What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2014

[caragnafog dog]

I think samflam is the most disconcerting anime I've ever seen.

[StarShaper7]

Samurai Flamenco reminds me of one of my favorite comic books, Flex Mentallo. I don't like it nearly as much as Flex, but the basic idea is the same. Where Flex Mentallo moves past the darkness brought on by Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns and expresses hope in the future of superheroes, SamFlam rejects the idea of the "dark hero" and instead sticks to his principles, even if it means losing the public's interest. Both follow the progressions of their respective genres and come to conclusions that are hopeful of the future.

"Only a bitter little adolescent boy could confuse realism with pessimism." - The Hoaxer, from Flex Mentallo #4

[Alaska Slim]

No and no. ;)

Even if Fujoshi isn't you're thing, you should still watch G Gundam, man-service and all. My hand will glow with an awesome urge to choke a b*tch if you don't.

Well, long story short: I started Gundam Z.

A better series, but I honestly don't give Kamille much of a break for the stupid things he does.

Leaving mid battle to hang out lakeside with the enemy? Dumb.

[Eleven]

Even if Fujoshi isn't you're thing, you should still watch G Gundam, man-service and all. My hand will glow with an awesome urge to choke a b*tch if you don't.


A better series, but I honestly don't give Kamille much of a break for the stupid things he does.

Leaving mid battle to hang out lakeside with the enemy? Dumb.

I watched the trailer and... But, no. Doesn't look like my cup of tea. Thx for the tipp anyway.

Yeah, Kamille is strange... I'm at episode 21 now, so I can't make a final judgement of his character, but up to now, he's not my favorite. I guess I kept watching mainly for Char (and Brighto-san) anyway.

Maybe someone can explain one thing to me: How do you tell wether someone is a Newtype or not? I find that quite confusing. For example, Bright sais (when asked, if he is worried about his wife being alone) "she is a Newtype, too." But when Mirai is asked herself "Are you a Newtype" she answers something like "No, not me." (I translated my german subtitles into english. Maybe the exact words differ in the english sub.)
In Gundam 0079, Amuro sais he believes everyone on the White Base has to be a Newtype, otherwise they wouldn't have won that many battles. Bright answers something like "You may be up to something." So is Amuro right?
For some people it's totally clear, though. (Kamille, Char, Amuro, Lalah, Four...)

edit: I'm posting this here and don't look it up in the Gundam thread, because I'm afraid of spoilers there... I guess, I may be the only person here, who has never seen and doesn't know anything about Gundam.

[Fireball]

The White Base was an experiment of the Federation to observe Newtypes in combat. You can assume most of the crew are to a slight degree Newtypes. Newtypes have heightened awareness similar to a sixth sense who can exhibit telepathy, even psychokinesis and are usually revealed with a distinctive ring. Some show these traits to a higher degree than others. What makes someone a Newtype is still a mystery to this day. Common speculation is that the influence of Minovsky Particles and the human body adapting to life in space have something to do with it. Amuro shows that stress, hardships, and strife like war also helps bring out Newtype potential.


Kmille is love, Kamille is life

and a girl's name

[Alaska Slim]

I watched the trailer and... But, no. Doesn't look like my cup of tea. Thx for the tipp anyway.

It's giant robots crossed with Chinese Kung-fu art-house films, what's not to like?

They're currently resurrecting bits of it in the on-going Gundam Build Fighters series, with the main character toting a variant of the main Gundam from this show.

[Fazmotron]

I've generally heard good things about Fate/Zero, so I'd be interested to hear what you didn't like about it.

For me the main thing that I think dragged it down was that it seemed like there was a whole bunch of assumed knowledge that I was supposed to have going into it, of which I only had very little. On top of that, I thought the ending was trying way to hard to be artistic and vague without having any real depth. The whole thing was just kind of mindless in my opinion...

[Guy Nacks]

I haven't picked up Kanon from where I left off for more than three weeks. Pretty sure I'm done with this uguuuu fluff.

[Fireball]

Cross Ange 10

NanoFate the Rebellion here we go

[Rosenakahara]

Re-watched The twelve kingdoms again, god i fucking love this show.

EDIT: can someone please spoiler final messengers image so this looks semi neat?
EDIT 2: rant moved to its own thread.

[caragnafog dog]

Star Driver 17: This just keeps getting sluttier, I'm impressed.

UBW is the usual great stuff. Redman's banter, superb. Mushishi 19 really knocked me off my feet though. I know Ginko's MO is "no moral culpability from any party, ever" but this is the first time I can recall he's been responsible for something this bad. The shot of him sitting with the woman in her house was fantastic. Great episode, even the somewhat cliche ending was effective.

[Ray]

That plot sounds an echo similar to escaflowne. Except from what you are saying it has a lot more angst and eva-isms. Insight check it out.

Please tell me it doesn't have a bad or lackluster ending.

[Rosenakahara]

The series ending is actually a side-story based on one of the other kings and that closes itself just fine but if you mean Youko's story then yeah it ends great, it completes her development perfectly and you can see why the novels moved onto other kings+queens as Youko's development was a key point of the show and now that it is done not many more stories to tell with her.

The only plot thread that isn't resolved is also a side story (not the kings one this is a different one that takes place in Japan/Hourai) that was sadly mostly cut out because they wouldn't renew for more episodes, naruto was in full swing and gundam seed just stole away all the views but the way that particular side story ends is good enough that you can read the novels and not be pissed it was cut.

The world has a heavy mix of Chinese and Japanese mythology.

[Bagheera]

Cross Ange 10

NanoFate the Rebellion here we go

Yup. And really, this is about as credible a lead-in to rebellion as we could ask for; Ange and Hilde made nice, Tusk is on board, and all the pieces are in place. This was supposed to be a train wreck, so why is it coming together so nicely?It seems someone missed a memo.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

For me the main thing that I think dragged it down was that it seemed like there was a whole bunch of assumed knowledge that I was supposed to have going into it, of which I only had very little. On top of that, I thought the ending was trying way to hard to be artistic and vague without having any real depth. The whole thing was just kind of mindless in my opinion...

I think it's based off of a VN, so that might be something.

[Mr. Tines]

I think it's based off of a VN, so that might be something.

Based on a whole series of same, with a sprawling interconnected mythos; the setting's been around for about a decade now, though Fate/Zero was set up as an anime original prequel to the other Fate/Whatever VNs. They've had a following on /a/ for as long as I've frequented the place, and at times acquired notoriety for the odd sex scenes filtered by amateur translation (jackhammer, molluscs, "Jam it in!", and of course Tohsaka's anus).

[robersora]

Mushishi 19 really knocked me off my feet though. I know Ginko's MO is "no moral culpability from any party, ever" but this is the first time I can recall he's been responsible for something this bad. The shot of him sitting with the woman in her house was fantastic. Great episode, even the somewhat cliche ending was effective.

Yeah, Mushishi delivers, once again, absolutely gorgeous material. Which shot in particular did you find fantastic, if I might ask, and why?

[caragnafog dog]

Yeah, Mushishi delivers, once again, absolutely gorgeous material. Which shot in particular did you find fantastic, if I might ask, and why?

SPOILER: Show

It's dank, silent and tragic, conveying the pathos of the moment better than any wailing or crying could. The dilapidated shack is a great setting to followup the shock that came immediately before. Ginko's sort of just sitting there, smoking and thinking. It lingered for a few moments if I recall correctly, and the silence of those two feels like a mixture of tense shock and rumination. I also like that he remained behind in order to find out where he went wrong (though like I said, his MO is to reject any moral culpability on the part of himself, the mushi, or the humans he helps), and offer some small comfort to the mother.

EDIT: Wow, 20 had a really unique character dynamic. It was as emotionally hard-hitting as 19 and striking visually too. Season 2 has been amazing, I'm both sad and anxious to see it finished soon.

[Trajan]

Finished Attack on Titan tonight. Some thoughts:

Much better pacing in the second half of the series as opposed to the first. There are a few moments where time seems to slow down a bit to allow exposition from characters, but it at least doesn't hold up an entire episode like it did towards the end of the Troust Arc.

Levi lives up to the hype. And if you think your life is sad, just remember he's a 5'3" 34 year-old-man who likes to make poop jokes and hangs around with a bunch of teenagers because his friends are all dead.

The series' reputation for killing off characters is a bit overblown. I mean, I guess it can be pretty traumatic if you're the kind that gets attached to supporting characters easily, but otherwise, your main cast still has pretty good plot armor.

Was anybody seriously surprised at the Female Titan's identity? I mean, Armin figures it out in like five minutes. I know he's smart and all, but he's also in the middle of a battle when he correctly deduces it.

On that note, I find the Female Titan...strangely attractive. Don't judge me.

SPOILER: Show

Dammit Reiner, I tried not to get too attached to you, knowing what you are, but you're just too damn likeable. Honestly, I wish the main protagonists was the BRA Trio, their dynamic and how they play off one another is so interesting. Plus, Reiner and Annie are two of my favorite characters and Bertolt is pretty much my animated alter-ego.

I love how Jean goes from an unlikeable dick to possibly my favorite character. He's much more nuanced than Eren or Mikasa, has some sense of perspective and does what needs to be done without wangsting about it. Plus, it's good to have someone who's bluntly honest in a series like this.

The animation is just as gorgeous as ever.

When the second opening appeared, my first reaction was "the fuck is this" followed shortly by "get that weak-ass shit out of here!". I don't know why animes feel like they need to have multiple openings. The first one is one of the best openings I've ever seen, you don't replace near-perfection.

And now I have to occupy myself for another sixteen months until season 2 is released.

[Fireball]

Watched Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen Daisuke no Bohyou

It's a new Lupin movie by the director of Redline which is really all you got to know. It was awesome.