General anime discussion thread
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Here's my rundown of this season, sorted according to current priority:
Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku: Surprisingly, the space pirates show is my favourite so far. Old-school adventure. Fun.
Amagami SS +: Good continuation of season one.
Chihayafuru: Among my favourites last season, and still among my favourites. It's not as good as the first few episodes suggested, though.
Ano Natsu de Matteru: Straightforward boy-meets-alien-girl show. Stylistically, I get Ano Hana vibes, don't know why. It's not a tragedy. Apparantly it's from the guy who did the Onegai shows; I've seen none of them.
Nisemonogatari: I quite liked Bakemonogatari. Loved some bits, hated others. The first ep was really just a reminder episode, and it focussed on the stuff I didn't like too much. But the style's consistent with BG, and once the show picks up, I expect to enjoy it quite a bit. (And I still hate Senjougahara.)
Inu x Boku SS: Appears to be a fun show about half-youkai. There's an ecchi aesthetic (which I don't like), but it's done tastefully and with sympathy for the characters, so it's easy to ignore.
Kill me Baby: Comedy silver. Not really funny most of the time, but the pacing's quick, so you don't think too much. The best opening and ending pair of the season by far.
Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai: Weighed down by cliché ecchi, but has some fun characters. Wait and see.
Area no Kishi: A football show I'm going to watch? I hate football...
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou: Slice of life with boys for people who thought the Kimi to Boku boys weren't manly enough. Decent on the whole. But the last skit and the ending inspired by it are pure genius.
Persona 4: If only it were as good as the game. Alas... It's still fun to watch, though.
Another: Trying too hard to be sinister, but could get interesting.
Recorder to Randuseru: A three-minitue show about a highschool girl who looks like an elementary school girl, and her elementary school brother who looks like a grown up. I'm still not sure if it works...
Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki: It's a three minute show about a cat that's really round. Why do the Japanese think round cats are cute? Well, I'll continue watching.
Rinne no Lagrange: I like both Madoka and the alien, but the villains are cheesy, and the story doesn't impress me either. On probation.
Zenhime Sesshou Symphogear: So you battle goo-monsters by singing idol songs? But you sing your life away? Meh. It's well done, but sort of boring. However, they did things - like kill off a main character - in ep1 that gave me a wtf-experience. Sticking with it to see where this goes. They could pull a surprise yet.
Highschool DxD: Watched half an episode. Mind-numbingly cliché ecchi and no redeeming features. No thank you. Actually, I spent too much time on this already...
[Black Rock Shooter]: Pending; but if it's anything like OVA it's going to be somewhere in the middle field, around Another.
[Natsume 4]: I'm still stuck at the beginning of season 2, but once I catch up... Must watch.
The other shows don't interest me. Tell me, if I'm missing a master piece.
Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku: Surprisingly, the space pirates show is my favourite so far. Old-school adventure. Fun.
Amagami SS +: Good continuation of season one.
Chihayafuru: Among my favourites last season, and still among my favourites. It's not as good as the first few episodes suggested, though.
Ano Natsu de Matteru: Straightforward boy-meets-alien-girl show. Stylistically, I get Ano Hana vibes, don't know why. It's not a tragedy. Apparantly it's from the guy who did the Onegai shows; I've seen none of them.
Nisemonogatari: I quite liked Bakemonogatari. Loved some bits, hated others. The first ep was really just a reminder episode, and it focussed on the stuff I didn't like too much. But the style's consistent with BG, and once the show picks up, I expect to enjoy it quite a bit. (And I still hate Senjougahara.)
Inu x Boku SS: Appears to be a fun show about half-youkai. There's an ecchi aesthetic (which I don't like), but it's done tastefully and with sympathy for the characters, so it's easy to ignore.
Kill me Baby: Comedy silver. Not really funny most of the time, but the pacing's quick, so you don't think too much. The best opening and ending pair of the season by far.
Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai: Weighed down by cliché ecchi, but has some fun characters. Wait and see.
Area no Kishi: A football show I'm going to watch? I hate football...
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou: Slice of life with boys for people who thought the Kimi to Boku boys weren't manly enough. Decent on the whole. But the last skit and the ending inspired by it are pure genius.
Persona 4: If only it were as good as the game. Alas... It's still fun to watch, though.
Another: Trying too hard to be sinister, but could get interesting.
Recorder to Randuseru: A three-minitue show about a highschool girl who looks like an elementary school girl, and her elementary school brother who looks like a grown up. I'm still not sure if it works...
Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki: It's a three minute show about a cat that's really round. Why do the Japanese think round cats are cute? Well, I'll continue watching.
Rinne no Lagrange: I like both Madoka and the alien, but the villains are cheesy, and the story doesn't impress me either. On probation.
Zenhime Sesshou Symphogear: So you battle goo-monsters by singing idol songs? But you sing your life away? Meh. It's well done, but sort of boring. However, they did things - like kill off a main character - in ep1 that gave me a wtf-experience. Sticking with it to see where this goes. They could pull a surprise yet.
Highschool DxD: Watched half an episode. Mind-numbingly cliché ecchi and no redeeming features. No thank you. Actually, I spent too much time on this already...
[Black Rock Shooter]: Pending; but if it's anything like OVA it's going to be somewhere in the middle field, around Another.
[Natsume 4]: I'm still stuck at the beginning of season 2, but once I catch up... Must watch.
The other shows don't interest me. Tell me, if I'm missing a master piece.
Looks fun to me, too, but I'll withhold judgment until I see where it goes.
It would have been nice if it were 2-cour. Two episodes per girl really isn't enough to make it anything more than an addendum to the first season. Still nice to see the continuation, though. It looks like they're going in opposite order. I'm curious whether Rihiko will finally get de-friendzoned or not in the next two episodes.
I'm still loving it, though I can see what you mean, as more of the tension has drifted to the games than the characters.
It's the same director as Ano Hana. Though I enjoyed that one for most of the ride, in retrospect I don't like it as much. I'm hoping Ano Natsu delivers a better payoff, but I'm going in skeptical.
Don't like Senjougahara? You are certifiably insane. Delicious tsundere is delicious.
I'll know my soulmate by how many Eva references she makes while insulting me and yanking my tie and giving me the good ol' Shaft head-tilt.
And what were the stuff you didn't like too much? Witty dialogue and fan service is pretty much the heart of *monogatari series.
And I love it for it.
Give me some Nadeko!!
Haven't watched this.
Enjoyable. A commenter on another site predicted "it will do everything that Nichijou couldn't."
More stuff I haven't watched...
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The last skit was genius, indeed. And I can totally see the whole skirt thing as something I would have gotten myself into. I wish we'd gotten to see more of the imouto's reaction, though.
I put this one on hold. Not sure if/when I'll come back to it. Never played the game, anyway.
Agreed. I prefer my moe horror to be more Higurashi-like. Or if not that, then Mirai Nikki-like.
Sticking with it to see where it goes, though. It could still have some tricks up its sleeve.
More stuff I haven't watched...
I'm cautiously excited. Based on how the rest was handled, I'm totally up for the cheesy villains. Kiraboshi! My enjoyment will hinge on whether it transcends its Eva x Star Driver vibes, or just tries to throw in various mecha anime in a blender and see what comes out.
I wasn't convinced by any of it until the last couple minutes/PV where the chick sang the song and turned into... something I did not expect. I want to see where it goes. Based on the first 20 minutes, I wasn't expecting myself to, but it could be interesting.
It didn't help I was comparing it to Macross the whole time, and no one can out-Kawamori Kawamori.
Other things I haven't watched. I enjoy Natsume, and I can always trust it to be good, but it just doesn't get me quite excited enough to follow it every week.
I'll add:
Mirai Nikki: I'm loving this one. Psycho yandere? Yes please! The Death Note-esque plot is fun and suspenseful without ever getting full of itself like other certain animu. Oh hell, I don't even give a damn about the rest of the plot; I just want to watch Yuno be batshit.
Zero no Tsukaima F / Shakugan no Shana Final: I have to put these together, since they're basically sibling anime, seeing as the main characters are nearly identical and voiced by the same seiyuus. And that's not a criticism. Zero looks like more of the same, and that's fine with me. It'll be fun, it looks like. Shana's opening last cour really came out of left field, and offered little-to-no explanation of Yuuji's switching sides. Though incredibly frustrating, I think that was kind of for the best, though. The only downside was the Shana/Yuuji interaction that made the first two seasons so much fun is much more sparse. That said, all hell's about to break look this cour, and I can't wait. One of the first shounen series in a while for which I really have no clue what's going to happen next.
I'll be sad to see these series end, though. Neither are truly amazing, but they've really grown on me.
Oh, also,
Guilty Crown: A visually-orgasmic trainwreck that I'm positively addicted to against my better judgment. What else could I have expected from the makers of Code Geass?
Aquarion EVOL is on queue.
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@[Amagami]
Fully agree.
@[Chihayafuru]
@ [Natsu]
@ [Nisemonogatari]
But when the show was good, it was very good.
@[Inu x Boku SS]
@[Kill me, Baby]
@[Papa kiki; Area no Kishi]
@[Highschool Boys]
@Persona 4:
@[Another]
@[Three-minute shows]
I'll add:
Off to watch Symphogear.
Fully agree.
@[Chihayafuru]
Oh, it's still one of my favourites, to be sure.
@ [Natsu]
I'll wait and see. I don't expect much in the way of surprises for this one.
@ [Nisemonogatari]
Ah, I know. Whether you like her or not, she's... memorable. A very complex and intriguing character. But she rubs me the wrong way with her cold demeanour and - probably genuine - sadism.
Not that into fanservice, though I appreciate the dynamic between the snail and Araragi-kun - which I found hilarious. Nadeko's "onii-chan" became annoying pretty quickly, for me - I'd otherwise love her. The dialogues were witty when they worked, but sometimes they'd just drag. And I thought Shinbou overdid the experimental a bit.And what were the stuff you didn't like too much? Witty dialogue and fan service is pretty much the heart of *monogatari series.
And I love it for it.
Give me some Nadeko!!
But when the show was good, it was very good.
@[Inu x Boku SS]
Give it a try. The main characters are a tsundere 12 year old who'd like to kick the habit, and a multi-tailed fox who's manipulating her by being exceedingly submissive. An interesting dynamic. It's no masterpiece - I expect it to settle in a groove - but it's quite enjoyable.
@[Kill me, Baby]
It's better than Nichijou when it comes to slapstick; but then Nichijou had those heartfelt moments, that I wouldn't expect from this show. On the whole, I expect to like Nichijou more, but this one has potential. Love the stoned ninja with her hair-stays-up-even-if-you're upside-down jutsu...
@[Papa kiki; Area no Kishi]
No big loss, there. They're both pretty conventional. Well, Papa kiki has some nice characters: Deadpan Raika is hilarious, and little Hina is adorable. You might try that one.
@[Highschool Boys]
It might grow on me. That last skit (and the ending) gives me hope.
@Persona 4:
I can't tell how much sense the show makes, if you've never played the game. Anyway, it's better where it deviates from the game, but it doesn't quite work there either. I'm afraid they were intimidated by the franchise and didn't dare to develope a consistent anime concept for fear of fan rage. Pity, because the potential's there.
@[Another]
Me, too.
@[Three-minute shows]
I'm discovering the joy of shorts. I loved Morita san wa Mukuchi and Chibi Devi!. Double J was interesting - genuinely funny at times, and interesting experimental bits at other times. You're not wasting much time with them, either.
I'm certainly going forward with this, though I'm probably more pessimistic than you are.
Yep. The driving force right now is curiosity. This could be good, or this could be... terrible.
I'll add:
Ah, I forgot that this one's still airing. I watched ep1 and hated it, but it hit me at a bad time (I was pretty depressed and couldn't handle yet another guy-down-on-his-luck show; Deadman Wonderland, which had just finished, helped me shun that genre, too). I don't like the character design, and I don't like the design of that god-thingy. I wasn't taken with Yuno, though I like her concept. I haven't actually dropped it for good. I might give it another chance once it's finished. Thanks for the reminder.
Hm, I've seen the first season of Zero, which I thought was fun, but nothing special, and wasn't motivated to continue. I've seen an episode or two of Shana, not enough to really pass judgement. Maybe I'll try again sometime later. No priority to either show.
I never decided to drop that one; I just realised some day that I haven't been watching it, the episodes piled up and... I didn't care.
If you do, tell me what it's like. Also, maybe Brave 10. Neither show interests me enough to try it myself, but if I hear things that catch my interest...
Off to watch Symphogear.
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Which are your favourite anime fights? I'm kind of collecting fight scenes and would like some suggestions. They can be from any genre. Maybe something from Evangelion for example.
I've compiled a list of fights that are in my taste:
Tenjou Utena vs Arisugawa Juri (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Mireille Bouquet vs Yuumura Kirika vs Chloe (Noir)
Triela vs Pinocchio (Gunslinger Girl)
Ryougi Shiki vs Asagami Fujino (Kara no Kyoukai)
Aisaka Taiga vs Kanou Sumire (Toradora!)
Toujou Ruby vs everyone (Rosario+Vampire)
I've compiled a list of fights that are in my taste:
Tenjou Utena vs Arisugawa Juri (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Mireille Bouquet vs Yuumura Kirika vs Chloe (Noir)
Triela vs Pinocchio (Gunslinger Girl)
Ryougi Shiki vs Asagami Fujino (Kara no Kyoukai)
Aisaka Taiga vs Kanou Sumire (Toradora!)
Toujou Ruby vs everyone (Rosario+Vampire)
The best Eva battle would have to be Asuka's fight against the Eva series in End of Evangelion. Not only awesome from a dramatic perspective, but from an animation perspective, it's one of the very few giant mecha fights (among all that I've ever seen in the genre) that really manages to give a sense of scale via movement. In other mecha fights, they just seem to move like ordinary human-sized fighters that happen to be giant robots (which is also true for most of the rest of Evangelion) but that one fight really nails the movements to give you a sense of scale that these things really are giants clashing.
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Um, Samurai Champloo, Naruto (Any one that was Naruto vs. Sasuke), and Afro Samurai (Probably Afro vs. Justice or Afro vs. The guy with the hair that has the second headband in Afro Samurai: Resurrection) had some good fights in it I think.
-All of the Rebuild Eva battles are spectacular, but the re-imagined version of Operation Yashima in Evangelion 1.0 really stands out, IMO, due to how much more awesome it is than the original.
-The final battle against Head in Star Driver — the fight that brings back fish-girl's maiden song has to be awesome.
-Any battle in Macross Frontier in which Ranka sings "Aimo O.C."
-The final battle against the anti-spirals in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, particularly the ridiculously awesome version in the movie Lagann-Hen that turns it up to 11
-Roy Mustang vs Lust from FMA: Brotherhood
-Shirou vs. Gilgamesh from Unlimited Blade Works
-Any of the fights from Kara no Kyoukai, really, but I think you chose the prettiest
-Any Nanoha vs. Fate fight
-Spike vs. Vicious in Cowboy Bebop
-Not sure if it counts, but the 1121st Platoon vs. the war in Sora no Woto
-And Homura vs. Walpurgis Night from Madoka, of course
-The final battle against Head in Star Driver — the fight that brings back fish-girl's maiden song has to be awesome.
-Any battle in Macross Frontier in which Ranka sings "Aimo O.C."
-The final battle against the anti-spirals in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, particularly the ridiculously awesome version in the movie Lagann-Hen that turns it up to 11
-Roy Mustang vs Lust from FMA: Brotherhood
-Shirou vs. Gilgamesh from Unlimited Blade Works
-Any of the fights from Kara no Kyoukai, really, but I think you chose the prettiest
-Any Nanoha vs. Fate fight
-Spike vs. Vicious in Cowboy Bebop
-Not sure if it counts, but the 1121st Platoon vs. the war in Sora no Woto
-And Homura vs. Walpurgis Night from Madoka, of course
My favorite fights are:
- Ed vs. Greed from the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime
- Too many of the fights in Samurai Champloo to list. Favorite ones being against Shouryuu, Kariya, and Sara.
- The fight between Nanashi and Lou-Lang in Sword of the Stranger
- Kenshin vs. Saito from the Kenshin anime.
- The 'fight' between Jeremiah and Anya from Code Geas.
I give honorary recommendations to the last two fights from Avatar: The Last Airbender, as it's heavily influenced by anime.
- Ed vs. Greed from the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime
- Too many of the fights in Samurai Champloo to list. Favorite ones being against Shouryuu, Kariya, and Sara.
- The fight between Nanashi and Lou-Lang in Sword of the Stranger
- Kenshin vs. Saito from the Kenshin anime.
- The 'fight' between Jeremiah and Anya from Code Geas.
I give honorary recommendations to the last two fights from Avatar: The Last Airbender, as it's heavily influenced by anime.
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Hrm, anime fights... oddly enough, fights themselves never really stick out in my mind. Except in certain cases. Like:
-In Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, the second Ryner-going-out-of-control fight, except it's ridiculously one-sided for a fight so I'm not particularly sure it counts (but it's AWESOME);
-Also from DenYuuDen, the fight near the end of the season with Shion vs. Ryner... bloody intense. Emotionally and plot...tily, anyway. Actually, the animation's pretty awesome too. (But I'm biased. I love everything about that anime in a supremely psychotic way.)
-Oh, yeah, and the fight at the magic-eye-user hideout place, also very intense. (And depressing.) Also DenYuuDen because I'm sure you couldn't tell.
-Oooh, seconding Mustang vs. Lust from Brotherhood (ha! pattern broken!).
...out of curiosity, what exactly are you "collecting fight scenes" for?
-In Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, the second Ryner-going-out-of-control fight, except it's ridiculously one-sided for a fight so I'm not particularly sure it counts (but it's AWESOME);
-Also from DenYuuDen, the fight near the end of the season with Shion vs. Ryner... bloody intense. Emotionally and plot...tily, anyway. Actually, the animation's pretty awesome too. (But I'm biased. I love everything about that anime in a supremely psychotic way.)
-Oh, yeah, and the fight at the magic-eye-user hideout place, also very intense. (And depressing.
) Also DenYuuDen because I'm sure you couldn't tell. -Oooh, seconding Mustang vs. Lust from Brotherhood (ha! pattern broken!).
...out of curiosity, what exactly are you "collecting fight scenes" for?
Ahhh, I'm loving Nisemonogatari.
The courage to admit one is lolicon for Hachikuji!
Nadeko is so ero-kawaii I nearly exploded. The courage to admit I have enjoyed an H doujinshi that takes the Twister scene to its logical conclusion! (Without her mother coming home, of course.) I've actually also read one in which she, Araragi, and his sisters all play the King game... Oh, Sen-chan, you make my heart go all doki doki.
Suruga is that delicious kind of lesbian that Westerners would consider "butch" but actually somehow absolutely oozes feminine sexuality from every pore that the Japanese seem to have mastered.
And Karen is Miki Sayaka!
The courage to admit one is lolicon for Hachikuji!
Nadeko is so ero-kawaii I nearly exploded. The courage to admit I have enjoyed an H doujinshi that takes the Twister scene to its logical conclusion! (Without her mother coming home, of course.) I've actually also read one in which she, Araragi, and his sisters all play the King game... Oh, Sen-chan, you make my heart go all doki doki.
Suruga is that delicious kind of lesbian that Westerners would consider "butch" but actually somehow absolutely oozes feminine sexuality from every pore that the Japanese seem to have mastered.
And Karen is Miki Sayaka!
Hm, I rarely remember specific fight scenes, and if I do - it's probably a fighting anime.
Naruto does have good fights. One of my favourites would be Gaara vs. Rock Lee. (It must be in one of the first episodes, since I didn't watch much.)
There's the chopstick-fight between Sen and Ayame in Ben-to, which was lots of fun.
Basilisk and X-TV must have had some good ones, but I can't remember any specific ones (since I've seen them pretty long ago - especially X).
Naruto does have good fights. One of my favourites would be Gaara vs. Rock Lee. (It must be in one of the first episodes, since I didn't watch much.)
There's the chopstick-fight between Sen and Ayame in Ben-to, which was lots of fun.
Basilisk and X-TV must have had some good ones, but I can't remember any specific ones (since I've seen them pretty long ago - especially X).
If I go through Eva again, I'm sure I'll put some of the battles on my list. The Asuka fight was cool, but unfortunately I didn't really like it, for three reasons:
1. The new Eva:s came out of the blue, without buildup.
2. They could have just have waited until Asuka's battery was out, instead of engaging her.
3. When she "killed" them, they didn't die for real.
Overall the fight felt like a show without meaning.
I've heard this one before, but I don't really get it. I guess the foreshadowing made sense or was more clear to me. I mean, between the work on the S2 engines and the dummy plug, I thought it was kind of obvious Seele was working on a lot more Eva technology in secret than what we'd seen so far.
Well they more or less did. I viewed it as kind of like predators playing with their prey.
That it was pointless was the whole point.
Ehh, I've long ago accepted that I really shouldn't try to convince other people about Eva. I know that the very things that I love most about it are the same things that lots of people hate about it.
Do you have any shows or other fictions that are close to your heart in that way that you know if someone doesn't "get it" in the same way you do, it's the same thing as realizing that person will never fully "get" you either? For me, it's like, for every major conflict I face in life, there is a perfect metaphor for it somewhere in Eva. For me, the title is no lie. Or does all that just make me sound nerdy beyond the worst otaku?
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I rarely ever connect to anything on that level, to be honest. But I sort of understand the impulse to defend a show against criticism that comes from a rival way of watching the show. The latest case: the online response to Kimi to Boku about the boys being not boyish enough to make the concept work made me feel... misunderstood, to the point that I had to fight the feeling of "so-that's-what-they-wanted-eh?" when watching the equivalent show this season. I certainly had the sense that people who disagreed with me "don't get it". Heh.
As for the NGE fight in question: I saw that as a futile last stand against "isolation". The eva as an insufficient stand-in for the absent mother, now failing even to protect her. In that fight Asuka was alone in the purest sense. Pent-up fear and rage playing itself out. Sort of the anti-romantic last stand. I did love that fight, now that you mention it. It was painful to watch.
Fight scenes that haven't been mentioned yet:
Kenpachi vs Jiruga (Bleach) (you can find the whole fight here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Q-nM3VHoM)
Kallen vs Suzaku (Code Geass)
Kazuma vs Ryuhou (Scryed)
Alucard vs Incognito, Alucard vs Luke Valentine, Alucard vs Alexander Anderson (Hellsing)
Kenpachi vs Jiruga (Bleach) (you can find the whole fight here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Q-nM3VHoM)
Kallen vs Suzaku (Code Geass)
Kazuma vs Ryuhou (Scryed)
Alucard vs Incognito, Alucard vs Luke Valentine, Alucard vs Alexander Anderson (Hellsing)
I would say that it was the first and only fight in which she wasn't alone, at least from her own perspective, which is exactly what makes it so horrifically tragic.
To which I'd add mention actually being alone versus feeling alone being one of the primary conflicts in Evangelion.
Not that I really had any respect for Guilty Crown left, but I was thoroughly enjoying its idiotic antics just like I enjoyed the stupidity of Code Geass, but the latest episode's cliche amnesia invocation has pushed it further into AUGH territory. My utter contempt and exhaustion with that trope is part of what made me give up on my last work-in-progress, even though I tried to put a new spin on it. Ahou!
I might be mixing things up in my memory. It's been a while. I do remember the fight leaving a strong impression, though.
Quite true.
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My favorite fight scene to date is the Kenshin vs Saito fight in episode...28 (? I don't have the series with me at the moment) of Rurouni Kenshin
Blew me away.
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Just finished watching Elfen Lied. First off, this has one of my favorite opening themes ever. It's a really beautiful song. And Lucy/Nyu is surprisingly adorable in a lot of scenes. Though aside from her adorableness (and some from other characters as well) it is incredibly dark and filled with gore. So, I would recommend it, but don't go into it expecting a happy story.