Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

IGN doesn't talk about anime anymore last I checked. Not since the Anime section tanked back in 2007.

I just watched the first episode of Toriko...and I have to say, compared to the manga chapter this episode was based on, I'm pretty disappointed. They condensed it a little too much, to the point where they sacrificed some incredibly awesome jokes (i.e. Toriko lighting a branch on fire with his fingers...and then smoking it!) all for the sake of exposition that wasn't told quite as effectively. In their defense, though, the chapter in question was 2-3 times as long as a normal chapter, so there was a lot to tell, and they couldn't make it a two-parter. It was also still very entertaining. Seeing all the crazy action in motion was indeed spectacular, and I still love the looks of the monsters, and of course, the food they wind up as. I should also mention that I watched it dubbed, and the voice acting was great. Toriko's voice actor seems to do a lot of the tough guys in anime, and he really fits as Toriko in my opinion.

And I watched two more episodes of Fairy Tail yesterday. While it's definitely trying more than it was before, it's still not coming off as anything more than mild entertainment. Most of the jokes still don't work, there's still no long-term goal, and the little stories are still uninteresting. There's finally some character development, but it's poorly excecuted...the only thing I really like are the fights since they're unpredictable, but that's mostly due to them having powers with no reasonable limits at this point, resulting in battles that are heavily flash-over-substance, Latter-half-of-DBZ style - Visually interesting, but not engaging for the viewer. I was only watching it again because I was bored, but it didn't quite help in that regard.

@CanisWolfred

I've never watched Fairytail but I've read most of the manga. I've stopped reading it for the moment because I honestly couldn't take the manga seriously. The heavy use of fanservice is borderline ridiculous! I do however love the magical aspect. It's better than Hiro Mashima's previous work. In comparison, Fairytail is 100x better than Rave Master.

I'm actually liking Rave Master way more. Sure, Rave Master was forgettable, but at least it had ambition. It had a premise and a desire to last. Fairy Tail to stop at the end of almost any arc I've encountered so far, and really wouldn't matter. It's not like they set up a lot of stuff that would go unresolved. It just feels like a side project that got popular, so now the writer is forced to flesh it out. Not like something that has a lot of heart and passion put into it like a lot of other good shounen anime. And if the creator isn't passionate about it, I find it hard to become passionate about it as well.

Anyways, I ended up buying the first volume of Toriko. I look forward to reading it soon.

Alright, I'm sold; Blast of Tempest is quite awesome. The first season was sub-par, but everything in the second season is cool, awesome, or just weird enough for me to like.

Funny, I keep hearing the opposite - The first season was great, but the second season has been sub-par. But I guess I'll find out for myself once I finally get around to watching it.

@CansisWolfred
Ever read Ghost in the Shell?

I have not, nor have I seen the Anime and various movies. I keep meaning to get around to that. There's a new movie series coming soon, too...

@CanisWolfred
I've red bits of the manga, and it's pretty great from what I can tell, but I'm not that fit to judge as I haven't read/watched that much.

To be fair, I've only met one person who didn't love the series. That person happens to disagree with pretty much everybody on everything.

@CanisWolfred
One of THOSE people I assume?

I don't believe the GitS manga follows the same story in either of the anime series, but I'm not sure, as I haven't read it.

I've enjoyed both movies, and both anime series, though (and if you like them, you might want to try out the Appleseed movies, which were created by the same guy).

@RR529
Haven't seen/read them either, but a good friend has watched both, and read it. He's told me about the difference.

Also, anybody seen Fullmetal Alchemist? I'm starting to watch it.

More like who among us hasn't seen it?

@CanisWolfred
Hehe....

anyone saw the last episode of Psycho-pass, or Boku wa tomodachi?

@Mewtwo21
Nope, never heard of them.

I decided Squid Girl deserved to be my avatar again.
I found a super cute SG this time x3.

I keep hearing Psycho-Pass has been good the whole way through, but...I hear it's not for the faint of heart. I am the faint of heart (unless it's Berserk, where I can suddenly handle seeing tons of blood...). Boku wa Tomo-whatsit isn't my thing, either, even though I've heard it's quite the pleasant surprise.

Psycho-Pass...
What is it about exactly? I mean, I probably wont watch it.
But I would like to know for reference purposes x3.