Forum - View topicWhat is wrong with me? [Recommendations]
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chubbochubb
Posts: 6 |
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so this is a half rant half recommendation/suggestion thread. Hopefully this stays because i do have substance in this post.
So i've watched my fair share of anime, not an extraordinary amount but i'm past the surface. I'm just wondering why I can't seem to appreciate 'good' animes that have really good ratings. Here are a few. The most recent one i've finished is Black Lagoon (1st season). I went into this with high expectations with many recommendations from people, but it took me till episode 7 to actually get into the anime spoiler[(the part where Rock and Revy have this encounter and Rock basically stated that he has had enough. To me it was a scene that was very expressive and built on character)]. Now it's not i dislike the violence or anything; i came into it expecting that, but the whole 12 episodes really didn't seem to go anywhere for me (to put it bluntly 'not much happened'). So what exactly is so likable about this anime. I still have season 2 and i plan on finishing it (i'm one of those people that will watch through an entire anime through the thick and thin). The next anime is Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Once again, i went into this with high expectations considering it was runner-up for some anime award of the year (forgot which now). I currently have 2-3 episodes remaining and I can honestly say that I have near zero recollection of what has happened. Everything seemed so confusing and random. I know there were a huge amount of parodies and such so I'm guessing that I just haven't seen enough anime to understand, is that it? And finally, Azumanga. The 'classic' or so i hear. I'm now at the midway point and I must say it was agonizing getting past the first few episodes. I went into this by recommendations that it would be similar (if not better) than School Rumble (which is one of my all-time favs). At the moment, it has gotten better, though at first i really couldn't stand the 'mellow pace' of the anime (now i've come to realize it's a trademark of the anime). So basically i'm asking which animes I should stay away from if these animes aren't to my liking. In order of disappointment, it would go Haruhi > Lagoon > Azumanga. Of course i'm just asking about the more popular ones that I may decide to watch (i usually watch depending on the ratings). If it helps here is my list: animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?user=chubbochubb [EDIT: Adjusted your title since the "moi" was a little confusing. -TK] |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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1. How old are you?
2. Did you watch them in sub or dub? Not trying to start another flame war here (old regulars should know that I hate those), but voice acting plays an important role in titles you mentioned. 3. Had you read the original (manga of Black Lagoon and Azumanga Daioh; novel of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) or, at least knew what the plot of original was about, before watching their respective anime? 4. Tell us more about why you don't like Princess Mononoke either. That is probably the key to solve this mystery. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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I tend not to care while watching a series -- after seeing a handful myself. A touch of apathy prevents me from getting overworked up over a series. Heck, you can tell me a bunch of spoilers; and that won't bother me one bit. In fact, I tend to have a low expectation while starting a new series -- often looking for that "little" impression that makes me wanna watch more. These tend to serve as an excuse to keep watching.
As for your list, you like what you like. That is all. By the way, I didn't bother to look at it. What I just said is mere principle. |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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I didn't like Black Lagoon either. I think it's because I'm a girly girl
 that I don't appreciate an anime that was clearly meant for men.
And maybe having high expectations was part of the reason why I didn't like it. A lot of people liked it (including my brother and friends) so when I decided to watch it, I hoped that I would like it as much as they did but sadly, that wasn't the case. Maybe it's the same for you. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16963 |
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High expectations can sometimes ruin a show for people right off the start. If you go into a show with no previous concieved idea or notion on the quality of it you tend to be more lenient with your judgement. Just my personal opinion and observations over the years. So if the show isn't great you don't mind as you weren't expecting anything from the start. You started with a clean slate. Yet if you start after hearing how awesome a show is you get the feeling it should be great so if it isn't you feel let done. Such is life. And there's nothing wrong with being a girly girl either and liking shows tailored to that. 
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7992 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I love Black Lagoon for several reasons.
First off all the main cast of characters are ADULTS yay!! Watching series with kids and teens and coming of age stories gets really old. It's nice to see a show about adults for adults (like myself) once in a while. I'm a 24-year-old guy and my favorites tend to mostly be Seinen series like this one appropriate to that. Second, I love anti-heroes. Good guys are nice but it's cool sometimes to see protagonist characters that aren't exactly model citizens and can often be downright evil themselves. BL characters are criminals, they lie, cheat, murder, steal, kidnap, extort, smuggle, pirate, swear, drink, and smoke among other things. Revy being the best example she's one badass woman with plenty of attitude vices, and hang-ups and not many morals. With the way she dresses and the way she talks, she is definitely one of my all time favorite anime characters personally. It's a no holds barred action series that doesn't pull any punches. (Though the harder hitting stuff is in season 2 like the twins arc) It has everything one would expect in a Hollywood action show, over-the-top gunfights, explosions, car chases, drugs, sex, and rock and roll. The action itself is exciting, engaging, and clever as well as mostly realistic. It oozes style and coolness that nothing has done for me since Gungrave, Gunslinger Girl and Cowboy Bebop. The Storylines are serious, often dark and delve into the criminal world and mentality bringing up some interesting philosophical issues for me to puzzle over. Again they just have style and are very well written down to minor details like character dialouge. I love the animation, the character designs, the buildings, the vehicle designs, the background scenery, etc. Everything about the series screams high quality. It just looks so incredibly well made. Not surprising considering it's from my favorite animation studio, Madhouse, which also did a ton of other stuff I really liked the afore mentioned Gungrave and Gunslinger Girl as well as Monster, Claymore, and a many others. The music is awesome as well. I love a good metal soundtrack and that's not something we get offen in anime. From the great opening theme to the great background tracks the OST just rocks. Hmm....I think that about sums it up. |
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Vortextk
 Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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I need to get some sleep. It took me like 2 minutes(scanned the whole thread first) to figure out moi wasn't supposed to be either me or moe. Well, it is "me" but not english.
What's wrong with you? You're going into shows expecting something. You obviously have dissimilar tastes from the majority of people. You don't like Black Lagoon, FLCL, Princess Monoke, or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and I'd say that's pretty rare. I haven't rated Black Lagoon yet, I'm wavering between a 7-8, but the other three I've all rated masterpiece. I'd say it would be hard to find another person to dislike all four of those.(Not impossible, but not every other person for sure)
I could just say you have bad taste and leave it at that, but who really knows. If you ASK the question, "what is wrong with me", then yes, that is my answer because that is what I believe is wrong with you. But in reality, I doubt anything is wrong with you and the mere fact that you're posting here trying to get attention or questioning people on why they think those anime are great and you didn't like them is pointless. You didn't, so that's it. You seem pretty picky but shounen action and high school comedy seems to have done it for you; neither of which are rare in anime. You really don't need people to recommend you popular shounen series like One Piece, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter etc. The same pretty much goes for the comedies you're looking for. Just look at new/popular/high rated material that fits in those two categories and branch out from there. Last edited by Vortextk on Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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teferi
 Posts: 400 |
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Some part of my brain just twisted that and made me want to throw up O_o;;
I really don't see what's so confusing about why he didn't like the series he listed; he probably found the insider jokes in AzuDai and Haruhi puzzling, and Black Lagoon probably just dragged too much (Unlike DBZ! Oh, Yeah! [/sarcasm] ) while they were exploring Rock's situation/character/reason-for-existence etc.
Erm .. *random guess* he found it too preachy and the kiddies saving nature thing was a bit cheesy? Slow pacing at times? I personally loved it, but I can completely understand why some people would dislike it. so here's my guess based off of what he's given us: He should avoid [anime] nerd-humor shows (e.g. Lucky Star, Excel Saga, Abenaboshi etc.) or shows that try to explore deeper themes than "ZOMG! beats the bad guy! because he's ebil!". (e.g. Monster, Mushishi, Planetes ). Just a guess though 
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NocturnalUX
 Posts: 448 Location: Portugal |
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I second this. Different people like different things, it might seem a truism but it fits this situation. Browsing through the OP's list I got the idea that his/hers taste do not differ all that much from "the mainstream", for lack of a better term. Having Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, Code Geass and School Rumble rated as "excellent" means that there are a lot of people who share the OP's opinion, it's not as if s/he is stuck with loving a few niche titles that few people have even heard of. Anyway, perhaps instead of focusing on why you *don't* like some titles you should focus on what does grab your attention and try to find titles in the same vein?
heh, same thing happened to me. EDIT: School Ramble? Good grief, my typing skills are going downhill...or maybe this was a Freudian slip. Or is a Lacan-like slip? *shuts up* Last edited by NocturnalUX on Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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Exactly- see, fandom has a habit of propelling itself, so popular shows get a better reputation than they necessarily deserve (case in point: Weiss Kreuz/ Knight Hunters). If you go in expecting the life-altering experience some fans would have you believe, you will be sorely disappointed. I say, use the handy-dandy reviews/synopsis available right here to find out what the show is actually about, and watch it only if it appeals to you. Everyone has their own tastes, find what suits yours. The best title I can recommend is Cromartie High School, which is a manic comedy similar to School Rumble... but it has such a unique feel/spin on the whole thing, I won't make any guarantees. (Pani Doni Dash and Excel Saga tend to get recommended as comedies too, but they're much more random and in-joke laden than most, so I don't know how well they'd go over for you.) |
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noobles
 Subscriber Posts: 20 Location: Sri Lanka |
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Erm, we can't look into your head and tell you what you're gonna like and not, everyone has their own preferences and you haven't really watched enough anime for anyone to gauge any sort of particular pattern in your tastes (some of the titles you've rated as "Excellent" and "Not Really Good" are both "Masterpieces" in my book).
While the popularity of a show is by no means a measure of quality, it doesn't mean popular shows can't be be good as well. Everyone's rated things differently, but a highly rated show usually means that most may like it, but it's no guarantee of any sort. Nevertheless, I still find ratings useful because for a show to be that popular it must have done something right. I may not find it mind blowingly good as its supposed to be, but at least the chances of the show being a dreadful waste of time are much less likely. Additionally, you can always check a review or a wiki about a show you wish to check out, at least you can ascertain whether there's something in it which you know you're not going to like and therefore avoid it - I personally hate comedy shows which have humor similar to that of Azumanga Daioh and shounen shows that are riddled with cliches of the genre from the first episode itself, but at the same time there are people who love to feed off shows like that.
Really, if you don't like a show, then there isn't much point in torturing yourself by watching the entire series (unless you have far, far too much time on your hands  )...
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MokonaModoki
 Posts: 437 Location: Austin, Texas |
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I'll take a shot at answering your question.
The shows that you have rated as excellent mostly appear to be story-centric. Meaning that they have well-developed plots that flow nicely from beginning to end and perform well at making you eager to know what will happen next to deliver progress toward that end and then giving it to you. The characterizations may very well be outstanding ones, and you will be sympathetic to them and care about them, but their primary function is to further the story. The shows that you don't like seem more character-centric. Watching them should make you eager to know what the characters will do or say next, or how they will interact with each other (how will Revy go nuts next? what crazy idea does Haruhi have now?). Excitement is added in the form of 'events' which may not have any substantial purpose in furthering an overall underlying plot. What story there is exists primarily to foster the development of the characters. I haven't seen School Rumble or Azumanga Daioh, but just based on their descriptions one of them (SR) appears to focused on a romantic conflict storyline while the other (AD) appears to be focused on a slice-of-life depiction of some unusual personalities. For most practical purposes, most people would find them extremely similar, but it sounds like AD's 'story' meanders so much that it is giving you trouble focusing on it and without that you aren't really caring about the characters. Mononoke is a well-directed, beautiful and artistic film with a rather heavy-handed theme and neither its characters nor story are particularly compelling. Spirited Away on the other hand, has a compelling story and some truly memorable characters, and generally seems more accessible than Mononoke. It's perfectly fine to have the opinion that one is better than the other for precisely those reasons. It doesn't mean something is wrong with you. It sounds like you need a very strong story in order to appreciate a show early. You can appreciate well-executed character development, but that development effectively has to develop or establish 'story' to resonate with you (your Black Lagoon example). MoHS has an effectively incoherent story (moreso in its broadcast order) and no matter how much others may love the characterizations, without an underlying great story it just doesn't work for you. FLCL is a lot like MoHS in this respect. I don't really know how to tell you what you might like or not. If descriptions focus on the personalities of the characters, or uses the word 'antics', or has 'slice-of-life' in the description, then it may not be for you. If a description focuses on a synopsis of a story that sounds compelling, then it may be something you would like. That said, I'll take a shot at guessing some highly-rated shows (i.e. within the top 25) that you would end up rating 'decent' or worse: Cowboy Bebop (you'd probably find it decent, the next three you would not) Mushishi Honey and Clover Kino's Journey Some that I'd expect you to like much better: Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal (I'm one of the group that dreads it ever falling from it's #1 rated throne) Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (based on one of the greatest stories in the history of literature) Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann (I haven't seen it, but I think the description sounds compatible for someone who likes Code Geass) Nodame Cantabile (my reasoning might be off with this one, since I love the characters enough to make the story compelling, but I also like it too much to imagine anyone not liking it) I'm throwing those out both as recommendations (or not) and as an exercise in reading descriptions to see if you can spot the tell-tales that throw them into their respective groupings (you should do it with the shows you've already seen too). If you get a grip on that aspect then you should be able to begin to make better use of descriptions and show discussions to determine what it is that makes you like or not like something. |
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Kruszer
Posts: 7992 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Some parts of Black Lagoon did make me want to do that like the spoiler[the creepy sociopathic, incestious, gender confused twins in episodes 13-15, which also deals with child porn issues.]
As to the original poster, nobody says you must like what other people like. If you don't like it so be it, it's your opinion, and this is a free country. |
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Samurai-with-glasses
 Posts: 628 |
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Considering what I can guess of the OP's tastes this would be the ultimate no-no for him. Those two shows, IMO, play out like very well done doramas rather than anything remotely close to shounen anime, which is apparently the OP's favorite type. But jeez am I offended over some daring person deciding to rate Haruhi anything lower than "Good" and even make a thread about it, and I'm being extremely forgiving here!!11!!!1 
To OP, random points: - You rate DB and DBZ as "Decent" and DB GT as "Good"!? 
- You like Code Geass, Death Note, and Fullmetal Alchemist a lot. That to me is an indication that you'd like those plot-heavy shows. I would've suggested something like Noein ... although that show has a lot more scientific babble and a subtler plot than the former three, so be warned. - Continuing from the point above, a guess from me is that you'd find Last Exile and/or Scrapped Princess appealing. Both of them has what I call a "normal" 26-episodes structure, balancing some character development and comedy with a continuous ongoing plot and action. I'm actually not a fan of Last Exile and never watched Scrapped Princess, so take my word with some consideration. - How about Shana? Though apparently you don't indulge in otaku stuff it still has a lot of plot and action going on. A warning: Shana relies a lot on the anime stereotype side of things to carry it through (Shana is one of the most popular "tsundere" characters out there). You may not find that side of things altogether that appealing. In fact, a lot of the fans (ahaha, "fans" -- more like a bunch of whining idiots) are already complaining about the lack of action so far in the second season. - Wait for Code Geass Season 2! And pray with me that Suzaku better die by the first half of it or else! - You don't like AzuDai and Haruhi. Conclusion: avoid otaku-heavy humor at all costs. [Both are in fact pretty mild on that department.] No Lucky Star, no Kanon or any of the generic dating sims; no Minami-ke, and a lot of other anime for you are no-go. Most anime comedies for you are apparently also no-go. I'm not going to stop you from watching (in fact, I encourage it; join us in the Evil Otaku Empire mwahaha!) but no guarantees will be present for your enjoyment. Apparently the only anime genericness and stereotype that you can tolerate lies firmly in the shonen action category (Naruto, the worse side of Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragon Ball), the most popular category anyway. Me, it's quite the opposite. I can't stomach the kiddie hero bullsh*t. Die, you damn golden-haired jumpsuit-wearing retard! 
- Try Bleach already. I'm far from a fan, but I suspect it's right up your...err, alley. - You don't like FLCL. That means to me that more experimental, daring, or outlandish shows are not your forte. This also leads me to say that Noein might not be such a good show for you after all. Its animation is like FLCL in some parts and it can be a little scatterbrained at times too. For me, FLCL is like, a masterpiece, man. - Please elaborate on why you don't like Mononoke but like Spirited Away and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Not that I object or anything (both are my favorite anime movies...quality FTW, hey), but... - You love School Rumble! Let us pray for the Third Semester then. Unfortunately I can't think of other anime comedies at the moment that aren't knee-deep in the slice of life category. Brain dead, I am. - I just noticed, there are no shoujo or "girl-targeted" shows on your list. I do not know if you consciously avoid them or because your selection of anime just happens to be devoid of them (that tends to happen a lot because the vast majority of broadcast anime in the USA are male-targeted). Considering I have no direct access to your brain, your history, or anything that might help me guess whether you'd like them or not, it's probably your choice if you'd try out some of them or not on your own. And finally, please do take all my ramblings with the knowledge that I am very sleepy right now, and a very unreliable person as well. There. |
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MokonaModoki
Posts: 437 Location: Austin, Texas |
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Yeah... Nodame is a real stretch, but it has a more cohesive plotline than Honey and Clover. I threw it an as 'School Rumble' to Honey and Clover's 'Azumanga Daioh' (keeping in mind that I haven't seen SR or AD -- that may have been really stupid of me). Complete agreement on H&C -- he'd hate it. As for myself, I found Nodame Cantabile compelling (to a point approaching obsession), but just stopped watching Honey and Clover around episode 18 and never bothered to continue. That was partly because I decided to wait for a licensed release, but also because I watched too much too quickly and burned out on it. Great show, but the story wasn't so compelling that I felt any emptiness not seeing it to completion. As for shonen being his favorite type, I pretty much disregarded his 'good' and 'decent' ratings for Dragon Ball etc. and Naruto and focused on his excellents. In fact I gave a LOT of credit to his excellent rating for Girl Who Leapt Through Time. His other excellents seemed to make pigeon-holing him into shonen fandom a bit of a disservice (or wouldn't Naruto have been rated higher?). |
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