What anime are you watching?

[the_wolfs_howl]

Monster episode 18 - Ohhh, the Rosso episode.... Love that guy.

FMA: Brotherhood episodes 25-31 - Ahhh, good stuff ^_^ The hostages, the introduction of Father, the Ishbal flashback, the 520-cenz promise....

[Maokun]

At the very least, it takes the title of best combat between "robots (not literally) on skates" from Code Geass.

You have gone and dunnit again and now I have to watch this only to prove you wrong.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

You have gone and dunnit again and now I have to watch this only to prove you wrong.

Ha ha.

Well the battles are certainly not going to have that same gravitas that the Code Geass fights have, with episodes upon episodes of storyline fueling the intrigue. But as far as being spectacularly animated and visually exciting? I think Votoms Finder is the clear winner here.

I look forward to your own assessment.

[AnimeGirl]

I'm like on episode 10 of Otome Youkai Zakuro. OOH!! It's getting interesting!! I really love this series ^.^

I also watched the first 4 episodes of Tegami Bachi anime. It was SO HARD not to continue, but I wanna follow the manga along with it, so I only watched what I read in the manga so far.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

At the very least, it takes the title of best combat between "robots (not literally) on skates" from Code Geass.

That is an impressive feat, as the early robot fights in Code Geass is the thing I liked about the show, so you're just selling me on Votoms.

[Agloval]

I've finished watching Pretty Cure Splash Star. It's... not outright good like Heartcatch, but certainly competent. I felt a lot of the fights were too short (for me, but probably not for the intended audience) but every now and then they pulled off a nice scene -- culminating in the second-to-last episode's aerial battle.

I'm also approaching the end of Panzer World Galient, which I briefly described here. I don't think it's especially good animation, but I do love a lot of its ideas -- like giant robot swords which are also drills, battleaxes which are also beam rifles, powerful people arguing over whether or not to intervene in conflicts, &c. And while some of the villain's intentions are fairly clear, we still don't know his whole plan, and I'm quite curious about it.

I haven't seen Macross F yet, and I know people who claim that it has the best space combat sequences in anime

Well F's CG sinks that idea on its own. Grumble grumble. (I agree that Finder's action outclasses Code Geass. Those chain-missiles!)

[FllMtl Novelist]

Watched Durarara episode 16 at the library. ^^

[Edward]

Re-watching Death Note and watching Baccano! for the first time.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

As for The Tatami Galaxy, I just saw part of the first episode of both this show and House of Five Leaves last night. I think both shows are showing me just how narrow my tastes are, and that I need to try different things -- particularly when both shows come so highly recommended.

Did you not care for them? They are both a little quirky when it comes to visual style, Tatami with its general trippy-ness and Five Leaves' character designs. I'd recommend taking Five Leaves slowly if you plan on sticking with it. Burn through Tatami all in one day, tho =).

I've finished watching Pretty Cure Splash Star.

You've been rocking the Precure lately, bro. It's something I'd really like to get into soon. What do you like about the franchise?

I'm also approaching the end of Panzer World Galient, which I briefly described here.

Now that he's finally finish translating the show, I will acquire it soon. Very much looking forward to more from Ryosuke Takahashi (the Votoms and Dougram guy for those who don't know).

Well [Macross] F's CG sinks that idea on its own. Grumble grumble.

Rebuttal Hat n Clogs?

[ShiroiHikari]

I'm also approaching the end of Panzer World Galient

FFFFFFF--

I need to know where to find this series.

Edit: HURRAY.

[Agloval]

You've been rocking the Precure lately, bro. It's something I'd really like to get into soon. What do you like about the franchise?

Well, as far as I can examine my own enjoyment, here's what I like about Pretty Cure:

(1) I have, in the past, enjoyed a number of very episodic, monster-of-the-week, merchandise-driven, fifty-episode mecha shows. They don't seem to make these as much nowadays -- or if they do, I'm not hearing about them -- but Precure speaks the same vocabulary of transformation, combat, finisher (cf. Kamen Rider & Super Sentai, which are part of the same kids' TV block). I also have a very high tolerance for stock footage -- rather, I think if it's good enough it can be a virtue, like the refrain in a song.

(2) The combat's usually well choreographed, and occasionally they put some money and effort into it and produce great fight scenes. Some of the fights in the first Pretty Cure, for example, resemble the mad street wrestling in Air Master (but with smaller combatants and without Air Master's pantyshots).

(3) The main reason I've never enjoyed cute-girls-doing-cute-things stories is that the cute things the cute girls do bore me. Pretty Cure solves that problem by being about girls cutely saving the world by cutely Rider Kicking monsters, while still letting me indulge in nostalgia for my schooldays. While it's not a laugh a minute, there are also some witty ideas and decent visual gags.

(4) And -- my impression is that this is especially the case in Fresh and Heartcatch -- sometimes an episode will sit back and just let itself be a cartoon for a minute. (For example, what if there was a monster which magically made everyone wear silly wigs?) I like that.

On the other hand, the mascots are almost all annoying (unless you're five), the homilies about teamwork and perseverance are unsubtle (unless you're five), and the sheer volume of episodes in the same format could grind almost anyone down (unless you're five, or can channel your inner five-year-old like me!).

I think Heartcatch is probably better than the usual run of Precure, and more accessible, if you're looking for a place to start. (I have a lot of affection for the original Pretty Cure/Max Heart, but, trying to be dispassionate, I don't think it has the same variety or energy.)

Edit: HURRAY.

I hope that means that that obstacle's solved? Just checking.

[ShiroiHikari]

PreCure sounds like something I should definitely check out in the future. I like super robot shows and Super Sentai and Sailor Moon, so it makes sense that I would enjoy it.

And yes, I found Galient. I thought I'd never get to see it!

[Agloval]

Good to hear you've found Galient.

I think there's some kind of ancestry for Pretty Cure in Sailor Moon, at least commercially: Toei seem to usually have a big cash-cow magical girl franchise on the go; for most of the nineties it was Sailor Moon, they began the noughties with Ojamajo Doremi, and then it's been Pretty Cure since '04.

[alma]

I am watching Toradora. I am liking it.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Well F's CG sinks that idea on its own. Grumble grumble. (I agree that Finder's action outclasses Code Geass. Those chain-missiles!)

Rebuttal Hat n Clogs?

I was wondering who the "people" you'd heard that Frontier had the most spectacular space sequences from.

This should be all the rebuttal I need.Seriously though, I didn't think the CG on the Vajra was that bad. Watch Tegami Bachi and you'll find much, much worse. Also...

The Cat Returns

This was a pretty fun movie. The Baron is totally awesome and it was just kind of this fancy film, and certainly a solid directorial debut. Did the movie tank at the box office, because it certainly wasn't bad enough to make me hope this guy doesn't do anymore movies. 7/10

Tokyo Godfathers

This is a fantastic film from Satoshi Kon that you should all go see. There isn't a whole lot to talk about without spoiling it, but I liked it better than Paprika, which I enjoyed quite a bit. 9/10

[MasterDias]

Yeah, Frontier's battles are pretty awesome.
I guess if you really, really don't like CG, you wouldn't like it. But Satelight does better CG work than say...Gonzo.

[AnimeGirl]

Just finished Otome Yokai Zakuro. The ending was decently satisfying. My only complaint is I WISH IT WAS A LITTLE LONGER!! But other than that, it was pretty good. I hope someday they'll be a sequel (now I wanna read the manga >.>)

[minakichan]

Man all this talk about PreCure is making me want to start watching it again.

Some jerk girl called me a pedophile for watching it >.> IT'S FOR THE KILLER FIGHT SCENES DARNIT

[Agloval]

Man all this talk about PreCure is making me want to start watching it again.

Some jerk girl called me a pedophile for watching it >.> IT'S FOR THE KILLER FIGHT SCENES DARNIT

You should show her CUREMASTER.

[R86]

Did you not care for them? [Tatami Galaxy and House of Five Leaves] They are both a little quirky when it comes to visual style, Tatami with its general trippy-ness and Five Leaves' character designs. I'd recommend taking Five Leaves slowly if you plan on sticking with it. Burn through Tatami all in one day, tho =).

To the question itself, I can't say I really cared for either of them, but by now I think I'm on record as being exceedingly picky about character design and other matters deemed non-essential by most others, in ways that I can't really defend. It's at the point that I will watch a show that has been largely critiqued as being mediocre at best, if I like the character designs and there is anything at all redeeming in its plot. Hence my desire to expand my tastes if it is at all possible.

I do appreciate your suggestions about how to watch the two shows, though, and I might well burn through Tatami in the manner you suggested sometime soon, as the idea behind the plot sounds intriguing.

[blkmage]

Heartcatch is really awesome and has definitely made me open to checking out other Precure series in the future.

Oh, I found out why the style is so familiar to me. It turns out the character design in Heartcatch is done by the same guy who did it for Casshern Sins.

[Mouse2010]

With my husband, I've been watching Blue Exorcist, Tiger & Bunny (we're behind one episode there), and Casshern Sins. I think we may have put Moribito on hold right now, just because we're busy, but I have to say that we did definitely prefer the subbed version to the English dub. I'm wondering if the same would be true of Casshern Sins; I'm not a fan of the English dub for that so far.

On my own I'm still working through Escaflowne (just watched episode 20), and I just started sampling El Cazador de la Bruja - eps 1 and 2. So far the only thing I have to say about Cazador is that it makes me want to eat Mexican food.

[FllMtl Novelist]

This morning I watched...

Kekkaishi episode 52. I wish I'd seen the previous episodes more consistently.

FMA: Brotherhood episode 47. I love this series so much. x]

Inuyasha episode 45. It's a good thing this anime can be amusing.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Precure...has the vocabulary of super robot shows...fights scenes like Air Master...character designs by the Casshern Sins guy...that linked vid

Wow. I was up for Heartcatch before all this, but now it has officially moved to the front of the line. Pretty excited for it.

---

Eden of the East movie I: The King of Eden

If it's been a few months since you've seen the TV series, then go read a plot summary of that to refresh before watching this film. It essentially picks up right where things left off.

In some ways, this felt a lot like a retread of certain events in the TV series, especially what happened with the main duo. Honestly, though, not a lot actually happened in the hour and twenty minutes of this movie. Lotta talking, lotta walking around...not much else. We learn an interesting tidbit about Juize. None of the lingering questions left over from the show get answered. And then, all of a sudden, we hear that the game is about to come to its conclusion. Hmm...

I saw the dub streaming on Netflix, and it's a bit of a mixed bag, though overall fairly decent. A couple of the casting choices seemed a bit too old for the characters. The acting itself was mostly fine, but the script seemed a little clunky at times. This is just me being picky, though, because, as I said, the dub was really alright on balance.

Paradise Lost (the second movie) could retroactively make King of Eden worthwhile, but it has it all to do.

Grandizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger Decisive Battle! The Great Sea Monster

This short, little Go Nagai crossover movie plays out like any episode of 70s Go Nagai mecha anime might. It's pretty cool to see all of these awesome robots together, but, since this is the first such crossover I've seen, that novelty might wear off for subsequent ones.

Basically, this wicked nasty sea monster shows up and wrecks stuff. The military can't take it down alone, so someone gets the (incredibly awesome) idea that they ought to create a robot army comprised of Great Mazinger, Getter Robo G and UFO Grandizer. That sea monster never stood a chance...

I dug this movie a lot. The action was good, and there was lots of fun, classic mecha fighting. Personally, I was quite satisfied with the way I spent that 36 minutes.

[AnimeGirl]

I watched episode 1 of Erin. This seems like an interesting series that has artwork that reminds me of a child's fantasy storybook ^.^

Also watched episode 1 of Ramen Fighter Miki. This show....is so random, but it's kinda funny XD!! I think I'll continue on!

[AngelicTotoro]

Just watched Detective conan episode 600 - 601.
It was a really good case and, yay! I finally reached the 600s~!

[Atria35]

Just finished powering through eps 9-12 of Madoka. Fabulous, fabulous show. I teared up at the end. And it was definitely worth watching through past the credits.

[Darth_Kirby]

Heartcatch is really awesome and has definitely made me open to checking out other Precure series in the future.

Oh, I found out why the style is so familiar to me. It turns out the character design in Heartcatch is done by the same guy who did it for Casshern Sins.

I've never watched Heartcatch, but I have watched both Casshern Sins and Precure. Both are interesting in their own ways. If the art style is similar to Casshern Sins than I think you'll be very intrigued by Casshern Sins plot. I found it very unique. As for Precure. It pulled off the magical girl style story very well. At least well enough that I watched it till the end. lol

[FllMtl Novelist]

Watched Durarara episode 17. This show is so cool. o__o

[ShiroiHikari]

Been watching Zegapain lately. Giant robots with a heaping helping of existential crises. Pretty entertaining so far.