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Spring Anime 2012 | Welcome Home, Space Cowboy

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Branduil

Member
I don't think it's an overstatement to say this is the most promising season since 2007. Not to say there haven't been good seasons since then, but the breadth of shows in this one which seem to have a decent chance of being special is substantial.
 

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
^
ARRRGHHHH IT'S FACE SCARES ME
needs moar CLAMP am i rite?
R0Ut3.jpg
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Another - FIN:

I decided to give this another try and finished the show. And um... yeah, my problems remain the same.

I think it's absolutely no secret around this side of GAF that I have a very loooow bar for Suspension of Disbelief®. This is especially true when it comes to anime. I'm willing to forgive a lot of bullshit, or at the very least turn a blind eye to it. With Another... I just can't look past it. It's not even the over-the-top bullshit deaths (though those are kinda funny in how far they push it) or unbelievable characters; it's the premise.

There's absolutely no way, no how, that their school would still be standing. It's established early on that this "curse" has been going on for fucking YEARS now. Not only that, it's not exactly a secret; seemingly everyone knows about this. Parents sending their kids to a school where they KNOW kids regularly die every fucking year? In the same fucking class? Like clockwork? No, it wouldn't happen. Parents would not turn a blind eye and hope everything goes away on its own. They would move. They would quit their stupid jobs and fucking move away. Or at the very least they would insist that a new school be built as far away from that school as possible and burn the fucking cursed school down or whatever. This entire show is based on a premise that, anime or no, is just fucking impossible. I cannot suspend disbelief for it.

And even if NONE of the above happened, how on Belldandy's green earth could this NOT be fucking National news well before the beginning of this story? The entire nation would know, the government would launch a huge investigation, and the school would be shut down anyway. People don't just ignore massive deaths, especially not school children.

/rant

Well, at least Mei is cute.
 

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
But...but...my youth. :(

I just love the original Pegasus Fantasy so much. The new version doesn't sound nearly as majestic.
Maybe I'm not as irate because I was brought up with another song, but it is not a bad cover. It is not metal rock or whatever the fuck the original was, but it still has a nice sound.

Also I love Shokotan.
 

survivor

Banned
I don't think it's an overstatement to say this is the most promising season since 2007. Not to say there haven't been good seasons since then, but the breadth of shows in this one which seem to have a decent chance of being special is substantial.

Pretty much. Only season where I'm actually looking forward to watch 4+ shows.

Not to say the previous seasons were shit, it's just that I mostly had to rely on word of mouth to know what to watch.
 

frostbyte

Member
I don't think it's an overstatement to say this is the most promising season since 2007. Not to say there haven't been good seasons since then, but the breadth of shows in this one which seem to have a decent chance of being special is substantial.

What was promising in the seasons of 2007?

Only started in 2009 so have no idea of these things.
 

Branduil

Member
What was promising in the seasons of 2007?

Only started in 2009 so have no idea of these things.

Spring 2007 had

Gurren Lagann
Oh Edo Rocket
Darker than Black
Seirei no Moribito
The Skullman
Dennou Coil
Lucky Star
Bokurano

To name a few notable titles.

Summer 2007

School Days
Higurashi
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Mononoke
Shigurui
Baccano
Code Geass
 

madp

The Light of El Cantare
Kaichou wa Maid-sama 02:

rUBqsl.jpg


I have a feeling that I'll be seeing a lot of this.

Oh, thank goodness, some early progress on the
Misaki being a bitch to every boy in school
front. It didn't necessarily add to her image of strength as
her attitude was rooted as much in her own misandry as it was legitimate frustration with uncooperative students
. I wonder if there are any future ways in which
her knowledge of maid cafe practices will save her ass in an unlikely situation
.

Usui continues to be one smooth motherfucker. He already has pushing Misaki's buttons down to a science and can do it while perfectly faking unawareness of his own actions. He apparently has some kind of romantic hokuto shinken--he's already finished his lightning-fast courtship completely unbeknownst to Misaki, now he's just waiting for the delayed love reaction. OMAE WA MOU...you get it. What a badass.

Now for this week's eye porn:

http://i.imgur.com/Ua7Prl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/q0Qqjl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/NIJvGl.jpg
 
Another - FIN:

I decided to give this another try and finished the show. And um... yeah, my problems remain the same.

I think it's absolutely no secret around this side of GAF that I have a very loooow bar for Suspension of Disbelief®. This is especially true when it comes to anime. I'm willing to forgive a lot of bullshit, or at the very least turn a blind eye to it. With Another... I just can't look past it. It's not even the over-the-top bullshit deaths (though those are kinda funny in how far they push it) or unbelievable characters; it's the premise.

There's absolutely no way, no how, that their school would still be standing. It's established early on that this "curse" has been going on for fucking YEARS now.

/rant

Well, at least Mei is cute.

How would they close a school over a "curse."? And it also seemed like, at least, the curse is inactive several months of the year.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I can't believe you guys are watching Maid-sama.
 

Instro

Member
Spring 2007 had

Gurren Lagann
Oh Edo Rocket
Darker than Black
Seirei no Moribito
The Skullman
Dennou Coil
Lucky Star
Bokurano

To name a few notable titles.

Summer 2007

School Days
Higurashi
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Mononoke
Shigurui
Baccano
Code Geass

Lovely Complex was Spring as well. And then Kaiji and Gundam 00 started in the fall. I think Shippuden started that year, which was pretty significant at the time.

Amazing year of anime really.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Persona 4
Just finished episode 25. At first, I was surprised how fast everything was wrapping up and that
Izanami
wasn't appearing at all. But after the credits I saw that they're doing the true ending in an OVA release in August.

I liked the show a lot, but I have no idea how it would feel to watch the show without playing the game first. Definitely a fun companion piece to the game though, and I look forward to the final act in August.

Also, this season looks incredibly promising. With Sakamichi no Apollon, Lupin the Third, Saint Seya Omega, Uchuu Kyoudai, and Zetman standing out in particular for me.
 
After having a few days to let the ending of Another sink in, here are my thoughts.

The last two episodes were sloppy in characterization. Let's get it over with that the calamity had bullshit added "effects" that made people forget memories of who died before and then for some reason even affects physical media to even allow the story to play out the way it did.

Most of people in the lodge ended up going bat shit insane. Is this the result of the calamity like the teacher? The one guy falls two stories, somehow survives, and then somehow starts stabbing people. Red haired girl sees crazy friend choked to death (of her own accord) sees Misaki Mei with the blade or whatever it was, goes crazy by somehow jumping to conclusions that because she had the blade in her hand something something the friend got choked. What? Red Haired girl going crazy was so out of character.

The Misaki Mei being a twin came out at the last moment, though they tied it in with things shown previously, and was used as the plot point to cause the fucking retarded girl and classmates to think Mei was the dead person. The twins didn't even look exactly alike.

Old lady going crazy. Killing her husband for some reason. The slowest fire EVER. I don't think fires work that way when the one guy opened the door and the flame went flamethrower mode. You can't explain that with oxygen being available to the fire, because the fire would have died without oxygen anyways in that room it was in for what seemed like fucking hours.

The extra chair being in the faculty room was just fucking retarded. I don't even remember Reiko mentioning she was the teacher.

Plus all of the fucking crazy people were just disappearing like the fucking joker.
But were you entertained? That's the real question.

Some things to keep in mind about Countermeasure-chan: she was pissed at Mei for not trying harder to play her role as the nonexistent classmate, she was jealous of Mei because she had the hots for Sakakibara, and all along she suspected that Mei was the ghost because, I mean, c'mon -- pale as fuck, eyepatch, antisocial, not very emotive, probably cold to the touch. Plus her friends and brother dying all around her. And she probably held herself semi-responsible for all the curse's victims because it was her job to protect them.

If this happened in real life, she probably would have lost her marbles much sooner. Taking it out on Mei was tragic, but unsurprising.

And given all that, Mei having a twin(who did look exactly like her except for the hair color, iirc) wasn't even necessary.

I believe the old lady was related to one of that year's victims, and was so devastated by the loss that she went bonkers. Not very creative, but not totally out of left field, either.

And yeah, like I said before, Reiko being Ms. Mikami was supposed to be a twist -- they intentionally kept that hidden from the viewer. I thought having the extra be a teacher was a nice twist, and actually kind of makes sense in retrospect: the class was only a desk short because Sakakibara transferred in, but the curse started before he arrived. I think it would have been better and made more sense if Reiko's desk was in the classroom rather than the faculty room, though.

All that said, I thought the show was mostly awful and I laughed out loud a few times during the last two episodes.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
How would they close a school over a "curse."? And it also seemed like, at least, the curse is inactive several months of the year.

Over a "curse"? Not officially, no. However if several children from the same class at the same school were dying en mass at the same time of every year for multiple years, an investigation would have happened and likely the school would be shut down. And it's quite clear the people in this town believe it isn't a coincidence, but they still send their kids there? I'm having a hard time believing that.
 
Persona 4
I liked the show a lot, but I have no idea how it would feel to watch the show without playing the game first. Definitely a fun companion piece to the game though, and I look forward to the final act in August.

I found it enjoyable without knowing the source material. I mean if I played the game then
Adachi
being the culprit wouldnt have had the same emotional impact. I think it did a decent job of selling me on the game, a shame playing the game requires me having to shelf out for both the hardware and the actual game...I dont even know if I could embrace the dub, is Ichigo Kurosaki/Zero/Lelouch/Sasori really voicing Adachi?! How even...

Im just really curious what the bad ending is, if I recall.
 
Over a "curse"? Not officially, no. However if several children from the same class at the same school were dying en mass at the same time of every year for multiple years, an investigation would have happened and likely the school would be shut down. And it's quite clear the people in this town believe it isn't a coincidence, but they still send their kids there? I'm having a hard time believing that.
I sure as hell wouldn't send my kid there, but you have to keep in mind that all/most of the deaths could be explained by mundane circumstances. It wasn't like magical ghost shit was going down. It was basically just bad luck.
 

Branduil

Member
I sure as hell wouldn't send my kid there, but you have to keep in mind that all/most of the deaths could be explained by mundane circumstances. It wasn't like magical ghost shit was going down. It was basically just bad luck.

If a bunch of people are dying, people aren't going to say "oh, well, but it's all explainable by mundane science. Nothing to worry about! Go on to school, son."
 
Over a "curse"? Not officially, no. However if several children from the same class at the same school were dying en mass at the same time of every year for multiple years, an investigation would have happened and likely the school would be shut down. And it's quite clear the people in this town believe it isn't a coincidence, but they still send their kids there? I'm having a hard time believing that.

Maybe the memory altering mechanism in the series is implicated in why they keep sending people there?
 
I think it did a decent job of selling me on the game, a shame playing the game requires me having to shelf out for both the hardware and the actual game...I dont even know if I could embrace the dub, is Ichigo Kurosaki/Zero/Lelouch/Sasori really voicing Adachi?! How even...

Im just really curious what the bad ending is, if I recall.

He also voices the protag! But, it wasn't that bad. I liked the dub. Only some parts were sketchy and we got Laura Bailey as Rise.

Bad Ending:
I believe that Nanako stays dead, and the fog just goes about ending humanity or something.
 
Tsubasa wo Kudasai does give it a run for its money, though.
This post is good and you should feel good.
If a bunch of people are dying, people aren't going to say "oh, well, but it's all explainable by mundane science. Nothing to worry about! Go on to school, son."
Some people would, though. It's like those dipsticks who refuse to evacuate in an emergency, despite the government telling everyone to gtfo.
 

Thoraxes

Member
That distant sound you hear is Hitokage knocking over a magazine rack.
I wish I could think of something else in the last 5 years that didn't ironically make me laugh, like Ano Hana.

Also though, I was doing my undergrad from 2007-2010, so it's possible I missed something. Music stuff gets super busy super fast.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Maybe the memory altering mechanism in the series is implicated in why they keep sending people there?

It's not like all the dead children come back to life when the calamity ends. I'm pretty sure the parents don't just forget their children are dead. Or maybe their neighbor's children. Or their co-worker's. Who all go to the same school.

Some people would, though. It's like those dipsticks who refuse to evacuate in an emergency, despite the government telling everyone to gtfo.

If it involves themselves, sure. They're children? I'm still not really buying it.
 

Thoraxes

Member
I found it enjoyable without knowing the source material. I mean if I played the game then
Adachi
being the culprit wouldnt have had the same emotional impact. I think it did a decent job of selling me on the game, a shame playing the game requires me having to shelf out for both the hardware and the actual game...I dont even know if I could embrace the dub, is Ichigo Kurosaki/Zero/Lelouch/Sasori really voicing Adachi?! How even...

Im just really curious what the bad ending is, if I recall.
I won't start a shitstorm on this, but my opinion on the English dub is that overall I hated it except for Kanji, so I bought a Japanese copy. The characters just felt so wrongly done, and it felt like a completely different game with completely different characters in English to me.
 
Binbō-gami ga!, an adaptation of Yoshiaki Sukeno's comedy manga, will be airing in the summer with the following staff:

Director: Yoichi Fujita (Gintama)
Series Composition: Kento Shimoyama (Bleach, Naruto SD)
Character Designer: Kenji Tanabe (Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds)
Animation Production: Sunrise

The story revolves around Ichiko Sakura, a girl whose blissful life comes from her bountiful "happiness energy" — gained by sapping that energy from other people. To restore the balance, the Binbō-gami (Poverty God) Momiji Binbada attempts to eliminate her.

I don't know the quality of the source, but with the Gintama director on board, I'll be sure to check this out. Sunrise hasn't had the best of track records lately, but they usually come through on their comedies.
 

madp

The Light of El Cantare
If you like generic shoujo I suppose.

I never mentioned having high expectations, but after two episodes I could do way worse. It's an energetic and colorful show with one really attractive protagonist and I can't help but enjoy it, anti-feminist undertones be damned.
 
I found it enjoyable without knowing the source material. I mean if I played the game then
Adachi
being the culprit wouldnt have had the same emotional impact. I think it did a decent job of selling me on the game, a shame playing the game requires me having to shelf out for both the hardware and the actual game...I dont even know if I could embrace the dub, is Ichigo Kurosaki/Zero/Lelouch/Sasori really voicing Adachi?! How even...
imo, Adachi's English VA does an awesome job. The only dubs that stood out as less than stellar were Yukiko's and Margaret's. I couldn't stand Chie's at first, but it really grew on me.

edit: oh yeah, kind of ironic, but I really liked the Japanese protag. Fits the character a lot better than the dub's.
I won't start a shitstorm on this, but my opinion on the English dub is that overall I hated it except for Kanji, so I bought a Japanese copy. The characters just felt so wrongly done, and it felt like a completely different game with completely different characters in English.
image.php
If it involves themselves, sure. They're children? I'm still not really buying it.
Such faith in humanity. You don't see that often on the internet.
 
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