Anime

[The Crow]

Watching Space Dandy these past couple of months compelled me to re-watch some Samurai Champloo on Netflix earlier today. Good times.

[terminoob]

Cowboy BeBop is great. Watanabe is great at making anime.

 

My only criticism is that Ed doesn't do anything. I'm only on episode 19, so maybe that'll change, but that's still what - 10, 11 episodes after her introduction? And the only episode she got to herself was Mushroom Samba? Regardless of how frickin' amazing that episode was, I'm still not a fan of her not doing anything and I think it's pretty sloppy writing.

 

Finished BeBop. One of my favorites now, but I'm still upset about how they handled Ed. It was like her and Ein didn't even exist.

[Metal Snake]

I really don't get the love for Attack on Titan. It's impressive that the guy who does it is in his 20s, but his age and lack of experience is really telling. The writing is really "meh" and the art is too inconsistent and it continuously takes me out of the story (whatever the hell the story is). The first few issues were really great and it was really interesting, and then it fell flat and isn't really getting better.

 

After reading seven volumes of the manga, I can honestly say I feel almost the same way. I LIKED the first chapter. But the rest of it...I just can't find any reason to care about whatever's going on. I can't figure out what the story is either, and if there is one, it certainly isn't grabbing to me. The fun of reading survival horror is that characters whom you're attached to's lives are being threatened and you want them to prevail. I can't form a bond with the three main characters because their personalities are flat and colorless, and the side characters, MY. LORD. I couldn't care any less than I already do about them because they're all the same...

 

"ATTACK THE TITAN'S NECK!

 

THAT DIDN'T WORK! WE HAVE TO DO THIS!

 

I'M NOT JOINING THE SURVEY CORPS! NOW I AM, THEY FIGHT FOR US!

 

I SAW MY COMRADES GET EATEN BY TITANS! 

 

THIS IS A FIGHT FOR HUMANITY AND WE MUST WIN!"

 

That basically accounts for most of the dialogue too, which on a side note, I find to be really boring for the most part. Do this, do that, go here, go there, Survey Corps are wasting our taxes, ugh.

 

So yeah...I don't get the praise for the series.

[101 Dalmatian Street]

After reading seven volumes of the manga, I can honestly say I feel almost the same way. I LIKED the first chapter. But the rest of it...I just can't find any reason to care about whatever's going on. I can't figure out what the story is either, and if there is one, it certainly isn't grabbing to me. The fun of reading survival horror is that characters whom you're attached to's lives are being threatened and you want them to prevail. I can't form a bond with the three main characters because their personalities are flat and colorless, and the side characters, MY. LORD. I couldn't care any less than I already do about them because they're all the same...

 

"ATTACK THE TITAN'S NECK!

 

THAT DIDN'T WORK! WE HAVE TO DO THIS!

 

I'M NOT JOINING THE SURVEY CORPS! NOW I AM, THEY FIGHT FOR US!

 

I SAW MY COMRADES GET EATEN BY TITANS! 

 

THIS IS A FIGHT FOR HUMANITY AND WE MUST WIN!"

 

That basically accounts for most of the dialogue too, which on a side note, I find to be really boring for the most part. Do this, do that, go here, go there, Survey Corps are wasting our taxes, ugh.

 

So yeah...I don't get the praise for the series.

 

Considering that I've watched the anime myself, I don't get it either.

 

On a side-note, I've gotten into Space Dandy and I'm caught up with it now.

[terminoob]

After reading seven volumes of the manga, I can honestly say I feel almost the same way. I LIKED the first chapter. But the rest of it...I just can't find any reason to care about whatever's going on. I can't figure out what the story is either, and if there is one, it certainly isn't grabbing to me. The fun of reading survival horror is that characters whom you're attached to's lives are being threatened and you want them to prevail. I can't form a bond with the three main characters because their personalities are flat and colorless, and the side characters, MY. LORD. I couldn't care any less than I already do about them because they're all the same...

 

"ATTACK THE TITAN'S NECK!

 

THAT DIDN'T WORK! WE HAVE TO DO THIS!

 

I'M NOT JOINING THE SURVEY CORPS! NOW I AM, THEY FIGHT FOR US!

 

I SAW MY COMRADES GET EATEN BY TITANS! 

 

THIS IS A FIGHT FOR HUMANITY AND WE MUST WIN!"

 

That basically accounts for most of the dialogue too, which on a side note, I find to be really boring for the most part. Do this, do that, go here, go there, Survey Corps are wasting our taxes, ugh.

 

So yeah...I don't get the praise for the series.

 

I'm almost positive that he's changing the initial ending based on the fandom (supposedly it's going to be a happier ending), and he was supposed to kill off Sasha but didn't because she was popular.

 

I honestly can't wait to see what he does after this finishes, because I think he's really really talented, he's just doing a lot wrong with this.

[Metal Snake]

I'm almost positive that he's changing the initial ending based on the fandom (supposedly it's going to be a happier ending), and he was supposed to kill off Sasha but didn't because she was popular.

 

I honestly can't wait to see what he does after this finishes, because I think he's really really talented, he's just doing a lot wrong with this.

 

I had to look Sasha up just to remember who she was. I wouldn't have missed her, I cringed at that potato scene. I can't even remember if she did anything in the action sequences that was cool because I can hardly tell the characters apart. The only one I recognize from their face alone is Armin.

 

Also, I'm surprised to hear that he already had the ending planned considering AoT's popularity. I hope that's a sign he's planning on moving on to another project soon.

[terminoob]

I had to look Sasha up just to remember who she was. I wouldn't have missed her, I cringed at that potato scene. I can't even remember if she did anything in the action sequences that was cool because I can hardly tell the characters apart. The only one I recognize from their face alone is Armin.

 

Also, I'm surprised to hear that he already had the ending planned considering AoT's popularity. I hope that's a sign he's planning on moving on to another project soon.

 

What? Do you think mangaka just come up with some semblance of a plot and then have no idea to what that plot is building toward?

[Metal Snake]

What? Do you think mangaka just come up with some semblance of a plot and then have no idea to what that plot is building toward?

 

No. I was just referring to the ending already being decided. Did you know that Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, didn't announce he had decided on what the development towards the series finale would be until forty-seven volumes in? Attack on Titan's only on volume 13.

[terminoob]

No. I was just referring to the ending already being decided. Did you know that Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, didn't announce he had decided on what the development towards the series finale would be until forty-seven volumes in? Attack on Titan's only on volume 13.

 

Well, no, I didn't, but:

A: Two totally different entities. Naruto has the luxury of having a basic plot that had the ability to stretch for 15+ years, because it didn't get into heavy stuff until after every character was established, and because of the large cast that took forever; Attack on Titan doesn't, because it established all of its characters at the same time and asked all the important questions too early.

 

B: There's no way I buy Kishimoto not knowing something about the end (he introduced Naruto as wanting to be hokage, I'm 99% sure he knew when he started if that would achieve that or not). Announcing an ending and having one aren't the same thing. You can't have a plot-heavy idea and not have an ending for it. You don't have to know every beat in the ending (for example, I doubt Kishimoto knew prior to writing the first chapter that he'd have Black Zetsu take over Madara to reveal that Kaguya hates everyone and wants a new world [or whatever]), but knowing a vague ending/broad strokes of what's going to happen is essential (again, for example, he probably knew that Naruto and Sasuke were going to do something together at the end of the series, whether it be fight together or fight against each other, and he probably knew that they'd be the only two that could do something about whoever the final villain would be, and he probably knew that he needed to separate Naruto and Sasuke and make them go on different paths and be motivated by different things because they're foils and it wouldn't be good writing if they were together all the time and had no real tension, because he introduced the rivalry right off the bat so there was no way he was just going to let it fall by the wayside; he probably didn't know about Orochimaru or having the Uchiha clan be this huge conglomeration of villains or anything specific until later on when the pieces started to come together). Him announcing the end was probably his confirmation that he definitively finally knew everything about the end.

Plot-heavy stuff can't ride off popularity. People get tired of the same thing happening with no plot-advancement (if you're looking for a manga-comparison: this is happening with One Piece, which has had all of the pieces set for the end since Brooke came on-board). A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones) got (slightly) out of George R. R. Martin's control and it became an absolute monster (going from a planned trilogy to four books to five books to six books to seven books [and he's thinking about maybe an eighth]), but that doesn't mean he wasn't writing the first book without knowing how he'd end it, despite that being one of the most popular fantasy series ever. Going back to One Piece, it was planned to only be a few years long; Oda realized he could expand it, so he did. And here we are, 15 years later, 10 years after it should've ended, because he had a lot of story to tell before he could get to his ending.

 

It's not the same as announcing the ending to something like The Simpsons or South Park or Doctor Who (which, while plot-heavy, isn't building to a definitive "and then the TARDIS stopped and the Doctor found peace, the end"). 

[Metal Snake]

Well, no, I didn't, but:

A: Two totally different entities. Naruto has the luxury of having a basic plot that had the ability to stretch for 15+ years, because it didn't get into heavy stuff until after every character was established, and because of the large cast that took forever; Attack on Titan doesn't, because it established all of its characters at the same time and asked all the important questions too early.

 

B: There's no way I buy Kishimoto not knowing something about the end (he introduced Naruto as wanting to be hokage, I'm 99% sure he knew when he started if that would achieve that or not). Announcing an ending and having one aren't the same thing. You can't have a plot-heavy idea and not have an ending for it. You don't have to know every beat in the ending (for example, I doubt Kishimoto knew prior to writing the first chapter that he'd have Black Zetsu take over Madara to reveal that Kaguya hates everyone and wants a new world [or whatever]), but knowing a vague ending/broad strokes of what's going to happen is essential (again, for example, he probably knew that Naruto and Sasuke were going to do something together at the end of the series, whether it be fight together or fight against each other, and he probably knew that they'd be the only two that could do something about whoever the final villain would be, and he probably knew that he needed to separate Naruto and Sasuke and make them go on different paths and be motivated by different things because they're foils and it wouldn't be good writing if they were together all the time and had no real tension, because he introduced the rivalry right off the bat so there was no way he was just going to let it fall by the wayside; he probably didn't know about Orochimaru or having the Uchiha clan be this huge conglomeration of villains or anything specific until later on when the pieces started to come together). Him announcing the end was probably his confirmation that he definitively finally knew everything about the end.

Plot-heavy stuff can't ride off popularity. People get tired of the same thing happening with no plot-advancement (if you're looking for a manga-comparison: this is happening with One Piece, which has had all of the pieces set for the end since Brooke came on-board). A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones) got (slightly) out of George R. R. Martin's control and it became an absolute monster (going from a planned trilogy to four books to five books to six books to seven books [and he's thinking about maybe an eighth]), but that doesn't mean he wasn't writing the first book without knowing how he'd end it, despite that being one of the most popular fantasy series ever. Going back to One Piece, it was planned to only be a few years long; Oda realized he could expand it, so he did. And here we are, 15 years later, 10 years after it should've ended, because he had a lot of story to tell before he could get to his ending.

 

It's not the same as announcing the ending to something like The Simpsons or South Park or Doctor Who (which, while plot-heavy, isn't building to a definitive "and then the TARDIS stopped and the Doctor found peace, the end"). 

 

...

 

What can I say expect...I've been made to eat my own words again...

[terminoob]

...

 

What can I say expect...I've been made to eat my own words again...

 

Score one for the boys back home.

[Cha]

Gatchaman Crowds looks pretty colorful, especially the characters. Gonna give it a try since I'm usually not the one to pick up action genre related things.

[crushingmayhem]

Gatchaman Crowds looks pretty colorful, especially the characters. Gonna give it a try since I'm usually not the one to pick up action genre related things.

This might be your chance to get into the genre. But yeah, i've heard good things about Gatchaman Crowds, might have to watch it one of these days.

[Cha]

After that I'm considering getting into Kanon since I cherished Clannad and Clannad After Story. I recently finished Kawai Complex GtM&HB and Ouran HSHC.

[FAS]

Pokemon. I'm a fan of the games which explains why it's my favorite anime. I don't really other anime that much nowadays.

[Wumbo]

I'm a fan of the games too, but the Pokémon anime nowadays is terrible.

[terminoob]

I'm a fan of the games too, but the Pokémon anime nowadays is terrible.

 

Really? There's no doubt BW dropped the ball big time in just about every way, but I think XY is great.

[Wumbo]

Well yeah, it's better than BW, though anything would have to be (I will never forgive them for screwing up Team Rocket so badly), but Ash and the side characters are ridiculously bland to me. It also suffers from being formulaic, though that can't really be helped.

[terminoob]

Well yeah, it's better than BW, though anything would have to be (I will never forgive them for screwing up Team Rocket so badly), but Ash and the side characters are ridiculously bland to me. It also suffers from being formulaic, though that can't really be helped.

 

They've always been bland, though. I don't remember any of the main characters ever being that compelling.

[Cha]

Almost done with Hetalia, just been going pretty slow on it. I'm pretty positive I'm gonna rewatch Clannad and Clannad: After Story.