Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Just finished up The Sacred Blacksmith. (this is actually something I had started watching earlier this year but got distracted. Started over from the beginning since it's only 12 episodes long).

It's pretty decent if you're looking for something with a bit more of a traditional medieval fantasy vibe. It looks nice, has good character & world design, though it'd benefit if it had more episodes (it had too many plot strings left unresolved).

It's not fantastic, but if you can put up with some brief fanservice every other episode or so, it's worth a shot.

Started up Mobile Suit Gundam 00 tonight, and it already has me hooked. I watched some of it 5 or 6 years ago back when it was on Sci-Fi's now defunct Ani-Monday block, but I missed how it ended. Looking like an interesting show.

I'm starting to feel like the Perfect Insider is the first season of a much longer and better anime. Unfortunately, that longer series is clearly never going to happen.

Hey guys! It's been a long time since I posted here! I've thought about posting again before but I finally decided I had the time & wanted to - so hullo!

Recently I've been getting back into anime after a long spell without it. I kinda marathoned the last half of Jojo Part 3 and I'm totally in the Jojo Hype mode atm - I cannot wait for the anime of Diamond is Unbreakable this spring! (Reading through the manga atm because I just can't wait lol - started a few days ago and am loving it so far)

Also as you might be able to ascertain from my profile pic I've also started watching Revolutionary Girl Utena. VERY different show from Jojo lol but I'm adoring it so far and can't wait to watch more.

Sooo how have you all been? lol

@ChaoticBull: I'm up to do date with the manga too - although for the sake of everyone on here I won't be specific - I'll just say that I'm really loving the current arc. The new setting is fantastic too it feels like a breath of fresh air after so long in Dressrosa - don't get me wrong I loved that arc too and the climax was exhilirating but I do think there are some places it could have been cut down a bit.

@Emaan If you're still interested in "talking HxH" (lol) I'd let you know that HxH is easily in my "Top 3" Battle Shounen (One Piece Jojo HxH) which aren't really ranked - they keep shifting about usually dependent on which I've just read/watched the most of lol. Even though it's been OVER A YEAR (whyyyyyy) since the last chapter I'm still veeeery interested to see what's going on with The Dark Continent. Of course...after Berserk spent a decade "on the boat" (I heard they recently got off lol) and with HxH's worse Hiatuses...I kind of wonder when/if Togashi comes back & if we finally board the ships for the DC - what if we wind up with a similar situation as that series Yeesh lol. Still there's so much unanswered stuff like Gyro - What Kurapika did to obtain all those eyes - What the Phantom Troop is up to - All this crazy Dark Continent Stuff - catch-ups on some side characters like Melody Bisky Zushi Wing etc - And of course Gon (personally I'd like to see him stay without his nen that'd be a really bold thing to do with a shounen)

Coincidence, I've also been watching Utena. I like calling the series "The Death of Subtlety" just based on Opening alone.

Japan is really ahead of us sometimes.

Ooh, I've just found out there's gonna be a Ace Attorney anime.

Utena is a fantastic show. Probably my second favorite from Ikuhara (my favorite will always be Sailor Moon, though). Be sure to watch the gorgeous and bonkers film adaptation of Utena when you finish, if you haven't done so already. The layers of symbolism and unabashed weirdness in it rivals some of David Lynch's work.

I'm watching Junjou Romantica right now. What a... special show. I wish it wasn't so difficult to find a yaoi anime that can be enjoyed in an unironic way (last one I found that I really, genuinely enjoyed was Love Stage).

As for manga, I'm reading Pretty Face and Kiss Him, Not Me. They're both very strange and borderline offensive stories, yet both of them are so oddly enjoyable!

Hey all! I'm nearly done with Utena - at episode 30 - and this might be climbing towards my favorite anime ever...idk lol. I'm thinking after Utena I might watch Ouran Highschool Host Club, Kino's Journey, or maybe Serial Experiments Lain, again not quite sure. But I am loving Utena quite a bit. (Might help that I actually do like David Lynch too haha)

Also does @Caniswolfred come on here much anymore? I loved talking with him back in the day & I also noticed that there was recently an official release of Mobile Suit Gundam on Blu Ray in the US. (I remember way back when I first came here the Bandai releases had just fallen out of print & after most of their catalog was sold, Gundam was still untouched) That news actually reminded me of him, since he's such a big Gundam fan & I thought the info would have excited him. So yeah lol.

Speaking of licensing, I also realized that Hunter x Hunter 2011 got picked up by Viz a few months ago, (I've been out of the anime loop for a few months tbh) and I'm really excited to see it getting a DVD/Blu Ray release with a new dub. (Maybe this could mean a Toonami release...PLEASE lol) On the topic of dubs - I've checked out bits of the Jojo dub and it seems excellent so far. I'll be happy to pick that up.

Canis left a while ago for some personal reasons.

I will say, episode 12 of Utena is the most recent one I've watched, and is now maybe one of my favorite episodes of any anime. But lolololol at the reviews I've read talking about "subtle metaphors". pffft, ok, sure

GEE A GIRL WHO FOR THE FIRST TIME ACTUALLY WEARS A GIRL'S UNIFORM AND IS FORCING HERSELF TO BE "NORMAL" BECAUSE SHE LONGER CAN BE WITH A GIRL THAT IS LITERALLY CALLED A BRIDE WHAT DOES THAT MEAN I WONDER

GEE YOU PULL A SWORD OUT OF THE BRIDE'S CHEST AND THEN THE DUDE THAT TOOK HER MAKES HER KISS HIS SWORD WHILE SHE IS ON HER KNEES AND IT POWERS THE SWORD UP, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN I WONDER, WHAT COULD THAT SWORD POSSIBLY BE A REPRESENTATION OF

SO GLAD THEY ARE SUBTLY PUTTING IN THOSE METAPHORS

That's not a criticism of the series at all, for the record. In fact, I love that about it. But it is not subtle. XD

lol I'd definitely agree. Well somewhat lol. I think there's definitely some subtlety going on in the series (moreso as the show goes on) but it's also silly to ignore the intentionally obvious and even ridiculous aspects of the show. (Like the surreal/absurdest humor is great - I love the nanami episodes)

Magi is a manga/anime worth checking out. I like it so far and the world is very imaginative. Has a bit of Zelda feel in it clearing dungeons and all that special magic.

@Socar, I've actually been meaning to check that one out.

I'll probably get around to it eventually.

This exists:

Finally finished up Gundam 00 (well, the first series anyhow)!

It was really quite a good time (even if sad in places). It reminded me a lot of the types of anime I grew up watching, with a lot of "real world" references/interaction (with actual real world governments playing a large part in the whole ordeal), which made it a real treat (plus, the animation, action, and story were all good as well). I'm actually really intrigued where they'll take it in the second season, but I'll take a bit of a break from it for now.

With DBZ being the big exception, I thought it was really cool growing up, how all the popular anime (or the ones that left an impact on me, at least) had real world connections, whether it be as an alternate version of real world past or future (Kenshin, Evangelion, G Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell) complete with references to real word people/events/organizations, or if it was set in a fantasy world/other worlds, the main character(s) had to juggle that with their daily mundane life in Tokyo (InuYasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tenchi Muyo!). Thanks to those connections, character/world design was never too silly (the occasional case of "anime hair" usually being the only potential offender), and it added a level of realism to the genre that western cartoons didn't really have, and is a big reason why anime stood out in the first place, IMO.

I know I'll get heavy resistance on this point, but I think those connections are part of what make anime what it is, and while I find some of these new anime fun (like One Piece, Soul Eater, Akame ga Kill, & Kill la Kill, which is sort of set in the real world, but they go ridiculously silly anyways), without serious real world connections to tone them down, they just don't truly feel like anime, IMO. Gundam 00 had that feeling all over though (as well as Sword Art Online, which is probably why it's my favorite of the anime that have premiered in the last few years, despite some odd story decisions).

Winter 2016 season is looking pretty hot.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi should be good. I knew it as The Town Where Only I am Missing, which is kind of a mouthful, so the official English title ERASED is surely an improvement. The manga is fantastic though, one of the best reads I've had. Great mystery thriller with a supernatural twist. The author's other books Hohzuki Island and Cradle of Monsters were also really good horror stories. Apparently before those, he did hentai though, so... I dunno I guess he got tired of that and decided to write some super cool stuff. Cradle of Monsters did have some seemingly random, out-of-place nudity and questionable "camera" angles, so the background isn't hard to believe.

Also, Kizumonogatari first movie is out in a couple weeks.

aboutdamntime.gif

Just watched an episode of "Glitter Squad" on Netflix, and I have to say, I haven't seen such a butcher job of a localization since the 90s and early 2000s.

I was never a huge fan of Smile Precure, but it certainly deserves better than this!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-01-01/netflix-adds-...

So Detective Conan is on Netflix. That's cool.

@kkslider5552000: Ah that is really cool - I've wanted to get into that for a while. How much of the show is on there?

Also I just watched Adolescence of Utena....
I was able to get most of the show but this movie...I think I need to rewatch that lol. I loved it but it definitely reminds me of when I saw End of Evangelion...almost 3 years ago. (WOW) lol. So I think it's settled - Utena is my favorite anime ever...probably XD

I finished up Sengoku Musou (Samurai Warriors) tonight.

It's pretty average in all regards, but it's pretty short, so if you're really into the games or the feudal Japanese setting in general, it might be worth a look.

Just like the games, while the key figures have larger than life capabilities, the history behind the story is based off of actual Japanese history, which is cool.