Recommended Anime/Manga?

[xbl0x180]

90s Shin Cutey Honey is good... because it is antithetical to the crap Anno directed at that time

Neon Genesis Evangelion > *

[/troll]

Hahaha. "Hate" is a strong sentiment and word... I HATE Evangina

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Evangina is actually one of the few animes I can watch without vomiting blood. You Cannot Advance was up on YouTube for a while and it was kinda good. What's up with it? Is this like the "invader zim" effect?

[Op Intensify]

Kite Blu-Ray now delayed 'till 2013

The fuck? Amazon still says 4-6 weeks.

IMO Anno is a genius and his art direction is awesome.

Sadly, I think Eva was Anno's final spurt of genius. Since End of Eva he's only made stupid comedies, art student-caliber live action films with the worst cinematography known to man, and tired rehashes of Eva that fail to capture the original spirit. Call him the George Lucas of anime if you will.

[xbl0x180]

The demise of Anno in animation was in the late 80s. He then resurfaced as a bona fide live-action director in the late 90s with Love & Pop. I ignore the rest of the terrible anime he worked on since GunBuster and Nadia - it's too disappointing to watch

[Op Intensify]

Mind finally telling us why, sunglasses dude? I'm genuinely curious.

[xbl0x180]

- I don't like his designs for Eva - those really thin, gaunt, and angular designs with the eyes really far apart (they look like goats) aren't what I enjoy seeing. I think the only exception is Utatane Hiroyuki.

- The same goes for the mecha, which, while animated quite smoothly, don't look attractive at all to me; they look downright ugly. I'm used to traditional big robot designs: Mazinger, Gundam, Voltron, GunBuster, Five Star Stories, Kishin, etc.

- The story device of using kid pilots sucks. I won't watch anime with kid pilots. It didn't help that one of the main characters was an irrititating whiny pussy who, in turn, created a whole new character archetype for all modern anime to follow.

- I didn't care for the music either; both the theme songs and the BGM were sort of ho-hum.

After about 8 episodes, I stopped watching, trashed the videos, and went back to Cutey Honey

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

GunBuster has a kid pilot who does her fair share of crying

[xbl0x180]

But the Mikimoto designs were outta this world. They were gorgeous. I could watch the GunBuster intro over and over! Okay, if Mikimoto draws these things, then I'll put up with whiny kid pilots

[chempop]

btw Durarara, FLAG and Denno Coil are awful...

Durarara is the gayest shit I've ever saw.

I can understand the hate for Durarara, but I was entertained despite the main characters being twerps. There are enough other distractions in the show for me to overlook the cliche love triangle business. I mostly just appreciated the bizarre nature of the show; a Russian sushi chef, modern headless horse-(wo)man, color gangs, etc. Bacanno was definitely far-far superior.

FLAG I am thoroughly enjoying. The way it's done, almost poetic. I'm only 5 eps deep, very interested to see where it goes.

[moozooh]

list of things Anno supposedly failed at

...None of which were of his authorship. Characters and the mecha were designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the author of NGE manga. Sadamoto came up with most of the plot as well.

[xbl0x180]

list of things Anno supposedly failed at

...None of which were of his authorship. Characters and the mecha were designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the author of NGE manga. Sadamoto came up with most of the plot as well.

It doesn't change how awful they look

[Hagane]

I enjoyed Ponyo, that mix of Miyazaki with Gainax-style animation

what

I mean, WHAT

How does Ponyo look anything like Gainax?

[Raytrace]

- I don't like his designs for Eva - those really thin, gaunt, and angular designs with the eyes really far apart (they look like goats) aren't what I enjoy seeing. I think the only exception is Utatane Hiroyuki.

- The same goes for the mecha, which, while animated quite smoothly, don't look attractive at all to me; they look downright ugly. I'm used to traditional big robot designs: Mazinger, Gundam, Voltron, GunBuster, Five Star Stories, Kishin, etc.

- The story device of using kid pilots sucks. I won't watch anime with kid pilots. It didn't help that one of the main characters was an irrititating whiny pussy who, in turn, created a whole new character archetype for all modern anime to follow.

- I didn't care for the music either; both the theme songs and the BGM were sort of ho-hum.

After about 8 episodes, I stopped watching, trashed the videos, and went back to Cutey Honey

trust me I'm not in anyway gonna ever attempt to convince you you'll ever like Eva

however, I dont like thin looking mecha either, but in the Eva Unit's case I think it adds to their general creepiness, and the goat thing is no doubt on purpose, to add to the 'Satanic' feel (for want of a better word).

I also think they're kinda ripped of this guy too from your (well pretty all of our) beloved Bubblegum Crisis (but I'll admit this guys body isnt thin, just his head is very similar:





PS I just realised you were talking of the chara designs o_O still well emm yeah I think that Eva Unit 01 looks like that mech in Bubblegum Crisis

Shinji is pretty whiney indeed, though a fair bit less in Jap as opposed to the dub.

I've just realised I haven't even presented any form of counter argument here at all

[Raytrace]

IMO Anno is a genius and his art direction is awesome.

I have tbh - Neon Genesis Evangelion was the first anime I ever watched right through - and after completing the UC Gundam cycle and a good few other animes, I rewatched it, thinking that my memory of it couldn't match up, in fact if anything I liked it even more, seriously I don't know what it is, but there is 'something' about NGE art wise, scene wise, music wise that just seems right or somethign, it has a real 'feel' or something - emm I know that's pretty vague...

[Raytrace]

FLAG I am thoroughly enjoying. The way it's done, almost poetic. I'm only 5 eps deep, very interested to see where it goes.

yeah it is really great through and through, and even the CG doesnt jar as the textures I think are the only way to keep the gritty feel. At the start I thought I would hate the constant through the lens thing but you become so used to it you dont notice. Pure brliiant

[Raytrace]

Ariel Visual - loving how Oberstein's voice is in it...

[cj iwakura]

I'm one of the few people I know of who genuinely enjoyed Evangelion's original ending, not the crapfest that was the movie.

[KAI]

Both endings are brilliant. I have high hopes on the new ending (But I'm sure it's not going to be as deep as the previous ones)

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm one of the few people I know of who genuinely enjoyed Evangelion's original ending, not the crapfest that was the movie.

The original one was cool alright.

[Hagane]

deep

Go read some Dostoyevski instead of watching underbudgeted anime with awful hack job endings if you want actual depth.

[Raytrace]

finished Ariel Visual - emm I wouldn't 'recommend' it, but I did enjoy it

[xbl0x180]

- I don't like his designs for Eva - those really thin, gaunt, and angular designs with the eyes really far apart (they look like goats) aren't what I enjoy seeing. I think the only exception is Utatane Hiroyuki.

- The same goes for the mecha, which, while animated quite smoothly, don't look attractive at all to me; they look downright ugly. I'm used to traditional big robot designs: Mazinger, Gundam, Voltron, GunBuster, Five Star Stories, Kishin, etc.

- The story device of using kid pilots sucks. I won't watch anime with kid pilots. It didn't help that one of the main characters was an irrititating whiny pussy who, in turn, created a whole new character archetype for all modern anime to follow.

- I didn't care for the music either; both the theme songs and the BGM were sort of ho-hum.

After about 8 episodes, I stopped watching, trashed the videos, and went back to Cutey Honey

trust me I'm not in anyway gonna ever attempt to convince you you'll ever like Eva

however, I dont like thin looking mecha either, but in the Eva Unit's case I think it adds to their general creepiness, and the goat thing is no doubt on purpose, to add to the 'Satanic' feel (for want of a better word).

I also think they're kinda ripped of this guy too from your (well pretty all of our) beloved Bubblegum Crisis (but I'll admit this guys body isnt thin, just his head is very similar:





PS I just realised you were talking of the chara designs o_O still well emm yeah I think that Eva Unit 01 looks like that mech in Bubblegum Crisis

Shinji is pretty whiney indeed, though a fair bit less in Jap as opposed to the dub.

I've just realised I haven't even presented any form of counter argument here at all

I could probably deal with either having better chara and mecha designs or at least better writing, but it doesn't have either. I know it's an anime darling of most viewers. I really don't see how this show gets so much praise, though. I just cannot see it after viewing part of it once and trying to view part of it again. It looked bloody awful to me then and that hasn't changed for over a decade. Ergo, I don't really argue why I don't like it nor would I expect others to argue the point with me; I discuss and/or tell others I find it absolutely revolting. I'd rather give up watching anime again if I had to sit through the totality of this wankery

[DaneSaga]

Oh NGE, almost 20 years later and you still polarize like no other.

[Raytrace]

watching Ariel, within 10 seconds of start, detailed drawings of an SR-71 and a U-2 have appeared on screen, I think I'll like this...

'All Round Intercept & Escort Lady' - wtf? hahaha

seriously though in this one of the Ariel's (Ariel3/First Part of 'Arial Deluxe') - the influence on Eva is pretty direct, music sounds and scene setup wise

conversely though, I suppose Gunbuster is definitely a major influence on both (the mecha/monster in Ariel particularly for example), so it is kinda hard to discern how much is just 'parallel influence', though I still do reckon Ariel Deluxe is something Anno Hideaki must have at least liked a lot...

Alien invasion being bogged down in bureacratic over-zealous auditing by accounting department is definitely an 'angle' on the theme I've never seen before.

[Op Intensify]

I am of the belief that Eva has only one true ending: The End of Evangelion. The series' final episode was just a representation of what was going on in Shinji's head before and/or during those events.

I'm not sure if Anno or Sadamoto have given any definitive answers on that, though.

[Raytrace]

yeah End Of Eva is definitely IMO the better ending, seriously when Komm Sosser Tud fades in at that moment and it all starts spiralling into some kinda acidic mess, I just love it...

[KAI]

The series' final episode was just a representation of what was going on in Shinji's head before and/or during those events.

No, they are 2 different conclusions, accepting and rejecting the instrumentality.
OMG, I'm a nerd!

[Op Intensify]

Looks like Media Blasters did in fact delay the Kite Blu-ray to 2013. But at least they've also announced they're re-releasing Shamanic Princess, a series I've been recommended, but could never find in watchable quality online or at a sane price.

[xbl0x180]

Shamanic Princess used to be cheep. I got it for less than 10 bucks. It's good to read there will be a re-release of it

[KAI]

I'm thinking about watching seikai no monshou, any opinions?