Anime Thread #3: You Can (Not) Repost

[jilly4ski]

Oh I forgot, (well no really, I just have lost track of how much anime I have been watching)

I watched Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow. It was an awesome little slice of life. The characters were very nice, almost ordinary people (with some notable exceptions). The animation and backgrounds were amazing. The plot (despite it being a slice of life) was interesting. Some people complained about the unevenness of the romantic relationship and the loose ends at the end, but I thought it fit with the story. (It didn’t cover a very long time period and it ended like the characters will just continued on from where the story left off. It is not as clean as some (nor as bad as others), there is a heave use of bath scenes (with everything covered or not shown) as they are at a hot springs hotel. And in the first or second (?) episode one of the characters is trying to write erotica to pay his bills and some of his “writings” are “imagined” by the characters, nothing really visual, but it is there and fleeting.

 

[CesarAugustus]

Glad you are liking Shirobako!, I really enjoyed it.

You could try Snow White with the Red Hair(Akagami no Shirayukihime). It is more romance, with hints of the fairy tale, no magical or special powers. The main character is a herbalist who meets a prince. It is airing now. I thought the initial character designs and animations (like the opening) were a little rough strange (I have read the manga) but it got much better by the third episode. I am watching it on Hulu. but crunchyroll and funimation both have it (I believe). I am really enjoying it now. I hope it stays good. (I haven’t followed a currently airing show since the second season of Kamisama Kiss.

I started watching My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, I am on the second season, and am finding it amusing. The main character is the hilarious, is a dark sort of way. But I am now wondering if it is going to end “unsatisfactorily.” The plot doesn’t seem to be moving very much. And I kind of like how the main character isn’t “perfect.” He slouches, doesn’t have perfect anime proportions, and has “dead fish” eyes, usually reserved for the vaguely bad guys in the background.

Akagami no Shirayukihime looks very interesting, I’ve seen some images and the artstyle looks good.

What I don’t like about the second one, is the effeminate guy character. Sometimes the protagonist and other guys seem to be attracted to him. I didn’t watched the second season.

I think the protagonist is over hyped by some fans.

Oh I forgot, (well no really, I just have lost track of how much anime I have been watching)

I watched Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow. It was an awesome little slice of life. The characters were very nice, almost ordinary people (with some notable exceptions). The animation and backgrounds were amazing. The plot (despite it being a slice of life) was interesting. Some people complained about the unevenness of the romantic relationship and the loose ends at the end, but I thought it fit with the story. (It didn’t cover a very long time period and it ended like the characters will just continued on from where the story left off. It is not as clean as some (nor as bad as others), there is a heave use of bath scenes (with everything covered or not shown) as they are at a hot springs hotel. And in the first or second (?) episode one of the characters is trying to write erotica to pay his bills and some of his “writings” are “imagined” by the characters, nothing really visual, but it is there and fleeting.

I was reading that one of the “imagined” scenes was a yuri (lesbian) one, it seems that is one of the genres the writer character works on.

 

[CesarAugustus]

Thanks for the tips! I think I’ve seen ‘classic’ Gundam, ages ago. I did like it. What’s a ‘fansub’ website?

Some of the Gundam series, from what I’ve read, feature uncensored nudity (the first one, Turn A, 08th MS, Zeta and ZZ), newer ones like Seed feauture more typical “fanservice” (of the censored nuidty type).

Before watching a series, I suggest to visit sites the articles of pages about the series in pages like anidb (tags section -but don’t click on some of them-), myanimelist, anime news network, tvtropes (caution: sometimes vulgar language, and is has a reputation of being a time-waster site) and wikis for getting information about the series, content warnings, etc.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Smetimes, especially in magical-girl or mecha series, the nudity represents a purification or transformation, and is of the Barbie-doll variety. As such, it doesn’t bother me.

 

[CesarAugustus]

Smetimes, especially in magical-girl or mecha series, the nudity represents a purification or transformation, and is of the Barbie-doll variety. As such, it doesn’t bother me.

That would be included under “censored nudity”. When I mention uncensored, is not the Barbie-doll type.

 

[jilly4ski]

Akagami no Shirayukihime looks very interesting, I’ve seen some images and the artstyle looks good.

What I don’t like about the second one, is the effeminate guy character. Sometimes the protagonist and other guys seem to be attracted to him. I didn’t watched the second season.

I think the protagonist is over hyped by some fans.

I was reading that one of the “imagined” scenes was a yuri (lesbian) one, it seems that is one of the genres the writer character works on.

Yes, the writer is writing a yuri story about the girls working at the inn, it is innuendo fleeting, with no nudityl. He is mostly mocked and the story is garbage, and he abandons the work.

 

[ironchapman]

Speaking of Akagami no Shirayukihime, the heroine is voice by one of my top 2 or 3 favorite Japanese VAs, Saori Hayami. The opening for the show is the first singe of her solo career, so even though I’m not currently watching the show (but might sometime soon), I had to pick it up. Her voice is incredible.

Quite possibly my favorite Japanese musical group, fhana, also recently released a new single, “Wonder Stella”, the opening for the Prisma Illya show. Again, not watching the show, although this time I don’t plan to either, but the music is amazing.

I have to admit, though, knowing the Fate series’ roots as an adult visual novel, I always feel awkward about supporting the series, even though all of the anime are clean (or at least free of the sex scenes if not always from fanservice). Still, the series has some great music, and I don’t have any interest in playing the original game, even the sanitized version.

 

[jilly4ski]

Speaking of Akagami no Shirayukihime, the heroine is voice by one of my top 2 or 3 favorite Japanese VAs, Saori Hayami. The opening for the show is the first singe of her solo career, so even though I’m not currently watching the show (but might sometime soon), I had to pick it up. Her voice is incredible.

Yay, I am glad others know about this series. I don’t know if it is your cup of tea, but the animation does get better than what is in the opening.

Speaking of music in anime, my favorite is from Aquarion Evol. Mech anime is not usually my thing, but the music in this one, even beyond the intro and ending kept me coming back.

This is the ending theme, it is just beautiful youtube.com/watch?v=t6UYMnzVz3M

This is the opening, this is almost nostalgic, though I don’t know exactly how. youtube.com/watch?v=B7YPvCw3hPc

And all the little musical bit put in the anime, it is great. Though the anime itself is not the greatest.

 

[ironchapman]

Yay, I am glad others know about this series. I don’t know if it is your cup of tea, but the animation does get better than what is in the opening.

Speaking of music in anime, my favorite is from Aquarion Evol. Mech anime is not usually my thing, but the music in this one, even beyond the intro and ending kept me coming back.

This is the ending theme, it is just beautiful youtube.com/watch?v=t6UYMnzVz3M

This is the opening, this is almost nostalgic, though I don’t know exactly how. youtube.com/watch?v=B7YPvCw3hPc

And all the little musical bit put in the anime, it is great. Though the anime itself is not the greatest.

I love the opening for Aquarion Evol. Haven’t seen any of the series yet, though. I’ve been listening to it lately because I like Akino with bless4. They also did Extra Magic Hour, the opening for Amagi Brilliant Park and a great song, along with an all English International version.

Akino and her siblings were evidently raised in the US, hence the quality of their English. Their Dad and Mom, interestingly, are Mormons who were studying at BYU when they were born, and they are all active in the Mormon church.

 

[jilly4ski]

I started watching My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, I am on the second season, and am finding it amusing. The main character is the hilarious, is a dark sort of way. But I am now wondering if it is going to end “unsatisfactorily.” The plot doesn’t seem to be moving very much. And I kind of like how the main character isn’t “perfect.” He slouches, doesn’t have perfect anime proportions, and has “dead fish” eyes, usually reserved for the vaguely bad guys in the background.

So I was correct, the end of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too was disappointing and blah. At some point halfway through the second season, they stopped using nouns and while I mostly picked at what they we hinting at, a lot of the dialog was lost on me. The last episode was doubly disappointing, because nothing was resolved and they were at the same place they were at the end of the previous episode.

I watched Tari Tari, it is great if you want to see high schoolers get their hope and dreams flushed down the toilet… okay okay, what I mean is that it is a slice of life, where the conflict is that the students cannot achieve what they have always wanted to. I guess in the end they all find a close substitute. It is not bad.

Not sure what I am going to watch now. I tried watching a few shows, only got a few minutes into them before I had to turn them off. More browsing for me. Maybe I should see if Funimation gives me some better suggestions than Hulu is giving me right now.

 

[ironchapman]

I went to a hobby store for Japanese goods (anime and otherwise) to check on the figma for Iona of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, only entering “Iona” brought up a completely unrelated adult figure from a hentai series in the search results. Apparently, said figure had “AdditIONAl” in the product name. Even though it was censored, I really did not need to see that figure. These shops need to do a better job of dealing with how they display “adult merchandise” online. It’s true even of Amazon, although in its case, you usually have to go looking for the stuff to find it.

Sites should have some sort of age restriction barrier on that stuff, or at least not put it out on the front page and such where it’s easy to find, even though the images are censored.

 

[jilly4ski]

I went to a hobby store for Japanese goods (anime and otherwise) to check on the figma for Iona of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, only entering “Iona” brought up a completely unrelated adult figure from a hentai series in the search results. Apparently, said figure had “AdditIONAl” in the product name. Even though it was censored, I really did not need to see that figure. These shops need to do a better job of dealing with how they display “adult merchandise” online. It’s true even of Amazon, although in its case, you usually have to go looking for the stuff to find it.

Sites should have some sort of age restriction barrier on that stuff, or at least not put it out on the front page and such where it’s easy to find, even though the images are censored.

Oh, I liked that anime. Sorry about your trouble searching for the figure.
I sometimes wish that the anime had better ratings notices. I have been looking for anime to watch and trying stuff. Sigh, I tried watching Oreimo, don’t, just don’t.

On the success side, I watched Servant x Service. I didn’t really care for the first episode, but I stuck it out because I had nothing else to watch. It ended up being very entertaining. The characters are a bit crazy, which made it hard for me to get into it. (I tend to be a character driven anime watcher). It is about three people who start working in the local welfare office as civil servants.

I also just finished Yona of the Dawn. I highly recommend this one. I really enjoyed it, despite it feeling like a really interesting back story to the main plot and it ends with out it going anywhere. I feels like a second season could wrap in up nicely or it could go on forever like Inuyasha… I am not positive it is slated for a second season. But I hope it is. It is a fantasy shoujo anime.

Does anyone have anything they have watched and really liked lately or even not lately? Like I said, I am in desperate need of things to watch, and it can get a little discouraging to start something and have it be no good. I am contemplating going back and re-watching some of my favorites.

 

[ironchapman]

Oh, I liked that anime. Sorry about your trouble searching for the figure.
I sometimes wish that the anime had better ratings notices. I have been looking for anime to watch and trying stuff. Sigh, I tried watching Oreimo, don’t, just don’t.

On the success side, I watched Servant x Service. I didn’t really care for the first episode, but I stuck it out because I had nothing else to watch. It ended up being very entertaining. The characters are a bit crazy, which made it hard for me to get into it. (I tend to be a character driven anime watcher). It is about three people who start working in the local welfare office as civil servants.

I also just finished Yona of the Dawn. I highly recommend this one. I really enjoyed it, despite it feeling like a really interesting back story to the main plot and it ends with out it going anywhere. I feels like a second season could wrap in up nicely or it could go on forever like Inuyasha… I am not positive it is slated for a second season. But I hope it is. It is a fantasy shoujo anime.

Does anyone have anything they have watched and really liked lately or even not lately? Like I said, I am in desperate need of things to watch, and it can get a little discouraging to start something and have it be no good. I am contemplating going back and re-watching some of my favorites.

If you haven’t watched Kyousougiga, you’d probably like it.

I’m enjoying the Gate (Thus the JSDF Fought there) anime and Ushio and Tora. Need to catch up on the latest Working season, too. Gate’s manga’s pretty graphic in terms of violence and nudity, although at least the latter doesn’t usually seem like fanservice as much as it does the author’s attempt at matter-of-factly and realistically portraying some pretty unsavory situations that were common in ancient civilization. The anime cuts most of the graphic stuff out to make it friendlier to TV audiences. The story and characters are good, though.

Ushio and Tora is a revival of a 1990s manga, and it really feels and looks like it. That’s not an unwelcome experience, of course. It does the standard shonen buddy comedy well with an emphasis on demon hunting. I’d really like to check out the original OVA from back in the day, too.

Also, I need to catch up on Miss Monochrome, too.

 

[ironchapman]

Oh, I liked that anime. Sorry about your trouble searching for the figure.
I sometimes wish that the anime had better ratings notices. I have been looking for anime to watch and trying stuff. Sigh, I tried watching Oreimo, don’t, just don’t.

On the success side, I watched Servant x Service. I didn’t really care for the first episode, but I stuck it out because I had nothing else to watch. It ended up being very entertaining. The characters are a bit crazy, which made it hard for me to get into it. (I tend to be a character driven anime watcher). It is about three people who start working in the local welfare office as civil servants.

I also just finished Yona of the Dawn. I highly recommend this one. I really enjoyed it, despite it feeling like a really interesting back story to the main plot and it ends with out it going anywhere. I feels like a second season could wrap in up nicely or it could go on forever like Inuyasha… I am not positive it is slated for a second season. But I hope it is. It is a fantasy shoujo anime.

Does anyone have anything they have watched and really liked lately or even not lately? Like I said, I am in desperate need of things to watch, and it can get a little discouraging to start something and have it be no good. I am contemplating going back and re-watching some of my favorites.

As for that particular store, I don’t know if I’ll be shopping there anymore because other than censoring the relevant stuff in the images, they don’t seem to mind featuring adult figures on the front page or prominently in search results.

Most of the other sites usually keep that stuff off to the side and you have to go looking for it, even if they don’t have an age verification barrier. They also make it so that you have to actually click on the item and visit its page to see anything more than just a headshot. (I’ve learned these things through trial and error searching the sites, mostly, as I have no interest in buying adult items).

I still buy from some of those sites that do things like I discussed in the last paragraph. Amazon basically operates like that. They don’t sell X-Rated stuff from the official store, but they do allow Marketplace sellers to do so. Amiami has a adult section and sometimes the entries show up in search results, for example if a character from an adult series and a regular series share the same name, but they operate by the headshot principle I mentioned. HLJ is the same. They should be safe to shop at, as long as you don’t click on the wrong item or search for the wrong stuff. Crunchyroll’s site, to my knowledge is totally free of adult stuff. Might have to shop there more, even if the release is a couple of months after Japan’s. CDJapan has an age barrier, so it’s safe, too.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Just started watching Sound: Euphonium! Seems safe and cute.

Then, Kami-Sama Hajimashita. Somewhat scary, but fast-paced and funny.

 

[jilly4ski]

Just started watching Sound: Euphonium! Seems safe and cute.

Then, Kami-Sama Hajimashita. Somewhat scary, but fast-paced and funny.

Kamisama Kiss, is one of my favorite animes! I am not sure I got “scary” from it though. Maybe I need to go back an rewatch the first season.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Kamisama Kiss, is one of my favorite animes! I am not sure I got “scary” from it though. Maybe I need to go back an rewatch the first season.

I am easily scared.

Only watched the first episode of Kami-Sama Kiss so far, and it had girl-eating DEMONS in it! Come on, tell me that’s not scary, lol.

The character design is reminiscent of Ouran High School Host Club, but I can’t find the connection.

By the way, almost done with Shiro Bako. Best non-Yuu Yuu Hakusho anime ever.

 

[jilly4ski]

I am easily scared.

Only watched the first episode of Kami-Sama Kiss so far, and it had girl-eating DEMONS in it! Come on, tell me that’s not scary, lol.

The character design is reminiscent of Ouran High School Host Club, but I can’t find the connection.

By the way, almost done with Shiro Bako. Best non-Yuu Yuu Hakusho anime ever.

LOL, we must have similar tastes in anime. I guess I never took the demons in the first episode very seriously. She can’t die in the first episode after all.

So glad you like Shiro Bako! So good, and the last episode is nice too, not frustrating or unintelligible.

 

[jilly4ski]

I have been watching some of the Studio Ghibli films. (My little brother has a few, so I have been borrowing them). First I watched Howl’s Moving Castle, which is one of my favorite Miyazaki movies (I also really like Spirited away and I really haven’t seen that many). Then I watched Nausica Valley of the Wind, and I ended up liking it, despite the old style animation. Then I watched Princess Mononoke, which was longer than I was expecting (I started it too late in the evening and am paying for it today). I was really enjoying it until the end. It could of had a happier ending. Usually I am ok with ambiguous endings, but a movie that was so serious could have benefited from a more definite happy ending.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I have been watching some of the Studio Ghibli films. (My little brother has a few, so I have been borrowing them). First I watched Howl’s Moving Castle, which is one of my favorite Miyazaki movies (I also really like Spirited away and I really haven’t seen that many). Then I watched Nausica Valley of the Wind, and I ended up liking it, despite the old style animation. Then I watched Princess Mononoke, which was longer than I was expecting (I started it too late in the evening and am paying for it today). I was really enjoying it until the end. It could of had a happier ending. Usually I am ok with ambiguous endings, but a movie that was so serious could have benefited from a more definite happy ending.

I LOVE Studio Ghibli films and I think I have them all! Mononoke may not have had the happiest ending, but it was inevitable, given the story elements.

Apart from Mononoke and Spirited Away, I’ve only seen them subtitled. And I’ve seen those two subtitled since first watching them. Mononoke Hime was my introduction!

Some of my other faves are Kiki’s Delivery Service (a teenage Magical Girl strikes out on her own), Omoide Poro Poro (the childhood memories of a Japanese woman seem to come to life as she vacations in the country) and Mimi Wo Sumaseba (a high school girl stumbles onto a mysterious antiques store).