Which Anime are you watching or have watched recently III?

[Eaglleia]

Then I'll have to disagree on both statements.
I mean, sure, you can think that SAO is good, but I'm under no obligation to agree.

What's wrong with SAO? I mean granted with the fairy arc and after it gets really dumb. But still that first arc... was awesome!

It was pretty mediocre in general, nothing too outstanding as far as the first season goes. I say this as someone who enjoyed SAO enough to read it's novels. The second season is generally better, though I still wouldn't put it in "best anime".

What's wrong with SAO? I mean granted with the fairy arc and after it gets really dumb. But still that first arc... was awesome!

I didn't enjoy it when .Hack did it, and SAO did very little different IMO. There's also the fact that I just straight up don't enjoy the story and plot. Ain't my kinda thing.

I personally thought SAO was pretty different from .Hack. SAO wasn't mindnumbingly dull, for one.

[Tano]

What's wrong with SAO? I mean granted with the fairy arc and after it gets really dumb. But still that first arc... was awesome!

I didn't enjoy it when .Hack did it, and SAO did very little different IMO. There's also the fact that I just straight up don't enjoy the story and plot. Ain't my kinda thing.

Seen Log Horizon? It's a bit of a different take on the "trapped in MMO" thing.

[Las Palmeras]

How come it seems that every topic on NS is hijacked by a couple of people that decide for everybody else what is good and what isn't and are out to chew out everybody that disagrees with them?

Because you won't appreciate the beauty of white noise and hallucinogenic imagery set to monologues on philosophy and IT. Oh, and because Lain Iwakura changes colors, that's why.

Ah, on a serious sense, I haven't seen anything after I finished Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman. I haven't a clue what to watch.

[Reploid Productions]

How come it seems that every topic on NS is hijacked by a couple of people that decide for everybody else what is good and what isn't and are out to chew out everybody that disagrees with them?

You learn to tune out those who hate something for the sake of hating it and simply will not listen to even the most well-thought out and calmly presented counterpoints. At least in A&F topics. 'Cause haters gonna hate.

[Ameriganastan]

Three episodes in, and I still have no fucking clue what's going on in Yuri Kuma Arashi. On top of being confusing, it's getting repetitive to boot.

[New haven america]

Three episodes in, and I still have no fucking clue what's going on in Yuri Kuma Arashi. On top of being confusing, it's getting repetitive to boot.

The entire show is a giant metaphor about sexual identity and social standards/norms.

[Ameriganastan]

Three episodes in, and I still have no fucking clue what's going on in Yuri Kuma Arashi. On top of being confusing, it's getting repetitive to boot.

The entire show is a giant metaphor about sexual identity and social standards/norms.

...I'm not seeing it.

[Las Palmeras]

Three episodes in, and I still have no fucking clue what's going on in Yuri Kuma Arashi. On top of being confusing, it's getting repetitive to boot.

Uh...like Big 3 repetitive...or trance-like Studio 4°C?

---

And speaking of pompous experimental anime things; I've seen Mononoke, Kuuchuu Buranko, parts of Eternal Family, Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space, Cat Soup, Paranoia Agent(possibly the most well-known thing I've mentioned so far), and most anything made by Triangle Staff.

Has anybody seen...eh...Tatami Galaxy? I haven't.

[Ameriganastan]

[
Uh...like Big 3 repetitive...or trance-like Studio 4°C?

Like "Wacky thing that is amusing once, but is just repeated endlessly". Every episode is the same thing.

"Growl, growl."
"I miss my dead girlfriend."
Some existential BS.
Chick runs up the stairs.
Gets thrown down the stairs.
Weird courtroom thing.
Flower licking.

Roll credits.

[Las Palmeras]

[
Uh...like Big 3 repetitive...or trance-like Studio 4°C?

Like "Wacky thing that is amusing once, but is just repeated endlessly". Every episode is the same thing.

"Growl, growl."
"I miss my dead girlfriend."
Some existential BS.
Chick runs up the stairs.
Gets thrown down the stairs.
Weird courtroom thing.
Flower licking.

Roll credits.

So...formula?

[Ameriganastan]

Like "Wacky thing that is amusing once, but is just repeated endlessly". Every episode is the same thing.

"Growl, growl."
"I miss my dead girlfriend."
Some existential BS.
Chick runs up the stairs.
Gets thrown down the stairs.
Weird courtroom thing.
Flower licking.

Roll credits.

So...formula?

I guess.

[New Terricon]

How was the new SAO season? I'm a little scared to go back after that second bloc of the first.

[Tano]

How was the new SAO season? I'm a little scared to go back after that second bloc of the first.

From what I heard, it's supposed to be good.

I dropped the series near the end of the first arc (well, technically it's on the very bottom of my to-watch list, and is continuously bumped down) because I couldn't get into it, so I can't really speak on the matter. Review seem to be favorable from those I talk to.

[Escalan Corps-Star Island]

How was the new SAO season? I'm a little scared to go back after that second bloc of the first.

Quite good. More grimdark for the first arc, coupled with some nice elongation of action and portrayal of Kirito as less-than-Superman.
Second arc is heartwarming and features Asuna as the main protagonist, then becomes both sad and has strangely deep considerations of ethics and the meaning of a virtual world. I highly recommend it.

[Eaglleia]

How was the new SAO season? I'm a little scared to go back after that second bloc of the first.

Better than the first, thought the fourth arc/mini-arc between the first and third arcs is pretty meh.
Fifth Arc (MR)>Third Arc (PB/GGO)>First Arc (Aincrad/SAO)>Second Arc (FD/ALO)>Fourth Arc (Calibur)

...I'm not seeing it.

It's 3deep5u?

[Dejanic]

Been watching Amagi Brilliant Park. Very good so far.

[Mike the Progressive]

Well just finished Fullmetal Alchemy. Guess I'm gonna give Brotherhood a shot.

[Dejanic]

Well just finished Fullmetal Alchemy. Guess I'm gonna give Brotherhood a shot.

Oh my god, you watched the whole of the original FMA, you poor man!

FTR, the original FMA is notoriously shit, where as FMA Brotherhood is completely based off the manga, and is notoriously awesome. If you enjoyed the horrific abomination of FMA, then you'll love Brotherhood.

[Tano]

Amagi Brilliant Park

If that's the one I think it is, I saw a preview of it a while back. Might give the first episode a shot next week.

[The united states of Saints]

Fucking code geass: lelouch of the rebellion

why did you kill Shirley?! The anime was great but you killed one of the characters I had hoped for things to go well with. Then the ending I kinda was ok with what an interesting way to create a new world mostly without hate so your little sister will be happy

Whoever told me that it gets worse as the ending got closer and closer you were right!

[Eaglleia]

But Shirley's death is a good twist. Not because I hate her, but you know, it can't just be the characters you hate who die.

[New haven america]

Fucking code geass: lelouch of the rebellion

why did you kill Shirley?! The anime was great but you killed one of the characters I had hoped for things to go well with. Then the ending I kinda was ok with what an interesting way to create a new world mostly without hate so your little sister will be happy

Whoever told me that it gets worse as the ending got closer and closer you were right!

You can't just have the characters you hate die, they have to mix it up, even if that includes characters you like.

[The united states of Saints]

But Shirley's death is a good twist. Not because I hate her, but you know, it can't just be the characters you hate who die.

true it was a good twist but still that was the one character, of the very few that I liked, that I didn't want to die and have her desire to be with Lelouch fulfilled cause hey I like a little Romance. Although, the way the anime ended was probably one of the best I have seen (I'm an amateur though) so if Shirley was still alive it probably wouldn't have been that great

[Reploid Productions]

But Shirley's death is a good twist. Not because I hate her, but you know, it can't just be the characters you hate who die.

true it was a good twist but still that was the one character, of the very few that I liked, that I didn't want to die and have her desire to be with Lelouch fulfilled cause hey I like a little Romance. Although, the way the anime ended was probably one of the best I have seen (I'm an amateur though) so if Shirley was still alive it probably wouldn't have been that great

Yeah, it really was a great ending in that I suspect for most viewers it succeeded in generating an emotional (whether happy, sad, or angry) response. Rather than write up a new piece of blather about the ending, I'll just share the one I wrote in 2008 the day I saw the finale.

There's a quote from the end of the novel Dragon Avenger that I think summarized Code Geass rather well:
"This history is a story of death begetting death, and should end with carrion birds, for they are the only ones who come out the better at the end."

Schniezel's fate, life without free will, servitude to those he sought to destroy... it's even more satisfying I think than the "die in a fire" that was my preference for him almost from the start. The bastard is Zero's bitch now, and that just pleases me no end. Good thinking Lelouch, you magnificent bastard.

Aside from that though, the ending leaves me conflicted.

On the one hand, when you watch/read something, you generally expect on some level for everything to work out and for a happily-ever-after, or at least a satisfying ending. That's just a common plot element in most stories. The hero triumphs over adversity, makes the world a better place, and gets a happily-ever-after. That didn't happen. On the other hand, after everything Lelouch has done, that Suzaku has done, giving them a happy ending... probably would have just felt wrong. Somebody had to pay the price, and Lelouch put himself up as that payment.

Still, it leaves me unhappy. Death is the easy way out, in my opinion. He's done, he doesn't have to worry about guilt or those left behind. He did all this to make the world better for Nunnally, but is she going to be any happier this way? She'll no doubt recover in due time, but she's going to undoubtedly have the guilt plaguing her that it's her fault he did all the stuff he's done. He abandoned her, left her bereft of her remaining family; no matter how much better the world is now, for her, it's a world without him, the one person she wanted by her side the most.

Suzaku's fate is also... appropriate, but depressing. His life is no longer his own; Kururgi Suzaku died in that battle, after a fashion. If the world realized he's still alive, they'd want him dead for his part in things. There's a certain irony in his taking on the role of Zero at the end, but he's forever stuck with that role now, there's no going back for him at all. Plus he has to carry the weight of his actions for the rest of his natural life- unlike Lelouch, he can't find recourse in suicide because of the Geass.

On the other hand though, all the surviving secondary characters seem to have gotten a happy ending. In a way, that kinda makes up for it; events grew well beyond the scope of the main characters to embroil the entire world; in the end the story can't just be about Lelouch, or about Suzaku, or about Nunnally. The ending unflinchingly follows that fact; they didn't sugarcoat things at all.

Overall, it was a good ending in terms of storyline. A great tragedy, fitting consequences for their actions, etc. ... But it's still the sort of ending that leaves me unsatisfied on some level, because it wasn't a very happy ending for the characters that the viewer becomes attached to, simply because they've been the focus of events the entire time.

Still.... there's 2 months between the final battle and Lelouch's death. The whereabouts of CC's code are unverified. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of rampant fanfic speculation about whether or not he's really dead.

Also, holy crap, that anime is already 6 years old. Time flies, srsly.

[Eaglleia]

CC's code? Don't you mean Emperocket Wakamoto's/V.V's before that?
Because IIRC that's the theory, that he took Charles's code, not C.C's.