This 'renewal' edition came so late to fruition, already at the end-of-the-line for the format, because Mr. Yamaga was patently a little jealous of the quality present on The Criterion Collection and their CAVLaserDisc releases. It was a "me too". :-D
That's...not a bad price, though I'm not into LD collecting (in spite of still having my Star Trek: First Contact LD around somewhere). I've been curious if "disc rot" really is a problem with LD's; that would probably be enough to keep me away from them.
Decided to check this out purely based on this image and it's pretty funny stuff. Doesn't make a lick of sense most of the time but it's pretty enjoyable. Hyped!
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, A's, StrikerS
StrikerS has some of my favourite moments from all 3 seasons, it also does a few things that annoy me a lot. I'll start with what I hate. It has too many new characters, I absolutley despise how Yuuno, Arf and Amy get shafted for no reason. Arf really pissed me off after how much she was shown wanting to protect Fate in the first 2 season. Even though there were twice as many episodes some of the characters develpoment was rushed, Caro and Eriro especially. There are good characters in the new lot though. I really like Subaru, Tia, Vice and most of the bad guys. In fact Lutecia was the only one of the bad guys I didn't care for. As I said before this season has some of my favourite scences in it. When Subaru
see's Ginga being taken away by the combat cyborgs
and when Nanoha
uses Divine Buster to shoot through the walls of the Cradle to get number 4
are both fantastic scenes that rival some of the stuff in A's.
I hope that if we someday get another season that it's either original or based on Vivid and not on Force.
StrikerS has that one problem I always despise in anime. Taking characters that were really important and shafting them in the next season.
It's one of the things that I really enjoy about Fairy Tail. Whenever a new character comes in, they don't forget about any of the other characters, they just join along for the ride!
That's...not a bad price, though I'm not into LD collecting (in spite of still having my Star Trek: First Contact LD around somewhere). I've been curious if "disc rot" really is a problem with LD's; that would probably be enough to keep me away from them.
Yeah, for the condition of this used product it remains a good price. And, as far as I'm aware, BANDAI VisualLD products pressed at Pioneer Corporation's old factory in Kofu, Japan didn't have a pronounced defect rate, less even after sell-through, past 1986... so there are some of the safest purchases you can make on that format.
Well, it looks like we got something of an answer to the question I was pondering last episode -
the reason why the people of this city aren't "degrading" in mind and body like the dead are wont to do is because they've devised medical procedures to preserve themselves
. Which makes a certain amount of sense, and continues to blur the line between the living and the dead in this world.
Even besides that, though, there were an awful lot of new developments to take in in this episode:
- Kiriko is apparently
a sort of Frankenstein being, created by a witch from parts of the bodies of people who wanted to have children.
- The "half-people" we met last episode are
two of his five "parents", and apparently those five can be joined in different configurations somehow
- Scar is
suffering from some kind of psychosomatic pseudo-pregnancy disorder even though she has no desire to have children. Also she's hearing voices.
No idea what any of this means.
- The "princess" of this city
has a face covered in bandages, and seems to be both blind and incapable of speech. Ai seems convinced that she's alive, though whether that's true or not remains to be seen.
Could it be that
her face is bandaged to hide the fact that she's alive, and she's actually perfectly capable of sight and speech under those bandages?
*speculate speculate*
- While the citizens of this city aren't very welcoming to the living, due to their history of being rejected by the rest of the world, they're perfectly happy to
welcome new residents if they're willing to die in order to fit in
. So that's not disturbing at all.
Like Ai, I really have no idea what should be considered "right" or "wrong" in this world any more (except Ai, who is adorable, and therefore justice). So many questions, and I have no idea how they're going to be addressed. I'm really enjoying this series.
I'm confused though: the entire length of this show so far has indicated that space is a place you can breathe in. In this very episode Chloe stands at an open tunnel on a ship and shouts into space like it is no biggie. Now suddenly dudes are getting sucked out of the ship into a vacuum. This is like a metaphor for Michelle's gender.
"thoroughbred class" otaku with a light novelist father and an erotic game artist mother. He has no special talents except for his vast knowledge, opinions, and insight on moe.
Amazing Girls
2014 OVA
Director: Junichi Sato
Script, Story Cooperation: Mari Okada
Character Design: Takehito Harada (Disgaea)
Animation Production: Encourage Films
Encourage Films had been behind the cancelled Junichi Sato Wish Angel project.
And you just made me take another good look at them.
They really are pretty terrible, huh.
Hunter x Hunter 91
Oh yeah, Gon and Killua just
lost their big battle offscreen
. I'd forgotten about that. This series really isn't very kind to its main characters, huh?
As for the King, I wasn't sure about his voice when I first heard it, but eh, it's good enough. I would have gone for something a little more distinctive and powerful personally, but this works too. Either way, he's here now, and that means shit is going to reach a whole new level of going down.
I've never seen any of the anime you mentioned as reference, so I might be barking up the wrong tree here, but if you're looking for charming, non-fanservicey anime with romance and you haven't watched anime for 15 years, the first thing that comes to mind for me is Clannad. The first series is good school life emotional drama stuff with some comedy here and some romance there, and then the sequel series, After Story, elevates it a level higher into one of the best-told romances in anime.
Other romance-y things you may or may not like:
Kids on the Slope / Sakamichi no Apollon - Romance + jazz in 60s Japan.
Kokoro Connect - A group of high school students are subjected to some supernatural phenomena that force them to face up to their personal issues and test the strength of their relationships with each other. Some nice romance to be found here, as well as lots of character drama.
Chihayafuru - A sports anime first and romance anime second, the sport in question being the very Japanese card game of karuta. The romantic elements take an eternity to actually go anywhere (in fact, you shouldn't really expect them to go anywhere at all), but the characters are so well-portrayed that it feels great anyway. Worth it for the wonderful atmosphere and outstanding soundtrack.
Kashimashi - if you're interested in yuri, this is a really fun little all-girl love triangle story. Might have a little bit of fanservice, I can't recall, but the pure romance is the focus. The manga ending is better than the anime ending, but both are very nice.
Toradora - I haven't actually seen this one myself, and can't say whether it's fanservicey or not, but I thought it was worth mentioning since so many people around here seem to swear by it when it comes to romance in anime.
And a couple of more out-there suggestions:
Koi Kaze - If you can handle the premise, which involves incest and a large age difference, this is one of the greatest love stories ever told in anime. I always strongly recommend people give this one a chance - it's one of my favourite series ever - but obviously it's not for everyone purely because of the subject material. Very down-to-earth and not at all fanservicey.
Aku no Hana - Yeah, um, I'm not sure if this counts as romance. It's disturbing psychological stuff about the biggest loser you ever met whose life is twisted out of shape by being torn between two girls, one of whom is seemingly perfect, and the other is...something like the opposite of perfect. Worth watching the first two episodes to see if you can get into its...unique art style and atmosphere. It's intense.
Oh, and one more that isn't romance but you'd probably enjoy:
Usagi Drop - One of the sweetest and most heartwarming anime ever made, about a guy who adopts a little girl and has to face the hardships of raising a child.
First time I've heard the OP and it is TRIIIPY. Tomino was high as fuck when he did this entire show. Only answer. Also Corin seems to know the Turn A is a Gundam even though it barely looks like a Gundam. It's like if a Gundam was your bald, mustachioed father. Lots of ambiguity concerning who is Diana Soriel that I expect will only escalate as the show goes on. Meanwhile this whole war thing is finally heating up and I'm pleased about that. Question, though: Is the Sun Belt Zone attached to Inglessa? Cuz I was assuming Inglessa was you know, England, and that Ameria was the North American continent, and that the Sunbelt Zone was the Equator.
Kimi no Todoke?
Marmalade Boy? (oldish but in semi-similar vein)
Wagaya no Oinari-Sama? (called something with Fox in commerical US release)
Cross Game? (unsure if that's commercially released or not)
None of this is 2013 stuff, but outside of Marmalade it's last 5 years or so.
Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road are products of the 1980s/early 1990s, and anime like them hasn't really been made since then. That said, there's more recent anime focused on relationships in contemporary Japan which I think you'd enjoy, even if romance isn't necessarily the focus. For starters, I'd recommend
Movies:
Colorful
Tokyo Godfathers
Wolf Children
Longer shows:
Mainichi Kaasan
Polar Bear's Cafe
Space Brothers
Turn A Gundam 11
Question, though: Is the Sun Belt Zone attached to Inglessa? Cuz I was assuming Inglessa was you know, England, and that Ameria was the North American continent, and that the Sunbelt Zone was the Equator.
All the Earth events in Turn-A take place in America. The US has split into various smaller countries in the Turn-A chronology something that should be more apparent as you go along. The sunbelt zone is consequently near Mexico iirc.
The reason for this massive change is also explained.
Out of all the stock :firehawk "parenting" episodes I've seen in this franchise this was probably the weakest, but I wouldn't be able to point out exactly why. It felt very... derivative in the way it approached the themes, and the resolution was less than satisfying. I don't understand how this show can get so bipolar from episode to episode.
Next episode sounds fucking amazing, however. Rie Matsumoto orz
. The story is kicking into gear and is too interesting to me to just up and stop watching.