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Fall Anime 2014 |OT2| Idly waiting for the Dog Days of Sabre

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R

R_thanatos

Member
pgtl_10 said:
GAF,

Please recommend me some good anime that isn't about teens. I prefer adult protagonists and antagonists. Also something that isn't about mechs/robots being the main theme.
Click to expand...

-> Space dandy ( it has robots , but it's not about robots it's about a dandy in space) <== i'm serious.
-> Read or die + R.O.D the Tv ( there is one child character in it but she doesn't qualify as a "teen". )
-> Utawarerumono ( Good adaptation of a rpg, you play an adult memory-less protagonist in a fantasy medieval setting ).
-> Sayonara Zetsubo sensei ( Yes there are teens in that class , but the main character and often POV is the teacher ) and the writiing is much excellent
-> Berserk ( you can't go wrong with berserk )
-> Black lagoon ( Good for most of the people who watched it , entertaining for almost everyone who has watched it )
-> Spice and Wolf ( 95% ecenomics , 5% fantasy , 100% awesome )
-> Baccano ( you can't go wrong with baccano either )

I tried to be as diverse as possible while ignoring great anime that do have a teen protagonist or focus.
 
V

VanillaCakeIsBurning

Member
Reading around, I'm seeing numerous mentions of "victims of the Funico era". My take away from this so far is that Funimation/NicoNico are licensing shows only to drop all support for sequels and home releases essentially making it impossible for these shows (sequels included) to be released wholly in physical and digital forms in NA (and abroad).

Apparently Section 23 brought over AKB0048 which is in the same situation as Symphogear in terms of music licensing and has apparently brought over numerous Satelight series making them a better fit for the Symphogear license.

Is this accurate?
 
S

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
That other thread become...weird....
pgtl_10 said:
GAF,

Please recommend me some good anime that isn't about teens. I prefer adult protagonists and antagonists. Also something that isn't about mechs/robots being the main theme.
Click to expand...

Monster
Mushishi
Space Brother
Uchoten Kazoku
Tatami Galaxy
 
P

pgtl_10

Member
R_thanatos said:
-> Space dandy ( it has robots , but it's not about robots it's about a dandy in space) <== i'm serious.
-> Read or die + R.O.D the Tv ( there is one child character in it but she doesn't qualify as a "teen". )
-> Utawarerumono ( Good adaptation of a rpg, you play an adult memory-less protagonist in a fantasy medieval setting ).
-> Sayonara Zetsubo sensei ( Yes there are teens in that class , but the main character and often POV is the teacher ) and the writiing is much excellent
-> Berserk ( you can't go wrong with berserk )
-> Black lagoon ( Good for most of the people who watched it , entertaining for almost everyone who has watched it )
-> Spice and Wolf ( 95% ecenomics , 5% fantasy , 100% awesome )
-> Baccano ( you can't go wrong with baccano either )

I tried to be as diverse as possible while ignoring great anime that do have a teen protagonist or focus.
Click to expand...

Thanks I hear Berserk is legendary. I also find the other ones pretty good.

I like Trigun, Samurai Champloo, and Cowboy Bebop.

Now I do watch Attack on Titan so I do like anime that has teens. I just want something different. Some anime have teen characters for no reason like Bleach.
 
M

MetroidPrimeRib

Banned
pgtl_10 said:
Thanks I hear Berserk is legendary. I also find the other ones pretty good.

I like Trigun, Samurai Champloo, and Cowboy Bebop.

Now I do watch Attack on Titan so I do like anime that has teens. I just want something different. Some anime have teen characters for no reason like Bleach.
Click to expand...

Berserk is really good. Good art direction, music and animation.
It covers one arc of the series but a lot of people like that arc the best.
 
S

ShinRPGamer

Member
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG 13

Well now, an episode that focuses on one of the backup guys of Section 9. That rarely happens.

On a unrelated note, in the 12th episode, is Batou saying Kuze's name despite not even knowing who the guy is yet, an error on the dubs part or was that even in the original Japanese?

Edit: Double post, sorry about that.
 
V

VanillaCakeIsBurning

Member
The more I read the more it seems that this Funimation/NicoNico partnership was a bad idea as far as getting out home releases are concerned. I only have second hand information so I don't want to believe that it's impossible for Symphogear to get released outside of Japan.
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
dimb said:
Is it really so hard to believe that something worthwhile could exist in Sword Art Online, even if the series as a whole is a pretty big dud? There are talented people working on the action scenes and I feel like it's actually exceeded every other show airing this season when it comes to that, even if that isn't really the focus.

And yeah, the story is really heavy handed and we are in an arc about
a terminal kids with AIDS
, but at least there's some kind of emotional push here that's missing from all the other fantasy garbage ranging from Bahamut and Fate to Chaika and Log Horizon. SAO2 is significantly less convoluted than all of those shows in its world building and storytelling, with very deliberate arcs showcasing character's changing over time, and this all happens at a reasonable pace. SAO 2 is pretty boring a lot of the time, but it's honestly somehow less of a mess than its contemporaries. The snide whining about its success feels pretty hollow in the context of everything else people are watching this season.
Click to expand...

No, I never said that. I do think the show does certain things fairly well. The action sequences for this season have been extremely good despite a rocky start. If anyone has really stepped up this season, it's been Tetsuya Takeuchi. He's put out some exemplary cuts that really put the first season to shame. In terms of action choreography, this cour has really only been second to Fate/Stay Night, and there have been some really good action cuts this season in shows like Seven Deadly Sins. The direction at times also can be fairly good at building atmosphere, such as when Sinon received the drawing from the kid.

The problem has always been the writing. The problem is that the grasp of the writing is way out of its reach. The story wants to be taken seriously and wants to delve into heavy topics but Kawahara just isn't capable as a writer. Now I will give credit in that Sinon displayed growth before she was demoted down to a Kirito groupy. It has a similar problem to most of anime, and more currently Your Lie in April, in that it's way too damn heavy handed with the drama aspects. "Asada Asada Asada Asada Asada" as the dude foams from the mouth. There are no brakes on this drama train. Even this arc displays elements of that with a girl having Super AIDS. I haven't even seen the past episode due to finals but I'm also expecting Mama Drama to pop up too.

Now I will admit it's better than Chaika AB which was a trainwreck all around. I have different issues with the other three listeed, that make them hard to compare to each other.

dimb said:
The worthwhile action sequences came after you stopped watching. I don't mean to push SAO 2 as an action heavy production, but its fight scenes do a good job of blending together groups of characters while maintaining a logical consistency that creates a sense of momentum.

I'm not speaking to the effectiveness of how the material reaches its audience, but SAO does have an emotional core. A lot of the time it is overbearing, but the characters are developing people who at least show some semblance of humanity, as overwrought as it is. Staking Log Horizon as a point of comparison feels extremely odd to me. Shiroe feels way more like a self-inserty blank slate than anything else to me, leaving him in a similar spot to Kirito, only with more glasses pushing than sword swinging. SAO pushes the emotional state of its side characters pretty heavily though, and even if it isn't particularly successful with that it contributes to the weight of the story. I think it's pretty telling that SAO can have an episode where half of it plays out like you're watching a piece on a futuristic Make-A-Wish Foundation and the other half is about someone sitting down to talk with their mom in a quiet snowy cabin about their feelings and future. Log Horizon can never step away from the tangled web of bullshit that is its "world building" mysteries because it has no real characters to fall back on.
Click to expand...

I somewhat disagree with the bolded because the show goes out of its way to point out how the harem still exists. Also once your arc is over, you get thrown to the back. I mean how many meaningful conversations has Kirito had with Sinon after her arc was over?

I also think Log Horizon does try to flesh out Shiroe's character on occassion compared to Kirito. This recent arc had Shiroe failing and him reminiscing as to when he was a child and how he would just run out at night and cry. When has Kirito shown growth as an individual or even something resembling a character instead of a plot device?
 
V

Ventara

Member
Sword Art Online 2 Episode 8

Not much really happened in this episode. Kirito suspects one of the players in the finals to be Death Gun, so right before the match Kirito asks Sinon for the names of the new players to the tournament. Battle begins, and while looking for these players, Kirito stumbles across Sinon and calls a truce while he observes one of the players he suspects to be Death Gun. Lo and behold, the actual Death Gun shows up and is about to kill that player right before the episode cut out. Oh, and Behemoth (or whatever his name is) is a total camper.

Waifu Kirito is best Kirito. He's so cute when he tucks his bangs behind his ear.

17TIw1E.png

8KQoa0R.png
Click to expand...

I can't quite decide if those are boobs or just a weirdly drawn body.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
BassForever said:
Did you not watch the show at all?

The show established in the first episode in the first scene that Bahamut was this all powerful thing that nearly destroyed the world and the humans, angels, and demons all had to fight him to seal it away... we then skip to Kaiser and Favarro doing their Pirates of the Caribbean sword fight though town which is clearly a grounding for two every day bounty hunters who are about to get sucked into a conflict that could lead to Armageddon. It really is one of the most basic Japanese fantasy/adventure/jrpg plots and you only have yourself to blame for thinking the series was anything but that.
Click to expand...

Again, I get that the show was always going to head in that direction, it doesn't make it any less disappointing though when the show was stronger when it wasn't that. If it had stayed as an episodic show and only focused on the angels vs demons plot in the last few episodes I would have preferred. It would have required more episodes ala Cowboy Bebop of course, but the angels vs demons thing hasn't done the show any favors. Just because we knew it was going there it doesn't mean we can't be disappointed when it ultimately does and effectively starts to become less entertaining/fun.
 
M

madp

The Light of El Cantare
The Mad P. WIXOSS watch saga thus far:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8

My impressions on here out will use existing show terminology without explanation, so if you need a refresher, consider at least re-reading the Episode 5 impression as a primer since I recapped most of the important details.

So, without further ado, if I could take just a moment to remind everyone exactly what kind of show selector infected WIXOSS truly is:

ldSFcKIl.jpg
oXpcLPnl.jpg
BXcANRnl.jpg
Click to expand...

Do you think that she might want to fuck her brother?

Yuzuki, now victorious in her bro-baiting scheme thanks to becoming an ETERNAL GIRL, proceeds to deliver the world's most redundant love confession to her brother. After at all, if asking your brother if a.) he can smell your genes and if that gives him a primal pheromone boner and b.) heavily insinuating that twins, two halves of a whole, are destined to "become one" again, all while lying prone in bed, doesn't imply that bro-bones are in immediate danger of being jumped, then, at least in the context of what constitutes healthy displays of affection in this show, what does?

The leadup to the confession is full of hilarious Okada bullying porn as Kazuki's scorned groupies decide to spread incest rumors to the entire school. The irony here is that they're actually COMPLETELY ON THE MARK in their assumption, but for the stupidest reason possible: according to their logic (see Ep8 impressions), since Kazuki refused to give one of them a creepy, loveless kiss on demand and he spends time with his sister, he is obviously FUCKING HIS ONEECHAN. Both Kazuki and Yuzuki are subject to this; Yuzuki sullenly retreats to the rooftop, Kazuki at least has enough interest in preserving the facade of platonic sibling affection to tell his former hangers-on to fuck off before meeting Yuzuki.

BQB2Z6ll.jpg


Cue confession. "It was always so hard, Kazuki! When I was in grade school and my friends were talking about their crushes, I had to awkwardly change the subject! Forget that I didn't realize that I could just make up a fake crush to get everyone off my back and preserve my normie status; IT WAS ALL FOR YOU. please fuck me"

And Kazuki? "I love you, too. I've always loved you."

They embrace. Only now, on the rooftop away from the judgmental eyes of a society that just can't handle their love, can they be in peace.

For exactly one minute until the show completely throws the whole fuckin' thing out the window.

Remember Hitoe? The not-Mami who became incapable of friendship after losing three battles and having her wish anti-granted per the rules of Eternal Girl competition? Well, before I get ahead of myself, Ruko is on her way to school and decides to take a shortcut through a shadowy alley because no one will ever possibly confront her in a dramatic fashion in a place where it's easy to wordlessly convey a sense of fear and entrapment.

Suddenly, Ruko is accosted by Zombie Hitoe, dead-eyed and singularly focused on BATORU thanks to her magical friend repellant. Ruko is shocked as Hitoe has taken up WIXOSS again in spite of losing all memories related to WIXOSS and the friends with which she played. Unable to properly express herself due to her bad case of the zombies, Ruko holds up her new LRIG to speak up for her.

Suddenly, SHOCKU INTENSIFIES as it dawns on Ruko: that LRIG is..............Yuzuki?!?!?!?

Yes, Yuzuki, now dressed suspiciously like that one imp thing from [C], explains; because WIXOSS is never satisfied with the current level of suffering and depravity in the show and because LRIGs are secretly little shits who conveniently hide every single detail about the nature of the Eternal Girl competition that may influence the chosen Selectors to tear their cards up into a million pieces and immediately run for the hills, the whole "your wish is granted if you become an Eternal Girl" thing is COMPLETELY FABRICATED MONKEY'S PAW HORSESHIT: IF YOU BECOME AN ETERNAL GIRL, YOU DON'T GET YOUR WISH. YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY TRAPPED IN A CARD YUGI'S GRANDPA STYLE AND BECOME THE LRIG FOR THE NEXT SELECTOR. THE CURRENT LRIG POSSESSES YOUR BODY AND LIVES OUT YOUR WISH IN YOUR PLACE. And, imagine that, LRIG-Yuzuki just happens to transmigrate into the card of the person at this whole vortex of shit and misery.

The implications here?

The entire creeper scene from the previous episode with Yuzuki seducing Kazuki? THAT WAS HANAYO.

The confession on the rooftop? THAT WAS HANAYO.

Hanayo, now in her former master's body and bound by the wish, is now fucking Kazuki in Yuzuki's place out of obligation, all while having to hide the fact that she's a fake and probably while knowing that she willfully deceived Yuzuki into thinking that she would EVER actually get to fuck her brother in order to escape imprisonment in her card. Oh, and the kicker? Kazuki is now REALLY REALLY into her and also fed up with the persecution at school, so, with the resolve and unconditional love that only a teenage boy who has been geass'd into wanting to make squirrel babies with his own kin can know, he implies that he wants to leave this cruel place behind for somewhere unknown where their love can blossom. And Hanayo MUST COMPLY.

Ya3b2rHl.jpg
X6At2m1.jpg


the "oh shit what is going on" face.

WIXOSS: now with netorare, because incest, Okada psychopath drama, and really pretty backgrounds weren't enough.

Yuzuki, who is pretty fucking spiteful and really wanting to get out of the damned card at this point, demands that Ruko battle Hitoe. Ruko, not wanting to fight her already-lobotomized friend and her other should-have-been-lobotomized friend, tries to resist, resulting in an exchange that roughly becomes as follows:

"Duel us."

"I don't wanna."

"Duel us."

"No."

"DUEL US RUKO."

"I'd prefer not to"

"DUEL US"

"ok"

Begin battle, end episode.
 
T

Terareflection

Member
selector infected WIXOSS End:

You know this could be a really nice girlie version of YuGiOh, there wasn't stupid suffering, lesbian subtext out of nowhere, crazy or sadistic cute girls because why not, and if the card game part of this show was actually thought out, and not some dumb vehicle for stupid suffering.

That said I have to give props to the show for looking pretty good throughout its run.
 
N

Narag

Member
Cowboy Bebop 6

We get our first hints about the tragedy of the moon and the Earth in this one.

It's also definitely stranger leaning than the first few eps given the nature of the antagonist. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure it felt off to me on my first watch. In writing about episode 5, I referred to the Vicious episodes as Bebop's mythology eps, usage of the term taken from the way X-Files episodes are categorized. This one fits in with other episodes (namely Toys in the Attic and Pierrot Le Fou) as more Monster of the Week, a much more common term but one used to describe non-mythology eps of the X-Files as well. There's a handful of these eps that support one another by virtue of merely existing, allowing one another to never feel too far out there due to how strange the others are in comparison.
 
J

javac

Member
Watched more of the show today, and I’m still loving it. Again, each episode went by really quickly so I'm obviously having a good time! The show does a great job of making the ship feel like its own little ecosystem with policies in place and hierarchy's dictating who's on top and it does an awesome job of making you engaged in each decision.

Music again is not what you'd expect from each scenario but I like it a lot. The show is very dialogue heavy so there's lot to read and it often makes the encounters more on edge as the characters narrate everything from their positions and trajectory to on the fly plans as they engage in combat.

The show takes advantage of having a bunch of kids on a ship in close proximity as it brings a lot of humour into it, as you'd expect. Tension is also high, so you really get engaged in the show, so much as to get pissed off at certain characters due to their attitude or decisions made that ultimately affect everyone. You really feel like your on-board with everyone, and you quickly get accustomed to how everything functions on the ship. Seeing relationships wane and others grow is interesting too as you see how the daily functions affect everybody and how these kids are put into situations that require them to act like adults as they play with everyone's lives.

Really loving it so far and I look forward to watching more.
 
V

Ventara

Member
Sword Art Online 2 Episode 9

So we see Asuna and the gang in ALO watching a live stream of the battle, and they witness Death Gun kill Pale Rider. We also find out Death Gun releases smoke from his mask, lol. Oh, and who's doing the camerawork for the livestream? Making Death Gun all ominous and stuff. We all know Kirito will kick his before this match is over.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Sinon team up to chase after Death Gun, while taking out other players on the way. Sinon gets wet between the legs seeing Kirito's swordplay, and Kirito finally remembers not to sheath his lightsaber on his back. They track him down and split up to catch him, only for him to get the jump on Sinon! Episode ends with Sinon staring down the barrel of the Death Gun and a gunshot. Dun dun dun! Is Sinon dead? Will we ever get to see her ass again? Yes, because the screencap for episode 10 has her, and she has Kirito waifu invincibility on.

Anyways, we got a nice close-up of Sinon's ass this episode, though I can't shake the feeling that it looks off. You guys don't think she's wearing pads, is she?
 
U

UltraGunner

Banned
pgtl_10 said:
GAF,

Please recommend me some good anime that isn't about teens. I prefer adult protagonists and antagonists. Also something that isn't about mechs/robots being the main theme.
Click to expand...

Black Lagoon
Hellsing Ultimate
Jormungand
Cowboy Bebop/Samurai Champloo/Space Dandy
Space Brothers
Steins;Gate
 
P

pgtl_10

Member
Narag said:
Cowboy Bebop 6

We get our first hints about the tragedy of the moon and the Earth in this one.

It's also definitely stranger leaning than the first few eps given the nature of the antagonist. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure it felt off to me on my first watch. In writing about episode 5, I referred to the Vicious episodes as Bebop's mythology eps, usage of the term taken from the way X-Files episodes are categorized. This one fits in with other episodes (namely Toys in the Attic and Pierrot Le Fou) as more Monster of the Week, a much more common term but one used to describe non-mythology eps of the X-Files as well. There's a handful of these eps that support one another by virtue of merely existing, allowing one another to never feel too far out there due to how strange the others are in comparison.
Click to expand...

There's another Cowboy Bebop series?
 
M

madp

The Light of El Cantare
if I could take just a moment to blah blah everyone knows the drill by this point:


Actually, there's not much to say about this episode.
The battle with Hitoe ends up being a fakeout because her NO FRIENDS curse takes effect and she collapses. Ruko calls an ambulance because first responders are clearly equipped to take care of evil trading card-induced illness and Hitoe is hospitalized. Ruko and Yuzuki mope around for most of the episode over the revelation that the whole game is bullshit, and Yuzuki reveals that there is apparently some malevolent being named Mayu at the center of the game who explains the bait-and-switch to new Eternal Girls. Apparently, LRIGs AREN'T ALLOWED TO EXPLAIN THE RULES OF THE GAME to their masters on punishment of being eternally trapped in their card, and each must make the choice of whether or not the cycle of fucking over weird girls who are into TCGs ends with them. Tama, Ruko's LRIG, doesn't remember anything about the rules or who she was before she was in the card. She's too moe to be evil.

The one saving grace of this episode comically is that Ruko decides to take Yuzuki back to her house for safe keeping. On their way, they just happen to pass by Kazuki's house where he and "Yuzuki" are having a romantic moment. Ruko hides in the bushes and NTR tears ensue as Yuzuki can only look on wistfully from her card:

FgMfPPCl.jpg
3QpzZyql.jpg
3awXRkll.jpg
Click to expand...

This episode is basically the calm before the end-of-season storm.
 
T

ThatChairMan

Member
Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere 06-09

With the plot finally revealed, things finally start happening. The aftermath of Mikawa's self-destruction leads to the Student Council's position of power being revoked, and the main cast struggles to find a solution to being able to both regain their authority and to save Horizon. It is actually these episodes that basically encompass everything I love about this series. The pseudo-historical and pseudo-political debates and fantasy/sci-fi battles, all mixed with a great soundtrack that leaves things entertaining. Episode 8 itself is literally nothing but three characters debating and arguing back and forth, but I thought it was pretty compelling the entire way through. The fight scene/dance battle in 9 was entertaining enough, but the episode ends in such a way that really sets up the finale of the last third of the first season.

I'm also a pretty huge sucker for a redraw of a six-page spread for use as an alternate ED as well.
pJD8FVD.jpg
Click to expand...
 
V

Ventara

Member
Sword Art Online 2 Episode 10

Kirito saves Sinon just in the nick of time. Big surprise. The two of them run away from Death Gun and conveniently come across 3 buggys and .... and a robotic horse. lol, wtf? Whatever, the two of them escape on one of the buggys, and guess who comes chasing after them? Death Gun, riding a robotic horse. Lol, this is too crazy. Sinon's trauma kicks in as well, which renders her useless. Kirito has to drive one handed while guiding Sinon to shoot her gun behind them, while they're in a mid-air jump.

Anyways, they get away and make their way to a nearby cave to hide out. They have an after-sex talk and Sinon is clued in that Death Gun is from SAO. Speaking of which, you'd think Kirito would have reported that by now and the government would have been able to identify Death Gun from among the survivors.

KLupX3J.png
Click to expand...

Lol, even I found this shot ridiculous. This is a serious scene where she might die, and they decide to squeeze her ass into the shot?

L4YXwjC.png
Click to expand...
 
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