Anime?

[traceria]

We finished watching ERASED. I found it very satisfying, and I was happy with the show all the way through. More like this please!

Agreed!  It hit all the right places for me.  My brain was intrigued, my compassion was tapped, and my expectations were totally fulfilled in the ending.  (Also, it got my husband hooked, which is a feat.)

[Patar]

Just started Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April). I'm only one episode in, and I can already tell I'm going to be bawling by the end of it. 

[Zathoth]

First episode Jojo's Bizarre Adventure part 4!

 

There was foreshadowing that wasnt in the manga. I like it

[PeterAhlstrom]

Newish shows:

 

We watched one episode of Ace Detective. So, I know that Phoenix Wright is very popular, but this show was just terrible. I sure hope the Japanese legal system is nothing like this in real life. We won't be watching any more.

 

Watched one episode of Aokana: Four Rhythm across the Blue. I didn't think it was quite as terrible as Karen did, but we're not going to watch another episode. The main girl's voice is super annoying, for one thing.

 

Watched one episode of Active Raid. Not too bad, actually. We will probably watch at least another one to see where it's going. I liked some of the character interactions.

[Eagle of the Forest Path]

Haven't been watching anime lately, but some of the ones I've really liked are

 

Otogi Zoshi: A story in two parts, first a classic adventure in Medieval Japan, and then the same set of characters (reincarnated) in modern-day Tokyo dealing with the fallout of the first part (at least, that's the way I remember it). Pretty nice artwork.

 

Chronicles of the twelve kingdoms: Fantasy world, with multiple story arcs from different POV characters. Some rather interesting worldbuilding and mythology.

 

Dennou Coil: Virtual reality in everyday life, hacker battles in streets and school corridors, and an evil computer virus corrupting digital pets. Apart from a slightly 'bleh' conclusion, what's not to like?

 

Angelic Layer: I liked this mainly because of the action scenes, though the actual story isn't bad either.

[Patar]

Was in the mood for some thriller/suspense anime, and I what commonly was listed as a good one was Paranoia Agent. I just finished the opening.

 

What have I gotten myself into?

Edited April 21, 2016 by Patar

[Blaze1616]

We watched one episode of Ace Detective. So, I know that Phoenix Wright is very popular, but this show was just terrible. I sure hope the Japanese legal system is nothing like this in real life. We won't be watching any more.

 

I've not seen Ace Detective, so I can not speak to it, but I can shed a little light on the Ace Attorney game series *looks at profile pic* It's success in the West is due not only to the gameplay and fairly well told stories, but also a major part is due to the amazing localization team. The original, Japanese, version of Ace Attorney, Gyakuten Saiban, features a lot of jokes and puns within Japanese culture. The localization team hired understood this, and rather than creating a direct word-for-word translation, which would have resulted in many of the jokes not making sense to Westerners as well as many, if not all, of the puns no longer working, the team opted to replace the Japanese jokes with English jokes. Thus you get puns like Dick Gumshoe being the main detective you interact with, or Lotta Hart being a very kind character with a country accent who puts her all into her work, or Wendy Oldbag being an old woman who, though a security guard, hates the youth of today and all they represent and likes to complain about it, a lot, a particularly high speeds. Much of the love for the series of games is due directly to the fantastic performance of the localization team.

 

As for the Japanese judicial system, if one of your problems with the show was the judicial system itself, then I'm assuming they used the Inquisitorial System, and not the Adversarial System. The latter is the system used by the US, UK, and Canada, to name a few. The former is used by Japan and a few others. If you'd like to know more about this system, I'd recommend Wikipedia's article on it. The other major thing I can think of in regards to the system used would be guilty until proven innocent, which is how Japan works, with 99% of defendants being convicted. Defense Attorney's who have worked the field for over 25 years often have 5 total wins or less. It's pretty brutal. 

 

Anyways, just trying to help you understand a bit more. I might give the show a watch to see how similar to the games it is, though the games are very comical, serving as a parody to offer criticism, rather than directly attacking the Japanese judicial system outright, so the likelihood of them being very similar is low.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Blaze1616

[ThirdGen]

Was is the mood for some thriller/suspense anime, and I what commonly was listed as a good one was Paranoia Agent. I just finished the opening.

 

What have I gotten myself into?

 

Surprise!  It's both a thriller and a comprehensive satire of Japanese culture, especially the kawaii parts.

 

 

We watched one episode of Ace Detective. So, I know that Phoenix Wright is very popular, but this show was just terrible. I sure hope the Japanese legal system is nothing like this in real life. We won't be watching any more.

 

The Japanese legal system is very different from ours (guilty until proven innocent, almost all cases are plea-bargained before going to court), but the game series does specify that this is a future where the legal system has become even more strict (3 day limit, various blatantly unfair rules just to make it hard on the player).

Edited April 21, 2016 by ThirdGen

[Zathoth]

Was is the mood for some thriller/suspense anime, and I what commonly was listed as a good one was Paranoia Agent. I just finished the opening.

 

What have I gotten myself into?

One of the best anime ever made.

 

... soooo... I shouldnt ask, but I am going to do so anyway: did you watch Jojo yet?

[Patar]

One of the best anime ever made.

 

... soooo... I shouldnt ask, but I am going to do so anyway: did you watch Jojo yet?

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but it is pretty high up on the "I need to watch" list. 

[Quiver]

This is more about the manga, but I don't think there is a dedicated manga thread, so tossing it to you folks.

 

Is Bleach any good?

Or more accurately, did Bleach ever stop being bad?

 

For perspective... I followed Bleach a few years ago, and I kinda liked it... while it was an adventure story. The early portions of it I found pretty interesting, and Kubo is damnation good at creating stuff which is cool.

 

My problem was... well, it turned into a straight up shonen story. Arguably that happened sometime in Soul Society, when everything starting becoming about power ups (Zangetsu's name, Shikai, Bankai, Vizard powers), but I feel like it was the Arrancar arc where that really came to the fore as a serious problem. People joke about how long fights lasted in Dragonball Z, but I felt it a lot more with reading the fights in Bleach. The Hueco Mundo arc seemed to drag on forever...

 

(Particularly egregious since I think there were maybe two fights in that arc which were actually cool and interesting).

So, I ended up dropping the series at some point during the Ichigo/Ulquiorra battle, since I just didn't care anymore.

 

So why am I asking about it's quality you ask?

 

Well, for one thing I started picking up One Piece lately. Again, it's a series I didn't care for when I was younger, which I'm enjoying a lot more now.

More significantly, I've read a bit about the more recent arcs of Bleach... and they have kind of piqued my interest, at least in terms of concept. So I'm wondering if the execution is good enough that anyone here would recommend reading the series again.

 

(Yeah, that's my main hurdle, really... I'm a completionist. If I was going to start reading, I'd have to start at the begining... and since the series has some sixty volumes at ten bucks a pop, that would be an expensive way to spend money if it was just "Okay"...)

[Zathoth]

This is more about the manga, but I don't think there is a dedicated manga thread, so tossing it to you folks.

 

Is Bleach any good?

Or more accurately, did Bleach ever stop being bad?

 

For perspective... I followed Bleach a few years ago, and I kinda liked it... while it was an adventure story. The early portions of it I found pretty interesting, and Kubo is damnation good at creating stuff which is cool.

 

My problem was... well, it turned into a straight up shonen story. Arguably that happened sometime in Soul Society, when everything starting becoming about power ups (Zangetsu's name, Shikai, Bankai, Vizard powers), but I feel like it was the Arrancar arc where that really came to the fore as a serious problem. People joke about how long fights lasted in Dragonball Z, but I felt it a lot more with reading the fights in Bleach. The Hueco Mundo arc seemed to drag on forever...

 

(Particularly egregious since I think there were maybe two fights in that arc which were actually cool and interesting).

So, I ended up dropping the series at some point during the Ichigo/Ulquiorra battle, since I just didn't care anymore.

 

So why am I asking about it's quality you ask?

 

Well, for one thing I started picking up One Piece lately. Again, it's a series I didn't care for when I was younger, which I'm enjoying a lot more now.

More significantly, I've read a bit about the more recent arcs of Bleach... and they have kind of piqued my interest, at least in terms of concept. So I'm wondering if the execution is good enough that anyone here would recommend reading the series again.

 

(Yeah, that's my main hurdle, really... I'm a completionist. If I was going to start reading, I'd have to start at the begining... and since the series has some sixty volumes at ten bucks a pop, that would be an expensive way to spend money if it was just "Okay"...)

I dont read Bleach anymore, but from what I hear from other people who still do the only ones who still read it either read it out of habit or they like it ironically. ("But Kubo's trolling is hilarious man!")

 

But I admit that some of the concepts at least sound interesting.

 

If the completionist in you and your wallet are screaming at each other there are online scanalations. Just saying.

[Orlion Blight]

Decided to start giving this One Punch Man thing a try.

[Left]

Decided to start giving this One Punch Man thing a try.

I sincerely doubt you'll regret it, it's probably in my top ten animes, top five in the action anime genre.

[Quiver]

I dont read Bleach anymore, but from what I hear from other people who still do the only ones who still read it either read it out of habit or they like it ironically. ("But Kubo's trolling is hilarious man!")

But I admit that some of the concepts at least sound interesting.

If the completionist in you and your wallet are screaming at each other there are online scanalations. Just saying.

Are you suggesting piracy?

'Cause I'm already reading One Piece...

(Kidding. That's why I'm concerned money-wise; I'd rather support official releases)

...but no, seriously. Thanks for the response...event if it's a tad disheartening. Because yeah, I do think some of this latest stuff sounds, if not straight up cool, at least interesting in a good way...

I remain, therefore, utterly convinced that the Arrancar arc was the thing that ruined that series.

Side note, anyone seen Girls und Panzer?

Edited April 28, 2016 by Quiver

[Zathoth]

Are you suggesting piracy?

'Cause I'm already reading One Piece...

(Kidding. That's why I'm concerned money-wise; I'd rather support official releases)

...but no, seriously. Thanks for the response...event if it's a tad disheartening. Because yeah, I do think some of this latest stuff sounds, if not straight up cool, at least interesting in a good way...

I remain, therefore, utterly convinced that the Arrancar arc was the thing that ruined that series.

Side note, anyone seen Girls und Panzer?

Not quite, the internet has loads of online manga readers. The sites are doing the piracy, you are just borrowing. Batoto and mangapanda are pretty good.

 

Yeah, it is sad that long runners almost always end up crashing...

I liked the Soul Society arc, really liked it. Great fights and an interesting mystery on that, with a cool twist on that. Arrancar still had a couple cool fights, but then it just... meh.

 

I have not. I am really slow at watching stuff. Has taken me way too long to even watch Cowboy Bebop...

[Retsam]

Regarding Bleach, I watched up until a bit into the Hueco Mundo arc (up until the first filler within that arc starts, I believe).

I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but then I just stopped and looking back realize that very little actually happens in that show other than cool fights.  (But they were really cool fights)  Soul Society Arc had the best fights, but the plot still boils down to "main character fights through a bunch of people to save female friend". (And, actually, that equally well describes the Hueco Mundo arc, to my memory)

The only place I really remember much interesting story happening was the Bount Arc filler, and perhaps some character side-stories.  

So if you want an anime with a lot of cool fights, you could do worse than Bleach; but it's not my thing, so I've very little interest in going back.

 

---

 

On the other hand, I've slowly been rewatching Naruto, and have generally found that it holds up; it's got some good action scenes, too, but it's actually stronger on the characters.  If anything, it goes too far that direction and descends into melodrama.  But if you can put up with a bit of melodrama it's not as bad as its haters might have you believe.

 

--

 

 

Not quite, the internet has loads of online manga readers. The sites are doing the piracy, you are just borrowing. Batoto and mangapanda are pretty good.

 

Even if you do draw a moral distinction between "piracy" and "giving ad revenue to the people doing the piracy so that you can read the pirated material", it's probably against forum policy to be directing people to sites where they can read pirated materials.  I certainly wouldn't post a link to a site where you could read pirated copies of Sanderson's books.  

Edited April 28, 2016 by Retsam

[Orlion Blight]

I sincerely doubt you'll regret it [One Punch Man], it's probably in my top ten animes, top five in the action anime genre.

It was very fun, definitely worth the watch.

[PeterAhlstrom]

I am a Viz Shonen Jump subscriber, and I do read Bleach. It still has far too many characters and we see too many backstories. For the past year and a half that I've been subscribed, it's been nonstop incremental fights leading up to the big bad. Ichigo, Rukia, and the other characters who started out the series are rarely onscreen—but occasionally get to do awesome stuff.

 

There are a few interesting things revealed here and there (with some things like first-time bankai reveals in the last couple months)—things that have been years in the making—but it tends to get buried under the endless battle.

 

In my opinion, character creep is the biggest issue. This final arc basically has everyone in it who's still alive from all previous arcs, plus all the Quincies they're fighting. And he wants to show us what all of them are doing. That means less than a day of story time has passed in the last year and a half.

[PeterAhlstrom]

Anime update: We have been trying out a lot of newer shows. Here's our current status.

 

World Trigger

After 48 episodes, a filler arc is starting. We're ignoring this show for now and will get back to it later. Bleach filler has burned us. (Though, looking ahead, it seems the filler ends and then they don't get very far into the original material before going on hiatus. Oh well, I read the manga every week and like it a lot.)

 

Ace of the Diamond

20 episodes in. Enjoyable, but not as good as Baby Steps or Yowamushi Pedal. Not something we want to watch too often.

 

Active Raid

Watched the first episode, and it's good enough to watch another. The character interactions are interesting, how this established team ignores the new girl who thinks she's there to whip them into shape.

 

Toradora!

1 episode. We are checking it out because it's by the creator of Golden Time, which we liked. The first episode was entertaining enough to continue.

 

Re:ZERO -Starting Live in Another World-

3 episodes (really 4, since there's 1A and 1B). So far this is the most entertaining new show we're checking out. Portal fantasy with a gamer kid who arrives expecting to have a magical power, but doesn't. Then it turns into Groundhog Day, which is one of my favorite movies. What's not to like about that? Well, the villain lady is stereotypical in an annoying way, but everyone else is quite entertaining so far. Still, this is nowhere near as compelling as ERASED, which was the previous season's highlight for us.

 

KIZNAIVER

1 episode. Good start, will give more episodes a shot. Kid who can't feel pain. Typical secret group of special-power kids at a high school with different personality quirks.

 

JOKER GAME

3 episodes. Spy agency in early World War II. After two episodes I was really liking this show. After 3, I'm much less enthusiastic. The first two had a continuing plot focusing on one character. Then the third one is a different story about one of the side characters from earlier. The fourth episode preview looks like a story focusing on yet another character. It could be interesting in a "these are the types of things that spies do" way, but it's hard to get attached to characters when it's done this way.

 

Flying Witch

1 episode. This is essentially a slightly older version of Kiki's Delivery Service. Relaxed pace. We will watch another one, but it needs to bring something compelling to the table.

 

Tanaka-kun is Always Listless

1 episode, dropped. We hoped it would be something funny like Tonari no Seki-kun, but the basic conceit doesn't drive it enough for us.

 

Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto

1 episode, dropped. Not as bad as some. Kind of random humor. I'm sure this would appeal to a number of viewers.

 

Ace Attorney

1 episode, dropped. Laughably bad. I know Phoenix Wright is popular, but this mockery of a courtroom procedural is just so terrible.

 

The Asterisk War

1 episode, dropped. Too much fanservice.

 

AOKANA: Four Rhythm across the Blue

1 episode, dropped. Too tropey, and the aerial racing thing just didn't make much sense. Main character's voice is grating to listen to.

 

Say "I love you"

5 episodes. I've been watching this one by myself but I'm not sure if I'll continue. Shoujo romance series. It's just so...melancholy. No one is truly happy on this show. I want to watch more romance shows, but I want it more like My Love Story. Not so much moping around.

 

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

7 episodes in. I'm watching alone since Karen doesn't like the fanservice or kissing-consent issues. (The magic in this show is based on kissing.) I have read a lot of the manga and like the characters and the clever plotting. I like the "sort of delinquent slacker with a good heart" main character trope.

Edited May 3, 2016 by PeterAhlstrom

[Quiver]

So... has anyone watched Love Live?

I'm checking it out on recommendation from a friend of mine, and...

 

Well, I found season one to be kind of a mixed bag. It was... okay, neither amazing nor terrible. The fact that the show:

a ) doesn't gloss over the physical exertion involved in it's premise and show's the characters practicing constantly, and

b ) has an exclusively female cast without degenerating into fanservice*

interested me, as did some of the characters... but it wasn't fantastic, and I didn't feel like the characters developed all that much, all things considered.

(Sure, there was development for some of them... but not enough, and a lot of the girls, like Rin and Nozomi, didn't really get any.)

 

...Having said that.

I'm about half-way through season two, and there has been a big improvement. The show is funnier, and the characters are getting more fleshed out. I don't know if I'd call them complex, but they feel like more than the broad typecasting they were in season one. Every character is getting to do more and, overall, I'm enjoying it a lot more.

I'm hoping to get season two finished this week, while I'm off-work, but so far, I'm really liking it. 

[Quiver]

And well, double posting, but I killed this topic, I might as well try and bring it back to life...

 

Has anyone seen Revolutionary Girl Utena? I've started watching it lately, English dub.

 

And...

Well, I thought it was a pretty rough start, albeit it with some potential- and, to be afair, it got better as I was going along. 

 

I have now started the Black Rose arc and sweet Harmony. Not only has the show gotten a lot better, it's gotten so much darker and creepier. I mean, there were already flashes of real creepy implications in earlier episodes, but it's all just escalated ridiculously in a handful of episodes. 

[ThirdGen]

And well, double posting, but I killed this topic, I might as well try and bring it back to life...

 

Has anyone seen Revolutionary Girl Utena? I've started watching it lately, English dub.

 

And...

Well, I thought it was a pretty rough start, albeit it with some potential- and, to be afair, it got better as I was going along. 

 

I have now started the Black Rose arc and sweet Harmony. Not only has the show gotten a lot better, it's gotten so much darker and creepier. I mean, there were already flashes of real creepy implications in earlier episodes, but it's all just escalated ridiculously in a handful of episodes. 

 

I love love love Revolutionary Girl Utena.  One of the best anime of all time.  Not at all a fan of the dub (very 90s in its standards), but yeah.

 

The Student Council Arc - Would have been a fun show all on its own, but not a classic.

The Black Rose Arc - Oh hai depth.

The Akio Arc - Wow, this is not for kids!

The (spoiler) Arc - You might be ready to write a thesis on this show by the time it's done.

The movie - Totally optional, ignores the canon of the show (except in some fanon theories where it's "what happened after" the show), gorgeous to look at but pretentious gibberish.

[Zathoth]

Once upon a time in the 80s Gainax was 12 people, making an opening video for a con.

 

And I cant stop watching it. It is just all kinds of perfect.

[Retsam]

Huh, coincidentally, I was watching Daicon IV last night for absolutely no reason.  (I think something vaguely reminded me of the music?)

 

Though I did watch a video on it by the YouTube channel "Mother's Basement" a few months ago; it's a pretty good video, it covers a lot of references and actually points out a lot of the bits that were actually really technically impressive for their time, which I (as a spoiled modern anime fan) didn't really appreciate watching it on my own.