Believe me, I've been there. It's worth watching more of, though. Woefully incomplete story sadly.
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The Anime / Manga Thread (MK2) | Beware Spoilers
- Thread starter Acklow
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Besides Pokemon, Digimon, DBZ, etc. the first one I really remember being hooked on was The Big O. I should go rewatch it since I hardly remember anything about it...
http://myanimelist.net/anime/2705/Bakusou_Kyoudai_Lets_&_Go this is probably the first anime i ever saw along with pokemon, digimon, and whatever used to air on tv back when i was a kid in china
first anime that i "seriously" watched was k-on after a friend suggested it to me. still holds a special place in my heart
first anime that i "seriously" watched was k-on after a friend suggested it to me. still holds a special place in my heart
Besides the obvious stuff like dbz, the first real anime i saw was http://myanimelist.net/anime/15/Eyeshield_21. i still remember everything about it and its still like one of the only shows ive rewatched...the days b4 i only watched romance / slice of life anime :o
well i've spent the last 3 days watching shinsekai yori and i'm a little conflicted about it
spoilers, obviously
spoilers, obviously
I liked the overall plot well enough, and I thought the general execution of most of the show's ideas (PK in general, queerats, Fiends) was done well. The show does a good job of making the viewer question which side is the "villain". There was good character development for Saki and Satoru but very little for anyone else - this is redeemed somewhat by how interesting Squealer, Kiroumaru, and Tomiko (the old lady) are. The soundtrack was gorgeous and contributed well to the show's overwhelming atmosphere. No other show has consistently made me feel such a sense of unease with just about every episode. The animation was patchy here and there but the art was beautiful when it needed to be, so that's a minor gripe.
Actually, most of my gripes are minor, but there are a lot of them. I'm disappointed by many small plot holes, particularly regarding use of PK in many scenarios - why don't characters fly more often, for example? Why didn't Saki blow away the bioweapon from Satoru when confronting the Fiend, or use her own PK to pull him toward her? Why can't a normal PK user just go ahead and kill a Fiend and then die to death feedback?
Regarding the last point, I understand that death feedback starts acting even upon thoughts of hurting another human, but its effects (inhibition of the liver and parathyroid) should take at least a few seconds to kick in, whereas killing another human should be instant. The only explanation that I've found even slightly convincing is that years of education, conditioning, and hypnosis have paralyzed most of the public from doing this, but this begs the question as to why a society so paranoid of Fiends doesn't come up with a more reliable countermeasure, or why the geneticists who engineered the changes to the human genome didn't think to include some kind of "failsafe" for this exact event. Death feedback also appears to be entirely mental (we don't see it affect Saki early on in a flashback until the elder makes her aware that she's hurting him). In that case, it should also be possible to hypnotize someone else into killing a human, or to use myriad other techniques involving PK to circumvent death feedback, at least temporarily.
In general I also found SSY's use of flashbacks to be heavyhanded more often than not, especially after the first arc. When it's not infodumping, SSY generally seems to support the "show, don't tell" mentality, but frequently replays a flashback when it really doesn't need to, seemingly spoonfeeding the viewer "Hey, look, this is a callback to two episodes ago". Perhaps this is a more noticeable fault if you binge watch like I did, but it happened enough that it started to really get on my nerves by the halfway point of the show. Reminding the viewer about a previous scene is perfectly fine if it's done naturally, but not when you copy-paste that scene in with a gray filter - and certainly not when you do that dozens of times over 25 episodes.
It also feels like SSY becomes a totally different show during several points and ends up dropping many minor plot points or themes. This is done well in some parts; the transition from the Squealer/Kiroumaru war to the festival massacre to the hospital scene was excellent, for example - but it falls flat in many other areas. One instance is how human sexuality is a major theme toward the end of the first arc and the beginning of the second arc, but is never touched on again after Shun dies. The queerat war has little purpose other than to introduce Squealer as a character and to introduce us to the structure of queerat society - something that's necessary but doesn't require as much dedicated screentime as it had. We also see Satoru violently killing hundreds of queerats as a child and going too far, then never revisit this again in the second and third arcs.
It feels like SSY juggles a lot of balls in the air and decides to drop some of them while throwing new ones up there. I really liked the show best when it was entertaining multiple plot points at the same time. I found the flashbacks in episodes 1, 2, and 3 all extremely interesting and very effective at keeping the viewer invested in the show, culminating in episode 4 when the false minoshiro explains basically everything, in probably my favorite infodump of all time. Afterwards the show honestly struggles to balance "setup" and "payoff", if that makes sense, sometimes introducing concepts in one episode that would be mentioned for the first time in the next episode at best, and would be completely irrelevant for the next dozen episodes at worst.
Normally these would be minor complaints if they only came up, but most of these critiques that I have popped up over and over again in my head, particularly during the latter half of the series to a degree where it was preventing me from fully enjoying the show. It certainly did a lot of things extremely well, but it absolutely falls short of a masterpiece for the time being. Psycho-Pass is a thematically similar show but was magnitudes better at its execution, in my opinion. SSY is currently sitting at somewhere around a 7.5/10 for me, and I'd appreciate it if someone could clear up some of my concerns, because I really wanted to love this show.
Actually, most of my gripes are minor, but there are a lot of them. I'm disappointed by many small plot holes, particularly regarding use of PK in many scenarios - why don't characters fly more often, for example? Why didn't Saki blow away the bioweapon from Satoru when confronting the Fiend, or use her own PK to pull him toward her? Why can't a normal PK user just go ahead and kill a Fiend and then die to death feedback?
Regarding the last point, I understand that death feedback starts acting even upon thoughts of hurting another human, but its effects (inhibition of the liver and parathyroid) should take at least a few seconds to kick in, whereas killing another human should be instant. The only explanation that I've found even slightly convincing is that years of education, conditioning, and hypnosis have paralyzed most of the public from doing this, but this begs the question as to why a society so paranoid of Fiends doesn't come up with a more reliable countermeasure, or why the geneticists who engineered the changes to the human genome didn't think to include some kind of "failsafe" for this exact event. Death feedback also appears to be entirely mental (we don't see it affect Saki early on in a flashback until the elder makes her aware that she's hurting him). In that case, it should also be possible to hypnotize someone else into killing a human, or to use myriad other techniques involving PK to circumvent death feedback, at least temporarily.
In general I also found SSY's use of flashbacks to be heavyhanded more often than not, especially after the first arc. When it's not infodumping, SSY generally seems to support the "show, don't tell" mentality, but frequently replays a flashback when it really doesn't need to, seemingly spoonfeeding the viewer "Hey, look, this is a callback to two episodes ago". Perhaps this is a more noticeable fault if you binge watch like I did, but it happened enough that it started to really get on my nerves by the halfway point of the show. Reminding the viewer about a previous scene is perfectly fine if it's done naturally, but not when you copy-paste that scene in with a gray filter - and certainly not when you do that dozens of times over 25 episodes.
It also feels like SSY becomes a totally different show during several points and ends up dropping many minor plot points or themes. This is done well in some parts; the transition from the Squealer/Kiroumaru war to the festival massacre to the hospital scene was excellent, for example - but it falls flat in many other areas. One instance is how human sexuality is a major theme toward the end of the first arc and the beginning of the second arc, but is never touched on again after Shun dies. The queerat war has little purpose other than to introduce Squealer as a character and to introduce us to the structure of queerat society - something that's necessary but doesn't require as much dedicated screentime as it had. We also see Satoru violently killing hundreds of queerats as a child and going too far, then never revisit this again in the second and third arcs.
It feels like SSY juggles a lot of balls in the air and decides to drop some of them while throwing new ones up there. I really liked the show best when it was entertaining multiple plot points at the same time. I found the flashbacks in episodes 1, 2, and 3 all extremely interesting and very effective at keeping the viewer invested in the show, culminating in episode 4 when the false minoshiro explains basically everything, in probably my favorite infodump of all time. Afterwards the show honestly struggles to balance "setup" and "payoff", if that makes sense, sometimes introducing concepts in one episode that would be mentioned for the first time in the next episode at best, and would be completely irrelevant for the next dozen episodes at worst.
Normally these would be minor complaints if they only came up, but most of these critiques that I have popped up over and over again in my head, particularly during the latter half of the series to a degree where it was preventing me from fully enjoying the show. It certainly did a lot of things extremely well, but it absolutely falls short of a masterpiece for the time being. Psycho-Pass is a thematically similar show but was magnitudes better at its execution, in my opinion. SSY is currently sitting at somewhere around a 7.5/10 for me, and I'd appreciate it if someone could clear up some of my concerns, because I really wanted to love this show.
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
I watched it more than a year ago so I don't remember the details enough that I can solve your questions. However, I am deeply surprised you found Psycho-Pass execution better, as the themes are treated in a much more superficial way in Psycho-Pass. The themes, either the ones concerning the whole society, or those treated in each case, are just presented once and then never expanded or mentioned again, which makes it a bit shallow. The other problem I found about Psycho-Pass, is that it doesn't even try to portrait the society's system as a viable one, unlike in Sinsekai Yori. In SSY, you're shown a society that works in a different way to our real society, because of -reasons- (not gonna spoiler), and then the shortcomings as well as the problems of that different society are shown throughout the series, so that the viewer can judge whether they prefer it or not. However, in Psycho-Pass we're given a different society, but there's NO explanation behind why the world ended like that. Furthermore, we are pretty much only shown bad things about that society, and if that was not enough, we are shown at the end of the series that the ''rulers'' of the Psycho-Pass society act like some sort of evil mastermind. The show tries to make you HATE the society, and pretty much pushes the idea that they are evil.
There are more reasons why Psycho-Pass is inferior in its presentation to SSY, but that's the main one, I would have to rewatch both in order to give a more specific comparison, but the character development also seemed much more gutted and lazy in Psycho-Pass since ''the system decides everything... except on a couple of times I need to get the plot going forward'', which is just weaker, imo. Not like the characters were the strongest part of SSY though, since most aren't given enough attention, but whatever.
I watched Psycho-Pass a while back so maybe I've got some rose-colored glasses on, but it just seemed more tightly knit than SSY. Most of the criticisms you have of Psycho-Pass are applicable in some way to SSY as well: karma demons and fiends are comparable to the antagonists of season 1 and season 2 of PP, death feedback is somewhat similar to how normal civilians in PP are incapable of violence, etc. These themes are usually discussed once in SSY and then dropped completely. SSY's society also seems just as unfeasible as that of PP, as both are rampant with flaws that are presented to the viewer in both shows. The main difference for me is that PP more strongly emphasizes that society is the root cause of these problems and that Akane begins to actively fight against the system by the end of season 1; in Shinsekai Yori, the ending seemed vague enough that it felt like we were back to square 1 and that no progress was made.
I have some more comparisons I was going to make but I don't want to rant any more than I already have. Perhaps SSY isn't my type of show, or perhaps I'm being too petty. In any case, it was a great show, and I'm glad I watched it. On to Chihayafuru next!
I have some more comparisons I was going to make but I don't want to rant any more than I already have. Perhaps SSY isn't my type of show, or perhaps I'm being too petty. In any case, it was a great show, and I'm glad I watched it. On to Chihayafuru next!
I don't really think Psycho-Pass is comparable to SSY, or at least it never occurred to me to compare the two.
Basically I knew SSY was originally a novel before I started watching so I treated it like reading a book. So when the show constantly changed its focus I thought, oh, that's fine, these are all different arcs. The timeskips essentially split the show into arcs too. And, in general, watching the show was like being told a big story. It had some hiccups but I really enjoyed the ride, and SSY was really good at creating atmosphere. I guess I'm generally positive about the show because I got sucked into it.
Basically I knew SSY was originally a novel before I started watching so I treated it like reading a book. So when the show constantly changed its focus I thought, oh, that's fine, these are all different arcs. The timeskips essentially split the show into arcs too. And, in general, watching the show was like being told a big story. It had some hiccups but I really enjoyed the ride, and SSY was really good at creating atmosphere. I guess I'm generally positive about the show because I got sucked into it.
myriad colors phantom world was interesting. it's got a lot more gratuitous fanservice than I'm used to seeing from Kyoani, but I'm a fan of the dialogue and the character design. The art is also gorgeous, although the plot seems painfully generic so far.
most of the main family members could :O because of a zodiac curse. fruits basket was my first manga!
BakaTsuki (currently down as of this post)
Nanodesu Translations (https://nanodesutranslations.wordpress.com/)
Skythewood (http://skythewood.blogspot.sg/)
Krytyk's blog (http://krytykal.org/)
These have quite a few LN options and are translated fairly regularly (though Bakatsuki is a mixed bag). If you ever need recs or want something specific you can let me know and I might be able to help you. LNs are the way to go, unless you "can't read" cough soulgazer cough
Also just curious does anyone own LNs/Mangas/Figures/various shameful items that you don't have to go into details with etc.? Or do y'all just stick with what you can get electronically for free. I always like having a hardcopy of most of the things I read, though sometimes I think I've taken it too far...
Acklow
I am always tired. Don't bother me.
I mean, I bought quite a few copies of manga while I was in Tokyo and I own a Saber figurine (that I got in Tokyo as well). I also recently purchased a soft-cover copy of the first volume of Umineko at Barnes and Nobles so ya. I usually read my manga electronically off of my iPad, but if I have money to splurge with and it's something I really really like, then I'll buy it.
Stratos
Banned deucer.
fate sux ur taste is weiners
I don't own anything physical, but if I wasn't such a cheapskate I'd have bought some stuff by now—for example, this madoka poster. Maybe just that, actually.
How many of you actually read or watched Saki?
I didn't expect a series about mahjong to be this interesting and that is not because the girls are all cute or anything, it is actually really entertaining. It reminds me on Yu-Gi-Oh a bit just that it makes sense and without any deus ex machina.
They do have abilities with which they benefit more than others in their playstyle but they used it really well to make it look more strategic and not only one character has one.
I didn't expect a series about mahjong to be this interesting and that is not because the girls are all cute or anything, it is actually really entertaining. It reminds me on Yu-Gi-Oh a bit just that it makes sense and without any deus ex machina.
They do have abilities with which they benefit more than others in their playstyle but they used it really well to make it look more strategic and not only one character has one.
Go watch Active Raid. Only posting about it now since it might go under people's radars (I'll make a post about the other shows after I give 'em some time). It's the Code Geass creator doing a fun cyberpunk crime fighting thing with rollerskating mechs and some other things that were litmus tested in Code Geass. It's well directed and not garbage, the first episode felt like a better version of Concrete Revolutio and sort-of-kind-of like Kekkai Sensen, and it's getting a second cour in the summer so it's worth following.
EDIT: Watch Ojisan to Marshmallow too while you're at it. Don't ask, just do it.
EDIT: Watch Ojisan to Marshmallow too while you're at it. Don't ask, just do it.
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I actually learned how to play riichi from watching that show (i read a bit as well before dropping it). They make it seem so easy and everything just comes/nearly comes together every hand. Some of the strategies are real but some don't make sense since they are countering strange supernatural abilities. The powers are a bit over the top but I suppose they have to find some way to make it entertaining. Even with all that it gets repetitive over time and I just hear Rinshankaiho in my head all the time as Saki miracle draws game after game. At least the show goes through some effort to develop many of the characters introduced and they become more than just another opponent.
And there is a nice yuri agenda.
Never be afraid to splurge, just my light novel collection is worth over $500 easily lol. I sort of feel bad when I just take the authors work for free when I read stuff online. I try to do my best to support the author in a series I'm greatly interested in. I guess no one else lives with that guilt.
Stratos
Banned deucer.
i agree about supporting the artists entirely, that's why i buy all my music. but music is 99c and i've bought like 2 dozen songs ever. if i bought all the anime i've watched in the last 9 months at ~30 bucks a cour that's ~1500 dollars. trust me, if i ever am not operating on a college student budget, I will buy my anime, or at least the ones I liked. good on you for supporting the artists though for sure
1) this one is so fucked upppp what the fuckkk
its really interesting though, I really want everyone to die at the end, even if that makes me sick or twisted.
2) Caught up with this as well, this seemed really cool. Started with a standard "guy enters game" sao ish style of plot then quickly turned into another fucked up world. I love it. I really dislike how every character that joins Shield Hero's party is aimed towards pandering to otakus (i fucking hate the bird chick, I've never liked girls like this. papi was my least favorite girl in monster monsuse). Really interested in seeing how this turns out as well, the way the guy's shield works seems really really cool. I could honestly see this getting an anime adaptation in like 2017 or something. Theyre weekly releases right?
3) started reading this as well, love the hypnotism thing, but it does take a shitton from death note. Haven't read it fully yet since in the middle of this I realized if I wanted death note I should just rewatch it, which I am and its a blast.
holy shit tho your recs have always been on point bro
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