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Boosmahn
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Re: Anime

#401 Post by Boosmahn » Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:02 am

Hey, don't pass on it just because of that! I have a feeling it could be a sleeper hit (hoping I didn't just jinx it).

How about Shadows House?

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Re: Anime

#402 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:49 am

Shadows House is one of the few I've found that looks worth checking out (even if it is not a favored genre). It looks like it should be visually interesting.

I looked at the Odd Taxi preview. It did not produce a strong response. Visually (and animation-wise) it looked ... functional.

If anime pickings are slim for the next 3+ months, it will give me more time to watch movies again. ;-)

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Re: Anime

#403 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed Mar 31, 2021 6:30 pm

Watched in March (including new weekly-aired series I finished this month):

Vlad Love (Mamoru Oshii & Junji Nishimura, 2021)

Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu (lit. "Jobless Reincarnation: I Will Seriously Try If I Go to Another World”) (Manabu Okamoto, 2021)

Higurashi: When They Cry – Gou (Keiichiro Kawaguchi, 2020) (location modeled on Shirakawa-go, Gifu)

Joshikousei no Mudazukai (Wasteful Days of High School Girls) (Takeo Takahashi & Hijiri Sanpei, 2019) (rewatch)

Nagi no asukara (Lull in the Sea) (Toshiya Shinohara, 2013-2014) (rewatch – delayed report)

Danshi Kōkōsei no Nichijō (Daily Lives of High School Boys) (Shinji Takamatsu, 2012)

N.H.K. ni Yōkoso! (Welcome to the N.H.K.) (Yūsuke Yamamoto, 2006)

Otherside Picnic (Ura Sekai Pikunikku) (Takuya Sato, 2021) (Saitama City, Nerima City, other Tokyo locations, Okinawa and “the Otherside”)

Gekidol (Shigeru Ueda, 2021) (Toshima, Tokyo)

Yurukyan△, Season 2 (Masato Jinbo, 2021) (Laid-back Camp) (mostly in Yamanashi, some in Nagano)

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki (Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun) (Shinsuke Yanagi, 2021) (around Omiya, Saitama)

Non Non Biyori Nonstop (Shin'ya Kawatsura, 2021) (Chichibu and Ogawa, Saitama and various other locations)

Idoly Pride (Yū Kinome, 2021) (Tokyo)

With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun (Inu to Neko Docchimo Katteru to Mainichi Tanoshii) (Seiji Kishi, 2020)

Wonder Egg Priority (Shin Wakabayashi, 2021) (in and around Inzai, Chiba) (actual final episode delayed to end of June 2021)

Irozuku Sekai no ashita kara (Irodoku: The World in Color) (Toshiya Shinohara, 2018) (re-watch)

Somari to Mori no Kamisama (Somali and the Forest Spirit) (Kenji Yasuda, 2020)

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colinr0380
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Re: Anime

#404 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:53 am

For my part this last month I completed the bulk of the Fist of the North Star show and moved on into the much shorter, set a decade later (though it apparently aired on Japanese TV the week after the previous episode! So there was not much of a break for audiences to catch their breath before the jump!), Fist of the North Star 2 series with the grown up Bat and Lin. Which conclusively proves once and for all that all of the fussing and feuding over Ken's love interest that the attention paid to Yuria was pretty much for nought. Even if she dies and gets resurrected through the series, even becoming one of the major "Generals of the Southern Cross" it is telling that all she did in that powerful position was stand on a balcony and suffer mournfully, much as she did when kidnapped in the first series arc! And then after their long prolonged reunion they:
spoilers for the end of Fist of the North StarShow
... ride off into the sunset together at the end of the big battle with Raoh, Yuria having been miraculously resurrected again by the purity of Lin's tears. Only for series 2 to start after the decade later jump only for Yuria to have died in the interim, ready to launch Ken back into conflict as the lone warrior figure! It's almost as if she is more useful dead than alive! Although honestly the same could be said of all of the adult male supporting cast too, better at providing a shining example to Ken once they have left this physical plane and ascended to their assigned spot in the constellations! Plus now that Yuria has died along with Rei, maybe Ken and Mamiya can finally get together!
We do get another change of opening and ending theme for Fist of the North Star 2 though, as Ken goes overtly Mel Gibson in Mad Max with perhaps the most 80s theme tune there has ever been in the fantastically homoerotic Tough Boy!

___
And I did break open the recent All The Anime release of Cyber City OEDO 808 and loved how comprehensive it is, down to having each of the three episodes not only go by their Japanese translated episode titles but also each having a smaller caption underneath with the completely different names that they had been re-titled to on both their UK and US releases! It was also interesting to see how Manga Video in the UK and U.S. Manga Corps in the US promoted the show to their respective audiences back in the 90s too, with U.S. Manga Corps being more low key about it whilst the Manga Video trailer basically spoils everything about the show! And whilst it is done from the perspective of Gogul narrating the trailer, I don't think it was Sean Barrett doing the voice as in the show, as I seem to recall that unconvincing American accent from some of Manga Video's other trailers from the same period.

Some really interesting points get made in Jonathan Clements' booklet essay, particularly that Cyber City OEDO 808 was part of a mixed-media franchise that also encompassed a CD-ROM game for the PC Engine Alignment of the Beast which was another mission for Sengoku. And there are apparently three follow up novels by Akinori Endo that add another three missions (each focused on a particular character, as with the episodes of the show) to the canon. All of that media apparently remains untranslated outside of Japan, but I would particularly love to read the books some time!

The interview with Script Adaptor and Dubbing Director for the UK version of the show John Wolskel also in the booklet was fascinating too, although also a little depressing to find out that the era of UK-produced in-house dubs ended as quickly as it began around 1997 or so, as in cost-cutting measures the UK studios mostly went with US dubbed versions of shows after that rather than producing their own localisations and choosing their own material to dub after that point. That is really what makes the Cyber City OEDO 808 UK dub stand out from the crowd though, and it was heartening to hear that both Wolskel and Rory McFarlane count working on the Cyber City soundtrack as the high points of their careers.

It was also very amusing to read Wolskel briefly mentioning the troublesome nature of one of the other UK dubs that he worked on during this period, for the show The Dark Myth, and how comparatively difficult it was to do compared to Cyber City's dub because of Dark Myth being full of overly verbose expository dialogue scenes and densely arcane mystical ramblings about Japanese mythology! That was a two episode OVA show (each episode running 50 minutes) that goes really heavy on the historical mythology angle, and I remember being completely thrown myself back in the day by the information overload that starts from the moment the show begins and never lets up! But whilst it is a show that is only mentioned briefly by Wolskel in terms of the impossibility of translating such material successfully because of how verbose it was leaving no place that provided licence to take liberties during the dubbing, meaning the show was only ever going to have a 'niche of a niche' appeal, that did make me reminisce a bit about it and how I do have a soft spot for The Dark Myth! Mostly because that show has an incredibly dark and fatalistic tone to it throughout (a bit similar to Doomed Megalopolis or Devil Man - even Legend of the Overfiend - in some ways with its teenage protagonist having the weight of the supernatural world put on his shoulders) and is all about the inescapable nature of duty and death. Almost every character gets casually, yet brutally, killed off during the show as our young protagonist gets railroaded towards his final destination of fulfilling his predestined obligations. Its got some of the same sensibility of those 1970s religious horrors such as The Omen about it, in that way.

Although the most horrific scene of The Dark Myth, both in terms of bodily transformation and its terrifying implications, comes at the end of the first episode when the young ambitious female clan member with designs on becoming the new leader reaches a pool offering the enticing prospect of immortality and decides to take a dip. It does what it promised, but with a terrible price.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sat Oct 16, 2021 7:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Anime

#405 Post by ianthemovie » Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:59 pm

Can anyone speak to the quality of the label Discotek Media? Amazon lists them as releasing the series Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics in May. The price ($49.95) seems a little steep for a single Blu-ray especially since the description says the episodes are not in HD. Cover art also looks pretty disappointing. I'm curious to buy this when it comes out but having no experience purchasing from this distributor (and really not versed on buying anime in general) I'm not sure what to expect.

[EDIT: According to their Twitter the cover art is still being finalized and it will be 2 DVDs, not 1. So I guess that's something...]

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DandyDancing
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Re: Anime

#406 Post by DandyDancing » Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:49 pm

Discotek releases the best anime blus on the market. They have consistently great encoding (from Justin Sevakis). Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics is being released by them on sd-bd. As you can imagine this is the practice of putting standard definition video on a blu-ray disc. Discotek will only resort to this if HD masters will never exist (due to production techniques) or if the Japanese licensor has no interest in making HD masters anytime soon if ever. I can assure you the release will be the best package possible from a US company. Discotek has never let me down.

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Re: Anime

#407 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:30 am

I am finding Discotek to be pretty good as well, especially as a company releasing classic anime from the 80s and 90s. The Fist of the North Star TV series that I keep posting about was released by that company a couple of years ago at the same time as a separate release of the 1986 feature film, and whilst the feature is full HD on Blu-ray the TV series itself was also standard definition material spread across three Blu-ray discs. In that case at least though the move to having the standard definition material contained on a larger capacity Blu-ray disc probably made the release of the complete TV series in one slimline set viable, as they managed to put all of the 152 episodes into just those three discs, fifty episodes to a disc! And despite being barebones in terms of extras, they did go the extra mile and add the English language dub of the series on an alternate soundtrack even though it comes to an abrupt end at the end of episode 36, when presumably whatever company was dubbing the series at that point (I know that Manga Video released it in dubbed only VHS sets in the UK in 2000, and that dubbed version even aired late at night on Channel 4!) found it uneconomical to continue doing so!

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Re: Anime

#408 Post by ianthemovie » Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:17 am

Thanks, that's encouraging! I'm reassured to hear that Discotek is usually dependable. I have fond memories of this show so I'm curious to pick it up when it comes out.

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Re: Anime

#409 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:01 am

A new anime season is starting. So far, based on first episodes, the most promising shows I've checked out are Super Cub and (the awkwardly-named) The Saint's Magic Power is omnipotent. While neither sound especially promising, both show signs of developing well.

Super Cub is about a lonely high school girl, abandoned by her mother -- after being transplanted to a rural town (eking out a living on survivor's benefits paid on account of her dead father). She lives far from her school (and struggles getting there). She sees that at least one other student uses a motorbike for transportation -- and decides to get one too. She gets a bargain (I won't reveal the rather macabre reason). The musical score for this episode was by Debussy (so it was lovely) and the visuals are excellent. This episode has a (mostly) melancholy feel, which brighytens just a bit by its end. The only character our heroine really talks to in this is the elderly codger who owns the local motorbike shop. I expect we will finally meet at least one new character in the next episode.

Saint' Magic Power doesn't seem like it will be quite as visually (or musically) impressive -- but has a charming premise. The heroine is a massively overworked young salary woman -- who is sucked into an alternate world, which was trying to summon a "saint". Unfortunately 2 candidates got collected -- and she is largely ignored as surplus. While frustrated, our heroine enjoys the ability to relax. But getting bored, she discovers there is a herb and potion research facility in (long) walking distance -- and (having had an interest in herbs that she never really had time to pursue as a working adult) she asks to be allowed to work there. The heroine exudes a very appealing sweetness (and intelligence) -- so I strongly suspect following her adventures will be a pleasnat journey.

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Re: Anime

#410 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:12 am

Sorry to keep spamming the thread about it (I think this will be the last time!) but going through the Cyber City OEDO 808 set it has been really interesting to experience the original Japanese score by Kazz Toyama for the first time (who also worked on Doomed Megalopolis and tracks for the Final Fantasy VII game and Advent Children movie). Which is… fine, though rather anaemic compared to the pounding intensity of the Rory McFarlane soundtrack, and is full of moments of completely dead air. Its really no wonder that the series was not a particular success in the US when released with that soundtrack, because apparently the US disc producer baulked at the expense that Manga Video in the UK had gone to with the re-scoring, so just used the new English language dub with the original Japanese score.

This edition presents three viewing options to cover all the ways that the show would have been experienced in the three territories: the original Japanese language and scored version; the US version with the English dub but Japanese score (along with the two commentaries from the 2003 US DVD release); and the Manga Video UK completely re-dubbed and re-scored version with the McFarlane score. Personally this has only confirmed even more that the UK version is the way to go with this series, as the exception to my general purist stance of always going for something in its original language, even animation, because that will likely hew the closest to the original creator’s intentions. Rather strangely, the UK dub ends up magnifying the best qualities of that show by keeping the momentum of an action film up through the scoring and constant verbal sparring going on. It feels obviously done with respect, but not reverence. And that really works in this specific instance because its taking a Japanese series that was obviously influenced by Western sci-fi like Blade Runner into a new thing (as with Hideo Kojima’s Snatcher and Policenauts in the videogame sphere), and then re-re-formatting that product back for Western audience consumption by adding in all of the naughty adult gritty bantering dialogue one would expect of a sci-fi action series with wry edge to it. So you get the anime visual style and the new scoring working in complement to each other rather than at odds.

Although I would not go quite as far as head of Manga Video at the time Andy Frain does in the included documentary to say that all of the reviewers at the time complaining about the dubs being favoured over putting out series in subtitled versions were wrong, and Cyber City OEDO 808 proves it. I think it is best to see that comment as coming from someone who had put a lot of extra resources into ‘localising’ the show for the Western world, so there was obviously a vested interest there. Frain had previously done this with Ghost In the Shell, and Cyber City was coming in the wake of that, as they were casting around for other similar shows that might have the same breakthrough potential.

Though of course nothing in anime was really on the scale of the two big Manga Video released tentpoles of Akira and Ghost In The Shell (which tellingly were also the only two titles that I particularly remember Manga putting out in separate dubbed and subtitled editions. Otherwise in those early to mid-90s VHS days it was much more down to other smaller labels such as Kiseki Films or Western Connection to put out subtitled editions of films) and Cyber City OEDO 808 despite being an OVA and not on the same scale as the theatrically produced Ghost In The Shell, was probably the next closest contender as a sci-fi dystopian piece. Which was probably likely what caused the decision to put the extra money in to re-score this particular title. So when Frain has a bit of a rant against reviewers of the time just rejecting the dub out of hand he both has a point (because this dub elevates the show) and perhaps is still being a little bit understandably defensive of his business choice as well!

But most importantly, it does not matter now one way or the other because thankfully we now exist in a world where a single edition of the series has all of the different viewing options available right there to choose from. I will probably never watch this series without the Rory McFarlane soundtrack but I am extremely grateful now that I have the original score available to me as well. In marked contrast to something like the situation going on at the moment in the thread talking about the Wong Kar-Wai boxset, where a lack of availability of all versions leads to controversy, this edition of Cyber City OEDO 808 shows that in some situations it does not have to be an either/or situation, but can be ‘this, and this’. It has taken decades to get to that situation for this particular title, and of course its all soundtrack based changes rather than having to present different versions of visual material, which is more complicated and takes up more disc space, but unless something astounding happens this is pretty much going to be my lock for best disc release of 2021. (Now I just need some enterprising anime disc releaser to bring out a Blu-ray upgrade of The Sensualist so that I can retire my VHS of that title too!)

Though I do concede a lot of my response is that this title is pretty much hitting me squarely in the nostalgia centre too! It was great in that interview piece to see the interview with that lady who also mentioned first seeing the show in Channel 4’s “Late Licence” overnight block of programming back in July 1995, just after that week's world cinema presentation! I wonder if that itself led to poorer sales of the VHS tapes of the series though? Just speaking for myself I recorded it from the television broadcast back then with those tapes lasting me until now, with this latest Blu-ray being the first time I have ‘legally paid’ for the show! But at the same time I cannot be too sad for Manga Video as I am sure that Channel 4 paid them a fee to broadcast their various series, and that certainly led to a much wider audience being exposed to anime than otherwise! (I still have fond memories of comparing reactions to Doomed Megalopolis with friends at school!)

Also along with the re-scoring, I kind of love that Hasegawa, the boss controlling, corralling and coercing all of these criminals with alternate shifts between threats and praise, is voiced in such a way that always makes me think that the dubbers were inspired by Alec Baldwin in Glenngarry Glen Ross!

___

By the way, if you want my recommendation list for the titles that Channel 4 showed from 1995-97 then my tier list would be: Cyber City OEDO 808, Battle Angel: Alita and Tokyo Babylon at the top (particularly the second of the two episodes of Tokyo Babylon that is the one which has a very moving ‘psychic investigating a serial killer’ storyline), closely followed by the gory and lore ridden Doomed Megalopolis and Devil Man; then around the middle of the pack the ironically harsh punishements meted out by Judge and the ironic accidental, yet still horrific, deaths of our constantly regenerating deathless teenage hero and his ditzy genie sidekick constantly pushing him into trouble in 3x3 Eyes.

At the bottom I would probably put The Heroic Legend of Arslan (which looks gorgeous but felt dramatically inert, though I really need to revisit it to give it another try), and The Legend of the 4 Kings (or Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings as per imdb), which took 12 episodes to follow almost exactly the same sequence of action where one of our normal seeming brothers, unaware of being a modern embodiment of a dragon spirit and his latent dragon powers seething within him goes about his daily routine (shopping, baseball, visiting an ice rink, etc) until some nefarious shadowy organisation decides to test him, usually by killing him. Whereupon his ‘dragon energy’ gets unleashed to do massive damage to the city, with our ‘brother of the week’ then waking up the next day without a scratch and no memory of the destruction being caused by his dragon form. Its an interesting set up but one very reminiscent of Legend of the Overfiend and done in such a low key way (each of the four brothers at the centre of the action has to have a dedicated episode play out in such a way before they all compare notes), and very much without the over the top violence that may have sustained the interest if all else failed, that it becomes strangely boring. The Manga Video edition of the series did have a great, spoilerific, title sequence however which appears to have been created for the UK release. (I note from that title sequence that the series was produced by Akinori Endo, the writer of the Cyber City series, so I may have to go back to it as well now and see if my initial opinions still hold up)

Strangely some of the other shows that Manga Video put out at the time which might have seemed perfect for Channel 4’s overnight schedules never appeared: Crying Freeman would have seemed a prime candidate I would have thought, or The Guyver.

Channel 4 briefly tried to continue this trend in 2000 by showing the dubbed version of the Fist of the North Star series – again another title acquired by Manga Video – in weekly late night screenings over that Summer, but as I mentioned in earlier posts only got as far as the point where the English language dub ran out at episode 36, at the climax of the first story arc of the show. And I do seem to remember in the very early days of Film4 when it was a subscription channel that they aired the Gunbuster series in late night slots. Since then however (and very belatedly, only beginning in the late 2000s, other than a couple of screenings of Nausicaa on ITV regional channels in the late 1980s) it has been all Studio Ghibli with the regular Film4 screenings and Spirited Away occasionally popping up on BBC2. Which is of course great, but not particularly diverse in terms of the type of anime showing on UK television.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:53 am, edited 11 times in total.

kidc
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Re: Anime

#411 Post by kidc » Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:36 am

Colin, how have you been watching Fist of the North Star? Do you have an imported set, or is it available in the UK and I've just missed it?

Definitely going to watch Cyber City OEDO 808, just going to wait until they release a standard edition of it.

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Re: Anime

#412 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:24 pm

Yes, its an import of this US release by Discotek. I don't think the television series has been released in the UK at all since those Manga Video VHS dubbed tapes from 2000, which only got about a fifth of the way through the series.

I don't think there will be too much lost in waiting for the standard release of Cyber City OEDO 808, as aside from the soundtrack CD and booklet everything else is contained on a single disc. In fact the only video featurette on the disc is actually also officially available on All The Anime's YouTube page!

It was really interesting to hear that all these Manga UK dubs were done with the bande rythmo system. I'm trying to think of examples of the bande rythmo system occurring in cinema and can only come up with the sequence in Code Unknown and I think the opening to Almodovar's High Heels.

EDIT: It has also been great to find out that the third episode of Cyber City focused on Benten's character became the subject of a music video!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Wed May 26, 2021 5:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Anime

#413 Post by T!me » Sat Apr 17, 2021 8:13 am

Has anyone seen Tsuki Ga Kirei (engl.: As the moon, so brautiful)?

I really appreciate it for how it captures the hardships of middle school love for introverted kids and the way online communication functions/ what it means to the children at that particular age. While (for example) the sheer amount of emojis and gifs may seem a bit excessive at first, I still remember how I and my peers spammed our chats at the beginning.

Tsuki Ga Kirei is a quiet, little and calm piece of work that avoid’s overly dramatic plotpoints and just focusses on the growing love of the two main characters.

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Re: Anime

#414 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat Apr 17, 2021 8:51 am

I also thought Tsuki ga kirei was lovely, but in some ways felt it would have made a bit more sense set in high school. Definitely sweet and lovely, however. I also loved the fact that it was set (quite recognizably) in Kawagoe -- a place that my wife and I have visited. We find it quite wonderful to (virtually) re-visit places we've been via anime.

I am shocked that, even after a year of greatly increased anime watching (due to coronavirus shutting down so many other things), I continue to find wonderful shows to investigate. Moreover, the newest anime season has just started -- and I am (at least for now) following 20 new shows. The clear top 2 shows of the crops so far -- Super Cub and Those Pure White Tones. The first is about a lonely girl (seemingly recently transfered) to a school in rural Japan whose life begins changing when she acquires a used motor bike. Beautiful visually, surprisingly little dialog so far (in 2 episodes) and great music (mostly courtesy of Debussy). The second is centered around shamisen playing -- and would be worth watching for the performances alone, but all other aspects are quite good as well so far. As an added bonus, when researching this show, I discovered a slightly older one focused around koto playing (Kono oto tomare), which I had never heard mentioned but proved to be top-tier.

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Re: Anime

#415 Post by T!me » Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:09 am

Yeah, while I think Tsuki ga kirei is good as is, I do agree that it would be interesting to see their story continue in High School especially since most characters in High School romance shows just act way too mature for normal children at that age. Considering we already know how their lives generally play out, hoping for another season is unfortunately just daydreaming.

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Re: Anime

#416 Post by Keyrek » Sat Apr 17, 2021 3:59 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 8:51 am
I am shocked that, even after a year of greatly increased anime watching (due to coronavirus shutting down so many other things), I continue to find wonderful shows to investigate. Moreover, the newest anime season has just started -- and I am (at least for now) following 20 new shows. The clear top 2 shows of the crops so far -- Super Cub and Those Pure White Tones. The first is about a lonely girl (seemingly recently transfered) to a school in rural Japan whose life begins changing when she acquires a used motor bike. Beautiful visually, surprisingly little dialog so far (in 2 episodes) and great music (mostly courtesy of Debussy). The second is centered around shamisen playing -- and would be worth watching for the performances alone, but all other aspects are quite good as well so far. As an added bonus, when researching this show, I discovered a slightly older one focused around koto playing (Kono oto tomare), which I had never heard mentioned but proved to be top-tier.
I love Kono Oto Tomare, I just wish the anime had a bit better animation because the manga art was impressively lush, where I could tell the artist really put all her heart into it (I think Mashiro no Oto also has a female author).

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Re: Anime

#417 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat Apr 17, 2021 8:02 pm

The story, the character designs, voice acting and music were all so good that the animation didn't bother me at all. Does th manga continue beyond the anime?

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Re: Anime

#418 Post by Keyrek » Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:12 am

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 8:02 pm
The story, the character designs, voice acting and music were all so good that the animation didn't bother me at all. Does th manga continue beyond the anime?
The anime adapted halfway through the manga, but while a few plot points have been resolved, the manga right now is in the midst of table setting for some of the major ones.

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Re: Anime

#419 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Apr 29, 2021 1:06 pm

Robert Woodhead announced this week that this coming Friday the latest classic anime Kickstarter project is being launched, which will be to release a HD Blu-ray version of Shinji Aramaki's 1987 directorial debut Metal Skin Panic: MADOX-01. It is apparently going to contain all of the original AnimEigo 2003 DVD extras and is not going to be region restricted either in terms of the kickstarter or the final disc.

EDIT (Saturday 1st May): And here's the live project page. It's already 177% funded within the first day.

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Re: Anime

#420 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat May 01, 2021 9:42 am

Shows I finished watching in April --

Horimiya (Masashi Ishihama, 2021) (abbreviated version of a long manga series -- but done about as well as possible, given the constraints placed on the series creators)

Kimi no Iru Machi (A Town Where You Live) (Shigeyasu Yamauchi, 2013) This sounded relatively promising, but I found the story a mess. I didn't feel this series ever really jelled.

Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life (literally “Stop at This Sound!”) (Ryōma Mizuno, 2019) good story and even better koto music performances

Rāmen Daisuki Koizumi-san (Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles) (Kenji Seto, 2018) Sort of frivolous plot, but lots of ramen lore, made me nostalgic for ramen in Japan (and hungry)

Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujō: Shisho ni Naru Tame niwa Shudan o Erandeiraremasen, lit. "Ascendance of a Bookworm: I'll Stop at Nothing to Become a Librarian") (Mitsuru Hongo, 2019-20) Inspired to watch this due to currently airing Saint's Magic Power Is Omnipotent. Very interesting, and often surprisingly dark story. Now I need to read a huge number of volumes of the LN series.

Gokushufudou (The Way of the House Husband) (Chiaki Kon, 2021) A tiny series widely criticized for its limited animation style -- but I liked the story and the (excellent) voice acting.

Flip-Flappers (Kiyotaka Oshiyama, 2016) Inspired to watch this by comparisons to Wonder Egg Priority. Fascinating in its own right.

Alice and Zouroku (Katsushi Sakurabi, 2017) A lovely fantasy story of a sort of magically-generated girl and an elderly flower shop owner who makes her a part of his household (which also has a grand-daughter). The relationship between the two main characters is pretty special.

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes (Holmes of Kyoto) (Tokihiro Sasaki, 2018) Mysteries here were not all that stunning, but the characters were pleasant -- and my wife an I enjoyed the virtual re-visit of Kyoto via anime.

Fuujin monogatari (Windy Tales) (Junji Nishimura, 2004-05) A series about aimlessness (not purposelessness, which is different), with a simple but visually delightful animation style. Very episodic -- about people who control the winds (to some extent) and cats who ride the winds. Almost certainly a master work.

Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu (Takebumi Anzai, 2019) A sweet and charming story about a VERY shy girl starting middle school, who nonetheless desperately needs to make friends (for a reason of her own).

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika) (Yukihiro Miyamoto & Akiyuki Shinbo, 2011) Almost non-stop devastation in this visually striking magic girl story. Almost certain to make most watchers feel very very sad,,,

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Boosmahn
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Re: Anime

#421 Post by Boosmahn » Sat May 01, 2021 6:56 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Sat May 01, 2021 9:42 am
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika) (Yukihiro Miyamoto & Akiyuki Shinbo, 2011) Almost non-stop devastation in this visually striking magic girl story. Almost certain to make most watchers feel very very sad,,,
I think that the heavily-divisive sequel film, Rebellion, is a masterpiece. It retroactively improves the series, at least for me.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Anime

#422 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat May 01, 2021 8:27 pm

Still need to see Rebellion.

As it stands, I'd rank the main series as pretty near perfect, however.
Last edited by Michael Kerpan on Sat May 01, 2021 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Boosmahn
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Re: Anime

#423 Post by Boosmahn » Sat May 01, 2021 8:49 pm

If you want to re-watch the series before Rebellion, it might be worth it to check out the first two films, Beginnings and Eternal. The former covers the first eight episodes of the show and cuts out ~25 minutes of content; the latter covers the rest and actually adds a scene. Both films change a few of the musical tracks and feature improved visuals and animation. (If you're only interested in the new scene, search for "Homura Graveyard Scene" on YouTube.)

The fourth film, Turning the Tide of Walpurgis, was announced less than a week ago... it's almost been eight years since Rebellion's release!

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Anime

#424 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat May 01, 2021 8:50 pm

For nnow, I'll just check out the one extra scene. Thanks for the info.

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Murdoch
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Re: Anime

#425 Post by Murdoch » Sat May 01, 2021 10:28 pm

I've been watching Odd Taxi, which follows a middle-aged taxi driver who finds himself involved in a missing person investigation, and I really enjoy it so far. Episode 4, which focuses on a loner obsessed with erasers and a particular mobile game, was like watching Taxi Driver condensed into 20~ minutes. For those looking for a series that doesn't focus on teenage superheroes/romance but rather focuses on a diverse ensemble and weaves a compelling mystery, I highly recommend it.

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