Let's Talk About Anime

[Freehold DM]

Truly miss that show. But it was getting Hella expensive to make. Don't agree with CNs decision, but I can see where they were coming from.

[John Benbo]

I'm hoping that I'll be able to rent the new Gundam: Origins OVAs through my Playstation like I was with Unicorn.

[Freehold DM]

Oh. Hells. Yeah.

[Greylurker]

New season of Anime brings whole new pile of WTF?

Cute High Earth Defense club is a new Magical Girl show...staring cute boys, Fighting Evil with the power of Love.

honestly I don't know what to think of this one, be it brilliant or horrifying I feel compelled to watch more

[Dragon78]

Greylurker, you lost me at cute boys, though it does sound like another WTF anime.

[Freehold DM]

I'll give it a watch...will need to inoculate myself as it will be all over the con circuit this season.

[Greylurker]

It is an extreemly self-aware show. From the Pink Wombat mascot character to their special attack call outs. It's a lot of laughs and it hits pretty much everything you would expect to see in a Sailor Moon or Pretty Cure episode.

only with a team of cute (and slightly sarcastic) guys.

[Caineach]

Greylurker wrote:

It is an extreemly self-aware show. From the Pink Wombat mascot character to their special attack call outs. It's a lot of laughs and it hits pretty much everything you would expect to see in a Sailor Moon or Pretty Cure episode.

only with a team of cute (and slightly sarcastic) guys.

That sounds like it could be very amusing. Or terrible. Amusing or terrible.

[Aleron]

Terribly amusing. I need to check this out I think.

[Movin]

Earlier up the thread I saw a mention of Parasyte, with episode 13 having just gotten a Sub release (because I'm a lazy westerner and can't be bothered to learn the language.) I can say that the show is definitely worth a look over.

Having just finished watching the season back to back the Anime 'Another' is a fantastic ghost story involving a girl who seems to only exist to one person. Plenty more happens but like most Thriller/Suspense series explaining what is going on ruins the plot pretty badly.
However fantastic gorey death abounds. Those squeamish of highly improbably but still possible violent death would want to avoid this one.

Oh and on the topic of other animation have you all seen The Reward because its awesome and short enough that even if you dislike it to not be much of a waste of your time.

[Aranna]

Well I tried out Marvel Disk wars... lame.
Way too kiddy for my tastes.

[Greylurker]

Movin wrote:

Having just finished watching the season back to back the Anime 'Another' is a fantastic ghost story involving a girl who seems to only exist to one person. Plenty more happens but like most Thriller/Suspense series explaining what is going on ruins the plot pretty badly.
However fantastic gorey death abounds. Those squeamish of highly improbably but still possible violent death would want to avoid this one.

try Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. 12 episode series on Crunchyroll, not as gorry as Another but it's a great ghost story

I'll even throw in a guest pass if you want to watch it in HD
HFJWAY4JUEV

[Arnwyn]

Caineach wrote:

Aranna wrote:

Ok clearly Alzrius is a troll. Putting him on ignore.

I cannot fathom how politely presenting a logical disagreement with you makes him a troll.

I can certainly fathom how certain people would think it.

It's not very flattering.

[Tequila Sunrise]

Well, this thread exploded since my last post. People sure do love their fanservice!

Less controversially, I just watched about a dozen episodes of Legend of the Legendary Heroes. It started out promising, but got too campy-dark-predictable in that way that so irritates me. Skipped to the last episode to make sure, and sure enough I was right.

...I think I'll try Ghost in the Shell: Arise next.

[Freehold DM]

Legend of galactic heroes is where it's at.

[Lemmy]

Fan-service Discussion:

My view on fan-service is the same as on any other aspect of media.

If you don't like it, don't consume it. Don't try to forbid others of doing so, because that's a very slippery slope that leads into a dark place. Go ahead and buy/watch shows with no fan-service. Support those shows and encourage others to do the same, but don't try to get something banned just because you don't like it.

Fighting games don't make me violent. Metal music don't make me satanic. Why would fan-service (or even straight up porn) make me sexist?

I don't particularly care about fan-service in general... Doesn't bother me, doesn't attract me. Won't make me watch a bad show, nor will it stop me from watching a good show... But I don't care if people watch shows only for fan-service.

There is no "unnecessary" fan service any more than there is "unnecessary" action scenes, romances, dialogue, character, etc. How necessary it is is solely a matter of personal opinion. What one person sees as completely unnecessary might be the main attraction for someone else. So everyone should just consume the media that matches their preferences and let other do the same.

Besides, no one needs watch anime or consume any sort of media, so technically, all of it is unnecessary.

Anyway...

I haven't seen many animes lately... I kinda stopped because I couldn't find anything I enjoy...

I like action/comedy series, but I grew tired of the "16yo with some sort of dark power that he can't control" plot (Seriously! I feel like that particular trope is in 90% of all action animes now!) and I never cared for giant robots, so that makes my choices pretty limited. -.-'

Parasyte The Maxim is okay... But didn't really grab my attention, for some reason. 2 episodes in and I lost interest.

[Movin]

Greylurker wrote:

try Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. 12 episode series on Crunchyroll, not as gorry as Another but it's a great ghost story

I'll even throw in a guest pass if you want to watch it in HD
HFJWAY4JUEV

Thanks, i'll check that out soon.

Though in future sending codes like that out on a public thread like this is just asking someone other than your intended recipient to use them. Not that I won't give it a shot.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Greylurker wrote:

New season of Anime brings whole new pile of WTF?

Cute High Earth Defense club is a new Magical Girl show...staring cute boys, Fighting Evil with the power of Love.

honestly I don't know what to think of this one, be it brilliant or horrifying I feel compelled to watch more

I'm going with brilliant. I watched twice the day it came up and it was just as beautiful the second time around.

I can only hope the rest of the series keeps up the standard.

[Greylurker]

Lemmy wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Anyway...

I haven't seen many animes lately... I kinda stopped because I couldn't find anything I enjoy...

I like action/comedy series, but I grew tired of the "16yo with some sort of dark power that he can't control" plot (Seriously! I feel like that particular trope is in 90% of all action animes now!) and I never cared for giant robots, so that makes my choices pretty limited. -.-'

Parasyte The Maxim is okay... But didn't really grab my attention, for some reason. 2 episodes in and I lost interest.

have you tried something like When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace. Mostly Comedy some action. Bunch of kids gain superpowers and...nothing else happens. The Girls in the series pretty much all get God Tier powers and the guy gets a useless one.

or World Trigger which is more Action with some comedy. Very little angst, Yuma is a little overpowered but he's a fun kid. Series is about an organization that fights off invasions from alternate universes. No Giant Robots.

[Alzrius]

Tequila Sunrise wrote:

Less controversially, I just watched about a dozen episodes of Legend of the Legendary Heroes. It started out promising, but got too campy-dark-predictable in that way that so irritates me. Skipped to the last episode to make sure, and sure enough I was right.

You were indeed right. Here's what I wrote about that series on another forum:

So I finished watching Legend of the Legendary Heroes ("Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu") earlier today, and I can sum up my feelings on the show in one word:

Disappointed.

I've heard people talk about shows that had potential, but which never lived up to that potential, and that's Legend of the Legendary Heroes in a nutshell. Simply put, it has an interesting premise, but within the scope of the anime (as opposed to the light novels it's based on) it never makes the most of it.

The worst offender here is the show's pacing, which is terrible. Scenes will change tone so heavily that you'll be left wondering if you missed something, characters will be introduced with little context to explain their presence (and then left under-utilized throughout the series' run), the show will continually make allusions and metaphors without explaining what they actually mean, and perhaps worst of all is that the ending provides no clear answers nor a resolution to the plot.

Even the characterization of the cast, which is the series' high point, is not without flaw. True, the people in the show do tend to be more than one-note characters, but only to the extent that they're two-note. The main character has two states of being: "lazy slacker" and "emo." The leading lady spends most of her time playing at "unemotional narcissist," with occasional detours into "I can't live without you," etc.

The series clearly has an overarching message, and wants to express it through its plot-line and characters, but the former can't be bothered to make itself plainly understood while the latter tend to beat you over the head with their lack of nuance.

This is the first anime I've watched in a long time where there was virtually nothing enjoyable I could take away from it, and thus one that I honestly can't recommend to anyone.

[Caineach]

Alzrius wrote:

Tequila Sunrise wrote:

Less controversially, I just watched about a dozen episodes of Legend of the Legendary Heroes. It started out promising, but got too campy-dark-predictable in that way that so irritates me. Skipped to the last episode to make sure, and sure enough I was right.

You were indeed right. Here's what I wrote about that series on another forum:

So I finished watching Legend of the Legendary Heroes ("Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu") earlier today, and I can sum up my feelings on the show in one word:

Disappointed.

I've heard people talk about shows that had potential, but which never lived up to that potential, and that's Legend of the Legendary Heroes in a nutshell. Simply put, it has an interesting premise, but within the scope of the anime (as opposed to the light novels it's based on) it never makes the most of it.

The worst offender here is the show's pacing, which is terrible. Scenes will change tone so heavily that you'll be left wondering if you missed something, characters will be introduced with little context to explain their presence (and then left under-utilized throughout the series' run), the show will continually make allusions and metaphors without explaining what they actually mean, and perhaps worst of all is that the ending provides no clear answers nor a resolution to the plot.

Even the characterization of the cast, which is the series' high point, is not without flaw. True, the people in the show do tend to be more than one-note characters, but only to the extent that they're two-note. The main character has two states of being: "lazy slacker" and "emo." The leading lady spends most of her time playing at "unemotional narcissist," with occasional detours into "I can't live without you," etc.

The series clearly has an overarching message, and wants to express it through its plot-line and characters, but the former can't be bothered to make itself plainly understood while the latter tend to beat you over the head with their lack of
...

The heavy use of background characters that are often there but rarely used thrilled me. It made the world feel much larger. People had friends (and enemies) that were not central to the plot, and those characters did their own things that were not relevant to be on screen but left you wondering how else the world was changing.

As for the allusions and metaphors, I really like that they didn't beat you over the head with them. I am disappointed that the series was cut short after 1 season, leaving no resolution to a lot of what was introduced. What was going on on a metaphysical level was left with just an introduction.

[TriOmegaZero]

Anyone watching Kantai Collection? Stuck at work all weekend so I can't check it out myself.

[Rathendar]

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Anyone watching Kantai Collection? Stuck at work all weekend so I can't check it out myself.

I checked it out.

I'll give a neutral impression first.

I'll call it Arpeggio-Diet-Coke at best. It's like Strike Witches, Girls und Panzer, or K-ON with explosions in the background. They have CG graphics supporting the normal animations for their combat, equip/deployment scenes reminiscent of classic Voltron getting into the lions, and all in all it feels more 'slice of life' then 'drama'. Cute girls doing cute things. Low on actual sexualization/fanservice in interactions and scenes overall.

That being said, if you are a fan of the KanColle franchise, you get a lot of easter eggs. A ton of the fleet make momentary cameo's in background scenes doing daily stuff. The Anime retained the services of the same Seiyu that voiced the audio clips for their games itself, so you get to see and hear a lot of your favorite quotes on the screen from over a dozen of the ship girls, and i expect more as the ep's flow out. (Kongoh's "Burning Love!" main cannon full volley probably being the most recognizable one i can throw out as an easy example.)

The art appears consistent as well for the characters, whereas in the franchise different artists have given various girls looks that look like they could be from a different series. (longer more stretched bodies, etc)

Plot is about what i expected, nothing earth shaking or extra revealing on the franchise metaplot depth.

All that being said, ...it was cute. Depending on what you are in the mood for at the time, it could be enjoyable. I myself enjoy the franchise and it wasn't a turnoff. I plan to check out the rest of it.

5 out of 10 to a new viewer, and a 7-8 for those with the franchise fandom is what i would give a broad conclusion for.

[Freehold DM]

I think you mean Girls und Panzer.

[Rathendar]

Freehold DM wrote:

I think you mean Girls und Panzer.

That isn't what i said? I could have sworn it was. Look, that's what is there!

*whistles innocently*

(thanks for the save.)

[Greylurker]

...well whatever WTFs Cute high didn't eat up, YuriKuma took.

seriously I don't even know what I just saw

Lesbian Space bears disguised as humans to seduce and eat human girls

with approuval by fabulous bear legal process.

[Freehold DM]

New series for Freehold, it seems.

[Blayde MacRonan]

Well... I just watched the first episode of Death Parade. And if what I watched is any indication of what's to come... then this is going to be a pretty twisted show.

Looking forward to the next episode.

Now I'm off to watch the first episode of Durarara!!x2 Shou....

[atheral]

So....anyone know where I could watch Dog Days" legally, since crunchyroll apparently dropped the ball on the licenses for this season?

[Xzaral]

Really? I literally just watched the first 3 episodes of season 1 on crunchyroll.

[atheral]

Yeah, Specifically I'm looking for Season 3, in typical anime fashion each season is a different "show"
Season 1 Dog Days
Season 2 Dog Days' or Dash
Season 3 Dog Days" or Double Dash

[Greylurker]

not sure. Season 3 is still being listed in Crunchy's list for North America....It might be on a delay. There have been shows in the past that Crunchy was able to show but their deal forced them to show it a week after the japanese air date instead of simulcasting.

[Blayde MacRonan]

atheral wrote:

Yeah, Specifically I'm looking for Season 3, in typical anime fashion each season is a different "show"

Season 1 Dog Days
Season 2 Dog Days' or Dash
Season 3 Dog Days" or Double Dash

Try this... Dog Days Season 3, Episode 1

[atheral]

Well that looks like it'll work, thanks.

[Alzrius]

So I finished watching Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic - or at least the first season of it, as it turns out that there's a second season that's not on Netflix (yet) - and while I didn't have very high expectations going into it, I was surprised by how much it surpassed them.

The show is loosely inspired by various Arabian Nights tales, as the two main characters are Aladdin and Alibaba (and Sinbad is a major supporting character). That said, these function largely as stylistic inspiration and nothing more - don't expect this to be any sort of retelling of the classic fairy tales. Rather, this is an action-adventure series set in a fantasy world.

The plot is that, years ago, mysterious dungeons appeared out of nowhere all over the world. Those who enter and manage to get to the heart of these deathtrap-filled mazes can claim the powers of a djinn that lives at the heart of each dungeon. Since then, various power-players are trying to acquire these treasures to advance their various agendas.

Aladdin is a young boy who has no memory of his past, and is searching for answers about himself and the djinn that he somehow already has. Along the way, he befriends Alibaba, a teenager with no money but a lot of determination to conquer a dungeon and make himself into a king. Together with Morgianna, a slave-girl with powerful combat abilities that Aladdin and Alibaba end up setting free, the three of them become involved in a quest to determine the fate of the world.

To be fair, there's little here that isn't standard action-adventure fare, which made me wonder why I found myself liking the show more than I thought I would. The answer I eventually came to is that while the show does make use of typical tropes for its genre, it never takes them too far, knowing when less makes for more.

Aladdin, for example, was initially off-putting to me; his character is one of those "naive in such a way that he unconsciously casts a stark moral spotlight on problems" characters, guilelessly saying what decorum and circumspection keeps everyone else from acknowledging. Combine that with him having several powers above and beyond what most other characters can bring to bear, and I was ready to write the character off as a Mary Sue.

However, the show very quickly pivoted to showcase that this wasn't the case. Not only do we see Aladdin's power being insufficient to deal with an enemy or a situation on multiple occasions, but his simple-minded optimism never quite manages to stray into the realm of moral perfectionism; we see him feeling a sense of loss, anger, and even holding a grudge at one point.

The show also does a good job of illustrating the larger backdrop that the characters are adventuring in. Rather than ignoring the effect of what people with major magical powers would do to the world stage, the show holds that up as a major aspect of the plot. One character has already collected a large number of djinn, and used them to set up his own nation. Another country has assembled a unit of people with such powers, and is using them as the vanguard to try and expand their territory.

Even economics are utilized as a driving force in the show, and that's not something you see in your standard action-adventure series! (e.g. "Yes, you overthrew the previous king's corrupt regime, but that doesn't change the fact that he ran up a huge debt with a foreign country, and the bill is now due.")

I should mention that, in terms of fan-service, there's almost none here. Don't expect to see any of the usual stock fare, such as a bathing scene or someone walking in on a female cast member changing her clothes, for instance. The show is interested in creating dramatic tension, rather than titillating. (Though I should mention that it does have two scenes with topless women - the first being when Aladdin and Alibaba are imagining what it'd be like to have enough money to live in luxury forever; the second when we briefly meet a lascivious female djinn.)

Overall, this is an example of the right way to do an action-adventure series. The main characters are strongly defined, the world feels fleshed out and dynamic, and the plot is engaging. I really hope to be able to see the second season of Magi soon; it's a series that's absolutely worth watching.

[Aranna]

Well I am starting my run through SAO II. Wish me luck!

I like it so far, and I was honestly worried after the bad second half of SAO I.

[TriOmegaZero]

Good luck, although I doubt you'll need it. The end of the first arc was a little hard to watch for me.

[Alzrius]

Okay, so I just watched the ME!ME!ME! anime music video, mostly because I've been hearing so much about it lately. I'm literally typing this immediately having watched it, so I haven't had much time to compose my thoughts.

The first thing that needs to be said is to make a disclaimer regarding the video's length; while it's eight minutes long, the first ninety seconds are a short opening/studio presentation; this has no connection whatsoever to the remaining video.

I'm going to place the remainder of this review in tags, since I'm going to be dissecting the entirety of the video.

Spoiler:

For those who haven't heard, ME!ME!ME! is fan-service intense; I should put a qualifier there, because there's a not-very-subtle subtext to what the video presents, but I'll expound more on that below. That said, there are a lot of naked and almost-naked women to be found here. The video's presentation of female sexuality is so blatant that it's over-the-top. The first ninety seconds are little more than girls (or rather, multiple copies of the same girl) in skimpy outfits shaking their bodies, progressively wearing less and less, all for the titillation of the sole male character that's present.

...and then all of a sudden the context changes; now there's a sinister-looking, four-eyed masked woman, and she directs the other naked girls to start literally devouring the main character. There's also a woman who seems to be a damsel in distress, crying out to the hero (?) as he's being attacked.

...at which point the context shifts again, and we see the half-eaten (from the waist down) hero manifest a suit of mecha-armor around himself, and there's a first-person shooter sequence of him hunting down the masked woman and trying to save the damsel.

The video ends on a surprising note, as the hero is eventually overwhelmed by the horde of naked ladies. Losing his armor, we see him surrendering himself to the inevitable as they surround him, and the last image is of his partially-eaten head falling to the ground.

Make of all this what you will.

I'm fairly poor at interpreting "artistic" works, simply because I can imagine myriad different ways of reading into a sequence of images. One does not have to work too hard to imagine any number of interpretations for what happens above.

For example, I'd hesitantly venture that ME!ME!ME! is more concerned with erotica than it is with horror, simply because the naked girls in the series are explicitly presented both in their imagery (that is, there's no real censoring of the naked female bodies) and their presentation (the various erotic dancing and posing), whereas the horror never strays too far into the grotesque - the gore is largely kept off-screen.

I call that hesitant, however, because I think that horror works best as a (light) juxtaposition with any kind of warm or desirable imagery. The scene of the protagonist having been devoured from the waist down is more horrific, rather than less, because we didn't see any particular displays of blood or viscera - we just saw a swarm of beautiful naked girls descending on him, followed by a quick flash of red and the image of one of them with something red in her mouth, and then the results of their feeding frenzy. As such, one could very honestly say that this is a horror-themed video that uses sex as a lure.

That said, I'm not at all certain what the overall theme of ME!ME!ME! is meant to be. My guess, based on the title of the video and how I'd interpret the images, is that it's actually a clever rebuke of the obsession with fan-service.

Consider, the protagonist begins asleep in his room, surrounded by figures of popular anime girls (from Evangelion, specifically). His initial dream/vision is one of classic male fantasy: a harem of beautiful girls all shaking their curves for his enjoyment.

What's notable is that two shifts then occur at the same time. Suddenly there's a female protagonist trying to reach him, at the same time as there's a faceless, menacing female figure sending in a horde of beautiful women to not just attack him, but to consume him. My guess would be that this is meant to be allegorical to his having internalized sexualized imagery of women (e.g. the girl horde) to the point where it's captivated him (that he'd devoured from the waist down is not coincidental) to the point where he's unable to relate to an actual woman (e.g. the female protagonist).

Of course, if that interpretation of the movie's message is correct, then it's painting a rather grim picture. While the protagonist does fight back, he eventually loses the battle - a warning that focusing purely on fan-service as selfish consumption will ultimately destroy oneself?

It's entirely possible that I'm projecting here, particularly with what we've been discussing across the last few pages. Of course, that's the thing about any sort of interpretation of artwork; it potentially says as much about the interpreter as it does about the work itself.

There's clearly a message to be found in ME!ME!ME!, but I suspect that what the message is will depend on whom you ask.

[Grimmy]

Ugh. I'm trying to find this one I liked but I can't remember even close to enough to give any one any hope of recognizing what I'm talking to.

There's like a normal high school student maybe, and at night she walks down to this creepy lake and a super creepy monster comes out and she kills it with a sword maybe? And there's maybe some creepy trees near the creepy lake...

Something about blood in the title maybe?

Nevermind I don't know.

[TriOmegaZero]

One of the Blood series? Blood C perhaps? Don't remember anything like that in Blood+.

[Alzrius]

This doesn't sound exactly right, but could it be Blood: The Last Vampire?

[TriOmegaZero]

Don't remember there being a lake in the movie either.

We could be totally off and it be Strike the Blood or something else. Haven't seen that one yet.

[Grimmy]

Blood C was it thanks!

Edit:Yeah I think this is it I see her running on water in the opening credits that might be what I remembered as a lake. Anyway, doesn't look as great as I remembered but at least it's not bugging me anymore not being able to remember.

[Greylurker]

Blood C was interesting once you realized it was like the Trueman show

only with demon blender bunnies

[Grimmy]

I love the idea of this girl playing basketball at school by day and then facing down these awesome demons with a sword by night.

But, as much as I regret mentioning this after the big fan-service derail just let up a bit... the "sexy" kind of art style makes this feel sort of 2-dimensional in a way. Coming from Moribito and 12 Kingdoms all week, those are drawing me in much deeper.

[Greylurker]

Character design for Blood C was by CLAMP, so the overall look of it meshes with the rest of their works. They even worked ina Holic link with the series itself. The movie that follows it has a much different feel to it with a much more focussed Saya

[Grimmy]

I don't mind it at all, it's visually cool and I appreciate it as an aesthetic.

I just noticed something like Moribito is drawing me in more deeply to have an emotional connection with the characters.

I don't even really know what fan-service means exactly or if Blood C is an example but after seeing that discussion on here I'm wondering if it could be a barrier to really believing in the character and feeling like they're real people. For some people at least.

[Aranna]

That is part of Moribito's charm... and why I feel it's one of the best anime ever made.

And thank you Grimmy that is exactly the sort of damage fan service does. It makes the girls depicted into "not real people" the rest of the people on a show that aren't targets of fan service get to be relatable and real enough... while the girls with fan service are just objects, not people, they have no real rights. If something bad happens to them on a show you don't feel sorry for them, you feel sorry for the men they belonged to.

PS: I am past the GGO arc in SAO II now, wow what a sad story, I actually cried. Awesome so far!

[Sissyl]

To be perfectly honest, the commedia del'arte style personality archetypes infecting much of manga and anime is a pretty good reason why characters don't feel real or relatable.

[Grimmy]

Well I am also considering it as an art issue not just a female issue. For example the wayne reynolds/pathfinder art style has the same effect of disconnecting me from the world and characters depicted by making them appear sort of like action figures and arsenals of abilities.

The 2e art had it's chain mail bikinis and perfect hairdo's in the middle of a swamp but it still made the scenes come alive in my mind in a way the PF action shots don't... It's probably different for each individual I guess. Interesting to me though.