Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

stuart-says-yes said:
fabricatedlunatic said:
Yuvie said:
Love Hina 4/10
Probably spoilers ahead for anyone who cares. Maybe I'm being a little harsh.
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No, no, that's a perfectly fair assessment. The Love Hina anime is a piece of ****. Not that the manga's a masterpiece or anything, though it is vaguely tolerable for maybe six or seven volumes of Naru being a bitch and Keitaro being a spineless personality void. And don't worry, "Naru punches Keitaro into orbit" is not what I would consider a spoiler. A most amusing read, sir.

You are perhaps a tad harsh on His and Her Circumstances, which has a fine opening six episodes before shifting the focus onto irritating side characters. Then Hideaki Anno walked out. Then the budget ran out. Oops.
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Keitaro is a spineless personality void because of a the punches to the head that have knocked him into space.

I wonder if these rage punches has caused Keitaro brain damage
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Love Hina was fun back in 2002-ish. But fandom grew up! I still have a soft spot for it. Somewhere near my spleen. But then again, it was the series that re-energised my anime fandom after being out of it for about eight or ten years.
 
fabricatedlunatic: Maybe I was a little harsh on 'His and her cirumstances'. It did start well but it did become quite annoying and boring in the later episodes.

I actually enjoyed Love hina to start with but it really did become pretty damn annoying during the mid-episodes onwards. Keitaro was very pathetic and spineless. Naru is officially my worst character in anime.
 
Basilisk - 8/10

With a basic premise of 10 vs. 10, ninja vs ninja battles to the death, Basilisk could've been a top ten contender. But, because of a combination of (what I can only assume to be) source material failings and Gonzo trying to to stretch the content to fit into the required episode count, it only got an eight from me.

What first bothered me about the pacing of the story was the stupidity of not killing, or attempting to kill a leader of one of the two clans whilst he was alone, deep in enemy territory. They (the rival clan) knew not of his abilities, and 100's against one would be a tough fight any man to win... yet the immortal rapist (real name hidden!) was too scared to attack. It might've made sense if he knew about the leader's sharingan (/Naruto) abilities, but he had no clue.

Right before being too cowardly to fight with an entire village against one man, five enemy ninja attacked the opposing clan's village - the immortal rapist included. Logic where, exactly? And, AFTER the cowardice, the immortal rapist decided it'd be a good plan to go after the enemy leader and kill him; even though he had all his allies with him... :|

Without even reading the booklet included with V5 - which had the person in charge of the script mention he struggled to come up with enough new dialogue to fit an episode - it was pretty clear in the middle that Gonzo weren't in a hurry. Episode 10 was a totally needless flashback episode, and episode 16 was clearly 90% filler, and I say obvious because of the standard issue anime humour (groping, falling in water, trained killers attempting to cure Oboro's hiccups by scaring her, etc.) Ironically enough, episode 16 is one of my favourite episodes, but the point stands.

Basilisk wasn't unbearably slow, though; far from it. During the early section - when the characters hadn't all been revealed and Gennosuke was still ignorant - it was so intense that I didn't care. With people revealing their abilities and dying left and right straight after, I had no reason to complain. It was when the 'important' ninja stayed alive that it started to drag a little... but, in fairness, it did get exciting once again towards business end of proceedings.

In short, it's not the best plan of action to turn a short(ish) manga into a series much longer than 13 episodes... even if the end result isn't exactly displeasing. Sometimes, shorter is better.

The other 'big' issue I have with Basilisk is there being only minimal effort at creating bonds between the characters. Even the main relationship suffered because, the start aside, Gennosuke and Oboro had no time together. Gennosuke turned into a manly man after the intro section ended; showing no emotions and caring not for his woman's feelings (the viewer was expected to view him as conflicted, without any inner monologue or whatnot) and Oboro was always just an innocent girl thrust into a world of pain. There were plenty of chances to build up to epic encounters - such as the shapeshifter avenging his sister (it never happened) - but a lot of the time there wasn't a follow through.

Most of the interesting characters (the 'seductress' and the 'angry butterfly girlfriend') got killed off early, leaving a lot of dullards running the show. The Kouga side in particular was left on the dull side late on, with silent blind people, a shapeshifter and a woman who played little part until near the end. DO NOT KILL OFF HOT AND INTERESTING WOMENZ EARLY!

Again, I might sound very critical here but, in truth, I cared enough about the cast to care about the story. It's just a matter of it annoying the **** out of me to see what could've been masterful only end up being great because of a lack of foreplay before the few seconds of pleasure. To use a crude analogy, Basilisk is sort of like that confident guy who talks the talk, gets the girl and then 'finishes' before the fun really begins.

FINALLY, one last point to moan about: the vagueness of certain parts of the story. I just loved how Gennosuke/Sasuke was told he'd awaken his bloodline limit only after coming to understand the meaning of life, and I think the dub team did also considering they changed what was said from 'Yes, I do understand the meaning!' to 'Heh, I wish I did - I'd sleep easier!' Really, the bloodline limit was simply awakened by Sasuke when his life was in danger - like in Naruto - but some ******** got inserted into Basilisk to make it appear as deep as Evangelion wasn't. It didn't even make any ******* sense when, after climbing a mountain, Gennosuke realized the meaning of life after finally understanding something shocking: the sun shines on everyone.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I really hate vague scenes/dialogue being used to avoid answering questions. It's like when, instead of trying to provide a logical explanation for an immortal having some sort of alien parasites keeping him busy, a scene showing a boy being born from a corpse gets shown instead. ******* fuckery.

...Gah, I moan. Way too much. I DID actually enjoy Basilisk a lot, and agree with what the JP voice actor of Gennosuke said about more anime like it and less involving school girls/breast milk needing to be made. If only everything could be perfect I wouldn't need to moan for multiple paragraphs. On the plus side, Basilisk did have an immortal rapist who came out with some insightful comments, such as "No ninjustu can seduce a woman like making love to them can. GIVE ME YOUR WOMANHOOD!!!!*" - it was hard not to be impressed by him trying to rape multiple females (and failing) after being killed repeatedly.

I'll end by saying this: it's a lot like Battle Royale in the sense it's something you'll probably finish in a day or two. Why Because both stories occur over a short period of time and are firmly in the 'tragedy' genre. Once you start, you'll more than likely find it hard to stop. If you're anything like me, you'd want to know who lives and who dies too much not to get through the story quickly.

...so, yeah, it's pretty good, though quite flawed. Go get.

(PS: I'm impressed - I actually buy anime at random and like it. First Galaxy Railways, now this. Maybe Elemental Gelade won't be so bad if I drink a little beforehand...)

*the capitals part was added by me
 
Aion said:
Episode 10 was a totally needless flashback episode
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It did serve to give some screentime to characters who didn't receive much. At least I think it did. The scene I most clearly remember is when the busty Kouga girl was hunting an animal. One particular shot was from behind her while she was on her knees, with the camera angle deliberately accentuating her shapely arse.

I also thought it effectively contrasted the lives of the characters in more peaceful times against the tragedy of the present. It made the "tournament" seem that much more needlessly cruel.

No idea what you're talking about with the "awakening his bloodline limit" thing. I don't remember anything like that, but then my memory isn't the best! A rewatch will be doubly wrenching given that I know what's going to happen, but it's definitely something I'd like to see again.
 
The boar part is in episode 16 - an episode with new content. Episode 10 is a flashback episode in the sense all the fights up to that point got replayed in case the viewer had forgotten what they'd just seen.

The 'bloodline limit' comment was a Naruto in-joke. Much like in Basilisk, eye techniques (by those who can use them) get awakened via danger to ones life/extreme emotions. And it's very bad to look a sharingan user in the eye since a sharingan can pretty much screw you in a second.
 
School Rumble - 9/10

I'm pleased to report that my fears about School Rumble becoming dramatic were unfounded. Yeah, okay, in the end there turned out to be more romance than I was expecting, but any time the show threatened to get serious a punchline was lurking just around the corner, ready to shout "pysche!" right in my face. The last episode almost had me. Almost.

Enjoyment of this show is contingent on a tolerance for dumb characters. Because the leads in particular, good-hearted delinquent Harima and sweet airhead Tenma, are two of the thickest, most dense characters in anime. And I love them both dearly. The show is driven by a seemingly endless string of romantic misunderstandings involving an ever-growing number of characters, but it's all so entertaining that I was perfectly happy for the madness to continue. I'm genuinely surprised at how funny I found this show.
 
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory - 8/10

I was warned this was a lesser entry into the Gundam series, but having just finished watching it, I wish they could all be like this!

The dub is a bit creaky in places, but otherwise very good - full of character like all the best dubs of the late '80s and early '90s.

There was almost no flab on this show at all. Pretty much every scene advances the plot and characters, and there's plenty going on to hold the interest. Everybody on screen is really likeable and has solid, understandable motivations.

I can't praise the mecha action scenes enough. Considering this series is almost 20 years old, it still looks amazing! The animation is very fluid, and the Gundams themselves steal the show whenever they're on the screen- which is plenty!

There's a great sense of escalating tension as the show wears on as well. By the time you hit the last disc, it's hard to imagine how the stakes could be any higher. Heck - the Gundams even get noticeably bigger, too!

Highly recommended. :D
 
Re-watched:
Revolutionary Girl Utena - 6/10 It's simply too confusing and a re-watch didn't make it less confusing. I wanted to see the TV series of this though, as I'm aware series and the movie are massively different.
Mezzo Forte - 8/10 The bowling lane action sequence is the best action sequence I've seen this year.

Seen for the first time:
Hellsing Ultimate 1 & 2 - 8/10
Stylish, good animation, misses the great music from the tv series, but all in all, this is retelling done right. Can't wait to get the rest of it now.
 
chaos said:
Re-watched:
Revolutionary Girl Utena - 6/10
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D: Why I aughta...

I wanted to see the TV series of this though, as I'm aware series and the movie are massively different.
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Ooooooohhhh...

Yeah, quite a few people saw the movie first, I think, because of the way the show was released on DVD. It's not a good idea.
 
Kirrimir said:
fabricatedlunatic said:
School Rumble - 9/10
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I agree, it was great. They have totally left the ending of S2 open for an S3 aswell so we will have to see.
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I understand that there was originally going to be a third series but for whatever reason it didn't happen. The anime was completed with the two-episode second OVA ("Third Term"), which covers the end of the manga.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
I understand that there was originally going to be a third series but for whatever reason it didn't happen. The anime was completed with the two-episode second OVA ("Third Term"), which covers the end of the manga.
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Which I'm still waiting for a DVD release! :evil:
 
ilmaestro said:
chaos said:
Re-watched:
Revolutionary Girl Utena - 6/10
Click to expand...
D: Why I aughta...

I wanted to see the TV series of this though, as I'm aware series and the movie are massively different.
Click to expand...
Ooooooohhhh...

Yeah, quite a few people saw the movie first, I think, because of the way the show was released on DVD. It's not a good idea.
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Most people I've spoke to who likes Utena, have watched the TV series first and then the movie. I've heard the movie is a rushed compilation of the TV series, with a different ending.
I'm still willing to give the Utena tv series a go, but it's TV series are a bit difficult / expensive to track down.
 
Speed Grapher: 7/10

With a premise of a war photographer gaining the power to kill with a camera (because it's his hearts true desire) and using it to protect an innocent girl whose used in a cult-like ritual for the rich/depraved members of society, SG had a lot to offer. It even had an Aion-esque, white-haired manipulator as its villain.

Sadly, in the end SG only had a lot of good ideas, its poor endgame letting it down. It was great when the (for once!) adult lead took on psycho dentists and others but, once the story reached a point where explanations were needed, along with a strong finish, it failed. The budget had seemingly gone - lots of poor art appearing during the last stretch - and the villain just knowing Kagura was, conveniently, connected to some daft biological experiment made my eyes roll. Gonzo just didn't know how to end it, and they even threw in 'evil' Americans for the hell of it.

An enjoyable ride I'm glad to own but far from a classic. Gonzo share(d?) my taste for dark and gritty tales, and that's why I'll always look at their titles, but there always seems to be something holding the majority of their work back...

Ys: 6/10

- A plain, goody-goody hero, intent on going to a faraway land to save it from peril.
- A storm that wrecks a boat, washing away the lead.
- The lead is swept away to a beach of the place he was journeying to.
- Some kind people find and take the lead to safety.
- A prophecy of an hero, coming to the land from far away, is revealed to have been known around the land for a long time.
- The lead gets given a 'key item' that helps work around dead ends and defeat tough bosses.
- And, of course, there's a mysterious female (two, to be precise) with no memories and a mystical power.

...Yup, it's 100% RPG. A medieval, swords and sorcery setting, with lots of nasty monsters--the sort of fantasy fare I loved in days gone by.

I lost count of the amount of time 'evil' was said. "The evil army is invading!" "The power of evil will defeat good!" "WHY DID YOU TURN TO EVIL!?" - etc. The dialogue is real 'eye roll' material; the sort of stuff you can just tell was taken directly from an ancient, old school good vs. evil RPG. Nowadays gray is the new black, so it kind of stands out as 'off'...

It was decent, overall. The plot didn't have much depth, and certain parts didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was a fun watch for a fan of the JRPG genre. It was also fairly interesting since only Ys VI got released outside of Japan; a game I remember fondly for its hard as nails boss battles which sometimes took a lot of time and boss routine practice to beat.

Also, the DVD menus are made of win:

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Infinite Ryvius - 7/10

This one was difficult to rate and generally assess. The first half is slow and plodding; the second half often enthralling; and the whole thing is bogged down with incessant technobabble and an unclear plot.

An examination of how teenagers function in an isolated society, the ship Ryvius, it becomes fascinating to watch as time passes and characters change with increasingly desperate circumstances. We see a clash of egos and ideals between various groups and individuals, all of whom eager to impose their own will on the ship's crumbling society.

But, man, the battles are boring. Whenever the Ryvius was attacked, I just wanted it over with. Few of the characters are memorable and I did, at one point or another, want to punch just about every single one of them--but I guess that's the point. As might be expected from the director and studio that brought us Code Geass, the show often indulges in excessive melodrama. Some is justified by what the characters have gone through, and some of it could have used a more subtle approach.

On the plus side, the traditional cell-painted visuals look good. All the reviews on MAL mention that it looks "old" because--gasp--it doesn't have shiny digital paint, while somehow missing the often excellent character and battle animation. Tards. The ending wasn't as explosive as I'd hoped and is liable to infuriate, but it was consistent with the message the show was pushing.
 
Honey & Clover (S1) - 9/10

I think I went into this series with the wrong expectations. Having watched the second half, the first half, with which I was mildly disappointed, makes a lot more sense. This is not a show with a solid, contrived dramatic structure; it's a slice-of-life story about some art school students that ebbs and flows as, I guess, life itself does.

A lot of fans have said that it's easier to relate to Honey & Clover if you've been to university, as the show manages to capture the experience of being there exceptionally well. I haven't been to university, and I sometimes have trouble understanding the characters, but there's still a lot here that I and others who haven't can relate to: unrequited love, aimlessness and fear of an uncertain future, anxiety over the relentless march of time.

It's the way that everything's moving on except the characters, who are trying to figure out who they are and where they're going, that reminds me of Maison Ikkoku. Like that story, Honey & Clover takes place over a number of years, though takes far fewer episodes to get there, and is able to evoke a similarly strong sense of nostalgia. It's almost painful at times. And though it can be dramatic, it never resorts to cheap melodrama, and the frequent shifts into insane (occasionally grating) comedy prevent it from becoming too heavy.

Special mention must go to the visuals. I'm not a fan of JC Staff but they did a tremendous job with Honey & Clover. The muted pastel colour palette, lighting, and character designs are astoundingly beautiful to my eyes. That, along with the numerous time/movement motifs (MI has trains, H&C has a ferris wheel, both have cherry blossoms) and melancholy songs and music, serves to heighten the sense of nostalgia. This is show I can see myself rewatching over and over.
 
Wow, er... sold! I didn't think Honey & Clover looked particularly like it would be my thing either, but judging by that description I'll almost certainly check it out (when I have some spare cash).
 
Desert Punk - 7/10

It had an anime only ending, which involved the entire cast (of important characters) coming together for some anti-government drama. It didn't work out well for a number of reasons; the main being that Desert Punk worked better as an episodic tale about the wonders of boobies and the other reason being that, despite not being the nicest person, Punk screwing over EVERYONE for himself went against what he'd done previously... like when he saved the life of a guy when lost in the desert, after having been abandoned with him.

Episode 11 may very well be one of the greatest animated episodes ever created, but it was one of the few moments of greatness in what was no more than a pure enjoyment anime. If the entire series had focused on Punk and Junko doing their mating ritual, it might've gotten a ten out of me... but it didn't, and I think the top class, very witty dub added a point to the score I gave it.
 
@ayase: I think you might enjoy H&C. Being the creative type you might be able to relate to that aspect of the characters more than I did. You probably won't like Hagu much--even at end of the first series I still found her creepy--but apparently she gets a lot of development in series 2.

@maestro: JC Staff tend to produce a lot of "otaku" shows that don't interest me at all. And I'll never forgive them for hours of my life I wasted watching Shana. Aoi Hana is on my "plan to watch" list, though.
 
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