The Anime Thread

[MadImmortalMan]

My son likes Robotech. I may put him up for adoption.

Minmei is a selfish shit.

[MadImmortalMan]

Also, Lucas ripped off the first episode for the space battle in Ep1.

[Monoriu]

I have only watched the original Macross.  I have absolutely no idea why anybody can commit the horror of combining unrelated anime shows into a single show, like Robotech. 

[Admiral Yi]

A twist!

[Josquius]

I have only watched the original Macross.  I have absolutely no idea why anybody can commit the horror of combining unrelated anime shows into a single show, like Robotech. 

I've never actually seen robotech.
But non literal adaptations of foreign animation was quite popular back in the day.
One of the big shows of British childhoods of several generations is the magic roundabout. Originally a French show,  the BBC then bought the rights to an English version and famously totally ignored the French scripts and wrote their own based on what was happening on the screen.   

It isn't too long ago that this stopped to think.  Plenty of Japanese playstation games,  persona a prominent example,  had efforts made to Americanise them in their localisation.

[Duque de Bragança]

But non literal adaptations of foreign animation was quite popular back in the day.
One of the big shows of British childhoods of several generations is the magic roundabout. Originally a French show,  the BBC then bought the rights to an English version and famously totally ignored the French scripts and wrote their own based on what was happening on the screen.   

For once, it's not Mongers recalling an old French show. 
Did they do it on drugs or other mind-altering substances? 

That's Le Manège Enchanté right?

[viper37]

Just watched the Albator movie.

Not bad, but I don't know why they used most of the english names for the French dub.  Why not keep the names of the original characters?  Why not "Atlantis" instead of "Arkadia"?  "Atlantis!  Ascencionne!"  sounded so much cooler

[Duque de Bragança]

Just watched the Albator movie.

Not bad, but I don't know why they used most of the english names for the French dub.  Why not keep the names of the original characters?  Why not "Atlantis" instead of "Arkadia"?  "Atlantis!  Ascencionne!"  sounded so much cooler

Some anime fans want to forget Albator used to be called a Japanese cartoon so now they only want (ne jurent que par) Captain Herlock and Arcadia. 
Captain Herlock is itself an adaptation of the original Japanese (no l in Japanese).
Darker Albator right?

[viper37]

Darker Albator right?

Yes, much darker, made for an older audience for sure.

[Josquius]

I finally saw Your Name.

It....was decent.
Though to be honest I expected so much more considering its immense popularity and success.
It was good...but....yeah. Some spoilery points:

[spoiler]
1: I wonder what the development of this film was like. It really seems to me that it would have been much better set in the mid 20th century. This would have explained the obvious issue.... Why didn't they just email themselves/the other person from the get go? As soon as they realise its not a dream and some real switching has happened they should have instantly sought out the other person, which is easy to do online. Instead they wait until fairly late.
It would also have explained the town where the girl lives. Very traditional and pristine. Full of kids. Not the kind of place one sees these days.
I really wonder if it was once the intention to have it set in a Ghibliesque era but they changed to be more commercial.
2: An explanation for the above...the fuzzy memories of their time as each other....this sort of thing just isn't explained.
The girl I was watching it with (who wasn't impressed at all by the film) is very into hippy spiritualist stuff and she found more issue with the lack of even basic explanation than me.
3: The ending where they do meet...it felt kind of bolted on. It dragged (speaking of which how slow is that comet...). It felt that they were going to end in a melancholic Donnie Darko sort of way where he saves the girl but is doomed never to know her. But no.
4: I saw the twist coming a mile away. A possible defence was that they were both using modern phones, but still...seemed obvious it wasn't straightforward and the sight of the town and the temple area...instantly brought to mind meteor impacts.
On the meteor I do wonder if this is related to their situation, could have been something to be explored. The girl's town has 2 meteor impact sites (or volcano caldera. Or suspiciously crater-esque basins of other sorts) and then after the comet hits the one lake joins into two...felt that was related somehow.
[/spoiler]
5: The style is strange. Its a anime movie but acts a lot more like a anime series at times. The soundtrack feels pretty unnatural.

I will say that I loved the watashi/watakushi/boku/ore bit.

[Monoriu]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.  This is a multi-generational epic about the Joestar family's never-ending struggles with vampires and other supernatural beings.  The show is divided into very distinct arcs, each focusing on a different generation of the Joestar family.  It is based on a very popular and long-running manga that began in the 80s. 

JoJo is fundamentally a shonen fight series that focuses on one-on-one battles.  Each battle is usually 1-2 episodes long.  The series is from a bygone era where most of the fights were done by males, and the females' job was to be rescued.  The show feels very masculine, flamboyant and over-the-top.  Guys fight, play knights in shining armour, pursue the girls of their dreams.  It is completely different from today's anime where the women fight just as well as the men, the protagonist is often wimpy, idiotic or oblivious to love.
 
The introduction of the "Stand" concept in Part 3 greatly lifted the quality of the show.  Each character has a unique familiar that fights and grants special abilities, and this allows much greater variety.  What really impressed me is that the bulk of the fights are determined by trickery and clever application of the unique abilities.  Not that many fights are decided by who screams the loudest or asspulls.  Some "fights" are actually poker games, video games, rock-paper-scissor games, etc.  The fact that JoJo is a long-running series with no real anime adaptation until recently helps immensely.  The anime producers have a huge amount of material to work with, there is no filler, and the pacing is right. 

A great series that has a somewhat slow start, but eventually gets very interesting. 

[Monoriu]

The layout of this series can be confusing.  The series is divided into very distinct parts, with each part depicting a different generation of characters.  Due to the 30-year publishing history, the show has many instalments, and they do not always correspond to the story parts.  Here is a quick summary. 

1993 OVA version, 6 episodes.  This is on the second half of Part 3, Stardust Crusaders.  Yes, second half.
2000 OVA version, 7 episodes.  This is actually the first half of Part 3.  It is recommended that these two OVA series should be watched in chronological, not release, order. 

2007 Movie.  This is on part 1, Phantom Blood, but the movie is such a dismal failure that no DVD or BD has ever been released.  There is a "16 minute" incomplete version that floats around the internet, but otherwise the only way to have watched it was to be present in Japanese cinemas when it was screened.

Starting from 2012, the (infinitely wise) powers that be decided to start a TV series from the beginning. 
2012 TV series (26 episodes).  This covered Part 1 (Phantom Blood) and Part 2 (Battle Tendency)
2014 TV series (24 episodes).  This is the first half of Part 3, Stardust Crusaders.
2015 TV series (24 episodes).  Also known as the "Egypt Chapter".  The second half of Part 3.
2016 TV series (39 episodes).  Part 4, Unbreakable Diamond. 

The best way to watch this is to start from 2012 and ignore the earlier entries.  If you insist in watching everything, as I do, then I suggest watching the 1993 and 2000 OVAs after watching the 2014 and 2015 anime. 

[jimmy olsen]

I've been reading the Gamer, a Korean manwha, about a high school student who suddenly gains the powers of a game character and enters into an underground supernatural society. Pretty good.

http://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/the-gamer/ep-1/viewer?title_no=88&episode_no=1

[Syt]

Started watching Akame Ga Kill on Netflix. On the one hand rather bloody and dark. On the other, teenage coming of age silliness and lots of fan service. Why do animes so often insist on creating mood whiplash?

[Monoriu]

The Spring 2017 anime season is about to begin.  A very busy season with lots of sequels.  Can't wait for Attack on Titan Season 2 after so many years.  Beware of spoilers of previous seasons in the trailers. 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pl75nXkOfg

Attack on Titan Season 2.  Possibly the most anticipated anime sequel ever.  Man-eating titans have taken over the world, and humanity has retreated to a single city behind giant walls.  The main cast has joined the Survey Corp in an attempt to learn more about the titans.  Season 1 was about the titan invasion of parts of the city, and the Survey Corp's battles. 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JJ2b4ZsCw0

Boruto.  Yes, if it sounds like and looks like Naruto, it is deliberate.  The Naruto anime finally ended a few days ago after 720 episodes.  Boruto is the story of the Naruto main cast's children.  The manga is drawn by the Naruto manga artist's assistant.  There is already a Boruto movie.  Not sure what the relationship with the TV anime is. 



Natsume's Book of Friends Season 6.  This is a slice-of-life style, heartwarming and mellow show about Natsume's life.  He has inherited his grandmother's spiritual powers and her "book of friends".  She picked fights with all sorts of wandering spirits, took their names and put them in the book to set up a master/servant relationship.  Natsume's goal is to return the names to the spirits.   



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8kNE02SpiM

Berserk 2017.  Berserk is a dark fantasy revenge story of Guts against his former commanding officer when he was a mercenary.  It has one of the most horrific settings in anime, and is not for the faint of heart.  The latest anime adaptation is known for its liberal use of computer generated graphics. 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJkeQs6tBwo

My Hero Academy Season 2.  This is one of the best new shonen fight shows to come out of Japan in recent years, and is considered a worthy successor to Naruto (a lot more so than Boruto).  In this comic book style world, most people have some kind of superpower.  Villains use theirs to do bad things, and it is up to the heroes to stop them.  Midoriya is one of the few born without such powers, but he is determined to become a hero.