Your anime viewing journal

I can't remember what I have watched since I was last here but two things from crunchyroll really stick out as things I can't wait to own on DVD. They are Time of Eve and Pale Cocoon, both are amazing Sci-Fi shows.

To Love Ru seems to me like an updated Urusei Yatsura mixed with Tenchi. It is more of a harem show where the main male is more like Tenchi than the lecherous Ataru. Though unlike Tenchi where Tenchi does not show any favouritism there is obviously someone Rito/Ataru likes more than Lala/Lum.

Bleach Volume 25 better action and story than the last couple of volumes and at last it looks like the Bount arc is coming to an end.

Sands Of Destruction I was not sure whether I did the right thing buying this without knowing anything about this, but it actually turned out to be a pretty entertaining futuristic medieval fantasy show. If you liked Scrapped Princess this is something it may be worth you trying.
 
Ah! My Goddess TV 1-10

One day, when I'm lying on my death bed, I'm going to look back at the time I spent watching the first seven episodes of AMG and cry for the hours I lost. Even now I feel a tinge of sadness when I think about the better ways in which I could have spent that time. You owe me 3 hours, Aionella.

But episode 8 heralded the arrival of sexy troublemaker (albeit with good intentions) Urd. Unlike Keiichi and Belldandy, who must be the most boring couple in anime, Urd actually has a personality. The first thing she does is encourage Keiichi to make a move on the sickeningly eager-to-please Belldandy, but even though she's completely subservient, he doesn't have the conkers. So Urd decides to seduce Keiichi herself, thereby introducing him to the pleasure of women and giving him the required courage to score with the true object of his affection. When that also fails, she resorts to mind control. What a woman.

So thus far it's been a rather bland romantic comedy spiced up with the occasional bit of Urd-related naughtiness. Acceptable.
 
Kare Kano eps 1-4

so far it's an excellent Rom-Com, it's got a fine balance between the Romance and the Comedy, which is i find is excellent, the art style is fantastic as well
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
Even now I feel a tinge of sadness when I think about the better ways in which I could have spent that time. You owe me 3 hours, Aionella.
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It saddens me that you feel this way...

Giant Robo 1: Cartoonish robot designs, a boy happy to ride on the shoulder of a killing machine and shout orders, characters who look like they've dressed up to attend a fancy dress party and random supernatural powers. So far, I'm watching it just for Ginrei!

I think I'm sticking with Evangelion. As much of a pussy as Shinji is, his character is far more believable than some brat smiling whilst high in the sky on the shoulder of some silly looking robot. And I prefer important people tasked with saving the world to not look like ancient warriors and sailors.

It's no surprise that a reviewer on MAL who scored Giant Robo 10/10 also scored Evangelion lowly; highlighting Shinji's character as a major negative. The fact of the matter is, I value characterization over brainless fun.

I knew I wouldn't like Giant Robo by just glancing at its trailer because I need characters I can relate to and/or understand, and that's not possible with anime aimed at children. Without believability in terms of the actions of characters, there's no reason for me to watch/read unless there's a hot female. As luck would have it, Giant Robo has Ginrei.

My 9-10/10's paint a very clear picture of me and my tastes, and Giant Robo doesn't fit with the likes of Death Note, Noein, Code Geass, Gungrave and Koi Kaze.
 
While I would say the first episode isn't at all representative of Giant Robo as a whole (any comedy is gone altogether by part three and tragedy sets in pretty quickly), if you find the art and the characters as offputting as that, you may as well go and watch something else.

I don't rate the series as highly as a lot of people do, but to dismiss it as a kids series or brainless fun is doing it a bit of an injustice. The underlying idea is probably closer to Pluto in that it takes a kids series and subverts it by introducing the harsh realities of an adult world. Crucially, I don't think it does this as well as Pluto does, but it's still an interesting stab at giving some substance to the giant robot genre.
 
That-Bastard-Bad-Guy-Aion said:
I knew I wouldn't like Giant Robo by just glancing at its trailer because I need characters I can relate to and/or understand, and that's not possible with anime aimed at children.
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It's time to grow up man, you can't relate to thirteen your old kids who got bullied in high school forever. Also giving a 9/10 to Death Note and Code Geass isn't doing you any favours in showing off your "good taste"
 
...I've awarded a 9-10/10 score to something involving bullying? I don't think there's even an anime in existence with a central bullying theme. That's what manga/Vitamin is for.

The point was, if a character isn't grounded in some form of real world realism, with problems/thoughts I can understand, then I won't be able to connect with that character. And if I'm unable to form a connection, then I won't care what happens.

Characters are first with me; everything else is second. I'm enjoying watching Human Crossing for that reason.

It's too early to judge Giant Robo, but the first episode did nothing to suggest there wouldn't only be a collection of cartoonish looking (noses/feet/body) characters, with personalities that are shallow. If it was going to have decent character development, then it would've started with the lead delving into his past, rather than just having Ginrei make an off-hand comment about his parents dying.

I mentioned Shinji because he needed SOME of Shinji in him for me to take him seriously. If your parents had been killed and you were tasked with saving the world by flying around on the shoulder of a killing machine, you wouldn't be all 'smiles and laughter'.

Simply put, I don't get kicks out of anime that can only be appreciated by those young of heart. That's why I've started looking more at manga. I'm not giving up on Giant Robo yet--I own all three volumes and Ginrei's dress is cut HIGH up the sides--but I'm not expecting anything other than simple-minded fun.

Also, Galaxy Express: if I wanted to see children suffer by stepping into the world of adults, Kitoh's work is where it's at. :)
 
That-Bastard-Bad-Guy-Aion said:
If your parents had been killed and you were tasked with saving the world by flying around on the shoulder of a killing machine, you wouldn't be all 'smiles and laughter'.
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Children can be surprisingly resiliant. In the Experts of Justice he has a surrogate family who care a great deal about him, and he controls the most powerful robot in the world. And you think he should be writing emo poetry and cutting himself? Also, there happens to be six more episodes and, who knows, maybe there's some character development?

Giant Robo is primarily a story about family and familial loyalty, as will become apparent, as well as that perennial anime theme of growing up. With a whole lot of death and destruction and tragedy, it's not exactly kids' stuff.
 
Noein 4-13

The slice-of-life/science fiction approach of this show isn't quite working for me and I'm not entirely sure why. It has some of the most fluid animation I've seen in a TV series and I love the slightly unconventional design. The problem, I guess, is there's a lot of information flying about but precious little actual plot. It's just not going anywhere fast (or slowly). And while there's been some character development, generally speaking everyone is pretty much the same as they were at the beginning of the show.

The quantum physics I feared have made an appearance, and it's annoying me as much as I thought it would. I don't get it and I'm not interested, okay, so just stop with the god damn technobabble :evil:
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
I don't get it and I'm not interested, okay, so just stop with the god damn technobabble :evil:
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There's not much to get, I'm afraid. My sentiments on quantum mechanics are not the most optimistic, but even I was somewhat repulsed by Noein's fanciful misinterpretations. One fears the directors expected a little too much of such a framework as a means of rationalising narrative oddities.
(I lasted two episodes.)
 
There's a scene in which one plot device of a character attempts to explain the theory to another plot device of a character using dice as an example. When he doesn't get it, she goes into full-blown technobabble mode instead. Duh?
 
So I started rewatching First Gundam on Crunchyroll. Being about 5 years since I last saw the movies, and coming on eight years since the only other time I saw the TV series, it almost feels like a pilgrimage starting to watch it again now. The dub is pretty laughable at times, but it's basically impossible for me to see this and not be enthralled. Just seeing the characters again is emotional enough on its own.

Amuro~ Furimukuna Amuro~
 
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