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Serial Experiments Lain (English dub) - Episodes 1-9

Since I'm behind on my on-disc backlog I decided to watch the first disc of Lain as well in one sitting. This show is really complex but intriguing and worth experiencing. I'm going to take a break on the show to process what I've watched just so that I'll be able to understand the last four episodes on the second disc.

Opening song is great as well.
 
Your Name. (dub (and just for @Jaysgba: it's with English lyrics as the theatrical release was with JP lyrics))

As this was the 4th time I've seen it this year I was mostly looking to see if
there were any clues to the time displacement between the 2 of them and noticed a calendar in Katsuhikos house:
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And a poster at Takis school:
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In the back and forth scenes after Mitsuhas first day as Taki we see the 12th of September on both their phones, but as different days of the week. Mon = 2016 and Thurs = 2013. This obviously was a deliberate choice, but I wonder why they went with 3 years and not 5 when day and dates would match again. It also leaves you wondering how neither of them noticed this themselves.

I also noticed that when in each others bodies they don't wear the braid that Mitsuha gives to Taki. I assume it's too difficult for Taki to tie :p so he uses a basic hair band.

There's a couple of other plot problems I have like you could easily find a place as distinctive as Itomori on Google maps: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/lifest...ri-lake-location-discovered-by-movie-fan/amp/

And more of a confusion about the first scenes with Mitsuha than a plot point. It seems to be Taki waking up in her body, but then in the scene that follows, which seems to be the same morning, the grandmother says she's back to normal suggesting this is now the next day?

Quality wise (watched on 42" TV and played on my PS4) some scenes looked grainy (I noticed it most on sky shots), motion shots suffer especially the first pan of Tokyo and the moped scene, and even though I turned down the brightness one scene (Mitsuhas memory of giving the braid to Taki) is very washed out as it was already deliberately animated so. So I probably will email AL about a replacement.

Sound wise (Sony PS Gold wireless headset) it seemed fine to me apart from maybe a couple of Mitsuhas lines which seemed to have one channel out of sync with the other.
 
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ZZ Gundam Episodes 14 and 15. Honestly I didn't mind these episodes at all. Parts of them were pretty fun with some amusing character moments. I find ZZ in general to be a bit of a nice change of pace from the previous two shows. As I stated previously despite really liking the orignal and Zeta I welcome a bit of humour and goofiness after the dark ending of Zeta. Sure these episodes don't add a lot to the overall story of ZZ but they are quite entertaining nontheless.

Hokuto No Ken (Rewatch) Episodes 9 and 10. Despite really enjoying the anime there are a few crappy non-manga episodes that the show REALLY could have done without, episode 9 being the first. The thing about the manga versus the anime is that all of the Nanto martial arts users in the manga were someone of note who were quite important to the overall story. A few throwaway anime only Nanto users pop up early in the shin arc who are goofy as hell and don't fit in with the universe O'Hara & Buronson created with the manga AT ALL. I don't mind non-manga episodes where Kenshiro battles random thugs and bad guys but shoe-horning in characters who are described as being Nanto practioners who wear silly-ass costumes and have a theme like some kind of comic book supervillain is a bit of a stain on the way the serious way the manga portrays its characters. The original manga would have never had Ken fighting a weird guy dressed as a ******* bat!. This particular scene I refer to in episode 9 might not seem that daft to anime only viewers but considering there is nothing like this in the manga whatsoever it just feels so freakishly out of place I have no idea what the TV staff were thinking. Episode 10 fares a little better and was much more entertaining despite also being non-manga material.
If I remember rightly though it picks up again in upcoming episodes with a bunch of good episodes before the Shin storyline really kicks into high gear.

Every time I watch Episode 10 the boobs and ass as well as some of the themes of the episode in general make me wonder what Japanese TV standards were like in 1984! :)
 
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Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine (Japanese audio) - Episodes 9-12 (Complete)
Serial Experiments Lain (English dub) - Episodes 10-13 (Complete)

That's now two more titles from my November on-disc backlog watched & completed, totalling five.
Completed:
#01 | The Tatami Galaxy
#02 | Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
#03 | Space Dandy Season 2
#04 | Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine
#05 | Serial Experiments Lain

Remaining:
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan
Gonna Be the Twin-Tail!!
Love Live! School Idol Project Season 2
Tokyo ESP
 
The Punisher episode 3

Chrome Shelled Regios episodes 1-24 (Complete. Another solid sci-fi anime loaded with tropes but with an enjoyable enough set of characters and plot to keep me interested. Recommended.) 3.5/5

I was bored so I thought I'd make a bingo board for sci-fi anime tropes/traits, since I've noticed many recurring ones.
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I'm sure there are other traits but here's twelve that I thought of for now. They could be worded better though... Note that this is all firmly tongue-in-cheek :p feel free to make your own or use mine the next time you watch a Sci-fi anime, see how you score!
 
Scrambled Valkyrie said:
Hokuto No Ken (rewatch) Episodes 1-8 Just got the Discotek SD Blu ray set.
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I know it's not always the most popular option amongst fans, but I'd like to see a lot more older long form tv series released this way. I rarely buy physical releases now, mainly because I grudge the storage space, but I'd be much more up for owning the entirity of things like City Hunter or Urusei Yatsura if they came in a couple of nice compact cases.
 
Fireworks (theatrical screening, rewatch)

I felt like I got on rather better with this second time around, for some reason. There are still problems, though — mostly the lame attempts at humour. Pretty much all the gags fall flat for me. The worst has got to be the bit where Miura-sensei's boyfriend, looking at her in her chest-minimising yukata, suddenly blurts out "Were your breasts always this small and flat?" What in the name of...?

And is it just me, or does every attempt to portray Nazuna as oh-so-alluring just not work?


@Professor Irony:
I meant to ask this before, but did you pick up an artcard for Fireworks at SLA, Prof.? I somehow missed getting that one. What was the artwork on it?
 
Invincible Superman Zambot 3 - Episodes 8 - 12

Twocar - Episodes 2 - 4

Professor Irony said:
I know it's not always the most popular option amongst fans, but I'd like to see a lot more older long form tv series released this way. I rarely buy physical releases now, mainly because I grudge the storage space, but I'd be much more up for owning the entirity of things like City Hunter or Urusei Yatsura if they came in a couple of nice compact cases.
Click to expand...

I think Discotek's SD-BD releases are a great idea and are a god send for space starved collectors! I would love to the shows you stated released in this format.
 
Hellsing Ultimate Vols IX & X
This started dragging as much of it is ultra-violence for the sake of it. Volumes VII and X were probably my favourites as they actually had other things to say. Although Alucard gets defeated by a thought experiment :confused:

Tsukiga ga kirei eps 1-3
A quite sweet romance SOL so far and a protagonist actually confesses after only 3 episodes unlike some that leave things dangling till the end of the series or even after they've died!

Band of Brothers eps 7-8
 
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Professor Irony said:
I know it's not always the most popular option amongst fans, but I'd like to see a lot more older long form tv series released this way. I rarely buy physical releases now, mainly because I grudge the storage space, but I'd be much more up for owning the entirity of things like City Hunter or Urusei Yatsura if they came in a couple of nice compact cases.
Click to expand...

I don't mind this either to be honest. I'm happy just have a really old show like Hokuto No Ken which is rather niche these days on Blu Ray, SD or not. Because I like a lot of old and long series it would be ideal to have them in full HD but I can live without it and save a bit of space. I'd also like City Hunter and Urusei Yatsura: in either SD or full HD. I've not seen any City Hunter apart from a movie but I have seen every single UY episode plus OVAs and movies, took me a good few years to get through :)

Also....back to viewing:-
Forgot to mention I finished Stranger Things Season 2. Honestly I don't get why it's been getting so much hate compared to Season 1. I've listened to the arguments but don't really agree with most of what was said, thoroughly enjoyed it. Wasn't perfect but neither was the first season, both were a lot of fun with some real heartfelt character moments and some great universe building. Honestly even if I had thought this season had paled in comparison it would still be a hell of a lot better than many other shows airing currently.

Hokuto No Ken (Rewatch) Episodes 11 and 12 - Back to form with a mixture of manga stuff and non-manga stuff expanding on the canon Jackal storyline. Not a bad group of episodes at all.

The Punisher Episodes 1 and 2 I've enjoyed each one of Netflix's Marvel shows some more than others but I was really looking forward to this and so far it hasn't let me down. The Punisher is my one of my all-time favourite marvel characters ever since the Garth Ennis days and I think they've done a pretty good job with the more adult version of the MAX imprint comics in TV form.
 
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