Recommended Anime/Manga?

[KAI]

Story, character design and direction by Mamoru Nagano

[Raytrace]

watched second episode of Zipang - still great - I like the almost documentary/FLAG type feel it has in some bits...

[Ghegs]

Story, character design and direction by Mamoru Nagano

Well well, I'm going to have track that down, then. I re-read the Five Star Stories just a little while ago, it's so good. Such a shame Toyspress didn't translate all the books.

[KAI]

BTW, Mamoru Nagano will resume the Five Star Stories manga the next month:

To honor its 25th anniversary, the series was reprinted under Five Star Monogatari Reboot (The Five Star Stories Reboot) with a final and 13th volume.

[Ghegs]

Oh wow. Sadly, that still leaves books 11 and 12 of the original run untranslated. I really wish 13 will be successful enough to bring forth a renewed interest in the series that would bring the rest of the books to the western audiences. Maybe re-release the original volumes as well? I was lucky enough to find all the 26 English volumes (many years ago, after considerable time and money invested) but I imagine it's much harder nowadays. The series deserves to be more easily accessible.

[Zeether]

Wasn't FSS released in English by some company Nagano formed specifically for releasing it and then it just sort of stopped being published because of...some reason? I started reading it a while back via scanlations and apparently the group doing it is working on the new volumes. I really don't think we'll ever see the rest legit, which sucks. I hate how like half the series I'm reading are only available translated via less than legal means, JManga could have been a great way to get some of them out there but now it's dead because the pricing model/delivery was utter crap (no way to download as PDFs? wtf).

Comixology has been adding some stuff by Ishinomori like his Kamen Rider manga and Cyborg 009 so I kind of hope they can pick up the slack and get some other niche things like Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer that used to be on JManga. I'd buy from there if that happened.

Oh, and go read Zettai Karen Children. It starts off kind of meh but gets pretty good later on. Manga about espers/PSI kicks ass.

[xbl0x180]

Totally awersome. I have some of the Japanese collected works, but I might shell out for some translations, as I missed their first run. Nagano Mamoru's designs are bona fide works of art to hang on a wall (the other would be Amano Yoshitaka's)

[Frenetic]

"French chef Ken travels back in time to the Sengoku (Warring States) period. Due to travelling through the timeslip, Ken has lost his memory, but still retains his knowledge on fine cuisine. Thanks to his excellence in cuisine, Ken eventually becomes the chef to powerful daimyo Nobunaga Oda."

Nobunaga no Chef has been a really great read. It's so tense watching history play out and Ken's cuisine playing pivotal roles in diplomacy, troop movement--even saving people's lives. Definitely a must read at your favorite scanlation website.



Cheers,
--the F-man

[O. Van Bruce]

Nobunaga no Chef has been a really great read. It's so tense watching history play out and Ken's cuisine playing pivotal roles in diplomacy, troop movement--even saving people's lives. Definitely a must read at your favorite scanlation website.

French chef Ken travels back in time to the Sengoku (Warring States) period. Due to travelling through the timeslip, Ken has lost his memory, but still retains his knowledge on fine cuisine. Thanks to his excellence in cuisine, Ken eventually becomes the chef to powerful daimyo Nobunaga Oda.

Cheers,
--the F-man

A nice discovery! Thanks Frenetic.

[drauch]

Discotek sale over at the RightStuf. Not huge discounts, but I'm pretty sure you can stack if you've got their "GotAnime" membership.

[Raytrace]

finished Macross 7 at last o_O - the first half was pretty dreadful but seriously I loved the second half.

[Raytrace]

and yes I'm watching Valvrave also - it's completely ridic, but, well, I'm genuinely enjoying it.

[null1024]

I watched the first episode of Serial Experiments Lain, thought it to be the most boring, plodding, vacuous shit in the world, and assumed the rest of the series would be that way. And I THINK I WAS RIGHT.

I got to the second episode, thought the first was just "eh, things will happen next episode, we're setting the mood", and no, nothing happens the next one either. Lots of dead people, not much actually happening.

[GaijinPunch]

I watched the full run of Maison Ikkoku TV (96 episodes). I started when it was cold, so December? Busy life. Still enjoy this show after having retimed the entire run about 20 years ago (which some of you may know, is a painful task). Why is there nothing classy like this anymore? I'll admit that it's not the most realistic show, but humorous nonetheless. I can definitely appreciate it more now after full exposure for so long. Even after all this time, goosebumps at the end.

Thinking of doing another Takahashi series (slowly) but all are substantially longer. I've watched a handful of Ranma's, but they are more of something I'd rather watch in the back ground. Might try Urusei Yatsura, as I'm on an 80's kick lately. I'm sure it will take me a year though, as TV takes up generally the last hour or two of a day only, and anime a very small piece of that.

>> FSS

I remember this from ages ago, but never really go into it. Obviously, it's great looking. So did the manga on the Japanese side of the pond end abruptly, or did it keep going for a while? I know a lot of the writers stop for extended periods for some reason or another.

[drauch]

Urusei Yatsura is a lot of fun, movies and all, although I can't say I've even seen a large chunk of it at this point. Would probably be good to watch in the background as well, as the series is fairly non-sequential.

Seems like only the first season of Ranma 1/2 is worth watching. After that, it all gets pretty silly and the focus tends to slump on the romance between Ranma and Akane. Way too many characters and repeated gags that get fairly stale. Still, that first season is pretty damn good.

[GaijinPunch]

It is, and I've seen it many times. Looked like it was going to be Maison Ikkoku with fighting -- win/win. The animation quality dropped off as well when the studio switched. I should remember why all that happened, but don't. Technically I read the whole manga when I was a student, but don't remember any of it.

What's the word on Inuyasha? I guess it's safe to say I'm not going to like anything like I liked Maison. It has heaps of nostalgic value as well though, so that's going to be hard to beat. Always found it odd it gained so much traction in the west. But, it's god shit...

[KAI]

Inu Yasha's argument it's entertaining but so damn repetitive, and that's strange cause the story is not as episodic as all the other works of Takahashi.
Takahashi Rumiko gekijou/Rumic Theater is a better option if you want to watch a good modern adaptation of her mangas.

Just one more chapter to end Mugen no Junin, the wait is killing me.

and yes I'm watching Valvrave also - it's completely ridic, but, well, I'm genuinely enjoying it.

Drop that shit and watch Eureka 7 for god sake Just kidding, I'm watching it too.

[Edmond Dantes]

Seems like only the first season of Ranma 1/2 is worth watching.

But then you miss out on a lot of good eps that come later...

The manga is overall better than the anime, but really with Ranma you can't go wrong.

What's the word on Inuyasha?

As a long-time Takahashi fan, I felt Inuyasha was her jump-the-shark point.

I mean, her previous works were about things like an alien princess wanting to play tag, people who became immortal by eating mermaids, and martial artists who transform because of chinese curses and who also have tons of effed-up romance circles going on. And she tops all this off with... a bunch of teenagers going on a quest to find mystic jewelry and save the world, with a tons of concepts and characters basically recycled from her earlier work.

Inu-Yasha would be a fun read from any other author, but from Takahashi I expected far more.

[Raytrace]

Drop that shit and watch Eureka 7 for god sake Just kidding, I'm watching it too.

It's enjoyable IMO, and I really like the baddies mecha (the guys with the two shields).

I definitely intend to watch Eureka Seven however, and I'll admit this is a COMPLETELY ridiculous reason for not watching it properly yet, I get annoyed with things where there's someone surfing or skating where there 'regular' footed, as a 'goofy' it puts me off cos I know I'd get into it more if I could pretend I was them (or something). This even put me off elements of Sonic Adventure haha - because when he grinds the handrails he's regular footed .

Absolutely stupid I know, I shall force myself to watch Eureka Seven soon, though I think Vifam is next on my list for the moment.

[Raytrace]

I watched Macross 7 Dynamite last night - I bloody loved it haha - them singin space whales man

the art was really, really nice too - in some bit's it almost looked Redline-ish with heavy ink work. The OP and ED were done by Gonzo I think and they're incredible, the end with Basara layered over real footage is pretty hilarious.
More importantly though:

DYNAMITE! DYNAMITE!
DYNAMITE! EXPLOSION ONCE AGAIN!

[Ganelon]

I agree with others that something about Rumiko Takahashi anime stopped clicking for me partway through Ranma 1/2. I didn't find Inuyasha very entertaining and stopped watching early on; lack of character quantity was a big reason.

Since we're discussing nostalgia, I was checking some YouTube videos this weekend and found it amazing that for some anime I watched before elementary school, I've totally forgotten the plot but can still remember their catchy intro tunes:

Ikkyu-san
Hana no Lunlun
Shin Tetsuwan Atom
Alps no Shojo Heidi

I can't imagine ever watching these series anymore but I wonder whether young kids nowadays would still fall for this stuff.

[Raytrace]

started to watch Eureka Seven - it does seem very good - great cinematography/scene design and art, and I did manage I think to see one goofy footed surfer in there I think/hope ;p

[KAI]

Watched KITE and KITE Liberator. Loved the first one, the argument of the second was so stupid but I think I can like it as a parody.
Gonna watch Mezzo Forte next.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I remember there was some highly ambitious ideas for a live-action version of Kite but it went nowhere.

I enjoyed Mezzo Forte (it was renamed "Mezzo Danger Service Agency" for the North American anime market & spans 13 episodes long). Expect the usual girls packing some serious firepower + T&A fan service indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[KAI]

OMFG! Akazukin Chacha is so fucking awesome, I can't stop watching it. The best comedy/maho shojo series I've seen in year. RECOMMENDED.

[Edmond Dantes]

Nearing the home stretch on Hikaru no Go, and they're finally closing the book on Sai's story arc.

I gotta be honest, Sai kinda felt like dead (no pun intended) weight to me for the longest time. I mean, early on he served a lot of purpose, but when the story became about Hikaru's insei training, it was like, why was he even there?

And now he's getting on my nerves. He finally got the game he wanted, and now he feels like he's about to move on... and he doesn't tell Hikaru this, leaving Hikaru to think Sai is being all melancholy for no reason whatsoever. I also wish there was someone other than Hikaru who could actually *see* Sai.

I like this anime, but really feels like it would be better if they did something different with Sai, like just have him get reincarnated or something.

[Vortecks]

Finished Chaos;Head the other night.

I wanted to like it so much. It started it out super strong, and had me hooked in the first two episodes, but after episode six or seven or so, the story got super convoluted, and the plot points kept getting more and more ridiculous.

Not a total waste of time, but it wasn't everything that I wanted it to be.

Still enjoying Attack on Titan a whole bunch though. I'm almost caught up with the manga and I look forward to it every week on CrunchyRoll.

[Raytrace]

ok after watching Valvrave episode 5, I agree that the general predictive consensus of this thread was right hahaha -

of course I shall still watch it though o_O

[Hagane]

Drop that and watch Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan instead. It's great.

[KAI]

New SHORT-PEACE trailer. Gambo and Buki yo Saraba look awesome.