Anime and Manga - ゴゴゴゴ

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, so that wasn't how I expected that post to end. I was gearing up to write my monthly "why the hell do you keep trying to watch shows that you should obviously leave to someone else that doesn't have your particular OCD, good lord - don't you have enough endless trash on your plate?".

I initially had that right at the start and then figured I finally found a useage for that image from the TNG gag reel/outtakes.

Yeah, I got enough trash on my plate right now and should not star new series until I've reduced the load a little, but I've been progressing through a couple of things without mentioning it. It'll be the last new thing for a while, I think. I mean... at least as long as I keep adding new stuff I don't need to finish whatever the hell that was I randomly picked on Amazon Prime Video a while back. Kazaka... kama... erm, *looks up* kemurikusa.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Please tell me that this "Merle" doesn't pronounce her name as "Earl" with an M.

Well, no. It's a German "Merle" in the dub and in the original Japanese that I've started to use simply because whatever Amazon did to the German dub made it randomly switch to the original in between in both the browser and on my TV - I can only surmise that the original TV version was cut for violence for the German market and had scenes removed that were never dubbed and then restored for a digital release but left original with subtitles, have not done any research in that direction - comes out more like Merure (me like in men) with a semi-dropped u, which makes sense (all Japanese syllables end on a vowel, except for the single n).

Not making any promises for the English dub, not sure if they could resist making a cat girl be called Mearle as in M-Earl.

Could be worse, she could be called Purrrrrrl, huh? /bows and leaves.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Also, please tell me that the show looks a lot better on the streaming service (Amazon?) you're watching it on than those screenshots you presumably pulled from Google, because I've seen screenshots of the BDs previously, and I know they looked a lot nicer than that.

I could make an effort and compare them, but I'm pretty sure Amazon Prime Video is worse than the Blu Ray version. It always is. It doesn't look so bad on the 4K TV, and by that I mean it beats the digitalized TV PAL copies they have for other anime (*cough* Attack No. 1 *cough*).

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

This was not the one I was going to link because it's obviously not a key frame, but the visual combined with the subtitle was hilarious and it got the point across.

That's from the fourth episode. Both Merle and Hitomi have been exposed to a poisonous plant during their escape (Merle was captured by Allen's guard, and Hitomi just collapsed after a vision). Shounen dolt runs off to make medicine, and they both wake up and have internal monologues about finding the other girl weird. Hitomi is weird because she's dressed like a school girl and has short hair, and Hitomi thinks Merle is weird because she's a cat and has a tail. Merle has also typical cat mannerisms - that picture alone is showing that, but she eventually also raises her hair.

I really should be annoyed, and I really should not have laughed at the scene, yet I was not annoyed and found it funny enough. Something's wrong with me. Help me. Please.

edit: It must be said that cat girls aren't as inherently out of place in a silly fantasy action anime than say, Komi's cat ears or girls cosplaying as cat girls (hello Steins;Gate). Or wearable cat ears like Azusa was forced to wear by Sawako. Ah, stupid Sawako.

Edited March 21, 2022 by majestic

[Amentep]

Supēsu Kobura aka Space Cobra

Episode XVI:  "Jigoku e! Ragubōru" aka "To Hell! Rug Ball"

While described as a cross between US Football and baseball, I think its more akin to a cross between US Football, Rugby and Baseball, with the name really coming from the latter two.

Cobra is just minding his own business biking through the wastelands on a planet when the Galactic Patrol pull him over.  Is the end of Cobra's career coming at the hands of a traffic ticket?

Spoiler

No, its Dominique from the first story arc wanting to recruit Cobra.  It seems that the Pirate's Guild has been running drugs through the Rug ball sporting events, and the Galactic Patrol have narrowed it down to the Red Saxons team.  But every time the Galactic Patrol get a man on the inside, they end up dead.  Because besides being a cross between US Football-Rugby-Baseball it is also a commonly deadly sport, so "accidents" keep happening.  The amount of money they're pulling is fueling the Pirate Guild's activities, and Dominique believe that as the Pirate Guild has a bounty on Cobra's head, he might be interested in helping cripple their operations.

Yes, because Cobra is a sucker for a lady in need. Pretty much any need except maybe vampirism.

There's one drawback, of course.  Dominique can get Cobra on the team - it seems the Galactic Patrol have an athletics program that sends athletes to sporting teams across the galaxy, but Cobra is on his own once in.  Because 2nd string Rug ball players cannot leave the compound.  He'll have to investigate by himself, find the source of the drugs and escape to give Dominque the information.  And so they head to Planet Raul (much to Lady's glee, apparently; I guess Cobra had been getting on her nerves) to drop Cobra off as a new Rug ball player, Joe Gillian.

Inexplicably, even though this is an official function, Dominique changes to a bathing suit to introduce Cobra as the newest graduate of the Galactic Patrol's athletics program.; meanwhile Cobra, in disguise as Joe Gillian dresses exactly like Cobra always does. 

Cobra goes in and sees the luxurious space for the Team 1 players...and is promptly taken to the bowels of the complex where the Team 2 members are allowed to stew in their own juices and fester until such time as someone on Team 1 drops dead or they prove themselves capable of joining Team 1 without someone being brutally murdered on the field.

 

Apparently the training complex intersects with Mos Eisley Spaceport.

Naturally Cobra gets on the bad side of several team players as they attempt to haze him (including destroying the Team 2 captain's baseball).  This leads to an in-practice 'accident' where the captain tries to injure Cobra.  Cobra takes a hit, and bleeds some but his hit incapacitates the captain.  This in turn leads to a confrontation in the lunch room which escalates into a full on bar room lunch room brawl.  Later Cobra's roommate considers killing him in his sleep because he's a weasel, but Cobra just talks to him because Cobra is a man of the people, thus earning some loyalty from they guy (hopefully Cobra has learned from the Duk incident earlier about his sidekick recruits).

This gets the attention of the team owner, who brings Cobra to a meeting; however at the meeting, Cobra is given a Team 1 beating greeting, but bests the second baseman, intriguing the owner.

..because even though I'm the owner, coaching is irrelevant in this sport and we just throw brutal people at one-another willy-nilly like. 

And Cobra is in!  After Cobra leaves, the owner tells the Team 1 first baseman (who we don't see in full) that he's considering moving Cobra to first base, causing him to lose his position. However, on his first day Cobra manages to alienate a completely different player, Gerd, by standing up for a cheerleader that Gerd refuses to acknowledge has told him "no".

...and beat up a bunch of people in the lunch room and also incapacitated the Team 2 captain on the field.  It was a busy Wednesday. 

Cobra makes Gerd look stupid by avoiding his attack such that Gerd goes face first into a wall, but before he can attack again, the team Captain (and current first base player) Brad shows up and tells him to stand down.  And we end on our reveal of Brad:

♪The Brad-eye bunch, the Brad-eye bunch.  That's how we all became the Brad-eye bunch!♫

Now Cobra just has to survive on Team 1 long enough to figure out how the drugs are moving through the Red Saxons team or arena.

It seems like this episode has set-up the story for the remainder of this set of episode's story arc, as I imagine the next few episodes will deal with Cobra's investigation while surviving the attacks of all the people on the team he's annoyed (pretty much everyone because he's Cobra).

[majestic]

The Sailor Says channel mit be gone, but there's still some old dub stuff to be found. Granola bar!

[Bartimaeus]

Whenever I re-watch Sailor Moon, which will eventually happen, I'm not certain whether I want to re-watch the Viz dub, try the Japanese, or become one with the True Moonies by watching the original English. It will be quite the dilemma to decide when the time comes.

18 hours ago, Amentep said:

Pretty much any need except maybe vampirism.

18 hours ago, Amentep said:

much to Lady's glee, apparently; I guess Cobra had been getting on her nerves

On one hand, that's gratitude for you; on the other, I'm sure Cobra was acting like a moron. ...Again, I've never actually heard Cobra talk, but I just get the feeling from the perpetual 'not particularly intelligent' look on his face that I have a pretty good idea of what his personality is like, .

18 hours ago, Amentep said:

Inexplicably, even though this is an official function, Dominique changes to a bathing suit to introduce Cobra as the newest graduate of the Galactic Patrol's athletics program.; meanwhile Cobra, in disguise as Joe Gillian dresses exactly like Cobra always does. 

On 3/20/2022 at 7:11 PM, majestic said:

kemurikusa

Gesundheit.

On 3/20/2022 at 7:11 PM, majestic said:

Could be worse, she could be called Purrrrrrl, huh?

Pearl would've been a great name, thank you very much. "Purrrrrrl" where they draw out the first syllable every time they say it, not so much.

Edited March 22, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

28 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Whenever I re-watch Sailor Moon, which will eventually happen, I'm not certain whether I want to re-watch the Viz dub, try the Japanese, or become one with the True Moonies by watching the original English. It will be quite the dilemma to decide when the time comes.

I'm semi-partial to trying the Viz dub, all in all. Not so sure about the original English, but maybe afterwards. As much as I like how over the top whacky Minako is, I don't know about the name changes and the cousins thing. Calling Usagi Serena was better than our dub's "Bunny" at least.

Also, on becoming one with the fandumb. Remember, they usually like the manga and Crystal season 3. Heh.

49 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

On one hand, that's gratitude for you; on the other, I'm sure Cobra was acting like a moron. ...Again, I've never actually heard Cobra talk, but I just get the feeling from the perpetual 'not particularly intelligent' look on his face that I have a pretty good idea of what his personality is like, .

@Amentep's post about the anime make me facepalm and laugh almost every time, I'm almost tempted to watch it myself. Seems like some typical 80ies goof show.

50 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Pearl would've been a great name, thank you very much. "Purrrrrrl" where they draw out the first syllable every time they say it, not so much.

For the English dub, probably, for the original I guess not so much. パアル (Paaru) is what that would end up being, I guess...

Japanese Engrish is a lot less fun once you understand how and why it happens.

[Amentep]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

On one hand, that's gratitude for you; on the other, I'm sure Cobra was acting like a moron. ...Again, I've never actually heard Cobra talk, but I just get the feeling from the perpetual 'not particularly intelligent' look on his face that I have a pretty good idea of what his personality is like, .

 He's a classic clever character type who is also monumentally dumb, and a brave and fearless character type who spends an inordinate amount of episodes yelling and running away from being shot at.

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

To be fair, I think it was a budget issue - since Dominique looks exactly like her sister Jane, I think they reused animation of Jane from an earlier episode rather than do new animation with Dominique in her Galactic Patrol outfit.

[Lexx]

I noticed there is a dubbed version of My Dress-Up Darling now, and I started watching it instantly. Why am I so pathetic.

[majestic]

57 minutes ago, Lexx said:

I noticed there is a dubbed version of My Dress-Up Darling now, and I started watching it instantly. Why am I so pathetic.

Make yourself one with the Path, and the journey will lead you to eternity.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Also, on becoming one with the fandumb. Remember, they usually like the manga and Crystal season 3. Heh.

I said the "True Moonies", not the general fandom. The True Moonies, of course, are a secret sect of Sailor Moon fans who...um, well, they're the fine cultured folks that...well, you know what I mean!

(...Yes, someone made a partial backup of the Sailor Moon Says channel.)

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I tried watching the first episode of Ergo Proxy but fell asleep. I'll try again tonight.

1 hour ago, Lexx said:

I noticed there is a dubbed version of My Dress-Up Darling now, and I started watching it instantly. Why am I so pathetic.

Maybe you get some enjoyment out of voice actors saying very cringe lines? Like second-hand embarrassment but you enjoy it.

2 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I said the "True Moonies", not the general fandom. The True Moonies, of course, are a secret sect of Sailor Moon fans who...um, well, they're the fine cultured folks that...well, you know what I mean!

Well the true Moonies are a cult led by a Korean guy who claimed to be the Messiah of Humanity.

[majestic]

6 minutes ago, KP wants Blue Velvet said:

Well the true Moonies are a cult led by a Korean guy who claimed to be the Messiah of Humanity.

Our journey towards enlightenment may take us to many unexpected places.

6 minutes ago, KP wants Blue Velvet said:

Maybe you get some enjoyment out of voice actors saying very cringe lines? Like second-hand embarrassment but you enjoy it.

And then did Tyolus say to the people of the low plains: 'Seek not the wickedness amongst your neighbors, lest it find purchase in your own house'.

14 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I said the "True Moonies", not the general fandom. The True Moonies, of course, are a secret sect of Sailor Moon fans who...um, well, they're the fine cultured folks that...well, you know what I mean!

So basically that's just us in the thread then? Minus the rabble who still refuses to watch Sailor Moon, of course.

[Amentep]

Since I know there are some fans here...

Sailor Moon Production Cel with Custom Painted Background (Toei Animation, c. 1992-97) featuring Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury and Artemis up for auction

[HoonDing]

Escaflowne kinda sucks

Twelve Kingdoms is where it's at

funny how isekai with female protagonists tend not to be a complete dumpsterfire

[Amentep]

I don't remember El-Hazard being completely awful, but in my defense, I saw the series once in 1995-1996 and at this point the only thing I vaguely remember about it was that the mountaineering teacher was amusing.  That's right now the only male-lead isekai anime that I can say for certain I've seen (excepting random episodes of Digimon, I guess, but other than knowing I watched some episodes, I couldn't tell you a thing about it).

I remember Escaflowne had a lot of buzz at one point, but I never tried watching it.

[majestic]

5 hours ago, Amentep said:

Since I know there are some fans here...

Sailor Moon Production Cel with Custom Painted Background (Toei Animation, c. 1992-97) featuring Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury and Artemis up for auction

Yeah, well, if they ever auction off a Sailor Moon Crystal cel...

Wonder how high that'll go, I'm almost tempted to bid on it, but I have no real place to store a cel properly, and that's just not worth it. I mean, that probably doesn't make me any different than Toei because I can't for my life figure out why there's not one single decent HD transfer of Sailor Moon, but that doesn't mean I should try to acquire something that'll just eventually fall apart in a box, or worse.

3 hours ago, Amentep said:

I don't remember El-Hazard being completely awful, but in my defense, I saw the series once in 1995-1996 and at this point the only thing I vaguely remember about it was that the mountaineering teacher was amusing.  That's right now the only male-lead isekai anime that I can say for certain I've seen (excepting random episodes of Digimon, I guess, but other than knowing I watched some episodes, I couldn't tell you a thing about it).

I remember Escaflowne had a lot of buzz at one point, but I never tried watching it.

Generally I'm not overly fond of isekai no matter its origins, but there are some exceptions. Stephen King's Dark Tower series, for instance. Escaflowne was apparently relatively popular everywhere except Japan. I honestly don't know if I'll enjoy it for the entire run and I'm certainly not sure why I even actually enjoy it. I shouldn't, but somehow, I do. It's weird.

[majestic]

15 hours ago, majestic said:

Wonder how high that'll go, I'm almost tempted to bid on it, but I have no real place to store a cel properly, and that's just not worth it. I mean, that probably doesn't make me any different than Toei because I can't for my life figure out why there's not one single decent HD transfer of Sailor Moon, but that doesn't mean I should try to acquire something that'll just eventually fall apart in a box, or worse.

Yeah, so I looked at the other pieces they auctioned, and found this one:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/animation-art/sailor-moon-sailor-moon-and-leshy-production-cel-setup-with-key-master-background-toei-animation-c-1992-97-/a/7254-18132.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-071515&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417

Fun button. Make the owner an offer, at least 19,800$.

Yeah. Uhm...

[uuuhhii]

 

On 3/22/2022 at 8:15 PM, Lexx said:

I noticed there is a dubbed version of My Dress-Up Darling now, and I started watching it instantly. Why am I so pathetic.

the eng dub are pretty good

nothing to be shame about watching it

[Lexx]

Well, it's not the dub that I have issues with. It's how cringe half of every episode is.

[majestic]

So, a while back @KP wants Blue Velvet mentioned the "unaired" episode of the first season of Dropkick on my Devil, and I watched that to be done with it. Even amongst the otherwise weird episodes of this anime, this was... really, really weird. Also had a hearty laugh at Jashin's insane opening dropkick and how it ended. It was better than some of the regular episodes of season one, that had a bit of a stale spell in the middle.

Relevant reference of the show award goes to:

[Gorth]

I think season 2 is going to be on my to do list. Not stuff I can really binge watch, but it’s fun and relaxing watching just the odd episode every now and then 

 

Made it to episode 9 in Gleipnir. For some reason, it reminds me a bit of when I read Lord of Flies as a teenager. Creepy, exciting cringeworthy, sad, hopeful, all at the same time

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Ergo Proxy ep 1. I like it, it feels like someone watched Blade Runner on acid and then had a nightmare about it.

14 hours ago, majestic said:

So, a while back @KP wants Blue Velvet mentioned the "unaired" episode of the first season of Dropkick on my Devil, and I watched that to be done with it. Even amongst the otherwise weird episodes of this anime, this was... really, really weird. Also had a hearty laugh at Jashin's insane opening dropkick and how it ended. It was better than some of the regular episodes of season one, that had a bit of a stale spell in the middle.

Relevant reference of the show award goes to:

I see I am once again a bad influence on you.

 

[HoonDing]

Ergo Proxy is an (un)(?)intentionally hilarious show.

[ShadySands]

1 hour ago, HoonDing said:

Ergo Proxy is an (un)(?)intentionally hilarious show.

It's its raison d'etre

[Gorth]

A bit about Gleipnir... it's basically about Aliens. Well, one alien. Simplified version: He distributes a potion that turns people into something they wish they were. Out protagonist turned into the silly looking toy dog purse, because that is what he was thinking about at the time. It's a large version of a small toy worn by a girl that he seems to have a bit of feelings for, subconsciously wishing he was that toy hanging at her side in a key ring.

As for what the alien (which looks like some surfer/beach boy) wants out of it, their ship crashed and his fellow team members got scattered over a large area. They were in some kind of stasis, the consciousness stored in what looks like a coin with a star symbol on it. He offers to reward people who brings him coins by fulfilling more of their wishes. Imaging a genie in a bottle with more than 3 wishes.

The protagonist is a nice guy and not all who met the alien are bad people, but humans being humans, some are. The good guys make it a goal to find as many coins as possible to prevent them from falling into the hands of some of the rather nasty monstrosities we've seen so far.

/completely butchered story by leaving out 9/10 of the detail

The girl with the cloak can go invisible, the girl with the helmet has bunny ears (she loved animals and wished she could talk with them), the giant bunny is just a big softie and the guy with the telescope head is... yes, a voyeur etc. etc.

The other protagonist, Claire is not on the picture. She is the one that normally is inside the toy dog, "piloting" it. She has the ruthlessness that our protagonist lacks and she wants to find her missing sister, after her sister turned into a monster and killed their parents.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 hours ago, ShadySands said:

It's its raison d'etre

What did you trick me into watching?

3 minutes ago, Gorth said:

A bit about Gleipnir... it's basically about Aliens. Well, one alien. Simplified version: He distributes a potion that turns people into something they wish they were. Out protagonist turned into the silly looking toy dog purse, because that is what he was thinking about at the time. It's a large version of a small toy worn by a girl that he seems to have a bit of feelings for, subconsciously wishing he was that toy hanging at her side in a key ring.

As for what the alien (which looks like some surfer/beach boy) wants out of it, their ship crashed and his fellow team members got scattered over a large area. They were in some kind of stasis, the consciousness stored in what looks like a coin with a star symbol on it. He offers to reward people who brings him coins by fulfilling more of their wishes. Imaging a genie in a bottle with more than 3 wishes.

The protagonist is a nice guy and not all who met the alien are bad people, but humans being humans, some are. The good guys make it a goal to find as many coins as possible to prevent them from falling into the hands of some of the rather nasty monstrosities we've seen so far.

/completely butchered story by leaving out 9/10 of the detail

The girl with the cloak can go invisible, the girl with the helmet has bunny ears (she loved animals and wished she could talk with them), the giant bunny is just a big softie and the guy with the telescope head is... yes, a voyeur etc. etc.

That sounds cool and all but what the **** is going on in that image?