Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Ji-L87]

So me and some friends just had a movie-night thing.
We watched the Space Battleship Yamato live action movie, The Cat Returns and Sword of the Stranger.

The Yamato movie was my first real contact with the franchise and it was preeeetty much like I expected. Not super bad, but certainly not very good either. The CG was surprisingly decent but still lacking, the acting was very....typical of this sort of thing, lots of dumb shit happened but at least the decor inside the ship, especially the bridge was really quite cool and well done. Not sure if this is a good gateway into the franchise or not But at least it's not so daunting any more and I might look into other works...

The Cat Returns was recently acquired since I finally started buying the Ghibli blurays, sadly I'm buying the UK releases since they're quite easily obtainable here instead of the improved US or JP releases but they're still good. This movie is the most charming thing I've seen in a long while, only rivalled by My Neighboor Totoro that I only saw just last weekend Not sure why it's taken me so long to see that one, oh well. Full of humour and cats. Lots of cats, really belongs in the so called "neko healing" category.

Interestingly enough it doesn't look very Ghibli at all and instead sports a clean contemporary style which ends up working very well for this movie.
The making of special feature is a surprisingly long (30 min) documentary that I will take time to sit through properly, as I had to abandon it since we were running out of time.

Lovely movie and it instantly became a work I cannot wait to revisit, along with Whisper of the Heart, which I've yet to see.

And lastly, Sword of the Stranger which I initially wasn't very keen on since feudal japan isn't really my kind of thang but by golly was it an amazing watch. More than anything, it's directeness and straight forwardness at once surprised and amused me. The story wasn't very deep but characters were introduced and shown in such a way that we still cared a bit for them somewhat and the battles just blew my mind.
No soapy death scenes, a far cry from the usual drawn out affairs, and instead filled with swift and delightfully kinetic action with surprisingly amounts of blood and limbs flying about. Great stuff as well!

[vinnyguy]

Gintama

[Obiwanshinobi]

Gintama

That out of the way, Yomigaeru Sora – Rescue Wings. My cousin (bad-eyes-so-he-didn't-have-to-worry-about-army-back-when-it-was-most-lads'-concern) used to rave about it and guess what, he was right. If you can stand the spartan (cheap CG etc.) visuals, it is very compelling. A dude goes far away from home to serve (as a rescue helicopter pilot) in a town seemingly populated mostly by the JASDF staff and their families. So they all salute American way (no hat), his girlfriend stays hometown and all that. MUCH recommended.

Quite a lot of voice acting is done in some rather local Japanese, that sounds refreshing after all the anime where backwater dialect is meant to be comical.

I shed a tear at the one episode's end, which, even while tipsy, is of uttermost value.

[lilmanjs]

Usagi Drop
Three episodes in and quite enjoying. Will probably speed through it this week since I'm enjoying it so much.

Hanasaku Iroha
Only seen episode one, but I want to beat the crap out of the really rude grandmother who seems to take her anger about her daughter out on her granddaughter. Looks like it will be good going forward.

[BryanM]

Remastered version of Evangelion incoming some months from now. Seems like a great time to criticize all of Shinji's life choices again, but this time in HD!

Sure Shinji, that's fine. Throw the 800 million dollar laser gun that took all of Japan to build and fire onto the ground. Yes go ahead and jam your giant carbon knife into the back of the 9 trillion dollar robot, that's fine. No, no, don't worry about it. We are made of money after all.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Done wathing Yomigaeru Sora - Rescue Wings. First of all, it's a thriller in the word's purest sense. What might have seemed like deus ex machina, turns out as realistic as fiction can be when I recall how good luck I had in accidents this far.
The other reflective facet is the same as I found in REAL. That is, every guy who undergoes his much-prolonged parting with childhood (somehow, I'm under impression women say their "goodbye" faster, or just recover when it's done sooner, if not easier way) should be able to relate to that.

[Lord Satori]

Remastered version of Evangelion incoming some months from now.

You mean the next movie in the series or are they actually remastering the entire old anime?

[BryanM]

Remastered version of Evangelion incoming some months from now.

You mean the next movie in the series or are they actually remastering the entire old anime?

26 episodes, and the accompanying movies.

Considering how long it's taken for Rebuild 3 to be double re-localized to see a product release, I believe this set will be available for domestic purchase sometime in 2024. The Internet will have pasted and fitted the existing dub onto the new video decades before that raises its head out of the LCL lake.

[KAI]

Finished reading every single volume of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Diamond is best Jojo, period.

[Ji-L87]

Finished reading Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.

Gentle but occasionally odd work, raises many questions, answers few of them.

Truly relaxing however And occasionally beautiful - makes me want to revisit the first OVA of it, was a long time since I saw it.
The way time works and flows made an impression on me, time feels very natural in this manga, felt a bit like growing up with the characters....hm..

[1983parrothead]

Kyoto Animation ones.

[KAI]

Fuck Yeah!! New Gundam announced!!
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans PV

Those characters look so generic. I was waiting for a new tomino series, but this seems decent.

[Lord Satori]

Watching the Tegami Bachi series and it is amazing so far! Just finished the first season and will start the second season soon.

[GaijinPunch]

Semi OT: If you have one of these ridiculous 10-bit audio encoded files (from a show from the 90's) and you want to play it on the TV, will you need to re-encode the audio yourself? I would assume so for any consumer level tv.

[BryanM]

Semi OT: If you have one of these ridiculous 10-bit audio encoded files (from a show from the 90's) and you want to play it on the TV, will you need to re-encode the audio yourself? I would assume so for any consumer level tv.

Not totally sure what you mean. If you mean by putting it on a USB harddrive and jamming it into the TV's USB port, each TV has its own highly specific formats that it supports. The amount of work it'd entail.... easier to just get a laptop or system on a chip (any decent modern "smartphone" phone should have HDMI out or it's rather poop imo) or move your computer, and play it using that.

[Ji-L87]

Semi OT: If you have one of these ridiculous 10-bit audio encoded files (from a show from the 90's) and you want to play it on the TV, will you need to re-encode the audio yourself? I would assume so for any consumer level tv.

Not totally sure what you mean. If you mean by putting it on a USB harddrive and jamming it into the TV's USB port, each TV has its own highly specific formats that it supports. The amount of work it'd entail.... easier to just get a laptop or system on a chip (any decent modern "smartphone" phone should have HDMI out or it's rather poop imo) or move your computer, and play it using that.

10 bit encodes can be troublesome if you're not on supported hardware That said, I do think I played back the first episode of Kill La Kill using my android phone, back when the VLC app was still a beta thing.

Easiest solution is a semi-modern laptop, like Bryan said.

[Xyga]

Working!!! (season 3) is just more of the same 'watch if bored' stuff, but episode 2 introduces the Minegishi character.
I laughed watching that bit - which very unlikely (coz actually funny anime went extinct years ago imho).

[MX7]

Semi OT: If you have one of these ridiculous 10-bit audio encoded files (from a show from the 90's) and you want to play it on the TV, will you need to re-encode the audio yourself? I would assume so for any consumer level tv.

Not totally sure what you mean. If you mean by putting it on a USB harddrive and jamming it into the TV's USB port, each TV has its own highly specific formats that it supports. The amount of work it'd entail.... easier to just get a laptop or system on a chip (any decent modern "smartphone" phone should have HDMI out or it's rather poop imo) or move your computer, and play it using that.

10 bit encodes can be troublesome if you're not on supported hardware That said, I do think I played back the first episode of Kill La Kill using my android phone, back when the VLC app was still a beta thing.

Easiest solution is a semi-modern laptop, like Bryan said.

Yep, vaguely decent laptop running MPC (someone mentioned VLC, why do that to yourself man?), then HDMI/VGA out. Relying on TVs to directly support all kinds of propitiatory file extensions is an exercise in frustration, seriously.

[Ji-L87]

someone mentioned VLC, why do that to yourself man?

I did! *raises hand* I mentioned VLC, but in my defense it was only because I tried the app version out, since the one that came with my phone couldn't play back all the different test files I put on it.
For Windows, MPHC + CCCP is my preferred playback solution.

Not a big fan of VLC otherwise, although some of my friends swear by it.

[S_Fang]

Watching the Tegami Bachi series and it is amazing so far! Just finished the first season and will start the second season soon.

Good choice, is a great under-rated series. I have to warn you about the 2nd season, though: it gets lots of filler and rewrite the plot differently from the manga (similiar to the first FMA's anime), so may find some questionable surprises.
If you can, try to read the manga and its original source, as the series is done this year as well the publication of all the 20 volumes in Japan. You'll not regret it, is a great ride full of beautiful drawings and hearth-warming atmosphere (still today, I'm searching for something similiar in the comic medium).

[Xyga]

For Windows, MPHC + CCCP is my preferred playback solution.

Not a big fan of VLC otherwise, although some of my friends swear by it.

It's just hat VLC has incredible compatibility and will do everything on most OS'es and hardwares.

MPCHC+CCCP is also my preferred, but I've experienced LOTS of hair-pulling issues with that combo; unexplainable tearing and judder, non-working controls, crashes with some files for no intelligible reason, etc.

VLC just works with a click, easy, smooth, light, ugly.

[BryanM]

Just enjoy that big smooth orange cone. The cone is love. The cone is hate.

[BIL]

Watched Monster over the last week or so. If you're very confused, like I was, it's not some Berserk medieval horror thingy. It's about a prodigious brain surgeon and his serial killer patient in 90s central Europe. I was disappointed becuz my good buddy recommended it and I wanted swords+beasts, but I watched anyway! FML!

Really liked it, with a few caveats. At 74 episodes it's far longer than the main plot needed. The melodramatic recoveries of repressed memories wear thin, and Dr. Tenma's pacifistic chokings under pressure test patience. His declining to put down unstoppable serial killer Johann while mourning his ongoing crimes can seem a wee bit self-indulgent.

It's more about the trip, which is a treacherous and moving one. The OP's tormented spectre seems improbably remote from the Tenma of episode one - the grueling transition is absolutely authentic, and soon impossible to look away from. And as trying as his gun-shyness can be, his convictions are so fiercely proven and rooted in such compassion and humility, it's easy to sympathise. The supporting cast is excellent as well, with a couple of highly satisfying arcs in Lunge and Grimmer, and well-paced interweavings of subplots great and small.

I strongly suspect I should've gone with the manga, as I normally would've... the anime is apparently extremely faithful, and the inherently slower medium might've caused me to feel the duration more. It's very good stuff either way.

[Lord Satori]

Watching the Tegami Bachi series and it is amazing so far! Just finished the first season and will start the second season soon.

Good choice, is a great under-rated series. I have to warn you about the 2nd season, though: it gets lots of filler and rewrite the plot differently from the manga (similiar to the first FMA's anime), so may find some questionable surprises.
If you can, try to read the manga and its original source, as the series is done this year as well the publication of all the 20 volumes in Japan. You'll not regret it, is a great ride full of beautiful drawings and hearth-warming atmosphere (still today, I'm searching for something similiar in the comic medium).

Having just finished it, I see what you mean. I feel like the Cabernet stole the show from what I predicted was going to be an eventual Journey to Akatsuki to end what was going on or something. Am I close?

Anyway, I found that the ending was satisfying, and I was especially surprised that it revealed the scene that led up to Gauche's heart being lost. (trying to avoid spoilers here, as I'm referencing a very important scene)

Watched Monster over the last week or so. If you're very confused, like I was, it's not some Berserk medieval horror thingy. It's about a prodigious brain surgeon and his serial killer patient in 90s central Europe. I was disappointed becuz my good buddy recommended it and I wanted swords+beasts, but I watched anyway! FML!

Really liked it, with a few caveats. At 74 episodes it's far longer than the main plot needed. The melodramatic recoveries of repressed memories wear thin, and Dr. Tenma's pacifistic chokings under pressure test patience. His declining to put down unstoppable serial killer Johann while mourning his ongoing crimes can seem a wee bit self-indulgent.

It's more about the trip, which is a treacherous and moving one. The OP's tormented spectre seems improbably remote from the Tenma of episode one - the grueling transition is absolutely authentic, and soon impossible to look away from. And as trying as his gun-shyness can be, his convictions are so fiercely proven and rooted in such compassion and humility, it's easy to sympathise. The supporting cast is excellent as well, with a couple of highly satisfying arcs in Lunge and Grimmer, and well-paced interweavings of subplots great and small.

I strongly suspect I should've gone with the manga, as I normally would've... the anime is apparently extremely faithful, and the inherently slower medium might've caused me to feel the duration more. It's very good stuff either way.

Hey, I saw that one, too! I do agree that it's much longer than it needs to be. This is one of those anime(s?) that I went into completely blind, but I was hooked after the first episode. The last episode intrigued me, as I got the impression that the entire ordeal could've been avoided were it not for the hesitation of the person who debuts in that episode. (again, trying to avoid spoilers)

[Xyga]

Watched Monster over the last week or so.
...
Really liked it, with a few caveats. At 74 episodes it's far longer than the main plot needed...

Hey, I saw that one, too! I do agree that it's much longer than it needs to be...

Typical Naoki Urasawa work; you read/watch tons of stuff, expect a mindblowing conclusion, aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnd it sucks.

[soprano1]

Watched Monster over the last week or so.
...
Really liked it, with a few caveats. At 74 episodes it's far longer than the main plot needed...

Hey, I saw that one, too! I do agree that it's much longer than it needs to be...

Typical Naoki Urasawa work; you read/watch tons of stuff, expect a mindblowing conclusion, aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnd it sucks.

Pluto:(

[Xyga]

^ Pluto isn't the worst, quite the opposite actually (Atom is featured ftw). I was much more disappointed with Monster and 20th.
I won't even mention Billy Bat (which I quit reading months ago).

Now for something completely different; Dragon Ball Super/Chou.
Nothing great, 95% the same shit as 18 years ago, just resuming with a new arc right after Buu, and I fucking love it.
This is totally a love letter from Tori to us 30y~ers. Fuck the 21st century. Like really.

[soprano1]

Now for something completely different; Dragon Ball Super/Chou.
Nothing great, 95% the same shit as 18 years ago, just resuming with a new arc right after Buu, and I fucking love it.
This is totally a love letter from Tori to us 30y~ers. Fuck the 21st century. Like really.

Not liking it much, to be honest. So far it's been a retelling of the Gods movie. I would have prefered that they made a post Uub training story to replace the GT series, maybe making Uub not useless.
I am a Uub fan, if you hadn't notice.

[Stompp]

Been out of the anime loop for too long I was wondering if anyone could recommend me something in the style of Ergo Proxy worth watching.

[Xyga]

Now for something completely different; Dragon Ball Super/Chou.
Nothing great, 95% the same shit as 18 years ago, just resuming with a new arc right after Buu, and I fucking love it.
This is totally a love letter from Tori to us 30y~ers. Fuck the 21st century. Like really.

Not liking it much, to be honest. So far it's been a retelling of the Gods movie. I would have prefered that they made a post Uub training story to replace the GT series, maybe making Uub not useless.
I am a Uub fan, if you hadn't notice.

Yeah maybe that would have been better but what will come after that will be completely new (it has to!)
But...whatever, let's be clear DB since Z has been a super-dumb soapy shounen, and it's back today smelling almost identical; to me it's just a matter of getting that 90's flavor again the story doesn't matter much.
And it's still much better than any of those even dumber lolicon vomit shows 9/10 of today's production is made of.