The Anime Thread

[Monoriu]

Why would you do that? Naruto and big series like that have so many shitty filer episodes because they keep catching up to the manga. If you like Naruto, or Bleach or One Piece read the manga.

I've tried to read manga, but for some reason I am just not into the format.  I am pretty much anime only. 

I have done all the 600+ episodes, and all the OVAs and movies for One Piece.  It is actually pretty enjoyable overall, despite the slow pace.  There are ups and downs in such a big series.  The best arcs (Alabasta, Water 7, Paramount War etc) are outstanding.  One Piece doesn't have a lot of filler.  They've made a decision to do 1 manga chapter per episode, so they won't catch up.  Naruto is riddled with filler, but not every filler episode is total crap.  Some are, some are not.  The non-filler episodes are very good, generally. 

Bleach is 300+ episodes, and they have stopped doing the anime.  It is sitting in my HDD.  I'll do it after Naruto 

[Agelastus]

And now for something a little different.  My anime taste is quite mainstream.  I usually stick to the popular stuff.  Scrapped Princess is less known.



I have no idea why this isn't more popular.  The story is about a princess who is abandoned by her family and hunted by the whole world.  There is a prophecy since the day she was born that she will destroy the world.  The story is about her, with the help of her adopted siblings and other allies, attempts to escape her hunters and to unearth the conspiracy behind.  Having watched the show, my impression is that no sane human being can guess the true motive for hunting her.  The plot is intriguing, the artwork puts a lot of popular shows to shame, there is an effective series of emotional punches that leave a lasting impression, and the voice work of the three leads is amazing (Fumiko Orikasa, Shin-ichiro Miki, Sayaka Ohara).

Seconded. One of the better series on my anime shelves, and one where the strange mixture of names and references is actually meaningful ("Dustvin" .)

I'd be interested in learning more of its production history; it's structured more like a 13 episode/45minute series than a 26 episode/23 minute series. As a viewer it looks as if broadcast slot plans changed at the last minute.

The Manga, however, is terrible.

[Lettow77]

Aria is a confusing name in anime. "Aria the Scarlet Ammo" exists as a standalone series with no ties to anything else with Aria in the name;

Aria the Animation, Aria the Natural, and Aria the Origination, are three sequential series in the same continuity- effectively one story.

The story is primarily a setting; Neo-Venezia, a vacation spot on the terraformed planet of Mars.



The story is very low-impact, peaceful and free of conflict, and is persistently optimistic and infectiously happy in its outlook, encouraging the viewer to use Neo-Venezia as a sort of funhouse mirror through which we can see our own lives more happily than we did before.

The protagonist is a tour-guide in training; a career introducing the city to visitors is a backdrop by which it is introduced to us. The music is some of the best to be found in Anime, while the technical quality of the animation and illustration increases markedly with each installment of the series. (Having multiple issues in the first series with being off-model and lackluster in general.)

As the series matures, its ever-present subthemes about the passage of time become more personal, and evolve into an understated but powerful message about transience.

[Monoriu]

Lettow, the stuff you post is really an eye-opener to me.  I've never heard of the anime shows that you mentioned.  Very interesting. 

[jimmy olsen]

Black Lagoon



A classic tale of organized crime, piracy and foul mouthed homicidal crazy women set in Thailand in the early 90s.

Rock, a young Monoesque salary-man is kidnapped. His corporation sends mercenaries to kill him and everyone involved because he has information on their sale of nuclear secrets to a rouge state. His quick thinking allows them to turn the table on the pursers and come out victorious. At the end, even though he has a chance to go back to his company and old life, he turns his back on the society that betrayed him and decides to stay with the Black Lagoon company. 

The interaction between the idealistic straight man Rock and the nihilistic Revy is the key to the show. Revy is around 20, half Chinese and grew up in ghetto in NYC. She's an unstoppable killing machine.

"Rock, if you think about it, other than this, what do we really value in life? God? Love? Don't make me laugh. When I was a brat, crawling around in that shithole city, it seemed God and Love were always sold out when I went looking. Before I knew better, I clung to God and prayed to Him every single night — yeah, I believed in God right up until that night the cops beat the hell out of me for no reason at all. All they saw when they looked at me was another little ghetto rat. With no power and no God, what's left for a poor little Chinese bitch to rely on? It's money, of course, and guns. Fuckin' A. With these two things, the world's a great place."

With two prominent exceptions, Dutch the Captain of the Lagoon Company and Mr. Chang the local boss of the Triads, this anime features a huge cast of female badasses, most prominent among the a former Spetsnaz officer who fought in Afghanistan that runs the Russian mafia, a nun that deals drugs and guns, and a "maid" that was a former FARC assassin.



Unlike most animes, it has a pretty good dub. Here's episode one.
http://animewaffles.tv/Android-Black-Lagoon-Episode-1-English-Dubbed-16165

If you prefer subtitles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vrfcSKTptE

EDIT: Some good cosplay as well

[Admiral Yi]

Have you ever gotten a boner watching anime Mono?

[Monoriu]

Have you ever gotten a boner watching anime Mono?

Hmm, I do watch porn, and some of the porn is in anime format, if that is what you are asking.  There is a pretty clear line between h-anime and mainstream anime though.  When I watch mainstream anime, I don't go for the fanservice.  Shows that are filled to the brim with fanservice tend to be boring ones, but there are exceptions to this rule. 

[Monoriu]

This reminds me of a story.  Some Japanese voice actresses are mainstream anime only.  Some do h-anime only.  Some do both.  The ones who do both almost always use alternative names for their h-roles.  The Japanese are quite conservative about this, and the voice actresses are not supposed to do both genres. 

A reporter asked a mainstream voice actress about her most memorable role.  Her answer is an h-anime character 

[Monoriu]

Pictured above, the 5 main characters of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

The anime show is one of the most popular ones in the 00s, and has a huge international following.  Amazing achievement considering that there are only 28 episodes and 1 movie.  Japanese high school adventure at its wildest and whackiest.  How whacky?  In its first broadcast run, they broadcast the episodes out of order, just to tell the audience how crazy the show is.  The premise seems boring: 5 characters form a social club and do crazy things together.  But it works.  Very entertaining, very surprising, and very funny at times.  It has to be seen to be believed.  The movie, Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, is a continuation and is even better than the TV series.  A true emotional roller-coaster. 

Legendary production quality.  This is the show that made Kyoto Animation Studio's name.  Star-making roles for two major seiyuus, Aya Hirano and Tomokazu Sugita. 

One word of warning though.  I always watch every episode of an anime show, including fillers.  I did the same for this series, and I immensely regretted that decision.  Seriously, this is the only show where it is not advisable to watch every episode, even though there are only 28 of them.  You'll know what I mean when you get there.  Just...go to the end for the sake of sanity. 

Explanation and spoiler below.

[spoiler]
8 of the episodes are almost identical.  They share nearly the same dialogue, the same scenes, the same plot.  Granted, they are animated from scratch and all the lines are re-recorded each time.  So you have characters doing the same thing, speaking the same lines but wearing differnet clothing, and the camera is from a different angle in those 8 episodes.  It is a trap for the audience, just to tell them how far they are willing to go in this crazy show.  Yes, it caused a huge uproar during its broadcast run and fans almost revolted.   One of the reasons why no sequels are made for this otherwise immensely popular show. If you are new to this series, just watch the 2nd (yes, the 2nd one, not the first) and the last episode in that arc.  That's more than enough. [/spoiler]

[jimmy olsen]

That's a terrible description of what The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is all about.

Kyon is a regular apathetic high school student who gets roped into the SOS brigade by it's eccentric founder, Haruhi Suzumiya. She's obsessed with finding aliens, time travelers and ESPers. Kyon is stunned to discover that unbeknownst to Haruhi that every other member of the club is one of those things. It turns out that Haruhi is a [spoiler]reality warper, a self-actualized god who has subconsciously brought these thing into being throughout the world and the universe through her own desires for a less banal existence. The mission of Kyon and the rest of the club members it to keep her in the dark about her abilities and keep her amused, else if she gets too depressed she may totally rewrite reality in a fit of pique. The eight episodes you were talking about, while it did go on too long, was a time loop caused by Haruhi. [/spoiler]

The first season is definitely one of the greatest animes of all time.

[Josquius]

I love Haruhi Suzumiya. On the surface it seems to be typical fan servicey crap about high school kids. But its actually a pretty awesome and deep science fictiony story.

And yeah. Endless Eight went on way too long. What the hell? They even re-animated most of it too so they didn't save on production...
I really hope that some day the producers speak up on whether they were intending to troll there. I'd love to read more on the reaction at the time.

Which order do you watch it in? Which is best? I stuck with the as broadcast order and though it was tricky at first it worked out and the choice became clear./

I hope once my Japanese is up to scratch to pick up the books.


My reccommendation-

(The Legend of) Black Heaven



Down trodden salaryman lives in a shitty small apartment out in western Tokyo with his wife and young son. In his younger days he had been the lead guitarist of an awesome rock band, but today he just goes to work, goes home, rinse-repeat.
But then in something of a cross between The Last Star Fighter and Macross a bunch of aliens who don't quite understand music recruit him to help fight their war as his guitar playing can power their ultimate weapon.

At first he doesn't understand what is going on and thinks an attractive lady simply wants him to perform somewhere. After each battle he is teleported back to his life. Hijinks ensue as he is caught between the two worlds and eventually comes to realise what is actually happening.

Given Mono has always been Mono I don't think this "Once I had a dream but now I'm nothing" thing is quite him. But I related.

One thing that is interesting about this is the animation. Much of it is in an archaic 1990s style of the type I've not seen for a long while. It was made circa 2000 though so some computer effects do creep in...The animation overall is rather shitty. But the music is great.

[Lettow77]

I see this thread is an uphill struggle.
Hyouge Mono


Hyouge Mono is another samurai anime- but it has a very unusual focus that makes it well worth the time. With the narrative situated close to the highest powers in Japan at the time, there is a lot of political discussion, treachery and plotting, but it all plays second fiddle to Tea Ceremony and Aesthetics.

Giving huge spotlight to Sen no Rikyu, the founder of modern tea ceremony, the protagonist is an aesthete Sen no Rikyu's methods have captivated, Furuta Sasuke. The anime displays unbelievable enthusiasm and excitement for porcelain and lacquerware, and the influence they have on Japan. Hyouge Mono is grounded in realism but consistently over the top; the facial reactions of Furuta Sasuke alone are a delight to watch. A central theme is the difficulty in reconciling the obligations and outlook of a warrior to the affectations and aspirations of an aesthete.

In 2014, tea ceremony is an inflexible, rarified and stuffy discipline. Hyouge Mono presents it as a decisive tool of statecraft as well as experimental high art. It gives a fresh look on Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and other big names in Japanese history as well, but it never loses sight of its engrishy undertitle, "Tea for Universe, Tea for Life"

[Darth Wagtaros]

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

[Monoriu]

Which order do you watch it in? Which is best? I stuck with the as broadcast order and though it was tricky at first it worked out and the choice became clear./

I watched it in chronological order.  28 episodes, then Disappearance.

Hey all Haruhi fans here - They have announced a new anime series: Disappearance of Nagato Yuki!  No ETA yet, but that's really good news.  No idea if Kyoto Animation will be the studio. 

[Monoriu]

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

Of the ones that I have mentioned here: Clannad is a strong contender for *the* most depressing anime show ever. Attack on Titans and Scrapped Princess are nightmare fuel and a tearjerker respectively.  Haruhi is generally light-hearted and funny.  Most of the time 

I don't watch anime via streaming.  The files are on my HDD.