Recommended Anime/Manga?

[S_Fang]

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?

Correct, but in the manga the fight against it took three volumes (Vol.12;13 and 14), but many things happen there so no problems about its lenght. And again, the last chapters of the manga are placed in Akatsuki, so there no derailements.

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)

Indeed it has some satisfactory sense, but is not that much considering the questions yet to be resolved. Although, Pierrot decided to animate Tegami Bachi when it had 12 /13 volumes, so they couldn't do much (a similiar well-executed move to FMA could have been appreciated).
I wonder if some anime studio will decide to take all the 20 volumes and adapt it in the most faithful way possible (I personally wish UfoTable or MadHouse to handle it).

[KAI]

Been reading Devilman and it's "sequel" Violence Jack. Sooo good, I never thought Go Nagai was such a great manga artist.
The Jim Mazinger arc is full of win


I've heard a spanish group is trying to scanlate Mazinsaga. So hyped about that.

[Lord Satori]

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)

Indeed it has some satisfactory sense, but is not that much considering the questions yet to be resolved. Although, Pierrot decided to animate Tegami Bachi when it had 12 /13 volumes, so they couldn't do much (a similiar well-executed move to FMA could have been appreciated).
I wonder if some anime studio will decide to take all the 20 volumes and adapt it in the most faithful way possible (I personally wish UfoTable or MadHouse to handle it).

I hope so, but I kinda doubt it considering how long it's been and how much less popular it is.

[drauch]

Devilman and Violence Jack are two of my favorites. I'll probably be able to read VJ raw before it's ever fully translated, though. It's crazy how talented Nagai is when he really gets down and dirty.

[S_Fang]

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)

Indeed it has some satisfactory sense, but is not that much considering the questions yet to be resolved. Although, Pierrot decided to animate Tegami Bachi when it had 12 /13 volumes, so they couldn't do much (a similiar well-executed move to FMA could have been appreciated).
I wonder if some anime studio will decide to take all the 20 volumes and adapt it in the most faithful way possible (I personally wish UfoTable or MadHouse to handle it).

I hope so, but I kinda doubt it considering how long it's been and how much less popular it is.

Well, the volumes still manage to enter in top 10s or around those spots, so there could be a really slight chance for an adaptation.

[KAI]

"Lupin III - L'avventura Italiana"
Hahah, Italian fans are boycotting the series because of that stupid opening song.

[BryanM]

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.

A bit of a rare duck that one; almost never does a guy get total power to make something original however he feels like.

Ghost in the Shell is the obvious one.

Psycho Pass is pretty solid before it goes off the rails.

Darker Than Black season 1 is eh okay.

Noein has a similar artstyle and a world of wacky pseudobabble nonsense, but I personally couldn't finish it.

[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.

A bit of a rare duck that one; almost never does a guy get total power to make something original however he feels like.

Ghost in the Shell is the obvious one.

Psycho Pass is pretty solid before it goes off the rails.

Darker Than Black season 1 is eh okay.

Noein has a similar artstyle and a world of wacky pseudobabble nonsense, but I personally couldn't finish it.

Yeah, I know Ergo Proxy's a bit of an oddity. Love the character designs and the pace of the story. And the opening song is one of the best eva imo

Thanks for the tips GITS ofc is a masterpiece. Shirow did some real solid manga before he went total perv and Oshii did a great job with the anime. I tried GITS SAC (even have Japanese DVD boxes) but it didn't manage to get through it. I'll give Psycho Pass and Noein a try if I can find them.

[BryanM]

Remember that I once watched anything through to the end for a whole year, so if *I* couldn't get through something...

... well it doesn't mean too much at all. You would think exposure to stuff would make you stronger, but it's more like drinking poison day in day out. Tolerance only goes down.

[S_Fang]

"Lupin III - L'avventura Italiana"
Hahah, Italian fans are boycotting the series because of that stupid opening song.

Well, the OP with weird rap/pop is pretty dumb, considering that Giorgio Vanni did a very cool version of the op for the re-runs of the 70/80's series. Is really excessive to boycott the series just for that, though: replacing the OP with an instrumental music or an OP with lyrics about similiar themes of the series rather than the usual song style of "shout the name-explaining things-talking about things that happens in the given images-repeat" (I'm really fed of that bullshit since I was 10 years old).

I plan to watch the series, so I hope nothing bad happens to it.

[lilmanjs]

Very much enjoyed Usagi drop. Finished it off last night and can't wait to get through the rest of the slice of life anime list. I'm sure that will be the best one, but the others will probably be good.

[BryanM]

Mostly enojoyed Sword Art season 2. Don't even mind the Mary Sue stuff, the fact he has a new girlfriend every arc, the absurdity of the premise, or even the dreaded emo special snowflake Chunibyo poop. With some hefty cuts, getting rid of the padding (added to fill time or save money on the budget I assume), it would be a perfectly fine thing.

The terrible writing inherent to the trope of "character keeps a secret from another one for no reason" really made me appreciate the "character keeps a secrect from another one for an actual reason" one.

The whole episode where they sit in a cave being emo over killing killers just reminded me of that scene from the TV series Humans where Worst Dad has sex with the robot maid and doesn't bother to share it with anybody. Which was much better 'cause a) It actually mattered and b) They didn't use up an entire episode to address it.

------

I also had this "describe a series in one sentence" idea but gave up when the only good one I could come up with was for Madoka:

"12 year old lesbians get roped into a pyramid scam involving diet pills by aliens."

[BrianC]

A lot of older shows have some pretty morbid shit in them.

GoLion is like that too. I wasn't really a fan of that one. I liked a lot of aspects much better than the altered US version, but the characters were not very likeable and the monster of the week thing started to wear thin after a while.

[Lord Satori]

I just saw Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' tonight. It was incredible and it had a few scenes in it that surprised me. What surprised me the most, though, was that before the movie, they had an interview type thing with the voice actors coupled with a kind of summary as to who Frieza was. I'm especially glad that I didn't have to explain anything to my dad, who took me there, after the film because of this little bonus.

In other news, they also said what other movies Funimation is bringing to the US and apparently the live action Attack on Titan is one of them. I desperately hope it's just official subtitles and not a shitty dub. I find that live action foreign films make for worse dubs than animations.

[Kaiser]

Akira (1988)

This is one movie that friends have been bugging me for years, like it's some rite of passage, having sat down and watched it today, now I understand, this is a movie I regret not seeing earlier, perhaps I wasn't ready for Akira, and infact watching it, I still wasn't but as I watched it, I embraced it and I loved it. It became one of my favorite movies ever, I didn't read about it, I didn't spoil it for myself, I entered this with an open mind and what I got, was a gem. A sometimes misunderstood gem.

I admit few things story-wise didn't add up for me but I think that's because they cut some corners when transitioning the story but fortunately it doesn't affect the story that much negatively. Some people found Akira to be confusing or incoherent but I think they didn't catch the symbolism and the purpose of it, the violence wasn't there to gratify things, think about it, as the movie goes on, things only get more violent, and to what does that violence lead? The end of the movie, I will not give it away for those that haven't seen it but those who have seen it will probably get my point.

The movie had a strong message about violence leading nowhere and in the end, unity to stop it but people think that violence of stylized violence negate that, well I disagree. The message would not be as strong without it.

Now enough about an essay on how I feel about the story, the visuals are a masterpiece and absolutely ahead of their time, I could not stop collecting my jaw because the further the movie got, the visuals kept surprising me, especially during the climax. Audio gets a high five from em as well, it just feels right, especially when the audio signifies the importance of certain scenes, towards the end, I was having chills all over my body because the audio was too perfect during the last bits.

Ah, this is a wonder I regret not seeing earlier but now that I have, I feel more complete.

[EmperorIng]

Devilman and Violence Jack are two of my favorites. I'll probably be able to read VJ raw before it's ever fully translated, though. It's crazy how talented Nagai is when he really gets down and dirty.

It's pretty impressive how stylish the manga is compared to the OVAs. And I love the OVAs. I think the stuff in Violence Jack is just a little too bleak for me, but it's definitely worth checking out the first volume or so.

Right now I'm watching:

Overlord - Decent Madhouse effort with its main gimmick being the protagonist is a giant evil skeleton wizard. Entertaining on that premise, but the episodes have less action than you would be led to believe.

Gunbuster - Never watched this before. I'm two episodes in and some of the abrupt character changes are confusing; apparently this was supposed to be a parody? I hear the second half completely changes tone; I don't know if I'll like that. Enjoying the top-quality animation thus far.

Ruin Explorers - Fun one-off fantasy OVA series probably aping on the success of Slayers. So far very entertaining and well done, though it won't win awards for creativity or execution. Enjoyable popcorn fare.

[lilmanjs]

Akira (1988)
Ah, this is a wonder I regret not seeing earlier but now that I have, I feel more complete.

This was via the blu-ray release I take it? I remember being a kid and my parents deciding that on the weekends I could go to bed when I felt like it, and I was like freedom! Sci-Fi channel one night said, Akira up next, so I decided what the hell, this looks really odd and cool. Luckily it was uncut and undubbed as well. Getting to finally see this in all its HD glory this weekend.

[Xyga]

Gunbuster -
I don't know if I'll like that.

Oh you will.
Just never watch the sequel 'Diebuster'.

Akira (1988)

The first time I didn't like it because it's not like the manga.
Then watching over every few years I got to like it more and more...and more.
It's just too beautiful.

[KAI]

Finally finished reading Getter Robo and Getter Robo G. I can't wait to start reading Go and find out if it really is one of the best Sci-Fi mangas out there as they say.

[EmperorIng]

Finished GunBuster!

What an, ah, "interesting"* choice for the final episode. I won't lie and say that my plebe tastes would have liked the ending to be episode 5!

I feel that for the most part I am not an expert at giving in-depth commentary or insight when it comes to many media. I guess I'll just say, for GunBuster, what impressed me the most was the quality of animation. There is something so magical about seeing so many things move around at once. Seeing parts of ships whirr and rotate, laser lenses focus and re-focus, ship hatches opening and closing - I don't know why such simple actions i find so utterly appealing, but GunBuster is full of those moments and it made me happy.

What made me less happy was the somewhat paper-thin characters! I'm surprised that I ended up liking Noriko well before her heroic moments of episode 4, but I think her eyes were drawn big to be in a constant liquified state. I don't really understand what Jung Freud's motivations were: why she suddenly hated Amano/Onee-sama or all the other impulsive things she did... I suppose teenage hormones are to blame, and how all those girls wanted to get down on Coach. The false moment of drama in episode 5 where Onee-sama has her "breakdown" was so gratingly exasperating; I hate when shows do that. You would think these people would be a bit better trained in their military operations.

But in the end those things didn't matter because it was a fun time. The most impressively bleak aspect was the time relativity. In the beginning it was rather light but I have to wonder why they made things such a depressing downer by the end; I felt it should have been an almost soul-crushing existential crisis. It at least felt that way for idiots like me that actually like and care about these characters. It makes it very sad ending played in a happy way; too bad I'm a sucker that only wants happy endings for my anime (lol, I was thinking that even the downer ending of Black Lagoon's second season ended on a somewhat upbeat note).

Old posts use the phrase "hyper intensity" which I think fits the characters, scale of the story, as well as the quality of animation!

Addendum: It's fun searching the forums and reading other opinions, especially all the vitriol spilled in years' past over the sequel, DieBuster. I'll say just looking at pictures I hate the character designs. I actually am rather fond of FLCL** but I guess it didn't translate well into the "Buster" universe.

*People may be able to say it was an "artistic choice" to do black-and-white, but I want to see those people defend the damn slide-show battle towards the middle/end. Did anyone else hear the pencils dropping in the background and a voice saying "Oh shit! Where did all the money go?!?!"

**perhaps nostalgia? FLCL came out at that "right" time for me in adolescence so it particularly resonated with me. I haven't watched it in years. Do you all think it still holds up?

[BryanM]

Was kind of on the fence of putting time into Yuki Yuna, since it was obscure and I've been burned by, well, everything in the past. A google image search proclaimed Madoka + Eva = Yuki, and I was like, what? Wasn't Madoka already the Eva of magical shojo? Does this mean that Yuki is even more grimdark?

It turns out.... no.

It's one of the most obvious, soulless copy cat money grabs I've ever seen:

Evangelion was popular, so we'll have attacking aliens.
Haruhi was popular, so we'll have slice of life elements.
Madoka was popular, so we'll have magical girls.

As a premise, there was nothing remarkably bad or good about it. The execution just fell completely flat. I could watch a random middle aged man do his taxes or I could watch Yuki Yuna, they'd be about the same. I felt more emotion when I saw a guy at Wal-Mart who looked like Frank from Sex House.

[Eaglet]

Watched the first season of Psycho Pass and loved it. Saw three episodes of season two and dropped it. Absolutely stupid. Not even the same series.
Hope the movie is better.

[mamboFoxtrot]

The first time I went to watch Psycho Pass, it was on Hulu, which has the full second season, but only four episodes of the first. I didn't realize this going in. When what I assumed would be episode 5 of the first season started, I was very, very confused.

[Eaglet]

Oh i can definitely see that. You should get around to watch the rest of the first season though. It's really good.

[BryanM]

Saw three episodes of season two and dropped it. Absolutely stupid. Not even the same series.

There was maybe one good scene that entire season?

Amazing what the difference between having a competent main character and an incompetent one makes, eh.

Also the whole taking everything you hated about season 1 and making a new season only using those elements. And the whole being the dog that goes back to its own vomit thing. Just doing a simple serial killer of the week type deal would have been better.

[Eaglet]

And that's not even mentioning the writing.
It's like whoever took over didn't get anything of what the initial season was trying to accomplish. At all.

[BrianC]

A lot of older shows have some pretty morbid shit in them.

GoLion is like that too. I wasn't really a fan of that one. I liked a lot of aspects much better than the altered US version, but the characters were not very likeable and the monster of the week thing started to wear thin after a while.

As far as shows like this I like, Galaxy Express 999 fit the bill. It has some crazy stuff that goes on.

[S_Fang]

Saw three episodes of season two and dropped it. Absolutely stupid. Not even the same series.

There was maybe one good scene that entire season?

Amazing what the difference between having a competent main character and an incompetent one makes, eh.

Also the whole taking everything you hated about season 1 and making a new season only using those elements. And the whole being the dog that goes back to its own vomit thing. Just doing a simple serial killer of the week type deal would have been better.

I wonder if the writers and director would have done a better job if they had 24 episodes insead of 11. For a series that try to show long, complicated cases with a terroristic plot at the top (not single detached cases like Case Closed), the pace was fast and biased just to the people who already watched the first season.

[KAI]

New Legend of Galactic Heroes project officialy announced
Mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[Ghegs]

New Legend of Galactic Heroes project officialy announced
Mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

!

Oh wow. Never thought I'd see more LOGH. Perhaps I'll watch the series for the third time in celebration. I'm a bit confused about how the new series is described, though.

The new anime is not a remake of the earlier anime, but another anime adaptation of the original novels with a new staff.

So it's not a remake of the OAV series...but it's telling the same story again? There's not much of a difference there. Though admittedly I don't know how faithful the first series was to the novels.

But perhaps I can rectify that soon as well, since

Viz Media's Haikasoru imprint has licensed the original novel series and plans to release the first three novels in spring 2016.