General Anime Discussion: Area 11

[Prime32]

Random discussion! Crossover of Madoka and Type-MOON.

Witches have Reality Marbles, of course, but I'm not sure if anything else fits.

Joan of Arc is both a Puella Magi and a Counter Guardian. Either something fishy is going on with Alaya, or she tried to pull a double-cross.

[Raistlin1040]

Sup anime bros

You guys always have some good advice, so I have a sort of two-in-one question. I've never really seen any Mecha anime except for NGE, which I loved but is regarded as a deconstruction of the genre (to my knowledge). It's a pretty serious show, but I've heard that the mecha genre is usually quite a bit lighter. I generally prefer edgier anime, so should I give some Mecha a shot?

Second part of the question, I just finished FLCL and liked it a lot, but the absurdist/whimsical/funny style is definitely something that is a sometimes thing for me, so for my next series, I think I'm going to to move on to something grittier (or at least more of a noir feel). Some of my ideas for where to go next are mecha, which is how this ties in.

The Big O
Gurren Lagann
Code Geass
Trigun

[Kato]

Joan of Arc is both a Puella Magi and a Counter Guardian. Either something fishy is going on with Alaya, or she tried to pull a double-cross.

You know, gyus... I kind of got an issue with how sexist PMMM is/was... there was not a single male character with any real influence on the story except maybe the one love interest... Even (most) modern anime for boys give them something to do....

Erm, anyway. Crossover. Yes, of course the witches would all use Reality marbles and there would only be female spirits and there'd probably be no grail war but only a giant mass of spirits fighting evil witches with their partners... or something. Or maybe witches are spirits who lost a Grail War? Holy ****, Gilgamesh witch. And Iskander. And Hercules. I'm scared now.

You guys always have some good advice, so I have a sort of two-in-one question. I've never really seen any Mecha anime except for NGE, which I loved but is regarded as a deconstruction of the genre (to my knowledge). It's a pretty serious show, but I've heard that the mecha genre is usually quite a bit lighter. I generally prefer edgier anime, so should I give some Mecha a shot?

Second part of the question, I just finished FLCL and liked it a lot, but the absurdist/whimsical/funny style is definitely something that is a sometimes thing for me, so for my next series, I think I'm going to to move on to something grittier (or at least more of a noir feel). Some of my ideas for where to go next are mecha, which is how this ties in.

The Big O
Gurren Lagann
Code Geass
Trigun

Well... Gurren Lagann is always on the brink between edgy and hilarious... it's a great show but if you want edgy all around maybe better stay away.
As for NGE being a deconstruction... it varies a lot. I've seen my share of Mecha and they really hit the whole spectrum...
A few other nice things with mecha, imho, are Martian Successor Nadesico (like Gurren Lagann, both sometimes very silly but with a serious story behind it) or Dai Guard (I was sure we mentioned it recently... must have been another forum. Very realistic except for the aliens from another dimension) or what also has a big fanbase but I wasn't that amazed by is Full Metal Panic. It's... just nothing special to me. Your average Mecha.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

The Big O
Gurren Lagann
Code Geass
Trigun

Cannot recommend TTGL if your mood is for "gritty". It isn't, in the slightest. It's epic in the 'my name is Gilgamesh and imma do some quests now" sense of the word, very funny, very moving, very very much running on trope-logic, but 'gritty' is not something it is.

Of those four I'd say Trigun, but only because I haven't seen The Big O or Code Geass. Trigun is space-western awesomeness for the most part (and something entirely different the rest). Not very gritty though. The protagonist goes to ridiculous lengths to ensure nobody dies.

If you want gritty, noir-ish, mecha, I'd go for Full Metal Panic. The first season. The second one genre-shifted into comedy (and it is hilarious), but the first series as pretty good as a realistic-ish mecha show. Darker than Black is another pretty gritty, noir-y show. Sort of Heroes meets X-Men, you could say. Very good, but no mecha.

[Dispozition]

TTGL is the polar opposite of NGE. It was made by gainax as a reconstruction of the genre, in a sense. They said "We did robots if it was real life, now let's do it so that it's fun!" and by god they did :D

As for other Mecha's...There aren't really many I've seen. SDF Macross is the most classic I've seen, but it's more space opera, and kind of awful. Past that, can't recommend much. Maybe look into Gundam? (Gundam?!)

[tensai_oni]

There is nothing realistic about Eva, just as there is nothing edgy about TTGL. Both are good shows regardless.

Raistlin, do you want down-to-Earth, realistic and gritty mecha shows - or dark and edgy ones? Because there is surprisingly little overlap.

One way or another, what I can suggest is 08th MS Team, a Gundam OVA. Also, Getter Robo Armageddon - it is its own continuity, like most Getter Robo works, but it helps if you know what in general is Getter all about.

There's also Macross Plus. It's very atmospheric and beautifully made, the characters involved may be absolute jerks but the drama between them is quite interesting.

SDF Macross is the most classic I've seen, but it's more space opera, and kind of awful.

[Tengu_temp]

Do note that there are two kind of mecha shows - real robots, where the mecha are treated as mass-produced war machines, and super robots, where the mecha are more like guant superheroes battling villains. The former tend to be grittier and less over the top than the latter.

You know, gyus... I kind of got an issue with how sexist PMMM is/was... there was not a single male character with any real influence on the story except maybe the one love interest... Even (most) modern anime for boys give them something to do....

How dare a magical girl show be almost entirely about female characters! And dunno if you noticed, but the fact that all the main characters are young girls is an important plot point.

You want to see real sexism in anime, look at Gundam. For over 30 years we didn't get a single female main character in the main shows, and female pilots are usually much less competent than male ones, with little purpose other than being love interests and/or dying. You only get competent female characters in the OVAs and mangas.

[Terraoblivion]

You know, gyus... I kind of got an issue with how sexist PMMM is/was... there was not a single male character with any real influence on the story except maybe the one love interest... Even (most) modern anime for boys give them something to do....

Right, poor ignored men who only get to make up 80% of extras and more of main characters in movies. I really hope this was meant as a joke, since you might want to look a bit more closely at entertainment and which gender tends to dominate if you aren't.

Anyway, to answer Raistlin's question, the oni has the right of it, dark and edgy mecha is rarely gritty and realistic. Shows that try to combine it tends to end up hilariously awkward and ultimately silly for the attempt with Victory Gundam as the most extreme example.

08th MS Team is probably the best call here, for a rather sober and down-to-earth take on Gundam, lacking most of the unintentional silliness that series tends to have. The inspirations from the Vietnam War, at least apart from the desert one episode takes place in, are pretty clear though.

I'd also support Full Metal Panic. While the comedy parts of the first season and all of the second season can hardly be called gritty, realistic or edgy, the serious parts of the first season and especially the third season definitely can. Very little shouting in combat and superior firepower, tactics and numbers are what determines who wins a direct fight, not intangibles like willpower. Mostly the attraction is the characters though, especially the three most important ones Sousuke, Kaname and Tessa.

[Mercenary Pen]

Right, poor ignored men who only get to make up 80% of extras and more of main characters in movies. I really hope this was meant as a joke, since you might want to look a bit more closely at entertainment and which gender tends to dominate if you aren't.

Anyway, to answer Raistlin's question, the oni has the right of it, dark and edgy mecha is rarely gritty and realistic. Shows that try to combine it tends to end up hilariously awkward and ultimately silly for the attempt with Victory Gundam as the most extreme example.

08th MS Team is probably the best call here, for a rather sober and down-to-earth take on Gundam, lacking most of the unintentional silliness that series tends to have. The inspirations from the Vietnam War, at least apart from the desert one episode takes place in, are pretty clear though.

I'd also support Full Metal Panic. While the comedy parts of the first season and all of the second season can hardly be called gritty, realistic or edgy, the serious parts of the first season and especially the third season definitely can. Very little shouting in combat and superior firepower, tactics and numbers are what determines who wins a direct fight, not intangibles like willpower. Mostly the attraction is the characters though, especially the three most important ones Sousuke, Kaname and Tessa.

I agree with both of these, but I'd also suggest that Flag is worth consideration- though it approaches the subject from a rather different angle...

Not certain whether Gasaraki would suit your request or not (its been a while since I watched that series)

[Raistlin1040]

Upon reflection, I'm not sure "gritty" was necessarily the word I was looking for. Maybe just "serious". Comedic elements are fine, but closer to NGE/Death Note/Cowboy Bebop than FLCL/Haruhi Suzumiya is what I mean.

[Dispozition]

Hey, just my opinion. I struggled bravely through that show and it made me never want to watch the sequels...Although knowing me I will one day...

[Nerd-o-rama]

Hey, just my opinion. I struggled bravely through that show and it made me never want to watch the sequels...Although knowing me I will one day...

Watch Do You Remember Love. I like both, but DYRL removes most of the objectionably dumb parts of the show, much as the original Gundam compilation movies remove most of the lolworthy moments from their show.

[Dispozition]

Watch Do You Remember Love. I like both, but DYRL removes most of the objectionably dumb parts of the show, much as the original Gundam compilation movies remove most of the lolworthy moments from their show.

Maybe one day.

It was mostly the music and godawful plot/message that the show has that put me off...And as far as I understand, that's what makes Macross so good? I dunno.

[Kato]

How dare a magical girl show be almost entirely about female characters! And dunno if you noticed, but the fact that all the main characters are young girls is an important plot point.

You want to see real sexism in anime, look at Gundam. For over 30 years we didn't get a single female main character in the main shows, and female pilots are usually much less competent than male ones, with little purpose other than being love interests and/or dying. You only get competent female characters in the OVAs and mangas.

Right, poor ignored men who only get to make up 80% of extras and more of main characters in movies. I really hope this was meant as a joke, since you might want to look a bit more closely at entertainment and which gender tends to dominate if you aren't.

Nope, I stand by my point. PMMM was not just a Magical Girl show, or at least not a show for little girls (obviously) but for a far wider demographic. And plot point yes or no, (but to be honest, male kids can have strong feelings as well, or are you referring to another plot point? It's been a while) it doesn't excuse it. If I came up with some lame excuse for a show to only sport male characters (that wasn't related to shonen ai) people would call me a sexist as well.
I'll partly have to agree with Gundam, it's a shame they never had a female lead (well, there WAS Turn A but... *cough*) but prior to AGE there were always females with quite some importance to the plot apart from being one love interest.

And maybe it's my choice of shows but most stuff I'm watching is really not sexist in the way that female don't impact upon the plot. Okay, often they are mostly or maybe sometimes even just the love interest but they still stick around and get to do more than what you can put in one episode.
Of course males still dominate shows, but females don't get treated like they don't exist.

For a serious, good show I think PMMM could have jus done it better. Heck, even the fathers of the girls were pretty much non-existant (well, one was kind of important)

If you want gritty, noir-ish, mecha, I'd go for Full Metal Panic. The first season. The second one genre-shifted into comedy (and it is hilarious), but the first series as pretty good as a realistic-ish mecha show.

I'm confused... you're referring to Fumoffu, right, not Second Raid? I enjoyed Fumoffu a lot but didn't watch Second Raid because I thought it was just like the original show which just didn't feel special enough for me.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Maybe one day.

It was mostly the music and godawful plot/message that the show has that put me off...And as far as I understand, that's what makes Macross so good? I dunno.

Well okay, if those were your problems the movie probably won't help, since if anything MUSIC WILL SAVE US is even more prominent there than in the show. It does fix things like the animation and the interminability of the main love triangle, though.

I'm curious why you disapprove of the plot/message of the show, though. It was original at the time and does the WAR IS BAD message of 90% of mecha anime better than most, since it provides a balanced view of "okay, defend yourselves, but try to understand the other side, too. They are also people, they just have a completely different perspective than yours. All-out destruction is just pointless."



And in an attempt to defuse the ensuing explosion of social-issue emotions regarding PMMM, Kato, I think Terra's point is that while PMMM is heavily, heavily focused on young women, it still doesn't match the scads of other shows that are just as heavily focused on young men, and treat women as objects to boot.

More cynically, I think a lot of the casting choices have to do with either following or commenting upon Japan's current cultural fixation on Cute Girls Doing Cute Things - look at other shows with males as complete nonentities and they're usually slice of life high school pieces. PMMM takes the cast of one of those and puts them in a dark and serious story (and puts them through the emotional development wringer, hard). I think that was part of the intent of the show's design, and wouldn't work if you didn't keep the same gender balance in the cast.

Then again, I haven't actually watched Madoka, so ignore me.

[Terraoblivion]

Nope, I stand by my point. PMMM was not just a Magical Girl show, or at least not a show for little girls (obviously) but for a far wider demographic. And plot point yes or no, (but to be honest, male kids can have strong feelings as well, or are you referring to another plot point? It's been a while) it doesn't excuse it. If I came up with some lame excuse for a show to only sport male characters (that wasn't related to shonen ai) people would call me a sexist as well.
I'll partly have to agree with Gundam, it's a shame they never had a female lead (well, there WAS Turn A but... *cough*) but prior to AGE there were always females with quite some importance to the plot apart from being one love interest.

And maybe it's my choice of shows but most stuff I'm watching is really not sexist in the way that female don't impact upon the plot. Okay, often they are mostly or maybe sometimes even just the love interest but they still stick around and get to do more than what you can put in one episode.
Of course males still dominate shows, but females don't get treated like they don't exist.

For a serious, good show I think PMMM could have jus done it better. Heck, even the fathers of the girls were pretty much non-existant (well, one was kind of important)

There's two things you seem to be missing here. One is that a show or movie doesn't need to have complete gender balance to be good. The existence of an uneven balance of genders, in either direction, is not necessarily an example of the work being sexist, legitimate reasons for it in the story can exist. A story set in a monastery would generally lead to a fairly reasonable expectation of an overwhelmingly male cast. Similarly a story specifically focusing on the typical trappings of the magical girl genre should generally be expected to be about girls, since the genre is one that is noteworthy for predominantly being about girls and women. For that matter, an overwhelmingly single gender story can be used specifically to point out sexism, whether in the media, a given genre or in the setting of the story.

The other is that where the imbalance happens it is far more likely to be that only men matters than the opposite. While there are stories that quite reasonable shouldn't have a lot of female characters, like I mentioned above, a lot of stories don't really have an overwhelmingly male cast for those reasons, but rather due to structural sexism that makes the writers not think about including female characters or not know how to do so properly. As a culture, modern humanity defaults to men and boys being normal and the default, while women and girls are abnormal and only really to be used for stories that are specifically about or for them. As such people are far more likely to notice a lack of men than a lack of women, as your lack of noticing about the ridiculous gender imbalance in Gundam until it was pointed out shows. Neverending shounen fighting anime, action movies or anything about sport are other places where a lack of female characters is endemic, though it is commonly found in most genres not specifically meant to target a female audience.

A final point is that strictly speaking, it is impossible to be sexist against men. Sexism refers to an unequal gender hierarchy in which one of the two genders is privileged over the other and is capable of defining and making decisions about the inclusion or exclusion of the other. Since men is the gender holding said privilege, sexism is something that can be applied to women and the opportunities and portrayal of women in society. If women were dominant, it would be the opposite but you'd have to ignore quite a bit of scholarship to make that claim.

Also, a small side comment, Madoka was written, directed and produced by men, with men holding basically every significant position in the decision making process for the show, with women more or less only being employed as voice actor. I'd hardly expect that to be some unified misandrist project given who was on board, especially since it is Urobuchi's only work with a significant amount of important, active and independently motivated female characters.

[tensai_oni]

On Macross:

I agree that 80s music can get old, especially if you have to hear to "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" for the nth time over. But the message? Like Nerdorama said, Macross does a very good job at saying the supposed bad guys are people too and you should try to understand and perhaps reach out to them - but defend yourself if they fight back. This is done much better than each time when Gundam tries to be about UNDERSTANDING.

It helps that Zentradi are stated AND shown to be a race very susceptible to cultural assimilation, because they have none of their own, so Earth's fascinates them.

DYRL may remove some of the dumber elements, but it also added a few of its own. And the love triangle? It's not better, it's worse. In the movie, Minmay is an unlikeable and selfish person. In the show, both Minmay and Misa are viable candidates for Hikaru's love rather than it being so one-sided.

On Madoka:

It's not that the show itself is sexist. It's qb who is, who after determining qualities that are spoilers decided to only pick young girls to be... well, magical girls. With this premise, it's obvious that magical girls will get all the focus and most a male character can get is a supporting role - which is what Sayaka's not-boyfriend has.

But even that aside, it was already pointed out by Terra that gender imbalance in the cast does not a sexist show make. Also, as this too was pointed out, most shows made in history of cinema ever have a mostly male cast, with females reduced to love interests or supporting roles - and nobody is complaining. Reverse the situation and monocles start to fall from eyes of baffled gentlemen.

But I disagree that sexism cannot be exercised against men. Both men and women can be treated unfairly based on their sex. And in both cases it's a bad thing.

[Tengu_temp]

Upon reflection, I'm not sure "gritty" was necessarily the word I was looking for. Maybe just "serious". Comedic elements are fine, but closer to NGE/Death Note/Cowboy Bebop than FLCL/Haruhi Suzumiya is what I mean.

Let's see then:

TTGL will probably be too silly for you, which is a pity because it's also a really good show. Same with Nadesico, too focused on meta humour.

Fullmetal Panic is a curious creature. The first season is a mix of mecha action and high school comedy shenanigans, Fumoffu is entirely the latter, Second Raid is almost completely the former. It's a very good show, but might not be up your alley.

Code Geass is pretty much Death Note with mecha. I haven't watched it, though, so I can't give my yes or no on this matter.

Big O is very noir and quite similar to Batman TAS. The first season is mostly episodic, the second season is mostly plot-based (and it's a very weird plot). I suggest you give it a go.

From Gundams, I second 08th MS Team - it's a very gritty version of Romeo and Juliet, in Vietnam and with giant robots. It helps to have context, though, so if you're not adverse to very old animation, you might consider watching the Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movies beforehand.

Gunbuster is a schizophrenic show with pacing and themes all over the place and weirdly shoehorned in fanservice (bare breasts included), but the overall experience is very positive, episodes 4-5 are great and it's one of the hardest sci-fi when it comes to mecha. And hey, it's only 6 episodes long.

Diebuster is a sequel to Gunbuster and while it might seem loosely related at first, watching the latter is crucial to enjoying the former. It's much softer sci-fi and is more similar to FLCL and TTGL in style, but it's a really good, emotional story.

Trigun is a combination of silly, serious and awesome in the way only the nineties could be. You might want to give it a go, but bear in mind that it's a much wackier show than Cowboy Bebop. The second half is much more serious than the first one, though.

If I came up with some lame excuse for a show to only sport male characters (that wasn't related to shonen ai) people would call me a sexist as well.

I wouldn't. I don't find it sexist is all/most of the characters on the show are of one gender. When one of the genders is portrayed as mostly/universally useless (women in Naruto) and/or evil (men in lifetime movies), now things start to get sexist.

[Prime32]

On Madoka:

It's not that the show itself is sexist. It's qb who is, who after determining qualities that are spoilers decided to only pick young girls to be... well, magical girls. With this premise, it's obvious that magical girls will get all the focus and most a male character can get is a supporting role - which is what Sayaka's not-boyfriend has.

Two theories I've seen for this:

Spoiler

Show

• Girls have stronger emotions than boys, at least of the type QB is looking for.
• Culturally, men are expected to solve their own problems without relying on others. Therefore boys would wish for superpowers which they could use to solve their problem, rather than wishing the problem away directly. These kinds of wishes have unpredictable results (see: Homura, Madoka), and might let them cheat the system or make them too good at killing witches (or too powerful as witches) for it to be sustainable.

[endoperez]

I don't think it's polite to have PMMM theories unspoilered when Nerd-o-Rama mentioned he hasn't seen it yet. He might not be the only one, either.

Furthremore, in-series explanations are irrelevant when you're discussing if the work is sexist in our world. I think it was mentioned before, too.

[nyarlathotep]

Code Geass is pretty much Death Note with mecha. I haven't watched it, though, so I can't give my yes or no on this matter.

I've seen it and thought Code Geass was really good. The only were the partial status quo reset at the beginning of season 2 and then the show sort of crapped itself to death during its last two episodes, suddenly a bunch of people who were supposed to be smart all begin acting amazingly stupidly all at once, tactical genius that was once plausible because it was offscreen or put in very broad terms shows up front and center making it painfully obvious that no one understands actual warfare at all, and other generally dumb stuff happens.

[NeonBlack]

For people who really like Madoka, like figurines and collectible stuff, can and will dump over ten thousand yen on a single (but great) item and don't mind preordering and paying shipping costs for stuff coming from the Holy Land of Japan, I have something for you. For people who haven't seen the series, there might be spoilers around, starting with the figurine itself.

Preorders up in AmiAmi, in case someone is interested. There might be better deals somewhere else. I only own a bunch of Nendoroids (some of them probably fakes) but I'd be all over this if it weren't for the price tag.

[nyarlathotep]

For people who really like Madoka, like figurines and collectible stuff, can and will dump over ten thousand yen on a single (but great) item and don't mind preordering and paying shipping costs for stuff coming from the Holy Land of Japan, I have something for you. For people who haven't seen the series, there might be spoilers around, starting with the figurine itself.

Preorders up in AmiAmi, in case someone is interested. There might be better deals somewhere else. I only own a bunch of Nendoroids (some of them probably fakes) but I'd be all over this if it weren't for the price tag.

Sweet Jegus pro-painted GW figures don't cost that much.

[Nerd-o-rama]

I don't think it's polite to have PMMM theories unspoilered when Nerd-o-Rama mentioned he hasn't seen it yet. He might not be the only one, either.

Furthremore, in-series explanations are irrelevant when you're discussing if the work is sexist in our world. I think it was mentioned before, too.

For my part, I really don't care. I am all spoilered on everything all the time. If I cared, I'd watch it as it came out.

[Dispozition]

Well okay, if those were your problems the movie probably won't help, since if anything MUSIC WILL SAVE US is even more prominent there than in the show. It does fix things like the animation and the interminability of the main love triangle, though.

I'm curious why you disapprove of the plot/message of the show, though. It was original at the time and does the WAR IS BAD message of 90% of mecha anime better than most, since it provides a balanced view of "okay, defend yourselves, but try to understand the other side, too. They are also people, they just have a completely different perspective than yours. All-out destruction is just pointless."

Hmm, I guess it wasn't the message that I disagreed with, just the delivery? I can't really explain it. It just seemed heavy handed, over the top, and very cheesy. Probably doesn't help that I can't appreciate how old it is, so I just see something that's been done much better before.

So the problem is mine, rather than the series, really...I still don't like it :P

[Nerd-o-rama]

Hmm, I guess it wasn't the message that I disagreed with, just the delivery? I can't really explain it. It just seemed heavy handed, over the top, and very cheesy. Probably doesn't help that I can't appreciate how old it is, so I just see something that's been done much better before.

So the problem is mine, rather than the series, really...I still don't like it :P

Yeah and frankly due to time constraints it comes off even cheesier in the film. At least the TV series had everyone chill out due to an anti-war song, rather than a gorgeous but lyrically simplistic poppy love song.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Nope, I stand by my point. PMMM was not just a Magical Girl show, or at least not a show for little girls (obviously) but for a far wider demographic.

Madoka has a smaller demographic than regular magical girl shows. Magical girl shows have always had a older male secondary demographic so cutting out younger girls just shrinks the appeal. Even its similarly successful 'mainly aimed at older guys' cousin Nanoha doesn't completely alienate young girls like Madoka does. But its also on the opposite side of the spectrum and mostly lighter than some shows actually aimed at little girls.

Two theories I've seen for this:

Spoiler

Show

• Girls have stronger emotions than boys, at least of the type QB is looking for.
• Culturally, men are expected to solve their own problems without relying on others. Therefore boys would wish for superpowers which they could use to solve their problem, rather than wishing the problem away directly. These kinds of wishes have unpredictable results (see: Homura, Madoka), and might let them cheat the system or make them too good at killing witches (or too powerful as witches) for it to be sustainable.

Well those both manage to make no sense. The first one being too complicated an issue to be able to simplify like that and the second one presenting a cause and a result that only seem to follow on from each other if you're working backwards and not really thinking too much.

Sweet Jegus pro-painted GW figures don't cost that much.

They can, but pro-painted citadel miniatures are basically a scam anyway. Professional painters only really work by commision because there's no actual money to be made in painting models they don't know people will want.

[Kato]

Okay, political discussion are forbidden here so I won't further the discussion but to end it (from my part) maybe I was exaggerating my displeasure with the show. It's not that I hate it for it, it is still something that bugs me and I don't see why a show needs to have that kind of imbalance (unless there is a really good explanation, like, it being set in a one-gender school or we go really scifi and have a society/race dominated by one gender entirely)
Anyway, I didn't want to start anything major there, it was just a remark

So... the first shows of the season are running out... I'm a bit disappointed how Kore Wa ended... They could have finished at least ONE story line.

[MLai]

Second part of the question, I just finished FLCL and liked it a lot, but the absurdist/whimsical/funny style is definitely something that is a sometimes thing for me, so for my next series, I think I'm going to to move on to something grittier (or at least more of a noir feel). Some of my ideas for where to go next are mecha, which is how this ties in.

Have you seen the Ghost In The Shell anime TV series? It has multiple seasons, and tie-in movies. It has realistic mecha and a serious storyline.

How about Appleseed? I believe there are 2 movies. It has realistic but more powerful (than GITS) mecha, and a serious storyline.

[Terraoblivion]

Okay, so as it's nearing the end Mouretsu Pirates pick up the awesome again to quite a degree. It even managed to shy away from the kind of craziness that made me worry about it completely abandoning its roots at the end of the last episode. Not just that, Chiaki is back and coming off in ways that means that this is the only appropriate soundtrack.

Really, for all the flaws it has such as a lack of tension in the long middle stretch and occasional poorly animated episodes, it's still looking like a strong contender for best show of the year for me, barring major surprises during the last two seasons. I doubt it's likely anything will come.

I do wonder, who wins in lesbian harem building. Marika or Marisa? Probably still the witch, even if I know who I'd prefer.