Tiki said:
Doesn't the rushing also depend on how long the series was planned to be? Like if SAO is suppose to be a 12 episode series then isn't it more likely that it's going to be rushed than if it where to be a 24 and up episode series?

That would be dependent on pacing and where they plan on ending a series (also how closely they decide to follow the original material.) You're taking my use of the "rush" term a little too literally. Also, I wasn't relating it to the original material at all. I was referring to their execution within then anime version alone.

What you're talking about was more along the lines of "compression". TOxA was compressed (and later detoured), though they didn't really rush the intro. (Well, they sorta did, in hindsight, but it was horribly done.) I've also seen series that rush the beginning enough that midway through they need to add filler material. Filler that probably wouldn't need to be there if they paced the intro better. (Then again, it could have been rushed TO MAKE ROOM for the filler, especially if it's a fanservice filler, like a beach/onsen/pool ep. But that's another argument.)

I was talking more along the lines of general series pacing. I've seen compresed series that can still get the pacing right. (They figured out what to keep and/or omit properly.)

Tiki said:
What did you guys think of Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai? I think it's great even if it's a bit cliche.

The male protaganist remind me too much of HS DxD. We'll see though. The bare basic setting seems a bit too similar to me at the moment, though.

@ Stahn
We shall just have to wait and see now.

For me i only like the MC because his voice is the same one from baka to test. The whole open perverseness never really gets me to laugh or like the MC. There is one exception and that is from the manga Trinity Seven. Main character has that open perverseness but it's in such a way where it's really funny and makes you like the MC even more.

Since it hasn't been 24 hours i'll just add it to this post: Just watched Oda Nobuna no Yabou and it looks kind of interesting although i don't really like the style they used on the characters, but i don't think it'll be a huge problem.

Finished the anime of 2005...

2006...

ecchifan96 said:
-snip-

Eureka 7

One of the few anime from this year that I think might deserve a 10 ^_^ I really enjoyed this series for its solid cast, great animation and awesome soundtrack. That reminds me, I still haven't posted the links to that thread...

I also really liked Eureka 7 for all of the same reasons except for the soundtrack... i never really pay attention to the music in anime unless it's a part of the story and not background music. I also thought the fight scenes where really well done but that would fall under animation right?

New Season Impressions

Warning: Wall(s) o' Text

Rinne No Langrange S2

RnL S2Despite the season gap, this is definitely a continuation of the "first" season. (Kinda like how Fate/Zero and Vandread were split across 2 different airing seasons.) The production and presentation style are pretty much the same, right down to how they know how to pace the eps so when one ends, you want to see what happens next. ("Cliffhanger" ep endings.) I like the first half and I'm liking new ep so far.

Tari Tari

TariYay! Another music-centric anime that isn't Macross or K-On! (though K-on!'s status as a music anime is debateable at times. ^_^;) The first 2 eps (mainly ep 2) seem kinda rushed, IMHO, in regards to events playing out, but it kinda works out. I was surprised they use REFLECTIA (True Tears OP) as the insert song for ep 1 though. That REALLY caught my attention.

Campione

CampioneThis feels familiar to a bunch of other magic/action series I've watched so far. Seems pretty generic, but only 1 ep so far...

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai

Ecchi NaiI mentioned this previously, but I get shades of Highschool DxD from this series. Outside of Rias, HS DxD wasn't much other than good fanservice. I get the feeling this might be the same, but we'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

MLA:TE...2 ep long prologue it seems. (Ep 2 ends with a 3 year time-skip.) Ep 2 kinda reminds me of the events of Soukou No Strain's ep 1, second half, but bloodier... I'm not privy to Total Eclipses timeline of events. I only have very basic info regarding MLA's basic plot (which intersected with Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien; same studio made the original VN source game). MLA:TE seems to be a spin-off LN, so I have no clue how this will turn out. Ep 2's ending has piqued my interest. (I was mildly disappointed with Ep 1 overall.) I hear MLA in VN form was fairly graphic at times with the violence, so I'm hoping they do live up to that. Judging from events and the apparent amount of censoring in one set of scenes, they don't seem to be shying from the violence and trying to make it "family friendly", thankfully.

Sword Art Online

SAOPreviously mentioned, this caught my interest MUCH better than Accel World (both sahre a similar basic premise of a virtual world MMO setting.) The spin on the premise already makes this more interesting to me than Accel World. SAO's premise has repercussions more in common with .hack's basic premise. I was sorely disappointed by Accel World when I found out the premise/plot-device of an accelerated-thought program was just a cheap why to facilitate a typical shounen fighting series. The premise had so much promise that was promptly flushed down the proverbial toilet. SAO seems to taking its premise and actually running WITH it.

Moyashimon Returns

Moyashi S2I love the first season. Other than some minor art changes (Oikawa looks a bit different from what I remember in S1), it's still the same loveable series about a boy and his bacteria ^_~

Bimbougami Ga!

BimbouGaThe humor and production style kinda reminds me of B Gata H Kei (just minus the absurd focus on sex). Only one ep so far for me, so gotta wait and see how ep 2 turns out.

Kokoro Connect

KCPremise seems interesting, but I have no clue it will be used in the long run and play out. 1 ep so far, so awaiting ep 2.

YuruYuri S2

YY S2Ep 1, first half was just beating a dead horse of a running gag into oblivion... It was cool for about the first couple minutes (if that), but it got old VERY fast. Not a good start, IMHO. And they STILL wasted a lot of time on the commercial break eye ctaches for whatever reason. YuruYuri has it's moments, but it seems to still be a bit weak overall. Hopefully when the rest of the cast shows up (properly) again, it will pick up. (I mostly enjoyed S1 most when it was more than just the core 4 girls.)

Natsuyuki Rendezvous

NRThis seems quite interesting to me. The premise is interesting and more mature than the standard fair in anime. The cast introduced so far (all of 4-5 chars, including side/support chars) are all college age or older. No highschoolers at all (yet, anyway.) The way Ep 1 ended with the line said really got my interest piqued.

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!

ImoIruIncoming generic imouto/harem series...? Can't say much beyond that now. Definitely feels generic...

I think I have a couple more series that I have DL'ed but haven't watched yet...

Tiki said:
I also thought the fight scenes where really well done but that would fall under animation right?

Right. Eureka 7 had some of the best action scenes out of all of these anime. I didn't see many action anime this time around but this still deserves some note.

Looks like the summer season's started without me... and I'm not even half-way through this list -_- I don't even bother to count the episodes anymore because the results are just to hard for me to look at. My mom didn't even go to work today so I probably won't get much done today either...

When I was still new to being an otaku I got into a series on Adult Swim called Kekaishi. I didn't think twice about watching it again along with the other '06 series. You know, for nostalgia's sake ^_^

Does anyone have any recommendations? I really don't know what to watch right now.

My first suggestion will always be Nanoha, but I don't know what you've seen exactly to get a good standing on what to recommend.

foxknight said:
Does anyone have any recommendations? I really don't know what to watch right now.

I recommend Eyeshield 21, it's a shounen sports anime. It's an excellent series and you don't need to be a sports fan to enjoy it. And in case you're not aware, Code Geass has several OVA's that you might like. I haven't seen 'em yet so no promises though.

Hmmm... i can't seem to find that anime. Is that part of a title?

foxknight said:
Hmmm... i can't seem to find that anime. Is that part of a title?

Eyeshield 21. That's the full title. Here are some links if you're having trouble:

http://www.animeseason.com/eyeshield-21/

http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/eyeshield-21-english-dubbed-online-free

http://www.animehere.com/anime/eyeshield-21.html

I just realized that animefreak only has 90 of the 145 eps -3-

I can find Eyeshield 21, and holy crap there are a lot of episodes.

foxknight said:
Does anyone have any recommendations? I really don't know what to watch right now.

Where should i start...hmmm How about Birdy the Mighty Decode(has 2 seasons) (Action/comedy/sci-fi). I think you'll like it if you've never seen it. There's also Samurai Champloo(action/comedy). There's also Black Lagoon(has 2 seasons) You could also try a fairly new anime called Blue Exorcist.

foxknight said:
holy crap there are a lot of episodes.

Yeah, but it's definitely worth it. I hope you like it more than my last suggestion. Speaking of Hell Girl I started season 2 today, not much is different so far.

Say Fox, what kind of anime is your favorite anyway? What about your prefered themes? For example, do you like demons in anime?

i heard that the 5th installment of HakoMariUtsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria was supposed to come out in japan today (the 10th).
does anyone know anything about it?

@foxy:
i'll suggest gunslinger girl as it's my personal favorite. of course, nanoha's a good choice too, like Bardiche said.
but if you're looking for something like Geass, DeathNote or Glass Fleet would be a good choice as they give off similar vibes (to me at least)

*Whips out his list* You can also try: Gintama, Beelzebub, Death Note, One Piece, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Ouran Highschool Host Club, Ultimate Survivor Kaiji, Ninja Nonsense, Bakemonogatari, Cross Game, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Azumanga Daioh, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo, Kino's Journey or Eureka 7.

I changed it a bit so it might be more useful to you.

ecchifan96 said:
Say Fox, what kind of anime is your favorite anyway? What about your preferred themes? For example, do you like demons in anime?

I haven't put much thought into it but i really liked Angel Beats! and Spice and Wolf. Code Geass was good too. I haven't watched near as much anime as you guys probably have and I'm a little ashamed of it. I believe i have only watched 7 series through. I will try to remember them and list them.

foxknight said:
I haven't watched near as much anime as you guys probably have and I'm a little ashamed of it.

I know what that's like, not a good feeling. According to my MAL account I've seen 78.1 hours of anime. That's still less than what I've really seen but I still feel like a noob when I check my list -3- but it's better now than when I first got here. Anyway you seem to be a very active viewer so I'm sure you'll catch up in no time, just don't go overboard with your anime viewing like me ^_^'

Anime I remember watching:
K-ON!
Angel Beats!
Spice and Wolf
Code Geass
Full Metal Alchemist
Dead Man WonderLand
and a lot of TV series (Dragonball, Yu Yu Hakisho, etc...)
There are 1 or 2 more that i can't remember.

The full name of the series I named is Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. It has 3 seasons, a movie that is a remake (It's better) of the first season, and it's 2nd movie that's a remake of the 2nd season is coming out this Saturday in Japan theaters. Those of us not in Japan won't be able to see it until the BD/DVD's come out much later, I think later this year maybe. It's much harder to get movies online as it comes out in the theater in Japan unless you want a really crappy rip, which nobody wants, so nobody puts a torrent out.

I also recommend Dog Days. Pretty enjoyable and it's second season just aired this block. Yuru Yuri is good as well if you want comedy.

@fox I guess I was right, you've never seen an ecchi anime before. It's not often that I meet a fan who hasn't... actually I think you're the first one o3o unless of course you just didn't list them.

Do you mean "Magical Girl Lyrical Nonaha" when you got it mixed up with "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica"?

@ecchi-Still new to anime here, what is an ecchi?

foxknight said:
@ecchi-Still new to anime here, what is an ecchi?

An ecchi is an anime that provides plentiful amounts of fanservice to arouse or excite the viewer. And if you're wondering what fanservice is, it's material added to an anime solely to please the viewer. Fanservice can be anything from references to other anime to gore but in the case of ecchi anime it's sexual content. For example, do you know what a "pantyshot" is?

I know what a fanservice is, and i have seen an ecchi. Can't say i didn't like :3 but they are weird.
on a side note- i wont respond to post now cause it is 2 am here, im asleep.

Can't you say what ecchi it was? And you're right, they can be very weird... I never get tired of 'em X3

It was Kiss x Sis, very odd.

That's another series that I have on hold and I'm not sure when I'll get to finish it, the 2010 anime seem so far away now...

I'm going to be blunt and maybe a bit rude when I say, fuck no did I mix anything up. Mahou Shoujo is Magical Girl. They are one and the same. You're saying the full on english version while I'm just saying what it's generally called in japanaese. I know that would confuse you with Madoka because it is more recent but it is not the only show with Mahou Shoujo in it's name. Plus Madoka has a full english name too called Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I get very defensive (and somewhat offended) when there is a mix up between the two or similar situations.

ecchifan96 said:
That's another series that I have on hold and I'm not sure when I'll get to finish it, the 2010 anime seem so far away now...

Lol it took me a whole summer vacation and a bit of after school time to get to the 3 months of time in anime. Although i don't think i watched all of the shows that you have on your list... it seems to be awfully big.

Bardiche752 said:
The full name of the series I named is Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. [...] it's 2nd movie that's a remake of the 2nd season is coming out this Saturday in Japan theaters. Those of us not in Japan won't be able to see it until the BD/DVD's come out much later, I think later this year maybe. [...]

KNowing what I do of JPN movie release schedules for anime, it'll be around 6-9 months before we see the disc releases of Nanoha 2nd. UBW, Disappearance, False Diva, Wings of Good-bye: all of them took about that long to come out on disc. So Nanoha 2nd will be early 2013 at least. Probably around Feb/March. Maybe Jan. Nanoha is a cash cow for Seven Arcs and they'll have to milk it in theaters for as much as they can before releasing it disc and milking it there.

Bardiche752 said:
[...] Plus Madoka has a full english name too called Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

It's actually slightly broken or proper latin, depending on how you parse it. It's just written with the english alphabet.

Honestly, it's gotten to the point where I can't really expect newer anime fans to know any beyond 5 years ago or so. Madoka was the biggest (short) MS series since Nanoha, really. (The stuff released between the two were mainly stereotypical stuff.)

Though Nanoha as a franchise has grown unwieldy. The author/creator need a reality check with the series. ViVid is practically all fluff and BS while Force is technobabble out the ass. (The military aspect DEFINITELY needs work. This coming from a former enlisted Navy guy.) Once Nanoha expanded outside of the core genre, it's been a clusterfuck since. Nanoha as a series declined sharply with StrikerS and everything after. I only bother with it because I'm a fan. I'd never recommend StrikerS and later without caveats.

Nanoha in its modern form has suffered massively from cast inflation. It's hasn't QUITE suffered from power inflation like DBZ, Bleach, Naruto, etc., but it's kinda getting there in a roundabout way. The exception is the first movie (2010) and hopefully the second movie. Those are remakes of the first 2 seasons (the best of the franchise).

The sad part is that Nanoha dropped one of the things that make a MS series good: character growth and development. StrikerS has SOME inkling of that, but it was sparse compared to the first 2 seasons. (And utterly pointless compared to the Movie 1st: it took the dramatic char dev of S1 and expanded on it significantly.) Things are bad when your cast count essentially doubles each season from S1 through S3. (To the point where some seiyuus in S3 had several roles to themselves.)

EDIT:

Well shit. I somehow missed the fact that SAO and Accel World were written by the same author O_o That's gonna skew my perception and expectation of SAO now, and not exactly for the better. SAO is technically newer by 2 months (APR '09) compared to AW (FEB '09). *sigh* Now I'm kinda dreading the follow up eps for SAO. Hopefully A-1 does a better job of adapting SAO than Sunrise is doing of AW (assuming the two series are even on par with one another; I'm praying the author learned something after the first 2 months of writing AW and SAO is better overall at the source.)