"I love anime... that's pretty much why everyone's here, right?"
- Me
Feel free to comment, although I don't think I have any visitors here... (but I imagine that I do!)
Thoughts and notes on certain animes, manga and other stuff
*21/02/15: I finished Hunter x Hunter.
Never have I been so disappointed by an anime as I have been by HxH.
Why? Because of the Chimera Ant arc.
A horrible, boring, predictable, and long-winded arc with more ass-pulls than a proctologist's ever seen.
It literally felt like watching tons of Naruto fillers.
BUT, I would strongly advise everyone to watch the first 76 episodes!!
The first story arcs are definitely A+ material and I wouldn't have hesitated to give those a 9/10!!
It's just ... episode 76 to 136 is just incredibly BAD. (the chairman election arc was fun, though also full of ass-pulls)
*02/06/15: Finished Planetes (anime)
Oddly, the anime differs a lot from the manga.
Especially certain details are lacking and the story is less deep.
The humor does make up for it though!
But the manga is probably my all time favorite.
It's just something I can connect with on a personal level.
Hachimaki's ambitions will take him even to Jupiter but will he lose his humanity in exchange?
The anime is a lot less heavy to watch than the manga is to read.
The message is a lot deeper in the manga and if you don't connect to Hachi in a way, it might be because you've never gotten absorbed by ambitions or lost sight of yourself?
The anime is also paced a lot faster than the manga.
Also, I've never seen a depression so accurately expressed as in the manga, it makes me wonder what the author went through to depict it so well.
Anyway, just wanted to write this to show why he's my favorite character: because he's the one I've felt most connected to of all animes and mangas.
*01?/06/15: Finished Kingdom 1st & 2nd season
Doesn't this anime look EXACTLY like Dynasty Warriors does?
Wouldn't have surprised me if Toei had a hand in making it...
Kinda hoping for a 3rd season.
*11/07/15: Finished Katanagatari
Really Liked it, advisable to anyone of any taste or age.
The anime itself will probably not strike you as a masterpiece, but honestly it's very good.
OR it might be that anything seems good lately and perhaps my taste in anime just sucks...
Alrighty, now I ain't no love story lovin' fella, but I appreciate good writing just like any anime fan :)
Swordless-swordman and useless-yet-(un)bearable-(at times)-girl team up for a quest to find the 12 super swords!
If you like swords, you might like this anime.
Honestly, the anime is very easy-going and has great pacing since it doesn't really stop and builds up very well, which is something I liked.
But whatever, this note isn't a review, but a summary of 2 things:
1) That Katanagatari is a good example of how love stories should go
2) Why I chose to put Yasuri Shichika as one of my favorites (damn your name is hard to write, yes this is pretty ironic looking at my own screen name...)
First off, I think so far, the few love stories in manga/anime that have felt real or natural to me are those in: Kemonozume, Katanagatari, Bakuman, Beck and Planetes.
You might say that's not a lot.
And I'd say: you're goddamn right
Because for some reason people think love happens like in SOA...
No, dude, that stuff only happens in your waifu fantasy.
Now, what these 5 have in common is that the love feels very natural and even if it starts early on it evolves like it naturally should.
Hugging, kissing, sex, dating, marrying, these things happen in real life people!
So why is it so hard to make these seem real in a story?
Why does every female love interest feel empty and any expression or even the climax of love feel so fake?
Why does every male just show off his muscles, huge, gigantor, super, sword/skills, flash a lil' lone wolf bad ass'itude and just get the girl?
Jersey Shore has better love development than certain animes... I don't even watch that but that's pretty fucking low, ok.
In reality we talk, communicate, we approach each other.
To me those 5 series established the relationships between lovers very well precisely because of the communication between lovers.
Now secondly, why I chose Shichika as a favorite.
Frankly, he's not that amazing.
But in the last few episodes, the past shallowness you thought came from him turns out to be well scripted in the story.
At the end, I genuinely felt sorry for the guy, and he really did convince me that he didn't have much to live for in the end.
His resolve and the search for it all become apparent towards the end.
He's a simple guy, but that also has it's charm and makes him easy to relate to.
I think what I like most is that by the time they collect the 11th sword (the invisible one) that his "Because I fell for you"s feel genuine.
...
This is a long goddamn note, but I guess (explaining) love is never easy?
Which is some true shit, and if you read this I hope your Sempai notices you and I wish you the best with that haha!
*04/01/2016: Finished Samurai Champloo [9/10]
Haven't watched an entire series in while! So glad that I did !
Warning! Strongly personal opinions and thoughts up ahead!
Don't click if you haven't prepared your hemorrhoid cream for potential butthurtedness !
WOW.
That's what struck me when I finished this series.
I picked up and dropped Samurai Champloo several times, but never paid any attention and that's probably because I wasn't ready to watch it?
Maturing through my life (so far) has changed my taste in music.
I've been a hiphop fan forever, since the day my sister introduced me to Dr. Dre, Xzibit and Ice Cube (around 8 years old I think). I've wandered through almost every Rap genre until I reached alternative, jazzy and old school hiphop.
J Dilla, Nujabes, DJ Premier, The Neptunes, Q-tip, etc. have had a significant influence on my way of living, dancing, producing, and pretty much everything I do. (and those are only the producers, not to mention rappers... well except Q-Tip who is both!)
Now as an avid hiphop fan (and anime fan!), I'm tired of people putting down a genre solely because of it's connotations.
Yes, hiphop has it's affiliations with gangsterism and homophoby and mysoginy.
And somehow, that dictates how all of hiphop must be and none of it can be beautiful, inspiring or even touching.
Every genre has it's superficialities, and they're not even all bad, we're just overly critical of certain genres...
Alright in present day, many genres that most people do respect today have it's roots in African(-american) culture, but only after being adapted by other people do they become artforms (e.g: Blues, Jazz, Rock, House). What I'm getting to is, we often don't consider the works of blacks as art, and the moment that we do, is the moment that we shun those same roots of blackness. Can we not get past this colorism? (dare I say racism?...) Does a genre need to be white-washed (literally!) before we accept it as an artform?
IT DOESN'T.
Samurai Champloo has a soundtrack that cannot be described as anything less than 'soulful, moving, groovy, atmospheric, beautiful and amazing'.
Nujabes and Tsutchie create an astonishing soundtrack that I can say plays beautifully behind every scene. Paying respect to the culture through an anachronistic anime with samurais battling it out on breaks and funky basslines is like watching a wet Wu-Tang dream hahaha ! (poking at Afro Samurai, for those who know ^^)
Nujabes and Tsutchie demonstrated to a whole audience of anime fans that hiphop doesn't mean sex, drugs and money.
Hiphop isn't the glorifaction of decadence among blacks ! It's so much more than any of that!
When we only touch the surface covered in vanity we don't find gems like the Samurai Champloo soundtrack.
So yeah, I'm very grateful to Nujabes and Tsutchie for spreading the culture in such an amazing and positive way.
This is really what hiphop is all about, putting emotion into sound, words, beats, moves. Spreading love and consciousness.
It's an amazing culture to explore if you're willing to. (-> and stay respectful to it !)
So in that aspect, the soundtrack has really done something for me.
It's simply a really good soundtrack, and the fact that so many people appreciate it and can't deny the greatness of it brings joy to me, because it makes me think that one day people will think of hiphop as something respectful, as art, and not something that police should pull you over for if you're playing it in your car ...
ON TO THE SERIES ITSELF !
The series truly captivated me ! I wanted to hear more, see more, feel more. Discover who the sunflower samurai was, find out about Jin and Mugen's pasts. And boy, what rollercoaster that it was.
My only regret is that it's so short, and that many episodes felt like fillers.
---> Watch out ! I mean like good fillers ! Like the Navarone filler-arc in One Piece ! (still can't forget Condoriano xD)
But still filler because you're just urging for more plot and the mystery unravels so slowly that you grind your teeth waiting for it to move on !
It's cool that the series embraces darkness but is also very light-hearted and comedic!
In that aspect it reminds me of Full Metal Alchemist ! (the original series)
The sad moments were accompanied by amazing music, great timing and great storytelling.
The jokes were sometimes subtle and funny, or outwardly hilarious ! (fat Fuu, had me rolling at first haha)
Most importantly, you get attached to the characters an you get sucked into that world.
But again if only the series was just a little longer and had more content...
I think that it would be one of my all time favorites (or isn't it already? *dum-dum-duuum!*)
The end was really good ! Strong build up to an amazing climax !
But I really wanted more... (T_T)
It is so sad, that that has become completely impossible, with the death of Nujabes and the end of Manglobe Studios.
All in all, I gotta say: I loved it. All of it. The storyline, the characters, the drawings, atmosphere that it brings. Awesome.
9/10 (for shortness? -v(^_^')v- )
Rest in Power Nujabes, thanks for all the hard work Manglobe.
Ntiruyogwa. Internet's sleaziest anime nerd. Samurai Champloo. Forever.
Trans-
ition!
What did you think of Samurai Champloo? Do you think it should've been longer or had a deeper storyline? Leave a comment ! ;)
(and I just made another long note, huh? :P )
*23/01/2016: Finished Yu Yu Hakusho (again!)
This series is pure nostalgia.
The haircuts are so 80's and the clothing too.
Damn this is some good nostalgia cake :P
The soundtrack was cool and the story is for the length of the anime much better than most shonen who can't accomplish the same thing within 24 episodes or so.
I just made this note to say that this was 100% nostalgia (drive!)
But after finishing this I'm just wondering...
Wtf do I do with my life?
I spent most of this exam period watching anime and now I'm suddenly left without a series.
Help another anime freak out is there a Shonen out there that will awaken my inner 'Nakama'?
Is there a series in which I'll root for the cast harder than I did in One Piece?
And most importantly is there another SHONEN out there with GOOD LENGTH and GOOD PLOT???
I guess I'll find out, but I'm running out of series :/
Oh yeah, I just realized.
DBZ is iconic and legendary, but watching DBZ again as a young adult is mental torture (you can only wait so many episodes for one single transformation... I mean come on!).
Yu Yu Hakusho didn't feel rushed, well the end a little, but kept a better pace and didn't have much filler episodes either. It completes the job that DBZ does way better and keeps you hooked for longer. It's sadly less epic.
But If I had to compare I'd say that: YYH>DBZ
Because DBZ is less fun to watch when you're no longer 8 years old :/
But in my mind I'll probably enjoy DBZ much more than YYH still
... again a long ass note for nothing --'
Oh and I've got an idea for the next visit on your bro's birthday. Would you guys be interested in watching an anime movie? It's called 'Wings of Honneamise' and I think you'll both enjoy it.
Cool. I'm 100% doing that. You can guess which one of the two. I've seen a few, so I'll tell you about them.
Plastic memories is the train wreck of the season, although the final episode was pretty good. It's a story about androids that's not about any existentialism, oh no, just an average run of the mill rom-com.
Ninja Slayer is pure shit. It's like Inferno Cop, but even less funny. The music is nice though.
Hibike Euphonium is a decent show with moments of greatness (and others of extreme yuri baiting). Definitely the best KyoAni show (except Haruhi), but it's still just slice of life, you know.
Arslan Senki has a unique setting, but with very predictable plot development and characters. I find it hard to keep watching, even though it's by the guy who wrote LoGH and the woman who draws FMA. You might like it.
Ore Monogatari is a fun series. Just that, fun. The characters are very likeable, the romance is better than in most other series and the animation and music is also of good quality (madhouse is still the best). Buuuuuuut there isn't any real conflict (yet). It's just a fun anime about some teens doing fun stuff with some romance. Can you believe this is the best of the season? And the one we're in right now is even worse... Only Prison School really interests me. Oh, and a new City Hunter OVA.
I've gone to the bottom of the barrel and seen the lowest rated anime on the site, at least the ones I could find. Abunai Sisters was terrible. Don't watch the anime in my list scored a one, you'll be traumatized :(
Ik zal eens in het Nederlands antwoorden omdat:
1. Ik al zo voor in het Engels moet spreken.
2. Het leuk is dat niet iedereen je geheime taal kan lezen.
Na het kijken van Monster kreeg ik een bijna twee jaar durende animedepressie: het gevoel dat na zo'n geweldige serie, niets nog goed lijkt. Ik hoop dat het jou niet overkomt. Ik ben het eens met je dat het verhaal naar het einde toe een beetje te weinig uitlegt (of gewoon steek houdt). Hou je klaar voor een uitgebreide discussie bij de volgende verjaardag. Ik ben blij dat je Monster zo goed vond.
Als je op zoek bent naar een shounen kan je misschien Gunbuster proberen. Het is de serie waar TTGL de monsterd gaan halen is. Gunbuster zelf is dan weer een nieuwe versie van de oude sport anime Ace wo Nerae... met reuzerobots en ruimtewezens. Als ik moet studeren, doe ik alles liever. Echt alles, dus zeker anime kijken. Maar euh, zorg toch maar dat je er door bent anders hebben we allebei problemen.
Ik heb al veel behoord over One Outs, maar ik kijk op zich niet zo graag sport anime. Elke sport anime die ik gekeken heb, was een vreemde bevlieging op het moment. Ik hoor uit betrouwbare bronnen enkel negatieve dingen over psycho pass, dus ik ga het niet kijken. Zeker niet na wat jij me nu net zei.
Ashita no Joe zou de proto-Hajime no Ippo zijn, maar het lijkt voorlopig toch heel anders. Niet echt iets wat ik lang aan een stuk kan blijven kijken, maar zeker niet slecht. Een aanrader als je houdt van sport anime en de retrostijl aankan.
Oooooooooh man! We'll have a lot to talk about at the next birthday party. Just remember that it's very slow and you'll be alright. I don't hate 20th century boys, but damn, it's the textbook definition of wasted potential. That has happened before. I really enjoy watching Ninja Scroll, but Wicked City is a piece of shit. I like 5cms per second, but everything else Makoto Shinkai has made is terrible or extremely bland. There are plenty of other examples, but those are the first that came to mind. GTO is my favourite manga btw ^^
Hey, ik ben net begonnen met 'Real' te lezen. Het eerste hoofdstuk was echt heel goed, ookal zie ik nu al waar het (toch zeker voor de volgende hoofdstukken) naartoe gaat. Ik zal zeker blijven lezen en zuchten wanneer het mijn zoveelste manga wordt waar ik weken/maanden op moet wachten voor een nieuw deel.
Hey, ik zag dat je online was en dacht dat zoiets wel een bericht waard was :)
Hoe gaat het ermee? Ik wist niet dat je HxH aan het kijken was. Ik heb er veel goede dingen over gehoord, maar ik ben niet zeker of het wel iets voor mij is. In elk geval zeer grappig stukje op je profiel, just saiyan ^^
I really enjoyed it as well, don't worry. I called it fapnote because everybody that talked about this manga called it that when I started reading it. I think it's because at least at the beginning of the manga, the protagonist is kind of an anti-hero and has sort of a god complex, but instead of this relating to everything (like with Light) it solely has to do with him being in total control (or feeling like that) when having a wank in the school toilets, hence the name fapnote.
There's also something wrong with the order of the Haruhi episodes (there are like 3 or 4 different orders of episodes). The 6 you'll have to see from season 1 are the first 6 in the chronological (C) order. These ones are titled 'The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 1', part 2, part 3, ...
It's a really good movie, like top 10 material, seriously. To comprehend the movie to the fullest, you'd have to watch the 6 episodes in season 1 that have an actual story and the first one of season 2. You'd have to watch endless eight (oh the horror!) to really understand everything, but I believe without it you'll do fine.
I wouldn't go as far as calling Akira really good, but yeah, it was pretty influential.
I'll list movies I think you should both like, but also include some that I think are really good and deserve a watch. Please don't watch Princess Mononoke as I want to watch that together.
Firstly, all the movies I think you'll like when you like Akira: Ghost in the shell, Jin-Roh: the wolf brigade and Roujin Z. (I like Jin-Roh the best out of those).
Satoshi Kon: Perfect Blue (!!!) and Millennium Actress. He also wrote the script for Memories, a three-part movie. Defenitely watch the first part Magnetic Rose.
Studio Ghibli: Besides Princess Mononoke, their best movie is Porco Rosso. Yes, it's a flying pig but I don't care. It's just such a enjoyable movie. Next up is Grave of the fireflies, which is said to be the biggest tearjerker in all of Japanese cinema. Other worthy mentions are Laputa: castle in the sky and Spirited Away, the last one mostly because it's a ridicilously well known movie.
And finally, if you want a movie which makes you go '...what was that?': Angel's egg
Hmm, well it depends on what you like.
Great samurai stories: Blade of the immortal, Vagabond, ...
Great old school mafia/ political manga: Sanctuary
Great 'adult' slice of life: Solanin
Great magical realism: Kaikisen - Return to the sea, Omoide emanon
Great fantasy story: Nausicaa and the valley of the wind
Great psychological thriller: Monster
Great comedy drama (also the greatest manga ever): GTO
I spent like a full 10 minutes typing a long reply on everything you said, but apparently my internet connection gave up working at the worst moment (like always) and now I'm quite pissed. But in short, my enthousiasm, depicted in yes, meh and no:
PM: yes!
Inugami: meh.
Planetes: yes.
AoT: meh, I start it when it finishes.
MoD: NO.
SD: Kill me right now.
I'd highly support a review of School Days. It'd be interesting. Glad to see you on here btw. How has the anime watching (except for Fuck Days) been going?
All Comments (20) Comments
Plastic memories is the train wreck of the season, although the final episode was pretty good. It's a story about androids that's not about any existentialism, oh no, just an average run of the mill rom-com.
Ninja Slayer is pure shit. It's like Inferno Cop, but even less funny. The music is nice though.
Hibike Euphonium is a decent show with moments of greatness (and others of extreme yuri baiting). Definitely the best KyoAni show (except Haruhi), but it's still just slice of life, you know.
Arslan Senki has a unique setting, but with very predictable plot development and characters. I find it hard to keep watching, even though it's by the guy who wrote LoGH and the woman who draws FMA. You might like it.
Ore Monogatari is a fun series. Just that, fun. The characters are very likeable, the romance is better than in most other series and the animation and music is also of good quality (madhouse is still the best). Buuuuuuut there isn't any real conflict (yet). It's just a fun anime about some teens doing fun stuff with some romance. Can you believe this is the best of the season? And the one we're in right now is even worse... Only Prison School really interests me. Oh, and a new City Hunter OVA.
I've gone to the bottom of the barrel and seen the lowest rated anime on the site, at least the ones I could find. Abunai Sisters was terrible. Don't watch the anime in my list scored a one, you'll be traumatized :(
Try Oyasumi Punpun. You won't be disappointed I hope.
1. Ik al zo voor in het Engels moet spreken.
2. Het leuk is dat niet iedereen je geheime taal kan lezen.
Na het kijken van Monster kreeg ik een bijna twee jaar durende animedepressie: het gevoel dat na zo'n geweldige serie, niets nog goed lijkt. Ik hoop dat het jou niet overkomt. Ik ben het eens met je dat het verhaal naar het einde toe een beetje te weinig uitlegt (of gewoon steek houdt). Hou je klaar voor een uitgebreide discussie bij de volgende verjaardag. Ik ben blij dat je Monster zo goed vond.
Als je op zoek bent naar een shounen kan je misschien Gunbuster proberen. Het is de serie waar TTGL de monsterd gaan halen is. Gunbuster zelf is dan weer een nieuwe versie van de oude sport anime Ace wo Nerae... met reuzerobots en ruimtewezens. Als ik moet studeren, doe ik alles liever. Echt alles, dus zeker anime kijken. Maar euh, zorg toch maar dat je er door bent anders hebben we allebei problemen.
Ik heb al veel behoord over One Outs, maar ik kijk op zich niet zo graag sport anime. Elke sport anime die ik gekeken heb, was een vreemde bevlieging op het moment. Ik hoor uit betrouwbare bronnen enkel negatieve dingen over psycho pass, dus ik ga het niet kijken. Zeker niet na wat jij me nu net zei.
Ashita no Joe zou de proto-Hajime no Ippo zijn, maar het lijkt voorlopig toch heel anders. Niet echt iets wat ik lang aan een stuk kan blijven kijken, maar zeker niet slecht. Een aanrader als je houdt van sport anime en de retrostijl aankan.
Hoe gaat het ermee? Ik wist niet dat je HxH aan het kijken was. Ik heb er veel goede dingen over gehoord, maar ik ben niet zeker of het wel iets voor mij is. In elk geval zeer grappig stukje op je profiel, just saiyan ^^
I'll list movies I think you should both like, but also include some that I think are really good and deserve a watch. Please don't watch Princess Mononoke as I want to watch that together.
Firstly, all the movies I think you'll like when you like Akira: Ghost in the shell, Jin-Roh: the wolf brigade and Roujin Z. (I like Jin-Roh the best out of those).
Satoshi Kon: Perfect Blue (!!!) and Millennium Actress. He also wrote the script for Memories, a three-part movie. Defenitely watch the first part Magnetic Rose.
Studio Ghibli: Besides Princess Mononoke, their best movie is Porco Rosso. Yes, it's a flying pig but I don't care. It's just such a enjoyable movie. Next up is Grave of the fireflies, which is said to be the biggest tearjerker in all of Japanese cinema. Other worthy mentions are Laputa: castle in the sky and Spirited Away, the last one mostly because it's a ridicilously well known movie.
And finally, if you want a movie which makes you go '...what was that?': Angel's egg
Great samurai stories: Blade of the immortal, Vagabond, ...
Great old school mafia/ political manga: Sanctuary
Great 'adult' slice of life: Solanin
Great magical realism: Kaikisen - Return to the sea, Omoide emanon
Great fantasy story: Nausicaa and the valley of the wind
Great psychological thriller: Monster
Great comedy drama (also the greatest manga ever): GTO
PM: yes!
Inugami: meh.
Planetes: yes.
AoT: meh, I start it when it finishes.
MoD: NO.
SD: Kill me right now.
How was Amsterdam by the way?