Oh I'm totally in the LoGH mood now! Initially thought I'd just watch it slowly - 1-2 episodes a day, but it just keeps getting better and better so I can't resist but to almost start marathoning it :D Guess I might finish in within a week in this case. Really a masterpiece of a show!
Hey you've already started Dorohedoro!) Glad you liked the beginning. It does get better later and is really never predictable and always bizarre and... fresh and invigorating lol xD Gotta love the dark sketchy artwork too.
There might be a trend nowadays to make more peaceful cyberpunk-themed anime like Dennou Coil, Real Drive, Eve no Jikan rather than dark apocalyptic things like Ergo Proxy and Casshern Sins.
What I would really like to see is a proper Blame! adaptation. BTW, the Appleseed TV series is presumably coming soon - another one worth checking out. And well, the grandiose success of Avatar makes you kinda look forward to Cameron's adaptation of Battle Angel Alita! Now that would sure look awesome!
Hello again! Welcome back and stuff))
I see your break is going well. That's good, I'm also enjoying one myself) LoGH is the only anime I'm currently watching and it just happened to be so great that it satisfies me more that a bunch of small time shows/ongoings. A couple of new chapters of Shigurui and a volume of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is pretty much all I have read in the last 2-3 weeks, so not much to tell about manga either. But as for recommendation, well, Shigurui is one. You saw the anime, the manga is as good... maybe even better if you put the continuation of the story and more story details on the scales. Well, how about Dorohedoro? This one is dark, demonic, violent, surreal and obscure... yet, at the same time, incredibly hilarious, funny in a macabrish way (Tim Burton's way=) and original to the core! You might love it. Guess that's all I can think of now... besides it's kinda hard to recommend you a manga that you don't know already ;)
Thanks for the good news about Drifting Classroom! It's great not having to buy it xP
By the way, I heard rumors that Gibson's Neuromancer is going to be adopted into a movie! Isn't it awesome?!
Also, happy belated birthday! The best of wishes to you!
Phew, these exams are so exhausting.. Only 2 more left to go. I've already had two oral exams so I guess the worst is over. I don't like oral exams cause I easily get stressed. How is your college?
I recently started watching Soul Eater since I wanted to for a long time. I've heard about it a lot some time ago (it was quite popular) so I wanted to give it a try. I couldn't start it though cause they were still airing it (I only watch completed shows except from Bleach and Naruto as you know :D )
I ended watching the 5th season of Dexter (the ending of this season sucks :/). I'm also thinking of starting the Flashback. I've seen some pretty good reviews.
It's so freaking cold in here! It's -10 degrees Celsius and the wind is blowing like hell. It so makes me want to stay in home.
The swine flu? It completely died here. No sign at all. Since I return form London (which was in total panic about the flu) I've heard a few information about some cases in my country (unconfirmed though). But shortly after that there were no information at all. And what about your country?
Aoi Bungaku; which story I liked.. hmm.. to tell the truth, none. While visually all of them varied from good to great, storywise none impressed me. Just too much focus on the negative side of characters, without much redeeming.The guy in the first story seemed like enjoying his falling lower and lower. The second one felt ridiculous - I couldn't believe that bandit would fulfill that's bitch's every nasty whim still keeping his composure.. what a disgusting pair. And those humorous scenes felt totally out of place. Kinda funny that the girl turned out to be a demon... but at this point I couldn't care less already 'cause of all the annoyance at the characters and their traits. The third story was exceedingly dramatic and filled with hopelessness. I really sympathized with the big guy and his drama, but heck what a tragic ending(( Liked the idea of showing the same events from a different perspective in the second episode - everything felt really differently... but still the same tragic end left a very negative aftertaste. The last one you'll see for yourself=) But it was pretty surreal at some moments.
If to choose, I'd say the 3rd and the 4th ones I liked more than the first two.
BTW, are these stories really the masterpieces of japanese literature?? Well, dunno what to think... I think there are manga with better stories lol For instance LW&C has like 10 times better story than these 4 combined... in my opinion that is :]
>Philip K. Dick
Have to confess I haven't actually read anything by him yet, but do know the guy as I've seen all movie adaptations of his works (Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report). I have a couple of audiobooks of his stuff lol :D
Maybe you've heard about William Gibson as well, he is another notable cyberpunk writer. Have read Neuromancer, plan to read Burning Chrome, and seen Johny Mnemonic movie adaptation. His stuff is very... gritty and nerd-ish lol xD
Added Wolf's Rain, will watch it in the future... which reminds me that I'm also taking a sort of break from anime and manga - rather slowing down with it actually, 'cause I have some games I need to finish, shows to watch and maybe books to read)) LoGH one episode a day will be enough animewise in order not to lose shape lol
Again, sorry for not replying for so long. First there was all the commotion that goes with Christmas, than I had to study for an oral exam... I almost didn't have time for anime (almost).
Have you seen the Itachi-Sasuke fight? Did you like it? Now I switched to Bleach but soon I'm also going to catch up with it. After that I want to start Soul Eater.
I'm also watching Saiunkoku Monogatari right now but I recently got tired of it. It became kind of boring and slow paced. I think I'll manage to finish it but I won't definitely watch the second series. It's all too long..
What's the weather in your town? Today here is really crazy. It was rain in the morning, followed by heavy snow.. Now it's quite quiet.
Anyway, I hope that everything is fine at your end :)
>btw I have to say that i am kinda thinking of taking a break from anime and manga,i am not yet bored of them, but i just don't enjoy some anime/manga as much as i used to even if they are perfect for my tastes...maybe i should watch some more bad anime,i usually don't wasted my time on them since it's not like i have that much free time xD
Immediately go and watch some yaoi - that will help you to get back to your senses! xDDD
If seriously, yeah, take a break for a while or watch something plain and simple like some ecchi comedies or shounen stuff (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece) - that does help me not to get tired.
Digging the atmosphere in Casshern Sins, eh?! It is very dark and moody wich suits perfectly for recreating the dystopia of that bleak postapocalyptic world. The scenery is indeed fascinating - reminded Ergo Proxy a lot. Well, what can I say, I like these dark atmospheric cyberpunk things like Proxy, Texhnolyze, Casshern, Blame! with deep philosophical overtones - I wish there were more titles like that.
BTW, I finished LW&C. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!!! I cannot even start to describe how perfectly well crafted the whole epic story is and how beautifully unforgettable it ends! Total masterpiece!!! And it's not always episodical - towards the end it turns into a one single solid story and a totally epic in proportions that just blows you away! No, I shouldn't spoil it for you - such great enjoyment must be experienced first-handedly so to speak) Read it, you won't regret the time spent ;)
Weird, I thought I added both Ayakashi and Sword of the Stranger... guess not. Yeah, have seen them both: Ayakashi is good with the Kusuriuri's story being indeed the best, and the Sword I didn't like much - just too predictable and cliched (to the point of feeling hollywood-ish), too much drama and dull (for my testes) characters... visually very impressive and nice action choreography though.
I feel excited about Aoi Bungaku already! Thanks for reminding me, will start it one of these days.
Paranoia Agent; actually I saw it about 2 years ago but for some reason forgot to add before) Oh that was one crazy show I tell you! The name suggests it; stuff like people's delusions coming to life and starting to affect other people, mixing up to a snowballing effect and turning into a huge feast of crazy psycho shit! xP Toys in the attic, a total severe mindfuck - you'll love it ;)
Oh you have already completed Chidaruma Kenpou Onorera ni Tsugu - I was just going to tell you about it) It's great they don't forget the good old samurai seinen these days. Someone's also done Zatoichi by the same author (who also created Satsuma Gishiden among other things) - saw it on MU today. The samurai genre is going back, yay! :D Hope the trend continues in anime as well - we do need more mature stuff like Shigurui and Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen.
Hey, since you reminded Eden, do you know if Manga Underground is going to finish it soon? I feel like I'm starting to forget the current story events from where I stopped reading - would be nice to finish it before I forget it completely :P Yeah, I know there are some new chapters but I just decided to finish the last volumes in one go which is the best way to enjoy it I believe.
I've already given LW&C a 10 :) Some stories deeply impressed me and the characters of Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro are constantly growing on me the further story progresses. Plus it's real classic and inspired a lot (for instance the author of Rurouni Kenshin, and I'm sure Samura also took some inspirations from it for his BotI). So I think it does deserve the highest score.
About Mouryou no Hako, don't wanna spoil anything for you, but you better pay attention to details there 'cause it's gonna be one hell of a complicated plot! ;) The whole story actually reminded Twin Peaks somewhat... I hope that wasn't already too spoiler-ish) Pretty good anime overall, but the story's complexity somehow lowered the enjoyment for me 'cause it took just too much effort to follow. The animation and atmosphere, as expected, were great. Hope you'll enjoy it to the fullest!
Lone Wolf and Cub is getting better and better! Dunno, but I like it being episodic - reminds me Mushishi in a way. Yeah, I know they're totally different genres but the element of, you know, wandering from place to place against the backdrop of a beautiful japanese nature scenery makes them kinda similar. The artwork is richly detailed and feels really classic which suits the nature of the story just perfectly! Definitely better than the movies by the way.
Are you going to finish Akira? The final part is just brilliant - one of the best endings ever! You won't wanna miss it, as they say :D
Hey, I just noticed you don't have a single 10 score in your manga list. No manga is that perfect, eh? :) Saving for Lone Wolf and Cub? xP
Not a fan of romance? :O ! hahaha... well ok I guess :P But yeah at first I didn't like HxC and then I realised it was probably one of the funniest anime out there... I love it and I can't wait to watch more of the second season ^^
Wow, that post with horror manga is full awesome!!! Everything I wanted - Kurosagi, Drifting Classroom, the Rings, some Go Nagai stuff and more - everything is there! Thanks a LOT!!
BTW, today I stumbled upon a blog entry with a couple of rare things by Junji Ito, namely Frankenstein and the first 5 chapters (out of 7) of Yami no Koe aka Voices in the Dark. Just thought this might interest you)
Glad you're liking Shigurui! It's among my favorites mostly because of the superb atmosphere recreated by a stunning visual style along with a unique soundtrack combining a dark brooding ambient with traditional japanese instruments. The realism and brutality of the story, on top of that, makes it nothing short of perfect as a dark mature anime IMHO. The manga is no less great as well, and you might want to check it out for the continuation of the story;)
About Madhouse; to tell the truth, I haven't checked before the list of all their titles as I mostly look for directors and original creators when exploring anime, but now I clearly see they are ones of the best when it comes to mature titles! Hmm... Monster, LoGH, all of Satoshi Kon's stuff, Akagi, Texhnolyze and Shigurui -- no, actually they are THE best!! No question, I will definitely check Box of Goblins and Aoi Bungaku ;)
