HTF Anime Discussion Part VIII (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Beacom]

Anyone else picking up Solid State Society today?

 

[AlannaE]

I dont remember what I was watching in my last post here. Oh well.
I did finish Yumeria. The whole show just was kinda "meh" okay. Nothing great or superb or earth shattering. For a harem/comedy it was alright though and I did get a few chuckles out of it and the action scenes were nice enough.

Just started Key the Metal Idol and so far am loving what I see. It had me from the first episode.

 

[Eric F]

I will if they release a Blu-Ray version, otherwise I'm going to wait now. I'm only going to wait for deals on standard DVDs.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

I picked it up and couldn't resist the cool tin box on the SE at BB. Not sure when I'll get time to watch though with summer being busy with other activities.

 

[Matt Czyz]

LE version is $12.99 at Best Buy. And the PQ is fantastic. If you enjoy Stand Alone Complex, you really do yourself a disservice by waiting for a BR version.

 

[JohnAD]

I've had a busy 2.5 weeks, anime-wise:

I watched all of Gate Keepers: I ended up enjoying this series more than I thought I would. It's set in 1969-70, and most of the mechanical stuff is delightfully low-tech. The enemies are faceless (which was intended), except for the leaders. They are an interesting comment on how humans treat each other, with mean/uncaring folks being hidden Invaders. This is played up again in Gate Keepers 21.
There is a generous amount of humor in the show, and just enough seriousness to keep it from being too silly. This is definitely a meat-and-potatoes kind of show. 'B', recommended.

I rewatched Gate Keepers 21 right after finishing Gate Keepers. It really made a lot more sense after seeing the original. A nice follow up, but much darker in tone.

I finished rewatching Planetes. It's one of those series that reminds me why I love anime. Everyone should see this.

I watched all of Fafner. Initial reports are correct that early on, it seems like a mash-up of Neon Genesis Evangelion and RahXephon. However, after the first disk it really develops its own flavor, and I ended up really liking it. Fafner is pretty ruthless with its main characters, and you have important people getting whacked from early on.
I'm looking forward to watching it again when I get the chance. 'B+', recommended.

I watched Chapter 2 of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. I'm slowly making my way through this series. Some technical difficulties (a dirty disk) were overcome. The story has been a little slow so far, but generally enjoyable.

Finally, I'm just about finished with Stellvia. In some ways, this series is similar to Planetes, but with a more 'high school' focus and not so serious. The basic premise is that 189 years before the show starts, the Earth was damaged by the first shockwave from a nearby supernova. Now, humanity has united to try and defend the Earth from the second wave, which would end life on Earth if it hits. With that as a background, the story takes place in what's basically a high school in space/space station. The series pretty character-driven, and there are a number of slice-of-life episodes. I'm looking forward to finishing up this series soon.

John.

 

[TheLongshot]

Funny, I also just finished Fafner. It definitely reminds me a lot of RahXephon, with the island setting and some other aspects. While it doesn't really break new ground, it is a pretty solid series and is worth watching.

I've also seen Submarine 707R, which is a pretty solid OVA. They left things open-ended so that they could continue things, but what is there is pretty satisfying.

I'd love to see Planetes, if only DDD would actually get around to shipping it! (It has now been a month since I ordered it.)

Jason

 

[JohnAD]

Jason:

Actually, Submarine 707R is unfinished, at least according to ANN. I really enjoyed what they had, and I'd really like for them to complete the series, but I won't hold my breath.

As for DDD, they've gotten a lot flakier lately (last six months or so). My policy with them is that I won't order an item from them if they don't have it in stock at the moment. While more expensive, Amazon is frankly much more reliable.

John.

 

[JohnAD]

My (DLP)TV finally got fixed this morning. Woo hoo!

I finished up watching Stellvia last night (on the portable DVD player). The ending was pretty good. It was basically a happy ending, although I would probably have been both really confused and pleasantly surprised if it had a Berserk-style 'everybody dies' ending. 'B', recommended.

John.

 

[TheLongshot]

I only order there on the 20% off sale. Funny thing is, that's the only thing that didn't ship from my order.

JAson

 

[JohnAD]

Jason:

Yep. I totally agree.

Re DDD: In general, I've found that they are really good with stuff that they have in stock. On occasion, they don't get anime titles in on time, or have totally incorrect release dates, and they have some troubles getting B-level titles (like Tenchi Muyo! OVA 3).

Amazon, on the other hand, really is good about keeping older, and hard to find titles in stock. They're not my first choice, especially since I live really close to them, so I have to pay tax on my orders, but they're a great fall-back.

John.

 

[TheLongshot]

Yes, but Amazon seems to be strange as well. I've placed two orders earlier in the week. Neither has shipped yet, even tho both items are in stock. Why does it take almost a week for them to ship an item?

Jason

 

[JohnAD]

Jason:

What kind of shipping did you do?

John.

 

[TheLongshot]

The slow boat, around the horn shipping, of course. I would expect the shipping itself to be inconsistent (I've had items take a couple of weeks or a couple of days with that method), but I don't really understand why it takes a few days just to ship an item in stock. The shipping method shouldn't matter...

Jason

 

[JohnAD]

Jason:

I think when you do the free shipping, they lower the priority of your order. I've had them take over a week before stuff gets shipped out. I usually do the next one up unless I need something right away.

John.

 

[TheLongshot]

I had a good time at Otakon this weekend, even if I was only able to go on Saturday this year.

Best show I saw at Otakon was definitely Claymore. Course, it is currently airing in Japan, so it will be a while before it comes here, but I'm very much in favor of seeing more.

Jason

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Watched Disc 1 of Scrapped Princess last night. A bit slow in places but the humor and the story that is starting to unravel will see me go on to the 2nd disc.

 

[TheLongshot]

I think you mean "unfold" rather than "unravel".

I picked up the first two books at Otakon over the weekend. So far, they seem pretty short. (200 pages, large type)

I also picked up the first two Crest Of The Stars books.

Jason

 

[JohnAD]

Scrapped Princess is a pretty good series. The ending wasn't quite what I expected when I started watching the show.

I started rewatching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The EE is noticeable if you look (on my 61"), but I generally am able to ignore it.

John.

 

[JohnAD]

My anime activity for the last few days:

Ergo Proxy volume five: More good stuff. I'm still trying to figure this series out, but it's an interesting ride to say the least.

Ghost in the Shell: SAC - Solid State Society: I enjoyed this one a lot. I wasn't blown away or anything, but it was at least as good as some of the episodes from the first and second seasons. In fact, that's what the movie seemed to be like - an extended episode. It was nice to see the homages to the original movie, too.

Ghost in the Shell: SAC: I've rewatched up through volume six.

John.