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[Admiral Woofington]

Yes, I agree that the issue was worth bringing up. It's not something you see in anime every day, but it reflects the concerns of many nationalities without a high profile, let alone a positive one.

On the other front, the big question I'd ask myself would be...did the shift in character(s) towards a darker direction have a valid reason behind it? I would say so.

Spoiler

Hachi was always something of a jerk with a heart, right from the beginning. It was painful to see him fall into the temptation of separating himself from everyone else and take the risk of losing his humanity, all for the sake of a dream, but I felt that real human beings can in fact go through variations of that downward spiral (without the literal dark/mirror Hachi aspect, mind you, though I still appreciated that as a representation of inner conflict).

Yeah the intent is there, but I just can't agree they had to go to such degrees to make the message clear. I can see why it's divisive though, Cajunator is apparently on the side that liked it. I didn't think it would change this much. Regardless of the last arc though it's a fantastic show and now I see that it's criminally underrated. I'll write a review tomorrow.

 

[LMN]

Although it may seem that way to Western viewers, in Buddhist thought reincarnation is a form of purgatory, an endless cycle of rebirth into the suffering of the material world. Only by achieving nirvana can people break the system of rebirths and be liberated from desire and the suffering of existence. Considering that Death Parade is coming from a Japanese perspective, I think it far more likely that it is inspired by these Buddhist ideas; i.e., reincarnation is "hell" and the void is "heaven".

Actually in Buddhism, the concept of going to heaven or hell does not end any suffering. If you have good karma, you go to heaven for certain amount of period, then reincarnate over and over again, only until you achieve enlightenment can you escape this loop and go to Nirvana. So in this case reincarnation is not really a form of purgatory, though there is still suffering, but you also get a chance to make good karma and archive enlightenment. While in hell, you have to receive severe punishment for your bad karma for a long period of time, before being reincarnated. So in the anime, "Reincarnation" might literary mean that you go to heaven before reincarnate, while Void literary mean that you go to hell. TBH I don't know why they use the word "Void" as the meaning is not quite clear, but though hell concept in Buddhism do contain cold hell, so it might refer to that.
But yeah, Death Parade really borrow some of Buddhist religion concept that where when you died, your soul go to a special place where there will be a god or a "Arbiter" in the case of this anime, who will look at your karma and then decide whether you should go to heaven or hell.

 

[Jarmel]

Garo-13

Well I think I like the new OP's song more than the old one. The visuals on the new OP aren't as good as the old OP but it's still super classy and good.

The episode was super slow but I think this was really needed for Leon's development. Germain is such a godawful fucking parent. "Nobody else can help Leon now". Oh except for the people that are you asshole. Fucker is going on the worst anime parents list as it's clear this episode what Leon has been missing from his life.

I don't know if the girl is going to be traveling with Leon once he gets his mojo back as she can't protect herself and I'm worried that Leon is going to be her bodyguard or rescuing the damsel in distress a lot.

Leon is rocking that new white coat though.

 

[Shard]

Assassination Classroom Episode 1:

This is still an incredibly stupid premise for an anime/manga and yet it is certainly imaginative and enjoyable in its own way.

 

[javac]

Interesting day yesterday but to clear things up here's the latest on Evangelion 3.33. Apologies for any confusion caused.

The scheduled release of Evangelion 3.33 - You Can (Not) Redo has been pushed back indefinitely. We can confirm that Manga Entertainment will still be releasing this title, but at present there is no confirmed release date. We apologise to our fans for this, but unfortunately this delay was unavoidable.

Link

Wonder when it'll come out

 

[Grexeno]

Link

Wonder when it'll come out

Looks like they may be starting work on it from scratch.

 

[pelicansurf]

Damn.


Yowamushi Pedal on Monday

Parasyte and Gundam Try Fighters on Wednesday.

Garo, Assassination Classroom, Jojo, Death Parade on Fridays.

Holy cow! So far so good. I want to see what's happening on Saturday and Sunday, but I already have some shows on there.

 

[ShinRPGamer]

Stiens;Gate 1

You had my curiosity Stiens;Gate, but now you have my attention. Interesting first episode.

 

[JoeFu]

Kenya Boy


Amazing movie

Tells the harsh reality of what the war did to African/Japan/British/German relations. Must watch of the century.

 

[PK Gaming]

Damn, i'm starting to feel burnt out from watching and digesting a ton of anime in a short time span.

Oh well, i've still got a massive backlog that needs clearing.

 

[JoeFu]

Damn, i'm starting to feel burnt out from watching and digesting a ton of anime in a short time span.

Oh well, i've still got a massive backlog that needs clearing.

aww your love live phase is over? You never posted impressions for S2 in the thread

 

[cajunator]

When I first watched iM@S it was basically just unknowns for me so and technically any other idol is just the same.
The pacing is completely different for this first episode compared to iM@S', so you're not introduced to a whole lot of characters in one go.

Hmmm. I dont know how well that will work but its different at least.

I hate you Funimation http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/108387

Yeah the darker one looks a lot better.
Stupid Funi.

 

[Femmeworth]

Just finished Planetes. Outside of the final episode that last arc was just... ugh. Just. Ugh.

Read the manga.

 

[JCG]

Read the manga.

Even as someone who really likes the Planetes anime, I would also recommend reading the manga. It's enough of a different experience and absolutely worth your time too.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Actually in Buddhism, the concept of going to heaven or hell does not end any suffering. If you have good karma, you go to heaven for certain amount of period, then reincarnate over and over again, only until you archive enlightenment can you escape this loop and go to Nirvana. So reincarnation is not a form of purgatory, but more of a chance to make good karma and archive enlightenment. This also apply to hell as well, but you have to receive punishment first for your bad karma, before being reincarnated.
I agreed that Death Parade inspired by Buddhist as there is a concept that when you died, your soul go to a special place where there will be a god or a "Arbiter" in the case of this anime, who will look at your karma and then decide whether you should go to heaven or hell. TBH I don't know why they use the word "Void" as the meaning is not quite clear, but though hell concept in Buddhism do contain cold hell, so it might refer to that.

OK. I'm not an expert in Buddhism so I'm certainly open to being corrected on what its doctrine is.

Spoiler

I'll confess that I would be disappointed if the wife ended up being punished while the husband got off scot-free, if that is indeed what the ending is implying.

I wish I could discern the Japanese word that Funimation translated as "void". Perhaps that word would give a little more nuance to what was meant by the sentence.

 

[cajunator]

Kenya Boy

Truly one of the definitive movies of our time. The unfinished scenes and random character changes were so artistic. Very interesting depiction of Nazis. 12/10 Would mindfuck again.

 

[Firemind]

Told you dude. It's kinda like Sunshine in that it's a complete genre shift.

Sunshine's slash horror was awesome as was Von Braun's sabotage what are you talking about?

 

[Clov]

Was there some sort of Kenya Boy event that I missed out on here?

 

[MikeHattsu]

Kenya Boy

Look at all this awesome!

Japanese Tarzan, giant toads, Nazis, atom bomb, lizardmen and 2001 A Space Odyssey.

3/5 White Gods of Africa:

 

[Phatmac]

So glad that jojo is back in my life. Didn't think that the intro was all that great but I'll accept it due to how rad the visuals are. Slow start with the intro of iggy honestly thought it took too long. Nice that we got a new enemy stand this episode and I'll expect Jotaro to come up with a good plan next week.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Read the manga.

Even as someone who really likes the Planetes anime, I would also recommend reading the manga. It's enough of a different experience and absolutely worth your time too.

I probably will, eventually. I'm not one to experience the same material back to back and enjoy it as much without a break. I've never been able to say read a book a movie/tv show is based off immediately before watching the movie.

I was gonna watch Planetes really soon...but such a huge backlog maybe I won't watch it yet then, not in the mood for a show with a crappy last act as I'm having trouble as it is staying on track. I thought that show was immaculate, didn't think the ending portion would bring out an 'ugh'. What is it with anime and crappy last acts? Geez...I've never dropped a show thus far but I'm starting to lose interest in shows mid way now. Still need to finish Rahxephon and I've decided to purge my current viewing of Infinite Ryvius and will start it afresh later on in the year. Both good shows, amazing even...but no motivation at all. I need good short shows damn it, 20+ episodes is too much for me these days! 13 max! D:

A grand majority of the show is still damn good though, I wouldn't write it off due to a final act that's divisive. In the forum alone it seems that from the people who have mentioned it's almost split at a 50/50 of those who disliked it and those that liked/didn't mind it. So you could just as easily like it

 

[javac]

I was gonna watch Planetes really soon...but such a huge backlog maybe I won't watch it yet then, not in the mood for a show with a crappy last act as I'm having trouble as it is staying on track. I thought that show was immaculate, didn't think the ending portion would bring out an 'ugh'. What is it with anime and crappy last acts? Geez...I've never dropped a show thus far but I'm starting to lose interest in shows mid way now. Still need to finish Rahxephon and I've decided to purge my current viewing of Infinite Ryvius and will start it afresh later on in the year. Both good shows, amazing even...but no motivation at all. I need good short shows damn it, 20+ episodes is too much for me these days! 13 max! D:

 

[Gazoinks]

Whhy is everyone watching Kenya Boy? What did I miss?

 

[Jex]

Was there some sort of Kenya Boy event that I missed out on here?

Every say is Kenya Boy day.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Not surprisingly, opinions tend to be fairly divided about that. Some prefer the first half to the second, while others would argue the opposite.

Personally, I thought the last half was great . Things get quite bleak and you see a bit of the dark side of human nature, reflected in both the main character(s) and the more political/thriller-like aspects of the surrounding story, but for me it was usually gripping to watch and I appreciated the release of all that tension at the end of the road.

I like both parts!

The only part that I didn't like as much but it was still passable was the terrorist plot.

 

[Vito]

Death Parade OP repost http://a.pomf.se/niodcd.mp4 (this time 720p downscale from Funi 1080p stream which isn't CBR and brightness fixed)

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Glasslip PR showing the two best characters today

 

[Mr.Jeff]

As much as I liked PlanetES I'm put off a rewatch more by that joke episode with the samurai(?) than I am with the final arc.

Whhy is everyone watching Kenya Boy? What did I miss?

As I recall, Mike makes people groupwatch films with him. Sometimes good, sometimes bad depending on his whims.

 

[Jex]

[The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls] - 1

I wasn't planning to check this out because the last season but to me sleep after a couple of episodes but after hearing good impressions about this episode I decided to check it out and honestly I was pretty surprised.

While the previous scene was hardly wanting in terms of production value both the script and the direction here seemed considerably more mature. Drastically reducing the scale of the roster and really dialling in to a handful of characters leads to a far more engaging work. Could this be the K-On!! of cute girl anime sequels? Probably not, but only time will tell!

 

[MikeHattsu]

As I recall, Mike makes people groupwatch films with him. Sometimes good, sometimes bad depending on his whims.

Every second week alternate between good and interesting, not bad. ;P

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders 25

BEST CRUSADER ARRIVES

I like the new OP and the subtle spoilers in it. Kinda disappointed with the new ED though, visuals are great but the song lacks the oomph the last two had. I feel like it will grow on me though.

After Tokyo Ghoul and Terraformars the censoring isn't so egregious anymore. The one part that was censored this episode was still particularly violent. I am very much looking forward to the next 23 episodes. So much shit I want to see.

The Jolyne/Hermes commercials are amazing. The voice actor for Jolyne is absolutely perfect.

Death Parade 01

That OP is amazing. It's kind of out of place though, lol.

A lot of reintroduction from Death Billiards, but that doesn't bother me. As far as I'm concerned the first episode delivered.

Judging from the next episode preview, it won't be a game per week and the arbiters will get some screentime too?

 

[Admiral Woofington]

As much as I liked PlanetES I'm put off a rewatch more by that joke episode with the samurai(?) than I am with the final arc.


As I recall, Mike makes people groupwatch films with him. Sometimes good, sometimes bad depending on his whims.

I actually liked the episode because Hachi just went with the flow. And let's be honest, deep down inside all of us want to live in a world with less gravity so we can feel like superheroes. Like all of us wouldn't pretend to be vigilantes of justice... or in this case space ninja

Spoiler

MikeHattsu MikeHattsu MikeHattsu

 

[JoeFu]

Mike group watches are the best.

 

[phoenix296]

Mike group watches are the best.

>.>

 

[MikeHattsu]

>.>

You love it!

 

[Narag]

>.>

I assume the group usually watched you suffer.

 

[JoeFu]

If you can't enjoy watching interesting anime while talking about it over skype, I don't know what you can enjoy...

 

[CheapJuice]

Assassination Classroom - 01

Well this was goofy. The squid seem awesome though. Biggest twist for me was that Nagisa is a boy?
I don't know, this could be fun. I'll see how it progresses. I loved the ED.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Glasslip PR showing the two best characters today

Glasslip doesn't have "best characters," they're all bad.

 

[Jarmel]

Death Note Parade-1

I'm not a huge fan of this on a couple of levels, in fact I slightly dislike it. The first is that there's just way too much of a time restriction to try and tell a story like this in 20 minutes. Before I started watching the episode, I wanted it to be like a grim-dark version of Mushishi and while it sort of is, it's also not as well done. The thing with Mushishi is that I feel like it allocates its time much more effectively than what is on display here. Part of it is due to the fact that the bartender has to set the game up. We didn't even get to the actual game until almost 7 minutes into the episode. Now before someone says the games are unimportant, they serve as a pressure point for the characters. It forces the characters to reveal their personalities. The thing with Mushishi is that rarely is there a judgement being rendered, and here there is both a formal and informal judgement by the 'gods' and audience. There just isn't enough time and I feel like we're getting snapshots.

The other thing is the animation is just way over acted in this episode. The husband's meltdown is too much and almost bordering on comical.

Also lol at that OP, felt like something out of a completely different show.

 

[phoenix296]

I assume the group usually watched you suffer.

There are some connotations there that I'm going to choose to ignore.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Yeah Death Bar Games needs to step it up imho. If every episode is just going to be an introduction of new characters that play the game and learn secrets about each other then I might lose interest. BUT I should add I can't judge a show on the 1st episode, 4 episode rule, yadda yadda

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I don't think it will take 7 minutes to get to the game after this one, since they were kind of redoing the explanation in Death Billiards for those who never watched it.

 

[cajunator]

Just finished Planetes. Outside of the final episode that last arc was just... ugh. Just. Ugh.

It is certainly polarizing. I liked it because it showed that everyone is not just a one sided character. Everybody has their faults and some have hidden agendas.

I've never had much of an eye on image issues. What can I say? I'm just not as sensitive to it/I don't notice it as much. Too bad for those that do, though. I'd hate to have the problem.

I cant really see it either. Maybe its good that I dont.

Stiens;Gate 1

You had my curiosity Stiens;Gate, but now you have my attention. Interesting first episode.

Oh man. This show is amazing on so many levels.
Enjoy it! Its also great for a rewatch.

Was there some sort of Kenya Boy event that I missed out on here?

Yeah there was a groupwatch earlier with Mike.

Whhy is everyone watching Kenya Boy? What did I miss?

see above

Glasslip PR showing the two best characters today

That dude has a hairband like Azuma from Yakitate Japan.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I'm not gonna lie, part of me wants it to be a different bar game every episode. Maybe even they stop giving a fuck and play like Death Monopoly. Or like Death Guess Who. Death Clue.

Now I can't enjoy this show unless there's an episode where they land on a chance and have this twisted Jumanji torture on the other person.

 

[Lafiel]

[The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls] - 1

I wasn't planning to check this out because the last season but to me sleep after a couple of episodes but after hearing good impressions about this episode I decided to check it out and honestly I was pretty surprised.

While the previous scene was hardly wanting in terms of production value both the script and the direction here seemed considerably more mature. Drastically reducing the scale of the roster and really dialling in to a handful of characters leads to a far more engaging work. Could this be the K-On!! of cute girl anime sequels? Probably not, but only time will tell!

OMG

It's over

Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls is Jexhius-approved.

Also I agree with everything you said, but I still can't help but have this mumbling feeling that the producer is going ruin the series. Why couldn't have they had a female producer instead who would have served as the sawako of the series?!

 

[MikeHattsu]

Was there some sort of Kenya Boy event that I missed out on here?

Whhy is everyone watching Kenya Boy? What did I miss?

Yeah there was a groupwatch earlier with Mike.

More people are more than welcome to join.

 

[RedSwirl]

Shit I forgot Durarara season 2 was starting up so soon.

Quick synopsis of what happened at the end of the first one again?

 

[Joe Molotov]

A Kenya Boy watch? I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.

 

[UltraGunner]

Assassination Classroom 01

This is such a hilariously absurd premise for a show. During the intro when they are firing off while the Teacher is taking attendance I knew that this was the right kind of humor for me. It was even pretty touching at times with Koro Sensei coming off as a likable guy that actually cares about his students (just with the caveat of him planning to blow up the Earth). Fridays are looking good anime wise.