General anime discussion thread

kuwisdelu

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I've read a few earlier comments in this thread about FLCL being bizarre, so popcorn.jpg.

It's quite a bit less bizarre if you're already familiar with other mindscrew anime like Lain or Eva or other Gainax works. It's a bit unique in it's definitely a much more lighthearted approach to such weirdness.
 

kuwisdelu

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Serial Experiments Lain's imagery made me realize the potential of writing literature whose standard of verisimilitude isn't any of the usual worlds--such as Earth, outer space, a surreal version of Earth, or a fantasy world such as middle Earth, etc.--but some animated world.

The cool thing is even if the reader doesn't know that our imagery and laws of physics correspond to that of a cartoon world, they can perceive it as metaphor or exaggeration for comic effect, kind of like in this passage in Pynchon's V.:

He would stand on the fantail and harangue whoever would listen, flannelmouthed through aching gums. When his mouth had healed he was presented with a gleaming, regulation set of upper and lower plates. "Oh God," he bawled, and tried to jump over the side. But was restrained by a gargantuan Negro named Dahoud. "Hey there, little fellow," said Dahoud, picking Ploy up by the head and scrutinizing this convulsion of dungarees and despair whose feet thrashed a yard above the deck. "What do you want to go and do that for?"

"Man, I want to die, is all," cried Ploy.

"Don't you know," said Dahoud, "that life is the most precious possession you have?"

"Ho, ho," said Ploy through his tears. "Why?"

"Because," said Dahoud, "without it, you'd be dead."

"Oh," said Ploy.​

It's sole purpose can be to influence how the story is created--the imagery, the mood/tone, etc.--from the writer's perspective.

This territory has been well staked out, I'm pretty sure, but it's cool that this show made me think about it.

I'm not totally sure what you mean. How does that reflect an "animated" world? Seems to me both the written version and an animated version of that kind of thing is still describing some kind of world or expression of existence.
 

SomethingOrOther

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The excerpt was meant to be an example of something, which conceivably could've been an attempt to emulate cartoon logic, that's probably perceived by the reader as exaggeration for comic effect in the real world.

Yeah between the first and second paragraphs of my post you can imagine a couple paragraphs that explain what this reflection of an animated world actually is. Those paragraphs weren't meant to be connected so tightly--the second paragraph, the excerpt, and everything thereafter were more an afterthought-that's-way-longer-than-the-actual-thought.

Or maybe I'm an idiot. :(

edit: The "reflection of an animated world" is the visual descriptions being, uh, (lol I'm so tired I can't even put thoughts together)--like picture the shadows in Serial Experiments Lain with the purply sparkly thingies, or the blank undrawn sky, or the part early on where the writing on the chalkboard sort of fades away, etc. Imagine a sentence or two that attempts to render exactly that. That'd be what I mean. It might be perceived by the reader as figurative language, or it might be taken literally. Reflecting the animated world would be the author's thing but not necessarily the reader's. lol I'm really too tired to think straight. Hope that makes sense.
 
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kuwisdelu

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I was wondering how long it was going to take them to use it.

eureka-ao-qb.png


That thing's been freaking me out for four episodes before they finally acknowledged it.

The excerpt was meant to be an example of something, which conceivably could've been an attempt to emulate cartoon logic, that's probably perceived by the reader as exaggeration for comic effect in the real world.

Yeah between the first and second paragraphs of my post you can imagine a couple paragraphs that explain what this reflection of an animated world actually is. Those paragraphs weren't meant to be connected so tightly--the second paragraph, the excerpt, and everything thereafter were more an afterthought-that's-way-longer-than-the-actual-thought.

Or maybe I'm an idiot. :(

edit: The "reflection of an animated world" is the visual descriptions being, uh, (lol I'm so tired I can't even put thoughts together)--like picture the shadows in Serial Experiments Lain with the purply sparkly thingies, or the blank undrawn sky, or the part early on where the writing on the chalkboard sort of fades away, etc. Imagine a sentence or two that attempts to render exactly that. That'd be the reflection. It might be perceived by the reader as figurative language, or it might be taken literally. Reflecting the animated world would be the author's thing but not necessarily the reader's. lol I'm really too tired to think straight. Hope that makes sense.

What I'm missing is what any of that sort of thing has to do with animation. In writing it could just be called surrealism, just like in animation. It's not like that sort of thing couldn't be expressed in live action as well, it's just too easier and less expensive to do in animation.

I write magical realism that often drifts into surrealism, so I'm not entirely sure where you're getting at as far as the "animated world" part.
 

SomethingOrOther

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Yeah I should emphasize that its significance is restricted to the author. It could be expressed in live action, yes, but the examples that'll inspire the author (me) and serve as his/her model will be drawn from animated stuff. Like the picture inside the author's head is animated.

I must be really unintelligible. :(
 

kuwisdelu

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Yeah I should emphasize that its significance is restricted to the author. It could be expressed in live action, yes, but the examples that'll inspire the author (me) and serve as his/her model will be drawn from animated stuff. Like the picture inside the author's head is animated.

I must be really unintelligible. :(

The pictures in my head tend to be animated by Makoto Shinkai.
 

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I was wondering how long it was going to take them to use it.

Who or what is "them"? What's that pic from?

What I'm missing is what any of that sort of thing has to do with animation. In writing it could just be called surrealism, just like in animation. It's not like that sort of thing couldn't be expressed in live action as well, it's just too easier and less expensive to do in animation.
Exactly. It's easier and less expensive to do in animation. Which is why it gets done more in animation. Because of that the very style of animation is less tied to representation than say live action. So in the Pynchon excerpt we have a "gargantuan negro" picking up the character by the head and his feet dangle above the deck. This is so common in animation that we have a picture-short-cut for seeing it. It's become a cliché, so you can now use the reference in your own way.

If you do that sort of thing in live action movies, it becomes a trademark style (e.g. Tim Burton). If you do it in animation it's unremarkable. That's because what's economic in a medium sets the boundaries of what we expect.

Writing has the two-angle problem: in visual media the image can mean something, but it's right there on the screen. In writing you have to invoke the image, but since there's non-literal figurative language (especially metaphor) you have interference: thus occuppying a middle ground between "this happened" and "this didn't happen" is easier in writing.

An example: anime tends to have highly stylised people in front of pretty realistic settings. In writing, you can describe the setting in more detail than the characters, but that doesn't result in the same impression. Instead it'll likely turn out something like getting at your characters via the setting. The results are similar and comparable, but not the same. (All of this is difficult to talk about, since people perceive the world very differently, and such differences are always very personal, too.) But there's a difference when we take in information simultaneously, and when we take in information sequentially. The way we construct an image differs. But if we successfully reference animation clichés, we can make use of a "foreign" mindset - that is a non-reading-grown interpretative framework applied to sequentialist word-mining (you're mining for imagery).

At least that's what I get out of SomethingOrOther's posts. It's an interesting path to think down. :)
 

kuwisdelu

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Do you ever notice how many really niche inside jokes you start making when you watch too much anime?

I really need to stop saying "All according to keikaku" in real life.
 

Camilla Delvalle

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Always dubs, because I'm learning the language. The exception is Paprika, where I sometimes use the sub because it contains more information and better jokes. Maybe that's true for some other shows too?
Oh no! I mean the reverse of course. I use subs, but listen to dub in Paprika. Maybe I've heard some good dub in some other work too.
 

kuwisdelu

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The subs can generally be more accurate since they don't have to match the mouth flaps and can also include translation notes. Which some groups take a bit too far. :tongue See Death Note:

keikaku.jpg


(That said, I enjoyed [gg]'s trollsubs of Hidan no Aria, which were practically in Japanese by the end of the show. It was annoying at first, but hilarious when you think about it.)

And there are still multiple ways to translate things. And the nice thing about fansubs if you have choice over what translation style you prefer. Here's a nice comparison of the different translations from different groups for current shows.
 

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Good god, I love Gakkatsu. The latest episode about career surveys and sunfish...
 

SomethingOrOther

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The subs can generally be more accurate since they don't have to match the mouth flaps and can also include translation notes. Which some groups take a bit too far.

On this other forum, this guy would occasionally grace an all-English post with a lone Spanish word. Right next to the word he'd write "([word] means [English equivalent])." And these weren't even particularly unique words. I could probably ascertain some sort of motive if he were jamming Big German Abstractions or something into his posts, but, like, what? Probably a quirky sense of humor.

Making the associative leap from humor to jest to IJ to DFW, earlier today I wrote something along the lines of "What David Foster Wallace does in his fiction," and then got sad and changed it to "... did ... ." :(
 
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I'm new to the thread, so sorry if this has been covered before, but does anyone love Please Save My Earth? It's an old series but one of my absolute favorites. Some of my friends have seen the short OVA series and movie, but no one but me has read the manga, which is the complete story. I wish it had sold better for Viz, so maybe they would bring out the sequel manga!

This "season," my favorites are Hyouka, Kimi to Boku and Polar Bear Cafe.
 

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I'm new to the thread, so sorry if this has been covered before, but does anyone love Please Save My Earth? It's an old series but one of my absolute favorites. Some of my friends have seen the short OVA series and movie, but no one but me has read the manga, which is the complete story. I wish it had sold better for Viz, so maybe they would bring out the sequel manga!

Never heard of it, but it looks interesting. May check it out when I find it. :)

This "season," my favorites are Hyouka, Kimi to Boku and Polar Bear Cafe.

None of these are my favourites these season, but I'm watching all of them. I'm particularly happy to find someone who likes Kimi to Boku. :D

And Polar Bear Cafe has definitely my sort of humour. Hyouka is getting more interesting, too, now that the characters are starting to play off each other in ways other than stereotype.
 

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Never heard of it, but it looks interesting. May check it out when I find it. :)

Definitely do! It's an old one, though, so it might be hard to track down.



None of these are my favourites these season, but I'm watching all of them. I'm particularly happy to find someone who likes Kimi to Boku. :D

And Polar Bear Cafe has definitely my sort of humour. Hyouka is getting more interesting, too, now that the characters are starting to play off each other in ways other than stereotype.

What are your favorites? I'm also watching Medaka Box, Sankarea, and Space Brothers to name a few... There's always some new show that's interesting!

I can't decide if I like or dislike Chizuru from Kimi to Boku! If he were my friend IRL, I'd be annoyed by him, but I always feel sorry for him when it comes to "Mary"!
 

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What are your favorites? I'm also watching Medaka Box, Sankarea, and Space Brothers to name a few... There's always some new show that's interesting!

I find this is an outstanding season. Last season's favourite was Mouretsu Pirates, but it's in the middle field right now. The show hasn't got any worse. Last season was just that bad, and this season is just that good.

My favourites are:

Nazo no Kanojo X: the first masterpiece of the year. Visuals, sound, story... everything comes together just perfect.

Sankarea. I'm surprised how much this show loves its characters. Most of the fanservice is okay with me, too, which is often what I take objection to.

Sakamichi no Apollon I'm watching it for the atmosphere mostly. It really does capture the Jazz feel (not that I'd know, not being a Jazz fan, but...). It's doing very well on that count. The story is servicable to interesting. The characters are very well drawn.

***

I find Medaka Box to be fun with occasional spots of brilliance. I quit on Space Brothers after episode one. It's got a type of sentimentality I just don't like, but it's a good show.

I can't decide if I like or dislike Chizuru from Kimi to Boku! If he were my friend IRL, I'd be annoyed by him, but I always feel sorry for him when it comes to "Mary"!

I feel pretty much the same way. He's likable and annoying at the same time. Yuki and Yuta are probably my favourite anime twins ever.
 

Channy

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The pictures in my head tend to be animated by Makoto Shinkai.

Oh God, Shinkai is an animated genius. Everything I picture in my head is animated by him.

Also, sweet nibs I didn't realize we had an anime thread.

I guess y'all are overjoyed about Toonami's return? I'm not from the US personally so I never experienced it, I got most of my anime second hand on YTV when it would be aired sometime later after already in the US.
 

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Eureka Seven AO: Astral Ocean.

Oops, normally I say thanks, but it seems I forgot this time. So: thanks. I watched the first two episodes now and it's... decent. But it gets extra points for having a sloth character.

I've also googled Makoto Shinkai. Turns out I own three dvds:

5 cm per Second
Voices from a Distant Star
The Place Promised in Our Early Days.

I also love "She and her Cat"; I think it's an extra on one of the dvds, probably "Voices", since it's so short.
 

Channy

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>_> I cried during 5am p/sec. Expecting such a traditional ending that just.. didn't come about just ruined the day for me and I sobbed like a little girl on the couch. ;u;
 

Camilla Delvalle

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What are your favorites? I'm also watching Medaka Box, Sankarea, and Space Brothers to name a few... There's always some new show that's interesting!
Yes, I follow Sankarea and Medaka Box. I also follow Hyouka, Nazo no Kanojo, Mouretsu Uchuu Kaizoku, Saki Achiga-hen, Fate Zero and Tasogare Otome x Amnesia. It's lovely with all the romance this spring.

The weakness in Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku is the plot, I think. It's kind of random. Not that I'm complaining much. The latest episode where they just cleaned the ships was very nice.
 

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Good god, if you like horror and are not an arachnophobe watch Young Animator's Training Project: Wasurenagumo. It's probably the most effective piece of anime horror I've seen lately, and it relies on your feelings of moe, of all things. It's a one-shot, normal episode duration (~24 minutes).

The weakness in Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku is the plot, I think. It's kind of random. Not that I'm complaining much. The latest episode where they just cleaned the ships was very nice.

It's pretty episodic. I thought there was a bit of a difference in the character visuals in last week's episode. They had some "cutified" facial expressions in there, I thought. I didn't notice that before. Not chibi style. Just, I don't know, as if they went with the usual but made an effort to emphasise the cuteness and deliberately coax it forth. Am I imagining things?

Loved the flashback episode of Sankarea: Ranko and Chihiro were adorable as kids. :D
 

LOG

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Is it just me, or does every notable male in a Clamp series have really long legs?
Noticed it when I was watching X, long legs, long legs everywhere.
 

Camilla Delvalle

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I thought there was a bit of a difference in the character visuals in last week's episode. They had some "cutified" facial expressions in there, I thought. I didn't notice that before. Not chibi style. Just, I don't know, as if they went with the usual but made an effort to emphasise the cuteness and deliberately coax it forth. Am I imagining things?
Maybe I liked it because it was cute then. :e2cat: