Support NeoGAF

[Ultimadrago]

Magi 2

Enter first dungeon.
I found it strange that they start off there with no buffer time between where

Spoiler

the first episode ended

. The animation continues to stay pretty strong in terms of action scenes.

I find the "super deformed" faces (particularly ones from Aladdin) to be very,...I don't know, but I can tell they came straight from the manga. This isn't to say "traditional/common SD" doesn't take place in manga form, but the ones used here really stand out. On the positive side, they're quite different than what I usually witness in modern anime. On the negative side, I don't find them very amusing nor charming and as a result, I only identify them as really weird. However, not being familiar with the manga, I can only presume they worked better there.

That said, not all the expressions come off that way. In fact, I find the character designs easy on the eyes along with most of the expressions.

As for the story, though I can't say for sure if I would have pointed this out without those who spoke of the manga. It really does feel like it's blasting though the flags. There's convenient insight on some of

Spoiler

Mor's

past and another antagonist revealed and showed to be a "not-nice-guy" in the episode's span. I'm still not feeling a flow of events.

In the end, it still entertains me enough to continue on. The action is promising in animation (and potentially in choreography if they can find more things to do with Ali Baba's nimble feet). I don't mind seeing any of the mains on-screen, though I haven't found them compelling yet either. Finally, the adventuring might turn out really fun by the end of it all (or at least once the anime slows down, to give itself a chance to display its true potential in adapting the story)!

 

[dakkumauji]

Ixion Saga DT 02

See how the time old tradition of smacking something broken til it is fixed is applied to a sword.

Mostly the same, just with more puns but less forth wall smacking. Plenty of world building as well. That ED was truly a DTL ED.

Also, lots of tama, tama, tama, tama, tama.

Spoiler

Or lack of.

 

[DiGiKerot]

So, at one point during Blood-C: The Last Dark, someone tells Saya that she "can't Protect anyone". I was the only person in the screening I could hear laughing at that.

It's... kind of a weird movie. Those people I talked to afterwards who hadn't seen the TV show to completion (or at all) kind of hated it - one even commented that they'd rather sit through Gyo again.

I enjoyed it personally, but it did have it's problems. The completely limp climax was probably the main issue, though there is something of a feeling of a lack of any real scale throughout the whole movie. I can well imagine that being even worse for someone who hasn't seen the TV version, as they really don't give you enough information to really appreciate what is actually going on. There's also a completely gratuitous and unnecessary bathing scene with the two heroines which, whilst brief, is also entirely superfluous. There's some pretty crappy CG in there as well - plasticky looking cars with occasionally janky physics, and some peculiar mannequin-like extras in crowd scenes were the main problems.

Still, mostly satisfied by it. There's some nicely animated battle scenes when they stick to mostly 2D animation.

 

[duckroll]

So, at one point during Blood-C: The Last Dark, someone tells Saya that she "can't Protect anyone". I was the only person in the screening I could hear laughing at that.

There's also a completely gratuitous and unnecessary bathing scene with the two heroines which, whilst brief, is also entirely superfluous.

Sounds like Umetsu did his job well. Lol.

 

[Narag]

Kaiji 12

What a fucking scam.

 

[Brazil]

Medaka Box Abnormal 1

After the commercial failure that was the first season, one would expect that they'd add lots and lots of fanservice to the sequel. And that's exactly what they did - in every scene that had room for it, haha. They really took their time planning every Nabeshima shot, and they even put in a really elaborated Myouga panties shot.

But what matters is still there, and this arc shall be glorious.

 

[Tomat]

Kagari confirmed for liking Mary Sue female leads?

 

[-Minsc-]

Ixion Saga DT - 2

It's a shame this show was compared to Gintama. I try not to be biased but it's hard not to focus on how it fails to stand up (Ok, I unintentionally carried over a pun from the show).

This show should be good for some Sunday slapstick, I'll keep it on my watch list.

 

[Articalys]

Revolutionary Girl Utena Blu-rays are on the way.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist__000000000013179/item__5168665

BD-Box first part (episodes 1-24) releases on January 23, 2013. 4 discs, digipak, new artbox, and booklet. ¥23940

 

[The Grim Heaper]

I actually think my favorite part of this shot is that Jojo seems to randomly be doing the moonwalk.

Oh god can't get it out of my head now

 

[Kagari]

Kagari confirmed for liking Mary Sue female leads?

I just don't like whiny characters like Akane.

 

[Dresden]

I just don't like whiny characters like Akane.

Didn't think she was whiny. She's just... a noob.

 

[Envelope]

Revolutionary Girl Utena Blu-rays are on the way.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist__000000000013179/item__5168665

 

[BluWacky]

Weekend anime roundup!

Wolf Children

I don't have much to say that others haven't said already. It's a truly excellent film, far superior to Summer Wars (and probably better than TokiKake in all honesty), and Hosoda deserves any plaudit that comes his way for it. It's a simple story extremely well told and produced, and although there are a few things I "didn't care for" they were extremely minor and didn't detract from the film at all. Really great stuff.

I have spent much of this evening listening to this piece of music from the soundtrack. It is glorious.

K 2

Nope, it's no good. Five minutes into the second episode I lost interest. Admittedly those five minutes were basically recapping the previous episode, but Shiro is way, WAY too irritating to be a main character.

Suki-tte 2

While the direction wasn't as interesting this time round, I thought this was a solid follow-up to the first ep. The production values are pretty basic, yes, but the show portrays teenage insecurity and cruelty in a believable manner (admittedly filtered through the lens of anime, so not necessarily a realistic one!).

Zetsuen no Tempest 2

Blah blah blah blah BLAH BLAH BLAH oooh pretty animation BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH Shakespeare THE END.

This episode is like the Japanese class I went to this week, repeating things you've already been told a million times over and barely moving forward at all. However, my Japanese class would have been more interesting with random Shakespeare quotes in (and if I'd been able to smash people into walls), so... I guess Tempest is still okay? In the grand scheme of things? The analogy kind of ran out of steam there.

Spoiler

Seriously, if the point of the class is to use んです then STOP TRYING TO END EVERY SODDING CLAUSE WITH から!

JoJo 2

Still jank-tastic, still ridiculously overblown, still very entertaining.

Spoiler

All hats have razor blades in in England, did you not know this?

Code:Breaker 2

This is so average, and yet I still... kind of like it? This is the kind of show that used to air at 6:30 in the evenings on TV Tokyo and now it's relegated to the ass-end of Saturday nights. It's like... I dunno, Tokyo Underground or whatever.

I have absolutely nothing analytical or constructive to say about the show other than "it's fun".

Magi 2

Still glad I'm not reading the manga so I can enjoy this! If I were twenty years younger I would have loved to have had this to watch on a Sunday afternoon.

I can see the signs of things being hacked together - the episode was a bit of a whirlwind - but compared to Zetsuen and Code:Breaker's glacial pacing it's much more entertaining to watch. It helps that the production values are so high, too.

 

[Narag]

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse 14

I think I might haven fallen asleep during this ep. This may have been the most boring episode of anime I've ever seen.

 

[Cwarrior]

Biglobe's Anime Rankings asked female fans which female character aggravates them most and male fans which male character annoys them most.

29 Franky

huh what the hell franky doing in there, his the embodyment of manly dreams, bunch of haters, mad they will never be as super as Franky.

 

[PorcellainThrill]

@Bluwacky: I like this whole soundtrack. It seems I have to watch Wolf Children now.
I am just afraid it might ... change me.

 

[Branduil]

@Bluwacky: I like this whole soundtrack. It seems I have to watch Wolf Children now.
I am just afraid it might ... change me.

Hope you live somewhere besides America because us Americans are never going to get to watch it.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

29 Franky
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0lg1aqTVx1qiehz9.gif[/IG]
huh what the hell franky doing in there, his the embodyment of manly dreams, bunch of haters tmad they will never be [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtIowo-LFMU"]that super[/URL].[/QUOTE]

He's pretty weak and down in Nami, Chopper, Usopp tier among the strawhats. His appearance also doesnt do him any good. Anyway, only male on the list there that I agree with.

 

[Narag]

Hope you live somewhere besides America because us Americans are never going to get to watch it.

Next year. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...nounces-wolf-children-ame-and-yuki-and-toriko

 

[Dresden]

Next year. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...nounces-wolf-children-ame-and-yuki-and-toriko

Sweet, only a few months.

;___;

 

[Canis lupus]

Planetes 3

Moves very slow.

 

[kiunchbb]

I can confirm that K-On director Naoko Yamada not only dresses kind of like Yui, she also spells in English like her too

So jelly T_T

Planetes 3

Moves very slow.

It is 24 episode, you will appreciate the set up when the plot begin.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

 

[Branduil]

Next year. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...nounces-wolf-children-ame-and-yuki-and-toriko

It's seriously inexcusable that every country except America is capable of getting this out this year.

 

[Kazzy]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

Daw, this is truly the story that keeps on giving!

 

[BGBW]

It's seriously inexcusable that every country except America is capable of getting this out this year.

The UK only had three showings. I'd rather have waited if it meant more.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

It's seriously inexcusable that every country except America is capable of getting this out this year.

If funimation is struggling to even get Mass Effect out this year, then it should be no surprise that they cant get that movie out, actually, even if they did, it'd be delayed like most of their other stuff has been this fall.

 

[dakkumauji]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

Can't say no to that!

 

[Narag]

If funimation is struggling to even get Mass Effect out this year, then it should be no surprise that they cant get that movie out, actually, even if they did, it'd be delayed like most of their other stuff has been this fall.

Did we ever find out if the Mass Effect anime was the one that Production IG wasn't getting paid for?

 

[Branduil]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

That sounds like the kind of offer you can't refuse. It's a good thing it wasn't something like Angel Beats.

Also, how can she afford anime blu-rays? Rich doting parents?

 

[RyougaSaotome]

That sounds like the kind of offer you can't refuse. It's a good thing it wasn't something like Angel Beats.

Also, how can she afford anime blu-rays? Rich parents?

Probably saves her money every month to buy a single BD. Used stuff from Book Off etc. it's not impossible to find ok deals if you know where to look.

 

[curlyfriski]

He's pretty weak and down in Nami, Chopper, Usopp tier among the strawhats. His appearance also doesnt do him any good. Anyway, only male on the list there that I agree with.

If you're talking fighting ability, I'd say he's exactly in the middle of the Straw Hats.

 

[7Th]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

Girl confirmed for good taste.

 

[Instro]

Code Breaker 2

Yeah I'll be sticking with this. It has its share of issues; character designs, mixed bag of the music, and the fucking weird father and mother, however the show is pretty enjoyable on a whole. The animation is good, I like both leads, and it can be pretty dark at times. A ruthless main character is relatively rare, so that's a pretty cool aspect as well.

Looking forward to dudes beating each other up.

 

[Tomat]

I just don't like whiny characters like Akane.

I think we gotta at least wait until episode 2 is out to determine if she really is whiny or not. Not wanting to shoot an innocent person isn't so bad.

 

[Instro]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

I can tell she has a bright future. Quality taste!

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Did we ever find out if the Mass Effect anime was the one that Production IG wasn't getting paid for?

I think they said it wasnt it, but I cant seem to find the link.

 

[Cwarrior]

He's pretty weak and down in Nami, Chopper, Usopp tier among the strawhats. His appearance also doesnt do him any good. Anyway, only male on the list there that I agree with.

get out here he

Spoiler

moped the floor with luffy in there fight before the gallay company interrupted it.

You just dislike him cause his the furthest from bish you can go, his a combination of the most badass fictional characters out there popay, terminator and ace vantura.

 

[wonzo]

Man... maybe this show isn't for me... It's just too out there for me. I'll stick with what I enjoy so far. This will be on my #apathywatch.

Okay so I'll list the things I find odd and sort of unappealing to me in Jojo.

1.) Ridiculous flamboyancy of Jojo and Dio
2.) Odd coloring palettes and designs. I just find it somewhat... awkward compared to what I'm used to.
3.) Outrageous character designs.
4.) They say EVERYTHING. It's like they're forced to say whatever they're thinking.
5.) The random zoom-ins on their faces with super awkward shading and such.
6.) The Japanese characters always appearing

Apparently I have 8 more episodes of the Black Rose arc. I think I'm shelving this show for a while. This arc is garbage.

This is Naruto levels of filler.

"I'm mad at Utena/Anthy. Now I'm Black Rose'd and angry and lost my personality. Utena defeats me with PRINCE HAX. Now I'm fine and basically nothing happened."

This is bad. She's fighting basically the same person in the same way every episode.

 

[PorcellainThrill]

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

It seems she is making all the right decisions.

@Branduil: I live in germany. I even own a german Mind Game dub.

 

[Ultimadrago]

From the New World 3

I just loved this week's opener. Ninjas done right.

It was a stretch of rowing with a campfire in-between, but I liked it! The visuals and music definitely didn't hurt either. The

Spoiler

story around the campfire[/spoiler[ is used as a means to build a bestiary for the audience and the group. They share information they've heard through story, like any good youthful campfire. Also as with any communication alike to this, there are those leaving while believing and those who think it's all empty talk.

This story is definitely taking its time. I'm surprised I am as fine with the banter within the group as I am. In the same boat, I'm prepared for what build-up the story has to show next. Here's hoping it will stride with strength.

 

[kayos90]

Pretty cool art of SAO

 

[Canis lupus]

Planetes 5 Fly me to the moon

Very mediocre episode.

It is 24 episode, you will appreciate the set up when the plot begin.

I know, I have to give it a chance. 26 episodes btw

 

[wonzo]

NAGAHAMA AND UMAKOSHI WORKING ON MUSHI-SHI SEQUEL NEXT YEAR! HOLY SHIT!

Everyone!

It says Mushishi OR Detroit Metal City sequel could be possible, but he is strongly hinting towards Mushishi. (The fact that Yoshihiko Umakoshi is involved is what they are basing this off of)

Revolutionary Girl Utena Blu-rays are on the way.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist__0000.../item__5168665

"The first time I saw the news, in all its glory...how do I saw this...I had a boner..."

So I just got to work, and my aspiring manga artist girl just came into the faculty room with a bag of idolm@ster BDs and plopped them in my bag.

"I'll let you borrow them, so you have to watch!"

Well I guess that's settled then.

girl's got good taste. kotori > ritsuko > *

Hey, I pointed out how awful the CG mansion was last week, but for some reason David Production haven't fixed it yet. I can't see how anyone with an artistic eye could let such an abomination into their work. LOOK AT IT:

clearly the garish background is simply a way to get people to focus on the ownage pose. the power of jooooooooooooooooooooojo

 

[PoeticProse22]

Magi 2

This was a great episode, and, despite finding the first to be quite good, this was a considerable improvement. Although the pacing felt slightly rushed at times, the developments throughout were handled much better than in the previous episode, as they given more than enough room to breathe. The lighthearted, adventurous tone allows for the material to be consistently interesting and enjoyable.

Spoiler

Amon's dungeon

was excellently portrayed. Alibaba is my favorite character so far, and he was particularly impressive throughout the few moments of action he was involved in. As such, my favorite sequence was

Spoiler

Alibaba deftly leaping through the columns of fire

.

Spoiler

Aladdin cheering Morgiana up

was a nice moment. Their following conversation revealed some intriguing insight into

Spoiler

Morgiana's peaceful past and her distant homeland

. I really liked the transition from her dreary present into her

Spoiler

momentary dreams of a happier existence as Aladdin's words echoed through her mind

. Aladdin and Alibaba's continually growing friendship is quite satisfying to watch as it develops. The character interactions are definitely one of the strongest elements of the show. The brief flashbacks to

Spoiler

Alibaba's clouded past

are implemented quite well within each episode, creating a compelling amount of foreshadowing, and I'm really looking forward to discovering more of his history.

The production values continue to be thoroughly superb. The animation, in particular, is terrific. The direction is also exceptionally good, especially during the action scenes, as the choreography of these sequences is extremely well done. Sagisu's music is amazing, as it wonderfully illuminates the atmosphere in a plethora of moments, effectively assisting in the excellent depiction of the arabian setting. Though it's slightly improved, the full ED remains quite jarring.

All in all, Magi is increasingly developing into one of the best shows of the season, as it's filled with compelling characters, great action sequences, and a very interesting story.

 

[madp]

Pretty cool art of SAO

 

[amishpriest99]

Yeah it did but that was also their very first release and it never happened again. They also had issues with audio on another release but I didnt get that one.

Oh, just couldn't remember. NISA does some great work so that being their only real "glitch" is definitely understandable since as you said it was their first release.

Reminds me I still need to pick up Bunny Drop too. Soooo much to buy lately (not that I'm complaining)

 

[Hellsing321]

Everyone!

It says Mushishi OR Detroit Metal City sequel could be possible, but he is strongly hinting towards Mushishi. (The fact that Yoshihiko Umakoshi is involved is what they are basing this off of)

Now if you will excuse me....

I'd be fine with either. Hook it into my veins!

 

[Canis lupus]

"verisimilitude"

I never heard of this word until episode 5 of Planetes lol.