All about Anime

[slerch666]

You know it! It's a good thing that my parents garage was converted into a room with a 20ft ceiling. It's also great to have siblings that are younger than you so you can get them to manage the boxes, but not open

Hmm..scryed that good eh? I heard it was a lot like DBZ, but with out the drama.

I'm in the process of getting Your Under Arrest right now. Since Animego does a good job on dvd's. I'm glad they are re-releasing the original bubblegum crisis on DVD remastered I believe.

Hmm... S-Cry-Ed has some drama to it. Like DBZ? I can't really say as I was never a DB/DBZ fan and have only seen maybe 3 episodes of it total. They don't spend entire episodes charging their power either.

YUA is a damn good series. I wish someone would pick up season 2, but who knows? ADV has the movie and the mini-specials. STAY AWAY FROM THE MINI SPECIALS! They completely change the feel of some of the characters. Get it if you enjoy panty thieves, as for whatever reason, that's what most of the shows revolve around. The movie is good though.

They are remastering the BGC collection. Should be out in October or November I think they have it listed for. I have the original set, so I'm not sure if I'll be picking this one up again or not...

 

[Benimaru]

Dragonball series has no drama in it at all. Unless you consider two fighters looking at each other for three episodes before a fight, well .. drama.

Scryed has a better storyline. However, I am not into that kinda anime either. I like more mature anime with solid plot, crapload of drama, and a spice of humor and sexuality. This one is definately aimed at teenagers I guess .. all fighting for the most part. The characters in it have the ability to summon robots of some sort, and live in a ruined island. Some of those individuals are hired by a corporation to exterminate them. The main character summons a robotic arm with three "blits". If you are into the heavy fighting stuff like DBZ or Shadow Skill .. then check it out.

Now to bring back the topic of R.O.D. I watched the OVA back a little while ago, and I got very confused by it. It is very good and it grabs you .. however I thought it was odd. I am not into weird anime like FLCL and R.O.D .. however I did enjoy them alot.

I've been watching anime day and night for the past few days. I've gotten back into some older movies that I missed like Armitage and Ah My Goddess. Pretty good stuff I suppose. Next on my list is the spriggan movie .. just got it from gamestop for 10 bucks

 

[Stephane]

old school

 

[Benimaru]

Dude write a few words as well man .. discuss with your fellow otakus

 

[Stephane]

Honestly i like watch anime, not talk about, and my taste are maybe old as me, i really think 70 and 80 japanese anime are far interesting and superior than the majority of the actual anime !

 

[Benimaru]

Yeah I know quite a few people with the same tastes as you. However, I can't help but hate the lack of fluid animation and the old style drawings of older anime.

 

[Now Loading]

I just finished watching Blue Gender: The Warrior.

If you've seen the TV series, don't bother watching this.

If you haven't seen the TV series and don't want to plunk down the money for it without getting a taste for it, then check out Blue Gender: The Warrior. The 'full length feature' is actually the TV series condensed into ~100 minutes. I can't really tell if any new animation was created for the movie, but if it was, it's minimal at best.

As you can imagine, taking 26 eps at ~23 (just about 600 minutes total I think it was) minutes apiece and turning that into a 100 minute movie leaves a lot of things open. However, I think it gives you enough of an idea of what the series is about and could be enjoyable on it's own. It's not something I'd say you need to BUY, but check it out before buying the series if you're unsure.

Because of the way it was done, I feel that the movie gives you a birds eye view of the series. It also calls into question the viewers ability to really get a feel for what's going on and an idea on how Yuji and Marlene's relationship evolved. They take something complex and simplify it and I think it doesn't do the main show justice. It will give you a glimpse of what the TV series has to offer, but leaves the complexity on the cutting room floor IMO.

The TV Series, however, is definitely worth checking out, but at ~$120 MSRP, some may want to sample before buying and the movie gives you the chance to do just that, without making you rebuy anything (like if you pick up disc 1 to check it out, like it and decide to buy the box, you're stuck with losing some $$$ on the disc 1 if you decide to sell it or keep it).

Keep in mind that if you buy the movie and like it but think it doesn't have enough meat, it's because the meat is sitting on the floor of the editors office, available for you to check out in the TV series. The TV series is more complex and a MUCH better offering than the movie, the TV series I highly recommend.

But is there any new voice acting for it?

The only anime I've been watching lately is Marimite ~Haru~, every Sunday.

And I'm anticipating Yakitate!! Japan (I highly recommend the manga) and Genshiken (ditto). Something cool about Genshiken is, they are animating the manga the characters are reading and discussing in Genshiken. The name escapes me... but this is pretty cool, expanding on the Gekiganger 3 idea.

Genshiken is about otaku, and Yakitate!! Japan is about... bread. A better discription would be Naruto with bakers instead of ninja, and it's actually smart instead of mindless.

Oh and of course the Le Nuvo Paris OVA, perhaps most of all.

 

[slerch666]

But is there any new voice acting for it?

The only anime I've been watching lately is Marimite ~Haru~, every Sunday.

And I'm anticipating Yakitate!! Japan (I highly recommend the manga) and Genshiken (ditto). Something cool about Genshiken is, they are animating the manga the characters are reading and discussing in Genshiken. The name escapes me... but this is pretty cool, expanding on the Gekiganger 3 idea.

Genshiken is about otaku, and Yakitate!! Japan is about... bread. A better discription would be Naruto with bakers instead of ninja, and it's actually smart instead of mindless.

Oh and of course the Le Nuvo Paris OVA, perhaps most of all.

You mean new voice acting from your girl? No, I don't think that there is. I had forgotten who the seiyuu were when it first started up and was thinking to myself 'I wonder if Now Loading has seen this one?' when Marlene DID speak. If you've seen the TV series, seriously, don't bother with this one. You have all Kuwashima Houko's voice acting from the 'movie' already.

Kuwashima Houko does the voice of one of the characters in Infinite Ryvius as well, in case you missed that recommendation. I was watching the last disc of that yesterday and was thinking the same thing as Blue Gender: The Warrior. She plays a semi-main part in Ryvius, but with the way the main characters, while all main characters, get rotated into being used for the main plot (there are so damn many 'main characters' that the show can be hard to follow) she's mostly a big part at the beginning of the show and at the end.

I also figured you'd pipe in on the ST OVA coming out.

Stephane- Saint Seiya is pretty good. My taste in 'older' Anime revolves around things like Dunbine, Saint Seiya and Votoms. What I REALLY love are the super robot shows of the 70s.

Benimaru- I don't mind a 'lack of fluid animation' in older Anime. Have you actually WATCHED the animation in some of the shows you enjoy? Mouths move and an arm or something, but nothing spectatcular. Sure, it LOOKS nice and what have you, but it's not exactly what you'd call 'fluid' either. I will give you that there is more movement in the animation these days than there was in the 70s/80s, but I enjoy shows for their stories as well as their animation.

Spriggan isn't all that great. It's more of a mindless action movie than anything else. I was actually disappointed with it. Most people that enjoy it have the American mentality of 'if it's violent, it's cool.' (I'm Not saying you're like this, just that this is the general thinking for the show).

Oh and if you like violence, check out Blue Gender.

Mazinger Z shits all over today's Anime! Well, that's not exactly true, but I do love Mazinger Z.

 

[Benimaru]

Yeah guys, SS slipped my mind. Definately one of the best anime evar!

By the way did anybody watch Gokusen? that stuff is hilarius

 

[slerch666]

Haven't seen Gokusen.

Just finished watching some Stratos 4. Not a bad show. It's about a base that has been setup to shoot down comets that are attempting to collide with the Earth. I get the impression there is more than one base, but they haven't shown anything else and it seems to revolve around the single base's characters. The main characters are 4 girls, one of which is voiced by Kakazu Yumi, one of my favorite Seiyuu (she played Dita on Vandread, which clinched it fo me ). It doesn't seem too serious, but not too light hearted either.

If the comets or fragments hit the Earth, it's feared our environment will be all fucked up, kinda like the theory with the dinosaurs and the comet hitting the Earth which supposedly made the dinos go extinct.

I have 2 more of the 4 eps on the first disc to watch, but it seems like it's a decent show. Not super spectacular, but good none the less.

 

[Kristian Meller]

I need some recommendations. Preferably series that can be bought as a single box-set, like NGE Perfect Collection or the Aussie Cowboy Bebop.

It seems I'm watching NGE faster than I'd planned to, so I've been thinking about getting RahXephon. But you can't buy a single box with all the discs, so it would cost me $200 (seven discs and movie with the nice box), and I'd prefer not to pay that much. I've been considering the R4 Cowboy Bebop box, which is about $110. It's got room for Best Sessions and The Movie, but they're not out on R4 anyway. But the thing with CB is, that the movie left me kind of dry. Is there more action and/or humour in the TV show?

Anyway. I like NGE (duh ), KareKano, Abenobashi, FLCL and Escaflowne. Gunbuster was nice, but nothing spectacular. GTO was also sweet, but it appears the first box is out of print now I guess I like mecha-stuff and romantic comedies. Slerch, it's your time to shine now, please

I have, of course, taken notes about the shows mentioned in this thread, but I'm still in need of some advice, and yes, I've also printed various reviews on RahXephon so I can do some research a bit later... I know some see it as a re-run of NGE, but I wouldn't mind that. Especially considering that it's got a "real" ending, and the fact that the Shinji and Misato clones go at it for real in the movie

 

[slerch666]

Kristian Meller- your requirement for 'available as a whole series in a box' is kinda limiting, unfortunately, but I'll play along.

You can try out the

Gasaraki Complete Collection. Rightstuf has a special on it this week where you can get the ENTIRE series, 8 discs, for ~$35 USD. It's good for $35, but if you had to pay the MSRP of $110 I'm not sure I'd recommend it as highly. It's a mecha show with a LOT of drama type stuff thrown in. It's not great, but at $35 it's worth watching and owning.

Generator Gawl is another perfect collection I'd recommend. Personally I really enjoyed the show and if ADV does a remaster on it, for it's Anime Essential line, I'm going to pick it up again. It's a story of a couple of boys who travel back in time to keep the world from going in the negative direction it did and the one biy has an ability to turn into a monster, a Generator. The bad guys also have these Generators and they fight with Gawl and the rest on a regular basis. It's got some of the clumsy romance that people seem to enjoy and it was a damn good series IMO.

.hack//sign is getting the collection treatment. It's an Anime that takes place in The World. The World is an on-line game (not sure if you've seen this one or not, so I'll give you some info anyway). It's also based off of The World in the .hack games. Basically a boy is trapped playing in The World and cannot log out. The time he spends there (I say he, but well, I don't want to give anything more away...) he meets some friends and they all try to figure out why he can't log out, along with who the mysterious person Aura is. Pretty good, though I was just a little disappointed in the final episode.

Argentosoma is a pretty good watch as well. Seeing as how you liked EVA, and obviously like to think about Anime, I'd recommend you check this one out. It's been a while since I watched it, so I can't give you a proper description, sorry about that. I did like it when I watched it though, if that counts for anything.

I think someone already mentioned Crest/Banner of the Stars, both of which have or are getting collection treatment. I highly recommend this one to everyone.

I'd highly recommend Bubblegum Crisis 2040 but the problem there is that I'd tell you to wait for it. ADV is giving it the Anime Essential treatment, and all the AE releases have been better than the originals.

You didn't mention it, but if you like comedies, you may want to check out Excel Saga. Everyone seems to love this one, but personally I felt it wasn't as funny as ADV or anyone else would have you believe. It's got it's moments, but that's it. ADV tried to play it off as the funniest Anime ever... and it's not IMO.

Nadia collection 1 and Collection 2 are GREAT. It's one of the best series I've seen in a long time. It's also animated by Gainax, the people who obviously did EVA.

Outlaw Star is freakin great too. I really enjoyed this one. If you like Bebop at all, you'd probably enjoy this one, though they are similar yet different.

Steel Angel Kurumi is another one of my favorite shows. It's got humor, some drama, action and fan service. It's a fast paced show, but highly enjoyable. After Vandread this is probably my most re-watched series, and it's pretty inexpensive in that box format.

Blue Gender has the romance, the action and the drama you seek as well. GREAT series IMO, and it's available in box format.

One series I think you'll enjoy that's not in a box format is Full Metal Panic. It's got mecha, action and more clumsy romance. I also enjoyed this one a lot. I'm guessing ADV will stick it in a 'perfect collection' format at some point, but maybe not so soon, as it's pretty popular from what I can tell.

As far as whether you'd enjoy Bebop the series, it has more 'drama', more action and more humor than the movie. The movie was like a 90 minute episode. Take the amount of action found in the movie and squish it into 46 minutes (2 episodes worth) and that's what Bebop is like. I really enjoyed Bebop, but if you don't like the stand alone episode idea with only a 'not the focus of 90% of the show' bigger plot, then you wouldn't like this or Outlaw Star either IMO.

If you want further info on any of the series I recommended, let me know and I'll give you a bigger review/report on them. Let me know if you pick anything up from there.

Oh, if getting it to where you are is a problem, as long as you'd be willing to Pay Pal me the funds, I'd buy whatever you want and ship it to you, if that would help at all.

I also limited my recommendation to things that have, or are getting, a box set treament (well, except FMP!). There are plenty of other series I can recommend.

You can find these series cheaper elsewhere, I'm sure, I just ised Rightstuf for links because they are who I use exclusively for Anime.

I expect you and Benimaru may be the only ones to read through this entire post.

 

[Kristian Meller]

Kristian Meller- your requirement for 'available as a whole series in a box' is kinda limiting, unfortunately, but I'll play along.

It wasn't meant as a requirement. I only wrote "preferably". It WOULD make it a lot cheaper though

I can see you wrote a lot. I'll read it thoroughly later tonight. Thank you very much. If you feel up to writing about stuff that haven't recieved the box treatment, please do

 

[slerch666]

It wasn't meant as a requirement. I only wrote "preferably". It WOULD make it a lot cheaper though

I can see you wrote a lot. I'll read it thoroughly later tonight. Thank you very much. If you feel up to writing about stuff that haven't recieved the box treatment, please do

LOL

I just called your request a 'requirement' because I was able to limit myself.

Will do, but not right now. Don't wanna spam the thread up with stuff the majority of people won't read. It's unfortunate that when you have a lot of good stuff to say and you post it in a big post, a lot of people just pass it by.

 

[Kristian Meller]

Indeed. I'll look for the other anime thread where you wrote about a lot of shows as well. If I'm not mistaken, you mentioned some pretty neat things in that one.

 

[ST-V]

I would also recommend Outlaw Star, great show with tons of bang for the buck (even if you buy the DVD's individually you get way more episodes than most anime DVD's).

I also got very addicted to Great Teacher Onizuka/GTO (see avatar) which I believe is also available in two box-sets, but I prefer the manga releases. The anime follows the manga pretty closely (there are some big changes with certain characters, like the nurse), but the anime ends earlier than the manga. Some exclusive episodes as well, and a couple of people who did the English voice-overs for Cowboy Bebop (Spike & Faye) also do the English voice-overs for GTO.

Basically it's about a street-biker/gang member type who decides that he want's to become a school teacher, and Onizuka ends up teaching a class who put's him in some very interesting situations. Very funny show.

Also, nice write-up Slerch, I'll have to check some of those recommendations out!

 

[Benimaru]

Yeah, slerch is the man. We also seem to have relatively similar taste. Except the part that I cannot compare to his goldy knowledge of anime.

*bows to slerch*

And thanks for the heads up about the gasaraki box set special. That's an amazing deal ...

 

[Kristian Meller]

If you want further info on any of the series I recommended, let me know and I'll give you a bigger review/report on them. Let me know if you pick anything up from there.

Oh, if getting it to where you are is a problem, as long as you'd be willing to Pay Pal me the funds, I'd buy whatever you want and ship it to you, if that would help at all.

I also limited my recommendation to things that have, or are getting, a box set treament (well, except FMP!). There are plenty of other series I can recommend.

Thanks for the offer to buy stuff for me, but no thanks I can get everything from Axelmusic.com. Divide the DKR prices you see with 6,3, and you have the price in dollars. All prices include shipping, and if you figure in the possibility of me being hit with 38% in import taxes on anything I order from, say, Right Stuf, I'd say the prices are fair enough. I have no problems getting any of the anime. The problem lies with deciding what to get first

I'm considering Blue Gender, Generator Gawl and Gasaraki. Mainly because I can get all three for a bit less than what I'd have to cough up for RahXephon Or, I could just get two, and rape my Mastercard a bit less... I saw the preview of Gasaraki on one of the NGE discs a couple of days ago, and it did look interesting. A couple of danish writers, with preferences in anime I tend to agree with, also like it. I haven't read much of anything from these people on RahXephon, though.

Hmmm... Decisions, decisions...

 

[Benimaru]

RahXephon is well worth the money. Even though Blue Gender and Gasaraki are pretty good. Rah is simply spectacular .. that's one thing to consider.

 

[Kristian Meller]

Yeah, I'd have to get it at some point anyway.

I think I'll decide tomorrow though, instead of right now. I've got four 90 minute lessons at school tomorrow. Plenty of time to ponder my investment

 

[slerch666]

Yeah, slerch is the man. We also seem to have relatively similar taste. Except the part that I cannot compare to his goldy knowledge of anime.

*bows to slerch*

And thanks for the heads up about the gasaraki box set special. That's an amazing deal ...

All you have to have is more money than you need, still live with your parents and no burning desire to move out and you too can be just like me!

It's sad really. I have the 'honor' of going 6 weeks without leaving my house for anything other than work. I went out April 2 to see Hell Boy with my brothers, then I didn't leave the house again until sometime in mid-late June. I quite literally would get up, go to work, come home and watch DVDs. I had nowhere to be and no reason to be there, so I didn't go out. Gotta love the age of the internet!

 

[slerch666]

Yeah, I'd have to get it at some point anyway.

I think I'll decide tomorrow though, instead of right now. I've got four 90 minute lessons at school tomorrow. Plenty of time to ponder my investment

I don't think RahXephon is all that 'amazing.' Sure, it was good, and was Eva with a decent ending, but that's also the low point. A lot of it was kinda like 'been there, done that.' DON'T let that keep you from getting it, as it IS a good series. You've kinda already seen RahXephon though, so you should keep that point in mind.

I also look at it this way. You have 3 series you are looking at getting (Gasaraki, Gawl and Blue Gender). Will you get more enjoyment out of those 3 over the one? I would think yes, as I'm thinking you'll enjoy all three of them. But then you have to factor in, how badly do you want to see RahXephon. If you want to see it more than the other 3, buy now and wait on the other 3 for some point down the line. Having the oppurtunity to have already seen all 4, I'd say getting the 3 over the one is the way I'd go personally, but I'm different than everyone else.

 

[Benimaru]

I haven't been getting out much for the past couple of weeks either. It's all anime and movies for me now. Soon enough though .. I am gonna leave anime and go back to the ladies. It's like a cycle of life

 

[IMTheWalrus]

Rahxephon is definitely not as good as Evangelion. Evangelion, in my opinion, is easily the greatest anime ever made. In a short 26 episodes and movies it shows a complete dynamic of almost every character in the show. The metaphors for religion are classic. Rahxephon just isn't the same.

That being said, I do enjoy Rahxephon, but it's not even close to being as good as Evangelion. I watched the movie recently with the new release and my 5.1 system put the japanese voices out of the right front speaker. It confused the hell out of me and I thought that one of my animals had fucked with the cables in the back of my received. The movie is alright I suppose. It's basically a summary of the whole series where they changed a few major plot lines and added a minimum amount of new material. I won't buy it because of that 5.1 bullshit.

Oh yeah, not to mention the fact that Rahxephon is a clear rip off of Evangelion.

My favorite anime would have to be Evangelion, Bebop, Kenshin, Initial D, Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto, GTO, Kare Kano, Vandread, Record of Lodoss War, and Berserk. I'm probably forgetting a couple of great series in there, but these are probably my favorites.

I finished Hajime no Ippo just recently, and that is one excellent series. I highly recommend that.

 

[slerch666]

Also, nice write-up Slerch, I'll have to check some of those recommendations out!

I'm glad doing big posts isn't always for nothing. Thanks!

If you feel up to writing about stuff that haven't recieved the box treatment, please do

And since you asked for it:

I'd recommend Mahoromatic. It's another Gainax show. It's about a boy whose parents have died and he lives on his own. He decides to get a maid and is sent Mahoro, Vesper's secret alien fighting Combat Android! Mahoro had the option of remaining in fighting service and living only 37 days, or leaving the military and getting 365 (or was it 380?) days to live. She decides on the 365 and plays maid for Suguru. This show has maids, fan service, a perverted FEMALE teacher after young boys and a REALLY dark side with a not so happy ending. I think I may have given too much away with the ending part, but a lot of people complained about how it ended, so I wanted to throw that out there. I love this show, A LOT. The Summer Special is just a side story, but it was DAMN FUNNY. I bought the Summer Special R2 (no subs) and still caught enough of it to laugh my ass off, something that doesn't usually happen.

If you like romantic comedies, check out Ai Yori Aoshi. There aren't a lot of people who don't like this one, at least not the first season. Did you see this one Benimaru? I'm thinking you were the one who made negative comments in regards to this one, but I'm not entirely sure. It reminds me of stuff like Onegai/Please Teacher. It's about a girl who is promised to marry a boy from another powerful family, the boy falls from favor with his family and is no longer betrothed. Aoi (the girl) is still in love with him and goes out of her way to be with him. The first season ends without any major conclusion because the Manga is still running. The second season, having only seen the first disc, seems more of the humor style and SEEMS to focus 1 episode per female. It's a harem show. Think Tenchi, just not quite as funny as the Tenchi OVAs (what is?).

Another in the romantic comedy section, we have
Angel Tales. This is a story of a lonely boy who had a lot of animals when he was younger. I mean A LOT (when you see the series, you'll know why I'm emphasizing this point... it's odd). Well, because he cared for them with all his heart, and they of course died, the spirit world decides to send all of them back as guardian or something. They are all, of course, women. Big on comedy and clumsy love sort of stuff. Benimaru you might get a kick out of this one.

I'll recommend Berserk to those that enjoy violent Anime. The animation isn't all that great (lot of static animation) but the story is friggin' great. The low point is what happens to Kaska on the final episode. I'm NOT a fan of that sort of thing at ALL. Hentai is one thing, but I still don't like seeing it. Other than that, fantastic series without a clear ending (again, Manga is still running).

Last recommendation for now is Brigadoon. This is a sleeper hit from last year. It's a story of a little girl who lives in a row house (basically the Japanese equivalent of a trailer park, for lack of a better comparison). For some reason everyone loves to treat the poor girl, the main character, like MAJOR crap. I've never seen a series where the main character is shit on (not literally shit on) in just about EVERY episode. And she goes on to save the world and doesn't look down on any of them. It's an amazing series and I highly recommend it to everyone. If you buy it and don't like it, well, I'm sorry, but I love it. The little girl locates this ampule thing that turns into a Manomakia (a weird alien being from Brigadoon that has swords for arms). Well, Brigadoon is after her and Melan (the Monomaki) protects her. Great Anime.

Well, that's all I'm going to recommend right now. I can't go through my entire collection in a single post as I know no one would be willing to read THAT much.