guideline.
Would First Contact serve as a good in-between Green and Red, btw?
First Contact is great! Perhaps my favorite TV special. It's one of the multiple instances where they retconned the way the Lupin gang met each other (which happens again in Fujiko Mine), so it might not feel like a good transitional piece between the green and red jacket seasons, but it's definitely worth watching all the same. Then again, Lupin III doesn't really have an actual canon, so it probably won't be too jarring. :)
The ending of the First Contact implies that Lupin was just making the whole story up (or at least parts of it), so it's actually supposed to be somewhat ambiguous as to whether it's how the gang actually met. It's still a very entertaining story all the way through, though, and easily among the best of the Lupin specials, so, like Foggle, I think it's definitely worth a watch.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 18, 2014, 08:15:27 PM
The ending of the First Contact implies that Lupin was just making the whole story up (or at least parts of it), so it's actually supposed to be somewhat ambiguous as to whether it's how the gang actually met.
That's true! You can actually think of it like this if you're so inclined:
Fujiko Mine = How Lupin met Jigen and Fujiko
Lupin III Part 1 = How Lupin met Goemon
First Contact = How the public believes the Lupin gang met
So, I just watched the latest Detective Conan movie, "Dimensional Sniper." Overall, I did enjoy the film...but I also felt completely ripped off by it. The reason being that all the trailers and posters for the movie teased that the plot was going to be about Shuichi Akai being targeted by a rogue sniper and Sera getting shot...and that's not what it was actually about, at all. I mean, yeah, Sera did get shot and whatever, but the plot wasn't about Akai at all...in fact, he didn't even appear in the movie! I mean, I guess technically he does, but he doesn't make a "live" appearance or have any bearing on the story in any way. So...all the trailers fucking lied about what this movie was about, and so that kinda confused and disappointed me a little. It was still a fun movie, though, especially because it heavily featured the FBI agents and Sera. The plot was also really interesting too, which helped me get over my disappointment, a little. The one thing that bugs me is how they put Okiya in the movie but he doesn't really get to do anything until the final act of the film. He should have been more consistently a part of the film, instead of just getting tacked on at the end like he was. But eh, whatever. Overall I wouldn't say this is one of the best Conan movies I've seen, but the story was interesting, and it had some awesome action scenes to boot which were pretty cool, so I had a lot of fun with it. It reminded me that I should get around to watching all the DC films I haven't seen yet, at some point, or at least the ones with Kaito Kid or the Black Organization in them.
Man, the "Judgement" two-parter of Stardust Crusaders is kind of like a best-of package for Jojo. It has basically everything that makes the franchise as fun as it is.
And now I only have 2 more episodes before I'm caught up, which makes me a little sad, but also happy that I'll be able to watch the show regularly like everyone else. And I can also go through my queue!
Dalek made me watch Seven Deadly Sins, and this happened.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.sankakucomplex.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F10%2FNanatsunoTaizai-Episode3-Omake-6.gif&hash=7d77930d2bd444f778de9fbb5bc9b5011f7cc09f)
I watched Parasyte episode 3 today. I like the development that some of the other hosts aren't just one-note villains. Shinichi's teacher, for example, isn't hell bent on eliminating him and Migi, or at least not right away, at any rate, which makes these enemies a bit more interesting rather than just being straight-up villains just for the sake of needing to be opposed.
My ranking for this week:
1. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis- This series continues to keep me hooked, and I like how the story and characters are developing with each new episode; I just never find a boring moment in this show.
2. Parasyte- A close second for me. The character development is great, and the different hosts that Shinichi and Migi run into always bring something new to the table and introduce some interesting concepts. I just love the blend of sci-fi, action, and horror that this shoe brings to the table.
3. Amagi Brilliant Park- This episode was surprisingly good, IMO. And the first one that I'd say was well above average. It took an interesting look at the two leads and contained some genuinely good drama. Surprisingly, this show is better when it's playing it serious as opposed to trying to be comedic, which I felt dragged down the first 3 episodes. It's strange because I always considered Gatoh to be better with comedy than straight-up drama, but this series seems to reverse that notion. Not to say that FMP didn't have good drama, but it was primarily awesome for it's bad-ass main character and it's comedy segments, while the drama was well done but surprisingy underplayed until much later into the story. At any rate, as for ABP, it's perked my interest up a notch, so that's definitely a good thing.
4. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works- Thus series is still great, but this was the obligatory exposition episode, and at that it was a complete rehash of that part from the Studio Deen anime, so I really learned nothing new. As such, it's just kind of last by default this week, but I'm fully confident that it'll be back to being awesome in practically no time at all.
So last night, I watched the first... 5 episodes of Psycho-Pass, and the first 11 episodes of Beck with a friend. They are day and night as anime series, but hey, I enjoyed both!
We're probably going to watch more later, although she only owns the first half of Psycho-Pass.
I've been really loving Amagi Brilliant Park. This honestly might be my second favorite anime of the entire year after Space Dandy. It's really cute and fun and I almost never stop laughing or smiling while watching it. Also, a lot of the music sounds like it's ripped directly from the Full Metal Panic OST, which makes me even happier. Why the heck hasn't this been licensed yet!?
Because KyoAni's a bitch that does not want us to have nice things.
I should probably talk about the series we watched together a little more.
Psycho-Pass was pretty fascinating, containing a smart enough sensibility to it that made the show worth watching even if the earlier episodes were almost like futuristic procedurals, and the characters seem average thus far. We stopped after the Spooky Boogie two-parter, which definitely left me feeling like there's potential in the show to do more, so I'm excited to get a chance to see the rest later. And my friend was right, I did appreciate the literary references behind it.
Beck, meanwhile, is just a joy to watch. Not every episode was especially interesting, but I really do like the aesthetic it maintains, just as I appreciate the develop that's occurring for Koyuki. The "Moon on the Water" sequence near the end of the fifth episode easily has to be my favorite moment thus far. I should get around to seeing it in the original Japanese, although the English dub still won me over.
The english dub for Beck is much better than the original, imo, so unless you are dying to hear really crappy engrish (all the songs they sing are in english), I wouldn't bother. Do read the manga once you are done with the show, though, since it covers only a third of the overall story.
Glad to see you're enjoying both shows.
Guess I should mention I enjoyed Garo a lot this week, and EP4 is probably the best one so far. The show appears to be going for a larger narrative interspersed with "monster of the week" side stories, and I don't mind those the way they did one this episode. The themes held a lot of relevance to one of the MC's while working well as a self contained story. This episode was also very atmospheric, and showcased the character design variation Garo's capable of.
I'm rooting for this show to turn into something great, because it has a lot of potential. By the way, I'm loving its OP more every time I watch it.
Garo OP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8KW2PD1_BA)
Parasyte and FSN also really stepped it up this week. Word is Bahamut will do the same next episode :humhumhum:
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 25, 2014, 02:31:22 PM
The english dub for Beck is much better than the original, imo, so unless you are dying to hear really crappy engrish (all the songs they sing are in english), I wouldn't bother. Do read the manga once you are done with the show, though, since it covers only a third of the overall story.
Yeah, I have to admit that I figured Beck's dub would be the superior take, but I held some curiosity towards the sub, anyway. I'm definitely planning to get to the manga, though. I haven't forgotten your list, after all. ;)
Oh, speaking of Parasye and Bahamut, I got to watch the first 2 episodes of both over the past couple of days. Bahamut was probably a little more fun to watch for me, as it feels like a best-of compilation of Jojo's varied awesomeness, but Parasyte has me intrigued to see where it goes. I have enough on my plate right now to where I don't mind waiting for CR and Funi's site to legally put up their subs, however. But I'm still happy to keep up with both.
Those are both my favorite shows of the season so far, TBH. Bahamut is admittedly the most shallow, but that doesn't mean that it's without merit, and as a general crowd pleaser, it's a shit-ton of fun, and sometimes that's all that I really want.
Parasyte clearly isn't for everyone, but it reminds me of a good horror/suspense movie, and I like the characters quite a bit, so it's definitely worth my time.
Fate is of course great, but has the problem of taking more time to get its characters set up and it's plot really going, though it may surpass either of the other 2 shows with ease as the story progresses and new developments begin to unfold.
As for Amagi Brilliant Park.....well, I AM warming up to it with each new episode being better than the previous one, so far, but just like with Space Dandy, I don't think that I'll ever be quite as much of a fan of it as other people on this board. It's just that as a comedy, it's not really my brand of humor, and as a Slice of Life drama, it's getting better, but it's nowhere near Kids on the Slope levels of quality, IMO. That said, clearly I'm the odd one out on this opinion, so there must be something good about the show that makes it so highly appealing to everyone else, whereas I just merely like it.
Mushi-shi is by default my favorite anime of the season, and Parasyte is my close second, and Gundam Build Fighters Try is my third. I have to say, with Parasyte, it's interesting for me to see what other people who are completely new to the series think about right now, as someone who has read and is a fan of the original manga and knows where it's going and what it's about. It isn't for everyone, I'm sure (nothing is though), but how people's opinions on it will change as it goes on is something that I'm curious to see develop. As far as the other two big shows of the season everyone on here is watching, F/SN and Bahamut, I'm enjoying both quite a bit. I'm not sure if they will surpass Parasyte for me, but they could surprise me.
As for Amagi Brilliant Park, I am enjoying it, but I'm not sure I'll ever be in love with it as much as other people seem to be. I haven't seen even close to every anime/manga comedy out there or anything, but I've seen the spectrum of stuff and what I feel and is some of the best there's ever been, and I just feel like I've seen this kind of concept, these kind of characters, and this kind of humor many times in other series before, and there isn't anything I can find to connect to yet that would help me forget all that, like what Zvezda Plot from earlier in this year was able to do. For these first four episodes I've just kept having this sense of deja vu, and could honestly predict so many of the jokes and how scenes would play out. It's done well, and I find it all likable, but I'm just not seeing what makes this series "special" the same way other people seem to find it. Obviously, it's only four episodes in, but it's only a thirteen episode series, and other similar one-cour comedies have hooked me by this point before. I'll see how I feel about it by the end of it's run, but as of right now, it doesn't do as much for me as other series, and is not one of my most favorite new anime I've seen come out this season, let alone this year.
As far as comedy goes, I like stuff that's either played straight for the most part but has genuinely good laughs like Great Teacher Onizuka or Ouran High School Host Club, ones that just indulge in silliness but still have some semblance of logic to them like Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu (based on short stories from the same author of Amagi Brilliant Park), or goes completely bonkers without any sense of logic but has so much wit packed into it that you just can't help but laugh, like Dr. Slump and many parts of the early Dragon Ball arcs.
As for myself, I like most forms of anime/manga comedy provided they are written well, in a way that doesn't insult my intelligence or feel overly obnoxious, and have a good concept and characters behind them. My issue with Amagi is not that it's a kind of humor I can't get into, but that there's nothing in it that I feel I haven't seen done in other series before, and nothing about the characters or concept that I feel very intrigued by or invested in, and as such it's not clicking as well with me on a personal, emotional level as much as it seems to with other people. There are many series that I do like where I feel like this, but as such, I can only say I like them, and not a "fan" of them, and that holds true of Amagi for me right now as well.
Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about it. I haven't even seen nearly as many manga/anime as you, but even I feel like the story is rather predictable. I mean, the premise is fine, but the anime has yet to do anything that creative or unexpected with it. Of course, even that would be fine if it was just really good at executing this type of story, but aside from episode 4 which I felt was above average, the rest so far has just been....adequate. Like, nothing about it is bad, but hardly anything stands out, either. I've managed to predict pretty much every major story turn so far, and even most of the comedy either feels rehashed, or lacks a decent punch line.
Today we watched the first 2 episodes of Ouran with a few of her friends, which is about as much of the dub as I heard before.
Not too much at all, but I still enjoy the show about as much as ever. Now I want to watch it all again, heh.
Yeah, Ouran also became one of my favorite anime comedies after you introduce me to it. ;)
I really should check out the manga, eventually, though with my backlog I won't get to it for a long time, anyways.
I've been meaning to read the manga for a long time, but I always forget about it. I was also hoping that they'd make a sequel series now that it's over, and I'm surprised that it still hasn't happened, since the show was a hit.
Heh, I've always loved the dub for Ouran, myself. I always rewatch it dubbed. That goes with most of the anime/manga comedies I like, actually, barring the ones that don't have a good dub or the dub is too radically different from the original.
I've read the first few volumes of the Ouran manga. While still quite enjoyable, I honestly prefer the anime to it as an adaption for the parts that it covers. As for the parts of the series the anime doesn't adapt, I never got to that, but I've heard mostly good things about it, though some people criticize it for ultimately playing it safe with it's ending. It's one of many, many manga I started long ago and should just get around to finishing at some point, but at the same time it's not much of a priority for me right now, even among the shojo titles I've got on my queue.
I'm not surprised that it never got a second season, because generally it doesn't seem like shojo series get multiple seasons, even the big ones, especially the long ones. At least it got a live-action tv series and a live-action movie, which is more than, say, Fruits Basket ever got. :P
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 28, 2014, 01:06:42 AMHeh, I've always loved the dub for Ouran, myself. I always rewatch it dubbed. That goes with most of the anime/manga comedies I like, actually, barring the ones that don't have a good dub or the dub is too radically different from the original.
It's the same for me. I love the dubs for Ouran, Fumoffu, and GTO (though admittedly I still prefer the sub for that one). I've also been watching School Rumble dubbed, which I like.
I really do like the dub, but I just never felt like watching it all in full again for whatever reason. Maybe I'll borrow her DVDs and do so, but first I want to borrow her Trigun set.
I'm not a fan of the English version of "Sakura Kiss", though. I don't think it was translated that well.
Yeah, the opening and ending themes don't translate well into English, but I was never a huge fan of the original versions, to begin with. They sounded like standard J-Poppy songs to me.
The actual character dubbing is excellent, though.
"Sakura Kiss" is definitely not one of FUNi's better dubbed openings, but to be honest, I don't really care for it in either version, so I usually skipped it anyways. :P
"Sakura Kiss" is more of a guilty pleasure bubblegum J-Pop track for me, but I can easily admit that it's not one of the best.
This is a pretty good English fandub of Sakura Kiss. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1KHXrc9PYo
I'll come out and say it, I love Excel Saga's dub. All of ACROSS were perfectly voiced IMO, in fact I tried to watch the original and had to drop it. When I read the manga I hear many of the dub voices.
I thought Jessica Calvello and Larissa Wolcott both captured Excel's energy so much better than the original seiyuu. Sure, they could be grating to listen to for too long, but I thought that was more a problem with the script than anything. They ramped up Excel's hyperactivity a lot in the anime.
As for Ouran, it's a show I really wanted to like. I dropped it at episode 11 because the characters and comedy fell totally flat for me. The worst part was Haruhi, an MC who can't stop being uptight and pointing out the jokes. Boke-tsukkomi at its worst. :bleh:
Quote from: goody2shoes on October 28, 2014, 07:33:53 AM
I'll come out and say it, I love Excel Saga's dub. All of ACROSS were perfectly voiced IMO, in fact I tried to watch the original and had to drop it. When I read the manga I hear many of the dub voices.
I thought Jessica Calvello and Larissa Wolcott both captured Excel's energy so much better than the original seiyuu. Sure, they could be grating to listen to for too long, but I thought that was more a problem with the script than anything. They ramped up Excel's hyperactivity a lot in the anime.
I agree, the dub's still one of my favorites. Some of the lines are funny just from how the VAs deliver them, and the dub writers tread that fine line of staying true to the original script while re-working dialogue and references to make comedic sense in English.
QuoteAs for Ouran, it's a show I really wanted to like. I dropped it at episode 11 because the characters and comedy fell totally flat for me. The worst part was Haruhi, an MC who can't stop being uptight and pointing out the jokes. Boke-tsukkomi at its worst. :bleh:
That's unfortunate, some of the best episodes are in the second half.
Quote from: goody2shoes on October 28, 2014, 07:33:53 AMAs for Ouran, it's a show I really wanted to like. I dropped it at episode 11 because the characters and comedy fell totally flat for me. The worst part was Haruhi, an MC who can't stop being uptight and pointing out the jokes. Boke-tsukkomi at its worst. :bleh:
Eh, I completely disagree, but chalk it up to a difference in comedic taste, I suppose.
I never noticed too much of what you mentioned, especially the pointing out the jokes thing which I think I would notice if it was overabundant since I hate so many manga/anime that end up doing that with there humor (with a lot of battle shounen being the worst offenders of this).
I also wouldn't call any of the characters flat, myself. They all have distinct personalities that they stick with throughout the series, yes, but they also have a bit more to them that subtly comes out in earlier episodes and you usually see more about who they are revealed in the later half of the series. It's surprisingly genuine about its characters for something that's mostly comedic.
Well, Haruhi tended to point out the absurdity of situations/characters, which can be fine, but she didn't really add much else as a character. Stiff and boring might sum her up? When I say they fell flat I don't mean 2 dimensional, just that the characters didn't work for me. Blondie and the twins were especially obnoxious.
The humor felt a bit low brow, since it relied so much on referencing tropes without doing anything witty with them. It got some chuckles out of me, sure, but being intentionally stereotypical doesn't make something automatically funny to me.
Quote from: Speedy on October 28, 2014, 09:09:27 AMThat's unfortunate, some of the best episodes are in the second half.
Maybe I'll pick it up again some time when I'm in the mood. I might be blind to its genius now, but tastes change. And then I have the better part to look forward to. :)
I wouldn't really call. The humor low brow. It does reference a lot of tropes, but it also flat-out parodies most of the , so I wouldn't say that it's doing nothing with them. I do Bree that the twins are kind of obnoxious, though, but I always saw that as the point, and kind of a slam against more obnoxious characters that you see in these types of series, anyways. Granted that, I could be off the mark, as I admittedly don't read or watch much shoji, but the way the characters were written felt like it was purposeful to both mock and celebrate that specific archetype, which is probably why I enjoyed them so much. That's just my interpretation, though.
So I just finished Bakemonogatari and boy, did I enjoy it!
I've stayed away from this series for a long time because of its harem/fanservice elements and artsyness. But wow, this thing is so well written. Characters, story and dialogue, I enjoyed it all. While I haven't read the VN I can tell Shinbo was the perfect choice for director. The quirky style has won me over, it's really charming.
I'm having trouble finding faults, except for the obvious ones I mentioned. And even then, the series is unusually self-aware. I'm really glad I gave it a chance, right now it's a top 3 favorite. :thumbup:
Just watched the 4th episode of Parasyte. I nearly died laughing at that "spanking the monkey" line.
Other than that, I do like how this episode placed some importance on Shinichi's parents. In general, a lot of anime and manga usually neglect to characterize the parents that much, sorts refreshing whenever one of them does delve into those relationships.
Yeah, it was another good episode. I'm just a bit bothered by the sloppy linework on the characters sometimes. It might be intentional, but it's pretty jarring to see gaps in the contour lines. It's something I might be okay with in a b/w manga, but not in an anime. Same goes for mouths, I simply hate when those aren't drawn completely.
I finished S1 of Mushishi yesterday. I love this show. I tend to watch it at most once a day (before bed), and I thought I'd take a minor break at this point, but I couldn't stop myself from watching the Hihamukage special.
(https://shinonomefansub.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/mushishi-tokubetsu-hen-hihamukage1.jpg?w=764)
It was an uncanny experience. Watching this 9 years newer episode by the same team got me excited and worried at the same time. With S1 fresh in my mind, you notice the differences however subtle they may be.
Positives:
- The animation quality was the most obvious upgrade. Seeing Mushishi in native 720p, with its highest budget so far, really makes me smile. The characters and their expressions seem more detailed and lifelike, and the mushi gathering was quite a spectacle to watch. The environments also looked better than ever, and we got a few interesting camera techniques I've never seen in Mushishi before.
- Music was great as always, didn't pay too much attention to it though.
- Tiebacks to recurring/earlier characters were nice to see.
Negatives:
- The narrative felt very disjointed and unfocused, and plot holes were abound. Are mushishi unable to see mushi during the eclipse, or what?
- Too much exposition. Characters thinking out loud, outright stating the messages of the episode, and so on.
- The little girls didn't impress me as characters, and the story tied itself up a little too nicely.
So yes, I'm cautiously optimistic for season 2. Maybe they get more into their groove with 22 minute episodes.
Anyone else watching Mushishi here?
Mushi-shi is one of my favorite anime. I think the second season is just as strong as the first one, at times better. As such, it's by default my favorite anime of the year, after Kill la Kill.
That's good to hear. I really hope the new stuff gets dubbed at some point, because that's how I watched season 1. It's a great dub, Travis Willingham especially did a great Ginko. The franchise has switched licensors since then though, so who knows if it's even possible for the actors to return.
I kind of doubt Aniplex is going to dub it, but if they did, I'd love it if they got Willingham to reprise his role as Ginko, since his portrayal of him was excellent.
My rankings for this week:
1. Rage of Bahamut- Still by far the best show of the season, IMO. Perhaps I'm alone on that opinion, but I just love the adventure elements of this show. It's the kind of thing that I would expect some of your standard shounen to have, which is what I through stuff like One Piece and Magi would be more like before I got into them, up those are more battle-oriented than anything else. This show really is dedicated to building up an interesting fantasy world and developing good characters, even if they are lacking in depth and nuance, which you do t always need for a show to be good. More than anything, though, this show just as so much heart and passion behind it, and you can tell. While I like the other shows, something like Fate or other great series are well-written and interesting, but there is also a sort of cold attitude to them that doesn't make them as relatable or "fun" as some of my favorite series, which is clearly the intent, but I'm just saying that my most favorite kind of series are the ones where you can tell that there's a lot of passion that goes into every character and that the series just wants to be a great positive experience for anyone who watches it, which I think that this series does so well, up to this point.
2. Parasyte- more interesting plot developments, and both Shinichi and Migi also get further character development, which is always interesting. More than that, though, I really like how Shinichi's parents were shown to have some importance and not just flat-out ignored like most other manga and anime tend to do.
3. Fate/Stay Night- This was much more entertaining than last week's episode, even though it was mostly just action and not too much plot. That said, the action that was there was glorious.
4. Amagi Brilliant Park- Another just OK episode, IMO. So far episode 4 is the only one where I really got invested for a bit. The rest of the series is decent enough, but I just don't get what everyone else sees in it that makes them praise it so highly.
i watched 21, i believe, of jojo. lisa lisa is pretty cool.
Parasyte. Parasyte, Parasyte, Parasyte. God damn.
:>
:shit: What kind of reaction is that? Do you take pleasure in Shinichi's suffering?
I need water.
That's me showing amusement at your reaction. I've read the entire Parasyte manga. It's one of my favorite manga. I'm enjoying seeing how people react to this story the first time going through it.
And this won't be the last time you'll feel that way about this series, I'll tell you that much. :humhumhum:
I wasn't surprised if only because someone made it way too obvious that bad shit would happen since he wouldn't stop talking about how bad shit happens in this story, so I was pretty much expecting it for the last few episodes. Gee, I wonder who that might've been. :humhumhum:
Regardless, it was a good episode. The best one so far, I'd say, and I'm eager to see how the story goes on from here, given the way that this episode ended. Obviously he can't be dead yet, so it's more about how he gets himself out of this situation.
You know Shinichi's monologue about the human heart? Oh the irony if
Spoiler
Migi rips out his heart and replaces it with a parasyte prosthetic to save him
. Actually that's pretty much what will happen, isn't it? (don't spoil it, just speculating :bleh:)
Spoiler
Naruto became Hokage. Believe it.
...and we're done here.
Who the fuck names their son Bolt?
Anyways, the One Piece reference was pretty much the best thing about the final chapter. Other than that, it's just like the atrocious Digimon Adventure 02 epilogue, except thankfully not as much of a slap in the face since that series and the one before it were at least decent, whereas for this one....well, it's kind of need to have standards in the first place before this kind of ending could even begin to be considered a disappointment.
That's even worse. :whuh:
Also, going by that logic, I should really be asking who the fuck names their daughter Salad ("Sarada")?
health food nuts.
Boruto and Salad are my new Naruto OTP.
This week:
1. Parasyte- While I wasn't surprised by the dark turn, it was still undeniably well done, and it came at just the right time. The series took the first four episodes to set up the characters and establish the rules of the parasytes, but if nothin significant happened by now, it'd begin to start feeling dragged out, so I'm glad to see that we got a major development like this, and it managed to bump this particular episode up to be my personal favorite of the week.
2. Bahamut- This is the first time that this series hasn't ranked as my favorite, but it's still my favorite of the season, overall. Also, I'm not knocking this episode, which was still on a level of quality that I've come to expect from this show. I just found Parasyte to be slightly stronger this time.
3. Fate/Zero- This was also excellent, and we got some good character development. Really, the quality of this series and the other 2 were really close this week, and it was just such s great week for anime, overall.
4. Amagi Brilliant Park- In terms of humor, this is the first episode that actually kind of worked for me. I still wouldn't say it was as funny as something like Fumoffu, but the ridiculous personalities of the job applicants during the interviews, combined with Sento's bizarre reactions to her feelings, really did manage to get a few good chuckles out of me.
On another note, I just started watching School Rumble, dubbed, and I'm only an episode in, so far. I like it, though. It kind of reminds me of Fumoffu, except with less explosions, but arguably just as zany on the whole. I'll try to watch some more episodes over the weekend if I can find the time, and I need to start watching Princess Jellyfish as well, which I only saw the premiere of a few years ago.
I'm kind of feeling burned out on anime lately and things are about to get really busy for me, so from last year's experience I know that I'll probably have to put watching most of the stuff I've been following on hold until the semester blows over. Especially because all this week rather than watching any of the new episodes I just felt like rewatching Urusei Yatsura episodes instead, so I'll probably just continue rewatching that for a while until I get back in the mood to watch anything else.
So Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire are getting a special anime short. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-11-09/pokemon-omega-ruby-and-alpha-sapphire-get-special-anime-short/.80836) That's neat. I always like seeing Pokemon anime outside of the main anime tv series, like last year's Origins, and to some extent the Mega Evolution specials.
i was going to ask about origins. tvtropes made it sound interesting.
Quote from: gunswordfist on November 09, 2014, 03:50:07 PM
i was going to ask about origins. tvtropes made it sound interesting.
It's not that good, there's one interesting scene in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adFPJOLB-fc
I honestly feel people overblow that scene. It's not that dark.
I quite enjoyed Origins, myself. It's well-animated, a lot of fun, and rekindles fond memories of playing the original games and has a lot of appreciable in-jokes for longtime fans of the franchise like myself. It also has what is by far the best dub any anime Pokemon-related has ever gotten, easily. I really do think it's worth checking out if you are or had ever been a fan of the franchise.
Yeah, I'm honestly going to have to respectfully disagree with goody2shoes on this one. I quite enjoyed the special, and to me it's one of the better things to come out of the Pokemon anime adaptations. I will say that a lot of the enjoyment for it depends on how big of a fan of the original Red/Blue you were, but as a general stand-alone piece, it's still pretty fun, and as a nostalgia-trip down memory-lane, it's glorious, IMO.
yeah, i was a huge red/blue fan and tvtropes saying how red reacts to parts of the story like gamers did back then caught my interest.
So, overall, my thoughts on the season shows that I'm following have remained the same. Bahamut is shallow, yes, but it's a shit-ton of fun and I adore a good adventure story, which I have found severely lacking in most manga and anime that I check out. It's actually surprising how "un-anime" this series really feels at times. It doesn't dwell on powers and battles, and is really more about the journey than anything else. That said, I do find all of the main characters to be likable, and I haven't seen a boring episode yet. Every single one brings something fresh, and I legitimately like the world-building of this series. I would love to see more shows that explore the make-up of this world, and introduces new key characters and stories. If any new anime this season has long-lasting franchise potential, it's this one.
Now, my love for Bahamut is due largely in part to my own bias. Were I to be a bit more objective, I'd say that Parasyte is probably the best anime of the season by far. And, indeed, it also has everything that's up my alley. Normally it's be my favorite, easily, but like I said, I'm just a sucker for adventure. Still, I eagerly await each new episode with much anticipation, and I'm never disappointed in what I see. Shinichi's character arc is fantastic, the designs and general concept of the Parasytes are ingenious, and the nuance to both the plot and characters is almost unrivaled from other shows that I've seen this season. I also love the themes that it explores. It's definitely one of (if not the) best anime of the year, in my book. Also, while the music personally doesn't bother me, (aside from the shitty opening by that shitty J-Rock band that is somehow inexplicably popular) I know that CX and a few others didn't care for the tracks in the early episodes, but if you've been paying attention, the show has been using less and less of that as the story progresses, and has been subtly changing the music to that of a darker tone over time, much like the dark turns that the story takes. I mean, there are still some of those former tracks, but they come much less frequently now. If this was done intentionally, then I find that to be pretty clever directing.
Then there's Fate/Stay Night UBW. The show is just as good as Fate/Zero, with all of its strengths and flaws, IMO. The production values are high, the action is superb, the characters are interesting, and I really do enjoy the mythos of the series. My only real gripes are that it's a bit too slow-paced at times and very monologue-heavy, granted that several of my favorite series are like that as well, however I do kind of find it to be a bit much when the monologuing too often amounts to "my ideals are right and yours are wrong," as I'm not a fan of idealism disputes in shows. Overall, though, it's not a huge complaint, and doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the show. It's definitely another one of my favorites from this year.
Finalky we have Amagi Brilliant Park, which a lot of people seem to love. On the one hand, I'm glad that it's getting such good reception, just because I believe that Shouji Gatoh deserves to have a hit on his hands. On the other hand, I'm trying my best to love this series like everyone else seems to, but it has seldom ever stepped over the boundary of "pretty decent" to being downright great, for me. Is it good enough to keep me watching? Sure. But, I just don't think that it's something that I'd ever come back to once it's done.
I'm behind on all the shows this season except Mushi-shi because I've had a lot to do these past few weeks. I'll probably have to wait until my winter break until I can catch up on anything.
Scamp's poll results for best anime this year are already showing, and some people here might be happy with the results. (http://thecartdriver.com/the-cart-drivers-2014-anime-of-the-year-readers-choice-poll/)
Excellent that my beloved Space Dandy and Kill la Kill are so high! :swoon: But Samurai Flamenco above Terror in Resonance and Amagi Brilliant Park... :whuh:
I feel like Magi should be higher than it is, especially since the Magnostadt arc is so well-written.
Other than that, it's cool to see some series that I really enjoyed so high on the list. And yes, HXH at #1 really pleases me. It's about time that a Togashi series got the recognition that it deserved. I just wish that it would get picked up for an English dub, but nobody seems interested in it as a licensed property (and yes, I still blame Viz for that).
hxh at no. 1? so sweet.
Not familiar with that blog, but does this mean HxH has gone mainstream? Weird...
Time to get inflammatory: I loathe that show. I'm perplexed at all the praise it gets, but then again I only watched 137 fucking episodes of it so what would I know? :wth:
All snark aside, my impression of the show would be more favorable before I watched the CA arc. It was... mindblowingly awful. I had to force myself to get through it.
CA aside though, I really just found HxH mediocre. Exception being the Yorkshin arc, which I at least found entertaining in a Death Note-light sort of way. I dunno, maybe my standards are too high from not watching long running battle shonens? I was never into that stuff.
As someone who loved Attack on Titan the first and only time I watched it, I guess I understand now what AoT haters feel. No matter who you are, some shows will rub you in all the wrong ways, and HxH certainly was that show to me.
You're not much of a fan of Yoshihiro Togashi, I take it.
So what do you specifically not like about the show/manga? I don't hear much criticism from it since most people tend to love it unconditionally or not know it exists, so I'm curious to hear from a non-fan.
A lot of people hate/dislike many of my favorite anime, so I certainly understand the confusion of not getting what others are talking about when they discuss shows/films.
I haven't gotten far enough into HxH yet to form much of an opinion on it, but I can totally feel the lack of enthusiasm for long-running series, no matter how good they are. They're a huge time investment, and it can be daunting just starting when you know there's 100+ episodes ahead of you. The most I can say is that some of them will just speak to you more than others.
I actually like Titan quite a bit from what I've seen, but the newer chapters have pretty much ensured that I'll never attempt to legitimately watch or read it again.
Well, it's certainly not for everyone, so I can understand the distaste. Personally, I really like it, though I'd never call it perfect (it has a ton of flaws). I don't really see how it's "loathe-worthy," but what I enjoy about it is that it has tendency to play around with standard conventions in the genre and still just try to be an entertaining series most of the time, without the need to get too up its own ass with the usual themes that you tend to see in long-running battle shonen series. Admittedly, the exposition-heavy nature of the show gets to be a bit too much at times, but so do shows like Fate/Zero and Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and I enjoy both of those as well (although I'm still fairly early on in the latter).
I don't think you're not liking it is a case of your standards being too high, but just having a lack of enthusiasm for this specific sub-genre in general, which I can totally understand. I think that, within its own genre, it's a very well-done series. If you're not into battle shonen to begin with, though, then it's not going to do anything for you, and even for people who are, it's still a bit too much with the exposition and such for some to enjoy. Personally, though, I love it. Partly because of my Togashi bias (I pretty much grew up watching Yu Yu Hakusho), but also partly because I find it to be legitimately well-written within the context of its genre.
As for AoT, I don't hate it, but I've always found it to be a bit over praised for the things that people actually praise it for. As an entertaining world-ending apocalypse/battle for survival of the human race sort of story, I think it's suitably entertaining. When people praise it for things that it's clearly not, like having deep characters and being an actual good drama, then I find the praise to be rather undeserved, personally. It's the same for Death Note, really, and I love Death Note.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 11, 2014, 06:51:42 PMYou're not much of a fan of Yoshihiro Togashi, I take it.
So what do you specifically not like about the show/manga? I don't hear much criticism from it since most people tend to love it unconditionally or not know it exists, so I'm curious to hear from a non-fan.
If you've ever listened to the Weekly Manga Recap podcasts, they do an episode for this series in which three people take a look at it, one who is a fan, one who is mostly neutral, and one who doesn't like it, and they discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the manga. It's probably the most fair and comprehensive look at the series that I've heard, thus far.
As for the fans, unfortunately, like many deluded fan-bases of various manga and anime, they believe their beloved series to be perfect and free of flaws. I've actually been flamed off of a forum once just because I criticized several things that I felt were poorly executed in the Chimera Ant arc. Such as the bad pacing issues and downright lazy use of narration to spout out needless exposition.
On another note, I'm pleasantly surprised to see that Space Brothers made the top 10, and I'm also reminded that I need to catch up with the manga. I'm also glad to see that after several more hours of voting, Rage of Bahamut is in the top 10 as well. I was kind of wondering why JoJo's wasn't included on this list, until I rememebred that it was still running into next year, and was only on hiatus for now.
I have never listened to that podcast, but I probably should consider it since I am a fan, flip-flopper, and hater of HxH. ;)
Still, it is nice to know there are more people critical of the series than us, since the series begs for honest criticism like all the best works. I mean criticism in the classical sense, by the way, and not "this show is bad and you should be ashamed of liking it you terrible human being who is probably racist" style of criticism.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 11, 2014, 08:03:53 PMAs for AoT, I don't hate it, but I've always found it to be a bit over praised for the things that people actually praise it for. As an entertaining world-ending apocalypse/battle for survival of the human race sort of story, I think it's suitably entertaining. When people praise it for things that it's clearly not, like having deep characters and being an actual good drama, then I find the praise to be rather undeserved, personally. It's the same for Death Note, really, and I love Death Note.
Yeah, agree about AoT and DN. Both shows had many flaws I'm aware of, and they didn't pass me by when I was watching either. They just didn't bother me, personally, that much for whatever reason. AoT's talking/inner monologues for instance, I just rolled my eyes and kept watching. When I'm sold on a show (say, Bake, NHK, AoT) their flaws almost become endearing to me.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 11, 2014, 06:51:42 PM
You're not much of a fan of Yoshihiro Togashi, I take it.
So what do you specifically not like about the show/manga? I don't hear much criticism from it since most people tend to love it unconditionally or not know it exists, so I'm curious to hear from a non-fan.
Well, I'll try to be brief.
1. The story, tone and pacing are all over the place. Directionless.
2. In the first arc, "Hunter Exam" nobody gives a shit about the death of other hunter applicants. This irked me majorly and turned me off the main characters.
3. Most arcs I found boring and/or forgettable.
4. Chimera Ant arc is offensive on many levels. Sadistic violence used for shock value; awful, badly designed villains who show up from nowhere and steal the spotlight; poorly thought out and paced story because of Togashi's hiatuses; the narrator; attempting to milk sympathy out of me for the aforementioned villains.
4.1. Anime messed up the introduction of a CA character.
i didn't know foggle watched any of hxh.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 11, 2014, 09:05:37 PMWell, I'll try to be brief.
1. The story, tone and pacing are all over the place. Directionless.
2. In the first arc, "Hunter Exam" nobody gives a shit about the death of other hunter applicants. This irked me majorly and turned me off the main characters.
I'd actually like to point out that these first 2 criticisms are actually intentional aspects of the series, hence why I say that it's not for everyone. As far as the tone goes, Togashi specifically wanted a different theme for each arc, so the tone is only ever consistent within its own arc, hence why the Hunter Exams are more about adventure and mystery, the York New City arc is more dark and moody to go along with the revenge story, and so on and so forth. Personally, I actually like this because it keeps such a long-running series from becoming too much of the same thing for me. Understandably, it'll bug the hell out of someone just looking for a clear and concise story, though if you're one of those people, you shouldn't really be looking for that in this genre to begin with, a few exceptions aside. As for the not caring about total strangers dying, that's kind of in the nature of this series. It's a dangerous world and you can only afford to look out for the people who you know and trust. If you're talking about characters being unlikable because they don't seem to care so much about strangers being killed off, I can think of at least a few worse examples than this series, at the very least.
Quote4. Chimera Ant arc is offensive on many levels. Sadistic violence used for shock value;
I agree about the violence being needless and for shock value, but I found it more cartoony than sadistic. All the same, I hated the excessive violence in the first third of the arc.
Quoteawful, badly designed villains who show up from nowhere and steal the spotlight;
This is the one thing that I honestly can't agree with, myself. I loved the development of Meruem from being a one-dimensional killing machine to actually trying to find a greater purpose for himself, even if his "vision" for the future was horribly skewed. All the while, there was a parallel with Gon going down a significantly darker path, despite where both characters started out in the arc. At one point, the villain seemed to be closer to the role of the hero, and vice versa for Gon. As for the Royal Guards, I like how their over-devotion to Meruem ultimately leads to both his and their own downfall.
Quotethe narrator
No arguments here.
Quoteattempting to milk sympathy out of me for the aforementioned villains.
I don't really see it that way, and personally I'd argue that it's left up to viewer interpretation. The manga, even through the use of the narrator, never explicitly states that any of the villains should be viewed at as good in any light, nor does it take a firm stance on any character being right or wrong in their beliefs or actions, at least not so far as I recall. Hence why I see it as characters simply going through their character arcs and it being left to the viewer to judge them. For lack of a better example in anime form because I can't think of anything at the moment, I'd compare it to something like Game of Thrones, with characters like Jaime Lannister or Sandor Clegane doing seemingly evil things in the beginning of the series, but as their characters become more fleshed out, you also see that there are more well rounded and redeeming qualities to them as well. The point being that, you aren't explicityly intended to sympathize with the characters, but the notion is that nobody is supposed to be 100% evil, or almost nobody. Bottom line being that, I see it as a matter of personal interpretation rather than an attempt to make you feel bad for the villains.
The funny thing is that I actually agree with a lot of your criticisms. If I could find my post about the arc from years ago, you'd see that, surprisingly enough, I addressed a lot of the same issues. The difference here is that, while I don't see it as a great arc, and while I acknowledge the flaws, I don't think that they bother me quite as much as they do for you. I certainly don't find them to be "offensive," of which I associate more with stuff like racism, sexism, or very skewed and uninformed ideals that are presented through the means of the story and characters. Also, I do find their to be some strengths to go along with the flaws, which is why I still think that the CA arc has its good qualities as well.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 11, 2014, 09:05:37 PM1. The story, tone and pacing are all over the place. Directionless.
You got that right. Especially when the main character's goal has been achieved before the end of the story. Sometimes it does feel like the author doesn't know where he is going, especially in places like Greed Island or the beginning of the Chimera Ant arc.
That said, when he hits a groove, he soars. But he rarely hits the heights of Yu Yu Hakusho even with a work as long as this is.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 11, 2014, 09:05:37 PM2. In the first arc, "Hunter Exam" nobody gives a shit about the death of other hunter applicants. This irked me majorly and turned me off the main characters.
This is, in my opinion, Togashi's greatest vice next to laziness, and it wasn't one he had before HxH. He creates certain characters for nothing more than targets for gory death and it is very often entirely unneeded and does nothing to advance the plot. I almost quit the manga during the Chimera Ant arc, and would have had Knuckle not come in when he did.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 11, 2014, 09:05:37 PM3. Most arcs I found boring and/or forgettable.
Most aren't very memorable, I'd agree. The Hunter Exam, York New City, and the back half of Chimera Ant (when the gore dies off) are immensely well written and inventive. Some of the other arcs are well written and some are inventive, but none come close to those. HxH is not a consistent series.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 11, 2014, 09:05:37 PM4. Chimera Ant arc is offensive on many levels. Sadistic violence used for shock value; awful, badly designed villains who show up from nowhere and steal the spotlight; poorly thought out and paced story because of Togashi's hiatuses; the narrator; attempting to milk sympathy out of me for the aforementioned villains.
I 100% agree. Unfortunately, underneath that sludge of shock value and one dimensional villains there is a good story. As the arc goes along, that good story manages to come to the surface. After Knuckle's introduction, basically any scene with his team, Killua, Ikalgo, Welfin, or Meruem playing chess is top notch. You just have to wade through a lot of bad stuff to get to it. That fight with Pouf was one of the best fights in the series, too.
But yeah, I never bought feeling sorry for any of the Ants except for the ones who were actually repentant and trying to do good. Those also happened to be the best bad guys in the arc because of it. Togashi just went way too overboard with them being cruel and monstrous for me to care about much of any of them.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 11, 2014, 09:05:37 PM4.1. Anime messed up the introduction of a CA character.
I haven't seen the anime yet, but I could hardly imagine who this is referring to.
Oh wait, I forgot about the Chairman Election arc. That was a great one outside of the random character death in the middle of it.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 11, 2014, 10:27:51 PM
I 100% agree. Unfortunately, underneath that sludge of shock value and one dimensional villains there is a good story.
Most of those one-dimensional villains are killed off early on in the arc. The ones we are left with, while not all great, aren't quite as one-note.
QuoteThat fight with Pouf was one of the best fights in the series, too.
I'm pretty sure that you mean Youpi, considering that Pouf hardly fights at all in the arc.
QuoteBut yeah, I never bought feeling sorry for any of the Ants except for the ones who were actually repentant and trying to do good.
And like I already said, I still don't see how the series showed any intention of having you feel sympathy for them. If anything, I'd say that it says a lot more about how the two of you interpreted them, which says something despite all of your criticisms. :humhumhum:
But like I said, Togashi never explicitly says: "well this character is good now and should be forgiven for his actions." Instead he writes a story where you are set up with animalistic villains who eventually grow into elements of their humanity, for better or worse, all the while the more idealistic Gon is discovering that his former stance on the world around him has cost him the liege of his friend and mentor, and when he finally gets down to confronting his enemies he ends up being the one to awaken his more sinister nature. I just like that element of reverseral of character develomment roles, which is doubly great because his character arc also reversely parallels Killua's.
Did they show Gyro at all in the anime, by the way?
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 11, 2014, 10:44:48 PMI'm pretty sure that you mean Youpi, considering that Pouf hardly fights at all in the arc.
Oh yeah. Sorry, it's been a while since I read it. :sweat:
Problem was I just didn't care about the ants as a whole. Outside of the obvious ones, most of them were all rather boring as characters, I thought.
This is an interesting discussion. I think it's helping me have a more balanced perspective on the show, as opposed to the intense hatred you may have sensed earlier. ;)
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 11, 2014, 09:35:47 PMAs for the not caring about total strangers dying, that's kind of in the nature of this series. It's a dangerous world and you can only afford to look out for the people who you know and trust. If you're talking about characters being unlikable because they don't seem to care so much about strangers being killed off, I can think of at least a few worse examples than this series, at the very least.
I understand that it may have been intentional, I just don't think the characters' reactions to all the death around them are realistically portrayed. There's a middle ground between bleeding-heart shonen heroism and sociopathic indifference.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 11, 2014, 10:27:51 PMI haven't seen the anime yet, but I could hardly imagine who this is referring to.
Kite wasn't in the first episode/s of HxH 2011.
Quote from: goody2shoes on December 12, 2014, 02:45:03 AMThis is an interesting discussion. I think it's helping me have a more balanced perspective on the show, as opposed to the intense hatred you may have sensed earlier. ;)
That's good to know. To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of glad to have someone around who doesn't praise Togashi for all of his writing decisions (Spark aside). That probably sounds weird coming from a fan, but I'd rather have a sensible discussion about the strengths and flaws of a series that I mostly enjoy, as opposed to just conversing with Togashi ass-kissers who have nothing to say other than "that's awesome" or "wow, what a genious writer Togashi is!" It grates on my nerves if only because, while I do enjoy most of his output (more so Yu Yu Hakusho than anything else, though), he shouldn't be excused for his lazy hiatuses and terrible pacing issues (which, to be fair, only became a problem in the Chimera Ant arc, IMO). And, may I remind everyone that I fucking detest the hardcore HXH fan-base, who basically ran me out of a forum just because I dared to question the lackluster writing quality of Togashi's excessive use of narration, and also called the villains too overpowered in the beginning. And that's why I never talk to HXH fans on any other board, anymore. :D
QuoteI understand that it may have been intentional, I just don't think the characters' reactions to all the death around them are realistically portrayed. There's a middle ground between bleeding-heart shonen heroism and sociopathic indifference.
I wouldn't necessarily call it sociopathic indifference, and to be fair I think certain main characters grow a much needed compassion for the value of human life (and life in general) as the series progresses (Killua in particular, which is so ironic given where his character started), but for what it's worth I wasn't fond of it either, mostly in the first few arcs. It didn't quite bother me as much, though, mostly because like I said I've seen worse in this regard. Fist of the North Star, which is considered a beloved classic by many, is really guilty of this kind of thing, IMO. I also hated it in early Naruto chapters, as well, and even when the series did grow more appreciation for human life, it got so up its own ass with that theme that it actually got me wishing that some of these ass-wipes would drop off after all. :P
The indifference to killing is mostly centered on three characters: Kurapika, Gon, and Killua. Any other indifference is usually reserved for some of the Hunters or bad guys, and usually are the scummiest characters anyway.
Kurapika is an assassin focused intently on revenge. If he had any value over human life, I don't think his realization at the end of York New City would have made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, since Togashi all but ignored him for years after that arc, we never got to see how it affected him fully. Leorio was always disgusted by killing and was always the most normal of the main four on top of it.
Killua was raised without any moral compass or understanding of the importance of life. It is only through friendship with Gon and traveling the world around him that he learns compassion, restraint, and grows as a person. If it wasn't for him, I'm not sure this story would have a hero, honestly. He is probably the best character in the series.
Gon is probably the most controversial character, even though he's the man character. He's rather one note and self-centered outside of his inner circle of friends, routinely does stupid things, and is easily the least interesting character of the main four. That said, his portrayal sort of peaked in the Chimera Ant arc when his stupid decisions came back to bite him over and over, as well as the dawning realization that he was turning into a monster as quickly as Killua was turning into a hero. It hasn't really shown how much affect this will have on him as a main character, if any, but as it is his descent into the dark is just part of his character arc. Gon just doesn't do much for me either way, though.
I'm suddenly wondering where CX has been these past few days. He's been MIA for a little while on this board, and I'd love to see his input on the series considering that he's a fan of it.
Well, Scamp's bewildered as to why HXH is topping the list. Then again, he didn't seem to get why Fate/Zero topped it two years ago.
to play devil's advocate a bit, i believe gon also said he wanted to be a hunter to see why the job was so important that his dad would abandon him for, iirc. i also like that they didn't want until near the end for gon to see ging. that's where my tolerance ends though. i wish togashi made gon's job more clear than helping friends. if he became a specialized type of hunter and became kind of obsessed with his job, like his dad did, then i would not have any complaints about that.
Went on a Lupin III binge after Daisuke Jigen's Gravestone reminded me of how much I love the franchise. Re-watched the first TV series, Castle of Cagliostro, and Mystery of Mamo, then watched The Fuma Conspiracy, Return of the Magician, and Lupin Family All-Stars for the first time.
The original series was definitely a lot better than I remember it being. I still don't like the first 2-3 episodes that much, but the rest were all pretty great IMO; except for #12, which was probably my least favorite. I've definitely grown a much bigger appreciation for Osumi's episodes over time, but #s 1 & 2 are kind of boring, and #s 3 & 12 are borderline nonsensical. The casual chauvinism is also somewhat bothersome, and though it wasn't as bad as I'd remembered, I do find some parts of the first and twelfth episodes fairly uncomfortable. That said - after a second pass - I'd say Osumi actually directed a couple of my favorites in his short tenure, so I'm happy he was able to contribute to the series. And, of course, Miyazaki/Takahata's work holds up remarkably well. Their episodes make amazing use of the limited budget, turning potentially shoddy animation into fun slapstick at every turn. The finale in particular is an excellent watch.
Not much needs to be said about Castle of Cagliostro. It's simply a masterpiece, and has definitely worked its way back into my top 10 favorites now. Excellent animation, writing, acting, music - the works.
Mystery of Mamo tends to get a bad rap from a lot of people - which is understandable, because it's fucking bizarre - but I still really like it. It captures the essence of Monkey Punch's original manga perfectly while also retaining the more fun sense of humor from the anime series. It makes me laugh a lot, and its occasional datedness and weirder elements are fairly endearing, at least to me. It's also an important work in the history of animated film, apparently!
The Fuma Conspiracy was very good. It has absolutely breathtaking animation, especially for an 80's OVA, and the setup is fun. Unfortunately, the replacement voice actors are awful, and the soundtrack is kind of obnoxious (except for the opening credits theme, which is great!).
Return of the Magician is shit. Complete garbage. Bottom of the barrel refuse. This is, without question, the worst Lupin anything I've ever seen. The animation is horrible, with characters constantly going off-model and action scenes comprised mostly of still frames; I'm not kidding when I say that the original Pilot Film from 1969 looks and moves better. It also has the most laughable 3D art/animation I've ever seen in anime. You may think I'm just exaggerating for effect here, but no - as soon as you see the robot birds and Pycal's laboratory, you'll know I'm being 100% serious. The story is simultaneously nonsensical and boring, the pacing is abysmal, and the characters act like humorless versions of themselves with no personality. Do NOT watch this movie unless you hate yourself and want to waste almost an entire hour of your life.
Lupin Family All-Stars was a very fun short, with excellent animation and great humor; the perfect sendoff for the old voice cast! Definitely give this one a watch if you're a fan.
i like mystery of mamo more than castle of cagliostro because lupin is like his 2nd series self. mom would be my favorite anime movie ever if it weren't for the 2nd half. the post island scenes weren't that entertaining and goemon was absent for one of the stupidest reasons possible.
Yeah, Mystery of Mamo's last 30-40 minutes aren't nearly as good as the excellent first hour, but I still like the whole movie a lot. It's a pretty close race for me, but I think Cagliostro edges it out just slightly.
What other lupin movies should i watch?
Quote from: gunswordfist on December 18, 2014, 01:53:13 PM
What other lupin movies should i watch?
I haven't seen that many of the films, unfortunately, though I'm planning on changing that soon. Of the ones I've seen, I'd say:
Episode 0: First Contact
Daisuke Jigen's Gravestone
The Fuma Conspiracy
Lupin Family All-Stars (if it counts)
thanks.
Lupin Family All-Stars is an interesting short in that I think it is the only Lupin anime thing I know of that directly adapts a chapter of the manga. Specifically, it adapts the first chapter of the second manga series, World's Most Wanted, and pretty faithfully to boot. The only real changes is the execution of some of the humor and some small details, but otherwise everything story-wise is the same. I think that's pretty cool they chose to adapt it, since it's a good one to adapt for the purposes of a commemorative special and as a send off to the old voice cast.
Mushi-shi will getting a film next summer (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-12-20/mushishi-the-next-chapter-gets-film-in-early-summer/.82433), which will adapt the final two-part story of the manga. Sounds like an excellent way to send off an excellent series, and I'm looking forward to it.
Last week I finally started watching through Full Metal Panic! and today I finished The Second Raid. I have mixed feelings about the first season, overall. While I was into it for the first third of the series/the first arc, I didn't get much mileage out of the remainder of the series. In addition, while I was quickly endeared to Sosuke and enjoyed Kurz, Mao, and Kalinin, I didn't particularly care for Kaname or Tessa. Gauron was great though, and his scenes were always entertaining. In any case, I enjoyed The Second Raid much better. Not only was the animation quality significantly improved, the story was much more interesting and multi-layered, the fight scenes were really cool and awesome, and the character development for many characters was really good, particularly for Sosuke and Kaname, and I came out of it liking all of the characters much more or even more than I had previously. As far as the new characters went, Mr. Gates was fucking hilarious, though admittedly it makes no sense why anyone would work or put up with him, and Leonard was quite interesting in the scenes he appeared in. I have some nitpicks with a few aspects here and there, but overall I enjoyed it a lot and it made me interested in finishing the story through the Light Novels or the manga adaption sometime.
Also, having finished The Second Raid, I can now say that I have seen every story arc on our Top 30 Anime/Manga story arcs list and can fully justify it, so that's cool. :D
Glad to see that you liked TSR. I'd also recommend checking out Fumoffu, which IMO is a much better comedy than Amagi Brilliant Park.
As for the first season, I actually enjoyed it more than most people, and I found the second half of the series to be more enjoyable tha the first half, honestly, so I'm a bit reversed when it comes to my opinion on that compared to yours, but it is a flawed series, either way. Part of that has to do with it being based on the weaker LN's being that Gatoh was a less experienced writer at the time, but more of it has to do with Gonzo's kind of lackluster adaptation efforts. As for TSR, it had Gatoh helping a lot with the screenplay (similar to how George R. R. Martin has done that for Game of Thrones), and despite some notable changes and additions from the books, it actually turned out for the better, IMO.
Unfortunately we never got to see the best material animated. Continuing On My Own and Burning One Man Force are excellent, as are the 9th and 10th books. The last 2 books are also very engaging, although certain aspects of the ending were disappointing to me. Even so, I did really like where the story left off, which is why I have no desire to ever read FMP Another (which isn't even written by Gatoh, anyways).
I finished Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu yesterday. Surprisingly hit-and-miss for me. I laughed more at some episodes towards the end of the series than those at the beginning, but there were many episodes that just didn't do anything for me. Overall, like the first season, I have mixed feelings towards it as a whole. But I do have to say I liked Amagi Brilliant Park much better.
On the flipside, I finally watched and finished Welcome to the NHK a few days ago, and LOVED it. It's a new favorite of mine.
Now I need to get to finishing/catching up on last seasons' stuff before the new season comes.
Well, I suppose that just goes to show how much more subjective comedy is than most other genres. Personally, I found that Amagi Brilliant Park was just average, and I like this brand of humor much better than stuff like School Rumble, AC, and a few other comedies that I just couldn't get into. I will admit that most anime comedy is pretty boring for me, though, so this and OHSHC are among the exceptions for me (manga is a different story).
In order to save space, I posted my research ones under a spoiler tag:
Spoiler
Quote from: Cartoon X on January 01, 2015, 01:45:39 PMWhat brand of humor do you mean? I would say most of the humor in Fumoffu is pretty similar to School Rumble myself as far as the kind of humor goes. The only thing I see that sets the two apart is that Fumoffu uses the military-aspect of Sosuke's character to play off of normal school-based anime comedy tropes and plots in some unique ways, but even then, a lot of series like School Rumble go to varied and interesting extremes with it's characters and situations as well.
The only similarity is that they are school-based comedies. With School Rumble, it's more related to stuff like normal Japanese student archetype characters partaking in everyday activities in absurdly over-the-top ways, mostly relating to romance, but also encompassing other stuff as well. With Fumoffu, it's also over-the-top, but it's more about Sousuke being assigned to protect Kaname but having absolutely know real understanding of how normal high school students live or function, so a big chunk of the humor comes from his hard-headed militaristic approach to every menial situation, and how it effects the rest of his class and school and puts them in awkward situations of their own. School Rumble to me is more of a character comedy, which I actually usually prefer, but I just found the characters to be a tad flat for my liking. Fumoffu is more of a simple situational comedy with a fair dose of slapstick humor, which isn't my favorite kind of humor, but I found that it worked really well in this series.
QuoteHumor is definitely subjective, yes. But I'm surprised I didn't enjoy Fumoffu as much as I thought I would, because from what I heard I thought it would be my type of series, and it honestly is, except things just didn't seem to click for me most of the time. I will say that a big reason that I think that Fumoffu didn't seem to do much for me is that it's pretty much completely reliant on Sosuke to deliver the humor. Most of the comedies I enjoy are heavily character-driven, with a large cast of characters with distinct personalities and quirks who could drive episodes even if the main characters aren't around. Not much the case here. None of the new characters added for the series made much of an impression on me outside of just being their standard archetypes, so any humor with them didn't take for me.
You see, I actually agree in preferring more character-driven humor, but that's only when the characters are interesting personalities. The fact that they are really nothing more than their archetypes in stuff like School Rumble (and IMO, in AC, which isn't a typical school comedy, but still had very flat characters for me) is what makes them not work for me. I need something more interesting than that. OHSHC was much better when it came to setting up characters in specific archetypes, but then playing with your expectations and making them much less predictable yet incredibly hilarious to watch as they interacted with each other in such situations. You're insistence on viewing Fumoffu as a school comedy of that nature is viewing it as something that it's not. You said that it is your type of series but not done as well, but I disagree. It's not your type of series from what you described. It's a different "brand" of humor in that it relies more on slapstick and the odd situations that Sousuke causes. And while I agree that this would not be as funny as a good character driven comedy (with the emphasis on the comedy and characters actually being "good," IMO), I think that it does a great job of being a more simplistic comedy series that it sets out to be. Granted that, there are about 2 episodes that I don't care for, but in a short series like this where the rest of the episodes do make me laugh, that's not bad at all. Had it been longer, than the shenanigans being caused by Sousuke ploy would have grown stale, but at just twelve 20-minute episodes (with some being split into multiple segments), it doesn't overstay it's welcome, or at least not for me.
QuoteIn School Rumble, and yes, even Amagi Brilliant Park, there are a whole slew of characters who all have very different and vast relationships between each other and they all play off each other to varied comedic effects.
There are a whole lot of characters and relationships, I'll give you that. But they are not interesting, or at least most of them are not. In School Rumble, the characters never grow out of their archetypes, leaving the humor feeling completely predictable, and the punchlines feeling rather stale and not worth the set-up. Amagi Brilliant Park was much the same way. You seem to just be picking up the fact that series like that have better set-ups than Fumoffu, which in and of itself is true. You also assume that I can't see that aspect of it which is why you chose to explain all of this, but that's not the case. It's just that, I don't find that either of these series "carry out" on that aspect of humor particularly well. With Fumoffu, I feel that it goes for an easier and cheaper kind of humor, but manages to excel at doing that to the point of still being very funny. School Rumble and Amagi Brilliant Park do not do nearly as good of a job of doing what they set out to do, IMO, which is why I consider them to be different brands of humor and not all that funny.
Basically, the latter 2 feel more like a lot of set up and little payoff to me, whereas Fumoffu feels like little set-up and fair pay-off to me. Now if those series had that same set-up but had a much stronger delivery and sense of timing, then I'd consider them to be superior, and an example of a series that does that well is, once again, OHSHC. Or, even if the series wasn't laugh-out-loud funny but still had their actual concepts and situations play out in interesting fashion like Level E and certain episodes of Space Dandy, then I'd find them to be much better. As it stands, they just don't, from my point of view.
QuoteThere are a lot of possibilities with what you can do with them and you can put them in practically any situation and let them play off one another, and the story and humor just evolves out of that. But Fumoffu is just Sosuke reacting to things, always in the way he typically does, and he does this for 12 episodes straight. It didn't always work for me and often times it just stopped doing anything for me.
:srs:
Look, if you're going to critique a series in a serious manner, at least do it fairly. Fumoffu is NOT just Sousuke reacting to things. It's about setting up awkward or absurd situations and problems, and the brunt of the humor from the episodes comes from either him or other characters dealing with those problems and trying to get themselves out of whatever disaster he causes or is about to cause, but then they typically just dig themselves deeper into the mess. That's a brand of humor that I don't often see in anime, and I enjoy it.
Now, I get that this isn't your thing, which I'm fine with the fact that it doesn't appeal to you, but that blunt an over-simplified description of what you apparently think the series does irk me since I am personally a fan. It'd be like if I said Assassination Classroom is nothing but some kids undergoing shenanigans to try and kill their teacher and pointless anime and manga references that you are supposed to find funny just because they happen to be there. Of course, even though I can't get into AC and don't find it particularly funny, I at least have enough respect for it's fan-base to know that they admire it for more than just that, and having read the first 40-chapters of it, if I were to give an honest critique, I'd say that it also does more than that, even if it still doesn't really particularly interest me. In the same regard, saying that Fumoffu is nothing but Sousuke reacting to things is just flat-out untrue, and really undersells what it manages to do well.
As for your last point about why you like ABP better, I pretty much already addressed it earlier on in the post. Yes, it has more characters and more interactions. So what? They actually need to be funny or genuinely interesting to watch, otherwise they still don't do anything for me. I mean, like I said, I can understand why you don't care for Fumoffu and prefer the other series that you mentioned. But you're also wrong in saying that it's the same kind of humor. It's not.
And just to put a capper statement on my response so that I don't have to make another long-winded response defending my opinion:
I still respect your opinion a lot. I just don't agree with it in some cases, such as this one. You don't really need to spend paragraphs upon paragraphs hammering home the same point about why something does or doesn't work for you. I get it from just the first few sentences. That said, in terms of being honest, I do feel that you have a tendency to over-analyze things (and in some cases like in above, over-simplify them), which is probably why the tone of my post probably comes off a little more annoyed in tone than what I had intended. The bottom line is that it's a really subjective genre, and I think that we've each done adequate enough jobs of explaining what we each do an don't find to be funny, and why each series does or doesn't appeal to us. No amount of discussion after this point will really do anything to change that.
My thoughts on the first half of Parasyte (the anime, obviously):
-I like Shinichi and Migi. Their dynamic is easily the highlight of this show.
-I like how the Parasytes grow in intelligence and as a community. It has a nice "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" sort of vibe to it, but with a clever twist of its own thrown into the mix.
-I do feel that this series has one major weakness so far, for as good as the rest of it is, and that's how it really lacks any strong supporting characters up to this point. Shinichi's parents got some characterization, which was nice, but I wouldn't necessarily consider them fleshed out or fully realized. Neither of the love interests do anything for me,either. Murano is admittedly good at serving as a reference point to us viewers in terms of showing how much Shinichi has changed as a character so far, but on her own she's a bit too mopey and not that interesting (once again, only up to this point), and Kana's characterization is probably the only one that I flat-out dislike, because it feels like we're supposed to sympathize with her, but her boy-crazy infatuation with Shinichi and general demeanor is just not very appealing.
Overall, though, it's a good show, and there's still the second half left for it to get even better.
My thoughts on the first have of Unlimited Blade Works:
-This series is both better and inferior to Fate/Zero in different ways.
-The core characters here are actually more likable than the ones in Zero, which was sorely lacking in people who you could sympathize with, however they are also less interesting and nuanced than said cast of characters, as well.
-I'm not a fan of all of the dialogue foucused on Shirou arguing with other masters and servants about his ideals and why they are right or wrong. It just feels far too forced and quite frankly isn't very interesting. Zero had some of this as well, but not enough to feel like it was being force-fed to us. That said, this series is better than Zero when it comes to sparing us the details of the exposition on technical stuff like the rules of the game. We get most of the exposition out of the way in one episode.
-The plot is much smoother and less convoluted than Zero could get at times, at least so far, so that's definitely a plus.
-The choice to focus on a few key characters rather than trying to characterize all of the players is definitely a smart one (though technically it's not a choice since they are just adapting the visual novel which had this kind of narrative). In Zero, I felt that we ended up wasting time on some less interesting characters that could have been devoted to more worthwhile ones. I'd say that a huge cast works for a long-running narrative like Legend of the Galactic Heroes or A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. For a relatively shorter series like Zero, it felt a bit too cobbled together for my liking.
-The animation and fight scenes are top notch. Not a huge deal, but certainly worth mentioning.
Overall, this is also a good show, but could still be better.
You're right that I was incorrect in describing that Fumoffu was just Sosuke reacting to things. Though I meant nothing mean-spirited or harmful by it, it was indeed a much too over-simplified statement that doesn't describe or give it proper justice at all, and I can see how it came off dismissive towards the series, which wasn't my intention at all. I apologize for that. The intention of my post was not to critique or dismiss Fumoffu by comparing it to other series or make any assumptions about you but was rather me trying to explain one aspect that might've contributed to me not getting as much out of the series as I expected to going into it. As usual I seem to have got carried away and ended up making generalizations about the series as as whole, which wasn't what I was trying to do and should've noticed and rewrote before posting. I also did not mean to insinuate I thought of it as a character-focused comedy, since it is a situation-focused comedy as you said. When I said it was "my kind of series," I meant it in terms of how often simple situations end up going to extremes and often chaos, which is an element that is frequent in many of my personal favorite anime comedies, as is slapstick and absurd situations where the characters dig themselves deeper and deeper into a mess. There were plenty of elements in Fumoffu that did appeal to me, but I just didn't click with many of the episodes for whatever reason. I should've just left it at that, rather than making an ass of myself unintentionally by inadvertently describing it as something it as not and over-explaining a simple idea.
But, at the risk of making another inflammatory remark, I cannot agree with you at all that the School Rumble characters never evolved out of their archetypes. Much like the stance you just took with me and Fumoffu, I respect that you didn't care for the series, but that's just not true. They did.
Fair enough. I don't really wish to debate the issue either way. We seem to share similar opinions on most things, but clearly anime comedies isn't one of them, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that.
As for School Rumble, I was probably being a bit too harsh in my criticisms. It was more of me going overboard in my criticism just because I felt that you were doing the same with Fumoffu, but really that was pretty immature of me, so sorry about that. I should also probably stress that I don't find SR to actually be bad in any regard, just not really my cup of tea. I can at least understand the appeal of that show, though, unlike some other popular comedies that just never made any sense to me, personally.
Also, on the subject of FMP, regardless of your stance on the first season and the side-stories in Fumoffu, if you did indeed enjoy TSR, then I'd definitely recommend reading the later novels or manga. In the case of the manga, the rest of the story has been pretty faithfully adapted in Sigma, but if you can, I'd recommend the books over the manga since with novels you get more insight into what is going through the characters' heads, which I feel personally makes them more interesting and nuanced (especially Sousuke, who IMO is actually a more interesting character in the novels because of his thought process, which is smething that the anime just couldn't possibly portray).
The light novels past the point where Tokyopop stopped their translations have all been fully translated and released online since 2010, and they should be pretty easy to find and download in .zip, which is how I read them. The translations are also surprisingly professional in quality for something that was fan translated.
Anyways, it's worth checking out if you're in the mood and have the time.
Saint Seiya is the most underrated Shonen Jump of all time.
...there I said it.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 01, 2015, 09:17:32 PM
Also, on the subject of FMP, regardless of your stance on the first season and the side-stories in Fumoffu, if you did indeed enjoy TSR, then I'd definitely recommend reading the later novels or manga. In the case of the manga, the rest of the story has been pretty faithfully adapted in Sigma, but if you can, I'd recommend the books over the manga since with novels you get more insight into what is going through the characters' heads, which I feel personally makes them more interesting and nuanced (especially Sousuke, who IMO is actually a more interesting character in the novels because of his thought process, which is smething that the anime just couldn't possibly portray).
The light novels past the point where Tokyopop stopped their translations have all been fully translated and released online since 2010, and they should be pretty easy to find and download in .zip, which is how I read them. The translations are also surprisingly professional in quality for something that was fan translated.
Anyways, it's worth checking out if you're in the mood and have the time.
I plan to. I have all of them downloaded and started reading "Dancing Very Merry Christmas" earlier today. I'll read
Sigma after I'm done with the novels. :)
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 01, 2015, 11:14:20 PM
Saint Seiya is the most underrated Shonen Jump of all time.
...there I said it.
As far as in the U.S. goes, you mean. :P
Cool. Dancing Very Merry Christmas is decent and contains a huge spoilery plot point that will become a big deal later on, but the next 2 novels, Continuing On My Own and Burning One Man Force, are among my favorites.
a few days ago, i read that saint seiya flopped and was even canceled in japan way back then. i assumed it was a huge hit back. on the same day i also read that lupin's 1st series flopped and got canceled, akira got overlooked in japan and castle of cagliostro got panned when it came. i had no clue about any of this.
About a week ago I finished Akame ga Kill. I was initially expecting a bit more from it in terms of characterization, plot, and world building, but ultimately it becomes a rather well done shonen that doesn't really waste your time in terms of giving you top-flight battles and not pulling its punches on people dying from them. That ending though? Sheesh. I liked it but... sheesh.
I've also picked up Sabagebu again after months since i watched an episode (left off at episode 4), still very fun and irreverent. Enjoy it lots.
First trailer for the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-01-08/2015-ghost-in-the-shell-film-1st-teaser-previews-animation/.83036)
It's being done by the same team that did Arise, which I still haven't watched yet, but have heard solid things about. Hopefully this film will be as good.
I put it off for over a year, but today I finally finished the first Hajime no Ippo anime. I ended up switching to the dub when I resumed watching it last week, which helped me get through it quicker and be able to watch it in larger doses. Overall the series was solid through and through. I'm going to put off watching the other seasons for now to finish other stuff, but I'll get to them eventually.
Personally I prefer the dub. It's well done and it makes it much easier to watch the show in large doses.
Admittedly, reading AnJ really spoiled me when it comes to high quality sports manga/anime, but I still feel that for what it is, HnI is really entertaining and does its craft well. It sticks to being an entertaining Boxing series focused on quirky characters and interesting fights, and never devolves into KnB levels of ridiculous power-ups, nor does it get jumbled up with too many characters at once like AoD. It aims lower than something like AnJ or Slam Dunk, but succeeds way better at executing what it sets out to do than most other sports series that do try to be as high quality as those kinds of series and just fail miserably at it, IMO.
I felt that some performances in the dub were not as strong as in the original, particularly Ippo and Miyata, but overall it's a solid work. I realized a while ago that I have a hard time watching subbed anime in large chunks, and I lose interest and put off most subbed series that I start for long periods of time if I don't finish them within a few days or watch them on a regularly scheduled basis (Urusei Yatsura was the only exception to this that I can think of). If I had started watching HnI dubbed in the first place I have a feeling I would have finished it over a year ago like I originally planned.
In any case, I thought the HnI anime was solid all the way and I there's little I didn't like in it. It's probably my third favorite sports series at this point. I do feel that reading and watching AnJ probably lessened the impact of the series on me, and I might have enjoyed it on a level higher if I didn't experience the entirety of that series first. Obviously I still enjoyed it a lot, though. Of course, I have my concerns about the remainder of the series considering what you've complained about it after this point before, but at least it doesn't drop to KnB levels of suck from what I can tell either. It'll still be a long time before I get caught up, at any rate, but at least finishing the first anime is finally some good progress on that front.
The first anime basically covers the best part of the manga, anyways, IMO. New Challenger is decent, but the only major highlight is the Bryan Hawk fight, IMO. Rising is a really lazy adaptation, despite adapting the really good fight with Sawamura, as well as the WWII flashback arc.
As for the dub, I think that the only performance that I didn't care for was Miyata. The rest were pretty spot-on, IMO.
It seems Crunchyroll might add Zatch Bell! to it's catalog. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2015-01-13/crunchyroll-streams-destroy-all-monsters-and-mononoke-lists-zatch-bell/.83248) It would be neat if that happens. While I'm not big on the anime version much anymore, as a longtime fan of the series and Makoto Raiku in general I would be happy to see it get legal streaming all the same. Though, I'd hope they add subs, since there are only 103 episodes that were dubbed in english and the boxset didn't include a english sub option, and the episodes that weren't subbed never got released legally in any form in the U.S. before. It would be nice to see, especially it they did it in time for the 10th anniversary it hit the U.S. airwaves (aka sometime in March).
So it seems they are only uploading the dubbed episodes. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/zatch-bell) Aw. Still, it's enough to whet my nostalgia if I'm ever in the mood.
So, I just found out that a tv anime based on the Ghost in the Shell: Arise OVA series is coming in spring. (http://www.otakutale.com/2015/ghost-shell-arise-tv-anime-announced-spring/) No word yet if it's new content or a re-cut of the OVAs, though, but if it's the former...holy shit. That fucking spring season, man.
Great Teacher Onizuka is now legally streaming on Crunchyroll. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/gto-the-animation) All 43 episodes are available for premium users. 12 episodes will be released for free users every week until all are available. No word yet as to whether the english dub will be added, but it may happen at some point.
i might check it out.
Recently I watched Project A-ko (the Discotek re-release), the first time since it was shown on Sci-Fi's Saturday Morning Anime block. So we're talking almost two decades here. I distinctly recall not even finishing it back then, because C-ko annoyed me so much.
Well, now I've finally watched it all the way through. I definitely still don't care for C-ko at all, especially when she bawls, but A-ko and B-ko are fine, so it sort of balances out.
I'm baffled why this movie is often called hilarious. I laughed maybe three or four times in the whole film. I think the problem is, it wants us to laugh at how over the top the battles and action sequences are, but they're not really jokes. They're just crazy situations.
The animation's great, though, and I like how the movie doesn't really take itself seriously at all. I mean, the villain is a drunk, for crying out loud. But "hilarious"? I completely disagree.
Kind of a random question, but do any of you guys happen to remember what your first exposure to anime was?
As for me, while I didn't know what anime was at the time, I distinctly remember watching dubbed, syndicated episodes of Speed Racer. It was somewhere around the mud-90's, I believe.
I don't remember the first anime I saw, but I remember the first one I saw after being specifically told it was anime. That would be Akira, original dub and all.
Truth is, I probably saw a lot of older anime as a kid not noticing any difference between it and US stuff, so it's hard to tell. I did watch the original Dragon Ball, Samurai Pizza Cats, and random kid shows when I was a kid.
I loved Pokemon as a kid, but I could never get into anything else. Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Ball, Cardcaptors, Sailor Moon - you name it, I didn't care for it. Once I grew out of Pokemon when I turned 8 or 9, I never watched anime again until my friend forced me to watch one of the lesser Cowboy Bebop episodes... which I also didn't like. I believe I was either 13 or 14 when I accidentally stumbled upon Puni Puni Poemy, which at the time reminded me of Animaniacs if it was aimed at adults. I loved it, so I immediately watched Excel Saga and then gave Cowboy Bebop another shot. Both of these shows mean a great deal to me to this day, and I've been a huge fan ever since. :)
I've always been rather perplexed by the fact that I never ran across Samurai Pizza Cats as a kid. It seems like a show that I would've dug at that age, but I never even heard about it until I joined TV.com about 8 or 9 years ago.
Quote from: Foggle on February 25, 2015, 02:55:28 PMI loved Pokemon as a kid, but I could never get into anything else. Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Ball, Cardcaptors, Sailor Moon - you name it, I didn't care for it. Once I grew out of Pokemon when I turned 8 or 9, I never watched anime again until my friend forced me to watch one of the lesser Cowboy Bebop episodes... which I also didn't like. I believe I was either 13 or 14 when I accidentally stumbled upon Puni Puni Poemy, which at the time reminded me of Animaniacs if it was aimed at adults. I loved it, so I immediately watched Excel Saga and then gave Cowboy Bebop another shot. Both of these shows mean a great deal to me to this day, and I've been a huge fan ever since. :)
It's a shame that Digimon never did anything for you, as it was one of the few toy marketing kids shows that, IMO, acryally had way better writing than it should've. Ironically, though, I only truly came to appreciate that aspect of it as a grown adult. :D
That said, I'm still surprised that the show got away with half of the things that it did, even after the Saban edits.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 25, 2015, 02:55:55 PM
I've always been rather perplexed by the fact that I never ran across Samurai Pizza Cats as a kid. It seems like a show that I would've dug at that age, but I never even heard about it until I joined TV.com about 8 or 9 years ago.
I think it was easier to watch here in Canada since, like Sailor Moon, it had a dedicated time-slot on YTV. YTV used to be a great station long ago for airing cartoons from about every country and time period. Not to mention you could watch Rocky & Bullwinkle and then the 60s Batman show at like 6 in the evening. Of course, now it's a garbage station that lost everything that made it good, but back then it had all kinds of shows and it made me a Dragon Ball fan years before I ever read the manga or saw the rest of the anime . . . or before Z blew up.
That reminds me, Sailor Moon would be another anime I saw at a young age.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 25, 2015, 03:01:04 PM
It's a shame that Digimon never did anything for you, as it was one of the few toy marketing kids shows that, IMO, acryally had way better writing than it should've. Ironically, though, I only truly came to appreciate that aspect of it as a grown adult. :D
I think the only reason I liked Pokemon is because I was already a fan of the games, honestly. I've seen some of Adventure and Tamers recently and I can safely say that they hold up way better than Pokemon does. I've also grown a minor appreciation for the more comedic Dragon Ball episodes over time.
Oh yeah, I suddenly remember watching - and liking - both Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin the few times I saw episodes of them as a kid. I think they aired right after Batman: The Animated Series on some nights, which of course was a favorite of mine. So I guess you could say that the first anime I truly enjoyed were YYH and RK. ;)
I'd never heard of Samurai Pizza Cats until joining TV.com, either.
Dragon Ball Z is an interesting one, because I couldn't really get into it back on Kids WB, but my older brother became a fan. Then new FUNimation dubbed episodes aired during a one-hour time-slot from Monday-to-Friday, and since we had to share a single TV after school, I was pretty much forced into watching the show since my older brother was bigger and tougher than me and didn't take well to me arguing with him. It was in the middle of the Namek saga, but at least my brother was nice enough to explain what happened in the story up to that point to catch me up, and after a while, I sort of naturally became hooked.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 25, 2015, 03:13:48 PM
Dragon Ball Z is an interesting one, because I couldn't really get into it back on Kids WB, but my older brother became a fan. Then new FUNimation dubbed episodes aired during a one-hour time-slot from Monday-to-Friday, and since we had to share a single TV after school, I was pretty much forced into watching the show since my older brother was bigger and tougher than me and didn't take well to me arguing with him. It was in the middle of the Namek saga, but at least my brother was nice enough to explain what happened in the story up to that point to catch me up, and after a while, I sort of naturally became hooked.
I didn't even know what Dragon Ball Z
was. The first episode I saw involved Krillin, Gohan, and Piccolo fighting Nappa and then Piccolo died. I thought Gohan was Goku because I only knew of the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball and didn't understand who Goku was (when he showed up to stop Nappa) or even who Krillin was or why Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, and Bulma were so far away from the action.
Eventually I learned it was the sequel series, but it took me longer to learn that there was more Dragon Ball that was never brought over here until later.
Fun Fact about Digimon Tamers: Steve Blum himself scripted a good chunk of the English dubbed episodes.
On another note, I got into both Cowboy Bebop and Yu Yu Hakusho on the same night, back when YYH was an AS show. I was disappointed when they stopped airing new episodes, until the announcement that it would be a Toonami show got me excited again. I then promptly went about pestering all of my friends to watch it. :>
Yep, I first started watching Yu Yu Hakusho on Adult Swim and was promptly hooked by episode 1.
Cowboy Bebop and Trigun I had seen before they were added to AS, though. Didn't stop me from watching them anyway.
Those of us American viewers who never saw the short-lived Harmony Gold dub of Dragon Ball were introduced to DBZ first, and then Toonami introduced DB as a prequel around 2001, I believe.
Yeah, I don't think any kids back then knew that DBZ was actually a sequel series, or that the original DB was completely different in tone.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 25, 2015, 03:26:40 PM
Those of us American viewers who never saw the short-lived Harmony Gold dub of Dragon Ball were introduced to DBZ first, and then Toonami introduced DB as a prequel around 2001, I believe.
This is true, because I was one of the first in line to watch Dragon Ball when it premiered on Toonami. I also collected Viz's individual issues of Dragon Ball (but not Z) before they released them in volumes.
It's safe to say I've been a fan of the original Dragon Ball longer than I've been a fan of anime.
The same is true for me, actually. I wasn't really a fan of anime outside of what aired on Toonami until I expanded my horizons later on.
I think my first exposure to anime was Voltron on Toonami. I never collided with Robotech at the time, even though they were on around that same point, but I distinctly remember watching Voltron regularly. Later I'd watch Speed Racer on CN at late nights, if I could get away with it.
Then Sailor Moon and DBZ made their way to Toonami, and well.
Oh, and I did definitely watch YYH during its [as] run. Never missed an episode, even when I got in trouble.
Trigun was the first anime series I ever bought. I remember reading about it somewhere and it sounded fun, so I bought the first volume and thought it was excellent. Then I read a review in Animefringe that gave it a D and called it generic, pointless, and would never catch on.
Years later and Animefringe no longer exists, I wonder if he ever changed his mind on the show.
I think it was either Samurai Pizza Cats, Pokemon, Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z. I remember most of them airing on the WB syndication or something.
Probably Sailor Moon. I was embarrassed to watch it but I liked it ;D Especially the OP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2tQKejS9Fo)/ED (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86B0_lDT50) which were covered really well in swedish, forever rooted in my memory. Come to think of it, Moomin might be a contender as well. It's based on swedish books by a finn and is really big here, so I wasn't aware it was animated in Japan until recently.
The first show I actually completed was via online streaming: Azumanga Daioh.
Quote from: goody2shoes on February 25, 2015, 08:21:25 PM
The first show I actually completed was via online streaming: Azumanga Daioh.
Nice! That was one of the first ones I watched, too. It was super popular back then. :D
Quote from: Foggle on February 25, 2015, 08:27:39 PM
Quote from: goody2shoes on February 25, 2015, 08:21:25 PM
The first show I actually completed was via online streaming: Azumanga Daioh.
Nice! That was one of the first ones I watched, too. It was super popular back then. :D
It remains the only anime of it's type I have sat all the way through. It's been so thoroughly ripped off since then that I'm not sure if I could re-watch it now.
First exposure to anime had to have been "Battle of the Planets" (the original Gatchaman). It was edited it to the nuts because it was thought the show was too risqué for North American audiences.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on February 25, 2015, 03:03:41 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 25, 2015, 02:55:55 PM
I've always been rather perplexed by the fact that I never ran across Samurai Pizza Cats as a kid. It seems like a show that I would've dug at that age, but I never even heard about it until I joined TV.com about 8 or 9 years ago.
I think it was easier to watch here in Canada since, like Sailor Moon, it had a dedicated time-slot on YTV. YTV used to be a great station long ago for airing cartoons from about every country and time period. Not to mention you could watch Rocky & Bullwinkle and then the 60s Batman show at like 6 in the evening. Of course, now it's a garbage station that lost everything that made it good, but back then it had all kinds of shows and it made me a Dragon Ball fan years before I ever read the manga or saw the rest of the anime . . . or before Z blew up.
That reminds me, Sailor Moon would be another anime I saw at a young age.
This! So very much this! :e_pleased:
You know, I was thinking about sharing how I got into anime and my history with the medium last month, which happened to be the tenth anniversary of when I consider myself to have become a fan of anime, but I got sidetracked by other things and gave up on the thought. I might write about it sometime later when I'm in the right mood to.
didn't steven jay blum write the naruto english adaptation?
i think inspector gadget, speed racer or whatever the us version of gatchaman was called on cartoon network was my first exposure to anime. i remember seeing some of akira early in my childhood. it may have been my first anime. the scenes with tetsuo getting his cape, putting up his energy shield when he was being shot at and the infamous scene when his arm fuses with the stone chair where all my first memorable anime scenes. either that or gatchaman forming a firebird.
edit: i haven't heard of samurai pizza cats until a fighting game union @ gamespot. i still have no clue what it looks like or how my childhood missed it.
looks like i am not the only way who (may have) also had battle of the planets be their first exposure to anime.
the first image of dbz i remember seeing was vegeta speeding around during the saiyan arc. it was at my great grandmother's as a kid and on some early morning block (apparently kids wb, according to this thread). i thought it looked strange. it was also one of the first anime i have ever seen. i think i may saw pieces of another episode or two, then not again until toonami made it my favorite show.
toonami, adult swim, a few saturday morning blocks, cable/satellite on demand, a few dvds and tapes and some basic cable and movie channels were the only places i watched anime until i went to my local library and got dvds from there and then i figured out how to get dvds from libraries around the country and sent to my library for me to pick up. that's how i got really hooked on baki, guyver and heat guy j.
i didn't watch anime online (via my laptop and the crunchyroll app on 360) regularly until two years ago. literally the only time i have tried to watch an entire anime episode online was when i tried to watch episode 1 of hxh 2011 a few years ago on my brother's pc.
After not seeing an episode since last year, around Halloween, I watched another episode of Jojo early this morning. It was the start of the chariot battle Joseph has against Wamuu. Wamuu's my favorite Jojo villain so far.
gsf: Just wait until you see the gorilla in SC...
I'm watching Eccentric Family (at ep8). It's really, really good. A family drama with engaging, well developed characters, unusual take on romance, tragedy and philosophical overtones. It's making me think about my own purpose in life and relationship with my family, siblings especially. Hearing that OP always makes me want to try my best to make life the best it can be and not settle for excuses, sorta like the Ping Pong OP.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.myanimelist.net%2Fimages%2Fanime%2F2%2F53005l.jpg&hash=0d185bc5042e02771f52573a7696379791a607bf)
It's also written by the Tatami Galaxy author, produced by P.A. Works and directed by a colleague of Yuasa's, and they all did a great job. The show is just beautiful all around.
Given the lack of discussion about it here, I can only assume most of you guys haven't watched it. Do it now! :shakeshakeshake: You know... if you want to. :humhumhum:
I wish I was watching Jojo instead of Justice League but I have no choice. :srs:
Sod it all, last post before a new page. Gonna quote it shamelessly, no way is it getting buried. >:(
Quote from: goody2shoes on March 26, 2015, 02:15:23 PM
gsf: Just wait until you see the gorilla in SC...
I'm watching Eccentric Family (at ep8). It's really, really good. A family drama with engaging, well developed characters, unusual take on romance, tragedy and philosophical overtones. It's making me think about my own purpose in life and relationship with my family, siblings especially. Hearing that OP always makes me want to try my best to make life the best it can be and not settle for excuses, sorta like the Ping Pong OP.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.myanimelist.net%2Fimages%2Fanime%2F2%2F53005l.jpg&hash=0d185bc5042e02771f52573a7696379791a607bf)
It's also written by the Tatami Galaxy author, produced by P.A. Works and directed by a colleague of Yuasa's, and they all did a great job. The show is just beautiful all around.
Given the lack of discussion about it here, I can only assume most of you guys haven't watched it. Do it now! :shakeshakeshake: You know... if you want to. :humhumhum:
gsf: Why is that?
Eccentric Family is pretty great! I think it was my favorite show of the season in which it aired. :thumbup:
Just finished episode 23 of Jojo. The first half... :cry: Also, starting to see why they say Gill may be a Kars ripoff.
FUNi's licensed Ninja Slayer (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-03-30/funimation-licenses-studio-trigger-ninja-slayer-anime-series/.86552). Right on them for picking up the most anticipated show this season. Still wondering about who else has gotten what else, though. The time's drawing near, but there's been few announcements for show pickups. Hmm...
I watched another episode of JoJo. Shit's getting real...
And I am REALLY loving the intro. I'm humming it in my head as I type.
Bloody Stream is the best. :)
I expected you to say that. ;D So catchy. The visuals, music and lyrics.
Watched episode 25. Reeessurrection! Also, Crap, I wish I didn't peek down at the episode summary but that flesh eating squirrel scene was still very surprising.
Finished episode 26. that was pretty intense...and out right ridiculous. Seriously, BFR and And I Must Scream? I almost felt sorry for that bastard. And I thought JoJo was really dead...but then I remembered that one of you mentioned Grandpa JoJo in a thread not about JoJo :bleh: so I thought about it right before he showed up and wasn't too surprised. And that finishes whatever the hell that arc was called.
Forgot to ask, do they constantly add sound effects and images to Bloody Stream?
I'm pretty sure they do.
I'll youtube it one day to see if there's a comparison video or something (I love those!)
They usually only do it for the last time they show the openings.
I think I noticed some differences the last two times they showed it. Hard to say, I've only been really watching the OP for like 3 episodes, lol
Quote from: Cartoon X on March 31, 2015, 01:14:48 PM
FUNi's licensed Ninja Slayer (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-03-30/funimation-licenses-studio-trigger-ninja-slayer-anime-series/.86552). Right on them for picking up the most anticipated show this season. Still wondering about who else has gotten what else, though. The time's drawing near, but there's been few announcements for show pickups. Hmm...
Looks like my kind of show.
Just finished watching Stardust Crusaders episode 1. Ok, now I say why his name was brought up so much and kind of understand that meme that I've been keep on saying on youtube and other sites..Anyway, interesting seeing those powers that remind me of S-CRY-Ed's. I actually thought it might of been like this from the beginning.
I watched one more episode of JoJo early this morning. Things are getting interesting and I suspected that guy would join them after awhile.
I caved in and watched the first episode of Rin-ne raw. It actually made me laugh out loud quite a few times and I actively enjoyed it, which is the strongest positive reaction I've had to any premiere this season so far. It's rather refreshing to see an anime comedy that's got bizarre elements but has a more relaxed, low-key tone and main characters who don't tend to behave in an over-the-top manner and aren't prone to yelling at each other. This coming from Rumiko Takahashi, no less. That was what surprised and was interesting to me about the manga, and even though I still contend it's her weakest series, I do think that when it's at it's best it has some storylines and moments that are as strong as those in UY and R1/2, and this anime should execute those strongly. I'll need to rewatch the episode once it gets subbed, and I can't help but being biased on the matter, but as far as all the anime I've watched this season so far go, the Rin-ne anime easily the one I feel the most optimistic and good about, which is nice after the massive disappointment that was the Soma anime, and the manga adaption this season that I'm most confident will be well-done beginning to end.
Well now that weekend 1 is pretty much over...
Seraph: Godawful
DanMachi: Shit
Stratos: Snore
Re-Kan: Double Snore
Food Wars: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I feel horrible.
Food Wars: Fuck you J.C. Staff
Vampire Holmes: Fuck you Cellphone App
Seraph: Fuck you tryhard edgy shonen shit
Fate/Stay Night: Based Ufotable
Rin-ne: Rumiko Takahashi series
Nagato Yuki-chan: Haruhi is back!...except not really
Plastic Memories: Obligatory seasonal shitty series that ANN reviewers love for some reason
*Fixed :P
*Kevin voice* Dorks!
Just finished episode 4 of stardust Crusaders. This show is reminding me how squeamish I am.
If UBW was written by Urobuchi, people would like it *micdrop*.
If it was written by Urobuchi it would be a better show. And I don't even like Urobuchi.
I enjoyed season 1 just fine. Not as much as Zero, but I still thought it was good, overall. I haven't checked out season 2 yet, though.
I also haven't read the original visual novel, so any comparisons would go over my head.
People don't like UBW? News to me.
Especially considering the positive reception that everyone was giving the first season....
I stopped watching UBW after episode 7, like I do with pretty much every anime I try to get into during the season. Did it drop in quality? It was pretty good beforehand.
I enjoyed the first season in its entirety, myself, so if it did drop in other people's opinions I can't help but feel like it has to do with some comparison to the visual novels.
All the Rumiko fans I follow on tumblr are getting desperate for those Rin-ne subs. Apparently, no fansub group has said anything about translating it as of yet. I have to wonder if a subbed version will even be out in time for the Clusterfuck.
Meanwhile, Blood Blockade Battlefront and The Heroic Legend of Arslan had pretty good premieres. The former has probably my favorite premiere of the season so far, and I feel like I'm going to enjoy the latter more as an anime than I have as a manga.
Dammit, I really want to watch that Rin-ne premiere. I wish Viz had picked it up... :(
Yeah, while I'm sure Viz'll license it at some point, the fact they haven't picked it up for simulcast is a bit frustrating. The Rumiko fandom has to have someone in it who is willing to translate the script, and another willing to edit in the subs, so it's bound to happen eventually even if an official fansub group doesn't get around to it. I just want it to happen soon. :sweat:
In the meantime, I shouldn't have much problems watching the raws myself, since I've read the manga and know the jist of the dialogue enough to enjoy it.
No matter how many times I watch this, it never gets less stupid. (http://a.pomf.se/cbpuoa.webm)
(https://41.media.tumblr.com/ab6d4579ca298f2d424ecdb9e3dbd0fe/tumblr_nmd2tqGWCm1r6toezo1_500.jpg)
Looks like the subs'll come out soon after all. I knew the Rumiko fandom wouldn't let me down. :il_hahaha:
Quote from: Cartoon X on April 05, 2015, 11:26:27 AM
People don't like UBW? News to me.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 05, 2015, 11:49:36 AM
Especially considering the positive reception that everyone was giving the first season....
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 05, 2015, 12:50:38 PM
I enjoyed the first season in its entirety, myself, so if it did drop in other people's opinions I can't help but feel like it has to do with some comparison to the visual novels.
You guys didn't notice the huge backlash it had on /a/ for instance? Well maybe I'm the only one stupid enough to browse that board. >_<
I can only speak for myself. UBW feels neither well written nor directed. It feels too much like a visual novel, with all its pointless scenes, fanservice, expository dialogue and so on. Much like in the VN, there's a jarring lack of tension considering there's a battle royale going on.
Good for some casual entertainment maybe, but I can't take it seriously. To me, it got extra tedious near the end of the first season, when Shirou and his harem went for shopping and a nice picnic. These characters are horrifically stupid. :unimpressed:
Last time I checked /a/, it was just people talking about Rhino Tohsaka and the non-porn reason for why Caster bound Saber up in a wedding gown.
Quote from: goody2shoes on April 06, 2015, 05:02:35 AM
I can only speak for myself. UBW feels neither well written nor directed. It feels too much like a visual novel, with all its pointless scenes, fanservice, expository dialogue and so on. Much like in the VN, there's a jarring lack of tension considering there's a battle royale going on.
Good for some casual entertainment maybe, but I can't take it seriously. To me, it got extra tedious near the end of the first season, when Shirou and his harem went for shopping and a nice picnic. These characters are horrifically stupid. :unimpressed:
Maybe it's because I've actually suffered through the original VN, but compared to that, the UBW anime's pacing is akin to a summer action blockbuster. The writing is also greatly improved from the source material, and the characters are a lot less stupid. Seriously, if you feel this way about the anime, the visual novel would break you...
Quote from: Cartoon X on April 05, 2015, 04:53:09 PM
Meanwhile, Blood Blockade Battlefront and The Heroic Legend of Arslan had pretty good premieres. The former has probably my favorite premiere of the season so far, and I feel like I'm going to enjoy the latter more as an anime than I have as a manga.
Sounds good. Hopefully I'll be able to watch it soon.
It seems like forever since I've seen Spark. Hey man!
Watched [up to] The Devil (Episode 7?) of JoJo right before I went to sleep early last night. It's surprising that I didn't have a nightmare. In fact, I had a pretty good dream. Maybe that's even more disturbing. :(
I don't know, I didn't get that sensation from the anime, really. I mean, yeah, it has its slow bits, but so did Zero in the first half, and I can't help but feel like I've seen worse when it comes to stuff like harems and characters acting stupid. And on that end, Shirou strikes me as naive and inexperienced as opposed to flat-out stupid.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 06, 2015, 01:34:07 PM
I don't know, I didn't get that sensation from the anime, really. I mean, yeah, it has its slow bits, but so did Zero in the first half, and I can't help but feel like I've seen worse when it comes to stuff like harems and characters acting stupid. And on that end, Shirou strikes me as naive and inexperienced as opposed to flat-out stupid.
I agree with this. Again, my view may be colored by comparisons to the original work, but your opinion is pretty much the same as my own.
Thing is, I read the Fate route. The VN is lousy, for sure, but that doesn't excuse a lazy by-the-books adaptation. Judging by the prologue I know that ufotable trimmed a lot of the flab in terms of dialogue, but there are larger problems than that. The story should probably have been restructured completely/recut/told a different way for the animated medium. It just doesn't flow well. :wth: Just my feeling.
Well, I wasn't using the VN as a defense as I've never even read it. I'm just saying that I don't agree with the sentiment that the writing or characters are as bad as you say.
http://www.funimation.com/shows/blood-blockade-battlefront/home (http://www.funimation.com/shows/blood-blockade-battlefront/home)
I got a kick out of "similar shows".
Well, they don't sound that similar, but it looks like that's the audience that FUNi is trying to market it to....so maybe I'll bite. :sly:
I just saw episode 1. Very Nightow. In a good way.
Will be watching the rest.
Quote from: goody2shoes on April 06, 2015, 04:01:26 PM
Thing is, I read the Fate route. The VN is lousy, for sure, but that doesn't excuse a lazy by-the-books adaptation. Judging by the prologue I know that ufotable trimmed a lot of the flab in terms of dialogue, but there are larger problems than that. The story should probably have been restructured completely/recut/told a different way for the animated medium. It just doesn't flow well. :wth: Just my feeling.
Your opinion is certainly valid in viewing the series as its own entity, but the anime is honestly quite different from the VN's UBW route. There are a
lot of changes/improvements made to the source material to add/abridge content and better accommodate the medium, while also turning it into a semi-sequel to Fate/Zero.
Looks like someone's finally uploaded Rin-ne subs. And just in time for my lunch break too! :D
Ugh, those subs were awful. There were so many grammatical mistakes, spelling mistakes, poor timing, and several parts were left unsubbed. I know it was a first time attempt, but still, it should have been proofchecked a lot more. I suppose it's a serviceable alternative than nothing for now for Takahashi fans, but if you hadn't read the manga before I don't see how you could enjoy watching it. I hope better subs come out eventually.
Got up to Episode 11 or 12 (past the Centerfold two-parter) of Stardust Crusaders. This is the kind of action/adventure show I've been looking for. ;D
Welp, Sound! Euphonium was exactly what I expected it would be. Which is to say it's pretty much K-ON 2.0. Who's willing to bet ANN people are going to praise it up the wazoo?
Quote from: Cartoon X on April 07, 2015, 01:00:57 PM
Welp, Sound! Euphonium was exactly what I expected it would be. Which is to say it's pretty much K-ON 2.0. Who's willing to bet ANN people are going to praise it up the wazoo?
It's a safe bet. There are anime fans who simply love watching the same show over and over again with diminishing returns each time.
I was unaware Azumanga Daioh was that popular, yet here we are.
EDIT: You called it. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2015/spring/sound-euphonium/.86849)
Crunchyroll has licensed Rin-ne (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-07/crunchyroll-adds-rumiko-takahashi-rin-ne-anime/.86859). Which is great since the fansub quality was shit and all, but also means that the Clusterfuck entry I've just written for it now has to be almost entirely rewritten. God dammit. :srs:
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 07, 2015, 01:17:05 PM
It's a safe bet. There are anime fans who simply love watching the same show over and over again with diminishing returns each time.
I was unaware Azumanga Daioh was that popular, yet here we are.
EDIT: You called it. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2015/spring/sound-euphonium/.86849)
At least AD had amusing surrealistic humor and odd non-sequiturs that made it stand apart from other anime comedies. K-On! and it's ilk are just boring "cute girls doing cute things" that don't bother to have anything interesting much less funny happening in them most of the time since ultimately they're just banking on otaku to buy their merchandise because of how moe it is and shit.
Also, I'm amused that JO gave it a 3.5 even though much of her review was about her complaining about how boring she thought it was. These ANN scores are so arbitrary I don't know why they bother.
Zac didn't consider it anything special and gave it a 4/5, so who knows how these scores are supposed to work.
AD was the first of its kind and was therefore very original and fresh. The author has also proven himself as a man with talent. These lesser clones have nothing going for them at all.
To be honest, I never really got the appeal of AD. I used to be in an anime club where people loved it, but I feel that there wasn't really anything to it other than trying to be cute and funny, but without much substance behind any if it, and somehow it spawned a ton of imitators.
Even with stuff like School Rumble and ABP, which I've made clear don't really do anything for me in terms of humor (ABP does at least have decent character development, to its credit), I could at least get that there was something there in terms if substance to appeal to others. With stuff like Fumoffu or Dr. Slump (manga), what those lack in extensive characterization they make up for with a good rapid-fire style of gags. Stuff like Level E (which I personally really like) and Space Dandy aren't laugh out loud funny, but explore really bizarre and weird concepts that can make them engaging viewings just in terms of how unique and well thought-out they are. Great Teacher Onizuka (not to mention its predecessor SJG) and Ouran High School Host Club are probably my favorite anime school comedies for combining great gags with good characterization. There's also stuff that I have yet to get to like Urusei Yatsura, which I know have more substantial things backing the comedy. AD didn't really have either substantial characters or clever humor backing it, IMO. To be fair, it's based on a series of comic strips, so it's not like those have the capacity to sustain a full show, but it still makes me wonder why the anime was such a huge hit with people in general (it even managed to somewhat transcend just hardcore otaku fandom during its peak years of popularity).
I'll give it credit that it at least seemed to be trying to be funny, even though I don't feel that it really was. Stuff like K-ON and most KyoAni shows besides their FMP stuff and Haruhi seem to have become popular on literally nothing else but the concept of being cute. They aren't even trying to be funny anymore, and yet they have an incredible amount of fans. I just....don't get it, and I don't think that I ever will.
Quote from: Cartoon X on April 07, 2015, 02:07:18 PM
Crunchyroll has licensed Rin-ne (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-07/crunchyroll-adds-rumiko-takahashi-rin-ne-anime/.86859). Which is great since the fansub quality was shit and all, but also means that the Clusterfuck entry I've just written for it now has to be almost entirely rewritten. God dammit. :srs:
THANK YOU, CRUNCHY!!! :worship:
I've never seen anything that had consistent laugh out loud moments for me. Lupin's the closest.
I just finished episode 12, Empress of Stardust Crusaders. Yes! Finally a Joseph centric episode and it was another body horror episode and a pretty funny one at that!
Part III is over! I won! It was pretty funny seeing most of the crew fly into road rage, even though only Polnareff was driving. That was an entertaining little episode.
Sentai has licensed Rin-ne. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-08/sentai-filmworks-licenses-rumiko-takahashi-rin-ne-anime/.86917)
Huh. I'm incredibly surprised by this news. I thought Viz would get it for sure. Sentai has really been picking up a lot of notable stuff lately. Well, I guess between this and Parasyte, they might finally be able to put something of theirs on Toonami.
FUNi will be streaming Ghost in the Shell Arise: Alternative Architecture after all. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-08/funimation-licenses-ghost-in-the-shell-arise-alternative-architecture/.86924)
Last night I watched the Empress. Enyaba is my 2nd favorite JoJo villain now. Those episodes were pretty funny. :D Also, good grief, Polanreff will flirt with anybody.
Within this hour I finished the ol' Steely Dan two parter. Jotaro has never whipped ass like that before. That ass whipping was well worth the wait.
I'm past the Death two parter now. I wonder what'll happen next. Maybe another future descendant.
I watched the Judgment 2 parter. :'( :swoon:
Finished the High Priestess 2 parter. Jotaro has really warmed up to the crew now.
Ore Monogatari is officially my favorite show of the season. :)
I finished the Iggy episodes earlier.
Quote from: Foggle on April 12, 2015, 03:38:20 PM
Ore Monogatari is officially my favorite show of the season. :)
It's an cute little series, ain't it? I'm glad you enjoyed it! :joy:
I've been watching Yokai Watch. I like it. It kind of reminds me of Keroro Gunsou/SGT. Frog & Doraemon in humor and format. It's like 2-4 short segments that episodes of Keita hanging out with Yokai/befriending them. Right now the early episodes have a segment devoted to Jinmenken where he tries to get a job.
Kind of curious to see how the dub of the show will play out. The humor is pretty Japanese centric and a lot of the Yokai that have been encountered are really people that died like Jibanyan, Jinmenken, & Hijomi to name a few.
I watched the...can't spell/remember their names brothers episode of Stardust Crusaders. Whatever the 3rd episode of the show when the new OP is shown.
Funimation finally put Blood Battlefront Blockade up (http://www.funimation.com/shows/blood-blockade-battlefront) so I'll be re-watching episode 1 and then seeing two for the first time.
Watched the Anubis two parter. That was my favorite fight yet and that Anubis retirement seen was hilarious. "Hey, Mr. Crab. I'll give you something to eat." :D :D
That escalator scene probably gave me one of the best laughs I had in years. :lol:
I watched the Alessi episodes... :shit: Well that ending made suffering through that worth it.
I watched the first D'Arby episode probably within this hour... :thinkin:
..that was some cheap ass censoring on Jotaro's smoking. Anyway, the D'Arby much was interesting but got a bit too silly at the end. Kaito stomps this.
So, I watched the first episode of Ninja Slayer. I was expecting something along the lines of Kill la Kill. Instead, I got a much less funny version of Inferno Cop. Hmm.
So you're saying it's less like Kill la Kill. :> *watches*
GSF likes Squidbillies more than Kill la Kill, confirmed.
I know I like ATHF more than Kill la Kill.(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecoli.com%2Fstyles%2Fdefault%2Fxenforo%2Fsmilies%2Fduckr.png&hash=f39d13b54ec43f33422be8580c38d780ec533342)
I love the Mondatta EDs.
Glorious!
Early this morning, I found out that I caught up to Crunchyroll app's Stardust Crusaders episodes when I went to go watch part 2 of Guardian of Hell, Pet Shop..and saw that it said I had to wait 8 hours. Dammit, I thought Stardust Crusaders was finished. I don't keep up with anything...Anyway, I just got finished with the 2nd Pet Shop episode. That was so unexpectedly good.
Iggy vs. Pet Shop is one of my favorite fights in the series. It's one of the most intense and desperate fights in SC, and does a great job of taking Iggy, who does nothing of real importance before this, and making him into a memorable and likeable character. I also just love the brutal way Iggy ultimately kills Pet Shop. JoJo's and it's animal violence, man.
I was thinking, "I don't think I've ever seen a good animal vs. animal fight in anime before". I had to think all the way back to Disney to remember any in animation. lol Also, Pet Shop scared the shit out of me when he appeared in the sewer. Anyway, I loved Iggy's development as well. The look he had on his face all the way to Dio's said it all.
And I liked how Iggy's good deed earlier paid off...even though he'd still have a leg if he just ignored the kid. lol
Black and yellow. Black and yellow. Black and yellow. Ahhmmhmm. Ahhmmhmm. Anyway, I just finished episode 40 of Stardust Crusaders. I actually was surprised to see D'Arby's brother here, even though I did hear about him. I'm liking Kaykoin a bit more with this episode. He's easily my least favorite main protagonist this season.
Edit: Also, those dolls were creepy. :whuh:
I also watched Fist Of The Northstar episode 75 last night.
How do the two shows compare?
Apparently the main character is the same guy in both shows. :sly:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette2.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fdeathbattlefanon%2Fimages%2F8%2F81%2FKenshiro_vs_jotaro_by_mythkirby-d86oqp9.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width%2F444%3Fcb%3D20150322172603&hash=bd67480c279bcb3cc106337f0feaa80ac9028445)
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Yes, totally apples and oranges. My bad.
If it helps, Araki's art shifts away from looking like Fist of the North Star around Part IV.
That's bad news for me. :'( *drops show*
Seriously, I like how Jotaro's smarter and cooler than Kenshiro, yet Kenshiro has more personality and heart, imo. The differences makes me not get sick of either one of them.
I've been loving anime more over the last two years than I have in 7 or so years. I've never kept up with this many ongoing anime nor looked forward to as much anime as I am now. ;D
Same. I think I've seen three times as many series in the last two years than I've ever done since I started watching anime back in '05. Though, my manga rate is even more exponential. I think I'll be keeping up with over 100 currently running manga by the end of this summer.
Quote from: Cartoon X on May 06, 2015, 11:36:41 AM
Same. I think I've seen three times as many series in the last two years than I've ever done since I started watching anime back in '05. Though, my manga rate is even more exponential. I think I'll be keeping up with over 100 currently running manga by the end of this summer.
I'm not surprised. :blush:
This is a pretty good time to be an anime fan. I need to actually start a few other series though, like Rage of Bahamut and BBB. :D
Heh, I thought about if D'Arby was listening to his button clicks too.
Crayon Shin-chan: The Adult Empire Strikes Back is one of the best anime movies ever. Seriously. Fantastic concept, excellent direction and animation, great humor, a friggin' epic car chase scene, tense drama, and all of it on top of a smart and poignant story about family, nostalgia, and living life. Phenomenal film. Even if you know nothing about Shin-chan and don't have interest in the series itself, I strongly recommend watching this movie. As far as anime franchise films go, and even anime films in general, this is among the cream of the crop.
Heh, of course the The Adult Empire Strikes Back is Shin-chan with a name like that. Title sounds like something South Park would use.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFYt12ZWMAAVpx_.png)
Par for the course.
I finally got around to watching episode 0 of Fate Stay Night. I've been procrastinating because I did want to sit around and watch almost an hour of an episode that stars a magic girl, one of my least favorite types of anime characters.
I watched Episode 1 earlier...if I didn't like Fate/Zero so much, I'd drop this. I almost never like magic high school students anime.
Quote from: gunswordfist on May 21, 2015, 03:26:06 PM
I watched Episode 1 earlier...if I didn't like Fate/Zero so much, I'd drop this. I almost never like magic high school students anime.
You may want to drop it then, for your sanity. I like F/SN, and it's one of the better magic high school student stories, but that's exactly what it is for a good 60-70% of the duration. I suggest checking out the Heaven's Feel movies when they finally come out, though. HF is still about magic high school students, but it's a lot darker/more interesting with better action scenes. It feels like a true followup to F/Z.
I like F/SN, myself. I think it's about as good as you could possibly do such a contrived and silly concept of magic high school students fighting each other and still be able to take it seriously. That said, don't expect it to be anywhere near as good as Fate/Zero.
Ehh, I'm on the fence. I'll probably watch a few more episodes before I make a decision though.
To be honest, I've been a bit disappointed with how UBW's been going lately. I feel a lot of major plot threads and characters have been resolved in a rather easy and underwhelming way, and certain opportunities for greater character and thematic exploration were wasted. I still like it, but in terms of story and characters, it hasn't been as interesting and engaging as Fate/Zero was for me.
I still haven't watched UBW's second season yet. I don't have the time to keep up with too many shows, but now that Arrow and The Flash have wrapped up their season runs, I should finally have the time to catch up with some anime.
I was thinking "maybe I should be finishing Daredevil" when I started one of the episodes of Fate/Stay Night today lol.
I watched Inuyasha's favorite word Miasma, Part 3 early. :'( :'( That was a lesson in taking death in JoJo more seriously. Other anime has numbed me.
I watched the first episode dub of Ninja Slayer.
They put way too much effort into this junk. Seriously.
It's pure garbage. Basically Inferno Cop if it wasn't funny.
The dub at least makes it less awful, if only because Chris Sabat's hamming it up.
I think what annoyed me most is of how such an easy idea this was to make work. All you had to do was play it straight, add in crazy designs and dialogue, and actually use the designs and art made for the opening. This is just a monumental waste of time, money, effort, and creativity. Whoever put this together has a pretty limited imagination if they couldn't figure out how to make this work.
This show has officially put Trigger on my caution list for new shows.
MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!MUDA!
I heard it was coming soon and couldn't be happier. Also, Dio-Sama's peace of mind speech disturbed me.
Just finished Part Three of Fist Of The Northstar. A lot of flashback and an anticlimatic fight...whoa, Toei. The ending was sad though.
Just finished episode 1 of Parasyte. I ffiinnnaallly started the show. Horry shit at the first few seconds. I skipped the OP like I always do in anime series that I want to go into mostly blind but I heard a bit of autotune singing. :shit: Also, the show has a bit too much dubstep or whatever but at least the music isn't terrible.
As for the show, whoa, I've never seen a series quite like this. I suspect I know where they are going.
Knights of Sidonia season 2 will be up on Netflix on July 3rd. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/06/04/video-netflix-announces-knights-of-sidonia-season-2) Since I still haven't gotten around to it yet, I'll probably just wait until then and marathon the whole thing.
I watched episode 78 of Fist Of The Northstar. Ah, a filler episode. I actually kind of liked it because I haven't seen Shin in forever...*looks for filler guide*
I just finished watching Episode 1 of Magi. I'll watch some more to see where this is going (Don't tell me)
I finished watching episode 83 or 84 (forget the number) of Fist Of The Northstar. Fist Of The Northstar is finally in the Terminator era (meaning I'm guessing the first Terminator movie came out around the time of the manga/anime) and Kenshiro fought a clear T-whatever ripoff. I thought that was pretty cool. Overall it was a pretty good episode.
That was a pretty good finale episode. Am I the only one who liked the 3 The World episodes more though?
They didn't play Get Back or have a part 4 teaser. I am very disappointed.
Quote from: gunswordfist on June 19, 2015, 05:39:55 PM
Am I the only one who liked the 3 The World episodes more though?
Depends, but I agree that the best parts of the fight were the previous two episodes.
That's pretty much why I think those were the best.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.japanator.com%2Ful%2Fuser%2F4%2F4299-30542-joestarsjpg-620x.jpg&hash=ba48c8792ba212fb296b914af5a9399bd901c380)
3 down, 5 to go.
If only. I want to see a family tree after/if I ever catch up.
Blood Blockade Battlefront's final episode has been indefinitely delayed until further notice. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-06-30/blood-blockade-battlefront-finale-delayed-until-further-notice/.89880)
I've been watching the series through the broadcast dub and I wasn't planing to finish it via the subs, so this probably won't affect me unless they don't air the episode at all in July. Still, this bites for the people who are caught up and have to wait even longer to see how the show is going to end.
I need to start that show soon.
I love what I've seen of BBB so far. I really hope it gets a second season. From what I've heard, the show has been doing really well in Japan.
Quote from: Cartoon X on June 30, 2015, 01:51:52 AM
Blood Blockade Battlefront's final episode has been indefinitely delayed until further notice. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-06-30/blood-blockade-battlefront-finale-delayed-until-further-notice/.89880)
I've been watching the series through the broadcast dub and I wasn't planing to finish it via the subs, so this probably won't affect me unless they don't air the episode at all in July. Still, this bites for the people who are caught up and have to wait even longer to see how the show is going to end.
If it leads to a better finale, I'm all for it.
It was more or less the secret best show of the season.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on June 30, 2015, 02:05:11 AM
I love what I've seen of BBB so far. I really hope it gets a second season. From what I've heard, the show has been doing really well in Japan.
Unless Nightow is planning on ending the manga in one last go, I don't think there's enough material for a second season. But I wouldn't count out more BBB considering its surprise success. It's his biggest hit there since the Trigun manga.
Well, it is the only series he's done since he finished Trigun in the first place. :P
I'd say there's enough material for a second season. The anime so far has only adapted five volumes (and they've skipped chapters), and there's ten volumes out right now. Besides, the whole plotline about Black and White is exclusive to the anime (they, and the events pertaining to their story arc, aren't in the manga). There's no reason why they couldn't do another anime original story using unadapted manga chapters to fill out a cour like they've already done.
The manga was only a modest success before, but the anime has really put the series on the map, and the dvds/blu-rays are selling extremely well. So I can definitely see them making more of the anime as soon as they can; the demand and the money is there.
There are a bunch of two-parters like Z's Longest Day they could adapt, too. It does look like a second season is highly doable. I just wonder if Nightow himself has something up his sleeve for future chapters of the manga and the main story-line with Leo finding sight for his sister. The manga itself is good, but the way the anime pulls it all together makes it more fun to watch than it is to read, also the anime exclusive stuff is great, too.
Quote from: Cartoon X on July 07, 2015, 06:48:52 PM
Well, it is the only series he's done since he finished Trigun in the first place. :P
Sure, if you ignore the Trigun anime and Gungrave which were nowhere near as popular. ;)
They already adapted Z's Longest Day, but yeah, there's still plenty of two-parters for them to use.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on July 07, 2015, 06:58:51 PM
Sure, if you ignore the Trigun anime and Gungrave which were nowhere near as popular. ;)
I thought we were only talking about his manga, but in that case, I see your point. :sweat:
Oh yeah, I know they adapted that one, it's actually one of my favorites in the show, I just meant that there are more two-parters like it they could adapt. Heck, they could even make them all one long arc if the wanted to.
Either way, I'm excited for what they might do next.
I watched 3 more episodes of Fist Of The Northstar, with the last two being Juza's first two episodes.
I watched another episode of Fist Of the Northstar early this morning. What the hell, Kenshiro?!!
I watched the third episode of Ushio & Tora earlier this evening. It was a standard type of episode (I think) but it seemed to more importantly be about cast building and it was decently fun so I do not mind.
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 20, 2015, 02:12:19 AM
I watched the third episode of Ushio & Tora earlier this evening. It was a standard type of episode (I think) but it seemed to more importantly be about cast building and it was decently fun so I do not mind.
The next episode was a two-parter in the original OVA, so it should be interesting to see how it's adapted here. The OVA never went beyond early material, so it's hard to say exactly what to expect later on down the road since I never read the manga.
But yeah, right now this is the beginning of the story that focuses on establishing characters.
Now I'm interesting. And yeah, I have no problem with characters being established. Also, I liked seeing Ushio's love of art.
Quote from: gunswordfist on July 20, 2015, 08:00:31 PMAlso, I liked seeing Ushio's love of art.
It was a trait that wasn't shown off at all in the OVA (I think they showed him randomly painting in one scene but that was it), but it is a trait I particularly like. He calls it his desire to create which contrasted with how good he is at destroying things (and yet is bad at creating them) makes him a bit more endearing as a character. Especially since it reflects well on his partnership with Tora as a being who wants to destroy but is instead attracted to the creation process of the humans around him.
Little things like that are nice.
*runs to watch Ushio & Tora*
I completed the Fist Of the Northstar episode End Of An Invincible Era..or something like that. It was funnier than the full title implied. I'd Juza more if his backstory wasn't so embarrassing. You thought you were going to get a Souther level flashback but it was me, redneck romance, all along!
Today, I caught up with the Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma anime. Aside from the annoying and blatant fanservice in the early episodes, most of which was apparently added by JC Staff themselves, it's a very entertaining series. I do plan to read the manga as well, but I want to finish some other things on my reading backlog first.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on August 27, 2015, 10:48:12 PM
Today, I caught up with the Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma anime. Aside from the annoying and blatant fanservice in the early episodes, most of which was apparently added by JC Staff themselves, it's a very entertaining series. I do plan to read the manga as well, but I want to finish some other things on my reading backlog first.
I find it quite enjoyable. A shame we didn't see how the Aldini Bros. fared this week, but it should be interesting to see next time.
Time to catch up on Ushio & Tora episodes. :)
I watched episode 7 or 8. Yep, the main story has started. I went back to watch the end of episode 6 to watch when that sea youkai was first talking about youknowwho. Things got pretty serious in 7 and 8 was kind of a fun episode. Both had some pretty funny moments.
Those were probably my favorite episodes so far. The journey is just getting started, though, so who knows how good i'll get. But I'm really liking it.
I'm liking it as well. I might watch 9 tonight.
The fiinal episode of Blood Blockade Battlefront will air on October 3rd. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-09-18/final-blood-blockade-battlefront-episode-airs-on-october-3/.93096)
46 minutes.
Yikes.
Finally! With that big a runtime, it should prove to be one hell of a finale. I'm looking forward to it.
Saw the first Attack on Titan live-action movie tonight. Though I'm not enthusiastic about AOT, I genuinely thought and still think it could be a great LA film if done right, and I had heard promising things about the films in the reviews I'd skimmed that made me optimistic. The movie was, instead, about what I expected. Though boy oh boy, it has some bizarre and problematic moments and adaptation choices that really make me incensed to give it a review, but I think I should wait until I watch part 2 in three weeks before I do so to avoid redundancy.
I will say, though, that the most disappointing thing about the movie for me was the crushing disappointment and bafflement of the audience I was with about the movie they had just witnessed. At best, some found it amusingly bad, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, walked out of that theater satisfied, much less did they consider the movie good. Honestly, that bums me out. Even though I'm not a big AOT fan, the reason I decided to go see the movie, and most anime-related movies, is the enthusiasm of the audience watching it. It's really fun to be surrounded by a group of people who are all big fans of a niche series, actively enjoying and engaged in the movie they're watching. But the AOT movie left the audience totally cold, outside of two particularly bizarre moments that got laughs for how unexpected, surreal, and stupid they were. Even if I personally didn't enjoy the film, I would have still enjoyed the experience if it was satisfying for the fans, at least most of them. Like, there were people who didn't like Madoka Magica 3 when I saw it, but I didn't hear anyone say they regretted seeing the film, or that they felt like they wasted their money. Add the fact there weren't any give-aways to fans, the waiting line for the movie was long, the movie started late, the theater room was too small, and it just wasn't a good experience, sadly. Though it certainly didn't help that things have been kinda shitty for me lately, and I made it through this week in particular with the hope that seeing the film would give me a nice pick-me up that'd set the month off on a good start for me. I'll still be seeing the second AOT movie, as well as Boruto, at the same theater later this month, so hopefully they'll be better experiences.
You heard/read a lot of positive reviews about it? I honestly heard that it was shit from most sources, myself. I'm supposing that it's hardcore AOT fans giving it the positive reviews. Just like people said for the Death Note movies, which surprised me when I actually watched them and saw how awful they were (though, at least amusingly bad, for what that's worth).
Well, I didn't read "a lot" of reviews; I came across a couple, and read through most of the non-spoilery ones to see if the movies had anything to interest or offer me. Most of the negative things I head about the movie going into it were from hardcore fans nitpicking the changes from the source material. There are many, and they are BIG, but I don't give a shit about movie adaptations being perfectly faithful or 1:1 retellings of the source material. Changing things in and of themselves are not why bad movie adaptations tend to suck, imo. The positive reviews of the movie were favorable about the changes, and praised them for working as a stand-alone horror/action movie (put together), with a distinct tone and satisfying plotting that made it a unique experience form the original. In particular, I was interested in how many reviewers commented that it was like classic kaiju movies in feel and tone, and I thought if anyone would be able to make AOT work as a really good kaiju movie, fucking Toho productions of all studios was be a pretty good bet.
In the end, the movie was the level of quality I expected it was going to be, and not better like I was optimistic it would be. I actually think a lot of the changes it makes to the story and characters were good ideas, and the feel of the movie is distinct from the manga and is of how the reviews I read described it to be, which was neat. The problem is that while there's a lot that's interesting about what they've done with the series and concept to make it work as a it's own thing, the execution of it just doesn't work in any regard whatsoever, which completely wastes what is and could have been good about the film. The reviews of the film that I read were clearly enthusiastic about what the film was trying to do and found that in of itself commendable and worth recommending, but having seen just the first one (the second one could improve upon things, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt at least in terms of the story), I can respect that well and fine, but I don't think it works, and I don't think it translated into an effective, quality film. I have a tempered opinion of AOT as a series, so I wasn't going to have strong or bitter feelings about the film being bad like a fan would. If I end up reviewing it, it's probably going to be a fairly balanced review; I do think there are merits to it that are worth highlighting.
Honestly, I left the theater with a bitter taste not because I was bothered that the movie wasn't good, but that it disappointed pretty much everyone that went to see it. An audience that, before the film, was very excited and enthusiastic about it. Like, even if I don't like the Boruto movie when I go see it, I'll still be satisfied if the people who are big fans of Naruto come out of that film happy with the film on some level, and can articulate to me why they found it entertaining. It's the fact that no one came out of the theater liking the AOT that kinda bums me out, since at the very least, the movie should've done something for at least the hardcore fans that they could get behind. The sheer lack of enthusiasm from the audience during and after the film, and the mood of frustration about it, is what really colors the experience for me more than anything else.
With episode 48, the World Trigger anime has just run out of adaptable canon material. Starting week it's the beginning of the filler season. For those curious, it ended with Mikumo beginning his training.
Heard that episode 1 of One Punch Man came out recently and gave it a go. I... don't know what to think of it to be honest. :sweat:
I know very little about the source material. I'm curious if any substantial plot is going to happen.
The first episode literally adapted all the early episodic chapters together into this one episode. I would give it a few more episodes after this if you're still not sure. Next week is the addition of one of the series most popular characters, so it already will be a bit different.
OPM has an overarching story. The first major story arc will properly begin in the next episode, which will also introduce the secondary lead of the series.
I forget, will this/is this on CR?
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 07, 2015, 03:41:46 PM
I forget, will this/is this on CR?
No, it's on Daisuki with its crappy player that never works for me.
Yay! :imnothappy:
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 06, 2015, 08:47:34 PM
The first episode literally adapted all the early episodic chapters together into this one episode. I would give it a few more episodes after this if you're still not sure. Next week is the addition of one of the series most popular characters, so it already will be a bit different.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 06, 2015, 09:47:46 PM
OPM has an overarching story. The first major story arc will properly begin in the next episode, which will also introduce the secondary lead of the series.
Ah, okay, sounds good. I'll be sticking with it.
I usually feel that first episodes can be tough (and not always fair) to measure the overall worth of a series.
(I just now realised there was a thread made for OPM already) :e_hail:
FUNi will stream the Blood Blockade Battlefront finale this saturday. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2015-10-09/funimation-to-stream-blood-blockade-battlefront-finale-on-saturday/.93955) Just the sub - the dubbed version will be released on a later date. Of course, I've been looking forward to this so long that I'm just glad to finally see it. Should be good! ;D
Finally.
Looks like Netflix has the rights to The Seven Deadly Sins after all. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2015-10-09/netflix-lists-the-seven-deadly-sins-anime-in-u.s/.93974) Odd that it's taken them so long to release it, but at least they should be in time for the second season.
I just watched the final episode of Blood Blockade Battlefront. Overall, it was a great finale to a fantastic show. I really hope that Bones will make a second season in the future. In the mean time, I'll probably go and catch up with Dark Horse's release of the manga. :)
I went to see Boruto on the big screen last saturday. Last night, I decided to finally watch The Last as well, for completion's and comparison's sake.
The Last: Naruto the Movie is one of the dumbest Weekly Shonen Jump movies I've ever seen.
Boruto: Naruto the Movie is one of the best, if not the best, Weekly Shonen Jump movies I've ever seen.
Believe it.
I finally got around to seeing the last episode of Blood Blockade Battlefront. That's the second Nightow manga that was lucky enough to get a phenomenal adaption with an original conclusion that manages to nail all his themes and characters dead on. The anime was a great watch.
About my only complaint is that it should have been a 26 episode run with some episodes that focused on Stephen, Chain, and K.K. to really round out the whole cast, and to tighten the bonds between them a bit more which would have made this final episode even better. I guess I can hope for a season 2, but I can't see them having an ending better than this one.
All in all, it was one of the best anime series I've seen in a long time.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the references to Stephen King's three best books which were used in very clever ways.
The Shining is obvious. It's directly mentioned when Klaus confronts the King of Despair and compares William's gift with that of Danny's Shining from the book and how it must be controlled because it's too powerful.
Salem's Lot is used in the original name of the city from the manga, Jerusalem's Lot, and the vampires that are allowed to grow and spread by modern man's carelessness and ambivalence. BBB actually goes whole hog with traditional vampire rules outside of sunlight (because of how Hellsalem's Lot's sun is different than ours) but are still killed by a light of a different kind that the book also used.
Last is The Stand, which is only directly obvious if you've read the book and have seen the final scene in the episode. If you've read the book, then you know the parallel, and you know exactly who the villain really was.
Now to wait for a home release that hopefully isn't absurdly expensive.
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 19, 2015, 03:56:01 AM
I went to see Boruto on the big screen last saturday. Last night, I decided to finally watch The Last as well, for completion's and comparison's sake.
The Last: Naruto the Movie is one of the dumbest Weekly Shonen Jump movies I've ever seen.
Boruto: Naruto the Movie is one of the best, if not the best, Weekly Shonen Jump movies I've ever seen.
Believe it.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fassets.adamriff.com%2Fimages%2Fconfused_jackie_chan.jpg&hash=772b9e7ce4bd80219f7dd558051316df6ccb38d3)
I still can't believe Boruto exists. Sounds like a super cheesy name some crazed American fanboy created.
I watched another episode of Fist Of The Northstar this afternoon. Holy shit at the plot twist at the end
I'm watching "Mr. Osomatsu" right now. It's a sequel to a 1960s manga and anime "Osomatsu Kun", where the characters all became adults.
It's pretty hilarious.
I've really been enjoying Mr. Osomatsu as well. I've found myself re-watching the episodes, which I almost never do when it comes to new currently-running anime. It's no surprise it's so good and hilarious, considering one of the most prominent and prolific directors of Gintama is directing it. You just know an anime comedy is effective when it's jokes cause controversy requiring retroactive censorship. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-10-29/tv-tokyo-censors-recent-mr-osomatsu-episode/.94786) :D
So I just finished the York New Arc. Starting Greed Island tomorrow.
1999 or 2011?
Latter for consistency when I eventually get to Chimera Ant.
I would assume 2011 since that's the only one that's legally streaming anywhere, and the '99 series DVDs from Viz Media are long out of print and fairly expensive to buy online.
Yes, about 90 episodes or so until I can get as mad at the hiatuses as everyone else.
You know, in retrospect it's a mercy that he ended YYH back when he did. I'll take a rushed ending over waiting a year or two for just nine new chapters of content, any day.
BTW, If your opinions are even just somewhat similar to myself and Desensitized, you're probably going to hate the beginning if the Chimera Ant arc, so there's fair warning. If you stick with it, though, it does get a lot better, IMO, and it's one of those stories that actually fares better for me on repeat readings.
I do have a major gripe about how the anime leaves in all of the excess narration, though, so I personally prefer the manga version of that arc. At least reading it kind of fits with a comic book structure.
Chimera Ant has a really rough start, but once it gets to Knuckle it begins to redeem itself. That has to say something about Togashi's talent because I can't think of any other manga that have arcs start that badly before morphing into something far better.
I also haven't read a chapter since he finished it. Will not touch it until it's done now.
I like Biscuit. She reminds me of Genkai and Lisa Lisa.
Biscuit is like a really fun version of Genkai/Lisa Lisa to me. Grumpy as hell when she's in a bad mood, but she has her cheerful moments as well, but pretty much always puts Gon and Killua through sadistic training.
As for supporting characters, though, Knuckle will always be my personal favorite. In fact, his appearance in Chimera Ant pretty much marks the point where it gets really good, for me. You just can't have a good Togashi series without a resident Kuwabara-analogue (think Kuwabara's personality, but also surprisingly clever and intelligent).
Hmmmm, she is like Risa Risa..Hell, like her and Genkai in more way than one/stops stating the obvious.
Now I'm up to episode 104 of Fist Of The Nortstar.
Nice, looks like you've only got about 5 episodes left until you're done with part 1. I've been meaning to start the anime sometime. I really enjoyed the manga, and especially love the first half of the series, and people have told me the show is worth watching for the music and voice acting alone. And from what I've been able to sample of it, they seem to be right about that.
I'm just going to assume you're talking to Insomniac. :'( Watched episode 104 today... :'( :cry:
Nope. I was talking to you. And you're in for a world of feels, my friend. :D
I hate you. :cry: :D
This afternoon, I decided and preceded to watching episode 19 of Ushio & Tora and to finish off the rest of the canonical episodes of Fist Of The Northstar.
U&T COMPLETELY surpassed my expectations yet again. Just how good will this show be once it's complete? Saying I'm impressed is just an understatement now. I'll save the rest of what I have to say for the series' topic.
I just wrapped up the manga adaptation of Fist Of The Northstar. I just check and episode 109 is filler so I'll watch that once I decide to watch the rest of the filler. As for episode 105-108...well, 105 is flashbacks/clip show from this, the final season, so I just skipped to the parts showing my two favorite characters and then went to 106. A lot of emotions went through me during these episodes, even though a lot of it was kind of ridiculous, imo. Also, thanks the internet, a major part was spoiled for me, but I didn't expect something else at all based on a clip of the movie I've seen. Anyway, overall I'm kind of sad that this run of the show is over for me but the conclusion was decent. I've started Fist Of The Northstar since I was in freaking high school, once I think about it. I'll always love the show. I might read the manga one day, which has phenomenal art.
I finished watching the latest episode of Ushio & Tora and all of the current 7 episodes of One Punch Man. What a great day for anime!/Dexter voice.
Saw the new
Ghost in the Shell movie earlier tonight. I really loved it! While admittedly not as philosophically intriguing or visually gorgeous as other GITS movies, the characterization, character development, concepts, and story were all top notch, and was both a great closer to the
Arise series as well as
Spoiler
serving as additive prequel to the original movie.
The only caveat to the movie is that you really do need to have watched
Arise in order to really appreciate the way the characters in the movie are presented and how the story plays out. You probably won't get as much out of it unless you at least see the first two OVAs at bare minimum. But still, really good movie, and I had a great time watching it. Now I want to go on a GITS anime binge. Probably will finally watch
Innocence and
Solid State Society, as well as fill my gaps on the parts of 2nd gig and
Arise that I still haven't seen.
I was on a treadmill when watching the end of the Chimera Ant arc, so I can't tell if it's sweat or tears on my face.
Despite my issues with some aspects of the arc, I've always loved the ending. I've heard people criticize HXH for having anticlimactic endings to its arcs, but I tend to feel that's missing the point. Like with York New City, rather than ending things with a big epic battle, Togashi instead chooses to close out the story by tying things back into the theme of the arc, and so specifically chooses to find a suitable resolution for each major character in the story.
What's most impressive to me is how our main protagonist, Gon, and main antagonist, Meruem, never meet throughout this entire story (the closest they come is Gon spotting him in the distance). But there is a dual sense of Yin-and-Yang between them and their progression. Look at where Gon starts out in this arc and where he ends up compared to Meruem. We have an arc where the villain finds his humanity and salvation by the end, while our hero descends and nearly loses his. Personally I find it brilliant, and if that's not enough, Togashi gives you a much closer to home example with Killua's character arc in relation to Gon's. Not too shabby for a battle shonen, IMO. ;)
That part gets to me more than any other in the show.
Saw the first episode of One Punch Man and it was great! :thumbup: Gotta' catch up now.
Sweet, welcome to the club. :kabapu:
ANN has a vote for Best anime of 2015 (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/survey/613/) if you feel like voting.
I already know my votes!
1. Blood Blockade Battlefront
2. Ushio & Tora
3. One Punch Man
4. My Love Story!!
5. Haikyuu! Second Season
1. JoJo
2. Ushio & Tora
3. One Punch Man
Mine would be:
1. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc
2. Blood Blockade Battlefront
3. One Punch Man
4. Assassination Classroom
5. Ushio & Tora
I would expect Lupin III Part IV to be in my top 5, but I haven't watched past the first few eps yet. :sweat:
I've been playing a shit-ton of catch up this month since my limited Internet access made it harder for me to keep up with shows and anime.
I recently finished F/SN UBW, and am trying to catch up with U&T. I still need to finish Parasyte, and also have to watch BBB, and way too much other stuff.
Dang, that's a lot of stuff! Good luck parsing through it, but at least its all good stuff. :D
I still need to finish F/SN UBW, since I paused on episode 7.
How does it turn out on the whole? Is it as good as F/Z?
Still need to watch Lupin and BBB.
Quote from: Avaitor on December 03, 2015, 02:08:26 PM
I still need to finish F/SN UBW, since I paused on episode 7.
How does it turn out on the whole? Is it as good as F/Z?
UBW is decent. I was invested enough in the main characters to see the entire series through to the end. It does feel like the writing gets a bit more contrived in the second season, though.
It's definitely nowhere close to as great as Zero, though. That series just had far more well-developed, interesting, and nuanced characters on the whole.
I was not a fan of the second half of UBW. Really not. A lot of the characters and plot threads felt wasted, and Shirou and Archer's fight and discussion lasted two episodes too long (and Shirou's rebuttal to Archer's point was nonsense, imo), and a lot of beats in the story came across as convenient, contrived, or a waste of time. I like the characters and world a lot, so I'm hoping the Heaven's Feel film/s will be more what I'm looking for, but the series far from Zero's level of quality for me, personally.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 01, 2015, 12:52:37 PM
ANN has a vote for Best anime of 2015 (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/survey/613/) if you feel like voting.
I already know my votes!
1. Blood Blockade Battlefront
2. Ushio & Tora
3. One Punch Man
4. My Love Story!!
5. Haikyuu! Second Season
Quote from: gunswordfist on December 02, 2015, 06:37:58 PM
1. JoJo
2. Ushio & Tora
3. One Punch Man
Quote from: VLordGTZ on December 02, 2015, 07:01:06 PM
Mine would be:
1. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc
2. Blood Blockade Battlefront
3. One Punch Man
4. Assassination Classroom
5. Ushio & Tora
I would expect Lupin III Part IV to be in my top 5, but I haven't watched past the first few eps yet. :sweat:
Great lists! This was a pretty good year of anime, and I really enjoyed a lot of shows myself. If I were to go so far as a top 10:
1. Blood Blockade Battlefront
2. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders -Egypt Arc-
3. Gintama
4. Ushio & Tora
5. One-Punch Man
6. Osomatsu-san
7. Lupin III (2015)
8. Assassination Classroom
9. My Love Story
10. Death Parade
Really, a lot of good stuff this year. I was pretty satisfied with most of what I was watching the whole year-round.
Quote from: Cartoon X on December 04, 2015, 03:18:45 AM
I was not a fan of the second half of UBW. Really not. A lot of the characters and plot threads felt wasted, and Shirou and Archer's fight and discussion lasted two episodes too long (and Shirou's rebuttal to Archer's point was nonsense, imo), and a lot of beats in the story came across as convenient, contrived, or a waste of time. I like the characters and world a lot, so I'm hoping the Heaven's Feel film/s will be more what I'm looking for, but the series far from Zero's level of quality for me, personally.
Not quite as against the second season as you, but I do agree about the Shirou vs. Archer conflict. That was painfully boring to deal with, and Shirou's ideals were just stupid.
I do think that season 2 had some good points, though. But the series as a whole is not nearly as good as Zero. The lack of Urobuchi's involvement is clear with this one.
I'm honestly surprised UBW season 1 was as good as it was. Season 2 is much closer to the writing and general quality of the original VN's narrative (even though it adds tons of new, pointless scenes), whereas the first season felt like it was completely rewritten by the more talented Nasu of today.
The Heaven's Feel anime is going to be shit, by the way. It's confirmed to be only one 90-minute movie. It is virtually impossible to tell that story in less than 2-3 hours (and even that's being generous).
So, why did UBW get the full series treatment (as well as the Fate route, several years ago, for that matter)? I get the feeling that Heaven's Feel seems to be the most popular story-line from the original VN, so how come that doesn't get a proper adaptation?
It sort of reminds me how after several years we've STILL never gotten a proper adaptation of the Revenge arc from Rurouni Kenshin, while somehow we have had the Kyoto arc done not once, not twice, but THREE goddamn times! Even the video games usually tend to be based around that arc. It doesn't matter that the manga, despite having ended over a decade and a half ago, is still incredibly popular in Japan and still sells volumes to this day. Furthermore, fans have been clamoring for a proper adaptation of the final arc for years, but somehow we just keep going back to Kyoto, which was already done incredibly well the first time.
The closest that we've gotten to the Revenge arc being adapted were the OVAs. In that regard, Trust and Betrayal was excellent, but literally only told Kenshin's Origin story, which was merely just a flash-back in the arc and was meant more to explain Enishi's animosity towards Kenshin. Then there's the Reflection OVA, which is a fan-detested abomination.
I'm also reminded of how fucking long we had to wait before some studio finally had the bright idea to adapt the rest of Full Metal Panic, despite the light novels selling incredibly well, and the series even having a successful spin-off (in terms of sales, anyways; FMP Another is ass, don't read it).
And then there's still the final arc of Slam Dunk which has inexplicably never been animated, despite that series' massive popularity even to this day (it still ranks within the top 5 of most WSJ popularity poles for its' best series of all time).
My point being, what's with Japan and always avoiding making adaptations of stuff proven to be successful and that tons of people actually want to see?
:D I could go on and on about how much manga should already have been animated at well. It's like they decide things via throwing darts on a wall.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 04, 2015, 02:07:41 PM
So, why did UBW get the full series treatment (as well as the Fate route, several years ago, for that matter)? I get the feeling that Heaven's Feel seems to be the most popular story-line from the original VN, so how come that doesn't get a proper adaptation?
Unlimited Blade Works is by far the most popular part of FSN, actually. It's less boring than Fate (no idea why they even bothered animating that) and more "fun" than Heaven's Feel, so most people like it the most. Also, they kind of had to animate UBW before HF, since HF only makes sense with the context provided by the previous route.
That said, HF is by far the best one IMO. There's a reason why it's the final part of the story and Fate/Zero directly connects to it...
Quote from: Foggle on December 04, 2015, 01:29:31 PM
The Heaven's Feel anime is going to be shit, by the way. It's confirmed to be only one 90-minute movie. It is virtually impossible to tell that story in less than 2-3 hours (and even that's being generous).
Really? That's a shame. It shouldn't be so hard to make F/SN into a satisfying, well-paced and plotted anime... :(
I thought the whole thing about Heaven's Feel being only one film was just a rumor based on a mistranslation of an interview. I don't think Ufotable has confirmed anything since the initial announcement.
They confirmed it at a Japanese convention earlier in the year I believe.
I can't seem to find any information on that, but it's a real shame if that's true and kind of surprising considering how Ufotable handled The Garden of Sinners. :(
I still have a lot of catching up to do from this and last year's anime, but both Ushio and Tora and Digimon Adventure Tri will probably remain my two favorite things that I've seen from Japan, this year.
The Boy and the Beast looks great, but I'll have to wait until it gets a wide release early next year in order to see it.
They are up there for me, too. BBB would be tops as well.
Truthfully, there's a lot of time to catch up. There isn't much anime to watch in the winter season unless you like Assassination Classroom. I'll be waiting until Spring to reactivate my CR account since that's when a lot is on its way.
Ushio & Tora: 2nd Season
Magi: Adventures of Sinbad
My Hero Academia
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
There's even Rinne season 2 for VLord and CX. Between then and now I'll probably just use the time catching up on what I missed.
Don't forget thato the next 4 DAT episodes will be released in theaters in March and will probably be streamed on CR by the time that the Spring season starts, or at least a few weeks after that.
That combined with a new FMP anime covering the rest of the story means that there is a lot to look forward to next year in terms of anime output.
Yikes, I actually forgot about those two. Spring is packed!
Outside of the final cour of DurararaX2 and Assassination Classroom season 2, there isn't really anything else I'm currently interested in watching in the winter season.
The spring season, on the other hand, has six shows that I'm looking forward to (possibly seven shows since I'm pretty confident that Food Wars season 2 will be announced for a spring premiere as well).
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 18, 2015, 12:41:53 PM
There's even Rinne season 2 for VLord and CX.
This reminds me that I still need to finish the first season. :sweat:
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 18, 2015, 12:41:53 PMUshio & Tora: 2nd Season
Magi: Adventures of Sinbad
My Hero Academia
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
There's even Rinne season 2 for VLord and CX. Between then and now I'll probably just use the time catching up on what I missed.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 18, 2015, 01:19:30 PM
Don't forget thato the next 4 DAT episodes will be released in theaters in March and will probably be streamed on CR by the time that the Spring season starts, or at least a few weeks after that.
That combined with a new FMP anime covering the rest of the story means that there is a lot to look forward to next year in terms of anime output.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on December 18, 2015, 07:04:10 PM
Outside of the final cour of DurararaX2 and Assassination Classroom season 2, there isn't really anything else I'm currently interested in watching in the winter season.
The spring season, on the other hand, has six shows that I'm looking forward to (possibly seven shows since I'm pretty confident that Food Wars season 2 will be announced for a spring premiere as well).
You can also officially add Food Wars! Season 2 to that list! (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/12/20/video-jump-festa-pv-for-shokugeki-no-soma-tv-anime-2nd-season)
The first anime improved by leaps and bounds as it went on so I hope the second season can take advantage of the improved material this time and start great out the gate.
Samurai Pizza Cats is on Crunchyroll. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/12/27-1/crunchyroll-adds-samurai-pizza-cats)
:o So much to watch. I still need to get my 360 back so I can finish One Punch Man and Ushio & Tora.
Crunchyroll will start streaming Lupin III: Part IV on January 7th!!! (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/12/28/crunchyroll-to-stream-lupin-the-3rd-part-4-anime)
I'm happy that they've finally picked it up. ;D
It's a good thing I have no social life. :thinkin:
Finally! Now I won't have to put up with Italian dubtitles. :joy:
Is Part IV ongoing or complete? I forget, are Fujiko Mine and Jigen's Gravestone on Crunchyroll?
Quote from: gunswordfist on December 29, 2015, 04:19:31 AM
Is Part IV ongoing or complete? I forget, are Fujiko Mine and Jigen's Gravestone on Crunchyroll?
Part 4 is still ongoing I think. Fujiko Mine is a Funimation license so it's probably not on Crunchyroll, and I believe Gravestone will only be available via fansubs until Discotek's DVD/BD release comes out.
Thank you. Dammit and dammit.
Actually, Jigen's Gravestone is currently streaming on Hulu (both the sub and english dub). Considering that Crunchyroll has been adding more Discotek licensed series recently, it's possible that it may end up on Crunchy eventually.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on December 29, 2015, 10:05:19 PM
Actually, Jigen's Gravestone is currently streaming on Hulu (both the sub and english dub).
Wait, the dub is already finished!? :o
Yeah, the dub was finished early this year and was released on Hulu way back in April. It uses a different cast than Red Jacket and Fujiko Mine (with the exception of Richard Epcar as Zenigata), but it sounded pretty good, imo.
That's awesome and also means I'll be watching the sub. :il_hahaha:
Here's a link with a complete watching order for Lupin. (http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=422835)
This should be helpful, since I want to try to watch an episode/special/movie of the franchise every day this year. I'm on the first episode of blue coat now, and it's pretty nice. Not too much to talk about yet though, since I'm only a few minutes in, but so far the racing reminds me of when I used to stay up late to watch Speed Racer repeats on CN.
Started watching this title named "Tatami Galaxy" the other day; was perusing wiki and I got a lot of praise on it when I asked so I figured "Hey, why not?".
It's pretty entertaining so far and I like the characters enough, my only concern is if it can keep up this good will for all 11 episodes or just end up another disappointment. :-X
Lupin is a nice man~
Quote from: Avaitor on January 03, 2016, 03:19:58 PM
Lupin is a nice man~
I love and hate that song. :il_hahaha:
Quote from: Foggle on January 03, 2016, 08:12:22 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on January 03, 2016, 03:19:58 PM
Lupin is a nice man~
I love and hate that song. :il_hahaha:
It's groovy, you know, but they play it at the worst possible times.
Watching the original series has been a pretty good experience in my crash course for the franchise. And wow, episode 4 was pretty dark. That's the one where Zenigata finally captures Lupin, and gets him to accept the death penalty
Spoiler
except Lupin switches himself out with a guard at the last minute, and Zenigata has to let Lupin go before the guard fries to death. That, and Lupin still shows some psychological scars after his escape from being locked up for so long. Dark, but good stuff, all in all.
I'm on episode 5 now, which has Goemon's first appearance. So far, he's a pretty cool addition, although I don't think that I've seen too much of him in the handful of episodes that I've seen of the franchise. Already, they seem to have some sort of friendly rivalry going on, or at least I think that's the direction they're going to head in.
Not bad. Maybe if I have a little more time before I do this week's YYH talkback, I can cheat and watch the next episode today.
Episode 4 is one of the best Lupin episodes ever. Dark, hilarious, and surprisingly well-written. My favorite of the pre-Miyazaki era. :)
I remember trying to get you into Lupin III almost 8 years ago back on TV.com and you just weren't into it then. It's funny how someone's perception of and enthusiasm for something can drastically change with time.
I've had similar experiences, like how I used to be bored by Rurouni Kenshin and NGE, but came to really appreciate both series later on. I also had a period of time where I liked a lot of crappy shonen series like HSDK and D. Gray-Man, but grew a distaste for them later on, and vice versa with good ones like One Piece and almost any sports manga, which I used to be unfairly biased against.
That's why I eventually plan to give the Gundam franchise another shot.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 05, 2016, 07:53:40 PM
I remember trying to get you into Lupin III almost 8 years ago back on TV.com and you just weren't into it then. It's funny how someone's perception of and enthusiasm for something can drastically change with time.
I've had similar experiences, like how I used to be bored by Rurouni Kenshin and NGE, but came to really appreciate both series later on. I also had a period of time where I liked a lot of crappy shonen series like HSDK and D. Gray-Man, but grew a distaste for them later on, and vice versa with good ones like One Piece and almost any sports manga, which I used to be unfairly biased against.
That's why I eventually plan to give the Gundam franchise another shot.
Mines has never changed. :>
You used to be Avaitor and I didn't even know it? :SHOCK:
Yeah, I remember not really being into Lupin when I was younger. I gave the second series a fair shot on [as], but I didn't really get it then, and the episodes you recommended me a few years later still didn't wow me. But the older I get, and the more I learn about the franchise's impact and its unique style of humor and nods to its influences, and I really do think that there's something special here.
I've always thought that Castle of Cagliostro was a great movie, though. I'm excited to see that again when I reach it.
I still need to finish the Red Jacket series and watch a bunch of the specials. :sweat:
I had a lot of trouble getting into Gundam when I was younger, but I watched the movie trilogy for the original series last year and loved it. :)
I've been watching some Yowamushi Pedal. It's a pretty good sports anime from what I've seen so far. Reminds me a bit of Baby Steps.
I've been watching that as well. What a coincidence. :D
Though, I do feel that Sakamichi maybe grows a bit too fast. One thing I really have to give Baby Steps credit for is how it really sells its theme of "Baby steps to giant strides," since Maruo really has to work hard for the slightest of improvements, but they pay off big time after 200+ chapters.
Gundam is still on my backlog. Funny, I used to hate Gundam and One Piece but now love one.
You might like 08th MS Team, GSF. It's a bit more action-based than a lot of other Gundam series.
0080 is usually the go-to for non-mehca fans, but I'll throw that in for you, as well.
I'm not sure if 0080 would be his thing. But then I never know what Gundam series to recommend to people. Almost everyone has their own favorites and ones they hate with a burning passion.
I still want to see Turn A and 00, for instance, and I've heard all kinds of conflicting info about them.
I actually loved 0080 (and really disliked the franchise back then) since it was short, had an easy-to-follow story, and was stand-alone so you could watch it without knowing anything about the Gundam franchise at all. It's probably the best entry-point for newcomers to the franchise.
Quote from: Avaitor on January 06, 2016, 09:44:03 AM
You might like 08th MS Team, GSF. It's a bit more action-based than a lot of other Gundam series.
0080 is usually the go-to for non-mehca fans, but I'll throw that in for you, as well.
I'll give both a shot. :) Thank you.
Quote from: Avaitor on January 06, 2016, 09:44:03 AM
You might like 08th MS Team, GSF. It's a bit more action-based than a lot of other Gundam series.
0080 is usually the go-to for non-mehca fans, but I'll throw that in for you, as well.
While I liked both of these, I'd greatly second 08th MS Team; more people need to watch that. :thumbup:
That said, I finished Tatami Galaxy the other day and it turned out I was concerned over nothing, haha; everything concluded pretty well so I was fairly content with how it turned out. However, I then checked out the first 3 episodes of Macross Frontier and, god, what an empty show. Any depth the characters had was just them acting out overly-done mecha cliches, pass!
I just finished Yowamushi Pedal/Grande Road. The Inter-High Day 3 match took up nearly the whole season, but it's easily among the most exciting and fun matches that I've ever seen in a Shonen Sports series. The first half is genuinely entertaining in its chaotic nature in how it differs from the previous races since it's a final and some team members inevitably have to be left behind. Additionally, the concept of forming temporary alliances with other teams during parts of the race is one of the most unique things that I've seen in a competition-based series. It leads to some really fun combos of characters between different teams forming temporary alternate mini-teams. The second half is really intense and heartfelt, and has an increasing sense of desperation as it reaches its climax, much like the best matches in other sports manga/anime.
I suppose now I'll have to check if the manga is available in English, or if not then I'll just have to wait for a third season to come out.
They just made an original movie, apparently. But the show has been a surprise hit to such an absurd degree that there will probably be a third season by Fall.
Glad to know it gets better, and I really enjoy it right now. The series took me by surprise with how enjoyable it is to watch. Also the VA for Onoda will be voicing Midoriya in MHA so it was a nice way to see how he'd do in the role, and from this it's easy to tell he could do it without any problem.
Well, both characters are very similar:
-Both start out as small and weak
-Both are very timid initially but gain confidence over time
-Both have rapid growth after they disover/gain access to their talents
So, yeah, it's pretty obvious type-casting based on that.
I checked it out and the manga is still going with 42 volumes out so far. It doesn't look like it's legally available in English yet, though, and scans only go a few chapters past where the anime ends. So, it looks like I'll be waiting for season three after all.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 07, 2016, 05:56:25 PMSo, it looks like I'll be waiting for season three after all.
Season three has been greenlit. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-10-06/yowamushi-pedal-tv-anime-gets-3rd-season/.93845)
Also, the manga has sold over 15 million copies (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-01-08/yowamushi-pedal-manga-has-15-million-copies-in-print/.97346) which means the anime will probably be going for a while.
Sounds like I have another show to look forward to this year. :thumbup:
So, I finally got around to watching the second Tiger & Bunny movie the other day. It was an entertaining filler movie, but I'm rather disappointed that it focused on a forgettable group of new villains rather than resolving the Lunatic story-line which was never concluded in the TV series. I just kind of feel like it was a wasted opportunity.
That said, the movie on its own wasn't bad. Nothing too special, but certainly entertaining enough to be worth checking out if you're a fan of the show.
I still haven't gotten around to the movies yet. I just haven't felt the need to rush to see them. I'm far more interested in a second season that deals with Lunatic and Ouroboros.
Sunrise always takes their time with this stuff, though.
A second season (or third if you count the original two cours as separate seasons) would be ideal, but it has been four years since the TV series originally ended, so I'm not sure if Sunrise is interested enough in doing a new season since we've already had a large gap of time since the series stopped airing.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on January 08, 2016, 12:33:57 PMI still haven't gotten around to the movies yet.
In case you ever do decide to check them out, you can skip the first film because the majority of it is a recap of the first few episodes of the show, and the last act, while being comprised entirely of new marerial, is pretty uninspired and forgettable. It's not really worth the time that it takes to through it all.
The second movie at least takes place after the end of the series.
I think that a second season of T&B may still happen since the series and merchandise are still very popular in Japan. I could see Sunrise producing a new season around the time that the live action film comes out (similar to what Madhouse did with Parasyte).
I know fans have been waiting for one for a long time and there's been a ton of merchandise over the years.
All they would have to do is structure it a bit like season 1, with the first 13 episodes focused on one particular area (like Lunatic) and the last 12 wrapping everything up and dealing with the obvious Ouroboros problem. A single 25 episode season would be more than enough, I think.
So, I've been watching One-Punch Man, 2015's breakout hit (actually I began watching it last year, but other things got in the way and I sort of forgot about it). I'm currently six episodes in and to be honest, I'm on the fence as to whether or not I should continue watching it. Its not a bad show by any means, but for some reason it doesn't really click with me.
I will say that the animation is great though, which admittedly counts for a lot.
I was in a Gundam mood today, so I decided to watch the first OVA of Gundam: The Origin. Overall, Origin was pretty good and it had some great moments of Ral and Hamon. My only real complaint about it was that child Sayla was annoying as hell. Also Char didn't have many lines, but it doesn't seem like this will be an issue in the second OVA and onwards. I also watched the first episode of Gundam Thunderbolt. It had great animation and music (jazz music in gundam!!!). Since it was only 18 minutes, I'm not sure how I feel about the story yet, but I'm definitely interested in watching the second episode when it comes out.
I'm so behind on Gundam, tbh. I've only seen the first 3 OVAs of Unicorn, for one thing, and I stopped my UC watch at Char's Counterattack.
One of these days, I'll have to restart Unicorn and watch F91 and Turn A, as well as start The Origin.
I watched the first 4 OVAs of Unicorn a few years ago and then forgot to watch the rest of it. :sweat: I'll probably restart it from the beginning after watching Zeta and Char's Counterattack.
Outside of UC Gundam series, I'm interested in watching Turn A and X at some point.
Episode 13 is pretty weird- in this one, a "time traveler" comes to kill Lupin for his future descendent's actions. But it's weird in a really entertaining way.
That descendent wouldn't happen to be Lupin VIII, would it? :D
Is Osomatsu-san worth watching, even if you haven't seen or read any of the original works?
The show makes fun of the fact that nobody under the age of 50 has seen any previous Osomatsu stuff before, so yes.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 12, 2016, 05:15:16 PM
The show makes fun of the fact that nobody under the age of 50 has seen any previous Osomatsu stuff before, so yes.
That actually sounds really up my alley. I'll keep it in mind!
I've been wondering for a while now: Why is episode 1 missing from CR?
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 12, 2016, 06:15:51 PM
I've been wondering for a while now: Why is episode 1 missing from CR?
Because of all the overt parodies and fears of lawsuits. Japan has no real protection against satire or parody.
Well, now I just HAVE to see it. :>
Yeah, it's a pretty funny episode. :)
I just watched it. Fuck anyone who'd bring up a lawsuit against a company for satire. This was fucking hilarious. Definitely up my alley.
I was surprised that I got pretty much all of the modern anime references that they threw into this episode, as well.
Jyushimatsu is best Matsu.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 12, 2016, 09:01:18 PM
Jyushimatsu is best Matsu.
Jyushimatsu > Ichimatsu > Karamatsu > Choromatsu > Todomatsu > Osomatsu.
Episode 3 (which also got banned) is pretty amazing in and of itself.
I finally got around to episode 1. Damn, this is incredible.
Will definitely get to some more later.
Use the thread. (http://animationrevelation.com/forum/index.php?topic=1425.0l)
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 17, 2016, 12:04:30 PM
Use the thread. (http://animationrevelation.com/forum/index.php?topic=1425.0l)
Fixed the title so people won't just glance for a second and go back to their business. Now they'll glance for two seconds.
I said that I'd do an episode of Lupin a day, yet I'm already done with the first series. It's not always very exciting or funny, but it's usually pleasant to watch, and Miyazaki's run was a welcome addition. Overall, pretty good stuff.
I'll start red jacket tomorrow.
I couldn't wait, so I decided to start Part II up tonight, and yikes, the dub isn't very good. Right now, at least, although Fujiko's VA is fine.
Does the dub improve, or am I better off sticking to the sub? Crunchyroll only has up to episode 79 dubbed right now, while they have the whole series subbed. For right now, I'll try out the next ep subbed, and think about whether or not I should give the dub another shot.
I've never liked any of the Lupin dubs, but it definitely does get better.
I think that I'll stick to the sub, then, for consistency's sake.
Also, good news, EK! (http://otakuusamagazine.com/LatestNews/News1/The-Boy-and-the-Beast-Hits-US-Theaters-in-February-7306.aspx)
In terms of Lupin dubs, the only one I particularly love is the dub for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. The Part II dub is not amazing by any means, but it certainly get better over time. Personally, I prefer watching the dub for the first half because its such a long show to get through, and not having read subtitles makes that easier. :sweat:
Yeah, I can't wait to see it next month. Between that and Deadpool, February is looking like a relatively good month for movies.
As for Lupin III, I actually enjoy the Red Jacket dub quite a bit, but I also got introduced to the series with that dub, so I have a definite nostalgic attachment to it.
My favorite Lupin dub is still Manga's Cagliostro.
Red Jacket dub is the best for me.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu continues to be the unabashed winner of the season.
From AR's new anime reviews, Dagashi Kashi managed to catch my interest. It's slow but strangely fun. Hotaru Shidare is a whole lot of crazy (dem eyes!) and will probably be one of the more memorable female characters of this year.
So, does Zenigata appear in every episode of Part 2? I really do like the character, but I kind of prefer how he was barely in half of Part 1, since he feels tacked on a lot of the time.
Yeah, even though he's my favorite character, Parts 2 and 3 kind of overuse Zenigata at times. Fujiko Mine and Part 4 are much more sensible about his inclusion IMO.
Blasphemy. :thinkin:
I do think his inclusion in episode 13 was pretty funny, since it was almost like a cameo.
I'm about halfway through my Outlaw Star rewatch, and I forgot how dense the purple prose in the openings can get.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, btw.
Where are you rewatching it? I wanted to finish a rewatch years ago..but my library didn't have the last DVD or 2. :wth:
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 08, 2016, 11:12:35 PM
Where are you rewatching it? I wanted to finish a rewatch years ago..but my library didn't have the last DVD or 2. :wth:
Through not-legal methods. :P
Only been watching the anime of Koukaku no Pandora lately. Good to see Rikdo's work getting the animation treatment after so long.
The Flame of Recca anime is on Crunchyroll.
Sure it's not a full adaption of the manga, for whatever reason, but at least it's there.
I just finished watching the first 3 episodes of Lupin. I thought the 3rd episode was pretty sad. Also, decent show so far and the theme song already has me humming.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on February 09, 2016, 06:15:38 PM
The Flame of Recca anime is on Crunchyroll.
Sure it's not a full adaption of the manga, for whatever reason, but at least it's there.
Hmm...I lost interest in the manga after the first volume but I might check thatt anime out.
I watched most of Lupin Part 1 Episode 4 this morning. Zenigata is so heart broken lol
I finished episode 4 and then all of episode 5 early this morning. The fourth episode just put Part 1 on my favorites list. In the 5th, Goemon was introduced. Damn, I didn't know/forgot he was that skilled. That also answered my Jigen vs. Goemon question.
Is anyone else keeping up with Erased? It's a pretty interesting little mystery story with a time-traveling twist, and another example that A-1 Pictures can put out something of decent quality from time to time.
Actually, it probably has more to do with the director and animation staff than the animation company that's producing it, just like how Digimon Adventure Tri can be as good as it is despite all of Toei's other efforts for TV anime from the past several years being a steaming pile.
I have been. It's probably the best series this season with Rakugo (which is still on my list) and has been incredibly engaging since episode 1. I was happy to hear that it will cover the whole manga and finish with the manga's ending.
Time travel, eh? Might peep at that.
I just finished watching two more episodes of Lupin The Third Part 1. I had to switch to Hulu since Crunchyroll has been inaccessible on my account, for some reason. The last episode I saw had Goemon's 2nd appearance. It looks like he's finally a full time member of the gang. Also, it was nice seeing Lupin's Dad.
Crunchyroll is now streaming episodes 101-104 of the Zatch Bell dub (which only aired in Canada back in the day) (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/02/16/crunchyroll-adds-more-dubbed-zatch-bell-and-yu-gi-oh-zexal). I'm still curious as to why New Video Group did not include these four episodes in their DVD release, but its good to see that they are now available legally in the US.
Just finished Goemon's first episode with the team. It was half decent.
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 12, 2016, 09:53:37 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on February 09, 2016, 06:15:38 PM
The Flame of Recca anime is on Crunchyroll.
Sure it's not a full adaption of the manga, for whatever reason, but at least it's there.
Hmm...I lost interest in the manga after the first volume but I might check thatt anime out.
You might like it, but it changes a few things and literally stops halfway through the manga's story. But the manga is a personal favorite of mine, so I might be biased.
Interesting.
I watched yet another episode of Lupin today. Got to learn a bit about Fujiko's past for the first time ever. They have Goemon leave yet again. Damn, they have a good clue as to how freaking overpowered he is. :D
The pre-Miyazaki episodes of Series 1 have some great moments, but it really does turn into something special when he and Takahata come in.
I'm about 45 episodes into Series 2 now, and I'm still enjoying it. It's a little too formulaic for me to watch multiple episodes in a row, so deciding to only watch an ep or two a day was a good call. And it's still fun to watch, since the traveling theme does help to keep the show fresh, and gives off a great feeling of environment throughout. I do think that they should have cut back on Zenigata a little, though.
Man, this is making me want to re-watch both series. It's been so long....
Miyazaki did Part 1 episodes as well?! I had no clue. I just assumed he came in on Part 2. And I didn't even know Part 2 had that many episodes.
Most of his Lupin work comes from Part I. He only did 2 Part II episodes, at the end of the show's run.
Just watched this week's episode of Erased. Damn, what a cliffhanger.
Quote from: Avaitor on February 18, 2016, 08:34:19 AM
Most of his Lupin work comes from Part I. He only did 2 Part II episodes, at the end of the show's run.
(https://m.popkey.co/6cbf33/kvpaw.gif)
Currently, I am trying to catch-up with Lupin III Part IV. After 15 episodes, it's easily becoming my favorite Lupin series besides Fujiko Mine.
I'm also currently watching the broadcast dubs of Assassination Classroom Season 2 and Dagashi Kashi. Assassination Classroom is great as always, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how things unfold this season. Dagashi Kashi is surprisingly entertaining and Hotaru's crazy behavior is pretty funny.
I also want to check out Rakugo Shinju and ERASED at some point since I've been hearing really good things about them, and I'm planning to go back finish the first season of Rin-ne before the spring season starts
I've been meaning to get around to Rakugo as well. All things considered, the fact that we have two really good shows from the Winter season is pretty good (and way better than I expected) by Winter season standards.
Watched one episode of Lupin on Thursday and 1 episode on Friday, I believe.
In Haruchika, a talking bear committed mass murder-suicide.
It looks like Crunchyroll is missing a couple of episodes of Part II, after all. The earliest ones I can find are in the mid-60's, and since I'm in the mid-50's now, I'm catching up.
If you have it, try Hulu. I'll have to actually check if they have all the episodes, though.
Speaking of which, I finished episode 11 or 12 (Titled something like, "The One Who Has The Last Laugh") of Lupin The Third Part 1. No Goemon for the 3rd or so episode in a row but I'm liking everyone else more.
Before that, I watched the first two episodes of Erased, which are luckily on Hulu since apparently my brother's CrunchyRoll account has not been renewed. Except for hearing it has something to do with time traveling, I came in completely blind. Within 5 minutes, Satoru already seemed more human than most anime characters so that caught my attention. I was going to just watch one episode but that shocking ending to it made me watch another. I'm hooked.
Yeah, Erased is probably the best anime of the season aside from Rakugo (which I still need to check out, myself).
Quote from: Avaitor on February 26, 2016, 03:34:26 PM
It looks like Crunchyroll is missing a couple of episodes of Part II, after all. The earliest ones I can find are in the mid-60's, and since I'm in the mid-50's now, I'm catching up.
Huh? They're all showing up for me.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on February 26, 2016, 06:16:52 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on February 26, 2016, 03:34:26 PM
It looks like Crunchyroll is missing a couple of episodes of Part II, after all. The earliest ones I can find are in the mid-60's, and since I'm in the mid-50's now, I'm catching up.
Huh? They're all showing up for me.
Hmm, episodes 65 and 67 are only available dubbed. Since I'm watching the show subbed, it looks like I'll give the dub another chance when I hit those eps.
For whatever reason, the episode images for subtitled version of eps 65, 67, and 92 say "coming soon", but they actually play perfectly fine.
Shibuya Productions is producing a new Space Adventure Cobra series. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54kNWPr43zE)
Started another Lupin episode a minute before midnight. We throwing time traveling shit now?!
Seriously, the pacing was..all over the place, imo, but I liked it.
Another day, another Lupin.. It was the yacht Hollywood whatshername Eye of the Nile episode.
I just finished Outlaw Star, and I still quite like it. It's a little dated in some areas, and the dub is a bit too sped up, but it's still a good watch. The world building is especially tight, which is why I would have loved for more to be made.
I'd gladly donate to a Kickstarter for a second season or OVA.
An Outlaw Star kickstarted would get backed in like an hour.
I watched episodes 3, 4 and 5 of Erased early this morning.
Episode 3: An intense but for me, mostly feel good episode.
Episode 4: This one was going even better than the last one. I actually screamed "YES!" when Kayo showed up at the door the second before last time this episode and was happy during the next time. Then Satoru does THE DUMB FUCK MOVE OF THE CENTURY! You fucking idiot. :shit: You should have been there.
Episode 5: Back to the future. I wonder what's going to happen next. I'll probably finish the available episode today or after midnight.
Edit 1: It's good to be a fan of an anime series where someone isn't murdered every 13 seconds and they don't use the time traveling as a replacement for writing but as an enhancement :)
Edit 2: Very coincidental that I watched this episodes on March 2. And on a leap year too. :joy:
Judging by Escaflowne, I'm pretty sure Outlaw Star would have no problem whatsoever. Though its dub is still pretty good now and there is no cut foootage to add back in, so I doubt they'd do a kickstarter just like that series.
That said, I wish Funi would get around to re-releasing it already.
Oh, I don't mean a Kickstarter for a new dub- I meant one for a sequel series. A Kickstarter could definitely show the level of interest there would be for one.
I'd predict that the interest would be off the charts. :kabapu:
I just finished episode 7 and watched 6 before that...now I'm really on edge.
So does Hulu just stop at 7 episodes for some reason or does Erased have more than that?
I think Hulu posts the episodes with a one week delay. Crunchyroll currently has 8 episodes, and the 9th ep comes out today.
If you have a CR account then you can watch up to the most current episode (which will be uploaded within a few hours from now). If not then you have access only to episodes that are at least one week old or older.
I'm not sure where to put this, but Tiger Mask is getting a new anime adaption! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-03-03/new-japan-pro-wrestling-plans-tiger-mask-anime/.99356)
Hopefully it'll be done by a good studio since I'm really interested in seeing more of Asaki Takamori's work. :)
Hopefully this doesn't turn into another Matsutaro (I hear that the manga is much better and that Toei really did royally screw up). I'm cautiously optimistic, but I am very eager to explore this series since the manga stopped getting new English scans after just a volume or two, and will never have an official English translation.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 03, 2016, 07:53:22 AM
If you have a CR account then you can watch up to the most current episode (which will be uploaded within a few hours from now). If not then you have access only to episodes that are at least one week old or older.
I use my brother's but he seems to not have renewed it. I'll have to check again.
Sure enough, they are a week behind. Episode 8 was available today. I just finished it. I almost wanted to cry during the breakfast scene.
Looks like Hinazuki's conflict was resolved with episode nine, but Satoru isn't quite done with the past yet. He still has to somehow find the killer and get him caught before he manages to get to anyone else.
I just came back from seeing The Boy and the Beast. I didn't enjoy as much as Wolf Children (which is my favorite of Hosada's works), but it was still really good. Once again, Hosoda has made a very solid film. :)
The ERASED manga ended this week in Japan, so I wouldn't be surprised if they cover it all in the Anime.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on March 05, 2016, 10:12:41 PM
The ERASED manga ended this week in Japan, so I wouldn't be surprised if they cover it all in the Anime.
I really hope that's the case.
About 20 or so minutes ago, I finished watching the Lupin episode, "Let's Catch Lupin and Go to Europe". Probably my favorite episode since..the first time Zenigata caught Lupin, if not more so. Zenigata was pretty funny in this one.
I'm rewatching Tenchi Muyo! now, only the Ryo-Ohki OVAs for now, and I'm about to start episode 5 of the first series.
You know, I had a tape with the first 3 episodes on it. It was a little less edited than Toonami's airings, but still didn't have everything on it. But I mainly just remember watching it a lot, especially when the show was gone from the block, and even though I know these episodes like the back of my hand at this point, I still find joy in watching them. There are still some typical harem tropes here, but it's a lot of fun to watch.
I'm mainly surprised that this aired on Toonami, though. While we get more action later on, there really isn't much in these episodes at all. It's mostly humor and character moments, not to mention the fanservice they had to cut out. All of which mostly work, but it's such an odd fit in between DBZ and Gundam Wing.
Quote from: gunswordfist on March 06, 2016, 04:46:31 AM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on March 05, 2016, 10:12:41 PM
The ERASED manga ended this week in Japan, so I wouldn't be surprised if they cover it all in the Anime.
I really hope that's the case.
It is, as is the live action movie apparently.
'Yay!' on the former! Any word on whether or not it'll have any mid-season or whatever breaks?
I think it's running right to the end.
I think what makes Tenchi so special is how different it is. I love how the last episode of the second OVA is a domesticated double-parter in which Ayeka and Sasami's parents come back. Made as a cap-off after the previous episode cut back on a big battle to allow a theological debate between Washu and the big bad. And it helps that each of the characters are pretty likable and well-defined, and it's rather believable that everyone would want someone like Tenchi.
I wasn't a big fan of Universe as a kid, since I thought that it was a retread of the OVAs. I didn't realize that it was meant to be an expansion of them. I'll have to give it and the movies a go soon, and I'm even thinking of watching the third OVA before the next one goes. But I wasn't into that one episode that aired on Toonami's AFD broadcast, but I might as well give it a shot.
But I'll come back to them. It's about time that I give Maison Ikkoku a shot!
I really liked the first and second Tenchi OVA series, but the third OVA pretty much ruined that timeline for me. That being said, I'm not looking all that forward to the new OVAs. I'd much rather have a sequel series for Universe.
Quote from: Avaitor on March 10, 2016, 11:41:27 AM
But I'll come back to them. It's about time that I give Maison Ikkoku a shot!
I hope you enjoy it! :thumbup:
Just finished episode 9 of Erased
Spoiler
It does seem like the Kayo storyline is finished. I also don't feel sorry for her mother.
Tenchi had comedy, romance, action, drama, and a very unique idea (for the time), which the genre it spawned, and recent sequels, frequently do not.
I finished watching the "Keep an Eye on the Beauty Contest" and then Detective Garmand or whatever the hell his name was. The latter episode had one of the funniest endings. :lol: :lol:
Watched some Captain Tylor with a friend. Still hilarious after all these years.
I'm 8 episodes into Maison Ikkoku so far, and I like it. It definitely reminds me of the humor from Inuyasha and the little bit of Ranma that I saw, but easily less obnoxious than the former. I'm pretty happy to go along with this.
Caught the Catch the Phony Lupin episode today. This marks the very first time Lupin worked alone for an entire episode. Which I'm pretty sure also means the first episode with no Jigen.
Caught the 21st and 22nd episode of Lupin The Third today. Just one more episode to go, if I remember correctly.
After this, I'll like start on daredevil Season 1 in preparation for Season 2's release this Friday. I haven't watched the show since the first time I've seen it and it should be great to keep a fresh memory of it going into the new episodes.
I watched The Boy and the Beast back when it opened for a wide theatrical release. I initially didn't post about it because I was saving my thoughts on it for a blog entry looking at a retrospective of Mamoru Hosoda's work, leading up to my review of this film. Since it doesn't look like that'll pan out for quite some time, I'll just say for now that I pretty much got what I expected, and I loved the movie. It contains many of Hosoda's ususal themes of family and love, albeit specifically focusing on the father-son-like relationship between Kumatetsu and Kyuuta. The animation was also gorgeous, as expected, and just like Wolf Children this movie really does give you the feels by the end.
Overall, is it Hosoda's best film? Personally, I say that honor still goes to Summer Wars, but it's definitely on the same level of quality as that film, Wolf Children, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
Sounds good. Can't wait to see it.
In other news, and to the surprise of no one, Haikyu season 3 has been confirmed. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/03/16-1/shonen-jump-set-to-announce-haikyu-anime-season-three)
Charapedia put out a list of the Top 20 most anticipated shows of the Spring season. (http://www.charapedia.jp/research/0111/)
1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
2. Sakamoto desu ga?
3. Bungo Stray Dogs
4. My Hero Academia
5. Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge
6. Macross Delta
7. The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water
8. Magi: Sinbad no Boken
9. Netoge no Yome wa Onna no Ko ja nai to Omotta?
10. Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
11. Mobile Suit Gundam UC RE:0096
12. Haku?ki: Otogis?shi
13. Joker Game
14. RIN-NE 2
15. Bakuon!!
16. Ushio & Tora
17. Kiznaiver
18. Ace Attorney
19. Mayoiga
20. Shonen Maid
Guess what I think is way too low..
Quote from: gunswordfist on March 17, 2016, 07:26:51 PM
Guess what I think is way too low..
I didn't realize you were into Shonen Maid.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on March 17, 2016, 07:29:11 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on March 17, 2016, 07:26:51 PM
Guess what I think is way too low..
I didn't realize you were into Shonen Maid.
Extremely disappointed it has nothing to do with Kuro-kun.
Quote from: Foggle on March 17, 2016, 09:10:51 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on March 17, 2016, 07:29:11 PM
Quote from: gunswordfist on March 17, 2016, 07:26:51 PM
Guess what I think is way too low..
I didn't realize you were into Shonen Maid.
Extremely disappointed it has nothing to do with Kuro-kun.
Don't worry. It's the same plot except without the graphic rape scenes.
I just finished lupin the third part 1. :'( A lot of average episodes but I love Lupin and I still got to like all of the characters more than I usually do. My favorite episodes are Farewell My Beloved Witch, One Chance To Breakout, The Coming of Goemon the Thirteenth, A Wolf Calls a Wolf, A Killer Sings The Blues, Rainy Afternoons are Bad, Beware The Time Machine, Let's Catch Lupin and Go to Europe and Rescue the Tomboy.
Other notes, I hate Fujiko's haircut midway through the series. She looks so stupid. I love this shows soundtrack. I hope its on youtube so I can favorite a lot of it. Oh and I like how Zenigata referenced the two times he caught Lupin and how he cried
Spoiler
when he thought Lupin had blown himself up in the finale
I started on Lupin The Third Part 2 with the first episode today. I haven't seen this one in a long time and never dubbed so it was a treat. Also, it was Scorpion from the very first episode. I was wondering since Part 1. He apparently died the way way Lupin hurt him in his first appearance. lol Also, 5 years?Damn,forgot about that part.
The new Berserk TV anime is being produced by Liden Films with studios GEMBA and Millepensee in charge of animation. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-03-22/new-berserk-tv-anime-cast-staff-july-premiere-unveiled/.100100)
Hmm, the animation looks decent even though it's (mostly?) CG.
My guess is that it's going to be like Legend of Arslan, where it's mostly 2D with occasional CG.
Finished episode 2 of Red Jacket Lupin. Looks like Zenigata is Interpol now.
Zenigata as Wyatt Earp! :D
:D
Finished episode 3 yesterday. Fujiko has a decent singing voice. Oh and I'm glad 5 years was enough to cure her of Aunt hair.
The Mob Psycho 100 anime will premiere in July! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-03-24/mob-psycho-100-anime-reveals-1st-pv-with-english-subtitles-july-premiere/.100205)
Alongside Orange, Berserk, and Food Wars 2, it looks like the summer season won't be too dull this year. :)
I just finished watching ERASED. Personally I thought it was fine, but most people are understabdably underwhelmed by it. I still enjoyed this series on the whole. It helps that the director was a former assistant and protege of Mamoru Hosoda, and while his past work dealt with less than stellar material, his style really shines when given a good story and characters to work with.
Later on I'll see if there are other works by the original mangaka that are available for me to check out.
Well, Ito directed Silver Spoon which I thought was a great anime adaption. But yeah, the series he's directed besides SS and ERASED haven't had good source materials or writers.
I haven't seen much of ERASED yet, so I'll probably marathon through the remainder of it this weekend if I have time.
It's fun to see how two popular anime YouTubers that I follow have such wildly different feelings on the series.
Digibro avidly hates it, and while he does bring up some legitimate criticisms, he also makes mountains out of molehills by stressing really nit-picky points and generally saying that it fails to work as a mystery story when the mystery was clearly downplayed and not at all the focus of the story. He also admits that he is biased against A-1 Pictures.
Mother's Basement, however, has praised the series with two analytical videos on some of its most interesting scenes.
What was awkward was when DB called out MB on those videos and basically tried to discredit him, which was really awkward, despite DB trying his best to be nice about it.
I'm glad Mother's Basement is still quality. :)
I was thinking the the same. The show is really more about the characters than the mystery. Who the killer is is worthy of complaining but I got over that fast because of what I just mentioned. Also, that reveal scene was still great.
I'd argue that the anime intentionally made the reveal so obvious through so much foreshadowing to emphasize that it wasn't a story about the mystery.
I assumed that it was a "so obvious that this HAS to be just trying to through me off" type of situation. :D
Watched episode 11
Spoiler
:o at the OP change. This was legit the first time I watched all of it due to me avoiding any semblance of a spoiler but had to after seeing Satoru missing.
Serial killers usually do start out on animals.
It was great seeing the main 3 kid friends as adults. I've been waiting for that. ;D
I wonder what that asshole Yashiro has planned. He obviously knew/expected Satoru would get better.
Crunchyroll is planning to stream the new Berserk anime this summer. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-945233/berserk-is-coming-to-crunchyroll-this-summer)
There's also a new key visual:
Spoiler
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg1.ak.crunchyroll.com%2Fi%2Fspire3%2Fd6a8e2f6890400d1885dc2ce310918441458932986_full.png&hash=7940d5adbfa54bae84957cd95d73684fd9b1c7d6)
This reminds me that I should get back to reading Berserk at some point. :sweat:
The Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel adaption has been confirmed to be three separate films, the first of which will premiere in 2017. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-03-27/fate-stay-night-heaven-feel-film-project-is-trilogy-starting-in-2017/.100348)
I'm glad that the all the rumors about the HF adaption being only one film were false. :)
For time being, I've been watching:
-Gokukoku no Brynhildr
-Danganronpa
-Seraph of the End
-Clannad
My pacing for anime is a bit slow recently, so I couldn't catch up that much.
So, just like how about a year and a half ago I forced myself to read through the rest of Naruto since I was already almost done with it, and this way I could say that I read the whole manga, I decided why not try and watch the two movies which have come out since the end of the manga, and which are both supposedly canon to the series, in the same way that the new DBZ movies are. I mostly just wanted to get the original Naruto series done with in regard to the first post-series movie, and see if the reboot/sequel, Boruto, was any good (which I heard that it surprisingly was, including from people who share my distaste for the series, like Cartoon X).
First I watched The Last, which is one of the most godawful, painfully boring experiences that I've ever had with an anime. It's basically a romance story, except with characters that are less interesting than sandpaper, and some of the most mundane action that I've ever seen in an anime film of this sort, even by the lofty standards of most movies based off of WSJ properties.
As for Boruto, I had previously read Masashi Kishimoto's 10-chapter mini-series from last year leading up to the film, which I noted was actually pretty decent given how shitty Kishimoto's writing had gotten for over a decade. It had the freshness of a new series, sort of like how Naurto itself was early on, and while it had its stupid parts, it was ultimately fairly entertaining for what it was.
So then I checked out Boruto, with low-to-mild expectations. Now, it may be because Naruto as a series managed to lower my expectations, and thus my threshold of judging something as quality, but this movie was great. It is hands down the best thing to come out of this entire mess of a franchise, by far, IMO. It wisely keeps the fan-service elements in the background, which enhances the experience for anyone who was a fan of the series, but at the same time tells a fresh new story that is accessible to any newcomers, and manages to successfully introduce a new cast of characters, while providing refreshing new takes on the cast of the original series. The manga became guilty of taking itself way too seriously, getting way up its own ass in pretentious drivel, and generally making its characters unintentionally come off as unlikable pricks, the most notorious of which was Sasuke. This movie actually managed to take a character like that and make me give a shit about him. Words can't describe how impressive that is considering how much I utterly detest that character in the main series. As you can imagine, it does well with the rest of the slightly less annoying characters from the old series as well. The plot, along with the villains, in and of themselves are nothing noteworthy, but neither are they the main focus of the movie. The story is actually more of a coming of age story for Boruto, and does a good job of establishing a shaky relationship between him and his father. Naruto himself comes off as a fully realized, three-dimensional character, as does Sasuke, and that manages to make this come off as a well above average movie by WSJ standards. In fact, its biggest strength is that it doesn't feel like a WSJ movie or property. It pays enough homage to the source material to be considered a part of the franchise, but aside from that it feels like its completely its own thing, with its own themes that it wants to get across. It excels precisely because it is more concerned with being a fun and entertaining movie first, rather than trying to please fans of the series and alienate everyone else with overly convoluted bull-shit strewn in to give off the false impression that its fans are actually watching something deep. In that regard, it feels genuinely inspired in a way similar to films like Kung-Fu Panda or How To Train Your Dragon.
And just to reiterate, I absolutely loathe post time-skip Naruto, and am not even a fan of the earlier stuff; the best thing that I can say about most of it was that it wasn't terrible, and certainly not as bad as the later material from the series. So for me to say something positive about anything even remotely relating to this franchise means that it must have probably done something right, and this movie certainly did. It's even to the point where I'm genuinely interested in checking out the sequel when it comes out, and I "might" actually try the manga as well, though I'm honestly not expecting much from either since I'm still convinced that this movie was somehow a fluke.
This does bring up another point, though. Just like how Marvel fans are getting a series of movies produced by the same company that runs the comics in the first place, and therefore have respect for and put effort into adapting their own source material, I kind of wish that, as a WSJ fan, we could get more genuinely good quality movies. I mean anime films with effort put into them, like this one, the two most recent DBZ movies, and some of the better One Piece movies such as Strong World. Unfortunately, 99% of these movies are uninspired cash-grabs, and generally turn out to be utter crap. A large part of this is because the movies that take place during a series are generally non-canon filler that feel largely inconsequential. Looking at the examples above, the only real possible solutions to this are either to set the events in an alternate Universe like the One Piece films that don't have to abide by the rules or continuity of the main series (but even then they still mostly just feel like filler), or make them canon, In-Universe stories that take place after the manga has ended, and only if it is well-suited to potential new content, like with DBZ and Naruto. I think the case of the latter in particular is pretty much the best option to get good films based on WSJ properties. What's more is that it makes business sense as well, since it would help keep some of their older and more popular series relevant and selling extremely well for several years after they have already finished their print runs. This, alongside their popular contemporary series, which don't really need to have films to boost their popularity, would be a genuinely good thing for Shueisha as a company. They would inevitably profit from the licensing rights to these movies in the first place, or if they could produce it themselves through a studio of their own funding, that could be even better.
I heard the second Gintama movie was actually pretty good (the first being an adaption of an already animated arc) since it was written by the author and had effort put into it. It was also a completely original story that hooked into themes from the series.
Most of these films are just extended episodes, though. That's nice for people who want more of said show, but not for those who want to see the series from a different angle than the page and TV screen.
I do wish, for instance, that they could use the films to tell bigger stories in the world established. How about an original JoJo movie adapting the story about George in WWII? Or maybe a Dragon Ball movie focused around Tenshinhan? How about a MHA film focused on one of the underused heroes like Kaminari, or a story about All Might as a kid? Heck, even leaving Jump behind for a second, how about one for Ushio & Tora focusing on the skipped arc from the manga?
Sometimes a movie that is just another adventure is good like Cagliostro or Knockin' On Heaven's Door, but they also have the advantage of having great writers.
Personally, I feel most anime movies that are adaptions could really stand to aim higher. Even the Trigun movie could have aimed higher had they actually got Kuroda back to write it instead of it just being an extended version of an episode.
While setting a movie in the middle of a series could work, I feel like it'd be really hard to make it interesting if you as a fan and viewer already know how it would turn out. That said, yes, some stories of that nature havery worked in the past, such as Trust & Betrayal or the Bardock and Trunks specials (albeit they are not technically movies, but the concept is still the same).
I finished ERASED a few days ago. I had some problems with it, but I still found it to be a very entertaining series that definitely showed Ito's strengths as a director.
I also caught up with Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. This show has exceeded my expectations and is easily the best show Studio Deen has made in years. I really hope that it gets a second season since I'm interested in seeing Yotaro's storyline.
I finished Erased about an hour ago. I had absolutely no clue it was ending. :SHOCK:
Spoiler
I expected Yashiro to antagonize Satoru a bit longer with a few major character deaths, something about that flood from the OP and for Revival to be explained. Not that anything like that HAD to happen. I'm just basing my predictions on experiences from other anime or whatever.
Kind of bittersweet. I'll rank it in my favorites here in a little bit.
That flood from the opening theme IS in the anime:
Spoiler
It's symbolic of when Satoru gets submerged under water in the car.
Spoiler
The only thing I didn't like was that there weren't enough suspects. I didn't mind the Yashiro reveal, though.
On the other hand, the ending was excellent. Through all his effort he managed to save everyone. He even saved Yashiro at the end. I also liked the merging of both child Satoru and adult Satoru to sum up who he is now. Everything came full circle.
All in all, I thought it was an excellent anime. I'm sure some people probably hate the culprit being so obvious, but since that reveal comes three episodes before the end, it's obviously not the point of the show which is that everyone can be saved. You can see that time and time again throughout the show. Really, really enjoyed this one.
I think I'd probably list it in my favorites, too.
It wouldn't make my top 10 by any means, but it's definItaly one of my favorite series of the past few years.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 31, 2016, 09:03:45 PM
That flood from the opening theme IS in the anime:
Spoiler
It's symbolic of when Satoru gets submerged under water in the car.
Oh, right.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on March 31, 2016, 09:12:11 PM
Spoiler
The only thing I didn't like was that there weren't enough suspects. I didn't mind the Yashiro reveal, though.
On the other hand, the ending was excellent. Through all his effort he managed to save everyone. He even saved Yashiro at the end. I also liked the merging of both child Satoru and adult Satoru to sum up who he is now. Everything came full circle.
All in all, I thought it was an excellent anime. I'm sure some people probably hate the culprit being so obvious, but since that reveal comes three episodes before the end, it's obviously not the point of the show which is that everyone can be saved. You can see that time and time again throughout the show. Really, really enjoyed this one.
I think I'd probably list it in my favorites, too.
Spoiler
Makes me want to rewatch the ending. :)
They probably could have explored the list of suspects. I think it was like 20. I could be wrong. But either way, it was pretty much just between Yuuki, Kayo's mother and/or boyfriend and the teacher. Of course mystery fans love going after the "obvious not obvious" suspect first and the amount of extra hints made guessing it was Gaku even easier lol I was sitting there expecting the suspect to be some who didn't get so much screentime..but then got spoiled on twitter. (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/713219229433126912/ThC9q4qb_bigger.jpg)
Netflix has licensed and dubbed Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-01/netflix-streams-cyborg-009-vs-devilman-anime-in-190-countries-20-languages/.100547)
Now, that's something I never expected them to pick up. :o
:swoon: Definitely planning to watch this when it our Netflix gets it. Hope it's good.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is getting a second season! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-01/showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju-anime-gets-2nd-season/.100561)
That's good to know. I'm still playing catch-up, myself, but while it's a slow burn at first, it really does get better and better with each episode. It's definitely the best of the Winter anime from this year, with ERASED following behind at a close second. I did try a few episodes of Konosuba, since I heard that it was a genuinely funny comedy, but it's definitely not my cup of tea from what I've seen of it.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 01, 2016, 01:42:44 PM
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is getting a second season! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-01/showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju-anime-gets-2nd-season/.100561)
YES!!!!!! :shakeshakeshake:
Just finished the new Jojo and then Ushio & Tora before that. God dammit, UT's OP had a major spoiler. I feel like a dumbass for watching any of it. Back to just skipping OPs for me. Anyway, I love seeing so much of the cast come together this episode, even if was mostly just them attacking Ushio lol. Hakumen is up to some devious shit again. This should be a pretty nice little arc.
I know almost nothing about DiU so a learned quite a bit. So Jotaro is just 28 in this and is basically in Joseph's advisor role from Stardust Crusader? Very interesting. All I knew about Josuke was that his stand could heal and going by one of shadow Gentlemen's posts, he was probably Joseph's son. Never thought about him being Jotaro's uncle though. lol I don't think the show has ever looked this colorful - I love it. Also, things got extremely creepy fast.
Nice start to the Spring anime season. The only bad part is I'll have to wait a week for new episodes. :gonk:
So, Digibro and Mother's Basement just uploaded a 3 1/2 hour debate on whether ERASED was any good or not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmdIcr2C39g
That's over half the runtime of the show itself. How someone can even stand to argue about a single anime for that long baffles me.
Then again, Digibro has spent 4+ hours complaining about why The Asterisk War sucks, which is almost as how long as it takes to watch the actual show, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Well, it's more of a podcast than a structured review, and they go off on a lot of tangents in the middle, so it's more like only two hours of discussion actually having to do with the show itself, and about an hour's worth of argument from each side. Additionally, he made it clear that he didn't even want to devote so much time to talking about the show in the first place. He just wanted to address all of the hate that he'd been getting for his opinion by explaining himself thoroughly (and vice versa for Jeff, who had been bashed by some people for praising the show as highly as he did).
Anyways, it's an interesting discussion, and while Digibro brings up a lot of valid criticisms, I still tend to side with Jeff in that the pros outweigh the cons for me.
I'm on the episode where someone tries to cook Lupin's brain to be ate.
This is insane. I love it! It's even more batshit than the Superman episode a few eps ago.
Why does one need 4 hours to argue why Asterisk War sucks? It only took me three minutes.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 01, 2016, 01:42:44 PM
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is getting a second season! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-01/showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju-anime-gets-2nd-season/.100561)
Awesome. I absolutely loved the show, despite having no prior knowledge about rakugo going into it. Anime at its finest, in my opinion.
So far...
JoJos = win
Luluco = fail
Asterisk = rince repeat
Gundam = rehash
My Hero Academia = wins and wins some more
Kuma miko = noose
I've enjoyed all the shows I've watched so far, but then again the only one I've seen that's not a sequel or based on a manga I've already read is
Luluco. Really, the only shows I've planned to check out that I'm not already familiar with are
Joker Game,
Bungou Stray Dogs, and
Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, so hopefully those turn out to be good surprises.
Quote from: Pharass on April 04, 2016, 07:18:10 AM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 01, 2016, 01:42:44 PM
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is getting a second season! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-01/showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju-anime-gets-2nd-season/.100561)
Awesome. I absolutely loved the show, despite having no prior knowledge about rakugo going into it. Anime at its finest, in my opinion.
Agreed. I'm really glad it's going to get a the second season to finish adapting the story, and I hope the critical acclaim it's received leads to the manga getting licensed sometime as well.
I tried it. It's not really my cup of tea, but I'll still give it a few episodes to see if it wins me over. On the one hand I appreciate the low-budget zaniness and mini-episode structure of this series in regard to how it's clearly reminiscent of Inferno Cop. On the other hand, this didn't really manage to make me laugh or smirk like Inferno Cop did, so it really lacks the charm of that series, IMO.
I thought it was just as funny as Inferno Cop myself, but the humor is pretty different. At least they're both inarguably better than Ninja Slayer...
I gave the first episode of Luluco a try yesterday..
The hell....?! :lol:
Wondering how many episodes of Super Sentai and Metal Heroes Imaishi watched to get into the groove for this.
I really should get around to the MHA premiere. It seems like my kind of thing.
Funi has a pretty big sale going on right now. While a lot of it isn't too special, when you consider that they'd cost the same as they do on Amazon Prime when shipping is factored in, I'm fighting the urge to buy Fujiko Mine.
Fujiko Mine is so good.
Quote from: Avaitor on April 04, 2016, 08:19:18 PMI really should get around to the MHA premiere. It seems like my kind of thing.
Funi has a pretty big sale going on right now. While a lot of it isn't too special, when you consider that they'd cost the same as they do on Amazon Prime when shipping is factored in, I'm fighting the urge to buy Fujiko Mine.
I'll just warn you that you may not necessarily be sold on MHA based on the first episode alone. While it's good stuff, it only covers about half of the first chapter (due to the first chapter having quite a lot of content packed into it), and I believe that episode two should be even better because the latter half of the chapter really does a great job of summing up who Midoriya truly is as a protagonist, whereas just watching the first episode may make him seem more whiny than he really is. Also, while the early arcs are fairly standard stuff in terms of basic set-up and follow pretty common shonen tropes (though, I think it all works thanks to great execution by Horikoshi), just keep in mind that the series only gets better over time and ends up doing a great job of developing its characters along with cleverly avoiding the infuriatingly bad cliches that tend to ruin other stories of this nature.
And yes, please watch Fujiko Mine. If you're holding out on in in order to first finish up the Red Jacket series as well as some of the 90's Lupin entries, then just rest assured that Fujiko Mine is a stand-alone series that doesn't expect you to be familiar with any previous Lupin-lore in order to enjoy it on its own merits. Actually, the great thing about this franchise in general is its mostly episodic nature. You can almost start anywhere and still follow it easily.
I'll keep that in mind about MHA. I can give a premiere plenty of leeway, since it's rare for a series to get it down right away, but the concept interests me enough to at least want to check it out.
And I'm definitely getting to Fujiko Mine, even though it'll take a while. I'm trying to decide if I want to spend part of my entertainment budget on that, this hella-looking set (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Gangsters-Collection-Contemporary-Untouchables/dp/B00BCGUIIA?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER), or just blow my budget on the Bond set, which is only $80 on Amazon and at WalMart.
Cause damn.
The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is the best Lupin series, imo. Blue Jacket/Part IV is a very close second for me, though.
Avaitor: Yeah, with a shonen series like this I tend to love good world-building and capitalizing on interesting concepts, even if that takes place later on down the line due to having to set-up for it first. I think that this series does a good job of making its early arcs entertaining, while delivering on the promise of more interesting story-lines later on down the line when it has finished establishing all of the basics of its world and characters.
You should give Ushio & Tora a watch sometime, Avaitor. I'm pretty sure you'd dig it.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 04, 2016, 10:11:54 PM
You should give Ushio & Tora a watch sometime, Avaitor. I'm pretty sure you'd dig it.
That's also on the list, and I should hopefully catch up to it before the second season wraps up!
Yeah, Ushio and Tora is excellent. I'm surprised that I never heard about it before this anime came out. It's just my style of 90's shonen action, and quite frankly as a fan of a lot of series from that decade, this series kind of blows a lot of ones that I like out of the water in how good it is at telling a compelling story and creating an interesting mythology and lore, yet at the same time manages to perfectly balance all of its more serious elements with fun comedy.
Once this anime wraps up, I'm definitely going to try and read the manga, as well as any other works by the author if they have been translated.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 04, 2016, 10:20:17 PMOnce this anime wraps up, I'm definitely going to try and read the manga, as well as any other works by the author if they have been translated.
The Ushio & Tora manga has been translated, as has about half of Karakuri Circus. Nothing else has been touched, unfortunately. Well, his two volume Black Museum seinen work is being brought over here via Kodansha, but nothing else of his has ever been touched for NA release.
I'm kind of surprised that back in the anime/manga boom of the late 90s/early 00s, nobody brought any of his stuff here. It's exactly the type of series that would have carved out a good fanbase all on its own, especially since many series inspired by it (Flame of Recca, InuYasha, Zatch Bell, Project ARMS, Kekkaishi) actually were brought over here and did surprisingly well.
Really hoping for the anime to get a successful Toonami run for someone like Viz to really give his catalog a shot over here.
Not to mention that this would've been perfect for Toonami back in its prime if U&T had actually gotten an anime back when it was still at the height of its popularity in the 90's.
Ushio & Tora inspired Inuyasha? That makes so much freaking sense..
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 04, 2016, 11:05:47 PM
Not to mention that this would've been perfect for Toonami back in its prime if U&T had actually gotten an anime back when it was still at the height of its popularity in the 90's.
Actually it did, but it was an OVA.
I heard that My Hero Academia is only being simulcasted through Hulu and not CR, so for once I have an advantage with my current setup and just finished the first episode. The animation was pretty good and the voice acting was great. You of course can't help but root for Izuku even if you do spend a lot of time laughing at him. I also suspect that this show will have a lot of emphasis on superhero team work (don't tell me).
Izuku's struggle might be endearing, but that doesn't mean Horikoshi can't also poke a little fun at him, too. The comedic moments are pretty good.
Just checked out the premiere of Joker Game. While it hasn't necessarily grabbed me yet, I did genuinely like what I saw, and am intrigued enough to continue following the show.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 05, 2016, 03:35:21 PM
Izuku's struggle might be endearing, but that doesn't mean Horikoshi can't also poke a little fun at him, too. The comedic moments are pretty good.
Oh, I agree. That's the beauty of it.
Twin Star Exorcists was a surprisingly good adaption of the first chapter. They even added scenes which added to the story and cut down on the boring parts of the first chapter, which I thought was very clever of them. They also nailed the art style and put in some great music.
Though it's not anything great right now, I'm eager to see where this goes. It's also a plus that Pierrot hasn't botched it.
I checked out two more premieres:
Twin Star Exorcists- Meh. This feels way too generic for my taste. To be fair, quite a lot of good Shonen start out mediocre and develop into better stories over time. But this premiere really lacked any sense of charm or likable characters. I'll still give it a chance for a few more episodes out of principal, but I'm not expecting much.
Bungo Stray Dogs- This one did have some charm to it, mainly in the buddy/team-based nature of the series which has the potential to capture some of the entertainment value of good shows/manga like Blood Blockade Battlefront or the first 2/3rds of GetBackers. That said, it was truthfully also very generic and didn't really grab me. Still, I'll give this one a few more episodes as well, with slightly better expectations than what I have for TSE, though still relatively low.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 06, 2016, 02:46:30 PMTwin Star Exorcists- Meh. This feels way too generic for my taste. To be fair, quite a lot of good Shonen start out mediocre and develop into better stories over time. But this premiere really lacked any sense of charm or likable characters. I'll still give it a chance for a few more episodes out of principal, but I'm not expecting much.
That's the universal criticism until volume 3. Judging by how fast this episode went, I'm hoping they get there quicker. The first volume is pretty standard stuff.
TSE is very standard stuff at the start, but I'd say it really picks up after the introduction of Seigen and a certain twist. I have a few problems with things that happen in it after the time skip (though I do think the series has started picking up again recently), but I thought the arc that encompasses volumes 3 through 5 was really well-done and featured one of the most emotionally intense and desperate battles I've read in a shonen series in quite some time, which really impressed me. Definitely looking forward to seeing that animated now since Pierrot actually seems to be putting effort into this production.
Just saw Bungo Stray Dogs. Yes, it's basically a mix of GetBackers and Blood Blockade Battlefront at this point, but it's an enjoyable start. I'll definitely watch more.
I found Twin Star Exorcists to be dull and uninspired.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Do I even need to say it?
Bakuon!! - awesome
My Hero Academia - great
Seisen Cerberus - decent, but generic.
Hundred - Can we please stop the magical highschool light novel adaptations and adapt more Urobuchi LN's instead?
Just finished Steal the File M123. I pretty much knew what episode it was just from the fountain shown at the beginning. One of my favorites. I completely forgot about the Zenigata disguises scene. That was so hilarious. :lol: I definitely remember the end, which is why I liked the ending so much. Boy are you ugly.
I'm at the point in the Maison Ikkoku dub where Brad Swaile takes over for Godai. I liked his previous voice, but I can't complain at all, tbh.
You're watching MI? Cool! :joy: How are you enjoying it so far?
Swaile gets into the role pretty fast and is probably my favorite actor for the character between the original and the dub. The dubbing for the first few episodes after the hiatus are pretty rough, though. Ellen Kennedy in particular takes a good while before she gets back into the swing of Kyoko again; I remember her performance in episode 37 being particularly grating at parts.
Quote from: LumRanmaYasha on April 10, 2016, 06:30:54 PM
You're watching MI? Cool! :joy: How are you enjoying it so far?
Swaile gets into the role pretty fast and is probably my favorite actor for the character between the original and the dub. The dubbing for the first few episodes after the hiatus are pretty rough, though. Ellen Kennedy in particular takes a good while before she gets back into the swing of Kyoko again; I remember her performance in episode 37 being particularly grating at parts.
Yeah, she was a little rough there. The rest of the cast isn't really there yet, but Swaile is great as Godai.
But I am really enjoying MI. Sometimes it falls a little too much into hetero romantic tropes, but it helps the characters are well-written and it remains entertaining throughout. Good stuff.
I do want to get into UY as well, but that looks like such a big investment. I'll try to get to it in chunks. Ranma, too.
Glad you're enjoying it! I agree that while MI does employ some common romantic comedy tropes at times, the characters are unique and charismatic enough to still make it entertaining. I think the show gets even better as it goes along and is at it's best during it's last quarter, so I'll be interested in seeing your reactions as you go along.
And yeah, UY is definitely a big time investment, but since it's so episodic I'd say it's best enjoyed in chunks over a long period of time, rather than marathoning it. Just be warned that the first 20 or so episodes are in a different format and aren't as well-made as the remainder of the series is, so a lot of people recommend skipping to when the show permanently adopts a full half-hour format instead of being divided up into two 11-minute episodes, which is around episode 22. Personally, I enjoy most of the early episodes and rewatch them pretty regularly, but then again I also read the manga first, and it did take me about 50 or so chapters when I was first reading it (around the point when Ten and Ran show up) until I was really sold on the series. So, I think UY is generally a series that grows on people and rewards them on repeated viewings more than is something most love right out of the gate.
Ah, okay. I'll keep all of this in mind, thank you!
Which movies and OVAs are worth watching for both series? Or should I just catch all of them?
Almost all of the UY and Ranma OVAs are worth watching since most are adaptions of storylines from the manga and in general they're just more episodes of those shows, which is always welcome. To name a few highlights, the third UY OVA, "Inaba the Dreammaker" is probably my favorite storyline in the series and has some important character development for a couple of characters, while OVA 12 is probably my favorite episode of the entire show. The only UY OVA I might suggest you skip is the first one, "Ryoko's September Tea Party," which is an hour-long clip-show episode that doesn't do enough with it's framing device to be worth sitting through. In contrast, I would suggest watching the second OVA, "Memorial Album" which while also a clip-show episode, has a really unique and interesting framing device that points an analytical lens at the show, which makes the experience really worthwhile. As for MI, it only has one OVA that isn't a recap special, called "Deserted Island," which is an adaption of a chapter from the manga and pretty enjoyable, though not essential.
All of the Urusei Yatsura movies are fantastic and they're easily one of the best anime film franchises I've ever seen. Beautiful Dreamer in particular was extremely influential and universally acclaimed, and is my personal favorite Mamoru Oishii film as well as anime film in general. Lum the Forever is really weird and abstract, so it tends to be the most divisive of the films, but it's personally my second favorite of the films because I find the movie's themes, bizarre imagery and motifs, and story behind the production really fascinating. The Final Chapter adapts the manga's final arc and the definitive ending and as such should probably be the last UY thing you watch. Some people don't like Always My Darling because it has a different artstyle than the series and other movies, the movie-exclusive characters can be kind of annoying, and Ataru and Lum are really out of character in it (especially for the point in the series it takes place), but I think it's probably the funniest of the movies and a lot of the supporting characters get some great character moments in it so I like it quite a bit.
Maison Ikkoku's movie, The Final Chapter, is also well worth watching since it resolves some character arcs that weren't properly addressed in the tv series and also features the only animated appearance of Nozomu Nikaido, a recurring character in the manga who was cut out of the anime. The movie chronologically takes place in the middle of the final episode of the series, so I'd recommend watching it only after you've finished the show.
The Ranma movies are pretty standard shonen films, and while each has their moments, both movies basically have the same plot, the only differences being in which secondary characters get more to do. If I had to pick, I prefer the second film more because it has some really good animation, a more unique location, and the fights range from both funny to genuinely intense. Neither film is great, but they are still enjoyable enough to check out if you like the show.
I am loving My Hero Academia and Izuku's ? and development. My favorite anime of this season.
Okay, I knew Part 4 would be fucked up both on a cruel and emotional level just by seeing how Josuke can heal
Spoiler
But I didn't think something like his grandpa dying so soon would happen. Seeing Jojo lose a family member just from one mistake still has me sad. Also, seeing a lot of blood even when censored tells me we are going to see a lot more, especially if someone like Anjuro is the first freaking villain. I was also wonder to what extent Josuke could heal.
I love how this turned into a standoff and then a haunted house encounter. Plus Araki found a way to make Jotaro's time stop not just make him autowin. He can't do much if the enemy is everywhere and can't be killed. Lastly, I was wondering what the 2nd And I Must Scream moment was in Jojo since I almost had that spoiled for me on tv tropes then Josuke showed me when he fused that also into that rock.
Also, did Jotaro make fun of Kakyoin when he said he couldn't believe a water based Stand could be scary? I know he wouldn't be able to stomach hearing that
After putting it off for months, I watched all of Erased this morning. I really liked it and definitely deserves the praise, but now I can't take the ending seriously after somebody told me that
Spoiler
Yashiro spent 15 years waiting for Satoru to fill his metaphorical hole.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FBoFIdjT.png&hash=962eb9884739720a9e8c2630b22a42f18ab122d1)
Having to confess each others' feelings at the rooftop does not help one bit.
I'm on episode 117 of red jacket, and I swear that Gasper looks so much like Dayon. :il_hahaha:
World Trigger's English cast has been revealed: (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-21/world-trigger-anime-main-english-dub-cast-revealed/.101322)
Brian Doe as Osamu Mikumo
Cathy Weseluck as Yuma Kuga
Caitlyn Barstow as Chika Amatori
Andrew Francis as Yuiji Jin
Marco Soriano as Replica
The anime is not the best version of World Trigger, but if it brings more attention to the manga then it's all good with me.
It's weird that they are only now announcing who the voice actors are, considering they already previewed three episodes of the dub at Anime Expo last July. At any rate, based on the dates at the end of the promo, I guess they plan to release it on Hulu and Crunchyroll between May 10th and June 30th. Considering they only commissioned a dub for the first seven episodes, my guess is that they'll only dub more if the streaming for it is successful.
The dub itself isn't likely to turn out that great, but considering the anime still helped introduce more people to the series despite it's pathetic production values, a dub of any sort can only help it's accessibility. Most of the cast sounds fitting enough, except for Jin, whose dub voice doesn't really suit his laid-back and strategical character, imo.
I finished watching Ajin on Netflix yesterday. While the CG animation may turn some people off, I found to be a very entertaining series. Since the manga is on Crunchyroll, I'll probably check it out when I have some time.
I have about 20 episodes left of red coat, already have Discotek Media's Mystery of Mamo DVD, and have the Castle of Cagliostro Blu in the mail.
I'm ready.
I watched the Lawrence of Arabia and creepyass looking fake Lupin episodes this week. Still not past the eps Adult Swim had.
Even though it's summer now, I still haven't been able to watch much of Mason Ikkoku. If I've seen more than 2 episodes this week, I'd be surprised. I'm more than halfway past the series, though, and I'm still quite enjoying it.
I think when I'm done, I'll play catch-up with Jojo. Honestly, I haven't even got around to Part 3 yet, so I really should fix that. After I'm caught up, I'm thinking of watching The Irresponsible Captain Tylor.
I also recommend Ushio and Tora. It'll be wrapping up pretty soon, and at 39 episodes it's not an insanely long commitment, yet it manages to pack so much great stuff into each episode.
If you like classic 90's style action shonen similar in tone to Yu Yu Hakusho combined with a great use of Japanese mythology to create an interesting lore for the series, then you may enjoy the show quite a bit.
I know, I know, trust me, it's pretty high on my list. I might put Captain Tylor on hold and get to it after I finish my JJBA catch-up.
And Chinese mythology too, I believe.
I have been watching Lupin here and there. I saw that I have Trigun queued on Hulu so I will probably start on that soon and watch DB/Kai/the last two movies and Super since I am hearing that Super is getting good.
Quote from: Avaitor on May 15, 2016, 03:25:25 PM
I know, I know, trust me, it's pretty high on my list. I might put Captain Tylor on hold and get to it after I finish my JJBA catch-up.
Captain Tylor is awesome, but Stardust Crusaders (Part 3) has a bit of a slow start. I'd personally recommend Tylor first.
Stardust Crusaders' first half is pretty hit or miss. Episodes like "The Emperor and The Hanged Man" and "Death 13" are awesome, but then you have stuff like "Silver Chariot" or "Yellow Temperance" which are on the average side of things, IMO.
The second half covering the Egypt arc picks up a lot, though, and the final two battles with Vanilla Ice and DIO are totally worth all of the build-up.
Hmm, I might go
Captain Tylor
Ushio and Tora
JJBA Parts 3 and 4
Maybe by the time I get to U&T and Jojo, these will have wrapped up for the season, and I can be caught up.
UT will be done before you finish any series you are on.
Yeah, I'd also recommend watching Tylor first, especially since it's going to be the shortest to watch of the three shows.
Lately, I've just been keeping up with JoJo, U&T, MHA (though I still haven't watch this week's ep), Assassination Classroom, and Detective Conan. I've decided to put a number of spring season shows on hold until I have some more free time.
Just watched the Iron Lizard episode of Lupin. Forgot how fond I as of that episode.
I finally got up to the Jigen Barcelona episode. I love the part where they shoot the coin.
I just finished watching episode 1 of Trigun. It's been 11-12 years since I watched any of it. How dare Hulu set this anime to sub? But then again, I have no clue which is better. I just know Bosch is Vash, to me. The first' episode's dub is off for everyone except him though. Does it get better? Should I switch to sub? Will Goku make it off of Planet Namek?
The dub only improves.
There are a few line changes in the dub (the last line in the series is different in the sub) but as a whole its pretty accurate. Vash and Wolfwood are still two of my favorite dub performances.
Oh yeah, I am sure Wolfwood is still great. The rest of the cast sounds stiff right now though.
Vash is still my favorite performance from Johnny Yong Bosch.
Although, it was awkward seeing him use the same voice for Nero.
Isn't JYB's Nero voice just the same one he uses for Ichigo and most of his other teenage anti-hero roles? ??? Pretty sure his Vash voice is a bit higher than that.
I simply meant the fact that it's the same guy voicing the roll. It doesn't matter how much he tries to change it, I still hear a somewhat lower-pitched version of Vash since that's the voice that I associate him with.
I do think it sounds surprisingly different from both. At least from what I remember, anyway.
Just completed episode 2. I forgot just how much of a goofball Vash can be. :D
Completed episode 3 of Trigun! Frank's drunk voice and Vash and that headband crack me up. Anyway, I love Frank's little rebound tale. I could watch episodes like this forever. Also, the music is really shining.
My problem where I accidentally sticky threads has yet to be resolved. But tbh, I don't think sticking this thread is a bad idea at all.
Anyway, I had a busy weekend, so I'm down to finally watching the last 3 episodes of Part 2 tonight, and while I want to say that it's bittersweet, I honestly can't be too sad at all about its run. The series was never revolutionary, but remained consistently entertaining, right down to the end.
I'll probably also be busy over the next few days, but I'll try to find time to make it through Mystery of Mamo and Castle of Caligostro, the former I'm especially excited to finally see. And then I will do Part 3, even though I know that it's the least popular of his series. The completionist in me demands it! Plus, it's only about 1/3 as long as red jacket.
And in terms of non-Lupin series, besides the ones that I've recently talked about watching, I was thinking about adding Hajime no Ippo to the list, but then I remembered that I still somehow haven't made it to AnJ 2 yet, which must be higher priority. There's totally room on my list for both, though
I watched the Hitler's Legacy episode today. Apparently there's only one Cartoon Network episode left judging by the two seconds of preview I saw - the little girl fairy take or whatever episode. I only saw some of the end of that episode back in the day. I'm not sure how many episodes this has been but it seems like Adult Swim barely had any. Of course the atrocious ratings are to thank for that.
I agree that Zenigata shouldn't show up all the time. He is my favorite Lupin character but damn
Part 3 isn't bad, really. It's weird and very childish, but it's still an enjoyable enough way to kill time.
A list of five less popular Sci-Fi anime worth watching: https://youtu.be/650kWcbrU6g
I mainly bring it up because Level E is on the list!
Any list that has Captain Tylor in it is worth paying attention to in my book.
Captain Tylor was more well known back when it came out, and by older anime fans. Since there hasn't been a new anime or light novel, it's no wonder no one talks about it these days.
Shame he didn't mention Planetes.
Planetes is pretty well known among modern anime fans from what I can tell.
Is that some sort of exercise?
There's going to be a mass exodus of anime titles on Hulu on June 1st. The following titles will be leaving:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjMOqL4UUAQhj59.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjMOoqNUUAAUV_C.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjMOpKFVEAElLJk.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjbK9hDUgAEw5la.jpg)
Most FUNimation and Sentai shows are leaving as well, but there's so many that the guy making the list isn't done tallying them yet.
Yeah, it's strange how much anime content is leaving Hulu soon.
I found this breakdown of what's being removed on Hulu based on publisher:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjcBgPGVEAUiqOr.jpg:large)
What I'm most surprised about is the fact that Viz's content is being removed even though Hulu is their main streaming platform for their content. I wonder if this means Viz will slowly start putting more of their shows on other streaming services.
Ugh, not my Lupin..Is Trigun leaving too?
Well, all 4 parts of Lupin III are on Crunchyroll, so you could always watch it there, GSF. ;)
It looks like Trigun is safe for now. The portion of Funimation's catalog that is being removed seems to be shows with very low popularity.
I haven't had CR in months which is the only reason why I started watching it on Hulu. :gonk:
I watched Mystery of Mamo last night, and loved it! It really is a throwback to the first series, and it feels like more than just an extended episode of it. The story works well, and it's loaded with cool sequences. I'm glad to own it!
I watched the early 90's dub, since I heard that it's the best, and while I don't think it's perfect (Goemon in particular sounds like a British professor), they do a good job of handling a lot of the characters, and it sticks true enough to the source material to land. For COC, I'm sticking to the 2000 Manga dub.
And I got to watch Castle of Caligostro last night, which is such a good movie. It's true that there's less edge here than in other Lupin works, but Miyazaki's take on the characters is still laudable, and he's already crafted some of the coolest action sequences of his career here. The restoration is great, and makes me feel glad that I picked the Blu up. I'm definitely going to use this again soon.
I'm starting Part III tonight, and I think that I'll watch the first 2 episodes. It should be fun, even if it's inferior to the other series.
I'm glad you liked Mamo! It's such a weird and creative film - some of the best Lupin material ever. Cagliostro is, of course, also a masterpiece, and that Discotek Blu-ray is the best it's ever looked. Definitely worth owning for any fan.
I checked out the first two episodes of Kiznaiver since I've been hearing this show get so much praise this season. Maybe I'm just too out of touch with the modern anime community (in fact I definitely am), but I just don't get the appeal of this show.
And please, nobody give me a long post explaining why it's great or what an idiot I am for not liking it. If you enjoy it then that's fantastic and you should continue doing so. I'm just saying that it really isn't my thing based on what I've seen so far. Maybe I'll give it another episode or two to see if it changes my mind, though.
I'm on episode 8 of Part III, and I am liking it so far. It doesn't feel all that different from Part II, aside from getting a little weirder, and the colors being a little brighter. Also, there's been more fanservice so far.
That's not really a bad thing, but this one is about Fujiko being confused for a witch, and almost burning at a stake. I haven't really expected an episode like this in a while, but it doesn't feel that far off. I feel like watching The Devils now, actually.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on June 02, 2016, 09:57:34 PM
I checked out the first two episodes of Kiznaiver since I've been hearing this show get so much praise this season. Maybe I'm just too out of touch with the modern anime community (in fact I definitely am), but I just don't get the appeal of this show.
And please, nobody give me a long post explaining why it's great or what an idiot I am for not liking it. If you enjoy it then that's fantastic and you should continue doing so. I'm just saying that it really isn't my thing based on what I've seen so far. Maybe I'll give it another episode or two to see if it changes my mind, though.
It's okay. I only watch Kiznaiver to make fun of it.
Wow, I have about 10 episodes left of Maison Ikkoku. I think everything would turn out better for Godai if he would stop being so passive, and tell the rest of the apartment to back off more often, could get rid of Iubki quicker, and most importantly, tell Kyoko his feelings directly.
But it is fun to see how he can screw himself over so often.
Episode 18 of Part III has one of the sleekest fight scenes that I can recall in a while.
Good stuff.
I watched the Puma, Twin Piques, Orion's Crown and Camilla vampire episode today. Twin Piques had a nice fight scene at the beginning but the rest of the episode was flat. The one about Orion's Crown dud too. The vampire episode was pretty boring outside of how funny Goemon quickly owning those vampires was. I like how Goemon was inconsolable this time Lupin faked his death in Puma/Lupin The Interred. He was barely moved in Part I. Id like to think that he cares more about Lupin over that time.
So Big Order started out as Future Diary, then became Jojo's, then turned into Code Geass, only to become End of Evangelion, and finally into Mahouka.
I started watching Yakitate!! Japan. This is one of those series that I had been meaning to check out and was on my backlog for literally years (since, like, 2007). Then I kind of just forgot about it for a while. When I was searching through Crunchyroll to see any random anime that caught my interest, this one came up and I thought: "Hey, why the hell not?"
I'm only two episodes in, but this is definitely my kind of series. As you might imagine, it has that same kind of feel that you would get from something like Food Wars!, except as you can guess from the title the show focuses specifically on bread and baking rather than all foods in general. Granted, while I expected the whole Pantasia selection competition to be a sizable first story arc, the story took a surprising turn (in a good way) and pretty much sped things up to the final exam, so I'll be interested to see where the series goes after that part is done.
I finished Maison Ikkoku last night, and just watched The Final Chapter. For all of my grievances towards how their relationship kept on being pushed around, I was really happy to see Godai finally propose, and for Kyoko to say yes. Just about the only thing that I wasn't very happy about in its ending is how Yagami is still in love with Godai, even after the fact. But what are you gonna do? And The Final Chapter was a nice extra piece to the story, which I'm glad that I decided to watch. It's a very nice series overall, and I'm glad that I gave it a go. I definitely admire Takahashi more than I did before.
Next up, Ushio & Tora. I think that I might have time for the first episode before work tonight, in fact.
Ushio and Tora is pretty fun from the start, but it's true value as a series may not be initially apparent at first. It starts out in an episodic fashion and is initially a villain-of-the-week style series until about a third of the way into its run, in which everything starts coming together and it becomes focused under a single narrative thread.
I kind of like to compare this series to Gargoyles in a way. While both shows are very different in overall tone and approach, they share some key similarities like a rift between humans and mythical creatures (except this series has very Eastern-style beasts as opposed to European-influenced designs, obviously), and they both have a rich lore and mythology that ends up playing a big part in the overall story later on. Tora, much like Goliath, is a centuries old character who has been burned by humans in the past, and has to slowly regain his trust of them as he spends time with Ushio and his friends. It's just something that really helped me get invested in the series early on, but it's still its own thing. Both series currently rank among my favorite animated shows of all time, though, of course.
I really love the main villain too. Final boss style big-bads who are supposedly all-powerful (like Darkseid or Apocalypse) really aren't my thing most of the time, but what makes Hakumen no Mono work for me as a character is that his hatred for humanity clearly comes from an envy of them, so the way that he thinks and operates is both interesting and nuanced, and I also really just love the voice-acting used to portray that character. Megumi Hayashibara did a spectacular job portraying him.
The first episode reminds me of Tenchi Muyo so far. Not so much the tone (but the sense of humor isn't that far removed), but they both start off with a boy finding a strange creature in a hidden space.
It's not bad at all so far, but I don't think that I'll have time for more episodes today.
Ushio & Tora hits its stride at episode 7. The episodes before it are really good, but that's the one that hints at its true potential. Before that, it's all about the chemistry between the two.
Season 2 of Food Wars will be 13 episodes long. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-06-28/food-wars-shokugeki-no-soma-season-2-listed-with-13-episodes/.103702)
I'm going to guess it'll be a split cour.
Speaking of food-based anime, I'm 17 episodes into YJ, and for what started out as something fairly grounded in reality managed to get bat-shit insane rather quickly. I am of course talking about the food reactions in this show. To be quite blunt, they make the ones in Food Wars! seem tame by comparison, and I absolutely love it.
When one of the judges eats Mokoyama's Dragon Bread and turns into Bruce Lee, and then eats Kazuma's Turtle Bread and literally spins around in the air breathing fire like Gamera, you know that you're watching something special. I even love how these reactions turn into outright physical gags, like with the judge whistling for one of his dogs to come and knock him over after tasting Kawashi's Hot-Dog Style Yakisoba Bread, and then telling his competitor that he has plenty of more dogs lined up if he wants to try a bite as well.
This reminds me a lot of Eyeshield 21 in how it finds that perfect blend of getting you invested in the outcome of the matches while still refraining from taking itself too seriously most of the time. If this were a WSJ manga, it would've made for a hilarious crossover with Food Wars! had they decided to do something like that. Although, I do think that Ryou's appearance and personality is a tribute and reference to a certain character from YJ; or it could just be a coincidence.
It's a really strange manga. Something that could have only come from Shogakukan and Sunday.
That's actually why I like Sunday so much. They have a different flavor to their stuff that Jump and Magazine just don't have. That's why it would be nice if some of their stuff would get licensed more often.
I feel like Jump is mostly the King of the more grand-scale but straightforward Shonen series. There are always exceptions, of course, like Hunter x Hunter or Eyeshield 21, but most of their stuff is fairly conventional in tone. I don't meanthat as a bad thing, either. Mangaka with good Jump editors execute those sorts of manga really well.
But I do also get a sense that since the two main competing weekly Shonen magazines don't have nearly as many readers as Jump does, they have the liberty of being a little bit more risky with how they present a lot of their manga, which is how you get some of the insanity that you do in series like this or GTO, or various other titles.
Kazuma's Ja-Pan No. 44 literally has the power to send people to heaven temporarily. That isn't even a metaphor. I love this series. :joy:
I never actually read the whole thing, but the nuttiness was its real appeal. It could get crazy out there.
Other Sunday series you might like:
Ganbare Genki
Hono no Tenkosei
Major
Mermaid Saga
Kyo Kara Ore Wa!!
Ghost Sweeper Mikami
Project ARMs
Arata: The Legend
Of course not factoring in the series I already know you're interested in like Fujita's stuff or Cyborg 009.
Yeah, I have a lot of those series on my backlog as it is. I'll definitely try to get around to at least some of them this year, though.
Now that the Spring season is over, I can easily say:
Best of the season: Ushio & Tora
Runner-up: My Hero Academia
Third: Diamond is Unbreakable
It was a great season, all told.
I ended up putting a bunch of shows on hold, but this would probably be my top 3 for this season:
1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
2. Ushio & Tora
3. My Hero Academia
I'm looking forward to seeing what the Summer season has in store.
Speaking of which, Funimation's recent lineup update reveals that they've licensed The Disastrous Life of Saiki. (http://www.funimation.com/blog/2016/06/23/summer-2016-simulcasts-round-one-find-the-one-for-you/) I was sure Crunchyroll was going to get it, but I guess this gives it a higher chance of getting a dub.
Good news for Saiki. Funi tends to dub and push its Shonen Jump shows really hard. This might even give the manga a real shot at release over here.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on June 29, 2016, 10:46:34 AM
Now that the Spring season is over, I can easily say:
Best of the season: Ushio & Tora
Runner-up: My Hero Academia
Third: Diamond is Unbreakable
It was a great season, all told.
Agreed. It's my favorite season.
My top 3 for spring would probably go:
1. Diamond is Unbreakable
2. Ushio & Tora
3. Sailor Moon Crystal
The MHA anime was strong stuff, though. Really looking forward to how they handle the Sports Festival and Stain in season 2.
This summer should have some good stuff too what with Food Wars!, Saiki, Mob Psycho 100, Orange, and hopefully Berserk if it's executed better than the previews suggest. Looking forward to them!
1. Sakamoto desu ga?
2. Diamond is Unbreakable
3. Luluco
Sweet, Mob Psycho 100 is coming soon.
Oh, and beause we were talking about the Spring season, I thought I'd post this list. It was a mega poll taken in Crunchyroll's forums of the best anime of the season. Since there are fans and haters of everything, nothing averaged out to 10/10 or 1 or 2/10, but that was expected. Here's what they thought the best and worst shows of the season were:
Quote[Masterpiece: 10/10]
Nothing.
[Excellence: 8-9/10]
Bungo Stray Dogs
Flying Witch
My Hero Academia
Macross Delta
Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto
Re:Zero
Concrete Revolutio: The Last Song
Ushio & Tora
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
[Good: 7/10]
Bakuon!!
Joker Game
Kiznaiver
High School Fleet
Anne Happy
Rinne
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
[Mediocre: 5-6/10]
The Lost Village
Kuromukuro
Kuma Miko
Ace Attorney
Asterisk War
Mysterious Joker
Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
And you thought there is never a girl online?
Sailor Moon Crystal
12-sai.: Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki
[Bad: 4/10]
Shounen Maid
Three Leaves, Three Colors
Endride
Twin Star Exorcists
[Shit: 3/10]
Hundred
Big Order
Terra Formars: Revenge
Seisen Cerberus: Ryuukoku no Fatalités
[DROPPED: 1-2/10]
Nothing.
Not all that surprising, but still interesting to see. I'm surprised by the amount of people that think Lost Village was "supposed" to be bad, though. The chances of that are less than nothing.
I am so glad that Terra Formars is near the very, very bottom. From what little I have seen, the list looks good.
Surprised SMC is in the mediocre pile. Most reactions I've seen to it have been very positive, and I myself enjoyed it immensely. I wish Dragon Ball Super looked and was as well animated as that. But it was pretty disappointing to see TSE turn out so badly. I have no clue why they are trying to stretch it out for a whole year when it barely has enough material for even two cours, but that's Pierrot for you.
The only one of the great/excellent category (out of the ones that I've seen) that I'm not really feeling is Bungo Stray Dogs. I think it's alright, but I'm not really getting all of the hype surrounding it so far.
I've only seen an episode of Sakamoto, but I should probably check out more. From what I've seen, I'm not sure if it's my brand of humor, but it could win me over. I've always been a bit fickle in the comedy department, though. I couldn't get into Konosuba last season, even though almost everyone loved it.
I'm 12 episodes into U&T, and I really am digging it so far. I was into the show before, even with it being a little tropey, but I'm really getting into everything it has to offer.
I think that it wisely starts out basic enough in order to give the characters room to breathe and let you get to know them as the viewer. As it continues, though, it only manages to become more and more engaging with how well these seemingly unrelated characters that Ushio and Tora meet along their way start to come together to work against Hakumen no Mono.
You're at the Touno two-parter. Those are awesome episodes. Things are about to get even more wild soon.
So he saw Tora on the bus scene? Him swinging around the bus and then saying, "Alright, I'm ready to get off this thing" in 5 seconds was probably the funniest part of the series for me
So, season 2 of Food Wars! just had its premiere, and it cut out a lot of stuff between the end of the first phase of the Autumn Elections and Soma's match with Alice.
Personally, I'm actually really cool with that. I've complained before about how padded and drawn out the arc could feel in the manga with so much time spent on exposition in the pre-match set-up portions. I honestly think that at the very least, it was a wise way to hook viewers back in by cutting out some of the excess baggage (which would have easily made for an uneventful first episode or two), and getting into the meat of things (no pun intended). In fact, I really had a problem with how essentially the last four or five episodes of the first season spent way too much time on the judges trying each and every single dish (even for characters who didn't matter), followed by long explanations on how they made each of their dishes. It got really boring, and felt especially redundant in anime form.
They also kind of have to move the story along at the pace which they are going at now if they want to make it through the rest of the Autumn Elections arc in just thirteen episodes.
Looks like I am already going to drop Berserk, especially since they whitewashed Caska.
The first episode of Food Wars Season 2 was very good. Based on the previews, the anime should be adapting up through the end of the Stagiaire Arc. With 13 episodes, they'll need to adapt roughly 4 chapters an episode which should be doable.
I also checked out The Disastrous Life of Saiki anime. It looks the episodes are initially being released as 5-minute segments from Sunday through Thursday, and then being compiled into full episodes on the following Sunday. While I did enjoy today's 5-minute short, it feels as though they just took the full ep and cut it up (it just abruptly ends in the middle of a scene). I'll probably wait until the full episode comes out to watch more of it.
I'm now 38 episodes into Yakitate!! Japan. This is legitimately one of the funniest anime that I've ever seen. I know that it's a competition manga, but somewhere along the way it just got more and more over-the-top to the point of absurdity, and that's right up my alley.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on July 04, 2016, 12:08:41 AMWhile I did enjoy today's 5-minute short, it feels as though they just took the full ep and cut it up (it just abruptly ends in the middle of a scene). I'll probably wait until the full episode comes out to watch more of it.
This is going to sound dumb, but I actually prefer it that way. I'd rather watch a longer episode than four 5 minute shorts glued together into one long patchwork.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 03, 2016, 03:51:21 PM
So, season 2 of Food Wars! just had its premiere, and it cut out a lot of stuff between the end of the first phase of the Autumn Elections and Soma's match with Alice.
Personally, I'm actually really cool with that. I've complained before about how padded and drawn out the arc could feel in the manga with so much time spent on exposition in the pre-match set-up portions. I honestly think that at the very least, it was a wise way to hook viewers back in by cutting out some of the excess baggage (which would have easily made for an uneventful first episode or two), and getting into the meat of things (no pun intended). In fact, I really had a problem with how essentially the last four of five episodes of the first season spent way too much time on the judges trying each and every single dish (even for characters who didn't matter), followed by long explanations on how they made each of their dishes. It got really boring, and felt especially redundant in anime form.
They also kind of have to move the story along at the pace which they are going at now if they want to make it through the rest of the Autumn Elections arc in just thirteen episodes.
These are my thoughts on the premiere as well.
The first season was pretty well done, but it had faults. The first couple of episodes added a lot of ecchi stuff not in the original. Food Wars can have cheesecake with its ridiculousness and hot-blooded shonen vibe, but the ecchi didn't fit at all. The other problem was the pacing was awkward. Some episodes had a really good flow, but then there were moments at the end of the season that felt really padded.
This episode had none of those problems. I'm actually really impressed with this episode. It feels like they really addressed the problems people had with the first season and applied them here.
This episode- 5:43 (http://youtu.be/Mf0W5Pf2Qfw)
"Plus, thanks to me, the ratings for this episode will be three times higher than usual!"
God I love this show. :D
I've finally gotten around to watch some of the older titles that have been sitting on my ever-growing to-watch list for what feels like forever now. I recently finished Haibane Renmei, which I thought was just a great show all-around. Perfect if you're in the mood for something low-key and atmospheric. To be honest, my only complaint about this show is that there wasn't more episodes.
I've also started Welcome to the N.H.K.. Only two episodes in at the moment, but so far, I'm enjoying it. The main character is very well-portrayed with his anxieties and delusions (though it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that the whole conspiracy was an actual thing in this series). That the show is genuinely funny is also to its advantage.
Wow.
I just finished U&T, and I'm awestruck. The final battle against Hakuman no Mono was a thing of beauty, and was perfectly expanded, just as the closure for the cast was everything you could ask for. It's official- Ushio and Tora is right up there among my favorite anime. Even if Toonami doesn't get it, I need to own this show.
Next up? I'm going to finish pink jacket! I only have 3 episodes left, so why not? I'll watch the episodes from Lum's round tomorrow, and might also watch The Gold of Babylon.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2016, 11:16:46 PMWow.
I just finished U&T, and I'm awestruck. The final battle against Hakuman no Mono was a thing of beauty, and was perfectly expanded, just as the closure for the cast was everything you could ask for. It's official- Ushio and Tora is right up there among my favorite anime. Even if Toonami doesn't get it, I need to own this show.
I'm glad that we hooked in another fan! :joy: :thumbup:
It really is something special, though. Much like something along the lines of Yu Yu Hakusho or Rurouni Kenshin, on a surface level it's a typical shonen action and adventure story, but in execution it turns out to be much more than just that. Just like you, I will also be owning this series when it comes out. But I do still really hope for a Toonami release. Even if U&T is over, giving it more exposure could be a gateway to drum up more Western interest in Fujita's other works, which could in turn get those licensed over here as well.
It could also get the manga licensed, which I personally want.
Glad to hear you really liked it. It's definitely one of the best anime in years, and it's a shame that it took so long to get a proper adaption. It really deserved one much sooner, but at least we got one now. Satoshi Nishimura is one great director.
I can't get over how perfect the pacing was. The show starts off fine enough as you get into its world and character building, and see some of the earlier battles. But before less patient viewers can get bored, bombshells are increasingly dropped at a reasonable, encompassing pace.
You can't ask for a better shonen experience.
Satsoshi Nishimura also directed Hajime no Ippo and Trigun, two of my other favorite anime series. I'm not surprised to see that he did such a good job with Ushio and Tora. He seems to excel at adapting 90's manga material. :D
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2016, 11:55:51 PMI can't get over how perfect the pacing was. The show starts off fine enough as you get into its world and character building, and see some of the earlier battles. But before less patient viewers can get bored, bombshells are increasingly dropped at a reasonable, encompassing pace.
You can't ask for a better shonen experience.
Pretty much this.
With other great shonen anime adaptations like Haikyuu!!, Food Wars!, Yowamushi Pedal, Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure, My Hero Academia, and of course Ushio and Tora coming out in recent years, it really is a great time to be a fan of shonen anime. And hell, in recent weeks even Dragon Ball Super has picked up its quality incredibly well with the current story-line which, if handled as well as it has been the entire way through, could prove to be the best thing to come out of the franchise since the manga ended its run a full two decades ago. I feel like this genre is making a major comeback in this particular medium, which is following suit with the comeback that it has already made as far as manga/comic books go.
Sounds like I really need to watch Ushio & Tora. :D
For a show adapted by Toshiki Inoue, it can be cool.
Quote from: Foggle on July 11, 2016, 01:11:19 AM
Sounds like I really need to watch Ushio & Tora. :D
Yes.
So Pink Jacket on the whole isn't as well-written as Green or Red. It gets a little too fanservice heavy, and the stories are even less consistently tight than in the previous series. But it's still fun, and has some pretty good episodes throughout. I'm glad that I watched it, but it is the weakest of the series thus far.
Next up are the movies and specials. I know that some of these are going to be good, but I'm mostly excited to get to Fujiko Mine.
Quote from: Foggle on July 11, 2016, 01:11:19 AMSounds like I really need to watch Ushio & Tora. :D
It probably won't resonate quite as strongly with you if you're not a huge fan of most shonen series, but even then it's still a worthwhile watch with memorable characters and a well-written story that has a distinct beginning, middle, and end, without every feeling like it's dragging on. This is probably one of the best paced shows that I've ever seen, come to think of it.
But yeah, it's definitely my favorite anime of the year, and one of my favorite anime in general now. My Hero Academia is also really great stuff, and could also become a favorite of mine after another season or two if it manages to maintain the level of quality that it had with its opening season.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2016, 11:55:51 PM
I can't get over how perfect the pacing was. The show starts off fine enough as you get into its world and character building, and see some of the earlier battles. But before less patient viewers can get bored, bombshells are increasingly dropped at a reasonable, encompassing pace.
You can't ask for a better shonen experience.
The pacing can't be praised enough. A lot happened without ever being overwhelming.
Watched the The Adolescence of Utena movie for the first time and my personal opinion is that it was an interesting alternative take on the story and characters, but ultimately it pales in comparison with the original show. The car-race at the end was pretty cool though.
Worst thing about the movie was the almost complete lack of Nanami (save for a cameo in a scene which doesn't add anything to the plot at all). Either that or how utterly unimpressive the movie's version of Akio was.
Oh, and for something more recent, I also watched the first episode of Thunderbolt Fantasy which is some sort of wuxia fantasy thing, using puppets. There's only one episode out, so its too early to judge, but I found the episode entertaining and will watch more. Its by Gen Urobuchi, so it should be interesting.
The best way to know if you'll like Ushio & Tora is to ask a few simple questions.
Do you like late-80s/early-90s anime and manga? It doesn't even have to be shonen.
Do you like the best shows that made Toonami famous back in the day?
Are you sick of edgy shonen crap, pointless gore, and/or bloodless action shows? Do you want something that is better than all three?
Are you the type of fan that likes their action show well written?
If your answer is "Yes" to any of these, then Ushio & Tora is for you.
I could only find one copy of Legend of Babylon online, and I'm having difficulty streaming it. Especially right now, as it keeps freezing every few seconds. I'm only a half hour in, but I think that I'm going to put this on hold, and try The Fuma Conspiracy tomorrow.
From what I hear and what I've seen, it doesn't seem like I'm going to miss much, anyway. Although I did dig that motorcycle chase earlier into the film.
Hey Avaitor, have you watched all of the Hosoda films yet? I think that I remember you saying that you watched Summer Wars, but have you seen The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children, and The Boy and the Beast? Because if not, then I highly recommend them!
The two recent Dragon Ball Z movies are also worth a watch if you ever feel like you're in the mood for something of that nature.
I've seen The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and really liked it! I was hoping to add Wolf Children to my Netflix queue (physical, not streaming), but when I checked, it wasn't available to rent. I'll check for that and The Boy and the Beast soon, which I got a poster of when I went to a comic shop in DC back in March.
I've also been meaning to get into the recent DBZ stuff. I was thinking of doing the movies, and jumping to Super after it's done adapting them. But I'll probably get to Super when that part of the series is dubbed, since I find it difficult to get into DB subbed, since I'm so used to the dub.
Oh right, Super doesn't debut new episodes dubbed :sweat:
Quote from: Avaitor on July 12, 2016, 10:22:57 AMI've also been meaning to get into the recent DBZ stuff. I was thinking of doing the movies, and jumping to Super after it's done adapting them. But I'll probably get to Super when that part of the series is dubbed, since I find it difficult to get into DB subbed, since I'm so used to the dub.
Even though it may be a long way off from being dubbed as far as we know, if you do ever get into Super, I recommend watching the two new movies and then starting Super at episode 28 instead of starting Super from the beginning. The first 27 episodes of Super are just a retelling of the movies, except with terrible animation and pacing, as well as lots of filler and padding; though some of the filler episodes in the middle are actually pretty decent, yet ultimately have no real relevance to the plot. Even then, I find the Champa arc (otherwise known as the Universe 6 arc) to be a really mixed bag, and the following filler mini-arc doesn't help make the series anymore enticing. However, as of episode 47, DBS has really picked up and we've gotten into the best material to come out of the franchise since the movies, and depending on how it goes, it could arguably be the best thing to come out of the franchise since the original manga ended.
Actually, Spark has started the series from the beginning of the most recent arc and has been able to follow it just fine, so that could also serve as a good starting point for DBS after you watch the movies.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 12, 2016, 09:31:24 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on July 12, 2016, 10:22:57 AMI've also been meaning to get into the recent DBZ stuff. I was thinking of doing the movies, and jumping to Super after it's done adapting them. But I'll probably get to Super when that part of the series is dubbed, since I find it difficult to get into DB subbed, since I'm so used to the dub.
Even though it may be a long way off from being dubbed as far as we know, if you do ever get into Super, I recommend watching the two new movies and then starting Super at episode 28 instead of starting Super from the beginning. The first 27 episodes of Super are just a retelling of the movies, except with terrible animation and pacing, as well as lots of filler and padding; though some of the filler episodes in the middle are actually pretty decent, yet ultimately have no real relevance to the plot. Even then, I find the Champa arc (otherwise known as the Universe 6 arc) to be a really mixed bag, and the following filler mini-arc doesn't help make the series anymore enticing. However, as of episode 47, DBS has really picked up and we've gotten into the best material to come out of the franchise since the movies, and depending on how it goes, it could arguably be the best thing to come out of the franchise since the original manga ended.
Actually, Spark has started the series from the beginning of the most recent arc and has been able to follow it just fine, so that could also serve as a good starting point for DBS after you watch the movies.
Ah, yeah, that's what I mean. I've been reading yours and Lum's thoughts about Super on here, and it sounds like the first 27 episodes aren't really worth watching, but 28 onward is. So that I'm hoping to get into.
I feel like when DB Kai is done on Toonami, they'll get it. Because unless someone else has the rights, why would they?
Anyway, I'm watching The Fuma Conspiracy now. It's pretty good, and the animation is surprisingly fluid for something meant to just be an OVA. I can see why it got a theatrical release. And Goemon has a fairly big role, which is well-done thus far.
Next up, I'll start Captain Tylor tomorrow! It's about time that I give it a go.
Funimation announced their new dubs. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-07-14/funimation-to-dub-d.gray-man-servamp-zestiria-danganronpa-3-arslan-love-live-sunshine-more/.104290)
Saiki is one of them.
Finally started Mob Psycho 100. Bones is on fire this year! Definitely my 2nd favorite animation studio now.
I'm enjoying Captain Tylor so far. There's nothing like some 90's anime charm, which the series has in good amounts. It's a lot of fun, and what makes it is that despite how much of a jackass he can be, Tylor is pretty likable, and can actually be pretty useful, while the rest of the cast's anger at his arrogance is justified, but doesn't go too deep so you can't like their presence.
This is definitely worth a watch if it sounds like your kind of thing.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F2EdDFrh.jpg&hash=1875e8fdf3b66c68f050ad79019dbfff114608fb)
The rape horse makes his grand entrance into anime, but was the sacrifices worth it?
I watched episode 1 of Death Note. Oh so that's what this show is about?! I didn't think it would have any demons in it
Wait, didn't you already watch Death Note years ago?
Nope. I didn't have cable when it started and avoidd the rest of its run when I got it back.
I'm pretty surprised you didn't. You'll probably like it, anyway.
Episode 14. Yep, I think it's safe to say that I don't like Misa lol.
The last 5 minutes definitely makes it sink in that this show will end tragically. I feel bad for all the protagonists
I finished Captain Tylor last night, and the show deserves its cult status. It's as engaging as it is fun, and the cast is fantastic. I've really enjoyed getting into the world, and recommend it to pretty much any fan of sci-fi.
I'm starting the OVA now, and I think after that, I'm going to catch up on JJBA, then start MHA.
Happy Betrayals To You episode of Lupin gets intense fast! This show usually starts out slow for like the first 10 minutes. Already one of my favorite episodes.
Hit episode 15 of Re:Zero. I am pleasantly and horrifyingly surprised at how this anime's turned out.
It's surprisingly better than I expected it to be.
The Berserk anime is 12 episodes long. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-08-11/2016-berserk-anime-listed-at-12-episodes/.105269)
I don't even understand why they bothered making this at all.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 11, 2016, 04:25:56 PM
The Berserk anime is 12 episodes long. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-08-11/2016-berserk-anime-listed-at-12-episodes/.105269)
I don't even understand why they bothered making this at all.
To sell frying pans.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on August 11, 2016, 04:30:19 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 11, 2016, 04:25:56 PM
The Berserk anime is 12 episodes long. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-08-11/2016-berserk-anime-listed-at-12-episodes/.105269)
I don't even understand why they bothered making this at all.
To sell frying pans.
Wait what? :D
Quote from: gunswordfist on August 11, 2016, 06:26:32 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on August 11, 2016, 04:30:19 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 11, 2016, 04:25:56 PM
The Berserk anime is 12 episodes long. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-08-11/2016-berserk-anime-listed-at-12-episodes/.105269)
I don't even understand why they bothered making this at all.
To sell frying pans.
Wait what? :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqhwPiISajI
I watched the first few episodes of Sweetness and Lighting. I'll readily admit that it's pretty damn adorable.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on August 11, 2016, 04:25:56 PM
The Berserk anime is 12 episodes long. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-08-11/2016-berserk-anime-listed-at-12-episodes/.105269)
I don't even understand why they bothered making this at all.
That's strange considering how it was originally listed by Universal Pictures as a 24 episode series. It's possible that the series is just split-cour, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the 2nd cour had been canned due to the negative reception.
They really dropped the ball with the new Berserk. As much as I've wanted to see the Hawk of the Millennium Empire arc animated, I wouldn't lament if they halved the original order of the season to one cour and just did Conviction.
Not exactly anime, but I'm watching a panel where FUNimation actors discuss the whole deal with making broadcast dubs. (https://youtu.be/c7I13jEXTvs?t=1477) Since they're expecting to record an episode often without knowing what happens next, it inevitably ends up with actors like Chris Sabat fucking around and ad-libbing their lines.
Haikyu season 3 will be 10 episodes long. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/08/19-1/haikyu-anime-season-3-previewed-fall-anime-to-run-10-episodes)
They're probably just going to adapt the Shiratorizawa match then. There wasn't really enough material for them to make two cours with a satisfying end-point anyway.
So I just found this out while going to FYE today, but Higurashi has been given another release! Both series, plus the OVA have been put out on DVD and Blu. I found Kai and Rei, but didn't get them since Kai was $85 and Rei was $35, and that's too much for either for me (and I don't really like Rei to begin with).
Amazon has both series on Blu for about half that price, and from the looks of it, Koro has Geneon's terrible dub, but Kai and Rei are subtitled only, which I'll take. I'm still not ordering these yet, but this is a show that I've really been wanting to watch again, and I'm happy to see it finally fully released stateside.
Quote from: Avaitor on August 21, 2016, 03:56:59 PM
So I just found this out while going to FYE today, but Higurashi has been given another release! Both series, plus the OVA have been put out on DVD and Blu. I found Kai and Rei, but didn't get them since Kai was $85 and Rei was $35, and that's too much for either for me (and I don't really like Rei to begin with).
Amazon has both series on Blu for about half that price, and from the looks of it, Koro has Geneon's terrible dub, but Kai and Rei are subtitled only, which I'll take. I'm still not ordering these yet, but this is a show that I've really been wanting to watch again, and I'm happy to see it finally fully released stateside.
Picked up the BD for the first season a couple months ago, but I haven't watched it yet unfortunately. Still need to grab Kai (not going to bother with Rei). Guess I should've posted about it on here to let people know! :sweat:
Mother's Basement just uploaded a season recap for Spring 2016: http://youtu.be/vERC8ZZxDS0
I was a bit disappointed to not see him score Ushio and Tora, which he says that he likes but hasn't finished yet; though, the fact that he calls it a villain of the week show leads me to believe that he didn't get that far into it yet since it becomes pretty plot-heavy after the first third.
He did give MHA a Silver Medal rating, though, so that's good enough for me.
I wasn't sure where to put this:
Crunchyroll and Funimation are entering a partnership (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/09/08/crunchyroll-and-funimation-partner-to-expand-access-to-anime)
QuoteFunimationNow viewers will be able to watch Broadcast Dubs of Crunchyroll's summer titles, including 91 Days, Mob Psycho 100 and Orange, with release schedules to be announced.
QuoteAnd further, Funimation will now distribute Crunchyroll's titles through home video and a variety of EST outlets, with both dubbed and subtitled versions together. Currently planned titles include Ace Attorney, Alderamin on the Sky, Bungo Stray Dogs, JOKER GAME, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and ReLIFE, with more to be announced in the future.
QuoteWhat will happen to titles that Crunchyroll has previously announced it will be making for home video?
They will still be released, and will be distributed through our partner, Funimation. Crunchyroll and Funimation will be working together to produce all future titles.
I definitely didn't see this coming. :SHOCK:
Basically, shows are now going to be shared across both platforms. Subbed simulcast stuff will primarily stream on Crunchyroll, while Funi will be handling future dubs, broadcast dubs, and home video releases for Crunchyroll licensed shows. It's pretty much confirmed that future stuff that Crunchyroll announced dubs for like Gintama will also be handled by Funi as well.
With this news, I'm wondering if I even need to be subscribed to both platforms any more....
Funimation's FAQ (http://www.funimationnow.com/faq?_ga=1.71343251.1251943071.1470430595) says that they will be removing subbed content from the website in phases throughout this year, and will lower the subscription price to reflect that. So, you'll eventually need to be subscribed to both of them to have subs and dubs.
I am not surprised that Funimation will cover the Mob Psycho 100 dub, given their history with Bones. Am I any less excited? HEKL FUCKING NO!!
If Crunchyroll didn't plan to do it themselves, I was actually expecting Viz to dub Mob Psycho since it's produced by Warner Japan and Viz has the license to their other major titles (JoJo's and Terra Formars).
:whuh:
Berserk (2016) is getting a second season in Spring 2017. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/09/16/second-season-of-berserk-tv-anime-scheduled)
Yuri on Ice is so much win it hurts.
So I'm finishing Digimon Adventure right now, and I think over the weekend I'll start up Part 3 of JJBA.
But I also want to find time for Fujiko Mine. Maybe later, of course!
Watched the first episode of Keijo!!!!!!!! and just: :e_embarrassed:
I wonder if third wave feminists will comment on it?
Quote from: Markness on October 08, 2016, 10:43:51 PM
I wonder if third wave feminists will comment on it?
My comment: It's bad. :kabapu:
I spent the whole episode wondering about the rules in their ass game. Wouldn't they need helmets if asses can cause concussions? What if someone has an illegal ass implant to give their buttcheeks more physical strength? Why are there academies that specify in training a girl's booty?
When you start trying to rationalize the logic in an anime about girls wrestling each other with their boobs and butts, you've already lost.
Wasn't there already a Dead or Alive game that did this same plot about a decade ago?
Quote from: LumRanmaYasha on October 09, 2016, 11:30:53 AM
When you start trying to rationalize the logic in an anime about girls wrestling each other with their boobs and butts, you've already lost.
No, the boobs were in Occultic;Nine.
I legitimately couldn't write anything on Keijo. It made me so angry.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 09, 2016, 11:33:56 AM
Wasn't there already a Dead or Alive game that did this same plot about a decade ago?
Don't recall that but Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 does have a Keijo DLC package.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 09, 2016, 11:40:08 AM
Quote from: LumRanmaYasha on October 09, 2016, 11:30:53 AM
When you start trying to rationalize the logic in an anime about girls wrestling each other with their boobs and butts, you've already lost.
No, the boobs were in Occultic;Nine.
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/de1d214f3c8933da9b25342fb6a05fbf/tumblr_oer0dyaKW91s5f9ado1_500.gif)
(https://67.media.tumblr.com/934e05ba21d076484d63a6b2cb4b2031/tumblr_oeqon192Ci1s307p6o1_500.gif)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F66.media.tumblr.com%2F9216bf23832592e40b81cbf251f99ea7%2Ftumblr_oer0qgx9c01s5f9ado1_540.gif&hash=050849a3bd6c7f3970eb5326bef60db2adbb3c79)
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/2c78d31219ec7254c2dec5e6e32d4e20/tumblr_oescigsTVR1qa94xto1_500.gif)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F65.media.tumblr.com%2Fb9195f38dc2995609993724d99386821%2Ftumblr_inline_o2ose88I701rqt59r_400.png&hash=0eb1e4d39a5f07ef316d9bbe4c0f52291389ea4e)
Man there are some really good shows this season...but the bad ones (ie: Keijo, Occultic;Nine, Heybot!, etc.)...shudder.
Keijo!!!!!!!! is the savior of anime. :e_hail: :e_hail: :e_hail:
Saving anime for those whose skulls are as thick as those asses are fat.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 11, 2016, 12:34:53 PMSaving anime for those whose skulls are as thick as those asses are fat.
What a biggotted, ignorant, outright crude and offensive statement. Quite frankly I'm appalled, Dr. Insomniac. How dare you discriminate against thick-skulled people.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 11, 2016, 01:29:27 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 11, 2016, 12:34:53 PMSaving anime for those whose skulls are as thick as those asses are fat.
What a biggotted, ignorant, outright crude and offensive statement. Quite frankly I'm appalled, Dr. Insomniac. How dare you discriminate against thick-skulled people.
I hope the continent of Hawaii will forgive me for this hugh mungus error.
I AM IN LOVE. (https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/786651771187978241)
This match in Haikyu is really exciting. I'm glad they decided to animate it now instead of waiting for more manga material for another full 25 episode season.
I should try watching that match in the anime when it's done. I tried to read it three times in the manga, but each time I left barely remembering anything except liking some of Tsukishima's character development, and I stopped reading the series after realizing just how univested I was in anything that happened despite it ostensibly being an important match in the series. I'm sure the anime would probably make it more memorable and entertaining for me by making moments stand out with great animation and music, even if I still might not invested in what's going on with the characters themselves.
....Man, I know that sounds cynical, but I've never tried harder to get into a series like I have with Haikyuu but still somehow end up feeling nothing about anything in it. I've never had a harder time enjoying something that I actively wanted to enjoy....
I actually really enjoyed that match. The manga is OK, but I was invested in that part of it. But I understand the feeling of wanting to enjoy something but not getting what the big deal is. That's how I've always felt about stuff like FMA. There's nothing really wrong with it, but I could never find it in me to care about any of it, much as I tried, so I definitely understand where you're coming from.
It's not being cynical. Some things just don't click with you.
Yeah, that's true. I just find it strange, because there's nothing I dislike about Haikyuu, and I understand why a lot of people really enjoy it and can appreciate what it does well. But I can't seem to enjoy it myself or connect to it emotionally for whatever reason. It's the only series where I feel like this about, so I keep trying to figure out why exactly that is.
Yeah, it really bothers me when I'm not able to find the appeal in a series, movie, video game, book or other piece of media, despite not really being able to find anything wrong with it either. It's the lack of being able to explain my own tastes that frustrates me in those cases, though personally I can think of at least a few different examples besides just FMA.
As for Haikyuu, I love the anime for its great animation, direction, and music. Take that away and you have what I consider to be a pretty average sports manga. For me it's casually entertaining for the most part, and I can understand why some people really like it, but I just find that it doesn't do anything that other sports series which I've watched or read haven't done better. That said, there are a ton of sports series like that, so I just find Haikyuu to be on that level, in that it's decent for what it is, and not much else.
I finished watching Mononoke or as I'd like to call it, Mushishi's deranged twin, recently. It was a very interesting watch and I'll probably revisit it in the future. Can't think of more to say about it at this moment, really.
I've also finally started watching Space Brothers, which is one of those shows that I've been meaning to get around to for quite some time now. Its way to early for me to have anything concrete to say about the show, but so far, its very promising and I do find Mutta to be a very believable and relatable character.
Oh, and there are a few anime from this season that I'm watching as well, such as Yuri!! On Ice, The Great Passage and Izetta the last Witch. Out of the three mentioned, I'd say that The Great Passage is my personal favorite and I now have a newfound respect for people who make dictionaries. Izetta has been OK so far, but the fan-service is doing its best to hamper my enjoyment. It just feels really unnecessary and intrusive. Of course, one could argue that that's true for most fan-service.
So for an interesting comparison here are the MAL charts for top 50 anime from 2006
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FAus4gUr.png&hash=5320db27cee144fa366ae54037b0795d94d1ea87)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FXe0rSai.png&hash=720b94d896ea70b4e995c5ae2c5cd6c626237274)
and 2016.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FZvf0MSm.png&hash=3c1c0cc15665c39f15b1aa5cce61db14186a2f7c)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FxjZXVEL.png&hash=1f6ff4e09ed1ebd68fcda2eb1bc2d1036c8838d2)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FdGnLGkd.png&hash=801a3f93d64e578b0a9e705d982af947defbeec8)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F8wd2YHg.png&hash=7a2862262207d811f5dedb721c1fb9da6a700165)
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F7U0xKQE.png&hash=2c577dfcd4e17d4c85bb1ed1fb10b4659e6b34e1)
Interesting how the scores for shows in the top 50 are more inflated than they were 10 years ago. But then again I suppose the online community is much bigger now. Also interesting to see which shows have remained in the top 50 these past 10 years, and which have dropped off. Haruhi Suzumiya was #2 10 years ago and had a score of 8.67, but it's #466 with a score of 8.06 now. And LOGH wasn't even in the top 50 10 years ago but now it's in the top 10 and widely considered the best anime ever among a wide circle of critics. The shows that have stood the test of time seem to be Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, Mushi-shi, Hajime no Ippo, GTO, and Monster, which makes sense since those are all pretty highly regarded among critics or just really popular gateway series. But nowadays shows drop in and out of the top spots on MAL on a dime based on what's new and popular in the current season. Remember when ERASED was #5? Now it's #50 and probably will continue to drop further as more new anime come onto the list and get popular. The number shows that stick around on the top 50 10 years from now will be interesting to see.
I bought and watched DBZ Battle of the Gods tonight and finished it about 30 minutes. I am so glad I somehow managed to avoid hearing a lot about this film. Possibly the most fun I had with the franchise since I was a teenager. I didn't know here was so much comedy and screen time for the secondary cast. I loved how they avoided Goku just smashing Beerus at the end. Sounds like they used what Beerus said at the end to set up Super (don't tell me). I will buy and likely watch Resurrection of F tonight, which I already know has lots of comedy and isn't just a Goku comedy fest.
Also, I have no clue why Buu's alive..I barely saw tge end of his arc. I am surprised this is before Pan's birth. I assumed it was after the manga.
Baki is getting a new TV anime! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-11-28/keisuke-itagaki-baki-manga-gets-tv-anime-adaptation/.109263)
It sounds like it will be continuing from where the previous anime left off by adapting the second series New Baki the Grappler. I liked what I watched/read of Baki back in the day, so I'll definetly be looking forward to this. :)
Oh whoa, I didn't know this was right after the last Baki anime!
Started Resurrection of F about 15 minutes after midnight and just finished. Definitely the best group fighting since DBZ ended and my favorite one on one fight since Fusion Reborn. I am so happen to see Tien, Krillin and Piccolo get more screentime. I wish Vegeta was the one to kill Frieza though. Goku really is a glory hog lol Now I can start Super and continue to enjoy some more guilt-free-paid-for anime.
Blood Blockade Battlefront season 2 announced! (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/11/29/blood-blockade-battlefront-tv-anime-to-return-in-2017-with-big-staff-changes)
Hyped for this! Season 1 was one of the best series in years. New writer and director might be disappointing, but as long as they at least adapt the original material well enough, we should get another great season out of it.
Now for Dark Horse to get on releasing more of the manga, and Toonami to air season 1.
If you aren't watching this yet...you should. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v770Rndew14)
That was an exciting end for Haikyu's third season. Really exciting game, and IG did a terrific job with it. It'll be a lot easier waiting for the next season after seeing that ending.
It turns out the reason Funimation has been so silent about the Mob Psycho 100 dub is because it was being dubbed over at Bang Zoom. (http://www.funimation.com/blog/2016/12/09/mob-psycho-100-english-dub-premiere-cast-announcement/)
It will be released on FunimationNow on December 11th at 9:30 ET.
Here's the noted cast list:
Quote
Shigeo: Kyle McCarley
Reigen: Chris Niosi
Ritsu: Max Mittelman
Ekubo: Michael Sorich
Hanazawa: Erik Kimerer
I guess my speculation about it being a Toonami pick-up was wrong. In any case, I'll be interested in seeing how the dub turns out.
There were a number of upcoming anime announcements that came out of Jump Festa:
First off, MHA Season 2 is coming out in April. (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-16/my-hero-academia-2nd-season-premieres-in-april/.110022)
Still no announcement of a split-cour season, but I have my fingers crossed.
To the surprise of no one, Boruto is getting a TV anime also slated for April. (//http://)
I half-expecting Pierrot to pull a DBS and re-adapt the Boruto film.
Food Wars is getting an OVA that seems to cover the first few chapters of the Moon Festival arc. (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-17/new-food-wars-shokugeki-no-soma-original-anime-dvd-promo-video-previews-council-of-ten/.110032)
My guess it that JC Staff is planning a Season 3 of the anime and this will serve as a preview episode.
Lastly, Black Clover is getting a TV anime is 2017..........by Studio Pierrot. (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-17/yuki-tabata-black-clover-manga-gets-tv-anime-by-studio-pierrot/.110057) :burn: :anger: :cry:
Part of me was expecting this to happen, but I wanted to be wrong especially since Xebec was producing the OVA for it for this year's Jump Festa. Any hope I had of Black Clover getting a good adaption is officially dead. It's a real shame.
lol Studio Pierrot? I was actually kidding on Twitter. I had no clue.
BBB and MHA season 2 is enough for me.
Shame about Black Clover though. It's obviously going to be taking the spot of Twin Star Exorcists. The only question is which way will they screw it up this time.
It's really sad when you consider that at one point in time Studio Pierrot was behind the excellent Yu Yu Hakusho anime adaptation, in addition to other good anime that they've produced in the past. They've really fallen far, even more so than Toei, IMO, and that's REALLY saying something.
I'd say Pierrot and Toei are about equal in quality presently. Generally, they're shows are not well produced but they can shoot out something good once in a blue moon (Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 in Toei's case and Mr. Osomatsu for Pierrot). The fact though that Pierrot thought it was a good idea to produce a 50 episode anime for Twin Star Exorcists and make it 75% filler is downright idiotic. I only hope that Pierrot doesn't try to make a continuous long-runner out of Black Clover.
Black Clover aside, 2017 is going to be a great year for anime. Base off what we have right now there's:
Atom: The Beginning
Blood Blockade & Beyond
Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Impure King Arc
Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel trilogy
Full Metal Panic! IV
Fuuka
FLCL Season 2
Gintama.
Legend of Galactic Heroes remake (unless I.G. pushes it back)
Little Witch Academia
My Hero Academia Season 2
New Baki The Grappler
One Punch Man Season 2
Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
Rin-ne Season 3
Seven Deadly Sins Season 2
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Season 2
Space Battleship Yamato 2202
That's a damn impressive set of series, if you ask me.
Thing is, I wouldn't mind things like filler. I actually think BC would benefit from it since the manga rushes from action scene to action scene too much. Slower build up and more room for things to breathe would only help the series.
The problem is that I doubt Pierrot would add meaningful filler to bolster weaker aspects of the original series. Heck, they might even Tokyo Ghoul it up. And that's the issue. There's really no way to know what they'll do.
I doubt Pierrot is going to Tokyo Ghoul-it considering how that screwed them on making the series into a continuous money-maker, but it's still a possibility. For all we know Pierrot could make this a competent adaption like they did for Yona of the Dawn or milk the series to death like they've continued to do with Naruto. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm going to keep my expectations as low as possible.
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K has been green-lit for a second season! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-25/the-disastrous-life-of-saiki-k-anime-teases-sequel/.110333)
I've been keeping up with Funimation's dub and it's been really great. The manga may never get licensed in the US, but I'm glad that I'll at least be able to experience more of the series through the anime.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on December 25, 2016, 01:05:31 PM
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K has been green-lit for a second season! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-25/the-disastrous-life-of-saiki-k-anime-teases-sequel/.110333)
I've been keeping up with Funimation's dub and it's been really great. The manga may never get licensed in the US, but I'm glad that I'll at least be able to experience more of the series through the anime.
Woo!
I've been watching this with a friend every week and we've been having a blast. Its dumb humor and twisting character quirks are endlessly funny.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FZOsKWAd.jpg&hash=67c7dcf3b3c4d4f8d0844a4ee38b6b38f6858947)
A Happy 2016 of anime.
Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul will FINALLY premiere this April! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-28/rage-of-bahamut-virgin-soul-2nd-promo-video-cast-april-premiere-unveiled/.110433)
The spring season is going to be pretty great with both this and MHA Season 2 airing. :)
And BBB season 2.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on December 28, 2016, 05:19:24 PM
Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul will FINALLY premiere this April! (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-28/rage-of-bahamut-virgin-soul-2nd-promo-video-cast-april-premiere-unveiled/.110433)
Great! Now wake me up when Manaria Friends gets un-cancelled.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on December 28, 2016, 08:26:56 PM
And BBB season 2.
BBB & Beyond got confirmed for spring? If so, that's going to make April even sweeter.
2017 WHAT I WATCHED SO FAR...
OwBlech Brotherhood: Oh hey now its canon maybe it'll be goo-THE MANGA STUFF WAS JUST AS SHITTY AS THE FILLER.
Schoolgirl Strikers: The Seltzer-Friedberg of Battle School Anime. This is what consititute's "parody"
Saga of Tanya The Evil: Izetta for Breitbarters and edge-lords. AKA hot garbage.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: I have nothing bad to say about this show. Nothing whatsoever.
Urara Meirocho: Shitty fanservice. No characters. Not funny. Really badly paced. I didn't even want to review this so I didn't.
Fuuka: Painfully average love triangle shit. I mean why would anyone want to watch thi-oh ohhhhhhh ohohohohohohohohoh WOW.
SpiritPact: .........its Bloodivores again.
Idol Incidents: You know its funny I found this slightly better than the ANN guys did. Does that make it a good show? HELL NO!
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelDLIVE: Its World Trigger!...with a talking phallus. >_<
Hand Shakers:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FLnX92sS.jpg&hash=4e7e3d7af8fe8655eea8f53b17c5421899312b50)
Rewrite: See above.
oh and Little Witch Academia was pretty damn good.
So besides Rakugo (which I'm already watching), and LWA (which I plan to get around to soon), is there anything from this season that's worth keeping up with (not counting any continuations of shows from previous seasons)?
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 20, 2017, 11:23:43 AM
So besides Rakugo (which I'm already watching), and LWA (which I plan to get around to soon), is there anything from this season that's worth keeping up with (not counting any continuations of shows from previous seasons)?
ACCA's ok, Interviews With Monster Girls is supposed to be pretty good but I'm not into that kind of thing. That's about it really. This season blows.
EDIT: Voltron. Voltron is good. You should watch Voltron.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 20, 2017, 11:23:43 AM
So besides Rakugo (which I'm already watching), and LWA (which I plan to get around to soon), is there anything from this season that's worth keeping up with (not counting any continuations of shows from previous seasons)?
Fuuka seems to be a pretty solid adaption so far, but there are concerns on how it will be handled when they get to "Truck-kun's introduction". Still, LumRanmaYasha has said that the manga has continued to be great, so the anime should turn out well if Diomedea doesn't do something dumb like remove the central plot-twist.
From this season, I'm only keeping up with the second seasons of Konosuba and Rakugo Shinjuu. There are a few other shows I want to watch like LWA, ACCA, and Blue Excorcist: Kyoto Saga but I might wait until those are over.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on January 20, 2017, 11:23:43 AM
So besides Rakugo (which I'm already watching), and LWA (which I plan to get around to soon), is there anything from this season that's worth keeping up with (not counting any continuations of shows from previous seasons)?
Kobayashi's Maid Dragon is easily the best anime KyoAni's done since Amagi, and is my personal favorite anime this season. Youjo Senki is enjoyable in a so bad its good way.
Not too surprising, but Sailor Moon Crystal is getting another season. (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-01-25/sailor-moon-crystal-anime-gets-sequel/.111437)
This will probably cover the Dreams arc, and if Toei is bringing back Chiaki Kon to direct the series, I'm confident that this will turn out just as great as the adaption of the Infinity/Death-Busters arc. :)
I've started watching the second season of Genroku Rakugo. To the absolute surprise to no-one, the show continues to be excellent, I'm so glad to have it back. Other anime I'm currently watching include Flying Witch, (which is a nice, relaxing show with likable characters) and Space Brothers.
Overall viewer ratings in Japan for 2016 anime has been released. (https://twitter.com/KnackWolfjard/status/825096423930671104) Our favorite pompadour from Morioh led the ranking.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 29, 2017, 03:49:32 AM
Overall viewer ratings in Japan for 2016 anime has been released. (https://twitter.com/KnackWolfjard/status/825096423930671104) Our favorite pompadour from Morioh led the ranking.
Unless I'm not squinting hard enough (that list is incredibly hard to read even with the kanji), Yuri!!! is nowhere to be found on this list.
YOI seems to have been more of a hit overseas than it was in its own country. And on that end, while I really liked the show, I can't help but feel that it's getting noticed a bit too much for its appeal to the LGBT community rather than....you know, having a good story with compelling characters and good animation and music to back it up. The anime community in the West is weird like that.
I'm not watching this, but I couldn't think of a better thread for this. Fuuka's anime does not follow the manga. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2017-03-17/creators-discuss-fuka-anime-major-story-change/.113570)
Normally, this wouldn't be worth mentioning, but it completely bypasses a huge change in the story to tell its own thing. This article goes on about how they came to this conclusion. The original author specifically wanted this because he wanted to see how the story would go if it did not happen at all. I know this change is controversial, but I think it's actually quite a nice touch. I miss when certain anime would go off and do their own thing, and it's nice to see it happen in such a popular and controversial series.
In theory it was a welcome idea and could have satisfied people who were still unhappy with what happened. But in execution...as a fan of the manga, to say it leaves a lot to be desired is an understatement. I may make some sort of write-up or discuss my frustrations with the anime on the podcast in some form in the future.
The funny thing is that, even not having read the manga myself, I can clearly tell where the cut-off point of divergence happened. But for what it's worth, while I was only planning on watching the anime, this development has encouraged me to read the manga while still following this version as well.
The problem I see with the Fuuka anime diverging is that
Spoiler
Fuuka's death
happened within the first 30 chapters of the manga and the remainder of the series revolves around that plot point. I'm fine with liberties being taken in anime adaptions, but removing that plot point takes out a central aspect that made the series stand out. The anime is just left being a generic music/romance series. On another note, if they weren't going to follow the manga, they should have just removed "Truck-kun" completely. It's a superfluous scene in the anime's context, and potentially upset fans of the manga.
Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond is premiering in October (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-03-23/blood-blockade-battlefront-and-beyond-tv-anime-premieres-in-october/.113782)
I wonder if this means that MHA Season 2 will be a continuous 2-cour season instead of split-cour. Since MHA and BBB are the only shows Bones is producing this year, I wouldn't be surprised if they are breaking their recent trend of releasing series in 1-cour chunks.
The block MHA is in doesn't have split cour shows and Time Bokan said that MHA would be replacing it for half a year. I'm pretty sure at this point it will be Bones first 2 cour series in years.
Quality Cooper. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT90dx_nk0I)
ANN finally got around to reviewing Nadesico, and heheheheh... heh. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/martian-successor-nadesico/blu-ray-complete-collection/.114355)
Zac Bertschy. Of course.
QuoteThe idea that this show was riffing on mecha anime of all stripes – up to and including the then-new Evangelion – really landed with late 90s otaku, who still marveled at the novelty of shows that winked at them directly.
This is not actually why most people like this show. The fact that it was funny was beside the point. It was a fun space opera at a time when everything was ripping NGE off and being uber serious. It was a breath of fresh air. I think most would find it so now since shows like this are still rare now.
To think the only reason it was popular because it was winking at otaku like the reviewer is a type of narcissism I could only expect from ANN.
While I can understand his problem with the contradiction of the show saying "real life isn't like mecha anime" and then playing mecha tropes straight, I don't think he's giving enough credit to the show's critique and reaffirmation of otaku culture, and moreover, how pop culture can bring people together, yet people may interpret it differently within a different cultural contexts or re-appropriate it to suit their particular philosophies, which acts as a commentary/critique on the religiosity of media and fan culture. How MSN embraces the fun and goofy side of mecha whilst contrasting that with it's more serious aspects helped make it a fun, thoughtful and self-aware comedic reconstruction of the genre. He's ignoring the thematic mountain for the molehill.
So, due to being busy with my job, I have to use my free-time sparingly. About 90% of that is being spent on Nioh, my favorite piece of any kind of media or entertainment to come out in years. I'm also playing a couple of other games here and there.
After that I'm currently almost finished with "The Name of the Wind" and soon after plan to read the sequel novel. I was thinking of re-reading Stephen King's "It" in preparation for the remake later this year (which looks surprisingly good going by the first trailer, though I'm still a bit skeptical without Carry Fukunaga on board), but passed on the idea since I just read it two years ago and it's still fairly fresh in my memory. Plus, I still have "The Stand" waiting for me to delve through. I may give the TV mini-series a re-watch one of these days just to relive some cheesy nostalgic memories, though.
I have also been keeping up with all four CW DC shows, so as you might expect that eats up about four hours of my time every single weak, though the season is now almost over.
And then I'm keeping up with several manga plus have a backlog of DC comics sitting on my shelf that I still haven't even touched yet.
So, as you can probably tell my time left for anime is limited, and I've already been keeping up with Dragon Ball Super and Yowamushi Pedal, so all that considered, I'm only really watching two shows from this season: MHA and Boruto, both of which have had excellent premieres.
I'm not sure how I'm going to fit Rage of Bahamut into my time-slot as well, but being an exclusive of a separate streaming service doesn't really help much, so I may just have to pass on it for now and come back to it later on, as much as I've been eager to watch it.
So last week, I watched the Patlabor OVA, and I just saw the first movie last night. I couldn't find any good streams, so I rented it from Netflix. I really liked both of them. They're solid mecha works that will do wonders if you're up for the genre, and may or may not win you over if you don't.
I'll watch the second one soon. I may or may not do the third after that.
The third one is barely related to the other two. It's decent but nothing on the first two.
If you have the time I recommend the TV series (and the New Files) if you want more Patlabor. It's a good franchise.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on April 18, 2017, 06:27:09 PM
If you have the time I recommend the TV series (and the New Files) if you want more Patlabor. It's a good franchise.
It's on my mind, but I'm not sure if I'll get to it for a while. But it sounds like they're worth a watch.
Been using time to rewatch Eureka 7. It's still enjoyable but starting to notice that the first cour kinda.. drags. For every cool episode about the Gekkostate being "Surfing mecha hippies", there's Talho getting drunk and Renton having to hang with Eureka's kids because they didn't like that he threw up. I know there's good stuff coming up though, so there's that at least to keep me waiting.
Not sure what much else I'm watching. I dropped Kira2Precure a La Mode; suppose I could get back to Turn A sometime though.
Blood Blockade Battlefront is on Crunchyroll. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/blood-blockade-battlefront)
If you haven't seen it yet, now's as good a time as any.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9eL8nPW0AAne-U.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9fo_tKVoAAVmhU.jpg)
I don't trust this generation's Oreimo.
When I reviewed the first season (before it totally devolved into irredeemable trash) I got the impression that the writer has talent. He knows how to write characters and present good situations to have them react and confront each other. The writing was way above crap like K-On or Lucky Star, for instance.
The problem is his fixation on bad sex jokes and incest that drags the whole thing into the gutter. Really ruins everything.
I expect this series to be exactly the same.
I'm still not sure why he thought the Oreimo finale was acceptable. It's an ending that satisfies nobody. Kyosuke ditches and alienates all of his friends to start a relationship with Kirino... that will only last a few years. It betrays fans of the other characters by forcing a romance with no chemistry in the center, and the incest shippers by only giving them what they want half-way. Even haters of the show won't find any schadenfreude because the entire finale is tailored to please Kirino at the expense of everybody else.
I've continued to watch Space Brothers (among other shows) and I must say that those episodes in which Hibito and Damian get trapped in a crater are among the most suspenseful episodes I've seen of any anime. They actually made me fear for the life of one of the main characters and its been a long time since an anime (or any cartoon) managed to do that.
Is City Hunter worth watching? I found the first set for a decent price, and it sounded cool when I read up about it.
I would check out the manga if I could, but it didn't seem to have much of a run stateside. But it seems like most of the anime at least made it here, even if the later seasons aren't cheap.
It's an action comedy about a bounty hunter. It's a good anime and a good manga. Unfortunately, both are near impossible to find over here.
Yeah, City Hunter is considered a classic within Shonen Jump's history, but it's not very accessible in the US since ADV's releases of the anime have long went out of print. The first 28 volumes of the manga have been fan-translated, but at the current rate the scan group is going, it will take several more years for the project to be completed. It's also worth noting that the creator of City Hunter, Tsukasa Hojo, also created Cat's Eye, the anime adaption of which is licensed by Nozomi Entertainment and is streaming on Crunchyroll. It's quite different from City Hunter, but it's still worth a watch.
I'll keep that in mind as well!
Okay, I'll try to save up a little and get the first set of City Hunter. Even if I end up not liking it too much, I can probably make some decent cash selling it back.
Picked up One Piece: Film Gold and Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Part 1 on Blu-Ray yesterday.
Film Gold is a lot of fun, but I'd still rank Strong World as my favorite One Piece movie.
As for DBZ Kai, despite not being a big fan of the Buu arc in the anime, I still wanted to collect this in order to experience the English dub, which for the Kai series is stellar. Does anyone know what's up with all of the music changes, though? I know why FUNi had to change it for the original run of Kai due to the whole plagiarism scandal, but I thought that was already addressed by the time Kai Buu was airing in Japan, so why is some of the music still being switched out?
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 21, 2017, 12:36:01 PM
As for DBZ Kai, despite not being a big fan of the Buu arc in the anime, I still wanted to collect this in order to experience the English dub, which for the Kai series is stellar. Does anyone know what's up with all of the music changes, though? I know why FUNi had to change it for the original run of Kai due to the whole plagiarism scandal, but I thought that was already addressed by the time Kai Buu was airing in Japan, so why is some of the music still being switched out?
The music placement is different between the International version and Japanese version of Buu Kai in the early episodes since the first 15 eps of the Int version are shortened to 8 eps in the Jp version, and Toei didn't bother to keep the music placement consistent between the shared scenes of each version. The music should be roughly the same after that point.
Apologies if this isn't the right thread but, I was thinking some more on FMA and I've heard a lot that Brotherhood follows the manga really closely but I just have this dumb hangup on whether I should read the manga first or watch through Brotherhood.
Any op-nions?
Probably Brotherhood.
Mkay then, thanks!
I've been watching Fist of the North Star, just doing an episode or two here or there. I feel like it works better this way, since it doesn't seem like a series meant to be binged.
Y'no, I tried this way back when, but dropped it since despite being fun, it didn't have much to grab me. Now that I'm older and more experienced in shonen and post-apocalyptic material. I really dig the Road Warrior-inspired baddies, and the general tone, even if it's no favorite yet. Hopefully it'll turn to something better soon.
FOTNS's biggest problem is the pacing. If you can get past it and get into the story proper, it's a good show.
So, is anybody else watching Kado? This is like, the most interesting thing that Toei Animation has produced since....ever.
The cliffhanger to the last episode has my mind racing with no idea of what to expect next but I'm genuinely impatient to wait for it. I haven't felt this way about a currently airing anime in a long while.
I've been enjoying Bahamut's second season so far, personally. It's a lot of fun, though overall I prefer season one for having a stronger lead character. The lack of Favaro in the second season causes it to lose a lot of the wit and charm that he brought in season one, though I do give the writers credit for trying something new rather than just rehashing the first season again.
I've also been catching up with Re: Creators. I don't know about this one. It's been getting a lot of critical acclaim, and on paper, I should love it. The premise is right up my alley and I'm a fan of Rei Hiroe's writing for Black Lagoon as well as Ei Aoki's previous work on Fate/Zero, but the resulting product of this mix of great elements to me is pretty....ok. I like various scenes, find that there's some really clever subtext to some of the exchanges between characters, and it has a pretty sound commentary on the nature of being a creator of fictional media, but it also feels like it fails to take advantage of the fun aspects of this concept as well. I suppose for the type of premise that it has, the story is a little too self-serious for my tastes, even if it is generally well-written.
I finally ordered a Loot Anime box, since I saw that Blame! was in this box, so I was hoping that it would have an exclusive edition of the first manga volume, since it's too pricey for me to normally buy. Instead, I just got a shirt, which seems more based on the movie than the manga, which is fine. It also came with:
-A Knights of Sidonia phone stand
-A Sanrio-made mini Asuka plushie. It looks like they've also done Shinji, Rei, Kaworu, and Mari, but this comes with either Asuka or Rei. I'd rather have Misato and Ritsuko than Mari tbh.
-A Gurren Lagann art book
-A Kitty-Mecha keychain
-A Voltron pin
Not too bad, really. I don't think I'll continue to subscribe unless the next set has a lot of series I'm into.
I know that Dragon Ball themed products seem to be recurring inclusions in these boxes (maybe about two or three times a year), as well as other popular anime like Attack on Titan and Pokémon. Marvel properties also get a lot of representation here.
My main reason for not subscribing to Loot Crate is that while I'll definitely get some cool stuff, I'll inevitably get a stockpile of stuff that I don't want and that will like just collect dust.
Yeah, that's why I only keep an eye out for boxes with a majority of things that I want, as rare as those are.
For my next one, I'm ordering Funko's most recent DC box, but only since it's entirely B:TAS-themed. I normally wouldn't even look at this one otherwise.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I watched the Initial D's second and third stages last week. I don't really find myself having much to say about the series, other than the fact that I enjoy it. These were a strong follow-up series and movie, respectively. I'll get to Fourth Stage a bit later, though.
Right now, I'm a few episodes into Yuri!!! on Ice, and while I'm not sure if it's worth the massive hype, I'm really liking it so far. It has some fantastic animation and can be pretty funny and engaging. I have a general idea of what's coming next, and it's something that I'm down to finish.
Catching up on Dragon Ball Super. I thought it was funny so many people were getting mad at the writers for the stupid crap Goku pulled in causing the tournament. It's like they forgot this has been a core concept with his character since he let Vegeta live, and it's not even the first time his selfishness has caused unneeded problems for others. It's one of the reasons I don't like him very much. But it didn't surprise me that it happened.
On the other hand, having episodes where Buu wins a fight and Krillin gets heavy (and highly deserved) character development and focus have been great. Even Gohan has been getting back into it. I've even enjoyed seeing 17 again. The writers trying to give characters pushed out since the Cell Saga development has been one of my favorite parts of this series.
At this point I can't imagine anyone saying this is worse than GT. You'd have a tough case convincing me of it.
Especially since Super is actually good.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on July 02, 2017, 04:43:44 PMCatching up on Dragon Ball Super. I thought it was funny so many people were getting mad at the writers for the stupid crap Goku pulled in causing the tournament. It's like they forgot this has been a core concept with his character since he let Vegeta live, and it's not even the first time his selfishness has caused unneeded problems for others. It's one of the reasons I don't like him very much. But it didn't surprise me that it happened.
See, I don't entirely agree with this, though. Yes, Goku has a selfish nature to want to do battle and his desire to do so has occasionally put other people in harm's way (though it should be noted that none of this is actually intentional on his part). The key thing to keep in mind in Goku's character in the original Dragon Ball is that he is naive, not intentionally reckless.
Goku in Super IS characterized differently from in the original manga, even if the changes may seem more subtle to some. For one thing, Goku might not be known for being too bright, but he wouldn't have done something like forget the Mafuba inscription to seal Zamas and Goku Black and then have an "oops, silly me" reaction. Goku in the manga would actually take the situation much more seriously. The Goku in Super seems to be geared towards making him further fit the stereotypes that people have labeled him with over the years, since the writers are clearly conscious of these things. That said, some of these traits are noticeably exaggerated from the original work, which is why there is some justification in people being upset with his characterization in Super. Since you don't like him it may not matter to you, but I've always felt that some sub watcher and manga readers only seem to remember the worst aspects of his character and hardly give him any credit for his better moments. Toriyama himself admitted that he didn't write Goku to be a "good guy," so he intentionally had unlikable qualities to his character (he's not entirely unlike Yabuki Joe in how that's arguably part of his appeal), but he wasn't written to be a complete dick or moron either. Had Goku actually known that the Zen-Ohs' would erase the Universes that lose the Tournament of Power as a consequence for bringing it up, I don't think that he would have pursued the matter (at least the version of him in the manga definitely wouldn't). Even his selfishness has limits. Although, the implication in this arc is that weather he brought it up or not, the twin Zen-Ohs' would have decided to erase some of the "lesser" Universes regardless.
QuoteOn the other hand, having episodes where Buu wins a fight and Krillin gets heavy (and highly deserved) character development and focus have been great. Even Gohan has been getting back into it. I've even enjoyed seeing 17 again. The writers trying to give characters pushed out since the Cell Saga development has been one of my favorite parts of this series.
At this point I can't imagine anyone saying this is worse than GT. You'd have a tough case convincing me of it.
One thing that people are bitching about is how this arc has completely thrown power-scaling out the window. On the one hand, no, it doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, I don't care. I'm willing to accept the writers having to take a huge liberty with one aspect of the series' logic in order to vastly improve the diversity of the cast, rather than only having Saiyans be useful for anything. I'm glad that Android 17 can take on Super Saiyan Blue Goku, and that Krilling can repel his Kamehameha with his own, even if Goku wasn't completely going all out and Krillin only barely managed to hold on at that. If it allows these supporting character to be more useful again, then I'm all for throwing that power-up stuff out the window.
And I really like how Jiren's skill and level of intimidation have been built up so far. He hasn't shown even the slightest bit of power yet. Instead we see very early Dragon Ball-esque concepts of him managing to slip behind Goku without Goku being able to detect his presence, or where he can correctly predict the path of those moving tiles and doesn't have to waste any movement dodging them since he knew that they wouldn't hit him. I kind of hope that by fighting him, the lesson to Goku will be that those old martial arts concepts that he was raised on is the key to overcoming his current limits as opposed to just powering up more, though sadly I don't think that's what the writers are going for.
I finished Yuri on Ice yesterday, and was pretty happy with it overall. I especially liked ow you could hear inside everyone's minds as they performed. It helps bring you into the character's worlds. I don't know if it's one of the best series ever, but it's another solid sports series that I've found.
I enjoyed Yuri on Ice. It's not nearly as great as it's hyped up to be, but it's certainly a well-made show for what it is.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 08, 2017, 03:43:04 PM
I enjoyed Yuri on Ice. It's not nearly as great as it's hyped up to be, but it's certainly a well-made show for what it is.
This is essentially my opinion on
Yuri on Ice. As a fan of Sayo Yamamoto,
YoI is nowhere near the quality of
The Woman Called Fujiko Mine or even
Michiko & Hatchin, but on its own merit, it's still an entertaining sports anime. It does bother me though that a lot of people praise
YoI for things (such as its handling of sexuality) that were portrayed far better in Yamamoto's previous works, yet neglect to give those series any regard.
Both of those are on my to-watch list, so I'll let you guys know how I feel about those, particularly in comparison to YoI.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2017, 02:27:05 PM
Both of those are on my to-watch list, so I'll let you guys know how I feel about those, particularly in comparison to YoI.
I would've thought you already watched M&H, since it was on Toonami. Unless you weren't really watching Toonami back then. I'd definitely be interested in hearing your opinions of it. It was one of those showed that turned me off right from the first episode.
Speaking of Toonami, they've aired three episodes of Lupin. And I got to say, I'm a bit disappointed. I was expecting something super fun and interesting, but for the most part I'm pretty bored. The first episode was good, but the last two have not been. I was kind of hoping this show would be my gateway into Lupin, since it's always been something on my radar, but so far I might have difficulty just finishing this show let alone diving into the many other things Lupin related.
I'll continue to watch for now, but I hope it gets much better soon.
Quote from: Dreamer2 on July 10, 2017, 02:49:15 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2017, 02:27:05 PM
Both of those are on my to-watch list, so I'll let you guys know how I feel about those, particularly in comparison to YoI.
I would've thought you already watched M&H, since it was on Toonami. Unless you weren't really watching Toonami back then. I'd definitely be interested in hearing your opinions of it. It was one of those showed that turned me off right from the first episode.
I come and go on Toonami, and really just stick around if they're airing a show that interests me, like Black Lagoon or Parasyte. It's only in the past year that I've been really keeping up with it, since they've been airing HXH. M&H didn't interest me that much when it first aired, but it's been raising my interest as of late, enough that I want to check it out.
And I'm enjoying Lupin Part IV so far, but it's not my favorite yet by any stretch. I watched the first 3 series last year, and I didn't find any of them to be extremely consistent, but the first 2 especially have a lot of great episodes. I can handle a few so-so episodes if there's enough strong ones, especially since I know that the series can do better. But if Part IV just never wins you over, I'd at least recommend checking out Mystery of Mamo or Castle of Caligostro if you get the chance. They're terrific movies through and through, and arguably the best gateway to Lupin. Although I do need to also get to Fujiko Mine.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2017, 03:19:42 PM
Quote from: Dreamer2 on July 10, 2017, 02:49:15 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on July 10, 2017, 02:27:05 PM
Both of those are on my to-watch list, so I'll let you guys know how I feel about those, particularly in comparison to YoI.
I would've thought you already watched M&H, since it was on Toonami. Unless you weren't really watching Toonami back then. I'd definitely be interested in hearing your opinions of it. It was one of those showed that turned me off right from the first episode.
I come and go on Toonami, and really just stick around if they're airing a show that interests me, like Black Lagoon or Parasyte. It's only in the past year that I've been really keeping up with it, since they've been airing HXH. M&H didn't interest me that much when it first aired, but it's been raising my interest as of late, enough that I want to check it out.
And I'm enjoying Lupin Part IV so far, but it's not my favorite yet by any stretch. I watched the first 3 series last year, and I didn't find any of them to be extremely consistent, but the first 2 especially have a lot of great episodes. I can handle a few so-so episodes if there's enough strong ones, especially since I know that the series can do better. But if Part IV just never wins you over, I'd at least recommend checking out Mystery of Mamo or Castle of Caligostro if you get the chance. They're terrific movies through and through, and arguably the best gateway to Lupin. Although I do need to also get to Fujiko Mine.
Personally, I think Part IV starts to really pick up over time. The second half especially has some great episodes like "The End of Lupin III", which has probably become one of my all-time favorite Lupin eps. That being said, even if you don't end up liking Part IV, it's still worth checking out other Lupin series/films since they're all slightly different.
I'm watching Diamond is Unbreakable now. I was going to catch the second half of SC, but since Toonami's getting it, I'll just catch it there. I am enjoying this one so far, though. It's different from the other JJBA stories, but in a good way. I like how the story is evolving, eight episodes in.
I think what resonates with me the most about DiU is the town of Morioh itself, which feels real and full of life within the context of the JoJo's Universe, as well as the distinctly laid-back tone that is present throughout a majority of the arc. Only a core few episodes really deal with the main story, but not unlike shows such as Cowboy Bebop, the real heart of DiU is in everything that lies in-between the major encounters, in which the characters are just being themselves. Though, don't get me wrong, the serious stuff is done exceptionally well, but it's how it complements the rest of this arc's tone that truly gives it weight, IMO. Like, in one episode we'll see some characters trying out get-rich-quick schemes in a comedic affair that feels much more akin to Ed, Edd, n' Eddie than something out of a Shonen Jump manga, but then it can be followed up by a devastatingly dark encounter with a villain that feels all the more tense because of how much you come to care about the characters from the more light-hearted fair.
In other words, it really feels like you are there hanging out with this gang, which makes them feel so much more relatable than most other JoJo's characters, IMO.
Episode 10 is one of the best things I've ever seen, and is making me really hungry for Italian.
The latest anime I've tried watching were Attack on Titan and One Punch Man. Being the fickle guy that I am, loved the action and animation in both but neither neither one does much of anything to bring me back. I'll admit that this is my own fault for not being open to some (the majority) of anything new (I think 2014 was the last time I actually tried anything). Unless there's some anime out there dealing with samurai's that I'm not aware of?
Anyway, I do have a nice little rotation going on at the moment.
Rurouni Kenshin (This takes me back)
Outlaw Star
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Might squeeze in a little bit of Yu Yu Hakusho or Gungrave. Outlaw Star is new to me, or rather, I missed it during it's run on Toonami and now I own it on dvd so I suppose its my win for being able to see it in its glory. On the manga side, it's been nothing but Hajime no Ippo.
One Punch Man is pretty fun for what it is. Attack on Titan was never really my thing, though.
As for more good Samurai anime I'm not too sure what to recommend besides the really obvious ones, but if you're up for reading manga Vagabond is a certified classic. I'd recommend Lone Wolf and Cub, but I figure it may be a bit too old-school for your liking. I'm currently reading Blade of the Immortal, though, and it's arguably right up there with the likes of Vagabond, LWAK, and RK as one of the best in its genre, though I'm only about a third of the way through it, currently.
You might get a kick out of Drifters, Grave. It's by the same guy as Hellsing and shares much of its appeal. Garo may be up your alley as well assuming you haven't already tried, I've only seen a handful of the anime's episodes but the franchise overall is built on over-the-top action and horror.
Yall caused my ears to perk with those suggestions. I checked out a clip of both Garo and Drifters. Garo looks like some Sword of the Stranger type action and Drifters, I don't even know where to begin, but I like what I saw.
Dr. Ensatsu-ken. I'll give those a shot to see if there's any kind of spark. I'm aware of Blade of the Immortal, but I've also seen a lot of mixed opinions (mainly the anime). So I'll definitely give that one a go.
I checked out an episode of the anime, and it's hot garbage, don't even bother. The manga gets off to an admittedly rough start, since it felt like Samura was really trying to find his footing in telling this story, and one story-line about the in particular is just disgusting and utterly stupid. After the first omnibus in particular, though, the story gets into a genuinely intriguing plot that reminds me quite a bit of some of my favorite parts of manga like Vagabond or Vinland Saga.
Also that artwork is gorgeous. Much like Berserk, I don't imagine that any anime adaptation can truly do the manga's art justice. It certainly doesn't help that the production values of the anime are ass by normal standards as well.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/159381558384525312/349288453957222400/unknown.png)
From Blood Blockade Battlefront.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/159381558384525312/349288521955016705/unknown.png)
From Cowboy Bebop.
Since they had an anime from one of the creators of the Space Western Trilogy, I guess they couldn't help themselves. Good nod.
Well Digibro made a video all about Chiaki J Konaka, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOrm0MEhtgE) and it's a cool overview on what makes this writer tick. Like Digi, I really wish Konaka would come back to write anime one day. He's written so many great shows in the past, and opened the gatedoors for similar writers like Urobuchi or Kobayashi to put their stamp on anime. Still perpetually on the fence as to whether or not I should watch Texhnolyze though. Having a reputation as the most nihilistic anime of all time doesn't exactly make my mouth water.
Here's a really cool video on Osamu Dezaki (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJM-VO1z5C4&feature=share).
This reminds me that I haven't posted an update on what I'm currently watching! So I wanted to get to AnJ 2, since I remembered via the Greatest Anime Episode Ever tournament that I never actually got around to watching it. I thought that it was on CrunchyRoll, but it's not... so instead of looking harder for it, I went on another site and started another series that I've been meaning to watch for a while- The Woman Called Fujiko Mine.
So far, Part IV hasn't been one of my favorites, although I really liked this week's remake of the first series' fourth episode. I'm only 4 episodes in on Fujiko so far (I haven't had as much time to watch stuff as I'd like), and I'm liking it a lot more. I really dig the pacing and how it's integrated the other characters thus far, while still keeping Fujiko in focus. It's as fun as Lupin should be, and hopefully I'll get to watch more of it tomorrow.
I did have a little time to take a tiny break from it, however, and watch something else the tournament enticed me to check out. I watched the first episode of Urusei Yatsura the other day. I really enjoyed what I saw of it from the tournament, so I decided to check it out a little as an on-off show. Even from the beginning, I know that I'm going to like it. Somehow, it most reminds me of the Cartoon Cartoons, almost like a PG-13 Dexter's Lab or Johnny Bravo. The humor and character writing give me that vibe, at least. It's definitely something I can see myself watching more of.
AnimeEveryday has been putting out some really good videos lately. I'm glad someone is highlighting important creators and moments in anime history, especially considering this year celebrates 100 years of japanese animation.
AnJ 2 is on Crunchyroll! It's just under the title Champion Joe 2 (http://www.crunchyroll.com/champion-joe-2). Don't know why they renamed it that, but it's the same show.
I like Lupin Part IV a lot for how it updates the kind of stories you'd see in Part II with incredible animation and beautiful backgrounds while also adding an underlying storyline to the proceedings, but upon revisiting Part 1 and Part II its are not quite as memorable as those shows were. But I like Rebecca and Nyx a lot and hope they reappear in future Lupin stories. I still think The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is the best Lupin series on the strength of its aesthetic, animation, and the storyline. It's as fun as other Lupin shows, but also has a darker edge than most of them, with more risque sexuality, surreal storylines, and bizarre psychological concepts more akin to what you'd have found in the original manga. I think you'll enjoy it a lot!
And I'm really glad you're starting Urusei Yatsura! I never thought about the show as being similar to the Cartoon Cartoons before, but I can definitely see that in the humor and the spirit of the show. The show starts off good and just gets better throughout its run, especially once the art style starts changing into a more modern look and the show starts becoming really inventive with its animation and storytelling. If you want to follow along with the manga as you watch the show (and know where the movies fit into the timeline), I wrote up a big post about it in the Urusei Yatsura thread a few years back for reference. (http://animationrevelation.com/forum/index.php?topic=1128.msg88209#msg88209) I'll be interested in following your thoughts as you continue watching!
Aside from my somewhat disagreement with his (and most of the anime community at large, to be fair) stereotypical view of most shonen series, he probably puts out some of my favorite anime related content on YouTube.
That video also really reminds me of how much I want to see the rest of Dezaki's body of work. It really sucks wanting to experience so much stuff and realizing that you'll just flat-out never have enough time to get around to everything that you want to.
I watched the first episode of Black Clover to see what the fuss was all about, and I discovered the horror. The horror. (https://youtu.be/Vcd9tZ51oXg)
Asta's yelling is pretty obnoxious, especially the way the seiyuu is exaggerating the last syllable in every sentence. I really hope they tone down the delivery as the show goes forward.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 06, 2017, 12:14:50 PMI watched the first episode of Black Clover to see what the fuss was all about, and I discovered the horror. The horror. (https://youtu.be/Vcd9tZ51oXg)
So, if you were bummed out by Naruto ending and didn't want to watch hundreds of episodes of glorified filler about his bratty son, then Black Clover has you covered. It takes literally the exact same plot and characters and dials the obnoxious levels up to eleven, as evidenced by how "geniously" over the top Asta's voice is. Now, every time I think back to how annoying of a character Naruto was, I realize that I was praising him more than he deserved. He could have been so, so much more tone-deaf than what we got. Black Clover aims to take that very concept to an extreme that quite frankly, I don't believe that modern society is ready for. Clearly we have the next major hit of the century on our hands.
Courtesy of Studio Pierrot....:humhumhum:
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 06, 2017, 12:14:50 PM
I watched the first episode of Black Clover to see what the fuss was all about, and I discovered the horror. The horror. (https://youtu.be/Vcd9tZ51oXg)
I told you, but you didn't listen.
It's Naruto with magic instead of ninjas. If that's what you want then go nuts. If not then it's really not for you.
But Naruto was already Harry Potter, except with ninjas instead of magic....
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 06, 2017, 04:29:44 PM
It's Naruto with magic instead of ninjas. If that's what you want then go nuts. If not then it's really not for you.
But we already have that this season. Its called UQ Holder.
:lol: :lol: :lol: I wait to watch Black Clover now.
This truly was the most dismal day in the history of me writing Clusterfuck entries.... :whuh:
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/916326869129154565
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/916398462635094018
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/916431113358331906
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 06, 2017, 12:14:50 PM
I watched the first episode of Black Clover to see what the fuss was all about, and I discovered the horror. The horror. (https://youtu.be/Vcd9tZ51oXg)
Who let Ryuji Sainei get into voice acting?
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 06, 2017, 05:36:52 PM
:lol: :lol: :lol: I want to watch Black Clover now.
It's really not that bad of a series overall. Like the manga is not on the same level as MHA or Kimetsu no Yaiba, but I still enjoy reading it week to week.
As far as the first episode goes, I didn't think it was that bad aside from Asta's yelling. I wish they had adapted the entire first chapter, but considering MHA didn't do that either, I've come to accept this pace as the new norm for Jump adaptions. Considering this is being produced by Pierrot, this definitely exceeded my very low expectations, though they could of course mess it up in the coming weeks. :bleh:
It's generic shonen. It gets better later, but it's never much better than average. Asta's voice definitely needs work. The dub might be the go to for this one.
I'm far more interested in BBB this season, though.
Quote from: Lord Dalek"Rynnec's Favorite Show Fall 2017 Edition"
Dies, Kotonoha, or Urahara? ??? ??? ???
Quote from: Rynnec on October 06, 2017, 08:17:26 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek"Rynnec's Favorite Show Fall 2017 Edition"
Dies, Kotonoha, or Urahara? ??? ??? ???
Wake Up, Girls!
Quote from: Foggle on October 06, 2017, 08:20:41 PM
Quote from: Rynnec on October 06, 2017, 08:17:26 PM
Quote from: Lord Dalek"Rynnec's Favorite Show Fall 2017 Edition"
Dies, Kotonoha, or Urahara? ??? ??? ???
Wake Up, Girls!
:whuh: :wth:
Only Dalek could fail to know my interests after all these years.
I just watched the premiere of BBB & Beyond, and damn does it feel good to have this show back! It seems like they will be jumping around story-wise this season since this first ep was an adaption of the first chapter of Back 2 Back, while next week is a story from volume 8 of the original manga. In any case, I'm definitely looking forward to more BBB!
Damn, modern Bones animated an entire chapter into one episode?
I still need to give BBB another try. It wasn't bad just damn confusing.
I suggest watching the dub first. It's easier to keep track of that way. Once you wrap your head around it, it's a fun ride.
I'm going to guess there's an ongoing plot in Back 2 Back which is what they're using to frame this season around. Smart idea since there's more than enough material to do an otherwise straight adaption.
(https://i.imgur.com/aRQl2fD.jpg)
Thank you, adblock. I will try the dub, Spark!
Quote from: gunswordfist on October 08, 2017, 03:50:45 PM
Damn, modern Bones animated an entire chapter into one episode?
I still need to give BBB another try. It wasn't bad just damn confusing.
Well, Back 2 Back is a quarterly manga so the chapters tend to be pretty long. Chapter 1 of B2B was around 75 pages, iirc.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 08, 2017, 08:13:15 PM
I suggest watching the dub first. It's easier to keep track of that way. Once you wrap your head around it, it's a fun ride.
I'm going to guess there's an ongoing plot in Back 2 Back which is what they're using to frame this season around. Smart idea since there's more than enough material to do an otherwise straight adaption.
As as far as I know, Back 2 Back has been pretty episodic so far. I know volume 10 of the original manga is plot-focused, so my guess is that they'll do various chapters from both the original and B2B, and then end the season with the volume 10 material.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 08, 2017, 08:48:06 PM<snip>
:whuh: What is this so I can avoid the hell out of it?
Quote from: Painted Outlaw on October 08, 2017, 10:18:05 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on October 08, 2017, 08:48:06 PM<snip>
:whuh: What is this so I can avoid the hell out of it?
A Little Sister's All You Need
(https://i.imgur.com/8CWeqzN.jpg)
Yeah..., I think this is one of those times I'm happier being unaware of the typical seasonal garbage. J-Just why?!
Been watching Gundam Seed recently, I think I'm on episode 28? Due to the HD Remaster cutting out eps 14 and 26, the numbering on this' kinda weird so I'm just gonna use the title and say the last one was "Kira".
I suppose so far, the best I can say on the show itself is that it's okay. It does feel like Mobile Suit rebooted except "Ooh, this time, we have Flay and she's loco!" but I suppose I haven't been bored at the very least. That probably sounds like a terrible summation but, it's the best I can do right now given the characters don't really have that much to them either. I mean, say what you will about the UC shows but, at least I can point to characters like Mineva and say: "From an early age, she was led by Haman Karn to be a new leader of the Zeon Empire. While this likely bestowed her with some diplomatic knowledge.. as Char can vouch, it was not a way that her childhood should've been run".
For Seed so far, I got:
Kira's eh to fair when he's not giving bad Soichiro Hoshi cries.
Kira's buddies are eh.
Athrun's eh.
Athrun's buddies are eh.
Lacus' had almost zero screentime, so, who?
Cagalli, I think's the character I wanted all during Turn A; someone to kick the show in the butt and, get it to start moving.
Flay needs to be kicked out an airlock.
Mu La Flaga's likely gonna die, he's too cool for this show.
Creuset's fine but he's no Char.
Murrue and Natarle are okay. Mitsuishi's trying her darndest to sell Murrue's character, that I'll praise.
Seed is basically 40 episodes of meh with a scattering of good here and there.
Seed Destiny is 49 episodes of horrible with like one or two moments of borderline not horrible.
I watched the first two episodes of Garo: Vanishing Line and was quite impressed by the animation and execution. Very fun series if you're looking for an action show.
While I haven't gotten my hands on Drifters or Garo just yet (not feeling Drifters price at Amazon at the moment), but I have gotten back into One Piece.
Just in case, spoilers
Spoiler
I recall giving up on the series around the 2 year skip, and Luffy not being able to recognize his crew (mind you, at that time I was salty about the Whitebeard war, Ace's death, and a long flashback. I've always hated One Piece's drawn out flashbacks) just made me lose all interest.
Yeah, I've tried to dabble back into it here and there (with no Bleach or Naruto anymore, and I'm not liking the direction Hajime no Ippo is going) but I was completely lost and, well, lost interest until now. Right now I'm watching the fight between Luffy and Crocodile. I forgot how much of a boss Crocodile was. I'm buying dvd's until I'm caught up I guess.
I'm also getting back into Hunter x Hunter. Not much to say here at the moment until I get the dvd's. I think the last I recall of this show is Gon vs Hisoka where Gon was learning Nin or something like that. That was the original version. I haven't seen anything regarding the new version.
Yes, good old "Nin" is exactly what Gon was learning. That just made my day. :sly:
One Piece got really good again last year. Knowing your general taste, just skip the Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, and Dressrossa arcs and go straight to Zou. You're not the only one who had issues with post time-skip One Piece, and I can say that a lot of that material almost burned me out from the series as well. Thankfully Oda seems to have found his footing with the series again, and instead of dicking around, Luffy and crew are finally going up against the Yonkou that were being built up for an eternity (the four pirate emperors, which includes Shanks and formerly Whitebeard, just in case you forgot who they were).
Finished up Gundam Seed and as I said elsewhere, I get what they wanted to do and a couple moments did get to me (Mu and Natarle :( ) but, as a whole, I wouldn't say it really matched up to the UC shows it so wanted to be. And geez, on that note, the finale was almost endearing on that since it felt like some giant UC-era checklist. "Creuset has a special mecha and he fights Kira like Char did. Oh-oh and, Kira gets powered by shounen rage and Newtype ghosts like Amuro and Kamille did and...". Tl;dr: I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. It was this (https://i.imgur.com/jsIDuLj.jpg).
I'll get to GSD ...eventually... but, planning to watch Steins;Gate next.
So, I just came back from seeing the first Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel film in theaters and it was great! While it wasn't my favorite anime film of the year by any means, it definitely lived up to my expectations and it was very well adapted. Any concerns that I had about Ufotable rushing the pacing are gone, and I am looking forward to the next two films.
That still reminds me that I need to finish UBW.
And speaking of series that it's taken me too long to finish, I finally found time to knock out The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Damn, this might just be my favorite Lupin series. It doesn't contain as many of the qualities of the previous series that I loved, but it has great stuff for not just Fujiko, but the whole gang. Just a wonderful experience.
Definitely more enjoyable than Part IV. That does have some great episodes, but I'm not feeling it as much as this one or the first 2.
Yeah, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is easily my favorite Lupin series. It strays pretty far from the traditional Lupin anime formula, but is crafted incredibly well and does a great job of handling its cast. It's also easily Sayo Yamamoto's best directorial work imo, which makes it a real shame that it is still largely ignored by anime fans even after Yuri on Ice's success.
Part IV, while it has its flaws, I still love at lot and it has some of my favorite Lupin episodes ever. I also enjoyed Rebecca and Nix's roles as recurring characters, both of which I'm hoping return in some way in Part V.
I'm enjoying Rebecca and Nix, as well, but the core storyline stuff doesn't do as much for me as the more loose episodes. When it's good, it's really good, but Part IV is only on top of Part III for me.
Lupin just isn't a big deal in the US at all. Even Gundam, which has been struggling post-Wing here, tends to have a bigger following, and both series that have aired on Toonami generally hold on better ratings than Part IV has. I understand why Part II didn't catch on originally, being old and all (I didn't get it at the time either- I've only really gotten into the franchise as of late), but even Castle of Caligostro is by far Miyazaki's least popular film stateside. I feel like Woman Called Fujiko Mine would do wonders as an entry point, but very few anime fans seem to give it a second look.
After finding and buying a figure of Char Aznable's main suit in Char's Counterattack today, I had a bit of a nostalgia kick on Gundam, and decided to do something I've thought about doing for a while- rewatch G. Although I don't plan to make this my main series to watch, I figured that I'd at least check the first episode out on Crunchyroll tonight.
And wow, I forgot how much I loved this dumb show as a kid. It's not one I talk or think about as much as other Toonami mainstays, but as everything came together, I realized that it was really up there for me. And it's still pretty darn fun too. I'm on episode two now, and I may watch at least one more before I call it a night.
G Gundam never pretends to be anything other than a fun action show and it succeeds at it. I know most people hated it when it came out because Bandai really didn't know how to handle the franchise, but it is good at what it does. It's just that what it does is not what people like about Gundam.
It's basically Gundam re-imagined as a tournament-style battle shonen series. It's fun for people who enjoy that genre but doesn't fit the franchise for everyone else.
I love G Gundam because it doesn't fit the Gundam mold. No heavyhanded lectures about souls weighed down by gravity. No weird character shifts like Reccoa's arc from Zeta. No obvious Char Clone (Schwarz Bruder doesn't fit the archetype enough for me to count him). Instead, it's hot-blooded, over the top racial stereotypes fighting each other with giant robots. The director used the same approach for his remakes of Giant Robo and Mazinger Z, and he works wonders there.
I think what makes G work is its surprising lack of camp. The series takes itself entirely seriously, and somehow that isn't a detriment despite how dumb it gets with its stereotypes. The characteristics and action mostly work, and help to pull you into the story.
I do like the more traditional Gundams, but I'm glad this worked as a change of pace, since it helped the franchise to become more multifaceted.
So, today I checked out the first episode of Devilman Crybaby.
My reaction went as follows:
.....:whuh:
Just gonna quote myself regarding G:
"I saw part of G Gundam when it was on Toonami but it wasn't until more recently that I went through every episode. It is a pretty good show and likely one of Tomokazu Seki's best roles. (Also, one of the few roles I can stand Kappei Yamaguchi; I still dunno how). From Domon trying to piece his family back together to Rain worrying that Domon won't make it through the fights, Argo haunted by his past as a Space Pirate to Sai needing to revive his family temple but neither truly wanting him to waste his childhood, and so on -- there's a
lot to like in its over-the-top wrapping paper."
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on January 04, 2018, 05:20:47 PMG Gundam never pretends to be anything other than a fun action show and it succeeds at it. I know most people hated it when it came out
Bah, those people probably gave something like Wing more love than it deserved.
Quote from: Painted Outlaw on January 08, 2018, 08:48:52 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on January 04, 2018, 05:20:47 PMG Gundam never pretends to be anything other than a fun action show and it succeeds at it. I know most people hated it when it came out
Bah, those people probably gave something like Wing more love than it deserved.
People genuinely thought that G was a betrayal back in the day. I've seen one anime reviewer outright call it the worst thing to ever happen to Gundam. I just wonder what he thinks of the past twenty years.
It's also worth pointing out that the franchise was on a decline in popularity around this time (and to be fair, you probably deserve some kind of medal if you can make it all the way through ZZ), and G helped revitalize it. Chances are that we may not have even gotten Wing without it, or it wouldn't have been nearly as much of a hit.
Watched the last episode of Juuni Taisen, and I just don't get how Nisioisin has all these anime and light novels out when he has no idea how to write actual dialogue or anything resembling human thought. Even the characters we're meant to relate to (like Hanekawa, the guy from Katanagatari, and Rat in this show) are so distant and talk too much that I can't sympathize with them at all. Watching a show with nothing but talking heads would feel more natural than any show of Nisioisin's.
The only work of Nisioisin that I've read anything of is Medaka Box, and I absolutely couldn't stand it. It tries to be a "smart" commentary on the trappings of the battle shonen genre, but more often than not it comes off as obnoxious drivel that wouldn't even be suited for an essay format (even though each speech bubble basically reads like a mini-essay). Also, we have writers like Yoshihiro Togashi and ONE (among others) who can actually write good commentary on the genre while also making their stories good pieces of entertainment within that genre as well, so this has even less of an excuse to suck as much as it does.
Maybe his dialogue comes off as more clever if you understand Japanese (I seriously doubt it, but I'm sure his English-speaking fans will defend it that way), but in general I dislike works that prioritize trying to look smart as opposed to actually being a compelling piece of fiction in its own right, first and foremost.
I just watched the first ep of the new Hoshin Engi anime, and I feel pretty conflicted. On its own, I actually feel that the episode was a decent streamlined version of the material despite adapting an entire volume and having a few questionable adaption choices, but if this is the pacing that the rest of the series will continue with, then I'm concerned. The manga doesn't have much padding to begin with, so if they're going to have to keep cutting lots material, it could lead to a complete train-wreck. On the bright side, the production values are pretty great, so hopefully the anime can at least keep that up for its entire run. I'll probably continue to keep up with the anime, but I'm going to keep my expectations pretty low.
Watched the first two episodes of Citrus, and the main character has been molested or nearly sexually assaulted four times so far. Kaiserneko says it better than I could. (https://youtu.be/fTNmOYTNEqI?t=2448)
DARLING in the FRANXX really suxx.
Quote from: Lord Dalek on January 20, 2018, 05:14:52 PM
DARLING in the FRANXX really suxx.
(https://i.imgur.com/lb3qjvB.gif)
After finishing Part IV, my opinion remains more or less the same- I liked it, didn't love it. It worked best with its more comedic episodes, give or take some experiments, primarily most of the stuff with Rebecca. But I really didn't care for the Leonardo da Vinci stuff, and the storyline attempt was awkward. I'd put it above Part III, but I still prefer the first 2 series and Fujiko Mine.
I'll come into Part V with open arms, though. Maybe they'll knock it out with this one.
(https://i.imgur.com/cyJrJgj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/gZFRjlM.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/uCsG7j1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xVSSHEV.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/BaNstwX.png)
:wth:
I was one of those rare ones that liked the Skypea arc in One Piece at one point, but I just finished watching the arc in it's entirety and good lord, I forgot how terribly draggy it was. The fight between Luffy and Enel, actually, take it a little further back when it was Zoro vs Wiper vs what's his name. I like that fight but I nearly stopped watching due to Luffy and that damn snake (my tolerance levels are pretty low for anime these days). I know this is Oda's motto, but how are arcs since the time skip in terms of pacing? Are they just as long? I only ask because Skypiea nearly got me to drop One Piece immediately (until I remembered the awesome Water 7 arc) and I don't want to waste my time if some of these later arcs feels as bad Skypiea.
Because of Dragon Ball Fighterz I also decided to get back into Dragon Ball Z (I don't think I'll ever be a fan of it like I was back in my kid days), but I'm at a loss because I'm not sure if I want Kai or the original. I'm interested in Kai because I read on Amazon that the voice acting and script got better, but I got the original coming because of the epicness of Bruce Faulconer's music. I may double dip for Kai if convinced.
Personally I'd recommend the manga over any other version of Dragonball, both for art and pacing reasons, but if you're going to go with any anime version of DBZ, I'd say that Kai is the preferred version if you're planning to stick with the dub. Some of its cuts and censorship are baffling, and it doesn't have the Faulconer score (which I hate, anyways, so it's personally a plus for me), though if you find the version with the Kenji Yamamoto score, I think you'd be pretty satisfied there. Unfortunately, there's no longer a legal way to obtain that version due to Toei officially pulling it from the market after the whole plagiarism scandal, but it can easily be found online. If you're buying the DVDs/Blu-Rays, though, then you'll get the Kikuchi score (except for Kai Buu, which has a new score in place), but I still think the superior quality of the dub makes it worth it over the original if that's the audio that you want to listen to. Regardless of whether you like Faulconer's score or not, the dubbing-quality of the original DBZ is just awful, and it's pretty hard to go back to these days, IMO.
Yeah, I still recall a bit of the dub in the original, particularly when Vegito fights Buuhan. A lot of the conversation made no sense at all, but it's all good. If anything, I'm in it for more like a trip down memory lane.
I'm pretty much just buying blu-ray/dvds.
Just FYI; there is a fan project for Kai (http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40195) that edits in Faulconer soundtrack. It's a bit of a hassle since you'll need to upload the blu-ray episodes on your computer and follow the tutorial, but the payoff should be worth it, especially with the Yamamoto version of Kai being hard to find and the Kikuchi version being so poorly edited to the point that a lot of moments lose their touch, imo.
So apparently Darling in the FRANXX is now a cautionary fable about how piloting a giant robot will give you super herpes.
...I wish I was making this up.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVkTejCVAAIJJpD.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVkTfKjU0AE_j_Z.jpg)
I don't like Death March.
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963414704780652544
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963415009664610304
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963415746863910913
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963416863089811459
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963418718574440448
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963417320982016001
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963419999913291776
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963420850488774656
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963421796409184257
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963422171988221953
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963423134689955840
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963423463326220288
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963424439936471041
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963425113873047553
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963426084392984576
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963426640519946240
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963427079634259970
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963428163668848641
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963428599612178432
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963429148780843008
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963429972676313094
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963432017504428033
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963433005233688577
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963433298231021568
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963434055197970432
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963435424613007360
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/963438196863524867
Its a fair cop but society is to blame.
That moment when you consider that a seiyuu actually had to say this (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DV7OAe3VQAEJHFv.jpg) with a straight face...
So out of curiosity, I watched the finale of Naruto where he and Sasuke fight an alien. And... what? I've never held Naruto in any regard whatsoever, and I knew about how stupid Madara's powers were or Itachi being a good guy all along despite no foreshadowing to that at all, but this was just a new level of incredulity. Why is Naruto so willing to forgive Tobi and think he's a cool guy even though he killed his parents and caused years of havoc just because his girlfriend died? Why does Tobi even get a hero's death despite all that he's done in his life? Why did Sasuke decide to turn heel at the last second just so the series could have an excuse to end with a Naruto vs Sasuke fight? Why is Sakura so stupid that she's still in love with Sasuke after the man has abandoned and backstabbed her multiple times just to fulfill his convoluted agenda?
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on February 13, 2018, 11:51:46 PM
So out of curiosity, I watched the finale of Naruto where he and Sasuke fight an alien. And... what? I've never held Naruto in any regard whatsoever, and I knew about how stupid Madara's powers were or Itachi being a good guy all along despite no foreshadowing to that at all, but this was just a new level of incredulity. Why is Naruto so willing to forgive Tobi and think he's a cool guy even though he killed his parents and caused years of havoc just because his girlfriend died? Why does Tobi even get a hero's death despite all that he's done in his life? Why did Sasuke decide to turn heel at the last second just so the series could have an excuse to end with a Naruto vs Sasuke fight? Why is Sakura so stupid that she's still in love with Sasuke after the man has abandoned and backstabbed her multiple times just to fulfill his convoluted agenda?
There are two consistent rules in Naruto: Everybody who has a remotely tragic backstory is forgiven, and Sasuke can do no wrong because everybody wants to suck his dick (even the people who want to kill him).
Been rerunning through Black Lagoon. Love how many great female characters this show has!
So I did end up going for DBZKai and I'm currently on the fight between Goku and Frieza. I will say that the dialogue is a lot better than the original (except the saiyan saga. Ocean dub > all), however, a lot of the moments that impacted me the most has lost its luster hence why I like the Faulconer version more (and while I've never seen DBZ in japanese, I won't say the score is bad, I just don't care for it). Also, there's a lot more screaming in unnecessary moments as well. Don't get me wrong, it fits, but I'm not sure that I like that.
Minor nitpicks aside it has been a rather enjoyable trip down memory lane.
I've been watching some VOTOMs. Classic.
So I watched Magical Girl Site...
(https://c.tribune.com.pk/2018/02/1624213-gallows-1517546914-671-640x480.jpg)
Just checked out the first episode of Megalobox. As a huge Ashita no Joe fan, this anime is pretty lit, guys. It touches on all of the hallmarks and staples at the core of the old series while still being entirely its own thing. My only gripe so far is that this show's stand-in character for Danpei is pretty much an ass-hole without any redeeming qualities. I imagine that's intentional, though, and he'll probably have an arc to develop into his trainer persona over the course of the series.
Watched the first episode of Persona 5's anime last night, I was content. I liked how they tried to get as many of the Japanese VAs from the game back as they could - from the main cast and Akechi to Sojiro to Principal and Kawakami and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, they can't get everyone since Chihaya's Miyu Matsuki and Kaneshiro's Kazunari Tanaka passed away but they still tried putting their best foot forward.
Pacing-wise, it didn't feel "insanely rushed" like I was reading; more streamlined as they wanted the plot beats without stuff like Akir-- sorry, Ren run around the subway for 30 minutes. I can gel with that though I do hope they slow down a little eventually. They don't need all the Palaces cleared by like episode 11. Then what would they do?
As I said on twitter though, one part that made me side-eye was Kawakami dropping one of her maid flyers. I got the reference but via her Social Link, she always struck me as more careful than that; making Re-- sorry, Akira call her on a pay phone with no ID and only coming over when no one was around. I guess the staff thought no one would care and moreso go "My waifuuu~~" but that didn't mean they needed to flub the character to do so. It'll also seem kinda wasted effort if there is no episode down the line focusing on the Confidants...
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 08, 2018, 12:37:12 AM
Just checked out the first episode of Megalobox. As a huge Ashita no Joe fan, this anime is pretty lit, guys. It touches on all of the hallmarks and staples at the core of the old series while still being entirely its own thing. My only gripe so far is that this show's stand-in character for Danpei is pretty much an ass-hole without any redeeming qualities. I imagine that's intentional, though, and he'll probably have an arc to develop into his trainer persona over the course of the series.
Yeah, I also enjoyed it a lot! I'm happy to see that it's getting a good amount of positive reception, even from those who have never touched Joe before. Hopefully, it will keep up the quality in the coming episodes.
Speaking of Joe, I picked up Discotek's release of the AnJ movie. It had to inevitably cut a lot of material from the TV anime/manga in order to get down to the 2.5 hour run time (including a number of Yoko scenes), but overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. I do hope it does well enough to warrant Discotek to release more Joe, as well as get more people into the series.
Aside from that I've been watching quite a few other shows from the spring season:
Spoiler
Tokyo Ghoul: re - Pierrot STILL can't adapt this series properly. They adapted over half a volume in the first episode, and it's a nonsensical mess to anyone who hasn't read the manga. You'd think they'd want to drag a money maker like TG out instead of rushing the hell out of it.....
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis - I decided to watch this in parallel to the old anime. I thought the first episode was handled pretty well, especially from a production standpoint. It seems like it's going to be adapted Yamato 2199-style, where each episode corresponds roughly to the same one in the original series, so it will be interesting to compare how the new anime handles the material.
Captain Tsubasa - ANIME IS SAVED! This is a PERFECT adaption of the manga, and David Productions has put a ton of heart into it. It's a real shame that Viz hasn't worked out the simulcast issues for it yet, because it really needs more love.
Gundam Build Divers - I liked the previous two Gundam Build anime, and this one is no exception. The first episode wasn't mind-blowing or anything, but it was still quite fun, which is mainly what I'm looking for from this series.
Lupin III: Part V - I'm ecstatic to have Lupin back! I was a bit concern that the technology implementation this season would feel awkward, but based on the first episode, it feels quite natural and unforced into the Lupin world. This is looking to be just as fun as Part IV!
SAO Alternative: GGO - I'm really only watching this because the original LNs are written by Keichi Sigsawa, who unlike Kawahara, I actually respect as a writer. The first episode was basically just a battle, but it was way better then the first ep of SAO Season 2, so that's a good sign. In any case, based on what I know of the story and characters, I'm fairly optimistic about this series.
There's still a number of series I either still need to watch or wait to come out from this season, so I'm not sure how many I'll end up keeping up with. Really, this season is crazy packed! :sweat:
Still have to get around to watching a bunch. I'm disappointed to hear they went with a CG bear in Golden Kamuy. Studios really need to stop cramming that crap in everything.
I don't understand why it's a CG bear. Based on how it's modeled and textured, a bear with regular animation would have been cheaper.
Not going to lie, Golden Kamuy disappointed the hell out of me. It's an utterly soulless adaptation of an excellent manga with all of its exposition but none of its heart or personality. The direction is mediocre, the soundtrack is forgettable, and the CG is atrocious. The traditionally animated portion of it is quite well done, as is the voice-acting, but seriously, compare this first episode to the corresponding material in the manga and it's clear which version has more drive and energy behind it. Gotta love how a character as charming and memorable as Asirpa kind of "just appears" without any sort weight or importance to her introduction.
On a brighter note, Captain Tsubasa is an absolute delight.
There's a lot of stuff that I want to check out, but I don't have the time to catch what I already have on my schedule. But at least now I know that I can skip Golden Kamuy.
My thoughts on the latest Franxx episode summarized in one picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/pcncpaQ.jpg)
Tamers. Because why not.
Judging from the most recent episode, it looks like Saiki season 2 really is going to the ending of the manga. Glad to have it be confirmed.
Working on knocking off s1 of Aikatsu.
I like how as soon as I feel that the show was too scared to do story arcs, they give a 6-episode one that basically boiled down to: "Yay, you're in an idol unit! Now every second of your life belongs to the industry and you better not make any mistakes during concerts or you'll embarrass your leader. Have fun!".
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on April 15, 2018, 04:14:55 AMMy thoughts on the latest Franxx episode summarized in one picture.
It got worse. (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-04-17/anime-producer-yuichi-fukushima-endures-harassment-over-darling-in-the-frankxx-episode/.130524)
People need to calm the fuck down.
https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/986423221967773697
Pretty neat tribute!
Pegging is canon in Darling in the Franxx.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi0.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Fnewsfeed%2F001%2F364%2F421%2F651.jpg&hash=6444b9758005da29c6e75f4e4f28b12a376395b2)
Bring out the Gimp.
ANN's neverending salt about Darling in the Franxx is amusing. They now think the show's morally corrupt and preaches right-wing propaganda.
Gotta love people putting their western world view in a work that is mostly aimed towards the Japanese & who is probably the main target the work is aimed at. Guess wanting to start a family is now "Right-Wing Propaganda" to people.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/42989643e2bd2bcdc29ac9b1f62dd777/tumblr_p8na34LXIM1qdvrdyo1_540.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/2d3170fb01d5332dc3dd4ec5a1c6ab95/tumblr_p8na34LXIM1qdvrdyo2_540.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/c543c14f6b0fd2573196ed182c902455/tumblr_p8na34LXIM1qdvrdyo3_540.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/d7a0f4bd5cc0161120bac26bef8323f3/tumblr_inline_p8nac2bph81qcmjyb_500.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/2adc07587b62c4124309a33421369e27/tumblr_inline_p8nad4qQz11qcmjyb_500.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/5847d1c1dcaf3dc02f53c04a7f5bb5a3/tumblr_inline_p8najaOZ7x1qcmjyb_500.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/f6e7a014162e9be1853cbbb347265b63/tumblr_inline_p8nale75Nk1qcmjyb_500.jpg)
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/e29d3d5d1388aa044b655400e540745c/tumblr_inline_p8nanlnj7f1qcmjyb_500.jpg)
Reminds me of when HUGtto Precure was starting and someone in this FB group went on about how "This show REEKS of the Japanese Government bribing Toei and Bandai into making propaganda for kids to start families!". Never mind that it's far from the first Precure to even have a baby fairy and the show hasn't given Hugtan that much if any focus so far beyond "Aw, cute baby" but, it's all clearly a conspiracy...
Wait, so is ANN still relevant? I've been so out of the loop when it comes to anime-based media that it honestly kind of surprises me that they would still be considered such a big deal in the YouTube age of the Internet.
Well these are the same people that flipped their lid over Youjo Senki and Dies Irae, and have staff members that got butthurt over an MCU character using the word "whore" and giving Thanos an actual motive. Safe to say critical thinking isn't their forte.
Don't forget that time they were caught not paying freelancers. (https://twitter.com/YonkouProd/status/972905319910092800)
And I know he has his own problems, but Digibro once told a story about his attempt to write for ANN, and how bizarrely aggressive and contradictory Zac Bertschy was. (https://youtu.be/81pZ-ewry_o)
ANN is such trash.
(https://i.imgur.com/5lrm05u.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/rh0upxD.png)
This show was so much of a turn-off that they killed off the main characters in the first 30 seconds,
As creepy as Happy Sugar Life was, at least it didn't bore me. And even when it was creepy, it was intentional. So I guess it did its job as a first episode.
I watched the first episode recently of an Anime OVA called Tales of Symphonia. This is based off a popular GameCube game of the same name that you might have heard of and might have played, since it was one of the few GameCube RPGs that people actually played (Along with the Pokemon Games, Thousand-Year Door, and Crystal Chronicles, and maybe one or two more).
So far, I am enjoying it. It has a good story so far, even though I can't understand some of it (This also happened to me when I played the GameCube game, which I managed to beat). I know the game was popular, but I am not sure how popular the OVA is. I do enjoy it and I find it to be a very faithful adaptation of a video game. It honestly improves on some things I didn't like about the original. The original had awful lip syncing and they would often recycle character movements. Plus, the in game graphics weren't that impressive. The OVA improves on that by not recycling character movements as frequently, having a beautiful art style (The art style in the OVA appeared a few times in the game), and the lip syncing is so much better. These were things I didn't like about the game and I am glad the OVA improves on it. So far, its enjoyable and I am currently watching the second episode as I write this. If you're wondering, I am watching a fan made dubbed version of the OVA
So not only is Happy Sugar Life a depraved show where every cast member who isn't the little girl is an irreparable degenerate, its soundtrack is from Bleach. (https://twitter.com/TunaBellly/status/1020379506048106497)
I watched the first 3 episodes of Karate Master yesterday, and damn is it great! It further shows Asaki Takamori's fantastic ability to create characters who've seemingly lost everything, but are able to push themselves forward by focusing on a passion (in Joe Yakbuki's case being boxing while Ken Asuka's is Karate). Osamu Dezaki's directional choices are also quite interesting, as he splices in live-action segments when depicting the events of WWII and karate techniques, which kinda gives it a unique flair in terms of presentation. I'm definitely interested in watching more!
Finally watched Rebuild 3.0 after years of putting it off.
+ Visuals are neat
+ Like the idea of WILLE
+ Didn't hate it as much as I thought it would
+ Thought that shogi scene with Fuyutsuki was all right
- The plot wouldn't have happened if anybody at WILLE just told Shinji what happened in the past 14 years. I know they hated him too much, but why didn't Toji's sister tell him since she didn't seem to hate him that much?
- They keep hammering home the "everybody's an asshole to Shinji" angle when we already got that in the past two movies.
- Daft Punk Gendo looks dumb
- Kaworu is Jesus for some reason
- Kaworu and Shinji's relationship feels more like a Mari Okada show than Anno
- Mari doesn't have a reason to be in Rebuild yet. She doesn't even have a character arc. I guess she's like comic relief, but this is a movie all about a post-apocalyptic version of Eva where everyone's meaner than in the show. And the only scene where I laughed at her was when her boobs started jiggling while she was fighting near the end of the movie, but I don't think that was meant to be funny.
- Movie ends fucking abruptly
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on August 07, 2018, 09:04:09 AM
- The plot wouldn't have happened if anybody at WILLE just told Shinji what happened in the past 14 years. I know they hated him too much, but why didn't Toji's sister tell him since she didn't seem to hate him that much?
This is what I disliked most about the film. The entire plot hinges on the characters being completely stupid. Like, they went to all that trouble to rescue Shinji but won't even bother to spend 5 minutes telling him what's going on? :srs:
And for some reason, Asuka's dialogue is so off in the dub. She keeps calling Mari "Crone" or "Four eyed crony", and keeps talking about how angry she is, and it sounds so dumb. Even dumber than in the old dub when Tiffany Grant kept adding random German words to her lines. At least that was stupid in a charming way, while this felt like the dub writer trying too hard to stick close to the original Japanese instead of making it sound natural.
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Mobile-Fighter-G-Gundam-Ultra-Edition-Blu-ray?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=2018_08_11_GGundam
Oh man, stop me from preordering something I can't afford.
Happy Sugar Life was a fun show. All the cutesy aesthetics hiding a Giallo-style mystery.
Double Decker was about as entertaining as watching paint dry.
I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't watch any anime from last season, and I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to watch anything from this season that isn't a sequel to anything that I already have an investment in (so basically JoJo's and whatever else might be a continuation).
I'm kind of in the mood to go back and watch some classics from the 70's and 80's, some from the 90's as well, but I have almost no desire to watch any new modern shows and any time that I try any I can't seem to get into them, even when the anime community goes gaga over whichever titles are the most popular of their respective season. People were raving about Darling in the Franxx two seasons ago and I literally couldn't even make it through a single episode of it (and this is apparently well before it got to the point where even its fans turned on it). I'm not trying to be some stick in the mud, either. I really want to find some modern anime series that really re-ignite my old passion for the art-form, but not much is working for me as of late, and perhaps my tastes are just too old-fashioned and deviating from the larger interests of the community at large.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 30, 2018, 11:14:06 PM
People were raving about Darling in the Franxx two seasons ago and I literally couldn't even make it through a single episode of it (and this is apparently well before it got to the point where even its fans turned on it).
I knew the show was gonna be so bad it's good garbage by episode two. Even before the point when fans turned on it, there were only about one and a half unironically good episodes. Everything else was either rip offs of prior Gainax/Trigger shows and strange filibusters about pregnancy that sounded more like something from a Chick Tract than anything else. I almost wanted to blog the show because of how stupid it could get, like when the show suddenly halts so one of the main characters can give a speech on why it's important to have children, but that feeling passed after a particularly boring stretch of episodes near the end of the first cour. Seemed like the only reason people raved about the show at all was because they wanted to fuck Zero Two.
And speaking of recent anime, I'm bewildered that I can count at least three shows that came out this year where the main character owned underage slave girls. And nobody else in those respective anime ever questioned this.
I love how SSSS.Gridman's previews all boil down to "not made by the FranXX guys! Please watch!"
Just on what I've been watching recently:
> Steins;Gate 0 was amazing. Well okay, it had a bit of the same flaws as the original (Aka, a strong start then flopping around for a few weeks before it picks back up) but when it did pick back up, it was a pretty fun ride to the finish and a nice companion piece to the original.
> Persona 5's anime? Urgh. I jumped off that junk after watching episode 16, it was so incompetently handled. The one reason I thought I could get through it, the characters, fell flat on its face because they weren't the same characters as much as hollow trope renditions. Take episode 16 for example, Futaba's intro: In the game, it starts out that the Palace is just a typical one where you beat up some villains until it begins unraveling that it's less that and more Futaba screaming for someone to wake her up. There are details tossed around between Futaba being in her room and texting the thieves and them seeing her Shadow in the Palace until you reach the end and everything comes together.
The anime take had none of that strength, hammering in "Look, she's a shut-in" to the point I felt bad for Aoi Yuki being in the studio with nothing to do. And the anime-original bit where Ann looked at the mural detailing what supposedly happened to Futaba's mother and started sobbing was awkward. Like, I guess they were referencing Shiho? I think? Maybe? but, they don't bring that up; she just starts sobbing and going all "I understand. Yes, they will pay!".
Both are getting OVAs in December but, while S;G0's is likely to be some fun character bit like the first season's OVA - I can't see it being a bigger deal, they wrapped up their loose ends - P5A is acting like Hank Hill and going "Yeah, ha-ha-ha, uh... you'll be back in December, right? We couldn't fit the whole game in 26 episodes". So, I'm clearly looking forward more to the former than the other.
While I haven't completely drifted away from new anime, I definitely feel less inclined to watch them. The only shows I expected to keep up with in the fall are JJBA Part 5 and Karakuri Circus. There are certainly other shows that interest me, but between my life becoming a lot busier in the past year, and wanting focus on other hobbies, it's hard for me to stay invested.
I'm still trying to finish the new Lupin and FMP runs, but despite liking both, I keep forgetting to. Megalobox was the last new series I really got behind.
I do want to get into some more older series, but I'm not sure where to start, or where to find the time. I'd like to see Ace o Nerae, for instance, but it's not on Crunchyroll/VRV and I don't feel like looking up other methods to see it.
I forget, have you already watched the original run of Captain Harlock, Avaitor? That's pretty good, and it's definitely on CR. In general I want to watch more classic adaptations of works from Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, and various other mangaka veterans.
I also need to get around to other classic series that have been on my radar for years, like Nobody's Boy Remi, Future Boy Conan, Space Adventure Cobra, Urusei Yatsura, and too many others to name.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 01, 2018, 07:00:53 PM
I forget, have you already watched the original run of Captain Harlock, Avaitor? That's pretty good, and it's definitely on CR.
Nah. I've been meaning to pick up Vertical's release of the manga, but keep forgetting/not affording to.
In regards to Matsumoto, I've always wanted to check out Galaxy Express 999. I wonder why no one in the anime or manga industry's tried to do a re-imagining of Matsumoto's work the same way Pluto reworked Astro Boy, or how the Netflix Devilman modernized and tightened up Go Nagai's series. I suppose that recent Space Battleship Yamato show's meant to be that, but still.
I'm pretty hyped for Karakuri Circus, but I guess that's obvious. Also, more Golden Kamuy despite the dumb CG that pops up in random episodes.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 30, 2018, 11:14:06 PM
I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't watch any anime from last season, and I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to watch anything from this season that isn't a sequel to anything that I already have an investment in (so basically JoJo's and whatever else might be a continuation).
You didn't watch Golden Kamuy? That series looks pretty up your alley to me.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 30, 2018, 11:14:06 PMI'm kind of in the mood to go back and watch some classics from the 70's and 80's, some from the 90's as well, but I have almost no desire to watch any new modern shows and any time that I try any I can't seem to get into them, even when the anime community goes gaga over whichever titles are the most popular of their respective season.
Watch some old mecha like Armored Trooper Votoms or Panzer World Galient. They might be what you're looking for.
I actually did watch the first few episodes of Golden Kamuy and commented on it. The manga is really good but I was pretty disappointed with the anime, which felt like a soulless adaptation of the source material. It may be a 1:1 transition but it lacks any sense of clear tone or personality, IMO. So, I just decided to stick with the manga.
Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look into both of those series.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 03, 2018, 08:31:55 PM
It may be a 1:1 transition but it lacks any sense of clear tone or personality, IMO. So, I just decided to stick with the manga.
Yeah, that's a crossroads for manga to anime adaptations. While the Jojo's anime definitely has sense of tone and personality, I always found it interesting to compare how it handled the Jotaro vs DIO fight to how the 90s OVA fared. While the older adaptation took away much of Araki's humor and watered down much of the character design, it also had some very fluid animation and direction choices that I felt the recent anime's fight didn't do as well.
I think Pop Team Epic is the only anime from this year that I've watched. I kept up with Dragon Ball Super until it ended, and got back into watching the One Piece anime since it's gotten pretty good again, but I've kind of given up on watching seasonal anime. I just don't have time to watch a whole lot of stuff these days, and find that I get too burned out trying to watch most shows weekly as opposed to in chunks. Now that it's over, I'm trying to watch through MHA Season 3 when I'm doing the treadmill or elliptical at the gym in two or three episode batches, which works well for me. I do watch the stuff that airs on Toonami, but it helps that those shows are dubbed and are on a set schedule, and I can work on stuff while having it in the background.
Recently though, my show of choice has been Pokemon thanks to the Twitch marathon. I've been thoroughly enjoying revisiting the show since it really holds up, even better than I expected. I ended up catching most if not all the 300+ episodes they've shown so far, so it'll more than likely continue to dominate my tv-viewing time for the next couple of months. Gotta watch 'em all! :D
Quote from: LumRanmaYasha on October 04, 2018, 10:37:16 PMI think Pop Team Epic is the only anime from this year that I've watched.
No Megalobox, Lum? I figured that you would have at least checked that out due to also being a huge AnJ fan.
As for myself, I actually really liked the series, but found the climax to be a tad underwhelming. That said, as a tribute to AnJ, it worked quite well for me as a decent re-imagining of the classic. It's not an absolute favorite of mine, but it's probably one of my favorites from the last couple of years (though, in all fairness, I haven't watched too many modern anime to begin with).
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 04, 2018, 11:04:56 PM
No Megalobox, Lum? I figured that you would have at least checked that out due to also being a huge AnJ fan.
As for myself, I actually really liked the series, but found the climax to be a tad underwhelming. That said, as a tribute to AnJ, it worked quite well for me as a decent re-imagining of the classic. It's not an absolute favorite of mine, but it's probably one of my favorites from the last couple of years (though, in all fairness, I haven't watched too many modern anime to begin with).
I'd been planning to watch
Megalobox, but it debuted in April during the crunch time of my last semester, and then I was focused on finding work in the months immediately after graduating, so I never ended up getting around to it. Now that I know it'll be on Toonami in a few months I'll probably just wait until then to watch it. I've heard nothing but great things about it which really excites me as an AnJ fan, so I'm looking forward to experiencing it!
JoJo's was as good of a premiere as expected.
Hinomaru was alright. Better than I expected for Pierrot, but I'm not sure how long it will take them to screw it up royally. While it was done alright for what it was, nothing about it stands out enough as an adaptation that would make me recommend watching this version over just reading the manga. That said, I'll still be keeping up with it this season for now.
Really dug the Jojo premiere. Giovanna is an interesting protagonist so far, and I liked getting to see Koichi and Jotaru in the beginning.
But damn, that Bruno guy is creepy. Can't wait to see how that confrontation ends.
Very minor spoilers:
Ah, Bruno, a classic case of writing a character weird-as-fuck for his introduction and then completely characterizing him differently after that, as if his initial appearance never even happened. My guess would be that he was probably initially intended as a minor character before Araki realized that he wanted him to stick around for the long-term. He's actually a pretty major character in this arc and my personal favorite. I'd even argue that he's just as much of a main character as Giorno is, and is arguably an even bigger driving force in the story when it comes to the main conflict.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 06, 2018, 02:14:53 PM
Hinomaru was alright. Better than I expected for Pierrot, but I'm not sure how long it will take them to screw it up royally. While it was done alright for what it was, nothing about it stands out enough as an adaptation that would make me recommend watching this version over just reading the manga. That said, I'll still be keeping up with it this season for now.
Don't you mean Gonzo, Ek? :sweat:
I thought it was a decent adaption of the first chapter, though like you said, it's hard to recommended it over the manga (especially since it lacks Kawada's dynamic artwork). With that said, I'm curious about how they're going to handle the coming episodes since it appears that they're planning on skipping/condensing quite a bit of material in order to fit the entirety of the High School Sumo arc into 24 episodes. For now though, I'm cautiously optimistic.
Quote from: VLordGTZ on October 07, 2018, 08:34:08 PMDon't you mean Gonzo, Ek? :sweat:
What's the difference? *cue punchline drumbeat* :>
OK, but seriously, I made a flub because I confused one shity studio for another.
Everyone on Twitter is talking about how offensive Goblin Slayer is, while here I am wondering how the plot makes sense. The world in Goblin Slayer treats goblin hunting like a childish thing that only teenagers do on their first adventure, yet goblins are also an entire race of murderous rapists who raze entire villages and kidnap women to use them for breeding. I don't know how the latter correlates with the former.
Karakuri Circus was as good as expected. Definitely will be looking forward to more every week. More Fujita is always a good thing.
That Part 5 ED will be very off-putting whenever a dramatic cliffhanger happens.
https://twitter.com/ZapZamberini/status/1050501490010415104
Typed this up (https://precureweekly.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/fall-2018-anime-season-episode-1-selective-thoughts/) on some Fall 2018 anime thoughts. The short version is that I plan to watch Jojo Part 5 and Karakuri Circus, Sora to Umi looks good but I'm a little cautious and I'm a lot cautious around Gridman anime because, it's a mess so far.
https://twitter.com/RealLordDalek/status/1051234164488499200 - It just. doesn't. work.
Clusterfuck's up. (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=6884)
Probably only going to keep up with JoJo's and SSSS Gridman this season since I caught and enjoyed the first episodes of both at AX, and Karakuri Circus is also a given considering how much I loved Ushio & Tora. Will also be keeping an eye out for how Zombieland Saga, Double Decker, Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, Radiant, Hinomaru Zumo, and Bloom Into You turn out, though I might just stick might the manga for the latter three.
I don't know where you got this SwampRationalist guy from, Foggle. But he scares me. He sounds like a guy who doesn't wash his hands after watching mukbang videos. :shit:
wut
Oh okay I just finished reading through the clusterfuck. Sorry, I'll be sure to vet guest writers more intensively next time. :sumi_embarrassed:
In case you were wondering why neither Dalek nor I wrote about Goblin Slayer... (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=6947)
True facts: I have not watched Goblin Slayer nor do I have any desire to.
True Facts: I have now watched Goblin Slayer.
:humhumhum:
I was at Anime NYC this weekend with Lum, so I got the opportunity to see the screening of the first two eps of Mob Psycho 100 Season 2. It was fantastic! Bones is really back with their A-game, and from a production standpoint, it looks even more polished than the first season. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of it in January.
Did it cover much? Do you think it'll be able to reach the ending of the manga?
Latest episode of Zombieland Saga. ;_;
I watched Mari Okada's movie Maquia yesterday. It felt like a 12-episode anime truncated into a movie. Character arcs suddenly change thanks to time skips where there should have been in-between scenes. And the subplots like Leilia's unhappy marriage and Krim becoming a radical didn't add up together for me. They could've been cut so there would have been more time developing Maquia's relationship with Ariel.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwOszIyVYAAKx2Z.jpg)(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwOs0G7UcAAbyUi.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwOs1fVVAAAXPh9.jpg)(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwOs2UcUcAEjdH8.jpg)
^ Pokemon: Sun & Moon has already long established itself as the best Pokemon show ever, but if that doesn't convince you, nothing will.
Personally, I wish I could join in the hype for Sun/Moon. I'm sure it's a fine show for what it is but, the lack of building to a League of some sort (or, even just Contests/performances) and having it just be lackadaisical "Satoshi goes to school!" one-offs just turned me away. I mean, I didn't go in expecting a redux or the same level of X/Y but something that could at the very least keep my interest since X/Y brought back that interest in a big way and, so far, I've just got a fart sound.
Quote from: Painted Outlaw on January 09, 2019, 01:12:21 PM
Personally, I wish I could join in the hype for Sun/Moon. I'm sure it's a fine show for what it is but, the lack of building to a League of some sort (or, even just Contests/performances) and having it just be lackadaisical "Satoshi goes to school!" one-offs just turned me away. I mean, I didn't go in expecting a redux or the same level of X/Y but something that could at the very least keep my interest since X/Y brought back that interest in a big way and, so far, I've just got a fart sound.
It's actually not purely episodic. Ash is still challenging all of the Island Kahunas, and Professor Kukui establishing the Alola League is something that's been hinted at. Not only that, but the show has a lot of story arcs like the Nebby arc and the Ultra Beasts arc, and various subplots like Lillie learning to become comfortable around Pokemon again, Litten being a stray cat learning fire fang from his Stoutland mentor before he joins Ash's team, shaggy-haired Eevee's crazy journey until he finally crosses paths with Ash's group, etc. So there's a lot of continuity and character development in the show, about as strong as in XY. But more than that, the animation is consistently great and its comedy is consistently hilarious and playful, and I personally really appreciate the show has a looser plot structure that allows it to play around with different sorts of storylines that it couldn't do when it was based on the traveling through a region/challenging gym leaders/pokemon league formula.
Hmmm, I suppose that does make it sound interesting enough to get back to. I'll probably have to start from episode 1 since it's been so long since Sun/Moon came out but, it'd be nice to watch a weekly Pokemon again when I catch up. Thanks!
Just watched The Promised Neverland premiere. It's fine as far as adaptations go, though it did kind of make me realize one minor (but noticeable) hole in the logic of one of the character's in retrospect that I didn't think about when I first read the manga.
Now, here's hoping that Kimetsu no Yaiba can score itself a pretty good adaptation.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwhRF2RX0BAT518.jpg)
Just watched this week's episode of Mob Psycho 100 and....holy shit, that cliffhanger....:huh:
I tend to watch anime on VRV on my breaks at work, and while I've mostly been doing AnJ 2 (aside from new Jojo day), I decided to pause that to finish Fate/stay night: UBW. I tried keeping up with the show when it first aired, but fell out around episode 7 or so because it wasn't catching my attention as well as Zero was, but seeing that the Heaven's Feel movies are a thing made me interested in finally finishing it.
It becomes a lot better as it goes along, but I do ultimately prefer F/Z. Still, I like Shirou and Rin's relationship, and how it grows over the series. The action is also consistently engaging and the animation impressive, while the story is pretty solid throughout. Now I just wish that the movies were easier to find here, since I missed both of their screenings.
The Kimetsu no Yaiba premiere did not disappoint, with good direction and perfect pacing. And if that OP is any indication, the fight animation is going to he gorgeous with unique ways of representing each fighting style from the manga.
Did anyone else check out the new Fruits Basket series? Very nostalgic, and likely another anime I will be keeping up with. In all honesty, I've consumed far less anime in the last few years than I used to, in part due to a busy schedule but also due to diverging interests. In a way it's very telling that I'm only keeping up with this and KnY this season, two series that I was already familiar with from beforehand.
It was fun to hear Laura Bailey and Eric Vale talk again.
I haven't had a chance to check out the dub. Is Justin Cook still in it as well?
Also, it's weird to think of Laura Bailey in an anime dub again. I mean, I don't know if she's regularly done them in the past decade or not since I haven't watched a ton of dubs, but I'm just more used to hearing her in video games like Batman Arkham and Spider-Man now.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 07, 2019, 08:33:20 PM
I haven't had a chance to check out the dub. Is Justin Cook still in it as well?
Yeah, he's on board. (https://twitter.com/fruitsbasket_en/status/1098703580926799872)
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 07, 2019, 09:32:17 AM
The Kimetsu no Yaiba premiere did not disappoint, with good direction and perfect pacing. And if that OP is any indication, the fight animation is going to he gorgeous with unique ways of representing each fighting style from the manga.
I almost teared up while watching it. Ufotable absolutely nailed it, and this looks like it'll easily be one of the best WSJ adaptions in recent years.
I'm also liking how positive the reception has been to this series for the most part even from non-manga readers. I mean, it's Ufotable, which people tend to like regardless, but I was still a bit worried since this is a Weekly Shonen Jump series and a battle manga at that, which a lot of the community has an (IMO, undeserved) bias against, but it also is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning until Zenitsu and Inosuke join the plot, but people seem to be pretty on board as of the premiere thanks to the brilliant direction and overall execution. There's a good chance that this will be yet another hit for a WSJ manga which really deserves it.
Started getting into Boruto from seeing it on Toonami and I'm enjoying it but I'm also just waiting for them to rename it "Sarada: Next Generations" because its actual protagonist is rather bland. Like, I'm 35 episodes in and I just don't get what their goal is with him. He doesn't want to be Hokage but he hates his dad because he thinks his dad is a loser and so he wants to uh... that's where it loses me. I know protags can sometimes be good without straightforward, defined goals (Goku, for one) but in a title about growing and aiming for a future, it sticks out rather weirdly to me.
On the flip side, Sarada has actual stuff going on with her father not being around and so it's forced her to pick up more of the slack around the house. It's also neat that she has a goal of being Hokage when she's older. I'd like for it to actually happen - It could! Tsunade got the gig once! - but I fear Japan would be their usual selves and end up sticking her in a usual "Girl in a shounen title" gig instead. Please no.
I think that's a lot of people's problem with Boruto. When you're series' main character is so bland that he can't even pass for a carbon copy of his predecessor, it doesn't give the narrative a strong driving force. It feels like they were too scared to write a completely different protagonist, but also didn't want to be called out on being unoriginal, so they gave Boruto all of Naruto's personality traits without any of the actual goals or contexts to go along with it. I was never really a fan of Naruto as a character, but at least he had a clearly defined role in his own story. Boruto has this vague (and irritatingly cliche) "chosen one" vibe for some vague future threat that was clearly never really planned out at the beginning to make him seem important. However, it feels so unearned and lazily written. It worked alright for the movie which should have just been the first arc, but seeing it happen after that point in the manga or over multiple (needless) prequel episodes in the anime just makes it feel redundant.
I would have honestly given them props if they had the balls to make another character's kid the main protagonist of this series with Boruto just being a supporting character to show that greatness doesn't have to be centered around one lineage.
Been watching One Piece, or rather one specific fight from One Piece (Luffy vs Katakuri. What a fight) trying to decide if I want to get back into it or not. I am reading it bit by bit as well. No doubt I'm lost since I haven't read OP since the crew got back together after the time skip, but at the moment I don't know how I feel about some of these current chapters.
The reason I couldn't get back into One Piece is because I felt since the Whitebeard war, Oda (his name is Oda right? Omg I'm so sorry, I used to know this stuff so well lol) seemed to have lost a bit of whatever it was he once had before the time skip. Then again this could be due to me not deciding to read from the beginning instead of just jumping right in in some random spot.
I guess what I'm asking is where One Piece is at right now, does it feel like it's back at that point where it made it so good to begin with? Like, lets say, I can't remember the name of the arc but it was during the CP9 fights. Every arc afterwards was probably not as good, but were great nevertheless. Since the time jump do it ever feel like got back to that point of greatness? I'm currently buying these on dvd.
I know how you feel. I was legit bored with One Piece after the time-skip and it felt like a slog to keep up with for a few years. Personally, I feel like the story really picked up again when Luffy and Crew got to Whole Cake Island and had to take on Big Mom and her crew, and that leads all the way up to the current Wano arc which has been fantastic so far. So yeah, I do think that One Piece gets better again, but it takes pretty long to get there, IMO.
Good to know Attack on Kyojin is still itself:
(https://i.imgur.com/uJzAj03.jpg)
Why is the one on the right pretending to be Superman? And the one on the left is pretending to be Fonzie from Happy Days?
I've mentioned before that I've been watching anime on my breaks at work lately via VRV. I usually pause whatever I'm watching for the newest Jojo on the weekends, but I recently got to finally watch Ashita no Joe 2 in full, which absolutely lives up to the hype. I'm glad that I read the manga first, so I wasn't lost by missing the first series (which will hopefully make its way here somehow in the near future), but there are enough flashbacks to the main events from the first series to work for newbies anyway.
And I also just finished Made in Abyss. I think my biggest fault with the series is that Reg is a fucking moron, and keeps making the worst possible decisions through most of the series. I generally prefer Riko as a protagonist (when she isn't in awkward nude scenes, anyway), but of course she's hardly in the last couple of episodes.
But I really like the world-building in the series, which feels big and exciting, and I especially like the last couple of episodes, which introduce Nanachi and Mitty, as tragic as it is. I'm glad that I caught up well in advance for the sequel movie coming out next year.
I think I'll get to Kaiji next
Quote from: Avaitor on May 18, 2019, 01:27:06 PMI've mentioned before that I've been watching anime on my breaks at work lately via VRV. I usually pause whatever I'm watching for the newest Jojo on the weekends, but I recently got to finally watch Ashita no Joe 2 in full, which absolutely lives up to the hype. I'm glad that I read the manga first, so I wasn't lost by missing the first series (which will hopefully make its way here somehow in the near future), but there are enough flashbacks to the main events from the first series to work for newbies anyway.
Glad you liked it! It's still among my favorite anime thanks to the excellent direction which I would argue makes an already amazing manga just that much better. I kind of miss having anime adaptations take more artistic liberties when adapting the source material to try and achieve the best version of a particular story. We do still get that to an extent sometimes, especially with series that kind of have to like Mob Psycho 100, but I do feel we have an overwhelming amount of adaptations these days that, while very good, play ot a bit too safe in sticking to the source material to the point of never outright surpassing what inspired it.
QuoteI think I'll get to Kaiji next
For your sake, I hope you have a lot of free time on your hands, because Kaiji is the type of series that's so addicting that it's nearly impossible to put down until you finish a complete arc. Sort of like how Kaiji's gambling addiction just won't let him stop, even when he's ahead, the show itself keeps you the viewer coming back for more, even if you have a major exam the next morning (I watched this series back when I was in college).
Fun Fact: I watched all of season two in one single day, from morning to evening. Yes, I'm dead serious.
Here's a good video on why you should all be watching/reading Kimetsu no Yaiba: https://youtu.be/e1p36CRZcLA
Emmy convinced me to watch King's Game with her. We marathoned the whole thing, dubbed, in three days before my work shifts.
What an absolute load of shit. The art/animation is horrible, the writing is worse, and the dub is reminiscent of 4Kids in their prime. I loved it! One of the funniest anime I've ever seen.
The backstory I read online, which was somehow too stupid even for this adaptation, is genuinely wonderful. So, basically, the King's Game is a computer virus that kills people, developed by the mother of the antagonist as an ultimate biological weapon, that the government wanted to somehow harness as a miracle cure, based on an actual physical disease, which was accidentally created in her village by the spiritual power of a tantrum she threw from not being allowed to fuck her cousin, who she eventually did end up fucking, and she got pregnant with twins, and one of them is an insane sadist, who somehow gets a redemption arc in the last 10 minutes of the show, and her other kid was the protagonist's girlfriend, but she died so he could win the previous King's Game, the purpose of which is to sacrifice people and use their corpses to magically bring said mother back to life.
Please, does anyone know of any other anime like this? Preferably with English dubs. :blush:
Ulysses: Jeanne d'Arc and the Alchemist Knight? That was a fun stupid show a couple of seasons ago.
The first three episodes of Vinland Saga just dropped on Amazon Prime today, and they did not disappoint.
Seriously, get on that shit if you haven't already. It's already confirmed Anime of the Year, and this is the same year which gave us Mob Psycho 100's legendary second season.
I forgot to mention this, but I finished Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor a few weeks ago, and I really did love it. Haven't had that much fun with an anime in a while.
Is the second series worth watching? I've heard some not-so-great things about it, but I definitely want more of his world and story.
Not sure who told you season two isn't as good, but they're full of shit. Both seasons are pretty goddamn addicting and top-notch in quality. I absolutely recommend season two, as it actually gives the anime a decent ending point instead of just leaving things off on a cliffhanger. And of course there's always the manga if you want to experience the story beyond that point.
Kimetsu no Yaiba season one ended, and whereas most successful season runs would announce a second season, here we get an announcement of a full-blown movie adaptation of the Infinite Train arc. I was already looking forward to it since it's my second favorite arc from the manga (so far), but to see them adapt it in the most glorious fashion possible has me hyped beyond words.
I've watched a handful of KnY episodes, and I've been wondering, is Muzan supposed to be an interesting villain? Because from what I've read and seen, the only interesting part is that he looks like Michael Jackson. I see people comparing him to guys like Meruem, and I don't follow.
Muzan himself has been mostly shrouded in mystery throughout most of the series up to now. There are more interesting details about him that come to light as the series progresses, but I myself wouldn't say that he's one of KnY's strongest aspects, and wouldn't base the value of the series' quality on his status as main bad guy. Whoever you've seen touting that are the same types of people in every fandom who seem to believe everything about their series is the best. Really, his unusual introduction and status of living as a family man among humans, as well as a few spoiler-heavy stuff from the manga are what sets him apart from standard big bad guys at this point in the current story.
I would however like to point out that KnY has great villains, but the focus is on the minions as opposed to the final boss. It's sort of like reverse JoJo's. Whereas in that series you are left anticipating your next encounter with DIO or Kira in that kind of series, KnY is more about the villain of the week themselves. These are more traditional interpretations of Oni than in various other manga, and thus are portrayed as tragic figures more than straight-up villains. The fans who focus on Muzan are, to me, kind of missing the point. As main antagonist he's more of a representation of succumbing to hatred, bitterness, and temptation than anything else, whereas the various Oni who do his bidding get the real meat of actual characterization. To me it works because it ties into the manga/anime's overall thematic undertones. Likewise, Tanjiro's interaction with other Oni as opposed to most Demon Slayers is also a reflection of his unique standing with them. He has to believe that there is humanity still there otherwise how could his sister Nezuko have any hope? To me, this is what makes KnY interesting, as opposed to Muzan himself, who to me has so far been more of a means to make the story happen. That said, I wouldn't rule out having him become more fleshed out as the story continues to progress.
Anyways, Gaijin Goomba has a really good video on the subject that explains this standpoint better than I could.
So the Blade of the Immortal premiere was actually good. Can I finally wash the taste of the previous shitty anime adaptation out of my mouth?
That said, being a Prime exclusive and one barely advertised at that, I feel like this one is likely going to slip under the radar for a lot of people.
Saw the 1st three episodes of Demon Slayer. It's caught my interest, but I did catch myself a couple of times ready to write off Tanjuro(?), but episode 2 ended up addressing my problem with his indecisiveness (another troupe I can deal without). In any case, I like what I've seen so far and because I love all things samurai / ninja is a little added bonus.
If you love all things Samurai and Ninja, add Blade of the Immortal to your watchlist. It's currently airing but is an Amazon Prime exclusive which is why it hasn't gotten much attention from the anime community. It's fucking great, though, and having read the manga I know how much better the story gets. It's also hyper-violent and has the kind of main character I feel would be up your alley.
Demon Slayer is pretty great, though. I'm one of those guys who never had a problem with battle shonen as a genre as long as it's well-written and interestingly executed, and to me KnY is one of the best current examples of that. However, the best material of the manga hasn't even been covered yet, which means the movie and upcoming second season should be even better than what's already there. And I quite like Tanjiro as a protagonist. To me he manages to be a refreshing change of pace from the loudmouth, hot-headed main character archetype in something like Naruto or Black Clover. There's also a fair amount more nuance to his more calm demeanor that separates him from other such characters over time as the story progresses.
I've had a lot more free time lately, as I'm still job hunting while I have less hours at my current place, and I've taken the chance to watch Texhnolyze. I think it's a pretty good show overall, more or less worth the hype. It's a little bleak, but not too much so that it fails to keep my attention. My main complaint is how dark it is- literally. I sometimes struggle to see what's going on in the screen of the prints I've found. But it's generally a solid story.
Bouncing between Yu Yu Hakusho (one of the GOATS and it's been a while. Not to mention it reminds me why Hiei is just that dude), One Piece and Demon Slayer. I'm still not sure how I feel about Tanjuro as a main character, especially with this past episode on Adult Swim, but everything else I like.
I thought this was the best episode so far, but it's still not THE show for me yet. What I'm liking most about KnY is Tanjiro's balance between empathy for the demons, and his understanding his obligation to eradicate them. It's making him a little more interesting than some other shonen protagonists thus far, but otherwise it's still a little overhyped to me. At least opposed to something like MHA, which I fell for pretty instantly.
Which episode did Toonami just air? I haven't been following the dub.
As for me, I personally love the old-school vibe of this series as well as the main cast of characters. Tanjirou is easily my favorite Shonen Jump protagonist out of any of the currently running series.
That said, my favorite material comes from after where season one leaves off, but I'd say that the final two arcs of this season (from back when I read them in the manga) is where the series really took a jump up in quality for me.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 18, 2019, 05:55:07 PMWhich episode did Toonami just air? I haven't been following the dub.
It's currently up to episode 9.
Don't get me wrong, Demon Slayer has been great. I don't "dislike" Tanjuro, but there's something about him that makes me iffy about him. He's miles above past shounen mains like the Naruto's and Luffy's, but there's just something there that I can't put my finger on that's making me iffy on him.
I'm digging the show so far though. I haven't seen anything that "wowed" me yet, but it does draw me in.
I watched the premiere of the new Fate series on my break yesterday, after finally getting around to finishing Vinland Saga (A++++, btw). I have to admit that I felt kind of lost, at least with the ending- is this supposed to be a preview of what's to come?
Besides that, the world building is pretty solid thus far. I'm hoping it picks things up as it goes along.
Demon Slayer
To be honest, while I thought they were good, this blonde-haired kid has really been bogging it down a little bit for me (last few episodes have been like this for me). His antics are reasons I tend to drop a lot of anime, especially because I don't find it funny, not to mention
Spoiler
you get this badass underneath all that only when he's asleep
I hate that. All that off my chest, this is still a good series. I don't see it as great, or rather I haven't seen anything that would make me say it's great.
I think the appeal of it, at least for me, is in it's themes and gradual character development. The themes are at first deceptively normal by what you expect of a shounen series, but as it progresses it really humanizes the villains (aside from Muzan), while also showing the societal flaws that lead them down the path to choosing to become Oni in the first place. Much like something like the Chapter Black arc of Yu Yu Hakusho or most of Hunter X Hunter, there is a lot more dimensionality to most characters aside from just the main protagonist and his friends.
Likewise, the characters, apart from their quirks and gimmicks, don't all stay the same over time. There is a genuinely gradual progression to their growth and development rather than just abrupt moments forcing them to change as is more expected from the genre. Tanjirou becomes more assured in his convictions, Inosuke starts to develop genuine connections to other human beings (something which is vital to his character upon learning of how he was brought up), and even Zenitsu starts to become more confident even when he's wide awake.
I also just really love the fights. I love samurai and sword techniques combined with that old-school anime martial arts mentality. When you take that and combine it with strategic encounters that force the characters to outwit usually much physically superior opponents, it makes for something very entertaining, IMO. I especially love how creative some of the Oni's abilities can be.
I also appreciate how the series doesn't try to constantly top itself with an escalating scale in it's arc progression, but rather has big and small encounters that build up a bigger conflict over time. To me, that kind of escalation that it wisely avoids for the most part can kill the momentum of a lot of other series. That's kind of what happened to One Piece after Marineford. Oda essentially couldn't top himself after that and seemed to have some trouble writing more status quo style arcs after that point until just a couple of years ago when he started to get his old rhythm back.
I watched Digimon Last Adventure Kizuna yesterday, and while it's much better produced and animated than Tri, it's still a mess with a thin story. Even though much of the film's almost meant to be an apology for Tri by bringing back more original songs from the first season, changing the character designs to match the old look, giving the 02 kids actual screentime, and ignoring all of Tri's cliffhangers, it still recycles most of the same beats. Tai and the gang angsting about getting older. A former Digidestined turning evil because she lost her partner Digimon. Shafting of certain characters (somebody at Toei really hates Sora). The plot doesn't offer or say anything new, even though the movie thinks it does. They're so heavy handed in telling Tai (and the audience) that growing up means giving up certain things like Digimon, something that's completely undermined not only by interviews indicating the epilogue's still canon but the Adventure reboot premiering less than a couple months after this movie first came out.
If there's one thing COVID has been good for, it's that this time has been giving me a chance to catch up on some series I've been wanting to get to. I finished Dorohedoro last night, and that mostly lived up to the hype. I enjoy how frantic and absurd it can be, while also coming down to earth when it needs to. The animation is also pretty sharp, and allows for an outlet for its energy.
Okay, I get the appeal of Bobobo, just two episodes in. I'm honestly kind of surprised that I missed its original run on Toonami.
My most recent series was .hack//Sign. I remember seeing some of it on Toonami way back when and enjoying it alright, but I don't think that I ever saw the full thing. It's been on my radar to watch in full for a while, but something bumped it up for me- apparently Bennett the Sage gave it a negative review a while ago. That guy is a tool with whack opinions, so I knew that if he thought it was boring, it'd probably hold up.
It's a solid series overall, but I'm kind of surprised that it aired on Cartoon Network, since it's pretty light on action. This focuses more on character and psychological development, which isn't too far off from Toonami's wheelhouse, provided a little bit of butt kicking and chase scenes, which there isn't a whole lot of here. You'd think that it would be a better fit on ASA, except this is too tame for even a PG rating, and even when they were still editing their shows, this would stick out like a sore thumb.
But hey, I liked the babble and the character writing. The story could be a little confusing, although reading it up now shows that might have been somewhat intentional, which I could get behind. But the real MVP is the score, which is beautiful throughout. That was more than enough to make me happy to see the show all the way through now.
The most recent anime I've watched was Made in Abyss Dawn of the Deep Soul. Are there any shows I am missing out on and is it bad I haven't been keeping up with the seasons?
They've been uploading official english subs for Oishinbo the past couple months and I've really been digging it. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyC9t-tByuko20fzMwXr4w) I really enjoyed the manga back when Viz published a couple best of's a few years back so I'm glad to finally have a chance to watch the anime. It's a fun culinary show about appreciating the effort that goes into cooking well and thinking of who you're cooking for, and especially shines in the conflict between its lackadaisical but open-minded protagonist and his fundamentalist, elitist father. It's also just some classic old 80's anime sitcom fun. Watching it has become a welcome part of my lunchtime routine.
As far as current stuff goes, I'm only really watching Jujutsu Kaisen and Yashahime, though the latter's been kind of dissapointing. I'll probably get around to Sleepy Princess soon since I've been a fan of the manga for a while anyway, but just didn't manage to check out the anime due to busyness these past few months. Though the show I really want to check out is Akudama Drive, which from what I've seen and heard was seemingly was the real sleeper hit of the season.
So I recently started using Hulu (2 days ago). Lots of stuff on there but at the same time, not as much as I thought there would be.
Anyway, rewatching Bleach at the moment. Has it really been a decade since this series started? I feel so old lol. "Holds up" is not the right phrase I want to use. I think I'd say that it still keeps me entertained. I remember I gave it a pass despite its many flaws.
Samurai Troopers was another one I was surprised to see, but I'm watching this on RokuTV. As much as I remember running home from school to catch this show and I look at it now, this is some corny stuff, but like Bleach it still keeps me entertained. I was hoping to find Tekkaman Blade (I think that's the name) on one of these streaming apps but no dice so far.
And then there are a few that I'm curious about. Dr. Stone, Tokyo Ghoul and Black Clover. These have been showing up on my recommendations feed.
I'm without cable now so there's a good chance that I'm pretty much back into watching anime part time for the moment.
Watched a couple episodes of Platinum End because I thought "I know everyone told me the manga's kinda shit, but it's by the Death Note guys, so I want to at least see what went wrong". And besides being Mirai Nikki again, the show is so unpolished that Death Note, a show from 15 years ago, looks and feels newer in both animation and storytelling. Maybe it's lack of a budget or the director wasn't as inspired as the Death Note director was, but how does a show from 2021 seem older and less advanced than a show from 2006? Same problem I got from a lot of anime over the recent years. If I didn't know they were new shows, would I be able to tell or just assume they were random shows from the mid-to-late 2000s that resurfaced from obscurity? And this isn't nostalgia talking because I know there's still at least one or two shows per season pushing new and different styles, I liked what I saw in The Heike Story.
I've been recently showing a close friend of mine Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Cowboy Bebop, since she only watched a few Episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho on DVD, only saw one Episode of Inuyasha, and never saw Cowboy Bebop. She didn't watch Toonami (Which YYH eventually aired on) or Adult Swim (Which Bebop, Inuyasha, and at first Hakusho aired) much as a kid. She told me that was because she didn't want to get in trouble with Adult Swim and whenever she would try watching Toonami, DBZ just happened to be on and it bored her (Oddly enough, she loves DBZ now as an Adult)
So far, she seems to be really liking these shows. We've watched through 10 Episodes of these shows. I know with Yu Yu Hakusho, one Episode she loves is "Kuwabara: A Promise Between Men" and for Cowboy Bebop, she seems to love "Waltz for Venus". So far, it feels like Inuyasha is the show she likes the most, but I haven't actually asked her yet, so i'm not sure.
Eventually, I plan to show her Trigun, the Fullmetal Alchemist Shows, and Neon Genesis Evangelion
Watched some first episodes of shows this season.
Police in a Pod: Copaganda's a really stupid word that people online overuse to describe any show with a cop in it, but this show pushes the "Being a cop is such a thankless job" angle hard. It's funny, but not in the way it intends to be.
In the Land of Leadale: Boring. One of those isekais that's tonally indistinguishable from watching a shitty Let's Play.
Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout: Kind of liked the first episode actually, even if nothing happened and they kept dragging on the one "Is it gay if I want to fuck my best friend now that he's a hot girl?" joke for the entire run.
Akebi's Sailor Uniform: Beautifully animated, but all the foot shots are weird.
Requiem of the Rose King: Everyone but the main character looks like Kayneth from Fate/Zero.
The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt: The show ran out of budget before the first episode was over.
My Dress-Up Darling: Fine, I guess. Main character's creepy instead of endearing though.
Girl's Frontline - I've been yearning for the OVA format to return as time goes on and this adaptation only increases that desire. I like the characters and designs well enough, but the production values leave a lot to be desired, especially where action scenes are concerned. It just reminds me of how fucked the anime industry is when an adaptation of a fairly popular mobile game with a female MC can't get a good adaptation while crappy dime-a dozen isekai get entire studios dedicated to them, and the fact that the OP is so cool and stylish just makes the actual show look worse.
I think an anime like this would shine with a series of OVA's done in the style of the OP, and the same could be said for most mobage adaptations tbqh.
Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department is pretty good though and works as a funny parody of Tokusatsu.
Rynnec, where is your sig from?
I've been watching both One Piece and Orient. I am up to the Baroque Works arc in the former and two episodes have aired so far for the latter!
All the hype for the last season of Attack on Titan convinced me to catch up to the latest episode and read the ending, and I'm left with numerous questions like "Eren did what to his mom?" and "Why did Ymir love King Fritz?" And now I'm left wondering why the anime-only fans are hyped for an ending I've seen most of the manga fans despise.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on February 12, 2022, 10:48:09 AM
All the hype for the last season of Attack on Titan convinced me to catch up to the latest episode and read the ending, and I'm left with numerous questions like "Eren did what to his mom?" and "Why did Ymir love King Fritz?" And now I'm left wondering why the anime-only fans are hyped for an ending I've seen most of the manga fans despise.
Thinking that anime-only fans read the manga.... Well, that's your problem right there. Most people don't like reading manga for some reason.
But even without reading the manga, the ending's still there for anyone who wants to google it. Just like when after Naruto ended, even people who hadn't read or watched the series for years went "Wait, Orochimaru got away with everything? What the fuck?" Or maybe getting the same ending Code Geass had appeals to anime fans more than manga fans.
Tried watching Rurouni Kenshin on Hulu. Was there a recast or something that happened that overruled the original voices? These voices sound terrible. Lots of unneeded grunts. I was having one of those nostalgic moments and wanted to watch Kenshin vs Saitoh and I hear this. I'm SOL if they ever decide to put this on Blu-Ray.
I think that's the Samurai X dub.
Wow. Really? Samurai X voices in the series. Ew, and I loved Trust and Betrayal. Dub voices and all. But here? In my series? Nooooooo!!!
Over exaggeration aside, right now, no I cannot watch the series, but if I ever get in the mood to give it a shot I'll watch from the beginning just to see if I can warm up to these voices. If not, I'll pull up the good ol Dvd's.
Quote from: Mustang on March 29, 2022, 11:38:50 PMTried watching Rurouni Kenshin on Hulu. Was there a recast or something that happened that overruled the original voices? These voices sound terrible. Lots of unneeded grunts. I was having one of those nostalgic moments and wanted to watch Kenshin vs Saitoh and I hear this. I'm SOL if they ever decide to put this on Blu-Ray.
Rurouni Kenshin was given two dubs--one from Media Blasters (the Toonami version everyone remembers) and a lesser-known dub from Sony.
Wow, Sony eh.
To update though I did manage to find the original voices on HBO Max. I'm overjoyed now.
Maybe I'm turning into one of those "New seasonal anime bad! Old anime from my teenage years good!" curmudgeons, but I rewatched a little of some shows I grew up with like Slayers, Tenchi, and Fushigi Yuugi and had a good time. And it's not like they're better than recent shows. Fushigi Yuugi in particular is cheesy and melodramatic as shit, but there's just a sense of charm there I don't get from the anime that just came out a few months ago.
It's not just you. As I said, re-watched the Kenshin vs Saitoh fight had me thinking along the same lines. Knowing that there are modern anime out there for me. I'm just not putting in the time looking for them or giving some of these newer shows a chance yet.
On that note, I did watch the first episodes of Ya Boy Kongming and Shokei Shojo no Virgin Road and they were great.
I recently caught up with Ranking of Kings, and I'll admit that it took me a couple of episodes to click. Bojji's communication style initially comes off as annoying (has he ever even used sign language?), and while I like the Tezuka influence in the art design, I can see why others would dismiss the show as kiddie between it and the earlier tone. But around the time he started traveling and honing his craft, I got the hype. He really is best boy.
A few years ago, I did a rewatch of Digimon Adventure and had a good time. I didn't get around to watching some of the other series until recently, when I got around to watching Adventure 2 again.
It's not bad, but I do think that it's a step down from the first one. Part of that may have been due to me sticking exclusively to the dub, when I had a good time alternating between the dub and sub with the first series. I probably should have done that here, because I forget how bad a lot of the dub's jokes are. They're probably even worse here than they were in the first Adventure's dub, as is the voice directing. Alotoftimesthecharactersspeeduptheirdialoguelikethistofittheirmouthmovementsratherthanwritingsuitableshorterdialogueandit'sannoying.
I also don't think that the Digidestineds are as likable as the first batch's. I actually remember Davis being a favorite back in the day, to the point that I had a Veemon pillow. But I don't think his cocky and demanding demeanor endures like it would have when I was younger. Yolei is also pretty brash, while Ken is boring when he drops the Digimon Emperor act, as are even TK and Kari. Cody is probably my favorite, if only for having a moral code, but he's also kind of flat. The show is more interesting when the other Digidestineds show up.
But I still like how Digimon differentiates itself from Pokemon by making it about the human's bond with their Digimon. Each of the Digidestineds get some good moments with their Digimon that explores why they both need each other, and those tend to be my favorite moments. And as much of a bastardization as it is, I do like the music made for the dub.
I'm somewhat interested in Tri, even though I've heard mixed things about the movies. Apparently the Blu-Rays are available at Dollar Tree now, so why not? But I'll probably get to Tamers first, but not right now. I don't remember liking that as much as the Adventure series, but it's conventionally seen as the best series today, so I'd like to be proven wrong. And while I remember watching and enjoying some of Frontier, I don't think that I'll get to that or any of the other series.
All the Tri movies are free on YouTube for whatever reason. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0AUqKU3kOA)
I finally got around to watching Serial Experiments Lain, and I had a really good time. The feeling of finally getting around to a heralded classic in one of your favorite genres that you missed, like if you're a funk fan and somehow missed out on C'est Chic, can be daunting. Oftentimes, you're too far removed and it may come off as feeling trite compared to the favorites you've already devoured time and time again. But I guess that I missed the kind of existentialist anime that Lain belongs to enough that I had fun going through it.
Saw the first episodes of the new shows this season, and they're okay. Chainsaw Man's premiere was fine. Bleach's was fine. Gundam Witch from Mercury's was fine. It's been a while since there's been a first episode where I thought "Dude, I gotta find out what happens next!".
Also been rewatching some of the Kyoto Arc episodes of Kenshin. It's been really fun watching Shishio again after all this time, that sequences of fights between him and the cast is amazing, and it's still a huge shock that the anime abruptly ended after that season, and Watsuki went missing right after wrapping up the Jinchu arc in the manga. I can't imagine what could have happened. A few guys have told me there's a new Kenshin show coming out next year, but they're being crazy.
Chainsaw Man may be the first anime in ages where I think the hype is deserved, but that may just be me. I thought Spy x Family was cloy, Demon Slayer is still mid to me, and Jujutsu Kaisen just looks too trite for me to even bother with. I still like Ranking of Kings, but that's not nearly as popular as any of these from what I can tell.
I started watching Bleach. 3 episodes in it was fine. Other than the bright colors, great animation and seeing the fast pacing (heh, imagine that. I remember the big 3 had terrible pacing) it's fine. I don't want to be too critical or anything, but considering the way people were going crazy over this I'm expecting these fights to be crazy good, but because I'm only 3 episodes in I'll hang back.
But that pacing though. Holy hell, I didn't expect that much to be covered in 3 episodes.
So the new Gundam's finale was rushed as shit. Genuinely felt like there was supposed to be at least another cour, especially since this show's been doing pretty well in Japan, and Gundams usually last 50 episodes, but no. Just an epilogue.
Saw a handful of premieres this season again, and...
Dark Gathering: I do not mean this as an insult, but I'm sure middle schoolers will really like this show.
Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon: The gimmick was really funny, but I don't know where else it can go after that.
My Happy Marriage: Beautiful, well-animated show let down by boring characters. I assume it'll pick up in the future though.
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses: I don't understand Studio Gohands. They can make some really good animation, but they have zero sense of cinematography. It's like watching a squirrel play with a state of the art camera.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades: This is just Harry Potter. And I don't even mean that in a generic magic high school sense. Ripoffs of Ron and Hermione appear, and they do that same thing from Sorcerer's Stone where the kids have to use a wind spell to stop a giant ogre.
Zom 100: Actually pretty fun. No complaints here.
Helck: I forgot most of what happened a few minutes after finishing it.
Ayaka: So, I don't understand why some shows get simuldubs and some don't, because I've seen zero buzz for this show yet Funi's still dubbing it as fast as they did for Chainsaw Man or Spy x Family.
Sweet Reincarnation: Another dub gripe, what stops them from using child actors more often? The kid here just sounds like Mikasa instead of a little boy. You'd think after FMA, Funi would've considered doing it more often. Especially now since Pro Tools means you don't have to worry about lipsynching, and most of these shows will only last a season so you don't have to be concerned over puberty breaking their voice.
Liar Liar: Boring Kakegurui.
Rurouni Kenshin: The show everyone's uncomfortable about while quietly telling themselves it's okay to watch as long as they pirate it. Show itself is fine even if the nostalgia part of my brain is mad the opening isn't Freckles or 1/2.
I mean, I'll watch RK on Crunchyroll with the logic that it's still the work of a bunch of hard-working and (probably) underpaid animators who have nothing to do with the author, and even if he is a scumbag I would be lying if I said it's not still one of my favorite manga when viewed as a story unto itself.
The sad fact is that there are a lot of pieces of art out there that are beloved which have either been created by or associated with awful people. For my purposes, I have just come to terms with the fact that sometimes good art is produced by bad people. I can't let that stop me from enjoying good art, but at the same time I won't actively try to support that artist unless it's a byproduct of supporting other artists, like legally streaming the anime (which, let's be honest, probably does jack shit for any of them anyways).
With that said, as for the reboot itself....it's a'ight. I prefer the 90's style aesthetic to the character designs and general animation, and the music was far better in that version as well, IMO. That said, I do still really want to see the final arc animated.
I remember watching a little of those RK live-action movies a while back, and their choices in adapting the Jinchu arc baffled me. Much can be explained as compressing what would've been 2 cours of show into a 2-hour movie like Yahiko becoming a background extra or Gein being cut out, but then they add Sojiro into the arc even though he wasn't there in the manga.
I like Terumi Nishii's character designs in the new RK, but the direction pales compared to the 90's anime. Feels like this'll end up the same as HxH 2011 where its main advantage is excising most of the early filler and (possibly) adapting a previously unanimated arc.
Speaking of new adaptations of classic manga: Bastard!! is this season's saving grace. Finally seeing the second arc in animation after all these years, with a top notch (Japanese) voice cast and OST, feels so cathartic. Really love how it keeps up with the manga's tone and stays faithful to the 80s Heavy Metal aesthetic instead of "modernizing" the designs like so many remakes and new adaptations do. Here's hoping we get a Season 3 with a big boost in production values, given how crazy things will get.
Series really deserves a lot more buzz than it's getting, and I can't tell if that's because of Netflix's binge release format, or because modern anime influencers have really narrow tastes. I suppose the manga being in licensing limbo doesn't help matters either (or maybe Viz does still have the license and are just being stupid little shits about it?).
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 06, 2023, 08:10:45 AMThe sad fact is that there are a lot of pieces of art out there that are beloved which have either been created by or associated with awful people. For my purposes, I have just come to terms with the fact that sometimes good art is produced by bad people. I can't let that stop me from enjoying good art, but at the same time I won't actively try to support that artist unless it's a byproduct of supporting other artists, like legally streaming the anime (which, let's be honest, probably does jack shit for any of them anyways).
There's also the case of whenever a creator or really anybody turns out to be a piece of shit, as long as they're influential, they've got people rallying around them either in support or rationalizing that they've repented. For instance, that time over a dozen big mangaka collaborated to make a big celebratory wall for Watsuki. (https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comments/l0uxi7/news_aside_from_oda_14_mangakas_sent_celebration/) Or recently, that controversy over a bunch of abridgers not doing enough to cut Chris Niosi/Kirbopher out of their circle for being a sex pest, and how he's still dubbing anime, interviewing and hanging out with voice actors I like, and making projects where guys like Grant Kirkhope appear as if nothing happened. And that's another can of worms, whether the people around an awful person are complicit for pretending nothing bad occurred, or if it's just a case where they're trying to rationalize it to themselves with "But they apologized" or "They're a different person now" or "But they never did anything awful to me". That's a problem with every industry, hell, every group of people. Once in a while, we're all going to know a total piece of shit, but they had enough cool moments with us or shed enough crocodile tears that we can semi-justify to ourselves why we still hang out with that person instead of kicking them out. And it suck that it's not cut and dry, but society would be a significantly worse place if we all harshly judged everyone just because they willingly hung out with or worked with a bad individual. It'd be like if we shunned and excommunicated every director who signed that Polanski petition.
Quote from: Rynnec on August 08, 2023, 03:50:57 AMor because modern anime influencers have really narrow tastes.
It's like what I said in that other anime thread, feeling out of step with modern anime trends. Like I still can't wrap my head around anitubers, some of the same anitubers who made their living shitting on Sword Art for years, saying Mushoku Tensei is one of the best ongoing shows when from my experience it's the same garbage as anything else from the tired isekai genre. It's one thing when seeing a huge shonen show get huge and I don't get it, since my teenage years are long gone so of course I'm gonna look at shows aimed at teenagers and sense a disconnection, but then I feel out of touch when seeing the big seinen shows each season get a lot of hype, and I end up watching a bit of those and being unimpressed most of the time. It's why Cyberpunk Edgerunners was such a pleasant surprise, since what I was watching matched the attention for once.
Butareba: The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig - Disgusting premise where a talking pig wants to fuck a teenage girl, but is so unwilling to engage with anything that it's just 20 minutes of hollow dialogue.
The Family Circumstances of the Irregular Witch - Cute first episode, but watching Frieren right before made it pale in comparison.
Frieren - Actually pretty interested in how this will unfold. Glad they just threw extra episodes early.
Ragna Crimson - I can tell the author of the manga wrote so many Toshiro Hitsugaya fanfics back in the day.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You - Garbage. Funny to poke fun at though.
Migi & Dali - Really liked Sakamoto when it came out, so a work from the same creator (who tragically passed away recently) sounded right up my alley. But it's too weird, and I like weird, so that's saying something.
I'm in Love with the Villainess - Show reminded me a lot of RWBY. Interpret that how you will.
Protocol: Rain - They still have internet cafes?
16bit Sensation: Another Layer - A show that heavily hopes you are nostalgic for Jun Maeda VNs. Groan.
A Girl and Her Guard Dog - The show's awful animation was more offensive than the age-gap relationship.
Berserk of Gluttony - I hate these shows where even when it's not an isekai or a video game, characters still talk about leveling up and stats when it makes no sense in-universe.
Tearmoon Empire - I miss Rose of Versailles.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F9jNXfIWIAARmHb?format=jpg&name=large)
Under Ninja is fun.
I watched like half an episode of Solo Leveling before getting bored and watching something else. A new record in me being out of touch with the seasonal anime zeitgeist. Will probably try watching it with friends just to see if I'm just being contrarian or not.
I don't think you're being contrarian if you genuinely just didn't enjoy something.
I'm at the stage of my life where I don't care that much about conforming to what everyone else seems to like just because it's popular, so I won't pretend to like something if it doesn't suit me. That said, more often than not I just don't watch or comment on stuff that doesn't interest me, which is why I won't bother checking out something like Solo-Leveling.
I like to at least keep a few tabs on what the biggest anime are each season, even if most of the time I'm like "This is what all the weebs are watching this month? Really?" Most of it's because I don't want to completely be one of those fuddy-duddies who think anime stopped being good after a specific year, even if that feeling does surface a lot, and I've seen enough of those old usenet posts where boomers go "Anime sucks now!" and their main example is a 90s show that's beloved now to know it's better to be open-minded. And occasionally there's a Frieren or a Chainsaw Man where the big show of the season is actually good.
That said, I did what I said regarding Solo Leveling, and it still sucked. Honestly sucked even more the second time around because I was stuck wondering why they kept treating this life-or-death mission like it was a video game even before they get all their superpowers, and even after one of them dies from blunt trauma. It reminded me of watching Akame Ga Kill, and how half the characters there kept talking about experience points even though they're living in a pseudo-middle age world where games don't exist. Like yeah, this shit looks like an RPG to the viewer, but why do the characters treat it like an RPG even when their literal lives are at stake?
Then for other shows, Chained Soldier had awful animation and turned into something out of Reboot whenever the MC turned into a Digimon and had to fight the CGI Hollows, Gushing Over Magical Girls was just softcore hentai, Ishura had cool fight scenes but felt like something Adult Swim would have aired in the 00s (derogatory), Mashle Season 2 had a cool opening, Metallic Rouge felt like something Adult Swim would have aired in the 00s (complimentary), and I liked Dungeon Meshi's first episode well enough.
With all the seasonal premieres finished, I watched a movie called Maboroshi directed and written by Mari Okada. In what felt like a few seconds, I went from thinking this would be another Shinkai clone to horrible insanity that I'm shocked hasn't become infamous yet. For a film with zero sex or fanservice, this managed to be one of the most sexually disgusting anime I've seen in a while.
Spoiler
Why did this movie have a love triangle where the main character had to choose between some girl and his mentally challenged daughter from another timeline who he conceives with said some girl?
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on January 25, 2024, 04:57:59 AMSpoiler
Why did this movie have a love triangle where the main character had to choose between some girl and his mentally challenged daughter from another timeline who he conceives with said some girl?
Wait, woah, WTF!!!!
This right here is why I'm not rushing to get back into anime lol. I love the samurai side of things, and the culture of Japan in general just seems so fascinating to me, but there are some things I'm also finding out that got me looking at Japan, like "wtf is wrong with folk over there".
And then on top of that, it's also why I've also stayed in my 1 lane of shonen action back then and afraid of trying other genres.
That being said, I have been slowly getting back into anime. Chipping away at an episode here and there with Demon Slayer and Bleach Thousand Year Blood War. I still have the Demon Slayer movie train to get to. Technically, I got a list of shows lined up on Hulu, but I might switch over to Crunchyroll since I want to watch Jujutsu Kaisen.
In all fairness, I wouldn't say Maboroshi is indicative of what recent anime movies are like even though it's very much in the model of Shinkai movies like Your Name, Weathering With You, those tawdry high-school romances where a magic threat that's clearly an allegory for climate change or some other disaster affecting the world shows up. At least in the sense that Your Name never went as insane as that spoiler.
Though Weathering With You did have an ending where I thought "...what the fuck?" for days after watching it.
QuoteIn another place, in another time: "BTW, Rac, please post something about Maboroshi so it doesn't sound like I made it up."
Okay, I'll do that. Watched
Maboroshi with him, and I can confirm that it's an... interesting film? Nah, screw it. I can see where some will be down for Mari Okada fully unleashed to do her precious melodrama, and I'm usually down for some melodrama, but for me, it's just an empty and unsatisfying film. The movie has an intentionally lethargic pace in the first half to hammer home the monotony of these ever repeating days, but I don't feel like the pace ever truly quickens after the halfway point, where the characters decide that they're sick of it and want things to change. You'd think the pace would quicken with that, but it doesn't, making for an experience that feels much slower than it should.
And as pretty as the film is, I can't really vibe with any of the characters: the romantic leads, the feral child, the supporting cast, etc. They don't feel real to me, and that's important part of making a weird concept work: you need understandable characters to help ground it. With how long the frozen time thing has been implied to have been going on in-universe, the fact that the main two characters are the only ones with any interest to break out of the status quo is baffling. Sure, there are other characters who tire of it all and have more... extreme responses, but there's no middle ground, which only contributes to the setting feeling more and more bland and lifeless since so many people are just going through the motions and have little long-term reaction to things. And even with the main characters, I don't really get why any of these kids are in love to begin with, which makes the love triangle fall flat -- a pretty bad thing for your romantic drama, even before you hit that twist.
...Anyway, there are some fun shows this season. I recommend
Delicious in Dungeon, an adaptation of a pretty solid manga that's being headed up by Studio Trigger. So much fantasy in anime these days is some flavor of isekai, so it's nice to have stuff like
Delicious (and
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) that just plays in the fantasy toolbox as is.
I don't know why, but I ended up spending most of my free time this week watching random episodes of Flame of Recca. And I'm conflicted on my opinions. Yeah, it's heavily derivative of Yu Yu Hakusho to the degree that even minor YYH characters like Dr. Ichigaki and the Gamemaster kid had counterparts (it oddly was and wasn't a surprise to find out this show and YYH had the same studio, director, composer, and at least 1 scriptwriter), the soundtrack sounds awfully like music from old porn, (https://youtu.be/ygWCuIsqYOM?t=31) it features one of those severely clunky dubs where the adaptive writer neglects to translate any of the Japanese terminology while none of the actors are capable of either correctly or consistently pronouncing Japanese words or names (https://twitter.com/MercuryFalcon/status/1500621740233347074), and I can't forget to mention the very abrupt ending since it caught up with the manga and I guess Pierrot didn't want to do filler arcs. But I still found myself curious when watching it, partly because of how familiar it felt even though I only watched a couple episodes beforehand, and mostly out of wondering what if a different set of cards was dealt, and this got real promotion and effort put into its US localization while YYH's ended up as an afterthought. Because I've been thinking about that too for a while, all the 90s anime that, while on the surface would seem like safe bets for mass appeal here, didn't benefit from the late 90s anime boom and ended up as obscurities or small cult classics at best here while other shows like Kenshin or Outlaw Star get to be in the canon of beloved anime classics.
And yeah, I did skim through the manga to see what happened next.
I have the first 2 volumes of the manga, ready to read at some point by Spark's recommendation, but I've heard the anime is particularly derivative of YYH, yeah.
It'd be fine if it was on the same level as whenever anyone accuses JJK or Black Clover of ripping off Naruto, who ignore how many of the similarities are surface-level at best and mostly an indication of how much shonen borrows from each other. But from what I saw, entire plots, relationships, and character arcs were taken, with just a little bit of mix and match to keep it from being a ripoff like giving the character with Elder Toguro's personality Kurama's plant powers. Or making around 8 Juri and Koto clones for their version of the Dark Tournament. At least the later parts only covered in the manga diverge?
I never actually watched the anime but read the manga well over a decade ago after Spark of Spirit (man, that brings me back) mentioned really liking it. As I recall, it had definite similarities to YYH, especially with the tournament arc, but most were superficial or just standard battle shounen tropes of the 90's. In fact the further the series went the more it just became it's own thing as I recall.
The anime was produced by Studio Pierrot around a similar time-frame to YYH and from my understaning veers quite heavily from the manga pretty early on, but it was worked on by a bunch of staff who also worked on YYH so the similarities don't surprise me that much.
It wasn't uncommon for there to be a lot of overlap between staff and assets between multiple projects in those days. They actually even recycled music and sound effects between shows as well. This video explains in excellent detail how Ninku recycled a lot from YYH which in turn had some aspects recycled later in Naruto: https://youtu.be/LuO6Sn24HUE?si=aqJk7kBSb3B8XcWQ
Yeah, looking at Noriyuki Abe's filmography shows after YYH, he and the rest of YYH's creative team did Ninku after YYH ended, then Recca, then GTO and so on.
And I noticed when looking through YouTube that while Recca's mostly gone in the American public consciousness even among hardcore weebs, it still seems fondly remembered in the Philippines. I kept finding videos of Filipino YouTubers doing covers of the opening, and videos of the fight scenes had plenty of comments in Tagalog. Which reemphasizes the "What if this show got an actual marketing push here in the US?" factor I've got in my thoughts. Similar to how I thought it was weird Funi never tried to buy the HxH 1999 show back when it was semi-recent since YYH did pretty well for them, and instead we ended up with a halfhearted release from Viz with an unfinished dub years after the fact. Or the usual AU scenarios like "What if Toei sold the One Piece rights to someone besides 4Kids back in the early 2000s?" or "What if Saint Seiya found an outlet here earlier than years after shows that copied it like Ronin Warriors had already aired on Toonami?"