What anime are you watching right now? Nov 2013

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Postby Shinoyami65 » Mon May 05, 2014 4:58 am

Finished watching Gunbuster.

SPOILER: Show

Never has bad spelling been so moving


Maybe I should move onto Diebuster next...
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Postby robersora » Mon May 05, 2014 6:03 am

View Original PostShinoyami65 wrote:Finished watching Gunbuster.

SPOILER: Show

Never has bad spelling been so moving


Maybe I should move onto Diebuster next...


I'm always curious how people react to Diebuster after watching Gunbuster... :misato_service:
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Postby Mr. Tines » Mon May 05, 2014 1:55 pm

View Original PostShinoyami65 wrote:Diebuster
It's post-FLCL Gainax rather than the 80s classic version. You have been warned.
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Postby H-MangaEnthusiast » Mon May 05, 2014 4:44 pm

Diebuster plays out as opposite to Gunbuster. It's a nice watch, definitely. Maybe you won't like it as much as Gunbuster because it lacks in certain aspects that made Gunbuster good, but if you enjoyed things like FLCL and experienced a bizzare storytelling where you're left with seemingly nonsensical plot and conclusion then you're in for a treat. I kinda always felt like there's something to Diebuster I didn't fully comprehend - the same thing I felt with FLCL - but I've already re-watched FLCL to death and I'm pretty satisfied with my overall experience. I may just be overthinking shit but I'm content with believing that there's more to them than just dumb, random fun... same thing I can say about Abenobashi... so yeah, I actually thought Diebuster was better, and I should probably revisit it at some point. :)
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Postby caragnafog dog » Mon May 05, 2014 7:08 pm

I LOVED the new Mekaku. Cathartic and stylish as fuck.
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fhycjubg beat tge sgut iyt if gun
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> Wow. I've disgusted even myself.

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Postby Bagheera » Tue May 06, 2014 1:35 am

View Original Postcaragnafog dog wrote:I LOVED the new Mekaku. Cathartic and stylish as fuck.


Mekaku is like Bakemono without the stupid text scenes so I'm in.
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Postby caragnafog dog » Tue May 06, 2014 3:22 pm

I didn't mind those but I am fully on board with Mekaku now. Those powerlines man.
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.

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Postby A.T. Fish » Tue May 06, 2014 7:34 pm

I like Mekaku's style but I also get a pretentious vibe from it, like it's trying too hard to look cool.

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Postby Redtophat » Tue May 06, 2014 8:59 pm

View Original PostA.T. Fish wrote:I like Mekaku's style but I also get a pretentious vibe from it, like it's trying too hard to look cool.
Just like Monogatari!

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Postby Xard » Tue May 06, 2014 9:19 pm

What the fuck, people here are liking Mekaku? :uhh:

This has been so far the most reviled and widely shat on Shaft productions in ages. Japan downright hates it while /a/ threads are 90% bashing too.

I'm not watching the series myself (I'm watching NOTHING from season as is) but seeing three positive comments on series in a row is a new one for me.

View Original Postrobersora wrote:Well, as I said, I don't really care while watching. I still like listening to "her" music (except Macross J-pop, which just isn't up my alley), but after discovering the uncanny similarities that occurred one too many times, I lost a great deal of respect of her. Then again, being comfortable in so many styles and churning out all of them with ease would border on a miracle. Let's just agree on the fact that you can hear from which artists she has been heavily influenced for some soundtracks.

At least she's not Kajiura whose output sounds even more interchangeable in recent years.

Timbaland stole my car  SPOILER: Show
Well I hope you don't take this the wrong way but whenever I see a reaction like this to artist X or band Y all I can think of is relative innocence or should I say naivete on end of the listener. It's silly and extremely modern by conditioning response that shows little care for how human creative processes work and lack of experience in approaching music analytically and/or role of "borrowing" that has formed its backbone through the ages.

Really, for most part Kanno has done nothing (off the top of my head) Bob Dylan, The Beatles (band or solo, esp. Lennon and Harrison), Brian Wilson, Johnny Cash, Ritchie Blackmore, Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, The Flaming Lips, Steely Dan, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Radiohead [insert seemingly endless list of more here] haven't done. I hope you are consistent on your application of your burrowed brow evaluation in the case you happen to like any of the artists I just listed.

I'm not even going to include straight examples of jazz, blues or ye olde classical music here given how riffs, melodies or pretty much entire songs (entire movements coughhändelcough) were swapped and recycled all the time and the whole creative culture had such "sharing" as natural part of it. Muddy Waters "stole" songs and riffs all the time and Mozart lifted melodies, so what. Then there's the field of soundtrack and background music composing which is actually the right context for the suspect Kanno stuff and, well, this field kinda jumps at you even more than others...

My point is not that it's ok because everyone else is being terrible too, my point is it's ok because it's pretty much ok in all of the other cases I've listed. Plagiarism is a serious vice and misconduit in academic context due to effects contrary to epistemological norms that govern pursuit of knowledge it has, in art it should be pretty muc non-issue. The line between "influence" and "ripping off" is drawn in water and you won't find any consistent standards from court rulings or theoretical work in aesthetics. I think it's meaningless and discounting anyone's talents because of existence of it to some degree per se is patently absurd. As for Kanno in particular only fraction of occasionally alleged cases have any substance - and this group of alleged cases already forms a tiny minority of her entire output over decades that even in released format (there's plenty unreleased material) numbers in thousands of pieces of music.

If a composer of much greater renown and fame than others mentioned in this post, George Händel, is worthy of being considered one of the all time great musical geniuses despite literally pilfering entire movements from works of others some guitar twanging popper copping himself a riff is no issue in assesment of artist ability.

I remember feeling shocked and betrayed years ago when I first learned some favourite artist of mine had clearly nicked himself some material from older stuff. Now with passage of time, reading about "plagiarism" and art and having broader perspective in general I don't give two shits... unless plagiarism in question is absolutely amazing like this one time Kanno ripped off Shore's famous Shire theme years before Shore actually composed it! :hahaha:


Anyway, the important part in your reply is revealing pig disgusting plebness over Macross stuff. How mortifying. If this was 2011 and this was 4chan I would be going all greentext tfw he doesn't know Plus is the most influential and important anime soundtrack of last 20+ years and Frontier is Kanno's de facto most popular and celebrated work but it's 2014, this is EGF and I'm too bored to write that. Oh wait.

As for Kajiura she has sounded the same almost since she left See-Saw yeeeaaaaaaaaars ago. She's like anime soundtrack equivalent of Vivaldi or AC/DC: she does one thing but she does it very well at least! :lol:

View Original PostGuy Nacks wrote:DYRL (1984)


I'd watched Macross Plus around this time last year and was happy with it, but never followed up on any other Macross property afterwards. Hearing about how legendary of a property DYRL was multiple times all over the forum, I decided to give it a watch. The animation is the best I've seen from that era until Akira.


I don't think you'll find anything better than Akira from the whole decade, really. The whole increasingly highly budgeted and increasingly ambious feature animation productions of 80s were all love children of Nausicaa-DYRL pair from 1984. New blockbuster like Nausicaa is what everyone wanted to create while DYRL with its staggering attention to detail, ridiculous layering of cels (7 at best IIRC) and epoch making animation efforts formed the gold standard for how 80s anime ought to look and feel like. You can view later efforts like Honneamise and Robot Carnival as partially succesful (and partially not) attempts at trying to meet and best DYRL standards.


Anyway, personally speaking DYRL is a feature that grown on me over the years and more often I've seen it. When I first saw it I was extremely impressed by the production effort and thought it was "very good" film but the very melodramatic execution felt at times bit alienating to me and sorta simpler story than that of Plus and Frontier had me prefer latter two entries in the franchise over DYRL.

It's a film that keeps getting better with each viewing though and nowadays I won't hesitate for a moment in calling it one of my all time favourite anime films and perhaps best of its decade after usual Ghibli output. As for the feeling It's supposed to come off as very staged and dramatized like a stage play, in fact. (Plus unsurprisingly was supposed to work as a western science fiction feature, making it very palatable to western tastes)

Also the climax is the greatest, most mesmerizing sequence in anime of the whole decade.

View Original PostSquigsquasher wrote:The one thing that really puts me off Lucky Star, believe it or not, is Konata's dad, who from what I have heard is basically a pedophile. Unless I'm grossly misunderstanding his character or I just have shitty sources of course.


He's pretty typical lolicon otaku insert character and butt of jokes. He amused me more than anything. Anyway, your sources are off. He's not "a pedophile", he is ALSO a pedophile! Like a true connoisseur his tastes are broad! :biii:

View Original PostMonk Ed wrote:So to read that the continuation that I craved back then has turned out to be such a disappointment is ... disappointing! :cringe:


The final OVA is just really weak. It spends majority of its time introducing new, pointless characters and having Nothing Happen At All while the old cast seem to have lost all their characteristic spunk. It looks like the fandom really didn't like the third OVA for most part and I can see why.

Anyway yeah Tenchi is very "modest" in a sense compared to modern harem anime and it's easy to oversell the harem aspect. It's at least as much comedic space opera screwball comedy/adventure - and better for it.

View Original Postcaragnafog dog wrote:Saw the first CCS movie and the castle of cagliostro last night. The former was fantastic, like a really nicely animated extended episode with new music. The latter was very fun too, it was my introduction to lupin III. I look forward to watching more.


You'll get even more out of Cagliostro when you're more experienced with the franchise and realize just how different Lupin it is. It really has that Last Gig feel all over it but proper appreciation of subtetlies in portrayal of characters and certain wearyness in tone demand more experience with the franchise.

View Original PostShinoyami65 wrote:bad spelling


That's intentional and GAINAX way of hinting at great amount of time and evolution in writing that has taken in place.


****************

The one series I left out from my previous review post because I seriously wanted to go sleep...

Dennou Coil

ImageEveryone is searching...

Dennou Coil is yet another proof for validity of NHK's high reputation. Through the decades many of Japan's most beloved anime classics have aired on the channel from Miyazaki's born-classic debut Future Boy Conan to GAINAX's Nadia. Written and directed by animator genius Mitsuo Iso Dennou Coil is remarkable aughts production that fully deserves its reputation as top rank anime from the decade.

Dennou Coil remarkably excels in three things.


First there's straight up production quality. Dennou Coil was funded by NHK, animated by Madhouse and had superlative staff even beyond its chief architect - for example one of series's two principal animation directors was no other than Takeshi Honda. The series is a joy to watch. The earthly, brown and grey hued colour palette is beautiful and offers nice contrast to scifi story being told. Designs are good and characteristic. Art is gorgeous with equal care given for city serving as backdrop as well as various wonders of Web 10.0 and its use. CG looks good and is well integrated with traditional animation. Then there's animation that maintains admirably high standards through the series without a single drop in quality. Character animation in particular - which given unusually low key nature for SF piece is majority of it - is truly exquisite and captures the kind of details and nuances in movement and expressions on a level very few creative teams in industry reach. Music is probably the weakest link in the series - it gets the job done but is nothing to write home about per se though opening and ending songs are very beautiful and crucial for setting the tone of series.


Secondly there's the richness of cast and their development with genuine empathy on creator's end. Very rarely in anime or fiction in general do I see such close understanding of what makes kids tick and how it feels like to live in the world of 6th graders. Outside Miyazaki's oeuvre such grasp of child's experience and nuanced characterization is almost non-existent but Iso does it. These kids are not larger than life heroines or demure loli fapbaits. They're kids dealing with pains and joys of growing up and exploring the brave new digital frontiers of their world that adults don't really understand. My favourite character was the intelligent, brash loner Isako caught up between wise-beyond-her-years maturity and the soft core of a child that reminds you this is only 12 year old girl in the end.


Third there's the exquisite quality Dennou Coil carries as piece of science fiction and I think it's very easy to understand why this is the only anime ever to win both Hugo and Nebula award equivalents of Japan. The twenty minutes into future feel and speculation on how internet and integration of our concrete world with the virtual might proceed is very well realized and feels remarkably plausible. The series also expertly explores how kids in particular would act in such environment, being intuitive learners and quick adaptors of new technologies and the like. The kids use the Web 10.0 in ways that don't really occur to adults. As work of science fiction I think Dennou Coil is one of the most genuinely accomplished works of last decade and it doesn't have a single giant robot in it, even. The storyline is basically complex puzzle that is used to explore all important aspects of this new information society quite deftly. If I had to compare it to something I guess calling it spiritual successor of Serial Experiments Lain would not be far off, given focus on adolescent girl protagonist and SF ruminations on evolution of the 'net. Dennou Coil does differ from Lain significantly though; it's nowhere near as creepy or mindfucky as Lain so don't go in expecting acid fueled brain rape and X-Files conspiracies.


Thematically the series is as simple as it is valid and has its own profoundity. In words of Iso himself "there will always be a distance between people, and even between things that seem within ones' reach. And that one must walk down a long, thin and winding road before they reach one's heart. There are tons of obstacles. It's in fact like the roads in towns of old." Needless to say this central theme is beautifully metaphorized in activities the children partake in and the long, narrow roads of the city itself.

Iso's writing and directing keep it all together and are remarkably accomplished as one can deduce from all the praise I've heaped on it. The few negative remarks I have to make don't significantly impact Coil overall. In terms of it's pacing it's a bit on the slow and slumbering side for me and as much as I enjoyed the slow exploration of the world first half of the series felt like it went nowhere at times. Poor chorus to this was also the anti-climatic nature of some reveals and resolutions after the long buildups provided. I also feel one of the standalone episodes halfway through goes a bit too far into laughably absurd territory even by standards of this future society (you should be able to recognize this episode when you see it) though it was pretty darn hilarious, I must admit. Perhaps the biggest problem for me was that I felt the final stretch of the series invoked a bit too many unexpected tweeeests for good of its own coherence as a narrative but the series ends so tidily and beautifully even these gripes aren't major grievances.

In summary Dennou Coil is exquisite science fiction series with interesting SF speculation about possible future mingling of our information technologies with concrete reality might take in future, interesting core storyline and very well written characters - and plenty of heart, too. I figured I'd especially recommend this title to someone like Mr. Tines here but not too surprisingly he has already seen it going by MAL...

Verdict: Kids will be kids even in 2020s and this series is borderline impeccably realized and enjoyable reminder of the fact. If you consider yourself science fiction fan you owe it to yourself to see this.

9/10


Now I'm watching Rose of Versailles and HOLY SHIT IS THIS SERIES TRULY GREAT :|
Last edited by Xard on Tue May 06, 2014 9:31 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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Postby Redtophat » Tue May 06, 2014 9:22 pm

Also Knights of Sidonia is ranked #2 in preorders behind Love Live S2, when did Nippland acquire good taste?

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Postby Monk Ed » Tue May 06, 2014 9:42 pm

And now I want to watch DYRL and Dennou Coil.

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Postby A.T. Fish » Tue May 06, 2014 10:32 pm

View Original PostXard wrote:What the fuck, people here are liking Mekaku? :uhh:

This has been so far the most reviled and widely shat on Shaft productions in ages. Japan downright hates it while /a/ threads are 90% bashing too.

I'm not watching the series myself (I'm watching NOTHING from season as is) but seeing three positive comments on series in a row is a new one for me.


From what I hear most of the hate comes from fans of the source material that didn't get what they were expecting. Also, it seems like the director imprinted his unique style on it too heavily, as the above comments on the similarities with Monogatari point out (I wouldn't know since I haven't seen any Monogatari). The show isn't bad though, at least I don't think it is, but there's so much effort put into making it look stylish that it can come off as pretentious. Oh, and if that popularity ranking you posted a few pages back is any indication, you shouldn't be trusting Japan's judgement, I simply can't respect a list that has Ping Pong at the bottom and Daimidaler in the top 5. :lol:

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Postby caragnafog dog » Tue May 06, 2014 11:53 pm

I watched all 3 Sailor Moon movies at CAP's behest tonight. Had a great time, and I can definitively rank R as my favorite, with SuperS and S behind it. R was ikuhara-fabulous and the climax of it (MOON REVENGE) is probably my favorite moment in the franchise (though I haven't seen Stars yet). I liked S for the surprisingly emotional focus on Luna and SuperS for the crazy as fuck dream shenanigans. That one was also legitimately creepy, and the danger to Tuxedo Mask and the Senshi felt more real than usual to me; the enemies were simultaneously ridiculous and unnerving. The hypnotic flute song won't leave my head any time soon.

I liked them all very much and I'm glad I didn't put off seeing them any longer. Next are the shorts.
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.

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Postby C.A.P. » Wed May 07, 2014 12:11 am

Good...good...
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Postby H-MangaEnthusiast » Wed May 07, 2014 12:27 am

View Original PostXard wrote:
SPOILER: Show
Dennou Coil[/size]

Everyone is searching...

Dennou Coil is yet another proof for validity of NHK's high reputation. Through the decades many of Japan's most beloved anime classics have aired on the channel from Miyazaki's born-classic debut Future Boy Conan to GAINAX's Nadia. Written and directed by animator genius Mitsuo Iso Dennou Coil is remarkable aughts production that fully deserves its reputation as top rank anime from the decade.

Dennou Coil remarkably excels in three things.


First there's straight up production quality. Dennou Coil was funded by NHK, animated by Madhouse and had superlative staff even beyond its chief architect - for example one of series's two principal animation directors was no other than Takeshi Honda. The series is a joy to watch. The earthly, brown and grey hued colour palette is beautiful and offers nice contrast to scifi story being told. Designs are good and characteristic. Art is gorgeous with equal care given for city serving as backdrop as well as various wonders of Web 10.0 and its use. CG looks good and is well integrated with traditional animation. Then there's animation that maintains admirably high standards through the series without a single drop in quality. Character animation in particular - which given unusually low key nature for SF piece is majority of it - is truly exquisite and captures the kind of details and nuances in movement and expressions on a level very few creative teams in industry reach. Music is probably the weakest link in the series - it gets the job done but is nothing to write home about per se though opening and ending songs are very beautiful and crucial for setting the tone of series.


Secondly there's the richness of cast and their development with genuine empathy on creator's end. Very rarely in anime or fiction in general do I see such close understanding of what makes kids tick and how it feels like to live in the world of 6th graders. Outside Miyazaki's oeuvre such grasp of child's experience and nuanced characterization is almost non-existent but Iso does it. These kids are not larger than life heroines or demure loli fapbaits. They're kids dealing with pains and joys of growing up and exploring the brave new digital frontiers of their world that adults don't really understand. My favourite character was the intelligent, brash loner Isako caught up between wise-beyond-her-years maturity and the soft core of a child that reminds you this is only 12 year old girl in the end.


Third there's the exquisite quality Dennou Coil carries as piece of science fiction and I think it's very easy to understand why this is the only anime ever to win both Hugo and Nebula award equivalents of Japan. The twenty minutes into future feel and speculation on how internet and integration of our concrete world with the virtual might proceed is very well realized and feels remarkably plausible. The series also expertly explores how kids in particular would act in such environment, being intuitive learners and quick adaptors of new technologies and the like. The kids use the Web 10.0 in ways that don't really occur to adults. As work of science fiction I think Dennou Coil is one of the most genuinely accomplished works of last decade and it doesn't have a single giant robot in it, even. The storyline is basically complex puzzle that is used to explore all important aspects of this new information society quite deftly. If I had to compare it to something I guess calling it spiritual successor of Serial Experiments Lain would not be far off, given focus on adolescent girl protagonist and SF ruminations on evolution of the 'net. Dennou Coil does differ from Lain significantly though; it's nowhere near as creepy or mindfucky as Lain so don't go in expecting acid fueled brain rape and X-Files conspiracies.


Thematically the series is as simple as it is valid and has its own profoundity. In words of Iso himself "there will always be a distance between people, and even between things that seem within ones' reach. And that one must walk down a long, thin and winding road before they reach one's heart. There are tons of obstacles. It's in fact like the roads in towns of old." Needless to say this central theme is beautifully metaphorized in activities the children partake in and the long, narrow roads of the city itself.

Iso's writing and directing keep it all together and are remarkably accomplished as one can deduce from all the praise I've heaped on it. The few negative remarks I have to make don't significantly impact Coil overall. In terms of it's pacing it's a bit on the slow and slumbering side for me and as much as I enjoyed the slow exploration of the world first half of the series felt like it went nowhere at times. Poor chorus to this was also the anti-climatic nature of some reveals and resolutions after the long buildups provided. I also feel one of the standalone episodes halfway through goes a bit too far into laughably absurd territory even by standards of this future society (you should be able to recognize this episode when you see it) though it was pretty darn hilarious, I must admit. Perhaps the biggest problem for me was that I felt the final stretch of the series invoked a bit too many unexpected tweeeests for good of its own coherence as a narrative but the series ends so tidily and beautifully even these gripes aren't major grievances.

In summary Dennou Coil is exquisite science fiction series with interesting SF speculation about possible future mingling of our information technologies with concrete reality might take in future, interesting core storyline and very well written characters - and plenty of heart, too. I figured I'd especially recommend this title to someone like Mr. Tines here but not too surprisingly he has already seen it going by MAL...

Verdict: Kids will be kids even in 2020s and this series is borderline impeccably realized and enjoyable reminder of the fact. If you consider yourself science fiction fan you owe it to yourself to see this.

9/10



This was a lovely read. I loved Denno Coil and I'm glad people are enjoying it as well.

If people need more proof then just have in mind that Iso did cript and writing for Evangelion with 3 others. :)

Though, I remember reading somewhere that DC didn't get well received and had pretty bad sales... please someone tell me it's not true. :bigeyes:
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Postby ChaddyManPrime » Wed May 07, 2014 1:04 am

@C.A.P :lol: Were you doing that in your Emperor voice Good Sir?

Anyways I just recently got done watching RahXephon, it was pretty good. I first heard about it through this website that was saying how much it was like Evangelion and I was like "I love Eva, maybe they improved upon the things that I love about it?" so I watched the entire series in a day, can't say it was as good though. I appreciate that Eva inspired people in the animation industry to try to improve upon it.The expies I remember the most are the Shinji and Misato ones. I'm glad that someone liked the idea of them as a couple too and made it so. I wish there were more Eva homage shows so that we could see what everyone thinks should've been explored in the Evaverse. I didn't really enjoy RahXephon's animation but that's the only thing I didn't really like.

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Postby Monk Ed » Wed May 07, 2014 1:17 am

View Original PostChaddyManPrime wrote:The expies I remember the most are the Shinji and Misato ones. I'm glad that someone liked the idea of them as a couple too and made it so.

:drool:

RahXephon just shot higher on my to-watch list.
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ChaddyManPrime
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Postby ChaddyManPrime » Wed May 07, 2014 1:26 am

^
Here you go Good Sir, just so you can see what I'm talking about http://evaxephon.com/ComparisonGallery/gallery1.html. Make sure to look at all the pages if you can.

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Postby Shinoyami65 » Wed May 07, 2014 1:28 am

Yeah, the Misato and Shinji expies are the most apparent expies (they even have pretty much the same roles in RahXephon as their Eva counterparts). There's also a female character who has pretty much the same role as Gendo (but thankfully doesn't look like Gendo).
E̱͡v͈̙e͔̰̳͙r̞͍y͏̱̲̭͎̪ṱ͙̣̗̱͠h̰̰i͙n̶̮̟̳͍͍̫͓g̩ ̠͈en̶̖̹̪d̸̙̦͙̜͕͍̞s̸̰.̳̙̺̟̻̀

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Now I know that it's true
Because I think you're so good
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