The Anime Thread

[Monoriu]

I saw it in cinemas.  Fun little film.  Doesn't feel like typical, serious and grand Ghibli fair.  Everything is scaled down a bit, including production values and story-telling.  But still, it is better than most things out there.  I love the theme song.

[Monoriu]

Kancolle the Movie, or Fleet Girl Collection the Movie.  Based on a very popular web browser game in which WWII warships are depicted as cute girls (don't ask).  The personified warships loosely correlate with what happened to them in real life.  Ships that were blown up accidentally in real life are unlucky in the game, for example.  A 12-episode TV anime was released some time ago.  The Movie is a sequel to the TV version. 

As with the TV anime, the Movie is a mixed bag.  The animation is better than the TV version, as is the norm with movies in general.  The mood is much more serious and consistent, instead of the mood whiplash in the TV version where they mourn the loss of a colleague in one episode and have a curry cooking contest in another.  Some of the battle sequences are nice and intense.  There is some plot advancement as the origins of the Fleet Girls and their enemies are finally explored in detail.  All the main heroines are there and there is something for everybody. 

But the animation is sometimes inconsistent, and the plot is meh.  The battles don't seem to help the story much and are only there as eye candy.  Even that would have been acceptable as long as it is good eye candy.  But in this case the expensive to make battle scenes are few and far in between.  All the major characters have a chance to show their best move, but one has to wonder if the ships are there only because they need to satisfy all the different fan groups.  I can't help but again compare this with Girls und Panzer, another show with a crazy premise that combines military and cute girls.  The Girls und Panzer movie simply skips the story and focuses on the battles, and it does this aspect extremely well.  The battles are lengthy, the animation is top notch, and the tank tactics are entertaining.  The Girls und Panzer producers have passion to create the best battle scenes for a movie that has a shot at the halls of fame.  The Kancolle movie makers put in the minimum amount of battle scenes and animation budget so the movie has just enough eye candy to sell. 

[Savonarola]

I was back in Detroit a couple weeks ago for the wedding of my cousin.  She was born in Korea and adopted by my aunt and uncle; her now mother-in-law is also from Korea.  They had their wedding in an old print shop in Detroit's New Center which has since been converted to a reception hall.  It was a neat wedding, my cousin made her own bridal dress, a traditional Korean dress for the mother of the groom and her bridesmaid's dresses (apparently without considering the body proportions of the one white bridesmaid.)

They really love Asian popular culture.  They had a reading from Full Metal Alchemist the other was the lyrics to a K-Pop song.  Their rings were kept in a Pokeball and both their vows contained the phrase "I choose you."  I was told some of their vows were taken from Assassin's Creed as well, but I don't know anything about that.

Another one of my cousins (the psychologist turned yoga instructor) officiated the ceremony.  She's a couple years older than I am and she doesn't even watch television.  So when they explained the wedding concept to her she tried to watch their favorite shows and totally didn't get it; so her ceremony was mostly an uplifting yoga pep-talk.

Oh, and the best man was a dog.

Fortunately there was Soju.  Anyhow it was a wonderfully weird experience sort of a second industrial revolution Blade Runner with catchy K-pop songs.

[Monoriu]

Remake of Legend of Galactic Heroes has been announced.  PV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLzaEjzvjD0

First season to be aired in April 2018.

[Jacob]

I was back in Detroit a couple weeks ago for the wedding of my cousin.  She was born in Korea and adopted by my aunt and uncle; her now mother-in-law is also from Korea.  They had their wedding in an old print shop in Detroit's New Center which has since been converted to a reception hall.  It was a neat wedding, my cousin made her own bridal dress, a traditional Korean dress for the mother of the groom and her bridesmaid's dresses (apparently without considering the body proportions of the one white bridesmaid.)

They really love Asian popular culture.  They had a reading from Full Metal Alchemist the other was the lyrics to a K-Pop song.  Their rings were kept in a Pokeball and both their vows contained the phrase "I choose you."  I was told some of their vows were taken from Assassin's Creed as well, but I don't know anything about that.

Another one of my cousins (the psychologist turned yoga instructor) officiated the ceremony.  She's a couple years older than I am and she doesn't even watch television.  So when they explained the wedding concept to her she tried to watch their favorite shows and totally didn't get it; so her ceremony was mostly an uplifting yoga pep-talk.

Oh, and the best man was a dog.

Fortunately there was Soju.  Anyhow it was a wonderfully weird experience sort of a second industrial revolution Blade Runner with catchy K-pop songs.

That's amazing.

As long as they're happy - and it sounds like you were entertained by the whole thing too. And, of course, Soju.

[Josquius]

As a guilty pleasure it seems they've made new dragonball. Dragonball super.
It's pretty same old. Same guy saves the day always. Racially superior beings are so much better humans needn't even try.
But fun.

I've tried an episode or two of some other series. Haven't discovered one that clicks yet. It has been a while.

[Savonarola]

That's amazing.

As long as they're happy - and it sounds like you were entertained by the whole thing too. And, of course, Soju.

I had a good time.

I assume that one day they'll look back and wonder "What the hell were we thinking?" when they look at their wedding photos; but that's years away, after they've turned into their parents.   

Anyhow I'm disappointed the Languish Haters didn't have anything to add.  I posted this just for you.   

[Malthus]

That's amazing.

As long as they're happy - and it sounds like you were entertained by the whole thing too. And, of course, Soju.

I had a good time.

I assume that one day they'll look back and wonder "What the hell were we thinking?" when they look at their wedding photos; but that's years away, after they've turned into their parents.   

Anyhow I'm disappointed the Languish Haters didn't have anything to add.  I posted this just for you.   

Heh, you are lucky, having an Anime-flavored wedding that resembled Blade Runner with catchy K-pop songs.

With my in-laws, I get weddings that more resemble Eastern Promises.

With Russian pop songs that sort of resemble being interrogated by the KGB. And with wedding entertainment provided by really bad cross-dressers (apparently, like the Brits used to, ex-Soviet types think that guys badly cross-dressing is screamingly funny).   

[Savonarola]

Heh, you are lucky, having an Anime-flavored wedding that resembled Blade Runner with catchy K-pop songs.

With my in-laws, I get weddings that more resemble Eastern Promises.

With Russian pop songs that sort of resemble being interrogated by the KGB. And with wedding entertainment provided by really bad cross-dressers (apparently, like the Brits used to, ex-Soviet types think that guys badly cross-dressing is screamingly funny).

Look at the bright side, at least progroms are no longer part of the traditional Ukrainian wedding.  That might have been awkward.



Some years ago when CB worked at Nissan we went to one of her co-workers got married in a Serbian Rite Catholic Church.  They weren't fresh off the boat, so there wasn't any Serbian pop songs or anything like that, but it was a dry wedding.  So I packed a cooler full Labatts and CB and her coworkers tailgated in the church parking lot after the ceremony.  The priest was none too happy with us, but it was a delightful wedding.

[Monoriu]

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale.   Finally, the popular series that arguably popularised the whole "trapped in a game world" concept got a movie.  It assumes familiarity of the anime, especially its first season.  The story takes place after the end of the second TV season.  It is quite successful at the box office, opening first in Japan and beating many mainstream entries.  While the two seasons deal with virtual reality where players' consciousness are transferred to a virtual world, Ordinal Scale is about augmented reality.  Players stay in the real world but see fantasy visuals augmented by a machine.  In the movie, an AR game has taken Japan by storm.  But there seems sinister movies behind the game as SAO survivors are specifically targetted and invited to join various game events. 

I have somewhat mixed feelings about the movie.  It certainly isn't great.  There are blatant plotholes and too many aspects don't stand up to scrutiny.  The visuals are decent but aren't cutting edge.  Most members of the protagonists' circle in the anime make an appearance in the movie, but most of them don't do much.  The fights are straightforward affairs that don't involve much strategy. 

Yet it somehow works as a whole.  It captures the charm of the original series and makes full use of the Aincrad setting.  There is an effective mystery plot that pulls the audience to go along until the end.  It fulfills a tiny little bit of the unfulfilled potential of season one by showing onscreen the final floor of the world and many of the unseen floor bosses.  It is a proper sequel that adds to the lore of the series, rather than filler crap that feels a forced add-on.  I, as a fan and veteran of the SAO series, feel plenty of nostalgia.  There is a sequel hook at the end that seems to keep the series alive. 

SAO isn't for everyone.  But fans of the series should be happy with the movie.   

[Monoriu]

Made in Abyss.  The Abyss is an enormous cave system that extends thousands of miles into the earth.  Inside are artifacts of enormous power, fantastic and often hostile creatures, and a curse that affects anybody who ascends.  Lots of people aspire to be cave raiders that solve the mystery of the Abyss once and for all.  Rico is an orphan who has basically no fighting skills.  One day she encounters a powerful robot that seems to originate from deep inside the Abyss.  She decides to team up with the robot to go after her mother, a legendary cave raider long thought to have perished in the Abyss. 

This is the surprise hit of the previous season, and one of the best shows that I have watched in a while.  A very detailed and complex world, interesting characters drawn in the puni-plush style, and lush and rich backgrounds that remind me of Ghibli movies.  The story-telling benefits from...memorable antagonists along the way, and somewhat...realistic portrayals of the dangers and body injuries that the children protagonists face. 

What I am really trying to say is that, despite the cutesy characters and colourful world, this can legitimately be classified as a horror show.  It contains some of the most disturbing and horrifying scenes I have watched in anime.  Physical injuries are depicted in great and nightmarish detail.  There is no attempt to shy away from showcasing onscreen the stomach-turning treatment of the characters who are mostly children.  The scenes in question have consequences and really serve to show how dangerous the journey is and make the viewers afraid to "turn the page". 

Another reason why this show isn't for everybody is because the source author has a tendency to use implied child nudity as a basis for comic relief.  While there is absolutely nothing close to being explicit, there are jokes surrounding the sexual organs of the robot, for example. 

If you have no problem with all that, this is a contender for anime of the year. 

[viper37]

Remake of Legend of Galactic Heroes has been announced.  PV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLzaEjzvjD0

First season to be aired in April 2018.

the link doesn't work, but reading about it makes me excited a little

[Monoriu]

Remake of Legend of Galactic Heroes has been announced.  PV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLzaEjzvjD0

First season to be aired in April 2018.

the link doesn't work, but reading about it makes me excited a little

Try this -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXEm5aaWHgI

In other news, there are lots of announcements about sequels.  Sword Art Online will get two new shows.  The Underworld arc will receive an anime adaptation, and a spin off about the Gun Gale Online arc will also be shown on TV.  A Certain Magical Index will get a season 3 after hod knows how many years.  One Punch Man, Attack on Titan, Overlord, Seven Deadly Sins, Full Metal Panic, My Hero Academia and Fairy Tail should all get sequels.  Something is happening to Code Geass, but I am not sure.  They have announced some compilation movies but I think there seems to be a bit more than that. 

[Monoriu]

These are the shows that I plan to watch in the Autumn 2017 season (Oct - Dec).  Not that many shows interest me this season, sadly.



UQ Holder.  This takes a bit of explaining.  Once upon a time there was a show called Negima.  Negima is a 10 year old school teacher who is secretly a magic user.  He teachers a class of more than 30 middle school female students that includes a 700 year old vampire, a robot, a time-traveller, a ghost, etc.  It may look like a harem show at first but it is actually a decent magical adventure series.  The source manga was abruptly cut short due to copyright issues.  The anime adaptation is probably one of the worst adaptations in anime history.  They only adapted bits and pieces of the story here and there, and the anime stories are often completely different from the source material.  UQ Holder is the sequel to Negima that takes place decades after the original story, but many of the original characters return (e.g. the vampire).  I have very low expectations for this show and the only reason I am watching it is for nostalgia. 



Gintama.  This is a long-running anime show with 328 episodes already broadcast.  It is a show that constantly zig zags between totally wacky and crazy elements that only serve to make people laugh and (somewhat) serious samurai stories with philosophical babbling about friendship and loyalty.  Depending on how you count, this is season 5.  I am on episode 313 right now and I should have caught up with the latest episode some time in the next few weeks. 



Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Washio Sumi Chapter.  Prequel story to Yuki Yuna is a Hero, another magical girl show with a dark twist, or Madoka copycat. 

[viper37]

Remake of Legend of Galactic Heroes has been announced.  PV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLzaEjzvjD0

First season to be aired in April 2018.

the link doesn't work, but reading about it makes me excited a little

Try this -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXEm5aaWHgI

Looks really nice.
Buzz me when it's out and with an english dub.