Anime Megathread III and Cartoon Megathread I!

Two things: I've never seen Cowboy Bebop, but I pre ordered the amazon special edition of the blu-ray set coming out this december. Did I do a good thing?

Also, should I watch Black Butler season 2? How connected is it to the first? Is it any good?

Yes.

@frostyryan: It's hard to go wrong with Bebop, so probably a good thing if you don't mind the price, I guess?

I didn't enjoy season two of Black Butler as much as the first one because the tone was all wrong until the later half which culminated in a potent ending. The latest adaptation, Book of Circus, is a much needed return to form for the series.

@zomgfruitbunnies: But how connected to season 1 is it? Should I skip season 2?

well i dont think cowboy bebop is any good so i would say no,however you could do worse thats for sure.

this song right here is my fave song this whole year,in fact ide say its my fave soundtrack this year too.

@dochaus: Thanks for pointing out Inou Battle, this looks like its going to be fun.

December can't come fast enough for you. It is one of the best shows there is.

This isn't hardly, tangentially related to anime, but this just happened on David Letterman tonight... @demoskinos

Also I recently heard some Fate/Stay Night subs ended up replicating "People die if they are killed" with a tautology about the Archer class! I really need to get on top of F/SN again, though, for real.

@frostyryan: It's pretty self-contained from what I remember, though I think it does address what happens at the end of season one. It also should not be skipped because the ending is pretty great. Not sure if it's considered canon since I don't read the manga.

@equitasinvictus said:

This isn't hardly, tangentially related to anime, but this just happened on David Letterman tonight... @demoskinos

Also I recently heard some Fate/Stay Night subs ended up replicating "People die if they are killed" with a tautology about the Archer class! I really need to get on top of F/SN again, though, for real.

Oh, believe me i was tuning in. It was fucking delightful too. Letterman didn't know how to react and then on twitter afterwards people were flipping out about "singing cartoons"

@demoskinos: Twitter wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, though! Actually I might've seen more people complain about "Sharing the World" (certainly not her best, but it apparently is supposed to be the theme of that "Miku Expo") over random people tweeting disbelief or other negative sentiments towards Hatsune Miku, but I digress! Haters gon' hate; Hatsune Miku don't care.

Also, it looks like Hatsune Miku ended up trending on U.S. facebook and twitter. I'm actually really impressed with Crypton Future Media for booking that Letterman appearance with her NYC and Los Angeles appearances coming up.

To think I saw a Project DIVA ad on a Seattle bus just over a year ago, too. She might be here to stay this time around!

@equitasinvictus said:

@demoskinos: Twitter wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, though! Actually I might've seen more people complain about "Sharing the World" (certainly not her best, but it apparently is supposed to be the theme of that "Miku Expo") over random people tweeting disbelief or other negative sentiments towards Hatsune Miku, but I digress! Haters gon' hate; Hatsune Miku don't care.

Also, it looks like Hatsune Miku ended up trending on U.S. facebook and twitter. I'm actually really impressed with Crypton Future Media for booking that Letterman appearance with her NYC and Los Angeles appearances coming up.

To think I saw a Project DIVA ad on a Seattle bus just over a year ago, too. She might be here to stay this time around!

Between this and her exposure on the Artpop Ball Tour with Lady Gaga its been a big year for Miku in the west! I approve!

...Someone please explain Ghost in the Shell to me. I just watched it for the first time. I kinda loved it, but I'd argue that was almost as obscure as a David Lynch movie. good lord.

@frostyryan: Nanomachines

I was pretty into the fullbringers, the villain especially had a very creepy power. Was underwhelming in the end though. Using the power to create anything to create big monsters, that's some TMNT Eye of Sarnath level of creativity. I don't think Kubo's too great at battles, and that works out in the beginning where they're more easygoing. Was having a good time when that giant hollow entered the city through a rift in the sky, Ichigo hit it really hard and it retreated immediately, closing the door on its way out. At that stage it's a better Buso Renkin, albeit without Papillon.

Would LOVE to see a Vinland Saga Adaptation. Recently read through the slave arc, and it ended in a way I could not have seen coming. Just great stuff all around, in a much happier tone than the last arc ended with.

I finished Madoka Magica, it was ok I guess. Not as good as my roommate hyped it up to be but it was still goodish.

@frostyryan: Honestly I don't know. Just go along with the ride.

@redhotchilimist: I didn't enjoy the fullbringer arc because it was already ground well trodden. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't even matter in the slightest. Ichigo got his mojo back, hoo-ha, hooray. The other guys? Oh, they just died or disappeared. The Aizen arc had a singular focus and the events all barreled toward that climax with vicious force. Predictable plot twist, but man, everything was cool as shit. I'm gonna have to disagree with you on Kubo's ability to execute battles scenes. He's one of the best in the industry when it comes to conveying movement and energy in fight scenes. The action is easy to follow from panel to panel, and everything flows really well even when things get cluttered. Oh!great also does gorgeous art, but he's more of a freeze frame, snapshot kind of guy.

@frostyryan: You mean the movie? The first one? I don't remember jack about it anymore. I'll say that I think the second one was pretty unlikeable because it was so fucking far up its own ass and seemed content to wallow in its own cleverness. Literally one of the two anime movies I've seen that made me throw up my arms and go, "FUCK OFF." The other one was Vexille, because FUCK THAT MOVIE. Your viewers aren't so fucking stupid that they need you to literally TELL THEM the point of the movie with the last piece of narration before the credits roll! HOLY SHIT.

*backs away slowly*

@zomgfruitbunnies: Not knocking his art, I meant the structure of the battles. What I've read of it(which is, mind, the first six volumes and then from the end of the Aizen arc to around the current chapter, missing some chapters here and there along the way) is mostly people powering up, removing limiters and gaining abilities in the middle of battle that turns the tide. It's not exactly uncommon, but I'm not that big of a fan of it, so I enjoy it more when the battles are grounded and it's over quickly. The fullbringers aren't a great example of that, because when it came down to it, most of their abilities were just about becoming stronger and the reapers just destroyed them(seems they were allowed to murder people somewhere between the beginning and this arc). But I liked Chad fighting the hollow he couldn't tell where was, for instance. Ichigo fighting together with the poor TV spirit medium was fun, like when his huge sword got stuck in the roof. Him fighting the hollow that supposedly killed his mother was pretty emotional. I presume I'm gonna like the soul society arc, a lot of people seem to rate that as the best of the series.

It's kind of about a rogue AI who becomes a sentient lifeform who wants to merge with the Major in order to become "complete"/evolve into this greater being...more or less. At it's core though, to try and put it as simply as possible, it's really about exploring concepts. Specifically, concepts such as souls, gender, the the meaning (as in definition, not purpose) of life, and things of that nature. It's kind of hard for me to go into greater detail (I am not a particularly well-spoken individual), but the best piece of advice I can give to truly understand GitS is just to try to soak in and dissect the philosophical conversations/moments of the film such as the interrogation of the truck driver and the conversation with the Puppet Master, Aramaki, and that other dude.

I understood all of that. Ok I guess I'm not as confused as I thought. The way the movie is presented is really abstract though and I loved that. I'm glad it made me think as much as it did. I also did not expect the movie to end where it ended. The credits just rolled and I was like WHAT?

I loved when the puppet master was talking about how technology's existence can be explained by science but life can't. That part really made me turn my head and think for a moment. The movie was fantastic though.

@frostyryan: Yeah, it's moments like that puppet master scene that made me fall in love with the series. I get why some people find it boring, but I can't fucking get enough of it haha

Ore_Twintails_ni_Narimasu.01 ~ Holy Shit So Good, premise is destroy all the twin tails in the world wut?? I love it.

Psycho-Pass_2 01 ~ yup this is def more Psycho Pass. dat OST good

So far on my watch list

Cross Ange - wtf. Many thing off about it but it has Nana Mizuki, mechs, and dragons so there something.

Fate Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works - Looks great, crazy action, Rin. Curious how this Fate/stay will differ from the first one.

Hitsugi no Chaika - Avenging Battle - More Chaika(s)

PSYCHO-PASS 2 - More Psycho-pass and Akane being badass.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - very beautiful and sweet. Plot looks to be traditional Rom-com but it nothing off putting.

Uh oh, terrible 3d cg has reached critical mass, i watched 5 premiers all had great animation spoiled to varying degrees by ps1 level 3d models (seriously Garo, how is it so bad??). Parasyte seems to be the only interesting new series, its great.

Shigatsu_wa_Kimi_no_Uso 01 ~ Looks real gorgeous, but seems like your typical story.

Yeah but it much better than the many harem shows that have paper thin characters.

Psycho Pass 2 is more Psycho Pass and that is what I wanted. This will also be the first anime season that I will watch from start to finish as it is airing.

Finished Persona 4, which I was watching while it aired but dropped after 18 or so episodes because it just wasn't that interesting. Decided to pick it back up again and finish it. It was okay. It works way better as a game than as an anime.

Watched Green Legend Ran, which was also just okay. It's the kind of movie I wish they would remake, because there's a lot of good stuff in there, it's just handled poorly. But, now I've got Now and Then, Here and There on my radar, and I hear it's similar but better.

Watched episode 1 of Inou Battle - It almost exactly Chunibyo, but "their powers are real!". It's got the Dark Flame Master and everything.

Watched episode 1 of Parasyte - The opening scene with the head-thing got me all hyped, then a lot of that hype dissolved after the OP. I'm way more interested in all the gruesome happenings than the high school kid hand-alien stuff. I guess I was expecting something darker than what it actually turned out to be. Gonna stick around though to see what happens next.

Lastly, watched all of Beyond the Boundary - Aside from the back-and-forth ending nonsense and sudden spamming of all the unresolved side stories, I enjoyed the series quite a bit. I especially enjoyed the fluidity of the animation and all the flashy effects. This is another show that got way goofier than I thought it would, and I think I would have prefered it to be less goofy.

GiTS is a movie I truly adore. It gets better every time I watch it.

@redhotchilimist: It's a shounen battle manga, what can you do? Strip away all of the flare and pretty much every battle manga out there is Dragonball, and every battle is some iteration on the good old "it's over 9000!"

Gundam Re-whatever in G - ...what? I don't fucking get this show at all. Why did everyone just let the girl escape and why did the 3 others just go along with her without the slightest hint of resistance?

Like, yes, often, but there's a difference between something like 7 Deadly Sins and Fullmetal Alchemist. A lot of shows are more sparing about their power ups, for instance. I'm pretty stoked that Luffy went almost 400 chapters before getting a single power up except for humor-related ones like swallowing barrels of water to become "Water Luffy". In a world of ability users, Gon didn't develop his own ability until the last few arcs. Joseph Joestar used a volcano to beat his final opponent, and won all of his battles by being more clever than his opponents, not stronger by a large margin. Most Jojo fights in general are more about figuring out how the enemy's ability works than overpowering them through sheer force. Even in Naruto, which is very stupid about abilities these days, I remember a lot of earlier fights that weren't won by a power up, but by say, digging a tunnel. In more grounded stuff like Hajime no Ippo, there's obviously no sudden limiter release during a fight, just a lot of training to prepare a new move for the upcoming opponent. All of these shows use the trope of powering up, but there are more exciting ways than most of what I read in Bleach, is my point. Bleach still has fights that I like! And a good emotional investment can make me enjoy battles that are won by just releasing a limiter.

Recently, I've been watching more of Michiko and Hatchin. I'm surprised I heard so little about it. Unless the ending is terrible, this is one of the most pleasant shows I've watched. Also watched a ways through season 2 of the first Turtles cartoon, got very nostalgic for it when the new movie came out. It's the first time I've watched anything other than the animated movie, and so far it's pretty funny. Since Shredder was abandoned with no troops and is just dragging along Baxter everywhere, looking for alien weapons and hiding in whatever dump he finds, he's lost a lot of dignity. It's like watching Darth Vader try to destroy a planet on his own with a shovel, or a sequel to the Last Airbender where the Fire Lord runs around powerless, knocking over peoples' carts and being a public nuisance. Maybe I'll watch the newest iteration, since you guys seemed into it. Speaking of which, I also saw the first Nozaki-kun episode today. It was quite nice.

@babychoochoo: Duder, for some reason the alien/monster designs got under my skin from watching the intro and the opening so I wanted to keep watching but I got super scared since I was already in bed and the lights were already turned off. I didn't want to have super weird, horrible nightmares of that weird, fanged octopus-head from the intro. 0_o o_0 I will continue watching it at a time that is not before going to bed.

@zomgfruitbunnies: If only we had Kubo's artstyle and then Gen Urobochi's talent for fucking with people's expectations...I'd pay for that shit.

@redhotchilimist: Hands down, I'd probably consider Nozaki-kun my personal favorite anime for the entire year. It's never failed to get a chuckle out of me and a lot of it has to do with the VO + expressions. I'm waiting for @bigjeffrey to reply to you with a bunch of great Chiyo-expression gifs. :D

Entering the final 3rd of Zeta Gundam....meh the attempt at serious moments fall flat & a waste of some good characters.

Wow kinda shocked the Naruto manga will be ending in a month. While it's been close to 10 years since I've last followed the series it's quite amazing how popular and how long that series ran, 15 years is a long run for a manga series.

Well, how bout...Hajime no Ippo? :D

random question of the day:

should i watch kora?

i have tried to get into it mulitple times in season 1 and never got past 5/6 episodes

True was gonna mention it but was unsure it was still running as of today. One Piece and Jojo Bizarre are up there as well.

@i_stay_puft: Yeah, I'm kinda worried for Ippo though considering that the mangaka Geoge Morikawa has been having health problems. At the very least, I hope Morikawa would be able to stay healthy since from the looks of it the manga still has a loooong way to go before it ends.

@bigjeffrey: The characters and set-up for Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso are familiar/cliche, but the manga does a good job of it. It's A-1, so who the fuck knows whether they can pull it off - but if they do, it'll be very good. Honestly, if they don't bog it down, ruin the characters, and in general fuck things up, this could be AOTS for some people. It's worth your time, at least, I think it is...

@azrailx: Not sure, if the show hasn't held your interest you shouldn't feel obligated to continue it, there's alot of other stuff out there. Like any form of media sometimes it might just not be for everyone. I continued the show and think it totally redeemed itself towards the end of season 2 and the entire run of season 3.

@i_stay_puft: cool. i should of been more specific, i just wanted to know if there were at least greater things in store. I'll give it another go then

So nobody here is watching the BEST show this season?

Oh if anyone hasn't said it yet, its been confirmed that there's going to be a continuation for Tokyo Ghoul and the anime's second cour/season will be airing in January.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-10-10/tokyo-ghoul-re-manga-to-launch-this-month/.79781