Recommended Anime/Manga?

[vol.2]

I'm watching (rewatching) Inu Yasha. I had a big pause on it like two years ago and I started back up this week with the end of season 3 and now onto season 4.

Reading some watch lists and impressions, I get the idea that much of season 4 drags and is ultimately skippable, so probably going to do that. I don't have the same amount of patience for BS filler anime that sucks the fun out of an ongoing story as I used to.

My favorite Takahashi will always be Maison Ikkoku though, and I might have to revisit the manga sometime soon if I can get through my backlog of regular books on my shelf.

[Andrey Aritonov]

_biker_mice_from_mars_esta
except the thing

[Randorama]

On a whim, I re-read Houseki no Kuni. I would summarise it like this:

On a Earth ravaged by several cataclysmic events, human-looking creatures live in the last stretch of habitable land along with their mentor, Kongo-sensei. These creatures are "gems", i.e. entities entirely made of a given mineral (e.g. phosphofyllite for the protagonist), who evolved after eons of sedimentation and have absorbed memories from past living beings, thus become conscious and intelligent as a result. The gems appear as crossdressing teens wearing stilettos and fighting against the "lunarians", mysterious creatures straight out Buddhist lore, who seem to only pursue the gems in order to turn them into dust. Centuries and even millennia pass with gems and lunarians first locked into this struggle and then both evolving into far more complex entities, with planet Earth first and then the whole Cosmos as silent and non-sentient witnesses.

The manga is a definitely heterodox but technically superb mix of Dying Earth SF sub-genre, Zen Buddhism and transhumanism/post-humanism. I get the impression that the author, Haruko Ishikawa, might have read tons of Science Fiction that pushes heavily on the speculative, philosophical themes (e.g. Ursula K. LeGuin, Greg Egan, Peter Watts...the list is endless). There is also a deeply Lovecraftian/nihilist theme, in that humankind first but organic life in general tend to be portrayed as fickle and transient, and this fact as being of no relevance to the grand architecture of the cosmos. The ending ultimately can be read in this manner.

This work is brilliant in that it builds a compelling story by using Zen Buddhism themes and questions, places them in the aforementioned "Dying Earth" setting, and actually creates a narrative with a fast, well-balanced pace, great characterizations, a bit of humour and bathos when needed, and lots, lots, lots of existential dread. Ishikawa-san (if I may...) has an excellent use of black, white and grey tones to create stark contrasts and extremely nuanced illustrations. Page layouts carve the narrative into highly meaningful panels, and text is seldom excessive in exposition and often highly poignant. I generally loathe religion and religious themes, so all this praise from me is a good sign, I believe.

There is an anime adaptation of the first 50 issues or so that is also astonishingly beautiful, if only because of its soundtrack. I prefer the manga because I believe that this narrative is best told in black and white, though. This is a must-read for anyone who wants a heady, more intellectual type of manga: it was published on Afternoon, which should be aimed at a seinen, late 20s demographic. Older or younger people can join in, of course, but my warning is that the story may sometimes feel very, very bleak, and some of the Buddhist references are really obscure (but there are annotated versions, online).

N.B. Gems are actually genderless, since they are not even organic. It suffices to say that the author had to visually market the manga to draw readers, and teen-looking androgynous creatures swinging katanas in stilettos is eye-catching, I guess. It does mesh well with the overall themes, please trust me. Also, at some point Phosphopfyllite, the protagonist, is turned into a homage to early David Bowie (heterochrome eyes, garish sense of fashion, increased androgynous looks, etc.).

[Raytrace]

out of utter nostalgia I am returning to this thread - I have been neglecting my Anime watching (and shmup playing) for years now -
I think I will start with Daimos - I believe when I stopped watching it hadnt been fully subbed yet.

https://myanimelist.net/animelist/r4ytrace?status=1

[BIL]

Long time no see! Was posting your classic Riding Bean walnut shatter at someone the other day.

[Lander]

After long at-distance knowledge of Sanrio by way of Hello Kitty and other cutesy franchises, I decided to watch through the first season of Aggretsuko; a slice-of-office-life drama starring this cute red panda:

And it's totally...

FUCKING METAL

HWOAAAAARGH

...Which is to say, she copes with the everyday stresses and strains by belting out savage death metal lyrics in a secret karaeoke bar after work. Or in the ladies' room, if it's stress on short notice.

Rather unexpected from a company that - to my uneducated eye - trades entirely on inoffensive wholesome sweetness; whoever greenlit this is seriously savvy, since I'm now wondering what else I've missed.

It gives me a South Park meets Mob Psycho sort of vibe for contrasting 'kiddy' visuals with mature subject matter, good gags, psychological undertones, and a ticking pressure valve that doesn't always move the way you expect.
The observations on office culture are incisive, and it's quite likely you've met some of the supporting cast - gossip girls, deadpan coworkers, shitty nepotistic bosses - in your own professional life, office or otherwise, which is nicely relatable. In particular, Fenneko's brand of dead inside is a hoot, and the Power Women yoga pals are just what poor Retsuko needs to find her way through soul-crushing office life.

And well, it's lovely to find a character-oriented anime that isn't excessively tropey, though that may be due to general lack of exposure to slice-of-life and adjacent tea-sippers. I suspect the cutsey Sanrio vibe helps a lot, as I'm long since burned out on the prevailing my stock paperdoll has cooler accoutrements than yours approach to anime character design; it's abstract enough to duck that particular problem, along with the psychosexual furry undertones that emerge when anthropomorphization starts leaning more toward human.

One of the minor characters also sent me down something of a rabbit hole on Herbivore Men, The Buddha-Like Mindset, and related eastern social phenomena, which has been a fascinating - if rife with depressing scapegoaterie - eye opener.

Very good, further viewing guaranteed \m/

[vol.2]

I noticed recently that there is a remake of Ranma 1/2 on Netflix.

Who asked for a remake of it? The original is fantastic. New one is crappy digital animation. Original is amazing hand-drawn stuff of extremely high quality. Also very tired of endless remakes of older stuff; wish they would just put money into something new.

[Lander]

I finished watching Aggretsuko.

My advice: Watch Season 1, then move on and be happy. Great show, and short episodes, so it only totals two and a half hours - what have you got to lose?

The gory deets

I haven't seen a rising star snuff itself like this since BSG.

Season 2: First half is a terrible psycho coworker subplot that ends with a wet fart. Back half is better, but straight out of a cheesy romance flick. Feels dumbed down for wider appeal after a strong first showing, new structure is very rage of the week.

Season 3: A sound recovery. Not as great as S1, but back to focusing on the series' strengths.

Season 4: Also good; overarching plotline a strong fit for the show. Jumps the shark right at the end, but it's no deal-breaker.

Season 5: Very strong for the first half, though rage of the week slowly creeps back in. Second half definitively murders the series in cold blood with an unwelcome politics plotline that doesn't even stick its ugly landing. Some nice character moments hidden in the cracks, but it's too late by that point.
Ralph Wiggum moment: Haida opening the door at the live event and smiling.

Maybe I'll give the 1-minute shorts a look as an omnibus episode to close things out...

Final Judgment:
Oh My God I Just Wanted A Fucking Tea-Sipper / 10

[BIL]

I'm not into Sonic, but I am eternally grateful to the funding his games secured for stuff that's very dear to me. Anyway I hang around some real dumps. A dump friend reminded me of Ken Penders, and upon seeing his latest batch of pages, I wanted to shoot myself. Again! With Christmas winding down, the only thing to banish the searingly fugly dog-people was get hammered and rewatch the 1996 OVA with the kids. ;w;7

As always, I remember my fondness for earlier Sonic's innocent Felix The Cat antics. And why I'll never part with my Sonic MD carts n' CD, even if I can't play them for shit. Actually 1996 is pretty goddamn late in the decade, relative to Sonic's MD heyday, but you know. Quite contrastingly, if you want to feel your childhood innocence violated by a creepy boomer, give Penders a look. But don't! It's not worth it. Unless you're a diehard spergwatcher like me. I should grow out of that shit already. Probably too late.



Good times

[Steven]

Sonic OVA is great. It's a way better Sonic movie than the actual Sonic movies.

[scrilla4rella]

Never heard of this Sonic OAV before, just have bad memorioes of the cartoon that played on US TV back in the day- ok dwnldng it as we speak. Sonic fandom sure has changed a lot since the Genesis days. One of my kiddos and a bunch of his friends are crazy hardcore sonic fans. It'll be fun to drop this OAV on them like, "you think you know some Sonic shit? Sonic CD? Yeah fucking right. Check this shit out!'

[Lemnear]

I think he was referring to this :
Sonic the Hedghehog: The Movie OVA Trailer


Every now and then...I go back in time:
Street fighter Ⅱ V - Opening - Japan Version
Street Fighter 2 Victory - Italian Opening

Street fighter 2 victory ending 2 original japanese (ストリートファイター2勝利エンディング1 オリジナル日本語)
Street Fighter II Victory Sigla Finale

Spoiler

Tell me who is there
Hidden behind the sky
Waiting at the end of my path
And tell me where he is
Where he will take me
The day that the thread of my life breaks

THE SKY WILL FALL
I WILL SEE DANCE THOSE WHO CRIED LIKE YOU
AND THERE WILL BE PEACE
FOR THOSE WHO STRUGGLED NOT TO FALL DOWN
LIKE YOU

Friend, you know
That man never changes
And it seems that living doesn't count
But the day will come when memory will be guilt
And then you will see that the world will rise and cry

THE SKY WILL FALL
YOU WILL SEE DANCE THOSE WHO CRIED WITH YOU
AND THERE WILL BE PEACE
FOR THOSE WHO STRUGGLED NOT TO FALL DOWN
LIKE YOU, LIKE ME

And even if I speak to you from afar, my friend
Your dream will continue
Give me strength and heart to keep my place
Until this earth, our Mother Earth here... it won't change

THE SKY WILL FALL
I WILL SEE DANCE THOSE WHO CRIED LIKE YOU
AND THERE WILL BE PEACE
FOR THOSE WHO FOUGHT NOT TO FALL DOWN
ONE DAY YOU WILL SEE
THAT WE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD

[Lemnear]

how could I forget it

Galaxy Express 999 (Japan Opening)
Galaxy Express 999 (Italian Opening) <3

[BIL]

Sonic the Hedghehog: The Movie OVA Trailer

Hell yeah, it's great.

[vol.2]

Hell yeah, it's great.

There was always something so intrinsically liminal about Sonic. I remember the feeling of playing Sonic 1 for the first time on the Genesis. It was like being caught in some kind of space between worlds in a shopping mall; some kind of endless maze of colorful secrets that was only accessible in a flow state. But it also felt sad. You were stuck in this horrible labyrinth and all of your friends have been turned into your enemies and everything is trying to kill you. And the soundtrack to your sadness is stuck somewhere between menswear and the jewelry department.

Like Penguin Café Orchestra had an anime stepson.

[cj iwakura]

I finished watching Aggretsuko.

My advice: Watch Season 1, then move on and be happy. Great show, and short episodes, so it only totals two and a half hours - what have you got to lose?

The gory deets

I haven't seen a rising star snuff itself like this since BSG.

Season 2: First half is a terrible psycho coworker subplot that ends with a wet fart. Back half is better, but straight out of a cheesy romance flick. Feels dumbed down for wider appeal after a strong first showing, new structure is very rage of the week.

Season 3: A sound recovery. Not as great as S1, but back to focusing on the series' strengths.

Season 4: Also good; overarching plotline a strong fit for the show. Jumps the shark right at the end, but it's no deal-breaker.

Season 5: Very strong for the first half, though rage of the week slowly creeps back in. Second half definitively murders the series in cold blood with an unwelcome politics plotline that doesn't even stick its ugly landing. Some nice character moments hidden in the cracks, but it's too late by that point.
Ralph Wiggum moment: Haida opening the door at the live event and smiling.

Maybe I'll give the 1-minute shorts a look as an omnibus episode to close things out...

Final Judgment:
Oh My God I Just Wanted A Fucking Tea-Sipper / 10

Agreed 100%, season 1 is great, then it just goes off a cliff into sideplots and side characters that aren't half as interesting as Aggretsuko.

Kind of reminds me how WataMote went: the show just isn't as interesting once you move away from the core plot of 'miserable character and her coping mechanisms'.

[cj iwakura]

Almost all of Macross(sans DYRL and the [OG series) is now officially available on Hulu:

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2 ... 13/.219912

Thought it'd never happen.

[vol.2]

Almost all of Macross(sans DYRL and the [OG series) is now officially available on Hulu:

That's pretty awesome. I think the only thing I have Macross on are my old VHS subs of it. Oh whoops, I just realized no OG. But they do have Macross Plus which I haven't seen in a long time.

[Ji-L87]

Huh. So Flash Back 2012 is okay apparently...

[vol.2]

Huh. So Flash Back 2012 is okay apparently...

It's just a compilation episode that takes footage from the series and overdubs Minmei songs. The end has a few extra minutes that bookends the last episode a bit, which is the only new animation present.

[Ji-L87]

I was just under the impression that it would suffer the same under the Macross/Robotech agreement from Harmony Gold that states that "Certain #Macross sequels, such as Do You Remember Love, and any future sequel containing shared characters, mecha, and/or storyline, are currently prohibited.".

Oh well, I am always happy to watch the full animation for Tenshi no Enogu as it's rad as shit.

[BIL]

Oh well, I am always happy to watch the full animation for Tenshi no Enogu as it's rad as shit.

Yeah, I was surprised at that one! Very Motown. I was recently revisiting Do You Remember Love, after the licensed NMK shooter saw home debut. I saw lots of JP fans regretting the omission of Angel's Paint from its handful of Mari Ijima tunes, now I see why. (the only DYRL-featured songs I recalled offhand were the title theme and 0-G Love... can't forget DOG FIGHTER ofc )

Spoiler

I wish the game went with Do You Remember Love for the final stage, with Angel's Paint for the end credits. The stage itself is a controlled disaster. (a sudden plunge into near-impregnable Resource 'Em Up, where bomb rationing is king) Would fit the actual film, plus a little left field pop ala Zuntata would've accented the tonal shift.

[Lemnear]

Goldrake/Grendizer - Vega
a very rare theme song (I think it was the ending one), rare because it is sung by the villains!!!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Disney's Hulu+ streaming app has been on a Macross streaming roll extravaganza lately and just very recently has the "Macross Plus: Movie Edition" circa 1994 (this is the theatrical version of the Macross Plus OVA series) is up and running for your streaming perusal. It's presented in it's original 4:3 aspect ratio format with an alloted running time of an hour and fifty-five minutes.

MP:ME has that "old-school" hand-dtawn anime cel overall aesthetic/vibe going on that you don't see being done with modern-day anime being offered nowadays. The MP OVA series was the basis and source material for Banpresto's Macross Plus arcade stg pcb as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[vol.2]

Yeah, Macross Plus is great. I never watched Macross II though because everyone told me it sucked. Wondering if I should bother.

[Zoinkity]

I think the only thing I have Macross on are my old VHS subs of it.

Haha, you too?
The one neat thing in Flash Back 2012 is that it's the only actual instance of Megaroad 1 in the whole blasted series, right in the last ~5 min or so. They're finally--finally--hinting at doing something with that again in the most recent short? movie? whatever it is was that crossovered Delta and Frontier.
Macross II wasn't good. Neither was the last Macross Delta movie.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I think the only thing I have Macross on are my old VHS subs of it.

Haha, you too?
The one neat thing in Flash Back 2012 is that it's the only actual instance of Megaroad 1 in the whole blasted series, right in the last ~5 min or so. They're finally--finally--hinting at doing something with that again in the most recent short? movie? whatever it is was that crossovered Delta and Frontier.
Macross II wasn't good. Neither was the last Macross Delta movie.

The creators of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross originally wanted to name the series "Megaroad" but another anime had already taken that particular title/namesake, so they went with SDF Macross instead and the rest is history in the annuals of anime legends/back catalog.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The 4K Steelbook version of the groundbreaking Akira anime film is slated to be released on March 4th, 2025 -- has the same artwork featured on the earlier 4K release back in 2022 for both the front and backside cover that has been done by Katsuhiro Otomo himself. Includes both a 4K UHD & Blu-ray bundled disc set -- this particular 4K variant of Akira has HDR (High Dynamic Range) for better overall visual presentation.

Pre-order it through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Akira-Movie-Stee ... e=20250226

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[cj iwakura]

Oh well, I am always happy to watch the full animation for Tenshi no Enogu as it's rad as shit.

Yeah, I was surprised at that one! Very Motown. I was recently revisiting Do You Remember Love, after the licensed NMK shooter saw home debut. I saw lots of JP fans regretting the omission of Angel's Paint from its handful of Mari Ijima tunes, now I see why. (the only DYRL-featured songs I recalled offhand were the title theme and 0-G Love... can't forget DOG FIGHTER ofc )

Spoiler

I wish the game went with Do You Remember Love for the final stage, with Angel's Paint for the end credits. The stage itself is a controlled disaster. (a sudden plunge into near-impregnable Resource 'Em Up, where bomb rationing is king) Would fit the actual film, plus a little left field pop ala Zuntata whttps://i.imgur.com/0v4BVBW.jpegould've accented the tonal shift.

The Saturn one uses DYRL in the final stage. (Not sure which one you're referring to...)

Also, the new 4K(see pick up thread) has English subs, so there's that. (Which I suspect was done as a middle finger to HG and a love letter to deprived fans)

[BIL]

The Saturn one uses DYRL in the final stage. (Not sure which one you're referring to...)

NMK's 1992 arcade STG, published by Banpresto; recently got an ACA release. Loosely based on Do You Remember Love, but uses the unadorned ChouJikuu Yousai Macross title. Very solid STG that abruptly goes 110% resource 'em up in its final stage.

Sadly JP-only on ACA, presumably due to the usual Harmony Gold bullshit. I wonder if its sequel's announced ACA release will fare any better, being based on and named after Macross 2. Killer STG that's unusual on a couple counts, being a horizontal Time Attack for arcades.

Gorgeous pixel art in both games

(all credit @ Kamikaze2000)

That's good to hear about the English subs in the new 4K release! I bet there's an interesting story there, haha.