Anime: Discuss!

K1ngHoward

K1ngHoward

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Completed "Black Bullet"
-Dear gosh you guys need to watch this. It does feel it is missing some plot threads as sometimes people's bio's are just dropped like a bombshell on you on some episodes, but dang my feels was not ready for some of the societal wrongs that were embued from it. "Why can't I hold all these feels..."
Completed "Mekakucity Actors"
-Big sounding "Meh" from me since it didn't really have a good hook I could sink my teeth into early on until halfway and once it did it felt too sloppy with the characters (since there were so many of them). Along with the fact that it tried to pull off the metaphors using the backgrounds like Bakemonogatari, but failed pretty badly. And then we have the fact that some characters didn't look or sound energetic when I felt they should have (due to the ride range of colorful pallets used in the background and characters themselves).
Completed "Break Blade (TV)"
-It was okay, it had it's moments of the strong clash of ideals vs. real world scenarios that makes my philosophy side of my brain go rushing, and a good amount of action that would be amazing, but... I can't explain why it was just "alright" in my mind. Not good, not bad, just... alright.

Watching "Gunslinger Girl"

[Action Drama Sci-Fi Psychological] (2 seasons, 13 episodes each, 2 OVAs)
Two episodes in and it is one of those really calm and cool animes that can really simmer down and get you comfortable into the scenario as we slowly be brought into the world. It really grips me for a story due to the crimes against humanity that this government would be going against, but I will see where this goes.
Already has a recommendation by me in the first few episodes if you can put up with the collective tone it has and a good amount of pause for effect that is affecting me. :p
 
Jayfeather

Jayfeather

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K1ngHoward said:
Completed "Black Bullet"
-Dear gosh you guys need to watch this. It does feel it is missing some plot threads as sometimes people's bio's are just dropped like a bombshell on you on some episodes, but dang my feels was not ready for some of the societal wrongs that were embued from it. "Why can't I hold all these feels..."
Completed "Mekakucity Actors"
-Big sounding "Meh" from me since it didn't really have a good hook I could sink my teeth into early on until halfway and once it did it felt too sloppy with the characters (since there were so many of them). Along with the fact that it tried to pull off the metaphors using the backgrounds like Bakemonogatari, but failed pretty badly. And then we have the fact that some characters didn't look or sound energetic when I felt they should have (due to the ride range of colorful pallets used in the background and characters themselves).
Completed "Break Blade (TV)"
-It was okay, it had it's moments of the strong clash of ideals vs. real world scenarios that makes my philosophy side of my brain go rushing, and a good amount of action that would be amazing, but... I can't explain why it was just "alright" in my mind. Not good, not bad, just... alright.

Watching "Gunslinger Girl"

[Action Drama Sci-Fi Psychological] (2 seasons, 13 episodes each, 2 OVAs)
Two episodes in and it is onof those really calm and cool animes that can really simmer down and get you comfortable into the scenario as we slowly be brought into the world. It really grips me for a story due to the crimes against humanity that this government would be going against, but I will see where this goes.
Already has a recommendation by me in the first few episodes if you can put up with the collective tone it has and a good amount of pause for effect that is affecting me. :p
Click to expand...
Shaft's silly metaphorical bullshit ruined kagerou days I agree but it wasn't much better in Monogatari let's be real
 
K1ngHoward

K1ngHoward

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Jayfeather21 said:
Shaft's silly metaphorical bullshit ruined kagerou days I agree but it wasn't much better in Monogatari let's be real
Click to expand...
>>>>I would say they did well with the metaphorical backgrounds in Monogatari as it wasn't trying to be cryptic all the time. At times it can feel very relevant to the story, but wasn't prominent now that I think about it. In Mekakucity Actors, It felt too much like trying to have a good balance with the metaphors like Monogatari, but failed completely as I just felt confused at what they were trying to convey. What they were showing and what they were saying was completely different.
>>>>For example, in the second episode, Momo was told she would have to repeat her first year of high school if she didn't get her grades up. Now we are shown her imagining what it would be like to repeat her first year and the students are represented as jukeboxes (easily understood as "you will repeat the same thing as the year before"), but then when the jukeboxes start talking they start to criticize her for being placed back into the first year of high school, which throws the previous view of the jukeboxes as "repeating the year" out the window. Maybe another point as to the bad metaphors for the show is that they take too long to explain the concept when the concept was easily understood in the first thirty seconds.
 
K1ngHoward

K1ngHoward

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Finished "Gunslinger Girl"
>>>>Loved the series. The whole mystery and psychological effects the girls go through as they tend about their jobs really touched me in each episodes as we go and understand the chemistry between the girls, handlers, and Section 2 as a whole. It had a great atmosphere that the subtle touches left in the animation brought into the characters and the world as we are meant to see it. Along with the struggles contained through the human vs cyborg dilemmas as the characters come to terms with the realities of the world and the necessity of their altering of the girl's bodies.

Watching "Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino"
My reaction to episode 1:
"Ahhhhh! What did you do to my gunslinger girl! The animation! Why did you change the animation!? And the character designs, the pacing, and the mystery behind the each of the characters! I can only hope it gets better in the coming episodes, but I doubt they would switch animation styles... Sadness fills me at how much everything was changed."
 
JKangaroo

JKangaroo

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I should probably read through this thread for recommendations since I haven't looked at it since the thread first started... or posted since it first started... I probably should do that more. v.v
Anyways! Just finished Log Horizon today, which I happily ate up after Haysagar recommended it.

I'm actually quite glad to have watched this; it surpassed my (albeit low) expectations with a strong showing in its first season, and frankly, I'm quite excited for the upcoming season this fall.
Personally, I'm one of the people who found Sword Art Online a big, heaping thing of general "disappointment" in most regards outside of excellent art/animations and a nice soundtrack. (though frankly I don't remember much past the opening/ending sequences)
I wanted to love it, and it was, frankly, quite an enjoyable series to watch at times, because who doesn't want to believe or whisk themselves away in the fantasy that YOU are in the game, not just the one behind the screen giving input. However, the terrible plot that turned moreso into a fairly boring love-story between Asuna and Kirito (and then strange Alfheim damsel-in-distress/rapey nonsense) as well as the pointless harem-esq aspects in many of the early episodes really worsened the experience for me. It threw away a lot of the possibilities this "theme" has: devastation and drama, the struggle or fall of their humanity, and the just the "game" aspects that would occur should such an event actual transpired that could have made the series great... it really left much to be desired for me.

Log Horizon (though a tad unfair to judge it accordingly to SAO despite them having a very similar premise; I can't say anything about .hack as I have no experience with that series, nor that other MMO-anime whose name escapes me) , despite the many flaws it has in its own right (a somewhat disorganized story, little to no sound design with some out of place tracks, and a sort of tacked on love sub-plot on the main character, and some overused/out of place comedic parts amoung some of those flaws), Log Horizon really made that "MMO-anime" feeling ring true for me.

A lot of what I wanted out of SAO I found in Log Horizon, which might not be for everyone, but I personally love it: a larger focus on the political scape of the "trapped in a game" situation; something SAO glazed over a lot of the time.
SAO lacked a plethora of information, which is understandable considering it was the "launch" of SAO, but that ultimately left the world feeling a bit hollow.
Log Horizon fully fleshes out that "MMO feel." Elder Tale has been around for years, and its main cast of characters are level 90; at the time, the highest possible level. This allows of interesting dialogue/coordination between the players, who have already had a connection with each other during their time playing together (Debauchery Tea Party). The "veteran player" aspect also allows for the series to have a stronger, and more concise, showing of world building, quickly explaining with detail different game mechanics and how the world works, the system in place on why it looks like Japan and its distance, as well as an interesting take on NPC characters which ultimately leads into the "internal political strife" amoung the various guilds, NPC factions, and the like, which I found fascinating.

I've noticed people criticize the art, which I must say is not a view I share.
Certainly, the art direction and aesthetics are a bit lacking, and the characters may not be that "flashy" in outfits or appearance... but for some reason that is a very appealing feature.
A lot of the costumes FEEL like they would be fairly MMO-like, or that they would be in the game; it adds a strange air of realism that gives the world more weight. The gear is practical and shows the roles of each character well enough, and each characters design and personality are still allowed to shine through this despite the less flashy clothing.

It's now without its flaws though (which are apparent while watching the show), and Log Horizon is still a fairly mediocre show, but it has lots of potential in it which I hope will be expanded moreso in the next season in the fall. (yay! \o/) There's so much you could expand with the lore of the world, the political state of the rest of the continent of Japan (in game) which we saw a bit of in the final episodes involving the Western Empire, as well as the new game systems and items that could evolve from (cooking, steam engines, all that stuff).

They have the potential, and I just hope they don't mess it up!
-Up next I'm planning on finishing Gurren Lagann which my cousins forced on me. Up to episode 3; boring so far, but the flamboyancy of the mechanic is fun to watch at times. I plan to stick through it to see if it gets better. (inb4 spaaaaaaaaaaaaace happens)
-I also have that other MMO-series on my list (if I could remember it).
-I'm also watching SAO II as each episode comes out. First two episodes aren't as interesting as the first two of SAO 1, and kind of dull, but so far its basis feels more solid. I'll wait to see more to come before I get a final opinion.

Edit: I love you too Ooglie101 <3
 
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