OAO Anime/Manga Thread

[Golgo 13 0]

There's been nothing on a Haruhi street date or promotion at asosbrigade.com, bandai-ent.com, animenewsnetwork, etc. I think the earliest DVDs could be released would be April or May and even that's wishful thinking. It looks like the extended dance clip is from the Japanese DVD 7 release.

 

Wow, it's been a while since I posted here. I think the new anime AS has been mentioning in the bumps lately might be Blood+, but that's just wild speculation on my part.

I haven't seen the bumps but it's already been confirmed and there hasn't been anything new announced or scheduled otherwise, so that's likely it.

 

but all I could really catch up with was Bleach(I know I'm in the minority, but I fucking loved the Bounto filler arc and wish it could have somehow been incorporated into the manga

Ditto. There were some missteps and points where it dragged on, but it fit in well and was good otherwise. I wonder if Koga (the mohawk guy) could possibly show up later on in the manga, and as well, Ririn, Cloud, and Nova have been retained in the anime.

 

And am I the only one going "thank God there's still shows going on from last season"? Because I'm totally unimpressed with this current season of new stuff.

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou. Featuring graphically intense violence and no shortage of blood, guts, and spiritually inspired elements here and there, not to mention zombies. Z-O-M-B-I-E-S! A little shonen here and there with a mismatched cast of fighters who happen to be schoolmates banding together, but it could be a winner as long as it keeps up the quality.

[Golgo 13 0]

And here it is. I swear I posted the above right before seeing the news announcement.

 

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Volume 1 in May

In further Suzumiya Haruhi news, Bandai Entertainment has updated the asosbrigade.com website with a new video, which includes the announcement that The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Volume 1 will be released on May 29. A special edition, with box (for all 4 volumes) will also be released. The video also makes some comments regarding fansubs available on YouTube and through BitTorrent. It is stated that "It is pretty cool" (that people are already watching Suzumiya Haruhi fansubbed) but recommend/request that fans also buy the DVD (it's the only way to save this plane of existence according to Yuki).

[Lightning Flik 0]

;; Seems I need to apolgoizes.

 

Site I go to put DVD, but meant something entirely different concerning the DVD, not that it was released.

 

;; Gomen, shouldn't've just assumed. My bad.

[Special K 0]

Just wanted to say:

 

Yotsuba&! e.g. Yostubato is the fucking awesomest thing ever. It's done by the guy (Azuma something) who did the incredible Azumanga Daoih. I won't say it's better than the Azumanga anime, but it's definitely better than the Azumanga manga. Jumbo is the SHIT.

 

It's absolutely hilarious. Combine Osaka and Tomo with Chiyo-Chan, and you have Yotsuba.

 

She's just fucking an adorable spaz. Many funny secondary characters. I looked, the collections are pretty cheap, even cheaper used.

 

I really want to read some Iron Wok Jan. About a demonicly good chef in the Iron Chef vein.

[Special K 0]

As an aside, has anyone checked out TYlor? 3rd best anime ever, with the best ending ever. It's pretty old-school. Yet it;s absolutely hilariours, good characters, and again, the best ending ever.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

As an aside, has anyone checked out TYlor? 3rd best anime ever, with the best ending ever. It's pretty old-school. Yet it;s absolutely hilariours, good characters, and again, the best ending ever.

 

Irresponsible Captain Tylor? One of my favorites. Not the OVA's though. They kinda go all over the place. The show though, man it's a classic. The last episode is probably my favorite episode of an anime anywhere. The use of classical music in the finale gets me smiling every time. And really, any anime that has a hockey mask clad character named "Jason" that runs around with a chainsaw can't be all bad.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

I finally sat down and watched the Prince of Tennis dub for the first time and it made me want to take a nap and then find whoever's responsible for this garbage and kill them. The original Japanese version was already boring as fuck til they play Fudomine, but the dub is even worse because all the voices just start blending into each other because they all sound alike and like the VA's are reading straight from the script with nothing even remotely close to emotion being put forth. Ryoma's a really arrogant, cocky kid(typical shounen, pretty much) and you'd be hard-pressed to notice that when he talks in such a droning monotone.

 

Well, enough of that, I'm really digging the Naruto dub(course, I really love the Konoha Crush arc) as even Shikamaru's VA has gotten a lot better since the beginning of the series. Sadly though, this is where the speeches during fights pop up more frequently and they jump from fight to fight too fucking much with almost nothing happening in the fight they jump to(Sarutobi/Orochimaru, I'm lookin' at YOU) other than both parties standing around for two minutes.

 

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou. Featuring graphically intense violence and no shortage of blood, guts, and spiritually inspired elements here and there, not to mention zombies. Z-O-M-B-I-E-S! A little shonen here and there with a mismatched cast of fighters who happen to be schoolmates banding together, but it could be a winner as long as it keeps up the quality.

How many eps are there out now and who's subbing it? Sounds pretty interesting.

[Golgo 13 0]

I would honestly put Naruto up against any other for best dub. On the other hand, Bleach has been disappointing, but I guess it took to the point they are now for Naruto to start coming together, so we'll see.

 

Tokyo Majin just started. They're up to two in Japan with episode one subbed by Shinsen. I don't know if any others will be picking it up.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

I've liked the Bleach dub so far, personally. Renji's voice initially made me cringe, but he's already started sounding better. Jinta's voice sucks rat balls, though. Way, way too squeaky and whiny. I'm waiting for when Urahara gets really serious and forcing Ichigo to fire off Getsuuga Tenshou for the first time because that was pretty damn intense and it'd be interesting to see if his VA can get it right.

 

Thanks for the Tokyo Main info, I'm gonna look for it tonight and hopefully get the first ep.

[Golgo 13 0]

The Haruhi dub cast has been announced.

 

The English dub cast, and ADR director for Bandai's upcoming release of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, has been announced in The Adventures of the ASOS Brigade: Episode 002, which was uploaded to the ASOS Brigade website last night.

 

ADR Director - Eric P. Sherman Haruhi Suzumiya - Wendee Lee Mikuru Asahina - Stephanie Sheh Yuki Nagato - Michelle Ruff Kyon - Crispin Freeman Itsuki Koizumi - Johnny Yong Bosch Ryouko Asakura - Bridget Hoffman Tsuruya-san - Kari Wahlgren

 

And after having finally watched the original Negima, it was okay. Yeah, the art and shortened Kyoto arc sucked, but if it wasn't Negima, the much despised final storyline wouldn't have been that bad. It was pretty good, in fact. It's not like Asuna stayed dead anyway, so what's with all the bitching from the fanbase. I don't get it.

 

Still, I'd rather have decent Kyoto and School Festival adaptations than all this Black Rose Baron and Star Crystal nonsense in Negima!?... not that this new series isn't already a lot better than the first.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Is it just me or do the same 4 or 5 voice actors do seemingly EVERY English translation? Bridget Hoffman's everywhere, Johnny Yong Bosch is getting there, and I've seen Kari Walhgren on several animes. I'm not saying it's a bad thing (Hoffman always does good work and Bosch was real good as Vash), just something I've noticed.

[Golgo 13 0]

You can count Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, and Crispin Freeman too. That entire group is everywhere but I'll be damned if it isn't as close to an all-star cast as you're ever gonna get on one production. It makes me feel a little better about the dub but hopefully Stephanie Sheh doesn't play Mikuru like she does Orihime in Bleach.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Geez you're right. I just scanned the list and the names I mentioned popped out at me, but the other ones are prolific as well. I wonder what the dub budget is? They've gotta be some of the more expensive voice actors on the market.

 

I might have to watch some of these (Naruto, Bleach, etc.). For some reason I've been drawn to the romantic/comedy types (Love Hina, Ah My Goddess). Quite the opposite of my normal TV and movie habits. I don't know why. Although to be honest, the new TV version of Ah My Goddess is a gorgeous example of computer graphics instead of hand drawn cels. The dub is nice to. And since ADV is taking over for Media Blasters, I'm hoping the DVD set for season 2 is even better. ADV does a good job of packing in the extras whenever possible.

[Lightning Flik 0]

And after having finally watched the original Negima, it was okay. Yeah, the art and shortened Kyoto arc sucked, but if it wasn't Negima, the much despised final storyline wouldn't have been that bad. It was pretty good, in fact. It's not like Asuna stayed dead anyway, so what's with all the bitching from the fanbase. I don't get it.

 

The problem that most fans have with it isn't actually the ending but the fact that if they were gonna base this one solely on the manga, then they never should've pulled out a storyline that isn't within the manga. The consistancy that they didn't deliver is what most fans are pissed with about the series.

 

And a lot of people believe it should've stopped right at the point of the test, since they could've gaged for a sequel and would've gotten favorable results.

 

Oh and I love Pizza Hut Rebellion. Can't freaking believe Suzaku actually isn't any better than Zero (hell, he's worse) and has already done the exact same thing Zero has done. It was awesome seeing that.

[Special K 0]

Irresponsible Captain Tylor? One of my favorites. Not the OVA's though. They kinda go all over the place. The show though, man it's a classic. The last episode is probably my favorite episode of an anime anywhere. The use of classical music in the finale gets me smiling every time. And really, any anime that has a hockey mask clad character named "Jason" that runs around with a chainsaw can't be all bad.

 

Yeah. It's such a great series. I lucked into buying the entire series, subbed, for a buck a tape (VHS)

Trully, a totally underappreciated series. So funny. So good. A lot of the old school series are pretty much incognito now.

[Ced 0]

The Haruhi dub cast has been announced.

 

The English dub cast, and ADR director for Bandai's upcoming release of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, has been announced in The Adventures of the ASOS Brigade: Episode 002, which was uploaded to the ASOS Brigade website last night.

 

ADR Director - Eric P. Sherman Haruhi Suzumiya - Wendee Lee Mikuru Asahina - Stephanie Sheh Yuki Nagato - Michelle Ruff Kyon - Crispin Freeman Itsuki Koizumi - Johnny Yong Bosch Ryouko Asakura - Bridget Hoffman Tsuruya-san - Kari Wahlgren

 

That's a pretty high-profile cast for the Haruhi dub. Listening to Bleach dubs, I don't have too much objection to Michelle Ruff playing Yuki and Wendee Lee could pull of a good Haruhi. Stephanie Sheh has the voice for Mikuru, but I'm not too sure if she can pull the character off. Crispin Freeman works for Kyon, but Johnny Yong Bosch as Itsuki is going to take some adjusting to. Bosch is a bit like Steven Jay Blum to me; I know exactly which character he's playing so it's a bit of a distraction.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Bosch is a bit like Steven Jay Blum to me; I know exactly which character he's playing so it's a bit of a distraction.

 

Yeah, I have that problem with him too. Like, his Ichigo feels like Johnny Yong Bosch voicing Kurosaki Ichigo instead of Kurosaki Ichigo himself.

[ragingfear79 0]

Naruto Fillers are finally over, any1 else see the new episode?

[devo 0]

Aside from the extraneous stuff (the "keyword" interludes, some lame humor, and the scenes after the credits), I loved it. I am a little confused as to why they chose to blow the biggest post-timeskip moment of the manga on the intro of the first episode, though - I'd imagine those who have only watched the anime were really confused as to what was going on.

 

In any case, the animation was terrific, the new music was fantastic (with the exception of the closing theme, which is just okay), and the discrepencies from the manga that were there were minor and actually made sense. A great start to the new series.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

I am a little confused as to why they chose to blow the biggest post-timeskip moment of the manga on the intro of the first episode, though - I'd imagine those who have only watched the anime were really confused as to what was going on.

 

I almost think it's just to hook the SasuNaru fangirls. The ending theme is kind of evidence enough.

[devo 0]

Hahaha, that's a good point. I'd imagine that, in normal circumstances, it might be six to nine months until they actually get to that point. I don't think they're going to be patient not seeing Sasuke for that long.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Check out rightstuf.com pretty soon. They're clearing out the warehouse apparently. A ton of stuff is on sale. For instance, (although it's not for me) they've got the ENTIRE Cardcaptor Sakura box set (18 discs) on sale. Suggested retail price- $539.82, sale price- $79.99. Just an example.

[Golgo 13 0]

And after having finally watched the original Negima, it was okay. Yeah, the art and shortened Kyoto arc sucked, but if it wasn't Negima, the much despised final storyline wouldn't have been that bad. It was pretty good, in fact. It's not like Asuna stayed dead anyway, so what's with all the bitching from the fanbase. I don't get it.

 

The problem that most fans have with it isn't actually the ending but the fact that if they were gonna base this one solely on the manga, then they never should've pulled out a storyline that isn't within the manga. The consistancy that they didn't deliver is what most fans are pissed with about the series.

 

And a lot of people believe it should've stopped right at the point of the test, since they could've gaged for a sequel and would've gotten favorable results.

 

All it really boils down to is bitching regardless. There are rarely perfect manga-to-anime translations and no blurb or article regarding the desire to base a series solely on a manga should ever be trusted. In the end I'm of the opinion that, regardless of anything being filler, folks should get over it and criticize it fairly for what it is. The poor attempts at visuals offended me more than anything else, but maybe I don't mind everything else since all the fervor had already died down, so I was prepared going in.

 

But believe me, I still don't think it had much place in the series since one or two episodes there were such downers in contrast to everything else. Anyway, as much as I want more series to adopt the 'stop every 13 eps, pick up production later, especially if the manga needs time to catch up' model, the exams aren't much of a high point to go out on. But since they went past that and the Kyoto arc was so close to the end, if they would have done it proper and just closed the 24/26 episodes with that I doubt anyone would have complained.

 

Oh and I love Pizza Hut Rebellion. Can't freaking believe Suzaku actually isn't any better than Zero (hell, he's worse) and has already done the exact same thing Zero has done. It was awesome seeing that.

You could kind of see something like this coming with Suzaku. Eh. I hate the prick. In fact, I think this makes me dislike him even more.

 

Aside from the extraneous stuff (the "keyword" interludes, some lame humor, and the scenes after the credits), I loved it. I am a little confused as to why they chose to blow the biggest post-timeskip moment of the manga on the intro of the first episode, though - I'd imagine those who have only watched the anime were really confused as to what was going on.

 

In any case, the animation was terrific, the new music was fantastic (with the exception of the closing theme, which is just okay), and the discrepencies from the manga that were there were minor and actually made sense. A great start to the new series.

 

That intro was a hell of a way to start although I don't think the Kyuubi stuff was necessary. There could be some confusion but it was also a nice hook to draw people in and get them to keep watching coming off the stink of the fillers. I liked it altogether.

 

Yes, there's also the Sasuke consideration. Not including the cameo in 202, until the point where this arc comes up plus the fillers from before, it would have been a long, long time before he showed up.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

The opening scene was probably the highlight of the entire thing for me. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have heard what Sai and/or Yamato sounds like, and the Kyuubi stuff didn't feel quite right and they could have done with a better transition into the opening theme. But the animation, wow. So good.

 

As for the episode itself, I was baffled at their spending so much time with filler stuff like the keywords, but there was some amusing comedy in it here and there (almost entirely Tsunade-related, in fact, as the scene with her training Sakura was funny in a "wait how does that make ANY sense" way), but I mostly liked it. Deidara's voice is very good, though I didn't even catch his speech pattern until I watched the scene with Akatsuki walking through the desert a second time because they play it down so much that you have to actively listen for it at the end of his sentences.

 

EDIT: I also have to say that the shot of Akatsuki in the opening video is quite possibly the coolest they have ever looked and I get the impression that I'm going to be incredibly impatient to see how they handle Hidan and Kakuzu in the anime. Especially Hidan because he comes off as a character who will be incredibly fun to watch fight when animated.

[devo 0]

EDIT: I also have to say that the shot of Akatsuki in the opening video is quite possibly the coolest they have ever looked and I get the impression that I'm going to be incredibly impatient to see how they handle Hidan and Kakuzu in the anime. Especially Hidan because he comes off as a character who will be incredibly fun to watch fight when animated.

 

Absolutely. One of the main reasons I'm so excited about the series finally reaching the second part is because of how many incredible battles there are to look forward to. Naruto/Orochimaru in particular is going to be a delight - I've wanted to see the "tidal wave of snakes" attack animated ever since I saw it in print.

[Special K 0]

You know, the standard shonen fighty-fight shows have become quite good lately. Dubbing on popular shows is getting exponentially better overthe past few years.

 

Man, I need to watch Bebop again. That show explodes balls.

 

Oh, and as an aside, Ranma 1/2 is really silly, but it has a good dub, can be found most anywhere, and the first two seasons are freaking hilarious.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

The one thing that annoys me about Ranma is that after the first couple of seasons, it gets repetitive as hell. There's only so many times you can watch some random girl who's being introduced fawn all over Ranma, watch Akane get pissed and kick his ass/ignore him for 3/4s the episode, and then something makes Akane forgive/forget it til it happens AGAIN. What grates on my nerves even more is that when they actually show Ranma and Akane's relationship growing, it's completely forgotten and they're back to acting completely abrasive to each other by the next episode(season 6, disc 3, the middle three episodes is a very good example of this).

 

I know Happosai and their fathers are there to distract us from noticing this, but it's just irritating to watch in the later seasons.

[Special K 0]

Some of it's filler, and some of it's just crap. That's why I had the caveat of the first 2 seasons. The manga gets really repetetive too, though.

 

Maisson Ikkoku, now there's and incredible story, funny and actually really sweet. And Rumiko Takahashi actually FINISHED it, instead of dragging it on. Definitely the best thing to come out of Takahashi. Well, maybe Oshii's Urusei Yatsura II: Beautiful Dreamer competes.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

As far as Ranma 1/2 goes, I think the first three seasons are very strong. However, after they introduced Ukyo they really didn't have much left to do aside from the occasional insert of one of the storyarcs of any importance (the Hiryuu Shoten Ha arc, the Shi Shi Hokodan arc, the stuff with Pantyhose Taro, and so on), so it all just because "oh hey let's see if we can turn this into a martial art." And sometimes that worked (Copycat Ken) and sometimes not so much (the calligraphy guy, not to mention the fact that they gave that stupid tea ceremony character additional episodes).

[Justice 0]

Wow. If there's a time to get back into Naruto, now is it. The opening scene was definitely a good hook; yeah, it ruins his appearance, but then again, we all knew they were going to meet, and it gives you a lot more questions than answers. I guess it was more a treat to all those who watched all the fillers (I definitely stopped). Plus, watching the high-grade animation was simply awesome.

 

They really upgraded a lot of stuff. The music, in particular, seems more grown up: A lot more dramatic themes, with a real operatic bent in there. Akatsuki's entrance in the opening and in the show is great, I didn't mind the keyword things (I thought the Kakashi one was cute, and the Tsunade stuff was funny), and the stuff they managed to add in was actually very well done (The Konohamaru stuff).

 

I really can't wait for the next episode.