Where has all the manly violent anime gone?

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:02 pm

Do my eyes deceive me? The Ghost in the Shell TV series is one of the best shows I've seen in recent memory. Science fiction/philosophy buffs only? What didn't you guys like about it?

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:03 pm

Afro Samurai is actually getting a second season believe it or not.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:05 pm

FIL wrote:Afro Samurai is actually getting a second season believe it or not.

Good lord...

You guys might like Blade of the Immortal for your bloodbath fix. I've only seen a few episodes so far, but it looks like it could be good.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:24 pm

MathU wrote:
FIL wrote:Afro Samurai is actually getting a second season believe it or not.
Good lord...

You guys might like Blade of the Immortal for your bloodbath fix. I've only seen a few episodes so far, but it looks like it could be good.

Icarus told me about BOTI. I've got every graphic novel in the series. It's one of the best manga I've ever read, but the series is a totally missed opportunity to capture Hiroaki Samura's carefully crafted story. A big shame.

Afro Samurai is getting a second season because dumb people think it's really good, much like most modern Hollywood releases.

To answer the previous question: SAC is just so boring to watch. It's really, really dull, and fails to to correctly tap into the atmosphere of Mamoru Oshii's first film or the light heartedness of Shirow's manga.
Pretty much a big mistake to try to land it right in the middle.

Sasupoika · Post by **Sasupoika** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:39 pm

I'm waiting for Hellsing OVA 5.
OVA 4 was awesome, because Rip was in it.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:45 pm

Its not especially violent but I always thought Death Note was a pretty cool darker themed anime. They just released a twenty episode box set this week which Amazon has for only $34.99. Pretty good deal me thinks (I had Best Buy price match

. )

Post by **Icarus** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:46 pm

DJ Incompetent wrote:You'd think Twiddle and Icarus could name drop some...

I haven't kept up with the new stuff lately, been too busy. If you're looking for manly stuff however, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything good nowadays as everything released is either moé-overdose, or really badly animated and scripted manly stuff (Souten no Ken was a mess, and Blade of the Immortal is a completely wasted opportunity).

You do get some pretty decent edgy or not-quite-moé-and-not-quite-manly stuff, though. Samurai Champloo is great; Samurai 7 is decent; Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is hilarious; Paranoia Agent is a must-watch; if you can get past some cutesy stuff, dodgy art in places, and the timeskipping, Higurashi isn't bad; Witch Hunter Robin isn't bad either; and I'm a big fan of Makoto Shinkai's work. Oh, and Last Exile, too.

There is a whole thread dedicated to this stuff, you know. Perhaps sifting through it might bring up some more ideas.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:47 pm

Jon wrote:Its not especially violent but I always thought Deathnote was a pretty cool darker themed anime. They just released a twenty episode box set this week which Amazon has for only $34.99. Pretty good deal me thinks (I had Best Buy price match . )

Definitely a cool one. I thought the live action movies were seriously goofy though.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:58 pm

Jon wrote:Its not especially violent but I always thought Death Note was a pretty cool darker themed anime. They just released a twenty episode box set this week which Amazon has for only $34.99. Pretty good deal me thinks (I had Best Buy price match . )

IMO deathnote is really fucking camp. with the girly boys who trying to save the world and the sassy girls

I did not enjoy reading it, Watching the anime or the movies.

Post by **undamned** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:07 pm

Icarus wrote:Last Exile

Been wanting to see this for my Range fix.
-ud

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:14 pm

Skykid wrote:[Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex] is shit.

I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

MathU wrote: The Ghost in the Shell TV series is one of the best shows I've seen in recent memory. Science fiction/philosophy buffs only?

Indeed, it's a great and clever show, especially the first season. Most awesome anime of the past decade (or longer), in my opinion.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:15 pm

someone mentioned blood the last vampire. the 30min short ~ awesome
The anime series ~ Not so awesome

i have a thread going over on arcadeotaku.com about what anime everyones watching. its odd how i cant stand to watch TV but I can digest a hell of a lot of anime

http://www.arcadeotaku.com/forum/viewto ... &sk=t&sd=a

Post by **Icarus** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:22 pm

Got one going here too.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=4536

Regarding Blood+, the anime isn't too bad, but the manga is superior by quite a large distance.
Don't suppose anyone's watched Grave of the Fireflies? Or A Wind Named Amnesia? Not manly, but damn good stuff.

RackGaki · Post by **RackGaki** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:29 pm

I can't believe that this thread has gone on so long without mention of Elfen Lied. Maximum blood + maximum cutesy fan service. I don't care for it, but someone here probably does.

Observer wrote:Far from 'manly' but quite surreal, you could try Gankutsuou (Montecristo) Some parts do get annoying bit it's quite nice.

The show was AAA for every frame Albert wasn't on screen.

MathU wrote:Do my eyes deceive me? The Ghost in the Shell TV series is one of the best shows I've seen in recent memory. Science fiction/philosophy buffs only? What didn't you guys like about it?

Gig 2 really hit the nail on the head. As a GitS buff myself, I have to say that the first season was not terribly accessible or action-packed - at all. The second season's story is nothing less than quality, and the atmosphere and animation was vastly improved.

Plus the second season put some cloths on Motoko. It's hard to take a character/story seriously when the protagonist is essentially a cop in a g-string.

ChurchOfSolipsism · Post by **ChurchOfSolipsism** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:35 pm

After reading the first 6 posts or so of this train crash of a thread I figured it's not worth reading the rest. Obviously many people here have no idea what they're talking about, least of all the OP. You haven't actually read Naruto, have you? If you had, you would know that after a while it turned from an exceptionally well done & well drawn fighting manga (that still had many underlying lyrical themes that were treated in quite an interesting way IMO) into something darker not aimed at kids anymore at all. Now it's about the big questions in life and how we fill our lives with meaning etc. The fact that many people think it's just a shallow comic for kids doesn't change the profoundness of it one bit. (& btw the ad hoc thesis that the eyes of anime characters have gotten bigger is simply uninformed bullshit. Watch some 70s anime if you don't believe me)

There's tons of excellent anime aimed at grown ups out there if you bothered to look for it. Examples are Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Paprika (in fact, everything Satoshi Kon has done: Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress etc.), Serial Experiments Lain, Elfen Lied, Ichi the Killer, ..... . And Japan still produces shitloads of hentai, fo course.

Also, there is Battle Royale, the Ichi The Killer manga, the work of Tsutomu Nihei: Blame!, Biomega & his various one-shots. Another mangaka that would make you shit your obversized shmup-nerd pants would be Shintaro Kago ( http://rs.4chan.org/?s=shintaro+kago ) but don't come crying and say I didn't warn you.

RackGaki · Post by **RackGaki** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:46 pm

Your thought-provoking and humble introduction in this thread is certain to win you many fans.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:50 pm

Ceph wrote:
Skykid wrote:[Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex] is shit.
I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

What's that? That both SAC and Quantum of Solace are both pretty rubbish?

Ceph wrote:Indeed, it's a great and clever show, especially the first season. Most awesome anime of the past decade (or longer), in my opinion.

Hee hee, I see a pattern here too...

Lets just agree to disagree Ceph. We clearly have wildly different opinions of what makes for good entertainment. I'm a critic for sure, but then they don't pay me for nuthin.

Post by **Icarus** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:53 pm

ChurchOfSolipsism wrote: You haven't actually read Naruto, have you? If you had, you would know that after a while it turned from an exceptionally well done & well drawn fighting manga (that still had many underlying lyrical themes that were treated in quite an interesting way IMO) into something darker not aimed at kids anymore at all. Now it's about the big questions in life and how we fill our lives with meaning etc. The fact that many people think it's just a shallow comic for kids doesn't change the profoundness of it one bit. (& btw the ad hoc thesis that the eyes of anime characters have gotten bigger is simply uninformed bullshit. Watch some 70s anime if you don't believe me)

Naruto is also full of more holes than Swiss cheese.

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:03 am

ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:After reading the first 6 posts or so of this train crash of a thread I figured it's not worth reading the rest. Obviously many people here have no idea what they're talking about, least of all the OP. You haven't actually read Naruto, have you? If you had, you would know that after a while it turned from an exceptionally well done & well drawn fighting manga (that still had many underlying lyrical themes that were treated in quite an interesting way IMO) into something darker not aimed at kids anymore at all. Now it's about the big questions in life and how we fill our lives with meaning etc. The fact that many people think it's just a shallow comic for kids doesn't change the profoundness of it one bit.

Man, you Naruto fans are pretty fucking emo.....I actually tried to watch that show. It doesn't change the fact that the show is pretty fucking lame.

@ these emotional ass, butthurt Naruto fans.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:08 am

Skykid wrote:
Ceph wrote:
Skykid wrote:[Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex] is shit.
I'm beginning to see a pattern here.
What's that? That both SAC and Quantum of Solace are both pretty rubbish?

No, that you lack taste. Let me guess, you don't like reading books either?

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:12 am

/me is downloading Zillion right now

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:14 am

Ceph wrote:
Skykid wrote:
Ceph wrote: I'm beginning to see a pattern here.
What's that? That both SAC and Quantum of Solace are both pretty rubbish?
No, that you lack taste. Let me guess, you don't like reading books either?

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:18 am

Icarus wrote:
DJ Incompetent wrote:You'd think Twiddle and Icarus could name drop some...
I haven't kept up with the new stuff lately, been too busy. If you're looking for manly stuff however, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything good nowadays as everything released is either moé-overdose, or really badly animated and scripted manly stuff (Souten no Ken was a mess, and Blade of the Immortal is a completely wasted opportunity).

You do get some pretty decent edgy or not-quite-moé-and-not-quite-manly stuff, though. Samurai Champloo is great; Samurai 7 is decent; Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is hilarious; Paranoia Agent is a must-watch; if you can get past some cutesy stuff, dodgy art in places, and the timeskipping, Higurashi isn't bad; Witch Hunter Robin isn't bad either; and I'm a big fan of Makoto Shinkai's work. Oh, and Last Exile, too.

There is a whole thread dedicated to this stuff, you know. Perhaps sifting through it might bring up some more ideas.

most of this post, plus Kaiba (the show by masaaki yuasa, not the OTHER show featuring a character that happens to be named such.) it goes against pretty much what you expect of any cutesy flowery show and puts in several levels of disturbing underneath.

other people have pointed out black lagoon, but the skull man is worth a watch as well. ishinomori + bones writers = 9/10

also if you have a fucked up sense of humor detroit metal city is a surefire bet.

this year i haven't found much worth watching in the way of anime. the second season of zetsubou sensei was a wash and pretty much everything else turned out flatly mediocre (macross frontier) or I only watch for the character designs because it has no redeeming value otherwise (gundam double aught)

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:25 am

Ceph wrote:
Skykid wrote:
Ceph wrote: I'm beginning to see a pattern here.
What's that? That both SAC and Quantum of Solace are both pretty rubbish?
No, that you lack taste. Let me guess, you don't like reading books either?

Sure Ceph, most journalists don't go anywhere near literature.

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:35 am

shows in the queue:

Gantz

Mnemosyne

Kemonozume

Elfen Lied(liking it so far, but can do without the romance/goofy girl-boy shit"have you ever thought about touching my breasts?"

)

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai(Only seen the talky ass first episode, can't call it, yet)

Vexille

Nekojiro Gekijou

I tried Dokuro Chan but deleted that bullshit after one episode. That show is gory, but hella sweet.

Post by **Icarus** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:55 am

Never_Scurred wrote:Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai(Only seen the talky ass first episode, can't call it, yet)

That's the second series - if you haven't seen the first series yet, you're going to be really confused.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:57 am

Last Exile is indeed pretty awesome. Perhaps you might like Boogiepop Phantom, if only for the weird episode structure and some extra crazy stuff. I recall seeing it years ago and considered it interesting... Dunno if it resisted the test of time.

Samurai 7 was fine to some extent. As a re-interpretation of the original story it's quite nice but seeing those midgets cutting through neat 8m+ tall hovering mechas with huge shotguns and other weapons broke my mecha-loving heart. I stopped liking it right there, although Ukyo's insanity was fine till the very end. Damn you, Nobuseri.

Blue Submarine Nº6 (I think that was the name) is what Waterworld should've been... No Kevin Kostner and a huge freaking talking shark.

I watched Higurashi but I still can't get what's the whole fuzz about it. Not my cup of tea I guess. To each their own.

mmm, I've just remembered Detective Conan (Meitantei Conan) has hundreds of episodes full of violent deaths and crazy stuff. The art style might be odd and childish so, like it happened with Higurashi faced against my annoying and pedantic taste, it might not be everyone's cup of tea. Just make sure to avoid the spanish dubbed version. PLEASE avoid it at all costs.

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:01 am

Icarus wrote: Don't suppose anyone's watched Grave of the Fireflies? Or A Wind Named Amnesia? Not manly, but damn good stuff.

I think (hope!) every serious anime fan has seen Grave of the Fireflies by now. Amnesia is a bit more on the topic though. Good sci-fi written by the genius Yoshiaki Kawajiri.

ChurchOfSolipsism wrote: There's tons of excellent anime aimed at grown ups out there if you bothered to look for it. Examples are Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Paprika (in fact, everything Satoshi Kon has done: Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress etc.), Serial Experiments Lain, Elfen Lied, Ichi the Killer, ..... . And Japan still produces shitloads of hentai, fo course.

Also, there is Battle Royale, the Ichi The Killer manga, the work of Tsutomu Nihei: Blame!, Biomega & his various one-shots. Another mangaka that would make you shit your obversized shmup-nerd pants would be Shintaro Kago ( http://rs.4chan.org/?s=shintaro+kago ) but don't come crying and say I didn't warn you.

Err.. this thread wasn't about anime for grown ups, it was about 80'es style ultra-manly badass anime. So none of those really qualify, not even Ichi the Killer (there was only one episode made), because Ichi's a crying wuss.

Btw, I met Satoshi Kon two weeks ago and he said he was doing an anime especially for children next... about robots that dream or something.

Hmm, when I think back, the "GAR" (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gar) of olden times, there used to be wildly excessive anime like Hokuto no Ken, Sakigake!! Otokojuku, Riki-Oh, Violence Jack... but that level of madness can never be achieved again. Then in the 90'es some half-decent badassery like M.D. Geist dir.cut, Kakugo no Susume... and nowadays, nothing! Just brainless fan-service shit like Kamen no Maido Guy. Or is there? Lemme think.. here are some recent titles that come close:

Tokyo Tribe 2 (2006) - This was a surprisingly sleazy and violent series
Golgo 13 (2008) - The tv-series is proper stuff, judging by the first 5 eps I've seen
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood (2007) - What the hell happened to this? Why is there still no dvd release?
Souten no Ken (2006) - crap... didn't watch too many eps though.
Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden: Ten no Haoh (2008) - crap.. although it was interesting to see how Raoh got his horse, Koku-oh (happens in episode 2)
Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007) - A nice Highlander sci-fi/action from Yoshiaki Kawajiri, not very extreme though.
Detroit Metal City (2008) - now this is the real deal, the most offensive anime I've seen in ages! This brought back the hope in me that anime is not totally (brain)dead yet! There is a funny live-action DMC movie too which should dvd soon if it hasn't already.

Edit: Forgot about Mnemosyne (2008). This was refreshing filth, although it went too MOE and EMO in the last episodes.

Edit2: Forgot to mention that the new Hokuto no Ken side feature-length sidestories all suck ass, the only watchable one is the first, especially the ending with Shuu and the pyramid. Shin Hokuto no Ken (2003?) is almost as worthless.

Other than that, I'd recommend watching Tytania. It's based on the same author's books as LOGH, so the story should be brilliant and indeed Tytania looks very promising. Grand-scale space opera, decadent nobles watching boredly as thousands of starships get destroyed, while a butler is serving them wine... and of course classical opera music is playing in the background.

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:06 am

Icarus wrote:
Never_Scurred wrote:Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai(Only seen the talky ass first episode, can't call it, yet)
That's the second series - if you haven't seen the first series yet, you're going to be really confused.

Word. Thanks for the heads up on that.
Whats the name of the first series?

Post by **Icarus** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:14 am

Never_Scurred wrote:Word. Thanks for the heads up on that.
Whats the name of the first series?

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. (Without the Kai.)
Subs by Ayu or WinD are decent. There's an Ayu batch with a bunch of seeds available, here.

Observer wrote:I watched Higurashi but I still can't get what's the whole fuzz about it. Not my cup of tea I guess. To each their own.

It is confusing at first, but a lot of it is explained by the first half of the second series. It's quite a clever series, one of my favorites.