Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

João Gomes

João Gomes

Thousand Master
Hard agree on a 9/10 for Unicorn - Bannagher (?) is a good protagonist with his heart in the right place (even if he's the source of some melodrama now and then) and the newtype angle gives us some beautiful heart-to-heart moments. The action is stellar at all times as is the presentation. I like the clash of ideas and the battles that result of them - I just wish the story were more hard-hitting and isolated/independent from franchise trappings.

Still, one of my favorite mecha things ever, I think. The HUD porn and enemy tracking from within the cockpit puts you in the action like few series can.
 
awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
Cautious Hero

It was probably a mistake watching this so soon after Konosuba. I really really liked that show, but this one just couldn't match up. CH is kind of similar to Konosuba, but it's totally ruined by one of the most horrible "hero" characters (the titular cautious one) I've ever seen.

The show has some Danmachi vibes, with a load of goddess characters. Like Danmachi, the main goddess here is friendly, mostly useless and has her boobs hanging out all the time (I don't know how much of the rest of CH is similar to Danmachi, because I can't remember a lot about it).

Visually, it's OK - it never looks especially good and there are a lot of shots where characters look weirdly off-model, but it's never a total mess.

The story is about what I expected. There was nothing especially surprising or exciting or amusing, but it was still alright. The whole thing was just spoiled by the hero.

I liked the OP and the ED - they've both got good songs and the ED has Ristarte dancing in Love Live-style CG, which looks very cool.

Ristarte is a really nice character. She's pretty similar to Aqua from Konosuba, but Ristarte is a bit kinder and more gentle.

There are two kids, but they don't really do much (and the dub voice for the boy makes him sound about 40).

The hero character was an absolute ass though.

I'd misunderstood the idea of the show - I thought the hero would be really nervous and panicked to be in a weird world, so he was overlevelling (like me in most JRPGs). The idea of an overpowered character who's awkward and nervous appealed to me (maybe there's another show that does that!)

Unfortunately, he's horrible. He's abusive and racist and willingly kills innocents/destroys towns/just behaves like an absolutely awful person. It's not in an "Oops, I didn't mean to do that lol!" style - he does it on purpose. He's meant to be cautious though!

He also repeatedly slaps a woman in one episode - some of those are "self defense", but he also hits her multiple times just to stop her from talking.

The only worse hero character I've ever seen in anime is the one in Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero (I guess at least this cautious guy isn't a relentless sex offender). It was hard not to root for the villains most of the time. I'm sure that wasn't intended. I guess we're supposed to find the guy funny, but it really didn't work for me.

In the last two episodes, there's a sudden effort to paint him as a good guy who was just acting mean - but it's too little, (far) too late.

Overall, it's an OK series. With a less repulsive "hero", it would have been pretty good (mostly because of Ristarte), but that guy just drags it down - 4/10
 
João Gomes

João Gomes

Thousand Master
Boogiepop Phantom

I love getting suckerpuched by the quality of a series and it was certainly the case with this one. Listen to this: a mysterious horror slice-of-life anime. Isn't that genius?

Also, the structure will remind you of Durarara!! where you have a main narrative thread every episode and a few key events - then the point of view along with plot progression and world building gets passed along like a baton between characters as you come to a deeper understanding of what the hell happened. Only this was what, 99/2000?

It's gripping and creepy and maybe even a little scary, surprisingly. "Surprisingly" because of the medium but there was a scene with a certain Snake Eye that was so well done, so well-built up that the result gave me creepy shivers. I think that was a first for anime.

Visually and aurally, it knows exactly what it wants to be and it's not pleasant - it gets under your skin, it looks awful (not technically) and it sounds, as Dai put it last page, nauseating at times.

Crazy series. Did I mention one of the best OPs I've heard lately and a banging ED? Because who doesn't like that feeling of never skipping an OP?

9/10
 
Professor Irony

Professor Irony

CYBER FUNKER
Moderator
Demon Price Enma (2006)

A compact, four-episode horror series about a pair of ancient yokai exorcists chasing murderous demons in modern-day Japan, Demon Prince Enma is a ‘dark and gritty’ remake of an older children’s series (it’s Go Nagai though, so ‘children’s series’), but it conveys what it’s doing so effectively that you really need no context beyond what it gives you.

The story and characters bring little that we haven’t seen before, but its lurid, giallo-inflected story is told stylishly, with unremittingly dark and claustrophobic cinematography, and it’s very economical in a way that I think would make this a lot more accessible than many of the other anime based on Go Nagai properties. I would also give it credit for frequently managing to be genuinely unsettling, without going overboard on gore (be warned though, it is quite bloody).

I’m curious to see if the newer Enma series (a more faithful remake of the original) gives the story any more context, but I would easily recommend this to anyone looking for a solid horror outing that won’t require a big investment of time.
 
Dai

Dai

Stand User
Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower
The original Thunderbolt had a pretty basic story about a bitter feud between two pilots, but it worked well to lend some weight to all the action. Bandit Flower doesn't have that. In fact, Bandit Flower doesn't really have a plot at all. It feels like a 90-minute compilation of all the action scenes from a 12-episode TV series (or maybe three random episodes from the middle of a series) with almost no connective tissue between them and, critically, little indication of the specific objectives for the various battles. With no context to lend it any sense of drama, it's reduced to the narrative level of a kid bashing action figures together.

It does continue some plot threads from the original, but none of them are significantly advanced or resolved here. It ends on something of a cliffhanger, and it's pretty clear that the Thunderbolt sub-series was meant to continue beyond this. Unfortunately, while there was only a year between December Sky and Bandit Flower, it's now been five years since the latter with no sign of another chapter being in development.

With little internal plot development and no sense of closure, all that's left is the action, of which there is a lot. As ungarnished roboporn goes, Bandit Flower delivers. The mech scenes are top-notch, with an obsessive attention to detail and plenty of variety in the battles. That element alone raises it above mediocrity.

6/10
 
Professor Irony

Professor Irony

CYBER FUNKER
Moderator
Dai said:
Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower
With no context to lend it any sense of drama, it's reduced to the narrative level of a kid bashing action figures together.
Click to expand...

Much as I think I came away with a slightly more positive impression of Bandit Flower, I wouldn't disagree with that. It's a perfectly fine action film, but that, in part, is likely the problem.

December Sky felt like it had something to say about the stupidity of war and pointless loss of life, but I think it also reached a natural end point for that story (even though I did go into it knowing the source manga was still running beyond it) and following on from there with gung-ho action that largely handwaves or walks back the cost of the first film seems like a weird disconnect.

It's a bit like going from First Blood to Rambo: First Blood Part II...
 
awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

This was one of the first anime shows I ever saw and I thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

Years later, I've come to the realisation that it definitely isn't one of the coolest things ever. It's OK though.

The main problem is that it's just so miserable and dull. Obviously war is awful (I know this because we get told at least 17 times every episode), but Wing is just so depressing.

There's far too much Phantom Menace-style political chit-chat and not enough excitement. I want to see the robots fight, I don't want to watch old men sitting around chatting about treaties and total pacifism total pacifism total pacifism total pacifism total pacifism.

Four of the the five main pilot characters are all miserable - most of them spend the whole show displaying zero personality, but there's also one who just cries all the time.

Then there's Duo who's easily the best character. He's almost permanently cheerful and really brings some joy to it all. Of course, this makes him look like a total psycho compared to everyone else (and he also likes calling himself The Angel of Death), but never mind that. He's excellent. The show could have done away with the other four pilots and put all the focus on him and it would have been so much better.

The female supporting characters (on both sides of the war) are mostly pretty good. Relena can be a bit of a bore, but she's bearable - other characters like Dorothy and Noin are far better than Heero and the rest of the dull pilots.

The original MSG series seemed to have a lot more characters with personality, like Fraw Bow and Sayla (and my personal fav RAMBA RAL). Even the very young kids running around added a bit of lightness that's really missing from Wing.

The dub is kinda hit and miss. Most of the characters sound bored and a few side characters veer straight into comedy. Sometimes it felt like I was watching a joke dub.

It's really really nice visually. The whole mid '90s aesthetic really appeals to me and Wing didn't disappoint. It always looked very good and there were never any messy or ugly scenes. Characters, settings, robots and stuff - it all looks fantastic.

The OPs and ED are some of my absolute favourites ever - especially the ED. All three songs (it changes to a different OP for the last nine episodes for whatever reason) are all memorable and enjoyable. The ED (Relena hanging around with lions and rhinos and stuff) is absolutely nothing to do with the story, but it's really cute and the song is a masterpiece.

Overall, it's not a horrible show, it's just a bit of a letdown. It looks good, sounds good and has amazing character names like Milliardo Peacecraft. It's just not interesting or exciting enough.

I never want to hear the words "total pacifism" ever again - 5/10
 
Dai

Dai

Stand User
awadama fever said:
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

This was one of the first anime shows I ever saw and I thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

Years later, I've come to the realisation that it definitely isn't one of the coolest things ever. It's OK though.

The main problem is that it's just so miserable and dull. Obviously war is awful (I know this because we get told at least 17 times every episode), but Wing is just so depressing.

There's far too much Phantom Menace-style political chit-chat and not enough excitement. I want to see the robots fight, I don't want to watch old men sitting around chatting about treaties and total pacifism total pacifism total pacifism total pacifism total pacifism.

Four of the the five main pilot characters are all miserable - most of them spend the whole show displaying zero personality, but there's also one who just cries all the time.

Then there's Duo who's easily the best character. He's almost permanently cheerful and really brings some joy to it all. Of course, this makes him look like a total psycho compared to everyone else (and he also likes calling himself The Angel of Death), but never mind that. He's excellent. The show could have done away with the other four pilots and put all the focus on him and it would have been so much better.

The female supporting characters (on both sides of the war) are mostly pretty good. Relena can be a bit of a bore, but she's bearable - other characters like Dorothy and Noin are far better than Heero and the rest of the dull pilots.

The original MSG series seemed to have a lot more characters with personality, like Fraw Bow and Sayla (and my personal fav RAMBA RAL). Even the very young kids running around added a bit of lightness that's really missing from Wing.

The dub is kinda hit and miss. Most of the characters sound bored and a few side characters veer straight into comedy. Sometimes it felt like I was watching a joke dub.

It's really really nice visually. The whole mid '90s aesthetic really appeals to me and Wing didn't disappoint. It always looked very good and there were never any messy or ugly scenes. Characters, settings, robots and stuff - it all looks fantastic.

The OPs and ED are some of my absolute favourites ever - especially the ED. All three songs (it changes to a different OP for the last nine episodes for whatever reason) are all memorable and enjoyable. The ED (Relena hanging around with lions and rhinos and stuff) is absolutely nothing to do with the story, but it's really cute and the song is a masterpiece.

Overall, it's not a horrible show, it's just a bit of a letdown. It looks good, sounds good and has amazing character names like Milliardo Peacecraft. It's just not interesting or exciting enough.

I never want to hear the words "total pacifism" ever again - 5/10
Click to expand...
I enjoyed Wing 20 years ago, but it hasn't aged well. Last time I tried to watch it I think I gave up after about five episodes, or whichever one had Wufei shouting endlessly at a woman about how she was rubbish because she was a woman. By that point each member of the Gundamstreet Boyz had been given their introductory spotlight episode and I remembered how lame they were.
 
awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
Dai said:
I enjoyed Wing 20 years ago, but it hasn't aged well. Last time I tried to watch it I think I gave up after about five episodes, or whichever one had Wufei shouting endlessly at a woman about how she was rubbish because she was a woman. By that point each member of the Gundamstreet Boyz had been given their introductory spotlight episode and I remembered how lame they were.
Click to expand...
This is the only Wufei scene I remember from the whole show:


Absolute nonsense!
 
awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
Komi Can't Communicate (season 1)

I'd already read (and liked) the first few volumes of the manga, so I knew what to expect - and the anime didn't let me down.

It looks really nice and it's got a great cast of characters. I could even relate to some of them (example: Komi is extremely nervous and has no friends, just like me).

The episodes have a nice variety of scenarios - they mostly cover all the standard school anime tropes (Shopping! Pool visit! School festival!), but the characters are awesome and the situations are funny so it all works really well.

Some of the early episodes suffered a little from Netflix's hit and miss subs (there's a lot of onscreen text and most of it wasn't translated at all), but it suddenly got better about a third of the way in.

The OP and ED aren't too amazing either.

...but those are just minor complaints. It was a really enjoyable show. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's a lovely series and it does what it does really well - 8/10
 
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awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Arc

I gave the first season 10/10 a few pages back - this one isn't quite as good, but it's not really fair to compare seven episodes to 26.

Even with a shorter length and less variety in settings and characters than the first season, it was still excellent.

It looks amazing, the story and action are exciting, the characters are great - the dub is perfect and the soundtrack is really really good too.

Demon Slayer is one of my absolute favs - 9/10
 
RadFemHedonist

RadFemHedonist

Dragon Knight
Yeah tbh I was wondering what led you to dislike Perfect Blue so much, @awadama fever? Like obviously you're entitled to your opinion (also the dub for Perfect Blue is pretty rubbish tbf so if you watched dubbed I'd recommend rewatching subbed), but I think it's an amazing film myself, and it's generally well regarded. But you aren't under any obligation to explain yourself, I just can't help but be really curious XP
 
awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
@RadFemHedonist I just found it so so boring 😅 I really struggled to focus on it and I was pretty close to giving up on it halfway through - I just wanted to see if something I thought was going to happen did happen (it did).

The story really didn't interest me and I don't think it was even very nice visually (I agree that the dub was pretty rubbish too!)

I can see why people like it - it's just not the kind of thing that appeals to me at all 😅
 
awadama

awadama

Cardcaptor
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (movie)

I thought the main Wing series was pretty mediocre, but I enjoyed the movie a lot more.

It focuses more on action (there's still a story though!) and much less on men sitting around chatting about t*tal p*cifism). The main pilot characters are much more tolerable this time around too (Wufei is still a waste of space).

The series looked nice, but this looks even better - especially the space battles.

It was a nice length (90 minutes) with a good story and great visuals. I wouldn't call it a classic, but I enjoyed it and I'd definitely be open to watching it again in the future - 7/10
 
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