Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
|
Goto page Previous |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6694 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
|
||
|
I think it's worth it. There's a lot more going on than is apparent from watching just the one film, even though the 2 stories are intertwined. The love story in the other film is more poignant - it has the moment where everything goes wrong, which ultimately affects both timelines. And, without watching the other film, I doubt you'd understand the significance of the scene where Koyomi goes to his strange scheduled meeting at an intersection where he seemingly randomly meets an old lady who picks up the medication he's dropped. It's the culmination of the entire two films.
And it's only 1½ hours of your time. |
|||
|
|||
Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10371 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
@Errinundra
The Ah! My Goddess! / Oh My Goddess! controversy has gone on since the initial US publication of the title. Dark Horse Comics and AnimEigo were co-operating to release both the manga and the OVA at the same time. Toren Smith the head of Studio Proteus who were doing Dark Horse's translation contacted the mangaka directly. He affirmed that the Japanese title was intended to be work play on the English phrase Oh My God!. Both the manga and the OVA were issued under the title Oh My Goddess! Dark Horse also omitted several chapters of the manga to introduce the sisters in the same time frame as the OVA. Purists howled. Dark Horse continued the use of their title until the end of the series. However subsequent releases of the TV series used the Ah! instead of Oh. Note the author of the manga also wrote Your Under Arrest. |
|||
|
|||
|
Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6694 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
|
||
|
To paraphrase the bard, Oh My Goddess! by any other name would be as sweet.
|
|||
|
|||
Sab3r_Cr0p
 Posts: 5 |
|
||
|
rewatching "Lupin The Mystery of Mamo". dunno if im in the minority here but i love this movie! it gets so surreal that i just cant help but be attracted to this "weirdness" aura
|
|||
|
|||
|
Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10371 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
@Errinundra
I agree that Belldandy is all sweetness and light. Her sisters are the ones that provide the necessary spice and conflict. By the way, the three sisters are very loosely based on the Norns of Norse mythology. The Usual English version of their names is Verthandi, Urd and Skuld. I'm not sure if the change from Verthandi to Belldandy was intentional or a translation artifact. The English translators were aware of the original but kept Belldandy as it sounded better. |
|||
|
|||
Gina Szanboti
 Posts: 12765 |
|
||
|
Every time I see her name, it triggers Black Oak Arkansas' "Jim Dandy" to start playing in my head. "Belldandy to the rescue! Go Belldandy! Go Belldandy!"
|
|||
|
|||
|
Kvantika
Posts: 1 |
|
||
|
Urusei Yatsura The Movie 3 on Retro Crush's live channel. I've now seen movies 1, 3, 5 and 6. I hope 2 and 4 are on the live channel soon because I heard 2 is the best one.
|
|||
|
|||
Beltane70
 Posts: 4191 |
|
||
|
Currently watching the original Japanese version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman for the very first time. I had last watched the first US version as Battle of the Planets way back when I was around nine years old, 47 years ago! Despite watching BotP religiously when I was a child, I was surprised that I only remembered a handful of episodes.
|
|||
|
|||
EmbraceMe
 Posts: 2021 Location: Growing old and jaded. |
|
||
|
Came out of anime retirement to finally finish off the Utawarerumono series by watching The Mask of Truth. I had originally watched The False Faces as it was simulcasted so my memory it is quite a bit hazy. I recall general events and characters but, overall, nothing really stuck to my memory besides major events.
I really enjoyed the original Utawarerumono series and its cast were all endearing to me, as were the events that unfolded in that series. It had a lot of emotional impact with its ending, and even minor characters had memorable moments. Comparatively, The Mask of Truth felt very lacking or fell flat. The fights were mediocre and had lack of interesting action. Antagonists did not have lasting impact and the resolution felt pretty rush which the anime tried to cover quickly to get to the next part. It felt like a very rushed RPG adaption where they needed to explain how characters acquired items to reach their end goal. I did enjoy the "Taking Back the Capital" arc as that felt like the most nuance part of the adaption but, again, the fights were lackluster. The secret antagonist arc also dragged on, too. Having 9 (?) episodes to cover it really stretched it out and, at that point, I felt the need to put the episodes at 1.5x speed to get it over with. The things I did enjoy were the cast figuring out spoiler[Haku had taken over Oshtor's identity.] Suara also continues to deliver great songs for the series, and when Kimi Ga Tame played as spoiler[Hakuoro/Hakuowlo was released from godhood] was an emotional highlight for me. I think it also says a lot if I said the moments I look forwarded to with the series were the appearances of the Tsukur cast. That's probably the anime I'll watch for a bit before crawling back into retirement. Maybe when I'm next free I'll finish Muv Luv Alternative's second half. |
|||
|
|||
Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1828 Location: South America |
|
||
|
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006-2009)
I had first watched this classic show about 13 years ago, around 2013. At the time I didn't think it was very special, as I was very impressed with heavy dramas and I didn't appreciate much the subtleties of slice-of-life. So I had rated it 7/10. Now, OMG, I watched it again and I think now this is simply a brilliant show, a true classic for the ages. All 28 episodes of it including the spoiler[8 semi-repeated episodes of endless eight, which remain an unmatched pinnacle of artistic television]. First, I should mention the art and animation: compared to the other stuff from 2006 (20 years ago!), Haruhi was miles ahead, in fact, its level of attention to detail looks closer to current shows than to other TV anime from the mid-2000s. I think this only adds to the shows' brilliance: Haruhi is a masterpiece on all levels. Second, the fact that the show admits multiple interpretations for what is happening as it has an unreliable narrator during its entire duration. At its core, Haruhi is an exploration of the underlying psychology of the existential struggle of the late-teenager years, a time when one is becoming an adult, trying to make sense of the world around him or her. Yet still clinging to some fantastical notions from childhood, living a sort of double life, between fantasy and reality. Third, the sheer brilliance of how the show is structured: its at the same time transgressive in its rejection of a linear story over its 28-episodes, with the last episode being one of the best and yet completely unnecessary for the rest of the show in narrative terms. Thus, it is a "science fiction show" but still situated in the tradition of Japanese yashikei where "nothing happens". Operating as sort of a bridge between Evangelion and K-On!. Rating: 10/10. |
|||
|
|||
|
Beltane70
Posts: 4191 |
|
||
|
I just recently started watching another old 1970’s anime, 1975’s Brave Raideen. I remember watching the remake of the series way back in 2007, but never saw the original, save for one episode until now. It’s quite interesting watching the old Super Robot shows in this day and age, especially considering that mecha anime is nowhere near as popular as it was back in the 70s to 90s.
|
|||
|
|||
|
neilghost
Posts: 2 |
|
||
|
I came across this fairly new anime on YouTube recently. The Apothecary Diaries
and it is wonderful. For those who do not know, "apothecary" is an old-fashioned term for what is now the pharmacy. It is also an old term for someone who made and sold medicine. The story is about a girl named Maomao and she lives in a fictional capital in Imperial China during the Tang Dynasty. Her adopted father is the town apothecary and teaches her about medicines and poisons. One day she is kidnapped and sold to the Imperial Palace as a laundry maiden. She solves the mystery of two concubines and their children getting sick and is promoted to lady-in-waiting/food taster. She is also an amateur Sherlock Holmes and solves various mysteries. The stories are well-done, the artwork is beautiful and the show is educational as you learn about medicine, poison and "palace politics" 
Has anyone else watched it or read the manga? Good luck in your new bed. Enjoy your nightmare, hon, as you're resting your head. |
|||
|
|||
|
Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6694 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
|
||
|
The autumn season (
 ) has just finished, winter is settling in, and I'm at the tail end of a cold, so I thought I'd catch up with what I've been watching since my last post in this thread.
NANA 
Two young women sharing a name (Nana, of course) and the hope for a better life in Tokyo meet by chance and decide to share a flat. Nana Osaki (above right) is a wannabe singer in a punk rock band - she's rebellious, in-your-face, ambitious and not averse to taking risks. Her musical career slowly, steadily takes wing. Nana Komatsu (aka Hachi to avoid confusion - above left) is unsure of herself, but would like to find love and then settle into a regular domestic life. She makes a series of poor decisions that lead her further and further from realising that wish. This riveting tale by one of my favourite directors, Morio Asaka, shows him at the peak of his powers, showcasing his emotional intelligence and sensitivity, and further evidence that 2006 is one of the best ever years in anime. (Happy 20th Birthday, Simoun! is even more evidence.) Rating: masterpiece. After watching 47 episodes of NANA, much of the rest of the 6 weeks since my last post was spent completing the Ah! My Goddess franchise.
I now like to think of the Ah! as denoting a post-coital sigh of satisfaction. Not that the franchise ever goes that far. Anyway, after the first OAV, the franchise went on to hone the "magical girlfriend" formula in a movie, 2 TV series, multiple specials (which ANN mostly treats as extra episodes of the 2 TV series) and another OAV. With the same director handling the whole lot, they follow a consistent pattern: Belldandy's and Keiichi's love for each other is obvious to everyone, but Keiichi is too shy to admit it; an outside threat appears but is averted at the last moment. The whole franchise develops a sameness, which was no doubt exacerbated by watching them all in short order. Further, Keiichi's university friends, along with his sister, are largely ignored in favour of an increasingly uninteresting mob of supernatural characters. It was still sweet, but the sugar hit became increasingly less potent. Ratings: The Movie, Ah! My Goddess (TV1), Flights of Fancy (TV2), Tatakau Tsubasa (stand alone special), 2011 OAV - all decent. Completing the 2nd season brought my total of 2006 anime titles to 49. There are 3 titles I wish to re-watch (Death Note, Innocent Venus and Higurashi) before making Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple the 50th. Then I can move on to other things. Scarlet and Wolf Children. I missed the cinema release of Scarlet (if it ever had one in Melbourne) so, when it finally became available on blu-ray, I snapped it up, along with a blu-ray upgrade of Wolf Children. After Mamoru Hosoda turned independent, he released 3 terrific films between 2006 (there's that year again) and 2012 (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and Wolf Children) then followed them with 3 less memorable films (The Boy and the Beast, Mirai and Belle) even if they were more ambitious on a technical level. I'd rate Scarlet - about a young woman seeking revenge, a la Hamlet, in the afterlife - as somewhere between the 2 groupings. It wears its ideological heart on its sleave and there are some clunky emotional moments but Scarlet is his best protagonist since Hana in Wolf Children. The latter has aged very well so I've increased its rating one level. Scarlet: very good; Wolf Children: excellent. 
Scarlet I watched 3 anime in the season just finished, so here they are in order from least to most preferred. Akane Banashi follows a fairly standard shounen sports anime / personal development route with the notable twists being that the "sport" in question is Rakugo, and the protagonist is a girl. That she's a girl is actually mostly irrelevant to the story as the aim here is to broaden the show's appeal, rather than make any subversive point. The production quality is superb but the story is predictable. Rating: good. I started A Hundred Scenes of Awajima late in the season when I realised the director was Morio Asaka again. This story of the long-lasting and wide-ranging effects of bullying at a theatrical school clearly based upon the Takarazuka Music School, is a series of vignettes rather than a linear narrative. This meant it took me several episodes to properly grasp what was going on. The shifting perspectives also meant I struggled to remember who was who. Once I cottoned on to what was happening I could then appreciate the artistry on display. Morio Asaka is one of the most empathetic observers of human foibles in anime. Rating: a low very good. The series I looked forward to the most each week was Witch Hat Atelier. Like Akane Banashi, the production standards were consistently high; however the story and characters were more interesting. With the season ending on a cliffhanger, my overall opinion will depend upon the villains - are they irredeemably bad a la Frieren or will they prove to be more shaded, more ambiguous, more complex? Rating: very good. 
Coco from Witch Hat Atelier. |
|||
|
|||
|
Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10371 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
@Errinundra
You seem to have missed The Adventures of the Mini Goddesses anime series. This is definitely part of the franchise, it came directly from the manga version of Oh! my Goddess and is not anime original. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group