anime

[Roderick]

They made an anime of Insufficient Direction?! That is such a weird move, because it's a very low-key, auteur-y, autobiography by Moyoko Anno (Hideaki's partner, the baby character).

 

Last year I posted about the 80s series, it's called Blue Blazes / Aoi Honoo, it's only 11 episodes (or so) long and it's absolutely worth it. Not just as a weird Anno fetishization thing, but a totally rad comedy that's [remo] fuckin' bonkers [/remo].

[Gormongous]

I'm rewatching Ghost in the Shell: Arise after Twig stumped so hard for it in the Movies/TV thread, and I'm liking most of it, just like I remembered. Almost all of my complaints boil down to its nature as an origin story, which is invariably underbaked to some extent, and its decisions to disregard some of the more interesting backstories of the show in order to heighten dramatic conflict.

 

Pretty much my only real complaint that doesn't boil down to how good the original show was is Arise's treatment of artificial memories. Everywhere else in the several worlds of Ghost in the Shell, artificial memories, especially as the result of a virus, are incredibly traumatic, because they cause you to act differently once inserted and you have no way of knowing whether what you think about yourself and your experiences is true. In the original movie and at least twice in the two seasons of the TV show, they make it clear that people's lives are ruined because the technology exists to create memories but not to remove them. It's a powerful theme that underpins most of what makes Ghost in the Shell interesting as a franchise.

 

But in the first two episodes of the Arise OVA, artificial memories are a major part of the plot, and both times they're just brushed off as a trick hackers sometimes play that can be remedied with a little work, should the victim be up to it. There's no psychological depth except for the "Gotcha!" moment of a character acting on incorrect information and I have no idea why. Okay, so I'm still complaining about something being different from the original show, but I think it's very representative of Arise's preference for action and thrills over more cerebral pleasures, and it's disappointing to me because of that.

 

They made an anime of Insufficient Direction?! That is such a weird move, because it's a very low-key, auteur-y, autobiography by Moyoko Anno (Hideaki's partner, the baby character).

 

Last year I posted about the 80s series, it's called Blue Blazes / Aoi Honoo, it's only 11 episodes (or so) long and it's absolutely worth it. Not just as a weird Anno fetishization thing, but a totally rad comedy that's [remo] fuckin' bonkers [/remo].

 

I know, I know. I should have listened to you, Rodi. In general, I'm very slow to accept people's anime suggestions, because my backlog's already so huge and there's such a broad delta for taste, but that just means that I'm the one a year later being like, "Hey! Did you guys watch Space Dandy? It was pretty good!" I've downloaded Aoi Honoo (a joke on Aoi Hana?) and have it pretty high in my queue now.

 

Yeah, they made an anime out of Insufficient Direction last summer, voiced by two of the actors from Evangelion (Yamadera Kouichi and Hayashibara Megumi). I liked it a lot, but Anno is a hero of mine if it's possible for me to have one, just because I love what he does but I don't understand him at all. As a work of anime, it's more about getting a peek into the otaku lifestyle. It's short as hell, because it's made up of thirteen three-minute flash-style episodes, so you can have the entire thing watched in half an hour if you don't care about identifying which a capella version of a tokusatsu theme is playing over each set of end credits.

[Gormongous]

I know, I know. I should have listened to you, Rodi. In general, I'm very slow to accept people's anime suggestions, because my backlog's already so huge and there's such a broad delta for taste, but that just means that I'm the one a year later being like, "Hey! Did you guys watch Space Dandy? It was pretty good!" I've downloaded Aoi Honoo (a joke on Aoi Hana?) and have it pretty high in my queue now.

 

An update that Aoi Honoo is really good, much more so than I've previously come to expect from live-action Japanese television, and also strangely affecting for eleven episodes mostly made up of jokes about being a college kid with a fat head. I was also very gratified just to have Anno be there as the villain by virtue of his extreme weirdness.

 

I'm hoping that it'll segue well into my first watching ever of Otaku no Video, but I don't know it will, because the specificity of Aoi Honoo is so high and, even though Otaku no Video has been praised as a GAINAX tell-all by Okada Toshio (or Yamaga Hiroyuki, depending if you believe the rumors), even the first twenty minutes feel like the edges have been carefully and deliberately sanded off.

[Gormongous]

Triple post! Is Nisemonogatari better than Bakemonogatari, or did I hit my head sometime in the last twenty-four hours? Sure, the fan service is way way worse, to the point of being openly pornographic for extended periods, but it also feels as though more time is being spent on (occasionally non-pornographic) interactions between established characters rather than an endless parade introducing new ones, which was the thing that turned me off of Bakemonogatari by the end.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Huh. My favourite part of Bakemonogatari was the conversations. Even though a lot of the jokes were lost on me, the conversations felt very unique in some way that I can't place. I guess I'll give Nisemonogatari a go, but the whole franchise has exploded into something so big, I don't know if I can be bothered.

 

Have you watched Katanagatari? Written by the same author, but not related. It's pretty good! It also doesn't have the Shaft Style™ my girlfriend hates so much.

 

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.

 

Yeah I guess, but it doesn't have much to go on to draw people in, so making the girls cute ensures at least some people watch it. Also the new characters in the second half make some attempt to even out that dissonance.

 

On a separate note, last week's JoJo had the most insane ending ever. I loved it:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOjrfCdhD_I

[Gormongous]

Huh. My favourite part of Bakemonogatari was the conversations. Even though a lot of the jokes were lost on me, the conversations felt very unique in some way that I can't place. I guess I'll give Nisemonogatari a go, but the whole franchise has exploded into something so big, I don't know if I can be bothered.

 

Have you watched Katanagatari? Written by the same author, but not related. It's pretty good! It also doesn't have the Shaft Style™ my girlfriend hates so much.

 

If it makes you feel any better, Nisemonogatari is a direct sequel to Bakemonogatari, just at a slower pace with only two "cases" in eleven episodes. It's right after that, with the prequel OVA Nekomonogatari (Kuro), that they start going nuts and bouncing all over the place chronologically. In general, Nisemonogatari just feels more focused, even just in having less Shinbo/Shaft-style interstitial text cards that actually do a lot of the heavy lifting in Bakemonogatari. There's an extended conversation in the second episode about how adding the phrase "the courage to" onto negative things makes them positive without implicating yourself that I found more intelligently funny than the entirety of Bakemonogatari.

 

And cool, I'll look up Katanamonogatari, although I actually like the Shaft "house style" a lot and, given a long enough exposure to it, I'll be won over to any series that has it. I was actually just thinking, an anime written by Ikukara, directed by Shinbo, and produced by Shaft is one of my few dream teams...

[Twig]

It's just Katanagatari. No mono! It has a very distinct style from most anime, even while not being Shaft. It's quite good.

 

I finally finished Dennou Coil! I have mixed feelings. Story-wise it was decent, but nothing special. Kind of a mixed message in the end... "The real world matters!!! Oh but... don't forget about this fake world." But the imagination and creativity that went into a lot of the Augmented Reality stuff is kind of fucking fantastic. It also looked real nice. I wish it was half the length it is, so it'd be easier to recommend. Ahh DANGIT. Well, whatever, overall I guess I liked it. So there.

[Roderick]

An update that Aoi Honoo is really good, much more so than I've previously come to expect from live-action Japanese television, and also strangely affecting for eleven episodes mostly made up of jokes about being a college kid with a fat head. I was also very gratified just to have Anno be there as the villain by virtue of his extreme weirdness.

 

I'm hoping that it'll segue well into my first watching ever of Otaku no Video, but I don't know it will, because the specificity of Aoi Honoo is so high and, even though Otaku no Video has been praised as a GAINAX tell-all by Okada Toshio (or Yamaga Hiroyuki, depending if you believe the rumors), even the first twenty minutes feel like the edges have been carefully and deliberately sanded off.

 

Ah, Otaku no Video is by GAINAX? Interesting. I loved how in Aoi Honoo you see this whole gang of future anime movers and shakers as awkward dweebs. And especially Yamaga as a caclulating, powerhungry snake ready to exploit his friends for a meal... ticket!

 

And I liked the ending to Dennou Coil, it felt pretty neatly done. Agreed on the length of the show, there was a bit of filler here and there. Great soundtrack, by the by.

[Gormongous]

Well, I watched Nekomonogatari (Kuro) and I can say for sure that it wasn't nearly as good, so at least my brain hasn't been broken in a way that makes me love all of the Monogatari shows equally and uncritically. Their strength is definitely the large cast of starkly realized characters, especially their interactions and their relationships with the protagonist, so it's no surprise that the series that introduces them one by one and a prequel before most of them appear both bore me in a way that Nisemonogatari didn't. Monogatari Series: Second Season is apparently a chronological sequel, so I'm a little excited to be watching it soon.

 

Ah, Otaku no Video is by GAINAX? Interesting. I loved how in Aoi Honoo you see this whole gang of future anime movers and shakers as awkward dweebs. And especially Yamaga as a caclulating, powerhungry snake ready to exploit his friends for a meal... ticket!

 
Yeah, specifically Otaku no Video is an extremely fictionalized account of Yatsuhiro Takeda (the fat guy in the cowboy getup from Aoi Honoo) and Okada Toshio (the rich shut-in, who is hilariously rewritten as a handsome tennis player in the anime) founding General Products (a garage-kit business that got folded into GAINAX after it lost all its money moving from Osaka to Tokyo) beginning immediately after the events of Aoi Honoo, so in that way it was a good fit to follow up. But, like I said, you can't really match the deep characterization of Aoi Honoo, which I've already recommended to several people who'd want to know what anime looked and felt like in the eighties.
 
And ugh, Yamaga. I never thought someone who's just smart enough to identify talented people and stick to them like glue would be so funny.
 

It's just Katanagatari. No mono! It has a very distinct style from most anime, even while not being Shaft. It's quite good.
 
I finally finished Dennou Coil! I have mixed feelings. Story-wise it was decent, but nothing special. Kind of a mixed message in the end... "The real world matters!!! Oh but... don't forget about this fake world." But the imagination and creativity that went into a lot of the Augmented Reality stuff is kind of fucking fantastic. It also looked real nice. I wish it was half the length it is, so it'd be easier to recommend. Ahh DANGIT. Well, whatever, overall I guess I liked it. So there.

 
Oops. It was late and I was distracted! I watched Dennou Coil maybe four years ago, but I remember my feelings about it being really similar. It almost feels like its length diluted its message, but it came out in the days when full-cour anime were de rigueur, so it's kind of screwed there. It's definitely a gem that'll never get licensed and that's a shame, considering all the absolute junk that was brought over during the licensing bubble of the early 2000s.

[Twig]

Oh I also watched the first episode of Lupin III: Mine Fujiko Something Something I Forget the Title. I had watched the first few episodes a while back when Funimation first aired it on their website, but never finished it. It's... Well, it is what it is - a big-breasted femme fatale who has no shame AKA tits everywhere. But I sorta like it anyway. It may just be my nostalgia for Lupin III in general that's carried me this up until now, but sometimes that's okay? I guess? Listen don't you judge me.

 

I really like the art style!

 

And did I mention there's going to be a new Lupin III??? Like just a normal series, not like the backstory things they've done with Fujiko and Jigen? I must have because I'm excited for it! He's wearing a BLUE JACKET now!!!

[Codicier]

Huh. My favourite part of Bakemonogatari was the conversations. Even though a lot of the jokes were lost on me, the conversations felt very unique in some way that I can't place. I guess I'll give Nisemonogatari a go, but the whole franchise has exploded into something so big, I don't know if I can be bothered.

 

Have you watched Katanagatari? Written by the same author, but not related. It's pretty good! It also doesn't have the Shaft Style™ my girlfriend hates so much.

 

I'd like to second the recommendation for Katangatari. It is probably up there competing with a few others for the Anime series I love the most (Those few hallowed shows  which get repeated viewings every couple of years), it has a bag full of charm and although not perfect its a country mile above all the monogatari's for my money.

 

Basically if you ever enjoyed any of the Kenshin stuff, but wanted a version which packed it's entire story arc into one breathless season it's.

[Twig]

Man this Fujiko series is just like sex in your face all the time for no reason, huh.

 

I mean that's her character, so... that's her character? It's just Lupin III isn't usually so explicit. Not that there's ever any actual sex scenes, but she's naked at least once per episode (not including the OP where she literally makes out with herself).

 

And yet still the weirdest part is how Inspector Zenigata actually seems competent in this series, when he's always just a joke otherwise.

[Mawd]

So my partner and I finished Kill La Kill and we really, really enjoyed it. It was only while browsing this forum that I found out the director also made Dead Leaves which is my favourite popcorn anime.

 

We were mostly laughing or eyerolling at the suits or gushing over Mako or going oooh at the occasional male body fanservice. 

It was a really entertaining series. I kinda hope they don't bring it back because it was so satisfying to watch a one season anime that came with what generally feels like four seasons worth of material.

They could always pull a Venture Bros. though. In which case I couldn't wait for more KLK.

 

Anyway this leaves me kind of stuck with what anime I want to watch next. I mean not many of those teen action shows are that self aware (though I haven't seen a whole lot).

I'll check out Michiko to Hatchin because Samurai Champloo/Bebop. I've been told to see Blue Lagoon multiple times so maybe I'll finally watch that. 

Idk I'm torn between craving something as tense/slowburn as Monster was, something so deliciously FUN like KLK (okay without all of those suuuper uncomfortable scenes with the mother..) , or something offbeat like Samurai Champloo and Bebop.

 

I might go rewatch/read Desert Punk in the mean time.

[Tanukitsune]

As someone who has finished Danganronpa, would you guys recommend the anime? Is it just an adaptation or does it add anything new to the story? Does it lose it's appeal if you know the plot of the game?

[Gormongous]

Okay, halfway through Monogatari Series: Second Season, I'm officially to the point where I'd start making plans to buy all the Blu-rays, but, oh no... they're licensed by Aniplex of America. Aniplex got a huge amount of flak for selling the first fifteen-episode season, Bakemonogatari, for two hundred dollars, so instead, for subsequent seasons, they've divided them into individual four- or five-episode arcs, which they're marketing and pricing as full seasons. For two and a half full-cour seasons, sixty-five episodes, I'd be willing to pay maybe three hundred dollars in total, which puts me way outside the normal curve of anime fans, but even on RightStuf, which has a special agreement with Aniplex that cuts their pricing by maybe twenty percent, the full run of the Monogatari series would still add up to twice that, six hundred dollars. That's just shy of ten dollars an episode. Fuck me!

Aniplex has repeatedly stated that they view anime as a luxury item, the value of which is determined solely by the price at which they are willing to sell it, but seriously? Desserts are a luxury item, but no one's selling slices of cake for forty dollars, and cake doesn't even have to compete with being free everywhere already. This sort of greedy idiocy is why the anime licensing bubble popped in the mid-2000s. I've got to watch the final OP for Nisemonogatari just to calm down

Goddamn, I love bon-style dances.
 

As someone who has finished Danganronpa, would you guys recommend the anime? Is it just an adaptation or does it add anything new to the story? Does it lose it's appeal if you know the plot of the game?

 

As far as I've heard it, the only way people enjoy the Danganronpa anime is if they've already played the game, because it's functionally the twenty-five-hour plot of the game compressed into thirteen episodes. Accordingly, there's not much time for character development or anything, so you have to have played the game to understand what's happening why, although if you have played it, I understand that the performances and shoutouts are actually pretty good.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Oh I don't know, I enjoyed the Danganronpa anime a lot, and I haven't played the game at all. I would have actually said the opposite, and to not bother with the anime, as it wouldn't bring anything new to the series that wasn't already in the game.

 

That Nisemonogatari ending is awesome. Makes me want to watch it more now. As for the pricing, it makes sense in relation to Anime Pricing over in Japan, but I understand that it doesn't quite work like that. Either way it's still bollocks.

[Gormongous]

So... the past two episodes of Yuri Kuma Arashi have been pretty good, mostly because we're finally getting backstory and hence motivations from the main characters. Honestly, no matter how this anime plays out, I will always be arguing that that the first three episodes were a huge misstep from a writer and director as experienced and meticulous as Ikuhara. You build characters first and then use them to create an allegory once the audience has invested in them; you don't start with the allegory and then use flashbacks to give us a reason to invest in the characters that make it up. Why Ikuhara thought that an hour of ritualistic storytelling, stylized sequences, and rote phrases was the way to open a four-hour series with apparently complex themes about fundamentally human topics like love and hate (I'm not convinced about that last bit, but I want to cover my ass if this turns out to be a masterpiece) is beyond me, but at least now we know a little bit better who Ginko, Lulu, and Kureha are and what the Invisible Storm is, which'll help to save this anime from being a total trainwreck in the final summation.

 

I'm never going to have any connection to Sumika, though. If she's the love of Kureha's life, the first episode should probably have given some evidence of that. Instead, she's dead in the first five minutes and we just have to endure Kureha saying over and over that she will only ever love Sumika, because... uh... they shared a fish roll?

 

That Nisemonogatari ending is awesome. Makes me want to watch it more now. As for the pricing, it makes sense in relation to Anime Pricing over in Japan, but I understand that it doesn't quite work like that. Either way it's still bollocks.

 

Yeah, it's definitely because Aniplex is a Japanese company that's trying to keep their American branch from the fate of Bandai Entertainment (which was forced by its parent company to bid on properties based on Japanese sales data but had to sell those properties in a marketplace where that data was meaningless, hence they folded), but NIS is in the same position and somehow manages not to ask more than eighty bucks for a given series, which is perfectly reasonable to me. When homegrown media of roughly equivalent runtime and/or episodes (say, Battlestar Galactica) is retailing for less than a third of one of your mid-tier titles, you're just saying that you're fine with niche sales, so long as reverse-importing doesn't sink your bottom line back in Japan.

 

I see the same with wargame publishers all the time, actually. Time and again, some developer associated with Slitherine or Matrix gets caught on their forums going off about how their eighty-dollar product has to be that expensive because there's just no market beyond thirty-something wargamers who've been trained to accept that expense and how lowering the price will just net them less profit, period. Invariably, a year or two later, they've put some of their back catalog up on Steam and discovered that cutting your prices in half triples sales, at the very least, and they'll post another forum rant about the digital-download revolution, like it's something that happened yesterday. That's how Aniplex and, to a much smaller extent, NIS seem to me, except that the last part never happens because they'll always have their primary Japanese market to convince them that it's just America and the UK that are fucked up in terms of commercial potential.

[Twig]

Um okay episode six of the Mine Fujiko series is her seducing a high school girl to steal a pendant.

 

Um okay...

 

EDIT: oh no don't worry it's okay because this high school girl was actually an undercover cop - who's actually a dude who i think is in love with inspector zenigata??

 

And in the next episode we almost made it without seeing her bare breasts, but then she removes her bikini top in the last scene. Of course.

 

Hmm I sure hope the new Lupin series goes back to being a goofy crime-of-the-week nonsense thing. But not too goofy. But also definitely definitely not this not-goofy.

[Twig]

Well wouldn't you know it, I ended up actually liking Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko quite a bit? This is in spite of the rampant pointless titillation, which is... well, very rampant. And there are other issues, too. The actual stories that take place vary from not-so-good to good, and then suddenly it ramps up at the end and Fujiko's just like "Yeah I'm pretty fuckin' rad." I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did.

 

And then I watched Lupin III: Daisuke Jigen's Gravestone, which, again, has a scene with Fujiko that's just... It's actually worse. But then the rest of the two-parter was just oozing with style and I loved it all except for the aforementioned scene which I'm about to describe (warning, it's graphic)

She's completely nude in a glass tank hanging from the ceiling and onlookers below and then a giant robot is lowered into the tank with her and then it grows a giant robo-drill penis and tries to kill her with it...

Like what the fuck. It makes me mad. The rest of it was so good, exactly the kind of thing I want from Lupin. I hope hope hope the new series has less (i.e., none) of the shit I just described and more of the awesome style 

[Twig]

*continues rambling to himself*

Durarara is kind of way more boring than I remember it being... I forgot basically all of it, and so I figured I'd rewatch in order to watch the new season airing now.

 

I guess the problem is instead of focusing on the characters I like, it devotes entire episodes to characters I'm not all that interested in. If it was all mixed up together I'd probably like it a lot more.

[Gormongous]

Hey! So, on the subject of sublimated anime misogyny, I'm partway through the second season of Bakuman and jeez, it would be a great show about dudes making a manga if it weren't for all of the annoying female characters messing up everything! It makes me feel bad for suggesting to an offended friend that Misa from Death Note was a deliberate choice to write a vapid and ineffectual female character, because another work from the same creative team has the exact same problems with female characters. Maybe they won't be an ongoing issue with Bakuman, but even what they've done so far is really offputting. Both Azuki and Aoki are fragile to the point of delusional, finding redemption only in placing themselves under the guidance of male characters, and the OP for the second season suggests they're bringing back the girl from the first season who thought she was Takagi's girlfriend for years because he shook her hand that one time. Yes, I'm being serious. I'm sure she won't turn out to be damaged in a way that is distressing and disruptive to our dynamic duo of protagonists! Bitches, right?

 

I'm actually enjoying Bakuman, which is fitting very well with Aoi Honoo and Shirobako in terms of being about the technical details of manga and anime production, but it certainly isn't easy. Every time I see Azuki with her stupid hoodie-shaped fringe, I want to turn off the show, and I love bangs!

[N1njaSquirrel]

I feel there's a difference between Misa and Azuki/Aoki which makes Misa a bit more acceptable. Mainly that Misa's mistreatment by Kira shows what an awful person he is or something. To be honest I haven't read Death Note in such a long time though.

 

As for the relationships in Bakuman, I never bought any of them. Azuki's is just too 'perfect'. She's so irritatingly naive. Then there's others and it's just so fucking coincidental, and feels so throw away that when they bring it up I completely forget that it was a thing in the first place. I don't know where season 1 ends, so I won't spoil it. Basically, it will be an ongoing issue, at least for me it was. I think the difference in Death Note and Bakuman is that Bakuman is a slice of life.

 

Saying that though, I did really like Bakuman. They do a really good job of making manga details interesting, as well as pointing out trends that makes me think back to other manga and go 'ooohhh that's why they did that'.

 

Yatterman Nights is still the best thing this season. I love it so much.

[Gormongous]

I feel there's a difference between Misa and Azuki/Aoki which makes Misa a bit more acceptable. Mainly that Misa's mistreatment by Kira shows what an awful person he is or something. To be honest I haven't read Death Note in such a long time though.

 

As for the relationships in Bakuman, I never bought any of them. Azuki's is just too 'perfect'. She's so irritatingly naive. Then there's others and it's just so fucking coincidental, and feels so throw away that when they bring it up I completely forget that it was a thing in the first place. I don't know where season 1 ends, so I won't spoil it. Basically, it will be an ongoing issue, at least for me it was. I think the difference in Death Note and Bakuman is that Bakuman is a slice of life.

 

Saying that though, I did really like Bakuman. They do a really good job of making manga details interesting, as well as pointing out trends that makes me think back to other manga and go 'ooohhh that's why they did that'.

 

Yeah, Misa's flaws as a character definitely serves a purpose in Death Note, however useful that purpose actually is. On the other hand, except for Miyoshi, who really just feels like a direct expy of Chizuru from Kimi ni Todoke, all the female characters in Bakuman are similarly flawed, even the dowdy manga assistant, and the only one for whom the flaws serve any purpose is Azuki, who's annoying as hell because of that purpose, for the reasons you've stated. Every time Mashiro acts impatient and stupid, I can't help but feel like it's because he wants to stick his dick in Azuki ASAP, and that robs his actions of any emotional immediacy for me. Why the fuck should I invest in a dude working himself to death in order to realize a promise made on a whim in middle school, just so he can kiss the girl he likes on the mouth? At best, it just reminds me of KarmaBurn's description of most anime romances as "a perplexing celebration of celibacy and prudishness bordering on gynophobia," which will always piss me off for how true it is.

 

Really, I like this show the best when it's about the manga business, which it thankfully is most of the time, but I don't believe in any of the characters' relationships at all and hence a lot of the relationship-based drama, even the seemingly business-related feud they're having with their editor right now, is totally falling flat for me.

[BadHat]

Speaking of vapid and ineffectual female characters!

 

I got around to finishing Zankyou no Terror after dropping it for weeks (did I mention I'm very bad at sticking to shows that I start? (also at posting to forums on a regular basis apparently)). Man... what the hell happened with those last two episodes? What a hot fucking mess. I guess I shouldn't have expected more from a show about secret government programs to engineer super-human children (the show was so well-handled for the majority of its run that it barely even occurred to me how overdone that narrative trope is), but man it was just so shlocky. Still well-directed, well-stylised shlock, but maaaaaan. The pacing was so frantic it seemed like they ran over budget and had to trim it from a 13-ep show to 11. Maybe I'm being too harsh but... MAN. It was a really promising if not super enrapturing show up until that point.

 

Wait, what was I going to post about again? Oh yeah!

 

What was the fucking point of Lisa? Like, at all? Her story isn't even given the slightest amount of closure. All that stuff with her mum? And then

 

her maybe-love interest dies horribly right in front of her and we just get her looking kind of shocked and then the next time we see her she's putting flowers at their graves but acting more or less happy-go-lucky. Like... where's the transition? Could she have been any more of an after thought? Where was she even living after that? She was fucking homeless before.

 

Also, did they seriously confirm the US government's involvement with some throw-away exposition between some faceless guy and a fucking helicopter pilot? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

 

Guuhhhh. Okay, I'm done.

 

Someone recommend me an anime with a worthwhile ending.  

[N1njaSquirrel]

Yeah, ZnT was a mess of an ending.

The US goverment's involvement was already exposed though with the introduction of that white-haired lady. Fucking hell she was unbearable.

Also the whole world or something had no electricity now, so there's no way that she can contact her mum, and everyone is therefore homeless or something.

 

 

Someone recommend me an anime with a worthwhile ending.  

 

Baccano!, Tatami Galaxy, Kuroko's Basketball, Time of Eve, Evangelion (pffffft I kid but seriously if the end of rebirth doesn't blow everyone away there's going to be a lot of pissed fans.)

 

Yeah, Misa's flaws as a character definitely serves a purpose in Death Note, however useful that purpose actually is. On the other hand, except for Miyoshi, who really just feels like a direct expy of Chizuru from Kimi ni Todoke, all the female characters in Bakuman are similarly flawed, even the dowdy manga assistant, and the only one for whom the flaws serve any purpose is Azuki, who's annoying as hell because of that purpose, for the reasons you've stated. Every time Mashiro acts impatient and stupid, I can't help but feel like it's because he wants to stick his dick in Azuki ASAP, and that robs his actions of any emotional immediacy for me. Why the fuck should I invest in a dude working himself to death in order to realize a promise made on a whim in middle school, just so he can kiss the girl he likes on the mouth? At best, it just reminds me of KarmaBurn's description of most anime romances as "a perplexing celebration of celibacy and prudishness bordering on gynophobia," which will always piss me off for how true it is.

 

Really, I like this show the best when it's about the manga business, which it thankfully is most of the time, but I don't believe in any of the characters' relationships at all and hence a lot of the relationship-based drama, even the seemingly business-related feud they're having with their editor right now, is totally falling flat for me.

 

There is one relationship in Bakuman that I liked, but it doesn't come into play until near the end, and like everyone that isn't Azuki, just gets mentioned and then tossed aside.

 

Have you read Good Ending? That has a satisfying romance that seems to counter KarmaBurn's description. I think that a lot of the anime that gets created is shounen, which is probably why romances don't evolve beyond 'the chase'. I really liked the end of 'I don't understand what my husband is saying' as their relationship actually went somewhere. Also Bonnouji pops into my head as a good example of a seinen slice-of-life relationship that goes somewhere.

 

Conversly though, the irritating thing about seinen relationships is that it so quickly just turns to porn. And it ain't a shojo romance without someone having a rape backstory, so I guess all genres have their tropes that are repeated and tired.

 

sorry my points aren't that well formed. I don't think I'm being eloquent enough with my thoughts, but I think somewhere in that mess there's an interesting point.