The Anime Thread

[Agelastus]

Recommend osmething that is availble on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or that crunchy roll thing. It can't be depressing.  Or stupid.

Looking at what's available for "free" on Amazon Prime page at Amazon.com there's a lot of stuff that I've enjoyed, but not a lot of stuff that I'd recommend as someone's opening experience.

The best thing there is probably "Elfen Lied", but that's almost as depressing as anime gets. Although I note that "Clannad", which Monoriu recommends but that I've never seen, also appears to be available.

"Rahxephon" also has a deeply depressing episode, then compounds it with an "Evangelion Wannabe Mindfuck ending".

If Amazon Prime has the subtitled as well as dubbed versions, the first season of "Orphen" might be worth a look given the deeply satisfying ending. Unfortunately there's a few dud episodes in the 26. If it's just the dub, forget it.

I'd recommend "Mahoromatic", except for the fact that what they describe as season 1 is actually season 2 so will make no sense whatsoever to a new viewer.  Plus compared to the Manga the ending both jars and sucks in typical Gainax fashion. Plus the Manga ending doesn't make the most powerful existence shown in the show appear to be a complete prick the way the anime ending does.

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As for the other (complete) stuff on there that I've seen (so feel semi-qualified to comment on.) -

"Tears To Tiara" - beautiful character designs but drawn out and episodic (due to its nature as a game adaptation.) Worth viewing later if a liking for anime is discovered.

"UFO Ultramaiden" & "UFO Ultramaiden Series 2" - funny but very fanservicy with a turn to the serious in season 2 (a very good turn to the serious; season 2 is much better than season 1.) Also worth watching for the interactions of Hydra and Akina that lead to the one composite character in anime that depends for its strength and existence on how antagonistic towards each other the components feel (rather than the more normal "friendship and love" being required.)

"Orphen Series 2" - a terrible sequel best avoided.

"He is my Master" - Occasionally funny but mostly the fetishist end of fanservice. For the curious only (which I was, to my slight shame, at one point.)

"To Love Ru" - a terrible adaptation of a very good source Manga. Occasionally the quality shows through, but it's definitely not a show to start an anime viewing career with.

"Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok" - average but inoffensive. And ends with threads unresolved and on an effective semi-cliffhanger as the anime stops just as the second series of the Manga starts. Very lightweight too.

"Angel Beats" - almost certainly one of the three most recommended shows in anime circles that's available on Prime. Despite only being 13 episodes I found that it dragged; however, other people consider it one of Japan's recent "masterpieces".

"Destiny of the Shrine Maiden" - avoid. I honest to God cannot believe I watched this dreck.

"This Ugly Yet Beautiful World" - another series with beautiful character design, a decent build-up, likeable characters...and a let-down Gainax ending. Gainax trying too hard for an anniversary show. Still worth watching if you're into anime though.

"Kamisama Dolls" - a surprisingly enjoyable show from a recent season. Might even be worth watching if you're new to anime, especially at only a season's worth. It was one of my favourite shows of recent seasons.

"Taisho Baseball Girls." - the summary on Amazon says it all. Girls trying to do a "boys" activity in the traditional Taisho era. As with the above series, surprisingly enjoyable, albeit quite slow and measured. Probably not a good idea for an introductory show, but worth a look as something a bit different to the "standard" anime fare.

[Monoriu]

Angel Beats is one of my most favourite anime shows.  This is yet another masterpiece based on a Key Visual Arts work, on par with Clannad in terms of quality.  Whereas Clannad has 44 episodes plus OVAs, Angel Beats only has 13 episodes plus one OVA, so it is easier to get into.

The entire story takes place in the afterlife.  The male protagonist is dead and he meets Yuri, pictured on the right.  She and other students are on a mission to fight god and god's representative, Angel (girl on left), in this world.  Angel's goal is not immediately apparent, but she is seen alone and is often engaged in battle with all other students. 

The story is full of both funny and depressing moments.  The show effectively controls my emotions the moment I start watching it.  I'll never forget the ending, and I frequently rewatch it.  I particularly love three songs in this show: My Soul, Your Beats (opening), Brave Song (ending), and The Most Precious Treasure (insert song for the ending scene, also the best among the three).  I hesitate to post the youtube links as they contain massive spoilers.  Also superb performance by Kana Hanazawa (as Angel), arguably one of the most popular seiyuus in Japan right now. 

[Lettow77]

 I was a bit incredulous to hear these submissions for what constitutes depressing anime, but I thought i'd throw my ring in the hat.

Aoi Bungaku

Aoi Bungaku, loosely translated to "Evergreen Literature", is actually several series in one, with different creative staff, artistic styles, and source material. Therefore the quality is necessarily uneven, but while not uniform, uncommonly excellent. Each arc is the animation of a piece of Japanese literature, and can make for an excellent entryway for the uninitiated; Forewards and afterwards address the circumstances of the author and his story.

The troubled Osamu Dazai is the flagship of the series; of the twelve episodes, six are given over to his works: No Longer Human, and Run, Melos!  The stories are each in their own way interesting, but the directors in some cases clearly felt the challenge to breathe new life into them for a new audience, and took interesting creative liberties.

The stories:
No Longer Human deals with social alienation, rejection and issues of self worth spiraling into self-abuse in many forms. Osamu Dazai was something of a suicide enthusiast, attempting it close to a dozen times before success, and this work is largely biographical. An unsettling and beautiful piece, and (in my opinion) the best Aoi Bungaku has to offer.

in the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom - in the 12th century, a mountain bandit accosts a merchant and steals his beautiful, refined wife; This is the beginning of all his problems.

Kokoro- A complex tale that animation and new direction assists the most. Set in 1914 Japan, it is a busy work that at its heart could be called a love triangle. Of course, there are two sides to every story..

Run, Melos!- An adaptation of ancient greek Legend, Dazai wrote this during his flirtation with the western world and reflections on friendship. Dramatic and excellently told, with a fresh layer of subtext.

Hell Screen!- A great tyrant contracts an artist to immortalize his grandeur, but the artist's conscience gets in the way of creating his propaganda. What he wants to draw instead would certainly cost him his head, so anything he created would necessarily be elegiac in nature.

The Spider's Thread: Buddhist moralism. A wicked man is cast into hell, but finds a flicker of redemption in the one good deed of his life; suffering a spider to rest unmolested in its web. From even one good deed salvation can be found, but the road is fraught with perils entirely of one's own creation.

[Monoriu]

Recommend osmething that is availble on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or that crunchy roll thing. It can't be depressing.  Or stupid.

Looking at what's available for "free" on Amazon Prime page at Amazon.com there's a lot of stuff that I've enjoyed, but not a lot of stuff that I'd recommend as someone's opening experience.

The best thing there is probably "Elfen Lied", but that's almost as depressing as anime gets. Although I note that "Clannad", which Monoriu recommends but that I've never seen, also appears to be available.

"Rahxephon" also has a deeply depressing episode, then compounds it with an "Evangelion Wannabe Mindfuck ending".

If Amazon Prime has the subtitled as well as dubbed versions, the first season of "Orphen" might be worth a look given the deeply satisfying ending. Unfortunately there's a few dud episodes in the 26. If it's just the dub, forget it.

I'd recommend "Mahoromatic", except for the fact that what they describe as season 1 is actually season 2 so will make no sense whatsoever to a new viewer.  Plus compared to the Manga the ending both jars and sucks in typical Gainax fashion. Plus the Manga ending doesn't make the most powerful existence shown in the show appear to be a complete prick the way the anime ending does.

-------------------------------------

As for the other (complete) stuff on there that I've seen (so feel semi-qualified to comment on.) -

"Tears To Tiara" - beautiful character designs but drawn out and episodic (due to its nature as a game adaptation.) Worth viewing later if a liking for anime is discovered.

"UFO Ultramaiden" & "UFO Ultramaiden Series 2" - funny but very fanservicy with a turn to the serious in season 2 (a very good turn to the serious; season 2 is much better than season 1.) Also worth watching for the interactions of Hydra and Akina that lead to the one composite character in anime that depends for its strength and existence on how antagonistic towards each other the components feel (rather than the more normal "friendship and love" being required.)

"Orphen Series 2" - a terrible sequel best avoided.

"He is my Master" - Occasionally funny but mostly the fetishist end of fanservice. For the curious only (which I was, to my slight shame, at one point.)

"To Love Ru" - a terrible adaptation of a very good source Manga. Occasionally the quality shows through, but it's definitely not a show to start an anime viewing career with.

"Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok" - average but inoffensive. And ends with threads unresolved and on an effective semi-cliffhanger as the anime stops just as the second series of the Manga starts. Very lightweight too.

"Angel Beats" - almost certainly one of the three most recommended shows in anime circles that's available on Prime. Despite only being 13 episodes I found that it dragged; however, other people consider it one of Japan's recent "masterpieces".

"Destiny of the Shrine Maiden" - avoid. I honest to God cannot believe I watched this dreck.

"This Ugly Yet Beautiful World" - another series with beautiful character design, a decent build-up, likeable characters...and a let-down Gainax ending. Gainax trying too hard for an anniversary show. Still worth watching if you're into anime though.

"Kamisama Dolls" - a surprisingly enjoyable show from a recent season. Might even be worth watching if you're new to anime, especially at only a season's worth. It was one of my favourite shows of recent seasons.

"Taisho Baseball Girls." - the summary on Amazon says it all. Girls trying to do a "boys" activity in the traditional Taisho era. As with the above series, surprisingly enjoyable, albeit quite slow and measured. Probably not a good idea for an introductory show, but worth a look as something a bit different to the "standard" anime fare.

Of this list, I've only completed Angel Beats and Clannad.  I don't have the heart to watch Elfen Lied.  Only watched a scene here and a scene there.  I have nothing against gornfests, but this is clearly one.  Viewers should expect (half) nudity, internal organs, and lots and lots of blood.  It does its job of presenting a depressing story about little girls cursed with superpowers brilliantly.  My stomach turns whenever I *try to* watch this one.  Excellent opening song, Lilium, that deserves a place in the anime music hall of fame. 

To Love Ru.  This is a very fanservice series.  (Half) nudity, lots of boobs and like a dozen female characters falling for a nice-guy protagonist harem set-up, etc.  I abandoned it after a few episodes, as I watched it primarily for Haruka Tomatsu's performance.  I only watched like 4 episodes, so take my comments with a grain of salt. 

Never even heard of the others 

[Monoriu]

BTW, there is a new anime series called Gokukoku no Brynhildr coming up in April 2014.  Fans should note that this show is based on a manga by the same author as Elfen Lied.  I am going to follow it.  From the very limited info that I've read, this one is as depressing as Elfen Lied 

[Darth Wagtaros]

Clannad was depressing. I liked it, but it was depressing.

[Agelastus]

Never even heard of the others 

Probably because half the titles have been Americanised; I had to check further into a couple of them to see if they were really the things I'd watched!

Even more amusingly, some of them have been renamed subsequent to their original American release; the dreck that I posted that I could not believe I'd watched (or, to be honest bought) has a very different title on the cover of my copy.

Take "UFO Ultramaiden" from the list. That was originally released in the USA as "UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie". The original Japanese title actually translates as "UFO Princess Valkyrie".

And I've just realised I missed a series from my list, precisely because of this rampant renaming.

"Samurai Girls" - enjoyable fanservice set in a parallel reality Japan with a reasonable amount of plot. Good animation and character design as well. However, once again not a show that I'd recommend as a "first series" for a prospective anime viewer.

[Monoriu]

The female lead Misuzu of the show Air, a short but very well known show with 12 episodes, 2 OVA episodes and 1 movie.  A trevelling show-man walks the earth in order to continue his family tradition of searching for the "girl in the sky".  He thinks he may have found her when he meets the girl above. 

The show is once again based on a visual novel developed by Key Visuals Arts, a company that specialises in the art of making people cry.  Like Clannad, this is based on the male lead helping various girls with tragic backstories formula, this time without the school setting.  Rivers of tears have been shed around the world as a result.  The plot is not straightforward by any means and some rewatching maybe necessary to understand it.  It is however excellent as a show with extremely emotional and depressing scenes.  Considered one of the 4 masterpieces of Key (Clannad, Air, Angel Beats and Kanon). 

I also have to mention the opening song, Bird's Poem.  The song is commonly considered in Japan to be the "Anthem for Anime", with good reason. 

Don't scroll down to see the youtube comments if you don't want to be spoiled. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp56vlR-_5A

Aozora (literally, blue sky), insert song for the ending episode.  This song plus the "goal" scene tend to have the effect of completely breaking people down. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJXEyfyNyac

[Monoriu]

Just finished watching Vision of Escaflowne, a 90s mecha classic.  Hitomi, an ordinary school girl somehow enters a fantasy world of a medieval setting mixed with mechas and flying fortresses.  She must find a way to help her new friends there in the fight against an evil empire, and to go back home.  Sometimes described as a "Macross with divination instead of songs".

Two things inspired me to watch it - (1) I am a huge fan of Yoko Kanno, one of the best composers for games/anime music in Japan, and she scored the music for this show and (2) this is the debut role of then 16-year old Maaya Sakamoto as Hitomi.  These are related as this was the first time that Sakamoto performed the songs written by Kanno.  The two would form a long-lasting relationship from this point on, with Sakamoto being the designated singer for Kanno.  I consider Sakamoto as the seiyuu with probably the most gifted voice in the industry.  Considering that this is an industry packed with the best female voices in Japan...

The story is decent and it compares well with other mecha shows, though it is not on the same level as, say, Gundam Seed.  The visual style feels a bit archaic by now, but the animation quality has withstood the test of time.  Nose fetishists should note that almost everybody in this show has proper noses.  26 episodes and 1 movie.  There are at least 4 OST CDs released for such a short show. 

[Monoriu]

I honestly have no idea how the subtitle groups sustain themselves.  Judging from the credits, subbing an episode requires the efforts of around 5-6 people.  Translation, timing, editing, distribution, somehow obtaining a good source of the video from Japan, working with computer file formats, some minor effects (like adding their logos to the videos). 

They are fast.  They usually get the finished product out within like 4-12 hours of a show airing in Japan.  They are dedicated.  One subbing group has been doing the One Piece anime for 15 years straight.  The folks were probably students 15 years ago and had the time.  They are probably married and have full-time jobs by now.  They are still doing it, and yes, around 4-6 hours after the show has been aired in Japan.  They care.  A lot of subbing groups don't just release the episode and be done with it.  They fix errors, add notes explaining the Japanese cultural backgrounds to certain terms or the gag used, etc.  It is a lot of work.  A lot of anime are late night shows, broadcast in 1-2am in the morning, Japanese time.  That means those folks have to stay up during the night for release in the morning.  The translation quality is generally very good. 

And I don't even know why they do it.  Some of them do try to make money out of it.  Advertisements on their sites.  This probably helps a bit, but most of the time they use third party websites for distribution, for both legal and bandwidth reasons.  Selling CDs (some people don't have the bandwidth to download a 250GB show like Dragonball).  Only works for shows with a huge number of episodes.  One group inserts TV advertisements into the video (I avoid them).  Donations.  No idea how much they get, but I know for certain that I have never donated and will never do so. 

[Josquius]

Yeah, its weird, doesn't really make logical sense. I guess they have competition amongst themselves and that's why they do it?

[celedhring]

American shows get subtitles within minutes of being aired, in multiple languages and all for free. It isn't something exclusive to anime, a lot of people just have a lot of time in their hands and are huge fans of these shows.

I suppose it gives you online street cred to get a lot of downloads of your subtitles.

[Monoriu]

Any love for Sword Art Online here?



Based on a best selling light novel in Japan.  Technology now allows full immersion into a medieval fantasy style massive online RPG.  But a game developer has decided to trap 10,000 players within his creation.  He refuses to let the players log out, unless one of them clears all 100 levels of the game and kills the final boss.  Death in the game world means death in the real world.  The show takes the view point of Kirito (left).  He is basically a lone hero who loves doing one-man crusades to solve all his problems. 

This is a very serious show with potentially very depressing moments, and people do die for real.  Due to the deaths, it has a much more serious tone than other "Trapped in a game world" shows, e.g. Log Horizon.  Legendary music composer Yuki Kajiura scored the music (she is my no. 1, Yoko Kanno is no. 2.  She also scored the music for shows like Noir, Madoka Magica, Fate Zero, and many other shows).  The OST Swordland + Kirito's awesome one-man crusades = win

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byFkvbz2Za0

The show has two arcs.  The first arc is, in my opinion, hall of fame material.  I still fondly remember the days when I would get up at 6am on Sunday mornings because I couldn't wait any longer to watch it.  The story of the second arc is still enjoyable, but I think it is not as good as the first one.  25 episodes plus 1 2-hour TV special (recaps with some new scenes).

2nd season has been announced and will hopefully air within 2014.  The most important point is that Miyuki Sawashiro will voice the female lead this time.  Haruka Tomatsu as Asuna (girl on the right in the pic) is superb but I have every reason to believe that Sawashiro will be a total win. 

[Siege]

Attack on Titan is on Netflix streaming. I've found it to be enjoyable nightmare-fuel so far.

Oh shit, I'll get it right now!!!

[Siege]

Ok. Attack on titan is in my list.
Is there any other anime I must see that is in Netflix?

And I mean adult anime, as in adult topics, not childish crap like Trigun or Heaven's lost property.
Spice and the fox was a disappointment too, despite the medieval setting.