Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Raytrace]

btw Domino - is you avatar that Spartan Mechabeast from Mazinger Z ?

Found it from my friend's FB page:

oh I thought it mighta been this guy:



from a very good Mazinger Z episode - my favourite so far - tragic

[z0mbie90]

Looks like Mech Zangief from Marvel VS Capcom

[Raytrace]

I think Mazinger Z is gonna get wings soon cos like for four episodes now they've been dropping MAJOR hints, like Kouji constantly saying 'if only I could fly' etc. :p

[Ruldra]

Random question: is there any particular reason why a high school setting is featured so much in anime and manga? Is it a cherished life moment for the japanese or something? Just curious.

[cj iwakura]

Random question: is there any particular reason why a high school setting is featured so much in anime and manga? Is it a cherished life moment for the japanese or something? Just curious.

It's considered the last moment of freedom. After that it's college, which is serious business(not free reign like it is here), then hello workforce.

[Master O]

Any fans of early Tatsunoko animes here?

Gatchaman, Casshern, Yatterman, Hurricane Polymar, etc....

[Edmond Dantes]

Any fans of early Tatsunoko animes here?

Gatchaman, Casshern, Yatterman, Hurricane Polymar, etc....

We were just discussing Gatchaman...

And how can you not mention Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman? (And I don't mean Blade)

[drauch]

Any fans of early Tatsunoko animes here?

Gatchaman, Casshern, Yatterman, Hurricane Polymar, etc....

I like Gatchaman quite a bit, and what little I've seen of Yatterman. At this point I've only seen the 90s OVA of Casshern, so that really doesn't count for anything. I'd like to give Polymar and the original Casshern a shot at some point. I'm a fan of tokusatsu and anything related, so I can easily dig.

[cj iwakura]

Any fans of early Tatsunoko animes here?

Gatchaman, Casshern, Yatterman, Hurricane Polymar, etc....

I am a fan of El-Hazard!

[Raytrace]

is there any connection between Gall Force and Bubblegum Crisis OVAs? I'm finally watching Gall Force 2, and the chara designs are really BCish, also some of the shininess/shading style on the mecha/ships is very like it too...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Gall Force was a seperate series unto itself. There's always the "Gall Force: Fighting Spirits '89" anime movie to check out.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[drauch]

is there any connection between Gall Force and Bubblegum Crisis OVAs? I'm finally watching Gall Force 2, and the chara designs are really BCish, also some of the shininess/shading style on the mecha/ships is very like it too...

I wish! But nope, that's just Kenichi Sonoda who did the character designs for both. Same dude who did Riding Bean, Gunsmith Cats, Wannabees, and Otaku no Video. One of my favorites. . Wish he could have designed more than he did during his prime.

[Skykid]

Currently in massive disappointment mode.

Finished the original 90's Gunnm and it was absolutely incredible. One of the wildest, most imaginative seinen I've read: Kishiro's style absolutely flourishes once he hits his flow (around Vol.2) and everything just escalates to wild highs. The Motorball championships, Alita's Tuned Agent days, and some of the most amazing action sequences ever.

After finishing it I went for the follow up, Gunnm: Last Order with gusto, only to find Kishiro has partially forgotten how to draw.

Alita (or Gally) compared to the cute, wily allure of her 90's incarnation has become a weird, incredibly vacant dodo. Completely devoid of expression or character, he's somehow managed to hurt his own design work. The action is still there, he can definitely whip up amazing sequences, but the actual art has plummeted. Here are some comparisons:

This is the new revision (she has this expression in nearly every single panel btw):



And how he used to draw her:



WTF happened in the 6 years between 1995 and 2001? It's not just her either, his entire style has taken an enormous hit. He's lost about 60% of the detail.

I'm struggling to find the willpower to go on with it, such is my disappointment.

[Raytrace]

is there any connection between Gall Force and Bubblegum Crisis OVAs? I'm finally watching Gall Force 2, and the chara designs are really BCish, also some of the shininess/shading style on the mecha/ships is very like it too...

I wish! But nope, that's just Kenichi Sonoda who did the character designs for both. Same dude who did Riding Bean, Gunsmith Cats, Wannabees, and Otaku no Video. One of my favorites. . Wish he could have designed more than he did during his prime.

oh cool yeah - I did'nt mean canonically or storywise I just meant were some of the same team involved - so that's cool - there's a poster on a wall in once scene in Gall Force 2 that says 'Crisis' with a very Priss looking girl on it .

[drauch]

That nose and lips... man, she looks like a fish.

[Raytrace]

WTF happened in the 6 years between 1995 and 2001? It's not just her either, his entire style has taken an enormous hit. He's lost about 60% of the detail.

I'm struggling to find the willpower to go on with it, such is my disappointment.

there was an entire episode of Imagine-Nation on NHK about him - he did go through a massive depression period I think, are the less detailed once post that time?

[Raytrace]

Genesis Climber Mospeada

really enjoying this, and Legioss's are really nice robots
- ok I'm 8 episodes in now and it keeps getting better so I think it's safe to say that overall I'm going to like all of this series, which makes me wonder, why isn't there anything else? - just 25 episodes and a music video OVA? Surely it deserves better than that?

[Skykid]

WTF happened in the 6 years between 1995 and 2001? It's not just her either, his entire style has taken an enormous hit. He's lost about 60% of the detail.

I'm struggling to find the willpower to go on with it, such is my disappointment.

there was an entire episode of Imagine-Nation on NHK about him - he did go through a massive depression period I think, are the less detailed once post that time?

I'm not sure, but I'm assuming so. I understand he had to cut the original Alita short because he was 'sick' (that's all the wiki says) and so was unhappy with the ending. But he did Aqua Knight in-between old Alita and new, which from brief observation looks completely on form.

I'm really baffled why new Alita (Last Order) looks so terribad. It's upsetting. His old artwork is amaaaaazing. I was literally savouring every panel like I didn't want it to end.

[Hagane]

Not sure if that was a good comparison for your point. Weird nose aside, body anatomy is much better in the first pic (her gigantic head in the second illustration really stands out). The three dimensional feel is better in the first pic too. Never really cared about Alita (his older artwork having a lot to do with that) so I don't know how the rest of the art compares, but judging from those alone I think there's definitely an improvement.

[Skykid]

The only conclusion I can draw from that is that you either aren't well versed in Kishiro's exemplary earlier artwork (where acrobatics and incredible anatomical renderings are very much the order of the day) or you simply have very poor/unusual taste. There's no way on earth the stuff in Last Order isn't a mammoth step back in terms of general competency. I've seriously considered the man might be suffering some kind of disabling illness.

And I disagree to the nth that that Last Order Alita doesn't look vapid, ill-defined and generally soulless. Ugh, it's a crying shame! Wtf did he do to her face?


(Also I don't see the gigantic head comment, but Alita is always drawn with a head of hair that has significant volume - one of the character traits)

[Hagane]

Or maybe you have poor knowledge on anatomy and are not able to tell what's well drawn from what isn't. Stylistic preferences aside, the first pic is objectively better than the second in terms of skill, regardless of strange choice of simplifications. And a quick google search tells me that his anatomy has improved significantly from his early stuff.

So yeah, you don't like the new style for whatever reason. The new art is of higher quality, though.

[KAI]

He.

I've been watching and really enjoying Hunter X Hunter 2011 with my friends. I always liked the original series (IMO the Genei Ryo-dan OVA saga is gold, both in argument and animation), it was incredibly interesting for a shonen series.

[Skykid]

Or maybe you have poor knowledge on anatomy and are not able to tell what's well drawn from what isn't. Stylistic preferences aside, the first pic is objectively better than the second in terms of skill, regardless of strange choice of simplifications. And a quick google search tells me that his anatomy has improved significantly from his early stuff.

So yeah, you don't like the new style for whatever reason. The new art is of higher quality, though.

Complete rubbish. I've just done 52 chapters and from a completely non-objective standpoint, you have no idea what you're talking about. Really impressed you're actually arguing your point though.

[Hagane]

Who cares if you have read 1000 chapters? You might think that adult girls with heads of the size of a piñata (seriously look at the first Alita on the pic you posted, she looks like a fucking maraca) are better than omitting noses as a stylistical choice (I like neither, never cared about Kishiro's style, new or old), but don't come here posing as someone knowledgeable about art because you aren't. Newer art is better drawn than the older art regardless of what you might think about the style, and if you can't see that then read an anatomy book or take some basic art course before you ever try to look down on someone else's views again.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Genesis Climber Mospeada

really enjoying this, and Legioss's are really nice robots
- ok I'm 8 episodes in now and it keeps getting better so I think it's safe to say that overall I'm going to like all of this series, which makes me wonder, why isn't there anything else? - just 25 episodes and a music video OVA? Surely it deserves better than that?

With the way how it ends, I won't spoil it for you Raytrace, it'd sure be nice for a proper sequel considering that the Mospeada MBS infrastructure/military force is still around on the various planets (Mars Base, Jupiter Base, etc.) and can spring into action if it needed be. It'd be cool to see if any new Legioss upgraded mecha designs were developed as well. If you stop to think about the entire world of Mospeada, it all takes place in a futuristic USA as the final battleground between humanity and the alien invaders, the Inbit (with the humans trying to reach the Inbit's Reflex Point homebase to destroy it once & for all).

Of course in the Robotech universe, with the Robotech Shadow Chronicles movie, it does have the Legioss mecha but portrayed as the Alpha fighter mecha instead (as shown in the third and final Robotech series, the Invid invasion events storyline). Also, there's the three episodes of the Robotech: The Sentinels adruptly cancelled anime series that tell a bit more about the further adventures of Rich Hunter and Co. and their on-going fight against the Invid.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[KAI]

anatomy book

Weird anatomies and designs are the reason why I liked Japanese animation in the first place.

[Skykid]

Who cares if you have read 1000 chapters? You might think that adult girls with heads of the size of a piñata (seriously look at the first Alita on the pic you posted, she looks like a fucking maraca) are better than omitting noses as a stylistical choice (I like neither, never cared about Kishiro's style, new or old), but don't come here posing as someone knowledgeable about art because you aren't. Newer art is better drawn than the older art regardless of what you might think about the style, and if you can't see that then read an anatomy book or take some basic art course before you ever try to look down on someone else's views again.

I know plenty about art. I've been an illustrator and graphic designer for years, as well as following modern art (entirely against my will) and theatrical arts (in the family.)

I actually don't know where you're getting off with all this. For some unknown, stubborn reason you desperately want to be right about a point you're completely wrong about. So strange.

No-one needs an in-depth education in art and design or anatomical renderings to be able to see that the quality of work has slipped from the beautiful detail of his original manga to the often extremely poorly executed and vapid designs in the present. Of course for me it's even more acute, since I actually read the entire thing and then ploughed through 8 chapters of the letdown follow up.

But Jesus, get you all of a sudden with godlike superior views and teachings on style and composition based on scant google image references. So impressed.

You're still completely wrong, however, and that's a fact that won't be changing ever, unless of course Kishiro ups his game and breathes new life into his current work.

On and off the subject, took a look at the interim piece, Aqua Knight. Cleaner than the gritty Moebious inspired scrapyard days of Alita, but still really beautiful. I hope he makes it back to this level of competency at some point.

anatomy book

Weird anatomies and designs are the reason why I liked Japanese animation in the first place.

Of course, although there's absolutely nothing wrong with Kishiro's original work when it comes to anatomy: the fundamental basis for the main character's combat style is acrobatics, and damn can he draw it. Some of the most thrilling and dynamic action sequences, all wrapped up in the sci-fi hell of the beautifully envisioned Scrapyard.

Hagane just decided to use my reference as a platform to express to the forum his superior knowledge of art, despite having no in-depth knowledge of the work in question, and is too proud to back down even though he's called it completely based on the proportions of Alita's hair in a single excerpt image. So I suppose we're due a little more ranting about how 'the anatomy is better so the art is better', even though anyone who has read the author's work prior to Last Order can see a clear decline in delivery.

[Hagane]

I've pointed how the actual art quality has improved, regardless of style preferences. You keep talking about unrelated stuff and how you prefer one style over the other, when the discussion is about art quality and not style preferences (something that's impossible to debate about). You didn't even get what I was talking about with the head size proportions (hint: the hair has nothing to do with that). And then you try to appear as knowledgeable about art. Not surprising though, you have a long history of talking out of your ass and then looking down on others. Keep it up.

[cj iwakura]

I have to agree, her muscles are very intricately designed in the first picture. The style is a questionable change, but that is still some very good work.

[Skykid]

I've pointed how the actual art quality has improved, regardless of style preferences. You keep talking about unrelated stuff and how you prefer one style over the other, when the discussion is about art quality and not style preferences (something that's impossible to debate about). You didn't even get what I was talking about with the head size proportions (hint: the hair has nothing to do with that). And then you try to appear as knowledgeable about art. Not surprising though, you have a long history of talking out of your ass and then looking down on others. Keep it up.

In my defence you make it so easy. If the discussion is about art quality and not style preferences (never under any allusions otherwise) then nothing changes. The art quality has declined. The fact of the matter is he's always been superb at anatomy, so there's no point in trying to use that as leverage for a stupid fucking argument you pulled completely out of thin air because you don't like the cranial proportions in in one image. You also have a history of being undeservedly stubborn, although this is probably the dumbest low I've seen you achieve.

It would be nice if someone who has actually read a broad range of his work, including Last Order, could chime in and comment, alas that doesn't seem likely. I could bother to hit photoshop and give you a load of comparison images, but that's a lot of work just to make you look stupid for your overarching, entirely uneducated appraisal, and you're already doing a pretty good job on your own.

Perhaps one day you'll read through Gunnm instead (relatively short at 58 chapters) and cringe when you realise how far you had your head up your ass.