Anime' - Whatcha Watchin? (Is it good?)

TurinTur · 2014-08-08T15:44:45.000Z

I read an interesting point in the SA forums about SAO vs LH… basically, people accused of SAO being a Gary Stu fantasy. Which is true. But, is LH really better? the MC is just another type of Gary Stu, the type that instead of beating everyone with his l33t skillz with a weapon does it with his super intelligence and strategies. In all the series there is no one who is even close to beat him at his own game and his plans are never in risk of failing.

Terror in Resoance 5
Now, this is improving! A much better episode.

forgeforsaken · 2014-08-08T16:00:13.000Z

TurinTur:

I read an interesting point in the SA forums about SAO vs LH… basically, people accused of SAO being a Gary Stu fantasy. Which is true. But, is LH really better? the MC is just another type of Gary Stu, the type that instead of beating everyone with his l33t skillz with a weapon does it with his super intelligence and strategies. In all the series there is no one who is even close to beat him at his own game and his plans are never in risk of failing.

It’s true about both but it’s far more egregious in SOA IMO.

geewhiz · 2014-08-08T16:38:12.000Z

Hmmmm…I just liked Log Horizon better - probably because the mastermind portion was fun to watch and I liked the girl assassin too. I also thought the exploration they did with NPCs having their own life was interesting.

SOA was also good but became more of a love story IMHO.

Currently, I am enjoying the Volleyball anime, Haikyu. I not sure why I like it but it is just pleasant to watch. I continue to watch the baseball one as well (Ace of the Diamond). I casually enjoy Rail Wars, Nokzai-kun, and a few others.

My daughter seems to love Akame ga kill because of how crazy it is (I watch it because I read the manga - but it is very dark in places).

Hunter X Hunter & Naruto stand above the others in our household (especially because my kids grew up with Naruto and they still want to see what happens at ages 17, 19, & 21 - though we tend to save up episodes and then wtch it in marathon style).

I do not understand the anime entitled Dramatical Murder (well I guess I just do not understand the title - this anime is just bleh at lesat for us). Ruby hurts my ears for some reason but I still watch it - just like punishing myself I guess :)

There are not a lot of Animes this season on Crunchyroll that grabbed us - I hope next season is better.

forgeforsaken · 2014-08-08T16:54:58.000Z

Hunter X Hunter is pretty good.

Murbella · 2014-08-08T19:43:51.000Z

forgeforsaken:

Ok, so this is probably partially it depends which you watch first thing, but good god the writing in SOA is not better than Log Horizon. I’m on episode 19 of SOA and it’s a struggle to continue with this series at times whereas I marathoned Log Horizon pretty quickly. And characters? SOA has NONE! There’s Kirito (barely a character), some random love interests including his cousin/sister, and then just random guys who turn up every 5 episodes or so that we are supposed to somehow identify as characters. It feels a lot more disjointed than LH as well, with frequent time skips. I also am suprised you complain about the PKers in LH when they make even less sense in SOA’s first arc, where there’s a whole guild of them for some unknown reason…

SAO has a well developed main character, a couple sub main characters and some side characters. LH is pretty much the same, except the main character is generally less developed and the plot rarely makes sense due to there being no motivation to do anything (at least in the first 1/3). I’m an ex hardcore mmorpger and even i don’t like the main characters in LH.

The reason there is a guild of PKers is the same exact reason there is one in any open pvp game. It is still somewhat surprising to run in to someone who has not played these, but the reason is easy loot with minimal risk. Why increase your risk by farming monsters when you can just farm the farmers with less risk and more reward?

Gil102:

I haven’t watched Log Horizon, but I wonder if you have ever played an MMO, particularly in the era of Everquest. I felt that the assassin guild in the first arc of SAO made sense because out of the 7500 or so people left, you are going to have people that end up craving power and the easiest way to do that is through fear. It may be that their minds couldn’t handle their new situation or they don’t believe that anyone dies in the real world if their avatar is killed in the game. They are still technically anonymous and many people will do and say extreme things when they believe there won’t be any consequences. I found the assassin guild formation to be very plausible in that first arc. People can become assholes in MMORPGs just because they can (to varying degrees). Its a big reason why I dislike PvP servers/games.

Exactly.

A life or death situation where you can improve your odds of survival with almost no chance of retaliation? Video game or real life, many people would take it, even if it meant harming another.

forgeforsaken:

Log Horizon has a bad guy guild as well, but in that universe it makes more sense than in SOA where it is outlined to be actual murder and they never did a good job in that part of the series of showing the actual rewards to being a PK. In LH the death penalty isn’t exactly clear at first and is something they only determine over time, even if you don’t believe you are actually killing someone in SOA it’s pretty clear that even if it’s only a game it’s permadeath as no one ever respawns.

Speaking of which the show totally botches a Chekhov’s Gun they setup early on with the 10 second revive item that Kirito gives one of the other players, as it never comes into play later and seemed like the perfect thing to make an appearance in that final boss fight. Though apparently I guess he uses it in the manga right after getting it.

Your point makes no sense.

In LH PKing basically means nothing because (at least early on) it does not appear to have any negatives for the victim or direct positives for the pk. LH has a whole arc about threatening people with PKing but they have (at the time?) no real reason to fear getting killed, so it makes no sense that it would work based on fear.

The very fact that death in SAO is permanent means it is effective for getting things, and just like in real life, people will harm others to get ahead. If you’ve ever played a pvp mmorpg you know that when people don’t have things to make them civil, they behave like huge assholes and take advantage of people left and right as a rule. Adding the life and death element to it only makes it much more so because now that pker has even more reason to kill you first your stuff, increasing their own chances are surviving.

TurinTur:

I read an interesting point in the SA forums about SAO vs LH… basically, people accused of SAO being a Gary Stu fantasy. Which is true. But, is LH really better? the MC is just another type of Gary Stu, the type that instead of beating everyone with his l33t skillz with a weapon does it with his super intelligence and strategies. In all the series there is no one who is even close to beat him at his own game and his plans are never in risk of failing.

Terror in Resoance 5
Now, this is improving! A much better episode.

I’m not really sure what a Gary Stu fantasy is, but while the main character is powerful, there are indeed moments when he is close to defeat and doesn’t walk over his enemies.

forgeforsaken · 2014-08-08T20:55:35.000Z

SOA in the second arc has tentacle rape and desired incest, yeah LH is the far better show.

Oh and yeah Kirito sure isn’t OP, I mean it’s not like he routinely 1v1s bosses after they wipe out entire guilds…oh that does happen.

TurinTur · 2014-08-09T00:32:19.000Z

forgeforsaken:

Hunter X Hunter is pretty good.

It’s even on Netflix now! :)

Vetarnias · 2014-08-09T18:48:39.000Z

I’ve begun watching a few episodes of City Hunter, the 80s anime series. Four episodes in, it’s rather yuck.

On the one hand, I love the zeitgeisty synthesis of the 1980s, with its neon aesthetic and vest-on-T-shirt fashions. Unfortunately, it’s apparently stuck there morally too: the detective hero guy must keep half of the Tokyo bar busy with sexual harassment lawsuits against him.

And in the latest episode I’ve watched, he’s hired by the widow of a boxer who was killed while training out in the wee hours. (She’s dying of some horrible illness, and makes the detective the beneficiary of her life insurance as payment.) He finds out that he was killed by a boxer he was supposed to fight against, and that this other boxer has a thing about killing his future opponents off the ring so that he can win against people he can bully into taking a dive. So, on the day of the bout between the murderer and one of these pliable boxers, our beloved hero takes a rifle, inserts a special bullet that leaves no traces, and shoots the killer on the ring while his opponent is giving him a blow to the head. Boxer falls down, remains inert, but nobody pays the slightest attention to him as they’re all cheering the other guy for winning.

I have nothing against antiheroes, but clearly the star character was never intended as such here. You’re supposed to sympathize with him, think he’s cute when his hand wanders off on a feminine thigh, and now I’m supposed to cheer him on as he kills someone in cold blood.

KaoFloppy · 2014-08-11T05:15:58.000Z

City Hunter? I’m trying to get into it from 1st season, too! I knew about it for a long time now; my friends kept trying to get me into this series back in the 80s, but there was no English translations. Maybe it gets better later when Kaori becomes the co-star of show (or rather, her hyperspace 100-ton hammer). Maybe.

Nice discussion about SOA vs Log Horizon. I’m one of those mythical beings who never touched an MMO, so I can’t relate these 2 shows to real-life MMO behaviours. I would agree that both are very very Gary Stu.

ineffablebob · 2014-08-11T19:06:25.000Z

Got around to watching Summer Wars recently…it’s been on my to-do list for a while. Good fun, sort of felt like a Pixar movie; maybe more young-adult where Pixar is usually child-focused. Nice little story, as long as you don’t try to make any of it conform to reality. (I solve heavy encryption with scratch paper!) Always nice to see a math nerd make good, though.

arrendek · 2014-08-12T12:11:29.000Z

ineffablebob:

Got around to watching Summer Wars recently…it’s been on my to-do list for a while. Good fun, sort of felt like a Pixar movie; maybe more young-adult where Pixar is usually child-focused. Nice little story, as long as you don’t try to make any of it conform to reality. (I solve heavy encryption with scratch paper!) Always nice to see a math nerd make good, though.

Hey, I saw that movie! It was pretty neat, I liked it.

ineffablebob · 2014-08-15T12:35:15.000Z

Just started in on Sword Art Online, just 2 episodes in, after the discussion up-thread put SAO and Log Horizon on my radar. It’s interesting how much different it feels to apply suspension of disbelief to “characters playing an MMO for supposedly real-life stakes” as opposed to the more common “supposedly real-life situations”. It’s not like there’s a major leap from something like giant mecha or massive space battles to getting stuck in an MMO, but I guess my own personal experience with how things work in MMOs makes it feel a lot different. I find it easier to buy the “your body is tied to your in-game character” thing than the “it’s possible to beat 100 MMO major bosses with no practice runs and without dying”, though there’s no logical reason for either to be any more or less believable.

Gil102 · 2014-08-15T15:59:48.000Z

GeeWhiz:

SOA was also good but became more of a love story IMHO.

Aw man…you are totally correct. I completely forgot how much of a sucker I am for a cute love story. That is probably a big reason I liked SAO (the first Arc, really). Sorry if I misled anyone!

Did watch Madoka Magicka on Netflix recently. I was hoping for something lighthearted and cute, but damn, that got serious REAL quick. I still found it entertaining (and no love story, either!).

forgeforsaken · 2014-08-15T16:02:42.000Z

ineffablebob:

Just started in on Sword Art Online, just 2 episodes in, after the discussion up-thread put SAO and Log Horizon on my radar. It’s interesting how much different it feels to apply suspension of disbelief to “characters playing an MMO for supposedly real-life stakes” as opposed to the more common “supposedly real-life situations”. It’s not like there’s a major leap from something like giant mecha or massive space battles to getting stuck in an MMO, but I guess my own personal experience with how things work in MMOs makes it feel a lot different. I find it easier to buy the “your body is tied to your in-game character” thing than the “it’s possible to beat 100 MMO major bosses with no practice runs and without dying”, though there’s no logical reason for either to be any more or less believable.

You picked the wrong one of the two to watch.

Otagan · 2014-08-15T19:25:17.000Z

forgeforsaken:

You picked the wrong one of the two to watch.

I would say that to anyone who picked SAO over LH.

ineffablebob · 2014-08-15T20:08:13.000Z

forgeforsaken:

You picked the wrong one of the two to watch.

Oh, I’m sure I’ll watch LH also eventually. SAO just happened to be the one I picked up first. And it’s not bad, as light love stories go; I just have to remind myself that the MMO parts bear the same resemblance to actual MMO play as anime swordfighting bears to the real thing.

geewhiz · 2014-08-16T09:03:38.000Z

The only thing I would say about SAO that I found a little “too much” was the parenting part.

forgeforsaken · 2014-08-16T17:45:57.000Z

GeeWhiz:

The only thing I would say about SAO that I found a little “too much” was the parenting part.

I’d add to that the sister’s unrequited lust for her brother that encompasses most of the 2nd arc.

rei · 2014-08-17T21:11:28.000Z

So there’s this Kickstarter for an anime called Under the Dog from a bunch of big names like Masahiro Ando that has a very Ghost in the Shell vibe.

roxanwright · 2014-08-17T23:46:24.000Z

Currently, I’m watching Sword Art Online. I’m on episode 10 at the moment and I like it so far. I like the main characters and the flow of the story is really good.