The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime

[xcrement5x]

I watched a fair chuck of Terraformars this weekend, I'm not sure what this series is trying to do but I don't think it's doing a very good job of it.

[Medic_wheat]

I spent the weekend rewatching attack on Titan.


Love it

Just reminded me of how much of a wait time there is until another season is available. Just like high school of the dead it had a strong first season and it left fans waiting for more content when the manga is still very early in its being established.  Sigh

[xcrement5x]

Bumping this.

I've been watching the Kancolle anime and it seems okay. I was recommended Elfen Lied again from a friend but only watched part of it back in the day was a bit turned off by the extreme violence in it. 

[DragonmasterDan]

I've been watching the 1970s Captain Harlock series. I watched through all the episodes of Galaxy Express 999 a while back. So this is familiar territory for me.

[esteban]

I've been watching the 1970s Captain Harlock series. I watched through all the episodes of Galaxy Express 999 a while back. So this is familiar territory for me.

I always feel comforted by Harlock and Galaxy Express. It is a compliment I rarely give anything.

[DragonmasterDan]

I always feel comforted by Harlock and Galaxy Express. It is a compliment I rarely give anything.

Comfortable is right.

Captain Harlock has a bit more going for it in terms of linear continuity and storytelling from episode to episode.

Galaxy Express was so cookie cutter it got incredibly formulaic yet I ended many an evening with an episode right before bed.

There's a Queen Millennia show from the same Universe/made by Toei in roughly the same period but alas it hasn't been subtitled into English. So once I'm done with Harlock I have the Arcadia DVD to watch, then I might seek out Maetel Legend to close out that universe for a while.

[esteban]

I always feel comforted by Harlock and Galaxy Express. It is a compliment I rarely give anything.

Comfortable is right.

Captain Harlock has a bit more going for it in terms of linear continuity and storytelling from episode to episode.

Galaxy Express was so cookie cutter it got incredibly formulaic yet I ended many an evening with an episode right before bed.

There's a Queen Millennia show from the same Universe/made by Toei in roughly the same period but alas it hasn't been subtitled into English. So once I'm done with Harlock I have the Arcadia DVD to watch, then I might seek out Maetel Legend to close out that universe for a while.

I never watched all of Arcadia, I really gotta go back to that. 

I never saw Maetel Legend...now I am curious about it (and, of course, Wueen Millennia).

[Medic_wheat]

Getting my Afro Samurai fix on today.



Got the limited edition two disk DVD set of the first OVA.

The case is so pretty


Really wish the second half came in a matching case.



Might just buy the two parts on bluray and swap out this case with those versions.

[Digi.k]

if i's not been mentioned already then..

space adventure cobra the original tv series to buy here

http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/j0EsTkob-RwTzThCWN/browse/item/100521/4/0/0

or can watch it on youtube if you like

[esteban]

if i's not been mentioned already then..

space adventure cobra the original tv series to buy here

http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/j0EsTkob-RwTzThCWN/browse/item/100521/4/0/0

or can watch it on youtube if you like

Thank you! I gotta watch this.

ONLY BECAUSE I CONSIDER IT "RESEARCH" for the Hudson digital comics...

[SignOfZeta]

The quality of animation in Cobra is ridiculously high. It makes pretty much all anime from the same period look like the cheap junk that it is.

[Digi.k]

Junker comes here movie

[SignOfZeta]

I was really into that until everyone started speaking English. Still waiting for the anime market to tank back to the point where dubs are no longer economically feasible.

[Digi.k]

a blossoming girl born from a vampire and werewolf is to befriend normal every folk..because her folks think she is an ordinary human being for not having any special powers, she falls in love with someone in the human world but there is a love rival in the form of daughter from a yakuza boss.

Girl's anime Tokimeki Tonight

[ultrageranium]

For those into slow paced, mysterious, at times eerie (not horror though) short folk-tales like stories set in an imaginary medieval Japan, I really recommend Mushishi. Both the 2005 and 2014 seasons are very good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi#Anime

[ClodBusted]

I'm still waiting for the upcoming Robot Carnival and Orguss releases.

[SignOfZeta]

It's great that Robot Carnival is going to be easily available again. New anime by and large is so totally fucking terrible that it would be great for the new generation to have something decent to watch once in a while.

According to Hulu, "Tourniment" is now a genre. That's where we're at currently.

I probably mentioned excellent Space Brothers in this thread or someplace else on the form. That was a couple of years ago now but I haven't seen much else new that was actually watchable. The newer Gundam OVAs are good, but since they are based on preexisting properties (to say the least) it's not as interesting as something new.

I wonder what it's like to even be a younger anime fan now. Since tape trading doesn't exist and nobody imports discs anymore I suppose they just torrent everything? There are a lot of shows on Crunchyroll and Hulu but 9/10 are totally unwatchable hyper derivative horse shit. Those places don't seem like anywhere for broad minded people to hang out except for when they need a high school show which is EVERYTHING THEY HAVE.

Here is my list of criteria for anime I want to see:

A main character over the age of 20.

A setting that is not Japan, but also not a magical parallel fairy world with a bunch of Japanese stuff in it.

Nobody is in high school except maybe some sub charactor.

No collecting magical crippity crap in order to activate/summon the whatever.

Giant robots are OK, but not if they are disgusting and totally impractical garbage such as Eva units, things that require impossibly intense mental focus (which nobody has as the thing goes nuts with the semi-conscious pilot inside) or some giant pealed human (Attack on Titan). Anyone who knows anything about the development of weapons of war knows they don't build stuff that only one guy can use that never works. Even Fa can pilot the Zeta Gundam, even though she stinks at it. It will not turn her brain into mush or eat her.

No "omni-hobbies" or nuclear plot devices such as Pokemon, YuGiOh, or anything else where the is some...thing...like a sport or some shit that for some reason is more popular than European and American style football combined. The other side of this would be impossibly significant plot devices that are only used to justify some weird agenda on behalf of the creator. The ultimate example of this is Evengelion. The entire mecha science in that show is predicated on the creators psychological problems. You need a ATF because you want to have millions of gallons of blood dripping from trafic lights. There is high concept and then there is just wankery. Know the difference.

Unless there is a really good reason, no shows that are more than a season. There are very few decent stores that require 100 hours to tell. An anime should not take 10 times as long to watch as it takes to read a Thomas Pynchon book. Honestly, the shorter the better.

As little "humor" regarding panties and rack size. I have no problem with sexual content, but I do have a problem with shows that have the same dumb "jokes" I heard on the playground when I was 11. People fuck. They just do. If you need that in the story, fine, but seeing an endless river of  Ataru clones getting smashed in the face with a giant hammer after walking into the lady's onsen for the 100th time is some SERIOUSLY PLAYED OUT SHIT is what I'm trying to say.

NO ONLINE VIRTUAL REALITY GAMES.

So, does anyone have any suggestions within this narrow criteria?

[esteban]

It's great that Robot Carnival is going to be easily available again. New anime by and large is so totally fucking terrible that it would be great for the new generation to have something decent to watch once in a while.

According to Hulu, "Tourniment" is now a genre. That's where we're at currently.

I probably mentioned excellent Space Brothers in this thread or someplace else on the form. That was a couple of years ago now but I haven't seen much else new that was actually watchable. The newer Gundam OVAs are good, but since they are based on preexisting properties (to say the least) it's not as interesting as something new.

I wonder what it's like to even be a younger anime fan now. Since tape trading doesn't exist and nobody imports discs anymore I suppose they just torrent everything? There are a lot of shows on Crunchyroll and Hulu but 9/10 are totally unwatchable hyper derivative horse shit. Those places don't seem like anywhere for broad minded people to hang out except for when they need a high school show which is EVERYTHING THEY HAVE.

Here is my list of criteria for anime I want to see:

A main character over the age of 20.

A setting that is not Japan, but also not a magical parallel fairy world with a bunch of Japanese stuff in it.

Nobody is in high school except maybe some sub charactor.

No collecting magical crippity crap in order to activate/summon the whatever.

Giant robots are OK, but not if they are disgusting and totally impractical garbage such as Eva units, things that require impossibly intense mental focus (which nobody has as the thing goes nuts with the semi-conscious pilot inside) or some giant pealed human (Attack on Titan). Anyone who knows anything about the development of weapons of war knows they don't build stuff that only one guy can use that never works. Even Fa can pilot the Zeta Gundam, even though she stinks at it. It will not turn her brain into mush or eat her.

No "omni-hobbies" or nuclear plot devices such as Pokemon, YuGiOh, or anything else where the is some...thing...like a sport or some shit that for some reason is more popular than European and American style football combined. The other side of this would be impossibly significant plot devices that are only used to justify some weird agenda on behalf of the creator. The ultimate example of this is Evengelion. The entire mecha science in that show is predicated on the creators psychological problems. You need a ATF because you want to have millions of gallons of blood dripping from trafic lights. There is high concept and then there is just wankery. Know the difference.

Unless there is a really good reason, no shows that are more than a season. There are very few decent stores that require 100 hours to tell. An anime should not take 10 times as long to watch as it takes to read a Thomas Pinchon book. Honestly, the shorter the better.

As little "humor" regarding panties and rack size. I have no problem with sexual content, but I do have a problem with shows that have the same dumb "jokes" I heard on the playground when I was 11. People fuck. They just do. If you need that in the story, fine, but seeing an endless river of  Ataru clones getting smashed in the face with a giant hammer after walking into the lady's onsen for the 100th time is some SERIOUSLY PLAYED OUT SHIT is what I'm trying to say.

So, does anyone have any suggestions within this narrow criteria?

Ha! I haven't watched much stuff from the last 20 years, but this was still hilarious to read.

I watched a bunch of episodes of some detective dog show...I thought it was entertaining.

Otherwise, I'm still watching old stuff I (1) never saw, (2) want to see again.

Since I don't have much free time, I have a long list of old stuff to catch-up on.

[ClodBusted]

You know, Signofzeta, both of us belong to an extinct species.


Today's Anime "fans" neither do tape, DVD or torrent. They just stream: Watch & forget.

[Digi.k]

I'm still waiting for the upcoming Robot Carnival and Orguss releases.

I completely forgot about Robot Carnival something I've always been eager to see and that just reminded me of another .. Twilight of the cockroaches

[xcrement5x]

I tried to think of a good anime I watched relatively recently that fits the Zeta bill, one of the first that I thought of was Kino no Tabi, although the greater than 20 years old main character criteria was met, it hits everything else I think.  It's good watch, only 13 episodes, and one of those where each episode can kind of stand separate but link back to a general theme/story. 

Anyway, I'm going to start Sora no Woto probably next week and see how that goes. 

[DragonmasterDan]

I completely forgot about Robot Carnival something I've always been eager to see and that just reminded me of another .. Twilight of the cockroaches

I have a tremendous amount of nostalgia for those old Streamline pictures releases. Robot Carnival in particular.

[SignOfZeta]

Streamline didn't handle their licenses the way I would have liked, but they sure knew how to pick them.

[DragonmasterDan]

Streamline didn't handle their licenses the way I would have liked, but they sure knew how to pick them.

In that they released mostly dubbed movies and removed Japanese text and intro scenes where possible? Or other reasons?

[SignOfZeta]

In that they had to put their stank on everything, more "localization" than the pure product most OGs wanted. They had their sights set on as wide of an audience as possible so they dubbed everything (using a cassette deck, from the sounds of it) and sold it at ultra cheap prices when people like me would have gladly paid double for a subtitled version that would have cost less to produce. They didn't see it that way, they also decided to package Nadia at one EP per tape at $8 each. People weren't exited about devoting a huge wall to 39 VHS tapes for one series so it didn't sell, and then they abandoned the series completely shafting the supporters it had despite the stupid packaging.

To say something nice. They did manage to release a couple of nice LDs, including Lensman, which is really handy today since that movie seems to be nowhere near release in any format since.

It's actually pretty amazing how long a lot of these titles had been out of print, even in Japan.

[DragonmasterDan]

To say something nice. They did manage to release a couple of nice LDs, including Lensman, which is really handy today since that movie seems to be nowhere near release in any format since.

It's actually pretty amazing how long a lot of these titles had been out of print, even in Japan.

Yep, I've got quite a few Streamline LDs, Lensman, Twilight of the Cockroaches being a pair of them that at least in the US were never released on DVD.

[elmer]

So, does anyone have any suggestions within this narrow criteria?

Haha ... you've really narrowed down the window there! 

I've turned a lot of crap off after only 3 or 4 minutes recently, but there have been a couple of shows that have pleasantly surprised me.

One of those is "The Devil is a Part Timer", but it fails on your "not in Japan" criteria.

It's a cute and funny (to me, at least) take on transporting a "sword and sorcery" hero and villain into modern Japan where they end up working in McRonald's and a Call Center to make ends meet, and slowly becoming almost-friends.

Using nano.RIPE's beautiful "Gekka" as the end music (after the first few episodes) is a nice bonus.

Another thing that seems to have recently turned up on Netflix that I'm enjoying is "Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet".

That's about a teen born-to-be-a-soldier from the space-faring decedents of an abandoned Earth, crash landing back on the now-mythical planet, only to find a flourishing society of people still living there and scavenging off the submerged remains of old cities.

I'm about half way through, and it's managed to be completely enjoyable without insulting my intelligence yet.

But ... the main 2 characters are teen aged ... so that misses your criteria, too (although there's a sizable cast of adults in there, as well).

So, really ... "no", I can't think of anything that actually fits 100% within your criteria ... but I did get to mention a couple of shows that I like that don't seem to have been mentioned, yet. 

[SignOfZeta]

I started watching Gargantua just because its in the new Super Robot Wars. I had extremely nice animation and some fun scenes, but it's SUPER cliche ridden, almost like some fucked up Ender's Game fanfic.

The thing is, although my criteria seems extremely narrow, I can name dozens of older shows that fit.

Legend of Galactic Heroes
Bubblegum Crisis
The Royal Space Force
Legend of the Forest
Ghost in the Shell
Dagger of Kamui (likely fails on age of main character, but I don't recall it being mentioned)
Cowboy Beebop
Melos (aka: Run Melos)
Jin Roh
Memories
The previously mentioned Space Brothers, Robot Carnival and Twilight of the Cockroaches
The Violinist Hamlin
Cleopatra (the Tezuka one)
Jungle Emperor
Record of Lodus War
Howl's Moving Castle
Macross Plus
Captain Harlock
Dirty Pair
Gundam 0083
Locke the Superman
Unico and the Isle of Magic
Only Yesterday
Patlabor

Shitloads. And stuff that fails only one criteria would include stuff like Otaku no Video, The Wind Rises, Aim for the Top! and Giant Robo, and nearly all of Gundam so you can get some great stuff with young main characters. What's fuct to me is that nearly every new series I attempt to watch fails on many or sometimes ALL of those criteria. This is what makes me realize that it's not my tastes that are changing as much as it is that new anime is really garbage most of the time.

[elmer]

I started watching Gargantua just because its in the new Super Robot Wars. I had extremely nice animation and some fun scenes, but it's SUPER cliche ridden, almost like some fucked up Ender's Game fanfic.

I might have said "Soldier" meets "WaterWorld" ... but basically, "yes", it's not breaking any new ground, just doing what it does very nicely.

With some of the utter crap that's been released recently, I'm pretty happy to find some new anime on NetFlix that rises as high as derivative-but-decent.

I know some of the older stuff that you mention, but there's still lots there that I've not seen and will now look for ... so "thank you" for the list.

But first, I'll have to go and drag the Bubblegum Crisis dvd's out of whatever box they're in.

[SignOfZeta]

I didn't mention Lupin III.

[xcrement5x]

I started watching Gargantua just because its in the new Super Robot Wars. I had extremely nice animation and some fun scenes, but it's SUPER cliche ridden, almost like some fucked up Ender's Game fanfic.

I might have said "Soldier" meets "WaterWorld" ... but basically, "yes", it's not breaking any new ground, just doing what it does very nicely.

With some of the utter crap that's been released recently, I'm pretty happy to find some new anime on NetFlix that rises as high as derivative-but-decent.

I know some of the older stuff that you mention, but there's still lots there that I've not seen and will now look for ... so "thank you" for the list.

But first, I'll have to go and drag the Bubblegum Crisis dvd's out of whatever box they're in.

Netflix has a pretty decent anime selection.  Knights of Sidonia was another pretty good anime they had, the visuals on it were amazing too.

[DragonmasterDan]

Netflix has a pretty decent anime selection.  Knights of Sidonia was another pretty good anime they had, the visuals on it were amazing too.

Almost everything I saw on Netflix was dubbed

[SignOfZeta]

Hulu has a lot of shows offered both sub and dub, of course they'll be slathered in advertising...

[xcrement5x]

Netflix has a pretty decent anime selection.  Knights of Sidonia was another pretty good anime they had, the visuals on it were amazing too.

Almost everything I saw on Netflix was dubbed

I ran into that too, but always double-check closed captioning settings to see the alternate audio tracks.

[ClodBusted]

Yesterday, I tried the Crunchyroll app on the Xbox 360 and happened to come across Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life. Wooser is some sort of rabbit and kind of a perverted weirdo living together with two girls. He is fond of meat, school uniforms and money.

The episodes are short, they do not last longer than 5 minutes I think. The art style is pretty close to what you would expect from a Wario Ware or Rhythm Heaven game, with the occasional change in style to mock other animes. There's even a parody of Gunbuster somewhere in season 1.

EDIT: By the way, are there any weblogs out there worth reading? The only one I can think of so far is Colony Drop, but unfortunately they update their site rather infrequently. I even got both printed CD fanzines.

[SignOfZeta]

Colony Drop is terrific. I also love Lets Anime and Newtype/Oldtype.

[DragonmasterDan]

Woohoo! My long awaited Castle of Cagliostro US Blu-Ray finally arrived

[Digi.k]

SEGA fans! watch SeHa Girls

The saturn hardware anthropomorphized into anime girls !

tralhanerd.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/7gYMicy.jpg

[SignOfZeta]

No.

[wildfruit]

Ha! I haven't watched much stuff from the last 20 years, but this was still hilarious to read.

I watched a bunch of episodes of some detective dog show...I thought it was entertaining.

Otherwise, I'm still watching old stuff I (1) never saw, (2) want to see again.

Since I don't have much free time, I have a long list of old stuff to catch-up on.

Was it Sherlock hound
Also I really like chis sweet home 😊

[esteban]

Ha! I haven't watched much stuff from the last 20 years, but this was still hilarious to read.

I watched a bunch of episodes of some detective dog show...I thought it was entertaining.

Otherwise, I'm still watching old stuff I (1) never saw, (2) want to see again.

Since I don't have much free time, I have a long list of old stuff to catch-up on.

Was it Sherlock hound
Also I really like chis sweet home

Yes. Sherlock Hound. I enjoyed it.

[DragonmasterDan]

Yes. Sherlock Hound. I enjoyed it.

I had watched the dubbed versions of it years ago as I believe it had been up on Hulu/Youtube for some time. A US DVD set came out last fall, I picked it up and finally had the opportunity to watch it with the original audio.

It's such a fantastic show with absolutely stellar animation for something created for early 80s television.

[esteban]

Yes. Sherlock Hound. I enjoyed it.

I had watched the dubbed versions of it years ago as I believe it had been up on Hulu/Youtube for some time. A US DVD set came out last fall, I picked it up and finally had the opportunity to watch it with the original audio.

It's such a fantastic show with absolutely stellar animation for something created for early 80s television.

I hope you are not teasing me, because I actually liked that damn show...granted, I did not see every episode. 

Now I have to go back and finish watching a series that I started 2-3 years ago...it was something that geise or elabit or punkicCyborg or _____________ suggested in this very thread. I was really enjoying it. Mech + cute little fairy + goofballs + lady rivals + cliche + cliche + cliche 80's....but it was fun!

Subbed by fans.  YouTube.

I hope it is still available.

[xcrement5x]

Yes. Sherlock Hound. I enjoyed it.

I had watched the dubbed versions of it years ago as I believe it had been up on Hulu/Youtube for some time. A US DVD set came out last fall, I picked it up and finally had the opportunity to watch it with the original audio.

It's such a fantastic show with absolutely stellar animation for something created for early 80s television.

I hope you are not teasing me, because I actually liked that damn show...granted, I did not see every episode. 

Now I have to go back and finish watching a series that I started 2-3 years ago...it was something that geise or elabit or punkicCyborg or _____________ suggested in this very thread. I was really enjoying it. Mech + cute little fairy + goofballs + lady rivals + cliche + cliche + cliche 80's....but it was fun!

Subbed by fans.  YouTube.

I hope it is still available.

That sounds like Heavy Metal L-gaim maybe?



I agree that Se-Ha girls is lots of fun as just a goofy anime.  The huge number of in jokes going around regarding Sega games and hardware really make it a love letter to the fans.

[esteban]

Heavy Metal L-Gaim!

I gotta watch this...I might even start over from the beginning since its been so long....

[SignOfZeta]

I love Sherlock Hound. I have the wonderful LD Memorial Box and the theatrical release, which was basically two episodes with slight differences. This theatrical version was how it debuted to the public, it played with Nausciaa's roadshow release in 1984 and the series started airing later that year.

That episode where Mrs Hudson is revealed to have a past as an aviator was so awesome...she didn't do much in the Conan Doyle version...

I need to get that U.S. DVD set now when I'm thinking about it. I'll want it in a few years when my kid is old enough to grasp it.

Edit: I found a good pic of the Memorial Box. Each of those discs is gatefold, btw, with art on the back side that is just as good as the front. The book contains konte and direction, the phone card...is just a phone card.

[esteban]

Sherlock Hound. Damn, what a gorgeous presentation for the Memorial Box.

[DragonmasterDan]

I hope you are not teasing me, because I actually liked that damn show...granted, I did not see every episode. 

Oh I like it as well.

It's a bit of a kids show, but the animation quality has no equal. It has an element of fun and Miyazaki mayhem to it.

[esteban]

I hope you are not teasing me, because I actually liked that damn show...granted, I did not see every episode. 

Oh I like it as well.

It's a bit of a kids show, but the animation quality has no equal. It has an element of fun and Miyazaki mayhem to it.

[SignOfZeta]

I lied guys. I think the jackets are actually not gatefold since the thing is only 13 sides. However, I'm still pretty sure there is special art on both sides. I haven't watched it in a couple of years and I'm at work so I can't check.