retardation's periodic pleas for help

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by retardation

1. eremanter gerade - seems like people bring this series up here. it seems like your standard shounen. is there anything about it that makes it stand out? i'm generally pretty easy on shounen series but i'd like there to be something different or special about it since it seems like a difficult acquisition. anything to make the series different will do, fight sequences, animation, plot that deviates from the norm, really unique characters...

I vastly disagree with the two opinions posted here on the tile. I found it quite good and fully enjoyable. If one would ask for my favorite shounen series, this would be at the top. No, it doesn't invent anything particularly new, but it did a good work on what it had. The story flows nicely and has a fitting end, the romance part actually goes somewhere, and the cast is amusing and likable. If you like adventure/fantasy/romance with some comedy, i would say definitely go for it. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest after finishing this.

2. noein - did i ask about this before? somebody told me to watch this. i know nothing about it. pretty much the same shounen issues apply with this. i just don't want to see the same ol. want something i can get into.

Matrix meets twilight zone in your back yard. I consider it as a very solid entry in my anime list. The story is heavily SciFi based, so you should avoid it if you don't like that. The animations style is ... different. Depends whether you can bring yourself to like it or not. Actually, i would say the different animation style is the biggest turn-off this one has. If that doesn't bother you - i would say definitely go for it.

3. darker than black - i don't usually mess with current series but this looked kinda interesting to me but that just has me wondering why it's not getting more love on this site.

Depends whether you like episodic anime. It is decent, but i wouldn't say i am terribly interested in it. I suppose it is well worth checking out - if you like the first few episodes, chances are you will like it on the whole, because i think it gets better as it goes on.

Haven't seen the rest, but i will comment on the comedy bit. I wouldn't say that Lucky Star is considered the best comedy going on right now - i would say that title goes to Seto no Hanayome. You say you don't like ongoing shows, but i urge you to take a look at this. Lucky Star doesn't come even remotely close to the craziness of this anime

[retardation]

thanks. i'll check that out. it does look like it's gonna be done next week anyway.

i did watch a few episodes of that combat butler show... i thought that was funny. it seemed pretty tongue-in-cheek, which i liked. i do like these comedies to get me through my dreary, uneventful life though, i'll give that a shot.

[ZomgJon]

[SeijiSensei] "Both Noein and Saiunkoku Monogatari are in my signature, so you can guess I'd be endorsing both shows.

I often agree with Jedinat's recommendations, but not in the case of Noein. It's one of my favorites because (1) many of the animated sequences are truly remarkable, especially for a television series; (2) the children seem pretty realistic for 12-year-olds, neither too sophisticated nor too naive; (3) there is an effort to create a scientific justification for the conflict between "timespaces" based on quantum theory (there are some excellent discussions of the science in the Noein thread, BTW); (4) the juxtaposition of ordinary life and sci-fi fantasy is really well done.

If you like science fiction and haven't watched Planetes, I'd recommend that as well. While the animation is more pedestrian than Noein's, the characters are well-developed, and the plot has a number of touching moments. If I had been programming the SciFi channel and asked to pick between these, I'd probably have given the nod to Planetes because it's more episodic, and thus more compatible with watching over the course of a TV season. Noein's story extends over the entire course of the show, so you need to commit to it."

I also agree is Seiji. Noein is one remarkable series. the plot is actually well read into before it was made. I mean really, an series about Quantum Physics. There's rarely a series about that. This is actually a must see series. Even though some of the fight scenes are sketch but they are still some of the best fight scenes you'll see.

[andromeda0201]

1) Erementar Gerad - was okay, but nothing much unique since you are asking for that. It does provide some entertainment, and a pretty good satisfying ending. Thats it

2) Noein - somehow I don't think this fits into the 'shounen' genre, I found the plot very interesting and liked it a lot. However it does drown you with lots of quantum physics, if you are wary of sci-fic animes, then better not try

4) Saiunkoku Monogatari - again, don't try to compare with Juuni Kokki or even with Fushigi Yuugi, the only similarity is that all are in settings similar to china. Saiun has a lot more romance than Juuni but less than Fushigi. In fact, it is like a balance between the two. I find that it does get progressively interesting as the plot thickens...

5) Otogizoushi - I liked the first historical arc but the 2nd arc with the modern setting just felt lacking and turned me off

[gaguri]

2. noein - did i ask about this before? somebody told me to watch this. i know nothing about it. pretty much the same shounen issues apply with this. i just don't want to see the same ol. want something i can get into.

You don't have to worry about it having 'shounen issues', and it wouldn't be a bad idea if you check Noein out, since it's valued highly by a lot of people. As for me, I think it's no way near as good as people are making it out to be. Both its premise behind the story and art/animation is unique, but it's a mixed bag of inconsistency. If I may recommend a sci-fi other than noein, it would be Seikai Series (Crest of the Stars, Banner of the Stars, Banner of the Stars II).

3. darker than black - i don't usually mess with current series but this looked kinda interesting to me but that just has me wondering why it's not getting more love on this site.

Haha...I think it's getting plenty of love on this site, and for that you might like to check it out as well. Although I wouldn't personally give this any recommendation, I think there are more enthralling ones airing at the moment.

[retardation]

1. slam dunk - see i love basketball and, as a result, shows about basketball can easily upset me if they aren't good. my friend who is a tennis coach hates prince of tennis and i have another friend who is heavily into boxing and though he doesn't watch anime, he hates pretty much every boxing movie ever made. this makes me kind of worried about slam dunk.

also, i have watched the first couple episodes of slam dunk and it seems like your every day high school sports success story. that being said, it appears that it's the most popular manga of all time or something. i'm not interested in the manga but the anime but is there anything great about it that'll come up? why does it have so much acclaim?

2. the third - this something like kino's journey? that's what it looks like. at this point, i am really tired of some anime with the digimon type style too. i need some nicer looking anime. i watched magical girl lyrical nanoha and i couldn't take it. that style just isn't doing it for me. fma is the only anime with that drawing style i can tolerate. i don't know why i'm ranting about this but i hope this isn't like that.

3. mars daybreak - what is this supposed to be? some kind of underwater mecha? i'm really not able to get into the whole mecha thing for real. it's all those straight angles. they're so sharp. i like mecha without a lot of straight angles like eureka7... unless it's mad good like evangelion. if it's some really exciting stuff then straight angles are tolerable. i don't even mean on the robots too. i mean people chilling in the prototypical command room/war room where there a bunch of boring buttons and straight angles. it's horrible to look at. they need to at least draw some scratch marks on it to give it some character. but still, if the story is good then whatever, bring that. underwater seems like it could be awesome or terrible. i think i seen an octopus vs. mecha fight already... where else can you go?

4. code geass - oh man how you people hyped up this series. i watched about 30 seconds of it. i watched 30 seconds and was thinking oh my god this looks lame. some driven kid saves japan from the clutches of some international oppressive empire? is this the whole story? i swear this show starts and i see like 6 characters... like 2 boy kids, 3 girls and one old villain who all look boring as hell. is this good though? i usually like shonen kind of stuff you know. didn't i already ask about code geass? i can't even remember now but those are my concerns.

5. hidamari sketch - lemme explain something. i love azumanga daoih. love it like it was my little brother, family dog and bank account combined into one entity. i don't like lucky star though. i don't get how you can like that show without learning japanese. lucky star ain't do it for me. gauken utopia manabi no straight or whatever was boring too. didn't dig that at all. i like that manabi no straight animation though. that was fluid like mouth wash; i can't even lie. i do like ichigo mashimaro though. that had some class. anyway, what does this follow? i need some funny sh*t to happen if i watch this show man. i don't just want to look at cute girls. anime redundancy is aggravating me. i don't want characters that are just your usual types.

[SeijiSensei]

Hidamari Sketch demonstrates that you can make a show about absolutely nothing at all and still have it be enjoyable. Maybe it's that Seinfeld thing. The episodes are not in chronological order so it doesn't really matter where or when you start. Cute girls, strong seiyuu performances, and not as aggressively comedic as Lucky*Star. You may not laugh out loud at Hidamari Sketch, but you'll smile often along the way.

Oh, and the animation, though extremely simple in design, is top-notch.

[Frans]

Slamdunk - If you like basketball, I think you will like it. It's not like Prince of Tennis where they have an impossible moves. Btw, the anime only cover about half of the manga.
The Third - It's far from Kino's Journey. It's more of a shounen anime mixed with unique storytelling. It's not deep, but not shallow either.

[Navel]

I think your post sounds more like a rant and you are looking for other people to approve your point of view. However, just like people like different types of food, they like different types of anime and what's not on your taste might be on somebody else's and vice versa.

[retardation]

this is suggestion board, i'm supposed to express my likes and dislikes to assist others in assisting me.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Slam Dunk is so awesome, it is nothing like pot with it's unrealistic tennis. I watched Slam Dunk about 8years ago it was one of best anime and manga I ever saw, and I don't even like basketball. It is also very funny.

[retardation]

so folks, what were the best series of last season?

i plan to watch:

claymore
serei no moribito
darker than black
zero no tsukaima 2


dunno about devil my cry and skull man. i may check those out too.


also if there's a nice mod out there, can somebody change this thread title to something like "retardation periodically asks for suggestions" or something? i've been advised i can't make new threads here so i want to convey that this is a "living thread".

[schiffer]

I dont really like Red Garden, a high rank of whine, like Gantz whine.
I realy really love Nana, its one of the best anime I have watched. But its alot of whine, crying, and love.
1 of over 100's.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by retardation

so folks, what were the best series of last season?

i plan to watch:

claymore
serei no moribito
darker than black
zero no tsukaima 2


dunno about devil my cry and skull man. i may check those out too.


also if there's a nice mod out there, can somebody change this thread title to something like "retardation periodically asks for suggestions" or something? i've been advised i can't make new threads here so i want to convey that this is a "living thread".

Which season? The one that's currently running (Summer) or the one before that (Spring). Because, other than ZnT2, which is Summer, the rest of those titles you listed are Spring titles.

Of the summer titles, I'd say Higurashi Kai blows the rest out of the water, while Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is the sleeper hit of the season. ZnT2 is just a huge disappointment, compared with its highly enjoyable predecessor.

Of the spring titles, I'd recommend Lovely Complex, Idolm@ster Xenoglossia (which is turning into a real surprise) and Hayate no Gotoku (as well as Claymore, Darker than Black and Seirei no Moribito as you listed, which are all pretty good.)

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by retardation

so folks, what were the best series of last season?

i plan to watch:

claymore
serei no moribito
darker than black
zero no tsukaima 2


dunno about devil my cry and skull man. i may check those out too.


also if there's a nice mod out there, can somebody change this thread title to something like "retardation periodically asks for suggestions" or something? i've been advised i can't make new threads here so i want to convey that this is a "living thread".

Title changed
As for the series ...

Claymore - a pretty decent show. If the genre floats your boat chances are high you will like it.

Serei no moribito - not watching, because ancient japan setting is not exactly among my favorites. People say it is really good though.

Darker than black - pretty nice, but lacks that extra umph that would make it stand out. Over time has failed to maintain my interest, and so i am lagging behind with this one.

Zero no Tsukaima 2 - the disappointment of the season ? Average on its own, largely disappointing when compared to season1. After 6 episodes of watching i have dropped it.

Devil My Cry - borderline absurd, style over substance for all intents and purposes. Cool looking, but ultimately dumb. I didn't last for more than 2 episodes

Skull Man - stalled for the moment, but i am planning to get back to it. It has potential.

And i am going with the recommendation of Higurashi Kai if you are not watching it - definitely one of the best (if not the ) shows the season has to offer (Watching season 1 before this is a must)

[retardation]

thanks for the title change, man!

and oh yeah i forgot all about lovely complex. i have been wanting to watch that.

to be honest i wasn't the biggest higurashi fan. i don't know if i want to look at the second season? i'm wondering if it's all the same characters and stuff.

[retardation]

and after finally watching raxephon... it really IS disappointingly similar to evangelion. i wouldn't say it's better either. i think it might be a bit easier to swallow since the main character is more of your usual brave guy but the thing i like most about evangelion is that shinji is such a little b!itch. that's so realistic. (he reminds me of myself at that age... or this age.)

[Echoes]

Higurashi Kai is about the same characters, the main focus is still on the same group. If you did not like the first season I wouldn't recommend it, since they're very closely related. You have to understand and remember the first season to really get the full view, I think. I very much like both the first and now the second season, Higurashi is unprecedented in the horror genre, so I think you're missing out.

I haven't watched Raxephon myself, but after hearing so much talk about how similar it is to Evangelion, it sounds very tempting. I don't think it'll be able to top Evangelion for me (that's a task hard to accomplish), but it still sounds promising.

[retardation]

well i do respect what higurashi is trying to do. it still doesn't entertain me all that much. i mean it's ok. i can watch it. but there's too many shows out there and i am really too busy with law school to watch a show that i already have evidence that i won't really, really like.

where is that sejei sensei guy? i was using his sig as a guide to watch mature shows and that's totally gone now?

[SeijiSensei]

I'm touched that you missed me, retardation.

Here's my old sig just for you!

Currently I'm following Claymore, Mononoke, Dennou Coil, and Oh! Edo Rocket, along with Seirei no Moribito which is in the group above as "Guardian of the Sacred Spirit." I'm also watching the second season of Saiunkoku Monogatari, but subs for that are coming slowly.