anime

[Gormongous]

What's wrong with Eva?

It's too deep for him.

[Codicier]

It's too deep for him.

& meaningful?

[Twig]

Everything.

[Codicier]

So uh...I just watched the first few episodes of Attack on Titan, because some people recommended it to me. It's one of the worst things I've ever seen. Like, it's bad in pretty much every way an animated series can be bad. What the hell do people see in this?

Thing is I kinda sympathise with this viewpoint.

AoT hits every single cliche without a shred of self awareness, & the characters are pretty much universally unsympathetic. The only saving grace it possess is the "3D combat", where the squads zoom about like a bunch medieval Spidermen.

Not to mention the way It un-ironically uses freeze frames like they are going out of fashion is a crime against production values.

Add to that as I've said before it's one of the most gratuitously violent series that I've ever seen, far worse than even something like Berserk that at least has a coherent philosophy behind it. This is violence done because it looks cool, nothing more.

I don't think it's even doing the whole dramatic plot twist thing some have championed it for particularly well.

[Coods]

The only thing I really liked about Attack On Titan is that it felt almost Walking Dead-ish when Eren was eaten in episode 5, because I thought the show had huge balls for killing the main character.

 

Then that turned out to not be true  

[Twig]

I watched Usagi Drop yesterday. It's adorable.

 

I heard weird things about the continued story, available in manga format.

 

I don't think I'll be reading the manga.

 

...

 

Also I started watching this - http://www.crunchyroll.com/maoyu - and in the first five minutes the demon king (who is a lady) with extremely large breasts goes JIGGLE JIGGLE BOING JIGGLE BOING JIGGLE. It was sort of used in an attempt to emphasize that the Hero was completely and totally baffled by the Demon King's appearance and attitude. She wants to make him hers, so that they can work together to take over the world and stop this ridiculous war between humans and demons. Anyway, after that, I sort of grew to like it! Their relationship is... awkward to say the least. But the direction the show APPEARS to be going in is one that's appealing to me. Seems like it COULD be a lot about politics, and economics, and the logistics of all that junk. It's also made by the same people who made Log Horizon. So yeah I was immediately repulsed and then gradually drug back in. Episode two had like none of the JIGGLE BOING garbage, but she does continue to have exceedingly large breasts! I hope it will be not terrible.

 

All of that aside, the first two minutes made me kind of want a generic fantasy anime that is of high quality. Which seems like a hard thing to find. Most fantasy stuff seems to either come with some sort of DARK layer to it, or is full of gags, or purports to present a bunch of philosophical stuff by shoving it down your throat.

[Gormongous]

Well, I've seen it more or less confirmed on the internet that Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33 is indefinitely delayed for DVD and Blu-ray release in the English-speaking world not because FUNimation wanted to give it another spin in the theaters, as most people had thought, but because the Japanese distributor T-Joy, which replaced Klock Worx for the latest movie, is seeing poor sales for it in Japan and is worried that reverse-importing will gut them completely. Therefore, until T-Joy is satisfied with their numbers, they'll continue to make FUNimation sit on their hands — and by extension Manga UK and Madman, both of which license FUNi scripts. In that case, I don't even blame FUNi for running the movie through theaters again, just to keep interest and revenue up.

 

Anime industry politics!

 

All of that aside, the first two minutes made me kind of want a generic fantasy anime that is of high quality. Which seems like a hard thing to find. Most fantasy stuff seems to either come with some sort of DARK layer to it, or is full of gags, or purports to present a bunch of philosophical stuff by shoving it down your throat.

 

Japanese interpretations of western fantasy are some of my favorite anime! Moribito, Scrapped Princess, and Record of Lodoss War all come to my mind, although they all have flaws that you might find bothersome (Moribito also has heavy Asian influences, Scrapped Princess has some sci-fi trappings, and Record of Lodoss War is... dated). Are there any other ones of which you know?

[syntheticgerbil]

Looks like the Short Peace anthology is premiering in select US Theatres. One is near me and I must go.

Check areas here: http://www.elevenarts.net/th_gallery/shortpeace/

[Niyeaux]

Define a few? There is one particular part at around episode 4 or 5 which is particularly enjoyable. I also liked the whole 'Humanity is totally fucked' angle. It also felt kinda fresh and new on an otherwise dull zombie-theme. Idk, each to his own I guess. I read the manga before the anime was cool, so wasn't exposed to all the hype, so I guess my view of AoT will be different from yours, as I was not expecting anything, as opposed to you expecting something, if that makes sense.

I watched 9 episodes. When there were four consecutive episodes of Eren trying to pick up a fucking boulder, I packed it in. I haven't seen a show that had so little respect for the audience's time since I watched Dragonball Z in high school.

Also, what is it about serialized anime that leads to everything being barely-animated? I guess it probably has something to do with the release schedule/time constraints, but holy fuck, outside of the combat scenes where they're zip-lining around all over the place, the rest of the show is practically a slideshow. Like, fully half that show is close-ups of people's faces while they talk to themselves and their eyes do that weird wiggle that apparently indicates emotion in anime, while everything else is a still frame for several seconds at a time.

[Twig]

Japanese interpretations of western fantasy are some of my favorite anime! Moribito, Scrapped Princess, and Record of Lodoss War all come to my mind, although they all have flaws that you might find bothersome (Moribito also has heavy Asian influences, Scrapped Princess has some sci-fi trappings, and Record of Lodoss War is... dated). Are there any other ones of which you know?

I do like Moribito a lot, but I'm talking like straight up sword and sorcery genre garbage here! Gimme some of that! Maybe I'll look at those other two you mentioned.

 

...

 

ALSO HEY GUYS I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNEW THIS BUT MUSHISHI IS FUCKING GREAT OKAY?? OKAY!! I'm rewatching the original series, and holy shit I love it just as much now as I did then. Can't wait to get to the new stuff on CR.

 

Speaking of Crunchyroll... They got Ping Pong, but only for everywhere but North America, apparently. Booooooo. Can Funimation and Crunchyroll just make a deal already?

[Codicier]

Scrapped Princess remains one of my favourite anime, I'm not sure how well it would stand up to viewing it right now but I remember it's as one of the first shows I watched where the moment you thought you could just boil down the characters to one trope or another they would do something that broke you expectations.

I do like Moribito a lot, but I'm talking like straight up sword and sorcery genre garbage here! Gimme some of that! Maybe I'll look at those other two you mentioned.

...

ALSO HEY GUYS I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNEW THIS BUT MUSHISHI IS FUCKING GREAT OKAY?? OKAY!! I'm rewatching the original series, and holy shit I love it just as much now as I did then. Can't wait to get to the new stuff on CR.

Speaking of Crunchyroll... They got Ping Pong, but only for everywhere but North America, apparently. Booooooo. Can Funimation and Crunchyroll just make a deal already?

You might want to try Sorcerer Hunters if you looking for pure silly fantasy genre trash. Possibly Those Who Hunt Elves as well, although that is more humour.

Also Ping Pong doesn't appear to be on the UK cr site either, so perhaps they just don't have rites to do a English language subs version.

[Gormongous]

I do like Moribito a lot, but I'm talking like straight up sword and sorcery genre garbage here! Gimme some of that! Maybe I'll look at those other two you mentioned.

 

Twig, I think you'll love Record of Lodoss War then. It is literally an OVA some dude made based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign he ran, complete with a Chaotic Neutral asshole, dramatically inappropriate fumbles, and DM railroading. It's... actually, it's not a very good anime until you realize that's why the writing is how it is, because it does its best to hide its D&D roots, but once you do, it's the purest 80s fantasy junk I know. There's also a sequel series that is a lot more stabile and therefore a bit blander.

 

Scrapped Princess remains one of my favourite anime, I'm not sure how well it would stand up to viewing it right now but I remember it's as one of the first shows I watched where the moment you thought you could just boil down the characters to one trope or another they would do something that broke you expectations.

 

Speaking as someone who watched it just last year, it holds up pretty well. It's paced a little poorly and the protagonist is not particularly likable, but overall it's a very different anime in a very good way.

[Twig]

Sold!

[N1njaSquirrel]

I haven't watched it, but I hear Spice and Wolf is basically political/economical stuff in fantasy land? It's pretty popular though, so maybe you've already watched it?

 

I also watched the first episode of nobunaga the fool, which was terrible. Two worlds - one generic fantasy, one sci fi. Sci fi ship lands in fantasy world and turns into a mech. Explosions happen. I can't remember anything else. 

 

I watched 9 episodes. When there were four consecutive episodes of Eren trying to pick up a fucking boulder, I packed it in. I haven't seen a show that had so little respect for the audience's time since I watched Dragonball Z in high school.

Also, what is it about serialized anime that leads to everything being barely-animated? I guess it probably has something to do with the release schedule/time constraints, but holy fuck, outside of the combat scenes where they're zip-lining around all over the place, the rest of the show is practically a slideshow. Like, fully half that show is close-ups of people's faces while they talk to themselves and their eyes do that weird wiggle that apparently indicates emotion in anime, while everything else is a still frame for several seconds at a time.

Yeah, thinking about it, that was pretty bad. I did drop the anime, but only coz I read the manga, went on holiday and cba to catch up.

 

That sucks about Ping Pong, but damn if it isn't great. Pretty much everything I expected. Looking forward to the upcoming episodes. It saddens me to see so many people dismiss this anime as 'ugly' because it's not the staple 'anime' style. I love it for precisely that reason, as it makes it so unique. I hope that this anime takes off and we see more varying styles emerging. Or just more Masaaki Yuasa. Either way I was happy.

 

Also watched JoJo: Stardust Crusaders. The first episode was a bit lame, but the second episode was great. Jotaro's conversations with his mother is hilarious, as well as pretty much all his interactions with anyone. He's so fucking cliche that it makes all his interactions hilarious. I wonder if he was cliche at the time it was written too, or whether it's just become cliche over time. It definitely felt that way about the first two arcs. Either way he's a fucking badass, and I love the constant change in colour pallets that happens in the fight with Kakyoin, it's great, and a definite nod to Hirohiko's crazy colouring style. Also the opening was fantastic. I had particular joy watching it about 4 times in a row afterwards to see all the little details that are in it. Let's hope we get an equally fantastic ending next episode too.

[Twig]

Yeah, Spice and Wolf is fantastic.

 

I gave up in the middle of the first episode of Nobunaga the Fool. Heh. It was terrible.

 

I'm definitely enjoying Jojo!

 

I watched the first episode of Mekakucity Actors and I think I am going to stick with it. It's very much Anime.

 

I watched the first two episodes of Rowdy Sumo Wrestler Matsutaro and I think I will also be sticking with that. The main character is a total jerkwad, though.

 

I watched the first two episodes of The World Is Still Beautiful, and I'll be sticking with that.

 

I am still watching Hunter x Hunter. This arc is taking so long! I'm still not not enjoying it, though! Definitely a shonen.

 

I am in the middle of rewatching season one of Mushishi. Still every bit as good. Still can't wait to get up to the new stuff.

 

And finally... I watched a non-anime on Crunchyroll for the first time ever. http://www.crunchyroll.com/sdb-national-police-agency-special-defense-bureau I think I love it.

[N1njaSquirrel]

I enjoyed Mekaku City Actors a lot. Love the glimpses into post-apocalyptic world, which I'll enjoy presumably seeing how that happens. It was very shaft, but I was OK with that. I was half hoping the Miku character to have Miku's voice, but I guess that wouldn't have flown with Yamaha. The main guy is pretty cocky for a fella who did fuck all, apart from plug his iPhone into a computer. He was lucky that the adaptor was there, if the owner of said PC had an android phone or iPhone 5, he would be fucked. 

 

Yes, Hunter x Hunter is flipping ace. Loving all of it, especially Killua's character development, which was great for a 'cool' character. I hope they focus on Gon now, I'm looking forward to seeing his development. Apparently fans are peeved by how Neferipitou is clearly a female. Apparently it was ambiguous in the manga, which I guess a lot of people liked? It's slowing down considerably though. There isn't much manga left to go on, and despite the mangaka's promise to finish the manga before the anime catches up, he's written like 10 chapters in 3 years now. I guess that's why this arc is dragging. Also it's just generally a long arc.

[Twig]

Out of morbid curiosity I finally gave Fairy Tail a chance because Crunchyroll nabbed the first season (except episodes 13-28 for some weird-ass licensing reason????)

 

It is godawful. The worst. It's like I went back in time and was watching Bleach and Naruto again. (Before Naruto got terrible, or at least before the point where I thought it got terrible.) What a waste of my time. But, well, I was bored, so I did it. Lesson learned.

[N1njaSquirrel]

How much did you watch? I watched the first episode, and whilst it was a very predictable shonen affair, I didn't hate it. The mangaka worked as Oda's assistant for years, which is why it looks a lot like one piece. The first episode of One Piece was pretty terrible too.

 

gg on crunchyroll getting the first season. Maybe the episode gap is a premium member thing?

 

Edit: It isn't. Just a weird licensing thing. XD

[Twig]

I watched seven and a half episodes.

 

A not-insignificant portion of every episode is the "attack animations" of the various characters when they fight. As in, identical stock animations every time. Lady spinning her keys to summon dudes. Pink hair screaming with fire in the background to summon fire on his body. Naked dude holding his fists together to make ice magic. Sexy knight lady getting magic-girl naked to equip bikini armor so she can fly.

 

Couple that with an entirely uninteresting everything else.

 

The pacing would probably be better in the manga, but the story would still be boring garbage.

[Twig]

MEKAKUCITY ACTORS continues to be more than sufficiently Shaft if that's your thing. It kind of is my thing, so I'm loving it.

[tegan]

I watched The Curse of Kazuo Umezu tonight. It's a pair of short animated horror films by Kazuo Umezu of The Drifting Classroom and Cat Eyed Boy fame, produced all the way back in 1990. The first half is a really fascinating story about a girl who suspects her new classmate is a vampire after she wakes up with an inexplicable cut in her neck, while the second is a decent but fairly familiar story about four girls investigating a spooky old mansion. The animation's not great (since, you know, 1990 and all), but there's some great shots and both stories are really fun romps.

 

The thing that really draws me toward anime is that it evolved without the caveats of western animation. How often do you see something like a horror cartoon come out of the west? A straight-up horror story, without the teeth filed off by comic relief characters and happy endings? Even with all its flaws I still love this kind of thing.

[impuuuu]

I'm gonna be talking about both anime and manga here, and perhaps this perspective isn't very relatable to a lot of others on here, but god, it's hard to find a solid romance anime or manga! At least one that I like. I'm always on the lookout for characters where the female character isn't a ditz and the male character isn't a wimp. It's even harder to find one with the female viewer in mind. If anyone has any good recommendations, I'd be so happy.

 

And I have a few recommendations and descriptions of miscellaneous manga which I'll just stick here since I don't see a recent manga thread, perhaps you'll find something you like:

 

Tomodachi no Hanashi My favorite shoujo manga. It's super short and sweet at three chapters so far, but they're longer than your average chapter. The best-friendship is sweet, and the romance is rather simple. It's not strong for its plot, but its simple depiction of friendship with its simple but beautiful art style.

 

Change Ge Xing Interesting for its strong and smart female lead. It's not one of those mangas where they seem to just slap a couple of smart/strong-willed characteristics on your typical anime girl, but her character shows through her actions and thoughts. This manga is mainly about politics and war in China where the Mongols are powerful. To be honest I got a little lost on following the politics that go on in the manga, but I enjoyed the story anyway. The main character crossdresses, but I'd say it's pretty believable as she acts as a young boy, and the artist doesn't cheat by drawing her completely differently as a boy and girl.

 

Annarasumanara A manhwa, or Korean manga. It's read top to bottom in chapters. I mainly love this manhwa for its use of visuals. If you read a couple chapters you'll see what I mean, which I highly recommend you do. The artist isn't afraid to throw out whacky stuff that symbolizes things, or just plain looks cool visually. The story is very melancholy and bleak in the beginning and talks about a girl facing hardship in poverty and finding a man at a carnival who claims to know magic. The plot will not amaze you, but it is a good story.

 

Liar Game This is a seinen, or male-adult-targeted, manga. If you're a fan of puzzles, card games, strategy, etc., this manga is going to be your cup of tea. A genius hacker and an extremely honest girl get involved in a mysterious "Liar Game" that has them risking lots of money and people's livelihoods. The guy is the main character, and he's rather emotionless and analytical. The girl is intentionally naive and weak. It's kind of strange at times when they make her have little moments of genius, but this isn't often. The main focus is on the puzzles they go through however, and there are a couple hundred chapters to wade through.

 

Otoyomegatiari is about a tribe's nomadic life in the Silk Road era. Its main characters are a young woman married to a twelve year-old boy, but the best part is the depiction of this nomadic life. Not a setting you see often in anime or manga! It's an award-winning work and has a unique art style; it's almost worth reading just to see the awesome cloth patterns and jewelry!

[N1njaSquirrel]

Impuuuu - Have you tried Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun? That's a sweet romance/comedy/slice-of-life anime with a strong female lead and a non-wimpy guy. But it's played mostly for laughs. Maybe it's your thing?

 

Your list looks interesting, I shall check them out when I have the time!

[tegan]

Ouran High School Host Club is a parody of shoujo romance manga that somehow manages to be much better at it than the real thing. Sorry I don't have any other suggestions, but all the other romance manga I read is LGBT-themed.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Ouran is good. I would be interested to know these LGBT-themed romance manga Tegan.

 

Two more I remembered being good as I flicked through my phone - Good Ending (although Main guy is suitably weedy, it's really heart-achingly good) and 'Watashi ni xx shinasai!' which sounds and looks like an ero-manga but isn't, has a strong feminine lead but is so reverse-harem it's silly.

 

There are other love-stories that I can think of and like, but are too ero to recommend in good taste.