[Maxvla]

For those of you looking for an anime home on O/C this is your official destination. Please keep all anime discussion in this thread.

Attention: Spoilers present in this thread. Tread at your own risk!

The aim of this thread is to discuss recent anime and those still in production or upcoming, keeping the discussion fresh and interesting. Please leave discussion of aging animes to history unless it relates to current topics.

Here's what i'm currently watching and my thoughts:

Naruto: Seriously, nothing but filler as long as i can remember, but i got hooked and must continue watching. Very minor character building during this arc which is supposed to continue for 18 more weeks, sigh.... I hope they at least improve the filler to give people more than 1 spell they use every time they fight, e.g. rasengan, chidori, etc. I remember the 4th using several spells in his fight with orochimaru and it was very interesting! The same spells over and over for 160+ episodes is getting old. I'm losing interest but still manage to watch it before the next week's episode comes out. At least they are developing Sakura so she won't be quite as completely useless as she has been this entire show.

Bleach: Who's not watching this?!?!? WOW is all i can say. If action anime is what you want this is exactly what you've been looking for. It took a bit to get me hooked on Bleach but i'm glad i stuck with it as right now its better than naruto has ever been. If you haven't watched this I highly recommend it.

Black Cat: An experiment on my part. So far up to ep 7 has been released afaik and it's a bit disjointed, but i'm willing to give it some time as the main character is of the type i usually identify with very easily. hopefully my investment will pay off later on as Bleach has for me.

Blood+: A very promising new anime based on a flop movie in Japan. I've watched up to 7 and 8 is coming out very soon if not already. there is so much i want to know about Saya and how she is connected to these creatures. It has a bit of a 'buffy the vampire slayer' feel to it but done in a way thats not cheap american thriller theater. I love the dr jekyl and mr hide aspect of saya right now and can't wait for her to be able to fully control her power. i can understand her brother's position this early but the time they spend pointing out his feelings is a bit much and i'm ready for them to get past it. I'm not sure how i feel about the anti american military sentiment plastered throughout this anime, but for now i'm ignoring it as much as i can. I'm hooked already which is pretty amazing as even naruto took me 15-20 eps before i couldn't wait for the next episode. I can't recommend this yet, but I like it so far.

thats all i'm watching for now, if anyone has some suggestions i'm all for trying new things.

Maxvla

[Oni]

Hmm . . . I guess I'm about the only person in the whole world not watching Naruto or Bleach. I tried them on, and they just didn't appeal to me all that much

I have been watching Blood+, however. I purchased Blood: The Last Vampire on a whim about 3 years ago, 'cause the box said 'from the director of Ghost in the Shell'. When I was browsing the ANN and saw it, I thought I'd try it on for size. I was quite impressed. The animation quality is fantastic for a TV show based on a rather crummy one-shot 45 minute OAV. Disturbing creatures and apealing character design make it stand out. Good voice acting make the show all that much easier to digest, and the fight sequences are very good, if not a bit gory. Viewer discression very much advised

The other most recent thing I've been watching has been Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid. It's good in the same way that the first one was good; top notch character designs, mech designs, and voice acting all tied into an attractive package. Now, we'll just have to see if they release more omake stuff like Fumoffu?. That made the first series, imo.

Max, what is considered recent here? I've got stuff from 8 months ago that many people probably haven't seen. I've also got old stuff that people probably haven't seen, either that they might like to hear about.

[Maxvla]

for instance... lets leave Evangelion behind... stuff that has been done for years and discussed more than Clinton's oval office activities.

Oni i too have been watching TSR but i'm only up to episode 8 which was a real shocker with the captain/sousoke scene in her office. i'm not sure where this is headed but it doesn't feel like the original series at all. animation of course is top notch as is voice acting, but the story just doesn't feel like its going anywhere good. there are only 13 episodes in this complete series afaik which is pretty short i felt considering the first one was what 26 eps?

One other thing i'd like to point out about Blood+ is that people DIE! Yes! I am so sick of people getting mortally wounded in other animes but give them 20 minutes and they are back to full power ready to fill in the arc holes when the writers have a block. This is my main complaint about Bleach, but besides that I love it.

I can certainly understand not watching Naruto, but what is it about Bleach that you don't like? Perhaps you aren't as much of an action anime fan as i am. some of these action animes don't have much story but i can accept that and just enjoy the action. same as american action blockbusters, terrible acting/story/music... pretty much everything but good action and effects. they aren't mind blowing life changing animes but its a nice little shot of action for 20 minutes a week I enjoy.

[TollhouseFrank]

For me?

Witch Hunter Robin - If you dont' watch from episode 1, then you will be hopelessly lost. Its a great anime IMO. If you like magic (not like D&D, but imagine it sort of as X-Men set inside of a Soap Opera)

Hellsing - Another great one that doesn't get enough credit. If you love undead/horror movies, then check out this anime. Not for the kiddies though.

Samurai Deeper Kyo - Just obtained episodes 1-26, and will watch them soon. From what I can tell, it is a mix of Rurouni Kenshin and Yu-Yu Hakusho. Looks to be very promising.

Yu Yu Hakusho - For those tired of DBZ, but wanting a great action series based around crazy powers, go for this one! I finally managed to collect EVERY episode (uncut american) and have watched it all the way through. The story line starts to clutter in the last 15 or so episodes, but I think that is because they tried to stuff 60+episodes worth of material into those last 15 or so episodes. On the whole, a VERY good anime series worth watching the whole way through.

[Maxvla]

Witch Hunter Robin sounds interesting. A different avenue than i usually like.

i never could get into rurouni kenshin so if Samurai Deeper Kyo is similar i most likely won't enjoy it.

Crazy powers are fun. Yu Yu Hakusho might be worth a trial.

[darksparkz]

Naruto's dragging on too much now. He does all these little missions that are quite useless, ranging from the life saving curry to the imposter Lee and Gai. They probably should show a tad more of Sakura's training, mainly because people want to finally see her do something other then save fish.

Bleach's getting more and more exciting. In the way this is going, would the show end once they get back to the real world with Rukia? Because by that time, Ichigo would pretty much be as strong as the first captain, if not stronger.

Any idea on the next Gundam series? Some of them are pretty lame, but I've only watch Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed, both original and destiny ones. What's after Seed?

[jcw122]

I like Cowboy Bebop

[TollhouseFrank]

Originally Posted by jcw122

I like Cowboy Bebop

sorta like saying Samurai Jack is anime....

if you want good anime... look at Trigun or Neon Genesis Evangelian.

[ckj]

Watching Jungle wa itsumo hale nochi guu. I was put out by it first but it's hilarious once you get into it. Seen and liked the little samauri champloo that i've seen. But i usually read manga instead, yakitate japan is hilarious, and hajime no ippo is a fantastic boxing manga (even if you don't like boxing). I've read bleach up to chapter 190 or so, and seen some naruto (100 eps) but I never really got into either.

[Maxvla]

Originally Posted by darksparkz

Naruto's dragging on too much now. He does all these little missions that are quite useless, ranging from the life saving curry to the imposter Lee and Gai. They probably should show a tad more of Sakura's training, mainly because people want to finally see her do something other then save fish.

Bleach's getting more and more exciting. In the way this is going, would the show end once they get back to the real world with Rukia? Because by that time, Ichigo would pretty much be as strong as the first captain, if not stronger.

Any idea on the next Gundam series? Some of them are pretty lame, but I've only watch Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed, both original and destiny ones. What's after Seed?

i also have been wondering what will happen to bleach after they save rukia.

i watched gundam wing this last summer start to finish and was left with a 'so what?' impression. not sure i would watch further iterations of this series.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Originally Posted by jcw122

I like Cowboy Bebop

about the only anime i can tolerate. although full metal alchemist was a good series (i watched it all)

[tenchi86]

All and all I enjoy shows like:

Trigun = A super human type guy(actually a plant) goes around in a desert world and using a gun tries to save people wthout killing anyone.
Cowboy Bebop - Bounty Hunters basically go around and try to well get bounties
Alexander the Great = Vagually based on the real ruler, has a good story and can get your hurt pumping at how great a ruler he was.
Full Metal Alchemist = Alchemist trying to find a way to restore human bodies, though often get mized up in other things
Samuri Champloo = Samuri pretty much go around trying to find some guy and often get into trouble
Tenchi Muyo = Geeky guy finds out about some powers he has and starts to be loved by all these girls from around space. (well like 3)

Generally these all have what I consider the best stories, and also all seem to have some decent fight. Well Tenchi dosnt and full metal was not grat but still have some.

[shard]

Lets see, I am a huge Full metal panic fan, and I am waiting for second raid to finish dling, and yes its unlicensced still, so completely legal.

On my desk I have bolth Chrono Crusade, and DNAngel. And after I am done with those, I am going to probably hit Ruorni Kenshin.

But I need get my hands on some Bleach, sounds like my kind of style.

I am also watching Naruto too, not too far in, so far just got to the second season, but enjoying it a good deal so far.

[SolidxSnake]

Trigun was probably the first anime i really got into. Great series.

Cowboy Bebop was great, as was Hellsing. FMA was incredible. I liked Yu Yu, Bleach is great.

FLCL (Fooly Cooly) was ****ing HILARIOUS.

Beck was a great anime as well, that was the latest series I've finished. I really wanna get the mangas soon.

Evangelion was weird as HELL. I didn't really get it (most people don't with one watch through the series).

Naruto is getting repetitive. Kenshin is good, but i personally liked the first OVA's better. More bloody

I know i'm forgetting lots of anime here, but these are the ones I can think about.

Man, I wish i had Vash's aim in CS HAHA

[Dreamstalker]

I've never seen Naruto or Bleach either. Bleach looks good and I'll definitely keep an eye out for it when I go back home for break (may or may not be working this winter so I'll probably have a fair amount of free time). I'll try and find Witch Hunter Robin as well; been meaning to see that for awhile. I don't have a TV or tuner card, so most of what I've seen is on DVD.

I've been too busy to do any real anime watching as of late (graduating in May--w00t ).

Death Note seems like it could be interesting when/if it comes over here (reading the manga currently).

[Ven0m]

Most of anime I've seen and enjoyed has been already mentioned, however I have to add that Hellsing is one of my favourite ones Too bad that there were only 13 episodes :/

Berserk is pretty cool too. Some situations are boring / stupid, but overally it's really enjoyable.
These are not series, but also worth seeing in my opinion: Ghost in the Shell (1 and 2), Akira, Metropolis. Gunnm (also known as Battle Angel Alita) was pretty interesting, but there were only 2 episdes, before it got canceled...

[shard]

A movie that I realy want to get my hands on, The Place Promised In Our Early Days. Looks damn good!

[Oni]

Originally Posted by Ven0m

Ghost in the Shell (1 and 2)

IMO, Dreamworks really, really dropped the ball on Innocence. Crappy subtitles and no dubbing. Lackluster DVD extras etc. I know for a fact that they can get all the original english voice cast save for Mimi Woods (she seems to have fallen off of the world or something ), so there was no reason to not have an english voice cast. The subtitles were closer to hearing-impaired closed captions than subtitles.

With a little luck, maybe somebody like Manga Entertainment will pick it up. Then we'll get a quality release.

[TollhouseFrank]

Guys... managed to watch half of Samurai Deeper Kyo today. It is VERY good, or at least I think so. Story is sometimes convoluted, and it does not always make sense. However, It is VERY funny at times, and is similar to InuYasha in presentation, but done by the artists who did the Samurai X movies(or at least the styling is the same).

Again, i'm, just 13 episodes into a 26 episode series (i hope a new season comes out). It is well worth the effort to get it.

Am currently in the process of trying to acquire Bleach. My brothers have the complete Naruto series subbed and I'll be borrowing it from them soon to watch all the way through.

*fixed *

[Xenocide]

only thing i really watch is full metal alchemist, i can't stand subs so i always wait for dubbed episodes

[Maxvla]

subs >>>>>>>> dubs

ugh

[Captain Slug]

My recent watching list isn't very full but here are the ones I am following or was following in the past few months.

Bleach
It just keeps gettning better, and that's not something you see very often so if you haven't started following this series PM me or anyone you know that's colelcting episodes.

Pani Poni Dash
This is like Azumanga Daioh but on a pixie-stik fueled sugar high. There's heaps of contextual humor that obviously is hard to follow, but the rest of the humor is very subtle and takes a second to seep in. A few of the episodes so far I had to rewatch after remembering things I didn't catch in the first sitting. This series is confusingly funny and may not be for everyone but it's one I'll be following for a while.

Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu
Also very fast and very very strange, but the humor doesn't require intimate knowledge of japanese culture. It's just so weird and character chemistry is so strange that I could resist watching all three sets of the show. The order is as follows.
1. Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu
2. Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu Deluxe
2. Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu Final!

Cromartie High School
Very trippy and similar in some respects to Jungle Wa Itsumo, but very very pointedly pokes fun at cultural stereotypes. It's just absurdly funny in a way I can't quite explain. Definitely worth recommending to anyone because it just has such a strangely universal appeal. Much like Azumanga has but minus the inherent draw of cuteness. Haven't been able to get ahold of anything beyond episode 26.

SteamBoy
Was far better than I expected due to reviews being hyper-critical. Had interesting characters, a good story, and was really fun to watch.

Stellvia of the Universe
So far so good. Only up to episode 8 and it seems a bit "safe". The characters haven't really shown any complexity yet so in some ways it's quite similar to any typical school drama.

Naruto
Great potential, but went the way of many anime in that it didn't develop any of the characters and the storylines just got longer and more repetitive. I gave up on this one around episode 150.

Mai Otome
Started watching it, but stopped when I realized that it's only getting more and more fan-servicey as the story progress. I was also unaware how lurid the source material was... Stopped watching after only 7 episodes.

On my "to-do" list

+ Great Teacher Onizuka
+ Black Cat (will start watching this soon)
+ Samurai 7 (tried to watch this earlier through fansub)

Originally Posted by shard

A movie that I realy want to get my hands on, The Place Promised In Our Early Days. Looks damn good!

It was okay. I don't want to give anything away but it was really slow and there was no real message or metaphor to the story or characters so it felt kind of empty and pointless. It was really beautiful to watch, the story just stunk.

Originally Posted by Xenocide

only thing i really watch is full metal alchemist, i can't stand subs so i always wait for dubbed episodes

Originally Posted by Maxvla

subs >>>>>>>> dubs

Extremely true in the case of full metal alchemist which has some of the worst dubbing and dialogue editing. WHich is sad because it's such a good series that doesn't deserve such treatment.

[Maxvla]

wtf is up with bleach? usually get my bleach on tuesday nights but its still not up

[Oni]

Originally Posted by Maxvla

subs >>>>>>>> dubs

ugh

That's really a personal preference thing. There are fantastic dubs out there, such as the Noir dub and the FLCL dub. There are also horrible dubs, like the Dirty Pair Flash dub (which has to be just about the worst dub I've ever heard, save for maybe Love Hina).

If a person wants to watch anime in their own native language, I think they should have that choice. Some people don't like reading subtitles, or can get more out of it if they can pay closer attention due to not having to read them. Some people enjoy the original language. Some people (like myself) can enjoy both.

Originally Posted by shard

A movie that I realy want to get my hands on, The Place Promised In Our Early Days. Looks damn good!

You might do good searching for it's American title: Beyond the clouds, the Promised Place. Alternately, you may also want to check out the Voices of a Distant Star DVD. It's a little vinette by the same director. It also has a cool little short called She and her Cat, which I actually enjoyed a bit more than Voices itself.

[Captain Slug]

I tried to watch Voices of a distant star, it was just too boring for me to finish and I found the art style to be annoying.

Most Blockbusters that stock anime will have a copy of "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" under that exact title so you might want to call a few near you. The one I work at is really small but has a sizable Anime collection, which is how I've managed to watch so many more titles in the past few months than I normally get to by just using NetFlix or fansubs.

[shard]

Originally Posted by Captain Slug

I tried to watch Voices of a distant star, it was just too boring for me to finish and I found the art style to be annoying.

Most Blockbusters that stock anime will have a copy of "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" under that exact title so you might want to call a few near you. The one I work at is really small but has a sizable Anime collection, which is how I've managed to watch so many more titles in the past few months than I normally get to by just using NetFlix or fansubs.

I am just waiting for my personal anime rental guy to get it, he already has 2000+ titles, and oddly doesnt have that yet, lol.

[Captain Slug]

Ah, you have a friend to leech off of. Those are very handy and sadly I had to become my own (without actually buying any titles) because I wouldn't want to spend more than 10 minutes around any of the people that attend the local Anime Clubs.
Man I hate this area...

[ckj]

GTO is hilarious and definately worth watching, however with my limited time (i've seen half of the anime but have the rest) i've stuck to slowly trudging through jungle wa itsumo. But i'm not complaining too much, guu is to evil for me to care.

[dark_15]

I like Inuyasha...

The dubs on that are pretty good as well. However I do like the subtitled stuff better.

FMA is pretty awesome too with subtitles.

[Maxvla]

slug i also watched samurai 7 til they licensed it. haven't been able to watch it ever since.

black cat 8 was pretty good just finished watching it. train's character seems to be completely different than the first several eps so its a bit confusing but the other characters are filling out decently, as much as could be expected with this story line. its funny they met up with that same waitress in the new town lol.