The Anime Thread

[Monoriu]

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.

No idea if it is on netflix or not.  But for a mature series, Madoka Magica is the best anime show that I've ever seen.  I like it even more than Attack on Titan.  Despite how it looks, it is definitely not a children's show.  Don't be fooled by the official posters.  And I suggest that you don't google anything about it.  Absolutely no screenshots.

Another one that is really dark is Neon Genesis Evangelion. 

[Siege]

Why is rage so common in anime?
Is it a cultural thing? Do Asian people believe rage wins battles?

Episode 1 of Attack on Titan.
Don't they plan the missions before going out?
That scout regiment sucks. You plan before going out. Only talking should be coordination and adjustment, not planning the whole thing.

[Siege]

I just finished episode 1.

Wow. That was incredible.
All the bad impression I got from the beginning, from the opening scenes, was like gone by the end.
Very smart approach to dealing with the perception of safety we have in our lives, and how that safety can be gone in a second.
Also, the civilians' perception of military service, the "why", the reasons civilians think people join the military. I have seen this many times.
Very interesting show.

[Monoriu]

Why is rage so common in anime?
Is it a cultural thing? Do Asian people believe rage wins battles?

Episode 1 of Attack on Titan.
Don't they plan the missions before going out?
That scout regiment sucks. You plan before going out. Only talking should be coordination and adjustment, not planning the whole thing.

I won't call it rage, but "you'll win if you are more determined/have more willpower than the other guy" is a big romantic theme in a lot of shonen anime fight shows.  My theory is that the target audience of anime is often teenagers and young adults, who are relatively powerless against the adults.  The idea that determination alone will win fights is probably a big draw. 

A test of whether an anime show is mature or not is whether willpower alone will win fights.  The mature shows tend to subvert this 

Yes, Attack on Titan is one of the best shows in recent memory.  Don't forget to grab the OVA as well. 

[Monoriu]

It seems to me that the way we watch anime is different.  I get the video and subtitle files and play them from my HDD.  Some of you watch them online. 

It was really hard for me at first.  I once had to grab points on various forums on a daily basis and click like 50 times just to get one file.  I had to dig through countless layers of pop-ups only to realise that everything was a lie.  Now that I have the tools of the trade, things are easier for me.

1. Sites for getting the BT keys.  One Chinese and one English.  No bullshit, has to distribute the keys for real and for free.  And must have a workable search engine.  The English one is nyaa.se.  Registration is not required.  Won't bother you with the Chinese one.  If you have a choice, always pick bdrip over tvrip.  A lot of studios fix/enhance the scenes in the blu-ray discs.  Also avoids the annoying TV announcements (there is an earthquake in some Japanese prefecture etc). 

2. Utorrent 3.3.

3. emule.  Let's face it.  People are lazy.  They only want to watch the short and new shows.  Old stuff are hard to get.  Monster shows with 500 plus episodes are almost impossible to get.  Almost.  That's why we need emule.  File sharing that allows the sharing of obscure and uncommon content.  Not uncommon to wait 3 months for a single file, but it is worth it.  There is a search engine in emule.  Search for the show you want, wait a few weeks, and it may appear on your HDD.  Or not. 

4. A search engine for subtitle files.  For some reason, probably legal in nature, it is much easier to get Raws, a term that means the original Japanese video without any subtitles or dubbing.  A lot of these are even available in 1080p.  So the trick is to get the subtitle files to match the video files.  I have found such a search engine, but it is Chinese only.  So won't bother you.

5. Related to 4, a subtitle editor.  The timing of the subtitles and the video often don't sync.  Say, a distributor may decide to add a 10 second long whatever at the beginning of the video in his region.  Trust me, even a 0.5 second difference puts everything out of sync. I need to fix it myself.  It is not that difficult once I get the hang of it.  My favourite editor is Aegisub. 

6. A decent video player.  I use VLC player.

7. An anime forum that doesn't frown on file sharing.  Seriously, even with all the tools above, sometimes I just can't get it.  The last resort is to go to a forum and beg for the subtitle files.  Subtitle files are tiny, like less than 100kb for an episode. 

[Monoriu]

Since I have mentioned Sword Art Online, it is mandatory for me to talk about Accel World as well.



Basically, poor man's Sword Art Online.  They are different stories.  The only in-universe link is that both nominally take place in the same universe, but Accel World takes place a couple of decades after the events in Sword Art Online.  Everything else is different.  The real connection between the two is that they are both based on best-selling novels by the same author.  Sword Art Online is no.1; Accel World is a distant no. 2. 

Unusual in that it has a short, fat male lead (see above).  One day, Kuroyukihime (literally, black snow princess) introduced him to the Accel World, where participants can think many times faster than normal.  This enables them to cheat in exams etc.  To accelerate, users need to use points.  The points are obtained by fighting other users in an online game using avaters.  Winners gain points; losers lose them.  The avatars are determined by the programme and are based on the deepest subconscious desires of the users.  The goal of the game is to reach level 10.  Players level up by beating others.  The highest level so far reached by any player is level 9 (there is a specific reason for that).  Kuroyukihime wants to achieve level 10, and the male lead is determined to help her.

Very enjoyable in its own right, though not up to the level of Sword Art Online.  A lot of people can't accept the idea of an obese protagonist, even though they mostly fight using avatars.  It is a mostly serious show.  Not as depressing as Sword Art Online because no one dies for real.  The worst that can happen to a user in Accel World is to lose all points.  If that happens, the programme will uninstall itself and the user loses all memories of events related to the game. 

24 episodes plus 2 OVA episodes.  Not sure if there will be a second season.  The novels are on-going and they have only adapted a small portion of them into anime. 

[Siege]

I just finished Attack on Titan.
Absolutely great.
I gave it 4 stars to the first 15 episodes, but only 3 to the last 10.
The last 10 episodes are not that bad, its just the storyline, from the moment the female titan appears, gets kind of predictable and annoying.

In general, it is a great show. Definitively the best I have seen in very long while.
Sustains:
1- Character development was great. Background stories and flashbacks were worked very well into the storyline.
2- Animation was above and beyond. Color matte was right up my alley.
3- Very deep adult topics, consequences of decision making process, challenges of a high operational tempo for a combat unit.

Improvements:
1- They need to tone down the rage thing. Rage does not wins battles.
2- Love subplot needs better development. I found it very powerful in the first 15 episodes, but it gets diluted by the end. The contrast is noticeable.
3- The female titan was underdeveloped as a character. It seems like the producers ran out of ideas and decided to drop a superpower into the storyline to spice things up.

Overall, great show, original technological developments, and many other great ideas.
The GRR Martin influence was obvious, but that's ok.
The "normal" titans are clearly Miyazaki influenced, but that's ok too.

[Monoriu]

Do you like the first opening song?  I love it.  Not a big fan of the second one though. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ju9FJNHJc

(it is very loud.  Dunno how to desribe it, but it is very rockish or heavy metal or some such)

The title "Attack on Titan" itself is a little odd to a Chinese.  When I first look at the kanji, I thought the translation should be "Titans on the attack".  "Attack on titan" seems to be the reverse of what it should be.  But I just can't believe that it is a simple translation error.  There must be a deeper meaning to it.  After I've seen the show, I think the translation echos the idea that humans should not wait behind walls to be attacked, but should take the initiative and fight the enemy proactively. 

[Siege]

I fastforward through the opening titles.
The cuts are too fast for my taste.

[Siege]

[Monoriu]

I fastforward through the opening titles.
The cuts are too fast for my taste.

The two Attack on Titan opening songs are the best selling anime songs in Japan in 2013.  I am not a fan of the opening visuals as well, but give the songs a chance. 

Have you seen the Attack on Titan OVA Ilse's Journal?  Pretty nice.  The side-story is canon, not fanservice filler. 

I've said it countless times before and I'll say it again: Madoka Magica is even better

[Monoriu]

I love the serious, mature and dark shows.  But sometimes, I need a break from all the character deaths, end of the world threats, the emotional trauma, and the tragic backstories.  I just want a laugh, a light-hearted show with a good plot but without the senseless fanservice and boobs.   

This is it, Hataraku Maou-sama, or the Devil is a part-timer. 



The burger flipper on the right hand side is Satan.  He tried to conquer his fantasy world, but his forces were turned back by the hero (girl on left).  Just before his final defeat, Satan escaped to real world Tokyo.  He now intends to work his way up the corporate ladder and conquer Japan instead.  The hero followed him to Japan, where neither can use their magic.  The ordinary human girl in the middle has fallen for Satan.  The Satan and hero now try to live ordinary lives, but their past will soon catch up to them. 

There was little expectation for this show when it was first aired.  But the actually pretty funny moments, awesome fight scenes and interesting characters have made this show the surprise hit of 2013.  It frequently squeezed itself into the top anime show charts that are normally dominated by big budget shows. 

[Siege]

Little Norse Prince.

Is there a anime movie called "The Submarine Empire"?
That was the Israeli dub, but I have no idea of the original name. This is from the 80s.

[Monoriu]

Little Norse Prince.

Is there a anime movie called "The Submarine Empire"?
That was the Israeli dub, but I have no idea of the original name. This is from the 80s.

I am just guessing, but do you mean this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Service

During the cold war, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force jointly developed a nuclear submarine with the United States Navy. On its maiden voyage, the captain of the submarine declares the submarine to be an independent state, "Yamato."

[Monoriu]

The immensely popular Fate series.  There are altogether 4 anime series set in this universe.  Fate/stay night and Fate/zero are core series.  Fate/Kaleid Liner and Carnival Phantasm are spin-offs. 

In the Fate universe, there is a holy grail that grants any wish.  Every few years/decades, the grail summons 7 magicians, called masters, to fight each other.  The winner may ask the grail to grant one wish.  Each master will summon a "servant", a living magical warrior who is an historical or mythical figure (say, Achillies), to help with the fight.  The setting is the modern real world where a select few wield magic but the general pupulation is unaware of anything magical.  The core idea is 7 teams battle it out in whatever way they want.

Fate/Zero



Fate/Stay Night


Zero and Stay Night depicts the 4th and the 5th holy grail war respectively.  Stay night came out 5/6 years before Zero, but Zero is the prequel.  A hard decision for a newcomer to the series is which one to watch first, because watching one of them will inevitably spoil the other. 

My suggestion is to watch Zero first, simply because it is the better show, and deserve to be watched unspoiled.  Zero is based on a light novel by Gen "Urobutcher" Urobuchi, the guy who wrote the script for highly acclaimed Madoka Magica.  His nickname should tell you what the tone of the series is.  Zero has the better story, better graphics, a much darker tone, and a mostly adult cast.  Stay night is good, but Zero is great.  Stay night is, while serious overall and can be dark sometimes, relatively light.  It has a mostly teenager cast, and has many romance, high school and slice of life moments.  Zero is darker than black throughout.   And most importantly, Zero is scored by none other than Yuki Kajiura.  Ladies and gentlemen, Point Zero -

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

One word about zero.  The first episode, which is over 40 minutes long, is a giant info dump.  It is very tough for a newcomer to the Fate world, as the bulk of the 14 major characters, the setting, and many other supporting characters are introduced in one go.  Don't worry about it.  Just go on. 

The girl pictured in both photos above is Saber, a servant (not her real name.  Saber is a class, like archer, lancer etc.  The idea is to hide her real historical identity so that her enemies will not figure out her weaknesses).  For some reason she is super-popular in Japan, almost always finishing somewhere in the top 10 in most popular female anime character polls even years after the completion of the anime shows. 

Zero has 25 episodes.  Stay night has 24, plus one movie.  Suggested watching order is Zero - Stay night TV series - Stay night movie - Kaleid Liner - Carnival Phantasm.