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Clephas

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Blog Comments posted by Clephas

  1. Gundam Seed- Amongst the Gundam series, there are few sub-series that have produced as much in the way of mixed feelings as this one.  The action in this series is top-notch, but on the other hand, the excessive emo-ism of the characters (the protagonist and his rival in particular) made it a target for insults by many otakus.  The main focus of the conflict of this series is a war between genetically-altered humans and those who have chosen to remain unaltered.  It is a nearly identical scenario to that of the Zeon vs Federation in the first MS Gundam, except that there is pnly a relatively short prior history of systematic repression against the genetically altered humans in question before this.

    Get Backers- Urban fantasy seinen battle series with two former delinquents with powers who take stolen things and give them back to their original owners.  Eventually evolves into a pure battle anime.  Decent quality, ends incomplete.

    Naruto- Doesn't need an intro, but a warning for those rare souls who never experienced it... after the first season, over 70% of the anime is filler.

    Ghost in the Shell- It's Ghost in the Shell.  If you liked the movie, you'll like this, otherwise you probably won't.

    Blue Gender- The post-apocalyptic anime that put me off post-apocalyptic anime.  I hate bugs.

    Kiddy Grade- This series is, oddly, one of the best science-fantasy series out there (despite its absurdities).  It is a hidden gem I recommend to anyone who can get past the fan-service to get at the meat of it.

    Spiral- Mystery series that never really makes sense, despite being rather interesting.

  2. Samurai Deeper Kyo-  A fantasy story based in the early 1600's, as Tokugawa Ieyasu was preparing to hand the reins of power over to his successor.  Generally speaking, this is a somewhat nonsensical action fantasy with good music and constant reuse of catchphrases.

    Saikano- Science fantasy where the protagonist's girlfriend gets turned into a living weapon.  Generally tragic and full of despair.  If this was a VN, it would be an utsuge.

    Witch Hunter Robin- Modern witch hunters hunt magically talented individuals who have crossed the line and earned the attention of a world-spanning organization that exists to suppress them and their powers.  Generally a decent watch, but not the modern fantasy out there.

  3. Chobits- Doesn't really need an intro, but this was easily the defining work for romance between an AI and a human in anime.

    Azumangah Daiou- Early form of moeblob that presaged the age of horror that was moeblob.

    .Hack//sign- Famous, classic, but hasn't aged well.  Sci-fi that presaged the deluge of similar anime/manga/LNs in later years.

    Juuni Kokuki- Kami-anime.  Seriously, if you like serious and crunchy fantasy story, you don't get better than this.  However, that is if you can get past how long it takes the main protagonist to stand up and get over herself.

    Ai Yori Aoshi-  To me, this is THE defining work for SOL rom-com.  Unlike the earliest era stuff, it is still enjoyable to watch even today, and it came out before the decline of the more emotional rom-coms began.  

    Tenchi Muyou GXP- It's Tenchi... if you like Tenchi, you'll like this.  If you don't, you won't.

    Tokyo Underground- Moderate quality shounen fantasy in the same vein as Hunter X Hunter and Naruto.  

    Tenshi no Konamaiki- Laughable concept, relatively fun to watch, never really completed.

    Pita-ten- Cute series that doesn't really have anything else to recommend to it, but it is cute.

  4. Full metal Panic- Prototype for Grisaia's protagonist Yuuji drives mechs and saves a high school girl while being completely incapable of comprehending civilian life.

    Onegai Teacher- Ecchi romance story with sci-fi elements.  Fairly good quality.

    Kanon Anime- Like all of the anime based off of the early Key VNs, it combines all the paths into this weird amalgamation of a story that somehow makes sense but has a lot of loose ends.

  5. Noir- The start and still the best of the 'girls with guns' genre that held popularity from this time to around 2008.  I have to disagree with Kvan to an extreme degree in his assessment of this anime, as the true draw of it is Kirika's skill, the atmosphere created by the setting and music, and the mild scent of yuri given off by the relationship between Kirika and Mireille.  This was also near the beginning of the 'blood self-censorship' period of anime, where TV anime generally didn't display blood or gore due to social displeasure of the gratuitous bloody violence previous to 2000 in Japanese society at the time in anime.

    Angelic Layer- A mild science-fiction story that has a lonely young girl fighting with special dolls in competitions.  It isn't the best of anime by today's standards, but it is relatively interesting on a first watch.

    Read or Die- Classic OVA that showed off the potential of the series, though the TV version basically flopped.

    Zone of the Enders- First-rate mecha anime, one of the first story-consistent mecha anime outside of Gundam.  

    Hare Nochi Guu- A rare situation where I found myself enjoying a kid's comedy anime.

  6. Arjuna- tbh, I only watched this once back in 2001, so don't depend on my impressions of it.  However, I remember it being a halfway-decent series, even if it was somewhat... preachy.

    Zone of the Enders OVA- Both Zone of the Enders anime are worth watching for mecha fans (this was about the time when mecha anime started to be less nonsensical, though it also accelerated the ironic decline of the genre in general, lol)

  7. Argento Soma- Again, another mecha that is more than a little nonsensical.  Still fun to watch though.  Protagonist is highly self-delusional.

    Inuyasha-  Doesn't need an intro for anyone familiar with the old lineup for Cartoon Network's localized anime hour.

    Blood the Last Vampire- Popular movie but less popular than the TV series that came out later.  

    Vandread- a silly comedy science fantasy that has a horrid protagonist and a concept that gives me a headache.

  8. FLCL- Should never have existed.

    Escaflowne Movie- Not as good as the TV series.

    Banner of the Stars- Second season of the Seikai series.  Top-quality sci-fi space opera.

    Saiyuuki- Decent fantasy based off the legend of Sanzo with an anime twist.

    Love Hina- The beginning of the great era of romcom.  If you watch it, you'll probably be able to see it was the origin for the harem romcom VNs that were so prolific until the last few years.

    Ayashi no Ceres- Urban fantasy series following a female protagonist in a hellish situation.  

  9. Hunter X Hunter- Visually, I actually like this one more than the newer version.  I say this because the character designs of this version were much more detailed and certain violent scenes that were toned down in the newer series (such as Killua pulling that criminal's heart out).  In particular, the Greed Island and Phantom Brigade arcs of this version are much, much better than the newer version's.

    Excel Saga- An anime that makes fun of anime.  Not a unique idea now, but at the time it was novel.  Generally an amusing watch, even if it is quite dated nowadays.

    The Big O- Like most mecha anime before the turn of the century, it makes very little sense.  I honestly don't know why the makers of giant robot/mecha anime/manga before the turn of the century liked nonsensical settings and plots so much, but it was standard for the genre.

    Blue Gender- I'm going to be straight with you... this is the anime that made me hate the larger portion of post-apocalypse anime.  It is one of the most overrated anime of the time, as it goes for shock value more than story value.

  10. Dual- Indirectly related to Tenchi GXP.  However, it is more straightforwardly serious and less absurd than the Tenchi series tends to be.  Not going to spoil how they are related, but it is best to watch Dual before GXP, then read the apocrypha.

    Arc the Lad- Anime based off of a series of classic games.  The anime is a decently fun watch even if you haven't played the games.

    Jubee-chan- A mildly ecchi comedy.

    Eden's Bowy- Trashy poor-quality fantasy anime.

  11. KareKano-  Decent slice-of-life romance primarily from the girl's perspective.

    Orphen- Second-rate action fantasy from an era when action-fantasy was rare.

    Gasaraki- Like most mecha anime from the pre-2000's, it makes very little sense story-wise, but the aesthetic and battles are fun to watch.

    Generator Gawl- Fun to watch science fantasy series with monster transformations and battles.

     

  12. Cowboy Bebop- Umm... does this need an intro?

    Lost Universe- Slayers in space, basically.  Fun to watch if you liked the Slayers and you like sci-fi, but otherwise not of interest.

    Lodoss War TV- OVA was better, both animation-wise and story-wise.  Very Dungeons and Dragons style and so atypical of anime of this type.

    Trigun- Ditto to Cowboy Bebop thanks to Toonami.

    Weiss Kreuz- Halfway decent vigilante justice anime.  Doesn't do anything special beyond that.

    Nazca- Never could figure out what they were trying to do with this one, and I watched it to the end.

    Queen Emeraldas- Another of those series that has way too many relations (like Tenchi).  The various series based in this world/universe don't make much sense, but they are often fun to watch.

    Cardcaptor Sakura- Very typical of Clamp's works... in truth, Cardcaptor Sakura was the anime that set the standard for Clamp's works with innumerable spinoff series, of which Tsubasa Chronicles was the best.  Though I also liked xxxHolic

    Neo Ranga- Like most mech anime that weren't Gundam from this era, it makes very little sense.  Still, wasn't bad visually.

    Legend of Basara- Decent for early-era samurai action, but not that good in comparison to today's anime.

  13. Vampire Princess Miyu-  I liked this series when I was younger, but to be honest, it hasn't aged well.  It was part of a sub-genre of horror anime that involved mysterious young girls in ambiguous moral situations.  This included Miyu, Jigoku Shoujo, and a number of others.   

    Berserk-  Do I really need to say anything about the original? 

    Those who Hunt Elves II- Identical meh opinion to the first season.

  14. Utena is one of those anime that was immensely popular despite being absolutely awful and making no sense.  Such anime became common near the turn of the century, and they have left a legacy of indelible horror and illogic in the minds of formerly rational human beings exposed to them.

    Hyper Police- I was fond of this anime, if only because the protag was a catgirl and her partner was a kitsune.  The image of a world where gods, youkai, and demons were both coexisting with and fighting humans was pretty fascinating at the time.  

    Fushigi Yuugi 2- Honestly, this season turned me off of the series, though I liked the first one (despite its horrors).  

    Haunted Junction was one of those random comedy fantasy anime that made waves before FLCL ruined everything.  It is fairly amusing, though the humor hasn't aged that well.

    Slayers Try- This was the last good season of the Slayers.  Or rather, it was the last complete one, lol.  It has some decent action scenes, the series' usual combination of slapstick humor and drama, and a few new characters on a new continent.

    Clamp Gakuen was one of many weird anime Clamp made over the years.  It wasn't one of their better moments, but it wasn't awful either.

  15. I actually have hopes for Akuma to Yoru to Isekai to, despite the  maker.  Primarily this is because the sample cgs don't show any of the company's typical sexual violence and the writer isn't one of their regulars.  This might be an attempt to forge a new niche for the company, which would be great for me if it turns out to be a chuunige, lol.  I'm waiting for a sale to get ahold of it, as I'm not really up to paying eighty-something dollars for a game from a company whose history I don't trust at the moment.

  16. Those who Hunt Elves is a trash ecchi fantasy series that is fairly awful.

    Nadesico is a pretty interesting science fiction with a ship's crew going up against alien invaders in a last ditch attempt to save Earth (fairly typical of pre-2000 sci-fi space stories)

    This time the Legend of Crystania isn't as hurried, but it still stops short of completing the story and satisfying the watcher.

  17. Maze- I watched this one repeatedly when I was younger.  The main reason was that it is ecchi+chuunibyou+comedy+fantasy and at the time, I'd watch anything fantasy.  I still can enjoy it, but it has definitely lost some of its attraction over the decades.

    X- Decent apocalyptic fantasy movie.  Saw it in the local theaters when it came out (a downtown theater that occasionally had anime movies).  Stylistically it is excellent, but the decision to make it as a movie rather than a series made it move too fast for its own good.

    Slayers Return- A weak movie that fails to fill in the blanks about Lina's meeting with her 'rival' who only appears in later seasons.

  18. Escaflowne- Escaflowne is a classic fantasy and one of the earliest isekai.  Typical of early isekai, the protagonist is obsessed with returning home and virtually helpless despite having a mystic ability.  The real attraction of this is the nominal love interest, a superhuman prince from a backwater kingdom called Van.  

    Slayers Next- Arguably the best of the many seasons of Slayers with the most impactful final arc.  Like all of the Slayers' series, it has a lot of slapstick humor, puns, and silliness alongside a surprisingly good story.  

    Kodomo no Omocha- A good comedy about a child star's daily life.  I remember laughing a lot and crying a little, though I never went back once I watched it all.

    Tenchi Muyou in Love- Easily the single worst Tenchi-related movie/series/episode.  Not really relatable, as it is virtually impossible to figure out where it fits in the labyrinthine series.

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