Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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jl07045
 Posts: 1527 Location: Riga, Latvia |
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Is that Optimus? Imho Wing was the worst Gundam series this side of SEED Destiny exactly for the reasons mentioned. Haven't seen Age though and not gonna. |
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getchman
 Space CowboyPosts: 9120 Location: Bedford, NH |
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yup. Peter Cullen used to narrate the promos and stuff |
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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This morning I spent an hour and a half watching Voogie's Angel. One hundred years ago, Earth has been invaded by aliens, forcing humans to take refuge in underwater cities. Earth's last line of defense for mankind rests in the hands of five cyborg women who have been trained to carry out attacks against the invading enemies.
I had quite an emotional ride with this show. The memories of the angels were pretty horrifying to watch. While Voogie's Angel did have a deep plot running, the ending of it didn't fare that well, as the show came to an abrupt halt... |
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DuelGundam2099
 Posts: 533 |
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I know I am late to the party, but Gundam 0083 is the second best in the UC timeline only after Victory Gundam, you won't be disappointed! As for Wing its very unique although I would sooner go with X or SEED as well. The mecha and music make it all the better!
A couple weeks ago I took on the Witch Craft Works OVA and despite being mostly incest confession nonsense I can't really hate something that has giant robot rabbit, teddy bear, and penguin fighting daikaiju style. Yesterday I gave the Star Driver movie a shot, it was a standard compilation although the beginning gave a proper epilogue/sequel bait that the original series didn't have. Finally I got around to watching Rosario and Vampire Capu2 and up to episode 6, mostly the same as the first series; Kokoa should be annoying the hell out of me, but she is actually somewhat funny, I'm impressed. Plus the music is a little better this time around. |
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Mr. Oshawott
Posts: 6773 |
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I spent all of my morning watching Variable Geo. In this show, a waitress named Yuka Takeuchi enters into a special fighting tournament designed to allow waitresses to show their fighting spirits. The fighter that wins the tournament receives millions of dollars; however, the losers will be forced to endure a...shame of exposure.
I had serious fun watching this OVA. Those battles were pretty powerful and exciting. But the managers didn't have to go so far as to introduce city-wide shaming towards defeated fighters to make the tournament a serious event. 
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5503 Location: Mexico |
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Thanks for the responses on Gundam stuff, I think Wing is a safe skip. If shipping is its only watching value, there's a lot more stuff out there to fit that quota without sitting through 50 episodes of boredom. What's the UC timeline? If what dtm42 said about War in the Pocket being the exception to the Gundam universe, I think I'll excuse myself from the rest of the franchise.
Anyway, I've been half-assedly watching Tweeny Witches. The designs and world building are a fascinating, but the story is not engaging at all, and halfway through the series I see no specific direction where any of this might be going. The narrative is awkward at times, some of the characters' motivations are unclear and I would get drunk in just one 10-minute episode if I had a shot every time anyone says "So long you have a believing heart, anyone can do magic". I reckon I haven't paid that much attention to it because it failed to grab me in the first five episodes. It's one of those meh experiences that don't bother me enough to drop them, but don't grab me enough to pay attention to them, I just use it as background noise now. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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UC - or Universal Century - is the original and arguably "main" timeline of the Gundam franchise. Naturally, Mobile Suit Gundam is in the UC timeline, and fun fact, so is War in the Pocket. There are tonnes of other UC titles too. Full-length series, specifically Zeta, ZZ and Victory, plus arguably Reconguista in G. Movies like Char's Counterattack and F91. OVAs such as 08th MS Team, Stardust Memories, MS IGLOO, Unicorn, and of course the aforementioned War in the Pocket. All Gundam titles that are not in the UC timeline are called "AU", meaning Alternate Universe. AU includes titles such as G, W, X, G-Savior, A, SEED and SEED Destiny, 00, AGE and Build Fighters. And to answer your question, that is indeed a large number of titles. Only insane people like myself try and watch them all. It gets even worse if you try and read the countless number of manga or play the numerous games.
If you're ever interested in giving the Gundam franchise another shot then I recommend you start with After War Gundam X (AKA "X"). * It's probably the best title in the animated franchise, though War in the Pocket is not far behind. * And no, it's not a hentai, LOL. |
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justsomeaccount
 Posts: 471 |
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Started Log Horizon, two episodes, and... (I'm sure I will be the millionth person to say this but) WHY THE HELL THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT RETURNING TO THE REAL WORLD OR INVESTIGATE OR BE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR FAMILIES OR ACCEPT SO NATURALLY THAT THEY ARE STUCK LIVING THERE??
The rest looks just... okay at best (the characters can be a little bothersome, but meh, tolerable), but with that and no death, I don't know how this show is going to bring a sense of danger and tension. Also watching Kids on the Slope (5 episodes) and I like it. It advances really really fast, but for some reason I don't mind that much. The problem though is that while the show is really really charming and lovable with the positive and light-hearted parts, it's really really rushed and clumsy when it introduces conflicts or negative parts. At least the music and combination with the animation is awesome (those hand animations wau, it's my wish come true when I was watching Nodame Cantabile). |
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Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
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It doesn't really. It's more about the world building and the characters. It takes things pretty slow and I atleast needed a bit of time to sort of absorb the greatness of it. It was a difficult show for me to marathon, but by watching it in small bursts I found myself appreciating the setting more once I had sort of settled in. |
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3652 |
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Despite its setting, the "tension" isn't the typical life-on-the-edge stuff of adventures, but a more typical human tension of community and relationships. At least, that's how I've come to see it, which unfortunately means that when the show gets all "game mechanics," I sort of tune out.
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DuelGundam2099
Posts: 533 |
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It really isn't, Wing is quite entertaining.
If going by chronological order: Original MSG > MS IGLOO trilogy > 08th MS Team > War in the Pocket > Stardust Memory > Zeta > Double Zeta > Char's Counterattack > Unicorn > F91 > Victory > G-Saviour > G-Reco > Turn A Also unlike most Gundam fans I found War in the Pocket kind of uninteresting. |
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Sentire
 Posts: 981 |
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So I FINALLY have started watching Polar Bear Cafe, which has been in my queue forever. Loving it! It's adorable and touching, with funny moments at all the right spots. I'm quite sorry I kept postponing it for so long.
Also enjoying Psycho-Pass - a bit different from Polar Bear Cafe. Almost done with the first season with only four more episodes to go. Inspector Tsunemori is the type of female ptagonist that I really like. She is easy to relate to, and I love her underlying strength and determination. I'm waiting to start Antique Bakery next... as soon as I'm done with Psycho-Pass. It was a Christmas gift, so I'm getting anxious. |
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CrowLia
Posts: 5503 Location: Mexico |
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Given my previously mentioned criteria (War in the Pocket= Love, Original MBG= Yawn), I hope you won't be offended if I take your opinion on Stardust Memory as a confirmation that I can skip it 
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Akane the Catgirl
Posts: 1091 Location: LA, Baby! |
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So, I've finally started Kill la Kill.
I am currently watching the first episode for the second time. This is because this may be one of the best first episodes I've seen in an anime program for a long time. It's loud, it's bright, it's colorful, and the animation is stunning! Everything is in place, and I love it! I love this show, and I've only seen the same episode twice! The action sequences in particular are fluid and bursting with life. Special mentions should go to the opening scene, wherein a student attempts to steal a Goku Uniform in a failed effort to rebel. The fights are beautifully animated and wonderfully choreographed. Long story short, this show is pretty. Very pretty. The acting for the dub is gloriously hammy. (This is my first time watching the show, by the way, so I'm not comparing it to the subs, which I don't want to watch.) Patrick Seitz in particular is absolutely stunning as Ira Gamagoori. But that's not to say that the others are a slouch. Erica Mendez as Ryuko Matoi is cool and confident, while Christine Marie Cabanos' Mako Makanshoku is equal parts perky, peppy, and just plain adorable. Overall, this was a wonderful first impression for one of the biggest hits of 2013. I'm already looking forward to the next episodes as I write this. Really, I can't wait! 
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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It has been a while.
WARNING: There be spoilers herein. Revolutionary Girl Utena 
Reason for watching: It's reputation; how much I enjoyed Mawaru Penguindrum; and the chance to buy the Hanabee special edition set (essentially a repackaged Nozomi set) from JB Hi Fi at a reduced price at their annual Boxing Day sale. It is coincidence that director Kunihiko Ikuhara's Yuri Storm Bears is airing currently, though it has been fun drawing parallels between the two. Synopsis: Schoolgirl Utena Tenjou must fight a series of sword duels in order to prevent the shy and beautiful Anthy Himemiya from falling into the hands of those who would take advantage of her. If Utena can remain undefeated she will also gain the power to revolutionise the world, whatever that may mean. What Utena must learn is that the looming apocalypse is intimately tied up with her own past. To emerge victorious she must not only reject the roles that have been thrust upon her but also the one she has chosen for herself - to be a prince - so that she can tread a new path that others, including Anthy, may follow. 
Prince Utena and the tautological Princess Himemiya. Comments: It's always a revelation and a pleasure to watch for the first time an old anime series that has a formidable reputation and find that it fully lives up to one's expectations. With a formulaic structure in each of its first three out of four arcs, repetitive duelling scenes, initially opaque plot and themes, and slow-to-warm-to characters Revolutionary Girl Utena does throw up hurdles in the way of the viewer. Happily, Ikuhara's stylisms, theatrical sensibility, non-stop visual games and his acidic irony carry the show through to its magnificent final arc where all the themes and games and formulae fall into place in one of the best and most satisfying conclusions I have yet seen in an anime. 
Visual games: vulvar and phallic imagery are a constant throughout the series. Though Revolutionary Girl Utena has many layers, I feel that the best approach is an intuitive one rather than an analytical one. Having finished it yesterday morning I know that its concepts and imagery will be percolating in my consciousness for days or even weeks to come. It's one of those shows where insights will pop into my head suddenly. I'm sure a re-watch will provide further revelations. For the moment I'll concentrate on what appears to be the main theme of the series: the choices available to people, particularly women, as they approach adulthood. The narrated opening of the anime sets the parameters of what is to come: as a child suffering from a tragic turn of events Utena is visited by a prince who gives her a ring, urges her to maintain her strength and nobility and promises to meet her again one day. The narrator then comments:
From the very start two characteristic aspects of RGU are presented to us: an examination of traditional roles and an ironic sensibility. More on the latter later but everyone within the show is playing a role and everyone is constrained by that role. Characters play the role expected of them, Utena excepted. For her part, despite adopting the role of prince and displaying a tomboy exterior, she will find that even that will fail her at her moment of crisis in the last arc. Sometimes the prince cannot save the princess; sometimes the princess doesn't want to be saved. Even Utena's own emotional foibles (she falls in love with the villain) will get in her way. Indeed, all the major characters will learn how much their inner emotional lives will be in conflict with the roles they play. The character in whom this is most broadly examined is Anthy who plays several roles, some even at odds with others (which makes for some disconcerting behavioural jumps). She is innocent bride, victim of abuse, self-sacrificing angel, friend and confidant, seductress and witch. Common through Anthy's various personas is her lack of agency along with an existential despair that is hidden at first but becomes more overt as the tale unfolds. At the moment of crisis the princess finally takes control by spoiler[killing the prince]. It is a liberating act: Anthy may well find herself alone but, for the first time, she will tread the path of her choosing. 
Anthy Himemiya: here embodying both victim and seductress. The catch is, Anthy's action is necessarily calamitous for Utena, who, ironically, has brought about the revolution that allows Anthy to spoiler[kill her]. But it's somehow kind of satisfying. Utena has failed as a prince but succeeded as a revolutionary. The beneficiary of the revolution is Anthy, who vows to find where Utena has gone. It's powerful stuff but it took a fair while into the series before it struck me with full force. That's not to say the series isn't rewarding in other ways. You could say that the RGU's strengths work against themselves. The emotional force that slowly develops is held back by Ikuhara's ironic approach to his characters and material. That irony runs the gamut from subtle commentary to a bludgeoning hammer. If a character is being a cow then expect them to turn into a cow, as happens to the deliciously overbearing but idiotic Nanami (who also gets to lay an egg - or so she thinks). The irony can be amusing, as with the shadow puppet girls' twisted representations of events. It can also be incisive. For example: in a series drowning in vanity it is the male characters who are the most narcissistic. RGU shows how the dominant roles adopted by men are largely self-serving. 
Akio, aka The End of the World, aka the Big Bad: male vanity shamelessly displayed. The catch with so much irony is that the viewer is distanced from the characters. The connections start to happen, though. For me it began with Juri, the capable ice-queen of the school student council who secretly loves her female protege, Shiori (who isn't deserving of Juri's love). Then, as with Penguindrum's Ringo, it was the fruitcake character - Nanami - who next gained my sympathy, not because her idiocy was endearing or entertaining but because she began to show some emotional integrity. (Still, lacking the central role Ringo has in Penguindrum, she remains a minor character). Finally, and most importantly, Utena's own integrity (despite her affair with the engaged big bad) and idealism shine through. By the end I was won over by her. Being a prince may have eluded her but she does become a hero. RGU has many other themes. It oozes symbolism and visual games. While I suspect much of it is just silly, part of the pleasure for me is the anticipation in returning to indulge in further play with Ikuhara. Rating: Masterpiece with some reservations. When something concludes so well it's easy to forget its earlier shortcomings. Re-watches are definitely in order. I'm intrigued whether I'll find the early episodes a chore or whether I find more themes and games to mull over. Last edited by Errinundra on Thu Nov 09, 2017 1:26 am; edited 4 times in total |
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