Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Durandal]

As for the annoying female childhood friend, remember Tomino hates women for some reason. Really.

Pretty odd, considering almost near half of the characters in the cast and war are female in Zeta, even Kamille remarks on that.

[soprano1]

As for the annoying female childhood friend, remember Tomino hates women for some reason. Really.

Pretty odd, considering almost near half of the characters in the cast and war are female in Zeta, even Kamille remarks on that.

Yeah, and what happens to most of them? They get killed off.
Tomino.

[Blinge]

Hey is there an anime like Monster Hunter? Or that gives a similar vibe?

Hunter X Hunter did not deliver in that regard. ¬_¬

[soprano1]

Hey is there an anime like Monster Hunter? Or that gives a similar vibe?

Hunter X Hunter did not deliver in that regard. ¬_¬

There is Toriko, but it's more hunting to eat it than to make tools out of it.

[Bloodreign]

Was browsing some old anime series yesterday, had completely forgotten about Inukami!.
Nothing great as a whole, it's your average comedy, youkai-themed, but really back then when anime studios went WTF they didn't hold back.
(ep 2 and 6 in particular and as far as I've seen, seriously these people had to be on something)

I am 16 episodes in, it's definitely an oddball of a show. Looks like I'll finish it because it's weird, but at the same time entertaining.

[BryanM]

There are of course little parody bits in a lot of things... and there's.... this thing for children.... coming this year....



I guess the real reason there isn't one is that there's no breakout light novel or comic that uses it as a theme. I recommend writing one and selling a million billion copies in America and Japan - that's the quickest way to get one done.

Recently I was appreciating the breadth of things aping Dragon Quest's simplistic Devil King theme. Horrible gorny nightmare worlds, straight shonen action, comedy, etc. The real drawback of Monster Hunter is the antagonist is a natural disaster as opposed to a thinking being. The crapsack world the victims in Two Page Man live in is made even worse by the fact that the monsters can think.

[Blinge]

Hey is there an anime like Monster Hunter? Or that gives a similar vibe?

Hunter X Hunter did not deliver in that regard. ¬_¬

There is Toriko, but it's more hunting to eat it than to make tools out of it.

Hah.. well. I tried the first episode.

It was a crossover special with one-piece. I've never seen one piece, nor do I care to. The episode was kinda wank, actually..
I'll see if the show proper gets any better.

[Ji-L87]

So I just started finally getting round to watching Armor Hunter Mellowlink.

It's a bit more running around and less "just as planned" than what I expected but it's good and steadily growing on me.

What I like the most so far (aside from the OP and ED songs) is that they do a good job of properly showing not only how clumsy and impractical his oversized rifle actually is, but how also thought about how he would have to hold or carry it while moving in certain situations. There were a few times where I found myself wondering how he planned to squeeze through an airduct or whatever with his jumping pole-like gun and liked to see that they put some effort in animating how he actually handles it.

With all that attention, his rifle almost becomes a side-kick or character in it's own right.
That said, dude really needs a side-arm.

[Xyga]

I'm trying to make sense out of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes anime.

The wikipedia article gives you the titles of the various 'seasons': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_ ... tic_Heroes
then a list of episodes but distributed in 'parts' and a chronological order in the series universe calendar, not telling you which corresponds to what season/adaptation:

WTF ? Did I miss something ?

[BryanM]

"just as planned"

I think you mean "just according to keikaku"

[Ji-L87]

"just as planned"

I think you mean "just according to keikaku"

Note: "keikaku" means plan.

[KAI]

WTF ? Did I miss something ?

Just watch them as they were released:
My Conquest is the Sea of Stars>Overture to a New War/Main Ova series (season 1-4)>Gaiden (A Hundred Billion Stars, A Hundred Billion Lights>Spiral Labyrinth)

The Gaiden chronology it's a fucking mess because the episodes were reordered when the series was broadcasted on TV.

[Xyga]

OK will do that. Thanks.

[Ghegs]

I'd recommend the story-chronological order myself, as described here.

[Lord Satori]

The Haruhi series has some fucked up ordering as well, afaik. It's too much of a hassle with one group telling you to watch in in one order, and another group telling you differently. Everytime I go to watch it, I get to the episode list along with a bunch of comments arguing about which way to watch it, and I just can't be bothered.

[soprano1]

Does the Gundam Unicorn TV version that is airing now have any new scenes compared to the OVAs? Or is it just an editing job?

[EmperorIng]

I did finally watch half of One Punch Man at the insistence of my older brother. Surprise surprise that it's animated by Madhouse, my favorite still-functioning studio! I really did not expect to like it so much. Maybe because it's dripping in so many action-anime cliches that it becomes fun to laugh (along with the creator) at the inherent silliness of those cliches.

I wonder how One Punch Man got so popular in the first place. The web-comic is hilariously shitty (is that the reason?). Like everything is drawn by that 14-year-old you knew in high school who was "in to Japanese cartoons." In MSPaint.

[Xyga]

There's a redrawn version of the manga, which the anime is based on. it looks much more refined of course.

[copy-paster]

I wonder how One Punch Man got so popular in the first place.

From what I know, here's why :

1. Mocking those shonen-action anime cliches, like you said.
2. All likeable characters.
3. Great storytelling.
4. The remake manga fixes everything's crap from the original.

[KAI]

Does the Gundam Unicorn TV version that is airing now have any new scenes compared to the OVAs? Or is it just an editing job?

Just edits so far.

Gundam The Origin III came out! Watching the hand of Yasuhiko Yoshikazu in every single scene of this ova was delightful (dat lip sync and gestures <3).

[Raytrace]

Gundam The Origin III came out! Watching the hand of Yasuhiko Yoshikazu in every single scene of this ova was delightful (dat lip sync and gestures <3).

It was my favourite so far by miles - I cuda done with less CG but I loved all the Char stuff and Dozle, I've always liked Dozle.

[BryanM]

Two Page Man plays off the social acceptance wish fulfillment fantasy, very sharply. You have this guy who everyone dismisses as a total loser, and yet he's actually the most amazing person in the world. Very appealing to hikikomori. It's difficult to not want to see Mr.Two Page rise up in social status and recognition.

It also helps there's a lot of variety injected into the thing. It reminds me a little of Kirkman's Capes, with the phalanx of characters the author created when he was in highschool.

I can't stress enough how important it is that fights don't drag on and on and on beyond their welcome. The series would be garbage if it went full DBZ on dragging out repetition.

The web-comic is hilariously shitty (is that the reason?).

The art is gorgeous your eyes are broken.

[Lord Satori]

Just saw the movie Wolf Children.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be this amazing. Seeing the single mother have trouble raise those two children , watching them get older as the movie passes on, and ending in the best way I could imagine. (though an epilogue would've been nice)

I'm not one for long winded posts, but my brief posting style doesn't do this movie enough justice. I highly recommend seeing it for yourself.

[Squire Grooktook]

Off a friend's recommendation, I'm thinking of giving the Bastard!! manga a try. I like some of the art I've seen, and I have a soft spot for anything that's simultaneously over the top in machismo yet far from serious. + heavy metal and D&D references are always welcome.

Any good?

[BryanM]

I.... really wanted to like Umineko: When They Cry. I really did.

8 episodes of repeatedly talking about fucking keys and "magic's not reeeeeal!!!!"... broke me.

[Lord Satori]

It's a decent adaptation of the VN, but the fact that they stopped there and didn't do the much more interesting second half really makes it worse. I just love how the MC fails to realize that he DIED, and is somehow telling these people who also died, that magic is not real. I mean, really? You were staring at their mutilated corpses a few hours ago, dude. There are people that unbelievably stubborn irl, though, so it wasn't really a dealbreaker for me.

If you want a good VN adaptation by the same people, I recommend Higurashi" When They Cry. They didn't stop halfway, either, so there's tons of content to enjoy. The magical theme isn't non-existent, but it's far less prevalent in favor of general mystery and mind-fuckery. There are also a few good OVAs as well as a live action adaptation (which I haven't watched).


I watched what's out so far of Re:Zero. I really like the concept.

Spoiler

I was also relieved that the entire series didn't revolve around the events surrounding getting the insignia back.

The site I watched it on only shows twelve episodes total, but from the comments, it looks like there's going to be 26, which I'm pleased to hear. There's a lot left they haven't covered and it'd be a shame for it to just abruptly end like Deadman Wonderland.

[Ruldra]

I.... really wanted to like Umineko: When They Cry. I really did.

8 episodes of repeatedly talking about fucking keys and "magic's not reeeeeal!!!!"... broke me.

From what I was told, the anime is complete garbage compared to the VN. I read chapter 1 (available for free) and I was blown away. Will totally buy the rest when it comes out on Steam.

If you're interested: http://witch-hunt.com/stage0.html

[Durandal]

So anyways, just finished watching Zeta Gundam.

I do think it's inferior to 0079 in a lot of ways. There were a lot of characters in Zeta I really fucking hated, while I didn't really remember hating anyone in 0079. There were some guys in 0079 like Kai who acted like assholes at the start, but got better over time. An opposite example is Katz, whose character arc is supposed to be parallel to Kamille's (naive kid who learns the hard way about the war waged by adults as his view on life changes after encountering a mahou shoujo who he falls in love with), except he never reaches the end point and becomes a better person. At the end he's still desperate to do SOMETHING, constantly taking off without permission, and ends up being a general fucking nuisance. I get the point that he was supposed to be superhonest, but he just ended up coming over as a brat. He deserved some hardcore "correction", alright. There were other characters like Beltorchika, Sarah and Reccoa who just came over as irrational annoyances, but I'm not going to spend more time writing about them. Point is, either have your characters grow or do not shove them in my face the entire time. I liked the rest of the cast like Kamille, Fa, Bright, Amuro, Haman, Henken, Hazan, Wong, and the rest of the Argama crew, though I wish Quattro showed some more emotion, that's when I liked him the most.

The first half I liked the most, then afterwards it just devolved into filler territory with a dissatisfying rushed ending despite the 50-episode format. It starts off pretty interesting with the worldbuilding that the Gundam series seems to be good at, then ditches that later on for more space battles. I still find it odd that veterans who have been through the One Year War have no problem at all with Titans being literally worse than Zeon. I get how they are trying to justify actions like poisoning colonies because they want the war to end quickly (just like America did with the nukes!!) though that's the only kind of justification they have going for them. They tried painting a gray picture of the AEUG being as bad as the Titans, though you never really see AEUG in a bad light aside from the leaders being pricks every now and then. Even 0079 didn't treat Feds as good guys all the time. At the end the Titans just become kind of a bland mass of enemies blending together with the Axis forces as AEUG pwns everything?

The fights themselves get incredibly formulaic and stale. It goes like this, two characters get in a fight. Sometimes the enemy has a new suit which surprises the good guy. Sometimes one of them or both feel some kind of pressure. They then exchange missing blows or slashes. If Kamille is fighting a girl, he is hesitant to finish her off because loltrauma. When someone is in trouble, an ally flies outta nowhere and shoots at the bad guy, distracting him as the good guy manages to get away. Then someone gets a limb cut off and skeedaddles the fuck outta there. NEARLY EVERY FUCKING FIGHT. On top of there being a fight forced into every episode as well, this gets really fucking tiring and predictable. Another problem is that it has no technological edge like 0079 and SDF Macross with their strategies, so you end up with just two robots with beam rifles and sabers just decking it out. They might as well have all been fighting in Nemos, I never got the feeling like the independent abilities of each suit really mattered. There's the Mega Bazooka, the Qubeley Ketsui-TLB-Missile-Pattern weapons which I think are just the same shit which Lalah's suit had, and Hazan's electric whip/grappling hook (again cloned from one of the 0079 suits), but those moments are few and far between. You then end up with differences in piloting skill, which due to the lacking choreography doesn't feel any different from the other, or make any sense.

There is a point where the pacing just takes a shit with episodes with little future consequences and could as well have been merged with others, but 0079 at least picked itself up later on. The same also goes with Zeta, except the ending just falls flat on its face. The ending just feels really rushed, a lot of characters of note get killed off unceremoniously with barely any build-up, and if it wasn't for Kamille summoning a Spirit Bomb and everyone suddenly dying they could have just as well played another episode without the pacing feeling any different. I felt more frustrated by the ending of Zeta than feeling like something has been resolved.

I did like the character drama (save for the crappier characters), the suit designs, and music, which made me bear this to the very end. I would recommend watching Zeta in doses rather than marathoning it, you WILL get burned out otherwise. I am a bit on the fence about recommending Zeta. It's not THAT bad, though I wouldn't rewatch all of it.

[soprano1]

Durandal, have you watched this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_StZDxiUIWE
Violence in Zeta Gundam.

[KAI]

Now you are ready for Char's Counterattack (aka Gundam WTF!!!).