Topic: Anime

[Toruresu]

Sorry to bump and old thread but I didn't know where else to ask this.

Anyone else watching Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)? The manga has been out for a while, up to chapter 300 if memory serves, anime recently started, only on ep. 11. Give it a try, it's really good.

Synopsis: Attack on Titan is set in a world where the remnants of the human population live inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the sudden appearance of the Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. The story centers around the life of Eren Jaeger and his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, whose lives are changed forever after the appearance of a colossal Titan brings about the destruction of their home and the death of their mother.

[Minsc]

@Toruresu:  No I haven't.

Speaking of anime recommendations, go watch Space Brothers.  Now!

[broodwars]

I have said as much on NFR many times now, but if you like Science Fiction anime, go see Steins;Gate. Now. It's one of the best series I've seen in the last decade. You can even watch the 1st 4 episodes dubbed for free here: http://www.funimation.com/steins-gate So get on that.

[Oblivion]

Wait, the show has been dubbed? All I can find are subbed versions.

[MegaByte]

if you like Science Fiction anime, go see Steins;Gate. Now. It's one of the best series I've seen in the last decade.

x 100

[broodwars]

Wait, the show has been dubbed? All I can find are subbed versions.

The show's been out in Japanese & English in NA on BluRay from Funimation for about 6 months now. If you scroll down the page of the link I provided, you'll see listings for free streams of the 1st 4 dubbed episodes (and it's a good dub). Episodes 5-25 are available for streaming as well, but only to subscribers.

[Oblivion]

Do you recommend the subs or dubs? I watched about three minutes of the dub and the voices grated on my nerves.

[broodwars]

Do you recommend the subs or dubs? I watched about three minutes of the dub and the voices grated on my nerves.

The dub. I don't know your preferences for English Voice Acting, but to me it's an excellent dub. Maybe you just heard too much Miyori, because J Michael Tatum as Okari is fantastic.

[Oblivion]

I wish it was on the three other streaming services I have. I'd rather not spend money on ANOTHER streaming service or spend $100 on the blu-ray releases.

[Oblivion]

So I figured I might as well bump this topic since I seem to be watching a lot of anime lately. Ironically, it's because I finally got around to watching Steins;Gate. Despite what Broowars suggested, I went the sub route because I still couldn't handle Okabe's english VA. But let me just say this about the anime:

HOLY FUCKING ****

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this series. All I knew is that time travel was involved and that episode 12 would make me want to marathon the rest of the series. By 1 in the morning I hit that 12th episode and oh my god was I hooked. I stayed up the rest of the night and finished the series, watched the OVA (which was a nice epilogue to the series, by the way) and watched the film (which I think **** on the series, but it was still okay). I have never done that before in my life, so that's a testament to how good this show is. Anyone who reads this and doesn't check out Steins;Gate is really doing themselves a disservice.

Before that, I rewatched Cowboy Bebop in a few days. I haven't seen the show for a couple years but what I do remember I adored. My rewatch made me fall in love with the show all over again. The music, animation, performances, action, everything is superb. Without a doubt the best anime I have ever watched, but Steins;Gate comes behind a very very close second.

And finally, I just got done with a short-form anime of a genre I normally DESPISE. As some of you may know, I am not a huge fan of most anime. I still believe that most isn't very good or is a bit too fanservice-y. So when I got some glowing recommendations of The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior, I was very, very, very skeptical. I am usually not a fan of "slice-of-life" or romance anime. However, I was curious why everyone said it was so good so I downloaded it and decided to give it a try. At first, I was thinking I wasn't going to like it. Hell, by the middle of the second episode I was about to give it up. However, something just clicked after that and I ended up watching the whole thing in one go. It's only 12 episodes long, but still. It's a very cute and endearing show, and sort of reminded me of some of the things that happened to me in high school. Kawai Complex definitely isn't something I would recommend to most people on NWR, but if you can look past the basic premise, you might find it interesting.

Next on my list is Witch Craft Works, which I might start some time today. Apparently it's a fantasy/comedy short form anime that takes the normal gender roles people expect and turns them on their head. I might not like it, but I might as well give it a try.

[Oblivion]

I just finished the 12th and last episode of Witch Craft Works. I gotta say... I'm not really of fan of these extremely short animes. Both Kawai Complex and WCW are based on manga that are barely ahead of the anime and will be going on for many more years. Part of me wishes they'd just wait to do the show for a few years so they could have a full series instead of a 12 episode series that feels incomplete. Because that's exactly what I felt about WCW.

To be honest, I had not a fucking clue what was going on throughout the show. WHenever I thought I knew, another curveball was thrown at me and I was lost again. By the end, the only thing keeping it together for me was the relationships between the two protagonists.

Incomprehensible plot notwithstanding, I definitely enjoyed it. The animation is quite good, and almost all of the character are really well designed, even if they only had a few minutes or seconds of screen time. While it was fantastic, it was pretty good. Recommended if you enjoy a twist on common tropes and good, interesting character interactions.

[oohhboy]

Steins;Gate was Excellent and thanks for the recommendation. I haven't seen any new anime for quite a while since the good stuff is so few and far between. Like you I ended up marathoning it to the detriment to sleep and health. This series can really pull on your heart strings. **** got REAL GRIM DARK

I am on the opposite end on you regarding the Movie. It answered a very important question left open at the end of the series, leaving me pretty satisfied. That is pretty rare in any media.

[broodwars]

I've started watching Space Dandy. It's a dandy show...in space.  : :   I'm enjoying the sheer nonsense of it, and how it's a show just about having fun space adventures. It's kind of the 2nd coming of Outlaw Star in a way.

On a side note, Funimation needs to finally license that damn Steins;Gate movie.

[Oblivion]

I am on the opposite end on you regarding the Movie. It answered a very important question left open at the end of the series, leaving me pretty satisfied. That is pretty rare in any media.

Could you elaborate? I'm not really sure what you're referring to.

I've started watching Space Dandy. It's a dandy show...in space.  : : : : :   I'm enjoying the sheer nonsense of it, and how it's a show just about having fun space adventures. It's kind of the 2nd coming of Outlaw Star in a way.

On a side note, Funimation needs to finally license that damn Steins;Gate movie.

Yeah, I've been meaning to get into Space Dandy. However, I have this thing about television. I can't stand watching a TV show and not having all of the episodes in front of me so I can watch them at my own pace. I only can do that with shows that I absolutely adore (like Korra. : : ). I figured once Space Dandy is finished I'll give it a shot.

A quick question, does Space Dandy have any sort of... non-comedy moments in it? I'm not a huge fan of everything being silly so I'm wondering if there's anything to break up the "sheer nonsense" of it.

As for me, I tried giving Samurai 7 a try. For those that don't know, it's an adaptation of Seven Samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa. However, in this anime, it has a weird matchup of mecha sci-fi and classic samurais. The character designs interested me so I gave it a shot and watched the first episode. However, I wasn't impressed. In the opening, there's a samurai character fighting robots mech, in space. Without a suit on. Using just his sword.

I didn't find the rest of the episode all that better. I can't really explain it, but it really didn't hold my attention and the odd mix of mediocre 2D animation and awful 3D animation really just turns me off. If anyone else has seen this show, is there another reason I should give it a chance?

[Triforce Hermit]

Space Dandy is complete silliness for the whole 30 minutes. There has only been one episode where it was serious for the majority of the episode.

Season 2 has started really well, I liked the first episode a lot. Season 1 was really dull at a lot of parts and only 3 episodes were really good.

[broodwars]

Space Dandy is complete silliness for the whole 30 minutes. There has only been one episode where it was serious for the majority of the episode.

Season 2 has started really well, I liked the first episode a lot. Season 1 was really dull at a lot of parts and only 3 episodes were really good.

Now that I'm at episode 10, I have to concur with much of this. Occasionally, the episodes have ended on a more poignant note that reminds me of some of the lesser Bebop episodes like Boogie Woogie Fung Shwei, but for the most part this show is pure comedy. The first season is only 13 episodes long and the second season is airing right now, so it may get more serious this season, but I'm not sure how seriously they can take a show where the main character has already been killed at least twice and resurrected between episodes.  It isn't like Outlaw Star or Gurren Lagann, where the show could be pretty damn goofy but also knew to take things more seriously.  It's an enjoyable show, but an unbalanced one.

On a side note, I've also been watching From the New World. I'm at the end of the first box set (13 episodes in) and...I'm really not sure how I feel about this series. It's pretty damn nonsensical in places, and the plot can be pretty hard to follow. It's not bad. It just feels like they took a complex novel and pretty much directly adapted it to an anime series.

[Oblivion]

It just feels like they took a complex novel and pretty much directly adapted it to an anime series.

Based on a quick Google search, isn't that what they pretty much did?

[Shaymin]

I'm completing a tri-defecta with Welcome to the NHK... and this show is starting to creep me out with the similarities between the MC and me.

[Stogi]

Sorry to bump and old thread but I didn't know where else to ask this.

Anyone else watching Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)? The manga has been out for a while, up to chapter 300 if memory serves, anime recently started, only on ep. 11. Give it a try, it's really good.

Synopsis: Attack on Titan is set in a world where the remnants of the human population live inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the sudden appearance of the Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. The story centers around the life of Eren Jaeger and his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, whose lives are changed forever after the appearance of a colossal Titan brings about the destruction of their home and the death of their mother.

I just finished Attach on Titan and I got to admit...It's awesome. Everytime an anime cliche was about to rear it's ugly head, the show did something to surprise me. And it that sense, it moves insanely quick. It doesn't hold your hand by over-explaining things. It's just like, here's this world, here's a few dozen characters, and here's the problem. Now watch it all go to hell.

[Oblivion]

I still find Attack on Titan to be a sub-par show to some of the stuff that's been out the last couple years. For one, it's WAY too over dramatic for my tastes. Second, I don't think it moves as quick of a pace as people give it credit for. I lost count of how many times the cast would talk about doing something for an episode and a half before actually doing it. Or talking in the middle of it. The characters are whiny and insufferable, or in the case of Mikasa, complete Mary Sues.

It pretty much has the same problems the orginal cut of Dragonball Z had but to a lesser degree and in a fresh coat of paint.

I hope Season 2 fixes some of these issues.

[oohhboy]

I am on the opposite end on you regarding the Movie. It answered a very important question left open at the end of the series, leaving me pretty satisfied. That is pretty rare in any media.

Could you elaborate? I'm not really sure what you're referring to.

The effects of experiencing hundreds of different timelines. While It didn't go into the psychological damage much since that was covered in the series itself, I felt like at the end he got away with few lasting consequences. While his experiences told him not to rescue him, someone who didn't would always try. Okarin was finally willing to accept fate, while Christe wasn't. Also it ws really nice to focus on a character other than Okarin.

[Oblivion]

Ah, I see what you mean. I do like that aspect of the film, and that's probably the only reason I still like it. However, I had a bigger issues with The mechanics of how he was able to jump between world lines. One of my favorite parts of the series was the fact that the rules of the show were laid out, plain as day. Certain things were always true and stayed consistent throughout the 26 episodes + OVA. Then, all of sudden, he is able to accidently, without any sort of external machine, jump between world lines? It felt too fantasy for my tastes when the series managed to stay pretty solid.

I love how you refer to Kurisu as Christe. :

[oohhboy]

I saw it less of him jumping between world lines and more of getting stuck inbetween. It was more he was sent into a literal limbo. We see this limbo in the very first episode where everyone disappears. It's a transit lounge of sorts only experienced by people with Reading Steiner.

[Ceric]

If there is anyone into Dragon Ball Z I found this while trying to find out if my local Imax will have GotG on August 1st.  Seems Carmike will be showing Dragon Ballz Battle of Gods.

[Oblivion]

I just got done watching Brynhildr in the Darkness, a 12-episode anime adaption of the manga. Back around episode six, I was so excited to come to this thread and gush about it like I did with other animes but something happened after episode nine. The show turned into a low budget rushed plot hole filled pile of **** that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It's such a shame too, because the first half of the anime is so damn good (a few moments of fanservice notwithstanding). I'm not even gonna bother with telling you all a plot synopsis in case you want to watch the show because I don't want to subject you to the horror that was the ending. Ugh. My only hope is that they redo the anime and make it longer than 13 fucking episodes once the manga gets closer to completion.

Yesterday I watched both Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence for the first time. Amazing movies, though I'm sure everyone in this thread has already seen at least the first one. I have to admit, the philosophy of the films go a bit over my head, but the atmosphere, voice acting, action, and animation (of the first one) are good enough to make up for that fact.

Speaking of animation quality, why the flying **** did they feel the need to make the second film mostly shitty low budget CGI? It seems like most modern anime is just filled to the brim with jarring, low-budget CGI that clashes aesthetically with the traditional animation that anime is famous for. I can't stand watching anything with that sort of CGI anymore.

I'm gonna try Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soon after this.