Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Highschool of the Dead is a prime example of too much of something can be a bad thing.

I tried a few episodes of Highschool of the Dead and well.... I liked it in the beginning but then again.... I kinda hated it. I'm not a huge fan of the zombie genre at all, though. So I dropped interest in HxD because of the zombie element.

Yeah that's how I felt. I dropped it after a while. I think I stopped when some girl shouts she got wet from killing zombies. ...wut. That whole episode just kind of reworked the character I thought they were building her up for and I just got annoyed. I ended up disliking for more reasons lol.

I honestly don't know how High School of the Dead got so popular. Surely none but exploitation fans would be able to enjoy it? I felt rather sick just from watching clips

Finished up chapter 538 of History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, and am all caught up now!

SPOILERS

After the incident in the amusement park, it's revealed that Rimi in fact survived, and both her & Ryuuto have now severed ties with Yami/Yomi.

Despite the fact that the "One Shadow Nine Fists" & their disciples "Yomi" have had their numbers slowly dwindled throughout the course of the series, They are now going to be joined by an equivalent group of masters from Yami's armed division, and their disciples will be joining Yomi as well (so the series looks to have a heck of a long way to go yet).

Anticipating this, Shigure forges metal arm guards for Kenichi's friends in the Shinpaku Alliance.

the elder got a request to storm a Yami base, but instead was lured into a trap. A fight against the leader of Yami's armed division, who is the first person in the series to be his equal (he doesn't seem to want to kill the elder though, so what is he planning?)

It's then leaked that the "One Shadow Nine Fists" are going to be having a meeting with the Japanese prime minister, so Kenichi's masters figure this would be the best time to confront them (even if it means being at odds with the police).

They all go except Shigure (who has stayed behind to protect Kenichi & Miu in case of attack), and the police quickly stand down, knowing in their hearts that Ryozanpaku isn't bad. When they confront the "OSNF" however, they realize that they don't intend to fight back seriously. They are a diversion!?

Yes, It appears that those equivalent masters from the armed diversion are doing something fishy with a transport vessel, and they're mowing through the Japanese coast guard. Shigure (with Kenichi & Miu) have snuck on however, because she seen someone odd on the TV (one of those masters, purposefully showing himself in the background of the news report to lure her out, it seems), and now she's faced with seven other master level weapon users. Will she be able to win, let alone protect Kenichi & Miu?

SPOILERS END

I actually liked that character development of hers lol, but I still didn't enjoy the anime. Way to much of a bad thing.

She showed that she enjoyed killing and that she got excitement over it, before the zombies she was attacked and nearly beat the guy to death with her Kendo blade and she enjoyed it.

Never thought I would be defending high school of the dead =_=

Now that I'm all caught up, I'll give a non spoilerish opinon/overview of HSDK.

Positives:

-It really feels refreshing to see a modern manga following the style of classic ones. While I do enjoy stuff like One Piece, Soul Eater, & the like, it's neat to see a modern manga that focuses so much on martial arts in a variation of the real world.

• Also, more like Kenshin, there are no magical or energy attacks in this one. While they can do insanely unrealistic things, it all comes down to their skill as fighters.
• As mentioned before, Kenichi is different than most Shonen action heroes (especially the ones that physically fight). He doesn't start out strong or talented (in either physical strength or willpower), so it makes his gradual growth all that more great, IMO. Also, he's constantly evolving. As a disciple, he's constantly growing as a fighter, and no matter how strong he grows, it shows he's no where near master level, constantly refining his skill & or learning something new all the time (instead of other Shonen shows, where the characters use the same skillset until the next attack or transformation comes along, he has to change & grow after every encounter).
• While it has a boatload of characters like Bleach (other than Kenichi's growing number of friends, the villanous organization has sects, with sub-sects), it doesn't throw everyone at you at once, thinking that everyone in the series needs a fight every arc (which can take the focus off the main characters for a time). In HSDK, the characters are introduced in small groups, the arcs always prominently feature Kenichi & Miu (even if they're not the center), and they rotate out which small groups of other characters will be the focus of any particular arc.
• Yes, that may mean that you might not get to see your favorite side character but every few arcs, but when they come back, they almost always have something new to show off, and it does a better job than average at keeping them relevant (they never get too far behind in power for long, if at all).
• It focuses a lot on the actual martial arts, giving good explanations for every move, and the characters really look like they are fighting with their own styles.

Negatives:

• With such a focus on a small group of characters in any given arc, things may seem to drag a bit (getting through everyone), especially since the good guys don't believe in killing (the villains seem to always come back, or at least stick around, once they've been beaten).
• It takes awhile for it to get going. In the beginning, it is very much a generic tale of weakling learns martial arts to protect himself from bullies & delinquents, and isn't until he starts confronting the oddly martial arts adept leaders of the delinquent group that things get more interesting, and deep. (I'd imagine this early generic feel is even worse in the anime, which doesn't seem to have the same development costs or love put into it, as shows like Soul Eater or FMA:B)

Objectional Content:

Blood & Gore - The fights, especially the important ones can get bloody, but I really wouldn't say this is any different than other Shonen action stuff.

Language - It's there, but again, it's nothing different for the genre.

Fanservice - This is one it likes to flip-flop on a lot. At the start, it may have a bit more of a focus than other Shonen action stuff, but it's nothing too intense. Just Miu's skin tight battle suit (which is usually only detailed to such a degree if she's featured in the special title illustration imsge), the seldom clothes tearing (non explicit), and exceedingly rare bath scenes (non explicit as well). AFTER CHAPTER 300 though, he randomly turns up the fanservice to 11. It becomes much, much more frequent, and explicit to the point nothing's left to the imagination. AFTER CHAPTER 400 however, he somewhat calms down again, keeping the frequency of post 300, while toning down the explicitness to a level slightly above pre 300. So, how far you get into it may depend on your tolerance for such stuff. (It's still only really a problem when the focus is on female characters, however)

Hope this helps.

I've been reading Berserk lately. It's seriously amazing. Guts is just too awesome, Griffith is really mysterious, just every character is great, and the story... oh man the story. I recommend this to everyone who can tolerate strong blood and gore and some graphic sexual scenes. (Although personally I think the mature content adds to the story)

I've been watching more of Gatchaman Crowds (I just finished episode 9) and I'm still being flabbergasted. I can't quite tell if it's all leading up to something profound, but the show better be doing that or my final judgement will not be entirely favorable.

Yup, Berserk's good stuff. They recently put up preorders on Rightstuf for a ton of volumes. Grab it up while you can.

@V8_ninja - I'm surprised, I've heard nothing but good things about Crowds. In fact, it's the only show this season I'm thinking of watching.

@V8_ninja Gatchaman Crowds is amazing!!!!!! and there's Hajime!!!!! she became my favorite character EVER!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the NHK is on Netflix. You have no excuse to not watch it now.

Anyone know of any good yuri manga or anime? No Eichii and I like it to be more realistic.

My favorite manga of the Shonen Jump colleciton: Bleach, Black Cat, Ral & Grad, Cerberus, Kurohime, Claymore, DBZ, Shaman King, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Yu Yu Hakusho, and CLASSIC Yugioh manga. I feel like I'm forgetting some D: One Piece used to be one of my favorites until it had too many overlapping characters and Naruto used to be one of my favorites until I got tired of the really complex story. I'm still rooting for Uzumaki but everything has spun out of control around him.

What do you mean by "overlapping characters"?

You can read my fan-made SFW yuri called LordJumpMad looks in the Mirror Z

@LordJumpMad you here? never knew you liked Anime/Manga or that you starred a Yuri manga.... you know what's a Yuri manga, right?

^{psst, that's the joke~}

Mmm......Maria-sama? Don't ask. -_-

ohh so he's just _{teasing yet another person} I was finding weird that LJM wasn't so mad lately