Anime/manga megathread

[Don Vito]

I think Alberto7 just broke the SSO record for longest forum post. I'm just now waking up, so I'll read the second half a little later.

 

[Alberto7]

I promised a long review. I haven't written this much since I did my research paper for the final project in my political science course a year and a half ago. I honestly missed it; I love writing.

 

[Fat-Elf]

Watched Another earlier this week. Pretty good and pretty slow paced but it got better in the end. The whole series was kinda like Final Destination the anime. I gotta say the last two episodes had some fine black humour in them or I'm just sick in the head.

 

[Alberto7]

I've heard good things about Another. I haven't given it a try myself, but it looks nice; I dig the main character's design.

In other news, I just found this, and I'm all happypanda:



Filmed at AnimeJapan 2014 (first edition of the expo, curiously). I can't wait for the high-quality version to come out so I'm able to have a better judgement of what to expect.

I'm showing my sister Fate/Zero and she's loving the shit out of it.

EDIT: I went to the fate-sn.com website, and they've updated with news on the second trailer (even though they haven't shown it publicly yet, other than the expo on video above), news on the cast (all the original voice actors from the F/SN anime), and news on the staff (all people involved in previous iterations of F/SN and F/Z). They also uploaded a new poster, and mention a few key things about who will be the protagonists. I do see images in whatever's visible of that video that belong to key parts of the story that I was hoping would show up, and the animation looks stupid amazing. In other words, this is bound for greatness.

I said I'd stop with the whole Fate thing, but they just keep coming up with all this amazing stuff, and I can't stop being excited.

EDIT: This is it http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-03-24/fate/stay-night-anime-remake-cast-staff-revealed

 

[Somnium]

Yeah so when I got that Steins;Gate movie in the mail the box was mad smashed up. $100 collector's edition movie + $10 extra for shipping and they send it to me in a bubble mailer. Top lel. My friend, who just finished the anime actually, downloaded the movie. Gotta prepare myself for feels of the most harrowing kind lol. Also needa peep the third Evangelion rebuild, and Fate/Unlimited Blade Works, and the 3 Madoka films, and Summer Wars...

All that aside, I was going to start watching Kill La Kill on Hulu because I wanted something without soul rending feels, but not even 3 minutes into the first episode I had to sit through 5 ads. So I hopped over to Netflix to see what was new and decided to watch some Sword Art Online. That's nice and light-hearted right? lol. Just lol. On the plus side SAO totally exceeded my expectations, like friggin ten-fold. On the flip side I wasn't expecting all dem feelz. Sword Art Online? More like Suicide Art Online. Niggas jumping to their deaths all over the place lol.

 

[Alberto7]

Don't get me started on SAO. It's a fucking brilliant piece of polished turd, and I say that with a lot of love.

If you haven't played the visual novel, I strongly recommend against watching Unlimited Blade Works. I watched it a few days ago and I was quite disappointed. It's really cool to see the battles animated (even if they do fall on the short side), and the production values are great, but it's just so horribly put together. You won't have a clue of what's going on.

Well, once you do watch the S;G film, even a short, spoiler-free opinion would be appreciated. A couple people in this thread have already said that it's good and a good way to kill that S;G void, while I've heard elsewhere that it's really just fanservice and that they didn't appreciate it. I'm afraid to look for reviews online in case they spoil it, so it'd be nice if you, or anybody who's watched it, could shed some light on it.

And, since Kill la Kill ended, I'm thinking ever more seriously of making that my next watch after I'm done with my F/SN craze. Apparently it does live up to its hype.

There are also a couple of really cool anime coming out this Spring. I'll leave some descriptions and trailers of the ones I'm looking forward to (even though I'm not sure how closely I'll follow them):

Brynhildr in the Darkness:
This looks really cool. It gives off a slight S;G vibe to me, for some reason. The source material is supposed to be great. I'm loving the music in the trailer, too.

Gokukoku no Brynhildr | AniList

One Week Friends:
This looks like it will be a very mean cross between Usagi Drop and something like Anohana. I expect an overdose of cute and feels.

Isshuukan Friends. | AniList

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei:
Apparently it's being hyped up a lot, and I really like the premise, but I'm not digging the art and the moe. I have a feeling this will be like SAO, but it's just a hunch:

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei | AniList

Mushishi Zoku Shou:
Second season of Mushishi. The reason I'm looking forward to it is because I've been meaning to watch the first season for the longest time (which came out like 8-9 years ago...!!), as, from what I've heard, it's right up my alley. Not leaving a trailer for this one in case it contains spoilers, so I'm just going to leave the description page of the first season.
Mushi-Shi (TV) - Anime News Network

Mekaku City Actors:
I just really, really like that poster. All trailers are just a picture of the character with its corresponding voice acting; no actual footage.
Mekaku City Actors | AniList

Knights of Sidonia:
Right, this is what I am actually looking forward to. It's like Evangelion meets Gundam meets Attack on Titan in glorious CGI. It sounds incredibly interesting, and the visuals are super cool. Leaving three trailers for this one.



Sidonia no Kishi | AniList


There are a million other shows coming out and it seems that this spring is really hyped-up, so I expect to see good shows. Here's the entire list of Spring shows: AniChart.net | Interactive Seasonal Upcoming Anime Charts

 

[sakeido]

I just finished Kill la Kill yesterday. The ending was a little lackluster imo but considering the show starts on a high and then just gets crazier and crazier up until around episode 21 or so, it kinda makes sense it eventually has to cave in and start doing things by the numbers. Episode 25 out in September or something like that as a bonus for the last bluray release iirc

But awesome artwork, great animation, a lot of funny moments, pretty decent characters (obviously nothing on the level of steins;gate). Highly entertaining start to finish.

re: Steins;gate movie.

Fanservice it is... you want to spend more time with these characters, so you get it. And actual fan service too from Kurisu. The actual issue in the story she is trying to resolve comes up suddenly, and since they had to wrap it all up in one movie it doesn't get room to breathe. A large number of convenient plot devices occur to help wrap things up within the movie's running time. Overall, the plot pales in comparison to the original series, but after a certain point I watched S;g 95% for the characters and only about 5% for the plot

 

[Alberto7]

Sounds like I'll like it, then, since it sounds similar to what I had in mind. Like you, what I like about Steins;Gate are mostly the characters, so, if that's the case, I should enjoy it.

 

[Ikiharmaa]

I guess I should watch that too, wasn't even aware something like that existed

Anyways, I figured I'd post here again now that I've been procrastinating so much that I've managed to finish a whole bunch of anime. My to-watch -list isn't getting any shorter though because I just keep picking random anime instead of watching something that I have even little expectations of. Oh well, let's just move in a chronological order:

Dog Days was that "something cheerful" after watching Serial Experiments Lain, and tbh it delivered. After the first episode I figured it would be something like a sports/fighting shounen, but fortunately it turned something different (the amount of sports in chihayafuru was too much for me already). At times the setting was a tad harem-like though, which I thought was a bad sign but it's all nice and dandy actually. I guess simply saying I liked it because of how light-hearted it was would be wrong, because it turned out to get more serious than I initially thought.. It was probably more something like kindness. Aaaand I really love the way Yukikaze talks, and D'arquien, and some others whose names I don't remember because there was plenty of really nice cast.

Crest of the Stars + Banner of the Stars seasons and whatnot everything related. I probably enjoyed the first season the most, but the other seasons also had that same witty dialogue and progress in their relationship so I guess for the most part what I enjoyed was kept intact. I'm glad that it was more about strategy and politics when it came to battles, but apart from the first battle I didn't really find the actual battles too interesting (the dialogue and the abhs taking part were tons more interesting to me). I have to say though that I haven't seen such cinematography in anime elsewhere. The first season has a sort of special moment that I will probably remember for a long time simply because of how effective the cinematography around that moment was.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko had nice graphics and a few cute characters (the aunt, the tall, and the futon). Truth be told I accidentally clicked the title when I was going to watch Denpa Teki na Kanojo, and I enjoyed this one more despite the male lead being way more stereotypical.

Denpa Teki na Kanojo, yeah no. It's not too bad at all really I guess, but it's just not something I'd enjoy watching. The characters aren't that clichey and there's some rather interesting scenes as well, but I was rather turned off by the art and the ugly mood. Perhaps it's just not my genre.

Kodomo no Jikan was an interesting watch to say the least. After the first episode I was dropping it and calling it what Gunslinger Girl might've been with ecchi, but I'm glad I didn't actually drop it because it turned out to be surprisingly thoughtful (not with the fanservice, mind you). It certainly was a weird mix of comedy and feels, and way underage ecchi to go with it all, but the themes it handles are exquisite, and somehow they are fondled without breaking too many bones even. Out of all of the shows I've watched lately this definitely felt the most profound. To me personally, the fanservice didn't even feel like any sort of fanservice after the first episode so it didn't disturb me as much as I thought it would.


I'll be back in few weeks again :3

 

[bouVIP]

So I watched and finished Engaged to the Unidentified after seeing the clip from here. It was pretty funny. I especially liked Benio's weird character and Mashiro!

 

[Alberto7]

Well, that's a bunch of shows I haven't heard of, which is quite cool. The past couple of days I've felt like watching something that's not as supremely epic as what I've been watching for the past months, so I might come back to the last few names dropped in a few weeks and pick one to watch to just kind of relax and be surprised

... way underage ecchi to go with it all, but the themes it handles are exquisite, and somehow they are fondled without breaking too many bones even.

Giggity!

 

[bouVIP]

So I've watched like 5 episodes or so of Steins;gate, but do you guys think I should play the VN first or finish the anime and then play?

 

[HexaneLake]

Anyone watch Real Drive (Sennou Chousashitsu)?

Beautifully animated.

 

[Alberto7]

Looks interesting! Very cool premise. Really reminds me of Ghost in The Shell, on paper, at least. And it's made by Production I.G. too. Who woulda thought?

So I've watched like 5 episodes or so of Steins;gate, but do you guys think I should play the VN first or finish the anime and then play?

I've never played the VN. I watched the anime and it still instantly became one of my favorites. The one person I know that played it (or that began playing it, at least; I never asked him how it went) did so after finishing the anime. I'm not sure how much it might affect the anime's entertainment value.

 

[HexaneLake]

Its pretty good, I LOVE Ghost in the Shell tho. Nothing takes that spot. Black Lagoon anyone? also a classic

 

[Fat-Elf]

So I've watched like 5 episodes or so of Steins;gate, but do you guys think I should play the VN first or finish the anime and then play?

Just watch the anime. The VN was just boring.

 

[Alberto7]

After bouVIP asked the question I searched about a little bit, and it seems like the VN is quite a bit more detailed (understandably so) and the alternate endings are apparently worth it. It also depends on how well you get along with the concept of visual novels. I understand why some people wouldn't dig that concept. I personally found the concept really cool when I played F/SN, and quite different from anything else.

Its pretty good, I LOVE Ghost in the Shell tho. Nothing takes that spot. Black Lagoon anyone? also a classic

Black Lagoon kicks so much ass. That one scene with Balalaika and the f*cked up twin... that's possibly one of my favorite moments of sheer badassery in all of anime. And, of course, Roberta. Oh, Roberta.

 

[Ikiharmaa]

Black Lagoon anyone? also a classic

I'd pick Jormungand over Black Lagoon any day of the week, even if Black Lagoon is the original classic. I liked both though, very high entertainment value.

And I'm sure I've said the exact same thing before already, with the same words too.

 

[Don Vito]

Found season 2 of K-ON at the thrift store, so now I can watch the English dub.

 

[Alberto7]

That's awesome. All I find at thrift shops here are smelly jackets, gaudy shirts, dirty children's toys, and electronics from a decade ago.