Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Ugh, I can see why you stopped there, episode 4 was the first episode I'd ever call "boring". This series usually makes good use of its time, but this one just felt very padded, saying the same things repeatedly...I'll try episode 5, but if that isn't interesting either, I'm taking a break and watching something else.

Have you tried Shirobako yet Canis?

That's the anime about people making anime, right? I was interested, but I want to read the manga about people making manga, first. I'm still on the first chapter of that...reading is not my forte...

Has anyone else seen any of Death Parade?

Had lots of things going on today (preparing for our big Super Bowl party & all), so I had to miss Toonami tonight.

You know what's worse than Gundam Build Fighters being one big Gundam model advertisement loosely disguised as an actual entertainment product: The fact that it actually makes me want to part with my money. I seriously can't even look at a promo for this show anymore...

...on the plus side, I have some models to build now...too bad I don't have any place to put them...oh God help me...

Yeah, gave up on Sonico. When it becomes easy to pause and do a million more interesting things before eventually forgetting you were even watching the episode in the first place... that's definitely a sign to stop.

Thanks for the opinion on iM@S I'll keep that in mind.

Checking out Oreimo now since some people got into a conversation about it that piqued my interest. The anime itself is good so far but I'm having a hard time liking the sister outside of her dere moments, her brother is pretty cool so the amount of tsun towards him just comes off annoyingly b****y. I love the rest of the cast though, especially Kuroneko and Manami and her family are a hoot.

Manami is pure evil.

Checks out The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls on MAL. Sees the casting list of the show. Spots Hiromi Igarashi. WTF!? Yeeeeaahhh, I'm going to pass on watching it.

Haven't been this surprised since finding out about Norio Wakamoto being the voice of Edwin Black.

I'm watching it! 030 Only on episode 2 though. Madhousei s one of my favorite studios ever (possibly my favorite) and seeing their first original work is awesome.

Also, the latest chapter of One Piece was soooo good. ^^ As expected, but still, the way Chapter 775 capped off that fight was just so awesome and classically One Piece. Now it's time to move on to the final fights of the arc...too bad there's no chapter this week. ;; Oda deserves the rest though, even if it means we have to go without a chapter at least once a month. [spoilers]Seriously though, the Franky vs Senor Pink fight and the accompanying brief flashback were completely awesome. [/spoilers]

I've also started watching Durarara, and I have plans to watch Baccano soon too.

@Caniswolfred
To my understanding, don't you wait for arcs in One Piece to finish in the anime so you can marathon them? You must be made of much stronger stuff than me, after reading/watching Punk Hazard I can't imagine not diving straight into Dressrosa. Not to mention the long wait since the anime isn't close to caught up and the manga is only just now reaching the final fights. But trust me, its worth it, this arcs has been fantaaaaastiiiic! SUPER! Sugoi! My favorite of the New World so far, since you're a pretty big OP fan too I strongly think you won't be disappointed.

The wait has been driving me insane.

I've recently been trying to catch up with One Piece in the Dressrosa arc. I'm currently on episode 671 and it's been a pretty good arc so far, although I can't say I'm a fan of some of the character designs (specifically Rebecca), but eh, most of these characters will only be exclusive to this arc anyway. Here's hoping the upcoming fights are good!

I too have had some issue with some of the new women characters (specifically after Oda proved he could make much more varied designs during arcs like Amazon Lily) but I do love a lot of the new characters this arc, several of them easily my favorite from the New World. And I seriously doubt they'll only be around for just this arc, especially [spoilers]Bartolomeo and Cavendish!!![/spoilers] who just seem made to be more recurring characters. After all, they were/are both super rookies too, they have a pretty big presence, and make great additions to One Piece's enormous cast.

Not to mention that the whole arc kind of feels like a return to form with One Piece. I know a lot of people didn't like the FI Arc (I personally loved the setting and side characters, but I can see why people didn't enjoy it) because of the underwhelming fights, not to mention the literal years of hype built around FI. (It was first mentioned, albeit offhand, in the Baratie Arc, so yeah) And Punk Hazard was structured kind of differently from traditional One Piece Arcs. (That's not a bad thing at all, I really loved the way PH's plot kept things moving and went in a very different path from the usual) Dressrosa, however, feels like another "Alabasta" or "Water 7/Ennies Lobby" type of arc where we get an awesome setting, lots of exploration, great new characters, and of course the climactic battles. That said, it does still diverge in several areas from traditional OP structure, so I'm getting the feeling Oda is trying out some different things in that regard with the New World. (Always cool)

Overall, this arc has some of the best, if not the best flashbacks of the series, again, really great side characters, another highly imaginative and exciting setting, and quite possibly my favorite group of One Piece villains so far. (Seriously, the Donquixote Pirates are amazing. Oda's portrayal of Doffy himself in this arc has been fantastic too, keeping his psychopathic personality, while making him somewhat empathetic, but still leaving enough room to champion behind Law and Luffy with no real qualms) Overall, I don't want to overhype/oversell the arc, but at the very least it's best arc of the New World, and definitely ranks up there with the top arcs. Where it ultimately falls in comparison to the others is up to you, but for the awesome set-up Oda gave us, he's really delivered and given us an even more awesome arc.

I'm watching One Piece 2 episodes at a time with a break of 2-3 weeks in-between, which isn't ideal but it's doable. After this arc I'll probably just read the manga and wait for the new arc to finish.

But I agree, the new arc is fantastic. Great characters, interesting plot, silly stuff(reference to Master Roshi!) Loveable flashbacks. Funny as hell!

Sometimes the pacing is a bit off, but that's probably because of the Anime sometimes failing in this department more than anything else.

@Sergio151, I can't speak for Sgt. Frog, as I haven't seen it, but I do know that Shin Chan was drastically changed when localized.

In Japan, Shin Chan is as much of a kids' show as Pokémon, but in the west, they trurned it into a raunchy comedy on the level of South Park & the like.

Who knows. Maybe people interested in the original version were disappointed in how it was localized, maybe it got lost in the sea of other adult comedies on AS, maybe it just kind of came off as "off" (since it wasn't intended to be this way), or maybe a combination of all three.

Shin Chan and Sgt. Frog both did do well in the States, all things considered, but yeah, both were drastically altered (for the better) in order to have western appeal.

Why exactly do people still watch One Piece? I mean its for the little kiddies man. Its the same sh*t every arc, land on this island, get stronger, fight the bad guy, no one dies, and bam, next island. How is that good at all? The characters are generic and clichéd with 0% development, speaking of development the plot never moves forward overall, except like a few inches every other year. The "plots" (if you can call them that) are made from the same basic outline, the settings and powers contrived and stupid. Not to mention its full of idiocy, fanservice, and catering to the lowest common denominator. Seriously, the series has never delivered, and seems to be going down hill (hard to believe it was possible to get worse, but some how the author does a bang up job) anyway. Why does any one still read/watch it? Like come on, why don't you just "jump ship." (Seriously though, the author misused a pretty cool idea actually, pirates, pirate kings, a huge hidden treasure? Awesome stuff, but handled so amateurishly, and padded out for so long, and taking such a ridiculous/nonsensical route ruins any of the realistic, swashbuckling, bloody, and deep potential this thing had. I stopped caring way back when the merman pissed of Ruffy) Just so kiddy and full of contrivances. I hate it. This type of shonen sh*t has to go, I mean Naruto, Fairy Tale, and Bleach are bad, but One Piece is on a whole different level.

get out

Because it's actually consistantly good and only gets better as it goes. I mean, normally I'd have the same reaction kkslider had, but since you failed to actually explain your opinion despite all that garbled text you wrote, I don't think it's even worth getting offended over...

if I was offended, I would've tried harder

also, no one likes elitists, and that includes "HOW DARE YOU LIKE DUMB SHOWS EVEN WHEN THE DUMB STUFF IS WELL MADE AND SELF-AWARE, YOU PLEBIANS"