What are you watching/or completed? (Anime)

[mr.negativity]

[O.Supreme]

[Dr Kain]

Gundam F91 - Such beautiful animation wasted one of the most down right boring Gundam plots ever. This movie starts off really strong with a kick ass battle where we get to see a countless number of civilains caught in the middle of and getting to see little details like bullet caps and debris flying about that you don't normally see. It brings a really nice gritty realism to the battlefield. Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from there with some of the most lackluster characters in the franchise. None of them are remotely memorable, their motivations don't make sense, and new characters keep sprouting out of nowhere as if there is a Federation Clown Car hidden off screen. Seabrook is a boring as hell protagonist and we never actually learn what motivates him to do anything. He is just there. In one scene they said he could be a Newtype, in another he is called a Newtype, and then in the next, someone tells his mom he might be a Newtype. WTF? Is he a Newtype or isn't he? WHICH IS IT?!

The Crossbone Vanguard make even less sense because we are never really told what they want and the fact that Iron Mask has his own agenda just comes out of left field in the story's last 20 minutes without any build up prior. Add on top that characters just betray the Vanguard to join the Federation without any reason to and are just accepted into the Feddy ranks without question makes this poorly paced, slow moving rush job a total mess. Oh, and then when that character dies in the next battle I'm supposed to for some reason be upset about it? Why? None of these characters gave me any reason to even give a crap. And some of their deaths don't even make sense. One guy lands in the water and he's blatantly dead? Huh? Then we have this revelation in the last 10 minutes that Iron Mask is a cyber Newtype even though nothing was ever stated before this moment. Finally, the ending takes way too long to finish and there is no actual conclusion to the Crossbone Vanguard.

I know this was originally planned for a series and changed into a movie, but come on, put some god damn forethought into the process. Instead of making a compilation film for 50 non-existent episodes, how about actually rewriting the story to be a 2 hour movie and cut out 90% of the characters that don't serve any purpose? Wow, it's so simple that even a caveman could write it.

In the end, I give this lingering waste of time a 4/10.

By the way, this was the first time I watched this movie in English and the dub was god damn terrible.

[EricDent]

Professor Layton & The Eternal Diva which I picked up at a local HPB for $8.
Nice story, fun characters, and of course it has some puzzles.
Got a bit teary eyed near the end.

Hopefully we get more Layton games in the future.

[Mexigojira]

Saint Seiya: the lost canvas. Love the animation, the characers, sadly, the ending was rushed.

[EricDent]

I also watched other recent anime movie purchases.

Jin-Roh The Wolf Brigade (in the clearance section of HPB for $3): cool action, interesting story, but a kinda odd ending.
Not sure if was the disc, but the audio turned off during parts of it.
I stopped it for a couple seconds & that seemed to solve the problem.

Patlabor 3 (WXIII): this was cool due to the giant monster involved.
This was also in the clearance section for $2, despite being the Pioneer version and NOT the Sentai version (which we sell for like $30 on DVD).

Picked up a kinda hard to find (locally) anime for about $20.
I My Me Strawberry Eggs (all 4 Pioneer singles).
The dub features Crispin Freeman & he also directed the dub.
It's about a guy who has to dress up like a woman to get/keep a teaching job.
The school he teaches at is very anti-male (which is pretty odd for Japan).
Complications arise when he starts falling for a student (I think it's junior high/middle school).
The student in question has feelings for the female version of him...

[klen7]

[Dr Kain]

I watched the first disc to Victory today, which covered the first 9 episodes. Overall, it was a lot better than I was anticipating, but it feels like nothing is happening yet. I know it's Gundam, and they always start slow, but usually by this point there is at least some plot progression. I still don't know jackshit about anything that is happening. Who are these people? Why is the Earth Federation not doing anything to stop the Zanscare Empire? Who is the Zanscare Empire? How did they come into power? Are they the remnants of the Crossbone Vanguard? Why are they executing random people? What do they want? How are Uso and gang illegal immigrants?

The episodes themselves were pretty good even though I really don't see why we need to have prequel episodes that lead up to the first episode. They could have easily told that story in the span of two episodes. Also, Cronicle Asher is hands down the worst Char clone ever! The man is a bumbling idiot and can't even do anything right even in a mobile suit. In fact, he isn't even worthy of being called a Char clone. He doesn't even wear a mask for any other reason than the Earth's environment annoys him.

As for the Victory Gundam, it's a cool design, but seems to be the weakest Gundam ever made as its body parts keep getting destroyed as if they were made of tissue paper. I guess the alternative would be it being indestructible no matter what touched it, but still, this is a Gundam, it shouldn't be falling to pieces just from being sneezed on.

BTW, is it just me, or do the mobile suits seem to be a lot smaller in this series?

Man, I think I complained a lot, but they really are just minor gripes I have right now about this series. I'm sure things will improve over the next 43 episodes, but I can already see why Tomino hated working on this show.

[O.Supreme]

I know this sounds odd but... I had Victory on DVD for probably 2 years (from Malaysia), and just sold it in anticipation of getting the Sunrise release, I never got past episode 20 or so...Hopefully soon I can actually finish it when I get the new ones. It has probably one of the most rockin' opening theme songs though. Uso reminds me of Camille in some ways, though IIRC Uso is supposed to be the youngest Gundam pilot ever (12 I think...?). I don't get the whole "I hate adults...all they want to do is fight and kill"...then what does he do? goes out & fights and kills... . I *think* this series gets better as it goes, but I may be looking at it from a biased point of view, I loved the suits and the way the story unfolded in SRW video games, probably not the same in the actual anime though. Kind of odd for a last entry in the UC timeline (well until Unicorn, which actually takes place long before Victory)

[EricDent]

Been kinda busy with anime lately.
Mostly cause it was kinda rainy last week.

Watched Read or Die The TV, cool action, fun characters, an interesting story, and even though they changed some of the dub voices from the OVA, it still has a good dub.

Also still slowly going through Tenchi in Tokyo.
Up to disc 4 of the older Pioneer version.
Why is it Sakuya is really cute in her uniform or skirt, but kinda eh in normal clothes?

Did the random anime game (chose 4 random shows plus disc 4 of Tenchi & mixed them up).

First up was disc 1 of sCRYed. Still really cool with lots of action, cool characters, and a great dub.

Next was disc 1 of Master Keaton (which somebody needs to rescue).
Kinda no real overarching plot, so it's very episodic.
Decent dub, interesting stories, and a cool main character.

Then disc 4 of Tenchi in Tokyo.
Yugi starts attacking the Misaki house.
Of course she keeps her friend Sasami away by playing with her at the same time...

Then finally we had the first disc of Negima! (The first version).
Still say this was a fine anime, even if it deviates from the manga.
The girls act like they should, Negi is still inexperienced, and has some sneezing accidents that blow clothes off certain girls.
Dub is pretty fun.
Must say that for middle school, some of those girls are very developed...

Will start on the last choice which is disc 1 of Gunslinger Girl a bit later.

[EricDent]

I ripped through the rest of Negima! Still say it's a decent adaptation despite the changes.
The girls were cute in their own way, the dub was fun, and it has good action.
The thing with Asuna near the end is still a bit sudden/sad.

I also watched disc 5 of Tenchi in Tokyo.
This one has the school carnival & Tenchi & Sayuka kiss (of course Ryoko sees it).

I made the kinda long trek to the Hastings in San Marcos since they are up to at least 40% off everything, and I didn't want to risk missing out on stuff once it hits 50% off (people go nuts during half off sales).
This location always kinda sucked as far as anime goes, but I got a couple things for under $40 total.

Black Butler 2 (Combo Pack) the newer Classic release, and Pita-Ten.

Watched the first 4 episodes of Pita-Ten, it's pretty fun & cute.

[O.Supreme]

was browsing Amazon Prime and was pleasantly surprised to see they had all 3 original Japanese series for which Robotech was based off of. Now I have seen SDF Macross, but have never watched Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross or Genesis Climber MOSPEADA...

So I started with Southern Cross...wow is this different from Robotech!. Macross was about 70%-80% the same, but Southern Cross isn't even close, and that's not a bad thing. Its is like watching a whole new series. Never would have imagined it takes place on a completely different world. But the story, while different, is definitely not out of left field (especially now that I've seen Orguss, which was never part of Robotech) . I'm only 3 episodes in, but cant wait to watch more when I have time.

[Dr Kain]

Southern Cross is down right terrible. I sold it off after I watched m DVD set.

Mospeada though, Mospeada is excellent.

Watched more Victory Gundam and the show has been entertaining, even if it isn't the most plot filled series. Oh, and they finally reveal the queen and the empire and it is in a friggin clip show episode!!

[EricDent]

Yeah, I'm watching my parents house/cats, and they have Amazon Prime via their Roku TV (as well as Netflix).
I noticed the Macross/Southern Cross/Mospeda stuff.

I watched all of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet via Netflix, it was pretty good.

I went up to the other Hastings in Killeen, but their anime selection was pretty picked over.
I did end up grabbing Magic Users Club (both the TV & OVA) for about $25.

Not gonna bother driving as far as New Braunfels (sp) for the next nearest one (that's even further South than San Marcos, heck it's almost San Antonio).

[EricDent]

Picked up & watched the Wolverine anime (got it at Half Price Books, cause they are having a 20% off sale through Monday) it was pretty good.
It was only $6.
Dub was decent, though it was kinda random that Steve Blum wasn't Wolverine (he was another role), also involved were Crispin Freeman, and Vic Mignogla.

Watched (via Netflix) Expelled from Paradise, a movie that was pretty good. Too bad it's from Aniplex or I might have thought about buying it.
The dub features Wendee Lee, Steve Blum, and Johny Yong Boush.

Last night they had a mini-marathon of One Punch Man on Toonami/Adult Swim.
It was pretty fun.

[Dr Kain]

I got this today at NDK's charity auction:

[O.Supreme]

[EricDent]

That looks awesome Dr. Kain!
Was that the creators of the show next to you?

I watched & finished Magic Users Club OVA series.
It was fun, cute, and the dub was good.
As usual the MC is kinda a perv, and imagines all the cute girls in underwear...

[Dr Kain]

[Rody]

^ That is very cool.

...So, last time I posted in here I seemed to have forgotten I was also watching Twin Star Exorcists, which is currently airing. Yeah, it wasn't leaving much of an impression on me. The art of the show is pretty, but the actual animation ranges from decent to barely serviceable, and the plot felt as dull and predictable as you could expect for a typical shounen.
I used the past tense for that last point, because in the last few episodes the show has picked itself up surprisingly well. I've gone from being a click away from dropping it to genuinely looking forward to the next episode. The animation could still use a boost, but the writing, in general story beats and moments of tension and/or humor, has significantly improved. Twin Star Exorcists isn't a great show yet, but it's solidifying itself as a good one at least.

Now, if we want to talk about great shows, I've also been watching a certain OVA titled Giant Robo the Animation: The Day the Earth Stood Still. How I wish I had watched this sooner. Director Imagawa and his crew built a truly epic story with this series, with a diverse cast of characters, solid art & animation, splendid moments of action, and a suspensful story complemented with a spectacular orchestral soundtrack. I'm five episodes in, and I can't wait to see how it ends.
If I have any complaints so far, I just want to see more of those BF robots in the intro. I mean, c'mon, the robot fights are the big draw!
...And as an aside, this show basically is what I'd love to see from a (hypothetical?) Godzilla anime series, in story and style.

Oh, I also started watching Konosuba from this winter/spring. It's a very funny, off-beat parody of RPG-inspired fantasy shows. Not much more to say, except it's worth checking out if you haven't already.

[O.Supreme]

[EricDent]

I also watched the Magic Users Club TV series.
Very different than the OVA series.
A bit more "serious" and a tad dark at times.

Up to disc 3 of Pita-Ten, they add a couple new characters into the mix.
A genius guy (kinda looks like Weavile from Yu-Gi-Oh) and his overprotective younger sister (who likes using a wooden Naginta).
It's still pretty cute.

[EricDent]

Finished Pita-Ten, the ending was sad, but happy at the same time.
On the last 2 episodes I was
Looks to be a keeper, just cause it was cute.

BTW I used to own Giant Robo The Day The Earth Stood Still.
It was good, I just kinda got tired of it for some reason.
Maybe I will pick it back up sometime.

Kinda surprised that Media Blasters even still has that (or do they?).

Wouldn't mind if somebody rescues it (if need be), along with season 2 of Squid Girl (and have Bang Zoom dub it, since they did the funny first season dub).

Tried an episode of the Sindbad anime, by the same people as Magi, it was OK.
But with Netflix's choice of size/color for their subtitles, it's kinda hard to read.
Plus they didn't sub the opening song or episode title card.
Since it's from Aniplex of America, no chance that I will buy it.

[Dr Kain]

I finally finished the last disc to Victory's first volume. I enjoyed it as I have the rest of the series, but the plot is moving really slowly and there are things just feel like they happen out of left field. Like the last episode on the disc had Maria giving this nice little speech and then suddenly the show jumps to a guillotine about to come out and they are going to execute Uso, Marbet, and some random soldier. WTF? Also, the preview for the next episode spoils what was going to happen as it reveals that Junko is going to die in the episode. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!

[EricDent]

Found part 2 of Pandora Hearts at the library.
I had watched part 1 of it already.
It was OK, kinda dark, but sometimes funny.
Though of course it just ends without resolving much.

Now borrowing Astro Boy.
Not sure when this was made, it looks pretty "recent" so maybe early 2000s?
It has a few familiar sounding people in the dub, including Kari from Digimon.
It's 50 episodes long and pretty good so far.
Might buy it at work, since we have it for like $7.