The Old School Otaku Lounge

I recently switched from Netflix to Hulu, and i've been enjoying Captain Harlock on there. I'm past the episode where Harlock and the gang go around and assassinate Mazone women on Earth, and Harlock still leaves Mayu at the same orphanage as before. So I am lead to believe that orphanage is the only one on the entire planet, or maybe i'm wrong?

I didn't know that Hulu had the 80's robot show God Mars, like to me that is such a random thing to put on there. Maybe the J9 series will come on one day, who knows.

There are a lot of things in Captain Harlock '78 that don't make much sense. As with most Matsumoto, it's more about the mood and attitude that's the draw.

I always thought it would have been better if Harlock simply took Mayu on board with them. I mean, when it all shook out, she probably would have been safer and happier there. But he probably didn't want her to get into the pirate life.

Yet at the same time, shes in the orphanage that should be held for the highest crimes of child abuse put upon them if their government gave a crap. No, she is much safer to live the life of a pirate than where shes at, but im sure this builts upon character development and shapes her to be a fine adult later in life.

I thought Harlock was about him getting drunk and coming to earth to fix their problems each episode, because thats how its been so far. And so far, its pretty dope.

Later in the series the orphanage is portrayed a little more sympathetically, so either Toei or Matsumoto probably realized how nonsensical it was that Harlock kept putting her back in such a terrible situation.

Let's see...I'm still trying to catch up on Iron Blood Orphans, I think I'm about 5 eps behind. Oops. Other shows I'm watching this season:

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju - a fantastic drama about the lives of several Rakugo performers. Its so nice to have an anime airing now that is a serious, mature show. Bonus points in my book for Megumi Hayashibara having a role & helping on the opening theme <3

Erased - a soft sci-fi crime drama about a young man who has the ability to randomly go back in time. Usually only a few moments back in time, but this time he gets pulled back to his elementary school days, seemingly to stop a crime from happening. Again, this is a much more maturely paced show so far & I'm really enjoying it.

Blue Jacket Lupin - so good so far! Great animation, fun new characters, classic Lupin feel. Its great.

I'm also still enjoying Osomatsu-san with Nitro as it's just silly & super ridiculous fun. We've also seen enjoying the short Sekko Boys, which is a bizzare series about art statues that are also a male idol group!? xD it's a totally weird premise but I think that's what makes it interesting to watch (plus each ep is less than 10 mins, makes a good pallette cleanser for the more serious shows.) Oh! Also watching the new season of Yasmishibai, but it's pretty hit or miss so far :/

I've moved away from Japan, and have been rolling through some oldies to keep the Japanese level up. It's not the best due to the dramatcis (or lack thereof) but I read a Japanese book last summer which was a true challenge. Anywho...

Going through some old episodes of Gatchaman here and there. Mindless and fun. Love the threads.
Sol Bianca 1 & 2: Never watched these before. Kinda flat.
MegaZone 23 part 2. Finally gave this a chance. I wasn't a huge fan of the design changes, but it was pretty dope. Pure 80's.
Aim for the Top 2. Made it 2 episodes in. Garbage.
I think I'm going to go through Rannma 1/2 . I only ever watched the OVAs and first 18 TV episodes. Should be easy enough to watch one a night for some mental exercise.

llj wrote:Later in the series the orphanage is portrayed a little more sympathetically, so either Toei or Matsumoto probably realized how nonsensical it was that Harlock kept putting her back in such a terrible situation.

It's my understanding that Harlock promised Tochiro that Mayu would grow up on Earth, which is why she can't just live on the Arcadia full time. As far as that being a really terrible orphanage, well, it's a really terrible orphanage. Most Earth institutions in the Harlock series are pretty terrible, though, so I guess the bar is pretty low for competency across the board.

gaijinpunch wrote: Sol Bianca 1 & 2: Never watched these before. Kinda flat.
MegaZone 23 part 2. Finally gave this a chance. I wasn't a huge fan of the design changes, but it was pretty dope. Pure 80's.
Aim for the Top 2. Made it 2 episodes in. Garbage.
I think I'm going to go through Rannma 1/2 . I only ever watched the OVAs and first 18 TV episodes. Should be easy enough to watch one a night for some mental exercise.

I have all of Sol Bianca in my collection (first 2 OVAs on VHS and the later OVAs on DVD) thats taken me years to collect. I got the Sol Bianca 2 from that Oldtype/Newtype person over twitter when I kinda jokingly asked if he was selling it, and he was cool enough to give it to me.

I particularly enjoy Megazone 23 Pt 2 over all three of the OVAs. It just seem to grab me more than the first and.... well that third one I wont mention much of.

I made it as far as you did in Gunbuster 2. Still havent finished it, nor do I care too.

I'll be honest, Ranma 1/2 just isn't my thing, and ive got one of the first VIZ vhs tapes of the show subtitled. I don't know what it is, but I just couldn't get into it.

davemerrill wrote:
It's my understanding that Harlock promised Tochiro that Mayu would grow up on Earth, which is why she can't just live on the Arcadia full time. As far as that being a really terrible orphanage, well, it's a really terrible orphanage. Most Earth institutions in the Harlock series are pretty terrible, though, so I guess the bar is pretty low for competency across the board.

So far i'm at the part where Harlock defeated some Mezone woman in the arctic, and Mayu was told of Harlock coming by earth again by the head orphanage lady saying "There gonna blow up Harlock THIS TIME!! DOESN'T THAT JUST SUCK MAYU, JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THE BAD NEWS HAHAHAHAHA!!"

I enjoyed both Megazone 23 parts 1 and 2, but both for different reasons. I think Megazone 2 is an overall tighter affair, has a more consistent look from frame to frame, and the action is generally better, but Megazone 23 part 1 still has a lot of charm and is packed full of in-jokes and neat little details.

Gunbuster 2 I posted here about over a year ago. I still dig the look and design of the series, but the storytelling definitely isn't the greatest from an episode to episode standpoint. Gunbuster 1 had a few weak episodes too but generally there was a stronger skeleton to the plot construction, as well as better establishing the rules of the fictional 'science' of its worldview. Gunbuster 2 kinda just throws random illogical shit around without an ounce of care about *how* it's happening. NONO becomes the size of Galactus? Uhh okay. NONO can create black holes? Uhhh okay. Random logic CAN work sometimes, but in this case there is a distinct lack of dramatic tension building up to its big set pieces. The big moments just kind of HAPPEN but you don't feel like they're earned. That said, I dug the little nod to Gunbuster 1 at the end of the Gunbuster 2.

I am currently watching Giant Gorg in between my current silent movies kick. I'm quite impressed by Gorg on a number of levels, and Yas was clearly familiar with a lot of American and British TV and movie serials. What impresses me the most is how he dodged some of the more politically incorrect aspects of those influences while still incorporating the core aspects in. His treatment of the black characters and island natives is rather clever--in the Western serials Yas is cribbing from, the native characters--when not designated as villains--are usually portrayed as dumb and naive and just there for the WHITE GUYS to come teach them better, but the 2 major black characters in Giant Gorg are smart, tough, clever, modern and there is equal opportunity teaching between them and the Caucasian/Japanese cast members. A 1980s TV anime helmed by a guy born in 1947 showing more finesse when it comes to racial portrayals than many YOUNGER Japanese animators today is pretty funny to think about. I've seen some people online voice their amusement at the seedy NYC on display early in the Gorg, but during the 70s to early 80s, many parts of the city really did look like that. American films in particular circa 1975-1983 (ish) sometimes made great use of that seedy setting.

The subs that Skaro Hunting Society did before the show was licensed was how I watched Gorg 2 years ago. At the end of the series, there is a nod to a 60's Sci-Fi British show opening. I don't wanna give it away but I was wondering if you got that far and if you figured it out.