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Winter-Spring 2014 Anime |OT3| People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time

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F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Toradora Episode 11
Things are getting serious, seems theres more to the story than whats getting told by the dad, I want to watch the next episode but its 6 in the morning and the only reason im still up is because of a tornado watch which should be over by now D:
 
G

Gbraga

Member
Were any of the Oreimo games localized? I'll really miss Kirino's laugh when I finish the anime.

EDIT: Wikipedia has no different region launch dates, so I guess not. :C
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Mahou Yuugi ONA+OVA

This started cute but unremarkable, then got pretty strong at the tail end. Managed to be pretty meta and showed it had some interesting ideas that could have been properly developed were it not just an ONA.

Pretear 1-13 END

s59TLim.jpg


5 Yayoi KYAAAAAAs out of 5
Actual score: 4/5

One of the more transparently shoujo anime I've seen since Fushigi Yuugi. While that in itself is fun, Junichi Satou helped make it a joy to watch with all his usual touches.
 
M

MikeHattsu

Member
Gbraga said:
Were any of the Oreimo games localized? I'll really miss Kirino's laugh when I finish the anime.

EDIT: Wikipedia has no different region launch dates, so I guess not. :C
Click to expand...

I think there's a fan translation of one of the PSP games still being worked on, but nothing official, no.
 
R

RiggyRob

Member
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask - I was wondering if it's possible to buy the original Fullmetal Alchemist series on DVD in the UK, and if so where can you get it from?

I bought the complete Brotherhood collection from Amazon for £30 but I can't find the original series as a complete collection without worrying about the wrong region code, not having English dub (I don't want to watch it with English subtitles) or having to pay an extortionate amount on eBay.
 
D

duckroll

Member
RiggyRob said:
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask - I was wondering if it's possible to buy the original Fullmetal Alchemist series on DVD in the UK, and if so where can you get it from?

I bought the complete Brotherhood collection from Amazon for £30 but I can't find the original series as a complete collection without worrying about the wrong region code, not having English dub (I don't want to watch it with English subtitles) or having to pay an extortionate amount on eBay.
Click to expand...

It might be pretty hard to get a R2 release at a decent price, and I'm not really familiar with PAL releases. But if you have a region free DVD player you should be able to pick up the FUNimation collections.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SPDSA8/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VQO4W0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

That's the complete series in 2 sets, for about 40 USD on DVD, with dub and sub. Hope that helps.
 
A

amishpriest99

Member
PshycoNinja said:
Bunch of Air Gear love but no Kenichi love? :(

Air Gear was just fun to watch. The goal was clear from the start and the main character set out to accomplish it. It had some quirky characters that you grew to love.
Kenichi though. Man oh man. It is still to this day my roommates favorite anime. He loves comedy and stories about weak characters growing into badasses. Which Kenichi had in spades. I give it a watch every now and then. It's still really good.
Click to expand...

Looks like it's pretty cheap on Amazon. Might give it a go.
 
R

RiggyRob

Member
duckroll said:
It might be pretty hard to get a R2 release at a decent price, and I'm not really familiar with PAL releases. But if you have a region free DVD player you should be able to pick up the FUNimation collections.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SPDSA8/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VQO4W0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

That's the complete series in 2 sets, for about 40 USD on DVD, with dub and sub. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

If that was Region 2/PAL that'd be perfect. Unfortunately I don't have a region free DVD player, so I guess my next question would be whether you can easily change the region of your DVD player or if a UK Xbox 360 can play Region 1 DVDs, but this probably isn't the place to ask.
 
M

Midonin

Member
Should've known that the season wouldn't wrap up without at least one more delay. The final NagiAsu has been pushed to this afternoon.
 
B

BluWacky

Member
RiggyRob said:
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask - I was wondering if it's possible to buy the original Fullmetal Alchemist series on DVD in the UK, and if so where can you get it from?
Click to expand...

The UK DVD release of the original series is long out of print unfortunately. The series got caught up in a bunch of weird distribution deals over here, changing hands a good two or three times, and as far as I'm aware it was never actually released in complete collections, only as single discs.

I bought the complete Brotherhood collection from Amazon for £30 but I can't find the original series as a complete collection without worrying about the wrong region code, not having English dub (I don't want to watch it with English subtitles) or having to pay an extortionate amount on eBay.
Click to expand...

You're going to have to worry about the wrong region code - although many UK DVD players are now multi-region out of the box so you may want to check whether that's a possibility (or alternatively, if you're watching on a computer, you could look into software like SlySoft AnyDVD which can remove region restrictions).

Ordinarily I'd suggest looking into the Australian releases, as these would be in PAL format and thus the closest in terms of compatibility to UK discs (albeit in the wrong DVD region). However, I can't in all good conscience recommend Madman's releases because they're over twice the price of the Funimation releases in the US that duckroll's suggested!

I'm sorry not to have any better news for you on this front :(
 
D

Dedication Through Light

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Not very. While there are 'effeminate' looking men (as expected in Shojo), Natsume included, there are two that I'm sure DTL and others would pair up with Natsume, but really they'll pair up any males in any show. Natsume blushes every now and then with many characters but that's more to him being awkward around others and not knowing how to react, not to say he doesn't act tough at times. The show has zero romance, though there are characters (female) that do seem to have feelings for Natsume.

I get very awkward/drop shows when it's constant in your face DTL, this has nothing.
Click to expand...

How could you forget his moments with his friends.
tumblr_lqp5gl5gXX1qaaehjo2_250.gif
tumblr_lqp5gl5gXX1qaaehjo4_250.gif


OTP
tumblr_m6hrxjAzvg1qhqi24o1_500.jpg
 
D

duckroll

Member
RiggyRob said:
If that was Region 2/PAL that'd be perfect. Unfortunately I don't have a region free DVD player, so I guess my next question would be whether you can easily change the region of your DVD player or if a UK Xbox 360 can play Region 1 DVDs, but this probably isn't the place to ask.
Click to expand...

What sort of stand alone DVD player do you have? Model/brand?
 
H

Heysoos

Member
e_i said:
Hey GAF, is your body ready for Nagi no Asakura's finale? Mine isn't.
Click to expand...

I'm reading the 4chan livestream thread.

Ending spoilers ahead:

It seems nothing really got resolved? Open ended ending. Not one confirmed pairing going by all the posts in that thread. Kind of glad I dropped this if it's true. But they might just be huge overreactions. I'll wait to read more impressions once the full episode comes out. Still, don't know if I should pick up again, but the show was annoying me.
 
W

Witchfinder General

punched Wheelchair Mike
Admiral Woofington said:
Natsume Yuujinchou: Whole Series Review


I've been pushing off this series for a while now. Partially was because when I first put it into my list I was going on a romcom anime binge so the premise didn't sound too interesting. In fact around this point I also decided to largely ignore Mushishi, a very similar anime in terms of setting and execution. I'm glad I picked it back up as it was infinitely enjoyable in a very particular sense: tranquility. And not only tranquility, it managed to do this while keeping things interesting and having some amazing character interactions. Let's get down to it.


The Premise:
Natsume Yuujinchou stars the titular character Takashi Natsume and his bodyguard/tsundere bro Nyanko Sensei. The episode by episode basis of the seasons in general are in episodic form with the occasional 2-3 episode arc. These largely deal with Natsume and either helping or defending himself against youkai but may also include Natsume getting closer to his friends and family (whether it's youkai or human).The show revolves around the Book of Friends (hence the title), a book full of the name of youkai he can summon that he inherited from his badass grandmother which she collected in her youth. Unlike what others expect/want, Natsume decides against using this to his advantage and instead decides to return the names to the youkai that ask as a sign of goodwill. That's the premise. It's nothing groundbreaking, but how many amazing shows start with a standard premise but just absolutely kill it with the execution?


The Characters:

The show and episodes revolve around the two main characters with a recurring cast that takes turns appearing in episodes throughout the 4 seasons of the show. Natsume is the titular character and by far one of the best 'weak character that needs protection' variation that seems to be popular with anime. Natsume is a boy whose family died early in his childhood and he was taken to the household of many unwilling/occupied family members who found him weird until he found what I can only describe as top 5 best step parents in anime. Being able to see youkai throughout his whole life, he has been seen as a weird lying kid who got scared from invisible thing. Always bullied and always isolated from people, he never really learned to love and be close with people until he reaches the town in the beginning of the series where his heart slowly begins to open up. His character development throughout the main chronology and flashbacks is breathtaking and tear-jerking as you get to see what he has had to deal with all by himself throughout his life and how even then he's willing to let people and youkai into his heart. If being 'too nice' could possibly be considered a flaw, Natsume would be that character. Mr Kamiya absolutely sells his VA work with Natsume, giving us some of his most soft-spoken and emotional work. Is there anything this man can't do?

As the secondary lead we have Nyanko-sensei, aka Madara. Excuse my momentary weakness in manliness when I say that Nyanko-sensei in cat form is the most adorable piece of fat fluff I have ever seen in anime. His absolutely adorable voice acting, his cat mannerisms, the shape of his body, his tsundere attitude and just the huggability factor which rises exponentially with time, make him just amazing. I specify cat form because his real form is that of a badass fox/wolf-looking demon who absolutely wrecks shop. His character arc throughout the show is seeing him transform into Natsume's most treasured bro, which neither of them can admit since they're only in this 'due to business'.

Outside of those characters, we have a decently sizable cast of Youkai and humans who all encapsulate around Natsume's warmth. The youkai that end up being recurring characters range from hilarious to powerful, and the humans end up being the perfect examples of human beings which leads me to believe that Natsume moved into heaven. His school friends are great, his 'kindred soul' buddies all support and respect him in their own way, and I can't say enough about the parents. Seriously I can't. What love these two bring. They're a married couple who look to be into their 50's who treat Natsume as if he was their own child. The tears I've shed over the scenes of all of them getting closer are incredible, and don't even get me started on their flashback arc on how they meet Natsume because I'll just start bawling.


The Art:
First season began in 2008. The animation quality wasn't terribly amazing but it wasn't bad either. More like an above average. The soft-faces and the bright colors of the design of just about everything, not to mention all of the variations of youkai designs, more than made up for any negatives in this department though. As the seasons go on you start to notice some improvement as is expected from other works where experience breeds improvement. By the last season, the show is looking as great as it can. Hopefully more seasons get brought out, I'm looking forward to see how the show evolves.


Over-all Enjoyment:
Like I mentioned in the introduction, this show does two things absolutely perfectly: bring a sense of calm and make you have extreme emotions of happiness and sadness. Did you just have a shitty day? Watch an episode of this and just let the tranqulity of the OP, ED and episode itself soothe your pains. Natsume and Nyanko-sensei made this show as good as it was, but you have got to give props to the manga author for being able to come up with as many emotional arcs, even for just one-off episodes where you never see the characters again.

I feel like I need to show these next 4 images in a group because they represent the two arcs I was the most emotionally invested in/crying like a wuss, if you do decide to watch the show, keep these in mind and remember the day that Woofington cried like a bitch (pun intended).



I eagerly await a possible new season.

The entire series of Natsume Yuujinchou gets a 9.5/10
Woofdawg seal of approval.
Click to expand...

Fantastic review for a fantastic show. My wife and I discovered this show by accident when we were in Japan 18 months ago. We were walking in Tokyo station and there was a make-shift stall selling merchandise featuring a cute looking lucky-cat. My wife thought it was the most adorable thing ever and we moved on to our hotel. As we were flipping through the channels in our room I discovered an anime on with the very same cat i saw at the station. Although I didn't understand what was going on exactly I could tell this was a pretty good show. Using my google-fu skills on my iPhone I managed to work out the show was Natsume's Book of Friends and that NIS America had the first two seasons up fo pre-order. I ordered the set from my tiny Tokyo hotel room and a few weeks later back at home the DVDs arrived. My wife and I watched it and were instantly enthralled. Since then we have bought the rest of the series and every single volume of the manga. It's probably my wife's favourite anime/manga of all time and in my top three for sure. For my wife's birthday last year I made her a custom-designed Nyanko-sensei t-shirt. I only hope we get some more seasons. At the time we were pretty burned out on anime, having all but stopped watching it for years as we were sick of the vast majority of titles pandering to horny teenagers. Natsume's Book of Friends completely restored our faith in anime and for that it has my thanks.

Also, Nyanko-sensei coming home intoxicated saying "ta dai ma!" as boorishly as he can is probably my favourite thing ever.
 
N

Nordicus

Member
Gintama 18

Shinsengumi spending all their resources on minor things always make me smile. I was straight up belly laughing because of how sour Hijikata was from getting panties from the Panty Thief who gives his loot to unpopular guys. I love hearing his pissed off voice so much

enR5RP0.jpg
Click to expand...
 
J

Jintor

Member
SYD 02 13 -end-

Lol.

I enjoyed s2 quite a bit, but like I said before, I'm in dire need of just a few ovas to round things out relationship wise. I don't think I can take another season... unless they pump the budget or something
 
A

Articalys

Member
789shadow said:
Ha ha ha

Ha ha

I just put 18 shows from Spring on my Plan to Watch list. 2 of which I'll have to catch up on already (Mushishi and JoJo, and I still need to watch GBF).

Ha ha

Ha ha ha

I'm insane.
Click to expand...

cnet128 said:
Welcome to my world.

(Well, actually I have more like 30 on my to-watch list, but you're getting there!)
Click to expand...
Okay, good, so the fact that I'm sitting here looking at around 15-16 for my final list doesn't make me feel as bad anymore.
 
M

Midonin

Member
Aikatsu! 76

A new cour, a new theme song and a new girl. Thankfully from the Starlight side this time. I don't know why I was acting like the girls' middle school graduation meant they were done with school altogether. Must've slipped my mind for a second. They're in high school now, which means they can compete with the Love Live girls on equal footing. Seeing Ichigo on the other side of the table is a good sign of how far she's come. The new opening and ending are a little slower in tempo than the other OPs, and that's a nice change of pace.

As for the new girl, Akari, her character type looks to be "Ichigo fangirl". She has the same wooden spoon, the same hairstyle. She's Ichigo's 2P color. Which only makes her look like Raichi when he was crossdressing, and I honestly wasn't sure if she was a girl for a second. The fangirl thing could become a bit much if they take it too far, but I don't think the show's done that yet. Her character arc could be a good one about finding her own identity instead of being so wrapped up in Ichigomania.
 
R

RiggyRob

Member
duckroll said:
What sort of stand alone DVD player do you have? Model/brand?
Click to expand...

I don't, I have a TV with a built-in DVD player (I think it's the Toshiba 19DL502B2 - 19" High Definition LED TV, I'll have to check) - other option would be to use my parents' DVD player, but I have no idea what the model/brand is.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Admiral Woofington said:
Natsume Yuujinchou: Whole Series Review


I've been pushing off this series for a while now. Partially was because when I first put it into my list I was going on a romcom anime binge so the premise didn't sound too interesting. In fact around this point I also decided to largely ignore Mushishi, a very similar anime in terms of setting and execution.
Click to expand...
Nah, Mushishi is full-on moody and atmospheric. It doesn't really do cute.

Also, you made a mistake which is never too late to correct!
 
R

Red Pencil

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Natsume Yuujinchou: Whole Series Review
Click to expand...

Great review for a wonderful series that I hold very dear! I recommend watching the OVA that came out earlier this year called Itsuka Yuki no Hi ni. It's a self-contained original story and it hits all the right notes that the series excels at, imo. If you want a pretty light-hearted side story involving Nyanko-sensei, go watch the LaLa special. I hope your review is able to convince others to try the series out if they haven't yet! I could talk about this series all day and it's one of the manga I ended up picking up after watching the show.

(And man, I feel you for those scenes. It's honestly the most invested in I've been for a series to date. I teared up for this show and I never outwardly cry for pretty much anything I watch or read. It's scary how easily you get attached to characters, even for the isolated character arcs. But man, the flashback arc kills me. Absolutely kills me. Just hearing or seeing the opening for the final season gets me upset.)
 
D

duckroll

Member
RiggyRob said:
I don't, I have a TV with a built-in DVD player (I think it's the Toshiba 19DL502B2 - 19" High Definition LED TV, I'll have to check) - other option would be to use my parents' DVD player, but I have no idea what the model/brand is.
Click to expand...

Oh dear. I can't really offer any advice for that, sorry. I'm kinda surprised some people still don't have a region free player these days. ;_;
 
A

Articalys

Member
http://shingeki.tv/news/archives/1166

Ahaha what the hell is this

They're releasing recap movies for Attack on Titan in theaters, the first half (covering eps. 1-13) this winter and the second half (eps. 14-25) sometime next year.
They'll be titled after the respective OP songs, Guren no Yumiya and Jiyuu no Tsubasa.
 
R

Red Pencil

Member
Witchfinder General said:
Fantastic review for a fantastic show. My wife and I discovered this show by accident when we were in Japan 18 months ago. We were walking in Tokyo station and there was a make-shift stall selling merchandise featuring a cute looking lucky-cat. My wife thought it was the most adorable thing ever and we moved on to our hotel. As we were flipping through the channels in our room I discovered an anime on with the very same cat i saw at the station. Although I didn't understand what was going on exactly I could tell this was a pretty good show. Using my google-fu skills on my iPhone I managed to work out the show was Natsume's Book of Friends and that NIS America had the first two seasons up fo pre-order. I ordered the set from my tiny Tokyo hotel room and a few weeks later back at home the DVDs arrived. My wife and I watched it and were instantly enthralled. Since then we have bought the rest of the series and every single volume of the manga. It's probably my wife's favourite anime/manga of all time and in my top three for sure. For my wife's birthday last year I made her a custom-designed Nyanko-sensei t-shirt. I only hope we get some more seasons. At the time we were pretty burned out on anime, having all but stopped watching it for years as we were sick of the vast majority of titles pandering to horny teenagers. Natsume's Book of Friends completely restored our faith in anime and for that it has my thanks.

Also, Nyanko-sensei coming home intoxicated saying "ta dai ma!" as boorishly as he can is probably my favourite thing ever.
Click to expand...

Love the story for how you and your wife discovered the series! Also love how much your wife loves Nyanko-sensei. haha Sounds like a cute t-shirt and I'm assuming she absolutely adores it.

It's unreal watching Kazuhiko Inoue talk like Nyanko-sensei since it's such a distinct voice that differs from his normal one. That man is talented.
 
P

Pooya

Member
madoka rebellion

+creepy visuals everywhere for 2 hours. fanservice, shit. sogood. will watch again. Lots of very cool gifs hidden in there waiting to be made.

-Made me hungry.

now going to finally watch 2199
 
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