PCFormat Forum Archive

I discovered Dragon Drive a few days ago and I am enjoying it immensly..

One of the best anime shows I have seen so far

Have seen a number of good shows, anime and not, since my last post, but, there is one that commands a lofty position well above everything else.

Monster.

I've been pondering of a way to contain this show in words. To acutely describe what I experienced when watching it, and, I've failed at every juncture. Even a search for an appropriate review online proved equally worthless.
Much like trying to explain the taste of a, and all the trinkets that goes with it, luscious sunday morning breakfast in bed.

I'd even dare to say that Monster should redefine anime. Very different animation, composite and complex characters, and, a deep, dark and captivating story that reflects just how life is. There's no simple 'black' or 'white', left or right, up or down.
And should I ever be coerced into stating, against my principles, what is the best anime I've watched, it's this.

To anime and non-anime watchers alike, this show comes highly recommended. And, no, no monster or supernatural aspects in this anime. If anything I'd say the title refers to the human mind.

It was awesome yes. I still recall the way Anna / Nina read that picture book. Noto Mamiko fit her perfectly.

New Line Cinema's doing the live action, supposedly coming later this year already.

finished Darker than Black, freaking LEGENDARY. really enjoyed it
got Gun x Sword to watch, so far nada awesum

A live action of Monster. I can't help but reel in terror, much like every other live action I hear about.

If they localized it as a detailed 3 season series, that would be excellent, though, they'd have to alter some parts here and there.

Watched SAW IV. Graphic and gory, and while these are usually surefire turn off's for me, the playing of chess with people as pawns is thrilling. Have got my eyes peeled for SAW V.

On the anime side of things, I completed Kurozuka and it was appalling. I was poised to believe that it was a mini Blood+. It wasn't.

Started Ghost Hunt and it's on the same railroad as Higurashi, just a different train. Riveting stuff. Nothing quite like watching that doll's head eerily creep up to the video camera, at 2 in the morning.

finished Code Geass and must say after stopping it cause it got boring or just wasn't "fast paced" enough, I am glad I finished it. ending definitely had an awesome turn of events and it was sad in a way but definitely worthy....

Caught up with plenty over the past two weeks –

Queen’s Blade – Rurou no Senshi :
How this passed censors and made it to TV is beyond me. Absolute rubbish though.

K-On! :
This is the best selling anime of all time? What am I missing?

Phantom – Requiem for the Phantom :
Nearing the end of its run this was an absolute joy to watch. Far from perfect but handled exceptionally well imo. Looking forward to the last few eps. More then.

Senjou no Valkyria – Valkyria Chronicles :
Actually watched around 10 eps last night and didn’t at all mind. Still not quite to my liking though. Don’t let us sulk about character deaths for 3 consecutive eps. Yes it was sad but not that sad for crying out loud. Oh, and don’t spoil us with character progression in OP’s 5 eps before it occurs in the show you **** idiots. That’s like showing Hollow Ichigo in ep 10 of Bleach. Pointless.

Shangri-La :
Not worth the bandwidth.

Souten Kouro :
Enjoying this too. Pity the subs are so slow.

Higashi no Eden :
Good watch. Shall see what they make of the OVA’s.

Hatsukoi Limited :
Not bad, seen worse. OVA’s pretty funny.

Aoi Hana :
Still no Yuri sex? Come on!

Umineko no Naku Koro ni :
Put your thinking caps on Higurashi fans, it’s that time again. Really good, as to be expected.

Bakemonogatari :
8.5/10. Just because I never imagined so much bs would be this entertaining to watch.

Canaan :
Not bad but nothing we’ve not seen before.

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei :
Will this show ever end? Good stuff though.

Ookami to Koushinryoo 2 :
Still highly rated. If you’ve seen season 1 expect more of the same.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 :
Yet to see how this ends but impressed by what I’ve seen so far.

Hajime no Ippo – New Challenger :
Boxing no jutsu? One for the guys, this was a good watch actually. Now to just sit back and wait for the as yet unannounced follow-up everyone know is coming.

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo :
Again, I’ve seen worse. Good laughs here and there.

Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae :
Feel free to skip this. It’s the worst in the trilogy by far.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei :
Surprising turn of event of course, though obviously done just to milk the franchise.

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi :
Dare I say the recent eps far surpasses its original? This is quickly becoming really, really good.

And that’s about all the anime I could get to whilst in the mood again. Another break seems to be in order.

K-ON! is the best selling ever because it's a super overload of moe.
Cuteness.
Amazingly cute.

I think if everyone watched it violent crime would drop to zero.
Although there would be a sudden increase in the number of men interested in underage girls.


*Need more Mugi now please*

Wow. Dizzying amounts of anime right there.

The last good show that I've seen was Casshern's Sin. They took a good formula (amnesiac protagonist tale) and reverse engineered it to output something familiar yet new. Characters were bland as cream though.

@VQ - Scary post.

Karas was entertaining and wow you've been busy Rayne

I was way past half-way through most of those and close thereto already for the rest so it probably sounds like more than it actually was in reality. To leave a show for a month means you only miss 4 eps. In fact should you follow every running show you'll have only 2 eps, 50 minutes worth to watch per day at most.

This month there’s nothing new of interest so I’ll just finish up Phantom and Tokyo Magnitude and then I’ll mix the rest with new shows starting October again. Got my eyes on Darker than Black 2, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and a few others. So that means I’ll hardly be watching anything for the next 4-6 weeks until I do the same again. Think I’ll stick to this schedule from now on. Juggling games and anime in free time’s a problem for me as I’m never in the mood for both anyway.

Curious about Darker than Black 2 since I'm watching the first season now never got around to finishing it Hope you'll give us updates

Oh and I'm really enjoying it

Watching Wolf's Rain..

Beginning is ok but unfortunately it drags on in most episodes so not exciting.

I have now been told to watch Legendz but it looks to cartoony for me but will give it a try.

Finished Darker than Black it was great

Now done with a number of shows that recently came to an end –

Cannan : Just another anime show.

Aoi Hana : I can live with drama, you may not, take note.

Ookami to Koushinryou – Second Season : Oh just **** her and get it over with. A direct continuation of it’s opening season. Not better. A few scenarios played out nicely but by now its seen coming from miles away.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 : Degraded towards its end, could have been handled so much better. Still, a good watch nonetheless.

Bakemonogatari : Fans of dark comedy the likes of Zetsubou will love this and even those who don’t get the twisted Japanese humor should still enjoy it. Awesome show. K-On!’s the best selling anime no more. Nice ED too. Three more streaming episodes, not to be aired, remains though.

Phantom – Requiem for the Phantom : My pick of 2009 thus far. Based on an supposedly highly acclaimed eroge Phantom of Inferno (nothing explicit in anime whatsoever but from a number of scenes, you can tell) this show had me looking forward to each and every single episode and as a matter of fact it was the only one I grabbed as it got released. I’ve seen someone describe this as Kimi ga Nozomu Eien meets Noir and with that I’ll agree. So much controversy over its closing moments though but imho I don’t see why. You may disagree however. An awesome OST (as well as OP #1 and ED #2 by KOKIA) contributed nicely to the ever present suspense and the build up to the finale was simply beautiful. It was well worth my time. For a select few, however. Read this before you get excited. There’s no comedy nor action for you to find here.

Still watching :

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi : This show met it’s halfway mark and discarding its opening episodes (only because we’ve already seen FMA) right now it’s simply specfuckingtacular.

Umneko no Naku Kori ni : Almost forgot wtf was going on.

Recently started :

Needless : Hell yeah, why not?

Kampfer Had better show me some ecchi come episode 2 else this is dropped.

Seiken no Blacksmith : Not bad, I’ll watch it.

White Album – Second Season : Awaited this, its first did not end.

neon_chameleon wrote:I just watched another pointless topic be created.

Sorry for the OT, but I just saw this by neon on the first page. That's rather humorous in retrospect.

*skulks away in shame*

Edit: My bad thread was right...

For the past few weeks, anime watching has been quite sporadic with the odd episode here and there. Nothing really caught my attention. Kurenai, Zoku Natsume Youjinchou, Birdy Decode, and a few others. I then started Sekirei and initially it was this all too familiar sigh. Rich formula, poor execution. What I thought would've been best if moulded around a Naruto style anime with a fiasco of fighters reducing each other to a bloody pulp featuring the occasional relationship, turned out to be an echi, harem anime peppered with a bit of action here and there.

However, this short, 12 episode anime unexpectedly grew on me and by the end it was a simple, yet endearing theme of love and care. And I must say, quite unabashedly, the sequel is quite highly anticipated on my end.

Watched Mr. Brooks last night and the undeniable star, Mr. Brooks, acts out quite the performance. Appearing as a stoic character seemingly disinterested in his luscious lifestyle, he quickly peels back the veneer to reveal an alter ego of sorts that craves the rush of murder. The manner and sophistry of which Mr. Brooks and his alter ego engineer and execute their plans was quite interesting, largely owing to his moral turbulence and various other people in the movie. A great watch and almost worth each moment spent on it.

Anime side, I've started the still ongoing One Piece, alongside the usual short series that I watch, and despite initially setting a threshold for monotony and childish gimmicks for One Piece, I've found that, despite the age of the anime, the series is exactly what many have made it out to be. Captivating and unpredictable. If anime had a 'page turner', this would be one of them.

watched Code Geass R1 & R2, freaking insane! deff one of my fav's
watched Air Gear, its fun, enjoyed it

starting Kaze no Stigma now

waiting for more darker than black 2nd season eps b4 I start with that

Watched Avatar in 3D last night.
While a technical 10/10, the rest (non-FX) is just not original enough to warrant a wow from me.

ZeroS wrote:For the past few weeks, anime watching has been quite sporadic with the odd episode here and there. Nothing really caught my attention. Kurenai, Zoku Natsume Youjinchou, Birdy Decode, and a few others. I then started Sekirei and initially it was this all too familiar sigh. Rich formula, poor execution. What I thought would've been best if moulded around a Naruto style anime with a fiasco of fighters reducing each other to a bloody pulp featuring the occasional relationship, turned out to be an echi, harem anime peppered with a bit of action here and there.

However, this short, 12 episode anime unexpectedly grew on me and by the end it was a simple, yet endearing theme of love and care. And I must say, quite unabashedly, the sequel is quite highly anticipated on my end.

still buzy wid kaze no stigma, im not sure bout it, taken quite a break from it, must just finish it n start sumthing new

Hanamaru Kindergarten.
I love this.
Was smiling through the whole show.
The characters and story are simply adorable.
Funny.
Hiiragi is awesome cool.
Yes, a baby that is cool.
Glad I am watching this.