Official Anime/Manga Thread

[Daisy-Fan]

I went watch Love Live movie last weekend, it was amazing! also i just started this anime season with Musaigen no Phantom World, its pretty silly so far and very adorable i do find. :3

[Dizcrybe]

I still can't believe the bloody Love Live movie got shown in North American theaters.

This isn't something that made its way into the mainstream conscious like Dragon Ball or Akira. Just... Love Live.

And now the friggin' thing's on TV in English. How did we get to this point?

[Toa Axis]

I just finished the Strike the Blood OVAs. Had to close the book on this show. I'm glad I did, I won't have to touch it again.

Now to wash out the stain with the new episode of ERASED.

[PSI Wind]

12 hours ago, Dizcrybe said:

I still can't believe the bloody Love Live movie got shown in North American theaters.

This isn't something that made its way into the mainstream conscious like Dragon Ball or Akira. Just... Love Live.

And now the friggin' thing's on TV in English. How did we get to this point?

to be fair its on a channel that you have to pay for the highest amount of channels in your package ^sadly

[Dizcrybe]

But still, the fact that it's on TV here at all is baffling.

[Jango]

Holy bananas, ERASED (The Town Where Only I Am Missing) is very good. I almost didn't watched it because I remember reading that it was created by the same people behind SAO, and after the sour taste that... thing... left in my mouth, I was skeptical about it. I later read that only the director is the same, since it's been produced by the same studio (A-1). Sooo I'm now into Episode 5! It's already messing with my feeeeeliiings! Very good thus far!

[Kevin]

So I finished watching Modoka Magicka and at have to say it was fantastic and I'm sorry I didn't watch it sooner. I really liked how it deconstructed the Magical Girl genre and I have to admit while I didn't like Homura's character at first, I grew to like her as the series went on and found her to be very relatable.

[Kuzu]

Man, Erased is still the cutest and most interesting shit ever.

[Yoko/葉子]

Ah, Escaflowne is likely getting a re-dub from Funimation... via Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funimationprod/the-vision-of-escaflowne-a-new-hd-dub-for-the-clas

Can't wait to hear how Hitomi and Van will sound!

[Tornado]

Freezing is truly fascinating. There is no other show that I can think of where there is an episode that I hate so god damn much that I can't finish it even when watching it with someone; and then an episode right after that I absolutely love. I mean, I suppose Bleach, but Freezing is better than Bleach in general and isn't anywhere near as long.

[Dantemustdie00]

It took like 7 or 8 Episode but FINALLY the Phantasy Star Online 2 Anime is getting interesting.

My god, those first episodes were so damn boring, and too much High School drama and not enough PSO2 was a real downer.

[Jango]

This week's episode of Erased was really good, again. Some things finally got concluded and I'm happy about. I already have my theories about the full plot, but I might (and hope!) be surprised.

 

Lupin the Third was cool and fun as usual.

 

DRRR! was great, finally some action!

 

And Naruto... well, more fillers, but at least it will be a good filler this time. I hope! Well, it's Itachi, can't be bad... can it?

[AdventChild]

Get your pointer fingers ready and practice your "OBJECTION!" and "TAKE THAT!" for April 2nd for the start of the Phoenix Wright anime (turn captions for eng subs).

 

 

 

[Toa Axis]

Welp, ERASED is finished. Can't say I'm quite satisfied with the conclusion. It's a shame, since this was a show good up until the "twist". The episode after that was good, but the finale was pretty bad. It's a shame that it didn't quite stick the landing, since it was pretty good otherwise. Oh well. 

Spoiler

Everything involving Yashiro post-reveal was fucking abominable.

 

[Jango]

ERASED is finished? That's... it? lol

Yeah, I dunno. I didn't completely understood the end.

Spoiler

Like, Yashiro was a phedophile or just a murder? He felt in love with Satoru? I didn't understood. The plot about Satoru going back in time, solving the mistery of the killer, and saving his friends was pretty cool, but it felt rushed. When they revealed that Yashiro was the killer, it didn't blew my mind, it was anti-climatic at best. I actually thought they would go with a "Satoru was the killer in an alternate future" kind of plot thing, but they didn't. I don't know if I like this anime or not. Too short. I was enjoying it quite a lot TBH, but that end was so dull.

 

[Radiant Hero Ike]

I'm still watching Naruto lel

Other than that, I watched the first episode of One Punch Man. A bit violent for my tastes but pretty awesome.

I also tried the dub of SAO II and noticed there's more cussing than there was in the sub. It doesn't bother me but I did start watching it with my siblings without knowing about it beforehand. They got the weirdest choice for Kirito too (I didn't watch the dub of the original SAO), like... He's not bad, just weird. I like most of the other voices though.

I also watched Tales of Symphonia's OVA, as well as Abyss' OVA. I think Symphonia's did things a lot better than the actual game, and Abyss' was pretty much the same. Liked both of them. I watched Vesperia: First Strike too. Despite being kinda creepy, I liked that one too.

I have Toradora, Hunter X Hunter, One Piece and Bleach on my to-watch list, along with a bunch of others I forgot about. XP

Magi and Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood are still my absolute favorites, however. Nothing's topped them yet!

[Toa Axis]

2 hours ago, Jango said:

ERASED is finished? That's... it? lol

Yeah, I dunno. I didn't completely understood the end.

  Hide contents

Like, Yashiro was a phedophile or just a murder? He felt in love with Satoru? I didn't understood. The plot about Satoru going back in time, solving the mistery of the killer, and saving his friends was pretty cool, but it felt rushed. When they revealed that Yashiro was the killer, it didn't blew my mind, it was anti-climatic at best. I actually thought they would go with a "Satoru was the killer in an alternate future" kind of plot thing, but they didn't. I don't know if I like this anime or not. Too short. I was enjoying it quite a lot TBH, but that end was so dull.

 

Spoiler

From what I interpreted, he just loved killing people. He loved being "in control," snipping that spider's thread whenever he felt like it. However, he felt that Satoru "completed" him by being the one thing that held him back. To keep things from becoming mundane (in the sense that he always thwarted his plans and the fact that he knew his future).

... Or something like that, he's a shitty character regardless and that incoherent babbling didn't really do anything to help his case.

 

[Salamander]

I'm a week behind on Erased, so I can't give complete commentary on the ending, but from the penultimate episode I am getting a definite vibe of "not how I would have ended it."

Spoiler

What makes Erased special is definitely the unusual qualities of the bulk of its setting - younger characters than in most anime, a more working-class milieu, a time period that is only just past - along with its understanding of real human emotion and connections between individuals, the relationship between family members.  The time-travelling, the modern framing - to me, those are just the tools to make the actually interesting part of the story happen.  I'm not really interested in what goes on during those modern parts, because...well, the modern parts are basically made of anime clichés.  The main character has a superpower and he has a teenage high-school girl sidekick who's also an inappropriate love interest, it's like the trash which serves to highlight the originality of the past storyline.

As for Yashiro, he is, in a sense, too good a choice of villain, in that he's... really obvious in every possible way.  He's one of the few developed adult characters in the story, he works with children, he's competent and charming...  He's the perfect suspect from a point of view of the construction of the narrative, and what's more, there aren't really any other suspects on the same level.  I feel like the story would actually have benefited from being a lot longer so that alternative suspects could be better-established.  Maybe the manga is better at this, I don't know.

I also think the way the return to the present was handled was... in a way it was elegant, but in another way it was extremely clumsy.  Having Satoru be in a coma for years and years to take him out of the picture ties in to all sorts of themes and stuff, it ties into the title, but I don't think it's actually interesting.  It's also kind of a cheap get-out-of-jail-free card for Yashiro, too.  I think it's a contrivance too far, really.

Like I said, haven't watched the last episode yet, won't for a week, so I might change my mind - but these thoughts are relevant now.

[Sean]

I've been watching Ore Monogatari/My Love Story the past few days. It's amazing. Like... it's so good that there's seriously no reason to watch any other high school romance anime besides this one. The male protagonist is one of the greatest, most amazing and hilarious main characters in anime history. His reactions to everything are golden, and while the formula of the show is so typical of flowery shoujo romances, Takeo manages to carry all of its weight and then some. 10 outta 10 romance anime that breathes incredible life in this cookie-cutter genre

SUKI DAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Yoko/葉子]

Anyone have any supernatural-fantasy suggestions?

I am already seeing Hell Girl, Shigofumi (only seen the first episode) and I saw Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. I don't care how old it is, as long as it's legally available.

[Kuzu]

15 hours ago, Sean said:

I've been watching Ore Monogatari/My Love Story the past few days. It's amazing. Like... it's so good that there's seriously no reason to watch any other high school romance anime besides this one. The male protagonist is one of the greatest, most amazing and hilarious main characters in anime history. His reactions to everything are golden, and while the formula of the show is so typical of flowery shoujo romances, Takeo manages to carry all of its weight and then some. 10 outta 10 romance anime that breathes incredible life in this cookie-cutter genre

SUKI DAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh yea, this series is really great glad you picked it up.

[Mystwalker]

After finishing watching the last episode of Erased I went ahead and read the entirety of the manga yesterday, and:

 

I now understand why some people around me said the anime takes a completely different turn at the final episode. The manga gives about 2 more episodes worth of content before finally settling the score with the killer. It's the only big difference between the two adaptations, other than that the flow of the story in the manga is relatively the same. The only things that come into mind that I don't recall seeing in the anime are

 

Kenya mentioning his father was a lawyer who was being seen negatively due to his case involving some nasty people (and his motivation to also fight for justice himself), a scene before 1988 involving a younger Satoru and a girl, and a more detailed backstory on the killer and how his early years were.

I don't quite know why yet, but these missing details seem to make things click together a bit better.

Overall the Erased anime got me hooked early on, but somewhere around the 2nd half it started losing some steam to me. Somehow I got my early suspicions about the real killer gone true, which toned down the impact a little bit as the episodes up until the twist felt a little bit on the "not much going on" side, and the finale left a lot to be desired (prompting me to check the manga soon after). Definitely interesting and worth a watch still, although I really would wish they'd have given the show 2 more episodes to allow everything to fit into place at a better pace as the ending is kinda unsatisfying.

 

Besides that I just finished up Dimension W a while back (besides a 2 episode arc that felt kinda cumbersome the whole show was fairly entertaining and "cool" so to say), just need to wrap up Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash and another show and I can carry on to some Winter season shows that I left for later, like the 2nd season of Gate and Ajin.

Edited March 28, 2016 by MickX

[Jango]

Would you mind sharing the link for the Erased manga? I want to give it a read, since my feelings are pretty much the same as yours.

 

Edit: Holy shit, it's very different. It ends the same exactly way:

Spoiler

Satoru becomes a successful mangaka and encounters with Airi under the bridge for the first time in the correct time line. But the way the manga handles Yashiro's ending is completely different and much more complex. In fact, everything after Satoru woken from the coma is very different. At least 4 or 5 more episodes worth of content. I ask you: why they changed it?

 

[Salamander]

Subsequent seasons of Yamishibai have never quite managed to equal the brilliance of the first - but I have to say, the last episode of the third season was perfect.

On 29/03/2016 at 5:10 PM, Jango said:

Edit: Holy shit, it's very different. It ends the same exactly way:

  Hide contents

Satoru becomes a successful mangaka and encounters with Airi under the bridge for the first time in the correct time line. But the way the manga handles Yashiro's ending is completely different and much more complex. In fact, everything after Satoru woken from the coma is very different. At least 4 or 5 more episodes worth of content. I ask you: why they changed it?

 

Spoiler

Because they didn't have another four or five episodes' worth of timeslots or budget?

I mean, that goes for pretty much every adaptation ever.  The TV anime format is actually very confining and it's not hard to point to examples of works which simply didn't quite fit on conversion from manga or visual novel or light novel or whatever to anime.  If you've been given a two-cour slot and buget then you can always come up with filler of some kind, but if you have less time and money than you really need then you have no choice but to make cuts somewhere.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Got back into Eureka Seven finally. On episode 38 I think.

I... Didn't like the parts where the monsters attacked. Those were a bit too violent for my taste.

Other than that I still love it, and Holland is finally a likeable character. I'm really interested in where the story's going, it's been one twist after another with this show.

I heard there was a sequel too, but apparently it was pretty bad. I might avoid that one, but I dunno.

Also the Itachi's Story filler happening right now is pretty good. Gives you a bit more insight on what happened during the Uchiha massacre (such as Itachi asking the Masked Man to kill his lover, since he didn't have the heart to do it himself), and his younger days were pretty cool too, though I wish they would've delved deeper into how Itachi's Sharingan awoke. I mean, it's because his friend died, of course, but I wanted to see that battle take place.