3101

Huh, the Steamboy trailer really didn’t hook me in the slightest. Maybe I’ll watch an episode and give it a real shot…

3102

It’s a movie.

3103

Oh! Well, I guess I can’t do that, then. Herpaderp.

3104

Aaron, I think Last Exile is your best shot if you’re after an imaginative, aviation-heavy steampunk world. I’m most of the way through a rewatch of that series right now. :)

3105

I like that Penguindrum is now demonstrating that not only can it be weird, it can also reveal and convincingly tie things together.

And Sanetoshi is fabulous max.

3106

The silent 10bit change has really pissed off a lot of the community (including me). The major reason: 10bit-encoded MPEG4 cannot use CUDA or DXVA for GPU decoding. A lot of people rely on that, especially netbook users that don’t have a powerful enough CPU. For example, I can play back a 1080p 8bit encode just fine on my netbook (thanks to DXVA), but even a 720p 10bit encode is a slideshow.

It doesn’t help that when people started to complain, the fansub groups basically just said “shut up whiners” and left it up to 3rd party groups to do 8bit re-encodes.

3107

I’ve only noticed the weird coloring effect with one anime i was checking out (ben-to) and the size did not appear to be lower than normal at all.

Is there really some huge benefit to encoding it this way beyond a possible minor size decrease? I really don’t think the vast majority of people care if a file is 300mb or 400mb. I’d much rather be able to use my video card’s DXVA personally.

3108

On some 10bit encodes, I’ve seen file sizes in the 150MB range, whereas their 8bit counterparts are usually twice that. Others (like [sage]'s recent Gundam AGE 10bit encode) the file size wasn’t that much different than the 8bit. What everyone has been raving about, though, is that there is significantly less color banding on 10bit-encoded files, so you don’t see as much of that gradient effect when colors blend into other colors.

I still think it’s too much of a sacrifice to give up GPU support, though, and not offer an 8bit alternative. But, then again they’re doing these subs for free, and I’m merely an end user, so if they insist on going 10bit-only, I’ll just head over to Hulu. Luckily a few groups have sprung up that are dedicated to re-encoding files to 8bit, so I’m not that worried.

3109

I went investigating for the reason why file size would DECREASE when the color-bit information has increased, because that is counter-intuitive. I found an answer…videos encoded in 8-bit used some dithering algorithm to decrease banding, but the dithering increased the file size. Dithering is not necessary for 10-bit, so normal video compression can kick in and decrease the file size.

I’m not completely convinced, but I’ll live with that. I’m now thankful to have spent too much money on a laptop with high end CPU.

3110

duplicate removed. Does Delete Message actually work?

3111

Finally got around to watching the first episode of mirai nikki. I was initially reluctant to watch it with subs from “gotSpeed” thinking they were high speed, low quality subs, but i don’t know if anyone else is picking it up so i checked it out and they turned out to be good enough.

Unlike the old pilot/ova, this appears to be a faithful conversion of the manga. Since i liked the manga a lot, it is no surprise i also liked the first episode as well.

Only complaint is a minor one, they probably could have chosen a slightly better fitting voice actress for Yuno. It isn’t a complete mismatch like some other recent anime where a male character clearly sounds like a female, but it doesn’t really fit my image of her from reading the manga.

3112

Yes it does.

3113

It’s been awhile since I’ve floated into here, so forgive me for talking about stuff that’s probably, ooh, at least a week old.

For what it’s worth, I haven’t had any problems with the new encodes but… well, give it time. I tend to stream everything across to my TV anyway, which has problems of its own. I’d be surprised (and elated) if this doesn’t cause more.

Of the latest series that have been released it’s Persona 4, Hunter x Hunter, and Fate/Zero that have flicked my attention switch to the “on” position. I’ll be trying Fate/Zero later tonight, but I haven’t been disappointed with the rest.

Based on the first episode, “retelling” seems like a good way of describing HxH. It feels familiar - even the voice cast seems similar, which surprised me because I knew going in that most of them are new - but a lot more fluid and fast-paced, which is definitely no bad thing. It’s the same story but told a little differently, which sounds like “retelling” to me.

It’s Persona 4 I’m in love with right now, though. It tickles my fanboy spot just right, which is perhaps not such a surprise as Persona is one of the only things for which I actually get fanboyish, to the extent that I damn near squealed with glee at points and I can’t believe I just wrote that somewhere public.

I’m extraordinarily happy with it right now. It’s faithful, and it actually feels like Persona (as opposed to Trinity Soul, which felt like a pre-existing “horror” story that then had Persona elements added at the last minute and turned out to be a complete mess). I’m not sure how they’re going to deal with things like social links and the Velvet Room, but hopefully the pace will slow down a little after the next couple of episodes so they can focus a bit more on the characters, as that tended to be one of Persona 4’s stronger points. Right now I’m as happy as could be with it, but I can certainly see potential problems down the line. Hopefully, they can too.

No idea how impenetrable it’ll be to someone who hasn’t played the game, but I’ll find out when I introduce a friend to it.

That aside I’ve still got Gungrave on my To Watch list, and I’ll throw out a lazy recommendation for Darker Than Black on the offchance no-one else has shouted about it yet, because I thoroughly enjoyed its combination of action and weirdness. The first season, that is, because the second is awful.

3114

Did they ever continue the HxH manga? I remember it wandering off somewhere slowly with insects taking over the world or something before eventually no new releases.

3115

Don’t forget the most prominent character in the series: Pizza Hut! Apparently it’s the only food they’ve discovered how to make in that universe.

3116

Supposedly, the writer fell seriously ill so the manga kinda got put on hold for awhile, with very sporadic updates, although I think it’s being done more regularly now. From what I can tell it’s moved a little way past the insect-y bit (“Chimera Ants”?) but I’ve not read any of it. To be perfectly honest, I really, really liked where the Greed Island OVA ended - it felt like a fitting conclusion to the series, and I’m happy to consider that the ending.

3117

It’s still going. That arc already ended. Like, three chapters ago.

3118

Yeah, I liked Greed Island a lot. It was an interesting concept. That said, I’m going to watch the hell out of the new series.

3119

The new anime’s start roughly coincides with Hunter x Hunter leaving hiatus. I think the idea of the new anime is to re-adapt the manga up to where the current chapters resume, then go back to playing the standard adaptation game (but hopefully with less need for filler).

3120

I can honestly say I forgot about everything that happened in HxH except the basic premise of boy searching for his legendary father and learning to be like him. It’s been a while. Maybe I’ll grab that new show and hope it’s more like FMA: Brotherhood was to FMA.