Anime/Manga Thread

Going from your list and requirements, probably Black Lagoon, Baccano, Cowboy Bebop, Eden of the East or Samurai Champloo. Monster if you want to try something a bit longer, more drama-focused and with a less anime-fied story.

If a movie is more your thing, Garden of Words or Time of Eve could also work. Not sure if they have decent dubs though.

 

Damn, can't believe it took Gundam G-Tekketsu 24 episodes to get their game together. The story is still meh, battle scenes decent at best, but they were finally able to get that sensation of grit right, where you actually feel for the characters dying rather than "Oh look that guy's also dead."

 

http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Nyrox

Rate/Suggest/Critique?

 

It's kinda hard to get a good grasp of what your tastes are like when 60+ shows are a '9' and nearly 100 shows an'8'. It's a good idea to find a really bad show you didn't like, set it on a lower grade and then adjust your ratings accordingly.

'Infinite Ryvius' and 'Now and then, Here and there' should be priority to-watches based on your '10's. Both are great shows from the 90s.

Maybe check out some of Satoshi Kon or Mamoru Hosoda's films.

I applaud your courage in putting in 'Boku no Pico'.

Really like the theme and aesthetics.

 

I feel that since Mari Okada is writing this show, they're choosing to focus more on character developments and their changing dynamics more than anything else. I'd say the show was actually doing a good job since the second half in making every episode count.

 

I have to disagree. There was character development, but it was very cliched and too predictable. The dialogue in particular was quite cringeworthy and had poor timing. While ultimately not a complete failure like Reconguista, it definitely left a lot to be desired.

 

Gundam series have this repeating the formula issue. After the first pilot series the plots become "repeat the good stuff, add some flavour." Gundam 007 was pretty good though. The narrative was strong and coherent.

Now rewatching Dragonball Z, the Namek Saga where Goku fights Frieza. The old animation and old English dub. The old soundtrack is beyond good. f**k I need to get this OST because it is a great Synth-Pop and Metal fusion of musical genius.

 

Gundam Thunderbolt is well worth the watch, it's a different enough take on Gundam to justify the view.

 

Aye Thunderbolt is interesting, though it's not for those who can't stomach explorations of war horrors and exploitative behaviour

 

They got pretty awesome ost as well, the mech design is a bit too busy for me (psycho zaku) but i enjoy watching this one.

 

http://mangapark.me/manga/narutaru

Just started reading this. What a wild ride. Also looking forward to watching the second season of Shokugeki no Soma. Waiting for it to finish airing to watch it in one go.

 

Ah, Narutaru, this one escalate from "my friend is a cute plush alien! Lets go for an adventure" real fast.

Also try Bokurano (from the same artist/writer) that one is wayyyyyy more serious than what I expected in the beginning.

 

hi my name is castleofargh and I'm an addict.
https://myanimelist.net/animelist/castleofargh&show=0&order=4

there is only an anime list because when I started it, I said to myself "well there are just too many mangas I'll never remember even a tenth of it anyway, better start with the short easy stuff and do the animes. it shouldn't take too long" ... yeah right :'( 40years of watching animes, it adds up.

in fact I mostly read mangas because the animes coming up are from mangas I already know. so I often lose interest in the anime version even if it's pretty good on it's own. once the all story is spoiled it's just not as fun to me. that's why I have less and less love for the 70000000 versions of Fate Stay Zero Whatever. they're all like "we must kill each other, we all know and accept it to get the holy grail and the super mojo power( when everybody knows that it can be found in the castle of aaaaAAAARRRRRrrRRRrHHHHHGGGHhHHHh... ). so then they go and do like 10 fights that end with ludicrous reasons to wait instead of killing the weak guy. even in the old James Bond movies it doesn't feel that ridiculous. it's too bad because there are a lot of really great stuff going on in those animes, like some amazing cinematic scenes sometimes, but the storyline, nope, I just can't pretend to care when they fight anymore.


"Bokurano" mentioned above has some "/me cries a lot" stuff going on, but for my own taste the drawings would have needed to be more in phase with the totally eFed up situation they present. "Narutaru" just felt too slow and candid to me, but that's taste, sometimes a girl flying on a living backpack is just what you need ^_^. I'm more of the "Parasyte" or "Tokyo ghoul" kind of guy, where the messed up stuff really get messed up (tokyo ghoul I only cared for the first manga series).

as manga in general I enjoy silly stuff, I hate detective and magical girls garbage. but I read a lot of fighting mangas, I like "Mujang", "Red storm", "The breaker"(old or new, I just love some of the drawings in the breaker when someone is mad ^_, the start isn't amazing but the guy really improves a lot while making the manga. things of beauty toward the end and second part. as opposed to Naruto, who can make a kage bunshin and suck himself IMO ), "Zetman" also has some nice drawings, and if you like to cry a lot when the hero is both nice and victimized, I guess it's a good start.
I don't know if we can compare all that to what guys like Nihei tsutomu, or Miura something (berserk) can do, but I really enjoy all those kinds of drawings and mangas that try to express poses and movements in a dramatic way.
I also read stuff not really impressive in drawing but with lot of fights like "Gosu" or "Yongbi"(both with some fun elements from time to time).

I also have a thing for stories of old china(3 kingdoms and so on). some classics almost impossible to follow like "The ravages of time", I say impossible to follow because there are like 50 important characters and the guy making the drawings fails to do more than maybe 5 faces ^_^. so you have to constantly try to remember the names and the clothes they're wearing. but if you do so, that period of china will have no more secret for you(well at least all the big battles refer to history as it's told).
much easier to read is "Kingdom". people get cut, a guy tries to level up even though he is no pokemon and doesn't have sayan blood, he's just a guy. and people are killed. plenty of people, almost all the time. it's not at the level of "Legend Of The Galactic Heroes", or the start/end of most "Gundams", but as they go killing each others with swords and spears, it takes more time obviously.

oh and I also really enjoy as a brainless reading, all the Chinese stuff where a kid has no battle skill, but he finds a stone/spirit/ring/animal bone/.... that boosts his power and teaches him to becomes uber soldier in martial art(or sometimes he would just reincarnate with his old memories and use that to become OP. you know the kind. the good guy usually wins when he should always lose given his level, little bunnies are loved and you don't get traumatized. a few examples on the top of my head but there must be tens of those almost identical stuff: "dou po cang qiong","duolo dalu"(there are a few of those),"panlong","shanlian de sishen"...


I have a tiny little addiction problem, but I try to stay clean, I haven't read a manga since yesterday night.

 

Oh hey, wondered where this thread was, what with all of the anime avatars.

I used to be a crazy anime fan. Never went to cons or really got involved with the community. Just watched a ton of anime, going from the most beloved to the more obscure over the years. I am a part of the "Cowboy Bebop" generation. It really started when I was 10 with Dragonball and those terrible Sailor Moon dubs. I guess you could really started about 4 years before that with Pokemon, but the former two were what made me realize that it was it's own thing and not like the other cartoons I saw on TV.

Then toonami/adult swim came around and ruined my sleep schedule forever. It all blends together now, but it was a blast. Yu-Yu Hakusho, Outlaw Star, Trigun, Big O, Tenchi (god that show was so baaaad,) Ghost in the Shell, FLCL... ...too many to name. And then there was that time when they were airing Gorillaz videos and bits of Daft Punk's Interstella 5555. Toonami and early adult swim were doing some revolutionary things. They took a lot of risks trying to bring anime to a western audience. And in doing so, they left a mark on a whole generation. Ask most anime fans in their mid-late 20's where it all started and they'll tell you the same story.

I got burned out a couple of years ago. I've seen all of the top-shelf shit and much more garbage that I loved anyway. I stopped following charts last year. I just wait and see what sticks and what gets forgotten. They just look so abysmal and I don't have time to sit through all of these crap shows to get one show that leaves a void in my life like I used to get every time. It's still possible, but burden of enlightenment... ...plus, I kinda lost all hope when I found out Satoshi Kon died. Perfect Blue is probably one of my favorite films. I still keep up with the times. I just don't have an interest in most of it.

I think the last show that I really got that feeling from was Space Dandy. So many A-list directors gathered to do what looks like whatever the f**k they wanted and it was glorious. Dream-team production crew. It was refreshing to see some actually good animation and visual storytelling in anime again. I'm sick of LN adaptations. It's a tricky thing to get right. They're just too different. Bleh.

I rewatched Ponyo for the umpteenth time. I'm a Ponyovangelist. It's the pinnacle of 2d animation imo. Just mesmerizing. You can't not have a good time with it. I find myself going back to the stuff that really made me glad to be an anime fan quite a lot these days. Kino's Journey, Serial Experiments Lain, Jin-Roh, Sword of the Stranger, that badass, serious Kenshin OVA series, Hellsing Ultimate... ...many more classics lined up in my future. Gotta have some weird, unique and classically well-animated shit in my life again.

I am actually watching some new shows this season. 91 Days is pretty satisfying. If you've seen all of the classic Gangster films and shows, then you easily see its flaws, but it's still servicable. I find myself looking forward to new episodes. Mob Psycho 100 is a fun watch, too. Bout to watch the next one now.

 

Oh yeah. Miyazaki hasn't made a flop eva IMO. Love Laputa the best.

 

You guys might like this

 

Shoutout to @SSL for my 100th like.

 

"I knew I shouldn't have bought facetweeters for my screechy anime music"

 

Laputa's a good one! Everyone talks about Mononoke, Nausicaa, and Sprited Away, which are great films, but I prefer Laputa to those, myself.

But I think my favorite of all is The Wind Rises. That was Miyazaki's swan song and a beautiful one at that. Easily his classiest and most relatable film, for me.

I think that's what I like about Ghibli and what makes them better than classic Disney in my mind. The characters are real people. You may not always relate to them, but you know there are people like them in the world. They have nuance. Characters, not caricatures. Then, there's the blurring of the lines between good and evil - a complete departure from the storytelling of your typical Disney film. They don't treat the audience like idiots who can't understand complex moral problems. The end result is something that children and adults alike can appreciate. I like the very traditional Japanese Buddhist approach to duality. Everything leans more towards impartiality to good/bad and more towards the overall harmony. It's hard to say whether things are better in the end, or if they were worse to begin with. In Miyazaki's films, all is simply as it should be. The message is one that prompts you to really stop and think.

I think they generally utilize color more effectively, too. Disney films are bright and garish by comparison, whereas Miyazaki films have more natural tones and even the colors used for emphasis are not bright and saturated on their own. It's about contrast. They use it really well to bring a sense of life and movement into the frame, even when there isn't much going on. Ponyo makes the best case for this. The colors are vivid and everything looks so alive, but in reality, the palette consists only of subdued, pastel colors.

Don't get me wrong. I like Disney films, too. I just prefer Japanese Disney much more. I could go on and on about Ghibli.

 

Ultrasone. Almost forgot they didn't exist, and I wish I wasn't reminded that they did exist.



On a side note... Touhou is NOT anime.