What anime are you watching right now? 2H15 to 1H16

[pwhodges]

Usagi Drop (aka Bunny Drop). What an absurd name that is, in any language! I'm a bit puzzled why this gets rated so highly. I mean, it's almost perfect - a perfect depiction of a perfect life in which a perfect man takes care of a perfect child, and occasional problems are perfectly smoothed out.

But that's it. There's no tension, even when we see him renegotiating his work contract (no repercussions, eg lower income with two mouths to feed, nothing). After initial mentions of having to arrange it, school just happens. The bed-wetting was nicely handled, but even the insecurity that led to that was only barely touched on. Thank goodness for Kouki! He at least raises the excitement to Azumanga Daioh levels! OMG! he's got burrs on his school uniform!! OK, the episode I've just watched, in which his cousin has run away from home with her girl, Reina, has some discussion of different family patterns (single mum, single dad, both parents), but it passes in a flash.

So, absolutely gorgeous, and almost completely lacking in any kind of substance. By all means watch it and enjoy it, but don't be surprised if at the end you find yourself saying: "Er, what was that even about?".

[Bagheera]

Usagi Drop (aka Bunny Drop). What an absurd name that is, in any language! I'm a bit puzzled why this gets rated so highly. I mean, it's almost perfect - a perfect depiction of a perfect life in which a perfect man takes care of a perfect child, and occasional problems are perfectly smoothed out.

But that's it.

Sometimes that's all you want. No fanservice, no stupid mecha action, no contrived plots for the sake of drama!, just sweet, idealized characters having a good time and giving you good feels. It's escapism in its purest form.

So long as you avoid the manga.

[Alaska Slim]

Usagi Drop (aka Bunny Drop). What an absurd name that is, in any language!

Always had me thinking someone was dropping a baby.

I'm a bit puzzled why this gets rated so highly. I mean, it's almost perfect - a perfect depiction of a perfect life in which a perfect man takes care of a perfect child, and occasional problems are perfectly smoothed out.

Culminating in the MC raising for himself the perfect...

SPOILER: Show

...old lady.

[pwhodges]

(Shh! - don't mention the manga ending!)

[Alaska Slim]

Indeed, I'd certainly hate to perpetuate any chance of giving the guys roaming the streets with body pillows of 10-year old girls the wrong idea.

[Fireball]

which raibu would you rabu?


With the recent Love Live movie that is breaking all records I took it upon myself to see what the craze is about and watched both seasons. It was a casual mix of cute girls doing SoL and idol things. There was only one part towards the end of the first season were forced drama ensured, luckily enough that was the only time. S2 was overall better and some good songs I found myself to like too like Snow Halation and Happy Maker. I wish they would have pronunced some more of the competition though. A-Rise got put swiftly aside and it looked like the girls were only ever up against themselves.
That said there is not really anything overtly to hate about it. This is pretty much the Gundam of Idolshit.

Tried a couple of episodes of Arpeggio of Blue Steel; and it's a harem show, isn't it?

It's called a fleet, Sir! Only two ships are interested in Gunzou anyway.

I wanted to like Blue Steel, but the CGI gave me awful flashbacks of Knights of Sidonia, which was far worse in my opinion. Gonna' try and read the mangas for both of these.

CG got better for me. Unlike Sidonia, no frame downs either.

I felt that the Arpeggio was one of the few cases the adaption deviates from the source material and still managed to make a good show. I certainly enjoyed it a a lot and want to rewatch it once the movie is subbed. The manga is great tier too.

[Alaska Slim]

Samurai Flamenco episode 7

I admit, I already knew that a twist was coming, and I could sense a subtle tonal shift last episode... still...

Holy sh*t.

[A.T. Fish]

Samurai Flamenco episode 7

I admit, I already knew that a twist was coming, and I could sense a subtle tonal shift last episode... still...

Holy sh*t.

This show. I watched half of it before dropping, things start getting progressively crazier from this point on, and I heard that it gets even crazier after the point where I dropped it.

[cyharding]

Gate episode 6

"We have the speakers and the Wagner CD ready."

Me: OH HELL YES!

I didn't know that movie had any popularity in Japan. But alas, the SDF didn't use any Napalm, so they don't know of the smell of victory.

[Fireball]

Gate 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPf_PJlJsJQ

yep, smells like victory

[Alaska Slim]

This show. I watched half of it before dropping, things start getting progressively crazier from this point on, and I heard that it gets even crazier after the point where I dropped it.

2 Months later, and everyone is bored? The cops aren't interested in restoring the honor for their own who died? Is that a cultural thing or the show BS'ing me?

And oh yeah, escalation, it's like the theme of the show. There's always something bigger. @ Four episodes to go though, maybe that plot thread has run its course.

[Bagheera]

I am really liking Gate these days.

[Fireball]

Yesterday it was the Yamato's 75th birthday, so I figured why not watch the new Yamato 2199 movie. For all intents and purposes, it was a 2 hour long new episode of the series which enjoyed quite a bit.

[Rosenakahara]

Slayers OVA's and Movies + Arc 1 of S1
Yeah im re-watching slayers again i compiled the OVA's and movies + arc 1 together for the simple reason that they show both sides of the show when they were a bit unrefined before it came into its own, since the last few OVA's and movies were created during/after try they also help show what the series would eventually become so putting them all together like this felt like a good idea though i wont be talking about individuals for long.
Also i will be mostly avoiding spoilers so anyone who wants to watch these after reading this can do so.

So yeah starting off with Slayers Excellent canonically the first episodes ever as this is when Lina met Naga and also she was like 13-14 at this point.
This one is........OK, the dynamic with Naga here was kinda new so while it really shines by around episode 3 there are a few jokes that don't work and Naga borders on more annoying here than anything plus the story makes her out to be really weak here despite being the strongest full human sorceress on the planet alongside Lina, Lina herself has a more focused portrayal here than in arc 1 of the anime (will get to that later) but her new voice actress for the prequels both works and doesn't work, as Lina is meant to be younger here her sounding more bratty makes sense and all but sometimes she sounds far to much like a little boy playing a 13-14 year old girl.
Trying not to spoil anything but this is a fun little watch I say that any slayers fan should see as its technically the very first few episodes.

SPOILER: Show

Slayer book of spells/special: OK look this one is kinda shit I'll admit that, the first two stories go between bland and really bad especially the clone one, Naga's voice and laugh work great whenever there are pauses and lines between them as it is meant to annoy the hell out of Lina.
The third story however is just great, skip the other two episodes but episode 3 takes a previous episodes idea and makes it FUN.

Slayers the motion picture: Well as far as the first slayers movie goes its pretty harmless but also pretty fun, also it might be the only time we get a glimpse of Lina's hometown like ever, Lina might remember it fondly but we will never see her go back there because Luna scares her too much and im pretty sure any trouble that started there would be taken care of in seconds by Luna.
This is a cool look into gourry's family line before he even showed up in the series though.

SPOILER: Show

Slayers return: Not nearly as good as the first movie, like the first movie it gets the interactions between Lina and Naga perfectly but the only problem here is well........the final battle with the enemy of this movies just drags on forever, seriously it really overstays its welcome for something that could have been ended much sooner than it was.

Slayers Great: you can tell this one was a later movie because this was pretty freaking great, Lina and Naga are finally shown as they should be on totally equal footing (minus the fact Lina has the dragon slave whereas Naga specializes more in high level summons) they are both as greedy as ever, they act great in unison and the fight scene between them is just amazing, wish it lasted longer though.
Only problem i really had with this movie in the end was the last battle wasn't quite what i expected it to be.

Slayers Gorgeous is another really good one, i wont say as much about this one because i want people to check it out themselves, seriously its awesome.

SPOILER: Show

Slayers (Season 1: Arc 1):
Well Now we are onto the series proper, farewell Naga you were great, you will show up for a crappy cameo in Evolution-R that feels like the worst kind of pandering.

Season 1 introduces us to Gourry Gabriev, the wandering idiot swordsman also our second main character and Lina's proper voice actress Lisa ortiz (no offense to the other girl, she got better by the motion picture) who just does a MUCH better job in general, in fact Gourry and Lina are the only main characters in arc 1 who have good dub (and sub because i have watched the sub and holy crap its even worse, EVERYONE in that sounds like they aint trying) voices as all the good voices dont seem to show up till arc 2 so to anyone wanting to get into this series should be mindful of that.

Arc 1 has a lot of problems, as in it hasn't aged that well at all to the point where i recommend Slayers the motion picture or Slayers Great as a starting point instead as some of the missed joke timings and very low budget action might turn people off arc 1, as well as the fact that the lead villain is incredibly boring when he first shows up and continues to be so until he dies, only really being cool for lore purposes and a certain character despite winning cool points for dressing like the moonlight knight from sailor moon really just doesn't gel well with the rest of the show, his voice actor doesnt help either which is probably why they replaced him in NEXT, coincidently in arc 2 and NEXT this character is modified to work much better with the cast.

It also has the problem of Lina's character being very........weird in the early episodes, part of the joke with slayers is that in a lot of other stories Lina would be a villain, she is selfish, bratty, greedy and rarely acts to help others unless there is pay for her, she is also super reckless when she gets angry and tends to care little about the things she does when she gets like this, she isn't a terrible person as she will still help those in need (as in if they are in fatal situations) and does hate the sorts of people that use others lives like they were nothing but she always looks to turn a profit from it; in arc 1 though she is kinda wishy washy, sometimes she acts like she usually does and other times she will jump at the chance to be a hero type despite the fact that Lina has shown that she really considers those kinds of people to be idiots, this might work if it was expanded on but it never is which leads me to believe it was just a few ooc moments.
It has its appeal of course with its wonderful cheese and Lina herself being as fun as ever plus Gourry adds a fun new dynamic to the show that hints at the tone it will eventually be going for.

So yeah that's just some thoughts from a vet slayers fan re-watching the stuff recently, tell me if you have an interest in it, its really good and just gets better later on.
Also this is one of few series i will wholeheartedly say one is better than the other sub is crap, dub takes some time but rocks later on.

[NemZ]

Heh, the avatar kinda hinted you were plowing through Slayers. I've liked what I've seen of it, but it's been a while.

[Rosenakahara]

Mini update on the slayers watch: forgot that amelia had a different voice actress for exactly 3 episodes before they replaced her with the much better one, i have not watched season 1 in a while, i always start at Next.
So some things are a bit weird to me going back but meh its still mostly great.

[Monk Ed]

Let me get this straight, you recommend the English dub over the original Japanese for Slayers? I can't remember the last time I heard someone say something like that.

[Bagheera]

Let me get this straight, you recommend the English dub over the original Japanese for Slayers? I can't remember the last time I heard someone say something like that.

I've been watching parts of Rurouni Kenshin recently, and I'd recommend it for that show. Same for Mononoke Hime and a few others. Subs are almost always the better choice, but there are exceptions.

[Rosenakahara]

Let me get this straight, you recommend the English dub over the original Japanese for Slayers? I can't remember the last time I heard someone say something like that.

Yes i do, the Japanese will only really sound good to people who don't actual understand basic Japanese as it has many of the same problems as the dub has to start but it doesn't get any better unlike the dub until about halfway through next plus in terms of both getting better when they do i much prefer the way the dub sounds to the way the sub is, it just works much better than the sword and sorcery setting.

[r1cepurin]

I just saw the English dub for Doraemon and all I gotta say is....what.

So, I've been a fan of doraemon since I was about 12, and enjoyed the older series. I haven't watched too many of the movies, but I still recommend both the old and the new generation of Doraemon, especially for those who like a good sci-fi fantasy consisting of whimsical inventions. But please, please don't see the english dub unless if you've already seen the original Japanese, and you wanna see it for 'so bad it's good' purposes, like me.

Okay here's what's wrong with it, and this is a main trend with most dubbed anime for kids: They change the names of main characters and Japanese foods


Nobita is Nobi, Shizuka is now Sue, Giant is now "Big G" (even though giant is an English word already?!?), and Suneo is now Sneech. I just...I dunno what possessed them to make these changes other than trying to be 4kids or something. Oh oh, here's the kicker: Doraemon's number 1 snack, dorayaki, is now called a YUMMY BUN. I mean, the voices themselves actually aren't that bad except for Nobita's (note that Nobita's personality is basically Shinji xs10 so he's gotta have a whiny voice), and Doraemon's English voice is pretty close to the JP, but it doesn't make it a quality dub due to its other offenses.

Please, Doraemon is a wonderful show with a great premise, it didn't do anything to deserve this..