What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2014

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Postby pwhodges » Mon Mar 02, 2015 4:07 pm

I (relatively) binge watched every anime I've ever seen, and I greatly enjoyed season one; so I believe I'm capable of getting the message in this manner. And I've already said I'm finding the design at least as good as before.

View Original Postrobersora wrote:the appreciation of Mushi-shi lies in accepting the unknown and unfeasible. If you find yourself unable to do that, this series will be a waste of your time.

Well, maybe it'll improve, but so far I'm finding these mushi simply less interesting in themselves than those I watched before.

Look, I'll shut up now, and not say more until I've seen a fairer sample of the whole.
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Postby Alaska Slim » Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:46 pm

View Original PostGus Hanson wrote::bawl: :headbash: :headdesk:

Now i'm hoping for a Rahxephon style ending for the lovebirds.

Yes, Hilda and Ange make a great couple, don't they? BP

Meh, can't help but note the irony that in a show adrift in cheesecake orgies, what appears to be the most devoted female X female relationship in the show *isn't* a romantic one, or implied to be gay/sexual. Ange x Momoka. Heck, if the latter is gay, then I'm surprised she didn't ruffle her feathers over Tusk the same way Hilda did, and indeed, had seemed to be encouraging that relationship to grow.
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Postby Bagheera » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:11 pm

Cross Ange's ability to mesh trashy with profound continues to stagger me. I mean, there's some legitimate good shit in there, and I can't think of another series that's embraced yuri pairings in a similar manner (i.e. in a shonen context, instead of a dedicated yuri context). And yet, every episode is filled with so much fail it's ridiculous. I honestly don't know what to make of it.
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Postby Rosenakahara » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:52 pm

Yuri cant save everything.
Yes i just said that, Cross Ange is THAT filled with shit that not even yuri can save it.
im just along for the ride at this point to see how far the rabbit hole goes.
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Postby Bagheera » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:05 pm

View Original PostRosenakahara wrote:Yuri cant save everything.
Yes i just said that, Cross Ange is THAT filled with shit that not even yuri can save it.
im just along for the ride at this point to see how far the rabbit hole goes.


But it's fulled with legitimate awesome as well. I mean, Hilda came out and literally said, straight up, that she likes Ange. When have we ever seen that in a popular anime that wasn't a dedicated yuri flick? I can't think of a single example, and yet Ange did it. Say what you will about this show, but it is legitimately breaking new ground. It's doing it by rehashing some really trashy tropes, but a milestone is a milestone.
For my post-3I fic, go here.
The law doesn't protect people. People protect the law. -- Akane Tsunemori, Psycho-Pass
People's deaths are to be mourned. The ability to save people should be celebrated. Life itself should be exalted. -- Volken Macmani, Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
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Postby Rosenakahara » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:36 pm

I get that, but its not like this anime is exactly going to be looked back on years later and people will say "that show was pretty groundbreaking", no they will find a much better show that does similar things and attach the credit to that.

Of course i will admit i like yuri crossing over into other genre's, why? because to be perfectly honest a lot of yuri has gotten very stale over the years.

Warning rant about the state of the yuri section of the anime and manga industry below, beware:
SPOILER: Show

i still love the main draw of yuri where the relationship focus tends to be more of the emotional than the physical side of things but you read recent yuri manga and then read yuri manga from 10+ years ago you will se a lot of similarities, the golden age of yuri was around the late 90's-early 2000's since by that point it had moved out of the "and then they died" plots a lot of yuri used to have and it had become a decently respected genre in Japan, around 2009 or so however there were a lot of.........issues with the genre (should be easy enough to find them) and no yuri anime plus very few yuri manga were produced during that time, this was the dark age.

Then when it made a comeback around 2012 everything was.......different.
you still had your moe, your fluff, your melodrama, your adult life and all but a lot of yuri just seemed to stop experimenting, from then up to and still continuing now yuri just got stuck in the same formula that they used in the golden age, if it wasnt fluff? melodrama. if it wasnt melodrama? adult life.
They all had to be set in highschools or in office environments, anything that deviated was ignored or criminally underrated, i don't remember anybody ever talking about bodacious space pirates and it wasnt helping that basically no yuri anime were still being made, as if the industry was afraid, the few that did come out turned into moe pandering fests (akuma no riddle takes one giant dump on the manga).

This began the current age of doujins, k-on, lucky star and Love Live! thrived because these shows were the closest to canonical lesbians yuri fans were going to get that were actually interesting characters, doujins everywhere, they outnumber the completely new content that people put out now and the few yuri artists left like Jin and Amano Shuninta end up creating terrible overly dramatic garbage passed off as realistic (*cough* the feelings we must all endure *cough*) in an attempt to convince the anime industry that yuri can be mature and meaningful if they would just pick it back up.
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What is going on is a concerted effort from anti-progressives to silence anyone who disagrees with them.-Bagheera 2016
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Postby Alaska Slim » Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:24 pm

View Original PostBagheera wrote:But it's fulled with legitimate awesome as well. I mean, Hilda came out and literally said, straight up, that she likes Ange. When have we ever seen that in a popular anime that wasn't a dedicated yuri flick?


Read or Die? Utena? Actually, come to think of it, doesn't this show have at least a few things in common with Simoun? (all female pilots, flying machines of a past civilization...?)
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Postby Dream » Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:41 pm

View Original PostBagheera wrote:Cross Ange's ability to mesh trashy with profound continues to stagger me. I mean, there's some legitimate good shit in there, and I can't think of another series that's embraced yuri pairings in a similar manner (i.e. in a shonen context, instead of a dedicated yuri context). And yet, every episode is filled with so much fail it's ridiculous. I honestly don't know what to make of it.


Correct me if i'm wrong but yuri aside, isn't that a common staple of Tomino anime?

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Postby Fireball » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:28 pm

You guys are to hung up on pairing shits.

The story didn't go were I would have liked it to see (steeled amazons reenacting the French Revolution with mecha & dragons) and there are some annoyances like a certain character and the rampant QUALITY, but I have to remind myself who is sitting behind the table making this. Past that, the show is essentially Geass-lite with various shock elements thrown at the viewer every so often with varying success and some real head-scratching politicking going on in the world outside of Arzenal. Current human society is ridiculous in presentation but intentionally so given the general premise of exploring the outcast caste of humanity who survive in secret to protect and support the existing utopian society. That is not to say the show has actually done anything noteworthy with that, but it is a solid foundation for the stories being told about the otherworldly D.R.A.G.O.N.s, the failed revolution Libertus, and I assume will be an eventual intersection of the two.

The real draw for me personally is Ange (and to a lesser extent, Hilda) having a great character arc throughout the first twelve episodes. Ange herself is so far removed from who she started as that she is nigh unrecognizable. While I'm sure it would be easy to take her rather extreme behavior early on as anime being anime, when taken as a whole, it comes across as someone genuinely dealing with the trauma of having her life upended so suddenly and being forced to reinvent her own identity. Though not in the typical order from what I can remember, she goes through the typical stages of grief as she deals with the death of her mother and having her humanity rescinded in the eyes of the world. She is forced to re-learn the value of herself and others over the course of these eps although a case could be made she never understood the concept to begin given the sheltered life of her youth. She's transformed from a haughty naive princess into a tough as nails take-no-shit soldier on the front lines where she believes she belongs. Seriously, anime just needs more alpha MCs like her. (Also I just love Nana's voice, CA legitimately makes me want to watch Nanoha next)

Same goes to a lesser extent towards the current betrayer trio. I can understand their decisions and struggle based on their character portrayal in Arzenal. I feel pity, especially for Salia because she is a nerd forced to hide her hobby, ironically even worse, a dreamer of becoming a magical girl in a world where everyone can use magic but her, and she is just a romantic sucker for love she could never experience. She worked hard her whole life only to never get recognized and after all that and being lied to and given an impossible task she finally said fuck it. When she said she had only Embryo left all I could think of was, damn. It's not bad drama even if it is somewhat played out. It's interesting, I wonder whether they will get their redemption or punished for their sins.

So yeah, I won’t lie, I find Cross Ange unironically entertaining but it's a shame the potential isn't thoroughly explored. At the very least, toning down the Geassisms aka shotgun fetish approach of just throwing everything in and seeing what sticks in an attempt to titillate and instead actually trying to tell a story may have made this somewhat more palatable to others (Valvrave). That said, I think this is one of those cases where there is a great element trapped in a weak product that has kept me watching. Not so much to see what becomes of the plot because that's ultimately disposable, but to see how it affects Ange as a character as that's where the majority of my interest is invested.

Anyway, reset ending is likely with all the quantum physic references even though I find these kind of endings incredible lame. Besides, Ange isn't gay, so I don't see her ending up with Hilda anyway and as much as I would like to I can't buy into the illusion that Fukuda will throw away his self-insert character just like that and Ange not getting her happy Cafe Ange ending.
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Postby Ray » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:31 pm

So Cross Ange is this years Sword Art Online??

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Postby Mr. Tines » Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:08 am

@Rose
After a strong opening, Bodacious Space Pirates was just bland -- the surprise elopement, and Chiaki's possible crush on Marika included. Watching a series just because of the lesbians means the series probably isn't really worth watching.

Ever since the Outers were outed, it's become almost expected that magical girls have "special feelings" for each other, at least in the otaku series; even from the get-go MadoHomu was a thing, and by all accounts the Rebellion movie panders by pairing up the other girls. And then there was all the hand-holding going on in YuYuYu even before all the supplemental material that has made it way more word-of-God than we ever got with NanoFate, for all those two share a bed and raise a child together.

The seiyuu reaction to one of the VN scenes is just priceless -- what you get when you record the lines before the pictures are drawn.
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Postby Monk Ed » Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:38 am

View Original PostMr. Tines wrote:even from the get-go MadoHomu was a thing, and by all accounts the Rebellion movie panders by pairing up the other girls.

Which, I say as someone who's seen the series and movie, I never saw in either the series or the movie.
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Postby Dream » Tue Mar 03, 2015 4:10 am

View Original PostMonk Ed wrote:Which, I say as someone who's seen the series and movie, I never saw in either the series or the movie.


Yeah it never even occurred to me either. Sayaka and Kyoko are another story of course, but that friendship got pretty played up.

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Postby Bagheera » Tue Mar 03, 2015 4:16 am

View Original PostMonk Ed wrote:Which, I say as someone who's seen the series and movie, I never saw in either the series or the movie.


That's what I was getting at. Subtext is all over the place, but it's rare to have a show actually pull the trigger like Cross Ange does.
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People's deaths are to be mourned. The ability to save people should be celebrated. Life itself should be exalted. -- Volken Macmani, Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
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Postby Alaska Slim » Tue Mar 03, 2015 4:39 am

View Original PostFireball wrote:You guys are to hung up on pairing shits.

The story didn't go were I would have liked it to see (steeled amazons reenacting the French Revolution with mecha & dragons) and there are some annoyances like a certain character and the rampant QUALITY, but I have to remind myself who is sitting behind the table making this. Past that, the show is essentially Geass-lite

I was making that comparison at first too... but on further thought, I don't think it really works.

No one has "super powers" save for the villain, no one is really a Xanatos Gambit character (the staple of Geass and Death Note)... except maybe, again, the Villian, it's not set in a high school where rivals of factions *coincidentally* meet up while putting on airs that they don't realize it.

Without the High school setting, you don't get the juxtaposition of the anime high school scene with gritty warfare, as even the more light-hearted episodes on Arzenal still conveyed the fact that "yeah, this is a prison... with a shopping mall... but that's just to comfort you for the fact that you're likely going to die".

Ange isn't really leading a faction, or trying to construct one from ground up to dismantle the powers at be... so we've avoided the logistics and politics of all of that. Ange doesn't really engage in subterfuge or manipulation, so she isn't being squeezed by the web of lies and false faces this creates...

Ange's "power" is her ability to pilot her mecha, while Lelouche wasn't much of a pilot. Even when he had a far superior machine when facing Cornelia, it was a given that she was going to win until one of her underlings that Lelouche had mind-controlled intervened.



Really, the only three areas of similarities I can draw is that:

1. The main character is a former noble whose fallen into disgrace, and now sets outs to remake the world that wronged them.

2. There are giant robots.

3. Lots of gratuitous fan service.


Even #1 isn't quite the same, as Ange isn't trying to wrought her vengeance on a parent, or even a family member in the end. Just... the world.

In truth, I'd say this series has more in common with Zegapain, at least in setting. Humans lead a fragile existence that is due to some "other", and they're now trying fight to re-take control of the world, and their own destinies.

But granted, the protagonists probably have even less in common.

Same goes to a lesser extent towards the current betrayer trio. I can understand their decisions and struggle based on their character portrayal in Arzenal. I feel pity, especially for Salia because she is a nerd forced to hide her hobby, ironically even worse, a dreamer of becoming a magical girl in a world where everyone can use magic but her, and she is just a romantic sucker for love she could never experience. She worked hard her whole life only to never get recognized and after all that and being lied to and given an impossible task she finally said fuck it. When she said she had only Embryo left all I could think of was, damn.

It's part of why I'd esteem it higher than Geass, at least in this respect. They managed to eek out some legitimate drama organically from the things in it's premise that it had already set up, whereas in Geass, they had rely a little more on contrivance (Shirley's Dad for instance).

Anyway, reset ending is likely with all the quantum physic references even though I find these kind of endings incredible lame. Besides, Ange isn't gay, so I don't see her ending up with Hilda anyway and as much as I would like to I can't buy into the illusion that Fukuda will throw away his self-insert character just like that and Ange not getting her happy Cafe Ange ending.

That... honestly made me want to stop watching. For a show that's made "off the wall" its SOP, that just doesn't seem like an ending in keeping with Ange and her character, or even what little we know about Tusk.

Though he can do it, he's never shown a real flair for cooking, and Ange doesn't seem like the "serving" type, so what's supposed to be motivating this versus, IDK, him opening an air tour service? Or parcel delivery? Or a mechanic's shop? Or a "dragon experience"?
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Postby Fireball » Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:43 pm

Of course the show isn't Code Geass, the comparison is more along of similar anime that have a fun factor by endorsing the outrageous. It may even be superfluous in that sense as many describe Code Geass as a train wreck and rightly so, while I can't say the same about Ange. For an original new IP it's decent enough when you taken it at face value.
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Postby Dr. Nick » Tue Mar 03, 2015 7:03 pm

Tokyo ESP episode 1: Slowpoke here, but had it not been for a random Youtube comment I happened to see, I would've had no idea that Ga-Rei Zero got a prequel... that's about Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants invading Tokyo.

:scanners_head:

Okay. I definitely didn't see that coming.

And based on aggregate scores and whatnot, the show isn't apparently all that good, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy my squee.
SPOILER: Show

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Postby caragnafog dog » Tue Mar 03, 2015 8:08 pm

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how can one assassin be so cute?
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On 6/2/15, at 10:14 PM, Delispin wrote:
> Wow. I've disgusted even myself.

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Postby Redtophat » Wed Mar 04, 2015 12:39 am

View Original PostRay wrote:So Cross Ange is this years Sword Art Online??
Cross Ange is a whole other kind of beast, and it'd be more apt to compare it to the likes of Valvrave.

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Postby StarShaper7 » Wed Mar 04, 2015 1:27 am

View Original PostDr. Nick wrote:Tokyo ESP episode 1: Slowpoke here, but had it not been for a random Youtube comment I happened to see, I would've had no idea that Ga-Rei Zero got a prequel... that's about Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants invading Tokyo.


Cool first episode. The following few were decent. But after that it got boring to the point where watching it felt tedious. I think I dropped it around ep. 5 or 6. I might go back to it if I hear it's worth finishing, but, from what I can tell, it isn't.


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