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Watching animation


Vijy

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I know that a lot of ICFers enjoy watching (live-action) films and TV series, and there are many enjoyable discussions that I encounter regarding the same. I was wondering if anyone here enjoys watching animation, whether it be movies or TV series, foreign (e.g. Japanese anime) or American, etc. It would be nice to hear if anyone has watched something enjoyable recently, or if they'd just like to post about any series/movies that are their favourites.

 

I've been watching a number of interesting/enjoyable US animated TV series lately, both for children and adults. Some examples listed below:

Adults: Rick & Morty, Bojack Horseman

Children/Adults: Voltron, Trollhunters, Hilda (beautiful and very underrated), The Dragon Prince

 

I also watch a fair amount of Japanese and European animation, but won't get into them in the current post.

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Big fan of Rick and Morty. Although the 3rd Season was a mixed bag with a couple of great episodes (Rickshank Rickdemption and Ricklantis Mixup) but the average episode was clearly weaker compared to S1 and S2. Going forward, I am not sure if they have any interesting arc to cover except for Evil Morty's origin.

 

Bojack Horseman is consistently good. But also consistently depressing. Probably Netflix's best original series (haven't seen Narcos and Stranger Things yet).

 

When it comes to anime movies, I am a big fan of Takahata and Satoshi Kon (may both RIP :(() . Like Miyazaki as well when he keeps it light (like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away). Not so big on his "environmental" movies.

 

Netflix in India is improving it's anime catalog with Steins;Gate and Neon Genesis Evangelion so they are next on the watch-list. Also need to dive into Paranoia Agent.

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35 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Big fan of Rick and Morty. Although the 3rd Season was a mixed bag with a couple of great episodes (Rickshank Rickdemption and Ricklantis Mixup) but the average episode was clearly weaker compared to S1 and S2. Going forward, I am not sure if they have any interesting arc to cover except for Evil Morty's origin.

 

Bojack Horseman is consistently good. But also consistently depressing. Probably Netflix's best original series (haven't seen Narcos and Stranger Things yet).

 

When it comes to anime movies, I am a big fan of Takahata and Satoshi Kon (may both RIP :(() . Like Miyazaki as well when he keeps it light (like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away). Not so big on his "environmental" movies.

 

Netflix in India is improving it's anime catalog with Steins;Gate and Neon Genesis Evangelion so they are next on the watch-list. Also need to dive into Paranoia Agent.

Bojack is indeed top-notch, albeit gloomy and pessimistic.

 

Although my fav Miyazaki is one of his "enivronmental" movies (Nausicaa), most of my other favs are not environmental ones: Kiki's Delivery Service and the 2 you named. Kon and takahata were indeed amazing. you will enjoy kon's Paranoia Agent I think; it's beautifully directed.

 

Steins;Gate took me multiple tries to get into it, but I came to enjoy it greatly in the end. NGE is of course a classic, but sometimes I feel it's a bit overhyped (ditto for cowboy bebop); there are far better anime series that fly under the radar IMO.

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11 minutes ago, Vijy said:

Bojack is indeed top-notch, albeit gloomy and pessimistic.

 

Although my fav Miyazaki is one of his "enivronmental" movies (Nausicaa), most of my other favs are not environmental ones: Kiki's Delivery Service and the 2 you named. Kon and takahata were indeed amazing. you will enjoy kon's Paranoia Agent I think; it's beautifully directed.

 

Steins;Gate took me multiple tries to get into it, but I came to enjoy it greatly in the end. NGE is of course a classic, but sometimes I feel it's a bit overhyped (ditto for cowboy bebop); there are far better anime series that fly under the radar IMO.

Like? 

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8 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Like? 

too many to name off the top of my head. Most works by Yoshitoshi ABe (especially Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei) feature high psychological complexity and philosophical depth. Works by Masaaki Yuasa have an incredible visual style, innovative storytelling and diverse themes: Ping Pong the Animation is a fav of mine. Devilman Crybaby is available on Netflix US, but it is very violent (in multiple sense) and not to everyone's taste. Kunihiko Ikuhara is a maverick whose works are thematically and symbolically very complex and explore many social issues: he is best known for the classics Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena, but some of his recent work is also very cool.

 

Moving on from specific people, there are plenty of very enjoyable series (which I'd give a 9/10) that I saw just within the last 2 years: Run With the Wind (sports drama + coming-of-age), Land of the Lustrous (philosophical fantasy with gorgeous animation), Made in Abyss (action-adventure-fantasy), etc.

 

If you have some specific genre/theme in mind, I'm happy to throw out some choices, with the caveat of course that it's my (subjective) opinion. I have some unorthodox picks such as Flowers of Evil, which was either loved or hated by many (with almost no middle ground)

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5 minutes ago, Vijy said:

too many to name off the top of my head. Most works by Yoshitoshi ABe (especially Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei) feature high psychological complexity and philosophical depth. Works by Masaaki Yuasa have an incredible visual style, innovative storytelling and diverse themes: Ping Pong the Animation is a fav of mine. Devilman Crybaby is available on Netflix US, but it is very violent (in multiple sense) and not to everyone's taste. Kunihiko Ikuhara is a maverick whose works are thematically and symbolically very complex and explore many social issues: he is best known for the classics Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena, but some of his recent work is also very cool.

 

Moving on from specific people, there are plenty of very enjoyable series (which I'd give a 9/10) that I saw just within the last 2 years: Run With the Wind (sports drama + coming-of-age), Land of the Lustrous (philosophical fantasy with gorgeous animation), Made in Abyss (action-adventure-fantasy), etc.

 

If you have some specific genre/theme in mind, I'm happy to throw out some choices, with the caveat of course that it's my (subjective) opinion.

Man you really watch too much anime :p:. Any atmospheric/dystopian series you'd recommend? Ideally something like the first third of Akira. Also if you have anything as gorgeous looking as 5 Centimetres per second in mind.

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1 minute ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Man you really watch too much anime :p:. Any atmospheric/dystopian series you'd recommend? Ideally something like the first third of Akira. Also if you have anything as gorgeous looking as 5 Centimetres per second in mind.

I plead guilty.

 

Dystopia: my favs are "Ergo Proxy" and "From the New World", but there are other good ones like Psycho-Pass, Claymore, Wolf's Rain, Berserk (all of which are somewhat overrated). "Kaiba" and "Toward the Terra" are both wonderful, but more of semi-dystopias.

 

Shinkai is almost in a league of his own as far as just visuals are concerned, so it's hard to find others. Studio Ghibli is just as good, including those made by lesser known directors (e.g. Arietty). Wings of Honneamise is an old, but very high budget, sci-fi anime movie that still looks great to this day. TV generally has lower budget but you should check out most series by Kyoto Animation (KyoAni for short). Hyouka is a very good KyoAni series that looks great and is a combination of drama and sleuthing. Space Battlsehip Yamato 2199 was released recently - has a very good budget and visuals as well as an enjoyable space opera plot.

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10 minutes ago, Shaz1 said:

I am a avid anime fan. My childhood favorites were Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Dragonball Z, and Pokemon. I continue to watch anime till this day. 

I didn't watch pokemon and digimon when young, but I enjoyed the other two (good old goku). what have you been watching lately in anime?

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2 minutes ago, Vijy said:

I didn't watch pokemon and digimon when young, but I enjoyed the other two (good old goku). what have you been watching lately in anime?

Aside from watching anime I am a huge gamer. I am into esports of fighting games. So I have been on a break from anime for a little bit. I love Fairy Tail, the Fate series, One Punchman, and Hero Academia. I need to catch up to Fairy Tail and One Punchman. Need to try Shield Hero. I got lots planned.

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2 minutes ago, Shaz1 said:

Aside from watching anime I am a huge gamer. I am into esports of fighting games. So I have been on a break from anime for a little bit. I love Fairy Tail, the Fate series, One Punchman, and Hero Academia. I need to catch up to Fairy Tail and One Punchman. Need to try Shield Hero. I got lots planned.

I enjoy playing games too, but mostly action RPGs. Haven't seen Fairy Tail, liked some installments of Fate Series (Team Rin Tohsaka), liked One Punch man and enjoyed Hero Academia. Shield Hero was good - started off rather weak IMO, but finished strong.

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1 minute ago, Vijy said:

I enjoy playing games too, but mostly action RPGs. Haven't seen Fairy Tail, liked some installments of Fate Series (Team Rin Tohsaka), liked One Punch man and enjoyed Hero Academia. Shield Hero was good - started off rather weak IMO, but finished strong.

Fairy Tail is not for everybody it gets bashed for its fanservice a lot. As its fan people usually love to bring it up to me cause on certain anime forums I go by the name of Natsu Shazneel. In my teenhood I watched Naruto. Been in its fandom regularly debating and defending my favorite characters for around 3 years. Naruto the series inspired me the most. I love underdog stories.

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Just now, Shaz1 said:

Fairy Tail is not for everybody it gets bashed for its fanservice a lot. As its fan people usually love to bring it up to me cause on certain anime forums I go by the name of Natsu Shazneel. In my teenhood I watched Naruto. Been in its fandom regularly debating and defending my favorite characters for around 3 years. Naruto the series inspired me the most. I love underdog stories.

of course, naruto is considered as a classic. as the series is a long running one, I found some parts of it boring while others are exhilarating, but overall it is really nice to watch. if you haven't watched it, you will probably like fullmetal alchemist.

 

regd fanservice, I don't mind it, and in fact I enjoy it when it's well done (like in the monogatari series starting with bakemonogatari).

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Just now, Vijy said:

of course, naruto is considered as a classic. as the series is a long running one, I found some parts of it boring while others are exhilarating, but overall it is really nice to watch. if you haven't watched it, you will probably like fullmetal alchemist.

 

regd fanservice, I don't mind it, and in fact I enjoy it when it's well done (like in the monogatari series starting with bakemonogatari).

I only started disliking Naruto near the end of the series. The Adult versions of Naruto and Sasuke look so disappointing. 

 

I have watched Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Alchemist brotherhood. I was so depressed at the ending of Full Metal Alchemist that I had to literally ask my cousin if Brotherhood had a happier ending for me to actually watch it. 

 

Aside from the series I already mentioned I have watched Ruruni Kenshin, YuYu Hakosho, Trigun, Wolf Rain, Eureaka Seven, G Gundam, Death Note, Bakuman, Multiple seasons of Yugioh!, Digimon, and Pokemon, K Kings, Zoids, plus lots more etc.

 

The story suffers for Fairy Tail as well. But I like it cause it entertains me.

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3 minutes ago, Shaz1 said:

I only started disliking Naruto near the end of the series. The Adult versions of Naruto and Sasuke look so disappointing. 

 

I have watched Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Alchemist brotherhood. I was so depressed at the ending of Full Metal Alchemist that I had to literally ask my cousin if Brotherhood had a happier ending for me to actually watch it. 

 

Aside from the series I already mentioned I have watched Ruruni Kenshin, YuYu Hakosho, Trigun, Wolf Rain, Eureaka Seven, G Gundam, Death Note, Bakuman, Multiple seasons of Yugioh!, Digimon, and Pokemon, K Kings, Zoids, plus lots more etc.

 

The story suffers for Fairy Tail as well. But I like it cause it entertains me.

Yes, the original FMA ending is rather bleak. Although I think brotherhood is more complete, there are some aspects of the original FMA I like more. lot of nice series among the ones you mentioned. I liked bakuman, wolf rain, kenshin. was not totally sold on death note: got a bit monotonous for my tastes. haven't seen most of the gundam franchise - too many to watch :)

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1 minute ago, Vijy said:

Yes, the original FMA ending is rather bleak. Although I think brotherhood is more complete, there are some aspects of the original FMA I like more. lot of nice series among the ones you mentioned. I liked bakuman, wolf rain, kenshin. was not totally sold on death note: got a bit monotonous for my tastes. haven't seen most of the gundam franchise - too many to watch :)

FMA Brotherhood follows the manga so its canon. The series was made by a women so was impressed how well she wrote Winry. Do you by any chance like the japanese openings by any chance? 

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1 minute ago, Shaz1 said:

FMA Brotherhood follows the manga so its canon. The series was made by a women so was impressed how well she wrote Winry. Do you by any chance like the japanese openings by any chance? 

the opening songs & music? I generally tend to like the ending songs more, but it really varies from anime to anime. Yes, FMA brotherhood is canon, which is the overall product is more polished (to my eyes). winry is indeed a well-written character

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5 minutes ago, Vijy said:

the opening songs & music? I generally tend to like the ending songs more, but it really varies from anime to anime. Yes, FMA brotherhood is canon, which is the overall product is more polished (to my eyes). winry is indeed a well-written character

I love every opening of Fairy Tail, the osts are amazing. Sometimes I like to listen to them if I am doing gym. Ever watch Durarara or Noragami?

 

 

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1 minute ago, Shaz1 said:

I love every opening of Fairy Tail, the osts are amazing. Sometimes I like to listen to them if I am doing gym. Ever watch Durarara or Norigami?

 

 

norigami, yes - impressive anime. OSTs are indeed great to listen when well done. I like this anime composer called Yuki Kajiura in particular.

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