The Anime & Manga Thread

[Allick]

General discussion of anime and manga.

I've almost finished Cowboy Bebop, and am also watching Full Metal Alchemist. I'm really impressed with Full Metal Alchemist so far, its got a lot of variety in the themes in the episodes, some are funny, some have action, and some are just disturbing...
I've also got Darker Than Black to watch, so I'll be busy in the next few weeks:D

[nkbswe5]

I started watching Chobits, it seems alright after the first three episodes but the lead character has a freakish obsession with porn, and everyone treats it as normal...
I'll be watching Lucky Star after watching two more seasons of Lost, I've heard many good things about it

[Starscream]

Evangelion 1.0: You are (not) alone finally gets dubbed.

[StorminNorman]

I've actually been on a Gainax binge recently. We sort-of have an "anime night" at my place on Tuesday nights, and the last couple of weeks we've decided to rewatch Neon Genesis Evangelion. Alongside that we've recently completed watching Gunbuster 2 (which is completely awesome) and FLCL. This week we're going to start watching Gurren Lagann alongside Evangelion.

Also been heads down getting a screening schedule for Manifest ready. We finished it up today (barring minor problems), and it should be up on the website in the next couple of weeks.

[/backslash]

FMA Brotherhood is going vastly wide from the original story now, hooray! The intro to ep15 reminded me of that Cowboy Bebop episode with Spike vs the crazy dude with the big top hat and sharp teeth

Valkryia Chronicles is still hanging around the "But I love Welkin!" storyline, get to the battles! :(

[Vicious]

I started watching Chobits, it seems alright after the first three episodes but the lead character has a freakish obsession with porn, and everyone treats it as normal...

You mean it's not? ;)


In other news, bought the first two seasons of Black Lagoon after the announcement there's going to be a third one. Also bought Ergo Proxy and working my way steadily through that . . .

Also got my (last) anime related figure for my 21 B-Day:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_qQq7IsRuilM/Sltc-_yP7mI/AAAAAAAAAS8/rVYflYe9uzk/s640/P1020973.JPG

Revy coldcast from New Line ^_^

[/backslash]

A 3rd season of Black Lagoon? Sweet. Bet they'll announce a movie soon although I hardly think the animation can get beyond awesome :p

Anyone heard about the live-action anime movie Blood: The Last Vampire?

pV5ukdJFGJQ

It actually looks alright but Metacritic says 28% (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/bloodlastvampire). I'd say it may be worth watching at least, anything has to be better than the Chun-Li movie adaption

[incompatible with life]

Recently found a manga adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Bought it out of sheer amusement of the concept alone, but as expected very meh-ish.

[StorminNorman]

It actually looks alright but Metacritic says 28% (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/bloodlastvampire). I'd say it may be worth watching at least, anything has to be better than the Chun-Li movie adaption

You can actually watch the first ten or so minutes on YouTube, they put it up there as part of promoting the film.

I watched it, and it was utterly terrible. Dreadful acting, bad action choreography, terrible writing, dodgy effects... the whole thing just makes you want to hit a catgirl.

It's a shame, because I had high hopes for this film.

[Citizen Erased]

Finished watching the first disc Gurren Lagann but I have two questions.

1,Why do they prononce simons name as SEA-MOAN not SY-MON ?
2, Whats with the change in style episode 4?

[dinopoke]

Evangelion 1.0: You are (not) alone finally gets dubbed.

Is the dub any good? I haven't actually seen Eva 1.0 anywhere at the shops.

[/backslash]

Is the dub any good? I haven't actually seen Eva 1.0 anywhere at the shops.
Impossible to say since there's only a trailer out for cinema release in the US atm. Taking my opinion from the trailer I'm sure it'll be decent

M4aC-YzZOd8

Aside from Misato & Shinji there appears to be some new voice actors

I've seen Eva 1.0 in shops like JBHifi but since its distributed by RedAnt it can be hard to find, get it from DVDCrave for $13 (subbed only, no extras) (http://dvdcrave.com.au/ViewProduct.aspx?Id=9e91d892-0138-4878-b03b-e7e903aa3c4c)

[Allick]

A 3rd season of Black Lagoon? Sweet. Bet they'll announce a movie soon although I hardly think the animation can get beyond awesome :p

Anyone heard about the live-action anime movie Blood: The Last Vampire?

pV5ukdJFGJQ

It actually looks alright but Metacritic says 28% (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/bloodlastvampire). I'd say it may be worth watching at least, anything has to be better than the Chun-Li movie adaption

I didn't really like the animated one, I thought it was too predictable. Also I think it definately should have been longer.

[dinopoke]

It was really a tech demo more than anything. Still looks impressive by today's standards.

[Dunkurtin]

FMA Brotherhood is going vastly wide from the original story now, hooray! The intro to ep15 reminded me of that Cowboy Bebop episode with Spike vs the crazy dude with the big top hat and sharp teeth

Valkryia Chronicles is still hanging around the "But I love Welkin!" storyline, get to the battles! :(
It's split now? Awesome time to catch up and start watching again.
You mean it's not? ;)


In other news, bought the first two seasons of Black Lagoon after the announcement there's going to be a third one. Also bought Ergo Proxy and working my way steadily through that . . .

Also got my (last) anime related figure for my 21 B-Day:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_qQq7IsRuilM/Sltc-_yP7mI/AAAAAAAAAS8/rVYflYe9uzk/s640/P1020973.JPG

Revy coldcast from New Line ^_^

Yeah read about the third season last night. Can't wait. >_<


I've got so much to watch at the moment. Halfway through Trinity Blood. Actually started rewatching Beck at the same time for some reason. Got Mushi Shi to get stuck into, want to watch Black Blood Brothers and am trying to find Gilgamesh. Also intend to order Death Note soon.

[StorminNorman]

Is the dub any good? I haven't actually seen Eva 1.0 anywhere at the shops.

The Red Ant version that was released here was sub-only. Now they've gone out of business it's effectively out of print.

A new version with dub will likely be out later this year.

[FF Freak]

A 3rd season of Black Lagoon? Sweet. Bet they'll announce a movie soon although I hardly think the animation can get beyond awesome :p



Apparantly the third season of Black Lagoon isn't based on the manga series but instead based on a novel that was written about the characters. Been a while since I read that though so things may have changed.

In other news recently it was announced that a second series of Darker than Black is going to be released in Japan starting in October. I'm interested in seeing what happens since the first series seemed to have a pretty closed ending to me.

[Cerebral]

^ Probably a good thing, past the second season the manga sort of meanders off into a long drawn out story arc with no real closure.

You mean it's not? ;)


In other news, bought the first two seasons of Black Lagoon after the announcement there's going to be a third one. Also bought Ergo Proxy and working my way steadily through that . . .

Also got my (last) anime related figure for my 21 B-Day:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_qQq7IsRuilM/Sltc-_yP7mI/AAAAAAAAAS8/rVYflYe9uzk/s640/P1020973.JPG

Revy coldcast from New Line ^_^

Easily two of my fav series.

[Starscream]

Evangelion comparisons: Original on the left, Rebuild on the right.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/NGE_Comparison.jpg

For those playing at home - Evangelion:2.0 You Can (Not) Advance was released in theatres last month in Japan.

[incompatible with life]

Who's going to Manifest btw?

I still don't know why exactly I decided to get a Gold Membership. Still, there's always that hoodie to look forward to.

[StorminNorman]

I guess we'd better get around to printing those up. *cough*

I'm in charge of the screenings and the program book this year, so I'm pretty much obliged to attend.

For those playing at home - Evangelion:2.0 You Can (Not) Advance was released in theatres last month in Japan.

I know something you don't know about this. *cough*

[Starscream]

I know you need to buy cough drops/lozenges for your cough.

[FF Freak]

Watching Haruhi 2009 and with all the new eps I reckon KyoAni has dropped the ball completely. Just had the 5th rendition of Endless Eight with a 6th apparantly to come next week. It is probably the most mundane story in the novels with the exception of the one covered in the original series where Kyon has to go pick up a heater for the brigade. Either this is the worst joke ever or the greatest marketing ploy as I've read on other forums that people who never saw the original have checked out the series because of the raging about these last few eps.

[dinopoke]

I know something you don't know about this. *cough*

Oh please do tell.

[Hotaru_oz]

Who's going to Manifest btw?

I still don't know why exactly I decided to get a Gold Membership. Still, there's always that hoodie to look forward to.

I was planning to go but since it's too close too AVCon I decided to skip it as travelling interstate is exspensive.

I'm pretty much addicted to Ourah High Host Club now since the dub is out and I'm quite impressed with it how it turned out. The voices matched the characters perfectly.
I've also been watching Hetalia Axis Powers, it's a shame that each episode only goes for 5 minutes.

[FrozenSoul80]

Impossible to say since there's only a trailer out for cinema release in the US atm. Taking my opinion from the trailer I'm sure it'll be decent

M4aC-YzZOd8

Aside from Misato & Shinji there appears to be some new voice actors

That's pretty awesome, is there a release date for it? I'm itching to watch it all again.

[Vicious]

Anyone started watching Haruhi season two?

For those that don't know, plan on being very, very, very bored. Currently all six episodes that are out are based on "endless eight", and if you can't guess they're stuck in a time loop. It's the same story every episode with different angles, different dialogue on occasion, different clothing/animation . . . but still the same.

It's like the movie Vantage Point, but worse! (hard to imagine, but true)

T_T

[Hotaru_oz]

Sorry I haven't been able to watch the first season let alone the second, I think it's due to the fact that the episodes are all jumbled up.

[Vicious]

Sorry I haven't been able to watch the first season let alone the second, I think it's due to the fact that the episodes are all jumbled up.

No, it isn't this time unfortunately (they've been forced to air chronologically). When I say they're the "same" I mean it's exactly the same save the things I mentioned. It's a well known fact and being talked about on numerous forums.

I shouldn't have to decide whether being killed with slow moving sandpaper or watching a series is more painful, but somehow they've found a way.

[FF Freak]

Did you see "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" Vicious? That was the first new ep. I thought it was great which makes the KyoAni's use of "Endless Eight" to try and give all their director's a chance to direct an ep absolutely horrible. Though I found it funny that at times in the 4th "Endless Eight" that Mikuru and Haruhi looked like two of the characters from K-On.

[Vicious]

Did you see "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" Vicious? That was the first new ep.

Yeah I did. I guess I should have said that five of the current six are basically identical. Still annoying though :(

I thought it was great which makes the KyoAni's use of "Endless Eight" to try and give all their director's a chance to direct an ep absolutely horrible. Though I found it funny that at times in the 4th "Endless Eight" that Mikuru and Haruhi looked like two of the characters from K-On.

Others have noticed it too. It's not just you . . . many are wondering if it'll be a permanent art direction change or not.

[FF Freak]

Others have noticed it too. It's not just you . . . many are wondering if it'll be a permanent art direction change or not.

From what I could tell it looks like the answer is not. The 5th "Endless Eight" didn't have any of the animation changes that were in the 4th. This one was even more boring then the previous cycles as there wasn't really anything different to pick out. It's filler now so they could at least give us a different version of the part-time job. As I said before...this is either a really bad joke or a really clever marketing ploy.

[StorminNorman]

Oh please do tell.

If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

(they've been forced to air chronologically).

I thought they were airing in a new, different, order? I'm kind of over Haruhi (K-On is where it's at), so I haven't been keeping up with the new season.

[Starscream]

If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

Sharing is caring.

[FF Freak]

I thought they were airing in a new, different, order? I'm kind of over Haruhi (K-On is where it's at), so I haven't been keeping up with the new season.

Technically it's the order of the madman releases however the "Adventures of Mikuru Asahina" isn't episode 1, and they're throwing the new episodes in where they fit chronologically.

With the way Haruhi's going at the moment I agree with you though in saying that K-On is where it's at and I've still yet to see the last 6 eps.

[StorminNorman]

K-On is a charming little show that I really wish would get a conclusion before KyoAni went and did something else.

Sharing is caring.

To elaborate: If I told you, I'd have to kill you, and then certain employees of a major Australian anime distributor would have to kill me. I don't want to be killed.

[Nic Xtreme]

5 Centimetres per Second, coming out soon! (http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalogue.do?releaseId=11986&method=view)

Voices of a Distant Star is one of my favourite movies period, and I liked Place Promised In Our Early Days (though nowhere near as much) - I can't wait for this one!

[StorminNorman]

Just a word of warning: Shinkai still has no idea what "pacing" means.

[Nic Xtreme]

Just a word of warning: Shinkai still has no idea what "pacing" means.

...which is probably why the 30 minutes of Voices of a Distant Star was, for me, godly, yet the feature-length Place Promised In Our Early Days was merely likable :/

My hopes are crushed. Guess those dollars are better spent towards the yet-to-be-purchased The Girl Who Leapt Through Time...

[StorminNorman]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a magnificent film. You should totally buy it instead of 5cm Per Second.

[Citizen Erased]

Do they have The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in english dub ?

If so, I would definitly like to see it.

[Dunkurtin]

It's been in JB HiFi for quite a while now. So yes.

[FF Freak]

I've gotta laugh at the recent reports surrounding the Endless Eight arc of Haruhi. Apart from KyoAni plowing they're reputation as an animation company into the ground, at Otakon on the weekend the original director of Haruhi, Yamakan, apologized for the direction it has taken stating along the lines that it had been discussed in the company and that he was against it believing 2 episodes was the absolute max. Ironically he's not with KyoAni anymore and hasn't been for some time.

KyoAni's response to the remarks was simply that Yamakan was no longer a part of the company, but it's sad they don't recognise the mistake they've made with the direction it's going.

[bowie]

Shame Eden of the East ended.

[FF Freak]

Shame Eden of the East ended.

Can't wait for the 2 movies though.

[Pai Mel]

Oi Oi!

is Ponyo on a Cliff any good? What is the English dub like?

[/backslash]

Oi Oi!

is Ponyo on a Cliff any good? What is the English dub like?
Nobody's seen the dub! Not out in cinemas yet in USA :p There's a trailer for it though, seems okay but some of the voices don't quite fit imo, like Liam Neeson

Ponyo for me was between "just okay" and "crap" in japanese with subs. Not much of a story and I didn't like the characters apart from the wizard guy who lives underwater, forgotten his name

[AnTrAxX]

Haven't watched any anime in a long while until randomly last weekend when I put on a fantasy series from 5+ years ago, The Twelve Kingdoms.
After some googling, I found out the novels the series was based on have been translated, so I'm going to hunt them down. Anyone else remember this series?

[StorminNorman]

The Twelve Kingdoms is the greatest fantasy anime of all-time.

It's a brilliant series. The third story arc is by far the best.

The novels would be even better if they were translating more than one of them per year. :(

[incompatible with life]

It seems that the anime interpretation of wolverine involves him having an epic mullet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vqCUB15os)...

[FF Freak]

It's been announced that Black Lagoon series 3 will be out next year (dates unknown) and that it will be an OVA. So probably only a short series, doubt it will be 12 eps like the first two.

[Spudzilla]

aww right

[Hotaru_oz]

It seems that the anime interpretation of wolverine involves him having an epic mullet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vqCUB15os)...

yeah I saw that and I'm not happy.
Sorry but I cannot picture Wolverine as a skinny hairless pretty boy with a long mullet.
I didn't even recognise him until I saw his claws.

The Iron man anime looks promising though.

[Cerebral]

It seems that the anime interpretation of wolverine involves him having an epic mullet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vqCUB15os)...

That is the worst shit I've ever seen

[/backslash]

Watched the latest ep of Valkyria Chronicles today and got teary when they were talking about Isara's death - I always find anime much more emotional than any real movie/tv series, weird..

[FF Freak]

I shouldn't have read that <.< only up to ep 16 of Valkyria Chronicles myself.

In other news been watching Spice and Wolf 2 and Bakemonogatari. The latter, aka Ghost Story, I've been finding quite comical which is rather odd considering very little seems to happen in each episode. The comedy comes in what the characters say to each other particularly one of the female characters who is always having a go at the lead.

I'm interested in some of next season's anime already. Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Fairy Tail are 2 series coming out.

[/backslash]

If you've played the VC game, you'd know that was going to happen anyway

[FF Freak]

Don't own a PS3 so haven't played it. Thus I'm settling for the anime to learn the story with VC2 coming out on PSP.

[/backslash]

Well apart from that spoiler the anime differs quite greatly from the game. It starts off similar but then it gets stuck in a stupid "Alicia loves Welkin but Faldio loves Alicia and Welkin is friends with Faldio" love triangle

[Adios]

Well apart from that spoiler the anime differs quite greatly from the game. It starts off similar but then it gets stuck in a stupid "Alicia loves Welkin but Faldio loves Alicia and Welkin is friends with Faldio" love triangle

That wasn't even in the game! BAH!

[/backslash]

Its meant to be about wars damnit! All the good action was shown in the 2nd episode, then the ep about that town of Darcens - 2 eps out of 18, 16 eps of romance

[FF Freak]

True...if you think about it there have only really been 4 battles in the anime spanning a total of 5 episodes (only out of 16 eps I've seen). But also in there you've got 2 eps on the state of affairs in Gallia and 1 ep on the state of affairs in the Empire. And then 2 eps regarding an ancient ruin.

[Hotaru_oz]

My internet's capped to dial up again so I haven't had a chance to watch anything new.
I finally did get to see the end of Lucky Star and now I've heard there's a OVA in the works.
I've just read the latest chapter of Kuroshitsuji and it was rather sad :(

[FF Freak]

I finally did get to see the end of Lucky Star and now I've heard there's a OVA in the works.


The OVA has been out in japan for a while now. It's a series of short vignettes that, while containing some hilarious moments, are inferior to the series.

In other news Haruhi has finally finished the long, arduous Endless Eight. Hopefully the last 3-5 new eps are something decent.

[Citizen Erased]

Im currently re-watching my old anime collection that includes:

Trigun
Bubblegun Crisis
Samurai Champloo
Ghost in the shell : SAC

I love having all this free time during my study course.

[/backslash]

Samurai Champloo was recently announced for bluray in the US, total series for about US$58 which is pretty good since standard DVD is exactly the same. I still haven't seen the ending, ABC (or was it SBS?) stopped it midway through the season

[Cerebral]

I wish they'd do something like that for Bebop, but the original quality of the production probably wouldn't make it worthwhile visually, and I sort of don't have a Blu ray player. Basically I want the series but not in a fatpack. I may have mentioned this previously...

[Vicious]

Samurai Champloo was recently announced for bluray in the US, total series for about US$58 which is pretty good since standard DVD is exactly the same. I still haven't seen the ending, ABC (or was it SBS?) stopped it midway through the season

I'll be interested in seeing whether the quality increase is actually significant or not. Apparently Samurai 7 benefits, but I have a hard time trying to justify buying it a second time.

[StorminNorman]

I wish they'd do something like that for Bebop, but the original quality of the production probably wouldn't make it worthwhile visually, and I sort of don't have a Blu ray player.

They've already remastered Bebop like... twice. Only reason to do it for BRD is to make it widescreen.

I'd expect a BRD of KoHD, but not the series.

[Creedy]

Is there a place that reviews anime series on Blu Ray?

[Vicious]

Is there a place that reviews anime series on Blu Ray?

Pretty much hit and miss . . . no consistant reviewers from what I've seen. A good search and a bit of digging is your best bet unfortunately :(

[dinopoke]

They've already remastered Bebop like... twice. Only reason to do it for BRD is to make it widescreen.

I'd expect a BRD of KoHD, but not the series.

KoHD?

Also, what's the best version of Bebop to get? I usually like all the bells and whistles.

[StorminNorman]

Knockin' On Heaven's Door.

EDIT: Shit, I just realised they never used that name in the West. It's the proper title of what we call Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

Is there a place that reviews anime series on Blu Ray?

I'd say AnimeOnDVD.com, but they don't appear to exist anymore. :(

[Vicious]

I'd say AnimeOnDVD.com, but they don't appear to exist anymore. :(

They do, but are now owned by mania. You can check out ANN's news coverage of it here (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-04-07/animeondvd-sold-to-mania.com-entertainment-community).

[Cerebral]

KoHD?

Also, what's the best version of Bebop to get? I usually like all the bells and whistles.

Probably the Remix versions I mentioned that you can only get in a fatpack these days. If only I was richer sooner.

[Jazzilla]

Been watching Canaan, only 3 eps in but liking it so far.

Also, I wanna sell my Full Metal Panic Fumoffu boxset (not fatpack) how much would this go for on ebay?

[Watchers]

I might buy it. How much you want for it?

[Citizen Erased]

If anybodys interested, Ponyo (the newest studio Ghibli film) is coming to Aussie cinemas on the 27 of august. Squee

[StorminNorman]

They do, but are now owned by mania.

Mania's a terrible website though, so AoD may as well not exist anymore.

Manifest is on this weekend! I am busily preparing for it even as we type. If you're going, feel free to ask me stuff about it in this thread.

[Banjo Tooie]

I'm getting back into One Piece in a big way. Truly the best Shonen series.

[Vicious]

Mania's a terrible website though, so AoD may as well not exist anymore.

You do realise all of the AoD reviewers stayed on board though, right?

[FF Freak]

I'm not sure if this has been posted here yet, but rumor has it that a second Claymore season is in the works. A mate of mine says it's been confirmed but they're having trouble getting the original Seiyuu for Claire back, but I haven't read any news myself.

[StorminNorman]

So anyway, Manifest was basically the best anime con ever held in Australia.

[Citizen Erased]

I would be nice if I could go to a anime con and not have any cosplayers. Where I could hang with normal people and not hard core fananics.

[Starscream]

I would be nice if I could go to a anime con and not have any cosplayers. Where I could hang with normal people and not hard core fananics.

Cosplay is scary stuff. :/

[/backslash]

Cosplay is scary stuff. :/
As long as the people doing cosplay look hot I don't care :p

In the latest ep (20) of Valkyria Chronicles we finally get to see a bit more action & less romance. Faldio turning from normal calm guy into insane was unexpected though but I can kinda see why it happened to tie the plot together

In Bleach (233) we finally get to see Ichigo's soul's true form although I think he looked cooler without the extra stuff - or maybe if he just looked like how you normally see him outside of the real world. I can't tell if the storyline is another filler or not, if it is, its much better than all those other fillers

In FMA Brotherhood ep20 there's a nice little twist but I miss the original FMA's lighthearted episodes that didn't advance the story and took a more humourous approach, like one of Roy's men dating Armstrong's sister or the woman who burgled stuff amongst the flooding city

Wish there was another series I should be looking out for but there doesn't seem to be anything original lately? Getting a bit sick of relying on familiar stuff, Gurren Lagann was a nice deviation even though it did go a bit Nadesico Movie-like towards the end

[Silverwolf]

In FMA Brotherhood ep20 there's a nice little twist but I miss the original FMA's lighthearted episodes that didn't advance the story and took a more humourous approach, like one of Roy's men dating Armstrong's sister or the woman who burgled stuff amongst the flooding city

I prefer it when it is serious, the anime cliches they use when its not serious get on my nerves.

[kirok]

In Bleach (233) we finally get to see Ichigo's soul's true form although I think he looked cooler without the extra stuff - or maybe if he just looked like how you normally see him outside of the real world. I can't tell if the storyline is another filler or not, if it is, its much better than all those other fillers



I've been following the Manga and know that Ichigo does reach a new form though I haven't been following the Anime recently due to the recent out break of filler being because the Anime is to close to the Manga.

[Hotaru_oz]

The OVA has been out in japan for a while now. It's a series of short vignettes that, while containing some hilarious moments, are inferior to the series.


Ah cool I'll have to check it out.
I've heard Halo is getting an Anime, similar to the Animatrix and Batman Gotham Knight.
So far I believe Production I.G., Toei Animation and Bones are involved.
Some of the art looks really good.

[Citizen Erased]

I've heard Halo is getting an Anime

Why would anyone turn Halo into an anime ? It does not make sense.

[FrozenSoul80]

Why would anyone turn Halo into an anime ? It does not make sense.

Because nerds like Halo, and they like anime. Now if only they could find a way to also combine those things with BBQ-flavoured chips and Mountain Dew.

[super_deformed]

Question: Do you think Bleach (season 1 and 2) would be suitable for an 9 year old? I recall it starts off a little creepy.

[FrozenSoul80]

Question: Do you think Bleach (season 1 and 2) would be suitable for an 9 year old? I recall it starts off a little creepy.

I don't think so, it gets a little scary in those first few episodes. Big giant monsters and all that. I guess it would depend on what the child had seen before, unless the kid has been brought up watching stuff like that, Bleach is probably better left until teenage years.

There are better animes to show kids.

[StorminNorman]

Question: Do you think Bleach (season 1 and 2) would be suitable for an 9 year old? I recall it starts off a little creepy.

Bleach is shounen, but it tends towards the higher end of the shounen scale (15-18 or so), so I wouldn't recommend it for someone so young.

[super_deformed]

I think he's seen Naruto. Is that show skewed younger?

I always saw Bleach as a slightly scarier Dragon Ball Z type of show. Maybe when he's 12 then. I just want to get him off Pokemon and Transformers (the latest Michael Bay movie, not my beloved G1).

[StorminNorman]

Bleach is aimed at a slightly older audience than Naruto or DBZ, I think. It's also actually quite a lot better than both those shows.

There's actually some reasonably graphic violence at points in Bleach, too, although nothing the average teenager can't handle (it's all animated, so that means it's okay!).

[FrozenSoul80]

Get him onto the Studio Ghibli stuff. He might also enjoy Cromartie High School.

[super_deformed]

Get him onto the Studio Ghibli stuff. He might also enjoy Cromartie High School. He's seen a lot of Ghibli already. Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howls, Spirited Away. Hes even seen Princess Mononoke - which in hindsight probably falls into a similar category to something like Bleach.

The kid's also seen Castle Of Cagliostro, Battle Of The Planets (butchered Gatchaman) and Robotech (macross saga)

I noticed both Bleach and Naruto are rated M for animated violence. The first disc of Bleach has a few more warnings for language, scary themes. Dragon BAll Z is PG.

Hey maybe I go one worse and make him watch BERSERK!!! (Joking).

I really liked BERSERK right up until the last episode when everything went nuts. Ive considered rewatching it but Im guessing the ending will still piss me off. Its liek tehy just decided to throw out everything, which made everything Id invested in prior to that a joke.

[/backslash]

I really liked BERSERK right up until the last episode when everything went nuts. Ive considered rewatching it but Im guessing the ending will still piss me off. Its liek tehy just decided to throw out everything, which made everything Id invested in prior to that a joke.
I've rewatched Berserk a few times and the ending never satisfies me (plus it creeps me out and Guts deserved better), its because the Manga version continues and went in a different direction I think so the creators just threw some weird shit together and called it a day

Gurren Lagann might be alright for a 9 year old, its never too violent I don't think although there's a girl with big boobies jumping around :p NGE would be another good one too, maybe Nadesico if he can handle weird japanese humour but since he's watched Robotech & Battle of the Planets he might be alright

edit: You can checkout Gurren Lagann (dubbed) for free on Madman's screening room (http://www.madman.com.au/actions/video.do?method=home). FMA Brotherhood (subbed) is on there too but it is pretty mature, more graphically violent than Bleach

[super_deformed]

Thanks /backslash.

Nadesico - not even sure I liked that. I know I saw the whole series . instantly forgettable. I can barely recall any plot points.

[Citizen Erased]

Just watched Perfect Blue, I love all the works of Satoshi Kon. It say on wiki that theres another film on the way.

[dinopoke]

I NGE would be another good one too

For a nine year-old? >_______>

[Vicious]

In other news, I bought some new DVDs:

Serial Experiements Lain (new without box)
Texhnolyze (new with box)
Haibane Renmei (used with box)

Seriously, finding OoP Geneon titles it getting harder and harder over here. Have to slowly buy ones I wanted that seem aren't going back into print.

[StorminNorman]

Another Yoshitoshi ABe fanboy, I see.

And yes, getting old Geneon stuff is already becoming really hard. Apparently complete sets of Cardcaptor Sakura are going for more than US$1800 on eBay right now.

I have a huge number of Geneon shows here that would probably be worth a fortune if I ever eBayed them.

Nadesico - not even sure I liked that. I know I saw the whole series . instantly forgettable. I can barely recall any plot points.

Wow, really? It's probably one of the best sci-fi anime ever made. Also one of the most popular anime of all-time.

Nadesico's a really funny parody of classic space shows like Yamato, with digs at giant robot anime and even harem shows thrown in for good measure. It's all backed up by a pretty well-written story and some great characters.

Fun fact: Megumi Reinard is intended mostly as an affectionate parody of Megumi Hayashibara.

[super_deformed]

Well maybe my memory is bad.

Hey what do you guys think of the English dub for BLEACH? Ive always watched it subtitled but sometimes I just dont want to read.

How would the Bleach dub stand up against other anime dubs in terms of quality? One of the bettter efforts?

[/backslash]

Well maybe my memory is bad.

Hey what do you guys think of the English dub for BLEACH? Ive always watched it subtitled but sometimes I just dont want to read.

How would the Bleach dub stand up against other anime dubs in terms of quality? One of the better efforts?
Once you get into the jist of Bleach subbed you'll recognise the japanese language after a few shows, the script mainly contains:

"What the?"
"You bastard"
"Shutup"
"Idiot"
"I'll kill you!"
*insert random screaming/grunting*

:p

I've tried to watch the dubs, I've got all 3 seasons on DVD but eventually give up and switch to jap. The dubbers of Rukia/Ishida/Rukia's Brother & Renji all bother me too much, Ishida sounds far too old as well and it shows when they do staff interviews. I've been listening to the jap audio for years though so its very hard for me to accept the dub

[kirok]

Well maybe my memory is bad.

Hey what do you guys think of the English dub for BLEACH? Ive always watched it subtitled but sometimes I just dont want to read.

How would the Bleach dub stand up against other anime dubs in terms of quality? One of the bettter efforts?

I would much rather learn Japanese than watch the English version of bleach or just read the subtitles which is much easier, why I say that though is because after watching the first season of Naruto in English I almost never wanted to watch Naruto again.

I am not being biased here and saying all English dub's of popular Japanese anime's are crap I'm just saying most of them are these days, I have seen episodes 1-8 of bleach in English and that was enough for me the voice's just don't seem to match the characters personality's what so ever which really spoils a anime for me.

The only anime I have really found to have really good English voice acting has been Dragonball Z I would not know if anyone around here would agree with me but I honestly think DBZ had a lot going for it in English even the soundtrack for the popular anime seemed really good at the time.

[/backslash]

Best dubs I can think of:

Cowboy Bebop
NGE
Berserk
Desert Punk
El Hazard
Tenchi Muyo
Black Lagoon

Then everything suddenly gets quiet, I've probably missed some but the subs usually win me over or in rare cases I can listen to both

[kirok]

Come to think of it FMA and Love Hina where actually OK in English also Cowboy bebop was not bad either.

Did they ever make a English Dub of death note I've always wondered what that show would be like in English.

[Vicious]

Another Yoshitoshi ABe fanboy, I see.

And yes, getting old Geneon stuff is already becoming really hard. Apparently complete sets of Cardcaptor Sakura are going for more than US$1800 on eBay right now.

I have a huge number of Geneon shows here that would probably be worth a fortune if I ever eBayed them.

Can't say I'm surprised. However, if the demand goes up enough thanks to the inflated price there's a chance another company will re-release it (Funimation over here is likely).

Can't say the same for FLCL though (not Geneon, but similar case). I'm so glad I got the Ultimate collection before it went OoP. It costs $400 USD new now, or roughly $100 a disc (three episode discs + bonus disc). It's also not popular enough to justify reprint I imagine.

Shame I never got my free t-shirt. Broccoli books went defunct before shipping mine . . . bastards.

[/backslash]

Come to think of it FMA and Love Hina where actually OK in English also Cowboy bebop was not bad either.

Did they ever make a English Dub of death note I've always wondered what that show would be like in English.
Yes there is a dub of Death Note, I thought it was alright. FMA's dub is okay but I much prefer jap - once again its because I always listen to the jap first during fansubs that arrive years before the dub. Ghibli titles always usually have really good dubs too

[Kao]

NGE


This is the only one I've ever preferred to the original voices.

[Pai Mel]

I don't mind Dakota & Elle Fanning on My Neighbour Totoro. At least I didn't find them any more annoying than the Japanese voices. Also my mum got all excited when she saw Lea Salonga in the credits list, even though we have nfi whose voice she was cast as. I'm assuming she just sang the 'Totoro' song when they are flying and perhaps the opening credits?

[edit: Just looked up imdb. Lea Salonga voiced the English voice for their sick mum.)

[edit: How come when I edit a post, the submit button says, ' Vote Now'?]

[StorminNorman]

Yes there is a dub of Death Note, I thought it was alright.

"I'll take a potato chips... AND EAT IT! MWAHAHAHHAHA!"

There's only two anime where I watch the dub in preference to the Japanese audio: Black Lagoon and Ghost In The Shell.

The dub script for the original Ghost In The Shell movie is far, far superior to the Japanese/subtitle script. This also holds true for both Standalone Complex and Innocence, all of which are superior in their English dubbed form.

Black Lagoon is just too awesome for subtitles. I love Revy's dub voice.

Vicious: Cripes! I have the original 3-disc Synch Point release of FLCL. I wonder how much that's worth per disc.

Ghibli titles always usually have really good dubs too

Phil Hartman will always be remembered by me for being Jiji.

[/backslash]

Black Lagoon is just too awesome for subtitles. I love Revy's dub voice.
That english speaking chinese woman (Chinglish) character does a fantastic job too


edit Can't link it, swear words :( Just look up 'black lagoon dub' on youtube and click on the 3rd link

[Vicious]

Vicious: Cripes! I have the original 3-disc Synch Point release of FLCL. I wonder how much that's worth per disc.

Is it the region 1 release? I think I saw a few Madman releases listed for worldwide on ebay that didn't go for that much, but I'm not 100%

If it's R1, I don't know about the new price as I don't see any. The minimum used price on Amazon for the FLCL Ultimate set is $290, and max is around $340. The original three disk set used minimum is $118 (with box, of course), though it seems up to $200 isn't unreasonable.

I'm guessing the price difference due to the bonus disc and general limited availability of the Ultimate collection. 60K of the Ultimate were produced if I'm right, and that was the end of it.

Still, for the three disk six episode OVA to jump so high in price, even used . . . is crazy.

*All prices USD for me of course.



As for the Black Lagoon dub, I was honestly surprised at how well they did it. After a while I started to notice how often they had Revy yell the "c" word and make more creative comebacks, and actually think it fit a lot better than what they used in the subs. Kind of surprised me honestly. That and the general quality of voice acting was a bit better overall.

[Vicious]

Surprised conversation has been so dead here. "COME BACK TO LIFE!"

I went and saw the Eureka SeveN movie in the theater tonight. My impressions are still rather mixed. For an alternative universe it isn't bad, but obviously lacks the sheer depth and build up of the series as a whole. The only dubbed voice that really made me cringe was Stoner's, but otherwise it was alright on that front.

The only realizations I got out of it are how cynical and hopelessly lonely I am in real life. Also, there are not nearly enough anime fans in Oklahoma.

[Citizen Erased]

Isnt Reel Anime back again this year ?

[FF Freak]

according to the madman update that was in the bag for manifest it's supposed to be but no dates have been announced yet that I've seen.

[StorminNorman]

It's been postponed until 2010 due to "some silly reasons that I can't delve into".

[borgster101]

So I'm not that much into anime .. or actually what I should say is that; I never really got the chance (or desire) to watch any anime in any particular depth or detail.

Anyway, friend at work started talking about anime, and I was like ok what's something you recommend I watch, he gives me this burnt DVD "Death Note" (eps 1 - 11) .. sounded pretty cool.

So I watch the first episode, and I'm like .. holy shit this is *****ing amazing!! :O I move on to the next, but I get these problems with the audio/video sync about 2 minutes into the second ep. (these where AVI files on the DVD .. so I was watching it on my computer).

I googled the issue, and downloaded some software to adjust framerates and things to sync it up, seemed to work, but it was a lot of playing around. Screw this I thought .. so about 1 hour and $247.39 later ....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/borgster101/P1050150.jpg


Just finished the first disc .. this is really good :D There was a live action movie too!

[TAT]

The live action movie is awful

[Watchers]

I'd would've liked Death Note better if the main character wasn't such a tool. Especially in the dubbed version.

[Tukenstein]

The live action movie is awful

California rest in peace!

[borgster101]

I'd would've liked Death Note better if the main character wasn't such a tool. Especially in the dubbed version.
I'm watching it with the Japanese voices, had a quick listen to the English voices just to hear what it was like .. went straight back to the Jap voices :p


TAT - yeah I'd imagine the live action movie wouldn't be as good, characters look like gothic cosplayers in the promo screens I saw.

[TAT]

Poor cosplayers, at that.

I actually really liked Death Note and couldn't watch it fast enough.

[Dunkurtin]

I've been wanting to watch Death Note for ages, never got around to ordering box set though. I've only seen the live action movies. Well the first 2, i haven't managed to find the third yet.

[FF Freak]

The third live action, the one based on L only is worse than the other 2.

[dinopoke]

The live action movie is awful

One thing: Iron Chef.

[Allick]

I'd would've liked Death Note better if the main character wasn't such a tool. Especially in the dubbed version.

Yeah, but it's got L, who is the awesomest character ever

[kirok]

Yeah, but it's got L, who is the awesomest character ever

Yes L is truly awesome though the way death note ends really sucks and especially how death note finally concludes really annoys me.

[Creedy]

I just watched The Skycrawlers and Origins: Spirits of the Past on Blu Ray over the weekend. Unfortunately they are both extremely average.

Gotta go home from work, will write more when I get home.

[StorminNorman]

Sky Crawlers makes a lot more sense once you realise it's a Mamoru Oshii film.

[Creedy]

That's why I bough Skycrawlers, because it had Mamoru Oshii's name on it. But I walked away from it feeling quite empty, when the main character was killed I felt no emotion or attachement to him.
To me there wasn't much of a storyline, just hints of what was going on within the world. A lot of scenes were basically silent without speech. The only scene I found engaging was when the girl goes to the main characters room and starts crying to him.
I felt as though the film would have been better without the action scenes and developed more on the actual plot.

As for Oigins it started off really interesting but the further into the film I got the more down hill it went. It tried to be epic but didn't feel epic. The animaion went downhill and the action scenes were very flat and boring.
The storyline didn't really do anything for me either after the first half hour.

I think I should start being a bit more cautious with my anime BD purchases. Has anyone seen Sword of the Stranger and is it any good at all?

[FF Freak]

I think the state of "official" subs for streamed anime are going down hill. With a lot of this new season's anime being "licensed" and aired over crunchyroll I thought I'd check out one of their releases even though I try never to go near it. Checked out the first ep of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu season two and they had errors in their translation that were obvious even to me who knows very very little Japanese. I mean how do you get cute-boy out of Onii-san or Naha-san when the character obviously said Nanami-san?

[FrozenSoul80]

Started watching Afro Samurai on ABC iView last night. I didn't really start enjoying it until the last 3 minutes. Samuel L Jackson is awesome.

[/backslash]

Bleach 3 - Fade to Black The Movie is out

I thought I'd already seen it because I swear I've already watched 3 Bleach movies but I was getting all the storylines mixed up, animation still looks the same as it has been, exactly like the series but with added frames. I really wish they'd try to make it more movie-like because I think it could look a lot better if they tried. Anyway I'll be watching it later tonight

The lasted episode of FMA Brotherhood was awesome, really enjoyed it and there was a moment of "OMG!" when I saw something I didn't expect since the storyline's totally different from the original series

[BB2K]

I didn't really start enjoying it until the last 3 minutes.

That's what she said :D:D:D

[FF Freak]

Season 2 of Darker than Black started airing in Japan yesterday. From ep one it looks to be as exciting as season 1 if not more so. And I'm not sure but it may not be as broken down into short story arcs like season 1 but that's just a guess.

ZOMG Hiei has longish hair but damn him not appearing til the last 2-3 mins

[StorminNorman]

To me there wasn't much of a storyline, just hints of what was going on within the world. A lot of scenes were basically silent without speech. The only scene I found engaging was when the girl goes to the main characters room and starts crying to him.

For what it's worth, that's how Oshii's been doing films since at least Beautiful Dreamer.

Think of Sky Crawlers as a spiritual successor to Innocence. It'll make a lot more sense that way,

I think the state of "official" subs for streamed anime are going down hill.

This is what happens when you let the Japanese do their own subtitle translations. :p

[kirok]

Is anyone following the Naruto Shippuden *Wind Chronicles* Manga series?

[Meg]

One thing: Iron Chef.

Ah yes. Iron Chef rules. US version crap.

[Cerebral]

Bleach 3 - Fade to Black The Movie is out

I thought I'd already seen it because I swear I've already watched 3 Bleach movies but I was getting all the storylines mixed up, animation still looks the same as it has been, exactly like the series but with added frames. I really wish they'd try to make it more movie-like because I think it could look a lot better if they tried. Anyway I'll be watching it later tonight

The lasted episode of FMA Brotherhood was awesome, really enjoyed it and there was a moment of "OMG!" when I saw something I didn't expect since the storyline's totally different from the original series

I actually liked the first Bleach movie, but the second one sorta followed the same formula of 'wacked out dudes appear from nowhere with some grudge against SS and cause a glorified gang war'.

[Jickle]

I got my hands on an advance copy of Death Note Rebirth or whatever it's called yesterday. It's from Madman, but they only put the dub on the disc and didn't include a menu or any features. It's pretty lame - basically a 'recap' movie of the first half of the series. It's good in the sense that Death Note is inheriently very good, but it's pretty pointless.

[FF Freak]

ep 27 of FMA:Brotherhood and a new OP and ED. the episode itself is a flashback ep but it's rather interestingly constructed. Sadly the flashback comes just before one of the things I've been waiting for.

The introduction of the new Greed.

Few other things that are spoilers in the OP. if you look closely at the quick scene of the homonculus near the start there is the new Greed and there are the first scenes of Sloth. They're still keeping pride a mystery for those who haven't read the manga. They also show a few of the guys from Briggs fortress including Armstrong's sister. Something I've been waiting for since the Brigg's arc is probably my favourite so far. And the return of Kimbley is approaching as well.

[Cerebral]

I actually liked the first Bleach movie, but the second one sorta followed the same formula of 'wacked out dudes appear from nowhere with some grudge against SS and cause a glorified gang war'.

Called it. The third movie is basically the same.

[Almighty Beanchild]

Sup guys, I've been hankering for some good mecha anime recently. I have been reminiscing on my youth spent watching robotech and transor z (mazinger z translation), and Voltron with the ****ing robot lions. Ahem.

So I have grabbed reccomendations of friends but no real luck so far. One of them reccomended Patlabor, which was a good movie, but not really the goofy robot fights I had in mind. Someone also suggested the Big O but I haven't grabbed it yet.

Anyone got any reccomendations?

EDIT: Also I hate to admit it but Zoids is awesome.

[T Strife]

Goofy robot fights?

Giant Robo :D

[FF Freak]

Anyone got any reccomendations?


have you checked out Gurren Lagann? If not then that's probably an option for the type of mecha series you've suggested you like.

Other ones I can think of are Code Geass and any of the Gundam series but they might not be to your tastes as they don't have goofy robot fights.

[Almighty Beanchild]

have you checked out Gurren Lagann? If not then that's probably an option for the type of mecha series you've suggested you like.

Other ones I can think of are Code Geass and any of the Gundam series but they might not be to your tastes as they don't have goofy robot fights.

I like goofy robot fights but I also like mechanical talk about geo-stabilisers and stuff. Voltron and Zoids are th best examples of what I mean.

[Gee_Yai_Bro]

Finished watching the remake of The Guyver series. Another rare example of a remake being better than the original

[StorminNorman]

One of them reccomended Patlabor, which was a good movie, but not really the goofy robot fights I had in mind.

The movies are a lot more serious than the TV. Both are great, but I definitely recommend checking out the TV series as well, if you can.

Also, the correct answer to your initial question is Gurren Lagann. I finished watching it last night, and all I'll say is that the show literally runs on the power of awesome.

To give you an idea, there's a point where they punch an enemy mech through the fabric of spacetime. Then they turn the moon into a giant mech/battleship. In the same episode.

And that's not even the final episode!

From the same producers, I also heartily recommend Gunbuster/Diebuster. I'd suggest Diebuster alone, but its ending ties wonderfully into the ending of Gunbuster, so I recommend watching that first. Also, Nono from Diebuster and Nia from Gurren Lagann share a seiyuu.

[Silverwolf]

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood episode 27: Hohenheim tripping balls.

[kirok]

Just read today Naruto Manga #468 absolutely awesome read.

[Lex]

Also, Nono from Diebuster and Nia from Gurren Lagann share a seiyuu.

oh ffs, just say voice actor.

[9warbane]

Finished watching Gurren Lagann. Was surprised that the second most important character died one quarter through the series.
Also liked how at half way it was 7 years later and the story continued. Second half was confusing tho. I'll watch The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi next and then Eureka 7.

[Almighty Beanchild]

oh ffs, just say voice actor.

I agree, I had nfc what a seiyuu was >.>

[FrozenSoul80]

I agree, I had nfc what a seiyuu was >.>

It's a kind of epileptic fit :p

[FF Freak]

I've gotten into the same habit as StorminNorman. Whenever I refer to the voice actor in anime I always have the habit of using the word seiyuu. It just seem to roll of the tongue better than voice actor.

Anyway watched ep 2 of Darker than Black 2 and I'm not certain but I could swear that they changed the Seiyuu for Hei. He sounds different to the original series. But then again it's been ages since I saw the original.

[Watchers]

I'm going to speak to the admins about making it so the word 'seiyuu' is automatically replaced with 'voice actor'.

[Hotaru_oz]

I've started watching K-ON and finding it quite funny and enjoyable.
I found that the story flows better than the manga, then again the manga was a 4 panel gag manga.

[Emilbus]

In the last week been watching stuff directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. Howl's easily my favourite. Going to find more to watch :)

[StorminNorman]

I've started watching K-ON and finding it quite funny and enjoyable

K-On's probably my favourite anime of this year. I really hope they get around to doing the second season (they should have done it instead of the abominable Haruhi second season), as it deserves a conclusion.

Fun fact: The characters in K-On all take their family names from the Japanese synth-pop band P-Model. Their role in the band is roughly equivalent to the role of the members of P-Model that they take their names of.

Susumu Hirasawa is probably the best-known member of P-Model. He's done the music for most of Satoshi Kon's film (Millennium Actress, Paprika, Paranoia Agent) as well as Berserk (both the anime and the Dreamcast game). Recently he had to explain on his blog that he was not, in fact, a character in K-On.

[Hotaru_oz]

Ah that's interesting.
I'm up episode 12 at the moment and really loving it. I wasn't too fond of the addition to Azusa at first because all she did was whine but slowly she grew on me ^^

[StorminNorman]

Yeah, it's kind of a shame the series ends before she gets any major character development. It's one of the reasons I'm hoping for a second season.

As an aside, I've been watching Black Lagoon recently. Brilliant, brilliant show. It's like all those old ultra-violent 1980s OAVs, but updated and sanitised for modern audiences. Also, Shenhua is totally badarse.

Also been watching Baccano, which is pretty great. It's a bit confusing due to having about six thousand main characters, but once you get the hang of the way it plays out, then it gets really good. Also has some utterly hilarious episode titles (my favourite so far is "Ladd Russo Enjoys Talking A Lot And Slaughtering A Lot").

The actual main characters are basically the world's dumbest thieves. It doesn't help that Masaya Onosaka (Vash the Stampede) voices one of them, because it immediately makes you think the character is Vash (and his offsider is like a flanderised Milly Thompson). Other than that, there's Ladd Russo, who is a complete nutjob, a bunch of dudes that can't die, and a train robbery.

It's pretty great, so far. Oh, also has a pretty fantastic jazzsoundtrack (more Gunsmith Cats than Cowboy Bebop, though). The ending theme is by Yuki Kajiura.

[Zan]

Watched Gurren recently. The first arc had real heart. I almost wish I didn't watch part two.

[/backslash]

1YFIAVsMNws

Might skip on this one for the sake of having the dubbed version (DVD comes out on 2nd December released by Madman - no sign of bluray, sound is in 5.1 for both eng & jap). The DVD cover looks almost exactly the same except from a different angle, I really hate that picture, shame they didn't choose a character or something like the original DVD series, being Madman they usually strive for presentation - perhaps there'll be an alternative slip cover on the inside.

Some opinions on the dub:

- Misato's timing is a bit off & feels like she's trying too hard to fit everything into one sentence instead of a more ad libbing effect, she's also lost her spunky attitude which made her sexy
- Ritsuko's new dubber is awful, she sounds like a female robot, very forced & unnatural
- Shinji is okay, he seems to have a less whiny voice now

[Starscream]

They couldn't get the original cast? Boo!

[/backslash]

Misato & Shinji are the same including Gendo (can't remember if he was in the original dub as well as directors), Rei & Ritsuko are different. If they change Asuka there's going to be fury from me :p I've bolded the 'important' changes that I can see

New dub:

Misato Allison Keith-Shipp
Shinji Spike Spencer
Ritsuko Colleen Clinkenbeard
Ibuki Caitlin Glass
Gendo John Swasey
Rei Brina Palencia
Hyuuga Mike McFarland
Fuyutsuki Kent Williams
Kensuke Greg Ayres
Toji Justin Cook
Aoba Phil Parsons
Kiel Bill Jenkins
Hikari Leah Clark
Kaworu Jerry Jewell
Yui Stephanie Young
Eva Mike McFarland

Old dub:

Allison Keith as Misato Katsuragi
Amanda Winn as Rei Ayanami
Spike Spencer as Shinji Ikari
Tiffany Grant as Asuka Langley Soryu
Aaron Krohn as Ryoji Kaji
Amanda Winn as Pen-Pen (Original Dub)
Brett Weaver as Touji Suzuhara
Brian Granveldt as Makoto Hyuga
Greg Ayres as Kaworu Nagisa (Director's Cut)
Guil Lunde as Kouzou Fuyutsuki
Jason Lee as Shigeru Aoba
Joe Pisano as Toji Suzuhara
John Swasey as Gendo Ikari (directors cut)
Kendra Benham as Maya Ibuki
Kim Sevier as Yui Ikari
Kurt Stoll as Kensuke Aida
Kyle Sturdivant as Kaworu Nagisa
Michael O'Connor as Toji Suzuhara
Rick Peeples as Keel Lorenz
Sue Ulu as Ritsuko Akagi
Tristan MacAvery as Gendou Ikari (think he was the original dude)

[Lex]

(they should have done it instead of the abominable Haruhi second season)

I only just found out this exists, I'm so behind. So, not worth watching? I really enjoyed the first season.

[FF Freak]

I only just found out this exists, I'm so behind. So, not worth watching? I really enjoyed the first season.

it's watchable as long as you only watch the first and last of the endless eight eps. so only 8 out of 14 new eps are worth watching. The sigh's arc at the end covers the making of the film and in terms of the novel I reckon is one of the better arcs of the story.

[FrozenSoul80]

1YFIAVsMNws

I didn't see anything wrong with that at all. If there is a Blu-Ray release I'd totally buy it, assuming the rest of the character voices aren't radically different.

[kirok]

This is guaranteed to put a big smile on the face of any bleach fan.

wk5fMvOs5z0

[/backslash]

This is guaranteed to put a big smile on the face of any bleach fan.
I hate to say this, but yes it did :D

[fleshtea]

This is guaranteed to put a big smile on the face of any cute girl fan.

T7-jaFCjP9E

[kirok]

Has anyone read the latest Naruto Manga 474?

[kirok]

This thread get's way to neglected maybe there's a lack of good Manga and or anime? Or maybe there's not many people on hyper that enjoy Anime and Manga that much :(

[FF Freak]

I haven't read the latest chap of Naruto. in fact I only read the 3 before it because I saw an interesting pic related to chap 471 and wanted to know what it was about. I however have recently been catching up on shippuuden.

I think the problem is recently there has been a major lack of good anime. I mean this season alone in japan there are very few good anime. And from what I've heard the big anime of the season, fairy tail, is a rundown of how a good manga can be ruined.

[kirok]

Yeah I've noticed there's been a lack of quality Manga and Anime as well and the only Anime I've noticed that hasn't been one of my two favorite's eg Naruto and Bleach has been GinTama. It cracked me up in one of the early episode's when the main character said *shouldn't I have a bankai or something* the show's reasonably funny and fairly well written maybe worth checking out for those who haven't already had a look.

[FF Freak]

A friend of mine recently got me watching hitman reborn. She loves it for the yaoi pairings she can get out of it but for me it's a real rollercoaster of a show. The comedic eps or the first 18 eps are really boring and not worth watching except for the introduction of characters but when you get into the action and the eps that revolve around fights it's good and exciting.

[nintendo]

Heck yes Ive read Naruto 474, but I havent watched shippuden for awhile. The damn thing was taking to long to catch up.

The only anime Ive watched recently is Darker Than Black S2, Im up to ep 6, and god damn is it good. IMO the first dtb started out kinda meh with its self contained stories and eps, but once it got into the flow and started having the one continuing arch it got really good. The 2nd season just starts of where the first left of and is hella ownage.

[FF Freak]

I'm 9 eps in to Darker than Black 2. definitely as good as the second half of season 1 and the surprises just keep piling on. Sad that it's only a 12 eps series though since it's probably one of the few good things this season.

[Spudzilla]

Anything worth getting from the last year or so?

[FF Freak]

anything you looking for in particular?

[Spudzilla]

Good comedies or anything awesome like Black Lagoon.

[StorminNorman]

Baccano.

[Gee_Yai_Bro]

anything you looking for in particular?

Action?

[FF Freak]

action I'd say definitely Baccano like StrominNorman or Gundam 00 if you want Mecha. that's if you're going for stuff released by madman. Outside of that then Darker than black 2 if you've seen series 1 or Canaan.

I must say that my top series for this year out of Japan would have to be Eden of the East, Spice and Wolf 2, Bakemonogatari, and Umineko no Naku Koro ni.

[StorminNorman]

Eden of the East would be a lot better if it had an ending.

[FF Freak]

There's two movies that will be finish off the story. can't wait to see the first. the movies were actually announced when the series started if I remember. But I thought the ending of the series was good simply because it finished the arc it was covering.

[/backslash]

New FMA episode is up, yay!

Also borrowed Death Note Relight: Visions of a God which is a retelling of Death Note from the Shinigami's perspective (goes for 130min). 5min in & I'm liking it - seems a lot darker than the series but feels familiar at the same time, they've redone the animation & certain scenes (but there's a lot of new scenes of course) so there isn't anything recycled & it feels like an actual movie with more detail used & better lighting effects, etc

[Silverwolf]

New FMA episode is up, yay!

Yay! just in time for offpeak downloads.

[/backslash]

Actually it was up since about 6 hours ago but I didn't bother to announce it until now :p Also if you're on that new Exetel plan you shouldn't need to worry about your onpeak anymore

[Silverwolf]

Actually it was up since about 6 hours ago but I didn't bother to announce it until now :p Also if you're on that new Exetel plan you shouldn't need to worry about your onpeak anymore

I told the site to change me but it didn't, so im paying 5 dollars extra for another month =(

[StorminNorman]

There's two movies that will be finish off the story. can't wait to see the first. the movies were actually announced when the series started if I remember. But I thought the ending of the series was good simply because it finished the arc it was covering.

I don't think the movies are really gonna resolve the plot, though. It's a shame because it really was one of the more interesting series of the year. First movie has been delayed until early next year (was supposed to come out in November).

Speaking of movies, Summer Wars is entirely fantastic. Going to be one of the big hits of next year.

[FF Freak]

I want to see Summer Wars as I've heard nothing but great things about it.

As for the Eden of the East films I thought it was only the second film that had been delayed so that it was no longer airing in January but oh well.

Discovered that there's a new Code Geass spin-off in the works. It won't be an anime (at the moment) but only a manga and chapters will be released monthly starting some time next year. It's called Code Geass -Renya of the Dark- as a tentative title and is set before Lelouch of the Rebellion. To be precise it's set during the Edo Era. The script is going to be written by Goro Taniguchi who Directed the anime series so it should be very interesting. Apparently they also have a number of other Code Geass projects planned as well so the background should be more fleshed out. CC is the one returning character.

[/backslash]

Finished watching that Death Note Relight movie, towards the end though I just ended up skipping parts because it felt too familiar despite the new scenes & slight changes. Tbh I've seen the story so many times (incl the live action movies) that I'm just sick of it in general, yes, it was fantastic the first time, 2nd time was so-so and now I'm really finding it hard to watch anymore Death Note related stuff

[Allick]

Finaly finished Fullmetal Alchemist. Really great, and I loved the ending.

[FrozenSoul80]

Finaly finished Fullmetal Alchemist. Really great, and I loved the ending.

Did you watch the movie, too? The series feels very incomplete without it.

[Allick]

No I've not seen the movie, I've got it, but it's really bad quality (in terms of picture and sound) and it's also subbed which I don't mind too much, but I'd prefer if it was dubbed. Around what point in the series is it set, just out of curiousity?

[FrozenSoul80]

No I've not seen the movie, I've got it, but it's really bad quality (in terms of picture and sound) and it's also subbed which I don't mind too much, but I'd prefer if it was dubbed. Around what point in the series is it set, just out of curiousity?

It's set about two years after the series ends, so you find out what happened to the brothers. I'd recommend actually going out and buying it, as it really is worth your money ;)

[/backslash]

The movie helped make more sense but it should've really been tied onto the tv series. Imo it wasn't that great either as a standalone movie, kinda like that Nadesico/Evangelion movie. Howcome all great anime shows have no idea how to end it? Bar Cowboy Bebop

[Allick]

Sounds like I'll have to buy it.

[FF Freak]

Saw Summer Wars tonight and I must say it was a really enjoyable film. great soundtrack.

[FrozenSoul80]

This looks like an error, http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalogue.do?releaseId=6315&method=view

Cowboy Bebop boxset only $5. Quick, before they fix it! I highly recommend this.

[/backslash]

Out of stock. Obviously other ppl saw it & bought it. Not that I need Cowboy Bebop anyway, I've had enough viewings

[FrozenSoul80]

Someone probably bought 20 copies to sell on eBay. Arseholes.

[Allick]

I got the Fullmetal Alchemist movie for christmas from my brother so I'll be watching that soon :D

Also finished watching Samurai Champloo. I almost cried at the end, I'm so masculine.

[/backslash]

I'm still wary of Samurai Champloo, I bought vol1 on DVD when it came out, didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would - doesn't hold a candle to Cowboy Bebop & the storylines seemed pretty cliche. Then it was SBS (back when I had dodgy analogue reception) and they cut it off air halfway through. I'm trying to 'borrow' it atm and see if its a series worth having on bluray

[/backslash]

Well I've watched up to ep23 and I'm still left pretty unimpressed with Samurai Champloo, I like the english dubbers so the problem isn't with the voices but with the storylines - compared to something like Rurouni Kenshin (even with its annoying comedy & slow pace) or the brilliant Samurai 7 it just feels very average

Roommate gave me Great Teacher Onizuka & Darker than Black to watch, both seem pretty meh to me too but I may like it. Seems like its getting harder for me to get into anime nowadays outside of stuff I'm always watching (FMA, Bleach) :(

[FF Freak]

So I heard that K-On has been given a season two. sadly I haven't had time to check up and confirm this myself. Anyone read anything about this?

[Banjo Tooie]

So I heard that K-On has been given a season two. sadly I haven't had time to check up and confirm this myself. Anyone read anything about this?

Son, I don't even watch this shit and it took me 2 seconds to type in "K-On Second Season" into Google and click a link that looked good.

http://www.moetron.com/2009/12/30/k-on-season-2-announced/

Just pathetic.

[/backslash]

Watched 23eps of Great Teacher Onizuka in 2 days, its an alright series - certainly more watchable than Samurai Champloo which was practically boring me. Nice to see some traditional animation for a change although they did one car chase scene in CG (the only CG in 23 eps) which was like Initial D but looked much worse. Really don't know why the creators even bother doing that - that stuff never looks good

[nintendo]

Darker than Black to watch, both seem pretty meh to me too but I may like it. Seems like its getting harder for me to get into anime nowadays outside of stuff I'm always watching (FMA, Bleach) :(

Stick with DtB, the second half of the 1st season is completely worth the trouble of watching the horrible first half.

Im also in the same boat as you with finding it harder to get into anime, especially with such a wide/varied and readily available amount of manga. With the mangas usually having more of the story, and generally more 'everything' than the animes, Ive found myself watching less and less.

Also doesnt help that the animes like Bleach and Naruto go so god damn slow that I just cant help but stop watching when they go into a 'side story' and after that it takes me quite a while before I can bother catching up with it.

EDIT:
Also watched Ergo Proxy....wtf. What is it with animes nowadays and having main characters that are completely unlikable? I mean first its Lelouch (sp?) and now this Real chick. FFS I couldnt stand her talking at all. Then they go and stick in a whole episode of her just complaining and its just rediculous. However just like Code Geass, she redeems herself and in the last 2 episodes you finally start to like her, and it leaves you wanting more, but, and only if, she stays in the frame of mind she is in now.

/endrant lol

EDIT:EDIT:
And what the hell was with that shitty 'game show' episode. Be warned people, the worst episode in the whole series is also the most important one. I actually skipped it after about 5 minutes first time, and it wasnt until I realised how important it was that I went back and watched it. The damn episode was torturous.

[/backslash]

Actually I should probably watch the anime series of Initial D, I liked the first 2 vols of the manga & the live-action movie (despite the annoying actor playing the main character, damn idols). Although the CG will no doubt annoy me I like the storyline, simple yet effective

Sometimes I judge a series purely on its looks, anything thats made today is much harder to watch than stuff from the 90s because its all so clean & fake

[/backslash]

Spotted Initial D Season 1 DVD boxset on RightStuff.com for US$14.99 (RRP US$75), seriously tempted right now although its disappointing that the other seasons seem to be sold out :( Also I swear there were Initial D boxsets locally but they seem to be soldout or out of print

[Takeda]

I didn't really get into anime until I gave Intial D a shot. Really pulled me in. Followed that up with Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and then FMA. I didn't think Samurai Champloo was that terrible, but it wasn't even comparable to the others I've seen so far.

[/backslash]

If you haven't started already, get into FMA Brotherhood which follows the novels ;) One of the recent anime series that's hard not to love

[Vicious]

I think the biggest problem with Samurai Champloo was people were expecting a series comparable to Bebop, but they just aren't. Bebop's blend just really can't be matched, and if they try too hard to match it the series would have felt empty with nothing new to show.

Given, I still enjoyed Champloo based on its own merits.

Finally started in on Texhnolyze . . . I can tell it's something special, but definitely requires a certain mindset to watch like Lain or Ergo Proxy. Some nights I just can't bring myself to watch it, and other nights I can't wait.

[/backslash]

I wasn't expecting Champloo to the be next Bebop but I just think there's better samurai tv series out there

Also watched Ergo Proxy....wtf. What is it with animes nowadays and having main characters that are completely unlikable?
Yeah, seems like some studios are going for 'unique' personalities these days. Its like a whole run of Shinjis on the loose, always being quiet or just complaining about stuff

I'm 5 eps into Initial D First Stage, unfortunately I'm forced to watch the dub so it could be better but I'm still enjoying it. Since I'm getting back into the franchise I've ordered Initial D the live movie for $4 :p

[Cerebral]

EDIT:
Also watched Ergo Proxy....wtf. What is it with animes nowadays and having main characters that are completely unlikable? I mean first its Lelouch (sp?) and now this Real chick. FFS I couldnt stand her talking at all. Then they go and stick in a whole episode of her just complaining and its just rediculous. However just like Code Geass, she redeems herself and in the last 2 episodes you finally start to like her, and it leaves you wanting more, but, and only if, she stays in the frame of mind she is in now.

/endrant lol

EDIT:EDIT:
And what the hell was with that shitty 'game show' episode. Be warned people, the worst episode in the whole series is also the most important one. I actually skipped it after about 5 minutes first time, and it wasnt until I realised how important it was that I went back and watched it. The damn episode was torturous.
I don't think the point to Re-l's character was ever to be likeable or relatable - it makes more sense in the context of her upbringing (sterile dystopia where she is semi-royalty) that she is a snobby bitch to whom bad things happen to (and subsequently opens up a bit throughout the series). For what it's worth she was more interesting than Vincent 90% of the time.

[Vicious]

I wasn't expecting Champloo to the be next Bebop but I just think there's better samurai tv series out there

I think them being samurai is more a byproduct than anything else . . . it doesn't feel like it's meant to be taken seriously as a samurai anime by any means. So on that aspect I agree . . . if you were hoping for the answer to samurai anime you would be right, Samurai 7 or even Kenshin would be better.

Yeah, seems like some studios are going for 'unique' personalities these days. Its like a whole run of Shinjis on the loose, always being quiet or just complaining about stuff

Except Re-l feels nothing like Shinji honestly >_>'

[Cerebral]

Re-l isn't really emo.

I mean other than dressing a bit like one.

[/backslash]

Except Re-l feels nothing like Shinji honestly >_>'
Well, just Vincent then :p I know Re-l does fit in a different category - didn't say she was a Shinji but there are a lot of Shinji type characters in anime

[Vicious]

Well, just Vincent then :p

That is a bit of a closer fit. Vincent does have some of his own eccentricities too though . . . I'd say he's 2/3 Shinji :p

[nintendo]

Yeah. I can understand them wanting to differentiate their leads personalities from the others, but making them unlikable is plain annoying. I mean Lelouch was a douche and a d*ck to everyone around him and we're meant to like him?

[FF Freak]

You're not meant to like Lelouch, what you're meant to do is understand the reason's why he acts like a douche to everyone around him and how he does it to keep everyone distanced from him. Ok yeah there are some people who like him but that's probably because they can associate with him better than the other characters. I actually hated Rolo more than Lelouch.

[/backslash]

I thought the CG in Initial D (anime) was annoying at first but now (after 18 eps) I can see why they did it, not only does it save them a lot of time drawing each frame but you get a better sense of how well the car is driving & how close it is (much better than any other anime CG chase I've seen). Although I do hate it when they sometimes combine traditional & CG in the same frame, also its a shame that the CG lacks a fair bit of detail so the cars look pretty simplistic but it was 7 years ago when it was newly implemented

[Lazlow]

Do the english releases of Samurai Champloo explain much of the subtleties that occur in the story? When I watched it I watched a fansub, and in some cases there was a prologue of text regarding the episode, explaining some of the history and anachronisms that were being portrayed.

[Lazlow]

5 minutes into Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and I already hate it; the new CGI has been crudely shoehorned amongst decade old animation making the whole thing incongruous.

EDIT:

They seemed to have also made everything orange.

[/backslash]

5 minutes into Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and I already hate it; the new CGI has been crudely shoehorned amongst decade old animation making the whole thing incongruous.
You're going to hate it even more the more you watch it :p I felt like I wasn't watching 'Ghost in the Shell' anymore, totally ruined it. If you're going in for a remake, make it with traditional animation. NGE 1.01 is another example where CG is overused & too obvious

[Lazlow]

NGE 1.01 makes more sense, in that they've completely redrawn it.

Not the case with GitS2.0 (which is confusing btw as that is what Innocence was also called) which is a shame, because some of the new sound work is kick arse.

EDIT:

To add to my growing list of complaints, its seems all the original animation has been give some sort of smoothing filter, it all looks so soft and hazy.

[Mr.Mew]

EDIT:EDIT:
And what the hell was with that shitty 'game show' episode. Be warned people, the worst episode in the whole series is also the most important one. I actually skipped it after about 5 minutes first time, and it wasnt until I realised how important it was that I went back and watched it. The damn episode was torturous.

It helps break up the constant in the series. That, plus the episode where they're stranded with no wind to pickup the airship are my most favorite as it gives you a break from everything else which is going on.

It's the sort of thing Evangelion could have done with, rather than new episode, new angel attack.

[Lazlow]

What Evangelion could have done, is not blow their budget and scramble to finish the series.

[/backslash]

NGE 1.01 makes more sense, in that they've completely redrawn it.

Yeah I guess so, since GitS 2.0 is a combination of new & old. I still don't like NGE 1.0 however, ruined the feeling I used to get upon watching it

There's a pre-order up for Evangelion 1.11 on bluray on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0030ZOYHC/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance), for US$19.99 (RRP$35)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510oJQfnYSL._SS500_.jpg

1.0 was 98min, 1.01 (which includes english & jap audio) was 98min too but Amazon is saying 1.11 is 110min. I'm pretty sure that'll be the director's cut with the usual jap+english audio - its a bit confusing, not really explained very well. Geez, the wait for the 2nd movie is long overdue

I'm onto Season 2 of Initial D & wow...the animation looks awful. They're redone the manga character designs & tried to make them look smoother - a bit like old Bleach vs new Bleach. They've also redone the CG to make it look more realistic as well as scenery, that doesn't work either. There's a real fine-tuning art to redesigning things

[TAT]

It's the sort of thing Evangelion could have done with, rather than new episode, new angel attack.
To be fair there was quite a lot of variety within the angel episodes, like the one where Asuka & Shinji need to co-ordinate dance steps, the volcano one, and the one which infects the 3 Magi...

[dinopoke]

What Evangelion could have done, is not blow their budget and scramble to finish the series.

But that shit was intentional duuuuude.

[nintendo]

It helps break up the constant in the series. That, plus the episode where they're stranded with no wind to pickup the airship are my most favorite as it gives you a break from everything else which is going on.

It's the sort of thing Evangelion could have done with, rather than new episode, new angel attack.

soz boz. Cant agree with that. They broke up the monotony with more monotony? The damn episodes were the most boring things in the whole series.

[StorminNorman]

Well I've watched up to ep23 and I'm still left pretty unimpressed with Samurai Champloo
the brilliant Samurai 7

The problem here is that you like things that are horrible and hate things that are awesome. I recommend getting your brain fixed. :)

Watched 23eps of Great Teacher Onizuka in 2 days, its an alright series

As good as the anime is, the live-action TV series is a lot better. Onizuka is less annoying, and the series is one of the very few genuinely well-acted Japanese TV series.

...they did one car chase scene in CG (the only CG in 23 eps) which was like Initial D but looked much worse

Just so you know, that was an intentional Initial D reference.

Also watched Ergo Proxy....wtf.

Once you realise that Ergo Proxy is not the dark psychological Lain-type series it pretends to be, it's a lot more enjoyable.

The damn episode was hilarious.
Fixed.

Finally started in on Texhnolyze . . . I can tell it's something special, but definitely requires a certain mindset to watch like Lain or Ergo Proxy. Some nights I just can't bring myself to watch it, and other nights I can't wait.

It really does require the right mood, but I'm convinced that mood is "full of uppers". Seriously, Texhnolyze is probably the bleakest anime ever made.

Keep the knives out of the house when you watch the final episodes. The ending will make you want to cut yourself.

They seemed to have also made everything orange.

This is to keep it in line with Innocence.

Not the case with GitS2.0 (which is confusing btw as that is what Innocence was also called)

No. Innocence was called Innocence. The GitS2 tag was added by Dreamworks for the US release, and Oshii was not particularly happy about it.

What Evangelion could have done, is not blow their budget and scramble to finish the series.

Evangelion was supposed to be a dismal failure so Gainax could write the whole thing off as a tax loss and close the studio.

[Lazlow]

No. Innocence was called Innocence. The GitS2 tag was added by Dreamworks for the US release, and Oshii was not particularly happy about it.

Which still means it was called Ghost in the Shell 2.0.

[FF Freak]

It really does require the right mood, but I'm convinced that mood is "full of uppers". Seriously, Texhnolyze is probably the bleakest anime ever made.

Keep the knives out of the house when you watch the final episodes. The ending will make you want to cut yourself.


I'll have to check out this series. just the way you've described it kinda reminds me of what i though of Now and Then, Here and There when I watched it the first time. That series had some really depressing aspects to the story but it's probably one of the better series I've watched imo.

[StorminNorman]

The big difference between Now and Then, Here and There and Texhnolyze is that NTHT actually has a happy ending.

[FF Freak]

That's true...for all the depressing stuff that the main characters went through it did have a kinda happy ending. It's been so long since I saw it I need to watch it again.

[/backslash]

As good as the anime is, the live-action TV series is a lot better. Onizuka is less annoying, and the series is one of the very few genuinely well-acted Japanese TV series.

There's a live-action tv series? Holy shit! How long has that been out? Not getting it confused with the live action movie are you?

Google gets no results

[/backslash]

Into Initial D's 4th anime season and my attention is starting to wear off especially with the whole Project D thing. After the 1st season and its new animation which keeps on ruining the look of the main characters there some poor storylines and the only real thing that keeps you watching is stuff like seeing Takumi losing his first race & having to replace it with a new engine & parts & then hearing about his dad deciding to buy a new car but they only showed a glimpse of it

I'd like to see a motion manga adaption for the first season like Watchmen: Motion Comic, that'd be awesome :D

[Vicious]

I finished watching Haibane Renmei and must say it's definitely an amazing piece. Also finished watching Niea_7 which I scored for $18 USD shipped in impeccable condition.

In other news, I've been curious what people are thinking about the changes that have gone on with the anime industry. Geneon died, and ADV Films went out with a whimper too. On the other hand streaming services such as Crunchy Roll, Funimation Video, and on-demand services like Anime Network are becoming very profitable and seem to be thriving.

I mean, it's pretty sad that two big names fell in the industry (though I believe it's failure to read the market), but on the other hand I'm ecstatic that new business models are being introduces and more importantly - working.

What do you guys think, is the industry heading in a more desirable direction . . . or going to trash?

[/backslash]

I just hope the industries don't become purely digital downloads because honestly I hate them (with the exception for fansubs). Didn't know ADV died, I always thought them & Funimation were the only distributors

Hopefully Madman will keep on going because honestly I cant see anyone else doing a better job

[Vicious]

I just hope the industries don't become purely digital downloads because honestly I hate them (with the exception for fansubs). Didn't know ADV died, I always thought them & Funimation were the only distributors

Well all of those solutions are actually streaming, but with caps I could understand the distaste whereas here we really don't have them.

As for companies we have, there's a small upstart company taking over some of ADVs stuff called Section 23 Films. There's also Funimation, Media Blaster, Anime Works (I think?), Nozomi Entertainment, Tokyopop, Viz, Manga Entertainment.

Though I remember a third and forth company that died, CPM (original Slayers distributor), and Broccoli Books (original FLCL distributor). Well, BB is actually bought out by Animate and nothing has really gone anywhere with it in the US . . . though it seems to be working well in Japan.

Some good news though, Funi picked up the rights to FLCL! I can't help but be happy hearing that. Part of me is sad because it diminished the value of my boxset, but it's really a good anime that people should be able to get.

Hopefully Madman will keep on going because honestly I cant see anyone else doing a better job

I really don't want to hear about more companies folding. There's no guarantees that IP will ever be transferred should one fall. We're lucky over here than Funi is big enough to be cherry picking classics and big IPs from beneath the rubble so to speak.

[Lex]

Are madman still shit? If so, wouldn't care if they went under. Haven't bought a DVD from them in years because of all the ****ups. Still got my copy of evangelion disc 7 where the cover looks like they took the smallest jpg they could find and blew it up to 10x the size. So bad.

[/backslash]

I find they (Madman) tend to have better packaging than US distributors especially when it comes to Ghibli titles, the US covers for those always look like a 2min run though Microsoft Publisher including fonts that look as bad as Times New Roman. Madman seems to actually listen to its followers - especially with including reversible covers to get rid of the OFLC logo or a foldout cardboard style Ghibli for the big releases