Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

New video! This time, some old-school mech action, dragged kicking and screaming into the present day.

Armored Trooper Votoms - The Pailsen Files

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I've been experimenting with a noise reduction filter, so hopefully the sound should be a little better this time.

Also, as I've done quite a few of these now, I'd be interested in any feedback on what people think of the videos. Personally, I feel maybe I ought to be talking more about the staff involved (directors, designers, voice actors, etc.) in each series, but I'm open to suggestions. Anything you think I should be doing more of/less of/whatever, please fire away.
 
I enjoy your videos a lot. They're entertaining, informative, and dryly amusing, plus you tend to review shows that don't receive much attention from elsewhere. I certainly wouldn't be averse to a few words about the staff, being a bit of a nerd where that sort of thing is concerned.
 
Thank you :D

I will try and mention the staff a bit more in future though. With the votoms one in particular, I was kicking myself afterwards for not talking a little bit about Ryousuke Takahashi - he's been involved in a lot of interesting series over the years.
 
I''s Pure - 5/10

This 6-episode OVA is a heavily compressed adaptation of Masakazu's 15-volume manga. I'd read the first two books before watching the anime and one thing that became apparent is that much of the series' humour was deemed too frivilous to keep.

And that's a shame because most of what's left is, I assume, the story's pivitol dramatic moments--but that drama is not always good (rapeman ffs). The loss of the lighthearted moments of character interaction may not have much effect on the plot, but it certainly makes the cast less interesting and endearing to me. Not that the show is entirely without merit: the first two episodes are a faithful (if slighly truncated) retelling of the first two books, and episode 5 generates some compelling romantic tension. The rest is either forgettable or something I desperately want to forget, but I fear the ending will stay with me for all the wrong reasons.

Predicatably enough, the visuals also lose out in the transition from manga to anime. I quite like the OVA designs but the series doesn't have the budget to animate them with any fluidity. It all looks a bit cheap. The music didn't leave any impression at all.

The problem is that OVA adaptations like this are meant to compliment the source material, not serve as a substitute for it. Thus the series has a "greatest hits" feel to it; months pass between episodes, characters come and go, things happen without much build up. It's fanservice, really, and not meant to stand alone. As its own entity it doesn't work very well.
 
He posts over at MAL these days. When he sees the score I've given I''s he'll no doubt call me on it. Thankfully I have in my head a flawless rebuttal to every argument he could potentially come up with.
 
Fullmetal alchemist
9/10
Very good. any fan of the manga or original anime should definately watch this.

Good things:
Great animation, loads of action, The characters were still likeable,

Bad things
It feels rushed, Alphones english voice actor is nowhere as good as the voice actor from the original anime. and he was 12 years old!!!
 
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 2.

I was already in love of this show during the first season, and what I love about this show, is even until the end, it stayed consistent. Lelouch fell into the usual spell of becoming a jerk with power, but at least he had the Zero Requiem plan. The second season, and this set in particular, is so full of plot twists. By the end, I felt myself sympathising with Emperor Charles over Lelouch, however, the final episode still made me cry.

I have always liked Code Geass since I picked up volume 1 of the manga because the first line of the blurb "The Holy Empire of Britannia has taken over Japan" or something like that. My love for this series has never faded, and it probably never will. Code Geass is definitely one of the better 21st Century anime.

My only complaint, is that there was so many secondary and tertiary characters that I'd often forget their names. However, the voice acting is superb.

9.5/10
 
It's that time again...

Ghost Sweeper Mikami

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Not really a full review due to a lack of available subtitles, but I thought it was still worth talking about, especially in light of Sentai picking the series up.

I'm also going to try doing show notes for these from now on. Nothing fancy at the moment, just some additional links, trivia and other ramblings that wouldn't otherwise have fitted into the video. I haven't quite got the notes for Mikami ready yet, but I've put some bits and pieces on The Pailsen Files here.
 
Undead cleaning lady :D

I want to support this show because, as you point out, it's a bizarre license that nobody could have seen coming. And if it does okay, who knows what Sentai might dig up from the vaults next. But it kind of depends upon how serious it gets; the characters seem kind of two-dimensional and it looks to not have quite enough substance to work as anything other than a comedy, at least for me.

It's actually been a great year for retro anime. Discotek's release of FotNS TV, Nozomi's release of Dirty Pair TV, and Sentai's release of this.
 
Thanks, chaps - your support is always appreciated :)

It seems like I'm getting the process of assembling the videos a bit more streamlined now, so fingers crossed the releases should be more regular in future.

I think it's fair to say the characters in GS Mikami are a bit two dimensional right enough, at least for this early part of the series. They're entertaining, but it does feel like there's not been much attempt to move beyond Mikami loving cash, Okinu being oblivious and Yokoshima being useless.

If nothing else, I'm quite curious to see how closely it follows the manga. I think the general feeling is that the characters did grow as the series went on, but the manga ran for a great deal longer than the tv version did.
 
Finally, finally managed to rewatch Bakemonogatari so that I could more happily watch the final volume:

Bakemonogatari - 10/10

How do you even approach summing up this series? The worst thing about it is that it shows you glimpses of the prequel, which you instantly feel a need to watch. Fortunately, of course, the anime adaptation of Kizumonogatari was announced around the time the final BD was released in Japan, so even that's not a major problem.

The number of categories in which I could nominate it for "best of the decade" feels like simply a list of all the things that make up a TV anime. Writing, visual impact, vocal performances, OP & ED, narrative cohesion, fidelity of setting and characters. The combined effect is searing, refusing to allow your gaze to waver or your attention to divert.

The consistent highlight is the wordplay and comedy that runs through seemingly every dialog exchange, fittingly enough given the reputation of NISIOISIN's light novels on which the show is based. But the hidden delight is the tender treatment of Araragi and Senjougahara's relationship, best shown in the scene where they first outwardly confess their feelings for each other at the end of episode 5, and then again during their first date in episode 12. Senjougahara dominates the episode entirely, the contrast between her attitude towards Araragi during the car ride, her brief words of thanks to her father, and her emotional speech to Araragi while they gaze at the stars completing the picture of her character that has been majestically painted between the lines of Araragi's interactions with the other "main" characters in the show.

Each individual story arc has its moments of surprise, and usually a feeling of meandering slightly before bringing everything spectacularly together. Combined with some very well timed and well choreographed action scenes, the pacing of both the individual arcs and the series as a whole is spot on.

I refuse to acknowledge the... issues... with the series' TV broadcast and subsequent delays to the BD releases of the final three volumes (particularly the final volume) as reasons to mark the show down. It is, as they say, what it is, and in its completed state stands as a remarkable achievement, well deserving of its equally remarkable sales figures. The BD release also brings with it probably the greatest bonus feature ever - in-character episode commentaries penned by NISIOISIN himself, which provide nearly as much funny as the show itself.

Already eminently rewatchable, this is truly a modern classic.
 
Watched Sword of the Stranger yesterday. I'll give it 9/10, which is very rare for me to do. Great, if simple, story, amazing animation, and nice use of several languages to make it just that little bit more authentic feeling. Highly recommended.
 
Heavens ilmaestro, you seem highly taken by that series. Have any R1 licensors been considering it as an acquisition? One should hope its continuous praise is given due industrial attention.
 
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