Anime Thread #2

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Kamaduck said:
I thought neither of us had seen Utena? :confused: Anyway, I thought the duels were more of a sport tournament with ridiculously high stakes. And Utena is ultimately fighting to protect Anthy, right? It’s not really the same as turning around and shooting at each other.

I haven’t seen it, but I would think the main problem would be the problematic portrayal of homosexuality.
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Neither of us have seen it. I had just been looking up information about it lately. And on further reflection, you’re probably right about the really problematic aspects.

P. S. Has anyone else been following Psycho-Pass or Blast of Tempest? They’ve been getting pretty interesting lately.
 
ironchapman said:
Did you see the OVA episode 25?
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OK, just finished it. It WAS very sweet, and unquestionably in a good way. 🙂

Odd, though. I feel like it was very well-executed, but the show as a whole didn’t give me a whole lot to think about. It was good, but it wasn’t great in the sense that it was groundbreaking or spectacularly unique. It didn’t have any grand themes about human nature or powerful observations about life. It was just enjoyable.

I think I need to watch something that will make me think a little now. Any suggestions?
 
I just finished Gunslinger Girl. I don’t know about watching that ‘second season’ since the quality of the animation is so low and the voices are different. I liked the first show though.
 
Utena is a yuri, and I find the genre to be somewhat heterophobic.
 
Crescentinus said:
Utena is a yuri, and I find the genre to be somewhat heterophobic.
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Man, every time I read this post I can’t help but laugh. I’ve never seen a yuri, but it seems rather obvious that a genre specifically about lesbian relationships would not deal kindly with straight ones. 😛

I’m not disagreeing with you, just think this post is funny. 😃

I’m still wondering how central the yuri elements are to the plot. I wouldn’t have any interest in a story that is ONLY about a lesbian romance, but people seem to think Utena is more complex than that.
 
About Utena: I’ve watched most of the show and am ashamed to admit I own the movie. I bought it years ago and now don’t know what to do with it. Yah, in the show the romance between Utena and Anthy is only very strongly implied as is the abusive incest between Anthy and her brother ‘the Prince’. The relationships between Juri and Shiori, Wakaba and Saiyonji, Saiyonji and Touga are all IMPLIED–actually, only the attraction and feelings are shown while I don’t think anyone slept with one another except for, you know, the big one. Utena and Anthy never get together (SPOILER: even at the end of the show one of them just goes off to find the other as an optimistic end to a tragedy). In the MOVIE though it’s about as shoujo-ai as you can get; not yuri, but girl-girl romance. There’s a dance scene with roses and (an awesome song) a nude portrait session and at the end they kiss while naked. Oh yeah, and Touga in this version talks about male prostitution. That said, when I was younger I loved this movie. It was rebellious, about Anthy getting past her brother and into “the Outside World”, which has no gothic architecture or medieval conceptions of princes and princesses, which rigidly defined the Academy.

Yah…it’s been a long road to the Truth. I highly recommend the show. It’s so symbolic. I watched it and spent hours spotting the themes and interpreting things. The Black Rose arc is the best–see the Wakaba, Shiori and Juri duels, and the elevator scenes which come before them for psychological ANGST galore! Watch the movie with your guard up if you must.
 
youkokun said:
About Utena: I’ve watched most of the show and am ashamed to admit I own the movie. I bought it years ago and now don’t know what to do with it. Yah, in the show the romance between Utena and Anthy is only very strongly implied as is the abusive incest between Anthy and her brother ‘the Prince’. The relationships between Juri and Shiori, Wakaba and Saiyonji, Saiyonji and Touga are all IMPLIED–actually, only the attraction and feelings are shown while I don’t think anyone slept with one another except for, you know, the big one. Utena and Anthy never get together (SPOILER: even at the end of the show one of them just goes off to find the other as an optimistic end to a tragedy). In the MOVIE though it’s about as shoujo-ai as you can get; not yuri, but girl-girl romance. There’s a dance scene with roses and (an awesome song) a nude portrait session and at the end they kiss while naked. Oh yeah, and Touga in this version talks about male prostitution. That said, when I was younger I loved this movie. It was rebellious, about Anthy getting past her brother and into “the Outside World”, which has no gothic architecture or medieval conceptions of princes and princesses, which rigidly defined the Academy.

Yah…it’s been a long road to the Truth. I highly recommend the show. It’s so symbolic. I watched it and spent hours spotting the themes and interpreting things. The Black Rose arc is the best–see the Wakaba, Shiori and Juri duels, and the elevator scenes which come before them for psychological ANGST galore! Watch the movie with your guard up if you must.
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So watch the show, but skip the movie? Sounds good to me, since that’s basically what I did with Evangelion anyway. I do tend to like theme-heavy fare with lots of symbolism in it, so I do want to watch it someday, but I wasn’t sure how bad the actual show was. Thanks for the info on both the show and the movie. 😃
 
Based on the two episodes I’ve seen and the information I’ve found about Utena, Utena becomes engaged to Anthy because she wins a duel. They develop feelings for each other, but they don’t really do much about it physically. There is some homoerotic subtext with other characters, but those either don’t really go anywhere or involve guys we’re not supposed to like (I’m looking at you in particular, Touga, Saionji, and Akio). Then again, if I remember correctly, Touga also chewed out one of the female characters when he thought she was a lesbian despite the implications that he has been with other men, so there’s that issue. And then I found this yuricon.com/2011/05/24/utena-contest/, so as interesting as the first two episodes were, I’m not yet willing to actually buy the whole series. I keep going around in circles here. 😦

P. S. I’ve also seen the first two episodes of Boogiepop Phantom via Nozomi Entertainment’s YouTube page, and it reminds me quite a bit of Ghost Hound. I’ve heard it compared to Serial Experiments Lain, but I have only seen clips and such of Lain, so it would be hard for me to judge on that front. In the case of Boogiepop Phantom, I’ve been craving some eerie mind-screws, so I’m strongly considering buying the whole series. However, I will probably not watch the rest of it for a while until I see if I can find the novels the show is based on. This is because some of the stuff from later episodes is apparently very difficult to understand without reading the novels, so who knows? I think I’m finished for now.
 
MatsudaBerry said:
I’ve heard it compared to Serial Experiments Lain, but I have only seen clips and such of Lain, so it would be hard for me to judge on that front. In the case of Boogiepop Phantom, I’ve been craving some eerie mind-screws, so I’m strongly considering buying the whole series.
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Haven’t heard of boogiepop phantom, but I’m in the same mood right now. I’m going to watch Lain next (already saw the first 3 episodes). I’m hoping it will either be so deep or so nonsensical that the last 7 episodes of Inuyasha are a relief. 😛
 
Kamaduck said:
Man, every time I read this post I can’t help but laugh. I’ve never seen a yuri, but it seems rather obvious that a genre specifically about lesbian relationships would not deal kindly with straight ones. 😛

I’m not disagreeing with you, just think this post is funny. 😃

I’m still wondering how central the yuri elements are to the plot. I wouldn’t have any interest in a story that is ONLY about a lesbian romance, but people seem to think Utena is more complex than that.
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In the case of Utena and Sailor Moon, I blame the rabid fans. They love their yuri so much that they become heterophobic. Sadly, it’s not just confined to Utena and Sailor Moon. Ever heard of Maria-sama ga Miteru? An anime with Catholic overtones that has a lot of yuri in canon.
 
Maria-sama ga Miteru, based on what I’ve heard as opposed to any episodes I’ve seen, is an interesting case. From what I understand, there’s only one explicitly lesbian relationship in the whole show, and one of the girls in that relationship ends up leaving it to become a nun. The rest of the yuri elements are at least supposed to be nothing more than romantic friendships, but there’s apparently so much subtext that it sometimes strains belief and becomes more of a fantasy than anything realistic. I’m just mentioning what I’ve heard. The character designs are pretty, though.
 
MatsudaBerry said:
Maria-sama ga Miteru, based on what I’ve heard as opposed to any episodes I’ve seen, is an interesting case. From what I understand, there’s only one explicitly lesbian relationship in the whole show, and one of the girls in that relationship ends up leaving it to become a nun. The rest of the yuri elements are at least supposed to be nothing more than romantic friendships, but there’s apparently so much subtext that it sometimes strains belief and becomes more of a fantasy than anything realistic. I’m just mentioning what I’ve heard. The character designs are pretty, though.
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See, that definitley does NOT sound like my cup of tea. I’d more than likely just get bored, if it was only done for fanservice. If it was a legitimate character piece, it might be interesting, but I don’t think I’ll be looking into it.

Anyway, I just realized I have no idea how to actually see Utena, so… I guess our previous discussion doesn’t help me much in the present. I’m a really low-budget anime fan- libraries and youtube are my friends. Since neither has this series (I know it’s old), I’ll have to wait until I have money. I’m in the habit of doubting this will ever happen. 😛

It’s just as well, I’m in the middle of a dozen shows right now. :o
 
Kamaduck said:
See, that definitley does NOT sound like my cup of tea. I’d more than likely just get bored, if it was only done for fanservice. If it was a legitimate character piece, it might be interesting, but I don’t think I’ll be looking into it.

Anyway, I just realized I have no idea how to actually see Utena, so… I guess our previous discussion doesn’t help me much in the present. I’m a really low-budget anime fan- libraries and youtube are my friends. Since neither has this series (I know it’s old), I’ll have to wait until I have money. I’m in the habit of doubting this will ever happen. 😛

It’s just as well, I’m in the middle of a dozen shows right now. :o
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I know what you mean. I’ve been hopping around different shows lately, too. I found the first two episodes of Utena via Nozomi Entertainment’s YouTube channel, but they don’t have the rest up right now. They seem to do that for a lot of their shows. The only exception I’ve seen is Dirty Pair, perhaps because it’s such an old show.
 
MatsudaBerry said:
I know what you mean. I’ve been hopping around different shows lately, too. I found the first two episodes of Utena via Nozomi Entertainment’s YouTube channel, but they don’t have the rest up right now. They seem to do that for a lot of their shows. The only exception I’ve seen is Dirty Pair, perhaps because it’s such an old show.
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Dirty Pair? You mean the original or Adam Warren’s version?
 
Kamaduck said:
See, that definitley does NOT sound like my cup of tea. I’d more than likely just get bored, if it was only done for fanservice. If it was a legitimate character piece, it might be interesting, but I don’t think I’ll be looking into it.

Anyway, I just realized I have no idea how to actually see Utena, so… I guess our previous discussion doesn’t help me much in the present. I’m a really low-budget anime fan- libraries and youtube are my friends. Since neither has this series (I know it’s old), I’ll have to wait until I have money. I’m in the habit of doubting this will ever happen. 😛

It’s just as well, I’m in the middle of a dozen shows right now. :o
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The music for Maria-sama is also pretty nice. I found a couple of the OPs on iTunes once (although they’re gone now).

I’ve never seen the show, though, and I don’t plan to.
 
I just finished Gundam AGE, and it’s way better than Gundam 00! The story is better, the characters are better, the character development is better, even the Gundams are better! 🙂
 
Lain is weird. I mean, I knew that going in, but still. In episode one, the title character is terrible with both people and computers. By episode four, she’s not only able to competently modify her computer, she’s also insisting that she will soon be able to enter the internet completely. :eek:

And she may or may not be psychic. I have no idea what’s going on right now. 🤷
 
Head’s up in case no-one’s mentioned this one yet:

Saint Onii-san
Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha, the founders of Christianity and Buddhism, are living together as roommates in a Tokyo apartment while taking a vacation on Earth. The comedy often involves jokes about Christianity, Buddhism, and all things related, as well as the main characters’ attempts to hide their identities and understand modern society in Japan.
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myanimelist.net/anime/15775/Saint%E2%98%86Onii-san

Thank you Japan for really not having anything else to make cartoons about. Thank you for your respect. Thank you for the intelligence shown by your highly educated anime writers/producers. Thank you Japan.
 
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