Recommended Anime/Manga?

[professor ganson]

Been watching K-On almost always with subtitles and sound off to fall asleep. So nice! But even better when I occasionally have the volume on-- really fun music and voice acting.

The "slice of life" element (as I understand that phrase) is on display when the animations get really realistic for moments here and there, showing bits of the scenery with loving detail. Those parts are mesmerizing for me.

[Vludi]

I still think Phantom is far superior that Lain in a lot of aspects, and that opening <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvW1w1zftqI

I never got the comparison between the two, they look somewhat similar but otherwise are pretty different, Laín feels more like the spiritual successor to Key the metal Idol.

[mycophobia]

when the animations get really realistic for moments here and there, showing bits of the scenery with loving detail. Those parts are mesmerizing for me.

Kyoto Animation is really good at this kind of thing in general

[Xyga]

Mob Psycho s2 is the only thing that got my attention in ages.
It's a ONE manga so a rollercoaster of flat and awesome moments, but when it escalates it's really something.
The mix of his childish graphic style and great animation is also working very well.

[Ajora]

The 2004 live-action Cutie Honey movie was amazing. I loved every moment of it.

[lilmanjs]

How can anyone hate Sherlock Hound? Watching the extended English dub versions and enjoying it a lot.

[Steamflogger Boss]

So uh, for some reason I sat down to watch through the El-Hazard:The Magnificent World OVA this weekend. Not sure what brought this on.

It was perfectly adequate, I guess? Fine as a weekend anime snack, but can we talk about those gorgeous backgrounds and scenery shots? Oh man oh man.

El Hazard isn't nearly as trashy as some of the stuff I have coming in on LD. I will report back here after watching...heh...

Ooookay so recent watches.

Woman Explorer Ray: 2 episode OAV of a more or less one-off manga which is about a female Indiana Jones. Animation quality dips in the 2nd episode. Nothing ground breaking obviously but okay to watch. Episode 2 is a direct continuation of the same story and does conclude.

Iczer 3: 6 episode sequel to the original Iczer. This time a loli must defend earth against the forces of evil Neos Gold. No kind of plot depth whatsoever of course but I struggled to find the "significant" objectionable content according to ann.

Phantom Quest Corp: Higher cut OAV in terms of animation quality compared to the previous 2. Madhouse and Pioneer were involved so that makes sense. Doesn't have much of a chance to go anywhere as it is just 4 episodes but it was fun enough. First episode was probably the weakest. The lipstick lightsaber is the dumbest thing in the show.

You're Under Arrest: Just a fun slice of life anime. Now that I've watched the OAV I will get to work on season 2/3 of the tv series that I grabbed on DVD awhile back.

I've got more coming, including some pretty good shit. Will update again later.

[FinalBaton]

You're Under Arrest

Really fun light-hearted cop show. This one has a special place in my heart, I adore it. Charm up the wazoo. OAV/1st season is a cut above seasons 2&3 as you already know, but the rest is still enjoyable

There is not a year that goes by, where I don't bug Robert Woodhead about doing a high def scan of this one. Lol
I should try bugging Discotek now, I think the series rights are up for grabs

[Steamflogger Boss]

You're Under Arrest

Really fun light-hearted cop show. This one has a special place in my heart, I adore it. Charm up the wazoo. OAV/1st season is a cut above seasons 2&3 as you already know, but the rest is still enjoyable

There is not a year that goes by, where I don't bug Robert Woodhead about doing a high def scan of this one. Lol
I should try bugging Discotek now, I think the series rights are up for grabs

Definitely nag Discotek too. They got KOR which was originally an Animeigo license.

I've mentioned it to Robert as well though, and I've backed everything but Otaku no Video on KS. I bought that after the fact though. I've went premium on the last two so I think he at least knows I am serious when I say I'd help back it at $100+. Not sure what the numbers would have to be for it to be viable though.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Vampire Princess Miyu (OAV)

4 episode horror OAV about a vampire girl that hunts down stray demons. The reasoning of which is fully revealed in the 4th episode. Does a pretty good job building intrigue. Being 4 episodes I wasn't surprised that there were a couple threads left undeveloped, I wonder if the tv series goes a little more in depth. One would think it should given that it is 26 episodes but this is anime we are talking about so it might just be a ton of filler and more monster of the week type stuff. The characters are fairly interesting and Miyu isn't really super evil or a white knight. What pleasantly surprised me is that this was an OAV from the late 80s and neither female lead was sexualized. The show has a creepy vibe going on and isn't looking for jump scares and such. Overall a solid watch.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster OAV

[FinalBaton]

Vampire Princess Miyu (OAV)

4 episode horror OAV about a vampire girl that hunts down stray demons. The reasoning of which is fully revealed in the 4th episode. Does a pretty good job building intrigue. Being 4 episodes I wasn't surprised that there were a couple threads left undeveloped, I wonder if the tv series goes a little more in depth. One would think it should given that it is 26 episodes but this is anime we are talking about so it might just be a ton of filler and more monster of the week type stuff. The characters are fairly interesting and Miyu isn't really super evil or a white knight. What pleasantly surprised me is that this was an OAV from the late 80s and neither female lead was sexualized. The show has a creepy vibe going on and isn't looking for jump scares and such. Overall a solid watch.

Count me in the camp who thinks the OVA is solid as well (I've given it its due props in this thread). The atmosphere is superb and so is the flow, it's so graceful it kinda dances around your senses, giving the show an (eerie) dream-like feel. Even when she faces a Shinma, it doesn't feel at all like a monster-of-the-week ep, farthest from it. Also agree that the characters are interesting in this one.

I hadn't thought about your points regarding Miyu not being a clear-cut vilain but rather more nuanced, and about the two female leads not being sexualized, but those are 2 great observations.

I haven't watched the TV series, probably incounsciously for the same reason you stated : fear of it being more of a monster-of-the-week action focused affair

I have volume 1 of the AnimEigo release here. It has earned its way out of the storage bin, and unto the animu shelf

[FinalBaton]

Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster OAV

Well, what a coincidence

[Steamflogger Boss]

Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster OAV

Well, what a coincidence

You already know how I watched em but...

Oh and I had to censor some tits for one of the pics, just a heads up for anyone that may look.

Spoiler

[FinalBaton]

Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster OAV

Well, what a coincidence

You already know how I watched em but...

Oh and I had to censor some tits for one of the pics, just a heads up for anyone that may look.

Spoiler

Man, LD are sexy

You've got quite a decent collection by now, I'm kinda jealous

[Steamflogger Boss]

It's a solid and growing collection heh. Waiting on some more goodies in the mail and I've got lots more on my wishlist.

Should be publicly viewable here: https://www.lddb.com/collection.php?act ... user=gypsy

The format is just insanely better than VHS, it's hard to even describe until you've seen both. And my LD players are pretty medium tier* whereas I have had professional vcrs. DVD it's more of a split. Uncompressed digital audio is obviously wonderful but of course the discs are bulky and if you only have a janky LCD display, DVD will look better especially without any tuning because LD will look washed out. I have Phantom Quest Corp on LD and DVD and no question the LD blows the DVD away. Tons of noticeable blocking in the DVD which is a fairly early DVD release from 2000. Whereas the LD is a 90s Pioneer disc so yeah.

Some companies are better than others. Of the US releases for anime, Pioneer and Animeigo >>>> CPM/Manga.

*Eyeballing some of the later players. Nothing Hi Vision but a Japanese deck that has all audio options and such.

Edit: Hoping to get Armitage III to compare to the 2003 Pioneer DVD release soon. Which is actually a really good DVD release.

[GaijinPunch]

oops

[GaijinPunch]

Was that your first outing w/ Aim for the Top? Surely not. It is indeed amazing, even though it's a hard sell to people not REALLY into anime (and at this point, older anime) from the first episode. That last one though! As of now, I think it handles relativity better than anything. Was hoping Interstellar took note, but did not (which is not really surprising).

Re: LDs
It is most definitely a better format than VHS. I don't think anyone ever doubted that. Not long into VHS's tenure it was quite obvious it was not built to last. Maybe the rental market showed us what repeat viewings did. But even if you store them carefully it is totally shit. And of course, the smaller size means all the extras that Japan wanks to are harder to package. I guess LD taking off there but not in the west isn't that hard to believe. At least the west figured out how to market DVD.

For shits and giggles every now and again I peruse Yahoo Japan to see what is out there on LD. Mainly b/c when I was into anime LD was king, and it was fucking expensive. The only place to buy them were import shops on the west coast. No internet to easily connect expats in Japan. Anyway, the answer to what is available on the second hand market now is tons... plus you can get almost any of it for a song. I knew one person who had the Maison Ikkoku LD box (some $2k or so at the time... 1995 I believe) and another that had the Ranma box, which was over $3k at the time. 　Looking at finished auctions, you can see the former for 2200 yen (even 4850 for an unopened set), and the latter for a bit more but under 10,000 yen. Yowza.

I do remember running those LDs through a genlock... at the time, the quality was jaw dropping, since just a year earlier I had only seen Nth generation VHS. A total "get off my lawn" thing but I do think to an extent those pioneering nerds back then required a different respect for the hobby.

[FinalBaton]

This thread is basically a Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster! fanpage, I love it.
As I said earlier in the thead, the first 2 eps are pretty much shot for shot Ace wo Nerae!. If you like the character of Coach, go watch Ace wo Nerae! as he's literally in it (it's not a look-alike:it's straight up him! also I forgot to give my review on that one but in short : it is another enjoyable Dezaki affair. Good sports anime). Man, the last Gubuster episode is sick!

Yeah the chrominance side of VHS is absolutely smashed, like it's really bad. Luminance side is salvageable, but chroma? Yikes.

However it's not the price of the LDs themselves that scare me, but rather their shipping fees. And also the price of a decent/good player. And the low number of english-subbed releases(although using a genlock and spending the time to setup fan translations can remedy this). I'd really like to fiddle with the format though, so I may get a machine and a couple discs at some point. In the meantime VHS is giving me my analog video fix just fine. Some shows, depending of their colours, can look pleasing on a crt

[Steamflogger Boss]

@GP: It is not but it had been a really long time. And yeah the last episode is just incredible and I love that it is in black and white. I've been looking around on YAJ and some of the descriptions are concerning but I am thinking a lot of it might be the typical Japanese thing of overstating condition issues and casting a wide net in doing so.

@FB: It's too bad you are up in Canada or I could give you a deal on an older player since as mentioned I am shopping around for another player and I don't really want to have 3. I feel like shipping would be at least $100, unfortunately. For the most part in 2019 any working player is a good player but if you want some pointers eventually, just ask.

[GaijinPunch]

I've been looking around on YAJ and some of the descriptions are concerning but I am thinking a lot of it might be the typical Japanese thing of overstating condition issues and casting a wide net in doing so.

Japanese like to separate themselves from responsibility when it comes to selling used items. Given how the whole culture is about tying you to someone (even a millionaire would have to get a cosigner on a small studio apartment) I've always found it as a way to say "it's probably okay, but if not, not my problem." I've lost a few dice rolls but in the big scheme it's like 2-3%.

However it's not the price of the LDs themselves that scare me, but rather their shipping fees. And also the price of a decent/good player. And the low number of english-subbed releases(although using a genlock and spending the time to setup fan translations can remedy this). I'd really like to fiddle with the format though, so I may get a machine and a couple discs at some point. In the meantime VHS is giving me my analog video fix just fine. Some shows, depending of their colours, can look pleasing on a crt

I watched a few things (albeit DVD rips) through an arcade monitor back in the day. Very nice. RGB is definitely the way to go if you're dealing w/ analogue video. Of course, that might cost you a fortune. I actually did have an RGB monitor on my Amiga 1200 for a while. Small, but amazing.

My guess is the hardware is balls cheap now, but you'll have to get the software on it, which most likely means a floppy drive w/ some Amiga format reading. Basically, a hassle. But, if you dig old machines, I'm sure rewarding.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Thanks for the insight into Japanese culture, GP. And in that case it sounds like it is worth the risk as the prices there are pennies on the dollar compared to alternatives like eBay.

If anyone needs the software, I have a line on that. Though it requires using an old OS. Like win 98 old.

[neontropics]

Started watching Run Like the Wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru) from this season, I like it a lot so far. Feels like a slice of life comedy but still with a concrete goal of them training for the Hakone marathon. The interactions of them all hanging out and getting drunk in the dorm are great. My only real dislike is these untrained random college people all have sub 20 minute 5K times to start out with which is just completely unrealistic. Also got me stoked to do more running which is nice.

Otherwise watched the first episode of Tatami Galaxy which seems cool but uh the pace is insane.

Got the Bubblegum Crisis blu-ray the other week so rewatching that... it's just incredibly amazing, really nothing else like it out there.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Got the Bubblegum Crisis blu-ray the other week so rewatching that... it's just incredibly amazing, really nothing else like it out there.

I'm so very glad that Animeigo re-issued it so everyone can reasonably have it. They even did it in such a way that preserves the collectibility of the original KS set.

I'm a sucker for stuff that incorporates music seamlessly into it so I absolutely love BGC and Macross. Blues Brothers too, though that doesn't really fit this thread.

[Raytrace]

rewatching Nadesico atm - it is great - mecha art is beautiful

[soprano1]

rewatching Nadesico atm - it is great - mecha art is beautiful

GEKIGANGER SREEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
I need some mecha anime. Maybe it's time to man up and watch G Gundam, long overdue.

[GaijinPunch]

Thanks for the insight into Japanese culture, GP. And in that case it sounds like it is worth the risk as the prices there are pennies on the dollar compared to alternatives like eBay.

If anyone needs the software, I have a line on that. Though it requires using an old OS. Like win 98 old.

CIT posted a Ebay vs Yahoo Japan description vs. expectation over on gamengai some time ago. Hilarious, but one of those "it's funny 'cause it's true" type of things.

[FinalBaton]

Thanks for the insight into Japanese culture, GP.

yes, GP's input on Jippang culture, and his experiences in the fan-subbing community, are priceless!

I watched a few things (albeit DVD rips) through an arcade monitor back in the day. Very nice. RGB is definitely the way to go if you're dealing w/ analogue video. Of course, that might cost you a fortune. I actually did have an RGB monitor on my Amiga 1200 for a while. Small, but amazing

I actually love doing that! I've watched quite a few anime DVDs on a Sony PVM and also an RGB-capable topshelf consumer Trinitron, via component/RGB, and I love doing this from time to time! It's so much fun, looks super sharp and the colours are so rich and vibrant, and good ol' 480i flicker is nostalgic (although with a picture quality like that(leaps and bonds better than cable I watched as a kid on crt), it's quite the trip!)

[kitten]

Thanks for the insight into Japanese culture, GP. And in that case it sounds like it is worth the risk as the prices there are pennies on the dollar compared to alternatives like eBay.

wanna back gp up, here. i'm a very frequent user of YAJ and jp auctioneers will frequently list working stuff as junk because they don't have the proper means (or time) to test it and are just divorcing themselves from responsibility on the rare chance it's actually trashed. i don't think i've ever actually had to bite the bullet even once, despite buying junk listings fairly often. always get a working item, usually working better than expected and always better than feared. it's important to keep in mind that the YAJ environment is highly, radically different dealing with americans on eBay. eBay had drilled into my head for years that the auction website format is just going to be host to a myriad of awful dipshits trying to rip you off or overstate the hell out of what they have, so it's so refreshing to work with YAJ and its much, much higher rate of reliability and honesty.

just make sure you read descriptions/check pictures accurately! even machine translated, you'll tend to get the necessary information rather clearly. just keep in mind some common stuff like that when japanese auctioneers say what gets translated as "overseas item" they mean bootleg/repro (or that "sunburn" means they're talking about sunfading, etc.).

As of now, I think it handles relativity better than anything. Was hoping Interstellar took note, but did not (which is not really surprising).

i only watched gunbuster for the first time fairly recently (year and a half ago? i'd tried the first episode years before that and disliked it) and frankly thought it handled it really badly. was much more impressed with its handling in something like voices from a distant star, where the emotional impact felt a lot more authentically melancholic. gunbuster paces it so strangely and with characters i care about so little that it felt mawkish. the ending feels so out of the blue and overtly positive about humanity's future despite its transparently weak & trite cast who never give you a reason to be invested in such a thing.

on gunbuster, in general, i honestly feel like gurren lagann, with as much as it borrows, does most of what i wanted it to do considerably better. at least when it's undercutting its one substantial woman with paternalism and the trademark gainax titty jiggle (holy shit there's more of that in the first episode of gunbuster than there are panty shots in project a-ko), she's only the tritagonist (at best). i can stomach the only women as vapid cheesecake dolls in an anime when the story isn't pretending they're suited for lead roles - characters like simon and kamina have depth and i'm drawn into their boyish charm & passionate humanity, characters like... whatever their names are in gunbuster... man, i don't know. if you can't write women, i'd rather your world be led by a bunch of hot-headed boys. it's not a surprise gurren lagann is the only thing by its director that i've enjoyed, too.

i bought the gunbuster movie recently and was thinking it being significantly recut might quiet my issues with how boring it is for huge swaths of its duration. the absence of character and story might be made up for by the good chunks of the animation being brought a lot closer to each other.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Thanks to you as well kitten.

I've actually only ever had amazing experiences with YAJ so far but it's been very limited. A banger deal on a rare DC game and another great deal on a modded MSX2+. LD obviously has it's own host of issues but I'll give it a go. I mostly try to avoid eBay anyway for that reason. Tested and great condition can very well mean the disc is rotted out...

I should rewatch and finish Gurren Lagann at some point.