Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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I've been struggling my way through the original Mobile Suit Gundam for the past month or so. I'm now on episode 18. It has aged extremely poorly, the budget shortcuts are too evident and many action scenes are extremely incoherent. There are some themes at the core that are interesting, especially regarding the military and the effects war can have on people, Amuro's constant fears and that one episode when his mother is horrified to see him shooting at Zeon soldiers without hesitation, and some political stuff going on in Zeon, but the characters overall lack depth and distinctive personalities (except that one guy who's always a dick, and Char, who is bloody fabulous) and the fighting scenes are usually so weird and low-stakes. I'll give them that they have some legitimately interesting strategizing going on, but yeah... it just hasn't survived the test of time. Also, if I had a shot of tequila for every time one of the girls says "Amuro", I'd be drunk in the first three minutes of every episode.
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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@CrowLia
Yeah,a s someone who adores 80s mecha, I couldn't get through original Gundam either. I don't even think I got as far as you did. That's when I officially switched over to Ryosuke Takahashi too (I'd seen VOTOMs before original Gundam I believe). Like, I don't think Amuro is as whiny as Shinji, but he's second in my book. If the entire show had just focused on Char, I'd be all in though. I think I rolled my eyes every time the show went away from Char or someone near him and went back to Amuro's side, thinking "Dammit, not these guys again". I'd say if you want some of the same ideas about how war affects people, watch Gundam 0080 instead (one of the two Gundams that I like, along with G Gundam, which I like for being an over the top super robot show that basically hijacked Gundam's name to sell toys, and I am a-ok with that). It's also only 6 eps long, but it gets it message across much clearer with much more interesting characters. If you want all the politics, watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes, where 110 episodes felt too short when I finished the last episode (which also did not end with the camera pulling away from a guy in a red velvet chair, smoking a pipe in front of a fireplace, while reading a history book, much to my surprise). And both Yang and Reinhard are just brilliant. And it's impossible to pick a side to root for, I flip-flopped so many times while watching that series (usually going for whichever side the episode focused more on that week or whomever was losing). Except for Phezzan because screw them. But there were characters I adored on both the Empire and the Alliance as neither side was good, but neither side was evil. And both sides had complete dicks too. Also, both sides tend to drink wine during their strategy meetings, awesome! But Reinhard has that one dude who commands his fleet using nothing but hand gestures. Really, both sides had so many characters to like, it's not even funny, Poplan, Kircheis, Mittermeyer, Oberstein (in a "he's kind of a dick" kind of way, but at least he feeds his dog), Reuenthal, Walter von Schenkopp, Julian, Dusty, Bittenfeld, Konev, Mecklinger, Eisenach, there's a ton of characters in this! I only wish it were licensed, instant buy for me. I should consider rewatching it, I'd sit down to watch maybe 2 eps and watch 10 or 12. If you're struggling with Gundam, go for the superior space opera! As long as you don't need giant robots in it (but that's ok! Some dudes storm space ships and axe the hell out of people) and want a lot of fantasy politics. |
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CrowLia
Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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Thanks, I have Gundam 0080 sitting on top of my pile of shame right now, I should get to it once I'm done with Mobile Suit, and I've had my eye on LotGH for a while, I just haven't been able to find it. I'm going to do a genuine effort at finishing it because of Char and the upcoming Gundam Origins that's supposed to be about his and Sayla's story, but damn, it's been a while since he last showed up (after fabulously getting the Zeon prince killed).
I don't necessarily have a problem with Amuro's whining (I count myself amongst the scarce people who don't hate Shinji), it just feels vapid. Like one episode he wants to go away and never ride the Gundam ever again and the next he gets pissed off and throwing a tantrum because the captain suggests they give the Gundam to a different pilot. There's a histerical scene when he overhears the captain talking about it and he dashes off crying like a shojo heroine who just saw her man flirting with another girl. |
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zawa113
Posts: 7358 |
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@CrowLia
HA! I love that way of describing Amuro, I need to keep that one in mind, it's perfect! Anyway, I'm still going through G Gundam on my end, I've hit the halfway point and started the tournament arc. And it starts it with showing all these stupid as hell looking Gundams (I mean a giant windmill? That appears to do nothing useful? Put that damn thing on a miniature golf course, man! At least annoy some kids trying to play putt putt golf). And the last ep I watched for now, I see this Gundam that looks kind of like a Bronzong and all I can think is "damn that's ugly, I hope it opens up that armor to reveal something more normal looking.... oh, good it's opening and dear lord, it just looks more stupid that before" But I do think that's part of the charm of G Gundam for me, it is soooo damn cheesy and the fairly hammy English dub is only making me happier. It's just fun for me. And now I'm hearing background songs that remind me of Katamari or something as they're probably about what's going on but damn if I can't understand them, so I'm going to assume that, like Katamari, all the songs are about it and they're cheesy too and it's just so much fun. |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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Who are you quoting there, and in what context? I am curious because somebody who thinks that those shows are bad apparently has tastes that are nearly opposite my own. Was that from your own post that was deleted? As for Ai Yori Aoshi, I had much the same reaction as Mr. Oshawott. It is one of my favorite romances. |
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DuelGundam2099
 Posts: 533 |
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He was quoting me from the last page, Touma.
Anyway, this morning I watched this because I am an Ultraman fan and the title is too long for me to remember: http://myanimelist.net/anime/17621/Ultraman:_Chou_Toushi_Gekiden_-_Suisei_Senjin_Tsuifon_Toujou Why was this just one episode? The Ultras having DBZ levels of power being aided by giant robots to fight cosmic gods had so much potential! Even friggin Hanuman got a cameo! HAHAHAHA! 
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justsomeaccount
 Posts: 471 |
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Next one on not-very-known-and-kind-of-polemic anime: Gilgamesh. Everywhere I go it's not like I see a lot of negative feelings, but every chart is especially negative with this show. Which... I guess I can understand the reasons but at the same time I don't feel this deserves to be that hated or alienating but at the same time yes it should be but... ugh, this is hard.
The thing is, I enjoyed watching this: I thought there was a thrilling mistery in all of this slowly building up to next steps, and most of the time it was just the build up and not a lot of incredible moments happening everytime, but it was thrilling. I liked the main characters way more than I expected by seeing their art style and animation, there were a lot of hidden meanings in what they said but they could also have distinctive personalities and good chemistry between them, it could have some good imagetry and moments here and there, it didn't develop in a predictable way, and I was thrilled during the ride. Buuut then when spoiler[the last episode shows up (the main cause is countess' jelaous heart, Enkidu's objetive is to restaure mankind, everybody dies, etc.)], I thought about the whole show I asked myself "what the hell was this about?". I didn't feel satisfied because most of the show was build-up, and the answers aren't satisfying, even forced and contradictory spoiler[(Kiyoko's pregnancy was accidental, not part of the whole things, but that's kind of their objective. Why did we follow Tatsuya's point of view if he's just going to die without achieving anything or bringing any thematic value to the mix (with his partners at least I can say they had a character closure before in the previous episodes, but he didn't)? Why did they want to Kiyoko and Tatsuya if they were part of their plan or not? What does this have to do with the Gilgamesh tale (with the monsters called Gilgamesh and their boss called Enkidu you would think they are the main paralelism of the tale, but they say that it's Yuuki who is more like Gilgamesh just because of the eternal life search but it's too weak and minor to be this show about this tale and even be called around that, and the final twist with the countess has nothing to do with that)? If the plan was the countess to discover the truth and provoke that situation, why was she about to get killed other times? Really her jelaous heart is the real cause of all of this to completely doom mankind despite her being able to recover in other aspects of her life and not being actively harmful? Weak. Blablabla~~).] It's a big disappointment not being able to take anything for something that had such an enjoyable ride that it really hurts to what could have been a really solid show. But feeling tricked is not cool. The animation is so low-budget that it was probably a strong barrier for many people. I still think the direction can play well with some visuals and shadows, but it's hard to deny the low attractiveness unless you love this kind of dystopia style, the same with the characters' designs and expressions, although as I said I actually dug them and thought their personalities were palpable so I got used to the style and appreciated what I could. The music however I found it perfect for this kind of series, and it's not like great, a little repetitive and simple, but it's very loudly and strong, or beautiful and thrilling, but needed to bring intensity to this low-budget and kind-of-bland look. Really, those trumpets really help the action scenes to give a weight and concern that the animation by itself cannot do. So overall I guess I liked it, but it's a show I'm probably not seeing again even though when I was watching I felt I should, and it's very hard to recommend because of that. Maybe to someone who likes slow dark shows and don't give too much importance to the pay off, but those are too many restrictions. What a pity. You dropped the ball in a show that completely depends of the answers, and that's the biggest fault this kind of story could have. |
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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This is actually something that I recently finished watching, rather than something that I am "watching right now," but I think that I can get away with that.
I bought Kamisama Kiss from the Right Stuf holiday sale because I have been reading the manga, and it is one of my favorite manga. After watching this first season of the anime I am a bit disappointed, but still happy. The disappointment comes partly from getting my hopes too high, and partly from knowing what the anime did not give me. I think that I would probably have enjoyed the Kamisama Kiss anime a bit more if I had not read the manga. I had heard that some anime is made mostly as an advertisement for the manga, but this is the first time that I actually felt like I was watching an advertisement. It was not so blunt about it that it seemed to be saying "read the manga to see what happens next!" but it was obvious that there was more to the story. Even though I was disappointed I was still happy with the anime because it was fun to watch. I listened to the dub and I thought that the voices were perfect for the characters. Tia Ballard's Nanami sounded just like I had imagined her when I was reading the manga. It reminds me a lot of Laura Bailey's Tohru Honda in Fruits Basket. The other voices also fit my expectations. Of course other people might have greatly different expectations. If you are in the mood for a shoujo supernatural romantic comedy I recommend Kamisama Kiss, as long as you do not mind getting only a sample of the story. Even though I could tell that some things were incomplete I feel that they ended in a way that did not leave me hanging. However, I cannot be sure that I would feel the same if I had not read the manga and knew what happened next. The anime is very faithful to the manga. I have not seen the sequel to the anime, so I do not know it it continues the stories from these first 13 episodes. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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^
You know we're getting a second season, right? 
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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^
Yes, and I am looking forward to it. I think that Funimation has licensed it and will be streaming it in a couple of weeks, but has not scheduled a physical release, which is what I need, yet |
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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To celebrate the day of Christmas, I spent the midday watching Kiki's Delivery Service, a Studio Ghibli movie. The show stars Kiki, a 13-year-old training to become a witch, and Jiji, her black cat. After departing many miles from her home, she and Jiji find themselves in a huge city but had no place to rest in. It wasn't until a baker named Osono offered a place to stay after she helped out a customer that Kiki began her very own delivery service and her adventure to discover her true strength.
I had an awesome time with this show. The artwork looked beautiful and the music sounded fantastic. Despite not much of anything extraordinary occurring throughout the show, I got quite a bit of amusement midway through and was left full of suspense and then relief towards the end. It was an overall fun-filled experience.
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justsomeaccount
Posts: 471 |
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Today I felt very manly, so I started Princess Tutu. Three episodes in, and we have a world with ballet academies with animals humanoids totally integrated where the characters of a deceased writer have invaded the real world even though the writer is still controlling the destiny of the main character, a... duck turned into human with the power of Princess Tutu that purifies hearts and problems by just dancing, with the objective of finding the emotions of the prince's empty heart that are contaminating altered versions of other tales' characters, all with the OST of classic operas and ballet music in the background... ... ...
Yep, sounds about right~~ Weird stuff aside, it's very sympathetic and likeable so that's a plus, and it would be fun to see how far they go with the meta and fairytales' stuff. The only odd thing (well, A LOT, but aside the story) I'm asking is, does this have 38 or 26 episodes? Because depending of the site I see it puts one number or another, and even the ANN's page doesn't make it very clear. |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6529 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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^
The show had two seasons. The first had 13 x 24 minute episodes while the second had 26 x 12 minute episodes. Really, in the second season they just chopped the 24 minute episodes in half. Also, while the first season comes to a conclusion of sorts the story isn't completed until the amazing last episode. The first season is good but the second is wild. The guitar ninja intenet meme famously started with Princess Tutu. 
When you've finished classicalzawa may give you a link to one of the best AMVs ever made (it is spoilerish). |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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justsomeaccount--
Check out this thread on Princess Tutu. |
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3886 Location: New York state. |
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Watching Ookamikakushi: Masque of the Wolf. Have heard of the series being a spin on Higurashi not as well executed. So decided to check it out just for the sake of curiosity.
I've actually plowed through a decent chunk of anime this week since I've had the week off from work due to the holiday: Mushishi: The New Chapter, DBZ: The Legendary Super Saiyan, Gargantia, Little Busters, Yukikaze and Welcome to the Space Show. Of the lot, I found Gargantia and Mushishi to be the most satisfying and keepers for what they had to offer up, while I was underwhelmed by the rest of the bunch. |
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