Forum - View topicThe Stream - Monsters in the Attic
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bleachj0j
 Posts: 923 |
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To make it worse Kirito's not sister is actually his cousin. They're mothers are sisters. So yeah she's in love with her first cousin. That's when I dropped the show back at episode 14.
Enjoying Magi as well. Such a fun show. Of course Hunter x Hunter has been top notch. The best is yet to come. |
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RyanSaotome
 Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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Cousins are totally legal in Japan (and most first world countries), so I don't see the issue here. |
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publicenemy333
 Posts: 563 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Kinda surprised you decided to drop SAO. Its seems like its almost over anyway, and while Im greatly dissappointed in the direction it went as well, I decided to at least stay with it until the end (assuming this doesnt go on and on like the light novels).
And hell, at the very least, at least the filler is done with and we're actually kinda moving on with the plot. But I guess I cant blame ya, the second season of SAO has to be one of the biggest slaps in the face in recent memory. Im kinda holdin some hope that at least it'll end strong if nothing else. Was kinda surprised to see Psycho-Pass at number 1. Not that I'm complainin 
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Gwydion
 Posts: 155 |
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I too am actually more interested in Psycho-Pass than I initially thought I would be, but I completely agree about the characters. The stories are interesting, but they'd be even more interesting if I cared at all about the cast. I want to know more about them - all of them, not just Kogami. (At the very least I'd like for Ishida Akira's character - who's name escapes me at the moment - to have more lines because I just like his voice, lol.)
And... yeah... I don't know why, but I just can't drop K. It's not a good show - looks pretty though! - but I just can't bring myself to drop it. I'm going to chalk it up to my liking of ponytailed swordsmen with strange hobbies. 
Other than that, still enjoying Blast of Tempest and My Little Monster (and Hunter x Hunter). Not sure if I'll continue From the New World as I'm still in the rat wars. Also, sad to see the issues that caused me to drop SAO after episode 15 (I think?) truly did drag it down as much as I'd feared. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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I agree with this completely. I pretty much want to plug my ears whenever the show starts talking about this (which thankfully is not too often). I don't even want to know. The show is fun and the more they try to explain the reason behind the situation, the more contrived it seems.
I wouldn't say it has reinvented itself exactly. The bulk of the show is still about the robotics club, save that brief conspiracy interlude in episode 5 I think it was. FYI, the thing at the end of episode 7 is just a big red herring. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anyway, here's what I've been watching. I more or less agree with Bamboo's rankings. Except I'd definitely put Tempest over Psycho Pass. Both are really good though I think. (#1) Blast of Tempest - Excellent I don't find this show to be long winded at all (at least not in the recent episodes). To the contrary, I find it is very well paced, energetic and atmospheric. Despite being pretty complicated, things flow really well and the plot throws in so many really cool twists and turns. Although that said, this show definitely knows when to slow things down a bit too and flesh out its characters. They've really done a great job with the off beat, conflicted relationship between Yoshino and Mahiro. Aika is actually a great character as well. I still can't quite get a read on her. In a lesser show she could easily be a one dimensional cut out only serving to motivate Mahiro, but here they actually develop her as much as the other two via flashback. I like that they took the time to humanize the situation too in terms of the victims of the iron syndrome. And lastly, this show both looks and sounds great. The music is really strong with lots of dramatic violins and such (that sounds crappy when I say it but it really works in the show). The art design is nice if also fairly conventional (although note the beautiful ending sequence) and the animation (especially during the fights) is excellent. So yeah. This show is a definite winner. (#2) Psycho-Pass - Very Good There are certainly some neat ideas at work here. There's a lot of potential, both in the whole psycho pass system and perhaps even more so in the underlying idea of this whole world where a computer essentially tells everyone how to live their lives and apparently makes all the decisions. Overall, the writing has definitely been sporadically sloppy. However, it seems to be more or less improving and there are some really good parts too. The most recent two part arcs in were both really good. I like Akane and I really like what they've been doing with Kogami and Ginoza's past. At this point I'm quite hopeful that this will amount to an excellent show in the long run. (#3) Btooom! - Good Without question, this show is pretty schlocky entertainment. Still, while the first couple episodes had a few various issues (stilted presentation and rape rape rape respectively) the more recent episodes have definitely trended toward actually genuinely well done. The fights have been real smooth (which is reliving after the particularly awkward one in ep 1) and nice a tense too. Really, the whole show has a very nice, tense atmosphere. I actually like the characters too. Sakamoto has a nice element of conflict about him. He can be surprisingly heroic at times but also seriously struggle to do the right thing in other situations. The twist where they were all basically thrown to the wolves by someone they knew is cool too. It definitely puts an interesting spin on the characters (especially the seemingly nice ones). (#4) Robotics;Notes (TV) - Decent So basically, ninety percent of this show is a relatively down to earth, slice of life style show about a highschool robotics club. It's pretty low key most of the time but it has some rather nice moments scattered her and there. Watching these little robot dudes fight is neat. The characters are quite a lot of fun (even if Aki borders on annoying at times) and there's actually some very solid characterization lurking in the background (especially when it comes to the boys. The girls...we'll see). There are a few issues here and there (episode 3 felt heavily compressed. There are a couple really ugly time skips that don't work at all) but for the most part it is a surprisingly solid, if also rather unremarkable, show that I'm actually rather enjoying. Then there's the other ten percent of this show though. Apparently there's spoiler[some kind of big conspiracy with NASA and the sun might be blowing up]. Yeah. Seriously. This totally comes out of left field. We spend several episodes in robot club mode and then out of nowhere, the MC finds a secret file telling him this. Perhaps even stranger, the show mostly goes back to robot club in the next episode. So yeah. I really don't know what to make of this at all. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I dislike this story line (the way it was introduced I certainly dislike, the story line itself though...not sure) but I'm definitely rather wary of it. My understanding is that this show is only going to be one cour. Hence, there's all of three episodes left in this show. I can't imagine what they'll do with such a grandiose plot point in that space. Frankly, I'd much rather they just stuck with the robot club. (#5) Code:Breaker (TV) - So-so You know, initially I would have called this one of the better shows of the season. If Psycho-Pass is a testament to good ideas executed poorly then this show was a testament to generic ideas executed well. As the show goes on though...eh. I don't know. It is difficult to put my finger on what exactly changes for the most part. It feels, perhaps, like the more this show reveals the less interesting it becomes. None of what it actually brings to the table is that interesting and it has lost a bit of the intrigue that got me into it in the first place. I mean, initially, Oogami intrigued me. He seems like he'd actually kill Sakura in a heartbeat if she got in his way. I was really curious to see how that'd develop. As things go on though, he mostly just gets softened into a rather boring decent guy. This is not inherently bad but the way they do it feels pretty false and generic. Sakura's steadfast naivety gets tiresome as the show goes on too. I don't mind that she's against killing. I can even live with her being rather naggy about it. I just wish they'd do something with this though already. I also can't help but feel like she becomes increasingly ineffectual as the show goes on which is a real shame and makes her feel even more naggy. There's also the issue of the bloated cast. There are no less than four other code breakers in addition to Oogami, only one of which has any substantial personality. None of them have the same dark edge as Oogami which means none of them feel all that believable. It kinda destroys any sense of foreboding about the code:breakers organization too. They seem less like a shadowy government hit squad and more like a wacky and loveable team of misfits. This, plus the fact that everyone has their own different powers, makes things feel a lot more like formulaic shounen than something more interesting. Anyway, I still don't hate this show. It's still doing enough right to be called a passable action story. It definitely didn't live up to my initial high expectations though. (#6) From the New World - Not Really Good You know, this show would be significantly better if they just cut out episodes...lets say 3 to 7. I'm actually feeling pretty positive about this show after the last couple episodes though. They finally seem to be getting back to the actual interesting plot points that were introduced way back in the first couple episodes. Specifically, the village and the mysterious goings on therein such as certain kids disappearing. They've also quite effectively grounded that by actually having it impact the characters. I said right from the start that this ought to be the driving focus of the show. The trouble is, this plot point basically was brought up in episode 1 and 2 and then more or less dropped until roughly episode 8-9. In the meantime, they go off on a bunch of tangents. They keep talking (and talking and talking) about all these stupid creatures. There's also this whole big info dump in episode 4 (which is just horribly handled by the way). It just seems like a ton of noise. Empty, meaningless information that doesn't really matter in any meaningful way. From there, they go off on a further multi-episode tangent about the characters adventures with the mole people which, while slightly more exciting by virtue of at least having some conflict, really amounts to even less in the long run. So yeah...this show has been pretty bad in the interim but might actually get pretty good if it keeps heading in the same direction. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5504 Location: Mexico |
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This. Is there any other reason to watch it?
Well, except for those scenes of Yata on the skateboard, which look very pretty. |
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bleachj0j
Posts: 923 |
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It's mostly my own personal view. They're still blood related so that's where the problem is for me. |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5466 |
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Technically there are 4 seasons, but yeah despite the lack of explicit yuri it did form a foundation for REALLY pushing the yuri genre than ever before. You do see some of those tropes from there in quite a number of bishoujo shows (especially in the mostly female, non-harem casts) nowadays so Marimite felt like a 2-prong attack that the otaku latched onto in the long run. The hefty number of Marimite fanart is also a plus back in the day. 
My benchmark is how the team from Ghost in the Shell: SAC handle everyone contributing in solving the crimes, so yeah Psycho Pass really needs to work on that one. And in the back of my mind, I think Akane is going to pull a Madoka (or worse case scenario a Kirei Kotomine) later in the series. I suspect near the end of the first half of the series, shit is going to get real, and she's going to play a significant role than just a surrogate main character. I bet the OP sequence is foreshadowing her role in this. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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I just caught up on PSYCHO-PASS over the weekend after a couple co-workers went on about how good it was. (I had only seen the first episode and fell behind on a lot of series.)
WOW! Really enjoying the suspense. The crimes are well-thought out and I felt like I was watching a regular crime drama series, though it turned out to be a lot more grotesque than I imagined. That's one of the good things about the show though because it doesn't try to downplay things to make them family-safe, etc. |
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dragon695
 Posts: 1377 Location: Clemson, SC |
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Tsk, Tsk Bamboo. BTOOOM! at #5? Better than Blast of Tempest? I thought you had better taste. Oh well, I agree with pretty much everything else. Shinsekai Yori, Blast of Tempest, and PSYCHO-PASS continue to be my favorites this season. I would say give CODE:BREAKER and K a few more eps, but you probably did the right thing.
Personally, I want to see more background on Masaoka, who I find to be a very interesting character. I still believe he is also an ex-inspector. Beyond simply a trenchcoat, he has this hardboiled gumshoe personality that I can't get enough of. Last edited by dragon695 on Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Keichitsu0305
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Oh really? I've only seen the first two seasons (working on the 3rd next year) but I didn't know there was a 4th. Just found the ANN article: animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-18/maria-sama-ga-miteru-4th-season-confirmed-for-tv I can see elements of the series in 2006's Strawberry Panic and, of course, Yuruyuri but huh... Maybe some directors just didn't like it. *shurgs* I bet there's still some doujins floating around on the Internet. 
Same here with GITS. It wasn't just Major Mokoto doing all the work; Section 9 was a great team that utilized every character's skills. Batou, Togusa, Chief, Saito, the (adorable) Tachikomas, and everyone else used their expertise in marksmanship, hacking, military operations, and detective work to get the job done together. Also, off-topic, the 2nd season OP is so good. >///< In Psycho;Pass, everyone else feels like plastic models showcasing the latest Fall fashions while Kogami is the main Ace on the team. :/ Akane better not turn into Kirei! I don't want her spoiler[manipulating people and get a God complex!! ] But, then again, spoiler[Madoka was a god by the end of the series.]
Yoshiro more or less proves that white haired bishies are my Achilles Heel. Even if he is a tad bit annoying~ |
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1790 |
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Shows I'm watching in no particular order:
Magi: Even though there are more deeper plots this one is probably my personal favorite; a fun adventure series that can do friendship without it feeling like some poor excuse for a power up (lookin at you fairy tail) has likable characters a a nicely slowly but surely moving plot thats forming. I'm most eager to see this along with another particular shounen we're all aware of. Psycho Pass: This show has really grown on me, as now it dosn't feel like its forced darkness and intruge but now it comes more naturally. the bad side though is what bamboo nailed on: Kogami is the only really character sofar who is really interesting, as much as I'm intersted in the other Enforcers we have only recived subtle hints as to what sort of characters they may really be and as much as I;m curious to see if Akane will get overly cloudly over the course of the series's run, thats all she has going for her at the momment. I'm liking this ALOT better than before though Robotics;Notes: This is my other favorite, as I was acctually cool with the slow start since I liked the characters and their interactions and the mystery is quite interesting as well. Shin Sekai Yori: I too wished for the rat war to end, however I did find it fun to watch Saki and Sotaru have to and run around for their lives (yes I'm a sadistic bastard). The new arc started off....odd...for me, but I'm fairly curious as to what will happen next, I believe there are two more episodes currently released so I guess I'll marathon those. Chuu2: Kyoani really surpised me this year, I expected to care very little for either of their two shows, this and Hyouka, but I enjoy them both, albiet for differnt reasons. For Chuu2, its acctually pretty funny and showed some heart halfway through, so I think it may turn out to be a pretty solid show in the long run. Little Busters: Like Chuu2 I wasn't quite sure what I'd think of this, but I've been enjoying it fairly fine sofar, the only thing bugging me though are some of the voices which are too high pitched for their own good. Tonari no kaibutsu kun:Ah it'll be sad when this show leaves, but I've really enjoyed the odd relation-ship between Mitty and Haru, even though both do have their unlikable traits, I can't seem to not enjoy seeing them on screen. A great way to have a gateway into shoujo if I do say so myself. JoJo: Just throw logic out the window and enjoy! 
I'm catching up with space bros and am begining to see why so many people love it (not that I didn't before, I suppose I was merely reminded) and still keep up with HxH *as well as OP when I want to wait for HxH to get up online* I'm pretty glad I dropped SAO...for the momment anyway. While flawed, I generally liked the first arc...in light novel form... however no matter how I tried to get into it the second arc just stunk a bad oder for me so I just dropped it right then and there. I may give it another chance depening on what the novels AFTER this arc will bring but for now, Sword Art is offline. Last edited by Thatguy3331 on Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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skyreno4
 Posts: 92 |
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My top 5 shows, im watching are:
1. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 2. From the New World 3. BTOOOM! 4. Girls and Panzer 5. Pet Girl of Sakurasou Bamboo you still haven't watch Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! ?? This IS AN OUTRAGE!!!.., ^^' you should watch it, because $%#t that show should be in that list somewhere in top 3 |
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Cecilthedarkknight_234
 Posts: 3820 Location: Louisville, KY |
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not having watched a single show this year aside from another, ano natsu, little busters, hayate yuru yuri 2, ova's, movies and first episode for impressions.. am I really missing on something great??
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supercreep
 Posts: 526 |
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I find Psycho Pass to be very boring. I really dug the first episode, but it has not been able to bring me back to that level. I'm considering dropping it. Violence is not enough to keep me around, especially not when the characters are this utterly boring. The concept of the Psycho Pass itself may be unique, but the series as a whole certainly is not.
Conversely, I find From the New World to be truly excellent. It consistently keeps me on my toes. So far I've dropped K, Psycho Pass and Blast of Tempest. |
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