Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - The Last Five
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Tide-Line Blue has a particularly bizarre turn in the plot at one point. spoiler[The protagonist's town is bombed by the very submarine he escapes the carnage in, but possibly because he's stupid, he doesn't even suspect that they're the culprits. When he does find out, he immediately runs to confront the captain, but before he can get a word out, the captain berates him for being lazy and not helping out around the submarine. Senselessly, he seems to forget all about the whole bombing thing, even after he later learns that one of his friends had been killed.]
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consignia
 Posts: 394 |
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Yeah, I didn't care for Galaxy Angel Rune (love the rest of the anime parts of the franchise, though) either, but I somehow ended up with a copy of the 4th volume by ordering from some British dvd importer (playusa.com, now defunct) on a whim since they listed it on their site. A couple of months later for the princely sum of £17.99, it landed on my door step. It's probably the rarest anime DVD I own, which is the most positive thing I can say about it.
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Levitz9
 Posts: 1022 Location: Puerto Rico |
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I don't have time for anime. I really don't.
I'm going through my graduate studies, which takes a chunk out of my time right from the word "go". I can't download torrents from our current connection. I can't afford a Crunchyroll subsription, by virtue of not having a credit card. I can't watch my many DVDs, because the laser on my laptop's DVD player won't read things anymore. The last anime I saw through to its completion was Space Pirate Capt. Herlock: The Endless Odyssey--back during last Winter Break. Before that, it was Maoyuu. Don't be like me, kids. |
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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The BONES Skull Man series was easily one the most unexpected gems of the period it came out. The fact that it got a NA release is nothing short of a miracle, and while I wish A) it had its original OP music, and B) wish it was on Blu-ray. I'll take it.
Its just so... not typical. Especially in its opening arcs, when the title character isn't even the protagonist, or even shows up very often. Its 3rd act gets a bit messy though, but it ends well (and apparently ties into spoiler[Cyborg 009]?!) I've been sitting on Fujiko Mine for a while, I was excited to get my hands on the Blu-ray, but I got a few episode in, then set it down for some reason. I need to get back to it. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I hope we see more of this column, I am sure a lot of readers share your backlog problem, and hearing a take on things that normally would never be brought to light is interesting.
I have made serious dents in my backlog this year as well. My last five series: Birdy the Mighty: Decode (26 ep): I liked the original OVA, and this is decidedly more actiony, less fanservicy and has quite a shocking body count. Just finished yesterday, and I am still not entirely sure what I think of it. Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-Ne Pt. 1(12 ep) $12 at Wal-Mart, now I have to get the second set. Not as good as Majestic Prince, but not terrible. Good Luck Girl(12 ep): I laughed at the dub, some of the reoccurring jokes I found funny. Moonlight Mile(12 ep): Pretty good, but I am a bit bummed that the 2nd half is not available. Super Gals (52 ep): Half dubbed. I get the feeling this one has not aged well. Glad to be done. The backlog now sits at 647 24 minute episode (or equivalents). |
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angieness
Posts: 162 Location: Columbus, OH |
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I have quite a backlog too thanks to all of Righstuf's insane year end and Christmas sales and I've had a similar goal for tearing through them all. The last 5 I've watched were
Simoun-the whole series was like $10 on Rightstuf and despite the extremely dated CG I enjoyed it. Not a top 10 kind of series, but it was fun. I was kind of disappointed that spoiler[early on the series got pretty dark and there's a moment where Aer's eyes turn red while dealing with an enemy soldier. I waited throughout the whole series to find out WHY they turned red because I thought it had some sort of significance but nope.] Sweet Blue Flowers-it was cute. Now that I'm almost 30 it can be a little tiring watching this sort of high school romance series though. spoiler[Like half the series could have been avoided if Fumi had stopped being so damned passive aggressive and jealous every 5 seconds.] Another-I went into the series without knowing anything about it so spoiler[I was caught off guard when people started dying] I enjoyed it despite all the complaints people have had about the over the top campiness of the final episodes. But eh, I didn't mind since it felt like a typical horror movie. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0-It was pretty good but it kind of dragged on and on. spoiler[I'll also never get over that damn ending. I was so mad.] Lain-this is a rewatch. I first watched it when it came out back in the VHS days and never re-bought it on DVD until Funimation's recent BD/DVD release. Visually it holds up surprisingly well. I could have swore this was really early on when anime started to switch over from cels to digital so I was expecting it to look awful. Story wise I liked it okay. There are some moments here and there that were unintentionally funny like the random breaks to explain what websites or text messages or the internet or spam is. When it came out yeah, those parts weren't funny. But nowadays where everyone is on the internet, it's kind of silly to see a character stop a moment to explain to the viewer that "spam is unwanted junk email". |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2485 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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I do most of my anime watching on an iPad in the upstairs hallway while waiting to see if my kids fall asleep or if they get up to use the bathroom or decide they need to come up with some long dialogue to avoid sleep or whatever. ANYWAYS! Point being that if I can't watch it on my iPad, it's dead to me. Good for Crunchyroll and DVD rips, bad for Viz, my DirecTV subscription, and Blu-Ray (can't rip on my Macs). You asked about last five series we finished, but for anyone actively keeping up with simulcasts, that question suffers from unfortunate timing as all the Winter shows are about to wrap next week (for me, that would be Wake Up, Girls! [love], Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions - Heart Throb [like], Seitokai Yakuindomo [like], Space Dandy [eh, it's a thing], and Golden Time [hate-watching at this point]). But I think you were more interested in cases of us clearing out the old queue of DVDs and stuff we've meant to get around to, like you've been doing, so for me that's True Tears (kind of a disappointment), Sweet Blue Flowers (likeable, but so low-key), Angel Beats! (rewatch, much better the second time and now one of my all-time favorites), Watamote (love), and Bakemonogatari (like, but not inclined to dig further into the franchise). |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Oh, hey, I didn't even think of this. I'm going to play, too:
Dallos- Watched this thanks to Martin's recent review of it on this site. Not very coherent (it feels like four highlight episodes of the first half of a TV series) but pretty much everything it did was interesting. Kurau: Phantom Memory- Interesting sci-fi concept, an almost total lack of anything dumb, and a focused interests on the characters' emotions. A shame it's kind of dull and the plot doesn't hang together that well at the end. Tsukikage Ran- A forgotten 2000 parody of samurai TV shows that isn't very funny or interesting. It takes until episode 10 for a good comic chemistry to develop between the leads, which is way too late. Samurai Champloo did everything much better. Hidamari Sketch (season 1)- Is pretty serious about being "slice of life" rather than a comedy per se, and there were some neat parts, like the fever dream, but I was bored of it by the end. Can't believe there are three or four more series of this. Heat Guy J- Oh wow, everyone was right; I've never seen (part of) something as generic as this. Absolutely no style, even on the handful of occasions it had a halfway decent idea. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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I'm almost done Genma Wars. Dear god what a delightfully terrible mess this is! It's enjoyable as all hell for me, because it's awful and fun for it. That is why I bought it and it's working this time!
I watched the first half of Space Adventure Cobra and eagerly await the second half as it's 80s badass fun scifi sort of thing that I like. I think I have to give up on the final disc for Soul Taker, it is just boring as all hell. Somehow, dropping the episodic thing only made it more boring for me. No thank you. Still slowly going through Patlabor, I have a disc and a half left (of the CPM release). The more I watch of it, the more I enjoy it honestly. I remember being "meh" on the first few discs, but now I really like it. Just needed the characters to establish themselves I guess. I think Nadia: Secret of Blue Water was the last series I totally completed though with no breaks. I skipped the Island arc and went with the internet's suggestion on what to watch of it. I like it less as it went on and I think it lost its sense of adventure for me towards the end. Also, I hated Nadia herself. And I finished Tiger & Bunny the other day!I ate up the first half in one go and the second half in another. Instant classic imo, glad I got it, can't wait for the sequel movie to come out, it's just awesome and needs to be on Toonami. |
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AnimeMaine
Posts: 123 |
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Last 5: Accel World, Mardock Scramble, Pet Girl of Sakurasou, Ranma 1/2 and Robotics:Notes. How do I watch? Except for a couple of series on Daisuki, I watch series on DVD or Blu-ray. I buy series that interest me or that got really good reviews. That limits the numbers of shows. Then periodically I'll set aside a few evenings to watch a show. So if I watch from 9 pm to midnight, I watch a 24 episode series in 4 days.
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SahgoDN
 Posts: 86 |
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How convenient! I've been on a backlog-burning streak lately, so here's my last five:
FLCL (does it count?): I...guess I should've watched this when it first came out, when I was younger. The soundtrack, themes and overall zaniness just didn't click with me now, I'm afraid. That being said, can't deny the animation is gorgeous and its experimentalness is very endearing. Lovely Complex: Liked it a lot: light, simple fun with likeable characters. It does drag on by its last third, but nothing unbearable. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom -- mixed feelings for this one. It's really darn effective in some portions, really uneffective in others. The animation also never wowed me. I liked watching it, but I can't say if I liked it per se. Funi's dub was fantastic, though. Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit -- Loved it loved it LOVED IT! It's not perfect, obviously, but it's just such a lovely well-written mix of things I love, I just...well, loved it! Now it's the novels that are in my backlog... Macross Frontier: This was my first contact with the franchise, and I enjoyed it a lot. Some things I'd rather see done better, but where it was effective, it was a spectacle. And now the rest of the franchise is in my backlog. |
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phia_one
Posts: 1663 Location: Pennsylvania |
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On Tide-line Blue: I definitely agree about Teen and Keel not being really likable. I enjoy everything else about the show though.
Last 5 series I've watched in full: My Little Monster-I watched this in anticipation of the manga coming out and I love everything about it... except for Haru. I don't care if he doesn't know any better. Non Non Biyori-I've said this elsewhere, but Renge really made the show worth sticking to. Patlabor OVA-Why did I wait so long to discover this franchise? Liked what I saw so I'm watching the TV series now. Irresponsible Captain Tylor-This is one of the few series I can honestly say that pretty all of the characters are likable in some way. Galilei Donna-UGH. This show started with promise... then it turned to crap. So sad. |
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GVman
 Posts: 731 |
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By all means I shouldn't have the backlog I do; I may be a full-time undergraduate, but I don't have a job. Sadly, I seem to have get-on-computer-to-do-paper-but-let's-see-what-the-internet-is-doing-itis. With all the time I've spent procrastinating I could've easily finished several shows. The fact that I tend to miss a few meetings of my anime club for whatever reason also ensures that those shows wind up unfinished.
Anyway, the last five shows I watched were: 1. Dream Hunter REM: This OVA was super fun; I don't know why I didn't watch it earlier. Also, I decided to check out the original hentai version of the first episode, and a lot of stuff made more sense. 2. Sailor Moon R: For some reason, I'd been stuck on this show for 3.5 years despite finishing the original in ten days (I blame the dinosaur episode). Anyway, I finally finished it, and it was great. I need to move onto S now. 3. Diabolik Lovers: This won a vote at my anime club and we watched the first episode. I'm glad it did; if it hadn't, I wouldn't've been introduced to the best worst anime of 2013. My God, it was a pile of crap but I couldn't look away. 4. Tekken OVA/Movie/Thingy from the '90s: Not as bad as folks made it out to be for the most part, but the stuff with the invisible dinosaurs definitely lived up to my expectations of terribleness. I just wish it was a little worse. 5. Fate/Zero First Season: Much better than I expected, considering that I'm not too fond of Gen Urobuchi's animated works. I need to get to the second season at some point. I tend to read more manga, too; I feel like I cover more when I read rather than watch. |
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AsherFischell
 Posts: 327 |
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Last five:
Genshiken - Very funny show with a large cast of rotating characters and some insightful character moments. I felt like the third season focused too much on a single character while neglecting most of the other cast, though. Shinryaku! Ika Musume! - Also very funny. The cast is very likeable and the show is very watchable despite each episode having three mostly self-contained stories in each. Ika Musume herself is easily one of the most amusing characters I've seen in a gag anime. While primarily a comedy, it has dramatic moments that are handled extremely well. Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon - Simultaneously extremely stupid and very intelligent. Has a very unique world with a lot of great ideas, but it tries too hard to be strange at times which can make the narrative feel very uneven. It's a good watch, though, loaded with ridiculous situations and bombastic action. Also, a very visually appealing show. Vandread - Has a couple of good ideas, but the plot doesn't make any sense and the characters are bland, archetypes who are more annoying than anything else. Kannagi - A pleasant, little show that shares aesthetic appeal with director Yutaka Yamamoto's other works. Doesn't cover much of the manga, but it has a likeable cast of characters brought to life by a fantastic voice cast and excellent art and character designs. |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I just finished:
Yawara: Instant classic. When spoiler[Yawara beat Sayaka again in the final episode] I cheered as loud as the crowd in the show. Although I wanted Sayaka to die in a fire, the fact she elicited that kind of reaction from me shows how well written all the characters are. Yumeiro Patisserie - Cute shojo fluff, but for a similar premise done so much better, go read Kitchen Princess. Space Brothers: The last episode aired yesterday, and I've been keeping up with it as it aired. Does that count? Anyway, it's a wonderful sci-fi drama. Now I can get my fix from the manga. Inari KonKon - Another one I followed as it was airing. I like stories set in or around shrines, and I thought this was cute, if predictable at time. Chihayafuru 2 - Fell behind with this as it was airing, marathoned it a few weeks ago. One of my favourite shows ever, although the pacing was a little worse in this season compared to the first. Give me season 3 now please. |
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