The last thing we watched, cartoon/animu edition

Chimpzy

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I'm up to Episode 12 of Delicious in Dungeon, and while I'm not completely enamoured by this show it has a real charm.

Special mention goes to the character of Marcille, and more specifically how the show DOESN'T present her. She's a conventionally pretty elf girl in an anime, so the red flags pop up immediately, but the show never sexualizes or even glorifies her. There's no tantilizing shots or situations, and she doesn't even get that shiny eyes/hair look most girls in anime do. In Episode 12 there's even a bath scene, and here is where I thought the dam might break and we'd get lots of exploitative angles, but no. Despite the character(s) being fully naked there's a complete absence of leariness. The characters are pretty, they're naked, but that's where it ends. It's a level of restraint dreadfully rare in the world of anime.

Also, I kinda love all the different hairstyles they give her.
Would it surprise you to know the original manga was written and illustrated by a woman?

Tho that doesn't actually mean that much, because there's quite a few fanservicey manga by women out there, including hentai. And manga by men that completely forgo it.

Speaking of the latter, since you're into Dungeon Meshi, perhaps give Sousou no Frieren a shot, or maybe Witch Hat Atelier. Or, you know, both.
 
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BrawlMan

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I finished watching El Hazard: The Magnificent World OVA 1 & 2. It was fun going back down memory lane! OVA1 holds up the best and has gorgeous animation and background details. Almost all of the characters are lovable or likeable, with only Princess Fatora being a nuisance. Thankfully, when character is revealed, she's barely around for the final episode for OVA1. OVA2 is where she gets annoying and does/tries perverted antics on other women are not funny. Imagine Mineta, but a hot looking princess. I don't which one I hate more at the moment, but it's looking to be about the same. You're clearly not supposed to like her (almost all of the characters do hate her, besides her older sister and a little nymphomaniac sycophant Ailelle), and she ended up being a "subversion/assumption" of a kind princess, when she's revealed to be a spoiled brat in the beginning of the final episode of OVA 1. OVA 2, she has no reason be their, and the bits of comedy in the first half of OVA2 aren't funny and I hate her voice. It's telling when in the last 2 episodes of OVA 2 (4 episodes total, btw), she and her tweedle dee to her own tweedle dumb self, barely show up with a few seconds of screen time. In fact, in the AU TV retelling, Princess Fatora doesn't exists in that version, so he writers realized how much of an annoying generic lesbian pervert she is and no one wants her.

The harem doesn't work as nowhere near as well as Tenchi's, but I like the cast overall. Sheya being my personal favorite of the girls. Also, Makoto's teahcer Fujisawa is hilarious. The English dub holds up great too, Fatora aside.

OVA 2 is still great time overall, but OVA1 is the best. Both OVAs have amazing soundtracks cominbing ochresta and techno. I swear this soundtrack feels like it came from a Sega Saturn game and Panzer Dragoon. That's how I would described the soundtrack. Very vintage and awesome 90s Sega style music. Ironic, as there is an El Hazard did a video game adaption on the Saturn. So it's very fitting. You can get both OVAs in collection on Blu Ray, at Amazon, if anyone is interested. They have a good sale on it.

@Casual Shinji, I know we talked about this anime before, but I do reccomend if you have not seen it a long time or not at all. Just be warned of Fatora when she first appears and actaully speaks.
 
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TheMysteriousGX

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Watching more Delicious in Dungeon and I'm constantly impressed by how this show can continously just open up cans of fun new characters.
If you like these new characters, I recommend checking out the Daydream Hour art book and the Adventurer's Bible. Ryoko Kui has gobs and gobs of supplementary background material that she shows admirable restraint for not putting in the main narrative. Though there will be spoilers
 

Casual Shinji

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Would it surprise you to know the original manga was written and illustrated by a woman?

Tho that doesn't actually mean that much, because there's quite a few fanservicey manga by women out there, including hentai. And manga by men that completely forgo it.
It actually didn't surprise me as much because Trigger is behind it. And while I know they made Kill la Kill, they also made Little Witch Academia; a show (and OVA) starring mostly high school girls in skirts with zero "any of that". That first LWA OVA instantly became one of the rare 'I can watch this with a family member without things getting awkward' anime.

Speaking of the latter, since you're into Dungeon Meshi, perhaps give Sousou no Frieren a shot, or maybe Witch Hat Atelier. Or, you know, both.
I've watched a bit of Frieren, and while the concept is captivating I'm finding the execution a bit too dry. I have the first pocket of Witch Hat Atelier, but didn't get very far into it. Maybe I should try and pick it up again.
I finished watching El Hazard: The Magnificent World OVA 1 & 2. It was fun going back down memory lane! OVA1 holds up the best and has gorgeous animation and background details. Almost all of the characters are lovable or likeable, with only Princess Fatora being a nuisance. Thankfully, when character is revealed, she's barely around for the final episode for OVA1. OVA2 is where she gets annoying and does/tries perverted antics on other women are not funny. Imagine Mineta, but a hot looking princess. I don't which one I hate more at the moment, but it's looking to be about the same. You're clearly not supposed to like her (almost all of the characters do hate her, besides her older sister and a little nymphomaniac sycophant Ailelle), and she ended up being a "subversion/assumption" of a kind princess, when she's revealed to be a spoiled brat in the beginning of the final episode of OVA 1. OVA 2, she has no reason be their, and the bits of comedy in the first half of OVA2 aren't funny and I hate her voice. It's telling when in the last 2 episodes of OVA 2 (4 episodes total, btw), she and her tweedle dee to her own tweedle dumb self, barely show up with a few seconds of screen time. In fact, in the AU TV retelling, Princess Fatora doesn't exists in that version, so he writers realized how much of an annoying generic lesbian pervert she is and no one wants her.

The harem doesn't work as nowhere near as well as Tenchi's, but I like the cast overall. Sheya being my personal favorite of the girls. Also, Makoto's teahcer Fujisawa is hilarious. The English dub holds up great too, Fatora aside.

OVA 2 is still great time overall, but OVA1 is the best. Both OVAs have amazing soundtracks cominbing ochresta and techno. I swear this soundtrack feels like it came from a Sega Saturn game and Panzer Dragoon. That's how I would described the soundtrack. Very vintage and awesome 90s Sega style music. Ironic, as there is an El Hazard did a video game adaption on the Saturn. So it's very fitting. You can get both OVAs in collection on Blu Ray, at Amazon, if anyone is interested. They have a good sale on it.

@Casual Shinji, I know we talked about this anime before, but I do reccomend if you have not seen it a long time or not at all. Just be warned of Fatora when she first appears and actaully speaks.
El Hazard kinda bums me out, since it feels on par with Tenchi Muyo but was never really given the chance to stretch its wings. I have the first two pockets of the manga and they're even more fun than the OVA's/short series, but I was never able to track down the rest, not even any online scans.
 
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BrawlMan

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El Hazard kinda bums me out, since it feels on par with Tenchi Muyo but was never really given the chance to stretch its wings.
It's amazing the series got as far as it did. I don't see it as that much of a negative considering what happened. By the time of The Alternative World, a sequel to the AU TV series Wanderers (not the OVAs, the writers were clearly running out of ideas and milking the franchise. Similar to the Tenchi franchise itself, but Tenchi's case is actually worse than El Hazard. Alternative is a 4th rate Tenchi clone nobody wanted and got cut short, so they had to rush the ending on Episode 13. It's been decades since I've seen Wanderers or Alternative. I thought Alternative was okay, but I can already tell I would not want to watch that it again. Wanderers is good and is the Tenchi Universe equivalent (Universe is still better from what I remember), but I am not paying $60 for 26 episodes. Appreciate what you got and what's out there is all I can say at the end of the day. There was going a sequel reboot, but the crowdfunding only got 16%, so they had to cancel in 2019. I only found this out today.

I have the first two pockets of the manga and they're even more fun than the OVA's/short series, but I was never able to track down the rest, not even any online scans.
I think manga is out of print now. It's uprising there are no scans of it. There are online scans of the Tenchi comics (also out of print) by Pioneer USA you can find on most sites. Funny enough, the artist for that brand comics has a deviant art page that has been up since 2008 and he uploaded all of his cover art for the comics. I have the OVAs for ELH, so I am more than satisfied.
 
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thebobmaster

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I've watched a bit of Frieren, and while the concept is captivating I'm finding the execution a bit too dry. I have the first pocket of Witch Hat Atelier, but didn't get very far into it. Maybe I should try and pick it up again.
I'm about 10 episodes into Frieren and I can say that while I would definitely consider it a slow burn, it gets significantly less dry around episode 5 or 6 when a new party member is introduced, IMO.
 

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I finished Horimiya. I have to confess this one really got to me. Like fucked up my whole week. For those that don't know it's ostensibly a comedy/drama slice of life highschool manga/anime, but jesus christ is it all gut punches.

I'll give an example. A kid is politely taking care of a girl whos down with a fever when he confesses his love believing she wont hear him. Like "oh ok the tension what will happeeenn, you know like this will they won't shit will drag on for 3 seasons." NO my guy leaves to get her water and which point her comprised state she literally hallucinates her parents abandoning her all over again. Oh and we find out at this point in the story our protagonist has been contemplating suicide having spent his entire childhood alone and abused by bullies. LIKE CALM THE FUCK DOWN THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SHONEN NOT GRAVEYARD OF THE FUCKING FIREFLIES.

Anyway it was a good show full of really empathetic and funny characters. Like laugh outloud funny, but again I really gotta impress upon would be viewers that the show really waffles behind being goofy and full spending entire episodes diagnosing childhood trauma. Like almost every character is secretly falling apart in between jokes.

On a lighter note I start watching GO-GO Loser Ranger on Hulu

Not sure if anyone was aware, but I guess Hulu took over a couple animation publishers and funds mid-budget adaptions now.

Go-Go Loser Ranger plays on the Power Ranger or Kamen Rider trope. Essentially the Dragon Riders (literally identical standin to the Power Rangers), defeated and murdered the leaders of an invading alien force 13 years ago. However rather than arresting or murdering their army of minions, they offered them a deal "You show up every Sunday as a monster of the week so we can pretend like the war is still going and you live". So literally they reenact the power rangers show for the ignorant masses.

I'm only 6 episodes in so it hasnt been clarified exactly how they are corrupt only that they are frauds, but we do know the "Dragon Riders" are assholes and theyve built a whole organization of Junior Dragon Riders who all still think they are heroes. I'm assuming they are living off the government dime or something

Anyway the story revolves around one of the former Monster army minions whos had enough and decides to do whatever it takes to kill all the Dragon Riders.

At first I sort of assumed this might be one of those animes where they just have a good hook and its just tropes, but they seem to be taking it pretty seriously its actually pretty violent and gory. Its very reminiscent of The Boys. The qualities pretty good and I'm enjoying it so far.
 
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meiam

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Macross plus is getting a nice blue ray release, with a big art book and some other goodies


Problem is, its 190$! Worse, its cheaper in the UK, but your not allowed to import it from there, gotta go trough crunchyroll. Maybe if it came with an OST or the storyboard I'd be interested, but just an artbook for that price...
 
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Bob_McMillan

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I'm only 6 episodes in so it hasnt been clarified exactly how they are corrupt only that they are frauds, but we do know the "Dragon Riders" are assholes and theyve built a whole organization of Junior Dragon Riders who all still think they are heroes. I'm assuming they are living off the government dime or something
I mean, the Rangers seem a-okay with murdering their subordinates (I think that was in the first 6 eps). I feel like that's enough, although hopefully they will indeed give us more reasons to hate them. I find the vibe of the show really fun, my girlfriend and I always stick around for the OP and ED.
 

meiam

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I mean, the Rangers seem a-okay with murdering their subordinates (I think that was in the first 6 eps). I feel like that's enough, although hopefully they will indeed give us more reasons to hate them. I find the vibe of the show really fun, my girlfriend and I always stick around for the OP and ED.
Problem is hating the villain does not substitute for rooting for the main character. I dunno if they give more of a explanation at some point, but it seems like the monster were legit there to wipe all mankind or enslave them another traditional monster plot. So the dragon might be bad, but the monster are order of magnitude worse, they also could all run away seemingly pretty easy to get out of the constant fighting, but they just never do...? I guess its supposedt o be one of those "turn your brain off" kinda things.
 
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Casual Shinji

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Suffering from internet depression so I'm rewatching the Anne of Green Gables anime. And it's fucking delightful, as is usually the case of a World Masterpiece Theater production. That shit is a balm for the soul like nothing else.
 
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Suffering from internet depression so I'm rewatching the Anne of Green Gables anime. And it's fucking delightful, as is usually the case of a World Masterpiece Theater production. That shit is a balm for the soul like nothing else.
@Casual Shinji, El Hazard: The Wanderers AU TV series is on YouTube for free. It's been on Nozomi's YouTube page for a decade if you're interested.
 
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BrawlMan

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Also @Casual Shinji, they got the anime on sale for Blu Ray at Crunchyroll. $25. Get it while you can. I ordered my copy already.

 

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Going through El Hazard: The Wanderers. I appreciate the expanded or improved characterization for the cast. Not that most of them were bad to begin, Alliele and Fatora aside. Alliele is much more likeable and useful. Fatora doesn't exist. Thank God! I do like how Makoto is a more active here (not that he exactly wasn't) and you see his more academic and intelligent side. He's like a teenage Doc Brown at times. Not that the original version was dumb or stupid, but could be somewhat naive in the beginning. The Wanderers is basically the El Hazard equivalent of Tenchi Universe. I don't know if I like it more than Universe, but I do admit it has better character development. Speaking of Universe, while Wanderers soundtrack is good and has catchy tunes, it feels like holdovers or songs from the cutting room floor from Tenchi Universe. It's not a bad thing, but this series has nothing on the OVAs Sega Saturn RPG soundtrack. I am literally swimming in a sea of symphony whenever hearing the OVAs orchestral score.

The animation is obviously cut back and cheaper than the OVAs, but still is fluid enough and the backgrounds look good with the details. I am barely half way through right now.
 

BrawlMan

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@Casual Shinji,

I finished El Hazard: The Wanderers. A really good AU TV series of the original OVA. The soundtrack actually kicks in and gets better in the second half of the anime. It can't compared to the OVAs soundtrack, but it feels closer to OVAs by the last few episodes, but makes them unique enough to not feel like rip offs nor cheap imitations. The TV series definitely has better characterization, character development and removes unneeded sub-plots and one piece of shit character from the OVA. I don't know if Wanderers is better than OVA1, but I do like it more than OVA2. I do like OVA2 by the way. The OVAs obviously have better animation, action, and a God-like soundtrack. No contest there. The action in Wanderers is good enough and entertaining, but smaller budget holds it back a little. The Wanderers I did enjoy and had a fun time. I won't be going back immediately if I am looking for something quick, but I will never regret popping it in again when the mood strikes,
 

Casual Shinji

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@Casual Shinji,

I finished El Hazard: The Wanderers. A really good AU TV series of the original OVA. The soundtrack actually kicks in and gets better in the second half of the anime. It can't compared to the OVAs soundtrack, but it feels closer to OVAs by the last few episodes, but makes them unique enough to not feel like rip offs nor cheap imitations. The TV series definitely has better characterization, character development and removes unneeded sub-plots and one piece of shit character from the OVA. I don't know if Wanderers is better than OVA1, but I do like it more than OVA2. I do like OVA2 by the way. The OVAs obviously have better animation, action, and a God-like soundtrack. No contest there. The action in Wanderers is good enough and entertaining, but smaller budget holds it back a little. The Wanderers I did enjoy and had a fun time. I won't be going back immediately if I am looking for something quick, but I will never regret popping it in again when the mood strikes,
It's been so long since I watched it that on the anime side it's all kinda blended together for me. I think I remember some girl all in white who turned out to be evil in one of the versions.
 

BrawlMan

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I think I remember some girl all in white who turned out to be evil in one of the versions.
I don't know about the all in white part, but she does have white hair. You must thinking of Kalia in OVA2. Yeah, she's completely evil and psychotic.
 

Casual Shinji

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I used to buy anime on blu-ray on a site called Archonia. I haven't checked it out in a good couple of years and decided to see what's what... Now I've bought Gunbuster, Cyber City Oedo 808, and Memories on blu-ray. They also had Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I'm not made of fucking money.
 
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