Anime recommendations

[fuser]

After being pretty skeptical about the new fullmetal alchemist series, the story is pretty much gone in a totally different direction. Anyone reading the manga can give a bearing oh how far this series has progressed? It seems to be way behind for 44 episodes in. The amount of time they have spent on flushing out side and back stories they better not plan on wrapping this up in 5-6 episodes.

[Rendakor]

I just started watching Baka to Test to Shokanju which is actually pretty amusing. An accurate summary I read online called it School Rumble meets Pokemon.

[Ollie]

Utena is weird.  Very weird in the second, and down right omgwtf in the third.  I really liked it, but I would not call it great anime.  It was overhyped for what it was.

Perfectly understandable. I think Utena is one of those series that is far easier to respect than to like, and even then for what it tries to do, as opposed to whether it actually succeeds or how entertained the viewer actually is. Not unlike Brechtian theatre, in the sense that the audience is made to work for any possible subjective enjoyment.

I've always thought of Utena as a pretty nifty post-modern bildungsroman, a young girl's coming-of-age story with all the sexual exploration laced with heavy symbolism. All the duelling can be seen as a commentary on gender roles, with phallic swords clashing for dominance over the vaginal rose in an ever-repeating struggle of sexual politics. In the end, Utena rescues Anthy from the oppressive patriarchy of the school council and escapes by transforming herself into a car, a lovely nod to gender-bending, thus defying the heteronormative status quo.

Much of Utena's appeal stems from its intertextuality and how it plays with and subverts some of the genre conventions present in run-of-the-mill shoujo-ai. Still, if you're watching and go "My god, what boring, repetitive, pretentious load of crap!" you'd be well within your rights to congratulate yourself on not being a hopelessly sad git just yet.

Even so, everyone with more than a passing interest in shoujo-ai or yuri should give Utena a whirl. If for no other reason than to see the influence it has had on later works.

[rk47]

The other day, I was just browsing around online manga scans , bored and all. And found Franken Fran.

Click click clickety click and my mind got blown. I don't know how this writer can mindfuck so well, but that's basically the medical horror theme here: A well-meaning(?) female frankenstein doctor attempts to help victims and disturbing images ensues.

This one's my fav chapter and it's the tamest and funniest twist of all (IMO)

http://www.onemanga.com/Franken_Fran/21/01/

[Teleku]

why god why did I click on that link

[rk47]

why god why did I click on that link

your avatar matches your reaction well. 

[tgr]

oh dear god, that's weird.

[Simond]

The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi

Subbed camrip.

[Musashi]

I just found the original Captain Harlock in Japanese with subs on Hulu.  I'm going to watch the whole thing.  So terrible.

[Simond]

http://randomc.net/2010/06/14/summer-2010-preview/

Well, that looks mostly terrible. Sengoku Basara 2 and maybe Highschool of the Dead are the watchable ones, I suppose?

[Rendakor]

In addition to Highschool of the Dead, I'm probably going to give Shiki and Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin a shot too.

[Bzalthek]

Chartfag link
http://chartfag.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/summer-2010-v1export.jpg

Or just the big ass pic spoilered.

I'm probably going to watch Kuroshitsuji II, Seikimatsu Occult Academy, Shiki, Asobi ni Iku Yo!
Will also test out Ookami-san to shichinin no nakamatachi, Amagami SS, and Seitokai Yakuindomo

It does look like a weak Summer.  Spring was disgusting, I didn't even bother with any of the shows but like two.

[Musashi]

I'm enjoying Tatami Galaxy on Hulu.  It's not something I'd recommend for the Japan noob.  It moves incredibly quickly, is hard to follow, and it's extremely uhh... Japanese.  I'll just say there's a love doll.  But the art is holy shit amazing.  And the story is original.  It's not done yet, so I don't know how it ends.  So they could totally fuck up at the end and make it terrible.  I also realize liking this might mean I'm broken.  Word of warning:  If you're the type of person who looks at abstract art and breaks your brain, this show is not for you.

I'm watching The House of Five Leaves.  It's very... subtle.  Normally, you expect subtlety with a Japanese story.  But this is really subtle.  I mean... I don't know why I'm still watching it at this point.  I guess I like the art style here too.  But I'm just not sure this even qualifies as a plot.  It's also not done yet, so I'm hoping something happens at the end to justify the six hours I spend on it.

I've also dabbled with a few episodes Sengoku Basara which is the typical over the top Shonen anime based on the Sengoku era warlords.  Only they're not remotely restricting themselves to historical accuracy short of names and minor idiosyncrasies.  Tokugawa eats it early, and I was like, "wut?"  I'm basically ruined for Shonen anime after I watched Gurren Lagann.  It just can't be done any better than that.  This is no exception.  Watch if you're bored and want to see dudes fight.

All these are on Hulu with subs.  Fuck you, Canada.   

[Musashi]

Finished Tatami Galaxy.  I think that was the most difficult thing I've ever tried to enjoy.  But I did enjoy it.  God help me.

[Bzalthek]

Caught the 1st ep of Ookami-san and Amagami SS.  Ookami-san is quirky fun and the fanservice is toned down.  Looks like a decent show to watch.  Amagami SS is your typical emo dating sim turned anime.  I'll think I'll pass.

[Vision]

I just have a question about Evangelion 1.11. I never watched the original, but people seem to really like 1.11, so I was wondering if I should just check that out instead of trying to find the 1995 version to watch.
Is it the same story? Or was it all re-drawn, like Amazon is saying? I normally dislike when they recap an entire series in a movie and edit things out. Just wondering if it is worth watching before the original.

[Stormwaltz]

It's more-or-less the same story, completely reanimated with modern technology and made into four movies (two done) rather than 26 episodes.

There are differences, but in the first movie they're not significant. The second introduces an entirely new Fourth Child, the abominably named Mari Illustrious Makinami.

[Bzalthek]

Mitsudomoe is a slice of life about 6th grade triplets.  It's alternatively adorable and downright disturbing.  Excessive use of sexual innuendo and misunderstandings.  (Like a hamster named Nipples)

Seitokai Yakuindomo:  Another student council anime.  Freshman male forced to join student council of an all-girls turned co-ed high school.  Oddball female council members and straight-man male lead.  Sexual innuendo abounds, but not as heavily or disturbing as Mitsodomoe.  I found it very entertaining.

[Simond]

It's more-or-less the same story, completely reanimated with modern technology and made into four movies (two done) rather than 26 episodes.

There are differences, but in the first movie they're not significant. The second introduces an entirely new Fourth Child, the abominably named Mari Illustrious Makinami.

It might also be a Peggy Sue-style "sequel", rather than a retelling.

Maybe.

[Rendakor]

Watch the original Evangelion first, if at all possible. 1.11 recaps the first 6 episodes or so, with some changes to the story.

Just finished watching Ichiban Ushiro no Daimao. Pretty good harem-with-magic anime, in the vein of Maburaho but a little more graphic.

Edit: Just saw on chartfag that the Cat Shit One (Apocalypse Meow) anime is finally coming out this season.

[Bzalthek]

High School of the Dead actually looks promising.  They're a little blatant on the panty shots and the absurdly inflated breasts, but the zombie killin more than makes up for it so far.  And the blood!  Oh my!

[Rendakor]

Who's subbing it? That's one I was looking forward to.

[Bzalthek]

HorribleSubs, Commie, and CoalGuys all have a sub out.  The one I watched was done by CoalGuys.  (Don't take that for a recommendation though.  The differences between subbers are lost on me unless the mistakes are many and massive)

[Rendakor]

Thanks.

[Yoshimaru]

I just finished the HorribleSubs version. It's a decent sub, there were a few mistakes but nothing huge.

I liked the episode a lot. As previously mentioned, there are a lot of gratuitous anime panty and bouncing boob shots, but that's to be expected. The action scenes were pretty cool, and now that they're done with the setup I'm hoping the action ratchets up a lot.

Also, the blatantly ripped off music from the 28 Days/Weeks movies was a nice touch. 

[DLRiley]

Orgy bus.

[Vision]

I just finished the HorribleSubs version. It's a decent sub, there were a few mistakes but nothing huge.

I liked the episode a lot. As previously mentioned, there are a lot of gratuitous anime panty and bouncing boob shots, but that's to be expected. The action scenes were pretty cool, and now that they're done with the setup I'm hoping the action ratchets up a lot.

Also, the blatantly ripped off music from the 28 Days/Weeks movies was a nice touch.  

Yeah, you told me about the music before I watched it and I was a little iffy. But it didnt bug me as much as I had thought it might. During the whole "oh, people are being eaten and zombified? huh, strange" stage, it was a little weird that no one else seemed to care. But Im interested to see how they get off the roof.

[Bzalthek]

Shiki... I dunno about this one.  I'm not even sure what genre to put it into.  It's a rather slow 1st episode but I got a feeling that it might perk up.  All I know is that there are a lot of distinctive characters freeze framed and named so I suspect a bit of a murder mystery, and to top it off the most annoying character isn't anymore, so that's a plus.

I was bored, so I decided to try out the catgirl anime, Asobi ni Iku Yo, and it started out with this cyber suit ninja chick that can summon firearms out of thin air.  So, obviously not your average catgirl anime.  I'm gonna have to catch the next episode now.

[Segoris]

I need to give a lot of praise to Angel Beats. Plain and simple, watch it. I just finished and it is a wonderful story that I'll most likely watch again in the next month. Some of the bits were heart breaking in their cruelty, which made me appreciate this anime even more when they can go between incredibly dark and sad but then come back with some light humor and short but entertaining bits of action while not missing a beat. Between the interesting and original (afaik) setting, the well written and consistent characters, the story, and the music (I'll be looking for the soundtrack tonight, imo it's about as good as Beck's ost), this really was just a great show.

I'm sad that it was only 13 episodes (which to me is a crime in this case) as I would have liked a 26 episode series of it. A day later and I still feel I want more of this series. Even being cut short though, unlike other shows who are cut short and end up really rushing to the end and degrading their show, this did a good job of cutting down story and still remaining a very solid series. This might just make my top 3 animes, if not than it is definitely top 5.

Been watching a few other animes lately as well (Ladies vs Butlers, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Omamori Himari, Mayoi Neko Overrun) and for the most part they've been good. Some with a bit too much fan service, but still enjoyable.

Edit: To add with Angel Beats, they seemed to have cut out the background stories of a number of characters. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal in most shows, but in this one their background stories actually mean something. Also, while the ending was very good, there is one minor complaint about it and consistency that could have easily been explained but wasn't.

[Bzalthek]

Thanks for the heads up, I'm gonna look into it.

Edit: Caught the first ep of Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin and thought it was enjoyable.  Animation was smooth and pretty and all that though I dunno of the story has enough depth to hold it together.  Also, while it wasn't exactly panty shot ecchi, they enjoyed almost going over that line, frequently.  And not just for the girls.
Example:

[DLRiley]

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin is whats going to get me back into anime, can't wait to follow this all summer. HOTD however, I read the manga and seen the direction their taking the anime... this is going to be bad very very bad, especially considering the amount of filler they'll have to do.

[Vision]

Can we talk about.....Evangelion?

[SurfD]

I would say: watch Eureka 7.  It is almost exactly like Evangelion, except the plot makes sense, the ending is understandable, the characters are likeable, and the level of teen angst is proportionally much more easy to accept.

[Hoax]

I would say: watch Eureka 7.  It is almost exactly like Evangelion, except the plot makes sense, the ending is understandable, the characters are likeable, and the level of teen angst is proportionally much more easy to accept.

That really was a fucking great show.

Did he ask what to watch next though or just say, wtf just happened.

Haven't seen anything good enough to be worth mentioning here in quite some time.

[Samwise]

It's probably not technically anime, but Avatar: The Last Airbender is pretty great, especially for a kids' show.  The wife and I have been watching it on Netflix Instant and we're pretty well hooked.  Ironically, the movie (which I haven't seen and don't plan to) did the show a world of good just by getting lots of people to say "wow, the show was way better than that pile of crap".