Gil102
3581
While at dinner with some friends who often watch anime movies and series, I asked, “Has anyone heard of Grave of the Fireflies?”
“DO NOT WATCH THAT MOVIE!!!” yells my artist friend.
“I ALREADY DID!” I reply, louder than intended.
both of us burst into tears
Kyle700
3582
I don’t know if this has been mentioned but I heard about no game no life through a friend and I like it. It’s about a brother and sister who are incredibly good at games, and get pulled into a fantasy world where all conflicts are resolved by playing games.
Spent some evenings over the last couple of weeks watching Steins;gate, after the recommendations posted up-thread. I really enjoyed the first 15 or so episodes. Reminded me of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, what with it being humorous weird supernatural adventures of a small group of kids (albeit focused only on time travel rather than some kind of goddess deal that happened to include time travel). I thought it dragged on in the later episodes, though. Part of that feeling came from the disappearance of the humor, which seemed to fall off a cliff about halfway through…or maybe I just got tired of the same jokes. And part of it was the heavy foreshadowing, which made the plot of the later episodes contain very little in the way of surprises. Despite the slow finish, I liked it; worth your time to check it out.
Steins;Gate is really great. I totally agree with you, the humor just disappears and they go all drama all the time. Still, it wraps up nicely (or about as good as it could given the theme, as far as I’m concerned). Really worth the watch for your sci-fi anime time.
The last Hunter x Hunter episode has been really good television. Premier HBO level. What a good job by Madhouse.
Otagan
3586
The movie gives it another chance to wrap up a bit differently, and there was a recently announced novel (as in real novel, not visual novel) that will take place about six years after the conclusion of the anime/game.
I should have mentioned that I watched the Steins;gate movie, too, and it basically fit in with the later episodes - all drama. Not bad, nice in that it’s a “one year later” continuation which fits the show’s storyline, but nothing special in my opinion.
I’ve also caught up to the present episode for Hunter X Hunter. Thumbs way up! except for the 1st half of the Chimera Ants arc almost making me stop watching. I’m mostly repulsed by the ants and how they came to gain power; it’s like some little boys’ nightmare come true.
I watched 009 Re-cyborg last night. It’s very big-budget CGI, and very Ghost in the Shell-y, but slightly less cool, less dystopian. Overall a very good action movie. I don’t know anything about 009 before, but it is not required to enjoy this movie. Wikipedia says Ishinomori sensei is the creator! Power Rangers + Kamen Riders!
Per QT3 recommendation, I’ve started watching Psycho Pass. About halfway in, and I’m really enjoying it. Very much in a similar vein to Ghost in the Shell:SAC, though the characters don’t seem as gritty…regular cops rather than grizzled ex-mercenaries. The world-building aspect is pretty cool, plenty of area to explore with the Minority-Report-esque identification of criminals by their Sybil system.
Edit: And finished the 22 episodes of season 1. Obvious setup for another season, which makes sense. Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit, although the ease with which the big bad plans were stopped in the last couple of episodes seemed weak.
Minor spoiler
“Turn off the power! OK, we win.” At least someone died in the ensuing chase to track down Makishima, although I had hoped it would be Kogami instead.
Watched the first episode of Persona 4 Golden animation. I’m a big fan of the games, but didn’t like the first anime at all. This new one is wacky. The main character is apparently the NG+, maxed out groundhog day version of himself (minus the fore-knowledge) so he’s a lot more proactive compared to his first iteration. The first combat sequence shows him unleashing an endgame persona in a beginner dungeon. It glosses over major plot points and assumes familiarity with the story and characters already. I’m not sure I’ll call it good, but kind of interesting at least.
Over the last week, I’ve watched the first 3 episodes of Knights of Cydonia on Netflix. Pretty good so far. It’s not Attack on Titan level good yet, but one nice thing is that on Episode 3 I switched to English voice acting with no subtitles, and the dub is really good. The voices and inflections are very similar to the tone and feel of the Japanese voices.
I finished watching the four OVAs of Armitage III last night. I remember originally seeing the movie on Tech TV years ago where the main character was voiced by Keifer Sutherland. I had no idea the first movie was just a shortened version of the OVAs. Cheesy fun show, I watched it dubbed. Had Bryan Cranston in it too. Gotta love the intro and that streetwalker outfit of Armitage’s. Got the second movie to watch too, never watched that one.
I am also really enjoying this anime.
It seems more anime-ish than other anime I’ve seen recently.
I like it better than AoT, mostly for setting.
Knights of Sidonia, as wikipedia says: Not to be confused with “Knights of Cydonia”, [which] is a song by English alternative rock band Muse and is the closing track on the British release of their 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations. Thanks for the rec, though! Netflix is letting me catch up on a bunch of anime.
Otagan
3595
Anything with a cybernetically augmented bear in the cast is worth watching, IMO.
Which is pretty much the case with the original series as well. Like the time when he had this insane schedule over the summer break “for no obvious reason”, and in the end it “pays off in surprising ways”.
New series definitely has higher budget, but direction is poor. The very first fight is much better in original. Not shiver-inducing, but just better. I dont understand the reason for this new series to exist in the first place, first one was perfectly serviceable for the fans, and new one wont bring anyone new to the circle. I’d rather have them do something based on Nocturne.
Finished Season 1 of Knights of Sidonia. It felt a little too short to me. The parallels between this and Attack on Titan are pretty striking. In both, you are among the last remnants of mankind, fighting against a force seemingly hell-bent on eliminating humanity for unknown reasons.
But at least in AoT you gain knowledge about the enemy in different phases. First you find out a little, then a little more, then a little more. In Knights, just as you’re on the verge of finding out something about the enemy, the season ends.
I still liked the way the show escalates each battle though, never allowing the characters to relax; always throwing bigger and more difficult challenges their way. Good stuff. But it still doesn’t feel like a satisfying arc to me, either for the characters or the story. It just ends too soon.
I like Knights of Sidonia more so because their depiction of life in space felt reasonable. Other than the Heigan particles powering things, it didn’t feel like they were handwaving how tough living in a generational ship would be. But they certainly weren’t just assuming life in space was the same as life on a planet, with occasional gravity outages.
I am currently watching Fairy Tail. I enjoy most of its arcs and I like its humor. When I have more free time, I re-watch the Bleach series.
What I’ve watched lately:
Hamatora: It’s like Darker than Black without the Alien overlords. Came out in Winter 2014, and is better than anything else I watched that season. Its sequel Re_Hamatora is running now, and has a bit more deus ex machina, which really bugs me, and yet I’m still watching.
No Game No Life: This is as great as eveyone here and online are saying. There is none of the usual Akiba silly fanservice (well, maybe the first 5 minutes of the first episode, plus animal girls). Surprisingly lawyerly (as in Phoenix Wright) show.
Persona 4 Golden: Serious fanservice show. Non-fans of P4 stay the hell away!
