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Spring Anime 2012 II | Welcome Home Eureka

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Hayate no Gotoku s2 12

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And they really sang it! In a running montage no less. Isn't that like... copyright infringement?
 
Naruto SD: Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals 4
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Second skit was funny, my favorite non elemental jutsu taking center stage was cool.
One thousand years of death
. Enjoyable even though Naruto wasnt in it. Next week though, three of my four favorite characters in it, pretty excited. I think this is starting to grow on me.
 

madp

The Light of El Cantare
There might be a minor one, but I always saw it as more a description of me rather than fans of the genre. Not in a contrarian way, but like you said with the unpredictable tastes. I have some very specific reasons for liking certain things that extend beyond just being a genre whore. Shounen just happens to cover a lot of bases for me in what I want out of both the anime and manga mediums. Doesn't mean I don't like other stuff.

Of course, there's no problem with having a strong preference for any particular genre. You just have the advantage of knowing that watching things outside of your normal comfort zone can yield great results, but that never means that you have to stop favoring a particular genre solely because you find other things that you like.
 

duckroll

Member
I'm going through the pieces and while I like them just fine, I think that maybe what Trojita is hearing is less of that organic aspect that a lot of classic jazz has. In Art Blakey's original Moanin', for example, in the beginning piano intro, when Bobby Timmons presses down on the keys there's an individual and unique lightness to each note he presses, which makes it sound very natural and human. The pianist in the Apollon version, meanwhile, sort of plays each note at the same lightness. I'm... not sure if there's a technical term for that, but do you get what I mean? Even his (or her) trills and syncopation seem very deliberate.

Of course, each preview is only that -- a preview, so maybe the songs open up into solos and things like that where the performers loosen up a bit. We'll see. And it's not like they're completely devoid of that "touch"; with Apollon's bassist in Moanin', for example, you can still hear the creak of the wood and the muffled thump of the strings. And the drummer fiddles around smoothly before going into each break with the trumpet.

I hope that made some sense. I like jazz and I play it a little bit, but I'm not an expert by any means so I have very little knowledge of technical terms. :p

That's very interesting. Have you actually watched the show? If so do you have any comments on the nature of the performances in the show itself?
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage 2 (Ep. 14)

Alright, time to strap on the boots and get those brats! Further negotiations commence between the street gangs and more information is found on the culprits including a
child sex trafficking story. Brutal, but quite real, stuff
.

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Balalaika runs everything, including you!

With a rallying speech for revenge (their two fallen comrades) and AKs held high the plan begins. It starts with allowing the twins to play with the weakest of the participating gangs and then make a run for it into Balalaika's militant maze through the dark alleys of the city.

I enjoyed this touch, it makes use of Balalaika's past as a military leader and no nonsense soldier. Her right hand man gives her updates without a stutter or word of uncertainty as the chasing of the rats begins in her favor. The visuals are used well here too, as you see the children running from a top-down view, while periodically being drawn to Balalika's map which has a route all planned for them to make it to her desired destination.

Revy and Eda make a run from the assigned "free lance hunter" post to get a piece of the action, but it's Balalaika's show for the time being. Which is why, the two came in the wrong place at the wrong time...

God have mercy on their souls.
 
That's very interesting. Have you actually watched the show? If so do you have any comments on the nature of the performances in the show itself?

Yeah, I'm definitely keeping up with it -- it's probably my favorite show this season so far and the one I was looking forward to the most. I think the performances are great, and it seems like they took extra effort to make everything line up with the rotoscoping, but more than that it has a lot of character. Sentaro's bombastic drum solo is a great example of that, and when Kaoru plays with no swing, for example, you can really hear the difference even up against Sentaro's one-finger version; that scene where he's running up and down the stairs and trying to figure out all of the little stylistic components is great too.

As for the actual performance in the second episode, Sentaro and Jun in particular reflect their character in the way they play their instruments, which I really enjoyed. Sentaro sort of effortlessly bounces back and forth with little drum rolls and Jun's got this bluesy, soft, musing trumpet which feels pretty cool and effortless. And I wasn't sure how they were going to show Kaoru's progression as a musician -- that seems like it'd be pretty hard to do in a show -- but they had him just start out with chords and scales in his improv, which absolutely makes sense for his musical background. What I thought was really neat, though, was how Sentaro seems to open up a bit in that scene when Kaoru does, adding more cymbal.

So yeah, I mean -- I'll get back to you when the album comes out, and I still enjoyed what I heard from the previews. The show in itself, though, really has a lot of attention to detail and the characters' personalities and it's wonderful to see as a musician and as a writer.
 
Zetman 4
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Dots and Lines, the OP has grown on me. I like the singers voices as well as the beat and the animation when they go da da da da. Jin's personality and lines really make this anime special. Actually I think it makes him pretty unique, most other anime mains are talkative or border on being really animated to complement their explosive fighting styles, while he is more toned down yet still adept at fighting. Likable. The conversation with the man in the police station, when they were outside, was my favorite non battle scene thus far. Jin is really sentimental and caring.

Was worried when they gave Jin the suit that would be resistant to tearing. That seemed like a baffling choice as that would eliminated one of the minor yet cool aspects in the genre I like. Fortunately my worries didnt come to fruition as his still tore in the fight there. Fight was actually cool and I found myself like the surveillance team saying "Hurry, Transform!" Sweeper, I pray he didnt harm Jin.
 

Jex

Member
[Sigurui]
Yes. And also super homoerotic.
Hey, there's lots of men in this series who have sex with women!

It's just that, most of the time, they're obsessed with dudes because of like, samurai honour and stuff.

Apart from the guy with bulging eyeballs who
sucks his own penis while fantasying about a man.
Of course.
 

Makoto

Member
Nyarko-san 2

That near-180 upward pan of Nyaruko in the OP should be illegal. For the safety of every man, it should be illegal. Notifying my congressman right now.
 

Jex

Member
Simoun 26 [FINAL]

pic_simoun.jpg


I am so damn confused. Throughout this episode they flipped back and forth from the (past) present to the future. The only thing I understood at all from this episode was the big hint that Onashia was Dominura. And what the hell was up with that metaphoric ending for Aeru and Neviril? Why couldn't they just have them land in the same world where Dominura and Limone were at? Hell, I would've been happy with an ending where they just landed at some random location and shared a kiss. But instead we're left with no clue on where they ended up or if they were ever successful in finding Amuria.

Why in the hell is it that writers have this need to leave shows of this length with lose ends.. I hate speculating. Give me an ending.. Aeru and Neviril could've been sitting on some grassy hill for all I care, holding hands, and that would've been fine. See? I'm not hard to please. :(
That's what happens when you revolutionize the world.
 

frostbyte

Member
Saki Achiga-hen 3

Wow, what's with the rapid pacing? Not that I'm against it since the plot is still comprehensible.

and it was fun to see the
Koromo and the others from Ryuumonbachi
again. I feel like rewatching Saki again~

The cast is really growing on me. Watching this makes me so warm and bubbly :)
 

Soma

Member
So I wanna start watching Carnival Phantasm

Anything I should know/be prepared for before jumping in? I've finished up the Fate route in the Fate/Stay Night VN (i'm on the UBW route at the moment) so I shouldn't be too lost... right?
 
So I wanna start watching Carnival Phantasm

Anything I should know/be prepared for before jumping in? I've finished up the Fate route in the Fate/Stay Night VN (i'm on the UBW route at the moment) so I shouldn't be too lost... right?

You'll be fine for at least the stuff about Fate/Stay Night. You might not get the jokes in the Tsukihime portions, but regardless the show is pretty funny even if you don't get all the references. But, I do think all the Fate stuff in the show are the best part.
 

Jex

Member
I never understood the love for her.

Minene is the better girl. Insane (but not too insane), tragic childhood, bomb specialist, eye patch.. the full package.

I never understood the love for insane people in general. By people I of course mean 'girls', because we are talking about anime.
 

flawfuls

Member
Zetman 4

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I fucking knew they were going to cut out the mansion party arc. I fuckin knew it! reopiwnlcvvnjtreiotpqsmnl;ashjoireqyjhoinhbklfxnjgosjutopeiwgyopiadsoibjodsflkhknlgnklopoiopyoiggoisda8tyweqdfokishhoigbdfiohdsg.mkashnkjr69805-4790-kbvlnrg

I feel ya bro. No insane clone rape video funhouse thing no sale.
 
So is Zetman anime worth a watch? It looks high budget, but everyone saying shit will be rushed is turning me off a bit.

Should I just read the manga?

The manga is incredible. The anime, not so much. It's not bad, but it has some ridiculous pacing and it cut out the best arc in the series.

I would say maybe do both, but read the manga first. If you can only do one, definitely manga.
 

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
Mysterious Girlfriend X 03
FtyKQ.jpg

This episode was less than spectacular. In fact it might be fairly middling. It just felt too familiar for a series that thrives on being strange. Even throughout the episode there wasn't a lot of variety in what is playing out, and the mundane classroom and empty road on the route home have worn out their welcome for the show to keep relying on those backdrops. The intention of the episode to prove the bond between Urabe and the main character just felt unnecessary at this stage. It's too early for their relationship to be seriously strained, and it's too late to pretend their connection needs to be validated by this sort of test.
 

Shouta

Member
So is Zetman anime worth a watch? It looks high budget, but everyone saying shit will be rushed is turning me off a bit.

Should I just read the manga?

I haven't watched it yet but from looking at the general summaries, it seems they've just gone and skipped to the present arcs in the story and only told the bare minimum of what's needed to understand what's going.
 
So I wanna start watching Carnival Phantasm

Anything I should know/be prepared for before jumping in? I've finished up the Fate route in the Fate/Stay Night VN (i'm on the UBW route at the moment) so I shouldn't be too lost... right?

Half the show is about Tsukihime characters. You really need to have read both the FSN and Tsukihime VNs and even then there are a bunch of references to Kagetsu Tohya/Melty Blood and Hollow Ataxaria. If you just want to skip around and just watch the Fate stuff, do it after finishing the entire VN, there are HF jokes in there. From just reading the Fate route, you're not going to know who most of the characters in the show even are, let alone get the jokes.
 

Lain

Member
Phi Brain 10-20

These guys take their puzzles way too seriously when they shouldn't, and not seriously enough when they should. This whole
Gammon betrayal
feels out of place, whether it is a true one or a fake one, just as out of place is that everyone
save Nonoha just leaves Kaito like that
. It's difficult to understand why they would
stick together through and through when these PIG dudes were trying to separate them, but then teh Baron comes to tell Kaito some truths, shows him a heartwarming video, Kaito snaps back to reality, solves the puzzle that killed his parents and... now everyone is either afraid to be close to him or jealous, with even Nonoha questioning if she is a burden?
This makes very little sense, plot wise and character building wise, to me.
 
Simoun 26 [FINAL]

pic_simoun.jpg


I am so damn confused. Throughout this episode they flipped back and forth from the (past) present to the future. The only thing I understood at all from this episode was the big hint that Onashia was Dominura. And what the hell was up with that metaphoric ending for Aeru and Neviril? Why couldn't they just have them land in the same world where Dominura and Limone were at? Hell, I would've been happy with an ending where they just landed at some random location and shared a kiss. But instead we're left with no clue on where they ended up or if they were ever successful in finding Amuria.

Why in the hell is it that writers have this need to leave shows of this length with lose ends.. I hate speculating. Give me an ending.. Aeru and Neviril could've been sitting on some grassy hill for all I care, holding hands, and that would've been fine. See? I'm not hard to please. :(

That aside this show really surprised me. Would definitely recommend checking it out for those who have the time.

As obscure sleeper shows go, Simoun remains one of my favorites. And not just because of girls kissing.
 
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