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Lucky Star OVA

"... we're live on the scene and what we're seeing is unbelievable. It's total carnage. People are... hold on... watch out! That was close. Pan the camera over there... oh my goodness... what is that? Can you zoom... right there... ex.. ex... excuse *vomits* Are you okay? Tricia? Camera man Mike speaking briefly but it's shocking to witness what one human can do with a DVD to another. Is that the CEO of BangZoom? He's going to feel that in the morning. Tricia... you okay? Yeah... I'll take over now..."

F-, despite some pretty yummy shots of Kagami.

Sorry. I really had to let that out. I was so excited to get the OVA in the mail yesterday only to watch it and find myself very disappointed.

This coming from a Lucky Star fan.

The OVA is filled with nothing but uninteresting rhetoric. Worse, the subtitling for the OVA is so horrid, several times the text completely fills the screen. Forget the option of disabling on-screen translation: the option doesn't seem to work, meaning you'll be seeing quite a bit of the yellow spoken text and the white onscreen text, which gets confusing once multiple cast members start speaking.

It's one of the rare times I had to pause to read what was on screen.

Missing is the charm which made the series popular to fans. It's a deliberate production to take advantage of three things: Kagami, Kagami as a tsundere, and Kagami in cosplay.
Whoever thought Konata was the star in this series needs a reality check.

"But PJ! Aren't you the biggest Kagami fan on the planet? You should be loving this!"

Well, true, I have to admit I loved the eye candy (mmm... Kagami as Rin. MMMMMmmmm... Kagami as Miku), but I felt like a cheap whore after being used and thrown two dollars because the rest of the OVA didn't hold up its end of the bargain.

I would have appreciated it more if they stuck with the role-playing element, considering any humor found in the OVA was actually here. We all know how Kagami hates being enticed to cosplaying, and the joke about her in-game character did provide a chuckle.

Regardless.... F-.

The ratings in the encyclopedia are a damn lie.

Wow, I have been wanting to check out the Lucky Star OVA for a while, but I think I will just save my money for something else.

errinundra wrote:

Irony - my nephew, almost thirty years younger than me is a traditionalist who thinks the medium peaked in the 1990's and has been going downhill ever since. I much prefer more recent stuff. Life is strange.

Perhaps I should re-watch Trigun. I've got my nephew's fansubs.

Yes, ur nephew is right. Unlike you.
If NGE is just "good", then the rest is "not so good".

archaron wrote:

Wow, I have been wanting to check out the Lucky Star OVA for a while, but I think I will just save my money for something else.

It is only $9 (on sale quite frequently) and be done with it, there was enough there to enjoy for that price in my opinion.

Delving through my large backlog of owned but unwatched series, I finished off Shingu Secret of the Stellar Wars this evening.
I had caught the first episode on a Newtype sampler disc way back, and while not impressed with it, I was willing to take a gamble on a cheap Nozomi release (only one out of many so far that did not hit with me... Lost Universe).

It was way better than I expected, and kind of unlike any series I have seen before. Good overall story, some decent fights, a very underwhelming main focus mech (it does get better at the end). But mainly this is surprisingly laid back slice of future life woven into the overall story. I was surprised that I was not bored at any point and was interested in seeing what happened next.

There was one big gripe though.... for some reason I could not chapter skip each episode's ending credits.

I'm not appreciative of Crunchyroll's new queue system. It boggles my mind how any programmer at the site believes this works for people. It doesn't help, either, when they often keep the Japanese name while the rest of world moves toward an English adaptation.

An example of this leads me to discuss the series I'm watching now: Wagnaria (Working), a comedic slice-of-life revolving around a family restaurant.

Though, don't take "comedic" too seriously. The Japanese are either very easy to please, or there's another set of writers in Japan still stuck in the 1960s. Either way, the gags, both verbal and physical, leave nothing to the imagination and their repeated use actually gets tiring.

The glimmer in the series is hidden by the tired gags, and that's the hint these characters will actually develop over time. By the 7th episode, we see one character, Inami, working to get over her fear of men as the number of times she hits Sota is reduced.

Unfortunately, if this is about as "developed" a character gets, this series doesn't look to be promising. The news of a second season is rather surprising, but again... low comedy bar in Japan seems to be the saving grace.

Oddly, I don't find myself wasting my time with this series. There's just something about it which makes the gags and stories relate to a point it doesn't seem offensive enough to force viewers to find something else.

The formula is ... working Razz

... to keep viewers interested, and this is good. It certainly explains why there's a second season, which gives me hope the last 6 episodes has something more in store for me.

By the time I was ready for bed, Aoi was introduced by telling a story so absurd, the only one who doesn't fall for it is Sato. It's this type of comedy which binds this group of misfits, and it seems we feel for them on some level of charming rather than annoyance. I'm actually looking forward to the next half, now that I'm comfortable the series won't be throwing anything more at me than it already has.

A bit premature, but I'm going to go ahead and give this one a B-, only because it hasn't forced me to "change the channel". At the same time, I wouldn't recommend a marathon of this series other than to those who can muster one for Aria. It's slow, unexciting, and uses tired comedy tropes, but entertaining enough to kill an hour or two. Grade is subject to change.

***

I caught the first episode of Battle Girls - Time Paradox because I wanted to see for myself how ludicrous a series can get with a young girl, thrown back centuries in Japan, managing to get away with whining about a cell phone signal while those around her don't even consider the device anything special.

It was... exactly what I expected, which means I'll be watching this sporadically just because I love campy stuff like this.

Admittedly, the first episode wasn't that bad, as I've seen worse. It's apparent the eye candy is being used to sucker hormone-challenged, X-chromosome prepubescents into becoming an advertising demographic, which means there is going to be no bar setting with this one. It's simply lying on the floor, which should be a cautionary note to those who expect bars to float in the air.

I won't grade this one just yet, given only one episode viewing, but if it goes higher than a "C", I'll be the one more shocked.

Then again, I do give Nuku Nuku an "A+"... Razz

Well, I'm doing an experiment on how I watch anime that represents a fairly big change over how I have been doing things for the last two years and a bit. Over that time, I have been watching a pretty fair chunk of currently airing series to completion. In 2010 and this year, I have averaged/am averaging watching about 80 anime TV series to completion, the majority of those were/are currently airing shows I stream and most of the rest are on DVDs/BDs that I own.

What I'm going to do from here on in (I think) is sample which ever currently airing shows interest me and if it looks like the series is something I like, to stop watching and buy it when it gets a physical release. For example, from this season, I know I'll want to buy Persona 4, Last Exile 2, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere and Guilty Crown (probably). Those shows are already licensed and it's only a matter of time before they get released.

Then there are a number of shows that have not been officially licensed but I'm reasonably confident they will at some point: Fate/Zero, Future Diary, Squid Girl 2, and Working!! I'm enjoying all those shows, but since I want to buy them when/if they get a release, I would prefer not to watch them to completion until I own them.

It ain't easy not watching a show that is available and that I am digging, but I do prefer watching anime from my sofa and off my TV. This way, when something I have sampled and like gets a release/license, I'll be way more jazzed about it then if I have already watched it to completion via streaming.

The other benefit of this approach is that I'll have more time to attack my physical backlog which I am keen to do.

I'm not totally abandoning streaming. I'm addicted to Fairy Tail so I'll continue to watch it. I'm sticking with Ben-to because it's unlicensed and I have my doubts that it ever will be. I'll stick with Boku wa etc, etc because it's unlicensed and while I can see it getting picked up, it doesn't feel like a sure thing. I'm also sticking with Majiko - Oh! Samurai Girls! because, even though it is licensed, I sense I'm not going to need to own this one. Hell, I'm not even sure I won't end up slamming it into my "Will Not Finish" category - episode 3 was pretty dreadful.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll be able to stick with this approach - I will miss not participating in series discussion threads here at ANN, but I want to at least try it out.

Blood- wrote:

Anyway, I don't know if I'll be able to stick with this approach...

Depends on how soon you get an HDTV you can hook your computer to.
Wink

Which may not be that long ... I'm sort of looking at Boxing Day Week as the time I'm finally going to bite the HDTV, BD player, surround sound, cheapie laptop, wireless internet connection bullet. And yes, that could definitely change my habits back.

I have to stop watching Yu Yu Hakusho. Not because I'm starting to dislike it - I'm actually loving every second of it - but because I have a teensy little problem. See, I watched the first 29 episodes in just 3 days, and I'll probably run through the rest of it in about a week and a half...if I had the rest of it. The fourth BD set doesn't street until November 29th. It'll be shipped a few weeks early knowing TRSI, but there is no way I'll have it by the time I get to that point, and I'd die waiting. So I figure that right now, after Kurama's and Kuwabara's matches, is the best place to stop since Hiei and Yuske will probably have the better and longer ones.

I wanna say this though: The one thing that has been bugging the hell out of me is that all the demons of no to little influence (Toguro's guards, the crowd, the ship demons etc..) look like, well, demons. But all the ones that are important and significant (Hiei, Kurama, Toguro, etc) look like humans. Why can't all the demons look like demons, or at least have a consistent look? Sure, there were the 4 Saint Beasts with Genbu and Byakko, but guess what the leader and one with the most screen time looked like? A human. It's just annoying.

I finally got an order I had placed with Right Stuf back in August (damn Canadian customs) so I've been watching quite a lot lately. I recently finished the Black Rose Arc of Utena, and I have to say, I'm enjoying the hell out of that show. It's strange and often confounding, but also compelling and affective. Even though I haven't finished it, I think Utena may become one of my favorite anime if it keeps getting better, as it seems it will, and I'll probably rewatch the first two thirds before I pick up the final box set in December.

I'm also watching Penguindrum, and I'm really having fun comparing it to Utena as I do. I'm finding it much more perplexing than Utena, though it's largely because of that that I want to keep going and see where everything ends up. Plus I think I prefer watching multiple episodes in one go rather than one episode each week, so I haven't seen last week's yet, as I am letting them build up at the moment. Also, is anyone else missing the Survival Strategy sequences?

I've been meaning to watch Fate/Zero and the new Last Exile, but I think I'm going to wait a while and form a backlog for those as well.

Also, I found myself with quite a bit of free time yesterday, so I broke out some local wheat beer and popped in the first disk of my copy of Spice and Wolf 2. I really loved the first season, and as the intensity of the relationship between Holo and Lawrence escalates, I'm enjoying this one even more.

Aside from those, I'm probably going to start rewatching Simoun and/or Princess Tutu in the coming days. Just feels like the season for those shows for some reason (the fact that they're both in my top ten doesn't hurt either).

I just got this damn thing yesterday, but even with eating, sleeping, lounging, and theatre rehearsals to deal with, I've already chewed through the entire 1st Collection(13 eps) of Xam'd: Lost Memories on blu-ray. Haven't shot straight through a set so quickly since Baccano!(the DVD for which I finished same-day, and the BD for which I finished less than 12 hours after first firing it up).

I've already seen Xam'd all the way through when it came on TWC's Anime Network on Demand channel late last year through early this year, and I really enjoyed it back then, but in this 2nd viewing, I can fully say I'm loving it. Even putting aside the fact the blu-ray looks f**king amazing, I think one reason I'm enjoying it so much is that--unlike the week-by-week basis it was put up on back on TV--I can just sit down and breeze through the whole damn thing at my own pace. That pace being extremely quickly, obviously. Laughing

And the actual episodes aside, it was great being able to see all the openings and ending on blu-ray at last, considering Xam'd has my favorite set of openers/closers(the 1st ops/eds on the episodes, the last op and last 2 eds as special features) of any anime. And of course, they look freakin' fantastic as well, as does this entire amazing(and amazingly animated) show.

So, yeah. The Collection 2 blu-ray just scooted its way to the top of my priority list in anime purchases; I've gotta get that shit ASAP. spoiler[ Akiyuki VS. The Hiruken Emperor, much like every other battle in the series, is gonna look F**KING GODLY on blu-ray.] Twisted Evil

I just watched (for the first time) the Endless Eight episodes of Haruhi Suzumiya. And LOVED them.

Really really really good. I wanted it to go on longer. Every time I thought, "This time is too much. If I hear that particular line again this time, I'll scream", that was the time that that detail would be varied, leaving me with admiration for the writers and director. And the episodes just continued to attract significance. (It was a parody of slice-of-life, a reflection on the very idea of topoi, ...)

The only thing disappointing me a little in these new episodes is that (so far) Kyon's voice seems less prominent, making the thing a bit less snide and a bit more simply voyeuristic/moe. But then I would rather watch the Endless Eight a hundred times than re-watch the island episodes once. That's true.

It has been ages since I posted here, but to mention a few anime that captured my interest:

I watched both seasons of Moonlight Mile and thought it was entertaining, but not really another Planetes by any measure. There was some rather wild technology in it, especially in the second season, but overall it's still a realistic space setting show. I think I preferred the first season by a bit for its motivational "space race" aspect, but the second one had more actual space in it. The second half also started building up this big conflict only to leave it unfinished in the end, bummer.

Also, for some Tezuka Osamu anime, I decided to check out the Hi no Tori movie trilogy. It was a pretty nice watch with great artwork, but overall had a bit too grim and nihilistic themes for my tastes. The final part was great though, very creepy and twisted. I guess you could extract all sorts of philosophies from it, but I'm the type that more looks at things at face value. Very artistic anime while avoiding to be stupidly convoluted at the same time.

I also watched Puchi Puri Yuushi in search for a heartwarming shoujo show. Well, it was partly what I was looking for, but half of it was random slapstick nonsense. The ending was nice though, despite some obvious DEM mechanics. Certainly not another Tutu or anything, but maybe I'm just spoiled.

Next one up, Initial D. This was simply amazing despite its technical shorcomings. Loved almost every episode of it. I'd easily rank it amongst top anime for BGM usage.

I'd have a dozen more, but it's not good to spam too much so I'll leave it at that.

I've been enjoying several of the new fall series. Fate/Zero is easily my favorite thus far. I really love all of the information about the wars, and the lack of ridiculous teen romance antics. It's such a different show, and it's really pulled me in.

Chihayafuru is also a favorite of the season. I really like the characters and their interactions, even if the card game doesn't catch my attention. The art, designs, and seiyuu are all great as well.

I'm also watching Persona 4 which I'm enjoying more after what I felt was a painful first episode. I've played the game through (and loved it), and I'm glad to see a slightly better pacing and slight variations in the anime now, rather than feeling like I'm just watching a sped up version of the game. It's still similar, but I just somehow feel that the second and third episodes were better than the first.

I'm also occasionally watching Mawaru Penguindrum. I'd like to watch it more regularly, but my husband is watching it with me, and will only watch when he's in a certain mood (basically, willing to really concentrate--he's trying to pick up all of the references, subtext, etc first go around) which means an episode every few weeks. I might just ignore him.

Although, he has been giving in to me turning on Monster a couple of times a week (another show he wants to see but never seems to want to watch). Actually, I haven't been asking--I've just been turning it on, and if he wants to see it, he just needs to watch right then or tough luck. ^_- Right now we're in that random lull where not much is happening, but each episode is still quite good.

And finally, I'm watching...The Idolmaster. Not my normal fare, but I'll admit, I'm kind of enjoying it. It's not particularly good, but it's fun fluff. I just saw the episode with the wedding gown, which was so silly and over-the-top, but also a lot of fun. It's a guilty pleasure, for sure.

Now that I've finished up Moribito (which was amazingly beautiful, and had such a nice story), I'm hoping to start Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soon. I'm also eying a few more of the fall series, but I'm not sure I'll have time for them with NaNoWriMo coming up.

In honour of the soon-to-be Hallowe'en, I plan to watch the live-action version of Blood: The Last Vampire as soon as the water boils for my instant coffee.

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