The Anime Thread

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » 08 Jul 2006 05:52 pm

Thought I'd restart this topic. Recently I have been watching a lot of anime series. I started with Samurai Champloo last year after nearly a two year absence from anime (the last series I watched before SC was Cowboy Bebop). Here is a list of what I have watched recently:

Samurai Champloo - I didn't like this series at first because I kept comparing it to Cowboy Bebop. Once I was 7 episodes in I truly appreciated this series. Fantastic music, great characters and funny dialogue. Excellent finish in the end that didn't feel rushed. My favourite series to date A

Ghost in the Shell: SAC - Excellent production values but extremely slow plot development and characters that don't really go anywhere. Tried very hard to like it but gave up halfway through the first series. B-

Full Metal Alchemist - Many people raved about this series but I found it to be above average. The main characters were likeable but the plot was slow moving and not enough time given to secondary characters to develop before being killed off. B

Shuffle - I didn't understand the attraction of this series at all. Great for fanboys but no one else. Looked great but I remember it put me to sleep at one stage. C

Trinity Blood - This series was a big letdown for me. Excellent theme song, extremely slick and interesting characters but absolutely no plot. It lurched from one location to another with little lead in. C-

Samurai 7 - Another slow starter but I stuck with it because it was only 26 episodes. Excellent, moody music, reminded me a lot of the original films by Kurosawa. The plot was decent for the first half of the series but you could tell in the second half that the writers were making shit up on the fly. Kikunoji was a great foil in every scene he was in, the only character I really liked. Decent series but another slow burner with a weak finish. B

Eureka 7 - Up to episode 7 now and I am really enjoying it. Not as engaging as Samurai Champloo but Renton is likeable and the supporting characters are getting decent exposure. Provisional mark: B+

Any other series out there people want to recommend? I have no idea after I finish Eureka 7.[/b]

Edit - Fucking hate my keyboard

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 08 Jul 2006 08:07 pm

I got given a bunch of Anime series from a friend a few weeks back and saw stuff like Champloo and Full Metal Alchemist, really really good shows imo.

It sort of kick started my interest in anime and so I started watching some others, one that I HIGHLY reccomend is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, don't be put off by the wierd 1st episode that doesn't make any sense and looks like a handycam footage of an anime.. It's purposefully like that and makes sense in context to the rest of the series.

By far one of the most well thought out series I've ever seen and one of the funniest shows aswell, it even has scenes paying tribute to Phoenix Wright! I don't really know what to watch now that I've seen this short/superb series, I fear whatever I watch will seem a bit drab..

I wanna watch Eureka 7 sometime though I hear good things about that.

pilonv1 · Post by **pilonv1** » 08 Jul 2006 08:25 pm

EVERYONE should watch this show..

Genshiken: The Society For The Study Of Modern Visual Culture - It's about an anime club at university, where they watch anime, play fighting games (Guilty Gear, KOF), make Gundam models and cosplay. It's so utterly awesome. A+++++++++++++

I'm going to list a bunch of old stuff in the trading forum tonight that's taking up space.

Pointy Cat · Post by **Pointy Cat** » 08 Jul 2006 09:54 pm

I'm a huge FMA fanboy as some know. Just today I bought a chibi Al statue thing and his head bobs! What amazing!

Anyway, one anime I must recommend is Monster. Some people don't like its very slow pace, but it's the kind of anime that needs it. I loved it all the way through. Very interesting story. Watch it!

Spoonfan · Post by **Spoonfan** » 08 Jul 2006 11:37 pm

Well I love Bleach obviously (avataromg), though have hardly watched it since the fillers started.

Is your avatar from Beck, SJ? Or am I seeing things?

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » 08 Jul 2006 11:56 pm

I will probably try Monster next. I've head good things about Bleach but it seems like a 'power-up' anime like Trinity Blood (i.e. characters stand around comparing their powers before actually fighting, character gets knocked down and sits for a moment stunned by some flashback of his dead mother/brother/father etc.)

pilonv1 · Post by **pilonv1** » 09 Jul 2006 12:40 am

Here's a brief look at Genshiken for those unaware of it.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 09 Jul 2006 07:22 am

Spoonfan wrote:Well I love Bleach obviously (avataromg), though have hardly watched it since the fillers started.

Is your avatar from Beck, SJ? Or am I seeing things?

Nah it's from an ep of the Anime I mentioned (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), dunno what Beck is.

It's only 14 eps but it's such high quality.. Dunno what to watch now.

Might try and get that crazy thing Pilon posted looks hilarious

van · Post by **van** » 09 Jul 2006 09:35 am

There is so much shit anime on the shelves these days. The anime section at JB Hi-Fi would be about 8 rows smaller if I were in charge.

Gives anime a bad name, letting all these fucking lame titles float in. Other than GITS:SAC and Samurai Champloo, there's virtually nothing worth watching in the western market right now.

Spoonfan · Post by **Spoonfan** » 09 Jul 2006 03:37 pm

Sonic Jam wrote:
Spoonfan wrote:Well I love Bleach obviously (avataromg), though have hardly watched it since the fillers started.

Is your avatar from Beck, SJ? Or am I seeing things?
Nah it's from an ep of the Anime I mentioned (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), dunno what Beck is.

It was a manga/anime series about a group of musicians. Very rock and roll, it was awesome.

Ekin · Post by **Ekin** » 09 Jul 2006 04:54 pm

I cant get into anime probably because its mostly crap.

My friends have been saying for a long time to watch naruto. So i watch the first episode and i thought its ok but honestly i dont care, i felt no connection. Now they've moved on to bleach, fuck that waste of time.

Pointy Cat · Post by **Pointy Cat** » 09 Jul 2006 10:26 pm

Naruto gets better as it goes on for a while, but then it turns to shit. Don't bother.

There's nothing I'm actually watching at the moment, which is kind of sad... there seems to be a lot out there, but nothing recent that I seem to be interested in.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 09 Jul 2006 11:22 pm

No more a waste than most TV shows though Ekin, but yes the epic Anime like Naruto has no soul for the first 100 billion eps, then soul for a while, then loses its soul again later on and proves to be a momentus waste of time more often than not. It is incredibly hard to feel a connection to these types of shows imo unless you have nothing else to do one day and just watch a fuckload of it.

Short and sweet animes are the best, your friends should've introduced you to something quality like Cowboy Bebop (strange name I know, but it's really really good), It's not incredibly long and even the episodes not related to the main story are very entertaining, plus the production quality and the way you don't need 100 episodes to tell 2 pages of story make it alot easier to connect with it.

Pointy Cat: Checkout the anime my avatar is from if you wanna watch something completely crazy/funny that isn't very long, it's really superb

van · Post by **van** » 09 Jul 2006 11:29 pm

Yeah, I'll throw in a vote for Cowboy Bebop. Prepare yourself for weirdness (though not on the scale of Naruto or - even moreso - FLCL), but you can definitely expect some amazing work there.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 09 Jul 2006 11:39 pm

I only just saw the movie for the first time a few weeks ago and it brought back all the memories about how good the show is.

A perfect example of why anime can be a good medium if done properly, sort of an opposite of these 300 episode anime behemoths everyone gets invited to watch that turns people sour on the whole concept of anime.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » 10 Jul 2006 01:02 am

Cowboy Bebop just tops Samurai Champloo for me. First anime where I enjoyed every single episode and the movie as well. Characters are great, music is great and the production values are through the roof. Some people hated the ending but I saw it coming, very bittersweet. Shinichiro Watanabe is good at endings, better than most anime directors.

jahooley · Post by **jahooley** » 12 Jul 2006 12:52 pm

I'm not a massive amine fan, but recently i was given that old series "Teknoman/Tekkaman Blade." Anyone remember?? It was awsome as a kid, but nowdays, (meh) not so impressive..... funny how the soundtrack used in the series is 'tekno' music. lol

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » 09 Aug 2006 11:46 pm

Looking for some recommendations as to what series to watch next. I'm almost finished watching Eureka 7 (pretty good if a little annoying at times) and now downloading Genshiken. After that though I have little idea. Not really interested in maxi-series like Bleach and Naruto (the latter especially). Something about 26 episodes long. I was looking at Wolf's Rain given the Cowboy Bebop connections but reviews say it's pretty morbid. There is another series coming out by the same production studio as Cowboy Bebop but I can't remember the name of the series. Any suggestions are welcome.

Spoonfan · Post by **Spoonfan** » 09 Aug 2006 11:50 pm

Seriously dude, check out Beck. It's a brilliant series with a great soundtrack, especially if you love rock and roll. Only 26 episodes and highly recommended.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » 09 Aug 2006 11:51 pm

I saw it on TV last year but my Japanese wasn't good enough to understand most of it. If there is a decent fansub out now I'll download it. CHeers.

pilonv1 · Post by **pilonv1** » 09 Aug 2006 11:59 pm

You couldn't understand the guy's poor engrish?

Spoonfan · Post by **Spoonfan** » 10 Aug 2006 12:09 am

Ryuusuke's Engrish was hilarious, especially when he swore.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » 20 Aug 2006 12:45 am

Watching Genshiken now while waiting for Eureka 7 to finish downloading (didn't realise it was 50 episodes). Not a bad series but not as funny as I was expecting. It might be that I have lived here so long I have become aclimatised to otaku and their antics that it isn't that fuunny anymore. Still looking for Beck.

Beer Belly · Post by **Beer Belly** » 21 Aug 2006 05:33 pm

I'm still stuck at Neon Genesis Evangelion!

GameHED · Post by **GameHED** » 23 Aug 2006 04:26 pm

Watch all of Rurouni Kenishin tv series and the OVAs. You won't be disapointed.

Patlabor Tv series is also quite well done. It's more light and less serious than the OVA and movies (lot of politics in the Oshi movies before you get any mecha action, so if you have short attention span the series is a lot more suitable)

Right now I am about to start on Beserk. Never read the manga but I will give this a try. Anyone else think it is worth watching?

Also I think Gits is going for a third series "solid state society". (or is that a movie? I still have yet to watch second gig) So I have a lot to catch up on...

Some good news if you are a mecha anime nut like me:
ANN:

New Votoms Series (2006-08-19 11:24:19)
At C3 X HOBBY 2006 (also called Chara Hobby) in Japan, Ryosuke Takahashi, director of the Votoms series, announced today that he will direct a new Votoms series in 2007.

I was a fan of the original Armored Trooper Votoms show because of its gritty realism. It is good to see there are continuations of the really old mecha shows coming. Hopefully it won't suck. (like what happened with remake of Bubble Gum Crisis. The newer upgraded suits in that made me want to vomit.)

Recently after seeing eureka 7 I went back to some older stuff like megazone 23 (parts I-III) and I have to say the animation still stands up today. If you liked the themes in the first matrix movie, super dimension fortress macross or genesis climber mospeada this might interest you. Holographic pop idol? check! People living in fake environment? Check! People hacking into cnetral computers to manipulate minds? check! Cool looking transforming robot bike mecha? check!

the good thing about champloo and bebop I find is that it has some good single episode story episodes. So if you missed an ep or weren't paying much attention you can still enjoy the show. The skinny main character in Bebop looks lot like Lupin the third. That is what first got me into it.

^note the similarity?