Update: Fall 2008 Anime Season

Roll Soul · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:23 am Post subject:

Not exactly spring anymore, but...

I've actually been keeping an eye on the impending Ouran High School Host Club dub by FUNi, which is set to air... somewhere... on (or around?) July 7th. Right now, since I can't watch stuff on Youtube or anywhere else online for that matter (slow connection T_T ) I'm praying it comes on a station I actually get XD;
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Unknown Neo · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject:

marihikari · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:58 pm Post subject:

Midnight · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:23 pm Post subject:

H2O--I actually watched that one. The protagonist is blind, so that's a bit of a new quirk for that series. It is straight harem, but in its execution comes something more--quite a lot of social commentary, and the story eventually shows how the blind protagonist actually sees better than the rest of the town, in a manner of speaking. It's a recommendation, but not a strong one to me.

Full Metal Panic--Absolute gold. One of the few anime that I have reviewed that earned an A+ in all of its incarnations. It is primarily action, but does a good job of seemingly integrating many other genres within it, including comedy, romance, and school slice-of-life. It's one that I recommend everyone to watch.

As for the others, I can't say I have watched them, but I'd recommend looking at Haruhi as well--it's one of the more esoteric series that I have seen recently, and its visuals are beautiful.
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ComicX6 · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject:

Well, it took me much longer than expected, due to being away from my computer plus a virus in which I should've lost everything but by some fluke I didn't, but I've finally finished watching Evangelion, so as promised, I shall share my thoughts on it. I'm no Robert Ebert, as I'm sure my Ryuusei and Tribe summaries will attest, but I'll do my best.

First, I'll start off with what I liked.

It seems, in this superficial day and age, that many anime fans expect the protagonist(s) of their action shows to be pillars of masculinity. Ever since the advent of GAR and the surgence of popularity of shows like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, G Gundam, and Hokuto no Ken, the character(s) must be so manly that they transcend manly. And here comes along Neon Genesis Evangelion, whose characters are largely emotional, and unstable wrecks.

Where am I getting at with this? Well, Evangelion puts a new (Well, not quite new anymore, but you get the picture) spin on things. While the cast face external danger in the form of the Angels, their most deadly enemies come from within: doubt, lack of self-esteem, denial, hidden desires etc. In essence, they are flawed in some of the most human ways possible, and that is what I enjoyed watching; the characters' different ways of dealing with their pain. Yes, it was a bit overdone at times, and I can easily see why people wouldn't like it, but this show dealt with themes that most mainstream, shonen anime of today barely even touch, and if they do, it is on a far more simpler level.

Next, this show used a lot of Judeo-Christian imagery, which I am a bit of a sucker for. I liked the Angels' names fit them really well. Zeruel, for example, or ''Toliet Paper Angel'', as I've seen it called, was the angel of strength, which it demonstrated quite adequately. Also Tabrais, Kaworu, is the angel of free will, which he demonstrated by choosing to die rather than initiate Third Impact. The symbolism and allegory come to a head in End of Evangelion, what with the Sepiroth, vaginal orfrices, the embryotic Adam placed inside Rei's womb, and the Holy Stigmata. Again, I'm a bit of a sucker for stuff like this, so I found it rather fascinating to watch.

Now for some stuff I didn't like.

It's no secret that the production started flagging towards the end. The last two episodes, in conjunction with the opening, made it clear that much more was supposed to be happening then the audience saw. In particular, it was End of Evangelion, apparent from the shots of the dead Misato and Ritsuko, as well as Unit-02 in the lake. Thus, I felt rather unsatisfied with the TV ending, and it left a lot of stuff unexplained or vague, such as what exactly SEELE was, the entire deal with Kaworu (which Rebuild seems to be remedying), what exactly Rei is (Almost positive that she's a clone of Yui via Lilith), where the Dead Sea Scrolls originally came from, and so forth. Luckily, End of Evangelion plugged a number of holes for me rather nicely. But it does have one critical flaw, I feel.

And that flaw is that the larger part of the movie deals with the relationship between Shinji and Asuka. The movie depicts Shinji as somewhat dependent on her and wanting to understand and be understood by her. The TV series, unfortunately, does not depict this very much at all, and if it does, it only focuses on one end of the so-called relationship (And no, sexual fantasys do not constitute a relationship in my book). Thus, the scenes in the hospital, hanger, and Shinji's own portrayal of her in his mind came off as hollow and incomplete.

All that being said, I still enjoyed watching the entire story unfold. While there were obviously parts that could stand improvement, some of the visuals and metaphors really made it worthwhile for me, especially the highly disturbing, yet impressive post-apocalyptic scenerio in End of Evangelion. I am looking forward to the next three Rebuild films, to see what they change (Quite a bit by the looks of it) and what they flesh out and expand upon. I'm expecting some elaboration on Asuka's mother being the soul of Unit-02, since that wasn't explained at all. This is not a series for everyone, and some of the criticism is entirely justified, but it is not material to be dismissed as simply metaphorical garbage.

...

Didn't mean to write an essay there, but there you go. This is definitely my longest non-summary post. Whew.
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Unknown Neo · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:12 pm Post subject:

That's all true. And a lot of people think Rei is just Shinji's mom cloned. And I think Asuka's mom is in her EVA. But with the movies and everything, we may understand it. Also, someone did a doujin of EVA that was pretty good and pretty well accepted. The problem is that it's a little "high rated". If you want it, I could find a link for you.

ComicX6 · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:44 pm Post subject:

Nah, that's okay. I'm not really into the whole doujin subculture.

''Eva'' and ''high rated'' mean nothing to me now. Heck, I'm sorely tempted to take a cap of that scene where Shinji and Rei are lying in the water with Kaworu looking at them and scrawl some really stupid double entendre on there somewhere.
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I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/

Unknown Neo · Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 3:48 pm Post subject:

Like a very Quagmire "Jackpot!"? That would be something horrible.

marihikari · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:56 pm Post subject:

lol. just started h20 footprints in the sand, and am watching doki doki school hours and i saw a little of le chevalier d'eon and liked it ^_^.

shugo chara is always good, gotta watch that and more shuffle! and of course more katekyo hitman reborn.

to watch list- the third
gurren lagann
full metal panic
azumanga daioh (loved the manga)
and more ^_^.
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Unknown Neo · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:53 pm Post subject:

Well, TTGL is on Sci-Fi now so that should be easy to watch. Plus, the DVDs are coming out. Although I don't know how the sheer manly-ness would effect you. ha ha ha But it's pretty good so far.

bluesapphire · Net Battler Age: 33 Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 56

H2O~Footprints in the Sand is a good show. I liked it. Vampire Knight I kinda stopped watching a while back, it 'sorta' follows the manga. As for le chevalier d'eon, I'm interested in watching, youtube is missing some episodes and I can only find foreign language subbings on veoh.

ComicX6 · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject:

Well, to fill the void finishing Evangelion has caused, I've picked up D.Gray Man. At roughly five episodes in it's...not bad. It's like someone baked a Fullmetal Alchemist cake, spread some Hellsing icing on it, and finished it off with some Bleach sprinkles. The beginning's a bit slow, and there will be copius filler ahead, but the art quality is pretty darn high for a Jump series. If I hadn't known better, I would've sworn that Allen's voice was done by Subaru's seiyuu, because they sound nearly identical.

The Latin lullaby was very pretty.
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I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/

marihikari · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:30 am Post subject:

New stuff i've been watching-
Air TV- I was pretty excited to see this, and at first it looked a bit like a harem comedy, and then turned pretty depressing and deep. I really liked the character designs and storyline, it was pretty unique. Episode 4 was a sad time for Kano-san T_T. "tori no uta" was an amazing song.
Doki-Doki School Hours- insane, but really fun to watch because of the constant extreme of the students pestering the small teacher and staying true to their real motives for being in school (Watabe drawing manga XD).
H20 Footprints in the sand- was pretty good ^_^. i really liked how it's not an ordinary harem anime :3.
Shuffle!- er...i liked it, but it was kinda perverted in some scence, episode 6 ^_^.
Shugo Chara!- Very kawaii, and interesting how it is different from most of the other magical girl-style animes, and Amu's pretty awesome ^_^.
last but not least,
Katekyo Hitman Reborn- poor Tsuna T_T, it's crazy how he gets involed with the mafia every day XD. it's fun to watch ^_^.
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Unknown Neo · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:52 pm Post subject:

Am I one of the only people that didn't like Air? Good music though. I haven't finished Kanon but I like it more.

Midnight · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:53 pm Post subject:

I highly recommend any of the Key works that have been converted to anime: namely Air, Kanon, and Clannad. Several of my general reasons include animation by Kyoto Animation, which is reputable for putting out exceptional quality works (they did part of the Full Metal Panic! series and did Haruhi as well), and the characters seem so much deeper (character-wise) than I've seen in similar anime. I've rated a few anime personally due to a request from a friend, and these works (the first two, at least) I rated at at least an A+. In fact, I rated Kanon at A++--reasons to follow.

For Air, it starts off slow, but soon becomes a very deep and rich story, and it is hard not to shed tears by the end of the story. In addition, Tori no Uta, the theme song, is perhaps one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever listened to, and is something that I still hold in very high regard. It encompasses a lot of the different themes of the story--sad yet hopeful.

Kanon, the 2006 version, is an absolute masterpiece. If I may quote a review I wrote elsewhere...

Unknown Neo · Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:42 am Post subject:

Maybe I got the 02 version. But maybe I'm not just that big on the sad girls in snow kind of anime.

marihikari · Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:06 pm Post subject:

bluesapphire · Net Battler Age: 33 Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 56

I've watched ONE - Kagayaku Kisetsu e. Based on a visual novel made by Tactics, it has 4 episodes in total. The plot isn't really that exciting though, but it's "somewhat roughly equal to" Key's works (The game was after all a forerunner to Kanon. It also falls into the category of Key's animation works). Correct me if I'm wrong.
The second animation, ONE - True Stories I haven't seen yet.. I hear people say the second is better than the first, though it's rated 18 and over and has in total 3 episodes. >.O

Oh and apparently, I believe Clannad the After Story is going to be aired soon (Possibly this October?), so I'll be watching it. ^^

marihikari · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:52 am Post subject:

Clanad is on crunchyroll.com which makes me pretty happy, i think i want to continue waching or buy this series, but Air TV first :3.
what am i watching now?
Fruits Basket- i'm probably going to finish this series by the end of this month, and so far i like most of the characters and it is a unique story that i had never seen before i read the manga :3. it's pretty deep, and has nice explanations for each character's past and how if affects them in the future. i like it a lot right now ^^.

Shugo Chara- in my opinion, this is a pretty kawaii show= lots of 'chibi' characters, love triangles, hope and wishes, and other awesome stuff like music by Buouno! the opening theme "kokoro no tomago" gets stuck in my head a lot

Air TV- on episode five, and i still love it a lot ^_^. Misuzu, Haruko, Kano, Yukito, and Minagi- they're all my favorites ^_^.

King of Bandit Jing- finished this except for the OVA, it was pretty awesome. the parts that are action-y and the parts that are humorous were pretty good, so this is going to be another one of my favorite animes.

Doki Doki School Hours - i agree with the review in newtypes magazine "it's an airy dessert that you can easily lose yourself in" i like this school anime about crazyness and the problems people might have getting along with other people.
favorites that i'm re watching-
Galaxy Angel A
Rockman.exe Beast
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

too-watch list-
Gurren Lagann
Full Metal Panic
When they cry (Higarshi)
Clannad
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ComicX6 · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 11:34 am Post subject:

^I've recently read a bit of the Higarashi manga and watched clips from the anime. Needless to say, I will never be able to sleep again. *shudder*

Well, Code Geass has finally come to an end, so my current lineup is as follows:

One Piece: We're near the end of the Thriller Bark Arc, and the pacing is finally more than one-chapter-per-episode. There's some good story stuff coming up, as well a new opening and some lively art courtesy of the lower tier art directors.

D.Grayman: The anime has wrapped up, having passed the point of no return and practically caught up to the manga. I'm at the end of the Ark Arc, and things are getting a bit ridiculous. Allen and Lavi should've died like, six times already or something.

Samurai Champloo: Cowboy Bebop for hip-hop. I like it, excellent art, lively animation, comedic gold at times, and Kazuya Nakai voicing the lead is just icing on the cake. I love show gleefully anachronistic the show is. Baseball and rap in feudal Japan? No problem!

Queue:
Last Exile (A sci-fi/steampunk show seems right up my alley)
Gundam SEED (Is it really as bad as its reputation?)
Gundam SEED Destiny (Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment.)
Gundam 00 (Woo, that's a lot of Gundam. I've heard good things about this one, and the production values look pretty good.)
Fullmetal Alchemist 2nd series (A manga adaptation of FMA? Sign me up.)
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' I don't care if the buzz isn't real- I can roleplay being drunk!'

- Balmung, .hack vol. 1

I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/