The Anime Thread

[MortAd]

Yeah, pretty soon we´ll have a confirmation... In the meantime, I´ll be enjoying another secon season I was excepting this year... Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger... So far is good, but I was hoping for a better animation... I´m not saying it´s bad, I like it, and it´s by far better than some OVAs that don´t even have a regular series animation level, like the Saint Seiya ones

[Osiris12345]

No love for Saint Seiya?

[ShinjiPG]

Only hate my friend. Only hate.

[MortAd]

Originally Posted by Osiris12345

No love for Saint Seiya?

Actually, I feel a lot of love for Saint Seiya... That´s the main reason why I stopped being a fan, because the more material was coming out, the more dissapointed I felt.

Being honest, Saint Seiya it´s just a very mediocre manga which was adapted into a not so mediocre anime. But I watched it when I was eleven years old, and by that time the only anime I had seen was Captain Tsubasa. So, I really liked the series, became a huge fan, went to see the movie on the cinema and so on. And the series ended, and it was a good experience for me. But years later I started to watch Dragon Ball, and then I became a anime/manga fan in general, so I started to discover a lot of series which were so great. And also I grew up, and my perspective of things changed a lot. So when I encountered Saint Seiya again, and I watched all the series, I found it very stupid. But I still liked it since all the good memories I had from the first time I watched it. You can call it a guilty pleasure, I guess, so I was still ok with the series (and I mean the anime, because the manga it´s just plain awful).

But then the Hades OVAs came out. The Chapter Sanctuary was quite nice, because I felt that they were trying to update Saint Seiya in some way, making it more like a new anime instead of an old mediocre 80´s show. The new movie came out, and I found it just ok, but the new direction left me interested. I was hoping for more OVAs and the movie sequel, but the waiting just became too long.Then a new set of OVAs came out, but not the movie sequel. And what did I find when I watch the new set of OVAs? Just crap. What happened? It´s like I was back in that time when I first watched the series, but in the wrong way... I mean, the direction was just so plain and uninspired, and the animation was too painfull to watch... Come on! The original series was by far so much better animated that these OVAs, and it´s from 1986! I kept watching, trying to see some upgrade but on the contrary, things were getting worse. I stopped watching the OVAs, only to come again to see the final one, the end of all Saint Seiya... Sorry, that was megacrap. So no more Saint Seiya for me. I can´t stand a series to be destroyed by it´s own creator, and also I can´t stand a series to be degradated at that point...

Now there´s a Saint Seiya - The Lost Canvas anime coming out... I don´t know what to expect, since I have read some of the manga and I didn´t find it interesting at all, just boring an repetitive... But well. I hope the animation team can upgrade it somehow...

[bucklemyshoe]

Originally Posted by bucklemyshoe

Top 10!

10.Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan

In short this is a very light hearted show that is simply awesome. It's quick, blunt, and violent. Everything about it from it's loli exploits to it's over the top blood gushing is amusing. If you like to laugh and can look at something without taking it 100% serious then this is a show for you.

09.Voices of a Distant Star

Besides the fact that this short film has some of the best mech combat out there I found the story very touching. It's one of those few films that you can watch fully knowing what's going to happen and it still feels like you've never seen it before.

08.Noir

Girls and guns in the best way. This show is a lot to take in and sadly I think that's why so many people don't appreciate it. I do need to mention that Kirika is one of my all time favorite characters and that if you're a Rei Ayanami fan you will probably connect with Kirika as well.

07.Battle Angel

This was one of the first anime I saw and I've never stopped liking it. The short 2 episode OVA gave just enough taste to motivate me into reading the entire manga series. This has always been a prime example for me to showcase everything I love about anime.

06.Serial Experiments Lain

Again, one of the first shows I saw. I used to watch the DVD box set over and over again. The way it was presented was so different than anything else I had ever seen. Even if you focus you still miss things. After viewing it again and again you form some weird kind of connection with Lain. This show asks so many questions and it's up to you if you want to look deeper for answers.

05.Blood+

This show is next to flawless. Everything in it serves a purpose and while it is 50 episodes long, you never lose interest. When Saya fights, you want her to win. When questions are answered you feel closure.

04.School Days

Never in my life have I connected to a show as much as this. I'm going to give away details but I personally feel that this the greatest ending to any show.

03.Ergo Proxy

A simple show about journey. I can find countless pieces of symbolism in this show and apply it to my own life. I love the animation and overall feel. I admire how they kept the cast small and allowed you to really connect with the characters, each different.

02.Welcome to the N.H.K.

Welcome to the NHK is just one absolute wild entertaining ride. It's funny because the premises of the show sounds so boring. The thing that places this so high on my list is besides the life like situations (you probably know someone in at least one of them!) is what Misaki does for Sato. Without giving anything away, I find it to be the most romantic thing anyone could possibly ever do.

01. Lucky Star

When I watch this show I laugh. When I watch this show I see elements of myself. When I watch this show I'm proud to be an anime fan. When I watch this show I'm happy.

BTW once Kara no Kyoukai is fully released it will easily be in my top 5. The movies are absolutely amazing.

[kuro_neko]

it has been a LONG LONG LONG time since I really seriously watched any anime. the last anime I watched (and didn't finish) was the final installment of the "girls with guns trilogy" by BEETRAIN *lovelovelove*, El Cazador de la Bruja, or just El Cazador for short. NOIR and Madlax are two of my favorites, both of them are in my top 10 somewhere. El Cazador combined a sense of adventure with a kind of unique setting and a sometimes serious story, but remained a kind of silly fun take on the set up that NOIR established and Madlax screwed with.

Noir is awesome for being, well, noir.

Madlax was awesome for being trippy as all hell.

El Cazador is just kind of like a love note to send off the trilogy with.

My first series anime was Shoujo Kakumei Utena, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. That is the PERFECT show for high school aged teenagers. It just held a real resonance for me at the time, and while I perhaps don't relate with it the same way I did then, I can still remember how serious I was about it at the time.

Then there is Excel Saga. What else can you say about that series? Fucked up, but great.

[Ringo~Bingo]

I loved Excel Saga, genuine laugh out funny but when they changed the (English) voice actress halfway through the show it kinda spoiled it for me, sure she did quite a good job to mimic the previous but it was still enough to put me off.

Agree with Noir & Madlax, I love those two as well.

[kuro_neko]

I never watched the english dubs. but I remember reading that the first actress hurt her voice recorder in such a short period of time, so it makes sense they had to replace her. the original japanese voice actress is one of my favorites, so I enjoyed watching her. I mean, watching her talk about Sailor Moon in that one episode was priceless (same voice actress voices Excel and Usagi, also Mirelle from Noir).

[Osiris12345]

Originally Posted by MortAd

Actually, I feel a lot of love for Saint Seiya... That´s the main reason why I stopped being a fan, because the more material was coming out, the more dissapointed I felt.

Being honest, Saint Seiya it´s just a very mediocre manga which was adapted into a not so mediocre anime. But I watched it when I was eleven years old, and by that time the only anime I had seen was Captain Tsubasa. So, I really liked the series, became a huge fan, went to see the movie on the cinema and so on. And the series ended, and it was a good experience for me. But years later I started to watch Dragon Ball, and then I became a anime/manga fan in general, so I started to discover a lot of series which were so great. And also I grew up, and my perspective of things changed a lot. So when I encountered Saint Seiya again, and I watched all the series, I found it very stupid. But I still liked it since all the good memories I had from the first time I watched it. You can call it a guilty pleasure, I guess, so I was still ok with the series (and I mean the anime, because the manga it´s just plain awful).

But then the Hades OVAs came out. The Chapter Sanctuary was quite nice, because I felt that they were trying to update Saint Seiya in some way, making it more like a new anime instead of an old mediocre 80´s show. The new movie came out, and I found it just ok, but the new direction left me interested. I was hoping for more OVAs and the movie sequel, but the waiting just became too long.Then a new set of OVAs came out, but not the movie sequel. And what did I find when I watch the new set of OVAs? Just crap. What happened? It´s like I was back in that time when I first watched the series, but in the wrong way... I mean, the direction was just so plain and uninspired, and the animation was too painfull to watch... Come on! The original series was by far so much better animated that these OVAs, and it´s from 1986! I kept watching, trying to see some upgrade but on the contrary, things were getting worse. I stopped watching the OVAs, only to come again to see the final one, the end of all Saint Seiya... Sorry, that was megacrap. So no more Saint Seiya for me. I can´t stand a series to be destroyed by it´s own creator, and also I can´t stand a series to be degradated at that point...

Now there´s a Saint Seiya - The Lost Canvas anime coming out... I don´t know what to expect, since I have read some of the manga and I didn´t find it interesting at all, just boring an repetitive... But well. I hope the animation team can upgrade it somehow...

I don't know if this makes me dumb or not but I watched the original series a few years ago for the first time. I actually found myself really enjoying it. Personally it's one of my favorite shounen series because I enjoy the Greek setting, the idea of the saints fighting for a goddess, the characters, the great music, and it also has some awesome fight scenes and techniques used by the saints. I take the cheesiness factor with a grain of salt. It can be very campy but it also has a lot of heart and I think that's what won me over in the end. I've personally enjoyed all of the movies. Even though EVERY SINGLE ONE ends with Seiya getting his Sagittarius gold cloth and shooting the main villain with the arrow with the exception of Tenkai Overture.

[Simon]

Sailor Moon. There are no others.