Your anime viewing journal

Nothing. I'm a changed man now; I've seen the error of my ways and understand that manga is the true way to happiness. No more Shippuuden staring contests for me. Melody of Oblivion can S my D.

Honestly, you can't see children brutally murdered, people blown in half by mines, women raped and depressing endings when watching anime, nine times out of ten. Why on Earth would any sane person rather watch moeblob ******** when they can watch horse-men/monsters do their thing in Berserk? There's no ******* point!

Princess Tutu? Meh. I'd rather see more stories that bring the knife in my right hand closer to the exposed veins on my left wrist.
 
watched starship operators. was good considering it was only 13 espiodes. i think it could have easily been longer and not be boring. also the characters weren't annoying.FLCL: what can i say about this one but holy hell hands down of the best anime i have watched in quite a while. it's mad cap visuals, storyline and characters kept me interested thoughout.Coyote Ragtime Show is another 13 espiode series, like starship operators that could have easily filled a 26 espiode series but it again it least ends the storyline with a real ending and dosen't leave u with any stupid hanging questions after the show has ended. all 3 are recommend
 
Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk 1-7

Based on an old arcade game, this swords n' sorcery show starts in pure parody mode, poking fun at every hoary RPG cliché imaginable. By the second episode, though, it's a more of a standard action show punctuated by the odd moment of comedy, leaving me wondering whether I should be taking it seriously or not (the exception being episode 5, which is equally ridiculous and hilarious).

So far the plot is paper thin and character development almost non-existent. It's all a bit dull, to be honest, but there are at least four good reasons to keep watching. And it looks good, with a far more consistent level of quality than I'd expect from Gonzo.
 
Gundam 00 SE1: Celestial Being - Finally got round to watching this last night, and it was pretty good. Basically, it gets the entirety of the first season into 90 minutes, which was never going to be perfect, but it did what it had to. It did feel though that there wasn't as many new scenes as expected, but what was added was good none the less. I'd probably give it about a 7.5/10. Now hopefully the second one works better, it covers the first half of season 2, so this time they do have less to pack into 90 minutes and could get more new scenes in. So shall have to wait and see.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk 1-7

Based on an old arcade game, this swords n' sorcery show starts in pure parody mode, poking fun at every hoary RPG cliché imaginable. By the second episode, though, it's a more of a standard action show punctuated by the odd moment of comedy, leaving me wondering whether I should be taking it seriously or not (the exception being episode 5, which is equally ridiculous and hilarious).

So far the plot is paper thin and character development almost non-existent. It's all a bit dull, to be honest, but there are at least four good reasons to keep watching. And it looks good, with a far more consistent level of quality than I'd expect from Gonzo.
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The last couple of episodes lose most of the comedy and it becomes more serious.

I started on Special A. So far it is His and Hers Circumstances without the blackmail but with pro-wrestling.
 
Dracos said:
The last couple of episodes lose most of the comedy and it becomes more serious.
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Aw, crap. I was hoping the rest of the series would be more like episode 5 than episode 7. What's the point of a parody show that ends up becoming exactly what it's parodying?

Interestingly, the screenplay is by Shoji Gatoh, whose Full Metal Panic (the first series anyway) also had me dissatisfied over its blend of light and dark. But FMP did at least have a half decent plot.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk 1-7

Based on an old arcade game, this swords n' sorcery show starts in pure parody mode, poking fun at every hoary RPG cliché imaginable. By the second episode, though, it's a more of a standard action show punctuated by the odd moment of comedy, leaving me wondering whether I should be taking it seriously or not (the exception being episode 5, which is equally ridiculous and hilarious).

So far the plot is paper thin and character development almost non-existent. It's all a bit dull, to be honest, but there are at least four good reasons to keep watching. And it looks good, with a far more consistent level of quality than I'd expect from Gonzo.
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so i take it that this has some of those things that poke fun at killing rats and crap? if so i'll be sure to watch this
 
This morning, I watched my first anime (x2) for awhile: Gantz and Tokko. Tokko is a fairly awful adaptation of a 7/10 manga; it having no budget, none of Fujisawa's quality art, terrible 'music', facepalm worthy direction and more filler than I can handle. Fujisawa gets no love from anime studios. But, on the +1 side, Gantz is my cup of tea.

I remember reading that Gantz was written as if a 15-year-old came up with the story, and with all the violence and nudity it's hard not to think that way. The moment the only (thus far) female was introduced naked, with huge melons (complete with actual nipples!!!!!11!!), I just knew her character would A) be the series' fan service and B) be the rapebait of this little survival horror (every survival horror manga/anime needs rapebait for drama purposes). There's even a dog called 'Butter Dog' who just loves licking the special place of females!

But, really, the stupidity and over the top nature of Gantz just adds to its charm. It started out as a black comedy and, though there has been some decent, realistic character development, as well as the dark depiction of humanity that I love seeing in my entertainment, it clearly isn't to be taken deadly serious. Even the 'boss monsters' are designed to be laughed at rather than cried over - I mean, an onion monster? C'mon!

Speaking of the first 'boss battle', I would point out that it was ******* retarded how Kei ran away with a gun and didn't think to, y'know, shoot the ******* onion dad-thing, later having a ten minute chat about whether or not to shoot it. But I won't worry over such issues when Gantz is even more crazy than the Battle Royale manga; a manga with a human terminator who cannot be killed by normal humans, despite only being a school kid.

I even found myself laughing when Kei used the line of all lines on Kei2 when in bed with her, after she informed him masters don't sex animals (the Welsh may disagree with this): "My family had a dog once, and I gave him lots of hugs and kisses." The best part was, it worked. Only in manga/anime!

Later today, I'll more than likely watch the rest of my 5/7 anime DVDs. Then I'll wait for the final two volumes. And, after that, I'll have a tough choice to make: to buy the Gantz manga or to go the pirate way. Considering I'm collecting Drifting Classroom and have just ordered a ton of random first volumes, I think I'll take the cheap route this time. Paying £5.50-£7 per volume AFTER the TBD 10% off code has died does not strike me as being the smart thing to do. And, anyway, how can I hold a book, not crease the spine and masturbate over Kei2 all at the same time? It'd be too much like hard work, and I'm a lazy sod.

P.S: When Kei2 gets killed off, I'll drop the manga. I just know she will because mangakas have no sense when it comes to women. They also seemingly enjoy drawing them getting raped and/or murdered. Endo, how could you do that to my sweet Helena...
 
Yeah, I liked Gantz at first. Then it started to take five or six episodes to finish a "game", with characters standing around talking while their teammates are in mortal danger. It's just so badly paced. All the while the animation quality goes even further down the crapper and Ichiro Itano shows why his directorial credits amount to little more than Violence Jack and Angel Cop.
 
That doesn't sound so great. I'm rather fond of how the series has been paced up to yet; the first disc covering the start of the game and the second covering characterization/new character introductions. It'll be a bummer if it goes down south.

I'm not sure of his skills as a director, but Itano came across as an intelligent older chap in his Gantz interview. It was a very interesting interview, actually: he revealed that Japanese TV censorship has got so bad that the biker episodes couldn't air unedited because the bikers didn't have helmets on (lol). So much was cut from the TV version that S1 ended a few episodes earlier than the DVD episodes do.

Really, there's no way for the likes of Berserk, Eden and Gantz to air on TV. If even Japan is that extreme, then there's no hope.
 
Gosh, you were up early watching anime, Aion :O

I've read the first volume of the Gantz manga and loved it and wanted to read on but all the negative reactions to the Gantz anime and manga put me off. Your 'review' of part of the series seems to boil down to nipples and onion monsters and I'm pretty sure that's not for me :p
 
Mainly 'cause I don't sleep for long.

You aren't enough of a man to appreciate naked women and all of the death/gore on show. The likes of Battle Royale and Gantz are only for guys who can appreciate seeing people put in a hopeless situation; in the case of Gantz, with lots of black comedy (/hard-on when getting beat up by another guy because of thinking dirty thoughts about a girl) and ecchi.

The manga seems better because, unlike the anime, there's bush visible. It's sickening that in the manga Kei2's hand/arm/whatever covers that area. I guess I just have to accept that manga is always better...
 
Aion said:
I'm rather fond of how the series has been paced up to yet; the first disc covering the start of the game and the second covering characterization/new character introductions.
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I did really enjoy the introduction, the first game (despite the bad animation and shonky CG), and most of all the time the characters spent in their "normal" lives. But as the series progresses the balance skews too far towards the game and the battles become ridiculously protracted. Although, being a fan of shounen fighting anime, you might not mind not find it so objectionable.

I'm not sure of his skills as a director, but Itano came across as an intelligent older chap in his Gantz interview. It was a very interesting interview, actually: he revealed that Japanese TV censorship has got so bad that the biker episodes couldn't air unedited because the bikers didn't have helmets on (lol)
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The interview was good. He's an intelligent guy and a great animator, but he should never have been allowed to direct anything. The censorship thing probably depends upon where a series airs. The premium satellite channels such as WOWOW, for instance, allow a lot more explicit content than major channels.
 
Fabio - being the fantasy sucker I am, I loved watching Tower of Druaga. The second series has a much darker tone than the first one and a nice twist when more about the real objectives of conquering the tower is. The couple last episodes made me rate it lower than it could get, as the cliches pilled up though.

Dracos said:
I started on Special A. So far it is His and Hers Circumstances without the blackmail but with pro-wrestling.
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(o.0) Pro-wrestling? Sounds amazing!
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
I did really enjoy the introduction, the first game (despite the bad animation and shonky CG), and most of all the time the characters spent in their "normal" lives. But as the series progresses the balance skews too far towards the game and the battles become ridiculously protracted. Although, being a fan of shounen fighting anime, you might not mind not find it so objectionable.
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Hey - being a fan of Naruto doesn't make me an idiot, you know! (being an idiot makes me an idiot)

I'll take your word for it. You saying you liked it to begin with and it went down south is far more worrying than you just straight-up rating it with your special rating, like I assumed you had. But, to be honest, with it having an anime onry finale, I never expected it to be great - for greatness, manga is the only way.

I did notice the CG issues during the start; at the train station. It hasn't been bad since but it was really noticeable that the background and the character models weren't blending well. It wasn't awful but, for a first episode, it wasn't awe inspiring, either.

I enjoyed the 'normal' section of Gantz more than the Battle Royale start. To start with, I knew nothing about the cast (obviously), my only connection to the characters being to Kei1 because of his honest, 'I don't give a toss about anyone' attitude and amusing views about others. But, after seeing the 'goody-goody' Kato get fleshed out and learning why Kei2 wanted to die, I care about all three. And the comedy was golden on the second disc.
 
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