Anime General Thread (Official)

[Terminus]

Yeah, found out the PS2 version got ported to PC and has a fan translation.I'd kinda like it if the PC port of the PS2 version of F/SN got brought over, but my hopes are probably a bit high from Steins;Gate's localization. Heck, now I'm hoping a bunch of VNs get localized.

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

Visual novels are a great medium that just haven't been tapped into in the West. I'd love to see more localizations but the audience is fairly niche over here. You're not going to see many casual anime fans wanting to go through the hassle of playing a fan translated version of a Japanese game that hasn't been officially released. Not to mention that it takes several years for some VNs to even get translated, if they get translated at all.

 

The Steins;Gate localization is a definite step forward, though, and I hope it paves the way for more Western releases. I think most people are willing to pay, it's just that there are very few official releases for us to pay for, and they often come too late.

Edited July 13, 2013 by DYLAN the SINKING STAR

[Hodor]

If VNs got popular over here, I'd be incredibly shocked because what most of them are.

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

If VNs got popular over here, I'd be incredibly shocked because what most of them are.

Haha, that is very true, even F/SN has "those" elements. I guess it would still be very niche but I'd like to see more localizations. Of course, I can find other ways to play them, but I'd like to support an official release rather than the alternative.

[Terminus]

We do actually have a fair amount of VNs, it's just that none of them are just VNs. Blazblue, Devil Survivor, Virtue's Last Reward, Persona 4 Arena... All of them are visual novels, just with other elements. Heck, I even have Madoka Magica Portable, which is a 100% Japanese VN, and I love it because it's also a rock-solid dungeon-crawling RPG unlike pretty much anything in America. Anyways, I believe that publishers assume VNs won't sell, simply due to lack of gameplay (and I don't blame them, they're probably right). But S;G getting a US release might be a tiny glimmer of hope, maybe VN's with known related franchises might come over (Xblaze, Robotics;Notes, Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas, the Angel Beats one supposedly in development, etc.). VN fans might be a niche inside a niche, but who knows what'll happen if more come over?

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

Yeah, I forget that a lot of Japanese games do have heavy visual novel elements within them. Speaking of which, I need to get around to playing some of those. After getting into Fate I bought Fate/Extra for the PSP and that was pretty fun (although I put it down and haven't picked it up again). I guess the problem is that VNs without game elements are more like interactive novels rather than games, so I can totally see that publishers think they wouldn't make a lot of money. But, hey, I'd pay for them, and I'm excited for the release of Steins;Gate.

[dotcom]

Aaaaand I finished Madoka. I think that a lot of spoilers I never bothered to avoid ended up draining a lot of enjoyment out of it, but it was still pretty great. The last three or so episodes were fantastic.

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

Wow... the latest Railgun episode was great. Just, really powerful, and that soundtrack too, so good. Honestly, how can you dislike Touma after that?

 

Man, makes me wish they could take the amount of time to set up the story in Index as they were able to in Railgun. Seeing this, though, makes me just that much more excited for Index III. Come on J.C. Staff, you can do it.

[Matsuoka Nui]

Hey, is anyone watching..._{that swimming anime? ^^; (Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club)}either that or Attack on Titan?

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

I actually am watching Free!, mainly because of KyoAni and the hype around it. Not a fan of the manservice (lol). But, even with only two episodes, it looks like it's not only going to be a "look at all these attractive guys" show. And Gou has one of the best female character designs that I've seen and she's not annoying, even when surrounded by guys. So I'm tentatively enjoying it so far.

 

And, of course, I'm watching Attack on Titan (who isn't?).

Edited July 14, 2013 by DYLAN the SINKING STAR

[Matsuoka Nui]

I actually am watching Free!, mainly because of KyoAni and the hype around it. Not a fan of the manservice (lol). But, even with only two episodes, it looks like it's not only going to be a "look at all these attractive guys" show. And Gou has one of the best female character designs that I've seen and she's not annoying, even when surrounded by guys. So I'm tentatively enjoying it so far.

I actually used to be a swimmer myself so that's my purpose of watching it. (And yes...the manservice is like mayhem...LOL. But I think there's going to be something twisted (hopefully) that will change the way things are but then again, as I am a CLAMP fan, that probably won't happening with KyoAni)). But yes, Gou is soooooo hilarous and I love how she is just going around!

 

Update: Oh I saw a bit of Attack on Titan but I need to watch it from the beginning. (I only saw some episodes of it back at my college's anime club)

Edited July 14, 2013 by Iwatobi-no-Samezuka

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

Honestly, I don't really mind the manservice all that much. If guys can have fan service shows then I don't think it's a terrible thing if girls get shows catered to them, too. Of course, for it to a be a good show it needs some substance and not just fluff, and right now Free! looks like it's trying to be more, at least. You also have characters like Gou that help to balance it out for us male fans, which is a nice addition.

 

Also, Attack on Titan is pretty much the go-to anime right now. Deservedly so, because it's actually quite good.

Edited July 14, 2013 by DYLAN the SINKING STAR

[Matsuoka Nui]

Honestly, I don't really mind the manservice all that much. If guys can have fan service shows then I don't think it's a terrible thing if girls get shows catered to them, too. Of course, for it to a be a good show it needs some substance and not just fluff, and right now Free! looks like it's trying to be more, at least. You also have characters like Gou that help to balance it out for us male fans, which is a nice addition. Also, Attack on Titan is pretty much the go-to anime right now. Deservedly so, because it's actually quite good.

oh no worries, I understand. There's been like a huge debat about the "Fanservice" like crazy going on the other websites. But yeah, there are some hilarious scenes especially when Makoto freaks out. XDDD and Gou really does a nice job however...I hope that...(and I'm not sure if I should use spoiler tags)

 

 

That the teacher, Miho Amakata is the Prime Antagonist...I don't know why I should even say that but that's just how my crazy mind works sometimes...^^;

 

Edited July 14, 2013 by Iwatobi-no-Samezuka

[dotcom]

Wow... the latest Railgun episode was great. Just, really powerful, and that soundtrack too, so good. Honestly, how can you dislike Touma after that?

 

Man, makes me wish they could take the amount of time to set up the story in Index as they were able to in Railgun. Seeing this, though, makes me just that much more excited for Index III. Come on J.C. Staff, you can do it.

Yes this is my opinion as well.

 

After this part of me wants them to take a shot at the Tree diagram Remnant arc at some point in Railgun, since that's the least-thorough arc in the Index anime so far. We had a season focused almost exclusively on Mikoto, now let's do one with Kuroko. Would beat some more filler, I think. Though I guess they need SOME reason to keep Haruue around.

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

So, anyone seen the second Attack on Titan opening.

It's better than the first by a LOOOOONG shot, and the first was already great.

Oh yeah, and the

Female

Titan will show up soon!

Edited July 15, 2013 by The Lonesome Wanderer

[Terminus]

So, I got around to catching up with most of the shows I want to watch this season (except for Attack on Titan and Railgun, because both of those have a bunch of episodes I need to watch) and catching up on some stuff from last season this morning, so here's what I thought:

 

I finally got around to finishing Girls und Panzer, and it was actually pretty good. The last tank battle was the best in the series, and Oarai's strategies are always fun to watch. I wasn't really into it at first, but it turned out to be rather good.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia was the biggest surprise out of everything I watched. Most game adaptations I see are hit-or-miss, but this was just average, which is actually a lot better than I was expecting. I was laughing for the entire sequence before the opening, mainly because it was a moe version of the console wars, which has always been a pretty big thing with me. The way the whole "moe console wars" thing is presented is absolutely ridiculous, and it kinda works. I'm definitely interested in seeing where this goes.

 

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya was the most disappointing out of everything I watched, mainly because it felt so slow. Nothing much really happened besides Illya becoming a magical girl at the end, so... Yeah. I'm lust hoping (and assuming) It'll pick up soon.

 

Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen was a good watch, at least in the second episode. The first episode was apparently a super-fast retelling of the first series (which I've only watch a few episodes of), and if you can barely fit a series into two movies, there's no way you can do that in one episode. To be honest, the first episode is just an awful recap episode which really fails to give you any information just because it's so overpacked. Fortunately, the series actually begins at a good pace in the second episode, where an older Jun finds a magazine on building dolls, and he starts building Shinku piece-by-piece, and things get interesting when he eventually gets contacted by his alternate, younger self.

 

The Devil is A Part-Timer! has one of the sillier premises I've seen in a while- Satan ends up on Earth without any magical powers, so he decides to conquer the world by working his way up the corporate ladder by working part-time at a restaurant suspiciously similar to McDonald's. It's quite entertaining, especially since going up the McDonald's corporate ladder isn't my idea of the best way to take over the world, and being a friendly, happy worker at McDonald's doesn't seem like the ideal job for the devil.

 

And finally, my favorite: WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys Fault I’m Not Popular!~ This one was really a last-minute decision to watch, read a preview of it a while back and remembered it when I saw it on Crunchyroll. It feels different from other school comedy series because the heroine is an unpopular introvert, but of course every school comedy has to have something different, and fortunately, it really works. Tomoko's plans to become popular kept failing on her (her trying to be "cute"was pretty funny), and she considers small, basic things, (saying goodbye to a teacher, ordering a meal at WcDonald's, having a guy pick up her eraser) to be huge steps towards becoming popular. Definitely the one show I'd really recommend this season.

 

Oh, and Watamote's OP song is absolutely awesome.

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

Just finished the second Evangelion omnibus manga.

omahgawdtoji;_;

 

And Adam is creepy

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya

I wasn't that disappointed with the first episode, but I do hope it gets better, too. I've heard that the manga is good and the opening does look like it hints at interesting things to come. I will say that without the Fate name attached it would probably feel like an average magical girl show, so it'd be nice to see it come up with something unique on its own.

WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys Fault I’m Not Popular!~

Ah yes, WateMote. So far, it is everything that I've been anticipating for. Watching Tomoko desperately trying to become popular is hilarous, yet sad at the same time. I can kind of relate to her so even though I can laugh it also hits close to home. Although, she has it way worse.

 

And the OP is probably the best one of the season.

Edited July 16, 2013 by DYLAN the SINKING STAR

[Terminus]

I'm hoping Prisma Illya gets better, but with the stuff in the OP and the fact that it has

Gilgamesh

practically guarantee that it will. At least the first episode was way better than Rozen Maiden's.And WataMote does have the best OP this season. Especially since I wasn't expecting it, and had my headphone on and the volume all the way up. Saw AoT's OP, which is a close second, but WataMote wins because of the awesome song.

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

..Now I must see this WataMote opening for myself.

[KZN02]

I liked Watamote's ending song more, but maybe the opening will grow on me.

 

Anyways, to me, Watamote is a darker, more depressing, and a bit more realistic version of Lucky Star as Konata's life in modern society. But it helps sympathize with Tomoko.

Edited July 16, 2013 by KZN02

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

Why is it that the thing I remember most about Lucky Star is how then spend an episode on how to eat a pastry. And other stuff.

owait that's like the whole show lol

[Kothra]

I personally didn't like Watamote's OP at all. Just not my thing.

[Hodor]

Just finished the second Evangelion omnibus manga.

omahgawdtoji;_;

 

And Adam is creepy

Heads up, the ending to the manga is massively disappointing. Shame, liked it more than the series for the most part.

[-Whiplash-]

 

Just finished the second Evangelion omnibus manga.

omahgawdtoji;_;

 

And Adam is creepy

Heads up, the ending to the manga is massively disappointing. Shame, liked it more than the series for the most part.

and the original wasn't?

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

 

 

Just finished the second Evangelion omnibus manga.

omahgawdtoji;_;

 

And Adam is creepy

Heads up, the ending to the manga is massively disappointing. Shame, liked it more than the series for the most part.

and the original wasn't?

 

Kind of expected a crummy ending, after all, it IS Evangelion.

Although Rebuild might have a real ending....might.

[Hodor]

My hopes for Rebuild are honestly really low- the likeliness of Anno being able to conclude the story in any satisfying manner are next to none, especially since he threw out the entire setting for 3.33. At this rate, I'm just hoping for some nicely animated combat and a remastering of Gunbuster March on the soundtrack.

 

 

 

Just finished the second Evangelion omnibus manga.

omahgawdtoji;_;

 

And Adam is creepy

Heads up, the ending to the manga is massively disappointing. Shame, liked it more than the series for the most part.

and the original wasn't?

 

Thematically? Not at all. The ending of the series is fitting to the overall narrative and character arc- reflecting Shinji understanding that he needs to like himself to survive. Whether or not it's incredibly pretentious is the argument (though I'm of the camp that thinks EVA, while a fun series, is way too full of itself). Shame the budget was gone, and the originally planned scripts (EoE) got rejected by the networks, though.

[Terminus]

I've got mixed feelings about Final, I'm desperately hoping they don't add any new characters/organizations and go with what they had in 3.33, but with what's happened in 2,22 and 3.33, that's... Kinda doubtful.Anyways, I'd be satisfied with some cool action and a real ending. Because Eva has yet to produce a good one.

[-Whiplash-]

Thematically? Not at all. The ending of the series is fitting to the overall narrative and character arc- reflecting Shinji understanding that he needs to like himself to survive. Whether or not it's incredibly pretentious is the argument (though I'm of the camp that thinks EVA, while a fun series, is way too full of itself). Shame the budget was gone, and the originally planned scripts (EoE) got rejected by the networks, though.

 

But anyway, I liked the two last episodes as episodes (some of the better ones in the series, IMO) but you must at meant they are not an ending at all. the series could've easily continued after that. (which the ending did do, technically episodes 25 and 26 took place in the end of evangelion but I digress.)

 

Honestly I though the end of evangleion was a decent ending. Then again I hated all the characters save Ryoji , so I didn't care at all that they all died.

Edited July 17, 2013 by -Whiplash-

[dotcom]

So since I finished Madoka I've started Anohana. Its shortness is very appealing, and the animation from the two episodes I've seen is great. Also, Nokemon.

 

I also like how the main character is voiced by Tsutomu's (from Birdy the Mighty) and both characters speak with girls nobody else can see. That doesn't have anything to do with anything. I just find it really funny.

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

I tried watching WataMote.

 

why does she scare me

[Terminus]

Just finished The Devil is A Part-Timer! It was pretty fun, combining action and comedy with a good story. My only problem with it was that Maou really didn't live up to the title role- sure, he is the devil, but you don't really get the feeling he is, since he's so nice, friendly, and pretty much the ideal hero. Anyways, this is one series I'd definitely like to see more of.

 

And I've read some good things about Haganai Next, so now I'm curious about it- I absolutely hated the first season, so I had no intention of watching the second, but considering how It's apparently much better than the first and had a good amount of the staff changed, I might give it a try.

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

And I've read some good things about Haganai Next, so now I'm curious about it- I absolutely hated the first season, so I had no intention of watching the second, but considering how It's apparently much better than the first and had a good amount of the staff changed, I might give it a try.

I thought the second season was much better. The first season felt like it was missing something and never made use of its potential and, in my opinion, the second season made up for that.

 

I'm not sure it will be that much better for you if you hated the first season; it still has harem tendencies, but it is executed better. I also found Next to be funny, whereas the first season always felt like it was trying to be funny but never did a good job. Also, when Next tries to be serious it is a lot more convincing than its previous efforts, which were mediocre at best.

 

Haganai Next was at least entertaining and fun for me. The first season was a bore...

[Terminus]

Yeah, I know what I'm in for, since Haganai is one of my favorite manga series. I disliked the first season mainly because of it's execution, it didn't manage to be that funny, and when it tried, it usually backfired about 90% of the time, and it was also just a mediocre adaptation, at best. Anyways, I at least found the first episode of the second season to be pretty funny. I'm surprised it was able to recover from the first season.

 

Oh, and I saw the dub trailer for the first season. It's probably one of the most awful things to come from Funimation.

 

Anyways, I just finished Haganai Next: huge improvement over the first series. I found that the characters were much more likeable than in the fist season, plus the addition of an actual story arc didn't hurt. Kinda disappointed that it's gonna take a while for the manga to catch up and that it ended where the light novels are now (and have been for over a year, the next one is getting released in about a month), because I'm definitely interested in what happens next. It did a good job in developing both the characters and the story.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Terminus

[dotcom]

So Railgun S. That was a pretty sweet episode. Pretty interesting how they went for a more Misaka-centric retelling of the battle. Also that is some much prettier plasma than the blue ball in Index.

[DYLAN the SINKING STAR]

So Railgun S. That was a pretty sweet episode. Pretty interesting how they went for a more Misaka-centric retelling of the battle. Also that is some much prettier plasma than the blue ball in Index.

I have been pleasantly surprised each and every episode so far. You can tell J.C. Staff takes this franchise seriously and wants to do the best they possibly can. However, I am really hoping the original arc they came up with rounds out the season well. I don't mind a lighter atmosphere after all of the serious content lately, but I don't want it to be just pointless--it might be fun, but it will still be pointless--filler. I want there to be some sort of plot, no matter how mild it ends up being. Because it has been a fantastic season of Railgun and I don't want the quality to drop and end up ruining part of what made everything so great so far.

[Terminus]

I ABSOLUTELY MUST catch up on at least Railgun this week (I have the whole first season to watch, along with this season), although I wouldn't mind catching up on AoT, either. A combination of taking longer than I was expecting with The Devil is A Part-Timer!, finding out Haganai Next isn't all that bad, and recieving Shin Megami Tensei IV from amazon prevented me from doing any of that last week...

 

I hope Railgun's filler arc is good. Because I'm one of those people who hates filler with a burning passion. As long as I can't tell it's filler (and a lot of times, I find that filler is blatantly obvious), it's good.

 

And on the simulcasts I'm following from last week, in one sentence: Prisma Illya finally got good (Rider! And blood!), Rozen Maiden gave an interesting backstory to Jun and hopefully the Alice Game will begin soon, I'm still watching Hyperdimension Neptunia because I'd most likely play through the whole game, and Watamote is still hilarious, even when Tomoko's friends are around.

 

Anyways, I also got the final volume of Sailor Moon on friday. The one thing I don't like about it is that you knew the ending pretty much from the moment they went to the 30th Century, but it was still a good ending. Looking forward to the Sailor Moon Short Stories Collections and the Artbook later this year.

[dotcom]

The first season of Railgun's filler doesn't really feel like filler. That has more to do with how the non-filler arc is than the filler itself, though....

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

IT'S ALL FILLER

jk, jk

Edited July 22, 2013 by The Lonesome Wanderer

[Terminus]

So, I started Railgun, I'm 5 episodes in. A lot funnier than I was expecting, although it also seems to be more episodic than Index. Still, it's pretty entertaining.

 

Also, I'm watching the dub of the first season, since I already know most of the original voices from watching Index subbed. Funimation did a good job with this one.