Anime recommendations

[Bzalthek]

[Lantyssa]

I thought the new FMA coming out was another season? (Somehow. I don't know how they'd weave it into the plot.) I hardly see the necessity of remaking a series less than 5 years old.

Tenchi.

[schild]

What a terrible season of anime.

[Bzalthek]

I concur

[Hoax]

I like that layout though, who made that image?

If I was still watching anime every week I'd pick up the mecha basketball show, FMA and Shangri-La.  Also, a Queens Blade anime?  LoLwut?  I think I may have to take a look at wtf kind of mess that'll be.

***

Watched two eps of Speed Grapher, it has two more eps to unfuck its story and hit some kind of narrative stride before I dump it.  I do appreciate the subject material but the art is pretty awful which brings me back to the story needs to suck a lot less.

[stray]

I like the art, but the narrative is umm.. well, probably spelled out as good as it's going to get early on. I think it dragged a little later in places with various unnecessary "mini-boss" battles (but at least those battles don't carry on and on, like other anime series), but then it picks up pretty nicely toward the end. The line between good and bad gets a little more blurred, I'll say that.

[Yoru]

I might sample Ristorante Paradiso and Shangri-La, but yes, that's a fearful smorgasbord of suck.

[Bzalthek]

I like that layout though, who made that image?

If I was still watching anime every week I'd pick up the mecha basketball show, FMA and Shangri-La.  Also, a Queens Blade anime?  LoLwut?  I think I may have to take a look at wtf kind of mess that'll be.

***

Watched two eps of Speed Grapher, it has two more eps to unfuck its story and hit some kind of narrative stride before I dump it.  I do appreciate the subject material but the art is pretty awful which brings me back to the story needs to suck a lot less.

I actually don't know who makes that graphic.  But since I've been keeping track of anime releases I've seen it pop up on anime blogs. 

I'll probably catch at least the first few episodes of everything that isn't automatically crap.  Some of it has "potential" but the odds are not in their favor.

[Rendakor]

I'll probably catch at least the first few episodes of everything that isn't automatically crap.  Some of it has "potential" but the odds are not in their favor.

Same here; I'm generally willing to give a show 2-3 episodes before writing it off if it looks remotely interesting.

[stray]

I would write most of those off based on the art alone, but Shangri-La looks neat.

[Bzalthek]

Story is king for me.  I can forgive a lot if the story is compelling.

[stray]

Haruhi's a helluva lot better now that I'm watching it in airing order. That numbered order turned me off because the prologue was shit...so shitty, I'm thinking it might have been intentionally shitty.

[Simond]

Full Metal Alchemist....remake? Why?

One: Following the manga all the way this time, instead of splitting off halfway through and making up its own ending. Two: Money. 

Three to possibly keep an eye out for this spring:
Guin Saga - Based on a very, very long running fantasy novel series, this was the main inspiration for Berserk. Oh, and Nobuo Uematsu is doing the music.
Souten Kouro/Azure Sky Route - Romance-of-the-Three-Kingdoms-based historical(ish) drama.
Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen - Mazinger remake/retake directed by the person who also did G Gundam and Giant Robo. 

Oh, and comedy recommendations -
Basquash! - Basketball sports anime where the 'players' are mechs. Mecha design partially done by Nike. No, really.
Queen's Blade - There may be a few hints of fanservice in this one. Just a few.
Haruhi. It might be repeats, it might not. It might be remastered repeats...it might not. Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of KyoAni? 

[Strazos]

Just a few.

WTF

I was embarrassed just watching that.

[Bzalthek]

Seriously, just watch some fucking Hentai already.  Good to know I don't need to bother checking that out.

[stray]

Speaking of fantasy anime, are Slayers and Claymore worth my time?

[Fabricated]

Pandora Hearts, hey, I tried reading that at OneManga a while back. Think your average "Random people bound with powerful monster/spirit/animal/etc" anime only with a weird Victorian/Alice and the Looking Glass theme.

[Vash]

Speaking of fantasy anime, are Slayers and Claymore worth my time?

I really enjoyed Claymore even though it basically does a Berserk and just ends even though the manga is still continuing forward and still releasing chapters.  On one hand I like and respect the fact that they didn't just pump out a bunch of crap fillers (*cough* Naruto/Bleach *cough*), but on the other hand it sucks that it might not ever get picked up for another season down the road. 

This reminds me that I really need to go read the manga though because I still haven't gotten around to it and I'm interested in where the story goes from the end of the anime.

[Strazos]

Don't most manga-based anime do this?

FMP, School Rumble, among others.

[stray]

GTO ends abruptly, unfortunately. Most anime seem to be condensed compared to the comics version, but I think they at least wrap it up somehow.

[Vash]

I guess what I mean by the ending is that the story is leading towards a major climax and your thinking it's gonna end with a big finish, but then pulls a "next time, Gadget, next time!" scenario and leaves you hanging without much closure.  Although, all the more reason to go see what happens next in the manga.  If that was the purpose of the show then job well done, it got me hooked.

[Bzalthek]

Claymore was outstanding.  For action types if you haven't seen Black Lagoon, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Claymore, and Samurai 7 then you're missing out.

[Yoru]

Speaking of fantasy anime, are Slayers and Claymore worth my time?

Slayers is only worth your time if you're an old-school anime fan from 1996. Nostalgia is the only thing making the new Revolution/Evolution-R series watchable.

[stray]

Well I am an old-ish fan, I guess (I'm 31 and bought Akira comics before I even knew of the movie), but I'm finding that I can't stand a lot of old artwork anymore. They had some pretty lousy hairdos back in the day.

[Yoru]

The 90s were Japan's 80s. Actually, looking back to the original Dirty Pair and stuff like that, the 80s were also Japan's 80s.

[Lantyssa]

Slayers is only worth your time if you're an old-school anime fan from 1996. Nostalgia is the only thing making the new Revolution/Evolution-R series watchable.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

What other series will give you combat moves like Pacifist Crush!?  Of course it helps to like a cast of mostly insane people.

[Bzalthek]

Sorry, I couldn't make it through the first episode of the new material.  It was just god awful.

[Vash]

I dunno if it's just me, but when I see that pic I instantly think Yu-Yu Hakusho meets high school sports team.  How can the red hair guy not be the direct inspiration for Kuwabara?  I now have the strange desire to go watch the abridged series on youtube. 

[angry.bob]

Phegh. I was excited to see Basara in there, at least until I realized it wasn't an updated Legend of Basara, but some horrible crap based on a videogame. That being said, based on the little pictures watching just about any of those shows is reasonable cause for the feds to seize your shit and search your hard drives for CP. I've spent decades defending anime in general from people saying shit like that, but at some point I just have to admit to myself that just because someone is a 3,000 year old space elf or whatever in a show doesn't mean it's not still kiddie porn.

[Lantyssa]

Luckily for anime viewers, artistic representations don't count.  Of course I would have loved it if Japan got away from making every hero between the ages of ten and sixteen.

[Bzalthek]

Fortunately there are some good anime out there without its cast being middleschoolers.

[Yoru]

Slayers is only worth your time if you're an old-school anime fan from 1996. Nostalgia is the only thing making the new Revolution/Evolution-R series watchable.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

What other series will give you combat moves like Pacifist Crush!?  Of course it helps to like a cast of mostly insane people.

Don't get me wrong, I like Slayers - it was one of my faves in the late 90s. However, the new stuff is pretty bad, to be honest. I like the way they've updated the animation, but the storylines are awful. I'm sure the originals weren't great, but I was younger and dumber then.

[Bismallah]

Wow yeah, sucky season. At least this gives me a chance to catch up on Bleach.

[Bzalthek]

Wow yeah, sucky season. At least this gives me a chance to catch up on Bleach.

That's like some kinda paradox post, right?

[stray]

I don't mind Bleach. Some cool characters in that show. Too long though.