What anime are you watching?

[Neane]

I happened upon this anime called Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. Watching it was... an interesting experience let's just say.

[Vii]

Rewatching Princess Tutu because Fakir. And also because I totally forgot how much I like this anime.

And Sakamichi no Apollon ep 9. I really really like this show. Thoughts in the thread.

I've been kind of watching Tsuritama (I'm up to episode five or something), but it isn't holding my attention for some reason. I dunno if I should hold out a few more episodes or just save it for when I'm really bored. Or drop it altogether.

I tried the first episode of Hyouka. My first thought was "Moe anime, starts with a disgruntled guy walking to school, complaining about life, and forced into a club with a genki girl. Then supernatural stuff. What is this, Haruhi Suzumiya?!"
Meh. I'm not a huge fan of the mystery genre, but I may give this another episode.

I also tried giving Kimi to Boku a second chance, and yet again I'm faced with the fact that I still can't get through the first seven minutes without getting bored. And why do all these guys look so darn sleepy? And feminine...

[rocklobster]

Decided to go old school! I'm watching Robotech: The Macross Saga

[Neane]

Ray the Animation

It follows the exploits of Ray Kasugano, a doctor with X-ray vision. Ray was originally raised for organ harvest by a mysterious “H-ring” man, and currently works for an eye-patch wearing, peg-legged hospital director alongside with kung-fu kicking nurses.


Sounds awesome, right?

It isn’t. It isn’t awesome at all.

The animation quality wanders between adequate to “we don’t have the budget for this” bad; the action/fight scenes in particular are downright laughable in many cases.
The character designs are blander than a tap-water cocktail. Everybody looks the same. It doesn’t help that later in the show- clones start showing up.
There’s also an underlying plot of Ray seeking her childhood companions from the organ farm; at the end of one episode she finds one of them, rushes to him, trips over a rock, and he disappears. It wasn’t even a big rock. I think I broke my nose from the resulting face-palm that happened after that scene. And the story does very little with Ray’s x-ray vision gimmick, and the operations she is required to work hardly call for it.



The series does have its pluses- Ray herself is an interesting character, and another welcome example of that oh-so-rare thing: a strong female lead who is neither a teenager nor a sex-object.
Medical shows in general have that built-in drama with the whole “will the patient live/die” dilemma, and RTA is no exception. At least when we aren’t dealing with parasitic plants…


Characters were bit likable, and also very forgettable at the same. The stories interesting, and also very boring at the same time.

Oh, And also the ultimate resolution was several shades of stupid.

.
Stay away from this show, you will want your time back after you have finished it.

[Atria35]

Because it was a simple, easy watch when I was in the midst of baking pumpkin bread, I watched Folk Tales of Japan 4-11- GUYS! This is SO ADORABLE! xD This is a great collection of interesting, sweet, and funny stories that are much like our own in many way - I even caught ones that were similar to Tom Thumb and Rumplestiltskin! Definitely a great show for people who want something nice and light.

[Neane]

^Folk Tales of Japan is awesome.

[Atria35]

^.^ Glad you think so, too.

Kids on the Slope 1-9- Marathoned to get myself up to date, and this is a really nice show. I'm just loving how the relationships grow and develop. Love polygons normally aren't my thing, but this doesn't seem that overdone.

F/S Zero S2 1-2- Phew! Forgot how intensely that ended last season, and it really doesn't let up does it?

[eightluvver888]

Just finished Monster. It was amazing. I loved Grimmer, definitely my favorite character.

And I'm finally down to 2 shows that I'm watching (alone) at a time. I'm trying to get to one, but can I finish either Brotherhood or Trigun before the temptation to start a new series strikes?

[mechana2015]

Just rewatched Baccano... remembering some of the awesome things I'd forgotten was really fun.

[Davidizer13]

Gunbuster - finished!

Retro mecha fans can breathe easier, knowing that Gainax's first foray into giant robots still holds up after all these years. Sure, any fool can draw cool space robot fights (which Gunbuster does very, very well), but it takes serious chops to do it with a massive emotional weight behind it (which Gunbuster also does very, very well). You get a real feel for the connection these characters have, and you get emotionally dragged along with them - through the lows, the desperation they struggle through, and through the highs. And what highs! I'm not kidding when I say that the battles are brilliant; they're super-awesome, fueled by all the emotion riding on them. The only parts I can fault it on are the ending - it was great, a wonderful way to tie it all up, but felt anticlimactic - and the fanservice gets pretty thick at times (this is Gainax we're talking about, after all). If you're into super robots, '80s anime, or just want to see some good sci-fi, you could certainly do worse than Gunbuster.

(also, relativity sucks)

[Atria35]

Caught up on Fate/Zero, now onto Zetman!

[Neane]

Finished Ergo Proxy.

[ABlipinTime]

watched ep 4 of Lain. Ugh. I intend to finish, but I'm ducking slushballs of drugs and boredom. Seriously, I'd almost think the writer was high when he wrote this but he's doing a trippy job with the mystery.

[Vii]

I was going to watch a mecha anime with a character named Kamina, but instead I ended up watching a mecha anime with a character named Kamina.

Explanation: I was going to watch the Gurren Lagann movies, but ended up starting RahXephon instead.

---------------------------------------------
Ep 1-3 RahXephon - Pretty cool. I'm really curious as to what the plot's gonna ultimately be. The characters are interesting, and the background music is really awesome.
EDIT: Also, I now know how to correctly drink a bottle of Ramune. I had no idea that those little dents are used for something.

Princess Tutu - Alright, now I'm done rewatching random episodes. Back to the 'completed' list you go...

[AngelicTotoro]

Rahxephon is really, really good. The ending is quite... strange, but that's all I'm gonna say, I don't want to spoiler-fi you. xD

I've put Code Geass on infinite hold. My reason? My brothers came home from a christian collage to visit and they just mentioned a couple of things to me about symbolism and mind control... and well, it got me thinking and then my heart got all convicted... so I can't watch it anymore with out my entire being feeling like I'm not doing what's right.

I might pick it up again someday, who knows? It is a very well made show, and the plot is interesting. But I feel really strongly on this. Not saying you guys are sinning watching it, but this is my own conviction.

Finally got around to watching Escaflowne: A Girl in Gaea.
I didn't love that they put a lot more 'magic and gods' type of content in there, the nice thing about the original tv series is that it didn't overflow with that. The action scenes were... insane. Like super amazing, reminded me why I love Escaflowne so gosh darn much. <3

It was rather weird to see a depressed Hitomi and a murderous Van, it worked with the retelling though, I was really happy to see Merle and glad they didn't cut Dryden out. (I like that guy.) Allen didn't do much, which is fine. I liked the amount they gave him.
The OST was stellar, per usual. The artwork was also completely awe-inspiring, Sunrise has once again earned my repect as a fellow backgrounds artist. ;D

The ending made me cry like a little girl again. (I'm a girl but not a so much a little one anymore. x_x) Suddenly the ending for the tv series seems so much happier. Seriously, I bet you the only reason they decided to have 'Mystic Moon' vanish from Gaea forever was to make sentimental people like me, who really believe people should be with their true love, especially in fiction, cry their little hearts out. D:

8/10
(Oh why do I love you so much Escaflowne!? I should hate you! >> Bah, humbug! xD I know, I'm weird. =3)

[Agloval]

I managed to submit my big end-of-year chunk of work, so I have free time again. But my mind is struggling to come down from 'I must think about things' mode, and I haven't watched that much.

But I did manage to catch the latest episode of Smile Precure, which was a stand-out; and another episode of Da Garn, which was a good laugh as always. Apparently in the next episode the villains specifically come up with a robot to attack the heroes during their manly combination, which doesn't sound fair at all.

--

The action scenes were... insane. Like super amazing, reminded me why I love Escaflowne so gosh darn much. <3

Which reminds me that I should watch this one day: I'm not keen on the idea of a revised story but I hear the action is a-game

[AngelicTotoro]

You really should watch it, if you're a fan of the original series then you'll like it.
(The alternate telling isn't nearly as good as the first plot, but it works as a movie, imo.)
I watched it mostly for some good ol' Van x Hitomi and lots-a pretty scenery, music and action.
And, seriously, the fighting in this movie is sooo gooooood. The opening scene for the movie is... like I said, insane/awesome-sauce.

[MangaRocks!]

Tsuritama, ep. 9.

(And, as always, thoughts on it in the dedicated thread. )

[the_wolfs_howl]

Monster episodes 32-39

Tsubasa Chronicle episodes 12-17 (Finally, in the home stretch for the first season!)

Rewatched Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro, remembering exactly why I love them all so much. I also saw My Neighbors the Yamadas for the first time, and I really liked it! It was in a unique style, and at times was random in a delightfully Japanese sort of way. But it was genuinely funny and heartwarming, because you feel like this is a family that really could be your neighbors. I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to

[Ally-Ann]

None. I've been on a major, major, major anime break for months and months and months. Save for the random funny bits of Hetalia that I've been watching for chuckles. But that can't really count for actually following an anime show. I'm so glad tomorrow's my last day of school before summer~!

[Vii]

RahXephon 19 - （゜◇゜） That was...Wow. Up until this episode, this anime was decent, pretty good even, but I think this episode bumped it up a few notches.

[Juliannesan]

Finished Shugo Chara! Doki! I really enjoyed it! Contrary to popular thought, it's a nice touch. I will say though that they did waste a lot of good time space one silly stuff, where they could have nicely inserted more of the actual plot of the manga. Still, not badly done at all.

However, I'm starting on Shugo Chara Party! And I don't know that I'm going to make it through, it's basically just an excuse to see all the characters of the show without actually having a decent follow-up. Meh, we'll see if I finish it.

Ikuto is just adorable, so is Tadase. I really feel bad for him though. I know where Amu's true loyalties lie. Hehehehe.

[MangaRocks!]

Watched the Bakeneko/Goblin Cat arc (ep.'s 9-11) of Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror in preparation for the upcoming "Let's Watch" of Mononoke, and... well... wow.

First things first: Ha! I wasn't expecting the OP to feature a rap song , but it actually fit surprisingly well, and was pretty catchy, too. I was also definitely not expecting there to be so much humor-- I was actually laughing quite hard a few times. And I can totally see why just about everyone who's talked about this and Mononoke seems to adore Kusuriuri-- because now I do, as well! ;)

*Ahem*... as for the more serious stuff, first of course I must mention the art-- it's absolutely fantastic!! And not only was it amazing to look at, in my case it was also pretty useful on occasion, too... [spoiler]...since had a couple of those scenes been done in a more 'normal' anime style, I doubt I could have stomached it-- like, for example, the part where a few of the victims were literally painted across the walls. With almost any other art style, that would have been outrageously gory; but here, instead, it actually-- and I can't believe I'm saying this-- looked rather... beautiful. [/spoiler] As for the plot: Well, that monster and its powers were pretty genuinely terrifying (in a good way-- for the story, I mean!). And the reason for its rampage was even more disturbing than the creature itself was frightening (a fact which I was really not too fond of, to be honest ; but the show is in the horror genre, after all, and the backstory was probably told about as tastefully as it could have been, given the circumstances. Still, it was definitely pretty disturbing at times). That said, the art and the characters (particularly Kusuriuri, of course; though I also really quite liked [spoiler]that servant girl Kayo-- and I'm so happy that she survived!)[/spoiler] made it well worth the watch for me; and I'm quite looking forward to seeing more of the travels of this medicine seller in Mononoke!

[Vii]

RahXephon 22 - I can't believe they actually used "et tu, Brute?" as a line of dialogue. It worked well for the situation, but I never thought I'd hear that line anywhere except Shakespeare. Ah, anime, what will you surprise me with next?

[Jolly Roger]

Finished Princess Tutu recently.

I am NOT the "magic girl" anime-type (if the avatar isn't enough to get an idea ) but I started watching this series after a recommendation from the internet reviewer JesuOtaku.... Its probably one of the best anime series I've ever seen. Great plot, excellent voice acting in the dub, great use of classical music. So glad I swallowed my pride and gave it a shot.

[Neane]

Currently watching the greatest cannibal love story ever written by mankind.

[Vii]

Finished RahXephon - I'm left thinking...what. the. heck. It wasn't bad, per se, there was plenty of cool scenes, good characters, and some decent plot, but there are also so many things that I'm confused about. I may need to look up a synopsis or something.
[spoiler] However, the ending was sweet. It was a literal Deus Ex Machina, but it wasn't annoying.[/spoiler]

EDIT: Nevermind, I found a site with a looot of answers

[Neane]

So Taiyou no Kiba Dagram. The politics is being crafted pretty well , and the mecha feels more like tanks in terms of functionality than most normal mecha units, and I think it might have enough episodes to develop the whole thing well enough. Interesting note, the mecha designs in this series were copied by FASA without permission to be used in Battletech / Mechwarrior franchise. [Which would later turn into the Earthsiege games (which were some of my favorite PC Games when I was growing up.)] It's like LOGH meets Gundam.

[acgifford]

I am currently in the middle of Full Moon wo Sagashite and Darker than Black. lol. Whats funny is they are like opposites of one another mood wise. I think Full Moon is adorable. Darker than Black, i am still trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. There are some sexual jokes that I dislike. But there aren't too many. Luckily. The story is very intersting so far. But as I said, it is slow because they give you so little to go on about the plot and there is so many characters to follow. But as I said. Both seem good.

[AngelicTotoro]

Sakamichi no Apollon ep 10
9/10.

12 Kingdoms episodes 16 - 23
I'm actually starting to become interested in this, finally. I don't know why, but I had a hard time getting into it.

8/10.

@Vii, I didn't even bother trying to understand the ending and I enjoyed Rahxephon over all.
The great cast of characters, art and music override the stupid/weird/mindf**k ending.

(Btw, not trying to swear, that's what that type of ending is called on most anime sites.)