730 replies to this topic

[Fire Blazer]

I recently finished Wizard Barristers, took a while, it was solid overall but the fights were always just a supporting feature so they weren't deep/interesting fights really, which is okay I guess, just saying.

The courtroom scenes, i.e. the trials, weren't all that exciting, honestly. They didn't feel as epic as the trials in say, Phoenix Wright, lol. The main character often felt pretty weak as a defense attorney--like "that's pretty dumb to say", "you could've easily used the prosecutor's own words against them", "stop letting your emotions constantly get in the way", etc.

Aside from that I'm currently watching:

One Piece (Sub)
One Piece (Dub)*
Attack on Titan (Dub)*
Black Bullet
The Irregular at Magic High School
One Week Friends
No Game No Life
We Are All From Kawaisou
Fairy Tail

*On Toonami

On top of non-airing shows like:

Full Metal Alchemist
Nichijou
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou

which I only watch sparingly (I can't remember the last time I watched FMA and I haven't watched Nichijou in a while)

Reviews:

One Piece (Sub) - Solid but way too much filler/not accurate to the manga as usual. And the episode titles are terrible and well, I have pretty much all the same complaints as usual. Going to complain to a friend of mine later to get some of the rage out. lol

One Piece (Dub)* - Solid, it's picking up. Soon we'll get to see some epic action on Enies Lobby.

Attack on Titan (Dub)* - It's not a super great dub, but it's not a terrible one either. I forgot a bit about this so I think I'll keep watching and enjoy it a bit. The time is a little inconvenient since I don't have my own TV and 11:30PM EST means people are still up (and therefore there's contention for the TVs), but eh.

Black Bullet - Great show, only problem is that it's slightly too fast-paced, as mentioned. Also, I'm okay with most of the dark elements, the only thing that's got me riddled with feels is that the fate of Enju is so sad. I'd totally be okay with some sort of deus ex machina or something to keep her alive, lol.

The Irregular at Magic High School - Absolutely great show, the action *finally* picked up the last episode and it was freaking amazing. It's got action, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, an actual plot and characterization... and the animation is *beautiful*. I really, really like the show now. I was worried a bit because there were a few parts that were like "wut" and all we ever saw were really short skirmishes where nothing really happened, but the last episode showed me what kind of great potential this thing really has once things really get going. I hope the awesomeness continues (which I think it will so long as the story doesn't stay too long on the dialog part of the show...).

One Week Friends - Despite only really being a show about friendship and with a little bit of romance, I'm still finding this very enjoyable. The characters are simple but interesting and the style is pretty likeable too. It's a really friendly/fuzzy show and yet it's also managed to get my feelings riled up a tiny bit, so it's a well-told story so far, IMO. I'm really curious to see how it continues, as well, unlike a lot of shows like this where it might feel like there's no point to the story and it's all just random crap (*cough K-On cough*). It's not a show that tries to do a lot but it's VERY enjoyable and still one of my top watches.

No Game No Life - I don't enjoy a lot of the fanservicey elements which has sort of taken this down a notch from how good it COULD be, but I've been doing my best to ignore it and the result is a funny, colorful, creative anime with some serious wit, cleverness, and even social insight, with blatant references to Phoenix Wright and slightly more subtle references to other things (I'm not sure if the similarity in themes to Code Geass is intended but it's like, totally there if you ask me, and I'm pretty sure they referenced Civilization at one point).

We Are All From Kawaisou - Possibly the least enticing show of all that I'm watching, it's weird and the characters are pretty bland and predictable, but it does have a decent comedy aspect and I find "Ricchan" (Rita?) to be a bit interesting. The main character and pretty much the only other guy besides him are kinda annoying, but then again I pretty much don't like anyone *besides* Ricchan, so meh... XD. It's sort of my "I'm bored so I guess I'll watch it and then appreciate all the other, better shows even more by way of comparison"-show, lol.

Fairy Tail - Pretty sure I said this before but it's not as good as the previous season. It's got more filler, more bland colors, and the animation isn't as good IMO (Natsu's fire doesn't look nearly as cool to me, for instance), with other problems mixed in. I mean, it's still solid enough that I'll watch it, but if you aren't at least like, somewhat of a Fairy Tail fan already, this isn't really for you, IMO. I preferred the execution of the previous season more and even *that* had a lot of flaws which mostly stemmed from the actual manga, not the execution of the anime (tbh the anime execution was pretty great and it was just all the cheesy lines/predictability/other flaws of the manga that made the anime kinda meh). Now not only does it have manga problems but it's got anime problems, so while it's still a good show by the average standard, I think the average person wouldn't really find it good enough to warrant watching--the main draw is definitely the action and without any blood or real sense of caring for the battles especially since it's obvious who will ultimately win, it's sort of a boring watch. Also, looks like they're adding some romance in, what the heck? >_>' and Lucy looks like Winrey (sp) from FMA in the anime's ending, lolol

[Mercurius]

The only thing i've really heard of The Irregular is that it sucks at geopolitics and exists primarily for the purpose of singing praises about the main character. I've only seen one episode myself and don't know how many critics have, though.

[Fire Blazer]

well you can't really put any stock into what you hear from others (unless they're people you know and trust because they have similar tastes etc. XP) and one episode doesn't say much about the show except maybe the animation style and quality

[Mercurius]

I looked at the world map for myself and even I can tell it's not exactly educated when it comes to geopolitics (and i'm not educated in geopolitics either)

I heard:
main character guy (whatever his name was) had his emotions removed for ubermagic powahz or something and is like one of the most powerful mages ever (I usually wouldn't care too much about this but I heard his opponents aren't impressive enough for it to matter to him)

even though his emotions were like, scientifically or magically removed to make him more awesome or something, over the course of the story he shows enough emotion and actually seems to recover them over time

they need to give his sister a guardian or something because one of their relatives were tortured and raped and experimented on or something (this one is probably conjecture from people trying to find a reason for why she would need one)

said sister absorbs the magic from main character guy because...because...um idk but whatever the case that means she gets moar magic powah and if potential emotional outbursts occur as a result her bro is there for her or something

china is basically the bad guys

there's a lack of plot beyond things specifically designed to show off how awesome the main character is (and this was said by someone watching No Game No Life this season and loving it, though I admit that isn't very credible when I think about the SAO haters that stick onto Log Horizon and sing praises about how much better it is than SAO in every way)

main character guy seems to be an expy of Shiva (the Hindu god)

in this show, talent > equality (or was that something someone got from reading the manga, idr) but whatever the case the protag doesn't find anything wrong with the social system they're living in (but some of the audience do because it's allegedly a meritocracy that doesn't give people without enough talent as much opportunity to earn said merit)

the uniforms are the best part just like the Schutzstaffel

I don't remember anything else

how much of that do you disagree with

[Fire Blazer]

I started reading and saw major spoilers >__>;

trying not to spoil myself so remind me later and maybe I'll take another look

[kirant]

Currently looking into Narutaru.

If I'm reading the reviews right this should be a muddled yet absolutely horrifying adventure. My sanity can take a few more hits, right?

[^Leo^]

just started watching the 2014 remake of dbz kai, and so far i'm impressed. only problem i have with it is that they're only doing buu saga. even that isn't really a problem though since i love buu.

[Fire Blazer]

Buu Saga bothered me on a few fronts but meh, whatever

my head canon which is totally unfair and doesn't make sense says that DBZ "should have" ended after the Cell saga

ofc that's a shallow thing of me to say but "meh" again

QUOTE

Currently looking into Narutaru. If I'm reading the reviews right this should be a muddled yet absolutely horrifying adventure. My sanity can take a few more hits, right?

no

no it can't, Kirant

...

if you're still sane after watching it though, let me know if it's any good

[kirant]

QUOTE (Fire Blazer @ May 18 2014, 08:44 AM)

if you're still sane after watching it though, let me know if it's any good

The anime, no. It helps smooth a few things over but the animation quality is dreadful (even for me and I kind of like the stills they have) and they try to cram too much into too little time in addition to only doing part of the manga. Big problem is that the anime is that it is a little indecisive and seemingly wants to take the edge off the series at times...which doesn't work too well since the anime is pretty much about being Bokurano + Pokemon after they forget to take their anti-depressants.

Just read the manga as it's better at wrapping up all the individual arcs.

Though I should mention this (spoilers AND stuff you might want to forget right after). I'll just go quote TVtropes on this part as it...well...I keep hoping I didn't actually just see that.

You have been warned (Click Here To Hide/Show Text)

It speaks volumes about the series' Crapsack World when death by claw rape can be described as "karmic [punishment]".


My own comments:
Claw rape and worm feeding I might add. Oh, and I should point out said character is 11 years old and was in lingerie straddling the leg of her older brother moments before.

Yeah. The world of Narutaru is kind of screwed up like that.

[Fire Blazer]

I am dying between the border of curiosity and dreading what is in that spoiler. Seriously Kirant, why must you do this to me. This is the ultimate form of torture. It could literally be a blank post in there and I would still die of apprehension. Please can you just delete whatever is in there so I don't even have to consider the temptation of opening it. Let me... UGH NO I CAN'T

*reads*

FACK

NO

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Kirant all my respect and fondness for you has gone down the drain

DOWN THE DRAIN

DAMMIT BLAZER DAMN YOUR LACK OF SELF-RESTRAINT FACK DAMMIT SHIT I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING AIASJDOIJQWPODAS DOPAW IDOPKASL JASKDJAS *explodes* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

*repeated headdesk*

must

forget

please, it's 4:58AM

please let me forget, it's late enough that my brain isn't fully functional... right?

I'M NOT JUST OVERREACTING BECAUSE IT'S LATE

THE IMAGERY

I CAN'T

NO

NO

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO *falls into endless dark abyss*

[Elwood]

Well I was watching Sword Art Online but I finished that. *cries alot* Now I'm watching Angel Beats and Cowboy Bebop.

[Fire Blazer]

SAO <3, not overly sad but there were a few sad moments for sure

Angel Beats though >_>;

My Updated List:

One Piece (Sub)
One Piece (Dub)*
Black Bullet
The Irregular at Magic High School
One Week Friends
No Game No Life
We Are All From Kawaisou
Fairy Tail

Dropped Attack on Titan (Dub)* because I didn't like the dub too much and it was a bit inconvenient. Some of the shows there are about to end. I also stopped watching some of the non-airing shows I was catching up on, though I watched a little bit of this show Hyouka (which I've also kinda stopped now). Pretty much just trying to keep up with airing shows for now instead of venturing off into other stuff like other times.

[Cero]

I took a little look at NaruTaru and am never again going back to it. Fuck that.

Anyways I've been re-reading Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. I really love this manga. It has quite a bit of dark themes in it but it balances it out with some comic relief at the end of every arc. The writing is good. The fight scenes are awesome. And the second season of the anime actually didn't fuck up and lived up to the manga (except it cut out some core and made some scenes slightly less awesome).

On another note I'm planning on watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure soon.

[kirant]

QUOTE (Fire Blazer @ Jun 9 2014, 01:59 AM)

please let me forget, it's late enough that my brain isn't fully functional... right?

I kind of wish the same thing.

Unfortunately given the international release its manga got, I think its real. The manga version is much worse (and something I won't go into) and actually stalled out translations in many countries because of the content. In fact, my understanding is that French localization projects stalled out for a decade because it was misbranded as shonen given its first volume.

[Fire Blazer]

it's ok

I forgot it

legit forgot

thank goodness

[Oblivion Knight]

Current on going:

No Game No Life

Kagerou Project

I'll probably finally start watching Attack on Titan soonish as well.

[kirant]

Just wrapped up the Narutaru manga.

...Well. Wasn't expecting that. Kinda glad the anime stopped where it did. The rest of the series is probably too horrifying to put on TV. Excellent depressant fuel though. Good story though a little scattered and confused at times. Not sure why people call it a horror manga...more psychological thriller and unnerving characters than anything else. As in, highly unnerving in the back half. Fun deconstruction of a 'mons franchise though...instead of having fun adventures with all powerful creatures everybody decides to become a homicidal maniac. Or horribly broken. Or both. It's well done in the final 3-4 volumes but I can't say it's for anybody who wants anything with a more happy universe than Warhammer 40k.

I think it also wins number 1 AND number 2 for most horrifying deaths I can imagine. Not even going to bother typing out the next one since...yeah. By the way, the one I listed before? That's number 2.

[Cero]

Saw the first Persona 3 movie. It was pretty enjoyable, though if you didn't know the game it wouldn't be as enjoyable and stuff like Tartarus aren't really explained well. Unlike the Persona 4 anime they completely axed the SL side stories and the fluff in between events. I think it works well to the movie as it allowed development of Junpei and Yukari. Kinda sad that Mitsuru and Akihiko barely got any focus but I expect that fixed in the next movie. I also liked what they did to Makoto (the pwotagonist), I found his character to be pretty interesting though he had so little lines. The beginning parts of the movie felt a little awkward especially when they have like 10-20 second scenes of Makoto by himself where nothing is said. The fights, while aren't super amazingness were animated well and paced well enough as to not overstay their welcome. The art was amazing. The movie made very good use of lighting to make the Dark Hour look eerily beautiful, the backgrounds are very detailed, and the characters were drawn well. With the music, Shoji Meguro delivers giving a great soundtrack.

Overall I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, though it ended off where nothing was really resolved at all.

8/10

[Fire Blazer]

it's not a cero out of ten?! O_o *shot*

[kirant]

QUOTE (Fire Blazer @ Jun 13 2014, 02:24 PM)

it's not a cero out of ten?! O_o *shot*

Why not a ten out of cero? Destroy the universe

I also finished formally writing up my thoughts for Narutaru. Read at your own risk