General anime thoughts/discussion thread.

Thanks Neil. I love the franchise and since a lot of people are only familiar with Sins I thought it was worth writing. Not only to encourage people to see all of the different iterations but also to try and fill in a few gaps so that if you don't watch all of them (I realise the 1973 original isn't going to be for everyone) that you can still appreciate (as you say) how they updated elements of the classic show or created new twists on it. I'm really pleased that you enjoyed them. I don't get much feedback on my articles so nice comments like this are very encouraging. Thanks. It REALLY means a lot to this old school fan.

Things have been a bit busy for me lately so I haven't written as much as I'd like but I'm hoping to get another article written this weekend.
 
ayase said:
Seriously though, this literalism in titles is getting me down. Whatever happened to just combining English words with zero relevance to the show in question, Japan? Bubblegum Crisis, Cowboy Bebop, that was a naming convention I could get behind.
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I like those anime titles that're one Japanese word and one English word — you know, like Kokoro CONNECT or Kiniro MOSAIC. In fact, I already have some prepared to pitch to Japanese animation studios. How about...

Furikake TANGO
(Furikake: a seasoning sprinkled on top of rice.)
An anime about an aspiring chef who is also an amateur ballroom dancer. He has opportunities to pursue cooking as a career, but his dancing partner is someone he'd like to get to know better outside of their developing dance partnership... 😉

Bangohan MELODY
(Bangohan: evening meal.)
Cute girls doing cute things. Sitting around eating, chatting, singing... and friendship!

Shizurai HAT-TRICK
(Shizurai: "difficult to do".)
A football (or "soccer") anime set within the J-League, following the young protagonist who aspires to emulate his multiple hat-trick-scoring hero.

Tokidoki ALWAYS
(Tokidoki: sometimes, from time to time.)
A romance/comedy/drama about the ongoing and amusingly volatile on/off relationship of the featured couple. Her: "It's not like I'm doing this for you or anything." Him: "Hmph. Whatever."

Dekoboko DOMINATOR
(Dekoboko: bumpy, uneven.)
An S&M space opera set on board the titular ship. Yes. You heard.

Pecopeco POMPOM
(Pecopeco: starving, famished.)
I have no idea what this one is about yet. Anyone? 😅
 
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Looking at it more closely, I see the scooter scene is just tagged as 'presumed', which I'm guessing means they're not 100% sure it was Yuasa, but he is listed as a key animator on the film, and it certainly does look like something he'd have worked on.
 
Demelza said:
I think for me it comes down to the fact I'm more of a book person than an anime person, too. I mean don't get me wrong, I love anime, but books are on a whole other level and I'm always eager to continue reading something or other so don't like burning all my free time for an evening on anime.
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This is the beauty of books. You can pick them up and read ten words or ten pages if you want. You're in control and can dictate the pace, depending on how you feel at the time 🙂👍
 
Arveene said:
Because yes, it was a perfectly logical decision to ruin my normally perfect sleep schedule by staying up an extra three hours to finish reading that book. And I totally won't regret it in the morning or anything. :p
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Of course! Clearly we were just at the staple do or die moment and have to see it through to the end! Ahhh too many volumes of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? have kept me up long after I'm meant to be asleep. I only slightly have regrets the next morning. Slightly. :p
 
I don't read books anymore, I read for years and years and just got tired of it. I prefer to be spoon-fed my images via video in my old age now, lol. But I still get plenty of speed-reading practice in by watching all my anime in Japanese language with subtitles. 🧐
 
Manga and Graphic Novels are my level of reading nowadays. Can't remember the last book I read.
If an interesting topic pops up in something I watch then I'll have a read of the Wikipedia entry for it. For example the Mongol Invasion of Japan in the show last year (and the upcoming game Ghost of Tsushima).
 
Lambadelta said:
If it doesn't sell, and the company put alot of money into it. That can lead to eventual bankruptcy. Studios dont' make much/if any profit from shows they are contracted to make so when they do their own original production it can either make them alot of money freeing them up to make more original productions, or become a big massive amount of red ink on their finances. SamFlam is mostly the latter. The were other issues with the studio, but SamFlam really didn't help their situation out.
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WMD said:
Fair. It's a real shame though. Even if it's not a huge a success I kinda don't want to see studios getting punished for being brave and pushing the boat out on something original. Guess it's the way it goes though.
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I think this is arguably the case with art in general. When I was studying in uni, we were often reminded of how the visual communication side of things (illustration; animation; games design; graphic design etc...), were the much more "commercialy viable" paths to take - you won't often get to choose what you want to do project wise, (and you may often end up "selling out" as it were since you're at the mercy of what the client wants), but, it's where the money is. This is the market of mass production, and where trends change at the snap of a finger, so those artists willing to adapt and go with the flow tend to stay afloat, even in an already overly-saturated industry. I think as well in this day and age, things are pretty ephemeral - it's here today and gone tomorrow, so things are designed to be throwaway. They just seem to be spewed out onto a conveyor belt to satisfy consumer demand, and then it's forgotten about the very next day.

Fine art is a much more personal and subjective thing, and how it's received depends on the personal tastes of the individuals who are observing it, which is why individual pieces command such a high asking price - it's unique, there won't be another exactly like it, and it's taken a good deal of time to produce. Self indulgence does come at a price, though - a piece that's personal to the artist may not necessarily resonate with an outsider. I agree with @WMD though - it's always great to see artists willing to take a gamble and produce something original.

Apologies as it might seem a little bit off topic, but as an artist (and I do use the term very loosely), it just really got me thinking about these things. These are of course, only based on my opinions and observations, as well as some things I've read here and there.
 
Ooh... date for Konosuba: Crimson Legend film screening is 30th August in Japan. /o/

Please let there be a UK screening...
Please let there be a UK screening...
Please let there be a UK screening...

😆

/umiko
 
So. A few years ago, I went to CeX with a friend and checked the anime section in Sheffield. We found an anime DVD that looked like a bootleg, it had a CG cover and we literally thought that it was some sort of hentai import or something, but it must have been released in the UK because it had a BBFC 18 logo on the cover. Since then I had forgotten the name of that DVD.

Until now.

51GRRBSYJ0L.jpg

That DVD - is actually a 2001 CG OVA anime series called MALICE@DOLL. Believe it or not, it is not a hentai.

What's so bonkers about this is that it was directed by Keitarou Motonaga (Digimon Adventure Tri, Katanagatari) and written by Chiaki Konaka (Digimon Tamers, Serial Experiments Lain). Like, that's insane.
 
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