Anime and Manga - It's time for you to finish what you've started and watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

[Bartimaeus]

23 hours ago, Space KP, Baby said:

I think I understand. That's how I feel about PoE.

Nothing in that description really sets off any do not watch alarms for me, I love There Will Be Blood and if there is a slow character-driven film that is it. Though I suppose that the princess is nothing like Daniel Plainview.

If this doesn't go through I will

Honestly, I think you would just find it kind of boring. I could be wrong, but it really wouldn't seem to be the type of thing you'd care for. It's not an "insane", wacky, or even especially weird film. It's more just very slow and a bit odd. I guess you know what it feels like? A classic fairy-tale kind of story. Not really a Disney-fied version of it, where all the writing and story beats have been smoothed out and the more questionable ideas stripped down while the main character cleanly and predictably wins the prince or princess in the end...no, it's more like one of the older ones, where you get some interesting and novel ideas served up with purpose, which are then followed up with some pretty baffling ones that maybe made sense to the author and/or the people who read it when it was originally written, but which just don't feel like they quite fully work right now and make it all feel a bit disjointed and weird. I think it's worth watching to someone with an interest in this kind of thing, but at the same time, it's very difficult to just recommend.

23 hours ago, Space KP, Baby said:

More of Monster. As expected it has spiraled more with Dr. Tenma entering the very unhygienic phase of obsession and guilt for inadvertently unleashing a brutal serial killer on the world. I'm having a good time, it's a nice counter as a "normal" murder mystery to whatever the hell is going on with Twin Peaks (which is currently at the point where David Lynch left and the show turned into a cluster****).

I've seen the first episode of Monster, it seemed like it would be pretty good...buuut it seemed a bit on the long side at 74 episodes for the type of show it is.

16 hours ago, majestic said:

I don't think so. Naru doesn't interact much with anyone but Usagi in the anime. The idea isn't bad, actually, as Ami is envious of Naru's seemingly effortless way to be friends with Usagi, but Ami's actress is really limited, either by the direction or her ability (probably both), Usagi only works if she's not told to overexaggerate her expressions and mannerisms in an anime-esque manner, which she sadly always is when she's with Naru, and Naru's acting is about as limited as Ami's, but her expressions are a tad better.

I can't really fault the writing (unlike when Mamoru suddenly shows up with a girl to hurt Usagi with no prior setup, and since he's an orphan with no relatives, he can't well have a sister - and even if she is his sister, it's still bad writing). The setup is there, from the episode where Ami spends time with Naru and Usagi, to the way she does not want Naru to see the effects of Kunzite's attack on Usagi, it also makes sense that Ami would be envious of Usagi's other friends for how easy it all seems to be for them. Basically, it is not working as well as it should because it is an anime adapation, the direction is not good for these scenes and the actresses involved seem to not be up to the material they are given. It is not made better by the constant reminder that Sailor Moon S's episode where Ami feels like she's not really part of the team is one of the top episodes of the original anime.

I'm not sure I should be complaining about the acting in a shoestring budget TV show, but the biggest issue is that none of the three are able to properly sell it. I don't know if the episodes have different directors, but there are things that work really well. Usagi and Makoto work when paired together, as does Minako, as long as one likes super serious Minako - although to be fair, Usagi manages to bring out Minako's silly side, but Minako was in something like three episodes so far.

I generally prefer to blame direction and/or the people responsible for making casting choices for acting woes...unless you see a specific actor in multiple roles and can rightly conclude you genuinely dislike their acting chops. Of course, I'm not usually thinking or talking about productions quite as sorry as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon...

Edited January 22, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

15 hours ago, Sarex said:

@Space KP, Baby I have been circling around Monster for a decade now. Can't wait to see how it ends up for you. I may finally give it try.

So far I think it's really enjoyable. Perhaps the only complaint I have is making Dr. Tenma's enemies in the hospital comically evil.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I've seen the first episode of Monster, it seemed like it would be pretty good...buuut it seemed a bit on the long side at 74 episodes for the type of show it is.

Right now it's well paced, but at that length it's possible it gets derailed and goes off on some ridiculous side-stories that rip the wind out of the sails.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Honestly, I think you would just find it kind of boring. I could be wrong, but it really wouldn't seem to be the type of thing you'd care for. It's not an "insane", wacky, or even especially weird film. It's more just very slow and a bit odd. I guess you know what it feels like? A classic fairy-tale kind of story. Not really a Disney-fied version of it, where all the writing and story beats have been smoothed out and the more questionable ideas stripped down or out while the main character cleanly and predictably wins the prince or princess in the end...no, it's more like one of the older ones, where you get some interesting and novel ideas served up with purpose, which are then followed up with some pretty baffling ones that maybe made sense to the author and/or the people who read it when it was originally written, but which just don't feel like they quite fully work right now and make it all feel a bit disjointed and weird. I think it's worth watching to someone with an interest in this kind of thing, but at the same time, it's very difficult to just recommend.

Well given to how I reacted to The Green Knight, you're probably right. For slower paced stuff I need at least one interesting character to follow and a lot of the old fairy tales are not that great in that regard. Still better than the Disney stuff, but that's a low bar equivalent to beating a dog at chess.

[majestic]

Episode 17 was probably the weakest of the series so far. Usagi is so heartbroken over Mamoru's whatever-she-will-turn-out-to-be ladyfriend* that she just forgets to go and help Rei with a fight, Makoto has nothing better to do than be off-screen afterwards and Ami is somewhere lost along the way, and all of this to force Minako to transform into Sailor Venus as part of this big reveal that I thought the girls were already aware of after Sailor V officially met them as Venus... I am a little confused here, but maybe the issue was the subtitles of the earlier episodes - we're talking fan translation here (I think, at least)**.

PGSM does PGSM's version of the distracted boyfriend meme:

Well, to be fair to the series, the series was shot in the years 2003 and 2004, and the stock photo the meme is based on is from 2015.

On the bright side, Minako's transformation sequence is bloody bonkers.

Pretty sure Rei figured out that Minako is terminally ill in this one. Oh, right, big spoiler. Woops. Sue me.

I also found myself feeling bad for Usagi being all heartbroken and forlorn. Good job show, I just wish you did that with a better episode.

*I spoilered myself:

Spoiler

It's basically PGSM's version of Shaoran and Meiling. Hina is Mamoru's fiancee out of some childhood promise. She's going to break their engagement after realizing that he's into Usagi.

Yeah, so that is, uhm, dumb.

**When Sailor V reveals herself to the other Sailor Guardians as Sailor Venus and their long lost princess, which we all know she is not, Usagi remarks in the next episode that they can all see Minako more often now, to which Luna says that she told them that she wants to continue to work alone. It is entirely possible, and quite likely given the setup, that Usagi was talking about Sailor V, not Minako, and the translator just put the wrong character name in the subtitles, or I got the wrong idea from the way they were written.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I generally prefer to blame direction and/or the people responsible for making casting choices for acting woes...unless you see a specific actor in multiple roles and can rightly conclude you genuinely dislike their acting chops. Of course, I'm not usually thinking or talking about productions quite as sorry as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon...

Yeah, I am unsure of how much time and money they had for the casting of the series. As with everything else, that was probably "not much", why else would they have a really, really terrible plush Luna. I should also take into account that the girls were really young when they made this series (about their actual age in the manga, so 14 or 15). The problem is that bad direction can be directly observed by Usagi being pretty good in some scenes and wretched in others, while Ami is almost always Ami. On the other hand, the fighting scenes were probably choreographed and directed by someone else, and Ami is generally fine in those.

Edited January 22, 2023 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

On the bright side, Minako's transformation sequence is bloody bonkers.

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Yeah, I am unsure of how much time and money they had for the casting of the series. As with everything else, that was probably "not much", why else would they have a really, really terrible plush Luna.

Because a really terrible plush still looks better than trying to use CGI. It was an admirable and powerful choice in the face of difficult budgetary circumstances.

2 hours ago, Space KP, Baby said:

Well given to how I reacted to The Green Knight, you're probably right. For slower paced stuff I need at least one interesting character to follow and a lot of the old fairy tales are not that great in that regard. Still better than the Disney stuff, but that's a low bar equivalent to beating a dog at chess.

I did like the main character, Arete, a bit during the first third of the film. Some general film spoilers:

Spoiler

Then she gets a curse placed on her where she loses her personality and does whatever anybody tells her to do, and it lasts for almost the entire rest of the film and it pretty much grounds the film to a complete halt, especially because this coincides with her being kidnapped and locked in a dungeon by an evil wizard that literally just...lays around all day doing nothing while telling her to do nothing. Keep in mind that for the first third of the film, she was already kept locked in a tower...but at least she could think and talk while a few other characters interacted with her. It's not at all where I expected the film to go, especially because there had been repeated mentions of witchcraft and it was made known to the viewer that it was specifically Arete's scheme to amass magical artifacts and learning...and I thought all that setup was going to culminate in her using magic of some kind to try to escape her fate, but instead it went the complete opposite way in chaining her up even more, which while thematically interesting and consistent with her life up to that point, it just didn't feel entirely cromulent cinematically speaking. Some classic fairy-tales do this sort of thing, but...it was weird.

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[LadyCrimson]

I tried watching Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, Netflix. Horror, anthology, might be good. Some episodes have two brief stories, some are single-story. I watched some episodes on the TV, some on my tablet.  Note: it wasn't until later, with a Google, that I found out it's based on some famous manga/artist works, unseen by me.

--1st episode - "Strange (something) Siblings" - wtf is going on. Also, this is boring.
--2nd episode - Something about a tunnel first, then kids + ice cream truck: bit more interesting in a weird way, at least
--3rd episode - "Hanging Balloon" - better, I liked most of it, the idea is intriguing at least, the ending felt weak.
--more episodes - bored again, ok, kinda interesting, bored again, etc.

...I reached "Tomie-Photo", which was eh. As an anthology it's a real hit and miss for me, with only a few episodes capturing more of my attention. I probably won't watch the few left.
...from reviews it sounds like it totally fails at capturing the feeling of the original artist's drawings and at least from the few images I saw in articles I'd agree. From my know-nothing perspective, the animation is ok/generic but it's simply not very creepy/disturbing, at least if one is used to the genre. Stories also often end abruptly in a way that feels too cut-off, even relative to a short story/no answers or big conclusion type format. Which is simply unsatisfying. 

[Bartimaeus]

I do believe Junji Ito is quite famous among manga viewers - even I'm passingly familiar with his art, and I've read like...maybe two books' worth of manga in total. This incredibly lovely image, which was near the top of the search results after merely searching his name so I figure it must be of some import in his work, is usually the first thing that comes to mind when I hear his name:

(spoilered because perhaps somewhat objectionable?)

Spoiler

Now if I could ever look at manga and not immediately think "good lord, why is the dialogue written/translated so unnaturally all the time regardless of whom/what I'm reading", I might be able to enjoy some of it, because the art does look neat, but...it's a hurdle I've yet to clear.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[Lexx]

On 1/19/2023 at 12:30 AM, InsaneCommander said:

 Attack on Titan Splits the Final Season Part 3 in Two Parts, Sets Premiere Date 

I blame this on @Space KP, Baby, who made a joke just about it months ago. Stop giving them these ideas.

Attack on Titan: The Final, Final, Final, This is really the Final Season-season.

At this point I just want it to end. The last one already felt like it was just a waste of time.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Lexx

[Bartimaeus]

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999), written by Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame.

So don't get me wrong, it's pretty solid on the whole or thereabouts, which is so much better than I expected given the title of the film (boy that is a really bad title and conjures up all sorts of wrong ideas that don't really apply to this film, at least not past the first few minutes since it does start with a bit of an action sequence), but for it to all come down to the characters acting like they'd each had frontal lobotomies performed upon them at some point during the film is just a bit too much for me to tolerate. This is why I don't do male protagonists - sooner or later, all the characters start behaving like they're literally incapable of any emotional intelligence or even just plain old thinking with which they could use to reasonably navigate their way through situations, and I ain'ts got the patience for it. Write better male characters (and movies/shows around them), all you industry hack frauds.

Well, luckily, at least I have Mr. Bean up there as one of the most forefront pioneers of emotionally intelligent male protagonists. I shudder to think of how much worse we would be as a species without him lighting our way to better times.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[InsaneCommander]

Space Dandy 19

Dr. Gel kidnaps Honey to set a trap for Dandy. It took long enough for the bad guys to get a little creative. Scarlet goes on a date.

This one was another great episode. In the end, Honey saves herself and Scarlet is abandoned by Dandy and her date.

 

Space Dandy 20

Dandy and the leader of the Jaicro Empire form a band. Dr. Gel not appearing in this episode is truly a crime.

Dandy became so obsessed with the band that actually ignored Honey most of the time.

[InsaneCommander]

Space Dandy 21-23

23 was great. Scarlet hires Dandy to pretend to be her boyfriend and scare away her stalking ex. She actually has to explain to him that there will be no kisses or physical contact.

The beach scene was the best in the series. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a gif or video that shows it from other people's point of view and it looks like she is not angry. “A couple running after each other at the beach? That’s wonderful.”

Dandy manages to catch six rare aliens while dating. Well, actually, Scarlet knocks most of them out and he collects the reward. So a few days on a date were worth more than twenty episodes focused on (not) catching the rare aliens.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

10 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Space Dandy 21-23

23 was great. Scarlet hires Dandy to pretend to be her boyfriend and scare away her stalking ex. She actually has to explain to him that there will be no kisses or physical contact.

The beach scene was the best in the series. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a gif or video that shows it from other people's point of view and it looks like she is not angry. “A couple running after each other at the beach? That’s wonderful.”

Dandy manages to catch six rare aliens while dating. Well, actually, Scarlet knocks most of them out and he collects the reward. So a few days on a date were worth more than twenty episodes focused on (not) catching the rare aliens.

My favorite episode of the series is next for you, let me know what you think of Space Bebop: Cowboy Dandy.

Not as much Monster, because I got out of the woods with Twin Peaks and ended up in the black lodge watching what happens when showtime let's an absolute madman do whatever the hell he wants.

[InsaneCommander]

Space Dandy 24-26

We finally learn why the Gogol empire wants Dandy so badly. And the truth about getting bald when warping too much.

Dandy is judged for murder and then captured by Dr. Gel. His friends decide to rescue him, but the Jaicro empire launches an attack and they end up in the middle of a war zone.

 

On 1/25/2023 at 1:02 AM, Space KP, Baby said:

My favorite episode of the series is next for you, let me know what you think of Space Bebop: Cowboy Dandy.

Are you talking about the Catherine episode? This one and the last one were among the best for sure. Dr. Gel and Bea entering universes with decreasing dimensions was hilarious, especially after you learn more about Bea in the last episode. Honey figuring it out what it means to be 2D was funny too.

This is a great series and I really liked how it ended.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

15 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Are you talking about the Catherine episode? This one and the last one were among the best for sure. Dr. Gel and Bea entering universes with decreasing dimensions was hilarious, especially after you learn more about Bea in the last episode. Honey figuring it out what it means to be 2D was funny too.

That's the one, so many great moments. Probably my favorite line was Dr. Gel intercepting the transmission from Paul. "Probably some cross over from a melodrama or something. We don't have time to worry about it." Not only was the delivery perfect but...

It sort of goes with my interpretation that Dr. Gel knows he's in a tv show.

[InsaneCommander]

On 1/26/2023 at 3:57 PM, Space KP, Baby said:

 

  Hide contents

 

It sort of goes with my interpretation that Dr. Gel knows he's in a tv show.

 

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

9 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

[InsaneCommander]

Buddy Daddies 1-3

Don’t mention this in Crunchyroll's comment section, but this is basically Spy x Family with two dads and they are both assassins. The main difference so far is that there is no main plot and the parenting problems are more realistic. Also, the child is not a telepath, but she makes Anya look like a saint in comparison.

Kazuki and Rei are roommates and hitmen that end up with a child, Miri, after killing her father and finding out her mother doesn’t want anything to do with her. Because of their past, it doesn't take long until they accept the girl and become her fathers, despite having no idea of what they are doing.

 

They even take her to one of her jobs. She was supposed to stay in the van, but she had to pee… and then she ended up entering the target’s house and completely ruining the job.

 

Spoiler

Overall, I still prefer Spy x Family, but this one is pretty funny too.

[majestic]

PGSM continues to be a little weird because the characters are somewhere in between their manga and anime counterparts, and it sometimes just clashes. It's just too weird to see Minako dressing down psycho-killer Rei for not being serious enough, only to then throw a really childlish, competitive fit over taking care of a stray dog with her, as Rei brings some dog food with her and Minako just has to run off and buy four large boxes of high quality dog food to one-up Rei.

Next scene, Makoto is telling Usagi to not give up because who knows if that girlfriend of Mamoru's is going to stick around (I suppose Makoto read the script). Makoto, of all people, should not try to get Usagi to mess up other people's relationships. Minako totally would. It makes sense in context of the series, I suppose.

This is by the way the fifth set of voices for the characters I've heard (Crystal and original German and Japanese dub, now PGSM). It's starting to be really confusing.

[Sarex]

Dandadan is so good, do wonder how it hasn't gotten an anime announcement yet.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Monster - Dr. Tenma has become a vigilante running from the police after doing a training arc.

[InsaneCommander]

Well, it's time to find a daycare.

 

[majestic]

Are there anime stock character designs? I could swear I've seen that blonde haired guy in several other animes already.

Spoiler

Edit:

Kunzite just owns every scene he is in.

edit 2:

Artemis after Minako pranks him:

Usagi's mother tells her to watch a frist grader, the daugther of a friend of hers. Usagi proceeds by offering her coffee. She looks like she escaped from some horror movie shoot. Talks like it too.

And then Usagi just drops her off at a boy's house after creepy girl gives him chocolates for Valentine's Day. Uh, Usagi, are you sure about that?

Edited January 30, 2023 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Are there anime stock character designs? I could swear I've seen that blonde haired guy in several other animes already.

I wouldn't be surprised by that. In fact, you can see him twice in this anime alone, since Kazuki looks just like Miri's real father:

I even saw some people confused, wondering if Kazuki was Miri's real father.

1 hour ago, majestic said:

She looks like she escaped from some horror movie shoot.

With the way Artemis looks on this show, she still has to escape.

[majestic]

So, basically, when I think of someone who likes Crystal more than the original anime, I imagine a certain type of person, and I have to say this particular comment basically confirms my prejudices. Giant sentences, disjointed stream of consciousness, complete nonsense ahead:

Small sample size, to be certain, but let it never be known that I am fair in my criticism of things I do not enjoy.

Edited January 31, 2023 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

Buddy Daddies 4

This episode was hilarious and the best by far. Tired of spending all day with Miri when they can’t get more jobs (because of the one she ruined), they discover daycare is a thing and try to enroll Miri. Only to learn about all the bureaucracy involved and having even more trouble, like sewing Miri’s name in everything she will take to school. Also, they find out that whatever you say in front of a kid will be repeated in the most inappropriate moments.

 

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

I've watched all these clips, and it makes me appreciate some things in which I largely took for granted in Spy x Family, like Anya's voice not being that of a shrill harpy's, slightly more unique character designs, the art style not being neon puke, characters talking with just a little more normal tones and inflections, and not resorting to the most generic of simplified anime expressions (...although Spy x Family has its own problems with being meme-y about its own face expressions, of course). It's the littlest things that shift a show from "watchable" to "unwatchable" for me with modern anime, . Well, really, everything, but especially modern anime.

11 hours ago, majestic said:

So, basically, when I think of someone who likes Crystal more than the original anime, I imagine a certain type of person, and I have to say this particular comment basically confirms my prejudices. Giant sentences, disjointed stream of consciousness, complete nonsense ahead:

Small sample size, to be certain, but let it never be known that I am fair in my criticism of things I do not enjoy.

david_lynch.mp4