What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2014

[Kazuki_Fuse]

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?

I comfy'd.

[Guy Nacks]

Kanon

10 eps deep.


I'm really starting to feel like this show is being overly manipulative and playing its moe card far too often just to get an emotional reaction out of its audience.

[Kazuki_Fuse]

I'm really starting to feel like this show is being overly manipulative and playing its moe card far too often just to get an emotional reaction out of its audience.

Of course it is. It's a based off a Key VN.
Kanon is in my top 10

[Guy Nacks]

It's not that I don't like Key. I liked Clannad a lot partly because it didn't overdo it on the moe factor, though I still don't much care for the end of After Story.

[Fireball]

For a couple of weeks I've been (re)watching Miyazaki's works. After The Wind Rises I figured I may as well watch the ones I haven't seen yet, ultimately I got sucked into all of them.

*rewatches

Castle of Cagliostro*

There is not much to say here. It's Lupin. It's has a great balance of action and humor and it still looks better than the majority of anime that came after it.


Nausicaä*

I think I'm giving this movie too much shit. I used to watch it and couldn't stop lamenting over a full adaption of the manga, but now I think I can finally enjoy it. Watching all of his works I noticed how bombastic Nausicaä's final in contrast actually is. You get this dramatic Ohmu stampede, Nausicaä going Rambo on fools, Anno's animated God Warrior, Nausicaä walking through the golden fields la la la la~ scenes like that just stick with you. And even if Kushana may only be half the woman she is compared to the manga, Yoshiko Sakakibara's voice always gets me in the mood; OH HAMAN-SAMA!

Anyway, more importantly, the movie captures the spirit of the manga and considering the limitations of a single movie they did their best to adjust and give us a sensible ending. I have witnessed much, much worse adaptation, that's for sure. And if I hadn't known it yet Nausicaä has to have my favorite soundtrack. Joe Hisaishi, you are a god.

I upped the rating for it one my MAL


Castle in the Sky

Greatest animated adventure movie of all time. 2 hours of non-stop action and I just couldn't get enough. I wanted more! Shocked by how graphic the deaths felt and that Muska laugh. The castle part had such a Nausicaä vibe. From all his works I had not seen yet, Laputa was my favorite.


My Neighbor Totoro*

It's a fantastic fable that unfortunately I can't get into. I blame it on the age discrepancy. Neither do I have kids, the magic of such a family oriented movie is lost on me. Also the grinning motherfucker creeps me out.


Kiki's Delivery Service*

The comfiest. Kiki will forever have a special place in my heart. The struggle is real and it's just a good story about finding yourself. Kiki is the daughteru of all daugterus.


Porco Rosso*

My absolute favorite, no doubt. That sweet, melancholic layer that envelops the whole movie. The love for the old that tries to find its place in a ever changing modernizing world. I feel as if this movie is Miyazaki embodied.


On Your Mark

A music video that made me realize that we never got some cyperpunk à la Blade Runner from Miyazaki.


Princess Mononoke*

Ah Mononoke, the movie were Grumpy Jii-san would just let it all out what he thinks about the world.
It's a masterpiece, a preachy masterpiece but a masterpiece no less.

Some will say that Spirited Away is better, but Mononoke is much more powerful.


Spirited Away

I liked this until the last part came. In fact, I loved it up to the train scene (amazing sequence) but everything after felt like they realized they had only 10 min left and had to wrap it all up. The whole twin Yubaba thing left me unsatisfied as far as resolution goes. I dunno, maybe I expected something else.

I read about the child prostitution thing afterwards. That seems like a pretty heavy subtext for such a colorful film.

I want to rewatch this one day. It's the Ghibli movie I'm struggling the most to categorize at the moment.


Howl's Moving Castle*

A lot of people don't like it, having seen it again, yeah, I can see it being a bit disjoined. Didn't take anything away from my enjoyment though. I mean, what anime actually deals with elderly and in such a imaginary way no less. Sophie is no princess, she has no magical powers, she is not a savior of the world - she is just a badass granny.


Ponyo

Same as with Totoro. Just not my thing and a bit nutty. Stunning visuals with the waves though.


The Wind Rises

Anno's voice took a bit to get used to. I was dissapointed with the lack of real engine sounds. Porco Rosso has that amazing scene when they are testing the engine and the way how animation and sound play together always gives me a massive hard on. I get the mouth sounds were part of the dreamery pastel the movie played with though. It's narrative style is also offbeat that I don't know whether it works or not. I did love the movie overall though. It was pretty much the love letter that I expected it to be and tears were rolling down the cheeks by the end. A piece of art worthy of being Miyazaki's farewell.

I want to watch this again some day as I feel it's only going to get better.

-----

so em, I guess I will tackle the rest of all the Ghibli's since the only non-Miyazaki work I have seen are Graves of the Fireflies, which I do not intend to see again. (2depressing4me)

[pwhodges]

Grave of the Fireflies, which I do not intend to see again. (2depressing4me)

Think of it as exercise for the emotions.

[Eleven]

This series is quite something; such a complex Monster, my words can't do justice.
...
Also, I want that damned picture book.

I don't know about this picture book, but I really hope you read the manga. I read it years before I watched the anime and the manga gave me even more chills. Manga-Johann wil always be my favorite "villain" of all time.
I was really pleasantly surprised by how close the anime followed the manga, especially in character design and regarding the very detailed backgrounds. It was a really interesting experience to read and watch (as a german) just how realistic germany and eastern europe are potraied. (Although, especially in the manga, all looks very dark and depressing, which of course fits the story, but I really hope that's not how foreigners perceive these countries.)

All in all, I consider Monster a masterpiece and it will always be one of my favorites.

[caragnafog dog]

You should watch Only Yesterday, Fireball.

[Sgt. Griff]

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun

I normally don't watch Romance, but something about this rubs me the right way; the characters are goofy and interesting, their relationships are engaging, and it just comes off as pure happy in the same way as Azumangah Diaoh does. It's a nice break from the absurd crudity of SYD.

Would recommend.

[Fireball]

UBW 4

BAHSAHKAH!?


Cross Ange 4


ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff off Kira

Think of it as exercise for the emotions.

Yeah no thanks

You should watch Only Yesterday, Fireball.

Actually I already did! I wrote all that the other day. That ending man.

my heart went from

SPOILER: Show

to

SPOILER: Show

don't play with my emotions like that

[caragnafog dog]

Ah ok, I missed that. Yeah, the ending is incredibly satisfying but it had me nervous for a second. Love that movie.

[Bagheera]

Cross Ange 4: I know it's terrible, but I can't help loving it. Now I know how people felt watching Code Geass or Valvrave!

[Souther]

Cross Ange 4: I know it's terrible, but I can't help loving it. Now I know how people felt watching Code Geass or Valvrave!

Can't quite agree with that. I would say this is worse than Valvrave, thus making it the worst of the three by far. When it comes to something like Code Geass there will be a different range of opinions about it. Some positive, some negative, some in between. The show had enough merits and interesting material, in my opinion, that those who only ever see it as "crazy" or "terrible" are missing literally half the experience (aside from the fact I don't equate all of its craziness with terribleness, but I digress).

Yet Cross Ange is the sort of absolutely shameless trashy thing from every angle that I'd only recommend to someone who wants to see Sunrise do softcore porn and/or has a rape fetish. Or perhaps a complete Gundam SEED fanboy or fangirl with too much free time.

[Bagheera]

Yet Cross Ange is the sort of absolutely trashy thing from every angle that I'd only recommend to someone who wants to see Sunrise do softcore porn and/or has a rape fetish. Or perhaps a die-hard Gundam SEED fanboy or fangirl with too much free time.

But none of those apply to me, and yet here I am. Oh well.

[Souther]

But none of those apply to me, and yet here I am. Oh well.

Well, it's not like I want to force you to think differently.

I get the whole "oh, this is so bad I'm enjoying it cynically!" mindset but for me that only works in limited doses. Otherwise, it's a gigantic waste of time.

If there's absolutely nothing in a series that I both genuinely appreciate and consider to be good, I'm not going to stick around for a full season.

[Fireball]

I don't agree. VVV was really just trying to recreate the Geass hype by throwing the wildest things in there. Cross Ange in contrast wants to tell a story. It may be offensive but it knows it and it plays it really well. The world building makes much more sense than lel highschool vampires in robots creating their own country. I can't even say this is a trainwreck yet because there is nothing that has conflicted with my suspension of disbelief so far.


Still, fuck that Kira character.

[Souther]

I don't agree with that. VVV was really just trying to recreate the Geass hype by throwing the wildest things in there. Cross Ange in contrast wants to tell a story. It my be offensive but it knows it and it plays it really well. The world building makes much more sense than lel highschool vampires in robots creating their own country. I can't even say this is a trainwreck yet because there is nothing that has conflicted with my suspension of disbelief so far.

Still, fuck that Kira character.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, at least outside of hating Kira.

I'm on the side that argues the series has already crashed and burned within one episode and nothing that's happened since then sounds remotely appealing to me. I'd call it a "train wreck" in the original sense of the word. Of course, the question of suspension of disbelief is always more subjective than objective. Not everyone will be bothered or taken out of the experience by the same things.

I will damn Valvrave with faint praise by saying this, but the way that show used sexual assault was less tasteless and repulsive, in terms of both quantity and quality, than what Cross Ange is doing with its own equivalent material. Overall, I can agree that VVV ultimately failed at telling a story -whereas I'd argue Code Geass actually succeeded at its core in spite of various surface narrative flaws- but I didn't feel quite as disinterested and, frankly, guilty-by-association as I do with Cross Ange.

It's not just the cheap appeals to shock value and pseudo-pornographic acts that bother me though. I find the story that Cross Ange wants to tell both too inherently uninteresting and too full of crass exploitation to be worth my time. Not only do I not sympathize with Ange as a character, I'm not interested in her predicament. The series seems to imply they want you to simultaneously derive pleasure from her suffering as some sort of karmic retribution and yet still manage to appreciate how she goes from a terrible person to eventually becoming a better human being in the long run, but I don't see why I should care about that. Neither the content itself nor its execution are good enough. Not even the insane yet cool concept of robots versus dragons is being used nearly as well as it could be so far.

I also don't see the world-building as worthy of praise. Elsewhere around the web, more patient folks than myself have already questioned why the whole setup with the Norma makes little sense. Having said that, for me characterization is always more important than world-building or plausibility. If you're going to have wild things in your anime, then make me care about the characters first.

[Dr. Nick]

I can't even say this is a trainwreck yet because there is nothing that has conflicted with my suspension of disbelief so far.

If we assume that Cross Ange is an honest attempt at creating a Jackson County Jail type exploitation anime (and it might be too early to make such assumptions), one of its major flaws is that it's unable to break away from the stylistic mold of modern (read: post-Geass) Sunrise. Everything is so overdesigned and clean and elaborate and fancy that it doesn't really have that prison camp grit of, say, Area 88 (and the Seed references certainly aren't helping). And of course, something being exploitation is no excuse for writing this awful.

Not actually watching this, but posting this image anyway, because i hear Dr. Nick has seen it and i want to know how accurate it is.

SPOILER: Show

I'm going to assume that's one of TDSA's newest creations because that's like something an arsenic-based fungus would post on 4chan.

[Bagheera]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, since I'm on the side that argues the series has already crashed and burned within one episode and nothing that's happened since then sounds remotely appealing to me.

But the point is that we've had three episodes to develop since then, and what's happened since is actually kind of interesting. I mean, the long and the short of it is that Ange seriously fucked up, and she's being held accountable, and it's neat to see how she's developing in response. But she is developing, and there's some nuance to be seen in the characters around her. Plenty of pandering, yes, but there's a pretty legit story there as well.

I will damn Valvrave with faint praise by saying this, but the way that show used sexual assault was less tasteless and repulsive, in terms of both quantity and quality, than what Cross Ange is doing with its own equivalent material.

Cross Agne has used it all of once thus far, with the threat of it an additional time. That's it. And it didn't do anything whatsoever to legitimate it, either -- it was portrayed as something shocking and wrong, and the perpetrator was killed in ep 3 (and those who resent her death are being portrayed as bad guys, so there's that as well). There are no instances of the protag raping anyone and getting away with it, so I don't think Valvrave comes out looking very good here.

Overall, I can agree that VVV ultimately failed at telling a story -whereas I'd argue Code Geass actually succeeded at its core in spite of various surface narrative flaws- but I didn't feel quite as disinterested and, frankly, guilty-by-association as I do with Cross Ange.

Geass took itself way too seriously. At least CA knows what it is and rolls with it; with Geass I have to adjust for the hype before I can even begin to engage with it, and that's just too much damn work.

It's not just the cheap appeals to shock value and pseudo-pornographic acts that bother me though. I find the story that Cross Ange wants to tell both too inherently uninteresting and too full of crass exploitation to be worth my time. Not only do I not sympathize with Ange as a character, I'm not interested in her predicament. The series seems to imply they want you to simultaneously derive pleasure from her suffering as some sort of karmic retribution and yet still manage to appreciate how she goes from a terrible person to eventually becoming a better human being in the long run, but I don't see why I should care about that. Neither the content itself nor its execution are good enough. Not even the insane yet cool concept of robots versus dragons is being used nearly as well as it could be so far.

By the sound of it you're basing that on one episode, so how would you know? Having watched the lot of them I can say I'm definitely hooked, because they actually are giving me reason to think there's something to her as a character. And while the dragons haven't been justified just yet the battles are cool enough that I'll give them some rope to work with there. I'm not about to call this a great show, but it's still better than it has any right to be given the obvious pandering and such.

I also don't see the world-building as worthy of praise. Elsewhere around the web, more patient folks than myself have already questioned why the whole setup with the Norma makes little sense. Having said that, for me characterization is always more important than world-building or plausibility. If you're going to have wild things in your anime, then make me care about the characters first.

For me, the hook here is "I don't care about this character, but there's just enough there to think I might eventually, so I'll let you try and sell me." Sometimes you don't get everything you want in a story handed to you on a silver platter. I admit that this crew is hardly one worthy of the benefit of the doubt, but for some reason I want to give them a chance this time around.

Dr. Nick: Honestly, I don't even know what to make of that comic. Doesn't seem to appreciate either CA or the real world events it's referencing. I appreciate your other points, though, and agree that they are valid.

[Fireball]

I do actually sympathise with Ange. She doesn't know any better being literally brainwashed by the system and then being thrown into the lion's cage like that - why shouldn't I care? She is no goody two shoes but she isn't an asshole without a reason either and she is starting to grow. I want to see where this is going. Her kingdom seems far away but I'm sure she is will try to take it back sooner or later and I've always been a fan of revolution and kickass women. My biggest fear right now is that notKira will change her and the whole thing for the worse.

If we assume that Cross Ange is an honest attempt at creating a Jackson County Jail type exploitation anime (and it might be too early to make such assumptions), one of its major flaws is that it's unable to break away from the stylistic mold of modern (read: post-Geass) Sunrise. Everything is so overdesigned and clean and elaborate and fancy that it doesn't really have that prison camp grit of, say, Area 88 (and the Seed references certainly aren't helping). And of course, something being exploitation is no excuse for writing this awful.

Yeah it could look grittier but then again people would acusse it for taking itself too serious. Stuff like scantily clad military suits that serve no actual purpose I file under "anime".

Your link, considering how spoiled she was the maid did everything for her and she enjoyed it. And for the occasions she ever tried to use magic herself the maid likely made it look like she could use mana. It all fits.