What are you Watching?

Discuss anime, especially but not limited to 1950's~1990's series, and related sub-topics
User avatar
Char Aznable
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 11:31 am
Anime Fan Since: Early '90s
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Char Aznable »

Only a few episodes left of Akame Ga Kill. Overall, I liked the first half, but I'm really enjoying the later episodes much more. I also recently watched Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, which was the conclusion to the Arise series. I wasn't thrilled with the film, though I didn't mind the Arise episodes--which was unique in that it showed how the Major's team was formed. My problem with The New Movie, was that it felt like a rehash of so many other Ghost in the Shell movies/episodes that came before. Though, I have to say--and I know this may come as heresy--but I don't really care for any of the Ghost in the Shell anime (including the '95 Oshii film) . I wouldn't go as far as to say that I outright dislike it per se, but even Oshii's GitS just leaves me with a kind of "meh" feeling. The original manga, on the other hand, I always felt was a masterpiece.
llj wrote:I'll admit, I'm somewhat of a fan of Gonzo--not because they are great animators (sadly, they are not) but during the 2000s they seemed to be the only studio that was doing the "type" of shows I was interested in.
That pretty much sums up how I feel about Gonzo. Their shows were unique enough that it really set them apart from the typical anime fare of the time. They weren't afraid to produce shows and use character designs that were the complete antithesis of the popular "moe" style/theme. They did a phenomenal job on Basilisk, and I really liked Samurai 7. Even Desert Punk was enjoyable. Sure, they did more "cutesy" things like Strike Witches and Rosario + Vampire, but it evened out with shows like Speed Grapher.
User avatar
llj
Posts: 1185
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 2:36 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1985

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by llj »

I often wondered if manga sponsors ask Gonzo them to animate their stuff because they were cheap to hire, or that they were just more willing to lend their "talents" to more edgier material. Maybe a little bit of both.

Another funny thing about Gantz--in the extras interview with Ichiro Itano, he spends a significant chunk of it talking about TV anime censorship and how Japanese censors are becoming more Americanized in sensibility. And this was WAY back in 2004, over a decade ago. Naturally, Itano, being old school (and the guy who directed Angel Cop :lol: ), is thoroughly happy to try to piss all over it.

Char, I quite like a lot of the GITS anime, especially the SAC TV series. I'm not IN LOVE with the original GITS movie, but I have a lot of admiration and respect for it, as an Oshii fan. I actually prefer the more unpopular GITS 2: Innocence over the first movie. I haven't seen any of the post Solid State Society stuff though. At some point in the franchise they stopped introducing new ideas and just began rehashing and referencing the first movie over and over again. This started to become apparent in the SSS movie. I think SAC 2nd Gig was the last time GITS was did anything fresh.

Anyway, I found a copy of the ARIEL OVA series in a used DVD store. It was put out by Central Park Media on DVD in 2003. I think I recall being aware of this title in passing, but not enough to research it. Googling doesn't have much information about it other than a few passing reviews. Apparently the manga serial was quite popular in its day. It feels like it was on VHS once, but I haven't found any evidence that CPM released this prior to the DVD. For example, the end credits are hardsubbed, which is something you would expect to have been taken from a VHS source. If not, then I suspect CPM sat on the license for a while and it was intended to be a VHS or LD release but they didn't get around to releasing it until well near when CPM was dying, in a very quiet release. I wondered if it was in Dave's "least essential OVAs" thread a few years back, but I checked and it wasn't. :lol:

As for the show itself, it's nothing too special plotwise. It opens in media res, and you're not quite sure the entire series is in chronological order (at times, it feels like episodes 3 and 4 should come earlier than 1+2) lots of elements taken from many tried and true anime genres--mecha, cute girls, aliens. The first episode of Ariel is even marked "episode IV" which is likely a nod to Star Wars. Overall it mostly feels like something a bunch of Gainax and AIC fans in the late 80s would have made, although it is less risque than anything either of those two studios would have made. Indeed, those Gainax/AIC influenced character and mecha designs are probably the most appealing parts of the show. The main hook of the show is that the mecha piloted by the 3 girl protagonists (shades of Gunbuster here) is basically a girl mecha.

Image

Image

Image

the CPM DVD:

Image
User avatar
llj
Posts: 1185
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 2:36 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1985

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by llj »

Oh yeah, speaking of the "least essential OVAs" list, I know there are some *diehard* fans out there of Cosmos Pink Shock. In fact, way back in Mike Toole's old message boards, I remember there was one poster there who would plug CPS every few weeks. I must confess it's been a long time since I saw it, and I don't remember anything about it except for the character designs.
User avatar
DKop
Posts: 917
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:19 am
Anime Fan Since: 1998
Location: Here is Greenwood SC
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by DKop »

It's been about 6 years since I saw CPS (since I still have the fansub for it saved saved on my HD), but I found it to be a fun OVA and that was it. It's in the middle, and that's the best you can say about that. I don't look down on it for being inferior, since its an OVA that it seems only a few people have seen in the west, which makes it unique.
User avatar
karageko
Posts: 140
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:26 am
Anime Fan Since: ~2004
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by karageko »

I finally wrapped up watching everything of Ashita no Joe that's been produced in anime. Awesome stuff, although I'm more inclined to the TV than the movie summaries. Overall it's probably best watched by watching the first 2/3rds approximately of the 1970 TV series and then watching the entirety of the sequel 1980 TV series to get the best coverage without cutting out significant character development or plot.

Besides that, yesterday I showed the first two episodes of Giant Robo to a friend who hadn't seen it before, being that it reached its 25th anniversary. It's been a while since I had watched Giant Robo so I think I'm due for a re-watch anyway (I forgot a lot of the actual plot details but remember really enjoying it a lot the first time I watched it in 2012).

Afterwards we watched Golgo 13 The Professional, which I hadn't seen before. All I gotta say is that the craziness of Duke Togo's adventures doesn't disappoint; also there's so much other crazy stuff happening in that movie that I feel like anything I had heard prior about the movie placed a disproportionate amount of emphasis on the helicopter scene.

Oh yeah, I also showed that friend Riding Bean since I got my copy from the Kickstarter recently so it was a good reason to introduce someone to the Sonodaest Sonodatoon. Needless to say it was received well, and for me it remains enjoyable every time I watch it.
Name: Austin
TwitterBlog
User avatar
Drew_Sutton
Posts: 659
Joined: Tue May 07, 2013 6:19 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1994
Location: Atlanta, GA US/Hackistan, Internet

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Drew_Sutton »

Been sick off and on lately, so I've been spending some weekend time recuperating by jumping back into some of the anime arcs of Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl I skipped through the first time I started watching it, Hiatari Ryouko! which I've never really given a fair shot, and the occasional Zeta Gundam disc here or there (when I am in a bad mood).

Yawara has some of the stereotypical weaknesses of a long, fighting show but it's easy to jump back into it after years of not watching it. Much of the over-arching plot points are brought back in simple dialog but it remains pretty present of what's going on at the moment, so there aren't a ton of flashbacks. Being based on a Urasawa Naoki seinen manga, it does have more complex characters and relationships which make it all the more engaging. I know there were a handful of changes from the manga to the TV anime, I want to get the manga now to see how much more was changed and if I can get into Urasawa as an author. The only other work of his I am familiar with is Monster and I just didn't get into it, never read the manga.

Hiatari Ryouko! is based on another Adachi Mitsuru shounen manga. And I'll admit, I'm a big fan of his and have been for quite some time. I have started and stopped HR! more times than I can count though. Not sure if this one will stick, either. It's not a bad show in any sense but it's very Adachi and from what I remember, it runs for a while, so I'm not sure I can really get into it the way I got into Touch or Cross Game.
Akihabara Renditions: Japanese Animation of the Bubble Economy
Excuse me, I need to evict some juvenile delinquents from my yard.
User avatar
usamimi
Posts: 2783
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1987
Location: The Lonestar State
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by usamimi »

I'm more than halfway through my rewatch of Slam Dunk right now...trying to finish soon so I can get onto my Yu Yu Hakusho rewatch :lol: I'm at one of the arcs where a single game is taking FOREVER, so it's a bit of a slog at the moment. But it's still pretty damn enjoyable for the most part. One of the 1st sports series I got into as a kid!
*:・゚・✧ TwitterThe Anime Nostalgia Tumblr & Podcast ✧・゚・:*
User avatar
DKop
Posts: 917
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:19 am
Anime Fan Since: 1998
Location: Here is Greenwood SC
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by DKop »

Slam Dunk has been one of those shows that if their was compliation movies for the series I would rather watch those to save me the time of watching a tooooooooon of those episodes. I've been sort of interested in Slam Dunk for years, but im not sure when I'll ever get to it.
User avatar
usamimi
Posts: 2783
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1987
Location: The Lonestar State
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by usamimi »

It always surprised me they DIDNT make compilation movies, because that'd be an easy sell with how popular the series was (and still kinda is). They did make movies but the films are about stuff that takes place in between the tv series stories :lol:

At a certain point you can kinda just...have it on in the bg while you do other things & only pay attention when something major happens in the game (and even if you miss something, they recap all the major stuff at the beginning of each ep). If you like shonen delinquent series, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try tho, as it's basically "lovable delinquents play basketball: the anime". Also has a cast of well known seiyuu and some great op/end themes.
*:・゚・✧ TwitterThe Anime Nostalgia Tumblr & Podcast ✧・゚・:*
User avatar
Char Aznable
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 11:31 am
Anime Fan Since: Early '90s
Contact:

Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Char Aznable »

I've been re-watching episodes of the original Gigantor. I sometimes forget just how impressive the show still is. It's amazing how well they used the limitations of the black and white animation, plus the unique "camera angles" and borderline noir-styling adds a flair that few, if any, anime has ever successfully emulated. I never could get into Astro Boy, but Gigantor has been a favorite since first collecting the VHS tapes back in the 90s.

I tried watching the updated Tetsujin 28 anime from 2004, but stopped after the first four or so episodes. It didn't come close to capturing the charm of the original.
Post Reply