The Anime Thread

[Siege]

I always hated DragonBall.
It never worked for me.
The story sucks, the animation sucks, and the design sucks. No matter of good production can save it for me.

[Savonarola]

I always hated DragonBall.
It never worked for me.
The story sucks, the animation sucks, and the design sucks. No matter of good production can save it for me.

Siege's hatred IS OVER 9000!!!

[jimmy olsen]

The original Dragonball was prerty good.

As for DBZ, DBZ abridged is brilliant.

[Josquius]

I'd agree the animation is rather terrible.  But then that's 90s anime. The less cells the better.
The design is brilliant though. Looks amazing on HD. The characters pop out of the background wonderfully.

[Monoriu]

I prefer Dragonball original over DBZ.  More comedy, adventure, variety.  DBZ focuses too much on the fights, and they drag on for too long.  I think DB popularised the idea of the idiot hero. 

[Josquius]

I prefer Dragonball original over DBZ.  More comedy, adventure, variety.  DBZ focuses too much on the fights, and they drag on for too long.  I think DB popularised the idea of the idiot hero. 

Not sure on dragonball vs dragonballz, dragonball was never shown in the uk (at the time. I think it has since appeared) and I've only seen a few episodes, but for sure earlier Dbz beats the latter stuff. I never even watched it through to the end, I just lost interest.
Dragonball is the only manga series I ever bothered buying end to end. The comic is great at least

[Monoriu]

I prefer Dragonball original over DBZ.  More comedy, adventure, variety.  DBZ focuses too much on the fights, and they drag on for too long.  I think DB popularised the idea of the idiot hero. 

Not sure on dragonball vs dragonballz, dragonball was never shown in the uk (at the time. I think it has since appeared) and I've only seen a few episodes, but for sure earlier Dbz beats the latter stuff. I never even watched it through to the end, I just lost interest.
Dragonball is the only manga series I ever bothered buying end to end. The comic is great at least

The manga artist wanted to end DBZ a lot earlier.  People told him that thousands of workers' livelihood depended on him.  The animation staff, people making and selling DBZ merchandise, etc etc.  It became a multi billion international business.  So he was forced to continue against his own best judgement, and the quality declined.

[Monoriu]

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, or Life in Another World From Zero.  One day, Subaru found himself standing in front of a fruit store in a medieval fantasy world.  He began his adventure with a kind-hearted half elf, but soon they were both brutally murdered by unknown forces.  Moments later, he stood in front of the same fruit store, and encountered the same half elf again.  Although Subaru remembered her, she had no memory of him.  Every time Subaru dies, he returns to the "save point".  He can only establish a new "save point" after he had solved the problem that threatened his life. 

There are countless "trapped in a fantasy world" anime shows.  This is undoubtedly the absolute best show in this genre that I have seen.  It is not just the anime of 2016.  It is the best anime that I have seen since Attack on Titans, and I bet that this will be remembered as a classic decades from now.  This is phenomenal and has redefined the genre.  The show is a deconstruction and it spins the usual tropes in the darkest possible fashion.  Watching the anime thinking this is yet another "Isekai" show is like trying to eat ice-cream with nails in it.  It is a non-stop flow of surprises, action, despair, awesome scenes, tearjerking scenes and character development.

Each time loop is shown onscreen and in detail.  Despite the audience knowing that Subaru and his friends will come back alive in the next loop, the scenes are so well choreographed that most deaths are heart wrenching to watch.  Many episodes have a profound emotional impact on me, and I think I won't forget some of the signature scenes for years to come.  When Subaru fails, he doesn't simply die and start over.  On top of the body horrors that he suffers, he also needs to watch the slaughter of his loved ones and many other innocents. 

Subaru is a very flawed character.  In terms of fighting ability, he is weaker than most characters in the show, so he can't simply cut his way out of his troubles.  He is too prideful for his own good, and has a hero complex that gets him into all sorts of problems.  He acts like a typical human being rather than the idealised, overpowered typical fantasy protagonist. 

The psychology of Subaru and his relationships with others are examined in detail.  The multiple gruesome deaths, betrayals and nearly insurmountable odds facing him assault his psyche like a battering ram.  In some of the loops, he overcompensates and attempts to put up a cheerful façade.  In other loops, he completely withdraws.  Another problem is that only he retains the memories of the times that he spends with his companions.  Someone may think Subaru is a casual acquaintance but he considers her a trusted partner who has been through multiple life and death fights.  This difference causes friction.     

If you only have time for one anime show every two years, watch this. 

[Monoriu]

Berserk.  Guts is an anti-hero known as the "black swordman" who is branded for death and is attacked by hordes of demons every night.  By day, he hunts apostles, demons that masquerade as humans and terrorise the population.  In particular, he is after Griffith, who was once Guts' friend and commander when they were both mercenaries for hire. 

Berserk is an epic dark fantasy and it is so nightmarish that it pushes the limits of what can be shown on Japanese TV.  Compared to this, Lord of the Rings feels like a happy and warm place.  Scenes showing torture, explicit rape, people devoured by demons and cut in half by giant swords routinely appear.   There are no scantily clad underage cute females who fall for the main guy on first sight.  The world is filled with war, hunger, suffering, refugees, child prostitutes, corrupt officials, crazy religious fanatics, human sacrifices, and monsters.  This is a really grim place with malevolent and unnatural forces controlling the world from behind and is an express elevator toward horror and despair. 

It is based on a long-running and beloved manga that has been in print for almost three decades now.  The conflict between Guts and Griffith is nothing short of legendary in the anime world.  Everything about this show has an epic feel to it.  The author is dedicating his entire life toward this one work.  If you prefer adult and mature themes, serious and dark fantasy shows, huge guy with huge sword going on a revenge rampage, this is better than most.  If you don't like blood, gore, nightmarish settings, truly disturbing scenes, this is not for you. 

The biggest problem with this show is that while the manga is a huge success, the anime adaptation is clearly not as successful.  There is a 25-episode anime released in 1997 that was known for its distinct lack of animation.  It feels more like a slide show than a real anime.  Around 2012, they started over and did 3 movies with a new production team, new studio and new voice cast that covered the same Golden Age arc that the 1997 adaptation covered.  In 2016, they released a 12 episode sequel that used a huge amount of (subpar) computer generated characters and objects.  The plot and characters are as good as ever but one needs to look past the problematic visuals and unnatural character movements.  More episodes are coming in 2017.

[Syt]

I recently caught up on the manga - it's amazing that the series has been sputtering along for over 25 years now (and I doubt it will ever be finished, though it's ticked off some major plot points recently).

The series has become less violent or gratuitous in its rape scenes (up till book 15 or 18, i.e. ca. current half way point, some scenes were bordering on hentai, with "vital details" only barely out of view or obscured).

I recall when I first started reading it I was immediately hooked and also impressed bye how far Miura pushed dark, gritty themes mixed with extremely graphic violence and sex (I was in my early 20s at the time), and, very notably, a beautifully detailed art style. The armor, cities, weapons in that series are just so amazingly drawn. It's not least thanks to this art style that the story feels so epic.













The Dynasty Warrior style game that's coming out looks pretty stupid, though. A Dark Souls style game would make much more sense (and the DS series was heavily influenced by Berserk in tone and design, not least in the epic battles against bizarre monster bosses).

I've watched part of the old anime, but I thought it felt too toned down. Haven't watched the new one yet - the CGI style doesn't seem to fit it very well.

[Monoriu]

Those details are crazy awesome

[Malthus]

Compared to this, Lord of the Rings feels like a happy and warm place.

I too have always wondered how the Lord of the Rings got along without any scenes of explicit rape and child prostitution. Maybe some of those hobbit kids. 



[Yes, the details in that Manga look awesome.  ]

[Monoriu]

Accel World: Infinite Burst

The show is highly unusual for having short, fat male lead.  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, which are obtained by defeating other participants in an online game using avatars.

Once upon a time, a novelist wrote a story about being trapped in an online RPG world called Sword Art Online.  The story became an international hit.  When he hit writers' block, he decided to work on a parallel story on a similar topic to stimulate his creativity.  Accel World hasn't reached the status of Sword Art Online, but is still well within the top ten best-selling novels.  The powers that be did anime adaptations for both novels, found that Sword Art Online was a much bigger success, and decided to focus resources that way.  But the writer keeps releasing new novels under both names in parallel. 

Years later, the anime producers finally decided that they didn't want the less favourite child of a best-selling author to go to complete waste, and made a movie for Accel World.  Infinite Burst is the result.  Fans like me became ecstatic that the poor man's Sword Art Online isn't left for dead after all.

The movie.  It is about 80 minutes long.  The first half of the movie is a quick summary of the TV anime adaptation released a few years ago.  Actually it covered episodes 1-12 well, but there was barely anything on episodes 13-24.  I also have the impression that they simply recycled the TV footage.  The second half is an original story set *very* far into the novels.  For someone who has watched the anime only, the new short story contains many new characters, terms, concepts, changes in allegiance and character relationships that were not present in the TV adaptation. 

On one hand, it is great to find something, anything that is Accel World related.  On the other hand, it sucks that we have waited so many years only to get a half-baked half-summary, and half-hearted attempt to do a sort of distant sequel and poorly disguised OVA that doesn't make sense to anyone who has not caught up with the source novels. 

[Monoriu]

Rewrite. Kotarou is a high school student who passes time by befriending all sorts of odd-ball females.  They join the supernatural club to investigate spiritual incidents and set up absurd missions for themselves.  Soon, the story turns from slice of life to urban legend as real supernatural beings appear.  This is the latest anime adaptation of a Key visual novel, the company well-known for producing classics and tearjerkers like Angel Beats and Clannad. 

I have watched every Key adaptation, and this is clearly the worst.  The biggest issue is that it feels very rushed.  There are six major heroines, each with her own unique story-line, but there are only 13 episodes.  This leads to very little, if any, build up and many information dumps on the audience with insufficient time to absorb the new information.  The heroines just abruptly fall for the guy with no explanation.  A nearly silent character suddenly decides to become talkative.  Because she is hit by a meteor.  It is true, just watch it.  There are plotlines that are clearly designed to be tearjerkers but there is only a 20-second buildup, leaving the audience bewildered more than anything else.  Key has built an array of rich characters and a world with lots of details and conflict, but this adaptation has clearly not done the source material justice. 

All is not lost, however.  For a second season has been announced, and it will be aired next year.  It seems to me that it is inevitable that they'll start over, or "rewrite" the story from the beginning.  This move is obviously planned from the beginning.  The first season introduces the world and the characters, while the second season, which will follow the first season closely, will be the real story.  I'll give it another shot, but the first season by itself is only a notch above being a trainwreck.

[Monoriu]

Kimi no Na Wa, or Your Name.  This is a movie that was released in Japanese theatres about a month ago, but is already grabbing headlines.  It has grossed more than $10 billion yen and the receipts are still coming in.  This is a new record for non-Ghibli anime movies.  The movie director is Shinkai Makoto, known for producing anime movies with stunning scenaries and heartwarming plots.  Probably one of the most recognised directors in the post-Ghibli world. 

I haven't seen it.  The only thing I know about the story is that it is about a teenage girl and a teenage boy who swapped bodies due to a "visiting comet". 

Trailer -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRfHcp2GjVI

My wife is already itching to see it.