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I've been watching Gintama because it was discussed on our 'cast.

 

Man it's funny I am liking it a lot??

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I've been watching Gintama because it was discussed on our 'cast.

 

Man it's funny I am liking it a lot??

 

This may not apply to you but if you think that big action serious arcs ruin what you like about it, be prepared to skip 130 out of the 261 episodes.

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I like big action serious shonen bullshit in a lot of cases so I'm not TOO concerned but sometimes it's bad (naruto, bleach...) so we'll see I guess!!

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I decided to watch Shirobako after seeing some people on here say good things about it. I really enjoyed the first half of it, and how everyone seemed kind of disenchanted about their position and where they were going in their career but getting support from their friends and coworkers. It was a nice portrayal. The second half has been... less good? It seemed like it took a thematic turn and went from being about this group of friends and their various troubles and how they deal with them to just being about how anime gets made and the drama in getting a show made. It's still believable and decently written/animated, and I'm sure if I was more interested in what it was about now I'd be more into it, but it's just not something I'm really interested in.

 

I'll finish it out since I'm so close to the end. It's just disappointing that it changed so much between the first half and the second half.

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man this really has been a slow time anime wise. there's basically only a couple of series worth watching atm, and while they are all enjoyable enough none of them really make me go "wow!" or  want to unpack them in any way.

 

All there is left to do now is take the occasional screenshot of the latest "MANLY CRYING FACE!" pulled by Gouda from Ore Monogatari!! 

 

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man this really has been a slow time anime wise. there's basically only a couple of series worth watching atm, and while they are all enjoyable enough none of them really make me go "wow!" or  want to unpack them in any way.

 

The best I've got going, besides Teekyuu, is just The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, which is mostly going to be useful in a few years to show critics of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya what a "safe" adaptation of that property that just panders to moe looks like. It's so boring and sterile, I almost can't believe it's an actual anime being made.

 

Also, I know that being down on Shirobako is in vogue here right now, but I found a list of characters and the real-life figures to whom they refer on Reddit, which was abandoned by the tenth episode, probably for the creator's sanity, but gave me an interesting piece of information that I didn't know: the eminently annoying and incompetent production assistant Taro is the director's caricatured self-insert, taking himself to task for how he was before he came to grips with the commitment of becoming a respected member of the production team. It makes me like Mizushima Tsutomu that much more, for being able to do that to himself in an anime that gives characters plenty of excuses for being annoying or useless.

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I just rewatched Joshiraku, and it's made me reevaluate my moe enmity. My distaste for it is stemmed from (without saying too much more) its tendency to infantalize and idealize the perception of a character, its copious use in place of quality content, and the aesthetic/thematic rut that it puts the industry in. I still think these things are more or less true, present and correlated with the design/writing trope.

But Joshiraku's non-moe content is actually really good. The characters arent written like moe characters, because they're essentially following a prosey joke script. The extremely dumb, pandering presentation is really dissonant with the smart writing and comedic timing, and for some reason that's actually enjoyable instead of grating, since it fits with the overall slightly surreal, dissonant joke logic of rakugo. The characters aren't really supposed to be people that you empathize with and care about because they're just recurring actors in a long, well written joke, and the use of moe makes it all feel intentional. Contrast this with shirobako, which seems to have the same quality of comedic writing but has a format that requires investment in its characters, to its own detriment.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's kind of sad that this kind of interesting use of moe relies on it existing despite itself, but I'm more or less convinced that it's not always perfunctory. As long as it's there for a reason and it's effective, I'm (more or less) OK with it.

If they remade Joshiraku except it was about middle aged men sitting at a bar telling jokes that bend the corners of reality, it would still be funny, though for other reasons too.

Just kidding I'm full of shit. Joshiraku is impossible to enjoy without being Japanese, and I'm only watching it for the cute girl hijinks.

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I'm still watching the Patlabor TV series. It's been one of the most bizarre experiences of anime that I've known in this life. On the one hand, it has a lot of the high-tech police procedural stuff that I love in Ghost in the Shell, but slightly more grounded and with virtually nothing that could be construed as fan service. On the other hand, a disturbingly large minority of the episodes are either "This labor incident is actually a ghost" and "This ghost incident is actually a labor," to the point that there is literally no tension whatsoever watching these episodes: after watching almost a dozen of them all end the same way, I have no doubt that whatever appears to be something will in fact turn out to be something else.

 

I have nine episodes left, after which I have no idea what I plan to watch. I was thinking about investing in Banner of the Stars/Crest of the Stars, but after over two months spent watching Patlabor, with a brief break to watch all of the excellent Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun in a single night, I'm kind of scared of starting something that runs more than a single half-cour.

 

Anyway...

 

 

So I was listening to Sagisu Shiro's soundtrack for the Rebuild of Evangelion movies while at work on Friday, for reasons, and I came across several tracks that I knew I recognized from somewhere. Now, it's already not unheard of for Anno and Sagisu to borrow tracks for the Rebuild soundtrack from elsewhere (including one particular song from a 1970s nuclear panic movie), but what's interesting about some of the other tracks is that they're songs from a previous work directed by Anno and scored by Sagisu, His and Her Circumstances. I don't know exactly what is meant by using music from that thematically similar but textually different anime in the Rebuild movies, but it did lead me to this review of the soundtrack for His and Her Circumstances, which confirms my gut feeling: it may be the best soundtrack in the history of modern anime. It's evocative, playful, earnest, and intimate, regardless of whether you've actually seen the show itself. I've spent the last couple hours answer emails for work while listening to it and it's definitely elevating my experience a little.

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I've still just mostly been watching Gintama... I'm 30 ish episodes in now. It's great.

 

For currently airing junk I've only been keeping up with Sound! Euphonium, which is pretty much fantastic. I'm worried it'll be way too short at only half-cour length...

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Huh. I've been watching Sound! Euphonium too, and I don't think it's all that good :/

 

The animation is of course excellent, and I'm guessing a lot of the band playing is rotorscoped, but the story is really dull, there are more annoying charachters than good ones (so far the only one I've liked is the girl with glasses), and the main girl is just annoyingly depressed over everything, which are usually minor little things like 'oh does she like me or not'? And then as soon as one thing gets resolved, she then makes up another stupid reason to be sad.

 

It's certainly not the worst thing I'm watching this season (that award goes to Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? (Which has been shortened to Danmachi)), but it's by no means the best.

 

 

If they remade Joshiraku except it was about middle aged men sitting at a bar telling jokes that bend the corners of reality, it would still be funny, though for other reasons too.

 

So basically daily lives of highschool boys?

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Well it fits pretty much exactly the typical sports anime structure, but instead it's about concert band, so it's actually something I did. Also it is amusingly touching on a lot of feelings I had about concert band (and probably more so marching band). We always competed in the national marching band tournaments but it was like why are we doing this we're nowhere near good enough... But we kept doing it. And then we stopped doing it... And it was devastating for me. And then I stopped caring about band altogether. So, yeah. This is pretty much fantastic!

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omg they're actually doing marching band stuff i never thought i'd see the day

 

This is bringing me back to the days when I used to instinctually march to the rhythm of whatever music I was hearing. I still do walk to the beat sometimes, but not that marching step I used to do...

 

ANYWAY RAD

 

edit: and it's over

 

in a single episode

 

All right I'm not usually one to complain about length five episodes in, and I realize this is meant to be more about a concert band competition than a little one-off marching band festival, but that was absurdly fast. If there's one legitimate issue I have it's that this anime is flying by. Everything's happening so fast. Except... for the character relationships. With how fast they went from "we're a shitty club that doesn't give a fuck" to "we're going to take the scene by storm", you'd think Kumiko would've worked shit out with her old classmate by now but it only just happened. The difference in pacing between character development and band development is... well, something's wrong.

 

I'm no longer concerned about them not getting enough done in 12 episodes. I'm now concerned they'll get way too much done.

 

Also man playing your trumpet in that situation would get you in so much trouble!

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omg they're actually doing marching band stuff i never thought i'd see the day

 

This is bringing me back to the days when I used to instinctually march to the rhythm of whatever music I was hearing. I still do walk to the beat sometimes, but not that marching step I used to do...

 

ANYWAY RAD

 

edit: and it's over

 

in a single episode

 

All right I'm not usually one to complain about length five episodes in, and I realize this is meant to be more about a concert band competition than a little one-off marching band festival, but that was absurdly fast. If there's one legitimate issue I have it's that this anime is flying by. Everything's happening so fast. Except... for the character relationships. With how fast they went from "we're a shitty club that doesn't give a fuck" to "we're going to take the scene by storm", you'd think Kumiko would've worked shit out with her old classmate by now but it only just happened. The difference in pacing between character development and band development is... well, something's wrong.

 

I'm no longer concerned about them not getting enough done in 12 episodes. I'm now concerned they'll get way too much done.

 

Also man playing your trumpet in that situation would get you in so much trouble!

 

I like to click through this thread to see everyone's impressions of things, because I respect everyone's opinions despite my full experience with anime shows are Sailor Moon (Dic dub & the new Hulu subs), Sailor Moon Crystal, Pokemon, Hamtaro & Full Metal Alchemist, so I never have any idea what anyone is talking about, but this post about marching band made me want to try this show so bad, if only to return to being 14-17 years old in my Drillmasters & my wool uniform. I can't find a picture of myself with my plumed helmet, but you should know, it was a really good look for me.

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FWIW the animation and presentation when it actually shows them playing is kind of amazing. The animation actually matches the sound they're playing! Well, okay, I can't promise that, since I don't actually remember anymore which notes match which combination of valves pressed. At the very least it looks convincing compared to my decade-old memories of playing trumpet.

 

Also they had marching band uniforms, and everything, though they were the typical cutesy style uniforms you expect from anime(/Japan?). (Girls wore short skirts, etc.) I dunno what the high school band scene is like in Japan!!!

 

Anyway it was really great and then it was over. ):

 

Oh they did have some color guard, too, but it was mostly mentioned in passing, much like in this post.

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I finished Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Second Gig (Jesus that's a mouthful). I liked it way better than season 1 and I feel like most of my complaints were addressed. I still find it a bit hard to follow with the heavy amount of dialog but the universe was compelling enough that I went ahead and read descriptions of each episode after I watched them to make sure I absorbed any key plot elements that got lost in dialog.

 

Then I went ahead and watched Ghost in the Shell (the original movie). Honestly, I thought it was pretty terrible and very anticlimactic. The story never seemed to go anywhere and just when I thought it might finally start to get interesting, it was over. Such a disappointment but still glad I watched it as the world of GITS is incredibly interesting and I welcome any additional exposure to that universe.

 

I also started Kill la Kill and am most of the way through. Man, I'm torn on this one. So much of what this show does resonates perfectly with me. The overall tone of the show is great, the action is great, the music is great, and there are some very interesting characters. It seems to combine a lot of what I liked about Attack on Titan and Space Dandy and I'm always excited for the next episode. On the other hand, the perviness is almost unbearable. And it's so goddamn prevalent too. I'm constantly being pulled out of the experience by some unnecessary panty shot or some child molester-y type character ogling young girls. It's fucking gross and bad enough that I would be really embarrassed if my wife walked in while I was watching the show. And the worst part of all of it

is how Satsuki's mom forces her daughter to get naked and then molests her (to improve her synchronization with life fibers or something?). Then, when she betrays her mom and is eventually captured and hung up naked, she continues feeling her up and violating her.

 

Am I missing some greater message here and does this stuff serve any kind of real purpose to the story or is it just there because?

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I'm watching Full Metal Alchemist for the first time because it feels like one of those anime that you just have to watch plus it's about to get knocked off Netflix. Unsurprisingly, I'm enjoying it. Only complaint I have is that every time I start to warm up to the open/close music, it changes.

 

Move along.

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The shit that goes down in Kill la Lill is, I think, largely something you don't really get unless you've been inundated with anime sexy girl magic girl bullshit for a long time. Other people can explain it better than me, but basically it's not something I'd ever recommend to someone who isn't a massive anime nerd already.

The stuff in your spoiler though particularly I'm not sure serves a real purpose other than to show how despicable her mom is... It's definitely uncomfortable to watch.

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I saw Akira in theatres like a week ago.

 

But I've seen Akira five times already. Was fun though, never really appreciated the sound effects and music like that before.

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<Twig> omg

<Twig> there's going to be a new dragon ball series

<Twig> dragon ball super

<Twig> omgomgomgomgomg

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I saw Akira in theatres like a week ago.

 

But I've seen Akira five times already. Was fun though, never really appreciated the sound hypersonic effects and music like that before.

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

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I had to look up what the hell you were referring to. I never had that pressing of the Blu-ray with that "special" booklet plus it was missing the graffiti translations and other features from the DVD. It was really expensive at the time if I recall.

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I had to look up what the hell you were referring to. I never had that pressing of the Blu-ray with that "special" booklet plus it was missing the graffiti translations and other features from the DVD. It was really expensive at the time if I recall.

 

Also, Idle Thumbs 21 - The Hypersonic Effect

 

I'm pretty sure I failed hard just now.

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With regards to seemingly exploitative visual elements in KILL la KILL, it's the sort of thing to which you have to be acclimated even to see the subversiveness. I didn't like it until I noticed that every character, male or female and young or old, got the same trashy "magical girl" transformation effect when it made sense, so the anime's mostly egalitarian in its sleaze. I personally love the teacher for being the typical GAINAX coach character from Gunbuster, only covered inch-deep in post-2000s hyper-sexualization. Still, with a lot of the characters, there's a real battle going on thematically between the male gaze and nudity as empowerment that I really can't tackle if I don't watch the show at least one more time (which might be years, since I wanted to wait until I got the Blu-rays and RightStuf's not going to have a sale for at least half a year).

 

However, I can say for sure that the themes and motifs of sexual abuse don't go anywhere. They're just to reassure you that a character is entirely evil and therefore worthy of your hate. I think it's a pretty egregious misstep, but then so much of KILL la KILL was made up on the fly, I'm not at all surprised that there's this one lazy and tired piece of semi-offensive storytelling stuck in there somewhere.

 

Also, Idle Thumbs 21 - The Hypersonic Effect
 
I'm pretty sure I failed hard just now.

 
Nah, it's just that the Blu-ray with that booklet was an extremely rare first printing from Bandai, who later lost the license to FUNimation anyway, so it's a joke that's gone from slightly obscure to you-had-to-be-there obscure.

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I vaguely remember that episode but who was talking about the booklet? Was it Nick?

 

God that was like 6 years ago. I'm dying.

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I vaguely remember that episode but who was talking about the booklet? Was it Nick?

 

During one of the episode breaks, Nick started reading the booklet for the Blu-ray, which Chris had on his shelf of Blu-rays and PS3 games that they'd often look at or talk about. He cracked up over the "hypersonic effect," a crackpot theory by Akira's sound-designer-cum-behavioral-scientist, and they spent a while talking about what it would sound like: 

 

The thing that I've always wondered is, Chris seems really unimpressed by anime, but that first-printing Bandai release was goddamn hard to get! There were only like five thousand copies before they cut costs with a cheaper case and no booklet. Did Chris just get lucky, or does he really like Akira?

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