730 replies to this topic

[Fire Blazer]

@Tenebrae uhhh so you're saying "is the light novel as interesting as the animation"? If so it sounds like you kinda answered your own question lol, I don't really read novels but if animation is generally more exciting than manga if only out of the virtue of what it is and what it tries to do

@kirant hey feel free to make one! I'd respond! XD

@Nice Middle nice, I have to insist that the manga is executed 100x better though and that even though the anime isn't terrible (until Fishman Island arc and the other parts riddled with massive amounts of filler--so far Dressrosa is great, thankfully) it doesn't do the story or fights of One Piece justice at all so just keep in mind if you still manage to like the anime, think how good it could be if it didn't have a terrible budget/wasn't made with crap filler constantly

(if you want an example of how awesome One Piece is when it's animated well, try One Piece: Strong World or One Piece: Film Z, both of which have great animation but the latter is especially great but they actually went all-out even if it was only for 5 minutes at best lol--note that you should probz wait until Sabaody for the former and post-timeskip or even post-Fishman Island for the latter or you *might* get slight spoilers)

[eckirion]

I started watching Kill la Kill and there these are the things I can comment about this anime:

...................................................................................................... Whacky yet stylish!

[Cero]

I dropped Nisekoi. I liked it but the main reason I liked the show was the gangs which made is different and interesting to me, and they're pretty much forgotten later on in the series and it became usual rom-com stuff.

[Fire Blazer]

The gangs are in a little this episode and the next... actually it just got kinda dangerous lol

[2:32:27 PM] ballin1337: another epic episode of Log Horizon... I think it's definitely my favorite show right now
[5:55:22 PM] ballin1337: Nisekoi close 2nd.

I like rom-com in general to some extent though one of the reasons I like this better than most is that there's actual progress being made. Not just constant misunderstandings that never get solved with no progress ever being made. Characters and relationships are actually being developed with actual things happening and actual questions wanting to be solved yet lol

Honestly I think I only ever really liked TPGoS and this as far as rom-com goes... can't think of anything else and the former was slice of life with some huge feelz that had nothing to do with romance or comedy so yeah *shrug*

[Mercurius]

Caught up with Log Horizon.

I'm kind of bothered by the method used to revive Rudy, it seems a lot more contrived with the logic presented to make it than, say, reproducing the account creation screen(the method used to create players) or the character creation screen I guess(they're typically seperate from each other to enable the use of multiple characters, though I don't know if anyone in Log Horizon is capable of switching between their characters, probably not.) Instead we get Rudy having a new sub-class that gives him the adventurer status (unless i'm misunderstanding when they choose the subclass and the default is just like that, but it looks like the kind of thing you'd choose earlier if the sub-class is like that instead of the main one) through a guild contract for some weird reason.

[Fire Blazer]

Im not bothered at all you're too sensitive and thinking about it too hard

I liked it, I thought it was rather creative. The contract seems to almost have a wish-granting effect. As Shiroe said things don't work as they used to and by using extremely high-class ingredients along with his unique skill he essentially wrote something that changes how something works... My guess is that if he had more materials it could be used to do a lot more. And Rundel Haus signing it is a sorr of confirmation/acceptance, i.e. Shiroe couldn't do ANYTHING he wanted since it would require the will of the affected entity

As for him joining the guild I think Shiroe has multiple motives for that, one of them being him watching over Rundel Haus

[Mercurius]

I'm too sensitive? you should go look at the SAO haters, they nitpick over ANYTHING

I'm not really questioning the joining guild part, just how he became an adventurer(specifically someone with the sub-class adventurer, instead of just being treated like any other, genuine adventurer by the game mechanics still in effect) since with the logic he was thinking about making a completely original contract(at least I don't remember them mentioning anything like it before) instead of trying to reproduce the known method for how someone becomes an adventurer(account registration) is less reliable(even if both of those things haven't been tested before in that form.)

Also speaking of Log Horizon, i'm kind of weirded out by the lack of female tanks or straightforward fighters(at least named ones, I don't remember if we've seen any that aren't) even though the ones I tend to meet in MMOs myself also aren't commonly of that class(this includes men playing as female characters.) Maybe the outfits just suck or something(though the Valkyrie Mail looks enough like a warrior-class thing and that isn't too shabby.)

[Fire Blazer]

haters gon' hate

no offense but from my perspective it looks like you just have this ideal perspective of how things should be done/how it works instead of accepting how it is

It's possible that without setting a specific sub-class one's subclass is simply "adventurer" much like say the "freelancer" class in FF-like games

It's also possible that this is just how it manifested; Rundel Haus was originally one of the "People of the Land", his "account" was already created in a sense... rather, if we think about them all as people, he already existed in the world, how he was created is irrelevant (ultimately they're all people with their own wills now and whether the game maker created them by inputting data or real humans created characters for themselves by inputting data into the character selection screen feels irrelevant to me). game-wise, he was simply classified differently; as we saw, he still has both a mind and a psyche. Being an "adventurer" gives certain attributes (ala the top-left corner when Rundel becomes an adventurer) and said contract gave him those attributes.

Shiroe did what he had the knowledge to do; he used tools he had. Trying to create a new character from scratch via the character selection screen is not something he's capable of doing or would have any way to even guess about doing, really. The only other thing I could think of him doing was using world-class magic or something but I can't say he really knows enough about that, so eh. Even what he did was mostly theory he thought of on the way and such--though that one dude from before (can't remember his name but the Sage-like dude who told him all that stuff) did suggest that People of the Land could be revived so he did have that to go on.

uh I'm tired and can't really make any more of a coherent rant than this (which isn't very coherent) nor can I maintain my train of thought so I'm gonna respectfully end whatever I was saying here *shrug*

[Fire Blazer]

One Piece
Log Horizon
Kill la Kill
Nisekoi
Noragami
Witch Craft Works
Buddy Complex
Full Metal Alchemist

This is the most anime I've ever watched consecutively lol. I also finished Infinite Stratos/IS2 recently (it was... okay. it had a few great fight scenes but they're really far apart and you have to tolerate too much B.S. in between).

Going down the list, what I currently think:

One Piece - it's actually pretty good now. Dressrosa arc is one of the best ones so far, and though the usual pacing problems are there, it's much more bearable.
Log Horizon - it was pretty good until it turned into this romance crap. now it's kinda bad. I'm trying to stay positive, but I'm really not digging it. >_>
Kill la Kill - great. amazing. every time. I've actually gotten so desperate to know what happens that I watch the RAW several hours before the SUB comes out. the worst thing is, I haven't even bothered to watch the sub again even though I miss out on anywhere from like 10-35% of what they say.
Nisekoi - I love it. I'd say it's a must-watch of its genre (I prefer to compare animes within the same genre if at all and I'd say as far as rom-com's go it's solid and I've only liked one other one)
Noragami - solid, it started off slow but got better quickly. not the greatest show and there are some obvious flaws but hey, I was convinced to spoil myself and read the manga, so that says something. not a must-watch of its genre (idk what genre it'd even be in...) but definitely a solid pick-up.
Witch Craft Works - above, but sort of more generic and a bit weak on the plot. I'm not exactly thinking about what happens next/how things will develop very much and heck I can hardly remember where I left off. I feel like the actual action is sometimes too limited too, but eh. Also, not enough guys <<; The ending is a must-see though because it's so weird I was freaking creeped out and couldn't even watch the whole thing (my reaction was more or less "what the **** am I watching" lol). (link - click at your own risk)
Buddy Complex - solid, we left off at a solid/memorable place and I'm interested to see if things will pick-up--it's feeling a bit episodic right now as opposed to carrying the major plot on--not great, but a decent pick-up, kinda like Noragami. It's a bit predictable as well, to say the least. I still enjoy it thoroughly, but that's just random me liking things for reasons I don't even get myself.
Full Metal Alchemist - solid, yes i know brotherhood is better but I'm trying to finish this one first. I'm taking it reaaaal slow especially since there's an actual plot and everyone who's discussed anime with me should know that I'm very sensitive to things like my favorite characters dying (which already happened once >_>).

[Fire Blazer]

sooo log horizon ended

that's one show off my list

a few others will disappear within a few weeks and I'll be reduced to just a few shows lol

I finished a show called Gatchaman Crowds rather quickly, it was great, I'd highly suggest it to people, it's got humor, action, and a lot of insight into society, technology, human nature, even games... and the soundtrack is awesome too.

Other shows I finished are My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU and Haganai, the former of which was great except for being highly unfulfilling at the end (I felt let down because in the end, it doesn't feel like much changed and I dunno, it was just emotionally unfulfilling) and the latter of which was... ok, not really that good, in fact it was pretty horrible except for the fact it had a few funny jokes :\ gotta stop listening to every suggestion I get lol

[Mercurius]

I'm assuming you finished both seasons of Haganai? (I generally hear people mention how the second season is better, and while I agree...I don't really consider it outstanding either.)

Log Horizon kind of ended on a whimper for me. It just kind of died on interesting material for me after...after the goblin invasion thing was temporarily dealt with? (I wasn't interested in Krusty and the Princess' scenes either during that arc.) I don't even really remember the order of events anymore. At best I was hoping for more Soujirou screentime cause I thought he was cute. A lot of people mention how LH's protagonist is sooooooooo much more well written and rounded and whatever the hell than SAO's, but he(whatever LH's protag name was) sure isn't someone I'm particularly interested in watching(and sometimes it's kind of infuriating watching him be dense too, which is a little weird since I should be used to that kind of thing from other anime.) Maybe it's the glasses. Yeah, i'll go with that.

[Fire Blazer]

no I haven't

I didn't even watch like half the scenes in the first season, they were ****ing weird and bad

x (Click Here To Hide/Show Text)

once I confirmed that Yozora was Sora and saw what happened, the only plot point worth caring about really, the show was over lol

@LH I can understand that, he is definitely dense but then again he IS kind of a nerd who plays this game, in a way I'm kind of not surprised that his social skills aren't great, I imagine plenty of people in the game have social skill problems of some sort

The show wasn't like SUPER exciting for me but it was still interesting enough. I'm kinda curious to see what happens next and I'm hoping there'll be more action in the next season, but eh.... to quote what I told Seraph

QUOTE

[4:17:29 PM] ballin1337: tl;dr what I'm trying to get at is... it's pretty good and I *personally* enjoyed it alot [4:17:33 PM] ballin1337: but I think from a less biased perspective [4:17:46 PM] ballin1337: it's only "pretty good" and not "amazing" or a must-watch or anything, even for its genre

I know I said "pretty good" twice, meant that it's only above average from a general standpoint (considering most anime are trash) but that regardless I enjoyed it more than I would an "above average" anime (personal tastes/perception/whatever)

[Mercurius]

I don't really think he should have better social skills or be capable of reading nonverbal cues better...but I mean like, to begin with, i'm not really into some nerd that plays MMOs, and when I say that I mean you can...REALLY tell he is "just some guy" as opposed to anyone exceptional. and more importantly he doesn't have a cute face or a captivating voice to compensate for anything

[Fire Blazer]

Hmm, so for you the main character should be someone exceptional, huh? Well, to each their own, I guess, haha. I don't particularly feel that way, though even then I think Shiroe is still interesting enough. Not super interesting, I mean we don't know crap about his backstory (which might have some potential) or otherwise but enough to keep me interested in the show as a whole, I guess, haha.

On other note, I just finished a couple more shows on Seraph's suggestion, I've kinda been on an anime crazy (because to be honest it relaxes me and it's a nice time killer and helps me with my depression a little, even moreso than video games which can sometimes be stressful), haha.

So yeah, to any guys out there who want a really simple, somewhat nonsense show that's still really good, watch Tsuritama. T_T So good lol. I love shows with a great sense of comraderie (as I've said many times before) so yeah, I can't help but love it, haha. It's "just about fishing" except not really, I mean it's not the most terribly deep or action-packed show but it's got some lovable characters, some solid animation and voice acting, and is interesting enough in general that I can't help but like it. As usual, my only real problem with it was that I wish it were longer and that I could see more of the main characters, haha.

Spoilers and Reflection (Click Here To Hide/Show Text)

I really liked Natsumi and it hurt to hear that he ended up traveling elsewhere and now the whole gang can't fish as a group together, but at least Haru joined back up at the end, haha. It's silly how even a show this light-hearted (albeit the world WAS at stake) could still make me feel a bit empty at the end, but that's just how I am, I'm the kind of guy who just wishes the happy times could last forever, as stupid and unrealistic as it is. In short, I just can't face reality because it's been far too harsh to me, haha.

As far as the other show Chuunibyou something goes, it was pretty solid though I had severala couple issues with it and it was a bit too silly or cliche at times. Still it was pretty imaginative and interesting enough, haha. Not a show I could easily suggest to anyone but it's not a terrible show. A second season is airing (I think it just finished, actually) and there are a bunch of smaller episodes as well so maybe I'll watch those soon enough.

In other news, the final episode of Buddy Complex aired today. I hear that like with Log Horizon, there will be a second season, so that's great. I also hope that Witch Craft Works and Noragami get second seasons as they were great shows and I know they have more material.

Buddy Complex was a bit shaky and it has some apparent flaws and I also feel like characters could definitely be written better. Hina for instance kinda has this sudden 180 and feels too accepting of things later on, and I feel like they should've delved more into Aoba losing his entire family and friends from his past life--I mean like, even if he's tough and good at adapting etc., I feel like he should've cried/broken down at some point, being thrown into a future in the middle of a huge war and losing everything he had. Still the final episode was great, the action, though not much more than typical mech action, was still totally interesting and amusing, and the general quality of the show felt pretty good. Not a masterpiece but the time travel and other elements are still more than interesting enough to make it worth watching, IMO. Just don't expect anything on the level of Code Geass, haha.

As the final part to my rant on anime, I'd like to say that the list of airing anime I'm watching has been ERADICATED. Aside from finishing already-aired suggestions, there's the list of ones that were airing in winter 2014:

QUOTE

One Piece Log Horizon Kill la Kill Nisekoi Noragami Witch Craft Works Buddy Complex A Pilot's Love Song

By tomorrow, 6 of those shows will have had finales, lol. One Piece won't be ending any time soon leaving only Nisekoi to end in about a couple months, I think. Point being now I need to put in those 2 hours a week into something else, haha. Man, I've really changed, 2 years ago I'd only watch One Piece, Naruto, and Fairy Tail, and at some point I watched Code Geass and before that I had watched Dragonball/DBZ of course, but that was it, only the super popular/mainstream ones. Now I'll watch anything that's good, lol. I'm sure I'll catch up on all these suggestions, get over it, and find something else soon though. Just another phase in my life, like the phase of buying craploads of video games or the phase of playing basketball almost every day. XD

[Mercurius]

Have you watched Durarara? It's been long since I watched it (probably over 3 years ago) but I did watch it until the end marathon-style, and i've met a fair amount of others who keep talking about how it's their favorite anime. I don't remember how fanservicey it was though (it could either be 0% fanservice, or have a fair amount...idr)

I finished the second season of Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai recently, and while a lot of others find the entire season a letdown from the first, i'm mostly pissed off at how disconnected the 11th and 12th episodes are (they basically leave on a cliffhanger and skip to...not cliffhanging without any explanation) with Satone (being BEST GIRL) compensating for anything else being lackluster.

[Fire Blazer]

that sucks, sorry to hear the 2nd season isn't as great lol

no I haven't watched Durarara it's on my list of weird shows that Seraph suggested to me that are probably actually great but I'm too skeptical to try them out at the moment I should also be studying *shot*

[Fire Blazer]

Just finished The Pilot's Love Song

uh this show sucked

My Thoughts (Click Here To Hide/Show Text)

like wow the ending was really bland and disappointing (not sure what I was expecting though), in the end it just leaves you sad and unfulfilled and disappointed, they add this extra love thing between the main character and his "sister" (he was adopted so they're technically not siblings) that's really stupid and just leaves you feeling bad for Ari because she obviously likes Kal but doesn't do anything about it and just acts tsundere and crap, meanwhile Kal falls into the trope of being totally oblivious and hopeless as a main character, he honestly hardly grows at all as a character outside of "learning how to forgive", I feel like the announcement of Karl la Hira being alive should have been bigger but they brushed over it with no repercussions and

aaaaaggghhh it was just disappointing, Ari got injured and is stuck as a mechanic and I feel like they never do anything to make us feel better after, nothing to make the characters come out stronger or show that it was actually better for things to be that way or something, there's no real resolution to Chiharu and Mi-chan no I can't remember his real name<just looked it up, it's Mitsuo I think, the other couples are just kinda weird and never fleshed out, Ignacio's relationships with Ari and Kal had potential but they kinda sucked too

Was this show just too rushed overall or something? Maybe, I dunno, it had potential but the execution was bad and even though I'm usually able to enjoy shows anyway and look past the flaws but this one's ending was just so bad that I can't forgive it.

Main thing that pisses me off is definitely that Ari my fave character #biasis neglected and Kal, despite being a weak loser, has it pretty much the best out of anyone. The ending tries to be kinda happy but it's really not, it's actually just kinda dull and depressing leaving you wondering if that was really it. I actually enjoyed the show mid-way through and it really sparked some feels but eh

A timeline of the show would be like this:

- typical high-school like anime with a pilot academy theme, along with a tiny bit of story for the main character
- things go to hell Attack on Titan style and everyone dies
- show turns into a lame and somewhat predictable drama
- with the best (and saddest) part of the show past, the show doesn't know what to do with itself and falls apart, disappointing you left and right and only doing a few cool things but generally executing poorly, making the main character feel like an unlikeable fool and leaving you feeling terrible for Ari who has to put up with that kinda person--honestly I wouldn't want Ari with Kal anyhow, I'd rather Ari gets a parallel dimension version of Kal that doesn't suck and Claire can take the real Kal since they love each other sooooooo much for whatever reason (like I'm honestly not sure what Claire has that another girl didn't, I feel like it's mostly just coincidence, and maybe that's how things generally are but for Kal to be THAT passionate from the very beginning is just kind of weird and I wish they'd build an actual reason/foundation to this "amazing" love story

tl;dr

show goes from like a 6 to an 8 to a 4 or 5 lol, I'd actually rate the first part better since it's light-hearted and simple and at least everyone's alive and having fun but from a critic's perspective it's unoriginal and lacking in value so yeah... I dunno overall it's like a 5.5-6, if the ending were good it'd probably be around an 8 but the ending was terrible and apparently no amount of raging about it will make myself feel better lol

[Mercurius]

just saw the first episode of Blade & Soul because I have to try out pretty much every anime about an MMO for whatever reason

looks like it's one of those lore animes (think:what would MMOs be if there were no player characters and NPCs did everything) without any reference to game mechanics which is a huge blow to how much I might like it but i'll keep on it for like 2 more eps

and woah, like, guys

FEMALE PROTAGONIST?

SUCH

BLASPHEMY (I don't personally mind but it's kind of funny seeing how many people go all "Where's the male lead?? What's the point of all these babes without one!")

although I doubt the protagonist is gonna be terribly interesting since it's one of those "mysterious silent assassin" types

and the pacing of the first episode feels rushed as faaaaaaaawwwwkk (but it does make sense with how quickly they were gonna kill everybody but 2 characters off within a certain area) and something tells me this is going to be one of those "plot shows" where SHIT HAPPENS is the important thing instead of caring about who the characters are

animation quality is okay in the first episode(which means it's all downhill from here, but decent place to start) and fanservice looks like it's going to be a thing, just without silly antics to make it happen since plenty of the girls are already wearing skimpy clothes(it IS based off an mmo)

and character designs are...decent I suppose, like...up there with Log Horizon's less interesting designs, giving off enough of an MMO look, generally speaking it reeks of mediocre and low budget but just first episode so far so yeah

[Whitewolf8]

Re-watching Mushishi since the second season starts this month.
YUSSS.

[Cero]

Tales of Symphonia OVA

Goddamn this OVA is great, I would even go to say that some points in it were done even better than the game. And the animation is great (its by ufotable). Though it is sad that the third series/arc is the weakest of the three.