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[Jex]

Sailor Moon 37

....

Spoiler

actually save Tuxedo Mask and eliminate the big bad while doing so. Usagi and the girls spent this episode learning how to be princesses instead of actually doing shit.

That was far better than the main plot, and a lot more entertaining!

On a side note I wonder where the idea of running with toast in your mouth being cute/moe actually came from. It’s one of those things that is (supposedly) really cute/moe in anime, but running with a piece of hard buttered toast in your mouth in real life is dangerous as you might choke or worse yet drop the toast, and it certainly isn't cute at all.

Project A-Ko.

 

[Instro]

It's the amazing character designs that put Horizon over the top.

Spoiler

I actually thought the show was kind of decent. Not that terrible

I watch Horizon, and its entertaining and all, but yeah I wasn't expecting 20k. Maybe they can put that money towards more competent staff for the next season!

Spoiler

lol yeah right

Of course, its far less of a crime than those Persona sales.

 

[Noirulus]

I'd love to see more Denpa as long as the plot actually goes somewhere. Although I hear the LN's ending has mixed reactions.

 

[Branduil]

When shows like Infinite Stratos and Horizon sell 20,000, you know anime is dying. I mean, it's not like bad shows haven't sold in the past, but at least those shows usually had some kind of redeeming feature. These shows literally have nothing. They're badly written, badly produced, and watching them actually makes you a worse person.

 

[Jex]

Inferior Urusei Yatsura 2

Wacky penguin hijinks! So ahead of the curve! Edit: giant penguin monster plot was admittedly pretty fab.

A relationship based on one party electrocuting the other...I can see why Haly likes this show.

I wouldn't say that's there whole relationship. Well, then again, in the early episodes I guess it kind of is.

The thing is that there's an economy based on letting people fuck, but that's because of multi-generational homes and banging in a room next to your mother's or father's room is probably the most awkward thing in the world.
Either way, sex seems to be treated as something illicit and to be hidden. One easy question to ask is this - do they teach Japanese kids about condoms in school and at what age?

Of course there are a few articles on this subject, a recent one that springs to mind is - http://www.economist.com/node/18771436

Still, the Japanese are not shy about their fetishes and the law takes a permissive attitude to commercial sex. It is not illegal to pay for sex; a 1997 study showed that more than half of all men over 25 had done just that (and that for many of them it had been their first sexual experience)

Quite.

 

[wsippel]

It's executed pretty bad man. Even diehard fans would admit that about its shortcomings.

It has quite a few issues, sure, but I've watched (and enjoyed) shows executed far worse than Horizon. And it certainly got a lot easier to swallow over time.

 

[Geneijin]

It has quite a few issues, sure, but I've watched (and enjoyed) shows executed far worse than Horizon. It certainly got a lot easier to swallow over time.

Name them. There are very few shows that lazily dump exposition and are as heavy handed as Horizon was.

 

[wsippel]

Name them.

Wouldn't end well. Trust me.

 

[Trojita]

Well the song in it is catchy. I also thought I saw cat ears too.

Looking at sales of DVD/BR in Japan, how in the fuck is this industry still alive? It must exist as one of the smallest profit market industries in existence. I'm actually amazed that anime still exists to be honest. Maybe that's one reason why I still buy so much stuff. I just don't want it to die.

Yeah most Industries would die that sell a product that should be $50 for $400. I'm looking at you Anime Season Sets.

 

[cajunator]

Sailor Moon 37

Such an odd episode really. Sailor Moon is either fun wacky antics or serious dorama business and this episode was honestly really neither. There were some fun, cute, ditsy Usagi moments and a pretty sweet insult of Usagi from Kunzite but as a whole this episode was really underwhelming.

It failed to really move the story along, although there were one cool tidbit involving Artemis and Luna

Spoiler

that son of a gun Artemis was stringing along poor Luna like that

and the episode basically existed to show that Usagi has to change herself to match her

Spoiler

true princess

self, but of course not really because Usagi is always going to be Usagi.

I don’t want to say this episode was pointless but the enjoyment I derive from most of Sailor Moon was really nowhere to be seen in this episode. I just think in general it was really weird to do episodes 34-35 the way they did, specifically getting all the senshi into the story and then just cutting it abrupt and going back to the youma of the week stuff. The way the show is structured it honestly doesn’t seem like the girls are trying to do a whole lot to

Spoiler

actually save Tuxedo Mask and eliminate the big bad while doing so. Usagi and the girls spent this episode learning how to be princesses instead of actually doing shit.

On a side note I wonder where the idea of running with toast in your mouth being cute/moe actually came from. It’s one of those things that is (supposedly) really cute/moe in anime, but running with a piece of hard buttered toast in your mouth in real life is dangerous as you might choke or worse yet drop the toast, and it certainly isn't cute at all.

I was surprised how quickly Sailor moon goes from that to being super dark.

 

[Jex]

You forgot:

4. Better off just watching the highlights on youtube.

Or

5. Just enjoy the .gifs.

 

[cajunator]

I don't know, but I do know that back in the mid-2000's nearly every show was getting a release by some anime company and they did a pretty good job flooding the US market, and presumably their own market.

Considering there were 159 anime titles produced in 2005, 205 anime titles produced in 2006, 200 titles in 2007, 153 titles in 2008 and 141 titles in 2009 it's pretty clear that there was some kind of bubble which burst rather spectacularly.

Thats when I was buying about 5-10 DVDs a month (at 30$ a pop)
I remember Suncoast had an entire wall for anime and it was absolutely fucking glorious. now I own most of the stuff that I wanted back then but a lot of it was much cheaper as bundles and boxsets.

 

[Articalys]

Or

5. Just enjoy the .gifs.

6. And the parodies!

 

[wsippel]

Symphogear 2

That wasn't what I was hoping for. At all. But the show once again managed to end an episode with a cliffhanger that will make me watch the next episode.

Oh, and Geneijin: This one is worse.

Spoiler

Guilty Crown, too.

 

[cajunator]

The Otaku pandering shows sell the best because those are the people who actually purchase anime (like me)
Its really not that different from Hollywood blockbusters with low RT scores selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tickets and indie movies not selling shit.

 

[Haly]

Inferior Urusei Yatsura 2

Delicious. Now you too can discover the mythic origins of the leviathan that is the harem genre.

(Inferior to what, Beautiful Dreamer?)

 

[Trojita]

So should I be happy I'm in the All Around Mustache Club?

 

[survivor]

6. And the parodies!

http://i.imgur.com/Mf4GQ.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Is there a video for that or just a pic so far?

 

[MotionBlue]

Kill Me Baby 02

The skits can be hit or miss, but some of them are quite funny. The baseball one cracked me up.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Really off-topic, sorry, but I didn't wanna start a new thread for what, I imagine, will be an "question asked, question answered" type thing:

What anime is this from? http://i.imgur.com/0lhty.gif

I got the gif from a thread a couple months ago and it cracks me up; I believe the whole movie has similar animal-fighting antics and I gotta know the name.

Thanks!

Ignore the haters, Nichijou is one of the best animes of 2011.

Nichijou.

Now expect the following after being quoted.

1. It's boring, not worth your time
2. It's great, best comedy in a while
3. If you decide to watch it then wait for the shorter 12 episode edited airing

My advice: you will not find a conclusive answer in this thread, so save some time, watch the first episode and form your own opinion

I liked the whole thing, but it is worth noting that most everyone agrees that the second half of the series was better than the first half.

 

[Jex]

Thats when I was buying about 5-10 DVDs a month (at 30$ a pop)
I remember Suncoast had an entire wall for anime and it was absolutely fucking glorious. now I own most of the stuff that I wanted back then but a lot of it was much cheaper as bundles and boxsets.

Back there were lots of titles competing for a little bit of shelf space. I suppose to the average person walking into a store it was a wall of crap because, well, as so many titles were licensed it's unsurprising that many of them would be of questionable quality.

Interestingly enough we've moved back to a world where nearly everything is licensed. Except that, rather than being licensed on DVD it's all being put up for streaming. This must be far, far, far cheaper for US companies than the old mode. I mean, you had to buy the discs, get your show put onto them, get them put in DVD cases, shipped to retail stores across America and have them fight for shelf space. Now you just put it on some server and have it to stream to people.

Even better, people don't have to drop $50 on a random show that they might not like, they can legally watch it for free and if they're really interested then they might get the physical release. It just seems better all round.

 

[Uchip]

The Otaku pandering shows sell the best because those are the people who actually purchase anime (like me)
Its really not that different from Hollywood blockbusters with low RT scores selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tickets and indie movies not selling shit.

we already know this though
and theres nothing we can do about it apart from supporting quality shows

 

[iavi]

So should I be happy I'm in the All Around Mustache Club?

It means that Cosmic figures you a bro, so yeah.

 

[Andrew J.]

Guilty Crown 12

On another board I saw this show described as "The cast of Neon Genesis Evangelion attempting to re-enact the events of Code Geass."

That still holds up pretty well.

Now I'm waiting for the rest of GAF to describe their perfect waifus.

Fluttershy.

 

[Zoramon089]

The Otaku pandering shows sell the best because those are the people who actually purchase anime (like me)
Its really not that different from Hollywood blockbusters with low RT scores selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tickets and indie movies not selling shit.

I think it's a slightly different issue. Normal anime DVDs/Blurays are also ridiculously expensive in Japan. It seems they price them almost so that they're pretty much ONLY bought by otaku, and then you have the issue of the ones bought are those that pander to them...if they didn't charge something like $60 for 2 eps maybe more people would buy them

 

[wsippel]

Fluttershy.

You have balls. Not afraid of The Stare?

 

[Cwarrior]

Inferior Urusei Yatsura 2

I use to watch this anime but I don't remeber much about it, last time I watch it was around 17 years ago, they use to marathon on it on tv sometimes.

 

[Jex]

[Moribito - 3]

There are so many good things to say about this show that it's almost difficult to pick one thing to discuss. I suppose in passing I'll praise the surprisingly good character designs, the colour palette and the astounding soundtrack. Normally each of those items would get some love from me but I'm a busy man.

Instead I'll focus on two things regarding this episode: the fight sequences and the storytelling technique.

Action

In terms of fight sequences we've only been treated to a brief one in the first episode and hints of an upcoming confrontation last episode. This time they go all out, with Balsa fighting lone attackers, multiple attackers and sometimes even fighting without her spear at all. It's pretty clear that someone with a love of excellent fight choreography worked on this show because each of these sequences is really skilfully done. More over, each of these encounters are is unique because of the change in foes, weapons and locations - there is a surprising amount of diversity in such a short amount of time.

There are lots of cool things to say about the fights, namely the complicated choreography wit lots of blocks and counters, the skilful direction and high quality of animation. One aspect which really stands out in comparison to other shows is the speed at which these scenes play out. They go by in a flash, with characters exchanging a whole sequence of blows in barely any time at all.

To see how much they were cheating I watched the above sequence in slow motion. While it only lasts for 7 seconds on screen Balsa and her foe attack each other 10 times, almost faster than your eye can track. It's very interesting because it's very much the opposite of the usual 'drag out this fight by talking' rubbish.

Story

If there was one word I'd use to describe the storytelling in this episode it would be 'efficient'. By this I mean that they pack a great deal of character work and plot progression into a very short amount of time. I mean, this whole episode could just have been

Spoiler

Balsa fights some hunter guys.

But, instead we get a whole host of character development for a selection of characters. Character development includes, but is not limited too:

Spoiler

Prince Chagum - He moves from being a passive participant in the action to an active hero braving dangerous routes and foul beasts to get help for Balsa. They could have left him a while longer but there's no time for that in this story. Instead we learn that prince can actually handle some danger and hardship o hiw own!

The

Spoiler

reluctant hunter

even got a fair amount of story development and flashback. To think nothing of the very cleverly inserted flaschback/vision that

Spoiler

Balsa seer's as she lies there while she slowly dies.

Oh, and the kids and the city get a little bit more characterisation to flesh out who they are.

It's crazy to see all that character work sit on the back of a really competent story, especially one that's action focused.

 

[Erigu]

Project A-Ko.

Oh, it's older than that.
The earliest example I know of would be Patty no Koibito (1967) (OK, so that's not a piece of toast, but close enough), but I don't know if you could really claim that's "the origin of the cliché" (supposing there is a clear originator, which I doubt)...

 

[Geneijin]

Wouldn't end well. Trust me.

If you were going to mention Haruhi again, then yeah, it wouldn't.

Oh, and Geneijin: This one is worse.

Spoiler

Guilty Crown, too.

The only thing Symphogear has over Horizon is worse music, and it's directed in such an obnoxious manner too.

 

[-Minsc-]

[Moribito - 3]

There are so many good things to say about this show that it's almost difficult to pick one thing to discuss. I suppose in passing I'll praise the surprisingly good character designs, the colour palette and the astounding soundtrack. Normally each of those items would get some love from me but I'm a busy man.

Instead I'll focus on two things regarding this episode: the fight sequences and the storytelling technique.

I was quite impressed by that scene when I watched this episode. It's a nice change from shounen fights which are simply there, at times, for the sake of having a fight. This is definitely a show I'm going to revisit at a later date.

 

[wonzo]

The Knight in the Area 2

Hmm,

Spoiler

that would have made a much bigger impact if it wasn't for the dumb and obvious forshadowing at the end of the first episode.

 

[wsippel]

If you were going to mention Haruhi again, then yeah, it wouldn't.

Wouldn't count anyway:

It has quite a few issues, sure, but I've watched (and enjoyed) shows executed far worse than Horizon. And it certainly got a lot easier to swallow over time.

 

[trejo]

Thermae Romae 2

It's a real shame this is only three episodes. Once you get used to the cheap flash animation there's quite some fun to be had here.

Mawaru Penguindrum 1 - 2

After seeing this quite a bit in the last thread, I'm impressed. Those penguins keep cracking me up! The OP and ED music is good stuff. Will keep watching to the end.

Fabulous max.

 

[RurouniZel]

Thermae Romae 1-2

This show's got a beat all its own. I'm glad it's only 3 episodes though, as this would get really older after a while. Better to end it while it's awesome. ^^;

 

[PdotMichael]

Oh! My Goddess - 13

Whats wrong with it? A Mecha fetish is surely the best thing you can have.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Yellow subs are the worst thing ever.


Gundam Seed HD 2

Battle visuals look pretty stellar compared to other parts. Enjoyed both space and ground fighting. Lady piloting Archangel is pretty epic, hope she is a main character, and Kira was surprising, Cant wait to see him master Gundam too.

 

[Geneijin]

Wouldn't count anyway:

Then you shouldn't have put it in parentheses. That's as good as an omission! :O

 

[Basileus777]

Thermae Romae 2

It's a real shame this is only three episodes.

I thought it was 2 episodes a week for 6 total?

 

[wonzo]

guilty crown 10

i... i just don't know anymore...

 

[trejo]

I thought it was 2 episodes a week for 6 total?

Nope, just the three. Then we get eight episodes of that BRS shit.

 

[Crash Station]

Saint Seiya 67-70

So that's why there are so many bishounen in Jump right now. Damn you Aphrodite!

Still think all but Ikki's fight was bullshit. Seriously underwhelming arc.

 

[Geneijin]

Symphogear - 2

Spoiler

I think we all wanted Berserker Hibiki instead.

 

[PdotMichael]

The Knight in the Area - 2

I see, he is a big Orsenal fan.

but yeah, nice episode

 

[Instro]

Symphogear - 2

Spoiler

I think we all wanted Berserker Hibiki instead.

I sure did.

 

[wsippel]

Then you shouldn't have put it in parentheses. That's as good as an omission! :O

It really isn't. My enjoyment was a mere footnote - not really important enough for the point I was trying to make to put any emphasis on, but something I wanted to mention nevertheless.

Symphogear - 2

Spoiler

I think we all wanted Berserker Hibiki instead.

I certainly did.

Spoiler

I was so hoping for a faux magical show with Hibiki becoming some sort of axe crazy female Alucard.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

 

[Femmeworth]

Nope, just the three. Then we get eight episodes of that BRS shit.

What? I thought you would be the kind of person looking forward to Black Rock Shooter?

hairdyed Miku postapocalyptic lesbian Space Harrier action.

 

[duckroll]

Nope, just the three. Then we get eight episodes of that BRS shit.

Shut your filthy mouth! ((((

 

[firehawk12]

Symphogear is so yuri that it can't help itself. The triangle is inevitable.

Of course, The Knight in the Area has now entered the Adachi zone. God damnit... well, if you're going to crib, crib from the best.

 

[wsippel]

High School DxD 2

This show is about as bad as it is entertaining. As generic as it might be, there are far worse ways to waste time, that's for sure. I like how sincere the show is, though. It simply doesn't give a fuck. They want to show boobs? They show boobs. No stupid excuses, no made-up explanations. It's too blatant to even feel awkward.