What Anime/Manga have you watched/read recently?

[RetroVortex]

I wanted to start this thread, as there must be fellow anime enthusiasts amongst us gamers eh?

Anyway straight to the point.

I randomly bought 2 anime DVD's today, because they were 2 for £5 in a "The Works" shop.

This store is not a very good one, so my expectations were not so high, but I had some spare change and thought why not?

The DVD's I bought were, Red Garden Volume 1, (ep 1-4), and Peacemaker Vol. 1 (ep 1-4).

Haven't watched Peacemaker, but I just finished watching Red Garden.

Its annoying as it was starting to get quite good actually.
Its a bit girly at points, but the darker themes and events of the series were really good, and the momentum was beggining to pick up, and then the DVD ended! >:/

Its a bit like Gantz, (you know, main characters are dead, but they get a second chance at life, for the cost of having to fight something at night) but no where near as awesome, (then again it is only a 12 rated series, like the other dvd i got), but for £2.50 it wasn't so bad.

Oh, and the dubbing was pretty good, Gonzo (the studio also behind Gantz as well) did a good job at fitting characters to voices, and the synching was about as good as it could ever be.

I'll edit this post later with my opinion on the first episodes of Peacemaker.

[Swish]

Suffering acute Haruhi withdrawal, possessing as I do the excellent OST for the new film but with no means to see the film itself, I've distracted myself by recently finishing the understated and profoundly heartwarming tale of redemption Haibane Renmei, and by currently watching the extraordinarily dark and bewilderingly spelled Texhnolyze.

I'd be hard-pressed to think of two non-comedy shows more different in tone to one another, despite their creator connections.

[Myrph]

I'll probably get quite a bit of stick for this, but I've been getting back into Bleach recently... Yes it goes utterly bizarre later on, but I really liked it and I enjoy the bizarre humour in it!

Beyond that though, I've not really got into much recently. Uni has pretty much stopped me from watching too much stuff and I honestly can't be bothered to go join the anime society...

[Swish]

... and I honestly can't be bothered to go join the anime society...
I wouldn't even consider joining anything like that, lest it be populated by complete embarrassments like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmRDoGObsLA).

[Myrph]

I wouldn't even consider joining anything like that, lest it be populated by complete embarrassments like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmRDoGObsLA).

I don't think ours is that bad, I went along to the first meeting when they had free food, but haven't been back since due to timing issues, and the fact some of the people probably are bordering on that...

[Songbird]

Well... I used to get the Kingdom Hearts manga just for sake that I like the game, but for some reason they haven't come out with a new one in months... years maybe?

[Macacão Sapão]

Just finished the Hellsing manga. Quite good. And I do enjoy Bleach as well. Been reading Trinity Blood, enjoying that one too. Love One Piece.

[RetroVortex]

I've started to watch the Noein boxset I bought of amazon.
(I got it beacause it was only £13)

I have to say, I really like it so far, but it does get quite crazy at points.

[Swish]

I've started to watch the Noein boxset I bought of amazon.
(I got it beacause it was only £13)

I have to say, I really like it so far, but it does get quite crazy at points.
I got the first disc of that on LOVEFiLM, but I didn't really get on with it. Uninteresting characters and cheap, ugly production, combined with the fact it seemed to me like it thought it was cleverer than it actually was.

When you've finished it let me know if it's worth giving it another chance.

I'm now 9 episodes into Gurren Lagann, incidentally. Enjoying it a lot, though it's a lot lighter than my usual artsy interests (with the exception of that bit). Watching it in parallel with Texhnolyze is messing with my brain a bit.

[RetroVortex]

I've watched the first five episodes, (on the first disc), and its certainly been growing on me.

But then again, I am very easily impressed by anime, (I haven't watched loads of it, and probably would not have ever watched it if it were not for Toonami (DBZ and Tenchi Muyo being the main things I watched back when I was a kid)), and as you know, anime is quite scarce and very expensive in the UK, (DVD wise).

Not to mention, US imports are pricey too. For example, it would cost me over 10 quid normally to buy a Shakagan No Shana Volume.
In fact, if I had the cash I'd buy the first 6 of them second hand for 20-25 quid. (As I know someone who wants to sell them, but I'm not telling! >:D).

I am a sucker for alternate dimensions storylines though, I remember I spent a whole of one of my summer holidays at school, reading as many Marvel What If? comics as I possibly could.
(Also The Exiles, is the best Marvel Comic series I have ever read, shame it only reached 100 issues though...)

EDIT: One anime I have watched recently, that I know is excellent is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
I had that game on the dreamcast, (lucky me! XD), and I've always wanted to know what the anime and the manga were like.

I haven't got the manga, but I watched the whole series on youtube (its only 13 episodes), but its a very nice streamlined anime, that has some very good animation (for its time at least).

[Had0ken]

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 has just arrived in the post, so guess I'll be watching that next.

[Leontendo]

I have loads of anime which I'm in the middle of. Death Note, Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, Lupin III... And I haven't even started the Disgaea or Bomberman anime.

As for manga, I haven't read too much recently. I guess I'm gonna have to play all those games I haven't even touched first...

[RetroVortex]

Suffering acute Haruhi withdrawal, possessing as I do the excellent OST for the new film but with no means to see the film itself, I've distracted myself by recently finishing the understated and profoundly heartwarming tale of redemption Haibane Renmei, and by currently watching the extraordinarily dark and bewilderingly spelled Texhnolyze.

I'd be hard-pressed to think of two non-comedy shows more different in tone to one another, despite their creator connections.

I hope Texhnolyze is really good, as I ordered all 6 of the dvds for £18 (which is funny since the box set is £31 XD).

As for Noein, I haven't watched anymore episodes as of yet, but I will do so tomorrow, and I'll edit this post, to let you know how if the series gets any better.

EDIT: watched episodes 6-10, and its starting to get more interesting now some of the "mysteries" have been explained.
Hopefully, the plot will pick up some more. The alternate dimension is pretty freaky! @_@

[cloudstrife]

I still watch Dragonball Z a good bit, got the whole series on dvd. Other than that I dont watch much anime anymore, but I occasionally watch a few episodes of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. I really wanna get back into it though, there are still a bunch of good anime shows that I havent seen.

[RetroVortex]

I got my Texhnolyze dvds in the post, and apart from the dodgy looking sleeve on the first disc, (it was an obvious printout, which wouldn't be so noticable on its own, but when compared with the other 6, its stands out, which is really odd since I bought them from the official UK supplier!), they all look awesome and sit proudly on my shelf.

I've watched the first four episodes, and I really like visual style and presentation of the show. The plot is pretty interesting too, especially what happens in the fourth episode.

Now, the next series I have my eyes on is Gun Sword, which I can get the whole lot for £22, but from what I've heard, this one is a mixed bag.

What I really want though, is something cheap, and less orientated to the serious sci-fi (Noein is pretty serious at times, and texhnolyze is REALLY serious).
A fantasy comedy preferably, but something more modern wouldn't hurt neither.

[Swish]

I've now finished Gurren Lagann and Texhnolyze, and both were consistently excellent for entirely different reasons: Gurren Lagann for its unparalleled air-punching, tear-shedding, hot-blooded inspirational manliness; Texhnolyze for being the most intenseley, profoundly and brilliantly depressing thing I have ever consumed. I suspect watching them together may have left me quite insane, but at least for the sake of my will to live I'm glad it was Gurren Lagann that I finished last.

I concluded this latest streak of anime viewing - as it tends to go in streaks for me - with Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, or The Vanishment of Suzumiya Haruhi, or whatever you prefer to call it; the feature film based on the fourth book in Haruhi canon, which I recently obtained "somehow". It managed to effortlessly match my hopes and expectations for the first two hours or so, then completely exceed them in the final act. Full of subtleties and brave but considerate direction, the music is beautiful (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLhHKZvTm4U) (though I already knew that) and the excellent cast completely outdo themselves. One of those few things I'll definitely buy on Blu-Ray if it's made available as opposed to DVD.

I'll be off the anime for a bit now though. Switching back over to renting quality TV I missed out on, namely The Wire and Battlestar Galactica.

EDIT: I just realised; RetroVortex, you're after a modern/fantasy comedy and like "alternate dimensions storylines". So why the hell haven't I recommended Haruhi yet? Probably because the simple fact that I never stop banging on about it can be taken as recommendation enough. That said, it doesn't delve into its interdimensional complications until the 9th book, which is yet to be adapted into anime (they're up to around four and a half books, or two and a half officially in English). Plenty of time-travel and universe-rewriting though, plus believable and well-developed characters and original comedy. Also the manga adaptation sucks - don't go anywhere near it.

[Leontendo]

As previously posted, I have loads of anime series to watch... in addition, Crunchyroll are offering The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya through free, legal streaming. I'm not sure how long it's gonna be up there, so I'm gonna have to start watching it soon.

[jocuri barbie]

Hi,I just wanted to salute you all,I am a new member on this forum :)

[Macacão Sapão]

Hi,I just wanted to salute you all,I am a new member on this forum :)

Welcome! Join us in talking about games, music, japanese stuff and, of course, in convincing VGL to come to our cities :D. (Where are you from, by the way?)

Getting back on the subject of the thread, I'm about to finish reading Chrno Crusade, I'm told it is a very good ending. Let's see.


PS: Damn, is your website PINK!

[Myrph]

Macacão, I suspect that person is actually a spam bot. The post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand and everything about the post is really quite suspicious and suggesting that it is a bot.

I could be wrong, and I'll apologise if I am, but from experience, my instincts suggest that it is...

[don]

Macacão, I suspect that person is actually a spam bot. The post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand and everything about the post is really quite suspicious and suggesting that it is a bot.

I could be wrong, and I'll apologise if I am, but from experience, my instincts suggest that it is...

Nheh, wouldn't say that, at least for now. But there are a lot of newcommers that never post and have their profile pages full of adds.

[Macacão Sapão]

Macacão, I suspect that person is actually a spam bot. The post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand and everything about the post is really quite suspicious and suggesting that it is a bot.

I could be wrong, and I'll apologise if I am, but from experience, my instincts suggest that it is...


Damn...




as you can see, my bot-spotting techniques are close to non-existent.

But let's wait and see if it really just a person who really likes pink.

[Terraguy]

Macacão, I suspect that person is actually a spam bot. The post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand and everything about the post is really quite suspicious and suggesting that it is a bot.

I could be wrong, and I'll apologise if I am, but from experience, my instincts suggest that it is...

I have to agree. That was my first thought when I saw that post.

[Myrph]

Back on topic somewhat, Tokyo-based artist Koshi Kawachi (http://www.koshikawachi.com/) has recently developed a technique for using old manga books as a medium for growing plants! There are pictures of a crop of radish sprouts in a variety of different stories here (http://pinktentacle.com/2010/04/manga-farming/).

Personally, I think its a waste of a perfectly good set of books, but I guess if you can cultivate magazines or old phone directories in this way, it can't be a bad thing!

[sirguigui]

I recently read like the last 30 bleach mangas, and I realized why I had stopped reading them, because they plot truly sucks and it's getting worse :(

[DancingFlameDragon]

Well, I recently watched a few earlier episodes of Pokemon! Other than that, I'm not really a huge anime/manga fan unless its more game related (although maybe I should give some a try now and then). But yes, the Pikachu's Goodbye episode still almost makes me cry :p

[sirguigui]

Pokemon's first episodes are realy great, taking out that part of using charmander in the rain.

[DancingFlameDragon]

Pokemon's first episodes are realy great, taking out that part of using charmander in the rain.
Yeah, I think I started losing track of the episodes more during the Hoenn series, and then once they changed all the voice actors a bit later on I found that I couldn't really adjust. I mean, some of the actors went to work on the new dub, but they were all minor characters. At least Pikachu still sounds the same since it's always Ikue Ootani and not dubbed over (at least as far as I know).
The Pokemon website has some older episodes on the site, and I've been watching some of my favorites, like the Ponyta race episode and the one with Scyther and Electabuzz (and Pikachu's ketchup bottle!) I guess I've been in a more "Pokemon" mindset lately since starting HeartGold version. :D

[Songbird]

Back on topic somewhat, Tokyo-based artist Koshi Kawachi (http://www.koshikawachi.com/) has recently developed a technique for using old manga books as a medium for growing plants! There are pictures of a crop of radish sprouts in a variety of different stories here (http://pinktentacle.com/2010/04/manga-farming/).

Personally, I think its a waste of a perfectly good set of books, but I guess if you can cultivate magazines or old phone directories in this way, it can't be a bad thing!

O_o?!

How does that even work? Besides, somethings telling me it wouldn't be a good idea to eat those radish. That's not including how the magazines could affect them; for example....

Radish + Pokemon Manga = Oddish! http://pokedream.com/pokerep/images/sugimori/043.jpg

[don]

Yo Poké-fans, fresh news:

Pokémon Black and White versions (http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/04/pokemon-black-and-white/) announced,

and according to this (http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2009/01/21/pokemon-black-white-brown-gray-purple-scarlet-and-crimson-trademarked-by-nintendo.htm#ixzz0l7N5Y7WO), other titles are already trademarked by Nintendo.

[sirguigui]

At least it's a new one, i like to play sometimes cause it's cool to battle online with online friends :) We could battle after it's launched in the US. :cool:

[DancingFlameDragon]

At least it's a new one, i like to play sometimes cause it's cool to battle online with online friends :) We could battle after it's launched in the US. :cool:
Yeah, I really like battling with friends over Wi-Fi. Ever since that was implemented into the games, I've found that I'm more motivated to train my Pokemon (in D/Pt/HG) because I actually have people to battle against. I wish that they'd make a new Wii battle game that is more similar to the Pokemon Stadium games (but with good wi-fi) than either Colosseum or Battle Revolution, which started to get back on the right track but could have been done much better; I especially want my minigames back!

But ummm, to get on topic to actual anime that I've been watching, as I've been watching more Pokemon, I have rediscovered how hilariously random Pikachu always was in the first season.

[lorremarsh]

I enjoyed Jojo's adventures. Kinda fun!

[Sarahcidal]

Ecaflowne was always a favourite of mine.. I actually just ordered a couple of seasons from ebay lol :D

[Macacão Sapão]

Ecaflowne was always a favourite of mine.. I actually just ordered a couple of seasons from ebay lol :D

I really like this one too, and I ended up falling in love with the opening song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3SeOBRNXm4). Very nice.

Plus, the soundtrack is awesome!

[SukottoDono]

I'm watching Code Geass.

[sirguigui]

I'm watching Code Geass.

Really good choice for those who like Death Note and Mechas.

[Swish]

Really good choice for those who like Death Note and Mechas.
That's me sold.

[Myrph]

I must admit I am now also intrigued! I'll see if I can get it on the manga viewer I've just downloaded on my new android mobile!

[sirguigui]

For those who like mecha and a good plot I recommend you to watch Macross SDF from the 80's. Really good, if you like it you can watch Macross frontier as well. :cool:

I must admit I am now also intrigued! I'll see if I can get it on the manga viewer I've just downloaded on my new android mobile!
Holy s**** I so want a android mobile :( but here in Brazil they cost like U$900.

[Myrph]

If you can get your hands on the HTC Desire, I'd highly recommend it. Its not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but its significantly cheaper than the majority of Android handsets (and the iPhone) and is probably one of the best ones on the market at the moment. The only thing that I'm finding irksome at the moment is that I'm not used to using a touch screen phone, plus I have large fingers, so I haven't quite achieved the level of precision require with these sorts of devices. Apart from that the phone is really good! Battery life isn't too bad, its incredibly responsive, everything loads and happens really quickly and the on-screen keyboard is completely usable in portrait mode and even easier to use in landscape mode. If anyone is looking to upgrade handset in the next 6 months or so, I'd highly recommend getting this one!!

/sales pitch

[Swish]

Man, the temptation to report that post as spam...

[don]

LOL
I'm happy with my E71. It has a good graphics and an excelent wi-fi card as it is a good work tool. Tons of useful and cool apps. I run Quake 1 to 3 on it.

Anyway, for those using touchscreens, I recomend getting a good RDP client. By accessing through RDP to your home PC, your phone becomes far more useful.

[sirguigui]

I sure want a touchscreen phone WITH a qwerty keyboard to write and play :)

[Myrph]

Man, the temptation to report that post as spam...

I'll admit it was slightly off topic, but they're my rules so I can decide what is allowed and not allowed by my discretion.

Besides there aren't any links to specific locations or phony links, so as 'spam' goes, mine is fairly mild.

Also, the temptation to just play with the ban hammer is never out of my mind!

As a side note, however, if we do plan to go into an in depth discussion regarding mobile technology, it might be worth starting a new thread elsewhere.

[Brainiac]

Also, the temptation to just play with the ban hammer is never out of my mind!

http://www.pnw4runners.com/pics/banhammer_forecast.gif

There are also instructions for building your own banhammer here (http://www.kongregate.com/forums/1/topics/39699).

[don]

I'll admit it was slightly off topic, but they're my rules so I can decide what is allowed and not allowed by my discretion.

(...)

Also, the temptation to just play with the ban hammer is never out of my mind!


Awesome! x'D

[Terraguy]

*cough* Admin liking his powers, eh?

[Myrph]

Admin? Where? ;p

[sirguigui]

Returning to animes,
I started to watch some anime called Banner of the stars which seems to be really good cause it's a space anime without mechas, so only spaceships :)

[don]

*cough* Admin liking his powers, eh?

More like God Mod playing god. xD

[Myrph]

More like God Mod playing god. xD

Smooth, Don, smooth! :D

[Terraguy]

More like God Mod playing god. xD

Totally understand. When you have mod privileges, you got to show a little power to keep people in line. :p

Ok, I think we derailed the topic quite enough. Please continue.

[don]

Smooth, Don, smooth! :D

What? I thought it was a cool response.
Made of pwnage and win. xD