Discussion Threads

Don't worry, so long as you haven't died on us, I'm good (although I've seen another No. 6 episode since I wrote the piece you haven't replied to yet . . .)

I'm just about to finish series 1 of Natsume so I can't really participate in that thread yet. I should get there soon. And I'm watching No. 6 latest episode probably tonight, so I can jump in on that one. I just posted to the Tiger and Bunny thread .

I'm also working my way through Bleach, finally lol. But I'm in the very early days. Omg I'm about to step into the Bount storyline - this is going to be hard lol. But I'm intrigued by enough of the characters to want to continue. So I won't be starting a Bleach thread any time soon lol. But what I'm trying to say is I'm also willing to discuss older animes here too. I like the discussions here - I don't get spoilers up in my face and I like the in depth conversation here .

Oh and I gave of on Uta no Prince Sama too. I just could not continue with that - that main character completely ruins it for me.

Oh, I'm still watching Blue Exorcist btw and I'm actually enjoying it. Yes it is quite shonen but I think they are beginning to really explore a lot of the characters and the story is evolving. So if anyone wants to discuss, I can join in on that conversation too .

Well, guys, the new season is already starting out in fansub-land. I've already seen the opening episodes of Phi Brain (shounen meh--will be taking Ao no Exorcist's spot in my rotation unless something better comes along), and Fate/Zero (plot is merely okay, but I will be watching this one on a pure seiyuu/music pron basis--Hayami Shou *and* Nakata Jouji with major roles in an anime with a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack? *SOLD!*), and will be tackling the first ep of Chihayafuru today. I'm also waiting on the airing/subbing of Shakugan no Shana III, the new Last Exile spinoff, Persona 4, Mirai Nikki, and the two noitaminA series (UN-GO and Guilty Crown). (There's an episode of C3 in my queue as well, but I'm not expecting much from it--just as well, because what with the stuff carried over from previous seasons, I'm running out of slots.)

Anyone else intending to watch any of these in particular?

Ugh I just need to find another seinen show. T&B is still continuing to ruin my anime life.

Eli, are any of those slashy? I'll watch a half-decent show if it's really slashy Barring that, are any just really, really good? I CAN watch a show with zero slash, but it has to be amazing. See 12 Kingdoms.

I just started Kimi to Boku. You know, I don't want to pass judgment just yet, so ... I'll wait a few more episodes before I attempt to start a discussion thread. Because at this point I'm not sure it's worthy of one LOL

Well, some of them haven't even premiered yet—for those, I'm going on brief descriptions and promotional art like the stuff at http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/...UqeMb64BBB.jpg to decide what to try. I'm not expecting Persona 4, Shana III, or the Last Exile spinoff to be anything to write home about, though, and the studio working on Mirai Nikki is not one of the better ones. The two noitaminA titles might turn out to be really good, really bad, or anything in between.

Of those I've already seen at least one episode of, Chihayafuru shows some promise—it might turn out to be very good, especially if you liked Hikaru no Go or Shion no Ou (it's a character-driven show in a similar vein to those two, about the game of karuta). The other standout is Mawaru Penguindrum, carried over from last season, which I would especially recommend to Utena fans (but be warned that it is really trippy—only Ikuhara would write a serious drama involving possessed novelty hats and invisible penguins (which is a good thing, because I don't think anyone else would have a hope in hell of pulling it off!))

Slashable . . . I dunno. Fate/Zero's main cast is almost entirely male and some of the characters are attractive, but they aren't typical bishounen by a long shot (and a couple of them are married with kids). Your best bet there might be Sengoku Paradise Kiwami, which I'm not intending to sample.

Okay, update, now that I've seen at least one episode of everything:

Persona 4: I was correct about this being rather meh. I suspect it's probably a pretty faithful adaptation of the video game, although it's hard to tell given that the last Persona I played was II: Eternal Punishment.

Shakugan no Shana III (AKA Final): I think I'm going to have to check some summaries of season 2—it's been quite a while and I can tell that I'm missing some of what's going on. This season's gimmick involves the male lead from the previous seasons dropping out of sight to join the other side. Other than that, typical Shana (that is, a lot of mostly girls/women fighting each other).

Last Exile~Fam the Silver Wing: This one might turn out to be unexpectedly good if they manage to maintain a balance between the political and adventure portions of the story (something which the original Last Exile did quite well, IIRC, although again, it's been quite a while since I watched it). No yaoi potential whatsoever, alas—all the characters introduced to date have been either female or butt-ugly, except for the lead antagonist (well, and Dion.)

Mirai Nikki: <facefault> I thought this was going to be a straightforward adventure, but instead it seems to be turning into Higurashi no Naku koro ni with cellphones (and without the plot-rewind device). Generic schoolboy gets caught up in a nasty game engineered by a bored god. A lot more violence than I expected, and some weird plot twists. Might be worth a look if you liked Higurashi and/or Deadman Wonderland, although there's a shortage of bishies so far.

UN-GO: Dark and depressing near-future mystery series about a very able detective whose deductions are always swept under the rug by the authorities to avoid disturbing the status quo. Whether or not this one is worth watching depends on your tolerance for nasty downer endings. Definitely not yaoi material, either.

Guilty Crown: The story on this one feels like they're throwing in any shounen cliché that they feel can reasonably fit, but I'm going to keep watching it anyway because of one character: Gai, the kickass blonde biseinen rebel leader. Definitely a classic seme type, so it's a shame that there's no one worth pairing him with unless you count the psychotic pretty-boy mecha pilot from the government side (the show's nominal protagonist is clearly straight—and has all the personality of a wet shounen dishrag).

C3 Cube x Cursed x Curious: Like Mirai Nikki, this show is not at all what I thought it was going to be. In the middle of the second episode, it suddenly morphs from a generic Cute Girls Doing Stupid Things series to something more like Shakugan no Shana Lite. The next few eps will determine whether it's worth continuing with or not.

And that's it for me until next season, unless someone wants to discuss one of these in particular.

. . . And the Winter 2012 season has turned out to be just as unpromising as I was expecting. The new Natsume series and (surprisingly) Mouretsu Pirates are the only new shows that are any good. Another has turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the season—it just tries too hard. Brave 10 and Aquarion EVOL are somewhat slashable but otherwise meh, Black Rock Shooter hasn't become available yet (and I don't expect much from it anyway) and I didn't even try any of the other shows, most of which seem to be ecchi, comedy, high school romance, or sequels to series I didn't like.

Yeah, Natsume is the only series I'm watching right now. It is my absolute favorite anime of all time, and I wish they would license it and release it here in the states so I could buy it! So far it hasn't been too slashy, except for the first two episodes, which had Tanuma worrying over Natsume (squee!!!) and then a few scenes for Matoba x Natsume fans. Also, the ending song is highly Tanuma x Natsume (double squee!!)

Heh. Slashability aside, I found the invasion of poisonous tribbles highly amusing for some reason. In the first episode, though, Tanuma et. al seem to have the reasons for Natsume's behaviour nailed.

As for licensing, my guess is that they don't think it would sell well, especially in the current economic climate. No boobs and no explosions = of no interest to the young-idiot-male demographic that is, alas, still the primary target of the big localization companies, and right now, they're unlikely to be willing to take a chance on an unusual series that's as long as Natsume is starting to become.

I'm so desperate for viewing material that I'm actually watching the Gundam Seed remaster, and finishing up Itsuka Tenma Kurousagi.