Anime Apolyton - Spring 2008

[Jon Miller]

I have been watching a bit of Itazura na Kiss (extremely silly romantic comedy for highschoolers), Galaxy Angel (I Think) which is also extremely silly, and Mnemesoyne which is a silly very violent thriller.

JM

[DanS]

Not a lot out there this summer that I'm following.

Natsu no Sora is slow starting, but OK so far.

Tsetsuwan Birdy Decode is a little bit of fun.

Blade of the Immortal is worth at least another episode.

Ryoko's Case File is about as marginal as they come, but has a couple of aspects that I like.

[DanS]

I've been watching some J dramas from SARS-fansubs.

It's pretty clear that Japanese TV is even more of a wasteland than US TV. After a while, I can't bring myself to watch even the best shows because of all the sappy grossness.

That said, a disturbing but good show is Journey Under a Midnight Sun. Well worth the watch, if you can stand the slime on your soul. Believe me, don't do a Journey Under a Midnight Sun marathon.

Lunch Queen is a good food drama that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Galileo is a pretty fun detective series.

Last Christmas is pretty good for a romance.

My Little Chef is another good food drama. It takes itself entirely too seriously, though.

[Wraith]

--"Code Geass is interesting."

Season 2 is reaching Death Note levels of Xanatos Roulette. Still entertaining, but it's not going to have any real rewatch value. Not nearly as interesting once you know what's coming (and if you think you do on the first view, you don't).

--"And since his health isn't very good, it could be his last."

Heh. The last three or so movies he's done have been his last ^_^ He can't seem to quit animating, though.

--"Not a lot out there this summer that I'm following."

Same here. Slayers Revolution is the only new show I'm really following, although I'll probably end up watching the new Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto as well. One Piece and Code Geass R2 as the ongoing.

First set of Emma: A Victorian Romance just came out in the US. There's an audio problem currently; the first episode is the only one actually in stereo.
There's a couple more series coming out soon I'll be getting (Aria, MariMite, Nanoha, still waiting for the Yawara release), but most of my favorite stuff isn't likely to be licensed the way the US market is going.

--"It's pretty clear that Japanese TV is even more of a wasteland than US TV."

There are some good ones, but yeah. Japanese actors tend to one of two extremes. Most of the ones that show up in J-dramas (or live-action anime/manga adaptations) go for the over-the-top scenery-chewing ham side of the equation. There are some that go to the subtle, understated acting exemplified by the movies of Yasujiro Ozu, but not many.

Wraith
"He hates missing meals after fighting, so he somehow learned to eat while sleeping."
-- Sanji ("One Piece")

[DanS]

Eve no Jikan (OVA) shows a lot of promise. Story about androids and human society (could go a number of different directions).

15 minute eps, 6 eps total. Interesting art style.

[Jon Miller]

watched the rest of Mnemesoyne, it sucks

JM

[The Mad Monk]

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit is starting on Adult Swim next week.

They dropped rerunning DeathNote like the hot potato it wasn't.

[DaShi]

Death Note doesn't have much rewatchability, kind of like Geass (a weaker series imo). The fun of Death Note was watching each side plans come together and see who would come out the winner. However, once you know how it resolves, it loses its suspence. Actually, I think the only reason they picked up Geass was because they wanted something else like Death Note. But Geass doesn't have that grabbing effect that Death Note did.

[Wraith]

Well, Fall anime previews are out, and again I don't see too much compelling there. I'll definitely be watching the Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen series, but nothing else looks more than "give it a try".

Unfortunately, KyoAni is still wasting time on the Key crap, and some of the potentially interesting titles are being done by Artland, who I'm not too fond of. Definitely nothing as unusual in the schedule as Kaiba. Oh well.

In the US, Nozomi has released the first season of both Emma and MariMite, with Aria coming up in a couple months.
Lots of the titles Funimation is distributing for Geneon have been given release dates, as well. Among others, Kamichu and Rozen Maiden are getting released again next month. Funimation is continuing with their own titles as well, and another One Piece set will be out next month.

Not much new of interest on the licensing side that I remember, except some unsurprising suggestions that Funimation is considering Slayers Revolution.

Wraith
"Tchaikovsky Punch!"
-- Flute ("Violinist of Hamelin")

[The Mad Monk]

Moribito ran its first episode last night. It looks watchable.

Having the main character use a spear instead of a sword may add to the interest.

[DaShi]

The first episode was so poorly written it was laughable. However, first episodes for most series tend to have this problem as they usually just want to get things going as quickly as possible.. Hopefully, it will develop a little more complexity in its characters and writing as it progresses.

[Jon Miller]

The Haruhi complete series is out in the US.

JM

[The Mad Monk]

Moribito has some of the best fight sequences I have seen in any anime, but they are few and far between.

[DanS]

This season has lots of watchable series, but few excellent ones so far. Maybe some will develop.

[Wraith]

Heh. I was planning to start a fall 2008 thread today, but this works.

--"Moribito has some of the best fight sequences I have seen in any anime"

Asuka vs. the Production Evas in End of Evangalion is still one of the tops for me, but Lyrical Nanoha has a lot of good ones too. First season of that should finally be out next month. Kind of hard to recommend the title, though; the first four or so episodes seem like cookie-cutter magical girl, and transformation sequences are going to turn some people off. However, once Fate shows up they hardly use them, and boy does the tone of the series change. Plus, as I said, great combat sequences.

--"This season has lots of watchable series, but few excellent ones so far."

I'm not even sure about the lots of wachable bit yet...

I should note that Shikabane Hime Aka has already been licensed by Funimation. Not too surprising that it'd get licensed, since it's a Gainax, but that was surprisingly quick. Saw a couple of episodes of it and it didn't really catch my interest, so I would have dropped it anyway.

Other than that, main series I'm watching is Nodame Cantabile Paris Hen. No surprise there ^_^.

I've checked out a few others, and while I'll probably watch them further, they don't really stand out. Komoe-sensei is the only reason I'm continuing with Toaru Majitsu no Index, and I'd probably drop Hyakko if the meganeko in the robotics club (Chie) hadn't shown up. Tytania, despite the Legend of Galactic Heroes creator tie, hasn't really impressed me either.

On the US side, Yawara and Aria: The Animation are out. Big licensing news is another Spice and Wolf license, this time the novels. Can't wait for that one, although I'm still waiting for the Haruhi novels to start their release (looks like we'll have to wait for next April on those).

Oh, and Doujin Work, a light but fun series, has also been licensed.

Wraith
"When watching anime, you should sit far away from the screen in a brightly lit room. Depending on the show, you should consider watching it in a different room from your family."
-- Tsuyuri ("Doujin Work")