Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

@Rocko52 Pretty much everything, but to put it simply, it's the single most concise and well-written story about the nature of mankind and society itself that I've ever encountered. The world an characters were interesting and inviting, despite being blatant vehicles for much grander concepts and themes. And seriously, it did all of this in only 12 episodes, yet never once felt rushed or overly dense despite having a lot to say. The pacing was pitch perfect, and I couldn't possibly ask for more, no matter how tempting it may be. Of course, it helped that it only had...what, 3 fight scenes the entire time? Maybe 4? What ones they had were amazing, of course, but it's admittedly very refreshing to me to watch a series where fights only break out when it's absolutely important to the overall story.

It was everything I expected going in, and yet it was so much more on top of all of it. It's something that I know will stay with me, and I'm glad I finally took the time to watch it. It also came at a particular point in my life where its themes really hit home for me. Last time I said that about an Anime was .hack//Sign in 2011, and I still think about that show at least once a week, and I've already done the same with Gargantia at least 15 times this month. And I only finished it 18 days ago.

@Caniswolfred I might have to revisit the show at some point then! I did quite enjoy it at the time, I liked the characters and laid-back atmosphere, and both the opening and ending have become somewhat nostalgic for me. (The only complaint I can even remember, and its not one that matters, is that I didn't like how Chamber was CG, but then again most mechs have been CG for the past decade...) I've considered doing some rewatches of anime I saw back then, (I've actually never rewatched an anime besides a time I rewatched a bit over half of Death Note) and it might be interesting to see how my opinions change, if at all. Whether or not I get much out of it, it's cool that you were able to be truly wowed by it. It's hard for me to think of the last time a show really did that for me, besides maybe Utena.

(As an aside, while they can sometimes be used quite poorly, it feels like 1 cour shows lend themselves well to tight narratives)

Got any recs on that? Most of the ones I've tried have either been rushed, or barely had any story at all. I think Kids on the Slope and The Unlimited were the only other exceptions I've noted.

@Caniswolfred Some of my suggestions will probably be a little bit boring, as I'm sure you've heard of, if not watched them, but here goes-
Madoka Magica (obvious one)
Serial Experiments Lain
Blood Blockade Battlefront
Baccano!
Boogiepop Phantom
The Tatami Galaxy
Kaiba
Erased (Haven't actually watched this - it sounds divisive tho tbh - adding it because it got a lot of attention last season, though I'm a bit iffy about it)

These shows are so well known tho that I kinda wonder if it was even worth it to make a list lol. But I think they're all (well besides Erased) very solid & well-paced shows. While I still haven't watched nearly as many anime as I'd like to - and as such this idea has less to do with how many shows I've seen pull off a tight narrative, as much as what I think is the potential - I do feel like a 1 cour show can definitely help with a focused plot. While nowadays it seems like each season is flooded with worthless show after worthless show, I think that working in the parameters of 12/13 episodes encourages the trimming of fat that might be stuffed in if the show was longer. While many 24+ episode series are certainly greats, its undeniable that a lot of them suffer from padding or filler from time to time. If one were to make good use of a 1 cour show (after all, to be good any anime needs talented & intelligent people behind it) I think that a very well-polished narrative is more easily & naturally attainable. (Another reason why I like OVAs and movies quite a bit - the animation is usually all-out and the series/film has feels very purposeful)

Sorry if you already know, have seen, or have watched most if not all of these ha. Also I dunno if you wanted a more in-depth look at any of the specific shows, this was just a quick list of impressive 1 cour series I've seen.(with no later second seasons of course) Hope it helps!

I forgot about Madoka Magica and Kaiba, those are definitely exceptional series considering their length. I've never seen Serial Project Lain, but I was under the mistaken impression that it was a 2-cour series. And I only recently found out that Boogiepop Phantom is not an anime rip-off of the Blues Brothers.

Baccano! never sat well with me - it's set up really isn't that complicated, but the way its presented (every scene jumping all over the place between over a dozen different characters, at completely different points in time. Not even sequential between characters, sometimes the next time you see a group of characters, it's set hours, days, even years prior to the last time you saw them) only seems to make the story seem much more complicated than it actually is, by making it impossible for the audience to keep with what's going on at the moment. I don't think I should ever need a spreadsheet to watch an anime...

I just tried watching Tatami Galaxy again, and it is still way too fast for me to keep up. Everyone talks a mile a minute, and I wind up having to spend way too much time looking at subtitles, so that I miss whatever else is flying by on-screen. Honestly, I think it isn't right to call it a 1-cour series - it's more like a 2-cour that's constantly playing at 2x speed.

BBB I've been meaning to watch. I know there's no chance it could ever have a decent ending, since it's a 12 episode adaption of an on-going manga series, but I've heard it's still fun to watch regardless. It's definitely agood way up on my "to-watch" list, but at the same time it's one of the first ones that keeps popping into my head whenever I think of "series that could've used more episodes"...

...

That said, that's certainly more than I thought of. I'm hoping Humanity Has Declined and Rage of Bahamut: Genesis both work out as well, I almost forgot I was watching those.

@Tsurii Can't believe I left out Paranoia Agent! I still haven't seen that but knowing Kon & my interests I'm very excited.

Well, yeah, of course I've seen Paranoia Agent, but that one's at least 2-cour, right?
checks wikipedia

What?! It was only 13 episodes?! What happened to the rest?! I mean...it sure as hell took me a full year to see every episode on Adult Swim...is there a second season under a different name?

I wouldn't say Erased fell on its face as much as it felt like they forced a second season story into the last 3 episodes, not realizing they could've just made more based on its popularity.

Short term thinking strikes again!

In this week's Imagine-Nation, they covered a manga called Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai!

It's the current serialization by the mangaka behind Shaman King (one I've heard of, but haven't read). It's set in a version of Japan's Feudal Era where cats have a human like civilization (though humans exist as well, and are seen as "gods" by the cats), where owned cats have privilege and oppress the nation's stray cats.

The main character is is a stray cat samurai (can't remember his name), though he carries a bell with him, indicating he was owned at one time. He often finds himself at odds with the owned cats, as they want him to work under them, but he won't have any of it.

The concept was inspired by the recent "Cat Boom" (?) in Japan, though instead of focusing on their cuteness, he wanted to focus on cats' cool wild side, shown by the sharp artstyle, and the main character's rugged appearance. This is his first serialization outside of a Shonen publication, so he has taken the opportunity to try a different direction.

It's getting an official release in North America this autumn, while European release plans are still in the works.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/06/24/triggers-lit...

important information

@kkslider6662000 The news is absolutely awesome! So the last episode of Luluco was today, which of course was lovely, energetic, and just a load of fun, but after the credits it came with the announcement that a LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA SHOW IS ON THE WAY!! Ahhh, excuse my excitement, but my hype is now through the roof. As I've said before Trigger has never disappointed me so far, and I've always hoped for a LWA Anime but never thought it would come...GAH

My little sister is also very excited, it's been great to watch these Trigger shows with her. (I even showed her a bit of Inferno Cop) She loves Ghibli & now Trigger too, she's also a big fan of Squid Girl, Chi's Sweet Home, One Piece, and Yona of the Dawn. Tis quite fun. I don't often get to watch anime with others, and the few of my friends who are also into anime, usually aren't also into the same stuff I am. It's just very cool to be able to pass down some of my interests and see her getting just as excited, if not more about this stuff as me. (I also have another sister, a bit older than my youngest who I was just mentioning, is going to be watching Evangelion soon, which has me excited of course)

Ah, I remember watching that little half hour Little Witch Academia thing a couple years ago & liking it.

A full series sounds like it could be good fun.

Oh God, Inferno Cop...there's not having a budget, and then there's..."Anime Derelicte"

@RR529 LWA was absolutely gorgeous, and for me at least really captured something similar to the magic of Ghibli. Very light-hearted, unique character designs, and really fluid animation. Trigger has a reputation for being a very low-budgeted studio, (Inferno Cop, KlK, and Luluco being the most mentioned examples) but a lot of their work (LWA Shorts 1 & 2, Kiznaiver, The Japan Animator Expo Shorts) actually shows how well & fluidly they can animate some pretty elaborate character designs. Even KlK & Luluco, which are often accused of looking cheap, have some stellar moments of movement, and much of the time limited animation is used it's done very stylishly & is well-directed.

@CanisWolfred iirc Inferno Cop was deliberately produced with the least amount of effort possible. As in, they decided they would only put a certain amount of work into it per week, and nothing more. It really shows, but they also had a fun time with it, the voice actors just completely cranking the ham up to 11. It's a silly little nothing show, but quite enjoyable in the right mindset.

Aggh! My Hero Academia had it's season finale tonight!

Here I was hoping it'd get a 24-26 episode season Hopefully, since it was only 13 episodes long, we get new episodes in the fall and won't have to wait until next spring. It really has been the standout show for me this season (though I haven't watched some of the shows mentioned here, like Luluco, or whatever it's called).

Well, Kawamori manage to end the first cour of Macross Delta with a bang. Top kek for Kawamori for ****ing with shippers:

What shows are people excited for in the Summer Season? While it doesn't look to be a crazily amazing season, there are more than a few shows with some real potential.

91 Days - This is the first original anime from the relatively new Shuka studio. (They've been responsible for the recent string of Durarara anime - seems they left Brain's Base a few years ago in order to make these Durarara sequels) It's going to be a mafia revenge story set in prohibition era New York, (does that ring any bells lol - it seems like the Shuka team did also work on Baccano back in the day too) and seems set to be a very interesting & different sort of show.

Orange - This show is a shoujo series with an intriguing premise - not to mention the director also did Steins Gate & Texhnolyze in the past. Could turn out very good.

Mob Psycho 100 - Studio Bones is adapting a comedy action series by One, the author of One-Punch Man. Could be a big hit.

Battery - A baseball series based on a novel (read - not a light novel) with a high quality director attached. Might be very good.

Amaama to Inazuma - A SoL comedy following a single Dad & his young daughter. Reminds me a bit of Yotsuba, this could be really cute.

TBH, there's not much in the summer season that's caught my eye.

Really only some mecha (or super robot) show called Regalia, though as it has no trailer, could go either way. There's also some fantasy looking thing with a really long Japanese name (I'd immediately know it if I saw it, but can't think the name off hand).

There was also a show called RS Project, but the last time I looked at the list of summer shows, it was no where to be seen.

May check out 91 Days, too.

That's putting it lightly. It's the Summer season, the kids gotta get ready for exams and enjoy their 4-week summer vacations, while the bosses gotta go to the beaches and Golf courts. Not really much point in going all out this season, and even the good stuff probably won't get really good until the Fall.

That said, the Berserk reboot looks great, though it'll probably spend the entire Summer Season recapping the Golden Age for the upteenth time. I'm also looking forward to trying D.Gray Man Hollow, since I never saw the first D.Gray Man adaption (it just kinda slipped by me somehow).

I will definitely try Mob Psycho 100, which does sound awesome and hilarious. I didn't even know it was another One comic, but now that makes total sense. I'll also probably try Qualidea Code, if only because it's made by A-1 Pictures, their stuff is usually entertaining, at least. And very pretty.

Lastly, there's Taboo Tattoo, which I might try to keep up with fan impressions to see if it's any good, or if it's just gonna be too...edgy with it's themes.

Oh yeah, and Orange sounds different from what I expected. Might keep an eye on that, too.

I was very fond of Hero Academia too. It didn't try to be particularly deep, complex or edgy, but it had a lot of heart and vibrancy. And some rather good scenes of people punching each other. It was like a big, comforting bowl of super-hero soup.

I liked Bungo Stray Dogs too. I'm not sure how much of that was due to simple pleasure of watching rangy, stylish people swan around in attractive coats, but it definitely had some memorable moments, and a nice collection of characters.

I have to admit, I also liked 'Sakamoto Desu Ga' far more than I should have done... It was like someone took the One Punch Man approach to 'perfect boys' anime. Sakamoto was just too perfect, and frequently broke the world with his untouchable class and elegance, in the most fantastical and stylish of ways. But then he always mended it, leaving it a sweeter and kinder place. God bless you Sakamoto.