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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:10 pm Reply with quote
TsunaReborn! wrote:
...3. Time Of Eve... ... I had a lot of fun constantly trying to work out who was human and who was a robot before it was reviled...


(The emphasis added is mine.)

So, did you hate them when they were revealed as robots? Or humans? Or both? Wink
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TsunaReborn!



Joined: 08 Sep 2012
Posts: 4713
Location: Cheltenham UK
PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:23 pm Reply with quote
errinundra wrote:
TsunaReborn! wrote:
...3. Time Of Eve... ... I had a lot of fun constantly trying to work out who was human and who was a robot before it was reviled...


(The emphasis added is mine.)

So, did you hate them when they were revealed as robots? Or humans? Or both? Wink


Laughing I hated them all!!! and especially you Razz Wink

I even proof read... kinda Crying or Very sad
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Errinundra
Moderator


Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:59 am Reply with quote
Blame the auto-spell checker when you were composing the draft. Wink

Never mind.

Coffee?

The usual blend?
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Ignatz





PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:38 am Reply with quote
Supah serious critic mode ON:

Mr. Tsuna,

I'm happy to say that your list seems to be fine. Not a single terrible anime, to say the least. Although Nagi no Asukara and anohana very much depends on how the viewer feels about the drama that is going on. Mari Okada seems to be a hit-or-miss for me when it comes to that sort of thing. anohana made me cry, however the drama in Nagi no Asukara felt so superficial that it just made me roll my eyes, so I dropped the show.

Also, I'm always glad to see Wandering Son and Time of EVE in people's top lists. Those two have very important messages that, if understood by many people, should make the world a better place. Smile
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TsunaReborn!



Joined: 08 Sep 2012
Posts: 4713
Location: Cheltenham UK
PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:52 pm Reply with quote
@errinundra - yes please Nagi Wink

Ignatz wrote:
Supah serious critic mode ON:

Mr. Tsuna,

I'm happy to say that your list seems to be fine. Not a single terrible anime, to say the least. Although Nagi no Asukara and anohana very much depends on how the viewer feels about the drama that is going on. Mari Okada seems to be a hit-or-miss for me when it comes to that sort of thing. anohana made me cry, however the drama in Nagi no Asukara felt so superficial that it just made me roll my eyes, so I dropped the show.

Also, I'm always glad to see Wandering Son and Time of EVE in people's top lists. Those two have very important messages that, if understood by many people, should make the world a better place. Smile


Agreed, Nagi and Anohana are shows that you ether love or hate; luckily for me I loved them but there are other series that are regarded are "classics" or "great works" that I am not a fan of... Swings and roundabouts. Laughing

But Ignatz I'm glad that my list has your seal of approval Very Happy and I agree with your statement about ToE and Wandering Son; they should be a mandatory watch for every anime fan. Laughing
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Chiibi



Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 4828
PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 3:28 pm Reply with quote
So...I hear Violence Jack is a God-awful abomination of an anime. Has that made anyone's 'top 5 worst' list? Bennet the Sage refuses to review it because it's so tasteless and offensive that he can't even make fun of it and just by reading one written review of it, I am all kinds of disturbed.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:35 pm Reply with quote
I've always meant to write one of these, but there's always the feeling that the list is incomplete. There's always that hope that I'll find something new or that I missed to take a place on it. I consider Time of Eve a contender, but feel a stronger imperative than allows me to wait for my copy of the Kickstarter Blu-ray.

So, below are my ten favorite and five most despised anime. It's something of a 'spit-take', so a touch unrefined and probably full of enough repetition to show how much of an intellectual fraud I am. I imagine that certain themes in my tastes will be quite clear.

Oh, and don't take the ordinal rankings too seriously. I'm not above lists, I'm just not good at them.

And I'm horrified to realize that I didn't put The Twelve Kingdoms on this list; I loved that series and Yoko Nakajima is an amazing character, but I'm not sure what I could bear to remove.

Well, except for my number best and especially my number one worst, as might prove obvious.

Surrender Artist's 10 Best Anime

10. R.O.D. the TV: I’ve never quite been able to pin just why I liked this series so well down, but few others have so deeply endeared themselves to me. The story is audaciously ridiculous against any standard of realism, but that just makes it so much more fun. It’s the sort of outrageous fantasy that is one of the things that most draws me to anime. What really elevates it is the eminently likeable and well-rounded cast, especially the extraordinary character of Nenene Sumiregawa. She’s a remarkably impressive and appealing character, often seeming like the most powerful force in the series despite having no ridiculous paper magic, yet also having the right vulnerabilities and frailties to balance and enrich her character without undermining it. The rest of the cast, if not quite as spectacular, is similarly cared for by the creators, so for all the preposterousness around them, they feel distinctly human, being just about as sympathetic, likeable and distinctive as is feasible. An especially excellent English dub that sounds strikingly naturalistic despite the supernatural trappings of the story elevates it further.

9. Haibane Renmei: When I watched this for the first time I was feeling melancholy and it was snowing outside. That was beautiful and quietly uplifting. The series is very quiet and subtle, but it’s not too difficult to find suggestions of harrowing things underneath that may, depending upon one’s point of view, resonate very strongly. The first few episodes show the ordinary daily life of the Haibane. This serves to explain how things are, but it also builds attachment to the characters and their world that makes you want the characters to stay there. It is a charming, strangely reassuring place, almost like a more trustworthy Gold Crown Town, and every one of the cast somehow dear. Of course, that helps to give the closing acts of the series its necessary ache as well as highlight why the series’ themes of loss and forgiveness are so important.

8. Noir: Noir looks on its surface to be a stylish, cool and just a little sexy story about lady assassins, which would be entertaining and could be memorable, but that’s not what it really is. It’s too slow and personal to satisfy by that standard. Noir ultimately rests upon Mireille Bouquet, who is a subtly remarkable study in persistence despite vulnerability, doubt and anguish. She’s an extraordinary, but mortal woman who finds herself drawn into a realm of monsters by a fraught, uneasy, but deep relationship with the worst of those monsters. Noir is at its most compelling when dealing in the intense, complicated relationship between Mireille and Kirika, whether its portrayal or consequences. The animation struggles or sputters more frequently than can be overlooked and the abuse of flashbacks in the first nine episodes is almost befitting of parody, but the artwork is beautiful, with distinctive, appealing character designs and lush, impressionistic backgrounds. The soundtrack is a little repetitive, the director being perhaps overly fond of leitmotifs, but the sounds are good enough to bear being heard many times over. The English dub is an old favorite; Kirika is still the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Monica Rial and Shelley Calene-Black’s portrayal of Mireille won her my enduring admiration. I can’t help but find so many little things wrong with Noir, but its successes are so potent to me that it’s become one of my most persistent favorites.


7. Rose of Versailles: Few things are so invigorating as Rose of Versailles its peaks or as admirable and impressive as Lady Oscar. Seldom have I so loudly cheered and so triumphantly gestured, which would have been embarrassing had anybody been watching, as when I saw her standing at the top of the stairs in her white uniform at the end of the fantastic first episode. It is an uncommonly gripping series of unabashed and intense emotion. Lady Oscar herself is characterized with a superb blend of supreme competence, peerless nobility, wrenching uncertainty and compassion that is sometimes wise, but sometimes naïve. The artwork is marvelous and the animation accomplishes remarkable excitement despite its limitations. The series does not flinch from the strife of its times and ends as befits them. It’s an exceptional work that deserves its prestige and reputation.


6. Princess Tutu: Anything that looks like and substantially is a series meant to entertain the rather young, but makes no insult to the intelligence of adults while effortlessly bearing real thematic depth and harrowing darkness is extraordinary. Princess Tutu has a silly title and the unsuspecting premise of a fairy tale about a duck who becomes a girl who becomes a magical ballerina who overcomes struggles through dancing. There’s an impressive audacity in that alone and it all works better than you’d expect. Even the silly-sounding notion of ballet ‘fights’ is compelling, especially in the gripping, intense climax. Its protagonist, Duck, is very special; endowed with a striking realistic and honest combination of doubt, silliness, weakness and courage that’s uncommon in female characters and contributes to the extraordinary character of the series. It’s a pure-hearted series, but not so simple and whimsical as you might expect. Something worth thinking about, something emotionally evocative or something truly memorable can be found almost everywhere throughout. Every character, from the delightfully, cackling, not-just-a-little frightening Drosselmeyer to even charming, whimsical little Uzura has some sort of richness to them and is worthy of remembering. It’s finely done in either English or Japanese; Luci Christian, who was invested in it to the point of tears during recording, plays Duck with perfect sweetness and sincerity and Marty Fleck portrays Drosselemeyer with almost inhuman relish. (It’s easy to write a lot about Princess Tutu, so a while back, I did. I doubt the merits of my 'analysis', but that I was enthusiastic enough try it bespeaks how wonderful a series it is.)


5. Now and Then, Here and There: I watch Now and Then, Here and There every few years; I don’t think that I could survive any more than that. I love it dearly, but it is one of the most emotionally grueling and uncompromising things that I’ve ever watched. The director is best known for his light comedies, but here shows that he knows the other side of human sentiment equally well. Nobody gets spared the lash, nobody gets out without a scar and some don’t get out at all. All of the characters at some point find themselves at the mercy of the merciless or cruel in some way, but it isn’t a sadistic series torturing its characters to amuse or titillate something evil in us, but because it wants us to recognize that despite the fantasy of its premise, the essence of what it shows us are real and bitterly inseparable form humanity. Its greatest fault is probably that it chose inhumanly, relentlessly plucky Shu who learns and sacrifices least as its lead, but those around him suffer and endure trials enough to overcome that. My favorite character is doubtless Sarah, whose terror and confusion at being wrenched from what was comfortable and familiar to her feels very honest. It also makes what she does and chooses throughout the series more triumphant, more poignant and more bittersweet. Her escape at the beginning of “Disappearance in a Sandstorm” remains one of my favorite sequences of anything ever and goes a long way toward making Now and Then, Here and There special to me.


4. Patlabor 2: The driest and least conventionally exciting things can bore or they can make you pay keen attention. I could hardly begrudge anybody who falls into the first trap, but the second caught me and I never cared to get out. Patlabor 2 might be one of the purest distillations of Mamoru Oshii and one of the most anime that I’ve seen. It isn’t an easy film to talk about and explain; I’m not sure that I’m even equal to the task. It deals with the cost and depredations of maintaining peace and of the dangers in the power that must be exerted to do so. The plot looks like that of a political thriller, but is more esoteric and concerned with its implications than that might suggest. The intricate story and ambitious themes allow for a potentially very rewarding and impressive experience. It can be strangely hypnotic, even if one’s understanding is wanting, the care and gravity of what is being portrayed is gripping. The appeal of the film really turns upon the character of Captain Kiichi Gotō, who is strikingly intelligent and clever, but enigmatic enough to be intriguing and possessed of a real moral core that motivates him. The film has the right look for its tone and style; the color palate errs toward the dark and moody, as well as a perhaps just a bit stylish. The animation is exceptional; equal to both the few spectacular and many subtle moments of the film. The English dub is a curious case; it was recorded by Manga Video in the nineties and some of the supporting cast are at the wanting level of those dubs, but Peter Marinker performs Captain Gotō with just the right tone to capture the character as well as captivate, which is complemented by a similarly accomplished performance by Blair Fairman. As odd as it might seem for something so heady and abstract as this, Patlabor 2 is something that I can wrap myself in like a kind of warm blanket; lost in memories and thought.

3. Galaxy Express 999: Boyish adventure is a hard to capture well. It’s a kind of wild abandon, unbounded feeling and boundless enthusiasm about the possibilities of the world and what you might adventures you might have in it, but just a little bit of grounded in consequences, purpose and hardship. Attempts to evoke it can be superficial or clumsy, but properly executive, it can be unexpectedly sublime. Galaxy Express 999 captures that boyish wonder better than anything I have ever experience. (And forgive me if I seem to be denigrating girlish wonder; I’m caught in the conventions of language, but I doubt that the two are really so different) Galaxy Express 999 is full of things that it heartens and delights to imagine happening with themes that are effortlessly to grab, but can be arduous to keep hold of. For all the adventure in it, there is a melancholy side. It manifests in clear, singular moments, such as the cold desperation of Shadow on Pluto, but is ever present in Maetel, who project maternal warmth, but seems haunted by foreboding, loss and enigma. I adore Maetel; I consider her one of the most singularly intriguing and appealing characters in anime. This is augmented considerably by Kathleen Barr’s superb portrayal of her in the Ocean Group’s excellent English dub. It’s also well worth listening to for Scott 'Dinobot' McNeil himself as Captain Harlock. Galaxy Express 999 is a gorgeous film too. It’s an accomplishment of genuine master craftsmanship in animation, full of spectacles, memorable images and a distinct look that befits the rich universe suggested by hints and asides throughout the story. It’s uplifting and entertaining to the utmost, but with a seriousness and sense of consequence that make it meaningful and memorable when it could be weightless and ephemeral. (I've written more about this elsewhere too in a way that I am uncommonly satisfied with)


2. Kino's Journey: No matter what one pretends, powerful emotions are what ultimately take humanity by the hand and guide it. It is the extraordinary response that I had to watching Kino’s Journey for the first time that secured my high regard for it. At the end of the first episode, a quite genuinely cried tears of joy at how good it was and by the end of the phenomenally good second episode, it had a high place all but guaranteed to it. Kino’s Journey has rare, perhaps unique poignancy and depth at every step along the path. Every episode has a purpose and theme that offer the watcher, encouraging more thoughtful and imaginative reactions than, “that was good,” or, “that was bad.” The greater, deeper engagement that his creates is so much more than simple judgments and allows Kino’s Journey to be something extraordinary. The true key, however, to why the series is so extraordinary is Kino herself. Everything about her is subtle. Even when displaying her incredible marksmanship and fighting skill, she moves economically and without ostentation. Although a girl, her androgynous appearance and indifference to being sometimes misidentified as a boy makes her all the more intriguing and pulls one into a deeper appreciation of her. She’s an observer; quiet, taciturn and poised, but neither callous nor detached. She can show a full spread of emotion, but does so with care and reserve, rationing them as something meaningful and perhaps reflecting doubt in her perspective. That she feels truly and deeply is made clear by the ending, which ties what seemed to be a succession of independent stories together with a single, tragic, poignant thread that reveals how much humanity means to her. High praise is also due to the English dub, which is one of the finest that I’ve heard. Kelly Cousins supplies Kino with a complete, but always fittingly understated and mature tone while Cynthia Martinez sounds perfectly her foil giving voice to her slightly childish, sometimes malapropic companion, Hermes, the talking Brough Superior motorcycle.

1. Cowboy Bebop: Perhaps it is unfair to give highest honors to Cowboy Bebop. It’s a little predictable, but it also inextricably tied in my mind to many things besides its merits. It was what revivified my interest in anime when I happened by change upon the first Adult Swim airing. It encouraged my interest in Jazz music. It was a key pillar of friendships that have lasted to this day. A cynic could dismiss my adoration of the series as the cumulative product of the things that I associate with it, removed from the show itself. Naturally, I reject that line of thought. By all means I will concede that Cowboy Bebop was in the right place at the right time, but an inferior show that had the same elements and luck wouldn’t have played those rôles so well or secured itself so firmly in my heart. It shouldn’t be praised just because it happened to be in the right place at the right time, but it shouldn’t be denigrated for it either. There are things that I had great affection for in the past that I’ve cooled toward, but Cowboy Bebop endures. It revivified my interest because it’s a remarkable work that reminded me of why I was so fond of animation, yet also broadened my understanding of what it could accomplish. It so heavily influenced my musical tastes because the score is exceptional and so well used. It was a pillar of friendships because its quality and the strength of its themes could reach and earn the respect of many. Luck only made its stature possible; its merits did the hard work. Cowboy Bebop is a work of supreme refinement and craftsmanship. It trades in familiar themes and stories, but does so with great skill, attention to detail and touches of its own to make the whole more distinctive than the parts. I liken it to bebop music itself, which saw some of the finest musicians there ever were take familiar standards and them as a base for new, wonderful music. Cowboy Bebop is ‘sketches on standards’, animated.

I love it because I remember so strongly in my memory and heart so many moments. I remember being rapt Spike walking into the church in the rain. I remember being transfixed by green bird and the stained glass window. I remember gray ash falling like snow on Venus as “Stella by Moor” played reducing me to tear. I remember the regret and melancholy I felt hearing Jet speaking of lost love in a bar in Ganymede. I remember the uncommon cocktail of happiness, nostalgia and sadness of Fay finally recovering what was lost to her. Hell, I remember laughing at everybody stoned out of their minds on mushrooms. My reactions and how each helped me to better understand of each character are etched into my memory. Every episode shows some earnest care and thoughtful direction; even the least of them have touches and distinct notes that other works might not bother with. If nothing else, it claims the rare distinction of being something that I can watch over and over again, each time knowing the actions and beats to come, but still enjoy and love. It’s one of those precious few things, as silly as it might be, that became a part of me and no ordinary trifle, not even most things exceptional can accomplish that.

Surrender Artist's 5 Worst Anime

5. Tenchi Muyo! GXP: This series felt like a championship of ineptitude to me. The animation aspired to being unremarkable and the designs weren’t even that ambitious. It also reinforced how allergic I am to harem shows; I grew weary of girls up girls upon girls fawning over a protagonist who was in some ways less than unremarkable who gained more from luck and patronage than his own deeds. It made every one of the ostensible love interests seem mentally disabled and made each ostensible romance dull. Worst of all, the jokes were almost all just the worst of Japanese LOUD AND WACKY comedy. Watching Tenchi Muyo GXP was perhaps the most tedious experience of my life.

4. Cybernetics Guardian: I barely remember this because it was stupid and boring that I would’ve fallen asleep halfway through if the mailman hadn’t knocked on my door. From what I haven’t been able to suppress, Cybernetics Guardian is just forty five minutes of poorly paced unpleasant violence held together with used condoms and cheap duct tape. Thoughtless nihilism masquerades as motivation or ‘belief’ and angry masculinity fills the rest in to create something that’s not interesting to be worth paying attention to and is just unpleasant if you make the mistake of trying. If this were all that he’s made, I wouldn’t think much of Kōichi Ōhata.

3. M.D. Geist II: Death Force: This is the sequel to something even worse than it is, but don’t worry if you’re lost, the story is stupid anyway and some guy will scream everything at you in a raspy hurry at the beginning. It’s like incompetent scriptwriting got drunk and had an inbred baby with its own sister, inept animation direction. Then some stuff will happen, but all you need to know are, “GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!” and that women are crazy-ass bitches, but that’s okay because they’re mostly just accessories. Oh, and that arbitrary use of black-and-white is cool. Well, no, it’s not, but Kōichi Ōhata doesn’t know better.

2. IkkiTousen: As much as I associate Cowboy Bebop with good things and happy times, I associate IkkiTousen with bad ones and misery. I watched this in a depressed stupor, desperate for crude, adolescent titillation to smother my despair. This pile of burning trash wasn’t it. The afternoon I spent watching IkkiTousen and eating an entire pepperoni pizza probably still counts as the lowest that I’ve ever been. However, just as Cowboy Bebop shouldn’t be penalized for being in the right place at the right time, neither should IkkiTousen be spared for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Strip away circumstances and it’s still a really bad show. The dull, cheaply animated fights buffer an incomprehensible story and are mostly a pretense to violently divest the improbably pneumatic, although surely inflated, cast of their clothing. I’ve been a sucker unbuttoning my shirts all this time; clearly I should just be clumsily karate chopping my clothing off. One punch and even the more durable fabrics turn into confetti. What it reveals is mostly just dissatisfying or gross. Women with giant boobs kicking ass? That’s fine! I could dig that more than you might think or I’d ordinarily care to admit, but with urination, lesbian rape and a festival and crass exploitation, you just repulse me. There’s nothing here for me and plenty I loathe. Maybe you love it, but I can’t get the bad taste out of my mouth.

1. M.D. Geist: This is the worst, most unpleasant, ugliest, nastiest, most joyless and most hateful thing that I’ve watched. I genuinely have trouble understanding how any mind could be diseased enough to enjoy this incompetent tribute to the worst dregs of masculinity. M.D. Geist is pretty much just this, but devoid of irony, wit or humanity. Geist is a violent, nihilistic asshole whose vulgar, brutish and hateful vision of what is to be a man represents an loving enshrinement of perhaps the worst in humanity short of genocide and Chuck Lorre sitcoms. It’s all just so unkind to the eyes. Geist is just some bland, blond dudebro who moves unnaturally without verve, fights without energy or dynamism and is surrounded by a color palette straight out of the pit below a portal-a-potty at the world’s largest chili cook-off. Everything about this just sucks and is awful. It’s not even any fun. I watched it for a laugh; hoping that it would be so bad that it was good. It’s not, it’s so bad that it’s an insult to humanity. I’m told that Kōichi Ōhata was only twenty three when he directed it. That old?!? I would have thought that this was immature when I was still whatever you are before a sperm.

Perhaps the finest distillations of what kind of troglodyte we’re dealing with come from the text commentary, which is the only amusing thing on the DVD. In one scene, Kōichi Ōhata mentions how they restored a scene in the director’s cut of the one named woman in M.D. Geist removing her bra before sex, her last significant function in the work, because he had always wondered what had happened to her bra as she’s seen without it in the next scene. Then later when Geist has inexplicably changed his hair and clothes, he complains about anybody mentioning this and how nobody would give Mel Gibson shit over something like that. (Might not have been a reference to Mel Gibson, but this is such a careless Mad Max rip-off that it might as well be) That’s shows you right where his interests and emphasis is. I’d say that he was thinking with his dick, but that’d be an insult to genitalia everywhere. The second is when he angrily whines about how pilots now have to have feelings, conflict and motivation instead of just fighting. You heard it straight form the horse’s mouth; Kōichi Ōhata hates and doesn’t understand characterization and depth.

I really try to separate the artist from the work and not personalize things, even when discussing somebody whom I’ll never meet, but this was so bad, so unpleasant and just so inhuman that I can’t. Kōichi Ōhata, you’re a puerile imbecile and Burst Angel was the pinnacle of your career. The next time somebody offers you a project, come to me first; I’ll pay you double not to make it, then finance the complete destruction of not just every copy of everything that you’ve ever done, but your erasure of history. It’s the greater good, Mr. Ōhata. Humanity doesn’t deserve to be associated with you and what you shit out onto its screens.


Last edited by Surrender Artist on Mon Nov 02, 2015 12:52 am; edited 1 time in total
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Preme



Joined: 31 Dec 2013
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:52 pm Reply with quote
Hi everyone, I just registered and join today. But I've been visiting this site for many years now. This is my top 10 list according to my own opinion. Enjoy.


#1. 5 Centimeters per second - Masterpiece
Anxiety; separation; unable to let go; yearning for someone or something. The entire movie dwells on those emotions. It's like a definition of the word Melancholy. The animation and sceneries are breath taking. It's not only beautiful, but it also help invoke these emotions onto the viewer.

#2. The Twelve Kingdoms - Masterpiece
Political. Mythical. Great character development. Great world building. Unique and original with an Ancient Chinese feel to it. Nothing I say will be original. This series had been reviewed and reviewed and mentioned to death on many forums. Instead of vaguely describing what this series is, I'll tell you how I came across this series.

I was at my mom's house visiting, before heading out to a party. No one was home and I had some time to kill, so I set the clock to 4:20 if you know what I mean. Then went on to search for something to watch. The only reason I chose this box set instead of other box sets laying around was because I was such a big fan of Romance of the Three Kingdom. And The Twelve kingdoms sounded similar. And it's the least girlie sounding title there.

The series was in Japanese with Chinese sub-titles only. The first episode led me to think that this series will be a Fushigi Yuugi knock off. So I didn't have much expectation of it. Boy was I wrong. After a few episodes, it got more interesting. Then the characters slowly grew on me. When it was time to reset the clock back to 4:20. I chose not to so I can enjoy this series without influence. When the time came and I had to leave for the party, I chose to stay at my mom's place and ended up finishing all 47 episodes in one sitting. Watching it with Chinese sub-titles has it's benefits. I was never confused with the terminologies.

The only reason why 5cm/s beat 12k on my list is because 12k is not complete. The novel which it's based on was not complete either. And that fact led me to discover this amazing site called Anime News Network. I visited ANN site on a daily basis, in hope that one day I'll see the banners/ads announcing a sequal to 12k.

#3. Air - Masterpiece
This anime has 3 arcs.
-The first arc is the Dream Arc. It begins with a Boy wandering into some town. The Boy meets a Girl. The Boy falls for the Girl.
-The second arc is the Summer Arc. It's thousands of years before the first arc. It follows a Samurai who get sent to guard a Princess. The Princess one day asks him for a favor. Samurai risk his life for that favor.
-The third arc is the Air Arc. It begins with a short retelling of the first arc, throught the eyes of the Girl this time. Then it continues where the first arc ended. We find out more about the girl in this arc. Seems like the girl went through and still is going through a lot of suffering. She doesn't want anyone to pity her or burden anyone, so she holds it in and smile, smile, smile.

The storyline, the storytelling, the dialogs, the level of detail and how the author made everything connect to everything. Those are what made this series great. Be warned!!! Pay attention to everything, what is said, what is done. Or you'll find yourself rewatching this three to four times and still be confused about the story or the ending.

#4. Aria (entire franchise) - Masterpiece
Mystically Beautiful. That sums up this entire franchise. This series sets in the future, on a planet called Aqua, in a water city called Neo Venezia (New Venice). There's no action in this series. No bad guys. It's about three girls training to become professional gondoliers. Watching them grow and mature. Watching them discover all the mysterious and majestic people/things of the city. The city itself is the main sell point of this series. This series has one of the best world building I've seen in anime. It is second only to 12k. Every nook and cranny, every turn, there's something mysterious or beautiful. This series is also episodic. You don't have to marathon the enthire thing. You can pick it up any time; put it down any time; start from any episode.

#5. La maison en petits cubes - Masterpiece
Only 12 minutes long. Doesn't have any dialogs. Just go watch it. If you absolutely hated it, you'd only wasted 12 minutes of your life.

#6. When they cry (S1+S2 only)
Use lube next time when you mind fcck me!!! That's what I was thinking after I finished watching it. The entire series flip flops between cutesy and psychotic. One second you're watching cutesy kids in a cutesy town doing cutesy stuff. THEN BAM!! The little kids going Freddy and Jason on people. Then shit goes back to normal like nothing happened. You'll spend a lot of time trying to piece everything together, trying to figure out what's going on. But you can't. Not yet at least.

#7. Baccano!
This series have three arcs and tons of memorable characters. The author cut up all three arcs and scrambled them together. Then used Pulp Fiction style storytelling, displaying same event through different people's eyes. I really liked this style, purposely making it more confusing than it is. I guess the author doesn't want us to focus too much on the storyline. Instead, the author wants us to focus more on each and every scene.

#8. Code Geass (R1+R2)
This series is about revolution and war in a fictional world controlled by three super power nations. Starts off with a Boy wanting to usurp the current king of Britania (the strongest of the three nations.) There's nothing he could do until one day he meets a mysterious girl. That girl entered a contract with him, granting him super human powers. In return, he have to do a favor for her in the future. She won't tell him what it is yet.

Great pacing from beginning to end. Lots of plot twists. Lots of action. Lots of suspense. Mech fights. Supernatural powers. All aspects are well balanced, not one thing overwhelms the other. With a self-centered, egotistical, cocky ass mo'fccker as the main character.

#9. Ef (Memories+Melodies)
Memories:
This series have two arcs and two main characters. Both arcs basically depict how complicated love/life is and what the main characters have to go throguh to achieve happpiness. One struggles with his surroundings while the other struggles within. First arc sets in Japan, about a high school student (who secretly has a job) struggling between school and career. Then add friends and romance to the mix and things get complicated. Second arc sets in Australia, about a Boy who meets and falls for a Girl with a disorder...

Melodies:
This series also have two arcs and two main characters. One struggles with a haunted past... The other faces a bleak future... It's much darker and touches on more mature subjects.

There are cliche moments and dialogs. But nevertheless, its a great series all together. I love how all the character are connected to one another. How the side characters from the first series are the main characters in the second. And vise versa. I also liked how they named the episodes in the second series.

#10. Gungrave
This series has two arcs. What happened before episode one and what happened after episode one.
-First arc is about two hood rats (one brain, one muscle) trying to survive the ghetto. They then joined the biggest mafia and try to climb the ladder.
-Second arc takes place years later. One attained an ultimate power and heads the biggest mafia. The other is believed to be dead.

The selling point of this series is loyalty and camaraderie. That's why I liked it so much. How much would you like this series depends on how much you value those two things. The action/gun fights in this series are amazing, too. The second arc is pretty weak. But it does wrap up the series nicely.

This series was based on a video game. It would've been a masterpiece if spoiler[they didn't incorporate Orgmans; if the second part wasn't so weak; if they didn't kill off Harry MacDowell in the middle of the series. Well, they didn't really kill off Harry. It's just that Harry was a smart and ambitious person. Willing and able to do anything and everything to get to the top. He could of climbed to the top and get to where he's at without the Orgmans. His character could've been an epic villian.] What a shame.


Last edited by Preme on Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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nobahn
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:08 pm Reply with quote
Preme--

I just want to say:
WELCOME TO THE FORA!
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Preme



Joined: 31 Dec 2013
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:18 pm Reply with quote
Thank you. I'm glad to be here and to contribute.
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nobahn
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 6:28 pm Reply with quote
Well, it turns out that I have over 10 anime pieces that I've rated as masterpiece and 5 that I've declared to be dreck as well.....
MASTERPIECES
  • anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (TV)
    The reviewer was correct: If you didn't cry over the ending, then your heart is made of stone; stone, I say!
  • Area 88 (TV)
    Curiously enough, I'm having some difficulty remembering my exact reasons for labeling it a Masterpiece. I think that it was because we don't really know until the end if the photographer is an anti-hero or not -- that, and the wedding scene.
  • Basilisk
    OK, OK, I haven't seen most of it; but what I saw on TV was enough to convince me that that this is a tragedy that is operatic in scope.
  • Bunny Drop
    If you don't like young children, then you'd never understand me when I say that it's very touching.
  • Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
    The only reason that I didn't rate the series as "Masterpiece" as well was that it was too episodic for my taste. The movie, on the other hand doesn't suffer from it in the least. Combine Spike's coolness with the tragic character that the anti-hero is, and you have one awesome movie!
  • Eve no Jikan (ONA)
    This story of intolerance and personal growth makes this a masterpiece for me.
  • Flowers of Evil
    OK, OK, this is one that I haven't finished; but I would respectfully argue that that this is a very psychological horror. Without a doubt, those people who dislike it do so intensely.
  • From Up On Poppy Hill
    I guess I have a soft spot in my heart for plots with a budding romance in them.....
  • Fullmetal Alchemist
    What I love about it is that it succeeds at so many elements. It has something for everyone in it: Humor, action, drama, and (a hint of) romance. What makes the plot and character development so good aren't just their richness; it's the MANNER in which they're done. Critical facts are NEVER revealed chronologically; instead, they're sprinkled throughout the series like breadcrumbs leading one to The Truth. There is a synergy in FMA that is achieved by the series getting all of the elements just right.
  • The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
    With a good plot and GREAT character development, it has an open-ended ending that forces you to think long and hard about the movie -- after seeing it a second time, of course!
  • Haibane Renmei
    I think that the kind of people who will like this will be the kind of people who enjoy (no, savor) character development. I think that the kind of people who will be most disinclined to like this will be people expecting any sort of action; even the plot development is slowly paced until about episode number five (or six) -- and it is a thirteen episode series. The Soundtrack is simply to die for -- Ko Otani is brilliant (in my opinion, at least).
  • His and Her Circumstances
    Reminded me, in a way, of my own childhood.
  • King of Thorn
    Oddly enough, I think that the movie is better than the manga.
  • Now and Then, Here and There
    Don't let the 1st episode fool you -- this tragedy is not for children.
  • Princess Tutu
    It works on multiple levels.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV)
    This is so good that when Zac Bertschy -- who initially held a dim view of the series -- decided to take on the review himself, he actually included spoilers in his critique so that he might do justice by the show!
  • SaiKano
    What can I say? It is a well-done tragedy.
  • Scrapped Princess
    The plot twist in Scrapped Princess is one that you will not see coming.
  • She and Her Cat
    It is a five minute short -- just take the time to see if you hate it! Compare with "Voices of a Distant Star", also from the same director.
  • Strait Jacket
    I must confess that I disagree with the reviewer; oh, well, viva la difference! One person's coolness is another's mediocrity.
  • Vampire Knight Guilty
    OK, so the ending got to me.....
  • Voices of a Distant Star
    What to say about this that hasn't already been said before? Well, there's no humor; it's all drama. It has Hemmingway's love, war, and death. Compare with both She and Her Cat and 5 Centimeters Per Second, which are also from the same director.
  • Wolf Children
    A sweet, endearing film. Not for young children -- they'll be bored out of their little minds!

5 worst that I have seen
  1. Voltron
    Worst ever
    I saw this thing as a child; now that I'm an adult, I completely agree with the review!
  2. Tenchi Muyo! GXP
    Awful
    It's a friggin' harem comedy! Enough said.
  3. Rave Master
    Bad
    I should explain my point of view. I saw the opening sequence, and my hand AUTOMATICALLY punched the "mute" button. I had to consciously put down the remote for one of the worst 90 second periods of my life. I'm sorry, but I both cannot and will not watch this anime. I'd have to be paid some good $$$ to watch it.
  4. Psychic Wars
    Not really good
    I guess that the reason that I don't think that it's as bad as everyone else seems to think is that while the fate of the love interest is practically telegraphed, there is a twist that I didn't see coming.
  5. Street Fighter Alpha
    Not really good
    What to say about this very decidedly mix of dreck and mediocre plot points? I didn't think that it was particularly interesting until the mid-point.

Dishonorable mentions (English dubs)
  • Patlabor: The Movie
    Weak
    I was so put off by the English dub that I stopped watching it after the opening credits. I thought that the opening credits represented the movie well (i.e., a solid, good production). EDIT: After reconsidering the movie, I'm lowering it by a notch because both the bird AND the birds are not explained to my satisfaction.
  • Voices of a Distant Star
    Not really good
    I know that Theron "Key" Martin likes the dub, but I disagree.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
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Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:38 pm Reply with quote
@nbahn

I like that you linked all of your picks, that was actually really helpful since I search most titles that people list anyway Very Happy



@Preme
Welcome to ANN! Very Happy


Last edited by relyat08 on Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:51 pm; edited 1 time in total
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
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Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:42 pm Reply with quote
Chiibi wrote:
So...I hear Violence Jack is a God-awful abomination of an anime. Has that made anyone's 'top 5 worst' list? Bennet the Sage refuses to review it because it's so tasteless and offensive that he can't even make fun of it and just by reading one written review of it, I am all kinds of disturbed.


I looked for it the other day, but all I found was a crappy fan-sub on Youtube that was too low quality to bother with. I'm not willing to spend any money on it considering how universally hated it is though, so I'll probably never see it.
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nobahn
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:56 pm Reply with quote
relyat08 wrote:
@nbahn

I like that you linked all of your picks, that was actually really helpful since I search most titles that people list anyway Very Happy

It took me HOURS to finish that thing!!! That posting was truly a labor of love!
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:54 pm Reply with quote
I'm about to commit a big no no, but I hope the mods will be forgiving. After reading many of the recent posts and going back and realizing how old my 2 previous lists are I wanted to do a new list. Except it turned out to be 2 lists, one for movies and one for series. Problem is I want them to be right on top of each other as I reference the first one in my second one a few times. Would be odd if one was the last post on one page and the other the first on the next. Would ruin the flow. So I'm going to commit a sin by triple posting. This long boring post is simply here to force the next page to start. I hope given the length and detail in the 2 sets of lists I'll be forgiven this little indiscretion.
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