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Everytime people mention Robotech or Gundam I wonder what it is I'm missing and whether I can get the best of it for free online. Then I go back to watching my twelve volumes of Patlabor. Then I wonder if I'm missing Patlabor in space. If there was more Patlabor than Patlabor, you guys would tell me, right? If I was bleeding to death, you guys would take me to a doctor, right?

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My favorite episodes usually involve everyone getting drunk.

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Armitage III has this sex scene that I thought was really hot when I saw it on tv at like 10 years of age.

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I hadn't heard about Paprika until now. Downloading that and 3 eps of Combat Butler, which looks pretty funny!

Oh hey, how did Gunslinger Girls turn out? I watched like 6 eps once and liked it but didn't feel compelled to finish it off.

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Uh, I dled a very nice sub version of Solid State Society months ago. It shouldn't be hard to find.

Dennou Coil looks interesting to me, as well. It's only up to episode 4, huh? I'll wait awhile. I still have to watch all of Death Note, after all. BTW, Death Note makes me think a cool name for a spinoff would be Dead Beat.

My copy of Paprika isn't as good-looking as those two images up there. =(

Bleach 128 is almost on my hard drive. 110-115 were still the best of the new arc, though.

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That was a really lame Bleach episode.

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Why the fuck haven't I seen any posts about The Afro Samurai, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ron Perlman with music by the Rza?

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I saw the first volume of Cromartie. It's good, but a little past my funny/inane border.

As for transposition from manga to anime, yeah, I think they handled it well, but on the other hand I'm not sure I've ever seen a manga to anime that I didn't think was directed well.

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Man, Higurashi is so awesome. I've got to get back to that show.




(Click for clean HQ)







(super loli wallpaper)

Anyone know some great anime blogs? I can't keep up with anime, and, no offense, this thread is intimidatingly disorganized. And not enough pictures. =(

I dunno if I ever posted about it, but I scoped the first 3 episodes of that show about the battle butler. I forgot the japanese title. It was fun! I love that everything is so gorgeous these days that even intentionally ridiculous shows are beautiful.

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Oh, is it time for me to watch Lain again? Yes, I think it might be!

Actually, DJ, have you ever watched Higurashi? It's actually very challenging, though in a different way than most of what you listed. I want to call it anime's Silent Hill.

There's Kemonozume, but maybe that isn't challenging, per se. Then again, maybe it is. I can't decide.

Hey, somebody convince me to watch DeathNote.

PSA: Everyone knows about this, yes?

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Really? Is the manga that much better? I prefer the experience of watching anime...

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You're an idiot and you have no idea what you're talking about.

All those lolis? They're creepy fucking killers.

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context

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Yeah but the point is once the show gets done fucking you up, you'll probably never look at a little girl with colorful hair in a schoolgirl uniform the same way again. The creepiness imbues even the typical loli shit with something sinister.

The way that each arc resets and begins as a cutesy harem type anime that slowly drowns in creepiness until some climactic bloodbath is a statement in itself, as well.

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That's weird. I guess I must be seeing it since it's in my cache. If you go here, it's the third of the four wallpapers; I just love how expressive their faces are. You don't usually see stuff like that in anime art.

DJ, you ever see Kino's Journey? It's quite unique. The tone is peaceful and reflective, like Haibane Renmei. It's a great little series -- I think it's 13 episodes. Try it out.

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oh please


fine, then don't try higurashi; kino isn't in violation of your new criterion

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And if you're just looking for a change of pace, don't forget about the old reliables; dig up some classic Disney films, anything from The Lion King on earlier. I've just seen Lady & the Tramp and Beauty & the Beast recently and I can see now how easy it's always been to take them for granted -- since they're so good, that is. They become imprinted upon your childhood so strongly that it's worth a look once you're older, too. Or if you're really set on something Japanese, compromise and check out some Ghibli flick you never bothered with.

What I'm saying is that something doesn't need ostensibly to be challenging to be excellent or worthwhile; it can simply be so rich that you can challenge yourself to appreciate it more thoroughly.

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DJ, have you seen Dead Leaves? That might appeal to you for visual style.

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You have to be in the mood for something that creeps along slowly.

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DJ do you watch LOST?

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Also in mentioning all the "normal" anime you like, you missed Azumanga Daioh and Patlabor, which are two of the very best anime series ever.

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That's because it's Oshii's movie.

I wasn't saying that Azumanga and Patlabor are challenging; DJ was listing off non-challenging anime that he has enjoyed, and those two weren't mentioned. Maybe sometime he isn't looking for a puzzle, he'll keep them in mind.

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Okay! You should watch everything Patlabor, as it is absolutely fantastic through and through. For puzzles, you should watch Higurashi. These girls aren't wearing gothic maid outfits or anything; the loli factor is kept to their being young students in a small town where all ages are in the same classroom. It's not likely to make you sick for pedophilia. Just fucking try it. The first arc is like five episodes or so. That's not an unreasonable investment for something that pretty much everyone is recommending to you, is it?

By the way, Oshii, whose work you seem to enjoy, is responsible for the first two Patlabor movies, the OVAs, and the TV series. It is not uncommon to hear people talk about Patlabor as the predecessor of Ghost in the Shell; however, unlike the latter, in which Oshii deliberately removed the comedic aspects of Shirow's manga, Patlabor is filled with the most charming character comedy I have ever seen.

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Here's the first episode, DJ.

Just try it.

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I have Memories. It's great. Two sketches are better than the other, but it's really all great.

Nothing "hard" about it, exactly, though.

As for me, I intend to watch all 26 episodes of Mushishi over the next 10 or so hours.

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Yeah, you've got me right. I agree with your assessment of that episode, though I know nothing about this Izubuchi; the success of that episode lies in its awkward but touching examination of the relationship between the captains. I'm curious as to what you consider to be the best of the GitS stuff, since that type of reflection isn't what I consider the series to be best at -- though the reverse is true of the films. Unless you're alluding to the relationship between Motoko and Batou, especially, for example, the sort of thing you see towards the end of the first season of Standalone Complex. (I still haven't seen more than half of 2nd Gig)

That kind of distant love relationship is more or less a central point in RahXephon, but it exists in a sci-fi time-crossed context and is confused by all the other mess of the show. RahXephon is a touchy point for me because it's appealing on the level of visual art, has very nice production, appears to be a great story, has some twists on the standard giant robot story it ripped from Eva (missing the allegorical aspect), and features gorgeously detailed illustrations, character relation maps, explicatory notes, and even theoretical essays in the liner notes for each volume and the movie, but the sum of all these niceties is a disgusting, overboiled lump of... it makes me think of the organic mass spewing forth uncontrollably from Tetsuo in Akira.

If nothing else, I recommend seeing it because it's interesting. I still express or explain its massive failure. But, anyway, given what you've said, I can definitely see Izubuchi's work in some of its characters and their almost-was relationships.

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I can't agree at all, but it may be because I watched it after the series and HUGE aspects of the plot are completely different.

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Mushishi...

is magical.


Everytime I start to think I should be annoyed about how everything is attributed to an infection of Mushi, I find myself lost in the atmosphere and the lovely tragic happy stories instead.

It's just magical.

I just finished the episode about the rainbow snake, and, at the end, when Kourou puts his hand in the rainbow, Ginko pulls him out and explains (paraphrased): "I thought so, but I had to see it up close to be sure... This is a Flowing Thing." "What's a Flowing Thing?" "Although it's alive, it's really a natural phenomenon like floods or typhoons. A Flowing Thing just rises up for no reason other than to flow... It doesn't have a goal or a purpose, but it's unrelenting all the same. It isn't good for normal creatures to get in the way of things like that." When he said that, it made me see natural forces as divine powers, as they are in myths. Sort of the way the characters in Babylon 5 see the First Ones. It was wonderful to be given an intuitive vision like that, even for only a moment. That kind of magic can be found in films and other media, but as I get older it seems rarer the more I look for it.

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I just vomited.





Inside my heart.



Seriously. Look at the upset faces around this post.

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I'm listening to the Mushishi soundtracks and realizing.....

why I like Trace Memory.

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I have now seen Lucky Star.



What... is this?



I do not understand,

yet I will buy it on DVD as soon as I can.

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Episode 2!



I have not laughed out loud like this at anime for awhile!!

This is shaping up to be my next Azumanga Daioh! I wonder if it gets sentimental at all? I doubt it at this point!


I love the brooding announcer voice: NEXT TIME ON LUCKY STAR lolololol

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Hello, mina-san.

I have started watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and I have a question. I have heard that this show's episodes were broadcast out of chronological order -- presumably, this is a distinct and intentional aspect to the show's presentation. Since I am watching it online, the order of the episodes is out of my control. The first one introduced the characters and the club. The second one features a secretive meeting and reveals the identity of an alien. Are these episodes on broadcast order, narrative chronological order, or both? And is there a consensus on whether the broadcast or the narrative order is better in some sense?

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.