I was talking about anime good and bad in the anime worship thread so I thought I'd start this new one.

So here's some opinions of mine of the new series that have started in Japan.

Toward the Terra - Im not a big space mecha fan which is what this appears to be, but I actually like it so far after seeing 4 eps. In this, humans have left the earth after destroying it. Mu people are those born with psychic powers that are hunted down and exterminated. One boy named Jomy is about to go through his adulthood exam where his memories will be erased. The leader of the Mu comes to stop him and show him that he's one of them. Its pretty interesting so far. I recommend a looksie!

Giant Robo TV - I LOVE the GR OVA.. Its my all time favorite anime, so, while I knew this wouldnt hold a candle, I still thought it would be good. I hadnt seen any fansubs of it so I broke down and saw it RAW. The word boring comes to mind. I dont like the characters or how Robo looks or the whole alien thing even though the original GR enemies were aliens. Daisaku is like every other stereotypical mecha boy. He has nothing to do with anything and suddenly he's "chosen" by GR1 and then when the enemy comes they tell him he's got to fight cause he's the only one and he doesnt want to and whines about it while GR takes damage, but then gets all emotional and fights awesome =| Thats an old sad story repeated many a time in many forms. I mean, I knwo he had his moments in the OVA, but.. they were better... AHEM, moving on..

Darker than Black - This is kind interesting but after 4 eps, I still kinda dont know whats going on or where its going. Something about people called contractors who have a bond with a star and they get super powers but they have to do a pennace for using it and then there are cops after then and this one group.. I dunno, I'll stick with it to find out more.

Koutetsu Sangokushi - Hated it.... I mean, it was a good concept, but the whiny bitch of a main character was always crying and clinging to his effeminite master. Really ruined the show. The animation wasnt that good either. There were also some really bad errors like different hair color in a scene and then they show it again (that scene). I forget what its about really. This whiny guy is a guardian of some poorly cg cube of power that some prince is using to conquer, but then it "chooses" the whiny guy and he gets lots of power, fights awesomely, and is all like "why me, master? omgc" or something..

Wellber no Monogatari - I can tell right now, from just one ep, that this is going to be a classic in my book. The characters seem so real and mysterious, but amusing at the same time. A thief sneaks into the castle to steal a statue her boyfriend tells her about so she can get money to see some strange man from her past in another kingdom. While there, she witnesses the princess with her fiance and lets just say that she and the princess end up fleeing together then circumstances lead them to that country. The only thing that feels kind of odd is that the thief is voiced by the same actress that does Naruto (Thats right, Naruto is voiced by a woman!), so she sounds like him sometimes.

Rocket Girls - I dunno about this one. It was okay. A girl goes to the Solomon Islands to find her dad and ends up selected to be an astronaut for a space mission that has suffered a lot of setbacks. The story is kinda weird and the art/characters are somewhat bland. The CG really puts me off the series too, but I kinda wanna see what happens. Its apparently a series supported by the Japanese space program, so it also feels like they want to make it educational and get kids interested in being astronauts.

I think thats about all Ive seen thats new that I havent mentioned in the other thread. I have quite a few others, but I havent gotten around to them.

and btw,
Romeo x Juliet is awesome.. If you arent watching that anime, then you need to!

Koutetsu Sangokushi

Sounds like I was right to stop watching after the intro.

I kinda liked Rocket Girls. I wasn't expecting it to be anything fantastic, just a sort of fun series and it delivers there at least. The premise behind why they're using the girls seems pretty contrived, but at least they TRY to explain it, unlike a lot of other series where young girls pilot things.

I watch a few of the less female-friendly shows, as well, in case anyone wants opinions of Idolm@ster Xenoglossia or Nagasarete Airantou. I've also tried to give Lucky Star a shot and I have yet to watch Nanoha Strikers. I'm also liking the begining of Lovely Complex and Bokurano although I'd like to watch more than one episode of each before rating them.

Anybody else noticing a sudden surge in product placement in anime? Code Geass had the Pizza Hut thing going on, then there was that one series that had Cup Noodles everywhere. Just the other day I noticed a character wearing an Abercrobie shirt. And I had just gotten used to seeing Somy TVs with Gose stereo systems.

I've been watching the Hellsing OVA, and I like it. I think it could use better music, more like the kind that was in the old TV series, but the animation and plot of the OVA is much better.

That's basically the only anime I've watched in the past 6 or 7 months.

Okay, so after watching a slew of new anime, here are a few more reviews!

Nana - Before I saw anything about this, let me mention that normally I despise romance comedy/drama. Just about anything gushy shoujo like that irks me (and I really hate harem anime... 5 bubbly colorful girls after one guy? BLAH!), but I really like Nana! The series really got me into the characters and made me want to see more. I even felt kinda emotional in some places, and Im not the kinda person who gets that involved in a story so easy. Anyways, Nana is a romance comedy/drama/slice of life story about two girls who meet on a train that are both named Nana and are both moving to Tokyo. There's cute Nana who wants to be with her boyfriend and punk rocker Nana who wants pursue her singing career. They both end up renting the same apartment and become best friends. I give it thumbs up!
Have yet to watch the live action movie though.

Shining Tears X Wind - A very entertaining fantasy anime (thus far) based on two RPG games released by Sega. I watched all six eps that are out now in one sitting, and felt sad that I couldnt get more. At first the promo art kind of threw me off as one of those lame stories that needed to be very colorful with hot, bish guys and cutsey girls to make up for a lack of decent plot. This is about a group of normal Japanese school kids who are brought into a fantasy world called the Dream Continent by different means where elves, beast men, and humans live. Once there, they realize that some of them can pull magical "soul" swords out of the others to fight enemies such as demons that come from portals to attack villages. They get caught up in a trick that starts a war, but then they realize something bigger is taking place.
There's also a three way rivalry story here between the guys brought there though its more pronounced as a two way rivalry.
I recommend it!!

Bokurano - Mecha.. I don't like mecha much, and I really don't like the CG animation/design of the robots or how they blended in with the very simplistic cel shaded world, but I did find it to be an interesting story. I mean, it wasn't something that begged come back for more, but I was intrigued when they revealed how the robot is piloted. I hope many surprises are in store for this series, but if what Im thinking might happen, happens ala monster of the week (and something else I cant say as its a spoiler)... then I dunno.. This could be a dud.
Its about a group of kids at a summer nature camp on the beach who find a strange man with a big computer setup in a deep cave. He asks him if they want to play a game fighting with a robot. They agree and sign a "contract".It turns out that its real and each of them are obligated to pilot the robot and defeat an alien robot when it appears. It turns out to be a "game" they really dont want to be a part of.
Hmmm, I say its worth a shot.

Overdrive - I admit, I downloaded this just to see how ridiculous it was, but I got some good laughs out of it. I mean, some jokes were very funny, but that burning passion for something dull like riding a bicycle is what really gets me laughing. Yes, this is an anime about a boy who goes from not able to ride a bike to competing in the Tour de France all from his desire to impress a popular girl who wanted him to join the bike club so her brother would give her a present. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? (wait, wasnt that the plot of Slam Dunk? Guy becomes awesome at basketball without ever having played it before just to impress a girl?)
But thats what makes it entertaining.. Then his rivals will come and, well, I dunno, I think Ill watch it some more ;-p
Character designs are kinda odd though.
But..... I dont recommend it to any of you unless you like pathetic sports anime that looks for the obscure plot to milk for uniqueness.

Blue Dragon - Toriyama yaaaaay! This is based on a videogame done by the team that did Chrono Trigger, including Toriyama as the character designer. The anime retains the Toriyama designs which makes me feel all fuzzy inside as I like his non-DBZ characters and stories. The artwork is very nice and the story is interesting too. A boy in a small village wants to meet a swordsman and instead runs into a pirate-esque girl (well, I'd say she's a One Piece rip-off.. Named Zora even, but my bf contends that One Piece is a ripoff of Toriyama's stuff, so its no big deal, heh.) and her sidekick who the boy mistakes as the swordsman. Soon, an enemy attacks and they fight by summoning big beasts from their shadows. The boy happens to have a powerful Blue Dragon as his shadow. Pretty nice. I likeses it ^^

Skull Man - Another one I thought would be cheezy.. I mean.. just look at that name!! Even the promo was a guy with a skull head like Ghost Rider without flames and a frilly collar. I did like the first ep however which focused on a reporter who travels to a city under strict security to get a glimpse of the rumored "Skull Man" who he finds fighting some sort of werewolf like monsters. ummm, Ive only seen one ep so I cant say much more, but I will continue to watch!

Kaze no Stigma - Another entertaining anime. This one is about a family whose ancestors had made a pact with the Fire Spirit King and gained the power to use fire attacks. Two cousins were pitted against each other in a match to see who would inherit their sacred fire sword and thus become the head of the family. The girl won over the boy and the boy's father disowned him and sent him away. He then returns years later with the power of wind spirits which was looked down upon by the family of fire. He of course, upstages them with his new powers.
I liked it quite a bit.. I mean, its not great... definitely not the best, but I will definitely keep watching it.

Inukami - *YAWN* I dunno why I even downloaded this. The promo art and description sounded terrible.. There were some cheap laughs.. no real engaging plot.. Just mindless goofs and some ecchi fanservice. Boy is bound to an Inukami (like, literally, a dog god) spirit who is in the form of a young girl. Together they are contracted to fight malicious yokai, youma, ayakashi, bakemono, yurei, and whatnot. She also wants him as her lover so she's always scheming that sort of thing and he wants other women so she picks on him and vice versa though she's just a mean prankster with lots of power. I probably wont watch the rest..
Boo..

Inukami may not be your cup of tea, but for people who don't object to a series based solely on its harem qualities, there are some pretty funny moments in it. I particularly liked the episode which parodies Nausicaa, except with burly karate men possessed by puppy spirits instead of Oumu.

The last couple of weeks, however, I've been trying to catch up with some older series on DVD rather than just watching fansubs all the time, though. For the most part, this means i've spent the last few days watching the first three seasons of Galaxy Angel. Not a new show by any means, but I can see why the Japanese love it so much. We get so wrapped up in storylines these days that I think we lose sight of some of the more simple pleasures a purely episodic series can offer.

I gave up on Romeo x Juliet. The series is too bland and generic. Plus, as someone who has read and appreciates the works of Shakespeare, I find the writing offensive. Even if it weren't for the poor adaptation, however, I still find the world boring and the characters uninteresting. It represents all that is bad with converting recognizable stories into anime.

Watched some Lucky Star last time I was home with a friend of mine. He desribed it as Seinfeld with cute anime girls. It tries to capture some of the charm of series like Azumanga Daioh and Pani Poni Dash. It stays pretty well on the ground, not relying on the over the top sort of comedy you find in Pani Poni Dash, but it does manage to cram a few pop culture references into the mix through one of the characters who's obsessed with video games, manga and anime. I also like how they have no real end theme and instead have a sequence at the end of each episode showing the door to a karaoke room and you can hear one of the girls inside singing a song (usually badly). So far, it seems to be different in every episode I've seen. In general, though, the series seems to revolve around a group of high school girls and their everyday conversations (hence my friend's comparison to Seinfeld). If you give it a chance, though, watch at least two episodes. I found the first a little slower than the others.

Here are my anime movie reviews with great depth.

Ghost In The Shell Eh?

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Blegh.

Akira Yay.

Perfect Blue ...Oh... blegh.

Ninja Scroll Hmmm... kk.

X Yayness!

Cowboy Bebop ...That's the ending?!

I really don't get why Ninja Scroll or Akira are considered such great animated works. I mean, they have fantastic animation but Akira's story makes no sense because they tried to condense 2000 manga pages into one movie, and Ninja Scroll was just excessive.

Akira had a BRILLIANT ending, even if it didn't make sense.

isukun
I gave up on Romeo x Juliet. The series is too bland and generic. Plus, as someone who has read and appreciates the works of Shakespeare, I find the writing offensive. Even if it weren't for the poor adaptation, however, I still find the world boring and the characters uninteresting. It represents all that is bad with converting recognizable stories into anime.

And I totally disagree with that ;-p
Probably because I never really liked Shakespeare much in the first place.
Im more of a Chaucer and Minnesang fan. So I dont have a fond love of the work used here thus cant feel offended by it. I really like it as a story of its self. I think really only in namesake is the similarity. You mentioned liking Gankutsuou (which I LOVED), but its about the in regards to the adaptation. And I liked The Count of Monte Cristo, but I wasnt offended by its adaptation (though actually, if I think about it, that anime was probably more like the book than every crappy movie version Ive seen).

Oh.
And I love how Juliet is kind of a tomboyish hero of the people who lets her rather impulsive girly emotions get the "commoners" into some deadly encounters with the nobles.

You're welcome to disagree, but as I said in my previous statement, I thought it was derivitive and boring AS WELL as a bad adaptation. So it wasn't just that it was an adaptation that bothered me. I expect most adaptations to stray from the source material, but I thought Romeo x Juliet just didn't stand on its own merits, either.

I mean, they have fantastic animation but Akira's story makes no sense because they tried to condense 2000 manga pages into one movie

I didn't have any problem following the movie.

Have you seen the live action movie version of Nana with Mika Nakashima? (you might be able to find it on You Tube) It really does justice to the anime!

Anime-wise, my faves so far have been Chobits, Ayashi No Ceres, Fruits Basket, Ouran High School and now I'm watching DNAngel. I've watched others (Twelve Kingdoms was okay, haven't decided if I like Cowboy Bebop yet and the very first season of Ranma 1/2 was good) and I'm sure I'll watch others. My wife is learning Japanese and I've agreed to learn by osmosis ;) so watching anime is an easy motivator.

kaminari
Nana - Before I saw anything about this, let me mention that normally I despise romance comedy/drama. Just about anything gushy shoujo like that irks me (and I really hate harem anime... 5 bubbly colorful girls after one guy? BLAH!), but I really like Nana! The series really got me into the characters and made me want to see more. I even felt kinda emotional in some places, and Im not the kinda person who gets that involved in a story so easy. Anyways, Nana is a romance comedy/drama/slice of life story about two girls who meet on a train that are both named Nana and are both moving to Tokyo. There's cute Nana who wants to be with her boyfriend and punk rocker Nana who wants pursue her singing career. They both end up renting the same apartment and become best friends. I give it thumbs up!
Have yet to watch the live action movie though.

My turn!

Kinnikuman: The ultimate anime of its time(Which is the 80's). It's got plenty of fighting, comedy, and the like to please the easily pleased. Although it tends to leave a few too many plotholes, it's still generally good.

DragonBall/Z/GT: I think the 13 movies, the card game, the still-growing amount of video games, and all the fans speak for themselves when it comes to this.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: If puzzles are your thing, then this is a good choice. Just don't watch the English dub. It sucketh the bottom.

Naruto: To call this the next DBZ is somewhat accurate, but if you think of it like that, you miss the basic plot point. Also, Kakashi owns. Period.

FullMetal Alchemist: Two words: Kick. Ass. This is all kinds of awesome. Tons of action, plenty of blood, lots of comedy, and more plot twist than an M. Night Shamalan movie.

Bleach: I haven't seen much of this anime, but from what I've seen, it's awesome. A definite must-see. Although, I find it weird that there hasn't been any movies yet.

Azumanga Daioh: Don't laugh! Unless you watch this. Then you can laugh. Tons of comedy, with just enough randomness to keep you occupied. Like a tamer version of Bo-bobo.

More to come!

ZeroVX
My turn!

DragonBall/Z/GT: I think the 13 movies, the card game, the still-growing amount of video games, and all the fans speak for themselves when it comes to this.

Isn't that really the anime that introduced the concept of screaming for 3 days as you power up before unleashing your initial attack? I did like their cliffhangers, though. :)

ZeroVX
Yu-Gi-Oh!: If puzzles are your thing, then this is a good choice. Just don't watch the English dub. It sucketh the bottom.

So that's why it's unwatchable!

ZeroVX
Bleach: I haven't seen much of this anime, but from what I've seen, it's awesome. A definite must-see. Although, I find it weird that there hasn't been any movies yet.

I have so many mixed feelings about Bleach. I generally like it a lot but it did suffer from "Too Little Accomplished In One Episode" syndrome on occasion, but that's a minor complaint overall.