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Anime - Magical Girl Anime Thread, hajimarimasu!


majestic

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Slayers, Hikaru No Go and Samruai Champloo being three of the early anime that I watched probably kinda ruined me for other anime, because I kept looking for anime that I would like as much. Which is very rare. Most of the time since then most anime I've tried I've only liked for the action and/or humor.  Although...that's mostly what I liked Slayers for truth be told - that old series is pretty comical. Lina Inverse and Xellos (who didn't appear until the 2nd season), however ...they're the main things.

Anyway, I became bored again and continued watching that basketball show. In the 3rd season they finally had more episodes re: chrs. backstories that get you all wrapped up for the final game showdown between certain chrs/teams. But then that final game went on and on for multiple episodes (maybe five?) which wears ya down. Then it had an epilogue episode that was all chr/bonding stuff which was good, again.  Overall it's an ok watch, for the type of genre is it, it just goes overboard with the game "suspense" and players talking to each other mid-game as if they're Bond villains. One thing I did appreciate about it - vs. Prince of Tennis, say - is that they did stay fairly focused on the main players and there wasn't tons of multiple side-story chr. hijinks/distraction. If you're going for the action and showcasing competition stressors, just stay there, imo. Also, for kids, the emphasis on the "power of teamwork" wasn't a bad message.

Oh, and did ya know? Apparently in basketball there's a Zone within The Zone, the true zone!  :shifty:

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“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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11 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I don't know for certain if the show will inherently appeal to you, which can of course ruin any show for anybody, but that's something only you can determine.

  That's something that is or was keeping me from trying. There's nothing inherently appealing for me about Edo-era Japan and hip hop culture, much less a fusion of both (and there is a very, very high chance I'll despise the music to the point where it will be a detriment to the enjoyment of the show). However, since the last anime that was universally liked like this was Sailor Moon* - and technically Steven Universe, if we want to call it anime, I guess anime inspired is better - I am quite willing to look past initial misgivings. At 26 episodes it's also not the longest series I could potentially end up not liking but watching.

I'd still like to lock up that dolt who recommended Lady Asuka to you. Seriously. Ugh. I think two years of waterboarding in Guantanamo would be fine. :p

18 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

Slayers, Hikaru No Go and Samruai Champloo being three of the early anime that I watched probably kinda ruined me for other anime, because I kept looking for anime that I would like as much.

I always have a hard time defining a starting point, since I grew up with anime on TV. The children's books adaptations that ran on TV were all fantastic, but they're not that interesting when you're an adult and looking for a bit more than they are, and even if I would try to rewatch them, I'd be incapable of separating them from my nostalgia. I'm quite certain that Dog of Flanders for instance would still hold some appeal (it was, if my memory serves, relatively critical and still relevant in showing the contrast between the rich and the poor, particularily later in the art contest), but ultimately, it has an even younger target audience than Cardcaptor Sakura.

It's something parents can watch with their children without being driven insane because they treat their audience in an age appropriate manner but without assuming they're utterly stupid, but probably not much more than that. Other anime of that time and target audience are most likely similar, e.g. Anne of Green Gables, Heidi (which @Bartimaeus watched not that long ago, at least partially) or even animes like Calimero.

If we go beyond that I "started" with Attack No. 1 and Sailor Moon (and the Robin Hood anime, but that I could not follow through, TV schedules being what they were), both of which turned out** to be watershed moments in anime history that transcended genres, created new ideas and had very lasting effects on the entire industry, and are often ranked amongst the best/most influential animes of all time - whether you loved them or hated them or didn't care at all for either sports anime or magical girls, they too were a pretty tough act to follow.

Attack No. 1 grew a bit old, or, let's say, doesn't hold up as well when viewed through modern eyes, but Sailor Moon pretty much did.

*Not entirely true because Madoka and Violet Evergarden were also pretty much universally enjoyed, but it says something, uhm, more when you an KP agree on something than it does when it's either KP and me or just me and you. :yes:

**Well, when I watched Attack No. 1 it already was a watershed moment in anime history, Sailor Moon actually really turned into one before my very eyes, so to speak.

 

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44 minutes ago, majestic said:

I'd still like to lock up that dolt who recommended Lady Asuka to you. Seriously. Ugh. I think two years of waterboarding in Guantanamo would be fine.

I just went back and checked, and it was the same guy who recommended Bloom Into You, among others. They listed it as a "classic of classics". Should've waited for me to try it first and be like "NOPE, NEXT!", :p. Utena, as frustrating as it was, was significantly more interesting and fun that that.

44 minutes ago, majestic said:

hip hop culture

There's not really much of an overt connection to "hip-hop culture" in this show...I think? At least for me, it's more of an...atmospheric thing, and kind of ties into our characters being poor and starving "low-lives" on the run - stuck in dirty, corrupt, and desperate circumstances not really of their own making. I am one of the biggest haters of hip-hop, and somehow it works and feels right to me. Really, the biggest offenders for me are the intro and outro music, though I've kind of mostly gotten used to them - all the rest of the music in the show is much more subdued and appropriate than that (well, except for the one beat-boxing toadie from a few episodes ago, but that was entirely for humorous effect and was actually pretty funny). All I can say is try it out and watch the first three episodes and if you don't like it at all by then, stop watching. ...Wait, who am I talking to again? :wowey:

44 minutes ago, majestic said:

However, since the last anime that was universally liked like this was Sailor Moon

Not entirely true because Madoka and Violet Evergarden were also pretty much universally enjoyed, but it says something, uhm, more when you an KP agree on something than it does when it's either KP and me or just me and you.

Yeah, you even got people from outside the anime thread and in the TV thread going out of their way to recommend it, in addition to both KP and I loving it. Plus, we have to see whether you hating a show I think is great triggers Third Impact or not, :yes:. Speaking of...

Samurai Champloo, episode 9:

Why did the government official eat his own snot? :huh: ...There are many other questions I could ask about this particular episode, but this seems the most pertinent. Jin Gin episodes are weird...but it's strange, this show has taken a male character type that I almost always, always despise and made it so that I do like him.

Episode 10:

These guys are literally always starving. Nothing a little hard work and nearly getting murdered won't solve...also, what're you talking about, @KP the meanie zucchini? Both of these episodes were Jin-focused... I am the big dumb, Jin is Gin and Gin is Jin.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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Lmao, correction to @KP the meanie zucchini: I have their names mixed up. Gin is who I've been calling Jin this entire time. Good lord. At least I know who Fuu is...probably. Okay, what he said makes a lot more sense now.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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3 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I just went back and checked, and it was the same guy who recommended Bloom Into You, among others. They listed it as a "classic of classics". Should've waited for me to try it first and be like "NOPE, NEXT!", :p. Utena, as frustrating as it was, was significantly more interesting and fun that that.

There's not really much of an overt connection to "hip-hop culture" in this show...I think? At least for me, it's more of an...atmospheric thing, and kind of ties into our characters being poor and starving "low-lives" on the run - stuck in dirty, corrupt, and desperate circumstances not really of their own making. I am one of the biggest hater of hip-hop, and somehow it works and feels right to me. Really, the biggest offenders for me are the intro and outro music, though I've kind of mostly gotten used to them - all the rest of the music in the show is much more subdued and appropriate than that (well, except for the one beat-boxing toadie from a few episodes ago, but that was entirely for humorous effect and was actually pretty funny). All I can say is try it out and watch the first three episodes and if you don't like it at all by then, stop watching. ...Wait, who am I talking to again? :wowey:

Yeah, you even got people from outside the anime thread and in the TV thread going out of their way to recommend it, in addition to both KP and I loving it. Plus, we have to see whether you hating a show I think is great triggers Third Impact or not, :yes:. Speaking of...

Samurai Champloo, episode 9:

Why did the government official eat his own snot? :huh: ...There are many other questions I could ask about this particular episode, but this seems the most pertinent. Jin episodes are weird...but it's strange, this show has taken a male character type that I almost always, always despise and made it so that I do like him.

Episode 10:

These guys are literally always starving. Nothing a little hard work and nearly getting murdered won't solve...also, what're you talking about, @KP the meanie zucchini? Both of these episodes were Jin-focused...

Jin is the guy with glasses. And 

He sits in Jail in 9 and just works around the temple in 10. Mugen gets most of the action and attention.

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"Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic

"you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus

"Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander

"Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador

"You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort

"thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex

"Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock

"Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco

"we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii

"I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing

"feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth

"Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi

"Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor

"I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine

"I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands

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13 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Jin is the guy with glasses. And 

 

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He sits in Jail in 9 and just works around the temple in 10. Mugen gets most of the action and attention.

 

Why was I under the impression their names were Jin and Gin? I've noticed Fuu calling him Mugen, but I figured that was just a nickname because Jin and Gin is confusing.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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So... I finished Claymore. Sort of a mixed bag of feelings about it. The story was interesting, but the characters?... just no. The only character in the series I felt any connection to and sympathy with was Theresa (of the faint smile). And she was dead after a few episodes. Too overly dramatic and ridiculously stylized. Not talking about the art style, but the character personalities. I'm fine with demons who eats entrails, I'm fine with shady organisations, I'm fine with orphans looking for something to connect to in life. But the "fighters"? Jeebus, what a bunch of failures as human beings in like 95% of the cases. Shakespeare would have pissed himself laughing if he was writing some of that dialogue while drunk 😖

Maybe something got lost in translation, but it feels like someone tried to squeeze a bunch of kids into doing the work of adults.

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“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
 

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Jojo Battle Tendency 25-26: Kars and the red stone.

Well that was one hell of a ride. Uhhhh what in the **** was going through Araki's head when he wrote this back in the 80s? This is insane, absolutely bat**** stuff that just works on so many levels.

28 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Why was I under the impression their names were Jin and Gin? I've noticed Fuu calling him Mugen, but I figured that was just a nickname because Jin and Gin is confusing.

Disabledorno.webp

I don't know, in the sub I'm watching they refer to him as Mugen so maybe your brain deleted Mu for some reason. Anyways the next episode is about the real Jin so enjoy it. Not spoilers for it ahead, but spoilers for the early episodes. No peeking @majestic!

At first I didn't like either of the male protagonists. Mugen is an **** with some of the worst shonen edgelord qualities and none of their redeeming ones. Jin on the other hand is an **** more than willing to let people die when he could easily stop it, like the worst interpretations of the Prime Directive but without the supposedly benign motivation. But past them ditching Fuu, they really came into their own and are more interesting to watch for me now.

I don't think Watanabe has made an anime I dislike yet. I've recommended Carol and Tuesday to you (two girls start a music career together on Mars), which you may like.

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"Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic

"you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus

"Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander

"Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador

"You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort

"thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex

"Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock

"Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco

"we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii

"I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing

"feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth

"Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi

"Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor

"I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine

"I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands

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44 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Carol and Tuesday

Yeah, I remember. ...But it's got a big and scary [2019] next to it! ;( ...Well, maybe once I've finished Samurai Champloo, I'll check it out to see if I don't immediately hate it, :yes:.

Mugen:

Spoiler

I went back and checked his introduction in the first episode, and it says "Mugen" multiple times. I have no explanation. As for the characters in question, yeah, I wasn't sure at first either, but their very contrary nature as well as how they kind of allow themselves to be reeled in from off the edge of their respective cases of insanity by Fuu just works for me for whatever reason. I think it may also be because they're not pretending to be anything that they're not - they're pretty lousy but entertaining antiheroes (at best), and the show isn't really trying to pretend otherwise at any point, unlike so many actual shonen shows. It also helps that they've also seemingly shown more inclination to care about each other as a group as the show has gone on, so they don't really act like just random spastic jerks as you might have expected them to from the first episode or two. A lot of bark, but not too much biting.

 

Edited by Bartimaeus
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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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10 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, I remember. ...But it's got a big and scary [2019] next to it! ;( ...Well, maybe once I've finished Samurai Champloo, I'll check it out to see if I don't immediately hate it, :yes:.

Is 2019 scarier than the 2009 of K-On!, or does that make no difference? :p

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

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1 hour ago, Gorth said:

So... I finished Claymore. Sort of a mixed bag of feelings about it. The story was interesting, but the characters?... just no. The only character in the series I felt any connection to and sympathy with was Theresa (of the faint smile). And she was dead after a few episodes. Too overly dramatic and ridiculously stylized. Not talking about the art style, but the character personalities. I'm fine with demons who eats entrails, I'm fine with shady organisations, I'm fine with orphans looking for something to connect to in life. But the "fighters"? Jeebus, what a bunch of failures as human beings in like 95% of the cases. Shakespeare would have pissed himself laughing if he was writing some of that dialogue while drunk 😖

Maybe something got lost in translation, but it feels like someone tried to squeeze a bunch of kids into doing the work of adults.

The story is not the same as in the original. The anime ended before the manga so they made up their own ending. In the manga it's kind of explained why everyone is like that.

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"because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP

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18 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

But it's got a big and scary [2019] next to it! ;(

Don't make me shove you down the well! After you've finished Samurai Champloo though.

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"Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic

"you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus

"Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander

"Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador

"You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort

"thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex

"Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock

"Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco

"we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii

"I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing

"feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth

"Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi

"Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor

"I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine

"I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands

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24 minutes ago, majestic said:

Is 2019 scarier than the 2009 of K-On!, or does that make no difference? :p

I can't come up with a concrete answer, so let's just say they're equally scary, but maybe for slightly different but difficult to pin down reasons. But at a glance, K-On looks a little more appealing.

14 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Don't make me shove you down the well! After you've finished Samurai Champloo though.

Nobody ever let me out of the well after Big Trouble in Little China - I'm still down here! :(

Edited by Bartimaeus
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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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4 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Nobody ever let me out of the well after Big Trouble in Little China - I'm still down here! :(

I'll bring you out of the well just to shove you back down then. 

 

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"Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic

"you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus

"Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander

"Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador

"You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort

"thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex

"Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock

"Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco

"we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii

"I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing

"feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth

"Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi

"Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor

"I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine

"I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands

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3 hours ago, majestic said:

and even if I would try to rewatch them, I'd be incapable of separating them from my nostalgia

I sadly have no nostalgia re: anime, unless you count US Eng. dubbed versions of Speed Racer ( a few episodes that I recall) and Transformers (a "season" or two maybe?) back in, maybe, '78-'83.  I knew of anime and some memes/tropes ofc but it wasn't until Netflix had a bunch of anime - 11-13 years ago? - that for some reason I decided to try a series or three.  So my attractions towards any anime are/were colored by the fact I didn't watch any until I was 40ish and already jaded re: media overall.

I'm also someone who generally doesn't find heavily female-dominated cast shows/films very appealing (in general not just anime) - for whatever reasons I almost never relate to such - so that tends to remove a large section of animes/shows from the equation.

I feel like I've tried a lot of anime series the past 12 years or so, from action to romance to teenager to sci-fi/fantasy or period settings (enough to recognize/know about most of the common "tropes"), but most of them I don't finish all available seasons or they were enjoyable at the time of watching but not so memorable that I remember their names.  😕

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“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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27 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Nobody ever let me out of the well after Big Trouble in Little China - I'm still down here! :(

I'm down there too for not liking From Dusk 'Til Dawn, so the company isn't half-bad, I'd say. :p

11 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

I'm also someone who generally doesn't find heavily female-dominated cast shows/films very appealing (in general not just anime) - for whatever reasons I almost never relate to such - so that tends to remove a large section of animes/shows from the equation.

It's not an issue of gender in my case, but it appears as such because what I like in characters is not very readily found in male protagonists - and also usually not in female protagonists of shounen animes. They're more often than not just the same character stereotype just with breasts and a more shapely butt for pathetic incels/outakus to be happy about when looking at them, which is why I usually - well, almost always - despise fanservice that has no point but being fanservice, in spite of being generally very relaxed about nudity or any other sort of sexual content except humor based on the concept of anything sexuality related being embarassing (mostly films that were made primarily to torture me, like American Pie or There's Something About Mary).

I also mentioned it before, I'm also a lot less picky about cast "choices" in anime than in live action films. While I loved Cardcaptor Sakura, I would certainly not watch a live action version. I don't like most stuff, actually, this thread just makes me look a lot less picky than I am (and there's the contrast to @Bartimaeus who is a good deal pickier), and... it's still more than picky enough. I think I've complained enough about the new Evangelion films and Steins;Gate. :)

38 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

I feel like I've tried a lot of anime series the past 12 years or so, from action to romance to teenager to sci-fi/fantasy or period settings (enough to recognize/know about most of the common "tropes"), but most of them I don't finish all available seasons or they were enjoyable at the time of watching but not so memorable that I remember their names.  😕

I'm in the funny position of having seen a ton of anime, but almost nothing of what an anime watcher in this day and age would consider a classic (for better or worse). That leads to really fun conversations at times, mention to someone you like anime and they often immediately presume that means DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, Pokemon or any other suchs things I never bothered with. *shrug*

42 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

I sadly have no nostalgia re: anime, unless you count US Eng. dubbed versions of Speed Racer ( a few episodes that I recall) and Transformers (a "season" or two maybe?) back in, maybe, '78-'83.  I knew of anime and some memes/tropes ofc but it wasn't until Netflix had a bunch of anime - 11-13 years ago? - that for some reason I decided to try a series or three.  So my attractions towards any anime are/were colored by the fact I didn't watch any until I was 40ish and already jaded re: media overall.

Most cartoons on TV in my childhood were animes, and most of those that weren't were at least animated in Japan, just written by European writers. There were American cartoons too - some, at least - but I almost universally hated them. At that age I had no idea what came from where, of course. :)

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's:

Ah, now isn't that interesting, everyone's befriended Hayate and they show up to give he a Christmas present. With the entire Belkan Knight gang present in her room. That'll stir up a hornet's nest or two.

Last episode had a strong hint at Tuxedo Mask really being Chrono's father, someone who was familiar with Space Cop technology and their security codes hacked into their network to cover up their activities by taking down surveillance capabilities. It's really too bad none of these characters have seen enough anime to recognize that.

The Book of the Night Sky, as the Book of Darkness was called before software corruption turned it to evil (uhm, yeah), is almost complete.

So far this season is better than the first. It's pretty good even. Still nothing that would be a must watch, but I like it, in spite of all the shortcomings.

Anyway, Suzuka and Arisa have of course no idea what Nanoha and Fate are up to when they're not at school, and are giving Hayate her presents. The scene is great, there's this agressive basic mood between the Belkan Knights and Nanoha and Fate, the background music is brooding and moody while Arisa, Suzuka and Hayata talking all happily about their presents. Vita looks like she's going to strangle Nanoha.

edit:

Umh, two Tuxedo Masks show up, bind everyone and proceed to absorb the Linker Cores of the Belkan Knights. Odd, I thought that would not work like that. Also, two? Eh, well... that's a little harder to reconcile with the idea that he's Chrono's father.

edit 2:

Oh, it's not absorbing their Linker Cores, it's absorbing them entirely. Woops. Bye guys, I doubt Hayate will be every happy with this turn of event.

edit 3:

Ah, so Tuxedo Mask can fake appearances. Perhaps he's Chrono's father after all, assuming he got absorbed into the book at some point. Hmm...

Edited by majestic
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37 minutes ago, majestic said:

It's not an issue of gender in my case, but it appears as such because what I like in characters is not very readily found in male protagonists

I should clarify it's not specifically "female" but more the way writers write "female."  Especially ensemble female. 
Character traits for ensembles tend to have similar patterns regardless of gender - there's the comic relief/maybe a little stupid one, the strong silent one, the "average/normal" one, the heart of gold one, the "fanservice so at the least we can make fanservice jokes" one, etc.  Doesn't matter if they're male or female, those tropes will still be there.

But I mean more ... writers go "we're trying to specifically appeal to a female audience with this show/film, what conflicts/drama/plots and concerns will do that."  And apparently most of the time, what most writers (yes even female writers) think will appeal to female audiences, is not what appeals to me. I don't care at all about the characters "concerns" and get bored.  No different than me getting bored whenever the drawn out "parents-in-law" subplots come on in some c or k drama drama and I FFWD through those segments. Just total disinterest.

I do like equal gender mixing, where the interaction/relationship conflicts between differing male and female perspective (no it doesn't have to be romantic) can be interesting/amusing etc. if done well. And of course there are individual female chrs. I've liked a lot. It's just not all that common for me and I sorta gave up trying/avoid most "aimed more towards female audience" stuff.

“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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55 minutes ago, majestic said:

While I loved Cardcaptor Sakura, I would certainly not watch a live action version.

Live action vs. animation is just too different of a medium. It's not completely impossible that it could work, but they'd have to change a lot as well as do everything just right, and...yeah, it'd be an impossible task, it always is, that's why everything that's remade is almost always, always terrible. Heck, most of the things remade in the same medium are terrible, never mind crossing mediums, never mind whoever's doing it deciding to change style or direction and all that rot...

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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...

...

Didn't Cardcaptor Sakura already cross mediums (manga came out in 1996, first anime in 1998)?

Don't get me wrong, a lot of adaptions are crappy, but I don't think it has to do with crossing mediums, per se.

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10 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Live action vs. animation is just too different of a medium.

I think it's more to do with material and whatever fantasy elements there may be. Some thing just work better with the wilder artistic freedom of animation vs. what live actors/cinematography could do.

Like, I could easily picture Grave of the Fireflies being a live-actor film. Would it feel different? Sure, but I could see it still working. Maybe even Sword of the Stranger, since it's closer to straight up fantasy-action/drama.  But Howl's Moving Castle? No.  At least, I can't picture myself liking any live-action attempt at a film like that.

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“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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28 minutes ago, Amentep said:

...

...

Didn't Cardcaptor Sakura already cross mediums (manga came out in 1996, first anime in 1998)?

Don't get me wrong, a lot of adaptions are crappy, but I don't think it has to do with crossing mediums, per se.

Man, I'm tempted to say that I think comics/manga are closer, as a medium, to animation than live action television is, but I guess that's a pretty difficult determination to make, even for just my own personal opinion...but regardless, you're right - so what're the chances that a one out of a million chance will happen again? :shifty: This reminds me that I need to check out the Sakura manga at some point.

20 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

I think it's more to do with material and whatever fantasy elements there may be. Some thing just work better with the wilder artistic freedom of animation vs. what live actors/cinematography could do.

Like, I could easily picture Grave of the Fireflies being a live-actor film. Would it feel different? Sure, but I could see it still working. Maybe even Sword of the Stranger, since it's closer to straight up fantasy-action/drama.  But Howl's Moving Castle? No.  At least, I can't picture myself liking any live-action attempt at a film like that.

That's a fair point...to a degree. I mean, I'm a person that is just naturally, inherently drawn more to animation as a whole than to live action, so you're kind of barking up the wrong tree with that line of thinking for specifically me, but what you're saying is sensible.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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^ I think the main appeal of animation to me (outside of visual/imagination things you can't do w/live action) is that you do not really encounter the "Al Pacino is always Al Pacino in every movie" syndrome.  Even those actors that are not quite as extreme cases as that become overly familiar in their common style/mannerisms after a long while.

Sure anime faces are often similar in basic shape or form but there is no live-actor association for you to get bored, annoyed, or expectant from. Thus they feel like fresh characters, not a famous face.

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“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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21 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

^ I think the main appeal of animation to me (outside of visual/imagination things you can't do w/live action) is that you do not really encounter the "Al Pacino is always Al Pacino in every movie" syndrome.  Even those actors that are not quite as extreme cases as that become overly familiar in their common style/mannerisms after a long while.

Sure anime faces are often similar in basic shape or form but there is no live-actor association for you to get bored, annoyed, or expectant from. Thus they feel like fresh characters, not a famous face.

For sure. I always love it when I watch a great new movie with nobody I recognize - they are forever their characters for me, that's how I remember them. Furthermore, I am oddly way more attached to specific voice actors than I am to actors - it is so incredibly rare that I would ever go "yay" at the thought of a specific actor being in something, whereas literally just that happens all the time in animation with voice actors. While I am ludicrously picky about art and animation styles, the entire medium is just much more my thing than live action for a lot of reasons, so live action remakes will always be...a very difficult translation for me.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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32 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

^ I think the main appeal of animation to me (outside of visual/imagination things you can't do w/live action) is that you do not really encounter the "Al Pacino is always Al Pacino in every movie" syndrome.  Even those actors that are not quite as extreme cases as that become overly familiar in their common style/mannerisms after a long while.

Sure anime faces are often similar in basic shape or form but there is no live-actor association for you to get bored, annoyed, or expectant from. Thus they feel like fresh characters, not a famous face.

We can say the same, or similar I guess, about voice actors though. For instance Takehito Koyasu has voiced a ton of characters, from Touga to Claudia Hodgins to the monkey titan, but every time I hear him in any anime my first thought is DIO and I expect him to start screaming MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA.

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