Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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Melanchthon
 Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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I've been watching my newest addition to my collection, Tsukikage Ran, which I bought from Random Dude on Ebay as a Christmas present for myself (The first volume was still factory sealed, so I got a kick out of the insert advertising Bandai's 2002 release schedule. You could get Love Hina Vol. 4 for only $29.98!) I find Ran fascinating because she has no sex appeal at all. She is the anti-moe. And you just don't see these kind of characters and stories in today's anime, and that is disappointing.
Also, I've been finishing up Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, which sucks balls. The directing is terrible. Episodes reach a climax, and then just end, with no catharsis, and pick up an entirely different plot line at the start of the next. Here are the three biggest flaws with Denpa: 1) Maekawa. This character is so utterly stupid she breaks immersion every time she appears. And after the third episode, she is the plot driver. She is the catalysis for all action, so she never fades into the background. She also lacks any motive for her actions, so she appears to be the author's avatar, creating the story the author wishes to tell. This is sloppy storytelling at the best, and Denpa is far from the best. 2) The male lead. The dude is so unimpressive I can't even remember his name. Apparently, I'm not alone, since the characters don't even call him by his name in the show, either. I know that milquetoast harem leads are standard, but they are still bad. And unlike similar shows like Asobi ni Iku yo!, the point of view never leaves the male lead. Only in one episode is the story told by someone else, Meme, and it's no surprise that that episode is probably the best. So the viewer is stuck watching over the shoulder of some hapless kid as he studiously tallies adolescence points instead of living life. 3) The shtick. My favorite romance stories are the ones between to normal characters, like Lovely Complex or Iketeru Futari or Diamond Daydreams. But lately, all rom-coms have some kind of a shtick. The shtick in Denpa is the fact that Erio is a screwball, and believes she was abducted by aliens. But Erio is 'healed' after the third episode, in a complete unbelievable way, and she fades into the background. The shtick then is rarely used after the fact, and is replaced by a rather generic harem story. Either use the shtick or cut it entirely! This kind of half-assed storytelling is worst than even bad storytelling. Erio is far too weak a character, and she gets pushed out of her own show. She should be more like the Ancient Aliens guy. And finally, Denpa hasn't been licensed yet. If anyone is thinking about it, you should rename it: Close Encounters of the Romantic Kind. Seriously, it's a perfect fit, because that dude is too much of a wuss to get anywhere other than close. |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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Finished Casshern Sins, and the ending was just as slow as the rest of the series. There was something irritating in the recurring scenes f Casshern jumping and doing somersaults in the air before ripping of another batch of countless robots, Dio constantly delivering the same line, Ringo being cute in every episode, Lyuze with the same doubts fro episode 1-23. The series did not offer the characters much chance to develop really, and it id did, the changes were really superficial and did not have much impact on the series. I really tried to get into the series, but as time went by, I became emotionally detached from it.
At any rate, time not completely wasted, but I wish I had chosen something different to watch over Christmas. I am not hesitating between Requiem for the Phantom and Kimi no Todoke... Or something else really... I am not even sure whether I am in a mood for slice of life or something more lively. Anyone can say anything about Books of Bantorra? |
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NonoAsumy
Posts: 90 |
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I liked the first few episodes of Hyouge Mono a lot, but at the moment I am (as every fan) desperately waiting for the sub groups...
I feel so very dependent. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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"Not hesitating"? I'm not sure what you mean by that. Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra is a pretty good show. But you have to look past the deficiencies with the animation (the first episode has some horrendous looking ocean waves) and the character of Hamyuts Meseta, who is probably the weakest character in the show. Oh, I don't mean physically weakest - she's definitely overpowered - but she is poorly written. Which is a shame, since she's so important to the plot and gets so much screentime. Also, the show starts a bit unsure of itself and a little baffling, and it can't decide which characters to follow. So what's good about the show? It actually invents its own plausible religion and uses the ideas to great effect. Seriously, you may not agree with their philosophy - I certainly didn't - but it was internally consistent and quite logical if one was to believe the initial premises. The series had a strong supporting cast. Well, I thought so at any rate. What initially appeared to be an indecisiveness over which character was the lead was actually the series telling us that this was an ensemble cast. Each played a part - some big, some small, but all relevant - in shaping the show and advancing the plot. Finally, there is one big revelation and one big twist, and both are interesting and quite well executed. To the point where it makes one rethink the actions of certain characters up till then. Although I'd put it on the lower end. I still gave the show a rating of Very Good. It wasn't amazing, and I don't consider it a must-see show. But it was solid enough; the ideas were well thought out, it was enjoyable, and it gave me food for thought. I don't know if you will like it or not, but yeah, I just want you to know that it isn't the trainwreck it first looks like. (Which is kind of funny, because if my memory serves me correctly there was an actual train crash early on in the show.)
One of the best shows this year and it is being treated very poorly by the fansub community. A huge slight if I do say so myself. Kudos to the one group doing it (spoiler[Huzzah]) but they've only subbed eight episodes. Out of thirty-five that have been released thus far in raw form. Someone else really needs to pick up this series, because it is easily in my top ten for the year. Last edited by dtm42 on Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Unicorn_Blade
Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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Typo, typo, it was supposed to be 'now' not 'not'. I have heard mixed opinions about Books of Bantorra, but none of my friends actually saw the entire thing, and the anime club I belonged to at uni only showed a trailer of it and dropped it, which I thought was a bad sign, but from the look of it, it had a nice mood. From what you say, seems promising enough to at least give it a go! I actually find the art quite nice, and the animation was not really the most important factor for me anyway. Thanks! @ NanoAsumy- this is the reason I dropped Hyougemono. Because of the amount of names and detail, I found it hard to keep track of little nuances of the plot, and waiting weeks/months for new episodes made it more difficult to follow the plot and understand everything. If they ever manage tu sub the whole series, I will gladly pick it up, but for now, I can't see the point. |
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Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
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Finished S-CRY-ed and watched it dubbed. I guess WTF could be a nice way to describe it. Nothing just seemed make any sense, seemed like the writers just gave up half way through. They just didn't bother explaining anything. The dub was pretty bad, mostly because the dialogue was just awful and cheesy: "You fool. Come to your daaad!!"
Also I've been watching Genshiken 2. But I'm pretty sure I'll try to finish it some other time. |
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hipnox
 Posts: 143 |
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Just finished Steins:Gate. Pretty good show if you can survive the slow slice-of-life-ish pace of the first episodes. Unfortunately it has some minor (and not so minor) plotholes and inconcistencies that drag the series down a bit and the final episodes are pretty meh.
Good show non the less. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I am watching Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, I watched the first two seasons a while back, and I only really decided to watch this one. Partialy out curiosity that I might never get to it, and that Madoka thread going out of control.
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dirkusbirkus
 Posts: 699 Location: Manchester, UK |
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Grown-up Nanoha, mmmm.
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I just finished marathoning Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but it does what it does pretty well. The ghost hunting club (can't remember their real name) are probably one of my favourite parts, although I think my favourite thing is how hard Nura tries to just be a normal kid and not wanting powers, unlike a lot of shonen heroes.
Continuing my 90's shojo mission, I'm nearly half way through Gokinjo Monogatari. You can definitely see how Ai Yazawa has evolved as a storyteller if you compare it to Nana. There's also only 1 character who I don't like, which is rare for a drama, and the female lead actually has a personality and a mind of her own, which is awesome. Next on the 90's shojo list is Marmalade Boy, I think. I'm also giving Katanagatari a go. I really like it and the story is really interesting, but I think there's just a bit too much talking for it to be exceptional. I've never read the novels (unlikely that I ever will unless I get my Japanese good enough) but it seems from the 2 Zaregoto novels I've read in translation, Nisioisin's style is quite wordy. I just think some of the explanatory/backstory dialogue could have been adapted better into anime form, rather than just having 2 characters explaining things to each other all the time. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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To tell he truth that may be why did not watch this one straight after the previous two, I thought that it might be a bit too shocking to have a ten year time leap so sudenly. I wanted to think of her a little longer as the iconic young "White Devil". My favourite bit so far was having Nanoha actually show how harsh she could be and not just a pushover, and finding out that all the times she pushed herself did have a consequence. Just like the others it is so strange that it can be so corny at times, but I just can't look away. |
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dirkusbirkus
Posts: 699 Location: Manchester, UK |
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I really enjoyed that aspect of StrikerS, seeing how Nanoha had matured and how she deals with more adult responsibilities, her harsher side (and boy is she harsh sometimes). The interaction and bond between her and adult Fate is also believable, exactly how I'd imagine two people who've been close since childhood would act.
They handled the time leap pretty well to be honest. |
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supercreep
 Posts: 526 |
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I watched the first episode of kamisama dolls on Crunchyroll and decided that it was not for me. I also started watching the mystical archives of dantalian and AnoHana. I am enjoying both so far, and it's interesting to watch Dantalian after coming off of Gosick.
I am also making time for Ben-To and R.O.D. the TV |
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WhiteHairGirls
 Posts: 4713 Location: New York City |
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You should not give up on Kamisama dolls. It was an enjoyable show. It gets much better. |
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supercreep
Posts: 526 |
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Really? Hmmm, well then maybe I'll give it another go.
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