What anime are you watching?

[Neane]

I finished Mars of Destruction...
It was beautiful...
That scene where everybody was gathered together at the end and the Ancient blew up, saving the boy... Simply beautiful...
And that blunt ending...
It made my heart throb in bittersweet anguish...
Not to mention the music. Beethoven did a fabulous-MAX job as usual. Especially when he'd cut out in the middle of his song really quickly to play a more upbeat tune.

[SierraLea]

I'm infatuated with Shaman King. Yoh's the best! Plus, it's completely clean, if a little questionable about spirits and stuff. There's a manga that's better, but I'm still reading that.

[Sapphire225]

Just finished the latest episode of Mirai Nikki. Read the manga of it, but both are still just as awesome.

[Nate]

I'm infatuated with Shaman King.

[MightiMidget]

Watched the first episode of Tokyo Majin 2. I'm sensing the profanity (in the dub) will be upped...but we shall see.

[SierraLea]

Hilarious! If I wasn't at a library I'd be cracking up!

[AngelicTotoro]

Finished Full Moon wo Sagashite.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, the last ten episodes brought me to tears quite a few times.
I thought the ending was beautiful, I was so happy for Takuto and Mitsuki.
Also, I adore Meroko. She's so... lovely. (I'm talking about her as a person btw, even if she is also quite pretty to look at.)
Anyway, Takuto and Meroko are forever engraved in my heart, I love them. <3

8/10. (Now I know the manga is much different, and I'll probably like it more... but I don't think that'll take away how much I love this show right now.)

Also watched the Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Movie Trilogy last night.
The first two movies weren't that great, imo. However, the last one was amazing and made up for the first two. The fighting scenes were really good, and Char is awesome.
[spoiler]Blowing Kycilia's head right before take-off? Super cool![/spoiler]
Movie one 6/10. Movie 2 7/10. Movie 3 8/10.

[KindOfABigDeal]

Just finished Working!! and Working'!!

Marthoned it over the course of 3 days. Feels good. I'm getting ready to start Mirai Nikki again. I dropped it earlier because I had to wait on the episodes to get translated.

[softsubs]

I finished Mars of Destruction...
It was beautiful...
That scene where everybody was gathered together at the end and the Ancient blew up, saving the boy... Simply beautiful...
And that blunt ending...
It made my heart throb in bittersweet anguish...
Not to mention the music. Beethoven did a fabulous-MAX job as usual. Especially when he'd cut out in the middle of his song really quickly to play a more upbeat tune.

Joking or serious?
(haven't seen it yet though)


In other news I finished rewatching Madoka a few days ago and rewatched a few E7 eps.

[Neane]

Joking or serious?
(haven't seen it yet though)

I was joking, however I have to say that it was not as bad as people make it out to be. I would give it a 2/10

I would say that Early Reins, Psychic Wars, Sin: The Movie, Dark Myth, Genma Taisen, Cybernetics Guardian and all the Violence Jack OVAs are far worse than Mars of Destruction.
[The manga of Violence Jack is pretty awesome, but the OVAs are unbelievably terrible and awful and should be wiped off the face of the Earth.

[softsubs]

Which of those has the least objectionable content?

[Neane]

[SIZE="5"]You should never watch any of those. Those are the worst anime ever made.[/SIZE]
But for your question, Early Reins has the least amount of objectionable content.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]I'm currently watching Episode 5 of "Nerima Daikon Brothers" for review on my blog. An awesome musical but not for everyone...much like everything else done by the director with the 'fro.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[Neane]

Finished Full Moon wo Sagashite.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, the last ten episodes brought me to tears quite a few times.
I thought the ending was beautiful, I was so happy for Takuto and Mitsuki.
Also, I adore Meroko. She's so... lovely. (I'm talking about her as a person btw, even if she is also quite pretty to look at.)
Anyway, Takuto and Meroko are forever engraved in my heart, I love them. <3

8/10. (Now I know the manga is much different, and I'll probably like it more... but I don't think that'll take away how much I love this show right now.)

Full Moon wo Sagashite is great stuff, the second best mahō]Princess Tutu[/B].

[Crossfire]

Votoms: Pailsen Files eps 4-12 (kinda)

[SPOILER]I'm half way through episode 12, and while I saw it coming, it still left a bitter taste. I mean, throughout the series they hate each other, then act like the best of friends, and repeat the process two or three times. They go through hell, surviving the unthinkable. Then, the very last episode, they're like "Oh hey, we must be abnormal survivors like Chirico!" LOLNOPE. (Though I don't care about Kochak. He was a dick.)[/spoiler]

[Atria35]

NGE 19-20- So glad I restarted this. I have no idea what the next six episodes hold for me. Have gotten posts for my thoughts on these on my blog.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Votoms: Pailsen Files eps 4-12 (kinda)

[SPOILER]I'm half way through episode 12, and while I saw it coming, it still left a bitter taste. I mean, throughout the series they hate each other, then act like the best of friends, and repeat the process two or three times. They go through hell, surviving the unthinkable. Then, the very last episode, they're like "Oh hey, we must be abnormal survivors like Chirico!" LOLNOPE. (Though I don't care about Kochak. He was a dick.)[/spoiler]

Curious to know your thoughts on the series overall when you do finish.

[Maokun]

NGE 19-20- So glad I restarted this. I have no idea what the next six episodes hold for me. Have gotten posts for my thoughts on these on my blog.

FINAAAAALLY

[Neane]

Finished Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still, it was a masterpiece in every sense of the word.

[MightiMidget]

Tokyo Majin 2 episodes 2-5 over the last few days. The profanity has been upped rather greatly indeed for the first four episodes, though episode 5 had almost zilch. Really enjoying this anime. It's just so...fun. and Tatsuma is still awesome. Yep.

[AngelicTotoro]

Watching The Vision of Escaflowne.
I adore/love/aminlovewith this show. Period. The ost and artwork are absolutely, breathtakingly, beautiful. The character designs are actually really interesting (I didn't like them at first, but that went away around episode 3.), and the characters themselves... well I love, love, love Van, Hitomi and Merle. ^o^ And the other characters, even the bad guys, are all really well done.
The world of Gaea is fantastic, everytime it introduced a new animal/person like a wolfman or a catgirl, or even a dolphinman, I just got a huge smile on my face. All of the different countries that exist there are super cool, and believable. (Fantasy done right, imo.)
The plot is amazing, the plot twists are really good. I've been brought to tears a few times actually.
I L.O.V.E the fighting scenes, sure they're a little violent, but I love Princess Mononoke, so who cares? And the Guymelefs are so insanely cool.
...
Did I mention how much I love Escaflowne?

Anyway, I just finished episode 19.
[spoiler]So, I laughed a little bit when I realized that the 'Dragon' that the emperor of Zaibach was so worried about Hitomi getting to close to was, in fact, not Escaflowne, but Van. It also made me crazy happy when I thought the couple I've been shipping since episode 1 could actually happen. (Van x Hitomi.)

Of course that might just have come crashing down now that those... stupid, manipulative jerks from Zaibach messed with Hitomi's fate by having Allen find her first and then screw up her emotions with that stupid 'fate alternative' (or whatever it's called) thing.

And to make matters worse, Van saw them kissing and... *sob* It's so awful.
His almost-confession-cover-up was so cute, I almost exploded.
It was like, "I want you to stay with me." "I want you" "I want your... I want your..." (*Me* 'come on Van! You can do it! Tell her you want her love!')
"...Your power! I want your power!" *Its so obvious he's full of it.*
And then since Van came off like a total jerk (He didn't mean it though! ), Hitomi slapped him. ;__;
And then right after that is when the fate manipulation thing started up and.. that happened and Van saw them and... ... *sobs again*
Why is this show trying to break my heart into little, itty bitty bits? I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.
I really hope Escaflowne ends good! If it does, it'll make into my top five anime of all time list...[/spoiler]

10/10.

(Btw, sorry if I come off as a crazy woman. I've been watching this show basically none stop since yesterday, so it's made a really huge impression on me in a really short amount of time so... yeah. )

[Maokun]

Haha, good one. Escaflowne is in my opinion one of the old anime series that has aged best and it's always a great watch. And that OP! Such a beautiful waltz! I recommend you to read the translated lyrics if you haven't yet; it is a very beautiful song and one of Maaya Sakamoto's first hits (and hit role, she's Hitomi.)

I love you, I love you
I gaze at you with my heart
I believe in you, I believe in you
even in the coldest night. (Animation cut to Merle staring melancholically at the moon. So perfect!)

...I need no promises anymore,
that's the precious strength you've given me.

[Juliannesan]

Wow, you're fast. Ms. Totoro! I'm just now finishing Full Moon, and I started it last year.
It's a pretty good series, but I wouldn't say it's the best.

[AngelicTotoro]

@Maokun: I know, it's so lovely, isn't it? I actually love and listen to quite a lot of Maaya Sakamoto's music. The fact that she sings parts of the escaflowne ost makes me happy beyond words.
Have I mentioned how well I think the opening and ending themes fit the show?
The lyrics do to say the least.

@Julianne: Actually, I started Full Moon last year too and only just finished it recently. 0_0
That's kind of an odd coincidence.
And it's fine that you maybe didn't like Escaflowne as much as I do, different people like things differently. xD

[KnightOfFive]

Gundam 00 Season 2. i gotta admit I spent most of season 1 rooting against the Gundam Meisters but now that [spoiler =]"the world's been taken over by the UN." [spoiler] I can sincerely root for them.

[Juliannesan]

@Julianne: Actually, I started Full Moon last year too and only just finished it recently. 0_0
That's kind of an odd coincidence.
And it's fine that you maybe didn't like Escaflowne as much as I do, different people like things differently. xD

I'm sorry, I wasn't actually talking about Escaflowne at all, just Full Moon.
Yeah? I know, right? I enjoyed it. But I felt there was something missing, and I think I would probably like the manga better. But it was cute.

About Escaflowne, I'm just not interested in watching it. But I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

[AngelicTotoro]

@Juilanne: Oh, really? I guess I must have mis-read your post, sorry. ><

Anyway, I finished The Vision of Escaflowne.

To be honest, I'm crying while I write this since the ending was so sad... for no reason.
[spoiler]I mean, I still don't understand why Hitomi made it sound like she'll never seen Van again, that's not true. They can both see eachother with their minds, right? And Van has the drag-energist that he used to open the portal to send her home... Can't he just use it again someday?

I hate it when people who make anime, decide to give them semi-tragic, unclear endings like these. I guess they just wanted to make the viewers cry? Because I am crying right now. ;__;

And why did Hitomi go back to earth anyway? Gaea was basically her home now, there wasn't anything on earth for her except, what? School? Fine, Hitomi can finish school but then she goes back to Gaea, and becomes Van's bride, Queen of Fanelia. The end.
(That's how I shall picture it anyway, since the anime itself didn't say it wasn't possible.)
[/spoiler]

I would have given Escaflowne a perfect ten.. but the ending did seem just a little bit rushed... and then they went and did a shocker, sad ending.
9/10.

[Juliannesan]

Oh, it's no problem. Ms Totoro. ^_^ Sorry Escaflowne had a sad ending. :/

[TheSubtleDoctor]

AT, I completely share your objections to the Escaflowne ending. It left me going, "Huh? What? WHY!" The fate of Dilandau also kind of felt weird.

Of course, the lack of a perfect ending does not invalidate the series as a whole (as you noted above).

I recommend the Escaflowne movie as well, though it is a re-imagining of the entire story. If it's any consolation, the director of the film, the one who does the reinterpretation, is actually the guy who came up with the whole concept to begin with, Mr. Shoji Kawamori (who you may know from doing design/conceptual work on SDF Macross and directing Do You Remember Love?). Some people hate on the movie because it isn't more of the same, but I quite like it. It certainly dispenses with the faux tragic elements you mentioned.

[Maokun]

There are several series from that time with similar endings (I will not name them to avoid spoilers.) I think there's a japanese cultural thing somewhere there. You are young then go, have your amazing adventures, fall in love for the first time, save a world, grow up as a person... and then you return, ready to live your life as a human, earthean adult, keeping only the wonderful memories with you.

Anyway, is all pretty open ended, so your own vision about the future of the characters is as true as you want to make it.