OAO Anime/Manga Thread

[Golgo 13 0]

Death Note, Tenpou Ibun, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu, and the Black Lagoon follow up are my must watch series.

 

Though there is an inordinately high ratio of series that look decent which I'll give a shot, with chances being I'll stick with them.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

I guess I've just got a strange taste in animes. I just finished Those Who Hunt Elves. Hilarious. The English dub has some very good voice work, and the original Japanese work is apparently excellent as well. Very cartoonish artwork, but all in all a fun, albeit very offbeat, anime. Catch it if you don't feel like thinking too much about what you're watching.

 

Trying to find Excel Saga, but all I can find is an undubbed Japanese version. I'll keep looking.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I'm three discs past Kyoto now. One was filler, and the other two were The Christian arc.

 

There IS a drop in quality. Seems like every aspect of the show gets a little worse beyond the music. The animation at times seems a little worse, the plot's a little worse, and character development is a little worse.

 

The key though? It's STILL Rurouni Kenshin. That makes it better then 70% of all other Anime just on that alone. The major problem with the Christian Arc, is that Shougou isn't as compelling as Shishio from Kyoto, nor is his character as well-developed. He just lacks the reasoning, and three dimensionalness of Shishio. While Shishio was a complete psycho, there was a twisted logic behind his motives. You also had Sojiro who has the best backstory and reasoning of any villian I've seen in Anime. Shougou has his reasoning, but while it's fairly logical it's just not as compelling. Plus, the whole "God" thing is a key reason why it never got aired on CN. They only mention god, god's will, the possible fallibility of religion, and religion oppression every two minutes, if not sooner.

 

Right now, I'm seeing it as kind of a cross-road of the Tokyo Arc, and Kyoto. There's a super-powered main villian, but unlike Kyoto, the secondary villians aren't gods either. It's much more like Tokyo where it's more about the adventure, and not so much the upcoming battle. It's good though, if you've never seen it, you should check the arc out.

 

I'm thinking it's a situation where it went against the Manga, and it had NO hope of ever living up to Kyoto, so people hate it on that alone...On it's own as an arc? It's pretty good. Plus, Sano has a key role. Sano is awesome.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

For those who just need some time killers, Best Buy has a 4 epsiode subbed and dubbed sampler from Funimation of their Studio Gonzo stuff, it has Desert Punk(the cover of Volume 6 of that show must be seen:

as well as Basilisk, Trinity Blood, and Speedgrapher, none of which I've heard god things about, but hey, free subtitled anime on a DVD

[ragingfear79 0]

Speedgrapher is messed up by the end of the first dvd i rented i was like What the fu.....?

[Lightning Flik 0]

Well, reviews I hear concerning Death Note make me wanna watch it. Guy who gets a book that can kill people, and thinks he'll make himself as a God is kind of an interesting plotline.

 

And apparently Negima!? is very action orientated and taking some huge liberties on the plot, which I knew going in, but its kinda cool to hear how some of the things are different.

 

Can't wait to see more.

[devo 0]

Well, reviews I hear concerning Death Note make me wanna watch it. Guy who gets a book that can kill people, and thinks he'll make himself as a God is kind of an interesting plotline.

 

The manga's amazing. You could probably read the whole thing before getting ahold of the movie; it's only 108 short chapters.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Speed Grapher is pretty damn good til the main character pulls a Char Aznable about 3/4s the way through and develops the hots for the underage female lead, but most of the time you won't notice because everything else is equally, if not MORE, fucked up than that is.

 

Y'know, I'm almost to the point where I'm going to give up on Naruto til the fucking fillers finally end. Bleach and Naruto are done by the same studios(I think) and yet Bleach's filler anally violates the Naruto filler. Kinda pathetic when you think about it...

 

Hopefully, the new Negima, Death Note, and Buso Renkin animes get subbed soon because I'm curious as hell as to how good they are.

[Ced 0]

Anybody here seen Yakitate!! Japan in manga or anime form? For a show based on baking bread, I got quite a few people today suggesting that I pick up the manga.

[Golgo 13 0]

Y'know, I'm almost to the point where I'm going to give up on Naruto til the fucking fillers finally end. Bleach and Naruto are done by the same studios(I think) and yet Bleach's filler anally violates the Naruto filler. Kinda pathetic when you think about it...

 

Here I thought it would end around 200. I got fooled again.

 

But as I think I've said, one or two arcs haven't been bad (the recent Gennou arc was probably the best), the comedy episodes have had their moments, but overall it's been pretty bad. I'm mainly watching now out of masochism and to see how much worse it can get, although this week's looks to have some promise.

 

Anybody here seen Yakitate!! Japan in manga or anime form? For a show based on baking bread, I got quite a few people today suggesting that I pick up the manga.

 

No. It's supposed to be hilarious and I've been meaning to watch, but have been put off by its length.

 

The first episodes of D.Gray-man and Pumpkin Scissors... both were good, I thought.

 

DGM is a bit stereotypical, I couldn't help but think of Hellsing and the Hollows from Bleach, but I like the victorian gothic setting and design and it was nice to look at.

 

I like anime with war and political intrigue from time to time, so I was interested in Pumpkin Scissors. The comedy involved strikes a nice balance, the series will probably remind some of FMA due to the different elements coming together, though it's a lot more subdued here. I fear Gonzo will shit the bed sooner or later and shortchange it in spots but for now it looks to be a keeper, even if the first episode is a bit tame.

[ragingfear79 0]

I have seen the Yakitake anime and it is pretty damned funny, if u can find it watch a couple of episodes and see if you like it.

 

Speed Grapher left me feeling dirty there is just so much fucked upness in that anime....

 

Any word on when the Naruto fillers will end, i stopped watching like 4 or 5 episodes ago, i cant take it.

[Golgo 13 0]

I don't know. Filler titles look to last until 207. After that, who knows. Of course I thought they would end at 202 to coincide with the move to Thursdays.

 

On the plus side there are new openings and endings this week that kinda sorta hint at the skip, but since Dattebayo is late no one has seen anything of the ending except for one likely faked shot of Naruto in his post-skip outfit.

 

I also neglected to mention Black Blood Brothers earlier, so I'm doing it now. Black. Blood. Brothers. It's the latest series in the vampire trend but is pretty good if you can look past the Wizard Alucard look of the main character.

[Special K 0]

If you like political intrigue, and don't mind slower moving movies, check out the Patlabor movies.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Hopefully, the new Negima, Death Note, and Buso Renkin animes get subbed soon because I'm curious as hell as to how good they are.

 

My favorite blogger, Omni, has said Death Note is just as dark and broody as its manga and apparently Negima is not only the best looking and action paced (which is different, considering Negima manga is more drama/character), but I've heard nothing so far about Buso Renkin. What's it about?

[Golgo 13 0]

New Naruto ending on YouTube in awful quality, but there's the glimpse of post-skip Naruto at the end.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyVyi0oawec

[devo 0]

Anybody here seen Yakitate!! Japan in manga or anime form? For a show based on baking bread, I got quite a few people today suggesting that I pick up the manga.

 

I've seen both, and love both, but suggest you pick up the manga. The anime's filler is really annoying and incredibly rushed, and some of the jokes are dumbed down or changed completely in the transition from print to film.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Well, just watched the first episode of Kanon - KyoAni's Rendition. Even though I don't recall the original, I definitely find this first episode a hell of a lot more entertaining the original.

 

Also, I forgot how much I liked Ayu's uguu sound.

 

Now if only some group would sub Negima!? so I could get my Negima goodness.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Y'know, I'm almost to the point where I'm going to give up on Naruto til the fucking fillers finally end. Bleach and Naruto are done by the same studios(I think) and yet Bleach's filler anally violates the Naruto filler. Kinda pathetic when you think about it...

 

Here I thought it would end around 200. I got fooled again.

 

But as I think I've said, one or two arcs haven't been bad (the recent Gennou arc was probably the best), the comedy episodes have had their moments, but overall it's been pretty bad. I'm mainly watching now out of masochism and to see how much worse it can get, although this week's looks to have some promise.

- Man, that episode where Ino sits in for that princess because she got fat from nervous overeating made me wish I had stabbed my eyes out with a hot poker. Comedy bits written around Naruto pissing = BAD.

 

Speed Grapher left me feeling dirty there is just so much fucked upness in that anime....

- Heh. What episode are you on now? because some of the really, *really* bad shit happens near the end of the show.

 

My favorite blogger, Omni, has said Death Note is just as dark and broody as its manga and apparently Negima is not only the best looking and action paced (which is different, considering Negima manga is more drama/character), but I've heard nothing so far about Buso Renkin. What's it about?

- Good on Death Note. Negima should be an interesting watch, is the Martial Arts Tournament going to happen in this show? As for Buso Renkin, it's by Nobuhiro Watsuki(who wrote Ruruoni Kenshin), and is set in a Japanese middle school(?). The main character has a dream about fighting and getting killed by a monster only to find out it actually happened and that the girl he "saved" was an alchemist who brought him back to life by replacing his destroyed heart with some pendant thing(I forgot what it was called) that acts like his heart to keep him alive.

 

She tells him about the war between alchemists and homonuclei(same name as the 7 Sins from FMA) and that if his weapon is broken(the pendant, which turns into a spear) that he'll die.

 

Hope that was somewhat informative as I wrote it completely from memory of reading the first chapter in Shounen Jump.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

Are we thinking about the same Negima? Isn't this the new thing by Ken Akamatsu about the harry potter kid who teaches at a high school?

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Hey Masked Man, going back to our discussion of wrestling moves in animes, I found a few more in Video Girl Ai. I know I remember seeing a nice Boston Crab (w/ a nice crank back on the legs), a nicely executed running dropkick, a PERFECT German Suplex (with bridge), an Octopus Stretch, and the ropes-assisted stretch that CM Punk does (w/o the ropes).

 

I'm actually starting to look for wrestling moves now thanks to our discussion.

 

Anyway, I'm going through Excel Saga, which may very well be one of the weirdest animes I've ever seen. Only problem I've had so far is that the English voice actor for Excel tends to screech her lines. Makes them hard to understand. However, since the opening theme song is sung by a character who is apparantly suffering from tuberculosis and coughs up blood as she sings, I'm willing to forgive some minor quibbles.

[Ced 0]

So I finished Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu just now. My god, am I ever impressed. It's an amazing blend of sci-fi, comedy, drama and romance. For something told so anachronistically, practically everything makes sense by the end. Except why the hell the cat starts talking during episode 1 then vanishes for the rest of the series. Annoyed the hell out of me that I never got my explanation...anyway...

 

It's a "Must download now/Buy upon domestication" anime in my book. Flik, damn you for suggesting it, because now I've been drawn in to the SOS-Dan and I can't escape it.

[Golgo 13 0]

I suggest you read the novel translations here for everything that wasn't included. In this case, the filming takes place in Volume 2.

 

It was wished by Haruhi into talking, like the Mikuru Beam mishap earlier in the episode.

[ragingfear79 0]

lol im like on episode 6 or so on speed grapher. how many episodes anyway?

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

24. The female cop has a rather disturbing episode late in the series. It's really fucking creepy.

[Ced 0]

For those that go to Best Buy, the one I went to had a sampler disc from Funimation with full episodes of Desert Punk, Basilisk, Trinity Blood and Speedgrapher, with both sub and dub tracks. I saw them while browsing so I picked one up, though I've yet to actually watch it.

 

And atomsk

explain the Mikuru Beam incident, since I'm a little lost about what exactly went on during that segment.

[Lightning Flik 0]

My favorite blogger, Omni, has said Death Note is just as dark and broody as its manga and apparently Negima is not only the best looking and action paced (which is different, considering Negima manga is more drama/character), but I've heard nothing so far about Buso Renkin. What's it about?

- Good on Death Note. Negima should be an interesting watch, is the Martial Arts Tournament going to happen in this show? As for Buso Renkin, it's by Nobuhiro Watsuki(who wrote Ruruoni Kenshin), and is set in a Japanese middle school(?). The main character has a dream about fighting and getting killed by a monster only to find out it actually happened and that the girl he "saved" was an alchemist who brought him back to life by replacing his destroyed heart with some pendant thing(I forgot what it was called) that acts like his heart to keep him alive.

 

She tells him about the war between alchemists and homonuclei(same name as the 7 Sins from FMA) and that if his weapon is broken(the pendant, which turns into a spear) that he'll die.

 

Hope that was somewhat informative as I wrote it completely from memory of reading the first chapter in Shounen Jump.

 

Death Note I'm kinda looking at that I should watch. More I'm reading about it, seems more like something I should be picking up.

 

As for Negima!?, I'm not sure. As far I as I know, Negima!? is akin to what the anime Mai-Hime is to its anime. Same characters, yet altered storyline. As Evangeline is brought out right away in the very first episode, making her a main character when she didn't get made a main character till like Volume 3 (which if this show was done manga style, episode 10ish). So I don't know if we'll see the Martial Arts tourney. I'm also a little bit interested in what apparently is a braclet that Negi has on that supposedly the Thousand Master, Nagi, had. Its not in the manga, so its anime only (I think, never know...) and so we'll likely see it play on that.

 

BTW, the animation group is done by the same people that did Poni Poni Dash!, I think its called. So Buso Renkin might have ties to FMA? Hm... I might hafta watch that then, because I'm liking FMA a lot.

 

Are we thinking about the same Negima? Isn't this the new thing by Ken Akamatsu about the harry potter kid who teaches at a high school?

 

Right now in Volume 10 (I think), during the Mahora Festival, Chao Linseng buys up all the small fighting tournaments and creates a super martial arts tourney that allows anyone to use any and all of their powers. She also mentions that this super tourney was last held in Mahora 25 years ago and the last winner was Nagi Springfield, the Thousand Master.

 

Although, right now in the current storyline (as in up to date in Japan), Chao is trying to expose magic to the world using the World Tree(Yggdrasil, basically)'s magic which will cause anarchy and chaos for 10 years before peace.

 

There's also some time travel, some dating, some magic pactios, cosplay, more fights, and some magical girl stuff going on right now, but that's just the fun of it.

 

So I finished Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu just now. My god, am I ever impressed. It's an amazing blend of sci-fi, comedy, drama and romance. For something told so anachronistically, practically everything makes sense by the end. Except why the hell the cat starts talking during episode 1 then vanishes for the rest of the series. Annoyed the hell out of me that I never got my explanation...anyway...

 

It's a "Must download now/Buy upon domestication" anime in my book. Flik, damn you for suggesting it, because now I've been drawn in to the SOS-Dan and I can't escape it.

 

Wee... I converted another one. And yes, everything was amazingly done. If you want to take a gander at how well things were done. During Episode 11 (which I believe is the one where Haruhi does her "consert"), you'll notice the group of ENOZ running around trying to make sure their concert still takes off, and gathering people to play. You'll also notice little hints about things to come and go during each episode (like the 4 computers during I believe episode 9).

 

Too bad we'll never see a second season. Reason I say this, is it will never live up to the hype and overwhelming boom of worship it has.

 

Although, I wish I knew someone like Haruhi. I mean, I can understand why Kyon hangs around with her. Life is never boring.

 

For those that go to Best Buy, the one I went to had a sampler disc from Funimation with full episodes of Desert Punk, Basilisk, Trinity Blood and Speedgrapher, with both sub and dub tracks. I saw them while browsing so I picked one up, though I've yet to actually watch it.

 

And atomsk

explain the Mikuru Beam incident, since I'm a little lost about what exactly went on during that segment.

 

Basically in the novels, Haruhi wished for the cat to speak and Mikuru to actually have lasers coming out of her eyes for real. Hence why Yuki really tackles Mikuru, and why Mikuru is scared senseless about doing it.

[Ced 0]

Some quick comments all relating to Haruhi...

 

OK, I guess I missed that the Mikuru Beam actually went off legit the first time I saw it.

 

Naturally, I found the answer to

"How did Kyon and Suzumiya manage to escape closed space?"

to be the most fulfilling. You can kind of see it coming once you hit episode 9, but it's a sweet way to wrap up the series.

 

Agreed that there will probably never be another season of Haruhi, but the way the story is told, I felt content with the end result and didn't have a need for anything extra. It'd be nice, don't get me wrong, but as you said, the expectation bar is way too high to even attempt another run.

 

<---Consider this my sign of conversion.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Yup, it is a sweet way to wrap up the series. Actually, I find it more interesting they actually ended it with

Kyon actually having a conversation about epsers, time travelers, and aliens. If there is a second season, its a good place to start the show off.

Of course, it'll likely be second episode of course. Just for fun

.

 

And Negima!? was just fansubbed by Mahora. While they are new, and the quality of the sub isn't the greatest, I enjoyed it. Much better than the original. But wow, a lot of things are different.

 

These are spoilers about the first episode. Please read at your own risk:

1) Negi's wearing the same bracelet as the Thousand Master.

2) Evangeline gets moved to the forefront and is being introduced during the very first episode, volume 3.

3) Nagi and Evangeline fight not on a beach, but in some ruins. Which I thought was nice. Also the added touch of Nagi asking Evangeline to come with him was cool.

4) Makie gets bitten in the very first episode. Again, volume 3.

5) How Asuna finds out about Negi's magic is by him fixing Chamo's tooth. Instead of in the manga where Negi saves Nodoka from breaking her neck from a fall.

6) Chamo introduced right from the start. Another from volume 3.

7) Setsuna and Konoka seem to be on friendly terms right now. Which is vastly different than in the manga, as that took till volume 5. Maybe I'm wrong here. Oh, and Setsuna was hilarious. I just loved her during Asuna wake up time.

 

Overall I was highly impressed. Best looking anime I've seen, from screencaps to actual stuff. Might need to bring my Setsuna banner out from retirement again.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Those are quite the spoilers for Negima. It should be rather interesting to see where they take it. Also, Konoka and Setsuna being all chummy doesn't work unless Konoka is doing crazy shit to make Setsuna freak out like asking her if a dress looks good and then revealing she's BUTT-naked(god, that was hilarious).

 

I'm probably going to be downloading it tonight, though I still have Bleach, Night Head Genesis, and Naruto's triple episode special to grab, too.

 

BTW, I got Death Note 1 yesterday and it was basically the first couple of chapters animated, which is good. Don't know how they're going to squeeze everything into a 37 episode series, though.

 

So Buso Renkin might have ties to FMA? Hm... I might hafta watch that then, because I'm liking FMA a lot.

I wouldn't say it's like FMA, it borrows some of the FMA terminology, but from what I've read so far and heard from others who've read the manga, they don't really transmute anything other than their weapons.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Those are quite the spoilers for Negima. It should be rather interesting to see where they take it. Also, Konoka and Setsuna being all chummy doesn't work unless Konoka is doing crazy shit to make Setsuna freak out like asking her if a dress looks good and then revealing she's BUTT-naked(god, that was hilarious).

 

I'm probably going to be downloading it tonight, though I still have Bleach, Night Head Genesis, and Naruto's triple episode special to grab, too.

 

BTW, I got Death Note 1 yesterday and it was basically the first couple of chapters animated, which is good. Don't know how they're going to squeeze everything into a 37 episode series, though.

 

So Buso Renkin might have ties to FMA? Hm... I might hafta watch that then, because I'm liking FMA a lot.

I wouldn't say it's like FMA, it borrows some of the FMA terminology, but from what I've read so far and heard from others who've read the manga, they don't really transmute anything other than their weapons.

Actually, concerning Negima, yes, I did mention those spoilers are big, but won't ruin your watching of it. As for Konoka and Setsuna being all chummy, Setsuna is sorta acting a little like how she is currently during the manga. Just a little. Although, she still seems to be a "servant" and not an actual friend, I'm hoping. Them being chummy is just as you said. Not as fun unless full blown yuri mocking fun. Then again, considering this is supposed to be prime time TV, and shotakun Ayaka got on, I'm kinda thinking we might see something. Maybe not.

 

BTW, when is this reference of dress looking good and she's BUTT-naked? The original anime? Because I certainly don't recall the manga having that scene at all. Unless we're speaking of the age pills.

 

37 episodes is an odd number for a Japanese show. Usually they go either 13, 24, 26, 32, 48, or 50.

 

Usually when an anime includes things from another anime, its built as in the same "universe" as said other anime. I point to A.I. Love You (actually that's just manga so far), Love Hina, and Negima as a prime example of this (but this is more the manga, than the animes for these). Usually animes don't retain the same things or very little unless spoofing. But this could be another world in that universe and therefore have nothing more than a name. As I recall hearing that in the last FMA (movie) that the brothers are in seperate worlds but alchemy works in both. So we could have that way. This is usually though, and I could be wrong concerning this one.