Anime & Manga Thread Vol. 1

[Liaveil]

So, I found Crunchyroll on Xbox. I am now happy, finally able to watch Fairy Tail from episode 212 onwards, although it's subbed instead. Don't feel like waiting for it to be released as dubbed so I'll just rewatch the whole lot when it's all out in English. And going to get round to watching the OVA's for it that are rather handily on Youtube. Also found that Nobuna one I was looking for on there...amongst many others that look quite fun to watch. Why wasn't I aware of this app before :lol: 

[789ifyz]

dwkGravey said:

Initial D Creator: If I Do a Sequel, It Will Be About Rally Racing

"When Initial D was starting, I considered highway racing and rally racing," Shigeno said. "From here on I'd like to continue drawing manga, and if I do an Initial D 2, I'd like to make it about rally racing." 

I haven't watched a lot of Initial D, but it's way better than Goddamn. Bring on Initial Dirt!

[f1since08]

Sonic X Episode 50. By far and away the greatest cliff hanger of the series so far.

[789ifyz]

For those who don't like subs... Nozaki-kun is apparently getting English dubs at the end of March.

http://www.fandompost.com/2016/02/22/juliet-simmons-boards-monthly-girls-nozaki-kun-as-chiyo-sakura/ 

Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't your regular Shoujo anime. It's one of the best I've seen. Definitely recommend.

[Syn]

789ifyz said:

For those who don't like subs... Nozaki-kun is apparently getting English dubs at the end of March.

http://www.fandompost.com/2016/02/22/juliet-simmons-boards-monthly-girls-nozaki-kun-as-chiyo-sakura/ 

Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't your regular Shoujo anime. It's one of the best I've seen. Definitely recommend.

Tried watching the subbed version, just couldn't get into it. I'm very hit or miss when it comes to subs and my current mood/interest.

[789ifyz]

SynGamer said:

789ifyz said:

For those who don't like subs... Nozaki-kun is apparently getting English dubs at the end of March.

http://www.fandompost.com/2016/02/22/juliet-simmons-boards-monthly-girls-nozaki-kun-as-chiyo-sakura/ 

Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't your regular Shoujo anime. It's one of the best I've seen. Definitely recommend.

Tried watching the subbed version, just couldn't get into it. I'm very hit or miss when it comes to subs and my current mood/interest.

I personally stick to subs for shows with mostly Japanese and/or Asian characters (so most anime and many Japanese games) and dubs for shows with mostly Western and/or English sounding characters (e.g. Attack on Titan, Final Fantasy, Fullmetal Alchemist...), provided it isn't horrendously done. Mostly because mispronunciations really tick me off, especially when it comes to names, so I stick to the language most likely to pronounce most stuff right for the location they're based in.

That, and it makes more sense for Japanese to be spoken in Japan/by Japanese and English to be spoken in the West/by Westerners. The only exceptions are the classics, which I tend to watch dubbed unless there is no dubbing available. 

[789ifyz]

In other news, it seems that the animation studio behind the Naruto Fillerpuden anime is getting tired of animating the episodes for this never ending series. The art and animation in the recent Infinite Filleryomi episodes have been really bad. Still, the show's still a Cash Cow they'll probably continue milking long after it's dead (ended).

[789ifyz]

Also, after reading a synopsis on MAL and some Wikipedia stuff, I decided to try Revolutionary Girl Utena. It's apparently serious, unlike Nozaki-kun, but it does sound like this show also deconstructs shoujo genre tropes and is an interesting genre defying series. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

[f1since08]

Episode 65 of Sonic X and we finally get a decent Chaotix team plot and good romance story. Tails and Cosmo are so cute!  o:)

[789ifyz]

fIsince08 said:

Episode 65 of Sonic X and we finally get a decent Chaotix team plot and good romance story. Tails and Cosmo are so cute!  o:)

I swear Cosmo doesn't come in until like the 3rd Arc in Sonic's world, sometime after the SA2 story, over 100 episodes into the show or something? Then again, it has been nearly a decade since I watched it, before I knew of the term 'Anime'.

[789ifyz]

Speaking of the 'anime', Japs voted for their favourite foreign anime and at the top of the list was 'Tom and Jerry', followed by 'The Powerpuff Girls'. I can't remember the rest of it and I've lost the link.... most of it was Western Cartoons, though.

EDIT: Found the link: http://sgcafe.com/2016/02/japanese-anime-fans-choose-their-top-20-most-recommended-foreign-anime/2/ 

[f1since08]

789ifyz said:

fIsince08 said:

Episode 65 of Sonic X and we finally get a decent Chaotix team plot and good romance story. Tails and Cosmo are so cute!  o:)

I swear Cosmo doesn't come in until like the 3rd Arc in Sonic's world, sometime after the SA2 story, over 100 episodes into the show or something? Then again, it has been nearly a decade since I watched it, before I knew of the term 'Anime'.

There are only 78 episodes in total so hardly :p. She comes in early in S3 as it's all one big plotline.

[789ifyz]

fIsince08 said:

789ifyz said:

fIsince08 said:

Episode 65 of Sonic X and we finally get a decent Chaotix team plot and good romance story. Tails and Cosmo are so cute!  o:)

I swear Cosmo doesn't come in until like the 3rd Arc in Sonic's world, sometime after the SA2 story, over 100 episodes into the show or something? Then again, it has been nearly a decade since I watched it, before I knew of the term 'Anime'.

There are only 78 episodes in total so hardly :p. She comes in early in S3 as it's all one big plotline.

Haha! Guess I just remembered wrong. As a child it felt like along series and now 'long series' basically means 100+ episodes to me, so... whoops.

[789ifyz]

http://kotaku.com/senpai-notice-my-anime-sand-art-1762595469

[f1since08]

Sonic X is starting to take a dark turn. In episode 67, we see the only cannon appearence of Dark Sonic in the entire franchise after he is affected by the fake chaos emeralds and gets annoyed by the Metarex. Essentially, Sonic goes Hulk mode!

Episode 68 is dark in the Japanese version as there is a suicide (edited out in the English dub) that leads to Shadow getting depressed.

Whilst episode 69 is a romance story (ironic considering the number ;)) it foreshadows theath of a main character...

[Syn]

Currently watching Golden Time. I'm about half way through and really enjoying the character dynamics. I'm still on the fence about how I feel regarding certain characters and the direction the story is heading, but it's entertaining so far.

On a side note, I'm wasn't sure how I felt about the art style at first but it's growing on me. It looks like they were going for a loose, whimsical styl and so far it's working.

[789ifyz]

Not anime related but a new season of Ultimate Spiderman started recently if anyone's interested. Ultimate Spiderman vs the Sinister Six.

[Odemdemz]

KonoSuba > All. Kazuma best MC ever. Toss up between him and Arata (Trinity Seven) For biggest Lackadaisical Badass. 

[Britpoint]

Odemdemz said:

KonoSuba > All. Kazuma best MC ever. Toss up between him and Arata (Trinity Seven) For biggest Lackadaisical Badass. 

I fully endorse this.

Megumin is also amazing.

By the way, I've just been made aware that they're doing an original Sword Art Online movie. Despite its poor arcs, I'm a big SAO fan overall. Consider me excite ^^

[789ifyz]

I think the first SAO arc was actually pretty decent. Went downhill after that, though. Haven't watched SAO II.

Utena had some interesting bits, but it was buried under a lot of what I'm assuming is generic shoujo stuff. It was also really repetitive. Sort of like Power Rangers - it has an overarching story, occasionally gets interesting, but overall the repetitive formula makes it really boring. I only got a little over 10 episodes into the series before stopping.

Also finished both seasons of Tokyo Ghoul. Decent, but not great. Still, pretty good overall. I heard it deviated from the canon - the second season a lot more so than the first - so I decided to read the Manga and so far it's much better than the anime. If there's a reboot (I've heard there might be this year) then I'll probably watch that, too.

Currently just finishing off my last piece of coursework for this year.

[789ifyz]

In one of the episodes for Ultimate Spiderman, one of the hero characters seems like he forgot it was cartoon and not anime (possibly due to the art style) and decided to try one of those long heroic monologues. Naturally, he kept getting interrupted, but it was fun to watch him and his evil counterpart keep trying to monologue their way through the battle.

Gintama used to make fun of that trope, too, but recently it's just gone all serious. I think it might be ending soon.

[Britpoint]

789ifyz said:

I think the first SAO arc was actually pretty decent. Went downhill after that, though. Haven't watched SAO II.

Agreed, I love the first SAO arc but wasn't keen on the Alfheim stuff. SAOII is the other way around - I'm really not keen on the first arc but then it gets really good again.

[Odemdemz]

Britpoint said:

Odemdemz said:

KonoSuba > All. Kazuma best MC ever. Toss up between him and Arata (Trinity Seven) For biggest Lackadaisical Badass. 

I fully endorse this.

Megumin is also amazing.

By the way, I've just been made aware that they're doing an original Sword Art Online movie. Despite its poor arcs, I'm a big SAO fan overall. Consider me excite ^^

I can't bring myself to fully hate SAO. It was one of my first Anime and I've read and enjoyed the Light Novels. 

I. am. Hype.

[789ifyz]

Anime ad to attract workers to McDonald's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=75&v=5e-zAljAgqs

There are no subtitles, though.

[789ifyz]

Recently started watching Kimi to Boku (You and I) and so far I'm enjoying it. It's a pretty decent comedy.

One thing I find really strange, though, is how the main cast don't seem to really "know" each other even though they've apparently been together for years. Some character among them will notice something about another as though they've recently become friends and are still getting to know one another...

Another thing is how the flashbacks work: after someone notices a trait, they'll ask/react in some way and then the character whose trait was noticed or another in the group will explain how it's "always been like that..." o/e and then, partway through the flashback, the character who noticed it will interrupt saying something like, "Oh, yeah... I remember that," since they've actually known one another for a long time.

Those 2 things really bug me, but I'm still enjoying the show overall. In fact, I think I might even recommend it, but I'll decide for certain once I've watched it fully.

[Jiggy]

fIsince08 said:

Sonic X is starting to take a dark turn. In episode 67, we see the only cannon appearence of Dark Sonic in the entire franchise after he is affected by the fake chaos emeralds and gets annoyed by the Metarex. Essentially, Sonic goes Hulk mode!

Episode 68 is dark in the Japanese version as there is a suicide (edited out in the English dub) that leads to Shadow getting depressed.

Whilst episode 69 is a romance story (ironic considering the number ;)) it foreshadows theath of a main character...

Sonic X is still being aired?


Also, Hunter X Hunter is coming back.

So yeah, feel free to piss your pants in excitement.

[f1since08]

Jiggy said:

fIsince08 said:

Sonic X is starting to take a dark turn. In episode 67, we see the only cannon appearence of Dark Sonic in the entire franchise after he is affected by the fake chaos emeralds and gets annoyed by the Metarex. Essentially, Sonic goes Hulk mode!

Episode 68 is dark in the Japanese version as there is a suicide (edited out in the English dub) that leads to Shadow getting depressed.

Whilst episode 69 is a romance story (ironic considering the number ;)) it foreshadows theath of a main character...

Sonic X is still being aired?


Also, Hunter X Hunter is coming back.

So yeah, feel free to piss your pants in excitement.

No, it finished 10 years ago (damn I feel old). I found the series on youtube but I've ground to a halt with three or four episodes left, just been to busy!

[Syn]

Just finished Your Lie In April and it was simply amazing. Not only was it a great story, but it was inspiring. I made the mistake of watching the final episodes on my subway ride home tonight and had to hold back the tears. Just a beautiful story.

I don't even know what to watch now...how do you follow that up?

[Britpoint]

SynGamer said:

Just finished Your Lie In April and it was simply amazing. Not only was it a great story, but it was inspiring. I made the mistake of watching the final episodes on my subway ride home tonight and had to hold back the tears. Just a beautiful story.

I don't even know what to watch now...how do you follow that up?

I dropped that because it was too good and I knew I'd have some kind of emotional break down watching it. Also... I'm a CLANNAD vet. I can spot the event flags.

[789ifyz]

SynGamer said:

Just finished Your Lie In April and it was simply amazing. Not only was it a great story, but it was inspiring. I made the mistake of watching the final episodes on my subway ride home tonight and had to hold back the tears. Just a beautiful story.

I don't even know what to watch now...how do you follow that up?

So moved you even changed your profile pic, eh....

Anyway, @SynGamer , to answer your question: you don't.

I wasn't quite holding back tears, but I was definitely moved. The ending was really emotional. If I remember correctly, I tried following it up with something comical to balance out my mood, but I couldn't enjoy it properly with that ending constantly repeating in my head. In the end, I took a short break from anime before returning for a fresh start.

So, personal recommendation: take a short break to freshen up and then return to watch a comedy of some sort. Maybe even Kimi to Boku. It's been good so far.

[789ifyz]

I'll take this opportunity to remind those who don't like subs that Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso and Gekkan Shoujo: Nozaki-kun are both getting English dubs.

And now, I'll be spending a couple hours brooding over the memories this discussion has conjured up.

Well, maybe not, but I am feeling kinda sad all of a sudden. That ending...

[Syn]

It was just a really well-done anime...

That letter...just, damn, so many emotions. It left me wanting to know if they said anything to each other before the surgery, if he told her he loved her, kissed her, hugged her, something. Some sort of closure.

Anyway, yeah, I'm not really sure what I want to watch right now. I would love a sequel that follows the rivalry further, perhaps on through high school and into college. I'm actually kind of interested in Nodame Cantabile, perhaps I'll give that a try, we'll see. This anime is one of the first to really leave a lasting impression on me, which only seems fitting :smile: 

[789ifyz]

So... it appears there's going to be an Attack on Titan anthology which will actually be a western take on the Attack on Titan universe.

[789ifyz]

Also, there's some new visuals and cast revealed for the SAO movie, and Kirito/Kazuma looks like a girl.

Link: http://haruhichan.com/wpblog/66677/sword-art-online-the-movie-ordinal-scale-visual-and-cast-revealed/

Also, IBM Japan is working on an SAO inspired VR MMO.

[Britpoint]

I thought the IBM MMO thing turned out to be fake? Either a prank or just a fake marketing thing. I don't have a source on that though, just something that I kinda heard in passing

[789ifyz]

https://developer.ibm.com/dwblog/sword-art-online-vrmmo/

It isn't anywhere near the level of SAO's nervegear. It uses, instead, the Occulus Rift and HTC Vive headsets. As far as I'm aware, it's still pretty far from complete.

I suspect that if/when it gets nearer to completion, it'll probably support stuff like VR treadmills and those wii-mote style controllers made by Razer. Team Fortress supports them too, I think.

[Syn]

Started Erased today and am really enjoying it. Already 7 episodes in and looking to finish it up tomorrow. Can't wait to see where the story is going!

[f1since08]

Finished Sonic X. I'd never seen the last season before so it was good to finally finish it off. Cosmo's death is badly done in the UK dub, a bit like everything else, whilst they leave Shadow's survival out completely. The actual series itself ends on a little bit of a cliff hanger, but there isn't enough of a plot line to make a fourth season. 

I don't know what to watch now ::frowning: 

[Odemdemz]

Anyone here rate Kangoku Gakuen (Prison School)? I'm on 170ish in the manga and I can confidently say; Mari best girl.. IT NEEDS an S2. 

[789ifyz]

I'm currently watching Nurarihyon no Mago (Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan) and it's pretty good-ish. Not as good as some other series I've watched, but still quite enjoyable. 

Kimi to Boku was a nice comedy, and the few grips I had with it disappeared after a few episodes. The second season focused more on romance than comedy, though the comedy was still present. It just wasn't as prominent.

 @fIsince08 , speaking of Sonic, the new series is so horrible they've basically ruined Sonic. It's cheesy/campy even for something aimed at kids. And worse, they've ruined both Shadow's character AND his voice!

Anyway, for those not in the know, FFXV is getting a movie, demo, anime AND mobile mini-game, all before release. I think @Wynterdust may be interested in this, though I suspect he/she probably knows already.

[f1since08]

789ifyz said:

I'm currently watching Nurarihyon no Mago (Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan) and it's pretty good-ish. Not as good as some other series I've watched, but still quite enjoyable. 

Kimi to Boku was a nice comedy, and the few grips I had with it disappeared after a few episodes. The second season focused more on romance than comedy, though the comedy was still present. It just wasn't as prominent.

 @fIsince08 , speaking of Sonic, the new series is so horrible they've basically ruined Sonic. It's cheesy/campy even for something aimed at kids. And worse, they've ruined both Shadow's character AND his voice!

Anyway, for those not in the know, FFXV is getting a movie, demo, anime AND mobile mini-game, all before release. I think @Wynterdust may be interested in this, though I suspect he/she probably knows already.

I've watched two episodes of it and can't bear to watch any more. I haven't got up to Shadow and don't intend to, what they did to Knuckles (and Amy for that matter) was bad enough. It's no wonder that the series is starting to fail.

There's supposed to be a Sonic movie coming out in 2018 that is a live action cross CGI. I really hope they don't screw it up.

[789ifyz]

fIsince08 said:

789ifyz said:

I'm currently watching Nurarihyon no Mago (Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan) and it's pretty good-ish. Not as good as some other series I've watched, but still quite enjoyable. 

Kimi to Boku was a nice comedy, and the few grips I had with it disappeared after a few episodes. The second season focused more on romance than comedy, though the comedy was still present. It just wasn't as prominent.

 @fIsince08 , speaking of Sonic, the new series is so horrible they've basically ruined Sonic. It's cheesy/campy even for something aimed at kids. And worse, they've ruined both Shadow's character AND his voice!

Anyway, for those not in the know, FFXV is getting a movie, demo, anime AND mobile mini-game, all before release. I think @Wynterdust may be interested in this, though I suspect he/she probably knows already.

I've watched two episodes of it and can't bear to watch any more. I haven't got up to Shadow and don't intend to, what they did to Knuckles (and Amy for that matter) was bad enough. It's no wonder that the series is starting to fail.

There's supposed to be a Sonic movie coming out in 2018 that is a live action cross CGI. I really hope they don't screw it up.

I @fIsince08 , I haven't been watching it either. I just happened to catch some glimpses of it while my brother was watching and walked out again after a couple of minutes. It really is unbearable. As for Shadow's new voice, that's been bugging me since that one cutscene towards the end of Sonic Generations.

[Liaveil]

Ohh yeah just seen about all those FFXV announcements. To be honest though I'm really not hyped about FFXV at all. I played the demo and although the gameplay looks good I just cannot get behind the characters. They're all the type I have no interest in playing as! With 13, although I couldn't stand the game as a whole I liked 2 or 3 of the characters so I endured it. I'm probably just going to skip it altogether to be honest. FF to me has lost it's appeal in the last decade... 12 was the last one I liked and 10 was the last one I could say I really enjoyed! I'll just continue to wax nostalgic on 7 and 8 I think.

[Syn]

I finished Grimgar earlier this evening, not bad, not good. Very..."meh". Overall, interesting story, but as mentioned a few pages back, a lot of still frames. Felt lazy, and the pacing didn't help either. I would say this is forgettable...6/10.

 

Going to give Servant X Service a try. A nice change of pace from the fantasy and sci-fi I've been watching lately. Seems like a fun slice of life series. The manga originally caught my eye, but thankfully there's an anime to try out.

 

I also have Bakemonogatari and Haikyuu!! (S1?) queued up.

[f1since08]

SynGamer said:
I finished Grimgar earlier this evening, not bad, not good. Very..."meh". Overall, interesting story, but as mentioned a few pages back, a lot of still frames. Felt lazy, and the pacing didn't help either. I would say this is forgettable...6/10.
 
Going to give Servant X Service a try. A nice change of pace from the fantasy and sci-fi I've been watching lately. Seems like a fun slice of life series. The manga originally caught my eye, but thankfully there's an anime to try out.
 
I also have Bakemonogatari and Haikyuu!! (S1?) queued up.

I read that as Sonic X and got all excited :p

[789ifyz]

I finally got round to starting Samurai Champloo. Taking my anime viewing slowly right now, since I have exams coming up. Can't wait til 13th of May. Summer Holidays and FREEDOM!!!

[789ifyz]

Apparently...

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-15/ibm-sword-art-online-virtual-reality-mmo-project-posts-more-in-game-footage/.101100

[Liaveil]

Well as long as our heads don't explode when we die it'll be great!

[Syn]

Going to start Noragami (season 1...) tomorrow. Looks fun and I would like to keep the entertainment upbeat/action-y for a little while.

[789ifyz]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-04-29/complete-haruhi-suzumiya-soundtrack-announced-with-teaser-for-more-in-2016/.101618