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Spring Anime 2012 | Welcome Home, Space Cowboy

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Soma

Member
Lupin III The Woman Called Fujiko Mine 01

Dat Fujiko.

I've never really been into the Lupin III series before aside from a few episodes from years ago so this is pretty much the first time I'm really delving into the show. I'll probably catch up on the movies and older episodes at a later time. But yeah this was a really fun episode with a great mix of comedy, action, and sexiness. And man this show just oozes style. I might have to add Michiko to Hatchin on my backlog as well.

Lupin's character is so great too.
bZ8tQ.gif


Hoping to see Jigen and Goemon in the next episode.
 

Ultimadrago

Member
LUPIN the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine 1

Good stuff, Near the top of my Spring list for a reason, looks great, Fujiko's boobs will save anime, looking forward to the next, etc, etc.
 

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
The next episode should prominently feature Jigen, based on the episode description. And Lupin looks so moe~ now.
 

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
Moeretsu Pirates 13
6iR2xh.jpg

A new and improved look for Marika!

A nice wrap up episode, I like how they're addressing a lot of the little issues people have mentioned, like the Monarchy fading away in Serenity, and what Grunhilde and Usagi were trying to do at the Colony Ship.


aV7YWh.jpg

The new blonde loli in Marika's harem is even cuter than the last one! I can't wait till she eventually tries out Marika's Pirate outfit!

0vF3Nh.jpg


Imagine how nice it would be to get a prequel series just about her. :(

It looks like there will be even more Omigawa next week, yay~ Next episode preview was awesome
just like all the others
 

Steroyd

Member
Lupin III: Dem Tits - 01

*Puffs cigar*

AAAAWWWW YEEAAHH.

Wonderful introduction, and I'm digging the stylisation and all hail the bewbs.
 

sonicmj1

Member
Lupin III 1
Because it's easier than writing the whole thing

Between Redline and this, I'm a card-carrying member of the Cult of Koike. I had a great time. This episode was beautiful to look at (besides the weird shadow filter sometimes), and I loved the fast-paced back-and-forth plotting as Lupin and Fujiko tried to one-up each other to get the prize.

And there were a lot of boobs.

I can't imagine how they could maintain this level of quality and action across a series, but you can bet I'll be aboard for the ride.
 

Articalys

Member
Medaka Box 1

In the face of overwhelming negativity, I enjoyed this episode. Pretty straight adaptation of the first chapter.
However, I will agree that although it lays the groundwork for what follows, the opening 20 chapters or so are probably the weakest part of the series. It's unfortunately likely to turn off new viewers.
Anyway, I thought the voices were good and the way they handled Medaka's overpowering ability was alright. Fanservice was all there in the original manga but it did come across as more exaggerated in the anime.

I'll look forward to seeing how far it manages to make it in the story. The further it gets, the more I think I'll enjoy it. For now, it's just nice to see it animated.
 

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
Kuromajo-san 1
A fun little 7 minute show, I can see myself continuing this, since there's not much effort involved.

R2gcx.jpg

Didn't we just have a thread in the OT about this? I guess moving to community worked out after all.
 

/XX/

Member
I'll say he's the reason why the show is popular. Tomokazu Sugita is a excellent seiyuu.
Now that he is in Hideo Kojima's 'harem' of voice actors, there is probably no escape for him. And also showed those nice legs as a cross-dresser, so he earned some bonus points!

And there was also this thread that made come along nicely that overall theory by Shin-seiki:

View topic - What Gendou said to Ritsuko: Solved? (seriously) :: EvaGeeks.org Forum - an Evangelion Fan Community
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/3760/What-Gendou-said-to-Ritsuko-Solved-seriously/

The amount of inferences being drawn from extremely limited evidence in that post is fairly emblematic of the problem with places like EvaGeeks. They've studied the material more closely than the creators and therefore end up filling in any gaps in the shows logic or structure with their own pet theories.
To be fair with them, that is a thread from Neon Genesis Evangelion discussions section on AnimeNation Forums. I think that insular communities where everyone knows each other tend to be digressive like that (this one we are here could be an example, as seen on recent pages), but in their case, when the topic to discuss is so specific (or restricted) that kind of overreaching discussions must be something more normal as time passes. Add to it that this were the seeds planted for Reichu, Shin-seiki & friends' subsequently formed Fan-Geeks Commentary (FGC) 'committee', and you have an ideal restricted environment to let yourself (your mind) loose on such a matter.

What is been discussed on EvaGeeks.org is an extension of what they already did.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I actually think that's a very neat example of why writing matters in anime.

Neither Ano Hana or Ano Natsu are seriously high-brow works. They're both works that are targeting a certain teenage demographic who would enjoy this kind of relationship/romance drama a long with some silly stuff. In other words, they aren't Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Both of these works was created by the same director and both works are created by a fairly talented animation studio. Yet Ano Natsu is clearly the better work due to the strength of the writing. The way the story progresses and the manner in which the characters and their relationships develop is what makes the work succeed.

I think this neatly demonstrates how good writing can improve any work, regardless of the genre.
Pretty much. And as a television series, Ano Hana fails mostly because Okada or whomever overplays the mystery, trying to artificially create tension by dragging the "secret" out for like 6 or 7 episodes.


I largely agree with all of this (I need to stop writing observations like this because I hear that being controversial attracts more attention) including what you're written about Natsume. However, even with Natsume there is a tendency to shy away from bleak conclusions where ever possible. On the other hand, a show like Mushi-Shi runs the gamut from extremely positive stories to extremely bleak ones.
And not everything has to be grimdark, is my point. When everything is bleak, bleak stories become boring and even then, I'd rather my grimdark shows actually be set in reality rather than science fiction/fantasy.

No, Ano Natsu actually goes places, ties it all together and cuts through the bs that's plagued many an anime of past.
In a nutshell. No one episode makes you hate watching the show by the end of the 20ish minutes anyhow.
 

Morris

Disco Devil
Sailor Moon R 60

3ebrr.gif


I thought I was gonna hate Chibiusa but yeah, that was a pretty badass introduction. The new villains have pretty cool designs, hope they live up to it.

Also,
"Usako" and "Mamo-chan" are dating now? IT'S TOO EARLY, MAN.

Lupin III: Fujiko and stuff 1

GLORIOUS ARTSTYLE, GLORIOUS BREASTS.
 
Moeretsu Pirates 13


A nice wrap up episode, I like how they're addressing a lot of the little issues people have mentioned, like the Monarchy fading away in Serenity, and what Grunhilde and Usagi were trying to do at the Colony Ship.

It looks like there will be even more Omigawa next week, yay~ Next episode preview was awesome
just like all the others

Well I just want to see Blaster Ririka have a larger role.
 
Persona 4 25

Finally got around to watching this. As usual, the show did some things really well and other things cringe-inducingly bad.

It was kind of fucked up though that
Yu bisects Bizarro Izanagi and then drives the blade through its face. Considering that summoners feel everything their Personas do, it came off as more than a little (unintentionally) sadistic.
Also,
Japanese!Adachi's laugh is so good.

The OVA seems like it could be quite awesome. I look forward to shoveling more money into the maws of my Fatlus overlords.
 

DiGiKerot

Member
Random anime flash back...

Did they ever make more stuff after My-Otome 0~S.ifr~ ?

I think the last *HiME franchise production was a new HiME short they did for the My-HiME BD box some time back now. Hisayuki, franchise character designer and the director on S.ifr (which I rather suspect was purely his own passion project) seems to have dropped off a cliff after doing designs for that Votoms OAV he worked on - probably living off Queens Blade character design royalties or something. The guy who wrote S.ifr seems to be writing Inazuma Eleven and Phi-Brain episodes.

The main *HiME franchise director Masakazu Obara, has done nothing other than Sora Kake Girl (which I like, but that show is 80% Sunrise injokes pretending to be a moe SF adventure show, which essential just makes it a less-subtle Xenoglossia) before returning for Accel World this season.

The main writer on *HiME, Hiroyuki Yoshino, separated from Sunrise to go do such tasteful fair as the original Seikon no Qwaser manga and the anime adaptation of Dance in the Vampire Bund, before destroying any sense of creditability with Guilty Crown (he also wrote Sora no Woto and Macross Frontier, and apparently a couple of episodes of Fractale) before he came crawling back to write for the Accel World adaptation.

I kind of wish they'd go back and make another *HiME, but they were seeing a 1000-ish copy drop in sales from series to series, and whilst S.ifr's sales certainly weren't terrible, it obviously wasn't good enough for them to consider it worthwhile continuing. I rather suspect that the comparative failure of SoraKake (and Xenoglossia before it) put them in an awkward position regarding kind-of-original-worksm because whilst SoraKakes sales weren't awful, they've failed to move forward on what were some very obvious OAV hooks they left in that last episode.
 

Articalys

Member
Sket Dance 52

It's Saaya time! They did a good job combining her two introductory chapters. Not that keen on the owl seemingly being CG though. Also, was it just me or did one of its hoots sound like Mayuri's "tuturu"? Wonder if Kana was secretly acting for two there... Anyway, I hear more of Nadeko than anyone else in Saaya's voice, for some reason.

The new ending song and animation are awesome. Looking forward to the new OP next week. Stories are some more amusing one-shots with Roman and Dante, looks like. Actually, I retract this. One of them is probably still the Fumi-Dante story (since she was the other new character they made a big deal about), but I'm not sure if the other will be Roman or not. They're probably going to combine the two Koma chapters I remember into one.
 

iavi

Member
I actually think that's a very neat example of why writing matters in anime.

Neither Ano Hana or Ano Natsu are seriously high-brow works. They're both works that are targeting a certain teenage demographic who would enjoy this kind of relationship/romance drama a long with some silly stuff. In other words, they aren't Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Both of these works was created by the same director and both works are created by a fairly talented animation studio. Yet Ano Natsu is clearly the better work due to the strength of the writing. The way the story progresses and the manner in which the characters and their relationships develop is what makes the work succeed.

I think this neatly demonstrates how good writing can improve any work, regardless of the genre.

To expound upon this, as you started to, to say Ano Natsu is an example of 'good' writing just doesn't work with me--It's far too derivative/unimaginative in its concept/scenarios/dialogues for me to consider it that, but to say it an example of solid scripting, or structure/layering, would be totally apt, imo. It succeeding in that whereas Anohana failed miserably. And that's definitely an aspect of good writing, but I think the divide should be noted.
 

Firemind

Member
Pretty much. And as a television series, Ano Hana fails mostly because Okada or whomever overplays the mystery, trying to artificially create tension by dragging the "secret" out for like 6 or 7 episodes.

If you're predisposed to believe several episodes are 'filler' for the purpose of dragging out the show and not a vehicle for character development, then I've got news for you. Ano Natsu pulls the same shit. They're both character-driven shows and as such plays on the strengths and flaws of its characters. The difference is that the characters in Ano Hana are predominantly flawed, or at least they're more exposed by the writers, which are a logical extension of its premise.

When you give the impression that Ano Natsu has good writing and that of Ano Hana to be indefinitely worse, then I'm going to call you out on your hyperbole.
 

Ryuukan

Member
So I watched this new Lupin III 01:

Nice story, nice art, too many shadows. Shadows that don't move, shadows that move independently, shadows that turn plaid. Ease up on the shadows please.

Also, Fujiko needs better animation the less clothes she's wearing.
 

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
FUJIKOIKE 1

As far as I'm concerned, this was a definite success. The biggest problem is the shadow filter used, half the time it doesn't look good. Otherwise, I really like the visual style it's using. It managed to keep a very 70's feel to the story and action, and the characters are likeable so far.
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Steins;Gate 15

Okay, so yeah, I'm sure there were more hints besides Suzu saying she "prophesied" Red being a spy for SERN. But, were there really? Other people knew about the 5100 as well, so what qualified her to be Titor more than others? (wait, that one time she said "Titor" after Daru didn't remember the name was still in motion, huh? Meaning the only explanation for remembering was having a past connection to the name Titor). Anyways, despite my overlooked details, moving on

So, this episode is more of the "huddle up" variety. Where characters join in commune to speak about the problem(s) at hand. And Okabe comes from left field to
transform his goal from focus on the broad world to Mayushii's life.
A wise choice, would've only overwhelmed himself more otherwise, however, without a doubt it will shift back or share weight later on.

Hmm
is "Suzu's Dad" who I think he is?

"Hey Meeehster, I am mad scientist! It so coooolu..." - haha, first and only clip I ever saw of Steins;Gate
Camera work and transitions was more of the same. Decent episode all around. Looking forward to events in the next one.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
If you're predisposed to believe several episodes are 'filler' for the purpose of dragging out the show and not a vehicle for character development, then I've got news for you. Ano Natsu pulls the same shit. They're both character-driven shows and as such plays on the strengths and flaws of its characters. The difference is that the characters in Ano Hana are predominantly flawed, or at least they're more exposed by the writers, which are a logical extension of its premise.

When you give the impression that Ano Natsu has good writing and that of Ano Hana to be indefinitely worse, then I'm going to call you out on your hyperbole.

When characters act irrationally and its written off as a series of coincidences, people are going to react violently. See "The Killing" (US version) as a prime example of how to drag on a story for 10ish hours through reveals and anti-reveals that add up to absolutely nothing but delaying tactics.
(That "Who killed Menma?" poster is still in my mind).
(Man, that "Every Hour Counts" is laughable now.)

Ano Hana builds its first half entirely on whether or not Menma is real. The fact that it's an obvious way only makes the audience wonder, "Well fuck, why didn't you do that earlier?".

If you want to consider the "hook" of Ano Natsu Ichika finding the secret location, then because it's not a pressing issue that weighs over the entire series (ie, you're not reminded every week that she has this mission), adventures to Okinawa and so forth are not as dissonant.
 
I think the last *HiME franchise production was a new HiME short they did for the My-HiME BD box some time back now. Hisayuki, franchise character designer and the director on S.ifr (which I rather suspect was purely his own passion project) seems to have dropped off a cliff after doing designs for that Votoms OAV he worked on - probably living off Queens Blade character design royalties or something. The guy who wrote S.ifr seems to be writing Inazuma Eleven and Phi-Brain episodes.

The main *HiME franchise director Masakazu Obara, has done nothing other than Sora Kake Girl (which I like, but that show is 80% Sunrise injokes pretending to be a moe SF adventure show, which essential just makes it a less-subtle Xenoglossia) before returning for Accel World this season.

The main writer on *HiME, Hiroyuki Yoshino, separated from Sunrise to go do such tasteful fair as the original Seikon no Qwaser manga and the anime adaptation of Dance in the Vampire Bund, before destroying any sense of creditability with Guilty Crown (he also wrote Sora no Woto and Macross Frontier, and apparently a couple of episodes of Fractale) before he came crawling back to write for the Accel World adaptation.

I kind of wish they'd go back and make another *HiME, but they were seeing a 1000-ish copy drop in sales from series to series, and whilst S.ifr's sales certainly weren't terrible, it obviously wasn't good enough for them to consider it worthwhile continuing. I rather suspect that the comparative failure of SoraKake (and Xenoglossia before it) put them in an awkward position regarding kind-of-original-worksm because whilst SoraKakes sales weren't awful, they've failed to move forward on what were some very obvious OAV hooks they left in that last episode.

ahh... such a shame. More 'magic girl' shows need to learn how to do quick yet effective stock footage henshins.
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Steins;Gate 15

Okay, so yeah, I'm sure there were more hints besides Suzu saying she "prophesied" Red being a spy for SERN. But, were there really? Other people knew about the 5100 as well, so what qualified her to be Titor more than others? (wait, that one time she said "Titor" after Daru didn't remember the name was still in motion, huh? Meaning the only explanation for remembering was having a past connection to the name Titor). Anyways, despite my overlooked details, moving on

So, this episode is more of the "huddle up" variety. Where characters join in commune to speak about the problem(s) at hand. And Okabe comes from left field to
transform his goal from focus on the broad world to Mayushii's life.
A wise choice, would've only overwhelmed himself more otherwise, however, without a doubt it will shift back or share weight later on.

Hmm
is "Suzu's Dad" who I think he is?

"Hey Meeehster, I am mad scientist! It so coooolu..." - haha, first clip I ever saw of Steins;Gate
Camera work and transitions was more of the same. Decent episode all around. Looking forward to events in the next one.

You need to watch episode 16 right now.
 

Defuser

Member
Medaka Box
That boob physics....oh gainax and they actually got Katsuyuki Konishi to voice a Kamina lookalike delinquent, a poor homage.

I pity those anime watchers only if they haven't read the manga.
 

madp

The Light of El Cantare
The best stuff in this thread always happens while I'm asleep, so I'm stuck reading it without posting for the rest of my days :(

I had to adjust to a normal sleeping schedule per doctor's orders. 3AM AnimeGAF is one of the things I miss the most about having to do this.
 

iavi

Member
Holy shit! Watanabe's the music producer on KoikeLupin too!?

E:

This OP really is the baddesst assest thing I've seen in a good second.
 

/XX/

Member
Medaka Box is Nisio's failed attempt at writing a highschool comedy. It's best avoided.
High-school comedy? It goes all over the place and beyond genres (and the medium), and this doesn't even commence to describe that anything-goes tripe camouflaged as self-parody...
but I'm going to continue reading it (and now watch the series). Good day sir!

The best stuff in this thread always happens while I'm asleep, so I'm stuck reading it without posting for the rest of my days :(
True... damn you, time zones!

Of legitimate interest: The animator behind the Tatami Galaxy ED, Takuya Hosogane, has got a new short music video (vocaloid alert) which is pretty fun.
Everyone's favorite foreigner animator Bahi JD (that evidently worked on it) posted on his Tumblr quite a bit of interesting information, and his own rough work, for this project (http://bahijd.tumblr.com/tagged/IA).

Quite a collection of '.GIF Generation' animators present; Ryosuke Sawa (Ryo-timo or Ryo-chimo), Yoshibe (yotube), Bahi JD, Rapparu, Niki Izumimoto, Nobuyuki Matsuo, Noriyuki Imaoka, Ryosuke Nishii (Sugimoto), koya58 (koyaa58 or koya), Shunsuke Takarai and Yūki Watanabe with animation direction of hidessu.

I'm not sure if the transcription of some of the names is accurate enough. Please, tell me if there is an error, thanks!
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Steins;Gate 16

Daru =
Barrel
Haha

Woah Okabe!
You promised a free world pretty fast!
Thought it'd take a few episodes.

And Mayushii hits a home run on daddy guessing! More like Mauryshii, amirite?

Daru's hugging words...I lol'd they were Golden.
Also, the numbers have changed. That means the gang is safe...ordoesit?! DUNDUNDUUN R.I.P. Suzu

Damn...heartfelt episode that also answered a question and showed the punishment of
alternate motives. One life is extinguished to allow another to burn on
.

*sniffle*
 
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