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Wherefore art thou, inc?
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xo
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Joined: 09 Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:37 am    Post subject: Wherefore art thou, inc? Reply with quote

New season. Discuss.

-xo
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Onakra



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 89
Location: Geldrop, Netherlands

PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess here http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=7023 is a good place to start.

For me the most interesting show so far seems aishiteruze Baby, even with its 'different' character design. The first ep of the OVA Interlude surprised me as well, although I can't say I understand too much of what is going on just yet...

Most of the new series are ok, but seem to have a higher 'mass-production' factor than usual IMO. (And that despite of people with a girl instead of a hand). ^_^
I'll give bakuretsu tenshi and Madlax 1 or 2 more eps before I decide if I'll stop watching them. Of the stuff I've seen so far these 2 are for me the bottom.

I'm actually curious how Initial D 4th Stage will be. It seems to be a highly awaited sequel, but I have the feeling it won't live up to the anticipations of most...
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(inc)



Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 356
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

(...waves hand vigorously at xo...)

*text added 4/15
*text added 4/17

I've probably seen 1 ep of 8 or 9 of the new shows, but none have been exactly great -- I think it's the enthusiasm of finding at least one really good show that feeds getting those early reviews out, lol. Also, the pure number is pretty overwhelming: AnimeDaisuki (http://animedaisuki.net:8008/index.php) lists 38 new shows premiering in April (though some are the usual sequals). Plus, there are some new OVA's, like Interlude that Onakra mentioned. So many that I've seen so far are centered around a male High School student, whether in this reality or another, it gets very redundant. Anyway, here's a list:

2004/04/01 This Ugly and Beautiful World == Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai
-- very derivative; angst filled HS guy has special abilities that emege to save a strange girl.

2004/04/01 Aqua Kids
2004/04/01 Tenjou Tenge
-- Another HS''r with a errr… shape-shifting sword master
-- certainly got a lot more interesting with ep 2, as some actual plot appears. Could be an interesting series

2004/04/01 Koi Kaze
-- a quiet story, kind of like Kita-he and might appeal to the same audience, though it may be wrong to call it a romance, it is about love (no spoiler, lol)

2004/04/01 Saiyuki Reload Gunlock
2004/04/01 Spiderman
2004/04/03 Aishiteru ze Baby
-- HS'r of course. Don't mind this one; just a teen guy put in charge of a young child. We'll see...

2004/04/03 Kyou kara Mao!
2004/04/03 DAN DOH!!
2004/04/03 Keroro Gunso
2004/04/03 Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pure
2004/04/04 Midori no Hibi
-- HS'r -- Not actually as bad as I anticipated; has just a tiny bit of pathos

2004/04/04 Zukkoke
2004/04/04 Legendz - Tale of the dragon kings
2004/04/04 The Marshmallow Times
2004/04/04 Gag Cro Studio
2004/04/05 Hanaukyo Maids La Verite
2004/04/05 Sensei no Ojikan
-- an Azumanga Daioh homage -- the first ep was pretty good, lots of quick little stories/char intros. Kind of like "what if Chiyo-chan became a teacher"

2004/04/05 Get Ride! AM-Driver
2004/04/06 Go Danner Second Season
2004/04/06 Madlax
-- Layla, from Avenger, is now a mercenary on kinda present-day Earth

2004/04/06 Shura no toki
-- Well, anyone who has ever seen Hiroshi Inagaki’s "Samurai Trilogy" of the tales of the (semi-real-life) adventures of Musashi Miyamoto (played by Toshiro Mifune) will feel right at home here (http://www.criterionco.com/asp/connections.asp?id=63, http://www.samurai-archives.com/musashi.html) as he turns up very early in the story (note the two swords, something he was famous for). What with "Samurai 7" due soon, lots of Mifune's work is turning into anime, lol. This anime has kind of an old-fashioned feel, but it could be a fun one.

2004/04/06 Selfish Fairy Mirumo de Pon!
Wonderful
2004/04/07 Ragnarok The Animation
-- Watched the first 2 eps -- they are so much trying to replicate the RPG that it seems to get in the way of the story telling; folks actually discuss what *Level* they are in a dungeon, beat the *Boss*, etc. It's not bad, but nothing very notable either.

2004/04/07 Monster
-- Yea! Not in a HS; maybe a real story here

2004/04/07 Ultra Q - Dark Fantasy
2004/04/07 Melody of Oblivion
-- Alternate reality HS'rs battling aliens

2004/04/07 Bakuretsu Tenshi
-- 4 girls (named for the "Little Women") for hire for the *hard* jobs (Getbackers, Daphne, etc.), they youngest a techo-kid (yeah, like Ed, except much more boring), somewhat wimpy main guy (endless anime) who is a cook (Nadesico) …. aaaarrrggghhhhh…. Oh, and there's a mech, too.

2004/04/08 Tetsujin 28
2004/04/08 Kin Nikuman 2nd Generation (Ultimate Muscle)
2004/04/09 Witch Party - Arusu aka Mahou Shoujotai aka Tweeny Witches
-- Interesting graphic style; worth at least one look by everyone -- I suspect in the long run it will be a black comedy, but as the first ep is only 10 minutes long, it's hard to say. At first it seems rather disjointed but the plot seems to be coming together just a bit at the end of the ep.

2004/04/12 Panda Z - The Robonimation
2004/04/13 Pugyuru
-- 3 minutes of weirdness with a rather *resilient* maid

2004/04/13 Gantz
2004/04/18 Initial D The Fourth Stage
2004/04/18 Explet's Ride
2004/04/18 Jagainukun
2004/04/25 Petit Cosette
-- An OVA Very gothic and has an ambitious score that may hit a cord with many. High production values and occult theme will find an audience, though it's not necessarily my own taste -- having watched it, I wonder what they have left to do for 2 more eps

Also, Interlude
-- HS'r (at least _they_ think they are) in an alternate reality that isn't too stable

I'll give all I've seen at least a couple of more eps -- nothing is absolutly lost here, but also nothing jumps way ahead of the pack either.

(inc)


Last edited by (inc) on Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:24 pm; edited 2 times in total
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xo
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 11:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to agree that though the number of new series seems up, the pickings seem slimmer. Nothing really jumps out and nothing (in my limited exposure to such things) has a lot of hype or buzz surrounding it.

I'm looking forward to Initial D 4, though.

-xo
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(inc)



Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 356
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The two *biggies* aren't coming out until the next month or two: Samurai 7 (based on Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, with a big budget) and Samurai Champloo from the Cowboy Bebop folks.

(inc)
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xo
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Joined: 09 Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, I'm bagging Bakuretsu Tenshi based on your capsule review. Seems like it hits all my warning signs, except for having a cutesy name, like "Bakubaku Tenshi Bubble Maid Fairies ~ Chuu!!".

Please make your defense of the series before the torrents de-seed.

Sensei No Ojikan is now #1 with a bullet, because anything remotely like Azumanga Daioh can't suck.

-xo
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deoch



Joined: 09 Mar 2002
Posts: 65

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All opinions based on first episode...

Sensei no Ojikan's manga is actually older than Azumanga Daioh's, so I don't know if I would call it a homage... Very enjoyable.

Monster seems intriguing so far, and I've heard very good things about the manga.

Madlax's first episode was rather boring and featured poorly choreographed action sequences. -5000 points for the main character changing into evening-ware for no reason before going to fight (what the!?). But hey, at least Kajiura's doing the music again (It is a Bee Train production after all).

Ragnarok the Animation was pretty unremarkable. I've played the game a bit, but that didn't really help my enjoyment of the series much. I still think porings are cute though.
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(inc)



Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 356
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Sensei no Ojikan's manga is actually older than Azumanga Daioh's, so I don't know if I would call it a homage...
Interesting. And enjoyable -- looking forward to the next.

...also, just added some to my original message.

(inc)
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Gorunova



Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 318
Location: Burnaby, B.C., Canada

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

deoch wrote:
Sensei no Ojikan's manga is actually older than Azumanga Daioh's, so I don't know if I would call it a homage... Very enjoyable.


Really? I watched the first episode and could barely get through it. I thought it was terribly derivative of AD and that the gags, while amusing, fell flat because AD did them better. I deleted it in disgust and decided not to grab episode 2.

I guess I've been spoiled by AD. Hearing that the manga is actually older changes my mind though. I might give it a second try after all. But the characters are so similar it's going to be hard to shake the connection.
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xo
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Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Monster and Tenjou Tenge seem to be popular among the fansub groups - anyone do any side-by-sides? My initial picks are soldats for Monster and A1 for TT...

Also is this "^-^" group new? I did a quick scan of their TT and found a lot of glaring typos and grammatical errors. Perhaps it was a bad release, but not having heard of them before, I quickly sought a replacement.

-xo
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(inc)



Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 356
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Try Anime-Planet, xo: http://www.anime-planet.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=25&sid=3d3595b09b944a93bfd1b5d62ae4aad7

(inc)
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Neuralblastoma



Joined: 19 Feb 2002
Posts: 109
Location: Ottawa Ontario Canada

PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had some time today and watched some of the new series.

Madlax 01-02:

So far I really like this, though it's confusing at this point since 01-02 are basically character introductions.

It looks like there's a pretty big story here and I can't wait for 03 to come out so I can start making some sense of the plot(s).

Oh, and I liked the scene deoch described. It was very surreal. In fact many parts of the first episode seemed very surreal. There's definitely something special about Madlax. Seems she can sense bullets as well as her targets(ESP?) since she has her eyes closed during much of that sequence.

Excellent soundtrack too.

Tenjo Tenge 01:

Well this series just looks like a lot of fun. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I'm eagerly awaiting 02.

I was reminded of Miss Hinako from Ranma.

Bakaretsu Tenshi 01:

I have 02 and will watch it before deciding whether or not to collect this one, but I'm leaning towards dumping it.

Too bad since I loved the opening scene with the two mechs.

Monster 01:

This looks very interesting and dark. Something's up with the kid Tenma saved. The director and especially Eva look so creepy and twisted.

Awaiting episode 02.

That's all I've seen of the new shows so far. I'll try to watch some more over the next few days.

None of these has grabbed me the way that Gunslinger Girl did, but it still looks there are some good new shows. After all, these series just started. Some of them could turn out to be great.
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xo
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Joined: 09 Feb 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Los Angeles [comcast]

PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Man, what a difference a season makes. Didn't seem so long ago that it seems like the fansub groups had taken a collective sabbatical. Now, it seems like every new show is being subbed by every major fan group. It's like a crazy land grab or something.

I shouldn't complain, I guess. But, oh! The choices to make.

-xo
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LaughnCynic



Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 105

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A bit late but I finally found time to check a few of the new crop out. I don't have the bandwidth to sample a lot so I grabbed what sounded promising to me based on preview/reviews here (thanks guys) and there.

Interlude (Triad's encode): (1 episode viewed) High school guy dreaming and seeing things, dark tones... Reality is or is it? Toss in a bit of fanservice fun and some lighthearted interplay between our guy and girls. I'll be checking out episode 2 to see what is going to happen. Might be a keeper.

Le Portrait de Petite Cossette (NLA's encode): (1 ep viewed) Dark, surreal, horror-ish/gothic look and feel. I found the first episode quite enjoyable and fascinating. Some lovely and haunting scenes in this one so far with nice design and animation. I'm hoping the depth episode one seems to imply will be carried out in the rest of the story. I eagerly await ep2.

Monster (Kraze's encode): (1 ep viewed) Ok the first episode of this one seems to be mostly an introduction of what I assume is our main character (a japanese doctor working in Germany). He faces a moral decision and is in the company of some folks who do seem a bit creepy (or at least immoral) as others have noted. Character design and animation are of a more realistic kind and of decent quality so far but with a name like 'Monster' who knows where it's going to go. Wink I think this one promises something interesting in a more serious vein so I'll definately be grabbing ep2 to see where it's headed.

Tenjo Tenge (AonE's): (1ep viewed) Hmmm... Op and Closing music weren't to my taste but the animations are kinda cool to watch. Ummm... High School, fighting, and some nicely drawn characters with lovely curves. Wink Yep... fighting, fanservice, and high school... I really couldn't get into this one (at least not after 1 episode) and I'm hesitant to download more after my experiance with Ikkitousen which I didn't care for. Maybe that's unfair or maybe I'm just not in the mood for this kind of show when there's so many other things that look and sound more interesting to me out there (and so little bandwidth to pull it all down with </whine>). If I have some spare bandwidth I might grab episode 2 to see this so called plot inc mentioned developing but I'm not really enthused about this one.

I'll be checking out Koi Kaze and Sensei no Ojikan next then probably Midori no Hibi.

Edit: Added 04/29/04
Koi Kaze (a-s's):(3 ep's viewed) I was curious to check this one out having read what it deals with. It's about 'love' (no spoilers from me either). Wink So far it is clearly a romance story with a good dose of sentiment exploring the relationship of the main characters. I haven't found it too sloppy so far (given the subject matter). The animation is a slightly simplified/softened realistic style that fits and does a good job telling the story without getting in the way. I'm going to keep following it for now just because I want to see how they deal with the theme.

Sensei no Ojikan (Triad-AC's): (1 ep viewed) Cute! I don't think it will equal or surpass Azumanga Daioh for me (though that's a bit premature with only 1 episode viewed) but it could be quite fun. I'll be grabing more.


Last edited by LaughnCynic on Thu Apr 29, 2004 8:35 am; edited 1 time in total
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Kai-Jinn



Joined: 29 Mar 2003
Posts: 68

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LaughnCynic wrote:

Tenjo Tenge (AonE's): (1ep viewed) Hmmm... Op and Closing music weren't to my taste but the animations are kinda cool to watch. Ummm... High School, fighting, and some nicely drawn characters with lovely curves. Wink Yep... fighting, fanservice, and high school... I really couldn't get into this one (at least not after 1 episode) and I'm hesitant to download more after my experiance with Ikkitousen which I didn't care for. Maybe that's unfair or maybe I'm just not in the mood for this kind of show when there's so many other things that look and sound more interesting to me out there (and so little bandwidth to pull it all down with </whine>). If I have some spare bandwidth I might grab episode 2 to see this so called plot inc mentioned developing but I'm not really enthused about this one.



I am downloading it mainly because I love the manga. If you want to zip through to see if you might enjoy the series, you could waste less bandwidth by getting the torrents of the manga instead.

Try here.
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