Anime Thread for discussing/recommending anime and stuff

[uber_paddler]

So, yeah, noticed there wasn't really an anime-centric thread around here, and I figured I can't be the only one here who watches the stuff, so here's a thread to talk about it. Or maybe there are some of you who want to try some, but don't know where to start. You could start here. I've seen a bunch, other people probably have as well. Also, since the Spring season is just starting, I guess this is as good a time as any to try to introduce a thread.

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215524279_bUmoZ-L-2.jpg

Contrary to popular belief, anime is not just robots and nurses and shit. Though it may, at any time, feature those things to a greater or lesser degree. Trying to explain it is essentially like trying to characterize the basic trends of movies or television in that it's so broad a medium that one can encounter nearly anything. Hell, I have (or rather, make that had) over 500 gigabytes of it at one point.

I dunno, I'm no good at making threads, and this one will probably die a horrible death, so just pop in and say what you're watching, planning to watch, have watched, ask for recommendations, lament the good old days, or tell me to go to hell. Bonus points for doing all of those at the same time. ;)

[magus113]

Fullmetal Alchemist. Def. watch, and I'm watching the re-telling (Brotherhood) and it's great!

And not gonna lie, I'm watching Cardcaptor Sakura, which while long and kinda girly is pretty fun.

[uber_paddler]

Yes, I agree, Brotherhood is great. I'm enjoying it far more than the original anime. But that's probably because it's more faithful to the manga storyline. Too bad it's almost over, though.

[BreakABone]

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One of my favorites (and by that mean one of the few I've actually seen) Hajimo no Ippo or The Fighting Spirit I believe.

[Teuthida]

A post from me last year about a couple series I liked: http://www.gametavern.net/forums/showpost.php?p=243961&postcount=19

I watch anime in cycles. There will be 10 different series I'll be watching at a time and then nothing for a few years. Hard to find new stuff that interests me that I haven't seen done before. (Currently reading a manga series by the Death Note guys (http://www.onemanga.com/Bakuman/) which explains why so much anime is homogeneous...at least those based on manga). Also the newer series are being released in torrent form in such high quality that my computer can't even handle them so now I watch stuff on instantz.net.

That being said I just started watching Noein yesterday. I'm only two eps in but it has some awesome action sequences.

This vid got me to check it out:
<object width="480" height="273"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xywz7_noein-keyframe-animation_videogames"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xywz7_noein-keyframe-animation_videogames" width="480" height="273" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xywz7_noein-keyframe-animation_videogames">noein KeyFrame Animation</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/asanamatarou">asanamatarou</a>. - <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/us/channel/videogames">Click for more console and PC gaming videos.</a></i>

And the most recent before this has been Eden of the East and Spice and Wolf.

[magus113]

Like I had mentioned I watched the first Rebuild of Eva movie. That was a great time, I can't wait for the rest of them to be finished. Sadly the Eva manga was put to a halt so Sadamoto could work on the third movie.

The Eva manga is never going to end :(

[Teuthida]

Have you checked out the retelling of Evangelion manga (http://www.onemanga.com/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_Gakuen_Datenroku/)? It uses the same characters except they go to Catholic school and instead of piloting evas they have mystical weapons. Hmm, hasn't been updated in over a year,

[magus113]

That seems pretty interesting. I looked at the Eva manga, the romance one? It's sooooo stupid. hahaha

[Teuthida]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion:_Angelic_Days

This? Didn't know that existed. I did stumble upon some Eva hentai a few years back. That was....interesting.

[magus113]

Yes! Angelic Days. Definitely bad. Very bad. I actually don't think I've seen anything else that Anno or Sadamoto have worked on as far as anime goes.

I think one of the two worked on Escaflowne? I think I dabbled in that in high school but I didn't stick with it.

[uber_paddler]

Eva's one of those ones I've always been meaning to check out but just haven't gotten around to it. I think part of me feels there's no way it can be as good as people make it out to be.

[magus113]

It attracts certain people, and for some it sticks. Generally most people I know are very into it. I'd recommend watching it at least once.

I actually need to get the DVDs again which has me a little pissed. But I can get the new platinum collection. I bought the old box that fits all 7 full-sized DVD cases. Comes out cheaper than the platinum box set that doesn't have all the special booklets and stuff when you get them from Amazon.

[Teuthida]

Ah Evangelion. You never forget your first mindfuck.

[magus113]

No you don't. And it's a pretty awesome mindfuck too.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Animes I have watched in Entirety:

Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z
Sailor Moon
Ronin Warriors
Soul Eater
Kanaan
Sengoku Basara
Tenjo Tenge
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Lain
Shakugan No Shana
Shakugan No Shana 2nd
Shakugan No Shana OVA
The Familiar of Zero all 3 seasons
Tsukihime
Fate Stay Night
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
All the Tenchi Muyo stuff basically
FL:CL


I feel like I'm forgetting some, as I have watched mass amounts of anime in my time. If I remember more I'll post up.

[magus113]

I want to read all the Dragon Ball and DBZ manga because I've heard really good things.

How was Fate/Stay Night? I've heard it was pretty good.

I've also been wanting to check out Rurouni Kenshin and Gundam SEED.

[uber_paddler]

I want to read all the Dragon Ball and DBZ manga because I've heard really good things.

How was Fate/Stay Night? I've heard it was pretty good.

I've also been wanting to check out Rurouni Kenshin and Gundam SEED.

Kenshin is fantastic. You should definitely check it out.

[Teuthida]

Animes I have watched in Entirety:

Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z
Sailor Moon
Ronin Warriors
Soul Eater
Kanaan
Sengoku Basara
Tenjo Tenge
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Lain
Shakugan No Shana
Shakugan No Shana 2nd
Shakugan No Shana OVA
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The Familiar of Zero all 3 seasons
Tsukihime
Fate Stay Night
All the Tenchi Muyo stuff basically
FL:CL


I feel like I'm forgetting some, as I have watched mass amounts of anime in my time. If I remember more I'll post up.

I'll try to do the same. Know missing some. Skimmed two lists and these are the ones I remember seeing all of. Either there are more that weren't on the lists or I only know the Japanese names and didn't recognize them. Plenty more series I've started and never finished.

.hack//SIGN
Ah! My Goddess
Angelic Layer
Aria the Animation
Azumanga Daioh!
Bakuman
Beck
Blue Exorcist
Blue Submarine No. 6
Boogiepop Phantom
Buso Renkin
Chobits
Cowboy Bebop
Demonbane
Digimon (Adventure 1, 2, and Tamers)
Dragonaut
Ebichu
Eden of the East
Eureka 7
Honey & Clover (I & II)
FLCL
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Golden Boy
GTO
Hand Maid May
Hellsing
Kare Kano
Kemonozume
KIBA
Love Hina
Lovely Complex
Mushishi
Natsume's Book of Friends
Negima! Magister Negi Magi
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Nodame Cantabile
Noein: To Your Other Self
Paradise Kiss
Paranoia Agent
Please Teacher
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Princess Lover!
REC
Rozen Maiden
S-Cry-ed
Samurai 7
Samurai Champloo
Scrapped Princess
Sola
Spice and Wolf (I & II)
Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry
Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou
Toradora
Trigun
Welcome To The NHK
Xam'd: Lost Memories
xxxholic
Yume Tsukai
Zegapain

[magus113]

Chobits
Cowboy Bebop
Ebichu
FLCL
Hellsing
Love Hina
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Samurai Champloo


I've seen all the ones I quoted. I've also seen:

Full Metal Panic! (Not TSR, but I've seen Fumoffu too, which was eh)
I! My! Me! Strawberry Eggs
Green Green
Death Note
Fullmetal Alchemist
Excel Saga
Outlaw Star
Gunslinger Girl
Puni Puni Poemy
Saikano
Gankutsuou
Azumanga Daioh (though I love the manga more)

.hack//SIGN I have the DVDs for but I have yet to finish them. I also want to see Liminality because I saw the first OVA when I bought the first set of PS2 games but I never got to finish them because I never bought the rest.

Eden of the East I want to check out from what I saw in that trailer that was up I think in the movie thread.

Honey & Clover I've heard of and want to check out.

GTO I have all of the manga for. I haven't seen the show yet cause I heard it cuts short at like less than midway through the manga, and I think the manga's hysterical too.

Hellsing Ultimate I need to start watching finally. I have the DVDs that are released on my wishlist but I know they're missing the most recent three in America because Geneon's USA division closed down or something.

Paranoia Agent was recommended to me by TGS but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe he'll be down to watch it again with me when he comes back down from school in may.

Trigun I still have yet to finish actually. I'm retarded.

I also want to check out Gundam SEED. It'll be the first Gundam series I watch but I've heard it's good.

[Teuthida]

I started Full Metal Panic but I'm not the biggest mecha fan and eventually lost interest.

I read all of the Death Note manga so probably won't be watching the anime. It became a chore to read towards the end of the time jump. The anime probably cut out a lot of unnecessary bits. Tried watching the live action drama but it was too horrible to watch much of.

Started Full Metal Alchemist as well. Remember liking. Not sure why stopped. Think it was one of those where I was watching it week to week as it aired in Japan and just forgot to keep getting after a while.

I had a friend who kept recommending Saikano but his way of selling it to me was "the saddest thing I ever saw." Wasn't too anxious to watch.

[magus113]

I started Full Metal Panic but I'm not the biggest mecha fan and eventually lost interest.

I read all of the Death Note manga so probably won't be watching the anime. It became a chore to read towards the end of the time jump. The anime probably cut out a lot of unnecessary bits. Tried watching the live action drama but it was too horrible to watch much of.

Started Full Metal Alchemist as well. Remember liking. Not sure why stopped. Think it was one of those where I was watching it week to week as it aired in Japan and just forgot to keep getting after a while.

I had a friend who kept recommending Saikano but his way of selling it to me was "the saddest thing I ever saw." Wasn't too anxious to watch.

My biggest issue with Death Note was trying to get a sub after they licensed it because they pulled it from pretty much everywhere. That and the manga ending was better from what I saw. Much better. And I always say no to live action dramas. I saw the one for GTO and that was a mess.

Saikano is actually pretty damn depressing. Seriously depressing. The other hard part about it was that for some stupid reason the sub group that put it out had like the hardest to read subs ever because they were outlined with bright neon colors. Ugh. I do recommend it though. If you only see it at least once.

Another one I want to check out that I saw the first few eps of was The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Shit was funny.

[uber_paddler]

Death Note committed what I consider to be one of the cardinal sins of storytelling: killing off a character, only to replace said character with a crappier version of the old one. Overall it was pretty good, though. Death Note was the show that really got me back into anime.

And yeah, Haruhi is really good. I like how they aired the show totally out of order, as well. Plus Kyon is voiced by the same guy who voices Gintoki in Gintama, so that's cool too. Kind of in the same vein as Haruhi, but note really I guess, is Lucky Star. I find it to be relentlessly hilarious, but it's kind of...juvenile, I guess. I'd recommend it, but that's cause I have weird tastes.

As for a list of stuff I've seen(I'll probably forget a lot, but I'm trying to remember what I had pre-hard-drive-failure):

07 Ghost
A Certain Scientific Railgun
A Certain Magical Index
Bakemonogatari
Bleach
Baka to Test to Shokanju
Baccano
Black Lagoon
Buso Renkin
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Durarara
Darker Than Black
Death Note
D. Gray-man
Fullmetal Alchemist
FMA: Brotherhood
Gun x Sword
Gintama
Soul Eater
Sengoku Basara
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Gankutsuou
Dragonball/Z/GT/Kai
Naruto
Naruto Shippuden
Needless
One Piece
Rouroni Kenshin
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
Trinity Blood
Hellsing
Hellsing Ultimate
Hayate no Gotoku
The Melancholy of Huruhi Suzumiya
Trigun
Maria+Holic
xxxHolic
xxxHolic Kei

Hmm, I know I'm forgetting a ton.

Also, is it correct to assume, judging by your lists, that neither of you have seen Baccano? I strongly recommend it.

[Teuthida]

Think I saw the first ep or two of the GTO drama. I find it really hard to watch a drama of a series you already know in anime form. Was excited to see the Honey & Clover drama, being one of my favorite anime series. Absolute shit. The characters were completely unrecognizable and they changed the entire story. Again I only lasted an ep.

Nodame Cantabile is the exception. The drama is about as good or maybe better than the anime. Great exposure to classical music as well.

Two other dramas based off anime/manga I've enjoyed (without having watched the anime first) were Hana Yori Dango (which led me to actually read the entire manga run after) and Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.

Other than those I've seen a number of other dramas which weren't great. But I swear Japan only has 20 or so actors. There hasn't been a show I've seen where I wouldn't recognize another actor or two from another show.


I started The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya but I got confused by the ordering. I started watching the air order but then I went back and started watching by number order and then just gave up. I did see the end...according to one of the orders I know.

[magus113]

I think that only helps to bring it more into the reign of awesome. I really need to take the time and check that show out again.

[BlueFire]

FLCL is probably my favorite anime ever.

I've been keeping up with the FMA manga/watching FMA: Brotherhood. It's really good! I definitely recommend it.

Funniest manga I've ever read.. probably Azumanga Daioh!

I wish I finished up Gankutsuou since I really like The Count of Monte Cristo.

A lot of my friends tell me I should watch Lucky Star because it's "hilarious." Same with Haruhi. I'll probably try over the summer.

On another note, last summer I watched "The Girl Who Lept through Time." The story was mediocre, but the animation was really good. I'd recommend it.

[Teuthida]

Forgot about Azumanga Daioh. Added to my list.

Really enjoyed The Girl Who Lept through Time. I have the newest movie by that director sitting on my comp though have yet to watch: Summer Wars. Looks good. He also did the first couple Digimon movies and revisits his visual depiction of internet in this movie.

[magus113]

I've seen my fair share of movies...lessee..

Akira
Grave of the Fireflies
Spirited Away
Ponyo
Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
Princess Mononoke
Eva 1.11
Ghost in the Shell (Original and 2.0 though they're pretty much the same)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Bebop: Knocking on Heaven's Door (I LOVE this movie. Probably my favorite in the list)
Vampire Hunter D and VH D:Bloodlust

[Szymon]

I have to remember to look through this when I get home from work.

[Teuthida]

Don't have a handy list for movies so this is all from memory...and thus probably missing a bunch:

Akira
Blood: The Last Vampire
Castle in the Sky
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin on Heaven's Door
Digimon (the first three that were bundled as one in America)
Eden of the East: The King of Eden
Genius Party
Genius Party Beyond
Ghost in The Shell
Grave of the Fireflies
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
Memories
Millennium Actress
Mind Game
My Neighbors the Yamadas (forget if saw the entire thing)
My Neighbor Totoro
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Paprika
Perfect Blue
Pokemon (the first three)
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
Porco Rosso
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Summer Wars
Sword of the Stranger
Tekkonkinkreet
The Animatrix
The Girl Who Lept Through Time
Tokyo Godfathers
Vampire Hunter D
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Mind Game is one of my favorite movies, anime or otherwise. Pure awesomeness.
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[TheSlyMoogle]

Wow skimming over those lists I realize I forgot about 15 animes that I've seen. Just goes to show you most anime is forgettable I guess.

Of the lists I didn't see these two listed though:

Gantz and Blue Seed

I watched Blue Seed a long time ago on the action channel when I was like 11. It was my first anime really that wasn't you know, DBZ.

Gantz was something I watched fairly recently but got bored of pretty quickly.

Also Grave of the Fireflies was FUCKED UP.

[Teuthida]

Your Blue Seed reminded me of Blue Submarine No. 6 which I have to add to my list. Sort of like The Island of Dr. Moreau but with sea creatures.

I enjoyed what I read of the Gantz manga but then had trouble finding more of it. Just read the author's previous series Zero One about a virtual fighting game. Twas good but ended too soon.

[magus113]

Just finished watching the first season and first movie of Cardcaptor Sakura. I think the show is starting to pick up a bit which is cool. Most of the episodes in the beginning were kinda repetitive but once Sakura started getting more magical powers you start to notice things change a little bit. Hopefully the rest of the show is good. Going through another 35 episodes isn't exactly time consuming.

Also I saw Yotsuba&! at the bookstore yesterday and I want to read it but I doubt it'll be as funny as Azumanga Daioh since it seems more for kids, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any opinions on it?

[magus113]

Also holy SHIT at Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 52. That shit was rawk

[uber_paddler]

What!? It happened!? Didn't know it was out yet, haven't done my daily cruise for new stuff yet. I'll rectify that mistake immediately.

[magus113]

http://www.animedreaming.com/fullmetal-alchemist-2-brotherhood-episode-52/

Streaming, but it's there.

[uber_paddler]

Thanks, but I'm getting it from Eclipse now.

[uber_paddler]

I think I've finally nailed down my list of shows for the season. Pretty impressed by the [comparatively] low number of terrible shows this spring. I've got:

Arakawa Under the Bridge
Kiss x Sis
B Gata H Kei
Hakuouki
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
Senkou no Night Raid

I've only seen the first episode of Arakawa so far, but I think it will easily be the best show of the season. It's very similar to Bakemonogatari, which I loved. It is also produced by Shaft, and their craziness appeals to me.

[magus113]

I've slowed down a lot with the Cardcaptor Sakura, but I do want to finish it, there's a lot of things I want to catch up on or start watching.

This last season is...interesting to say the least. The beginning seems a tad convoluted to me, but it's starting to clear up bit by bit.

[magus113]

Just finished watching this random movie I found on an anime tracker I'm a member of called 5 Centimeters Per Second.

It's a pretty good romance anime (I guess you could call it a) film. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely wasn't a waste of time either. It's split into two or three episodes, and the ending is a little unexpected. Give it a shot, you might be surprised.

[BlueFire]

Just finished watching this random movie I found on an anime tracker I'm a member of called 5 Centimeters Per Second.

It's a pretty good romance anime (I guess you could call it a) film. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely wasn't a waste of time either. It's split into two or three episodes, and the ending is a little unexpected. Give it a shot, you might be surprised.

A friend and I saw that movie. It was stunning visually but it was pretty boring in the second and third parts.

[uber_paddler]

Hmm, so I started watching Seto No Hanayome tonight. So far I'm really enjoying it. It's not exactly what you'd call good, from a lot of different standpoints. It's not exactly deep, probably more cliche than would be normal, and pretty silly. But it's the silliness that I find myself enjoying. It's not "good", per se, but it is fun, and sometimes that's all I'm looking for.

[magus113]

I downloaded the Bebop movie in HD yesterday, can't wait to watch that again, it's been a while). On this last leg of Cardcaptor Sakura, although I'm not entirely sure of what I'm gonna watch immediately after. I was totally down for Haruhi but I'm waiting for Geo to come down for that.

I might just try and finish Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. I still have yet to finish it if you can believe it.

[uber_paddler]

Well, if you need suggestions, I cannot recommend Baccano strongly enough. No matter how much I recommend it, I couldn't possibly do it justice.

[magus113]

Probably gonna throw that into my list of shows to catch.

[BlueFire]

I love Ghost in the Shell: SAC! It's so good and I rarely hear people mention it.

[magus113]

I love Ghost in the Shell: SAC! It's so good and I rarely hear people mention it.

I see a metric fuckton of watch parties for shows this summer when you come back home.

Just saying.

[magus113]

TMD-Raze has FMA 53 up and subbed. I cannot underestimate how awesome it was.

[uber_paddler]

Wow, that's fast, even faster than Eclipse. And they're fast. Sucks that there are only 10 episodes left.

[magus113]

That's confirmed now? Cause I thought they're catching up to the manga real fuckin' fast.

[BlueFire]

I'm guessing the anime ending will coincide with the manga ending.

[uber_paddler]

That's confirmed now? Cause I thought they're catching up to the manga real fuckin' fast.
Yup, 63 eps in total. The manga's very nearly over.

[magus113]

I've attached a list from another forum that has a bunch of recommended anime. I haven't seen a lot of these but the ones that I have seen are great. Just putting it up for all to see.

[Teuthida]

I finished Noein. Turned out to be better than I thought it would be. Originally started watching it purely for the action scenes but it turned out to be a rather engaging sci-fi epic exploring quantum physics with the Many-Worlds and Copenhagen Interpretation. Plenty of slice of life as well. Kind of reminded me of Evangelion in that respect having the two worlds juxtaposed.

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EDIT: And it's on your list. :)

[magus113]

Welp, I finished watching Cardcaptor Sakura finally.

I personally enjoyed a lot of it, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel like most of the show was very repetitive and unnecessary.

The first half was the whole deal with getting each of the Clow cards, and then the second half was repeating it pretty much with changing the Clow cards so Sakura could use them and all of the important things happened within the last I would say 10 episodes.

I also liked the first movie better than the second one, but I did like the way they ended it. I knew Shaoran and Sakura would end up together since I believe it's their son that is the main character of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

Now to catch an OVA or two before my friend hooks me up with some of the stuff on my list so I don't have to rape my seeding ratio on this torrent tracker I have.

[uber_paddler]

Hmm, pretty good list overall, but I just noticed they failed to include Gintama. As far as I can tell, that qualifies as instant failure.

[magus113]

I'll make sure to add that to my own list then.

That's the problem with lists, it's all opinionated, but you would think that a forum with 20,000+ users would be able to get an amazing list together, but I think that list was made by only one guy.

For the most party a lot of people I've shown it to can generally agree it's pretty well rounded. I'm gonna start watching Sengoku Basara so I can give it a go and have something else to discuss in the podcast.

My co-worker is gonna bring me Baccano! and I downloaded Kimi Ga Nozuma Eien. Goooo me

[uber_paddler]

Sengoku Basara is another one of the those ones that's just plain fun. If you do get around to watching it, you'll probably be able to guess my favorite character right away, lol.

Also, the list redeems itself for having one of Lucky Star's classifications as "timotei" which is a pretty cool easter egg for people who've seen it. I'm honestly contemplating watching that show again.

Am currently watching Omamori Himari. Any hope that this would be more than a generic harem series have officially been dashed. Not that it's a bad thing bad, since I enjoy comedic harem shows anyway.

[Teuthida]

I think out of everything on that list that I've seen and hasn't been on your lists, I'd recommend Mushishi the most. There's also a live action movie from the director of Akira which I want to check out.

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[uber_paddler]

FLCL is coming to Blu Ray this year. Get hype!

[magus113]

FLCL is coming to Blu Ray this year. Get hype!

Get the fuck out! YES

[magus113]

FMA 54 was pretty awesome I and couldn't help but feel bad for Envy. He sucked but killing himself like that wasn't really all that entertaining to look at.

[uber_paddler]

I've finally re-downloaded the episodes of Hayate no Gotoku that I couldn't watch before my HDD failed. Can't wait to get back into it.

[magus113]

Doin' ze bump for FMA55 and also I'm actually reading through Love Hina one more time. It was the first manga I ever owned completely and it's one of my favorites. I actually make a habit of reading it once a year. Usually in the summer time.

Anyone have any manga that they do that kind of stuff with?

[uber_paddler]

I read through One Piece pretty consistently. I don't have a set interval or anything, but I must have read through the series a bunch of times.

[magus113]

I read through One Piece pretty consistently. I don't have a set interval or anything, but I must have read through the series a bunch of times.

I honestly never found myself getting into One Piece much, but I want to read all of Shaman King since it's all in that Shonen Jump group of manga, along with Naruto, etc

[uber_paddler]

Naruto's really good. The manga's generally better than the anime, but the anime's awesome because you get to see the big fights animated. This arc that they're in right now is my favorite so far, and just knowing about the battle that's going to be coming up in the next few episodes has me totally stoked. What kills the anime is all the filler. It's just so bad, even by filler standards.

One Piece, on the other hand, I would go as far as to say it's my favorite anime ever. Oda is just unparalleled when it comes to character design, and the voice actor they got to play Luffy is spot-on. Without doubt it's the show I most look forward to each week. Like even to the point where I watch the stream on Funimation.com instead of waiting for the HD fansubs(which I always download and watch again), since they air the subbed stream at the same time the episode airs in Japan. Of course, I can totally understand not being into it. It's got a lot of quirk that you either love or don't like at all. I love it. Plus it's hella long. 450 episodes and counting. Plus Oda said in an interview that he's about halfway through the story, so....yeah, madness.

[Teuthida]

The most epic 7 min you'll experience today:

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[magus113]

New FMA ended on SUCH a bullshit note.

God dammit. I can't wait for this week's. Baccano starting up this week. Black Lagoon after.

[Teuthida]

Just finished watching Gurren Lagann. That has got to be the most upbeat inspirational show there is.

Trying to find shows now that I can learn from (in terms of action/fighting). I started Casshern Sins a while back but stopped early on because the subbers like to only put out super high res files that my computer can't run. Got some nice low res ones now.

Any recommendations for shows/movies with some high quality animation for the fight scenes? Or specific episodes of different series that stand out since a lot depends on the key animator for each. Like how Yutaka Nakamura did this scene:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ItqRIN16ooM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ItqRIN16ooM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Almost makes me want to watch FMA. :)


Also, does anyone know of any video player where you can go frame by frame other than Quicktime? Surprisingly hard to find one that will play all formats. Can get Window Media Player to do it forward with a lot of clicking but not back.

[magus113]

Just finished watching Gurren Lagann. That has got to be the most upbeat inspirational show there is.

Trying to find shows now that I can learn from (in terms of action/fighting). I started Casshern Sins a while back but stopped early on because the subbers like to only put out super high res files that my computer can't run. Got some nice low res ones now.

Any recommendations for shows/movies with some high quality animation for the fight scenes? Or specific episodes of different series that stand out since a lot depends on the key animator for each. Like how Yutaka Nakamura did this scene:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ItqRIN16ooM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ItqRIN16ooM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Almost makes me want to watch FMA. :)


Also, does anyone know of any video player where you can go frame by frame other than Quicktime? Surprisingly hard to find one that will play all formats. Can get Window Media Player to do it forward with a lot of clicking but not back.

I believe you can give that a shot with VLC or Media Player Classic.

FMA: Brotherhood has some amazing fight scenes and animation pretty much throughout. The show will be ending in June and there's about 57 episodes up right now. Plenty of time to catch up.

Please don't watch the original FMA because the story gets a little retarded. The only big benefit from that really is the movie which is awesome. But you have to watch the series to see it.

[Teuthida]

Ah, I always assumed Brotherhood was just season 2 or something. Sounds sort of like what they did with Negima Magister Negi Magi. Shall be checking it out.

[magus113]

Ah, I always assumed Brotherhood was just season 2 or something. Sounds sort of like what they did with Negima Magister Negi Magi. Shall be checking it out.

The first ten episodes or so are going to seem very familiar if you've seen the first I want to say half of the original FMA. But after that it's all different.

[uber_paddler]

Well, looks like the list of summer shows is out now. Anything catch anyone's interest? I'd say this is the strongest season in recent memory, after the flood of loli-moe crap that we've been inundated with lately.

[Teuthida]

A new Digimon series?! Will have to check that out. Other than that will wait for trailers and reviews. Probably won't be watching any.

[BreakABone]

A new Digimon series?! Will have to check that out. Other than that will wait for trailers and reviews. Probably won't be watching any.

Sometimes I feel like you don't listen to me, I mentioned the new Digimon cartoon a couple of times to you. :p

[Teuthida]

You did? *scratches head* I respond better to bright colorful pictures...and puppets...I listen very closely to what hand puppets have to say.

The main kid has goggles so it's already a step up from the last series.

[incredibledave]

Although its a borderline porno anime, 'Golden Boy' is fucking hilarious.

And noone has mentioned Death Note yet? For shame

[BlueFire]

I thought people mentioned Death Note? If not in this thread, then surely in previous anime threads.


In other news, FMA: Brotherhood is nearing its end! The last episode will air on the last Sunday of the month! :D


...and I'm currently waiting on the last chapter of the manga. :x

[uber_paddler]

I'm so far behind. I think 52 was the last one I watched.

[Teuthida]

^ I'm around there too now. Started watching about 2 weeks ago with several eps per day and then realize I had to slow down so I wouldn't end up waiting for the last ep...plus I've been watching the official translations from YouTube and not sure how far behind those are from Japan.


And Dave, Golden Boy is great. :D

[magus113]

uuuuuugh God dammit now that I read the stuff in the manga I honestly can't wait for the last chapter of FMA.

I know it's supposed to be out this week but Jesus whyyyyyyyy

[BreakABone]

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Wouldn't mind the original series with this type of animation.

[Teuthida]

SWEET :D

[BlueFire]

Just read the last chapter of FMA. T'was a good ending. Not too corny, not too extravagant.

[Default]

It's the last chapter this month!? Shit, I thought we had one more.

Either way, sweet. Is it true that this chapter was quite a bit larger than usual (page-wise)?

[Teuthida]

Just saw first ep of Digimon Xros Wars. Verdict: Digimon is finally Digimon once again. Closet to the original series so far.

[uber_paddler]

The line-up for the Fall season is finally floating around. Looks like Iron Man's scheduled to come out this season, but it was also supposed to come out last winter too, soooo...yeah. Nothing's set in stone, stuff's subject to change, etc etc, but most of this will probably stay as-is. Well, have at 'er.

Generally speaking it doesn't look too bad. The last couple of seasons have been making positive turns, imo. There's still a long way to go before it gets back to it former glory. A couple really damn weird shows, too, which I always enjoy. Mostly I'm just glad there's more Arakawa Under the Bridge on the way.

[Teuthida]

Hmm, guess I'll watch Iron Man. I didn't know it was going to be a series. I thought it would be a single ep for each Marvel IP. Know shall be forcing Babs to watch Bakuman. Might check it out myself to see how the adaptation is handled. Only manga I'm currently reading.

[Teuthida]

http://imgur.com/wcZaB.png

Well that's depressing.

Having an impossibly hard time finding anything halfway decent to watch.

Winter: http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Winter-v3.jpg

Ugh.

[Angrist]

Xanny said Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) is good, so I'll start that soon.
Made by the guys of Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex. But in medieval times.

[Teuthida]

Just watched the trailer for that. Looks pretty interesting.


Found this while searching for new stuff.

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[Teuthida]

Watched the first episode of the Wolverine anime. So far nothing great but quite watchable. They changed his look from the trailer. Closer to Hugh Jackman than anything else now. And they make it a point to show his love for Canadian beer.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/B0k_c91AxTc" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[Angrist]

I was going to say "I wish they'd make an anime of Fire Emblem" and then I decided to Google it first.

They did make an anime of Fire Emblem. It tells the story of Marth and it has 2 episodes.

Now do it with Ike and the gang! So many good characters and so much lore to work with.

[Teuthida]

http://i.min.us/ibnAHE.jpg

[Teuthida]

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BrSQ6MgkF0E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The X-Men are reunited following the death of a teammate, and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki (Armor). There, they confront the U-Men, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen their own army, and the battle for justice is on.

[Seth]

I've watched a few death note episodes. Definitely want to see genius part 1&2.

Any specific recommendations:
I like,
Bebop
Champloo
Black Lagoon
Baccano!

..I've seen more movies than series. I like series that limit the amount of 'filler'.
The x-men action teaser looked quite mediocre.

[Teuthida]

Saw the first ep of the X-men one. Better than Wolverine but don't think will keep watching.

Just finished this series:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IqKaWH8aZi8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Interesting dark take on the magical girl genre.

[Teuthida]

From the director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Been waiting to see more from him for a long while.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nzY6Y-AHEaw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And Yoko Kanno's composing the music. I think I might be more excited about that.

[Seth]

Teuthida, you just made my reading break weekend. yesssss

[Teuthida]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tuHymXxUxW0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Teuthida]

Finally got around to watching Kids On The Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon). It's a damn good show. Takes place in the 60s which I didn't know going in.

[Teuthida]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VBsdQPOSci0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Teuthida]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/o480GrsQGmo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop).
Co-directed by Shingo Natsume (Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos).
Written by Keiko Nobumoto (Wolf’s Rain, Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus), Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eureka 7, Ergo Proxy) and Kimiko Ueno (Shin Chan).

[Ginkasa]

Anyone have any recommendations for, like, shorter and self-contained anime? Thinking like, 52 episodes or shorter series (shorter is better) that tell a full story beginning to end. Or something like Gundam where, yeah, there's tons of it but its all in separate series that can be enjoyed on their own merits.

Basically, looking for stuff that is not Naruto or One Piece or Dragon Ball that go on forever (or that has separate series, but they continue off each other so its really all or nothing).

I've been sort of getting back into anime to an extent, but mostly watching those that I enjoyed "back in the day", but haven't revisited in a long time (lots of Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, currently watching .hack//SIGN, stuff like that). Anything newer than, like, 2005 (as in, wasn't shown on Toonami or Adult Swim until after 2005) is pretty alien to me.

[Zen]

Anyone have any recommendations for, like, shorter and self-contained anime? Thinking like, 52 episodes or shorter series (shorter is better) that tell a full story beginning to end. Or something like Gundam where, yeah, there's tons of it but its all in separate series that can be enjoyed on their own merits.

Basically, looking for stuff that is not Naruto or One Piece or Dragon Ball that go on forever (or that has separate series, but they continue off each other so its really all or nothing).

I've been sort of getting back into anime to an extent, but mostly watching those that I enjoyed "back in the day", but haven't revisited in a long time (lots of Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, currently watching .hack//SIGN, stuff like that). Anything newer than, like, 2005 (as in, wasn't shown on Toonami or Adult Swim until after 2005) is pretty alien to me.


You might want to watch Deathnote if you haven’t. I also really liked ERASED (although the live action version is better IMO)

[Ginkasa]

You might want to watch Deathnote if you haven’t. I also really liked ERASED (although the live action version is better IMO)

Ah, you know, I kind of poo poo'd on Death Note way back in the day just because it was popular among the edgy, goth crowd and that put me off, but yeah probably I'd like it well enough and it does look like a good length.

I've never heard of Erased, but a 12 episode series sounds real nice.

[Teuthida]

Anyone have any recommendations for, like, shorter and self-contained anime? Thinking like, 52 episodes or shorter series (shorter is better) that tell a full story beginning to end. Or something like Gundam where, yeah, there's tons of it but its all in separate series that can be enjoyed on their own merits.

Basically, looking for stuff that is not Naruto or One Piece or Dragon Ball that go on forever (or that has separate series, but they continue off each other so its really all or nothing).

I've been sort of getting back into anime to an extent, but mostly watching those that I enjoyed "back in the day", but haven't revisited in a long time (lots of Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, currently watching .hack//SIGN, stuff like that). Anything newer than, like, 2005 (as in, wasn't shown on Toonami or Adult Swim until after 2005) is pretty alien to me.

I think around 2008 is probably the last time I really followed anime.

I did see one recently I thought was quite good though called Odd Taxi. Only 13 episodes. It's a crime thriller but with cute anthropomorphic animals. Also refreshing to watch an anime with characters in their 30s and 40s.

[Ginkasa]

I think around 2008 is probably the last time I really followed anime.

I did see one recently I thought was quite good though called Odd Taxi. Only 13 episodes. It's a crime thriller but with cute anthropomorphic animals. Also refreshing to watch an anime with characters in their 30s and 40s.

That does look interesting. Thanks!

[BlueFire]

Anyone have any recommendations for, like, shorter and self-contained anime? Thinking like, 52 episodes or shorter series (shorter is better) that tell a full story beginning to end. Or something like Gundam where, yeah, there's tons of it but its all in separate series that can be enjoyed on their own merits.

Basically, looking for stuff that is not Naruto or One Piece or Dragon Ball that go on forever (or that has separate series, but they continue off each other so its really all or nothing).

I've been sort of getting back into anime to an extent, but mostly watching those that I enjoyed "back in the day", but haven't revisited in a long time (lots of Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, currently watching .hack//SIGN, stuff like that). Anything newer than, like, 2005 (as in, wasn't shown on Toonami or Adult Swim until after 2005) is pretty alien to me.

ping pong the animation. it’s an unusual art style for an anime. i think it’s polarizing. i personally liked it a lot but some people prefer more generic anime art style. anyway, it’s very good and about 10-12 episodes long

[Ginkasa]

I've never heard of it. I'll check it out!

[Ginkasa]

Up until recently I'd mostly been watching Gundam with a smattering of some other stuff in between. Recently, though, my wife and I picked out four shows to watch in a "block" and sort of recreate an old school, weekday Toonami experience, lol. Right now what we've got going is:

Gundam Seed
Excel Saga
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Nier: Automata

Gundam Seed is just me continuing to watch Gundam. My wife and I really enjoyed the recent Witch from Mercury show. We want back and watched Turn A Gundam (my favorite; second time for me but first for my wife) and enjoyed that too, so figured we'd move forward. I started watching Seed when it came out on Toonami nearly 20 years ago, but that's about when I started adulting and got pulled away from Toonami. We're enjoying it so far but it definitely feels more like a generic shounen anime compared to Turn A (the A stands for Art, lol).

I was a fan of Excel Saga back in the day. One of the few anime I experienced outside of Toonami. It popped back in my brain and I was wanting to revisit but also kind of concerned I would find it more cringy than funny now. Fortunately, my wife and I are both enjoying it and its absurdist humor.

I first heard of Utena recently in reference to the aforementioned Gundam Witch from Mercury which took a lot of inspiration from Utena. Everyone who was talking about spoke very highly of it and, again, my wife and I really enjoyed WfM so we thought to check this out. Its really hitting for me so far. I'm maybe 60% through so I'm hoping the back half continues as strong, but if it does this might be one of my favorites. A little upthread (like a year ago, lol) I was asking for some recommendations and this show fits right into what I was hoping to find.

Nier: Automata is based off of the game and I really liked the game so we watched the anime. We actually finished it (or, finished the first season or whatever) our last "block". I thought it was a great adaptation (so far; just got to ending A of the game) and look forward to more.

We need to pick a new show to add to our block. I found a large list of "best anime" on reddit that was compiled from like 50 other "best of" lists from different sources and that seems good. The top ones are ones I've seen that are really good (like Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion; Utena is at 4!). And most of the stuff seems like stuff I'm looking for. Contained anime that aim a little higher than, like, DBZ or Naruto or something. Gurren Lagan is the highest I haven't seen so that'll probably be our next pick.

[Ginkasa]

My wife and I have been keeping on with our "Toonami" four show block! We've completed a few shows since I last posted. Here's how the lineup has updated:

Gundam Seed > Gundam 00
Excel Saga > Madoka Magica > Sailor Moon
Revolutionary Girl Utena > Revolutionary Girl Utena (again!)
Nier: Automata > Gurren Lagann > Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

As mentioned above, I really enjoy Gundam generally, but I'd always kind of bounced off of Seed (unrelated: the Final Fantasy fan in me always wants to spell it SeeD). I was determined to make it through this time and give it a fair shake, though. It is firmly Okay, I Guess. It has some pretty good dramatic moments, but those tend be fairly far between and the time in between really drags a bit. I never really fell in love with any of the characters. Some of the plot beats missed. There were some Big Twists at the end that I don't think hit as much as they were intended. They held them back too long so they couldn't really impact the plot and they were covered pretty briefly and vaguely. Initially my plan was to move on to Seed Destiny as it was the next released, but my lack of interest in Seed generally and the poor reputation of Destiny means we skipped it in favor of 00.

We just started 00 and I've never seen it before, but I understand its supposed to be good!

Excel Saga was an enjoyable watch. It does have some cringy moments, cringy enough they kind of bring down my opinion, but overall we enjoyed watching it and had some laughs. I'm glad we revisited.

Madoka Magica came after and I really enjoyed it! The art style put me off a bit. The overly cutesy, "drawn young" characters in magical girl outfits kind of icked me out at first, but the witchy bits are really inventive and interesting to watch. I realized overall that the contract is intentional and helps visually convey the story the show is trying to tell. It really won me over with the dark tone and commentary it makes on the magical girl genre. I'm excited for the new movie to come out some time this year!

Following that and also Utena I felt like we should revisit the founding work in the genre with Sailor Moon. I'd seen bits and pieces back in the day when it was on Toonami, but during the school year it was on before I got home so I never could watch it regularly. So we're watching it! It is a little antithetical to what we were originally look for: shorter, contained series with a larger focus on a tight story. Sailor Moon, in contrast, is a classic multi-hundred episode series filled with episodic "filler" between major story beats. But we want to watch it so here we are! Potentially if we want to take a break after the first major arc we can do a smaller show and come back (or not if we're not enjoying it by that point).

Revolutionary Girl Utena is definitely one of my favorites now. I like the style, I like the characters. The overarching themes of overcoming trauma and growing past it really resonate with me. Its a very metaphorical show. Many of the events on screen don't make literal sense, so once we finished we decided to give it a second go to pick up on stuff we hadn't realized the first time. Especially early on I wasn't sure what kind of show it was going to end up being, so some of the directions it went were not expected.

Gurren Lagann is a much more Masculine show than a lot of the others we watched. Its not generally the tone I'm going for nowadays, but we enjoyed it overall. I really appreciated how quickly it ratcheted up the energy and move the plot along briskly. At the beginning, I thought I knew what the formula of the series woudl be (at least for a while) on episode two. And then on episode 3 or 4 it threw that away and skipped ahead to the next "formula" and then moved quickly past that and that and that. The way the scope just ballooned by the end was very satisying. If this were DBZ or something the team would have still been wandering the surface fighting Beast Men of the Week at episode 27, but instead the show zipped ahead (without every feeling poorly paced) and we were done at that point! It was very enjoyable.

Fullmetal Alchemist is something I've never seen before, but I've heard it was good and I remember when it was new and kind of The Thing. It was next on the list I had mentioned in my prior post, so we went ahead and put it on here. We chose the Brotherhood version both because that was what was on the list and also I've always heard its the better take on the material. Just a few episodes in! I wasn't really into the first episode and was concerned we'd bounce off of it, but then it did the origin story in episode 2 and that drew me in. Three was okay, but four was messed up in all the right ways so I'm excited to see where this goes.

[BreakABone]

I started watching Spy X Family

And I hear... Loser Ranger is started and sounds like something for me.