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[Admiral Woofington]

Team Rookie is fine because it has that blonde dude, and that guy was #swag personified.

Not to mention it had

edit: if somebody really wants the Amazon Bebop blu-ray but doesn't want to pay $90 for it I might be willing to ship it to your place if you ship it to mine, depending on when we get a full view of both of the box sets opened up in full display. If that's something you want to consider.

 

[Nafe]

Birth OVA(1984)-

So this is an OVA that pretty much nobody has ever heard of, let alone seen. I can't blame them as it seems all versions you can buy in the US are out of print. The OVA has gone under a bunch of English names like Planet Busters, Birth: A War of Two Worlds!, and The World of the Talisman. It's not a well known title either critically or commercially and so has been left in the forgotten annals of history. However it's not only one of the first OVAs but also one of the most influential OVAs of all time. It's notably the 'masterpiece of Yoshinori Kanada, despite Kanada not actually directing the OVA(it was directed by Shinya Sadamitsu). Kanada is responsible for the aptly named Kanada School, a style of animation that is so pervasive in modern anime. The most famous example of a work done in this style would be Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann flat out wouldn't exist without Kanada. Imaishi is a huge fan of Kanda's animation style and this can be seen not only in the shows Imaishi directs but Imaishi's own animation style. Dead Leaves is in many ways a successor, an inferior one I might add, to Birth. Kanada's style certainly doesn't end with Imaishi and can be seen all over Gainax (and currently Trigger) and in other studios such as Bones with Star Driver or Masahito Yamashita in Urusei Yatsura. Here is a great writeup on the Kanada School. Even in this particular OVA, you see people like Hideaki Anno getting their start as a key animator.
http://sakuga.yshi.org/data/8243238282e22d65cf074856c6e8c517.webm[...]

I watched Birth and commented on it around this time last year.
Theonik did the same a little bit later in September.

I wasn't able to compare it to some different works though as I haven't seen shows like Dead Leaves yet and only just finished watching Gurren Lagann for the first time not quite two weeks ago. I'm not sure if I was aware about the OST at the time but I found out later that this was apparently Kazuki Yao's first voice acting role in anime. His voice is different enough to what I'm used to that I didn't recognize him. Overall though it looks like we all had similar thoughts on the OVA.

 

[BassForever]

Stardust Crusaders 21

So this is where that eat my onii chan manga/anime got it's inspiration from

 

[Link Man]

Fate/Zero 4

Man, these episodes just fly by. As soon as you start getting invested, that damned timer shows up on screen.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah. I think this is set is better for display purposes.

Really, when did anime become as stupid as video games?

I'm waiting for them to start introducing that shitty BD-Live stuff where they include DLC codes for exclusive online-only commentary tracks or something.

 

[Jex]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Episode 21:

A much better outing the the last couple of episodes and I like the curve ball of a stand introduced this week, yes, capital job.

Yo wait what?? The Death 13 arc was amazing from start to finish with a great premise and lots of wacky animation.

 

[TUSR]

I knew I should have jumped on that Bebop deal when Amazon sent me that email. Shoot.

 

[Jex]

they look great, they're not even as expensive as I thought.

It depends on what you'd consider 'expensive'. I consider £50 for a movie to be expensive.

 

[AquaWateria]

Well how much more different is the manga to anime in this case? I take it they're poetic license angle a little too far? Some of the characters, from what I've seen of the anime, are so one-dimensional I have a tough time digesting it all no pun intended. It just feels like a gorey shounen right now. From the intro I take it the main protagonist is gonna get some kind super saiyan power up that turns his hair white? or some business.

I just really am not feeling the anime right now or the current sanctimonious themes they're ramming down my throat. It's painful to say the least. I haven't read any of the manga yet so I have no solid references to go by.

The reason why some of the Characters seem one dimensional is because the anime is skipping their character development and even making some seem dumb. Even the MC from the anime is different from the manga. They are depicting him more as a winey naive dumb character which he isn't. Shit they are adapting this as Shonen battle manga which it totally isn't. For example episode 8 the dialogue Kaneki had felt more of what a Shonen protagonist would say with the what am I supposed to do and getting his ass beaten repeatedly. But in the manga it was far more different. The thing about this manga that I like is how it isn't black and white and that both sides have grey areas. Sadly though the anime doesn't depict it well and isn't effective. Basically the anime is butchering the source material.

The manga at it's core is a psychological horror Seinen manga which the anime isn't adapting as. Also I wouldn't go far to say the super sayian power up cliche cause that isn't right. And lastly seeing the MC progression is one of the best things from the manga and atlas that was butchered in the anime.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

I'm watching Ore no Imouto these days (will post reviews later), and told my friend that I hated Ayase and her prejudice. He told me I would love her in season 2, and I doubted it. So I made a bet with him that I would put on a Senjougahara avatar here if I started liking Ayase on season 2...but I'm sure that wil not happen.

Well, I for one am glad you're watching one of the greatest shows of all time. But your friend is right, Ayase is great in S2 and you're gonna lose that bet.

 

[Risette]

I may have gone too far with my recent Studio Ghibli acquistions:

didn't get cagliostro?

 

[Finalow]

It depends on what you'd consider 'expensive'. I consider £50 for a movie to be expensive.

shouldn't it be around £40? Still $60 is surely expensive for a movie but considering that usually anime BDs are really overpriced I was expecting them to be even more high-priced.
btw, where did you get them?

 

[Firemind]

I may have gone too far with my recent Studio Ghibli acquistions:

Whisper of the Heart... high five!

Spoiler

I want it.

 

[Midonin]

Ikkitousen Great Guardians 07-09

They are really playing up Kanu's yuri tendencies this season. The amnesia and brainwashing elements, though, I'm not so sure on. The tension resulting from them was alright, but the dragon gem deal from the previous season was a little more solid. The explanation of why Ryofu is back, I can deal with that. The show has some idea of what it wants to do, and I hope it can stick the landing.

Momoiro Sisters

Lewd, but never super explicit. The split between high school life and office life gave the series a decent balance of characters and situations, though the ideas of sexuality coming from the series itself were a little outdated. A lot of the situations like the pregnancy and marriage that occurred were universal, and Moeko is my favorite character out of everyone. Though the descriptions claim it's the "animated version of a women's magazine", this actually came from a seinen rag. For the longest time, the separation between genre and demographic has never been that obvious. The idol bonus episode was also something that feels close to today. Animation was a little cheap, and the text overlays made it seem like it was part of a variety show, and after doing a bit of research, it actually was.

Jinsei 01-06

It's clear this wasn't getting simulcasted anytime soon, so I charged ahead with what was already out. And I like it. The three girls have great chemistry, and believe so strongly in the absurdity of their answers that it simply becomes entertaining to watch. All of them have their appeal. Ikumi's English barrage and her love of the Kamen Rider-esque Koganen are cute, Fumi's got life and Rino's cool demeanor is also adorable. Keiichiro Kawaguchi delivers yet again.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Fate/Zero 4

Man, these episodes just fly by. As soon as you start getting invested, that damned timer shows up on screen.

you have no idea how happy it makes me when somebody says this about Fate Zero. Love that show with all my heart.

 

[Link Man]

Okay, Sentai Filmworks is pretty great. https://twitter.com/Sentaifilmworks/status/502924233538691073

 

[Kyuur]

Fate Zero 1-11

Pretty damn awesome so far. Characters are all great, I don't know who to route for. The Rin episode had me and my fiancee worried the entire time we watched.

Just one question... I still don't quite get the whole Assassin thing. Does it get explained at some point or am I missing something?

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Okay, Sentai Filmworks is pretty great. https://twitter.com/Sentaifilmworks/status/502924233538691073

I don't get the reference, all I know is that Super Sonico is a terrible, terrible show.

 

[Link Man]

I don't get the reference, all I know is that Super Sonico is a terrible, terrible show.

Just a bit of fun, view the whole conversation.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Pretty disappointed that neither of the Bebop limited sets has a soundtrack. I'll stick with the standard BD.

I bought the Cowboy Bebop DVD artbox set way back when that included the six discs plus the first soundtrack. I then bought all of the other soundtracks individually. They're just too good.

good thing I preordered the amazon version when it was cheaper.

Did they jack up the price? I ordered as soon as I heard about it from you guys.

 

[nintendoman58]

Ojamajo Doremi - 13

Lol, considering what went down in this episode, its title is so: "Kouji Kabuto dies in the lava!" -much

This show does a good job of making the girls not take the easy way out with this whole levelling system.

Now that they've passed the Level 8 exam, it should be interesting to see how advanced their spells will become over time.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Fate Zero 1-11

Pretty damn awesome so far. Characters are all great, I don't know who to route for. The Rin episode had me and my fiancee worried the entire time we watched.

Just one question... I still don't quite get the whole Assassin thing. Does it get explained at some point or am I missing something?

What don't you get? Read this at your own discretion as I don't recall when it was explained but it should have at this point

Spoiler

This particular incarnation of assassin wasn't one historical/mythical figure. It was a whole clan of african assassins, hence why when one died he still had a whole clan left. Just a very special case of hero.

I bought the Cowboy Bebop DVD artbox set way back when that included the six discs plus the first soundtrack. I then bought all of the other soundtracks individually. They're just too good.



Did they jack up the price? I ordered as soon as I heard about it from you guys.

Yeah. Used to be 65, now it's $90.

 

[mankoto]

Stardust Crusaders 21
Now that I think about it, has there ever been a time where Polnareff went off on his own and DIDN'T get himself into trouble?

 

[BassForever]

Argevollen 8

Glad to see our main character finally get a real fight in his super robot, he's still rusty but the fact he keeps getting better gives me hope for upcoming episodes which seem like they'll mostly be battles.

 

[TastyOreoFriend]

The reason why some of the Characters seem one dimensional is because the anime is skipping their character development and even making some seem dumb. Even the MC from the anime is different from the manga. They are depicting him more as a winey naive dumb character which he isn't. Shit they are adapting this as Shonen battle manga which it totally isn't. For example episode 8 the dialogue Kaneki had felt more of what a Shonen protagonist would say with the what am I supposed to do and getting his ass beaten repeatedly. But in the manga it was far more different. The thing about this manga that I like is how it isn't black and white and that both sides have grey areas. Sadly though the anime doesn't depict it well and isn't effective. Basically the anime is butchering the source material.

The manga at it's core is a psychological horror Seinen manga which the anime isn't adapting as. Also I wouldn't go far to say the super sayian power up cliche cause that isn't right. And lastly seeing the MC progression is one of the best things from the manga and atlas that was butchered in the anime.

No doubt. I wonder why they took so many liberties with the source material then. Did they think it couldn't stand on its own feet? I wonder if the creator is ok with all these changes. I can't really say all the changes have had any positive effect compared to the source, having no experience with it, but I do know that episode 8 is the breaking point for me right now. I really just can't stand the "We're misunderstood!" troupe followed by "good guys are secretly evil". I'll probably take a peek at the manga then and just drop the anime entirely.

It's nice to know the MC isn't such a little whiny asshole though. Bout 50% of my problems with this anime stem from Kaneki and his self-righteous, indecisiveness schtick.

 

[Mature]

Okay, Sentai Filmworks is pretty great. https://twitter.com/Sentaifilmworks/status/502924233538691073

Gonna go ahead and disagree here. Had to unfollow them because of how unfunny they constantly are.

 

[Shergal]

Ojamajo Doremi - 13
Lol, considering what went down in this episode, its title is so: "Kouji Kabuto dies in the lava!" -much

Toei gonna Toei, although they sorta subverted it on this one!

 

[phaze]

Fate/Zero 4

Man, these episodes just fly by. As soon as you start getting invested, that damned timer shows up on screen.

One of us. It only gets better ...

Well not really, there is a small dip but the second season is far superior to the first.

Texhnolyze 5-6

I'm loving all those creepy smiles.


Ichise is the most tight lipped protag I've seen yet. I swear he had only like 6 lines of dialogue so far. The action sequence at the end of ep six was weird. It's like they didn't even bother to animate some of the key frames and left it for the viewer to infer what happened. The katana straight out teleported itself into the henchmen's leg.

I must say I'm thoroughly confused as to the location of this Lux city. The dialogue seems to imply its underground and this Yoshi guy even descended down some hefty looking stairs but the city is bright as hell and has a clear day/night cicle. Though the sky is never blue, maybe they just filled a giant cave with lots of lightbulbs. The aforementioned Yoshi seems like a material for eventual main antagonist. That poor prostitute.

Good set of episodes, thing are heating up even if Ichise got manhandled for the third time already. ;(

 

[mankoto]

Rail Wars 8
This episode was unbelievable due to the fact that

Spoiler

it was actually about trains and there was little to no fan service in it.

 

[AquaWateria]

No doubt. I wonder why they took so many liberties with the source material then. Did they think it couldn't stand on its own feet? I wonder if the creator is ok with all these changes. I can't really say all the changes have had any positive effect compared to the source, having no experience with it, but I do know that episode 8 is the breaking point for me right now. I really just can't stand the "We're misunderstood!" troupe followed by "good guys are secretly evil". I'll probably take a peek at the manga then and just drop the anime entirely.

It's nice to know the MC isn't such a little whiny asshole though. Bout 50% of my problems with this anime stem from Kaneki and his self-righteous, indecisiveness schtick.

Well my guess is that the anime is an advertisement for the manga in order to get that Shonen audience. And going by manga sales it's a success. Considering that most of the Vols are ranked in the top 50 in Japan's Weekly manga sales. Like each Vol is above 400K on average, though it was popular before the anime.

 

[BassForever]

I think it's funny at the Wal-Mart store I work at we have two anime currently in stock, the "complete series" of Fate/Kaleid for $40 which has 11 episodes... and next to it is Vampire Knight the complete series which has 26 episodes for $30... It really doesn't matter how good or bad either series is it's pretty laughable that they'd try to charge almost $4 an episode

 

[TUSR]

For the others collecting the Ranma 1/2 Blu-rays, Rightstuf apparently has the third volume up for preorder.

 

[Link Man]

Is there any difference between Fate/Zero on Crunchyroll as opposed to Netflix, besides Netflix having the dub? I tried out the dub, and couldn't stand the way they pronounced the Japanese names, so that's really a non-factor for me.

Does Crunchy have it in at least 720p? Edit: Just checked, it does.

 

[duckroll]

Is there any difference between Fate/Zero on Crunchyroll as opposed to Netflix, besides Netflix having the dub? I tried out the dub, and couldn't stand the way they pronounced the Japanese names, so that's really a non-factor for me.

Does Crunchy have it in at least 720p? Edit: Just checked, it does.

CR's Fate/Zero is the broadcast version which they have had since it first aired in Japan. The home video releases for the show have extended episodes and various improvements. I don't know which version Netflix has, but considering it has the dub, it may well be the more complete version. One sure way to find out is to check the runtime for episode 11. If it's the normal 23 minutes or so, it's the broadcast version. If it's much longer, then it is the home video version.

 

[BluWacky]

I think it's funny at the Wal-Mart store I work at we have two anime currently in stock, the "complete series" of Fate/Kaleid for $40 which has 11 episodes... and next to it is Vampire Knight the complete series which has 26 episodes for $30... It really doesn't matter how good or bad either series is it's pretty laughable that they'd try to charge almost $4 an episode

Ahahahahahahahaha.

I look at my pre-thinpak DVD collections of shows I will probably never watch again where each volume of 3 or 4 episodes cost me about $10 an episode, and I weep.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, I don't. I might have sold a fair few of them on now for virtually nothing, but at the time they were worth it - the quality was streets ahead of anything I was watching digitally or could get hold of on VHS, and even then my poor little laptop used to cry at fast panning scenes on fan subs. It wasn't until I bought the DVDs that I was able to watch the scene in the Wolf's Rain OP where the camera pans across a chain link fence without loads of skipped frames

Sadly I'll probably even end up getting rid of the thinpaks soon as well as the last few remaining DVDs. These days most of the anime I end up buying I have no real intention of watching - I still see it as a symbol of "legitimising" my anime watching, even though I now watch pretty much everything through legal means. Most recently I bought the first From The New World BD collection - a show I really, really liked, but I don't really want to watch it again, I just felt it was a way of monetising it further

 

[Blusby]

In Fate/Zero what order would you put the Servants in, from great to not so great. Just wanting to know people's opinions.

Archer > Rider > Saber >>>> Caster > Lancer > Berserker > Assassin

 

[Admiral Woofington]

In Fate/Zero what order would you put the Servants in, from great to not so great. Just wanting to know people's opinions.

Rider>>>>>>>>>>>>Archer>Saber>Berserker>Caster! Caster! Caster of Puppets I'm pulling the strings!>Assassin> Lancer

Lancer was so fucking boring chivalrous hero. The best point for him was

Spoiler

when he was killed and started cursing and bleeding out of his eyes. That was metal

 

[Blusby]

Rider>>>>>>>>>>>>Archer>Saber>Berserker>Caster! Caster! Caster of Puppets I'm pulling the strings!>Assassin> Lancer

Lancer was so fucking boring chivalrous hero. The best point for him was

Spoiler

when he was killed and started cursing and bleeding out of his eyes. That was metal

I don't even know how anyone could rank any servant under Assassin, was it the waifu Assassin? It was the waifu Assassin wasn't it?

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders 21

Better Tokyo Ghoul then Tokyo Ghoul
The dreaded censorship returns in full force.
I'm still not sure how one of the later battles is going to pan out given how hard this has been on cracking down on the animal violence besides snakes.

Zankyou no Terror 07

Oh good, the engrish returned.
So seven episodes in and I'm sure a lot of people are thinking the same thing as me.
What the fuck is anyone trying to accomplish here.
Twelve and Nine are terrorists who are in fact trying to stop a bomb from going off because it's not theirs. Are they even terrorists? They seem to have no goal in mind and don't really want to kill anyone. I mean, it's pretty obvious what they are trying to prove or say (something about the testings done on them and Five as a kid, VON is probably the facility or something) but how does this help and how does that Uranium they stole fit into this?
Five and the government want to blow up an airplane to frame them (I think) but they could've just stopped them instead of playing that silly chess game. The Japanese government is completely alright with this psychotic girl just doing as she pleases?
Shouldn't they be more focused on stopping things from getting blown up instead of having their own people blow things up?

I don't know who's the terrorist anymore.
The terrorists are trying to stop the bomb and the government is trying to make the shit explode.
Whaaaaaaat

Terra Formars OVA 01

johj

 

[Link Man]

CR's Fate/Zero is the broadcast version which they have had since it first aired in Japan. The home video releases for the show have extended episodes and various improvements. I don't know which version Netflix has, but considering it has the dub, it may well be the more complete version. One sure way to find out is to check the runtime for episode 11. If it's the normal 23 minutes or so, it's the broadcast version. If it's much longer, then it is the home video version.

Dang it, Netflix is 29 minutes.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I don't even know how anyone could rank any servant under Assassin, was it the waifu Assassin? It was the waifu Assassin wasn't it?

It wasn't so much that assassin was better than someone, it was that that Fate Zero's Lancer is such a boring character for me he actually out-sucked assassin. Plus I guess the design helped out. For Fate Stay Night I have a harder time because the designs are more bland for me but I guess in terms of character and design combined it'd be:

Archer> Lancer> Saber>Berserker>>>>>>>>Assassin>Caster>Rider

Lancer I give a pass to, because he's basically a blue dude but his character is great.

 

[Branduil]

I see the Ferguson PD has released their reconstruction of Darren Wilson's POV.

 

[Midonin]

Cardcaptor Sakura 12

We've entered an endless recursion of time.

Kero's video game habits are expanding. He was playing a fighting game during the sports festival, and he's trying to speedrun an RPG this time. Clearly he's making the best use of his time that's not spent collecting Cards. Sakura's growth of power really showed, glad she has some sort of definite proof now, but at the same time it's the first card she didn't win. You win some, you lose some. The little continuity elements like having Tomo's fairy outfit from last time be used now are also appreciated.

We've entered an endless recursion of time. It's a great way to save a few bucks on animation.

 

[Clov]

I see the Ferguson PD has released their reconstruction of Darren Wilson's POV.

That's terrible!

Spoiler

I laughed, though.

 

[ThatChairMan]

What don't you get? Read this at your own discretion as I don't recall when it was explained but it should have at this point

Spoiler

This particular incarnation of assassin wasn't one historical/mythical figure. It was a whole clan of african assassins, hence why when one died he still had a whole clan left. Just a very special case of hero.

Wasn't

Spoiler

Hassan's multiple bodies due to his split personality manifesting as a Noble Phantasm

?

 

[TastyOreoFriend]

Fate/Zero ranking?

Berserker > Everyone else because:

Dat unprecedented reasons.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Wasn't

Spoiler

Hassan's multiple bodies due to his split personality manifesting as a Noble Phantasm

?

Oh derp. Yeah. Sorry. Forgot about that part, guess I had it wrong this whole time.

 

[Clov]

In Fate/Zero what order would you put the Servants in, from great to not so great. Just wanting to know people's opinions.

Berserker>Rider>Caster>Archer>Saber>Lancer>Assassin

I ranked them in order of how entertaining they were.

 

[Doctor Decimate]

In Fate/Zero what order would you put the Servants in, from great to not so great. Just wanting to know people's opinions.

Rider >>>>>>> Archer > Caster > Berserker > Saber > Lancer >>>> Assassin

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I'm just glad most people are putting Rider in the top, I think if we took a poll he'd have the top spot no doubt.