The Anime Thread

[StevenRichardsRules]

No.

[IAceI]

Right so I watched a few things last night, we'll start with the older stuff:

Gundam 00

I watched episodes five and six and you can see the show is starting to all come together now. People say that this is the best since Gundam Wing, if not better, but I'm a little unsure. For one, the fan service is a bit silly at times, two, the characters seem a little too stereotypical without the depth that they had in GW (so far anyways) - Setsuna is just Heero MKII thus far, and three the animation is good but it seems a little too 'nice' a little 'too clean', less Gundam more Budgie the Little Helicopter. Still, there's a lot still to go and I love Gundam so I can't see it being too bad (except for when I get round to watching AGE which looks borderline aimed at nursery school kids)...

Ben-To

Bento you say? Isn't that a Japanese lunchbox? Well, yes, it is. And this show is about that. Saito has just started at a new school and soon finds out that when you go out for half-price Bento, all hell breaks loose and it turns into a pretty fierce battle. So far (1 episode) we've met the protagonist, a weird psycho girl, an 'Ice Witch' and a class president who keeps slapping Saito. It's a bit childish, as you can imagine, but I'll watch a few more episodes of it before I form too much of an opinion because I think it has potential.

Guilty Crown

It sounds baffling and after the first episode nothing is any clearer and if anything I'm more baffled. That said you at least want to come back and watch the second episode, or at least I do, probably out of sheer determination to be confused by a bunch of drawings. So far we have met Shu, who in one episode went from zero to hero. And he did so by saving 'Inori' who appears to be a world renowned music star as well as government fighting rebel. Oh and we also met some bad ass called Gai, who was bad ass and fought off some thugs with his bad ass-ness. I think I'm going to like Gai. There was some mecha, a massive sword and some explosions too. Will come back to watch more and see if I can make heads or tails of it.

Was going to watch Mirai Nikki as well but ran out of time and went to bed instead. I'll also see about watching the first episode of Un-Go and probably scour for anything else that may look of interest to me. And I'll have to bite the bullet and watch Gundam AGE sometime too as well I bet.

[The Sandman]

I'll be watching these atleast for now, so far they've all been pretty good:

Bakuman

Boku Ha Tomodachi Ga Sukunai

Guilty Crown

Mirai Nikki

Persona 4

Also for nostalgia after buying Pokemon White, i've been checking Pokemon Best Wishes every now and then.

Edited October 18, 2011 by The Sandman

[StevenRichardsRules]

Watching the second episode of Mirai Nikki now.

Running Thoughts

Opening video was cool. Trippy imagery, kinda creepy. I like. Opening music is okay (I like the start but it's not as epic as I want it to be).

Hooray, stalker girl. I have a feeling she's gonna be my favourite character. (MC is an idiot if he can't figure out that texting you 40 times in a night is a bit on the stalkerish side)

Was Third the teacher, by any chance? I thought there was something weird about him in the first episode.

Aaaand crazy haired chick who was one of the shadows in the first episode. She's in the game. Why is she a maid though?

Called it. The teacher was the serial killer.

Fire extinguisher? Feels like No Mercy all over again.

She planted explosives? How?

Hot, I want my next girlfriend to talk about murdering other people. What's with the talk of getting her on his side though? Guy, she's already on your side. She saved your life. Plus, she wants to get all up inside your guts.

Things are being explained now. Still confused about the whole "you use it too much, people can find you" thing. Isn't that what they said last episode?

I always feel like ... somebody's watchin' me, I have no privacy. But seriously, MC dude, she just told you to use her. That's an invitation!

Dude, be a bitch about loneliness later. There's someone trying to kill you!

Hmm, so maid could have killed him before but didn't? Interesting.

And police chief has a diary.

Okay, so maid's convinced the school to get the diaries and MC. Why does she need MC anyway? If she destroys the future diaries, it doesn't matter where he is.

You win, Mirai Nikki. I actually kinda feel bad for the MC.

Epic dick move! Yuno kills everyone! I love her so much now.

"The bomb's are set to go off...", Bullet to the head, K.O. ( not really)

Yeah, trust the police officer who you know has to kill you to win the game. Seems legit.

Love the "I'll take that silence as a yes" line. It's too bad that maid chick is gonna die.

But don't the phones represent their lives? So if MC takes a slug to the brain, he'd be fine, wouldn't he? The phone needs to be destroyed for them to die.

Flying axe-handle?

Yeah, man, don't rely on a girl. They're all weak and inferior and stuff.

It's badass time. Cool scene. Cool music. Cool.

I thought maid knew Yuno had a diary? Hm, apparently she didn't.

Ouch, right in the eye.

WTF, motorcycle? Whaaaaat?

Again, totally trust the police officer who was going to shoot you before. >_<

Happy End? What?

Craziness. I didn't even notice that maid chick was with the police officer in the first episode. It's gonna be one of those shows that you have to watch closely, isn't it? Sounds fun.

Kinda curious about these diaries' different powers now.

EDIT: Damn it, the Working!! episode 2 I have has a terrible translation. FFS.

However, episode 3 of Kimi To Boku shows promise.

Edited October 19, 2011 by StevenRichardsRules

[Mick]

To answer those questions:

Ninth is a terrorist and likes to cosplay. That's why she was dressed up.

I don't remember exactly, but killing a person normally still counts.

I will agree though, it would have made more sense for Ninth to just say "Okay, you all know Yukki? Find him and break his phone, and I'll let everyone go. I won't even kill him "

Anyway, each diary has it's own unique quality: Yukki has the Random Diary, Yuno has the Love Diary, Fourth has the Investigation Diary, and Ninth has the Escape Diary; basically, all 12 people were keeping diaries, and the one's Deus Ex Machina gave them is written exactly how they would've written it, except it tells the future.

[StevenRichardsRules]

Okay so stupid question then:

If all their diaries have powers based on how they would use them, why the hell does Ninth's become a motorcycle?

I mean, I get why Yukki's gives him random observations (that's what he wrote!) and why Yuno has the love diary (because she loves to stalk Yukki!) and why the police chief has the investigation one.

But how can a diary help you escape?

(Also, in the episode, didn't the maid chick take a slug to the face? I swear to god she did, but my version was laggy and I could have missed something.)

Also also, so how do they find each other? Luck? I thought crazy stalker said something about using it too much brings attention to yourself and helps others find you. But they were all using theirs like mad.

There was something else, but I can't remember it now.

[Mick]

Ninth probably had it hidden somewhere. She does use a smoke screen, and she did somehow sneak a shitload of bombs into the school, not to mention she laid a fucking minefield without anybody noticing.

The only thing she took to the face (specifically the eye) was a dart. Shots were fired at her, but she missed.

As for how a diary can help you escape, as I said, Ninth is a terrorist; she most likely wrote down her escape plans for the various jobs she did, so now she knows how to get out of hairy situations thanks to the way the diary works.

Both Ninth and Fourth were originally going after Third; since they had a general idea of where Third was, and since they were told by Deus that First got to him, all they had to do was conclude that First was still in the area. Thus, their plan changed.

[IAceI]

God I feel so left behind. Just watched episode 1 last night and I have to say, I loved it. I'll spoiler stuff just incase I'm not the slowest of slowpokes in here and be safe:

I was quite taken aback by how.. clean it all looked. For something that has a Battle Royale feel about it, it seemed very cheery and colourful.

Yukiteru is a bit of a loveable loner. While Yuno is just a full blown wack-job. The teacher is obviously involved somehow, well, surely he is. Oh and Yukiteru could probably make a decent living on the Darts Pro Circuit with shots like that.

Of all the new anime it's the best first episode I've watched, and of all the oens I have to watch I imagine it'll still be the best. It introduces us the main characters nice and early but doesn't overload us - still managing to introduce us to the other diary owners too. It explains the format of the game, how it works, and why they're doing it.

It's just very well set out and concise. Should be able to get episode two watched sometime today and will get my thoughts up on that.

Is it a 13 or 26 episode season?

[Mick]

26 I think, it could be more; There's no way they could cream it all into 13 episodes. But, the manga had 12 volumes; 55 chapters total, and right now it seems to be averaging 2 chapters an episode, so...27 episodes, maybe? I don't know

Oh, and one more spoiler for SRR on a question he asked:

Yeah, Ninth pulls the bike out of nowhere in the manga as well. The translator even makes a note saying "Don't ask me how she got it". I'm going to chalk it up as Rule of Cool.

[IAceI]

Just had a look and it's down for a 26 episode series, that's a diary destruction every two episodes on average. Although it obviously needs some sub-plots and the like because I'm pretty sure an anime about someone going round killing 11 others would get repetitve quickly.

I shall get the second episode when I get home and watch. It's the anime that has my interest the most this block so far.

[IAceI]

Mirai Nikki 2

Well that was all a bit mad. I thought Third was the teacher but then I figured he would play a much bigger role so when he was dead I was a bit confused, but it's all been explained now so ah well.

Yeah, I don't trust fourth to be honest. And I suspect I'll be right in that regard at some point.

I also assume we're in for a 'it's only going to get tougher' kind of scenario as well so there'll be some crazy shit that goes down soon I bet.

Would add more but I'm off to sleep. Thoroughly enjoyable show though.

[Ruki]

I really enjoyed the second episode.

Especially when Yuno was running through the halls and blowing up all the bombs.

I have to admit, I was shocked when they BLEW UP A FUCKING SCHOOL AND KILLED A BUNCH OF KIDS

I like this anime

[StevenRichardsRules]

Ruki and me must think alike.

When Yuno

ran through the hallway, killing her classmates and a bunch of other students

, that's when I fell in love with her and decided she was my favourite character.

I'm actually suprised. I am a lot more into Mirai Nikki than I thought I'd be. I don't typically like action-ey stuff, but this is just fucking awesome.

Edited October 20, 2011 by StevenRichardsRules

[IAceI]

Mirai Nikki Ep2

I think because they made her out to be some really popular girl we all assumed she'd be snobby and the like. When really she's in love with a loner and absolutely bat shit mental. And we all love her for that.

I was also shocked when they blew up a load of kids as well. Didn't really expect that. I mean, mass explosions in class rooms killing young adults, and then said psychopathic girl aiding the death of more students was just a bit mental.

And I'm quite anticipating what that alien-oid diary holder is going to be about. With the spherical head.

[Mick]

Mirai Nikki Ep2

I think because they made her out to be some really popular girl we all assumed she'd be snobby and the like. When really she's in love with a loner and absolutely bat shit mental. And we all love her for that.

I was also shocked when they blew up a load of kids as well. Didn't really expect that. I mean, mass explosions in class rooms killing young adults, and then said psychopathic girl aiding the death of more students was just a bit mental.

And I'm quite anticipating what that alien-oid diary holder is going to be about. With the spherical head.

I'll be honest, the only reason I read the manga was thanks to that picture of Yuno with the axe. Then I realized how awesome it was. Just stay with this guys. If you think this is crazy, then....

[IAceI]

Ben-To Episode 2

Our favourite - and only - anime about fighting for half-price Bento is back and I'm liking it. The first episode was a bit confusing and left me in a bit of a pickle and thinking I wasn't going to get what I was expecting (not sure what you can expect from an anime about lunchboxes mind), but the second episode seems to have gone some way to clearing that up and I am glad because I really quite enjoyed it.

It's humurous but not slapstick, and it seems to do it all really well. There was a bit less fanservice in episode two at least. I have to say though, I'm highly impressed by how Satou suddenly just learned to fight awesomely.

[StevenRichardsRules]

Still waiting for the next Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai episode. It's taking forever.

[Ruki]

Episode 8 of Baka To Test has tons of references...so far, I've noticed: Code Geass, NGE, Super Mario, and Terminator 2.

[Mick]

Episode 4 of Fate/Zero was tonight.....

My thoughts

It was basically just Saber and Lancer fighting. Ends on an awesome cliffhanger with Rider saying enough of this shit and entering the fray.

Gonna be sad to see Rider die

Also, I've been reading the Death Note manga. I think I might enjoy it a bit more than the anime, just because there's some things that were cut out.

Need to get cracking on the rest of Samurai Champloo; I've watched 14 episodes I think, need to finish it up (haven't had time this week)

[Ruki]

Not really sure why I'm still watching Baka To Test....sure, it's ok...it's not completely bland (like Final Fantasy Unlimited or Grednider)....but I dunno, something just doesn't click with me. I like most of the characters, it's just, the same thing every episode in a different setting.

Guy who looks like a girl dresses up like a girl....flatchested girl gets angry and locks main character in a wrestling hold....big chested female is super cheerful and shy....the cool, clam guy is always at the mercy of the silent/smart stalker girl (who either pokes his eye out or tazes him). It's the same thing! But, I have hope it will get better. The last episode ended with it hinting at they were going to do another class battle so they move up from Rank F to Rank....I'm not sure which, yes.

And not sure why, but I LOVE rankings/standings in anime. THat's one of the main reasons I got into this (Class F trying to work their way to the top!), why I started watching Tiger & Bunny (sure, there wasn't much emphasis on the standings, but that's what convinced me to start). And I can't really think of any other series it has happened in...it kinda, sorta happened in Air Gears, which was ok. Happened (in a different kind of way) in the Battle Royale manga...I just want more. Was Fate/Stay Night like that? Can't really remember. Does anyone know of any anime sorta-kinda like that? Weird request, I know.