Nyu's Recommendation thread

N

Nyu

Pokémon Master
Ok instead of clogging up the forum with my mini reviews and opinions i'm going to cover lots of series both available in the UK and fansub. Hopefully this thread will build into a mini encyclopedia with my thoughts and views on shows and films. Another reason behind this thread is to get your thoughts on the shows, what did you like about them? do you think i'm wrong in what i'm saying and why? that kind of thing. Lets get some good discussion going.

Shortlist of series i've got to cover;

- Ai Yori Aoshi
- Angelic Layer
- Binbou Shimai Monogatari
- Divergence Eve
- Hataraki Man
- Kanon
- Kanon 2006
- Lamune
- Love Get Chu
- Love Love
- Mahoraba - Heartful Days-
- Mamoro-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!
- Maria-sama ga Miteru
- REC
- Suzuka
- Tokimeki Memorial
- Tongura!
- Tsuyokiss

Movies;

- Appleseed

I'll try and add more information over time with screenshots etc, so c'mon guys what are your thoughts on some of the series i've listed. What should i watch next?
 
Just finished the superb series REC.

Plot Summary: Fumihiko Matsumaru is an average salaryman with no girlfriend. He invited his colleague Miss Tanaka to a movie but was stood up. Right at the time he was about to toss tickets into a trash can, a cute girl appeared and asked him not to waste those two tickets. After movie and dinner, he escorted her home and found they live in the same neighborhood, yet unfortunately her apartment caught on fire hours later. Having nowhere else to stay, rookie seiyuu Aka Onda moved to Matsumaru's place, and the two had started a "more than friend but not yet lovers" relationship under the same roof while keeping this secret from their employers.

If you're looking for a new comedy/drama/slice of life/romance anime to watch then i would suggest this. REC is a great blend of laughs and tears with a cute Nekoki (Cat-Tree) thrown in. Although the series is very short, 9 x 12 minute episodes, it gets alot covered. There is no mindless filler here or episodes where nothing happens. Every episode there is something interesting going on and there is always a mixture of cute punchlines and lovers tiffs. However this could be said to be one of the shows downfalls, it's length. While the episodes were great i would have liked some more, but that's me just complaining.

Animation is not amazing by any means but it's not bad either, it was worked on by Hideyuki Morioka (R.O.D, Neon Genesis Evangelion) and his talent on character designs shines in REC. Aka is cute and great to look at and the other characters and easy on the eyes and drawn very well. The voice cast is good, Aka and Matsumaru are done to a high standard.

Now that the technical stuff is out the way we can move onto the two best things about this show. The story and the characters. The thing i liked most about REC was it was believable and covers many things that most of us have or will deal with at some point in our lifetime. Whether that will be dissapointment, pressure at work, jealousy and envy or hurting someone you love. The story from the get go coveres these aspects and it does them well. The relationships between the characters work and you can't help but to connect with them and cheer them on when things get rough.

One good tidbit was that each episode was named after a Audrey Hepburn movie, Aka's idol, and each episode contained a line from the film it was named after. Aka really wants to make it as a voice actress, will she ever get her big break? can she really juggle love and work? Watch and find out.

Overall i'd say the show gets a 4/5. It's can hold your attention and has a good quality finish to the show, Major downers would be the length. Although they cut the filler i wished they had more episodes with the same kind of story. The soundtrack was also catchy "Cheer~Makka na kimochi~" by Kanako Sakai fitted perfectly.

Fansub only but well worth the time to watch.

Screenies;

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Suzuka and Rec are two of my fave series although Suzuka does feel a little lost in the middle, but struggle through it for a great ending
 
I wasn't too keen on REC for some reason, Maybe because it was incredibly late when i watched them, I'll have to Re-watch.
 
Doberman Pharaoh said:
REC sounds like the type of anime I'd really like. Thanks for the recommendation.
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If you can get your hands on it and you enjoy a light hearted comedy then REC will be worth your time. its only an hour and 45 minutes (ish) long for all episodes so you could easily do it in an evening, which is what i would recommend you do if you want to watch it.

McIcy said:
Suzuka and Rec are two of my fave series although Suzuka does feel a little lost in the middle, but struggle through it for a great ending
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Suzuka is on my list to watch, although not as high as the others. Maria-sama is next on my list i think, going to start that tonight. I've got Kanon 2006 on my playlist right now which i am loving it in every way, same with Black Lagoon brilliant recommendation from yourself and it's one of my favourite anmie of last season.

Jayme said:
I wasn't too keen on REC for some reason, Maybe because it was incredibly late when i watched them, I'll have to Re-watch.
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I wouldn't watch anything half asleep, i find i tend to miss things i normally wouldn't and i'm more interested in my pillow than the screen. REC will be getting rewatched at some point, it's deffanatly worth it in my opinion.
 
You know, out of that entire list I only recognise the name of two of them, and i've only seen one of those two. :? - Divergeance Eve
 
Tasker said:
You know, out of that entire list I only recognise the name of two of them, and i've only seen one of those two. :? - Divergeance Eve
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Most of the series are fansubs and aren't released here or don't even have a license here. If anyone doesn't watch fansubs in this day and age then my god you are missing out on some spectacular series.
 
Appleseed

Plot Summary - Growing out of the chaos of a global war, the city of Utopia is populated by humans and bioroids (artificial humans). On the surface, everything is harmonious, but tensions lurk. Into this seemingly perfect society comes a survivor of the wars, Deunan Knute, who carries a legacy that will turn out to be of critical importance to the future of humanity.

Finally checked this out and what a cracking film it is. Very well done film and i'm really impressed with the way it turned out, Usually i'm not a fan of CGI/Anime hybrids but this was done extremley well. The story is decent and interesting, exactly what i would expect from Shirow/Hand, and it is put across in a timely manor. There is no hour and a half minutes of pure action and 15 minutes at the end wrapping it up. It is balanced and explained so you get a clear view of whats going on and why with little plot holes as possible.

The characters are ok with believable performances helped along with a solid performance from the voice cast, the dub itself was very well done and just short of Hollywood quality. By this i mean all the actors put in a performace worthy enough to be there, no half assed jobs that i've seen elsewhere. The soundtrack is nothing short of fantastic, the songs are very well done with a good selection outside tracks, Basement Jaxx for example was a great choice for the introduction. The musical score also adds a great amount of atmosphere to the film. Another point to raise is the script, at some parts it was sketchy but in general it was pretty decent. Nothing short of what you would expect for an action film.

One thing i must say, The introduction to the film is one of the best i have seen not just in anime but in cinema in general. Fast paced action and then the entrance into Olympus was just great. The song used when they come in for landing is brilliant, scrap that, the whole sequence was brilliant. It really sets the tone for the whole film and what you can expect later on.

This is a film not just for lovers of anime, but for lovers of film in general. When i first seen the trailer for it i was unsure of how i would take to the whole CGI/anime cross over. I enjoy CGI don't get me wrong but cel animation will always be king for me, however i was not dissapointed and i feel that CGI was the way to go for this kind of film. Some of the sequences just would not have been done justice by normal methods.

With a sequel scheduled for Fall 2007 i would recommend anyone who hasn't seen Appleseed to check it out.

Screenies;

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Doberman Pharaoh said:
Do you mind me making a recommendation here as well?
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No no, go ahead. That's the whole point of this thread. The more information/screencaps/random trivia in the recomendations the better, but yeah bash on.
 
Ok well I don't have any screenshots at the moment but I'll post some later after I take a nap.

I'm gonna recommend the film, 'TokiKake', or 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'. I was talking to Hyaku earlier whilst watching it so he'll recognise the name. It's probably the best anime film I've ever seen.

It's about a girl in her mid teens who literally gains the ability to leap backwards through time, and for a part of the film she of course uses it to travel back in time in order to improve her life in various ways, such as being able to eat the pudding her sister stole from her, improve her grades, spend more time doing karaoke, etc.

Later though it becomes complicated and messing with the past starts to change the future, a quote from one of the characters in the film is something along the lines of "If you're very happy, then surely someone else is very sad", which changes the tone of the film.

I really don't want to spoil too much because it's best if you know nothing and just watch it straight as it is, that's what I did and as I said, it's probably the best animated movie I've seen in my life.

My version was a subbed MKV, and I'm pretty sure there was a release of it recently, so take a look around.

It's about 1:45 hours long, you really have to check this one out.
 
I was thinking that if you are going to do a lot of reviews in this thread. Then maybe hyper linking the names in the your first post to the page which the review is on could be a good idea for the future.
 
Tonagura great if you light hearted slapstick ecchi, of and a little sister who keeps machine guns and 9mm semi auto pistols hidden in all her teddy bears - I loved this series even though it did get way too repetative at times
 
I wasn't keen on Appleseed. For me, the story was rather bland and the acting was a bit iffy. However, I give it kudos in the visual and sound effects department.
 
I would like to unrecommend Appleseed. It had the visual charm of a PS2 game and took me two sittings to get through the entire thing.
 
WTFDaveMustaine said:
I would like to unrecommend Appleseed. It had the visual charm of a PS2 game and took me two sittings to get through the entire thing.
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I've been battling with myself about whether to watch that for a while now, and you just gave me the reason to not touch it. :wink:
 
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