Anime thread Winter 2013

[Ryong]

One day ahead but fuck that, why don't we have an anime thread all the time?

I finished watching SAO. If it continues, I won't watch it. While some things were handled well, a lot of it is just baaaad.

Shin Sekai Yori however has been pretty nice. I'm just kind of weirded out how after the timeskip the characters go gay for half an episode and then it kind of stops being a thing.

Gonna watch Eureka Seven AO just because I keep getting flashbacks to Eureka Seven being fantastic and want to see how fucked the new one is.

[Ramary]

Well AO is not THAT bad. It is still enjoyable and not in a trainwrecky way. No where near as good as the first one of course but I still came out liking it even after the usual rushed terrible anime ending.

Also SAO's terrible second arc was just awe-inspiring, I hope it keeps going because it is just gonna get worst.

But if you did like SAO before it went belly-up, watch Accel World, it is the same author and it is pretty much reverse SAO, starts off kinda eh, but it is completely awesome by the end of its current run. I really want a season two out of it.

[Arcanum]

I finished watching SAO. If it continues, I won't watch it. While some things were handled well, a lot of it is just baaaad.



Also SAO's terrible second arc was just awe-inspiring, I hope it keeps going because it is just gonna get worsE.

But if you did like SAO before it went belly-up, watch Accel World, it is the same author and it is pretty much reverse SAO, starts off kinda eh, but it is completely awesome by the end of its current run. I really want a season two out of it.

I'm glad to know my decision to not watch SAO's second arc after reading a quick summary of what the novel did with that arc was justified :D

[Ryong]

To be fair, it handled one thing extremely well...Mostly. You know how Suguha likes Kirito? The whole confession bit seemed very well done, because it involved things not being alright. Then it gets forgotten instantly.

I've just watched the first couple of episodes of Eureka Seven AO. It feels familiar, but not quite exactly the same thing. I blame not having Days for an intro song.

[phil_]

Man, there's so much good stuff coming out this season. Also "good" stuff. No one cares about Puchimas, I understand that. But there's more Milky Holmes and Chihayafuru! And Maoyuu Maou Yuusha is directed by the same guy who directed Spice and Wolf and is also about economics but in a different way. And there's other garbage I'm not gonna own up to watching right now.

Man, this week would be easier to wait through if we weren't without Shin Sekai and Jojo. And no Precure, but that's my unshared pain.

[Bells]

After Gundam Age ended i just followed Saint Seiya Omega... i might need something with a bit more meat in their bones for 2013....

[stefan]

Well AO is not THAT bad.

Yes it is.

[phil_]

The ending to AO kinda completely undermines the mythological significance of Eureka Seven's ending, and in a story that throws around The Golden Bough as a motif the parallels to mythology kinda become an important component of said story.

If you want robots and conspiracies, AO delivers both but just barely, and neither were what made Eureka Seven good (and the robots hardly surfboard at all). The only good thing to come out of AO was more music in the same vein as the first show. And maybe Noah, the world's fastest sloth. He was amusing.

[Ryong]

Having watched the first 4 episodes of AO:

I keep looking at characters and trying to figure out if they're related to the original cast. This is the weirdest sequel-that-isn't-a-sequel.

And yeah, I'm wondering: Hadn't Nirvash transcended into a completely different thing? Is this something like...A child of Nirvash or some shit?

[Ramary]

It is a Bones sequel Ryong, it has barely anything to do with the first one. Once you accept that you will like it more.

[stefan]

It is a Bones sequel Ryong, it has barely anything to do with the first one. Once you accept that you will like it more.

And then you'll start to hate it more because the plotting is an abortive mess that seems like three separate writers were working on it without any sort of intercommunication until the last three episodes, at which they shat out a giant pile of failure in a vain attempt to tie it back into the old series and knot up the several dozen conflicting plot threads they left hanging.

And that series had so much potential at the beginning, too.

[phil_]

And yeah, I'm wondering: Hadn't Nirvash transcended into a completely different thing? Is this something like...A child of Nirvash or some shit?I want to say it's a robot built by Renton as a LFO without enslaving Coralians (IFOs have no archetype, in case you forgot that was a thing in an LFO), but then (and this is really spoilers for AO, even though I'm really just gonna express confusion, but it's REALLY spoilers) two more Nirvashes show up, each in a different form, and then there's a third one with Renton which may-or-may-not be the Nirvash from after the last episode of Eureka Seven (even though the Nirvash in Mode 2 with Eureka is definitely the same person as the Nirvash from the first show), and all-in-all it's just super obtuse and doesn't make much sense beyond "lol Coralian magic."

So yeah, no one knows, certainly not the writers.

[Ryong]

Up to episode 9:
What the fuck.
Either it had a bunch of writers or someone who was into jumpcuts coupled with the weirdest parallel storytelling I've ever seen.

What I was expecting from the early episodes:
Ao's the child of Eureka and Renton. Naru is the child of Holland and Talho and some shit resulted in a pregnant Eureka and a baby Naru falling into the scub coral and ending up in another world entirely, because the scub coral had a bunch of weird shit happening. I kind of expected a Majora's Mask-esque take on the world, like having nearly the same characters but different. And then scub bursts would be some sort of anomaly caused by people from the original world attempting to get Ao and Naru back.

But no, I'm getting this clusterfuck.

[Donomni]

Basically, AO is what happens when you try and subvert the expectations made as a sequel series to Eureka Seven with no real idea what you're doing.

Or even keeping in mind why people watched the first show. It's... it's just a total confusing mess.

[Ryong]

Up to episode 14 because I'm going to finish this darn thing today:

So I was right on some things except with a lot more shit thrown in. And what the fuck is up with Elena?

Also: Okay, coralians are aliens who came to Earth and fused with coral reefs. Or something. The shit's quartz? The shit's a Secret? Is scub coral from the future getting thrown into the past to avoid the limit of life deal from Eureka Seven? Also, this Truth dude.

[Ramary]

If you hate Truth (and you should) you will have another reason to hate the ending.

[Ryong]

There I finished AO.
The fuck.

[stefan]

There I finished AO.
The fuck.

congratulations on joining the club of people who spent 12 hours on that show and will never be able to get them back.

[Ryong]

congratulations on joining the club of people who spent 12 hours on that show and will never be able to get them back.

When do I get shot by a retcon gun to forget it?

[phil_]

You don't. The gun was retconned out of existence.

[Bells]

SAO is Sword Art Online... right? So, what's Ao?

...cause you guys are freaking me out a little bit.

[Kim]

AO is the new Eureka Seven series. It's terrible.

[phil_]

So, Inferno Cop? Anyone watching this? 'Cause it's garbage, but it's quick garbage. It's also by Studio Trigger and directed by Imaishi, who you might know as the director of Gurren Lagann and Black Rock Shooter. He likes things to be actually animated, but this show isn't, which I think is part of the joke?

http://i.imgur.com/8TojW.gif

[Ryong]

I just saw the first erm

episode

of that
with spanish subtitles.
It was funny in a very odd way.

[Ramary]

Oh hey the adaption of Maoyuu Maou Yuusha is pretty damn good so far, the only issues I had was that the character designs are not as good as the better of the manga adaptions, and the odd CG crowds. Everything else has been great, even with the useless meat everywhere.

[Ryong]

From The New World 14:
STOP THROWING GUAR GUM INTO THE PLOT IT'S GOOD ENOUGH ALREADY

[phil_]

Maoyuu did a good job of "showing not telling," then telling anyway in case you don't get it, then being cute and embarrassing. I'm sold. Edit: Like, pillow scene? Worth watching the show for.

Shin Sekai was part Harry Potter exceptionism and part this is the most interesting plot I'm consuming right now way to bait the hook grandma. Worth the wait.

[stefan]

EVA 3.0 CAMRIP IS OUT.

You can probably find it in the usual places, subs are floating around separately. Kind of a shitty rip, but it gets the point across.

[Kim]

i just watched it and i'm sad now

[Ramary]

I won't watch it and remain happy. Yay.

Also Maoyuu is still great, and next episode the most important item in the entire series is revealed.

[stefan]

i just watched it and i'm sad now

well, hey, look on the bright side, at least kaworu still has a whole body if you add both continuities together!

[Ryong]

From The New World 15:
I'm not sure if they're trying to bait people into thinking Squealer is going to doublecross Saki and Satori or if it's just how queerats act. Question is, will they use such a stupid twist of ally-who-throws-flattery-around-actually-has-his-own-agenda?

[Kim]

if you folks aren't watching jojo what the fuck are you even doing with your time

come on

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Reading Jojo?

[Kim]

Reading Jojo?

:mad:

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

:smug:

[phil_]

From The New World 15:
I'm not sure if they're trying to bait people into thinking Squealer is going to doublecross Saki and Satori or if it's just how queerats act. Question is, will they use such a stupid twist of ally-who-throws-flattery-around-actually-has-his-own-agenda?Is that really a twist if he's been a traitorous little sycophant since his first scene?

Jojo slowed down quite a bit this episode, which is fine, going from breakneck to merely swift. I loved Joseph's grousing about "I'll come up with my own special move, then I'll show him!"

I've recently started watching Girls und Panzer. It is very TANKS, once you get past that first episode.

Chihayafuru 2 is still good and funny and Miyano.

I don't know why I'm going to keep watching Tamako Market, but I know I am going to continue.

[Ryong]

thing is, is it ACTUALLY going to happen or are they just baiting people into thinking shit's gonna go downhill?

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I'm so far behind with jojo, it's almost not worth trying... almost.

[phil_]

thing is, is it ACTUALLY going to happen or are they just baiting people into thinking shit's gonna go downhill?I think that you and I not knowing the answer to this is a triumph of the show, rather than just baiting for a twist. Shin Sekai has been so good at almost showing Squealer maybe doing something malicious towards the kids but never clearly doing so that we just don't know when or if he's going to go full-on "For the glory of the rats!"

Like, there's no twist. We already know he's an ally who throws flattery around but actually has his own agenda. We just don't know if he's ever going to see it necessary to hurt the kids rather than continuing to manipulate them into being his walking nukes. That's pretty cool.

Edit: Like, even the characters are aware of the above. They just need him because he knows where stuff is and can provide some semblance of civilization. Mutual exploitation, I guess.I'm so far behind with jojo, it's almost not worth trying... almost.Guess you know what today is going to be spent on, huh?

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Drawing? Is it drawing?


Anyway I just recent discovered a new parody anime called "Aoi Sekai no Chushin de" which is based on the 90's console wars between Sega (Segua in this show) and Nintendo (nintendil in this show).

... What the hell did I just watch!? >_<

[phil_]

If it was Aoi Sekai, you watched a forgettable fantasy anime that does nothing with its premise of "These guys are based on video characters." Or does it pull a 180 after the first episode and become funny and/or interesting?

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I don't know I couldn't sit through all of the first episode.

[Ryong]

From the New World 16:
Aside from the acid trip, I kind of expected the episode to be like this, except for Squealer fucking up about knowing about human bones and the IT'S TIME SKIP TIME AGAIN! at the end.

From the looks of the end of the episode, Squealer didn't actually do shit in a long time.

[Bells]

i'm about to leap into Jormungand, anybody cares to wage in an opinion about it?

[Ryong]

From the New World 17:

"How thick can a plot get?" is now this anime's arc words.

[Magus]

So I was dicking around on Crunchyroll and saw this anime called The Unlimited Hyobu Kyosuke under their simulcast (it was all I saw that looked interesting, though if anyone else uses Crunchyroll then maybe you can give me tips). Has anyone seen this one and if so is it terrible or good?

[phil_]

From the New World 17:

"How thick can a plot get?" is now this anime's arc words.I felt bad when Kiroumaru's clan died off-screen in the end. He killed hundreds of dudes because Squealer hurt his feelings, so I shouldn't care. I guess I'm still under the sway of the honorable knights' mystique.
So I was dicking around on Crunchyroll and saw this anime called The Unlimited Hyobu Kyosuke under their simulcast (it was all I saw that looked interesting, though if anyone else uses Crunchyroll then maybe you can give me tips). Has anyone seen this one and if so is it terrible or good?Haven't seen it. Haven't seen Zettai Karen Children, which it's a spin-off of. Have you seen Zettai Karen Children? Might help, might not; I'm going on limited info. Best help I can give.

[Magus]

No, I haven't seen that other one either. Thanks for the info!

[phil_]

Seems Crunchy doesn't have Zettai Karen Children, but Star Driver is "Related Media" on the info page for ZKC. Have you watched Star Driver? 'Cause if you're just dicking around and you want a show that explores the confusion of teenage-dom by being confusing and aimless, that's a show that gets my recommendation.

[Magus]

As long as their aimlessness also involves magical nonsense I guess I'll take a look at it.

[phil_]

Oh, does it ever. And, silly names to categorize it! And robots!

[Ryong]

From the New World 18:

What the shit was that dude dying and then shooting a glowing girl ghost thing into the sky? Also, woo, Kiroumaru isn't dead. And it seems supreme badass dude really is supreme badass dude.

I don't wanna say Mamoru or Maria is helping the queerats, unless some shit happened and Mamoru ended up alone and hit by huge amounts of pressure and then became a fiend maybe.

[phil_]

From the New World 18:

What the shit was that dude dying and then shooting a glowing girl ghost thing into the sky? Also, woo, Kiroumaru isn't dead. And it seems supreme badass dude really is supreme badass dude.Thoughts on what the dude was doing: He probably didn't want to die with his last action having been killing, since New World people are like that, so what he did was he psychic-ed up a hologram that would draw an image of beauty to the minds that saw it. I'm basing this on his final words being something like "Let them see beauty" and on Saki seeing what was arguably a grown up Maria in the light. Mike asked the same question after the episode, and I told him the same thing. Makes sense, I think, as long as we take "It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit" as given for how he could do that in the first place.

As for Kiroumaru, we really don't know that for sure. All we've got is her word on that.

As for monk dude, #lolsharingan. But no, that was quite a show he put on.

Edit: Also, Jojo's adventures this week were suitably bizarre. Love that show, love how they go for broke in recreating the iconic images from the comic.

Also, new Precure now and no one cares.

[Ryong]

I'm not going with #lolsharingan for monk dude because this is an entirely different design from the usual sharigan bullshit.

It looked kind of like a car's headlights.

[Ryong]

new From the New World:
I'm kind of disappointed at some of it.
I'm not sure if I should expect a plot twist since they've set up Mamoru being the fiend so much I'm not sure if it not happening would actually be a twist.

[phil_]

new From the New World:
I'm kind of disappointed at some of it.
I'm not sure if I should expect a plot twist since they've set up Mamoru being the fiend so much I'm not sure if it not happening would actually be a twist.I think I had this spoiled for me, so I can't discuss it. Your New World buddy is useless. All I got is I think this is the least amount of time that has passed in a single episode. Usually an episode is at least a day long if not much longer.

[Ryong]

Inferno Cop has been disappointing me lately, gotta be honest.
The first episodes before he turned into a car were the best.
The later ones have been just random hilarity, not random awesome hilarity.

[Magus]

I guess it's now in its second series, but anyway, Psycho Pass? Pretty good. Reminds me of a more in-depth version of Minority Report while also exploring the theme of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

In dystopian future Japan people's psyches are constantly monitored by computers. Those with "latent criminal tendencies" are assigned therapy and mental counseling, or if they reach a higher level of latent criminality are tracked down and quarantined from the general public. Depending on their "level" of latency they may even be terminated, all of which is handled by a central computer and field agents whose guns are either calibrated for stun (on less dangerous targets) or kill (for those deemed irreparably psychotic or criminal).

Moral quandaries enter into it, of course, as it becomes quickly apparent that some people are driven to criminal behavior BECAUSE they are labeled as latent criminals (as it makes it difficult to get a job, have a romantic relationship, etc.), and it's also revealed that the police themselves have assembled a group of latent criminals to help hunt down other latent criminals.

In any case, if comparing it to Minority Report makes it sound BAD, keep in mind that's only for the basic gimmick of stopping "precrime". It's way better than Minority Report ever was.

[Ryong]

From The New World 20:
Saki could at least have had her memories unlocked. Also, I no longer expect the fiend to be Mamoru and I have a feeling Saki and Maria are the only ones left alive from group 1.

[Kim]

Straight Title Robot Anime is probably the best show comedy I've seen in a while. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/straight-title-robot-anime/episode-1-619399)

[Kyanbu The Legend]

The opening alone already has me sold.

luv'n it~

[phil_]

Have you watched GDGD Fairies, Kim? It's apparently the same thing, but not robots and on its second season. You know, in case you want more while waiting for robots.

[Kim]

Apparently GDGD Fairies director or something actually left that show to do Straight Title Robot Anime

[phil_]

Apparently GDGD Fairies director or something actually left that show to do Straight Title Robot AnimeSeems like a pointlessly lateral move, but whatev, follow your heart, director-or-something-guy.

Concerning this week's Jojo, the production staff really went all out, huh? A fight where people actually move (heck, a beam-spam fight where people move is pretty novel in itself), plus a new song and generally presenting that chapter really well. Chalk it up to the source material, but that was a good... is this a spoiler? a good presentation of a teenager and a teacher losing their friend/student suddenly.

Concerning New World, I'm glad I didn't repeat them there spoilers that the Fiend was Maria's kid, not Maria, and glad I don't have to continue holding that to my chest. Also, Squealer's plan was quite the reveal, even though we don't really know that there's a world to conquer outside Japan.

Concerning Puchimas, I didn't know Brazil had pterodactyls. Good to know.

[Ryong]

So I spent last night watching a bunch of anime while my internet was down...And I didn't watch From The New World yet. But hey, Break Blade is pretty nice.

And now I saw the latest From The New World. Pretty surprised. I'm wondering if there's any chance Maria and Mamoru are alive and if, now that they're at the temple of purity and Tomiko's dead Saki will have her memories restored.

And no, we don't have pterodactyls this time of the year.

[phil_]

And now I saw the latest From The New World. Pretty surprised. I'm wondering if there's any chance Maria and Mamoru are alive and if, now that they're at the temple of purity and Tomiko's dead Saki will have her memories restored.I'd say probably not. Like, DNA says that the bones provided by Squealer were theirs, and it just seems simpler to say he offed them than he amputated some limbs and kept them around after that. Could be, though; who knows? As for memories, it depends on how involved the process is. Might not be time for that right now, what with the Fiend and all. But then, maybe it's real quick. She'll get them back eventually, what with being king now and all, assuming anyone survives the day.

Other news: A return to senseless violence was just what Inferno Cop needed.

[Aldurin]

Caught up on Psycho Pass, pretty fantastic, probably the best non-supernaturally-themed anime I've seen. Makishima is now my new favorite villain of any medium, everything written about him is fantastic, and his behavior really captures why his morals can't be read.

[Ramary]

Shame that the animation quality has been taking a nose dive. Anti-Gravity Phone

[Ryong]

From the new world 22:
Best character is back! I wasn't expecting "psychobuster" to be honest-to-god anthrax, I was expecting something like a microwave weapon or something.

[phil_]

From the new world 22:
"Are we in Hell yet?" "No." "Are we in Hell yet?" "No." "Are we in Hell yet?" "NO!"

[Ryong]

"Clearly this is hell." "Nope."
I like how the spend the whole episode going through shit and they've moved 2/29 degrees.