Yay time to whore out my new review! Go read it!



How convenient that I've reviewed that, too! The animation is, indeed, very impressive in Redline, but I found that its story was a little too anemic to really make it a great film. Still a ton of fun, though, and I do rewatch it every now and again, but not one I'd call one of my favorites. :V

When you have that kind of awesomely crazy animation, it's easy to forgive the story for being basic.

I've been watching Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit on netflix. I'm up to the 5th episode right now. It's alright so far, though the magical stuff seems jarring every time it happens for some reason. This anime reminds me of Sword of the Stranger with the whole warriors with a sad past redeeming themselves by protecting a child thing, and also by having a somewhat uninteresting story made better with the dynamic between the two main characters and cool action scenes. Also, both anime have good soundtracks.

So I posted a thread on the Anime News Network music forum that, unsurprisingly, got almost no views, much less responses. I figured I might have better luck posting it here:

I couldn't imagine anything like that being in any anime other than some of the acidtrip visuals kind of stuff. I certainly can't recall any soundtracks that would even approach atmospheric sludge or whatever. Maybe someone else might have an idea.

So who else felt disappointingly underwhelmed by Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F'? :/

Dude, you're lucky if an anime even has Punk. The closest you get is Detroit metal city, that's just about it. Other then that, a lot of Modern rock, some nu-metal, post-hardcore. Stuff like Maximum the Hormone, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the like.

Unlike other TV shows, singles for the Opening and Ending themes are released, so besides soundtracks, openings and endings need to sell. The closest you can get to the above bands is because they have been around and have a presence in Japan. Metal Openings and Endings don't sell to the otaku. If they do use a super heavy song or the like, say for WataMote, it will be more of an "Ani-song". Those are sung in the voice and character of one of the characters. (Which actually they used Suzuki Konomi and not a VA so... that was a horrible example.)

So in short, Nope, and not soon either, hell, iirc only one franchise has ever used actual metal and that is Detroit Metal City.

You're better off playing some Black Cyc Guro/Hentai games, it isn't prog, sludge or post, but if you're really craving for two medias to crossover, there you go.

Borderline power metal isn't really outlandish. That one jojo opening, Stand Proud, is basically power metal.

It is actually pretty common. A lot of Visuel Kei bands and such have borderline power metal elements like Matenrou Opera and NoGod, if they had a full album like some of their songs they would most likely be added.

And yeah, I forgot about JoJo. Still need to finish the the first part of the third story.

I finished a Hokuto No Ken marathon and I'm going for a JoJo Bizarre Adventure one. I remember watching the 93' OVA's, but the more recent animations are excellent! Currently in Ep 12 of Phantom Blood.

Anyway, HNK is the father of all that kind of mangas/anime like DBZ, Saint Seiya, JoJo and the rest. Only JoJo gets closer in manliness to HNK.

I know some people don't like it, but I thought HnK2 was pretty awesome too, retcons aside. The art was utterly superb and Kaioh was a pretty fitting final boss.

I can't think of anything more evil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFRwKivq9Qo

I was going to watch Say, "I Love You" after I had checked it out at the library last week, but I got busy on studying so I could get a job upgrade to full-time, so I'll have to try again later.

So I started watching Cowboy Bebop last night, only on episode 5 but really loving it so far. Kinda reminds me of the show firefly but focused on bounty hunters instead of smugglers. Kinda wonder if firefly took some things from it.

Check out Outlaw Star too if you dig that kind of vibe/setting.

^Man, I should really rewatch Outlaw Star one of these days. Have you seen the BD release? It's gorgeous.

Yep, late 90's cel animation at its peak. It looks godly.

Alright I will check out outlaw star next. Also is Trigun any good?

As a bit of a TV anime newbie, didn't like Cowboy Bebop but Hyouka was really enjoyable. Anything else similar to that kind of thing?

highly regarded as one of the "main" animes to watch of the 90's so its got that critical acclaim behind it. which of course, since we're talking about anime, it also probably has that dedicated hatebase due purely to its popularity. I'm just guessing, as I have yet to get around to that series. Hell i only got around to NGE and end of evangelion a few months ago.

i happened upon "Japanese folklore" in crunchyroll today and its gotta be the most adorable thing ive seen in a while. Im a little intimidated by the fact that there are 179 episodes out but I'll tune in every now and then when i got some time. nice to know I'll basically never run out of that show to watch.

speaking of endless shows, is anyone keeping up with fairy tail?

Short Version: Yeah. Long Version: It's got its problems, buuut...

It's not bad don't get your hopes too high for it's utter praise. Plenty of anime/manga has insane followers but all the wrong reasons.

Since you're going for that show, get the 'whole essential otaku package' and watch:

Gungrave
Gun X Sword
Hellsing
Berserk
Vampire Hunter D
Wild Arms: Twilight Venom
Cowboy Bebop (keep going with)
Devil May Cry
Black Lagoon
Code Geass (not of my liking but everyone else's, just like the P.O.S. of One Piece, Naruto, Bleach and other overblown excrement)
Afro Samurai (bonus track)

I'm specifically leaving aside Rurouni Kenshin and Fullmetal Alchemist since I suppose you already saw them. Maybe you already know some of the listed series. While not every anime I listed is too similar to Trigun, they have some common traits.

Do some people here read manga? I stopped reading some due lack of time and I wonder if they've progressed at all, mainly Conan (around chapter 900), Ippo (around 1050), Berserk (around 307)

There's really nothing quite like well-remastered cel animation (Q-TEC upscaling should be a crime though). Not that digital doesn't have plenty of great stuff (Rebellion is seriously one of the most well-animated movies I have ever seen), but it's really just not the same. Speaking of BD remasters, Evangelion has finally got one. I remember all the years I spent complaining about that and rumors about the masters being damaged. There's another I need to rewatch (along with Turn A Gundam too).

Kveldulfr: I had been reading Fruits Basket and The Shinji Ikari Raising Project but work and limited finances have stalled my progress.

Oh boy, it looks like Tomino is working on a new fantasy mecha. I love classic UC Gundam, and I did very much like G-Reco as well (a lot of people were whining and complaining about it though). It's also reassuring that he'll use hand-drawn mecha for the series since Majestic Prince is the only mecha I've seen that I would say actually benefited from the use of CGI. Can't wait for the man to deliver yet again. The ETA is 2-3 years.

I'm looking for anything that's on the level of vileness and evil of Apocalypse Zero, Amon, and Urotsukidoji. Also insane futuristic shit; hyper-mecha would be fantastic! Blood, fire, more blood! Explosions! Less talk! Anything on the childish/videogame play of Fist of the North Star, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (guy goes up against crazy odds, special powers, boss fights). And perversity like Maruo's Midori and Belladonna (bring on whatever fucked up hentai possible) and to a very lesser extent, Kite and Mezzo Forte. If there's anything Videodrome-ish...

Visionary manga a la Nihei, Kago, and Maruo are welcome! This goes for anime too, but works stressing otherness, triumph of evil, chaos, anarchy, psychedelia, drug-evil, ripping apart social mores, critiques of capital, or essentially anything within the realm of critical theory are also sought after by me. Anything. Please nothing about doctors saving people, governmental bullshit, police, agencies wiping out bad guys, all this civilized, conservative tripe! **I realize concessions must be made!** (Most of the aforementioned anime is terribly Manichean, but the elements of hate are concentrated enough to please)

So seeing as you already have some hentai listed, how about Bible Black?

Basically anything directed by these guys:
http://myanimelist.net/people/5812/Kawajiri_Yoshiaki
http://myanimelist.net/people/5986/Ohata_Koichi

Try Sexy Magical Girl Ai or Taimanin Asagi for hentai.

ratedgdr, thanks but I was well aware of that. Nymphs of the Stratosphere as well. I also couldn't get into Elfen Leid.

Thanks Xeo! I was going to watch M.D. Geist last night, but ended up rewatching Vampire Hunter D. I've seen Bio Hunter and Wicked City: meh. Ninja Scroll is already a favorite of mine. I tried watching Genocyber a couple years ago and I found it terribly boring outside of the gore. Forgot about Blue Gender. I'll check out those two hentai.

Stuff I had added to the list but haven't watched yet: Monster City, Midnight Eye Goku, Ninja Resurrection, and Cyber City Odeo 808.


I'm not sure I can watch the Blame! ONA as the super heavy atmosphere really needs to be slowly taken in. His architecture is godly

Catched Ippo's manga in 3 days. I didn't miss much, it seems.

Welp, just got finished ripping Akira a new asshole. Now I just gotta wait for the crucifixion to begin.

How dare you.

Honestly, Akira is more than worth watching for the animation alone. The story is indeed a mess (I didn't think it was that bad though), but holy shit those visuals. The motorcycle scene is just too stunning.

I agree with the part of too damn material to be condensed in such short time. The visuals are great. It's enjoyable for manga followers but people without a clue about it will still being clueless after watching it.

What do you think about Evangelion in general terms? would you bash it for similar reasons that you did Akira or do you side with the endless fan interpretation opera?

I updated myself with Berserk manga. Need to do it with HXH. Speaking of which, I haven't seen the 'remake' of the series. It is any good?

http://zelkiiro.hubpages.com/hub/Anime- ... Evangelion
http://zelkiiro.hubpages.com/hub/Anime- ... Evangelion
http://zelkiiro.hubpages.com/hub/Anime- ... -Not-Alone
http://zelkiiro.hubpages.com/hub/Anime- ... ot-Advance
http://zelkiiro.hubpages.com/hub/Anime- ... n-Not-Redo

I've said quite a lot about Evangelion. :V

Giving Rebuilds a better score than the original series and EoE? The Rebuild movies are like Evangelion's version of the Star Wars Prequels.

Not really, as the first two Rebuild films are rock-solid in basically every way, while the original Evangelion is riddled with major, major problems.

Nah, the first two films are decent action flicks, but not much more than that. The characterization is watered down and most of the major themes are neutered. Now that the original series and EOE have well-remastered BD releases, most of the visual advantages of the Rebuild are gone (for me at least). I find the general art direction to be much more lazy and rely heavily on flashy lights, explosions and digital effects in general. It's not devoid of good shots, but the original series did a lot better in that aspect esp. EOE which looks glorious esp. now that you can watch it in full HD.

I don't hail Evangelion has some sort of masterpiece or anything, but at it's core, it's ultimately an excellent character drama with robots and aliens in the background to move the plot along. Asking where the Angels come from completely misses the point. It's about the characters, and Rebuild fails extremely hard in that aspect. Not only does everyone get watered down, Anno had the audacity to introduce useless characters like Mari who are there for nothing more than fanservice. Well, at least we agree the third movie is not so great. It's not even very good as an action flick.

What little action that's there is still riveting, but they just completely threw away everything they had done up to that point just so they could have their super-precious time skip thing. It also just didn't handle its mumbo-jumbo very well--in the past films, anything with a spooky cryptic name was either explained right away or given the knowing wink of "You, dear viewers, will be seeing this again later...", but 3.0 just throws nutso bullshit at us without any explanation whatsoever. Asuka mentions the "Curse of Evangelion" being the reason they haven't aged (AND IF YOU WERE GONNA HAVE THEM NOT AGE WHY EVEN DO THE TIME SKIP FDSJKAKLSNKLSNQSKNASKL), yet there's no explanation for what that means. Kaworu mentions that the "Door of Guf" is being opened during the climax, yet the only Door of Guf I can identify is his stupid face-hole spouting important-sounding lingo that means literally nothing to me. Not to mention that, while 2.0 was merely Mari's introduction so I can forgive not giving her too terribly much to do there, 3.0 should have been the film where we finally see why Gainax decided to add her in the first place, but nope! She still has no purpose! Ugh...

3.0 is basically what you said all three films were: shiny aesthetics and weak plot/characters. I will forever maintain that 1.0 and 2.0 were, by far, the most compelling stories in the entire franchise where the main characters were at the most relatable and interesting they've ever been, but 3.0? They didn't even try. 2.0 gave us a Shinji Ikari who had balls and was finally willing to step up to take the helm and leap into action, but 3.0 just slapped him in the face for daring to be so uppity and--in a shocking reversal--told him NOT to get in the fucking robot. THEN WHY DID YOU GIVE HIM BALLS IN THE PREVIOUS FILM IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU FUCKING DFSDKLALKSLNSFHSDJWKJDWKQIUOQDIWDJ

Yeah, I can agree with you on a lot there. For me, it's not so much about the lack of explanation (this isn't Tolkien or anything); it's just that it's lazily done. The whole timeskip was pretty obviously just shoehorned in for the sake of it and not well integrated into the previous plot. The curse of the eva is literally only a thing so they don't have to redesign the iconic characters and possibly upset some more obsessive fans. I'm a little more harsh on Mari always being useless I guess. Introducing a new eva pilot isn't something I'm opposed to, but despite being in a relatively powerful position, she does almost nothing. Even freaking Toji did more and he was only a pilot for one episode. I hold that against both 2.0 and 3.0.

But honestly, the biggest problem with 3.0 is that it's just a massive "idiot plot." Sure, Evangelion characters were never the best at communicating (that's one of the major themes after all), but 3.0 just takes this to ridiculous levels. While it is understandable for everyone to be pissed at Shinji, the outright lack of communication with him is absurdly stupid. Did it seriously not cross anyone's mind that Gendo was going to try to pull something after they unintentionally rescued Shinji? Why not explain the goddamn situation to him to at least some degree instead of acting like a bunch of upset brats? I'm not demanding a detailed rundown regarding humans being the children of Lilith or anything like that, but at least say something. Basically, the whole plot is Shinji screwing up again, which isn't inherently bad, but it relies on everyone else being completely stupid for it to work. Well, I guess Gendo is winning so good on him.

Regarding the other two films. I'm more harsh on 2.0 than 1.0. The first one is more or less just a condensed version of the first 6 or so episodes with some shiny new effects on it. It's not anything bad, but it's decent. I'm not much of a fan of the CGI on the robots, but I will say the Ramiel fight is improved in the first film. In fact, that's my favorite part of all of the Rebuild films. It captures the tension of the original while adding lots of dramatic flair to it (like that screaming) and overall just making it more intense. Bravo to Anno on that one. Other than that scene, it's not spectacular to me, but it's a decent start.

2.0 is where things go downhill for me. It's not because it's different or anything (hell 3.0 is probably closer to the original than 2.0 and I like that one the least), but I find it shallow overall. Both Rei's and Asuka's characterization get watered down a lot from the original series. It's like Anno started watching all the clones he inspired and decided that was what people wanted these days. They don't have to be the same as the original characters, but Rei is much more of a generic "moeblob" and Asuka is a more typical tsundere. It's just ugh in comparison to what they were previously. Everyone else gets shafted hard too esp. Misato. I know it's not really fair to expect films to go into as much depth as the main series, but the biggest draw of Evangelion for me is the characters, and the series + EoE certainly delivers on that aspect.

Oh and it's Studio Khara (Anno's studio) by the way not Gainax. Gainax is pretty much just a shell of its former self. Not sure what they make these days, but I'm pretty sure most of the famous names left a long while ago.

Watching HunterxHunter 2011. It goes really fast in the plot, the animation is great. The only thing I miss from the original series is it was way less censored than this one. They barely show blood for a manga that is quite bloody. For the ones who never watched this before, it's a good idea to pick up this new version, it has no filler (even they omitted some non crucial parts) and the pace is great.