anime

[Merus]

You also got Wario Ware: Twisted, as the mercury in the cartridge was considered too dangerous for the U.K. I picked it up when I went to Australia. They eventually released it over here, but they didn't use mercury, so you didn't get that satisfying click when you tilted.

 

Yes, yes we did. And it was great. (Nintendo stuff doesn't count, really, we get a bunch of Nintendo stuff before the US.)

 

The trick with Madman is they don't do their own dubbing, so if FUNImation does the dub, and that's the only English dub, that's what Madman will license. But they're trustworthy, and they do a good job of making stuff available - I've been able to watch a bunch of Ghibli in cinemas (I missed Arrietty, but apparently they used the superior UK dub). I found out somehow they got the free-to-air kid's channel to play Madoka. Like, on the dark edge of primetime, but still.

 

So question: I don't really know what's good in anime for the last... five years? I tried Gurren Lagann but it didn't take, and I like the idea of Spice and Wolf but haven't made the time. The last really good series I've watched was Stand Alone Complex. I did watch Kill la Kill, which really grabbed me for some reason even though it's got a fair amount of skeeviness. I imagine it's been lean pickings for anime fans as it seems like the industry is eating itself, but surely there's been some good stuff between SAC and now.

[Twig]

MUSHISHI

[Gormongous]

The trick with Madman is they don't do their own dubbing, so if FUNImation does the dub, and that's the only English dub, that's what Madman will license. But they're trustworthy, and they do a good job of making stuff available - I've been able to watch a bunch of Ghibli in cinemas (I missed Arrietty, but apparently they used the superior UK dub). I found out somehow they got the free-to-air kid's channel to play Madoka. Like, on the dark edge of primetime, but still.

 

Yeah, I think it's more that Madman doesn't seem to see anime as a product that needs to be stripped of features until it turns a profit. Sure, they use FUNi's sweatshop dubs, but I think that's smart, because who can compete with the way FUNi does business there? It's more that they don't want to screw over their customers that's so disgustingly unique in the international anime market. No six hundred-dollar price tags, no triple-dip box sets, no poaching dead DVD licenses and rereleasing the same product as an upscale, and so on.

 

So question: I don't really know what's good in anime for the last... five years? I tried Gurren Lagann but it didn't take, and I like the idea of Spice and Wolf but haven't made the time. The last really good series I've watched was Stand Alone Complex. I did watch Kill la Kill, which really grabbed me for some reason even though it's got a fair amount of skeeviness. I imagine it's been lean pickings for anime fans as it seems like the industry is eating itself, but surely there's been some good stuff between SAC and now.

 

I've spent all day doing paperwork, so I don't really have the mental space for a crafted response, but I sorted my anime I've watched spreadsheet by date and found a lot to offer. Fair warning, I do like cute girls doing cute things, which begins to overwhelm anime around 2009, so I won't include K-On! even though I think it's great. 

• Planetes (2003)
• Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
• Samurai Champloo (2004)
• Genshiken (2004)
• Mushishi (2005)
• Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)
• Death Note (2006)
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (2007)
• Baccano! (2007)
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)
• Shinryaku! Ika Musume (2010)
• Nichijou (2011)
• Joshiraku (2012)
• Girls und Panzer (2012)

These are series I'd recommend to anyone without knowing their tastes better. Movies are a different matter, but both the Berserk movies and the Eva movies have been a great time, plus anything Hosoda Mamoru's done.

[Twig]

if you watch haruhi make sure you watch all of season two it is so good

[Gormongous]

if you watch haruhi make sure you watch all of season two it is so good

 

Yeah, I didn't include sequels, but obviously if you like a show, you might want to try its sequel. Also, its movie sequel-sequel.

[Twig]

s2 spoilarz

I'm not sure if you're just playing along or if you've forgotten what season two does with the ridiculous time loop.

[Gormongous]

s2 spoilarz

I'm not sure if you're just playing along or if you've forgotten what season two does with the ridiculous time loop.

 

"Endless Eight" apologist 4lyfe

[Twig]

I actually love it, but it's so rare for anyone to agree with me that I just assumed you forgot! WELP!

 

so yeah watch haruhi it's pretty funny

[Codicier]

Fair warning, I do like cute girls doing cute things, which begins to overwhelm anime around 2009,

I looked at that list and realised I basically like most of it apart from Haruhi & everything 2009 onwards (some of which I haven't seen admittedly) >_<

Guess I'm not a fan of the cute.

Actually after a quick reconsideration I'm not sure I actually think much of Death Note, sure it was Iconic at the time but my overriding memory of my feelings towards it was it was clever but didn't have particular strong or nuanced characters, & I can't only remember the broad strokes of the plot.

I guess as my tastes have matured I tend to prefer little character moments, and smart but uses of animation over almost anything else.

In response to Merus's question honestly right now I'd say just go straight and watch Mushishi (including its first season) and Ping Pong. There's something really nice to have multiple really good ongoing series to look forward to each week.

[syntheticgerbil]

Oh uh, Siren Visual released both Genius Partys in a box set in Australia with subs: https://www.sirenvisual.com.au/Product/387.php

 

They also have the sole English release of Kaiba.

[Gormongous]

Actually after a quick reconsideration I'm not sure I actually think much of Death Note, sure it was Iconic at the time but my overriding memory of my feelings towards it was it was clever but didn't have particular strong or nuanced characters, & I can't only remember the broad strokes of the plot.

 

I rewatched it with some friends a few months ago as part of our weekly social club. It holds up, but it's certainly not "proper" fiction like we sometimes want all anime to strive to be. It's pulpy melodrama, but carefully and smartly crafted, so that you're never ever bored and you never know what a character's going to do. I think it's well worth it, I don't know anyone who doesn't at least like Death Note, even if they don't love it.

 

I looked at that list and realised I basically like most of it apart from Haruhi & everything 2009 onwards (some of which I haven't seen admittedly) >_<

Guess I'm not a fan of the cute.

 

It's funny, because I'm not this way in any other medium, but I suppose I have a taste for the cute here as something acquired. My first year after moving to St. Louis for grad school, I was very isolated and overworked. Watching extremely mundane stuff about inoffensive girls going to school and having tea came to serve as a way for me to set my bar for normalcy somewhere that wouldn't drive me crazy. I'm glad, because great stuff like Girls und Panzer uses the "cute girls doing cute things" as a pastiche to cover for a really excellent take on a subject like armored warfare. I feel sorry for the people who can't get over the cute girls (and in anime), not that I don't understand why.

[Twig]

Death Note is good until it's not. You all know the point, if you've seen it. I don't even have to describe it. We all wish it had ended there. Dang.

 

Anyway, people were talking about shitty 3D CG in anime like one page ago and I had nothing to add other than "ugh it's disgusting" so I opted to not add anything. But then I started watching the latest episode of JoJo and I was reminded of how holy butts rad the OP is. I don't know if it's because JoJo is just naturally over-the-top stylish or if it's because they didn't do the typical "try to make it look like 2D animation" bullshit or if it's because they put way more effort into the OP than they otherwise would into the actual show, but it's pretty awesome. I hesitate to say it, almost, but I kinda would like to see the entire JoJo look like that. It'd also make their ridiculous-pose scenes even more ridiculous, which is perfect for JoJo.

 

Anyway that's that.

 

Here's my since-five-years-ago list of things I really like that I will not bother to make a case for because I have an extremely broad spectrum of taste and also an extremely tolerant attitude toward stupid shit that other people might hate. Well, usually, anyway.

So yeah here:

 

(2009)

Kaiji

Bakemonogatari

 

(2010)

Durarara!!

Tatami Galaxy

Arakawa Under the Bridge

 

(2011)

Nichijou

Kyousougiga

 

(2012)

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

From the New World

Humanity Has Declined

Hyouka

 

(2013)

Samurai Flamenco

The Eccentric Family

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

Log Horizon

Kill la Kill

Hozuki no Reitetsu

 

(2014 all currently airing, so whatever)

Nanana's Buried Treasure

The World Is Still Beautiful

Tonari no Seki-kun

I didn't list any Second Seasons that came out during these years, even though I might otherwise recommend them, because I'm weird like that. First season of Mushishi is pretty old at this point. 2005! Wow. 9-years-later season two, eh? I also didn't necessarily list everything I like. I also chose not to list a few things because of some particularly egregious fanservice flaws that I know put some people off pretty easily (not undeservedly! I just have a higher tolerance for it I guess). Some of these still have some, but well whatever. I'm weird. There's also a sort of bias toward more recent years, which I attribute mostly to Crunchyroll and partly to me having dropped out of downloading tons of anime. Mostly Crunchyroll.

[tegan]

Death Note spends a ton of time telling you how clever its characters are so that you ignore how dumb they actually are. The big one I remember is Light setting up an elaborate death trap in one of his drawers to hide the note, reasoning that it would be easier to explain a small fire than it his possession of the note. No it wouldn't, dude. Your dad's in interpol and you have a noted interest in the same type of work. Having a notebook filled with the details of the biggest case of the century wouldn't be anywhere near as suspicious as having one of your drawers catch fire when someone tries to open it, nevermind that someone could probably smell the bag of gasoline you used to make it anyway. But of course it never comes up.

 

Also, I stopped after season 1, but I have a great deal of respect for the hilarious audience trolling that happens in the second season of Haruhi.

 

 

Also, Merus: SUMMER WARS, On paper it sounds terrible, but it's possibly my favourite film ever made.

 

 

 

 

Also Redline.

 

[Twig]

I didn't list either Summer Wars or Redline just because they were movies, but yeah, they're both really good and just a lot of GOOD FUN. Good fun. Gooooooood.

 

fun

[tegan]

Also, surprising lack of Madoka in this thread. I really liked Madoka.

 

 

So Viz snagged the rights to do a new uncut release of the original Sailor Moon with a new dub. Best thing?

[Twig]

I secretly (in the kind of way that I tell anyone anytime it's brought up) want to watch all of Sailor Moon. I used to watch it religiously on Toonami. My friend and I in grade school had a bunch of printouts detailing various characters in both DBZ and Sailor Moon and we put them in a binder and talked about them all the time. He also told me that in Japan Sailor Moon gets NAKED for her transformation WHOA.

 

Well that was a bunch of memories out of nowhere. Anyway, yeah, Sailor Moon.

[tegan]

I started watching it in Japanese last year but only got eight episodes in. I need to get back to it. Maybe now that it's in HD, I will.

 

 

This opening still totally holds up.

 

[Twig]

OH GOD DANG THAT OPENING JESUS THE NOSTALGIA

 

Oh also if anyone watches Usagi Drop (which is ADORABLE), do not I repeat do not read the manga past the point that the anime ended. It goes weird.

[Gormongous]

Death Note spends a ton of time telling you how clever its characters are so that you ignore how dumb they actually are. The big one I remember is Light setting up an elaborate death trap in one of his drawers to hide the note, reasoning that it would be easier to explain a small fire than it his possession of the note. No it wouldn't, dude. Your dad's in interpol and you have a noted interest in the same type of work. Having a notebook filled with the details of the biggest case of the century wouldn't be anywhere near as suspicious as having one of your drawers catch fire when someone tries to open it, nevermind that someone could probably smell the bag of gasoline you used to make it anyway. But of course it never comes up.

 

I think we have different thresholds of plausibility, because it's not difficult at all for me to have an easier time explaining away extreme hyper-protectiveness of one's own "private journal" than explaining away a list of every single inexplicable death in Japan over the past two months with detailed instructions on the inside cover for how the possessor of said list caused said inexplicable deaths.

 

After all, when the police do find the Death Note itself, they figure it out almost immediately and begin thorough testing.

 

 Sure, there's a sense of hyperreality at play, because the show cares a lot that you're never bored and therefore is often ridiculous toward that end, but it's never stupid, at least not to me.

[tegan]

I just realized the new dub means the end of Brad, everybody's favourite very real and definitely heterosexual male character.

[Gormongous]

I just realized the new dub means the end of Brad, everybody's favourite very real and definitely heterosexual male character.

 

"Yeah, I'm sure there are many kissing customs." Such realistic and appropriate dialogue for a high-school girl! Man, someday there are going to be great dissertations written on the Bowlderization of nineties anime...

[Merus]

if you watch haruhi make sure you watch all of season two it is so good

 

Okay straight talk for a second I also watched Haruhi s1 so I've heard about Endless Eight

 

It was okay but then I discovered basically Haruhi never gets a clue and I lost interest.

[BadHat]

Also, surprising lack of Madoka in this thread. I really liked Madoka.

 

Watched the third movie recently, was so good to revisit that world and the way it messes with your expectations. The first half hour or so is super super fan service-y, and then... things happen.

 

I know a lot of people hated that ending for being too arbitrary and mean spirited, but I was honestly just impressed they could pull off a twist like that and have it be actually surprising after everything that went down in the series. It felt a bit cheap in the context of the movie, but it feels pretty genuine in hindsight when you consider the totality of what Homura's had to endure up to that point. Also if it leads to another series/movie with Homura as the sort-of villain and even more crazy, reality twisting antics, I wouldn't even think twice about watching.

[Twig]

I've avoided madoka for years out of spite because a friend of mine with absolutely terrible taste in movies anime TV you name it always loves talking about how great madoka is.

Guess I'll give it a shot?

[coaxmetal]

Been watching Jojos, as a number of people have recommended to me. Never read the manga, but the new show is quite good. Also, managed to make a Nazi a likeable character, while still being a crazy Nazi. German engineering is the greatest, apparently.