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Spring Anime 2012 | Welcome Home, Space Cowboy

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Makoto

Member
You want lesbians, kissing, confessions, and romance? I have just the show for you!

http://i.imgur.com/LhZxi.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
Was there really a lot of this? I dropped Strawberry Panic at around episode 5 because it felt like Oh-the-bell-interrupted-us-just-as-our-lips-were-centimeters-close Panic.
 
I'll break your mind!
JBcXm.jpg


Jealousy and betrayal! It happens still.
Until you prove otherwise, I'll just assume that is some trap crap.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Was there really a lot of this? I dropped Strawberry Panic at around episode 5 because it felt like Oh-the-bell-interrupted-us-just-as-our-lips-were-centimeters-close Panic.
Well, even the ED songs had real life 3d girls almost kissing each other. lol

---

Smile Precure:

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I love derpy villains.
 

Ezalc

Member
So I went to a Japanese festival thing they have my city today, which was pretty much a mini open-air anime convention. There was a division in who was there. On one side were the people wearing black (not really goth clothes but like heavy metal stuff I guess) and on the other were all the other colors. Now I never went to a convention in the US but I'm just wondering if this happens there too.
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
So I went to a Japanese festival thing they have my city today, which was pretty much a mini open-air anime convention. There was a division in who was there. On one side were the people wearing black (not really goth clothes but like heavy metal stuff I guess) and on the other were all the other colors. Now I never went to a convention in the US but I'm just wondering if this happens there too.

People either wear black or colors in every place ever, yeah.
 

SDBurton

World's #1 Cosmonaut Enthusiast
Maria-sama ga Miteru 07

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I felt so bad for Yumi in this episode. All she was trying to do was find something she could give to Sachiko for Valentine's Day. Sachiko is driving me crazy, she's so stern with Yumi to the point it causes the girl to sort of distance herself, but then gets pissed when it happens. What the hell?! No GiganteaxYumi goodness in this ep (besides the chasing) made me bummed.
 

Narag

Member
Koutetsushin Jeeg 4

The idea that
time has stopped completely in the Zone
is going to give me a headache. Build Angels history was interesting enough.

Koutetsushin Jeeg 5

Evidently I already watched this one out of order.

Koutetsushin Jeeg 6

Hilarious ep proving once and for all that a young man's lust for breasts can overcome all evil and any obstacle that might stand in his way.

When gattai goes wrong.

 

Branduil

Member
I was wondering when icecream's moe thread was going to turn into "MOE HAS RUINED ANIME IN MY DAY WE HAD TO WALK THREE MILES THROUGH THE SNOW TO PICK UP VHS TAPES GET OFF MY LAWN"
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
http://i.imgur.com/P9o2f.gif[IMG]

[I]The[/I] true Lovecraft show of this season, clearly.[/QUOTE]

Oh [i]God[/i].

[quote="Branduil, post: 36984128"]I was wondering when icecream's moe thread was going to turn into "MOE HAS RUINED ANIME IN MY DAY WE HAD TO WALK THREE MILES THROUGH THE SNOW TO PICK UP VHS TAPES GET OFF MY LAWN"[/QUOTE]

This perfectly sums those posts up.
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Oh, wow. The OP and ED for this are awesome, but, Haruhi...

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight I


What

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight II


the

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight III


hell

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight IV


are

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight V


you

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight VI


doing

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight VII


to

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Endless Eight VIII


Nagato?!

That was quite the experience. I can't really complain. After all, this is just a
reeeeally small fraction of what Nagato went through...

It must've been pretty frustrating to those who were watching these episodes during their original broadcast, but, in retrospect, it seems like a valid experiment. Watching it all the way I did was interesting. After two or three episodes, I became basically passive towards the explanation speeches and stuff like that, while also turning extremely sensitive to even the most irrelevant and minor details that suddenly changed. The little girls Haruhi befriends at the pool, Nagato's different masks, and Kyon's reactions to Koizumi's idea are three examples of that.

The way they portrayed Koizumi
as some kind of evil guy in Part II
for some reason I can't put my finger on was curious, too.

And then there were also some pretty cool songs used in the episodes (such as the one they play when Kyon's talking to Nagato in Part IV, or the one that plays during the activities rolls in Part V), and symbolism like this. Finally, I found it funny when it became obvious that Part VII had the smallest budget of them all.

Going into Part VIII, I kept wondering
what would change
. First, I thought,
Kyon would buy Nagato the mask she wanted.
Nope. Then, maybe
someone else would win the cicada catching contest...
But no.
The cicada tempura? Koizumi's idea?
Holy shit!
Homework! Haha. The realization sequence is amazing.

And the final scene is great.

I understand why most didn't enjoy this, but I did. Haruhi's such a wonderful troll.
 
Here you go, Anime-GAF! The first of two, the second being my Lupin stuff I need to rewatch.

Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji (The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon)

(Some spoilers here and there, necessarily to better review what I just watched (and it's nothing to really worry about, unlike with other productions)


Here's a huge album of screen-snaps I took while watching the film through a second time, showing pivotal moments, in-between frames of interest, and a lot of spoiler content. Trust me, though: individual frames don't do the film's animation and storytelling any justice. To really experience it, you gotta watch it!

1963 saw only two anime productions of any note: Mushi Production's abysmal Astro Boy anime on TV, with it's limited animation and out-of-place Western cartoony-ness, and this film, a retelling of the Shinto legend of Susano with a unique visual style, amazingly-consistent animation and artistry in every form, and a ridiculously-good soundtrack from Akira Ifukube (Godzilla's original composer and Japan's first Western-styled composer to get any attention). So, I expected great stuff and came out amazed at the level of animation quality, great storytelling, and an epic feel that differentiates the film from other Toei Douga films of the time (—which, unsurprisingly, all tried to imitate Disney productions done overseas, and very well for the most part). I certainly wished that material like Takahata's Hols would have come around earlier than 1968, but this traditional tale is done so well and with such originality that it fills in the gap quite nicely.

Right from the start, even, anyone could tell that this project would be special: the opening studio eyecatch, a pastoral scene of waves crashing against beach-borne rocks, would normally be accompanied by a studio fanfare, but the only sounds heard here are waves crashing against beach-borne rocks! Then came this real quick pre-credits opener, describing the creation of Japan by Izanagi and Izanami, husband and wife who bore Amaterasu, Tsukuyoshi, and Susano, focal point of the film. In many ways, the opening is as brief and straight to the point as most of the film is—eventually, there's always time for awesome music and opening credits.

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Susano as Ted Turner.
First off: I have mixed feelings regarding the way that both Ichiro Ikeda and Takashi Iijima interpreted the tales of Susano for Toei's latest big attempt to imitate Disney and become "the Disney of the East". When I researched the classic Shinto creation myth online, it became clear to me how much more gruesome and vivid events like the death of Izanami and Izanagi's attempt to bring her back from Yomi were originally—in this film, such a series of events wasn't even present! Instead, Izanagi pathetically watches as Izanagi, for whatever reason (and in different attire than normal), is whisked off in her static pose into some not-animated mist effects, the story merely claiming that "she is gone". Further irritating is how, instead of being a grown adult who lives with his brother and sister in the heavens, he's an unrestrained demon of a child, consoled only by his mother and by his will and desire to seek her out in the depths of the world, which is everything but Yomi itself (a concept that the producers, presumably, didn't want to scare children with—but a really-creepy scene with Susano crying non-stop, where everyone including the ocean itself wants to get the hell away from him? Perfectly fine.). Overall, though: despite the toning down of the original stories for a target audience, I think these changes do make the story a more coherent, complex, and archetypal hero's journey, family-friendly while at the same time not being a musical or some saccharine turd of a story that Toei Doga was more interested in at the time. Susano himself is quite interesting early in the story due to his excellent portrayal, both by the animators and by a young Morio Kazama—later in the story, he becomes less exciting and more toned-down, both an indicator of mental growth and a disappointment due to him having lost his defining quality: lack of restraint and enormous physical power (and skillful prowess with weaponry of all kinds, might I add).

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The most prominent musical theme of the movie, a hauntingly-beautiful Japanese lyrical song done with a mixture of electronic keyboard and elaborate orchestral performance, is first introduced in this bathing scene, one scene that I found humorous due to the contrast between Izanami washing a peaceful Susano, and a parent-child tanuki duo wherein the child just doesn't want to stay put.

Despite the fact that Yasuji Mori was animation director and cleaner-upper for the whole film, the one thing he simply refused to tamper with were the key animator's unique ways of animating different scenes. Susano, in his first scene in particular, is a bendy, fluid, simply-magnanimous character in the way that his arm shapes are exaggerated and his jumps sudden and rubbery. Very quickly, though, another animator (uncredited) makes his movements choppier and more measured, consistently enough that this variation in style can be chalked up to more than budgetary and time-related issues. Even then, though, there are many momentary switches from animator to animator, and the same often applies to the many, many in-betweeners as well. Only two animators can ever be consistently identified throughout the film for doing the scenes they'd normally do: Yasuji Mori, who no doubt worked on the comedy relief and antics of characters like Akahana the rabbit and Big Tanbo of the Fire Country (—no surprise, as his first project at Toei Doga was finishing Kitty's Graffitti in the late 1950s—), and Yasuo Otsuka, responsible for the finale with the Yamato-no-Oroshi battle and many other scenes with impressively-realistic and powerfully-animated scenes. Yasuji's playfulness in animating his side-characters, coupled with the adversity and maniacal detail of Yasuo's battles and monsters, all comes together to form this distinctive contrast between styles and making the most of the key animator's talents. With talent like Akira Ifukube and Yasuo Otsuka working on a visually-experimental film like this, it's no wonder I have a lot of glowing remarks to make.

JYXvF.png


Don't jump into the ocean trying to swim to your mother, kids. You'll end up like Susano! In an '80s montage!
Susano himself isn't the only active participant here, of course. He has his loyal retainers by his side: Akahana, a spunky rabbit with a habit for acting tough and then getting scared, and Big Tanbo, who's clumsiness and dopey nature surely means he's good-hearted. Surprise surprise, Akahana is my favorite of the two, simply because the bunny's got so much great animation and kooky visuals all throughout the film, while Tanbo is more stout and boring to look at half the time. This rabbit also has the most personality of all the characters in the film, being the comical slapstick character and an increasingly-notable contrast to the once-comical Susano, who matures gradually throughout the film into a more responsible, upstanding young adult. The other two siblings of Izanami and Izanagi both have their own folks to attend to: Amaterasu lets a whole bunch of middle-aged men and married women farm in her Land of Light, while Tsukuyomi operates the Land of Night with his army of disfigured, crystallized soldiers under the Minister of War. Inevitably, all of these lower-order characters provide necessary diversions from the epic tale at hand, keeping a good deal of the Disney vibe even though they're much more unique and interesting than the average Disney filler character. In no Disney film would anyone see the visual deconstruction and distended movement of the crystal soldiers, or the surreal and lively dancing that the Land of Light-ers do to trick their own guardian goddess. By the end of the film, though, it's all about Susano and his epic fight against this eight-headed demonizing, terrorizing, womanizing dragon of ridiculous proportions, an allegory for the trials and tribulations of his journey and a fitting climax bonded into a sort-of Japanese myth analogous to the Greek myths of Perseus and Hercules (for reasons I'd rather not spoil, anyway, though the Yamato-no-Orochi is definitely alike to the Hydra of Greek myth).

FGACw.png


Susano is too cool to be digested alive.

Structurally, there's little to say about the anime's progression, as it's a traditional story of a boy growing up into a man, and how he changes mentally even when he's a very powerful deity (though he hasn't grown to the point that he can truly be called the Storm God, instead focusing on physical strength throughout most of the film). Grief sends him on a mission to find Mommy in the farthest reaches of his psyche, starting out from the rustic island where Izanami and Izanagi were betrothed—where Susano had been pent up, now ready to destroy the underlying fabric of his village should he stay—ending in Izumo province, where nothing but death and entropy fuels the final stretch of the film, mountainous, craggy, and callous compared to the blossoming bosom of his home island. Like key animation frames, these keys have their own in-betweens: a gnarly fish fight in a tsunami-swept ocean at night; Tsukuyomi's crystal palace in the middle of the underworld; a sandy and dying Fire Country, starved of water from the old river and ravaged by the less-than-amiable Fire God; eventually, Susano and his two merry men reach the height of his world, Amaterasu's Land of Light, where even there terrible things happen all around (including the big-screen perversion of old-told events that Susano was responsible for, like trashing a loom and such). Pacing this film, then, should and no doubt was an easy task. But, by the time they reach Izumo, the movie gradually slows to a crawl for a while, right before the final battle rejuvenates the film with its rancor and august marvels of animation. Seeing as the film itself is less than two hour's worth, stripping the script to its bare essentials and leaving the subtleties to animation and exceptional background designs was the single best option for the director to take, and it worked very well for the film overall.

0yJsE.png


Reminds me of the Ice power-up in Super Monkey Ball.

What worked exceptionally well in this film was the constant variation in different visual styles chosen to depict the backgrounds and characters. All-throughout the film is a new technique entitled "masking" by various sources—indeed, this is probably the film where Reiko Okuyama (art director) invented and defined the style as we know it from TV series like Samurai Jack. This constant juxtaposition of instantly-readable and mobile figures atop detailed and conflicting backgrounds, ranging from the primary colors and features of the beginning and ending scenes to a whole number of crystal caves, lands of ragged rock and staid sand, and eventually towering cliffs and trees, lend to the production an air of sophistication and adventurous design that never seems to stop impressing me with detail and development. And with the impossibly-high fluidity and quality of animation being presented here, scenes like the Fire God battle never fail to impress, this example in particular due to the swift and capricious movements of the big baddie and his flames, a scene that showcases the exuberance of battle with Susano's marvelous leaping and the increasingly-masterful antics between him and the Fire God. Albeit a bit long-winded, the mid-film dance sequence is a brillant way to illustrate the off-the-walls desperation of Amaterasu's subjects to distract her, and to show off their dedication to life and light, all dependent on UPA-esque character designs frolicking amongst cliff-sides and popping out of them in the darkness of night (not to mention using leaf branches to sprinkle fairy dust everywhere while middle-aged Japanese men march in time with their appendages extended!). Even the beginning of the film has a really-great chase sequence between Akahana and Taro the tiger, both of whom are animated humorously and the latter of which has a rather-unique look in motion and in standing.

9nWdF.png
cFKno.png

5pBtW.png

dp8hB.png


—I could go on, but I won't.
Of much note, too, is the music that Akira Ifukube brought with him to Toei Doga, in what is probably his most notable contribution to anime music that I know. All of his usual musical traits can be heard here: ruthless brass in battle and an effective fusion of Western and Japanese musical ideas in his softer pieces; minimal percussion, instead focusing on more definite sounds from brass and string sections; of course, all of his strengths as composer and arranger make perfect sense for this film's style and whimsy, making it that much more painful to know that there may never be a soundtrack released for this film (—knowing anything, the original recording would have been overwritten and/or erased by this point in time, already nearing the 50th anniversary of the film's release). While a lot of the musical numbers featured throughout are well-composed and well-performed through and through (though I can definitely hear some gaffes in the trumpet lines during the closing moments of the final battle for some reason), they're often really-short and act as interludes half the time, though I appreciate their melodic and harmonic intricacies. Two tunes, at least, take their damn sweet time to develop, and variations are done on both throughout the film. Both the memorable opening fanfare and the love theme get a lot of attention on the audio track, the former because it's monumental and overbearing nature makes it suitable for the battle scenes with the super-duper monster thingies, and the latter because it's restrained beauty and motherly mood is unlike any other piece of music in the course of the movie. Akira's work on Godzilla and other films published by Toho in the grand golden age of Japanese cinema—post-war to the mid-60s—gave him the chance to hone his skills in mending Western music with Japanese pathos and aloofness, and that's what this film's score is most efficient at doing. Part of me thinks that this film's score influenced musicians like Junichi Masuda, who would make a similar soundtrack for one of Game Freak's more obscure late-90s video games.

YoCva.png


Couldn't have done that better myself.
My favorite parts of the film are the battles, but no battle is more impressive than the final one, featuring a lot of sake, a
flying horse sent from Amaterasu
, spears and swords, and a truly-satisfying number of deus ex machina pervading throughout. It wasn't enough for there to be a lot of flying heads and snake-like necks trampling through dead trees and flashing bright in the thundering light. No: Yasuo Otsuka famously brought the Yamato-no-Orochi to life with surprisingly-realistic movement and anatomical precision, a practica of his he brought to shows like the original Lupin III in 1971 later in his career. In addition to that, Susano charges through the air in a series of wicked-quick acrobatics and animation glory moments that puts the average modern-day sakuga to shame—not for the crazy amount of things exploding in the average episodic money shot, but due to the fluid and often-expressive exaggeration of movement that most anime would fail to achieve today (sans Takeshi Koike, because he unintentionally bankrupts his producers to make animation masterpieces like Redlineand, possibly, the new Lupin series). Technical expertise in this film isn't limited to anything that Yasuo did, of course, as every key animator and set of in-betweeners got to do some impressive work on the film, though only Yasuji's beloved Akahana really got distorted as much as I would prefer in my favorite anime. Let's not forget about the flighty cinematography too!

jIB32.png

0DNPt.png

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Some of the animators had a bit too much fun, but that's okay.
Now that I think about it, my favorite part of the film is the ending itself, climactic in how it contrasts an older Susano with his mother, who had been in his heart the whole time and, here, is but an illusionary mirage, perhaps now belonging to Yomi and now only a thought in the young Susano's mind, never changing and always-defining. Is his mother a dream? and is the promised land a dream too? Who's to know, knowing that his journey started from innocence and lands back into the arms of innocence once more, the only difference being that Susano has grown into peace and out from war. Everything comes to a fulfilling conclusion right at this very moment—all of the amazing art, contrasts in visual style, glorious music, and classic storytelling concluding in tandem, right at the precipice of the Japanese film industry's collapse mid-decade. I can't think of a more surreal and loving way to conclude a hero's journey, as Susano turns from crybaby to father of the Japanese people over an indefinite period of time spent traveling in search of security. Security itself is a defining aspect of the production design and choices made with the screenplay, but stoic the film is not, and I have little else to say about a film as well-paced, well-placed, and simply well-off. In the midst of more conventional material done by the same studio at the time, Wanpaku Oji no Orochi Taiji is a shining sun.
 
Ah My Goddess TV 23
Oh boy! Mysterious looking goddess?
Cool another action packed episode. Belldandy got serious again and I liked how they were randomly destroying important Tokyo landmarks in the episode.
Pretty nice there's another episode against the Lord of Terror.
 
Holy cow.
Reading this. Ever since pizzaroll put up that vid, I've been interested in this film.
Well, you can watch it whole on YT, which is real cool. I found a hard-subbed version online rather quickly, and I just finished acquiring Hols: Prince of the Sun, which should be the real masterpiece of the era.
 

Articalys

Member
Saint Seiya Omega 3

Yeah, I only really need one weekly Sunday morning cartoon from TV Asahi and this is it. Keeping Precure on hold until it's built up a sufficient number of episodes for me to marathon.
 

Solune

Member
The fans demanded more harem!

Boys over Flowers is the only right answer!

-----
Saki 2:

Scarf moe for the people into that (better than drool moe!):
EIRAhl.jpg


The moe is staring into your soul:
i2xLGl.jpg
It's like this post was intended for me.
Good question. I already have Maria sama ga Miteru ready to go but I know that's going to be some serious time investment since its 3 seasons +1 OVA.

The other suggestions I got from everyone earlier were:

Kemonozume
Kaiba
Kare Kano
Nodame Cantabile
ef - a tale of memories and tale of melodies

Already have Nodame Cantabile ready to go as well.
I would say read the Kare Kano manga as well if you get a chance.
Not everyone can appreciate a good ol' glasses fetish.

For instance, I can't. Why are y'all so interested in girls with poor eyesight?
The same reason why there's an interest in girls in wheelchairs.
Most disturbing thing of the week.

iOZtHrdp2MFkc.gif


D:

Roundcat cake mmmmmmmmn. Poyopoyo version please.
 
Hols is kinda janky as fuck, but blame Toei.
Janky as fuck? I already knew that the whole thing had been butchered anyway, but that's overkill. Let me watch it first—then I'll see if the changes made really hurt the film. Besides: it's hard to compare the finished product with what was planned, since what was planned probably got trashed over the years indiscriminately by Toei's executive man-babies. Takahata won in the end anyway, but I'd like to watch it myself and see if the film is any good.
 

Risette

A Good Citizen
Janky as fuck? I already knew that the whole thing had been butchered anyway, but that's overkill. Let me watch it first—then I'll see if the changes made really hurt the film. Besides: it's hard to compare the finished product with what was planned, since what was planned probably got trashed over the years indiscriminately by Toei's executive man-babies. Takahata won in the end anyway, but I'd like to watch it myself and see if the film is any good.
You'll understand when you watch it.

I can't find any other way to describe a movie that goes from normal good quality animation to sudden series' of still pans for what seem to be key plotpoints of the movie. :p It's decent, but don't expect a masterpiece.
 
You'll understand when you watch it.

I can't find any other way to describe a movie that goes from normal good quality animation to sudden series' of still pans for what seem to be key plotpoints of the movie. :p It's decent, but don't expect a masterpiece.
I'll watch for that, then. Either way, I'll do a good review of it when I'm done.
 
Janky as fuck? I already knew that the whole thing had been butchered anyway, but that's overkill. Let me watch it first—then I'll see if the changes made really hurt the film. Besides: it's hard to compare the finished product with what was planned, since what was planned probably got trashed over the years indiscriminately by Toei's executive man-babies. Takahata won in the end anyway, but I'd like to watch it myself and see if the film is any good.

The film is very good, but it very obviously could have been so much more if it weren't for executive interference.
 

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
Depends on whether the author actually addresses the gender identity of the character(s).

So what are your thoughts on the publication Waii! which contains stories that do and do not address things. (This magazine also provides fashion tips, make up tips, advertises related games and offers advise for people.)
 
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