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

[kaisap112]

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

Okay, I've been playing Persona 3 Portable for over a year now on and off. A friend of mine through XBL keeps suggesting I get Persona 4 Arena, but I never played P4 and I also suck at fighting games (not that I don't think they're fun and try). Anyway, I decided I would put P4 (not Arena, PS2 version) into my Amazon save for later cart/wishlist and then saw that P4 had an anime.

Why not try that out?

I'm on episode 11 and everything up until that moment has been okay. It's not throwing annoying tropes in my face every other minutes like some shows while the character and plot progression has been pretty good. Animation is great, until now....

Spoiler: show

Did they really just use a fuzzy photo of a Japanese supermarket as a background for this scenes? Have they been doing this all along and I was just too blind to see it? What the fuck is this laziness?!! It all looks so out of place. Like they put the animation as a bunch of stickers on top of a photo!!

I hope they don't keep doing that, because it's put me on edge with what has thus far been a pretty good show.

I watched the anime, but frankly, I probably don't pay as much attention to backgrounds as most people here seem to do. The anime shortcuts a few minor Social Links by lumping them in one episode, but otherwise it was very accurate to the game and more (especially in the humor-parts). I liked it, and it's probably the best way after the Hiimdaisy Comics and Fandub to get the story of Persona 4 without spending hours and hours on the game.

[Doppleganger]

I wanted to watch the anime bad but the P4 fans said it wouldn't make sense to a non-game initiate and it would be ruinous to even attempt it. So I didn't.

Chie...

[Slash]

I started rewatching YuYu Hakusho the other day, on Youtube. I had forgotten just how awesome it was. I found myself really liking Genkai quite a bit. Kuwabara and Kurama are my favourites, however.

[Midgeorge]

Hey guess what I started watching

Spoiler: show

I said guess, but if you're too lazy for that

Spoiler: show

Its Fate/Zero

Spoiler: show

And its really fucking good

[Talon87]

Do you want us to actually post a guess? I quit reading after opening the first spoiler box and saw your message there. I was gonna guess either Fate/Zero ('cause you played the game first, right? ) or PreCure ('cause that'd be pretty surprising). So ... there are my guesses. Now I'll click.

EDIT: So ...

Spoiler: show

YOU HAVE PLAYED THE FSN GAME FIRST, RIGHT?

I already had to disown Blaze. [/sarcasm] I don't want to have to disown two children this month.

Half-jokes aside, it is very good. I'm re-watching it now myself and am currently on Episode 8. Seven episodes in ~24 hours ...

[Talon87]

There are two things I should emphasize though, as I have been rewatching F/Z, for people considering watching F/Z before (or without) playing FSN ...

(not a spoiler)

Spoiler: show

1. It really bears emphasizing, you should play FSN first. Not only because watching F/Z first ruins you on FSN, and not only because playing FSN first augments your F/Z experience (both are true!), but because playing FSN first specifically is something of an assumed fact by the writers. While they did do a pretty decent job (à la Gen's Prologue chapter and Chapter 01 in the book) of gradually introducing people to the setting, characters, and introductory plot, once you depart from Episode 01's sunny shores, the waters get pretty choppy for anyone who doesn't know shit from the game. Here are just some of the things I've encountered in Episodes 1 thru 7 alone which are not explained at all by Fate/Zero:

• What is a Reality Marble?
• What is the distinction between "the Grail" as in the leyline Grail and "the Grail" as in the cup they're fighting over? (The terms are used interchangeably and you're expected to know, as a fan, which one it is that they're referring to at any given time because of the context.)
• What is all this talk about skills (like Riding for Saber and Independent Action for Archer)? And what is all this talk about parameters (like Saber's being mostly A's or Berserker's being invisible)?
• What is a Crest Worm?
• What is a Noble Phantasm? (This they sort of explain for first-timers when Rider is talking with Waver in Episode 03.)

So like ... not only does doing it out of order cheapen FSN for you ('cause F/Z is so much better) ... and not only does doing it out of order lessen F/Z for you ('cause you're missing all the fanservice and allusions to people, places, and things in FSN) ... but not playing FSN first can mean, in a lot of cases, that you're just flat-out lost, furthering worsening your F/Z experience.


2. Despite what I've said above, if you're already through Episode 13 (as I know Blaze was by the time I caught him >_>), then it's practically a goddamn coin flip whether you should even bother stopping or not. And the reason for that is:

• pro for stopping: it's not too late to salvage your F/Z experience and make it even better! There's still some big stuff left at the end that you're supposed to know about going in for it to be nearly as dramatic as it should be!
• con for stopping: I don't want you to feel miserable. I don't want to kill your high!

That last one's pretty big. If you're forcing yourself through FSN and you're like "Man, this is dumb ... I WANT TO GO BACK TO F/Z! ", then not only does it ruin your FSN experience, but it threatens your F/Z one too. And that ain't right. Likewise, if you're currently watching F/Z and you're all like "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FUCK YEAH! THIS IS AWESOME! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", is it really the right call to ask you to interrupt that high to go and play a 40-to-50-hour PC game first and then come back mid-series? I honestly don't know if it is. I advised Blaze to do this (still not sure whether he did it or not; he claimed to have finished F/Z first in a joking manner and dodged my question when I asked him if he was joking or not >_>; ), but like, I've been wondering for the past week whether my advice was right or wrong. I'm praying he'll write back one way or another and reveal that he is very happy with the course of action he took, whatever that may be. I don't want him to be miserable, and I definitely don't want it to be on account of me and my advice. So like, if you're already through Episode 13 ... 16 ... 21 ... perhaps you should just carry on and enjoy the ride. But if you're only on Episode 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... then it's arguably not too late to put the show on hold, do things in their proper order, come back to it later, and re-enjoy the episodes you'd seen already before pressing on to the remainder. I think the damage to your F/Z enjoyment would be minimal if you stopped that early. I worry it would not be if you stopped very late.

[kaisap112]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

I wanted to watch the anime bad but the P4 fans said it wouldn't make sense to a non-game initiate and it would be ruinous to even attempt it. So I didn't.

Depends on what they mean by "ruinous".

Does the anime show every single ending the game has? No. Does it go through every last bit of dialogue like it is in the games? No. Showing every last Social Link option's consequences? No. But that's what the game is for, the anime's focus is the main plot.

I have played through the game and watched every last episode of the anime, and I don't recall anything that would make the anime unwatchable without having played the game first. It's not how Harry Potter movies are with HP-books, or how F/S-animes are with the visual novels.

Does the P4-anime add anything new to someone who's played the game? Absolutely, the MC has some pretty glorious moments that you can't have in the games. But personally, I think you can watch the anime just fine without having played through the game first.

[Loki]

I can almost see how some of the Social Link episodes could be seen as filler by anyone who doesn't know how Persona games are played, but nothing to the point of "THIS FILLER HAS RUINED THE SHOW!"

BTW, I finished the series. Was pretty good. Except for that one moment of terrible background, the animation was top notch and the show had an excellent balance. Episode 15 was filled with Persona 3 references and my absolute favorite moment with Yu:

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

[Doppleganger]

Then I'll watch it. I'll never play the games anyway, and I want Chie, Rise, Yukiko and Nanako to say sweet things in mine ear. It's really sore from the fire alarm rape I went through yesterday. Inner ear aloe vera. ;_;

...

Making some progress in Haruka's route in LB, I think I like her of all the girls thus far. She's the first girl to make an earnest effort to get Riki to like her. In all three of the prior routes, the girls loved him right off the bat (except Mio) but Riki had to go on the offense. Haruka's efforts are endearing her to me. She's currently offering Riki tea, and it's really tickling something in my thoracic cavity. I hope this isn't a heart attack...

Also, I provide humble insight into GENIUS.

Originally Posted by AIM

[19:44] DarkChromDra: Do I ask Haruka for the truth?
[19:45] all 2000 partz: What is she talking about?
[19:45] DarkChromDra: Riki discovered she's going home at night and she's making excuses
[19:45] DarkChromDra: They're not in a relationship atm, Haruka is trying to woo Riki
[19:46] all 2000 partz: Oh, I guess you should ask for the truth
[19:46] DarkChromDra: ok...
[19:46] DarkChromDra: seems a bit counter intuitive, but let's roll
[19:46] all 2000 partz: Well if you get the truth
[19:46] all 2000 partz: maybe she'll let you in her house!
[19:46] all 2000 partz: Err...
[19:46] all 2000 partz: take you wherever she's going
[19:47] all 2000 partz: (I forget what I'm actually supposed to do, but that's what I'd usually do in a VN)
[19:51] DarkChromDra: well
[19:52] DarkChromDra: when you said "maybe she'll let you in her house!" I wasn't seriously expecting that to come to pass.
[19:52] DarkChromDra: That's like saying "come and bang me real hard, RIGHT NOW."
[19:52] all 2000 partz: Nah, that's usually the logic for those things
[19:52] all 2000 partz: Inquire about something and you'll get to see it first hand

BBB's a freaking soothsayer.

[kaisap112]

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

BTW, I finished the series. Was pretty good. Except for that one moment of terrible background, the animation was top notch and the show had an excellent balance. Episode 15 was filled with Persona 3 references and my absolute favorite moment with Yu:

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

Oh yes. That scene was glorious. And it's on Youtube, as well!

And best of the MC, Yu Narukami.

Deadpan snarkers, how I love thee. Also, about the latter video:

Spoiler: show

Yu's ringtone for the Girlfriend of Doom is the Game Over music from another game by Atlus: Catherine. Which was a horror game that included loads of slaughtered sheep and nightmarish women.

[Char]

Dropped Kotoura-San, didn't feel like watching this week's episode at all.

Tamako Market kinda got my interest back this week.

I wish Love-Live had a song this week. They're pretty addicting.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha is barely keeping my attention at the moment.

I still really like Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next.

Sakurasou, still keeping up, still enjoying. Should post in that thread more.

I watched the newest episode of Naruto recently, not gonna watch more. I read the manga and that's far more satisfying for me.

Been re-reading and watching a good amount of One Piece recently. I keep up with the manga only usually. I've been sick and in bed so that's mostly the reason.

That's my anime update.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Char

Dropped Kotoura-San, didn't feel like watching this week's episode at all.

Tamako Market kinda got my interest back this week.

I wish Love-Live had a song this week. They're pretty addicting.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha is barely keeping my attention at the moment.

I still really like Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next.

Sakurasou, still keeping up, still enjoying. Should post in that thread more.

I watched the newest episode of Naruto recently, not gonna watch more. I read the manga and that's far more satisfying for me.

Been re-reading and watching a good amount of One Piece recently. I keep up with the manga only usually. I've been sick and in bed so that's mostly the reason.

That's my anime update.

Responding bit by bit:

Kotoura: I never even picked this one up, and judging from your guys' responses, it looks like I was probably right to not even bother.

Tamako Market, Love Live, Haganai: likewise, never bothered.

One Piece: one of those series that I'll probably never pick up because it's far too long, the artwork and character designs are really off-putting for me, and the broad premise doesn't seem that unique (band of merry friends goes on adventures looking for treasure).

Maoyuu: like you, this is barely keeping my interest. Honestly, not gonna lie: I'd have dropped it by now were it not for Maou's ri-goddamn-diculous sex appeal. Without her to look at, the show is preeeeeeeeeeeetty durn boring so far. It's not offensive or anything, it's just ... not well told. Not sure if this is the anime's fault or the novels' fault, though I'm running on the assumption that it's the latter.

Sakurasou: I'm enjoying it, but it hasn't lived up to expectations. Too lofty, I guess. That stated, it's so much better than I feared it might be before it started airing. I really hoped it would be a good romantic comedy and not some brainless harem, and for the most part that turned out to be the case. If -10 was my fears, and +10 was my hopes, Sakurasou's hovering around a +6 or a +7 right now. So when I say it hasn't lived up to expectations, that's what I mean. It's still good. It's still a hell of a lot better than most contemporary romantic comedy anime. It's just ... not ToraDora. ^^; *tomato'd for incessant ToraDora comparisons*

Naruto: Dropped this years ago, back when Dattebayo quit subbing it because CrunchyRoll had picked it up. The show had stretched on for too long by that point for me, and they were about to dive into yet another bullshit filler arc with some old acquaintance of Orochimaru's and pink-purple crystals or something. Having discussed everything that happened between then and now with AK2 via telephone and now you guys via the forum, I don't really have a need or a desire to go back and catch up on any of this.

[Doppleganger]

I was listening to PreCure music and one of the featured videos was something called Kirepapa. It looked like a romance, so I clicked on it.

Yeah, it's a romance...between guys. Ohhhhhhh maaaaan, what the heck is this thing doing on YouTube? It looks like a hentai OVA, since the two guys banged one another, but it didn't show any parts and the CVs (Takahiro Sakurai and Hikaru Midorikawa) are established enough to not do H. Regardless, it was hilarious to hear those two voicing a yaoi, and the comments/thumbs up were icing on the Christmas Cake.

Regardless, I think it goes to show - while PreCure is aimed at little girls, YouTube's algorithms revealed that it's watched by older guys and older girls.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

I was listening to PreCure music and one of the featured videos was something called Kirepapa. It looked like a romance, so I clicked on it.

Yeah, it's a romance...between guys. Ohhhhhhh maaaaan, what the heck is this thing doing on YouTube? It looks like a hentai OVA, since the two guys banged one another, but it didn't show any parts and the CVs (Takahiro Sakurai and Hikaru Midorikawa) are established enough to not do H. Regardless, it was hilarious to hear those two voicing a yaoi, and the comments/thumbs up were icing on the Christmas Cake.

Regardless, I think it goes to show - while PreCure is aimed at little girls, YouTube's algorithms revealed that it's watched by older guys and older girls.

Or by effeminate men in the LGBT community who, per their effeminacy, may like all manner of things aimed at feminine demographics and who, per their non-heterosexuality, may enjoy things which would turn off female heterosexuals and/or male heterosexuals. In other words ...

• gay macho dude: might like the yaoi but not PreCure
• straight dude: might like PreCure but not the yaoi
• gay effeminate dude: both enjoys PreCure and enjoys yaoi

A sub-subset of that subset would be adult men who actively wish that they were girls. Such men a) might be more likely than your average male to enjoy PreCure and b) would very probably be more likely than your average male to enjoy romances which depict men having sex with other men.

Long story short, your finding could be explained away by older women, but unless YouTube indicates that PreCure and the yaoi video have comparable levels of older women watching, I wouldn't necessarily draw the same conclusion you did about there being lots of older women who watch PreCure. (There might be. There might also not be. ^^; )

As for that series you mentioned, I looked it up just now and it sounds like it's a yaoi incest story. (Right up your angle, Doppel! ) A love triangle between a father, his son, and his son's best friend if I am reading it correctly. Perhaps Midorikawa was hurting for work that year. ^^; Or perhaps the creator approached him and said, "Look: my target audience thinks your voice is Captain McDreamy's. Can you pleaaaaaaaaase voice this character for me? " I mean, re-watching Fate/Zero, I am continually impressed every time Lancer comes on screen just how much of Epic Fap Material he is for every straight girl, bi girl, or gay dude in the audience.

[Doppleganger]

The demographics for the respective videos:

Smile Precure! OST 1 Track10

Male, 45-54 years
Female, 13-17 years
Male, 35-44 years

Kirepapa OVA 1

Female, 13-17 years
Female, 18-24 years
Female, 35-44 years

Now, I will note that YouTube is binary and rejects the postmodern interpretation of sexuality. But, if we take this info on face value (and that the reported information is accurate) I don't think many guys are into yaoi incest.

Curiously, I am out of the demographic for PreCure. Simply too young for it. That's new.

[deoxys]

Can someone explain to me how to search a thread for a specific post? Whenever I hear about an anime from my friend, I like to search UPN for your opinions first, but lately the only results for said titles all appear ONLY in this thread, and I'd like to pull up the exact posts with that mention that title... but considering it's a 193 page thread, that just isn't happenin'.

[Loki]

While in the thread, look at the top right corner and you should see a search button. That will check only this thread.

[Midgeorge]

OST Time! This one has to be my favourite piece of music from any show I've seen yet. It has so much character, so much emotion, all that good stuff. Its nice to hear the various instruments layer over each other gradually as the song progresses, whilst still keeping the emotional violin section to make up the backbone of the piece.

Spoiler: show

[kaisap112]

Went ahead and started watching Mirai Nikki. Hooked already. *_*

*cue Talon's Big-Ass Post of Hate*

[Talon87]

No? ^_^; I think we all quite enjoyed it for the first few episodes, retarded premise (lol future-telling cell phone diaries) be damned. Doppel, bbb, myself, Yuki, .... It's just that the show goes to shit, and then goes further to shit, and then plummets into the depths of New York's public sewer system. ^^;

I'll reserve my contempt for if/when you should happen to finish the series and yet then tell us, "Wow. That was one of the best stories I've ever seen in my entire life." Then I'll say something. ;p

Not sure if I posted it in this very thread or in some other thread, but I know I recently relinked the climactic ending of Episode 03 somewhere. Never mind the rest of the series: that single scene is probably one of the best, most terrifying scenes I've ever seen in an anime.

[kaisap112]

Originally Posted by Talon87

No? ^_^; I think we all quite enjoyed it for the first few episodes, retarded premise (lol future-telling cell phone diaries) be damned. Doppel, bbb, myself, Yuki, .... It's just that the show goes to shit, and then goes further to shit, and then plummets into the depths of New York's public sewer system. ^^;

I'll reserve my contempt for if/when you should happen to finish the series and yet then tell us, "Wow. That was one of the best stories I've ever seen in my entire life." Then I'll say something. ;p

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivors games have kind of the same idea (text messages of who will die that day and how), so I'm used to the premise and don't share the opinion that it's retarded. It can work if it's used well.

I'm at Episode 5 right now and there's one character I find absolutely ridiculous, but otherwise I'm okay with the show so far.

Spoiler: show

Twelth. "HENSHIN TIGHTS!". The guy makes me nauseaus just by existing.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Midgeorge

OST Time! This one has to be my favourite piece of music from any show I've seen yet. It has so much character, so much emotion, all that good stuff. Its nice to hear the various instruments layer over each other gradually as the song progresses, whilst still keeping the emotional violin section to make up the backbone of the piece.

Spoiler: show

I've never seen the series Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, but that piece of music you linked is indeed wonderful.

The series premise, as described here, strikes me as a tad silly with the brainwashing bit and the German numerals for names ^^; (Ein{s} and Zwei ... does that mean there's a Drei eventually? ), but the song invites me to consider that the series might actually be worth a look. *shrug*, what did you think of it?

If what you liked about the series was the "girl with handgun mastery and a sad past" angle, then you might be delighted to learn that this is an entire genre of anime. There's Noir, there's Gunslinger Girl, there's Angel Beats, there's Strike Witches, ... there are a lot of series with a girl who is a handgun master. If you allow adult women, there's Madlax, Ergo Proxy, Black Lagoon, ... yeah, there's a lot. I haven't seen Noir since 2004 or so, so I make no promise for how good it is by my standards today. But when I was first getting into anime, I enjoyed it enough to want to buy it on DVD to show my support for the creators. And so I did. Prooooooooooobably wouldn't buy a series like Noir today, but *shrug*, I bring it up so you can make your own informed decision if indeed you really quite like this genre.

And Noir's got some great music too:

Spoiler: show

[Midgeorge]

Originally Posted by Talon87

I've never seen the series Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, but that piece of music you linked is indeed wonderful.

The series premise, as described here, strikes me as a tad silly with the brainwashing bit and the German numerals for names ^^; (Ein{s} and Zwei ... does that mean there's a Drei eventually? ), but the song invites me to consider that the series might actually be worth a look. *shrug*, what did you think of it?

If what you liked about the series was the "girl with handgun mastery and a sad past" angle, then you might be delighted to learn that this is an entire genre of anime. There's Noir, there's Gunslinger Girl, there's Angel Beats, there's Strike Witches, ... there are a lot of series with a girl who is a handgun master. If you allow adult women, there's Madlax, Ergo Proxy, Black Lagoon, ... yeah, there's a lot. I haven't seen Noir since 2004 or so, so I make no promise for how good it is by my standards today. But when I was first getting into anime, I enjoyed it enough to want to buy it on DVD to show my support for the creators. And so I did. Prooooooooooobably wouldn't buy a series like Noir today, but *shrug*, I bring it up so you can make your own informed decision if indeed you really quite like this genre.

And Noir's got some great music too:

Spoiler: show

Its my favourite show I've seen so far. Music is a highpoint for the show in my opinion, and the opening is beautiful. I'm not entirely sure if it'd be your thing, but even if you hate it it'd still be nice to be able to discuss this show with someone. Its a shame its not a widely known series, evident that when I search Ein into deviant art all I get is 8 pages of dog :')

Yeah Phantom isn't really anything like that kind of show; its a lot less cliche. For the record Angel Beats is one of my least favourite shows i've seen :p

[Talon87]

Never seen anything I listed off for you except Noir and Black Lagoon. I wouldn't touch Angel Beats, Strike Witches, or Gunslinger Girl myself with a ten-foot pole. ^_^; But that doesn't mean others would not! So I figured I'd share the titles' names, in case they interested you.

I'm not really looking to pick up anything older right now (I have a few older anime series which I've started but which are currently on hold), but if I can easily find it on YouTube or CrunchyRoll or something, I might give it a look, just to see if I think it'd catch my interest. Doubting it though. Not sure I can take the plot premise seriously. (Mafia led by super-soldier young teenage girl, tourist abducted and brainwashed into joining their troupe.) The song is nice though.

[Midgeorge]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Never seen anything I listed off for you except Noir and Black Lagoon. I wouldn't touch Angel Beats, Strike Witches, or Gunslinger Girl myself with a ten-foot pole. ^_^; But that doesn't mean others would not! So I figured I'd share the titles' names, in case they interested you.

I'm not really looking to pick up anything older right now (I have a few older anime series which I've started but which are currently on hold), but if I can easily find it on YouTube or CrunchyRoll or something, I might give it a look, just to see if I think it'd catch my interest. Doubting it though. Not sure I can take the plot premise seriously. (Mafia led by super-soldier young teenage girl, tourist abducted and brainwashed into joining their troupe.) The song is nice though.

I'll probably watch Black Lagoon (Dubbed of course, can't miss all the foul language :P), but I haven't looked into anything else in that kind of genre. Angel Beats is something that should be avoided. Its in the same situation as Guilty Crown, in the sense that its pretty and everything, but doesn't really have much else going for it.

I'll just say that you're getting the wrong idea of the show, but its your call if you want to watch it or not anyway. The whole series is on FUNimations youtube channel, although its only in 360p.

Spoiler: show