∀ General Anime Discussion

[UltraDude]

I really liked the Zeta ending but damn it gets frustrating watching all the tragic endings the majority of characters get. The last big fight ending was awesome for me. I doubt I'll see a better final showdown soon in a Gundam series. Part of the ending actually makes hiding behind chairs hilarious and epic.

I honestly overuse my Zeta characters in Super Robot Wars just to try to make up for it in some small ways. Even though I've only gotten through about thirty episodes of Zeta. Need to find the rest of the double-disc sets, probably have to buy them online. At least not much is spoiled, since SRW4 only has menus translated :P Fa for ace pilot status woo!

Should (finally!) be watching Haruhi over the coming month at my college's anime club, and all of TTGL that I haven't seen through spring along with Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, all of which come highly recommended from a sort of trusted friend (endless Evangelion hype makes me leery of anyone's tastes).

[Nerd-o-rama]

In my experience, Evangelion is a love-to-hate-it kinda thing. People who endlessly praise it usually didn't understand it, and people who hate on it mainly hate the people who don't shut up about it.

Now Zeta...I have had that spoiled for me, but that's not preventing me from watching it, or playing SRW Alpha. Guess what the major plot is again?

[nothingclever]

This is a classic manly tears moment.

http://www.mangafox.com/page/manga/r...71977/page.12/

[Lord of Rapture]

I was hesistant at reading Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, because from what I had seen of the art style and the story, it didn't seem to fit my taste, not to mention I'm currently addicted to Fallout 3.

Then I saw this.

I changed my mind.

[Innis Cabal]

The art is a bit strange at first, not very common in manga, but i've found reading up to Steel Ball Run that it really does grow on you.

The level of brutal combat in the manga really is second to none in many regards, and the strange art style lends itself to providing the action oriented storylines a better feel.

Also, once stands get introduced

Spoiler

Show

and don't feel let down because it takes untill the third storyline of them to actually show up

things just get more insane as the manga goes on. Though if you wan't some advice, skip Diamons is Unbreakable. Its boring, poor character development and really dosn't contribute much to the series over all.

[nothingclever]

I read Diamond is Unbreakable and it was good to me. The story arc I like least is Golden Wind because it is the least connected to the rest of the JoJo series. It's very self-contained and the main villain Dio isn't even included. None of what happens in it has much if any impact on everything else. The main character isn't even part of the Joestar family line and he develops a power that basically makes him invincible at the end which is lame since until that point there was always some kind of weakness to each character's power(s).

It's still good in its own way though.

Diamond is Unbreakable gives you an explanation as to how many people get their powers such as Dio's followers in other parts and why people are mysteriously drawn together. The main villain isn't Dio in this one either but there is at least a reason why the story is told. The protagonist is part of the Joestar family line and his neighbourhood is being threatened so he has a reason to be written about and to fight. If he wasn't included in between other storylines people might have gotten tired of seeing Jotaro so often.

Golden Wind is basically like a What if? story. The cast is entirely new except for 1 character reintroduced near the end.

[Neon Knight]

Hokay, today tomorrow sometime I'll watch the four more episodes of Full Metal Panic. Hopefully that will turn out well.

On other fronts:

Recently, I've been reading through everything on onemanga.com that's marked with the romance category, mostly in an attempt to find a long running series that I can get all emotionally invested in, but also because bad shoujo is just as MST3k-able as anything else.

So while on my quest, I found a few items of curiosity:

Sakura no Uta. It's a short slice of life piece, and kinda nice if you like that sorta stuff. It is also the perfect opening chapters/set up for a harem comedy. I simply cannot believe that this isn't the adaption of some dating sim game or something. Can anyone confirm or deny this? To all appearances, it is just a short little slice of life story, but I just can't buy that. There is major harem dramatic tension potential here.

Tsuiteru Kanojo is probably the best thing I've read so far in my quest. It's not anything super innovative or unique, but I feel that it manages to do what it does rather nicely. It balances its various elements with poise and it does everything it takes on with a refreshing degree of competence. It really managed to evoke some emotion out of me, which is more than I can say for most of the stuff I've read.

It might not stick with you forever, but I still think it's worth checking out.

As something of a tangent, why is telling someone you like them in shoujo always a "confession?" It's almost always phrased that way. Is there any particular reason for that convention?

[Lord Iames Osari]

I believe this may contain an answer to your tangential question:

con⋅fess /kənˈfɛs/ –verb (used with object)
1. to acknowledge or avow [...] by way of revelation.

[Nerd-o-rama]

My guess is that there's a specific one-word verb in Japanese for "to tell someone you like him/her", which gets translated as 'confess'. The convention probably started in anime because "tell him I like him" has way more syllables than whatever the Japanese equivalent is, and they needed to match the mouth movements. This is all just guessing, though.

Oh, and the last four eps of Full Metal Panic? Awesome. You'll enjoy them I'm sure.

Hey Osari, nothingclever, et al. Subs or dubs for Zeta Gundam?

[Innis Cabal]

I read Diamond is Unbreakable and it was good to me. The story arc I like least is Golden Wind because it is the least connected to the rest of the JoJo series. It's very self-contained and the main villain Dio isn't even included. None of what happens in it has much if any impact on everything else. The main character isn't even part of the Joestar family line and he develops a power that basically makes him invincible at the end which is lame since until that point there was always some kind of weakness to each character's power(s).

It's still good in its own way though.

Diamond is Unbreakable gives you an explanation as to how many people get their powers such as Dio's followers in other parts and why people are mysteriously drawn together. The main villain isn't Dio in this one either but there is at least a reason why the story is told. The protagonist is part of the Joestar family line and his neighbourhood is being threatened so he has a reason to be written about and to fight. If he wasn't included in between other storylines people might have gotten tired of seeing Jotaro so often.

Golden Wind is basically like a What if? story. The cast is entirely new except for 1 character reintroduced near the end.

Actually Vento Aureo has two characters from previous storylines, even with Jotaro having a small apperance in the start.

Only two story lines, Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusades have Dio in them, the first introducing him and the third killing him off in rather spectacular fashion. Stone Ocean brings him up and is part of the Stardust Crusader metaplot, but it introduces all new characters like every other series, Dio and Jotaro being the two with the most "screen time"

Onto Vento Aureo, Giorno Giovana is infact a member of the Joestar line, he has the birthmark to prove it. Since Dio stole the body of Jonathan he was actually a Joestar as well by what ever crazy vampire rules they use. Its stated that Gio Gio(Jo Jo) is the son of Dio and an japanese woman. So in reality he is the son of Jonathan even though it was Dio's "body"

Likewise Vento Aureo builds on the info of the arrowheads and explains exactly how they came into the world, and how stands started appearing.

Out of all the storylines, the one that dosn't take place in a real setting is Diamond is Unbreakable, and while the Stand Arrow is important afterwards, it is re-explained in Vento Aureo

[Lord Iames Osari]

My guess is that there's a specific one-word verb in Japanese for "to tell someone you like him/her", which gets translated as 'confess'. The convention probably started in anime because "tell him I like him" has way more syllables than whatever the Japanese equivalent is, and they needed to match the mouth movements. This is all just guessing, though.

Oh, and the last four eps of Full Metal Panic? Awesome. You'll enjoy them I'm sure.

Hey Osari, nothingclever, et al. Subs or dubs for Zeta Gundam?

Alas, to my shame, I have not seen Zeta, so I could not tell you.

[Nerd-o-rama]

...what? Seriously? I thought you were the #1 Gundam Fanboy around these parts. Hmph.

Anyway, the dub is bad, but not amusingly bad enough to make me want to watch it instead of the subs. Then again, the subs aren't terrifically well-written either, but at least I get to listen to Shuichi Ikeda while I read them.

On the subject, though.

Original Zeta opening
International Zeta opening because there was an issue with the rights on the first song.

Is it just me, or is the international opening much better, despite just being an incidental orchestral piece grabbed from later in the series?

[RPGuru1331]

Alas, to my shame, I have not seen Zeta, so I could not tell you.

....But you named the chat..

You who love.. hate.. yankees.. clouds..
Head explodes

[Nerd-o-rama]

You know, it's kinda pissing me off. I'm playing SRW Alpha, and I've got one Gundam Mark II. In the show though, as of episode five, the AEUG has all three of the stupid things. Well, two and three quarters now. Don't worry, Quattro, legs are purely decorative in space anyway.

Then again, in SRW Alpha, the AEUG also has Gundam Deathscythe and the Huckebein Mark II at this point (and the Hyakku Shiki, really early), but it'd still be nice to have better suits for Emma and the mooks.

[RPGuru1331]

Wow, really? How did Emma not join in a Gundam Mk II? That's like.. nonsense. Then rather then Camille's detonating, he'll probably pass it over to her.

...Also what the hell is she in? The Rick Dias?

[nothingclever]

Actually Vento Aureo has two characters from previous storylines, even with Jotaro having a small apperance in the start.

Only two story lines, Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusades have Dio in them, the first introducing him and the third killing him off in rather spectacular fashion. Stone Ocean brings him up and is part of the Stardust Crusader metaplot, but it introduces all new characters like every other series, Dio and Jotaro being the two with the most "screen time"

Onto Vento Aureo, Giorno Giovana is infact a member of the Joestar line, he has the birthmark to prove it. Since Dio stole the body of Jonathan he was actually a Joestar as well by what ever crazy vampire rules they use. Its stated that Gio Gio(Jo Jo) is the son of Dio and an japanese woman. So in reality he is the son of Jonathan even though it was Dio's "body"

Likewise Vento Aureo builds on the info of the arrowheads and explains exactly how they came into the world, and how stands started appearing.

Out of all the storylines, the one that dosn't take place in a real setting is Diamond is Unbreakable, and while the Stand Arrow is important afterwards, it is re-explained in Vento Aureo

Well Dio is still the major villain overall.
He is the primary antagonist in Phantom Blood.
Battle Tendency explains the origins of his vampire powers with different villains that are like him only stronger.
Stardust Crusaders: He's the main antagonist.
Diamond is Unbreakable explains his stand powers and how he got his followers in Stardust Crusaders while the primary antagonist is very different.
Stone Ocean is all about Dio's plan which is carried out by a loyal follower introduced in Stardust Crusaders. The whole world is remade because of Dio's plan succeeding.
Steel Ball Run features him as one of the major contenders and after he gets powers of his own he looks like he'll be a major antagonist or a main character protagonist if he ever decided to help the others instead of competing/fighting against them.

You don't miss anything in the big picture of the author's world by not reading Golden Wind besides seeing what happened to Polnareff. He could've just died as it was implied before so having him come back isn't tying up a loose end. I forgot that Jotaro makes an appearance but he didn't need to be included for anything to make sense in the other stories. Jolyne doesn't want to see him when she's in prison and he's implied to have been neglecting his family way more than the time it takes to meet the characters in Italy or whatever. The story further explains things about the arrow that are never used later so they don't matter. Stabbing a stand with an arrow to make it stronger isn't anything used again later. The arrow I think I remember being explained as being made from a mysterious alien substance doesn't really add anything either.

You can argue Giovanni is a Joestar but he clearly sees himself as way more like Dio's son and he is. You can argue biologically he's part of the Joestar's because of his mark but he isn't really portrayed as much of one. He also doesn't marry and continue the line either.

The whole basis of the story was super optional. Dio didn't need to have a son for any reason.

Ironically despite being about Dio's son the story explains the least amount of stuff actually about Dio. Diamond is Unbreakable explains way more.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Wow, really? How did Emma not join in a Gundam Mk II? That's like.. nonsense. Then rather then Camille's detonating, he'll probably pass it over to her.

...Also what the hell is she in? The Rick Dias?

Yep, she's in Quattro's red Rick Dias at the moment (basically, the plot seems to have had nearly every detail changed since Camille's parents didn't show up; I've got one Mk II, but all three Rick-Diases). However, since I now have Gundam, NT-1 Gundam Alex, Gundam GP-01, and V Gundam, as well as another four or so mooks, along with all their pilots, there may be some shuffling of assignments going on.

And yes, I think "canonically", she gets Camille's Mark II/Super Gundam when he upgrades to the Zeta.

Hm. Amuro in the Alex makes sense, as it was originally developed for Newtypes and, specifially, him. I'd put Chris in the original, but she's got a poor-ass melee stat, and Gundam actually has a decent melee weapon (lol Hyper Hammer)...

[Kato]

Hm... Just gotta think... Emma was piloting nothing but the Mark II throughout Zeta, wasn't she? So it's not much sense putting her in a Rick Dias (Dynasty Warriors Gundam did the same, but it did annoy me there as well. Especially considering Mark II was pretty good.)
Though, while we are at Mobile Suits once more... why is Hyaku Shiki not accepted as Gundam by most of the fandom? It's not much different from a golden colored Mark II, if it is at all. Any ideas? (Okay, it's not called Gundam, yeah...)

@ nerd:
I've only been watching the subs, but when it comes to subs vs dubs I'm kind of a purist anyway. Zeta's original voices are pretty good, imo, considering when it was created.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Hm... Just gotta think... Emma was piloting nothing but the Mark II throughout Zeta, wasn't she? So it's not much sense putting her in a Rick Dias (Dynasty Warriors Gundam did the same, but it did annoy me there as well. Especially considering Mark II was pretty good.)

It is probably for variety reasons. Gundam Wing Endless Duel put Noien and Lady Une in Mercurius and Vayate despite the fact that they only really piloted mass production mobile suits in the series and never piloted those particular suits.

edit:

ALMOST right. Une piloted the Wing, if only for some moments to save Treize's ass. (Though, remember the Endless Duel thing as well. But they where pretty cheap pilots so to get any balancing in it, it was neccessary, I think)

I remembered that, which is why I made sure that I said "only really".

Using a Gundam as a glorified shuttle in a pointless scene that added nothing to the series isn't the same thing as "being the pilot of a unique mobile suit".

[Kato]

It is probably for variety reasons. Gundam Wing Endless Duel put Noien and Lady Une in Mercurius and Vayate despite the fact that they only really piloted mass production mobile suits in the series and never piloted those particular suits.

ALMOST right. Une piloted the Wing, if only for some moments to save Treize's ass. (Though, remember the Endless Duel thing as well. But they where pretty cheap pilots so to get any balancing in it, it was neccessary, I think)

[wolflord]

Here is a question for anyone who has seen the second Inuyasha movie. Have you noticed the symbolism in that movie, or in fact the entire series? The number five is used a lot in the series and in the second movie in particular. Let me know if you see what I'm talking about.

[nothingclever]

Since this thread has been pretty quiet today, I figured I'd ask, what mangas are you posters currently reading?

Today I've just started reading Souten no Ken/Fist of the Blue Sky, the prequel to Hokuto no Ken. I had never really heard of it until recently and I'm glad I found it since the art is way better than Hokuto no Ken and it's just as ridiculously awesome. As soon as I saw the protagonist block several bullets with his dining utensils I of course knew it would be a great read.


I'm also reading several other mangas but I'm waiting for new chapters for all of them. Pluto recently got an update on OneManga and I've been waiting quite a while to continue reading it since I think it's great. I usually stick to action oriented stories but I like the unintentional funniness of the setting and story is better than most. It's by Urasawa Naoki, the same guy that did Monster. I think Monster is total trash and this is way better so if you think Monster is good then you might enjoy this even more since it doesn't suffer from all the terrible flaws I think Monster has.

Besides these two I'm reading Hajime no Ippo, Vagabond, Berserk, Riki-Oh, Shigurui, Zetman, Vinland Saga, Steel Ball Run, Claymore and probably some others that I'm can't currently remember. I read Bleach as well even though I think it sucks in comparison to other stuff just to keep up to date on what 4channers are saying.

[Rogue 7]

Bleach, Naruto, Negima, and Fullmetal Alchemist. The first two...you know, they've both got real good reasons for being as popular as their are. They've got great casts of characters, great battles, and, in Naruto's case, a great setting. They're impacted by severe pacing flaws (Bleach was awesome for a while, but these fights are dragging on a bit, though they look to be picking up again), and Naruto suffered a bit from focus on characters I disliked in times past. However, recently (thanks to kickass fights), it's been quite good, and the universe has spawned both awesome PbP games I'm in and some seriously awesome fan fiction. Besides, at their hearts they're both manga that place a great degree of focus on fights, and that can be awesome.

Fullmetal Alchemist and Negima, on the other hand, are both incredibly fantastic. Great settings, great characters (30+ in Negima, even), fantastic pacing, and in Negima's case, breathtaking art. It's a tossup which one's my favorite.

[wolflord]

So I take it no one cares about the last post I made about the symbolism in Inuyasha? Well, anyway if you do care to respond please do so.

[Rogue 7]

Dude, you posted less than an hour ago. Most of the regular posters aren't even on. I had no comment because I don't watch Inuyasha (and honestly, I don't think many people here do, either), but less than an hour? Give it some time, mate.

And just to make this post a bit more constructive, the Full Metal Panic light novels are quite good.

[wolflord]

Dude, you posted less than an hour ago. Most of the regular posters aren't even on. I had no comment because I don't watch Inuyasha (and honestly, I don't think many people here do, either), but less than an hour? Give it some time, mate.

And just to make this post a bit more constructive, the Full Metal Panic light novels are quite good.

Sorry I'm a little hyper right now so I'm not very patient. Your right though I should wait for more than an hour.

[Castel]

So Im thinking of watching Higurashi no naku koro ni, at first I thought the characters were cute, seeing them in one of those youtube videos. After a little investigating what the show is actually about I find out, to my surprise, its of the Mystery and Horror genre... the kinds of anime I never watch.

Any recomendatios or precautions from those who've seen the series?

[Neon Knight]

Let me echo the Negima recommendation. The characters are great, the setting interesting, and the art is very appealing. Personally, I find the pacing to be a tad rough in areas, but overall I still enjoy it, despite the fact that all my favorite characters are relatively secondary/minor (they're Konoka, Makie, and Ayaka btw). You could certainly do far, far worse.

I'm also reading Nagasarete Airantou. It's nothing special, but I like the characters. It's comfort food for me, kinda like yuri('s Revenge. The Red Alert 2 expansion pack. That is totally what I meant. Incidentally, a C&C manga/anime would kick ass.)

As I earlier noted, I've been plugging through the romance category searching for a good series. There was one or two one shots/short run series that were worth a look if you can tolerate shoujo with the modest goal of being a good example of its particular genre's conventions.

Also, I just finished watching Episode of 12 of Full Metal Panic (the end of the Behemoth arc.) I can now say I like the Captain and LC, and I like Kurz even more than before (even if he does remind a little bit of Raiden.) The rest of the cast still has yet to gain anything other than apathy from me. Still not sold on the series, but it is improving.

I also found the Behemoth itself to be utterly hilarious. Episode name: One Night Stand. Pilot of Behemoth: Profusely sweaty. Wields a giant, somewhat suggestive sword. Is defeated by a groin attack. Is bright frickin cherry/whore red. I decided to mute the ending song and play Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" over the credits. Seemed fitting. It's better than when I muted the orchestral music in 2001: A Space Odyssey and listened to Death Magnetic after getting bored of trying to get that Echoes/Time Gate sync to work.

[wolflord]

So Im thinking of watching Higurashi no naku koro ni, at first I thought the characters were cute, seeing them in one of those youtube videos. After a little investigating what the show is actually about I find out, to my surprise, its of the Mystery and Horror genre... the kinds of anime I never watch.

Any recomendatios or precautions from those who've seen the series?

What is Higurashi no naku koro ni? If I may ask.

[Castel]

What is Higurashi no naku koro ni? If I may ask.

Well, this is the synopsis i read.

About mangas I'm reading right now:

• One Piece
• Bleach (this one mostly because its updated at the place where i read most mangas...)
• Naruto (same reason as bleach.... but its getting interesting again. Kind of.)
• Fairy Tail
• Negima (this one is probably my favorite right now... even if it has its issues. To quote Asuna "I am not a Lolicon" dammit!)
• I was reading some Fire Emblem ones, but i havent found any new updates for a while
• I'm reading Hellsing too, and the pacing is killing me.

I read others too, but i cant remember other names right now.