General Anime Discussion Thread

[Linkachu]

Now that I've finished the entirety of the Digimon Xros Wars saga (including season 3), my watch list seems to be growing every day. Currently it looks like this:

- Fairy Tail (Last watched: episode 129)
- Pokemon: Best Wishes (Last watched: episode 76)
- SKET Dance (Last watched: episode 56)
- Hunter x Hunter (Last watched: episode 3)
- Leiji Matsumoto's OZMA (Last watched: episode 2)
- Hiiro No Kakera (Last watched: episode 4)
- Saki: Side A (Last watched: episode 5)
- Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals (Last watched: episode 5)

Fairy Tail and SKET Dance are ongoing, so I'll likely keep watching 'em until they end or become ungodly boring/horrible, and Pokemon is Pokemon. I'll always be watching it. :P

Of the shows I've recently started into, OZMA, Hunter x Hunter, and Hiiro No Kakera are the three I'm liking most. I only properly started Hunter x Hunter last night but I'm already loving it and will definitely get caught up soon. OZMA only has 6 episodes and I'll likely finish it off sometime this week. As for Hiiro No Kakera, it heavily reminds me of Fushigi Yugi which is A-ok in my books.

Saki: Side A was horribly rushed for the first 4 episodes but it seems to be balancing out now. It's also a helluva lot more meaningful to me now that I've watched through the original Saki series (did so over the this past weekend). But good lord, all of these girls are lovers. Only they're not. But they totally are! Anime, you so craaazy~ (And hell, apparently the series isn't even Shojo like I'd initially assumed. The original is apparently Seinen and the spin-off series is Shonen! Does not compute.)

I don't have much to say about Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals aside from the fact that it stars Rock Lee's team (whom I love <3). It's pure, silly comedy and can either be quite entertaining or very, very boring.

Aside from Pokemon, I'm only following Crunchyroll Anime this season. I'm still planning to look into several other shows however, particularly Space Brothers, Kids on the Slope, Phi Brain, Polar Bear Cafe, Medaka Box, Upotte!!, and Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. Everything else... may still give it a shot, but may also give it a pass. I recently watched a bit of Recorder and Randsell and doubt I'll watch more, and Dem has warned me off Mysterious Girlfriend X and Sengoku Collection. XD

[Demelza]

and Dem has warned me off Mysterious Girlfriend X and Sengoku Collection. XD

Sengoku Collection is just awful and I'm yet to find anyone who made it through the first episode. Mysterious Girlfriend X is just really strange, and it's hard for me to work out if I find it interesting or just wrong because it does stand on that borderline of being awful, or working, but more often then not just leans towards wrong. I struggle with that series a fair amount for those reasons, but at least I'm still watching it (unlike Sengoku >> <<). xP

Alrighty, lessee I've been watching a fair amount the last few days.

Fairy Tail
Naruto
The World God Only Knows
OZMA
Hiiro No Kakera
Deadman Wonderland
Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
Mysterious Girlfriend X

Fairy Tail and Naruto are ongoing. I -try- and keep up with Naruto, but normally fall behind and end up just having weekends of going through a ton of episodes. I'm up to date with Fairy Tail though, so I make sure to watch that each weekend. ^^

The World God Only Knows is something I'm rewatching. I've seen both seasons of the show before, but it was ages ago now and I do value the show highly so thought I'd go through it again. I also needed something a bit more upbeat after I'd watched Deadman Wonderland (which I'll get to soon). I'm up to about episode 9 of season one currently.

OZMA is a series I recently finished, and one which I can thankfully rate very highly. For just a six episode series I actually managed to really enjoy it, and the ending was fairly moving too. It had a good story, good characters that you could actually feel for, and overall I struggle to fault it. The only thing I can fault is Crunchyroll spoiling the fifth episode in the episodes details (I will likely complain about this for quite some time). xP

Hiiro No Kakera is ongoing for now, and again a series I struggle to fault. Its up to episode 5-ish now and the plot is generally starting to settle and pick up now we know all the characters. It isn't anything amazing by any means, but being handled by Studio DEEN its pretty to look at and there really isn't anything wrong with it. The story is interesting enough to keep me amused, and most of the characters are likeable enough, although the lead girl can be somewhat annoying because she can't actually -do- anything yet, but I can see this changing as the story continues.

Deadman Wonderland is a series that largely revolves around death, people killing each other, and gore. The series makes that very clear from the very first episode, despite this it had a really interesting story which is what got me to watch the whole series plus the OVA in a day. xD It's an overall depressing story, but somehow the series works and draws the viewer in. Just don't watch it all in a day like me.....

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia is a series I'm really really enjoying, but I can't help but feel it might need to make its mind up now. It works as a creepy ghost story, but also with a hint of comedy, but the plot is asking for more seriousness now and then which is being somewhat killed with the comedy. The series has so far done well in finding the perfect balance, just the fourth episode sort of disappointed me in building up for a spooky moment and killing it. I'll likely forgive it in time if it returns to having the fine balance. xD

Mysterious Girlfriend X I spoke about before. I don't know why I'm still watching it because it is really strange, but like I said before it walks a fine line between being wrong and working.

I likely won't start watching anything else for awhile now other then picking up Digimon Xros Wars again now Crunchyroll has it. ^^

[Demelza]

Bumping because I can! x3

I've finished off four different anime shows recently, so about time I rambled about them here~

I'll start off with the two shows from the Spring Crunchyroll season, Hiiro No Kakera and Dusk Maiden of Amnesia.

I'll put general thoughts then throw anything spoilerish in a spoiler tag.

Hiiro No Kakera started off as one of my picks of the seasons. The first few episodes were promising, the characters were interesting as was the plot, and I loved the look of it thanks to Studio DEEN's involvement. However there are at least three problems here, the first being the fact the story tended to drag a lot in places, and I likely could have accepted this more if they weren't focusing on the most uninteresting aspects of the story they could find. The second fault is with the fact the series is apparently being split into two seasons, the second being due in October - this explains the dragging most likely, but despite the fact we're heading into another season the show hasn't done enough with the story to make you want to come back and find out more. There is no cliff-hanger, nothing to draw you in. The third problem is with the characters themselves. It may have been a small cast of characters, but by the end only two to three were properly being focused on, heck the final two episodes didn't even explain what had happened to half the cast! XD

Spoiler-ish stuff

Spoiler: show

Really more of the time in this series was spent talking and discussing things over actually doing anything. Tamaki stayed useless throughout and then suddenly earns powers by the final episode, and even then not really being useful. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against characters who don't really do a lot as long as they have something else to them, but so much time was spent on trying to "awaken" Tamaki and it quickly grew boring. The five guardians of Tamaki started out quite interesting, but by the ninth episode it was clear they were no longer being developed and all attention was on Takuma and to an extent Mahiro. The guardians never grow in power either though, they stay pretty useless bar Takuma.

Tamaki's grandmother never actually did anything either, even in the final episode where she really should have been helping out she only said a few small words. Less then impressed to be honest. ^^;

I think what annoys me most is they haven't left anything to be going into a second season with. Onikirimaru was never released and pretty much everything is right with the world, any other interesting subjects from the story aren't really worthy of another season either, so I really don't see where they'll go with this.

Last complaint is the fact in the last two episodes all attention was on Tamaki and Takuma. Hell, the other guardians are shown to be fighting the Logos and we don't even see what happens to three of them, they just got dumped later on in the episode being badly beaten up. I would have liked to have seen what actually happened to them.

Anyways, on to a series that did impress me, Dusk Maiden of Amnesia.

This series also started off really well and the only complaint I ever really had was with the fact it often didn't take itself seriously, going for comedy over the spooky edge it was seemingly aiming for in the first place. However, as the story and characters developed the series started to lose that comedy edge when it was important and that really did end up being the making of it - it did what it set out to do very well. We have a very small cast of four characters, with the focus largely being put on Teiichi and his friendship with the ghost Yuko. Momoe is there for the comedy and as a 'love rival' for Yuko over Teiichi, while Kirie is there to bang their heads off one another when they're being stupid. All the characters were really quite loveable, but Teiichi and Yuko were just pure awesome. ^^

The overall story, once it took itself seriously, was interesting. Once we learnt about Yuko's past I quickly saw the series in a different way, and started to really care for both her and Teiichi.

Spoilers~

Spoiler: show

My only complaint with the plot is how dark it become for two episodes or so. We finally got to see Yuko's past, and it quickly became apparent how gruesome and traumatic her death had actually been. She'd been a human sacrifice in order to stop a plague which was placed on the towns folk as some sort of curse, she was thrown down into underground shrine under the school were she landed, suffering a broken leg, and dying in the end. The episode itself however was amazingly well thought and acted out. This wasn't just flashbacks for our sake, Teiichi was watching it all and it was interesting seeing his reactions. The whole episode was moving and I struggle to fault it, it really made me feel for Yuko.

Of course after this there was no going back, I fell completely in love with Yuko and Teiichi and the episodes which followed were very moving ones, which had me in tears more than once.

I watched SHANGRI-LA which starts off mental and continues like that. By the end of it I still didn't understand everything, and I didn't really feel for the characters either if I'm being honest. It was an enjoyable enough series, but felt to confusing in places for me.

I also watched the two seasons of Asura Cryin' which I really love. Like Shangri-La it starts off mental, but within three episodes you have a basic enough understanding of the plot for it to make sense. It has quite a large cast of characters, but that doesn't effect it either. I actually really liked them all, but one stands out and has earned the title of new favourite anime character!

Shuri-senpai!

Oh gods she is such a crazy and awesome character, but no example at all as a senpai! She puts people in more danger then they were actually in to start with, and just pops in with a "hi, here to save you" line in the most cheerful and normal voice ever. XD I love her so much for being such a fun character. <3

That said I loved the whole series overall. It actually managed to keep me interested for 26 episodes and care for the characters, which is one of the most important aspects. Really enjoyed it~

I can't decide whether Guilty Crown or Ao No/Blue Exorcist should by my next anime to watch. In any case, I finished Katanagatari and it was great.

[Linkachu]

Yesterday was a good day for Anime watching. I finished off this season's airings of Bodacious Space Pirates (which hands down wins the award of "Most Ungodly Slow Starting Series That Ends Up Awesome" - I hope it gets a sequel), and Saki: Side A (which doesn't really feel like it even ended, and it's a shame that the Anime caught up to the manga).

On top of that, I caught up with SKET Dance, Hunter x Hunter, and Fairy Tail, and watched several episodes of Cardfight!! Vanguard Season 2 (which Crunchyroll recently picked up). I'm still not quite sure which shows I'm going to pick up for the summer season, but I'm likely to jump into at least another 3-5.

In other news, while I was on vacation I watched two series with my buddy: Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Toradora.

I will say nothing specific about Madoka Magica aside from that it's rather amazing and highly worth the watch, it renewed my faith in 12 episode long Anime series (because so many of them feel rushed or aimless), and it's right up there with my recent favourite Anime series'.

As for Toradora, it's not a must-see but it was a fun show to watch with a nice finale. It's slice of life and horribly predictable, but the characters kept me watching to the end. Very catchy first OP, too.

[Linkachu]

Bumping to ask a very serious question...

I'd be living in the Fairy Tail world, which would be pretty awesome if I actually acquired magical powers. If not, I'd probably be screwed. 8D

I now live in the world of K-On!!.

Fuck yes.

[Demelza]

Death Note, so quite screwed if I did anything bad, or happened to be going after Light. x3

Hetalia Axis Powers...I don't even XD

This keeps bothering me, so I'm going to ask about this here, as it's about anime.

There was this anime show I watched when I was younger that is no longer on. All I remember about it is that these little kids with powers would fight, and they had partners who were taller. Each of these partners had a special book that would activate the little kid's powers.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?! I can't remember what it's called.

Also, does anyone remember Oban Star-Racers? I watched some of it on Jetix several years ago.

Are you thinking of Zatch Bell (or Gash Bell as it's called in Japan). The protagonists were a duo, the Mamodo named Zatch who had electric based powers and his partner Kiyo who held his book. I watched some of the show but I never became a huge fan although I remember liking Sherry and Brago.

In response to Katie's post, Baccano! I am totally cool with this. Living in a zany 1930's New York with awesomely colorful characters who are immortal. Yes, please. :]

Also, Carmen sounds correct. ShinyZekrom seems to be talking about Zatch Bell. Which was an...interesting show. It was too zany for zany's sake for my taste.

I've been having a bit of correspondence with Demelza lately and I've managed to find some more anime series to add my to-watch list;

-Accel World (Another virtual reality game anime, but it looks great.)
-Kokoro Connect (About three club members who end up switching bodies.)
-Tari Tari (Very K-On-like, according to Dem~)

I'm keeping Ao No Exorcist on there as well, although I'm most likely scrapping Gurren Lagann and Fairy Tail.

[Linkachu]

Looks like it's been awhile since I last updated my "currently watching" list. As of now, it looks like this:

Ongoing series (aka. shows I've been following for multiple seasons)
- Fairy Tail
- SKET Dance
- Hunter x Hunter
- Pokemon: Best Wishes

Summer season shows (and anything ongoing that I recently picked up again)
- Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit, aka. season 2
- Sword Art Online
- Humanity Has Declined

Rewatching
- Fairy Tail (Rewatching it with a close friend. This marks my 5th time restarting it)
- Cardcaptor Sakura (Rewatching it with my younger sisters)
- Tenchi Universe (Borrowed my older sister's DVD boxset because I haven't watched Tenchi in ages. It's still as great as ever)

There are still several summer season shows on Crunchyroll that I'd like to try watching, and I'm considering rewatching Cowboy Bebop once I'm finished with Tenchi and CCS. Beyond that, I can't wait to finally watch Angel Beats! on Crunchyroll. So glad they finally added it. :3

In response to Linkachu, I now live in the world of Baka and Test... I don't think I'm too screwed.

I've started watching a couple animes recently. I've started, Baka and Test, Deadman Wonderland, Hell Girl, Panty and Stocking, and Future Diary.

I've also finished Hetalia; World Series, Season Four, Angel Beats, and Soul Eater. (Which I honestly think the ending was terrible and just terribly thrown together, but I'm not going to spoil it for anyone.)

I have also been rewatching Ouran High School Host Club (and I know remember why I stopped watching it.), Hetalia; Axis Powers, Full Metal Alchemist, Madoka Magica, and Black Butler.

I was thinking of buying Madoka Magica but I realized it's on CrunchyRoll, I hope I won't be hurting the anime buisness if I don't purchase it, I have been watching most of my anime online and have only purchased four DVDs. (Hetalia; paint it White, Hetalia Season Three, Hetalia Season Four, and Another.)

[Demelza]

Beyond that, I can't wait to finally watch Angel Beats! on Crunchyroll. So glad they finally added it. :3

Just so you know, the above makes me very, very happy. <3

Hmm currently watching looks like this:

- Sword Art Online
- Tari Tari
- Kokoro Connect
- La storia della Arcana Famiglia
- Humanity Has Declined
- Durarara

The first five are from the current season, while Durarara is what I've been watching during the week to kill time before the Crunchyroll stuff given it's all released over the course of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

This season is very different to last where I picked up three shows and ended up very meh about two. At least four of the shows I'm currently following are quite special. Sword Art Online and Humanity Has Declined stand out as the must sees of the season, the former is very depressing just through the whole aspect of 'die in this game and you die in real life too', but that's also its selling point because it really makes you feel for these characters, and then sob when they do indeed get killed. So far it's doing what it sets out to do very well, people claim its the show of the season and I largely agree. Humanity Has Declined is something I didn't think I'd enjoy, but after being pushed towards it by a friend I found I really loved it, I especially like how story arcs are seemingly being split across two episodes, so it never feels like they're being rushed along.

Tari Tari is by P.A. Works (Think, Angel Beats), so it's something really impressive just to look at. As far as the story and characters go... It has a very K-ON! feel to it, but a fair bit deeper. Currently I'm enjoying it, but it likely won't be a favourite of mine.

Kokoro Connect felt stupidly rushed until episode three where it /really/ managed to turn itself around. I'm actually quite surprised how well it turned around and by the serious twist the series all of a sudden took. It was a good move and really has made the show stand out and I'm hoping it continues down this route.

La storia della Arcana Famiglia is okay. Not impressive, not amazing, its just okay. It gets a few points for having kept me watching it when I thought I'd drop it - My fault with it really is the fact they seem to have forgotten the actual plot we were first shown (bar a few small mentions here and there), and thrown us into filler land JUST so we can learn about all the different characters. I'd have liked the filler first before throwing us in like they did during the first episode because now I'm expecting things which seemingly aren't going to happen for awhile yet.

Durarara I've been meaning to watch for ages, and after learning Crunchyroll had it I finally picked it up. Like the general theme of this season, even though it isn't part of it, the show is actually following a depressing tone. Case and point: suicidal girl for the second episode. I normally wouldn't mind as much, but that sort of put me off the series this time, and although I'll finish it I can't see it being something I'll go back too.. XP

I do have some good comments about it though! :'D I love, love, love what they do with the art. Because the series is set within a large city pretty much all the time, only the main characters are coloured while random people on the street aren't and stay black and white. It's an interesting choice and one I've grown fond of during the series. ^^

Well, at times, iTunes can release pretty good free material. One such portion of material was the first episode of Death Note. Over my road trip, I have used the hotel Wi-Fi in order to watch Death Note after watching the first episode. My boyfriend recommended it to me in the past, being a huge anime fan. I watched the entire series and loved it. Now I need to read the manga.

In addition, thanks to the free episodes on iTunes, I have watched the pilots of Ouran High School Host Club, Inuyasha, and Ghost in the Shell. I do not know where to start, but I think I would choose an anime that is fairly short, like about forty episodes in the series maximum in order to finish it in a timely manner (i.e., one ep a day, finish it in about a month). Any recommendations?

[Teapot]

Well, you're asking a pretty broad question. Most anime released is either 12 or 24/25 episodes for the first season, and about the same for any subsequent seasons. The big exceptions, of course, are the "big" shows like Naruto, Pokemon, One Piece, Bleach, etcetera, which are all many hundreds of episodes long because they are vastly popular.

So there's a million things I can recommend based on taste. Basically, a short list of anime I think are most accessible/you should watch - all of this is judged on the subbed versions, you'll have to ask someone else for dubs. Incidentally, some of thus anime is in fact quite long. If I list a long anime here, it generally means you should definitely watch it.

Angel Beats (12 episodes)
Angel Beats' first episode takes a little stamina to get through if you're not a seasoned anime watcher, due to being completely nuts and having to introduce several key concepts and a lot of characters in twenty four minutes. In short, it is set in the afterlife, where everything looks roughly like a Japanese high school. There, our main character meets the Shinda Sekai Sensen (or Rebels Against the God), who explain where he is and tell him that they are trying to find a way to not disappear from their world.

The show takes a few episodes to wind up, but once it does it goes from an interesting show to one that is absolutely compelling.

Cardcaptor Sakura (three seasons of 24 episodes)
Notable for being the first subbed anime I ever watched, Cardcaptor Sakura is the poster child of magical girl anime. It's also really, really good.

In short, it's about a collection of magical cards which get accidentally released, and our titular Sakura must get them back to stop them causing havoc. It's full of transformation sequences, a thousand silly costumes (CLAMP decided they didn't like magical girls with one fixed outfit), and filler that is probably better than a lot of the card-catching episodes.

Despite being fluffy anime, it also manages to become a bit of a tearjerker at times. The ending made me shed a single, manly tear.

Code Geass (two seasons of 25 episodes)
Okay, so having listed two very different examples of anime that people mostly like based on taste, here's one you should watch regardless. Code Geass is about a guy called Lelouch who essentially initiates a plot to take over the world.

To quote my previous post on the matter, Code Geass has some of the best characters I've seen in an anime (Lelouch is deliciously psychotic and very very human, even when he's doing incredibly improbable things), the action is really good, the character dynamics innovative, and it's one of those shows with no clear protagonists; Lelouch is the focus of attention, but you never quite know if what he's doing is a good idea or not... especially when his double-life begins to crumble around him.

Gosick (26 episodes)
The best loli detective show, bar none. Set in an alternate 1914, our protagonist, Kujõ has moved to a European boarding school from Japan, and meets a mysterious girl called Victorique. She has the power to "see into chaos", and uses it to solve crimes - very much like a tiny, female, European Sherlock Holmes. She manages to be one of the most complex "loli" characters in anime - and watching the interactions between Kujō and her is incredibly interesting. Also worth noting is that the show shifts neatly from detective drama to epic story as the show progresses.

K-On! (two seasons: one 14 episodes, one 27 episodes including DVD/BD-exclusives)
Do you like the sound of an impossibly optimistic slice-of-life anime about a set of high-school girls who form an after-school light music club? Because if you don't, move on.

It is really one of those shows that everyone either loves or hates; I personally really like it and feel it's surprisingly detailed and incredibly funny for an adaptation of a four-panel comic, and manages to go through 40 episodes without ever losing pace or charm, despite of my skepticism of whether the writers have ever heard of an actual plot.

And the dub is godawful, so don't go there.

Nichijou/My Ordinary Life (26 episodes)
You know, I still haven't seen most of Nichijou. So why am I recommending it in my list of top anime?

Simple.

Because this.

I don't feel anything more needs to be said.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (12 episodes, plus three upcoming movies)
This is what happens when magical girl anime goes wrong. Basically, a girl called Madoka discovers a small creature called Kyubey, and gets dragged into a war between a small band of mahou shoujo (magical girls), and creatures called Witches. Kyubey offers Madoka the chance to have any wish granted, with the proviso that she become a mahou shoujo and fight Witches. The result is misery wrapped in intrigue, stuffed in a bag of metaphor and dusted with really really trippy fight scenes. The art, although very simplistic and reminiscent of old magical girl shows, is consistently imaginative and dark- for example, one of the fight scenes taking place entirely in silhouette - and the show manages to get successively more tangled and deep as time goes on.

Star Driver (25 episodes)
This is the most fabulous anime you will ever see, bar none. To summarise the premise, a teenage buy called Takuto washes up on the shores of a island called Southern Cross. He enrols into the high school there, and makes friends - until he comes across a frozen set of giants called "Cybodies" hidden underground. Takuto finds himself dragged into conflict with a group called the Glittering Crux Brigade. Shortly through the first episode, Takuto reveals himself as a "ginga bishonen" (Galactic Pretty Boy), and enters Zero Time along with the Glittering Crux, where it is revealed that the Cybodies can only move there, due to Seals on four shine maidens that lock them in place: seals that the Glittering Crux are attempting to break.

The plot is insane. Don't even try to comprehend it from that paragraph alone. However, it is backed up by some really solid writing and animation, which neatly combines high school drama with epic robot-ballet fight scenes. And the music is amazing.

It also has the prettiest boys you'll see this side of any given CLAMP manga. So there's that.

---

There are like eleventy billion other anime shows you should probably watch, but there's a list of my personal favourites and why. Call it a synopsis of my earlier TL;DR post.

If I had to call an anime my favourite of all time, Code Geass would be tied with Hanasaku Iroha as the top pick. The decider is whether you like more action (Code Geass) or more character-driven stories (Hanasaku Iroha)

As a footnote: A lot of the anime I talk about can be found on Crunchyroll. I recommend it for anyone who doesn't have the will for the fansubbing community.

I know this is about anime and all, but I actually want a good manga to start reading. Anyone have any suggestions? I think I've said it already, but I own all of Fruits Baskets and Kare Kano and I prefer the manga to the anime in both cases (the Fruits Basket one in particular makes me cry).

I know this is about anime and all, but I actually want a good manga to start reading. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hetalia is really good, but it doesn't really I have a plot. (Unless you count human countries in wars and such). Aion, Future Diary, and K-ON are som of the best mangas I have ever read. You might want to check them out!


I started "Tari Tari" on Crunchyroll recently. All I can say is, it's so addicting. It's about a girl who starts her own music club because the vice principal won't her her join the chorus for messing up her singing. All the characters are very interesting! A boy from Austria who loves superheros, a girl who wants to join a horse academy, a girl who no longer likes music after her mother's death, a boy who enjoys sports, and our main character who can't go a day without music.
It may have been one of the best animes I've ever seen, but most defenitly the best summer anime I've seen. It also has been sad. One of the characters begin to starve themselves to get into the school they want, one of the characters begin to give away everything she has that was owned by her dead mother, the anime can be really depressing. But it's also quite cheery at times!
I think its a really great anime, and I bet the Charmers here will like it too!