Anime - Kono Dio Da!

[Amentep]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I tried watching the movie for this probably like 5-6 months ago, and I made it about ten minutes in before I was like "I guess you had to be there when it came out, or maybe watched the original show, or something, because this ain't working".

Yeah, I recall that. I saw the movie years ago...also have a high tolerance for trippy scifi...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 minutes ago, Amentep said:

Yeah, I recall that. I saw the movie years ago...also have a high tolerance for trippy scifi...

I do have a very high tolerance for trippy sci-fi, should I check it out?

[Amentep]

8 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

I do have a very high tolerance for trippy sci-fi, should I check it out?

I liked it, personally. I have a copy so will probably rewatch after the tv series.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, Amentep said:

I liked it, personally. I have a copy so will probably rewatch after the tv series.

I found it online, I'll give a few episodes a shot. 

[majestic]

17 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm trying to think of what I've actually made a prediction about (something where I've actually said "from what I can tell, I think this is going to be (x) for me/you") and been wrong about. I don't always have predictions, because sometimes I don't have a strong enough of a feeling to say confidently right off the bat before even trying the show out (e.g. Steins;gate, Princess Tutu, Utena), but other times I do (e.g. Clannad, Magic User's Club, Violet Evergarden, K-On, etc.), and I'm not sure I've actually made a wrong prediction thus far.

You're about to run into one of my least endearing qualities (when used in this context) and I apologize in advance for bringing this up, but I just can't stop myself...

Spoiler

 

Quote

I, uh, don't think I can ever get into Cardcaptor. There's a certain level of uncomfortableness I can cross into in the hopes of finding something I'll like...but I think Cardcaptor Sakura is sadly quite a bit beyond that, .

Hey, I wish I could just quote this and have the quote link to the post, but I haven't found a way to do that yet without BBcode. Bad software is bad, huh?

Anyway, that was made under different circumstances, so I'm not sure that counts, but let it never be said that can't drag something up I read in passing six months ago. Actually that ability goes way further back than six months.

Damn, that sort of makes me look like a creepy stalker that keeps notes, but really, I don't. My brain is just not really able to reject information it doesn't want and once in there it sticks around... for a long, long, very long while.

17 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Maybe the closest was Blood-C...but even then, I wasn't exactly totally wrong with that, right? We saw the trailer and that looked gosh-awful, and I took a quick look at some screenshots and said "I don't think that trailer's really representative, though - I think it'll be less dramatic action-y and more silly character-y than that trailer would have you think"...which was true, at least early on. Didn't end that way, but you could see why I made that prediction, . So that's probably the closest that I can think of to being wrong with an actual prediction.

Blood-C was pretty entertaining until it stopped and became a mess of plot holes and weirdness, so I'd not consider it a wrong prediction, no. I didn't hate watching Blood-C, and I really liked the first four or five episodes of it, but then it started to come apart a bit, until it went way overboard in the final two episodes and lost all coherence.

 

@Gorth and @Amentep is there a particular reason you don't have any streaming service subscription?

Edited October 20, 2021 by majestic

[Amentep]

2 minutes ago, majestic said:

@Gorth and @Amentep is there a particular reason you don't have any streaming service subscription?

Adamant refusal to conform with societal norms.

There's a number of reasons why; it may change as streamers become more attractive, but right now they haven't tipped into the 'gotta spend money on' category.

[Bartimaeus]

@majestic
Sakura was also a unique circumstance, because it's literally the show that made it so I could listen to Japanese voice-acting at all, . But yes, you are correct...mostly. Only mostly because I hadn't actually properly looked into it and was just going off of the few videos (including of the really bad English dub) and gifs/images you posted - when I was greeted with this on Netflix, I instantly changed my mind and knew I had to at least try it:

Spoiler

It's weird how seeing a frame like this can be an instant "yep, I gotta try that", but that's the way I go, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

11 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

it's literally the show that made it so I could listen to Japanese voice-acting at all,

MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA

[Sarex]

I see that Blue Period anime is out and on Netflix. The manga is pretty good, it even won some awards. The story is about a kid wanting to become a painter and get in to a prestigious art school.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Sarex

[majestic]

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Sakura was also a unique circumstance, because it's literally the show that made it so I could listen to Japanese voice-acting at all, . But yes, you are correct...mostly. Only mostly because I hadn't actually properly looked into it and was just going off of the few videos (including of the really bad English dub) and gifs/images you posted - when I was greeted with this on Netflix, I instantly changed my mind and knew I had to at least try it:

I posted the video of Tomoyo's bodyguard entourage driving her costume van around, with that terrible, terrible dub that makes Sailor Moon's original dub sound great.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

It's weird how seeing a frame like this can be an instant "yep, I gotta try that", but that's the way I go, .

I started watching certain series or films for similar, seemingly silly reasons. Maybe not for single frames, but I get the general idea.

[majestic]

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Episode 5.

Actually, I did not intend to make a post for every episode, and just wanted to catch two or maybe three before going to bed. Alas, when the episode begins with Nanoha, her family and her friends going on vacation to some hot springs, I can't help but post. This begins like a combination between Cardcaptor Sakura's family holiday episode and Usagi's hot spring outing with her family.

Well, there's only so much you can do with vacation stories, and otherwise there were 70 Cardcaptor Sakura episode, and 200 Sailor Moon episodes, but when a show borrows so liberally from what came before in style, then I can't help but mention it.

At least Nanoha isn't going to fight with her brother in the back of the car. She only has an older brother and he's in the second car.

I also doubt this will end with Nanoha summining a rainbow for a kindly old man she meets.

edit:

Yikes, that turned into a random collection of ecchi scenes really quickly. Not entirely unexpected, what else did they drag every last girl on the show to the hot springs for than to show them changing, but still, after four episodes of mostly harmless magical girling, that's really... like, yikes. Honestly. Yikes. That's... about as graphic as you can get with barbie doll anatomy.

Here's some proof. Don't worry, link is NOT embedded. Also not safe for work, and probably not safe to be seen looking at with literally ANYONE else present. Really.

Spoiler

Nope

Pity, I was close to recommending it... but uhm. Yeah. Woops.

[Bartimaeus]

...So the complete opposite of Cardcaptor Sakura, then. In that case, abort, abort - go back to stealing from CCS and SM!

[majestic]

2 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

...So the complete opposite of Cardcaptor Sakura, then. In that case, abort, abort - go back to stealing from CCS and SM!

I just added a picture as proof. Delete it from your brain afterwards. The blonde girl is Nanoha's friend from school. There's also a boob grab, but I'm not uploading THAT. Nude boob grab, I need to add. Not Love Live! groping.

Edited October 20, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, nah, I'm just gonna take your word for it. I think that's the strongest warning for something you've given, and I've already refused to click other things that didn't get that much, so it must be pretty freaking bad. And it appears my recommendation has been a FAILURE. Thanks for nothing, Nanoha.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

47 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, nah, I'm just gonna take your word for it. I think that's the strongest warning for something you've given, and I've already refused to click other things that didn't get that much, so it must be pretty freaking bad.

Ah, I see, so you haven't looked at Nanoha's transformation yet. See, silly me, I thought that transformation was as far as the show would go. @Amentep please don't ban me, just delete the link if you deem it too much (there's a fair warning attached, I think).

It's the contrast that makes this even crasser than it really is. I mean, like I mentioned once or twice (or a hundred times before) I read Sexy Losers when it still came out regularily, and that was frequently really bad, often downright pornographic, but always really funny on top of being really offensive - and currently has 288 strips. See, that reminds me, @Gorth you said you like your humor dark and offensive, if you don't mind dark, offensive and blatantly sexual, then check out Sexy Losers. Just google it, not risking a real ban here by linking.

I'm not bothered by content like that unless it is really just meant as masturbatory fantasy for otakus (or rather, more generally, any part of nerddom, i.e. exactly the people I wish wouldn't be associated with a group I otherwise feel a strong personal connection to) hiding in an otherwise normal and - while derivative - fun show. 10 minutes ago, if someone would have asked, I'd almost recommend Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, with the caveat that it's probably more worthwhile to spend time on Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura instead of a lesser knockoff.

Framing matters. The content of Devilman Crybaby didn't bother me at all, and you've watched that too and know how graphic that got. Devilman Crybaby also wasn't about a magical nine year old. I just need to reiterate that. Nanoha is a third grader in elementary school. 

Description of the image, also spoilered, for anyone who doesn't want to click on the link:

Spoiler

Has the very nude older sister of Nanoha pull down the panties of the otherwise also very nude nine year old friend of Nanoha's. It retaliation for said friend's random boob grab attack from a scene before. Also random other stills of naked girls in the changing room. Yes, that's totally normal behaviour for any nine year old girl. Sure. Yes.

What the hell, Japan?

The only saving grace is that Yuuno wants out and is highly embarrassed by everything. If Pedosus were here, he'd have a field day.

  

47 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

And it appears my recommendation has been a FAILURE. Thanks for nothing, Nanoha.

I wouldn't go that far, and I googled around a bit, that scene isn't in any of the search results unless you dig really, really deep and deal with a whole lot of actual Nanoha porn (no, don't ask) while trying to find it. There's no way you could have noticed that without anyone posting about it online. Which I also didn't check.

Anyway, the rest of the anime isn't bad by any means, really. Like I said, I was close to say "Check this out when you have time to kill, it's nice enough, all things considered." until a couple of minutes ago. Guess I always knew that a show like that wouldn't be seinen if it wasn't up to something, but I was hoping for some hardcore violence. Not that... am I glad my wife doesn't watch anime with me, at all. That would have taken some doing to explain.

Not the nudity per se, but the nine year olds, given her personal... history. Yeah.

edit:

This is so schizophrenic. The scene seamlessly switches to Nanoha's parents taking a walk near a nice looking pond, sharing a tender moment of togetherness, peace and quiet that could come straight from a Cardcaptor Sakura flashback.

Edited October 20, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

Well, that episode is over, and it contained all the fanservice the other four didn't and then some. The cat/fox girl is actually a wolf girl and Fate's (the antagonist that showed up last episode) familiar. She also gets copious amounts of fanservice for all teh furries... or, whoever else might be into girls with wolf ears. She went to bathe too, her boobs jiggled a bit, her wolf ears rose and she said: Woops they came out.

Wow. This... has like five movies and as many spinoff series. At this point I can only hope that it'll get a little tamer in time, and this was a one time accident someone got fired for. Or perhaps jailed. Ideally both.

Hm. So, today, I managed to watch one episode, complain about it copiously, I've also watched the first 5 minutes of episode 15 of Steins;Gate (guess I should have finished that episode and gone to bed), and I watched the first 20 minutes of the Violet Evergarden movie now that I can watch it with decent sound.

Time to sleep. On the bright side, I guess I won't be complaining about Love Live! Sunshine!! as much as I would have once I get to that.

Edited October 20, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

wolf girl

What a terrible day for anime. Probably would've been better off being bored to death with Lady Asuka.

50 minutes ago, majestic said:

The content of Devilman Crybaby didn't bother me at all, and you've watched that too and know how graphic that got.

Uh...kind of. Let me...oh, yes, I suppose you're right. I was having trouble remembering for a bit, probably because I watched most of the show between 2x and 3x speed and so I couldn't really afford to pay much attention to anything besides the dialogue. Yes, framing does indeed matter, as I have faithfully intoned many times in this very thread...and while the framing of Devilman Crybaby may have mostly justified itself, Nanoha sounds like it couldn't possibly ever do so in a million years, especially given you've already mentioned the transformation scenes as being...sketchy at best. I'm not ever going to enjoy an anime released after 2000, am I?

...Episode 1 of Samurai Champloo (2004):

Spoiler

Alright, so the story, from what I remember from watching the first episode a few months ago, is...

1. Protagonist is a strong-willed and very opinionated (but seemingly chipper and nice enough) girl...named...Fuu? Maybe? The time period is...I'm not really sure, it seemed like maybe late 19th century - it was hard to tell for sure, especially with only one episode, but it definitely didn't seem anything close to contemporary.
2. Lives in a poor and very corrupt town as a waitress, doesn't seem to have family or friends here, but appeared to be pretty friendly with the owners of the business she worked at.
3. She nearly gets murdered after spilling a drink on the local governor's son.
4. Some dude randomly starts butchering the local guard and working his way towards the governor himself, but the governor successfully bribes him not to kill him and he goes on his way. He's a calm and cool kind of killer.
5. Another dude randomly intervenes to save Fuu, but not really for the purpose of saving her - in contrast to the first guy, he's a complete wild card. In the middle of this altercation, the first guy and the second guy encounter each other and the whole place goes down in flames and they're captured and sentenced to be killed.
6. Fuu "saves" them from their execution (but not really, they actually more saved themselves and kind of just go along with her), and in return, they have to help her...I forgot exactly what it is they're supposed to help her do. Finding something or something in some far-off adventure, basically. The episode ended with them seemingly being run out of town.

Overall, I didn't love it, but I thought it was pretty decently entertaining without anything terribly wrong with it (besides the lousy Japanese hip-hop music that Sarex apparently loves...but while I do hate hip-hop, at least I'm not disgusted by it like I am with despicable embarrassing modern j-pop a la what you see in Sailor Moon Crystal or Love Live, so there is that at least) and planned on watching at least a couple more. It's fast and action-y, but...not over-dramatic - the tone and style felt better than pretty much anything else I've ever tried that isn't pre-2000, so there is that.

Episode 2:

Spoiler

Oh, right, the quest is to...find the samurai that smells of sunflowers. I...don't remember how this came about, actually - who the heck is the samurai that smells of sunflowers?

Our characters are dirt-poor and starving, so they have to accept a side-quest from a local town they're wandering through to slay an ogre terrorizing them just so they can eat and find somewhere to sleep. Fuu is captured by the "ogre", who was hired by an unfortunately familiar face to set up a trap and exact revenge upon their group...but he's not really an ogre - he's basically Sloth from The Goonies. Fuu shows him a little kindness that apparently literally nobody ever else has and he ends up betraying his client for her sake, snapping his neck...right before one of the boys runs him through for his trouble. Brutal. In this particular case, the sombre, vocal-less hip-hop music actually helps accentuate his tragedy.

 

[Bartimaeus]

Completely unrelated to the anime thread: Why does Chrome have such gosh-awful image-scaling?

The image:

Downscaled on Firefox:

Downscaled on Chrome:

What the hell, Chrome?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

22 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm not ever going to enjoy an anime released after 2000, am I?

Well maybe....

[Gorth]

8 hours ago, majestic said:

 

@Gorth and @Amentep is there a particular reason you don't have any streaming service subscription?

In part what Amentep said, but mostly because I rarely enjoy "passive" entertainment. I like video games because I can participate actively in the entertainment and otherwise prefer watching cinema, concerts, theater, musicals etc. Sitting still and watching a screen for hours without interacting with it just doesn't sit well with me. For several years, I didn't have a TV either. If I *really* wanted to watch something, I would buy the DVD(s) and view it on my PC (that's how I binge watched all seasons of Game of Thrones, never saw an episode on TV). It's a bit about control maybe? I don't want to feel "compelled" to watch a channel because I'm paying a monthly subscription fee...

 

Edit: I'll check out 'Sexy Losers'. I had a look at Crunchyroll, but the only show I could find of the ones I were looking for was Attack on Titan. I might still give that one a go.

[InsaneCommander]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

The cat/fox girl is actually a wolf girl

For years I thought Spice and Wolf was a "the anime with a fox girl". Then I watched it and found out she is a wolf.

[majestic]

Heh. Either Gorth or Amentep really removed the link to the image. So guys, let that tell you how bad that got then. Just in case you didn't catch it before it went buh byesies.

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

What a terrible day for anime. Probably would've been better off being bored to death with Lady Asuka.

The Wolf Girl (her name is Alph, or ARUFU in Romaji ) I was prepared for, and it was the least offensive means of fanservice in the episode. She shows up in the intro for a brief moment with a crop top and hot pants. *shrug*

However... I'd honestly rather continue Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha than go back to Lady Asuka. While that episode really threw me off and it's actually really offensive considering the characters, the anime outside of the fanservice is quite decent. Lady Asuka on the other hand is death by boredom. That's what makes this even more jarring. Love Live! was pretty bad right from the start, and when they made Nozomi assault every character on the show by rubbing their breasts that was "eh, okay, I hate this for making light of sexual assault, but seinen's gonna seinen..." but this is really a new dimension.

That's what I get for trying anime based on a short story spin-off of an eroge visual novel. I played exactly one of these, Kana Imouto (Little sister Kana), which has a similar problem as Nanoha. It's really a nice, if sad, story about a girl with chronic renal failure, until it stops being that and goes full otaku nutjob.

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yes, framing does indeed matter, as I have faithfully intoned many times in this very thread...and while the framing of Devilman Crybaby may have mostly justified itself, Nanoha sounds like it couldn't possibly ever do so in a million years, especially given you've already mentioned the transformation scenes as being...sketchy at best.

Yes, indeed. If Love Live! had a scene like that it would still be awkward and weird, but they're at least all old enough to not dip way too far into Pedosus territory. Funny how quickly one can start to aprpeciate the restraint shown by Love Live!. Like, really, I'm not expecting any seinen anime to pass up a chance at a bathhouse/beach scene for some fanservice, but please, for the love of god, leave the elementary school kids out of it. 

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm not ever going to enjoy an anime released after 2000, am I?

Your evil alter ego might enjoy K-On!'s second season, unless he already tried that and found it wanting without letting us know. Otherwise... it doesn't really look good, no.

Samurai Champloo talk:

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

(besides the lousy Japanese hip-hop music that Sarex apparently loves...but while I do hate hip-hop, at least I'm not disgusted by it like I am with despicable embarrassing modern j-pop a la what you see in Sailor Moon Crystal or Love Live, so there is that at least)

 

 

Spoiler

That's Lexx, not Sarex (working from home today, I'm hideously tired and people keep bothering me with their nonsense, so I'm feeling really nitpicky ), but... I'd rather listen to Love Live!'s music than the soundtrack of Samurai Champloo, that was seriously off-putting.

I don't think I'll try that show. At least... not for a long while.

 

5 hours ago, Gorth said:

In part what Amentep said, but mostly because I rarely enjoy "passive" entertainment. I like video games because I can participate actively in the entertainment and otherwise prefer watching cinema, concerts, theater, musicals etc. Sitting still and watching a screen for hours without interacting with it just doesn't sit well with me. For several years, I didn't have a TV either. If I *really* wanted to watch something, I would buy the DVD(s) and view it on my PC (that's how I binge watched all seasons of Game of Thrones, never saw an episode on TV). It's a bit about control maybe? I don't want to feel "compelled" to watch a channel because I'm paying a monthly subscription fee...

It's a matter of convenience and cost reduction, so for me that was a no-brainer. I all but stopped buying Blu Rays. The best value is Amazon Prime Video, because I have Prime anyway for the free shipping. I don't need the free shipping, but I added my parent's account to the family sharing option and that saves more money than it costs. A lot more. Quality wise it's not nearly as good in terms of image and sound fidelity, but hey, you get what you pay for, in the end.

Just as long as I watch a movie per month, it's money well spent, and I do watch a lot more. I get the least value out of Kindle Unlimited, so I'm really toying with the idea of just cancelling that subscription.

5 hours ago, Gorth said:

Edit: I'll check out 'Sexy Losers'.

Let me know what you think. If the first few strips aren't to your liking, at least work your way up to Shinji and the Suicide Girl. That one is REALLY offensive and twisted.

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by majestic

[Gorth]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Let me know what you think. If the first few strips aren't to your liking, at least work your way up to Shinji and the Suicide Girl. That one is REALLY offensive and twisted.

They're fine. I can laugh at them

 

I know this isn't the comics thread, but if you like this kind of humour, I wonder if you've ever read Vaughn Bodē? The Lizard of Oz, Lizard Zen or anything else lizard related. Slightly less explicit than the above and definitely more psychedelic (not sure how else to describe a colourful comic featuring nude women and lizards ending up in amusing situations)

[Sarex]

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

besides the lousy Japanese hip-hop music that Sarex apparently loves...but while I do hate hip-hop, at least I'm not disgusted by it like I am with despicable embarrassing modern j-pop a la what you see in Sailor Moon Crystal or Love Live, so there is that at least

 

Are you telling me you don't like this masterpiece.

 

Am aware this is K-pop, J-pop is wannabe k-pop.

[majestic]

It was weird watching the next episode of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha after last night's fiasco of an episode, but except for the presence of Aleph who bought herself a whole lot of dog food to w... wo... sorry, I have to, to wolf down, there wasn't much fanservicing. Except the transformation.

The girls are having a fight at school because Nanoha is often lost in thought and troubled by something, and her friends are worried but can't get Nanoha to talk about anything. While Suzuka and Arisa are talking about how they met and only became friends through Nanoha, Nanoha is off wandering through the city to clear her head, before running into Fate to again fight over a Jewel Seed. Things to really wrong this time. Cue cliffhanger, end of episode.

The series still moves within the traditional parameters of a Magical Girl series when it doesn't have an episode trying to be a friday late night softcore erotic film (or a ridiculous slightly more animated eroge visual novel). Nanoha is trying to talk to Fate and almost got through to her.

This... was probably the best episode yet. It was legitimately good, except I feel bad for liking it now. Overall, and it seems ridiculous to complain about it in light of the other issues, it relies a bit too much on talking exposition, perhaps.

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

I know this isn't the comics thread, but if you like this kind of humour, I wonder if you've ever read Vaughn Bodē? The Lizard of Oz, Lizard Zen or anything else lizard related. Slightly less explicit than the above and definitely more psychedelic (not sure how else to describe a colourful comic featuring nude women and lizards ending up in amusing situations)

No, I haven't read much of anything in terms of comics (web or otherwise) outside of Clay's depraved work. The Noob Comic and Order of the Stick are the only others, with the occasional xkcd strip in between. I might check it out though, so thanks.

Edited October 21, 2021 by majestic