The Anime discussion Thread!

[MegaTuga]

So, I've been hearing that as of late there hasn't been much activity in this forum. That is inexcusable! However I cannot say that I am contributing since there aren't any topics in which I can contribute my intelligence. Wait I am avoiding the original topic...
So then, I was gathering up the courage to write a thread myself, but about what? I picked up anime because I have been following anime lately (more like I watch over 10 series every 3 months as they are aired). And so, here it is:

The Anime Discussion Thread 

(With 14% less Engrish and 40% more generic Japanese that you hear in anime but barely know the meaning)

Check out the Winter 2014 Anime Chart!

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I will update the chart as more anime comes.


So, how about starting with something simple? Is anybody here following the anime of this season? (the link is up there but in case it doesn't work head here: i4.minus.com/ibn5CtbX8FeEHT.jpg )

Yay, I finally did it. So sugoi! *pelted with tomatoes*

[RyanLEO]

I have no idea what anime kawaii is, but naruto is one of the greatest :]
I'm also a huge inuyasha fan, but I really try to stay away from the weirder types of anime.

[Kyle]

Jan 28, 2014 12:31:16 GMT -5 RyanLEO said:

I have no idea what anime kawaii is, but naruto is one of the greatest :]

"Kawaii" is generally known as "cute" or "adorable".  So... I'm going to assume Tuga means "Cute Anime". 

To be completely honest with ya', I don't watch much anime. Off the top of my head, I can only list; Dragon Ball (all of them, including the dreaded GT), Full Metal Alchemist (both versions), Death Note, Space Adventure Cobra, Lupin III and the anime adaptation of Disgaea. Now, I vaguely recall watching the entirety of... Lucky Star one night. Do not ask me why, because I cannot remember. 

[MegaTuga]

I do believe that any of us had watched at least one or two episodes of Dragon ball in our lives. It's like a ritual of passage... or because there wasn't anything else on TV that our less-than-1-year-old minds could consider interesting. I have to admit that I never watched the GT season from 1 to end. I believe I lost some episodes then watched again to not understand what was going on, to then giving up entirely.

P.S. - The "kawaii" was simply a joke.

[Blues]

Eh, I preferred the original Dragon Ball over Z- y'know, the more humorous one where Goku's a kid? I mean the action scenes in DBZ are always top-notch, but it just took itself a bit too seriously, even when the concepts behind the action were just as silly as the original series.

Hm, but back on topic. I haven't watched that much anime recently, but I can make recommendations for good series: G Gundam (or any of the Gundam series basically), Cyborg 009, Fullmetal Alchemist, Azumanga Daioh, Lupin the Third, and Cowboy Bebop. Yes I fully admit to having a sci-fi/action bias, but it can't be helped if that's where all the quality shows tend to be.   Speaking of, Shinichirō Watanabe (the creator of Cowboy Bebop) recently debuted his newest work, Space Dandy! General consensus seems to be that it's kinda weird but also pretty great. Which sounds right up my alley, and I can't wait to see it for myself. : D

[ZEROrevive]

Jan 28, 2014 19:11:22 GMT -5 Blues said:

Eh, I preferred the original Dragon Ball over Z- y'know, the more humorous one where Goku's a kid? I mean the action scenes in DBZ are always top-notch, but it just took itself a bit too seriously, even when the concepts behind the action were just as silly as the original series.

I liked both the Z and Pre-Z series. I guess the best way to put it is that both have a bit of their own flavor to them- but that doesn't make either bad. It's all personal preference for people. GT seemed like it tried to mix the two together...but, you know. YMMV on that.

As for animes of my interest...its a big mixed bag, but I'll name what I can:

-DragonBall/Dragon Ball Z
-Cowboy Bebop
-Golgo 13 (A bit of it on and off...mostly to see how the hitman himself manages to nail his legendary sniping shots. Always clever.)
-Space Adventure Cobra (Yes, you heard me right)
-The Big O
-FLCL (The wild imagination of it and music is great)
-Chargeman Ken (If you don't know what this is...look it up. It's one of those "Its so bad its funny" sort of shows.)
-The legend of the Mystical Ninja (Not the best anime, but being a fan Of Goemon myself, this had some funny moments)
-Inazuma Eleven
-s-CRY-ed (Only seen a bit of this, but I loved it)
-Xam'd (Only seen a bit of this as well, fits into the "Odd" category slightly)
-Cyborg 009
-Astro Boy (Mainly the old, in-color anime and the one that aired in early 2000 or so...)
-Ghost in a Shell
-Season 0 of Yu-Gi-Oh (I prefer it over when they started spamming the card games by default)
-One Piece
-Neon Genesis Evangelion

Thats all I can name off the top of my head...Theres others I need to get to still, such as Lupin the 3rd. Infact alot of these animes I haven't watched all the episodes yet....most of them for obvious reasons.



I'd name some Anime films as well, but I'm not sure if that'd quite count here.

[Fatman X. Jones]

I'm VERY anxiously waiting tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the debut of the first episode of part three of the new JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. Based on the third part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, "Stardust Crusaders", it covers the story of young Japanese delinquent Jotaro Kujo, grandson of former JoJo protagonist Joseph Joestar.

For those not in the know of JoJo, the story is somewhat summarized like this:

In the 1800s, young Jonathan Joestar is graced by the presence of his newly adopted brother, the orphaned Dio Brando. Dio, scheming to take the Joestars' fortune for himself by inheritance, makes efforts to ruin Jonathan's life and instill himself as family favorite. As adults, Dio is finally exposed upon a plot to poison Jonathan's father, but escapes punishment--and death--by donning a mysterious stone mask Jonathan had devoted his life to studying. The Stone Mask transforms Dio into a supernaturally-powered vampire, and Jonathan resolves to defeat Dio once and for all, accompanied by his longtime friend Robert E.O. Speedwagon and his tutor in the mysterious martial art "The Ripple", William Zeppeli. Ultimately, Jonathan succeeds by destroying a cruise ship he and Dio were on in the end, but not without dying himself in the process.

Years later, Jonathan's grandson, Joseph Joestar, travels to New York during World War II and gets involved with the resurrection of the supernatural beings who created the Stone Mask, the Pillar Men, the last remains of an ancient clan of humans. The Pillar Men seek a legendary flawless jewel, the Red Stone of Aja, which possesses the power to perfect the Stone Mask and bestow upon the Pillar Men the glory of being the perfect lifeform on Earth. Accompanied by the mysterious Ripple user Lisa Lisa, as well as Zeppeli's grandson Caesar, Joseph ultimately defeats the last of the Pillar Men, Cars, by using his ultimate lifeform skills against him and launching him into space with the explosion of a volcano.

Now, in the 1980s, Joseph travels to Japan to be with his daughter, Holly Kujo, and his grandson Jotaro. Jotaro has shut himself away in prison after a brutal school fight, claiming that he's been haunted by an evil spirit that won't leave his side. It's ultimately discovered that this spirit is a psychic manifestation of his lifeforce, a Stand, named Star Platinum, awakened by the return of Dio Brando. Dio, having ultimately survived his death in Part 1 by grafting his head onto Jonathan's body, has awakened the power of The Stand, and using the bloodline link between himself and the Joestars, forces Holly into a coma using her own Stand. Now Joseph and Jotaro must travel to Egypt and confront Dio before Holly's Stand kills herself in a few weeks. Joining their cause are fellow stand users Noriaki Kakyoin, Muhammad Avdol, and Jean Pierre Polnareff, and standing in their way are many more Stand users hired and coerced by Dio.

It's a very great shounen manga series, incredibly popular in Japan, and I wholeheartedly await the debut of Part 3!

[Rockxas]

Ahh, the spring season is here. Personally I'll be picking up Break Blade, the new Fairy Tail anime, Mekaku City Actors and Mushishi: Zoku-Shou. I'll probably watch Stardust Crusaders once it's done airing too.

[Servbot42]

I used to really enjoy anime when I was younger, but I can't get into it at all anymore. I'll probably always enjoy most of the anime that I liked as a kid and teenager, but that's probably due to a fairly large nostalgia factor. Except for a few like Last Exile, Code Geass, or Gurren Lagann, I don't think I would like most of my favorites if I saw them for the first time today.

I guess if I had to explain my issue with anime, I would say there are two hurdles that block me from enjoying it now. First, there's a goofy element to a lot of anime. That's fine for shows like Gurren Lagann or FLCL, which are meant to be more silly than serious, but a lot of serious anime has that as well. People don't act like real people and bizarre things happen. Even Code Geass, which covers issues like racism, drug abuse, and genocide has episodes where they all run around in fursuits at their school campus. That stuff completely takes me out of the show. It didn't bother me when I was younger because it was fun and weird and I liked it. My tastes and expectations have grown more serious I suppose.

My second issue is that the plot is not as important as the subtext in a lot of anime. Characters aren't really that important either. Even though he received a huge amount of flak for saying this, I completely agree with the director of the upcoming live action Akira movie when he responded to a question about characters in a recent interview:

Collet-Serra: Nobody's interesting. Tetsuo's interesting because weird shit happens to him, and Kaneda is so two-dimensional. That's part of the Japanese culture, they never have strong characters. They're used as a way to move the other philosophy forward.

While agree with him about the characters, I would argue that the statement applies to the plot as well. One thing that always frustrates me about anime is when the creators present me with a very interesting world that they know about but never feel obligated to explore beyond what the characters experience. To them, all of that is secondary to the plot and the plot is secondary to delivering a message. If you just want to deliver a message, write a paper and get it published. If you're trying to deliver it through a story-telling medium, do not make the story take a backseat to the message. In an ideal world, they would be interwoven well enough that you could really get into the story while still getting the message. That isn't something I've see in most anime. Just look at how so many anime go completely off the rails towards the end, a la Evangelion. That kind of thing wouldn't happen if the creators cared more about the story, the characters, and the message equally. When I was younger I gave that stuff a pass because I figured it was too deep for me to understand, but now I see it for what it is: bad storytelling. (Or at least by Western standards, and I am woefully Western.)