Let's talk anime.

cube wrote:

I've found my favorite bad anime for this season. Girls und Panzer is basically World of Tanks: The Anime.

Been thinking about checking that one out... but honestly I don't need yet another moe anime obsession...

cube wrote:

I've found my favorite bad anime for this season. Girls und Panzer is basically World of Tanks: The Anime.

I think you told me about that one. I plan to check it out after finishing Fractale.

It looks like fun, at least.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Moving along...

I don't know if anyone else is watching Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. I've been enjoying it, but I have to say this week's episode was incrediable, if only for the fight in it.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha!!! Hurray love that Manga, it's about macro economics in a fantasy/feudal world. But with juicy action bits and tons of humor! awesome!

Where the hell is my Natsume Yujincho though?

Having just finished watching all of Black Lagoon, I must know: Is the first step taken, in the ending sequence, one of her moving forward or back? It's like a crazy optical illusion, in all but two could I swear that it was a partial step back, then forward.

The 12 Days of Savings ended up being too good of a deal to pass up. Acquired the first Eden of the East movie, Grave of the Fireflies, and Gantz for just a hair over $50. The sale runs, now, until Dec 19. They also ended up shipping the second set of Steins;Gate early, as I just received that today and am very pleased with it (The English dub is surprisingly good (The Mad Scientist vibe is spot on)).

Not really sure about any of the upcoming series for the spring, actually am starting to fall behind on the fall ones I'm following now, so I guess that I'll just be sticking with them.

I recall a little earlier in the thread that FATE / STAY ZERO is running for $<500, If FATE / STAY NIGHT was along the same price range, those interested may be in luck this spring.

I'm sure this has never been asked before so... recommend me some anime. The only shows that I have been able to watch an entire series of are Claymore and High School of the Dead. I've tried Full Metal, Gunslinger Girl, Elfen Lied, and a couple others, but nothing has stuck.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

I'm sure this has never been asked before so... recommend me some anime. The only shows that I have been able to watch an entire series of are Claymore and High School of the Dead. I've tried Full Metal, Gunslinger Girl, Elfen Lied, and a couple others, but nothing has stuck.

Damn, dude. Death Note, Death Note, Death Note.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

I'm sure this has never been asked before so... recommend me some anime. The only shows that I have been able to watch an entire series of are Claymore and High School of the Dead. I've tried Full Metal, Gunslinger Girl, Elfen Lied, and a couple others, but nothing has stuck.

If you liked Claymore, Berserk may be good for you.

Sorry, I meant to add, and preferably on Netflix IW. I looked for Death Note and Berserk, no luck. I'm not into amine enough to subscribe to a service like Crunchy Roll.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

Sorry, I meant to add, and preferably on Netflix IW. I looked for Death Note and Berserk, no luck. I'm not into amine enough to subscribe to a service like Crunchy Roll.

Most non-new stuff on there is free actually.

Oh, I thought it was all PTV.

Just watched Episode 13 of Bodacious Space Pirates. There definitely seems to be a change in tone here from the rest of the series. (For those turned off by the title, rest assured that it is not guilty of a lot of fan service--that trophy must be delivered with due diligence to Sword Art Online of late.) Such a weird little series.

Decided to give Blast of Tempest a shot. The first episode reminded me a bit of Gantz in terms of tone and anti-heroes. Because I am dark and lonely and listened to a lot of Joy Division growing up, it caught my attention.

Certis' talk of High School of The Dead now makes me feel my life is somehow lacking from not having seen it.

Not sure if sword art online is on there, that's a pretty damn good one. I know mushi shi is on netflix, that's fantastic. Another vote for death note or at least the first season.

Edit: Yeah the new fanservice is the second season of sword art is a bit strange, but overall very minimal. Still no where as bad as the 2nd and 3rd series of zero no Louise. And yes you definitely need to either watch or read the high school of the dead. One of my favorites, only it updates at a glacier pace (around 1 chapter a year or two or three).

KidDork wrote:

Just watched Episode 13 of Bodacious Space Pirates. There definitely seems to be a change in tone here from the rest of the series. (For those turned off by the title, rest assured that it is not guilty of a lot of fan service--that trophy must be delivered with due diligence to Sword Art Online of late.) Such a weird little series.

Decided to give Blast of Tempest a shot. The first episode reminded me a bit of Gantz in terms of tone and anti-heroes. Because I am dark and lonely and listened to a lot of Joy Division growing up, it caught my attention.

Certis' talk of High School of The Dead now makes me feel my life is somehow lacking from not having seen it.

If you can't get past fan service you aren't going to make it past a couple of episodes of High School of the Dead, I assure you

karmajay wrote:

If you can't get past fan service you aren't going to make it past a couple of episodes of High School of the Dead, I assure you :)

I shall gird my loins against it. Or...wait...that didn't come out right....

karmajay wrote:
KidDork wrote:

Certis' talk of High School of The Dead now makes me feel my life is somehow lacking from not having seen it.

If you can't get past fan service you aren't going to make it past a couple of episodes of High School of the Dead, I assure you :)

I love the manga, but the physics defying breasts of the anime really turned me off of the anime.

Mantid wrote:
karmajay wrote:
KidDork wrote:

Certis' talk of High School of The Dead now makes me feel my life is somehow lacking from not having seen it.

If you can't get past fan service you aren't going to make it past a couple of episodes of High School of the Dead, I assure you :)

I love the manga, but the physics defying breasts of the anime really turned me off of the anime.

Yeah it's really weird how the differance between the two is so extreme. Not sure why although I heard it's just the directors taste. Still I forgave them because the bullet time section was just so hilarious.

SI Radio wrote:

This summer Studio Ghibli will be releasing release two movies ”Kaze Tachinu“ and “Kaguya-hime no Monogatari“, simultaneously.
IMAGE(http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z375/SI-News/Pixyl/20121213_ghibli.jpg)
“Kaze Tachinu”, directed by Miyazaki Hayao (“My Neighbor Totoro”, "Princess, Mononoke"), is based on Miyazaki’s manga. It follows the life of Horikoshi Jiro, the chief engineer of the Zero fighter plane. Of course. Hisaishi Joe will be in charge of the OST and theme song.

On the other hand, “Kaguya-hime no Monogatari”, which is directed by Takahata Isao ("Grave Of The Fireflies"), will be Takahata's first work in 14 years since “Hohokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun“ (“My Neighbors the Yamadas”). Reportedly, He has been working on this since in 2005. It will be based on “Taketori Monogatari“, which is considered the oldest existing Japanese narrative. Takahata along with some participation from Sakaguchi Riko, is in charge of the original scheme as well as the scenario.

So, who is excited?!? Miyazaki! Back in action!

I can't wait for that.

Definitely excited although even a mention of Grave Of The Fireflies bums me out.

Holy crap Crunchyroll app for Xbox inbound!

Crunchyroll (Launching in All LIVE Markets excluding Japan, UAE, Slovakia and Saudi Arabia)
Watch your favorite Anime and Asian drama titles including “Bleach,” “Naruto Shippuden,” “Hunter x Hunter,” “Sword Art Online,” “Coffee Prince” and “Boys Over Flowers” in HD with Crunchyroll on Xbox 360. Instantly view over 20,000 episodes of professionally subtitled Anime, Korean drama, and live-action titles in HD. Enhance your Crunchyroll app experience with voice and gesture control via Kinect for Xbox 360.
Rykin wrote:

Holy crap Crunchyroll app for Xbox inbound!

Crunchyroll (Launching in All LIVE Markets excluding Japan, UAE, Slovakia and Saudi Arabia)
Watch your favorite Anime and Asian drama titles including “Bleach,” “Naruto Shippuden,” “Hunter x Hunter,” “Sword Art Online,” “Coffee Prince” and “Boys Over Flowers” in HD with Crunchyroll on Xbox 360. Instantly view over 20,000 episodes of professionally subtitled Anime, Korean drama, and live-action titles in HD. Enhance your Crunchyroll app experience with voice and gesture control via Kinect for Xbox 360.

I wonder if it'll get 1080p streaming. The PS3 app doesn't, unfortunately. The app runs in 1080p, but it only streams at 720p.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I wonder if it'll get 1080p streaming. The PS3 app doesn't, unfortunately. The app runs in 1080p, but it only streams at 720p.

Yeah, that 1080p they told us would becoming "later this year" doesn't look like it's going to make it.

I'm going to be so incredibly sad when I run out of Sket Dance episodes. This is absolutely one of my all time favorites. It might be the most feel good show I've ever watched.

I've been watching some things of late.

The first 14 episodes of Sword Art Online were quite good. I would recommend them pretty much without reservations. The second arc was... less good. Still, I liked it enough to track down translations of the books (they're extraordinarily short, I hammered through the whole series in a couple of days, though admittedly skimming the parts covered by the anime), and would definitely be interested if they were to eventually adapt them.

I also finished watching through Turn A Gundam recently. I haven't had a lot of exposure to the Gundam franchise, but this is some quality stuff. Sadly, with Bandai's problems, plans to bring the series to North America have fallen through.

On the strength of SAO, I'd picked up a Crunchyroll subscription. I was irritated to see that the various other Gundam series were pulled as of the new year (again, due to Bandai's problems), but I watched through some other things.

Bodacious Space Pirates is better than its title. As a series, it develops a very strong cast of characters, and is then primarily driven by those characters. A good series.

Girls und Panzer was surprisingly entertaining. The initial fears that accompany any anime series starring high school girls were ill-founded. (It has this in common with Bodacious Space Pirates, come to think of it.) If anything is fetishized, it is the tanks. Sadly, production problems have left the season without an ending, and it's not clear how or when the last episodes will be made available. Even so, the hilarity of the basic premise, and the whimsical nature of the show, make up for quite a bit. Check it out.

Finally, the first episode of Maoyu is available on Crunchyroll for subscribers. The series is an examination of the economic causes and consequences of war in a fantasy setting. Yes, seriously. The anime shares a certain amount of its production staff with Spice and Wolf, and there is definitely a familiar "I just watch it for the economics!" vibe going on here. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

MightyMooquack wrote:

Finally, the first episode of Maoyu is available on Crunchyroll for subscribers. The series is an examination of the economic causes and consequences of war in a fantasy setting. Yes, seriously. The anime shares a certain amount of its production staff with Spice and Wolf, and there is definitely a familiar "I just watch it for the economics!" vibe going on here. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Nice. Added to the ole queue. Be sure to watch Natsume Yujin-cho and maybe Kimi ni Todoke if you like that or at least give them a try.

Edit: Well, after watching it, I like it except for the ridiculously annoying breast size. I'm not very happy about that.

MightyMooquack wrote:

I've been watching some things of late.

The first 14 episodes of Sword Art Online were quite good. I would recommend them pretty much without reservations. The second arc was... less good. Still, I liked it enough to track down translations of the books (they're extraordinarily short, I hammered through the whole series in a couple of days, though admittedly skimming the parts covered by the anime), and would definitely be interested if they were to eventually adapt them.

I watched 9 episodes of SOA and I do not understand people saying it is one of the best animes of 2012. I find everything about it bar the setting (although a far few animes set in MMO/games seem to be out these days) cookie cutter especially the lead (loner in a black trench coat, really).

What is it about this show that makes it so good in other people eyes

seamus2389 wrote:

What is it about this show that makes it so good in other people eyes

For me, I loved the animation style, the story (more the first half than the second), and the battle scenes. There are some odd shifts in the story in the second half with some of the characters that I didn't enjoy, but overall, I would still say it was one of the best anime from last year.

KidDork wrote:
seamus2389 wrote:

What is it about this show that makes it so good in other people eyes

For me, I loved the animation style, the story (more the first half than the second), and the battle scenes. There are some odd shifts in the story in the second half with some of the characters that I didn't enjoy, but overall, I would still say it was one of the best anime from last year.

First season was definitely better then the 2nd, although looking at what the third could be about sounds good. It has solid characters, fighting, and animation. This is the first anime I've watched in over 2 years. I saw a little snippet on youtube and got sucked in. I suppose the best I can say is that it feels very immersive.