Anime recommendations

[Yegolev]

Now, something I put in my wife's head long ago, which I continue to reinforce even today, is that anytime you see dots it means the character is farting.  I usually make some sort of contextually [in]appropriate sound whenever I see them, and the resulting physical violence is usually worth it.  It makes the story in Grandia III more tolerable, if nothing else.

[Hoax]

Hope she never plays Pokemon...

@Schild:  I'm going to download the first ep of .hack//roots tonight with the current dearth of games worth playing a nice group activity is just what the board needs in between juvenile spammer attacks.

Average Stuff:
Juuousei - Short show, I haven't seen any has been getting pretty good feedback from people I trust, will update with my thoughts once the series is finished and I've watched it all the way through.

Just finished this one, it comes in at 11 eps, which were either too many or not enough depending on who you ask.  Personally I thought it was if anything a little above average.  Not a great deal of replay value but worth a watch.  The story is about two brothers who are mysteriously sent to a prison planet after their parents are murdered.  The planet is akin to Chimera of WH40k lore, covered with carnivorous plants of doom and whatnot.  The cast is solid, the music goes from quite good to annoying for a few tracks.  The art is above average but nothing that will blow your socks off.  I have a gripe with the fight sequences, which I felt lacked inspiration.  Some people have complained about the ending, but I didn't have a huge problem with it.  While you may see this show classified as sci-fi that is misleading.  There are a whole host of things that are meant to just be accepted, with only 11 eps almost nothing is explained in detail setting wise.  Also some of the things that are explained aren't explained well. 

Overall I think an anime fan should at least check it out, I recommend Kiss-Subs, who did a solid job although the white subs are hard to see at times.  Think of it more as an adventure-mystery show, not sci-fi or else you will feel misled.  I stick by the classification I gave it based on reactions on anime boards I frequent.  A average to above average show but nothing groundbreaking.  Definitely some things that could have been handled better.  Possibly the weakest effort by Bones I've seen (which doesn't mean much I love their work to death) if you ignore the whole slew of recap eps in Wolf's Rain that damn near ruin that show.

[Chenghiz]

Has anyone seen Dead Leaves or Mind Game? The former I just couldn't bear to watch for more than 15 minutes (it's a 45m OVA) but Mind Game was pretty interesting in an avant-garde needlessly philosophical mindfuck way.

[Hoax]

Well here's an addition to the "These shows are the Japanese equivalent to a TV show about how much John Leguizamo loves to have Chris Kattan shit in his mouth narrated by the movie phone guy with a cameo from SirBruce" catagory.

Magical Pokan yeah going to have to re-think the whole, if it has under 20 eps might as well check it out rule.  Ye gods the suck was strong with this one.  The fanservice was disturbingly loli, the jokes unfunny and the entire premise was just a huge ball of wtf.

[Strazos]

I can't even find that one on AnimeNfo or anything.

[Hoax]

http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3592,pibsuf,renkin_san_kyu_.html

I swear to fucking god I never read the description...

[Hoax]

Good Shows:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - You should watch this just so you know what everyone else is talking about, peer pressure 4tw!

Ok just for the record, I was behind the times and just finished this one.  If you haven't watched any of this show yet one of the following better be true:
1. You hate cartoons
2. You hate the Japanese
3. You hate me and you aren't watching it just to spite me.

Seriously, it is so good I am using a non-Reka avatar for this site.  That should mean something to you, for real.  The only gripe I can imagine someone having with this show that wouldn't be ass-backwards retarded would be that the eps are not in chronological order.  But the cast and the "style" of the whole thing are just dead-on-great.  If you are even a kindof sortof anime fan do yourself a favor and check this out.

[Strazos]

Durr, that's why there have been so many avatars of the show popping up around here (ok maybe only 2...).


"Haruhi HUNGRY!!"

EDIT: There are hints of a sequel series...but I'm not sure I would mind if the material was never touched again. I thought the series was that good. I might have to go back, just to watch the series in chronological order.

[Stormwaltz]

Ok just for the record, I was behind the times and just finished this one.  If you haven't watched any of this show yet one of the following better be true:
1. You hate cartoons
2. You hate the Japanese
3. You hate me and you aren't watching it just to spite me.

4. I don't download fansubs.

It's a combination of distrusting the security of file-shares and questionable legality. If it gets a legit North America release, I'm on it. Considering its popularity, I'm sure they'll ask a mint to license it. Sticker price excluded the popular Pita-Ten out of the West, and delayed the Eva movies for years.

[Hoax]

Storm, what if I "give" them to you, the thought of someone missing this show or of watching it with a bad dub makes me want to kill kittens.

[Strazos]

Seriously.


EDIT: Also, with Haruhi over, and no new releases for Higurashi, Strawberry Panic, or Ergo Proxy....I'm fiending. 

[Hoax]

Black Lagoon is out or just about out, nowhere near the level of quality but at least you can finish it.  Also I do recommend trying out Juuousei if you haven't.  Oh and assuming you are poor...

*whisper*
GITS:SAC 2nd Season dvd-qual fansub releases should be done this month as well.

(For the record I'm buying both seasons once I see them on some kind of sale in the thinpack)

[Yoru]

Woohoo, Haruhi Avatar Solidarity Movement.

Er, hm...

Haruhi Avatar Movement of Solidarity - HAMS? I could go for some hams right now.

Anyway, I doubt the next season will have as much good stuff as this season; two series at once of sufficient quality that I want to watch them weekly is rare, even during the 00-02 quality flap.

[schild]

It's a combination of distrusting the security of file-shares and questionable legality.

What?

Is there a joke here?

Questionable legality? You work for a video game company. A DEN of questionable legality.

[Strazos]

Just because....

Haruhi was awesome. One of the only series, anime or otherwise, that I have been able to go back and watch multiple times.

Ergo Proxy is interesting. I had to practically force myself through the first few episodes, but I like it. Too bad there hasn't been a release forsome time now...

Juuousei is good,though it hasn't quite hooked me hard enough yet to actually go and finish it.

School Rumble 2nd Term is...Well, I like it. It reminds me vaguely of Family Guy with its randomness.

Higurashi is still kicking ass. They just got into a new arc. I really wish I could play the game it's based on...but, well..it'd be in Japanese.

I'm very amused by Strawberry Panic. I like how it mostly just hints at (rather than over-the-top fullblown Hentai) the girl/girl relationships. Aoi getting embarrassed all the time is funny.

And then there is Magical Pokaan. It's...um...well....I was able to get through the series easily enough, which is More than I can say about Utawarerumono.

[Hoax]

I saw the first two eps of Witchblade this morning, this show is so average it hurts.  I'm going to watch two more (I usually give a show 4 eps to not suck) later but I'm sure not holding my breath.

@Stray:
Magical Pokaan made me feel ill, I dont know how you can stand it.  At least the sisters in Utawareumono are decent characters.  School Rumble is great if you find it funny, I do not but most comedy anime is hit/miss for western viewers I think.

[Strazos]

I don't think I made it past episode 2 with Uta...it just felt so generic and bland. If I get bored I might go bakc and download it all again, but...

It just feels like the same shit we had with Inuyasha.

[Yoru]

I'm still slogging through Uta, but that's largely because I hate to stop watching/reading/hearing a story in the middle. So far it's still a really generic fantasy-empire anime with a touch of fantasy-superhero. Unfortunately they're playing up the main character's angst to a level that I can only describe as 'rusty cheese grater on the eyeballs' and not developing side-plots among the dozen or so other characters to distract away from it.

[Chenghiz]

I'm enjoying Ergo Proxy. I guess I'm a sucker for philosophical bullshit; I liked Innocence for that reason too.

[Strazos]

Same....but I just don't understand why all the groups seem to have paused all of a sudden.

[Yoru]

Same....but I just don't understand why all the groups seem to have paused all of a sudden.

If it's been licensed, then most fansub groups will drop it like a hot potato.

[Stormwaltz]

If it's been licensed, then most fansub groups will drop it like a hot potato.

And just it be pedantic, it has been. Geneon announced at Anime Expo that the first volume releases on November 21.

[Strazos]

The first volume being...what, the first 1.5 episodes?

...Damnit.

[Chenghiz]

Same....but I just don't understand why all the groups seem to have paused all of a sudden.

If it's been licensed, then most fansub groups will drop it like a hot potato.

Well, generally they'll announce it's being dropped and why. I just think Shinsen has too many series on their hands or is being lazy.

[Yoru]

Oh, it's being done by Shinsen-Subs? Yeah, they have a tendency to overload themselves and have long delays and/or 'indefinite postponements'.

[Strazos]

Then why did everyone else stop?

[angry.bob]

Then why did everyone else stop?

It was from what different groups have said  it was actually the combination of summer break and World Cup starting. Things have started to pick back up.

[Strazos]

So is Ergo Proxy not dead in the water, as far as subs go?

[Hoax]

*pats Straz on head*

This is why I never start watching something until they have finished subbing.  Otherwise something like this just drives me crazy.

[angry.bob]

So is Ergo Proxy not dead in the water, as far as subs go?

Sorry, I meant the fansubbing dry spell in general. Ergo Proxy appears dead in the water. Which makes me sad as liike I said months ago, it was one of the few shows this tiime round that wasn't cloying shit.

[Strazos]

Eh...oh well, plenty of other stuff out there to fill the void.

[Sairon]

Just gave Welcome to the NHK! a shot after hearing some recommendations, it's really funny. Oyasumi is fansubing it but there's only 4 episodes out so far.

[Simond]

EDIT: There are hints of a sequel series...but I'm not sure I would mind if the material was never touched again. I thought the series was that good. I might have to go back, just to watch the series in chronological order.

For what it's worth (and for those who don't know this yet) 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' was (mostly*) based on the first couple of novels - yes, real novels not manga - of a bestselling-in-Japan-eight-books-and-counting ongoing series. There's also some fan-translations of the first couple of books out there somewhere.

There's ample story left for more series.

*Bearing in mind the nonlinear continuity, some of the series was from later books.

[Strazos]

Yeah, I've read chunks of some of the online translations...not sure if it's the kind of genre I would read on my own time.

The anime still kicks all kinds of ass though.

[stray]

I finally went through a ton of GTO episodes, Schild (sorry, it's been, like, a year or two since you suggested it!).

Great shit. You were right.