So how about some suggestions?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

So Witchblade is surprisingly warm and fuzzy once you get past the T&A on the surface. I'm definitely enjoying it.

Yeah, I just finished watching the last episode. It strikes a good balance between being thematically faithful to the comics and having a genuinely good story about family and friends.

I say its thematically faithful in that the Witchblade is just a total enigma like it was in the early years of the comic. I only followed the early years so the Witchblade having a mind of its own and corporations warring over it is familiar territory from the comic. Plus the Witchblade doesn't dominate every episode, so which is also rather consistent with the comic, so there's lots of room to develop the heroine and the cast much like the comics did.

It goes its own way with the main character, her daughter Ryoko and other relationships though, and so for those unfamiliar with the comic, that's a fair trade off. For fans of the comic, it just keeps things fresh. It doesn't hurt that most of the cast is incredibly likable.

Its a nice adaptation, to say the least, though I'm sure it still would ruffle the feathers of purists for not being as dark and bloody as the comics. Then again, the live action TV show probably pissed people off as well. I haven't seen the short-live live action show, though.

My only complaints were that Masane's proportions sometimes too fanservicey, sometimes even distracting from what would otherwise be a really emotional scene. I mean, seriously, I know we're trying to have a serious moment, that social services is trying to take your daughter away here but.... dat ass! Then again, the comics were somewhat guilty of this as well.

The other problem is while all the people on the good side of things get a lot of development, there's just not enough time to really develop the villains save for a few. There are a couple of awesome baddies that just never really go anywhere or die before you learn anything about them. So you get like three of four Boba Fetts here. So just know they're evil and they had it coming.

The family drama is really the heart of the show and what makes it worth watching, though. It does a fantastic job of expressing what it wants to there.

[cidbahamut]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

So Witchblade is surprisingly warm and fuzzy once you get past the T&A on the surface. I'm definitely enjoying it.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

Thanks Vyuru and Ray, I most definitely watch foreign movies!

[Raydeus]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

If we are adding live shows to the list now then let me suggest 2002's NHK Musashi series.

It's awesome.

[Vyuru]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

I like it so far, not love but its solid. I'm only on ep. 6 though so I might change my tune later.

It more or less stays like that throughout the show.

Now it's sticking in my mind that you have NetFlix or something like that, so I am going to make two non-anime suggestions:

Hana, The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai

And...

Departures

Dunno if you are into foreign flicks or how available they are to you, but both of those are quite good movies.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

Ok, so I thought you guys were talking about Hero Tales when you said Heroic Age. I haven't seen Heroic Age yet so I d/l'd that and I'm currently watching it. I like it so far, not love but its solid. I'm only on ep. 6 though so I might change my tune later.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

Checked out 009-1.

Pretty much a "what if" of James Bond flicks. As in, what ever a team of Fembots from Austin Powers gone the way of Lupin's Fujiko as cyborgs superspys fighting in a futuristic version of the 60s where the cold War is still going on. They also rip-off the neck USB ports from GitS.

I does have a small but of Lupin in it in the look and sound of it, which I like, but its also riddled with deus ex machina.

At the end of the day, everything this show does, Lupin and GitS have done better. It is very fanservicy, though.

[cidbahamut]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

I'm adding Afro Samurai to the list. There might not be any depth to it, but damn if it isn't a fun watch.

[Feba]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

I can't stand to watch more than about a minute of the children's programming on NHK, sorry. The rest of the kids stuff is just channels of shitty anime.

If you want to study Kanji, pick up Buy 250 Banjin no Kanken Premium - Zenkyuu Zen-Kanji Kanzen Seiha (Nintendo DS™) - Play-Asia.com for your DS. IIs wonderful.

[Raydeus]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

Any kanji learning shows (usually for kids小å¦æ ¡?) you can recommend from what you've seen over there? <_<




PS > As a reference I'm still struggling to remember the æ•™è‚²æ¼¢å— I'm supposed to already know. orz

---------- Post added at 07:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:59 PM ----------

Speaking of suggestions there's also Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and xxxHolic if you like CLAMP.

Tsubasa can be incredibly slow at times but the few girls I actually talk about anime with have loved it.



Also worth mentioning is Kobato, bonus points for it if you've seen Chobits too.

[Feba]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

oh, figure I should mention.

If anyone is a beginner in Japanese looking for a good start for watching shows without subtitles (as listening practice), Bottle Fairy is a great place to start. Episodes are shorter and easier to manage, the language is pretty simple, it discusses quite a bit of Japanese culture, and it's pretty easy to rewatch over and over again because it's pretty much like a saturday morning cartoon.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

Well I have watched a bit of Macross but at the time I just didn't have time for it so I forgot to watch the entire thing. It will all hinge on whether the series draws me in or not, if it does I'll watch Frontier but if it doesn't then I'll just burn it and put it into my "I'll watch this if nothing else is good" stack.

[Raydeus]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

That's odd, but to each their own.

It's up to TGM to choose whether to watch it or not.

[cidbahamut]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

I stand by my statement. That series got a lot of hype and I slogged all the way through to see what the fuss was all about. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't something I would recommend.

Other things you should be watching that aren't Macross Frontier:

Ergo Proxy - because it's a decent post-apocalyptic vision.
Saiyuki - bite sized actiony series with some amusing characters. Not quite good, but enjoyable and disposable enough that it's not a big deal if you skip out halfway through. Also: Sanzo, best priest ever.
Ghost Hound - The most audio intensive anime I have ever encountered. Seriously, don't watch this without a good pair of headphones.
Paranoia Agent - Very good at what it does. Required viewing for sure.

[Raydeus]

Re: So how about some suggestions?

Yes indeed.



And I just noticed cidbahamut's comment about Macross Frontier, but I seriously doubt you wont like it unless you didn't like the previous Macross series.

There's Macross, Macross Plus, Macross 7 and Macross Zero that you need to watch before Frontier, otherwise you will miss quite a few references here in there, although it isn't "lore" heavy.


PS >

<Insert another shameless Macross Ace/Ultimate Frontier PSP game plug>