730 replies to this topic

[Fire Blazer]

^Mhm it's very good indeed, my biggest problem with the Tales animations though

is that they don't shout out arte names and whatnot very much lol, cheesy though it'd be they make the fighting very realistic, I'm a nerd so I'd kinda prefer they shout out their name attacks and actually make them seem a little like they are in the actual game. Doesn't have to be all the time but that'd really hit home with me if we saw actual full-on animations of in-game attacks like sword rain, tempest, lightning blade, light spear, etc.

also WHAT a female protagonist that's cray-cray

I like how animes that subvert what anime typically do naturally get attention/stand-out/tend to be slightly better just because of it, even if they don't execute very well, lol.

[Mercurius]

just saw The Irregular at Magic High School, only one ep out so far but a lot of people were hyping it as being the SAO or SnK of the season which as far as i'm concerned is mostly defined by the amount of hate it's going to get

so far it feels kind of like a shinier Chrome Shelled Regios to me and the male lead looks like he came straight out of Free!, while his sister reminds me waaaaaaaaaaaay too much of Ririchiyo.

but there's one thing all three shows have in common

male leads

that aren't into their sister's(whether they are real sisters or not) affections

oh and they all have black hair I guess

[Fire Blazer]

noooooot a fan of that kinda thing you mentioned in common between all three of them

*instantly knocks off*

[Mercurius]

didn't you watch the other two anyway though? lol

though I can guarantee that unless his sister dies along the way it's much more gratuitous and cliche

[Fire Blazer]

one of them isn't really how you put it IMO, I think you're exaggerating it quite a bit/I don't see it that way at all and I think it's just your perspective

the other bothers me quite a bit but I like to think I have some tolerance for stuff I mean, I... nevermind...

[Mercurius]

if you're talking about how its shown in SnK do remember that i'm referring mostly to how the male lead isn't into it (it doesn't really matter what form the affections from the sister take...nor does it seem to matter for shippers, it seems)

Eren's probably the MOST rejecting of it really

if you meant SAO instead well this show's closer to that than SnK when it comes to such a thing

[kirant]

Just wrapped up Eden of the East...thoughts are in sig.

Any suggestions from where to go from here?

[eckirion]

Currently watching:

Date A Live Season 2 - Been waiting for this in a while... the sequel to one of my favorite anime series: Date A Live. Can't say much since it is the initial episode but I hope it won't be a let down.
Soul Eater NOT - Can't expect much on this one since it is the prequel for the original Soul Eater plot. Too bad, well everyone has their own reasons.
No Game, No Life - The first episode brought me on a positive first impression. I will be expecting great things from these series. Though it kinda relates too much from Katsuragi Keima's gaming persona.
Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara - Well so far this is mediocre... but I can't be sure it will continue to be like this. First kiss on the first episode escalated the status way quickly.
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin - Well the only thing that enticed me on the first episode is the appearance of one of my favorite game: Teraria. They really jacked me off by making me laugh hard on that part.

Expected To Be Watched:

Gakumon! Ookami Shoujo wa Kujikenai
Sora no Otoshimono Movie 2014
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to

[Fire Blazer]

This new anime season kinda sucks as far as I see (though 6 months ago I didn't even know there were anime seasons so my opinion isn't worth much since I've got little to compare to)

Long-running shows like Naruto and One Piece aside, The Irregular at Magic High School seems great and Nisekoi is expected to keep going strong. Black Bullet and One Week Friends are the only other shows I'm watching; the others all had something that made me go "NOPE" whether it was fanservice, lolis, harem, bad story or animation quality, or other bullshit. honestly I'm pretty close to quitting Black Bullet too but at least it has some action

Will be keeping an eye on other shows just in case, there are definitely a few other potential good ones but so far the only show that's actually impressed me was The Irregular at Magic High School, every other show seems dull or shallow or cliche or something (and honestly even TIaMHS wasn't THAT special, it was only first episode but it was relatively good and seems to have a lot of potential as long as they don't go overboard with the High School theme).

[Mercurius]

the new anime season does rather suck, even the ones I may like look like they're gonna suck, except like, one and even then that's only because I have low standards for plot and depth in characters when it comes to enjoyment.

but holy shit did the anime industry just decide to go all "GUYS, GUYS; THIS SEASON: QUANTITY > QUALITY, GET TO IT!" because seriously... http://i5.minus.com/i99rqnvyhKdAl.jpg

watching:
Date a Live II: The first episode of the second season feels a lot more entertaining than anything in the first, and there's surprisingly little fanservice in it(just the first episode, I mean.) I was also impatient and went through the LNs to see what's going to happen, and I can definitely say it feels like an improved sequel is going to occur. That said, the animation budget did show its problems from the very first episode, which is usually a bad sign even if they just mean to spend most of it on action scenes.

No Game No Life:Despite having Kirito's voice actor(and I think Mashiro's too) I can't say that I think this will be too interesting(not because of the premise, but because of the characters, and not because the characters are OP always-win types either), decent enough for time waster status though.

Riddle of the Devil:Character depth? Pacing? Spectacular action? Comedy? Interesting setting? Who needs that stuff when you got your psycho, kind of autistic(or at least it feels like it was written by one that doesn't interact with many others aside from maybe other autistics and socially awkward people) lesbian assassins? The art isn't bad, but yeah, the only reason why this would be outstanding is because of how "we didn't even care about how to write" and "how did this even get an anime"(especially given how little material there is in the manga after like a year and a half) it feels. Still going to watch it anyway because of the visuals and not feeling -bad- while I watch it though. Maybe the artist just made it for the sake of practicing her art skills.

Blade and Soul:Almost definitely going to drop this, the second episode pretty much makes you feel like the first one was 99% a waste of time, and the main character has less character than a harem choice in something with way too many characters for the author to bother. It makes Riddle of the Devil's characters look complex and captivating.

Nobunaga the Fool:Leftover from last season, time-waster tier.

Tonari no Seki-kun:DESIGNED to be time-waster tier, but funny(also only like 7 minutes per ep though, so it's not very good at being particularly time wasting)

Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V:Mostly just here to check out the new game mechanics and potentially real cards.

Anything else i've seen that might be interesting or not:They're non-captivating enough for me to just wait until all of their episodes have aired.

[kirant]

QUOTE (Fire Blazer @ Apr 12 2014, 09:17 AM)

the others all had something that made me go "NOPE" whether it was fanservice, lolis, harem, bad story or animation quality, or other bullshit.

You can disqualify 99% of anime from any season for these reasons.

This is pretty much another "zero for" go around.

At least I have Fafner to look forward to in the fall

[Mercurius]

one thing that has always bothered me about people who don't watch anime because lolis

is that I have no idea what counts as loli anymore, like ever

I mean i'm not into little girls in particular either but it's pretty easy for me to ignore (in fact I think at this point my brain might just have an automatic filter that makes me treat loli characters as "Might as well not be" when there isn't enough attention toward them being one in-verse)

[kirant]

QUOTE (Tenebrae Candidae @ Apr 12 2014, 01:05 PM)

one thing that has always bothered me about people who don't watch anime because lolis is that I have no idea what counts as loli anymore, like ever I mean i'm not into little girls in particular either but it's pretty easy for me to ignore (in fact I think at this point my brain might just have an automatic filter that makes me treat loli characters as "Might as well not be" when there isn't enough attention toward them being one in-verse)

I suspect it's a close association with paedophilia and "attractive little girls" for some.

Remember that Japan and North America treat the subject differently - North America treats even the concept of paedophilia as taboo. So drawing prepubescent girls in sexually implicit manners will be looked at with a concerned look. In Japan, people won't blink twice at you if you have a lolita complex (of course, named after the novel Lolita. Quite an interesting read if you ever have time on your hands). To make this clear though, they WILL find it absolute revolting if you choose to act on those preferences in reality. Compare this to North America, where even the fictional concepts of the lolita complex is considered concerning.

I don't personally drop shows because of young female characters. Heck, many forums I frequent cite "Ruri's Law", named after the character Ruri Hohino (image below): The vast majority of people are idiots. Where I do draw the line is if they are used as sexually gratifying fan service. And that reasoning falls more under "I really hate fan service" more than "I hate loli characters".



I guess if you're looking for a strict definition of "loli", it may be "sexually gratifying young female".

[Mercurius]

Oh, I said the "counts as loli" mostly in reference to size and behavior (for some people, 16 year olds being depicted in a sexual way counts as something to get worked up over because of how they are underage) since I can hear about people thinking of Tenshi from Angel Beats! as a loli and people who don't, along with Mashiro from Sakurasou, and pretty much everybody ever from Touhou(no matter how overdeveloped some artists commonly depict certain characters as) along with a lot of other examples I'm too lazy to recall off the top of my head.

You've got people who care mostly about size (Natsuki from Strike the Blood is visually the equivalent of a middle schooler in that show, but she's older than everybody else and doesn't act like a child or teenager) people who are more concerned about age(usually in relevance to characters which aren't much smaller than everybody else), behavior(but never when size is sufficiently mature for some reason), and within those there are different standards for what counts as loli. Some people think 13 year old counts, some people think prepubescent only, etc. Depiction isn't out of the question either, there's lots of people complaining about how Kirito(16 year old at the time) is a harem protagonist, by including his adopted daughter(who is not interacted with sexually in any way, and either has no or little to none fanservice on her IIRC) to the numbers of females around him. Then you've got people interpreting chibis as loli, and people sticking everyone that's female with small breasts as loli or pandering to lolicons.

[kirant]

QUOTE (Tenebrae Candidae @ Apr 12 2014, 07:00 PM)

Oh, I said the "counts as loli" mostly in reference to size and behavior since I can hear about people thinking of Tenshi from Angel Beats! as a loli and people who don't, along with Mashiro from Sakurasou, and pretty much everybody ever from Touhou(no matter how overdeveloped some artists commonly depict certain characters as) along with a lot of other examples I'm too lazy to recall off the top of my head.

I certainly think there's a lot of that going around. I can understand it too - that "legal jailbait" concept is a growing trend where they'll skirt the idea of age of consent out of the way by adjusting age without appearance or mentality going with it. I mean, Nowi would qualify as an example. Acts like a child, looks like a child, but technically isn't.

QUOTE (Tenebrae Candidae @ Apr 12 2014, 07:00 PM)

You've got people who care mostly about size, people who are more concerned about age, behaviour, and within those there are different standards for what counts as loli. Some people think 13 year old counts, some people think prepubescent only, etc. Depiction isn't out of the question either, there's lots of people complaining about how Kirito is a harem protagonist, by including his adopted daughter to the numbers of females around him. Then you've got people interpreting chibis as loli, and people sticking everyone that's female with small breasts as loli or pandering to lolicons.

No doubt it's not entirely clear cut as an issue. How you define sexualization of a young female character is up for debate. Going back to Nowi, I've seen full on debates about whether or not she exists to satisfy the lolicon crowd.

[Fire Blazer]

holy crap dat pic, was difficult just to scroll through everything

Tenebrae why is The Irregular at Magic High School not on your list *shot*

QUOTE

You can disqualify 99% of anime from any season for these reasons.

true

QUOTE

one thing that has always bothered me about people who don't watch anime because lolis is that I have no idea what counts as loli anymore, like ever I mean i'm not into little girls in particular either but it's pretty easy for me to ignore (in fact I think at this point my brain might just have an automatic filter that makes me treat loli characters as "Might as well not be" when there isn't enough attention toward them being one in-verse)

QUOTE

I suspect it's a close association with paedophilia and "attractive little girls" for some. Remember that Japan and North America treat the subject differently - North America treats even the concept of paedophilia as taboo. So drawing prepubescent girls in sexually implicit manners will be looked at with a concerned look. In Japan, people won't blink twice at you if you have a lolita complex (of course, named after the novel Lolita. Quite an interesting read if you ever have time on your hands). To make this clear though, they WILL find it absolute revolting if you choose to act on those preferences in reality. Compare this to North America, where even the fictional concepts of the lolita complex is considered concerning.

this kinda

I don't want to see little girls in meh shows

or fan service or any sort of sexual shit really, it's fine if there are "cute girls" but no fanservice or attempts at it

I prefer adults, meaning 18+ or older, if they're old enough that they act like adults/I can't tell it's fine though

I'll make slight exceptions (Chuunibyou, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou) but generally speaking I just can't relate to cutesy little kids... guys or girls actually, i just don't want little kids in my damn shows, i can't relate to them and don't enjoy watching them idk if that made sense

QUOTE

Tenshi from Angel Beats! as a loli and people who don't, along with Mashiro from Sakurasou

loli and not loli in my opinion

Tenshi seems too childish and bleh, then again I never finished that show because I didn't like it, Mashiro idk she just doesn't fit my abstract idea of a loli, she's a dependant and stuff but I wouldn't say she's young or childish enough to be a loli, she's a really talented artist and the same age as the main character and Nanami

what i don't understand is this 'lolicon crowd' you mentioned

ofc some things just can't be understood, i can kinda accept that. i absolutely do not understand in the slightest but i just have to somehow accept that i don't and that to those people it makes sense to them...... which is hard and a weakness of us humans >_>; or at least me

[Mercurius]

I'll probably watch Irregular after all the episodes have aired (or I won't if there's enough hate about it that isn't relevant to incest)

pretty sure lolicon crowd is just fans of sexualized little girls

speaking of incest(or not-really-incest-but-still-live-together-since-forever-or-something-as-sister-and-brother-and-address-each-other-accordingly) I never understood why it's relatively common in anime and manga...like the BEST reason I can think of is that when it's your family it's harder for them to get away from you...but i'm kind of a family hater so I guess the specific appeal would be even more difficult for me to understand. (I'm not counting characters that are explicitly cousins in both role and biology, or when people just feel like addressing older characters as elder brother or sister.)

[Fire Blazer]

*Fire Blazer has nothing to contribute on that topic

[kirant]

QUOTE (Tenebrae Candidae @ Apr 13 2014, 03:23 PM)

pretty sure lolicon crowd is just fans of sexualized little girls

Kind of. Lolicon means Lolita Complex, or the sexual attraction to young girls. In this sense, it is very close to paedophilia. However its root origin is Japan and is often attributed to anime/manga.

In its simplest terms, lolicon/shotacon and paedophilia are basically the same thing. However, lolicon and shotacon are so closely related to anime and manga that it almost always is called exclusively for it. For example, a lolicon anime would be one which applies to the subject matter of satisfying one's lolita complex. Since there's already a term in many other parts of the world, lolicon often becomes a loanword for lolita complex anime/manga.

On a side note, I hate not capitalizing lolita since I actually have read Lolita.

QUOTE (Tenebrae Candidae @ Apr 13 2014, 03:23 PM)

speaking of incest I never understood why it's relatively common in anime and manga...like the BEST reason I can think of is that when it's your family it's harder for them to get away from you...but i'm kind of a family hater so I guess the specific appeal would be even more difficult for me to understand. (I'm not counting characters that are explicitly cousins in both role and biology, or when people just feel like addressing older characters as elder brother or sister.)

TVtropes has interesting things to say on the subject:

QUOTE

Although the Japanese have just as much of an incest taboo as any other culture, there does not seem to be any automatic assumption of tragedy surrounding incestuous relationships in anime, as there would be in most Western productions. It may be shown as sad, improper, and/or perhaps even reprehensible, but participants are no more likely to come out to a bad end than any other characters in the story. A supposed Japanese legend which states that star-crossed lovers are reborn as siblings probably has something to do with it as well.

BTW, after confirming my suspicions, I'm pretty sure police are coming for me. If I stop responding, that's why

[Mercurius]

Saw the 2 episodes out of Nanana's buried treasure today, looks like it's going to stand out this season since it actually looks promising, though it also seems like the sort of thing i'll forget about like a week after finishing it.