My top three anime for 2011 are Madoka, Nichijou and what we've seen so far of Fate/Zero, in that order. Then again, my backlog includes most of the other stand-out names like T&B, Steins;Gate, AnoHana, Usagi Drop, Hourou Musuko, Level E and Chihayafuru, so that may change soon, and dramatically. Steins;Gate looks extremely likely to break the top three after watching the first four episodes, for example.
Umineko EP3 almost done with, I think. And holy cow, this felt almost like an answer arc. Expect my usual ramblings soon-ish.
@Ao No Exorcist: Boring generic shounen is boring. It's rather well-executed, but it's still incredibly standard. You can't get much more cliché than saying "Ore wo tsuyoku naritai" in the freaking trailer.
Only truly disapointing thing this year was Noitamina (Finally stooped to using high school male protagonists in magical situations with magical waifus, and failed every time eg. Fractale, [C] (don't care if he was actually in college, might as well have been in high school), No. 6 (Magical husbandos count too), Guilty Crown.) And now we have Black Rock Shooter in the time slot next season. What have you come to Noitamina?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep, half of the noitaminA shows were really disappointing at best, and something that would probably get censored by the forum software at worst. Then again, the other half were Hourou Musuko, AnoHana, Usagi Drop and Un-Go, which I feel are up to the usual standards. Feels kind of schizophrenic to me. Winter's looking grim if Guilty Crown is supposed to be the good noitaminA show of the season, though.
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Originally Posted by Terraoblivion
This reminds me that I need to watch Aoi Hana. I have to, then my seeking out all the big name yuri will be more or less complete and I can start hunting lesser known works instead.
Just FYI, YuruYuri just got a second season confirmed. I had lots of fun with the first, so I'm looking forward to it.
Last edited by NeonBlack : 12-19-2011 at 10:03 AM.
Just FYI, YuruYuri just got a second season confirmed. I had lots of fun with the first, so I'm looking forward to it.
Oh, I forgot that one. Nothing serious or epic but such a cute little waste of time. Looking forward to the second season as well. (Pretty much the same goes for Dog Days but YuruYuri was more fun)
@Ao No Exorcist: Boring generic shounen is boring. It's rather well-executed, but it's still incredibly standard. You can't get much more cliché than saying "Ore wo tsuyoku naritai" in the freaking trailer.
I don't even care about that, I just want to know why it got adapted so damn soon. It's exceptional as far as Shonen manga goes.
Sigh. Someone teach me to listen to general opinion on series. I just had to watch the whole Endless Eight for completeness's sake, and before that I had watched the Tsukihime anime just to see if it really was as bad as advertised. Thanks for the tip. Wish I'd listened.
Umineko EP3 almost done with, I think. And holy cow, this felt almost like an answer arc. Expect my usual ramblings soon-ish.
Yeah, people were so confused by the unreliable narration in EP2 that Ryukishi07 decided to take a lot of answers that he was holding for EP5 and put them in EP3 making it a much easier game than he had planned before.
I actually just finished EP8 myself last night and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how good it turned out. And while I didn't buy it for EP6 and EP7, EP8 was clearly written for BT-san. Clearly enough that it made me cry for Ryukishi07.
It probably involves projected profit margins for the series itself (and also for whatever merchandising they think the series will support)...
But that's so silly. People knew OP was going to be huge, and it was already, what, 100 chapters in at least before it got adapted? I just don't ... So weird.
Yeah, people were so confused by the unreliable narration in EP2 that Ryukishi07 decided to take a lot of answers that he was holding for EP5 and put them in EP3 making it a much easier game than he had planned before.
Just finished EP3. Dat ending. My jaw hurts after being hanging for so long. Spoilers for Umineko EP3 - Banquet of the Golden Witch ahead, in my usual ramblicious way.
Spoiler
- Okay, NOW I understand why Beatrice is considered by most to be the queen of trolls. Holy mother of Azathoth, that was the most elaborate deception I've ever seen. I heard some alarms inside my head when she suddenly started showing herself as meek, repentant and, dare I say it, moe, but it all seemed to fit with her backstory as presented in this episode. That double smirk with Virgilia when Battler was about to sign... I was kind of expecting something to happen, everything couldn't end that well in the third episode, but... Damn.
- That said, it was a good trick. Painting herself as the "good" witch in contrast to the completely deranged EVA Beatrice was a great move. Virgilia and Ronove helped the ruse along for sure. And poor Eva probably was little else than a tool in the whole scheme, ending up as the culprit and the heir to the Golden Witch's name and assets. She didn't seem to happy with the result in the tea party, that's for sure...
- That said, Eva was a bit stupid, and she herself realized before the end. If you find the gold, proclaim it! Otherwise, stuff like your dark side awakening and taking control due to your repressed greed and childhood dreams happens. Sheesh.
- The numbers, 07151129, which, according to the tips, were given by the witch "in exchange for George's soul", and "if you say it, a small Golden Land will appear". No idea what the numbers mean, though. Battler thought it could be a date (or two dates), but it sounds like a red herring to me for some reason. If it is a date, I'm willing to bet on 1129 being a year, not a second separate date. It almost fits with Beato's supposed age. Another weirdish thing I've notice is that if we add the numbers 0715 and 1129 we get 13 in both cases.
- By the way, one-thousand years old my rearside. The whole introduction sequence with Virgilia teaching Beato her first spell didn't fit at all with what I would expect to find in the early middle ages, neither in Japan nor anywhere else. Faulty memories? Beato bragging about something that's not true? Weird timelines? Time travel? Eh, everything's possible.
- Reviewing the tips, something weird came out in dead!Battler's profile: "Jessica lost her sight. Battler was with her. Wolf and Sheep puzzle". This is probably talking how the "sheep" (Battler) was left alone with the "wolf" (Eva) with Jessica blinded on the sidelines, and thus Eva could kill him without trouble, but eh. Maybe there's something else there.
- Regarding this final murder mystery, I think Battler may have overlooked something important: yeah, it's been said in red that the other fourteen were dead, but it wasn't said that they were dead before Nanjo died. Then again, in every previous murder it was said in red that the victims were truly dead, or at least I don't remember it being skipped at any point. Hm.
- The epitaph was solved, hooray. Except it was solved secretly and we didn't get to see the answers, just a few scattered tips. I like the family tree theory, and that "village" character in Maria's name can't be coincidence. It was chosen by Kinzo himself, after all. Now, we need a six-character (I'm guessing this means six kana, not six kanji) word to start with. What about Rokkenjima's old name, A-ku-ji-ki-shi-ma? Problem is, I have no idea what to do with this from now on. I'll bet that the book that Eva consulted was a kanji dictionary or something similar, though.
- Then again, the gold must be very close to the guesthouse, since no one noticed that Rosa and Eva were gone for a long time when they went to find it. That reminds me of that moment in EP2 when George was looking at some letters at the top of the door to the chapel. There were at least more than ten, since he couldn't count them with his hands, but we never got the whole thing, just a few scattered (latin) letters. Still, it's a sign towards the gold being hidden below the chapel. That would make sense given Kinjo's insistence in that no one should get inside that building, under any circumstances.
- Having Beatrice shoot down the 19th person theory in red was painful indeed. That makes finding an explanation that doesn't involve witches all the more difficult, unless we start pointing fingers at one of the eighteen. This time it was Eva who took the blame (and at least in a way it was true), but it's the first time we've been shown anyone finding the gold, so the culprit could be different in other scenarios. Even better: Beatrice said in red that there was no 19th person in that Rokkenjima. What about the other Rokkenjimas?
- About the "there are no more than 18 humans in this island" red line, though... Why did Beatrice not say so at the first chance she had? Why wait so long? Just to play, or was there a reason? Did a 19th person die offscreen in the meantime?
- Now, despite most of what Beato and co. said and did being a bold-faced lie, there must be some truth in the whole scenario. For example, Beato's story about how she was summoned by Kinzo, then trapped, then trapped again inside a new body when she tried to flee her old one, then lost her memories and became a "normal" human can hold shades of truth, but it's not the complete truth. I think Beato's memories may be faulty somehow at this point, or she's just lying about the whole "regaining her lost memories after the death of her physical body" thing. Beato's not as old as she pretends to be (or thinks she is), I'm sure of that.
- EVA Beatrice: a separate entity a la Stephen King's The Dark Side, or a second personality inside Eva's body that took control from time to time to commit the murders? The physical differences seem to point towards the first option, but somehow I'm doubtful. Both possibilities are open due to Battler's theory of Hideyoshi's involvement, but I don't like that option one bit. Hideyoshi's too nice for that, although he may be persuaded to keep silent due to his love for his wife. Hm.
- It's kind of funny how Beato explains the difference between "her" world and the world the island is in as two parallel lines that can't touch each other, then everyone starts jumping around from one world to the other in the finale. Fun.
- Virgilia has been sealed inside Kumasawa? Hah, I knew the old woman had some secret within herself, but that I didn't expect. I should pay more attention to color schemes, I think . Now, the question is... how? Since when? Why? And... does it really matter?
- Those Shannon-like red barriers that appeared around Battler at three or four points during the episode are weird to say the least. Maybe he's unconsciously awakening to the magic world somehow? How about becoming a witch, Battler? If your sis can, you surely can, too!
- So Lambdadelta is the one who made Beato a witch, huh. That actually supports my theory about Beato being much younger than that, and actually not that experienced as a witch as she likes to brag about. Dunno about Virgilia's role in all that, though.
- Funny stuff: Spear the Gungnir appearing in the Beato vs. Virgilia magic battle made me snicker. Yeah, I know, it's not like ZUN invented Gungnir, but with the precedents from EP2 this smells like another shout-out to me. And for some reason the music during the battle of wits between Battler and EVA Beatrice near the end reminded me of U.N. Owen was Her?. Probably a coincidence. Not.
- Finally, Ange. Bernkastel finally makes her move, and it's an unexpected one for sure. Something tells me we'll see much more of Battler's little sister during the answer arcs, and maybe in EP4 too. I look forward to see her rip Beato apart when they meet again . The human side of the character grid in the Tips section is now full, by the way, so I guess that's it for new characters until the answer arcs. Although there's still lots of free space in the witches' side...
Character-wise, it was time for the adults to shine, I guess, and that's improved my opinion on most siblings notably. Eva showed her smarts even when her witch side wasn't on the forefront, Hideyoshi was her usual sweet self and gained even more points for slapping EVA Beatrice in the face just before his death. Rosa showed that she's not as dumb as she may seem, or at least has good intuition. Still can't forgive her for how she treats Maria, though. Even Krauss gained some sympathy points just before his death, showing that he actually cares about his brothers and sisters somewhat. But the high point was (finally) for Kyrie, who finally had a chance to show that she's the smartest one around and also terribly badass, and (somewhat surprisingly) Rudolf, who wasn't far behind in badassery during their duel with the Stakes while still remaining a pretty amusing wisecrack. Hey, Battler? Your parents are awesome. Give them some credit, please.
The kids were a bit more in the background, and killing all servants first thing didn't give them much chance to shine either. Yet they both did near the end thanks to the two most touching moments in the whole game so far, IMO. The poor Stakes were less fearful weapons and more the butt of all jokes and the victims of most acts of badassery by the main cast. Poor girls. And then the bunny girls show up to completely overshadow them. I smell a rebellion in the future... Those two are kind of fun, by the way, but don't have much depth to them besides being very, very good at their job. Ronove, on the other hand, was a treat. It's great to have someone who can tease both Beatrice and Battler without mercy while keeping an all-knowing smirk on at all times and serving tea and cookies. Lots of love for the demon butler. Virgilia... I don't know. Given the last minute revelations about the whole ruse thing, I'm not sure about her role in this story at all anymore. Wait and see.
All in all, another fine read full of surprises and with some scattered answers here and there. Still not enough for me to form any kind of cohesive theory, but some cracks are appearing here and there. It has also left me thoroughly confused with that ending, even if I saw some kind of twist come from afar. Sorting out what's real and what isn't from the previous chapters looks like the key to everything now. Damn you unreliable narrators, damn you!
Just finished EP3. Dat ending. My jaw hurts after being hanging for so long. Spoilers for Umineko EP3 - Banquet of the Golden Witch ahead, in my usual ramblicious way.
Spoiler
Well . . .
-I sure hope you don't think that Battler got anything right with his guess that Beatrice/Virgilia were helping him with. I mean 1. Battler is incompetent and 2. the trolls led him to that answer.
-1000 years: You forgot: time flowing differently in different places, 1000 years being a metaphor, Beato and Virgilia existing in annother place other than Japan 1000 years ago, ect. ect.
-You might be on to something there. I would reread all the dead character's tips and the red truth for the episode.
-Well, you get the last couple important clues to make the epitaph solvable in EP4 (thats when the internet solved it), you get a bunch more clues to make it easier in EP5, and then its solved in front of you in EP7. After the solution was shown in EP7, Witch-Hunt went back and slightly edited their translation of the epitaph so make sure you have the most recent patch. Solving it requires knowledge of both Japanese and English (Kinzo loves Westerner stuff and Engrish) so if you don't speak both, you can't really solve it (Something ryukishi07 lampshaded in EP5).
-Oh come on, you're as bad as Battler. Its a mystery, so it has to be one of the actual characters. Point all the fingers you want. Beatrice waited for troll points. If you don't want to think, go ahead and believe in witches.
-Well yeah, if all the fantasy scenes had no point, most of Umineko would have no point. Taking them literally however . . .
- . . . I hope you like Ange. Because you're about to get a lot of Ange.
-Know that the mystery of Beatrice's game is solvable by the end of EP4.
I was impressed by how well they animated Ionian Hetairoi, which only serves to excite me for the introduction of Ea. Too bad Gilgamesh never fights seriously against people, otherwise we would see it much more often.
So um... Some of my favorite anime from the 2011 Fall Season.
First off, the remake of Hunter x Hunter started in this season. I'm in love. The perfect combination of action, hilarity, and adorable butt-kicking kids. Definitely watch. Do it! DO IT! Before it gets too far in to catch up with.
Next we have Kimi to Boku (You and Me) which is a cute little anime, not the best I have seen this season but it is really sweet and I love it. The way the eyes are drawn kind of threw me off in the beginning, but I got used to it.
There is also Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere). Usually, an anime with a slow-starting plot, a backstory that makes NO sense, and whose only real attractors are big boobs and explosions is something I definitely do NOT like, but Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere just did it SO WELL. I could not help but watch it. I rated it a 10/10 on my MAL account. I definitely suggest that you all watch this before you watch anything else from the Fall season.
The second season of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi aired during the Fall season. I suppose I am biased to like this because I LOVE yaoi. That does not change the fact that Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is amazingly adorable and what not. It is a spin off series from the more popular show Junjou Romantica, and is quite the little love story. It has a lot less sex than Junjou Romantica as well. With three different couples, the anime can get a little confusing at times, but I'm sure you will pull through. Especially when everyone person in every one of the couples works with manga in some way, be it editing, writing, or part of a writing team (one is even the cashier at a manga store). Another 10/10 from me, and another must watch.
Season 2 of Squid Girl also come out during the fall. It is a silly, episodic series, but probably one of my least favorites of the fall season. That is not to say that Squid Girl is bad, because it was not bad. I love every anime I watch, so it is only natural that I love some less than others. It is is cute, and funny, but something I'd suggest for the serious anime watchers.
Finally, we have UN-GO. It was pretty damn sweet, and I would definitely suggest watching this as soon as you finish with Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. It is a really cool paranormal/detective anime (not to be confused with a paranormal detective anime, paranormal stuff goes on i the anime, but none of the cases the detective works with are inherently paranormal). Point is, it is awesome, and if you ever see Inga's hat, you will want it as much as I do. I mean really, a panda hat with ARM-LENGTH PAW MITTENS ATTACHED! GIMME GIMME!
So that is my thoughts on the fall season. All in all, I really enjoyed it. Oh, and if any of you have a My Anime List account, or a Crunchyroll account, tell me.
[Idle Silly Observation]Huh. The two serieses I've watched lately both share a main heroine with birthday of 25th December (Nagisa and Arcueid). I'm wondering how many others are there...?[/Idle Silly Observation]
Man, they're not even pretending this is not a Claymore/Witcher ripoff anymore...
Personally it reminds me of Drakengard, and how overly Grimdark that game was.
Also, the main character is meant to be Cassandra, AKA the Orlesian (Dragon Age version of France) chick who's part of the Framing Device of Dragon Age II. Also checked her voice actress and-GOGO FROM KILL BILL?!
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A well-placed bullet can stop anybody with an oversized sword.
In real life that is.
Everywhere else, you're screwed.
Man, they're not even pretending this is not a Claymore/Witcher ripoff anymore...
I don't think anyone ever pretended that, although given it's an American game, I think it's mainly ripping off A Song of Ice and Fire. Except actually good.
The anime might take inspiration from Claymore or Berserk, and I'm going to assume Claymore as it's mildly less ridiculous.
EDIT: That's a really interesting way of doing 3D that looks kind of like the ga--
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Gackt
.......don't know if want.
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Last edited by Nerd-o-rama : 12-25-2011 at 02:39 PM.
I don't think anyone ever pretended that, although given it's an American game, I think it's mainly ripping off A Song of Ice and Fire. Except actually good.
The anime might take inspiration from Claymore or Berserk, and I'm going to assume Claymore as it's mildly less ridiculous.
The guys up in Bioware cite inspiration from A Song of Ice and Fire and Buffy. Make of that what you want.
I'm not really impressed by that trailer. I don't have a problem with Dragon Age per se, though it is a strange way to branch out the franchise. I hear they're doing the same with Mass Effect.
__________________
A well-placed bullet can stop anybody with an oversized sword.
In real life that is.
Everywhere else, you're screwed.
ASoIaF is a Witcher ripoff, only with the post-modernism and humour replaced by the main character dying every 150 pages.
Isn't ASOIAF quite a bit older than Witcher?
Can't really give an opinion on the trailer... looks neat enough but then again DA was the last recent game I (kind of) beat... I need to organize my schedule better.
The Witcher is an Eternal Champion ripoff with the blatant story recycling replaced by fairy tale parodies.
Sounds accurate. And on a side note, I'd really like to see Witcher turned into an anime one day. I know Sapkowski is a fan of some of them (Oh My Goddess for example), so he wouldn't be against it if he knew the work is in good hands. Probably.
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First off, the remake of Hunter x Hunter started in this season. I'm in love. The perfect combination of action, hilarity, and adorable butt-kicking kids. Definitely watch. Do it! DO IT! Before it gets too far in to catch up with.
Sounds accurate. And on a side note, I'd really like to see Witcher turned into an anime one day. I know Sapkowski is a fan of some of them (Oh My Goddess for example), so he wouldn't be against it if he knew the work is in good hands. Probably.
That...could actually work out. It even has the potential to be awesome; the mood could be carried over incredibly well and I could sort of see Witcher working out in the art style. Huh.
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Re: General Anime Discussion: Area 11
. Now, the question is... how? Since when? Why? And... does it really matter?
