[Silencer]

Mott, on 30 May 2011 - 10:04 AM, said:

Watched the first four epissdoes of Haruhi Suzumiya, I'm really loving it, thanks for the reccomendation! Nice mix between the different types of anime I like and I love Kyon's snarky inner monolouges. Definitely hooked.

In the space of three days, I have watched the two released seasons, obtained the movie, and am about to begin watching it. I'm hooked. This is terrible. XD

Are you watching the episodes chronologically? Or in the airing order? It probably won't make too much of a difference to your enjoyment, but man...watching it in the airing order is AMAZING. Whacky, but amazing.

(Granted, the first four episodes were aired chronologically, if I recall correctly XD)

[D'rek]

BalrogLord, on 30 May 2011 - 12:53 AM, said:

For Philosophy Buffs: Ergo Proxy

Oh god no. Or if you must, watch the first handful of episodes and then stop. As soon as someone leaves the city the series becomes completely random, gives up any notion of plot, and saves all development for a random aside-episode or two where the characters are on a quiz show explaining the rest of the show. Just skip this one, unless you want a painful amount of frustration for what could have been.


Now I have a question for people: how do you "classify" your anime? Do you think of them by sub-genre, or what? For me, I tend to break them into 3 categories:

Kids' animes: anything aimed at a younger audience, usually (but not always) with less complexity (Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Dargonball, etc)
Classic Anime: stuff that is very well known and influential, particularly if it is older (Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Lain, Ghibli films)
Other: the rest



What about you?

[QuickTidal]

Silencer, on 30 May 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

Mott, on 30 May 2011 - 10:04 AM, said:

Watched the first four epissdoes of Haruhi Suzumiya, I'm really loving it, thanks for the reccomendation! Nice mix between the different types of anime I like and I love Kyon's snarky inner monolouges. Definitely hooked.

In the space of three days, I have watched the two released seasons, obtained the movie, and am about to begin watching it. I'm hooked. This is terrible. XD

Are you watching the episodes chronologically? Or in the airing order? It probably won't make too much of a difference to your enjoyment, but man...watching it in the airing order is AMAZING. Whacky, but amazing.

(Granted, the first four episodes were aired chronologically, if I recall correctly XD)

The BEST thing about the first ep:

Spoiler

is how ridiculously bad the movie (of questionable quality) is that the SOS brigade shows (in ep 00 which was how I watched it first "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina"). It's so over the top awesomely bad, and you actually have no real idea if what you are watching is real in the anime or not...and then the reveal that it's a badly written film makes it even better. I was hooked form that point on....and then Haruhi starts to talk about Espers...man what a good show!

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 30 May 2011 - 05:01 PM

[Mott]

Silencer, on 30 May 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

In the space of three days, I have watched the two released seasons, obtained the movie, and am about to begin watching it. I'm hooked. This is terrible. XD

Are you watching the episodes chronologically? Or in the airing order? It probably won't make too much of a difference to your enjoyment, but man...watching it in the airing order is AMAZING. Whacky, but amazing.

(Granted, the first four episodes were aired chronologically, if I recall correctly XD)

I'm not sure to be honest, I'd quite like to see it in the airing order but I'm just watching on YouTube for the moment so I'm letting it direct me for the time being! Is there a particular sit you are using or are you downloading?

Anime definitely has that addictive effect, I'm pretty sure I spent my first year of uni procrastinating by watching various shows (and second now I come to think of it.) I swear I watched a couple of episodes of an anime that involved a boy accidentally getting turned into a girl. And a couple of episodes were a boy got flushed into a magical land of some description. That was a wtf moment if ever I had one. I think the whole of that bizarre episode had potential to be mentally scarring. That is probably why I blocked out a good deal of it.

[Silencer]

QuickTidal, on 30 May 2011 - 05:00 PM, said:

*snip*

The BEST thing about the first ep:

Spoiler

is how ridiculously bad the movie (of questionable quality) is that the SOS brigade shows (in ep 00 which was how I watched it first "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina"). It's so over the top awesomely bad, and you actually have no real idea if what you are watching is real in the anime or not...and then the reveal that it's a badly written film makes it even better. I was hooked form that point on....and then Haruhi starts to talk about Espers...man what a good show!

Yup, watched 00 first. AND SO MUCH YES. I was literally sitting there asking myself wtf this was - laughing all the way, thanks to a certain someone's narration, mind, but even so - and then you get to the real stuff and it's like a mix of "Oh thank God" and "Wow, that was really effective". Now, totally hooked.

Mott, on 30 May 2011 - 06:02 PM, said:

Silencer, on 30 May 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

In the space of three days, I have watched the two released seasons, obtained the movie, and am about to begin watching it. I'm hooked. This is terrible. XD

Are you watching the episodes chronologically? Or in the airing order? It probably won't make too much of a difference to your enjoyment, but man...watching it in the airing order is AMAZING. Whacky, but amazing.

(Granted, the first four episodes were aired chronologically, if I recall correctly XD)

I'm not sure to be honest, I'd quite like to see it in the airing order but I'm just watching on YouTube for the moment so I'm letting it direct me for the time being! Is there a particular sit you are using or are you downloading?

Anime definitely has that addictive effect, I'm pretty sure I spent my first year of uni procrastinating by watching various shows (and second now I come to think of it.) I swear I watched a couple of episodes of an anime that involved a boy accidentally getting turned into a girl. And a couple of episodes were a boy got flushed into a magical land of some description. That was a wtf moment if ever I had one. I think the whole of that bizarre episode had potential to be mentally scarring. That is probably why I blocked out a good deal of it.

Ah, I...'obtained' it through a certain torrent site of some dubious quality.

There's an episode list with the correct airing order floating around online, though (wiki, probably a good bet). Or we could continue this discussion in PM.

And yeah, so far my second year is shaping up to be dominated by procrastination. I was kinda hoping it would improve over last year, and it hasn't, so I'm now finding new and inventive ways of distracting myself.

Though I think I'll try to avoid those two you mention. WEIRD.

D, on 30 May 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

BalrogLord, on 30 May 2011 - 12:53 AM, said:

For Philosophy Buffs: Ergo Proxy

Oh god no. Or if you must, watch the first handful of episodes and then stop. As soon as someone leaves the city the series becomes completely random, gives up any notion of plot, and saves all development for a random aside-episode or two where the characters are on a quiz show explaining the rest of the show. Just skip this one, unless you want a painful amount of frustration for what could have been.


Now I have a question for people: how do you "classify" your anime? Do you think of them by sub-genre, or what? For me, I tend to break them into 3 categories:

Kids' animes: anything aimed at a younger audience, usually (but not always) with less complexity (Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Dargonball, etc)
Classic Anime: stuff that is very well known and influential, particularly if it is older (Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Lain, Ghibli films)
Other: the rest



What about you?

Good question. I guess so far I haven't really watched enough to have a solid sense of classification. At the moment it's pretty much:
Have watched and liked.
Have watched and disliked.
Have not watched, but will.
Have not watched, and WILL NOT BECAUSE IT IS TERRIBLE.

Everything used to be in the last category. So far two have been put into the first category, with special mention for being better than most things I've watched EVER. So those go into the category of So Awesome I Don't Care What You Are I Need More.

But I guess it will come down to a series of sub-classifications starting with 'Target Audience' then 'Setting' and 'Style'. Style probably being the most important, though thoroughly dictated to by target audience.

[QuickTidal]

Personally, I try to find the best of the best. I usually wait for a series to be on long enough for people to have buzzed about it for one reason or another. The only ones I picked up sight unseen or heard were Haruhi Suzumiya (and that's because I saw ep 00 when the show was still airing in Japan on it's first run VIA a download), and Eva which I randomly picked up in the store back in the 90's and liked the art and the sound of the premise.

Otherwise I wait and listen.

So stuff like Samurai Champloo, Eureka Seven, FLCL (which I watched cause it was Gainax), Serial Experiments Lain (which is totally FUBAR) I waited till I heard stuff about them and then dug them too.

I HAVE run into stuff that may have LOOKED good and was pretty bad like Kiddy Grade (the main chick has a lipstick weapon...no shit...lol), or the last season of Sailor Moon...which featured the Sailor Stars...a group of three men who would change into women in short skirts to fight crime/big bad Sailor Galaxia....*shiver*....or any number of anime that I turned off after pointless nudity showed up in them.

Studio Ghibli is the one that always brings me wonder. I'm 34 and watching PONYO or MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO just makes me feel like a wonder-eyed kid again.

[Mott]

I have a bad habit of just kind of taking peoples recommendations and watching a few episodes before actually looking up a show to see what it is about, sometimes it works really well and other times it fails spectacularly. I have become slightly less prone to this recently just because I ended up watching a lot of rubbish but I still do it occasionally. Like reading the manga Chobits, a friend gave me the books and told me it was good, I shrugged and read a couple, I did not enjoy it. At all. Looking on the bright side I got to make fun of him ever after for wanting to have sex with computers, which really pissed him off.

Episode 00 was hilarious. I loved how right at the end Haruhi proclaims how much of a success it is, she was totally oblivious to how bad it really was.

[QuickTidal]

Mott, on 31 May 2011 - 01:30 PM, said:

Like reading the manga Chobits, a friend gave me the books and told me it was good, I shrugged and read a couple, I did not enjoy it. At all. Looking on the bright side I got to make fun of him ever after for wanting to have sex with computers, which really pissed him off.

Her "power" button is in her crotch. Seriously Japan?

That sent me packing after episode 1 of the anime for it. LOL

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 31 May 2011 - 01:49 PM

[Mott]

QuickTidal, on 31 May 2011 - 01:49 PM, said:

Mott, on 31 May 2011 - 01:30 PM, said:

Like reading the manga Chobits, a friend gave me the books and told me it was good, I shrugged and read a couple, I did not enjoy it. At all. Looking on the bright side I got to make fun of him ever after for wanting to have sex with computers, which really pissed him off.

Her "power" button is in her crotch. Seriously Japan?

That sent me packing after episode 1 of the anime for it. LOL

I just remember the character being half-naked most of the time, he gave me all the volumes but I didn't get far before calling it a day. I skimmed a couple just to get some ammo to make fun of him with though, otherwise it would have been a wasted opportunity .

[Abyss]

I'll reiterate the GHOST IN THE SHELL reco's, because more or less all things GitS, movies and series, have been brilliant.

I thought GUNDAM WING was good fun - the tech is great, the battles are epic and the characters wonderfully ambiguous as sides keep shifting. That said, every other Gundam series was mediocre to crap in comparison.

FULL METAL ALCHEMIST.... amazingly inconsistent... when it's brilliant, it's really REALLY brilliant. When its not, it's predictable, silly, cheesy and boring. Worth watching but not worth owning.

Could say similar for LEGEND OF ESCAFLOWNE... the schoolgirl tropes made my teeth itch but damn the mecha were awesome and the overall story not bad at all. Not sophisticated, but fun enough to check out.

[D'rek]

QuickTidal, on 31 May 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

Personally, I try to find the best of the best. I usually wait for a series to be on long enough for people to have buzzed about it for one reason or another. The only ones I picked up sight unseen or heard were Haruhi Suzumiya (and that's because I saw ep 00 when the show was still airing in Japan on it's first run VIA a download), and Eva which I randomly picked up in the store back in the 90's and liked the art and the sound of the premise.

There are downsides to waiting for there to be a big buzz about it, though - mostly in that things can get spoiled (not just the plot, but the fact that everyone is raving about how "morally ambiguous" something is might be spoil that part of it for you if the early parts of the show build up to that). EVA is actually a good example of this - the show kind of just throws you into its setting, with people talking about The Second Impact and you have no idea what it is and why the world is messed up. The combination of figuring out parts yourself and the few big reveals can be mind blowing, but there's a good chance if you've waited and listened to reviews and other people talking about it, that you'll already know the plot and context going in.

[QuickTidal]

D, on 31 May 2011 - 03:49 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 31 May 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

Personally, I try to find the best of the best. I usually wait for a series to be on long enough for people to have buzzed about it for one reason or another. The only ones I picked up sight unseen or heard were Haruhi Suzumiya (and that's because I saw ep 00 when the show was still airing in Japan on it's first run VIA a download), and Eva which I randomly picked up in the store back in the 90's and liked the art and the sound of the premise.

There are downsides to waiting for there to be a big buzz about it, though - mostly in that things can get spoiled (not just the plot, but the fact that everyone is raving about how "morally ambiguous" something is might be spoil that part of it for you if the early parts of the show build up to that). EVA is actually a good example of this - the show kind of just throws you into its setting, with people talking about The Second Impact and you have no idea what it is and why the world is messed up. The combination of figuring out parts yourself and the few big reveals can be mind blowing, but there's a good chance if you've waited and listened to reviews and other people talking about it, that you'll already know the plot and context going in.

Indeed a fair point. I don't think I've had anything spoiled for me on that level, but I can see how it could be.

[Sindriss]

How do people feel concerning anime and manga? I mean, I started watching a lot of anime and all the classics (naruto, bleach etc.) but during the last few years I have just quitted that and gone over to 100% manga, in which there is no idiotic side-quests (fillers). Also, the way that they often drag a fighting scene on for 10 min just to gain time in comparison to the manga is freaking annoying.

[QuickTidal]

Sindriss, on 31 May 2011 - 05:00 PM, said:

I mean, I started watching a lot of anime and all the classics (naruto, bleach etc.)

This makes me feel old. Both were started around 1999-2001.


I go back to Akira, Robotech, and Gatchaman (AKA Battle Of The Planets and G-Force)...sigh. I'm a crotchety bugger.

[Trickster]

Quote

FULL METAL ALCHEMIST.... amazingly inconsistent... when it's brilliant, it's really REALLY brilliant. When its not, it's predictable, silly, cheesy and boring. Worth watching but not worth owning.

The question is: are you talking about first version of FMA, or FMA:Brotherhood?


Lately, i was watching To Aru Majutsu Index. My first think, when i read about plot: well, it will be stupid. When i watched first season: Hm, suprisingly good. After second season it's one of my favourite's anime.

[Abyss]

Trickster, on 31 May 2011 - 06:49 PM, said:

Quote

FULL METAL ALCHEMIST.... amazingly inconsistent... when it's brilliant, it's really REALLY brilliant. When its not, it's predictable, silly, cheesy and boring. Worth watching but not worth owning.

The question is: are you talking about first version of FMA, or FMA:Brotherhood?
...

FMA (including Conqueror of Shamballa).

i didn't actually know Brotherhood existed before your post and a quick google.

[Mason of Death]

Ah, the hence inconsistency. FMA deviates from the manga around 30 episodes in and blazes its own trail, while FMA: Brotherhood continues with the manga's plot and inventiveness. And killing God was so much more gratifying than invading Germany .

This post has been edited by Mason of Death: 31 May 2011 - 10:44 PM

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 30 May 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

BalrogLord, on 30 May 2011 - 12:53 AM, said:

For Philosophy Buffs: Ergo Proxy

Oh god no. Or if you must, watch the first handful of episodes and then stop. As soon as someone leaves the city the series becomes completely random, gives up any notion of plot, and saves all development for a random aside-episode or two where the characters are on a quiz show explaining the rest of the show. Just skip this one, unless you want a painful amount of frustration for what could have been.

The series becomes random what? After they leave the city the go exploring earth to find the remains of moscow dome where they hope vincents amnesia will be explained. Its the journey that becomes important.

The quiz show is a proxy battle, just like the battle with will b-good one or the proxy that had the whole groundhog day power.

Quote

Now I have a question for people: how do you "classify" your anime? Do you think of them by sub-genre, or what? For me, I tend to break them into 3 categories:

Kids' animes: anything aimed at a younger audience, usually (but not always) with less complexity (Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Dargonball, etc)
Classic Anime: stuff that is very well known and influential, particularly if it is older (Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Lain, Ghibli films)
Other: the rest
What about you?

I dont really classify anime by release date. though i would agree with there being a distinction between, child, adolescent and adult animes.
For classification theres shounen, shoujo, moe, mindfuck and , and general action/plot driven anime.

Sindriss, on 31 May 2011 - 05:00 PM, said:

How do people feel concerning anime and manga? I mean, I started watching a lot of anime and all the classics (naruto, bleach etc.) but during the last few years I have just quitted that and gone over to 100% manga, in which there is no idiotic side-quests (fillers). Also, the way that they often drag a fighting scene on for 10 min just to gain time in comparison to the manga is freaking annoying.

do yourself a favour and avoid the big three (bleach, naruto, One Piece). Of those only OP is any good, bleach stopped being good after the Soul Society arc since kubo is a huge troll and doesnt know how to write a plot. (he's admited he centers his plots solely around the characters he draws). Naruto was good until they changed the focus to be all about sasuke and his retarded brother and past. Even then, all it is is your interminable shounen series. If youve seen dbz, you dont need to see those. Rather watch the shorter series as they tend to be better and for the most part remain free of filler.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 01 June 2011 - 02:23 AM

[Sindriss]

But that is the point. I can still sorta enjoy Bleach/naruto because it is the manga. But I could never watch those animes again.

OP is just freaking awesome as manga, but I know that the anime is actually good as well. Just doesn't have the time to watch.

[Gothos]

To all the titles mentioned in the thread I'll also add:

MONSTER, a mystery drama set in Germany and former Czechoslovakia, it's one of my all-time favourites

HAIBANE RENMEI, a psych short series about a place that appears pretty mild and fairytale-ish at first, but holds some sinister shit.