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I watched Sengoku Musou, its pretty much the anime version of Samurai Warriors. I found very nice show, way less over the top that Sengoku Basara, which might be good or bad given your tastes. Note: I do enjoy both of them and I am curious if that might mean a Dynasty Warriors anime in the future.

 

Also I did watch Glass Fleet, but I don´t know if because I am a big fan o Legend of the Galatic Heroes, but I found Glass Fleet not very good, at least the first episode, the battles aren´t very good nor many costumes designs. By the way, if anyone want a really good space opera, please watch Legend of the Galatic Heroes.

 

Another one which I watch I do really recomend is Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, is simple one of the most fun anime I have watched. Since I friend did recommend I watched also Cinderella Girls, know what? so far, a very good slice of life/music anime(but the manager guy look like a weird cross over between Kiritsugiri and Souichirou Kuzuki maybe even Kotomine from Fate Stay Night).

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So, I've been through the last few pages and I can see some talk about anime that sounds better than what I have been watching recently, my main injection of interest is because I have a few friends who talk about it all the time and recommend stuff to me so when most of it appeared on Netflix I thought I would give it a punt.

 

Gurren Lagan - This was actually pretty good once I managed to get past the utterly dreary female characters all running around in Bikinis. The 'previously on' sections were really entertaining due to the way that main characters would talk you through it and the interlude art was great. It won me over until about halfway through the first season where somethign happens that sucked the life out of the show and then they introduced an extremely annoying female character and I couldn't finish

 

Kill La Kill - Utterly dreadful. I was really enjoying the animation and humour of the first episode and then the character got her costume and I bounced off of it so hard that I didn't finish the third episode. It was a shame as it looked likeit could have been really cool but that costume and the explanation for why it had to be like that just made me gag. They openly acknowledge that it is fanservicey but stil go with it, gross.

 

Sword Art Online - Really strong start (online MMO where people are trapped in it until they finish the game) but imploded after 4 episodes and only got worse after that. Annoyingly perfect main character, predictable secondary characters (guy shows up looks a bit dodgy - surprise he is the bad guy for the episode), and it has scant regard for any of its female characters (Asuna is supposed to be this badass leader of a raiding team but needs guys to do everything for her, including making any decision). I made it to episode 17 and quit.

 

Attack on Titan - Probably the best of the bunch, mainly because it takes on a fairly scary premise and tries to do it justice (casually grinning giants that eat people) and has some great animation in it (the characters use these jet propelled suits to attack the titans and looks pretty rad). The problem is that every character is a cookie cut stereotype (angry protagonist with an inner power! Quiet female sidekick who is cool but holds an inner secret! Cowardly/brave sidekick who rises to the occasion!)  and there are at three filler episodes in the season that could have been summarised in about 30 seconds. I finished that season but will not bother the second.

 

I short, anime seems to be a bit shite.

 

In short, I think your friends recommendations seems to be a bit shite.

 

They have thrown you what amounts to two very acquired tastes, and two very vanilla choices.

 

What sort of TV series do you normally watch? I'm sure if you give us some info some of the other readers here could throw you some suggestions which might match your tastes a bit better.

 

 

So I just heard about Michiko to Hatchin, and it sounds great (bonus syntheticgerbil and Twig thumbs of approval) and I really want to watch it! I haven't watched any anime in ages, I think the last I saw was The Wind Rises and Kick-Heart.

 

Also all the talk about GiTS in the movie thread has convinced me to give Arise a shot. Even if it's not great, it's still cyberpunk, brain hacking, what is reality, bad ass female lead, cool sounding buzzword, post-human society, cyborg, cyberbrain, cyberpunk-noir, cyberblaaaaargh... wear shades at night Steve "Vape" Gaynor in a trench coat I asked for this.

 

M2H is probably still worth a giving a go if your OK with some of the problems that will inevitable come with a piece of soap opera crime fiction

 

Another one which I watch I do really recomend is Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, is simple one of the most fun anime I have watched.

 

I think my overall opinion on Nozaki was I liked it's moment to moment character interaction and the way that it seemed to play with tropes but ended up frustrated because it inevitably lost its bottle at the last moment and reverted to type, but no denying it was a lot of fun.

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Rolling Girls is, two episodes in, incredibly dynamic and fun and that's awesome.

 

Yuri Kuma Arashi is... well, not even trying to be subtle, really, in its allegory. But also I have no idea what's going on. I don't know if it's because I'm dumb or the anime's dumb.

 

Dennou Coil's second episode continues the cool trend.

 

Log Horizon focused on the kids this episode and was lame (but also kinda cool because I remember going through what they were going through when I played WoW and... I never expected an anime to legitimately remind me of that feeling?), especially after the Awesome Shit last episode. ):

 

Jojo is... Jojo...!

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I liked Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Beserk and Samurai Champloo as TV shows; I also watched this one that had different stories and involved a guy on a pair of rollerblades hitting them with a baseball bat (it had the creepiest intro) and thought that was weird and quite wonderful. Perfect Blue, Akira, Patlabor Mobile Police (1, not 2) and the Studio Ghibli stuff as films were all pretty excellent. But I imagine a lot of this is quite outdated given that most of those shows/films were at least 10 years old.

 

Evangelion is awful and I hated Escaflowne as other reference points. 

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Evangelion is awful

FINALLY someone else who sees the truth!

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I liked Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Beserk and Samurai Champloo as TV shows; I also watched this one that had different stories and involved a guy on a pair of rollerblades hitting them with a baseball bat (it had the creepiest intro) and thought that was weird and quite wonderful. Perfect Blue, Akira, Patlabor Mobile Police (1, not 2) and the Studio Ghibli stuff as films were all pretty excellent. But I imagine a lot of this is quite outdated given that most of those shows/films were at least 10 years old.

 

Evangelion is awful and I hated Escaflowne as other reference points. 

 

Ok that perhaps makes this a bit easier, the rollerblades & baseball bat series is almost certainly Paranoia Agent directed by Satoshi Kon (the same gent responsible for Perfect Blue) it's pretty hard to find a bad word said about him, but sadly his career was cut short before he could throw out a larger body of work. So tracking down Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress and Paprika might be a good avenue for you to try.

 

Given you like Smaurai Champloo It might also be worth looking at Mitchiko to Hatchin (which was mentioned earlier) since its director worked heavily on Champloo.

 

Also ​how do other readers feel about possibly recommending Redline in this case? a bit too meta or able to stand on its own two feet?

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I also watched this one that had different stories and involved a guy on a pair of rollerblades hitting them with a baseball bat (it had the creepiest intro) and thought that was weird and quite wonderful.

 

Paranoia Agent, created by the late Satoshi Kon.

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Ok that perhaps makes this a bit easier, the rollerblades & baseball bat series is almost certainly Paranoia Agent directed by Satoshi Kon (the same gent responsible for Perfect Blue) it's pretty hard to find a bad word said about him, but sadly his career was cut short before he could throw out a larger body of work. So tracking down Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress and Paprika might be a good avenue for you to try.

 

Given you like Smaurai Champloo It might also be worth looking at Mitchiko to Hatchin (which was mentioned earlier) since its director worked heavily on Champloo.

 

Also ​how do other readers feel about possibly recommending Redline in this case? a bit too meta or able to stand on its own two feet?

 

Right - that show was great. I have also watched Paprika - super fucking odd but beautiful.

 

Will check out the recommendations if they are available on a digital distribution channel (I don't download anything) and let you know how I fare.

 

I am curious by what you mean by vanilla when you refer to titles.

 

Edit: Weird that I somehow watched loads of Satoshi's work without even realising it - I wonder what it was that attracted me to it? I didn't think that he had a distinct style (outside of the dreams versus reality themes).

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I am curious by what you mean by vanilla when you refer to titles.

 

basically for me its things that are mass market without any strong flavour

 

In anime for better or worse mass market probably means Shonen action shows, which all 4 of the offerings you were given fall into, but which the initial two at least try some degree of deconstruction of the tropes of their genres.

 

I'm not sure if I'm just repeating common knowledge stuff anyways but just in case its worth noting that there are a few dedicated streaming services where you might be able to fill in the gaps of the things that don't reach netflix, hulu etc.

 

http://www.crunchyroll.com/ 

 

http://www.funimation.com/

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Dang, Dennou Coil is just, like, cyber wizards the anime. I think I said it last time I mentioned the anime, but man it'd be super cool if some sort of augmented reality glasses could do even a fraction of this in the future. It's pretty great, and super imaginative. I'm liking it!

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Right - that show was great. I have also watched Paprika - super fucking odd but beautiful.

 

Will check out the recommendations if they are available on a digital distribution channel (I don't download anything) and let you know how I fare.

 

I am curious by what you mean by vanilla when you refer to titles.

 

Edit: Weird that I somehow watched loads of Satoshi's work without even realising it - I wonder what it was that attracted me to it? I didn't think that he had a distinct style (outside of the dreams versus reality themes).

I'll throw Ergo Proxy out there again even though I only watched early it last year. It's more muted than the stuff you mentioned, but I look back upon it fondly.

 

For goodness sakes don't miss Tatami Galaxy!

 

Now I feel like I want to rewatch Champloo because it keeps coming up.

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I'm watching Space Dandy. I'm only on episode 1, but so far the animation and music is amazing, and the voice acting is great, but the direction, dialogue, and pacing feel somewhat bland and monotonous, as if I was just watching lights flashing on and off for 30 minutes. I like its wacky theme and such but the way that the story is presented so far feels really straightforward and uninteresting. I hope it gets better cause I love the animation and art style to death.

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Tekkonkinkreet is pretty accessible to 'western' audiences (and I like it a lot), if twmac is looking for recommendations. I'd presume that's the reason why Satoshi Kon has been seen so much as well, he seems to receive more critical acclaim from western sources, and he drew from western films more than his contemporaries did for sources of inspiration.

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Jojo is... Jojo...!

 

So continuing the JoJo OP debacle, was it me, or did the OP sound different this week? Like it was less muted, with more guitar and what have you? I still maintain that the 'ora's at the end of the song is the worst, as it feels really tacky. Whist the previous OP's had clever references to their JoJo arc (Coda's bloody stream is fucking incredible), the ORA just felt too forced and obvious?

 

Also ​how do other readers feel about possibly recommending Redline in this case? a bit too meta or able to stand on its own two feet?

 

I personally find redline to be one of my favourite anime movies. I don't think it's meta at all. twmac, watch redline gosh darn it!

 

 

Yatterman Night: I kept hearing how this is the surprise anime to watch out for this season, and the first episode definitely sold me. Basically, heroes (Yattermans!) who saved the world a long time ago have now, generations later, become evil overlords. Now, descendants of long-ago villains are going to fight the power. It sounds dumb when I write it out, because I'm bad at writing, but there's more nuance to it. Also the main character is a nine year old girl who's decided that enough is enough. It's time to free the world. Yeah okay!

 

I really enjoyed this show too. Also what's great is that Yatterman originally aired in 1977, so the audience who originally watched it when it was aired must be like 30 now, so it fits the target audience too? I didn't get the impression that the yattermans were evil, just very protective about making sure the villians who destroyed their city doesn't get allowed back in. It's fairly obvious I think that this is going to be a major plot point. I'd be surprised if they are actually evil.

 

I'm watching Space Dandy. I'm only on episode 1, but so far the animation and music is amazing, and the voice acting is great, but the direction, dialogue, and pacing feel somewhat bland and monotonous, as if I was just watching lights flashing on and off for 30 minutes. I like its wacky theme and such but the way that the story is presented so far feels really straightforward and uninteresting. I hope it gets better cause I love the animation and art style to death.

 

 

Uh you'll probably be disappointed. All the episodes are completely different from each other, and whilst I loved it, it certainly has no overarching plot until the last few episodes. If that doesn't bother you, it's great, and is like South Park in how every episode is completely inconsequential from the next. There are also some episodes that are better than others, and I felt that season 2 was generally better than 1? Idk, I think you might not like it. 

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Tekkonkinkreet is pretty accessible to 'western' audiences (and I like it a lot), if twmac is looking for recommendations. I'd presume that's the reason why Satoshi Kon has been seen so much as well, he seems to receive more critical acclaim from western sources, and he drew from western films more than his contemporaries did for sources of inspiration.

 

Oh man i totally forgot Tekkonkinkreet, what a utter doffus i am.

 

I'll 101% second Bolegium here, its a wonderfully colourful and strange film (with a awesome soundtrack) you absolutely should give it a go

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Honestly unless I really like it, I just skip the OPs after the first time. Even when I do really like it, I still start skipping it. So I don't know if the Jojo opening was different!

 

Yattermans are definitely evil, though. You're crazy! Maybe in the end there'll be a SHOCK TWIST and it turns out they HAD THEIR REASONS, but at this point in time, they're completely obviously totes full-on bad dudes.

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So continuing the JoJo OP debacle, was it me, or did the OP sound different this week? Like it was less muted, with more guitar and what have you? I still maintain that the 'ora's at the end of the song is the worst, as it feels really tacky. Whist the previous OP's had clever references to their JoJo arc (Coda's bloody stream is fucking incredible), the ORA just felt too forced and obvious?

I personally find redline to be one of my favourite anime movies. I don't think it's meta at all. twmac, watch redline gosh darn it!

I really enjoyed this show too. Also what's great is that Yatterman originally aired in 1977, so the audience who originally watched it when it was aired must be like 30 now, so it fits the target audience too? I didn't get the impression that the yattermans were evil, just very protective about making sure the villians who destroyed their city doesn't get allowed back in. It's fairly obvious I think that this is going to be a major plot point. I'd be surprised if they are actually evil.

Uh you'll probably be disappointed. All the episodes are completely different from each other, and whilst I loved it, it certainly has no overarching plot until the last few episodes. If that doesn't bother you, it's great, and is like South Park in how every episode is completely inconsequential from the next. There are also some episodes that are better than others, and I felt that season 2 was generally better than 1? Idk, I think you might not like it.

The episodic thing isn't really what bothered me, it was the lack of direction of the story in the episode itself. I really really enjoyed Cowboy Bebop which I think has very self contained episodes, but each plot had elements that felt purposeful rather than decorative. It kind of just had a weird, listless feeling to it despite being extremely wacky and over the top in its characters. I haven't actually continued watching it.

Speaking of Cowboy Bebop, I super like it so far. Every creative decision and juxtaposition seems to serve some overarching aesthetic or narrative goal rather than being checkboxes for certain character tropes and demographics, in a way that feels really wholesome and organic to take in. I'm probably making undue assumptions about a medium that I've had limited exposure to but from my experience of anime, the particular anime series I've seen have things that I like that are encapsulated from each other and develop in silos. They seem like they were developed to hit very specific notes for the audience and lumped together in a way that doesn't really care about the overall feeling of the show. These are slice of life rather than action but Princess Jellyfish and Welcome to the NHK both felt like this to me. "Unique" (or "overdesigned") character design, one dimensional but distinct personalities, gratuitous manzai routines, the use of generic background art and extremely diluted or purposeless music made it feel disjointed in plots that seem to be obvious attempts at conveying specific themes and feelings. It constantly feela like I'm being shown a world as a set piece rather than specific stories that take place in the world, like all the energy was spent in making cool characters and settings and none went into presenting them in an artful way. It might have to do with the business being focused on creating franchises and characters with continuous presence (thanks for the business info guys) rather than creating stories and cohesive peices of art. I dunno. I still like them but it's just a specific feeling I have.

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Talking about OP, I allways watch them no matter what, so much that OP/ED are deal breakers for me if I will keep watching or not. Since we are also talking about JoJo, yes, Blood Stream is simple awesome, but the first OP of Stardust Crusaders (which I restart watching) isn´t bad.

 

I watched first episode of the second season of Aldnoah Zero (warning! spoilers!)...

 

Not bad at all, but I felt that all tension they build on the last episode of the first season was disarmed way too fast. The last episode did left me with a "wait, how they can have a second seasons, if everyone is death?" and now "oh wait, everyone survived?" still I am curious how the plot will unfold.

Edited by Valorian Endymion

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I continue to be incredibly frustrated by Yuri Kuma Arashi. An allegory doesn't work if it makes no effort to be an actual story. Even Penguindrum, for all its many flaws, had interesting and funny things happening with Ringo's creepy crush and sundry penguin antics. Nevertheless, I watch the show every Tuesday night, the moment that AnimeSenshi releases the subs.

 

I continue to be thrilled by Shirobako. After killing myself watching all of Hakuouki, which was shockingly bad even for an anime based on an otome game, I am thrilled to watch an anime with strong female characters who actually do things, even apart from my general love of media that lets me see an extremely competent person do their job. Nevertheless, because I love the show so much, I'm rationing myself to a couple episodes, every few nights.

 

I continue to have really unhealthy viewing patterns for anime. Nevertheless, it's nothing a little tutturu can't fix.

 

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Right - that show was great. I have also watched Paprika - super fucking odd but beautiful.

 

Will check out the recommendations if they are available on a digital distribution channel (I don't download anything) and let you know how I fare.

 

I am curious by what you mean by vanilla when you refer to titles.

 

Edit: Weird that I somehow watched loads of Satoshi's work without even realising it - I wonder what it was that attracted me to it? I didn't think that he had a distinct style (outside of the dreams versus reality themes).

 

This

on his editing style is a must watch if you are Satoshi Kun fan. 

 

I'd suggest checking out Wolf's rain, Darker than black, Kids on the slope, Ghost in the Shell, Eccentric Family,Kyousougiga and Space dandy (the first 3 episodes are meh but 4 and 5 show what the series can be when it is firing on all cyclinders). 

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Okay, I'm going to pound down the rest of Shirobako right now, because they just had a cameo by an obvious Hideaki Anno expy, the director of Neon Locomotive Aviangarden, acting as spirit guide to the protagonist in episode 12!

 

Shirobako12c.jpg

 

This is the second anime I've watched in the past year that has made such blatant and bizarre statements about Anno's personal life, namely that he wears the same tracksuit every day while lounging around an apartment with tons of otaku shit but no furniture. The previous was Insufficient Direction, which was really funny if you're really curious about his personal life or if you love Kamen Rider.

 

GwCeuwq.jpg

 

Ooh! Looking up these pictures informed me that a former college classmate of Anno made a manga about going to school with him (and other incredibly important people in 1990s anime). It looks... worth downloading, at least.

 

Bt6dGmcIgAAvpBV.jpg

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Oh man I love Shirobako! It's definitely one of my favourite anime of this/last season. I noticed Anno's cameo, but I didn't know about his somewhat eccentric personal life though.

 

My favourite thing about this anime is how it feels like the stories are all real anecdotes from the industry. There are also a lot of other cameo's:

 

lN1LqJD.jpg

TfOVSg8.jpg

 

 

Pretty sweet show. Also googling that showed me this:

 

5R9mH2R.png

 

Which I think is pretty interesting. Being an animator sucks, but this is also reflected in the show, as some people clearly have worse living conditions than others.

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My favourite thing about this anime is how it feels like the stories are all real anecdotes from the industry. There are also a lot of other cameo's...

 

I love those, too, especially when I (very rarely) recognize them. When this gets licensed (hahahahaha, this will never get picked up anywhere outside of Japan) I would kill for a companion booklet explaining most of the expies, analogues, and cameos.

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I like some things about Shirobako, but after a while the dissonance between the male and female character designs began to get to me. I mean dammit just look at that line up in NS's screenshot.

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