Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Raytrace]

what is the story going to be about ?

man his backgrounds are so amazing.

[KAI]

Here's the plot summary

Some time ago, the asteroid Kumaria exploded in the depths of space.

The resulting fragments became a meteor shower that rained down on Earth, and for some reason, bears all over the world rose up and attacked humanity! In "Man vs. Bear," the bears ate the humans and the humans shot the bears, resulting in a seemingly unending battle and a cycle of hatred. In the end, a giant "Wall of Extinction" was erected between the humans and bears and a state of mutual nonaggression came to pass….

The human world.

One morning, Arashigaoka Academy students Kureha Tsubaki and Sumika Izumino were by themselves and saw the "Yuri Flower" that bloomed in a flower bed. The two are friends as well as lovers. The flower bed is an important place to the two. At that moment, the Bear Alarms ring out! The bears are invading the human world, and humans are being attacked! Are they really those bears? One mystery invokes yet another mystery, one after another. The curtain rises magnificently on Yuri Kuma Arashi!

Even if the premise sounds terribly stupid, I cannot doubt something made by the guy who did this.

[BryanM]

Always feel like I'm supposed to finish out Utena, but the impetus isn't within me. Gonna try reading this Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria for now.

God help me, I'm seriously considering watching whatever millioneth Pokomon episode they're up to now. Things I'd expect to see:

* Some no name NPC will vacuous bullshit non-problems, like in an episode of Super Why.

* Some motherfuckers trying to steal a pikadoo, which will not happen Wile Coyote like, and therefore not matter at all. When will these bastards learn they can get better materials if they caught one in the wild, used a thunder stone on him, then cut him up for the best parts and recombine those with the parts of other chinpokomons so you'd have one badass monster with no weaknesses and resists all damage types and STAB bonuses on everything. Yeah. That's a Pokemon series I could be down with.

Somewhere along the line I started caring less what things actually are, and more about what they might be..

[Ji-L87]

I'm juggling a few shows at once right now, so progress is slow but I'm slowly making my way through Macross.
It's....entertaining in a way, but my god, I don't think anyone is drawn "on model" even once. And that's probably a bit unfair of me to say that, considering the age of the show and all. I'm about 13-14 or so episodes in right now and it's interesting to see an alternative and in some ways more fleshed out story compared to DYRL, and I'm not sure how it will develop from where I am right now so that's having me curious.

I'm also in the process of re-watching Onegai Teacher. Again. And maybe I'll tackle Twins after that. Again.
There's just something about this series that I like. It's not my favorite genre, and there are lots of awkward scenes (and characters) but I always return to it somehow. My favorite two things about it is how Twins while being it's own thing, also acts like an epilogue for Teacher, and that I really love the location/environment. Apparently it's based on a place called in Nagano called Lake Kizaki and every single time I watch this show I just kinda want pack my things and go there

I know I get stuck on weird things in my animu.

Lastly, I've been reading the City Hunter manga, and I am about 20 or so volumes into it and I'm quite digging it. I've tried getting into the manga long before watching the Tv series but it starts off a bit darker than I'd like it, not to mention it doesn't look that hot.

Now, however, it's both more light hearted overall and really well drawn. The extra layer of comical lewdness in the manga did surprise me a bit, in the shape Ryou's superhuman mokkori stiffy powers, as I believe that was toned down a bit in the anime. Every story feels a bit longer now, in some cases drawn out but I guess that's only natural considering. I'm not sure if it'll replace Family Compo as my favorite Hojo manga but it's getting there.

Oh and I almost forgot, I'm still also working my way through the excellent blu-ray releases of the Patlabor Tv series (and I bought the OVA release as well). Understated excellence, that's what it is

[Obiwanshinobi]

Whatever Patlabor series I tried to watch (early TV show or OAV), it was one of reasons why I don't think much of that decade of anime (seventies and nineties are okay).

Always feel like I'm supposed to finish out Utena, but the impetus isn't within me.

When dudes look prettier than girls by the rule, you know your suspension of disbelief won't be willing.

[Raytrace]

I love when beautiful cars are in anime:



Lupin III - Ep. 10

[KAI]

Just finished Hanasaku Iroha. It was incredibly good and touching. At first I thought it would be just another slice of life with lesbian girls but, wow! drama, comedy, work ethics, romance and more drama. Ohana (the main character) was completely charming without being obnoxiosly moe like most of the female MCs you see these days.
Good animation, nice music. 100% recommended. Give the 1st ep a chance and I'm sure you will like it.

[DaneSaga]

Been pretty uneventful on the Dirty Pair spotting front in season 2 of City Hunter thus far, but did come across these two young orphan girls who just happened to be named ’Yuriko’ & ‘Keiko’.



I’m guessing their having fun with the usage of ‘ko’ (as in ‘child’, 子), to really mean child Yuri and child Kei here.

I love when beautiful cars are in anime:



Lupin III - Ep. 10

surely you'd have a gif of Gunsmith Cats then?

[Raytrace]

I did indeed make GIFs of Gunsmith Cats and Riding Bean - I shall get the links for them when I return home .

In fairness though while I do like classic Mustangs and weird F50 modelled cars (Bean Bandit's car sorta) - they sure ain't as classy as an Alfa GT Junior to me . I'm hoping to see some Lancias as I watch more Lupin; a Fulvia, Flaminia or Aurelia would suit the style of the show .

[Raytrace]

http://r4ytrace.tumblr.com/tagged/ridingbean

http://r4ytrace.tumblr.com/tagged/gunsmithcats

[Formless God]

Hanasaku Iroha

lmfao this has been on my backlog for 3 years. Time to pick it up again.

[soprano1]

Giving Hanasaku Iroha a thumbs up too, watched it when it came out, really great.
Looking for help again: How is Girls und Panzer? Is it just moeblobs driving tanks? Anyone liked it? Otherwise i'm watching White Album 2.

[Ruldra]

Otherwise i'm watching White Album 2.

Watch it, it's very very good. It's your typical high school romance/drama but the characters all feel like real people. There's very little of the usual silliness you see in anime these days. And the soundtrack is great.

This is an adaptation of the first chapter of the visual novel. White Album 2 is sitting right at the very top of japanese VN ranking lists. I'm dying for an english translation.

cars

Don't forget Redline.

[Ji-L87]

How is Girls und Panzer? Is it just moeblobs driving tanks? Anyone liked it?

Much better than I thought it was going to be. After watching the recently released OVA, the title theme got stuck in my head. Again.

It's not perfect, there are times when it tries to be a bit more serious and focus on character development and such, things I don't think suits a stupid show like this anyway. I watched it with friends who are way more interested in history than I am, and they got a laugh out of it, so there's that. The characters looks like dolls with wobbly heads but the 3D tanks looks pretty good, and while it's obvious they're 3D and not drawn, I find them rather pleasing.

For the best viewing experience, our group was pleasantly surprised by the subtitles that Commie released, which contained two subtitle tracks, on stuffed full german words to make a silly show even more silly to watch and well, we liked that as well. I know other people on the internet wasn't very fond of this specific sub release, but it also came with a normal - much more boring - sub track.

But in short: Yes, it's just moe blobs driving tanks. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Well, they could be drawn a bit better I guess...

[Raytrace]

cars

Don't forget Redline.

yep I have to make some new Redline GIFs I think.

[Pretas]

For the best viewing experience, our group was pleasantly surprised by the subtitles that Commie released, which contained two subtitle tracks, on stuffed full german words to make a silly show even more silly to watch and well, we liked that as well. I know other people on the internet wasn't very fond of this specific sub release, but it also came with a normal - much more boring - sub track.

What is it with certain Western fans of Japanese media who bemoan faithful translations and adaptations as "boring?" I've seen this attitude with Vic Ireland's club of Working Designs apologetics, fans of Adult Swim's edgy hack job of Crayon Shin-Chan, Robotech diehards, and old-school anime dub fans (who continued to affectionately cling to retro dubs even as things improved) in general. It's baffling to me.

Are these people really fans of JPN games and anime, or are they fans of some no-name, talentless, wannabe comedy writers in the West who are all snark and no wit? If you feel that certain foreign media needs the MST3K treatment or the creative intervention of white guys to be worthy of your attention at all, you're probably better off ignoring it altogether and finding something else to play or watch.

(This isn't meant as a stab at Ji, since I am fully aware that Girls und Panzer is boring as hell in any form.)

[BryanM]

No translation can be accurate, not without ass loads of citations. [1] A translation is merely an abstraction.

Shoot an elephant in your pajamas. [2]

[1] Like this.

[2] See even sentences in languages you know are fucked beyond all measure.

[Ji-L87]

What is it with certain Western fans of Japanese media who bemoan faithful translations and adaptations as "boring?" I've seen this attitude with Vic Ireland's club of Working Designs apologetics, fans of Adult Swim's edgy hack job of Crayon Shin-Chan, Robotech diehards, and old-school anime dub fans (who continued to affectionately cling to retro dubs even as things improved) in general. It's baffling to me.

Are these people really fans of JPN games and anime, or are they fans of some no-name, talentless, wannabe comedy writers in the West who are all snark and no wit? If you feel that certain foreign media needs the MST3K treatment or the creative intervention of white guys to be worthy of your attention at all, you're probably better off ignoring it altogether and finding something else to play or watch.

(This isn't meant as a stab at Ji, since I am fully aware that Girls und Panzer is boring as hell in any form.)

Well, opinions aside regarding Girls und Panzer, I simply felt that the silly german word-switching actually fitted very well with the show's already silly theme. Also, since we were watching it in group, I think that also amplified the fun we had a bit - still, I stand by that this sub track added more to the show than it took away.

That said, while I'm open to exceptions on per a work basis, I too believe that translations should generally aspire to be both accurate and invoke a feeling of natural flow. Spicing up and changing a translation "for the lulz" in things you actually release to the market is not something I enjoy seeing. As an example, I think Del-rey received a bit of flak for how they handled the translations in the earliest volumes of Negima! - I recall seeing a few things in there which was on the level of web comics, and didn't feel at professional at all.

But I DO think some liberties can be taken with regards to jokes and such that simply doesn't transfer over well to another language. It's a fine line.

Also, this is more of a problem in official releases than with fansubs/scanlations, since there'll bit alternatives.

[Raytrace]

OK I know this probably isn't directly relevant to this thread, but I think there is probably enough people in this thread who might like this sorta thing to put it here.

I started watching Ultraman TV 1966 - I like it a lot - I'm at episode 6 and it really seems to try to constantly add stuff or use different perspectives to break out of the 'monster of the week' mold.

[drauch]

Not to deter your enjoyment, but it does sort of keep the weekly monster format throughout, but it always remains a blast. Wait until you get to Jirass on episode 10. Should look very familiar.

[Raytrace]

Not to deter your enjoyment, but it does sort of keep the weekly monster format throughout, but it always remains a blast. Wait until you get to Jirass on episode 10. Should look very familiar.

oh yeah no I know it will keep the format but it seems to add stuff - man if i could handle the entire 92 episodes of Mazinger Z which really were just plain monster of the week most of the time, I can definitely handle this .

[drauch]

Haha, very true! I feel like stuff like Kamen Rider and Kikaida and the like is a bit more story driven. You still have different monsters each episode, with the same monster sometime extending into others, but it feels much more sequential, as there's always a leader who's masterminding it all. If you can find it, check out the Chinese "tokusatsu" production by the Shaw Brothers, Super Inframan! One of my favorite films, and it's completely insane!

[Raytrace]

Haha, very true! I feel like stuff like Kamen Rider and Kikaida and the like is a bit more story driven. You still have different monsters each episode, with the same monster sometime extending into others, but it feels much more sequential, as there's always a leader who's masterminding it all. If you can find it, check out the Chinese "tokusatsu" production by the Shaw Brothers, Super Inframan! One of my favorite films, and it's completely insanse!

cool stuff Imma check it out .

[soprano1]

Ruldra, you were right about White Album 2. Glad i watched it.

[Raytrace]

The man in charge of the Macross 7 special weapons research division:

[Raytrace]

completely NSFW - but this is really quite well made IMO (and yes it's Evangelion related) -

http://animatorexpo.com/

[drauch]

^That ruled! I'll be following that now. Thanks for the heads up.

[Raytrace]

Yeah it is really well done I think - like a 5 minute End Of Evangelion .

[KAI]

2/28
Shuichi Ikeda and all the VAs are back!

Don't mess with Rambo Ral!

[Raytrace]

i saw someone posting about that yesterday but as I can't read Jap i cudnt find anything new except that image when I went to the site - are there any new vids? btw prototype (i.e. uncoloured etc.) plamodel of the prototype Guntank from Origin was unveiled in the last few days.