Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Almost finished with season 2 of Code Geass, now. It kinda makes me mad when people compare it to Death Note, though. It's nothing like Death Note, except the fact that it's awesome.

That's how most sites are, since they all use the same 4 sites that have similar restrictions, which are purposely meant to ensure you'll want to pay money to watch it somehow. Personally, I'd just bear through it. It' helps you pace yourself. After all, Do you really need to watch the whole series in one day?

As for the pacing, while I haven't watched Gantz (ad probably never will), if English class has taught me anything, it's usually good literary technique to use the beginning to introduce the characters plot and setting, instead of just getting things going right from the getgo. Honestly, I've watched shows like that, and it's terrible - it's easy to get lost, things are happening that you don;t understand, and you don't have a reason to care because you don't know who any of these characters are. If I were you, I'd just bear through it and be happy that you still understand what's going on.

Oh, and just a note, I've been watching The Zeta Gundam movie trilogy, A New Translation, and it's been fantastic so far. Zeta Gundam itself is a classic and a must-watch, and the movies do a pretty good job of condensing the plot for those who don't want watch a 50 episode television series. It also makes some interesting and sometimes drastic changes to help keep things flowing smoothly, so it'll still feel fresh and interest for those who are already familiar with the plot. The plot rarely feels rushed, although there are times where a scene felt like it was trimmed a bit too much and can leave you a bit confused at first, but it rarely ever becomes a problem. I'd also like to note that the characters aren't developed as well as they were in the TV Series, particularly Jerid and even Camille. It doesn't really make the movie any less enjoyable, especially if you've never seen the series, but it still needs to be mentioned. Overall, it's very highly recommended, especially to Mecha fans.

I just wrapped up an old favorite, Onegai Teacher.

Really good romantic comedy-based anime, it isn't all that cheesy, but it is a refreshing show to watch whenever you have free time.

I thought the English voice cast was very good, although honestly, the anime series as a whole is far less enjoyable than the manga. The anime just has way too much filler, and I usually like filler.

I forgot about Onigai Teacher. That was the show I've been meaning to add to my "To Watch" List. Thanks for the reminder, man.

Oddly enough, I actually have seen a lot of those shows (in bits and pieces at least), and honestly, the only one I really liked was .hack//Sign, despite the fact that it embodies a lot of things that I usually really dislike in a story. Still, several of those shows I still respect despite my dislike, particularly Ah! My G-ddess and Ghost in the Shell. Certainly we're opposite in our opinions, though I'm definitely considering giving Sol Bianca a watch, though I think I'd prefer the original animation over the modernized remake.

Oh, and I'll probably give Yakitate!! Ja-Pan a look at some point, since it seems pretty cute.

More like Astro Boy with an awesome storyline. Damn, I really need to finish that show someday.

When did I say that? Not that I'm complaining, I just can't find it.

[quote="Dragoon"]

I thought the English voice cast was very good, although honestly, the anime series as a whole is far less enjoyable than the manga. The anime just has way too much filler, and I usually like filler.
Although Bleach is a great anime, I agree that it has too much filler.

Oi, a moving piece o' work right there. Sad to see him go, even if I'm not a particular fan of his work.

Oh, and I watched Code Geass from start to finish today. Luckily I was in a better state of mind for it, so I was more able to enjoy it, though I'm not sure if I should bother with R2. I didn't like the change of style and pacing towards the end, though I know it was meant to make it more "mature", the lack of maturity was what made it so charming in the first place, IMO. Granted, maybe it's just because I watched that part during the day when I was no longer in the right state of mind? Who knows. Overall, I can see the appeal, and I enjoyed it, but I won't recommend it, because I can see why I hated it before, and on any other day of the week, I still would've hated it. It relies far too heavily on shock imagery and stark contrast to pound its messeges into people's heads, it has of large cast but most of them are generic, unrealistic, and unlikeable - particularly Lelouch and Suzuki. Oh, and nearly every episode ends on an effing cliffhanger. Ah yes, and the sexual innuendo, or "fan service", was downright horrid and offensive, especially regarding Kallen. Oh, and royal family just seemed a little too...close, if you catch my drift.

Still, it does have it's good points that I've come to appreciate: Despite Lelouch being a *********, Zero is actually very interesting, and it's fascinating to see what he does. The story is very focused and well paced with very little filler, and while it can be confusing, it's rarely ever convoluted or needlessly complex. They also rarely waste much time fleshing out the dull, generic characters - despite the large supporting cast, the main cast is small and well fleshed out without ever losing momentum. Also, while much of the show is belligerent and over the top, it does has a great deal of subtlety and symbolism that keep it interesting and thoughtful. The Mech designs are fun to watch, even if they are relatively afterthoughts (which is actually a plus, IMO), and their implementation in this series makes the show feel like a counterpoint to Gundam SEED, for better or for worse (probably for the better because from what I remember, Gundam SEED sucked pretty hard). It also should be noted that while SEED had some of the sexiest machines known to mankind, they're ultimately impractical in context and in practice, whereas Code Geass had some pretty ugly mechs that generally wound up being very practical. It reminds me more of Gundam Wing in that sense, which is always a good thing. I also like how it leaves many of its absurdities and technologies unexplained, so you can wonder about it if you really care, and let everyone else just enjoy the show.

In the end, I guess I found Code Geass to be enjoyable to watch, though it's still far from my favorite show, and I still have little respect for it, since its negatives are still pretty major in my opinion. Upon reflection, it's hard to see how I bared through it so easily. I'll probably never watch it again. Still, I am looking forward to its appearance in Super Robot Wars, just to prove that the Gundam is indeed better than the Lancelot. XD

You hit on a lot of good points in your thoughtful evaluation, in both its pros and cons (although I didn't find the cons to be that big a deal, as you seemed to) and liked it very much.

R2 (season 2) is great and has some beautifully tragic deaths. WHile it may seem generic or forced to kill charatcers off, I thought R2 did a good job, as rarely does an anime bring me to tears, yet R2 did it several times. Especially the last minutes of the last episode. I recommend it, even though there's an AWFUL episode (even IMO) when LeLouch and his Mother/The King storyline is wrapped up (around R2 episode 20ish) that just came off as stupid. Skipping that, and the awkward first episode (of R2) its nearly perfect.

I know what you're talking about there (I cheated and looked it up), and IMO, it makes sense and has been implied in someway throughout the series, and isn't anymore stupid than anything else in this stupid show.

Oof...

The damn B****** was right. R2 was damn near perfect. Yeah, it was a little slippery at the beginning, but overall, it was pretty friggin' good, and it fixed damn near everything that was wrong with the original while improving the good and adding plenty of new, all of which was exceptional. The ending in particular was glorious, and I have a feeling it'll be my favorite ending to any show for years to come.It was a shear torrent of delicious tragic irony, and I enjoyed every second of it. It alone would make up for how crappy the first part was, if the rest of the second part hadn't done so already. I'm really glad I watched it. R2 alone makes it one of the best shows I've ever seen, though it wouldn't be complete without Part 1. Thanks, Blaster.^_~

Glad I could help and even more glad you wound up enjoying it so much.
_{Also, i like being "right."}

I myself finally got half of R2 on DVD this week, and searching for good deals on the other half. (R2 is needlessly expensive. Season 1 was about $80 for the 6 DVDs, while R2 will wind up being over $100 or even over $125 for its 4 packs.)

Glad to see you enjoyed Code Geass R2, MickeyMac. It's surprising that you didn't enjoy the first season as much as the second since almost everyone agrees that the first season was the best. Code Geass is definitely my favorite anime, and every other anime show I've seen has never been able to match it's amazingness... Did you like the ending? It got some pretty negative reception for the ending, but I found it to be great. D:

Good job Objection, I was actually looking around for the first season and found the entire first season set for 30$! I'm definitely going to get it eventually.

Considering the fact that Code Geass part 1 was specifically meant to appeal teenages, whereas part 2 was meant to appeal to adults with a mature sense of taste, I can certainly see why your average anime fan couldn't appreciate R2. Just the same, I wouldn't expect a high school student to be able to appreciate Shakespeare.

Finally found a quality recording of Gundam 00 (on Youtube of all places). I've been resisting it for ages, but I know it's been popular, and I really wanted to believe it was good. Now that I've seen it, I have to say that it's one of the worst Gundam shows I've seen (though far from being a bad show in and of itself). Or at the very least it's the worst first episode I've seen and I'm already turned off by it. None of the main characters were introduced, nor did it really do much to establish establish the world they're in. All it really did was establish the goals of Celestial Being, who made themselves the enemy of the entire world. I hope Gundam Unicorn turns out better than this. I'm starting to loss faith in this series.

Elfen Lied and Death Note are just brilliant; others I love include; wolfs rain, blue seed, ghost in a shell, seven ghosts, skip beat is hillarious at times - and does quite a nice story behind it. That's all I can think of the moment, would love another series with the psychology of Elfen Lied / Death Note.

Hey, I'm looking for some anime with good stories. I know that's a bit too broad, but truth be told, I don't even know quite what I'm looking for right now. In fact, I'm feeling quite open minded today, so really, just list what you can and I'll look into them.

Have you seen Baccano yet?

Air
Kanon (2006)
Clannad
Clannad _{After Story}

You can thank me later!