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Post by sarapen on Mar 17, 2014 22:35:52 GMT -5
Short answer sarapen: Haibane Renmei. Excellent charming Miyazaki-ish drama. Hard to go wrong with this unless you're looking for something else. Long answer: Dennou Coil & From The New World: Really good, very worth watching. These two are clever sci-fi dramas with intriguing world-building and some very well delineated child characters. If you watch just three, this should be the other two. Another: A fairly solid horror murder mystery; a bit cliched in design and characterization terms but a satisfying watch. Robotics;Notes & Chaos;Head: While Chaos;Head starts promisingly, it craters soon after, and Robotics;Notes is consistently terrible. Basically think anything a bit mawkish and silly in the otherwise excellent Steins;gate and then dial it up to eleven (and neither have the kind of clever plotting that made Steins;gate a joy or the likeable characters - Robotics;Notes' plot in particular is excessively incoherent.) Full Metal Panic: I saw the first season and was thoroughly unimpressed. Not terrible just generic and forgettable. I'm told the seasons after it are better; as they change studio and creative staff. And Kanon is a harem-type series like Air or Clannad. I hated Air, but I never watched Kanon so no opinion on it. Thanks, I appreciate the answers. I'm disappointed about those semicolon series (and what the hell is up with that naming theme?) and I don't think I have the fortitude to wade through an entire season of bland generic-ness to get to the good stuff for Full Metal Panic, but I'm glad to have my instincts affirmed with your recommendations. Anyway, I've been writing recommendations for yet more series but they're expanding into full-blown reviews. I guess I get verbose when I start writing. Expect something on either Bodacious Space Pirates or Red Data Girl soon-ish. |
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Post by ganews on Mar 19, 2014 16:37:03 GMT -5
Anyone seen or read Black Lagoon? I saw an Adult Swim promo for Saturday night, looks like fun.
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Post by ComradePig on Mar 19, 2014 17:26:44 GMT -5
Anyone seen or read Black Lagoon? I saw an Adult Swim promo for Saturday night, looks like fun. Black Lagoon is great, I just watched it a month or two back on DRC's recommendation. It's very dedicated to its own brand of 80s-inspired action absurdity and quite fun all around. |
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Post by sarapen on Mar 19, 2014 18:02:07 GMT -5
Anyone seen or read Black Lagoon? I saw an Adult Swim promo for Saturday night, looks like fun. Yes, I've seen it. It's excellent. It's about a smuggling crew trying to keep their company afloat in the South China Sea. Which makes it sound like Firefly on a boat but there are a lot more violent sociopaths in this show. |
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Post by UnarmedAndDangerousVorta on Mar 23, 2014 10:37:59 GMT -5
Black Lagoon is awesome. Season 2 is depressing as fuck.
From the new world is pretty interesting. I would definitely recommend it if you are into SciFi futures with psychics and such. Has some interesting things to say about power and talent and responsibility. Not sure if I totally understood the message, but it was interesting.
Guilty Crown is so excessive that I've seen interpretations that it is in fact an indictment of modern shounen anime. It's pretty and kinda interesting but I think it was about 6 episodes too long.
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Post by sarapen on Mar 23, 2014 17:33:21 GMT -5
Black Lagoon is awesome. Season 2 is depressing as fuck. From the new world is pretty interesting. I would definitely recommend it if you are into SciFi futures with psychics and such. Has some interesting things to say about power and talent and responsibility. Not sure if I totally understood the message, but it was interesting. Guilty Crown is so excessive that I've seen interpretations that it is in fact an indictment of modern shounen anime. It's pretty and kinda interesting but I think it was about 6 episodes too long. Yeah, the opening of Guilty Crown hooked me but then the episode kept going. It managed to run through the shounen cliches in just one episode, so I don't think I'm continuing. And based on yours and DRC's recommendation I'm definitely watching From the New World. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Mar 24, 2014 11:05:10 GMT -5
And based on yours and DRC's recommendation I'm definitely watching From the New World. Be sure to let us know how that works out, as I said elsewhere I wrote multiple pages on every episode when the show was airing. I watch a couple of anime every season (how much varies based on how close I'm paying attention, so it's usually like one or two shows) but FTNW was the last one I actually fell in love with. Speaking of that season is currently wrapping up with the new Spring season to start in April, so I might post season thoughts here at some point. Anyway I went ahead and watched Watamote, which I want to say was based on a recommendation from sarapen because that's who I did most of my AVC anime talking with but I honestly can't say I remember for sure. It was... well, it was what it was. It holds an unflattering mirror up to its audience as a bunch of maladjusted antisocial losers and then hammers the misanthropy home for twelve episodes. Like a lot of comedy anime it's very dependent in repeating a kind of static situation so it lacks the cathartic growth from this circle that defines say Welcome to the NHK! or Tatami Galaxy, but for what it was, it wasn't bad. |
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Post by sarapen on Mar 24, 2014 13:20:45 GMT -5
And based on yours and DRC's recommendation I'm definitely watching From the New World. Be sure to let us know how that works out, as I said elsewhere I wrote multiple pages on every episode when the show was airing. I watch a couple of anime every season (how much varies based on how close I'm paying attention, so it's usually like one or two shows) but FTNW was the last one I actually fell in love with. Speaking of that season is currently wrapping up with the new Spring season to start in April, so I might post season thoughts here at some point. Anyway I went ahead and watched Watamote, which I want to say was based on a recommendation from sarapen because that's who I did most of my AVC anime talking with but I honestly can't say I remember for sure. It was... well, it was what it was. It holds an unflattering mirror up to its audience as a bunch of maladjusted antisocial losers and then hammers the misanthropy home for twelve episodes. Like a lot of comedy anime it's very dependent in repeating a kind of static situation so it lacks the cathartic growth from this circle that defines say Welcome to the NHK! or Tatami Galaxy, but for what it was, it wasn't bad. Tweren't me, I've only seen like 3 minutes of the first episode. I recall someone mentioning it on one of the pop culture weekend articles but can't remember who. I do have a write-up of Red Data Girl and a summary of Bodacious Space Pirates I should really finish. I'll get to FTNW but probably not soon, I'm starting to feel guilty about all the unfinished stuff in my queue. Oh yeah, and I'm watching Steins;Gate and liking it. I thought I'd already seen it but it turns out it was another, crappier show about time travelling. No, I don't remember the title, just that the first episode was a collection of insipid cliches about an affectless male protagonist who listlessly enacts grotesque violence while cocooned inside a giant war machine and is inexplicably romantically intertwined with a girl too afraid to admit to her feelings for him. |
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Post by Nudeviking on Mar 30, 2014 19:23:01 GMT -5
I ended up watching Attack on Titan over the weekend and was all about it. Ladyviking, who usually doesn't go in for anime, liked it too, claiming, "It's like Walking Dead, but awesome!" Anyway I've kind of been bitten by the anime bug because of it and am looking for some other series to watch. Unfortunately I haven't paid attention to anime since Tenchi Muyo! and Cowboy Bebop were shows that were being aired on Toonami. I'd like to avoid hardcore pornography and shows with 9 gajillion episodes or 437.3 different incarnations (Gundam), but other than that am open to pretty much anything (comedy's fine, grimdark post-apocalyptic adventures are fine, PG-13 adult situations are fine).
So what's awesome these days?
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Mar 30, 2014 20:47:13 GMT -5
Nudeviking I could be lazy and point you to the two lists I made earlier (Black Lagoon, Welcome to the NHK!, Puelli Magi Madoka Magica, etc.) but I will throw in something extra. The biggest anime hit since Attack on Titan just concluded this week (and it featured Attack on Titan's composer) ... Kill la Kill. There is a fair bit of fanservice that is integrated into the plot in a rather.. unique way, but the show excels at melodramatic anime badassery and absurdity, kind of like Revolutionary Girl Utena gone mental - the clear successor to Gurren Lagann, another show on my earlier list - so it's easy to see why it is currently a big deal. If you want something more serious and having strange rich world-building though I am falling back on From The New World. sarapen That is Steins;gate in a nutshell. It is surprisingly good. I checked it out solely because of the director (whose dark, intense style made Texhnolyze and Shigurui if not great at least memorable) and was well rewarded with a decidedly clever time travel plot. There is some fairly silly stuff in there that doesn't quite work but overall very solid series. Oh and Nudeviking there's another one to try. Anime Season ThoughtsOf the season just concluded while the second half of Kill la Kill was a deserved juggernaut, Noragami managed to develop a perfectly solid first season that concluded nicely. I have no idea if they intend to do subsequent seasons but the show is well suited for it. More uneven was Space Dandy, which I only found intermittently funny if gorgeously animated, the generally inept harem/romance comedy Nisekoi that I watched out of weird Shaft loyalty and other stuff I did not watch yet if ever. Next season I have my eye on the return of Mushishi, as I loved the first season, Ping Pong, as it is the latest work of Masaaki Yuasa, a very distinctive animator I really should write a GTG about, and also Knights of Sidonia, the rather promisingly styled mecha series that Netflix has picked up. More wary I am of Blade and Soul, the latest project from that Steins;gate director only it looks generic and horrible.
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Post by Nudeviking on Mar 30, 2014 21:01:07 GMT -5
Nudeviking I could be lazy and point you to the two lists I made earlier (Black Lagoon, Welcome to the NHK!, Puelli Magi Madoka Magica, etc.) but I will throw in something extra. The biggest anime hit since Attack on Titan just concluded this week (and it featured Attack on Titan's composer) ... Kill la Kill. There is a fair bit of fanservice that is integrated into the plot in a rather.. unique way, but the show excels at melodramatic floridly animated anime nada assert and absurdity, kind of like Revolutionary Girl Utena gone mental - the clear successor to Gurren Lagann, another show on my earlier list - so it's easy to see why it is currently a big deal. If you want something more serious and having strange rich world-building though I am falling back on From The New World. sarapen That is Steins;gate in a nutshell. It is surprisingly good. I checked it out solely because of the director (whose dark, intense style made Texhnolyze and Shigurui if not great at least memorable) and was well rewarded with a decidedly clever time travel plot. There is some fairly silly stuff in there that doesn't quite work but overall very solid series. Oh and Nudeviking there's another one to try. Anime Season ThoughtsOf the season just concluded while the second half of Kill la Kill was a deserved juggernaut, Noragami managed to develop a perfectly solid first season that concluded nicely. I have no idea if they intend to do subsequent seasons but the show is well suited for it. More uneven was Space Dandy, which I only found intermittently funny if gorgeously animated, the generally inept harem/romance comedy Nisekoi that I watched out of weird Shaft loyalty and other stuff I did not watch yet if ever. Next season I have my eye on the return of Mushishi, as I loved the first season, Ping Pong, as it is the latest work of Masaaki Yuasa, a very distinctive animator I really should write a GTG about, and also Knights of Sidonia, the rather promisingly styled mecha series that Netflix has picked up. More wary I am of Blade and Soul, the latest project from that Steins;gate director only it looks generic and horrible. I might have to check Kill la Kill out, since Revolutionary Girl Utena was something I recall enjoying back in the days. Thanks DRC you are the best! |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Mar 30, 2014 21:03:07 GMT -5
Nudeviking It's definitely not for everyone (as much as I enjoyed it which was lots) so let me know how you find it.
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Post by Inamine on Mar 31, 2014 9:16:05 GMT -5
Kill la Kill has a few incredibly uncomfortable moments in its second half, but if you can gets past those and don't mind the fan service, it's a great and fun series.
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Post by sarapen on Mar 31, 2014 9:19:27 GMT -5
I ended up watching Attack on Titan over the weekend and was all about it. Ladyviking, who usually doesn't go in for anime, liked it too, claiming, "It's like Walking Dead, but awesome!" Anyway I've kind of been bitten by the anime bug because of it and am looking for some other series to watch. Unfortunately I haven't paid attention to anime since Tenchi Muyo! and Cowboy Bebop were shows that were being aired on Toonami. I'd like to avoid hardcore pornography and shows with 9 gajillion episodes or 437.3 different incarnations (Gundam), but other than that am open to pretty much anything (comedy's fine, grimdark post-apocalyptic adventures are fine, PG-13 adult situations are fine). So what's awesome these days? You're basically me one year ago. Somehow I became the anime guy on here, but until I got a Crunchyroll subscription at the end of 2012 I basically hadn't watched anime in over a decade. Anyway, I think my earlier recommendations are pretty solid for most people, which is to say that Guin Saga, Twelve Kingdoms, and Moribito should be decent viewing. I suppose Guin Saga might be a bit ponderous early on but I would say to stick with it for a couple of episodes, when it gets going it really gets going. And the protagonist of Twelve Kingdoms can be rather annoying for the first three episodes but in an understandable character-driven way, plus even with that I think it should be obvious that the show is brilliant. And try not to let the J-rock opening of Moribito prejudice you against it, I always fast-forwarded through that when I was watching the show. Douay-Rheims-Challoner I'm iffy about the little (which is to say, barely anything) I've seen of Kill la Kill, probably because it reminds me of FLCL. And I suppose my antipathy for FLCL is unfair because it mostly results from my experience with the anime club at my university. It was like every cliche about otaku ever. Kids, never join an anime club anywhere. Anyway, sell it to me: why is Kill la Kill good? |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Mar 31, 2014 12:23:32 GMT -5
sarapen Well if you dislike FLCL and the first couple of episodes it may not be for you as it has a roughly similar style and commitment to absurdity, it just follows genre conventions more than FLCL did. It's a shonen tournament series that is about girls, it is clever enough to be self-aware of its melodrama yet it completely owns its mixture of pastiche and passion and the plot has some inspiredly crazy twists. In the back half the series becomes one long sustained music video of emotion and exhilaration, built on the characters, relationships and visual cues the series had established up to now (most characters don't just have a distinctive visual flourish - Satsuki's shoe heel clacking against the ground before her theme starts, a brief chorus of "Hallelujah" as Mako assumes a dancer's pose and launches into another earnest yet ditzy tirade...) going into kinetic, beautifully animated overdrive. And boy is it a nice looking series but I will concede to quite liking this director's work. In the end it is just the most purely fun anime series I've seen in months but you really have to buy into its epic silliness for it to work at all.
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Post by Inamine on Apr 1, 2014 10:18:46 GMT -5
Epic silliness is a great description. It's a series that's action comedy, heavy on the action, and deeply, deeply silly. I recommend watching the first three episodes, and if the third episode doesn't hook you, it's likely not the show for you.
It loves to pile more and yet more ridiculousness on top of itself each episode so for as crazy as the third episode gets (It's as intense as many other shows' finales) it only gets moreso as it progresses
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Post by ComradePig on Apr 1, 2014 21:48:59 GMT -5
Okay, one recommendation of a non-action anime written on my commute home: My biggest surprise in recent anime discoveries has been Oreimo, aka My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute. I had written it off as borderline wank material but my brother kept insisting I should try it out. And yes, there's fanservice, but not the sexual kind (okay, there's a gratuitous panty shot in the second episode). The series is about a high school guy who discovers that his otherwise perfect overachiever of a sister is addicted to pornographic computer games, specifically the subgenre of incest porn where the male protagonists nail their younger sisters. He understandably freaks the fuck out, especially since his sister hates his guts. Then he discovers that his little sister is into the porn for its emotional content, which is to say that she's enamoured of the idea of having a little sister if her own. The series is one of the few anime that shows being into geek shit is actually not a mainstream thing in Japan. The fanservice, then, is in the show's depiction of the little sister as the ideal otaku: well-adjusted, popular, and good-looking. Actually I can see that she's more like the otaku's ideal girlfriend, like an independent invention of that male nerd fantasy, the girl geek. And there's even an episode where the sister defends her hobby to her judgmental father. The fantasy of the series, the yearning that informs every episode, is the desire for acceptance. Well, they'd also the fantasy of a girl who appreciates the misunderstood target audience, which I will acknowledge as not something I care about. But once you can see what the series was going for then perhaps you might be able to appreciate the story for itself. As always, your mileage may vary. Based on your writeup here I started watching Oreimo this week and have, like you, found it to be a surprisingly smart and funny show. To a certain degree, the themes/running ideas in it sort of remind me of some of the discussions I've read on AVC, among female commentors in particular, about the legitimacy of online fanfiction communities. Usually not arguing so much for the objective quality of the work per-se but trying to sort of place the community/social/creative aspects in a more reasonable context given the widespread derision such people generally receive in the mainstream, even among nerds. Though...I still find the Japanese stuff more weird and unsettling. Also, props on somehow managing to summarize the broad plot in a way that doesn't make the show sound incredibly creepy, because uh "Brother and sister bond over the latter's love of creepy incest games" alone definitely sounds like a porno or something. |
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Post by sarapen on Apr 1, 2014 22:14:16 GMT -5
Okay, one recommendation of a non-action anime written on my commute home: My biggest surprise in recent anime discoveries has been Oreimo, aka My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute. I had written it off as borderline wank material but my brother kept insisting I should try it out. And yes, there's fanservice, but not the sexual kind (okay, there's a gratuitous panty shot in the second episode). The series is about a high school guy who discovers that his otherwise perfect overachiever of a sister is addicted to pornographic computer games, specifically the subgenre of incest porn where the male protagonists nail their younger sisters. He understandably freaks the fuck out, especially since his sister hates his guts. Then he discovers that his little sister is into the porn for its emotional content, which is to say that she's enamoured of the idea of having a little sister if her own. The series is one of the few anime that shows being into geek shit is actually not a mainstream thing in Japan. The fanservice, then, is in the show's depiction of the little sister as the ideal otaku: well-adjusted, popular, and good-looking. Actually I can see that she's more like the otaku's ideal girlfriend, like an independent invention of that male nerd fantasy, the girl geek. And there's even an episode where the sister defends her hobby to her judgmental father. The fantasy of the series, the yearning that informs every episode, is the desire for acceptance. Well, they'd also the fantasy of a girl who appreciates the misunderstood target audience, which I will acknowledge as not something I care about. But once you can see what the series was going for then perhaps you might be able to appreciate the story for itself. As always, your mileage may vary. Based on your writeup here I started watching Oreimo this week and have, like you, found it to be a surprisingly smart and funny show. To a certain degree, the themes/running ideas in it sort of remind me of some of the discussions I've read on AVC, among female commentors in particular, about the legitimacy of online fanfiction communities. Usually not arguing so much for the objective quality of the work per-se but trying to sort of place the community/social/creative aspects in a more reasonable context given the widespread derision such people generally receive in the mainstream, even among nerds. Though...I still find the Japanese stuff more weird and unsettling. Also, props on somehow managing to summarize the broad plot in a way that doesn't make the show sound incredibly creepy, because uh "Brother and sister bond over the latter's love of creepy incest games" alone definitely sounds like a porno or something. Awesome, I'm glad you liked it. Seriously, I'm tickled pink my writeup influenced an actual human being. And yes, how the hell did the producers resist pandering to the incest demographic? You make an interesting observation in that the show is basically a fan's explanation (apologia?) for loving something that's looked down upon by outsiders. I'm actually not convinced by the characters' arguments but I can at least allow that there are possible redeeming features in being obsessed by hardcore incest porn games. |
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Post by ComradePig on Apr 1, 2014 23:04:04 GMT -5
Based on your writeup here I started watching Oreimo this week and have, like you, found it to be a surprisingly smart and funny show. To a certain degree, the themes/running ideas in it sort of remind me of some of the discussions I've read on AVC, among female commentors in particular, about the legitimacy of online fanfiction communities. Usually not arguing so much for the objective quality of the work per-se but trying to sort of place the community/social/creative aspects in a more reasonable context given the widespread derision such people generally receive in the mainstream, even among nerds. Though...I still find the Japanese stuff more weird and unsettling. Also, props on somehow managing to summarize the broad plot in a way that doesn't make the show sound incredibly creepy, because uh "Brother and sister bond over the latter's love of creepy incest games" alone definitely sounds like a porno or something. Awesome, I'm glad you liked it. Seriously, I'm tickled pink my writeup influenced an actual human being. And yes, how the hell did the producers resist pandering to the incest demographic? You make an interesting observation in that the show is basically a fan's explanation (apologia?) for loving something that's looked down upon by outsiders. I'm actually not convinced by the characters' arguments but I can at least allow that there are possible redeeming features in being obsessed by hardcore incest porn games. Yeah, the best-friend character sort of fills the audience surrogate role on that level, in that she is initially repulsed by said hobby and while she comes to accept it as her friend's interest, she still never loses her discomfort/disapproval of it-for reasons that are very much legitimate. I agree on not being won over by the character's arguments in regards to these particular games, so it was good on that front to include characters who similarly thinks it's weird/wrong but isn't portrayed as villainous/squares for having that opinion. |
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Post by ComradePig on Apr 3, 2014 12:05:44 GMT -5
Awesome, I'm glad you liked it. Seriously, I'm tickled pink my writeup influenced an actual human being. And yes, how the hell did the producers resist pandering to the incest demographic? You make an interesting observation in that the show is basically a fan's explanation (apologia?) for loving something that's looked down upon by outsiders. I'm actually not convinced by the characters' arguments but I can at least allow that there are possible redeeming features in being obsessed by hardcore incest porn games. Having now watched the entire show, I will now add the caveat that while basically enjoyed it as a whole, the three OVA episodes (which it sounds like you might not have seen) that form the conclusion of the show basically take a narrative rocket sled hurtling off the deep end and gave me some huge whiplash. It's maybe not as bad as it could be, but it is still super uncomfortable and weird and really mucks with most of the characters and themes/tone established up to that point in the story. Second season on whole gets pretty clunky/iffy, but the last episodes are where it really implodes. |
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Post by sarapen on Apr 3, 2014 15:51:53 GMT -5
Awesome, I'm glad you liked it. Seriously, I'm tickled pink my writeup influenced an actual human being. And yes, how the hell did the producers resist pandering to the incest demographic? You make an interesting observation in that the show is basically a fan's explanation (apologia?) for loving something that's looked down upon by outsiders. I'm actually not convinced by the characters' arguments but I can at least allow that there are possible redeeming features in being obsessed by hardcore incest porn games. Having now watched the entire show, I will now add the caveat that while I really quite enjoyed it as a whole, the three OVA episodes (which it sounds like you might not have seen) that form the conclusion of the show basically take a narrative rocket sled hurtling off the deep end and gave me some huge whiplash. It's maybe not as bad as it could be, but it is still super uncomfortable and weird and really mucks with most of the characters and themes/tone established up to that point in the story. No, I haven't seen those yet and I'm actually still not that far into the series. It sounds like some changes on the production side, like a new studio or the lead writer died in a car crash or the like. I suppose this is just one of the things you have to expect from the television business. |
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Post by ComradePig on Apr 3, 2014 17:43:50 GMT -5
Having now watched the entire show, I will now add the caveat that while I really quite enjoyed it as a whole, the three OVA episodes (which it sounds like you might not have seen) that form the conclusion of the show basically take a narrative rocket sled hurtling off the deep end and gave me some huge whiplash. It's maybe not as bad as it could be, but it is still super uncomfortable and weird and really mucks with most of the characters and themes/tone established up to that point in the story. No, I haven't seen those yet and I'm actually still not that far into the series. It sounds like some changes on the production side, like a new studio or the lead writer died in a car crash or the like. I suppose this is just one of the things you have to expect from the television business. Yeah I imagine it's something like that, because the rest of the show is still solid but then those last few episodes really shift the tone and direction of things and finish everything off with some real bad creep/downer vibes. |
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Post by artemisfox on Apr 3, 2014 19:22:11 GMT -5
I miss cable, really need to sign up for Crunchy Roll or something. Getting some good ideas though of what to search for online. SUPER EXCITED THAT SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL IS ABOUT TO COME OUT. Taking any and all suggestions of good titles to look out for  . Arigatou Gozaimasu! ::Bows Cutely:: |
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Paleu
AV Clubber 
Confirmed for neo-liberal shill.
Posts: 1,258 
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Post by Paleu on Apr 3, 2014 21:52:40 GMT -5
I'm currently working my way through the second season of Spice and Wolf, and while I know I'm far from the first person to recommend it, I really do love this show. I can't believe that someone made a show where most of the plot points/character beats are built around the driest of subjects (economics in a vaguely middle ages-ey setting, though I'll admit I don't necessarily think the dismal science is entirely uninteresting) and it's actually really good.
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Post by sarapen on Apr 3, 2014 22:35:22 GMT -5
I'm currently working my way through the second season of Spice and Wolf, and while I know I'm far from the first person to recommend it, I really do love this show. I can't believe that someone made a show where most of the plot points/character beats are built around the driest of subjects (economics in a vaguely middle ages-ey setting, though I'll admit I don't necessarily think the dismal science is entirely uninteresting) and it's actually really good. See, I'm a history nerd of the social history persuasion so your description actually makes me want to watch the show. Muchas thank you, another one for the list. artemisfox I understand that Puella Magi Madoka Magica is meant to be a deconstruction of the magical girl anime, so perhaps you might find it interesting. I can't speak from personal experience since it's another on my long list of TV shows to watch but everyone seems to like it, therefore I think it's incumbent on you and me to follow lemming-like over this particular cliff. |
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Paleu
AV Clubber
Confirmed for neo-liberal shill.
Posts: 1,258
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Post by Paleu on Apr 4, 2014 0:56:17 GMT -5
I'm currently working my way through the second season of Spice and Wolf, and while I know I'm far from the first person to recommend it, I really do love this show. I can't believe that someone made a show where most of the plot points/character beats are built around the driest of subjects (economics in a vaguely middle ages-ey setting, though I'll admit I don't necessarily think the dismal science is entirely uninteresting) and it's actually really good. See, I'm a history nerd of the social history persuasion so your description actually makes me want to watch the show. Muchas thank you, another one for the list. artemisfox I understand that Puella Magi Madoka Magica is meant to be a deconstruction of the magical girl anime, so perhaps you might find it interesting. I can't speak from personal experience since it's another on my long list of TV shows to watch but everyone seems to like it, therefore I think it's incumbent on you and me to follow lemming-like over this particular cliff. In all honesty, it was part of what got me into the series to, so I can totally relate. "Woah, middle age economics AND compelling characters? Count me in!" And as someone who has seen Madoka Magica, I recommend it too. I think it's less of a "deconstruction" than people make it out to be, though it's undeniably clever and very well done (the animation in particular is fantastic). I think people overplay the deconstruction angle because they don't want to feel guilty about actually enjoying a magical girl anime. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Apr 4, 2014 9:32:41 GMT -5
Paleu Bingo. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is kind of a twisted take on a genre but not terribly deconstructive. It is however very good, and I third recommendations for the program. I have yet to see the movies, though, I will get to them sometime before the second series is released. artemisfox I haven't watched many magical girl series so take these recommendations with a grain of salt but I also enjoyed Princess Tutu, which is that plus ballet, or Tweeny Witches and Little Witch Academia*, colourful, stylish and Western-inspired takes on the genre; and Revolutionary Girl Utena... I'm not wild about actually but you may like it if you haven't seen it (did like the movie version though.) Utena is probably more a direct deconstruction than Madoka though. (Already a Utena fan? Try Mawaru Penguindrum, which I wasn't keen on either but is pretty popular with fans of that show.) *So far only one episode has been released, by the Kill la Kill studio Trigger, but a second one is in production.
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Post by artemisfox on Apr 4, 2014 13:49:09 GMT -5
Paleu and Douay-Rheims-Challoner- Thanks for the recommendations  - I like a lot of the various other genres too. I was a big Cowboy Bebop fan, loved Inu Yasha, FMA (though I haven't watched Brotherhood yet), and Fruits Basket. I heard good things about Princess Tutu and I'll definitely look at Madoka Magica, Paleu. I'm majored in both English and Theatre, so if it's one thing I enjoy it's dissecting stories and exploring them further.
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Apr 4, 2014 13:56:27 GMT -5
Paleu and Douay-Rheims-Challoner- Thanks for the recommendations - I like a lot of the various other genres too. I was a big Cowboy Bebop fan, In that case let me recommend the colourful music-fused adventures of Michiko to Hatchin; a series about two women on the run in a South American-ish country that does for Brazilian music what Cowboy Bebop did for jazz; and now I promise to stop. |
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Post by artemisfox on Apr 4, 2014 14:01:16 GMT -5
Paleu and Douay-Rheims-Challoner- Thanks for the recommendations - I like a lot of the various other genres too. I was a big Cowboy Bebop fan, In that case let me recommend the colourful music-fused adventures of Michiko to Hatchin; a series about two women on the run in a South American-ish country that does for Brazilian music what Cowboy Bebop did for jazz; and now I promise to stop. That sounds awesome! |
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. Arigatou Gozaimasu! ::Bows Cutely::
- I like a lot of the various other genres too. I was a big Cowboy Bebop fan, loved Inu Yasha, FMA (though I haven't watched Brotherhood yet), and Fruits Basket. I heard good things about Princess Tutu and I'll definitely look at Madoka Magica, Paleu. I'm majored in both English and Theatre, so if it's one thing I enjoy it's dissecting stories and exploring them further.