Recommended Anime/Manga?

[cj iwakura]

I tried to watch Himouto Umaru, because I thought it would be a wacky slice of life like Nichijou... it's not. It's otaku bait of the worst kind.

[S_Fang]

I tried to watch Himouto Umaru, because I thought it would be a wacky slice of life like Nichijou... it's not. It's otaku bait of the worst kind.

There's a reason why 4chan and other sites ceated lots of gifs and images about Umaru getting stabbed or punched.

[null1024]

I tried to watch Himouto Umaru, because I thought it would be a wacky slice of life like Nichijou... it's not. It's otaku bait of the worst kind.

There's very little slice of life stuff that's good in the way that Nichijou is.

on a related note, I really wish someone, anyone was translating City, ass damnit
there's still only that first chapter and nothing else

[M.Knight]

Is Nichijou supposed to be a slice of life more than an actual comedy anime? That would explain why I couldn't stand it at all and dropped it after ~7 episodes even though the rest of the world thinks it's awesome. I felt really let down by the terrible comic timing and how it ruined the few funny jokes. A try-hard detailed chase sequence that takes forever is not a good punchline for instance.

Besides, the wackiness wasn't restricted by anything whatsoever. It made the wackiness less special and just random for the sake of being random, the same way having supernatural powers in a shônen series isn't surprising nor out-of-this-world because everyone has them. I think Cromartie High School was much more successful at infusing the right amount of pure weirdness while constraining it in a mundane world to make it stand out more.

There's a reason why 4chan and other sites ceated lots of gifs and images about Umaru getting stabbed or punched.

The Umaru-chan hate is way too overblown. While it could defintely use a bit more self-awareness, I think the series is at its best when it is about Umaru being the biggest jerk ever to her brother. That was pretty funny. However, the other characters and the associated otaku-bait aspects were mostly in the way of those moments.

[soprano1]

I think Cromartie High School was much more successful at infusing the right amount of pure weirdness while constraining it in a mundane world to make it stand out more.

Now there's something worth re-watching. Very fine English dub too, imo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8DTGd9XQtw

[M.Knight]

Mechazawa's JP voice is really something, so I stuck with the subbed version. Great English dubs are uncommon so that's good to hear.
That scene is also a perfect example of how Cromartie knows how to play with its wackiness to subvert our expectations, whereas Nichijou plays everything straight. Comapre that to the deer scene for instance.

[WelshMegalodon]

I get the impression that Cromartie isn't very well known among English-speaking anime fans. In fact, I had forgotten it even existed until you brought it up, in spite of its impeccable gags. A shame, really.

Spoiler

Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hmhmhmhm~hm....Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hmhmhmhm~hm...

[soprano1]

I think Freddy steals the show, and he doesn't speak a single line.

[null1024]

I get the impression that Cromartie isn't very well known among English-speaking anime fans.

I never really got that impression, but that's probably because basically all my friends also watched it.

And on that note, I really need to go rewatch it.
what a magical series

[BrianC]

I like Cromartie. I rented it from Netflix once. Crazy good!

[Aleksei]

I'm going to let you guys finish, but Berserk has one of the best tracks of all time.

It's called Infiltrators and it reminds me of my favorite movie, There Will Be Blood.

[BryanM]

Nichijou's dub reminded me too much of Ghost Stories

I'll give Cromartie a shot tho

[soprano1]

I'm going to let you guys finish, but Berserk has one of the best tracks of all time.

It's called Infiltrators and it reminds me of my favorite movie, There Will Be Blood.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2p4wv2

[copy-paster]

Been watching Madoka Magica, I'm on episode 2 now. Story-wise nothing really special, but the music and battle backgrounds is crazy awesome!

[BryanM]

Been watching Madoka Magica, I'm on episode 2 now.

Good man. Very grimdark show. Only for the manliest of men. Very Warhammer 40k.

Blood for the blood god, etc.

[BrianC]

I watched Whisper of the Heart. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Interesting seeing an anime movie that uses a popular US country song (Country Roads) as its main theme.

[Durandal]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... -2/.117277

[WelshMegalodon]

A HUGE BATTLESHIP MAGICAL GIRL ANIME IS APPROACHING FAST

For those interested in mahou shoujo recommendations other than Madoka/Anime Moon/Cardcaptor/DoReMi/etc., Studio Pierrot's Harbor Light Monogatari: Fashion Lala Yori OVA is definitely worth a watch, if only for combining the Studio Pierrot magical girl style with mid-80s OVA weirdness. It also has great music.

Other series worth a look include Ultra Maniac, a series from 2000 by Yoshizumi Wataru (of Marmalade Boy fame) done in the older majokko style (less common in an age of bad Sailor Moon clones), and Akazukin Chacha, though you ought to stick with the manga as the anime adaptation shoehorned in a henshin aspect. I think Creamy Mami's also been recommended more since the completion of the fansub; nothing wrong with it, but I personally prefer Persia over it and the (mostly boring) Magical Emi. Uh... some people don't seem to like the Miracle Girls anime, but I thought it was all right; Idol Densetsu Eriko has that classic 80s anime look, but I personally found it a little slow; Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne is your standard Tanemura Arina fare and fairly enjoyable, though I'm probably not the only person who would recommend Full Moon wo Sagashite over it; Mahou Tsukai ni Daisetsu na Koto and its spin-off manga Spellbound have nice art, at the very least; and Yuuki Yuuna is as blatant a Madoka clone as they get, but I'm pretty sure they prioritized character development over an original plot and in any case, it looks great.

Despite not being much of a PreCure fan, and despite considering all the various series to range from average to mediocre*, I actually find the DX movies kind of fun. The first DX is a bit of a mess, but there's some enjoyment to be had with DX2, DX3, and New Stage. Cutey Honey and Mano Yohko outdo pretty much any Cure in the action department, and I'd look elsewhere for magical girl series with likable characters (Mahou no Yousei Persia and the Hime-chan no Ribon manga, to name two), and the whole concept feels like it's too censored to really be done well, but, uh... it's not worthless.

And I've only seen the Seira arc, but special mention goes to Cutey Honey Flash, aka "the Cutey Honey series for little girls". It's probably not Nagai enough for most people here, and I was a bit underwhelmed myself with what I saw, but I'd still recommend it over Anime Moon every time. Interestingly enough, they start out Honey as a normal human girl but later introduce some plot points as a nod to her android origins. The antagonists of this series use this to question Honey's ability to know love, which I did find odd given that the original purpose of manga Honey's vulnerability was for her to be able to understand human love.

There are a ton that I haven't even mentioned - Mako-chan, Chappy, Lalabel, etc. - but these and most other Showa-era series don't appear to be subbed much, though I wouldn't be surprised if there existed German, French, or Italian dubs for series from the 70s and 80s.

*

Spoiler

From what I've seen, the Washio-era series are rather difficult to enjoy due to being slow, ugly, and mostly uninteresting. The Umezawa-era series have some enjoyable elements but end up being underwhelming. I mean, the first couple episodes of Suite are basically an exercise in wasted storytelling potential. Haven't seen anything after Smile.

[copy-paster]

^^ Such a informative post, thanks for the recommendation. Not a biggest fan of magical girl genre, but at least worth to give a try.

Very grimdark show.

You said it right, man!

Finished all episodes, it was awesome! Lots of twist and turns at later episodes (I'll take my word back now). I like how the battle sequence are 'themed' and I thought the ending is well-crafted.

I had no idea about the movie sequel, Rebellion. Can you give some little synopsis about it? Is the story are continuation of the anime, or telling a 'what if' situation?

[WelshMegalodon]

You said it right, man!

poes_law.txt?

[BryanM]

Yuki Yuna is a Hero really isn't anything like Meguca, beyond maybe a superficial way. Yuki is basically K-On endless tea time stapled together with fight scenes against the unfathomable aliens. Those two parts are pretty much the complete opposite of one another, it's never one cohesive thing.

In Meguca, the characters are enormous assholes to one another. (Always a good foundation for a drama.) At a glance, the titular Meguca looks to be boring potato salad. "Let's get along!" she impotently suggests, as everyone else is busy trying to tear each other's eyes out. "Is this bitch crazy?" the others ask themselves. Yes she's the actually the most crazy, you have to conclude, considering the universe they exist in. A very character driven story, unlike most things that are about props being driven around by the plot.

Also you gotta throw the Selector Infected WIXOSS franchise in that giant list of things. It may be a commercial trying to sell trading game cards to girls, but it's basically the same thing as Yuki Yuna.

I had no idea about the movie sequel, Rebellion. Can you give some little synopsis about it? Is the story are continuation of the anime, or telling a 'what if' situation?

Just like how Evangelion has to hit the reset button after a cycle ends because you know why, Rebellion is a reset button.

It is very much a continuation of the anime, and sets the field for the next Madoka project, whenever they get around to figuring out what that will be, exactly.

I think it's a little too long (but I say that about all movies), but it's still the artiest damn art they can possibly make, and is well worth your time if you liked the series.

Evangelion

Could you imagine what an After the End of Evangelion would be like? Shinji and Asuka fishing in the ECL ocean for food, forever.

"Shinji you bastard, why didn't you catch any fish today?"
"Asuka, you know all the fish are floating around in space, right?!"
"That's no excuse!"

I would watch this.

[WelshMegalodon]

Selector Infected WIXOSS

The girly Yu-Gi-Oh thing? Is that actually any good?

[BryanM]

The girly Yu-Gi-Oh thing? Is that actually any good?

Nah it's Yuki-level mediocre, but it's way better than it has any right to be, considering it's a commercial.

My biggest disappointment with it is that it completely lacks the YuGi style play by play - you don't even get to see any cards for crying out loud! Worst card battle scenes ever. What a gip.

I'm personally not a fan of tea time conversations that don't mean anything and don't go anywhere.

[soprano1]

https://youtu.be/jyQWXRJ8Lc4
Found this, MV for modern day 80's Jpop band Satellite Young. Animation is weak, but still nice to watch. I'm wondering if i should watch Touch!

[copy-paster]

Just like how Evangelion has to hit the reset button after a cycle ends because you know why, Rebellion is a reset button.

The original series also ends with reset button, and they do it again? Might watch it sometime.

[KAI]

Spoiler

mah dick

[soprano1]

New OVA?

[BryanM]

Seems like a series. Netflix isn't screwing around with this whole Animu production thing.

[soprano1]

Seems like a series. Netflix isn't screwing around with this whole Animu production thing.

Oohh, nice!

[soprano1]

Speaking of Devilman, here's Great Mazinger's Tetsuya picking a fight with him, holy shit:

Spoiler

This manga is great.