The last thing we watched, cartoon/animu edition

BrawlMan

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The only good thing about Monster Rancher is the English opening theme song, and only in the "so bad it's good way."


Prove me wrong.
When it comes to rap songs that are openings in anime. The best one to never been topped is "Battle Cry", by Nujabes (RIP) and Shing02.


 

09philj

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Finally got started on KonoSuba. I did the first half of season 1, and will watch the other half tomorrow. I am watching on HBO Max. I am loving this series already. It's the only modern iseakai I am enjoying so far right now. I never laughed so hard in a long while.
I think Isekai's an overused trope, but I did rather enjoy No Game, No Life. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for the great heaps of deviant fanservice ladled over the top of its generally sharp writing. Set up is that a sibling duo of exceptional game players are sent to a world where game playing underwrites everything down to the way reality itself works. Its clever and funny but also extremely preoccupied with making sure that every female character gets sexualised at least once, including the underaged ones, which is the main blot against it. The other issue is that Madhouse only made one series, which only adapts a small portion of the source material.
 
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Piscian

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Recently started on Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water. Although I'm only 13 episodes in, it's a fun enough anime thusfar.

Screw all that modern bullshit.

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My Dad and I are pretty hardcore fans of comics and animation so when I was growing up I got a lot for exposure to all varieties. Macross was the first movie I ever saw in theaters I was like 3-4. We used to go to all the animation festivals and stuff like Robot Carnival back when that was a thing. Got to see the Pixar shorts alongside early anime stuff before they started making full length films.

I think what I've noticed over the years is that during the 1970-early 1990s Japanese animation was still wavering between what I'd call "anime" vs "animation". I guess I'd call that the difference between works of artist initiative versus commercial products. It seems like the vast majority of anime that comes out these days is commercial products. Like are we doing a work of passion or are we adapting manga just to meet television schedules? It makes it difficult not to look fondly on anime of that era because it seems like the market these days is so saturated with commercialized manga adaptations.

Talking about what anime we've seen recently I just remembered I was pretty floored by one of the recent Netflix adaptation dorohedoro. Putting the bizarre story aside which I can't fault anyone for likeing or not liking, as an artist I just drooled over the art style. It was just so damned unique and the detailing was amazing. The amount of time and effort put into the background and foreground just lit me up. It must be so time consuming to add that much detail. I gravitate towards that kind of thing.
 

BrawlMan

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I think Isekai's an overused trope, but I did rather enjoy No Game, No Life. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for the great heaps of deviant fanservice ladled over the top of its generally sharp writing. Set up is that a sibling duo of exceptional game players are sent to a world where game playing underwrites everything down to the way reality itself works. Its clever and funny but also extremely preoccupied with making sure that every female character gets sexualised at least once, including the underaged ones, which is the main blot against it. The other issue is that Madhouse only made one series, which only adapts a small portion of the source material.
I heard about this anime, but I'm not interested. I can handle fan service to an extent but I have my limits. I seen some clips of it on youtube, and honestly, it's really not much I haven't already seen. there are some unique stuff, but I'm giving it a pass. I do thank you for your honesty.
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
I think Isekai's an overused trope, but I did rather enjoy No Game, No Life. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for the great heaps of deviant fanservice ladled over the top of its generally sharp writing. Set up is that a sibling duo of exceptional game players are sent to a world where game playing underwrites everything down to the way reality itself works. Its clever and funny but also extremely preoccupied with making sure that every female character gets sexualised at least once, including the underaged ones, which is the main blot against it. The other issue is that Madhouse only made one series, which only adapts a small portion of the source material.
Yeah its totally overused but there are some quite good ones. The slime one is good, konosuba is fantastic, Kemonomichi is also quite good (think konosuba since it was made by the same guy but with a pro wrestler who only cares about cuddling monsters), Log Horizon is fantastic, I think there are a couple more that I liked but I can't think of them at the moment.
 

TheMysteriousGX

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I've never seen an anime with as much riding on its ending as Wonder Egg Priority

Like, it started off riding a knife's edge between edgy social commentary and trashy exploitation and the next two episodes are going to be the difference between a 10/10 hard hitting Satoshi Kon-esc nightmare and a 4/10 garbage fire misery porn with good visuals.

It's not even supposed to have 2 more episodes, but crippling production issues forced an unplanned recap episode just so they could get any breathing room at all *and* episode 11 was 5 hours late getting to the TV studio.

These are not good odds.
 

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I decided to watch the Dirty Pair OVA. I am liking it so far. The action is great, the animation is good, and voice acting is decent (mid 90s ADV dub quality). It's a mid 90s script of a 1987 anime. I've only watched 3 out of 10 episodes so far. I'll finish the rest after work tomorrow. Then I'll move on to the DP movies. Only two of them are good, so I can skip the first movie for the sake of time. God, I love old-school anime. The current waifus/ladies of modern anime ain't got shit on the anime gals from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Kei and Yuri are certainly no exception. This a fun buddy cop comedy show with kick-ass women who don't act like bitches, neurotic assholes, does not obsessively head over heels for a guy because he's a "bad boy/troubled loner/misunderstood"or have an it's all about me attitude. Unlike certain women in modern anime and some from the past that shall not be named.
 
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Piscian

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I decided to watch the Dirty Pair OVA. I liking it so far. The action is great, the animation is good, and voice acting is decent (mid 90s ADV dub quality). It's a mid 90s script of a 1987 anime. I've only watched 3 out of 10 episodes so far. I'll finish the rest after work tomorrow. Then I'll move on to the DP movies. Only two of them are good, so I can skip the first movie for the sake of time. God, I love old-school anime. The current waifus/ladies of modern anime ain't got shit on the anime gals from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Kei and Yuri are certainly no exception. This a fun buddy cop comedy show with kick-ass women who don't act like bitches, neurotic assholes, does not obsessively head over heels for a guy because he's a "bad boy/troubled loner/misunderstood"or have an it's all about me attitude. Unlike certain women in modern anime and some from the past that shall not be named.
Is project A-ko next?
 

meiam

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I've never seen an anime with as much riding on its ending as Wonder Egg Priority

Like, it started off riding a knife's edge between edgy social commentary and trashy exploitation and the next two episodes are going to be the difference between a 10/10 hard hitting Satoshi Kon-esc nightmare and a 4/10 garbage fire misery porn with good visuals.

It's not even supposed to have 2 more episodes, but crippling production issues forced an unplanned recap episode just so they could get any breathing room at all *and* episode 11 was 5 hours late getting to the TV studio.

These are not good odds.
Last episode killed any interest I had in the show, its firmly in the 4/10 for me. Nobody started watching this show for the backstory, why do they even waste time on it? Especially one that make everything less interesting and muddle the message.
 

TheMysteriousGX

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Last episode killed any interest I had in the show, its firmly in the 4/10 for me. Nobody started watching this show for the backstory, why do they even waste time on it? Especially one that make everything less interesting and muddle the message.
Yeah, definitely not looking good. That's why I hang out on the sidelines whenever a show like this comes up. Watching the potential car wreck instead of being in the car has saved me a *lot* of time and mental energy over the years, even if it's less exciting on the off chance it succeeds. And "using trauma to punch girl's (and one trans boy's) suicides: the anime" is potentially fascinating but probably just...yeah.

I mean, I *really* hope they pull it out: good anime is better than bad anime. Hopefully I'm just dense and haven't figured out myself how they're going to pull out of this tailspin.

Just like Comic books, more people think they can write like Satoshi Kon than can actually write like Satoshi Kon.

Ahh well, that's what fixfic is for
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
I saw that back in high school, but no. I don't find it bad, but it was just alright. It was one of those shows where I just saw it and that was it.
I remember liking A-ko, all of the movies and there are like 3 or 4 of them. What about Dominion Tank Police, or did you already see that?
 

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I remember liking A-ko, all of the movies and there are like 3 or 4 of them. What about Dominion Tank Police, or did you already see that?
I've seen Tank Police. I wish I could own it, but the DVDs are out of print, and the secondhand/used market for them is beyond expensive. I know they relicensed New Dominion Tank Police, but it has subs only. Does not contain the English dub, like the old DVD.
 

Piscian

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I remember liking A-ko, all of the movies and there are like 3 or 4 of them. What about Dominion Tank Police, or did you already see that?
Project A-Ko was one of my favorites as a kid. It was popular enough that they had T-shirts and merch at Suncoast. I actually like Dominion Tank Police more than GITS, was very sad he only did a couple books for it.
 
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Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Project A-Ko was one of my favorites as a kid. It was popular enough that they had T-shirts and merch at Suncoast. I actually like Dominion Tank Police more than GITS, was very sad he only did a couple books for it.
I have the DVD release of like 2 or 3 of the A-Ko movies and then a bootleg with an extra one on it. I really liked GITS Stand Alone Complex, but I like Tank Police more then the original GITS movie.
 

TheMysteriousGX

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DiscoTek media spent all that money and time inventing a way to almost "remaster" low resolution copies of anime specifically for Project A-Ko, then they go ahead and find a copy of the masters which was lost due to a freaking typo.

Hilarious.
 
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BrawlMan

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I finished the Dirty Pair OVA last night. That was fun, and man did I miss out these gals. I knew about them, but never really saw anything outside of official artwork. This is just a fun episodic series, with the right amount of action, comedy, and heart. Despite the fan-service, these lovely ladies are still characters. Kei and Yuri are the reason characters like Panty and Stocking exist. Exactly like how there would be no Sailor Moon without Cutey Honey. My favorite episodes are (I can't remember the titles right now) the one with the mafia wedding that Yuri goes undercover, the one with little girl cryogenically frozen for 20 years, the one with the elite soldiers, and the final episode with the space truckers. What I like about these episodes it shows the ladies more vulnerable and kind hearted moments. This series has humanity to it. It's that simple. They definitely don't make them like they used too. I'd say Kei is my favorite part of the dynamic duo, but Yuri is awesome as well.

I saw both movies too: Project Eden and Flight 005 Conspiracy. Eden is basically an awesome animated anime 80s music video. The animation is even better (had a theatrical release in wide-screen), and the action is at its best. The plot is an evil scientist is making aliens from some ancient space rocks and Kei, Yuri, and Carson B. Carson (A thief there for ulterior reasons) are trying to stop them. The last 30 minutes of the film turns in to Contra. Watch it. It also makes a good James Bond anime; especially with the intro, ending, and songs placed throughout the film.

Conspiracy is the last piece of Dirty Pair anime of the OVA and original continuity. Released in 1990, this film is darker and somber compared to most of the other works. It's about flight of space passengers that have died/missing in an "accident". 300 of them. The duo is sent to investigate. On the way as they get deeper in to the case, attacks and murder attempts try to prevent to investigate further. I don't wanna spoil the twist, as I think you should all see for yourselves. I noticed in this film, the animation got another bump, and the coloring has darker tones, as this was the beginning of 90s anime, and a trend that would sound follow for that decade. Which explains the darker tone as the film ends on a downer-bittersweet ending. The gore is even anted up more. The series would get even darker and edgier with the in-name only reboot, Flash. They take out a lot of the comedy in that one. For those asking, no, I will not be watching Flash. Sad, as that was the last piece of Dirty Pair media ever animated or put on cells.

I watched the films with the ADV dubs, but the DVDs I have, contain the Streamline dubs too. Does anyone know how good the Streamline dubs are? I heard they good or decent, and Wendee Lee voices Yuri. The ADV dub is good, and the performance is even better in the films than the OVAs. Streamline did not dub the OVAs though; only the three films.
 

Piscian

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Invincible Episodes 1-3.

*sigh* I think Invincible will be famous and infamous for how accurate an well done and adaptation it is. I loved how well done it was but man it's stomach churning. While I enjoy the gritty reality stuff that Mark Millar does, Robert Kirkmans Invincible is pretty grotesque. I think I made it through the comics largely on the fact that I could gloss over the pages of more extreme violence. The scene with the Guardians of the Globe. I just really wasn't prepared for it. I'd recommend going into this show with a strong stomach. That said..it is a near perfect adaptation. I'm sorta forced to give it an 8/10 just because it's excellent storytelling so far.
 
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bluegate

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There's a very fun adventure element to this show that you usually don't get as much in anime. Vision of Escaflowne is another good example.

Unfortunately, just like Anno/Gainax's future series (NGE) Nadia ran into some production problems. Something you'll probably notice once you get there.
As mentioned, there's an "arc" (and a regrettably rather long one) that gained a fair bit of notoriety (it starts perhaps 2/3rds of the way in, can't quite remember, but as CasualShinji said, you'll know it when you see it as it's as unsubtle as a brick to the head). Were it not for that, I would rate this series a lot higher and have more inclination to watch it again as while it's a decidedly loose adaption (well, duh, I suppose), it's a very fun ride while the fun ride sections are there.
Yeah... It's like they didn't know where to go with the story at some point.


Aside from that, it was an entertaining series. It didn't quite go the way I thought it would have after having watched the first few episodes, but fun nonetheless.
I especially liked the Grandis gang. I wonder if they had an influence on the creation of Pokemon's Team Rocket, although a weekly show of villains is a trope already well established at that point.

Also, interesting to see what Gainax took from Nadia and ported over to Evangelion. "Ancient Aliens" being the progenitors of life on earth, them making a giant being called Adam, people walking through bombasticly large environments ( NERV HQ and Red Noah )with giant machinery and limbs in the background, intense control center scenes with militaristicly sounding spoken commands and people callling in from their command stations, Electra's outfit on the New Nautilus being a body suit eerily familiar to Evangelion's Plug Suits, also Electra looking eerily like Ritsuko near the end, just in a different drawing style.

And later in one of the Rebuild movies they lifted parts of the OST.
 
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