Ok, now that I've finished off Guin Saga I'll do my best to sum up my thoughts:

1. I haven't read the books, but going from the series it's easy to see how the story influenced Berserk, Guts is heavily based off of Guin (The character), the mix of travelling companions, fantasy, political intrigue, betrayals warfare and the supernatural all are quite similar to Berserk IMO. Couple that with the main group's eventual and the interestingly negative character development certain persons exhibit, and you've got a pretty good series story-wise on your hands.

But it's not just the story, as I've mentioned before the animation looks really good, and the fights, though they are all really brief, are very well done (Some being downright hilarious to watch due to their OTT nature).

For those of you who haven't seen it though I really recommend you stick it out for about the first 10 episodes, as they pale in comparison to the rest and that's about when the story really starts to take off.

EDIT: Somehow I triple posted, sorry guys.

EDIT: WTF? how did I triple post?

Awesome to hear about Guin Saga, I might check it out soon.


That's why I liked the ending. He trapped himself into that corner.

Even if I was rooting for him the whole show, the ending made perfect sense to me.

As soon as he started using the Death Note I knew Light was going to get his butt blasted. For an intelligent guy, he did a lot of absurdly stupid shit.

I've got to say, I really fail to understand all the love that some people have for Light as a character. He has a Messiah complex, he constantly manipulates the people around him for his own benefit and he lacks any flaws or traits that would make him sympathetic and recognisably human. I thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning that the show is nudging you towards seeing Light as a monster. I mean, at one point:



The only explanation I can think of is that some people actually genuinely share Light's sub-stalinist sense of justice, which is a bit depressing, although not entirely surprising I suppose.

I'll echo did like the series as a whole up until about episode 25/26 though. I only really watched the rest because of the feeling that I had gone that far, and it would be a waste not to find out how it ended.

Which sort of reminds me that I need to finish Gurren Lagann and move on to Code Geass.

Eh, Light was pretty much the villain, yet he was the main character. That's simply why I liked him and the direction the series went. It was different. It's not everday you see some selfish asshole as the main character who does stuff like that. Fuck no I didn't agree with most of the stuff he did, but was it entertaining to watch? Hell yeah lol.

People need to remember Death Note isn't really deep or anything. It was just hilariously entertaining to me, completely over the top stuff. It's not like Monster or anything.

Monster isn't deep either, it just pretends to be.

Urrrgggghhhh Mello is such a fucking joke of a character, PEOPLE WERE PAID TO DESIGN THIS. PEOPLE WERE PAID TO DRAW A RED-HEAD BOWL-CUT-MULLET BOA-FEATHER-WEARING SKIN-TIGHT-LEATHER-CLAD CHOCOLATE ADDICT UNDERWORLD THUG/DETECTIVE PRETTY BOY.

EDIT: Oh, and he's a whiner, too. Fuck this guy. Mello is pretty much the biggest reason these last few episodes suck.

I knew I should've edited that out of my post because you'd inevitably take a shot at it.

How is monster pretending to be deep? I would of thought it attempted to be engaging & entertaining which I think it largely succeeded with (The manga at least, I haven't seen the anime).

And speaking of Naoki Urasawa, anyone ever try reading Billy Bat? I've got to say I'm liking it more then Monster and 20th Century Boys so far, the only problem so far is that its still unfinished...

I haven't watched anime in a couple years now, and the last one I watched wasn't even that recent. I think the newest one I watched was like Angel Beats or something. I used to be really into it, but I have no idea what's out anymore. Maybe I'll pick it up again someday.

Angel Beats was great :]

If you ever watch Saikano, remember to watch it all the way to the end. It's not worth it until the last episode. The final weapon deal is just a poor excuse for this shojo thing.
On other news, I'm watching Xenosaga the animation. I have just watched the first episode and since it's short I'm definetily going to watch it. Anyone has any recommendations for a mecha fan?
I'm also rewatching k-on! If this is not funny, then I don't know what is. You gotta love Yui and Ricchan, and of course Sawa-chan .

Highly-recommended series get a *. I'll probably end up mentioning series you've seen, buuut...

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann*****************
Gunbuster: Aim for the Top!
RahXephon*
Mobile New Century Gundam X*
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
GaoGaiGar
Giant Robo
Big O
Vision of Escaflowne*
MazinKaiser
Voices of a Distant Star*
Armored Trooper Votoms
Martian Successor Nadesico*
Macross
Macross Plus

Guin Saga really was influential to a lot of other western fantasy properties in Japan. In fact, some of Yoshitaka Amano's early work is illustrations for Guin Saga before he went on to become famous with Final Fantasy. It really is the Lord of the Rings/Conan the Barbarian of Japanese literature.



I know that I'm a bit late on the Death Note discussion, but I thought I'd like to get in a few words. I think the main issue with the second half is that it was rushed. Death Note was based on a manga that ran only 12 volumes. They were able to spend 25 episodes for the first 6 or so volumes, so it's decently paced without becoming boring. However, they then tried to tell the other 6 volumes in 11 episodes. I think that if they had taken the time to flesh out the other half the story (for about 10 episodes or so), it might not have been so bad. However, I admit that the second half isn't as interesting as the first half in both the manga and the anime, especially with that ending:





Wow, a mecha recommendation with Evangelion? I thought I'd never see the day! Definitely ditto for Gurren Lagann and Big O, though I would add Gundam Wing, Gundam 00, Gundam 08th MS Team, Outlaw Star (not exactly mecha, but still good), Blue Submarine No. 6 (again, not exactly mecha, but awesome), Full Metal Panic, and maybe Star Driver, if you want something to watch with your girlfriend.

K-on is completely flawless <3
if you want mecha, and like K-on then i highly recommend Strike Witches.. well i dont quite consider it mecha but I've seen the tag on it and whatnot. It's a really funny series, one of my favorites for some reason, some people get turned off by the fact that none of the cute girls wear pants... but i can't figure out why, i mean i'm certainly not complaining

It's official, Toonami's back!

Dang it! I was just gonna say that!

I, for one, am particularly excited for this. Not necessarily because I prefer to watch my anime on TV (I don't even have Cartoon Network anymore), but because it's an opportunity for other people to be introduced to anime, just like Toonami did for me over ten years ago (geez). While I'll understand if it starts out as a nostalgia block (I understand Nickelodeon's been doing something like that), I'd kind of like to see it pick up new shows to bring in the new kids, like Gundam AGE, Fairy Tail, or Digimon Xros Wars. If we want anime to continue to succeed, then we need new blood, a new generation who has gotten tired of Pokemon and Bakugan and need something meatier. I want to see Toonami take chances again. Maybe that's asking for lightning in a bottle, but lightening can strike twice.

Other thoughts? (inb4 "dubs are lame/watch anime online" and other narrow-minded thoughts from diehard sub fanatics who don't want to see things change and grow.)

I won't bother with it myself, but if it can re-energize then American anime market again then that'll be great. As you said, let's hope they bring in a lot of new stuff and don't just re-run a bunch of old stuff again.

I think they should do 50/50 with new and old. Play some classics like Cowboy Bebop, Tenchi, Mobul Suit Gundam, esc. so some of us can enjoy our nostalgia. At the same time, play some new stuff that's been released within the last year or so, setting it next to some classics could help people take notice and build audiances for it.

Run Azumanga Daioh on Toonami. Now that would be interesting :3

you people need to watch Sankarea.

But I'm already watching it, and I read the manga...

I'm currently watching Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood, I'm midway the serie and without being an anime fan, I can say that's the best anime serie I watched since Cowboy Bebop. Great story, great characters, cool universe!

FMA: Brotherhood is in my Top 5 Anime, and I am an avid anime fan.

Definitely a solid title.

Started watching Black Butler last week... Gee, a bit darker than I expected.

Enjoying it quite a bit actually.

When I think of Kuroshitsuji, I think of this. And nothing else. I guess trying to start off by the manga wasn't the best of my ideas ^_^

Yes, there's that aspect too .

I... don't even want to know.

Finished up a rewatch of Votoms. Still one of my top favorites.

I'm very picky about anime. I love, I mean I adored Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star). It was a mixture of being formulaic and predictable in many episodes but also had an enjoyable story arc. The environments were desolate and being immersed in that cartoon was great.

Kenshiro was gritty and manly and not some Final Fantasy character.

I'd love to get into a new series with a nice story arc, but I don't know anime that well. Doesn't have to have fighting and be like Hokuto no Ken cause I love Studio Ghibli films too. It just has to do a good job at immersing you and tell a good story.

One piece, as long as you don't mind that it's over 500 episodes long and ongoing. The arcs are amazingly good, there are a few filler episodes but they can be easily skipped.
Some shorter shows I'd recommend are Ginga Nagareboshi Gin and Jojo's bizarre adventure. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is similar to Hokuto no Ken but shorter, lots of manly characters and violence, but I think the writing is more clever. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin is about a pack of wild dogs who are trying to take down a group of terrorizing bears. It's a highly overlooked show but it's one of my favorites. Both of these shows are fairly short but I found them immersive and addicting.

As mentioned before, Fullmetal Alchemist. Both the 2003 and 2009 versions are very immersive and have good stories to tell, but I prefer the 2009 series (subtitled "Brotherhood").

Fantastic Children is an amazing story-driven anime with intense characters and intense plot twists. The only problem is that the art is sometimes ugly.

Monster is another modern classic, with one of the nastiest villains around, and you get to drool over how awesome European architecture is.

Now and Then, Here and There is the epitome of immersive, dragging you into its dark and brutal world without ever giving you a chance to relax. The art style deliberately contradicts the subject matter, making many scenes that much more horrific.

Princess Tutu is another great anime with an immersive world and a fantastic story...if you can get past how girly the whole thing is. I promise you that, once you let that slide, you'll thank yourself for it later.

Black Lagoon, while not exactly story-driven, is also a fun and immersive experience, similar to Cowboy Bebop, as you just follow a group of people taking odd jobs in the nastiest city on earth while Revy spouts enough "Fuck!"s to make Tarantino blush.

I randomly want to ask Zelkiiro, have you seen Fushigi Yuugi? Such a polarizing series (you'll love characters and want the other half to die), but overall I really enjoyed it. Had one of the best villains I've seen in anime and there elements about him that felt like he could've been someone in Monster.

Monster was good. I got into that and watched the whole series. I've seen a couple episodes of Full Metal Alchemist on Adult Swim and it just didn't do it for me yet.

Now and Then Here and There and Princess Tutu are on Netflix so I'll add that to my queue and give it a go sometime. I liked some girly anime like Kiki's Delivery Service, so that's fine.

A long, long time ago. I remember it being decent.

EDIT: Kahala, I will warn you right now: Now and Then, Here and There's dub is very hit-or-miss with the voice actors. Some of them are great (Jack Taylor as King Hamdo is a fucking beast), but others are awful (the guy who plays Shu needs to be hit with a shoe).

Started reading Wolf Guy - Ookami no Monshou recently, finished volume.4 yesterday
Liking it so far, pretty intense.
And what the fuck is up with Hagurou

I'm a big Z fan and I have no idea what logic you're using to make that comparison.

Toonami should do good old and new stuff- not playing old stuff out of nostalgia but because it was well done animation. Like play a little bit of Gundam (any of them), Dot Hack//SIGN, and bloody DBZ with a little bit of Elfen Lied, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Desert Punk. Maybe have like an animated movie special like The Thief and The Cobbler or Angel's Egg- and show fan art, that shit's cool.