Forum - View topicThe Spring 2006 Anime Preview Guide
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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Am I missing something on Gintama? I tried it out since Gintoki was my goto Laughter type character in Jump Superstars, and I was hoping it'd be a good show, but I found the first two-parter to be REALLY dull. The comedy was definitely kind of wacky, but not nearly wacky enough to compete with the really great comedy anime like Excel, H&C, or Dokuro, and the action, what little there was, was very boilerplate. It had it's funny moments here and there, but overall it was more of a struggle to get through than an enjoyable experience for me. Having read the manga, would you consider the first episode to be indicative of the rest of the series, or should I give it more time? |
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lazuline
 Posts: 66 Location: Park Slope |
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I have to admit, the 1-hour pilot episode of the anime was very weak as it consisted of pure "meet the character" introductions--of practicly the entire Gintama universe. The episode was entirely off the timeline of the manga. It's likely, that the production asumed that the average viewer would have already been familiar with the popular manga; as a result, the inclusion of characters that don't appear until later volumes leaves the fansub viewer confused and/or bored. The whole episode, essentialy, was just a bit of fanservice to those curious to see their favorite character animated. For example: the natto weilding, far-sighted, ninja girl Sarutobi Ayame doesn't make her appearance until volume 5. The second episode restores the timeline, and will hopefully begin to follow the manga's proper pacing. I'll admit, the first volume of the manga was kind of slow, but as soon as the cast is developed, fans of fast paced japanese-style humor and parody will not be disapointed. If you're looking for a shonen action series, then you're better off watching bleach/naruto. Gintama is pure comedy. |
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crimsonsplat
Posts: 24 Location: Houston |
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Add me as a Haruhi fan; I think I had a demented grin on my face the entire time I watched the first episode. The only reason I wasn't howling with laughter was because the rest of the people in the house were asleep and I had to be quiet. If ADV licenses this and sits on it a year, I'll find their offices and drop napalm! (I'm fresh out of tac nukes....)
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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I'll keep an eye on this one then. I like shonen shows, but I also love good comedy series. I just didn't find the first episode very funny (aside from the dog that eat's people's heads). I'll give it a chance to see if it gets better though. |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5469 |
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With the ridiculous rising of popularity of the series, I doubt they would sit on it for long periods of time (of course anything could happen  ).
Though I'll say this, if any of the major R1 companies license it, I can imagine the English dub to be an absolute riot since this is the type of comedy they can really excel at. |
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NGE1113
 Posts: 1081 Location: Alexandria, VA. |
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Taking into account all the comments I've read so far, I've placed Haruhi at the top of my list for 2007. Unfortunately, since I have a dial-up connection, I guess I'll wait for a stateside release. (Oh, well...)
Perhaps, but it all depends (if licensed) upon the licensing company's choice of ADR director. If Stephen Foster gets the nod, all bets are off. He's done some interesting things in my opinion (see Milk-chan and Ghost Stories), but he also took over the director's chair from Matt Greenfield halfway through Sorcerer Hunters and proceeded to turn the dub into a trainwreck. I generally watch my shows dubbed with subtitles on so I can compare differences in the subtitle/dub scripts, and SH was one of those rare shows that gave me headaches trying to finish it. |
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Buster Blader 126
 Posts: 1206 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
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One such person trying to accomplish that would be me. -_- I have to say, I find The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya to be hilarious. The student film was funny. I especially liked the commentary.  So far, this is my fave anime of 2006.
Is Soul Link that bad? I personally really like it. Although maybe it's because of my really low tolerance when watching anime (which is why I'm trying to watch anything new that comes out to see what each one's about), or that I haven't seen many series involving "space station schools where bright young military cadets learn the ins and outs of space and experience angsty teenage melodrama," or that I'm a sucker for romantic comedy/drama/school life series, OR that the same creators made Shuffle!, which I really liked. Although, the series does get interesting during ep. 3, spoiler[when the station gets attacked. ] Soul Link is currently my 2nd fave series, after HS. Here are my faves so far this season, aside from the 2 mentioned: - Air Gear (while it's nothing special, I like the concept of Air Treks, & I like Oh! Great's series) - Ouran High School Host Club (Really liked it, Now I want to buy the manga) - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (the thickening plot hooked me in) - Ray the Animation (Interesting concept. Fighting hospital personel was amusing too. Black Jack appears too) - School Rumble Nigakki (funny as always) - Ah! My Goddess S2 - Tokko (yet another violent series to help aid me in getting my friends in anime. Joy. I liked it nonetheless though) Also, if a Part 2 to the Spring Preview could possibly be written up, that'd be great. Covering the others such as Black Lagoon, Tokko, Ray & Higurashi no Naku Koro ni would be cool. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I just watched the first episode of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni and I am really interested in this series.
It reminds me of Elfen Lied in how it starts of with a brutal scene (though far less gory and far shorter) and mixes a very dark and serious story with cute character designs and comedy (though this series has far more of the comedy than Elfen Lied did and so far it is not of the ecchi variety). This episode heavily implies spoiler[cute girls murdering people] as well, so there's another similarity. I also just finished watching The Third: Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo. The first episode was just an intro of sorts so I can't really tell where the plot is going to go, but in terms of production quality, its really good (IMO, but I'm not a very good judge of this kind of thing). I'm curious to hear a more professional (read: Zac's) opinion on this show. More in depth thoughs on the episode. I copied this from one of my posts on another forum:
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MTierce
Posts: 33 |
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I watched about half of the first episode of Haruhi, but I got bored. I'll try watching it tommorow when I'm less tired, and see if I like it any better.
Has anyone here watched Juuousei? Even though I understood only 30% of the dialogue, I was still intrigued. It looks like it could be interesting, or it could be really cliche. I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on it. |
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Venire
Posts: 4 |
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Haruhi was a total laughfest; I just had to watch the current 3 episodes in one go because I fell off my chair, both because of the excellent comedy, and astounding animation. It's got me hooked like Eureka 7 and Kashimashi have done.
NANA is on the to-watch list. Zegapain didn't get me hooked, but the preview of ep2 promises some controversy, so I might bother. Other titles I'll be watching this spring: Ah! My Goddess S2 ARIA The Natural Strawberry Panic! End of Mushishi And others if interest so says, with enough old shows on the list. |
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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The Air Gear manga had really great art, and by the looks of that screen shot, the fluid lines and detail weren't transferred over to the anime. Lost in transformation I guess. CLAMP's designs seemed to be somewhat lost too. I don't remember CLAMP's proportions bothering me that much in the manga, but the legs are way long, like daddy long legs, which I don't really like. I really like the Nana manga, but I wonder if there's any chance of it being broadcast on U.S. TV? It's early to tell how good the show will be, or even if it'll be licensed, but I hope its U.S. popularity (however large that is) will give it a chance to be aired. If a shoujo anime is going to be broadcast, it might as well be Nana. (I know some stuff such as Tokyo Mew Mew have been broadcast, but how about something aimed for an older audience is what I'm trying to say.) Oh, and if you have any time to do a sequel Preview Guide, I would really appreciate it. |
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GoodLuckSaturday
 Posts: 567 Location: Indiana |
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If the U.S. popularity is any indication, then Fruits Basket should've had a TV airing for about a year now. That one continues to mystify me. The pacing of the NANA anime has suggested a very straight adaptation, which so far, has been nothing but superb. The NANA anime could be a real breakout, provided someone is willing to try it out on TV. It looks like the anime is settling in for a long run, so episode count should prove favorable if it does end up being successful here. |
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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I watched the second episode of that Haruhi show (the first actual episode), and while it was amusing, and definitely had several funny scenes, I'm not sure what the fuss is about. It's fairly middle of the road as anime comdies go, not nearly as funny as the top tier comedies like Fumoffu, Dokuro, or Excel, and most of the characters seem fairly generic.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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"Top teir" comedies? The only one of those that's remotely funny is Fumoffu and even that one gets tiresome. People are enjoying Haruhi so much because the humor isn't like any other anime comedy; rather than being over-the-top slapstick parody, it's dry, sarcastic and clever satire. A totally different kind of comedy that thrives in America but hasn't really grown yet in Japan. To me, a subtle, well-written satire of anime is a lot better than Excel dressing up like Sailor Moon and screaming 29 words a second while being hit in the face with a frying pan. A lot of other people feel the same way I do. |
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Marysia
Posts: 3 |
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My thoughts on what I've watched so far this season:
.hack//Roots - I've been a .hack fan for several years now, so I'm excited about this series. I miss Yuki's music, and I am kind of concerned that it seems to be focusing more on MMORPG drama than the weird intrigue of SIGN, but I also felt like SIGN dragged on a bit too much. I'll definitely give this one a few more episodes before really making my mind up on it. Soul Link - I actually really like shows about schools in alternative settings (magic schools, space schools, etc), so I decided to check this one out anyway. It doesn't seem incredible, but it's not horrible. I'll probably watch another couple of episodes before judging. Ouran High School Host Club - I thought this was hilarious. I've watched the first three episodes so far and am eagerly awaiting more. I think this is my favorite show I've watched so far this season. The fact that it makes fun of various yaoi stereotypes amuses me greatly. Joshikousei - Seemed like a fun premise, but the amount of fanservice is actually a turnoff to me. I might watch more, but it isn't a huge priority. Utawarerumono- Very cute character designs, intriguing setting. Plan to watch more of this. XXXHolic - I haven't read the manga, although I've heard good things about it. That said, I wasn't particularly drawn in by the first episode of the anime. The weird proportions bothered me a lot for whatever reason. I'll probably check out the manga instead of watching more of the anime. Haruhi Suzumiya - I thought this was quite funny (although it didn't make me laugh as much as Ouran). I'm also intrigued by Saiunkoku Monogatari and Nana, though I haven't watched them yet. (I'm also planning to watch the second season of School Rumble, since I really liked the first.) The highest priorities for me right now are probably Ouran and .hack//Roots, but I plan to continue watching Haruhi, Utawarerumono and possibly Soul Link as well. |
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