Lunar Threads

Shinto-Cetra wrote:I just finished my rewatch, and can confirm that Lodoss does indeed hold up. The OVA anyway, I've never had much interest in the TV series.

Ok I'm bad at remembering... which one was which? The one I watched and had the VHS box set for was the same one where the first few eps were shown on SciFi's Saturday Anime back in the 90s. I'm not sure how to tell which one was which (and Wikipedia isn't helping me here...) KF

Kizyr wrote:

Shinto-Cetra wrote:I just finished my rewatch, and can confirm that Lodoss does indeed hold up. The OVA anyway, I've never had much interest in the TV series.

Ok I'm bad at remembering... which one was which? The one I watched and had the VHS box set for was the same one where the first few eps were shown on SciFi's Saturday Anime back in the 90s. I'm not sure how to tell which one was which (and Wikipedia isn't helping me here...) KF

The TV show it focused more on the next generation of heroes after Parn, Deedlit, Etoh, etc. I admittedly haven't seen much of it, but the animation budget went way down.

Shinto-Cetra wrote:The TV show it focused more on the next generation of heroes after Parn, Deedlit, Etoh, etc. I admittedly haven't seen much of it, but the animation budget went way down.

Ah ok. The OVA then is the one that I watched -- I don't remember any characters after Parn/Deedlit and them (except seeing artwork). ...also artwork for Pirotess, but I never knew where she fit in (definitely wasn't in what I watched). KF

Bit of a rant but I recently got on a binge and watched Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory. I’ve seen the previous seasons of FMP, even Fumoffu which I loved (considering the opening is like my favorite anime opening lol) and literally everything just got turned up to 11. And I love it.

Slayers Next. It's funny so far. Xellos <3

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS - 58

JonOU812 wrote:Bit of a rant but I recently got on a binge and watched Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory. I’ve seen the previous seasons of FMP, even Fumoffu which I loved (considering the opening is like my favorite anime opening lol) and literally everything just got turned up to 11. And I love it.

I think a lot of people are liking the more serious tone of Invisible Victory. The only qualms I keep reading is people upset at the mecha animations, which I can agree that FMP has always had really artificial feeling mecha animation, but honestly it's not as distracting as it could be. Small arms fights were another qualm, but if small arms battles were animated realistically then no one would be enjoying it.

Both the novel and the manga adaptations are finished and I've read the manga up to the end. It's great to see how the manga designs have evolved since Retsu Tateo first started drawing it. Her works when the series first came out was very "90s"-ish (I guess a given considering FMP is a very late 1990s series) but the art direction has evolved enough to still be modern but also be identifiable as FMP.

Shinto-Cetra wrote:Slayers Next. It's funny so far. Xellos <3

Slayers surprisingly (and much to my joy) holds up great 20 years later! I have the box set for Slayers, Slayers Next, and Slayers Try. Need to set aside some time to watch/re-watch them soon.... KF

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS - 59

Yoru ha Mijikashi, Aruke yo, Otome or The Night is short, walk on girl. Not sure if it's an anime more than a movie that is animated but it was really good none the less. Highly recommended if you enjoy movies that are out there. A little predictable ending but enjoyable none the less.

Took a break from Slayers to binge watch Inuyasha: The Final Act. I read the manga when it first came out via scanlations and finished in '08, I waited forever to watch the anime cause the pacing was terrible for the first 5~ episodes when I watched when it first came out and gave up quickly. But I now know the pacing gets better right around ep 5/6. I love the art of IY. Now back to Slayers!

GUESS!




Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS - 60

XD

Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon...mind blown, 10/10.

I still have my VHS copy of Perfect Blue. When it originally came to the US Manga Entertainment published it alongside some other hyped movies they published like X. That was a good time period for anime as a lot of anime movies were shown in select theaters (Ghost in the Shell, X, etc).

I have the circa Manga advertisement from X I put on YouTube some years back. It has a nice circa preview of Perfect Blue Manga put out during that time (4:10 mark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRdwA8mhqVY

Thanks for sharing that video, AkagisWhiteComet...I'm going to look into a lot of these titles! Nice 90's aesthetics.

Millennium Actress also by Satoshi Kon... Where Perfect Blue that I earlier listed was a psychological thriller, this one tugged at my emotions, and was a like a flowing history of Japanese cinema. Both were equally surreal and amazing. I'm gonna have to check out Kon's other work, it's a shame he has died.

Also I finished JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders 1st part. It's good, though probably a bit more "Bizarre" then it should be on a few occasions. I like it overall, but Kars > Dio, and Joseph > all other JoJos so far. At least the latter is still around in Stardust Crusaders.

Also re my previous post: from the previous linked video, I'm trying to find a non-letterboxed version of Black Jack: the movie. I watched a clip years ago in a class on Japanese Popular Culture.

Even though I watched anime growing up in the late 80s through the 90s, I have never seen Cowboy Bebob. Been watching it with my wife over the past week and we've been enjoying it quite a bit.

Finished Slayers NEXT. That was one Deus ex Machina of an ending.

I've finished season 1 of My Hero Academia, which is one the "big at cons" anime that actually deserves it's popularity. I like Shonen anime that actually don't have a bratty young kid as the protagonist, Midoriya is basically a well natured nice guy whose also a bit of a superhero fanboy.

I saw that one new episode of YuYu Hakusho after all these years. The first story of how Hiei and Kurama met was well done in the first half, it's a side story that was manga-only until now. The second one with the Spirit World being taken over by anti-demon terrorists ended in a weird cliffhanger...I heard it was accurate to the manga but that's no excuse.

Also moreso manga related, I read CLAMP's RG Veda. Beautiful art, we're talking Kubooka/Amano level elaborate costumes. But one character's demon forms gets zero explanation, and they try to give the villain last minute redeeming features, which just doesn't work. There was a similar flaw in CLAMP's Magic Knight Reyrarth, but it wasn't as central to the story. Also the ending was weak.

Also reading the new Hokkaido arc manga of Rurouni Kenshin. I like it, but it's too early to give a full review.

Legend of Lemnear has some great art by Satoshi Urushihara but the plot was rushed. Overall I would still recommend it just for the visuals.
Otherwise I've started Slayers season 3 and My Hero Academia season 2, and still reading the Kenshin Hokkaido Arc (where two characters from the Kyoto arc just reappeared.)