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What are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)


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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:41 am Reply with quote
bonbonsrus wrote:
Tris8 wrote:
The current wallpaper for ANN inspired me to start The World God Only Knows yesterday and it was a good watch. The first 4 episodes were hilarious, but after that it settled into a rut. I loved how obsessed with gaming Keima is. A few times his very life comes in danger and the first thing on his mind.... saving his progress or making sure his PFP doesn't break Anime hyper

You watched it all in a day? Well, I am watching this as it airs on demand and I have only seen two episodes so far. After the first minute it got better for me...the very beginning where they showed the skeleton funny face was throwing me off so much that I wasn't sure I could get into it. Thankfully it leaves that fast and lets you get hooked into the story. I am finding it pretty funny as well, I like the premise of him trying to use his gaming girl conquests tactics on real life girls. I will have to wait to see more as it comes out On Demand, but I am looking forward to it!
I agree, I love how he uses his gaming techniques on the real girls Anime hyper And how he considers real life a 'crappy game', hilarious! Ya, I finished it in one day. I was busy with drama over the weekend so I binged yesterday =)
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ailblentyn



Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Posts: 1688
Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:35 pm Reply with quote
errinundra wrote:
You sound homesick.
Always.
errinundra wrote:
I adhere to the popular theory that Sydneysiders are less enthusiastic about culture and sport [...]
Popular in Melbourne, no doubt. Very Happy
Sydney does have a problem with small cinemas in particular, I assume due to high rents and property prices. It's amazing to think of all the interesting cinemas in the city that have closed since my teenage years in the 80s: the Chauvel, Anzac House and the Encore, the New Mandarin, even the silly old Valhalla. And it's not as if the 1980s were a heyday. I gather the same thing had been going on for decades already.
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ailblentyn



Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Posts: 1688
Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:41 pm Reply with quote
Haterater wrote:
Is the second series a little "far off" than the first? Nothing wrong if it is, but I'll brace myself.
I have a sightly different take from naninanino. While the second is darker and more intense than the first, i didn't find it as inventive as the first series.
But you'll probably disagree completely!
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Haterater



Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 1727
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:38 pm Reply with quote
I see, thanks for the input! Its looking like I'll find some enjoyment at the very least with more points added if there's good Umi moments(my fav). All in the execution if run of the mill in alot of aspects for me.
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:59 am Reply with quote
Just finished Flag, which I wanted to see because dude, it's Ryosuke Takahashi! So, how does it compare to his other series? It's both different and similar. It's different in that I found it difficult to marathon. I just kept putting in disc after disc for VOTOMs and Blue Gender, but here, I just couldn't, I had to take a break after each disc. It started off a bit slow, but got engaging as it went on. It was also made with good production values. VOTOMs was made in the early 80s, so it looks outdated obviously, and Blue Gender was made with peanuts as the first half animation on anything not a mecha was kinda bad. I was also almost like "why are there mecha suddenly?" when watching Flag, then I went "duh, Ryosuke Takahashi", everything else he does has mecha, so I just went with it.
So the first thing that clearly stands out is that it's entirely in first person, usually through a camera of some sort, but sometimes through pictures and computers. It actually was a brilliant way to tell the story more than just a visual gimmick that it could've been. You couldn't see anything that a character in the show at the time couldn't, so you didn't see any backroom deals or know what the bad guys were doing any more than anyone with a camera could. I know in VOTOMs, you frequently saw what the other side was planning, and I think for more fantasy/sci-fi based wars, it works, but for something set in "the real world", I think this approach worked brilliantly.
But like I said, it's a bit hard to marathon too, and I usually marathon stuff. I think some parts of the story were kinda "wait, what?" and the visual approach made it a bit hard to get into to its disadvantage. But I still really enjoyed the show and for all you people looking for more Bandai stuff to buy before it's too late (it's almost too late on this one as is), this is one to get. I'd rate it 4 out of 5.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:49 am Reply with quote
REDLINE

Yes!

This movie is insane and corny and nonsensical and all over the place and it absolutely [expletive] works! It's just such an amazing, beautiful, energetic adrenaline ride. And it doesn't just work in spite of this. It works because of this. Does that even make sense? No? Bah! Making sense is a pre-Redline concept. Redline challenges your primitive notions of sense and smashes them into tiny little bits with an orbital satellite cannon. It's like Takeshi Koike just took every insane, awesome thing in his brain and then just went ahead and squeezed it into one movie. Every character is a new, bizarre design or concept to take in. Every element is just something else to spiral wildly out of control as the movie hurls toward a conclusion. Also, Trava is in this movie! Sweet! I didn't even really like Trava (the OVA) but I find this awesome for some reason. You know what else is in this movie? A bizarro 60s era Batman and Robin parody! Like...it's not even subtle. They basically drive a futuristic version of the Batmobile. Also, he's got his own theme music. It plays when he does a thing. So do a lot of the characters actually which is just awesome. I love the music in this movie. I love the way it cranks up the mood. The story isn't bad here either. The whole sub plot with Frizbee is cool and while the whole JP/Sonoshee romance is undeniably corny (spoiler[the movie literally ends with them kissing as they float through the air and then the word "LOVE" appears across the screen]), this actually fits perfectly with the type of movie this is.

As a rule I don't give masterpiece ratings after only watching an anime once. Now technically I have seen this movie twice. However, I don't think watching a movie immediately again afterwards, back to back, really follows the spirit of the rule. Then again, a robot man turned into a giant lizard and fought a giant glowing baby that shoots lasers. I'd say any such argument has been long since rendered invalid.

Rating: Masterpiece.
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The King of Harts



Joined: 05 May 2009
Posts: 6712
Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:53 am Reply with quote
One Piece episodes 1-46 (in three days)

I like this show! I tried watching it a few years ago using streams, but I only managed to get to episode eleven. However, on the second time through on DVDs, Funimation's Marathon Mode is amazing; one episode ends, the next one starts immediately. I also think it was a smart move on my part to watch it using my computer instead of my BD player because switching discs is seamless, load up time is only a few seconds (no looking at the "Reading" box), and I don't even have to get out of my chair since I have my binder with the discs right next to me.

I don't think it's amazing or anything, but I really like watching it because it's funny, the adventure is very interesting, and the characters are so cool. Luffy is awesome, but all those backstories for the other characters were so...so...heartwrenching! Nami's in particular dried me up because it was just so painful. Usopp's was also great, and I liked Sanji's but it went on way too long.

And, that is my only real beef with the show. I felt it a little bit before that point, but the Sanji/Don Kreig was the first time it hit me like bricks that there are some points with too much padding. I mean, that Pearl guy felt completely unnecessary and Don Kreig was basically sitting on his ass the whole time until Luffy got tired. And before that there was a bunch of gawking chefs, whining Ghin, and slow walking Sanji. That was just way too long.

The Arlong Arc felt really long too, but I wouldn't say it had the same problems as Don Kreig. Arlong was long, yes, but every second felt like it added something. It added depth to Nami, made me love Luffy even more (that "Help me" scene is one of my favorites scenes from any show), and just really made me really feel for the entire situation. The only part I felt was really padded was the Fishmen vs Zoro/Sanji/Usopp fights. Again, Arlong sitting on his ass, Luffy in a ridiculous situation, Zoro not at full health, and Usopp running away just really felt stretched. But, like the Don Kreig arc, the final fight was very good and in this case very, very touching (destroying the room).

Man, I wish Funimation could put these DVDs out a lot faster. I hate that I'll have to take a small break now so I can get through the Alabasta arc - I need set 5 and that comes out in March - and then probably take another significant break until a few more sets come out. I hope that when they get back to releasing more new episodes they go straight to 26 episode sets like they did with Conan, but I'd probably still get the 13 episode ones because I'm an idiot.
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:12 am Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:
As for myself, I watched Xenosaga: The Animation at the beginning of the week before last. I have never played any of the Xenosaga games, but I’ve always been slightly interested in them.

The games, particularly the first and third installments, are far superior to the anime. Both my daughter and I enjoyed the Xenosaga games; neither of us watched more than a couple of episodes of the anime adaptation.

I have yet to see an anime based on a JRPG franchise that has been worth watching. The Final Fantasy Unlimited anime has the required icons, like an airship, but the script is nowhere near as compelling as any of the best-known games. I didn't much like .hack as a game and liked the anime version even less. I could perhaps see an adaptation of Okami but only if the producers were willing to invest enough to carry over the extraordinary artistry of that game.

As for my own current viewing, I'm about to watch the sixth and final episode of Thermae Romae. It's really quite a hoot.
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_Emi_



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 498
Location: Langjökull
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:09 pm Reply with quote
Armored Trooper VOTOMS

I've started watching this before but ended up stopping a couple episodes into the Kummen jungle arc, so I've decided to finally to start it up again. I'm not sure why I stopped because I was really enjoying the show. At this point, I've finished to Uodoo Citty and Kummen Jungle arcs and have just started the Sunsa arc. But before I get to the show, I have to get my complaints about CPM's chapter stops off my chest. The first chapter stop skips past the title card. The problem is their is content before the title card. During the Uodoo City arc, barring a couple episodes, this is recap. But starting with the Kummen Jungle arc (episode 14), this is actual story content which the chapter skip will pass over. Annoying but tolerable, but CPM decided to skip past the title card a few minutes into the episode itself. I'm not sure why CPM decided that that would be a good place for a chapter stop.

I really like the design of the Scopedog. It's rather pedestrian compared to most mecha out there, but that is why I like it. It looks like a practical and sturdy mecha. The show is slow to get going but starts picking up once Chirico meets up with Fyana and you begin to learn a little bit about the Secret Society and the PS (so are they going to get a name or are they just going to stay the Secret Society) and even more so during the Kummen Jungle arc. Chirico also starts being slightly less stoic and begins to open up to the people around him. He's still pretty stoic though. Thankfully the show will at times gives us his internal monologue so he's not such a blank. He's no whiny kid who just happens to be an ace pilot. He got his skills through years of fighting.

I like how the show stars up during the end of the war showing how crappy it still is even after the war's end. The show has already brought up several times how people like Chirico know nothing but the battlefield and cannot be content anywhere else. The story gets you rooting for Chirico and Fyana to find some lasting happiness, but with 26 episodes left, I know that is going to be awhile. My favorite character so far is Prince Kanjelman. I still think he's a cool old guy even after spoiler[you find out he intended for his side to lose.] My least favorite has been Kan Yu. spoiler[Took long enough for the jackass to die.]

The weakest point of Armored Trooper VOTOMS is the animation which is crude. Now on to the Deadworld Sunsa arc.
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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:45 pm Reply with quote
ailblentyn wrote:
I am in similar viewing situations with two comparable shows: four or five episodes away from finishing each of Hana Yori Dango and Honey and Clover II.


Have you finished Honey and Clover?
Always interested in other's thoughts on the ending. I hated the series, then slowly started liking it and by the end had forgiven the early hate I had.

Finished:
Shin Koihime Musō: Otome Tairan I have to wonder how I managed to end up owning all three of these. Of the three, I thought this was certainly the weakest, as it seemed they toned down the dirty jokes and comments in favor of story and *gasp* character developement. You do not watch these kind of shows for that.

Galaxy Railways: I should not be surprised by a weird kind of mashup between Star Blazers and Galaxy Express 999. I know its a trope, but time and again we are treated to a military subordinate who disobeys direct orders almost every episode.... and they are always proven right. Just once I would like to see the disobedience cause all his friends and comrades their deaths. I found little here to like, but nothing to really hate, the series is just there, to go back on the shelf and gather dust from now on.

Midwatch on: Otogi Zoshi, Nighthead Genesis, Gakuen Alice, Ghost Slayers Ayashi.
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RGaspar



Joined: 04 Oct 2011
Posts: 235
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:00 pm Reply with quote
I'm following two series this season, I think I'll explode.

Amagami SS+ Eps 1 to 4: Not a big fan of the original anime (it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either) but I started watching the sequel because I thought it would feature more fan-service. I was deadly wrong, though, as it is the same as the first season. Meh, if I endured 26 episodes, I can stand 13 more.

Bodacious Space Pirates Eps 1&2: The preview guide got me interested and they were right. It's a lot of fun so far. It's much more tame with school things than what it is with Sci-Fi things. So, it's a pleasant beginning, light on boring moments you've seen a zillion times, and full of little touches here and there (holograms everywhere, characters that aren't 100% stereotypes, etc). Hope it doesn't go downhill later on.

Edit: Ep 3 still delivers. They are taking this story slooowly and that's a good thing. Every final minute of every episode feels like a cliffhanger Smile

And, I finally started my Ghibli Marathon. The first two movies were pure gold:

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: Very good movie, with a great fantasy world built into it. It's not perfect, though. The message of the film is way too much in-your-face for my tastes, with characters that sometimes feel more of a representation of something else than real living beings. I guess Miyazaki became more refined in latter years (If I remember Princess Mononoke correctly).

Laputa: Castle In The Sky: Wow, this one is a beautiful film. Impressive scenarios, heartwarming story and sometimes I even felt some vertigo (Pazu is nuts, I'd have died a thousand times before doing the things he does). The name of the castle is hilarious, btw, because the spanish meaning is "The Whore (La > The; Puta > Whore)".

Edit: I forgot about Redline, dunno why, because I loved it. Such an audiovisual odyssey. The hype is not enough to express how awesome this film is. Animation at its best.

Can't wait for the next bunch of episodes and films Smile Gotta get the most of my holidays.


Last edited by RGaspar on Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:29 pm Reply with quote
_Emi_ wrote:
My least favorite has been Kan Yu. spoiler[Took long enough for the jackass to die.]

Oh man, I have never been so happy to see spoiler[a character bite the dust as I was with him], never in my life, man! And I was mad when spoiler[he wasn't actually dead after Chirico shoved him into the river, and while at first I was mad at the Quentman for saving him, he did endear me to him when he threw him off the edge at the end]

Also, I agree about the chapter skip thing, who though that was a good idea for any arc past Uodoo City? All I can say is "what the hell is wrong with you people?" because I then had to fastforward past the OP instead of chapter skipping like any normal person would do. Also, why on earth are the Nutech discs double sided? Who puts previews on the other side of a disc, honestly! You bet I never bothered to look at them, you're putting 3, sometimes 4, subbed eps on a DVD, why on earth would previews not be able to fit on there? Oh yeah, and the series is on 16 discs, that's not easy to fit anywhere! But yeah, some poor choices on the manufacturing of the DVDs aside, still a great show.
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ailblentyn



Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Posts: 1688
Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:04 pm Reply with quote
Gewürtztraminer wrote:
Have you finished Honey and Clover?
Always interested in other's thoughts on the ending.
I'm still processing the ending, actually. Sometimes it takes me a long time to think through something I've watched.
I do like Hagu's and Shuji's endings, spoiler[with their ambiguity, and refusal of romance as a answer to everything.] Yuta's ending too fits in with the theme spoiler[that you can't use love as an escape,] which is refreshing.
I'm not so wowed by Yuta's final reflections on love. I feel as if that's a message I've been given a hundred times already in anime such as --- I don't know --- Diebuster?! ("Being thankful for pain and suffering is so stupid! But that's what it means to be human!")
Of course at the same time, spending all that time with such highly motivated, generally successful and mature characters made me feel like a total loser in comparison. No wonder I generally prefer a touch more escapism!
(Shinobu's story in Honey and Clover II never got me in. I wasn't ever sufficiently persuaded that I needed to start taking this comic character seriously enough to buy the story there.)

Okay, Galaxy Railways. I do like Matsumoto, and don't begrudge his universe another twist, but I just wonder why it really needed to exist. If it was doing anything new at all, I missed it.
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ailblentyn



Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Posts: 1688
Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:03 am Reply with quote
@RGaspar
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (the movie) is certainly less sophisticated than Princess Mononoke, but it's so fresh and exciting, isn't it?

You're right about Pazu's crazy athleticism. There's a cartoonishness to his antics that I connect with Lupin's in Cagliostro and Conan's in Future Boy Conan that thereafter (as far as I remember?) disappears in Miyazaki. Compare San's roof-climbing: even though she's acrobatic as Daredevil, it's quite different from the physics-defying stuff of earlier works, no?

Second thoughts: Maybe Porco Rosso has a little of it?
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The King of Harts



Joined: 05 May 2009
Posts: 6712
Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:56 am Reply with quote
Rewatched ef - a tale memories for the first time since watching it over two years ago.

I'm gonna focus more on the dub since most people know I love the show; I freaked when Sentai licensed it (Key had to censor me) and some of the older posters are probably aware that I was going to make this my first ever import, though I only got the art box. I loved the show then, I love the show now, I love it for all the reasons you'd expect (touching drama).

This dub, though. This dub had a real shaky start with Clint (Renji) not exactly doing the opening inner dialogue that well. However, once he started talking out loud and with the other characters he was really good, and then I found out that the acting by everyone else was really good as well. The acting is really good, the script kind of annoys me. The script itself flows really well, unlike Foster dubs that I doubt even have adapted scripts, but it has my number one Cardinal Sin: honorifics. Not just honorifics though, there are several times where they say "onii-chan", and for some reason they bounce between saying that and "big brother"; It's so odd that I sent an email to Chris Ayres (Directer/Writer) as to why he did that since it is so odd and seems deliberate on his part.

I actually knew going in that the dub had retained the honorifics since they streamed the first episode last week and other posters pointed that out, and I was more than deflated since I was originally really excited over a Chris Ayres production since 1) I like his previous work on Nerima Daikon Bros and Magikano and 2) it means they're actually branching away from Foster (thank goodness). However, now that I actually remember the show, I can let it slide in this case since honorifics are a HUGE part of the show and can't simply be dubbed over or a lot of meaning will be lost. I can't forgive the "onii-chan" thing, though, because that's unacceptable - it'd be like leaving "kawaii" undubbed. Also, the actors and Chris pulled it off perfectly, so they didn't really sound unnatural or mess with the flow - the reasons I usually hate honorifics in dubs. That doesn't I don't wish they could've found a more natural and English way of doing it, though.

Back to the acting, I was a little surprised to see Luci Christian playing Miyako. I don't know what it was, but seeing Luci's voice coming from Miyako's mouth created a little disconnect at first (I adjusted by the end of the first episode). Now, I'm a huge fan of Luci's and think she's one of the best in the business, but she's much better at performing as little kids, stoic girls, or older women than she is as average or peppy teenagers (excluding Tenma, who's more of a kid anyways). However, I find her to be one of the best because she is incredible at drama scenes, and Miyako has a some of those herself, and, as expected, Luci was fantastic. In fact, most everyone was pretty good at the drama bits, except for Chis Patton, who I feel has always dipped a little when it comes to deep, emotional scenes, despite being an otherwise great actor.

The drama bits outside of Luci and Monica (who was another stand out with Luci) was a bit lacking in punch, though. However, I'm confident that is because I knew everything, and despite not really crying like I did the first time around (some wateriness, but not a lot of full on crying), I was able to appreciate those moments a lot, so the actors still put on very good performances since I still felt attached and on edge. The scene in episode eleven still got me good though, so props to Clint and Monica.

Overall a very good dub. Patton's average performance in the deeper moments and the constant use of onii-chan - particularly in two very important scenes towards the end, spoiler[Renji seeing Chihiro wake up and panicking and Kei confessing] - held it back from being better, though it is much more than serviceable.
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