What anime are you watching right now? May 2012

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

@Ornette ....Ushio!!!!

[Ceimoa Nan]

A few hours ago I watched 5 Centimeters Per Second.

Childhood crushes and space exploration. That's all that really matters.

[Ornette]

A few hours ago I watched 5 Centimeters Per Second.

Childhood crushes and space exploration. That's all that really matters.

You sure you're not talking about Voices of a Distant Star?

[Ceimoa Nan]

No, I'm talking about 5 Centimeters Per Second. There's this big motif about a Japanese space probe being launched from the Tanegashima Space Center. But I've heard of Voices of a Distant Star. When I Googled 5 Centimeters per Second, it said, "People also search for" and showed Voices of a Distant Star. So I'll watch that too sometime.

Edit: Apparently they're directed by the same guy, Makoto Shinkai.

[Ornette]

I don't remember anything about space exploration in 5cm, whereas Voices has space exploration as a premise. It's by the same director, but Voices is short and is made entirely by him, including the voice acting (along with his wife, for the girl's voice).

[Ceimoa Nan]

Don't remember anything about space exploration?

SPOILER: Show

The second episode is titled "Cosmonaut." The main character and the girl he's not in love with come across a space rocket being transported at five kilometers per hour while riding home. Later right before the girl tells him she likes him, the rocket launches, and as they're watching it, she can tell his heart's somewhere far away, and so he can't love her. Then he has this mesmerizing dream about the rocket. It's like he identifies with the space probe, because they're both trying to reach something impossibly far away. And when he's an adult, he picks up a science magazine with the same probe on its cover.

I found it... poignant.

[Monk Ed]

Ornette, regarding what you said about Clannad, you spoilered possibly the least spoilery part of that sentence for anyone who's seen less than 3/4 of the series .

[InstrumentalityOne]

Tomoya with his daughter in that field

SPOILER: Show

looking for her lost robot

was what really got me. As sappy as that scene sounds, everything leading up to that made it feel like a dam breaking.

Same here.

[Oz]

I finally watched the first episode of Joshiraku. It's refreshing to see a series like this not animated by SHAFT or directed by Shinbo. On the other hand, I'm miffed by the first episode's direction. The less in-your-face (but more sensible) direction had its moments, but the episode was actually quite tiring in its entirety. On top of that, some of the puns are just so complicated that no matter how you translate them they won't make sense in English so it will be quite a feat understanding everything that goes on in the show. The opening scene was pretty much as meta as possible for anime - to the point where I can't even tell whether it was good or bad.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

I just finished Goldran and I can safely say this has to be the worst mecha series I have ever seen and this is counting the likes of Wings of Rean and Magic Knight Rayearth. Aside from what I mentioned earlier, the series actually did start to pick up at episode 34 and it even gave Serious and Walter some good character development with some neat monsters of the week including a kaiju. Now I can kind of ignore the Planet Buster super weapon, the mass production fortresses that seemingly raise no concern, or the fact that space sometimes has oxygen for no reason. Then Treasure Walzac (I'm not kidding, his actual name) decides to launch a planet busting super warhead at his sons to achieve the treasure of Legendra because........ I don't know, apparently he's just a ruthless dick that wants gold. This would be fine if he got a proper introduction FORTY SIX EPISODES EARLIER! You know what? This is my new pet peeve now: Last minute final bosses. But wait, it gets "better".

Apparently the reason the Braves were constructed was for some intergalactic treasure hunt and whoever got through the Railroad of Light first to Legendra got entitlement of the planet/galaxy because the ruler wants to retire. Everyone goes "eh, thanks but no thanks", use the Braves to give Treasure a big FU, and go riding into space with the Walzac Republic Empire chasing after them............




DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB! GAH! This is why I detest endings like this, they never end on a closed note! This was downright pathetic, wasted, and soulless (hey look, a Lamb of God reference!). They actually had a final battle with Cyber Death Garrigun that was kind of good and like with Dagwon they should have STOPPED THERE. But nope! So was their anything I enjoyed? Yes actually.

Serious was surprisingly well developed for a heartless villain that seem conflicted, especially after they killed of his dog, Razor. However, he manages to turn good after realizing that unlike his brutal father there are people that actually give a darn about him; kind of like with Galden in Ryu Knight except here the execution was not as good. Like always, I like Kunio Okawara's mecha designs for both protag mecha and the monsters of the week. Even though I don't care for MOST of the comedy, every once in a while there is a balls to the wall funny scene I did find laugh out loud worthy. Finally, I actually like the fortresses. Most fortresses in mecha anime either have very little threatening potential they use on the titular mechs or have the massive gaping flaw that is having an exposed bridge (which every single Gundam battleship except the Minerva and Ptolemios twins are guilty for). Not only do they not have that (or at least not to Gundam levels of exposed), but they transform into robots themselves Macross style and ARE GENUINELY THREATENING AND COOL WHILE DOING IT. That is extremely rare for me to actually like fortresses/ships in a mecha series so I will give Goldran that much.

[Alastor]

So, uh, torrenting the first two eps of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse while taking a break from L-Gaim and FSS. I haven't played the VNs yet, mostly since I'm on a school-rental PC and they're eroges.

How fucked am I going to be in understanding what's going on?

[Azathoth]

Rinne 13: Yeah uh, I definitely stopped caring about this show several months ago. I was hoping the commercial aspect of this show wouldn't wind up dragging it down, and it didn't, really: every other aspect of it did. Keep Maru, and possibly Vaginolio and his awesome coat. Everything else can be trashed.

New ED sure is, err, interesting though.

[Mr. Tines]

Well, caught the first episode of the bread-does-sudoku series; which opens with the most terrifying phrase anyone can utter -- then demonstrates the usual efficiency one would expect. I'll wait and see with this one.

And also Uta Koi-- Folktales from Japan for older viewers. Mostly harmless; added to queue.

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

I Watched the first episode of Campione!

SPOILER: Show

it was alright maybe a little fan service heavy but still watchable.I heard there was an issue with this episode moving too far ahead in the story,
if the rumors true I wonder how this will effect the placing of the anime and if it's going to follow the light novel at all. Another thing that got my attention was the move that the main character Godou used at the end, it reminded me of Archer's Unlimited Blade Works.
So it's should at least be somewhat entertaining.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Over an hour ago I finished the last of the SEED Destiny movies. Worth it, even after exposing myself to the entire* major entries in the Gundam franchise, after hearing all of the hate, deserve or trolling, Destiny gets, after re-experiencing it all I can safely say that................

It is still my favorite entry in the franchise. Sure, the lack of my favorite tracks or Gells-Ghe was a little dumb and some moments were glossed over, but still, I enjoyed it to no end and I even enjoyed these movies more than TTGL or even Victory Gundam (my second favorite entry). I am kind of down that they will never make that SEED movie, but with Age crashing and burning horribly there might be an extremely distant hope.

In related news, I found episodes of Cutey Honey Flash! They are in German and in less than stellar quality as I found out through watching episode 7, but everybody's names and attacks seem intact, German is MUCH easier to understand than Italian, Japanese, and especially Chinese (probably because English derives so much from German), and the quality is not unwatchable. TDSA Takes on Shojo Junk will continue!....... As soon as I prep myself for Magic Knight Rayearth 2. At least both of them are (barely) more entertaining than Utena has been in 24 episodes. I'm also considering to start on Exkaiser sometime in the future even though only the first six episodes were subbed.




*

SPOILER: Show

One day........

Edit: Scratch what I said about Rayearth, I just watched the first episode of the second series, just as problematic as the first.

[InstrumentalityOne]

On top of that, some of the puns are just so complicated that no matter how you translate them they won't make sense in English so it will be quite a feat understanding everything that goes on in the show.

Read the scanlation

[Oz]

^ As the characters themselves said, why make an anime adaptation? Read the manga instead. The thing is, I don't have time or interest to read manga right now so I will try my luck with the adaptation.

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

I watched Cat soup the other day and even now I'm not sure of what I watched but for some reason it was very enjoyable. It was interesting that the character had no voice actors, I heard there was a second movie so I'm going to try and find it.

[Ornette]

There's a TV series called Nekojiru Gekijou. It's not the same surreal as Cat Soup but it's got its own bizarre weirdness, like the mistreatment of pork.

Cat Soup isn't that hard to understand, not a whole lot goes on aside from that one cat trying to save his sister from the land of the dead. Everything else is just imagery.

----

EDIT:

Recently finished the first 201 episode of Gintama. It's really hard to imagine how a gag/slapstick/parody show can go on for this long and rarely ever get old. Over the last year and a half or so, I started from the first episode because they were all on Crunchyroll, having only seen random episodes on TV here and there, and I can't remember it ever getting old or repetitive.

I can see how the humor isn't for everyone, it's sort of random and crude and spazstic sometimes (nearing SZS levels sometimes), but it's a ridiculously fun show. Only assessment I had made here was: post/467074/What-anime-are-you-watching-right-now-Apr-Sep-11/#467074

And now that I'm a quarter of the way through Gintama' and they've finally ended it, let's see if I have anything left to complain about.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

After giving it some thought I am going to attempt to marathon Utena this weekend since I only have 14 episodes left. That and Rayearth is kind of boring even after seeing ep 2 with it going straight into mech action. With that said....

TDSA Takes on Shojo Junk: The Conclusion Part 1! Coming this Sunday only on Syfy! (imagine greater)

Oh yeah and there is also this thirteen ep magic girl series I decided to take on and watched two episodes of it tonight....... And it is a shojo anime.......... It doesn't suck testicles! Details on this sometime later.