Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Dressrosa really is outstanding. Not that I didn't enjoy the previous New World arcs, but the Dressrosa arc has just been a whole different level of One Piece.

Minus the "respectfully" part.

I watched the first few episodes of Squid Girl due to the Splatoon DLC news and I'm not impressed by it, I see the appeal but it doesn't gel with me. I also had my girlfriend insist I put my headphone on to watch as she found their voices really annoying.

It's not for everyone. I've only seen the first few episodes, but that was enough to tell me I'd like it...then again, it's pretty much "more Sgt. Frog" from what I've seen, and there's no way I can complain about that...

Squid Girl is an adequate time sink. I don't think I could manage to sit down and marathon it, but an episode here and there is OK. Could say the same for a lot in the "cute girls doing cute things" genre.

For less cute, more comedy aquatic-themed anime, try My Bride Is a Mermaid.

You know, "wanting to see an overly busty character do stuff because she doesn't seem to be in any decent hentai" was never a good reason to watch anime, but already I regret trying to watch Jungle de Ikou. It's not just the horribly racist overtones and lame duck comedy that upsets me, nor the fact that said busty character's bust never stops moving. It's actually the transformation sequences. Seriously, I've put up with some weird transformation scenes, and I've always been hesitant to call something "pedophilic", but I can't think of any other way to describe 12-year-olds doing this and especially this...

I think you should show this to all the Fire Emblem Fate whiners who have no idea how tame and decent they have it.

I've grown to appreciate Japan's neverending intentionally ridiculous sexy comedy, but that was genuinely painful to watch.

Just finished up Gunsmith Cats Burst (manga)!

While branded as a sequel, it acts as more of a direct continuation of the original (which was left pretty wide open), though you can tell some time has passed between the two series, as the mangaka's art is definitely sharper here (though it's still really good in the first series as well). As for the content itself, it's just more of the same, but if you liked the first series, you'll like this one too. The gunfights were an action packed good time, the high speed car chases really got the blood pumping, and the characters really played off each other well (the addition of revenge crazed detective Percy Bacharach was a great addition in this second half). I found it (the whole series) to be a really good time, and I'm quite baffled as to why it never got a full on anime adaptation (it certainly has the quality for it) instead of just the one OVA it got.

While I did love it, there are a couple of things I take issue with. First off, while I have no problem with the presence of fanservice, I did feel uneasy with any May related fanservice (I mean, they themselves know there's something wrong with her design when they have to remind the readers ad nauseum that she's really 18-20 years old. BTW, as for the wide age gap, it's because time does pass in the series... though her appearance never does), and I just had to cringe everytime they brought up her romantic subplot, which just made it worse (she does take on a more passive role in the second series, though). That's the biggie, but I also wasn't completely satisfied with how it ended. It wasn't bad, but the big final confrontation didn't end with the character I thought it would, even though the final arc centered around that character's big "revival" of sorts, after their defeat near the end of the first series. While not as open as the first series' ending, it just didn't leave you with that really satisfied feeling, you know?

Overall though, it was just a really good time.

I have been thinking about picking up the Akira manga, has anyone else read it? I have loved the movie since watching it almost 15 years ago and owning 3 different copies. J/w'ing if there was some stuff in the manga that the movie left out.

Also started JoJo's, 5 episodes in and I'm already thinking it's going into my top 10 list lol!

Punch Line the end. I dont know how I feel about it. It's almost like they didnt know where they were going with it...can you even call that an END?

I've only read the first 20 or so chapters of Akira, but it was fantastic. There's so much more story there than there was in the movie, so definitely check it out if you loved the movie.

Well, now I've started on Ikkitosen (manga). In relation to similar manga I've read, it's certainly no HSDK, but it's also miles ahead of Tenjo Tenge (which is like the one manga I stopped reading due to it getting excessively creepy as it went on).

It's a martial arts battle manga, and while there is some technobabble, the only things you really need to know is that the spirits of famous warriors from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" era of Chinese history are trapped/stored within beads, all of which are in Japan (after a ship in the area carrying them was attacked a few centuries ago), and are exclusively distributed amongst high school delinquents because reasons. These beads give the owner superhuman fighting abilities, and as fate would have it, history is trying to repeat itself, as the schools now represent the various kingdoms that vied for power. Of course, our heroine happens to hold the spirit of a special game changing warrior that can end it all (if she trains properly), and the villain(s) want to change fate, creating a new history.

It's pretty decent so far. The action has been fun even if it's sorta been there done that, I really like the art style, I'm not huge on the delinquent angle (especially since the style seems to be influenced by the hip-hop craze) though it hasn't been unbearable by any means, and the fanservice is okay by me (there aren't even any characters with questionably young looking designs, as of yet).

I was tempted to, since it's not the only example of horrible "fanservice" I've seen...I remember once getting into an argument here where someone tried to claim that anime has gotten too fanservice-y in the wrong ways recently. I kinda wish I could show that person Jungle de Ikou and a few others to prove my point - it's always been bad, it's just that stuff like that always gets forgotten years later. Only the shows with some kind of substance stand the test of time. And I think it's telling when Agent Aika has more substance than that piece of crap...

HAH! Found the first part of Squid Girl for a reasonable price...only $15-ish. owo

Lucky Star was actually my first anime that I watched (well, besides stuff like Pokemon and Digimon). I don't know how, but it was. It makes both a horrible starting point and a great one. On one hand, it's a slow-burning moe-filled slice of life anime that immediately shoves you deep in the weaboo end of the pool. On the other hand, the dub is fantastic compared to many others. I'm constantly rewatching it, because I missed like 95% of the references the first time, and catching a new one after watching something else is great. It also explains otaku terminology (E.G. Tsundere, Moe, Yaoi) very well.

Bought the manga Kisses, sighs and cherry blossom pink today

I watched Samurai 7 on Pluto TV's Anime Channel and it was a thoroughly enjoyable anime. Didn't expect it to be so good.

Are they anything like the Futurama cases? Because those seem fine for me, never had too much trouble with those.

I found the dubbed version of Naruto Shippuden The Movie 6: Road To Ninja for $9.99 at EB Movies so I decided to purchase it. Will tell you what I thought of the movie tomorrow.

Started reading the Glass Mask manga a few weeks ago and I couldn't stop. Despite appearing to be a generic shoujo, it doesn't fall into any of the pitfalls of the genre. has a ton of well-written and memorable characters, and quite the interesting story. I highly recommend it to any fans of classic literature or theatre.

Also, apparently there's an anime adaption I've never heard about and it's on Crunchyroll. I'm at about where Episode 31 is in the manga. Gotta watch that sometime.

Saw that article this morning. It's definitely a show the mainstream American audience will appreciate.