Anime

[DavidW]

I've seen Paprika, it's pretty mind bending!  Since Paranoia Agent is only 4 dvds I'll put it on the queue.

[ibanezmonster]

Watched Black Swan- a short, little post I made in the Movie thread.

Aronofsky says that Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue was not an influence? Yeah, right...   
(supposedly, even Requiem for a Dream was influenced by Perfect Blue).

Anyways, pretty good movie- I tend to really like scenarios where the main character starts having delusions of a person that characterizes a second personality (such as in Fight Club).

Le Portrait de Petite Cossette
OVA: 3 episodes, 36 min. each (the "series" is basically movie-length)
Well, it aspires to be something really great, but the plot I just couldn't care for. It's pretty much a romance between some guy and a girl whose soul was trapped in a glass, because some guy long ago painted portraits of her and killed her, because she was getting older and he thought she was perfect the way she was and didn't want her to change.



next up: Baka and Test Season 2... second season of the best show for a constantly angry person to watch.

[ibanezmonster]

Baka and Test- Season 2 (also watched all of the specials)

This season is much better than the first- meaning much funnier! 

Essentially this show is just a silly sitcom, except instead of the typical American sitcom which involves a family, it's the typical anime sitcom, which involves high school kids. The main characters are in Class F in a school divided between grades (A-F). Class A gets a nice classroom with treats, and Class F gets cardboard boxes for desks.

This anime relies heavily on running jokes, but strangely, they didn't even get old for me. For example, throughout the series, one of the girls is always made fun of for having a flat chest. One day, they get their new "Avatars" in (they're like miniature virtual characters that they battle that look like their owners), and their Avatar forms are all a surprise. The girl says, "I bet mine is going to be gorgeous," and the Avatar pops out. It is a 10 foot tall, 3 inch wide, flat piece of stone. 

It would be so nice if some day I can reach a point where all I do is sit in my room, watching shows like this, and never having to go outside. Watching this is pure bliss compared to the perpetual misery of going out into the world.

next up: Legend of the Galactic Heroes (110 episodes) 

[DavidW]

I've seen Paprika, it's pretty mind bending!  Since Paranoia Agent is only 4 dvds I'll put it on the queue.

btw 2 of the dvds are missing so I took it off the queue.   I've been watching Claymore off of watch instantly:



Seems pretty good so far.

[ibanezmonster]

Hm... I'll be interested in what you think of Claymore. I liked it at first, but as it went on, I got increasingly bored of it, and quit with about 5 or 6 episodes to go (the only time I've done that with a show, other than Durarara). But don't let that stop you- hopefully you end up liking it more than I did.

btw, if you aren't opposed to it, here's the link that I used to watch Paranoia Agent:
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v305784qkAMfeZJ?h1=Paranoia+Agent+01

Where are you watching your stuff from, Netflix?

[DavidW]

I've only watched 2 ep of Claymore... will let you know if I give up.

I might try your link... but I think I'll checkout the anime channel on my roku box first.  Up to this point it has been all netflix.

[eyeresist]

Hm... I'll be interested in what you think of Claymore. I liked it at first, but as it went on, I got increasingly bored of it, and quit with about 5 or 6 episodes to go (the only time I've done that with a show, other than Durarara). But don't let that stop you- hopefully you end up liking it more than I did.

I picked up the first vol of Claymore cheap, and enjoyed it well enough, but felt no need to pursue it any further (it finished with the first flashback ep, which just seemed "right" as an ending).

Recent viewing:

Black Blood Brothers - Not brilliant but reasonably enjoyable. The DVDs come with Jap audio commentary for each ep, which is good added value.
Clannad season 1 - Dragged a bit during the Kotomi arc, but overall very good. Touching, and with some likable characters, including the main male who for once in a harem show is not a passive cipher. Certainly the best anime adaptation of a Key game yet, and Clannad After Story is on my to-buy list.
Jinki Extend - Starts as a decent Eva rip-off, but quickly gets confused by flashbacks (actually flashforwards) to different characters in a different location. Terribleness partly explained by being based on a manga which itself was a sequel to another manga - that explains why many characters and relationships aren't explained, but not why the story is so silly and the execution so drab. Ultimately a waste of time, not recommended.
Best Student Council - Pretty terrible, but the best unwatched anime I own so am proceeding through it slowly. It's a very cliched comedy-drama set in an elite girls school. Predictable, UNFUNNY, two-dimensional characters and weirdly stilted execution. Not recommended.

[ibanezmonster]

Clannad season 1 - Dragged a bit during the Kotomi arc, but overall very good. Touching, and with some likable characters, including the main male who for once in a harem show is not a passive cipher. Certainly the best anime adaptation of a Key game yet, and Clannad After Story is on my to-buy list.

This is the only one I've even heard of out of the 4 you listed, and is among my favorites.

You might have read about Clannad After Story- be prepared for it. There's a reason why it was on ranked #1 MAL for a long time. That season is pure catharsis- it's been a couple years since I watched but, but it still haunts me when I think about it.

Be prepared to do a lot of this: 

[ibanezmonster]

Bakemonogatari
("Ghost Stories")
15 episodes

Three words: LOTS OF DIALOGUE.
The plot is about a guy who meets different girls who are afflicted with some supernatural illness and ends up bringing them to this witch doctor of some sort who heals them. Each girl makes up a story arc, and there are 5 in the series, each spanning a few episodes. Keeping in mind that the series is based off of story arcs is really the only thing that keeps it feeling like a somewhat slow-paced, free-flowing rhapsody.

The animation and style of the show is definitely unique, although certain things get old after awhile- for example, cutting to the half-second screenshots that are either black or red randomly and the close up of the main character's hair either sticking up or drooping. It has an "artsy" feel.

What I mean by "lots of dialogue" is that there are a couple of episodes where the main character is talking to one of the girls for literally the entire episode, and in the same place. I don't mind, but it can stretch the patience thin when you realize that much of it is just the silly, messing your with mind type of conversation that girls usually have. Most of the show is dialogue of this type, but there are action moments here and there to break it up a bit.

Overall, it's good, but I'm undecided whether I like the style or not (although people seem to really like it). Probably it doesn't help that I either like shows that are outrageously intense or outrageously funny, and this is neither. I am looking forward to the 11-episode sequel which should finish airing soon and the movie prequel that will be out sometime this year.

[DavidW]

Watched Perfect Blue very good movie.  It's a real mind fuck following what's going on.  Much more challenging and interesting than it's derivative, Black Swan.

[asin]B00000JL42[/asin]

[eyeresist]

Bakemonogatari
("Ghost Stories")
15 episodes

Any explanation for the scissors and setsquares and staplers etc?

[ibanezmonster]

Any explanation for the scissors and setsquares and staplers etc?

It's not random. 

This girl (Senjougahara) is the first girl the male protagonist (Araragi) encounters. Her curse is that some Crab spirit is taking away her weight, and she is light as a feather. In the opening sequence, she is falling (more like floating) off of a circular staircase, and Araragi catches her.

She threatens anyone that finds out her weight secret by stapling their mouth closed and using school supplies as weapons (whatever you can bring into school without getting into trouble, basically). A tsundere character for sure, but I like her very much  .

[ibanezmonster]

Kuuchuu Buranko
Translated as "Flying Trapeze"
English title: "Welcome to Dr. Irabu's Office"
11 episodes

Dr. Irabu is a psychologist and Mayumi is his nurse sidekick (Dr. Irabu is in the first pic, Mayumi in the second). Dr. Irabu is just crazy. Mayumi is played by a professional model, Yumi Sugimoto. She never smiles, is quite cold, and has no friends. But I enjoy watching her, anyways. 

Each episode follows the same pattern: a patient enters Dr.Irabu's office, gets a vitamin injection from the nurse, Mayumi (there is literally no reason for this), and then throughout the rest of the episode, he helps them work through whatever their condition is. Some of the more interesting conditions included a businessman with a permanent erection, a pro baseball player with Yips, a Yakuza who is afraid of sharp edges, and an obsessive-compulsive reporter who runs back to his apartment constantly fearing he left something on which would start a fire or something destructive.

The main thing to note is that this show is one-of-a-kind in terms of artistic styling. They blend actual actors with animated characters with various degrees of intensity, depending on the scene. For example, they have a completely real Mayumi, a half-drawn half-anime Mayumi (like in the pic above), and a fully anime Mayumi (they do this to most characters). Also, they randomly (and often) draw crowds of people as two-dimensional and flat (perhaps alluding to perception of strangers?)  Another odd thing is that an actual doctor stops the show every now and then and provides additional information explaining the conditions of the character of that episode (see picture no.3).

Although the ritual of the injection and seeing the shot thrown into the garbage every single episode got old, it was just fun to watch, since it was such an odd show. The art style alone makes it a must watch. 

[ibanezmonster]

Now starting Spice and Wolf, which is two seasons of 13 episodes each. I will start Legend of the Galactic Heroes once I finish playing Bioshock, because I want to keep myself at no more than 2 projects of either video games or anime at the same time.

First episode: great start. Takes place in a word similar to medieval England, and the main character is a traveling merchant. In the first episode, he learns about the heretics and their god, who is a wolf. He happens to meet her, because she was sleeping in his cart, and by the end of the episode, they start their merchant traveling journey together. Looks fantastic. It's quite a popular show, btw.

[ibanezmonster]

Spice and Wolf- Season 1
13 episodes

As I mentioned in the previous post, this show is about those two characters traveling and trading. They get into some dangerous situations as can be imagined with that type of business, but in the most desperate time, since she's a wolf god, she can transform into a gigantic wolf and tear people apart. Most of the show involves Lawrence (the main character) and Holo (the wolf girl in the picture) talking- mild romance involved. I really like Holo's accent- it's basically Osaka-ben with some Edo-period vocabulary thrown in. Best accent ever.

Good show, though not to the extent that I find it absolutely enthralling or mindblowing. This week, I'll watch season 2...

[ibanezmonster]

Spice and Wolf- Season 2
12 episodes + OVA (20 min.) + 2 specials (3 min. each)

Until they (hopefully) release a season 3, completely done with Spice and Wolf!

They continue their journey up to the north and visit towns along the way, as in the first season. They get into a few situations, one involving a duel between Lawrence and a guy (Amati) wanting to marry Horo- except, the twist is, it's an economic duel involving a bet whether Amati will be able to pay back Horo's debt to Lawrence, and it involved the rising price of pyrite (Lawrence's plan was to somehow lower the price of pyrite to win the duel).

Dialogue is ever-flowing, like a river of words. You really have to pay attention constantly, as this may be one of the most "wordy" anime out there (if not the most). You'll get lost on exactly what is happening if you don't (as I did), but it's still enjoyable if you don't understand the fine details of how their trading businesses work.

Horo and Lawrence get even closer in this season, although as always, a platonic relationship, and this aspect of the story is extremely well developed. Horo is just too adorable.

It's over...   

[ibanezmonster]

Lucky Star
24 episodes + OVA (40 min.)

They look like a bunch of Skittles.

I pretty much watched this for 2 reasons: 1) it was the only anime by KyoAni I haven't watched yet (other than Munto, which no one watches) and 2) this is the last of what I'd consider the MAJOR anime to watch if you want to claim you are verse in anime. Pleasure wasn't a reason, which is probably why I put it off.

This is a slice of life comedy just like the 3 other major ones I've seen (Azumanga Daioh, Nichijou, and K-On). All 4 involve high school girls talking, and there is either no solid story and just a vague sense of time. Out of the 4, Lucky Star is the most popular, but the one I thought was the best was Nichijou. In comparison, Lucky Star is dry and normal. It has none of the surreal, crazy elements of Nichijou- it's just girls talking- literally, that's it. At times, it can get quite funny, and it feels like it could have some potential, but the type of humor they aim for most of the time just isn't funny.

Overall, I don't recommend it, unless you are curious about this somewhat infamous show. If you don't like slice-of-life moe crap sitcoms, avoid. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, but quality-wise it doesn't rise above, say, an average American sitcom. There are PLENTY of better anime to spend time with.

[eyeresist]

Xam'd : Lost Memories

I bought the DVD set from Amazon UK, and found to my horror that the first disc was dub only. They gave me a refund and said don't bother with the expense of returning it by mail, which was nice of them.

I watched eps 8 and 9 (the first ones with Jap audio) this morning, and was so glad I got a refund on this. The many characters are flat stereotypes, and the dialog is very obvious, being either exposition or, well, exposition. The animation is competent but let down by the story. I'd say skip it.

[ibanezmonster]

I read that the characters end up changing towards the end of the show.

And the plot sounds cool:

Synopsis
Sentan Island is a small island surrounded by the Yuden Sea. It exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Our hero, Akiyuki Takehara, lives on Sentain Island along with his mother Fusa. He is currently separated from his father, the town doctor Ryuzo, but the bond between father and son remains. One day, after taking Ryuzo the lunch that Fusa has made for him as usual, Akiyuki arrives at school, where he is caught up in an explosion along with his friends, Haru and Furuichi. The explosion produces a mysterious light, which enters Akiyuki's arm, causing him excruciating pain. He's given no time to understand it, however, as the white-haired girl who rode on the bus with him guides him to a power unlike anything he's ever known.

Hmmm....

I bet the seller let you get the refund without having to return it so they could keep high seller ratings. 

[eyeresist]

I read that the characters end up changing towards the end of the show.

And the plot sounds cool:Hmmm....

I bet the seller let you get the refund without having to return it so they could keep high seller ratings. 

That could definitely be part of it.

I've ordered the DVDs of the first 3 series of Armored Troopers Votoms, which is supposed to be one of the great mecha series. The art looks pretty dated, however, with it being made in the early 1980s.