What anime are you watching right now? Dec10-Apr11

[Ornette]

When FSN first aired a lot of people were generating a lot of buzz about it. At least at animesuki (I think) there were people who already had the entire game scenarios mapped. Even at ANF there was a lot of buzz about it, and watching it as it aired was mostly discussion threads about which part of which scenario will happen next. I don't know where all these fans came from, but they all knew about FSN.

[MasonFighter]

I haven't seen the F/SN or Tsukihime anime (other than the UBW movie, but that doesn't really count). I just took /a/'s word for it and went straight to the VNs for them. I've yet to go through Heaven's Feel yet, though.

[child of Lilith]

Hourou Musuko, Fractale, and Madoka were all good this week. Though I think I enjoyed HM was the best.

[toe mash]

Latest episode of Hourou Musuko was of high quality as usual.. Also they keep delivering really really awkward scenes. Too bad it gets completely eclipsed by this weeks PMMM, imo

I lol'd when that asshole from his class called Yuki a hot chick, not knowing the surprise she has in her middle pocket.

Oh and Infinite Stratos was painfully retarded. Same old, same old...

[symbv]

The first anime that resume broadcast after the massive earthquake/tsunami is Oniichan no koto... Ep.10. We have 2 new characters. One has the delusion of being a scantily clad star princess waiting for her star prince to save the universe and the other her all too sharp "dark" elder sister. And then we have these:





It even has the real-life tsunami alarm map to go with it...
I now fear the TV station is going to get quite a number of angry calls...

[IrkenEvangelion]

^^ HAHA! That's awesome. Well... not awesome.. ironic one might say.. I love that show.

[InstrumentalityOne]

Was it only a coincidence with the tsunami and all or absolutely intentional?
Because I can´t see how they animated a full episode in only 2 days while the earth already shook.

[symbv]

Was it only a coincidence with the tsunami and all or absolutely intentional?
Because I can´t see how they animated a full episode in only 2 days while the earth already shook.

Coincidental of course.. But someone may take offense and complain to TV station or the censor about such insensitivity of timing. And Oniichan no Koto may already be tracked by the censor because of its pseudo-incest theme...

[toe mash]

What the fuck Fractale 8

What the fuck...

[Oz]

What the fuck Fractale 8

What the fuck...

That was a magnificent episode. More understated than Madoka ep 10 (which stole the thunder).

[symbv]

What the fuck Fractale 8

What the fuck...

Ah... besides the Eva trolling, we also have the first portrayal of gynaeecologist chair and clinical female genitalia examination in anime outside of porn.

2chan reponded with some laughs and "how low can this sink" head-shaking and then moved on...

SPOILER: Show

[Oz]

Erm, what exactly was bad about Fractale this week? To me it seems like 2chan dislikes the series for reasons other than how it is written and executed (mainly the disapproval of Yamakan's ambition).

[symbv]

Erm, what exactly was bad about Fractale this week? To me it seems like 2chan dislikes the series for reasons other than how it is written and executed (mainly the disapproval of Yamakan's ambition).

I just picked the most commented bits in 2chan, but the basic consensus is that the story is so-so interesting enough and the character so-so interesting, but the screenplay is a bunch of trolls and oddly-placed parodies, distracting enough to make the narration dismissible. I think one 2chan-er gave a representative view: "The peak came in the first two episodes and it has been downhill ever since. The last 2 episodes seem a bit better story-wise but it's too little too late to make up for what we have seen. "

[LiLi]

Just watched Star Driver ep.6.
Still digesting that Wako girl... characters ironically not as flamboyant as I had expected overall.
From looking at the magazine illustrations I had perhaps expected something slightly more reminiscent of, say, Code Geass... and what I got reminds me of a bunch of other things instead. Which is not a bad thing by any means.

Surprised it took me like 4 episodes to notice the resemblances with Soukyu no Fafner, but since then I keep noticing a number of Fafner-ppoi elements... well concealed enough perhaps.

Merri @ Karaoke:
I believe I have seen a clip of that... Hopefully I can find that song at the local karaoke box!

Welllll, to certain extent, yes. Of course there are many other factors but that has always been core part of Macross franchise.

Although thinking back I can see the seeds of lolshoujodramamusicalinsanity in SDF Macross, this is on a (excuse me as I break into song and dance) whole new level!

This is the Frankenfurter of the Macross franchise!

I guess my jokish habit of calling it "mecha musical" isn't joke anymore...

Boy, it's a musical alright!

I love Tauburn's mecha design, fwiw. I think it was modelled by certain kind of ancient swordsman but I don't remember...

Reminds me of ancient armors and... something else. I remember thinking something in there reminded me of a Dolem but I cannot recall WHUT.

There's one "unique" thing about her Enokido mentioned: they combined a miko character with extremely earthly (always hungry too, lol) personality which isn't at all what people would normally think of sacred "maiden" type.

Ah yes, indeed I noticed the growling stomach... *stomach growl*

Her "idol" backstory otherwise remids me of

SPOILER: Show

Yumiko Toomi from Soukyu no Fafner. Will elaborate if necessary.

[spoiler="Your Galaxy Will SHINE "]

Sankyu my lolimouto: i shall preserve it for later consumption along with my regular dose of placenta!

[Oz]

I haven't noticed any "parodies" in Fractale and since when has trolling become a severe flaw? And how can a narrative be dismissible? Even if there were a few nosedives it's foolish to ignore its strengths in general. "Exploring the world" approach has been executed wonderfully so far and the characters have been crafted in an unforgettable way. Fractale is in the wrong place at a wrong time (a season overshadowed by shows that rely on less understatement and more twists). Fractale has been slowly but firmly getting closer to what it wants to tell. Clain's and Phryne's development are obvious by now. Nessa's unpredictable role is certainly leading to something thematically (blindly looking for happiness, avoiding sadness) as well as the whole talk about "being special" being linked to the very nature of the Fractale system. Then there's the weird virginity/perversion "motif" that has been brought up so many times I'm sure it will somehow be tied to the central thematics in the end.

[symbv]

There are too many distracting bits for fans here in Japan to really enjoy the narrative. Perhaps for western fans it is easier. So if you enjoy the anime then all good for you. Unfortunately it is a goner now in Japan, and it is not just because of anti-Yamakan sentiment (of course that counts too)

[toe mash]

we also have the first portrayal of gynaeecologist chair and clinical female genitalia examination in anime outside of porn.

I wanted to post a pic of that, but then the episode just had more surprises up its sleeve and I didn't think it'd be worth posting it, so I described my feelings in as few words as possible

I think Fractale should go into the list of "anime-that-fail-because-Japan-has-shit-taste".

Say, symbv, are the folks at 2chan complaining over Freezing's crappiness or is the dumbass fanservice A-OK?

Finally we get to the best part of the story, and ep 9 showed that the series can be pretty decent but then 10 was a load of horse shit imo. How can they manage to have so little going on for so long? lol

[symbv]

I think Fractale should go into the list of "anime-that-fail-because-Japan-has-shit-taste".

Yeah yeah, as if only the westerners knew what anime are good or entertaining for the people in Japan
What I wanted to point out is the anime failed in Japan because it failed to get the watchers engaged by its story or even its arts since the way it presented the story in multiple trolls and twists were so deliberately there to prod the watchers with the result that the anime is now being watched here as a "neta anime" (troll anime) -- so its central theme is drowned off by those twists and surprises that may or may not be needed for the main plot. Some of the parodies, like the one of Takashi Murakami, got really bad press here and some were truly disgusted at the apparent exploitation of a famous artist. And the wandering focus of the story, though it has got tighter recently, does not help the delivery of the narration. The artwork is still viewed very positively but as this has now become expected fewer comments are now made about that. And there were also positive reactions that the last 2 episodes have gone a lot more interesting, but for most in 2chan it is not enough to make up for its shortcomings. As I said, if you are enjoying the anime, it's all good for you, but I would rather you not overgeneralize that the anime fandom in Japan do not have taste.

Say, symbv, are the folks at 2chan complaining over Freezing's crappiness or is the dumbass fanservice A-OK?

All the criticisms mentioned here agains Freezing in this forum were also reflected in 2chan: poor animation; more violence and silly fanservice that does not do the manga justice; questionable pacing etc; on the other hand, the anime is also being judged as one from the T&A fanservice anime genre. And as far as fanservice T&A genre goes, the character design and T&A situation are viewed favorably by fans of those anime, which I am sure contributed to its recent up-pick of sales.

[InstrumentalityOne]

Caught up on Index II.

Retarded plot/writing as always(most of the off-screen stuff is only explained in the LNs and stuff like that), animation looked a little crappy at times
but Accelerator doing things was awesome.

[C.A.P.]

Rewatched Evangelion episode 6, 7, 10, 16, and a little bit of 9 and 17 since the computer area I'm usually in was occupied this morning.

Surprisingly, I found a few story principles, story connections, and some writer's quirks within those episodes I don't see anyone talking about, and I'm hoping I can find the time to write about them sometime in the future.