Anime Roundup
<div class="IPBDescription">New seaon's started</div> Well as I write this the brand new season of anime is into it's 3rd to 4th week of air time. Since I haven't updated with a list like this in a while, I
think I better hop to it.... or I'll get swamped under.
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><b>New Season</b></span>
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>TV:</b></span>
Bakuretsu Tenshi
Dandoh!
Gantz
Hanaukyo Maids La Verite
Interlude
Keroro Gunsou
Kenran Butousai: The Mars Daybreak
MADLAX
Monster
Midori No Hibi
Phantom The Animation
Pugyuru
Saiyuki Reload Gunlock
Sensei no Ojikan
Shura No Toki
Tenjou Tenge
This Ugly and Beautiful World
Tweeny Witches
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>Not part of the new season, but I haven't added them to any of my lists yet:</b></span>
Astroboy
Bobobo
Hunter X Hunter: Green Island Final
Jubei-chan 2: Siberia Yagyu
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>Currently at the Movies:</b></span>
Dead Leaves
<b>Ghost in the Shell Innocence</b>
Inu Yasha Movie 3
One Piece: Movie 5
Tokyo Godfathers
Right, that's the TITLES out of the **** way... onto reviews.
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><b>New Season</b></span>
<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>TV:</span></b>
<b>Bakuretsu Tenshi (Studio Gonzo) : </b>A fairly promising series and it's not off to a bad start. It's really hard to describe the setting, as I have no idea what the actual main characters actually do... I know for one they're 'outlaw'ish figures who fight the right fight... but they haven't mentioned why yet, or for whom... Essentially chicks in tight revealing stylish clothing go out and fight crime, and they get a mecha. Lots of guns, and average CG mecha battles. Though the animation looks top notch... a pity because it looks like 90% of Gonzo's animation went into this fan-service-esque series while Gantz gets completely screwed over...
<b>Dandoh! (TV Tokyo) : </b>I haven't watched it. Basic premise is this, a kid really good at baseball goes and plays golf. Go figure. If I recall correctly I believe I've seen a manga by the same name, so it's probably based on that. My suggestion is don't worry about this, it's for the kiddies.
<b>Gantz (Studio Gonzo) : </b>Ah Gantz. A truly inspired manga turned anime. So far 2 episodes have hit Japanese TV screens, and 2 episodes in I am more or less disappointed. I am fairly impressed with the manga-to-anime conversion Studio Gonzo has done on this, but as I mentioned earlier, it looks like Gonzo sunk too much money into Bakuretsu Tenshi and not enough into this. Thus while the series remains fairly true to the manga, the animation is subpar, by today's standards. Enough of that... onto the description, Gantz is unique. It has a wonderful morbid flavour surrounding it and is truly one of the better series I have ever had the pleasure of reading. So I was quite pleased when this got picked up for an anime series. Basically what happens is this. Our hero, Kei, is standing at the platform of a train station going over in his head how he's superior to everyone else. He notices his old friend back when he was a little kid in the crowd, but tries to ignore him (Because he thinks he's an idiot) All of a sudden some drunk guy falls onto the tracks. Noone goes to help him, but Kei's old friend does, he then sees Kei and asks him to come give him a hand... yeah you can see where this is going. They both die. But the instant they're killed they are suddenly transported into a room with a large spherical ball and a group of other people who have also 'died'. And from there the story begins. I won't spoil too much... buttttt I will say there is plenty of action, aliens and a very well formulated story. Highly recommended, shame about the animation....
IT'S TOO BAD NOONES SUBBING IT BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL TOO BUSY SUBBING MIDORI NO HIBI >_<
<b>Hanaukyo Maids La Verite (M.O.E.) : </b>Absolutely POINTLESS remake of a series that aired less than 2 years ago... If you want to remake something, remake Super Dimensional Fortress Macross of Patlabor! >_<
<b>Interlude (Toei Animation) :</b> Well the first of 3 OVA episodes has aired and it's off to a damn good start. It starts off innocently enough, a basic high-school setup. A group of friends, a boy and his tomboy 'girlfriend', some predictible dialogue, and then the councellor puts her hands through a students chest and sucks out a monster. Oh boy fun. Later a bunch of zombies show up for no-good reason and start chasing the friends down.... then the next day noone remembers a thing. I'd put this at the softer end of psycho-thriller anime, but it does do an impressive job while it's at it. I'd say this is a 'try to watch this at least once' affair.
<b>Keroro Gunsou : </b>I'm so looking forward to this. I truly truly truly am. It's a crying shame noone has deemed fit to sub this, or even release any raw's. So it looks like it's going to be about a year or so before I can buy this on DVD... if at all. Basic premise, the Earth is under invasion. From a group of military frogs. Yes people the comedy writes itself (And it is a comedy series). And again, like Gantz, it seems all the fansub groups have shunned poor little Keroro Gunsou off to some deep dark corner while 20 groups try and speedsub the latest ep of Midori no Hibi the quickest...
Here's a link to the official website. Have a quick look, and it will probably spark your interest enough to see the 1st ep. TOO BAD YOU CAN'T.
<a href='http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sp/200312-06/' target='_blank'>http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sp/200312-06/</a>
<b>Kenran Butousai: The Mars Daybreak (Studio Bones) :</b> I expected more from Studio Bones. Especially after such mighty efforts such as RahXephon and Wolf's Rain. Oh how the mighty have fallen. A very predictable mecha series, with poor CG. Stay away. Far far away.
<b>MADLAX (Beetrain) : </b>Some studio which produced Avenger. Do not touch with a ten foot pole.
<b>Monster (Madhouse) : </b>I truly believe I will not be able to sit through enough episodes to appreciate the finer plot intricies of Monster. The reason for this is because this looks to be a very slow paced series. It looks to be a very intelligent series. A highly acclaimed doctor in Germany, Dr. Tenma witnesses a women crying in a hallway because her husband died because someone else took priority just because they were famous. From that day he promises to treat his patients equally, but when a small boy comes in... And I promise I will not give any more away because it would truly spoil it. I recommend this thoroughly too people who are sick and tired of fan-service, action, comedies and want some well thought out drama. I'll also try and get through at least another 4 episodes before I draw any more conclusions.
<b>Midori No Hibi (Studio Pierrot, Studio Sunrise) : </b>Take one high-school bully who desperately wants a girlfriend but can't get one because he scares people too much, take another shy girl who's secretly had a crush on the bully but never had the guts to say it, combine them together and what do you get? Shy girl on the bully's right hand. So yeah, comedy series based on a fairly popular manga. I think I enjoyed the manga better... but that's me, I'm just a little bit prejudiced on posting my thoughts on this, because I hate the fact every man and his dog are fansubbing this, while far more deserving series aren't seeing the light of day.
I'd recommend this to romance comedy fans, but don't go looking for a deep plot any time soon.
<b>Phantom The Animation (KSS) : </b>I'm sure fan's of Noir will appreciate this one. A young boy goes to visit someone over in America. While he's trying to find the hotel he's staying at, a mob boss is assassinated right in front of him, he instantly locates where the assassin was sniping from and proceeds to get the hell out of there. Too bad he's a crappy runner, and the assassin chasing him just so happens to be the best in the world. He wakes up only to be told he will be trained as an assassin, and if he refuses he'll be killed. To top it off, they've erased his memory and he has pretty much no choice but to do as they say. Interesting premise eh? It's all pulled off very stylishly, and as stated, if you're into Noir then there's a fair chance this is right up your alley. It's an OVA series, so only episode 1 has aired and the 2nd ep is due at the end of June (The 25th to be exact) I have no idea how many episodes it will be comprised of. One of the better series this season
<b>Pugyuru (Two Thousand Creators.com) :</b> And no. That is not a real website, that's the company. Umm... the Japanese win again. Where to begin... well, each episode of Pugyuru is 3 minutes long and filled with some very weird and wacky jokes... The level of animation is very low, sort of what you would expect from a flash animation. But trust me you'll hardly notice that. A young girl arrives home one day and finds that her parents have gone on a world trip and they've left her a maid to help her out. Turns out the maid is a foot tall and made out of rubber. Hilarity ensues.
Check out the opening to the series posted on the official Pugyuru website. It'll give you a better insight to what I'm talking about:
<a href='http://pugyuru.jp/main/movie/opening.wmv' target='_blank'>http://pugyuru.jp/main/movie/opening.wmv</a>
It's great fun.
<b>Saiyuki Reload Gunlock (Studio Pierrot) : </b>Ignore. 3rd season of a series that could have achieved great things. Too bad it went for the Dragonball Z way of things... (Taking forever to get to the bloody point)
<b>Sensei no Ojikan (TV Tokyo) : </b>Azumanga Daioh fans rejoice. Pure comedy gold. A 27 year old teacher (Who looks like she's 8 years old) teaches class. Incredibly funny jokes and I can't recommend it highly enough. The ending theme sounds like its from the 80's...
[Random tidbit: The voice actor for Suetake also does the voice of Ussop in One Piece. Weee]
<b>Shura No Toki (TV Tokyo) : </b>There was a lot of crap produced this season, and Shura No Toki treads on a very thin rope. A young man wanders around and fights people using only his hands. Kinda like Rurouni Kenshin minus the sword... but minus the comedy or the interest. I'll give it a few more episodes, but I don't expect much. Could be right up people's alley though.
<b>Tenjou Tenge (Avex Mode, Mad House) : </b>There are currently 5 series I want converted to anime. Bleach, Yotsuba!, Black Cat, Gunmm Last Order and Devil X Devil. Tenjou Tenge used to be on that list, and occasionally I wish it was... The Tenjou Tenge manga is dark, violent and doesn't hold back on the nudity. The Tenjou Tenge anime is colourful, violent and cuts out all the good bits... *sigh* This is generally what happens when you try and transfer a very dark and gritty manga to anime, TV execs get their slimy meat hooks on it and 'tone it down'. Case in point Berserk. Yeah, you thought Berserk was violent on TV. Read the manga and be enlightened. But I digress, Tenjou Tenge is the tale of a 2 punk kids who travel from town to town beating their way to the top of each school to prove they're the strongest. It's essentially a high-school martial arts series. It starts off very slowly, but gathers pace very quickly. Don't let the first few eps fool you (It's currently at ep3), once it hits ep10 or so things really start getting dark.. or at least I hope so... see my main gripe with Tenjou Tenge (Apart from cutting all the 'adult' scenes) is that they made the characters too **** colourful... Hell I'll just turn the contrast down on my monitor and I'll be right...
<b>YOU WILL WATCH TENJOU TENGE</b>
<b>This Ugly and Beautiful World (Gainax) : </b>You'll often hear this referred to as KonoMini. This is mearly because anime fans are simply too lazy to call it by it's correct name of Kono Minikuku Mo Utsukushii Sekai. Ahhh Gainax could release absolute garbage and nerds would argue it up and down with you how it's superior to everything else ever released. It's a good thing This Ugly and Beautiful World seems to be doing a good job from the get go. The best way to describe this is a Sci-fi Love Comedy. Take all the action from Mahoramatic: Automatic Maiden, cut that action down to 5% and focus on the plot and this would be the result. For those who haven't seen Mahoramatic, the story revolves around a young delivery boy who sees a strange light one night and he goes to investigate, the light turns into an alien, and the boy turns into a superhero and points the bad alien chasing the good alien. This may sound like recycled plot, but This Ugly and Beautiful World seems to skirt around this problem by putting all the action down to around 1-2 minutes of air time and focusing mainly on the plot. Come to think of it... that's a very similar system to the way Patlabor works (It's a mecha series, with very little focus on mecha)
Urgh.. I don't wanna start drawing those comparisons.
Anyways, this does look to be one of the winners of the season. Ignore the fans, watch it for yourself and make your own conclusions.
<b>Tweeny Witches (Studio 4°C) : </b>You may remember this studio as one who produced several of the shorts from The Animatrix. This is a good thing if you remember them, because you'll also remember they have a very subtle gothic flavour to their animation. A young girl who wishes she could be in a world with witches, accidently falls off the roof of her school, only to wake up in the middle of an archane forest... some witches come along and mistake her for an apprentice witch, and they arrest her (Witches aren't meant to be in the forest), several plot twists later and we're on our way. Each episode is under 5 minutes long, with a planned total of 40 episodes. One of the 'lighter' series this season, but one that can be appreciated much more than the other crap that came out.
I've left out around 10 series from this season. Mainly because they're A.) Pure crap or B.) I Haven't watched them yet or C.) I Haven't been able to get raw's for them
Onwards!
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>Old Season</b></span>
<b>Astroboy (Sony Pictures Productions) : </b>It's Astroboy, with updated graphics. How could you not lose? Well.. I don't prefer the updated Atlas, but that's my only beef with it. But come on, ASTROBOY!
<b>Bobobo (Toei Animation) : </b>This is easily the weirdest, funniest, insane series you are ever likely to watch. Ignore the idiots who try and push Excel Saga on you for 'insanity', this is where it's at. Take one overly buff superhero, add 1 giant golden afro and make him fight with his nosehairs (Yes nosehairs), have him fight a group of people who want to make everyone bald, add in a jelly monster, a sun (As in Solar System Sun) with a gender problem, the cliche female, a man with poop on his head... and well.. you get the idea.
Currently raw's are available for this up to around episode 16-17, but only 1 group has decided to sub this, so the sub is up to around ep3... I WANT MORE! I AM OFFICE LADY!
<b>Hunter X Hunter: Green Island Final (Nippon Animation) :</b> There's about 78 episodes you need to see before this, before you'll have any idea what's going on (1 TV series and 2 OVAs) This is the 3rd and final chapter of the Green Island saga of Hunter X Hunter. Umm... hmmm how to explain this... Basically a group of bounty hunters are playing a game (This is only 1 saga, the first 60 odd episodes of the series aren't like this) in kind of the same vein as .hack//SIGN. But unlike .hack//SIGN there's a lot more action and more intriguing plot development. Too bad it's also like .hack//SIGN and takes it's **** time explaining every frickin action a character does.... Still a great addition to this ongoing series, not recommended to anyone who hasn't seen the previous TV series and OVA.
<b>Jubei-chan: Siberia Yagyu (TV Tokyo) : </b>Dear god, I wish every series produced a level of animation such as this. This is the 2nd season of Jubei-chan and you really don't need to know too much about the series to appreciate this. Just jump right in and be wow'd by incredibly high levels of animation.
Hell watch the trailer and make your own conclusions:
<a href='http://www.j2.bz/dyjest/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.j2.bz/dyjest/index.html</a>
Again I left out a few because A.) Meh, I'm a lazy lazy man B.) They're crap (Case in point 'Monkey Turn') or C.) See A.
I won't go into the movies, you should know them all by now from previous threads.
Oh just one little thing I'm sure a lot of you will like to know
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><b>GHOST IN THE SHELL INNOCENCE IS OUT</b></span></span>
Yeah. Nothing major.
God that took a while to write...
<span style='font-size:6pt;line-height:100%'>PS. I will answer 'those' questions... eventually...</span>
think I better hop to it.... or I'll get swamped under.
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><b>New Season</b></span>
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>TV:</b></span>
Bakuretsu Tenshi
Dandoh!
Gantz
Hanaukyo Maids La Verite
Interlude
Keroro Gunsou
Kenran Butousai: The Mars Daybreak
MADLAX
Monster
Midori No Hibi
Phantom The Animation
Pugyuru
Saiyuki Reload Gunlock
Sensei no Ojikan
Shura No Toki
Tenjou Tenge
This Ugly and Beautiful World
Tweeny Witches
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>Not part of the new season, but I haven't added them to any of my lists yet:</b></span>
Astroboy
Bobobo
Hunter X Hunter: Green Island Final
Jubei-chan 2: Siberia Yagyu
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>Currently at the Movies:</b></span>
Dead Leaves
<b>Ghost in the Shell Innocence</b>
Inu Yasha Movie 3
One Piece: Movie 5
Tokyo Godfathers
Right, that's the TITLES out of the **** way... onto reviews.
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><b>New Season</b></span>
<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>TV:</span></b>
<b>Bakuretsu Tenshi (Studio Gonzo) : </b>A fairly promising series and it's not off to a bad start. It's really hard to describe the setting, as I have no idea what the actual main characters actually do... I know for one they're 'outlaw'ish figures who fight the right fight... but they haven't mentioned why yet, or for whom... Essentially chicks in tight revealing stylish clothing go out and fight crime, and they get a mecha. Lots of guns, and average CG mecha battles. Though the animation looks top notch... a pity because it looks like 90% of Gonzo's animation went into this fan-service-esque series while Gantz gets completely screwed over...
<b>Dandoh! (TV Tokyo) : </b>I haven't watched it. Basic premise is this, a kid really good at baseball goes and plays golf. Go figure. If I recall correctly I believe I've seen a manga by the same name, so it's probably based on that. My suggestion is don't worry about this, it's for the kiddies.
<b>Gantz (Studio Gonzo) : </b>Ah Gantz. A truly inspired manga turned anime. So far 2 episodes have hit Japanese TV screens, and 2 episodes in I am more or less disappointed. I am fairly impressed with the manga-to-anime conversion Studio Gonzo has done on this, but as I mentioned earlier, it looks like Gonzo sunk too much money into Bakuretsu Tenshi and not enough into this. Thus while the series remains fairly true to the manga, the animation is subpar, by today's standards. Enough of that... onto the description, Gantz is unique. It has a wonderful morbid flavour surrounding it and is truly one of the better series I have ever had the pleasure of reading. So I was quite pleased when this got picked up for an anime series. Basically what happens is this. Our hero, Kei, is standing at the platform of a train station going over in his head how he's superior to everyone else. He notices his old friend back when he was a little kid in the crowd, but tries to ignore him (Because he thinks he's an idiot) All of a sudden some drunk guy falls onto the tracks. Noone goes to help him, but Kei's old friend does, he then sees Kei and asks him to come give him a hand... yeah you can see where this is going. They both die. But the instant they're killed they are suddenly transported into a room with a large spherical ball and a group of other people who have also 'died'. And from there the story begins. I won't spoil too much... buttttt I will say there is plenty of action, aliens and a very well formulated story. Highly recommended, shame about the animation....
IT'S TOO BAD NOONES SUBBING IT BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL TOO BUSY SUBBING MIDORI NO HIBI >_<
<b>Hanaukyo Maids La Verite (M.O.E.) : </b>Absolutely POINTLESS remake of a series that aired less than 2 years ago... If you want to remake something, remake Super Dimensional Fortress Macross of Patlabor! >_<
<b>Interlude (Toei Animation) :</b> Well the first of 3 OVA episodes has aired and it's off to a damn good start. It starts off innocently enough, a basic high-school setup. A group of friends, a boy and his tomboy 'girlfriend', some predictible dialogue, and then the councellor puts her hands through a students chest and sucks out a monster. Oh boy fun. Later a bunch of zombies show up for no-good reason and start chasing the friends down.... then the next day noone remembers a thing. I'd put this at the softer end of psycho-thriller anime, but it does do an impressive job while it's at it. I'd say this is a 'try to watch this at least once' affair.
<b>Keroro Gunsou : </b>I'm so looking forward to this. I truly truly truly am. It's a crying shame noone has deemed fit to sub this, or even release any raw's. So it looks like it's going to be about a year or so before I can buy this on DVD... if at all. Basic premise, the Earth is under invasion. From a group of military frogs. Yes people the comedy writes itself (And it is a comedy series). And again, like Gantz, it seems all the fansub groups have shunned poor little Keroro Gunsou off to some deep dark corner while 20 groups try and speedsub the latest ep of Midori no Hibi the quickest...
Here's a link to the official website. Have a quick look, and it will probably spark your interest enough to see the 1st ep. TOO BAD YOU CAN'T.
<a href='http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sp/200312-06/' target='_blank'>http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sp/200312-06/</a>
<b>Kenran Butousai: The Mars Daybreak (Studio Bones) :</b> I expected more from Studio Bones. Especially after such mighty efforts such as RahXephon and Wolf's Rain. Oh how the mighty have fallen. A very predictable mecha series, with poor CG. Stay away. Far far away.
<b>MADLAX (Beetrain) : </b>Some studio which produced Avenger. Do not touch with a ten foot pole.
<b>Monster (Madhouse) : </b>I truly believe I will not be able to sit through enough episodes to appreciate the finer plot intricies of Monster. The reason for this is because this looks to be a very slow paced series. It looks to be a very intelligent series. A highly acclaimed doctor in Germany, Dr. Tenma witnesses a women crying in a hallway because her husband died because someone else took priority just because they were famous. From that day he promises to treat his patients equally, but when a small boy comes in... And I promise I will not give any more away because it would truly spoil it. I recommend this thoroughly too people who are sick and tired of fan-service, action, comedies and want some well thought out drama. I'll also try and get through at least another 4 episodes before I draw any more conclusions.
<b>Midori No Hibi (Studio Pierrot, Studio Sunrise) : </b>Take one high-school bully who desperately wants a girlfriend but can't get one because he scares people too much, take another shy girl who's secretly had a crush on the bully but never had the guts to say it, combine them together and what do you get? Shy girl on the bully's right hand. So yeah, comedy series based on a fairly popular manga. I think I enjoyed the manga better... but that's me, I'm just a little bit prejudiced on posting my thoughts on this, because I hate the fact every man and his dog are fansubbing this, while far more deserving series aren't seeing the light of day.
I'd recommend this to romance comedy fans, but don't go looking for a deep plot any time soon.
<b>Phantom The Animation (KSS) : </b>I'm sure fan's of Noir will appreciate this one. A young boy goes to visit someone over in America. While he's trying to find the hotel he's staying at, a mob boss is assassinated right in front of him, he instantly locates where the assassin was sniping from and proceeds to get the hell out of there. Too bad he's a crappy runner, and the assassin chasing him just so happens to be the best in the world. He wakes up only to be told he will be trained as an assassin, and if he refuses he'll be killed. To top it off, they've erased his memory and he has pretty much no choice but to do as they say. Interesting premise eh? It's all pulled off very stylishly, and as stated, if you're into Noir then there's a fair chance this is right up your alley. It's an OVA series, so only episode 1 has aired and the 2nd ep is due at the end of June (The 25th to be exact) I have no idea how many episodes it will be comprised of. One of the better series this season
<b>Pugyuru (Two Thousand Creators.com) :</b> And no. That is not a real website, that's the company. Umm... the Japanese win again. Where to begin... well, each episode of Pugyuru is 3 minutes long and filled with some very weird and wacky jokes... The level of animation is very low, sort of what you would expect from a flash animation. But trust me you'll hardly notice that. A young girl arrives home one day and finds that her parents have gone on a world trip and they've left her a maid to help her out. Turns out the maid is a foot tall and made out of rubber. Hilarity ensues.
Check out the opening to the series posted on the official Pugyuru website. It'll give you a better insight to what I'm talking about:
<a href='http://pugyuru.jp/main/movie/opening.wmv' target='_blank'>http://pugyuru.jp/main/movie/opening.wmv</a>
It's great fun.
<b>Saiyuki Reload Gunlock (Studio Pierrot) : </b>Ignore. 3rd season of a series that could have achieved great things. Too bad it went for the Dragonball Z way of things... (Taking forever to get to the bloody point)
<b>Sensei no Ojikan (TV Tokyo) : </b>Azumanga Daioh fans rejoice. Pure comedy gold. A 27 year old teacher (Who looks like she's 8 years old) teaches class. Incredibly funny jokes and I can't recommend it highly enough. The ending theme sounds like its from the 80's...
[Random tidbit: The voice actor for Suetake also does the voice of Ussop in One Piece. Weee]
<b>Shura No Toki (TV Tokyo) : </b>There was a lot of crap produced this season, and Shura No Toki treads on a very thin rope. A young man wanders around and fights people using only his hands. Kinda like Rurouni Kenshin minus the sword... but minus the comedy or the interest. I'll give it a few more episodes, but I don't expect much. Could be right up people's alley though.
<b>Tenjou Tenge (Avex Mode, Mad House) : </b>There are currently 5 series I want converted to anime. Bleach, Yotsuba!, Black Cat, Gunmm Last Order and Devil X Devil. Tenjou Tenge used to be on that list, and occasionally I wish it was... The Tenjou Tenge manga is dark, violent and doesn't hold back on the nudity. The Tenjou Tenge anime is colourful, violent and cuts out all the good bits... *sigh* This is generally what happens when you try and transfer a very dark and gritty manga to anime, TV execs get their slimy meat hooks on it and 'tone it down'. Case in point Berserk. Yeah, you thought Berserk was violent on TV. Read the manga and be enlightened. But I digress, Tenjou Tenge is the tale of a 2 punk kids who travel from town to town beating their way to the top of each school to prove they're the strongest. It's essentially a high-school martial arts series. It starts off very slowly, but gathers pace very quickly. Don't let the first few eps fool you (It's currently at ep3), once it hits ep10 or so things really start getting dark.. or at least I hope so... see my main gripe with Tenjou Tenge (Apart from cutting all the 'adult' scenes) is that they made the characters too **** colourful... Hell I'll just turn the contrast down on my monitor and I'll be right...
<b>YOU WILL WATCH TENJOU TENGE</b>
<b>This Ugly and Beautiful World (Gainax) : </b>You'll often hear this referred to as KonoMini. This is mearly because anime fans are simply too lazy to call it by it's correct name of Kono Minikuku Mo Utsukushii Sekai. Ahhh Gainax could release absolute garbage and nerds would argue it up and down with you how it's superior to everything else ever released. It's a good thing This Ugly and Beautiful World seems to be doing a good job from the get go. The best way to describe this is a Sci-fi Love Comedy. Take all the action from Mahoramatic: Automatic Maiden, cut that action down to 5% and focus on the plot and this would be the result. For those who haven't seen Mahoramatic, the story revolves around a young delivery boy who sees a strange light one night and he goes to investigate, the light turns into an alien, and the boy turns into a superhero and points the bad alien chasing the good alien. This may sound like recycled plot, but This Ugly and Beautiful World seems to skirt around this problem by putting all the action down to around 1-2 minutes of air time and focusing mainly on the plot. Come to think of it... that's a very similar system to the way Patlabor works (It's a mecha series, with very little focus on mecha)
Urgh.. I don't wanna start drawing those comparisons.
Anyways, this does look to be one of the winners of the season. Ignore the fans, watch it for yourself and make your own conclusions.
<b>Tweeny Witches (Studio 4°C) : </b>You may remember this studio as one who produced several of the shorts from The Animatrix. This is a good thing if you remember them, because you'll also remember they have a very subtle gothic flavour to their animation. A young girl who wishes she could be in a world with witches, accidently falls off the roof of her school, only to wake up in the middle of an archane forest... some witches come along and mistake her for an apprentice witch, and they arrest her (Witches aren't meant to be in the forest), several plot twists later and we're on our way. Each episode is under 5 minutes long, with a planned total of 40 episodes. One of the 'lighter' series this season, but one that can be appreciated much more than the other crap that came out.
I've left out around 10 series from this season. Mainly because they're A.) Pure crap or B.) I Haven't watched them yet or C.) I Haven't been able to get raw's for them
Onwards!
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>Old Season</b></span>
<b>Astroboy (Sony Pictures Productions) : </b>It's Astroboy, with updated graphics. How could you not lose? Well.. I don't prefer the updated Atlas, but that's my only beef with it. But come on, ASTROBOY!
<b>Bobobo (Toei Animation) : </b>This is easily the weirdest, funniest, insane series you are ever likely to watch. Ignore the idiots who try and push Excel Saga on you for 'insanity', this is where it's at. Take one overly buff superhero, add 1 giant golden afro and make him fight with his nosehairs (Yes nosehairs), have him fight a group of people who want to make everyone bald, add in a jelly monster, a sun (As in Solar System Sun) with a gender problem, the cliche female, a man with poop on his head... and well.. you get the idea.
Currently raw's are available for this up to around episode 16-17, but only 1 group has decided to sub this, so the sub is up to around ep3... I WANT MORE! I AM OFFICE LADY!
<b>Hunter X Hunter: Green Island Final (Nippon Animation) :</b> There's about 78 episodes you need to see before this, before you'll have any idea what's going on (1 TV series and 2 OVAs) This is the 3rd and final chapter of the Green Island saga of Hunter X Hunter. Umm... hmmm how to explain this... Basically a group of bounty hunters are playing a game (This is only 1 saga, the first 60 odd episodes of the series aren't like this) in kind of the same vein as .hack//SIGN. But unlike .hack//SIGN there's a lot more action and more intriguing plot development. Too bad it's also like .hack//SIGN and takes it's **** time explaining every frickin action a character does.... Still a great addition to this ongoing series, not recommended to anyone who hasn't seen the previous TV series and OVA.
<b>Jubei-chan: Siberia Yagyu (TV Tokyo) : </b>Dear god, I wish every series produced a level of animation such as this. This is the 2nd season of Jubei-chan and you really don't need to know too much about the series to appreciate this. Just jump right in and be wow'd by incredibly high levels of animation.
Hell watch the trailer and make your own conclusions:
<a href='http://www.j2.bz/dyjest/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.j2.bz/dyjest/index.html</a>
Again I left out a few because A.) Meh, I'm a lazy lazy man B.) They're crap (Case in point 'Monkey Turn') or C.) See A.
I won't go into the movies, you should know them all by now from previous threads.
Oh just one little thing I'm sure a lot of you will like to know
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><b>GHOST IN THE SHELL INNOCENCE IS OUT</b></span></span>
Yeah. Nothing major.
God that took a while to write...
<span style='font-size:6pt;line-height:100%'>PS. I will answer 'those' questions... eventually...</span>
Comments
And there ain't nothin to complain about when there's something new from Gainax out!
HOW COULD YOU NOT MENTION APPLESEED MOVIE?!
And I think by far the most annoying thing about TenTen tv so far is Aya's voice. :/
Because I didn't know it was out yet..
there was a crossover!??
there was a crossover!?? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Quiet you...
Its from the intro...
To bad the intro's a steaming pile.
Guess Ill hunt down the Manga.
Monster: I agree its really really slow..
i'm mad, they licensed Gokusen =/ it was very funny imo , but i think aone still subs licensed anime (read or die tv, gungrave)
onoes don't <i>bounce</i> me <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Maybe because it wasn't worth mentioning? It is the worst thing to come out of Shirow's refuse bin. Ever.
And he doesn't make anything that sucks.
Except the Appleseed movie, which I just pointed out.
Yaaaaaaaaaaay! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
...
Seen the first episode of "This Ugly and Beautiful World". D'no, looks interesting.
Maybe because it wasn't worth mentioning? It is the worst thing to come out of Shirow's refuse bin. Ever.
And he doesn't make anything that sucks.
Except the Appleseed movie, which I just pointed out. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
1.) Shut up
2.) You haven't even seen the movie, so how can you pass judgement on it.
3.) If you still want to pass judgement on it, tell me the basic plot of the movie.
4.) Don't try and start a little flame war over something you don't know anything about.
Maybe because it wasn't worth mentioning? It is the worst thing to come out of Shirow's refuse bin. Ever.
And he doesn't make anything that sucks.
Except the Appleseed movie, which I just pointed out. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
This, boys and girls, is what is known as an opinion.