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"The 'What Anime Are You Watching Right Now' Thread vFFS"



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0
 10.11.2011 2:18am
Thread Creator

Indiana Jerico
Sinfully Delicious v2
Administrator



Since we still don't have this thread for FFS, thought I'd create this now.

I just watched the first episode of Persona 4: The Animation and I have to say, I'm liking it so far. if you're a fan of the game or just played the game in general, you'll like the little touches they made like putting the actual Battle Theme (Reach Out For The Truth) during the first battle. Even the bar that appears whenever someone makes a critical hit is there.

And the story seems to be a faithful adaptation of the game as well. I can't wait for Rise.


===

"Plans? What plans? I'm making this up as I go!"








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0
 10.11.2011 9:40pm


CaButler
Winter Knight of the Unseelie Court



And the Izangi summoning is just as badass as it should be.

Also, I'm calling it right now.  MCxRise, given his reaction to her poster.




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0
 10.13.2011 4:34am


ahninjas
likes 'em pretty



I just got my Trust & Betrayal Blu-ray. It's basically just the Japanese disc and packaging, but with the super classy addition of a small translation booklet for the interview pamphlet included. It even has the English dub done by ADV. You know, the one where they couldn't pronounce "Tomoe".

Downside? It cost the same as a Japanese Blu-ray, about $60.

Oh, and I certainly can't forget the Sgt Frog DVD I'm watching at this very moment (even though I totally did).








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0
 11.01.2011 2:53am


FenixDown
The King's orders are absolute



I recently saw The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. It was very well animated and very, very faithful to the book. It was good, but really long and had some slow parts that would probably have normally been altered or cut to keep up the pace.



Let's Play Chrono Trigger
Let's Play The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past
Let's Play Final Fantasy VI




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0
 11.01.2011 3:48am


Lews
Lord of the Morning



Watching Hanasaku Iroha & Steins;Gate from a couple seasons ago.  Both excellent shows, just haven't been in much of an anime mood lately.




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0
 11.09.2011 7:16am


tenken
Hooligan



I'm slowly making my way through Dennou Coil right now, after like 3 years of Veers and Feanor bugging me to get on it.  Honestly, I'm finding it rather difficult to get into.  I'm 7 episodes in so far, and I still don't feel like I've hit a respectable story hook.  I'm interested enough to keep watching, and also curious since this series is well-liked by those who have seen it, but I'm still waiting for the a-ha moment that shouts "classic series!" to materialize.




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0
 11.21.2011 11:30pm


Feanor
Dominator



FFFF!!! Tenken!

I dunno... The things I liked about Dennou Coil most from the start were its setting, the intrigues it sets up and the praise-the-lord lack of clichés that litter most anime these days. Certainly when I watched it I was like, "Thank god there's no obvious character tropes here, no need to pander for fan-service." That, plus the other stuff I mentioned before, really had me liking the series. I remember it dipping a little around episodes 10/11 but after that it gets back on track builds really nicely towards its conclusion.

As for me... Noitamina features most of the anime worth watching every year and Usagi Drop is another very nice series from that time slot. Liking that a lot.

Getting increasingly frustrated with Penguindrum whose pace seems to have ground to a halt, apart from when dumping plot twists from the sky, and which now appears as though it'll be some boring metaphour about free will and destiny. Kind of tempted to drop it but I'm 15 eps in now, so maybe I should soldier on.




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0
 11.22.2011 5:27am
 (Edited on 11.22.2011 at 6:33am)

tenken
Hooligan



Ah, a wild Fen-Fen appears!

It so happens that, in the time since I wrote that last post, I finished Dennou Coil, and I definitely have some additional thoughts on it.

So, what happened was, right after the chunk I'd seen, episode 8 or 9 or so started getting into the kids' school lives and the inter-relations of their groups and the histories some of them had with each other.  And right there, that was my hook.  That turned out to be what I needed to actually care about what's going on.  The augmented reality plotline was interesting, I guess, but it was only when the story rooted that plot in the lives of the people who were taking part in it that I felt like the stakes became more personal.  To have an augmented reality, you need a base "reality," after all.

The first couple episodes in the series sort of throw you into the middle of things where you're just along for the ride, not knowing any of the "rules" of how things work, and that can and has been done well, but I didn't feel it was to the series' benefit here (I think a beginning wherein Yasako got roped into the Coil Agency by her grandmother and had to follow Fumie on a case would've been a stronger opening that provided more framework).  Then we have Isako running around being mysterious, but I didn't know enough about the world's AR or the Illegals she was hunting to really be captivated by whatever mystery surrounded her - even though that mystery was actually very interesting, once the series decided to delve into it.  And, frankly, once the dog Densuke and the little sister Kyoko were more out of the picture, the show got better, since neither are strong enough to really generate interest in anything more than an ancilliary capacity.

There were some things I kind of scratched my head at - like the presumption the series makes that conscious can be willfully removed from the body via a network (but I suspended my disbelief for that, because it was an important aspect of the story), and I felt like near the end of the series, with Yasako's mom, there was this moralizing point about the internet being bad because it was made up of unreal things, and only things you can touch have value.  That was probably the single largest point where I disagreed with the series, and though I took Yasako's glasses-wearing follow-up in the finale to be a partial rejection of that kind of belief (as an older vs. younger generation issue with technological integration into our lives), I would've liked to see the kids more clearly refute it, perhaps by showing the value of what online presence and connectivity bring to the world.

Despite what seems like a healthy amount of criticism of the series, I actually did enjoy it, overall.  The two best aspects of it were: A) the interrelationships between the kids, and B) how so many of the story's elements play into the main mystery about the AR space in their world.  I liked the kids' relationships because it showcased schoolkids as having more complicated relationships with each other comparable to what adults have, with shifting loyalties and grey-area "Is this person a friend, or not?"  Seeing the "hacker club" get fragmented by Isako and the eventual splintering of that alliance was interesting, and I liked things like Fumie and Daichi at the festival, and the subsequent "test of courage" at the school, which actually did something neat with a well-worn "school anime standby."

The AR world and the mysteries therein fulfilled a lot of my sci-fi hopes for the show, and I almost felt like that part could have been expounded on even more - especially by characters like Yasako's father, who ends up being kind of important to what's going on but only finally shows up to connect dots and confirm suspicions in the last episode.  I don't really want to go in-depth about it here, because that would be spoilery for anyone who hasn't seen it, but the amount of complexity and the human roots of that complexity were pretty satisfying.  I do wish we'd gotten a bit more time for resolution in the ending, though.  Again, I feel like if the show had started off more quickly and got down to business, there would've been more time to spin out the AR-glasses plotline, and/or give more closure.

I'm going to give this show to my brother to watch in my "batch of stuff I watched this year that you should see", but then tell him the minimum amount about the series' setup and see if his feelings are at all similar to mine, or if my thoughts were just strange outliers.

Overall, I don't think I liked it as much as you or Veers (Veers even rated it as his #1 top show for the 2000-2010 decade), but it's a good show, and you're totally right in that it's refreshingly non-cliché (except for maybe Isako being a twin-tail tsundere).  It felt like a Noitamina show, even though I don't think it was one, which is great, when you think of all the Noitamina shows this year that have botched its usually-high standard (Fractale, anyone?).  But it had Tamako, a cute, computer-savvy glasses girl who wore a tight-fitting leather suit and rode a motorcycle, and if I was on the edge about Dennou Coil, that would've pushed me over into the 'liking' camp.

That aside, I watched and enjoyed Bunny Drop - that and AnoHana have been two Noitamina shows that I've enjoyed this year; good picks all around.  What have you watched lately that you can recommend?  I'm in-between shows at the moment, myself.




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0
 11.22.2011 6:41am


Nelfichu
I've been there, hombre.



Did anyone know they were making a Last Exile sequel series? And that it already aired 5 episodes?! I've only seen the first two episodes, but this is the first anime I've ever watched as it was coming out. I wish I had the patience to wait for the English dub (Dio's voice actor was awesome, as were the others), but I'm too excited to wait. So far it's interesting.




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0
 11.22.2011 8:21pm


Feanor
Dominator



Oh-hi-yo!

Once the dog Densuke and the little sister Kyoko were more out of the picture, the show got better

Okay, the poop stuff is real tedious at the start BUT! Densuke is cool, man, c'mon! That bit with him towards the end was really well done, I thought. Also, I took that and his presence in general as a confirmation in the series' belief that even things that weren't "real" were to be valued.

I haven't really watched much other stuff recently. For the last month my evenings have been mostly taken up with hackin' and slashin' through Dark Souls, which I finally completed over the weekend.

2011 hasn't been a great year for anime though (nothing comparable to the brilliant Tatami Galaxy from last year). There have been a lot middling series, not really terrible but not really all that interesting either.

Madoka is the one that gets pimped the most but I watched one episode and dismissed it as typical genre rubbish. Yet... everyone now talks about how great it is and even how genre subverting it is. So I figure maybe I should give that another try.

And yes! The Last Exile sequel is something I ought to download. Not sure how it'll fare compared to the original but it's definitely something I need to have a look at.




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0
 11.25.2011 5:25am


Luna
dangerous lady



Gasp! I'm actually watching a show, for the first time in ages. =O (I'm bad about that.) I've started watching Princess Tutu, and I'm fairly certain it was made specially for me.




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0
 11.25.2011 9:28pm


CaButler
Winter Knight of the Unseelie Court



I started watching Guilty Crown.  Well, I've watched one episode of Guility Crown.

After one episode, my mind basically asked this question: "What the fuck did I just watch?  And why am I compelled to watch more?"




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0
 11.29.2011 11:38am
 (Edited on 11.29.2011 at 11:45am)

Lews
Lord of the Morning



just finished the 3rd episode of boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai.

it's like they're trying to throw in every anime cliche, especially those from the last two years (high school, that one voluptuous blonde who's good at everything, the smaller-chested but better suited childhood friend, maids, intergrating video games into the mix, galgames, erogames, plenty of others) and despite knowing this i STILL find myself hooked.  i almost feel like a sheep, but then i think about it: it's the presentation that really makes it all work.  i've seen quite a few anime in the last 2 years that throw a lot of this stuff in, but only a few that really feel like quality shows.  so far, this is one of them.




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0
 11.29.2011 1:46pm
 (Edited on 11.29.2011 at 1:56pm)

Veers
Flying High



So this is where everyone ran off to!

Feanor said:
Madoka is the one that gets pimped the most but I watched one episode and dismissed it as typical genre rubbish. Yet... everyone now talks about how great it is and even how genre subverting it is. So I figure maybe I should give that another try.
Fenfen, my good man... your reaction is forgivable, and not one you're alone in having. However, without beating what may already be a dead horse to you, and even though saying so spoils some of the surprise, I will say that yes, Madoka's first episode is totally not indicative of the whole series. It is, in fact, a very deliberate setup episode that works brilliantly in hindsight but isn't very engaging on its own. The first episode presents itself as typical genre rubbish for the express purpose of tearing that typical genre setting apart (to an extent). Watch at least the first three episodes before you dismiss Madoka. You liked the Mai-_____ shows and Princess Tutu, and though they're not identical by any means, Madoka is much more like them than, say, Nanoha.

Speaking of Nanoha, I'd like to post something here that may be of interest. This is a blog entry that a Japanese politician wrote about Madoka. I saw it referenced back when the show was airing and found it fascinating that such a public figure would write about anime on his website. I skimmed the post in Japanese and was able to read enough to really pique my interest, so I did my best to translate the whole thing (and have removed the spoilers he mentions).

http://www.t-ken.jp/diary/20110307/
Before I get started, this entry contains some spoilers, so if you don't like spoilers, please don't read on.

I watch a lot of anime, but there are two genres I really never watch: anime for kids and anime for girls.

The title of Magical Girl Madoka Magica has the words "magical girl" in it, and it reminded me of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, a show that I didn't care for. Whether or not Nanoha was for little girls aside, I didn't get through all of the show, but I did watch enough to get a feel for the story in general. At first, when I saw Madoka I had a feeling it was going to be a Nanoha knockoff. Right from the beginning, I thought it was starting off and proceeding in a similar way, so I quit watching it.

Really, and this doesn't just apply to anime, there are lots of works, such as dramas, that just make minor changes to characters and setting and leave almost everything else the same. However, even if people know the story is borrowing heavily from something, and even if they know how the story is going to turn out, there are a lot of people that can enjoy watching that kind of show. If that weren't true, there would be no good explanation for the large audience of works like Mitokoumon [a period drama that has run since 1969 and is still going!], which have what we can call a VSOP (Very Special One Pattern).

I know from experience that the reality of it is that there are a lot of people who want to watch something that they "know" because they get a sense of security from watching a story unfold when they know how it is going to end, even if they don't know that particular story. Because of this, I had a feeling that Madoka was going to be "that kind" of anime, which is why I quit watching it.

However, from the ward residents who like anime [not sure what ward], I heard that Madoka was really good and they recommended it to me, so I went back to watching it. When someone recommends a work to me, chances are good I'll take that recommendation to mean it's something with merit, so I gave Madoka an honest chance.

The characters have a cute and likable design that young girls would like. At the same time, the style is similar to what guys who like cute characters would enjoy. As I mentioned before, I don't really have much interest in young girl characters; I prefer other character designs to these.

That said, by the time I finished the third episode, the kind of show this really was became apparent, and I realized this wasn't a show for kids. This show presents questions and philosophical messages and asks the audience to think about them.

For whom do people labour?
Is it for the sake of others?
Is it for their own sake?
What will people do when they come face-to-face with death?

This show is all about deception. For instance, don't be fooled by the cutsey character designs; what happens in the story is actually rather brutal.

When people do something for others... Are they really doing it for others?
When people do something for themselves... Are they really doing it just for themselves?
Those who you think are good... are they really good?
Those who seem bad... are they really bad?
What will people do when they are betrayed?
If you hold people to a standard, will you be angry when you are betrayed?
Or if you have lost faith in people, will you take betrayal in stride without being angered?

What you thought you did for the best turns out to work against you.
What you thought you did for the best brings disaster to others.

The best of intentions won't necessarilly mean the best result, for yourself or others. But there are people who live selfishly, and maybe it is because of that selfishness that they are able to live?

In order to gain this strong power, one must sacrifice something; without a sacrifice, the power of a "magical girl" cannot be obtained. People may not understand you're trying to help them, even if you devote your efforts to them. Magical girls are not ordinary people; that is, compared to a normal person, a very unreasonable demand is placed on them. Thus we call a normal person of whom an unreasonable demand is made a magical girl. "If you're going to say it, then why don't you walk the talk? (Though there is no certainty you can.)" It is very interesting to replace "magical girl" with "statesmen" in this paragraph and think about it that way.

Indeed, statesmen are not ordinary people. And because we do not think of them as ordinary people, by placing such demands on an ordinary person, we recognize those people as statesmen. [I don't think this is a totally accurate translation, but it gets the gist.] But if statesmen who seem to be able to walk their talk were not in actuality far removed from the best of ordinary people, they wouldn't even have that capacity. And so, because a statesman grows distant from ordinary people, it becomes difficult to decide how one [statesman] should conduct himself.

I think I understand why Madoka is referred to as "Chidamari Sketch" now. [This is a pun on "Hidamari Sketch" which as you may know is a comic about young artists by Ume Aoki, who drew the character designs for Madoka. "Hidamari" means sunshine. "Chidamari" means puddle of blood.]

This is an anime that adults should watch.

_________________________________________

Now, back to Dennou Coil. Glad you enjoyed it tenk! Yeah, it does feel a little aimless at the start, but as you mentioned yourself, the show actually pulls all that stuff together, even most of the stuff that felt aimless, by the end. Between it setting, its sincerity, its colorful cast and strong relationships and character development (for a few of the cast), the way it brings everything together, and its general freshness, I can't not give the show huge props.

_________________________________________

Luna said:
Gasp! I'm actually watching a show, for the first time in ages. =O (I'm bad about that.) I've started watching Princess Tutu, and I'm fairly certain it was made specially for me.
Damn, woman, it's about time. What caused this? Shigan and I gushing about it a few weeks ago? Heh.




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0
 11.29.2011 4:16pm


Darth Howie
Darthpool
Administrator



Been watching and mostly enjoying "Soul Eater," lately.  It keeps threatening to enter "Shonen Hell," where everyone does nothing but talk about whose new skill can beat up whose new skill, but it hasn't quite gotten there yet.  We shall see.



Woe unto he who tries to be helpful, for upon him shall be lain the burdens of all.

- Squall 15:11




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