Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Oh yeah, freaking best example of a train wreck ending in an anime that I can think of. I knew vaguely what was coming but after actually watching the end my jaw was still open as I gaped at the images I was seeing.

...Totally going to buy the upcoming game release though! Can't wait!

While I haven't seen the anime, I've heard about it and learned about the ending. Personally I think the ending is brilliant in its own twisted way. The ending is basically a "Screw you!" to anyone who wanted a boring and dull high-school romance comedy.

Ok, so I've seen a few episodes of Haruhi. I've seen the melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan, and I've seen random clips on YouTube. I've never actually seen season one. I know there's two orders the show aired in. Which one am I suppose to watch it in? Which one will give me the tiniest bit is sense? Is it reaally worth watching?

@cmm_nintendo yeah, I saw it. It's definitely messed up.

My thoughts exactly.

So I started watching Baccano!, and well...it is as it was described: It's so bloody and gory that it makes me want to puke sometimes, and it was really confusing. Overall, I'd say this is a pretty terrible way to set up a show. I'll try giving it a few more episodes so I can see if it gets better.

I also realized I forgot to mention here that I watched all of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal a while back: It was really, really good. The story was a bit hard to follow at first, but it all came together towards the end, and really hit home. Most of the characters that were in it were great, though I kept feeling like I should recognize some characters from the show, but I didn't, and the voice acting, both English and Japanese, could've used some work. Not to mention it was gorgeous, though there was a lot of blood and gore. The music was great without exception, though I wish there was an opening song of some sort. Most of my problems with it are mostly knitpicks, though. Overall it was a great watch.

@GundamMac I'm sorry that you aren't enjoying Baccano; I only just started rewatching it the other day and had forgotten exactly how gruesome it could be (and it doesn't really ease up as it goes along). I do think the show becomes easier to follow once you're a few episodes in, but it's pretty chaotic and you're thrown right into deep-end from the get-go, which I realize is hard to stomach for a lot of people. You might still like Durarara though, considering the plot is mostly shown in chronological order, each episode tends to focus in on certain characters and you don't have to keep track of the show's equally huge cast of characters all of the time, so it's easier to keep up with what's going on. And there's nowhere near as much blood either.

Whichever way you choose to watch it, I'd say the show's definitely worth seeing at least once. I watched them in broadcast (Kyon) order, which I think makes more sense for the show emotionally and dramatically. I'm sure the chronological (Haruhi) order is perfectly enjoyable too and it might be a little easier to follow, but they didn't air the episodes in the order that they did by mistake.

To say School Days was messed up is an understatement o-o.
Anyway I have watched Haruhi Suzumiya in the chronological order and enjoyed it. I know about the broadcast order and all but had I watched it in that order I probably would've been quite confused, so in my opinion watch it in the chronological order but your choice Just an FYI if you're going to watch the series make sure to watch the movie afterwards. It's a great movie.

I watched it in broadcast order and its my second favourite anime (second to Reborn). I agree with cnm_nintendo about watching the movie after you've seen all 28 episodes, its excellent!

Takes Notes

I will say about Baccano! that there's one scene I hated because it felt like it was there for shock value and nothing else. Episode 10 or 11 I think.

I just finished watching Mushi Shi and liked it a lot. The only thing I didn't particularly like was the finale, even though I thought it was one of the best episodes, it didn't feel like a satisfying conclusion. What do you guys who have seen it think?

Mushi-Shi is a big favorite of mine.

I know what you're saying about the final episode feeling more like just another episode instead of an ending to the story, but I'm not sure that a firm conclusion was ever going to be necessary. Each episode was self-contained and very few characters aside from Ginko appeared more than once, so it's not like there were many plot threads that needed to be wrapped up.

This is literally my only reasons for not watching it.

I know there wasn't an overall story that needed a conclusion... But I think they could have done something more satisfying as it was the last time we would ever see the main character. It never felt like we had a chance to say good bye, so to speak, especially since Ginko was barely even in the finale. Still a great series overall, any suggestions as to what I should see next RevolverLink?

EDIT: @ kkslider, the main character is always traveling and in each episode he helps different people out. There is a bit of an overall story as the mystery behind the mushi is slowly revealed as is the main character's back story. There is enough of a connection between episodes that it all does flow together nicely. I would definitely recommend it.

oh well that's good. Outside of some comedy anime, I so don't watch anime that don't have some sort of continuing storyline.

I probably would have tried the series regardless because I've heard so many good things about it.

Anyone here ever watch Samurai Champloo? By far my favorite anime ever. _Ever.

I'm half way through part one of Shikabane Hime and I must say it's great stuff. Some great comedy moments in it, which I wasn't really expecting.

meh?

It's a decent show, hip hop + samurai = awesome of course. But I mostly just thought it was good (but not particularly great) stories each episode (with a few bad and one or two great episodes) with average, overdone characters. Oh he's the loud angry fighting one, oh he's his equal but is the quiet, seemingly nice intellectual, oh she's the clever but usually in trouble one. Oh, they go on a journey but at the end they are friends. Oh yeah there's a story (4 of the last 6 episodes). Neat?

The actual use of hip hop and anything more modern in the series (especially the music) was great and fun but the stories and characters were just average and I can't remember anything particularly great or remotely original about them. Honestly, I'd be surprised if a ton of people remember that much beyond "that anime that was Samurais with Hip Hop"

Oh, I never finished Shikabane Hime. Or is it different from Shikabane Hime AKA? I watched up to episode 12 or something then forgot about it. Lol Kind of want to finish it.

Maybe for you. I found Fu to be a very likeable (yet attractive), character. She's actually fairly funny and I find every time she's kidnapped to be clever. Mugen is ridiculously awesome. He's loud and hilarious. The way he is portrayed is something anyone would like. His fights are always interesting and his power and cockiness isn't overshadowed by any character in anime, period. Jean is by far my favorite. Inadvertently, to me, he is definitely the funniest. His mellow toned voice and the spamming of "hmm." sets him far away from Mugen and Fu. His power and agility compared to Mugen is barely superior. Yet all of his fights and dialogue is pure anime goodness through and through.

The art style is immense too. Japan looks awesome with vibrant colors everywhere. On a number of occasions I just thought to myself how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful country. The hip hop music was nice too. It was sort of the cherry on top. Perfect show, IMHO.

@nickcarney It depends on what you're looking for. It's hard to recommend something that's similar to Mushi-Shi, because it's a pretty unique and special show. But Usagi Drop (adorable, gorgeous, slice-of-life), Planetes (hard science-fiction, engrossing storyline, deep character study, examination of world problems) and Gurren Lagann (giant robots, balls-to-the-wall lunacy and machismo) are all a few series that, although very different from each other (and Mushi-Shi), I'd recommend to a lot of anime fans that haven't seen them yet.