[Andorion]

LinearPhilosopher, on 23 September 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

Andorion, on 23 September 2015 - 02:19 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 22 September 2015 - 09:34 PM, said:

In regards to d'rek on FMA i disagree that it's only a solid show, that it doesn't do anything incredible. I'd argue it does one thing very well. Deliver a very good story. It's a great story, with a lot of ups and downs, moments of comedy with moments of sorrow and it balances it out in a way you don't get tired of either. Characters, grow or become more fleshed out in an organic fashion. That in of itself is brilliant because how often do we see some show have potential yet fail on delivery. What sets FMA apart more than anything else is execution and thats why it gets such high praise and why its so highly regarded.

You can't just evaluate a show on the merits of its plot or characters etc. It's the execution that is a large factor. You can have a very simple story, like renton's coming of age in eureka seven be very engrossing because of the way the story is told and how the character develops.

Also i just had a triple expresso shot frappucino So if i come across as incoherent, i blame the sugar/caffeine combo.(i got a 10$ drink for free ^^)

Ok, so the merits of FMA are something that become apparent if I watch it long term and not 10 episodes as I did. Ok got it.

And if you are going to drink espressos, don't add sugar to them. Thats just pouring good coffee down the drain.

elaborate

Ideally coffee should be had black, with no cream or sugar. It needs to be strong enough that you smell it from the next room and when you drink it, it kicks you in the head. At least thats how I like my coffee. I just googled what you had and come on thats a glorified milkshake with coffee flavouring over the top.

You see I have filtered coffee, not instant

[LinearPhilosopher]

Andorion, on 23 September 2015 - 03:10 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 23 September 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

Andorion, on 23 September 2015 - 02:19 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 22 September 2015 - 09:34 PM, said:

In regards to d'rek on FMA i disagree that it's only a solid show, that it doesn't do anything incredible. I'd argue it does one thing very well. Deliver a very good story. It's a great story, with a lot of ups and downs, moments of comedy with moments of sorrow and it balances it out in a way you don't get tired of either. Characters, grow or become more fleshed out in an organic fashion. That in of itself is brilliant because how often do we see some show have potential yet fail on delivery. What sets FMA apart more than anything else is execution and thats why it gets such high praise and why its so highly regarded.

You can't just evaluate a show on the merits of its plot or characters etc. It's the execution that is a large factor. You can have a very simple story, like renton's coming of age in eureka seven be very engrossing because of the way the story is told and how the character develops.

Also i just had a triple expresso shot frappucino So if i come across as incoherent, i blame the sugar/caffeine combo.(i got a 10$ drink for free ^^)

Ok, so the merits of FMA are something that become apparent if I watch it long term and not 10 episodes as I did. Ok got it.

And if you are going to drink espressos, don't add sugar to them. Thats just pouring good coffee down the drain.

elaborate

Ideally coffee should be had black, with no cream or sugar. It needs to be strong enough that you smell it from the next room and when you drink it, it kicks you in the head. At least thats how I like my coffee. I just googled what you had and come on thats a glorified milkshake with coffee flavouring over the top.

You see I have filtered coffee, not instant

Oi i used to have a percolator (until i lost a part) man so you aint got nothing on me. What happens though is when you get minimal sleep, and you're on your 3rd cup of coffee, you get vastly diminishing returns from the coffee. Hence you get the sugar mixed with the concentrated caffeine.

[Andorion]

LinearPhilosopher, on 23 September 2015 - 04:00 AM, said:

Andorion, on 23 September 2015 - 03:10 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 23 September 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

Andorion, on 23 September 2015 - 02:19 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 22 September 2015 - 09:34 PM, said:

In regards to d'rek on FMA i disagree that it's only a solid show, that it doesn't do anything incredible. I'd argue it does one thing very well. Deliver a very good story. It's a great story, with a lot of ups and downs, moments of comedy with moments of sorrow and it balances it out in a way you don't get tired of either. Characters, grow or become more fleshed out in an organic fashion. That in of itself is brilliant because how often do we see some show have potential yet fail on delivery. What sets FMA apart more than anything else is execution and thats why it gets such high praise and why its so highly regarded.

You can't just evaluate a show on the merits of its plot or characters etc. It's the execution that is a large factor. You can have a very simple story, like renton's coming of age in eureka seven be very engrossing because of the way the story is told and how the character develops.

Also i just had a triple expresso shot frappucino So if i come across as incoherent, i blame the sugar/caffeine combo.(i got a 10$ drink for free ^^)

Ok, so the merits of FMA are something that become apparent if I watch it long term and not 10 episodes as I did. Ok got it.

And if you are going to drink espressos, don't add sugar to them. Thats just pouring good coffee down the drain.

elaborate

Ideally coffee should be had black, with no cream or sugar. It needs to be strong enough that you smell it from the next room and when you drink it, it kicks you in the head. At least thats how I like my coffee. I just googled what you had and come on thats a glorified milkshake with coffee flavouring over the top.

You see I have filtered coffee, not instant

Oi i used to have a percolator (until i lost a part) man so you aint got nothing on me. What happens though is when you get minimal sleep, and you're on your 3rd cup of coffee, you get vastly diminishing returns from the coffee. Hence you get the sugar mixed with the concentrated caffeine.

If you had a percolator how do you drink instant anymore? I can't. I would rather have tea than have instant coffee

[Lycaenion]

Andorion, on 22 September 2015 - 06:28 PM, said:

Next question: Fullmetal Alchemist...... how good is it actually? I know its long and I watched a few episodes..... seemed to have a rather depressing premise

Fullmetal Alchemist is 64 eps, that's not long. One Piece is in the 700s right now and we're halfway through the story. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the second anime, which follows the storyline from the manga more precicely and let me tell you, it's worth it! It's one of the best, if not the best, shounen I've ever seen. It's dark yes, but there's still an underlying feeling of hope in it all. The plot's awesome, the characters make you feel all sort of things and the action/alchemy is absolutely amazing. Do watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood first though, instead of the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime, because that one deviates from the true story halfway through. It's still an interesting story, but Brotherhood is the ACTUAL story. Trust me, you won't regret watching it.

Fun fact, I did my thesis on Fullmetal Alchemist/Malazan and some other fantasy novels.

[LinearPhilosopher]

I'd argue watch the original anime first, if you liked it, watch brotherhood after. Original fma is 50 episodes, brotherhood 62/4

@andorion, because good sir, i like starbucks coffee, granted i don't think starbucks uses instnat coffee

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 23 September 2015 - 01:29 PM

[Dolmen 2.0]

Anime Music top 30:

http://youtu.be/dTB_IJaMh3M

It goes without saying this is a very subjective topic but I have to agree with most of these. Some anime mentions I need to watch to appreciate though. I googled and listened through a few, some were amazing finds ESPECIALLY anything from Kara na kyoukai. not sure how to go about watching it but I plan to pick it up after my current run of Psychopass S2 and Bakuman S3.

I'd have added several others, particularly music from Aldnoah Zero and Attack on titan which I think overlap the composer?

Genuinely surprised he didn't include music by the artist on Guilty Crown and Tokyo Ghoul. my only major gripe tbh. and Nodame Contabile should own this list. but again: very subjective.

So what anime based music do you guys enjoy?

[LinearPhilosopher]

I highly reccomend garden of sinner/kara no kyokai, the ova comes highly reccomended.

Havenèt seen any GR videos in a while. My main gripe with him is he evaluates anime on from a teleological perspective (the ending is paramount in his own words) which from an ontological standpoint is ridiculous. You don't judge a man's life by his final moments, you don't judge a proof based on it's conclusion, why the hell should more weight be given to an anime's finale than the other 25 episodes. You don't watch an anime to get to the end, you watch an anime to enjoy the telling of a story. If you're watching an anime just for it's end, then everyone would just watch the last 2-3 episodes of a series and say the rest is filler

@dolmen have you gotten to the pharmacy episode of psycho pass yet?

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 24 September 2015 - 03:40 AM

[D'rek]

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 September 2015 - 01:55 PM, said:

Anime Music top 30:

http://youtu.be/dTB_IJaMh3M

It goes without saying this is a very subjective topic but I have to agree with most of these. Some anime mentions I need to watch to appreciate though. I googled and listened through a few, some were amazing finds ESPECIALLY anything from Kara na kyoukai. not sure how to go about watching it but I plan to pick it up after my current run of Psychopass S2 and Bakuman S3.

I'd have added several others, particularly music from Aldnoah Zero and Attack on titan which I think overlap the composer?

Genuinely surprised he didn't include music by the artist on Guilty Crown and Tokyo Ghoul. my only major gripe tbh. and Nodame Contabile should own this list. but again: very subjective.

So what anime based music do you guys enjoy?

That video is a pretty good way of approaching it. As he says, soundtracks can't make a show good, but a great soundtrack alone can add a ton of emotion and memorableness to even a crappy show. SAO and Fairy Tale are good examples - they would probably not be loved nearly as much if they had only a mediocre soundtrack (but damn if those soundtracks aren't amazing). Or, like, Guilty Crown now has a reputation pretty much as "that anime that isn't very good but the soundtrack is awesome".

And while it is fairly easy to distinguish between the amazing and not-amazing soundtracks, trying to rank them in some sort of hierarchy is nigh-impossible because they are so subjective and also irrevocably intertwined with their shows, so that was a good choice in the video. If you really liked a show, you're going to like the music from it even more.

Conversely, listening to the soundtracks on their own doesn't always give you the same reaction. Someone who listens to Libera Me From Hell from Gurren Lagann might think "well, this is pretty neat" but they won't "get it" the same way that someone who's watched the show will... and then the song will have even more meaning for someone who got really invested in the show and loved it. Or, like, a bunch of the Lain songs sound like weird dubstep out of context. A lot of the ones he's talking about in the video I find are ones that rely on their context and aren't necessarily as good outside of it (which is totally fine).

Plus there are some shows that had one or two *really* good songs, but the rest of the OST wasn't as amazing - like, say, Akame ga Kill or Read or Die.


Anyways, not that much left to say. I'll see if I can sit down and think through a bit of a list of ones I like the most, but it's going to be a lot of overlap with the video and what's been said so far.

I looove looking up random anime music OST medleys on youtube though. There's a ton of well-mixed hour-long-or-so medleys, often with a theme like "epic music" or "heartstring music" or whatever, and it's a great way to find awesome songs from anime you've never heard of.

[LinearPhilosopher]

heres one i've listened to every so often. The issue i have with OSTs is most of them bore me as their greatness is contextual. Take the movie once upon a time in the west, i can't count the amount of times i've listened to that soundtrack. But it's even greater when you can associate a song with a moment. Associating Jill's theme with these panoramic shots of the sets, for a vengeance with that introductory sequence for the villain etc... (granted the example is biased as the soundtrack was the very first thing that was done for the film)



for those who haven't seen the film, THIS is how you introduce a villain

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 24 September 2015 - 02:12 PM

[D'rek]

Half-way through Charlotte. So far so good. There's a bit of awkward writing/character interactions in the first handful of episodes, but it's pretty minor (though in episode 4 it makes for a weird setup).

(minor spoilers up to ep. 4)

Spoiler

If they really do care about these other teens they are finding not dying/getting abducted, why be so confrontational about it? Why not just sit down and outline the facts with them - Nao could even relate her own experiences like she did to convince Yuu (though it was kind of weird how Yuu went along with all these big changes and then later got the better/fuller explanations). Seems like that would be a more reasonable and more effective way than to shock, scare and threaten them.

The baseball game is the ultimate of this - why go through all the work and risk of putting the result up for challenge via a baseball game when you could just explain it to the guy fully? And they didn't even use their powers for the first 90% of the game (when obviously Yuu could be making everyone fumble all the time if they wanted) - what if they'd actually lost?! "Oh well, baseball guy won, let's drop the matter and let him get abducted..."

They've got every reason to be very serious about this matter, so it's odd that they don't take things more seriously. Some of it could be chalked up to inexperience, but not much.

(major spoilers up to ep 7)

Spoiler

Sheesh, that was dark.

Well, we knew something bad was going to happen as soon as Ayu got sick - one does not simply stay home sick in a futon in a Maeda story without setting something terrible in motion. I really thought the 3 junior-high friends of hers were going to be something more sinister than a little love triangle (like fake friends sent by scientists, perhaps), but in any case it worked and even though it happened so fast it was well done.

Likewise, they did a great job fitting Yuu's downward spiral into just one episode but it was still gripping and felt plenty long - good amount of showing us parts and skipping time. Nao and Yuu really do have some great chemistry, I hope they do end up together. The sharing-music scene was great (and geez, Nao, who as a kid said to her brother she doesn't like rock music, now listens to her brother's favourite band, who's music is full of themes of loneliness... ouch, right in the feels).

The story could go a LOT of different places from here. Ayu could turn out to have survived but have been abducted for experiments and they have an adventure to get her back. It could be simply an emotional coping story where Nao and Yuu bond. The sacred comet or a very special superpower could show up and change everything.

At the very least, they need to resolve the part with Yuu and Ayu not remembering their father, and there's that blone junior high kid who showed up for a few seconds trying to get to Ayu just before Yuu got to the collapse. There's also the title itself, 'Charlotte', since none of the main characters are named that - probably the name of a long-orbit comet like Ayu was hoping to see, but that could be used for cosmic supernatural stuff or just thematic and emotional development.

Anyways, so far I'm really enjoying it.

[D'rek]

(Charlotte spoilers up to ep 10)

Spoiler

Well damn, things are actually going pretty well. This is surprisingly happy - not just in overall plot, but just the whole general tone other than the Collapse and Yuu's spiral downward (which does help to contrast between those, of course).

Classroom Crisis Finale -- the big synchronous climactic events was a great way to finish off the main plot-line, and I like the back-and-forth resolution to the end of it. Odd that they left a bunch of loose ends/foreshadowing for a second season in the second half of the episode as I didn't think this show was popular enough for another season to be likely. Then again, it's a totally new studio and I'm sure the Magi OVAs (which is, like, the only other project Lay-duce studio has been working on) are doing well so maybe they really will.

Shokugeki no Souma Finale -- good ending, nice way of leaving things between Souma and Ayame for now. Kind of suffered from it being a weird spot to end the anime within the overall plot, but better they do this than rush/use filler just to line up another spot with the 24 episode marker. While the last few episodes had some great cooking moments (especially Megumi and Hisako-vs-Nao), I not only found group A to be less interesting (though it was a treat seeing Marui step up to the plate) but also the more 'standard' ecchi foodgasms weren't as entertaining as the sillier ones like magic cabbage that came up in the middle of the season. So, overall, I thought it was a satisfying ending but not a huge out-with-a-bang. That's fine, as we know this is going to be back for another 2 cours... and probably another 4 more beyond that.

[D'rek]

Durarara x2 Ten Finale - Suffered a bit from rushing through the content in order to finish volume 10, but overall satisfying. Lots of build up for the last cour.

Charlotte Finale -

Spoiler

Well, it was interesting, and cool to see Yuu actually going through the long, arduous process of de-powering everyone, but the emotional notes were not built up particularly well (the amnesia thing just sort of came out of nowhere). As soon as he did start forgetting his past, I thought Nao would end up using the camcorder to show him old footage of himself or they'd get the Zhiend singer to sing and that would help him restore (they never even brought her back to help Nao's brother in this timeline). So, definitely some weaknesses but overall a nice ending.

---

And now I've watched the first episode of Gakkou Gurashi (aka School-Live!). Everyone, repeat, EVERYONE in this thread needs to watch at least the first episode of this. I can't predict whether you will like it or not - I suspect some slice-of-life-moe-girl fans will still not like it, while I suspect some people who ordinarily despise slice-of-life-moe-girl shows *will* like it. You just have to try it and see. Don't read the synopsis, don't read the MAL tags, don't read any comments about it, just go watch the first episode all the way through.

[LinearPhilosopher]

ill take you up on that. Also still need to get around to starting charlotte. Haven't had the time.

Also latest overlord episode was actually pretty good.

[The Hust Legion]

im sas shokugeki appears to have finished for the season DAMN I WANT MORE . I NEED MORE DAMMIT NEED
im so behind on anime now its tragic ugh

[D'rek]

aaaaand now I'm finished Gakkou Gurashi. Anime of the season. Seriously. That has to be some of the best directing in anime I've ever seen.

[D'rek]

Rumours are going around today that Manglobe studio (Samurai Flamenco, Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy, Gangsta) just went bankrupt/closed.


edit: confirmed. 350 million Yen in debt.

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 30 September 2015 - 08:13 PM, said:

Rumours are going around today that Manglobe studio (Samurai Flamenco, Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy, Gangsta) just went bankrupt/closed.

thats not good news

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 01 October 2015 - 02:26 AM, said:

D, on 30 September 2015 - 08:13 PM, said:

Rumours are going around today that Manglobe studio (Samurai Flamenco, Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy, Gangsta) just went bankrupt/closed.

thats not good news

Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't. There are a LOT of new studios cropping up in the past few years - Wit, Trigger, Passione, Lerche, Lay-Duce, Mappa - and thus there's been a LOT of shows each season in the last couple years. It is looking a lot like what happened back in 2006ish, where the market was simply over-saturated. Certainly it sucks that the employees of Manglobe most certainly lost their jobs, and I imagine it'll be tough for them to find new ones if more staff are being laid off elsewhere and the market is very competitive. But if the market is simply over-saturated and some studios must fail, I'd rather it be ones like Manglobe that are kind of just by-the-numbers average studios (and possibly lacking good business management - apparently Samurai Flamenco sales were atrocious despite the series' relatively good airing popularity, possibly due to bad licensing and marketing decisions). It's better for the industry, IMO, that there be a lot of new up-and-coming animators/directors/writers in new studios breaking up the status quo than that there be no new room for new studios and just the same old giants keep promulgating.

[LinearPhilosopher]

So here's the fall lineup for the year
https://www.livechart.me/fall-2015/tv

What is everyone going to be watching

Browsing the list

THEY MADE A SECOND SEASON OF DIABOLIK LOVERS???? WTF?

Noragami s2 should be good
owari no seraph s2, might be watchable

aside from that, nothing jumps out at me

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 01 October 2015 - 11:14 PM

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 01 October 2015 - 11:10 PM, said:

aside from that, nothing jumps out at me

Yeah, there really isn't anything that jumps out at me either, other than One Punch Man. Here's my tentative list of what I will check out, but I'm not sure I'll like/follow-through with any of these other than Teekyuu:


One Punch Man - Gotta see if the hype is right
Hacka Dolls - Because Trigger
Utawarerumono - Sounds pretty generic but I'll at least check it out
Kowabon - Sounds batshit insane, so I'll at least check out the first episode
Teekyuu - What's another season after the first 6...
Dance with Devils - Looks like it's going to be a super cringey Twilight-inspired reverse-harem dullfest... but it's the only Shoujo this season so I'll at least watch 1 episode
Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru - Adult(ish) mystery, very new studio (Troyca - all they've made before this is Aldnoah Zero)... worth at least checking out the first few episodes
The Perfect Insider - Another mystery pair show. Worth a shot.


I know I'm going to be a lot more busy this season, so I'll probably only end up watching a handful. Or maybe even only 2-3 and use the time to catch up on anything I missed last season/in the backlog.

LinearPhilosopher, on 01 October 2015 - 11:10 PM, said:

THEY MADE A SECOND SEASON OF DIABOLIK LOVERS???? WTF?

I... uh... wow...

I mean, I guess if Fifty Shades of Grey can get a sequel (or two) the same thing applies here... sheesh.