big bad birtha's suggestion box 2: secret passions unveiled

[Doppleganger]

What exactly is a Vocaloid song series? Is that like an album for a musical group where each song tells a different part of a story? And there's a manga accompaniment for it?

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

What exactly is a Vocaloid song series? Is that like an album for a musical group where each song tells a different part of a story? And there's a manga accompaniment for it?

That's pretty much what it is. I think they usually start as individually released songs, and other forms of media (manga, novels) are produced afterwards if proves popular enough.

There's another famous song series I know of called "The Story of Evil" which uses the Vocaloid avatars themselves, though I never found it that interesting, perhaps in part because it doesn't have unique characters. (Then again neither does the Night ∞ Series. *shrug* From the sound of the summary it just seemed like a cliché fantasy plot anyone could see coming based on the Vocaloids featured, hence why I dislike that lack of creativity. Felt more like fanfiction than an original work. Yes I know I'm guilty of the same thing.) It does have a manga as well, but looks like that in itself is a fan-interpretation of the songs. So it's fanart of a fanfiction... Smells like BRS again. XP At least the novels are written by the composer, as are KagePro's and Shuuen no Shiori's novelizations. Presumably the latter two coordinate with their respective manga affiliates.

Edit- Okay, Mangafox lists the author of "Aku no Meshitsukai" as Mothy, which is another name for the composer, so I guess he did have a hand in it. Also apparently Ghibli talked to him last year about possibly making an animated movie. ...Well. I still think it's dull and predictable even without having watched the PVs, and apparently I'm not the only one.

*reads further and sees the last post* LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLL

Spoiler: show

"watch the end of message of regret
it is very obvious that a scientist is talking to a revived rin, asking her what her name is, etc.
then she spots len in the background.
they are both wearing their vocaloid costumes.
to further add, a little before that, we are watching transformations of the characters into the current vocaloids.
most notably hatsune miku."

So it really is a Vocaloid fanfiction. Oh God. That's hilarious.

Yeah that just destroyed any integrity the story might have had in my eyes. Sorry, Mothy. I'm sure it was a necessary "evil" as an early Vocaloid song project, but that's just not my kinda thing. ^^;

[Doppleganger]

The Guardian decided to profile herbivore men! Or more accurately, Japan's declining birthrate.

Can't say I disagree with that article...there's a bit of dipsomania involved in being single. You wouldn't get that impression from most anime, but then it's being caused by most anime!

[Lanturn]

Btw, what are we supposed to talk about in this thread?

I feel like watching Mirai Nikki. Does anyone have any recommendations for an anime that I can watch if I love To Aru Majutsu no Index but nothing as corny or bad as Fairy Tail?

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Lanturn

Btw, what are we supposed to talk about in this thread?

This thread is sort of a hybrid of the following:

• a place for you to recommend particular shows to people
• a place for you to discuss anime series that lack a thread of their own, if you so choose
• a place where we discuss other things related to anime culture that don't really warrant a thread of their own

I guess I would suggest skimming the last four to five pages to get a good idea of how this thread is used.

Originally Posted by Lanturn

I feel like watching Mirai Nikki. Does anyone have any recommendations for an anime that I can watch if I love To Aru Majutsu no Index but nothing as corny or bad as Fairy Tail?

Several of us have created MyAnimeList accounts. If you check those out, you can see what shows we've watched and how we've rated them. And if you filter the results by score, you can easily see which series we gave scores of 10/10 or 9/10 to. Clicking on those titles and reading their spoiler-free (or in some cases spoiler-lite) premises can help you make some strong shopping choices when deciding what to watch next, particularly if you haven't seen that much anime.

my page
Midgeorge's
bbb's
Yuki's
Kaisa's
Deoxys's

Click on any of those. Then click on where it says "Anime List" in the middle of the page next to "Anime Stats". Then where the table titled "Completed" is, look for the column that says "Score". Click on it. Then look at the series that were given 10s and 9s, click on any or all of the ones you haven't seen yet, see which ones sound most interesting to you, and check them out.

That stated, there are quite a few things I know that I personally have rated a 10/10 or a 9/10 that I would never encourage a greenhorn to check out. Things like Fate/Zero (which is a prequel, so you need to watch the parent series first) or Minami-ke (which is a comedy best reserved for once you've already seen a number of other comedies) I probably wouldn't recommend to a newbie. Vice-versa, there are some shows I've rated 8/10 or lower that I probably would recommend to newbies, like Kanon, for example. So this suggestion of checking out our 10s and 9s is a bit crude ... but I think you'll probably find it very powerful since, naturally, we'll have given you so many options to choose from given all of the shows we've collectively seen. Also, if you notice the same show popping up again and again in multiple people's lists in a pretty highly rated position, that's probably a good sign that you'll want to check it out.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

The Guardian decided to profile herbivore men! Or more accurately, Japan's declining birthrate.

Can't say I disagree with that article...there's a bit of dipsomania involved in being single. You wouldn't get that impression from most anime, but then it's being caused by most anime!

Dear God it looks like she has blood on her hands.

Originally Posted by Lanturn

Btw, what are we supposed to talk about in this thread?

I feel like watching Mirai Nikki. Does anyone have any recommendations for an anime that I can watch if I love To Aru Majutsu no Index but nothing as corny or bad as Fairy Tail?

I watched Mirai Nikki, though I've not seen either of those other two series so I'm afraid I can't really give a recommendation or say for certain whether you'll like MN. =/ (IMO it was pretty bad though...)

[Talon87]

Oh, and I forgot to mention: here is our Mirai Nikki thread, if you do decide to watch the series. I don't personally recommend it, but I doubt there's any dissuading you. ^^; I will say this: the thread starts with Episode 05 and the early participants in the thread are a little loose with their veiling of spoilers. So you may not want to read any of the early posts until you're further along in the tale. Looking the thread over myself, I would probably suggest you not read Posts 1-22 until you've seen through Episode 12. It's with Post 23 that a new challenger appears! Yuki joins the discussion and I think Doppel and I quit acting like we're the only two people in the room and thus we needn't mask anything that I (as the less spoiled of the two) have already seen. Yeah, looking at the top of Page 2, it looks like you'd be good to go from that point onward.

But again: I would not recommend Mirai Nikki. ^^; Here's my review of the series. (Spoiler comments are in the spoiler box; everything outside of it is intended for the general public.) Here's bbb's final thoughts on the series. And as for Yuki ... I don't think she ever posted her final thoughts. What does that tell you? ^^;

[Doppleganger]

Index season one is a pretty unique show. I still gush over it for that reason - it's not exactly "great" but it's solid and refreshingly different fun. Subsequent seasons and Railgun effectively diminish what was impressive about the first season. It's tough to point out something similar to it for that reason.

[big bad birtha]

I'd say new people would appreciate Mirai Nikki alot more than most of us. Our innocence has been lost and our views have been clouded by "reason". Though if you thought Fairy Tail was garbage, then you might not like Mirai Nikki either....maybe.

New shows! I've watched the stuff that has a thread too. I'll post in them....sometime.

Kyoukai no Kanata
I can't really say I felt one way or another about this. The story isn't bad, but I'm just not getting into it. Maybe something later will shake my emotions and stir my loins?

Kill la Kill
Haven't watched yet. I don't want to, to be honest, but I've got to, MISTER!

Galilei Donna
Episode two of this was okay. I do kind of like how the main girl is wary of this woman who came out of nowhere. It's not much, but it's better than "INSTANTO NAKAMA FROM ZEE SKY!". I can't really say anything bugged me in the second episode, so that's a plus.

Golden Time
Episode 3 was mostly good, but a couple of things bugged me. Most of it being sloppily handled scenes. Some things I can think of are the (episode 3 spoilerators)

Spoiler: show

the runaway scene. I think something was missing from this scene, because it showed them as running away as soon as the woman said she would follow them, but the other cultists seemed like they didn't know what was going on. They probably ran away shortly afterwards and JC just cut it out due to time....if that's not the case and they ran away immediately, then that's just dumb. Also while it was good for bonding, I wasn't crazy how they just started screaming and cackling when they were supposed to be hiding.

Also part of me thinks Koko is still using Banri, but that just might be me blindly mistrusting characters.

I'm not far from finishing Kamisama no Memochou, but other things have taken my attention.

[Midgeorge]

Contrary to what people say, I would recommend Mirai Nikki. Not because I like it now (I loved it when I first watched it but then I watched other shows and realised it was a piece of shit), but because its very good for introducing people to anime of the same genre. I probably would've never watched Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, which is one of my favourite series, had I not watched Mirai Nikki. I can sort of compare it to Skrillex in music, in the sense that you like it at first but then you hear/watch things of the same genre that are 1000x better and realise that it was quite shit.

If you're new to anime, Lanturn, then you might like it at first. Its good for introducing you to different genre's of anime, but you'll soon realise afterwards that its nothing compared to things like Higurashi and Fate/Zero. Maybe, thats what I got anyway.

[Doppleganger]

According to a very reliable source I'm a bit more than half-way through Grisaia's common path. I couldn't find news this mexcellent south of the border!

"shoujo kaihou"...ke ke ke.

[Lanturn]

Does having Index as a favorite makes me an instant newbie? xD Well I haven't really watched that many animes but I can definitely post a favorite list that isn't Naruto/Bleach/Pokemon/Digimon/Fairy Tail or whatever. Not saying they're bad, of course.

Alright, I'll look into the lists. Thanks for help and huge posts.

Tbh all my friends around me told me Mira Nikki is good. Meh, they aren't really hardcore I guess. This means that there is not any real reason for me to watch Mirai Nikki, so I'll push it back a bit I guess. I still have to watch stein;gate whose plot I forgot about and finish up a couple series that I got bored of, like Hataraku Maou-sama. Is it actually that good? I found it kinda boring except for some moments.

AND NICHIBROS LALALALALLALALAA.

A rather more focused opinion here: I'd like to watch multiple genres at one time. I'll watch something from the recommended. Can anyone suggest any mystery animes like Hyouka (I really like it) but isn't horror? I'm not fond of horror *shivers*

EDIT: Decided on a few to start watching. Thanks for the great advice :3

[Doppleganger]

Liking Index doesn't really say much. It's more of a "mid-level" kind of show for viewers who graduate from the kids stuff like Naruto, Bleach, OP etc. A handy barometre is how age-appropriate the show is. In Japan, the shows for elementary school kids like Crayon-shin, Doraemon etc. never get translated across the ponds. Middle school, junior high and late elementary school audiences are the focus for the Shounen Jump titles. Kodansha titles like Love Hina, GetBackers and Hajime no Ippo are for late middle school and high school, while shows like Shingeki no Kyojin and Sankarea are for young adults/late high school. Shows like Kaiji and Fate/Zero are strictly for adults.

Most of us have long since graduated from kid stuff, even if we still watch it from time to time. The level of writing (to me) is just too simplistic unless it's spectacularly imaginative, like the early Potter novels were.

As for mysteries...most light and visual novel stories are based around them, usually involving a character's past or some unusual circumstances the characters find themselves in. I think Hyouka! is pretty unique in its focus on commonplace, frequently mundane casual phenomenon.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Lanturn

A rather more focused opinion here: I'd like to watch multiple genres at one time. I'll watch something from the recommended. Can anyone suggest any mystery animes like Hyouka (I really like it) but isn't horror? I'm not fond of horror *shivers*

Most anime I've seen have had mystery elements to them rather than being flat-out mysteries akin to a Sherlock Holmes or a Hercule Poirot tale. Hyouka's a good example of a straight-up mystery series; but like Doppel says, the mysteries are pretty mundane. (That's a show you watch more for the characters than the cases.)

MyAnimeList might help you out again here (although it sounds from your edit like you already solved it): if you check out Hyouka and click on the link "Mystery" under the "Genres" section, you get a list of all the animes on MAL that have been tagged "Mystery." If you then click on "Score", you can sort them by their scores. (Probably worth pointing out that you shouldn't read the summary for Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu when it shows up: that's the movie adaptation of the fourth book in the series, you'll want to watch the TV series which adapts others of the books including 1, 2, and 3 before you watch that one.) Death Note's a pretty safe recommendation and is a classic cat-and-mouse thriller. Kanon has enough mystery to it that I'd recommend checking out the 2006 remake.

A mystery series we just finished watching is one called Dangan Ronpa, but based on the experiences of those who had played the video game first and those who had not, I think it's safe to say that your experience with that franchise would be richer if you played the game first.

Speaking of games, if you're up for visual novels and looking for a good mystery series, most of us have played KID's two most popular games, Ever17 and Remember11. You should check those out if you like VNs and haven't played these before. But don't worry about these if, for now, all you're really interested in is checking out some TV shows.

I don't know how much Japanese live action television you watch, but a few years ago I watched Galileo and I could recommend that one to you if it's a mystery you're looking for where what you're really hungering for is the "whodunit?" aspect to mysteries, trying to find out who the killer was, how they performed the crime, etc.

In "Galileo," Fukuyama Masaharu plays a genius physicist and university associate professor, Yukawa Manabu, who solves difficult mysteries. Affectionately known as Tantei Galileo, Yukawa is brilliant, an all-round sportsman, tall and handsome but eccentric. Yukawa's partner is a rookie cop, Utsumi Kaoru played by Shibasaki Kou. She is hot-blooded and has a strong sense of justice.

It's been a while since I saw it so I'm afraid I've forgotten most of the methods the criminals used to pull off their crimes, but I do remember being entertained by many of them. If nothing else, it's got one of my favorite pop rock theme songs from a J-drama. If you want to check out a sample, here's the first part of Episode 01 on Veoh. If you're really impatient, you can skip to 2m30s to see what sorts of crimes the show tends to deal in: atypical homicides.

[lilboocorsola]

The only dedicated mystery series I've seen that comes to mind besides Hyouka is Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~. The animé is admittedly pretty bad though, and there's no actual "resolution" to the central mystery. If you're interested, I recommend checking out the manga, which I did fairly enjoy.

I remember hearing something about a recent show called UN-GO, which I think was a detective series?

P.S. If you're not good with horror I'd even more strongly suggest steering clear of Mirai Nikki. Though more for the gore than fright factor.

[Doppleganger]

UN-GO was something my friend Malcom liked, Talon disliked, and I didn't really care for. Less about the mysteries themselves, and more about the mystery of a world you don't know.

Detective Conan is the archetypal mystery anime/manga and the manga series is pretty addicting, BUT it's probably crossed into the horror genre because of how gruesome and brutal the murders are.

[big bad birtha]

I don't know of too many mysteries, but I'll try to think of a few.

One I'm watching is Kamisama no Memochou. Though honestly it's more about the characters than the mysteries. It's not a bad show though. Atleast I hope it doesn't turn into one. I don't want JC sullying Kishida Mel's good name!

There's Gosick, but that was garbage. Well it might have been good later on, but I personally got fed up with the attitude towards the show/the focus.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh.......if it wasn't for the horror thing, I would recommend Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. I managed to watch it and I'm not crazy for excessive violence/gore.

Yeah the only real mystery I can recommend to you is Kamisama, and I'm not even done watching that myself.

[McSweeney]

Originally Posted by kaisap112

I don't think Geass is a fanservice show and I actually don't enjoy CLAMP-bishies very much (HAVE YOU SEEN THOSE WAISTLINES I MEAN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THOSE PROPORTIONS?! ).

What, not even that cute male tsundere Li Syaoran?!

[kaisap112]

Originally Posted by Mcsweeney

What, not even that cute male tsundere Li Syaoran?!

I've never watched Cardcaptor Sakura.

[Lanturn]

Yeah, I've heard of Dangan Ronpa. I'm planning to watch it.

I've been watching Detective Conan for a pretty long time. I started watching when I was pretty young since my country dubbed it. And every once and then, I get creeped out by one of those people die brutally/related to legends murders that are so bloody that they give nightmares (It was when people died with their eyes opened, man, I miss those times, now they had to close their eyes when they die and reduce the blood. /le rant

I'll check these out Thanks for these awesome suggestions. Also, where does Oreimo/SAO fall in Doppleganer's scale? I'm kinda curious.

PS: Is the ending for Oreimo S2 really that bad? One of my friends who started watching anime (he watched some crappy anime and SAO which isn't really a good selection) told me that the ending for Oreimo S2 was really bad. He isn't the critical type and doesn't have the experience. Is it that bad?

[lilboocorsola]

Oh my God. Apparently the Bookmark of Demise cover I linked to before was sung by a girl.

...

What. She sounds exactly like a man, more so than nano. >.< Never would've guessed in a million years. I saw someone refer to "Ikasan" as "she", but thought "Nahhhh, it couldn't be. Must be a mistake." But it really is. Just... Wow. Japan, why u so full of traps?

I feel like Talon trolled by Mama Panda so hard right now.

[Talon87]

Galilei Donna: It doesn't matter that you named it in Italian and it sounds more elegant to our American+Japanese ears. The title may as well still say "Galileo Girls": because this is every bit as Gonzo-ey as such a title would suggest. Ass-kicking girls? Check. Who cover different sides of femininity? Check. All under 24? Check. At least one is a loli? Check. Takes place in a sci-fi future where society is still like ours but the technology is 100+ years advanced? Check. Each girl is some viewer's waifu? Check. Animation is gorgeous? Check. Plot and characters do not invite confidence? Check. ^^;

Pleaaaaaaaaaaase don't turn out to be like Bakuretsu Tenshi. I see you're by A-1 Pictures (who don't have the strongest record) and the director of such series as Kite and Mezzo Forte. So ... basically I shouldnt expect much. ^^; ........ *sigh*

Episode 01:

Spoiler: show

Hozuki straddles that line between "so adorable you wish she were your daughter" and "so cute you wish she were ten years older so ..." She's easily the #1 reason to watch the show. I just wish Gonzo A-1 Pictures would quit sexualizing her. Like the scenes of her working in her workshop naked but for a pair of blue denim overalls?

The jailbait train doesn't stop there! Meet middle sister Kazuki. There's something about her which just screams "I'm going to star in over thirty erodoujins this December! " but I can't put my finger on it. It's not as though onion-headed characters are categorically attractive, but something about her head just screams "beauty".

Finally, we get a legal target in eldest sister Hazuki. Too bad she's the least attractive of the litter both in looks and personality. That's okay! The writers know it too! That's why they're pairing her off with bumbling idiot dashing rogue pirate Cicinho! Because they know they won't be breaking any otaku hearts, getting in between men and their waifus, by doing so!

Koyama Rikiya (Emiya Kiritsugu's voice actor) shows up here as the Galileis' hippie scientist daddy, Geshio. If only his presence could ensure against this production being a flop ...

The girls' mother, Sylvia, is the stereotypical "sexy no-bullshit bitch". You can easily see how her character design was inspired by her two eldest daughters'.

As for the plot ... I dunno, it seems silly so far BUT I WANT THIS SHOW TO WORK so I'll try not to be too mean about it. ^^; (LOL! )

• Pretty ridiculous that all three sisters evaded capture. (Although eldest sister Hazuki was admittedly rescued.)
• Pretty ridiculous that a thirteen-year old girl could've made that mechanical airship.
• Pretty ridiculous that a team of pirates who knew full well where the girls were at all times (school, bars, out and about ...) and who knew where the girls lived couldn't have raised the girls' home(s) before they all headed home from the police station.
• Fairly ridiculous that anything from the 16th Century left behind by Galileo Galilei would even be worth having in the future. (Like, I realize they're making it out to be the key to the Universe or something, but my point is that that in and of itself is absurd: that some Italian man in the 1500s using only the crude tools and materials of his time could make something that looks like it belongs in a Halo video game.)

Probably the thing I found most ridiculous was ... well, see below.

Some of the musical directional choices have been ... strange, to say the least. I'll give you a good example. Find Episode 01. Skip to 14m30s. Listen to the music. Observe what happens next. So far so fine ... until, after several seconds of silence, the music returns -- and it's every bit as inappropriately fun and light as what we just left! Oh, sure, it's jazzy! But so what!?

Spoiler: show

A man just detonated a bomb at their front door, sending their father flying, nearly killing him in the process ... and this is the music you decide to play!? All because you want to establish subliminally that Cicinho isn't a serious villain!? How am I supposed to take Kiritsugu's Geshio's demands to know what's going on seriously when you're playing that sort of music in the background? Cicinho pulls that gun on the family, it's such a serious scene ... and yet we're all smilin' and snappin' our fingers to the cool cat's jazzy beat!

I'm hoping Episode 02 will reveal that this series has real promise. I may not stick with the series much longer if things don't improve quickly.

[Talon87]

Galileo Donna: I wrote an awesome post, filled with lots of pictures and excitement and smiles and ...

... and then fucking Tumblr crashed fucking Firefox which fucking ate my post. FUCK.

Suffice to say, in super brief and with much less enthusiasm than before:

Episode 02:

Spoiler: show

Lovin' Hozuki. She was adorable this episode.

Did not mention last post how one of the things I find dumbest about this series is that it acts like these three girls and their mom are the only living descendants of Galileo Galilei.

Did not mention last post how, despite the crap I gave A-1, this is a really beautifully animated production at times. The CG stands out a bit, unfortunately, but it's still very pretty to look at. And the girls, especially Hozuki, are just gorgeously animated. It's SAO all over again.

Loving the plot twist about the girls' mother having possibly been murdered by the Materazzi patriarch. I wrote a lot about this last time and am not in the mood to re-write it all now, sadly. But suffice to say: I of course was sad to see it happen but I think it demonstrates that the writers have balls, that the villains in this series are to be taken seriously (unlike Cicinho, who's pretty much screaming "I join the heroes halfway through the series! " at this point), and it gives the girls a lot of room for growth as characters.

Fuck it. Not going to let Firefox keep me down. I can at least share with you some of the Hozuki pictures I found. HERE WE GO!

Spoiler: show

A-DORABLE.

[lilboocorsola]

Random rambly thoughts at 2AM.

Magi:

Episode 03 amused me.

Spoiler: show

Lol @ Alibaba's attempts to get his friends to recognize reconcile with him.

Also shipping Hakuryuu x Morg hard now. Was leaning towards it from the previous eps, and wow he came out with confirmation of a crush pretty fast. But I dunno, I think it's cute, especially since it introduces a rivalry between hm and Alibaba. I'm happy he's considered a part of the team now, even if it's only briefly before they all part ways.

Just remembered we have a thread for this. Oh, well. Need an excuse to gush more over KagePro. Miss Yumeko came out with her rendition of Summertime Record... Darn you(meko) and your versatile voice acting skills for making it sound like the entire Mekakushi Dan singing together. Ung my heart. Needs to be nico nico choruses now. Are there enough people yet? Jin why u no release official instrumental.

On another note, Kido stop being so moe in the fourth novel. Stahp.

Spoiler: show

Also I read a translation for the Kagerou Days chapters on tumblr and ohgosh I was surprised by just how emotional the second one was. Jin's actually not a bad writer. Sadly I don't think the "twist" can be worked into the animé well...

Man, I had another idea for a fic but seems someone already did something similar... Ah, well. There's still the first one I want to write. Not that I have time for either.

...Apologies for the interruption. We now bring you back to your regularly scheduled programming.

*vanishes off into her own little world again*

[McSweeney]

Madoka movie 3: Rebellion is coming soon (all new story, no more recap!). According to this thing, it's playing in my city on December 9th, a day when I have to work. I thought I was in another situation where I couldn't see movie 2 because of that, but it's playing a second time on the 15th, which is a Sunday HECK YEAH! All I have to do is lay low and avoid spoilers ... which shouldn't be hard, since this is the only anime board I go to now. I also have to be careful about yacky theatre goers who are seeing it a second time ...