Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Kaiser]

Well now I feel bad about not doing the stuff I WANT to do at the moment when it comes to my new game project, infact i'm launching up GIMP to do those things while they are still fresh and bold.

Man I constantly feel bad about not making stuff - esp. musically - but the tug of war between that, 3D modelling, watching anime, and making GIFs for fun leads to a soul crushing dreadful procrastination paralysis on my part usually lol :p.

Btw do you use G'Mic for GIMP? - really so many amazing things in it. Film Emulations alone make it worth installing.

No I don't, I only use GIMP for pixel art only, it's simple enough once you remember few basic things like setting a grid, a nice background color for your eyes, decreasing the brush's size to 1 so you can do pixel by pixel. And Yeah I know how it feels to feel bad about not getting actual stuff done >_>

[broken harbour]

I haven't read through this entire thread, so I don't know if it's been talked about before, but I binge watched Psycho Pass over the course of a week or so and thought it was really good. Usually I like to watch subtitles but I found the dub to be better (am I banned now?) as it made the characters easier to relate to. (Helps that the dub was pretty good.) Very thought provoking story, and at first, it seems like "killer of the week" kind of cop show but halfway through an antagonist appears and long-ish story arc continues to the end.

Loved it. Not sure how they can even do a 2nd season but I'm looking forward to it.

[BryanM]

I really liked the mini arcs, and hated the long drawn out shonen style raid boss arc

That scene where she shoots a rifle one handed has to go down in history as one of the most misogynistic moments in animoo history, it was hard to watch. It's ridiculous when Pino from Ergo Proxy is more fearsome than 90% of anime female characters.

(If you liked Psycho Pass, you might like Ergo Proxy. I am Netflix's recommend algorithm of anime [1])

[1] This is a lie.

Usually I like to watch subtitles but I found the dub to be better (am I banned now?)

I have embraced the fact I am forever gaijin, so nah

There's hardcore sub guys here, but they're not like those guys who make posts that declare their agony every time a dub is announced along the lines of "OH GOD NO YOU HAVE RUINED IT LIKE DEFACING A PRICELESS PAINTING".... I really don't think that crowd understands every translation is, by necessity, an abstraction of what was originally said. Sub or dub. It goes beyond simple multiple meanings or rhymes ("I present to you this present"), and down to fundamental culture cues and zeitgeist.

"If he's stuck in a endless time of loop of horrible death, why doesn't he just ask his nerd friends for help?"
"You, you don't understand. He's Japanese. He doesn't want to be a bother."

[Bananamatic]

the dub track(opening and background music especially) always feels kinda lower volume compared to the original to me

[Raytrace]

I think that depends on what/how many channels they were given access too when they do the dubs.

For my part in general, I massively prefer subs, but there are a few dubs I'm partial to, in particular Manga Ltd.s deliciously OTT ones like Cyber City Oedo 808 and Mad Bull 34, and Devilman OVAs .

[broken harbour]

Lol I never even really noticed that scene where she fires the rifle one-handed. Whatever, its a TV show, also, wasn't her character kind of supposed to be really green?

Just started Attack on Titan as my next one.

[soprano1]

I decided to watch Lost Universe this weekend. Don't know if anyone likes this one, it's "Slayers in Space". It actually aired on national TV 14 years ago, me and my sister watched it after arriving from school, and i remember being funny and awesome as hell. It was dubbed, but it was pretty good, loved the opening song.

[null1024]

I massively prefer subs, but there are a few dubs I'm partial to, in particular Manga Ltd.s deliciously OTT ones like Cyber City Oedo 808

I can't watch Oedo subbed. The dub is so damned magnificent. It's not the best dub [suffers from the general issues of the time], but it's punchy and badass.

[Raytrace]

Just started Attack on Titan as my next one.

I verily enjoyed it.

[BryanM]

For a second there, thought I'd finally be mercifully free of Naruto. Ignorant, I know. Seems like the power creep got to the point where the only thing to do is relaunch with Naruto 2: The New Batch. Some kind of Phantasy Star 3 thing with ever cascading generations of irresponsible level capped adults sending their Lv.1 kids into life or death situations they could easily handle themselves in one or two combat rounds.

Out of desperation, gave Sei no Kakuritsu remake Midori Days a try, something I naively thought I might live my whole life through without seeing. It's... astonishingly mundane. Cut and paste of any other non-combat magical girlfriend series. The gimmick just seems to have been a way to have the product scream "LOOK AT ME I'M FUCKING CRAZY BUY THIS SHIT!"

I don't know.

[Ruldra]

For a second there, thought I'd finally be mercifully free of Naruto. Ignorant, I know. Seems like the power creep got to the point where the only thing to do is relaunch with Naruto 2: The New Batch. Some kind of Phantasy Star 3 thing with ever cascading generations of irresponsible level capped adults sending their Lv.1 kids into life or death situations they could easily handle themselves in one or two combat rounds.

A friend of mine was telling me for months that Naruto was finally coming to an end. When I showed him the news of the new manga, he was all "Fuck this shit" (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

The meltdowns about the pairings were pretty entertaining too, and I don't even follow Naruto.

[Raytrace]

finished Blue Blazes I liked it a lot - though:

Spoiler

I kinda wish _Mad Holy_ had actually finally chosen him, because he was one seriously entertaining character. I thought it was interesting how there was no sound during the Daicon showing - I presume this is because they didn't want to pay ELO for any rights . Also does anyone know if it was actually all made in the rich guy's house like that?
I was very sad he didn't get with the original girl in the end either - Maetel scene was class though.
Also when I found out the motorbike guy at the end was actually the mangaka himself I was quite shocked - I don't know he just didn't seem like I pictured him - he looked a lot sorta 'tougher' than I expected he would look. What is that thing he wears on his head in Moeyo Pen and at the end? Is it a boxing helmet of some type?

Anyway it was ace and I was very sad to see it end .

[drauch]

Yeah, due to the music and some of the characters represented, it's never had an official release, just unofficial reels and LD in Japan. The whole retelling is actually quite different, as stated by Wikipedia:

"Only three people were involved in the production of Daicon III, Hideaki Anno, Hiroyuki Yamaga and Takami Akai.[4] Takeda, who was a part of the group, explains in Notenki Memoirs that Anno knew how to make anime, but he never worked with animation cels. They were referred to Animepolis Pero, an anime hobby store chain, but they found that the cost of the cels were too expensive, so a single cel was purchased and taken to a vinyl manufacturer in east Osaka, where they purchased a roll for 2000 yen.[2][5]:50 After cutting and preparing the vinyl cels, they discovered that the painted cels would stick together when stacked and dry paint would peel off the cels.[5]:51 To keep costs low, made their own tap to punch holes in the B5 animation paper used in the production.[5]:51

The work was carried out in an empty room of Okada's house where their business was also operated.[5]:51 While other people were present, the work was shared and Anno, Akai and Yamaga worked full-time on the production, the direction was not professional, but Takeada attributed Okada as the producer, with Yamaga directing, Akai doing character animation and Anno as the mecha animator.[5]:51–52 Takeada also said other individuals were involved and were used to trace cels or paint cels as needed, but still credits Yamaga, Akai and Anno with the production itself.[5]:52 Filming was done by a camera on a tripod and frames were called out by Anno because the production lacked timing sheets."

[Raytrace]

wow it's more amazing that it was mainly those 3 on their own

[Raytrace]

Just finished JoJo's 'Diamond Is Unbreakable' - really really liked it, in fact I preferred it to 'Stardust Crusaders'. I thought he'd run out of ideas,
but quite the opposite, his inventiveness just got better and better, and of course, madder and madder .

[Raytrace]

I hate it when this thread slows

[drauch]

Well then, let's keep going! Think I'm about to start the small OVA series Armored Trooper Mellowlink. Seen it yet, Raytrace, or anyone else for that matter?

Can't remember, but did you ever start Armored Trooper Votoms? Still my mecha favorite. Real gritty, dead serious, and I find the terrestrial based mechs like this much more "practical" in warfare. A lot like Assault Suit Leynos, Valken, etc.

[Ghegs]

I watched through all Votoms series and OAVs, including Mellowlink, some time ago. Great stuff all around, but the main series' ending kind of sucked.

[drauch]

I still need to check out the OVAs myself. I personally love the ending of Votoms. It has an almost anti-religious message and sort of changes the pace in the last bit, so I can understand the grievance some have.

[BryanM]

One Punch Man Remake

Manga about a man who superheros as a hobby. Has gotten so strong that he can kill anything with a single punch. This has made him rather bored and downbeat about this part of his life.

At no point is anything in this series remotely taken seriously. Just halfassing backstory is the order of the day here. A common chapter might feature a villain that goes "ar! I'm Crab Man. I ate too many crabs and turned into a crab. Now I'm going to go murder some punk that drew nipples on me while I was sleeping!" And then his demolishment ensues.

A supporting cast is introduced, and they're a ridiculous lot on the whole as well. Unlike in Dragon Ball Z where the supporting cast is useless, boring, redundant, and exist just to wait around for Goku to punch the monster of the week [1], these guys are actually somewhat likable. And their combat difficulties stem from just being on par with the threats they face, instead of simply being thoroughly useless.

It's very readable for the type of thing it is. 4/5 icycalms.


[1] I hate it when characters that've been used up linger around just to fill space. Himegami Aisa from Magical Index is an example of text book space filler. Sure, they can be like satellite characters and come around now and again, but they're not in the current story going on they shouldn't be in the story.

[Ji-L87]

Myself, I thought I'd give the original Macross TV series a look. I wonder if I will like it more than DYRL which I have some mixed opinions about.
Will report back...probably

[Raytrace]

Well then, let's keep going! Think I'm about to start the small OVA series Armored Trooper Mellowlink. Seen it yet, Raytrace, or anyone else for that matter?

Can't remember, but did you ever start Armored Trooper Votoms? Still my mecha favorite. Real gritty, dead serious, and I find the terrestrial based mechs like this much more "practical" in warfare. A lot like Assault Suit Leynos, Valken, etc.

That's more like it

Yeah I have watched the entirety of Votoms - I liked it a lot though I was slightly dissapointed by the newtype/magic sorta stuff towards the end. Still I loved all the Vietnam type stuff. I've watched 2 of the OVAs and they were great. I've watched the first Mellowlink and I really recommend it, the only reason I put it on hold is because I have SOO much stuff I'm watching in parallel atm. I've never seen or heard of the Valken or Leynos things?

[Raytrace]

I've just watched the first episode of Combattler V, good so far



I also watched the first episode of Ultraman (1966) I liked it very, and it is true that it is a huge influence on Anno, it's hard to pinpoint, but you can just sortof 'feel' it, (much like when you watch Ariel).

[Raytrace]

Myself, I thought I'd give the original Macross TV series a look. I wonder if I will like it more than DYRL which I have some mixed opinions about.
Will report back...probably

I love the original SDF Macross and while DYRL is incredible, it really IS meant to be 'supplemental' in that it is an alternate take, in fact it's supposed to be a movie in the universe of Macross. DYRL was really good, with excellent art and no frame spared, but it slightly lacked in that 70s (yes I kno it was actually early 80s) magic/groovy/warm feel that SDF was so full of, I mean for a start the flightsuits weren't even flared anymore!

[drauch]

I've never seen or heard of the Valken or Leynos things?

Cybernator for the SNES and Target Earth for the Genesis, respectively. Side-scrolling mech action! Get on it, you'll love it!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Even though the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love anime film made it's grand debut back in 1984...it's cool to watch it from time to time. Heck, even Banpresto's SDF Macross/Super Space Fortress Macross PCBs (distributed by Fabtek) in the game centers/arcades takes it's cool cut scenes from the anime film as well. The DYRL flick was released under the heavily edited version of "Clash of the Bionoids" name banner when it was distributed stateside on VHS tape format as well. Later on, the unedited version of Macross DYRL was released in the USA under the Macross name label on VHS tape format with dubbed English voiceovers (however it's been recorded on SLP mode to save on tape length and overall VHS master tape recording production costs -- not to mention tape degradation every time it's played on the ol' VHS recorder deck).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[MX7]

Watched the whole of Blue Blazes in 3 days. Very much enjoyed it despite a few quibbles that have already been outlined here. To put it short it's the only Japanese live action comedy series that I could actually bare to watch the whole way through, so there's some praise there.

I started watching the Blazing Transfer student OVA straight afterwards, but it didn't really gel with me. Fine as a short.

So I stated watching Ideon instead. Now up to episode 11 and starting to see ver y promising flashes of brilliance. The psychedelic warp space, "WE'RE NOT SO DIFFERENT, YOU AND I", George RR Martin style abrupt deaths, kickin' themetune, deliberately unlikeable main characters... it's all here. Only other Tomino I've seen is Gundam Wing back in the day (which i very much enjoyed , though I understand it isn't very well thought of in the whole Gundam cannon).

Have given Fist of the North Star a break after 50 odd episodes because I didn't want to get burnt out. Very consistent in terms of quality, though I can never get enough of leering musclebound thugs decked out like a discount Tom of Finland with a shocking pink 'hawk. Tried watching the 1986 film, but it was very unsatisfying, and not really any gorier than the series (these things matter). Think I'll brave the Manga dub and watch it grimy VHS, the way it was intended.

Starting to think I prefer television anime to OVAs. Much more potential for character development, much less potential for violence and sexual violence. I still love one-shots like California Crisis, but digging up TV shows from the 70's/80's like Yamato and Dirty Pair has proved far more rewarding. That being said I need to get back in to Legend of the Galactic heroes, which I've stalled on after 60 odd episodes

[Xyga]

One Punch Man Remake
...
a ridiculous lot

Spoiler

"Riding the Bicycle of Justice, Licence-less Rider enters the scene!"

I love that manga.

[KAI]

Gundam Wing

That wasn't directed by Tomino, he only did the original, Z, ZZ, Char's counterattack, Turn A and G no Reconguista.

Watching Turn A ep.30. Shit is getting sooo good. I hope G-Reco gets as good as this.

[Raytrace]

Yeah Wing is probably easily my least favourite Gundam anything, I would put it below even AGE.

Ideon is definitely great.