Anime & Cartoon Megathread IV: We Must Limbo To Send This Thread On Its Way

Is it against the rules to talk about non-anime cartoons? Screw it!

Anyone else excited for Adult Swim's Mike Tyson Mysteries? It looks like a fun parody of the old Hanna Barbara mystery cartoons like Jabber Jaws, Dune Buggy, and Captain Caveman. Plus the voice cast alone is worth giving it a shot. You got Jim Rash (the dean from Community) as a Funky Phantom-esque character, the hilarious Norm McDonald as a pigeon, and Mike Tyson voicing himself.

More non-anime cartoon stuff! Black Dynamite returned two weeks ago. The season 2 premiere was kinda lame save for the interaction between Black Dynamite and Woody Allen but the last episode with Black Jaws was great especially with Samuel L. Jackson as an African American Quinn. I love the movie and the cartoon is just as good with it's parodies of 70's pop culture and being a less preachy version The Boondocks.

Bahamut - I feel like a giant magical sky tenticle that shoots lightning is the most inefficient way to capture someone...or maybe because it's anime, it's the most efficient way to capture someone. Who knows? Either way, another solid episode I guess.

The thread is called Anime & CARTOON Megathread for a reason! Also I really want to catch up on Black Dynamite and I saw an ad for the Mike Tyson Mysteries show and I'm sold on it. Just want to know of an option to watch these online online or via an app though...0_o

@gaspower: You can usually catch them on the Adult Swim website and I think they have an app but I don't remember if they make you prove you have a cable subscription to watch.

Also I was glancing through the thread and just saw anime talk so I didn't know. Not that I hate anime it's just that I stick to the stuff with some mainstream appeal like Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, Lupin The 3rd, Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell, and stuff like that. So no obscure slice of life comedies about the misadventures of Japanese high school girls for me.

I'm watching 16 full 24 minute-per-episode anime this season, and honestly, besides from Amagi Brilliant Park, PyschoPass, and Unlimited Bladeworks, I hate all of them. Trinity Seven, Vanadis, Bahamut, Grisaia no Kajitsu, Gugure! Kokkuri-san, Inou-Battle, Twintails, Parasyte, Shirobako, and Log Horizon are all decent, but none of them are filling the emotional void I need. I don't actually care that much for any of them, and if I dropped them all right now, nothing would be lost. There's no show really taking a risk and presenting something different and not full of typical anime tropes.

Maybe I'm feeling down because of how bad Log Horizon S2 has been. The animation is terrible, and I really dislike the changes in the character design. The plot is progressing super slowly, and Akatsuki having to play rival to a middle school girl is dumb as fuck.

SAO 2 is continuing on a tremendous downward decline, trying to recreate that one cool moment from the first season when the show was good, and failing to do so. In general, all of the episodes that came out over the last week have been disappointing. Amagi Brilliant Park was cool tho, and Trinity Seven MC getting HighSchool DxD powers of clothes removal was cool, but everything else kinda sucked.

See this is what I am talking about! I have no idea what any of that means and the part I underlined is why some people think anime might be for jerks. I'm not here to criticize someone's taste but out of context that is very confusing and pretty weird.

So it sucks that American anime Bob's Burgers has the shitty 7:30 PM Sunday slot that lead to the first cancellation of Futurama. I'd rather see The Simpsons get that shitty time slot than be the shit burger betweeb the delicious artisan buns that are the hilarious Bob's Burgers and Brooklyn Nine Nine(not a cartoon but still good).

@bartok: Yah, the bit you underlined is kinda like inside baseball for anime fans. HighSchool DxD is a rather infamous anime and light novel series, where the main character has one ability called Dress Break where he makes the clothes of girls explode. Trinity Seven's main character masters an ability to stop all magic around him, and a side effect is that all clothes explode, 'cause magic is connected to clothes somehow?

Personally, I'm not a fan of ecchi (semi-erotic) anime, and I'm not a huge fan of watching anime girls have their clothes explode off them - I think the vast majority of western anime fans find enjoyment in these kind of scenes mainly because it's so outlandish and weird. Most of us, especially on this forum, aren't taking any of this seriously. Most of this anime stuff is just dumb; just really, really, dumb, but at least I feel like it's the good type of dumb.

As my post was bemoaning, there really isn't any good dramatic anime this season - meaning that most of my comments in this thread will be about dumb comedies that rehash old tropes, make perverted jokes, and are generally creepy. For the most part, the anime this season is for jerks; you are 100% correct.

There is one anime out this season that isn't for jerks, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, a drama about a piano prodigy that can no longer play the piano after his mother passed away. Two years later, he meets a free-spirited violinist named Kaori, who is beginning to bring music back into his life. The premise is kinda cliched, but it's actually been really good so far - with a number of really well animated and rather touching scenes. The last (ep3) episode had a quote that kinda hit hard for me, where Kaori says "I'm going to play with everything I've got, so that the people who've heard me will never forget me, so that I can live in their hearts forever, that's my reason for existing. I am a musician after all!" It's totally a corny and sappy line, but I'm a professional foreign policy writer (you wouldn't believe it from the shit I post here) and her words hit home. I've been in a rut when it comes to writing, and I've had absolutely no motivation. Her reason for playing music, that desire for her music to be remembered by others, is something that I can really empathize with. I too really want to write things that others will remember; it's my sole passion as a writer. I want to craft sentences and phrases that live on others - who doesn't? I still feel a palpable joy when someone tells me they really like a line or paragraph from one of my papers, or when a old friend comes up to me and tells me some line that I wrote years ago still sticks with them. It's a feeling of trite contentment that can't be matched.

So that was my maudlin moment of the week, proving that anime isn't just for jerks and isn't complete garbage! Yaaaaay!

Edit: noooo, why does Bob's Burgers have the death spot! It's still good Fox, it's still good!

Kimikiss Pure Rouge 01~09

I recently bought the first manga I have bought in over a decade. It is called Girl Friends and it is pretty good. As the name suggests it is the yuri genre.

I've been watching Super Sonico because I thought it was a good idea to import the PS3 game. Oppai

kimikiss pure rouge ~ all

I watched the first episode of Mike Tyson Mysteries. It's preeeeetty silly and I mean that in a good way!

@billymaysrip: I think Shiro Bako is pretty great IMO. I like the whole thing about it being relatable to a work environment minus the parts where it gets to be a complete bummer (because of all the stress of deadlines, late hours, etc.) by having the characters be more or less super upbeat when the situation calls for it while keeping it entertaining and having its pay off be the successful finish to a project. I think the older I get I find myself being far more appreciative of these types of anime now than compared to when I was a lot younger or rather I may have still appreciated them but I wouldn't necessarily be actively looking for these types of anime back then. I think I can agree with you with all the other anime you mentioned though but I think it has a lot to do (in my case at least) with being "anime'd out" or I may have been watching too much anime. Now I'm even considering just taking a break from watching them week to week and then when I'm getting in the mood again, I'd catch up with what I missed.

I kinda wanna watch it now...but after Photokano, I think it's better that some things just remain a mystery

I have started to watch Fate/Zero to get ready to watch the new one (I know I don't have to but I want to) and it is pretty good so far. I liked all the other shows the writer wrote and there has to be a reason everyone loves this series so I didn't fear I would hate it but there was always a chance.

@bartok: Might I interest you in Psycho Pass then? It might be more your taste.

It is pretty good. I agree.

I was not expecting literary references to John Updike's love of tanned middle aged women and Cormac McCarthy's lack of quotation marks. I loved the show! No time for bird sex.

Maybe try Amagami SS and Amagami SS+ Plus. It focuses on one girl every 5 episodes.

Yep, Psycho Pass might be right up your alley.

I wanna flyyyy

Ain't got no time for biiiiird sex, kissin' the sky

Oh you're gonna like it.

By the way, the current Fate Stay Night adaptation by Ufotable is pretty good (the production values are as good as Fate Zero) but it is not a Gen Urobuchi-penned anime. Doesn't make it worse though it just won't be as dark as Fate Zero since he was pretty much responsible for the script of that show and the light novel it was based on but they tie it in pretty much directly to Fate Zero.

@gaspower: Oh I knew the same guy didn't write it but that it was still good. I hear the first F/N is not as good or not as good because the animation is kinda crappy. Do you think I need to watch that?

Nope, no need! You're fine with Zero first and then going into current FSN.

@gaspower: Coolio

I wish Satoshi Kon was still around to make more Paranoia Agent, or really just more stuff in general. I'm all out of Satoshi Kon things to watch.

Fate/Zero 01 ~ Been wanting to watch dis for a while as well, also want to watch the new one too.

Alright so I finally plowed through the anime for Bakuman. I don't know that I'd recommend it to just anybody but I liked it. The constant shifts in tone sort of bugged me at first until I began to realize that they're subtly lampooning the various genres and manga tropes that they're writing within the main plot. I think my favorite part was seeing all the weird fake manga that they come up with even though you barely see where the plots go for any of them. I found all the faux-insidery stuff involving Shuueisha's creative process positively fascinating. A lot of it is extremely meta.

My main problem is that my feelings don't go beyond merely liking it. Like there are not really big pay off moments for these characters where I pump my fist and say, "Alright! Way to go Dallas!" It's more just me nodding my head as I watch and saying "That's interesting..." I didn't much care for the characters as they fluctuated between sort of grounded in reality, very shounen-esque, and needlessly eccentric. Also I thought the whole unrequited love angle was kind of corny but that kind of stuff in general doesn't exactly float my boat.

I kind of knew what the series was going in and it more or less satisfied my expectations. I'm a tad disappointed that it didn't go beyond those expectations but I thought it was okay overall. They keep up the Jump trends of hard work, friendship, and victory in a very unlikely subject matter and it's given me a deeper appreciation for some of my favorite manga and anime series.

Parasyte - There is no fucking way the mom survives this series. It's a pretty dark show and she's waaaaaay too nice. Either way, another solid episode.

Chaika - Shit just got real.

Naruto 698- Holy shit. I swear I thought Naruto and Sasuke were about to start making out or some shit. Pretty good chapter overall. It was nice seeing Sasuke not acting like an emo bitch for once. Also pretty crazy their arms got blown off. Betting that has something to do with Naurto's hand being all bandaged up in Naruto The Last?

Also, ONE CHAPTER REMAINING.

@turtlebird95: Yeah, that ending was great. Didn't see that coming

Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle 04 ~ They finally find out why they all chaikas.

That preview, Fredrica needs more screentime

Chaika Avenging Battle 4: Shocking Truth revealed!

Parasyte 4: something bad is going to happen to the parents and I'm pretty sure the shows op spoils what happens to the mom

These are surprising things to hear. I'll read the chapter after I get through a quick look and come back to give impressions.

Oh wait...does it? haha, I've actually never watched the whole thing. Im about to go check that out

edit: It totally doooooes lol. Well shit

Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle 04 - Omg the truth! It hurts!

Back from the Naruto second last chapter.

So Naruto's explanation for why he can't stop his irrational bond to Sasuke is...that he sympathizes with him? It's really that simple? Oh well. Kishi only has a limited amount of time and the only way to end this in a somewhat acceptable fashion with both of them alive would be via a talk it through sesh. So talking about it helped Sasuke to stop being a murderous psycopath. Didn't know pyschos were persuadable.

Of course, the arms was a nice touch as a shock factor type of thing. Looks like Naruto gets a new one from the new movie's art. Interestingly though, there's very little Sasuke art as compared to the others. There's only a chibi full body version of him and his left arm is obscured by the sleeve. Maybe his isn't there.

@aegon:

@aegon: Yeah...but compared to Bleach though...good Lord that shit is turrible and I still read it. I'm just wishing that at some point behind-the-scenes they'll hire a tragedy writer to be Kubo's editor (*cough*Urobuchi*cough*) and just kill off people Bad Luck Slaine-style.

Bout the recent Naruto chapter: the blood coming out of the arms forming the tip of a heart was a pretty nice touch, more so than the fact that they lost their hands. I dunno, I'm a sucker for that shit. :P

So long time lurker here. My third post. I just watched Parasyte the maxim. Opening was kinda cool, reminded me of Death note second op a bit. The actual parasyte animation somehow felt like from MIB cartoon show. It is a bit interesting, do not know about later episodes. Did not liked the fact that the thing talked in the first episode, but I suppose it is not seinen genre.

Its based on a manga that came out around 20 years ago and it was a seinen manga.

@gaspower: Hm. I watched up to the latest episode. And yeah it is kinda good. weird, but good. I like the soundtrack and the scenes where main guy shows his angry\bloodlust eyes. It is always a plus in my book. Was the manga any good? Also, after watching parasyte I want new Gantz anime.

I got a few questions as a casual anime fan:

What's going on with the Lupin the 3rd series? There was that Fujiko spin-off that had some incredible animation but was just so-so.

I heard rumors about Studio Ghibli wanting to do a sequel to Porco Rosso, was it just rumors or is a sequel actually in the works?

Is Ghost in the Shell Arise any good? I find the different series are either hit or miss and I'm not a big fan of the character design

Any good horror series or movies preferable creepy like those Junji Ito mangas? I liked Attack on Titan, Perfect Blue, and Paranoia Agent but couldn't get into Death Note.

Is Claymore any good? I've been told it is like a less rapey version of Berserk, which sounds good but who knows?

@edgaras1103: I haven't read the manga myself but considering that it lasted for about 7 years and its also going to be adapted into a live action movie and it has an anime adaptation roughly 20 years after it has ended, I have a feeling that it was popular enough and it was well-received by people to have warranted these projects to be green-lit. Not sure if the quality of the story ended up being great though but it must have been good enough for it to have both an anime and a live-action movie base on it.

Manga looks good man, I giggled a little when I saw pic.

@bartok: I did not liked Claymore anime. But I watched it years ago. So who knows. Female characters were better than usual as far as I can remember. Berserk manga is awesome, and new movies are quite crap imho. Don't know about the old series. The only show that felt scary for me was Shiki, about vampires. Never finished it though. But it is more suspense and mistery than horror.

@bartok: I haven't seen Claymore but as far as I know, the manga of it did end fairly recently but the anime hasn't had a continuation for years now though so it might have concluded on an arc but it certainly wasn't the end of the story. Someone else can say for sure if it still worth a watch. (By the way, I'm also a fairly casual anime fan so my knowledge and viewing experience isn't as vast as the other duders here. :P)

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - 04 - What a great performance and it illustrates the struggle Kousei has with playing the piano. It also show what he need to do to help him play again, from Kaori support of needing him to the good memories of his mother and not the bad.

Psycho-Pass 2 - 04 - WTF All the victims are dead, including inspector Aoyanagi, due to the system and the criminal isn't. Akane just figured what was going on but it was a bit too late and Mika is still unhelpful.

@bartok: Claymore is pretty good. It has good balance of action and the idea of warriors and politics, at least in it own world. There some crazy things that happen but it keeps to it own logical and not making stuff up. The anime holds well till the last few episodes where it deviates from the manga.

@bartok: Ghost in the Shell is pretty much great in all of its forms.

Psycho-Pass 2 04 ~ Holy Shit man everything went to shit.