Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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Liking food quite a bit, I decided to take advantage of my Hulu account, and have been marathoning Toriko. And have been loving every minute of it. I even went out and bought all the manga I could so I can follow along. Too bad we are only 9 Volumes in, I need more of this, stat!
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Tris8
 Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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I watched Tekkonkinkreet and it was very different than expected. Not sure what exactly I was expecting, but it was surprising that it focused so much on the connection between the 2 leads, Black and White. I wasn't surprised by how psychological it was though. From the beginning it was clear this was going to be a mind trip, and it didn't disappoint.
I loved the fanciful way the city was set up. At first glance everything is bright and wondrous. The barely organized chaos of the streets, tall towers, electrical wires and billboards contribute to the feeling of a wonderland of mazes and secret passageways just begging to be explored. But it makes it clear pretty fast this is not a safe and friendly place from the child gang wars, and calculatedly placed shadows foretell other dark elements to come. One thing that kept running through my head was why the city was called "Treasure Town". Another thing that caught my attention was how many people kept claiming Treasure Town belonged to them. At least 3 different characters (Black, Rat, and the weird amusement park builder) possessively declared it "my town". I really appreciated the remarkable facial expressions for White when he is trying to describe how he is "missing screws". He glances to the side, a slight furrow of brow, glances down, looks back up. You can see the gears turning in his head, trying to decide how to explain. A pensive expression, reaching for words, a flash of frustration mixed with uncertainty, and then a matter-of-fact statement, afterwards tinged with sadness. And the music playing in the background for this scene is excellent. It is a soft sentimental piece that tugs on the heartstrings. The ending was quite good with Black's epiphany, but left some things dangling. It seems spoiler[Black and White went to live near the ocean as per their dream, so they gave up on Treasure Town? Or more accurately, Black gave up on Treasure Town and realized it wasn't "his" town? I guess everyone just let the amusement park builder guy 'win'.] This reminds me of Satoshi Kon movies a bit in how it blends fantasy and reality, and is difficult to tell what is imagined and what is real. But it doesn't have the polished feel I get from Kon's movies. From Kon's movies, you get the feeling that even the crazy stuff (maybe especially the crazy stuff) has a meaning and is being shown for a reason. That is not always the case for Tekkonkinkreet. The part where The Minotaur is trying to get Black to give in and become his partner was really cool and creative, but I felt it overstayed its welcome slightly. |
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moonie92
 Posts: 167 |
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So Panty and Stocking, I finished it. I've been listening to We Are Angels [Anarchy] for three days now on repeat. I think it's time to share a few more of my thoughts.
Pretty sure I just got flipped off by Gainax. I mean really? Really? spoiler[Stocking's a demon who killed Panty. Not killed exactly, chopped into 666 pieces and then makes Breifers pick up all the pieces. Tell me there is really going to be a second series, not just this ending. I need more. ] I have it in my mind that it's going to happen, and we are going to get the adventures of Briefers. I'm totally sold on Knickers and Camisole with Petticoat. Just made that up, but I think they would be great characters that fit with the theme. Scanty should have been named Camisole but then she'd have to take off her shirt to fight. This is all wild fantasy any way. Panty and Stocking might be my favorite magical girls, if you can call them that. Next in the line is Dr. Rin or Magical Emi. Haven't decided which one to watch first. |
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Nagito
Posts: 13 |
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Not watching but more like looping the same video scene of Kimi's dance from Horizon.
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Botan24
 Posts: 684 Location: Northern Michigan |
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Pretear
So, why can't reverse harems always be like this? Well, I'd rather have them all like Ouran, but I digress. Right away we are introduced to the spunky heroine, Himeno. She's cute, funny, a bit of a klutz, and already has a very well formed personality. Nowadays, most reverse harems include a heroine who is a flat, one-dimensional creature (I'm looking at you Hiiro no Kakera!). Honestly, I didn't expect much out of it, and I really didn't get that much. Most of Himeno's Leafe knights were useless, and we never got any background on the majority of them. The moral of the story is something along the lines of don't piss off a woman because she'll try and make you pay in the most horrible way imaginable. Naturally, the "princess of disaster", aka Takako, wasn't a very evil villain. Just an angry, rejected girl. And I must say I was rather disgusted with Takako's character by the end. spoiler[She's supposed to be in love with Hayate. But when Sasame confesses his love and sacrifices himself for Takako, she suddenly develops feelings for him (even though she's been telling Sasame she's not in love with him). Basically, she'll take anyone so long as they are willing to love her.] That makes her weak in my opinion. Anyway, there's a happy ending for everyone, which is what every reverse harem should have. 
Btw, the dub wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. That being said, it was damn cheesy in parts and the acting pretty laughable. Really, Luci Christian as Himeno was the only decent one. |
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Mesonoxian Eve
Posts: 1858 |
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I don't actually remember the discussion that put Azumanga Daioh on the brain. It's like a song that just won't go away until you listen to it.
I'm on episode 3. Damn, how I forgot how charming this series is. The downside to a growing anime library. |
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Hentai_JP
 Posts: 605 Location: Toronto, ON |
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Shiki.
Minor spoilers present when not blacked out, about at the level of ANN review though (heavy spoilers otherwise). Well, it is very engrossing and fairly entertaining throughout. I love the suspense and tension of the first half and the vicious spoiler["revenge of the humans" of the second. All the massacre scenes are hilarious and despite showing the slaughter of many Shiki it wasn't quite enough for my tastes.] I also have to comment on distinct character design as most people look very realistic. The crazy hair was clearly pointless in a series as such and did take away some of my suspension of disbelief. Another consistent problem in the show was the repeated dumb decisions made by characters to move the story along. Its like a scripted event where someone has to die and plot just takes the shortest turn to that end. For example,spoiler[ the retarded family of Natsuno. His father is a control freak who is also incredibly dense. I mean he didn't notice something really fucked up happening with his family: his son is getting worse from day to day in the middle of EPIDEMIC and his wife behaves very strangely. Yep, that nameless father, who doesn't deserve to stay alive, just watched his family die... Natsuno is a moron too by the way, instead of fighting for his life at any cost he submitted quickly to his (un)dead boyfriend; coz you know, he was hungry. Another one was when the crazy-green-hair nurse died because her beloved doctor and she failed in communicating...] These dumb plot twists is what I can't forgive any story that strives to establish emotional attachments with viewer. So as you might guess I was disappoint' and lost most of the interest in the show. What saved me from becoming completely apathetic towards everything and anything happening on screen is that godly scene of episode 14.spoiler[ The way Ozaki tortures and murders his wife is astounding.] That scene surely brought some life to the series and I was filled with the renewed hope for the show. This time it didn't disappoint and remained great to the end. I am also not a fan of the series' 'non-demonizing' approach. The enemy was clear from episode one, but the author went through a great length to show the internal struggle of Sunako. The way I see it the issue lies with 'top predator'. Humans simply can't allow some schmuck vampires to hunt them for food. Existential threads have to be dealt with with full force and speed so there simply is no argument of "humans are the monsters in second half" bullshit. But wait! Sunako is such a sweet little girl isn't she? Poor little thing! She has to kill to live so its not her fault! Well, I don't care how cute or gentle she is if she is after my life. If something is going to kill me the only option I have is to fight back and kill first. Case closed. Oh and you have to admire the subtle sense of fanservice the show has to offer. I love that buxom nurse who spends most of the latter episodes in her sexy lingerie. 
Overall I really like the series. If not for the dumb/convenient plot twists I would rate it higher. Very good. Also did anyone else notice how similar the endings of Shiki and "Let the Right One in" are? |
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shamisen the great
 Posts: 658 Location: Oregon, USA |
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Just finished Honey and Clover 2. It was beautiful. Yuta's character and his search for a path to follow resonated strongly with me. While I was surprised with who Hagu chose, I realized it made sense. I was getting goosebumps throughout the last episode, but when Yuta opened spoiler[The sandwich and saw the clover] I pretty much lost it. Excellent show. I highly recommend it.
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Takokujin
 Posts: 266 |
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I'm watching High School of the Dead. Why? I like zombies.
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Tris8
Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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Finished Now and Then, Here and There. Dis series is intense O_o. I keep an informal list in my head of anime worlds I'd least want to visit/live in, and this has just jumped to #1 on the list. I think this panel from the latest Anime News Nina comic explains it best. Just replace "Madoka Magica" with "NTHT".
I'm going to wait on talking about the plot cause, as I was warned going in, I have developed very strong feelings about this series and a few scenes in particular. Firstly, I watched this in english. Most voices were average, but 2 stood out to me. The VA who did King Hamdo did an excellent job. I've always thought acting evil characters is on the easier side, but crazy ones very difficult to do without sounding ridiculous or not crazy enough. So I give props to Jack Taylor for nailing sounding like a paranoid nutjob. On the other hand, the VA for Abelia used the same voice for every line. A lot of the time her wooden, emotionless delivery was appropriate, as the character of Abelia is a soldier, but even for the dramatic lines she used the same bored tone. I don't know how the japanese VA delivered her lines, but Abelia in english has absolutely zero emotion at all. I liked the music quite a bit in this show, especially the creepy scores. Seeing the art on the front of the 3rd disk, I was sure that there was going to be a time skip somewhere in this show. The art depicts what looks like an older Shu and Lala-Ru. They don't look like any other characters so through the entire watch I was waiting for a time skip that never came 
Okey dokey, now the intense stuff. Starting off with the jaw-dropping ep 6 scene where spoiler[Sara kills the man who almost rapes her.] Wow. That scene. Wow. The way spoiler[her eyes flicked so quickly when she was taken to the man's room...] I've never seen anything like it in anime. It left me numb and didn't truly hit me until she spoiler[escaped into the desert and cut her hair.]  There are few shows where I've wanted as badly as this one to be able to jump into the story and change a character's fate.
On that note, I really didn't like Shu when he was telling Sara everything would be alright for the 2nd time. The first time he reassured Sara I knew he wouldn't be able to keep his promise, but I didn't blame him. He was just a naive kid who had no idea what was going on and just wanted to make her feel better. I'm sure I'd say the same things, the same reassuring nothings even if I didn't mean them in a situation like that. The second time I wanted to pop Shu over the head. He hadn't learned a single thing. It's one thing to be optimistic and naive (that I can easily forgive), it's another to empty-headedly spew the same thing at a person who is hurting so bad. I know Shu didn't mean it this way and he was trying to cheer her up, but it felt to me like her feelings were being discounted. And then in the cave. What upset me about the spoiler['Shu stopping Sara from committing suicide scene'] was that they were focusing on Shu's pain and suffering. Hello??? spoiler[Who's trying to kill themselves here]? Not Shu. Stop trying to make him look so heroic and amazing when there's someone really truly in pain RIGHT NEXT TO HIM. Some other thoughts I had; since Hellywood contains spoiler[a machine that can go through time, or possibly dimensions, why didn't Hamdo just pillage water from Shu's world? They must have seen how lush that world was.] And in the very beginning when LaLa-Ru is being kidnapped, why didn't she spoiler[blast them with water and escape? That would have been easy for her. Instead, she asked a complete stranger child for help against giant war machines. I honestly don't get that.] And doesn't spoiler[the giant war machine that is Hellywood run on water?? Isn't it a very bad idea to release the reservoir and give it what looks like an unlimited supply of fuel? If they thought the wars were bad before they're gonna be absolutely terrible now, even with Hamdo dead.] Don't get me wrong, for all my squawking here I actually did like this show. There was a lot to respect and appreciate. It didn't hesitate to show the horrors of war and didn't spare anything (except the worst of the gore). It felt like a realistic depiction of being under a horrible dictator. And mostly I can respect Shu for not breaking and staying optimistic even after spoiler[horrible torture and seeing people die right in front of him.] A last thought on this series: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Shu never has power, so although his suffering was sad, I didn't think he was a hero for withstanding it. His suffering did add to the overall picture of the world he had fallen into, and showed just how horrible and mad King Hamdo is. |
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Takokujin
Posts: 266 |
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Chitose Get You! - Oddly, I really enjoy this. It's cute. It's funny.
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kaydub
 Posts: 318 Location: Cincinnati, OH |
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I wrapped up Mawaru Penguindrum today.
I'm convinced that the real underlying plot is about spoiler[everyone being creeps and stalking everyone else]. I mean, seriously, I think that spoiler[the only person who wasn't stalking someone else in some way was the first doctor that attended to Himari, and maybe Himari herself. Everyone else clearly exhibited creepy stalker tendencies/behaviors]. That aside, the only thing I have to say about this show is this. (I was going to go out of my way to try to fit every catchphrase from the show into this post, but I refrained...) |
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sceleratusrex
Posts: 1 |
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I saw a preview of that... it looked interesting. Do you recommend? |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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That scene is one of the most intense I've ever seen. I still remember feeling a shock run through my body the first time I saw it and experiencing a deep realization of just what Sarah had suffered through. It's one of the most extraordinary sequences that I've ever seen animated. If I could change Now and Then, Here and There, I would make Sarah the lead, not Shu. Sarah seemed like a much stronger, more human and interesting character to me. Shu's all right, whatever I might have against him isn't enough to make the series stop being one of my all-time favorites, but the fact that Sarah had endure more and grow more as a person makes her seem more compelling and believable to me. It seemed like her hardships, choices and feelings mattered in a way that Shu's didn't. Did you remember to look out for the preview for episode thirteen?
I think that this has occurred to everybody who has watched the series. It's hard to deny that it's a hole in the story. I've just never seen it as worth my time not to wink past it.
I think that Lala Ru was unwilling to release it unless absolutely necessary or worthwhile and while her circumstances were desperate, I think she could sure that Hamdo wouldn't kill her because only she could control the reservoir, so using the water might not have seemed prudent. Besides, her own health seemed tied to the water, so she wouldn't have wanted to imperil it under uncertain circumstances.
Enough water would have 'saved' Hellywood, but too much of it overwhelmed and destroyed it. There's a dramatic irony to it. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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I'm watching MM! I watched the OP song on youtube because I was looking for more good music (and I didn't want to make a CD with only AKB0048's opening on it because that is wasting too much space on a CD
) MM's song....well, I liked it. So I kept listening to it. Then I was like, I wonder if this anime is good?
So I watched the first episode, expecting an irrelevant plot with a lot of fanservice. I didn't get that at all. It's actually GOOD. 
Still following AKB, Sword Art Online, and Jinrui Wa Suiteshimashita. Rewatching This Ugly Yet Beautiful World too. Uh.........people hate this anime, WHY?
IT'S WHAT THEY DO BEST. I was pissed at PSG's ending too. How about that second season, IMAISHI!?
Ahhh I love Pretear. Agreed, Himeno is one of the best heroines out there. I love her love-hate ship with Hayate. But it was also one of the most gorgeous-looking shoujo series I've ever seen!
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