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Official Summer 05 Anime Thread

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Just finished episode 3 of Eureka :lol Oh man, that was good. Anyway, skipped the first 5 minutes as Im in a rush and realized it was a lot of plot set up. Boring at that. The main character interaction is great though. They need to make everything surrounding that a lot better though. That was weak. Still never been a fan of mech fighting either. The action's always just dull. But there's some really good stuff as well about the series.
 
man I really fucking hate the MKV codec. Can anyone tell me how to get it to work in a simple manner? I've tried registering that system32 file (don't recall its name) multiple times and it doesn't work. I've tried VLC and it doesn't work. I even downloaded the MKV codec pack and it didn't work.
 
I can watch MKV files in just your regular old vanilla Windows Media Player (not even Media Player Classic...just regular old WMP9). In fact, I can watch anything with WMP except for files with soft subs. So I don't know why everybody else has such a problem with it.
 
callous said:
Yeah, and soft subs work just fine in WMP9/10 as well as long as you just install the right helper apps.

I was following the instructions on animesuki, I didn't know that MKV was simply soft subs (thought it was an actual codec). What are the right helper apps?
 
Pellham said:
I was following the instructions on animesuki, I didn't know that MKV was simply soft subs (thought it was an actual codec). What are the right helper apps?
MKV is a codec. It's the Matroska video format.
 
- Too early to tell but FMP2's music is kinda weak and that can't be a good sign -_-

Yeah, the new themes aren't as catchy, but they are still by Shimokawa Mikuni. I enjoy her theme songs, though she isn't very well known.

bleh, my geekiness is showing ;p
 
Man, I watched a lot of stuff tonight. Some of it new, some of it old, but I might as well just go through all of it.

Eureka Seven episode 9 - AWESOME. Just classic BONES stuff here. The story is starting to kick into gear and gaining momentum now, as expected. This is definitely the series that I get the most excited about right now when I see new episodes pop up. :D

Gun X Sword episode 1 - Not bad, but a bit cheesy. Sort of feels like Scryed meets Trigun with some mechs thrown in just for the hell of it. I'll be keeping up with it, but this could go either way.

Tide-Line Blue episode 1 - Surprisingly good. This is perhaps the dark horse series of the season. Quality all around, except for maybe Kiiru's goofy outfit, though I sort of get the feeling this will be one of those mysteriously underrated and overlooked series like Fantastic Children was last year.

The Snow Queen episode 1 - This was just pure class. It's a Hans Christian Andersen tale, and that fact alone comes across very well. If only we had more subs. The series is about 9 or so episodes in now, and we still only have one episode subbed. :(

Hunter X Hunter episode 1 - One of these things is not like the other... I know, I know, I'm only just now finally checking out HXH. And so far, I'm really liking what I'm seeing. Perhaps the set-up for the series was a bit abrupt (we're only just introduced to Gon when he learns the truth about his family), but the heart is already there. I'm probably going to watch another episode before I go to bed.




All in all, a good night with lots of new and fascinating things to see.
 
MetatronM said:
Hunter X Hunter episode 1 - One of these things is not like the other... I know, I know, I'm only just now finally checking out HXH. And so far, I'm really liking what I'm seeing. Perhaps the set-up for the series was a bit abrupt (we're only just introduced to Gon when he learns the truth about his family), but the heart is already there. I'm probably going to watch another episode before I go to bed.
I've watched the entire series(OVA's included) many times. This is one of my favorite anime series. The TV series is better than the OVA's and IIRC, runs 62 episodes long. Such an amazing and powerful anime. Good pick on this one. I'm always happy to see Hunter x Hunter get some love. :D
 
I'm sticking with just Eureka 7 for now. Maybe when more FMP! The Second Raid episodes are out I'll catch up to it.

I'm also praying that we see the rest of 2nd GIG (5 episodes...) subbed before the end of this year. :'(
 
Ironclad_Ninja said:
I've watched the entire series(OVA's included) many times. This is one of my favorite anime series. The TV series is better than the OVA's and IIRC, runs 62 episodes long. Such an amazing and powerful anime. Good pick on this one. I'm always happy to see Hunter x Hunter get some love. :D

What makes Hunter X Hunter so great? I downloaded 1-25 then deleted the torrent just before it was done. I thought I don't really have all that time to watch another anime. Is it really that good? o_O
 
Chrono said:
What makes Hunter X Hunter so great? I downloaded 1-25 then deleted the torrent just before it was done. I thought I don't really have all that time to watch another anime. Is it really that good? o_O

eh, just read the manga and watch the 1st set of OAVs because they rock. Also give up on the manga after it passes the OAV2 story, reading it further just causes pain :(
 
HxH is a series that starts really great, then after episode 45-50 starts getting more and more DBZ-ish (in a bad way of course). Just stop watching at the end of the
hunter exam
and you'll remember it as a great series, and not as some of the most stupid stuff ever if you get to see
the greed island
arc.
 
Bebpo said:
eh, just read the manga and watch the 1st set of OAVs because they rock. Also give up on the manga after it passes the OAV2 story, reading it further just causes pain :(
Hehe, I've seen some pics of what happens to the manga (not plot-wise, but you know what I mean). It's hilariously awful.
 
Yeah, the implementation of
Nen
kind of kills the series. At the beginning, when they are first learning it, as a way to finish the
Hunter exam
, it was good, but then it really got out of hand. Still good though.

The
Greed Island
arc is pretty hillarious too. It's so funny to see them drift so far from the beginning of the series.
 
Saw some more new stuff over weekend so...

Amaenaideyo
Shrinegirls harem anime with the main male character whose powers 'awake' everytime he sees one of the shrinegirls naked. But besides that 'awakening' thing everything else is dying in same old cliches here, don't find any of the girls particulary interesting and charadesigns are turning me off aswell. Jokes are not funny either. So conclusion is obvious = won't watch any longer.

Shuffle!
Well, that wasn't bad...for a eroge anime that is. Or maybe I was expecting utter crap. Again nothing much original (i.e. usual dude+perverted friend surrounded by girls), but pretty good direction compensates for all the flaws and cliches. Elf-girls fetishists will be happy with this aswell (TEH EARS!!!), even though girls here are gods and demons and not elfs, but whatever, see it for yourself... though only if you can stand bishoujo shows. Will watch until I got bored.

Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken TV
Ok this was soooo totally stupid, it was almost good...but not quite. Comedy set in alternative Edo period where people live together with funny looking demons/monsters and technology is bit more advanced than it should be, with main characters being Shinsengumi girls+one boy ruling the Kyoto area. Very cheesy and very oldschool, but not in parody kind of way (they mean it), Moeyo Ken is amusing and funny at times, but like I've said it's also plain stupid. Maybe I'll see some more episodes....maybe.

Ichigo Mashimaro
So Ichigo Mashimaro, must admit that I find IM manga slow and boring (though cute). With anime it's still slow but for some reason (good direction again?) not as boring, and of course it's all very very cute and occasionally funny. Lolikon fans will probably will feel betrayed since there are no pantyshots (zomg) and Nobue oneesan is older than she should be, probably all due Geneon USA influences. And so...will keep on watchin natch, but I'm not sure would I recommend it to anyone who's not into moe/loli cause this really doesn't seem like Azumanga (more mainstream) type of show to me.
 
Pellham said:
I was following the instructions on animesuki, I didn't know that MKV was simply soft subs (thought it was an actual codec). What are the right helper apps?

Damn, I have so many codecs and helper apps installed, I had a hard time figuring out exactly what does what, but I think I am now ready to tell you that you just need to install VobSub. After that, soft subs should play just fine in WMP.

MKV is a container, not a soft sub format, though, so to play MKV files you'll need a Matroska pack as well.

You could do worse than to just get Kick Ass Anime's (KAA) playback pack. It pretty much sets everything up for you. Can't link you to them, as they have 'questionable' content on the site as well.
 
Up to episode 7 now on Eureka 7. It's gotten really really good. Wasn't too impressed with episodes 1 and 2. Like I said, generic and nothing special. Episode 3 they start suprising you and the series really kicks it up a notch. Awesome chemistry between the characters. Like a really good anime, leaves you thinking about the next episode right away. Such a feel good anime too. Just love the crew they assembled and the way they act together. Kind of reminds me of a bigger Cowboy Bebop crew, because like them, I still have no idea what the hell they're doing on board. Scrapping money together any way they can I suppose. I'm sure they'll get into that later on, but right now the character interaction is the focus and delightfully so.

Meanwhile. Re-dug myself into Monster. After 2 episodes of it a few months back I quit. Grabbed an episode 1-8 torrent. So I started at 3. Very good stuff. It got more and more interesting, and the story just keeps changing radically but all in a mysterious and intriguing motion. Every episode your view changes by the end from what it was at the start, and the writing is brilliant. They were setting me up for a small event 3 episodes before, and then you keep getting these moments of smiling at what they did. I mean, it's really good. Not only that but the variety of episodes is amazing. It's got stories within a bigger story, near every character we see is developed, and we get involved in the conflicts as much as the main character. Taken along his path. Really really glad I picked it up again. I finished 4-8 all together, then immediately through 9-16 on download. Just caught episode 9 and should watch another one before bed. Or 2.

Oh, and on Honey & Clover, slowing down on that right now. If only because I got 2 serious dramas with Eureka and Monster, and I'm not giving it the right frame of mind to watch it.. When I hit a (fan-subbing) wall with Eureka, which seems to be episode 9, then I'll get back to it. I really like that series style though as well.
 
bloke said:
Saw some more new stuff over weekend so...
Ichigo Mashimaro
So Ichigo Mashimaro, must admit that I find IM manga slow and boring (though cute). With anime it's still slow but for some reason (good direction again?) not as boring, and of course it's all very very cute and occasionally funny. Lolikon fans will probably will feel betrayed since there are no pantyshots (zomg) and Nobue oneesan is older than she should be, probably all due Geneon USA influences. And so...will keep on watchin natch, but I'm not sure would I recommend it to anyone who's not into moe/loli cause this really doesn't seem like Azumanga (more mainstream) type of show to me.

Actually 20 is the age of adult legality in Japan, so I think she was changed simply because TV in Japan is a lot like TV in the US (i.e. there's a lot that's just taboo to do depending on the context. Depicting 16 year olds drinking and smoking is one of them). Though I'm willing to bet she'll be turned to 21 in the US version.

I do think that the anime isn't really Azumanga-ish, it's much slower and focuses on the cute things that girls do. But I think the manga is really good, myself. The humor is very much like Yotsubato!'s, which is another series about girls (and made by Kiyohiko Azuma).

And because of that, it's clearly my favorite of the current season by far. I don't even know if i'll bother watching anything else. I'm DLing Shuffle! only because I like the original character artists (Aoi Nishimata and Hiro Suzuhira).

Oh, and on Honey & Clover, slowing down on that right now. If only because I got 2 serious dramas with Eureka and Monster, and I'm not giving it the right frame of mind to watch it.. When I hit a (fan-subbing) wall with Eureka, which seems to be episode 9, then I'll get back to it. I really like that series style though as well.

Eureka is a serious drama? I always thought it was another superanimated hyped show like Last Exile. Heh I haven't actually seen it except for a german sub of ep 1 though.

Honey & Clover is easily one of the best anime based on a shoujo romance manga i've ever seen. It's just really well done. I like how even non-shoujo fans are enjoying it.
 
Pellham said:
Eureka is a serious drama? I always thought it was another superanimated hyped show like Last Exile. Heh I haven't actually seen it except for a german sub of ep 1 though.

Well, it's a lighthearted drama, if it were serious I think it would be pulled down. But the characters develop and change and do so really well. I personally never wanted to even watch Last Exile. I seen the first episode or so but it was pretty weak. Then again, look at how Eureka and Monster turned out.. But those I did have better vibes. And yes, Honey & Clover rocks. Seriously rocks. I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch it after going through a few Monster episodes. Especially after some of the intense gripping episodes. Feel weird going to Honey & Clover's quirky pacing and style. It's a great anime to get into though.
 
I love Monster too, but I've already read the entire manga. Three times. So watching the anime for me, is one of those "do I feel like reliving Monster again?" sort of deals. I do have about 52 or so episodes though. Just haven't watched much of it.
 
Pellham said:
Eureka is a serious drama? I always thought it was another superanimated hyped show like Last Exile. Heh I haven't actually seen it except for a german sub of ep 1 though.
Eureka Seven is closer in tone to Fullmetal Alchemist than anything else I can think of. There hasn't been a whole lot of the real tragedy sort of stuff FMA would pull (though there's a long way to go), and it's much better at pulling off comedy, but it's very character driven, just a little bit off normal conventions, and has some of FMA's comedy-melodrama bipolarity.
 
Gish. What a weak season. :( There are still a lot of good series running from the spring season, but this one.. ugh.

Full Metal Panic! TSR: OK, I'll give 'em this one. It might be good. But where's ep 2? The raw's out. :(

Gun X Sword: Bath what? What room? What what?

Okusama Wa Joshikousei: Most rediculous name since Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai, and not that good.

Shuffle!: I'll watch it, I mean.. 'till it sucks.

The Snow Queen: Ghibli actionish, ok, me watchie.

Then there's that submarine Mars Daybreak carbon copy, hate shows like that. Like that Gerad something show up in the sky with airboats much like Last Exile but utter shit. :)

<End of whine>
 
Ok some more impressions from me

Suzuka
I have no idea why I was looking forward to this cause it's utter bollocks. Generic shounen romance comedy come sports anime. Crap animation, meh character design, same old not funny ecchi situations, boring dialogues...yep, can't say one good thing about it. WTH Lunaranime picks this one to fansub is beyond me.

Tide Line Blue
Surprise of the season. I thought this would be like another flashy submarine anime completely devoid of any substance, but I was mostly wrong. Story might turned out to be epic but is nothing original though; postapocalyptic setup with fractions at war with annoyingly genki main character. What shines here is animation and direction, both giving me good oldschool cinematic feeling, also it felt as if no frame is wasted in first episode; very fun and engaging. Don't know what people are behind this but they sure know their jobs.

Okusama Wa Joshikousei
OWJ manga/anime seem like another exploatation of some salaryman's wet dream; like the one about being secretly married with uber-hot 17 yo bra-buster. Except main male character is teacher here, but whatever...I wish animation is little bit better, but overall feeling is that this won't be as bad as Ichigo100% anime though that doesn't say much. There's only one reason here for me to keep on watching this and that's Asami (the hottie), so until I get bored of her... *she's bit fat though, isn't she? :lol*

GunXSword / Full Metal Panic TSR
Some impressive animation on work here. GXS does look both cool and flashy, and all the right ingredients seem to be borrowed from other 'similar' anime (from Trigun to Gungrave), while new FMP felt almost as I'm watching Macross Zero OVA production-wise. But, I had one little problem with first episodes of both of the shows; it was all rather boring. I wouldn't go as far to call it 'all form and no substance', maybe it was more like 'seen it million times already and don't feel like watching it again' plus best thing about FMP was humor and new show looks to be even more serious than the first season. So I dunno, will see few more eps though before I give up.
 
bloke said:
Tide Line Blue
Surprise of the season. I thought this would be like another flashy submarine anime completely devoid of any substance, but I was mostly wrong. Story might turned out to be epic but is nothing original though; postapocalyptic setup with fractions at war with annoyingly genki main character. What shines here is animation and direction, both giving me good oldschool cinematic feeling, also it felt as if no frame is wasted in first episode; very fun and engaging. Don't know what people are behind this but they sure know their jobs.
I agree. Tide-Line Blue and Kamichu are about the only things I'm really feeling from this season so far.

Gun X Sword was somewhere between being fun and retarded. So it's getting the benefit of the doubt and a few more episodes before I really figure out what to make of it.
 
Drexon said:
Gish. What a weak season. :( There are still a lot of good series running from the spring season, but this one.. ugh.

Yeah, but Eureka 7 and Honey & Clover are pretty exceptional series. Wish Shininchiro Wantanabe would get back to work though.
 
bump

- Chidori/Sousuke duo is as fun as ever :)
- Eureka7 second opening is great
- so is Honey&Clover second opening
- a lot of "harem" animes this season, Suzuka is the only one i like (Shuffle has far better animation but it's boring imo)
- Tide Line Blue: i hope they get the main character a new outfit ASAP, it seems to be a great series ruined by one chara design.
- WTF @ Okusama Wa Joshikousei
 
So far I've only latched onto Tide Line Blue out of the completely new shows. Really like what I've seen so far, but yeah, the pants, at least, have GOT to be changed.
 
Random thoughts...

- I think Honey and Clover will be my favorite anime when it's done
- Screw Cellphone for that bogus release of GSD 40 >_<
- Zettai Shonen is pretty interesting so far (8 eps)
- FMP2 ep was great. The bad guy is totally WACKO :lol
- Tide Line Blue is great but that outfit is just TERRIBLE
- Bleach 41 = :o
- Major 23 was finally subbed. Great stuff as usual :D
 
Current up-to-date (all raws caught up) emoticon reviews of the series I'm still following:

Gun x Sword = ^^;;
Kamichu = !!!!!!!!
FMP TSR = ^^;
Honey and Clover = ^___^
Speed Grapher = ...........
SEED Destiny = #&*%$*#&%$#
Eureka Seven = ^______^
 
And some more...

Petopeto-san
Petopeto is another moe-manga-turning-into-anime case we have this summer season, but this one is kinda more closer to Kamichu than Ichigo Mashimaro. It's a school kids show again, with half of the characters being some sort of mutants xmen-like (not much action though). It's all overly cute, kinda slow, occasionally funny, and occasionally very weird (suicidal zombie samurai what?), and with maybe just a lil bit of fanservice. I like it so far after 3 eps passed, and chance is if you're into Kamichu and Mashimaro you're gonna like it too. Sub scripts by some animesuki guy are here http://shoutoku.tripod.com/ ...find the raws yourself.

Pani Poni Dash!
PPD should be my favourite show this season, but sadly no group wants to touch it except again for some animesuki fellow who did partial fansub of a first ep. PPD is kinda ugly Azumanga ripoff manga, but with anime, thanx to Shinbo Akiyuki and Tsukuyomi ~MP~ team, it all turned into omega kawaii Azumanga on LSD sort of experience....in other words it's as cute as is weird. Features some really genuine wtf? moments and lot of likeable characters. Hope some proper group will finally pick it up.

Akahori Gedou
First half of the show is dedicated to two 'cutey honey' wannabes who end up doing more wrong than right (like they destroy half the city while saving hostage), and well that part has few ok jokes besides usual fanservice and other nonsense. Second half features 5 poor magical-girl sisters whose parents were masters of evil yet they're failing to follow their steps doing more good than bad (kinda opposite to former characters) and unlike first part that one is totally not-funny. Um, so it's not very good and animation is kinda meh, and I'll try not to watch it anymore....but I probably will. ;P
 
I watched FMP: The Second Raid (episodes 1/2) the other day and it's not bad so far. I expected it to be much worse since it's more like the first season, which I hated. The arm slaves are still boring though, lambda (?) drives are even more boring, and the action overall just isn't anything special. Yet it's still tolerable, and if there's enough comedy (and a good story..) I might look forward to it each week and not just d/l it when there's nothing else to do.


That's it for me. I'm thinking about checking out Honey & Clover but I'm not so sure I'm in the mood for a romance anime.
 
Still watching:
Honey & Clover - one of the best this season
Eureka 7 - good music/good art/animation still kinda meh (ep 9)
GS Destiny - convinced this is garbage but need to finish
He is my Master - so ecchi funny
Dokuro-chan - thanks to Koshiba dokuro is cute/funny
Tsubasa Chronicle - slow pacing but i've picked up the manga
Futakoi Alternative - Why is subbing so slow? I really want to know what happens next
 
For stuff currently airing, I like:

1. FMP 2nd Raid - cool action, fumoffu-style comedy, great production values. (Comparing it to FMP season one in anything besides "they're both more serious than fumoffu" is a joke...I can't rewatch FMP season one, it's shit.)

2. Eureka Seven - just plain likeable.


That's it. There's NBZ and Blech and Bread DBZ, but I only watch each intermittently. Gun x Sword's first two episodes are downright terrible (Goro, NooOOoOOoooOOO). It's like Trigun mixed with Final Fantasy Unlimited. For all the money they spent animating it, it's so formulaic and pedestrian. I'll keep watching because it's a $$$$$ show and I've liked all the director's other works, but I'm really not feeling it so far. If episode three ends with van summoning his robot and beating some overzealous evil nutbag bent on destroying a community of Nice Folk I'll yell really loud.
 
EviLore said:
For stuff currently airing, I like:

1. FMP 2nd Raid - cool action, fumoffu-style comedy, great production values. (Comparing it to FMP season one in anything besides "they're both more serious than fumoffu" is a joke...I can't rewatch FMP season one, it's shit.)

2. Eureka Seven - just plain likeable.


That's it. There's NBZ and Blech and Bread DBZ, but I only watch each intermittently. Gun x Sword's first two episodes are downright terrible (Goro, NooOOoOOoooOOO). It's like Trigun mixed with Final Fantasy Unlimited. For all the money they spent animating it, it's so formulaic and pedestrian. I'll keep watching because it's a $$$$$ show and I've liked all the director's other works, but I'm really not feeling it so far. If episode three ends with van summoning his robot and beating some overzealous evil nutbag bent on destroying a community of Nice Folk I'll yell really loud.

Try Honey & Clover. It and Eureka 7 are my favorite easily this season.
 
Alot of the guys that are doing EUreka 7 post at gamingforce, and they've said that I think one of their members was on vacation, so in the meantime everyone else did their work on the various episodes. I think they're planning on releasing up to episode13 in one batch, but I can't confirm it because the site is down/gone/I don't know what the hell happened to it.
 
In a meantime, fansubs of Okusama Wa Mahou Shoujo started coming out (4 eps so far), and the show is actually *surprise suprise* not bad...though it is 'magical girl' ecchi, plot holds little bit of originality (elderly magical girl not wanting to retire yet, sexually frustrates her husband in the process :D ). There are some angsty and heartwarming moments waiting to happen, along with unavoidable fanservice, transformation sequences are kinda annoying though, and main male character (not the husband one) needs slap or two. But overall it's all very watchable... for me at least.
 
I watched ep. 1 of that one, so the husband lives with her, the way she talked about him one could count him as dead, or living away, so that makes this series the first magical girl(more like woman) with an adultery theme throw in as well, watching the op, one would believe that her husband won't get her first kiss, but the silly university(?) student will... hilarious if true. :D
 
Raytow said:
I watched ep. 1 of that one, so the husband lives with her...
No, he lives...well just watch the rest of fansubbed eps if you want to know. But yeah, there are lot of little twists to make whole thing very different than your usual MG anime. I'm in support of that though.
 
bloke said:
In a meantime, fansubs of Okusama Wa Mahou Shoujo started coming out (4 eps so far), and the show is actually *surprise suprise* not bad...though it is 'magical girl' ecchi, plot holds little bit of originality (elderly magical girl not wanting to retire yet, sexually frustrates her husband in the process :D ). There are some angsty and heartwarming moments waiting to happen, along with unavoidable fanservice, transformation sequences are kinda annoying though, and main male character (not the husband one) needs slap or two. But overall it's all very watchable... for me at least.
I watched a bit of it out of curiosity as it's not my type of show at all, and the print from the director/animators from Melody of Oblivion is right away noticeable. Doubt this will turn out as batshit insane as MoO did, lack of Yoji Enokido/Gainax being the biggest factor, but stylistically you can definitely tell it's MoO's spiritual succesor....despite being the furthest away possible in terms of content. Just a quick remark...
 
MetatronM: The Hunter X Hunter anime stays fairly consistent throughout the TV series, then things just go progressively downhill. Unless you're got high tolerance, pretend it ends with the first OVA as it wraps up what the TV show unfortunately doesn't without getting too bad. The second and last OVAs deal with something else entirely and can be ignored.
 
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