OAO Anime/Manga Thread

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

If I hadn't started reading the manga, I'd have given up on Bleach.

 

But thankfully, while the anime's in fillers, the manga is kicking serious ass.

 

I'm still baffled about why they decided to put fillers where they did. it makes absolutely no sense no matter how hard I think about it, and I'm usually pretty good about putting things together that make no sense.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Kubo needs to have Ichigo grow some balls for once and stop being a mopey bitch til someone yells at him to man up. Kubo and Kishimoto both need to take lessons from Oda on how to not make their main characters look bitch-made for once.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I fail to realize what that post is about. I can't really say I see Ichigo as "mopey" when the whole last arc was about him stubbornly refusing to let his friend be taken...Again.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

"Mopey" was the wrong word as that more describes Naruto. Ichigo is more of an uninteresting, bland main character.

[Golgo 13 0]

Ichigo was a legitimately great character once. That goes for him and Bleach before both turned into the next shounen cliche. There was some depth with his mother's death by Hollows, coping with Rukia's sacrifice, his new position and life and death. In Soul Society he continued to grow and some of the better comrades-in-arms relationships in anime were established, one thing Bleach still does well, at least. As he learned how to deal with the Arrancar and his own Vizard nature there was still a spark there.

 

But somewhere along the way Kubo either wrote most of it off or just forgot about real character development, reducing Ichigo and a lot of others to mere power levels, along with ditching a lot of the basics that worked so well in those first 20-30 episodes. That Bleach also works well as straight action is something of a detriment to what was once something that felt new and was great, rather than just good, but because he refuses to pull the trigger on some serious repercussions makes it lacking. Part of the development issue is because of Kubo casting the spotlight on others like Grimmjow, which is somewhat understandable, but everything as a whole, along with Soul Society redux, builds up into a lack of focus and lost potential, and that's not even taking the anime into account.

 

Anyway, I watch the filler, as I've said. I don't really care since there's still the manga to read. I don't even mind the severe cases of copypasta in regards to the characters. It just doesn't fit in fucking anywhere, which is my problem. If you're going to work under the auspices of weaving it in and making it work with the story to the point of introducing a new captain, even, then do it. It's been poor timing and planning and that they would inevitably reach this point should have been foreseen. Funny that one or two minor changes like taking Rukia and Ishida out would allow it to be slotted in somewhere. The Bount arc could be wedged in somewhere and the main story itself wouldn't skip a beat, at least.

 

Like I've also said about shows that should go on hiatus and breaks or how there should be a movement toward that, I think Bleach is the prime example. I don't know if it's a bad thing, but at least with Naruto's current filler, it's not like they're desperately stalling for time, it's merely being used as elaboration and to flesh out a story.

[Maztinho 0]

How awesome is Death Note?

 

I'm 15 eps in, and the answer is, fucking awesome.

 

Hopefully it keeps up the steam it has.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

When I have the money, I think I'm going to get the entire series of Gundam Wingon DVD. It's always been one of my favorites and I never got around to owning it. It was a fantastic anime with a great story being told all the way through.

[Golgo 13 0]

Some big news recently which has basically changed the landscape stateside. Funimation grabbed a portion of Geneon's abandoned titles, along with some 30+ titles formerly licensed by ADV. So in the span of a week Funimation has added roughly 50 new anime, some finished and fully released, some not, including a few that have never seen the light of day. Now ADV is limping and Funi may be overextending themselves considering what they already had waiting on the back burner, though they're clearly the biggest dog now, if they weren't already. Hopefully they find a way to keep dub casts and rights intact for those anime that are nearly complete or finished.

[dubq 0]

How awesome is Death Note?

 

I'm 15 eps in, and the answer is, fucking awesome.

 

Hopefully it keeps up the steam it has.

 

It looks like it's following the manga to a 'T' so things are definitely going to keep going at a good pace. The thing about Death Note (the manga) that I really liked - is that even though it could be ridiculously over wordy (ie: L's explanations for things) they still managed to hold my interest and not once did I skim over the dialogue. Either way, the anime is good shit and the Japansese voice cast does a stellar job. Wish I could say the same for the English cast... *shudder*

[AlaskanHero 0]

What's wrong with the English cast? I thought they were just fine.

 

Also the twist mid-way through the series disappointed me to no end for the rest of the series.

[dubq 0]

The English cast just seems.. uninspired, for lack of a better term.

[Golgo 13 0]

The English cast did a fine job.

 

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann premieres tonight on Sci Fi.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

I liked the Death Note English cast. I mean, honestly, it was Miyano Mamoru and Kappei Yamaguchi as Light and L in the original, wasn't it? Considering that the two of them are incredibly good at what they do (especially Yamaguchi, who has amazing range), it would be hard to match up, but I thought Brad Swaile did a good job playing Light even if he didn't quite sound as slick as I would have liked (he did nail the overdramatic EPIC nutjob that Light is internally, though), and I loved L's dub voice. It was a surprising take on it but I think it worked perfectly.

[Golgo 13 0]

Ugh. Forget it. The script seems okay, but the cast just doesn't have it. Simon is the only one I liked.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Some big news recently which has basically changed the landscape stateside. Funimation grabbed a portion of Geneon's abandoned titles, along with some 30+ titles formerly licensed by ADV. So in the span of a week Funimation has added roughly 50 new anime, some finished and fully released, some not, including a few that have never seen the light of day. Now ADV is limping and Funi may be overextending themselves considering what they already had waiting on the back burner, though they're clearly the biggest dog now, if they weren't already. Hopefully they find a way to keep dub casts and rights intact for those anime that are nearly complete or finished.

 

Geneon.. Hmmm. What did Funimation end up grabbing from ADV? I can never keep straight the relationship between the Japanese anime houses and what gets released by who over here.

[Golgo 13 0]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_li..._for_Geneon_USA

 

Everything they grabbed from Geneon and ADV are there.

[dubq 0]

Random: I just bought Appleseed Ex Machina on BRD.. they should use this as a promo for what animation can look like on BRD.. it's phenominal. Are there any other anime BRD's that I should check out (aside from Paprika & Tekkon Kinreet)?

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Random: I just bought Appleseed Ex Machina on BRD.. they should use this as a promo for what animation can look like on BRD.. it's phenominal. Are there any other anime BRD's that I should check out (aside from Paprika & Tekkon Kinreet)?

 

I got it on HD-DVD (hey, I've got the drive, I might as well use it) for $15 and it is indeed gorgeous in hi-def.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I've been getting into anime lately. A couple of months ago my friends and I were talking about shows from when we were kids and we got talking about Dragonball/z and I ended up downloading them and still really enjoying them.

 

Since then I've watched Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto (I'm about 103 episodes in), Trigun (part way through), and I'm part way through Trinity Blood...which isn't so great.

 

I've heard Neon Genesis Evangelion is really good so I'm downloading that now.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

If I hadn't started reading the manga, I'd have given up on Bleach.

 

But thankfully, while the anime's in fillers, the manga is kicking serious ass.

Okay, now you can give up on Bleach.

 

The sad thing is that there's no way anything could ever get as insane as Szayel's stuff did, so this stuff is really a step down on the batshit crack Bleach villain scale.

[El Psycho Diablo 0]

I've heard Neon Genesis Evangelion is really good so I'm downloading that now.

 

Heh. Just keep watching.

 

 

[Golgo 13 0]

Completely love/hate with Evangelion but I don't want to spoil anything.

 

Do Cowboy Bebop if you haven't already.

[Thoth 0]

I've heard Neon Genesis Evangelion is really good so I'm downloading that now.

 

I think we just all want to know how he's going to react. Inside I am going "OH SHIT OH SHIT OH MY GOD I CAN'T WAIT".

 

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

If I hadn't started reading the manga, I'd have given up on Bleach.

 

But thankfully, while the anime's in fillers, the manga is kicking serious ass.

Okay, now you can give up on Bleach.

 

The sad thing is that there's no way anything could ever get as insane as Szayel's stuff did, so this stuff is really a step down on the batshit crack Bleach villain scale.

What's really sad is that Kishimoto has introduced an equally shitty opponent for Sasuke in Naruto: a rappin' black ninja from the Cloud Country. Sigh...

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I don't see the problem with that character. He's a joke enemy for...whats his name. So they can call each other ugly.

 

I've started watching Naruto...I'm up to episode three. Is there any major filler arcs or anything I should know about? After going through Bleach, I want to avoid filler arcs if I can. A filler episode or two isn't bad, but a filler arc is.

[Golgo 13 0]

I like the Eight Tails Host. Not so much for the stereotype but because he's cool as hell in design and fighting style. It's not like he'll last long anyway.

 

You can basically skip 136 to the beginning of Shippuuden, Hawk. I mean, there are a couple episodes and arcs somewhere in there that are okay, albeit not good, and nothing of great importance.

[AlaskanHero 0]

Naruto's biggest filler arc occurs 135 episodes in and lasts 80 fucking episodes. It's not really an arc though, more like a bunch of filler episodes with their own independent plots loosely tied together by the main plot. I recommend avoiding it at all costs.

[Nightwing 0]

I like the Eight Tails Host. Not so much for the stereotype but because he's cool as hell in design and fighting style. It's not like he'll last long anyway.

 

You can basically skip 136 to the beginning of Shippuuden, Hawk. I mean, there are a couple episodes and arcs somewhere in there that are okay, albeit not good, but nothing of great importance.

 

I don't mind him, either. I would definitely put him above "Ultra-Powerful Transexual Guy" in Bleach right now. At the very least,

completely shit-kicking Sasuke in about 7 pages earns him some points in my book.

 

And, for the most part filler is regulated to single episodes in Naruto, and aren't too bad. There is only one arc ("Tea Country Race") which you might want to avoid (Episodes 102-106). The biggest problem is that after 135, you literally have 85 episodes of 1-5 episode arcs, the best of which are decent, the worst of which are mind-numbingly bad. There is a modified 135 out there done by some fans which is recut to lead into Shipuudden ala the manga which you will want to find.

 

As a warning, Shipuudden slows down things a bit to make sure that "Filler Hell" is avoided for the most part, and their one filler arc is going to end at about 13 episodes. It's definitely a big improvement over first half filler, though it could a little work. But it definitely gives me hope for later filler arcs to be a bit more developed and interesting.

 

Edit: Also check out the first movie, which is actually good. Skip the next two, though.

[Golgo 13 0]

I would have liked to see some training time with Jiraiya covered in the filler. Yeah, how interesting or action-intensive could Naruto and Jiraiya traveling and training actually be, but it still would've been better than a lot of what they did anyway.

 

I don't mind the latest Shippuuden arc. I like the focus on what's supposed to be an important group. Sitting through the Gaara recovery arc was worse.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

If I hadn't started reading the manga, I'd have given up on Bleach.

 

But thankfully, while the anime's in fillers, the manga is kicking serious ass.

Okay, now you can give up on Bleach.

 

The sad thing is that there's no way anything could ever get as insane as Szayel's stuff did, so this stuff is really a step down on the batshit crack Bleach villain scale.

What's really sad is that Kishimoto has introduced an equally shitty opponent for Sasuke in Naruto: a rappin' black ninja from the Cloud Country. Sigh...

 

Fuck that shit, he's the most entertaining character Kishimoto has introduced since the Hidan/Kakuzu team. It helps that I've stopped taking Naruto seriously after how abysmally bad it's been for the past year, Sasuke vs. Itachi notwithstanding (and even that had prime "Kishimoto what the fuck" unintentional (?) humor in Orochimaru), but at least he's not as completely dull and dreary as Pain is and actually has a discernible personality.