Fandom Stuff.
I haven't posted anything fandom-related for a long time. So here goes some little commentary, just in case anyone is interested in what I've been watching and reading.
Only the mildest of spoilers are hinted. For once, all the series are listed alphabetically.
Adventure Time. This surreal little series never fails to make me laugh or groan, “whatthefuck is that?!” It’s got a Pythonesque aura to it (and I mean that in a good way). I love that Jake the Dog gets first billing over Finn the Human. I like that nobody seems to have any bones in their body and that the penguins are evil. I especially like that Marceline the Vampire can probably kick Edward Cullen’s sparkly white ass.
And of course, there’s this thing, made by the creator of Adventure Time: How to Fart in Public
Baccano! About a month ago, I craved something familiar and yet mind-bending. So I re-watched Baccano! in its entirety. This time around, however, I watched it in dub instead of subs because of Netflix. It took a few episodes for me to get used to the voices, and I have to say I enjoyed the original voice work much better.
Upon re-watching, I realized the first episode is tedious, and has probably turned off a lot of casual viewers from an otherwise excellent series. The second time around, I realize how much of a sociopath the Railway Tracer is -- that’s one dude I wouldn’t want to touch with a stick! I forgot how cute Firo was and how much Maiza reminded me of pre-evil Aizen; I kept waiting for him to take off his eyeglasses and start eating everyone else. (Now THAT would make a funny crossover fic.)
Isaac and Miria remain pretty much the same cooky crazies I adored the first time around.
I still need to get to reading the light novels, it just seems like such a big commitment since there are so many of them.
Bakuman. I’m finally caught up with this series -- all that Nanamine stuff irritated me, so when his character returned I purposely let the chapters pile up. While the conclusion of his character arc was satisfying, I still have to wonder: why did they spend so much pages on this inept hack? I feel bad for some other characters, like MIHO.
Isn’t she supposed to be the driving force for Mashiro’s ambition? It’s gotten quite ridiculous why those two haven’t gotten married yet. Mashiro is a bit of an absentee boyfriend. He totally reminds me of that song from Avenue Q: “My Girlfriend who Lives in Canada.”
At the rate they are going, Miho’s going to go through menopause before they even have a honeymoon. I don’t see why they can’t continue the series even after the romance plot is tied up.
Claymore. Adam and I just finished watching all the canon episodes of this anime. It was interesting, and it’s regrettable that the series ended with filler. I would have loved to watch Clare chop off some more arms and legs. Some shows just make magnificent work out of flying limbs and blood splatter.
I didn’t care for her side-kick, but I suppose he’s notable for fulfilling the role of token penis with zero personality and usefulness. His existence in the series suspiciously seems like a need to fulfill certain shounen conventions (Damsel in distress, check. Badass main character who starts out weak, check. Mysterious conspiracy afoot, check.) Is Claymore merely a gender-flipped shounen series? I’m not exactly sure if its theme of female empowerment is genuine, given that all the female warriors’ movements are held in check by an all-male, all-knowing coterie. Perhaps I’m nitpicky.
Anyway, the main point is: if you are fond of watching villains covered with viscera and gore, and like your women to kick butt while wearing fetching little Roman soldier skirts, then you should definitely give Claymore a go.
Cross Game. While I was initially dubious about watching an anime about baseball, I have to say Cross Game really won me over with its interesting characters and pacing. Baseball, while not just window-dressing for the main conflict, informs so much on the characters’ motivations and relationships. (That’s a pretty vague way of saying it, but I don’t want to spoil the series in any way for anyone.) I LOVE Aoba, she’s quite a complex female.
my favorite demotivational poster right now
>
As the male lead, Ko Kitamura exasperated me at times. There were instances when he appeared to be wishy-washy. But the ending of the series is just so satisfying and lovely, my jaded little self almost cried. Now that I reflect upon it, his hesitations were gut-wrenching to watch because it felt all too human and real.
One of the plot twists felt like a real head banger, but since it was resolved well I have gotten over it, and simply recommend watching the entire series.
I have made a mental note to read Adachi, which was exactly Adam’s goal anyway.
Escaflowne. Adam and I are currently watching this series. I know it’s been something I’ve been ignoring since 1998, when I first stopped watching anime. We’re only on Episode 5 and I know shouldn’t dismiss a series on the little I’ve seen, but jeez. Maybe, if I had watched this concurrently with silly things like Tenchi Muyo!, El Hazard or Please Save My Earth, I would have a nostalgic affection for it (albeit maybe misguided).
But since it’s 2011, I can only chortle at the dated character designs (there’s that blonde dude who wears women’s clothing!) and growl at the irritating furry who does nothing but lick the dude with a sword. Some days it’s just nice to groan at the cliches!
If anyone else really loves this series, please forgive me for watching it for the unintentional lulz. Perhaps I am just a awful, jaded person...
Futurama. I hate stumbling all over words of praise that may seems fulsome but is actually quite sincere. But really, THANK YOU COMEDY CENTRAL FOR MAKING SEASON 6. I LOVE YOU.
Now stop animating Dr. Zoiberg without his shell and the Professor without his clothes. While it’s funny, I really don’t want to see those images ever again, because they make me want to throw up in my mouth a little each time.
Rurouni Kenshin. There’s not much to say about this, except AN AWFUL TRUTH BECAME OBVIOUS to Adam and I upon our epic re-watch of the series:
Samurai Champloo. I’m only on episode 14, but I’m seriously loving it. Unfortunately it’s too full of adult situations and foul language for me to watch while the baby nephews are afoot, so that contributes to the slowness of my watching. It’s one of the few series I am tolerating on Netflix, so you know what that means. (Dubs, why art thou inferior to subs?) On the upside, I’m watching it on a large screen TV so all the brilliant color and movement is captured.
I started watching it because I remembered Debbiechan’s old animated icon while browsing for a new series to watch. That icon always amused me. And then of course there was the added curiosity that it’s by Shinichiro Watanabe, the guy who directed Cowboy Bebop.
While I like jazz more than hiphop, the soundtrack of Samurai Champloo certainly adds to its ahistorical charm. I’m not crazy for Mugen since I’m more inclined to the stoic samurai types like Gin. But they balance each other nicely. It’s not exactly a yin-yang pairing... it’s more like basil and tomato. Both Mugen and Gin negate Fuu’s genki girl tendencies, so all is good.
Why does the dub have to pronounce Gin’s name as Jean? Weird.
Any amused or violent reactions? Further recommendations?
Only the mildest of spoilers are hinted. For once, all the series are listed alphabetically.
Adventure Time. This surreal little series never fails to make me laugh or groan, “whatthefuck is that?!” It’s got a Pythonesque aura to it (and I mean that in a good way). I love that Jake the Dog gets first billing over Finn the Human. I like that nobody seems to have any bones in their body and that the penguins are evil. I especially like that Marceline the Vampire can probably kick Edward Cullen’s sparkly white ass.
And of course, there’s this thing, made by the creator of Adventure Time: How to Fart in Public
Baccano! About a month ago, I craved something familiar and yet mind-bending. So I re-watched Baccano! in its entirety. This time around, however, I watched it in dub instead of subs because of Netflix. It took a few episodes for me to get used to the voices, and I have to say I enjoyed the original voice work much better.
Upon re-watching, I realized the first episode is tedious, and has probably turned off a lot of casual viewers from an otherwise excellent series. The second time around, I realize how much of a sociopath the Railway Tracer is -- that’s one dude I wouldn’t want to touch with a stick! I forgot how cute Firo was and how much Maiza reminded me of pre-evil Aizen; I kept waiting for him to take off his eyeglasses and start eating everyone else. (Now THAT would make a funny crossover fic.)
Isaac and Miria remain pretty much the same cooky crazies I adored the first time around.
I still need to get to reading the light novels, it just seems like such a big commitment since there are so many of them.
Bakuman. I’m finally caught up with this series -- all that Nanamine stuff irritated me, so when his character returned I purposely let the chapters pile up. While the conclusion of his character arc was satisfying, I still have to wonder: why did they spend so much pages on this inept hack? I feel bad for some other characters, like MIHO.
Isn’t she supposed to be the driving force for Mashiro’s ambition? It’s gotten quite ridiculous why those two haven’t gotten married yet. Mashiro is a bit of an absentee boyfriend. He totally reminds me of that song from Avenue Q: “My Girlfriend who Lives in Canada.”
At the rate they are going, Miho’s going to go through menopause before they even have a honeymoon. I don’t see why they can’t continue the series even after the romance plot is tied up.
Claymore. Adam and I just finished watching all the canon episodes of this anime. It was interesting, and it’s regrettable that the series ended with filler. I would have loved to watch Clare chop off some more arms and legs. Some shows just make magnificent work out of flying limbs and blood splatter.
I didn’t care for her side-kick, but I suppose he’s notable for fulfilling the role of token penis with zero personality and usefulness. His existence in the series suspiciously seems like a need to fulfill certain shounen conventions (Damsel in distress, check. Badass main character who starts out weak, check. Mysterious conspiracy afoot, check.) Is Claymore merely a gender-flipped shounen series? I’m not exactly sure if its theme of female empowerment is genuine, given that all the female warriors’ movements are held in check by an all-male, all-knowing coterie. Perhaps I’m nitpicky.
Anyway, the main point is: if you are fond of watching villains covered with viscera and gore, and like your women to kick butt while wearing fetching little Roman soldier skirts, then you should definitely give Claymore a go.
Cross Game. While I was initially dubious about watching an anime about baseball, I have to say Cross Game really won me over with its interesting characters and pacing. Baseball, while not just window-dressing for the main conflict, informs so much on the characters’ motivations and relationships. (That’s a pretty vague way of saying it, but I don’t want to spoil the series in any way for anyone.) I LOVE Aoba, she’s quite a complex female.
my favorite demotivational poster right now
>
As the male lead, Ko Kitamura exasperated me at times. There were instances when he appeared to be wishy-washy. But the ending of the series is just so satisfying and lovely, my jaded little self almost cried. Now that I reflect upon it, his hesitations were gut-wrenching to watch because it felt all too human and real.
One of the plot twists felt like a real head banger, but since it was resolved well I have gotten over it, and simply recommend watching the entire series.
I have made a mental note to read Adachi, which was exactly Adam’s goal anyway.
Escaflowne. Adam and I are currently watching this series. I know it’s been something I’ve been ignoring since 1998, when I first stopped watching anime. We’re only on Episode 5 and I know shouldn’t dismiss a series on the little I’ve seen, but jeez. Maybe, if I had watched this concurrently with silly things like Tenchi Muyo!, El Hazard or Please Save My Earth, I would have a nostalgic affection for it (albeit maybe misguided).
But since it’s 2011, I can only chortle at the dated character designs (there’s that blonde dude who wears women’s clothing!) and growl at the irritating furry who does nothing but lick the dude with a sword. Some days it’s just nice to groan at the cliches!
If anyone else really loves this series, please forgive me for watching it for the unintentional lulz. Perhaps I am just a awful, jaded person...
Futurama. I hate stumbling all over words of praise that may seems fulsome but is actually quite sincere. But really, THANK YOU COMEDY CENTRAL FOR MAKING SEASON 6. I LOVE YOU.
Now stop animating Dr. Zoiberg without his shell and the Professor without his clothes. While it’s funny, I really don’t want to see those images ever again, because they make me want to throw up in my mouth a little each time.
Rurouni Kenshin. There’s not much to say about this, except AN AWFUL TRUTH BECAME OBVIOUS to Adam and I upon our epic re-watch of the series:
Samurai Champloo. I’m only on episode 14, but I’m seriously loving it. Unfortunately it’s too full of adult situations and foul language for me to watch while the baby nephews are afoot, so that contributes to the slowness of my watching. It’s one of the few series I am tolerating on Netflix, so you know what that means. (Dubs, why art thou inferior to subs?) On the upside, I’m watching it on a large screen TV so all the brilliant color and movement is captured.
I started watching it because I remembered Debbiechan’s old animated icon while browsing for a new series to watch. That icon always amused me. And then of course there was the added curiosity that it’s by Shinichiro Watanabe, the guy who directed Cowboy Bebop.
While I like jazz more than hiphop, the soundtrack of Samurai Champloo certainly adds to its ahistorical charm. I’m not crazy for Mugen since I’m more inclined to the stoic samurai types like Gin. But they balance each other nicely. It’s not exactly a yin-yang pairing... it’s more like basil and tomato. Both Mugen and Gin negate Fuu’s genki girl tendencies, so all is good.
Why does the dub have to pronounce Gin’s name as Jean? Weird.
Any amused or violent reactions? Further recommendations?