I Have Just Seen... VII

[Wings of Fire]

From what I've witnessed/experienced, FMA doesn't usually get this treatment.

Deathnote, however.................

The 2003 series of FMA does, and rightly (In my opinion) so. I liked it plenty but I have so many complaints about it you'd all get really bored.

I've only ever seen the Cowboy Bebop movie and I didn't think it was all that; the story seemed flimsy and the only character I liked was Ed. Plus that ending, urgh.

Oh but I adored the movie. Different strokes I guess.

[STM]

Ah okay, well what did you like about it then? I'm just curious because I thought it was okay, but it certainly didn't stand out to me as one of the best.

[Nate]

*sigh*

Do I need to order WoF to reopen the Anime thread?

[Manco]

Why bother? The anime discussion never lasts long enough to sustain its own thread, and it’s not like talking about it here is a bad thing.

Speaking of Cowboy Bebop, it’s probably the one anime series I’ve heard about (besides the Persona 4 adaptation) that I’ve considered giving a shot.

[Wings of Fire]

Ah okay, well what did you like about it then? I'm just curious because I thought it was okay, but it certainly didn't stand out to me as one of the best.

The cinematography, the fight choreography, the music. how every plot thread came together at the end and Ed was actually useful (Ed was generally forgotten about in the serious episodes of the series for obvious reasons).

Basically it was a distilation of every aspect the series was good at without being bogged down by the series' myriad flaws. Spike, the weakest character in the series, was a joy to watch in the movie because his character stubbornly refusing to develop wasn't an issue. He was free to be a cool motherfucker, which he is. As a space western I'd say it easily ranks up there with the best episodes of Firefly.

I can understand why people who haven't seen the series wouldn't like it though. It's basically the characters and setting you've grown to love at the best they've ever been. I wouldn't recommend watching it the same way I wouldn't recommend watching, say, the Powerpuff Girls movie or any of the Star Trek movies (Bar the reboots) without seeing the series first. You're inherently missing that connection.

Speaking of Cowboy Bebop, it’s probably the one anime series I’ve heard about (besides the Persona 4 adaptation) that I’ve considered giving a shot.

It's good and it has moments, and whole episodes, of brilliance but it's really not aged that well. I only saw it towards the end of last year and while it wasn't as overrated as I expected, it was still very uneven and amateur in a lot of ways. Use of music to convey mood and choreography are solid 10/10 though. If you like jazz music you'll probably like it.

Have you ever heard of The Big O? Another series I very recently finished and it just sprang to mind as something you might like. That was a 10/10 90's series.


Incidentally I've been plowing my way through this list for the last few months and I've finished just about everything except Natsume and Jigoku Shoujo. It's a list of intellectual and philosophical anime for intellectual and philosophical people such as myself. I'd recommend any series on this list, except Ergo Proxy.

[OANST]

The Big O was awful.

[Manco]

It's good and it has moments, and whole episodes, of brilliance but it's really not aged that well. I only saw it towards the end of last year and while it wasn't as overrated as I expected, it was still very uneven and amateur in a lot of ways. Use of music to convey mood and choreography are solid 10/10 though. If you like jazz music you'll probably like it.

I’m not really looking for perfection, it just sounds like something that’d be right up my street (bounty hunters in space).

Have you ever heard of The Big O? Another series I very recently finished and it just sprang to mind as something you might like. That was a 10/10 90's series.

I just looked it up and was about to post saying it looked a hell of a lot like Batman, but apparently that’s completely intentional. I’ll have to check it out sometime.

[Wings of Fire]

I’m not really looking for perfection, it just sounds like something that’d be right up my street (bounty hunters in space).

I've not actually seen it yet, but there's a fairly old show called Outlaw Star, again one of the big Toonami ones, which has a similar premise and gets a lot of praise. I don't know much about it past that, I just thought you might be interested.

[Manco]

I’ll add it to the list of things I need to get around to checking out when I’m not procrastinating. Thanks!

[STM]

The cinematography, the fight choreography, the music. how every plot thread came together at the end and Ed was actually useful (Ed was generally forgotten about in the serious episodes of the series for obvious reasons).

Basically it was a distilation of every aspect the series was good at without being bogged down by the series' myriad flaws. Spike, the weakest character in the series, was a joy to watch in the movie because his character stubbornly refusing to develop wasn't an issue. He was free to be a cool motherfucker, which he is. As a space western I'd say it easily ranks up there with the best episodes of Firefly.

I can understand why people who haven't seen the series wouldn't like it though. It's basically the characters and setting you've grown to love at the best they've ever been. I wouldn't recommend watching it the same way I wouldn't recommend watching, say, the Powerpuff Girls movie or any of the Star Trek movies (Bar the reboots) without seeing the series first. You're inherently missing that connection.



It's good and it has moments, and whole episodes, of brilliance but it's really not aged that well. I only saw it towards the end of last year and while it wasn't as overrated as I expected, it was still very uneven and amateur in a lot of ways. Use of music to convey mood and choreography are solid 10/10 though. If you like jazz music you'll probably like it.

Have you ever heard of The Big O? Another series I very recently finished and it just sprang to mind as something you might like. That was a 10/10 90's series.


Incidentally I've been plowing my way through this list for the last few months and I've finished just about everything except Natsume and Jigoku Shoujo. It's a list of intellectual and philosophical anime for intellectual and philosophical people such as myself. I'd recommend any series on this list, except Ergo Proxy.

Actually I loved the music, I completely forgot about that, it was really good. That's why I like Samurai Champloo too, the music is excellent, they contracted the dearly departed Nujabes to do some of it and when I worked out it was his stuff in the anime I sort of squee'd.

Hmm, well maybe I should give the show a chance then, once I finish Shampoo I'll try the first few episodes and see if I like it.

Oh and speaking of PPG, Vyrien exposed me to that a little while ago. To say the least I was hooked.

[Wings of Fire]

Powerpuff Girls is a wonderful show and that it never got a DVD release on this side of the Atlantic is a crime against humanity.

[Mr. Bungle]

I've been watching the original Pokemon series. It's been a great nostalgic trip, lots of laughs and teh occasional tugging of the heart strings. Never been an anime guy but I really enjoy Pokemon, probably just cause I love Nintendo so much and have galleons of nostalgia for the series. But yeah, good stuff. I enjoy it.

[Job McYossie]

There is one line from that show I quote often:

"You can violate my rights any day"

[Wings of Fire]

Pokemon Iron Sheik class

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) March 8, 2014

Tch. I'm sure embedding tweets worked a couple of weeks ago.

[STM]

I can see it fine.

[Mr. Bungle]

Yeah, I see it. Don't really get it though...

[AlexFili]

Lately I've been catching up on a few films such as Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Elysium and The Great Gatsby. In terms of anime I've been mainly watching Naruto Shippuden but I did take a look at the Rock Lee & Ninja Pals spin-off series which is pretty funny. Can't wait to see Gravity and Hobbit 2 again on DVD.

[Wings of Fire]

Yeah, I see it. Don't really get it though...

Where the fuck have you been?

[MeechMunchie]

I saw The Lego Movie.

I was cautiously optimistic going in, and it turned out to be pretty much as great as everyone says it was. Right from the start you can tell that they're trying to tap into a lot of the retro appeal as well as trying to be hip and modern, rather than getting too nostalgic or, inversely, staying exclusively "cool". Lego's always had a timeless quality to it - anyone can pick it up and stick it together - so it really is in the spirit of the stuff to take that approach.

By the same token, I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the settings and characters were a mish-mash as well. Early on the protaganists find themselves in the Wild West, and I assumed the rest of the story would be a Gulliver's Travels-type romp through all the various franchises they've sold over the years; cute enough, but the fact that Warner Bros. styled the film on how a real child plays with Lego - chucking everything into the same box and having pirates flying spaceships pulled by dragons - was pretty brave. It really resonated with how I liked to express myself with it when I was younger, and I presume kids today do too.

As for what the story was, there wasn't a whole lot to it; an intentionally-loose MacGuffin story that gave the writers and characters a lot of room to mess around, at the expense of feeling pretty rushed at times. What I was genuinely impressed by was that the focus wasn't really so much on the story as a set of ideals, which were presented without being overly preachy - the idea of life as struggle between creativity and prescriptivity, a choice between freedom and safety that we treasure as children and forget as adults. Along with a bit of existential fluff about how it's only by doublethinking that we're special while accepting our relative interchangability that we can survive; to believe we hold the power to enact change is to grant ourselves the capacity to do so.

Yeah. They presented a richly realised, visually satisfying world, populated it with charming characters, made me feel young(er) again, and taught all the kids a valuable moral lesson while being seriously fucking funny.

Round of applause hope this gets a sequel etc. etc.

There was a split-second Bionicle cameo, too. Not the 1:1 Shadow of the Colossus-style excursion I was hoping for, but enough to raise a smirk - quite enough, by my standards.

[Job McYossie]

It has a sequel and a release date, I think it was something in march of 2017.

[MA]

i watched Mean Streets. it was good, although sometimes i had no idea what the fuck was going on. my favourite scenes are just of Al Pacino laughing, i have no idea why none of them are on YT. even in context they make no sense, it's the randomness that makes them funny.

[Nepsotic]

I'm watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. One of the main problems I have is that the first two or three episodes into each arc are boring as fuck. It's only the fourth episode usually that really keeps me interested. The only reason I'm continuing it is that apparently there's awesome gore later on, and also I want to know whatthe fuck is going on.
Come to think of it, in most anime I've watched the pacing has been the worst thing about it. I found Elfen Lied and Mirai Nikki were the best for pacing. I was speaking about it with my brother and he told me how he was watching Dragonball Z and literally nothing happened for 8 episodes.

[MeechMunchie]

inb4 Joe kicks your ass

[Wings of Fire]

I'm watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. One of the main problems I have is that the first two or three episodes into each arc are boring as fuck. It's only the fourth episode usually that really keeps me interested. The only reason I'm continuing it is that apparently there's awesome gore later on, and also I want to know whatthe fuck is going on.
Come to think of it, in most anime I've watched the pacing has been the worst thing about it. I found Elfen Lied and Mirai Nikki were the best for pacing. I was speaking about it with my brother and he told me how he was watching Dragonball Z and literally nothing happened for 8 episodes.

Higurashi is a mystery series. The first few episodes of every arc are necessary to give you a sense of the setting and the characters. The payoff for getting invested in what's going on is tremendous later. If you are only watching for the gore though, you probably won't like the direction the story eventually goes.

[Nepsotic]

No, I'm not just watching for the gore, otherwise I'd just watch Fist of the North Star again. I started watching Higurashi for the psychological horror, but I am a little disappointed that there isn't as big of an emphasis on it as I first thought. Is there any anime with horror similar to Silent Hill or Audition that you recommend? Of all the ones I've watched, the horror is usually a side thing, and so far I've seen nothing that comes close to Silent Hill, in terms of storytelling or horror, and to be honest I don't think I ever will. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

[Vyrien]

I would argue Umineko is more psychological than Higurashi but I really wouldn't recommend watching the anime if that's what you want out of it, it skips so much of the good stuff and the story is just left hanging.

[OANST]

Just start another fucking anime thread. Jesus Christ.

[Slog Bait]

I feel like having another anime thread would be pointless. It would end up very short lived, inactive, or devolve into the same 2-3 people circle jerking over it until they got bored.

[MeechMunchie]

As opposed to the same 2-3 people jerking over it until they get bored... in front of everyone else.

[Nepsotic]

Sorry for discussing things we've been watching in the thread for discussing things we've been watching, how foolish of us.