Anime Discussion Thread

Black Rune · May 28, 2016

In the past few weeks I continued Hayao Miyazaki's creations, and watched:

Spirited Away 2001
-It is as good as I remember it. Beautiful animation flow,great characters,great atmosphere, Miyazaki unleashed his imagination and did great.

Howl's Moving Castle 2004
-Again Miyazaki's imagination is on fire and created an unforgettable work of art.
And this I'll say is the last Miyazaki's movie that i really liked.

Ponyo 2008
-Miyazaki's creativeness is not so great with this one. But, still pleasant to watch.

The Wind Rises 2013
-Also,pleasant to watch,but nothing special.

Oh, I will squeeze in The Secret World of Arrietty 2010

For all these great movies that you created and shared with the world I can say…
arigatou gozaimashita Hayao Miyazaki-San.

Aubrielle · May 28, 2016

The last anime series I finished was Gate. It's excellent - highly recommend. I think season 2 is coming soon as well…it may already be out.

I actually just started Sword Art Online, which is also really really good (and Netflix has it now! No more fighting with Crunchyroll!). There's something slightly melancholy about it, but it's still a good action-y series with a lot of depth. It's a good anime for gamers.

joxer · May 29, 2016

Black Rune said:
Filler or not, still, it is a nice addendum,and it was fun enough to watch. For me at least. I think you won't regret it if you watch it.

Okay I've added it on my to watch list, but at the bottom as it's already huge.

btw does anyone here except me keep a notepad file with list of movies/series to watch, not just anime? It seems odd, but I can remember what stuff I don't want to see ever (examples are Titanic and Transformers movies), but titles of stuff that feel like could be worth watching I just can't keep in my memory.

Black Rune said:
Hayao Miyazaki

Dunno why but I don't care about any of his stuff I've watched. Not saying any of it is bad, I just can't feel the thing. The matter of taste I suppose.

Aubrielle said:
The last anime series I finished was Gate. It's excellent - highly recommend. I think season 2 is coming soon as well…it may already be out.

I actually just started Sword Art Online...

Gate is already on my to watch list. One of reasons is that apparently it's one of rare anime series where the major role is past his 20s. And I usually like anything rare.

Two seasons are already on Crunchyroll (each 12 episodes). 3rd season, if and when, dunno.

About SAO I've heard that it's nice idea, pathetic execution. That it's nothing but average material. But the word came from people who don't play RPGs so please do share your thoughts about it when you're done.

figment · May 29, 2016

Interesting thread that I dont recall ever seeing. I've been trying to find interesting Anime for a while but in a sea of dreck it is hard. I'll see if I can find Gate and try that out and review the rest of the thread for recommendations.

My favorite anime is Ghost in the Shell in all of its forms, FMA, Black Lagoon and Death Note which can make it hard to wade through most of what is available.

Miyazaki was a master and I still love watching Spirited Away whenever it happens to be on but movies like that seem to be the exception in this area.

I would consider SAO reasonably high-quality. It has an interesting take on gaming and consequences of technology and I loved that the story did not gloss over the events of the first season especially in what that would do to society. Its certainly more serious than most which is a quality I like but its still kinda light in tone.

I'm curious why anyone would call it pathetic but perhaps it would be because it could have been even better and therefore was not perfect and that was disappointing as the bar was so high.

Galaad · May 30, 2016

I've seen most of Miyazaki's creations (well not the most recent titles) and I loved them all. Be it Laputa: Castle in the sky, Howl's Moving Castle, Pom Poko, Mononoke Hime, Spirited Away etc.

As for Gate, I enjoyed watching that series. Both season were pretty decent

.

This season seems a little weak to me…except for Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu.

That one was a good surprise to me, so far its been great to watch and I look forward to what comes next. They have 25 episodes planned I think, but there is still so much character development to see…Wonder if they planned for multiple seasons or if they'll leave us with a lot of questions.

There's a few other decent watch (Bungou Stray Dogs, Flying Witch, My Hero Academia) depending what you like this season, but nothing else really strikes me as memorable…

oh and for whoever mentioned Magi earlier, Joxer I think?, there's a prequel that is out as well now. Sinbad's story.. Magi: Sinbad no bouken.

Damian · May 30, 2016

No one watching Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress? Made by the director of Attack on Titan?

azarhal · May 30, 2016

I'm watching Kabaneri. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it a few post back too.

joxer · May 30, 2016

figment said:
sea of dreck

I hear you.
Among 20 titles in every quarter, finding at least one to enjoy is very hard if not impossible - as most of it is crap.

Galaad said:
There's a few other decent watch (Bungou Stray Dogs, Flying Witch, My Hero Academia)

Tried Bungou, dropped, I just don't care about anything and anyone in it, the story doesn't seem anything new, animation is mediocre, music too.
Tried Hero Academy, again, nothing inside it seems interesting to me and seeing bloodspilling character just because for 100th time is a turnoff.
If I had enough time for everything that is not bad, I'd probably do watch them. But I don't have time for stuff that isn't above average. Sadly.
Dunno about FW, what's it about?

Damian said:
No one watching Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress? Made by the director of Attack on Titan?

No. And won't. Because I have read that zombies are slow if script needs to show some relationships and lore, if action is needed, zombies suddenly get superman abilities. Also apparently they needed two whole episodes to explain what "kabaneri" word means.
If script sucks, no director can save it.

Galaad · May 30, 2016

I tend to enjoy shows where the main characters are adults/young adults..maybe now that I'm older? Or because they aren't common. Its part of the reason I liked Gate, NHK ni Youkoso!, Seirei no Moribito, Psycho-Pass, Baccano!, Tiger & Bunny etc.

As I said, these "decent" shows I mentioned in my earlier post aren't anything memorable but for the right person, they could be ok

. Hmm Flying Witch doesn't have anything special or lots of action. Its a "Slice of Life"..so It's mostly about the dialogues and the characters themselves.

It reminds me a bit of one of Miyazaki's movie actually: Kiki's Delivery Service.

Black Rune · May 30, 2016

Galaad said:
It reminds me a bit of one of Miyazaki's movie actually: Kiki's Delivery Service.

In that case...bookmarked, and will watch it when it finishes airing.

And figment & Galaad +1 for being admirers of Miyazaki's work.

@joxer
The matter of taste it is. One can't like all.
And keeping a notepad list of series to watch is a good idea, actually.
Only for now, I only bookmark what I find interesting.
I should keep a list of already watched animes.

SAO is circulating as a popular anime, but I can't force myself to watch it...yet.
So, instead I watched "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?"."DanMachi"for short.

13 ep. Action/Comedy with a very pleasing art style and animation.
It's nothing special. But, since I'm a simple guy, I found this one enjoyable.
Although, this is the first one of this kind of anime I watched.
If SAO or other similar series are better, well, then it only gets better.

Galaad · May 31, 2016

Mind you, I've only watched 2 episodes of Flying Witch! So I have yet to see how it pans out and if the characters will be/remain interesting in the long run. I wouldn't rate it at the same level as Studio Ghibli's works...but it does have some charm

.

DanMachi was fun, a bit "fanservicy", but fun. In fact, I enjoyed it more than SAO...not that SAO is really bad, but the some of the characters get on my nerve quite a bit.

Both DanMachi and Oregairu Zoku are a little special to me though...so I may be biased. They are animes I managed to watch on TV over there, during my trip to Japan last summer

.

If you enjoy the alternate world settings, you chould check out:

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar / Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

Its a different take on the 'alternate world' setting. Its has a little less action and more character development than other shows of the type. Its a slightly more brutal and darker without being "gory" like Terraformars or Tokyo Ghoul. It simply tries to show I guess that its a harsh world and not a fairy tale.

There isn't any grand story to save the world. They're just thrown there, and barely scrapping by to survive and sometime die...like you probably would if you were actually thrown in a fantasy world.

Damian · May 31, 2016

azarhal said:
I'm watching Kabaneri. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it a few post back too.

Ah i didnt see. Nice to see I am not alone in this.

joxer said:
No. And won't. Because I have read that zombies are slow if script needs to show some relationships and lore, if action is needed, zombies suddenly get superman abilities. Also apparently they needed two whole episodes to explain what "kabaneri" word means.
If script sucks, no director can save it.

Um, the zombies are not "slow" and

they only are skilled if their previous life was skilled somehow like if the body came from a swordsman.

And "kabaneri" was explained in like 2 minutes, perhaps they meant it was explained 2 shows after the start?

Also there are zombies that are quite strong almost like titans however they dont suddenly get superman abilities in the recent episodes.

azarhal · May 31, 2016

Damian said:
Ah i didnt see. Nice to see I am not alone in this.

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one watching Macross Delta (in copyright hell outside of Japan because of Harmony Gold).

purpleblob · May 31, 2016

I LOVE manga, Japanese or Korean, bring it on!

Can't believe no one mentioned Slam Dunk (or did I miss it?). Loved Rurouni Kenshin and Dragon Ball back in the days too. I'm not sure if English translations are available but I also enjoyed following:

The Kindaichi Case Files: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindaichi_Case_Files
Case Closed (also known as Detective Conan): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_Closed
Kare Kano: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kare_Kano

Can't think of anything else at the moment… will post more when I do!

joxer · May 31, 2016

A quick post.
Detective Conan has more than 800 episodes.
There is no way I'd ever watch a cestoda like that. I'm keeping away from Naruto, Bleech, One Piece and other such materials because I just don't have time for - filler!

The only anime I've ever watched with over 100 episodes is Hunter x Hunter. IMO they could have it condensed to less episodes especially first 20 where everything feels dragged for no reason, but it still has less than 200 episodes and it's not bad at all.

Arhu · May 31, 2016

joxer said:
I'm keeping away from Naruto, Bleech, One Piece and other such materials because I just don't have time for - filler!

There are things like Anime Filler List that tell you exactly what to watch and what to skip. Example: Naruto. I'd have abandoned lots of series before the end if I hadn't known beforehand when I was going to be fed crap. In case of Naruto I did switch to reading the Manga instead, however, because I got impatient.

Skipping fillers will do wonders for your psyche and keep you sane.

Btw, Detective Conan is purely episodic and doesn't really go anywhere. Pretty fun if you're in a mystery / crime solving mood, but I wouldn't consider it a series that one has to watch from beginning to end in order to fully experience it. I watched about 150 eps before I went on to do something else.

… And about half of those were fillers apparently, which I didn't know about back then… Hmm… *ponders*

Black Rune · May 31, 2016

Ether way I bookmarked Flying Witch, it has my interest.

Also Hai to Gensou no Grimgar has my interest...dark themed,character dev. centered, and gory, even if less,that is fine with me. Sound right. Bookmarked!
Thanks!

I found DanMachi funny, even the title gave me a good giggle,and that is why I started to watch the show.

Aahh...to go to Japan is still my greatest dream, and a dream it will remain...glad you made it there though.

Black Rune · June 23, 2016

I am pretty excited about Berserk 2016. Specially when I saw that not all of it is a horrible CGI fest(only the fight scenes so it seems).

And looks like a game is in creation as well...trailer.

joxer · July 2, 2016

A post I made 10 days before Black Rune

joxer said:
Oh and there is another stinker. God I love E3, each one brings out the worst ideas in games industry.

Berserk, according to some the best manga ever*, gets a game.

For those who don't know, this manga is full of graphic violence. So much that anime adaptation in 90s couldn't bring even half of the source material on screen (don't bother with it - not because it's "censored" but because animation is horrible). A few years back a movie trilogy circled, I didn't care so dunno about that. However, a new anime adaptation is in works. Here's a minute preview, more news will be revealed this winter:

What am I talking about?
There is already a game out there apparently inspired by Berserk. Not one.
That's, believe it or not, Dark Souls and Dragon's Dogma.

Well, those were inspired my arse, it was IMO just a selling point.
Anyway, I expect not a Berserk game, but Dark Souls and Dragon's Dogma cloned crap. Again.

Here's PCGamer's article with the game's youtube teaser (reminder, I posted the anime teaser above, not game):
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-next-dynasty-warriors-spin-off-is-based-on-dark-fantasy-manga-berserk/

----------------------------------------
* In my opinion the best manga ever is Uzumaki.

Anime started airing. I didn't expect it so soon!

http://www.crunchyroll.com/berserk

You need premium for the opening episode or wait a week till it's available for everyone.
If Ajin won't be the best anime of the year, Berserk will if they keep it as this level.
Perfect first episode. If someone never watched anime and you want them to try, push this episode and you cannot fail.

Black Rune · July 3, 2016

Watched the first episode on Anime1.com a few hours ago...it is not that bad, for the first episode...but it is hard for me to accept the art style and animation of this one. It just looks awkward/unpolished at some points.
Ajin animation was more smooth,although not perfect.

Anyway, happy to see Guts is back, and the little flying twerp is annoying.

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