Anime/Manga Journal

[Ranadiel]

Recently rewatched Gundam 00, liked it better the second time through. I'm not really sure what made the difference between my first viewing and the second one. I'm thinking I thought the tone was a little too dark the first time through, but found it less dark the second time since I knew how everything turned out already....I dunno.

As for Eureka Seven....I watched it once when it was on Adult Swim. My memories of it are fuzzy. What I do recall is that I hate Renton, jam girl made me feel uneasy....because jam, Renton is annoying, and I was meh on the series overall.

[Raziel]

Started watching Gatchaman. F*ck yea!

[Monsoon]

Random Shounen Manga Journal Time! 

Bleach - I find the new explanation for Ichigo's powers convoluted and pulled straight out of Kubo's ass.  But because I'm a whore, I want to see what Ichigo can do with his new sword(s). 

The Breaker: New Waves - there's a reason this is one of my current favorite series.  It's extremely common to see a male MC struggle mightily like this, but Shioon is good at it.  I'm glad he's finally relevant again.

Kuroko - meh. Just more Kuroko being Kuroko and his teammates being depressing.  I want this flashback to end. 

Beelzebub - well damn.  They killed a guy and then created a 100% arbitrary reason for Main Character's Friends to beat the tar out of Current Villain's Friends.  I love shounen. 

[Jotacon]

Random Shounen Manga Journal Time! 

Bleach - I find the new explanation for Ichigo's powers convoluted and pulled straight out of Kubo's ass.  But because I'm a whore, I want to see what Ichigo can do with his new sword(s). 

The Breaker: New Waves - there's a reason this is one of my current favorite series.  It's extremely common to see a male MC struggle mightily like this, but Shioon is good at it.  I'm glad he's finally relevant again.

I don't know if it is how you phrased it, but I found myself strangely compelled to respond to this.

Bleach - I find every single thing that has happened in Bleach over the last 3 maybe 4 arcs to be completely stupid. Even the stuff that makes sense is done in a context so mind-numbingly poor that it just makes things feel cheap. That being said, even though it is stupid, it sometimes works on a visceral or emotional level that I can enjoy well reveling in the ridiculous aesthetic(BLACK! EVEYWHERE!). For me this reveal was none of those things. I really, really liked this reveal. Firstly, it re-contextualizes a number of fights that Ichigo had and makes them more interesting, (that's why Ichigo didn't die? that explains his "resolve") while still keeping the main thrust of those fights the same. Secondly, I like how it goes about giving Ichigo ALL OF THE POWERS in a way that makes sense in relation to the series. Thirdly, I was actually blown away by the fact that Zangetsu looks like Juhabach. Finally, I too want to see what his sword looks like.
Yes, it's contrived, but I felt it was additive. Or maybe Kubo has just brainwashed me.

The Breaker: New Waves - Let me start by mourning the fact that I think New Waves isn't even half as good as the first part, but yes I do like this develoment.

Beelzebub - I stopped reading at chapter 40 or so. Is it good?

[Kevadu]

Beelzebub - I stopped reading at chapter 40 or so. Is it good?

For what it's worth, there are very few long-running shounen mangas that I can stomach, but oddly enough Beelzebub is one of them.  Mainly because of the comedy, I guess.  I need comedy to keep my interest in shounen manga (though oddly enough I do fine with longer seinen series that are humor-free...), and I like the characters and irreverent tone.  But then there are those moments when Beelzebub tries to make you take it seriously and fails miserably, because the entire setup was stupid and ridiculous and not made to be taken seriously...
 
That said, I'm seriously considered dropping it because the whole latest arc has just been a long, drawn out moment like that...

[Monsoon]

I only read Bleach because I'm caught up and reading a new chapter takes 5 minutes of my week (plus I like crazy Spanish-German-Japanese wordplay).  It's not really one of my favorites anymore, but I'll keep up with it and see it through to the end; I could say the same for Naruto, HSDK, and Gantz.  At least Naruto seems to be moving towards a final confrontation. 

I really enjoy Beelzebub because of the comedy and because it takes the "juvenile delinquent with demon powers" bit to a pretty interesting place.  It's basically Yu Yu Hakusho but with more Dragon Quest jokes and a better cast.  And I actually like the current arc a lot, because they're finally back in high school fighting other super-delinquents nstead of screwing around with a giant army of forgettable demons.  Beelzebub is my favorite SJ title other than One Piece.  

And I agree that the first run of The Breaker is better, especially since Nine Arts Dragon is the most compelling character in either half, but I'm really, really happy with the recent developments.  

[Ranadiel]

Bleach - I find every single thing that has happened in Bleach over the last 3 maybe 4 arcs to be completely stupid. Even the stuff that makes sense is done in a context so mind-numbingly poor that it just makes things feel cheap. That being said, even though it is stupid, it sometimes works on a visceral or emotional level that I can enjoy well reveling in the ridiculous aesthetic(BLACK! EVEYWHERE!). For me this reveal was none of those things. I really, really liked this reveal. Firstly, it re-contextualizes a number of fights that Ichigo had and makes them more interesting, (that's why Ichigo didn't die? that explains his "resolve") while still keeping the main thrust of those fights the same. Secondly, I like how it goes about giving Ichigo ALL OF THE POWERS in a way that makes sense in relation to the series. Thirdly, I was actually blown away by the fact that Zangetsu looks like Juhabach. Finally, I too want to see what his sword looks like.
Yes, it's contrived, but I felt it was additive. Or maybe Kubo has just brainwashed me.

Which fights does this re-contextualize? I can't really think of any fights which this changes in any way significant.

I have to disagree regarding it making sense. It is just stupid and very predicable. Ichigo has become a Mary Sue in Bleach. I mean really, if you look at the implications of the reveal regarding Ichigo's powers, it basically implies that Ichigo has been more powerful than every single other character in the series since the beginning because he has just been running on fumes this entire time.

Code:

So his defeat of Aizen where he was so powerful Aizen couldn't even sense him? Just the tiny portion of Ichigo's power that fake-getsu couldn't contain. Ichigo is and probably always has been the single most powerful person in the series, why? Because he worked hard? Nope, just because he was born more powerful than anyone else.

This is just stupid. >.>

Side note, I want to go ahead and make a prediction about Bleach. Ywach(or w/e the official translation is) will be revealed to be either Jesus or Judas at point during the inevitable fight with Ichigo.

I only read Bleach because I'm caught up and reading a new chapter takes 5 minutes of my week (plus I like crazy Spanish-German-Japanese wordplay).  It's not really one of my favorites anymore, but I'll keep up with it and see it through to the end; I could say the same for Naruto, HSDK, and Gantz.  At least Naruto seems to be moving towards a final confrontation.   

Well this is supposed to be the final arc of Bleach.....it is just taking forever to finish up.

[Annubis]

Just dropping by to said yet again that Space Brother is the best 'mature' (as in not erotic) serie I've ever seen.
I don't think I've ever seen a serie deal with the casual so well.

[Raze]

 I just haven't been feeling motivation to watch attack on titan the last few weeks. I thought it was really, really lame when

Code:

Eren got better. It's bad enough that it was a fake death, but it was a really important death. It established that the titans don't give damn whether your some mook or a hot blooded shonen protagonist, they're gonna kill ya. I'd be fine if he just stayed a titan, since at least then there were still consequences and he was a terrible, if ripped, monster. Human again with a free limb regeneration? That's bullshit.

[Kevadu]

Long rambling post time...

I finished reading the final volume (number 12) of the OreImo novels last night.  In Japanese, of course...I don't think the fan translations have gotten that far yet and there aren't any plans for an official English release.  Feels like the end of an era since I've been working on these books for so long now.  It's was the first novel series I really tried reading in Japanese and it certainly felt like quite an accomplishment at the time.

In any event, I think that like most people my first exposure to the series was the original anime season, which I enjoyed well enough for what it was, or at least what I thought it was (more on that later...).  But I wasn't crazy about it or anything at the time.  Then I got interested challenging myself to read novels in Japanese and ended settling on the OreImo series.  Not going to lie, a big part of the reason why it was the first novel series I read in Japanese is simply because it was easier than others that I looked at.  Down-to-earth setting, no special vocabulary, straightforward writing style. etc.  These aren't necessarily things that make for great books, but they certainly do make for easier to read books, particularly when you aren't completely comfortable with the language.  And believe me, reading novels is a lot harder than manga or something.

Somewhere along the line I started really getting into these books, eagerly anticipating every new volume.  I even played both of the PSP games that were released.  I'm still not going to claim that these books are anything groundbreaking, but the author certainly manages to craft a cast of memorable and likeable characters.  It also walked this fine line between parody and pandering.  There's a certain level of self-awereness that pervades the series, starting with the whole concept of having a little sister character who is obsessed with moe little sister characters (but doesn't act like one at all).  And the constant "if this was an ero-game" references at least seemed aware the fact that life is not an ero-game and that a lot of the situations presented in such games are pretty absurd.  So at the start I thought the series was firmly on the parody side of the line, but as it went on it began to resemble the things it was parodying more and more...

Which brings us to the final volume.  Massive spoilers follow.

Code:

I have to give the author credit for ending the previous volumes in such a way that there were actually numerous, completely plausible directions he could have gone in the final arc.  It's a great way to sell books, after all.  Even so, I really didn't expect him to go the direction he did.

I don't know, Kyousuke obviously cared about his sister a lot and for her part Kirino wasn't really as tsun as she acted, but at the end of the day I still always saw them as family.  In the past they had a falling out and over the course of the books they managed to reconcile a bit and be more honest with each other.  But that doesn't mean they had [i]romantic[/i] feelings for each other.  There's nothing wrong with family getting along better.  No matter how much Kyousuke doted on Kirino I always interpreted that as just him being a nosy older brother.  Honestly, I kind of thought that was one of the main points of this story!  That life isn't an ero-game and one shouldn't automatically interpret things in a perverted way.

Apparently I was wrong.

Honestly, the fact that Kyousuke and Kirino started dating for real shocked me.  It seemed like the least-plausible coupling to me.  But nope, the author went there and went there big.  Then I started to half-expect (OK, maybe more than half) an 11th hour Kyousuke-was-adopted-and-they're-not-really-blood-related reveal.  It's not like the possibility hadn't been hinted at before and it seemed like the only possible way this could end well.  But nope, they're honest-to-god siblings.  Probably for the best, since that kind of twist would have been incredibly trite.

But it just makes the whole thing...uncomfortable.  What's even the message of this story anymore, I don't know.  At least they have enough sense to call it off at the very end, realizing that this isn't something they can do forever.  But the final ending doesn't really resolve anything, and of course pleases none of the shippers (not that the author should necessarily be trying to please shippers...).  It was awkward, uncomfortable, and inconclusive.

But, I guess at least somewhat realistic and certainly not like an ero-game.  So I guess that's something.

So there ends my first ever light novel series I read in Japanese.  It's memorable to me for that reason alone, but if nothing else the conclusion was certainly memorable in its own right.

Oh yeah, since this is an anime thread I guess I should talk about season 2 a bit.  It's airing currently and frankly...I think it's a bit of a mess.  I don't know, I hate to be one of those "the books are better" guys, and I don't even feel that way about the first season.  The first season of the anime was great.  But season 2 has all kinds of weird pacing issues, with them covering important events way too fast and then spending too long on stuff that doesn't really matter.  Maybe it's because I already knew where things were going having read the first 11 volumes already (and now 12, but the anime hasn't gotten there yet...).  And of course they're leaving the actual conclusion for OVA eps coming in August...weird thing to do.  I think there was plenty of material for two more full seasons, and then maybe it would have been paced better.

[Dice]

Code:

^ What surprise?  It's practically in the title. =/

But yeah, I know what you mean.

Does Avatar the Last Airbender count as anime?  I was watching that.

[Hathen]

Don't think anybody will crucify you for posting in here about it. When the heck is Korra S2 coming? It's felt like ages to me since S1 ended but it turns out it was only about a year ago. Hm.

[Darilon]

I am rewatching the episodes I like from Kino's Journey which basically means everything outside of the Coliseum story. I love this show. Even knowing the mysteries, it is great.

[Bytor]

I could not agree more! Kino is absolutely fantastic! Started Sora no Woto last night, seems interesting after one episode, we'll see, still chugging through Kaiba, I dunno, for some reason that show gets to me emotionally.

[Annubis]

Kevadu:
I haven't read 12 yet but I spoiled myself (don't really mind). That's an interesting way to end it. I was sure the author was going to do the cliche thing you mention.
I guess the shippers will go and play Oreimo Happy enD for their ending anyway (I actually kinda want to play that myself... game is supposed to be creepy on multiple levels. Supposedly worst than the PSP games that were already said to be creepy as hell)

-

What's the general consensus with Korra?

I thought it wasn't very good. Then again, I do compare it to The Last Airbender.