Anime?

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

We watched 3 episodes of Mushishi, and the plot didn't make sense. Also it was boring. So we stopped.

 

And for something completely different, we've watched 6 or so episodes of Haikyuu! Unless you count Chihayafuru (which you probably should), it's the first sports anime I've been able to get Karen to enjoy. She prefers her anime to have some kind of fantastic element. Though you could argue that Haikyuu does have a fantastic element, but it's only kids being better at sports than the average person.

 

We watched 6 minutes of RBWY and said "what the heck is this crap?" and turned it off.

 

We are watching SAO II and enjoying it, even if Kirito is more of a Mary Sue than ever.

 

Hunter X Hunter continues to be highly entertaining. The two plots right now are going unexpected places, but HxH does that a lot.

 

We also watched all of Knights of Sidonia on Netflix. I'm glad that's getting a second season. 

[Voidus]

Does RWBY count? RWBY is awesome.

It's not Japanese anime, but American animation that borrows a lot from Anime, but in 3D, English, and with American culture, not japanese. It's really good, and I highly recommend it.

It's from RoosterTeeth, the same people who make RvB

Woo! Yes RWBY is pretty awesome.

I'm on another Mirrai Nikki re watch at the moment, still one of my favourite anime.

[traceria she/her]

The more I read this thread, the more I think we finally need to give in and get Netflix.  The last time we tried it we must have just hit a time when there didn't happen to be anything particularly interesting to us (this was like 2.5 years ago, so much has changed).  A friend brought his iPad over the other night and we were having a much better time browsing and watching things through his account.

 

I'm so out of touch with anime.  The last newish series I watched was Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and we're not totally finished with that just yet.  And I've been very lazy about keeping up with Naruto and am way behind (my brother gets the subbed versions as soon as they're available and passes them along to me once he's done).

[Edgedancer he/him]

The more I read this thread, the more I think we finally need to give in and get Netflix.  The last time we tried it we must have just hit a time when there didn't happen to be anything particularly interesting to us (this was like 2.5 years ago, so much has changed).  A friend brought his iPad over the other night and we were having a much better time browsing and watching things through his account.

 

I'm so out of touch with anime.  The last newish series I watched was Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and we're not totally finished with that just yet.  And I've been very lazy about keeping up with Naruto and am way behind (my brother gets the subbed versions as soon as they're available and passes them along to me once he's done).

Good places to watch animes for free are Crunchyroll and Funimation (I think but am not sure, because Funimation isn´t available where I live). Depending on the region you live in you can watch a good amount of subbed series there.

[Left he/him]

Good places to watch animes for free are Crunchyroll and Funimation (I think but am not sure, because Funimation isn´t available where I live). Depending on the region you live in you can watch a good amount of subbed series there.

If you're okay with subs. Those two do both have a much larger selection and are free, but only for subs and there's adds. Lots of adds. Not pop-ups or anything, but there's usually 4-5 30-45 second commercials during an episode. On the other hand, netflix has a much smaller, although still pretty good, selection and no adds, but DIRTY MONEY is involved  

Food for thought. Doughnuts for thought actually.

[Terisen he/him]

We are watching SAO II and enjoying it, even if Kirito is more of a Mary Sue than ever.

 

As much as I love Kirito, it pains me to admit how accurate this statement is.  

[kari-no-sugata]

Do you know where can I read the novels? I would absolutely love to do so, but since they are no longer on Baka-Tsuki, and are not available in my country, I can't read them   

 

I don't remember baka-tsuki translating that much properly. Incidentally, the last novel is number 17 - it's called "epilogue"

 

Maybe your best bet is to find someone selling novels second hand and see if they do international delivery. Failing that try to see if you can find someone nice who will purchase it on your behalf and send it on.

 

I've done this sort of thing in the past. I actually used to order Laser Discs from Japan back in the day - kinda miss the nice big artwork you got with them...

[chirokay he/him]

Trigun, yu yu hakusho, steins;gate, code geass, death note, high school of the dead, berserk (some of the best music for an anime ever; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnC8fYwem2o  your welcome) attack on titan, sword art online, sword art online 2, psycho-pass (really good), welcome to the nhk (one of the funniest shows I have seen), samurai champloo, claymore, cowboy bebop, guilty crown, mobile fighter g gundam, phantom requiem for the phantom, gungrave, eden of the east, bleach, naruto shippuden. currently watching gundam wing, witch hunter robin, and hellsing for the first time.

The only anime movies I have seen are Akira(great but weird), summer wars(classic), princess mononoke, howl's moving castle, and spirited away. 

[Ryan he/him]

RWBY certainly counts. It's more anime than anime.

 

RWBY, well...RWBY is like a beloved friend that often lets you down. I love it so much, because:

1. The action sequences are better than anything I've seen in any other anime. This is 100% Monty Oum being amazing.
2. Even if the humor sometimes falls flat, it still cracks me up most of the time.
3. Every character is likable and interesting. The protagonist, Ruby, is particularly endearing.
4. The music is often excellent, and the sound design is top-notch.
5. I really like the world building. There's just something alluring about it, a feeling of boundlessness.
6. The facial animation is really, really good. Much better than most anime I've seen.
7. Everything is also a gun.

RWBY is often disappointing, because it is fundamentally an amateur production with a  low budget. This shows through with things like:

1. Weak plotting. The writing is amateurish and often cliched. I don't really watch it for the story, because the story mostly sucks. This is in contrast to the characterization, which as mentioned before is generally very strong.
2. (As an aside, this is a common flaw in anime. They tend to emphasize characterization and forget about the plot.)
3. There are moments of unbearable cheesiness.
4. The visuals, while they get the job done most of the time, are pretty crude. The character models are low-poly enough that you can see the polygons, and the backgrounds are downright ugly. Proper lighting, not to mention shadows, is hard to come by, and the textures are low-res. This is the lack of resources showing through.
5. The voice acting is mixed. Some voices are excellent, others less so.
6. The character design. The girls dress skimpily and most of them fight in high heels. It's irritating.

Loving RWBY is a lot like loving a person. You have to look past its flaws and see its good heart and boundless potential. 

 

We watched 6 minutes of RBWY and said "what the heck is this crap?" and turned it off.

 

You probably started in the wrong place. Watch the red and white trailers. They're awesome and are what hooked me on the show. The black and yellow trailers are gratingly bad, but should be endured because they set up some nice payoffs later on.

[Voidus]

The Red trailer is just the best, and yeah basically just everything Ryan said, lots of good, some bad but you learn to just look past it to the awesomtastic fight scenes. Which are awesome because as was pointed out, everything is guns.

[Lightsworn Panda he/him]

Yeah, the red trailer is just plain awesome. 3 minutes of non-stop action. One of the best trailers of all time.

 

While Rwby is cheesy at certain parts (and undeniably awesome in the fighting parts  ), you have to remember, Rooster Teeth aren't like big anime teams and stuff, and they don't have the big budgets. It's a pretty good effort, I have to say.

[traceria she/her]

Trigun, yu yu hakusho, steins;gate, code geass, death note, high school of the dead, berserk (some of the best music for an anime ever; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnC8fYwem2o  your welcome) attack on titan, sword art online, sword art online 2, psycho-pass (really good), welcome to the nhk (one of the funniest shows I have seen), samurai champloo, claymore, cowboy bebop, guilty crown, mobile fighter g gundam, phantom requiem for the phantom, gungrave, eden of the east, bleach, naruto shippuden. currently watching gundam wing, witch hunter robin, and hellsing for the first time.

The only anime movies I have seen are Akira(great but weird), summer wars(classic), princess mononoke, howl's moving castle, and spirited away. 

HA!!  I love that one!  I tried getting my husband to watch it once, but he just shook his head.  It totally cracks me up every time I watch the series.  Statue of Liberty cannon....ha ha ha ha ha  

[Ashiok]

What hasn't been said about RWBY

1. The impracticality of the skirts and heels is spoofed. The gang literally mentions them as combat skirts. 

2. Jaune's weapon isn't a gun, but Jaune is Jaune, so he doesn't count.

3. The new animation software in season two is a lot better than what they used in season 1.

4. The music is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

5. There's more, but I can't think of it right now...

[Observer]

Anybody seen enough of Fate/Zero to tell me when/if it gets good? I get a lot of recommendations for it, but the first episode is killing me with 40 minutes of very little but stock footage. It's rather stupid of me to judge something by the first 20 or so minutes, but opinions would be nice before I devote a whole day's free time to something I might not like.

[Left he/him]

I've watched the entire thing, It is seriously amazing. The plots a little convoluted and there's a lot of characters and names to remember, but it's one of my favorite series. It does start off a little on the bland vanilla side but it gets much better pretty quickly, and the action scenes are some of the best I've ever seen.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

The final episode of Hunter X Hunter was great. For an anime that caught up to the manga and had to stop, they stopped in a fantastic place and did a perfect job of it.

 

The final episode of Space Brothers didn't much try to do that. They just basically caught up to the manga and that was it. I do like the show and will watch more if more is ever made. It's very different from my usual fare though. The pace is a lot slower.

 

Haikyuu!! was my big surprise this year. I haven't watched much sports anime before (aside from Hikaru no Go and Chihayafuru), but this show had such good character development. I really got into it, and the end of the first season was textbook how you end a first season of something that will likely continue later. However, my wife just didn't get as into it. She really prefers shows with some kind of fantastical element—or rather, a little more of the "strange" in the strange vs. familiar. Chihayafuru and Silver Spoon both had enough of the "strange" even though they were completely real-world based (of course really strong writing helps). Haikyuu!! is just about volleyball, which is much more mundane than agricultural school or poetry-based card games.

 

We are watching Captain Earth (we're maybe halfway through), but it's very middle-of-the-road teenage mechs pilot show. Knights of Sidonia was much more compelling. Still, Captain Earth does have its moments. The first episode was very strong.

 

I assume Sword Art Online is ending this week, but I also assume it will be back later. The current season has continued to be very good. 

 

We also hope that No Game No Life will return. That was a really fun show to watch, though the fan service could get a bit over the top.

 

We still don't have a shounen to replace Hunter X Hunter (or, heck, Bleach, which we finished over a year ago).

 

Log Horizon is coming back...next week? I'm stoked!

Edited September 26, 2014 by PeterAhlstrom

[Botanica she/her]

I've been watching anime since childhood. Though I prefer to read manga, there's still so much to tell about anime! Unfortunately I can't remember most stuff clearly, but Last Exile and Fullmetal Alchemist are two of my favourite =)

For anime films, the works of Ghibli Studio are all quite good! Their art style is sooo impressive! Summer Wars and Steam Boy are also awesome ones.

Plus, the Avatar series (including Legend of Korra) is also worth mentioning, if this counts.

A few weeks ago I finished Ergo Proxy and that is a unexpected geat one! I'm gonna put it in my recommend list. Now I'm watching Silver Spoon. It is really nice XD

[Ryan he/him]

I quit watching No Game No Life in the first minute or two of the first episode. Panty shots on prepubescent girls provoke an insta-drop from me.

 

I'm up to episode 132 in One Piece. Somewhere along the way I started to really enjoy it. I take back every negative thing I ever said about it. It starts slow, but it's worth the wait.

 

Maybe that could be your Shonen anime, Peter?

[Cracknut he/him]

I quit watching No Game No Life in the first minute or two of the first episode. Panty shots on prepubescent girls provoke an insta-drop from me.

 

I'm up to episode 132 in One Piece. Somewhere along the way I started to really enjoy it. I take back every negative thing I ever said about it. It starts slow, but it's worth the wait.

 

Maybe that could be your Shonen anime, Peter?

That instantly made my day much better :D 

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

We did watch a couple of One Piece episodes a couple years ago, but it was too random. Is there somewhere in the middle we can try to start watching where we won't be too lost?

 

I did say No Game No Life's fanservice was over the top. It doesn't decrease as the series progresses, though I have to admit there was one particular fanservice thing in episode 6 that was quite creatively done.

 

And it looks like Sword Art Online is not ending. They're clearly at the end of this arc (I hope it finishes up in less than half an episode), so I guess we get two or more arcs in this season. It does annoy me when characters go completely psychotic though.

 

We watched the first episode of Terraformars, but it's too gory.

 

Also started watching Noragami on Netflix. About a god with few believers, and a girl whose spirit keeps accidentally coming out of her body. And they fight phantoms. It's rather like early Bleach, and so far it's entertaining if not original.

Edited October 1, 2014 by PeterAhlstrom

[Left he/him]

Yeah Noragami's decent. On one hand it needed more episodes to develop plot and characters, on the other hand I don't think it was quite entertaining enough to be worth the effort.

[Ashiok]

I started watching Spice and Wolf (On Funimation.com b/c only season 2 is on netflix) and it's pretty interesting. Weird premise, but great execution. Middle Ages merchant finds wolf goddess, promises to take her to her home in the North. Bunch of MA economics, but it's interesting stuff.

[Kurkistan he/him]

Huzzah for Spice and Wolf!

[Ryan he/him]

We did watch a couple of One Piece episodes a couple years ago, but it was too random. Is there somewhere in the middle we can try to start watching where we won't be too lost?

 

IMO the Roguetown arc is where it starts to get good. That would have been a good "in media res" place to start the show. It runs from episode 48-53. Of course, then a filler arc starts that, having skipped the first part of the show, you wouldn't enjoy, so you could skip straight to episode 62.

 

The first 47 episodes establish the backstories of Luffy and his first four crew members. That's part of why I found it so slow. It's all just setup for the actual story, which starts more or less on episode 48. All that background is important to the story, but if you really don't have the patience for it, you could probably just read plot summaries and be just fine.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

Ryan, thanks. We may try that out. If we do, I will keep an eye on lists of filler episodes to avoid.

 

Last night we watched the first two episodes of 07-Ghost. So far so good.

 

But man, it being a Zero Sum series just makes me regret all over again that the Hatenkoyugi anime wasted so much potential. They had 10 episodes and they decided to focus on filler arcs from the manga instead of getting to the meat in the story. I could have easily come up with a good first-major-plot-arc storyline for them to cover in 10 episodes. I am a huge Hatenkoyugi fan. Sigh.