Official Anime/Manga Thread

[krazystitch]

Yeah that's one thing I hate about Jojo.

 

They /always/ focus on Part 3 when Part 1 and Part 2 are great. In fact Part 2 is much superior in every way so go watch those and the fight between the Joestars and Dio will have much more weight to it.

 

Its about building up to that point. People always have to rush to Part 3 like its the best part or something. :/

I'm a little late on replying to this, but it's generally how I feel about Jojo's. I think every part has their strong points and their bad points, but it bothers me how everyone freaks out about part 3 and only part 3. I honestly enjoyed the first two parts more than the third part because it actually felt like they had much stronger characters and interactions with each other. Jonathan's rivalry with Dio is way more interesting than Jotaro's. Joseph and Caesar make a way cooler team than Jotaro with Polnareff. My favorite is actually part 1 and would even call that specific part one of my favorite anime of all time, but the hype for everyone else is just built around the stands.

On a different topic, is anyone really interested in the Summer season? I'm watching a few and some of them are actually pretty good, can't say I expected it. Gangsta and Charlotte have some promise, and other ones like Ranpo Kitan and God Eater aren't quite grasping me. I know we're still early into it, but doesn't hurt to share some thoughts.

Edited July 17, 2015 by wingedarcher7

[Mauro Fonseca]

>Seeing people complain that people focus too much on Part 3

>Everyone talking only about Parts 1, 2, and 3

you're slowly driving me crazy here

[krazystitch]

It's because I'm mainly focusing on the anime that's been released so far when I talk about it. If I were talking about Jojo's as a whole, then I would have brought in the other parts as well. The fact is that part three is the most popular no matter what.

[Ratcicle King]

While I do agree reading the manga is great, I honestly prefer the anime, not only David Production did a great job so far in adapting the mangas, while adding some extra flair.

So I think while I can very well read the manga, the anime is worth the wait.

[Mauro Fonseca]

I really don't think it is...

For one, by this pace you'll reach Part 8 circa 2022 (where we're possibly gonna be at Part 9 or 10). For another, as Araki's art gets more intricate and detailed, the visual downgrade will become more and more obvious. Already it was visible by the end of Part 3, comparing the posing and faces from manga to anime. If it were all CGI like the OP it'd actually be worth the wait purely on art reasons, but it really isn't :V

Plus it means you won't have to deal with spoilers like "Dio was studying alchemy and returns in Part 6" :V

[Remy]

If you really love Jojo you should check out the manga, no two ways about it IMO.

Like I understand if you really like watchin the show and don't particularly like reading for whatever reason, but man, do it for the joestar family doods. carry on the will.

I think a lot of Part3's popularity is due to that, until now in the west you couldn't read or watch PB or BT even if you wanted to, and english speaking countries' only exposure was through viz doing SC mangas and the capcom fighting game/ZA WARUDO meme. as more parts of the anime come out you'll probably see allegiances shift a bit. 

I wonder what fan rankings are like for Jojos in countries where they got officially translations. (italy, france, etc) I'm kinda interested. 

[Chaos Warp]

I like Jojo a lot so I've been starting to read the manga with part 4 but I will agree that David does a fantastic job adapting Jojo so I would probably go for the anime for parts 1-3. 

[Kuzu]

Read the manga, you plebeians; all this Parts 1-3 rank and none of you have read Stone Ocean.  

[Ducktor Naldush]

If you really love Jojo you should check out the manga, no two ways about it IMO.

Like I understand if you really like watchin the show and don't particularly like reading for whatever reason, but man, do it for the joestar family doods. carry on the will.

I think a lot of Part3's popularity is due to that, until now in the west you couldn't read or watch PB or BT even if you wanted to, and english speaking countries' only exposure was through viz doing SC mangas and the capcom fighting game/ZA WARUDO meme. as more parts of the anime come out you'll probably see allegiances shift a bit. 

I wonder what fan rankings are like for Jojos in countries where they got officially translations. (italy, france, etc) I'm kinda interested. 

Here I am! I can do this!
From what I've gathered (chatting with friends and people who have read the manga, reading websites, and of course my personal opinion), in Italy there isn't an actual fan ranking. It's usually agreed, though, that while Phantom Blood is a good reading, you've got to realize WHEN and WHY the first chapter of the Jojo series was pubblished. Especially the way the characters are drawn, which is considered just a poor man version of The Fist Of The North Star, another manga and anime series that is insanely popular in Italy, know under the name of " Ken Il Guerriero", "Ken The Warrior". There aren't that many Jonathan fans here; Granpa Zeppeli and Speedwagon are way more liked here.

Battle Tendency is considered one of the best episodes, if not the best by some fans. Joseph, the young Joseph, that is, is probably the Jojo most liked by readers. He is considered, alongside Yoh Asakura from Shaman King, Yusuke Urameshi from Yuyu Hakusho and Kenshin Himura from Samurai Kenshin, one of the most unique Shonen protagonist born from Shonen Jump. (From Shonen Jump, mind you. We're not going to talk about Full Metal Alchemist or Soul Eater) His wit, his luck, his intelligence and quick-thinking are what makes him a fan-favourite. Then again, every character from Battle Tendency is loved in its own way. Even the Pillar Men. (personally, while Joseph is my favourite Jojo, I find myself liking Old Joseph way more, but I disgress)

With Stardust Crusaders we are reaching a really hard spot to define. Some people like it because of its characters interaction, despite the really linear plot and "Oh, an enemy! ORAORAORAORAORA Enemy defeated, GOGOGOGO (Rinse and repeat)" writing. Other dislike it for this reason alone. It's still considered one of the best episodes, especially since there are people who have hard-ons for Dio Brando and the cardboard box called Jotaro (And calling him a cardboard box is not usually considered an insult to the character, even his fans are perfectly aware of Jotaro's lack of personality, but they like him anyway; they think he's cool and stuff.). Nevertheless, even detractors of the series can't deny that most of the combats, and the strategies used, are awesome. A fan-favourite is the battle against D'Arby The Gambler. Unfortunately some people, stupid people, think of Old Joseph as a different character from Young Joseph because apparently people in Shonen mangas aren't allowed to get old or develop a different personality after 40 and so years. Fuck those people.

Diamond is Unbreakable and Vento Aureo are considered "Rival episodes" in Italy. Most of the people who like DiU dislike Vento Aureo and vice-versa. The are those who appreciate DiU's approach to the story, by using half of its volumes to portray the village of Morio-Cho and its inhabitants, and absolutely love the main villain and most of the stands used (Bad Company ftw). And again, OId(er) Joseph is still disliked by a good amount of readers. Fuck them. Fuck them all.
Others like Vento Aureo's quest-like plot more and cosider Giorno Giovanna a better Jojo than Josuke. I'm not one of those people, so I can't really judge. We consider it a "filler" installment in the Jojo series, though. We are also puzzled about the Italian translators' choice of using the Italian names of the Italian cities featured there...but keeping Naples with his English name instead of calling it with its Italian (and thus, real) name "Napoli".

People don't usually like Stone Ocean. They really don't. And it's not for the ending, which is actually considered good and mind-screwy, but for the main character and her associates, whose personalities are not interesting to most readers. I'm one of those people. Yep. So I'll stop right here.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Naldush Repulsa

[Mauro Fonseca]

reminder the best part so far is probably Part 7

 

like damn son

 

that was some good patriotic shit there

[Yoko/葉子]

I'm starting to like light novels more than manga. Any legally available ones I might like besides Slayers? I am reading a volume of Karin/Chibi Vampire in the light novel version now.

[SuperStingray]

So it's a year old by now, but I just watched No Game No Life and have to gush about it.  I went in with some skepticism, thinking that it would be just yet another gamer-pandering series that just builds jokes and plotlines around video game tropes, but was surprised to find it wasn't so much about video games as much as proper game theory.  If you haven't seen it, basically two NEET siblings, Sora and Shiro, are invited to live in a world where all conflict is resolved through games rather than violence.  Thing is, their combined pool of natural talent and lifetime of practice already puts them ahead of the general population, so they rise to power almost exponentially.  I'd almost criticize them for being Mary Sues if it weren't for that A: they're so entertaining to watch and B: the series hinges on the premise that they simply never lose.  Most of the games either have some weird rule to make it interesting or the opponent is cheating somehow, but the siblings figure out some ABSOLUTELY INSANE gambit to use that rule/cheat in their favor.  And when I say insane, I mean you should keep an eye out for the odd, seemingly trivial decisions that Sora makes because I can guarantee it will become pivotal one or two episodes later.  After a while, you realize what makes the show interesting isn't the uncertainty of whether they'll win so much as HOW they'll find a way to win, whether it's by predicting their opponent's thought process or exploiting outside factors.  The only honest downside is that the rulesets and gambits were sometimes so complex that I had to rewind several times just to keep up with the thought process, but to me that only shows how intelligent the show is.  (Well, there is also a lot of fanservice, but it felt more goofy and all in good fun than cheap and sexy, although there are some pretty uncomfortable moments between Sora and Shiro.  And not to spoil anything, but one character's panties are responsible for a major turning point in one of the games. )  Also, the crazy oversaturated art style is amazing, but may leave you puking rainbows by the end.

But I'm serious, this is probably the most entertaining anime I've watched all year, perhaps in my all time top 5.  The sense of ascending stakes and magnitude with each successive episode scratches an itch that hasn't been scratched this well since Gurren Lagann, and I can't wait for the second set of episodes.

[Yoko/葉子]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-07-24/viewster-to-stream-key-the-metal-idol/.90847

After some legal complications being solved, one of the most amazing OVA's of the 90's is finally returning to America. So sad and yet so close to the heart.

[#AR]

Summer Season animu impressions

Charlotte - standard KEY fare so far. nothing special, but I like the powers thing. Makes me think this'll probably be some X-Men vs. Angel Beats kinda hybrid. Let's see if it holds up...

Overlord - Thank god this one didn't just straight up ride with the MMO theme. It actually feels more like a fantasy show than another .hack, SAO, or Log Horizon. So far, it's alright. Some screwy CGI here and there.

Shimoneta - Was thinking it would be another Seitokai Yakuindomo but the dirty jokes in this one don't reallt have timing to them at all. just sounds like natural conversation between me and some of my friends. Some slightly interesting characters, but eh.

Working!! S3 - SO glad to see this show back. Missed all of them nutcases. Also romantic development is always appreciated.

Aoharu x Machinegun - Mikako Komatsu's the main character so I already like her. Pretty decent rule-of-cool anime. Enjoyable watch for me.

Durarara!!X2 (Part 2) - lack of budget is still noticeable, but nothing's a huge dealbreaker. I just enjoy watching this series, that's all there is to it.

 

So far this season's kinda dry for me, so I've mostly been taking the time to rewatch a few of my old favorites (Air Gear and School Rumble) and blowing through my Nagi no Asukara/A Lull in the Sea blu-ray box set (that cost me 135 dollars why the hell did I even)

[Yoko/葉子]

I saw Yamataro Returns a few days ago. Probably one of the cutest OVA's of the 80's. And it was made by Tezuka!

[Nexthehedgehog]

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Yotsuya station arrested Ikuya Ōtaki, a 22-year old college student from Niigata Prefecture's Shibata City, on Wednesday for allegedly threatening to blow up a theater showing a Precure film in Shinjuku, Tokyo on opening day.

According to the police, the suspect admitted to the charges against him, stating, "I envied how the characters in the movie are always happy, bright, and forward-looking with all their hearts. My fond feelings for them turned into jealousy."

The suspect allegedly made the threats using his computer on March 12, at 10:55 p.m. He allegedly sent a tweet to the account opened by the Precure film staff, and the post stated, "I've planted bombs in various places of the theater floor." He further allegedly tweeted, "I'll crash a truck loaded with gasoline tanks directly into the theater and set the building on fire." The Eiga Precure All Stars: Haru no Carnival film opened in Japan on March 14.

The management of the Shinjuku theater increased security in response to the threat.

No bombs were found in the theater, and the screenings of the film were not delayed. Authorities stated that similar threats have been made on Twitter, and they will investigate any connection to the current suspect.

 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-08-05/man-arrested-for-bomb-threat-to-precure-film-screening-on-twitter/.91307

 

Jesus...

[Yoko/葉子]

Checked out Amagami SS. I still need to see another 22 episodes of the first season, though.

I like how unlike most dating visual novels adaptations, instead of focusing on on just one character or eventually all boiling down to one eventually (Clannad), the continuity resets every 4 episodes to be a what-if that focuses on another girl. And I usually love what-ifs.

[Salamander]

I've seen some quite enthusiastic recommendations of Charlotte here and there, but I'm not sure I get the hype.  It just strikes me as fairly mediocre, I'm afraid, and I'm not sure the premise holds up to scrutiny.  I wish they'd put more weight upon the limitations of their powers, as those are actually interesting, but then there are quite a few powers in the series which don't actually appear to have such limitations?  I feel it could have used a strong central plotline rather than a psychic-of-the-week format, though admittedly I'm a week behind at the moment.

I'm intrigued by Ranpo Kitan because I hear it's a mystery and horror show, which is probably my favourite genre combination, but what do you know - there is no legitimate U.K. stream for it.  America's got it, Australia's got it, but there's no legal way to watch the show in the U.K. at all - and that applies to quite a few anime this and all other seasons, actually.  It's enough to justify my position of watching only legal sources but without paying a cent towards them.  (Although I recently learned just how much it actually costs to license a series for streaming, and the figure is high enough that I can't imagine it's sustainable.)

That's kind of the model for the season, actually - disappointment.  There's not much that's really wowing me.  ClassroomStarCrisis sounded like it had a pretty exciting premise, sort of like Bodacious Space Pirates, but in much the same way as Bodacious Space Pirates turned out to be Boring Space Mercenaries, Classroom Crisis's exciting premise turned out to be for the first episode only and the rest is a slow-paced satire of Japanese corporate culture.  School-Live's twist earned it a few more episodes, though, and it seems to be emphasising the twist side of things rather than the "irritating girls do supposedly cute things" side of things, so that's something.  What else... Rokka's premise had promise, but I've since heard a few things which rather suggest that it won't be living up to it, and the characters' behaviour frequently strikes one as wildly implausible.

[#AR]

I've seen some quite enthusiastic recommendations of Charlotte here and there, but I'm not sure I get the hype.  It just strikes me as fairly mediocre, I'm afraid, and I'm not sure the premise holds up to scrutiny.  I wish they'd put more weight upon the limitations of their powers, as those are actually interesting, but then there are quite a few powers in the series which don't actually appear to have such limitations?  I feel it could have used a strong central plotline rather than a psychic-of-the-week format, though admittedly I'm a week behind at the moment

Charlotte is pretty crap. Then again, I'm one of those people that tends to not like most things made by KEY, but this show has some of the worst forced drama out of all the KEY things. The last two episodes especially, basically groaned all the way through 'em. Hope they didn't do like Angel Beats and run the plot into a brick wall.

[Salamander]

I haven't seen the most recent episode yet, but there's a fair chance I'll agree; at this point it's basically a game of watching and thinking how it could have been done better.  My first impression of the last episode I saw is, "At least something is finally happening," though.

Honestly it probably says a lot that the shows I'm most enjoying this season are the ones I didn't expect.

[Yoko/葉子]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-08-18/a-corpse-is-buried-under-sakurako-feet-tv-anime-1st-promo-video-reveals-cast/.91812

A girl who collects bones!? Sounds like something right up my ally. I was just writing about someone who can make bones a couple of days ago!

[Kuzu]

Guess who started Psycho Passss

So yea, I really liked the first episode and look forward to it. It feels like a fresh anime and unique to it....and soon, I will go through Season 2 and that will come to an end.

[Chaos Warp]

Guess who started Psycho Passss

So yea, I really liked the first episode and look forward to it. It feels like a fresh anime and unique to it....and soon, I will go through Season 2 and that will come to an end.

Man, just ignore Season 2 and go straight to the movie. Season 2 is more or less irrelevant and it sucks, there'd only be 2 or 3 blanks you'd have to fill in. PP1 and 2 spoilers below.

 

 

All you would miss is gaining some minor context on who Mika, a PP2 introduced character is, if you go straight to the movie you can just treat it like she's one of Akane's new team members she gained in the timeskip, and she's really not good in PP2 anyway so it might just be better to do that. There's 1 or 2 more inspectors on Akane's team in the movie from PP2 but they were minor in said PP2 anyway so you really don't miss anything. The last thing would be what Akane tells Sybil at the end of 2, she tells Sybil to branch out, which makes what Sybil does in the movie make a lot more sense, even if it still makes sense at the end of the context of Season 1. 

 

I more or less just filled you in so finish Season 1, read this spoiler, and then watch the movie, lmao. 

Edited August 19, 2015 by Chaos Warp

[Yoko/葉子]

http://all-wrongs-reversed.net/2011/09/28/beneath-the-cherry-trees/

My, my. I was right. A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako's Feet is likely named for the poem listed above. Yet people say that anime does not draw from real things. It is wonderful to see a poem be used as a pun.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Lime/Parvati-Pai/Key

[Yoko/葉子]

Remember when I mentioned that Rie Tanaka (Morrigan in MvC3, Chii ＋Freya, Lacus Clyne, Suigintou, Dr. Ciel) was under so much stress when a maniac ruined a Neptunia event that she closed her Twitter?

ANN posted that she has come back to it (and thus probably feels better now). Send her a welcome back, if you want. ”おかえりなさい。”