Anime

[ibanezmonster]

High School of the Dead, eh?...
The overuse of fan service + the fact that that was the one of the last anime Mr.Anime reviewed before plotting to shoot up his old high school kind of gives me an aversion to it. 

[eyeresist]

High School of the Dead, eh?...
The overuse of fan service + the fact that that was the one of the last anime Mr.Anime reviewed before plotting to shoot up his old high school kind of gives me an aversion to it. 

Ack! Well, I like a bit of zombie blammo action, and it was only $15. The reviews prewarned me of bouncing boobies and minimal/inconsistent characterisation. If it's so bad it drives me to kill, I'll give you a heads-up. 

[eyeresist]

Greg, if you're looking for more stuff like Lain, here are some titles:

Boogiepop Phantom
Paranoia Agent
Ghost Hound
Texhnolyze
Welcome to the NHK

[ibanezmonster]

Greg, if you're looking for more stuff like Lain, here are some titles:

Boogiepop Phantom
Paranoia Agent
Ghost Hound
Texhnolyze
Welcome to the NHK

Thanks.

I've heard Boogipop Phantom and Texhnolyze suggested before. Paranoia Agent and Welcome to the NHK are, of course, among my top favorites. Ghost Hound I've never heard of before.

[eyeresist]

I've heard Boogipop Phantom and Texhnolyze suggested before. Paranoia Agent and Welcome to the NHK are, of course, among my top favorites. Ghost Hound I've never heard of before.

Ghost Hound is great for most of its length, but devolves into a more formulaic kind of anime for its last few episodes. But before then, it's mysterious and creepy in a low-key way, each episode touching on a different area of fringe brain science (out-of-body experiences, possession, group mind, psychic residue). The "previously on" opening segments are deliciously creepy (there's that word again).

(In case you check out the first ep, I thought it had problematic sound, maybe overly compressed - every sound effect seemed equally loud. Sound was fine for subsequent eps.)

[ibanezmonster]

2: why does this girl insist on protecting him at all costs? This question will need to be explained later, because it doesn't make much sense.

Solved. Just 3 episodes in, and I'm already dizzy from all of the twists and turns.

[ibanezmonster]

On episode 19/26. Should finish tomorrow.
Ep.18 answers the questions I had about the girl since the first episode... very good show with a couple of flaws if you want to be critical. I'm hooked and really enjoying it.

Next, 2 movies:
K-On!
Denpateki na Kanojo

[eyeresist]

On episode 19/26. Should finish tomorrow.
Ep.18 answers the questions I had about the girl since the first episode... very good show with a couple of flaws if you want to be critical. I'm hooked and really enjoying it.

I've no idea what you're watching.

[ibanezmonster]

Miraki Nikki
26 episodes

Well, well, well. So much to say about this show, which will likely be finished in a separate post, as I have to go to work in a bit.

For now:
This show is INSANE. I mean, freaking INSANE. The wildest show you'll ever watch.

(to be continued in part 2)

I've no idea what you're watching.

I must have modified my post and deleted what I wrote. Again.

[ibanezmonster]

(part 2)

The plot:
{
    Yukki Amano, the protagonist, is a whiny (honestly, irritatingly whiny) middle school kid who keeps to himself. One day, a deity named        Deus selects 12 participants from his hometown (Sakurami) to battle to the death, and the remaining winner inherits the throne of Deus and becomes God (hopefully before Deus' bodies crumbles). These 12 participants are named (from "First," which is Yukki, to "Twelfth"). I read on wikipedia that this was modeled after the 12 Olympians.

   Then there is the stalker girl, who is about as equally important on this show as Yukki, who does anything to protect him. Her name is Gasai Yuno (Second). One of the major themes in the story is whether Yukki should trust her or not, and this theme continues from beginning to end.
}



My thoughts:
{
   I only watched this show because I heard it being compared to Steins;Gate, but in reality, besides cell phones revealing the future, it's nothing like it. Steins;Gate is also complex, but it's also much more refined. This show has absolutely no sense of refinement- it's presentation is very straightforward, while the actual plot and events have to be some of the most complex I've seen.

   First, problems with this show: I have a few myself. Yukki is way too annoyingly whiny. He was even voiced by a woman. At times, the composer decides to chime in with the show, creating music that makes scenes corny. There's not much music in the show, but it probably would have been best to leave it all out. Also, of course they single out attacking First (Yukki). Not much of a show if a third party character tries to kill another third party character, huh?

   The main problem with the show that many people have that I can understand is that it is so over-the-top and convoluted that I almost don't know what to think. Some people are very opinionated and clearly state that it is a train wreck of a show because it tries to do so much and doesn't make any sense. What I say to this is that it does make sense if you piece the many pieces together, but at times it indeed does stretch believability; many shows do this, though- mainly the killing endless amounts of security guards, escaping so many times from battles, people arriving at the last second to save someone, etc. I'm not sure if this show is the greatest thing ever (with a few flaws), or a story written by a guy in an insane asylum. 

   Another problem some people may have is how much bad and ridiculous stuff it has in it. Several deaths each episode, a couple of rape scenes, a couple of child abandonment cases, patricide, children locked in cages filled with their own urine, terrorism, betrayal, etc. Since this show is packed with this stuff, it makes you feel tense from beginning to end.

   The good things: just about everyone can agree that it maintains your attention, whether you like the show or not. Practically every episodes there are multiple cliffhangers. The tension in this show does not let up and neither does the curiosity.

   Yuno's character is something else. People think Heath Ledger's role in The Dark Knight was brilliantly crazy? Well, Gasai Yuno would put him to shame, as she gleefully cuts off heads while exclaiming, "Yukki will praise me now! I'll do anything for my one true love, Yukki!".

   The last few episodes get more and more bizarre and apocalyptic, as it introduces a new element into the show that explains a lot of unanswered questions, just when you think it is going to be over. All the while, Yukki and Yuno's relationship gets more interesting as he learns about her for real.

   This is the type of show that, when I finish, it just does something strange to me. Having immersed myself in this show for these three days, it's hard to look at the world and feels it's even important at all. It's like a buzz from some kind of drug or something. This show, despite its flaws, feels like it's trying to do something or convey something more profound than anything that's ever been done in anything. I see similar things in modern anime, and even a few video games, and wonder where the Japanese are getting all of this from. A lot of these stories share similar characteristics and seem to have started around the early 90s and continue today. This would be something really interesting to study. I've read some old Japanese stories and have watched some of Kurosawa's movies, for example, stuff I really love, but all that stuff is traditional Japanese stuff. This modern Japanese stuff takes on a characteristic that is unlike anything I know of... these people had to have been inspired by something, perhaps old German literature I don't know about?
}


 

I may write even more... so many thoughts that cannot possibly be remembered in one sitting.

[ibanezmonster]

Should've known... all of this dark subject matter was inspired by Evangelion. 
It all came from one man's (Hideaki Anno's) depression. I think the unexpected popularity of this very dark and negative show somehow relates to the downward spiral of the Japanese economy. People can relate.

[ibanezmonster]

This is a fascinating read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_anime


Now that I know that Evangelion is the original source from where shows like Elfen Lied, Higurashi, Gantz, Mirai Nikki, etc. got their violence-filled traumatic angst, I couldn't help but wonder where some other strands/genres of anime started from.

Well, a few here:
Sports anime: Captain Tsubasa (1983)
Martial Arts/possibly the first "shounen": Fist of the North Star (1983)
Hentai: Lolita Anime, Cream Lemon (1984)

And the one question I've been wondering for many years: Digimon. When I was kid, there was nothing quite like it. The most epic thing I've watched by far, and to this day I don't think I've watched anything quite as "epic" (I'm probably forgetting something lol) 

Is it original or not?
Well...

Other 1990s anime series which gained international success were Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Digimon; the success of these shows marked the beginning of the martial arts superhero, the magical girl genre, and the action adventure genre respectively

Interesting. I think the show is quite Evangelion-influenced, but toned down a bit for a younger audience. It's quite evident, given the many extreme moments involving deaths and characters' soul-searching or being in prolonged depressive states; in fact, now that I think about it, these aspects scream Evangelion. 

However, the adventure part was on such a grand scale that I'd never seen before. Where did this come from? My only guess is: Pokemon! The monsters + the adventure, obviously.

Digimon = Pokemon + Evangelion

hmmm... feels about right...

Should've known... all of this dark subject matter was inspired by Evangelion. 

And the main character, as well, obviously.

[eyeresist]

Now that I know that Evangelion is the original source from where shows like Elfen Lied, Higurashi, Gantz, Mirai Nikki, etc. got their violence-filled traumatic angst,

Not sure how true this actually is. The movie Akira has heaps of crazy violence, trauma and angst (and of course Grave of the Fireflies came out the year before that). I suspect various obscure 80s OVAs preceded EVA (and this is overlooking whatever was going on in manga at the time). Legend of the Overfiend is another title, though I haven't seen it. The importance of Anno is more that he led to darker elements becoming more mainstream.

[ibanezmonster]

Not sure how true this actually is. The movie Akira has heaps of crazy violence, trauma and angst (and of course Grave of the Fireflies came out the year before that). I suspect various obscure 80s OVAs preceded EVA (and this is overlooking whatever was going on in manga at the time). Legend of the Overfiend is another title, though I haven't seen it. The importance of Anno is more that he led to darker elements becoming more mainstream.

In short: yes, exactly. 

[ibanezmonster]

K-On! (Movie)

And a complete 180 from Mirai Nikki...

K-On is, of course, the light and fluffy slice-of-life moe anime about an all-girl high school rock band. Just think of the movie Grownups. Change the setting, keep the same feel (no major conflicts in the entire plot).

The movie takes place right around the end of the second season, when they are about to graduate high school. The entire plot consists of two things: 1) they take a trip to London and 2) they write a farewell song for one of their band members, Azusa, who is a year younger than them.

There are a few funny moments, though you won't be laughing from beginning to end. Half of the humor might be them attempting to speak English and failing miserably (think super-heavy Japanese accents)- "As clear as day": "Azu kuriru azu dei".

[ibanezmonster]

Denpateki na Kanojo
2 episodes (OVA) (~43 minutes each)

From the same director as Elfen Lied and Baccano... a somewhat interesting OVA. It has a girl Yandere character, just as in Mirai Nikki, who acts like the main character's servant. In both episodes, there are crimes or pranks of some sort that they investigate.

[eyeresist]

HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD
First two episodes watched.

The animation looks good and the zombie component is very well done, but for the most part this is total garbage. All the characters are banal manga cliches, the drama scenes are melodramatic and yet empty, and drawn out to excruciating length; the constant (I mean CONSTANT) fanservice is grotesque and distracting, and the two main female characters express themselves by complaining continously in a high-pitched shriek.

[ibanezmonster]

Constant fan service is annoying. I had the same experience watching Nisemonogatari. It just cheapens everything.

[snyprrr]

I don't know where to Post, but I'm sure Greg has the answers!

For some reason, I looked up 'oh noes' and was directed to the Encyclopedia Drammatica,... hoo boy! ,... aaanyhow, WHAAAT?? are:

4chan

/b/


I surely can't telllll you what I, uh, 'learned' last night (up till 5!!!), but, sheesh, an I really kind of 'normal? I mean,... I mean,... 'shitting dick nipples'?? haha, yea, that's what all this had me doing, oy oy oy...

Somehow, there is certainly a palpable darkness around things,... I've heard of 'Anonymous', and... this is ridiculous,... I felt prehistoric with my reading classes reading about 'lulz',... I guess there is a lulz-sec that is involved with all this hackery,... could the hackers be... gasp... us, or,... THEM!!!??

I don't know,... and I thought conspiracy sites were bad ,... this is a dark dirty rabbit hole. I can only imagine what a room full of 'guro' fans must be like.


I have always wanted to feel like I was in a movie,... but,... NOT THIS ONE!!!

eeeeewwwww

[ibanezmonster]

snyprrr discovering the bizarre side of the internet...

just don't get lost in it.