How about that Anime and Manga

[Jolts]

Homestuck is my favorite anime
I'm trying to get into some new anime, recently I started watching Baccano.

Oh, I've never really gotten into Gundam, maybe I'll try it.

My friend got me to watch the first few episodes of Baccano and I'm really not sure what to think of it yet...
I would reccomend starting with Gundam Wing to be honest. It's in an AU so you don't need to know any continuity which is nice, and the alternative, G Gundam, really hasn't aged well in my opinion.

I'd advise you either go through chronologically from the original series on, or shelve the Universal Century stories and start with G Gundam and Wing. I personally consider Turn A to be the best the metaseries has to offer, but for certain reasons it's best watched after the rest.

I've been trying to find another good Gundam Series to watch so I'll give Turn A a look.

In that case, should I recommend Accel World, Psyren and Bokuano to you?

...I admit that I haven't read that last one extensively, but all three series may be pertinent to your interests...

Somebody else who's read Psyren? Awesome! It's a great series overall though the ending seemed kinda rushed.

[WordsHere]

In that case, should I recommend Accel World, Psyren and Bokuano to you?

...I admit that I haven't read that last one extensively, but all three series may be pertinent to your interests...

Dennou Coil. Sort of.

[Farsinian]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

My friend got me to watch the first few episodes of Baccano and I'm really not sure what to think of it yet...
I would reccomend starting with Gundam Wing to be honest. It's in an AU so you don't need to know any continuity which is nice, and the alternative, G Gundam, really hasn't aged well in my opinion.


I've been trying to find another good Gundam Series to watch so I'll give Turn A a look.


Somebody else who's read Psyren? Awesome! It's a great series overall though the ending seemed kinda rushed.

I always have some mixed feelings about Wing. It's big time nostalgia for me, but the story is really rushed in my opinion, trying to incorporate all of the UC shows from MSG to Char's Counterattack in one season. Also, it's kind of a nitpick of mine, but I can just never get over the enemy's mech design; it's simply a glaring design flaw to have the "eye" fixed to the torso, with no neck. It severely diminishes the soldiers' ability to see the battle, and is easily fixed by designers.

I must confess, I haven't quite heard of Psyren, I'll have to check it out.

[Panda-s1]

In that case, should I recommend Accel World, Psyren and Bokuano to you?

...I admit that I haven't read that last one extensively, but all three series may be pertinent to your interests...

I skipped on Accel World for some reason. Maybe it didn't call out to me. I dunno, maybe I'll give it a shot considering it's written by the same guy as SAO. Bokurano I've heard of, but it's about a robot and people dying, that's sad but I guess that's what makes it good? And Psyren... is a Shonen Jump title. That makes me wary. Though I need to get around to reading One Piece one of these days.

Dennou Coil. Sort of.

Fucking I love Dennou Coil. One of the greatest kids shows ever. But I hate how like nobody knows about it. Actually, at my last school's anime club, I tried showing it when it was new and exciting. Nobody really liked it. That's when I decided my club was kinda lame :P

Actually, I'm kinda glad no one's recommended .Hack. I mean I liked it, but for starters it's oooooold. Like before I graduated high school old. Also surprised, I was kinda worried everyone on here would be kinda lame, but this is kinda awesome.

[Panda-s1]

My friend got me to watch the first few episodes of Baccano and I'm really not sure what to think of it yet...
I would reccomend starting with Gundam Wing to be honest. It's in an AU so you don't need to know any continuity which is nice, and the alternative, G Gundam, really hasn't aged well in my opinion.

I've been trying to find another good Gundam Series to watch so I'll give Turn A a look.

SEED and 00 are supposed to be good(?). I haven't actually seen either, and I would but... well, that's two 52 episode series, that's kinda daunting :/ Unicorn is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread, apparently. What do I know? I don't watch Gundam, I just have friends that are obsessed with it. But I do know that the one currently airing, AGE, is supposedly really dumb.

edit: Forgot about Baccano! It's confusing at first, but once you sort out the three separate timelines it becomes a lot less confusing. I also really like how almost everyone in the English dub has a New York accent. I actually need to finish it, now that it's been brought up :/ tl;dr stick with it, it goes places. It goes to New York. 'Cause the trai—

Anyway, if you do end up liking Baccano!, be sure to watch Durarara!!, too, which was also written by Ryogo Narita, and has a better character set, IMO. Though the setting is modern day Ikebukuro, very different change of pace.

[Farsinian]

SEED is... okay. It's just a kinda bland retread of the original series, until about halfway when it gets pretty involving. I'd avoid Destiny like the plague though... 00 is a pretty good take on Wing though, and is pretty gripping throughout, even though there is some sillyness.

[Tellycommet]

I've just finished Hikaru no Go, and started tons of manga although I really feel lazy trying to finish all of them.

[williamcll]

SEED is... okay. It's just a kinda bland retread of the original series, until about halfway when it gets pretty involving. I'd avoid Destiny like the plague though... 00 is a pretty good take on Wing though, and is pretty gripping throughout, even though there is some sillyness.

Anyone here read the astray sidestories?

[Tren]

Psyren

All of you read this right now for the love of god.
Psyren is the best. The BEST.

Actually, I'm kinda glad no one's recommended .Hack. I mean I liked it, but for starters it's oooooold. Like before I graduated high school old. Also surprised, I was kinda worried everyone on here would be kinda lame, but this is kinda awesome.

Oh shit, another .hack fan.
Have you seen the new VERSUS gameplay?

[Triangle Man]

I agree with Tren on this one; Psyren is a Shonen Jump Title, but it's one of the better series to come out of the magazine in recent years. It just sucks that it ended so soon and so abrubtly, however; it's pacing, storyline and characters are handled signifigantly better compaired to other titles in the magazine.

And what is this Dennou Coil thing we've mentioned here?

[Panda-s1]

I agree with Tren on this one; Psyren is a Shonen Jump Title, but it's one of the better series to come out of the magazine in recent years. It just sucks that it ended so soon and so abrubtly, however; it's pacing, storyline and characters are handled signifigantly better compaired to other titles in the magazine.

And what is this Dennou Coil thing we've mentioned here?

Dennou Coil was this show that came out like 5 years ago. Basically it's about these middle school kids in the near future, 2026, where augmented reality (AR) is a... well, reality, and they live in this town that's a hotbed for AR technology. Like pretty much everyone under the age of 18 wears AR glasses, and kids can have virtual pets, and the virtual world that overlaps the real world is crazy and full of secrets. The main characters spend most of their time figuring these mysteries out, but the main plot deals with the shady origins and purpose of the AR world.

I like to think of it as Serial Experiments Lain: The Animated Series (lol). Seriously though, it's one of the best pieces science fiction to come out in the past ten years, and no one outside of Japan seems to care. Actually, it is hard sci-fi, technically, but also a kid's show, so it's not always the easiest thing to sell to others, I suppose (see: my experience in showing this to my club).

As you can guess, this show's avoided being licensed outside of Australia, despite all the notoriety it's gotten, so if you do live in Australia it should be streaming on ANN, but if not, um, well, guess you gotta fansub.

Oh shit, another .hack fan.
Have you seen the new VERSUS gameplay?

Whoa hey, I didn't say I was a fan, I just kinda watched it 'cause it was on TV (and I was poor in high school so I could barely afford anime on DVD, or a nice enough computer to watch fansubs on orz). I mean it's the only thing I've watched that comparable.

[WordsHere]

Fucking I love Dennou Coil. One of the greatest kids shows ever. But I hate how like nobody knows about it. Actually, at my last school's anime club, I tried showing it when it was new and exciting. Nobody really liked it. That's when I decided my club was kinda lame :P

I tried to show Kaiba at anime club repeatedly and they never voted for it. :< Only me and my friend ever voted for it. He hadn't actually seen it, he was just genuinely interested and also really cool.

[Panda-s1]

I tried to show Kaiba at anime club repeatedly and they never voted for it. :< Only me and my friend ever voted for it. He hadn't actually seen it, he was just genuinely interested and also really cool.

Shit sounds crazy, gotta try watching that sometime.

But I know that feel, bro, I really do :/ My interest in anime kinda waned for a few years 'cause my tastes weren't matching up with the rest of my club (that and club drama, but that's a self fulfilling clusterfuck, imo). A friend of mine transferred to my current university before I did, so I went to one of their anime club's showings and I was like "things that aren't based off shonen manga? shit's that's actually come out in the past year? *fuckin swoon*" Okay, so we showed Code Geass and Gurren Lagann at my old club, but it's giant robots, and they kinda dropped pretty quickly so it doesn't count. Anyway, good luck in your anime promoting endeavors, people need to know all the good stuff they're missing out on.

[williamcll]

I tried to show Kaiba at anime club repeatedly and they never voted for it. :< Only me and my friend ever voted for it. He hadn't actually seen it, he was just genuinely interested and also really cool.

They have no taste in the classics.

[mysteriousOutsider]

I'm watching Cromartie High School

it is

an experience.

[Panda-s1]

I'm watching Cromartie High School

it is

an experience.

inorite? Actually, I read the first volume of the manga, couldn't find volume 2, then came under the assumption that the rest was never released into English. So I thought I'd watch the anime instead, but... I dunno, the fact that they explicitly mentioned the stuff they skipped in the first episode made me sadface. Recently I found out that they did translate and release the manga past vol. 1, so I gotta keep my eye out. Also actually watch the anime, too, just 'cause.

Also, does this image mean anything to you?

[delicateTruth]

Fullmetal Alchemist, and DNAngel are what you would catch this anime happy girl reading. I've met one of the voice actors so far, Vic Mignogna, and so yeah... :P anyways... yeah

and homestuck. homestuck is amazing.

[Triangle Man]

Come to think of it, a friend recommended Dennou Coil at one point. I should take a look at it.

And if your anime club was watching nothing but shonen stuff, Panda, I can see why you'd get frustrated with it after a while. It's no good to do the same thing over and over again and the tropes of shonen can get annoying after a while. Matter of fact, I dropped Fairy Tail precisely because it was 'too shonen'.

[Panda-s1]

So before I go into long response rant, I want to ask: what's everyone watching from this season? Granted the season's about to end, but still kinda worth talking about.

Actually, the only thing I'm caught up with is Polar Bear's Cafe, as I'm watching it with my sister. I was watching Bodacious Space Pirates and Fate/Zero, but I've fallen behind and need to catch up.

Come to think of it, that's all I've watched recently. I've fallen so far behind orz

Come to think of it, a friend recommended Dennou Coil at one point. I should take a look at it.

And if your anime club was watching nothing but shonen stuff, Panda, I can see why you'd get frustrated with it after a while. It's no good to do the same thing over and over again and the tropes of shonen can get annoying after a while. Matter of fact, I dropped Fairy Tail precisely because it was 'too shonen'.

Well it wasn't just shonen shit, they showed other things, too, it just seemed like they had a disposition of not going out of their comfort zone. Like Lucky Star actually did pretty well, but other gag comedies like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Pani Poni Dash! (both by Akiyuki Shinbo, lol) didn't. Also the strong disposition of showing older titles or things like older titles.

This goes into my view of most American anime fans falling into two camps: the kind that like to cling on to their VHS copies of Akira and pretend the vast majority of stuff made after 2000 never happened, or the kind that likes to wear Naruto headbands and think everything that isn't based on shonen manga is full of moe and stupid. Okay, that's a vast generalization (and I'm totally forgetting the fujoshi group), but I dunno, the past two anime conventions I've been to I've had this feeling. The club I currently belong to tries to make it a thing to show newer stuff in an effort to get people out of their shells. Like we showed Tiger & Bunny and Nichijou this past year. Both are new, and both are pretty awesome actually what the crap am I saying Tiger & Bunny gets plenty of notoriety. The point is I don't see the point of labeling yourself as an anime fan if you're not gonna try your hardest.

As far as shonen goes... well I don't think shonen is necessarily bad per-sé. Like I read part of Cross Game by Mitsuru Adachi, that story is very well written, and likewise I've seen part of the H2 drama. Adachi makes shonen manga, but he's good at characterization and mood. More to the point, I feel like the vast majority of shonen manga is based on completely ridiculous premises. Like Bakuman seems like a perfectly normal, two high school kids being professional manga artists aside, but their entire motivation is based around the main character accidentally saying "lol lets human marry" to his incredibly flat as a character of a crush, then not seeing eachother until they become famous or some shit. Same with Deadman Wonderland, I mean that shit is pretty friggin' mature for a shonen title, and the premise is actually very interesting. But then the plot gets stupid after

show spoiler

hide spoiler

they introduce the Vegeta character. Then the "I'm an innocent girl lol j/k I'm actually really evil also actually a slut 'cause feminine wiles and sexism to make insecure high school otaku feel better about themselves" episode.

I never did finish, but all my friends who did say the ending of the anime was retarded.

I guess my feelings are summed up in this image

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Like Naruto is... Naruto, or Yu Yu Hakusho, or even the likes of Love Hina, whereas Bleach represents the level headed stuff, like, well, Bleach, or FMA, or I'd even put Dragon Ball Z in this camp. Stuff that you can tell is aimed at a young audience, but doesn't get terribly stupid. But then we get to One Piece tier, which is like... well I think my artist friend said it best, after he got into Adventure Time, he said that "this is what shonen anime should be like". I haven't gotten around to reading One Piece, but I want to 'cause it embraces this idea of being incredibly nonsensical in terms of plot and setting. Same with Fairy Tail (unless I'm misreading it, please correct me if I'm wrong). I just feel the most of the popular shonen stuff falls into Naruto tier. Which is a shame, honestly ._.

[WordsHere]

Someone said the magic word.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

show spoiler

hide spoiler

(It was Nichijou)

[Panda-s1]

Someone said the magic word.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

show spoiler

hide spoiler

(It was Nichijou)

holy fuck do I win a prize what did I do?

[PrincessPartyPants]

It's always been my dream for a bunch anime high school girls (like from Azu Manga Daioh or Lucky Star)to be drawn in Cromartie style.

Because reasons.

[williamcll]

I think someone did that already.

[MobileMammal]

Last episode, bro.

[PrincessPartyPants]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that last episode. Huh.

I love it when I wish for things and it's already been made.