Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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For the past week, I've been randomly picking a few titles to throw into my new BD player to test out its upscale capabilities. I'd watch a few episodes and write down information of the best settings the series should be viewed in (since not all series share the same frame rate).
With my first viewing of My Bride is a Mermaid, I didn't find myself enjoying it too much. I felt the comedy was cliched and tired, and it didn't help the episodes seemed to drag on forever. However, there's something to be said about a re-watch. For many people, myself included, we'll often find things we missed the first time through as our senses can relax since we're entering familiar territory. With this second viewing of the series, I found myself laughing out loud several times, and have no recollection of finding these scenes funny before. What changed? Attention to dialogue. I can drown out a person's voice if I find them annoying. In my original review, I stated Todd Haberkorn's performance was droll, but this wasn't true at all. In fact, after listening better, his performance is often the catalyst which leads into the scene's explosion of attempted comedy. I'm not going to lie here: it's definitely more miss than hit, but it seems those hits really make up for the misses. Originally, I found Maki to be an annoyance, but now, she's become one of my favorite characters and Monica did a fantastic job with the dub as Maki often displays "two faces", depending if she's talking to friend or foe (I'll never get tired of hearing her call Nagasumi a "sea louse"). Obviously, the second viewing went by faster, and this also helped to appreciate the hidden gems in this series, so if you're viewing this for the first time, don't be discouraged you find yourself annoyed. Wait a little while, then watch it again. It should be a bit more entertaining. I can't give this series any grade better than B-, despite the better enjoyment. The fact still remains an initial viewing may find its audience disgruntled rather than laughing out loud, and this isn't good. As with my original review, word of mouth can make a difference for those who are looking for something refreshing. If you don't suffer my ability to drown out annoyances (those who live with small children will understand), you may find yourself enjoying this on a first run. For others, well, you may have some work cut out before you can smile at it. Oh, and if you're curious to know how this stacked up in the upscale department: A (set with 120Hz turned on, maxed out dithering and noise reduction, picture setting at Dynamic). There was only one scene I noticed juddering and that was because the mouth was weird to being with, and introduced very noticeable double-lines. As with any upscale, "solids" will look a bit fuzzy, but this is expected and it took nothing away visually. Every so often, it'll be noticeable (such as with a close up of Sun's hair), but the action of this series moves too fast to make it constant. |
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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We need an emoticon of that. Anyways, my Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya BD came in yesterday, so I popped that in. First, just let me say that it is, indeed, 2 hours and 42 minutes. I thought it was a typo on the box and other people were exaggerating about it's length, but nope, it's long. It's so long that I think I would've appreciated the movie a lot more dubbed. The only time I've ever watched Haruhi subbed was Haruhi-chan, and that has a different tone from the TV series, so it was weird adjusting (I had to get the English voices out of my head while reading the subs), and reading one movie for that long is kind of difficult if you're not a hardcore sub fan, which I'm not. I also probably would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't the novel several years ago since it is the exact same. However, all that said, I still found this movie to be great. Watching the struggles of Kyon--whether it's finding out he's not in his world with his friends, learning he really cares for Haruhi, or struggling with his inner self when it came to making big decisons--to be extremely captivating. It got really tough at times, with the toughest, I think, being when he spoiler[scared Mikuru and made her cry]; that scene really made my heart drop. So yea, great movie, but I'll wait to see if I like it more whenever I get around to the dub. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now then, as far as Currently Airing shows go, lets start with the shows I've dropped: A-Channel: I dropped this after the first episode. I just didn't find it's main gag (little lesbian) to be funny. And since it seemed pretty clear that that was going to be the main gag, I decided to just cut it there. I liked the character designs, but it just wasn't funny. Sengoku Otome: I got 2 and 1/2 episodes in, but that main character just drove me nuts. 2 and 1/2 episodes and it still hadn't clicked with her that she's not in her era. I mean, she's living in a house with no electricity, her house mates are warriors, she has zero bars (dur hur hur), and tons of other things that make it blatantly clear she's in the past, but she didn't get it. I hated her and her complete stupidity, so I dropped it. Hidan no Aria: I'm going to wait until I watch the second episode, but this will probably be a drop. Simply put: Aria is annoying. The "Be my slave"-thing at the end made me want to drive my head through a wall. They're taking this tsundere stereotype way to extreme, in my opinion. The only reason I'm giving it until the next episode is because I hear nice girl is a crazy ass yandere, and I like yandere. If she doesn't threaten to kill someone, I'll drop if for sure. Now then, stuff I'm putting on hold until they're finished: Softenni: The reason I'm putting this on hold is because it seems very mediocre, but I still like it. I like the premise, art, and it's kind of funny. I'll watch it some other time when I don't have a ton of stuff to go through. Steins;Gate: I'm starting to get a little frazzled by all this time talk. I've really liked the first three episodes, but I think I should marathon it to get full enjoyment from it. I actually think this'll be one of my favorites of the season. Now, what I'm keeping up with in starting with my favorite on down: Nichijou: HILARIOUS. I love pure comedies, and I'm always so happy when there's a good one. People want to compare it to Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star, but this is definitely more School Rumble or Fumoffu since there are actual jokes. The former two are more of sitcoms that use, well, the situations to make jokes , while the latter two are pure bred comedies that go out of their way to get a laugh. Nichijou has jokes, gags, weird-ass characters, and just goes way over the top at times. I'm actually surprised this isn't a Gainax production because it's so zany. It's also probably the best animated show of the season, which is odd because it's a comedy, but Kyoto Animation went way out of their way to make everything super smooth. Some have said it's over animated, which I agree with, but it's certainly not a bad thing. AnoHana: Comedy is my favorite genre, but I do also love me a good drama, which this is shaping out to be. What I'm really liking, though, is how there are no glaring stereotypes. While Hidan no Aria has a huge tsundere and Nichijou has a total quiet girl, the characters in AnoHana feel more real and mesh together quite well. I think the water works could flow by the end of this one. Denpa Onna: It's a SHAFT comedy, so everyone is either crazy, weird, or a strange mixture of both while also being hot, and I love it. It's not shaking my world, but it's still insanely fun to watch. SKET Dance: Others don't seem to like this as much as I do, but I really like it. It's pretty funny, though a bit cheesy at times, but that's OK. The bond between the three main characters what keeps me watching, since they're really close. And it's also no secret that I like me some tomboyish, not girly girls, which Hime fulfills quite nicely. Hanasakur Iroha: I really loved this at the beginning, but now I don't know where it's going. I still like it, and it's still beautiful, but I don't know what it's trying to accomplish anymore. At first it seemed like it was going to chronicle the hardships of Ohana, but she seems to have blended in well already, and now it's just going to give everyone there own little arcs KEY style. That's still OK, but my excitement has gone down since the beginning. Enma-Kun: Honestly, I just like the old school feel it gives off. I find it to be a fine show with nice comedy, but I'm really sticking with it because of the badassness of Enma, the old art style, and the super manly OP. Maria Holic 2: I LOVE the first season, but this season is missing something. I've only watched two episodes, but I don't think it's being mean enough. Kanako just isn't being tortured or threatened enough, and those, sadistically, were my favorite parts of the first season. The first season proved to be a very black comedy, but there's some restraint this season, and it's not as enjoyable. Hen Zemi: Eh, the OVA was funnier. I don't know, sex comedies just aren't Japan's strong point. Futari Ecchi and Koe de Oshigoto are funny, but they're exceptions (and OVAs). It's still OK to watch, but I'm glad they're only 15 minutes each. I also haven't watched Moshidora yet since it's coming out so fast, so I'll wait until they're all out to watch it. |
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JaffaOrange
 Posts: 251 |
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I've caught up on my backlog so the only things I'm currently watching is current stuff. Considering my uni schedule, that is more than enough.
I'm watching Tiger and Bunny because I wanted to support Australian streaming and it seemed well liked during the preview guide. After 5 episodes I'm still sitting on the fence. While I enjoy it and am glad that there isn't a school setting (I think that statistically, any series that isn't set in a school for the majority of the time is simply better, read: liked more by me), I just haven't really gotten into it. I don't feel like there's any tension (except for maybe the bomb episode) and there still isn't really a story to pull things along. The interesting themes of commercialism and capitalism aren't brought up nearly as much as I hoped. The animation and artwork is slick (except for some parts) and the CG isn't used badly. The other show being streamed, C is the same, I haven't really gotten into it yet though it only has been 2 episodes so I should hold my judgement; after all, Madoka took 3 episodes to be something. I hope it does deal with more mature themes even though right now it seems like a shounen battle series that may quickly fall into a monster/battle of the week framework. The 2 other shows I'm watching are Denpa Onno to Seishun Otoko and Maria Holic: Alive because SHAFT. Say what you want about the visual/aesthetic direction being too unique and/or bullshit (I won't deny it), any change from the same staple stock settings is welcome. I've usually found it interesting. |
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The Third Doctor
 Posts: 70 |
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I'm watching 3 shows right now.
Golgo 13 Planetes Cobra the Animation I'm enjoying all three. I remember seeing the old Golgo 13 and Cobra films from the early 80's (I first glimpsed cobra in a old music video) and these shows caught my interest. |
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Ninety-9
Posts: 39 |
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I guess I got all my shows ready to go for the season. I've started to prefer Marathon style watching, but if something is good, I don't mind waiting for each week's episode, I guess. 5 ongoing is a high amount for me, I'll probably have to do a rewatch as seasons start to end.
First is Steins;Gate (5episodes). Obviously, my favorite of the season, great characters, lots of SciFi stuff, and a ton of shit that makes absolutely no sense...at first. C (3episodes) is my next one, Probably my least favorite of the 5 I'm watching, but still good enough to keep going. The productions are good, but not enough character development. Deadman Wonderland (3episodes) Seems to be a lot of different opinions about it, I would say it's my 2nd favorite of the season, there are a few unanswered questions, but I think there's a bigger picture that will explain more. Also, one of my favorite OPs of all time. Hanasaku Iroha (5episodes). I liked it a lot at first, good characters, once again, good production quality and artwork, but I think it's getting a little repetitive with spoiler[the lead character being overly nice and helpful to every person who treats her like shit...although I guess that's the whole theme] Blue Exorcist (1episode) is my last one. I just picked it up today and have 2 more episodes to catch up. Anyway, it got my attention, nothing unique about it, but we'll see how it goes. I dropped Dog Days, sure, all the neko-girls are cute, but it seems too childish for my taste. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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This entry is going to be a little different. Rather than type out what I'm watching, I'm going to list out what I won't be watching.
Petite Cossette - The title isn't accurate, but that's certainly not important. I tried watching episode one again and simply could not muster up enough care in the world to give this OVA a chance. Most of episode one looks to be an art student's failure at a project, so this one's definitely a pass. Blood+ - Oh boy, am I going to get it for this one, but that's okay. Not every series is a winner, and this is one of them. The pace is just too slow. Yes, I know, it picks up, but so did the ending to the song "Stairway to Heaven" (if one wishes to consider this "picks up"). There's nothing inherently wrong with the series other than the pace, which stops at episode 4. Okay, that removes two I won't be watching on Netflix. With 38 series left in my queue, I'm hoping this "won't watch" list doesn't get too much longer. What am I watching now? Probably going to toss in Aria to see how it looks through my BD's upscale capability. Good timing, too, because I think I'm having chicken fried rice for dindin. Chow (mein). |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Just reached a personal viewing milestone having watched the 78th episode of Fairy Tail. That's the most episodes I've watched from a single show. Previous record holder was Hayate the Combat Butler at 77 eppies if you combine seasons 1 & 2. No doubt, Fairy Tail will take me beyond the 100 episode barrier for the first time. So glad I was in on the ground floor of this one as opposed to being 200, 300, 400 episodes behind and trying to play catch-up.
As it turns out the 78th episode of Fairy Tail was pretty cool, with Natsu, Happy, Wendy and Carlaspoiler[ going to Edolas and finding a Bizarro Version of the Fairy Tail guild - one where Gray is madly in love with an indifferent Juvia, Elfman is a big cry-baby and Lucy appears to be a yanqui.] Looking forward to seeing how this plays out. |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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You have not missed much. The script was bubbling of a madman. It is an interesting concept that the makers did not know how to execute. * * * * * 4 years after I dropped Wallflower, I decided to pick it up again. I really dont like dropping series, no matter how hopeless they are, so far I have only done so once when I know I definitely won't be coming back. With Wallflower, I dont really get it. I loved Skip Beat! because of its craziness, but there I could somehow relate to the characters, and its improbab. Here, I can't. And I dont even care. 4 bishounens which almost make your eyes hurt with all the sparkles and Sunako, who for whatever reason most of the time appears in her chibi form. I mean, OK, it's funny at times, but maybe Im just some 10 years too old to be able to appreciate the comedy (and content). I will eventually get to the end of it, although I can so see myself not enjoying the next 16 eppies. Planetes turned out as a pleasant surprise after all. I still think that the cheesy drama and goofy comedy in the first 8 episodes was totally unnecessary. Finally, a few episodes from the end, the series is what I expected it to be in first place, and the characters actually have some sort of dimension. I cant wait to receive the last disc to see what happens. |
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Dfg
Posts: 12 |
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Finished Puella Magi Madoka Magica watched 12 episodes in a row. It was thrilling, confusing and exciting at the same time. It was totally unexpected in some cases and the ending was great. I enjoyed the show.
Going to watch C in few hours. I should ease up on Anime, with Deadman Wonderland, C, Naruto, Broken Blade and many other animes on my plate, I think I will just loose track of time. Plus, I did finish Kurozuka as well. Loved the gore and the story. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Kanokon - Yesterday, I had thrown this in and started to watch it. Right off the bat, I was greeted with pantsu scene after pantsu scene. For those who believe these detract from anime, I can't agree because I quickly fell asleep (having cleaned the garage earlier).
My wife woke me up a short time later, and my eyes quickly caught the glimpse of a bunch of girls, flying through the air, in the nude. I started shaking off the sleepies and it took all of about 1 minute to show a girl, legs spread, complaining she's not in control for the position which served to give boys their nose bleeds. How the hell this title wasn't rated adults only escapes me. I suppose the only reason it wasn't was due to the lack of genital clarity or actual pixelated penetration. This title was absolutely made with ecchi as the lead, character designs second, and everything else was boxed up and shelved for its failure to belong in this title. I'm going to sell this title to ecchi fans with two examples: -In one scene, a girl is bent over a desk, panties drawn, and wiggling her hips as she demands to be punished. I counted at least 3 slaps before the scene changed. -A snow goddess is trying to test the love between two characters and she freezes the school. Two girls, vying for the same boy, are rubbing up and down against him, hands clearly fishing. One remarks, "It's hard, but it's not frozen. Why is it so hard and not be frozen." The ridiculousness was just too much. I'm not sure what the hell happened, because this isn't the series I thought it was. Thus, I figured it out and what I really wanted to buy was this one: Our Home's Fox Deity I bought this one: Kanokon There was no way I could have been confused on those descriptions. None at all. *bashes head against wall. Oh, and the dub is atrocious. In one scene, there was a request for pencil leads and it was pronounced "leeds", not "leds". Wow. No wonder it's only $18. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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PJ - I highly recommend Our Home's Fox Deity. It is a quality comedy that won't make your wife slap you as you watch it.
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Probably because they overcooked the sausage. But then again, plenty of people like it black. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Oddly enough, my wife just laughed when the 46" TV greeted her with the visual of a high school girl's panties. It was weird. All I could say was "This show is pervy and not the one I thought I ordered." Got me off the hook. Yeah, I wanted Deity but screwed up. BIG and HARD. |
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The King of Harts
Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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I remember being confused when you bought it. I know you're not adverse to ecchi and fanservice, but you don't seem like the type that would buy a show like Kanokon since it's towards the more extreme side. But hey, I have Daughters of Mnemosyne and Girls Bravo, so I can't cast judgments.
HIGH FIVE! |
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kimbeey13
 Posts: 290 Location: NH |
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I finished watching Cencoroll not to long ago and I admit the only reason I wanted to watch it was for the blobs. The movie was on about 30 minuets long and was a decent watch, but the main female lead annoyed me to some extent.
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