What anime are you watching?

[AnimeGirl]

Watched 3 episodes of STEINS;GATE at CrunchyRoll. I LOVE this series so far!!! Okarin and Mayuri are my favorite characters so far. It's a bit confusing, but VERY interesting. Plus the animation is gorgeous in my opinion. The character designs are nice and the animation is smooth.

[SSJ3Goku]

I'm watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Have been gradually buying the DVDs), Dragon Ball Z (From FUNimation's Dragon Box sets) and a few random Anime from my cable company.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

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

I've heard about that on AWO. What is the plot about? Would you say it's a good intermediate point for someone interested in watching older stuff?

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Would you say it's a good intermediate point for someone interested in watching older stuff?

Zegapain is only five years old, so I would say, if someone is interested in specifically older stuff, look further back.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Zegapain is only five years old, so I would say, if someone is interested in specifically older stuff, look further back.

Ohhh, I'm feeling embarrassed now. I guess I assumed that if it was a robot show I hadn't heard of it was aged, so forgive my ignorance.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Monster episode 19 - the introduction of that guy! I always forget his name

FMA: Brotherhood episodes 32-34 - the start of the Briggs arc! My sister doesn't like Olivier much, though :/

[Atria35]

Asura Cryin' 15-17- Went from bad to indifferent. I'm not sure that I really want to finish it....

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Ohhh, I'm feeling embarrassed now. I guess I assumed that if it was a robot show I hadn't heard of it was aged, so forgive my ignorance.

Hey, no harm done there, Hat. It happens to all of us =).

---

Future Boy Conan

In anime fandom, it's a given that most people would rather talk about new, currently airing shows than older stuff. One exception to this rule, however, is the work of director Hayao Miyazaki. Most of the members here are familiar with much of his catalog: Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Laputa, Totoro]TV series[/I]? Me neither; however, in 1978 he was at the helm of a 26 episode show based on Alexander Key''s novel The Incredible Tide.

To be a bit more specific, Miyazaki co-directed Future Boy Conan, in the pre-Ghibli era, with the other future pillar of Ghibli, Isao Takahada (Only Yesterday, Grave of the Fireflies). Heck, even Gundam's Yoshiuki Tomino got into the act doing the storyboards. So, there's a lot of talent behind this series, and, at times, it shines through brilliantly.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the sheer quality of the art and animation. Sure, 33 years after it was made, it looks a little dated, but FBC's visuals are absolutely light years ahead of anything anime would put out for the next decade and a half. I've seen Mobile Suit Gundam and Rose of Versailles. Future Boy Conan makes their animation look amateurish. It's almost like watching a Miyazaki movie from the early nineties, only IT'S A WHOLE TV SERIES.

FBC is a classic adventure story. The character types are tried-and-true, though usually not stale or boring, and the storytelling has a distinct feel that I can only describe as "non-anime." We get a tale of love (that is surprisingly devoid of any coming-of-age narrative or love -triangle shenanigans) that is occasionally quite heartwarming, a grand struggle with a (non-ecofriendly) group of baddies, sprinkled with pleasing bits of character comedy. Also, as far as happy endings go, this one was pretty good. I am not overly familiar with Takahada's work, but you can certainly see Miyazaki's fingerprints all over FBC, which turns out to be a good thing. For anyone worried about Nausicaa-level environmentalist PSAs, there's nothing that bad going on here. Turns out that it was war that drove the planet to the brink rather than litter.

Now for the bad: the show can drag during certain portions. It made me think, "Oh. that's why these guys direct movies." There are definitely portions of the show that are high-energy and interesting, but I, for one, did not particularly enjoy watching Conan and Jimsy walk around town and observe people doing their various jobs.

The music is pretty meh overall, with the OP and ED standing out as particularly awful. I'll be glad to never hear either one again, honestly.

The following two gripes may seem a bit out of place in an anime critique, but they just bothered me with this particular show. First, Conan can do anything. Anything. Jump from any height, hold his breath underwater for any length of time, withstand any explosion, figure out the best way to solve a puzzle, etc. The kid also never makes a mistake; his analysis of any given situation is always correct. Some of these attributes work well within the confines of, say, a super robot show. For FBC, this stuff just felt weird.

A closely connected gripes: bullets. They were ineffective. Two bullets, out of the scores and scores fired at Conan, Jimsy, etc, a mere two bullets actually connect. And it's not like the Industrians (name of said non-ecofriendly group) are bad shots. On the contrary, their bullets are always millimeters away from someone's skin. It's just, you know, if you dance and dodge, you'll never get hit. Surely, there was another way to put the characters in danger without completely discrediting firearms as a viable weapon? By the seventh episode, you really aren't in suspense when anyone is fired upon.

Nitpicking aside, FBC is a worthwhile watch for historical purposes as well as for those who are fans of Miyazaki's work. I liked the series, but I just didn't enjoy the experience of watching it as much as I wanted to.

[Atria35]

^ I know someone on MAL who keeps raving about that show. I think I should move it up my list of ones I should watch.

[ShiroiHikari]

I've heard about that on AWO. What is the plot about?

Well...I don't really want to say, because it's better to go into it knowing as little as possible.

[Wallachia]

Finished watching Re: Cutie Honey.
Rating: 6/10
Comments: [SIZE="1"]The OP was one of the best things ever. Not necessarily the lyrics, but boy is it ever catchy. Ear-worm material for sure.

The rest of the show? A cluttered mess of good things and bad things. Stuff I like and stuff I hate. My opinion is honestly torn between many different aspects of it, but because of that I'm giving it this rating of, "Fine" or, "6/10".

Oh, and the final episode was somewhat boring compared to the other two.[/SIZE]

Now I'm watching Slayers - Revolution (ep 4) and Saber Marionette J (ep 2).
I normally don't watch more than one show at a time, but I ended up being unable to pick one or the other.

You think it would be an easy decision considering Slayers is one of my favorite series, but Saber Marionette J has Megumi Hayashibara (Lina Inverse in Slayers) voicing Lime, so that really made me want to watch it.

Then I ended up switching to the English dub while watching Slayers Revolution, so no Megumi for me. I watched the entirety of the 90s Slayers series in Japanese, even though I knew the English dub had some positive points.

The dialog is definitely cheesier, but that's fine by me. Considering how boring Pokota is (shouldn't be in the darn show to begin with), the English dub is helping me ignore his presence since I'm distracted by the old gang suddenly talking in my native language.

[Mouse2010]

Just watched Escaflowne episodes 22-23. My interest in this show had been waning for awhile, but these last few episodes have gotten me really interested again. With only three episodes to go until the end, I'm guessing I'll probably finish it pretty quickly now.

I have to say: I really like the way the main love triangle in Escaflowne actually seems relevant to the plot, rather than being a subplot that is more or less irrelevant to the main plot. It makes the relationships seem central in an unusual way. But I don't think I'm explaining myself very well here, so I'll stop babbling!

[AngelicTotoro]

Detective Conan episodes 612 - 616

Library War episodes 1 - 5
ah, I'm absolutely loving this show~
I'm really hoping for a good ending to this. ^^

[christianfriend]

Spice and Wolf Episodes 1-7!

Great series so far, very intriguing and lovely Dialog in every episode. :] Both of the main characters are very different, but fit together and make a good duo. I hope I like the rest of the episodes as much as I have enjoyed the first few!

[MangaRocks!]

Emma: A Victorian Romance (complete, both seasons): Haven't read the manga yet for this one (yes, yes, I know; that's totally unlike me -- but this was a rare exception to my rule ), so this time I can't compare it to the original version of the story. But as it is, barring one minor non-explanation [spoiler](in season 2, after it was said that Hakim had left the country, when and why did he come back? )[/spoiler] ...it was quite good.

[Atria35]

Tamayura 1-4 (all)- This is just a 'warm, fluffy' anime to watch. I love warm fuzzies.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Macross: Do You Remember Love

This really is just a great movie. My only prior experience with Macross had been with Frontier, which is a great series as well, but this is just delightful.

For starters, as always mentioned the animation is fantastic. Every time the Valkyries are out shootin' down Zentraedi they have just the most incredible combat scenes ever. Seriously, the duel between Max and Miria is just incredible to watch, even by the high standards set by both this movie and some of the stuff that goes down in Frontier. If you're worried about this looking old, you shouldn't, it's probably worth it just for the visuals.

Luckily, this is not a film that is only good because of the visuals. The characters are all pretty cool people. I wasn't too sure about Hikaru and Misa until later into the film, but they turned out to be pretty awesome. Roy Fokker and Maximilian Jenius were both fun dudes to have around, and it makes me more interested in watching the T.V. series just to see more of those two. Miria is pretty awesome as well.

The whole movie is just a spectacular watch. The only downside is that due to a little bit of compression, there is some stuff that feels a little off. As mentioned before, I wish I'd gotten to see more of Roy, Max, and Miria as well, and it does feel like something I would enjoy as a series more than a movie. Regardless, this is a wonderful movie that you should all go see, ranging somewhere between a nine and a ten.

Area 88 episodes 1-3 complete

This is an interesting little show. It's one of the first OVAs made, so it's pretty old, but the production values are fine for the most part. It's certainly an interesting watch and satisfied my love of planes and dogfighting. The main character is a pretty cool dude named Shin Kazuma who is tricked into signing up for a Foreign Legion in a far away country, and must continue to dogfight in order to be released. It has some great aerial sequences and some pretty memorable moments outside of the dogfights as well. If you're interested in old stuff and aren't sure where to start, this is probably a good bet.

The downside? For starters, the first episode is pretty boring. It has a few interesting moments but it's mostly angst with some less than impressive dogfights thrown in. The rest of the characters are kind of flat except for maybe Mickey and Shin, but even they don't really show that much character. I'm also kind of split on the ending, as I really liked parts and didn't like other parts of it. It is certainly worth your time, however. 7/10

[FllMtl Novelist]

Watched Durarara episode 18.

[AnimeGirl]

Watched half of episode 4 of STEINS;GATE. I would of finished it, but then my parents came home and needed the computer XD!! It's getting interesting, though.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Macross: Do You Remember Love

Area 88

Mah booooiiiiiiiiii!!!

Glad you enjoyed those awesome anime.

[Mouse2010]

Finished Escaflowne. It was good, and I'm glad I watched it, but I wouldn't rank it as one of my favorites.

About the ending:
[spoiler]I actually knew that Hitomi wasn't going to stay in Gaea, because I accidentally read a spoiler somewhere or other--I think in a review. So that wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was that there were no reasons given for why she chose to return to Earth. I was expecting her to leave out of some tragic necessity. I didn't expect her to decide that she just needed to go home. [/spoiler]
I'm not sure that that ending worked for me. I'll have to think about it.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]"Aria: The Origination" Episode 5! Granted, I love the entire series, but I love this season just a bit more than the others because the animation is drop-dead gorgeous (seriously, the earlier seasons are good, but they almost pale in comparison with the rich colors, detailed shadows, and widescreen format) and we get deeper into the psyche of the characters.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[AngelicTotoro]

Toshokan Senso episodes 10 - 12 + OVA

[spoiler]Wow, I really, really loved this series. It was so good!
I mean I would have liked a little more clarity with Iku and Lt Doujou's relationship, but I'm pretty sure they know that both of them like each other finally!, and the 'kiss' at the end of the last episode was great!
Would have also liked a little more of an 'ending' to the war, and I would have loved for Hikaru and Asako to have actually gone out on an date... otherwise it was reallly awesome!!! [/spoiler]

As for the ova...
[spoiler]I like that Komaki got his own 'episode', and for being introduced at the last minute, Marie wasn't that bad... I kinda liked her. (I really think they should have made this series a 24 episode one.) I also consider Iku and Doujou a couple in this one and they did act like one~ [/spoiler]

This is definitely going in my top five favorite series.
Now, does anyone know where I can read the manga? Like more then the first chapter... and at which chapter should I start?

Oh and also, did anyone else cry at the last episode
[spoiler]because Lt Doujou had agnosia and couldn't understand conversations or even acknowledge the things around him? And I also thought Captian Genda was dead so until they showed him waking up I was really bummed. I also cried when Iku basically confessed to Doujou and begged him to come back and then while shes crying, he suddenly ruffles her hair and asks her why she's crying... Then she just... s Him. <3 It was so great!!! *0* I have got to get myself some 50+ screenshots![/spoiler]

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

The Library War manga is being released by Viz.

As for the closure of the show, it is actually based on a series of four novels, so they obviously couldn't fit the entire series into a twelve episode anime. Still such an awesome show. PM me if you want translations for the first two novels.

Sword of the Stranger

I've been hearing pretty much everyone I listen to anime-wise talk about how great a movie Sword of the Stranger is for about a year and a half now. Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I was pretty excited to see it. Unlike The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, however, when the library purchased it they got it in Blu Ray instead of on a DVD. This delayed my viewing until now.

What do I think of think of this of the movie? The whole experience was unbelievably incredible. Most of the people who've talked about it mention that it is unabashedly an action movie, so I was expecting something of an excuse plot, but while the actual plot is simple, it is so well done. The various factions, characters, and motivations all mesh together incredibly into an awesome package. People's characterizations are effective and make for some incredible clashes as they each seek out their own actions. Like Summer Wars, this has a lot of characters, typically a bad move for a standalone film, but like Summer Wars it manages to make them all memorable with surprisingly little screentime.

And the visuals! Each of the shots are incredibly impressive for a guy who has mostly done brief action scenes in the past, and all the time it felt incredible. The animation was of even higher caliber than Bones is at its best, and the action scenes were all incredible. The entire movie had me amazed at each fight as they continued to grow in excellence, however, the clash between Luo Lang and Nanashi was even better than everything I'd seen before.

Bones, I knew you could be excellent, but I didn't know you could be this excellent. Let Masahiro Ando do whatever he wants.

Edit: Sorry, I missed that he's done Canaan and is now doing Hanasaku Iroha.

[Agloval]

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

I should note that the point about Air Masteresque fighting specifically applies to the first series -- IIRC some of Air Master's staff went straight on from that project to the first Pretty Cure. (The forty-second episode closes with a particularly wild and well-animated scene, so if you're curious you could just watch that one.)

This really is just a great movie. My only prior experience with Macross had been with Frontier, which is a great series as well, but this is just delightful.

Yes! I only watched DYRL? fairly recently, also when I'd only seen Frontier... that shot at the beginning of the Macross looming out towards you is firmly wedged in my memory.

I'm not sure that that ending worked for me. I'll have to think about it.

I have similarly mixed feelings about that ending... [spoiler]Hitomi deciding to return home makes sense to me -- I'm sure Van's a very nice young man, but the level of separation from home that staying would mean is quite a committment. But of course it's not clear whether that's why she returns, or it's some other reason. Hmm.[/spoiler]--

5 Centimetres Per Second

I rented this yesterday and watched it tonight. It left me rather torn, as it was astonishingly beautiful and sincere but didn't move me very much. I felt sad, but I wasn't reduced to the state of quivering heartbreak that anime-watching friends had reported. Maybe I'm the wrong audience. Still, there's no faulting Shinkai's quality. He should animate more giant robots. I eagerly await Voices of a Distant Star 2: The 90-Minute Fight Scene.

Fresh Pretty Cure

The Precure Odyssey continues. I've watched what's been translated of Fresh (half of it). Much of the animation's cheaply done and besides that it has all the issues common to all Precure (chiefly that it's a toyetic, episodic cartoon for little girls). On the other hand, a set of episodes in the middle treat the redemption of one of the villains -- this is a familiar idea in Precure, but Fresh handles it particularly well, touchingly and in great detail.

I also watched the Fresh Pretty Cure movie, which has much better production values and is, I would say, above average for a Precure movie. The central idea, 'How do abandoned toys feel?', is more interesting (by contrast, the second Max Heart movie's theme seemed to be 'Nagisa can't snowboard'). Cure Peach punches a martial artist through the wall of a dojo, Cure Passion fights with portals & the main villain sprouts missile launchers and initiates a full-blown Itano Circus. Oh, and the movie includes instructions on how to use the associated toys. Gripping stuff.

Break Blade V

At this point I've given up hoping for the anime-only bits of the story to follow through on the Arthurian love triangle, and I'm just watching for the action. Which is well done if a bit talkative.

[blkmage]

On Break Blade, it's certainly some fine mecha action of the non sci-fi type, but even though the fights were nice, I couldn't really get into it this time around. I don't know if it's because I've been playing through Muv-Luv Alternative, but the reasons for all of the fights that happened in the fifth movie just seemed dumb and overshadowed the action. That's not to mention that there's only one more movie left and how they plan on resolving anything they've started remains a mystery to everyone.

[MasterDias]

Macross Plus

Since this was uploaded legally to Hulu, I gave it a spin. It took a bit to grow on me, but it was quite gripping by the final episode. And the dogfight in the final episode was pretty awesome.
So with this, I've seen most of the Macross stuff I wanted to see. Only things left I care about are DYRL and the second Frontier movie, whenever it gets physically released.

[Sheol777]

@ TheSubtleDoctor - Thanks for bringing buzz for Legend of the Galactic Heroes, it is a fine show and all your points are valid.

@ich1990 - What is your status on Samurai Champloo? I want to hear more of your opinion on it.

As fo what I have watched...its been a while:

Crystal Triangle - GOD is a giant space grub and his gift to us is the nuclear bomb.... that is all.

Kite - It's okay, not as good as all the hype also a bit unsettling

Sky Crawlers - I wanted this to be so much better and engaging then it actually was.

Golgo 13 - Yes, I know I am late to the table. As far as 80's action goes this fits right in there. Yes internet...I get it.

Star Blazers - Syfy is running this in a 2am death slot. I am reliving my childhood

Tiger and Bunny - best show this anime season

X-men - Good characters, they really have a grip on the voice of each personality. I just wish the story would move along.

[Nanao]

Got FMA Brotherhood for my birthday, so I'm currently watching that *celebrates* Also just watched C episode 7.
Right now I'm looking for something new, and maybe a bit different from what I've usually watched. I've had several friends recommend Ouran High School Host Club, so thinking about trying that.

[Atria35]

Right now I'm looking for something new, and maybe a bit different from what I've usually watched. I've had several friends recommend Ouran High School Host Club, so thinking about trying that.

Do the Nike.

Just do it.