General Anime Discussion

I’m in such a bind with this :confounded:
I wanna watch it but I wanna play the VN first which comes out on Steam, May 8th and I got no money to buy it…

In my latest belated venture into anime, just watched Ghost in the Shell (1995) and 2.0 Innocence. The only thing I knew about it before was not to watch the Hollywood remake. As with certain VNs it’s the complex “what is it to be a human” musings on identity and self consciousness that I enjoyed as well as the general atmosphere - some of the dialogue free scenes are to me much stronger than the action sequences and quite visually poetic.

When I first heard the main theme I thought “What the hell…” then it suddenly reminded me of the Trio Bulgarka on Kate Bush’s ‘The Sensual World’ and I love it.

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My second-favorite anime! You should watch Stand Alone Complex if you liked the movie, and if you enjoy the themes check out Blade Runner and Deus Ex.

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Yep, someone did tell me about Stand Alone Complex - so I tried the movies first. The series seems hard to find on DVD boxset here though (some available but iffy transfer quality apparently).

And yes Bladerunner (Director’s Cut) is IMNSHO amongst the greatest movies ever made. I do want to try the Deus Ex series of games at some point, also.

And…have now seen Steins;Gate 0 second episode, I have to admit to being tremendously biased and can’t be very objective about it, thought it was great . It concentrates on some newer characters and shortens things quite quickly to get to the “reunion” but it gets everything across just fine for me.

Shut your trap Kurisutina!

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I need some help. I have some extra money and would like to purchase some anime. However, I’m having some trouble deciding which one I should buy. Can I get some opinions?

  • Nichijou
  • Azumanga Daioh
  • Lucky Star OVA
  • Hyouka Part One
  • Hyouka Part Two
  • The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Seasons 1 and 2
  • The Melancholy of Haruhi-Chan Suzumiya & Nyoron
  • The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan
  • Pet Girl of Sakurasou
  • AIR: The Motion Picture
  • Little Busters! Collection 2
  • Little Busters! Refrain
  • Little Busters EX
  • K-On! Season 1 Complete Collection
  • K-On! Season 2 Collection 1
  • K-On! Season 2 Collection 2
  • K-On! The Movie
  • Squid Girl
  • My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
  • My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too!
  • Golden Time Collection 1
  • Golden Time Collection 2

0 voters

I’ll check the results on Tuesday. Keep in mind I own a DVD player and use Amazon. Thanks in advance for the help.

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Steins;Gate 0 episode 3: it feels like quite a slow episode with not much happening, but cuts out a lot of fairly mundane stuff from the VN. Nicely sets up the idea of this false “comfort zone”. Still think the acid test is going to be how they handle the complexity of the various routes in the VN, but I like this too much!

Daga otoko da

EDIT:- have to add this as an edit rather than new post as it’s soon after the last…

Just finished watching the series Death Note. As long as you just allow the central concept of this “what if…” found this very compelling and intriguing with a ton of moral questions raised. First two thirds or so very good but then goes downhill a bit with new characters that aren’t very well developed and one-dimensional. I felt that the story ended in the right place in the right way. Liked the art and VA - music is very good (Light’s theme has hints of Tubular Bells?) although the theme music is definitely a matter of taste…

Shout out to Misa Amane who manages to be simultaneously ultra annoying/disturbed/cute, and Misa’s song which was very unexpected in placement and although short is a stand-out moment for me.

Glad I invested in this box set anyway. Next up for my cash I’m not sure, maybe Darker Than Black?

EDIT 2 - well I guess I have to edit again…

Steins;Gate 0 episode 4: I think this is the last time I’ll do a quickie review on a single episode as I’ll just be repeating myself. This is the first episode that I found a bit disappointing, not because of what was left in/out but what was so drastically shortened.

VN SPOILERS

Well, firstly we haven’t had the indications from the VN about the “epidemic” of encephalitis and Reading Steiner through the media and Fubuki. And the first really important one involving Okarin’s jump to a WW3 ravaged Japan timeline was shortened to about 2 minutes compared to a couple of hours in the VN. I think that long section of the VN is actually very powerful and it’s the first time we really see what’s at stake with Okarin’s refusal to use the Time Machine again.

Now i know that you couldn’t realistically spend an entire episode or two on that section, but it’s the first very good argument for reading the VN first IMO. And as it’s now out on Steam there are no when/if/maybe concerns about a long wait.

And to add that it can make a big difference for VN readers as to which routes they took on the first important choices that lead to different scenarios already.

Otherwise it was good but not exceptional, we have an important new character and one returning. It’s possible that the story structure has to be changed for the anime and we may see more of that shortened section inserted elsewhere, idk. Still very solid adaptation on the whole though. Anyway I want to give it a few more episodes before I share my thoughts again because things may be addressed WRT how they handle divergences, and maybe some will have read through the VN by then!

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Steins; Gate 0 continues to be a pretty consistently good conversion and I’ve now worked out what they are doing ( not a spoiler - for those familiar with the VN we are in ‘Orbital Eclipse’ section as of episodes 5 & 6). The format tends to be slice of life before ending with a cliffhanger at the moment, we have plenty of humour and Daru is as funny as ever.

Spoilered “Gentleman Pervert moment” in case you want to see it in the anime/VN first

Daru_shot

EDITED TO ADD: Make sure you watch the post-credits sequences if you are following this: EP 7 :exploding_head:

EDITED AGAIN! :- OK well Episode 8 has some new content that isn’t in the VN - and it’s terrific!,Really expands on an event that happens in the original S;G penultimate episode too. Now I must try and keep quiet here until the whole series ends…

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My familiarity with the Fate series amounts to just a few clips of the anime, some memes, and a Saber account on Twitter. I have decided to watch the series in its entirety. I looked up online to see in which order I should watch it. The first I decided to watch is Fate/Zero, so I went to Amazon to find a DVD of it. I found one offer of Season 1 at $87, I said “Screw that” and went to eBay and found this listing:

Should I get this, get the one on Amazon, or start somewhere else?

I bought the Fate/Zero 2 part blu-ray set from Amazon (UK) and it was nothing like that expensive, about £50 for the two parts together which is about US$67. The two parts on DVD here (eps 1 - 25) totals about US$53 so US$87 for one season is way overpriced. I can’t imagine why it is so much more expensive on Amazon there?!

That supplier has very good feedback so provided you are sure the DVD plays in your region ( supplier is in Malaysia but it says it’s region free) and don’t mind the extra wait…

Smart choice on watching zero first to be honest. It’s supposed to be a prequel that came out after the original but in my opinion watching zero first gives everything that happens in Stay night a lot more weight and meaning for a way more enjoyable experience.

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It has been a very long time since I’ve watched anime, even season 2 of Hidamari Sketch was pretty much stalled even though it would have likely been a good idea to continue watching it.

I finally own a copy of Your Name…but that movie is likely to rest on the shelf for a while because Little Busters feels more important right now. :yahaha: Planetarian will join it someday.

Looking to start Gundam Seed pretty soon and to get back to Hidamari Sketch, but it looks like there won’t be many more anime being added to the damage collection anytime soon. March Comes in Like a Lion looks like it could be AWESOME, and there have been lots of good things said about Violet Evergarden, but for now that might be all and that might be a good thing since there is quite a lot left to watch like all of Slayers, all of FMA, and all of Yu Yu Hakusho and they don’t watch themselves.

Hope everyone is having fun or enjoying what they are watching! :happy:

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So there’s this anime that came out recently titled How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord. I had absolutely no interest in it, as it looked like trash. Then, via random YouTube recommendation, I found out that one of the characters was named Emile, so watched the video to see this character. It turned out to be this clown.

And I said, “Whyyyyyyyy? Why would someone make this?”

Still not watching the show, by the way.

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Oh look, it’s the next ecchi title that seems to sell well as a light novel too!

Yaaaay!

(of course the LN is likely far better but the point still stands)

Honestly, this is why I really only watch newer anime if someone suggests it to me and they love it (Violet Evergarden, Your Lie) or it’s more of an anime or movie series that I already like (Non Non Biyori, GitS).

I’ve just finished watching Darker then Black S1 and enjoyed it: interesting scenario, good characters, atmosphere and a great soundtrack. It’s about 50% action and 50% character moments, and I’m not a massive fan of fights so this was a good mix for me.

The structure of the story is mainly based on two-parters although there is a longer arc as well. Mostly serious with some humour.

The lead character has an interesting struggle between living with his “power” and being caught between those who are like him and ordinary humans. The other characters fill out the story well, and minor character Kiko is one of the funniest parody characters I’ve yet seen. And for those who adore cats it has a black talking cat in the main cast :cat:

So until I can find S2 (which may not be so good I hear) at a low price I’m now open to recommendations of further series along the lines of Sci Fi / Fantasy like GitS / Fate / Death Note without too much concentration on fights and preferably without mecha!

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No. 6 for Sci-Fi (post-apocalyptic), Blast of Tempest for fantasy (in a contemporary setting). Blast has a number of fights early on IIRC, but it’s more a mystery/drama overall. Both are pretty short and complete. Been a while since I watch either, so I’d say look them up for a good plot synopsis and see what you think. I enjoyed both and intend to rewatch them in the near future.

I’m finally getting back into my backlog of Anime/VNs, starting with Classroom of the Elite. I found it to be a decent shakeup to the typical slice of life/rom-com highschool genre. The drama stems from the students being cutthroat in their attempts to advance, and I didn’t feel most of the characters weren’t completely one-dimensional, which is usually a well deserved criticism of these kinds of shows. You can see just about every twist and wrinkle forming a mile away, but from scene to scene the execution of how plot even unfolded kept me entertained. One comedic gag in the “obligatory beach/pool episode” had me rolling pretty good. Overall, it was refreshingly above average as it benefits from the semblance of a plot, although that might not be saying much.

FLCL Progressive. If you recognized my avatar here, you’d guess I’m a fan of the original 2000 series. I’d been putting it off all this time because I was worried about how Progressive and Alternative would turn out. To be honest, FLCL isn’t really a show that needs a sequel of any sort: The original doesn’t have “filler.” It’s exactly as long as it needs to be, and not a minute more. Part of the show’s charm is that break-neck pacing, the cryptic dialogue, its ridiculous presence, premise, presentation, and symbolism. From the various character’s “Bats” (guitars), to the underlying representation of “paths” that Mamimi and Haruko suggest… I could write a book on the original alone. It was among the first true anime I’d seen that wasn’t your typical Sunday cartoon shouen affair. Even now, it’s unique approach remains largely untouched. I remember a strong feeling of accomplishment and closure by the end. I still had questions, but I felt I could determine my own answers with a second, closer look, and so I did.

Where does that leave us with Progressive, then? The question is: “Can Progressive stand alone as a good show in its own right?” I’d say it does… for the most part. Yes, it ditches some of the charm and purposely confusing mystique of the original by actually slowing down to explain certain bits of lore and backstory. Progressive opts to tell a more straightforward story with it’s almost entirely new cast. Although it retains some goofiness, it’s a much more direct approach than before, and I’d say it’s two leads, Hibajiri and Ide were very one note as compared to Naota and Mamimi. It unfortunately boils down to a clunky love story and Haruko as a pointlessly obsessed and power hungry teenager. Again, a major part of the original was that character motivations were very unclear, and you had to piece them together afterwards. That doesn’t happen really happen here: what you see is what you get, primarily. (But then again, nothing ever really happens, does it?)

That being said, Jinyu was an excellent addition, the way her character presents itself is much more in the vein of the original. Her comments on Haruko, and their mutual feelings towards Atomsk, and of course Atomsk himself(itself?), retain the more cryptic and symbolic presentation of the original, just enough to give a small peek behind the curtain without letting you stare too long. That’s pretty much my only major complaint, I think Haruko should have been in more of a cameo role, to keep her mystique intact while also letting someone like Jinyu take her place, giving a different perspective to things like Medical Mechanica and Atomsk. Ultimately, Progressive is a good compliment to the original; funny, entertaining, but slightly unnecessary with a “filler” vibe to it. I’m not complaining, but it didn’t blow my mind for the second time, and I didn’t expect it to. I’ll likely be going into Alternative with the same mindset, although I’m not in any hurry at this point.

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So I ended up getting quite a bit more anime of all different flavors over the past few months (unfortunately Planetarian was not one of them), but also discarded or dropped quite a lot of it too. There was no way to ever get to it all, and if one wants to watch titles like Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Space Brothers then it’s pretty much inevitable.

Sentai has the first season of You’re Under Arrest (50-ish episodes) online through their streaming service which is awesome so that’ll get slowly watched in the next few months. Gundam Seed may come back into the fold too but that would be something to do between Little Busters routes and not during them! :happy:

To be fair, I have not paid attention to anything airing this season but with lots to do including watching the Haruhi movie that is still just sitting on top of a pile. So is Dominion, and Arkham Horror LCG and…the picture is pretty clear.

I know I’m a weeeeee bit late to the party, but I just finished watching Durarara X2. I saw the original more or less when it came out, but have never actually seen the second season until now. In fact, I didn’t even know there was a second season until my sister bought the dvds about a fortnight ago. I was never big into the first season, but I think the second season was way better.

The story structure took a serious blow, but the characterisation is waaaaaaay better. The main problem I had with the first one was that there were so many characters that I just found indistinct from one another. The only characters whose names I even remembered by the time I finished watching it were Izaya, Shizuo and Celty. But beginning in the second season, characters who I’d forgotten even existed started leaving big impressions on me (Read: Haruna). In particular, there was a great improvement on having charismatic antagonists other than Izaya.

Though, like I said, the story structure suffered, at least in part to the characterisation aspect. There were so many characters doing so much at once that the story had no time to actually progress.

The ending was also disappointing. I was hoping one of Izaya or Shizuo would die. I wouldn’t particularly care which. Izaya’s been my favourite character since day one, but it’s also true that his death would’ve been a great finale. Same with Shizuo, really. And it wouldn’t have left me feeling like the entire season was pointless.

On a positive note though, the opening and ending themes were all fire.

Overall, I’d say it’s definitely better than the first season.

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I really like Durarara too but in my case I prefered the first season because of the atmosphere, the main conflict between the 3 main characters and the second season was too much “strange” sometimes ( I’m talking about Izaya’s sisters who disapointed me and Namie Yagiri with her incest feelings). The story progressed quite well I think and it was never boring for me. About the end I might have mistaken it but Izaya probably dies after leaving Ikebukuro. My favourite opening was the 2nd it’s one my favourite from any kind of anime but they were all great with the first ending essentially. :amorous:

Finished my first watch of Cowboy Bebop, I enjoyed it quite a lot although it’s hard to pin down anything to say that this is a must watch other than its “classic” status". For example there are no big emotional hits although that’s probably not the intention anyway. I’m sure the art isn’t as crisp as newer anime but it serves the kind of noirish feel. As far as the inter-relationships go it’s certainly subtle and since the main characters are adults (except one) this feels very realistic and avoids melodrama.

Most of the series is episodic with a mix of action and light comedy but throughout there are references to the characters’ back stories, and a long running arc of sorts. I didn’t find much to get interested in the two main characters at first but the addition of Faye Valentine definitely helps to add a bit of a missing spark to proceedings. We end up effectively getting to know Jet and Spike better through Faye’s observations. Ed I didn’t find added much except for some weirdness ( and an unexpected link to the works of Key through Aoi Tada).

Some of the stories to me didn’t make a lost of sense, being so fast paced, and just are kind of “there” as standalone adventures with no consequence, and as I read a comment by someone elsewhere the series as a whole almost feels like the epilogue to a story we never see - perhaps in a way that’s why it works well.

Strong point of course is the soundtrack as to be expected with Yoko Kanno, which ranges from Americana blues/roots all twangy guitar to jazz-funk and most points in between. Add to that it’s own “worldbuilding” and neo noir atmosphere plus some smart dialogue.

I wouldn’t say it has the depth of, say, Fate Zero (with its philosophical musings) from a single runthrough, but it is solid entertainment. Definitely glad I got this anyway and will certainly rewatch.


Elfen Lied gets my thumbs up.

Veers between extreme cuteness (“にゅう !”) and graphic violence, it’s a bit short with 13 episodes ( I gather it only covers about half the story in the manga ) which means it’s left a bit open-ended. Quite compelling in a dark and rather disturbing way with hard hitting story themes and some great directing, but one to avoid if you dislike gore and (anime) female nudity.

A bit surprised to hear the VA for Kotomi-chan in this!

Next on the to view list is Black Butler.

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