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Yu Yu Hakusho (Dub) Status: INTERESTED
Episodes: 57-58

Yu Yu Hakusho manages to be immediately predictable in this episode which is an unfortunate change of pace. Kurama loses his fight on a technicality, rationalizing the remaining 1v1 fights. Once again there wouldn't be anything to rationalize if the 3 out of 5 wins rule was never mentioned. It's just... kinda stupid. It's an excuse made for no other reason than to justify a plotpoint that had no business existing in the first place.

Points for this amusing exchange between Yusuke and the ref though:
"Hey! You with the big fish ears, I got a bone to pick with you! How does a dead guy win!?"
"Hold it, I'd like it if you removed your hand."
"I'd like you to remove your head from your ass, BUT I DON'T SEE THAT HAPPENING ANYTIME SOON!"

Hiei goes on to fight Bui (whose name I remember because it's so short and simple) and with Episode 58 we break into a whole new animation style for the reveal of Hiei's new "dragon of the darkness flame" move. The animation is a LOT better for the vast majority of this episode, but it unfortunately comes with a sudden shift in art that makes all of the characters, Hiei included, look significantly more childish and cartoony at times, which seriously conflicts with the increasingly mature tone of the anime. I liked the wealth of visual effects, but at this point I just would have preferred some visual consistency.

Hiei completely owns Bui in the most DBZ fight yet and wins without injury. He just needs to take a nap afterwards. Next we have Kuwabara versus, who I'll from this point on refer to as, Shoulder Monkey.


Kimi ni Todoke (Sub) Status: LOSING INTEREST
Episodes: 19

We just outright ignore Sawako in this episode and focus purely on Yoshida's love triangle with Ryu's older brother. He eventually shows up with a fiance later in the episode resulting in both Yoshida and Ryu having their love unrequited. All that really needs to happen here is have Ryu friggen' spit it out and tell her he likes her, but I guess it's "too soon".

Yoshida monologues about always wanting to have been Ryu's brother's bride which makes me throw up a little bit my mouth. Unlike most people, I don't find social institutions romantic which is why so many anime manage to put me off LONG before this point.

Kimi ni todoke was best when it was simply about characters coming to understand and learn about each other, not awkwardly tussle out monogamous relationships from some stupid competition to capture dates and win a spouse they can dress up in a black tie or white lace. Just... end. You know what? Just end. The best part of this series has passed already and introducing Sawako to her first sleepover isn't upping the ante.


Devil Summoner 2: The Animation (Sub) Status: LOST INTEREST
Episodes: 2

I'm not really sure what I expected from this one. I've never liked any Shin Megami Tensei game I've played, so what makes an anime adaption worth the time?

Well, Devil Summoner 2 manages to accomplish one thing: it makes me think I could be playing a much more enjoyable game than watching it. It doesn't even have a catchy soundtrack, which is about the one thing I can expect to get out of anything SMT-related.

Episode 2 spends well over half it's entire run time just spouting exposition and yet all of the dialog only manages to raise many many MANY times more questions than it actually answers. When it takes 20 minutes to say what little it does here, then it'll take an HOUR to actually make sense of any of it. I'm not looking forward to that.

The best I can say about Devil Summoner 2 is that it at least has an interesting and unusual premise, which is typical of SMT stories and none of the characters annoyed me, which is atypical of SMT stories, but simultaneously none of them seem to have any personality other than Stock Protagonist 1, Stock Protagonist 2, and Stock Protagonist 3.

I was similarly disinterested in Persona: Trinity Soul, but at least Trinity Soul gave us Reverse The Destiny:

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Vampire Knight
Episodes: 1-13
Drama / 2008

WHY'D I WATCH IT?
n/a

WHAT'D I THINK?
The series, Vampire Knight, as a whole is... a waste.

Most episodes’ most noteworthy moments are simply the single designated revelation or development reserved for that episode. Outside these developments, very little actually happens throughout the entire series. There is, of course, a core narrative driven by individual character motivations, but it doesn’t really even begin until very late into the series.

The first three-quarters of the series manages to retain some semblance of an arc, but it has virtually nothing to do with the development of the show’s core characters. In fact, much of the mystery and unanswered questions that we don’t visit until very late in the series are only held back from us for either non-existent reasons, or poor ones (“It’s my business”, “I didn’t want to get you involved”, etc...).

We’d be able to skip the vast majority of this series if Zero would simply tell Yuki, “By the way, I’m a vampire. I also have a twin brother. And that transfer student is secretly the woman who killed my whole family. I would have told you sooner, but the scriptwriter fell asleep at the keyboard and it was just the letter G for like 26 pages”.

The anime attempts, not unsubtly, to set up a love triangle between the three main characters, however their romantic relationships are hardly developed and it’s mainly a tug-of-war game between the pureblood vampire, Kaname who’s attracted to Yuki and already earned her affection by saving her life, and Zero who’s earned her friendship and protects her with his prejudice against vampires.

The series pushes Yuki back and forth between these two constantly and for the most part, Kaname conducts himself like a perfect gentlemen while Zero bitches and moans and complains and talks about killing himself and BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH EMO BLAH WHATEVER. It would seem obvious that the pre-established romantic relationship between Kaname and Yuki should win out, but Yuki inevitably finds herself with Zero far more often and doing everything from nursing his wounds to feeding his vampiric impulses, and it seems like the pairing could go either way, especially when Kaname is revealed to be very mildly possessive and somewhat of a schemer.

Even considering that though, I have serious trouble liking Zero at all. Aside from his personality hangups and his refusal to advance the plot by informing Yuki, the viewer surrogate, of crucial development information, his general behavior is just deplorable. Yuki is far too generous with this guy. She keeps on top of his schedule, she offers to do his homework, she even offers her own ******* blood on a regular basis just to ease his stress, but even then he handles her roughly and just leaves shortly thereafter without saying a word.

Despite Kaname’s apparent faults, he still seems like by far the better guy. He’s basically the nice guy looking in at a relationship between his love interest and her rotten punk of a friend who ignores her, disrespects her, treats her like a piece of meat, and then refuses to give her the time of day.

Zero sucks, but he’s not totally irredeemable. He saves Yuki on various occasions against other vampires, he has is own conflicts, and other people treat him unfairly in a way that makes me want to see him overcome, but...

Even during the ball when Yuki’s alone with Kaname and a single shy girl comes up to him and kindly asks him for a dance or just a minute to talk, I WANT him to accept and just see him show some degree of kindness for once. It would make this girl’s DAY if he said yes. But no, he says, “I’m busy” and just leaves her hanging in front of onlookers.

**** that guy, seriously.


But even if you had picked a side and hoped to see Yuki end up choosing one of them by the end of the series... NOPE, it’s just a cliffhanger for season 2, which I will continue to call a sequel series because they thought it deserved a new title.

I have no interest in watching any more anyway, I already went ahead and spoiled Vampire Knight Guilty for myself and all it seems to end on is a depressing Everyone Loses scenario where the idealistically imposed peaceful co-existence between humans and vampires is disrupted and Zero pledges to kill Yuki since she’s, of course, turned into a vampire.


Mmmm... yeah. I can feel the love in this anime.

Well, actually no, no I can’t, but I’ll admit I was at least interested enough to watch 13 episodes, which is approximately 13x longer than I gave the first Twilight movie.


Final Verdict:
[Meh...]
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I watched Vampire Knight before but don't remember a ton of it. I do remember that it started out real good the first couple episodes but then it did get really boring. Just nothing really great/cool happens and most of the series is just people standing around talking. I agree with your score.



I stopped watching Yu Yu Hakusho somewhere in the middle of the dark tournament. I liked the first story arc a lot though. It's a very charming show.

You have some good taste Omnizoa, but I think you base how much you like something, and what you choose to watch a little too much on content.

I would recommend these for you:
Ghost in the Shell (movie)
Akira
Princess Mononoke
Ninja Scroll
Gundam: The 08th MS Team
Ping Pong

There's a good chance you've seen some of them already, but I consider them entry level essentials. Forgive me for sounding like an elitist.



I watched Vampire Knight before but don't remember a ton of it. I do remember that it started out real good the first couple episodes but then it did get really boring. Just nothing really great/cool happens and most of the series is just people standing around talking. I agree with your score.
Thank you for the feedback.



I hope you took Biology in school... every single thing on this planet including the planet itself came from a 1 cell organism.... perhaps this is what they call Mushi?
I've heard some pretty silly things in out-dated high-school text books, but this takes the cake. Were you seriously taught this in school? Sorry, not trying to start a debate or anything, but that sure is weird.



I stopped watching Yu Yu Hakusho somewhere in the middle of the dark tournament. I liked the first story arc a lot though. It's a very charming show.

You have some good taste Omnizoa, but I think you base how much you like something, and what you choose to watch a little too much on content.
As opposed to what? What do you mean by content?

Originally Posted by Zotis
I would recommend these for you:
Ghost in the Shell (movie)
I've seen it and I intend to see it again. The first Ghost in the Shell anime has it's enjoyable aspects, but they feel stretched very thin, so a shorter story in the GitS universe sounds welcome to me.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Akira
I've also seen it and will also probably see it again. My memory's somewhat fuzzy, but I recall liking the first half much more than the second half.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Princess Mononoke
I've seen the vast majority of Studio Ghibli's movies, including Princess Mononoke, save one or two and the ones released post-retirement. When his movies are polled for popularity, unfailingly it seems that most non-anime viewers prefer the first one they've seen which is almost always Spirited Away, while longtime anime viewers seem to rally behind Princess Mononoke for some reason.

I don't think it's a bad movie, but it really didn't leave any impact on me at all. Even shortly after watching it, I quickly forgot what the story was about if I ever really understood it in the first place. I was simply much more engaged in the significantly less popular movies, The Cat Returns and Tales from Earthsea.

To be honest, there are a wealth of little things that appear in most movies that get to me and frequently cause me to tune out when they appear in abundance which probably explains my unenthusiastic impression of Mononoke.

For my money though, I love Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. It's technically a pre-Studio Ghibli movie, but it has a lot of different elements combined that appeal to me which you can't find in other Hayao Miyazaki movies.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Ninja Scroll
I have not seen the anime, but I did see the movie. I liked it.

It's... most memorable parts aren't exactly it's most flattering though.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Gundam: The 08th MS Team
I've never seen a Gundam anime purely because it's so prevalent I have no idea where to start, and what little I've seen from mecha anime put me off the genre for two main reasons:

1. The pilots are uninteresting and waste screentime that could be better spent on fights.

2. The fights aren't interesting.

The most interesting mecha anime I've seen is Code Geass (pre-Season 2) which managed to impose substantial dramatic weight on every skirmish with interesting and dynamic characters while also keeping the action high-octane and chunky.


That said, I'm totally open to new mecha suggestions (I'll check out this Gundam series to start). Not just anime either, I've been looking for a great mech sim game too (closest I ever got was Chromehounds).

Ping Pong
Definitely NOT an elitist suggestion I would expect to appear alongside Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Princess Mononoke, Ninja Scroll and GUNDAM, but okay.

No, I haven't seen that one.



Kara no Kyoukai/Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (Sub) Status: COMPLETE
Movie

WOW. They actually get better?

Remaining Sense of Pain is the third movie released in the Kara no Kyoukai series and the second chronologically, taking place after Shiki goes to the hospital in Murder Speculation and before she gets her first doll arm which we see in Overlooking View.

Instead of the spirit angle of the first movie or the straight crime drama of the second, we have a combo: a hunt for a supernaturally-gifted killer.


Right off the bat, the movie surpasses both predecessors with timely editing and a notable backing track to help emphasize the sequence of events. Unfortunately, those events turn out to be rape.

Thankfully, unlike many less conscionable anime creators, no attempt is made to portray the scene as erotic, merely abusive, which necessarily complements the plot. The plot being that this ongoing abuse is the catalyst for the same woman's vengeful murder spree which will be the central focus for the rest of the story.

Kokutou finds the same woman one day as she appears to be suffering stomach pains. He does his best to take care of her before she disappears.

We learn pretty quick that Shiki works alongside Kokutou for the exposition fairy who appears to run some sort of underground operation dealing with supernatural phenomenon. The most recent case is that of a series of murders in which the victims limbs are all found horribly twisted, dislocated, and broken. Shiki establishes at this point that her visual power not only allows her to see ghosts, but it allows her to sense and locate related supernatural phenomenon.

During a sideplot, Kokutou attempts to locate a missing person who turns out to be one of the gang members from the opening scene in hiding from the woman they raped who seems to be on a vengeful killing spree.

Shiki's power (as well as Shiki in general) is well contrasted with the woman's by emphasizing that their respective powers are bloodline related, and while Shiki's bloodline was essentially bred to maximize the power of her eyes, the woman's power was stunted and concealed with narcotics which incidentally also dulled her sense of pain.

You see where the title comes in now?

Many correlations are made similar to Overlooking View's horrible riddlespeak about sight, but this time it's about pain and it actually makes sense.

Many different pieces of information are analyzed by the characters to determine the cause of the woman's mysterious stomach pain which incites her increasingly dangerous killing spree, whether it's real, whether it's psychosomatic, or whether it's really the knife wound it's suggested she received.

It's all interesting, and the ultimate truth actually explains a great deal when the characters finally discover it, however the manner in which this information is offered to us is somewhat cheapened by the fact that much of it simply dumped on us at the end in a single car ride. It would have been much more interesting to have these clues better spread throughout the movie as part of the investigation.

To be fair though, the movie is well-paced at under 60 minutes, so my real issue is probably more accurately that the dead ambiance just makes the movie feel slow. If the same editing and sound that was used in the beginning was retained throughout, it would better keep me engaged.


Another strike against the movie would have to be the first showdown between Shiki and the woman. You're expecting a fight then and there, but Shiki seems to just change her mind and walk away only to attack her much later. It doesn't make sense in the moment, and it doesn't really make sense after having seen the rest of it, either. It's just anticlimactic.

Beyond that... some of the dialog doesn't work. Some of it sounds vaguely like something out of Overlooking View, and by the end of the movie, we're supposed to believe that the woman's extremely limited interactions with Kokutou warranted some degree of love. This is by and large pretty limited, though. Most of the movie's dialog is pretty coherent and digestable, even if they aren't giving you all the information you need to right away.

Also there's some medically questionable claims here and there, but none so bad that they ruin any scenes (at least not for me).

Regardless, if you've noticed my relative lack of spoilers, it's because I think it's a movie that's worth surprising you.

And I'm pleasantly surprised to say that for a Kara no Kyoukai movie.


Final Verdict:
[Friggen' Awesome][Pretty Good][Meh...][Just... Bad][Irredeemably Awful]



I was simply much more engaged in the significantly less popular movies, The Cat Returns and Tales from Earthsea.
I loved The Cat Returns! Saw it earlier this year and is definitely top 5 Ghibili movies for me now. Cary Elwes voicing The Cat was priceless, he is definitely the one person suited to voice that kind of character.



I loved The Cat Returns! Saw it earlier this year and is definitely top 5 Ghibili movies for me now. Cary Elwes voicing The Cat was priceless, he is definitely the one person suited to voice that kind of character.



I stopped watching Yu Yu Hakusho somewhere in the middle of the dark tournament. I liked the first story arc a lot though. It's a very charming show.

You have some good taste Omnizoa, but I think you base how much you like something, and what you choose to watch a little too much on content.
As opposed to what? What do you mean by content?

Originally Posted by Zotis
I would recommend these for you:
Ghost in the Shell (movie)
I've seen it and I intend to see it again. The first Ghost in the Shell anime has it's enjoyable aspects, but they feel stretched very thin, so a shorter story in the GitS universe sounds welcome to me.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Akira
I've also seen it and will also probably see it again. My memory's somewhat fuzzy, but I recall liking the first half much more than the second half.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Princess Mononoke
I've seen the vast majority of Studio Ghibli's movies, including Princess Mononoke, save one or two and the ones released post-retirement. When his movies are polled for popularity, unfailingly it seems that most non-anime viewers prefer the first one they've seen which is almost always Spirited Away, while longtime anime viewers seem to rally behind Princess Mononoke for some reason.

I don't think it's a bad movie, but it really didn't leave any impact on me at all. Even shortly after watching it, I quickly forgot what the story was about if I ever really understood it in the first place. I was simply much more engaged in the significantly less popular movies, The Cat Returns and Tales from Earthsea.

To be honest, there are a wealth of little things that appear in most movies that get to me and frequently cause me to tune out when they appear in abundance which probably explains my unenthusiastic impression of Mononoke.

For my money though, I love Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. It's technically a pre-Studio Ghibli movie, but it has a lot of different elements combined that appeal to me which you can't find in other Hayao Miyazaki movies.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Ninja Scroll
I have not seen the anime, but I did see the movie. I liked it.

It's... most memorable parts aren't exactly it's most flattering though.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Gundam: The 08th MS Team
I've never seen a Gundam anime purely because it's so prevalent I have no idea where to start, and what little I've seen from mecha anime put me off the genre for two main reasons:

1. The pilots are uninteresting and waste screentime that could be better spent on fights.

2. The fights aren't interesting.

The most interesting mecha anime I've seen is Code Geass (pre-Season 2) which managed to impose substantial dramatic weight on every skirmish with interesting and dynamic characters while also keeping the action high-octane and chunky.


That said, I'm totally open to new mecha suggestions (I'll check out this Gundam series to start). Not just anime either, I've been looking for a great mech sim game too (closest I ever got was Chromehounds).

Ping Pong
Definitely NOT an elitist suggestion I would expect to appear alongside Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Princess Mononoke, Ninja Scroll and GUNDAM, but okay.

No, I haven't seen that one.
I mean content as apposed to quality. I don't know you, but that's the default until people learn more about the more subtle aspects of acting, directing, cinematography, and things like that. Like for me personally I look at who made the anime, not whether it has mecha.

Anime just means Japanese animation. Movies, OVA's, and series are all anime. I noticed you seemed to refer to series as "anime" and anime movies as "movies."

I was referring to the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie which is the original anime. When you said the first anime were you refering to the Standalone Complex? Because that isn't nearly as good.

Here are some more recs since you saw most of the others.

Vampire Hunter D
Jin Roh
Venus Wars
Perfect Blue
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time



Vampire Hunter D
Jin Roh
Venus Wars
Perfect Blue
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Oh yeah I forgot to mention Vampire Hunter D in regards to the anime I watched through the years.

VHD: Bloodlust is one I must've watched over a dozen times when I first bought it. The animation is incredible in that movie.



Originally Posted by Zotis
I mean content as apposed to quality.
I don't know how content substitutes for quality, but I do prefer quality content.

Some people refer to content as length, or number of jokes, or fight scenes. If that's the impression you got from me, I'm not sure how, but if you mean to suggest I should put greater weight on how an anime looks or sounds, I sincerely disagree.

Quality in one area can make up for quality in another and vice versa. It's why I like Yu Yu Hakusho despite it's dirty aesthetic and relatively low/inconsistent visual quality and why I don't like Sword Art Online despite it's beautiful visual effects and gorgeous animation.

Even superficial qualities like music can do a tremendous job for any given scene or situation, I definitely wouldn't like Kingdom Hearts anywhere near as much as I do if the whole game was silent, but it doesn't replace, substitute, or obscure it's actual flaws.

Originally Posted by Zotis
I don't know you, but that's the default until people learn more about the more subtle aspects of acting, directing, cinematography, and things like that. Like for me personally I look at who made the anime, not whether it has mecha.
Now THAT sounds elitist.

Judging something based on who made it and not what they made sounds like bias to me. And I avoid it as much as possible.

If Hayao Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon's name is on something, you can bet I'll be more motivated to give it a shot. I watched Darker Than Black explicitly because it came from Studio Bones, and after Kill la Kill I'll being treating Studio Trigger with a similar reverence. But I'm not giving them any bonus points just because they made it.

I judge everything I see purely for what it is.
Not for who made it.
Not for who's in it.
Not for any legacy it began or is a part of.
Not for whatever budget it might have had.
Not for the time period it was made during.
Just WHAT IT IS.

You may argue something like it matters when something was made so I can orient my expectations appropriately, but that's just it, the works that have aged best are the ones who's technical shortcomings are least apparent, and they should be respected for that. It's part of the reason why I'll always recommend Chrono Trigger over Final Fantasy 7.

Also, referring to watching something because it has mecha in it or not, seems pretty thoughtless to me. Hayao Miyazaki injected his interest in strong female leads, flying, and environmentalism in almost all of his movies because that's what interested him. If they weren't topics that were interesting to the general public, his movies wouldn't have been as well received. That said, there are obviously interests he doesn't create for, like mecha.

Some people LIKE giant robots. Why not feed that demand? If I prioritize watching creators I know with a great track record I limit myself considerably.

I LOVE the movie, Ink, it's my favorite movie ever, but it's creators only had a history of amusing short films prior to it, and following it, their movie The Frame got popular and low and behold... I didn't like it.

Not because it didn't compare to Ink, I knew going into it it would be unfair to compare the two, but because it was just objectively bad for a wide variety of reasons.

Triple-A movies have a lot going for them in terms of resources and talent pools which is largely why them manage to permeate the majority of my favorites list, but my favorites, and by extension, what I'm motivated to watch, are informed by my personal interests, not who made them.

EDIT:
Oh, and as much my favorite movie is a relatively slow character study, I still get a kick out of stuff like Mad Max: Fury Road.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Anime just means Japanese animation. Movies, OVA's, and series are all anime. I noticed you seemed to refer to series as "anime" and anime movies as "movies."
I know.

Originally Posted by Zotis
I was referring to the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie which is the original anime. When you said the first anime were you refering to the Standalone Complex? Because that isn't nearly as good.
Yes, I was referring to both of those.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Jin Roh
Perfect Blue
On my list already.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Vampire Hunter D
Venus Wars
Not on my list. *Added*

Originally Posted by Zotis
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Seen it and was disappointed. There's so much you can do with Time Travel, but this movie does so little. I thought the little-known live-action Timecrimes was way more interesting.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is often recommended alongside 5 Centimeters Per Second which I've also seen. Apart from it being easily one of, if not the most, visually impressive anime movies I've ever seen, I was really bored by it.

Originally Posted by False Writer
VHD: Bloodlust is one I must've watched over a dozen times when I first bought it. The animation is incredible in that movie.
Don't know that one. *Added*


Of all the ones recommended so far, I'd have to say Venus Wars stands out to me the most.



Have you seen "Wolf Children"? its amazing.. .as good as most Miyazaki films
Uuuuuaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhh, trailers like these kill me.

Mainly because I can't stand most romance stories, let alone slice of life stories.

Not that I can't enjoy them, I'm still watching Kimi ni Todoke after all, and Genshiken is definitely one of my favorite anime, but it's SO EASY to screw that up.

As I mentioned before, social constructs like public school, dating etiquette, marriage, and all that other crap just doesn't click with me, and that this kind of stuff is almost universally the focus of these kinds of stories simply kills my interest dead on arrival.

I WANT to like Wolf Children, it looks like it can be a great story, and after seeing this trailer it'll definitely move up in my to-watch list of priorities, but I'm very cynical.


On a related note, I've still yet to see Summer Wars, but it's on my list.



Omnizoa, when I talk about quality as apposed to content I'm talking about how good the movie is as apposed to what it's about. There is good anime about mecha and there is bad anime about mecha.

The subject matter has nothing to do with the quality. I'm saying this because you mentioned something along the lines of not liking mecha anime as the reason why you haven't watched any gundam.

If you watch an anime because the premise sounds interesting, you should notice that despite that you may not like the anime. But even though you may not like every Miazaki, you can see there is a quality in all of his work because of his professionalism and artistic talent. That is a more reliable way of finding good anime, wouldn't you agree? I think it's more important to explore the great film makers than to say, "Today I want to watch something with vampires," and settle for something mediocre just because it has vampires in it. That's all I was trying to get at.

You tend to talk about what an anime is about, what the characters are like, what they do, and those kinds of things. I see that as content. Quality would be how plausible and realistic what they do is, or how believable their science fiction and fantasy elements are portrayed as if they existed, how well drawn it is, how deep and meaningful the content is, how well the characters are designed, how well the script is written, how good the voice acting is, etc... You should be able to say something is good even if you don't like it, or bad even if you do like it, and why it's good or bad.

Anyway, I'm just trying to be helpful, not boost my own ego.



Yu Yu Hakusho (Dub) Status: INTERESTED
Episodes: 59-60

FINALLY Kuwabara makes it back onstage and this time he doesn't get teleported out of bounds like a bitch. Also the animation style's reverted back to normal.

He's up against Shoulder Monkey who attacks with Google Image search results for "body horror" which seems straight-forward enough at first, he's virtually immune to sword cuts thanks to his ability to deform his body in a way that protects him from most damage, but the limits of his abilities are never specified, so there are moments throughout the match where it seems like there isn't any good reason for him not to be able to outright kill Kuwabara, but he still doesn't.

Kuwabara's ability to manipulate his sword in new ways is pretty crap too because we didn't spend a single second establishing that he was even practicing that over the last two days unlike every other character on the team.

At very least it ends spectacularly with Kuwabara yelling the name of what is now one of the most powerful demon-killing moves ever devised. In the same world as "Dragon of the Darkness Flame", and "Spirit Shotgun", we now have "Spirit Fly-Swatter".

It's all the more apparent at this point that the English dubbers went a long way to change a lot of the dialog unnecessarily. Normally, I don't care for that and as I've taken issue with it in earlier Yu Yu Hakusho episodes, but I do appreciate it sometimes, especially when it changes relatively plain and boring dialog into something more natural sounding or just outright funny like this.

Kuwabara was the only one out of the whole team that didn't know Genkai had died and everyone lied or was silent when he inquired about her disappearance, so Shoulder Monkey takes the time to spoil it all during the fight which sufficiently drives up the tension and throws Kuwabara off his game. It also helps that Shoulder Monkey managed to scare him into thinking he might actually die prior to the fight.

The best part of the episode is when he leaves the ring quietly and outright decks Urameshi for keeping Genkai's death from him. It's a great character moment, and with the constant fighting there's been precious little of it since the beginning of the series.

Kuwabara's fight still ends unusually early and the rest of the episode burns time with the evil CEO bargaining his life on the outcome of the Yusuke vs Toguro match which Koenma must match in exchange for increasing the stakes of the match to 2 points which would be the determining outcome of the whole Dark Tournament.

I'm all in favor of building up to the final climactic showdown, but this is still a total waste of time.

Urameshi would fight Toguro regardless of whether or not it was an organized tournament fight, and there's literally no one to stop them if they decided to. This contradicts the first to 3 out of 5 rule which I've already explained is stupid, so if they bet their lives on it there's still no reason to allot points to it.

The best thing to come of this is that Shoulder Monkey reveals that he was beneath the arena and still alive the whole time! Toguro treats his brother like interference and promptly punches him into a bloody mist.

FINALLY! It's time for the be-all-end-all tournament fight. I know it'll be awesome, but I wonder how Yu Yu Hakusho will manage to retain enough momentum to progress beyond this point, since there's still a lot more of the series left after this. Who knows, let's get to it already!


Kimi ni Todoke (Sub) Status: LOSING INTEREST
Episodes: 20-22

We've totally jumped ship on Sawako at this point and are now focusing on Yoshida. Here's the thing: I like Yoshida, or at least I did until she said that 'bride' line, but it doesn't make any sense for her relationship with Sanada to take up this much time.

The entire series literally revolves around Sawako, but then we've got this hour-plus long side tangent in which we focus on developing secondary and tertiary characters who never even get any meaningful resolution anyway?

And by meaningful resolution I mean Ryu still doesn't ****ING SAY ANYTHING.

I'm really sick of that, not just from Zero in Vampire Knight, but now from Ryu in this. Ryu actually steps up and tells Yoshida that he's glad that it never worked out between her and his brother which Yoshida reasonably asks then, "did you want me to fail, did you seriously think I never had a chance"? To which Ryu simply says Yes.

GOOD JOB, MORON.

Here's an idea, how about you tell her WHY you feel that way, huh? When this idiot just stands there while she yells at him with no expression on his face whatsoever and REFUSES to open up and tell her he was just jealous, it makes me want to strangle him.

Two episodes of this and even after they make up he doesn't say a word. GREAT. Well are we going to do it in the next episode?

Episode 22: NOPE. We're totally not talking about Yoshida anymore, we're done with them, their totally important story arc sufficiently affected Sawako, so let's now feature a Christmas episode in which the only real lesson Sawako takes from any of it is to also NOT OPEN HER ****ING MOUTH TO TALK.

Simple scenario here: Sawako has nice parents. Her parents want to have Christmas with their daughter. Sawako wants to go to a Christmas party after Kazahaya invites her. It means a lot to her, but her parents place an unreasonable amount of importance on an arbitrary holiday, so Sawako feels guilty and doesn't ask their permission to share the day with her friends. Also her Dad steals her present for Kazehaya and claims it's his.

What would resolve this situation in a way where the only people with hurt feelings are total scumbags who don't matter enough to warrant the concern in the first place?

"Dad, please don't take things from my room without asking. That's actually my gift to a friend at school, and I was meaning to give it to him at a Christmas party which I actually wanted to ask you about. Can I go?"

DONE. But no, "I can't say anything" is the only excuse given for parents who we obviously know by this point would let her attend if she simply asked.

They call her from the party mid-dinner and we have this horrible scene in which she stands there crying at the phone. This scene could have been REALLY GOOD and heartbreaking if only one thing was changed: her parents were actually repressive JERKS. But the whole time I was watching this scene, I'm thinking: You know, you could have just ASKED if you could be there DAYS AGO and this entire situation could have been avoided if you weren't so needlessly EMBARRASSED.

I get it, strange new things and traditional taboos are really awkward to navigate around, but if they're not being enforced, then embarrassed characters just come away as looking stupid.

Sawako ultimately misses the whole ******* party because I didn't feel bad enough, but of course, ever-perfect Kazehaya's there to soften the blow. UGH.

There's just 3 episodes left to this series, let's PLEASE wrap it up already and make it GOOD.


Darker Than Black (Dub) Status: LOST INTEREST
Episodes: 4

Honestly, this is the best episode yet, I think. It's the most transparent about what's going on, so I can literally follow what's going on. Much of the events of the last episode are well explained and I get a firmer grasp of the factions at work against each other. There's the team of contractors which our protagonist works for, there's the gang-esque team of contractors working against them, and then there's the government working against contractors in general.

It's all starting to make sense!

But I'm still not watching anymore.

For one simple reason: I should have known all of this basic information in the first episode. And even if I do now, I still don't know a damn thing about our main character, his powers, his motivations, or even if he's worth rooting for. He's just THERE.

We still throw around words like "stars" and "gates" which obviously have some correlation to the events we see, but nothing is offered even though it's something EVERYBODY talks about.

And for the second time now, we have a plot arc resolved. The conflict in episode 1 ends in episode 2 and the conflict in episode 3 ends in episode 4. If the central conflict is over, I have no one to root for, and I still don't even understand how this world works, what reason do I have to keep watching?

This isn't like unraveling the mystery in a crime thriller, this is basic information about the world and it's characters I should know.

I think the biggest kick in the ass is that I actually visited a bookstore this past week and I picked up the Darker Than Black manga, and guess what?


I learned more about what the hell was going on from the back cover in less time than the anime took which is longer than I would LITERALLY NEED TO READ THE WHOLE ****ING BOOK.


Darker Than Black sucks, or more specifically, it's anime adaption sucks. I'm going to read the manga since it may still very well be a great story, but the anime just annoys me with how much of my time it managed to waste.

If you like it, fine, but a limp and confusing first 4 episodes far from convinces me that the rest of the series is worth the hurdle, not when there are anime that can do better in 10 minutes flat.

That said, if anyone wants to recommend specific fight scenes from DTB, I welcome it. They were about the single biggest thing I was looking forward to since Bones was making it.



After all I said in this thread regarding Berserk, -KhaN- just told me that they just announced new Berserk coming in 2016. So now I'm super hyped again!



Uuuuuaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhh, trailers like these kill me.

Mainly because I can't stand most romance stories, let alone slice of life stories.

Not that I can't enjoy them, I'm still watching Kimi ni Todoke after all, and Genshiken is definitely one of my favorite anime, but it's SO EASY to screw that up.

As I mentioned before, social constructs like public school, dating etiquette, marriage, and all that other crap just doesn't click with me, and that this kind of stuff is almost universally the focus of these kinds of stories simply kills my interest dead on arrival.

I WANT to like Wolf Children, it looks like it can be a great story, and after seeing this trailer it'll definitely move up in my to-watch list of priorities, but I'm very cynical.


On a related note, I've still yet to see Summer Wars, but it's on my list.

I think the romance and university are to introduce you to the parents but its the 2 children coping with who they really are that makes the story.



Originally Posted by Zotis
Omnizoa, when I talk about quality as apposed to content I'm talking about how good the movie is as apposed to what it's about.
I still really don't know how you got that impression from me.

I can stand to assume you're referring to my talk about wanting find a mecha anime, but I only say that because I know mecha can be enjoyable and I want to find one that's 'quality'. Other than that, I would venture to guess you're referring to my explanation of why I didn't care for Princess Mononoke.

It's not simply a, "It has wolves and I don't like wolves, therefor I don't like Princess Mononoke" thing (or even vice versa), it's more that there are elements that distract me, be they story related or otherwise that taint my memory and perspective of what I'm watching. At worst these things may compromise the more important parts of a story in ways that most people don't recognize or give much attention.

Originally Posted by Zotis
The subject matter has nothing to do with the quality. I'm saying this because you mentioned something along the lines of not liking mecha anime as the reason why you haven't watched any gundam.
OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH... I think I get you now. You misunderstand, I'm not denegrating Gundam just because it's mecha, I'm just explaining why it's a tough sell for me based on my experiences.

For all I know, all Gundam ever made is friggen' gold. There wouldn't be entire stores in Tokyo dedicated to selling only Gundam-related model figures if there wasn't some merit in it, but there are. I've BEEN in them.

But as I said, it's not just my general impression of mecha that influenced that decision, it's also it's prevalence. There are so many Gundam series and spin-offs, I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know which ones are popular or if there is even a single series most people would recommend or WHY. The most recently released "Iron-Blooded Brothers", I believe it's called, is the first one to ever make it onto my watch queue and the ONLY reason that happened was because someone recommended it to me.

I just need a push. Some reason to take the plunge, you know?

I largely dislike Western movies in general which is why I avoid them too, but I've seen 3:10 to Yuma, which I thought was good, so I know Westerns I can enjoy exist, I just need to know where to look.

Originally Posted by Zotis
If you watch an anime because the premise sounds interesting, you should notice that despite that you may not like the anime.
Of course, but what's wrong with an interesting premise serving as encouragement?

Originally Posted by Zotis
But even though you may not like every Miazaki, you can see there is a quality in all of his work because of his professionalism and artistic talent. That is a more reliable way of finding good anime, wouldn't you agree?
Like I said, I've seen most of Miyazaki's movies for just that very reason, but how am I supposed to know that any given creator is good if I don't give them a blind try at least once?

What reason do I have to expect Wolf Children to be any good beyond the trailer if I haven't seen anything else by Mamoru? It may be great, I don't know, but there may be other trailers that tickle my personal interests more.

And speaking of personal interests, you only feed a select few by limiting yourself to given creators.

Should I expect something within the realm of Black Dynamite from Steven Spielberg?
Should I trust Chistopher Nolan to deliver a charming musical?
Or should I trust Monty Python to give me the next great mecha anime?

To be honest, Zotis, I'm pretty indiscriminate about what I watch, play, or read unless something specifically about it turns me off entirely. I don't have anything against mecha anime, I just have something against what most mecha anime do.

I gave up watching Fate/Stay and the first Kara no Kyoukai sucked, so that's about the extent of my experience with Type-Moon, but I'm still watching the movies, because I know they can be made better and it remains to be seen if they will. My perspective is: who knows? Maybe if I write off the whole series based on the first movie, I'll miss something really good?

Originally Posted by Zotis
I think it's more important to explore the great film makers than to say, "Today I want to watch something with vampires,"
Something I make a habit of saying is, "I'm nobody's fan". Mainly because great series can become crap and crap series can become good. The same can be said about creators.

I've seen almost every movie ever put out by Pixar for precisely the same reasons you elevate Miyazaki, but I don't praise Pixar, I praise their individual achievements. I might credit them for a history of successes, but I'm always aware that these experiences are fleeting. Movies are short in the grand scheme of things and creators all eventually die or retire. I can't expect new things from them forever, especially if they're more of the same of what I've already seen. So I gotta try someone else out! Expand my horizons! And maybe find a lost gem that no else has found?

Hayao Miyazaki has been lauded up and down for his great movies, he needs no help in that department, he's a ******* legend.

But my favorite movie of all time is barely recognized as even being a thing, and the only reason I found it was because I simply Googled "fantasy" to find new movies I haven't seen.

Originally Posted by Zotis
and settle for something mediocre just because it has vampires in it. That's all I was trying to get at.
Whether you think I'm settling or not is up to you, but I'm not going to punish myself to watch something I don't enjoy.

I've heard that Blood: The Last Vampire was a classic anime movie for a long time now and Vampire Knight managed to intrigue me, at least initially. I'm not going to watch the second series just because it's got vampires in it, though.

Originally Posted by Zotis
You tend to talk about what an anime is about, what the characters are like, what they do, and those kinds of things. I see that as content.
Ohhh... I see. I have a very different definition of content than you then. To me, how characters behave is crucial to keeping them relatable, enjoyable to watch, or relevant to the plot. It's indicative of the quality of the character designer or screenwriter.

Originally Posted by Zotis
Quality would be how plausible and realistic what they do is,
I've definitely got a peeve for the prevalence of unrealistically large gouts of blood in action movies.

Originally Posted by Zotis
or how believable their science fiction and fantasy elements are portrayed as if they existed,
Science-fiction and fantasy are attractive genres precisely because they can't happen. How realistically they should be expected to behave is purely dependent on the world they're establishing.

Originally Posted by Zotis
how well drawn it is,
My judgment of artistic ability isn't limited by how it looks at any give time, but also how consistent it is or how well it blends into other styles. All throughout this thread I've given well-deserved attention to episodes or sequences that feature exceptional changes in animation or artistic styles precisely because I do feel it is important.

Originally Posted by Zotis
how deep and meaningful the content is,
How deep or meaningful something is is an easy trap to get caught in. By no means am I going to be one of those dunderheads who tries to read more into something than there actually is. It's precisely the reason why I think Eraserhead is a terrible movie. IF there is a point to it, it's pointless not to emphasize what it is, otherwise it's an exercise in futility and reinterpretations of "what the movie is really about" are purely speculative judgments. They're not objectively true.

That said, as much as I can appreciate what certain elements mean in a metaphorical way, I still enjoy elements in a literal way.

I still like the adrenaline of Naruto air juggling Sasuke's ass like he's fung-fu Jesus.


I still like the spectacle of a warboy rockin' out on his double-necked flamethrower guitar to his own personal mobile stage.


And I also like the sexiness of Lucian just standing around looking badass for the camera like he doesn't actually have a movie to finish.


All of these things are relatively meaningless, but I only appreciate them because they serve to decorate a world or story I'm already invested in, even if I'm invested only for literal reasons.

Originally Posted by Zotis
how well the characters are designed,
Character designs go a long way towards influencing peoples' outward perception of a work. The biggest reason I didn't read Death Note sooner than I did was because I disliked Ryuk's grotesque appearance.

To date I still dislike it, but the positive aspects of the series dwarf it completely.

On the flip side, even after I've played Halo 4 and concluded it was a decent game. I still hate the new armor designs 343 Studios re-envisioned for Halo and they partly contribute to why I think it's an inferior game compared to others in the series.

Originally Posted by Zotis
how well the script is written,
When the story is the driving force of the events, it needs to adequately explain them, but not all movies are about the story. Most Jackie Chan movies are merely excuses to have him get into a fight with a tree. If that's what you want to see, you can judge it for how well it accomplished that goal. If it wants to tell a drama too, then it's worth assessing how well the plot serves both angles and how well those angles perform independently of each other.

Originally Posted by Zotis
how good the voice acting is, etc...
Voice acting can be terrible, and I'll openly admit that Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho is easily one of the most abrasive ones to hear regularly, but negative elements like those can also be mitigated if not compensated for by strong characterization: how realistic he is as a person, how interesting his interactions with other characters are, and how his personality serves the rest of the cast.

A lot of people put down voice acting in anime which doesn't bother me at all (Jar Jar Binks hardly bothered me), but it also helps to know where I'm coming from.

If you think any anime or movie I've ever listed here on this site features exceptionally bad voice acting, I would argue that you haven't seen the Bible Black English dub. THAT'S BAD.


Originally Posted by Zotis
You should be able to say something is good even if you don't like it, or bad even if you do like it, and why it's good or bad.
I will be the first one to point out the continuity issues, crappy visual effects, and awkward lines in my favorite movie. In fact they're usually the first things I talk about when I tell people about the movie, only to better clarify how well done it is in spite of those problems.

You'll find that I prefer to preface negative reviews with positive aspects and positive reviews with negative aspects because I prefer that kind of transparency when it comes to judgment.