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J.H.

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10 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

Folks. Dorohedoro is on Netflix, right now. That means if you have a Netflix account, you are just swipes away from being able to watch this cinnamon roll, Ebisu, in all her epic glory.

 

I guess I should watch this?  I was going to post about it last night.  I know almost nothing about it, beyond what Wiki tells.  I've heard people talk about it sort of reverentially without quite making it clear why they love it.  Oh, and it was directed by the director of Garo: The Carved Seal of Flames, which I fairly enjoyed.

If anyone wants to try to sell me on the show, it'd be appreciated.

Edited by Doc Townsend
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I ran through the whole thing, finishing it up an hour or two ago after starting it late last night. Its bloody, goofy, and weird as fuck. Wouldn't call it amazing or anything, but its definitely fun and interesting. That was good enough for me.

Edited by Eivion
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8 hours ago, Doc Townsend said:

I guess I should watch this?  I was going to post about it last night.  I know almost nothing about it, beyond what Wiki tells.  I've heard people talk about it sort of reverentially without quite making it clear why they love it.  Oh, and it was directed by the director of Garo: The Carved Seal of Flames, which I fairly enjoyed.

If anyone wants to try to sell me on the show, it'd be appreciated.

It's like David Lynch the Anime.

It is very weird, over the top, but there's this genuine purity to the characters. It is bloody, at times goofy, outrageous and weird, but it's grounded by the genuine affection the characters have for one another. The villain En, is kind of a heartless scumbag, but he genuinely cares about his subordinates. The protagonists, Kaiman and Nikaido, are really invested in their true friendship mode, but they have all these dark things in their subconscious they are keeping bottled up.

The creator Q Hayashida fully committed to the world building and this bizarre world and style. It's very distinct, even among other "weird" anime.

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Watched Beastars over the weekend.  Kinda have mixed opinions about it.  I really enjoyed the first eight episodes.  It's well-written, the animation is fine, the characters are well-defined, and I was really drawn in by the world-building.  Basically, it's a slice-of-life drama set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals (they wear close and talk) where the major social division is carnivores vs. herbivores.  The story is set against the backdrop of a high school drama club and revolves around a Romeo and Juliet-style romance between a wolf and a dwarf rabbit.

First eight episodes are very laid-back.  The drama is generated by character relationships, with no action or violence other than a fight between high schoolers.  The tone of the show changes radically in episode 9 (of 12), with an act of random violence, followed by a whole lot more violence and a couple brutal deaths

Spoiler

In episode 9, the lead female character is kidnapped - just random bad luck - by an organized crime syndicate made up of lions.  The male lead - the wolf -  goes to get her back.and ends up attacking the mobsters' headquarters, backed up only by a panda with a gun.  The panda is a minor character only seen once before in passing.  The panda shoots almost everyone in sight, the male lead goes from being sweet and good-natured to being Rambo, and after a series of bloody fights, a supporting character shows up and kills the leader of the crime syndicate by putting a gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger.  

It's a really schizophenic tonal shift and it took me out of the show.  Granted, the violence is used to drive the primary relationship forward, but a bloody revenge quest wasn't what I wanted from the show.  I wish they had stuck to the initial aesthetic.  The anime in based on a manga, so I'm assuming the creators are sticking closely to the original sequence of events.

Still, I thought the writing was very good, and the world they create around the characters is believable and fascinating.  There's a second season planned for 2021, so maybe that will address my issues,

Edited by Doc Townsend
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Actually been staring at that one for a bit now. The tonal shift sounds both odd and not odd. Like there should be violence in a show with a nature of carnivores vs. herbivores, but it should also be something that blends in a bit better throughout opposed to coming in at a hyper level late in the series. Have to say that is a bit disappointing to hear as I was just starting to think I might watch it. That is a bit offputting.

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7 hours ago, Eivion said:

Actually been staring at that one for a bit now. The tonal shift sounds both odd and not odd. Like there should be violence in a show with a nature of carnivores vs. herbivores, but it should also be something that blends in a bit better throughout opposed to coming in at a hyper level late in the series. Have to say that is a bit disappointing to hear as I was just starting to think I might watch it. That is a bit offputting.

I'd give it a try.  I thought it was exceptionally well-written.  The major characters are fleshed out really well, and there are some issues raised that rarely get dealt with in any medium.  The carnivores vs. herbivores is dealt with, but it's not a huge part of the show during the first eight episodes. It's a societal issue that doesn't touch the characters directly for most of the series, even when a murder takes place on campus (the incident is quickly forgotten and never raised again).  It's a societal issue that's in the background for most of these characters.  It exists and occasionally touches their lives, but it doesn't dominate their thoughts or relationships.  

Basically, the first eight episodes were a perceptive coming-of-age drama.  About anthropomorphic animals.  Then a Liam Neeson flick broke out in the last 1/3 and I lost a little interest.  Maybe it will work better for you.  I'm still onboard for season 2. 

 

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So I started watching Gintama over the weekend with my lady, since it's one of her favorite shows.  I'm enjoying it so far, the show does a great job of balancing narrative and wackiness.  And good lord is the voice acting talent loaded; like every time a new character shows up and says something I'm like "Wait isnt that?"

 

Will this show hold up over 300+ episodes?  Here's hoping!

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Started the 7 year old on Card Captor Sakura now that it's on netflix. The dub is painful but accurate, if that makes sense. I should just make her do subs but it's hard to rise to that level of caring for a magical girl show, even a classic one.. Plus it annoys my wife which is always a bonus? Maybe?

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5 hours ago, GojiColin said:

Will this show hold up over 300+ episodes?  Here's hoping!

I feel it does, but it also probably helps that it had breaks between the last 4 seasons or so.

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https://www.crunchyroll.com/city-hunter/city-hunter-shinjuku-private-eyes-city-hunter-shinjuku-private-eyes-dub-795651

City Hunter Shinjuku Private Eyes is available on Crunchyroll now both subbed and dubbed. 

I liked it a lot. I always enjoy when an older product like this can get a new update, but the style and look sort of sticks with the classic designs and aesthetic, but the animation looks brand-new. Dub version also sounded good and fairly well done. I hope Discotek Media would consider doing more experiments like this. 

Fair warning, the main protagonist is one of those raging pervert types if that's a trigger to some people. Even now I find the character a little dated, but I find Ryo Saeba much like Vash or Kintaro. He plays up that side when he's actually quite competent and skilled to disarm and catch people off-guard. 

Regarding Beastars, I found it interesting. Sort of like a darker anime version of Zootopia. To be perfectly honest, I always had trouble buying into the notion of carnivores switching to bug/insect protein in that world. At least this show actually addressed more realistically what it would be like to have a world of anthropomorphic carnivores and herbivores living together. 

In response to Doc Townsend, for me personally, the later episodes didn't play so out of place to me. I feel like early on the show sort of set up this sense of dread, and then they did set up the whole black market area, Gouhin the Black Market doctor panda, and the more unsettling elements. Carnivores going crazy and resorting to eating off their own limbs, drugging themselves to make themselves more docile, or going to the Black Market so they can eat actual meat to try and keep their baser animal instincts under control.  I think the issue is that we only really got to see a snippet of a much bigger story, and this was just really the first major part of the Carnivore Mafia/Shishigumi from the manga, and there's more intrigue stuff with them later. I think the larger issue is that the show starts off with this big almost Laura Palmer style murder, and we don't really get a decent payoff, and it's only glossed over for the rest of the season. I imagine Season 2 will have the payoff to the murder mystery.

A show like Beastars seems oddly even more relevant right now with everything going on in the world. 

Edited by TheVileOne
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The Saint Seiya episode of Gintama is a top 5 all time anime episode for me and its not even the funniest episode!

On 6/2/2020 at 8:14 AM, GojiColin said:

So I started watching Gintama over the weekend with my lady, since it's one of her favorite shows.  I'm enjoying it so far, the show does a great job of balancing narrative and wackiness.  And good lord is the voice acting talent loaded; like every time a new character shows up and says something I'm like "Wait isnt that?"

 

Will this show hold up over 300+ episodes?  Here's hoping!

James

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Gintama is definitely on the list to get to.

Please bear with the rambling...

I just finished the Monogatari series and adored it. I've watched three consecutive series that are satires of the fan service in anime but still cross the line too often and profit off of it with creepy shit. KonoSuba, No Game No Life, and Monogatari. All fantastic in their own right but I really wish they wouldn't do that shit... I have been thinking about whether it's better to admit societal problems like that compared to denying them in public and then looking at the front page of any streaming adult website and seeing nothing but "step" sister pornog. Neither are very good options.

But, yeah, going from a show that treated plot with disdain and was entirely psychological to... JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is just overwhelming my brain. Speaking of satire... This show is so hilarious in how over the top everything is and played entirely straight-faced. In the first episode alone, they go through more story beats than Monogatari does in its entirety, lol. The characters are so flat and built on decades worth of tropes. It's amazing but certainly something completely different.

I've also been meaning to rewatch Jin-Roh. The current events make it seem like 2020 in animated form. Holy shit.

Now seems like a good time to revisit it (that dub tho). 

In general, I've been pretty much watching nothing but anime since the pandemic started. I've retreated into teenage me, but I've really loved it. I went back and watched Azumanga Daioh, Berserk, Hajime no Ippo, and then FMA Brotherhood (had only seen the original adaptation), Nichijou, Cromartie High School, and the above trio. I mean... That's obviously way too much in a short period of time but fuck if I didn't enjoy pretty much every bit of it.

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3 hours ago, Oyaji said:

In general, I've been pretty much watching nothing but anime since the pandemic started. I've retreated into teenage me, but I've really loved it. I went back and watched Azumanga Daioh, Berserk, Hajime no Ippo, and then FMA Brotherhood (had only seen the original adaptation), Nichijou, Cromartie High School, and the above trio. I mean... That's obviously way too much in a short period of time but fuck if I didn't enjoy pretty much every bit of it.

Have you tried Genshiken? Fantastic comedy about otaku culture, incredibly on point.

Then there's Detroit Metal City.

There's also the other Nichijou... Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou.

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  • 3 weeks later...
6 hours ago, Eivion said:

I finished it on the weekend. Really hoping there will be a third season.

There better be a freakin 3rd season!

(And hopefully beyond... the novel is epic... at least 10 seasons worth of stuff.)

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In the past week I've bought either blu-ray or DVDs sets of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Trigun and Akira.

My most expensive purchase is about to be the Neon Genesis Evangelion Complete Platinum boxset on eBay. Because I have no self control and can't wait until next year for the blu-ray release (although the retailer it's coming from only has European pricing, so.... kinda skeptical that it'll get a Region 1 release).

God help me if I ever find a complete DVD/blu-ray release of the Pokemon series that had the original 151.

Edited by Casey
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  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone here watch Id: Invaded and want to recommend it (or not)?  

Thinking of giving it a go.  Watched the trailer and read a few reviews last night and wasn't really sold.  Haven't seen many recommending it even on the lists of best 2020 anime (so far), so kinda wondering if's worth the effort.

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3 hours ago, Doc Townsend said:

Anyone here watch Id: Invaded and want to recommend it (or not)?  

Thinking of giving it a go.  Watched the trailer and read a few reviews last night and wasn't really sold.  Haven't seen many recommending it even on the lists of best 2020 anime (so far), so kinda wondering if's worth the effort.

It's decent.  The premise is pretty interesting and the first few eps are good, but the plot gets somewhat overly convoluted as the series progresses.

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7 hours ago, Doc Townsend said:

Anyone here watch Id: Invaded and want to recommend it (or not)?  

Thinking of giving it a go.  Watched the trailer and read a few reviews last night and wasn't really sold.  Haven't seen many recommending it even on the lists of best 2020 anime (so far), so kinda wondering if's worth the effort.

I enjoyed it, but it probably needed more time to properly flesh out the characters and cast. Its decent, but depending on what else you are interested in you likely have better options to hit first.

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Very happy that Fire Force is back for Season 2. Really digging that show right now. Also major league props to David Productions keeping up such high animation quality right now. 

I think giving that type of show a break like with My Hero Academia helps a lot, or at least, I hope it does. 

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