Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Ji-L87]

This makes me want to seek it out and at least watch the first episode, just to remind myself.
The whole topless, plug on head-thing was just odd tho'.

I guess the more realistic approach of Gunbuster 1 is just much more to my (perhaps our?) liking. The characters, setting, monster and mechanical designs, the faux science (with actual explanations) all have a sense of realism, something tactile, to them which really helps to give it a proper foundation. And then there's the massive scale, both of objects but also time. It's grand in every sense of the word.

As I remember it, Gunbuster 2 has a rewarding pay-off towards the end, but it takes too long for it to get there (and I'm not sure I really enjoyed the trip) whereas Gunbuster 1 gets good pretty much from the 2nd episode and then just scales up from there.

[GaijinPunch]

This makes me want to seek it out and at least watch the first episode, just to remind myself.
The whole topless, plug on head-thing was just odd tho'.

I guess the more realistic approach of Gunbuster 1 is just much more to my (perhaps our?) liking. The characters, setting, monster and mechanical designs, the faux science (with actual explanations) all have a sense of realism, something tactile, to them which really helps to give it a proper foundation. And then there's the massive scale, both of objects but also time. It's grand in every sense of the word.

As I remember it, Gunbuster 2 has a rewarding pay-off towards the end, but it takes too long for it to get there (and I'm not sure I really enjoyed the trip) whereas Gunbuster 1 gets good pretty much from the 2nd episode and then just scales up from there.

You said it well. Gunbuster starts off as a parody and has some cringe-worthy stuff in there, but the faux science (mixed with real science mind you) was an awesome touch as it had a huge impact on the story. The sense of tragedy from the beginning (totally cliche' and not original at all, but the execution was nice) and then bringing relativity into that element at about the halfway point was something I hadn't seen. And more importantly, the show is decidedly Japanese through and through, with those elements being underscored in the final act. A remnant of the bubble era for certain, but it carries with it a certain charm.

And then there's the massive scale, both of objects but also time. It's grand in every sense of the word.

Grand Indeed. (I recently mentiond on my FB that Gunbuster incorporated relativity better than Insterstellar). Diebuster has none of that. Not a single bit. "Kudos for trying something different" some might say, but Gunbuster took over-used cliche's to the nth and made it interesting. Diebuster is just aiming for a less enthused audience.

The animation quality of the original is far more jaw-dropping as well.

[soprano1]

Started to read Fairy Tail. Nice shounen story, but i burned out at the start of the Edolas arc, and it didn't seem very interesting, with the

Spoiler

parallel world

thing. Should i try reading it anyway?
Also, why does the anime look so crap (even the OP/ED quality isn't very good), while the music is fucking awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXC2vSoz00A
Fuck yeah, Erza

First and third OP songs are fucking great too.

[Xyga]

Fairy Tail is your average modern shounen, tons of fighting and a paper-thin background plot with only a page of actual development by volume.

Mashima got much better at drawing boobs and asses, that's it.

You'd better read 'Rave' (Rave: Groove Adventure), which at least features an actual story/adventure with a pacing.

[soprano1]

Mashima got much better at drawing boobs and asses, that's it.

Well, that's not a bad thing.

[Ghegs]

Inspired that the original Legend of Galactic Heroes novels are finally getting translated into English, with the first two already up for pre-order on Amazon (don't think I've ever pre-ordered books before...), I've started my third watch-through of the anime. This time in story-chronological order.

[Ji-L87]

Maybe it's just me but I find the styles used (at least on the covers I've seen) in both Fairy Tale and maybe also Rave to look more than a little bit like One Piece. Not to bash or anything, maybe it's just a very typical shounen look of the era...?

I don't really read that much shounen so I don't have the firmest grip on things but I remember looking especially at Fairly Tail and thinking "shit looks like one piece,yo".
Maybe that annoyed me since I actually don't like the drawing style in OP all that much - just a personal opinion, nothing against the actual technical skill of Oda

I usually get chewed out whenever I bring up the topic so maybe it's just my personal little delusion... A friend once jokingly called me a "style fascist" because my often strong opinions on drawing styles instead of focusing on things like story or composition. I just want my shit to look a special way I guess and the world's not too happy giving me that

Then again, I thought Love Hina looked spectacular when I first read it. Hadn't read much manga back then and really appreciated how you really got a sense for the location thanks to all the background & scenery drawings. I was a bit disappointed when Akamatu's style seemed to get "stiffer" and with bolder lines later on.

/goes off on a tangent

[Xyga]

One Piece sure is fine in pure drawing technique and originality, but the presentation is awful, totally overbloated-overkill.
Each page is such a mess I just don't feel like decoding it.
And the author had a good story to tell when it started...almost 20 years ago.

People complain about Berserk with Guts staying 7 years on that fucking boat, but I'd gather OP is even worse in that aspect, because in its lifetime it hasn't told a 10th of Berserk's story if we compare.
But it's like Game of Thrones, I don't give a crap anymore, I've quit reading all those years ago. Plus honestly I'm really too old now, need grittier stuff.

[ZacharyB]

Maybe it's just me but I find the styles used (at least on the covers I've seen) in both Fairy Tale and maybe also Rave to look more than a little bit like One Piece. Not to bash or anything, maybe it's just a very typical shounen look of the era...?

When I tried Fairy Tail years ago, I first thought it was by the guy who does One Piece. After seeing it was a different guy, I thought that he might've been an assistant to Oda years ago, and co-opted his style in order to help his new effort succeed.

[null1024]

Man, there's times when I feel like enjoying a stupid little battle shounen series, but the problem is that they tend towards being really shit, really long, really unfocused, or some combination of the three.
Maybe I'll re-read Negima, but the beginning sucks a bit, and then the ending is absolute garbage and sudden and important plot points are resolved off-screen [and UQ Holder didn't manage to catch me].

I watched almost zero anime when Top wo Nerae 2 came out. I do recall it being released and took a peak and was like, "Pass!" Uggh... I know I'm set in my ways and can't be bothered with all of this super smooth CGI for the most part, but some things are worse than others. While the first had some gratuitous boobies, the 2nd one feels like it's aimed directly at the pedos!

It's as much of a period piece as Gunbuster is, maybe even more, and Diebuster came out right when moe began to really get into its stride. Just as Gunbuster is a bonafide product of the 80s, Diebuster is absolutely a product of the 2000s.

it also tries to portray an odd, far future society and there's a ton of weirdness there when seeing that after the very almost realistic feeling of Gunbuster, and it seems to have this deliberate dissonance between the two series, even as Diebuster blatantly calls back Gunbuster regularly
kind of feels like Gainax didn't have nearly the sense of direction they did before, even though they were much more financially secure during Diebuster's production

Tempted to rewatch them both now, it's been more than a year and a half since I last did.
I enjoyed them both. Gunbuster's pacing is screwy from what I remember, but it really pays off and it's a real treat with its animation. Diebuster seemed to move along more consistently, but it's a lot more flawed as a show. It's also much less artistically impressive.

[GaijinPunch]

Tempted to rewatch them both now, it's been more than a year and a half since I last did.

Oh, I'll be going through the original soon to wash the taste out of my mouth. Odd that you can learn a lot of Japanese culture from a futuristic, sci-fi anime. Still awesome though, and yes, the payoff is dope. I think everyone's assessment here has been pretty spot on for both of the series. I just can't forgive the latter one, but I hate most of the shit from the naughties... and whatever we're calling the 10's.

[KAI]

Anyone else watching Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju? anime of the season IMO. Even if it doesn't look as good as Boku dake ga inai machi (A-1 pictures seems to have unlimited animation budget these days), the plot and characters are rock solid.

[Hagane]

Huh, so they adapted Boku dake ga inai machi? What I read of the manga (only one volume) seemed interesting, and I always find Sanbe's art style appealing.

I read that they are going to fully adapt the manga (which is 7 volumes long so far) in 12 episodes, with an anime specific ending. Doesn't sound too good, they always fuck things up when they adapt ongoing manga.

[Empty]

Huh, so they adapted Boku dake ga inai machi? What I read of the manga (only one volume) seemed interesting, and I always find Sanbe's art style appealing.

I read that they are going to fully adapt the manga (which is 7 volumes long so far) in 12 episodes, with an anime specific ending. Doesn't sound too good, they always fuck things up when they adapt ongoing manga.

From what I heard the manga is ending at the same time as the anime and they'll both have the same ending.

That's just hearsay though, I could be wrong. Either way it had a really strong episode one, I really enjoyed it.

[Ji-L87]

So, have anyone else been enjoying Digibro ripping Asterisk War apart?

It's so delightfully delicious

[Xyga]

House of Five Leaves - anime adaptation, good seinen story, feudal Japan setting, focused on normal adult character circumstances rather than samurai stuff and action.

[soprano1]

I'm reading Akatsuki!! Otokojuku. Pretty manly manga by Akira Miyashita.

[BryanM]

Actually somewhat fond of Noragami. Nothing new; old tropes that've been driven into the ground, but it's executed fairly competently.

Eva Rebuild #3, wasn't. The first couple movies had a good pacing - varied character interactions divided by clear, straight forward action sequences. #3 has only a couple muddied bloated action sequences crammed at the start and the end.

In the middle? A bunch of people, very briefly, are mean and ignore Shinji. The rest of the 60 minutes of the film is about him spending time with his boyfriend, gazing into each other's eyes.

"Everyone hates Shinji except for Cthulhu" is wonderful. But it can't be the only thing that happens over 90 freaking minutes. Would have much rather had the movie that was previewed at the end of #2.

[copy-paster]

Been watching/reading One-Punch Man (with various spelling variations) lately, and it's pretty good.

Yeah OPM is good, Madhouse's animation work is gorgeous too.

Season 2 confirmed, but it takes looooong time.

"if satama fought dragon ball who wuld won XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD"

Fuck 9gag.

[Ji-L87]

One Punch Man was really fun to watch, despite a few personal issues. There's just something with the tone of modern anime that I'm having a hard time with. Started seeing this back with A Certain Magical Index. I don't know, my friends don't really seem to pick up on it and I can never explain it well. A bit needlessly "dark" or "edgy" perhaps...I'm really starting to get out of touch with modern anime. I was really surprised when Attack on Titan blew up the way it did, for example. But then I never could get into stuff like Death Note either.
My not very well-explained feelings on modern anime aside, I have to say I was very impressed with the animations and dynamics of it all. One of the coolest thing I've seen in a while.

Other than that, my friends and I are slowly making our progress through a few select shows from this season, as well as Bakemonogatari which we actually haven't watched before, despite the enormous popularity online. I guess...it's not really a show for me. My favorite SHAFT production remains Hidamari Sketch, and I think that really says a whole lot about me if nothing else. At times I'm having trouble separating results of budget and time restrains such as at times cheap animation, character drawings and camera/background/color tricks (and the use of a single 3D car model) from actual intended SHAFT oddities. Actually, I really can't.

We just cleared the arch for "Nadeko Snake" and we seem to agree that we're all happy to actually watch the show, because it kinda feels like we should have done so already, but we're not super enjoying the process of actually watching it. We don't dislike it, but personally it seems to be created for another kind of viewer than me. It tends to get a bit overwhelming and it all somehow feels needlessly complicated and experimental in a way I know a lot of people enjoy, but I really don't.

From the current season, I have been enjoying Boku Dake ga Inai Machi and Dagashi Kashi. The former (speaking of "dark tones" lol) for actually being interesting and thrilling, as well as looking pretty good. Best A1 production in quite a while. And Dagashi Kashi is great to relax with. Brain in sleep-mode, just enjoy the feeling of wanting to eat ridiculous candy. Actually much more well drawn and animated than I thought it was going to be. Although probably never going to end up as a "classic" I was positively surprised by this one.

Aside from all this, I'm also still working my way through some other older shows I kinda forgot I was watching, like the original Dirty Pair and Maison Ikkoku, which I've taken a bit of break from and seem to have trouble getting back into it. Also revisiting the Battle Athletes OVA with mixed feelings, but I'll probably return with some thoughts about that later when done.

Edit:
And I've been re-rereading the manga "Family Compo" manga by Tsukasa Hojo. Probably the 3rd time or so now, just love the atmosphere of it sometimes and the way it's drawn.

[Xyga]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empire_of_Corpses

WTF ?

Dunno if that was fucked up shit or fucked up good, but certainly not your mainstream anime.

[KAI]

Thanks for the heads up Xyga. I've heard these Project Itoh movies are something else indeed.

People need to watch Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju.

[Raytrace]

just finished Combattler V and I loved it. Felt much less monster of the week than it actually was and great humour. Watching Voltes V and Getter Robo now.

[Raytrace]

I apologise for leaving this thread btw - it had died for so long I gave up

[Raytrace]

[Raytrace]

Tempted to rewatch them both now, it's been more than a year and a half since I last did.

Oh, I'll be going through the original soon to wash the taste out of my mouth. Odd that you can learn a lot of Japanese culture from a futuristic, sci-fi anime. Still awesome though, and yes, the payoff is dope. I think everyone's assessment here has been pretty spot on for both of the series. I just can't forgive the latter one, but I hate most of the shit from the naughties... and whatever we're calling the 10's.

I've watched both thrice - first time I thought Diebuster was ok, second time I thought it wasn't that good, third time I decided it really was my original instinctual reaction when I first glanced at it, a bunch of fan service with no decent story, meaning or emotion, I'll admit I'm a sucker for the very ending of it though.

[Raytrace]

I will try to remember a list of stuff I like that I have watched during my absence from these hallowed halls.

[Bloodreign]

After some Code-E and Mission-E, it's back to some old school stuff with Ranma 1/2.

[Ji-L87]

After some Code-E and Mission-E, it's back to some old school stuff with Ranma 1/2.

Oh wow. I remember watching Code-E and Mission-E waaay back when they aired. I don't remember much other than I kinda liked Code-E (enough to watch Mission-E when that came out). Didn't things start to get a bit crazy towards the end?

What were your thoughts on it?

As for Ranma ½, I bought the first blu-ray box and liked it but never picked up the rest. I should pick up vol 2 at least, as I'm pretty fond of the manga though sadly I never finished it. I quite like the local Swedish release we got here (sans horribly lazy cover art), the translation is funny and felt pretty natural, but it's a old release at this point and seeing as I only ever to halfway through or so, I need to get the rest from the used market if I ever want to finish it, or start collecting again through the new Viz release, although that will be far more expensive.

Edit:
I forgot to mention it but I wrapped up the Battle Athletes OVA last night. I've got such mixed feelings for this one. On one hand the story isn't super engaging, not to mention it really loses it in the middle only to pick things up a bit towards the end. Thinking about it, none of the characters are that good. Except for the Principal, he's a cool guy. It also has a problem with very uneven visual quality where especially the character drawings deteriorates way more often than I'd like to see in an OVA. I also happen to be a bit of a fan of the character designer for the show (and game), Makino Ryuichi, and it's sad to see it seldom living up to his drawings justice.

What I like about the show, and I do have a weird kind of soft spot for it, is the concept of it all, the atmosphere and the soundtrack, which gets stuck in my head more often than you'd imagine. And I like the idea of space Olympics - it feels fresh to see the earth and darkness of space in the background. Also this show constantly reminds me of the wacky games Numan Athletics and Mach Breakers (which I really do want to play sometime), especially towards the end.

So in the end, I can't give it a recommendation as a whole, but maybe check out the first episode? It shows of much of the ideas and atmosphere while also using a large part of the soundtrack...? It might simply be that I'm starved for this kind of show. It just feels like this would never get made today, not like this. The rocket launch in the first episode is actually well drawn and cool, I thought.

[Raytrace]

how pervy does Ranma get? the amount of boob grabbing etc. in the first episode kinda put me off, though as a fan of trad Kung Fu and Karate etc. in stuff I very liked that part?

Is those first few episodes as bad as it gets?