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Sailor Moon (Viz Media English Dub) - Episodes 04-08

Trying to get through some backlog! Figured I'll start with Sailor Moon Part 1 (aka the first 23 episodes).

OH THE VIDEO QUALITY IS SO TERRIBLE.

And we finally see the second Sailor Guardian: Mercury!
 
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Zetman eps 9-13 (Complete)

A pretty good satisfying ending to the series, almost all the plot threads were resolved apart from who the sweeper is and why his master wants to meet Jin/Zet All in all a pretty good and entertaining action/sci-fi show, shame it hasn't been licensed over here.
 
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Non Non Biyori Repeat-Episode 3

As cute and funny as ever.

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Yuyushiki-Episode 5

A strangely morbid episode but funny none the less.
 
GOD EATER - Episode 2

I'm finding myself increasingly annoyed by this. I like what I've seen so far, but the constant 2D 3D animation ******** is really affecting my enjoyment of GOD EATER. It detracts from what is an otherwise gorgeous looking show and pulls me completely out of the experience. One day we may get a decent 2D/3D show with decent character models that aren't animated at the stupidly low framerates they currently are, but this show certainly is not it, and I spent half the runtime thinking how much better looking and enjoyable it could have been as a traditional 2D animation.
 
Smeelia said:
I'm quite fond of the attack names, in the dub at least (I really should get around to watching the subtitled version at some point).
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It took me a while to warm to the Japanese voices, but I think the original audio is well worth checking out. I like Megumi Hayashibara far more as Lina than I did as Faye in Cowboy Bebop.
 
Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist 1-2

Okay, this show is actually pretty hilarious. Although it's kind of worrying that I can actually see society going in that direction...
 
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water ep1.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan ep16 (complete). Dammit, stop pretending that the Endless Eight is going to happen again, that joke is getting old! And that bit at the end when it was subtly suggested that the main Haruhi series was actually just a story written by Nagato in this universe kind of annoyed me in a somewhat irrational way, I felt like I was being trolled. Anyway, a fairly average episode to finish off a fairly average series. Only diehard Haruhi fans need apply.

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. GORGEOUS artwork, it's no wonder it took so long to be completed. The music, directing, voice acting... all nigh-on perfect. The only negative I can come up with is that the story is both obvious and predictable, but since it's a retelling of a classic fairytale that's to be expected so I can't really hold that against it. One of Takahata's greatest works, and with his track record that's saying something.
 
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Lutga said:
Patlabor - The New Files OVAs (eps 1-16)

I'd enjoyed what I'd seen of Patlabor before via the previous OVA series, but this set really felt it took things to a new level of excellence. That said, I'd definitely have to discount the opening four episodes as they rely so thoroughly on the TV series, which I haven't seen. As a continuous arc too, they don't really fit alongside the episodic, self-contained stories told in the other episodes. And in a way, that's the beauty of these OVAs, the sheer ability to tell a self contained story within 25 minutes - varying vastly in tone and content, with the wider concept of Patlabor as a show merely a backdrop for the writer to tell pretty much whatever kind of story or genre they want. Stuff like Snow Rondo, and the Love Hotel episode are masterpieces in subtle melancholy, unspoken love and the grey, brooding skies of the early 90s. The animation quality is strong for a show of its age, and the backgrounds paint the tone of the series so well, as does Kenji Kawai's fantastic score, which definitely plays out as a forerunner to what he did with the first GITs movie.
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I'm glad that you enjoyed The new Files, Patlabor is my favorite series bar none and the second OVA really contains some of my favorite episodes in the series with both Snow Rondo and Our Karuizawa (the Love Hotel episodes) being my favorites so I'm glad that you too enjoyed them. I find that they both end up highly regarded by everyone who watches the series so I'm glad to see that trend continuing. The first few episodes like you say cap off a fantastic arc from the TV series which in all honestly you should watch, the greatest series hands down, and seeing you mention the GITS movie I thought that now would be as good as a time as any to recommend the Patlabor films which are phenomenal and belong to the same thread as GITS when it comes to animation, pacing, music and storytelling. Just fantastic stuff all around. Thumbs up for getting around to finally watching it :thumb:
 
Mangaranga said:
GOD EATER - Episode 2

One day we may get a decent 2D/3D show with decent character models that aren't animated at the stupidly low framerates they currently are, but this show certainly is not it, and I spent half the runtime thinking how much better looking and enjoyable it could have been as a traditional 2D animation.
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I'm calling not before 2020.
 
Professor Irony said:
It took me a while to warm to the Japanese voices, but I think the original audio is well worth checking out. I like Megumi Hayashibara far more as Lina than I did as Faye in Cowboy Bebop.
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Cowboy Bebop is another one I've only watched the dub of.

With regard to Patlabor, I definitely loved the New Files OVAs. I'm pretty fond of the "Versus" episode. What I find interesting is that some people really seem to like all the mecha action, while I found I preferred the episodes about the characters. I suppose one of the good things about the show is that it often has both.

I watched Episodes 16-18 of Hanasaku Iroha.

Two great character stories over these three episodes. I even got the Nakochi episode I wanted and it didn't disappoint.

Who knew that a two part story focussed on Enishi would be this good. I thought Enishi was his title but it actually seems to be his name. I remember that the second season of Ai Yori Aoshi was subtitled Enishi so I figured that was somehow related. Oh well, I'm probably missing something anyway.

I think that story also did a decent job of making Takako more of a character rather than a running joke (though I suppose you could argue she had some moments before).

There seems to have been a bit more "fanservice" in this second half, although it's all been justifiable in context and usually at least partly story relevant as well. Does it still count as "fanservice" if it's important to the story? There were quite a lot of wet clothes, even Ohana's grandmother got in on that one.

I forgot to mention this:
IncendiaryLemon said:
Non Non Biyori Repeat-Episode 3

As cute and funny as ever.

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That was amazingly awesome. I'm really enjoying the new episodes.
 
Sailor Moon (Viz Media English Dub) - Episodes 09-13

Sailor Moon is so bloody dense that I literally cannot stand her. Mercury best girl so far.

Sailor Mars also made an appearance which is great, and the first major henchman (who immediately thinks he will succeed but fails 13 times already) is dealt with we now have another one handling the mishap.
 
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Watched Episodes 19 and 20 of Hanasaku Iroha.

It's Exciting Cultural Festival time. This show does seem to hit those tropes, it's got a combined beach/hotsprings story as well. Still, the episodes themselves are pretty good so it's forgivable. That is, if there was anything to forgive in the first place (I love me a beach, hot spring, bath house, sports festival and/or cultural festival episode).

I liked the way the big disagreement was handled, both sides had a case and the problem was that they weren't communicating well (which was understandable). It felt quite realistic, especially with some people assuming they knew what the others were thinking when in reality they didn't understand at all (I also liked the way different people handled that). I have to say though, it's not very convincing when you angrily shout "I'm not just deciding based on my emotions like you!".

The story with Nakochi and her classmate Mizuno (I wonder if she'll appear again) was quite good. It did feel a little underdeveloped perhaps with some unanswered questions like exactly where the rest of the class were and why they weren't helping, it could have been laziness or perhaps they had something against Mizuno. I have my own idea about the whole thing but I wouldn't say there was enough evidence to be sure I was right, maybe it was deliberately intended that you could "fill in the gaps" yourself. Even so, it still seemed to work quite well by just implying most of the story and I still enjoyed it.

I also liked the little moment of obliviousness by Tohru. He saw evidence to support what he thought was going on but in reality he was wrong twice. I prefer that to obliviousness that is harder to justify, I'm not sure it's always handled as well in the rest show but that moment stood out quite well. I'd hope the brief moment of doubt would make Tohru at least consider the possibility that Minchi likes him but then I'm not necessarily in favour of that pairing anyway since I'd prefer Ohana and Minchi to get together (or possibly some kind of Ohana centred Yuri Harem ending).

I do like reading Yuri into things and these episodes had their moments. I'm not convinced that Mizuno thought of Nakochi as just a "friend", I suspect Yuina might have been thinking the same thing. There aren't too many moments like that in the show but it's nice to see them appear from time to time, even if it's mostly in my imagination. Still, maybe I've been right more than I realise (I hope so).

It looks like the story I've been waiting for (dreading?) might be handled starting with the next episode. It's going to be interesting.
 
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