That's the way to do it! By the end it gets pretty predictable, which is hardly surprising; but it's still fun.
What anime are you watching right now? 2H15 to 1H16
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
That's the way to do it! By the end it gets pretty predictable, which is hardly surprising; but it's still fun.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
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Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- robersora
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Man, how I wish that we would discuss more in this thread again... This thread has dwindled into a multi-poster blog. Then again, at least something's happening here, so that's good.
The envy is eating me up from inside.
I don't know about the dub, but the Japanese VA for Ayato's Mother, is my favourite voice actress ever, period. Her Timbre is so smooth and menacing, it's a joy to listen to. She also narrated the opening for Lupin's Fujiko Minne, but aside from that she's criminally underused.
Don't be afraid, you're not alone. The ugly visuals, the awful directing and the fact that it's a mystery story have always been a too high bar of entry for me as well... But people say it's good, so it's either just not for me or the world is wrong. I'm sure it's the latter.
Yes, Shirobako is a great show - the only thing that bothered me is that they refrained to draw the female characters as realistically diverse as they did with the male characters. The gender gap in character design is the most glaring I have ever seen in a show - and kind of took me out of the drama sometimes.
You're correct, that one should end their watch on E13. Because, then it ends on a high note - it's really disheartening to see the already at the beginning inferior Durarara deteriorate into a mass-fabricated mess revoked of verve, heart and soul three seasons ago.
Interesting, while you're correct, the first Episode was such a mess the first time I watched it, I didn't really recall any of what transpired because I was so confused. So while for you this mess of a first Episode killed tension, for me it was a high barrier of entry, because I just couldn't orientate myself. Either way, the entry for this series is the most glaring fault as it missed the intended effect of creating intrigue for both of us in very different ways.
The envy is eating me up from inside.
Gus Hanson wrote:Rahxephon episode 20: It took me a lot of tries to get through this episode since I cannot stand the English dub for all it's complexity PARTICULARLY from Quon. At this point, i'm just gritting my teeth and trying to get past these last six episodes for the sake of completing just once the dub experience.
I don't know about the dub, but the Japanese VA for Ayato's Mother, is my favourite voice actress ever, period. Her Timbre is so smooth and menacing, it's a joy to listen to. She also narrated the opening for Lupin's Fujiko Minne, but aside from that she's criminally underused.
Don't be afraid, you're not alone. The ugly visuals, the awful directing and the fact that it's a mystery story have always been a too high bar of entry for me as well... But people say it's good, so it's either just not for me or the world is wrong. I'm sure it's the latter.
Yes, Shirobako is a great show - the only thing that bothered me is that they refrained to draw the female characters as realistically diverse as they did with the male characters. The gender gap in character design is the most glaring I have ever seen in a show - and kind of took me out of the drama sometimes.
Ray wrote:Also, it ends on one of the most annoying 'READ THE MANGA/NOVEL" endings ever. If that annoys you, stop watching at episode 13, which I think is a more or less perfect ending for the series. Because 14-16 set up plotlines for a season 2 that likely won't ever come to be. Also, who is this vice president dude and little girl at the beginning of the series?
You're correct, that one should end their watch on E13. Because, then it ends on a high note - it's really disheartening to see the already at the beginning inferior Durarara deteriorate into a mass-fabricated mess revoked of verve, heart and soul three seasons ago.
Ray wrote:Baccano!:
Having said that, it's not perfect. For one, there isn't a lot of narrative tension because of the way the story is set up. They give away who is going to live and die by the end of the series away in the first episode, (or in the case of one character in the opening credits). Personally, I found that worked to the stories disadvantage. Thankfully the characters were so engaging that revealing their fates didn't detract from the time you spent with them, but it still annoyed me a bit.
Interesting, while you're correct, the first Episode was such a mess the first time I watched it, I didn't really recall any of what transpired because I was so confused. So while for you this mess of a first Episode killed tension, for me it was a high barrier of entry, because I just couldn't orientate myself. Either way, the entry for this series is the most glaring fault as it missed the intended effect of creating intrigue for both of us in very different ways.
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
I watched this years ago and remember liking it but nothing about it particularly comes to mind other than Miria and Isaac being hilarious morons. I think there was a lot of violence. Maybe it's time to give it another watch.
On 11/10/14, at 8:43 PM, Merrimerri wrote:
fhycjubg beat tge sgut iyt if gun
On 6/2/15, at 10:14 PM, Delispin wrote:
> Wow. I've disgusted even myself.
https://qnuw.wordpress.com/ The hottest new meme, revived in blog form. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw.
fhycjubg beat tge sgut iyt if gun
On 6/2/15, at 10:14 PM, Delispin wrote:
> Wow. I've disgusted even myself.
https://qnuw.wordpress.com/ The hottest new meme, revived in blog form. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw.
Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
That is perhaps the best description of Valkyrie Drive I can imagine. I marathoned that show in one day and don't remember a thing about it. The fact I could marathon it says something about its addictive nature, but the fact that I remember nothing about it says something . . . else. It's an experience, no denying that (and the way all the parts come together in the end is surprisingly deft, so there's that).
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
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.
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
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.
Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
If you do watch the English dub. The Japanese is decent, but the english dub is SPECTACULAR. I'd say it's on par with Bebop in how superior it is to the Japanese version.
Anyone can just dub an anime, but it takes a special someone to go the extra mile of watching Gangs of New York, and the Godfather to get the proper Brooklyn, Irish and Italian accents.
And it makes sense because the series is set in the USA.
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
^
Interesting opinion, I've read some people couldn't bear the ham-fisted, fake accents. I'm not a native speaker, so I wouldn't know.
Dimension W
This show really is a nostalgic call back to all those unsuccessful original Gonzo shows they produced, before they went bankrupt. Solty Rei especially. Cool dude meets cute gal in crazy world and off they go. Along for the ride are the borderline stereotypical gay guy, the fat ruthless business woman and nonsensical dancing in the opening.
It’s hard to pull off the introduction into a completely new world, but it’s manageable (as EVA masterfully showed us).
This show falls into the trapping of bad expeditionary writing I’m most allergic against - lines nobody would say to explain stuff. Things like calling somebody by ones full profession and name after waking up from a coma. Zeppelins that seem to have no other purpose than screaming one particular fragment of the law at their populous. I hate it because it hurts vital characterization and makes the world unbelievable from the get go.
After the sex doll doesn’t work any longer, because one super coil kind of destroyed others, he carries Al away. Sadly he feels the need to explain his motivations to the audience. Best case scenario there would be no need to explain his feelings, because we know him well enough at that point. Or at least make it a casual remark when he’s talking to the fat chick at the end of the Episode.
The main character is supposed to be cool for passively rejecting the status quo for reasons not yet revealed, but of course he has to survive and thus has this unbelievably thrilling grey area, which make him so complex and interesting. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I admit that he is a rarely used archetype in Anime these days, and I gladly watch him, because he is exactly my type of guy. So at least this show gets my type of fan service right. Good natured, manly, no-nonsense, stylish, beardy, deep voiced, behind the times (but to a cute degree).
The gal is supposed to be quirky and cute, but mainly comes of as mind-numbingly annoying, especially because she has nothing intriguing to offer, literally any other fapping device in anime hasn’t done better already.
There’s also one cool gimmick - coils. (I’d rather watch Dennou Coil)
There was clearly lots of monetary passion and love for gaijin money to create an Anime that’ll jive with American audiences - sadly, there’s too little artistic vision and skill to pull it off adequately. The wildly uneven quality of collocated elements on screen and behind it, result in the weirdest immersion break I’ve ever experienced. The premise has some hooks, but seems overall too reductive in world building to intrigue.
The writing sometimes works hard to alleviate the blandness of it all, though. There’s some really stupid lines, but overall there’s at least a sense of logical progression. The problems of the designs are even weirder. There are some pretty nice ideas, but they clash with a wildly unmemorable realized futuristic anime city. The story-boards work hard to make at least the introduction feel engaging, though. (They fail later on, sadly) The color palette and overall design sense is definitely somehow inspired and definitely above average, but I feel it might be a tad too garish to pull of the intended mood. Which is kinda interesting, because I wouldn’t say it’s colorful. This is the strange disconnect in quality of the different elements that fail to immerse me. It’s a rather fascinating problem to have.
Thankfully it has other, less ambiguous problems. The animation is serviceable, but an action series should deliver at least some impressing moves, or at least deliver interesting shots. This series manages to do neither and doesn’t even bother to mask those shortcomings with good choreography. There’s no dynamic in how the characters move, sadly. The CGI hits the uncanny perfectly.
Overall this series does a great job in sabotaging itself with backfired intentions. I see a passionate failure in every regard and hope the script writer gets to work with better people someday.
Koyomimonogatari
After the stellar Owari I’d die waiting for Kizu. Thankfully Shaft decided to ease my pain with a few short stories. Seems like the nice kind of fan service, I’m in!
Shouwa Genguko Raguko Shinjuu
ShoGeRaShi
This was definitively intriguing, and certainly impressively directed, especially the 10 minute Rakugo scene. But it was hard for me focusing on it, because every time I got comfy with the somber, adult tone some overly melodramatic execution made me roll my eyes and immediately spread the feeling of boredom.
Sekkou Boys
Let’s see, how fast that joke wears thin.
Interesting opinion, I've read some people couldn't bear the ham-fisted, fake accents. I'm not a native speaker, so I wouldn't know.
Dimension W
This show really is a nostalgic call back to all those unsuccessful original Gonzo shows they produced, before they went bankrupt. Solty Rei especially. Cool dude meets cute gal in crazy world and off they go. Along for the ride are the borderline stereotypical gay guy, the fat ruthless business woman and nonsensical dancing in the opening.
It’s hard to pull off the introduction into a completely new world, but it’s manageable (as EVA masterfully showed us).
This show falls into the trapping of bad expeditionary writing I’m most allergic against - lines nobody would say to explain stuff. Things like calling somebody by ones full profession and name after waking up from a coma. Zeppelins that seem to have no other purpose than screaming one particular fragment of the law at their populous. I hate it because it hurts vital characterization and makes the world unbelievable from the get go.
After the sex doll doesn’t work any longer, because one super coil kind of destroyed others, he carries Al away. Sadly he feels the need to explain his motivations to the audience. Best case scenario there would be no need to explain his feelings, because we know him well enough at that point. Or at least make it a casual remark when he’s talking to the fat chick at the end of the Episode.
The main character is supposed to be cool for passively rejecting the status quo for reasons not yet revealed, but of course he has to survive and thus has this unbelievably thrilling grey area, which make him so complex and interesting. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I admit that he is a rarely used archetype in Anime these days, and I gladly watch him, because he is exactly my type of guy. So at least this show gets my type of fan service right. Good natured, manly, no-nonsense, stylish, beardy, deep voiced, behind the times (but to a cute degree).
The gal is supposed to be quirky and cute, but mainly comes of as mind-numbingly annoying, especially because she has nothing intriguing to offer, literally any other fapping device in anime hasn’t done better already.
There’s also one cool gimmick - coils. (I’d rather watch Dennou Coil)
There was clearly lots of monetary passion and love for gaijin money to create an Anime that’ll jive with American audiences - sadly, there’s too little artistic vision and skill to pull it off adequately. The wildly uneven quality of collocated elements on screen and behind it, result in the weirdest immersion break I’ve ever experienced. The premise has some hooks, but seems overall too reductive in world building to intrigue.
The writing sometimes works hard to alleviate the blandness of it all, though. There’s some really stupid lines, but overall there’s at least a sense of logical progression. The problems of the designs are even weirder. There are some pretty nice ideas, but they clash with a wildly unmemorable realized futuristic anime city. The story-boards work hard to make at least the introduction feel engaging, though. (They fail later on, sadly) The color palette and overall design sense is definitely somehow inspired and definitely above average, but I feel it might be a tad too garish to pull of the intended mood. Which is kinda interesting, because I wouldn’t say it’s colorful. This is the strange disconnect in quality of the different elements that fail to immerse me. It’s a rather fascinating problem to have.
Thankfully it has other, less ambiguous problems. The animation is serviceable, but an action series should deliver at least some impressing moves, or at least deliver interesting shots. This series manages to do neither and doesn’t even bother to mask those shortcomings with good choreography. There’s no dynamic in how the characters move, sadly. The CGI hits the uncanny perfectly.
Overall this series does a great job in sabotaging itself with backfired intentions. I see a passionate failure in every regard and hope the script writer gets to work with better people someday.
Koyomimonogatari
After the stellar Owari I’d die waiting for Kizu. Thankfully Shaft decided to ease my pain with a few short stories. Seems like the nice kind of fan service, I’m in!
Shouwa Genguko Raguko Shinjuu
ShoGeRaShi
This was definitively intriguing, and certainly impressively directed, especially the 10 minute Rakugo scene. But it was hard for me focusing on it, because every time I got comfy with the somber, adult tone some overly melodramatic execution made me roll my eyes and immediately spread the feeling of boredom.
Sekkou Boys
Let’s see, how fast that joke wears thin.
2Q||3.33 _ 神殺しを行う
Decadent Stoned Slacker Socialist
Decadent Stoned Slacker Socialist
Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Tekkonkinreet:
This is one of the weirdest, most beautiful and bizarre surreal movies I've seen in while. It goes from childlike and Miyazaki inspired, to grim and violent in the same beat.
But. . . it's really confusing. You've got the mobsters, the alien infiltrating the mafia with his amusement park, the police, and the two vagrant brothers tearing the town apart for supremacy. It's a plot that should be straightforward. But plot is so jumbled because the surreal imagery used in weird places. There's this one scene where the two brothers parkour off of a building an float to the ground like leaves, but another scene where falling from that same height gets them hurt.
But you can tell that the story is about the themes of balance, of growing up, of trying to keep childlike innocence in an excessively violent and adult world. It's obvious both Black and White have some kind of mental illness that means they need to rely on each other for help with it. Black needs Whites childlike innocence to remind him that there is good in the world to keep him from being consumed by his violent tendencies, and White needs Black's hard edge and violent streak to keep him reined and not float away into his own little world.
It's beautiful surreal and deep, but I think I might need to watch it again to understand it properly. Assuming it's meant to be understood.
This is one of the weirdest, most beautiful and bizarre surreal movies I've seen in while. It goes from childlike and Miyazaki inspired, to grim and violent in the same beat.
But. . . it's really confusing. You've got the mobsters, the alien infiltrating the mafia with his amusement park, the police, and the two vagrant brothers tearing the town apart for supremacy. It's a plot that should be straightforward. But plot is so jumbled because the surreal imagery used in weird places. There's this one scene where the two brothers parkour off of a building an float to the ground like leaves, but another scene where falling from that same height gets them hurt.
But you can tell that the story is about the themes of balance, of growing up, of trying to keep childlike innocence in an excessively violent and adult world. It's obvious both Black and White have some kind of mental illness that means they need to rely on each other for help with it. Black needs Whites childlike innocence to remind him that there is good in the world to keep him from being consumed by his violent tendencies, and White needs Black's hard edge and violent streak to keep him reined and not float away into his own little world.
It's beautiful surreal and deep, but I think I might need to watch it again to understand it properly. Assuming it's meant to be understood.
- chazthesilencer
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Discussion? In this thread? Madness.
It is a crying shame that fat, ugly chicks aren’t as marketable as slim cuties. That said- I’m just happy to see more pretty drawings of female characters beyond their 18th year.
Between Shirobako and the more recent Sakurako’s Investigations and Young Black Jack, I’ve been spoiled lately.
Rented this. Feel asleep. Twice. This film owes me £2. I hate this film.
Us Animay watching evageeks gotta stick together! - Joy Evangelion
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
I haven't watched this movie in a long time, but the visuals are gorgeous. So much so, I bought the Manga, which is certainly a step up. The Manga's art is a lot grimier - at times disturbingly so - something the movie doesn't quite capture in its colorful beauty. Also it has more time for the story at hand, a luxury the movie doesn't have, being busy breezing through its narrative. And so the Manga paints a disturbing view of the impact on society and the individual gentrification has and the subsequent fear of being discarded for something new. So it's a great Manga, by the author of Ping Pong, Taiyou Matsumoto which I can only recommend, if the movie left a craving for learning more and digging deeper into the world of Treasure Town.
Well, it's less about the beauty of the characters, but the gap in drawing styles. They could have had beautiful girls, but maybe a tad more realistic? I somehow felt, that the females inhabited a different world than the males. But yes, of course drawing the girls cute makes the show more marketable, but they could have gone the other way too and design all the characters more Anime-esque. Then again, this way it's a beautiful meta statement of the state of the industry, so maybe that was intended.
Grimgar
Sexy beautiful people in a breathtaking world capped by superb directing. The only thing they should have reconsidered, might have been some of the dialogue. But overall the fight sequences are tense and thrilling, the slow pace generates thick atmosphere and generally this is the first trapped in an MMO series that is genuinely intriguing (even if most of that intrigued is sparked by the beautiful packaging).
Dimension W 2
Much better than the first Episode, yet still underperforming. It’s funny that they couldn’t identify him, because he has no coils, but that’s exactly why they knew who he was, because there’s almost no people left living like that. The moment I decided to drop it for now, was when Loser decided to explain Kyoma’s backstory to Kyoma.
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
I see your point, but it's not like they're overly sexualized, so I don't find it too much of a problem. And I thought I read somewhere that Ema's design is based on an animator at PA Works.
Finding intelligent life on the web is not easy, we must all be glad we found EGF. - A.T. Fish
You Can Start Again. Chapter 32 now released. Now on FF.net
Oh, Eva, you never cease to amaze me. Your fans are analizing a calendar, for god's sake.- Alpha
You Can Start Again. Chapter 32 now released. Now on FF.net
Oh, Eva, you never cease to amaze me. Your fans are analizing a calendar, for god's sake.- Alpha
Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Lots of people in the show are based on real people; I about killed myself laughing when ep 12 rolled around, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who's seen it.
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
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.
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
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Yeah, the not-Anno episode was the best thing to come out of that season.
On 11/10/14, at 8:43 PM, Merrimerri wrote:
fhycjubg beat tge sgut iyt if gun
On 6/2/15, at 10:14 PM, Delispin wrote:
> Wow. I've disgusted even myself.
https://qnuw.wordpress.com/ The hottest new meme, revived in blog form. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw.
fhycjubg beat tge sgut iyt if gun
On 6/2/15, at 10:14 PM, Delispin wrote:
> Wow. I've disgusted even myself.
https://qnuw.wordpress.com/ The hottest new meme, revived in blog form. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw. qnuw/qnuw.
- cyharding
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade
I did enjoy it, but it does raise one question for me: Is Sucy the new face of the drug culture?
I did enjoy it, but it does raise one question for me: Is Sucy the new face of the drug culture?
Finding intelligent life on the web is not easy, we must all be glad we found EGF. - A.T. Fish
You Can Start Again. Chapter 32 now released. Now on FF.net
Oh, Eva, you never cease to amaze me. Your fans are analizing a calendar, for god's sake.- Alpha
You Can Start Again. Chapter 32 now released. Now on FF.net
Oh, Eva, you never cease to amaze me. Your fans are analizing a calendar, for god's sake.- Alpha
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
^
I like Sucy.
The new Lupin is everything Lupin should and can be - a proto Cowboy Bebop. It's beautiful to look at, wacky and endearing. Sadly, it's conventional attitude bores me to tears.
I like Sucy.
The new Lupin is everything Lupin should and can be - a proto Cowboy Bebop. It's beautiful to look at, wacky and endearing. Sadly, it's conventional attitude bores me to tears.
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
I'm liking Boku Dake ga Inai Machi so far. I can't really see the serial killer plot going anywhere particularly interesting, but I like main dude-kun's character arc and Kayo as well. It's also above par in terms of visual creativity/quality. At least in these first 3 episodes.
I'm mainly interested in seeing MC grow as a human being, which is usually the point of repeat-to-succeed stories. I also want Kayo to gtfo of that abusive household and have her broken soul healed. I'm almost interested enough to read the manga, but the art doesn't really appeal to me. The anime def has the superior char designs.
I'm mainly interested in seeing MC grow as a human being, which is usually the point of repeat-to-succeed stories. I also want Kayo to gtfo of that abusive household and have her broken soul healed. I'm almost interested enough to read the manga, but the art doesn't really appeal to me. The anime def has the superior char designs.
SPOILER: Show
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Boku Dake has absolutely blown me away so far. I'm eagerly anticipating the next episode tomorrow.
Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Zegapain: It's good. In fact, I'd say it's a fantastic show, a criminally underrated hipster treat of the highest order. There are some salient reasons why it fell through the cracks, though: it admittedly starts out slow and looking like a spiky-haired shounen series, the CG mechs are admittedly bland-looking, and the bursting of the western anime bubble in 2008 or so essentially killed its R1 DVD release. And reasonably speaking there should be nothing much to expect from a production like this: Zegapain the anime is a video game spin-off, born from Microsoft's probably futile attempt in trying to push the Xbox 360 in Japan. But then again, sometimes these tie-ins can foster actual creativity when whoever is commissioning the project is largely indifferent about its contents beyond the presence of certain sellable elements. Probably the most famous example of this is Cowboy Bebop being greelit in order to peddle some random spaceship toys, and I assume something similar happened here.
And the good thing about a criminally underrated show is that you're less likely to get accidentally spoiled before actually sitting down and watching it. The best way to experience back-catalog stunners like this is to go in without any expectations and let them work their magic. Infinite Ryvius swept me off my feet not that long ago, and pretty much the same thing happened here again.
The thing is, Zegapain is a little like Nadesico in that the more mecha shows you've seen, the more you're going to get out of it. It's a pretty damn good sci-fi story in its own right, but what really sets it apart is how well it understands the larger genre that it inhabits. However, since it reveals its genre thesis very late in the game, just talking about it any further must necessarily be spoilered.
Shinji, I don't have to tell you to get in the robot.
Ever since Evangelion came and injected the mecha genre with a huge dose of weirdness, some people have clamored for a show that would swing the pendulum back the other way and reconstruct the pure, heroic super robot genre of the old and perhaps even bring it back to prominence. Such discussions often tend to be based on wildly simplistic notions about the genre's past, invoking the sort of creative uniformity of theme and message that never really existed in the first place, but we've talked about that before. I'm only mentioning this because Zegapain actually does something that's much rarer than either just aping Eva or staging some sort of Jun Kawagoe style super robot pseudo-revival. What Zegapain does is subgenre synthesis, fusing the hot-blooded sideburniness together with post-Evangelion existential wangstiness. It is strange and unusual alchemy, and as a big mecha freak, I found it astonishingly compelling. In my opinion, the show finds a beautiful harmony between these two seemingly disparate ingredients, and it does so very self-confidently, even if the really super-roboty parts don't become apparent until the last couple of episodes.
Zegapain is a post-apocalyptic show. Kind of. Before it reaches its wild genre fusion ending, its main visual reference is actually The Matrix. Again, kind of. In terms of story, Zegapain's post-apocalyptic setting is actually considerably more desperate and fucked-up than in the Wachowski films. Some of the Matrix-scapes are very familiar, and the show even blatantly uses the green raining code in a few occasions, but then there are also some very striking and overt visuals that most definitely don't fit the usual post-apocalypse kit. Despite its super-hopeless premise, Zegapain (a name that actually means "Maximum Hurt", no kidding) is at the same time probably the least edgy edgy anime ever. It's a post-apocalypse whose recurring visual motifs include flowers, birds and rainbows, and puppies and cats play a big role in the story. Disparate genre ingredients, disparate visual elements. Similarly, Zegapain is probably also the least pretentious pretentious anime ever. I mean, talk about post-Evangelion: here's a giant robot anime that shamelessly name-drops Last Year at Marienbad, courtesy of a film-geek main character, but if you're expecting some sort of deep, ambiguous meta-ending, that's not what you're getting. In fact, towards the end there's a rudely hilarious scene where a newly-introduced Important Exposition Character starts waxing on taoist philosophy, and the main characters basically tell him to fuck off and walk out because there are still villain castles left un-nuked.
This is a very situational outburst, though, as Zegapain is not big on asshole characters. In fact, it's rather big on idealism, working a little like reverse Infinite Ryvius. Whereas in Ryvius a desperate situation drives a group of mostly fundamentally decent people apart and into embracing toxic factionalism, in Zegapain a desperate situation brings people together instead, and not just in the military unit sense but also by fueling their best impulses instead of their worst. Near the very end of the show there's a remarkable little exchange where Kyo almost offhandedly mentions that while he now pilots the giant robot to save the world and his loved ones, part of the reason why he got originally involved was a lingering wish to live out his childhood Super Sentai hero fantasies. A main character in what definitely qualifies as a serious business real robot show actually said that. Wow.
And the good thing about a criminally underrated show is that you're less likely to get accidentally spoiled before actually sitting down and watching it. The best way to experience back-catalog stunners like this is to go in without any expectations and let them work their magic. Infinite Ryvius swept me off my feet not that long ago, and pretty much the same thing happened here again.
The thing is, Zegapain is a little like Nadesico in that the more mecha shows you've seen, the more you're going to get out of it. It's a pretty damn good sci-fi story in its own right, but what really sets it apart is how well it understands the larger genre that it inhabits. However, since it reveals its genre thesis very late in the game, just talking about it any further must necessarily be spoilered.
SPOILER: Show
Shinji, I don't have to tell you to get in the robot.
Ever since Evangelion came and injected the mecha genre with a huge dose of weirdness, some people have clamored for a show that would swing the pendulum back the other way and reconstruct the pure, heroic super robot genre of the old and perhaps even bring it back to prominence. Such discussions often tend to be based on wildly simplistic notions about the genre's past, invoking the sort of creative uniformity of theme and message that never really existed in the first place, but we've talked about that before. I'm only mentioning this because Zegapain actually does something that's much rarer than either just aping Eva or staging some sort of Jun Kawagoe style super robot pseudo-revival. What Zegapain does is subgenre synthesis, fusing the hot-blooded sideburniness together with post-Evangelion existential wangstiness. It is strange and unusual alchemy, and as a big mecha freak, I found it astonishingly compelling. In my opinion, the show finds a beautiful harmony between these two seemingly disparate ingredients, and it does so very self-confidently, even if the really super-roboty parts don't become apparent until the last couple of episodes.
Zegapain is a post-apocalyptic show. Kind of. Before it reaches its wild genre fusion ending, its main visual reference is actually The Matrix. Again, kind of. In terms of story, Zegapain's post-apocalyptic setting is actually considerably more desperate and fucked-up than in the Wachowski films. Some of the Matrix-scapes are very familiar, and the show even blatantly uses the green raining code in a few occasions, but then there are also some very striking and overt visuals that most definitely don't fit the usual post-apocalypse kit. Despite its super-hopeless premise, Zegapain (a name that actually means "Maximum Hurt", no kidding) is at the same time probably the least edgy edgy anime ever. It's a post-apocalypse whose recurring visual motifs include flowers, birds and rainbows, and puppies and cats play a big role in the story. Disparate genre ingredients, disparate visual elements. Similarly, Zegapain is probably also the least pretentious pretentious anime ever. I mean, talk about post-Evangelion: here's a giant robot anime that shamelessly name-drops Last Year at Marienbad, courtesy of a film-geek main character, but if you're expecting some sort of deep, ambiguous meta-ending, that's not what you're getting. In fact, towards the end there's a rudely hilarious scene where a newly-introduced Important Exposition Character starts waxing on taoist philosophy, and the main characters basically tell him to fuck off and walk out because there are still villain castles left un-nuked.
This is a very situational outburst, though, as Zegapain is not big on asshole characters. In fact, it's rather big on idealism, working a little like reverse Infinite Ryvius. Whereas in Ryvius a desperate situation drives a group of mostly fundamentally decent people apart and into embracing toxic factionalism, in Zegapain a desperate situation brings people together instead, and not just in the military unit sense but also by fueling their best impulses instead of their worst. Near the very end of the show there's a remarkable little exchange where Kyo almost offhandedly mentions that while he now pilots the giant robot to save the world and his loved ones, part of the reason why he got originally involved was a lingering wish to live out his childhood Super Sentai hero fantasies. A main character in what definitely qualifies as a serious business real robot show actually said that. Wow.
Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
Gate S2 is my sole pickup this season and up to speed on it.
Go with God, and Fight Like the Devil 1356
Curator of: Evangelion Virtual Museum • Cold Steel • MFC
Sanity is no option for a collector. - Tolwyn • I just love eva so much that I figured it's worth investing in. - Paranoid
Curator of: Evangelion Virtual Museum • Cold Steel • MFC
Sanity is no option for a collector. - Tolwyn • I just love eva so much that I figured it's worth investing in. - Paranoid
- chazthesilencer
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
I’m planning on marathoning this in a couple months. Here’s hoping Leilei’s facial expressions are as hilariously blank as they were in the first season.
In the meantime, Crunchy has a handful of shorts going to keep me amused. I like short shorts.
Teekyu season… lost count.
I’ve expressed my liking of this rubbish enough. This is the last time. I swear.
Sekko Boys
Never mind the show itself, just look at the comments:
Oh Lordy. The puns. The terrible puns. I love it.
Remember Kannagi? That unspoken rule where everyone wood use tree puns whenever they mentioned it? Sekko Boys could present us a spiritual sequel...
Us Animay watching evageeks gotta stick together! - Joy Evangelion
- robersora
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Re: What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2015 to now
omg...
Kizumonogatari...
In Vienna...
In two days...
Kizumonogatari...
In Vienna...
In two days...
2Q||3.33 _ 神殺しを行う
Decadent Stoned Slacker Socialist
Decadent Stoned Slacker Socialist
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