Let's Talk About Anime

[Vahanian 89]

Has anyone been watching the new Berserk anime? I'm so happy they have finally picked up where the original and OVA left off.

[TriOmegaZero]

Hulu is cracking down on anonymous IPs now. Which means I can't use it with Rabb.it to share Unlimited Blade Works. :/ Thankfully, Crunchyroll is working just fine and still has it.

[Purple Dragon Knight]

Anyone watched that new 'Ajin' anime on Netflix? how is it?

[Krensky]

Aranna wrote:

Does anyone know if anyone in the anime industry is going to start putting titles out in 4k or 8k resolutions?

* Shrug

4k is ploy to make you buy a new TV and sell more LCD glass. Unless your eyes are waaaay on the outer edge of human capability or you are sitting so they're a foot or two from the screen (and quite likely both) you'll never notice the difference between 1080p and 2160p.

If like most people your eyes are five to ten feet from the screen, spend the money on a OLED screen with better electronics rather than the 4k one.

[Caineach]

Purple Dragon Knight wrote:

Anyone watched that new 'Ajin' anime on Netflix? how is it?

I thought it was really good. They take an interesting premise and run with it. Only problem is it very much cuts off halfway through the story. I hear season 2 was greenlit.

[Caineach]

Krensky wrote:

Aranna wrote:

Does anyone know if anyone in the anime industry is going to start putting titles out in 4k or 8k resolutions?

* Shrug

4k is ploy to make you buy a new TV and sell more LCD glass. Unless your eyes are waaaay on the outer edge of human capability or you are sitting so they're a foot or two from the screen (and quite likely both) you'll never notice the difference between 1080p and 2160p.

If like most people your eyes are five to ten feet from the screen, spend the money on a OLED screen with better electronics rather than the 4k one.

I was at a demo comparing a 4K TV to a standard TV. I thought the standard TV looked better, and that was close up. You could see a little difference in resolution, but I thought the color balance wasn't as good, which is where they are supposed to really shine from what I understand.

[Alzrius]

Greylurker wrote:

Dragon78 wrote:

So, is the Gargantia anime any good?

Yes it is and it doesn't quite go the way you originally expect it to

Very much so.

[Krensky]

Caineach wrote:

Krensky wrote:

Aranna wrote:

Does anyone know if anyone in the anime industry is going to start putting titles out in 4k or 8k resolutions?

* Shrug

4k is ploy to make you buy a new TV and sell more LCD glass. Unless your eyes are waaaay on the outer edge of human capability or you are sitting so they're a foot or two from the screen (and quite likely both) you'll never notice the difference between 1080p and 2160p.

If like most people your eyes are five to ten feet from the screen, spend the money on a OLED screen with better electronics rather than the 4k one.

I was at a demo comparing a 4K TV to a standard TV. I thought the standard TV looked better, and that was close up. You could see a little difference in resolution, but I thought the color balance wasn't as good, which is where they are supposed to really shine from what I understand.

4k displays only inherent "advantage" over 2k displays is the resolution. Often they have better electronics because they're high end sets, but just as often they don't. OLED (not LED, those are still LCD panels) displays have much better pictures.

Usually at those demos you're unnaturally close and the 2k display is correctly calibrated, if not calibrated with washed out colore and such while the 4k is setup with the back light cranked up and the brightness and colors way over done.

[Petty Alchemy]

Finished Angel Beats a couple of days ago. It took me a while to get into it (it starts off with guns, but then most of the side characters are 1-dimensional jokes, so I was confused as to whether it was going to be serious or not).

Once it got going though, it was good. You get to know some of the side characters better, and the others are there just to pad out the group/get worfed, which is okay. I think the second half made the show worth it, which is strange as usually shows start strong then fall off.

The protagonist was likable too. Unlike Subaru in Re:Zero.

[Greylurker]

Vahanian 89 wrote:

Has anyone been watching the new Berserk anime? I'm so happy they have finally picked up where the original and OVA left off.

As much as I am really glad to see more Berserk, the CG they are using really isn't doing it for me.

[Vahanian 89]

Greylurker wrote:

Vahanian 89 wrote:

Has anyone been watching the new Berserk anime? I'm so happy they have finally picked up where the original and OVA left off.

As much as I am really glad to see more Berserk, the CG they are using really isn't doing it for me.

I'm not really a fan of it either but I'm watching for the story. It really sucks that the intro is normal style anime too, then the show is the CG.

[Aranna]

Krensky wrote:

Caineach wrote:

Krensky wrote:

Aranna wrote:

Does anyone know if anyone in the anime industry is going to start putting titles out in 4k or 8k resolutions?

* Shrug

4k is ploy to make you buy a new TV and sell more LCD glass. Unless your eyes are waaaay on the outer edge of human capability or you are sitting so they're a foot or two from the screen (and quite likely both) you'll never notice the difference between 1080p and 2160p.

If like most people your eyes are five to ten feet from the screen, spend the money on a OLED screen with better electronics rather than the 4k one.

I was at a demo comparing a 4K TV to a standard TV. I thought the standard TV looked better, and that was close up. You could see a little difference in resolution, but I thought the color balance wasn't as good, which is where they are supposed to really shine from what I understand.

4k displays only inherent "advantage" over 2k displays is the resolution. Often they have better electronics because they're high end sets, but just as often they don't. OLED (not LED, those are still LCD panels) displays have much better pictures.

Usually at those demos you're unnaturally close and the 2k display is correctly calibrated, if not calibrated with washed out colore and such while the 4k is setup with the back light cranked up and the brightness and colors way over done.

I was watching a demo from 5 to 10 feet away comparing the two and the 4k was massively superior. I could pick out individual books on a book shelf in the background on 4k while the 1080p the books exact edges were unclear. Besides I want to upgrade from my old 720p set and 4k seems the smarter buy long term.

[Grey Lensman]

Alzrius wrote:

Greylurker wrote:

Dragon78 wrote:

So, is the Gargantia anime any good?

Yes it is and it doesn't quite go the way you originally expect it to

Very much so.

We all missed our chance to make a 'sanctified excrement' joke here. What are the messageboards coming to?

[Blayde MacRonan]

They've been pretty consistent so far with using CG when dealing with demonic elements in Berserk. It makes the otherworldly Lovecraft-like aspects very disturbing and jarring to the viewer. I, for one, am enjoying it for that reason.

The first season Ajin: Demi-Human has been something that I've raved about here and will continue to do do. Because when your main antagonist is an old man that plays video games and plans like Hannibal from The A-Team, you know you've come across a true gem of show. Can't wait to see what season two has in store.

And quite possibly one of the visually weirdest shows I've had the pleasure of watching this summer has been Mob Psycho 100 from ONE, the creator of One-Punch Man. I'm still mentally recovering from the opening animation of that show.

[SAMAS]

Jaçinto wrote:

The reason I don't like harem anime is because, generally, the story does not make sense even within the context of the universe it is in. There was this one, I forget the name, where there are these mech suits that only women can pilot for some biological reason. Then there was one man that could, so this was a big deal. Okay, I'm following so far. After one fight with a stuck up pilot at this academy he was in, every girl in the series and even the ones that hated him just moments before, went total obsessive stalker on him with how much they loved him for no reason whatsoever.

You're either talking about Infinite Stratos, or Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar. The latter actually goes a lot into the ramifications of that. Male pilots are seen pretty much as political breeding stock, highly sought over but given little agency and respect(one male pilot was kidnapped, and hinted raped by a bunch of bullying girls).

Indeed, there are a lot of male pilots that joined the bad guys primarily because they were tired of being treated that way.

So I'm thinking you're thinking about Infinite Stratos.

[Krensky]

Stratos makes much more sense and is far more fun if you fix in your head that the otaku scientist who invented the power armor did so, and programmed then to not allow male pilots, as an elaborate scheme to get her best friend's little brother a harem of cute pilot girls.

If it's Genimar, well, that has something to do with the water near the Masaki shrine and the hero being related to 'gods'. Or something. It's a Tenchi show, don't think too hard about the relationships and how everyone is related.

[Alzrius]

Krensky wrote:

If it's Genimar, well, that has something to do with the water near the Masaki shrine and the hero being related to 'gods'. Or something. It's a Tenchi show, don't think too hard about the relationships and how everyone is related.

Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari (I can't call it by that awful "War on Geminar" name) was where the Tenchi Muyo! OVA series lost its luster for me.

The Tenchi series - or at least that continuity - primarily works based on the strength of its cast, which is absolutely required because the plot is typically thin-to-nonexistent. As such, going with an entirely new cast is a serious risk, one that Seikishi Monogatari wasn't able to capitalize on; its characters felt like a collection of tropes more than unique, interesting individuals.

(GXP pulled this off because director Shinichi Watanabe - the famous "NabeShin" - knows how to make a credible comedy series, and that held things together while we got used to the new cast, who were actually rather fun to watch; ironically, this ticked off series creator Masaki Kajishima enough that he's rewriting GXP in a series of novels.)

[Rednal]

What, was there not enough incest in GXP? XD

(You think I'm joking. Then you see the series' Family Tree.)

[Greylurker]

say what you like about GXP but Seina married his entire Harem + 4 more girls.

I have yet to see another Harem lead manage that

[Alzrius]

Rednal wrote:

What, was there not enough incest in GXP? XD

(You think I'm joking. Then you see the series' Family Tree.)

Hm, I should pester AstroNerdBoy to update that; it doesn't have Kenshi in there.

[Lemmy]

I still think the best Tenchi Muyo series is Tenchi Muyo Universe... Tenchi in Tokyo was okay too... The others are too convoluted and not very funny, IMO.

I got curious about Susei no Gargantia... But I'm not a fan of series about giant robots... So I lost interest. :/

[Freehold DM]

SAMAS wrote:

Jaçinto wrote:

The reason I don't like harem anime is because, generally, the story does not make sense even within the context of the universe it is in. There was this one, I forget the name, where there are these mech suits that only women can pilot for some biological reason. Then there was one man that could, so this was a big deal. Okay, I'm following so far. After one fight with a stuck up pilot at this academy he was in, every girl in the series and even the ones that hated him just moments before, went total obsessive stalker on him with how much they loved him for no reason whatsoever.

You're either talking about Infinite Stratos, or Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar. The latter actually goes a lot into the ramifications of that. Male pilots are seen pretty much as political breeding stock, highly sought over but given little agency and respect(one male pilot was kidnapped, and hinted raped by a bunch of bullying girls).

Indeed, there are a lot of male pilots that joined the bad guys primarily because they were tired of being treated that way.

So I'm thinking you're thinking about Infinite Stratos.

That made my stomach turn in Geminar. Turned me off to the entire series.

[Freehold DM]

Lemmy wrote:

I still think the best Tenchi Muyo series is Tenchi Muyo Universe... Tenchi in Tokyo was okay too... The others are too convoluted and not very funny, IMO.

I got curious about Susei no Gargantia... But I'm not a fan of series about giant robots... So I lost interest. :/

A man who doesn't love giant robots is never a whole man.

[Krensky]

Lemmy wrote:

I got curious about Susei no Gargantia... But I'm not a fan of series about giant robots... So I lost interest. :/

Whigh is funny, because it's not a show about giant robots. It has them, but that's not what it's about.

[Alzrius]

Krensky wrote:

Lemmy wrote:

I got curious about Susei no Gargantia... But I'm not a fan of series about giant robots... So I lost interest. :/

Whigh is funny, because it's not a show about giant robots. It has them, but that's not what it's about.

Krensky is correct; Gargantia isn't a giant robot anime as that genre is usually defined.

[Grey Lensman]

Alzrius wrote:

Krensky wrote:

Lemmy wrote:

I got curious about Susei no Gargantia... But I'm not a fan of series about giant robots... So I lost interest. :/

Whigh is funny, because it's not a show about giant robots. It has them, but that's not what it's about.

Krensky is correct; Gargantia isn't a giant robot anime as that genre is usually defined.

It does, however, start off looking like one in the intro. Someone who isn't overly aware of the series as a whole can easily mistake it for one.

That said, I recommend the series highly. The giant robots serve the plot rather than being the plot.

[Alzrius]

Alzrius wrote:

Lemmy wrote:

Man... Re:Zero can get really freaking dark sometimes... I enjoy the series, but the latest episode was... emotionally exhausting. X(

Very much so. When I first started watching the series (mistakenly thinking that it only had one cour), I binged on the first thirteen episodes. In hindsight that was a mistake, because the series puts so much punch into its plot and characterization that it works better if you take it a few episodes at a time to let what happens digest.

So Crunchyroll is now streaming Re:Zero Breaktime, a series of three-minute shorts with chibi (super-deformed) versions of the characters (much like the Pure Pure Pleiades shorts from Overlord). These are openly being presented as lighthearted breaks from the main series' heavy presentation, though so far they seem more "cute" than "funny."

Eleven are up so far; I have no idea if there's more to come or not.

[GM Rednal]

There's still Re:PETIT, which I think they're starting next Friday.

Speaking of, I got the first novel, and I plan to crack into that soon and see how the anime compares. XD The books usually offer a lot of context that anime series just can't fit in, so...

[Alzrius]

There's a famous quote by Dorothy Parker that I'm fond of (originally made in reference to Katherine Hepburn's acting): "a striking performance that ran the gamut of emotions, from A to B." Now replace "emotions" with "plot-progression," and you'd perfectly summarize my feelings about Isuca, a ten-episode urban fantasy series (there's also an OVA, but as it's not on Crunchyroll, I haven't seen it).

Isuca is the story of Shinichirou Asano, a high school student who falls in with a petite blonde monster-hunter named Sakuya Shimazu, after she saves him from being eaten by a yoma (which the subtitles call "specters"). After an initial misadventure where Sakuya realizes that Shinichirou is overflowing with spiritual energy - and, moreover, can somehow infer the true names of yoma, making them easily bound - the two of them work together (along with a small cadre of others) to try and figure out who's summoning yoma and why.

Right from the get-go, this show seems to be somewhat cognizant of how generic it is, and so wastes absolutely no time in establishing its two main draws. The first is that there's slightly more blood and gore here than you'd expect; this never ventures into - or even comes close to - guro ("grotesque") territory, but rather that we get the occasional arterial spray when a background character becomes food for a monster.

That's a minor point compared to the series' second go-to, which is that the girls in Isuca get naked, as well as end up in compromising positions, with notable regularity. Sakuya's clothes get shredded in battle several times, for example, and Tamako (being a nekomata; that is, a two-tailed cat yoma) simply prefers to go around naked even when she's in human form. (As if to drive the point home, the ending sequence is both of these girls completely naked - save for Sakuya's stockings - in various positions that just barely manage to cover their naughty bits while still showing their bodies off.

Of course, this last point is somewhat hindered by the censoring, which makes sure to block out any instances of bare breasts, but is also very hesitant to even allow for a panty-shot. Worse, it's often hideously unsubtle about this, often simply putting floating patches of darkness over the offending nudity. I haven't seen censoring that nakedly obtrusive (see what I did there?) since the broadcast version of Kodomo no Jikan.

All of that is a shame, because this show desperately needs the naked girls to help distract from just how full of holes the plot is. It's one thing to not resolve the main plot line - while not ideal, leaving things with a "we've won...for now" cliffhanger is acceptable - but it's another thing to toss out several particular threads and then ignore them.

For example, when Shinichirou speaks Sakuya's true name, we're told that that means that he's become her master, with the implication being that if he directly orders her to do something, she literally can't disobey...and yet, that's never touched on after its initial presentation. Why does the main villain want to hurt Sakuya so badly? She says her reason, but never provides the context necessary to have her answer actually make sense. What exactly is Sakuya's grandmother? That last scene of her questions that are never answered. And why oh why does one of the supporting characters wait until the series is three-fourths of the way through before saying "oh hey, that villain we've been fighting? The one whose identity is a complete mystery? Do you think the fact that her magic is identical to our clan's centuries-old rival clan, who's heretofore never been mentioned, is significant at all?" I won't even get started on that whole "yoma drain life-force, which causes extreme pleasure as a side-effect" schtick that's used in the first few episodes and then never mentioned again.

I could go on (e.g. if Shinichirou can share his spiritual energy with the girls via kisses, super-charging their powers at no danger to himself, then why doesn't he kiss all of the girls during the extremely-difficult final battle?), but at this point I think I've made it abundantly clear how weak of a show this is. Ironically, the actual execution isn't half-bad; the characters are likable enough and the plot is actually rather brave in its dogged determination to ignore its own internal inconsistencies. Oh and hey, the (censored) boobs.

Ultimately, Isuca is a show that's undone if you pay attention to details. It knows this, but takes a "don't sweat the details" attitude, instead being content with having its female cast members nip-slip and panty-shot their way to the finish line, along with a few wannabe-edgy bits of violence. It's earnest, if not very talented, and makes for an okay distraction when you want a series that's as pointless as it is short.

[Alzrius]

Alternate title for Re:Zero episode 17:

"Yes, It Can Still Get Even Worse"

[Lemmy]

They announced an anime adaptation of "KEIJO!!!"...

...

I'm sure Aranna will be delighted. :P

[Caineach]

Grey Lensman wrote:

Alzrius wrote:

Krensky wrote:

Lemmy wrote:

I got curious about Susei no Gargantia... But I'm not a fan of series about giant robots... So I lost interest. :/

Whigh is funny, because it's not a show about giant robots. It has them, but that's not what it's about.

Krensky is correct; Gargantia isn't a giant robot anime as that genre is usually defined.

It does, however, start off looking like one in the intro. Someone who isn't overly aware of the series as a whole can easily mistake it for one.

That said, I recommend the series highly. The giant robots serve the plot rather than being the plot.

I would actually recommend the show for people who do not typically like giant robots. They need to get past the first episode, but after that I think it more resembles a slice of life anime than a giant robot one.

[John Benbo]

Crunchyroll Guest Passes

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And Crunchyroll recently added the old Street Fighter II anime movie!

[Lemmy]

John Benbo wrote:

And Crunchyroll recently added the old Street Fighter II anime movie!

Remember to watch it in widescreen so that you can see Akuma... Sitting by the road, eating bread. But still... It's Akuma!

[Lemmy]

Wait... Was that... A 2nd episode of Re:Zero that doesn't make me feel miserable every step of the way?!

I almost can't believe it!

Now... If only Subaru could see that Rem is best grill... All would be perfect.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

I'm just waiting for it to blow up in his face and have him fall apart again. It seems too convenient for him to just decide to be better and actually be better. (or maybe I'm just projecting)

Our favorite magical pretty boys continue to be fabulous and hilarious, and "Sweetness and Lightning" lives up to the first half of its name. Macross Delta...if they hadn't killed off the only really likable character it would be much better. Plot is decent enough, the characters detract.

[Greylurker]

I'm still loving Thunderbolt Fantasy.

Plotwise it's pretty simple; Get the gang together, overcome the challenges and then defeat the evil guys in their lair. Thing is the group make up is full of neat characters, just thinking about the Alignment make up of the current party gets me giggling.

Priestess I'm thinking is LG
Demon Necromancer either NE or LE. She practical Evil
Spearfighter is CG, all flashy hero style character.
Archer I'm thinking either LG or NG
Mage I'm thinking is TN. Seems to play both sides a fair bit and very much "I'll use what I can get to get the job done"
The Assassin is probably NE pushing CE. Very much a "I Kill because I can't not think of killing people when I meet them"

Our Main character the Mysterious Swordsman is probably NG. He's pretending like it's got nothing to do with him and he's only their under duress but it's not like he's going anywhere and tends to go out of his way to head problems off before other people get themselves killed.

[Alzrius]

Lemmy wrote:

Wait... Was that... A 2nd episode of Re:Zero that doesn't make me feel miserable every step of the way?!

I almost can't believe it!

Now... If only Subaru could see that Rem is best grill... All would be perfect.

I thought that episode eighteen was incredibly powerful. The sheer humanity of that episode, as Subaru finally hit rock-bottom, and finally began to climb back up, was awe-inspiring. It really cemented what I already knew: that this show is one of the greats, at least for me.

But yeah, I called complete BS on him not declaring his love for Rem right there. At this point, she should mean far and away more to him than Emilia ever did.

[Lemmy]

Alzrius wrote:

I thought that episode eighteen was incredibly powerful. The sheer humanity of that episode, as Subaru finally hit rock-bottom, and finally began to climb back up, was awe-inspiring. It really cemented what I already knew: that this show is one of the greats, at least for me.

episode 18 was definitely very powerful... My point is that it (fortunately) didn't make me feel miserable, like pretty much every episode since the "election" arc started. :P

It was an emotional episode... Only it has a more positive tone. Before episode 18, this arc was very emotionally draining. Everything backfired and every character suffers and/or dies gruesomely... It was getting quite exhausting, actually.

[Freehold DM]

I'll check it out later, I have only started watching it as I am caught up to gundam Unicorn.

[Rednal]

Well, Re:Zero is easily my favorite show currently airing. XD I'd definitely say it's worth it.

[Petty Alchemy]

Watched Kokoro Connect (going back to older shows), it was fairly cute and lighthearted. In case anyone else missed it the first time around, I recommend it if you think watching a group of friends dealing with mystical uncontrollable phenomena (such as body swapping) could be interesting.

It doesn't look like crunchyroll has the sequel Michi Random episodes though.

[Freehold DM]

Rednal wrote:

Well, Re:Zero is easily my favorite show currently airing. XD I'd definitely say it's worth it.

puts it firmly into "watch" column

[Lemmy Z]

Not an anime (at least, not yet) but I recently started reading and am loving Tomo-chan wa Onna no ko!.

It a story about a tomboy girl (Tomo-chan) who is in love with her best friend Jun, an equally fierce and competitive boy who grew up with her.

However, Tomo's physical prowess and tomboyish manner makes Jun treat her like a boy, going as far even occasionally forgetting that she's in fact, female.

It a light comedy series told one page a day. I actually smile and laugh while reading it. XD