The Anime Thread

[CountDeMoney]

[Monoriu]

  

That's from Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, a show that I talked about many pages ago.  The girl is the devil queen, and the guy is the Hero.  If you look closely at the picture, the horns on her head are not part of her body - it is a headband. 

Also worth noting is the tip of the horns.  Watch the picture a few times, and you'll notice that the tips are animated incorrectly.  There is inconsistency in the frames.  In terms of animation quality, this show is below average. 

[Monoriu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABZN292gvRo

Trailer of Kantai Collection.  Looks awesome and much better than I thought it would be.  Quite surprised when the arrows became aircrafts.  Seems the enemies will be some sort of aliens rather than other humans, just like Strike Witches.  I hope this will be as good as Strike Witches, with the level of fanservice toned down a bit. 

[Monoriu]

Girls und Panzer: This is the real Anzio Battle OVA.  The latest addition to the popular WWII tank simulation anime.  The TV series is basically about a tournament among schools that practice "tankery", a national sport for school girls (don't ask.  Just accept it like accepting the existance of elves and dragons in fantasy).  In the series proper, the protagonists fought against the British, the Americans, the Italians, the Russians, and the Germans, in that order.  The battle with the Italians was merely mentioned with a voiceover that the protagonists won.  The purpose of this OVA is to show how it happened. 

This is like an additional 2 episodes to the story.  If you are a fan of the show, it is a must-see.  Granted, the Italian tanks aren't much of a challenge to the PzIV, StuGIII, P38(t) and M3 equipped protagonists.  But there is still almost 20 minutes of gorgeously animated and "somewhat" realistic WWII tank battles in there.  It is a nice break to see the protagonists outgunning their opponents for the first and probably only time.  The volley-ball club with their Japanese Type 89B are finally able to kick some asses.  Also very cool to see several shots of Miho with her head outside the tank and completely unfazed when she is facing projectiles aiming at her tank.  Given that this is an OVA (so people are supposed to pay for it), and that the show is now proven to be popular, they now have the time and budget to do an even better job with the battles, and it shows.  If you are new to the series, this is not the right place to start.  It isn't standalone, and assumes prior knowledge of the series. 

I can't wait for the movie, which is rumoured to be a sequel and will come out later this year. 

[CountDeMoney]

The TV series is basically about a tournament among schools that practice "tankery", a national sport for school girls (don't ask.  Just accept it like accepting the existance of elves and dragons in fantasy). 

I refuse to accept it.

[Monoriu]

The TV series is basically about a tournament among schools that practice "tankery", a national sport for school girls (don't ask.  Just accept it like accepting the existance of elves and dragons in fantasy). 

I refuse to accept it.

When I first heard of the premise, I refused to accept it too.  It was just too silly, even for an anime fan like me.  But the show is a huge success and everywhere people talked about it.  The background animation is based on a real life Japanese small town, and now the town has become a sort of holy ground for fans of the show.  I just thought why not give it a try, it was just 12 episodes.  So I watched it and was hooked.  One of the better shows that I watched.  It is a lot more about the panzers and tank battles than the girls.  Think of it as "World of Tanks: the anime".

I know CdM probably won't watch any anime.  But I've been thinking about the questino "if I were to recommend an anime for CdM, what would it be?"  Something mature, with adult protagonists, no fanservice, and no moe girls.  Legend of Galactic Heroes (serious space opera), Psycho Pass (police and crime, Minority report style), and Ghost in the Shell (police and crime, cyberpunk). 

[Eddie Teach]

"if I were to recommend an anime for CdM, what would it be?"

Speed Racer, cause he already likes it.

[CountDeMoney]

LOL, Speed Racer
Kimba the White Lion
Marine Boy
Star Blazers

And I saw both Akira and Ghost in the Shell in artsy fartsy theaters when they first came out, because I am that fucking proto-hip, baby.

[Monoriu]

LOL, Speed Racer
Kimba the White Lion
Marine Boy
Star Blazers

And I saw both Akira and Ghost in the Shell in artsy fartsy theaters when they first came out, because I am that fucking proto-hip, baby.

So you are part of the axis of anime huh

Car racing and I just don't mix.  I instinctively skip anything related to car racing, anime or not.  Don't really know why. 

I remember the Akira movie.  I was a kid back then.  One day, my mother suddenly went nuts and dragged me to the cinema for the movie.  I was just glad for any opportunity for more anime, so I went along without knowing what the movie was about.  She usually dismisses most anime shows as "kiddie stuff", and she almost never took me to the cinemas, especially not by herself.  She usually sent my father's sister for any anime show that I wanted to watch. 

I hated Akira.  I had no idea what went on.  All I remembered was lots of blood, intestines and gore.  It is on my personal "worst anime of all time" list, but I do realise that I saw it as a little kid and a lot of people consider it a classic.  Maybe I'll revise my opinion if I rewatch it, but I just don't have the inclination to do that. 

What you call Star Blazers is what I call Space Battleship Yamato.  Love it as a kid. 

[CountDeMoney]

Much like Timmay ruined Notre Dame football for me, and the Languish gays soured me on LGBT rights, the crap you guys watch now turned me off all anime that doesn't involve tentacles.

[Monoriu]

Much like Timmay ruined Notre Dame football for me, and the Languish gays soured me on LGBT rights, the crap you guys watch now turned me off all anime that doesn't involve tentacles.

If you live in a basement with nothing but a computer and an internet connection, anime maybe for you.  It is a huge world with thousands of shows to choose from.  Lots of western anime fans hate the harems and cute girls catering to the otaku fanbase, but they still find shows that they like 

I am actually quite surprised that so many guys want to see romance in anime.  I think there is also a preference among western fans for overpowered main characters. 

[jimmy olsen]

LOL, Speed Racer
Kimba the White Lion
Marine Boy
Star Blazers

And I saw both Akira and Ghost in the Shell in artsy fartsy theaters when they first came out, because I am that fucking proto-hip, baby.

You would love Cowboy Beebop then.

[Monoriu]

LOL, Speed Racer
Kimba the White Lion
Marine Boy
Star Blazers

And I saw both Akira and Ghost in the Shell in artsy fartsy theaters when they first came out, because I am that fucking proto-hip, baby.

You would love Cowboy Beebop then.

This seems to be the anime that everybody but me has watched.  I'm going to have to do it when I have time. 

[Syt]

I've only watched the first ten or so episodes of Girls and Panzer. It takes the familiar tropes of high school sports drama, except that the sport is real life World of Tanks, basically.

Also, the models of the tanks are rather beautifully rendered.

[Lettow77]

 Mono has done a tireless job keeping this thread updated. I have a desire to counterbalance his opinions on anime, as we have fairly little overlap, but I've been quite busy lately. I'll try to come in with more later, but for now here's a look at something that may interest languish.



Kaiba
Kaiba is interesting for many reasons, but one of the more approachable to languish is how un-interested it is in Japan, Japanese culture, or tropes and expectations of anime. It is a very introspective show, which is based on a future in which memories can be transferred, and are now a marketable item: the rich can make their fantasies reality with a cocktail of any sort of memories they might like, while the poor sell their memory of how to play piano to make ends meet. Bodies are also transferable, but this is more of a shady, illicit and exploitative business.

In the midst of this, the protagonist awakes as a stowaway on a space ship with no memories at all to call his own, and only a locket to lead him on- a locket with a picture of someone apparently involved in anti-government activities. His attempt to find himself is made more intriguing by the show's exploration of what constitutes a self when memories, abilities and bodies become mutable objects.