firehawk12
Subete no aware
Hah, honestly I'm going to get around to it. I've been very reluctant to catch up on the "canon" mostly because it's so daunting. There's something relaxing about just following the junk that gets aired now.
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Winter 2009 Anime Season of "too much loli - gonna go watch Vampire Bund"
- Thread starter rykomatsu
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Jex
Member
flawfuls said:
As long as some starts wathing Utena then the hour I spent writing that thread was not in vain! Yeah, I don't really like formulaic shows but Utena just keeps revealing more and more layers to the characters and situations that things stay fresh enough, or for other people confsuing enough. Once the characters are introduced other stuff will happen, but most episodes follow a formula, however the show builds upon itself in an 'plot arc' format, even though it appears that there is little plot to speak of. Such a crazy, yet amazingly well executd show.
firehawk12 said:
Theres a heck of a lot of shows in the past, but a much smaller amount that were ever made really deserve your attention. Since roughly the start of 2008, when some crazy man introduced me to Cowboy Bebop, I used the GAF anime list and a few others to decide what to watch if I was going to gain some sense of 'history' and I've watched about 135 shows/OVA's/movies since then just because there wasn't enough cool new stuff. Still I'd say about 20 of those shows weren't worth watching. Mainly my motives were things like - "Well, there are plenty of e.g. Romantic Comedy type shows being made. Yet if I was to go back could I find thee show and not need to watch the others? Yep - Maison Ikkoku." Some works are so influential they define their whole subgenre like that.
Jex
Member
Durrara 12 : Man this whole thing was dumb on so many different levels. Last episode was suppsoedly brining this whole arc to a confusion and seemed to building pacing right up untill the end - which opened in to this episodes begining.
Then the whole thing fell apart and fizzled out into a long scene of Selty and the doctor dude talking, then the second half of the episode was a really poorly executed segway into a new arc. But it came completely out of nowhere, for no reason, and was just lots of exposition and that was it.
Yet even more annoying (for me) has been the whole Doctor/Selty thing which has always been hugely creepy and weird and I assumed the show would acknowledge that at some point. So theres some kind of twisted 'be yourself' reasoning behind some it, which in itself is problematic. But then the whole "Stop following your dream, just get married" which is a dodgy sentiment poorly expressed. Yet after the revelations of this episode
Then the whole thing fell apart and fizzled out into a long scene of Selty and the doctor dude talking, then the second half of the episode was a really poorly executed segway into a new arc. But it came completely out of nowhere, for no reason, and was just lots of exposition and that was it.
Yet even more annoying (for me) has been the whole Doctor/Selty thing which has always been hugely creepy and weird and I assumed the show would acknowledge that at some point. So theres some kind of twisted 'be yourself' reasoning behind some it, which in itself is problematic. But then the whole "Stop following your dream, just get married" which is a dodgy sentiment poorly expressed. Yet after the revelations of this episode
Which we probably already saw coming, that the doctor knew about the head. Yet in this epsidoe Selty gets to know and confront him! Excellent, maybe she can question why he's always feeding her lines about giving up on her search and trying to fulfill his headless fetish. Instead he just says "I've been lying for decades because I love you which apparently she just swallows without argument. Cue tender scene of them embracing and that proverbial anime dialouge trope "Oh, you idiot!" Seriously? Not only did he spend all her time trying to mainipulate her to tell her that she didn't need to look for her head but he knew all along? When this epic betrayal is defused in seconds it's clear the character interactions make no sense.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Jexhius said:
God, I don't know if I can go back to the 80s. :lol
I will say, random exploring got me Planetes and Aria. I'll just have to set some time for backlog and just bite the bullet. Bebop and Utena would be on the top of that list for sure.
Jex
Member
firehawk12 said:
Back to the 80's? More like forward to the 80's - where production value, budget, talent, animation skill etc all improve massively, especially comapred to today.
Making a backlog is super difficult because there are few trustowrthy sites and sources to tell you what you need to have watched. There's a whole selection of stuff that if you haven't seen it is like never having seen Star Wars or something - massive cultural milestones in the medium like Gunbuster, Gundam, The Super Dimensional Fortress Macross : Do You Remember love?, Bubblegum Crisis, Maison Ikkoku, Akira, Fist of the North Star, The Patlabor Franchise etc etc. . It's especially odd going back because it's not like CG or something - which just keeps getting better on a straight curve. Anime started in the 60's and by the 80's the quality of animation was insane - but then you see the economic bubble burst and quality and range of crazy stuff starts to decline.
And thats just the 80's! The 70's and 90's are pretty sweet as well.
This thread just reminded that I need to catch up in Durarara. Last time I was on episode 6.
BTW is there anything else I should watch from the winter season? Not exactly looking into slice of life anime so I guess that eliminates a lot of options. Cobra the Animation any good? If it's full of action scenes then it will be great.
BTW is there anything else I should watch from the winter season? Not exactly looking into slice of life anime so I guess that eliminates a lot of options. Cobra the Animation any good? If it's full of action scenes then it will be great.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Jexhius said:
Well, I watched a lot of 80s and 90s stuff in Chinese. It's just after a 10-15 year absence, a lot of that stuff has drifted into the realm of nostalgic memory more than anything else.
And I'm sure I'll get crucified for saying this, but I generally prefer the look adopted by most artists now to the ones from the previous decades. Although, I suppose that's part of the charm with something like Cross Game. The characters still have that old timey 80s look, even if it looks more modern than Adachi's other stuff.
Jex
Member
firehawk12 said:
But now some of that 80's stuff is on Blu-ray and looks sweet as hell. But also silly expensive sometimes.
I'm not too concerned with like, character designs from any period really. It takes them looking pretty dumb to bug the hell out of me. Saying that, 70's characters always looked pretty bad ass or just had stupid hair. But its not like one decade or another has like better anime in it overall then another. Just - different approaches.
Cobra : The Animation Finale : It had to come to this
Cobra vs A Woman with a gun for an arm vs A Dragon. Makes sense.
Overall the show was fine - if lacking in Lady and Cobra's crazy ship, the Turtle. (Also animation, but thats pretty obvious).
bigmit3737
Member
Anyone else still watching Cross Game?
I am loving it...I think this is the last episode though.
I am loving it...I think this is the last episode though.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Yeah, culminating with the expected ending. It was a fun little slice of life show, but the contrivance of having someone who looks exactly like an integral character show up to shake things up still seems a bit silly.
bigmit3737
Member
firehawk12 said:
Was she in the manga?
It seemed a little out of place...a little too late into the show I think.
Jexhius said:
as a fellow fan of cobra, i trust your opinion. with nothing else to watch, i'd (re)watch older stuff. it's fun, but not exactly progressive work.
still sittin' on the fence on durarara. recommended by a couple of my friends, but i'm just watching for the fallout afterward. just because it's good for the season doesn't mean it's actually good.
who? akane? she was in the manga. she appeared about past the halfway through the series.bigmit3737 said:
i was (and maybe still am) considering watching cross game. but if there's much overlap with the manga, i figure to skip it.
Magnus_Bulla
Member
Yeah, I agree. Overall Durarara's one of the best shows this season. I was really let down by it though, as I was expecting something at least comparable to the quality of Baccano, and I feel like Durarara really doesn't even come close to that.Jexhius said:
A Black Falcon
Member
Bakatest 12 - Epic battle... brilliant planning really, for Yuuji, but even with all that... Oh well. Pretty good episode, about as epic as this show could get really. Too bad there's only one more episode. 
firehawk12
Subete no aware
r - b - x said:
I stopped reading it in the mid chapters I guess, but yeah, they are mostly the same. It's just a matter of whether or not you want to watch it or read it.
It gradually gets darker, more twisted, and more involved, but yes, you'll be seeing lots of stock footage along the way. However, it's entirely worth it by the end.flawfuls said:
The real shame is that, with only a few exceptions, they didn't really bother coming up with new fight choreography past the first plot arc even though the music gets better with each arc, but, hey, it's usually better to treat it like a rock opera anyway.
Oh, and watch the recap episodes.
That reminds me, they recently did a remastered version of Utena, but they also redid the audio track and I wasn't entirely happy with some of the changes. For example, the first version of Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (as cheesy as it is) now sounds like lead vocal with backup rather than a chorus.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Kodiak said:
Up next, Kiss x Sis!
Jex
Member
Hitokage said:
That is the turth that everyone needs to be told! I didn't watch them, and then then I was reading about Utena elsewhere and came across a piece of information that had me scratching my head. I mean, when the hell did that happen? Trust that show to put huge events in recap episodes...
One aspect of the first recap episode isn't brought up again for a while then pays off huge later. One of my favorite moments of the show.Jexhius said:
I've been using gaps in current seasons to watch old stuff for a long time now. Armed with a good backlog selection, you can ride out the worst assault of otaku pandering tripe.Jexhius said:
Jex
Member
Hitokage said:
It's always good when a show proves that someone actually thought some elements of the plot up further then a couple of episodes ahead. Thats what I enjoy some book-to-anime adaptations because often authors actually have (hopefully) a plan of how the whole story will work out, not just writting on the fly to pander to the audience.
Hitokage said:
That's the only way to surive.
bigmit3737
Member
Cross game is over.
I loved the series and great ending.
I loved the series and great ending.
Jex
Member
Eden of the East : The King Of Eden - About time! This is pretty much what you want an expect out of the Eden of The East movie, except the movie part. My biggest complaint has to be that I wouldn't really call this a 'movie'. It feels far more like a mini-series of OAV that compliments the main show. It's far from a large, extragently animated, action-packed movie. This is really only a problem if that's what you absoltuely need from this piece. I was a little disappointed at first, but it soon built up it's intriguie using similar pacing to the TV show. Once again, not really movie-like pacing. It's now pretty claer (I feel) that this was a show that, because of the nature of the anime industry, they wouldn't give the budget to for all 26 episodes. And it's not like the budget increases here or anything - still looks like the TV show (which looked fine). So thats why it feels like such an extentsion - perhaps it was planned as a 26 episode show but they couldn't acquire the funding.
Actually, my largest complaint is (still) the music. We are treated to another lavishly animated intro scence, but no Oasis or anything. Just some random rubbish. I mean, this dude worked with Yoko Kanno for Ghost in The Shell : Stand Alone Complex so I can only imagine they can't afford her here. But even without her, anyone else would have done. Geeze. There's a number of dramatic scenes and the lack of any kind of soundtrack is annoying.
Oh, and importantly, Juiz has some awesome lines in this movie - and the voice actress gives a kick-ass delivery as well. Apparently she was also the Tachikoma's in Gits.
Also, on an unrelated note I just got the Nausicaa art book, and it's pretty fucking awesome.
Actually, my largest complaint is (still) the music. We are treated to another lavishly animated intro scence, but no Oasis or anything. Just some random rubbish. I mean, this dude worked with Yoko Kanno for Ghost in The Shell : Stand Alone Complex so I can only imagine they can't afford her here. But even without her, anyone else would have done. Geeze. There's a number of dramatic scenes and the lack of any kind of soundtrack is annoying.
Oh, and importantly, Juiz has some awesome lines in this movie - and the voice actress gives a kick-ass delivery as well. Apparently she was also the Tachikoma's in Gits.
Also, on an unrelated note I just got the Nausicaa art book, and it's pretty fucking awesome.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Reading about how Paradise Lost ends, I can imagine a lot of disappointment. Personally, I still feel that thematically Eden of the East is interesting... of course, the movie suffers the "middle installment" problem, where stuff happens but nothing is resolved. Still, as some light social commentary on a society I really have no right to comment upon, it's interesting in so much as it condemns the audience that's most likely to watch it. Like Welcome to the NHK I guess.
Anyway, with the end of BakaTest (for now), it looks like the season is almost over. Gotta catch up on Durararararara maybe... but hell, I still need to watch Trapeze from last year and Ristorante Paradiso from the season before that, so who knows.
Funny enough, I'll probably remember this season more for the death of Random Curiosity and gg than any particular show. Go figure.
Anyway, with the end of BakaTest (for now), it looks like the season is almost over. Gotta catch up on Durararararara maybe... but hell, I still need to watch Trapeze from last year and Ristorante Paradiso from the season before that, so who knows.
Funny enough, I'll probably remember this season more for the death of Random Curiosity and gg than any particular show. Go figure.
Jex
Member
firehawk12 said:
Nah anyone can comment on the social commentary I suppose considering that it's such a large part of the show. The whole thing isn't executed terribly - the real concern of the show is trying to please the techno-thriller demographic and girlzzz at the same time. Also I don't think there'd be a problem with the movies if it had all been part of one 26 episode tv show. Then there wouldn't be such big gaps inbetween these parts of the story that really aren't necessary and suggest that things will be more 'epic' in someway then they are.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Well, I suppose we have our own lost generation here... but you get the impression that NEETs and Hikikomori are some kind of endemic problem among Japanese youth. But the fact that everything I know about being a Japanese 20-something male comes from anime makes me feel unqualified to make any kind of statement without feeling woefully uninformed.
It's just interesting that a lot of these shows about nerds end up playing out the same way - these dudes just need to get out of their houses and move on with their lives - and yet, moving on with your life entails entering a soul crushing corporate "job for life" system where your entire future is mapped out for you.
As for the movie itself, yeah, the lack of any sense of an increase in scale - thematically or in terms of the plot - makes the move to film feel unnecessary. I have nothing against exposition - certainly the charm of the original series came from the characters talking to each other about whatever was going on... but sustained over a 90 minute movie? Those scenes ran way too long.
It's just interesting that a lot of these shows about nerds end up playing out the same way - these dudes just need to get out of their houses and move on with their lives - and yet, moving on with your life entails entering a soul crushing corporate "job for life" system where your entire future is mapped out for you.
As for the movie itself, yeah, the lack of any sense of an increase in scale - thematically or in terms of the plot - makes the move to film feel unnecessary. I have nothing against exposition - certainly the charm of the original series came from the characters talking to each other about whatever was going on... but sustained over a 90 minute movie? Those scenes ran way too long.
Jex
Member
firehawk12 said:
If you think about is as a movie, it just doesn't work. As a series of episodes it makes perfect sense, which makes we wish they had just found a way to do that instead. (Indeed, some things that are exposition certainly feel like they were part of a cut episode). Man, you really can hear the restraint in my post. I'm pretty defensive becuase I imagine these people had no choice but to make it how they did, but still. I mean, they could have thrown away their plan and re-drafted everything to make it into a movie-form (although that would have no doubt been hard) but they didn't. I like it for what it is.
Also Welcome to the NHK (manga) is the only tale that can truly expose the world of NEETs. Only with such endless cynicism can it be done. Also, the author himself has returned to being a trapped NEET so it all makes sense.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Jexhius said:
Oh man, really? Now that's just depressing.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I thought Welcome to the NHK was a novel, though?Jexhius said:
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Jexhius said:
Leeching off royalties. Well, speaking as someone who is basically like that (grad student), I guess I can see how easy it is to devolve back into nothingness.
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