Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

...Well? What are you waiting for!?
Join the Squid Army! Squid Girl would sure be happy.

Meet your new best friend. Bookmark it, favorite it, make love to it, do whatever you need to do to remember to go here every time you hear about an anime you never heard of. They have a search bar in the top right. Have fun.

Erm, this is embarassing, but it seems they changed their Gurren Lagann description to something that doesn't even begin to describe the plot. I'll just copy the one from the official website:

This is the story of a man who has yet to realize what destiny holds in store for him….

In the distant future, mankind has lived quietly and restlessly underground for hundreds of years, subject to earthquakes and cave-ins. Living in one such village are 2 young men: one named Simon who is shy and naïve, and the other named Kamina who believes in the existence of a “surface” world above their heads. The destiny of these two starts moving drastically when the ceiling of their village falls in, and a gigantic “Gunmen” and a beautiful girl named Yoko, wielding a superconductive rifle, come from the surface. Together, Kamina, Simon and Yoko ride the mecha “Lagann” that Simon digs out of the ground, and fly up to the surface!

Even that's not the best decription, but it's really hard to say more without spoiling what makes this show so great. It's changes a lot, with plenty of shifts in tone and style, while never feeling disjointed. In fact, it feels like a natural progression. It has a reputation of being one of the most epic and inspiring shows out there, and I really think it'd be impossible to do a show like that justice with a summary.

Now how am I going to watch this?

Just finished up watching Macross: Do You Remember Love? (subbed), on YouTube!

I can't compare it to the original series (as I haven't seen it), but I thought it was pretty cool. Especially considering how old it is, the animation & action were great. My favorite part has to be when the alien soldiers were scared out of their wits because of a doll, lol.

I just finished FMA Brotherhood episode 18.
Holy crap, every episode they pack so much storyline in. Way too much to comprehend x3.
As I have stated a long time ago, Lust is super annoying. I STRONGLY dislike her.
So this episode made me super happy.

Unless you want to shell out $50 for the last remaining Bandai copies, or are rich enough to get the new Aniplex version, you pretty much have no choice but to watch it illegally. I suggest a dub-only place so you get the official version, and to experience one of the best dubs in anime history.

@CanisWolfred
Is the dub really THAT good? I'll try to find it, but IDK whether I'll think it's the best anime I've seen, cause Death Note and FMA are fantastic, Bleach is pretty good but it's by no means on the same level in my book, Shojo Cosette is fun as is Birdy the Mighty Decode, and I'm just about to start Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex. So I dunno if it will match the former two shows, or the last. (Also, a while back you mentioned a board for American Cartoons, but I haven't seen it probably due to inactivity...)

Finished reading vol. 17 of Bakuman! That was really exciting! The best part of reading Bakuman is the motivation it gives me to work on my own series. I can't believe I'm almost done with the series. It's gonna be real sad to see it go.

Bleach, yes, but Naruto and especially One Piece actually have some entertaining filler. Plus, unless you're anal-retentive, you don't have to watch the episodes that are specifically filler, and I've yet to see a One Piece episode where the added scenes didn't add to the quality of the show. I actually can't stand reading the manga because it's missing some of my favorite parts from the anime. Also, everytime the Shichibukai do something awesome and this music doesn't play, I die a little inside. The anime are worth watching for the music alone.

Agreed. That said, I usually only buy anime if it has giant robots in it, which is why I'm so upset they got Valvrave (the next anime from the writer of Code Geass and Guilty Crown) and Gurren Lagann (though I own that already, so I'm technically good, but still...now no one else gets to see it legally).

@CanisWolfred
What is it about mecha that makes it your favorite anime genre?

Oh wait, Valvrave is being streamed by Crunchyroll. It's all good.

Honestly, I'm just obsessed with Giant Robots, and daydream about them at least once a day, regardless of the last time I watched a mecha/super robot anime. That said, Mecha used to be a deeper, more down to earth genre with strong character development and intriguing stories, with heavy, well thought-out fights that prove an actual danger to the main characters. That went out the Window the day Gundam Wing proved that you just need pretty boys in super-stylized robots swatting their enemies like flies, and nothing else matters. Not to say they aren't right, since that has been more than enough to propell shows like Gundam SEED and Code Geass into stardom, but would be nice if we had more mature, well-thought out shows again. The only recent ones we've had were Eureka Seven and Gundam UC.

Of course, please note that you said "mecha", which is a different genre from "super robot". If anything, Mecha has become more like Super Robot, and super robot more like mecha, ever since Evangelion decided to blur the lines between them. Super Robot was always meant to be super fun shows, with not much plot and character development, focusing more on the over-the-top fights. These days, though, you see more Super Robot shows like Gurren Lagann and Getter Robo Amageddon, which are still fun, but have deeper stories and character development, and even some shows like Dai-Guard, which has far more subdued action, even compared to modern mecha shows.

I liked the second half of Soul Eater. :/ It wasn't as good as the Manga, but I wouldn't call it bad. Anyways, I can see what you're saying, but I still feel strongly that the anime versions are always better, at least to me. With the exception of Toriko, I've never enjoyed a Manga version as much as an anime, especially action anime. I don't see how anyone can stand seeing action as a bunch of still frames. I absolutely need the motion to get the full impact from it. I only read a manga if I care for the story more than the action, since I usually just skim through the action scenes anyways.

No amount of filler can ruin a well-choreographed action scene in my mind, and no amount of text can make up for the lack of beatiful music. I can tell we're never going to agree on this, so what's say we just set it aside?

Got a question. Does Funimation have very small dubbing cast? It seems like there is at least three or more voices that I've heard throughout several series, and I've watched enough (Sgt. Frog, Ouran High School Host Club, Air Gear, and most recently Kaze no Stigma) of them to notice.

To be honest, I have no idea how big their dubbing cast is, but I enjoy watching different anime where I can point out the voice actors. It makes me feel more connected to the shows.

@CanisWolfred
Gotcha.

Depends, is 112 Voice actors too little?

...That was an honest question, btw. I'm really not sure. :/

I think some are just relied on more than others. I assume.

I just realized that there's a good chance AS will pull it's April Fool's joke tonight...

Let's hope they don't mess up Toonami that much (unless, of course, they're planning on making the night more awesome).

My guess, is that they won't change the line-up, but will have normal AS bumps, acting like they've "cancelled" Toonami.