What are you watching/or completed? (Anime)

[O.Supreme]

He doesn't go on eBay, and no, I wont be doing that for him

[EricDent]

After a bit of a hiatus, I watched Ruin Explorers.

Now watching Bamboo Blade.

[sentaison]

Found out this weekend that Crunchyroll has Lupin the 3rd Part IV. 8 episodes in and I'm loving it!

[EricDent]

Borrowed Attack on Titan (part 1) from the local library.
Blasted through all 13 episodes (marathon mode on the disc is pretty useful).

Liked it so much that I bought both parts at work for about $50 total ($24.99 each price match Amazon).

Blasted through the 3rd disc as well (the Blu-Ray).
Just so dark, yet awesome action, an interesting story, good characters (at least the ones they keep alive), and of course a great dub.

[EricDent]

After blasting through all 26 episodes of Attack on Titan, I can't wait till they come out with the next season (most likely Fall).
Hopefully Funimation gets it and dubs it quick & puts it out on Combo Pack!

I also borrowed a show called Place to Place.
It was a 13 episode show that was a High School based comedy with a bit of romance as well.
Fun characters, usual fun looking High School stuff (that really never happens in the USA), cute girls, and even some progress in the romance.
Maybe if it gets cheap for the holiday sales, I might grab it.
Even though it was sub-only, it was an easy to follow show and seemed like it would be a fun show to rewatch once in a while (plus I do seem to own a LOT of High School shows...)

[EricDent]

I decided to finally finish my rewatch of Irresponsible Captain Tylor.
It's a rather fun show, but has some interesting messages as well.

I bought Paprika on Blu-Ray at work (upgrading my collection) for $8.99.
Not sure what I will do with the DVD since I got it at Hastings when they closed down, and it was a rental so it didn't have the cover art.
So I made the cover art, and the UPC works, but it says "Paprika Blu-Ray"...

[EricDent]

So the latest movie from Hosoda (Summer Wars, Wolf Children) is in limited theaters now.

The Boy & The Beast: dubbed by Funimation.
Good story, interesting characters, great visuals, and some decent action.

If you get the chance to see it at the theater, check it out!

Check Fandango, or your local theater to see if it's playing near you.
It will be playing later in the year for the people in Canada.

[Dr Kain]

Got this today:



We spent the day watching the whole thing.

Positives:

It goes into the origins behind the Sybil System.
Animation was about the same as the first season despite being done by a different studio.
The paradox of the Sybil system debate.

Negatives:

Characters are pretty much there just to die.
The main villain was lackluster.
The new Inspector girl is a little "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!"!!
The plot was rushed.
No stand alone episodes.
Very little in the way of philosophical conversations.

Overall, while it wasn't as good as the first season, it was still a pretty solid season in the end. It's biggest issues come from how rushed it was, which never allowed there to be a deep intricate plot, good long philosophical debates, and very little in the way of character development. Also, the Kamui was not even half as interesting as Makishima as he ended up being a gimmick more than a character. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable with some good action and the stuff it does worked well. Well, outside of the new Inspector girl, she needs to die.

[EricDent]

Been rewatching UFO Ultramaiden Valkryie (AKA UFO Princess Valkyrie).
It's a romantic comedy/sci-fi mix.
Borrows a bit from Ultraman (guy gets killed by accident, girl gives him half her soul to live).
Also has elements of magical girl, harem, and of course it's set in a traditional Japanese bathhouse so there's a LOT of fanservice.
Throw in a ton of catgirls, the fact that there's a bunch of aliens that love baths, and of course the main girl is now acting & looking half her age until their "hearts connect" and he kisses her for the big "stock" transform scene.
Plus about 7 other princesses that eventually show up (just in the first 2 seasons there's already 4 of them living nearby or with him).

Equals a bunch of fun!
Decent dub as well featuring Kira Vincent Davis as Valkyrie (both versions), which is something the Japanese had to use 2 different actors to do.
As well as Greg Ayers, Monica Rial, and several other ADV regulars at the time.

Now the tricky part is if you want to own it.
Sentai still has the first 2 seasons & the Bridal Training OVA (which is pretty funny), but Funimation has seasons 3-4.
Seasons 3-4 are pretty short though, and I must warn you that there's no real ending (I assume the manga did have one).

[Dr Kain]

Has anyone ever watched Gankutsuou? It has been one of my favorite anime series since it first came out and I watched it 23 times over when it was airing in Japan and then when I bought the Japanese DVDs (which were raw). However, for some reason I never got around to watching Geneon's DVDs even though I bought them when they first came out. Well, I finally decided it was time to watch the show again since I have been sorely lacking on my anime viewing and my god, it is so amazing to rewatch this show after so long. I know everything that is going to happen, and yet, I feel like I am experiencing it for the first time. I also have to hand it to Bang Zoom for an excellent English dub. I wasn't a fan of it when I first saw it in English thanks to having the Japanese voice ingrained into my head, but I figured after all of this time not watching it I should be fine and I was right. Sure, Jamieson Pierece is no Joji Nakata, but he still does an incredible Monte Cristo that has taken me by surprise. In fact, all of the voice actors have done a wonderful job with their characters and I love that they try to pronounce the names and stuff properly as opposed to the way the Japanese did it. It is a shame I don't have time to watch anymore because I would love to just watch the whole thing in one sitting. I still hope we get this on BD some day, but thankfully Geneon's DVDs look and sound fantastic despite being nearly ten years old.

[EricDent]

I think I rented it from Netflix or Hastings.
It was an interesting show, but not really my sort of thing.

[Dr Kain]

Finished Gankutsuou. God damn I love this show. Seriously, this is hands down one of the top three best anime series ever made, if not THE best anime. The only other series that can even compare to it are Escaflowne and Ghost in the Shell SAC.

EDIT: Started watching a series called Gungrave today that I got on DVD about a year ago. We've watched the first two volumes (8 episodes) and it's all right. The first episode was utter garbage and I was ready to turn it off right then there, but it has gotten better since there. Not by much, but it is watchable. It's pretty much Berserk, but with gangsters instead of knights. I'm glad I didn't pay for it though.

EDIT #2: Well, we just watched episodes 9-16 of Gungrave and this show just keeps getting worse. None of the characters are even remotely likable and they are all so damn dumb. If anyone actually had an intelligent thought the whole thing would have already been over. Why Brandon was even friends with a loser scumbag like Harry to begin with bewilders me because he was not even a good character from the start. It also doesn't help that this plot is so generic and has been done better before. Oh, and yeah, I think episode 1 is part of the problem. It pretty much tells you where this story is going to go, so spending 15 episodes to get there felt like a total waste of time. Plus, it was very misleading on what this show was going to be about. It looked like it was some futuristic science fiction western (think Trigun) and instead, it's a crime drama that is mostly set in a more realistic world with the dullest characters imaginable.

EDIT #3:

Psycho Pass The Movie has just been released in the US. Is it a worthy follow up or should it have stayed in the bottom recesses of the brain? Watch to find out.



EDIT #4:

Finally mustered up the strength to finish Gungrave off and wow, those last 10 episodes were terrible. Not only did they completely character assassinate the only decent character in the show by making him do stuff that was out of his character (Bear), but they also gave him a terrible looking design to boot. In fact, all of the "Superior" designs were awful. I get that this is based off a video game, but not every design translates well from game to animation. The show as a whole was awful and I kind of wish I had stopped watching it after episode 1 because the pay off in the end was not worth it. Everything suffered prequel syndrome as everything that occurred was just going through the motions to get the characters where they are supposed to be rather than actually build them up. Lastly, they couldn't even make the battles in the last 10 episodes even remotely stylish, which is a shame since they had super human characters. It was all generic gun battles. I will never touch this show ever again and it is one of the worst animes I have watched in a long time.

[EricDent]

I tried Gungrave once as well, apparently you are supposed to skip the first episode.
It's either based on a game, or the game is based on the show (the game came out in the USA on the PS2).
I vastly prefer his other anime Trigun.

I have been watching the same UFO show as before, up to season 3.

I also bought & watched Phantom The Animation: pretty cool stuff.

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, Gungrave is based on a video game.

If you are supposed to skip episode 1 though, then Pioneer should not have even bothered putting it on the disc or had some type of spoiler warning.

[EricDent]

I guess it's just people that say to skip that episode, cause it is retold a bit later in the show, and gives the wrong impression of what it's about.

Finished season 3 of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie.

This season is called an OVA season, but really doesn't look that different from seasons 1-2.
Plus this is where they start to loose interest in it, since the previous seasons had 12 episodes each, this only has 6.

[EricDent]

So I finished all of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie by watching season 4.
Another OVA season that again didn't look that different from the normal series.
They must have got really tired of this show, cause in this "season" there's only TWO episodes...
Both of which don't really tie up any loose ends at all.

Assuming the manga is done, so if anybody here read it, please spoil away if they ever get married, or if Akina ever confesses her love.

It's UFO Princess Valkyrie in the manga version just in case.

[Dr Kain]

I've been watching Gundam, lots of Gundam. I watched the original series, 08th MS Team, and 0083. Now I'm watiing for my Zeta BDs to arrive.

[O.Supreme]

All good series. I especially liked 0083. I've heard from others that some already have their Volume 2 Zeta BD's , even though the release date is not for another 12 days. While 0083 is probably my favorite OVA, Zeta is probably my favorite overall series (though I have not seen Victory or Turn A all the way through yet). My only complaint is that they didn't get Brad Swaile to voice Amuro for the English dub. They got most of the other VA's from MS Gundam to reprise their roles for Zeta (even the minor ones). I'm sure it wasn't intentional, perhaps a schedule conflict? Anyway, if you watch the original with subs, then it wont matter.


Open Quesiton to anyone--- Has anyone watched Zetman? I've seen some people compare it to Guyver (which I am a huge fan of)...I was just wondering if it was worth watching?

[EricDent]

Nope, sorry never seen Zetman.
I agree Guyver is pretty cool though.
Even though the guy who writes it is really slow.

Since between the 1980s Guyver OVA/short series & the 2005 version, there's really not as much as you would expect added.

At the rate that's going, I doubt it ever gets finished...

Speaking of finishing, I went through all of the Lucky Star series.
A fun school based show with amusing characters, and a load of anime/video game/culture references.
Yes the girls look young, but they are in High School.

Probably the BEST part of the show is during the last episode when they do the Cheerleading Dance.

[Dr Kain]

[DannyBeane]

I've been watching Erased on Hulu and it is really good. Really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[lhb412]

Finally watching my Space Pirate Captain Harlock set. Marathoned through the episodes I had already watched on Hulu yesterday.

[sentaison]

I just finished Lupin III Part 4 and Gate. Lupin is a well done entry into the franchise, with good stories and great animation. Lupin fans should really enjoy it. Gate is a terrific modern vs fantasy worlds story with just the right mix of fantasy, serious military, intrigue, action, and comedy.

[Dr Kain]

Spent the last 3 days watching Zeta Gundam. Gundam was that show freaking amazing!!

EIT: My g/f and I watched the first 5 episodes to 00 and man, this show is already awesome. So far the sniper gundam (I think Dynamis) is my favorite of the show, but I think Allejulah is my favorite of the pilots, at least right now. It's pretty interesting thus and seems to be doing a nice job of building things up. However, I need to know, is this supposed to be a prequel series? They're using the AD timeline and they talked about how there will one day be space colonies built. Just curious if it is meant to be one or that was just an easter egg.

Oh, I'm watching it dubbed and its great. My only complaint is that Scott McNeil is to this show what Steve Blum is to Star Wars Rebels.

[EricDent]

I bought Ray the Animation at work for under $7, and watched it recently.
It's set in the same universe as Blackjack (and he makes a few cameos).
It was an interesting show with a decent story, attractive ladies, and decent characters.

I also bought Baka & Test (both parts), will watch later (I've seen them before).

Watching my parents house & they have Netflix.

Last time I was here I watched the first seasons of Fate/Zero & Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works.
So I finished those up and they were pretty good, though I might be in the minority to say that the Fate/Stay Night from 2006 was decent as well.

I also watched Sword Art Online, which was good as well.
If it wasn't so darn expensive ($150 for just DVD) I might have got it.
I was going to watch Sword Art Online 2, but it was sub-only (the subs were also hard to read cause they were white).

Watched both Little Witch Acadamia movies, these were fun and nothing too bad for kids.
Wouldn't mind seeing a series of this, it kinda reminded me of Tweeny Witches.