What are you Watching?

[usamimi]

I don't mind the commercials on CR because they're always short. But they do seem to play the same ones over and over again...I dunno if it's just when I watch it or what, sometimes I feel like I see the same commercial like 10 times over the course of a couple of episodes, lol.

[Animusubi]

Finished Tamako Market. While I did enjoy it, I felt like it was another anime that was wasted time, all the same. I felt the same way with Hyouka before this.

[llj]

I'm watching Shangri-La. Unlike most anime fans, I do like Gonzo. They're not the most skilled group of animators, but they have ambition and are willing to experiment from time to time, with varying results. Shangri-La seems to fall squarely in the category of "big ideas, bumpy execution". It's jam packed with ideas and FANTASTIC world building, but the execution is stop and go. Still reasonably watchable all the same.

[Path]

I just finished Tamako Market as well. I can see what you mean about the "wasted time" since nothing really happened, but I still enjoyed the slice-of-life cuteness about it. That and I'm a sucker for birds.

[greg]

Recently finished Yatterman vol 5 (6 episodes per DVD!) and Yawara vol. 4.

[greg]

Just watched the first DVD of Yamato 2199. Only two episodes per DVD, unfortunately. But, I was impressed!

[llj]

I finally got around to getting Gunsmith Cats anime. I wish it were more violent and gun-fetishistic like the manga is, but it's an OK time waster.

[_D_]

Just watched the first DVD of Yamato 2199. Only two episodes per DVD, unfortunately. But, I was impressed!

4 in all the others...

[usamimi]

I watched the first episode of "The Flowers of Evil" last night, just to see what all the fuss was about (I've heard the fans of the manga are sort of in an uproar because the anime doesn't look like the manga, as they rotoscoped real people to use for the animation). I've read a little bit of the manga, so I kinda know where the story's going...and honestly, I didn't mind the animation style--I actually thought that it was nice to see a "new" anime not looking like practically everything else out there right now. (Also, I thought the fact that they vaguely looked more like actual people added to the creepiness factor, but maybe that's just me.) I think I might keep watching it.

[llj]

Finished Shangri-La. Can't help but think that if it got another 15 or so episodes it might be considered a minor classic; on the other hand, at times it sometimes drags even at 24 episodes, so maybe not. As it stands, it's a watchable if slightly disjointed show with some very interesting politics, mysticism and world building. Tons of interesting ideas packed into this show. It's also more deliberately "leftist" than most shows--it's very socially progressive in its portrayal of gender and sexuality, and there is also a Marxist bent to its politics as well, which is more pronounced here than in most "scrappy poor rebels vs evil rich empire" stories. The world economy and the ever-shifting flow of cash from person to person and country to country in a future dominated by the internet is a big part of this show's world. It's quite interesting.

On the downside, its many moments of "hard" science fiction elements are counterbalanced by events and actions that are downright fantastical. Bodily possession, superhuman feats and other such elements perhaps prevent it from being taken seriously as a "hard" sci-fi show.

All that said, it's still mainly an action adventure, so it's not as dry as I make it sound. It's certainly more accessible to a broader audience than GITS, for instance.

A lot of anime fans were mixed on it, and I can sort of see why: the animation is average at best, the narrative is disjointed and sometimes it just has too many ideas for its own good. But I admire its ambition. For me, ambition counts for more than for most people. And I think the characters are quite memorable.