Why modern anime sucks nowadays?

[Skykid]

I am going to comment on both of your posts by disembedding the first one and merging it with the embedding comment:

Just finished Gunbuster this morning and damn, that's what it's all about.
I can't believe it took me that long to actually watch something that awesome, I should have been onto that from the beginning (I knew of its existence of course.)

It was terrific. I was totally seduced by the beautiful colour and design work, and that incredible depth of imagination Anime had when they were all about exploring sci-fi.

Gunbuster is a shojo anime mixed with hard sci-fi mecha anime, which is quintessential shonen. It is a story of a girl who tries to lives to his daddy's expectations, although she's apparently a Klutz. She attempts to reach this goal and pays a high price for this, as in standard shojo Mangas of this sub-genre (see e.g. Shin Attack). Note: yes, there are plenty of shonen "coming-of-age" anime ("hero must endure hardships") anime, but the extra-defining feature of girls' ones is that they try to meet family expectations (and are klutz). The girls were dressed in "sexy" dresses to have boys stomaching a shojo manga mixed with mechas.
Furthermore, they bothered to take "seriously" the physics behind it and use it in the plot. Rose-tinted glasses or not, beyond Planetes no modern sci-fi anime has been able to use physics within the plot in a proper way.

Perhaps it's because no-one cares about sci-fi anymore, the same way the US don't care about the space program. The last anime I watched that went to some lengths to flesh out its foreign worlds was Cowboy Bebop.

And yes, sorry, Planetes! I really must watch this now that Diebuster has turned out to be so lacklustre. Thanks for the reminder.

Can't kids watch Anime anymore unless it has bouts of hyperactive slapstick every two seconds, or, like in this opener, a lecherous old man trying to peer up a young girls skirt?

That's Tekkaman Blade, a '70s anime, which was all about camel toes and nipples (yes, in the '70s), and dumb slapstick. Dash Kappei's plot revolved around the main character being obsessed with pants and upskirts ('81). So, the return[i/] of these trivial aspects in anime is possibly a problem, but not a new thing.

This type of fan-service exists since forever, Japanese are a bunch of perverts since forever...the "tentacle" genre is based on a painting of the 17th century, if you want to know.

Those perversions are in Gunbuster too, but they're few and far between and handled with a certain subtlety. The fact that the comedic elements, slapstick and smut in Diebuster appears to be a stand-in for characterisation, plot and environment is pretty disappointing.

am looking forward to Towa no Quon (despite the pimpish CG)

That had some vibes actually, looks kinda neat. Hate the human character designs though, they're so generic.

[Siren2011]

Skykid, I can understand where you are coming from. Diebuster is obviously much more "fru fru" and flamboyant than the original. I can totally understand why this would repulse some people. But many of your criticisms are wack and vague. For example, saying "the art direction looks horrible" is a valid criticism (though I can say you have vulgar taste), since one of the most personal things in the world is what each individual finds "beautiful." But then there's stuff like this:

And what happened to all of the character in the characters?

Read that again, and a couple more times and tell me with honesty that it gives the reader the slightest clue what you're trying to deem as a negative aspect of the film. It is, strictly speaking, meaningless --as meaningless as saying, "this butter sucks, because it lacks butterness." Could you perhaps be speaking of character development? If so, then you really need to watch past episode 1 before criticizing the series as a whole. There was indeed character development for almost everyone in the show. Lal'c had an internal struggle with her insecurity and jealously towards Nono, which gets worse as the story progresses, finally reaches a boiling point, and then something radical happens that I don't want to mention for the sake of not spoiling it. Hell, Nick (I think that's his name...) was a likable, dedicated pilot and member of The Fraternity, then he went absolutely insane after a particular battle changed him. I can go on and on about all of the characters, but I don't feel like it. But yeah, I hope it's clear to you now that your point is ridiculous. Though I doubt you'll change your mind about it, so I'm just setting the record straight at this point.

The fight at the end was rubbish. There was no build up, no presence and no drama.

You have to be talking about the ending to the first episode. I agree if that's the case. But the last episode? The fourth episode? The fifth episode? Drama and suspense out the ass. The show kept me on the edge of my seat during the last episodes! MILD SPOILER! Explosions looked more incredible than the original, main characters died gruesomely, one of the most cathartic moments to ever happen in anime happened. /SPOILER It was nothing short of epic. I can totally see people denying their own instincts and refusing to acknowledge that they felt something when watching them --something incredible, indescribable--, just because the bright, girly colors in the outro and intro are a turn off. That's pitiable, but unfortunately it might be true. Bull headedness and narrow vision, FTW!

It sounds like you made your mind up five minutes into the show. Which is why these are superficial complaints, near all of them.

main character girl...has little to no unique qualities or distinctions

She really has just as much if not more than Noriko did.

Noriko: Red "workout-style" jumpsuit.
Nono: Ultra-slick orange space outfit (discard her maid outfit in the first ep).
Cowlick
A twinkle in her eye, present nearly at all times.

Clearly you want the sequel to suck. You don't want to give it a chance because you have made a fixed belief that nothing will compare to the original. You might as well delete it off of your hard drive with that attitude.

to the most bland nondescript representation of a sci-fi 'world' ever

Ever? Seriously? lol. Have you seen any of those shitty Godzilla movies at all? Before you can review something with a bold claim like that, you've got to put it into context with other things similar to it. Nothing exists in a vacuum. There are a thousand shittier sci-fi shows and movies under your nose, and you seem to have forgotten all about them. Everything must be ranked by aspects thought more (or less!) "good", or "bad" or "innovative" or "degenerative" than something in the same category. Plus, with all of that work put into the first 5 MINUTES ALONE (Nono peering out the train window at the city at dawn) regarding animation, it's almost as if you're saying that just to get a rise out of the people who appreciate it. Again, it's no Gunbuster. But to say the animation and art direction (which is a great part of the "representation") is fucked, such a statement deserves not one lol, not TWO lols, but THREE LMFAOs! The only way such a claim would be acceptable would be if you were born into a white room, never to be let out and exposed to the outside world, then the first film you see is Diebuster (although it would still be strange to hear, because you've yet to see anything like it before). But for someone who has undoubtedly seen countless science fiction films and themes in anime, you are clearly not remembering correctly.

I know I probably sounded a bit harsh, and I know that watching something that incredible -- "incredible" sounding like such a meager word to describe how I felt watching it--, then to switch to something more modern and cheap is like a kick in the balls. Just ride it out, is what I'm saying. Personally, I think the original was a lot better, too. But the sequel is far from bad.

NOTE: I am not irritated because you dislike what I like. I am irritated that you don't provide legit reasoning for why it sucks, thereby nullifying your surface-scratching complaints.

This type of fan-service exists since forever, Japanese are a bunch of perverts since forever...the "tentacle" genre is based on a painting of the 17th century, if you want to know.

Hell yeah, they are. And I'd be devastated if they changed.

...the way in which she's portrayed is completely different. She just screams a lot...

Yeah, because Noriko NEVER screamed once in all of Gunbuster. /sarcasm

I had a feeling DieBuster sucked from seeing bits of it on YouTube. The designs for it ranged from simplistic to terrible (worse than Evangelion).

Wow, with the large amount of knowledge you seem to have about anime, you can't appreciate Sadamoto's work? I am completely dumbfounded.

EDIT: I just saw the rest of Gunbuster (finally!), and my thoughts which I would express here afterward were already expressed very clearly by Skykid. I love how the last episode was black and white to place emphasis on the contrast of time on earth, and time in the vast reaches of space. It had a kind of nostalgic aura about it.

[Skykid]

Christ, don't make me do this.

And what happened to all of the character in the characters?

Read that again, and a couple more times and tell me with honesty that it gives the reader the slightest clue what you're trying to deem as a negative aspect of the film. It is, strictly speaking, meaningless --as meaningless as saying, "this butter sucks, because it lacks butterness."

Even though I type at light speed, I'm not willing to write an essay on everything I find to be lacking. My posts are long enough as it is.
The comment was as succinct as I could make it. In comparison to the amount of character embodied by each member of Gunbuster's cast from the outset, Diebuster's opening left plenty to be desired. They had no underlying narrative, no roundedness and there wasn't a minute where the viewer gets to dwell on who they really are. As I mentioned, they packed all the background into bursts of rambling dialogue and spent all the other vacant minutes doing pointless visual slapstick. That's a poorly conceived way to introduce a series that's following on the heels of a well-loved classic.

The fight at the end was rubbish. There was no build up, no presence and no drama.

You have to be talking about the ending to the first episode. I agree if that's the case. But the last episode? The fourth episode? The fifth episode?

Or course that's the one I'm talking about, that's the only one I watched right?
I'm not stupid, I realise I'm critiquing one of six parts of a series. I'm expecting it to improve, at least in this department if no other. My main issue with it, was that in contrast it was an infinitely poorer introduction to a new series than Gunbuster ep1, which compelled me to watch the next immediately.
Although it's unfair to criticise just the first episode, it is true that the opener to a series is crucial in developing your long term audience. That's one of the reasons I was so let down by the lack of effort (and haven't bothered to continue yet.)

It sounds like you made your mind up five minutes into the show. Which is why these are superficial complaints, near all of them.

They're not superficial complaints whatsoever.
They're totally accurate and valid complaints. Blame Gainax.

main character girl...has little to no unique qualities or distinctions

She really has just as much if not more than Noriko did.

Noriko: Red "workout-style" jumpsuit.
Nono: Ultra-slick orange space outfit (discard her maid outfit in the first ep).
Cowlick
A twinkle in her eye, present nearly at all times

.

And look at how empty those eyes are.
This is a totally ridiculous comparison. In episode one at least, Nono most certainly doesn't have as much character as Noriko. Character is built not just by a series of unique attributes, but their behaviour and the narrative that surrounds them. By the end of Gunbuster episode 1, we know the history of Noriko's father, his fate, and the aspirations she had since childhood to follow him into space. We know she's an outcast because the girls in the school believe she's doted on by the teachers because of favouritism. She's an underdog and perfectly aware of her lack of natural ability to pilot a mech, which is why she looks up to Onee-sama as an inspiration. Despite her klutziness, the audience is aware she has a heart of gold through her friendship with Kimiko, and her reaction to being picked to join Onee-sama in space (she wants the coach to change his mind.) In the end she comes full circle, training hard to live up to the task, and takes on a fight with the school bully, and wins by turning off her monitor (star wars style) and going with her heart and instinct. Its then that we're aware of her actual potential as a pilot, even though it takes until the end of the show to really come to fruition.

Comparitively, Nono is a totally vapid nothing, swanning about air-headedly with nothing but a childish and incessant pining to go into space, who does little except piss about in a maid uniform and repeat her wish to herself ad-infinitum.

There is no comparison. One is full of passion and one is made of plastic.

Yeah, because Noriko NEVER screamed once in all of Gunbuster. /sarcasm

She screamed in anguish.
Nono screams because she's a pain in the ass.

NOW,
You need to accept that that was a critique of episode one only. I stand by everything I said because I believe it's an accurate appraisal, and, more importantly, a fair comparison with Gunbuster, its spiritual prequel.

I will watch the 2nd ep while Planetes is coming down, but if it turns out to be a barrel of Moe coloured monkey spunk I'm not wasting any more of my valuable time.
Are we cool?

[Siren2011]

Although it's unfair to criticise just the first episode, it is true that the opener to a series is crucial in developing your long term audience.

Finally something that I can fully agree with. Consider the different circumstances: maybe I was more impressed with the first episode because I had seen it long before I saw Gunbuster. On the other hand, you had already tasted the T-bone steak, and then you tried the ham immediately after. So who knows, man? I could watch Diebuster again and be disappointed as all hell. But I still enjoyed seeing it for the first time just as much as I did seeing FLCL for the first time (which, by the way, I have recently returned to and realized that now my standards have changed about what is and is not acceptable from a visual standpoint in anime. It looked trashy, I must confess. Not to mention the non-sequiturs --which I now realize are lame diversions from the writer's poor abilities to construct a logical, fictional world-- are as inexcusable as they are boring to see unfold).

That's one of the reasons I was so let down by the lack of effort (and haven't bothered to continue yet.)

It is very clear that this is one thing that we will never reach an agreement on. I mean shit, bro, there is a difference between not trying at all (12 oz. Mouse...Panty Stocking and Garder Belt...) and glossy stuff like Diebuster which oozes style. Just because it isn't as beautifully detailed as Gunbuster, does not mean that no effort was put into making the show, or that it was "fruit of a passionless labor." Such statements are so radical and off kilter with reality it's not even funny (actually I lied. It is funny.). It's an objective fact: Gainax busted their asses off in the studio, working long hours overtime and missing holidays to make this show, and it shows. The only valid thing you could say about the aesthetics is that you hated them or have seen better in "insert series here". That is all I have left to say on the matter.

[Skykid]

(which, by the way, I have recently returned to and realized that now my standards have changed about what is and is not acceptable from a visual standpoint in anime. It looked trashy, I must confess. Not to mention the non-sequiturs --which I now realize are lame diversions from the writer's poor abilities to construct a logical, fictional world-- are as inexcusable as they are boring to see unfold).

You just described the opening episode of Diebuster to a T.

On the other hand, you had already tasted the T-bone steak, and then you tried the ham immediately after.

Sounds like you're making the argument for me. Yes, it was ham. Ham is average at best.

That's one of the reasons I was so let down by the lack of effort (and haven't bothered to continue yet.)

You can haz all the greatest animators in the world, it will make no difference if you can't write a decent script. Ep1 case in point. Someone worked hard for not much payoff. Someone's lack of effort is responsible.

It is very clear that this is one thing that we will never reach an agreement on. I mean shit, bro, there is a difference between not trying at all (12 oz. Mouse...Panty Stocking and Garder Belt...) and glossy stuff like Diebuster which oozes style.

But it doesn't ooze style.
Glossy, yes, well animated, yes. Stylish? Not really. Not for me anyway. I don't like the character designs much and I'll be honest, Flash really does suck the depth out of everything. It's incredibly hollow and soulless looking to me. Some of the faster sequences were difficult to see properly, and I generally felt uninspired by both the environments and character designs - including the buster. They just look very similar to everything else, and everything else is all starting to look strangely like Otomedius these days.

[Obiwanshinobi]

My guess is that when Ayakashi Ayashi got cancelled after 25 episodes, BONES had reality check and were given a choice: either "safe" production values, or no funds, hence the CG and run off the mill character designs of Darker than Black, Soul Eater and now Towa no Quon. Perhaps DtB and Soul Eater made enough profit to prove that direction safe indeed.

[greg]

[Perhaps it's because no-one cares about sci-fi anymore, the same way the US don't care about the space program. The last anime I watched that went to some lengths to flesh out its foreign worlds was Cowboy Bebop.

Bruce Boxleitner (Tron, Babylon 5) was at the Phoenix Comic Con a couple months ago and pointed out that there's no real space SF shows on TV anymore. Everything's about vampires and zombies. He ranted about the government shutting down the space program, and I'm paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect of "we've stopped looking at the horizon, and all we do now is look at our feet." That's an incredibly insightful statement, and so very true.

I keep hearing about Planetes over and over again on here, but really, if anime was the way it was in the '70s and '80s, we'd be getting all sorts of shows like Planetes (Moonlight Mile looks similar, but I haven't watched it yet). Sure, we still get mecha shows, but they're nowhere near as compelling, and they're always stuck on earth. Shows like Macross and Gundam showed that you can have an epic space opera without leaving the solar system, but we still just get a rehash of "boy pilots robot to fight alien invaders." I don't mind if it's rehashed Mazinger Z over and over again, but mecha shows were more interesting and inventive back then. (Dancougar, Votoms, etc.) We don't even get much of that anymore anyway.

And yeah, they did have fanservice back then too, but it wasn't used as plot vehicles for entire episodes.

[Siren2011]

You just described the opening episode of Diebuster to a T.

Yes, and in that same paragraph I said that it is possible that I'd return to the series and not like it as much, didn't I? My memory of the plot is hazy at best, and I was mostly impressed by the visuals and special effects. This was a year ago. A lot can change a person within a year.

You can haz all the greatest animators in the world, it will make no difference if you can't write a decent script.

It's sad, but true.

They just look very similar to everything else.

Similar to what, exactly? Big O? You've now got me guessing what you're getting at. Name one show (besides the one I've mentioned) with characters, environments, or robots from other anime that remind you of those in Diebuster, take Photobucket links of them and compare them here, side by side. Otherwise, no one is likely to take this comment seriously.

Especially this part:

and everything else is all starting to look strangely like Otomedius these days.

and



V.S.



and



The differences in quality are so vast, that your statement is starting to sound strangely like madman speak.

Someone worked hard for not much payoff. Someone's lack of effort is responsible.

Let's just be perfectly clear about this, the animators and art director worked hard. The sound effects supervisor and the composer worked hard. If you are correct about the plot in episode one being illogical (and if the same holds true for the rest of the series), then the only ones who fucked up due to "lack of effort" on their behalf were the people in charge of the script.

Flash really does suck the depth out of everything.

Adobe Flash?! Have you even seen a Flash game in motion before? All of them look so below Diebuster in quality it's pathetic. Go to Newgrounds for five seconds, tinker around with a game some piece of shit kid made over the 3 day April fools weekend, and then take a good look at the pictures I've posted above.

As for your comment about "there is no comparison," well, yes there is, actually. They both feature aspiring pilots who look up to someone they call "big sister". Both "big sisters" have some beef with the wide-eyed girl who follows their footsteps, at least at first. Both buster machines from each OVA have similar or the exact same moves. All of the main characters attend an academy in space, in training to be pilots, in order to fight against an army of sea-monsters. Both heroines doubt their abilities at first, then come through. THAT is what the soul of Gunbuster is all about. Some of the most beautiful moments in both shows are when the pilots realize that they are fighting for themselves and for no one else. Gunbuster 2 lacks passion? Completely ridiculous notion.

In summary: watch all 6 episodes of Diebuster, then come back to me. If you aren't moved by a single moment you witness in the show, then I don't know what to tell you.

[xbl0x180]

I had a feeling DieBuster sucked from seeing bits of it on YouTube. The designs for it ranged from simplistic to terrible (worse than Evangelion).

Wow, with the large amount of knowledge you seem to have about anime, you can't appreciate Sadamoto's work? I am completely dumbfounded.

I can appreciate his work when it's top notch. I loved his detailed designs for Honneamise and Summer Wars, but his Evangelion work was a huge turn off/let down from the series (besides the plot elements, the characters/characterisation, and the music). His simplistic designs for this series marked the point in time when everyone else started doing simplistic designs in exchange for smooth/less choppy animation (i.e., when modern anime began to suck).

Addendum: Whoa. Skykid hit it on the mark We need to frame his posts for posterity. That crap DOES look like Otomedius hahaha!

[Siren2011]

I can agree with that argument, actually. His work on Eva is a downgrade from Nadia. It still impresses me, though. Maybe it's because I don't have as much exposure to Japanese animation as you do (how many years have you been following anime, BTW?).

I remember him speaking in an interview in his art book titled "Der Mond," where he expressed how he was sick of drawing in that style and felt discontent. Like he needed to do something different fast or else he would never grow as an artist.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic, but has anyone seen Anno's first live action film titled "Love and Pop"? I doubt I would watch it ever again, but I enjoyed it the first watch.

[xbl0x180]

I can agree with that argument, actually. His work on Eva is a downgrade from Nadia. It still impresses me, though. Maybe it's because I don't have as much exposure to Japanese animation as you do (how many years have you been following anime, BTW?).

I remember him speaking in an interview in his art book titled "Der Mond," where he expressed how he was sick of drawing in that style and felt discontent. Like he needed to do something different fast or else he would never grow as an artist.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic, but has anyone seen Anno's first live action film titled "Love and Pop"? I doubt I would watch it ever again, but I enjoyed it the first watch.

Edit: I've grown up watching Japanese cartoons from the times I was a kid. In the U.S.? I started collecting comics and videos from around 1990 and 1991, and quit collecting around the end of 1996 (I'd still watch the occasional movie in the cinema and the teevee show on Cartoon Network).

I have the Kino video of Love And Pop. It is a kind of "sequel" to Sakamoto Ryu's Topazu (he also wrote both books). Excellent video, by the way. It's not a "film;" this movie was shot using hand held video cameras. It's very cool and probably the first in the New Wave of Japanese digital video movies (Iwai Shunji being at the top of this game)

[Obiwanshinobi]

1986:



2008:



O tempora, o mores!

[xbl0x180]

Dragon Ball is SO FREAKIN' MOE, man <3

[Skykid]

Addendum: Whoa. Skykid hit it on the mark We need to frame his posts for posterity. That crap DOES look like Otomedius hahaha!

Thank you.

[Obiwanshinobi]

1997:





2007:

[Observer]

Screw the damn rose tinted glasses and nostalgia bla bla bla. There was shit back then, a lot. And, boy, there is shit now. However, there was some things like this...

1984: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C41ciB0y0MY

Spanish subs ftw.

That opening battle sequence is a manual on how to make a mo3%&$·&% awesome space battle. Notice how it has all the elements that inspired shmups. Lasers, the missiles, the mechs, the ships, the big gigantic robots (the Monsters Mk.II are by far the coolest mobile over-sized cannon beasts ever made), etcetera. To the point even the star-shaped light of the enemies in the distance was also put on Omega Boost (which was also designed by Kawamori so it definitely feels like Macross but stripped of all the drama and full of all the action and awesome live action acting for the glory and the lulz!).

The colouring, traditional animation, glorious mecha/ship designs and the beer cans instead of missiles, it's all gone now I guess...

2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGCiTHVIsM

Each time I watch the season anime charts, I know half the stuff is gonna be cringe-worthy. Probably happened back then too but the lack of computers at least prevented me from identifying Photoshopped images and such. I think in some recent animes they don't even filter them, you can tell it's a photo/render, jeez.

Hopefully we still have Redline, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9fhQVMzlC0

That always brings me hope.

[Siren2011]

Hopefully we still have Redline, right?

I can't fucking wait.

Fingers crossed that the new 3 part made-for-theaters Berserk revisions by Warner Brothers Studios don't suck complete ass. (My guess is that they'll fuck up the pacing by condensing everything into a shorter time slot, like Gainax did with the Eva revisions. Hopefully I'm being too pessimistic. Hell, it just makes me happy to know that I'll be going to the theaters to see a Berserk movie.).

What other series are being remade? I just watched Golgo 13's remake and I fucking HATED it. It was the most excruciatingly boring thirty minutes I've experienced in months. Getting sick and throwing up every five seconds was far more exciting. Speaking of exciting, nothing of that nature happened until the last 3 minutes of the episode. I guess their target audience is a bunch of geezers who are too jacked up on pills to get in the car and drive their asses to the bingo hall. The dialogue was anything but stimulating, and the scenarios were cliche (a guy high jacks a plane and demands money? Hey that's rea- snnnnnooore.). It looked like shit, too. Everyone looked like they were goons --and goons usually appear as if they have down syndrome.

If that's any indication of what the original is like (and I'm betting it isn't), then damn.

[xbl0x180]

Hopefully we still have Redline, right?

I can't fucking wait.

Fingers crossed that the new 3 part made-for-theaters Berserk revisions by Warner Brothers Studios don't suck complete ass. (My guess is that they'll fuck up the pacing by condensing everything into a shorter time slot, like Gainax did with the Eva revisions. Hopefully I'm being too pessimistic. Hell, it just makes me happy to know that I'll be going to the theaters to see a Berserk movie.).

What other series are being remade? I just watched Golgo 13's remake and I fucking HATED it. It was the most excruciatingly boring thirty minutes I've experienced in months. Getting sick and throwing up every five seconds was far more exciting. Speaking of exciting, nothing of that nature happened until the last 3 minutes of the episode. I guess their target audience is a bunch of geezers who are too jacked up on pills to get in the car and drive their asses to the bingo hall. The dialogue was anything but stimulating, and the scenarios were cliche (a guy high jacks a plane and demands money? Hey that's rea- snnnnnooore.). It looked like shit, too. Everyone looked like they were goons --and goons usually appear as if they have down syndrome.

If that's any indication of what the original is like (and I'm betting it isn't), then damn.

The original is a movie, not a television series (as far as I know). The only sequence outta place in the movie was the early CG helicopter near the end. It was really, really out of place. Everything else was pretty rockin'. You can't beat Dezaki Osamu's direction; he's one of the best and has one of the most distinct styles in all of animation (he's the one who coined the drama still shots). There was an oav or movie sequel called "Queen Bee" released by Urban Vision, but I never got to see that.

[Skykid]

2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGCiTHVIsM

Gah!

Surely adults aren't watching this stuff? It's a kids show right?

[Strider77]

I'd like to stir the pot some by stating that.... Diebuster SUCKS compared to the original Gunbuster. I HATE the characters and the Diebuster is stupid looking. I find it revolting.. the whole look.

[Treasurance]

2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGCiTHVIsM

better

...

even better

[Skykid]

2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGCiTHVIsM

better

...

even better

Sad.

To think what I just watched in Gunbuster has fallen this far.

I'd like to stir the pot some by stating that.... Diebuster SUCKS compared to the original Gunbuster. I HATE the characters and the Diebuster is stupid looking. I find it revolting.. the whole look.

Yes. First of all, something we agree on *high five*, and second, I'm glad someone shares my sentiment regarding Diebuster's visual design. It really is yuck.

I'm dumbfounded that the man responsible for the designs like this...



And this...



Is responsible for this...



Which has given rise to this...

[Treasurance]

Sad.

To think what I just watched in Gunbuster has fallen this far.

still better than some boring mecha stuff though

btw does this look any good

[Skykid]

Sad.

To think what I just watched in Gunbuster has fallen this far.

still better than some boring mecha stuff though

btw does this look any good

No.

[Ixmucane2]

I'd like to stir the pot some by stating that.... Diebuster SUCKS compared to the original Gunbuster. I HATE the characters and the Diebuster is stupid looking. I find it revolting.. the whole look.

The last episode of Diebuster sets a new standard for giant robot battles and the plot's premise (technological and cultural decay after a past of glory) is a bit more original than Gunbuster's one (a straightforward alien invasion), but the misplaced weirdness and the stupid fanservice let me down.

While Gunbuster is meant to be a science fiction story about heroism in space and relativistic time dilation, competing with the best instances of space opera in film and literature in the areas of plot, character depth and scientific accuracy, Diebuster is meant to be only an unusually self-referential anime series about Gunbuster, competing with mostly ugly and immature other anime series in the areas of boobs (and gratuitous nudity), citations (and subtle references) and pointless exaggeration.

[Treasurance]

Sad.

To think what I just watched in Gunbuster has fallen this far.

still better than some boring mecha stuff though

btw does this look any good

No.

but it has loli-Hitler

[Arcade Legends 3]

Adults should mess with literature.

[Skykid]

While Gunbuster is meant to be a science fiction story about heroism in space and relativistic time dilation, competing with the best instances of space opera in film and literature in the areas of plot, character depth and scientific accuracy, Diebuster is meant to be only an unusually self-referential anime series about Gunbuster, competing with mostly ugly and immature other anime series in the areas of boobs (and gratuitous nudity), citations (and subtle references) and pointless exaggeration.

Thanks for that, that's put the nail in the coffin and saved me bothering to watch it any further. Delete!

On the upside (possibly), Planetes now 50% complete.

[Randorama]

This thread is on fire, I see.

I think that Gainax really went totally apeshit with Abenobashi (not that Evangelion and Kare Kanno were that much better...). The mechas/pantsu episode (episode 3?) is everything bad in modern (...and old too) anime, from pretentious self-referentialism ("post-modernism") to, well, an entire episode based on a quest to retrieve a pair of pants. It could fall under the label "so bad it's actually good" (cue: lots of underage asses, no plot, nausea-inducing camera, etc.). Also, in Abenobashi the main character flirts with a younger version of his grandma that always dresses in thongs and see-through bras (no lie!).

...From the makers of Honnemaise (who now have a lot of money).

Also, I agree with Greg. Modern sci-fi anime that are good without being depressingly based on Earth virtually are virtually non-existant. Also, I think that Nadesico was the last series to properly use science and scientific elements as part of the plot. It also included wise parodies of anime genre and various other meta-narrations (so, the "bad guys" are Gekigankar Otakus from Jupiter?! Genius stuff).

...and then Roorie Hoshino became the favourite of all Otaku freaks in the land of the Rising Sun. Bloody shut-ins.

(BTW: I use online sites to watch anime, much easier. I can't link, can I?).

[Observer]

I hope you guys don't mind if I ask what a shut in is... I've seen it mentioned quite a lot recently. (Bear in mind english isn't my first language so at times I get moments like this, heh)

Anyway, yeah, loli Hitler doesn't cut it for me either. That thingo is definitely an H visual novel, right?

I liked Nadesico indeed. I also agree it was the last one of that kind of series. Eureka Seven kind of brought the fun back with the surfing mechs and all but it was a bit too long and a little too boring at times. Not saying that in the past shit wasn't boring either but it was like most of the time any time was a perfect excuse to bring a bass, heavy metal and crush everything with laz0rs and missile barrages. (sorry, sorry, it's just I grew up with this kind of stuff, even in its massacred-Robotech form)