Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Bananamatic]

Finally watched Be Invoked after taking a few months to finish the Ideon TV series

10/10, all I can say

[KAI]

Finished Dezaki's Takarajima/Treasure Island. Manliest thing I've seen in years, the ending made cry like a baby. John Silver is easily one of the best male characters in anime history.
Please watch this if you have the chance.


Right after finishing Takarajima, I started watching Ie Naki Ko/Nobody's child Remi (aka saddest animu ever).
Really loving it so far. Dezaki+Sugino is always a winning combination if you want quality anime.

[BryanM]

Tried some nihilistic "End of the world" type gorn manga:

Mahou Shoujo of the End. It's basically Highschool of the Dead but with robotish magical girls instead of zombies, with that same market demographic meant to appeal to 13 year old boys. The gorn is cranked up fairly high. I like how it unloads a variety of tropes so things don't get stale.

It's.. spiritual sister series, Mahou Shoujo Site, isn't (yet) an end of the world type thing. The treatment of its main character in the first issue comes across as pretty freaking dark and over the top cruel. It's super weird how the translator translates the magic weapons as "sticks", when "wand" feels so very very less wrong. Seems like an example of those overly literal translations I harp on about.

Hakaijuu is kind of the same ballpark, except less fanservice tailored for 13 year old boys, and less tropes. Giant alien bugs eat everyone, some people somehow survive longer than five seconds, no character development is necessary since every moment involves them pooping their pants.

It reminds me of how ridiculous the premise of The Walking Dead is. If a magical supernatural threat appeared, and it was sufficient to wipe out the military and send civilization back to the stone age, then there's zero chance of that world turning into a place where you can keep out the monsters with a fence and spend your days growing vegetables. It would be a horrible slaughter bath until the plot armor on the protagonist falls off and extinction of everyone sets in.

I cosplayed as Kenshiro from HnK and some teenage girls asked me if I was Chuck Norris. Never again.

I vaguely remember hearing this one a while back and it still cracks me up.

Especially youse guys that seem all bummed out about it. They're just kids! It's before their time. We don't know how awesome the Marx Brothers were, but we still appreciate Ghostbusters, amirite?

They need us old fucks, to educate them on the magical fuzzy world of exploding brains and man tears. If we don't do it, who will?

The new chibi anime? Is that who you want defining our legacy?

[soprano1]

KAI: Watched Treasure Island dubbed when i was 8 or 9, the art style mesmerized me. Then i watched the original version two years ago, enjoyed it even more. Is the book's Long John Silver a badass like in the anime?
Nobody's Child Remi? What a depressing name.

[M.Knight]

I remember Nobody's Child Remy being broadcast on French TV when I was younger, under the name "Rémy sans famille" (which basically means the same thing). While I didn't personally watch it a lot, this one anime always stuck out because its premise was so sad compared to most other series. It almost felt as if it didn't belong in the children-oriented programs that broadcast it.

While I'm not the biggest fan of cars ever, I just started watching the first anime season of Initial D, mostly because I was interested in the music. (Night of Fire, Running in the 90s, Speedy Speed Boy, etc.) I have no idea if I will watch the entire series but the first few episodes were enjoyable. The way Takumi sees driving as a task/chore despite his great abilities is really funny. The races are entertaining to watch though I wonder if they will have variations or different set-ups as the series goes on.

[Ji-L87]

I watched season 1 of Initial D in the summer or something last year and it was a blast. Sadly, stage 2 just didn't do it for me.
I hated how they changed both the drawing style and the look of the 3D modelling.

The first season has some really nice background art, as well as nice soundtrack.
As well as some scenes with well drawn cars (still shots, when they aren't in 3D).

[Lord Satori]

Watched Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun (nothing to do with ZUN or the Touhou series). I really enjoyed it. It's one of those anime which features to males who care about each other in a brotherly, and everyone is bitching about it being gay in the comments section.

[DaneSaga]

Watched Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun (nothing to do with ZUN or the Touhou series). I really enjoyed it. It's one of those anime which features to males who care about each other in a brotherly, and everyone is bitching about it being gay in the comments section.

You're saying it wasn't gay enough for you right?

edit: just googled it, and I got to say that it does look pretty fucking gay

[trap15]

I just googled expecting it to be only a little gay...

[Domino]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ore/.84069

Now to see if Robot Carnival will get a Blu-Ray release. I just don't have the feel for DVDs anymore, even if it is something epic as this!

[drauch]

It almost certainly won't be getting a BD release. Most new DVDs ran through a Bluray player look phenomenal. You're really only going to get so much "extra" with a traditional cel animated OVA like that if it was on BD anyway.

[Ji-L87]

Does Discotek even do BD releases?

[BryanM]

and everyone is bitching about it being gay in the comments section.

That's messed up. Nothing wrong with fujoshi bait, especially when ~60%+ of every show made today features molested tweenage girls with unrealistically large bosoms.

The only crime is something being boring, like Black Butler or the worst thing ever made in the history of all space and time: Nabari no Ou. There are probably sapient moon fish inside of Europa who made a tv show about a hungry mollusk that likes eating moon pasta and does not care for Wednesdays, which is better than some of this stuff that doesn't try.

[drauch]

Does Discotek even do BD releases?

Yeah, but they haven't done too many yet. They're finally starting to release a bit more now, though.

[M.Knight]

I watched season 1 of Initial D in the summer or something last year and it was a blast. Sadly, stage 2 just didn't do it for me.
I hated how they changed both the drawing style and the look of the 3D modelling.

The first season has some really nice background art, as well as nice soundtrack.
As well as some scenes with well drawn cars (still shots, when they aren't in 3D).

While the cars' 3D models are fine by themselves, they clash a bit with the 2D backgrounds. I agree that the drawn cars are very nice!
I hope I will enjoy Stage 2 more than you did. I don't usually watch long series because I end up losing interest and feel forced to watch everything, but for some reason I felt it would be alright with this specific anime.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

KAI: Watched Treasure Island dubbed when i was 8 or 9, the art style mesmerized me. Then i watched the original version two years ago, enjoyed it even more. Is the book's Long John Silver a badass like in the anime?
Nobody's Child Remi? What a depressing name.

Yeah, I recall watching the Spanish dubbed version of Tokyo Movie Shinsha's Treasure Island (circa 1978) {along with the Spanish dubbed Captain Cantella anime series as well} on the local channel 19 Univision TV station back in the late 1980s. The final episode of the anime Treasure Island is an interesting episode worth watching to see an older guy and his pet tiger all grown up.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[cave hermit]

I started reading Diamond is unbreakable: I'm really enjoying it so far! Plus I discovered Batoto, which is far better than Kissmanga ever was (they have all the jojo comics in high quality color too!)

I actually just finished watching the Oingo Boingo brothers episode of the stardust crusaders anime. Honestly I would say that it's one of my favorite episodes, especially with the music and that credit sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOjrfCdhD_I

Spoiler

OINGO BOINGO BROTHERS!

[Raytrace]

I started reading Diamond is unbreakable: I'm really enjoying it so far! Plus I discovered Batoto, which is far better than Kissmanga ever was (they have all the jojo comics in high quality color too!)

yeah when they killed mangatraders I started using hakonako program - it's very handy and searched 5 different ones (including batoto).

Diamond Is Unbreakable is my favourite JoJo manga so far - though Stone Ocean is starting to get really great - Vento Aureo was probably my least favourite - it just felt like it didn't really know what to do sometimes or something.

[Raytrace]

Finally watched Be Invoked after taking a few months to finish the Ideon TV series

10/10, all I can say

It really is isn't it? I was completely blown away by the sheer epic art of it. Also to say it's an influence on End Of Eva (which I like a lot also) would be an understatement.

[Lord Satori]

and everyone is bitching about it being gay in the comments section.

That's messed up. Nothing wrong with fujoshi bait, especially when ~60%+ of every show made today features molested tweenage girls with unrealistically large bosoms.

Thanks for that. I've always said that if characters were all genderswapped in a series like this, all those people who were complaining would suddenly be head over heels for it. The fact that people use the word "gay" as a derogatory term to imply that it's automatically bad or something is another complaint in and of itself. It's no surprise that trap15 is one of those people. Seriously, heaven forbid two guys develop a brotherly bond for almost being killed in an attack.

Anyway, apparently Kill la Kill is coming on Toonami. It's funny because I remember watching the subs and thinking "There's no way this is getting a dub. Even if it does, there's no way it's gonna make it on Toonami." It's probably not going to be as good (or as uncut) as the subbed version, but if it means I'm going to see Kill la Kill on my actual tv instead of a low res video player on an anime site then sign me up! I'm also going to enjoy hearing the OST again.

[Pretas]

Battle Tendency is still the defining, "purest" JoJo arc for me. It's in that perfect middle ground where the series hadn't yet shed its image as a Hokuto ripoff or introduced Stands, but when Araki was really beginning to flesh out his characters and universe while dramatically upping the antes and fantasy-logical complexity of his fight setpieces. Joseph is a more likable protagonist than Jotaro, and it's more endearing that he has to rely entirely on his own power and intuition without the help of a psychic familiar (as are the increasingly crazy battle tactics he improvises).

The biggest refinement to JoJo's art came when the series switched from weekly to monthly serialization in Steel Ball Run, though. Araki has been able to put much more care into the art since, and I think it's a truer reflection of his style.

I hope Araki changes his mind about the Phantom Blood movie never being allowed a DVD release. Even if it's a piece of shit that omits Speedwagon, a lot of people worked hard on it and it should be preserved for posterity.

I also recommend reading Lives of Eccentrics, a one-shot Araki volume of fictionalized biographical stories about subjects ranging from Typhoid Mary to the Collyer Brothers. It's absolutely dripping with his characteristic style, though in a darker vein than usual.

[trap15]

The fact that people use the word "gay" as a derogatory term to imply that it's automatically bad or something is another complaint in and of itself.

Where did anyone do this It's just gay as hell. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe you're the one associating gay with bad?

[rancor]

Some dudes just have gay on the brain. All the time.

[Lord Satori]

The fact that people use the word "gay" as a derogatory term to imply that it's automatically bad or something is another complaint in and of itself.

Where did anyone do this It's just gay as hell. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe you're the one associating gay with bad?

Forgive me for thinking this, as I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "Wow, this show is gay! I love it!" or something in a positive fashion. In my opinion, if you didn't mean it as a bad thing, you wouldn't bring it up at all. Also keep in mind that I wasn't talking about you guys, I only meant it in the general sense.

I'd also like to point out that in the comment section, people were using the word "yaoi" as well as the word "gay", failing to notice the difference between the two words. I acknowledge that this show does indeed get quite silly about these things later on, however, people were commenting on this even in the very first episode, (and continued to watch and complain as if they couldn't stop) which barely portrays anything beyond a childhood friendship or something like that.


If you want a show that could actually be considered gay, I suggest this. (Seriously, watch the first episode at least. It's ridiculous.)

[Xyga]

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu (ENG: 'Parasyte')

Based on an old horror sci-fi manga or novel dunno, a guy finds an alien species took over his right hand after failing on taking his brain.
Both end up cooperating for basic survival, but also because other aliens don't approve of that symbiotic relationship and will threaten them.
It's a mix of mildly disturbing and gore stuff with funny moments and fighting.

I found myself watching four episodes straight and I even laughed a couple of times, which I thought would never happen again when watching some anime series as every new show I've tried in the recent years has been a bore/disappointment.
So here I mention 'Parasyte' because I think it's good-enough, at least the first few episodes are.

EDIT: ended up watching a total of eight today, and it's definitely not bad at all, not the highest quality stuff, be definitely distinct from today's mass of übermarketed gyno-pedo-centric otaku shit.

[Squire Grooktook]

We don't know how awesome the Marx Brothers were, but we still appreciate Ghostbusters, amirite?

Speak for yourself, I must have seen ever Marx Brothers move at least 5 times with my parents as a kid (except Casablanca, that one sucked so we only watched it twice).

[BryanM]

Psycho Pass 2... they took all the things I hated about the first season, and made a new season based around ONLY that stuff.

"There's no way this is getting a dub. Even if it does, there's no way it's gonna make it on Toonami."

Always astonished by what's granted english voice tracks and what doesn't. So far as I've been able to figure it out:

* If your show features incest, no matter how popular it is, it is not getting it. Ever.
* Potential profit margins. "Well, it was popular in Japan..." is usually sufficient. Excluding proviso A)

So something niche like Mysterious Saliva Fetish X can get it, since it only has like four characters so it's cheap to produce. While When They Cry has a larger cast and the first season in the franchise didn't sell that hot, so it's dead forever.

Speak for yourself, I must have seen ever Marx Brothers move at least 5 times with my parents as a kid (except Casablanca, that one sucked so we only watched it twice).

One of these years I'll get around to watching one : /

Watching American Godzilla 2 last year means I have to take about another 6 year recovery time before giving Hollywood another chance.

[Pretas]

* If your show features incest, no matter how popular it is, it is not getting it. Ever.

Koi Kaze got a US DVD release, did it have a dub?

[Randorama]

Psycho Pass 2... they took all the things I hated about the first season, and made a new season based around ONLY that stuff.

Yes, they removed Urobushi from writing duties. This means that any half-witted writer could have done a better job, really.

[BryanM]

Koi Kaze got a US DVD release, did it have a dub?

Yes!

The mid the 2000's were a hell of a time, and Geneon was particularly unlucky (The before-mentioned Higurashi was their's as well). Koi Kaze was not one of the properties Funimation picked up off its corpse.

Yes, they removed Urobushi from writing duties. This means that any half-witted writer could have done a better job, really.

Noooo!

Well, that makes sense. If something is successful, throw out the people who made it. Rehash the mytharc of the first season. We don't care about creepy serial killers of the week, we care about cops who repeatedly let serial killers go and brainputers! Brainputer makes me feel empathy.

Argh.