HTF Anime Discussion Part VIII (1 Viewer)

[Woo Jae]

I also got Samurai 7 #1 and #2 limited editions (read: more storyboards) as well and also recommend that - no superdeformed action here. Just some honest to goodness anime drama and ridiculous swordsmanship.

 

[Kong Chang]

You know, it's really bad when anime discussion falls to the wayside...bumping up.

Gankutsuou R1 DVD vol. 1 out on Oct. 25th. Be on the lookout!!!!

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I tend to agree with you, but I have very little new to say. Nobody here wants me to just launch into paranoid rantings!

 

[Max Leung]

Speaking of launching - have any of you guys seen Planetes yet? I read the first volume of the manga, and liked it!

 

[Max Leung]

Another random thought - anyone else think "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is the best anime ever made that women hate? It seems none of my female friends have the slightest interest in it - and when they try to watch an episode they nearly die of boredom (sample size: 3).

It has everything a guy needs: Tons of politics. Huge amount of mechanical designs. Lots of abstract and philosophical talk. Fembots. No angsty plotlines. No "lets talk about our feelings" and no "my boyfriend isn't expressing himself enough". Hell, almost no emotions at all except a touch of the military male bonding(tm) sequences.

In short, is GITS: SAC too masculine for its own good?

A cursory search around the net seems to indicate that only males discuss it. I find that creepy. Is it the Maxim Magazine of anime? Highbrow entertainment for the discerning Trailer Park Boy?

 

[DaveGTP]

Max

My wife bought GITS disc 1 but I don't think she's watched it yet. We've got a lot of backlog being fulltime work and fulltime school and all.

 

[TheLongshot]

I'm really getting a kick out of "FullMetal Alchemist". I like it more and more as the series has gone on.

Really, all I've seen.

Jason

 

[JohnAD]

Max:

Well, I think your sample size is small enough that you can't really make a conclusions from your results.

John.

 

[Max Leung]

Yeah - although looking around other anime forums it seems GITS: SAC is overwhelmingly popular with the males. If there are female fans of the show, they sure are quiet!

(This thread sure is moving slowly...hurry up and post more anime reviews guys! )

BTW, I watched Haibane Renmei volume 1 over the weekend. Whoa, the transfer is unusually soft. However, I forgot to test it in my DVD player - perhaps my HTPC is flaking out again...

Aside from the possible questionable transfer, it seems rather light. The artwork is nice, the characters are cute. There is a hint of melancholy in there somehow - I guess I have to watch more to find out.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

I just finished the disc 1 of Gits: 2nd GIG. It was good to see the gang back in action but it didn't deliver like the first season for me. The 2nd and 3rd episodes were a bit weak although the disc started and ended in good fashion. The new theme song gets a thumbs down from me. I also noticed a quality drop in some of the cell art.

My wife watched the entire first season with me and liked it. Or at least tolerated it. From her perspective it's not Gantz. Although she's not a fan of the Major and her propertions and wardrobe.

 

[Eric F]

Not strictly anime, but Amazon is selling the whole Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles box for $24.98!

I think most of us who are into Sci-Fi and CG will love this. It's much more faithfull to the books than the movies were. Great series, and well worth $25 for 800mins. Just unfortunate they never finished those last 3 episodes.:frowning:

 

[Max Leung]

Thanks for the data point Andrew - so far 25% of females like GITS: SAC.

Zip finally sent me disc 8 of Twelve Kingdoms. It is still pretty good, although a couple of times I question the characters' motivations - they flip-flop from one action to another and I found it a bit jarring.

Particularly Asano and Suzu - they flipflop from hating her to loving her or vice versa. Didn't feel right to me.

But, overall the story is still quite good. This show could be the Babylon 5 of fantasy series...

Zip.ca still has major problems servicing customers. Their buyout of competitor VHQOnline has crippled their customer service, and DVD series are being shipped out of order for nearly everyone. For example, disc 3 of Last Exile was just shipped to me, skipping over disc 2. I am now micromanaging my rental queue to stop this behavior.

At least they promised me a free month for all the trouble.

 

[James_Kiang]

Watched the second volume of Samurai 7 last night. Story-wise I am still enjoying this a lot, though I thought something that happened in episode 6 was resolved way too quickly and easily in episode 7. My main gripe with this volume was - as Kong mentioned earlier - the drop in quality of art and animation, especially in episode 7. That was some of the worst art I have seen. I do hope that that style is not used most of the time in the remaining volumes.

I need to pick up the third volume of Tehnjo Tenge still. That has been a fairly fun series with some nice character design.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Capsule Review: Rumik World: Maris the Chojo

This is something like an animated gag manga. The characters are mostly stupid and unsympathetic, the plot is nonexistent, the injokes -- referencing other Takahashi works, other anime, movies, and ladies' professional wrestling -- numerous, and it's all played strictly for yuks. The artwork is flat and lacks style and substance. One point of interest is that it seems to the first animation to include a "blooper reel" under the credit roll. There are better ways out there to spend most of an hour.

Not recommended except for Rumiko Takahashi completists.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Capsule Review: Rumik World: The Laughing Target

A good piece for Hallowe'en viewing, this is a thoroughgoing piece of nastiness that -- those who have seen it will please excuse the expression -- grabs you by the throat right at the beginning and doesn't let go. Right from the beginning you get an idea that something is very wrong, and it keeps going right along in the same way until the end. Takahashi is better known for her romantic comedies, but she's no slouch at romantic horror either.

Recommended for those with strong stomachs and a taste for the occult.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Capsule Review: Macross Plus

This is good, and well-done, and I'm not sure how well I like it. Part of that is just irritation at Manga Entertainment's idiocy in [for instance] not providing proper subtitles until the last episode, only captions for their nasty-as-usual dub. Probably I'll be able to form a more coherent opinion after I rewatch it some time in the future.

The artwork is very slick, and the CGI work is mostly very well integrated with the hand animation. The story is gripping and keeps you guessing as to which way is up, even if you can figure out the general lines of it pretty early. As with any Macross series, music and its power over the human animal is in the thick of the plot, and Yoko Kanno's work posesses the appropriate punch[listen for a brief reference to the original series in Episode 2]. Stylistically, the whole package is very similar to the basically contemporaneous Ghost in the Shell. The voicework is also good. Overall, very nice -- I'm just not sure how well I like it.

Strongly recommended, with reservations. Make what you will of that.

 

[JohnAD]

Wow...quiet around here. I will be picking up The Count of Monte Cristo tomorrow, just like I'm sure many of you will, too .

John.

 

[Max Leung]

Oh boy. I almost forgot about the Count of Monte Crisco oil. If I see it at HMV today I might - just might - get it. If I can afford it. But I probably won't be able to seeing that it is Geneon with the taunting "pay $45 you sucker" price tag on it. Ugh.

Geneon's stuff is way too expensive for mere mortals.

 

[Alanna]

Wow this place has slowed to a crawl!

Anyway I saw one ep of GITS:SAC and it kind of bored me. Would have to see more to really comment though.

I think I mentioned I finished Magic Knight Rayearth S2. It was awright. Not great, but not terrible either.

I, My, Me: Strawberry Eggs - I marathoned this and fell asleep during the last episode. A couple of characters didn't get quite what they deserved and some of it was questionable but I enjoyed it overall. I did go back and see the last ep btw. Fun yes and a little creepy for some. A teacher wanting one of the 14/15 y/o students. Hm.

Saw a few random eps of things: Super Gals! His and Her Circumstances. Loved them both so far. Preordered Super Gals! thinpak along with Sakura Wars TV for December.

I also saw Voices of a Distant Star. I don't see why everyone seems to be so enamoured with it. There was too much dead air and the relationship between the two people was not really established enough to warrant such an emotional string pulling. I felt like the director was just pulling out the stops to get the audience to feel what he wanted whether there was precedence for the emotions or not. The idea is interesting however, which is what kept me awake for its super short running time. But you know, who the hell keeps the same cell phone for that long? Text messaging through outerspace is sweet though.

That's all.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Capsule Review: Gall Force: New Era

The central conceit of the Gall Force stories -- that history plays itself out in cycles, with the same actors reappearing to perform the same actions -- requires careful handling if it is not to devolve from cleverness into sulness. Unfortunately, it doesn't really get too much of that, here. Two episodes, amounting to an hour and a half altogether, just don't suffice to show enough of what is going on for things to hold together. Both episodes are mostly exposition, and feel like recaps from a considerably longer series.
Again, the introduction of new voice talent reduces the verisimilitude of the reuse of character designs, and the resurrection of General GORN from the Earth Chapter to serve as the villain completely wipes out the point of the climax of that series' last episode. Genova, Nova Universe, and the Yumans are basically just stuck in by way of allusion without any clear function in the plot. The artwork isn't particularly great, either, though that has never been the strongest point of any Gall Force arc [all of which trace their lineage to a series of features on scratchbuilt models in a Japanese magazine].
In all, this feels like a crippled appendage to the body of Gall Force stories -- it might have been pretty decent, but there just isn't enough of it.

Not recommended.