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RedemptionRevenge



Joined: 06 Dec 2012
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:30 pm Reply with quote
Maidenoftheredhand wrote:
Well honestly with Chihayafuru I would be happy if any company licenses it, but I am rooting for either NISA or Nozomi. Smile


That would be a dream come true Smile. I can only imagine what those beautiful sets would look like!

PLEASE ONE OF THESE COMPANIES ALSO LICENSE CARDCAPTOR SAKURA TOOOO!
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:46 pm Reply with quote
wormraper wrote:
was thinking of buying Deadman wonderland but it looks like it's sold out at most places. series looks ridiculously over the top.


It's on Crunchyroll, if you wanna check it out.
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WTK



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 4035
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:52 pm Reply with quote
Dessa wrote:
wormraper wrote:
was thinking of buying Deadman wonderland but it looks like it's sold out at most places. series looks ridiculously over the top.

It's on Crunchyroll, if you wanna check it out.

It was on CR, but it has been removed since October '12. The TV series portion (12 episodes) is fully streaming on FUNimation.com and Hulu (sub and dub).
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Crisha
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Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:03 pm Reply with quote
Maidenoftheredhand wrote:
Well honestly with Chihayafuru I would be happy if any company licenses it, but I am rooting for either NISA or Nozomi. Smile

Those are the companies I'm rooting for. But if you noticed, I stated "bottom of my list of companies" - Sentai is low man on the totem pole, but they're still on the list. I won't cut off my toes just to lose the foot race... that doesn't sound right. Cut down my foes just to spite the human race? Cut off my bros just to get to third base?

Well, you know what I mean. I'll be displeased if Sentai gets, but I'll also be happy that we're actually getting a release. It'll be a confusing emotion. In fact, if Sentai releases a bluray (which I doubt... it would probably be a DVD), but if they did, I'd put the blurays in Siren Visual's packaging most likely.


Last edited by Crisha on Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:35 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:36 pm Reply with quote
I hope that it’s not out of line, but I thought that it would be acceptable for me to return the courtesy. Unfortunately, or fortunately in inverse proportion to how sensible you are, the number of your priority titles and what I can say about them is limited. I offered thoughts on a lot in the purple lists, although I understand that those are likely fated to languish as you must look fiscally toward your splendid May voyage. (Wow… what a sentence!)

willag wrote:
Bandai Entertainment
My-Hime, My-Otome, Ronin WarriorsSilent Möbius…)


I wouldn’t advise you to bother with My-HiME unless it’s really cheap. It just seemed to try too hard for an emotional reaction a lot of the time and does something very, very dumb in its ending. I don't think that it's a bad show, but I found it a little tedious sometimes. I like My-Otome better and it’s not essential to see My-HiME to understand it; many characters from the first series reappear, but only with broadly similar names and personalities. Also: older, which helps. It feels like a sort of solid bread-and-butter anime. It's not anything special critically and its lead is kind of dumb and irritating, but it’s easy to watch and reliably, if unspectacularly entertaining otherwise. I can't say it was a great series, but it was one that I tore through quickly enough deem something rather other than bad. I also thought that Princess Mashiro had a surprisingly effective character arc.

Silent Möbius isn’t an essential series, but I enjoyed it. Its approach to storytelling and characterization is almost quaint in how straightforward it is, but it works well. It also has among the most believable and appealing relationships for two of its leads that are played very straight, but very well and are rarely mature. (I especially liked Kiddy and Ralph… but I just love Kiddy… predictable, I know)

willag wrote:
Bandai Visual USA
( Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise)


Sadly, this one probably belongs on an anime HAHA SUCKER list. The blu-ray looks really nice, but is out of print and hard to find. Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise is a really wonderful, great-looking and historically important film, even in spite of its very ill-considered attempted rape scene. The themes of struggle, faith and idealism are very compelling, as is its interesting choice to make the Space Force a low-prestige boondoggle within the context of the setting. It’s worth seeing if you can track it down.

willag wrote:
Discotek Media
2. Adieu Galaxy Express 999]


Hmmmmm… You wouldn’t be wasting your time watching Galaxy Express 999, but make sure that you like the first film a lot before you watch it. Adieu Galaxy Express 999 is very similar thematically and stylistically, which is to say that it looks cool in an old-school way and has a really epic sensibility, but you’ll have seen that already. It also feels a little darker and meaner than the first, having a little less of that intoxicating adventurous spirit that I think makes Galaxy Express 999 work so well. It also has less of Maetel, the other thing that I think makes Galaxy Express 999 work so well. I hate to be such a downer, perhaps because I’m so attached to the first film, but I would advise making sure that you want more of Galaxy Express 999 and have an open-ended idea of what that can be before you buy its follow-up.

willag wrote:
(… Mad Bull 34, Samurai Pizza Cats…)


I haven’t see Mad Bull 34 yet, but I think that its legend speaks for itself, swearing profusely as it does. It’s probably best to remain a little cagey about Samurai Pizza Cats. Unless you have warm, smiling memories of dashing to the old worn-out eighties vintage Zenith in the living room every afternoon back in the middle-nineties to watch it, you might not be equipped to get anything out of it. Of course, I haven’t see it since I thought that long division was big-time sophisticated mathematics (wait… I still think that… now I’m sad), so all I can do is guess about nostalgia. Of course, I am nostalgic about it, so I’m almost certainly going to preorder this sucker, so you should probably just exploit the blind yearning for days past of people like me and wait to see how crushed we are by disappointment.

willag wrote:
FUNimation
Series
2. Serial Experiments Lain (BD)
3. Kurau: Phantom Memory


I think that Serial Experiments Lain is well worth seeing, but if you don’t know what you're getting into, you’re probably right to wait on a standard edition. It’s a very smart, creepy show with a very interesting, strangely endearing lead. It's like a well-woven blanket of weird that you can snuggle up in. The story can be an engaging challenge to follow and the transformation that shy, weird little Lain goes through isn’t a the standard-issue coming-of-age change, but is equally drastic. It’s a very moody, atmospheric series at times; it can lull you into the oddest moods and some creepy, deranged imagery to remind you that Chiaki Konaka made his bones as a horror writer. Way boss theme song too.

I’m pretty confident that you’ll like Kurau: Phantom Memory a lot. The heart of the series is the relationship between Kurau and Christmas (dumb sounding name, but it ends up beautiful in context), which is very close and strong, but subtly alien, being neither romantic nor sisterly. I’m think that you’ll love Kurau too, she’s cool and competent with badass superpowers, but emotionally rich and expressive. She’s also interestingly androgynous; clearly identified as female throughout the series, but not presented as conspicuously so, which I think makes an interesting fit to her relationship with Christmas. It also has a great supporting cast, in particular Ayaka Steiger, who has a really nice character arc. (I also give her points for having a ‘shower scene’ that ends up not being at all sexualized) I recall that you generally prefer Japanese with subtitles, but I must say that I really liked the English dub for Kurau: Phantom Memory. Monica Rial gives Kurau an excellent voice and manages to give her emotional expression fullness and power matching the intensity of how her facial expressions are drawn, which I think is really rare. Points again to Ayaka Steiger for the sometimes unreliable Tiffany Grant giving a fine performance in the part.

willag wrote:
(…ClaymoreEl Cazador de la BrujaLupin III: FujikoNoirTrigun…)


I’m pretty sure that you’ll like Claymore. It’s a very cool, dark series with a surprisingly interesting lead despite being bogged down with a lot of shōnen battle nonsense. Oh, and Raki, it’s good despite Raki. Claire is unlike typical shōnen heroes in more ways than being a woman. The “History of Claire” arc does remarkably well at investing the viewer in Claire's character and serves as a piquant counterpoint to what we see of her in the first few episodes. It has a ‘gecko ending’ that’s a little dissatisfying, but it isn't bad and does provide an emotional capstone to the story.

Noir… Hmmm, I’m being a real downer in this post. Noir is another case where you’re probably very right to put it on the ‘eh, maybe one of these days’ pile.. I love Noir; I’ve watched it several times over and thought about it more than I have Princess Tutu. Hell, I even started outlining a fanfiction sequel (I called it Noir: Blanc; it was arbitrarily set partly in Philadelphia and had a gunfight in Independence Hall). Despite that, I’m hesitant about recommending it, because it’s a very delicate acquired taste. It should be warning enough that ANN's first review of it ten years ago provoked 'butthurt' outrage before that had become ad institutionalized as it is now. I always admit up front that it has some rather obvious faults. It abuses flashbacks heavily up through episode nine… it even has a flashback to a scene where there was a flashback. It’s a very slow series and many of the fight scenes are dubiously directed or absurd. I still wonder if “Cold Blooded Killer, Acte II” was some Brechtian joke. If you look at it as an action anime, you’ll be badly disappointed and I can just outsource commentary to Anime World Order. Yet, despite that and more, I do love it. It’s a moody, patient story of two very different and remarkable, yet emotionally fragile women who develop a deep bond along a long, fraught path. It can invest one deeply in the anxieties and experiences of its characters. It’s also a gorgeous series, despite sometimes cheap animation; the backgrounds are gorgeous watercolor interpretations of Paris. It also has an excellent, if repetitively used, Yuji Kajiura soundtrack. (I’m especially fond of ”Salva Nos) If you’re looking for yuri… well, maybe. It’s not direct, but you can find it if you look. This is another where I must go to bat for the English dub, though perhaps more because I have a sentimental attachment to it, especially Shelly Calene-Black as Mireille. I’m sentimental about the whole show; it was the third series I ever collected and the first that I really loved. (The second was Excel Saga and the first was… Saber Marionette J… you don’t need to bother with Saber Marionette J, incidentally, or Saber Marionette J to X for that matter and if you try to watch Saber Marionette J Again I’ll go to Kevin Sorbo, find out where you live and come to your house to wrench it from your hands and fire it out of a canon, into the sun, for your own good)

Sorry, that was long for such a low priority series… and you know that I could do more.

El Cazador de la Bruja is something of a black sheep within the ‘girls-with-guns’ trilogy, but you know what, I like it and you end up enjoying Noir, I encourage you to try its youngest sister. It’s a slightly silly, easygoing series and it seems like the creative staff lost interest in the larger story early on. Despite that, the leads are supremely likeable and their string of stand-alone adventures, which constitute most of the series, are a lot of fun and despite a weak narrative, it has pretty strong character development. It’s also more overt, although still not quite direct, about the relationship between the two. (Madlax is probably the most overt and direct of the three, but it’s also the least accessible, in many senses; you have to be taking holy orders in the Cult of Kōichi Mashimo for that one) El Cazador de la Bruja is non-essential, but it’ll make you feel good.

One I do think that you might want to upgrade in importance is Lupin III ~The Woman Called Fujiko Mine~. It’s one of the most interesting and ambitious series I’ve seen in a while and while it isn’t a perfect success, it does get a lot right. It’s probably the sexiest series that I’ve ever seen and I mean actual sexuality, not puerile ‘sneak-a-peak’ and leering at jiggling bean bags strapped to bent poles. (Hell, just look at the OP… but not at work… or if your parents are in town… or if you’re likely to ever go to church) It takes a character who was a sex joke cum plot device in most of the franchise to date and makes her into a fascinating, enticing and compelling character. It lets her do cool things, worms into her psyche and end with a glorious sucker-punch of a finale. It has a great, jazzy score and slick, ambitiously stylized art to boot. Try reading the things that I posted here and here, which might make it more alluring. Don’t worry if you have no experience with Lupin III; it requires none to be enjoyed. You should have plenty of time to mull this one over; FUNImation have only gone as far as saying that it’ll be released, “before the end of the year.” If they get Michiko e Hatchin out in good time, that might be a good test as it was also directed by Sayo Yamamoto.

As for Trigun; it was a pillar of my early days as an anime fan and I consider it an essential. The characters are deeply likeable and I’m quite sure that you’ll love Wolfwood. The first half is very fun. The second half plays more seriously, which does seem to turn some people off, but it has enough high points to be worth weathering even if it does. It becomes quite emotionally intense near the end. The dub is old and creaky, but Johnny Yong Bosch deservedly made his bones as Vash the Stampede, Jeff Nimoy captures Wolfwood masterfully and I have a real soft spot for Lia Sargent as Milly. (About as opposite a character as her astounding performance as R. Dorothy Waynewright as you can find)

willag wrote:
Manga Entertainment
1. Redline (BD)
2. Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG


You have excellent choices here. Redline is a narrative trifle, but visual triumph that exudes enough cool to get by on that. The quality of the artwork and animation is extraordinarily high and used to portray creatures, vehicles and backgrounds that show great, freewheeling visual inventiveness. It’s a bit too insubstantial to have a lot of staying power, but it’s great for telling your brain, “f**k you Carl, I’m watching the racy cars go VROOM WOOHOO!”

I see that you have Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex already, so if you like it, 2nd Gig is an excellent choice. It plays to the same strengths with some refinement. It also has one of the best English dubs I’ve ever heard. Richard Epcar is Batō and Crispin Freeman captures Togusa superbly as well, but more than either of those, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn gives the most definitive English performance of a character since Steve Blum as Spike Spiegel. (whom, incidentally, she directed)

If you’re gathering the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series up, you should get Solid State Society as well. It’s more of the same, which is a good thing in this case. It’s an impressively smart, great-looking, but sometimes dry story that adds some interest by putting Kusanagi in a different position than we’re used to.

willag wrote:
Media Blasters
5. Iria: Zeiram the Animation


Iria: Zeiram the Animation is something that I consider easy to watch, but just okay. It plays as a competent science-fiction action series with a pretty cool female lead and some visual imagination with the titular Zeiram, but doesn’t really stand out as remarkable in any way. If you can get it cheap, it’s a fine way to kill an evening and then hide the body in your neighbor’s backyard so you can call the cops to frame them and finally get the bitch Lucille for putting her cigarette butts in your garbage cans, goddammit!

I do suggest that you consider Kite. I recall that you’re aware of it, but since it didn’t make the list, I’ll take that as a chance to plump for it just so I’m not all Mr. Frownyface. Kite is a really cool, stylish, dark and violent story that has the sort of clear punch that thematically strong shorts often do. It’s a little erratic; some parts of it are a profoundly moody, atmospheric character piece, but it also has some of the craziest, most exaggerated action scenes I’ve ever beheld. They make for strange company, but are so well done that all are welcome. Despite the wild violence, the quieter moments the linger over Sawa’s calm emptiness and her sexual manipulation by Akai are its real strength. Sure there’re exploding bullets and a crazily kinetic fight on a subway car, but it’s grip is strongest when it speaks softest. It’s hard for me to describe how fascinating and entrancing Kite can be, but it’s such a distinctive production that I think it merits a chance. Just be careful about the porn version, unless you’re curious, the consensus seems to be that the edited version is the better choice. You should probably stay away from Kite Liberator too, unless you like Bone Monsters.

I also recommend Yasuomi Umetsu’s other hyper-violent nineties OVA: Mezzo Forte. Whereas Kite is moody and dark with something of a split personality, Mezzo Forte is all balls-out action and fun. Its action sequences are exciting and fast-moving with a rare sense of visceral pain and liveliness of motion while the story moves at a crisp clip. Momokichi Momoi is a splendidly evil antagonist, countered by the insouciant, cheerful badass Mikura. Here, watch the two of them f**k up a bowling alley. This is another case where you should avoid the porn version. I didn’t… to my sincere regret. (What? It was one sale, damn you!)

willag wrote:
NISA

(House of Five Leaves…


I haven’t watched this yet, but I have to say that the limited edition is really cool. I ordered when TRSI had it on sale for the holiday sale and I was slightly taken aback by the huge wooden book that was sitting at the top of the shipment. The packaging is seriously cool. (And it comes with the replacement disk included)

willag wrote:
The Right Stuf International

Nozomi Entertainment
1. THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES Exclamation Anime smile (PRE-ORDERED)


Yeah, that Rose of Versailles thing looks pretty good, well, the first episode was pretty okay, I guess…

willag wrote:
Section 23 / Sentai Filmworks (Previously A.D. Vision)

Sentai Filmworks
Released
2. Kids on the Slope (BD)
4. Bodacious Space Pirates (BD)
5. Mardock Scramble 2nd/3rd
8. Children Who Chase Lost Voices


I look forward to owning Kids on the Slope too, although I think that it’s best to wait until we have word on whether there were any problems with music rights. Ordinarily I’d forgive that sort of thing, but given the nature of the show, if they couldn’t get a song or two for some reason; it might actually hurt the show.
I think that my advocacy for Bodacious Space Pirates is well known, but waiting for a collection is probably wise. I’m having misgivings about having bought the first half.

It’s worth continuing the Mardock Scramble trilogy, but the middle film is relatively weak. It starts out great with gay dolphins and flying sharks with lasers, but then screws around in a casino for the rest of it. It’s weird and gimmicky, but integral to the source story, so nothing to be done. But, at least you get a gay dolphin. I think that the manga handles this part of the story a little better.

I advise against Children Who Chase Lost Voices. I was looking forward to it, but when I saw it, I was disappointed. It has some artistically impressive background, but little visual invention, so it’s almost gloriously dull. What’s worse is that the crux of the film, its emotional effect, isn’t very strong. They feels as though the director had a lot of ideas and strong intentions, but didn't commit to them. It’s a little like Patton Oswalt’s spurned comedy magician bit. I don’t think that Makoto Shinkai was shorted five dollars, but he does have the same lifeless, matter-of-fact approach to emotions. It’s as though Shinkai says, “here’s the girl, something happens and she’s sad. OKAY?” then puts the emotional moment in the hamper, leaving us feeling very little.

To be less downbeat, let me recommend to you Mezzo DSA. As suggested, it’s a television sequel to Mezzo Forte. The nice thing about that is that there’s no porn version… but it also means that it had a TV budget, so past the first episode, Umetsu has to skimp on his glorious, kinetic violence. It’s still loads of fun, even so. The stories have everything from ghosts to dirty cops and the three main characters turn out to be really endearing. It has no artistic or intellectual pretensions, just a lively, upbeat attitude and a lot of energy. I think that its OP makes the case well. This is another case where I recommend the English dub. Luci Christian makes a great Mikura, but the real treat is Andy McAvin, who steals the show blind with his goofy, howling portrayal of old man Kurokawa. It’s a great pick-me-up series, which is saying a lot, because I’m very heavy.

Man… I gotta be a downer again, but like Children Who Chase Lost Voices, I feel like this one depends upon playing for our emotions, but does it without the patience, sincerity and depth needed to be effective. It’s thirteen episodes (and one infuriating OVA) of teenagers with tragic pasts, but the emotional content feels pretty contrived, so it doesn’t grip and the one time it really works, the creators got greedy and drag it out long enough to trash the effect. I suspect that you might be more agreeable to this than me, I'm certainly out of my depth this with this series, so take my castigation of it with a grain of salt.

willag wrote:
VIZ Media:


I think that you should consider Key the Metal Idol. (I recall that it’s not wholly out of you mind, but it didn’t make the list, so I pounce!) This is a slightly strange recommendation as I have a muted overall opinion of the series. The first thirteen episodes are excellent, but the two films that conclude it aren’t very good. Despite washing out a bit on the whole, I believe that you would enjoy the series a great deal. The titular Key is a girl who, after the death of her father, learns that she must make 10,000 friends before her sixteenth birthday, so she sets out to become an idol singer. That sounds like the set-up for a frilly, pink nothing, but the series lacks any ostentatious cuteness or wish-fulfillment, rather, it’s interested in the mysteries surrounding just what Key really is and the experiences of its characters. It also does some novel and clever things with its characterization. It plays a long game with Key herself, providing a strong arc of emotional development and growth. Perhaps most remarkable is that one of its characters appears to be a very familiar, minor villain archetype, but ends up being one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters. Typical of something that I recommend, Key the Metal Idol has a pronounced dark streak, coming largely from classic obsession and greed. It doesn’t really end well, but at least ends conclusively and I think accepting that is worth the experience that precedes it. It also has a pretty cool OP.

Wow, I am just a bundle of naysaying and pessimism. Uh… mmmm… free chocolate?

I’m ill-qualified to comment on your manga list. Nevertheless, allow me to try.

willag wrote:
FANTAGRAPHICS
1. Wandering Son


There's really nothing that I need to add here; you know what you're doing and it is good. I adore Wandering Son and it gains more personal richness and emotional range as it goes on that makes me hope that it will grapple more deeply with the hardships of transsexualism.[/quote]


willag wrote:
Kodansha:
1. Attack on Titan
5. Mardock Scramble


Attack on Titan is really cool, despite some dodgily drawn panels here and there. I believe that you've already read some volumes of this, so by all means, keep trucking. The Titans are creepy as Hell and Mikasa is cool as Hell.

I really like the Mardock Scramble manga. The first volume is really excellent; a surprisingly subtle and touching character piece. Some of its shōnen instincts against subtlety kick in after that and its bound by the 'off' elements of the source material, but it's still easy to root for and empathize with Rune and, as I said, I think that it plays the casino segment better than the anime. (I can't speak to the novel)

willag wrote:
Vertical:
(…Lychee Light ClubVelveteen & Mandala)


These are both very interesting, but very twisted works. Lychee Light Club is great; very blackly humorous and more than a bit morbid. It’s a nice prick in the overinflated balloon of male adolescence. Velveteen & Mandala is a strange mix of insouciantly foul (including vivid rendering of diarrhea), goof humor, especially the JRPG references near the beginning, and strange, but intriguing characterization. The titular characters have a curious relationship and end up in a very strange place. There are some potentially uncomfortable moments, such as when Velveteen is gang-raped by Zombies… sheesh, I liked Velveteen & Mandala, but I feel awful typing that.

If I may venture a suggestion, I believe that you might enjoy The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka. It’s the story of a brilliant, seductive sociopath who manipulates or ruins the lives of others to aggrandize herself. It’s not a pleasant tale, but it is very fascinating and compelling. It leaves one challenged by the tension between recognizing that the lead is doing awful things and the allure of confident power that sociopaths often possess.

willag wrote:
VIZ:


I’m sure that your Viz titles are all excellent, but I would be remiss if I did not encourage you to add Sexy Voice and Robo to them. It’s a really cool and different manga. It’s the story of a young girl named Nico with a knack for imitating voices, which gets her the nickname ‘Sexy Voice’ and drafted into the service of an old gangster. In the course of her missions, she enlists the aid of a goofy robot model otaku whom she dubs, “Robo.” Nico is a really sharp, cool character and Robot is an endearing lot of fun. The stories are concise and cleverly entertaining, but ultimately lead Nico to some genuine personal insights. The artwork is clearly Japanese, but has a slightly sketchy, penciled style that stands out from the usual.

Lastly, I’ll take a chance by suggesting that you look into Sister Red. It was published by the new defunct ComicsOne, but new copies of both volumes are available dirt cheap from Amazon.com. It’s a vampire story, but a dark, brooding one and nobody’s called a vampire, instead it has its own complex, grim mythology. It twists around personal relationships within a rather complex story. The ending is a little inconclusive narratively, but works personally for the characters.

You have chosen... wisely. You've already read some of A Bride's Story, so you know what you're doing. Having read volume three, it stays excellent despite moving away from Amir, it's still interesting and the story that it moves on to is more emotionally engaging. The attention to anthropological detail and artwork, as you might presume, continue to be amazing.

willag wrote:
Yen Press:
2. A Bride's Story (v. 3-4)


As I have done before, I suggest that you consider Anything and Something, a collection of various short works that Kaoru Mori has written for various magazines and events. It has a few neat, very short stories and exudes Mori's brightly nerdy personality. The last section of the book is several pages detailing maids, corsets and fireplaces, which although a little dry, gives a wonderful sense of how gleefully fascinated she is with this stuff.

I hope that you got something helpful or persuasive out of that. I know that I ran out of my short supply of things to say pretty quickly. If came out crazy… I swear that the piano has been drinking, not me!

The King of Harts wrote:
Getting the LEs were a no-brainer for me, $225 or not. However, I'm also a huge fan of the show and a collector extraordinaire. You, on the other hand, haven't even finished the show and have never struck me as the hardcore collector-type, so this is something you should really think about. At the very least you should finish the show. I mean, you don't have to regrets about springing $225 so you could have "coasters" and "useless paper" (CDs and extras).


Thanks for the advice. To tell the truth, after having actually written my theoretically intentions out and read your advice, I'm leaning against it. Just like I ultimately did when I confronted this question last year. I'm sure that I'll like the show, but while the booklets seem cool, the package on a while doesn't seem to match my preferences well enough to be worthwhile.


Last edited by Surrender Artist on Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:17 am; edited 7 times in total
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:21 am Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:
Limit is awesome. I love it. I have the first 3 volumes. It's intense and it can be very harrowing, but if you like drama/survival stories it's very good.

Thanks for the input. I like survival stories and if its intense like you say then I can't wait to read it. But after thinking about it I see that the last volume is supposed to come out this summer. So I think I'm going to put it off till then and pick up the whole series in one go this summer. Instead, besides 4 volumes of Flowers of Evil I decided to pick up Sweet Blue Flowers from Right Stuf and Bride's Story vol 4, Gunslinger Girl 6, Girlfriends vol 1 &2 from Amazon.

Again thanks for the input!
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:26 am Reply with quote
While I'd ideally like to get a PS3 and a bunch of games with my tax return, I'll settle for something smaller. Xenoblade Chronicles, is it cracktastic enough? I know I don't need another RPG, not with my RPG backlog, but seeing how rarely I touch my Wii (I seriously use my GBA more), it would be nice. But I also need to know that I will want to pour 8 hours a day into it for like a week or two (until I beat it, I understand it's a long game). I think the last game I did not put down until I beat it was Ghost Trick for the DS (that was about a 12 hour game though). My rotation of nerdiness seems to be going back to video games right now (finally)
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:14 am Reply with quote
WTK wrote:
Dessa wrote:
wormraper wrote:
was thinking of buying Deadman wonderland but it looks like it's sold out at most places. series looks ridiculously over the top.

It's on Crunchyroll, if you wanna check it out.

It was on CR, but it has been removed since October '12. The TV series portion (12 episodes) is fully streaming on FUNimation.com and Hulu (sub and dub).


That's interesting, since just last week I saw it on the PS3's Crunchyroll app as available to watch...
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WTK



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 4035
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:09 pm Reply with quote
Dessa wrote:
That's interesting, since just last week I saw it on the PS3's Crunchyroll app as available to watch...

I got the time frame wrong, CR posted the notice back in September 2011. The CR page (http://www.crunchyroll.com/deadman-wonderland) currently has no videos posted.
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supercreep



Joined: 11 Dec 2011
Posts: 526
PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:11 pm Reply with quote
My resolve to not buy The Garden of Sinners LE set is quickly dwindling. I feel any day that I'm going to crack. I really don't want to get into an argument, but can anyone who has it give it a solid recommendation? Keeping in mind that I've never seen it in HD.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9809
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:14 pm Reply with quote
It is beautiful in HD. I really enjoyed it. If you already know you will like the content and have the money, it is worth it. No different than if you had imported it in the first place.
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publicenemy333



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 563
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 12:56 am Reply with quote
Its not anime, but its Japanese related, so Im thinkin it qualifies for this board lol (sorry if it doesnt)

Considering getting a 3ds. Never had the DS, and I haven't been playing a lot of console games these days, but a lot of the simplicity and overall tone of the games on the DS/3DS (kinda remindin me of SNES to PS1 era games) have been catching my eye. Mostly with JRPGs, since I enjoy a lot of the classic ones, and most that come out these days on consoles never look that good to me (personal preference/experience), yet I've heard and noticed that a lot of the DS/3ds ones may actually be what I should be playing instead. And I'll be able to catch up with the DS games I missed.

I'm planning to get a 3ds XL (bundled with Mario cart) and at least 2 or 3 games from this list:

Fire Emblem: Awakening
Star Fox 3d
Okami-den
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Tales of the Abyss
Kis Icarus: Uprising
Adventure Time: Hey Ice King...blah blah blah

To anyone with a DS/3DS, out of this list, what do you recommend? Or what are you suggestions?
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Crisha
Moderator


Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 1:32 am Reply with quote
Thanks for the recs, SA. Just to note on some of them.

Surrender Artist wrote:
Sadly, [Royal Space Force] probably belongs on an anime HAHA SUCKER list. The blu-ray looks really nice, but is out of print and hard to find.

HAHA SUCKER is dedicated to series that normally would be on my numbered but due to OOP status and expenses get their own category because I'd have to be foolish in some sort of way to go after them. The purple category is for series I have a medium to passing interest in, but no real priority (as in, if they go OOP and become insanely expensive before I ever get to them, then oh well). Series may move out or into the categories, but Royal Space Force is still purple right now. If my local comic/book shop has the movie available to rent (it would only be the DVD version), I'll probably pick it up and see it that way.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I think that Serial Experiments Lain is well worth seeing, but if you don’t know what you're getting into, you’re probably right to wait on a standard edition. It’s a very smart, creepy show with a very interesting, strangely endearing lead. It's like a well-woven blanket of weird that you can snuggle up in. The story can be an engaging challenge to follow and the transformation that shy, weird little Lain goes through isn’t a the standard-issue coming-of-age change, but is equally drastic. It’s a very moody, atmospheric series at times; it can lull you into the oddest moods and some creepy, deranged imagery to remind you that Chiaki Konaka made his bones as a horror writer.

I liked Haibane Renmei so I have a feeling I'll like Lain. But I've become pretty good at predicting the scores I will give series, and Lain looks like it'll get an 8/10. I tend to try to keep LEs reserved for 9/10s or higher (unless if the artwork is just too gosh darn pretty - NISA is so good at reeling me in like that). I'm looking forward to crossing it off on my "Pile of Shame" list.

And I'm pretty confident that I'll really like Kurau.

With series like Claymore, Lupin III: Fujiko, and Trigun, they stay lower priority because I already know a lot about them, including some of their more emotional moments and twists. Being as involved as I am in the fandom (and not being bothered much by spoilers) sometimes I just stumble across spoilers and sometimes I go looking for them.

I saw the first 4 or 5 episodes of Trigun a long time ago, and have seen certain scenes from the manga (flashbacks regarding Rem). Additionally, I've read several fanfics and watched several AMVs, so I pretty damn well know what goes on during the series. Meryl and Milly were my favorite characters, but they end up taking a bit of a backseat once Vash's past gets into gear. I do eventually want to see the series though just to cross it off on my "Pile of Shame" list also.

Claymore and Fujiko I'm not as familiar with, but I do know about the "twists" for each series. I'd still like to see 'em though, because they sound like fun.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I do suggest that you consider Kite. I also recommend Yasuomi Umetsu’s other hyper-violent nineties OVA: Mezzo Forte. *Good arguments for why I should check 'em out*

I shall definitely have to consider them then.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I haven’t watched [House of Five Leaves] yet, but I have to say that the limited edition is really cool. I ordered when TRSI had it on sale for the holiday sale and I was slightly taken aback by the huge wooden book that was sitting at the top of the shipment. The packaging is seriously cool. (And it comes with the replacement disk included)

NISA's limited editions are always seriously cool. I watched the first two episodes on FUNimation and while they were interesting I still found them a bit boring. And I've heard that the series plot and action doesn't really pick up until the last few episodes. So while I'd like to finish it, it's lower priority. Tatami Galaxy was so much more fascinating and entertaining in comparison at the time, and I'm still a little bit ticked that it hasn't gotten an American release (I was so rooting for it).

Surrender Artist wrote:
It’s worth continuing the Mardock Scramble trilogy, but the middle film is relatively weak.

I ain't watching the movies until I have all three, so no worries.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I advise against Children Who Chase Lost Voices. I was looking forward to it, but when I saw it, I was disappointed.

I trust your opinion, so I'll knock down it's priority. In fact, now that I remember, I think it had ho-hum reviews here on the site.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I think that you should consider Key the Metal Idol. (I recall that it’s not wholly out of you mind, but it didn’t make the list, so I pounce!)

Huh, I thought it was on my list. I'm pretty certain I had it on at some point. Oh well, I'll have to re-add it. Thanks for reminding me.

Surrender Artist wrote:
Attack on Titan is really cool, despite some dodgily drawn panels here and there. I believe that you've already read some volumes of this, so by all means, keep trucking. The Titans are creepy as Hell and Mikasa is cool as Hell.

You don't need to convince me. I actually couldn't contain my desire to read more after finishing the first two volumes I borrowed from the library - I caught up to the latest chapter in Japan in the days following, so I know I like it. Now it's just been sucky waiting for each monthly release. But, yeah, I'm definitely going to buy this series to support it.

Surrender Artist wrote:
These are both very interesting, but very twisted works.

I've noticed Vertical's penchant for releasing these kinds of series. I do enjoy twisted works, but I can only stand unpleasant ones in moderation. I'm just trying to pick and choose which ones I actually want from Vertical. The sexual rapey-ness of Flowers of Evil along with the crudeness and no likeable characters twisted my guts around unpleasantly (especially since it's based off of someone from real life)... and I've heard it gets worse, so I'm probably not going to continue with that series.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I’m sure that your Viz titles are all excellent, but I would be remiss if I did not encourage you to add Sexy Voice and Robo to them.

I'll have to read up more on it - it sounds interesting.

Surrender Artist wrote:
Lastly, I’ll take a chance by suggesting that you look into Sister Red.

Vampire stories don't tend to be high on my list, but I'll also definitely check it out.

Surrender Artist wrote:
As I have done before, I suggest that you consider Anything and Something, a collection of various short works that Kaoru Mori has written for various magazines and events. It has a few neat, very short stories and exudes Mori's brightly nerdy personality. The last section of the book is several pages detailing maids, corsets and fireplaces, which although a little dry, gives a wonderful sense of how gleefully fascinated she is with this stuff.

Yay, more Kaoru Mori maid stuff sounds good to me!



I definitely recommend checking out Puella Magi Madoka Magica one Crunchyroll to see if you like it enough for a purchase, because even $120 isn't just chump change (and I'd recommend the blurays for the series, but I guess DVDs wouldn't be too bad).

The series ranks pretty damn high for me (it hits so many emotional moments that it left me with tears in my eyes). I love the stylistic artwork for the series. I loved the detail put into the backgrounds. I loved how they developed unique runes for the series that the fans ended up cracking. I loved participating in the theories and speculation for the series, and finding all the hidden clues. I loved the music. I loved voice actors. I loved the characters (and hints of yuri). It was all just so well done. Getting the LEs was a no-brainer for me.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:51 am Reply with quote
Spontaneous question time!

I've had this on my mind intermittently for a while:

Does anybody think that I'd enjoy the Sailor Moon manga?

I'd never considered it until late last year or so, but with so many cool, avid fans here and the new series coming this summer, I've gotten a touch curious. I'm a touch apprehensive. I've read a few slightly worrying complaints about the Kodansha releases. I'm also a little worried that it might be... uh... there doesn't seem to be a great way to put this... mmmmm... too... girlish(?) for me. I didn't really care for the anime, in part perhaps because I was a young boy when I saw it, perhaps in part because of DiC's questionable adaptation choices and perhaps also in part for some of the things mentioned in this long rumination from a friendly source, but Jason Thompson made a fair case for the manga.

Whatever the case, it's a little ways down the road as I have plenty on my manga and anime plate for the near term, but I thought I'd ask.

willag wrote:
Thanks for the recs, SA. Just to note on some of them.


You actually read all of that?!?

I hope your health insurance covers psychiatric care.

Pardon me, but I wanted to counter-elaborate on a few.

willag wrote:
Claymore and Fujiko I'm not as familiar with, but I do know about the "twists" for each series. I'd still like to see 'em though, because they sound like fun.


Fortunately, both are cool for more reason than, "what a twist!" Even this incredibly unpleasant person kind of liked the manga.

Lupin III ~The Woman Called Fujiko Mine~ is fun, especially with Sayo Yamamoto's nigh Watanbean directorial style and some sharp, stylish writing. What's great is that the fun is complemented by substance and interesting themes, which, in light of past conversations, I'd be very interested in your reaction to. Oh, and episode six has schoolgirl lesbians with machine guns.

Well, it won't come out until late summer and will stuck around for a while, so there's no hurry. I hope that they improved some of the art and animation for the home video release; it was a cool looking series, but even cool creaked very loudly sometimes.

willag wrote:
Surrender Artist wrote:
These are both very interesting, but very twisted works.

I've noticed Vertical's penchant for releasing these kinds of series. I do enjoy twisted works, but I can only stand unpleasant ones in moderation. I'm just trying to pick and choose which ones I actually want from Vertical. The sexual rapey-ness of Flowers of Evil along with the crudeness and no likeable characters twisted my guts around unpleasantly (especially since it's based off of someone from real life)... and I've heard it gets worse, so I'm probably not going to continue with that series.


I haven't read The Flowers of Evil yet, but I've ordered it and plan to read it soon; I'm a little apprehensive since disturbing thing walk a narrow, erratic line with me.

I don't think you'll have a problem with Lychee Light Club or Velveteen and Mandala. Lychee Light Club has a some great macabre humor and takes the piss out of male adolescent egomania. There is some uhhh... jailbait yaoi(?), but I didn't perceive it as particularly erotic (then again, I'm not qualified to) and I thought it made thematic sense. The nasty bit that I mentioned from Velveteen and Mandala is a slight outlier, it's a sometimes vulgar, dark, yet insouciant character story that strays curiously into almost arthouse cinema territory in its last acts.

willag wrote:
Surrender Artist wrote:
I’m sure that your Viz titles are all excellent, but I would be remiss if I did not encourage you to add Sexy Voice and Robo to them.

I'll have to read up more on it - it sounds interesting.


It is, in fact just recommending it has made me want to read it again. Maybe I'll do that after I go to the market, unless there was some anime that I wanted to watch right away. *Looks at 'unwatched' pile and sees Burn-Up at the top* Noooooohohohohohooooo.

No.

In fact, I did and even wrote about what I thought. Maybe that'll help.

willag wrote:
Surrender Artist wrote:
Lastly, I’ll take a chance by suggesting that you look into Sister Red.

Vampire stories don't tend to be high on my list, but I'll also definitely check it out.


If it helps, its characters resemble neither traditional Dracula and Nosferatu vampires nor those sparklers from Twilight. It's a very dark, moody and personal story. It's also worth noting that it's an earlier work by Shizuru Hayashiya, mangaka of the extremely fun, slapsticky yuri manga Hayashi X Blade, which I'd also recommend if a change in the Japanese publisher hadn't terminated Seven Seas' release.

willag wrote:
I definitely recommend checking out Puella Magi Madoka Magica one Crunchyroll to see if you like it enough for a purchase, because even $120 isn't just chump change (and I'd recommend the blurays for the series, but I guess DVDs wouldn't be too bad).


I'm confident that I'll enjoy it, but I've cooled on the idea of buying the limited editions. Truthfully, I'd hoped that time would make that decision for me. I'll probably buy the Blu-ray discs eventually, even though I'd like having pretty boxes. I came of otaku age back when $120 for a 12 or 13-episode series was de rigueur for publishers, so I don't naturally blanch at paying that


Last edited by Surrender Artist on Sat Feb 16, 2013 3:29 pm; edited 2 times in total
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:49 am Reply with quote
@Surrender Artist
I am going to be a viewpoint of someone who never saw it on TV and didn't read any of the manga until the Kodansha release.
I honestly could not finish the first volume. The first volume was clearly the "get the gang together" thing that lots of series with a clear team have in some way or another (for example, Digimon had everyone's first evolution where everyone generally gets their own episode). Usually establishing the cast results in some of the more mediocre episodes, a necessary evil much of the time. But man, I just found this get together to be incredibly boring to the point where I didn't even bother with the last chapter of the volume (which I was already pretty sure wasn't part of the get together, I just didn't care already). I've seen a couple of episodes from the first season of Sailor Moon, and clearly they extended the gathering out as far as humanly possible, and it almost seems like a good idea to do that to let you get to know the cast members before adding another one right away (though I understand it's still too spread out at that).
I dunno, I'd consider renting it from the library again, but not anytime soon, this just didn't seem to be the sentai series for me. Or my genre of action shojo, I want stuff like Basara, fantasy epics with fighting and politics, or Banana Fish, things that are practically seinen bromances. Maybe it gets better, but to me, without nostalgia, it had a really weak start.
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