Anime/Manga Thread

#121

Hmm. I just finished Gargantia and was about to shower it with praise, and suddenly I find it being panned quite a bit in reviews. Not that I wish to avoid appearing foolish, but perhaps it is better for me to give a cautiously approving review of the show rather than gush over it so that I don’t give any false hope about its greatness and then get criticized for it. So I’ll just briefly point out the pros and cons as I see them:

Pros: 1. Good story, though some apparently think the ending was confusing and had too many twists/betrayals/etc. Personally I felt it made complete sense and tied everything up nicely but YMMV. 2. Likable characters. 3. Nice art style, good direction. 4. Length. Could also be a con (see point 3 of cons), but it also gives focus to the story IMO.

Cons: 1. Art quality is not always consistent I think. Seems to me there are a few places where the quality suffers noticeably, though overall the show is well-made. Knock off points if you don’t like CG in your anime either, cause it’s used heavily (but really only for the mechs). 2. The character designs come from a artist best known for drawing hentai, so we get some kinda sexist fanservice-y female character designs. 3. Most characters are underdeveloped. We really only get to know the main character, Ledo, and his AI mech. A couple of other characters get a little development, but with a large cast and a short half-season run, there isn’t enough time to devote to them. Perhaps if there is a second season we’ll get to know the cast better then.

So that’s it. I liked it a lot and am very fond of it, I would even place it near the top of my favorites. But know that a lot of people aren’t liking it so take that with a grain of salt. As a side note, I should probably stop reading reviews of shows I like…it often ends up making me question my taste lol.

EDIT: Also, for anyone who cares about Haruhi, it looks like there may not be any third season. Sigh. Oh well. At least if it’s over it ended with the Disappearance movie which was great.

#122

The next chapter of Soul Eater is the last one if anyone reads that. Should be out sometime this month. Wonder if they’ll make a new anime adaptation since the one that’s already there went in an entirely different direction about halfway through the series.

#123

Bones was the studio that did it and they did both Full Metal Alchemist series and iirc Soul Eater did well (sales) so its a strong maybe.

#124

I still need to finish watching that series. It was quite good.

#125

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. After seeing Kyubey* everywhere, I finally tracked it down and decided to give it a try. It’s pretty good.

*

#126

Ah, Madoka is one of my favorites. Have you gotten to episode 4 yet?

(Note: Sadly, this does not actually happen)

#127

I couldn’t stand Madoka for the first couple episodes, my friend who loves the series basically had to drag me through it until I got to around ep 4 and started liking it. In the end it was a pretty good series.

I tried watching Ghost in the Shell: SAC and quit at around ep 15. I just couldn’t stand it. I found the character’s to be frankly boring. There was very little depth to them and absolutely nothing to make any particular one stand out in a likable way. Also the robot spider things were annoying and immersion breaking as hell. I quit the series when I got to the episode dedicated to them. From what I understand the series is meant to be a realistic and gritty portrayal of the future progression of technology, but it really just doesn’t cut it for me.

I didn’t particularly like Angel Beats either. I found that the purgatory world used for the story’s setting made the series rather bland. It made a lot of what the characters did inconsequential and inherently limited the cast of characters as well as making for a completely shallow villian. I didn’t get to far into it.

I’m currently watching Railgun and Darker Than Black. Railgun is kinda a cutsey cliche representation of girls with magical powers. At some points it borders on dark and disturbing, as Madoka does, but unlike Madoka it appears the darker parts of the series are dropped without explanation or closure right after the first finale. While I was watching Railgun I noticed the good characters fought with incredible abilities, but never used their abilities in a way that would actually maim or kill someone, which I found to be kinda limiting. I was watching a character with a teleportation ability fight and I was thinking “She should just teleport the guy’s heart out of his body.” And bam along comes DTB with a guy teleporting someone’s heart out of his body.

With my recent failure in enjoying anime I’m grappling with the possibility that I’m becoming disinterested in the genre. I am currently hoping I just haven’t been finding series to my tastes. Fingers crossed for how Darker Than Black will turn out.

#128

This may contain spoilers but since you dropped it I am going to assume you don’t give a shit.

You should have watched the movie first because it’ll give you in 2 hours what is kinda subtle about the characters throughout the show. At least the main ones Major and Batou. The characters and there personalities are exsistant and interesting the problem in terms of watching it, is like in real life the characters aren’t straightforward about what kind of people they are. I’ve known people who watched the whole series and never realized some of the inner conflicts the Major goes through and it takes some people longer than others to realize stuff about Batou. A lot of the other characters are more straightforward.

In order to enjoy they show you are going to need to be able to enjoy the political / military stuff because the show spends a lot more time on world conflicts over character stuff than most animes.

The Tachikomas are there as another means for the show to throw out the question of what it means to be a person or to have life. They are intentionally childish (which is always risky business in media as what some find endearing others find annoying) because they are “ghostless” beings that become more than that and a childish character is the perfect type of character for this.

I don’t think its supposed to be more “gritty” or “realistic” than any other sci-fi. Like all sci-fi it simply uses the setting as an excused to present scenarios to within the story as the viewer a question. In this case it generally speaking is, what makes a person? It has other things thrown in there but this is the main one. The Major’s main inner conflict relate to this. The main villian in the first film relates to this. A lot of the quirks in other characters relate to this. The tachikomas play on this.

It has a really unusual pace, tone and narrative focus for an anime (even amongst seinen) so I understand why people who watch a lot of anime don’t tend to like it. And outside of that it doesn’t appeal to everyone either but you make it sound like its a BAD anime.

Also, Darker than Black the first season is good. But I have been told and took the advice of don’t bother with the second season so I didn’t.

#129

I’ve been watching Watamote but I can’t really decide if I like it or not. At times I can’t tell what mood they’re going for and whether I should be feeling bad for the main character or laughing at her. It’s odd, but I guess it gets a few points for being a bit different. The main character (so far) isn’t particularly attractive or likeable, not even in the geeky sort of way characters like Konata Izumi are, mostly due to the fact that she is cripplingly inept at social interaction, being unable to say two words to a stranger, and having rather dysfunctional relationships with the couple of people she can talk to. It’s really pretty sad if you think about it, but if you’ve ever felt awkward or self-sabotaging, it’ll probably resonate with you. Can’t say I’d really recommend it otherwise though.

#130

Darker than Black is super badass. Season 1 (that’s all I’ve watched) might be my favorite anime.

#131

Spice and Wolf. Goddamn is this show good.

#132

QFT. Definitely one of my favorites.

Finished S1 of Dark Than Black. Very very good, though episode 26 is rather frustrating. They tie up the story and give you a very nice ending in episode 25, and then they throw in this out of place really light hearted OVA style episode right after it that should have gone somewhere in the middle of the series. It even takes place chronologically in the middle of the series. I’d recommend watching it before the end of the season.

#133

That might have something to do with the fact that episode 26 was an OVA.

#134

Huh wasn’t labeled as such on the version I have. Regardless, it really should be watched around the middle of the series and not the end.

#135

A lot of times they’ll skip out on stuff like that and just list the final as a number. Sometimes they have the decency to give you an actual point to watch it. Usually like 12.5 or 13.5 but yes it is an OVA and was released an airing season or two after the main season.

#136

Hellsing Ultimate. It was super badass, as expected. I also watched Rozen Maiden, because my body is ready for full weeaboo status. And I’m re-watching Samurai Champloo, because it’s been years since I watched it. It’s a cool series, but I have the same problems with it that I had with Cowboy Bebop: too disjoint, with the plot sort of hopping all over the place, rather than telling one cohesive story from episode to episode.

#137

The disjoint effect in Samurai Champloo I think of as the episodic style. I really don’t like it, but it makes sense. They do it that because the series is meant to be watched while its airing, even perhaps skipping an episode here and there if you missed it. I personally can’t stand it, so even though I loved the characters in Samurai Champloo I quit watching it.

The episodic style is the main reason I almost never watch American TV shows. Most of them do it really badly, with the addition of milking the series long after they ran out of ideas. I see shows as just a way of telling a story too long to cram into a 1-2 hour movie. A lot of writers don’t see it that way.

#138

I marathon’d Another the other day. It’s good, but it was weird that it turned into Clue right at the end. I also finished off season 2 of Gurren Lagann finally, and I just watched Inferno Cop.

Oh my god, Inferno Cop.

#139

Just watched the first episode of Psycho Pass at the recommendation of a friend.
It’s pretty good so far, (also very dystopian) but it’s a Gen Urobuchi script, so if you watch it be prepared for dark things.

#140

I’ve been marathoning all sorts of anime since I moved home. I watched Gatchaman Crowds, Symphogear, Symphogear G, Toaru Majutsu no Index, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, Valvrave the Liberator, Season 2 of Darker than Black (mixed feelings…), the new Rozen Maiden series, and some of Evangelion (I’m apathetic about it).

Currently watching Hataraku Maou-sama.

Also, I just finished Toradora. That ending. ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I’m not even sad or overwhelmed with feelings. It’s just there’s a big empty space in me now where I’m not sure how to feel about this.

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