[Official] Anime/Manga Thread

[Aokromes]

So I wonder if they're gonna just forget that the entire Dragon Ball GT thing ever happened? While I didn't mind it personally I know it's definitely got some massive issues.

This part is on the Dragon Ball Z timeline, before the combat of Goku vs Uub, long before Dragon Ball GT.

[PGHammer]

In my case, I'm actually "returning" to following Japanese anime after mostly sticking to hentai recently. (My original exposure was to "Americanized" anime - specifically Star Blazers and the original and re-spun Voltron (all via World Events Productions); this time, I'm looking only at Japanese-sourced anime with the only concession being  subtitles in English.)  The series I am following now is decidedly away from the American norm - "Classroom Crisis".  It's a six-part anime that is part-SF/part vocational-technical school project/part old-fashioned incubator story. In other words, it's exceedingly well-grounded (far from the norm for "classic hit" Japanese anime).  Still, like most successful anime (and especially anime that is also successful outside of Japan - it's even true of Hentai that is successful outside of Japan), the quality is top-notch from drawing to music.  (That is something all too much in the way of film gets wrong - let alone anything created for television and for non-Japanese audiences; the really standout part of the music of "Classroom Crisis" is, in fact, its theme/title track.  Despite my not knowing a LICK of Japanese, it reached out and first grabbed me, then proceeded to sucker-punch me in the gut.  It spoke directly to the theme of the series - "don't ever give up".  The theme is also used elsewhere - it's used as as inspirational music by the teen engineers in episode five - and I thus got whacked again.)  If you get "sucked in" to "Classroom Crisis" - story OR music, or both - don't say you weren't warned.  (In fact, now I have to find out if there is a FULL version of that theme/title track - as it's perfectly capable of standing on its own as part of a "playlist of inspiration".)

[PGHammer]

Followup to my earlier post - there IS an MP3 available of the opener/title track to "Classroom Crisis" (Cobalt).   Further, new episodes are available via AniPlanet (web) and via Hulu/Hulu Plus (United States) at 1130 PST every Friday morning (1430 Eastern); naturally, back episodes are available as well (AniPlanet and Hulu).  There is also now a US-based homepage for the series - http://www.classroomcrisis.com.

[trag3dy]

I think I tried Classroom Crisis when it was first out and gave up on it after the first or second episode. 

An anime I'm really enjoying this season is Gangsta. It's really giving me the vibe that Cowboy Bebop did back when it was still kind of new and exciting. Despite the fact that they aren't really similar in any specific way. I'm not sure what it is but I like it and I can't wait to see where it goes.

I especially love how they handle the deaf character in the show. Never seen an anime or really any show do that before.

[Matrix XII]

Finished recently

Kill la Kill - 9/10

Akame ga Kill - 8/10

Currently, watching - No Game, No Life. Pretty interesting, like it so far

[trag3dy]

Anyone watching One Punch Man? If not I highly suggest it. It's brilliant.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

First season of Naruto Shippuden is now free on MS Store - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/tv/naruto-shippuden-uncut/season-101-sd/8d6kgwzl68kz/0004

 

Though SD quality only...

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Fairy Tale Season 1 (Free) - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/tv/fairy-tail/season-101/8d6kgwzlcx8h

Dragon Ball Z Season 1 (Free) - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/tv/dragon-ball-z/season-1/8d6kgwzlcsk9

[Matrix XII]

My wife and I are watching Bleach. Her first time seeing the show and she loves it!

[RadishTM Veteran]

1 hour ago, Matrix XII said:

My wife and I are watching Bleach. Her first time seeing the show and she loves it!

 

Shame the manga is coming to an end soon.

[trag3dy]

Soon as in the chapter coming out this week is supposed to be it's last.

[Terrigamer]

Fairly disappointing ending for Bleach, feels super-rushed to me.  Oh well, remember the good times (arcs)!

[+Zlip792 MVC]

18 minutes ago, Terrigamer said:

Fairly disappointing ending for Bleach, feels super-rushed to me.  Oh well, remember the good times (arcs)!

Exactly same thoughts... Kubo could have pulled much more impressive but still.. Now one more series down to follow.

[trag3dy]

I feel like maybe they were trying to emulate how Naruto ended and like you guys said it ended up feeling a bit rushed. Still it could have been worse.

 

I don't have any more weekly manga to read now, though. I guess I'll have to find some new ones.  

[dragontology]

Not a lot of activity in this thread. Anime fans all leave or what? I'm sort of like an anti-anime fan in a way... I generally only watch anime in English. I don't despise Japanese language anime with English subs, it's just hard to stay focused on it. Ironically, when I watch movies, I love having the subs on. I catch more if I read and hear. But I have to hear it in English. I don't understand a word of Japanese. (Well, I know konnichiwa is hello, sayonara is goodbye, baka is idiot... I know what yuri, yaoi, and ecchi mean, but it isn't enough.) So, it's fortunate for me that anime is currently experiencing a renaissance, where anything remotely good is produced in English as well.

 

Currently watching Guilty Crown... pretty good so far. I'm halfway through. It's about a virus that wiped out a majority of Japan (and on Christmas no less, ruining the holiday for everyone, they call it the Lost Christmas... how messed up is that?) and the company that came in and cured the virus. So they have unilateral authority to kill anyone suspected of being infected, because reasons. And this guy has the ability to reach into anyone's heart and pull out their void, which is a weapon or defensive utility based on who they are. So he gets recruited by the rebels (specifically by a local pop star whose voice can affect people in other ways). It's weird but pretty good overall.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

There is very less activity here so I usually don't post much.

 

Current Reading following manga:

 

- One Piece

- The Promise of Neverland

- Fairy Tail

[dragontology]

Finished Guilty Crown a few weeks back. That show was wild. It's like they took 4-5 shows and jammed them together. The arcs were really up and down. It wasn't hard to keep up with it, but I think it may need to be binged harder than 3 episodes a night/3 nights a week, which is about what I can do.

 

Generally we start with our regular (live-action) show that we're watching, then three anime episodes, and if we have time, one more live-action. I scout the live-action, wife scouts the anime. Current live-action is Revenge, an ABC drama that crosses The Count of Monte Cristo with socialites. Basically it's a soap opera with catty women. I word it this way because it could totally work as an anime. I mean, they made Supernatural into an anime (that took itself seriously as one) so why not this?

 

Anyway, next after Guilty Crown it was 91 Days, a Prohibition-era story of revenge and moonshine in the US in, I guess the 1940s or whenever Prohibition was. So if you liked Boardwalk Empire, you'll probably like this, only there's no Steve Buscemi here. Still, it was pretty good, and that lasagna scene.... oh man, you have likely not seen anything like it.

 

Tonight we're starting .hack's third season. The first is legendary in anime and paved the road for newer titles like Log Horizon and Sword Art Online; like them, it's about someone trapped in a game... one person, rather than everyone, though. And rather than focus on game action, it was more about dialogue, and character development. Basically, the first half of the first season of Sword Art Online was a remake/reboot of it, or a tribute at least — but don't tell SAO fans that. Anyway, the second season was almost entirely trash, yet we trudged through it. It wasn't good by any means. Also known as Legend of Twilight, or Legend of the Twilight Bracelet (fansub), Season 2 was all about chibi lolis and... I don't know. It was terribly convoluted. Anyway, the whole 'trapped online' trope didn't seem to be working for them like it is now (SAO is doing incredibly well, with the movie about to come out, so I guess it was just way ahead of its time), so with the third season, they went back to the art style of the first season, at least for the most part, and took the story in a new direction. I really don't know much about it. Except that it's also called Roots or .hack//ROOTS. All in all a weird series... they probably should have quit after the first season though... and, apparently, made the second season about faeries...

 

Oh, I joke about SAO being a shameless ripoff of the first anime I watched, but I really do like it and am looking forward to the movie, Ordinal Scale, coming up. Apparently they come up with the totally not ever done before idea of a songstress with powers. That totally never happened in Guilty Crown, or for that matter Final Fantasy X-2 (and maybe FFX as well). But anyway, if you like SAO... you really have got to see Sword Art Online: Abridged. You've probably seen an abridged series, maybe a few. But these guys just go over the top. Right up front, they do have a bad episode and it's pretty early (I think it's the third one — it's the Christmas episode, it just misses every mark it aims for), but for the most part, it's damn good. They have their own theme (This is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars), their own opening for the theme that is not taken from the show AFAIK, I'm pretty sure they cut it themselves), and it's just so good... in your basic SAO, Kirito is like this selfless hero... however in SAO Abridged, he's a selfish jerk. And Jerk Kirito works so much better than Hero Kirito. Best played at parties... especially if you have that one kind of friend who "doesn't get" anime... have them watch this. It's on YouTube. Free to stream everywhere, AFAIK. Oh, and, note that while swearing is censored in the first part... at some point in this episode, the profanity filter gets disabled, and then nothing is censored. It's one of those things... like how in Erased when Satoru is in 1988, the aspect ratio gets wider... little things that just push it over. Anyway, give it two minutes and I'll see you at the end, patiently waiting for the next episode like the rest of us.

[McCordRm]

I just started watching Samurai Jack.

I'm not really impressed, mostly due to the art style. I'm pretty much a graphics ######

when it comes to everything I watch-- gaming, watching cartoons, etc.

 

Any suggestions for high definition anime with English voices? (Not subbed English, but

actual spoken English)  For art style, I liked Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, to give

and example. 

Edited April 5, 2017 by McCordRm

[Shiranui]

I was through with it, before you learned what to do with it!

 

That said, I did enjoy watching "Bubblegum Crisis" again, for the first time in years, in 720p.

[dragontology]

In case you guys haven't heard, they're making a Fullmetal Alchemist movie. And there's a trailer. There have been trailers, but this is the latest one and shows off the most. Ed, Al in armor, Winry, Lust, Envy, Roy, Maes, Nina, Alexander, and the chimera all on display. The latter three are in a couple "blink and you'll miss it" shots around 0:41 and 1:19, but if you're a fan of the anime, you probably won't blink, and you'll probably want to watch it at least twice. I'm not sure the people making the movie realize that Germany is not in Japan, but that's about the only bad thing I can say about it. I mean, they probably could have gotten away with simply setting it in Japan, but instead decided to hedge their bets, and the mixup makes the film look really low budget. The alchemy special effects, however, say otherwise. Still, I think fans would have been madder if Hollywood "whitewashed" the mostly all white cast (I didn't see any sign of May Chang or her Xingese allies).

 

Comes out the 1st of December, at least in Japan. No telling when/if we'll see it Stateside. Wife and I are going to Tokyo Ghoul if they have a showing I can go to. As it is right now, it's only on days I have to work, right before I have to be at work... 2 hours away. So she might have to fly solo on that if they don't open up any weekend showings.

[trag3dy]

So this is a thing, and it looks pretty awesome:

 

 

[Megan Wright]

Do you agree with the ones in the video ? i will only be watching tate no yuusha no nariagari . what re u guys planning to watch from the new anime in 2019?

[Timi Cantisano Veteran]

On 2/23/2018 at 7:47 PM, trag3dy said:

So this is a thing, and it looks pretty awesome:

 

 

bad. didnt like it one bit. 

[Rigby]

I mostly just watch slice of life stuff or comedies. Recently finished Yuru Camp△ (the most relaxing show I've ever watched), Erased, and A Place Further Than the Universe.

[SidVicious]

The new Fruits Basket episode was perfect.