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Post by InFlamesForEver » Tue, 17. Jan 17, 09:21

I've seen Paprika, very good film if you ask me. Although it was very late at night when I watched it, so maybe that helped? Its basically about dreams, and going into dreams, so its obviously going to be very weird, but that's what I liked about it. Its only a film so its definitely worth watching if you have the time.
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Post by Morkonan » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 03:39

clakclak wrote:...To be fair I am not really sure if I understand what exactly you want. Could you maybe break it down a bit more? I try to think of any story that "exemplifies culturally positive themes" but I can't grasp what you mean (not only can I not think of an anime, but any kind of medium.) Could you maybe eleborate a bit more?
ie: Something that can still be properly labeled as "anime" that does not rely on certain tropes. Much of the anime I have seen bits of or have read storylines for focuses almost exclusively on fairly adolescent subject matter.

I don't mean "adolescents" themselves, but things that they are often very concerned with or curious about.

Things like "peer groups" where a character either defines themselves by the role or status within a peer group, and achieves that in the end, or the character "rebels" and the rebel is glorified and their individualism is rewarded/praised/vindicated, especially by those in the group they had spurned.

Revenge is also a common theme; revenge for the death of a loved one, revenge as a crime victim, revenge for being slighted or, given a more succinct phrase, "revenge for being made powerless" in some way. Orphans are a popular target character for these sorts of stories in all genres. They have the added attribute of further indignity by being "cast off" from their "society." (etc) Any character that can be made socially/culturally "different enough" can also serve as a revenge-motivated character.

The eternal arch-nemesis. That's beaten to death all too often across multiple genres. In fantasy, the joke is "The Evil Immortal Omnipotent Dark Shadow Black Doom Guy Wizard of Death" sort of character. He never actually dies, but is simply reincarnated in another form in the series. Most every storyline winds around this conflict, with bits of internal storyline between characters, their relationships, their troubles, blah, blah, getting the spotlight, here and there. But, no matter what happens, it's always some form of the supremely unstoppable Evil Immortal Omnipotent Dark Shadow Black Doom Guy Wizard of Death they're fighting against. (ie: Unbeatable odds against them, a motly collection of lovable misfits fight against the EIODSBDGWoD. Somewhere, along the way to the end of this neverending story, they'll find love, happiness, self-actualization and a cuddly pet dragon and a fat funny guy... :) ) In some anime, it appears that the heroes kick the ass of the EIODSBDGWoD every other episode, so one has to wonder why they're always so worried when he makes another appearance.

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Post by Mightysword » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 04:53

What you described is very specific only if you're going into a certain gerne though. I would say mainly the Action and the Drama, some anime gerne doesn't contain those at all, for example comedy or slice of life.

I don't think the characteristic really define the gerne or a particular piece. For example what you describe is similar to if I say "the script is about a heroes (often badarse), a heroin, some intense action ending with the bad guy death and the the hero and the heroin share a kiss" will pretty much describe 90% of the action movie coming out of Hollywood. And it also depends on how the piece is executed, White Lie is a classic for me, while the majority of similar movie range from just bad to average. So either you can avoid the gerne, or find the good one among it.

For example, if you pick a series that's not an action or conflict, then certainly you wont see an "eternal bad guy" set up. If you pick one that is not listed as "drama", then naturally you most likely will not run into "adolescents". The question here is if you want to avoid a particular characteristic all together, or you just want to avoid the more typical bad representation of it. It's harder to pick out something if you want a articular gerne while at the same time avoid the most common elements of that gerne.

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Post by UniTrader » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 05:47

Morkonan wrote:The eternal arch-nemesis. That's beaten to death all too often across multiple genres. In fantasy, the joke is "The Evil Immortal Omnipotent Dark Shadow Black Doom Guy Wizard of Death" sort of character. He never actually dies, but is simply reincarnated in another form in the series. Most every storyline winds around this conflict, with bits of internal storyline between characters, their relationships, their troubles, blah, blah, getting the spotlight, here and there. But, no matter what happens, it's always some form of the supremely unstoppable Evil Immortal Omnipotent Dark Shadow Black Doom Guy Wizard of Death they're fighting against. (ie: Unbeatable odds against them, a motly collection of lovable misfits fight against the EIODSBDGWoD. Somewhere, along the way to the end of this neverending story, they'll find love, happiness, self-actualization and a cuddly pet dragon and a fat funny guy... :) ) In some anime, it appears that the heroes kick the ass of the EIODSBDGWoD every other episode, so one has to wonder why they're always so worried when he makes another appearance.
funny thing is i like anime because this is comparetively often avoided there. ok, more often it is not, but here some examples where it is usually expected by the Genre/Setting, but surprisingly avoided (not necesarily recommandations for you, but i think worth watching):

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (in each Season the Atagonists are diffrent, and they have actual motives not just being evil or wanting to rule the world or other such boring/repetive stuff)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (you may argue that the character you describe is present, but he is not really presented as atagonist, its more like a Mascot Character)
Charlotte
Ghost in the Shell
Macross
Mugen no Ryvius
Steins;Gate (ok, SERN can be seen as this, but they were never confronted directly)

i also think i should mentoin the Touhou Franchise in this regard. In its 2 Decade History there was only one Character in the official Games who wanted to rule the World or something like this.. and she was not mastermind or something but the Pet of someone else you have beaten earlier.

oh, and i think i should also mentoin Gundam Seed here - it starts as "Good vs Evil"-Plot (although the "Evil" side is not really shown as Evil, more as Enemy only), and both Protagonists fight for another side in this War. this is twisted in such a way that both Sides of the War are led by Extremists who only want to wipe out the other Side and the Protagonists reconcile and found a third Faction which aims to end the War itself.
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Post by Mightysword » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 08:20

UniTrader wrote: oh, and i think i should also mentoin Gundam Seed here - it starts as "Good vs Evil"-Plot (although the "Evil" side is not really shown as Evil, more as Enemy only), and both Protagonists fight for another side in this War. this is twisted in such a way that both Sides of the War are led by Extremists who only want to wipe out the other Side and the Protagonists reconcile and found a third Faction which aims to end the War itself.
I love Gundam Seed, it's probably my most favorite Gundam and I will rate it even higher than the other highly regard entry like GundamWing. The script is pretty standard for Japanese anime but it's done well. It has quite a bit of teenage angst but again, also done well and believable. And I agree the part about the two bad guys are presented as two idea. (A lot like Palestine and Israel in some regard). Oh yeah, probably the only anime I remember preferring the English dub over the original Japanese dub.

Gundam Seed Destiny however, is atrocious. Among the old cast, two literally become ideal Gods that can do no wrong, the rest hit a reset button and lose every personality they developed in the first season. The new characters are even most angst comparing to the first generation, except this time they have little beyond their angst all the way to the end. At least the old cast get their issue sorted out and grow mid season. And the bad guys ... common, a dude that looks like a Victorian hobo using purple lipstick petting a black cat on his lapse ... COMMON!


If anyone haven't watched and have the time, I would highly recommend the Children of the Stars (CotS) series which include Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars. The series is quite old now, the animation of the first season is pretty bad although the second season is passable. Oh, and if you listen to the English dub ... it's probably one of the worst ever, the Japanese dub is nice though. The reason why I recommend it is it's a very good example if you want something that use a typical setting but apply a unique script. It's a space opera series, and if you count the tittles among this gerne like Macross, Gundam, BattleShip Yamato, Vandread ...etc... they are all about the main protagonist end up the best fighters and save the world in a galactic conflict. CotS background setting is typical, galactic conflict that pits the two half of the galaxy against each others. The two main protagonist though ... they're bang average throughout. While they have their moment of brilliants, in the grand scheme of the conflict they're pretty insignificant, and the series's adult characters always prove head and shoulders above the protagonist. Rather, the conflict focus more about their struggle to survive and how it shapes their interaction, belief and relationship. It's quite an enjoyable series.

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Post by clakclak » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 11:37

Morkonan wrote:[a lot]
Ok than the shows I recommended should actually work for you.

There is also one I forgot: BACCANO!
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Post by UniTrader » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 16:21

Mightysword wrote:Gundam Seed Destiny however, is atrocious. Among the old cast, two literally become ideal Gods that can do no wrong, the rest hit a reset button and lose every personality they developed in the first season. The new characters are even most angst comparing to the first generation, except this time they have little beyond their angst all the way to the end. At least the old cast get their issue sorted out and grow mid season. And the bad guys ... common, a dude that looks like a Victorian hobo using purple lipstick petting a black cat on his lapse ... COMMON!
i think it says enough that they had to get the main protagonist from the first season back because the new main protagonist sucked so much. (i think kira actually got more screentime after his appearence than the supposed main character, but not entirely sure..)
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Post by Stars_InTheirEyes » Wed, 18. Jan 17, 16:34

Talking about Gundam, Gundam 00 remains one of my favourite shows, both seasons I rated 10/10 (see here). Wasn't a big fan of Seed honestly.
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Post by felter » Sat, 4. Feb 17, 01:09

So I just finished watching sword art online II. I have been watching it at the gym. Yeah I take my tablet and watch anime on it while I try and kill myself. Anyway I do think that watching the final episode at the gym was not such a good idea.
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That last episode is really pretty damn sad when Yuuki dies in Yuri's arms, I already get some pretty weird stares that I am watching cartoons. I'm a big softy at heart, and watching a cartoon character die like that is pretty damn sad, or at least I think so. Luckily no one was near me at the time.
Anyway the second season was not as good as the first but I would say it wasn't too bad.

There is also a film about to be released Sword art online the movie Ordinal Scale it has a release date of February 18, 2017 in Japan and the U.S. premier date for theatres is set for March 9, 2017.

There is also supposedly SAO 3 being released later this year, but that has not been confirmed as of yet (or has it).
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Post by felter » Thu, 9. Feb 17, 22:05

Seven deadly sins season 2 is released on Netflix next Friday 17 February. The only thing it is not the English dubbed version, I know but my brain wanders right now and I can't keep up with the reading of the subs, so I prefer dubbed versions nowadays, older age and the drugs I'm currently on.
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Post by Stars_InTheirEyes » Sat, 11. Feb 17, 20:38

I just watched Kimi no Na wa. and, well, it did not disappoint.

I absolutely loved it and it thoroughly deserves its #1 spot on MAL.
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Post by InFlamesForEver » Sun, 12. Feb 17, 12:53

4th Season of RWBY finished yesterday, its still great :D
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Post by ThommoHawk » Wed, 15. Feb 17, 14:31

felter wrote:Seven deadly sins season 2 is released on Netflix next Friday 17 February. The only thing it is not the English dubbed version, I know but my brain wanders right now and I can't keep up with the reading of the subs, so I prefer dubbed versions nowadays, older age and the drugs I'm currently on.
^ this. yeah, I've viewed a lot of anime over the last year, and half the subbed titles are impossible for me to follow without my finger constantly on the pause button so I can read the text, especially for the ones with really fast moving dialogue. Still worth it though.

two examples I'd love to see getting and English dub due to fast dialogue are;
1) the entire Monogatari series collection - Seasons 1, 2, and now the current ongoing season 3.
2) the Kil a Kill series.

(edit NOTE: re; Kill a Kill, after posting this I looked a my animelab and there it is SUB&DUB so theres a choice!) I originally saw it on Netfilx (au) where it was just subtitled, so guess what I'm viewing next?)

theres more of course.

and
Stars_InTheirEyes wrote:I just watched Kimi no Na wa. and, well, it did not disappoint.

I absolutely loved it and it thoroughly deserves its #1 spot on MAL.
is this known by any other title? - can't seem to get it ... on my crunchyroll and animelab searches...
Last edited by ThommoHawk on Wed, 15. Feb 17, 14:46, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by InFlamesForEver » Wed, 15. Feb 17, 14:39

ThommoHawk wrote:
Stars_InTheirEyes wrote:I just watched Kimi no Na wa. and, well, it did not disappoint.

I absolutely loved it and it thoroughly deserves its #1 spot on MAL.
is this known by any other title? - can't seem to get it ... on my crunchyroll and animelab searches...
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32281/Kimi_no_Na_wa

Your Name.
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Post by ThommoHawk » Wed, 15. Feb 17, 14:50

InFlamesForEver wrote:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32281/Kimi_no_Na_wa

Your Name.
Oh, of course! I know a bit about it, just did not register the Japanese title. Massive box office sales in Japan. 'Your Name' did play in cinemas here very briefly and I was not able to go at the time ... and wont be available for streaming 'cause its a movie, so I'm waiting for the DVD/BD release...
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Post by Grim Lock » Sat, 18. Feb 17, 12:57

Currently looking for something along the lines of battleship yamato or knights of sidonia any tips?

It has to be finished so nothing that currently running, im in a binge watch mood.
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Post by UniTrader » Sun, 19. Feb 17, 01:49

hmm.. wat about Valvrave the Liberator?
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Post by Grim Lock » Sun, 19. Feb 17, 08:51

im going to give it a go, thx in advance :)
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Post by InFlamesForEver » Sun, 19. Feb 17, 18:25

Aldnoa Zero is kinda like that, but worse. Still an OK watch if you have a need for some space combat.
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Post by felter » Tue, 28. Feb 17, 04:03

So I just discovered RWBY on YouTube, the whole four seasons in full HD. I had the first two seasons, but they were in just normal SD, the YouTube copies are so much better quality. The other good thing is that it is Rooster Teeth who have put them on YouTube, so no copyright to worry about. Loved the series, only just finished watching the end of season 2, so I got 2 more to go. Some of them are pretty short, well they all are really but they are so good. Highly recommend watching them, especially if you have never watched them before.
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