General anime discussion thread

Alexys

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Oh, dear—fifteen years later, and you can still find people arguing about sub versus dub. Personally, I'll take the sub pretty much every time, but then I was exposed to a fair number of bad dubs from the days of VHS. I also read fast enough that I don't have to rewind the video unless the subber decides to embed a multi-line translation note or something.

As for ecchi, there seem to be several factors that control whether or not it bothers me:
-Is it at least superficially integrated into the plot or characterization, or just plonked there for no reason at all?
-Are only females targeted, or do we occasionally see males displaying questionable areas of their persons?
-Is the character on display doing it by choice, or are they being forced/tricked/filmed from an angle no sane person would consent to?
-How old is the character on display? The implications change a bit if it's an adult.

There may be other factors that I'm not consciously aware of, but you can see why I'd be more tolerant of Strike the Blood or Unbreakable Machine-Doll (in both cases, the fan service is there for plot/character reasons, and the characters have the ability to choose) than I am of, say, the purposeless panty shots in Freezing.

New shows: I'll be keeping Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta and Sekai Seifuku - Bouryaku no Zvezda, at least for the present, and dropping Wizard Barristers because certain elements of the setting make me feel uncomfortable (Psycho Pass had a bit of the same problem, but for some reason it's worse here). Three more shows and 1-3 slots, and since ZX Ignition is supposedly a steaming pile of excrement, the chances I'll be keeping Nobunagun are improving.
 

Shadow Dragon

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I've watched the first episode both of the Nobunaga shows of this season. And after the first impression, I really like both.

Nobunagun: It's like Evangelion mated with, well, anything directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi. I really how the colors change with the mood and Shio seems like she has potential to be a good lead character.

Nobunaga The Fool: AKA The League of Extraordinary Historical Gentleman. The character designs are great and I like Nobunaga's personality. I just hope is that Joan of Arc doesn't end up as a damsel in distress or something along those lines.
 

Alexys

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And so I got through the remaining three shows on my list:

Hoozuki no Reitetsu: Keep for now. Even if it never develops a plot, the ukiyo-e style background artwork is fascinating. (And so are the goldfish plants.)

Magical Warfare: Looks like fairly standard shounen fighter fare. Keep for now.

ZX Ignition: A wooden adaptation of some kind of Shin Megami Tensei clone. Characters are mostly cardboard, and the conflict feels pre-scripted (well, it is of course, but You Know What I Mean). Drop.

So it looks like I'll be continuing with Nobunagun, since it's more entertaining for the moment than either Phi Brain or Space Brothers, both of which I'm back-burnering for a while.

And given what's in the second episode of Nobunaga the Fool, setting Jeanne up to play damsel in distress hopefully won't be practical. I'm curious to see how much more of history they can shove into the blender (currently about two thousand years' worth . . .)
 

kuwisdelu

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The only damsel-in-distress I can recall in a recent Kawamori anime is Mikono, and she had best girl (Zessica) to balance her out. I'm sure Jeanne will play second fiddle to Nobu, but I doubt she'll be relegated to damsel-in-distress role for much (if any) of the show.
 

LOG

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I get it now.
Freezing is Ikkitousen but with a possibly good story that has since been forcefully murdered by the overabundance of squicky ecchi.
 

Shadow Dragon

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Watched the first episode of Hamatora. I really enjoy how colorful the animation is. Also, it reminds me a little of Get Backers. I don't think it'll be one of the best new shows, but it'll be fairly entertaining.
 

Dawnstorm

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Fairly entertaining season, for me, but nothing too great.

My favourite is Hozuki no Reitetsu. I feel a bit like watching Joshiraku; a machine-gun of culturally specific reference jokes is fired at me, and while many miss, many hit. I love the humour.

Other than that, there's Nobunaga the Fool, about which I have little to say. It's pretty much what I expected: pompous and silly and absolutely enjoyable.

Genre of the season seems to be the fluffy, generic romance:

Inari Konkon Koi Iroha (which is Kimi ni Todoke with a different humour module and a shinto extension), Mikakunin de Shinkoukei, and Nisekoi are all quite fun for me.

Nobunagun is the surprise of the season for me; I didn't want to watch it at all, but it's surprisingly fun. And Saikin Imouto is as uneven as ever: I've never oscilliated between cringing at and enjoying a show this much.

***

Also, here are my top picks for 2013 (including two-cours that ended, but not Shirokuma Café):

1. Uchouten Kazoku
2. Shink Sekai Yori
3. Kyousogiga
4. White Album 2
5. Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge
6. Watamote
7. Yuyushiki
8. Robotics;Notes
9. Ixion Saga DT
10. Hataraku Maou Sama
 
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Rhoda Nightingale

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So I'm five episodes into Amnesia right now. It's pretty terrible, not AT ALL the kind of thing I'd recommend for myself or anyone else, but in that weird way that makes it kind of addictive and impossible to look away. I can't justify it--I just neeeeeed to finish it.

Also five episodes into Katoura-san, which I initially liked very much, but I got seriously creeped out when we went visiting Granddad's house. Because Granddad is seriously creepy. I think intentionally so? But still, I'm a bit...blech.

Watamote is in my queue next.
 

Dawnstorm

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So I'm five episodes into Amnesia right now. It's pretty terrible, not AT ALL the kind of thing I'd recommend for myself or anyone else, but in that weird way that makes it kind of addictive and impossible to look away. I can't justify it--I just neeeeeed to finish it.

Episode 5? The "best" is yet to come...

Also five episodes into Katoura-san, which I initially liked very much, but I got seriously creeped out when we went visiting Granddad's house. Because Granddad is seriously creepy. I think intentionally so? But still, I'm a bit...blech.

Creepy Grandad is creepy without much of a point behind it. I ejnoyed the show to the end, but it had pretty bad spots. There are still some good scenes later on, but without a doubt episode 1 is the highpoint of the series.

Watamote is in my queue next.

An uncomfortable show. Welcome to the NHK level uncomfortable. Hits home pretty hard, if you had that sort experience. Loved it.
 

LOG

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I'm really liking The Gamer.
In fact I think it's the only colored manwha I've ever liked.

ETA:
It's odd, but the latest Bleach filler arc is actually, like . . . decent.
 
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Rhoda Nightingale

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Episode 5? The "best" is yet to come...

OK, I just finished, and....dude! I mean...duuuuuuude! I dunno what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. Hahaha. I love this ridiculous anime. It's terrible, but oh, so watchable.
 

Dawnstorm

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OK, I just finished, and....dude! I mean...duuuuuuude! I dunno what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. Hahaha. I love this ridiculous anime. It's terrible, but oh, so watchable.

It's probably the worst anime I finished in 2013, and yet... I fnished it.
 

Dawnstorm

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Just finished episode 5 of Strike the Blood. It's an okay show so far, but not sure if I'd stick it out for tons of episodes.

Does anyone know how many episodes there are? The site I watch had 12, but today they added to 15.

Most likely 24 (it's what My Anime List says, and it makes sense if your site said 12, too).
 

Rhoda Nightingale

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It's probably the worst anime I finished in 2013, and yet... I fnished it.

When Toma brought out the cage, I went, "Whaaaaaaaat?" and it just got weirder from there. Hee! I do like weird. And I say that with the full understanding that this particular anime is on the low end of "weird." Also--on a purely superficial level--I love how they did the eyes. They're hypnotic, they are.
 

elindsen

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Most likely 24 (it's what My Anime List says, and it makes sense if your site said 12, too).
Thanks. Ugh, now I have to wait for the rest to be uploaded.

*Question for you guys: What is your favorite anime of all time? Or favorites? And why?

*Sorry if that's been asked before. I don't bop in here very often. Just curious what good stuffs out there and why it's so good.
 

kuwisdelu

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*Question for you guys: What is your favorite anime of all time? Or favorites? And why?

Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Not just as an anime. My top television series of all time.

End of Evangelion is my top film of all time.

Because it changed my life.
 

elindsen

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Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Not just as an anime. My top television series of all time.

End of Evangelion is my top film of all time.

Because it changed my life.
I've watched the first one (is it just Evangelion?), but I'm not big on the mech stuff lol. I liked it in Gun X Sword, and it was all right in Code Geass, but not my cup of tea. It seems like a popular anime though.
 

Rhoda Nightingale

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I've very green to the art form, but I rather love Madoka Magica and Death Note.
 

kuwisdelu

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I've watched the first one (is it just Evangelion?), but I'm not big on the mech stuff lol.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) is the television series, and End of Evangelion (1997) is the movie that serves as its final act.

Don't get the original series confused with the new four-part movie series, commonly referred to as "Rebuild of Evangelion", which isn't completed yet. "Rebuild" consists of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, and an as-yet-unnamed fourth movie that isn't released yet. (The DVDs and BDs bump the decimal places.) Although the first movie follows the first few episodes of the original series faithfully, after that it deviates greatly. I can't judge how good it is yet, since it's undone. Although I still enjoy it, I highly doubt it'll quite live up to the finale of the original series.

It's not really about the mecha. (And the Evas aren't actually mecha, anyway.) It's a study of the human condition, and how flawed people try and fail to communicate. It's probably the most influential anime ever.

/fanboy
 
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Rhoda Nightingale

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0_o Isn't that a bit...redundant? Haven't seen Evangelion yet, still on my list, but it IS anime, yes?