Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

[WMD]

Ah good to know, thank you. So that seems to be season 2 then if I'm not mistaken?

It's more of a reboot than a season 2. Theres no need to watch the first one to enjoy it. And for me Negima!? is vastly superior. Like I've seen the first one once and have no inclination to watch it again whereas I've watched Negima!? multiple times over the years.

 

[ayase]

Where to even start with slayers?!

::appears as if from nowhere, where he was lying in wait to answer that very question::

It's a secret.

Oh, okay, fine... The Slayers anime is all one continuity, but the TV series and the OVAs/movies can be watched separately without missing anything, due to a running joke that somehow, Lina's companions from the series and Naga, her companion in the OVAs and movies, have never met. The TV continuity is:

The Slayers > Next > Try > Premium (short) > Revolution > Evolution-R

The OVA/Movie release order is:

Slayers: The Motion Picture > Special (aka Book of Spells) > Return > Great > Gorgeous > Excellent

Finding any of it on English-friendly DVD is a bit of a chore, afaik it's all OOP now (and frankly the picture quality of the UK/US DVDs is largely horrible anyway so I would strongly suggest not paying over the odds for second-hand copies, you'll only be disappointed). It seems like Hulu has the first TV season, but I can't find anything else for legal streaming. What we need is for someone to licence the gorgeous looking Japanese blu-rays for release. I would pay handsomely for an English-friendly version of this. Hint hint, any distributors who might be reading.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

::appears as if from nowhere, where he was lying in wait to answer that very question::

It's a secret.

Oh, okay, fine... The Slayers anime is all one continuity, but the TV series and the OVAs/movies can be watched separately without missing anything, due to a running joke that somehow, Lina's companions from the series and Naga, her companion in the OVAs and movies, have never met. The TV continuity is:

The Slayers > Next > Try > Premium (short) > Revolution > Evolution-R

The OVA/Movie release order is:

Slayers: The Motion Picture > Special (aka Book of Spells) > Return > Great > Gorgeous > Excellent

Finding any of it on English-friendly DVD now is a bit of a chore, afaik it's all OOP now (and frankly the picture quality of the UK/US DVDs is largely horrible anyway so I would strongly suggest not paying over the odds for second-hand copies, you'll only be disappointed). It seems like Hulu has the first TV season, but I can't find anything else for legal streaming. What we need is for someone to licence the gorgeous looking Japanese blu-rays for release. I would pay handsomely for an English-friendly version of this. Hint hint, any distributors who might be reading.

Heheh, thanks for the very clear and exhaustive list - now bookmarked for future reference. Actually acquiring these to watch will clearly be the challenge then, especially with CEX's per delivery charge...Maybe, like you said, if someone picks it up for UK, or when I eventually get through my massive watchlist.

It's more of a reboot than a season 2. Theres no need to watch the first one to enjoy it. And for me Negima!? is vastly superior. Like I've seen the first one once and have no inclination to watch it again whereas I've watched Negima!? multiple times over the years.

Super, thanks! Was getting muddled as on CEX it says season 2 but quite clear now from what you and @Just Passing Through have said.

 

[ayase]

Actually acquiring these to watch will clearly be the challenge then, especially with CEX's per delivery charge...

Yeah, when I say don't pay too much for them, really don't pay much for them. If you can find them for a couple of quid each somewhere, fine, but some of the movies and OVAs especially look like they've been transferred from a worn VHS (also some are letterboxed 16:9 picture in a 4:3 frame, meaning if you play it on a widescreen TV it will be windowboxed). It's not like the creators are earning anything from price-gouged second-hand copies either.

The TV series DVDs are still not great, but acceptable. If you can find those reasonably priced, go for it.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

I was thinking of this one, for when I'm feeling more flush, and if it's back in stock on CEX. But yeah, always nice when a cult classic is picked up for a revamped edition by a UK distributor.

 

[ayase]

@Geriatric hedgehog that's a nice collection of MOST of the movies and OVAs (shame about the picture quality) and was also the first Slayers I ever bought and watched, has a nice clean reversible cover too. For all the movie/OVA content, this is what you need:

The two on the right are US releases, I don’t believe they were ever released in the UK.

 

[Neil.T]

it really sounds like it’s time you watched Slayers, Neil.

Funnily enough, it did actually somehow cross my mind while watching Dragon Half for the first time (despite never having seen an episode of Slayers) that there could be some potential similarity there.

Would you say they share the same kind of, as I think I put it, clever stupidity? If that were the case, I'd be inclined to seriously consider Slayers if it ever surfaced on Blu-ray, especially now that I know that Megumi Hayashibara's in it.

all this effusive praise for Dragon Half has just prompted my to order it on CEX.
...
I'm blaming your review @Neil.T...

Hah, what can I say?
I honestly hope you enjoy it, dude. I only learned of it after seeing a trailer on another ADV DVD (try saying that three times fast), and now I can't understand why I'd never heard it talked about before.

for me Negima!? is vastly superior. Like I've seen the first one once and have no inclination to watch it again whereas I've watched Negima!? multiple times over the years.

I agree with what WMD says 100 percent and more. For me, the first series (Negima!) feels like it's just dithering and squandering its time, and then near the end it suddenly turns dark — like, really actually morbid in its tone.

The second series (Negima!?, adding that question mark) is legit one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Its visual style is an absolute highlight as well. I'd recommend you it in a heartbeat, Geriatric hedgehog.

 

[ayase]

Funnily enough, it did actually somehow cross my mind while watching Dragon Half for the first time (despite never having seen an episode of Slayers) that there could be some potential similarity there.

Would you say they share the same kind of, as I think I put it, clever stupidity? If that were the case, I'd be inclined to seriously consider Slayers if it ever surfaced on Blu-ray, especially now that I know that Megumi Hayashibara's in it.

Based solely on my exposure to the manga this afternoon, I wouldn't say Slayers is quite as ridiculous as Dragon Half (incidentally* I think anyone who enjoys Dragon Half would definitely also enjoy Urusei Yatsura) but it certainly occupies the same "Loving p*ss-take of fantasy RPGs" genre.

Slayers TV is basically a farcical D&D campaign where the players don't give a damn about the rules and are constantly on the verge of giving the DM a nervous breakdown, but the Lina & Naga OVAs and movies are even more comedic and personally, are my favourite part of the franchise. Slayers is not quite the same for me without Naga, I would love her even without the boobage; I do have a certain fondness for shameless, happy-go-lucky, supremely overconfident and none-too-bright girls. Lina's great too (and the two characters play off each other brilliantly) but Naga makes my day.

And if you're a Megumi Hayashibara fan, there's really nothing to stop me recommending Slayers to you unreservedly. Lina Inverse is like, her defining role and one she obviously revels in. And she sings all the songs on the fantastic soundtrack.

*or indecently, thanks autocorrect

 

[WMD]

Hmmm theres a Spanish dvd release that collects all the Slayers tv shows into one release for 60 euros. On blu ray each show is sold seperately and they cost 60 euros each so it's a crazy big difference. I'm guessing it's not gona matter to only have it on dvd so may go for it.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

@Geriatric hedgehog that's a nice collection of MOST of the movies and OVAs (shame about the picture quality) and was also the first Slayers I ever bought and watched, has a nice clean reversible cover too. For all the movie/OVA content, this is what you need:
View attachment 18488
The two on the right are US releases, I don’t believe they were ever released in the UK.

Awesome, good to know, thanks.

and then near the end it suddenly turns dark — like, really actually morbid in its tone.

Heh this actually makes me quite interested in the first one as well now!

Slayers TV is basically a farcical D&D campaign where the players don't give a damn about the rules and are constantly on the verge of giving the DM a nervous breakdown

If I wasn't already sold on Slayers, this synopsis would certainly have clinched it heh.

Hmmm theres a Spanish dvd release that collects all the Slayers tv shows into one release for 60 euros.

Out of interest, do the European releases generally include English subs or do you always need to check before buying?

 

[ayase]

Hmmm theres a Spanish dvd release that collects all the Slayers tv shows into one release for 60 euros. On blu ray each show is sold seperately and they cost 60 euros each so it's a crazy big difference. I'm guessing it's not gona matter to only have it on dvd so may go for it.

::checks Euro Amazons::

• The Spanish have Slayers TV blu-rays
• The Germans have what looks to be a near-copy of the Japanese OVA & movie box-set... for only €35

How long does the UK need to have a fascist dictator for in order to get Slayers blu-rays? Because we're nearly there, cut us some slack, Japan.

Also I didn’t know that Naga Nendoroid was a thing, that is adorable and a serious threat to my wallet.

 

[WMD]

Out of interest, do the European releases generally include English subs or do you always need to check before buying?

You'd have check. The Spanish releases tend to not have English subs. Only Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese tend to be common.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Re:Cyborg 009

Glad to have seen this before it left Screenanime, and having expectations appropriately lowered by @Sarah's very accurate review, I was able to enjoy this. Have no knowledge of the original story/manga/adaptations. Interesting and at times disturbing concepts, unsurprisingly great score, some very good CGI in relation to the action and backgrounds (not so much for the characters). Worked well enough for me as a standalone but not sure if the subsequent series continues the story.

In other trivia, the Caped Scarved Crusaders demonstrating the real test of a superhero is to not trip over one's scarf/Cape every two seconds. Featuring guest appearances from Prof Xavier, jin-roh: the wolf brigade and what appears to be Obama potentially about to be entangled in the #metoo campaign as his secretary runs away in horror after, maybe, having sweet-nothings whispered to her.

6.5/10

 

[Neil.T]

@Geriatric hedgehog:

Nice reading your thoughts there, dude. Re:Cyborg 009 is much maligned, but I've really rather enjoyed it each time I've watched it. Perhaps — and I mean no disrespect to the director by this — it's because I don't particularly hold Kenji Kamiyama's previous work in the same kind of regard as fans of his Ghost in the Shell TV series Stand Alone Complex probably do, so I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

As for the film's musical score, it's by the ever-popular Kenji Kawai, who's worked with Kamiyama before on Eden of the East, and with Mamoru Oshii on his pairs of GitS and Patlabor movies.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

@Geriatric hedgehog:

Nice reading your thoughts there, dude. Re:Cyborg 009 is much maligned, but I've really rather enjoyed it each time I've watched it. Perhaps — and I mean no disrespect to the director by this — it's because I don't particularly hold Kenji Kamiyama's previous work in the same kind of regard as fans of his Ghost in the Shell TV series Stand Alone Complex probably do, so I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

As for the film's musical score, it's by the ever-popular Kenji Kawai, who's worked with Kamiyama before on Eden of the East, and with Mamoru Oshii on his pairs of GitS and Patlabor movies.

Yeah for me the best aspect was the challenging concept it chose to deal, but I was glad it navigated those murky waters quite well. Would've been significantly better for me if it developed it further but I got the feeling it was meant to be a springboard to a subsequent series and therefore felt incomplete. Also lots of quirky characters that couldn't really be developed in the time allowed. So yeah, in my opinion a good effort that could've been better, but also could've been so much worse, so all in all a worthwhile watch.

After reading Kenji Kawai was involved I definitely had high expectations of the score and was not disappointed. His scores in GitS and Skyscrawlers were phenomenonal and really added to the emotional gravitas of both of those great movies. Not seen Patlabor but have now acquired the ultimate set so will eventually get started on that heh. Ditto for the Eden of the East (is that one up for a simulwatch consideration? Will hold off watching that if so). And lastly, ashamed to say I've also not seen GitS:SAC (mainly down to the fact that I absolutely loved the movie and, back in the day, I didn't really want to watch any other variants or takes on it, especially those more action-focused) but am also aiming to get that soon and give it a shot given how highly others on this forum have rated it.

 

[Neil.T]

After reading Kenji Kawai was involved I definitely had high expectations of the score and was not disappointed.

Ah, excellent. In that case, I hope you can forgive my lecturing the already converted in my previous post, dude.
Maybe that info can be of some use to someone else reading instead.

His scores in GitS and Skyscrawlers were phenomenonal

You know, I've never seen Skycrawlers.
I've always been a bit put off by things I've read about it. How's the film itself, would you say?

I got the feeling it was meant to be a springboard to a subsequent series and therefore felt incomplete.

There's a follow-up to 009 Re:Cyborg, a trio of films collectively called Call of Justice, but I'm not sure how much they're related to it. Fishing around the likes of MyAnimeList and Wikipedia, details seem rather scarce. The best resource I could find was this Anime News Network article:

Cyborg 009 Call of Justice

Netflix's new CG version of this long-enduring franchise is fully accessible to newcomers, though the CG's visual style may not work for everyone.

www.animenewsnetwork.com

 

[Lordhippos]

Zombieland Saga (season 1)

I was going to wait until I'd had the chance to see season 2 but that will be a while away. I'll watch season 2 and see if it builds on what season 1 started.

This show was best described as a mixed bag from me, some of what they did was really good, and some was kind of weak. I didn't know whether to love or hate the manager either, I'm still torn on it!

The show was at it's best when it was trying to be something different, and was at it's worst when it was trying too hard to play the idol angle legitimately. The CGI idol scenes that appeared in several episodes were frankly terrible, but they were mercifully short, I am still unsure if they made them bad on purpose as a form of parody.

The onsen scene was great though, really playing the Zombie/horror angle, wish we had more scenes like that.

I wish they'd mixed the genres of music up a bit more, perhaps even going with a different genre each concert they did. They did a metal one which I thought was great, and a rap one, but otherwise it seemed to be regular idol music.

Best girl: Saki
Best antics: Tae

6/10

 

[WMD]

I didn't know whether to love or hate the manager either

Love to hate is ok too lol

This is what I wrote about it before

Zombie Land Saga
Absolutely loved it. Funny, endearing, heartfelt, good music (especially the metal in episode 1) really loved the dub (one song tried to fit too many syllables into the verse) So much fun to watch. Wish it was 100 episodes longer

Things like CGI dont really bother me and especially in shows like this where the humour comes first. I was laughing so often it was great.

I wish they'd mixed the genres of music up a bit more,

This I agree with. More variety with the music would've been better.

 

[Lordhippos]

There are so many genres of music I think it could have been really good to use various ones, and would have given it a more unique feel. Apparently the anime has actually done some good for Saga itself though as tourists go to see the various places featured in the anime!

I think my fav idol anime is probably Symphogear, it's just insane, but I will admit it's not a genre I am huge on for the idol stuff by itself. Symphogear adds some magic girl shenanigans on top to just amp things up even more.

 

[Dai]

You know, I've never seen Skycrawlers.
I've always been a bit put off by things I've read about it. How's the film itself, would you say?

I keep meaning to re-watch it (as with so many things). From what I recall, it's pretty good, but it probably has the most languid pace out of Oshii's anime films. If you like the slower, more ambient scenes in other Oshii movies, you'll probably like it.

I'm not surprised it's divisive. I've seen some really weird interpretations of its themes that bore no resemblance to the movie I watched.