[D'rek]

I watched the first episode of Shin Sekai Yori and was not interested at all... is there any particular reason I should watch episode 2, or if I did not like episode 1 is it simply not for me?

[Gothos]

D, on 13 August 2013 - 04:11 PM, said:

I watched the first episode of Shin Sekai Yori and was not interested at all... is there any particular reason I should watch episode 2, or if I did not like episode 1 is it simply not for me?

I think you should watch at least until the end of Episode 4, it's when shit's starting to get real. The series reminds me a lot of Haibane Renmei...

[Dolmen 2.0]

Gothos, on 13 August 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

D, on 13 August 2013 - 04:11 PM, said:

I watched the first episode of Shin Sekai Yori and was not interested at all... is there any particular reason I should watch episode 2, or if I did not like episode 1 is it simply not for me?

I think you should watch at least until the end of Episode 4, it's when shit's starting to get real. The series reminds me a lot of Haibane Renmei...

Shinsekai Yori was pretty slow build for me aswell. Episode one put me off but sticking with it was worth it. Its one of the good ones and worth giving another three episodes a try...even episode two had me re-thinking my impressions of the show.

If you like shows with creepiness and depth this one is an ocean.

This post has been edited by Dolmen+: 13 August 2013 - 04:48 PM

[Silencer]

Honestly, I was sold on SSY from episode one. The whole atmosphere, the style, and the mysteries grabbed me. As others have said, that doesn't change much until episode 4+, at which point it becomes more of a rollercoaster ride of awesome (though still well paced, imo), so if you can get through a couple more episodes, you can see how it goes. But honestly, SSY is 2012 anime of the year for me, and so far nothing in 2013 has come close to it, either. Totally worth the watch. If you don't like it, you're a heathen.

[Silencer]

amphibian, on 13 August 2013 - 03:32 PM, said:

There are groups of people within the anime industry that are way, way better at pacing, plotting and extemporizing on the source material when needed. An astounding number of those series or movies I have liked have had people who've mutually worked on projects like Evangelion's reboots, FLCL, Ghost in the Shell and so on.

It's a teachable skill to pace things well for a tv show and it's not necessarily completely controlled by production budget - which Attack of Titan shouldn't actually be running into. They have a fairly good sized budget and even do the little tricks to save money by shot composition and so on in order to let loose on the fight scenes.

I think you're underestimating the desire/pressure to truly adapt the source material, amph. Manga and anime are completely different mediums, save for the art style, however that doesn't stop people from trying to do, for want of a better way of putting it, scene-for-scene translation to the screen. No, it doesn't always work well, and yes, there are people who are better at it than others - and, as you say, people who are good at adapting things without trying too hard to stick to the source.

However, the anime industry is also highly collaborative. The number of studios involved in one project is often ludicrous; you'll see in the credits that a dozen or more people from other studios helped out, usually with fill-in animation, or character design, so on and so forth, and those same people whose names you recognize from projects you like, have also been directly involved in atrocious messes. A good name on the credits is worth a lot, I agree, but it's no guarantee of success or consistent quality; I just don't think the industry is set up that way. :S

And as I said, budget is a secondary factor; i.e. it comes into play as a magnifier/limiter. If the vision of the director/writers would cost too much to implement properly, then you end up with perfectly good planning getting thrown out the door because of budget. If the planning was already poor, and the budget is tiny, and the studio can't figure out how to get around it, then it makes a poorly prepped series worse. It's not the deciding factor, and to have a high budget does NOT imply good pacing. It means that budget was no excuse, but it doesn't guarantee any quality of writing, any more than it does for Hollywood.

My point is really that there are a lot of factors to consider. It's not excusing poor pacing or bad writing, but it's more making the point that the anime industry is quite complex, and expecting every series or movie that comes out to be a masterpiece (by Western standards, too, mind; there are plenty of anime that do terrible "at home" and great in the US/Europe, or vice versa), or even to be such in specific respects like pacing, is an unrealistic demand, when so many movies and series produced for "normal TV" are absolute garbage, *especially* in pacing.
And throw into that mix the cultural divide, and honestly I don't think there is such a high proportion of poorly paced/badly written/directed anime out there. It's about what I'd expect for the volume of shows, frankly. There's nothing wrong with high standards, of course, but the more anime you watch, the more you'll find are bad. See: Sturgeon's Law. It applies to anime as to anything. *shrug*

[QuickTidal]

Oh man, Miyazaki's latest THE WIND RISES is screening at TIFF! I'm so excited to see it!

It's also kind of a dark story. It's basically about the man who wanted to design planes and made gliders and ended up designing the Zero which would eventually be used for war. Miyazaki has said that he chose the story because he'd once heard that the man had said (when asked why he designed machines of war) that he "had only wanted to design exquisite aircraft, never war machines"

It's gonna be interesting methinks.

Plus Miyazaki MIGHT come. He last came to TIFF for MONONOKE (and I was at that screening).

[blanketman2.0]

Silencer, on 13 August 2013 - 11:46 PM, said:

Honestly, I was sold on SSY from episode one. The whole a tmosphere, the style, and the mysteries grabbed me. As others have said, that doesn't change much until episode 4+, at which point it becomes more of a rollercoaster ride of awesome (though still well paced, imo), so if you can get through a couple more episodes, you can see how it goes. But honestly, SSY is 2012 anime of the year for me, and so far nothing in 2013 has come close to it, either. Totally worth the watch. If you don't like it, you're a heathen.

Yes it definatly was one of the best of 2012 if not the best in my opion only pcyco pass came close and after episode 9 it become the marathon anime i became so hooked i would rewatch te episode weakly just to make sure i had the plot lined up right and enjoyed evry moment it will not disapoint

[amphibian]

Silencer, on 14 August 2013 - 12:00 AM, said:

I think you're underestimating the desire/pressure to truly adapt the source material, amph. Manga and anime are completely different mediums, save for the art style, however that doesn't stop people from trying to do, for want of a better way of putting it, scene-for-scene translation to the screen. No, it doesn't always work well, and yes, there are people who are better at it than others - and, as you say, people who are good at adapting things without trying too hard to stick to the source.

That's a really interesting thing - in the US film/tv industries, the desire is usually to take whatever the source material is and fuck with it until it's nearly unrecognizable because it "won't work".

If what you're saying is right, then the Japanese film/tv anime industries have a general bias as to taking out creativity or avoiding the restructuring of plot/things to better reflect the source material. That's a fascinating divide.

Quote

However, the anime industry is also highly collaborative. The number of studios involved in one project is often ludicrous; you'll see in the credits that a dozen or more people from other studios helped out, usually with fill-in animation, or character design, so on and so forth, and those same people whose names you recognize from projects you like, have also been directly involved in atrocious messes. A good name on the credits is worth a lot, I agree, but it's no guarantee of success or consistent quality; I just don't think the industry is set up that way. :S

I'm still new to all this, so I'll take for example FLCL, a six episode show which I dearly love.

There were a bunch of people involved, but a few key figures put a lot of spin and direction on the story, character and pacing. Hiroyuki Imaishi (Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Dead Leaves, the upcoming Kill la Kill) is maybe the one I enjoy the most. I don't know how many projects he's been involved with in total, but overall, his "been involved with list" on Wikipedia is a really high percentage list of shows/movies that I like.

Maybe he's an outlier or the stinkers have been dropped from the list, but if I look at Tsurumaki, the guy who was in charge of FLCL on which Imaishi worked, he's been involved with some great stuff as well. And the group of those who were involved with FLCL have worked on some incredible stuff, which leads to more great connections for someone with my particular tastes.

But... I will say that I'm probably much, much less experienced or widely browsing as you, D'rek, blanketman, QT, Dolmen, Gothos and the many others here. So this is just my perspective thus far.

[blanketman2.0]

amphibian, on 14 August 2013 - 11:52 PM, said:

Quote

However, the anime industry is also highly collaborative. The number of studios involved in one project is often ludicrous; you'll see in the credits that a dozen or more people from other studios helped out, usually with fill-in animation, or character design, so on and so forth, and those same people whose names you recognize from projects you like, have also been directly involved in atrocious messes. A good name on the credits is worth a lot, I agree, but it's no guarantee of success or consistent quality; I just don't think the industry is set up that way. :S

I'm still new to all this, so I'll take for example FLCL, a six episode show which I dearly love.

There were a bunch of people involved, but a few key figures put a lot of spin and direction on the story, character and pacing. Hiroyuki Imaishi (Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Dead Leaves, the upcoming Kill la Kill) is maybe the one I enjoy the most. I don't know how many projects he's been involved with in total, but overall, his "been involved with list" on Wikipedia is a really high percentage list of shows/movies that I like.

Maybe he's an outlier or the stinkers have been dropped from the list, but if I look at Tsurumaki, the guy who was in charge of FLCL on which Imaishi worked, he's been involved with some great stuff as well. And the group of those who were involved with FLCL have worked on some incredible stuff, which leads to more great connections for someone with my particular tastes.

But... I will say that I'm probably much, much less experienced or widely browsing as you, D'rek, blanketman, QT, Dolmen, Gothos and the many others here. So this is just my perspective thus far.

while anime is highly collaborative it is normal to find a director, scriptwriter or composer that you favor for example my favorite director at the moment is probably Akiyuki Shimbo (monogatari series, sayonara zetzubou sensei, modaka magica and a few more) because i like the the cinematic style he employs if you want to know more well respected directors/writers there's Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, Leiji Matusmoto, Gen Urobuchi off the top of my head and for music there's Yuki Kajiura and Yoko Kano that are well respected.

[Silencer]

amphibian, on 14 August 2013 - 11:52 PM, said:

Silencer, on 14 August 2013 - 12:00 AM, said:

I think you're underestimating the desire/pressure to truly adapt the source material, amph. Manga and anime are completely different mediums, save for the art style, however that doesn't stop people from trying to do, for want of a better way of putting it, scene-for-scene translation to the screen. No, it doesn't always work well, and yes, there are people who are better at it than others - and, as you say, people who are good at adapting things without trying too hard to stick to the source.

That's a really interesting thing - in the US film/tv industries, the desire is usually to take whatever the source material is and fuck with it until it's nearly unrecognizable because it "won't work".

If what you're saying is right, then the Japanese film/tv anime industries have a general bias as to taking out creativity or avoiding the restructuring of plot/things to better reflect the source material. That's a fascinating divide.

*grumble*howmuchtheyfuckedupDresden*/grumble* But yeah, it's not a universal thing, but I think usually the company who owns the IP has a lot more say in the adaptation; one does not simply "buy the rights" like seems to happen here. Obviously there are anime out there which seriously diverge from the source material - but this mostly occurs when the anime "catches up" to the storyline of the manga/whatever.

Take the Fullmetal Alchemist series. The original anime caught up to the released material of the source manga. This posed a dilemma; cease production until more material was released, create filler to pad things out, or break off from the source material and write their own story. While the manga author did have input into the latter process, which is what the studio chose to do (and, I believe, the author considers the original anime a 'valid' alternative canon), it then became its own version of events; normally, most anime just stop production, or produce endless filler while waiting for the story in the manga to advance enough to adapt.

Subsequently, Fullmetal Alchemist; Brotherhood has been created and released, which more closely sticks to the original manga storyline (basically being the 'true' adaptation of the source material), even though the first half or so of the two series is very similar in terms of plot content anyway.

Contrast some of the stuff that has duplicated productions like...CLANNAD/Air/Kanon. All three were originally Key Visual Arts VNs (Visual Novels, for those unaware; basically story-based computer games in the style of an anime/manga, where different choices (usually) result in different outcomes), all three have been adapted into less-faithful Movie Versions by Toei Animation, and more faithful TV series adaptations by Kyoto Animation (one of my personal favourite studios, not only for the absolutely stunning art they produce, but the awesome stories and characters they have created or adapted - though their best works are the stuff by Key (which means, indirectly, Jun Maeda, who is my personal idol, as the only man in the world with direct access to my tearducts...)).

In other words, there are adaptations which stray further from the source material (though even then, it's not like everything Toei does strays from the source; filler, sure, but the plots are usually properly adapted, i.e. in One Piece and so on), and ones which stray less. There are also anime-original stories (which can be mediocre, like K, or fucking awesome, like Darker than Black), which often find themselves adapted into other media as well, be it directly or in the form of prequels/sequels/side stories, etc. It certainly isn't a homogeneous, industry-wide practice that is never broken, or anything, but it does seem to be the prevailing condition that the original author's work is to be respected, and therefore mostly not altered. This makes sense, given Japanese culture.

Quote

Quote

However, the anime industry is also highly collaborative. The number of studios involved in one project is often ludicrous; you'll see in the credits that a dozen or more people from other studios helped out, usually with fill-in animation, or character design, so on and so forth, and those same people whose names you recognize from projects you like, have also been directly involved in atrocious messes. A good name on the credits is worth a lot, I agree, but it's no guarantee of success or consistent quality; I just don't think the industry is set up that way. :S

I'm still new to all this, so I'll take for example FLCL, a six episode show which I dearly love.

There were a bunch of people involved, but a few key figures put a lot of spin and direction on the story, character and pacing. Hiroyuki Imaishi (Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Dead Leaves, the upcoming Kill la Kill) is maybe the one I enjoy the most. I don't know how many projects he's been involved with in total, but overall, his "been involved with list" on Wikipedia is a really high percentage list of shows/movies that I like.

Maybe he's an outlier or the stinkers have been dropped from the list, but if I look at Tsurumaki, the guy who was in charge of FLCL on which Imaishi worked, he's been involved with some great stuff as well. And the group of those who were involved with FLCL have worked on some incredible stuff, which leads to more great connections for someone with my particular tastes.

But... I will say that I'm probably much, much less experienced or widely browsing as you, D'rek, blanketman, QT, Dolmen, Gothos and the many others here. So this is just my perspective thus far.

Oh, absolutely. As I said, a notable name on the credits is usually worth something; it's just not a guarantee and everyone has been involved in flops. Whether that was more or less their fault is case-by-case, but I've seen things produced by companies and directed and written by people whose other works I love, which have been...underwhelming, to say the least. It's the same as anything; nobody is perfect all the time.
Key Visual Arts, Kyoto Animation, Studio BONES, Studio Ghibli (mostly Miyazaki, but still), anything with Jun Maeda in control....these are things I check out with great interest, due to a high chance of them being, in some way, shape, or form, awesome, great, and/or perfect. XD There are a handful of other studios and individuals whose names on a project make me more keen (even if it is just the composer; as referenced above, Yoko Kanno or *especially* Yuki Kajiura) regardless of what the show seems to be about, and that list grows and changes as you watch more anime. Heck, sometimes you can find the hallmarks of your favoured contributor even if the rest of the series is not done as well.

But yeah, the more you watch, the more you get to know who does what, and how well they do it. Plus, let's not forget personal preference, as you noted.











EDIT: I should also note, there are a fair few examples of cases where the changed adaptation was better, or where one looks at the source and thinks "this would be awesome, if...", so it definitely happens in anime too; it's just not as common.
I, for one, would kill to see the "Anime Harry Potter" poster/image someone threw up in the Pics thread a few years ago, become reality. Heck, I've probably linked it in this thread at some point, too. It would be AWESOME. The characters would be a lot deeper, in terms of actually getting development and screen time, as the adaptation could flesh out the "everyday lives" part of going to school - even wizarding school deserves days that aren't about fighting the Dark Lord or sneaking out of school at night. XD Never mind anything but the overall plot from the novels, 75% of the series could be new! And better! XD

[amphibian]

An animated Harry Potter cartoon would make so much money if they did it in ten years from now (to let the movies and books fully move into the long tail).

It'd probably have the biggest production budget of any cartoon ever - and still be worth it financially.

Edit: And I'd still probably dislike it.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 15 August 2013 - 07:55 AM

[Dolmen 2.0]

I find that anime tends to be really unsurvivable if stemmed from a western source. Conversely Western sources tend to be, while boundlessly awesome visually, quite wrong. Completely and utterly justwrong (see DBZ, Godzilla, Anything samurai related save maybe 'the last samurai'). There is a huge gap in the cultures that just doesn't translate well. There are more exceptions to the rule but the ease of which I think of them is a clear indication of how unusual it is to happen. Fiction like Harry Potter would not fair well with current cultural divide in place I think. If Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko had input in the project then yes, definately a win situation but guys like these tend to be cornered in their franchise series and seldom venture out into adaptations.

[QuickTidal]

I noted it over in the "bought Today" thread, but thought I'd mention it here as well.

Finding the time to be near my laptop to catch up with ONE PIECE is proving daunting...as when I get a chance these days to sit down with it (Wedding planning is literally devouring my time form day to day) I can only bang through 2 or 3 eps...and the Alabasta Arc alone took me months and felt disjointed because of the breaks I had to take between eps.

So, to supplement my sporadic viewing of the series, I've decided yo fill the gaps and some arcs with the manga volumes. So I'm doing the whole Skypeia Arc in manga form, and I'll do the following arc of the show, and so on. The manga I can bring along on the transit with me so I can get through volumes of it quickly.

I will still go back at some point and watch the eps of the show that I am supplementing with the manga, but for now my goal is to get caught up without spending long periods losing the vibe of the through story.

Lastly, Colleen Clinkenbeard (Luffy's English Voice) will be at FanExpo again this year....and I'm gonna have her sign the back of my red Luffy t-shirt....super chuffed to meet her!

[Gothos]

OK so I've caught up with Attack on Titan up to the latest episode, and I'm loving it. They could hurry the fsck up with the anime to catch up with the manga tho!

Also, just finished Psycho Pass. I've been glued to the screen since the first minutes of the first episodes. I also found myself sympathizing with and rooting for Makashima for pretty much the entire series since he starts talking. I guess I'm a bit unhinged...
Anyways, LOVED IT! Can I has moar liek that?

[blanketman2.0]

Gothos, on 16 August 2013 - 09:17 PM, said:

OK so I've caught up with Attack on Titan up to the latest episode, and I'm loving it. They could hurry the fsck up with the anime to catch up with the manga tho!

Also, just finished Psycho Pass. I've been glued to the screen since the first minutes of the first episodes. I also found myself sympathizing with and rooting for Makashima for pretty much the entire series since he starts talking. I guess I'm a bit unhinged...
Anyways, LOVED IT! Can I has moar liek that?

If you liked psycho pass check out other Noir it has a similar feel i find or maybe Gargantia (by the same scriptwriter) and speed grapher.

This post has been edited by blanketman2.0: 17 August 2013 - 12:50 AM

[Silencer]

blanketman2.0, on 17 August 2013 - 12:30 AM, said:

Gothos, on 16 August 2013 - 09:17 PM, said:

OK so I've caught up with Attack on Titan up to the latest episode, and I'm loving it. They could hurry the fsck up with the anime to catch up with the manga tho!

Also, just finished Psycho Pass. I've been glued to the screen since the first minutes of the first episodes. I also found myself sympathizing with and rooting for Makashima for pretty much the entire series since he starts talking. I guess I'm a bit unhinged...
Anyways, LOVED IT! Can I has moar liek that?

If you liked psycho pass check out other Noir it has a similar feel i find or maybe Gargantia (by the same scriptwriter) and speed grapher.

Hrm...just having a quick look through my collection...it's hard to find stuff close to Psycho-Pass; it was done pretty well, and while it shares similarities with, say, Ergo Proxy, it benefits from being newer and learning from their mistakes, I feel.

The closest, more in terms of feel than necessarily the theme, would probably be things like Noir, Phantom; Requiem for the Phantom, Senkou no Night Raid...though none of those share a similar setting, and they don't have the philosophical depth that PP does (though they do have moral dilemmas and freedom-of-choice elements, they're just not the primary plot motivator/focus). If you go broader, then maybe something like Noein, or whatnot has a similar ambiguous villain/freedom of choice vs better society philosophy thing going on, tied in with some quantum physics elements.

Thematically, it shares a lot with Ghost in the Shell, Ergo Proxy, Serial Experiments Lain, and Texhnolyze (or however the hell you spell that one's title), what with the dystopian/utopian future societies and the twisty plots that are based on conflicting moral/philosophical outlooks though, again, I'd contend that Psycho-Pass does that better, if only because it does it in a more streamlined, less ham-fisted/needlessly over-complicated manner. In other words, it is less full of itself and its philosophical debate, and more about the conflicts that arise when brilliant minds collide in a fight for what they feel is the 'right' way for humanity to live. Thus the other recommendations in the previous paragraph, which do better for lack of the philosophy focus.

Personally I wouldn't recommend Gargantia as similar to Psycho-Pass; it does share the same scriptwriter, Gen Urobuchi, but that series is fundamentally a lot different in tone, for the most part, and avoids much of what makes him awesome at his job.
Also see: Fate/Zero. He participated in that one (and incidentally, yes, he is also heavily involved in writing Phantom; Requiem for the Phantom and its source VN, Phantom of Inferno) and it shares the fundamental darkness and violence, amongst other things. Both awesome series.

I guess I could also suggest Madlax, or even El Cazador de la Brujah; both share the same studio as animated Phantom, and if you didn't know any better, you'd say that Phantom was part of that "trilogy" (they're not related, any of them, story-wise, but they are collectively referred to as a trilogy for their close thematic links), though in reality it is more likely that the Phantom VN inspired the work on all three. Noir is the best, or certainly the most grounded in reality, of the lot, other than Phantom, which is superior in terms of it being newer, better written, better animated, and awesome all-around, while Noir is one of their early works, and so suffers a bit in the looks department (though it is, otherwise, a nine or ten out of ten anime, imo).
However, I caution that Madlax and El Cazador are a lot less serious/"realistic" in their settings and while they are worthwhile watches, I'd rank them well below the other titles already mentioned, and I can totally understand how someone would not think they were particularly good, whereas anyone who doesn't like Noir, Phantom, or Fate/Zero, are heathens and should be burned at the stake.

Anyway, hope you find something in there you haven't already seen and which meets your expectations.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Silencer, on 17 August 2013 - 02:57 AM, said:

blanketman2.0, on 17 August 2013 - 12:30 AM, said:

Gothos, on 16 August 2013 - 09:17 PM, said:

OK so I've caught up with Attack on Titan up to the latest episode, and I'm loving it. They could hurry the fsck up with the anime to catch up with the manga tho!

Also, just finished Psycho Pass. I've been glued to the screen since the first minutes of the first episodes. I also found myself sympathizing with and rooting for Makashima for pretty much the entire series since he starts talking. I guess I'm a bit unhinged...
Anyways, LOVED IT! Can I has moar liek that?

If you liked psycho pass check out other Noir it has a similar feel i find or maybe Gargantia (by the same scriptwriter) and speed grapher.

Hrm...just having a quick look through my collection...it's hard to find stuff close to Psycho-Pass; it was done pretty well, and while it shares similarities with, say, Ergo Proxy, it benefits from being newer and learning from their mistakes, I feel.

The closest, more in terms of feel than necessarily the theme, would probably be things like Noir, Phantom; Requiem for the Phantom, Senkou no Night Raid...though none of those share a similar setting, and they don't have the philosophical depth that PP does (though they do have moral dilemmas and freedom-of-choice elements, they're just not the primary plot motivator/focus). If you go broader, then maybe something like Noein, or whatnot has a similar ambiguous villain/freedom of choice vs better society philosophy thing going on, tied in with some quantum physics elements.

Thematically, it shares a lot with Ghost in the Shell, Ergo Proxy, Serial Experiments Lain, and Texhnolyze (or however the hell you spell that one's title), what with the dystopian/utopian future societies and the twisty plots that are based on conflicting moral/philosophical outlooks though, again, I'd contend that Psycho-Pass does that better, if only because it does it in a more streamlined, less ham-fisted/needlessly over-complicated manner. In other words, it is less full of itself and its philosophical debate, and more about the conflicts that arise when brilliant minds collide in a fight for what they feel is the 'right' way for humanity to live. Thus the other recommendations in the previous paragraph, which do better for lack of the philosophy focus.

Personally I wouldn't recommend Gargantia as similar to Psycho-Pass; it does share the same scriptwriter, Gen Urobuchi, but that series is fundamentally a lot different in tone, for the most part, and avoids much of what makes him awesome at his job.
Also see: Fate/Zero. He participated in that one (and incidentally, yes, he is also heavily involved in writing Phantom; Requiem for the Phantom and its source VN, Phantom of Inferno) and it shares the fundamental darkness and violence, amongst other things. Both awesome series.

I guess I could also suggest Madlax, or even El Cazador de la Brujah; both share the same studio as animated Phantom, and if you didn't know any better, you'd say that Phantom was part of that "trilogy" (they're not related, any of them, story-wise, but they are collectively referred to as a trilogy for their close thematic links), though in reality it is more likely that the Phantom VN inspired the work on all three. Noir is the best, or certainly the most grounded in reality, of the lot, other than Phantom, which is superior in terms of it being newer, better written, better animated, and awesome all-around, while Noir is one of their early works, and so suffers a bit in the looks department (though it is, otherwise, a nine or ten out of ten anime, imo).
However, I caution that Madlax and El Cazador are a lot less serious/"realistic" in their settings and while they are worthwhile watches, I'd rank them well below the other titles already mentioned, and I can totally understand how someone would not think they were particularly good, whereas anyone who doesn't like Noir, Phantom, or Fate/Zero, are heathens and should be burned at the stake.

Anyway, hope you find something in there you haven't already seen and which meets your expectations.

Ditto on Ergo Proxy which I finished and Requiem for Phantom which I was introduced to but never managed to get into. It is a really good anime though and reminds me less of Psycho Pass as it does Jormungand which I am plotting through irregularly and Black Lagoon/Black Lagoon: Robertas Blood Trial all of Which I finished in a week long marathon run (It was that epic).

The obvious suggestion for futuristic justice vs freedom of the soul is Ghost in the Shell. Philosophy is heavy in this series and if you aren't current on all movies and all the series well you should work on that because anything Masamune Shirow inspired is pure unadulterated gold. The reason I like Psycho Pass so much is because it ties in perfectly whith the GitS World view, and it is a shockingly intricate world at that.

(Obsessive fan-man cataloging limiter removal, initiating sequence in 3....2...1... )

Reccomend!

Movies:
Ghost in the Shell 1 1995(v2.0 2008 if you prefer a quality upgrade) (Movie 1)

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence 2004 (Movie 2)

Series: (GitS universe slightly altered but not drasticly and in many ways for the better!)

-Stand alone/Complex (2002 to 2003)

-2nd Gig (2004 and 2005)

-Solid State Society (2006)(a Movie3...sort of)

Ghost in the Shell 3: Arise (2013) OVA's ** (LOOKS AWESOME!)

**haven't watched as I intend to buy it on my next trip abroad.

If you like Psycho Pass and have not watched GitS do so. You're in for a treat.

This post has been edited by Dolmen+: 17 August 2013 - 06:35 AM

[LinearPhilosopher]

Gothos, on 16 August 2013 - 09:17 PM, said:

OK so I've caught up with Attack on Titan up to the latest episode, and I'm loving it. They could hurry the fsck up with the anime to catch up with the manga tho!

Also, just finished Psycho Pass. I've been glued to the screen since the first minutes of the first episodes. I also found myself sympathizing with and rooting for Makashima for pretty much the entire series since he starts talking. I guess I'm a bit unhinged...
Anyways, LOVED IT! Can I has moar liek that?

I think silencer killed it....

As someone else mentioned, Ghost in the SHell. Aside from that, ergo proxy is somewaht close, but Psycho-Pass really stands out!

Dolmen+, on 15 August 2013 - 11:52 AM, said:

I find that anime tends to be really unsurvivable if stemmed from a western source. Conversely Western sources tend to be, while boundlessly awesome visually, quite wrong. Completely and utterly justwrong (see DBZ, Godzilla, Anything samurai related save maybe 'the last samurai'). There is a huge gap in the cultures that just doesn't translate well. There are more exceptions to the rule but the ease of which I think of them is a clear indication of how unusual it is to happen. Fiction like Harry Potter would not fair well with current cultural divide in place I think. If Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko had input in the project then yes, definately a win situation but guys like these tend to be cornered in their franchise series and seldom venture out into adaptations.

disagree, have you ever seen samurai jack, ben 10 or teen titans,? All really god series in their own right with heavy influences from japanese animation. It can be done right, just needs the right people doing it, which isn't as in frequent as you'd think. Also most cartoons are catered towards kids, however when they want to get an older audience they do a good job. (spawn anyone?)

Oh, and the last airbender is amazing.
http://thatguywithth...-american-anime

and next season looks good!


Pokemon red the anime? awwww yeah nostalgia time

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 17 August 2013 - 10:45 PM

[QuickTidal]

As much as I LOVE the anime...catching up on ONE PIECE via the manga volumes is SUCH a blast.

And fast too. I have literally been able to blast through about 3/4 of the SKYPEIA Arc (the equivalent of roughly 32-33 eps of the anime) in a few hours.

And there is something ridiculously addictive about Oda's art. It's like this immersive, affecting machine. My two fave minimal things? "Skree" for the seagulls, and when people are running "tmp" I can hear it in my head.

Anyways, really solid stuff....and

Spoiler

The introduction of The Five Elders, Admiral Sengoku and a few of the Seven Warlords was pretty nice to get to. It's nice to see there are big powers behind the scenes. Oh, and one of the Five Elders is an old woman named Tsuru....which was my great grandmother's name...so that was a pretty cool moment.

I've yet to notice Panda Man but I'm sure he'll show up....and I'm loving the "Question" panel sections between chapters, as they are ofttimes HILARIOUS.

Anyways, I'm going to finish up the SKYPEIA arc this way, and then watch WATER SEVEN of the anime.

[Dolmen 2.0]

@QT: I cant seem to handle One Piece via anime because of the fact I got into it via manga. I am still following amphs advice and catching it at the interesting parts like the thriller bark and the whole amazon arc. The animation must make the fights look epic but I seem to enjoy Odas humour more in manga format aswell.

@BL: Yeah avatar and teen titans I'd concede. Western anime is gaining ground, and like I said above I'd only really trust the creators of the last airbender to translate western story into eastern media. Please don't get me wrong. The shows tend to be uncomfortable, wolverine and the x-men, Witchblade, Blade or Supernatural the anime feel off. They are not bad....just feel odd, weird even. Some things just don't quite fit.