And You Thought There Was Never an Anime Thread on This Forum!

[Sharpnel]

Huh? Was there a 3 already? I thought IV stands for Invisible Victory; not 4

You forgot about FMP: Fumoffu, the more comedic of the three series we have seen to date

[Ghostbear_Gurdel]

Happy Day! One of my oldest and most favorite series is getting a continuation!

[MadCapellan]

Huh? Was there a 3 already? I thought IV stands for Invisible Victory; not 4

As Sharpnel said, it's IV, Fumoffu was the 3rd. Sure it's Invisible Victory, but that's a play on IV to begin with.

[pheonixstorm]

Still gonna watch it regardless :)

Has anyone heard anything about Familiar of Zero? Heard a rumor a long while back that it might be getting a reboot but could never find any information one way or the other.

[MadCapellan]

Still gonna watch it regardless :)

Has anyone heard anything about Familiar of Zero? Heard a rumor a long while back that it might be getting a reboot but could never find any information one way or the other.

I'd love that if done well, considering Zero no Tsukaima is one of my favorite anime of all time, but I think that's unlikely since the author passed away a few years ago & the market has moved on. Alas, the era of Kugimiya tsundere dominance is over! Probably the most fun I've ever had with anime. I'll follow her until the end!

[kato]

Didn't stop them from publishing the two remaining volumes of the light novels with a new author.

Or by tsundere-magic genre competing light novel series Seikoku no Dragonar from pushing out an anime series with adapted setting that virtually cloned the Louise-Saito dynamics only a year later. The manga adaption of that is still ongoing btw.

[MadCapellan]

Didn't stop them from publishing the two remaining volumes of the light novels with a new author.

That author was working from outlines Yamaguchi wrote before he died and encouraged them to make because he didn't want his story left unfinished. Honoring a dying colleague's last request to make your product not a dead end is a little different from pushing a reboot.

Or by tsundere-magic genre competing light novel series Seikoku no Dragonar from pushing out an anime series with adapted setting that virtually cloned the Louise-Saito dynamics only a year later. The manga adaption of that is still ongoing btw.

Eh, I thought Dragonar was pretty awful and tasteless.  You could tell the author really loved Zero no Tsukaima, & I respect that, but it had all the aesthetics & none of the character development or story. Mariya Ise sure did a great Rie Kugimiya impression, though!

[mdauben]

FMP4.

SQUEEEEE!!   {>{>

I was just rewatching FMP! (the first season of the anime) but I remember giving up on seeing another season years ago.  I can't wait for this.

[pheonixstorm]

Didn't stop them from publishing the two remaining volumes of the light novels with a new author.

That sounds like how the Wheel of Time series finished out. The author left more than enough notes for another writer to finish the last novel or two. Turned out rather well I think.

[iamfanboy]

That sounds like how the Wheel of Time series finished out. The author left more than enough notes for another writer to finish the last novel or two. Turned out rather well I think.

The weird thing about the last couple of books is you could tell which scenes were written by the original author, and which by the new author - because the new author can actually write dialogue. Funny dialogue. But yes, it turned out rather well.

*sigh* Right now I'm severely restricting my bandwidth, so I can't watch any new anime series. My wife and I got... bored of Gurren Lagann at episode 20 because it started to go all Gainax serious - the eldest Black sibling is just not funny enough to liven the mood. Yes, I know it gets livelier, and we'll probably rip through a couple of episodes tonight when she wakes up, but right now I need about a 20% drama/80% comedy mix in my shows - too much IRL crap going on.

[Wrangler]

I'm having trouble watching much of any new anime lately. It's either boring, too short or dumb.  It's just me. I maybe burnt out.
See too much Anime maybe.  #P  I maybe watching maybe 3 series per season or less.  My genres are dying i guess.
Anime New Network essentially spelled out through one of the articles that most of the anime we end up watching are "late night" animes which aren't that popular and their more advertising for manga than actual original content.  With couple exceptions, like ID-0 was original or Space Dandy.  However, on average it's advertising. :( Example: UQ Holder is advertising manga, with maybe 1st episode actually dead on to the manga (mostly) with rest telling self-contained story not quite matching up with it.  Which in way is good thing i think.

I like some of the things don't get me wrong, it's been lacking to me for some reason.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory maybe different story when it comes out.

[kato]

If we were watching what's popular in Japan we might as well transfer over to the MLP thread. Youkai Watch, Precure, Pokemon... okay, with some Detective Conan and One Piece in the mix there'd be at least something.

Then again, for those with a mood for older stuff, i'd probably throw quite a sum for a translated BD set of the anime of KochiKame, pretty much the Japanese version of The Simpsons.

[MadCapellan]

Anime New Network essentially spelled out through one of the articles that most of the anime we end up watching are "late night" animes which aren't that popular and their more advertising for manga than actual original content. 

Late night anime is for otaku. Otaku are practically by definition not mainstream. Except in a few instances like Gundam, we aren't talking about Star Wars/Marvel Cinema level cultural awareness here, it's D&D/Pathfinder equivalency. Like Kato said, In terms of actual eyeballs watching a show, popularity for anime is kids anime like Pretty Cure & Pokemon, and a handful of big name Jump titles.

Anime original properties have been the minority since at least the late 80's. Most anime has always been based on a manga, a video game, or a light novel and was made for advertising purposes. That shouldn't disqualify it as art or entertainment any more than Gone With The Wind or Jurassic Park should be disqualified from consideration as classic film because they're based on books.

Getting burnt out on anime is pretty understandable. Like American comic books, the storytelling tends to follow certain formulas which get well-worn after a while, and a fair number of genres like mecha that tend to be popular here in the West are kind of on the outs in Japan outside a handful of evergreen IP with dedicated fanbases. Don't feel like you need to watch anime every season, there's usually only a few great shows surrounded by a swarm of fun but forgettable works and a good chunk of stinkers. The truly great shows people will still talk about next year. If no one can recall the title it wasn't all that important.

[iamfanboy]

I'm having trouble watching much of any new anime lately. It's either boring, too short or dumb.  It's just mean. I maybe burned out.
See too much.  #P  I maybe watching maybe 3 series per season or less.  My genres are dying i guess.
Anime New Network essentially spelled out through one of the articles that most of the anime we end up watching are "late night" animes which aren't that popular and their more advertising for manga than actual original content.  With couple exceptions, like ID-0 was original or Space Dandy.  However, on average it's advertising. :( Example: UQ Holder is advertising manga, with maybe 1st episode actually dead on to the manga (mostly) with rest telling self-contained story not quite matching up with it.  Which in way is good thing i think.

Or, ya know, you could fall for what the anime makers are trying to do and buy into the manga. Advertising isn't BAD, unless it's lying to you somehow - and the advertising that anime gives isn't a lie, usually. "Here's the first part of the story... and the rest of it is elsewhere."

I recently finished off the Excel Saga manga, and it was worth it - even though the anime BARELY covered the first six volumes of the manga! I know I'm eagerly awaiting the Made in Abyss manga thanks to the anime that just wrapped up. Bought all the Danmachi LNs that are currently in English, and I'm fighting the urge to buy Vol 10-12 in nihongo because I want to support the ENGLISH production.

[elf25s]

best example of late night anime would be ebichu the house sitting hamster....
nuffsaid

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Or, ya know, you could fall for what the anime makers are trying to do and buy into the manga. Advertising isn't BAD, unless it's lying to you somehow - and the advertising that anime gives isn't a lie, usually. "Here's the first part of the story... and the rest of it is elsewhere."

They could at least not end so many series on no-resolution cliffhangers.

[Dies Irae]

They could at least not end so many series on no-resolution cliffhangers.

But how else would they get you to buy the books?  :)

*Stares at Spice & Wolf*

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

If it's a good enough series that shouldn't be an issue.  The problem is that there's a lot of shows that seem defiantly against resolving anything.  It gets old quickly.

[DarkSpade]

But how else would they get you to buy the books?  :)

*Stares at Spice & Wolf*

Exactly what happened to me.

[Lazarus Jaguar]

But how else would they get you to buy the books?  :)

*Stares at Spice & Wolf*

Except, in the case of the Light Novel adaptations, we never get the books on this side of the Pacific

[Dies Irae]

Except, in the case of the Light Novel adaptations, we never get the books on this side of the Pacific

I was under the impression Yen Press had picked up the licence and was releasing... everything.

[MadCapellan]

I was under the impression Yen Press had picked up the licence and was releasing... everything.

Not everything, but a lot of the A-list Kadokawa titles, at least!

[iamfanboy]

I couldn't get into Spice & Wolf. It seems like my kind of thing - bossy loli-esque girl, historical settings with a bit of magic, slice of life - but it just never gripped me.

On the other hand, the Haruhi LNs just kept... getting... better. Disappearance, where the anime adaptation ends, is only volume 4, and it's (technically) 10 volumes long. I mean, there are some parts of the anime from volume 5 and 6, but frankly they don't have the best short stories chosen as anime episodes.

Except that would mean cutting those brilliant Endless Eight episodes. It turned the kind of ho-hum, "Okay, well, that's what's going on, huh?" story into something that you viscerally feel what it would be like to be trapped in an endless loop with just tiny variations each time.

I think I'm going to rewatch them.

[Charlie Tango]

I couldn't get into Spice & Wolf. It seems like my kind of thing - bossy loli-esque girl, historical settings with a bit of magic, slice of life - but it just never gripped me.

It's not for everyone but it's *so* lush and *so* beautiful. And Holo is best girl...

On the other hand, the Haruhi LNs just kept... getting... better. Disappearance, where the anime adaptation ends, is only volume 4, and it's (technically) 10 volumes long. I mean, there are some parts of the anime from volume 5 and 6, but frankly they don't have the best short stories chosen as anime episodes.

Except that would mean cutting those brilliant Endless Eight episodes. It turned the kind of ho-hum, "Okay, well, that's what's going on, huh?" story into something that you viscerally feel what it would be like to be trapped in an endless loop with just tiny variations each time.

I think I'm going to rewatch them.

that's a different take than I've ever heard on Endless Eight.

[DarkSpade]

Except, in the case of the Light Novel adaptations, we never get the books on this side of the Pacific

Which side of the Pacific is Illinois, cause we get them here.   O:-)

It's not for everyone but it's *so* lush and *so* beautiful. And Holo is best girl...

If you can stay awake through the economics lessons, there's some damn good story in there too.  I remember one part in season two that really had me thinking, "holy crap, this is not going to be a happy ending story".  Granted, that was before I discovered the two season anime wasn't the entire story.   I was really looking forward to reading the manga's take on that bit of the story, but the whole thing was only briefly alluded to in a a one panel flash back.  #P

[MadCapellan]

that's a different take than I've ever heard on Endless Eight.

I've always viewed Endless Eight as Kyoani's "....and our fans will still love us!" stunt, and I've never really seen them as positively since.

[Charlie Tango]

I've always viewed Endless Eight as Kyoani's "....and our fans will still love us!" stunt, and I've never really seen them as positively since.

Perhaps.  You know far more about it than I do but I'd like to chalk it up to "we tried something and it just didn't work"

[Dies Irae]

It's not for everyone but it's *so* lush and *so* beautiful. And Holo is best girl...

Holo is wise wolf.  ;D

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I found myself watching the anime adaptation of Amaama to Inazuma (Sweetness and Lightning) recently, and as an avid reader of the manga, I thought they did an admirable job of adopting the heartwarming if bittersweet slice of life/food porn series. I think it might be available on Crunchyroll, though not being American, I can't tell.

The strength of Sweetness and Lightning lies in its exploration of the mundane: The three characters the anime adaptation revolves around are Kouhei Inuzuka, a high school teacher and recent widower who is still coming to terms with the sudden death of his wife, his daughter Tsumugi, a five year old blob of energy, cuteness and positivity and Kotori Iida, a student from one of his classes who is struggling through the changes that come with her parent's divorce.

And the fact that neither Kouhei nor Kotori can cook well...

It's also an oddball for a food porn show in that it focuses on the simple dishes that you're more likely to come across in home-cooked meals than extravagance.

There's a bit of subtext that Kotori is crushing hard on her teacher which irked an educator friend of mine, but the source material is smart enough for her to openly acknowledge it wouldn't work, and Kouhei has no room for anyone besides taking care of Tsumugi at the moment.

It's cute beyond belief.

[iamfanboy]

that's a different take than I've ever heard on Endless Eight.

I've always viewed Endless Eight as Kyoani's "....and our fans will still love us!" stunt, and I've never really seen them as positively since.

It's wildly experimental, and definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed every moment of every episode - no joke. Each costume change, each new chosen angle, each bit of dialogue omitted or changed slightly entertained me greatly.

Part of the problem with any media is, "How do we make the viewer experience what the character is experiencing?" Kyon feeling trapped by the realization that he's looping the same actions over and over, only wanting to escape them. Yuki bored to tears by nearly six hundred years of a summer vacation. And Haruhi, never quite satisfied because something's missing. How would YOU feel if you suddenly realized you'd done this exact same thing fifteen thousand times?

As it turns out, you'd be bored, pissed, frustrated, and feeling like you've seen it all before. Just like being stuck in an endless loop is, and just like the characters were. What's the point, when you've done it fifteen thousand times before? Or six times before. And yet, you still do it, because that's what you can do.

It also was interesting in terms of mixed media, because the LN left them in the loop. Never stated why and how they got out. And it was plainly planned in advance - why call it the Endless Eight in a very short story published in 2003-4 when the actual episodes didn't air until 2009... which were very purposefully 8 episodes?

Yes, it would have been great to see Melancholy of Mikuru Asahina or Editor-in-Chief, Full Speed Ahead but the Endless Eight is a work of art, done for art's sake. It's far more on the masturbatory part of the slider (if art is on a sliding scale between doin' it for others and doin' it only for yourself) but it's so beautifully absurd that I can't help but admire it.


So what series this season are good? I've got some internet I'm stress-testing and looking to try the good stuff.

[Charlie Tango]

It's wildly experimental, and definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed every moment of every episode - no joke. Each costume change, each new chosen angle, each bit of dialogue omitted or changed slightly entertained me greatly.

Part of the problem with any media is, "How do we make the viewer experience what the character is experiencing?" Kyon feeling trapped by the realization that he's looping the same actions over and over, only wanting to escape them. Yuki bored to tears by nearly six hundred years of a summer vacation. And Haruhi, never quite satisfied because something's missing. How would YOU feel if you suddenly realized you'd done this exact same thing fifteen thousand times?

As it turns out, you'd be bored, pissed, frustrated, and feeling like you've seen it all before. Just like being stuck in an endless loop is, and just like the characters were. What's the point, when you've done it fifteen thousand times before? Or six times before. And yet, you still do it, because that's what you can do.

It also was interesting in terms of mixed media, because the LN left them in the loop. Never stated why and how they got out. And it was plainly planned in advance - why call it the Endless Eight in a very short story published in 2003-4 when the actual episodes didn't air until 2009... which were very purposefully 8 episodes?

Yes, it would have been great to see Melancholy of Mikuru Asahina or Editor-in-Chief, Full Speed Ahead but the Endless Eight is a work of art, done for art's sake. It's far more on the masturbatory part of the slider (if art is on a sliding scale between doin' it for others and doin' it only for yourself) but it's so beautifully absurd that I can't help but admire it.

I had an appreciation for some of those aspects (different masks,  different yukata, angles, etc.) and I understand the need storywise to set up the events in Disappearance  but it's like the kid in class who won't get off of a joke or a catchphrase.  It eventually becomes unfunny to the point of annoying.  I appreciate the art but they crossed the line by about two or three episodes, in my opinion.