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J.H.

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I didn't think I had an addictive personality until the pandemic gave me time and wrestling lost a little joy without the crowds, so I started watching anime again...and ended up buying roughly 80+ full series between Sentai's sale and XBox's sale, between the two at least getting a cross-section of what I missed.

Sometimes I wonder why I stopped watching anime as much...then I realized every action series is "person gets sent to a world to stop a demon lord where magic takes the place of technology, everyone works as an adventurer to gain power, an - yeah, it's World of Warcraft. The hero is trying to be the best player in their World of Warcraft server", or that "comedy is no better. You know, maybe my comedic tastes are different, but somehow when there's not only a huge sub-genre of romantic comedies that end with the main character choosing the incest route...but they go FURTHER FROM THAT to make a SECONDARY sub-genre of that subgenre that boils down to "You know, isn't it weird and stupid why the heroes always choose to go incest route?' while the hero...still chooses the incest route..."...and then I realize why it had been so long since I got into it.

 

Adding the recent finished series to the mix, based on "I had so many I put them in a random wheel and let chance tell me what to watch, weighted to series I started":

Love Election and Chocolate, Gourmet Girl Graffiti, Kawai Complex Guide, Student Council's Discretion, I couldn't become a Hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job. I am slowly figuring out just WHY these series were so cheap on Sentai's sale, as "generic" was the best for them.

Edited by SorceressKnight
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What are people's thoughts on ranking Jojo arcs? I'm only at episode 21 of the fifth season (man, that there episode 20 was something else), but here's what I'm thinking right now:

  1. Diamond is Unbreakable (its wacky suburban life send-up and scaling back the powerz is what I enjoyed most. And the super lovable characters.)
  2. Stardust Crusaders (super best friends! Lelolelolelolelo. I really disliked Jotaro at first but he grew on me. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, oh, that's a baseball.)
  3. Vento Aureo (by this point, the stand of the week stuff has become way too routine. The characters are neat but probably not as likable as those of seasons past.)
  4. Battle Tendency (Jonathan is pretty amazing and there's a lot to like. The season with the best voice actors though the show always has tremendous quality voice acting. Nazi good guys and the story arc are kind of negatives.)
  5. Phantom Blood (even though I was looking for some zany vampire stuff, it's last placed. I really enjoyed how over the top the drama was and how quickly they ran through everything but it's pure surface action)

Probably not the best show to binge like I have the past month or whatever it has been because it is so formulaic even for a long-form anime. I'm ready to move on to something after this. Weird that Stone Ocean hasn't been given the go-ahead yet. I don't really understand how some of the more popular anime series stall out like they do sometimes.

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(crossposted to the random music thoughts thread)

For those on Spotify, they have finally made a TON of older Yoko Kanno soundtracks available. Brain Powered, Escaflowne, and this niche show called COWBOY FUCKING BEBOP you might have heard of. 

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On 7/19/2020 at 2:45 PM, Jiji said:

What are people's thoughts on ranking Jojo arcs? I'm only at episode 21 of the fifth season (man, that there episode 20 was something else), but here's what I'm thinking right now:

  1. Diamond is Unbreakable (its wacky suburban life send-up and scaling back the powerz is what I enjoyed most. And the super lovable characters.)
  2. Stardust Crusaders (super best friends! Lelolelolelolelo. I really disliked Jotaro at first but he grew on me. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, oh, that's a baseball.)
  3. Vento Aureo (by this point, the stand of the week stuff has become way too routine. The characters are neat but probably not as likable as those of seasons past.)
  4. Battle Tendency (Jonathan is pretty amazing and there's a lot to like. The season with the best voice actors though the show always has tremendous quality voice acting. Nazi good guys and the story arc are kind of negatives.)
  5. Phantom Blood (even though I was looking for some zany vampire stuff, it's last placed. I really enjoyed how over the top the drama was and how quickly they ran through everything but it's pure surface action)

Probably not the best show to binge like I have the past month or whatever it has been because it is so formulaic even for a long-form anime. I'm ready to move on to something after this. Weird that Stone Ocean hasn't been given the go-ahead yet. I don't really understand how some of the more popular anime series stall out like they do sometimes.

I'm biased because Battle Tendency was the first JoJo's I read, so Joseph is always THE Jostar for me. So I'd go

1) Battle Tendency

2) Stardust Crusaders

3) Diamond is Unbreakable

4) Vento Aureo

5) Phantom Blood

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Finished up Jojo. Great show though, like a lot of action-oriented or shonen anime/manga, very formulaic. Found the characters in Vento Aureo to be pretty weak overall and it largely joyless compared to Diamond is Unbreakable, which nailed the balance between fun and drama really well. I do, however, want a pair of those Bucciarati Vans. 

After Jojo, I went for something slower paced and more character driven. It took me a while to decide but I am going for Legend of the Galactic Heroes and its never ending story. Love a space opera and the pace is nice and slow. The two protags' brilliance is overstated just a bit at the beginning. Like we get it. They are really smart and the old guard can't see beyond their noses due to rigid belief in structure and orthodox thinking/tradition. The protags are Billy Bean. Reinhart is giving me hella Griffith vibes, likely because Griffith is a bastardized version of Reinhart. Creepy, cool, calculated geniuses driven by ambition to rule the known world(s), overthrowing an outdated monarchy and likely willing to sell out faithful (zealous?) subordinates. I am digging it so far. I will likely keep Hidive just for this though it does have a few other neat movies and shows, namely Azumanga Daioh, but I just watched that. 

Edited by Jiji
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On 8/4/2020 at 6:35 AM, Raziel said:

Am I the only one that thinks the animation on the Netflix Transformers is really fucking bad?

IMHO, compared to Cyberverse and the Prime Wars trilogy, it's a massive improvement.

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12 minutes ago, Doc Townsend said:

Giving some thought to watching Darwin's Game?  Opinions?

It's decent but forgettable (I actually had to look it up to see what show it was, because I couldn't remember if that or King's Game was the really horrible show from a couple of years ago)

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On 8/13/2020 at 11:28 AM, dogwelder said:

It's decent but forgettable (I actually had to look it up to see what show it was, because I couldn't remember if that or King's Game was the really horrible show from a couple of years ago)

That's more or less my take.  I thought it was above average, but it has a number of elements that seem lifted from anime I thought were better.  It struck me as one of the shows you like a lot until you watch the shows that "inspired" it.  It's worth a watch, though.

Finished Somali and the Forest Spirit last night.  Really enjoyed it, with the only complaint being that it felt like it should be longer.  Most of the stories are two-parters, so it doesn't seem like a lot happens before they head to the ending.  I was interested in the world building, so I would have liked to see more about the conflicts between humans and non-humans and the role of golems.  Still, it's my favorite anime of 2020 so far.

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  • 1 month later...

Well the new Sentai name got revealed as Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger and based on the nane I think we're getting a car based Sentai again. They really need a new idea. I mean I'd love a music themed Sentai where the idea is they're a shitty band that can't decide on what music to play that suddenly have to protect the earth (omg I already jinxed iy by giving it a name in my head.... Chowa Sentai Symphoranger)

James

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So I finally finished Kamen Rider Zero One and... I can honestly say I loved it. The last 10 episodes are pretty amazing, as I think tbe time off for The Covid break allowed the writers to really craft a great KR to kick off Reiwa. There are some serious tear jerking moments. I think it might be the best overall Rider since FAIZ!

Sadly, the follow-up looks awful...

James

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Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out. I don't get what all the controversy over this show was about. It's basically a wholesome rom-com show. It's by no means great, but it's not this lightning rod that Twitter made it into either, all because the protagonist is a short girl with curves. Like...are people just discovering this is a thing? That short women can also have curves? It's like Vince McMahon learning that Asian porn exists or that a steak wrap is a burrito.

My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu Season 3. Overall, I've been enjoying it, and it does feel like the show is reaching a nice sort of climax. The show is way melodramatic turning all these fairly innocuous events into these life-changing turning points. At the same time, that's sort of what makes the show worth watching, plus the really unique, quirky characters. The teacher does get on my nerves though to give guys like Hachiman and the other kids such a hard time about their problematic personalities, when her own personality is fairly vulgar and coarse. Not to mention, she openly smokes in front of children. I realize this is an anime and all that, but in the US that would at least get her a few dirty looks. 

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Tubi TV having the 90s Super Sentai series has been a fun watch. So far I've watched Jetman, ZyuRanger (Mighty Morphin), DaiRanger and I'm starting up KakuRanger (Aqua Rangers). So far JetMan and DaiRanger have been the more enjoyable shows while ZyuRanger was a bit disappointing. I'm one episode in KakuRanger so I'll reserve judgement. I should check if Tubi has any of the Kamen Rider series.

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2 hours ago, J.H. said:

Dairanger was the gold standard for a long time but Shinkenger came along and defied expectations and then Toqger really took it to the next level!

Jamez

I was waffling between Dairanger and Jetman as to which one would I rank number 1 and Dairanger slightly edges out Jetman for me. Tubi has shows up to 2000(maybe 2001) so I look forward to checking those out and hopefully they'll eventually add shows from post 2001. 

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Got the recently released Space Adventure Cobra complete 80’s series Blu Ray. The three disc set includes the pilot made to sell the character to the West. Parts of this episode re-use animation of the first Japanese episode, but it’s mostly a different setup. I wonder if a lot of that was because the Japanese version of the setup is a complete rip-off of Phillip K. Dick’s We Can Remember It for You Wholesale AKA Total Recall(BTW, rip-off, or not, it’s the best adaptation of that Phillip K. Dick story). It’s definitely not due to adult themes as the new pilot still features death, and scantily clad women. I’d imagine if this was picked up they would’ve kept the series exactly the same as the rest of the Japanese series.

Well regardless I love this show. It’s full of the TMS quality we grew up with when watching our favorite shows of the late 80’s, and early 90’s. Smooth, and somewhat rubbery on-model animation. As well as seeing where Cowboy Bebop got it’s science fiction inspiration. Right off the bat you’ll see scenarios, and characters that would influence Bebop’s imagery. Also the series regular use of spaghetti western gunplay is action eye candy. I have to go back a few time from being impressed so much by the action choreography.

 

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
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Aw, the original Dr. Hell passed away.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-10-01/voice-actor-kousei-tomita-passes-away-at-84/.164777

Quote

Voice actor Kousei Tomita passed away due to a stroke on Sunday. He was 84.

Tomita was a Tokyo native who began his career as a stage actor with the Gekidan Tōgei theatrical troupe. His more than 50-year career in the anime industry began with a role in the original 1963 Astro Boy series, and he reprised the role of Higeoyaji in various anime from Osamu Tezuka.

He also voiced the title character in the original 1973 Doraemon television anime series. Tomita's other anime roles included Bakabon's papa in Heisei Tensai Bakabon, Dr. Hell and Nuke in Mazinger Z, Inspector Ohtsuka in Shin Tetsujin 28, Dr. Saotome in Getter Robo, Alexander Bucock in The Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Bouleuse Gotho in Armored Trooper Votoms, and Emperor Daibazaal and the narrator in Voltron.

Additionally, Tomita provided Japanese dub voices for Western films and television series such as Rocky, Airwolf, Emperor of the North Pole, and the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. film. He had a role in the Appare Sanma Daisensei variety program, and also worked as a narrator. Tomita's voice recordings featured in Tokyo Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain ride.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The current arc of Black Clover feels.....weird. Its a filler arc, but instead of the typical shonen you expect they have been focused on societal issues and extremism all building off of the general story and world that has been built so far. It might actually be the best arc in the show, but its also is decently beyond what they normally are going for. Its good, but it just feels so odd to see in this show because its very much a typical shonen.

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