The last thing we watched, cartoon/animu edition

[Dirty Hipsters]

Everyone was expecting Champloo to be just as good or better than Bebop. An impossibly tall order. Even as a teenager, I knew people were having too much expectations for the show. I love Champloo, but even it has some episodes I do not enjoy, and a viewer can skip some of them, missing nothing. The music though? Hip-Hop aging like fine wine, and inspiring the Lo-Fi genre for a long time.

I know it's a rather unfair comparison, but it's a comparison my brain kept making because I just rewatched Cowboy Bebop a couple of months ago for the first time in 15 years, so I basically watched these shows almost back to back.

I've been going back to rewatch some of the older anime I had really loved back as a teenager to see if they hold up as well as I remember. For some of them all I really remember are a couple of scenes, and that I generally had really good feelings for the shows back in the day, but I remember very few of the actual episodes.

Cowboy Bebop ended up being even better than I remember, Trigun was slightly worse than I remember, but still pretty fun. Samurai Champloo was about what I expected based on my memories, though I was surprised by how many of the episodes are actually really forgettable. Even sitting here having finished the show yesterday I feel like I've forgotten like 1/3 of the show already. The episodes that do hit though, they hit hard.

Going to rewatch Black Lagoon next, or maybe Hellsing, or FLCL.

 

[BrawlMan]

Trigun was slightly worse than I remember, but still pretty fun

Trigun is as good as I remember. The anime and manga were both clearly doing their own thing. Ah Trigun, known as The Son of The Holy Space Trilogy. The worst I can say about Trigun is that dumb recap/clip-show episode. I always skip it whenever I marathon the show again. Never liked the episode back then; consider it a waste of time now.

Going to rewatch Black Lagoon next

Have fun with the constant nihilism and nearly every character ranting about how pointless things are in life, yet they try to justify their greed, sadism, or shady things they do. Not going through that bullshit again.

Hellsing

The first anime adaption or Hellsing Ultimate? The first adaption does not hold up well and suffers from early digital coloring that looks awful and too bright. Plus, I don't find the first adaption that interesting.

FLCL

It's good, but don't bother with the sequels. More so the first sequel. I admit that I had a semi-dislike for FLCL back when I first saw it, but around the age of 18/19 I appreciated more.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The first anime adaption or Hellsing Ultimate? The first adaption does not hold up well and suffers from early digital coloring that looks awful and too bright. Plus, I don't find the first adaption that interesting.

The original. I watched Ultimate like 5 years ago, so that one is still somewhat fresh in my mind.

Most of what I remember of the original is just that the soundtrack is fucking amazing (which I remember because I own the soundtrack and still listen to it constantly).

 

[BrawlMan]

The original. I watched Ultimate like 5 years ago, so that one is still somewhat fresh in my mind.

Most of what I remember of the original is just that the soundtrack is fucking amazing (which I remember because I own the soundtrack and still listen to it constantly).

That is the only good thing I can say about the first anime. The voice acting is great too, and I'm glad they were able to get a majority of the cast back for Ultimate. Hellsing is pretty much a forgettable blur for me. I saw it once during my senior year in high school, and never wanted to see it again after finishing it.

 

[twistedmic]

Ah Trigun, known as The Son of The Holy Space Trilogy.

What exactly is the Holy Space Trilogy? Is it related to the CS Lewis books or is it something else?

 

[BrawlMan]

Is it related to the CS Lewis books

No.

What exactly is the Holy Space Trilogy?

Glad you asked. The Holy Space Trilogy, aka, The Holy Space Anime Trilogy or The Holy Space Western Trilogy is composed of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. The Father is Cowboy Bebop, The Son is Trigun, and the Holy Ghost is Outlaw Star. They're the best sci-fi space western you will ever find in the 90s and of all time. True perfection.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

No.

Glad you asked. The Holy Space Trilogy, aka, The Holy Space Anime Trilogy or The Holy Space Western Trilogy is composed of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. The Father is Cowboy Bebop, The Son is Trigun, and the Holy Ghost is Outlaw Star. They're the best sci-fi space western you will ever find in the 90s and of all time. True perfection.

Outlaw Star is overrated and the ship fighting is dumb.

Fight me.

(I'm pretty sure you and I have already had this conversation before.)

 

[BrawlMan]

Outlaw Star is overrated and the ship fighting is dumb.

Fight me.

(I'm pretty sure you and I have already had this conversation before.)

Been through this bit already; don't care. Grappler Ships are awesome and the right kind of over-the-top. Your argument is invalid. The worst can I say about Outlaw Star is Aisha can be nerve wracking in the beginning when she is first introduced. She was and is my least favorite of the crew. I softened up overtime, but she could still get on my nerves depending on my mood.

 

[meiam]

Outlaw Star is overrated and the ship fighting is dumb.

Fight me.

(I'm pretty sure you and I have already had this conversation before.)

I'd say its correctly ratted, not cowboy bebop level but still a great time. Ship fighting are dumb, but who care, ship punching each others! It's never taken that seriously in the show anyway.

I remember watching anime from my teenager year, gundam wing does not hold up at all, escaflowne is pretty good but its clear the soundtrack does most of the heavy lifting, cardcaptor sakura is so goergeous but repetitive, Lain is cool but actually doesn't end up saying much, the patlabor movies are awesome with the second one possibly being my favourite movie after rewatching it (actually most of the anime movie hold up superbly, GiTS/Akira/macross plus and so on)

 

[twistedmic]

No.

Glad you asked. The Holy Space Trilogy, aka, The Holy Space Anime Trilogy or The Holy Space Western Trilogy is composed of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. The Father is Cowboy Bebop, The Son is Trigun, and the Holy Ghost is Outlaw Star. They're the best sci-fi space western you will ever find in the 90s and of all time. True perfection.

Then I am already a devout follower of The Holy Space Trilogy. I have had all three in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection for a number of years.

Was Trigun ever released on Blu-Ray? I only have it on DVD.

 

[BrawlMan]

Was Trigun ever released on Blu-Ray?

Unfortunately, no. Only the Badlands Rumble got a blu-ray release.

 

[twistedmic]

Unfortunately, no. Only the Badlands Rumble got a blu-ray release.

Ah well. It’s not like I notice that big a difference between DVD and Blu-Ray. Not on my HDTV, anyway. I haven’t tried on my 4K TV.

 

[Gordon_4]

I'm watching the new Beavis and Butt-Head on Amazon. It truly is amazing how funny it still is to watch these two complete fucking morons BE complete fucking morons. They even brought back the commentary bits for music videos - and indeed other types of videos - in the form of them watching YouTube.

I recommend.

 

[Chimpzy]

Akiba Maid Sensou

Just a bit of insanity best described as what if the maid cafe boom in 90's Akihabara was actually really serious fucking business, or what if yakuza gang wars but moe?

 

[Bob_McMillan]

The latest episode of Mob Psycho is everything that I love about this show. Great stuff. I've been recommending it to friends for years and it's never failed to be a hit.

 

[Chimpzy]

Chimpzy watches Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex (Part 16)

Season 1, Episode 17: ANGEL’S SHARE

Ah, the wine bank episode. Aramaki and the Major are in England for a conference, when the former decides to visit an old flame working at a wine bank, while the latter goes shopping. Things take a turn when a pair of robbers force their way in and take Aramaki and his friend hostage. Unfortunately, the bank is a front for the mafia, who call in a corrupt unit of special police to secure the ledgers and any witnesses, if you know what I mean. So now Aramaki needs to take charge to ensure everyone’s survival.

I low key love this episode. It’s a very simple setup with no philosophical frills or speculative elements, but it’s a well-executed thriller highlighting a character that thus far has pretty much been the behind-the-scenes unassuming old man that occasionally cuts red tape for the rest of the team. It can be inferred by just the fact Aramaki leads Section 9 that he is not just a bureaucrat, but badass in his own right. But it’s always better to show than tell, and we get an excellent showcase here by the ease by which he takes control of the situation, whipping the hapless robbers into effectively bamboozling the dirty cops.

 

[meiam]

Yeah its a great episode, and shows the strenght of having fun stand alone episodes with a neat twist to the stokcholm syndrome. Almost no anime does this anymore, everything has to be part of the main plot. It's understandable because a lot of long running franchise will use stand alone episode as a "break" for the main team and so those tend to have much lower quality, but it doesn't have to be.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I mean, when A) people constantly whine about "filler" and B) the animation bubble can only be sustained by cutting budgets and making things cheaper, fun world-and-character building episodes are naturally dying.

Like, seasons used to be 26 episodes back in the day, these days they're 13

 

[thebobmaster]

Just finished Star Wars: Rebels, season 4, and with that, the show as a whole. Went out on a definite high. Plenty of callbacks in the finale that made sense, some neat stuff that was foreshadowed, but in a way to not feel forced, but more of an "Oh, that's what that meant" thing. And now I am actually looking forward to Ahsoka, which really says something.

Thrawn is still the best Star Wars villain, IMO.

 

[wings012]

The new Gundam is good fun and is the most I've been engaged with an anime for a while. Eagerly awaiting the plot twists and reveals.