What spurred this on? Urusei Yatsura is a (largely) quality show. Especially the first handful of seasons and first two movies. Rumiko Takahashi is basically the progenitor of the magical girlfriend genre and yet she did it so much better than those that came after. It's basically an anti-harem series.
And not just for historical reasons. It's genuinely entertaining, and the characters (except for the protag lol) are endearing. I have a soft spot in my heart for Urusei Yatsura, and I'd definitely recommend it.
The gameplay only really starts to shine when you have a bunch of jobs available and can mess around with different combinations and class-synergy via abilities. Until then it's a very pretty but totally by the books RPG for several hours. Long ass "tutorial mode".
You should watch Index first. As for whats better...depends on your tastes on whether you prefer a more action or cute girls oriented shows. I like them both.
And not just for historical reasons. It's genuinely entertaining, and the characters (except for the protag lol) are endearing. I have a soft spot in my heart for Urusei Yatsura, and I'd definitely recommend it.
You should watch Index first. As for whats better...depends on your tastes on whether you prefer a more action or cute girls oriented shows. I like them both.
Ace of Diamond - 66
Man the rebuilding process is damn fun.. Seidou is so fucked tho, that batting line-up is vomit inducing .. Miyuki at clean-up, fucking really? Total downgrade. Also
I like this new coach already, looked far less boring than the current one.
Fuck, I need confirmation the series will go on after march already. I can watch these bros for 100 more eps, really feel attached to them.
It doesn't matter what order you watch them. The stories aren't connected that intimately other than in S2 of Railgun, and there you just end up watching the same events twice if you watch both.
I watched this before but I forgot what episode I made it too and also forgot a bunch of other stuff so I'm rewatching from the beginning.
It's about a Space Vampire Mecha. Except when you bite people you swap bodies with them. And it has action scenes so ridiculous it would make Van Damme blush.
Pretty dumb so far but I think I got further in originally., I swear if I had a dollar for every line in a mecha series complaining about how adults don't fight fair I would have a couple thousand dollars
It was entertainingly stupid for about 2/3s of a season, then it just fell apart, and even ended up being a terribly written bore in the 2nd season. Somehow they actually ended up taking their terrible backstory and mythos seriously.
Railgun is much better. Railgun has more Makoto and less Touma. Less Touma is always a good thing. I really really disliked him as a character but your views may end up differing. I also thought the writing and pacing in general was far better in Railgun.
In terms of what to watch first it really doesn't matter all that much. Railgun was designed for you to be able to watch it as a self-contained show. You don't really need to watch Index first. There is actually an arc covered in Railgun S that is given less detail in Index that is done dramatically better in Railgun S. Given that its the best and most dramatic arc in the entire series (Index or Railgun), I think spoiling that in particular would lessen its impact if you saw it in Index first verses watching it blind in Railgun. I have seen numerous posts of people actually regretting watching it first in Index because it was so much better in Railgun. Railgun also does a much better job of giving you background on Academy City and building that world.
I personally recommend watching Railgun->Railgun S first and then watching Index > Index 2 if you want more. The first season of Railgun really takes place before Index 1 and the overlap that occures between Railgun S and Index 1 encompasses really only one arc (the one mentioned above) that was covered in Index's first season. Index 2 takes place after both Railguns and i think should be viewed last.
It's more of the same, but that's definitely not a bad thing in this case. I'm surprised that Shiina managed integrate into the affairs of the main duo so well; I figured she'd just show up from time to time and go on her way. The food porn is still amazing.
Ah, Kimura. His permanent mark on -chan/Western anime fandom hasn't gone away. Not that similar terminology doesn't exist in the Japanese fandom - it does - but it didn't originate from here, and I don't know how comparatively pervasive it is. But I can see why the -chans latched onto him, even if the end result is questionable.
Yukari and Nyamo have some amazing chemistry. And it's clear that Yukari's influence lives on in the form of Sawa, Kuroi from Lucky Star, etc. Not all are as irresponsible or lazy, but they are descended from the archetype she helped to polish. The way the shorts link together with their themes for the episode does end up feeling like a largely coherent story. The basics of character interaction look to be established, and I'm loving Osaka's elaborate discussions of kanji puns and wordplay. Dissecting that kind of stuff is fun for my translator brain.
This show kickstarted my love for school slice of life shows for the most part. But it did a lot of things well that imitators in more recent years just fall short of somehow. It had a ton of heart and the characters seemed to have purpose. Yukari and Nyamo was definitely a standout chemistry. As for all the injokes, I was fortunate to buy the show when it was first released here and each volume included very helpful booklets explaining all the jokes in English.
Ace of Diamond - 66
Man the rebuilding process is damn fun.. Seidou is so fucked tho, that batting line-up is vomit inducing .. Miyuki at clean-up, fucking really? Total downgrade. Also
I like this new coach already, looked far less boring than the current one.
Fuck, I need confirmation the series will go on after march already. I can watch these bros for 100 more eps, really feel attached to them.
is shit! SHIIIIIIT!! He has his hand glued to his chin!
I don't really like the rebuild too much, I'm all for the new second/first year players...but the regular players basically are reseted.
And this episode show another thing I didn't like with Inashiro
losing to someone who used a 4 pitch relay, just to prove Kataoka was right.
Yakushi training match gonna be fun! Don't miss it!
And continuing with sports anime...
[Ookiku Furikabutte] - 01~13
I really like Mihashi reactions, and Tajima. Momokan is moe!
I dig the opening song and the start of the ending.
Nice backstories and character growth until now, really liked how Abe is growing to understand Mihashi and giving him the confidence his previous catcher couldn't do, build a "nice" relationship between them.
I prefer the mental trainings Shiga-sensei teaches than seeing bullshit powers(ex: Kurobas, etc), and a pitcher who isn't all about the speed of his fastball, and a team who has to work together with their clean-up...I didn't expect Hanai to become the captain... and the rest of the team, well, they didn't had the time to shine yet(or so I hope), the last few episodes Sakaeguchi started to appear more. Manager-chan is relegated to do the previews. And it was nice to see some parents in the last episode.
The practice match against Mihoshi was hype, now time for the first game of the summer. ~waku waku
And it was a nice break from Gundam, watched recently the Original Gundam Movie Trilogy, Gundam 0080 War in the Pocket, Gundam 08th MS Team and startet G Gundam... but I needed a break.
BD probably has the worst writing I have ever seen in a video game. It's atrocious. Also the combat completely falls apart at the end and you'll probably use a gamebreaking trick to beat the final boss because it's so shit (assuming you get there).
This show continues to be a wholesome experience, making foods that I would never eat look delicious. Times that I watch this makes me wish I didn't dislike eggs the way I do now.
Shugo Chara 61
Another episode about our Shugos. This time with a Sparkle fucker looking for her lost 1st grader. It's also another breather from constant MotWs, so that's nice as well
Haha, I definitely agree about the tsundere part! I actually like Ataru, but I certainly wouldn't call him "endearing." Shithead may even be putting it softly, but the series is actually made better for how terrible a person he is (or starts out as).
Haha, I definitely agree about the tsundere part! I actually like Ataru, but I certainly wouldn't call him "endearing." Shithead may even be putting it softly, but the series is actually made better for how terrible a person he is (or starts out as).
Railgun is much better. Railgun has more Makoto and less Touma. Less Touma is always a good thing. I really really disliked him as a character but your views may end up differing. I also thought the writing and pacing in general was far better in Railgun.
In terms of what to watch first it really doesn't matter all that much. Railgun was designed for you to be able to watch it as a self-contained show. You don't really need to watch Index first. There is actually an arc covered in Railgun S that is given less detail in Index that is done dramatically better in Railgun S. Given that its the best and most dramatic arc in the entire series (Index or Railgun), I think spoiling that in particular would lessen its impact if you saw it in Index first verses watching it blind in Railgun. I have seen numerous posts of people actually regretting watching it first in Index because it was so much better in Railgun. Railgun also does a much better job of giving you background on Academy City and building that world.
I personally recommend watching Railgun->Railgun S first and then watching Index > Index 2 if you want more. The first season of Railgun really takes place before Index 1 and the overlap that occures between Railgun S and Index 1 encompasses really only one arc (the one mentioned above) that was covered in Index's first season. Index 2 takes place after both Railguns and i think should be viewed last.
Appreciate that detailed writeup! You make several great points, I think I'll watch it in the way you suggested, Railguns then Indexes. Better plot point like you said for that crossover, and I may recognize a few of the characters when I get to Indexes.
is shit! SHIIIIIIT!! He has his hand glued to his chin!
I don't really like the rebuild too much, I'm all for the new second/first year players...but the regular players basically are reseted.
And this episode show another thing I didn't like with Inashiro
losing to someone who used a 4 pitch relay, just to prove Kataoka was right.
Yakushi training match gonna be fun! Don't miss it!
Gourmet Girl Graffiti 3 - Wow. There's food porn and there's this. Really felt like a ramp up. Still not sure I'm that keen on a rice omelet though. Well done SHAFT in any case.
Gourmet Girl Graffiti 3 - Wow. There's food porn and there's this. Really felt like a ramp up. Still not sure I'm that keen on a rice omelet though. Well done SHAFT in any case.
Well at least I know I won't eat it. Or I can't really, no matter how classy it is.
Shugo Chara 62
By now it's established that Rima wants the Amurice as well, going as far as to greatly dislike Nagihiko for being a rival. Strangely, I wonder how exactly does he feel in regards to Amu, since her sparkle attack works on Nagihiko.
Despite some silly money decisions in these episodes, show is still really enjoyable, and the previews are still amazing. This is really shaping up to be one of my favorite mecha series of all time.
And I think by now Chirico has busted out of prison more times then the main character of Prison Break.
The gameplay only really starts to shine when you have a bunch of jobs available and can mess around with different combinations and class-synergy via abilities. Until then it's a very pretty but totally by the books RPG for several hours. Long ass "tutorial mode".
Ah yes, the Final Fantasy XIII design philosophy. But yeah I kind of figured it would get more interesting if the game lets me get more job abilities in a quicker manner.
Despite some silly money decisions in these episodes, show is still really enjoyable, and the previews are still amazing. This is really shaping up to be one of my favorite mecha series of all time.
And I think by now Chirico has busted out of prison more times then the main character of Prison Break.
Honestly I'm not really enamored with the show. There isn't any real energy for me and Wodoo is so grimdark that I'm completely detached from it as a location.
Honestly I'm not really enamored with the show. There isn't any real energy for me and Wodoo is so grimdark that I'm completely detached from it as a location.
This episode was okay, but yeah, it's definitely a big step down from the first two episodes. If most of the series is going to be like this, and not the first two, that'd be kind of too bad... but it looks like it will. Ah well. So, with this episode the series shifts focus from superpowered battles to the wanderings of our normal-person MC and her new three female friends. The girls are MC girl who wants to help people, strong-but-dumb girl who used to work for the rival group, small-and-mostly-silent girl who wants to collect the heard-stone things because they look pretty, and MCs-friend girl. The four of them are trying to find those heart-stone things which seem to give people Best powers.
In this episode, we learn that the woman who's in charge of their area is collecting the things, for some unknown (good? evil? We don't know) purpose. The girl who barely talks in the main group is apparently her daughter, though she knows nothing about it, yet.
The episode centers on the girls' first area they see in Tokyo, an endless Comicket (anime/manga convention). A Best girl there recently lost her heart-stone thing, and when she sees silent girls' one, she wrongly thinks that the main group stole hers, so she has them locked up. At the end
she learns that her stone had gotten lost in the hair of a anime-guy statue that she really wants to buy, and it was all a mistake. So... instead of going to return their stone to them and apologize, she goes to sell it to a guy representing that girls' mother (remember, the one collecting the stones), so she can afford to buy the statue. She agrees to sell after he pressures her to either accept the current deal or the next one will be worse, and then... end of episode.
Uhh... I don't like ending on a cliffhanger like that, it's annoying! I don't like that those people are collecting the heart things, either... maybe they have a good reason, but I'm skeptical. But also, this plot just wasn't nearly as interesting as the action-heavy first two episodes. It's okay, and I get the idea that the series is about some normal people in a world with superpowered people, but maybe don't start with two episodes about the superpowered people, it gives a false impression of what the show will be. Still though, decent, I'll watch more.
Moeyo Ken 3-5 - Average and generic. I can see why this show isn't remembered like the better series Rumiko Takahashi worked on are, for sure... this isn't anything BAD, but it's definitely not good either. Also, as a history major, the constant ignoring of history is distractingly annoying. Yeah, I know anime is almost always like this -- almost all animes do huge numbers of things (often intentionally) historically wrong -- but it's always annoying anyway.
Moeyo Ken 3
Onsen episode, so this episode is full of bath scenes. When is this series set, anyway? As is far too common in anime, the series is historically impossible, and ignores is supposed setting in favor of mountains of anime tropes which are inevitably based on either modern things, or things entirely out of place for the theoretical setting. So this series has a giant modern theme park in "Meiji Tokyo" complete with roller coaster, there are cars in this series even though those couldn't have existed until the early 1900s and this claims to be "early" in the reform period which would be before that, and, in this episode, modern views on gender-segregated bathing, too. Sure, the Meiji government banned mixed bathing (something that had been completely normal in Japan for at least several centuries) and it eventually did happen, but actual views on the subject then weren't the same as they are now, or in anime. I don't think I've ever seen an anime set in "past Japan" with period-accurate views on mixed bathing. Either the subject is not mentioned, or it's like this. Ah well.
Outside of bath scenes, the other part of the plot is about the mad-scientist guy building a bath-digging machine which runs with monster power. A pervert frog monster makes the thing go crazy, and they end up digging through the earth, for what is by far the most interesting joke in this series so far --
a Jules Verne's "Journey through the center of the earth" reference!
Yes, really; they visit that
underground realm full of dinosaurs and lava and stuff
because of the haywire machine trip. Now that's not something I expected an anime like this to reference. The scene gets dumb eventually, but still, at least this isn't ALL completely dumb.
Moeyo Ken 4 - This time, MC guy Ryuunosuke finally gets an episode where he acts like a complete idiot, instead of just the girls being that way. The main girl continues to try to get Ryuunosuke to show interest in girls, so this time she drags him to a geisha house. There they meet some ... weird... geishas who thoroughly ignore any remaining shreds of historical accuracy this series might have had lying around. No, I doubt that people sang like that in the 1800s... blah. Then he meets a Maigo (apprentice geisha) who is having a very bad time keeping customers entertained -- they find all her jokes boring, attempts at other entertainments fall flat. etc. Ryuunosuke thinks that she's hilarious, though, and is completely unable to see any negatives about her actions, something that gets quite ridiculous by the end of the episode since
she's actually a young snow-woman and almost turns Kyoto into a giant icecube entirely by accident (she wasn't trying to, it just happens when she entertains), not that he noticed; he was somehow immune.
Fortunately main girl comes up with something at the last second and uses a fire-breathing trick (spit oil + light it, I believe) to stop it. The scenes of all that snow, and the TERRIBLE jokes and constant cancan dancing by the yukionna (in another quite out-of-time costume, even if the dance did indeed exist), while he delightedly laughs are kind of amusing. How does Ryuunosuke find such bad jokes funny...
Moeyo Ken 5 - This time, dumb red-haired girl decides to double down on her "get MC guy to stay through a romance with that girl from the restaurant" plan. The idea is to get their heart-rates up, on the idea that that'll make them fall in love. It doesn't work like that, but that's the theory here. But the villains interfere, so instead of a weak summoned monster from one of the New Shinsengumi members to chase the two of them, it's a super-strong monster. Once again, the girls are useless against it. I'm getting tired of this, how can they call themselves the city's protectors when they are utterly unable to fight powerful foes? So all he can do is run away, until a robot version of one of the strict gunner one defeats the enemy... and then goes berzerk, and has to be stopped by the real one.
She has no memories of her mother, so the mad scientist guy made her a robot that looks like her which she calls "mother". She was apparently jealous of the feelings MC guy's mother has for him. Huh.
That may sound interesting, but once again, the episode was very average and bland. This show's just not that great. It's funny sometimes, but not as often as it should be, the romance is super-generic, and the action elements are unsatisfying.
Unlimited Fafnir / Juuou Mujin no Fafnir 3
The episode starts out with the other girls going to fight the dragon. Only little bit of their fight is actually shown, but of course, them being girls in a series about how awesome an overpowered guy is, they fail. The CG dragon looks kind of bad; low budget here! Meanwhile, MC guy protects useless girl from the army, who sent a commando squad to kill her in order to keep her from turning into a dragon Then there's tension with his sister over who will kill Iris, though it's stupid because of course he'll save the day in the end anyway. Instead of an actual fight between the two, he deflects her with an "I can see your panties" distraction, and then a sexist/condescending tap on the head "like we were kids" incest-bait reminder. He manages to convince useless girl that she can help too, and she damages it some. But it keeps coming. Just when all seems lost, MC guy uses his super-awesome "D" powers, which come from the oldest and most powerful dragon, to defeat it handily, though his sister does help a bit (incest power). I know, the excuse for how the MC guys always vastly exceed the girls in these shows in power is 'it's about a power fantasy for the viewer, not sexism', but seriously, it's both, and I can't stand it. Girl saved, no need to kill her now, she's your haremite instead!
The dragon who gave him its power wants to kill all the other dragons. So, I expect he'll be well on his way towards doing that by the end of the series.
Next time, the preview says: new haremite introduced, who calls herself his wife (of course, should have expected this character). Also bath scenes.
I really, really hate the horrible "the one guy is always far more powerful than all of the girls who have the same power" garbage these shows usually try to pull! It's so insanely sexist... there's no realistic reason for it, the magical or scientific (robots, etc) powers in these shows have nothing to do with physical strength. It's purely about that sexist power fantasy I mentioned earlier, that's it. Even shows with no strength element at all like No Game No Life work the exact same way, of course. Making it even worse, central to the whole concept is the idea that "all a strong woman actually wants is a stronger man" stereotype. This is a horribly dated and VERY sexist concept, and there's not much truth to it either! The basic idea is that a "strong" woman actually wants a stronger man who can defeat her, a deeply disturbing and highly sexist concept. And this series has idiotic incest-baiting too, of course, to make things even worse. So far it hasn't gone to confirmed "I like my sister/brother" levels yet, but it's clearly setting the groundwork, because in this genre, with a series this deeply stereotypical, how could it go any other way? Why am I watching this? I thought I tried to not watch shows this atrocious anymore, after forcing myself through S1 of Maken-ki... but I guess not. Ah well.
It seems I never give the new villain girl any attention, and 63 actually brought her into the picture in terms of Amu and Lulu meeting up by coincidence.
She's part of Easter, but like Ikuto, isn't really a puppet, and would rather do things on her own. Doing what she does for the motivation of having her mother return to her former glory of an actress instead of being on variety shows. So seeing her mother acting out of what Lulu percieves of her greatly disturbs her, as seen when she sees her parents in Christmas uniforms, as well as attempting to hide her Nagoya accent.
I think another thing I should mention at this point,, is the Shugo Charas, and what they represent. It's a clear way of telling us what a character wants to be, and what they currently aren't, which is why these Guardians even exist. Like with Rima, who would probably be one of the more effective characters to show this, her Chara is a clown, which clashes with her initial appearence, where she was high and mighty. In Lulu's case, while not revealed, I'm guessing she wants to be high class while proudly displaying her Nagoya accent as well. Since these Guardians exist, what a character hopes to become is never a secret
Although come to think of it, Nadeshiko's Shugo Chara is a surprise really
.
The show isn't exactly subtle, but I can't say that is actually a problem in Shugo Chara's case, really.
oooo boy I can see the strands unraveling right before my eyes
The downgrade is real. Character animation was all over the place with tons of off character animation. There was some good animation in the opening sequence but that's it. Man the character animation was a mess. Dat WIT quality I guess.
The main crew is dull as fuck. One is Chaika Mk.2 in her ability to not be able to speak full sentences. The MC is just flat.
That faceplant, talk about fucking up a good first impression. Now this is interesting, the pilot and mecha seems linked in both body and mind?
Misato is pretty great, a fitting relief character. What the fuck a penguin?? Yo whats up with that creepy eye, did that Angel some how merge with the Eva when it 'self destructed'?
Or maybe it's parts from that Angel from 15 years ago. Cause that's some pretty thick armor otherwise to survive that. The fight was pretty sick. So many questions.
Aye, Evangelion is something I've always heard people talk about. Figured it's time to see what it's all about.
This may be where my overwhelming love of all things penguin started..but probably long before. Misato is one of my all time favorite characters though.
OMG .. they blew their budget .. they went all out !! What an episode. 23 minutes of non stop action featuring everyone in the casting with old & new moves + cameos included.
That animation was crystal clear .. This was just so much awesome.
All in the spirits of dogdays with fanservice here and there but it remainned quite low.
