who would have thunk it that it takes two aussies (Hunnum and Jackman), and a damn good British actor (in Elba) to get the best out of these actresses? Maybe Hollywood better start caring because they aint burning gas tanks in front of old ladies houses.
Dammit, Firehawk! We're only three pages in and you're already bringing that up. I'm serious this time. I'm not in the mood. I'm not having that song get stuck i-MOTHERFUCKER!
who would have thunk it that it takes two aussies (Hunnum and Jackman), and a damn good British actor (in Elba) to get the best out of these actresses? Maybe Hollywood better start caring because they aint burning gas tanks in front of old ladies houses.
I laughed alot, so happy to be competing with Tajima and then to even get praised
and there at end game to even be accepted by him. The talk too changing gears to being about who Tajime liked and how he had a thing for height and what not made it feel like a genre shift of sorts.
. Good game, I wonder if Ichihara sticks around in the manga. Other favorite part
teammates being like Tajima is Mihashi's older brother constantly saving him from trouble and protecting him. Pretty nice as they said in s1 (Sakaeguchi))
New thread means it's okay for me to break out my list, right? Right, cuz 300 pages is time for opinion changes! So let's start with the Mecha list.
Excellent Full Metal Panic!:The Second Raid- As per usual, top of the list is just my favorite show ever. Smart, smooth, and well animated aside from the inescapable shit CG that plagues all mecha anime, The Second Raid does a good job of deconstructing its protagonist, defining his relationships, and giving us some sexy robot on robot action. Definitely worth a watch.
Martian Successor Nadesico- The best mecha anime ever, MSN balances comedy with serious times with grace unbecoming of the genre. A space opera about a cook who finds himself caught up in an interplanetary war, Nadesico has a memorable, loveable cast and a sick 90s OP.
Eureka Seven- If someone were to ask me for my first recommendation of a mecha anime, though, it would be this show. Eureka Seven is the Final Fantasy Six of the genre. From the endearing love story to the perfectly executed usage of classical giant robot tropes to its unique setting and style, Eureka Seven is a show with a ton of heart.
The Big O- Batman pilots giant robots in an Asimovian Dystopia. If Batman was a hardboiled noir-type detective who looked like Phoenix Wright if Phoenix Wright had Richie Rich's allowance. Great music, style, and storytelling. The second season is a spectacle worthy of the End of Evangelion.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket- The Award Bait of Mecha and the only one I'd recommend to people who really aren't fans of anime. War in the Pocket is a look into the senselessness and violence of war through the lives of everyday people. It's also probably the fairest and clearest depiction of Zeon and Federation forces in the entire series.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam- The best Gundam series ever, G Gundam is more of a Super Robot show than a Real Robot one (for those who care about these distinctions). Domon Kasshu enters a Tournament Arc story and rampages through it until the viewer is left crying Manly Tears.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann- The mission statement of this show is to be the most over the top mecha show you ever did see. Set in a universe where hot blood is power, Gurren Lagann is about a boy, a drill, and just how many asses the two can kick before the universe explodes for lack of space to contain so much awesome. If you haven't seen the final battle in Lagann Hen, you're missing out.
Very Good Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet- A giant robot show that spends a fair amount of time as speculative fiction. Follows the adventure of Ledo, who is from a super advanced warrior race and his interactions with the more down-to-earth folks aboard the Gargantia. Though the second act is a bit more traditional than some might like, the show is well colored and the cast has some strong members. Also the only CG mecha show to place this high.
Gun x Sword- If The Big O is the film noir of mecha, then Gun x Sword is the spaghetti western. There're a number of Vandread jokes along the way, as well as loving send ups of other mecha shows like GaoGaiGar, but for the most part its a show about a guy out for revenge on The Claw and the tagalong girl who's keeping him sane along the way.
Code Geass (Season 1 Only)- An alternate history mecha show where a Golbez Cosplayer starts a revolution to free his people from the evil empire. The show puts the question of "if you could make anyone do anything once, what would you do?" to the viewer and goes from there. A good amount of moral ambiguity and alternate character development helps bolster the show. Also Kallen Kozuki is ACES.
Rin-ne: The Flower of Lagrange- Once described to me as "buxom bisexual babes battling 'bots," Rin-ne is a show about a romantic three girl friendship and how the power of SDBurton fanservice friendship can resolve intergalactic crises. Behind the pandering and Kamogawa commercials is a unique and endearing tale.
GaoGaiGar- Before Gurren Lagann there was GaoGaiGar. A series which begins by restoring your childlike innocence and slowly dragging you into a more and more frightening world, GaoGaiGar teaches that its okay, because no matter how evil or terrifying the threat, courage and bravery will get you through. All you need to know about this show can be explained with two words: HAMMER HELL!!!!
GaoGaiGar Final- Though riddled with some bizarre and unwelcome fanservice, GaoGaiGar Final is the bombastic sequel to GGG. Definitely worth it if you've seen the original show. Features include an amazing GGG vs GGG battle and the biggest damn hammer you ever did see.
Full Metal Panic!- FMP! Is one part high school romantic comedy, and one part action/mecha show. The story is about Sousuke Sagara, a mercenary/child soldier assigned to protect Kaname Chidori, a high school student and VIP. Joined by his team sniper, Kurz Weber, and tactician/official badass Melissa Mao, Sagara will have to fight thugs and terrorists to keep the girl alive.
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu!!- Not really a mecha show but a hilarious comedy set between the two seasons of FMP. Most folks on GAF like this one most, and it really is pretty enjoyable. You're gonna want to see the Rugby episode.
The Vision of Escaflowne- Giant robot dragons with capes in a fantasy setting/love story/history lesson. Escaflowne has a bomb soundtrack and is like if Breath of Fire let Ryu pilot a GIANT ROBOT instead of turn into a dragon. Though a story more geared toward gals than guys, the show is enjoyable for boy's n' girls of all ages, shapes and sizes.
Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam- My favorite Gundam show, and the third set in the UC timeline. Young Judau Ashta and his crew of loser friends land themselves aboard the warship Argama and, under the tutelage of the man who is an expert at raising everybody's kids but his own, Capt. Bright Noa, they go from being a rowdy bunch of teenagers to a badass crew of ass kickers who will ruin space tyrants for so much as looking at their little sisters.
Mobile Suit Gundam- The OG Gundam, an old school giant robot show that looks at giant robots in a more realistic light while also telling a War is Hell story. Introduces us to such notables as Char Aznable (you will find him sexy. No matter what), Bright Noa (father-figure extraordinaire) Amuro Ray (the reason every mecha protagonist gets hit in the face), Sayla Mass (the only woman you don't see naked!) and of course, Frau Bow (who never pilots a giant robot, much to your dismay.)
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn- An OVA series set at the end of the UC (but not UC timeline), the show'll make you think Unicorns are cool. Lots of awesome mech fights, some okay story, amazing music and then more awesome mech fights. Bask in them.
Rebuild of Evangelion- But don't watch the fucking third one unless you really want to.
Good
Broken Blade- An interesting story about a world where Magic Robots are the norm and the one guy who can't pilot one and his Actual Robot are out to kick ass and prove that not being a wizard is totally okay. Some desert warfare and some REALLY good fights, the series is also weighed down a bit by some less than stellar characters. Still a good time.
Zoids: New Century Zero- A by the books tournament arc, Zoids is a show about animal instead of humanoid robots. Bit Cloud is a junk dealer turned pilot who's out to win the prize. Plot isn't much to write home about, neither is the music, but it is a fun show.
Godannar- This is a show that uses giant robots and their battles against space monsters as a backdrop for examining relationships (primarily sexual ones) between pilots. As such, piloting a giant robot is treated as a metaphor for having sex in the show, and also half the robots are super-sexualized female ones. In and out of the robot, ladies have a lot of fanservice going on, which can distract you from a love story with a unique twist: the lovers are already married. A few off-key notes here and there, but on the whole a good show.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam- The most popular UC Gundam show, Zeta is about jerkass Kamille Bidan, and how he becomes a way cool dude as he trains with former/future jerkass Four Vaginas, who teaches him the sacred art of Four Vaginas, allowing Kamille to become a total ladies man as he battles Poptarts Sriracha for control of space.
The Earth Federation are a bunch of jerkasses who're full of themselves since winning the One Year War, and Kamille, Bright, and Quattro Bajeena spearhead the mission to stop them and take down the tyrannical Titans.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED- The Final Fantasy 8/10 of Gundams, SEED has awful Hirai faces, some teenangst, and like, the most broken Gundams not powered by the AGE system. That said, the show does a good job of painting both sides as evil, provides us with Lacus Clyne who is fun for reasons marginally related to the show, and Athrun Zala, who ought to be the hero. You may describe the plot of the show as "What if Mobile Suit Gundam was a PS2 era Final Fantasy?"
New Mobile Report: Gundam Wing- Gundam Wing does a lot of rehashing of MSG and also has the most hilarious dub ever, but it ALSO has the best mecha designs in the entire series. Rather than being about evil space colonies attacking Earth, this time it is the Earth stirring up trouble for the Colonies, as the Gundams come along to cause some mayhem. Some excellent power struggles mid-way through, one or two really good lines, and an enjoyable ride for people who don't take their Gundam shows too seriously.
The 08th MS Team- My dad served in Korea during the Cold War and my grampa served there during the Korean war. This show is basically "Your dad/grampa's war stories, but with giant robots." Trapped in a god forsaken jungle fighting guerillas and Zeon, the 8th MS team and Shiro Amada are just trying to get through this thing alive. Then it becomes a shitty Romeo and Juliet story with beamsaber jaccuzis and fucking mobile armors. First half is great, though.
Mobile Suit Gundam F91: A decent story set in the far future of the UC timeline. We're introduced to Seabook Arno and his not-girlfriend Cecily. As the Crossbone Vanguard raises heck and tries to establish an aristocracy that totally isn't Zeon, their leader, who definitely isn't Darth Vader, marches them all to a song that definitely isn't the Imperial March. Really isn't that bad, but isn't that great, either. Suffers largely from having wanted to be a series and winding up squished into a movie. Character motivations are flat and scene transitions jarring.
Neutral
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counter Attack- The conclusion of Amuro and Char's story is not conclusive at all, giving the pair the most
Disney Villain Death possible,
The story dumps the viewer into a conflict against a Char Aznable last seen
as a hero and also dead in Zeta Gundam
and basically ends without really resolving said conflict. It also subjects us to Quess Paraya, who, despite the green hair, is basically the worst woman to ever climb into a giant robot. Incomprehensible, reprehensible, and incoherent, Quess blunders her way through two hours and makes us all want to die every step of the way.
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz- Like, the sexiest mecha designs you ever did see, but no one learns even one fucking lesson in this entire movie. The heroes go to destroy their Gundams because the world no longer has armies and no longer needs weapons. Then the villains take advantage of the lack of weapons and conquer the world. The heroes barely save their Gundams, then go fight the villains.
Then blow their Gundams up. Because nobody will possibly be launching another attack. Nope.
Majestic Prince- A show with really bad writing, terrible mecha designs and one good fight scene. I don't recommend it to anyone. It isn't offensive, just really subpar.
Bad
Betterman- A show that could've been a legitimately good horror/terror mecha show, but instead gave us a protagonist so cartoony and corny that he immediately defuses whatever fear we might be feeling at any given point in the show. This sequel to GaoGaiGar is weighed down by technobabble and what at least feels like a rushed ending.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory- The OP is okay, but basically everything else is really, really dumb. Like bash my skull into a screen dumb. Especially, when, in the show's grand finale
the heroine betrays the hero for a relationship she suddenly had with the villain, only to hook up with the hero again at the end of the show. All that happens in the same episode.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Destiny- A rehash of the last show's plot and featuring the worst protagonist in any Gundam ever, nobody's motivations make any sense, and the previous hero, Kira, is elevated to a position beyond reproach as the one reasonable character (Athrun) struggles to cope with the increasing levels of bullshit around him. I'd be harder on this show, but it was my second Gundam series, so part of me will always like part of it.
Very Bad
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE- Almost universally agreed upon as the worst Gundam ever, AGE is dragged out over the course of a hundred years. As I said last time, watch Space Hitler enact nuclear final solution on Martian Space Jews. Watch as the author breaks your neck so it is easier for you to suck his avatar's cock. That goes double for you if you're a woman.
00 Gundam S1- The Gundam series I hate most started off decently enough. Though plagued by a soulless Sousuke and Gauron clones, it was at least trying to do its own thing, and it had pretty good mecha. Then the Trinities are introduced and it is all downhill from there.
Horrible
00 Gundam S2- Plagued by a bloated cast of underdeveloped fucks who spend too much time doing nothing, the second season of 00 loses whatever grip the first had on the plot, and it shows. The writers cannot properly recall the relationships, let alone characterizations, of several characters, and people who die are constantly replaced with identical replacements, while other characters flip flop back and forth between being one character or another. When the end rolls around, no one knows what's happened, be they writer, character, or viewer. I don't wish this show on my worst enemy.
00 Gundam: A Wakening of the Trailblazer- Just fucking do not watch this shit. It's a stupid nonsensical, gaudy piece of filth that lasts longer than a heart attack, and I think the latter might still be better for you.
Eureka Seven Pocket Full of Rainbows- An impostor, or wolf in sheep's clothing, this movie murdered Eureka Seven, skinned it, and then tried to fool people into thinking they were related. They're not. Pocket Full of Rainbows is nothing like Eureka Seven and is a hateful, spiteful, evil, malevolent, awful, wrong, uncouth movie that no one should ever, ever watch.
Eureka Seven Astral Ocean- If Eureka Seven is like falling in love in a pure way, then Astral Ocean is like having the person you love raped and murdered (and skinned) right in front of you as your mouth is cemented shut so you cannot even scream in anguish over the demise of one you so deeply loved. It's like the Albatross from the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, rotting and weighing around your neck, but you don't even know what you did to deserve it. Horrible, terrible, and awful are words too weak to describe this positively heinous atrocity, this war crime against anime, this genocide of good taste, this massacre of reason. Hate is too weak a feeling for what this product deserves.
Rah Xephon- A shitty, soulless Evangelion clone. Rah Xephon has like, one original bone in its body, and that bone is the one marked "boring." Because even above the crime of being a shitty Evangelion rip-off, this show's greatest crime is that it is a boring piece of fucking shit. People stand around and say nothing of any importance for episodes on end, and the protagonist spends episodes not piloting his mech, and when he does, its just to reenact, sometimes shot for shot, fights you saw and enjoyed more in Evangelion. The only show with the odious distinction of my having dropped and not finished it, I remain undecided if I should leave it that way, or if I should force myself through the rest of this intolerably terrible show. I would urge everyone to never watch it, because you'd get more out of rewatching Evangelion reruns anyway.
So Bad It’s Good
Code Geass R2- You know how mushroom clouds and nuclear explosions are terrifying but also spectacular? Well that's R2. The show is a train wreck, but a hilariously fun train wreck. If you've got some friends who've never seen it, and if they enjoyed the first season, you're gonna have fun sitting down and watching their breakdowns, as they will surely have fun watching the show's.
Valvrave the Liberator-It's Code Geass in Space! Valvrave was last season's ensemble darkhorse, skipping the pretense of a serious series and going straight for the nonsensical jugular we all have been waiting for. You know you wanna see this.
Sorry, I always forget it's not that well known since it doesn't have many locations around the country. It's just a theater where you can watch movies while ordering food/alcohol like at a restaurant.
The ED sequence opens with an iris wipe, a circular fade in in the manner of a silent film. Overlaid on this initial image is the grain associated with film of that time. At the same time as this image fades into view, a soft chord fades into hearing. This is a way of gently ushering us from whatever the last scene of the episode was into the world of the ED, avoiding the sudden and jarring transition between the two that happens in some shows.
As the image opens up, though still faded out on the corners, we see a gramophone record spinning on a phonograph. The needle descends onto the record, we hear its click and then the background sound you'd expect from a typical record, a crackling grain that compliments the visual grain. The design of the record label, the typeface used and the logo style and position, is clearly referenced from labels of the Gramophone Company of the early 20th century.
As this is Japan, some of the English words on the record are misspelled, most notably grammerphone instead of gramophone. It also says Made in Gremany (sic), despite not being printed in German. The general style of the thing is effectively captured, however, and an overall impression of somewhere around the 1910s is given off.
As the music becomes louder and multiple voices are added in, we move to a shot of a pendulum rocking back and forth. A connection between the two shots is made by the pendulum having a similar shape to the phonograph needle, a large circle at the end of a straight line. The pendulum moves slowly for its first oscillation, until the female voice enters at its rightmost apex. Then the pendulum picks up a bit of speed to move in tandem with the now defined beat.
The camera pulls back to give the context for the pendulum. It is inside a grandfather clock, in a cozy room littered with odds and ends, including the phonograph from the beginning of the ED. The warm light of the lamps the lighting sources are carefully thought out and the bouquet and presents placed on the chair leave the distinct impression of human presence, although no people can be seen. The pendulum continues to swing in the background.
I do have a criticism about the ED here, in that the pendulum's swing is not consistent between the last shot and this one. In the previous shot, the pendulum reached its apex at beats 2 and 4 of each 4/4 measure, whereas in this shot the pendulum reaches its apex at beats 1 and 2. I prefer the first arrangement, as the low thuds on the downbeats matches the pendulum at its lowest position where it is most in tune with gravity, whereas the higher extended sounds on the upbeats are appropriate for when the pendulum is at its highest points, struggling to stay suspended. It would have been nice if that was kept during the room shot, although either way I appreciate that it was synchronized with the music.
As the singer reaches the end of one section, a more intense version of the upbeat sound signals a slight zoom in, which transitions into a slight zoom out of a window looking out onto a street. In addition to the continuity in the style of the room, the zoom helps to communicate that the camera has turned from one side of the room to the opposite. In the window, we can see the backs of seven dolls the Rozen Maidens. On the street, if any further confirmation was needed, the style of the car and the dress of the people walking by firmly place the setting in early 20th century Europe. In the door we see a sign marked closed; presumably the side facing the street says open. Hence we can surmise that we are in a shop of some kind.
The passersby provide that human touch that has previously been felt but not seen. The clearest moment of this is when two children come running by, only to double back and stare at the dolls. A woman who appears to be their mother comes along, stooping down to talk to them. We can imagine that she's telling them not to linger here, as they have business elsewhere. The girl immediately continues on, but the boy lingers for a few more seconds before running to catch up. These kind of behavioral nuances make us feel like they are real people with real lives, not mere background cardboard cutouts.
As the music moves into a new section, the camera moves through the window to show a frontal closeup of the dolls. A slight filter on the corners signals that we are viewing them through glass, though it is positioned so as not to impede our view of the dolls. Note that Suiseiseki and Souseiseki are leaning towards each other, their hands touching, signaling their special relationship as siblings.
Now the camera pulls back to give us a shot of the shop front. The shop is called Liberty Bell, and here the geographic confusion continues it is hardly likely that a European shop would be named after a symbol of American independence. And again, if this is supposed to be Germany, why is everything in English?
Passing from that oddity, store passes from afternoon through evening to night, the different states of light efficiently conveying the different time frames. After the human world goes to sleep, a bright light begins emanating from the dolls, spreading out from them until it fills the entire frame.
The music at this point moves into a more intense section, with strings and more active percussion entering and the vocal line entering a new, higher register. In conjunction with this change, the visuals have passed from the real world to the inner psychological world of the dolls. Shinku floats in a pool of water, her trademark rose pedals floating next to her. As it always does, the reflection makes for a striking image. We go through something similar to the store front sequence, only in reverse. Initially above the water there is the abstract image of a green background in which lights flash on and off sequentially, arranged in a circular arc. This transitions into a deep blue sky and the lights become the phases of the moon.
Finally, the sky turns into the bright blue of day, complete with clouds. Now Shinku's reflection opens her eyes, the day having awakened her. This turns the image and reflection into a symbol of the duality inherit in a living doll: the lifeless form of the doll at odds with the living spirit residing inside it.
Sparkles filter in from both sides along the horizon until they meet in the middle. As the percussion kicks up into a lick leading into a more active line, the sparkles push open a space of stars in the middle, forcing away the sides of the image. The mass opens and closes in perfect sync with the percussion, exploding open like fireworks with a cymbal crash. They rotate to form a cylinder which establishes a sense of three-dimension space that the camera takes its cue from, rotating through the field of stars until it comes to focus on a crystal rose around which figures of the Rozen Maidens are rotating. In contrast to the carefully modeled poses they were in in the store window, they are now huddled intimately, as if they are awaiting the moment when they will be called to burst into life.
As the song winds down, the camera flies into the center of the rose, where a shining gem comes into view. It is the Rosa Mystica, the jewel that holds the life force of the dolls. As the camera's zoom comes to a rest, we hear a wind-up sound, portending the wind-up that will bring each Maiden to life, and the singer whispers hikari, light, as in the light of life that is the Rosa Mystica, lying at the core of each Rozen Maiden.
Taking a step back to look at the ED as a whole, we can see it is a gradual progression from the real to the metaphysical, from the external to the internal, from the human world to the doll world. We are taken from the physical circumstances surrounding the dolls through the human reactions to the dolls, through the mental state of Shinku, the primary doll, into her heart. It gets across important thematic aspects of the basic concept of the show: the uneasy relationship between the dolls and the human world, the uneasy relationship between being a doll and being alive, the hidden depths that lurk beneath placid exteriors. Layer by layer is peeled back to expose what lays inside. All this is done with a flair for transitions, attractive shot compositions, and close matching of visuals with music. It makes for an excellent ED sequence.
Being Usagi is still suffering, your tiara doesn't work
CLEARLY ITS TIME FOR POWER UPS YO
And
White Knight shows up while Mamoru is there, clearly it must mean that Tuxedo Mask must've split off from Mamoru and made this thing.
The Alien Duo is pretty bleh, and I'm still stuck with these jokers for some time. Also Sailor Jupiter has a serious murder face on for the past two episodes. Gawd damn.
What a missed opportunity, they should have definitely played Secret Base. In fact, every anime should play Secret Base during their sad or emotional scenes.
