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Post by Woody Alien on Oct 29, 2018 18:19:24 GMT -5
Hunter X Hunter, if you haven't seen it yet; since it is Togashi's story after he got tired of doing Yu Yu Hakusho. I recommend the series that first released in 1999. It's closer in tone to the original manga. Hunter X Hunter is definitely interesting, even though I don't know why it's still categorized as a "shonen" rather than "seinen". I mean, if it's a shonen, it's one of the darkest ever, what with all the dismemberments, mutations, hybrid creatures, political intrigue and the concept of a world mostly ruled by criminals and where a few super-powered individuals (including an entire family of assassins) can do basically whatever they want. If you like clever fights not based only on "power levels" and some thought-provoking concepts it's a must read, however because of Togashi's mysterious illness it's being updated so sporadically that I wonder how he can still publish on Jump.
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Post by Snake on Oct 29, 2018 18:39:37 GMT -5
The same reason why Evangelion, Berserk, and D.Gray Man mangas can take a long hiatus. They are money makers, and they can only do well if it's done by the original author. There's enough of a following that people are willing to wait it out.
Hunter X Hunter is dark enough; I would say nearly as dark as Yu Yu Hakusho towards its end. But since its serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, it gets a pass. Though in hindsight, the series started lighthearted. But I would say Fist of the North is pretty dark with exploding heads and a dystopian future. Yet it's still shonen, targeted to elementary to high school age readership.
One thing that's interesting about Togashi is that you can get idea of his mental state depending on how the art turns out in Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter. It gets pretty sloppy, like a rough sketch no zero backgrounds. Particularly with Yu Yu Hakusho in the demon world arc, where he got sick of it and wanted the series to end, and Hunter X Hunter during the Chimera Ant arc.
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Post by edmonddantes on Oct 30, 2018 17:41:18 GMT -5
I never understood treating the labels "Shonen" and "Seinen" as if they're a category or genre. All they denote is what kind of magazine the original story was published in--and the original magazine can publish whatever they damn well please. Sure, there are types and formulas, but there's nothing saying Shonen Jump can't publish a romance story (hell, in the Japanese edition they do it all the time) or that a seinen magazine can't publish a Tokusatsu story (like Sailor Moon for example). That explains your genre inconsistency right there--its not a genre, its just "a magazine with this word in the title decided to publish it." ... In other news... god, I need something happy. I'm like 14 volumes into Berserk, which started off like Fist of the North Star in a fantasy setting, quickly became what was the closest we ever got to a true-to-Robert E. Howard version of Conan the Barbarian, then went all Dark Souls.
One thing though... while I understand the more formerly-human monsters having a sexual interest in Casca, why did all the demons from that other dimension want her too? It's just something I find a little whack, like how in the old movie Creature From the Black Lagoon the eponymous creature wants to mate with a human female, even though you'd think logically it would be more attracted to its own kind. I just find it kinda weird. Then again maybe in this mythology all demons were formerly human.
EDIT: Since I feel like I have, after 14 volumes, to find something to joke about regarding Berserk, I'll go with this: Apparently Griffith's ambition was... to join Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. |
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Post by lurker on Oct 30, 2018 20:41:53 GMT -5
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Post by kaoru on Oct 31, 2018 3:02:04 GMT -5
Rewatched Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei. I forgot almost anything that happens, despite not only having watched the OVA years ago, but also reading the translation of the novel. It's easy to see why, because there isn't a lot happening and what is isn't all that interesting. There is a certain charme to it, but I think that mostly comes from seeing these ridiculous huge beepy PCs and CRT monitors I grew up with being lauded as high tech, and a general nostalgic feeling from watching a trashy OVA with inapropriately upbeat music that encapsules the direct to video animation market from the 80s/early 90s from back when I got into anime so well. But if you are from a newer generation, there's probably nothing to get out of these 45 minutes. |
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Post by edmonddantes on Nov 1, 2018 22:57:09 GMT -5
I actually have the second MT OVA, "Tokyo Revelation" on DVD. While I liked both OVAs, you're right that they're fun more from a "80s OVA charm" perspective. Though I couldn't help giggling when in Tokyo Revelation The main hero turns into basically Yami Yugi but in clown makeup. If a children's card game had begun just then, it would've been the most awesome thing ever. Been hitting the classic anime pool myself... recently rewatched Devil Hunter Yohko 1, 2, and 5 and also for the first time saw M.D. Geist, who I remembered being US Manga Corps "company spokesmecha"... only to realize the irony of that: Geist is not a mecha. He's a dude in a Ronin Warriors-esque suit of armor, and even that, not for the majority of the movie. Devil Hunter Yohko was one of my gateway drugs into anime, and to me still represents a sort of golden age for it in the USA. Granted, these days its just another teenage girl finds out she's a destined demon slayer story (and the first ep is not at all trying to hide that its trying to be softcore porn... ironically the rest of the series is basically kid-friendly as far as sexual content is concerned), but it has a few things that make it work: the music that sounds like its from a Double Dragon arcade game, the 80s aesthetic, and that each episode is a self-contained story so, unlike Sailor Moon (which it has similarities to) it never has a chance to get tired or annoying (I did get a little tired of how Sailor Moon always finds a way to make Usagi and Mamoru have relationship troubles so it can be a plot point in each season... Yohko never goes farther than just "I kinda-sorta like this guy.") |
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Post by kaoru on Nov 2, 2018 2:35:22 GMT -5
Tokyo Revelation is based on a longer manga and it very much shows - the thing is full of characters that appear to be important but get little to nothing to do.
I still quite enjoy the fifth and sixth OVA of Devil Hunter Yohko. The first three are more boring on a rewatch.
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Post by Snake on Nov 2, 2018 11:34:35 GMT -5
I never understood treating the labels "Shonen" and "Seinen" as if they're a category or genre. All they denote is what kind of magazine the original story was published in--and the original magazine can publish whatever they damn well please. Sure, there are types and formulas, but there's nothing saying Shonen Jump can't publish a romance story (hell, in the Japanese edition they do it all the time) or that a seinen magazine can't publish a Tokusatsu story (like Sailor Moon for example). That explains your genre inconsistency right there--its not a genre, its just "a magazine with this word in the title decided to publish it." ... In other news... god, I need something happy. I'm like 14 volumes into Berserk, which started off like Fist of the North Star in a fantasy setting, quickly became what was the closest we ever got to a true-to-Robert E. Howard version of Conan the Barbarian, then went all Dark Souls.
One thing though... while I understand the more formerly-human monsters having a sexual interest in Casca, why did all the demons from that other dimension want her too? It's just something I find a little whack, like how in the old movie Creature From the Black Lagoon the eponymous creature wants to mate with a human female, even though you'd think logically it would be more attracted to its own kind. I just find it kinda weird. Then again maybe in this mythology all demons were formerly human.
EDIT: Since I feel like I have, after 14 volumes, to find something to joke about regarding Berserk, I'll go with this: Apparently Griffith's ambition was... to join Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. Haha, I always thought of Femto as being a demonic design based off of Gatchaman. One thing, make a note of some of the monsters that show up at the sacrificial eclipse ceremony. You'll see that they were killed off by Gatsu in the first few volumes. Pretty much all the apostles started out as humans. Shonen manga has a target market of young boys - they tend to be mostly centered on competition, friendship, first-love romance. Seinen manga is aimed at young adults - you'll start to see much more mature themes, and overtly graphic sexual violence and gratuitous nudity. Shojo manga is aimed at young girls, so it tends to be a lot of romance, magical girls, career, etc. What's interesting is that Kentaro Miura has reflected interviews that Berserk may be more of shojo manga in that it is more emotionally centered as a story. Some seinen manga just has adult oriented activities -- like Bartender, and Kami no Shizuku/Let Gouttes de Dieu. Bartender is centered around the world of cocktails. Kami no Shizuku is about sommeliers and wine-tasting. |
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Post by edmonddantes on Nov 5, 2018 6:03:22 GMT -5
So here's a trajectory. I was looking through my collection of old Battletech books, saw illustrations of the Battletech Valkyrie (this was a printing from the 1980s before Battletech was hit with rights issues and had to make the anime-borrowed designs "Unseen") and remembered Macross/Robotech. I'm probably one of only five people who prefers the Robotech dub over the original Macross. Which doesn't happen often with me--usually once I see the subbed original I can't go back to the dubs, but Macross felt like it was somehow not as good. This was a long time ago though, dunno how I'd feel today. And yes, the Battletech Valkyrie is the Macross Valkyrie, its just missing the Fighter and Gerwalk/Guardian configurations (and the "thinking caps"--hardcore Robotech fans are the only ones who'll know what I mean and will probably also be strangling me for mentioning them  ). .... and I'm honestly kinda surprised to see that there's still Macross media being made. I mean, growing up I knew about Macross II (I had the VHS), and Macross Plus (had the Movie version VHS) but apparently there have been TV serieses as recently as 2016. Kinda not sure how that even works. I mean they can't really beat the same "aliens find peace through pop culture" angle again and again, can they? That was my problem with Macross II, actually: when I was young I liked it, but watching it again now, it felt like just a rehash of the original Macross. ... Re: Devil Hunter Yohko... while my favorite installments are 5 and 6, the only one I really don't like is 4-Ever, since its just a pointless music video collection. Weakest would probably be 3 since its just "here is an excuse for Yohko to fight some demons" but then, that's kind of the entire series. 1 is hard to stomach due to the softcore porn nature of it tho. I love episode 2 though simply because I always thought Azusa Kanzaki was an adorable ball of cuteness, and that's the ep where she's introduced, so yeah. |
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Post by kaoru on Nov 5, 2018 8:21:01 GMT -5
Fighting aliens with the power of Idols/music is pretty much a constant, AFAIK. Macross is kind of interesting in that it crops up with a new franchise every once in a while, usually at least on a 5th birthday, but isn't as constant a flow as Gundam for example. Macross Frontier is really great btw.
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Post by Ace Whatever on Nov 6, 2018 3:23:13 GMT -5
For better or worse Macross actually mixes things up a bit every installment for how music works in the series. It goes from having mystical elements to becoming an outright variable sci-fi superpower by the time Macross Delta rolls around. The only problem is that Delta shoehorned the science mumbo jumbo back into the original Macross to basically imply that culture shock wasn't what won the war against the Zentradi but rather the effect of the singer's soundwaves . And frankly that retcon can just go fuck itself. |
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Post by edmonddantes on Nov 8, 2018 9:28:26 GMT -5
[After clicking the spoiler]
Yeah, that retcon really can fuck itself. That kind of thing is what I was afraid of.
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Post by eatersthemanfool on Nov 10, 2018 6:15:43 GMT -5
Space whales is still best Macross.
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Post by ResidentTsundere on Nov 11, 2018 2:31:05 GMT -5
Wow, and here I thought I was weird.  |
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Post by silentstorm on Nov 13, 2018 12:09:35 GMT -5
Since this thread can also be about manga i am really really shocked no one is speaking about the fact that Cromartie High School came back, i mean, the author comes back and starts a spin off called Cromartie High School: Staff Room that answer the question of who exactly would teach in that school or be part of the faculty with a chapter that just released and...no one here cares?
It's freaking Cromartie High School, it's such an awesome series i thought people would be speaking about it, particularly since it reveals the Vice-Principal is a yakuza looking guy that enters classrooms and staff rooms in a cycle and his desire to clean up the school doesn't just mean making the kids smarter and nicer: Fuck yeah, Cromartie High School is back...please let this get an anime adaptation in the future!
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