Anime - Magical Girl Anime Thread, hajimarimasu!

[Amentep]

Just now, Bartimaeus said:

...then Harlock...

...then Crusher Joe...

Here we see the three necessary stages of turning from ridiculous monster to upstanding young man, .

Lol, you have a point.

1 minute ago, Bartimaeus said:

Although Space Adventure Cobra wouldn't necessarily be my ideal representative for ye olde anime art, it just means you have good sense and taste, .

Hahah, well it definitely reminds me of some other 70s-early to mid 80s anime's I've seen (Gatchaman, Yamato, Getter Robo, Mazinger Z, Fist of the North Star, Tekkaman the Space Knight) in production value.  Style is different, Terasawa's character design being both in keeping with the period but a bit chunky as well and the use of sort of the trippy colors is a bit different.

[majestic]

22 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

The more pertinent question is how far are you planning to go, methinks, .

Shifty looks and a rhetorical question? Tsk.

I already know the other seasons will at least look terrible, but that I can live with assuming they're at least as "good" (that's relative) as the first two.

18 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

This show sounds like an adaptation of a jrpg that got canceled. Which reminds me I was hankering to play one after all the talk about deicide. I think I'll look for Ogre Battle.

Pretty much, yeah, although StrikerS has more sci-fi elements than your typical JRPG, at least so far. JRPGs if they show high tech is usually more like steampunk magic high tech. This is... actually just really high tech stuff.

18 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Pegasus and Daru are disappointed.

Daru would love the bathhouse scene.

Edited November 8, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 minutes ago, majestic said:

Daru would love the bathhouse scene.

(Il)legal loli for the win!

....

....

....

Yes, "Legal loli for the win" is something he says in Steins;Gate 0. Multiple times. Yare yare daze.

[Bartimaeus]

17 minutes ago, majestic said:

Shifty looks and a rhetorical question? Tsk.

Rhetorical questions are a lot easier than...well, that show has gone on for way too long to be able to make any kind of real sense of what's happening no matter how detailed you get with your descriptions, .

[majestic]

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Rhetorical questions are a lot easier than...well, that show has gone on for way too long to be able to make any kind of real sense of what's happening no matter how detailed you get with your descriptions, .

Yeah, plus there's a lot going on that I'm always leaving out because otherwise I'd have to spend two hours recounting every episode. I'm going to reduce that some further. I'm hoping - probably against all reason - that the extra episodes in StrikerS will slow down the pace of the show, not just double up the action stuff.

46 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Yes, "Legal loli for the win" is something he says in Steins;Gate 0. Multiple times. Yare yare daze.

I'm going to regret asking, is he talking about legal age characters that look like minors, or something else?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

I'm going to regret asking, is he talking about legal age characters that look like minors, or something else?

Yes, Steins;Gate 0 introduces a character who is 20-something but looks like a child. Daru, being Daru, obviously thinks of loli.

The sad thing is, there is actually a good Daru moment where he breaks down crying because he thinks his future wife hates him. The show would be much better if the cast stopped acting like perverts or memes and acted like they have PTSD from time travel.

[majestic]

1 minute ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Exactly why the movie is so much better once the moron introduction is over.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

6 minutes ago, majestic said:

Exactly why the movie is so much better once the moron introduction is over.

It's harder for me to watch anime movies than episodes, even if I spend the same amount of time watching them. Plus I'd have to pay 4 bucks for the movie. And before that though I need to watch the Violet Evergarden long ova and movie.

[majestic]

16 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

It's harder for me to watch anime movies than episodes, even if I spend the same amount of time watching them. Plus I'd have to pay 4 bucks for the movie. And before that though I need to watch the Violet Evergarden long ova and movie.

 

Funny that there are moments when Netflix has films here that you don't. Licencing really is a mess.

edit:

If you're pressed for time, then the Violet Evergarden OVA "film" (which is more like two interconnected 45 minute episodes) is... let's say skippable. It's nice, but if you don't see it then you won't really miss much. Except an explanation how poser dude Bendict gets his bitching golden motorcycle that he suddenly rocks in the movie.

Edited November 8, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

29 minutes ago, majestic said:

Funny that there are moments when Netflix has films here that you don't. Licencing really is a mess.

Yup. On the brightside, no nuTrek for me. If nuTrek was real and not a collective nightmare spurred on by Red Letter Media.

29 minutes ago, majestic said:

If you're pressed for time, then the Violet Evergarden OVA "film" (which is more like two interconnected 45 minute episodes) is... let's say skippable. It's nice, but if you don't see it then you won't really miss much. Except an explanation how poser dude Bendict gets his bitching golden motorcycle that he suddenly rocks in the movie.

Well if you of all people are recommending a skip that is a bad sign.

But it's not a time issue as much as a psychological one, like I can sink hours a week into watching stuff but a hour+ long run time tends to put me off more than episodes.

[majestic]

26 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Well if you of all people are recommending a skip that is a bad sign.

No, it's... it's not bad, but unlike the other OVA, I don't think it adds anything to Violet's journey. If you're already struggling with the time commitment, then by all means postpone the 90 minute OVA in favor of the better new movie.

26 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

But it's not a time issue as much as a psychological one, like I can sink hours a week into watching stuff but a hour+ long run time tends to put me off more than episodes.

Yeah, I get that. I watched two full seasons of Nanoha in the same timespan as three episodes of JoJo's, and JoJo's is definitely the more entertaining show. I just can't watch more than a couple of episodes a week for some reason.

It's the same with Way of the Househusband. It's hilarious, the episodes are short, but I'm still not done in spite of really enjoying it.

  

26 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Yup. On the brightside, no nuTrek for me. If nuTrek was real and not a collective nightmare spurred on by Red Letter Media.

It's not like you'd have any compulsion to finish watching the train wreck. But you could still get Picard, that should be on Amazon Prime for you too, being paid by Amazon. Right?

Edited November 8, 2021 by majestic

[Gorth]

2 hours ago, Amentep said:

Lol, you have a point.

Hahah, well it definitely reminds me of some other 70s-early to mid 80s anime's I've seen (Gatchaman, Yamato, Getter Robo, Mazinger Z, Fist of the North Star, Tekkaman the Space Knight) in production value.  Style is different, Terasawa's character design being both in keeping with the period but a bit chunky as well and the use of sort of the trippy colors is a bit different.

Speaking of old stuff, I remember as a kid/young man watching a cartoon on German public tv. This was before satellite was a thing. I *think* it was called Macross. This was many decades ago and I remember very little of it. Something Sci-fi like with a giant spaceship

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

27 minutes ago, majestic said:

No, it's... it's not bad, but unlike the other OVA, I don't think it adds anything to Violet's journey. If you're already struggling with the time commitment, then by all means postpone the 90 minute OVA in favor of the better new movie.

That was a joke.

27 minutes ago, majestic said:

Yeah, I get that. I watched two full seasons of Nanoha in the same timespan as three episodes of JoJo's, and JoJo's is definitely the more entertaining show. I just can't watch more than a couple of episodes a week for some reason.

It's the same with Way of the Househusband. It's hilarious, the episodes are short, but I'm still not done in spite of really enjoying it.

On one hand I can relate, Samurai Champloo is very good but I don't think I've ever watched more than two episodes at a time. On the other hand.....you can watch underage girls join the techno magic army but can't take too much STANDO POWAH?

27 minutes ago, majestic said:

It's not like you'd have any compulsion to finish watching the train wreck. But you could still get Picard, that should be on Amazon Prime for you too, being paid by Amazon. Right?

No, I think Picard and Discovery are both on CBS+ or something. I don't know, I've got access to Amazon,  HBO MAX, Hulu, and Netflix. 

[majestic]

19 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

That was a joke.

Woops.

19 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

On one hand I can relate, Samurai Champloo is very good but I don't think I've ever watched more than two episodes at a time. On the other hand.....you can watch underage girls join the techno magic army but can't take too much STANDO POWAH?

Seeing how the same happens with Way of the Househusband, I'm assuming that is related to the animation style. Not sure, might be something else. It also wasn't just STANDO POWAH, it's not like I was any quicker with Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency.

It's a pity @InsaneCommander is so busy, I think he'd be the most likely candidate to enjoy Nanoha too, based on some of the other stuff he's watched and liked. Minus that loli-scene.

19 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

No, I think Picard and Discovery are both on CBS+ or something. I don't know, I've got access to Amazon,  HBO MAX, Hulu, and Netflix. 

Well... okay. You're missing out on metal space Cthulhu and an absolutely stupid Mass Effect / Star Treck crossover with Picard. It's almost worth watching for that nonsense alone. It needs to be seen to be believed, but giving CBS money for that? Nope. Do not approve.

38 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Speaking of old stuff, I remember as a kid/young man watching a cartoon on German public tv. This was before satellite was a thing. I *think* it was called Macross. This was many decades ago and I remember very little of it. Something Sci-fi like with a giant spaceship

Yes, Macross, and it turned into one giant franchise with several different spinoffs, the most recent one from 2016. It was on TV when I was very little, but that's... yeah, about all I remember. Although I don't know which part that was.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

51 minutes ago, majestic said:

Seeing how the same happens with Way of the Househusband, I'm assuming that is related to the animation style. Not sure, might be something else.

I don't think it's animation style. But honestly, I don't know what it is. I can't really isolate any factor that'd cause me to take the show slower. Because Samurai Champloo is very good.

53 minutes ago, majestic said:

It also wasn't just STANDO POWAH, it's not like I was any quicker with Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency.

Maybe it was Speedwagon or JoJo’s balls for Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency.

JOESTAR-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

54 minutes ago, majestic said:

Well... okay. You're missing out on metal space Cthulhu and an absolutely stupid Mass Effect / Star Treck crossover with Picard. It's almost worth watching for that nonsense alone. It needs to be seen to be believed, but giving CBS money for that? Nope. Do not approve.

...I think I'll pass and just pretend nothing happened in Star Trek after the war with the Dominion.

[Amentep]

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

Speaking of old stuff, I remember as a kid/young man watching a cartoon on German public tv. This was before satellite was a thing. I *think* it was called Macross. This was many decades ago and I remember very little of it. Something Sci-fi like with a giant spaceship

 

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Yes, Macross, and it turned into one giant franchise with several different spinoffs, the most recent one from 2016. It was on TV when I was very little, but that's... yeah, about all I remember. Although I don't know which part that was.

In one of those weird things, a local bookstore started getting untranslated photo-novel books from Japan and one of them that my brother picked up* was (as they seemed to be for movies rather than TV series) 1982's MACROSS: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE?  This was prior to Harmony Gold's mash-up ROBOTECH, so it was a bit surreal when a year or two later Robotech hit the air and I recognized the character, ship and mech designs.  Not sure why the bookstore decided to start getting in untranslated photo-novel's from Japan; it wasn't a specialty book store (that would be a different story, but that was untranslated manga I picked up and right now I'm blanking on just what title I did pick up there).

Speaking of Robotech, I believe there have been releases for Super Dimension Macross outside of Robotech - did Mospeda or Southern Cross ever get non-Robotech releases in the US?

*I picked up a three or four volume photo-novel version of 1979's Castle of Cagliostro and one for 1980's Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Vortex...my brother's second series was 1982's Andromeda Stories.

[Sarex]

JoJo episode 1-4. This is either really bad or really good, haven't made up my mind yet. The story is so absurd it's making me curious to watch more to see where it's going.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Sarex

[majestic]

24 minutes ago, Sarex said:

This is either really bad or really good

Yes. And it gets even more yes later on.

[Sarex]

3 minutes ago, majestic said:

Yes. And it gets even more yes later on.

I'm just afraid that the absurdity of the story will get old fast, but as of now I'm still interested to see where it goes.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

50 minutes ago, Sarex said:

JoJo episode 1-4. This is either really bad or really good, haven't made up my mind yet. The story is so absurd it's making me curious to watch more to see where it's going.

It's really good and it gets much weirder.

28 minutes ago, majestic said:

Yes

 

24 minutes ago, Sarex said:

I'm just afraid that the absurdity of the story will get old fast, but as of now I'm still interested to see where it goes.

It didn't for me, but it always managed to keep being unpredictable and fun.

[majestic]

Well, I said I won't make long bit by bit posts about Nanoha any more, what with the length of the third season, so just a quick update of a minor thing:

Hayate just gave a speech to her new staff in the new Riot Force 6. Not only are the cooks and the service crew present, she addresses them too. Maybe it's too early to get my hopes up, but so far this all looks somewhat well planned out, at least. The music is still leftovers from a cancelled JRPG. The most striking difference, aside from the "new" main cast, is that the anime feels a lot more... not light hearted, but not as god damned serious as the first two seasons were.

Might still change, but so far a rather unexpectedly strong beginning. Hm.

edit:

Episode ends with Fate apparently sharing either a room at the base with Nanoha or else they're living together. The Nanoha wiki says they'll adopt a child at some point, so that's not just for show. Yeah, here's to hoping that doesn't get too fanserviced down the line. Why do I hear Daru talking about Yuri Fields right now?

Edited November 9, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

10 hours ago, majestic said:

The most striking difference, aside from the "new" main cast, is that the anime feels a lot more... not light hearted, but not as god damned serious as the first two seasons were.

That's good, because the "Serious Mode" action/story bits you'd shown and talked about of the first two seasons reminded me a little too much of the worst over-dramatic "Serious Mode" bits of Sailor Moon, .

16 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

On one hand I can relate, Samurai Champloo is very good but I don't think I've ever watched more than two episodes at a time.

For me, watching/playing new things is pretty exhausting, even if it's something that's great. If I start to re-watch episodes of e.g. Steven Universe, I can plow through a whole pile of episodes without really feeling it, but two episodes of Sakura or Champloo gets to me. There are times I have greater fortitude and am able to do more, but it's only every so often; that's why I will go through bouts of like watching a new film most every day for like an entire week or more, and then don't watch even a single one for the month after.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Bartimaeus]

Quote

THEM: "Aino! Even in cram school, you duck out early to eat?! You got a 27 in math our last practice exam, spend your snack time studying instead!"
HER: "But I get so hungry after practice, I can't make it to the end without it!"
...
ARTEMIS: "Excellent athleticism, excellent health - with an appetite to match. Though she does sleep a lot... As for intelligence, looks like should could use...improvement. She lacks seriousness, she's unreliable. I'm not comfortable going forward with this."
BOSS: "But there is no mistake that she is the one, Artemis."
ARTEMIS: "I understand, boss."

  

Lmao, hell of a way to draw Artemis, Ms. Takeuchi. Episode 1 of 16 of Codename: Sailor V down. It was pretty fun! It generally reminded me a lot of the Sailor Moon show, which is good because what I'd read of the actual Sailor Moon manga kind of didn't! There are two translations - an unofficial one by "Miss Dream", and an official one by "Kodansha Comics". I vastly prefer the unofficial one.

Quote

ARTEMIS: "Good physical reflexes. In good shape and has a healthy appetite. Let's just say she gets a healthy amount of sleep... Her intelligence... Something of a problem there. I think. I think. She lacks a certain seriousness. She can't be counted on. It makes me worried about our future."
BOSS: "But it's her. There's no doubt, Artemis."
ARTEMIS: "Yeah, I know. Boss."

It all just reads kind of clunky compared to the fan translation, plus it does that thing where you're going to read words like "chan", "sempai", "sama", and "san" about a billion times because those words are going to be included the vast majority of time anytime a character's name is said out-loud, and I just ain't got the patience for it.

Spoiler

Minako immediately has a crush on the villain (though she doesn't know that he is one), Artemis pretty creepily walked in and introduced himself to her while she was changing in her own room and her screaming sent him flying out the second story window, Minako gets a sweet floating castle in space(?!), Minako doesn't yet have have her trademark hair ribbon but bizarrely the villain she's crushing on is the one that suggests she starts wearing one...

The villains also have video phones in this, which is a funny reversal of Sailor Moon where the girls have them. Minako's powers are also tied to her transformation wand just like Sailor Moon, but she also must recharge her "compact" (what she uses to power her attacks) with the light of the moon (lunar power!). We'll see if that particular issue ever actually meaningfully comes up.

MOO! Minako doing her best Nanami impression, but nevertheless she is forced to blow her crush to smithereens with a Crescent Beam - but not to worry, she finds an idol in a magazine to crush on and obsess about while renewing her faith in the world being "full of good men!" before the episode ends, because apparently she didn't understand that the villain wasn't actually a normal student boy. Yeah, that's Minako for you on both counts, .

Sakura, episode 63:

@majestic Pretty good but very silly episode - yeah, they probably should've put it earlier into the season. It was a weird fusion of season 1 and season 3 stuff that at least wouldn't have felt as out of place if it at least came earlier. The end of the episode re: Rika drowning and stuff also wasn't the most convincing of action resolutions, .

"Sakura still has some left. Oh, the brat has some left too...but though the kid is dumb, he has some good sense. So this one [Sakura's]!"

Did Kero just call Sakura dumb?

(e): I just did some post combination/reshuffling in order to not triple-post.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[LadyCrimson]

Heaven Official's Blessing. A rather mellow, interesting fantasy/supernatural Chinese anime drama and LGBT romance. The romance aspect is oddly obvious after a couple episodes yet also generally very subtle - I didn't know beforehand that it was/had a romance aspect and it took me 2-3 episodes to catch on to it. Nicely done, imo.

Tonally and pacing-wise it reminds me just a tad of Mushishi, with supernatural happenings and the main chrs. investigating/trying to fix them. The first ghost-bride mystery was the weakest, I liked the episodes afterwards more. I guess the main character is a ... low rank heavenly god - human who ascended to Heaven - more than once - who lacks worshippers. It's not an exciting, constant action filled anime but it's intriguing, sweet, has a nice mythology feeling, and often quite beautiful. A little bit of humor here and there.

Anyway ... I enjoyed it. At least they weren't highschoolers.     If there's a second season I'll be glad to check it out.

Edited November 9, 2021 by LadyCrimson

[majestic]

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Lmao, hell of a way to draw Artemis, Ms. Takeuchi. Episode 1 of 16 of Codename: Sailor V down. It was pretty fun! It generally reminded me a lot of the Sailor Moon show, which is good because what I'd read of the actual Sailor Moon manga kind of didn't! There are two translations - an unofficial one by "Miss Dream", and an official one by "Kodansha Comics". I vastly prefer the unofficial one.

Miss Dream also has the subtitles Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live action show with Tuxedo Mullet and Wig!Moon. Pretty good quality all in all.

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

It all just reads kind of clunky compared to the fan translation, plus it does that thing where you're going to read words like "chan", "sempai", "sama", and "san" about a billion times because those words are going to be included the vast majority of time anytime a character's name is said out-loud, and I just ain't got the patience for it.

The always ongoing debate about localization vs. more literal translations. On the one hand, it makes for clunkier reading, on the other hand sometimes it's necessary to properly understand character dynamics, however... I'd say a quality localization gets the point across in a meaningful way, regardless. Take Tomoyo for instance, she can call her mother just "mother" in any translation and Sakura call her dad "dad" and that's that, point transported.

Dropkick on my Devil! has a moment that's a bit difficult to transport, and the subs almost managed, but not quite. When Medusa is angry at Jashin, she goes into "keigo" mode - i.e. she starts talking to Jashin in very formal and excessively polite Japanese. The subtitles just call that "passive agressive" mode which isn't half a bad idea, but not quite the same. Funny, I don't know a whole lot of Japanese words, but the language seems to have better patterns or easier grammar rules than German, so it's much easier to notice these things than it would be on a German or English show once you get the hang of it.

Even without understanding a word.

The only thing that's not going to work out all that well is personal pronouns, but those are a totally different case entirely. Plus sometimes it's really better to not know what the characters are talking about, I'd cringe a lot less when listening to Komi Can't Communicate's "Childhood Friend"* Bokukko** if I wouldn't know she's a Bokkuko (it's supposed to be a character of unspecified gender, I guess).

7 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Sakura, episode 63:

@majestic Pretty good but very silly episode - yeah, they probably should've put it earlier into the season. It was a weird fusion of season 1 and season 3 stuff that at least wouldn't have felt as out of place if it at least came earlier. The end of the episode re: Rika drowning and stuff also wasn't the most convincing of action resolutions, .

Yeah, it wasn't a bad episode (easy to say, are there any bad Sakura episodes outside of Clear Card?), just oddly out of place. Such a first arc setup suddenly showing up near the very end. On the bright side, you're inching ever closer there. Soon it'll be over, and the way is clear for the movie.

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

"Sakura still has some left. Oh, the brat has some left too...but though the kid is dumb, he has some good sense. So this one [Sakura's]!"

Did Kero just call Sakura dumb?

Clueless, I think, not necessarily dumb. Not entirely inaccurate. Poor Sakura is going to have a very bright moment soon though. Heh.

 

*Literally. Character name is Childhood Friend. Or, well, the Japanese word for it, anyway.

**I forgot to mention that for anyone not too in the, uhm, lingo - girl who refers to herself as boku, Japanese "I" for (younger) boys and adolescents. A bokukko is essentially a girl talking like a boy. In Miyu, Yukari Kashima is one of those, for somewhat obvious reasons, and that worked well enough, but Childhood Friend is just cringey.