Anime/Manga Journal

[Mickeymac92]

Argevollen: I seriously don't think you could find a more bland, generic, uninspired mecha anime if you tried.  It's like somebody was given a "How to Make a Mecha Anime" guide and just followed it to the letter.  If you really like mecha anime and are desperate for something to watch then maybe you could get some enjoyment out of it.  But I'm not, so pass.

To be perfectly fair: I'll take generic over outright bad like I've been getting for a long while, and at this point, going back to the status quo would be refreshing for a genre that has clearly lost its way in the last 10 years. Plus, it still does some subtle things better than, say, Gundam AGE's first episode.

[Klyde Chroma]

I've only read the manga of that. Let me just say that, assuming the anime follows the manga completely, that series is going to get messed up...well that implies it was at some point not messed up. It will get more messed up in the future.

Sir, you were NOT lying. This series gets more twisted the further it goes for sure. I'm only 14 eps in but I sure hope it keeps up this pace. AWESOME series thus far.

After Sailor Moon left me with a luke warm meh

Although I totally hopped on the hype train (i love me my sailor moon) "luke warm" sums it up for me too. Oddly enough though I actually really appreciate how much they made it look like the manga (which was ugly as sin IMO) yet very contemporary and, dare I say, "pretty". Soundtrack was the biggest aspect of the let down for me.

[Ranadiel]

I've only read the manga of that. Let me just say that, assuming the anime follows the manga completely, that series is going to get messed up...well that implies it was at some point not messed up. It will get more messed up in the future.

Sir, you were NOT lying. This series gets more twisted the further it goes for sure. I'm only 14 eps in but I sure hope it keeps up this pace. AWESOME series thus far.

All I am going to say is look forward to episode 24 (just skimmed through the episode list) that is when the most iconic scene of the series should occur. Also do not watch the OVA, it has the last chapter of the series in it, but the series works fine without that.

[Kevadu]

I wasn't the only one who felt that way about Argevollen!

It's that show which at first glance, feels like it could've been constructed automatically by some kind of Rube Goldberg machine designed to create products with no human intervention or input.

OK, so the whole thing isn't negative but he definitely seems to agree with me on the genericness aspect.

[Annubis]

Fate Kaleid Liner PRISMA ILYA 2wei!
Lolitastic and yurilicious !!!

On a more serious note, episode one was pretty good. I like how the small liberties they took from the manga made it better.
The animation is really nice and the humour has some good moments.

Knowing what's ahead, I'm looking forward to watching this.

(but yes... there are some strong hints of yuri)

[Mickeymac92]

I wasn't the only one who felt that way about Argevollen!

It's that show which at first glance, feels like it could've been constructed automatically by some kind of Rube Goldberg machine designed to create products with no human intervention or input.

OK, so the whole thing isn't negative but he definitely seems to agree with me on the genericness aspect.

...not sure if that was general or directed specifically as a retort to my prtevious quote on this subject, but I was actually agreeing, too. I'm just saying generic =/= poor-quality. I understand it can be more frustrating than even a bad show (Gundam AGE, for instance ddn't have a lot of things that were really that bad, it was just dull and uninspired, and to that effect I actually enjoyed it less than Gundam Wing and SEED Destiny, which were genuinely bad shows), I just didn't mind it this time because the genre as of late has really pushed the bar all the way down to the floor, and I really can't emphasis that enough. I've watched a lot of Mecha over the years, but outside of OVAs, virtually none of the good ones were within the last 10 years (except maybe Macross Frontier? I dunno, I gave up on that franchise - it seemed to be a one hit wonder and opinions seem to be split on Frontier being even competant). FMP: Second Raid was the closest, but IIRC, it wasn't a complete story. Okay, actually I liked Knights of Sidonia, but that just came out.

Otherwise, I feel like Mecha kinda forgot a lot of its central principles, to the point where it just feels crude. I can't count how many I found myself dropping after only only a few episodes, when with older series I found myself getting engrossed in them even when they aren't so good. Only exception I could think of was Gasaraki, which I went back to eventually and got into it. A lot of the new ones seem to lose their sense of realism, instead going off-the-walls insane like as if it was a Super Robot series, but now with darker and more twisted stories (much of which is DARK for the sake of DARK)

...I could keep going on ranting about this if I wasn't sick...

[Aeolus]

I'd argue for Gundam 00 S1 and Code Geass S1 even if their second seasons went off the fucking deep end, and the original Eureka Seven totally came out during 2005 and thus totally counts, and there's Gurren Lagann, Gundam Build Fighters, and a couple of others.

There's always going to be trash but if you know where to look, you should be able to find a couple of standouts along the way.

[Mickeymac92]

I'd argue for Gundam 00 S1 and Code Geass S1 even if their second seasons went off the fucking deep end, and the original Eureka Seven totally came out during 2005 and thus totally counts, and there's Gurren Lagann, Gundam Build Fighters, and a couple of others.

There's always going to be trash but if you know where to look, you should be able to find a couple of standouts along the way.

I've been looking harder than most, tbh. I hated Eureka Seven (despite doing a lot of things I normally praise with Mecha, it doesn't do them in a way I enjoy and does a lot of other things I don't like, too), and had a lot of problems with Code Geass and Gundam 00 as they're pretty much the poster boys for everything wrong with the genre right now. Gurren Lagann is full-on Super Robot and doesn't count towards what I'm talking about. Gundam Build Fighters is a myth.

Only ones I got left to check that might be promising are Macross Frontier and Overman King Gainer, but I've heard a lot of complaints about them, so I can't say I'm in any rush to watch them.

[Annubis]

As a fellow mech lover, I think I understand what you are looking for.
I feel the same about Code Geass not being a mech show.
I think the difference is how the mech is either a tool or a part of the character.

Lelouch outside of a Knightmare was still something.
Kira Yamato outside of a Gundam is... get back in the Gundam Kira!

Actually, I guess I'd put a difference between a mech show and a show that has mechs.
Kind of like an RPG and a game with RPG elements.

[Mickeymac92]

Actually, after thinking about it more, I realize what I value most in Mecha (and sci-fi in general) is having enough focus on making the suations and worlds feel believable, or at least as believable as they can be within the context of the story. And Mecha used to be very good with this. They'd have their oddities and leaps of logic, but for the most part there'd be a lot of focus on the little things that make the world seem fully realized.

Still, that's what separates the goods from the greats, and I feel like a lot of them aren't even good. I'm tempted to list all the series I've watch from recently and discect them, but I definitely can't do it right now...

[Kevadu]

Mickeymac, I didn't quote your post because I wasn't really trying to start an argument.  Just happened across that article and found it amusing so I thought I would share.

But more importantly, did you just dis Macross?

I have to confess I'm a huge fan of the original Macross, despite (or maybe because of) all its goofy cheesiness.  But I wouldn't consider it a one-hit wonder either.  OK, so Macross 7 was awful.  And it still boggles my mind that they made so many Macross 7 spin-offs.  But let's not talk about Macross 7.  Macross Plus was quite solid, just short not terribly well-connected to the rest of the franchise.  Macross Zero was friggin awesome, probably one of the best things to come out of the franchise.  And I quite liked Frontier too.  It felt like the first proper full Macross sequel since 7...and we're not talking about 7.

Of course Harmony Gold is still getting in the way of any (legal) US releases of a lot of this stuff because they're dicks.

But anyway, the Macross franchise has never been about straightforward mecha stuff and that might be why I like it.  I don't really consider it a mecha franchise in the vein of Gundam or something.  In fract from the beginning the biggest accomplishment made in most Macross series have had nothing to do with the mechas or even fighting (protoculture!).  Really, the mecha are almost side notes for a lot of the series...except 7, but we're not talking about 7.

God Macross 7 was bad...

[Ranadiel]

I've been looking harder than most, tbh. I hated Eureka Seven (despite doing a lot of things I normally praise with Mecha, it doesn't do them in a way I enjoy and does a lot of other things I don't like, too), and had a lot of problems with Code Geass and Gundam 00 as they're pretty much the poster boys for everything wrong with the genre right now. Gurren Lagann is full-on Super Robot and doesn't count towards what I'm talking about. Gundam Build Fighters is a myth.

Only ones I got left to check that might be promising are Macross Frontier and Overman King Gainer, but I've heard a lot of complaints about them, so I can't say I'm in any rush to watch them.

Okay, I have to ask what is everything that is wrong with the genre right now? Because I love both Gundam 00 and Code Geass (just rewatched all of Code Geass two weekends ago) and I am curious as to what makes you grumpy about both.

[Aeolus]

I'd argue for Gundam 00 S1 and Code Geass S1 even if their second seasons went off the fucking deep end, and the original Eureka Seven totally came out during 2005 and thus totally counts, and there's Gurren Lagann, Gundam Build Fighters, and a couple of others.

There's always going to be trash but if you know where to look, you should be able to find a couple of standouts along the way.

I've been looking harder than most, tbh. I hated Eureka Seven (despite doing a lot of things I normally praise with Mecha, it doesn't do them in a way I enjoy and does a lot of other things I don't like, too), and had a lot of problems with Code Geass and Gundam 00 as they're pretty much the poster boys for everything wrong with the genre right now. Gurren Lagann is full-on Super Robot and doesn't count towards what I'm talking about. Gundam Build Fighters is a myth.

Only ones I got left to check that might be promising are Macross Frontier and Overman King Gainer, but I've heard a lot of complaints about them, so I can't say I'm in any rush to watch them.

I'll be the first to accept not wanting to watch E7 due to the sheer obnoxiousness of that godawful trio of shit eating brats (they're so awful they make the various Gundam shit eating brats trios look manageable by comparison) and the amount of bullshit that gets dumped on Renton, but seriously the show gets much better around the halfway mark and all the weird world building and stuff pays off towards the end and is totally worth watching for that and Renton's character development arc (and then a second time once you have a grasp of all the terminology and vernacular being tossed around early on as it makes all the early boring shit much more interesting once you know what the hell everybody's going on about).

And I can understand not liking any of the school bits to Code Greatass but that show had some amazing urban combat with its Knightmare Frames. Its seriously one of the big reasons why R2 sucked so much since everybody went airborne and started pumping out 50 million different upgrades a week.

As for 00, sure it has its issues, but the concept of a Real Robot show with protagonists starting off with units that just completely trash everybody's stuff for most of the season isn't a bad one and it has a couple of good moments with that. Though with that said, I can understand not liking the show since its still pretty boyz in robutts and a bunch of stuff it tries to set up for end up going to waste.

[Annubis]

boyz in robutts

Early trailers had shown a girl pilot and people thought that it would be the first main cast female gundam pilot.
I still remember the giant wave of deception that spanned the fandom when they presented the all boy main cast (as in, status quo).


Persona 4 Golden:
OK... this is REALLY different. They rewrote Yu's character completely from the last anime. Yu is now this kickass reckless badboy who actually speaks.
And instead of killing 2 lickers for their first time in the TV, Yu single handedly killed about 12 million of them.

Hamatora 2
Very weird first episode. Doesn't answer much about the end of S1 as they make sure everything is very ambiguous.

[Aeolus]

boyz in robutts

Early trailers had shown a girl pilot and people thought that it would be the first main cast female gundam pilot.
I still remember the giant wave of deception that spanned the fandom when they presented the all boy main cast (as in, status quo).

Technically speaking, one of them was a girl (if he wanted to be, which he never did but had to for that one time in S2). Also there was totally that other girl who also rode in a Gundam (shaped backpack) who's name I can't quite recall (maybe if somebody did nothing but shout her name at any given opportunity, I'd might have remembered better).

That said, there were a few female Gundam pilots in the past like Sayla from the original series (for all of one episode, and she was really awful at it despite being an otherwise good pilot; then she got regulated to support bot duties for the remainder of the series), or Emma from Zeta (she not only got Kamille's hand-me-down Mk.II Custom but was able to combine that machine with Katz's backpack to form the Super Gundam; which she almost used to take down Yazan during the finale but Katz decided to fly face first into an asteroid instead which also ended up getting her killed and the Radish carrier sunk in the process).