What are you Watching?

Discuss anime, especially but not limited to 1950's~1990's series, and related sub-topics
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Elytron Frass
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Elytron Frass »

Carol (OVA)
Ehhh. A comic monster which swallows music and sound is a neat concept with great potential but instead it's hardly consequential is this otherwise generic fantasy anime.

Le Chevalier D'Eon
Occult. Conspiracy. Gender bender.
Squash buckling period piece.
Very early in, but so far so good.
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Elytron Frass
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Elytron Frass »

Still going through D'Eon. Story and characters are good but the execution lacks a certain momentum. Also wish the more grotesque aspects weren't shied away from. The zombified/possessed humans lack the level of detail and design to make them truly spooky.


Getter Robo Arc eps 1-3 (dubbed)
Highly entertaining and more evenly paced than the idea-per-minute (but nonetheless superior) Getter Robo Armageddon.

MFKZ
This French-Japanese coproduction is equal parts blacksploitation, hyperviolent grand theft auto satire, and science fiction. And the animation quality is top notch. Saw this in theaters upon its super limited run a few years ago, and it's just as fun to revisit now. I'd like to see a sequel but it was so misunderstood that the chance is highly doubtful.
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mbanu
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by mbanu »

With Dirty Pair on Crunchyroll, I figure now is the time to give it another go. (^_^) First episode is definitely -gressive anime, but it's hard to figure if it is pro-, re-, or just a-. I really liked their transformation sequence, where they just throw off their clothes dramatically (having seen a bit of the costume underneath previously in a fan-service moment) and then the old guy just says, "...so you're female pro-wrestlers?" :lol: Good sort of reality-check on how doing superhero stuff would of course involve a lot of athletic practice.
mbanu: What's between Old School and New School?
runesaint: Hmmm. "Middle School", perhaps?
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mbanu
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by mbanu »

A few Dirty Pair side-eye moments, like Kei having a crush on a "younger man" at 19. Probably confirms me as elderly even if I'm not old-school, in that my first thought was, "How much younger could they be???"

The episode with the cats and the wrestlers was epic, despite the kinda stupid premise of "girls chase cats who love cheesecake, cause problems". Really deserves a remake, all the building blocks are there.
mbanu: What's between Old School and New School?
runesaint: Hmmm. "Middle School", perhaps?
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Drew_Sutton
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Drew_Sutton »

mbanu wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:41 pm With Dirty Pair on Crunchyroll, I figure now is the time to give it another go. (^_^) First episode is definitely -gressive anime, but it's hard to figure if it is pro-, re-, or just a-. I really liked their transformation sequence, where they just throw off their clothes dramatically (having seen a bit of the costume underneath previously in a fan-service moment) and then the old guy just says, "...so you're female pro-wrestlers?" :lol: Good sort of reality-check on how doing superhero stuff would of course involve a lot of athletic practice.
Regarding the pro wrestler quote - I wonder how strong of a connection casual viewers or non-otaku viewers (or readers of the original novels for that matter) had between Takachiho's Dirty Pair and All Japan Women's wrestling's Beauty/Black Pair (and the WWWA references)? I know women's wrestling in the 70s and 90s was more popular than in say, the late 90s and 2000s (and like, uh, now-ish) but what I don't know is exactly, comparatively, how popular either are and how much crossover there may have been.
mbanu wrote:The episode with the cats and the wrestlers was epic, despite the kinda stupid premise of "girls chase cats who love cheesecake, cause problems". Really deserves a remake, all the building blocks are there.
Time has shown this to be exceedingly difficult though - late 90s Dirty Pair OAVs, Dirty Pair Flash, felt hollow compared to the earlier OAVs and the TV series and in the late 90s and early 2000s there were attempts at a 'girls with guns' genre with titles like Aika, Najica Blitz Tactics, Miami Guns and Noir. I am sure I am forgetting others. The further we get away from the original Dirty Pair animation, and the more thinks that have come after it, it is starting to feel more and more like lightning in a bottle.

Anyway, glad to hear it sounds like you're enjoying Dirty Pair!

Not seriously watching anything at the moment, been putting an episode here or there of Princess Nine or Cat's Eye on in the background waiting for changes to load. Now that weather is starting to cool off a bit, we'll probably be spending a bit more time inside which means I might get a chance to find a cartoon or two to seriously get into.
Akihabara Renditions: Japanese Animation of the Bubble Economy
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usamimi
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by usamimi »

Gkids sent me a review copy of their Future Boy Conan BD, since I asked about it for the podcast, so I've been watching the dub! I somehow had missed that OCEAN was dubbing it, and so far the dub is really solid!
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Elytron Frass
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by Elytron Frass »

Watching 86 and while I like the battlefield action and that characters, I do feel like skimming through episodes when it focuses too much on the mundane or tries to overdevelop it's characters through introspection, exposition, and monologueing too often. A 2 cor series like this would have been hypercondensed into a feature length film, which would have been better in my opinion, back in the heyday of anime. It's certainly made for modern audiences that need/crave this added emotional and slice-of-life development but for me it drags the more interesting concepts down and dilutes itself by overstaying its welcome. I'm going to stick with because l has a consistent design and animation quality throughout paired with some intriguing concepts and actions scenes.

On a more fascinating and anime-adjacent note, I recently got a hold of RAWs for the live-action tokusatsu 3-part series Monster Commando, and related feature length Space Hunter Miki. It is my understanding that these are viewed as predecessors to the live-action Zeiram films (which lead to the classic Iria: Zeiram the Animation anime spinoff). While untranslated these Monster Commando is easy enough to follow and moreover serves up some pulpy female space bounty hunter yarns that don't rely solely on action. However the action is fun and the special effects and designs are thoughtful and entertaining. Each episode focuses on a different female monster hunter on assignment on separate alien planets but some of the side characters and the series-universe itself are recurring roles which link all 3. The feature length Space Hunter Miki is a bit tougher to follow given how dialogue heavy it is (I only speak English). Miki also has a similar design philosophy, seems to share the same universe as Monster Commando, and also reuses/recontextualizes entire scenes from each Monster Commando installment into its grander narrative.

I stumbled into an untranslted add for Monster Commando years and had been hoping to find its source. Well, here we are. All I hope for next is that some generous group out there takes interest in subtitling it.
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llj
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Re: What are you Watching?

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Fireworks--Another YA movie which seems to be all the rage in the post-Ghibli era of original non-franchise anime movies. Not bad, it reiterates similar themes as many other Shinkai or Hosoda movies, with the exception of this having an old-school oblique anime ending.

Hamatora--Good character designs, decent villain, and some pretty bad animation. But not bad for a multi-media shootoff anime.

Seiyu's Life--I'm not the biggest expert when it comes to Japanese seiyu and this references a bunch of them. But I enjoyed this all the same. Though it is a bit weird that everyone is drawn semi-realistically while the main cast are all moe designs.
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llj
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Re: What are you Watching?

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Crusher Joe movie—Finally watched this. There’s an opinion out there that the OVAs are better. I get that, but i think i like the movie better despite some hitches in the pacing and scene transitions. It has a romanticism and grandness to it that the OVAs lack.
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DKop
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Re: What are you Watching?

Post by DKop »

Ive been getting into the Netflix Cowboy Bebop series and im halfway through it already. This is a toss up because there are things in it I really really like, and things I really don't like. I have no issue with them taking Bebop and doing their own spin to it using the original source material as a spring board, and in a way its like a alternative Bebop universe if things were different. I thoroughly enjoy the set design, scenery, locations and background. Ship designs im very impressed with and in a way its somewhat comic bookey how the Swordfish looks, but I was blown away when I first saw it since I thought it looked really really good. I've had to pause at some scenes to take in the backdrops and the detail of every part of the universe the crew visits.

In terms of acting I enjoy how solid the actor is for Jet, really getting close to the Beau Billingslea voice and I feel knocks it out of the park. I really like that Jet is also a family man and just wants to be a good dad to his kid, I got no issue with that added to his character. I like the actor for Spike and it mimmicks yet has its its own spin to Spike personality of the show, really bringing the character to life even more. Faye I feel she's doing a good job with her role. I was impressed with the Big Shot segment in how the guy actor really nails down the corny-esque role of the character in the dub, I was really eating that up.

My major downsides are the actors for Vicious and the blonde host of Big Shot. The blonde needs to be more southern gal, I feel like that would really go well and hamming up her role like the character in the anime series. This time with the changes of the show, Vicious has a bigger role and seems to be more of a super villian becoming. I really don't like that but at the same time with all the changes going on I guess that would make sense to change him up. I just don't thing the actor is the right person for Vicious, his eyes have too much expression. The ordeal with Ren being in the show as the series is portraying him now ive got mixed feelings on. I feel that its hamming to add in characters like him in the current culture to appease a demographic, but if they do more with him I wouldn't mind.

I'm curious on how they will take this series, but its a 50/50 split between what annoys me and what I really enjoy, and the parts I enjoy are why im sticking with the show. They got Adrianne Barbeau playing the old lady enviromentalist leader in the 4th episode, which I got a kick outta that. Good to see she stays active in acting doing small roles these days. I'd give this show a 10/10 if they cross over Sealab with bebop and she comes back as the Adrienne BarbeauBot, but only time will tell.

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