Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Dropped Tales of the Abyss after one episode, rated it as Weak. It was perhaps lucky not to be rated lower.
Started with boring and cliched opening narration followed by a godawful two-minute-ten-second-long opening theme. Goodness gracious. Then we got introduced to the painfully cliched happy-go-lucky cocksure shounen hero archetype who grates on my nerves with every line he speaks, and then a scene immediately happens with a minor character which is just an excuse to shove ultra-clunky expository dialogue on us (get used to this, because it features often in this episode). Straight after, before we've even had time to breathe or get to know anyone, the stock good-natured best friend character (who is implied to have homosexual feelings for the main character) and the stock princess fiancee (who is obsessed with the hated "forgotten childhood promise" cliche) both make an appearance. And then we learn that the hero has amnesia and oh my god I cannot go on or I'll slit my wrists. I did eventually finish the episode (wrists intact) by watching it straight before bed when I was too tired to care any more. It's not awful, just so reliant on cliches and so steadfastly by-the-numbers that any guy familiar with the genre could have written this (dialogue, setting, plot, characters and all) inside a day. I'm not just saying that, I mean it literally. You too could write the next entry into the popular Tales franchise, no training required. The show has zero energy to it, there's no attempt to do anything good or new or exciting, and even the art, animation and music are all barely passable. There are so many other good series out there, don't even gives this one the time of day. |
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Akane the Catgirl
Posts: 1091 Location: LA, Baby! |
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^ Don't you think it's a little unfair to judge an entire franchise based on a bad first episode of an anime adaptation? I haven't played the game myself, but based on what I've heard from reviews, Wikipedia, and what little of a Let's Play I saw, it does start to subvert a good part of it's cliches around the halfway point of the game. You might be better off just playing the original instead. Same with Dangan Ronpa too. I heard about the adaptation being a rushjob that cut out the best parts of the game, so you might want to go shopping for the correct consoles. Most video game adaptations in general aren't very good, so take my advice.
Here's some of what I'm planning on watching next: After Code Geass R2: Death Note After FMA: Fate/stay Night, then Fate zero After Kill la Kill: Black Lagoon After Wolf's Rain: Spice and Wolf, maybe? |
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DuelGundam2099
 Posts: 533 |
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Just finished Oh! Edo Rocket earlier after marathoning the second half all day. Yeesh, this anime was un-funny, tedious, boring, had poor build up, was composed mostly of filler, had such a flat cast- Point is it was horrid, but there were two good things to it: Akai and Yuhi make a great villain couple and the scenery art was very good. Otherwise its one of those over-hyped anime that doesn't deserve the praise it gets. When They Cry and Fruits Basket I'll cover later. A couple days ago I finally got around to watching Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail.... And because Revy takes such a backseat I'm liking this more than both television series already! Hoping there will be more action in it, otherwise it is okay.
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Song_Bird
 Posts: 27 Location: Bouncing between DC & Maryland |
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Lately I am watching the bulk of my anime on the weekends. Therefore, I have set up a system where every weekend I choose a theme and five titles that fit into my categories. This weekend the theme is Madhouse.
This will allow me to finish The Irregular at Magic High School. The concept seemed interesting but during the process of watching it, it started boring me so I set it on the shelf (so to speak). For the movie of my choice, I chose Jungle Emperor Leo (1997). Managed to finish it early today and I liked it. To fill in my “Something New” selection I will be start and finish The Tatami Galaxy this weekend. I have wanted to see it for a while so this is my chance. Galaxy Angel appeared to be a fun option for my “Something Short”. I hope it is because many times shorts can be hit or miss. It also fits into the sci-fi/space groove I have slipped in lately (Dirty Pair, The Galaxy Railways, The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Martian Successor Nadesico, etc). Then, I finish up by catching up on current season show Death Parade. I wanted to see the movie that started this show but I will take what I can get. |
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Yamstarch
 Posts: 62 Location: Virginia USA |
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Due to weather and having a run of days off of work I was able to fully binge watch SAO II. Man I can't wait for a third season.
After all that seriousness and tear-jerker of an ending I realized I still needed to finish Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood as well. So, I watch the last 11 episodes there as well. So sad that show is over. I was a fan of the original and an even bigger fan of Brotherhood. Now I am moving on to some less serious and lighter faire. I just recently a couple of months ago go into Naruto. I started from the very beginning. I am up to episode 140. I plan to return to watching it, but not so much binging. I am also going to check out Ikki Tousen. I have watched quite a few shows with some overall seriousness and dark things happening in them, even if they did end all sunny and happy. So, now I want to move onto some shows that might be a little more up-beat and zany. I know Ikki Tousen is considered ecchi, but I hear it's also got a lot of good fighting and comedy. And I don't mind the deep "plot" (aka butts and boobies). I might mix in another show or two along the way to give myself a sensory break or something. We shall see. I am such an addict now. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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You say it like it's a bad thing..... 
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ADM20
 Posts: 9 |
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Due to the fact that I am extremely new to watching anime, I am watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, that show that was a big deal almost a decade ago apparently. It's quite good, but, after watching the first six episodes (DVD order, so through part five of the Melancholy arc, I guess), I just wish there was something more to the characters. The protagonist is extremely boring, only serving as a vessel for all the weird stuff that happens around him. However, the weird stuff is thoroughly entertaining, the show is consistently funny so far, and the other characters seem charming enough to carry me through this. It's all really quite excellent from a visual standpoint, having some really nice animation and character designs, and the music is all some of the best I've heard in my limited experience with the anime medium. I think I can understand why so many people love it so much, and why so many people hate it so much-- I'm pretty sure I'm in the former category, thankfully.
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Yamstarch
Posts: 62 Location: Virginia USA |
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I suppose there are worse things
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nobahn
Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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ADM20--
Welcome to ANN! I hope that you enjoy yourself here!    
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DuelGundam2099
Posts: 533 |
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Earlier I finished Roberta's Blood Trail. Hmm, lets see:
-Revy got screen time in episode 3 (ugh), but spoiler[she was shot and incapacitated in 4 and 5 so I guess it balances out?] -Pathetic attempts at making the complete monster sympathetic (yeah, no, killing unarmed civilians for no reason was too far). -The ending was.... Very mediocre and anti-climactic. Then again so was most of the arcs in the TV series so eh. -Very good action and pacing. -Oh Roku, stop trying to be evil, you really can't pull that off with an evil grin and calculations like that. -At least the franchise ends here, yay! Not much else to say that hasn't already been said when I went off on both series a while back. With that out of the way lets check in with When They Cry and Fruits Basket, both on episode 16! For the infamous Higurashi, there is not as much bad quality animation as /a/ suspected me to believe, but man do the cartoony humor bits get so out of left field I have to scratch my head wondering "what the hell was that?" The opening theme has grown on me over time though, points there. Story wise its all repeats and I wouldn't mind this if the pacing was not horrifically slow with such dry dialogue. You know, for a series supposedly about the supernatural it does kind of a poor job at executing it so far. Then there is the Anime Grand Prix winner. *sigh* I REALLY didn't want to get this harsh but: The cast is starting to get on my nerves (ESPECIALLY Momiji), the humor is very generic, the pacing has gotten very slow over time, and the emotional moments are so forced (like episode 15 where spoiler[Momiji's mom wanted her memory erased because she gave birth to a boy that turns into a rabbit.... Which makes you wonder how the hell he was conceived to begin with unless artificial insemination is involved?)]. You gotta like how they try tip toeing around sexual innuendos since, you know, its aimed for kids, but that only raises the question of why have them to begin with? You know, even as much as I slam Cardcaptor Sakura (and technically CLAMP in general) there are actually good parts in it, but here? Everything is so.... Desolate? Dry? Benin? Whatever it is, interest is losing. This? This has nothing going for it beyond a decent ending theme. Mind you I'm not giving this a 1/10 or anything (hopefully), it hasn't done anything to insult me, but then again Skull Man didn't accomplish that until its final episode so I can never say that for certain. You know what would make a nice dilemma? How about finding a way to lift the zodiac curse? It doesn't have to be adventurous or anything, but surely this would have come to mind at some point. I'm tempted to ask what I should go for my backlog next, but A) posts like that are not allowed here and B) after setting a straw poll chart at /a/ most of the votes leaned toward Paranoia Agent. Looks like a gritty version of FLCL (which annoyed the hell out of me). *shrivels* |
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Akane the Catgirl
Posts: 1091 Location: LA, Baby! |
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^ Hey, I'm watching Paranoia Agent for the second time right now!
With the knowledge from my first viewing and my analysis skills having been greatly heightened, I can safely say that this show was a lot better than I remembered. In fact, it's quite brilliant. I can catch the little pieces of symbolism and motifs that I didn't the first time, and the characters themselves are interesting and impeccably written. (I'm halfway convinced that Tsukiko is schizophrenic, and that all her conversations with Maromi so far were all in her broken mind.) As a fan of FLCL, I have to admit that this may be one of the most inaccessible anime EVER. It took me about two or three viewings to really understand what Yoji Enokido was trying to say. I've also seen Ouran, which has a lot of the Enokido flavor since he wrote the TV scripts, and I can tell you that his writing style consists of showing you everything and telling you almost nothing. FLCL's goal is aiming to capture an emotional experience rather than going through the motions of your everyday coming-of-age story. With that said, I'd heartily recommend Ouran for those who are too overwhelmed by FLCL. |
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DuelGundam2099
Posts: 533 |
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While I appreciate the insight, I am one of those people that doesn't see symbolism in things unless told otherwise by the staff. I take everything at face value and never give rewatches. As for this Ouran you brought up, let me check the episode count and what other titles it is connected to. *looks up at MAL* Is it this?
http://myanimelist.net/anime/853/Ouran_Koukou_Host_Club If so then maybe I'll give it a take on. |
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loveless one without love
 Posts: 17 Location: North Carolina |
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Just the other day i finished Watamote it was Ok but the story was kinda slow although it was pretty funny
now I'm currently watching psycho pass I've watched 7 episodes of season 1 and It's really good so far, but I think Ginoza is still hiding something. I've also seen the first 5 episode of chobits I've kinda put that one on hold for now but I will finish it soon hopefully Next I want to watch kamisama kiss season 2: Toradora: Nana: KyouKaraMaou:RomeoxJuliet: and Ghost Hound probably not in that order Does anyone else watch AMVS after they finish a series? I binge on them lol |
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phia_one
Posts: 1657 Location: Pennsylvania |
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Finally watched Serial Experiments Lain. I was in the mood to watch something that would engage my mind. First, I didn't care for the animation. It was ugly to look at sometimes because of consistency issues.
Aside from that, the series had interesting themes: (spoilers just in case) spoiler[How some people are more interested in the internet than real life and how it can form/shape/change an individual's personality. The good and bad of technology. How a person relates to the world. I think one of the biggest themes was Connection, both in real life and virtual. ] I couldn't help but get Matrix vibes from it, which I don't consider a bad thing. I almost feel like it could have taken place in the Matrix universe. spoiler[Lain being The One and what is reality? to name a few examples.] Overall, I found the series interesting and enjoyable on an intellectual level. It handled the philosophy in a more manageable way than say, [b]Ergo Proxy[/] (which is an awesome show). By that, I mean that it didn't overload me with concepts like EP did at certain points. Would I watch Lain again at some point? Probably not. I didn't grow to care about any of the characters. Characters are a big thing for me. It can be the only thing keeping me from dropping a series. |
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ADM20
Posts: 9 |
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I'm a bit curious as to what you mean when you say the story was slow. For the most part, the series seems fairly episodic to me, outside of some character development as it progresses-- a strong ongoing narrative wouldn't really suit it in the format it was presented in. |
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