Spike Lives! (Anime talk)

[Reply #520 on:]

They have movies covering the golden age saga now (up through the eclipse).  They're alright, and they solve the problem the anime had at the end (the whole wtf?  How does this make sense thing).  You know if you've seen it.

I saw the anime first... then was... like ... wtf!? 

Then I read the manga.  I've watched the subs of the films--I think they're planning on making more to follow the manga too.  I can't remember how far I read the manga.

Anyways.

Anybody else here watched Berserk and read the mangas? No? Okay then.  

I have.  I agree with your points.  It's good if you're into violence, but it also has a lot of intrigue drama and historical nuance with it concerning medieval life.  I'm not sure the manga didn't go off in a weird direction though with the fantasy stuff... plus it's clear that the author is just making it up as he goes along..... and if you talk to Berserk fans, and/or you follow the manga religiously, you'll find out that he goes along pretty slllllooowwwwllly.... hope you haven't gotten caught up.... because if you have, you're in for some wait time.

Also, the animation in the movies gets better with each one.  They were trying out some new style and the first one has some odd stuff about the animation, but they correct those in the sequels.  I think I still like the original anime better, even though it was done relatively cheaply, and by the end of it something very wrong happened.

Every once in awhile I go back and watch the first episode with Zodd... I think it's five or six... it's like a halloween episode.

Oh... and I'd interject that Gutz is the only character I've seen in fiction who has any realistic business wielding the size sword that he does--a lot of japanese media has heroes who wield big swords, and that's usually off-putting to me, but Gutz pulls it off because his character is both built to be able to wield such an unwieldy weapon and because with the explanation of his background, he has reasons to both be able to wield such an unwieldy weapon and to actually want to wield it.  My best friend and I once tried to guesstimate the weight of that sword, assuming it's primarily made of iron... I can't remember what we came up with, but we guessed it was about 6 and a half feet long and about one foot wide.

Berserk is pretty cool.

[Reply #521 on:]

Anybody else here watched Berserk and read the mangas? No? Okay then. 

I watched Berserk and really enjoyed it... even if the ending is a bit confusing.

Copy/paste of the review I posted on the IMDb after watching the series:

Show spoiler

This series follows Guts; a mercenary who wields a huge sword. Normally he doesn't work with others but after meeting the enigmatic Griffith he joins his mercenary group; the Band of the Hawk. They fight alongside each other and the Hawks have more and more success in battle. This makes Griffith one of the king's favourites which upsets the aristocracy who believe he is getting above himself. Over the course of the series the group fight numerous battles and much blood is spilt. We also learn more about Guts and Griffith's pasts. Obviously it isn't all fighting; there is an element of romance involving Casca; the second in command of the Hawks.

If you like your anime packed with lots of bloody violence then this is the series for you. Guts might not be a jolly protagonist but the way he swings his huge sword means he is entertaining. The other main characters are entertaining; especially Griffith and Casca. The numerous battles and skirmishes are all exciting even though they aren't all fully animated. Occasionally things do get a little disturbing; most notably when a group of enemies try to rape Casca and towards the end of the series when the band find themselves in a demonic landscape; these scenes mean it isn't really a suitable series for younger viewers. The story, which is actually shown in flashback is gripping and at no point did I feel bored or feel that the story was dragging and at the end I just sat stunned; to say it is shocking is an understatement… to figure out just who survived I may have to watch the opening episode again!

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

[Reply #522 on:]

The first episode doesn't actually give you the answer you're looking for.  The last one, strangely enough, does.  The problem with the anime is that it leaves out characters from the manga--one of those characters is pivotal to answer your question.

I'd still recommend watching the anime first to people... they'll be confused at the end (and I'd keep that a secret), but it's an enjoyable ride if you're into it.

[Reply #523 on:]

New Idea: An anime series from the perspective of Paul as he hunts the ends of the Earth for the 12 disciples of Jesus.

[Reply #524 on:]

That sounds like it would be better in stop motion. Biblical epics are always better as claymation.

[Reply #525 on:]

only when they're directed by Mark Twain

[Reply #526 on:]

*Bump*

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been on in awhile. Everything's been really busy.

As of Friday night, I started watching Inuyasha and I'm sersiously in love with it. I don't remember having such a pleasant viewing experience ever, except for when I first watched Futurama. The main characters are highly likable, I think the plot lines are interesting and original and the animation is really, really pretty.

[Reply #527 on:]

Well, the cosplay thread filled up long ago, which is a reason I'm putting this here.  Also, if I put it in the Star Wars thread, I might be pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables

(clicky link pic)
Sailor Kylo

[Reply #528 on:]

Lol!

[Reply #529 on:]

I'm watching One Punch Man.  It's a superhero show and the main character is so powerful he defeats anything with one punch... hence the name One Punch Man.  He's pretty oblivious and he just heroes for fun.

It subverts superhero genres and tropes, and it's pretty stylistic.  I like it.

[Reply #530 on:]

Oh my God, I love One Punch Man.
I'm obsessing over Yuri on Ice!!! right now. It makes me very happy, it has wonderful music, and I feel about 10% gayer every time I watch.

[Reply #531 on:]

I don't know which one was Yuri on Ice.  I liked the show though.  I was curious if I'd get bored with the one hit punching theme, but that's not what the show was really about.  Saitoma seemed like a pretty cool guy, overall.

I read that apparently a different production house is handling season 2. Odd, I guess.  Hopefully they'll do a good job.

In reality I'm just sitting patiently for FLCL 2, which is supposed to hit sometime 2018, probably a full 12 months from now realistically.

* winna sits on the floor indian style staring at the wall, whistling some tune, waiting patiently for FLCL 2.

[Reply #532 on:]

That seems like a good use of your time honestly.

[Reply #533 on:]

I don't actually know how to whistle.


I watched One Punch Man again though, pretty great!

[Reply #534 on:]

I don't actually know how to whistle.

You just put your lips together and blow.

[Reply #535 on:]

Mae West?

[Reply #536 on:]

Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not.

[Reply #537 on:]

Steve McQueen and Farah Fawcett in Die, Die, Die My Darling^*

I just finished watching Mob Psycho 100, and it was pretty awesome.  The manga author is the same author of the One Punch Man manga, so similar humor and art style.

It's about psychic powers and stuff, and the protag is like Saitoma in a few ways.  Mob is the protag, a middle schooler, and he has super powerful telekinetic abilities. 

It's like a cross between One Punch Man and FLCL to me.  I would also say it's like what Earthbound would be if it were an animated series.  Very stylized, and the action sequences are top notch.  I liked it a lot. 


^*That's not true at all.

[Reply #538 on:]

Bumping this thread rather than continuing to derail the Movie Reviews.

As recommended I took a look at Cinderella Nine. The animation I usually watch is sci-fi or fantasy, so this was generally more realistic - and at times serious - than most other series I've encountered. It did give me A League of Their Own vibes, albeit from a different setting. Ukita has to be the character I related to the most: no, I didn't wear cat ears, but I was useless at sport. And she seemed to have a pet tortoise too. I did feel sorry for her at one point, although it was for the good of the team. But if I remember correctly she was given the last scene, which was a nice touch. There was a good range of characters, and the story moved along without getting really bogged down at any point. Events at the training camp did dent the realism a bit, but a small amount of fantasy is acceptable.

Generally entertaining, and the ending was realistic in terms of the team's success. I may give it another run through at some point, but now I'm taking a look at another series that's been compared to GuP: at the moment it doesn't look as good, but I'll give it a chance.

[Reply #539 on:]

Ukita was one of my favorites as well.  I thought that making one of the main characters a girl who loves the sport, but isn't athletic was a clever choice for a sports show.

I did think that the training camp episode was a bit odd, but this isn't the first time that an otherwise realistic show had one episode like that.  Actually, I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it.

I finished watching Girls und Panzer last night.  As soon as I finished the last episode, I turned on the TV, and A League of Their Own was just starting.  Okay, so that didn't really happen, but it would have, if I hadn't spent another half hour on Crunchyroll watching this week's episode of Railgun.  I thought it was a funny coincidence either way.

[Reply #540 on:]

Does it feel different watching Japanese animation now that there are many easy and available methods to watch it,  as if there isn't something slightly secret about it and there's more material (not necessarily all good) to wade through?

[Reply #541 on:]

Prior to this, my only real experience with Japanese animation was Marine Boy, which I watched when very young. It was a TV manga about a boy who could stay underwater for extended periods by chewing "oxygum" and had jets or propellers in his boots for propulsion. Other than that, I've held the impression that Anime was basically just pure violence or unadulterated fan service, and had no real interest.

Around Xmas I was watching YouTube videos on odd tanks, and an AMV popped up in the recommendations. Specifically, "The StuG Life", featuring the history club (Hippo team) from GuP. I like eccentric characters (hence my interest in Futurama), so I went down the rabbit hole. While there was some fan service, it wasn't as blatant as I had expected (I've since found out they put most of it in the OVAs) and I liked the totally bonkers tank action. Most reviews I've seen have stated that the show was expected to be carp (sic), but turned out to be oddly appealing, and that was my experience also. I've been in a drought as far as visual entertainment is concerned, and I latched on to GuP as a fix, and became invested in the characters.

I've looked at a few more series on Crunchyroll, and you do need to be selective. I assume that there are cultural issues here, and some shows would be more acceptable to a Western audience if some of the behaviour was "adjusted", and a few years added to the age of the characters.

[Reply #542 on:]

Does it feel different watching Japanese animation now that there are many easy and available methods to watch it,  as if there isn't something slightly secret about it and there's more material (not necessarily all good) to wade through?

It is definitely different.  In the past, finding anime to watch required some effort, and I pretty much watched anything that I could.  Nowadays, I have free access to more anime than I could ever hope to watch, and the only challenge is deciding what to watch and finding time to watch it.

[Reply #543 on:]

I took a look at High School Fleet because I'd seen it referred to alongside GuP. Didn't enjoy it as much, but that has to be qualified by saying I'm more into planes and tanks than ships, so I probably missed a load of references that would geek others out. I spotted a couple of obvious ones, so there were probably more. The animation and action scenes were good, but I didn't relate to the characters in the same way I did with GuP. There were a few stand-outs: the First Officer deserved a medal for putting up with the rest of the bridge crew; the Chief Engineer gets points for channeling Scotty; and the German First Officer basically stopped me giving up on the show. But they did that child prodigy thing again, and it was even worse than Alice in GuP. Sorry, no.

A couple of the plot points were spookily relevant to the current situation, which helped keep my interest, and I liked the little runabouts featured in the first episode: unfortunately only one was in operation, and they never appeared again. Overall not bad, but it might be better if I try something with planes next time.

[Reply #544 on:]

If you're not averse to fanservice, you might want to check out Strike Witches.  It doesn't focus on planes quite to the extent that GuP does on tanks, but the characters are named after, and partially based on, WWII flying aces, the designs of the striker units are based on WWII era planes, all of the weapons are WWII era weapons (except for the Fliegerhammer, which is fictional, but in-universe was developed as an improvement on the Fliegerfaust), and every episode contains multiple historical references.  At this point, I think that about 90% of my knowledge of WWII comes from watching this show, and I didn't consider myself ignorant of WWII history before I watched it.

If you do have an aversion to fanservice, this might not be your cup of tea, but don't write off Strike Witches as just a fanservice show, because there's a lot more to it than that.

[Reply #545 on:]

I've photographed models in various states of undress, so I'm okay with fan service if it's age-appropriate and not the Raison d'Etre for the whole show. I got the impression from comments on other videos that Strike Witches was very heavy on fan service, but I haven't actually had a look yet, so I'll consider it.

[Reply #546 on:]

It is very heavy on fanservice, but that is not its raison d'etre.

Funimation's YouTube channel has the edited for television broadcast version, if you'd prefer that to the uncut version that I linked to in my previous post.

[Reply #547 on:]

Strike Witches is a solid show; if there is a problem, it is the stated ages of the characters involved in the fan-service. The spin-off series, Brave Witches is very similar plot wise but doesn't have the gratuitous nudity.

[Reply #548 on:]

That's true, but there are a couple of cameo appearances in Brave Witches that won't be nearly as much fun if you haven't watched Strike Witches first.

There's also the other spin-off: Strike Witches: 501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off!  That one has no fanservice whatsoever.  (The more cartoony art style doesn't really allow for it.)  It's also a lot funnier, although many of the jokes reference events from the main series, so it's best to watch it after you've seen Strike Witches.

[Reply #549 on:]

I think I'll pass, for the moment at least. Maybe later...

There is another show I've picked up on -- though the title is a bit cringe-worthy -- Girly Air Force. Seriously, whoever came up with that title should be fired. Out of a cannon, into the sun. It does the show a disservice. This is a fresh take on the concept of the Angels from Captain Scarlet, and features two of my favourite jets: the Phantom and the Saab Gripen. So I'll run with this one for a while.

[Reply #550 on:]

Girly Air Force was better than I expected. If you want an anime with great flying action check out Area 88, if you can find it. The story is ok but the flight action is amazing.

[Reply #551 on:]

I haven't seen Girly Air Force.  When it came out, I thought it sounded kinda stupid (both the title, and the premise), but maybe I missed out on that one.

It does remind me of another show from the same season that you might want to check out: The Magnificent KOTOBUKI.

[Reply #552 on:]

I can't decide whether the ending of Girly Air Force was deeper than expected, or I just over-thought it. Probably the latter.

I've seen some clips of Area 88, but not in English. Looks interesting: Phantoms, Drakens and Harriers are all good. There's a photographer as a character, and that is one heck of a mullet on the main(?) character. (In one clip there was a very heavily laden Harrier: that reminded me of playing a flight sim years ago. I loaded the plane with everything it would allow, and crashed at the end of the runway because it couldn't get off the ground.) Now I've found some English dubbed OVAs for the show, so I might give them a go.

I've also dipped into Gleipnir a little. Like the idea, but it seems to be turning into a gore-fest. Also, if you've engineered the plot to allow valid fanservice, why throw in gratuitous stuff too? Still on the fence with this one.

[Reply #553 on:]

If you don't mind the jet fighters transforming into big stompy robots, there's always Robotech.

I watched the first five episodes or so of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. with my niece yesterday.  Funny stuff.

[Reply #554 on:]

I'll keep them in mind. I also want to check out Patlabor: it sounds interesting, and is from my "era", as it were. I've abandoned Gleipnir: dark and edgy is one thing, but that was getting to be a bit much.

[Reply #555 on:]

You might also enjoy Dominion Tank Police.

[Reply #556 on:]

I got a bit sidetracked and didn't check out the shows I intended to, but then it was mentioned somewhere that Symphogear had been voted Anime of the Decade or something, so I took a look. Someone said it was dumb but awesome, and I get where they are coming from. Some of it is really good, but there are also some pretty poor parts too. It would help if all the characters were as consistently well-written as Chris. The fan service wasn't too bad: at least they saved Kirika's pole-dance transformation sequence for the last series when she was a year or two older. Overall I can see why it is popular, but I would have liked the characterization to be a bit more consistent and some of the plots less contrived.

[Reply #557 on:]

I haven't seen Symphogear.  I tend to prefer classic magical girl shows like Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura to more modern takes on the concept.

[Reply #558 on:]

I've heard of Sailor Moon but not seen it: I get the impression that it's pretty much an archetype for the genre. Symphogear used relics, mangled mythology, and pseudoscience as its core premise: I'm guessing other shows in the genre are similar.

I'm now following a series of reactions for Sound of the Sky, which seems to be deeper and has less gratuitous violence and fanservice. It features a (futuristic) tank that is currently inoperable, and which I suspect will become an important plot point later. There hasn't been a lot of focus on the engineer fixing it up to this point, but I think she may become my favourite character.

[Reply #559 on:]

I've heard of Sailor Moon but not seen it: I get the impression that it's pretty much an archetype for the genre.

It wasn't the first Magical Girl show, but it was the first to combine traditional Magical Girl concepts with those of Sentai shows to create a new subgenre which has since become what most people think of as the Magical Girl genre.

Symphogear used relics, mangled mythology, and pseudoscience as its core premise: I'm guessing other shows in the genre are similar.

The core premise of Sailor Moon is schoolgirls using magical transformation tokens bestowed upon them by talking cats to become superheroes who fight evil in between dealing with school, romance, and other typical teenage problems.

I don't know what Symphogear is even about, so I can't really compare and contrast them for you.

I'm now following a series of reactions for Sound of the Sky, which seems to be deeper and has less gratuitous violence and fanservice. It features a (futuristic) tank that is currently inoperable, and which I suspect will become an important plot point later. There hasn't been a lot of focus on the engineer fixing it up to this point, but I think she may become my favourite character.

I hadn't heard of that one.  It sounds interesting.  I might have to add it to the list (of shows that I might want to possibly get around to eventually maybe watching at some undefined point in time someday in the future).