The Old School Otaku Lounge

yusaku wrote:Now i am watching Shiki which is a vampire story. it is a bit gory, but that is kind of what i wanted. I hope the storyline develops well.

I was tempted to pick up Shiki on several occasions, but never did. I'd be very interested in hearing if it's worth watching, after you finish the series.

This morning before work, I watched the first OVA of Dream Hunter Rem. The title is a pun on a girl's name (Rem) and REM sleep. She is a demon hunter who enters the dreamworlds of those afflicted by demons and such to defeat the monsters. Apparently I only saw the first episode and that there are two episodes on the first OVA. Only the first OVA was ever fansubbed.

The YouTube channel I saw Rem and Leda on is called Anime Classics Reviews. Drew, I am curious if this guy is the same guy named Area 88 on the Anime Nation forum. He was getting burned out on that forum because he mostly likes the classics. I tried reaching out to him on the AN forum, but I don't know if he ever got the message. I'll see if I can invite this guy to this forum.

I believe my sudden urge for anime viewing is being triggered by the warming of the weather. I've mentioned this before on here. This happens every year in May and June.

usamimi wrote:Oh man, is it like those giant horrible boxes Bandai used to release for their complete box sets? I hate those, too. I'd rather have a slipcover box and 3 separate DVD cases than those awful things. >< At least they still have that as an option to buy...I'd been thinking of picking one up eventually, but I figured I might try to watch it streaming first since it's on CR and Hulu. See if I still like it enough to buy it.

I've never had a Bandai brick set so I can't compare, but I suspect they're fairly similar. Multiple DVDs on a single hub. Man, I hate that. Only thing worse is what I've seen in some cheap-o boxes, all the DVDs in paper sleeves stuck in a kind of 'cup' inside the case.

And to continue the packaging rant, There's a special place in Hell for those stupid 'digipack' cases. Thin clear plastic stuck onto cardboard, hubs that shatter if you blink, bah.

Anyway, Fist of the North Star. Watching a few on streaming would be a good idea. The show really is a love it or hate it deal. To really enjoy it you've got to just go with it, accept it as it is and not get hung up on "Oh, the animation is not the best this episode" or "Oh crap, it's filler" (and boy do I hate hate HATE the use of that term. ). Just, like I said, comfort food. It's a big bag of chips, it's a tub of cookie dough ice cream, it's a bag of the best jelly beans you've ever tasted.

So, just what to sample? I'm adverse to the "ignore the first episodes it gets better later" idea but I do appreciate that in the case of Fist of the North Star the first 'book' or what I call Shin's story (roughly to episode 22 or so) is mainly setup. It's a straightforward 'vengeance' tale, Shin stole Ken's girlfriend Yuria and Ken has to kill lots of people to get her back, but of course telling it like that doesn't allow for the twists and turns and insanity.

Book 2, Rei's story, is where the melodrama cranks over 10, and we are introduced to some tropes that become signature and then overused in other shows, such as the 'fight that takes 5 episodes to even start' deal. Book 2 is lots of fun. Lots of really great character moments. Big, big drama. It's here that much of the mythology of the two schools, Hokuto shin ken and Nanto sei ken, starts to be built, and the reveal of the other 'Hokuto Brothers' Toki (aka Kung-Fu Jesus, I really kid you not) and Raoh (aka Ken-o, or 'Fist King' also Mr. Bad Mofo and his giant f'sking horse).

I never really figured out where to draw the line for Book 3 but I tend to think of it as the story of Shuu and Sauser (aka Souther) and man, the melodrama breaks the dial here. It's also where the 'running in place' type of storytelling starts to get overused, where a fight triggers a flashback which, while that's going on it triggers ANOTHER flashback before...well, you can figure that.

Melodrama? Sauser builds this giant pyramid, someone (I'll dance around spoilers here) is tasked to put the capstone on...this person has had his legs sliced so every step is BLEEDING AGONY, yet he presses on...threats to kill hundreds of children if he stops, or drops the capstone...it looks like the top is like, 2 miles high from the ground, HUNDREDS of innocent children line the steps, watching each agonizing, blood gushing step... AND THEN it starts to get BAD.

Meanwhile Kenshiro is killing his way thru a few thousand bad guys, while Raoh and Toki show up and kill a few thousand more, and Sauser, that smug son of a bitch, is sitting on that motorcycle throne, smirking... Yeah, it's like that. If that description makes you laugh and smile and say "Oh, I can't believe it's all THAT, I've got to see" then I've done my job.

The 4th Book is the final confrontation between Ken and Raoh for who should be the one successor to Hokuto shin ken, and the mythology gets really crazy and some events from the first book are 'ret-conned' and stuff happens.

Fist of the North Star 2 takes place later, Bat and Lin are grown up, plenty of melodrama, lots of new characters, the mythology gets more convoluted and messy and somehow it just wasn't as well received.

I'll tell you why to my opinion. Once you've had Rei, Toki, Shuu, Mamiya, and the 'Five Chariot Stars' of Nanto Sei Ken, anything else tends to seem like also-rans, copies. It's not fair to the other characters but man, seriously, if you don't turn into a screaming Rei fangirl I'll be so surprised I may well fall over.

Hope that helps!

I like that Kenshiro's outfit and such is reminiscent somewhat of Mel Gibson's Mad Max. When thinking of "post-apocalyptic, dystopian future," nothing says "badass" more than a partially unbuttoned leather jacket.

Speaking of which, I want to see the new Mad Max movie...

greg wrote:I like that Kenshiro's outfit and such is reminiscent somewhat of Mel Gibson's Mad Max. When thinking of "post-apocalyptic, dystopian future," nothing says "badass" more than a partially unbuttoned leather jacket.

Speaking of which, I want to see the new Mad Max movie...

Ohhh, it's more than just Ken's outfit. The visual design style of the Mad Max movies completely permeates the show. It's as much the DNA of the show (and the manga of course) as Bruce Lee.

We used to joke, back in the day, that the way to survive in the post-apocalypse world is have a large supply of hair color, styling gel and mousse, plus shoulder/chest protectors from every sport that uses such padding.

Hey, somebody has to supply that stuff!

SteveH wrote:We used to joke, back in the day, that the way to survive in the post-apocalypse world is have a large supply of hair color, styling gel and mousse, plus shoulder/chest protectors from every sport that uses such padding.

Hey, somebody has to supply that stuff!

Ha! That's funny! So true, too. Maybe instead of Max helping a group of underdogs defend a petroleum pumper, maybe the plot of another movie would be for him to help a group of underdogs defend a Wal Mart or something.

greg wrote:This morning before work, I watched the first OVA of Dream Hunter Rem. The title is a pun on a girl's name (Rem) and REM sleep. She is a demon hunter who enters the dreamworlds of those afflicted by demons and such to defeat the monsters. Apparently I only saw the first episode and that there are two episodes on the first OVA. Only the first OVA was ever fansubbed.

The YouTube channel I saw Rem and Leda on is called Anime Classics Reviews. Drew, I am curious if this guy is the same guy named Area 88 on the Anime Nation forum. He was getting burned out on that forum because he mostly likes the classics. I tried reaching out to him on the AN forum, but I don't know if he ever got the message. I'll see if I can invite this guy to this forum.

.

Yeah, that's where I saw Tobira o Akete, another "girl sucked into a fantasy world" anime I mentioned here a while back. I don't think he's uploaded anything in a few months, though, so who knows if he's still checking his youtube account for messages.

Char Aznable wrote:

yusaku wrote:Now i am watching Shiki which is a vampire story. it is a bit gory, but that is kind of what i wanted. I hope the storyline develops well.

I was tempted to pick up Shiki on several occasions, but never did. I'd be very interested in hearing if it's worth watching, after you finish the series.

i watched the first bluray disc out of four; and the story does not get good until the seventh episode. The story develops rather slowly for me. They spent too long developing the characters background stories for my taste. I started really enjoying the story until the seventh or eighth episode. I am sure the other three discs will be fine watching. if you are patient enough to get through the first six episodes you will be rewarded.

llj wrote:Yeah, that's where I saw Tobira o Akete, another "girl sucked into a fantasy world" anime I mentioned here a while back. I don't think he's uploaded anything in a few months, though, so who knows if he's still checking his youtube account for messages.

He replied to my message. He is the same Area 88 guy. I checked out my inbox on the AN forum and remembered that he did try applying for this forum. However, since he didn't get into anime until about 17 years ago, he didn't meet the requirements to join. I think there ought to be an exception. Maybe if he played up the anime he watched as a kid or something... I dunno. His message to me said, "Yeah, I've only been a proper, full fledged anime fan since 2002, although I got started through Toonami in 1999 and before that I even had Starvenger tapes when I was really, really young." Hmm... Oh well.

greg wrote:

llj wrote:Yeah, that's where I saw Tobira o Akete, another "girl sucked into a fantasy world" anime I mentioned here a while back. I don't think he's uploaded anything in a few months, though, so who knows if he's still checking his youtube account for messages.

He replied to my message. He is the same Area 88 guy. I checked out my inbox on the AN forum and remembered that he did try applying for this forum. However, since he didn't get into anime until about 17 years ago, he didn't meet the requirements to join. I think there ought to be an exception. Maybe if he played up the anime he watched as a kid or something... I dunno. His message to me said, "Yeah, I've only been a proper, full fledged anime fan since 2002, although I got started through Toonami in 1999 and before that I even had Starvenger tapes when I was really, really young." Hmm... Oh well.

I've been saying this since I've joined, I've met really wonderful people who are into older anime, eventhough they tend to be younger, they have a really strong passion for it and for learning about it. I really do think this should be an exception, in my opinion. Though it's ultimately AnimeSennin's choice. I've just been vocal in the past about certain people not being able to get in, due to only getting their start in the 90's, eventhough they love older anime. I almost didn't get in because of this as well (though I really fought hard and had to remember farther and include more info).

X-Kid Z and I have actually been watching Anime Classic Reviews' youtube channel, catching up on older shows we missed when we were younger. He's been uploading as of late too, I'm really glad there is someone who is putting up fansubs I'd have a hard time tracking down.

We watched California Crisis, which didn't have a great story, but had really neat visuals and a kick ass end theme song! Five Star Stories, which was fantastic! Though we both agreed we needed to watch it again to catch a few things. And the first episode of Dirty Pair, on Manga's youtube channel.