The last thing we watched, cartoon/animu edition

[meiam]

I just started on Iron-blooded Orphans. Am I making a mistake?

Witch is pretty different from other gundam show so its probably not the best indication of whether you'll like it or not.

If you want a more traditional version of it, you can try the original gundam show that was re release as a movie trilogy (or gundam seed that's a pseudo remake of it).

If you just want gorgeous mech action and are willing to ignore awful story, gundam unicorn or stardust memory.

Silly schlock that doesn't take itself seriously, G gundam.

Silly schlock that take itself seriously, thunderbolt.

Vietnam war movie, the 8th MS team.

Don't like more traditional gundam but still want to watch one, turn A gundam.

 

[Dreiko]

Finally got around to watching Promare. Trigger insanity and over the top hype is alive and well in it. It has some throwbacks to Gurren Lagann, especially in the visual design of some chars, but it stands out in the color schemes. Everything is just so damn bright and pastel. The story was very orthodox, you can't go too crazy with a self-contained movie and no anime behind it when you're tackling a giant mech flick, since you have to devote a good half the runtime to robots punching planets in the face. But what was there was very smart and creative while feeling familiar at the same time. I think this is a good introduction film, something you show to people who are newer to anime, cause you don't need to watch a 24 episode series to get to the hype bits and it's easy enough to follow. Guy with blue hair is firefighter, he punches fire in the face (get it, he fights fire), fire bad guy is cool actually, he has a fire katana and can turn into a dragon. They bros, they beat the bad ice guy, fistbump, the end.


Also a lot of this:

 

[Kyrian007]

I went ahead and watched the first episode of Trigun Stampede.

No Milly, Meryl is not an insurance agent, Milly was replaced by some random old drunk, not animated by Madhouse...

No thanks. Episode 1 of Trigun doesn't fully establish who Vash is, but shows without question he is more than others see. It starts off by showing the viewer more than enough to get them to want to continue watching the story unfold... and it does so at its own pace. It even doles out worldbuilding at a languid pace, making the viewer really want more every time they finish an episode. Trigun: Stampede's 1st episode introduces us to Knives (in flashback and in the present) and Rem, and shows us the destruction of the colony ship. It also directly tells us who Vash is, and establishes that he is already a hero (to people in the first town anyway.) As if the writers are saying, "it happened off screen, but these people owe him bigtime... trust us." I don't know, maybe that would have been a better 1st episode.

Plus, in Trigun episode 1; you see Vash do things that could be considered freaking awesome. But they also could have been just amazing dumb luck. What makes you finally realize there is more to him, is things like that KEEP happening. By contrast in Trigun: Stampede, he does one amazing thing in the episode that instantly could not have been dumb luck.

Maybe its just my age talking. But this isn't Trigun. Not saying it couldn't be good, but they should have changed the name and the characters names. And then said it was inspired by Trigun. Frankly, without Milly they have already lost (what is for me) the most impactful and emotional moment in the entire series.

Spoiler

Milly breaking down after Wolfwood's death

I will give almost anything more than just 1 episode... but I just am not interested in watching Trigun Stampede. If anything the only feeling it is stirring in me, is a desire to go back and watch the GOOD one. It's not like it has gone anywhere. Plus, 60 Billion Double Dollar man just sounds more intimidating than a 6 million dollar reward.

 

[BrawlMan]

Finally got around to watching Promare. Trigger insanity and over the top hype is alive and well in it. It has some throwbacks to Gurren Lagann, especially in the visual design of some chars, but it stands out in the color schemes. Everything is just so damn bright and pastel. The story was very orthodox, you can't go too crazy with a self-contained movie and no anime behind it when you're tackling a giant mech flick, since you have to devote a good half the runtime to robots punching planets in the face. But what was there was very smart and creative while feeling familiar at the same time. I think this is a good introduction film, something you show to people who are newer to anime, cause you don't need to watch a 24 episode series to get to the hype bits and it's easy enough to follow. Guy with blue hair is firefighter, he punches fire in the face (get it, he fights fire), fire bad guy is cool actually, he has a fire katana and can turn into a dragon. They bros, they beat the bad ice guy, fistbump, the end.


Also a lot of this:

My only problem with Promare is that some of it's plot points and twists from either the Gurren Lagann well and the Kill La Kill well (a practice the studio needs to get out of the habit of doing, as it has cropped up in many of their other shows). Also, Galo's teammates are kind of push to the side when they got hype build into the marketing way before the movie came out. They don't get to do as much. Which is kind of sad, because they all have cool designs. Lucia Fex is literally Haruko as a gadgeteer genius. Trigger literally made the role for Kari Wahlgreen. I still enjoy the movie for what it is, but I definitely wouldn't have minded if this was a TV series.

I went ahead and watched the first episode of Trigun Stampede.

No Milly, Meryl is not an insurance agent, Milly was replaced by some random old drunk, not animated by Madhouse...

No thanks. Episode 1 of Trigun doesn't fully establish who Vash is, but shows without question he is more than others see. It starts off by showing the viewer more than enough to get them to want to continue watching the story unfold... and it does so at its own pace. It even doles out worldbuilding at a languid pace, making the viewer really want more every time they finish an episode. Trigun: Stampede's 1st episode introduces us to Knives (in flashback and in the present) and Rem, and shows us the destruction of the colony ship. It also directly tells us who Vash is, and establishes that he is already a hero (to people in the first town anyway.) As if the writers are saying, "it happened off screen, but these people owe him bigtime... trust us." I don't know, maybe that would have been a better 1st episode.

Plus, in Trigun episode 1; you see Vash do things that could be considered freaking awesome. But they also could have been just amazing dumb luck. What makes you finally realize there is more to him, is things like that KEEP happening. By contrast in Trigun: Stampede, he does one amazing thing in the episode that instantly could not have been dumb luck.

Maybe its just my age talking. But this isn't Trigun. Not saying it couldn't be good, but they should have changed the name and the characters names. And then said it was inspired by Trigun. Frankly, without Milly they have already lost (what is for me) the most impactful and emotional moment in the entire series.

Spoiler

Milly breaking down after Wolfwood's death

I will give almost anything more than just 1 episode... but I just am not interested in watching Trigun Stampede. If anything the only feeling it is stirring in me, is a desire to go back and watch the GOOD one. It's not like it has gone anywhere. Plus, 60 Billion Double Dollar man just sounds more intimidating than a 6 million dollar reward.

I didn't know this is out now. I still want to see the show for myself, but I rather wait until they dub it first. It all really depends on whether they bring Johnny back or not to do the English dubbing. Sucks to hear that they kind of spoil the twist already in the opening, when the manga and TV show predicated on showing you hints of his past slowly and deliberately while having the reader or viewer putting the pieces together.

 

[Kyrian007]

I didn't know this is out now. I still want to see the show for myself, but I rather wait until they dub it first. It all really depends on whether they bring Johnny back or not to do the English dubbing. Sucks to hear that they kind of spoil the twist already in the opening, when the manga and TV show predicated on showing you hints of his past slowly and deliberately while having the reader or viewer putting the pieces together.

The first couple of episodes dubbed are out. It is Johnny. I almost wish it wasn't.

 

[Dreiko]

I am biased against entirely 3D things, only thing I gave a chance was Berserk, cause it's Berserk (oddly enough I didn't hate it as much as everyone seems to, but I don't think it's physically possible for me to dislike Berserk) so due to that I have basically no interest in the new Trigun. No interest in the dub either since I never watched it outside of Jp.

My only problem with Promare is that some of it's plot points and twists from either the Gurren Lagann well and the Kill La Kill well (a practice the studio needs to get out of the habit of doing, as it has cropped up in many of their other shows). Also, Galo's teammates are kind of push to the side when they got hype build into the marketing way before the movie came out. They don't get to do as much. Which is kind of sad, because they all have cool designs. Lucia Fex is literally Haruko as a gadgeteer genius. Trigger literally made the role for Kari Wahlgreen. I still enjoy the movie for what it is, but I definitely wouldn't have minded if this was a TV series.

I never saw all that leading up hype, I just kinda saw this thing with Kamina in Sonic hair and was hype about it, so I didn't have any idea or expectations of what I was going into. It's pretty clear based on the designs that it will be borrowing liberally from stuff like Gurren though so I just took it as a self-aware thing it did on purpose and didn't mind it much at all.

But yeah this is why I say this is a good new anime fan recommendation, it doesn't do anything too original nor does it go too in-depth but it still hits all the high marks you want it to. If you've seen a dozen mech shows and half a dozen trigger/gainax shows it will hit different, where you're just noticing similarities left and right while being hype and looking for the next mech fusion and super move name but to a newer fan their mind will be blown lol.


Also the naming hit me especially well, Galo Thymos (anger in greek) and Lio Fotia (fire in greek). Can't be any more straightforward lol.

 

[BrawlMan]

It's pretty clear based on the designs that it will be borrowing liberally from stuff like Gurren though so I just took it as a self-aware thing it did on purpose and didn't mind it much at all.

Just because it's self-aware doesn't mean it is good. I didn't exactly mind on the visual aspects of Gurren, but I am more so talking about specific plot points. I do like how Foresight is an evil version of All Might.

But yeah this is why I say this is a good new anime fan recommendation, it doesn't do anything too original nor does it go too in-depth but it still hits all the high marks you want it to. If you've seen a dozen mech shows and half a dozen trigger/gainax shows it will hit different, where you're just noticing similarities left and right while being hype and looking for the next mech fusion and super move name but to a newer fan their mind will be blown lol.

Yep.

Also the naming hit me especially well, Galo Thymos (anger in greek) and Lio Fotia (fire in greek). Can't be any more straightforward lol.

Excellent detail. I did not know that.

 

[mirbrownbread]

I gave that Velma HBO show a shot, but nah, people bash it for all the right reasons... How this passed screening is beyond me... Awful, just awful

 

[meiam]

I gave that Velma HBO show a shot, but nah, people bash it for all the right reasons... How this passed screening is beyond me... Awful, just awful

Look at every other reboot of old cartoon in the last couple of years like he man and battle cat (iirc), most of them are forgotten the moment they come out. The Velma show seems like it'll be able to power trough a full season just on hate watch alone since there's plenty of people seemingly following it just to rage at it.

 

[gorfias]

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons on HBO-Max

Pretty fun. It was totally off my radar when I saw this on HBO. Back in the day, World Finest used to have non-canon books about the adventures of Batman and Superman's sons.

I love Damien Wayne as Robin. His character is a lot of fun in this one.

 

[mirbrownbread]

The Velma show seems like it'll be able to power trough a full season just on hate watch alone since there's plenty of people seemingly following it just to rage at it.

Haha I get that, though I can't perform even that most-basic-of-exercises with this one. There's 0 flow to it, the jokes never land and not just because they aim for toilet humor by design. They simply don't make sense and I couldn't produce nothing close to a genuine chuckle before giving up.

Why it exists???

 

[Dreiko]

So I have a few big anime I've not seen that I always wanted to. FMA and Yu Yu Hakusho are the two I picked from. I DID watch the very first episode of FMA back when it had JUST come out in Japan, and I remember liking it, but there weren't other episodes out so I decided to wait until enough were out for a marathon session, this is like back in 03 or 04. Never ended up going back to it.


So of course, I'm gonna be watching Yu Yu Hakusho. Mad hype~

 

[Kyrian007]

I just finished Ga-Rei: Zero. And I'm not sure why they... made the series. Its a pretty bad in medias res if you haven't read the manga (I hadn't when I started it.) But it seemed a lot like it wouldn't appeal to anyone who enjoyed the manga. I started the series, thought I was getting the introduction to our cast...

Spoiler

only for everyone to die. And then the series to actually be a flashback to the backstory of the villain who just killed everyone.

So I had no real reason to get invested in the characters, knowing what ultimately their fate was going to be. Then I check out the manga and find out it is the story leading up to this first episode, from the perspective of a bunch of characters who wouldn't be in this series

Spoiler

because they were just killed.

It's not a bad story. Kind of a Stiens: Gate meets Blood + feel with some supernatural/monster action... Nope. It didn't need the weird framing. It frankly didn't need any connection to Ga-Rei if they had just named it something else it could have stood on its own just fine. They wouldn't have even had to change character's names, considering how little contact there is with any of the characters from the manga anyway.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Classic cyberpunk thriller, probably one of the most famous anime movies of all time. Now, last time I've watched one of the most famous anime movies of all time, it was Akira and I was severely dissapointed. Ghost in the Shell on the other hand... well, I liked a good deal better than that, that's for sure, but it still didn't exactly win me over.

GitS follows the members of a specialized SWAT team, mainly its Major Motoko Kusanagi, investigating a mysterious hacker called Puppetmaster. Unlike Akira, it's certainly very much a post Gibson, post Internet approach to Cyberpunk that had some genuine grasp on then current technological developments. It's also a much more cerebral affair, having only a tiny fraction of Akira's non stop overwhelming action. It's just that I feel it might be a bit too cerebral for its own good, if I'm being honest.

See, by now I've seen a share of Mamoru Oshii productions. By no means all of them, but quite a few. And I still think that by far his best work was Red Spectacles, which, while being a work with easily recognizable political undertones and social commentary, didn't feel the need to elaborate on them to an extent that would distract from its free spirited comedy. Looking at Oshii's more serious works, I feel he has an unfortunate habit of lecturing instead of telling. Not too long before GitS I've watched Jin-Roh, another movie he wrote the script for, and I had most of the same complaints with it, even though it's overall a movie I liked a good bit more. When Oshii wants to make a point, he really goes on about it. If he had written Blade Runner, the Tears in Rain monologue would have lasted five minutes.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for philosophical contemplation, but there is a delicate balance for just how much of your dialogue should consist on it. There was a point in the movie where a character was asked a fairly straight forward, conversational question, and she replied to it with this flowery existentialist ramble... I'm just not a fan of this approach to writing dialogue. It doesn't work for me, it takes away from the actual emotion.

I don't like ragging on Oshii, as I know for a matter of fact that he has made and worked on good stuff. And for what it's worth he seems like a cool guy. But Ghost in the Shell never really came together for me. I am aware that it's probably a weird order to go about this, but I've seen most of the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex before I saw the movie and I feel like it managed to explore better ideas in a more evocative way in some of its one off 20 minutes episode than the movie did in 80 minutes. And, you know, it actually made me care about it's characters, which just didn't properly come alive in the movie.

You know, matter of fact, I feel like you could have probably cut down the movie to a 20 minutes episode of the show and it might very well have improved it. It's not that the plot, much less the rather gorgeous art and direction, are bad, though I also don't think it's as smart as it thinks it is. I just think that its individual elements are very... disproportionate, is probably the best way to phrase it. Some elements would have desperately needed to be cut down, others to be expanded upon.

Unlike with Akira, I think Ghost in the Shell does have its virtues aside from animation and visual design, I just don't think it properly capitalizes on them. I suppose at the time it was one of very few watchable Cyberpunk movies, much less ones that try to engage with the emerging information age. Which is why I can also see why it caught on. Well, that and the copious amounts of female nudity, about half of which can get away with insisting it's artistic. But in a Post Lain world it just feels a bit... mid.

I would probably be more generous with it, if I hadn't seen the same source material handled a lot better in Stand Alone Complex. Visuals, sound design and direction hold up and the plot is fine, but the moment to moment writing just drags it down more than it would have needed to. Before seeing it I thought I'd probably watch GitS: Innocence right after, but now I think I'm good just sticking to SAC. And, I guess, have a look at some other Cyberpunk anime. Armitage III is probably next.

 

[meiam]

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Classic cyberpunk thriller, probably one of the most famous anime movies of all time. Now, last time I've watched one of the most famous anime movies of all time, it was Akira and I was severely dissapointed. Ghost in the Shell on the other hand... well, I liked a good deal better than that, that's for sure, but it still didn't exactly win me over.

GitS follows the members of a specialized SWAT team, mainly its Major Motoko Kusanagi, investigating a mysterious hacker called Puppetmaster. Unlike Akira, it's certainly very much a post Gibson, post Internet approach to Cyberpunk that had some genuine grasp on then current technological developments. It's also a much more cerebral affair, having only a tiny fraction of Akira's non stop overwhelming action. It's just that I feel it might be a bit too cerebral for its own good, if I'm being honest.

See, by now I've seen a share of Mamoru Oshii productions. By no means all of them, but quite a few. And I still think that by far his best work was Red Spectacles, which, while being a work with easily recognizable political undertones and social commentary, didn't feel the need to elaborate on them to an extent that would distract from its free spirited comedy. Looking at Oshii's more serious works, I feel he has an unfortunate habit of lecturing instead of telling. Not too long before GitS I've watched Jin-Roh, another movie he wrote the script for, and I had most of the same complaints with it, even though it's overall a movie I liked a good bit more. When Oshii wants to make a point, he really goes on about it. If he had written Blade Runner, the Tears in Rain monologue would have lasted five minutes.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for philosophical contemplation, but there is a delicate balance for just how much of your dialogue should consist on it. There was a point in the movie where a character was asked a fairly straight forward, conversational question, and she replied to it with this flowery existentialist ramble... I'm just not a fan of this approach to writing dialogue. It doesn't work for me, it takes away from the actual emotion.

I don't like ragging on Oshii, as I know for a matter of fact that he has made and worked on good stuff. And for what it's worth he seems like a cool guy. But Ghost in the Shell never really came together for me. I am aware that it's probably a weird order to go about this, but I've seen most of the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex before I saw the movie and I feel like it managed to explore better ideas in a more evocative way in some of its one off 20 minutes episode than the movie did in 80 minutes. And, you know, it actually made me care about it's characters, which just didn't properly come alive in the movie.

You know, matter of fact, I feel like you could have probably cut down the movie to a 20 minutes episode of the show and it might very well have improved it. It's not that the plot, much less the rather gorgeous art and direction, are bad, though I also don't think it's as smart as it thinks it is. I just think that its individual elements are very... disproportionate, is probably the best way to phrase it. Some elements would have desperately needed to be cut down, others to be expanded upon.

Unlike with Akira, I think Ghost in the Shell does have its virtues aside from animation and visual design, I just don't think it properly capitalizes on them. I suppose at the time it was one of very few watchable Cyberpunk movies, much less ones that try to engage with the emerging information age. Which is why I can also see why it caught on. Well, that and the copious amounts of female nudity, about half of which can get away with insisting it's artistic. But in a Post Lain world it just feels a bit... mid.

I would probably be more generous with it, if I hadn't seen the same source material handled a lot better in Stand Alone Complex. Visuals, sound design and direction hold up and the plot is fine, but the moment to moment writing just drags it down more than it would have needed to. Before seeing it I thought I'd probably watch GitS: Innocence right after, but now I think I'm good just sticking to SAC. And, I guess, have a look at some other Cyberpunk anime. Armitage III is probably next.

I love Oshii direction, but never really cared much for his message, my favorite movie is probably patlabor 2 and I find the sub text to be somewhat childish, so I just enjoy his movie from a direction point of view which are impeccable. It might be a lot of people talking, but he sure can direct that well. I've even read some of the storyboard and found those very entertaining.

 

[BrawlMan]

Before seeing it I thought I'd probably watch GitS: Innocence right after, but now I think I'm good just sticking to SAC. And, I guess, have a look at some other Cyberpunk anime.

I still recommend you see Innocence at least once. It is actually not that bad. I like it well enough. I would certainly take it over Artimage III.

 

[Gordon_4]

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Classic cyberpunk thriller, probably one of the most famous anime movies of all time. Now, last time I've watched one of the most famous anime movies of all time, it was Akira and I was severely dissapointed. Ghost in the Shell on the other hand... well, I liked a good deal better than that, that's for sure, but it still didn't exactly win me over.

GitS follows the members of a specialized SWAT team, mainly its Major Motoko Kusanagi, investigating a mysterious hacker called Puppetmaster. Unlike Akira, it's certainly very much a post Gibson, post Internet approach to Cyberpunk that had some genuine grasp on then current technological developments. It's also a much more cerebral affair, having only a tiny fraction of Akira's non stop overwhelming action. It's just that I feel it might be a bit too cerebral for its own good, if I'm being honest.

See, by now I've seen a share of Mamoru Oshii productions. By no means all of them, but quite a few. And I still think that by far his best work was Red Spectacles, which, while being a work with easily recognizable political undertones and social commentary, didn't feel the need to elaborate on them to an extent that would distract from its free spirited comedy. Looking at Oshii's more serious works, I feel he has an unfortunate habit of lecturing instead of telling. Not too long before GitS I've watched Jin-Roh, another movie he wrote the script for, and I had most of the same complaints with it, even though it's overall a movie I liked a good bit more. When Oshii wants to make a point, he really goes on about it. If he had written Blade Runner, the Tears in Rain monologue would have lasted five minutes.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for philosophical contemplation, but there is a delicate balance for just how much of your dialogue should consist on it. There was a point in the movie where a character was asked a fairly straight forward, conversational question, and she replied to it with this flowery existentialist ramble... I'm just not a fan of this approach to writing dialogue. It doesn't work for me, it takes away from the actual emotion.

I don't like ragging on Oshii, as I know for a matter of fact that he has made and worked on good stuff. And for what it's worth he seems like a cool guy. But Ghost in the Shell never really came together for me. I am aware that it's probably a weird order to go about this, but I've seen most of the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex before I saw the movie and I feel like it managed to explore better ideas in a more evocative way in some of its one off 20 minutes episode than the movie did in 80 minutes. And, you know, it actually made me care about it's characters, which just didn't properly come alive in the movie.

You know, matter of fact, I feel like you could have probably cut down the movie to a 20 minutes episode of the show and it might very well have improved it. It's not that the plot, much less the rather gorgeous art and direction, are bad, though I also don't think it's as smart as it thinks it is. I just think that its individual elements are very... disproportionate, is probably the best way to phrase it. Some elements would have desperately needed to be cut down, others to be expanded upon.

Unlike with Akira, I think Ghost in the Shell does have its virtues aside from animation and visual design, I just don't think it properly capitalizes on them. I suppose at the time it was one of very few watchable Cyberpunk movies, much less ones that try to engage with the emerging information age. Which is why I can also see why it caught on. Well, that and the copious amounts of female nudity, about half of which can get away with insisting it's artistic. But in a Post Lain world it just feels a bit... mid.

I would probably be more generous with it, if I hadn't seen the same source material handled a lot better in Stand Alone Complex. Visuals, sound design and direction hold up and the plot is fine, but the moment to moment writing just drags it down more than it would have needed to. Before seeing it I thought I'd probably watch GitS: Innocence right after, but now I think I'm good just sticking to SAC. And, I guess, have a look at some other Cyberpunk anime. Armitage III is probably next.

Armitage III is an odd duck of a movie but I’m very fond of it. It’s uneven but for some reason I found it’s central relationship reasonably compelling.

 

[bluegate]

So I have a few big anime I've not seen that I always wanted to. FMA and Yu Yu Hakusho are the two I picked from. I DID watch the very first episode of FMA back when it had JUST come out in Japan, and I remember liking it, but there weren't other episodes out so I decided to wait until enough were out for a marathon session, this is like back in 03 or 04. Never ended up going back to it.

So of course, I'm gonna be watching Yu Yu Hakusho. Mad hype~

Skip FMA and just watch FMA Brotherhood. Or maybe, watch the first half of FMA and then go into Brotherhood. The latter half of FMA is just terrible filler that goes absolutely nowhere and not worth anyone's time. Actually, thinking about it, having watched the first half of FMA will greatly make you appreciate the speed of the plot in Brotherhood.

I went ahead and watched the first episode of Trigun Stampede.

- snip snip -

I watched the first four episodes of the show over the weekend and it feels like it's some sort of weird Trigun The Greatest Hits compilation, rushing through plot points and characters.

Four episodes in and we already have

Spoiler: some spoilers.

Knives established as the main antagonist, Wolfwood already introduced and him having an ulterior motive for befriending Vash already established ( In the episode he's introduced in no less ,#4 by the way ), seen E.G. The Mine, Zazie The Beast, Grey The Nine Lives ( albeit unnamed ) and presumably maybe Leonof. Vash and Knives relation to the plants heavily hinted at, the origin of them blatantly shown in the opening of episode 1.

They seem to have skipped straight over the world building and character introductionary first half of the original series and I'm left wondering who this show is for.

Having seen the original I have little to no interest in seeing this "rushed" do-over and I wonder how first time viewers see the characters. I see Stempede's Vash through the lens of the original Vash, pasting his backstory I know from the original onto him, but how is he viewed by people not familiar with him?

I also hope that Meryll gets to grow out of her "fresh out of college rookie reporter role", because... blegh.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I love Oshii direction, but never really cared much for his message, my favorite movie is probably patlabor 2 and I find the sub text to be somewhat childish, so I just enjoy his movie from a direction point of view which are impeccable. It might be a lot of people talking, but he sure can direct that well. I've even read some of the storyboard and found those very entertaining.

Patlabor 2 is a fucking sit though, holy shit. Especially when you think you're in for some grounded mech action, which the trailer totally made it seem like. Oshii is good, but he's also dryer and harder to like than a bucket of kitty litter (when he's not doing Urusei Yatsura).

 

[Dreiko]

Skip FMA and just watch FMA Brotherhood. Or maybe, watch the first half of FMA and then go into Brotherhood. The latter half of FMA is just terrible filler that goes absolutely nowhere and not worth anyone's time. Actually, thinking about it, having watched the first half of FMA will greatly make you appreciate the speed of the plot in Brotherhood.

Yeah that was kinda my plan, I dunno how much of the first thing to watch but I do know brotherhood is really the main thing to watch.


Right now I'm still watching Yuyu Hakusho, it has a really cool aesthetic, the demonic being designs are especially crazy out there, they're less youkai from folklore and more lovecraftian demons.