Recommended Anime/Manga?

[ancestral-knowledge]

Guin Saga - anime

very good, OST is brilliant

[Raytrace]

finsihed the 4 Armitage III OVAs, really really liked them well apart from the, to put it mildly, 'dodgy' relationship in it o_O

music is amazing in it

Armitage III is pretty much perfect in my opinion, and it's what got me into Japanese animation again after turning my back on it for so long. Just out of interest, what was the 'dodgy' relationship in it?

well, it's just that Naomi Armitage herself looks well very young and especially beside the what must be 6' 10" behemoth that is Ross.

It is really a great series though - the art and design are cool, the music is amazing - especially the OP music.

[Raytrace]

Still need to watch the Devilman OVAs. The manga is one of my favorites. Some pretty dreary, evil stuff from Nagai. Wayyyyyy different than the "friendly" television show. Give the Violence Jack OVAs a try if you haven't already seen them, afterwards.

Devilman OVAs were actually the 2nd anime I ever watched when they were brought in by Manga Ltd. - the first was, of course Akira, as it was for so many my age. I think I also saw Wicked City back then.

I have not rewatched it yet, but still almost 20 year later I can remember some classic moments from it. The nightclub scene, lines in the dub like 'Amon has been taken over by the human's consciousness...' - 'You're damn right bitch, now I'm sending you all right back to hell!', and the music - main theme is amazing.

[Raytrace]

If there's one thing that can be said about Manga UK, is that every single one of their dubs was immensely entertaining in and of itself.

Cyber City Oedo 808 if it is them, is still one of the best I've ever seen/heard, then maybe Mad Bull 34 hahahaha

[Raytrace]

i'm up to episode 13 of Ashita No Joe TV, seriously I really REALLY recommend it, the subs are at ep 52 so hopefully it won't be TOO long a wait before they're all done.

The story is so engrossing - just watching him fuck up everything, everytime... so many opportunities that he misses if he would only just 'give in' once or not be such an arrogant twat. It wouldn't really matter if it were just him, but it's the heartbreak he constantly causes in all the people who have based all their dreams in him. In fact I think you could say the theme (well so far from what I can see) is constantly about hope or how people live in unfortunate times.

I really like the heavy line art and the soundtrack is lovely and warm too.

I had a look through some of the scanlated manga, and most of the language seems ok, however at one point I think someone calls Old Man Danpei a 'crackhead' o_O - I never realised there was such a big crack problem in late 60's Tokyo...

[BIL]

^I started the Joe manga and was quite enjoying it, but yeah - the crackhead line jarred with me too! Might just go with the anime since you've recommended it, my eyes are too tired from uni for reading scans atm, and what I've seen and heard looks ace. Pretty raw stuff.

Cyber City Oedo 808 if it is them, is still one of the best I've ever seen/heard, then maybe Mad Bull 34 hahahaha

Oedo's was indeed them, LOL. Sweartastic and delivered with stony conviction!

"It's way past your bedtime motherfucker!"

"You wouldn't recognise a god damn vampire if one jumped up and bit you on the end of your fuckin' dick."

[drauch]

I'm pretty certain the 2nd Violence Jack OVAs is one of the most evil things ever created. Somehow they even made it more brutal than the original manga story arc. It's pretty damn tasteless, but that's probably why I like it so much. Nagai's vision of a post-apocalyptic setting is perfect in its brutality.

[Raytrace]

^I started the Joe manga and was quite enjoying it, but yeah - the crackhead line jarred with me too! Might just go with the anime since you've recommended it, my eyes are too tired from uni for reading scans atm, and what I've seen and heard looks ace. Pretty raw stuff.

Cyber City Oedo 808 if it is them, is still one of the best I've ever seen/heard, then maybe Mad Bull 34 hahahaha

Oedo's was indeed them, LOL. Sweartastic and delivered with stony conviction!

"It's way past your bedtime motherfucker!"

"You wouldn't recognise a god damn vampire if one jumped up and bit you on the end of your fuckin' dick."

yeah you won't be dissapointed - from my browsing of the manga - if anything the anime seems even more brutal/gritty :p

yeah Cyber City Oedo 808 is an amazing dub, it is also IMO a brilliant (not in any ironic way) OVA - great art and design

yeah they seem to be rushing towards the finish line with the Ashita No Joe subs so hopefully it won't be too long before they're finished .

[KAI]

Eva 3.33 BD/DVD release date 4/24
Nice movie, can't wait to watch with a decent quality.

So hyped about GITS Arise right now.

[xbl0x180]

i'm up to episode 13 of Ashita No Joe TV, seriously I really REALLY recommend it, the subs are at ep 52 so hopefully it won't be TOO long a wait before they're all done.

The story is so engrossing - just watching him fuck up everything, everytime... so many opportunities that he misses if he would only just 'give in' once or not be such an arrogant twat. It wouldn't really matter if it were just him, but it's the heartbreak he constantly causes in all the people who have based all their dreams in him. In fact I think you could say the theme (well so far from what I can see) is constantly about hope or how people live in unfortunate times.

I really like the heavy line art and the soundtrack is lovely and warm too.

I had a look through some of the scanlated manga, and most of the language seems ok, however at one point I think someone calls Old Man Danpei a 'crackhead' o_O - I never realised there was such a big crack problem in late 60's Tokyo...

You should see more Dezaki Osamu stuff that veer into other genres besides action and sports. Check out his renditions of "Treasure Island" and "Nobody's Child." They're some of the most memorable series I've seen up to this point

Remi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxoGZFwUALs

Treasure Island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MRJQkz2kLI

"Treasure Island" employed a slightly different style than the heavy-lined designs from his other works, but that's mostly for the intros. The actual episodes revert back to the usual style we're used to seeing, including the postcard frame he was famous for coining.

[BryanM]

Think I'll end my child's cartoon-watching hellatus once the new Lupin 3: Sexy Chick Edition gets localized.

Also for those who are into bouncy cartoon women+zombies made for 12 year old boys, I've heard that Highschool of the Dead is getting another season. (Or maybe not. Language and cultural barriers at expos could just = "Yes I will, if the powers that be think it's financially worth it.")

I was talking more about the general ambience........ Persona 4 The Animation, with all it's shrieking invocations, boss battles and random encounters is a pretty straight adaptation: and all the more infuriating for it.

SMT really has a lot of loneliness and introspection mixed in. You can see why there are more releases of its spinoffs than main branch titles.

Saw P4: The Animu, and it's bad overall. Not because it tried to stay true to the source material, but because it was a poorly chopped down version of the source material. Over half of it was tiresome pokemon fights with the same freaking setup, like if they'd made 12 Star Wars movies and 8 of them were about blowing up a Death Star.

You could probably tolerate 8 Death Star battle sequences if you had ~80 movies, though.

Lots of garbage anime

Why do you do that to yourself?

I cut myself just so I can feel.

Baka and Test

With some thought on the matter, I think it's is rather mediocre.

I love it to pieces.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I liked Makai Senki Disgaea, chaep as it looks. Although all the story I remember is the pawn shop (?) scene where Laharl finds the craddle. Also, underwater/fishtank scene and "women taking initiative" chanting. Fond memories.

[drauch]

Hey xbl0x, have you seen Dezaki's Legend of the Dragon Kings? Picked up the box set on Amazon. Typical overstock/OOP drill holes/saw blade through the damn thing, but whatever. I've had a hard time finding anyone who has actually seen it compared to his other work. Have any insight? I'll probably start it here in the next month or so after I finish up a few things.

[Raytrace]

You should see more Dezaki Osamu stuff that veer into other genres besides action and sports. Check out his renditions of "Treasure Island" and "Nobody's Child." They're some of the most memorable series I've seen up to this point

Remi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxoGZFwUALs

Treasure Island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MRJQkz2kLI

"Treasure Island" employed a slightly different style than the heavy-lined designs from his other works, but that's mostly for the intros. The actual episodes revert back to the usual style we're used to seeing, including the postcard frame he was famous for coining.

I shall indeed though I don't really veer too often from sci-fi, space opera and/or giant robots - having said that I loved Versailles No Bara

[xbl0x180]

Hey xbl0x, have you seen Dezaki's Legend of the Dragon Kings? Picked up the box set on Amazon. Typical overstock/OOP drill holes/saw blade through the damn thing, but whatever. I've had a hard time finding anyone who has actually seen it compared to his other work. Have any insight? I'll probably start it here in the next month or so after I finish up a few things.

Well, it is a CPM release, so it has to come with the obligatory punch-hole on the barcode or, worse, the saw through the edge of the case from a liquidation of their stock when they went bankrupt (R.I.P., CPM).

Lately, I've been cutting down spending on my hobbies. Actually, I'll probably have to stop almost completely if this deal goes down and I wind up with a 2K+ mortgage hahah. I can't say that I've had the opportunity to see anything lately. Right now, I've only seen the intro and the designs remind me a bit of famed yaoi artist, Ozaki Minami (Zetsu-Ai 1989 and Bronze), due to the elongated eyes and sharp chins. But, as with some of his other works, the intro may not look much like the actual animation in the show

[ST Dragon]

can't believe I've never heard of this before - Imma check this shit RIGHT out - looks amaze!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvNE3XrSAg



did some of Dirty Pair/Crusher Joe's team work on it? The intro stylings in general and a lot of the characters faces really look like the Lovely Angels.

I pretty much grew up watching Plawres Sanshiro in the 80s. Awesome anime indeed!

[Raytrace]

... sorry accidental double post

[Raytrace]

I pretty much grew up watching Plawres Sanshiro in the 80s. Awesome anime indeed!

yeah I'm definitely going to watch it soon

just watched Be Forever Yamato it's a shame the only extant version seems to be a really low quality rip, with (kinda bad sometimes) hard subs - the art from what I can see of it looks really cool, like standard Yamato art but with one extra level of shading detail. The story itself was OK, definitely the Yamato film I've enjoyed the least, though it did have a lot of good bits.

I watched Yamato - The New Voyage last night and that was from a VHS/Beta by the looks of it - it actually had a bit where the screen scrolled vertically and the sound slowed down :p - (I have to admit I kinda enjoyed that though haha) - really enjoyed that film and was cool to see Desler again...

[Raytrace]

watching Space Battleship Yamato III well, ok, I'm actually watching Starblazers III - it's a pity there's no decent subs for Yamato III as the Starblazers dub is pretty funny, though it is very nostalgic as I'm SURE I know loads of these voices from cartoons I watched as a kid (well mainly Battle Of The Planets...

It's doubly annoying though as it seems like it's going to be a great series, and the art is really a good bit better than any Yamato film or series before it, with an extra shading pass, and lots of difficult perspective animations (i.e. something like say for example rotating around a fighter as it takes off (instead of one cel 'sliding' along).

[Raytrace]

am on episode 20 of Ashita No Joe - still cannot recommend it enough

[drauch]

I thought there were subs available for Space Battleship Yamato 3? I've got it burned somewhere, and I've yet to view it myself, but I thought Live-Evil did it. They usually do a pretty damned good job.

[DaneSaga]

The subs on the Season 3 encode I've got have been ripped from Chinese bootleg DVDs. Very sloppy and riddled with major grammatical and translation errors.
The Central Anime versions of Season 1 + 2 are good but I don’t think they plan on taking on the third.

Live-Evil have not done anything Yamato related have they?

[drauch]

Yep, looks like you're right; I got Live-Evil confused with Central Anime. And yeah, I guess I never payed attention to the torrent I downloaded it from, as the poster even mentions that Central Anime said they weren't planning on subbing it, as well as a mention of the poor quality. Damn, wish I wasn't wrong!

[Raytrace]

yeah I and II were pretty good subs - I dont know why they dont want to sub III - it seems to be really good

[glyphs]

I read a bunch of this last night:

http://www.mangareader.net/ran-to-haiiro-no-sekai

Recommended....

[KAI]

Ran to Haiiro no Sekai is so acid, i like it.

This looks nice.

[null1024]

I've been sick over the last day and a half, so I spent them watching various anime movies, almost entirely Studio Ghibli stuff [take note: watched the Disney dubs for all of them], except for GITS [the dub of the 1995 movie].


In viewing order:
Arrietty -- thought it was fairly decent, that boy was creepy as hell though with his voice and manner of speaking, probably my least favorite Ghibli film currently
Kiki's Delivery Service -- absolutely loved it, very delightful
Castle in the Sky -- absolutely loved it, this movie has to have specifically been targeting my interests with it's cool setting and fun characters
Ghost in the Shell -- damn, that reminded me of all the best things of 90s anime, right there, so stylish and cool, probably going to watch it again to catch some things I missed
Ponyo -- extremely pretty, very cheerful, quite enjoyable
Spirited Away -- very strange, very good
Totoro -- so whimsical, probably my second/third favorite Ghibli film, behind either Kiki or Castle in the Sky

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yeah, I remember with fond memories of watching the 35mm print version of "Laputa: Castle of the Air" at the Roxie art film house joint in San Francisco back in 1990 was quite something. It was the Streamline Pictures 35mm print release, of course, with a limited theatrical run stateside back in those days.

Sure took ages to get released in the USA by Disney though with the revamped title of "Castle of the Air" as not to offend with the "laputa" slang word in it's original meaning. So be it. The Japanese still take no offense with the original film title as it was meant to be called. I understand Disney's decision in going with the slightly revised title to be culturally sensitive in this day of age. I'm sure Disney wouldn't want to stir some controversy in going with the original Japanese film title.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[O. Van Bruce]

I read a bunch of this last night:
http://www.mangareader.net/ran-to-haiiro-no-sekai

Recommended....

Man, even when reading modern manga you allways take the ones who has a 90'ish style... it even looks western sometimes...

I'm reading it now, anyway.

[KAI]

I understand Disney's decision in going with the slightly revised title to be culturally sensitive in this day of age. I'm sure Disney wouldn't want to stir some controversy in going with the original Japanese film title

I haven't met yet a single Spanish-speaking person who doesn't make fun of that movie's name (sounds like thewhore).


Finished Higashi no Eden. It was good, but I was expecting something more extraordinary.
I better go back to 2nd GIG.