The Anime Thread

[GoGo Yubari]

Oh man there's finally non-One Piece manga I care about again! New chapter of Genshiken just came out within the last couple days and it's making me super-nostalgic for the original series. I should try and pick it all up from the library again once I'm not swamped with stuff I need to read for school.

[stokeriño]

Any idea how much of this new Genshiken there will be? Wiki is none too clear...

[GoGo Yubari]

No clue. I just intend to appreciate it while it's here.

[The Mask of Norro]

So Lorina introduced me to a new slice-of-life style anime that's been coming out as of late called Kuragehime. Reminds me of the Wallflower meets Ouran meets, well, I don't really know. It's just awesome. The cast so far has been charming and well-developed, albeit very... well, very different. So far there's only two episodes out, but it's amusing enough that I think we'll be following it as it comes out each week.

[StevenRichardsRules]

What's it about? A high school slice-of-life or what?

I need ways to waste my time that don't involve schoolwork.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

By episode 6 of Panty and Stocking, I was about to give up on the show, then episode 6 happened, and it was one of the best episodes of anything I've seen.

[stokeriño]

Sigh...

I'm fine skipping episodes 3 - 5 to see what you're talking about, right?

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

Yes. There's 1 or 2 references to previous episodes, but they're both minor.

Though the second half of episode 5 was interesting, and completely different from the rest of the series, to the point of even being drawn in a different style, and may be worth investigation.

[StevenRichardsRules]

Can anyone recommend any of the new series? I'm trying to find something new to watch.

I've seen the first episode of The Tatami Galaxy (which was pretty good, though a bit weird since the translation moved really fast and nothing was overly clear) and the first episode of The World Only God Knows (really good, just fun kinda show). I'm digging them thus far.

EDIT: Having watched all the episodes available for both series, I have come to a conclusion. The World God Only Knows is good, especially if you are a fan of cheesy, rom-com-type animes. That's probably underselling it a bit but it's seriously very good. If you're not aware, the basic plot is that a dating sim expert accidently signs a contract to retrieve lost souls and basically applies video game logic to real life situations. It's good, though I was slightly annoyed at the pacing once or twice (sometimes, they like to streeeeeetch out the scenario).

The Tatami Galaxy was fucking amazing. I fully admit that I'm kinda into Madhouse stuff (from Paranoia Agent, mostly) and this was a similar vein. Don't want to go into plot spoilers, since half the fun comes from figuring out exactly what's going on while you watch. So so soooo good. I don't know what I'd call it, maybe a psychological philosophical swerve-fest? Almost a mind-fuck? I dunno, but I'm blown away. Check this motherfucker out!

Edited November 22, 2010 by StevenRichardsRules

[The Mask of Norro]

So without going into too much dialogue on it because it's late and I'm tired, I'll just go ahead and make my anime recommendation for... well, whatever week or month we're on now since my last one.

Angel Beats. It's 13 episodes long, but it's easily the most fulfilling anime I've ever watched with such a small number of episodes. This anime had everything you'd want somehow neatly packed into 13 episodes without feeling too rushed, without leaving out anything overly important, yet still somehow mixing such a wonderful blend of comedy, action, drama, character development, and so much more. Seriously, just... it was so damn good. I absolutely cannot recommend it enough.

So yeah. Watch it. I'm telling you people, if you skip out on seeing it you're missing out on a very, very good anime. I'd leave a general run-down of the story and all but truth be told, episode one breaks things down almost immediately. I'd just dive right in to be honest.

[StevenRichardsRules]

Been procrastinating on doing schoolwork to check out new anime. I've watched about half the the 24 episode run of Durarara and all of the 13 episodes of Working!!.

I quite liked Working!! as it has many of the familiar aspects of slice-of-life anime, set in a resteraunt, but seems to be trying o do things just a bit differently. Granted, it's not revolutionary by any means, but it's fun enough. Reminds me a bit of Azumanga Daioh, for some reason. Just light-hearted fun, with not a lot of substance. Liked that the main character wasn't a perfect person by any means (having a tendency to say things without thinking, be cold to others, be a bit weird for cute things).

I have yet to form an opinion of Durarara. Honestly, I have very mixed feelings about it. There is a mystery element that I like and things still aren't super clear, halfway through the series. The waters have become less murky, clearly, but there are many more questions to answer. However, I feel like there is something that hampers me from liking some of the characters. Each episode is usually narrated by a single character and focuses on one group, while including side-stories about others. There were some characters that I plain didn't like (or wanted to stop talking) and some that I couldn't care less about. Sometimes, I felt that the reveals made the characters less interesting too, maybe that they were too pedestrian? Still, it is funny (at the right times) with a sense of unknown as well. I'm really conflicted about this one, since people seem to be raving (at least people I know) about how good it is.

[Hailtothechimp]

New series I am watching, as I decided to get back into anime this season.

-Iron Man: Pretty meh anime. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about. If your Marvel fan though, I'd give it a watch.

-The World God Only Knows: Chessy Romantic-Comedy-Drama type thing. It's just a plain fun watch.

-Star Driver: Giant Robot show with one of the weirdest plots ever. What I do know is that the action is awesome and its absolutely hilarious when its trying to be funny. I suck at explaining it, but if your into the Giant Robot genre or are just looking for something to watch, give it a go.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

I don't think this has been posted yet, so here goes.

Tokyo's ban on anime, manga and games featuring "virtual crimes" or which are "likely to interfere with the healthy development of youth" has passed after the DPJ agreed to support it.

The DPJ's only addition to the critical portion of the law was a short rider which requests "prudent application of the law in light of any artistic, social, scientific or satirical merits the work might express" – it does not however add any legal obligation to consider these, or establish any clear or indepdently enforced criteria for judging whether a work can be declared "harmful" or not.

Even more bizarrely, the final draft actually removed a passage that imposed "a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography" on Tokyo residents, whilst leaving the section banning erotic manga and anime (and explicitly excluding photographic materials) all but unchanged – that the bill is intended exclusively as an "anti-otaku" law seems to be beyond doubt.

It is very difficult to objectively assess the scope of the law – along with vague and subjective terms like "interfere with the healthy development of youth," the law also includes "etc." on the end of most of its examples, leaving it quite unclear, for example, whether the "improper glorification of illegal sexual activity, etc." applies to only virtual sex crimes, or all crimes in general – presumably the interpretation adopted will be whichever is convenient to censors.

Similarly, the ban's mention of "rape and other sexual acts which violate societal norms" seems inevitably to point to a ban on depictions of homosexuality, considering who was behind the law.

The generally expected form the law will take is that of a "amakudari" (a pervasive system of sinecures for retired bureaucrats) body which will inspect all anime, manga and games, with only those titles receiving approval as "healthy" able to be sold regularly in Tokyo shops – the rest will be relegated to the "adult corner."

The most immediate and direct effect of the law will almost certainly be to see ecchi manga such as To Love-Ru, bishoujo titles such as Champion Red and most BL manga, as well as any seinen manga with especially mature themes, banned from general sales – presumably most will then be cancelled due to a lack of suitable magazine or tankobon distribution channels, with a few perhaps being resurrected as 18+ ero-manga.

As has already been seen, publishers will also likely be purging future anime, manga and games of any content liable to fall foul of the law, and removing older titles from distribution.

The law probably also spells the end of most late night anime in Tokyo (and by extension, everywhere else), which it would appear to ban under its distribution clause; given the vague wording of the current season alone it seems Ore no Imouto, Panty & Stocking, Yosuga, Sora no Otoshimono, Milky Holmes and others would all fall foul of its various stipulations.

There is also some doubt as to whether Comiket will be able to be held under the new regulations – if not, its cancellation or removal to another prefecture seems likely, although a lack of sufficiently large spaces may severely complicate this.

The law comes into effect in July of 2011, so with magazine, tankobon, anime and game release schedules being what they are, it seems likely its effects will be felt much sooner; in a genuinely democratic state there might be scope to overturn it before then, but from what has been seen so far it seems unlikely publishers have the guts or savvy to do anything about it.

Source: sankakucomplex (NSFW site)

So... Japan has effectively screwed with about 90% of manga and anime by banning "questionable material", with some mangakas already complaining that their publishers don't even allow them to draw school uniforms, which is a staple in Japan (even if the manga or anime isn't your typical romantic comedy/drama, many characters wear school uniforms. One example that quickly springs to mind is Evangelion).

Well. This is simply awful. Sure, I understand the ban on loli-related things, but banning everything? I really do hope it eventually gets overturned, but I don't really see it happening. What do you guys think?

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

What bugs me more than anything is that the review board will be made up of retired bureaucrats. I can't imagine a colder, more soulless type of person than an old, japanese, bureaucrat. This could be to anime and manga what the Comics Code was to american comics in the 50s.

[stokeriño]

Even more bizarrely, the final draft actually removed a passage that imposed "a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography" on Tokyo residents, whilst leaving the section banning erotic manga and anime

Says a lot.

Banning risqué (or apparently anything other than childish) television broadcasts which are already shown in the dead of night as it is smacks of little more than political point-scoring with the conservative establishment. Pathetic.

[mattman1624]

Just watched the first episode of the new Mazinkaiser SKL OAV. It's awesome, in spite of the misogyny. It has giant robot action, manly protagonists, and music by LOUDNESS. You can't go wrong with this show.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

I saw the Haruhi movie tonight. It was good and all, but goddamn... 2 hours 40 minutes? Was not expecting an anime movie to go on for so long.

[GoGo Yubari]

After Endless Eight I am not shocked at anything Haruhi-related being ridiculously long.

[stokeriño]

Still refuse to watch Endless Eight, even though one of my friends keeps trying to make me. I think she's just being malicious.

Anime Marathon tonight~!

After the first Evangelion marathon, we had the second which was a Full Metal Panic Fumoffu/Second Raid marathon. So as to continue our alternation of choices between fucked up and funny, this weekend will see a double bill of Saikano and Elfen Lied.

Its official title is Anime Marathon III: The Re-Fuckupening.

[GoGo Yubari]

Best thing to come out of having endured Endless Eight was a rare "yeah, no, that really sucked" admission from a voice actor at a convention (it was Johnny Yong Bosch, after someone had asked him if Endless Eight was as monotonous to dub as it was to watch. It was.).