742 replies to this topic

[narulsaku]

inazuma 11 oh yes as a fan of football. i like that anime. and i rate it 9 out of 10

[CloudMountainJuror]

Casshern Sins - 8/10

[watched in English]

A great series. Patience is needed for it, but the characters over time and ultimate emotional drive is worth it. The only notable flaws are that the first episode isn't that good (things really improve in the 2nd and 3rd episodes), there's bound to be an episode in the beginning that you find passable, and the rewatchability value may not be up there. Don't pass just because of the rewatchability value, though! Some truly great shows/movies need only be seen once, and this is one of them. As already said, the characters shine as time progresses (with the exception of Akos, who pretty much shines in every single second of his short time spent in the show) through natural development, the story isn't the most complex but it hits the nail on the head for what it's trying to accomplish, the look is absolutely fantastic, the soundtrack is breathtaking, and on top of all of this it has the best episode I've ever seen in any anime, period. Not to mention that the relationship between the two main antagonists is one of the best I've seen in any show.

If you are able to enjoy slow-paced shows, then definitely give this a shot. If not, then I'm sorry to say that you're really missing out.


Fullmetal Alchemist (both anime) - 9/10

[watched in English]

Ok, slight fibbing here. I've seen these anime already, so I'm not currently watching them. That being said, FMA as a whole gets a 9/10 from me. Both series get the same score. I don't really need to go into much detail here considering it's, you know, Fullmetal freaking Alchemist we're talking about here. I'm just going to point out my reasoning for the points taken out of their scores:

1. Fullmetal Alchemist
I prefer this one to Brotherhood. Crucify me now, manga fans, I know many want to already. But this series shined. That being said, the only reason for the 9/10 and not a full 10/10 is that the series isn't too rewatchable. Like I said, I prefer this one to Brotherhood. Yet, I find myself rewatching Brotherhood like crazy compared to this series. As is with Casshern Sins, though, don't skip over this wonderful anime just because it isn't the most rewatchable. You only need to see it once for its greatness to sink in.

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
This series is overrated. There, I said it. It's very overrated. I see people everywhere saying that this surpasses the original anime in every conceivable way, which I have to say is completely false. Both anime shine in different areas, and that's why they get the same score for different reasons. Brotherhood is very rewatchable, but I had to dock a point because of two main reasons. One: the beginning of the series was pretty rushed. I can't ignore that, I'm sorry, but it drags the whole series down. Two: the animated "humor". Oh boy, did that get on my nerves at points, especially during the beginning of the series. But I've concluded that it's consistent with the series itself, at least.

Let's put it this way: FMA embraced subtlety. FMAB did away with it almost completely. This is why Fullmetal Alchemist as a whole is near perfect in terms of anime: one of the two anime is bound to be your cup of tea. I myself enjoy both, but the original anime is my favorite of the two because I prefer the more subtle, serious side of it. That being said, I know many who love FMAB more because of it not trying to be subtle at all and just focusing on being completely awesome (three words, here: Fuhrer King Bradley).

Either way, anyone who hasn't seen either of these anime needs to. It's a must-see. Start with the one that sounds like it appeals more to you, and watch it. All I can say is that you need to see at least one of them.

Edited by zacrathedemon5, 07 December 2013 - 08:56 PM.

[Kamina-Yoshi]

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: 10/10

I'm not even joking, this is the perfect anime. It's tender in its private moments concerning every day happenings like travel and what-not, but it's emotionally driven by the brotherhood shared by Edward and Alphonse. At the same time, the action and horror is driven by epic music and the absolute skill of the voice-actors and seiyuu's of the characters; it's hard to not fall in love with this proper telling of the Fullmetal Alchemist story.

OTP --Click here to view--

Also, if I may say, EdxWinry is so adorable that I've developed twenty different kinds of sugar-overloads just looking at the sweet moments between these two characters. Personally, I would start a Kickstarter-fund to make an Omake of Ed and Winry's lives together after they confess to each other at the end of the story, with the primary arcs of the day after they get together, the days leading up to the marriage and the days of their marriage themselves, and end with the picture taken that appears in the credits of the last episode. Also, I want to see Ed spoil his kids rotten in honour of the memory of Maes. Who wouldn't want to see that?

[Dark Desire]

Death Note 9/10

This is a really interesting series that I haven't got that far with, but so far I really like it. I thin that some aspects of it make it seem a little unrealistic, which spoils the effect, but overall it is very good, especially if you enjoy psychological warfare. The contact between L and Kira, no matter how small, is fascinating to see, and L's suspicions of everyone to possibly be Kira shows how interesting a detective mind can be. I would recommend it if you liked Code Geass.

Black Lagoon 10/10

I just finished Second Barrage, and this is one of my favourite anime ever. The way that each situation is handled with humour and deadly seriousness creates a great atmosphere that is brilliant to watch. The use of humour and character building is especially accomplished: each character is viewed in depth, meaning that there are very few characters in the series itself. I find Balalaika to be one of the most interesting characters created, but I think my favourite has to be Dutch. He's the only one in the entire series that you don't know much about his past. Everyone else there are pieces of information dotted through the episodes that can be pieced together, but Dutch remains the mystery. This is quite a rude and violent series, so if you're young, I wouldn't recommend watching it. But, it is really good. If you liked Jormungand, this would be good to watch.

[Jenskott]

Heavy Metal L-Gaim 7/10

L-Gaim is another mecha anime created by Tomino, father of Gundam. Yesterday I got around to watch the first episode. Right now I find it alright: the characters look endearing and the action is good, but the episode is -understandably- a setup for the main plot. I know I will not rate it like the best anime mecha ever but right now it looks good and the first episode piqued my interest and encouraged me to keep watching (hence, it fulfilled its purpose).

Artificial Neo-Human Casshern 9/10

This series is the origin of Casshan Robot Hunter, Casshern Sins (Please, don't ask me if it is spelt Casshern or Cassahn) and that awful live-action movie was filmed several years ago and Casshern fans refuse acknowledge it exists. Anyhow, I have watched the first episodes and it is excellent. The plot is dramatic, the characters are tragic and endearing, the fighting scenes are great, and it has the kind of reflections about humanity, love, duty, courage and sacrifice you often found in anime back then... The animation is -obviously- of a different style than it is used in shows nowadays, but I still think it is good: characters and backgrounds are detailed and colourful, the animation is fluid, all looks like it should and I personally like the character design. However, I admit that if you are not used to the animation style was used in the seventies the visuals can scare you away (although I keep saying it is not bad, just different).

Tosho Daimos 9/10

Being a fan of Super Robot shows, I am used to meet people has plenty prejudices about mecha shows, especially seventies shows. Daimos is one of the shows I would show to someone to try and to make him/her look past his/her biases. Apparently it begins generic (showing an alien army set to invade Earth) but soon you realize things are not so simple: the aliens are not gooder or eviler than the average human, they have complex motivations, and both sides are in fact being manipulated to wage a war nobody wants. The love story between the main characters and their star-crossed lover relationship is the real drive of the story during which they find out not all aliens are evil... and not all humans are good.

Oh, and the fights are great, too.

Regarding the animation, I tell the same thing than about Cassharn: I dig the art syle (although other people might not), the special effects are nice and the animation is fluid and detailed.

One of my favorite shows.

[Jenskott]

I am reluctant to double-posting, but it has been almost one month since my last post, so that...

Manga is also allowed, right? If so...

Masamune Date by Mitsuteru Yokoyama 8/10

Historical manga narrates the life of Masamune Date, one of the most important and most famous warlords of the Japanese History. I have been reading it this week and it is pretty interesting. Of course, it is mainly enjoyable to those that like learning about History and reading historical works.

The creator began his career when Tezuka's influence was omni-present and everyone aped up his style. It means the art may be off-putting at the beginning because it is cartoony and square-looking, it uses tricks and techniques modern readers may be unfamiliarized with because they have fallen into desuse. However visual storytelling is absolutely spotless. You always know what is going on in the panels and understand what you are reading. And the backgrounds are very detailed. So it is not without merit.

Yokoyama is a legendary mangaka has got monumental contribuitions to anime and manga (and it is not only because he created the Humongous Mecha genre with his Tetsujin-28go -renamed Gigantor in USA when it was aired decades ago-). Sadly he is pretty unknown in USA and English-speaking countries.

In case of someone else wants to reading, it is being translated here: link

[catsi563]

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan 8/10

Solid all around series and follows the manga fairly closely. Also an ongoing series currently finished its 2nd season and a third in the works.

Good action and romance potential and the characters are catchy and enjoyable. It follows in the vein of Naruto, Bleach and other similar Shonen series with lots of fun moments and plenty of drama and adventure

Highly reccomeneded.

[sushi.]

Hunter x Hunter (2011) 9/10

Awesome remake, I find myself sweating when watching the Phantom troupe and thrilling with excitement when watching the Zoldycks. Love this, and the main character is so charming, the second main character is so cool! Although the Hunter exam is exactly like the Chuunin exam, but HxH came out first. Kishimotooo...

Two questions though..where the hell is Kite(I'm around ep.50) and why are they skipping things in the manga? That's why..9/10

[Jenskott]

Although the Hunter exam is exactly like the Chuunin exam, but HxH came out first. Kishimotooo...

Are you implying Kishimoto ripped off Togashi? Because the Hunter exam arc is exactly like many arcs of many, many mangas than came out before HxH.

Unless someones gives concrete proof, I see no reason to think Kishimoto is ripping off Togashi. It is way likelier than both use tropes predate their mangas by far and were used by many mangakas long before they would have been born.

It reminds me of a Mega Man fan once claimed Iruka shielding Naruto with his body -all the way back to chapter 1- was a rip-off from a scene of a Mega Man anime. Geez, you can find scenes of characters becoming willing meat shields everywhere. And since we are throwing plagiarism accusations around, it may be said MM is a Casshern rip-off.

Regardless, I heard of HxH for first time several years ago, but I am more familiarized with other work of Togashi. Talking about which...

Yu Yu Hakusho: 6/10

Sigh. I wanted to like this. I really, really wanted. I heard everybody telling it was great and, it was one of the classic shonen mangas, so I purchased the volumes and I began reading with high hopes...

The two first volumes kind of bore me. I understood it was a set-up, but it was too long and I was wondering when it would end up so Yusuke become a spirit detective and the real story would start.

After that the manga gradually improved, but it never went past "alright". I quit for a while and when I picked it up again, I enjoyed it better. But it never became great. After the Dark tournament arc I was losing interest and I was forcing myself to keep reading it.

Finally, the quality dropped sharply at the last arc. I heard that Togashi did not want to make it but he was forced by his editors to make another arc. If that is true, it shows. It was so awful I dropped the manga: horible art, plotlines were introduced only to be dropped and forgotten suddenly, the new characters were boring and the old ones sometimes were very OOc...

I give it 6 points out of 10 because at the very least I found it entertaining most of time.

Great Teacher Onizuka: 8.5 or 9 out of 10

The history of a twenty-two-year-old, ex-delinquent, employless, slightly pervert, karate fighter, virgin young man who becomes teacher like part of a plot to date young girls. Unexpectedly he gets hired in a private school by a chairlady who warns him her school is full with troubles: corrupt teachers, delinquent students, bullying... and she trusts him to try to help the kids to overcome their traumas, and teach them to become better persons and learn to trust grownups again.

I heard about this manga several years ago, but it was not until one month ago that I began reading it.

I found it great. Many characters come across like jerks, bullies or creeps from start, but slowly you come to get why they are how they are, and even find many of them endearing. The story has great moments, and some are very funny, some are heart-rending, and others are plainly awesome. The art is not great at the beginning, but it improves dramatically throughout the series.

Sousei no Gargantia: 7/10

This series started getting aired the last month. Four episodes have been broadcast so far, and I have watched two. It is unusual that I watch a current series, and I do not use to watch modern mecha shows (usually I find them disappointing for some reason or another). But I read some people whose likes in mecha anime are similar to mine recommending this series so I gave it a try.

I found it pretty good, in fact. It is like a blend of Gundam (with a helping of Gunbuster and Mazinger-Z) and a Studio Ghlibi anime. Weird mixture, but it works. It also feels like a fresh take on the genre. Instead of reusing or deconstructing the old tropes associated with the genre, it uses different ones.

Several centuries in the future, humankind has left Earth after our planet -due to Earth freezing-, and has got used to live in space. However, during their wanderings humans find an alien hostile force. During a battle, the main character and his mecha are tossed through a dimensional portal (a plot element that remindes me of another mecha anime named Orguss), and they end up in an unknown planet, inhabited by a human race. Since the whole planet is flooded, people lives in huge city-ships. After the initial cultural clash (the main character had no idea of where he had landed on, and not even talked their idiom), he slowly starts to learn things about his new home as he tries to find his way back to home... and he learns in that place is not empty of dangers.

The story is entertaining so far. I dig the character designs and the art style. The animation, on the other hand... I did not like the battle scenes at the beginning of the first episode since they abused computer animation effects (and that is one of the worst defects of modern animation, IMO): too conspicuous cgi, too flashing explosions and bright lights... sometimes I did not know what I was watching other than dozens of multi-colored beams flashing through the screen in all directions over a white-dotted, rose background, and a bunch of poorly-rendered bizarre machines and freakish aliens streaking all over the place.

Fortunately the animation stopped abusing and overusing CGI after that, and the quality greatly improved.

I do not think this show will be a classic anime series (or a classic mecha series like the Mazinger series, the Romance Robot trilogy, Gundam, Macross, Patlabor, Evangelion or Gaogaigar), but it has got a good start, it looks nice and I think it is worth of a try.

[Anguyen92]

Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabu Kome wa Machigatteiru (My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu) - 9/10

 

Ok, the genre of this is slice of life, romance, and social psychology.

 

The main character is a loner that observes and analyzes the way high school cliches interact and he claims that "youth is an illusion created by hypocrites."  Along the way, one of his teachers suggest (mainly forces) him to join a service club to help others with their problems of life.  It is rather interesting and I feel that I can resonate with this guy on a good level which makes this anime appealing to me.  Only started watching it, yesterday, so I can't really give a better description so here is a wiki link of the description

 

http://en.wikipedia....a_Machigatteiru

Edited by Anguyen92, 31 May 2013 - 08:30 PM.

[deviouslyChaotic]

Attack on Titan (snk): 10/10

Wow, I'm really blown away with this series. Its already made me cry about 5 times now! (Attack on Titan... more like Attack on Feels amiright?) 

Free!: 7.8 or 8/10

No, I don't watch it for the manservice! What ever gave you that idea?

I like this series. It's fun and has a nice plot. Plus, I love a lot of the characters. I'm interested to see where this series is going in terms of plot and character interaction. :)

[deviouslyChaotic]

Dangan Ronpa: 6 or 7/10

I'm only on the first episode, but it just didn't hook me. It even felt a little rushed and it just wasn't a strong first episode in my opinion. Perhaps all the hype surrounding it made me have expectations that were placed to high :\. 

[roninmedia]

Toradora! - 6.5/10

 

+ Smooth animation

+ Supporting cast done well

 

- Safe Plot

- Titular characters are unsatisfying (Motivations, themes/motifs)

- Listed as romance, comedy but the genres never coexist well but are two distinct portions of the series

 

I have a lot of experience in the romance and slice of life genre. This show as a whole is fine upstanding show, but it never has a moment that truly shines or stands out among a crowded field. 

 

 

Genshiken Nidaime - 7/10

+/- Very faithful to its source material

+/- Contains a variety of references to previous content (i.e. previous Genshiken seasons or to the manga)

+/- Characters have established roles, but the role is often not developed much further

+/- Characters tend to fade in and out of focus of storytelling

+ Slice of life is done with good pacing

 

This is a show that is very faithful to the manga. As it is with slice of life, the opinion can be raised or lowered 1 to 2 points on how well you can connect with the occurences in the daily life of the characters, Overall, a relaxing watch.

Edited by roninmedia, 23 August 2013 - 02:47 AM.

[mmrc27]

Full Metal Alchemist 10/10

 

Full Metal Panic Series 10/10

 

Fairy Tail 9/10

 

[roninmedia]

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo - 8.5/10*

 

+ Gorgeous art

+ Anime stops at in a good point in the light novels

+ Proper balance of romance/comedic moments

 

- Has a second season to complete the light novels

- Romance isn't as refined as it should be

 

It seems the light novel has ended with 10 volumes two short story collections. The anime ended up part-way through Volume 6 of the light novel. It seems there will not be a second season due to poor BD/DVD sales attributed in part to a controversy changing an part of a food item from a Japanese one to a Korean one.

Edited by roninmedia, 27 August 2013 - 06:06 PM.

[Jenskott]

Panzer World Galient - 8/10

 

Much like Vision of Escaflowne or Aura Battler Dunbine, Galient is an anime places mechas and giant robots in a medieval setting. And it works! I am really enjoying it. The actions is good, the mechas are cool and it has plenty funny moments. And Hilmuka -one of the main characters- is just so cool! Admitedly it has a ton of cliches but I did not think about it as watching it due to be too entertaining.

 

Western cartoons are allowed in this thread? If it is so...

 

Avatar the Last Airbender - 8.5/10

 

I can just imagine someone thinking "What? Is he watching it NOW?". Yes, it is funny because it has been almost ten years since Avatar started, but finally I am giving it a chance. After watching the first chapter I think I can why it is so well valued. The set-up shows promise and the first episode is real good. I can see myself liking it greatly.

 

By the way...

Not that I want to reopen this tiresome debate, but Katara/Aang is obvious since the beginning.

 

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - 7/10

 

The last month I found episodes of a show was a classic to me and many eighties kids. So I began rewatching it.

 

I think it has not aged entirely well. It uses some tropes were already overused back then (like the Clark/Lois/SUperman style love triangle), some episodes are weird and maybe too cheesy for kids nowadays, and the "What have we learnt today?" final segments may be annoying (I got the episode's lesson when I watched, I do not need you beat me over the head with it! Then again, the cartoon-makers were forced to include them -so it is not their fault- and you can skip them out, so it is not a big deal). However the setting is, IMO, great (I have found few shows blend so seamlessly sci-fi and heroic fantasy. A barbarian warrior, a cyborg, a legless wizard and an amazon armed with a beam rifle riding a wheelless vehicle to confront a sorceror is a living skeleton, a beast-man and a robot? And it does not seem out of place? This is madness!) and harbours a great potential (too bad that you only see it fulfilled in other places. It was ever revealed in the show WHO was Skeletor? Because I was utterly shocked when I found out), the show IS still entertaining, and I think its heart is in the right place: it intends being a funny action show aimed to kids (and to selling them toys).

 

Honestly, sometimes you JUST need watching a show with cool heroes and villains. It is cheesy when Skeletor not only laughs evilly -and loudly. And suddenly-, but also he rears his head back and raises his closed fists skywards as he does so, but it is FUNNY seeing it ("Wow, he is so evil he does not care whether it looks ridiculous or not. He WANTS laughing evilly, so he laughs!").

 

Captain N the Game Master - 4/10

 

Even though I knew what I was getting into, I watched an episode not long ago. Several weeks ago I showed the first episode of this to a friend because he had no idea of how bad was this cartoon and how badly he butchered NES characters we dearly cherished. He endured five minutes and then he suggested stopping it before our brains got fried further. I agreed. This show was awful back in 1989 and it is awful now. Watch it only if you want laugh at how bad it is.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

Sword Art Online - 5/10; I was rather hopefully for this series in the beginning, but it's proven disappointing. The sudden time skip glossed over a lot a possible development and the romance in particular just progressed too quickly for my taste. Kirito and Asuma have their moments, but it was not enough to draw me in, and that's unfortunate, since their relationship has become so central in the story. The art is beautiful, I'll give it that, but plot and characters are lacking.

 

Soul Eater - at this point maybe 7/10; I liked it more before it diverged from the manga, as of right now, it feels like it's not sure where it's going, and I'm not fond of the changes made. The manga has its faults, like a rather trollish final chapter, but I would say I find it far superior to the anime version.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Shuffle! - 8/10

[watched in Japanese with English subtitles]

 

Boy, did this one take me by complete surprise. We were shown the first episode in anime club and weren't fond of the generic harem setup we witnessed. We voted to watch the rest of it, on the basis that it was going to be so bad it would be entertaining to watch as a group.

 

Now, having finished the series yesterday, I'm thrilled to say we were wrong.

 

Legitimately funny, charming, self-aware, engaging, and hard-hitting throughout, Shuffle! is thoroughly enjoyable. The characters are all likable and have a surprising amount of depth to them, especially the main character Rin, whose main flaw is never explicitly addressed but subtly implied as the show progresses, bringing an understanding of why he's in the situation he's in and how it affects him and those around him. By the second half particularly, the series showcases how well-written it is. Events and arcs domino into one another seamlessly, and it leaves an impact. kitten gets intense, and when it does, it's handled very well.

 

Now, for the negatives of the series... there's one main flaw. The fanservice. While not obnoxious/present enough to interfere with story, character, etc. and usually lasting only brief moments, there were some points where it was simply too forced. One episode in particular exists mainly as a fanservice focus, and while said episode still has a few redeeming qualities, it ultimately is the weakest link of the series and drags its score down the most. Yes, I realize this is a harem anime and fanservice is to be naturally expected, but nonetheless it's a flaw when done for the sake of itself.

 

In the end, I'm thrilled to have watched Shuffle!, and I definitely recommend it.

Edited by zacrathedemon5, 07 December 2013 - 08:57 PM.

[sushi.]

Magi 7/10

 

A very animeistic anime. Typical anime. The art looks a bit like fairy tail. And is it just me or does Kassim look like the offspring of Envy and Izumi Curtis from FMA?

It was also nice to hear Urahara and Shikamaru's voice again. XD

 

The reason I didn't rate it higher was because of the overused shonen characteristics. It's not the series fault, after all everything has been done nowadays. Maybe the amount of grey and mysterious side characters ? This diversity of mindsets and ideologies brought an interesting touch.

 

The last battle in Sindria actually reminded me of the arrancars vs gotei 13 in Bleach, but it was much shorter which I really didn't mind. The enemies were weaker than I expected though.

 

I'm starting season 2 now.

The thing that I'm most interested in is

Seeing Sinbad's true colours. His character is interesting and grey. Manipulative for a good cause, for his country's sake.

Edited by sushi., 26 December 2013 - 02:21 PM.

[Rocket]

Log Horizon: 7/10

 

I just watched the first two episodes, and while there hasn't been anything super amazing or mind-blowing, I'm already quite impressed. Maybe it's just the bad taste that Sword Art Online left in my mouth but anyway. 

 

LH seems a lot less serious, but that's far from a bad thing, because while the "fight for survival" theme is still there, no one seems too desperate to log out when they can't, and the virtual reality setting actually feels as if the characters are in a video game, rather than simply serving as a backdrop, which is something I really appreciate as a former MMO gamer. (It's what got me into SAO and subsequently LH in the first place.)

 

The characters' in-game avatars also reflect their real life personalities and physical appearances, with some slight differences. The main character, Shiroe, is a good example: lanky body, glasses, socially awkward, mind full of strategy, high level, you name it. Just by that information about him, you can already tell that this guy must be an MMO veteran and a total couch potato; an actual, realistic gamer, and a representation of most "elite" gamers in real life.

 

The art style is not necessarily the best, but still pretty good. Nothing stunning or eye-popping, but the simplicity of the art style complements the fun, laid-back nature of the anime. 

 

Since I've only watched the first couple of episodes, I don't think I'm really in a good position to give a critique on the story line, but all in all, LH proves to be very promising, and I'm definitely looking forward to watching the rest.