Recommendations for anime.

[Godstar]

What that be about then, stranger...?

Space Trains, go figure, with pew pew lasers, and lots death which leads to tears and crying. I rather enjoyed it, but
it's a shame the OVA's and 2nd series haven't been released over here yet by Funimation.

[umberhulk]

Kinda reminds me of the Cowboy Bebop movie. If you watch it all in order, then Spike has a personal epiphany, only for him to seemingly forget and have it again when the finale rolls around; which is why he spurs himself into action, anyway.

I'm not a fan of the movie, in general, but putting it in with the series just lessens the impact. Vicious is justifably a formidable opponent, a match/equal with history for Spike, but he doesn't seem so threatening after Vincent. And when the end happens, Spike doesn't figure out his destiny, he's just told what to think by some terrorist he's met twice. Eh.

That movie is fantastic.

[Stevil]

It wanted to be a slow burning thriller like Patlabor 2, but there's not nearly enough meat on the bones to sustain that intended pace.

Great intro, great monorail fight scene, great finale, but the plot goes nowhere compared to the best episodes. I always loved how CB mixed up its styles, since that's how it fleshed out the cast, but the movie didn't represent the show all too well.

[Steven Hansen]

Also this was fun.

[Jon Bloodspray]

Handawg, you watch Iria yet? I'm curious as to what you think about it.

[Steven Hansen]

Not yet.

Day after I got it I went to the eye doctor for the first time in a few years and apparently my contacts were terribly scratched (was supposed to replace them like 2 years ago, woops) and damaging my eyes a bit so I was advised not to wear them for like a week and use some prescription drops. Have since only been wearing them sporadically throughout the day because now they hurt when I do.

As such, haven't been doing much watching of things or gaming. Also got three books for xmas (counting the one from you) that I really want to read and haven't been able to. Forgot how awful it is not being able to see well (spent a lot of the week where I wasn't wearing them at all with my laptop zoomed in like 250%, an inch away from my face). Getting my new pair in a few days though, woop.

[Jon Bloodspray]

Right on. When you do, let me know. Like I said, no one has ever seen that shit and I'm super curious about it.

[Stevil]

Also this was fun.

I believe you could do this move in the PS2 game, since Spike grabs a broom to fight off some goons in the opening level.

Now I've depressed myself remembering that it never got released overseas, even though it had the US website up and running.

[umberhulk]

It wanted to be a slow burning thriller like Patlabor 2, but there's not nearly enough meat on the bones to sustain that intended pace.

It's an action movie...

[Stevil]

Action-Thriller, if you want to be precise. Pretty sure it's on the DVD extras where they talk about the movie being influenced by 70's thrillers and the like.

[umberhulk]

I dunno.

I don't think the movie is slow. It's basically nuetral. Part of the appeal to Cowboy Bebop is the steady appeal to the character-lifestyle. It's a show about a rag tag group, living job to job, and trying to find the right melody to their life. The pace was perfect. And too many action movies feel like a greatest hits collection. I don't love the way Star Trek, Taken, and Expendables 2 are paced. Without being Drive, I think most movies should take more time. I would even say that Dark Knight should have been a slower movie, in my opinion. It also has a weird layer of atmosphere because if you watched the show already:

Spoiler!

You know you're seeing Spike for the last time

[Godstar]

I dunno.

I don't think the movie is slow. It's basically nuetral. Part of the appeal to Cowboy Bebop is the steady appeal to the character-lifestyle. It's a show about a rag tag group, living job to job, and trying to find the right melody to their life. The pace was perfect. And too many action movies feel like a greatest hits collection. I don't love the way Star Trek, Taken, and Expendables 2 are paced. Without being Drive, I think most movies should take more time. I would even say that Dark Knight should have been a slower movie, in my opinion. It also has a weird layer of atmosphere because if you watched the show already:

Spoiler!

You know you're seeing Spike for the last time

Cowboy Bebop is amazing, that's about all there is too it. The show was all about the group dynamic, and how it falls apart, and somehow comes back together again. Damn fine show.

[Aaron Mxy Yost]

Cowboy Bebop is amazing, that's about all there is too it. The show was all about the group dynamic, and how it falls apart, and somehow comes back together again. Damn fine show.

Yup, this. Still my favorite anime series. Need those on blu-ray.

[Revuhlooshun]

A service announcement for Gundam fans:

The localization of Gundam: The Origin will have a print run of only 3,500-4,000 copies. Furthermore, Vertical posted this on their Twitter page this week:

Gundam fans... We will lock our print total for Volume 1 next friday. Make your preorders count by sending them in ASAP.

The deadline is this Friday.

Gundam: The Origin is a retelling of the original UC plotline from 1979; the manga itself was in production from 2001 to 2011. It keeps the main plot points intact, but fleshes out other aspects of the story, such as Char's youth while hiding on Earth after the assassination of his father, and how he eventually infiltrates the ranks of Zeon to exact his revenge on the Zabi Family. Some locations and details are changed as well--"New Yark" is now New York, and the Zeon occupation headquarters led by Garma are located in Beverly Hills--but it doesn't seem to be missing too many things from the original story.

This is what you're getting for $20 (reposts):







Some pages from the manga. The infamous death of Garma Zabi:

[Revuhlooshun]

Riddhe is the new Banshee pilot. I like how they took the time to show his slow transformation into the asshole he ends up becoming.

[Panzadolphin56]

Finally finished Baccano, loved it, OVA episodes felt a bit slow though. The way the story unfolded sort of reminded me of Forbidden Siren, with the repeating sequences of events. Which was pretty cool.

Working my way through Gundam 0083 and Ghost in the Shell 2nd Gig atm. I swear there's something off about that series, production values are really good but I've noticed the art style of the faces seems to change every few episodes, the major's face especially seems the worst.

[Revuhlooshun]

Riddhe looking like a damn drug addict. It's amazing to see how far he's fallen since this OVA started, lol.

[The Defenestrator]

I'm not going through 155 pages to see if this has been mentioned yet, but I just finished The World God Only Knows and I really liked it. It's on region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray, the first season is on Hulu+ and the full series is on Crunchyroll.

Basically, a dating sim fanatic and social outcast gets roped into helping a cute demon girl capture loose souls that are trapped inside his classmates. He can only get them out by making the girls fall for him. It's a fun series. They don't gather a harem around him and they don't tease a romance with the cute demon girl either. So it's kind of unconventional in that sense. They also don't shy away from the fact that the lead is a total social misfit despite is absurd competence at using his dating sim knowledge for woo'ing anime girls. I dug it.

[Panzadolphin56]

What's 'Crunchyroll'?

Riddhe looking like a damn drug addict. It's amazing to see how far he's fallen since this OVA started, lol.

Goddamn, I haven't been excited for anything as much as this in a long time.

[Revuhlooshun]

I was expecting Unicorn to be a quick UC cash-grab at the expense of old school fans, but it's exceeded all of my expectations. It's definitely one of the best, if not the best, Gundam OVAs to date, right next to 0083.

It also throws out some obscure, hardcore Gundam references too, like the Manhunters from Hathaway's Flash showing up.



These guys are from ECOAS, which is a Federation unit formed to shove Earthnoids into space as part of the Federation's privatization of Earth -- thus the name, "Manhunters." They're essentially the Titans reborn, but their existence is kept a secret within the Federation for the obvious reason that the last time the Federation formed an elite fascist paramilitary group, it overthrew the Federation.

At least they learned from their mistakes. Sort of.

This all takes place during the Hathaway's Flash novel, which follows Bright Noa's son as he joins a terrorist group under an alias in order to fight the Federation's privatization efforts. He goes around assassinating Federation officials before getting captured while attacking the Federation Assembly. He's then executed by the Federation, which causes Bright to retire from the Federation and to fall into a deep depression. The story helps to segway the timeline into the F91/Crossbone/Victory era of anti-democratic and aristocratic mass movements, and it marks the beginning of the disintegration of the Federation as a democratic institution.

You can tell that they're Manhunters from the badge on their arms:



Other than that, there is no other giveaway -- the writers slid them in there real slick. Good shit, Sunrise.