JELEINEN

When is the new season supposed to start airing in England? The Christmas Invasion was a lot of fun and the previews for the next season rocked (Sarah Jane! K-9! Cybermen!!).

I don't recall it being said that the Soul Society was supposed to be some sort of paradise. In fact, in most religions outside of Christianity and Islam, the afterlife isn't all that great even for the good people. It didn't bother me at all that the one in the show is that way as well.

See signature.

Come on. It can't possibly be worst than the anime adaptation.

So wrong. So funny.

I just watched an episode of something called Tactical Roar and it was bad. The show has some really awesome looking, near-future naval and aircraft technology, but that was enough to save it. The premise of the setting is a little hokey, but not enough that it couldn't have been ignored (basically a permanent typhoon covers most of the pacific making air travel difficult and resulting in a return of travel by ship which results in turn in the return of piracy). Then we get into the story... Basically we start with the all female crewed ship, except the new engineer who's a really nice if incredibly introverted guy who immediately is put into stupid situations where everyone immediately assumes he's a pervert. Oh and the captain is his childhood friend. So basically it has the same plot as umpteen bajillion other shows and is predictable as hell. Bleh.

The ship designs and the gravity lenses are awesome. The story... eh.

You're kidding, right? If you're going to use the kids as a symbol of Japan as a whole, then at least come to the logical conclusion. The kids starve because they're neglected by their family and the people around them. In other words, other Japanese people. Therefore, if that was truly the symbolism intended by the film makers, then they're blaming themselves. Personally, I think this point of view is completely unsupported by the film. If they had wanted to make the argument that you're making, then the enemy would have been portrayed as something other than an act of god/nature. For all intents and purposes, you could easily substitute an earthquake or volcano for the bombs and the film's meaning wouldn't change a bit. Really, what the film is saying is not all that complicated: people treat each other like poo.

http://www.beam.tv/beamreels/reel_player.p...nZmcspQGWk&fs=1

The manga is still running. Second season of the anime is supposed to start this Fall. And for the record, I think it's one of the best commedies to come out in the last couple years.

The Kickstart site no longer lists either the LA TV series or the LA movie.

It's crap. It doesn't look anything like a Gunstar.

I like this one better: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=8354

What's interesting is while it says the movie is only in development (which means there's a good chance it could never get made), the TV series is listed as being in production.

Whoah right there, buddy. Let the blame fall where it's deserved. Mamaru Oshii is responsible for the two Ghost in the Shell movies, not Masamune Shirow. 372926[/snapback] Not that lots of exposition and weird digressions aren't very common to the manga either. But yes, Shirow had nothing to do with the films.

Well, for one thing I knew going in that it was a Mamoru Oshii film, so I expected a lot of exposition in places and a lot scenes without any dialog. I enjoy his style, so I don't have a problem with it. As for the plot, I thought it was excellent; especially since he managed to work in such a great twist ending. The whle build up for the entire film has been leading to some sort of existential ending involving the whole "what is life?" question that typifies the cyberpunk genre. The truth of the matter ends up simply being another case of human cruelty. It's an amazing bait and switch that I think could only have been pulled off with all the philosophical pining that Oshii put in. The same ending in your typical action-fest film would have fallen flat. The really great visuals and soundtrack only add to the film, as does the excellent characterization. On the other hand, I thuroughly dislike the first GitS film. The characters are flat and the plot is very linear and predictable. I was bored with it and have never had the desire to watch it again.

I never saw Grave as so much a condemnation of war so much as simply a condemnation of man's inhumanity. The people that are villified the most are the family and other people who neglected the kids. I think you could easily substitute a natural disaster for the war and the film wouldn't have changed much. Now if you want something that actually addresses war and morality in an anime, check out Barefoot Gen.

I think that's the thing. There are a lot of anime I don't like because of the genre (boys fighting and harem anime to name two examples), but that really doesn't say anything about the quality of the shows themselves. In fact, if anything, it probably disqualifies me from making any comments on the quality of shows in those genres. And even though I strongly disagree with his opinions of Innocense and Grave of the Fireflies, I really appreciate Sundown for giving a well reasoned explanation for his opinions.

I can't believe you haven't clicked on the link in my signature if you want to know more about the original Gunbuster. 372841[/snapback] Speaking of signatures, love the Blakes 7 bit you've got quoted there. Damn, now I need to see that series again...

The anime starts out good, but as soon as it starts to deviate from the manga, it falls apart. The ending was pure ass. I'll second or third or whatever the recomendations for the manga.

I suppose you didn't like Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry either, since the short format offends you so much. Of course, if you'd bothered to read the back of the DVD case, you'd have known what the run time of the show was. Personally, I think Panda Z is a lot of fun and has some of the best BGM I've heard in a long time. As for recent bad stuff I'll second Bokusatsu Tenshi and Gravion as being horribly bad. I'm blanking out on anything else really at the moment. I do agree with Mr. March that you can generally tell if a show is going to be any good within the first couple episodes. The first episode is where the creators are supposed to grab their audience, and if they fail there, then you know the rest of the series isn't going to be much better.

If you read back, you'll see that a number of us have seen it. And yes, they're making a historical, or at least semi-historical Yamato movie.

I wouldn't mind another episode or two with the sisters and the kids from the shop. Those were fun fillers.

Brick and mortor book/media chain.

The original Di Gi Charat series (16 5 minute episodes) is out in the US from Synch Point Anime.