What anime are you watching?

[Phantom_Sorano]

Just started Full Moon this evening...so far, okay.

[GrubbTheFragger]

Started into Heroic Age, so far it feels very cliched.

[Atria35]

[img]evaunit01whyyyyyy.jpg[/img]

Because I left the dvd at my paren'ts house? xD" Besides- writing up long posts for that would take time away from packing- which I most definitely need!

But I can guarantee that there will be a new one on Sunday. Guarantee!

[the_wolfs_howl]

Finished the Tsubasa Chronicle OVAs *sigh* I wish they'd animated the entire story....

Now I've started watching Chrno Crusade, which I've read the whole manga for and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm up to episode 4 now.

Oh, and a friend has roped me into watching Accel World; we're up to episode 5 now. It's okay....

We also rewatched Haibane Renmei, which is just as wonderful as ever.

[ABlipinTime]

Finished Haibane Renmei!!!!

It was ok. I wouldn't say classic, but it was well done for being only 12 episodes. *ducks tomatoes*

Now to finish up other things I've started...

[mysngoeshere56]

Finally getting around to episode 3 of Code Geass.

[MangaRocks!]

Princess Tutu ep.'s 1-26 (complete, sub): Well, I was never really into ballet... but that was fantastic!! SPOILER: Highlight text to read: The way that the ballet and classical music, as well as a few twisted little bits and pieces of other fairy tales and myths, were woven into the series' own tale was really well-done; and I loved the meta-ness of it, too, with the whole story-within-a-story(-within-the-story-itself!) stuff. (And those last few episodes were epic! )

I mean, sure, I would've liked to have seen a little epilogue on what Fakir was going to write about himself and Ahiru now that he's completely free to do so , and sure, it could have done with a slightly larger budget to show off a few of those dances a bit more, but it was awesome regardless! Definitely a new favorite!

[AngelicTotoro]

Glad to see you enjoyed it. Princess Tutu is also a personal favorite of mine. ;D
(You could PM me your detailed thoughts on it, I'd love to have a someone to discuss it with.)

[MangaRocks!]

^ Done.

[eightluvver888]

Just finished Spice and Wolf II. So sad it's done... They need to get married already. I really, really hope there's a season 3.

[mysngoeshere56]

Episode 5 of Clannad.

[MangaRocks!]

Hyouka, ep.'s 1-16 (+ the "11.5" OVA).

(Thoughts in the dedicated thread. )

[AnimeGirl]

Watched episodes 1-3 of R.O.D. -the TV-

I can tell this is going to be a very unique and epic show.....

Finished the Tsubasa Chronicle OVAs *sigh* I wish they'd animated the entire story....

Me too. Maybe someday. At least some aspects of it!

But you have to admit, the OVAs were no short of amazing....

[HarleyQuinnOy]

Just finished Kenichi soo catching up on some Bleach episodes while I debate what to watch next, I got referred to watch one piece on here so I think I shall start that soon !

[TheSubtleDoctor]

T'was a Leji Matsumoto filled weekend.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Mystery of the Arcadia

The first theatrical Harlock feature, this movie runs only about 35 minutes. It synthesizes a few of the plot threads from the first cour of the Harlock TV series and does so pretty effectively I might add. A couple of the scenes are done really well and spark more of an emotional responses than I remembered having during those moments in the TV series. The movie covers the episode with my favorite villain from the early part of the story: the undersea space witch, who is this giant, sort of mystical being who is also an alien. I really dig Matsumoto's whole space witch thing in general.

Some of the rougher parts of the TV animation were redone, so the film looks a bit better than its predecessor, though don't expect miracles. In an unusual move for Matsumoto, the film doesn't look to actively spurn previously established continuity, so be assuaged TV series fans. Unlike the next item in my post, though, Mystery of the Arcadia isn't a good entry point for Harlock neophytes. It pretty much hits the ground running with story and contains exactly zero proper character introductions. If you're looking to get into SPCH, see the TV series or the movie discussed below. For Harlock fans, it's a shame there aren't more of these.

My Youth in Arcadia

In this 1982 film, Matsumoto seeks to tell us a bit of the origin story of his stoic hero as well as that of some of his ancestors. The sticking point for many, though, is that many of the events of MYiA contradict the oral history and flashbacks we get in the SPCH TV show. Basically, whichever you see first, the TV series or this movie, the continuity you are likely expecting between them in shattered to pieces. Fans in the know will be aware that this is the way Leji Matsuomoto's universe works in general, whether we're talking Harlock or Galaxy Express. I can understand having a problem with this. I would too, but I have made peace with this for a couple of reasons.

First, while factual details do change, the spirit of the characters, who they are and what they stand for, remains constant. Harlock, Emeraldas and Tochiro are such well-developed, interesting characters that this is a huge plus. Second, this was a conscious decision by an artist. The alterations are not such that Matsumoto made some kind of error or his team overlooked something. The fact that he seeks to actively spurn continuity (with every new story in his universe) indicates, to me at least, that Matsumoto feels that this is a conscious decision and made with the intention of his stories gaining some kind of artistic merit. Maybe he's trying to evoke the notion that his stories are some kind of ancient oral history of a civilization gone by, details getting fudged with the passage of time?

OK, so is the film any good? YES. Yes it is. Though SPCH is science fiction, this movie is a very human, character-driven story. It is a riveting and epic tale of keeping one's nobility in the face of defeat, of being proud while being subjugated. In ways that are different from the TV series, we learn how Harlock comes to make his home in the sea of stars, flying only under the flag of freedom and fighting for no principles except the ones he himself believes in. It's pretty cool for someone who's already a Harlock fan to see how he got his eye-patch. Also, if anyone is interested in the Japanese perspective when the U.S. occupied the country after World War II, MYiA is clearly referencing that time and those events.

MYiA is a bit melodramatic and a whole lot of manly. When I say this, I don't mean that the film is violent or egregiously sexist (though it may be a bit sexist...but it's 80s anime: par for the course) but that it has several moving speeches, epic internal monologues, is concerned with friendships between men, cares about how men act and is loaded with bombast. Note, however, that there are some really strong female cast members, though. Maya is really heroic. Emeraldas is awesome, and I am pretty excited to see more of her story in other Leji-verse installments.

Harlock himself is just a fascinating character. I will have to write more about him later on, as this post has gotten long enough. Go see this movie!

[randomuser2349]

I just started on "The Kabocha Wine", a 1982 series that was never dubbed or subbed (I think) into English. There was a French dub and I am fluent in French so I started watching it.

[Vilo159]

Started watching Last Exile, two episodes in. Pretty great so far.

[AngelicTotoro]

Watched Hyouka and Sword Art Online, which is by the way, quickly becoming one of my favorite shows.

[Kaori]

T'was a Leji Matsumoto filled weekend.

Thanks for the reviews, as always. It's nice to see some appreciation for Matsumoto Leiji.

La Maison en Petits Cubes is a 12-minute short that without using any words at all still communicates volumes. The symbolism can be grasped easily and intuitively--making it basically the opposite of Tenshi no Tamago (Angel's Egg). This piece is beautifully done and should be seen by all.

Robot Carnival: a collection of several shorts, many of which have little or no dialogue, by a variety of directors. The unifying theme is that they all have robots in them. I can see how this became a cult classic in the States back when it was released (1987). Several of the shorts are very artsy and even the ones that aren't are probably well-animated for their day, I think. The stories don't all hold up so well, though. Some of them are pretty decent, at least one was very poorly translated, and some of them were random to the point of being trippy.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Okay guys, watched some more things.

First up, I finally got around to watch the original Macross this summer. I've been meaning to for a while but LOGH was such a journey I hadn't really wanted to start a >2 cours show for a while. And well, in some ways Macross really showed it's age and in some ways it remained incredibly awesome.

The characters to Macross were mostly great. Roy Fokker I think might stand out the most, as far as his role in the story and was a fantastic character. Max and Miria were delightful, and I loved Kakizaki and what they ended up doing with him. Claudia also stood out as a pretty unique character. Misa was really hard to like at first but grew on me after a while. Hikaru was pretty 'eh' at first, got awesome, and then made me want to punch him for the last chunk of the show because he becomes a total jerk. Kaifun is a total loser and I kind of hate the way they made him like the dumbest pacifist ever, but I guess he was probably pretty revolutionary at the time. Minmay was also tiring but I don't hate her like [s]some people[/s] everyone. Global was awesome, as were the Zentraedi trio and the bridge bunnies.

So, some of the plot stuff still really holds up, and some of it doesn't. I kind of wish I'd seen the show having seen more contemporary stuff so I could really see where Macross shines, but even with what I have seen at the time (First Gundam trilogy) I can see where a lot of the innovative stuff comes in. I think Macross handled character deaths exceptionally well, both in how/when they happen (though I wish they could be spaced out a little more) and their impact following the death. I think this was a huge improvement over First Gundam's "Sup guys I'm here so I can be a casualty now, see ya". In general it really felt like Macross ratcheted up the drama and really made the characters a lot more important than the First Gundam movies.

On the other hand while the drama was probably amazing at the time, it doesn't quite hold up as well today, at least to me. Having seen where it has progressed from 1982's innovations and seeing the same kind of shows incorporate a tempered version of Macross's unpolished writing sometimes made it hard to get into the show. Often times, especially involving the love triangle, I wanted to reach out and punch Hikaru. It definitely feels like it could tighten up the things and do a lot more with it's characters than it ended up doing.

The other big issue for the show is the animation. Now, this is my first 80's TV series, and I went in pretty impressed with the job it was doing, but after the first few episodes and a few notable exceptions, the budget goes down the toilet pretty fast. Aside from one fantastic dogfight involving Max and Miria and a couple other parts, the action isn't all that exciting because Itano doesn't have the money to really show off what he's capable of. Having seen subsequent Macross things I've come to love the Valkyries and their combat, so it made some parts of the show unexciting. Luckily, the show definitely is more about the drama than the action so it wasn't too big a deal.

Basically, it's a good show that made some remarkable steps forward at the time but if you're looking for pure entertainment then it's very easy to see shows that have taken the innovations of Macross and tempered them into a more perfect form. This is perhaps heresy, but I think Frontier and Plus are both superior shows to the original. I'm still very glad I saw it, and I may watch it again once I've seen more old shows.

So I heard you liked this weird new show called tsuritama? It was pretty great, I'll admit, The Spirit of Youth and wonderful relationships and somehow making a subject I didn't care about (fishing, obviously) exciting and interesting. Well, have I got a show for you.

Ookiku Furikabutte, or Oofuri, or Swing Big, or Big Windup! as Funi translates it, is an A-1 Pictures (oh hey, the same studio as tsuritama) baseball show based off of a fairly long seinen manga that has recently ceased a hiatus. It concerns itself with a boy entering high school that loves baseball, but isn't going to join the team this year because of self-confidence issues. You see, when Mihashi was in middle school, his team didn't know how to use his extremely good-but-bizarre style of pitching and blamed him for being a poor pitcher. They assumed that he was the pitcher because of his grandfather's status as the principal, so they basically convinced Mihashi that he was worthless and was holding back the team.

However, when he goes to check out the tryouts for the brand-new team for his new high school, Mihashi gets shanghai'd in to trying out because the team is shorthanded, and when the catcher and coach see Mihashi's incredible accuracy, they both make him join the team.

Now, you're probably thinking, baseball, yawn, don't care next show. However, what makes Oofuri so great are many of the same qualities that make tsuritama awesome. You have this journey of gaining self-confidence in our belovedly awkward main character and his fantastic relationship with the catcher, Abe (plus Mihashi is so moe~~ guys). You have this quirky but lovable art style that is pretty distinctive and kind of sucks you into this world. You have this great feeling of The Spirit of Youth that reminds me of my own high school experience.

And about the baseball. I loved it so much I'm interested in trying baseball irl. I think a lot of people in the states have an idea of what sports fiction is like and they pass on a lot of sports anime because of that. Rather than focusing on one or two amazing players, the success or failure of Oofuri is based on the whole team. The games in Oofuri are loooooong, too (out of the forty episodes that are out there have been four games, and most of the show is them playing baseball), but that is really what makes them fantastic. Rather than just montages of one side winning, Oofuri goes through every at-bat and makes you feel what the team is feeling. Even if the strategy goes over your head (and it's pretty good about being accessible, I don't know much about baseball), you get sucked into this game and emotionally involved because it matters to the characters. You almost feel like you're on the team, and each time the other team scores a run it's a total downer.

Anyways this post is probably too big but seriously, go watch Oofuri if you liked tsuritama (or like good things in general). As a final note to those curious, Funimation has licensed the first season, but due to it notoriously bombing, did not pick up the 13-episode second season, so if you want that you'll have to find fansubs.

[GeneD]

Started watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I only finished the first episode so I don't really have any thoughts on it yet. Despite "hearing" a lot about it, I can't actually think of anything I really know about the story so I don't have a clear idea of what to expect. I guess it will be interesting finding out.

Also watching Mononoke with the Let's Watch.

One episode a week seems to be working for me at the moment, so I might stick with that format for Madoka, for the first few episodes at least.

[AngelicTotoro]

@Hat'n'Clogs, you must watch Macross Do You Remember Love? It's totally awesome and it makes everything you didn't like about the ending alllll better. (Plus it has some of the best animation I've ever seen in any anime ever. And the killer ost? It's even better in the movie!) Watch iiiiit.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

@Hat - Excellent, excellent stuff, sir. I suppose I can forgive you for believing that SDF TV is anything less than perfection.

@AngelicTotoro - No worries: Hat has seen and loved DYRL.

[Vii]

Kokoro Connect 1-5 - Decided to try this since TWWK's blog had a number of posts on it. It's pretty good, nothing hugely spectacular, although episode 5 was definitely a step up in emotional intensity.

Hyouka 16 - A few scattered thoughts in dedicated thread.

Sword Art Online 4 - Aw, that was a nice episode.

[Xeno]

I am about to start a complete watch of Wangan Midnight (didn't watch it all the way through originally), Capeta, and the éX-Driver OVA + movie.

[Atria35]

Finished NGE. Appropriate thoughts on my Going In Blindly blog. Now to write a review for Paper Chimes....

[airichan623]

Splitting my time between Cowboy Bebop (currently at episode 14), Full Metal Panic! and xxxHOLIC. All of them 1st time watches.

[HarleyQuinnOy]

I finally decided to watch death note and I finished it last night, I have such torn feelings haha but all in all I thought it was pretty amazing, I have that I just watched an amazing serious, now what do I do with my life feeling though lol!

[ABlipinTime]

omgosh, it's airichan!

---

In other news: I'm back to finishing up Usagi Drop at my usual slow pace.

[FourFourSeven]

Current: "A Certain Magical Index" (finished watching episode 12)
Next: "A Certain Scientific Railgun"
After: Pending (maybe Fushigi Yugi or Toradora)

News at 11.