Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Xyga]

Interesting about Nadia. Haven't seen it but I'll give it a go.

The usual recommendation: skip the filler episodes, save maybe for one (don't remember the # you'll find the recommended list easily anyway)

[BryanM]

The tone of Eva is non-enjoyable for like 1/3 of the series.

Suffering helps us appreciate its absence. For you cannot want something that you do not have.

Asuka descends from the clouds as if an angel to dispel this morose swamp of misery - indeed, she is Best Girl. But without the swamp, she is nothing more than A Girl.

If one can not see how essential these contrasts and the manufacture of desires are, they have not yet walked the center path.

Without suffering you have nothing.

[FinalBaton]

Suffering helps us appreciate its absence. For you cannot want something that you do not have.

Asuka descends from the clouds as if an angel to dispel this morose swamp of misery - indeed, she is Best Girl. But without the swamp, she is nothing more than A Girl.

If one can not see how essential these contrasts and the manufacture of desires are, they have not yet walked the center path.

Without suffering you have nothing.

I get the contrast and it's purpose just fine, Bryan.

Problem here is that the "payoff" is not worth the slugs...

[BryanM]

You want there to be a payoff?!

[FinalBaton]

"Payoff" as in "being entertained", yes

[Ghegs]

Speaking of 90's anime (and shows that feature Megumi Hayashibara, incidentally)...

I went on a binge and watched everything Slayers (series, movies, OVAs) in a span of three weeks or so. 'twas a good ride. Made me give sensible chuckles and even a guffaw.

[FinalBaton]

AnimEigo announced a while back(Dec 3rd, but I had missed it), that their next HD restoration project(as in : re-scan) will be Gunsmith Cats, from everybody's favourite reverse-weeabo, Kenichi Sonoda.

Nice! this one def interests me, will be getting it for sure. The french GC (bootleg?)dvd I have looks like fucking shit this will be a huge upgrade

[Ji-L87]

I'm looking forward to it as well. I don't have any of the DVDs but I did pick up the laserdiscs some year ago and while it looks surprisingly good, what they teased of the HD remaster blows it out of the water, of course.

I'm conflicted with Gunsmith Cats. The anime is fun but the manga really looks stunning, however, it tends to leave a somewhat bad taste in my mouth everytime I thumb through what I have of it since it can get unpleasant really quickly for no real reason.

Maybe it's just me, I seem to be more sensitive to dark stories than many here.
I still like it, and I think it's perhaps the highlight of his artistic career. At some point I would like to read the whole thing as well.

[soprano1]

https://youtu.be/ubSdfYqCgK8
Old dub of 90's Devilman OVA.

[FinalBaton]

Forgot to add : my go-to YT channel "OldtakuTV" started posting again after a hiatus.

Posted some Devil Hunter Yoko(Dub) episodes since coming back.

Before the break : some Yotoden, Dream Dimension Hunter Fedora, and some Fight! Iczer One.

Here's the episode list. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-YZH6 ... WVA/videos

[Ji-L87]

Forgot to add : my go-to YT channel "OldtakuTV" started posting again after a hiatus.

Question, does this channel only offer dubs?

I subscribed to it a few weeks ago thinking of it as a replacement for another youtube channel that sadly died but, the only things I've checked on it has been dubbed so far. I have no special nostalgia for those

[FinalBaton]

Question, does this channel only offer dubs?

I subscribed to it a few weeks ago thinking of it as a replacement for another youtube channel that sadly died but, the only things I've checked on it has been dubbed so far. I have no special nostalgia for those

Ah... I don't know. I'm just stoked that a YT channel has such a cool collection of old anime. (I love the YT format and being able to click on the "video" tab and and see thumbnails of everyting available from a curated library. When I'm in "discovery" mode, this is the best format for me)

Subs would be better, no doubt
There are probably better alternatives out there for old anime, gotta admit

If you find a YT channel with a cool selection of older subbed anime, let me know btw!

[Xyga]

Checked; they have both, but more dubs than subs it seems.

Still a good selection!

[GaijinPunch]

AnimEigo announced a while back(Dec 3rd, but I had missed it), that their next HD restoration project(as in : re-scan) will be Gunsmith Cats, from everybody's favourite reverse-weeabo, Kenichi Sonoda.

Nice! this one def interests me, will be getting it for sure. The french GC (bootleg?)dvd I have looks like fucking shit this will be a huge upgrade

Wow, they're still around. Now I feel old as fuck.

I can't believe how popular dubs are. Unforgivable. Back in the 90's we used to gather in nerd conventions and laugh at how shitty they were. Never before had you seen more confident virgins.

[FinalBaton]

Wow, they're still around. Now I feel old as fuck.

I can't believe how popular dubs are. Unforgivable. Back in the 90's we used to gather in nerd conventions and laugh at how shitty they were. Never before had you seen more confident virgins.

Yeah, they've put out HD restorations of an old anime every year for the last 5 years or so. Pretty fucking awesome. The more old anime gets scanned in high-def, the better.

[Ji-L87]

Wow, they're still around. Now I feel old as fuck.

I can't believe how popular dubs are. Unforgivable. Back in the 90's we used to gather in nerd conventions and laugh at how shitty they were. Never before had you seen more confident virgins.

Yeah, they've put out HD restorations of an old anime every year for the last 5 years or so. Pretty fucking awesome. The more old anime gets scanned in high-def, the better.

I'm loving all the HD releases of oldschool anime, it's freaking fantastic. DVDs were never really that great I thought but bluray is the bees knees.

With the advent of 4K bluray and with an industry pushing for 8K in the horizon, I wonder if we're approaching another physical media shift. Like the one from DVD to bluray. I don't know what will come after bluray, if anything at all (maybe it's all digital from there on out) but there so much stuff yet to be remastered in HD and we're already moving away from "high definition".

I'm basically worried all these nice remasters will become obsolete too quickly. I find the industry pushing further and further away on it's own. 4K is nice I guess, but content used to be a problem until very recently. I still don't know anyone with 4K bluray player. I was on verge on getting one of the cheaper Panasonics around black friday but I don't have a 4K TV so I was mostly curious since Panasonic's HDR-SDR conversion has been getting a lot of praise. There were some issues reported on the AVS forums however so I held off. Apparently there's new machines being launched soon, but until the general reliability goes up and prices down I don't see myself getting a 4K bluray player any time soon.

4K projectors are still hugely expensive and 4K monitors costs a pretty penny as well.

But moving back to the topic at hand, I hope many more shows end up getting rescued and re-released. I'm very happy that Gundam is finally getting out there again, in HD this time and being able to experience Patlabor again was amazing. It's great times to be an anime fan and small-time collector.

Yet of course, there will be those shows where no one really knows where the master tapes and various production materials went. Or perhaps they are in such a bad state they can't really be rescued.

I'm happy that AnimEigo keep bringing out old classics and I don't mind Kickstarter being the platform for it, but I would like to see more actors in this scene, releases are just too slow right now and I want as much old anime as possible being rescued before someone throws away that old locker containing all the master tapes of whatever show. Or a building or warehouse burns down or whatever.
When we all have 16K displays covering our entire walls, that laserdisc rip of Nineteen 19 is not going to look that hot.

[FinalBaton]

With the advent of 4K bluray and with an industry pushing for 8K in the horizon, I wonder if we're approaching another physical media shift.

Hopefully not.

The jump from dvd to blu ray was very worth it to rebuy anime and movies. But 4K? Nah. I'm not rebuying 4k versions of films I already have in 1080p.

And then you run in the problems of all these 4k tv in the homes displaying 1080p sources worse than a 1080p set would...(due to the upscaling). It's all a marketing gimmick and it's not for the better. HDR is a nice addition. But 4k? bleh...

I don't think we're there yet though, cable still broadcasts in 720p/1080i... well at least in the west. Don't know how it's going over in Japan.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

It's up to 8K format for the Japanese market + the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics (from February 8th through 22nd, 2018) to be broadcast in 4K/8K format must be something to behold. I do know that DirecTV does offer a 4K satellite setbox right now but you'd have to pay through the nose to get such premium first-run 4K content anyways. Of course, there are 4K streaming offerings through Netflix, Amazon Prime and Youtube as well (but those offerings are quite limited for now + the absolute minimum of a 12mb per second broadband connection for 4K streaming at the very least).

I watched the 4K UHD disc version of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on a Samsung 4K UHD player and it was quite stunning to behold, especially with a Sony Bravia 4K TV with HDR -- of course in going with this particular setup requires an HDMI 2.0 cable setup. I'm not sure if NBC will broadcast the Olympics in 4K format -- maybe in 1080p format at best (perhaps for the upcoming 2022 Olympics with the higher bandwidth and transmission signals to do so properly in the next four years -- it's possible -- it just means that the American TV broadcast stations will have to upgrade their existing equipment to handle 4K content or even brace for the 8K format forthcoming down the road). Hmmm.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Xyga]

^ I don't share your optimism regarding the development of bandwidths sufficient for 4K.

Most ISPs and broadcast networks over the world still barely have enough to feed the majority of their customers stable 1080p, we're in 2018 which means about 10 years after Full-HD sets became mainstream home equipment, and 1080p contents are still not fully 'mastered'

So 4K ? In pockets of urban areas where they invest in updated network/broadcast and provide 'high-end customers' fitting solutions/plans, sure there will be 4K.
But for it to become a common, accessible thing to the majority of X or Y country population? I believe I'll have grey hair when that happens.

[GaijinPunch]

Wow, they're still around. Now I feel old as fuck.

I can't believe how popular dubs are. Unforgivable. Back in the 90's we used to gather in nerd conventions and laugh at how shitty they were. Never before had you seen more confident virgins.

Yeah, they've put out HD restorations of an old anime every year for the last 5 years or so. Pretty fucking awesome. The more old anime gets scanned in high-def, the better.

It's all I watch, currently watching Space Adventure Cobra. Might do BGC here and there for shits & giggles.

I watched the 4K UHD disc version of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on a Samsung 4K UHD player and it was quite stunning to behold, especially with a Sony Bravia 4K TV with HDR -- of course in going with this particular setup requires an HDMI 2.0 cable setup. I'm not sure if NBC will broadcast the Olympics in 4K format -- maybe in 1080p format at best (perhaps for the upcoming 2022 Olympics with the higher bandwidth and transmission signals to do so properly in the next four years -- it's possible -- it just means that the American TV broadcast stations will have to upgrade their existing equipment to handle 4K content or even brace for the 8K format forthcoming down the road). Hmmm.

I was reading that bandwidth is a long way off from handling what 4k can potentially deliver. You may get the resolution but media will have better bitrate/depth for a long while to come.

[Randorama]

Xiga: I know that Yowamushi is more of the same, from season 3 onwards, but I admit loving it if only because it covers one of my two favourite sports (the other being rugby).
Ironically, the workout sessions and competitions they cover are quite downgraded with respect to what teens in real life are expected to face.

Re: deconstructionism (from a few posts ago). Martian Successor Nadesico was an elegant and witty deconstruction of many hard SF tropes, including mecha ones.
I remember the Nergal CEO having a line that sounded like "I like stories in which all characters have a reason to be right!", or something like that.

I am currently watching Penguidrum, and loving its absurd plot so far. The animation and illustration levels are stellar, too.

Of the newest crop of anime, I am perplexed about how derivative Darling in the FranXX can be.
Not bad, but it gives me this disturbing feeling that the authors were terrorized to create something original.

I deeply enjoyed Houseki no kuni and Girls' last tour, too.

The first is a story about "gem life forms" at the end of time trying to survive the attacks of the lunarians, and could be described as "fantasy at the end of time" (a few British authors wrote books in this vein during the '70s, e.g. Moorcock's dancers at the end of time).

The second is a peculiar combination of Blame! with Nausicaä (the manga). It subverts the "cute girls doing cute things" rubbish trope in a smart way.

On a different note: I saw the "best 100 anime of all time" list published by NHK (the Japanese channel; here).
I wonder who on Earth voted the first...100 titles or so, with some obvious exceptions. I cannot see how the top 10 is anything but a prank pulled by some fans wishing to get random titles some notoriety, or something like that. The top 100 list on myanimelist makes much more sense

[BryanM]

You should listen to them on the megahit best selling animated feature of all time, Madoka. It'll heal you after Penguin Drum destroys your brain once it kicks into 100% flashbacking mode.

"Stop flashbacking!" you'll be screaming at the screen when all is said and done.

But. There is exactly one flashback episode in the Alien Diet Pill Pyramid Scheme thing.

And it'll be the best flashback episode of anything you've ever seen in your entire life.

[Randorama]

I remember giving a very righteous 2 Icycalms out of 5 to Madoka, because I couldn't handle the overall style/plot/etc.
The fans love it to bits, if it is the fourth best anime evah, but the fans and I are definitely on different wavelengths, I guess.

Except Penguindrum. I am pretty much convinced that this show is genius (episode 5 sold me), and I am wondering if I should be in frothing demand of the best flashback episode evah.

I would add that the stock animation involving the penguin spirit, the bears and the two brothers is the best stock animation evah, because bears.

On a slightly more serious note: the new Sakura deserves a 11/10 because Yamazaki's tall tales are slowly spiraling out of control. Why he still hasn't received his own shown/4-panel manga is a mystery.

Speaking of manga...I finally read Oyasumi PunPun. Brilliant, brilliant work, provided that one is the right frame of mind to stomach the turns of events hitting PunPun. Am I the only one who finds this story peppered with (very) dark humour, too?

[Ji-L87]

I remember giving a very righteous 2 Icycalms out of 5 to Madoka, because I couldn't handle the overall style/plot/etc.

I remember freaking out and taking my sweet time coming to terms with the fact that, yes, this dark acid trip is (for quite obvious reasons) looking exactly like Hidamari Sketch, a cute and fluffy show I absolutely adore.

That disconnect was a big hurdle for me.

[GaijinPunch]

I remember giving a very righteous 2 Icycalms out of 5 to Madoka,

<3

[Randorama]

GP:

I would like to open an anime review site called "Nietzsche maido nyan nyan!", in which I give only 1 Icycalm out of 5 to just any series I discuss. The reviews would be endless drivel about a series not having enough moe, and would be shot in your typical hikikomori room.

Do you think I would have a winning market?

An alternative is to expand the channel to reviews in which I honestly give my honest, rational opinion on why I genuinely despise ultra-mainstream material (say, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, anything that can attract viewers in credible numbers), and my opinion is the holy truth (of course). I wonder if I could join forces with professional haters on the intarwebs for added traffic volume and revenue.

On a more sober note: Penguindrum might become my next favourite series. If the plot veers in the direction I suspect, the chances are fairly high. I am also currently watching Kekkai Sensen and sequel (while eating, of course), Hyouka, and Gosick. The contrast among all these series in terms of themes and style is hilarious.

[Lord Satori]

I've watched a ton of anime since I've last posted. One of them being Doremi, which I never finished. Not because it's bad or anything, but because it's rather tame compared to everything else I've seen and I went on to other things before I could finish.

A lot of the others I've forgotten the names of, but after all of them, I binge watched Cardcaptor Sakura plus the two movies in preps for watching the new series. I'll tell you, it's difficult going from watching five sometimes ten episodes a day to one a week.

I've most recently finished watching Little Witch Academia. I don't know why I put off watching this for so long. It was recommended by a classmate of mine a year ago and I just never watched it for some reason. I really loved how Akko finds something she's good at without becoming an OP prodigy that can do anything. She attains it through hard work and determination despite her faults. I kinda wish there was more, though. Even something as small as an OVA that takes place after the main storyline.

[wgogh]

Urusei Yatsura
Animes had a thing for pervert protagonists in the 80's, it seems. Anyway, that one is an example of the best kind of humour on anime. It manages to keep a light and happy spirit through the episodes, even considering that the characters are in general kind of bad persons.

[Ji-L87]

...I binge watched Cardcaptor Sakura plus the two movies in preps for watching the new series. I'll tell you, it's difficult going from watching five sometimes ten episodes a day to one a week.

What did you think of it?
Because of the bluray release, me and a friend have slowly been going back through it over the last year and we only have 4 episodes left now, plus the movies. However I sat down again with the first movie not long ago and I really still enjoyed it. It's beautiful and very in line with the shows better episodes, not to mention the music's pretty great too. Especially the ending song which tends to get stuck in my head with just the slightest provocation.

As for the TV series, I feel that most of the good stuff is in the first half, or perhaps the first third. The overarching story about Clow Reed isn't why I'm watching this, it's because I like watching a well-drawn Sakura capture the card of the week with some cheese and romance on the side.
Still, the rest is fun too although it does feel rather stretched out towards the end. I still very much cherish the very first episode. It looks great (character drawings are on point and locked in) not to mention most of the memorable pieces from the first soundtrack is being played throughout the episode.

We're going to start on Clear Card once we finish this but I'm worried how the visuals will hold up now that it's digital. Do they manage to capture it well enough?

[Bloodreign]

Mahoujin Guruguru 2017 first, which is a reboot, then going to go to the original 2 seasons of the show. Found this anime while browsing Super Famicom ROMS, then found out it was an anime. Heard the original 2 seasons (1994 and 2000 respectively) are far better than the reboot though. I've been on a long comedy anime binge, this one so far is silly, but it has drawn some chuckles from me.