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ANNCast Holiday Special The Third: Part One


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Fifth B



Joined: 05 Sep 2010
Posts: 213
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:40 pm Reply with quote
Welp, lets give this a listen.

Eden of the East Movies: Agreed. I hadn't seen the series in a while, and I have to admit that I was somewhat let down. It was still quite smart, if not brilliant, and hey, someone's got to spoiler[tell the baby boomers off]. I will say that one of the more dissapinting aspects was how it was revealed that spoiler[being eliminated meant having your memory erased rather than murder], which retroactively undid some of the tension from the tv series, at least for me

Spice and Wolf II: I really enjoyed the first season, and this one was even better. I agree that the best, and I might even argue the only actually interesting, part of the show is the relationship between Holo and Lawrence, and the second series delivered on that part. More evidence that even the oddest concept for a series can deliver with clever and competent writing. I was quite surprised by how shoddy the animation was. I expected more out of Brain's Base.

Usagi Drop: I'm kind of in the same boat as Zac here. I started watching it, enjoyed it, then found out about the manga ending, put it on hiatus, and have yet to finish it. But what I saw was very sweet, and likable as much for what it was as for what it wasn't.

Summer Wars: I really enjoyed this one. It was one of those rare anime where there's enough there for analysis and discussion, while still being enjoyable as a pure spectacle. That dub was quite impressive too. I do have to admit, it made me curious about revisiting that Digimon movie for the first time in twelve years, if only because I'm starting to really like Mamoru Hosoda.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya: Agreed about those last twenty minutes. I didn't even notice how long that movie was until shortly after spoiler[Asakura stabbed Kyon], which I thought was a really effective and genuinely shocking scene, but after which it seemed to slow down significantly. However, I really enjoyed that scene between Kyon and Yuki on the rooftop. Through the film as a whole, it was really interesting seeing Kyon asses what his experiences with Haruhi and the SOS brigade have meant to him, and how he actually feels about the turn his life has taken. I will say, this is how you do expository dialogue. I personally hope that they make more Haruhi, but if they end the adaptation here, this is quite a good place for it.

Garden of Sinners: I've always loved stories where the full implications of what you've just exprienced come crashing down on you at the very end, and this series pulled it off masterfully. I've always been rather morbid, so I didn't find the violence that unsettling. I think that telling a disturbing, extremely violent story takes special skill, the ability to unsettle the viewers without making them tune out because they're sick to their stomach, and that just makes such stories all the more impressive when they pull it off. When a story is able to grab you, and take you along with it no matter how messed up it becomes, possibly even leading to you enjoying such a disturbing experience, it is something quite special indeed. I admit I did not watch this through legal sources, but this was also one of the best things I have seen this year, and if i can afford it, I'm tracking down one of those blu-ray sets on ebay or amazon.

As for Type-Moon in general, I'm not a huge fan, but I would like to check out Fate/Zero. I personally really enjoy world-building shows, but I agree that they can get irritating after a while if the creators don't really care all that much about the characters (I still hold up Wolf's Rain as the best example of an anime which does world building right, without screwing over the characters or the story).

Colorful: I have to confess, when I first heard people talking about this, I got it confused with the aforementioned perverted anime about panties. After learning that this was not the case, I'm rather interested in seeing it. Realistic teen angst is a rare thing indeed in anime, and I'd really like to see how they approach such subject matter.

Evangelion 2.22: Absolute agreement. I remember just floating out of the theater after watching it earlier this year. Evangelion was the show which got me into anime in the first place, and I'm really excited to see how it's going to grow.

Tiger & Bunny: Alright, enough is enough, I need to get on that.

Redline: See above. I'm definitely blind buying the blu-ray for that one.

I have to say, I think this year was excellent for anime movies, but quite sparse for TV and OVAs. Aside from Sinners, Summer Wars, Evangelion and Haruhi, there wasn't that much which really grabbed me this year. I really liked Spice and Wolf, and even for a Key fanboy I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Angel Beats. The best thing I've seen this year would probably be Revolutionary Girl Utena, which I wish I had tracked down years ago because it's flipping phenomenal, but that's a rerelease so I'm not sure if it counts.

As for movies, I have been really crappy at keeping up with what's coming out, so I can't really comment on any of those, although I've heard good things about Melancholia, so I probably should check that one out. Same with Rango and The Tree of Life.

Attack the Block is another one I've wanted to check out. I find the use of "thug" characters especially interesting considering both the recent riots, as Justin mentioned, and the rising prevalence of far-right groups like the EDL in Britain. That demographic is treated with a shocking level of condescension and scorn in the UK from what I've seen, so it is quite remarkable that the filmmakers chose to make them the protagonists.

Another excellent podcast, fun and informative!
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:40 pm Reply with quote
I've heard of Colorful; I saw it while browsing on the Summer 2010 list. I should wait to watch it legally instead of fan subbed but... oh, the temptation!

More 30 year old (and over) protagonists, Japan!!! I have had my fill of high school teenagers! I will pre-order every volume Tiger & Bunny if I can make this wish come true. Anime cry

Personal top 5 shows, which is too obvious :
1. Chihayafuru
2. Mawaru Penguin Drum
3. (tie) Steins;Gate and Tiger & Bunny
4. (tie) Usagi Drop and Natsume Yūjin-cho
5.Hanasaku Iroha

I liked No.6 and Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth but they aren't really fantastic. Haven't seen Redline or Mardock Scramble but I will buy them next year! Very Happy

My worst: ...nothing really. :/

All I've seen in the theaters was The Muppets. Seriously; that's the only movie I saw this year. But now I want to see Bridesmaids and Tree of Life; both sound refreshing.
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Yorozuya



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 332
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:43 pm Reply with quote
I love Chihayfuru so far but considering the manga isn't finished yet I'm sort of worried about how its going to end. It seems popular in Japan so they might go for the open ended route, which is fine as long as they get a second season, or they could go for an alternate ending.

Either way I want to see how things wrap up (though I know we're only half way through) before I declare it the best thing ever but it is the NEW thing that I've enjoyed the most this year.

Tiger and Bunny was fine but I got bored with it after 6 episodes or so. Maybe its because I'm from the UK so I'm not as into Super Heroes? Maybe its because Barney's character rubbed me the wrong way? I don't know, it just wasn't for me.
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Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:52 pm Reply with quote
Lord Geo wrote:
I just bought Summer Wars recently, but haven't watched it yet. Why did I buy it, though? Because of one super-short clip of it on FUNimation Channel that reminded me of Digimon: Our War Game, which was an awesome movie. Zac seems to indicate that people are putting down Summer Wars because of how it's seemingly similar to Our War Game, but that ended up being the reason why I bought it. I don't really see why people would necessarily put down one movie because of similarites to a previous one, especially when it's from the same director and has about 10 years between the two. Man, I wish Digimon was given a full DVD release, and uncut at that. I would easily love to own Our War Game on DVD without going to Digimon the Movie. Here's hoping that Summer Wars can give me a similar enjoyment.

Out of the rest of the anime lists, Tiger & Bunny is the only one that I saw some bit of, and I do agree that it is a good show, even from the first two episodes, which is what I show of it. I do have Eva 2.2, but like Summer Wars I haven't watched it yet. I should really watch that too, though.

Some of my favorites that I've seen this year, though? It would probably be something like this, but without any order, since I hate putting things in favorites order:
Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai Taikai-hen (A little bit of re-using animation, but it fully delivered on what the show had been building up to since season 1)
Kaiji: Hakairoku-hen (Simply amazing... That's all I can say)
Arion (a late-80s movie by Sunrise based on a Yoshikazu Yasuhiko manga about the Greek pantheon; I wonder why it was never licensed back in the 90s or early 2000s, because it was so good)

Yeah, I didn't see too much of what was released or aired this year, but that's how it usually is. Didn't see many movies this year, so I refrained from listening to that.


My problem with the whole Digimon/Summer Wars thing is that it copies it even when it doesn't make sense to copy Our War Games. The ending includes the whole "the whole world unites to stop the virus" when the entire movie up until that point has basically denounced the west (in particular America) as a corrupting influence on Japan (the characters frequently talk about how great Feudal Japan was, America is entirely to blame for the problems the family has to contend with, and the son who lived in America grew up to be kind of a jerk). I can't consider that ending to be sincere.

The family aspect of the movie is great, I really did enjoy the way this family interacts, I didn't have a problem with the grandmother, and they where several scenes that I really enjoyed. Though I still think the main male character is basically a harem protaganist who just really needs to find a bunch of girls to gawk at (this isn't helped by the fact that his introduced to the family as a Tokyo U student)

As for anime I watched in the past year, like a lot of others I simply have not watched a lot of recent anime. I keep on buying old anime I watched 7-8 years ago so that's taking up a bunch of time. Then I get an itch to watch anime I bought a while ago (the Gundam Seed remaster is making me want to watch that series again) which leaves little time to watch recent anime.

5. Hunter X Hunter (basically gets in by default)
4. Evangelion 2.22 (I can finally stand Shinji, Asuka, and Rei. Still hate Gendo as a character, and Seele has not advanced past a plot device)
3. Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspectors (While this started last year I am still counting it. Really well done battles, amazing action packed ending, Sanger Zonvolt is still awesome)
2. Fairy Tail (the first 48 episodes start off slow but really pick up steam as the series goes on, good dub, and I reallyy enjoy some of the anime only content)
1. Tiger and Bunny (simply amazing, the best new original anime in years, it finishes the plot but leaves you wanting more (with the sales in Japan they will make a sequel). Probably the first Sunrise anime that had regularly good battles since Gundam Seed)
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Cecilthedarkknight_234



Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 3819
Location: Louisville, KY
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 5:17 pm Reply with quote
Some nice stuff it seems, I really will have to check out colorful when i am able to.. that aside I might as well list my top 5 for the year

1.Usagia Drop
2.Steins Gate
3.Gosick
4.Eva 2.22
5.Hourou Musuko Wandering Son

If i had to choose a #6 Ano Hana would be there as well, however the ending just ruined the mood.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:12 pm Reply with quote
Dr. Osaka wrote:
Skip the second part of this unless you want to hear two film school dorks spout pretentious critic buzzwords.

You must be new here. Laughing They do that almost every two podcasts.
TBH, it's their show, so they can talk about whatever they want. It just bother me because I'm the overly organizing type, and I can't stand listening to talks about X on a show/site about Y. No offense to ANYONE on ANN, I just don't get why you keep talking about movies when 90% of people here just care about the anime. That's what we come here for.

Top 5:
1. Magika Madoka. (Hell, I bought the LE R2s for 600$)
2. Tiger & Bunny. (More Lunatic, FFS)
3. Mawaru Penguindrum. (Today's the last episode... don't let me down)
4. GOSICK. (Loved it, despite it's flaws)
5. Seikon No Qwaser II (sometimes, when something is so stupid, it does a 180 and becomes entertaining: boob lasers? bowling? traps? we have them all. And yes, I am well aware that it's technically crap, but gosh darn it if it wasn't entertaining).
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Sewingrose



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 579
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:49 pm Reply with quote
I like how this year, I actually knew every title mentioned both movie and anime (except for the first movie Justin brought up), and have seen it, or was already planning to see most of them.
And I like hearing you guys talk about movies, because I have similar enough tastes, that I can tell if I'll like something or not.

Great podcast as usual, nice to have something to listen to when I get the last minute presents wrapped.
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Splitter



Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 1276
Location: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:10 pm Reply with quote
*reads comments*

So Zac and Justin saw minimal 2011 anime, and prattle on about Melancholia and Tree of Life? Pass.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:17 pm Reply with quote
We talk about movies sometimes and every single holiday special (there have been four of them) includes movie lists. This is not unprecedented or unexpected. We talk about anime longer than we do movies. If it bothers you, don't listen to that segment, that's why it comes last so people who don't want to hear that can just hit stop at the end of the anime segment.

If it feels like we go in to the movies a little more, that might be because we've spent the entire year for a couple hours a week talking about the titles on our anime top 5s and we don't have much left to say about them. Whereas no more than 5-10 minutes a week are spent on movies, if that. Not that tough to figure out if you think about it for a second.

This is the first time in over a year where I've seen anyone bitch about us talking about movies. In contrast I get plenty of comments on twitter and via email encouraging me to do *more* movie chat, which I do not indulge because the show is focused on anime. I feel like we hit a nice balance and most people in my audience seem to agree.

But then 2 of the 3 people complaining hate both me and this show! I'm gonna go back to wrapping presents.

~fin~
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Splitter



Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 1276
Location: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:37 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
We talk about movies sometimes and every single holiday special (there have been four of them) includes movie lists. This is not unprecedented or unexpected. We talk about anime longer than we do movies. If it bothers you, don't listen to that segment, that's why it comes last so people who don't want to hear that can just hit stop at the end of the anime segment.

If it feels like we go in to the movies a little more, that might be because we've spent the entire year for a couple hours a week talking about the titles on our anime top 5s and we don't have much left to say about them. Whereas no more than 5-10 minutes a week are spent on movies, if that. Not that tough to figure out if you think about it for a second.

This is the first time in over a year where I've seen anyone bitch about us talking about movies. In contrast I get plenty of comments on twitter and via email encouraging me to do *more* movie chat, which I do not indulge because the show is focused on anime. I feel like we hit a nice balance and most people in my audience seem to agree.

But then 2 of the 3 people complaining hate both me and this show! I'm gonna go back to wrapping presents.

~fin~


I grew up and now hate you and this show much less than past incidences. In time, I may even be indifferent of you.

It is a letdown though, even with the disclaimer, that you and Justin aren't reviewing what you thought were the top 5 anime of the year... granted, I doubt you could put together a top 3.

I decided to listen to the movie portion. I wanna see if either of you adore Hugo. Not that I care or anything... urusai >_>

*insert olive branch here?*

Top 5 Anime
5. Ano Hana
4. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
3. Hourou Musuko
2. Kaiji: Hakairoku-hen
1. Steins;Gate

Top 5 Movies
5. Moneyball
4. Super 8
3. Drive
2. Rango
1. Hugo


Last edited by Splitter on Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
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sainta



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 989
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:45 pm Reply with quote
_V_ wrote:
"Shinji represents weakness in general, and probably Japaness weakness in particular. I stand by this theory" -- Zac

That isn't even really a "theory": Hideaki Anno has made some rather bold comments about his views on Japanese-American relations and how Japan is a nation of "big children" otaku and how Evangelion contains commentary on this. I mean Zac, as a fan of the original series, it took you this long to realize that the Eva-03 storyarc is a criticism of the USA? (Eva-03 being "Made in the USA" etc.). Rebuild of Eva 2.0 didn't really change that part of the plot, it was present in the original. Maybe it just seems fresher now, or more obvious because its a movie that you see "in marathon" for 90 minutes, instead of slogging through episodes 8 through 19 (more or less what the movie covers).

But I haven't particularly heard anyone....denying that point, Zac. As if its a theory you have to defend or "stand by".

The social-political commentary in Evangelion, the *views of the Japanese creators themselves* just seem a bit more obvious in movie-form, but they were always there.

I mean this goes back to Gunbuster and stuff; in the background, its loaded with references that in the fictional future-history, before the war against the Space Monsters, Japan went to war with the USA and conquered Hawaii. Anno has even pointed this out at conventions and stuff.

He's disgusted with how he feels that Japan relying on the USA to be its Big Brother in international politics turned them, in the words of Hetalia: Axis Powers, into "Mr. I-Fully-Agree-With-America".


Nonetheless, according to the interviews in the "Complete Destruction of All Records" guidebook (which I really hope FUNimation would get around to publishing through a third party to spread awareness of this info), we can tell a bit about what the plot of Rebuild of Eva 3.0 will be like:

For you see, spoiler[in the interviews] Kazuya Tsurumaki spoiler[said that he agreed to come back to work on the remake only on the condition that] Hideaki Annospoiler[ promised him that the third movie would focus on ]"Rei 3", spoiler[the third Rei clone. She's only in the series for about an episode and a half (episodes 23/24) but she's subtley different from "Rei 2" in several intriguing ways they only got to hint at. So ]Tsurumaki spoiler[demanded that they push Rei 2 dying to earlier in the story, i.e. in the fight against the razor-armed ]Angel Zeruel. spoiler[ The original plan was thus to have Rei 2 actually die in the climactic fight at the end of the movie. Unfortunately, the movie studio got upset that a movie would end on such a downer, so due to "executive meddling" they forced them to have that "happy Ghibli style ending with shipping". ]

"The whole movie is a Giant Rei/Shinji Shipper fest!"

So needless to say, Tsurumaki spoiler[got into a huge fight with Anno that he broke his word over the big condition he had. It might just be about how they chose to "end" the second movie, but in all probability, Rei 2 will die in the beginning of the third movie so it can focus on Rei 3, as was promised to] Tsurumaki. spoiler[ Indeed, the preview trailer shows "Rei" dressed in the clothes that Rei 3 typically wears.]

spoiler[As for killing ]Asuka spoiler[in Eva-03, they said the only reason they did that was because the Rebuild movies had to condense down the school characters to the point that Toji isn't very prominent, so killing him wouldn't have any real emotional impact. Thus, they killed off Asuka....and then had to figure out how to get her in that position in the plot, which involved building up the ]"Rei/Shinji shipperness"spoiler[ in the first half as a *PLOY*, a giant ploy, just to explain why Asuka would feel the need to prove herself by piloting ]Eva-03.

spoiler[The odd thing is that a lot of reviewers took it at face value that "wow, this is the new "Happy Evangelion" version, and this time Shinji's going to end up with Rei"....when in reality the whole Rei thing is just a fake-out....]indeed, the original series sort of played up their shipperness a bit a well in the later episodes before revealing she was a clone, it was always a major plot twist. How soon we forget.

But the big problem was of course how to fit "new character" Mari Makinami into the movie...spoiler[....the idea was to not even feature her until Rebuild of Eva 3.0, jut cameos in the second movie. Showing the awesome power of thousands of hikkikomori on 2chan, there was such an overwhelming fan-response to her mere appearance in the Rebuild of Eva 1.0 preview, that they kept giving her more to do. Why? Because Mari is an excuse to make different merchandise.]


Wow! I had no idea about that. Do you know what was the staff planning to do with Kaworu? spoiler[Until now he has made 5 second appearances, as if they are planning to feature him in the third movie more.]
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:04 pm Reply with quote
Zhou-BR wrote:
... Well, it seems every year there's at least one show everyone else think is brilliant while I can't seem to "get it". This year, it's Tiger & Bunny. I forced myself to watch the whole thing, and pretty much nothing about it impressed me, even though I love super-heroes. ...

Yorozuya wrote:
... Tiger and Bunny was fine but I got bored with it after 6 episodes or so. Maybe its because I'm from the UK so I'm not as into Super Heroes? Maybe its because Barney's character rubbed me the wrong way? I don't know, it just wasn't for me.

I don't know that Tiger & Bunny is particularly for people who "love" super heroes ~ Bunny is more heroic than Tiger at the outset, yet Tiger is the one most will sympathize with, and the competition to do typical super-heroic things to get the most points and to assure that your sponsor keeps sponsoring you is a lot more realistic in its twisted way than the Justice League of America.

And, indeed, if Bunny-chan rubs you the wrong way in the first 1/3 of the series ... to me that kind of shows that you're getting it. He isn't a sympathetic character at the outset.
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Mad_Scientist
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:48 pm Reply with quote
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is Zac's number 2? That surprises me quite a bit. The movie was so full of massive plot holes and absurd elements that I had a hard time really enjoying it, despite some pretty cool moments. I certainly didn't find it particularly smartly written.

Eh, to each his own I guess.
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Spotlesseden



Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 3514
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:05 pm Reply with quote
Mad_Scientist wrote:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is Zac's number 2? That surprises me quite a bit. The movie was so full of massive plot holes and absurd elements that I had a hard time really enjoying it, despite some pretty cool moments. I certainly didn't find it particularly smartly written.

Eh, to each his own I guess.


it doesn't need to be smartly written to be an enjoyable movie. I guess you like oscar awards movie.
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Mad_Scientist
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:09 pm Reply with quote
Spotlesseden wrote:
Mad_Scientist wrote:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is Zac's number 2? That surprises me quite a bit. The movie was so full of massive plot holes and absurd elements that I had a hard time really enjoying it, despite some pretty cool moments. I certainly didn't find it particularly smartly written.

Eh, to each his own I guess.


it doesn't need to be smartly written to be an enjoyable movie. I guess you like oscar awards movie.


I mentioned that because Zac was talking about how smartly written it was in the ANNCast.

In truth, I did enjoy the movie somewhat, and I agree with Zac that the first time Caesar talked was a really awesome scene. I wouldn't say it was a bad movie really, but I certainly wouldn't say it was a great movie, and I think the movie had a lot of flaws, and so I was surprised to see Zac (who I tend to think of as fairly critical about most things) liked the movie that much and praised it as being very smartly written.
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