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Fuck it, anime thread

Started by The Mollusk, September 02, 2020, 07:00:21 PM

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The Mollusk

I started a thread for the excellent Detroit Metal City here but it didn't gain any traction. Maybe it's a bit too niche, so here's a whole catch-all thread for anime. Sorry Neil.

So let's talk about some good anime. I don't really know what sort of anime I like best to be honest, I've had a crack with a few different bits, and mostly I've enjoyed it all. But then I know there's fucking loads of it and despite its diversity as a medium, I do get the feeling the vast majority of it is total cookie cutter shite with truckloads of needless fan service and over-sexualisation. So I'd like to watch less of that.

Here's the variety of stuff I've seen and enjoyed:

Cute/sentimental/slice of life

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - I watched a bunch of this but I sort of fell off the wagon since I think I watched it in the wrong order? Or the plot reached a big conclusive point but then there's like a reset or something? I can't remember why I stopped but it was something confusing like that. Pretty good though.

Nichijou - I just started watching this one. Two episodes in and I'm really enjoying it. Apparently this style of anime with not much character development is not very popular? Personally I think it's lovely, and very funny as well as beautifully animated.

Chi's Sweet Home - I had to stop watching this after a while because I was so addicted to it and the vibe is so overpoweringly sweet and cute that it legitimately started having a weird effect on me. I remember watching the first episode where Chi loses her mother and it made me cry (I'm a really emotional person in case you never realised that about me). The childlike innocence to this show is engrossing, and despite the episodes being short (like, 3 mins) and uneventful, I got so sucked into it in a way that's almost embarrassing to admit. I love cats so much and Chi is a fucking great cat.


Comedy/offbeat

Gyagu Manga Biyori - This one's quite under the radar but it's fucking brilliant. Really short episodes, completely off the wall individual episodes mostly with different scenarios and characters entirely. Hilarious and one of the most absurd animated things I've ever seen.

FLCL - Been years since I watched this but I remember it being bonkers and really good.

Cromartie High School - Dreadfully animated but very funny. All the "kids" look like they're about 35 years old, it's just a load of daft rivalry stories (if I'm remembering right). One of the few anime where the English dub is at least as good as the original Japanese language.

GoldenBoy - One of my all-time favourites. Deliberately plays massively into the OTT sexualisation thing almost to the point of being hentai (which I'll admit isn't great, and apparently the original manga basically is hentai) but with a goofball male lead who is intensely perverted and keeps getting himself into all manner of scrapes with the women who employ him. Despite his overwhelming urges to be gross he somehow always ends up saving the day. It's been ages since I saw it though and I'm starting to wonder if it's very very ironic or if it is actually just misogynistic...


Deep/dark/big mood shit

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Discussed here.

Akira - Obviously it's amazing.

Tekkonkinkreet - Love this one too. Gorgeous looking surreal and dark sort of coming of age story, cracking soundtrack by Plaid.

Paprika - I've seen this a few times and I can never quite get my head around it. A friend once said when we got about halfway through it, "Nags am I supposed to know what the fuck's going on at this point?" and I said "No." It's absolutely mesmerising and fantastic. I don't really care that I don't understand it, it's a masterpiece all the same.


Then there's the Ghibli films, of which I've seen probably like 2/3. But I'd prefer not to talk about Ghibli in here, if it can be helped. It's more deserving of its own separate discussion.

I think I've seen more stuff than this but I'll just post later as I remember it.

Consignia

I've been wanting to do a thread on "Hands off Eizouken" for ages, just not really found the chance to articulate how good it is. It aired earlier this year, and was directed by one of the few true auteurs of the medium, Masaaki Yuasa. It's about a bunch of students running an animation club in a school, but really it's a love letter to animation and creativity in general. I really can't recommend it highly enough. I'm just apologetic I can't do it justice here.

The Mollusk

Aha I just got a copy of that too! Looking forward to giving it a spin, might dig into it this evening actually.

chveik

I don't watch that much anime but recently I thoroughly enjoyed Watamote. equally very funny and heartbreaking.

the ending song is lovely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWOTQRduHeA

bgmnts

Steak Bentley talked about Goldenboy in his MGS 4 video and it actually sounds like a decent anime. If it ever becomes available on a medium accessible to me i'll def check it out.

chveik

Quote from: bgmnts on September 02, 2020, 08:03:05 PM
If it ever becomes available on a medium accessible to me i'll def check it out.

it's on youtube

madhair60

Oh, NOW people will post in anime threads. Fuck all of you.

The Mollusk

Quote from: bgmnts on September 02, 2020, 08:03:05 PM
Steak Bentley talked about Goldenboy in his MGS 4 video and it actually sounds like a decent anime. If it ever becomes available on a medium accessible to me i'll def check it out.

It's all on YouTube. It is another rare anime where the general consensus among English speaking fans is that the English dub is far superior, because the guy playing Kintaro (the lead character) is bloody hilarious.

Here's the English dub: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw_ovZgLp013A2I50Cl137gem9Ta7Q661

Or here's the Japanese original with English subs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmoeEsd7F04

It's only 6 episodes long, you could blitz the lot in an evening. The final episode has a big conclusive plot and it's great.


The Mollusk

Quote from: madhair60 on September 02, 2020, 08:07:55 PM
Oh, NOW people will post in anime threads. Fuck all of you.

Sorry mate you just don't have my charm, people can't resist.


madhair60


chveik


The Mollusk

It's not a show. That's what he actually looks like. Same with my post above. I did say in the dickhead neighbour thread I have youthful looks and a strong jawline.

bgmnts

There was a thread for it but Kengan Ashura and Baki are really stupid and fun, although the animation style in the former takes getting used to.

The first season of Seven Deadly Sins was fun too, but I got tired of that weird playing with girl's tits thing.

madhair60

Quote from: chveik on September 02, 2020, 08:20:30 PM
btw which show does this come from?

Yuru Yuri, I don't know which season. Wholesome lesbian slice of life

Sin Agog

K-on! is like a more frivolous and fun version of that movie Linda Linda Linda.  Spun its soundtrack Hokago Tea Time a bunch, and well up like a ninny every time they play the song they wrote for Azusa.  It's so fucking earnest.

There are so many good new series, but I'll do a shout out to a '70s one called Rose of Versailles, based on a real story about a female member of the French royal guards in the time of Marie Antoinette.  Really love the pink-tinged slightly impressionistic old-school style, but the plot is also rock solid.

The Mollusk

Quote from: Sin Agog on September 02, 2020, 08:35:38 PM
K-on! is like a more frivolous and fun version of that movie Linda Linda Linda.  Spun its soundtrack Hokago Tea Time a bunch, and well up like a ninny every time they play the song they wrote for Azusa.  It's so fucking earnest.

Nice, I have this on my list also! Linda Linda Linda is such a wonderful and joyous film so you've deffo piqued my enthusiasm for K-On!! now.

There's a guy on MyAnimeList who wrote a handful of fantastic reviews, one of which was singing the praises of K-On!!, which you might like to read: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=30935

I found him because he was the reason I started watching Nichijou, off the back of this superb writeup: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=44337



Does anyone know if the other anime adaptations of Lupin III are as good as the pre-Ghibli film The Castle of Cagliostro? I love that film to bits and the characters are awesome, I'm keen to see more.

Consignia

Oh, go on. Since no one asked, I'll do one previously mildly popular[nb]Seriously, I got PMs about them an all.[/nb] pithy summaries of what's currently airing[nb]albeit limited to what I'm watching.[/nb]

It's been funny 'ole season because of the COVID eating into production schedules. But we where looking at empty schedule has actually been quite full. Especially for a usually dry summer season.

Continuations/Long runners
Fire Force - Kinda generic shounen action romp. Nice character designs are about the limit of it, though.
Fruits Basket - Full adapation of the classic shoujo romance manga. Melodramatic, but loads of heart. The first season was almost parity with the original adaption, but it's going into proper good stuff now. I've got a soft spot for it, since the first adaptation was one of the first anime series I watched, and the manga the first I read to completion.
Re:Zero - The brilliant deconstruction of the currently popular isekai power fantasy genre. Amazingly stands up to the famous first season in quality. Sometimes to the point of misery porn.
My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected - The finale to alternative romcom. Not as strong as the first two seasons, as it meanders through a single plot compared to the rapid fire of events of the former. Still better than most contenders in the area.
A Certain Scientific Railgun T - Part of the famous "Index" franchise, and the only part I think is any good. Despite a really bumpy production schedule, it holds up quite well.  Animation top notch, and action follows with it.
No Guns Life - Really good Noir-esque series, if you can get past the silly premise of the main character having a gun for a head.
Shokugeki no Souma - The once great cooking series plums new depths in it's question burn through the already lacking source material. Somehow finds a way to make baking with chainsaws dull.
Sword Art Online Alicisation - The latest installment the VR power fantasy series. Started with a really interesting premise into the nature of AIs, but devolved quickly into tedious power fantasy shite. Really great animated shite, but still shite.

New Series
Super HXEros - Absolutely ridiculous show about people with sexual powers fighting aliens trying to steal humanities libido. Utter trash.
Deca-Dence - Quite an interesting series about an upside down post apocalyptic MMORPG , where the AIs are the players and the humans are the NPCs. Some great criticisms of capitalism here.
Uzaki-chan wants to Hangout - Fun little romcom about college students, hampered considerably by the ridiculous  main character's design. Can be a high barrier, but fun enough once over it.
Rental Girlfriend - Another romcom about college students This time a bit broader, but refreshingly honest about it's wank jokes. Lot's of wank jokes here.
God of Highschool - Adaption of Korean web comic. Loads of action style, but zero substance. Leave your brain at the door, and you may enjoy.
Appare Ranman - Quite a good racing series in the vain of a Wacky Races Steam punk Western. Initially hard to get into, but once the pan-America race gets going, it's tons of fun. 
Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater - One of those high school club series about nothing in particular. This nothing in particular is sea fishing though, and it is quite good at what it does. If you to see high schoolers graphically preparing freshly caught octopus for dinner, this is your series.
Monster girl doctor - A later to the monster girl fetish party. Really dull and I dropped it after a couple of episodes, which I really shouldn't have bothered with in the first place.
The Misfit of Demon King Academy - Power fantasy chuunibyou shit. Straight into the "Burning Fighting Fighter" archetype bin.

I can't really comment on anything in the Netflix random distrubtion engine. Did watch Dorohedro recently, though. Excellent series, despite the CGI and abrupt ending.

Spiteface

Quote from: madhair60 on September 02, 2020, 08:07:55 PM
Oh, NOW people will post in anime threads. Fuck all of you.

It's okay, my one attempt at a Tokusatsu thread died on its arse.

Kamen Rider Saber is starting this coming Sunday, might try again...

The Mollusk

Quote from: Consignia on September 02, 2020, 07:08:41 PM
I've been wanting to do a thread on "Hands off Eizouken" for ages, just not really found the chance to articulate how good it is. It aired earlier this year, and was directed by one of the few true auteurs of the medium, Masaaki Yuasa. It's about a bunch of students running an animation club in a school, but really it's a love letter to animation and creativity in general. I really can't recommend it highly enough. I'm just apologetic I can't do it justice here.

One episode in and loving this already. Quite glad it's earlier in the evening than I thought so I can binge a few more of these. Very much enjoying that it kicks back against the usual stereotypes of how young girls should look and sound in anime. Wholesome as fuck and the opening title song is a banger.

Consignia

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 02, 2020, 09:19:34 PM
One episode in and loving this already. Quite glad it's earlier in the evening than I thought so I can binge a few more of these. Very much enjoying that it kicks back against the usual stereotypes of how young girls should look and sound in anime. Wholesome as fuck and the opening title song is a banger.

The attention to detail in their movement is great, and actually is significant later on to which I won't spoil.

Love the intro too.

The whole thing is just great though.

madhair60

K-On is my favourite television programme ever made. It is without flaw. Cried buckets, three times.

Sin Agog

Just played that track again and cried all over again.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ObVdcCkdI Although if I were Azusa, I'd be about as livid as I was touched that they wrote and arranged this whole gottdamn song without me.


And yeah, watch everything Yuasa's ever done.  Kaiba was one of the first anime series I ever saw, and little has lived up to it.  It's like an Osamu Tezuka and Yuasa brain baby, and much less scratchy than his usual style- it's more like a big, fluid Japanese Fantastic Planet.  Think I saw Kemonozume next, which is part of that whole body horror subgenre where characters are fighting against their own flesh and blood infected with amorphous monstrous genes.  The art style is unlike any other series I've seen, though. You know  how FLCL would sometimes break out into manga-esque line art, well this goes from even more bare bones than that to rich and beautiful.  Very cool series.  Mind Game is his masterpiece.  Really can't ever see him topping that.  The Tatami Galaxy is a motormouthed, philosophical completely atypical romantic comedy with, surprise, some amazing animation.  One problem is that the main character sometimes talks faster than a time-pressed auctioneer at a cattle auction.  It's one instance when I wouldn't mind a dub (actually, I'm not particularly against dubs in general- this isn't the '90s anymore), but it's so rich maybe it just makes it riper for rewatches.  Even his Ping-Pong series is great, although a little bit more in line with aspirational Japanesey YOU'RE THE BEST, AROUND, NOTHING'S EVER GONNA KEEP YOU DOWN!!!! sports dramas like Free! and Haikyu, both of which are really good.  Hopefully his recent association with Netflix doesn't sap his precious bodily fluids too much.  Really looking forward to seeing Eizouken.  Although I'm sure there've been at least two anime series about making anime series in the last few years.

madhair60

Quote from: Sin Agog on September 02, 2020, 10:04:23 PM
Just played that track again and cried all over again.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ObVdcCkdI Although if I were Azusa, I'd be about as livid as I was touched that they wrote and arranged this whole gottdamn song without me.

Christ, it's that focused, determined run to school in the last episode of season 1 that gets me. Intercut with those quick shots of her distracted, drifting old ways as she reassures her past self that she will find something worth doing.

Then, of course, in season 2...


Sin Agog

Quote from: madhair60 on September 02, 2020, 10:13:01 PM
Christ, it's that focused, determined run to school in the last episode of season 1 that gets me. Intercut with those quick shots of her distracted, drifting old ways as she reassures her past self that she will find something worth doing.

That ep weirded me out on first watch.  It was like a Brazilian being drugged, taken on a private jet to Norway in the middle of the winter, and dumped in a quiet, frozen field.  Almost more jarring than The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.  Of course it's wonderful, but I'm glad they defrosted by the end of the episode.  Funny to think that most people thought that might end up being the last ever episode of K-On at the time.  There's a new manga being released right now, which means a Season 3 is probably on its way.

The Mollusk

I started to watch Tatami Galaxy some years back but I actually couldn't keep up with the dialogue enough to marvel at how gorgeous the animation was and so I gave up on it very quickly...

Sin Agog

Might be worth just soaking it in and not sweating it over the missed dialogue.  It does calm down a little after a few episodes.  What is point words.

Consignia

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 02, 2020, 10:22:09 PM
I started to watch Tatami Galaxy some years back but I actually couldn't keep up with the dialogue enough to marvel at how gorgeous the animation was and so I gave up on it very quickly...

Night Is Short, Walk on Girl is worth a watch, as it's by the same writer/director[nb]Indeed the aforementioned Masaaki Yuasa
[/nb] combo, but with less super fast dialogue. It's very reminiscent of a youthful fevered drunken escapade of a night.

madhair60


Elderly Sumo Prophecy

There's already a nonce thread in General Bullshit lads, there's no need for two.