Thanks again for the input on Star Blazers.

I've heard the originals have been ripped to shreds before they landed on American soil - but sometimes ignorance is bliss even when the director's/original cuts are next to always a priority.

I actually got a chance to hook up with a friend and see Iscandar on VHS (advantage of being sick this week I imagine). I watched about 4 hours of various sequences.

The animation is as dated and somewhat bland as I was expecting, but not necessarily terrible. The melodrama really is unintentionally funny, but there's a lot of heart behind it and the scripting overall. I was impressed to see the imagination of the created universe and the progression of the story.

But the downside really boiled down to the flow of the story, which is very straightforward and plain. Some sequences drag on far longer than necessary. The dialogue is manageable, but also very simple and at times borderline silly.



Who knows, novelty factor, something else, maybe I'll get around to it if I can find it cheap. The Comet Empire season is the one that I recall the most from as a kid and I have higher hopes for an improved script, but I'm not sure I can find enough reward from it to justify the purchase. Maybe I'll finally jump on board with netflix.

I finally finished .hack//SIGN. It was pretty good series. Only one thing about ending...



Now watching 2nd disc of Wolf's Rain and 1st disc of Pumpkin Scissors.

Just Finished:

Strawberry Marshmallow - Not the deepest Anime in the world. I believe that they did a decent job on the characters though. I won't lie...I loved the intro. It was an easy Anime to watch which is what probably made it appealing. A little creepy how the older sister was always hanging with her younger sister and friends.

Hell Girl - I enjoyed the series. My first thought was Tales of the Crypt in Anime form. The show had everything you could think of story line wise...murder, animal cruelty, theft, betrayal...and that is naming just a few. Dark and mysterious story lines made this series worth watching. Its biggest fault is the repetitive scene of ferrying people to hell...

Black Lagoon - I didn't especially enjoy the water battle scenes. I did enjoy the various missions the deeper the series went and its hard to fault the action. I haven't seen the 2nd season yet so I hope they add a little more in character background. Overall, so far so good.

Darker than Black Vol.1 - Yawwwwn! The previews of this series looked so awesome and to be fair I have only seen volume 1 of the series...but the previews of the series was far better than what I saw in Volume 1. I found it boring and it didn't appeal to me....at least not yet. Very forgettable so far. I hope it gets better soon.

Maburaho - Not great...not bad...and likely little replay value. Probably a teen going through puberty would love it. This is a series that would of been better cut in half. The first half was way better. Once the main character uses his last spell is where I recommend you stop watching and that is assuming you make it that far into the series. Ironcially, the series had promise with the whole magical aspect.

FLCL - HAHAHA! This guy is a genius. I swear he must of invented the pet rock. Fooly Cooly has got to be the worst...and I mean the worst thing I ever watched and I don't mean just Anime wise. I can't believe people would pay such outrageous prices to own a copy of this. Dead Leaves was werid...but was interesting in a unique way. Fooly Cooly is just sick and full of mindless nonsense.

Top Ten Overall:

1.) Rumbling Hearts
2.) Death Note
3.) Rurouni Kenshin
4.) Gungrave
5.) Samurai Champloo
6.) Suzuka
7.) Bleach
8.) Beck
9.) Ghost in the Shell
10.) Azumanga Daioh

Honorable Mention:

Last Exile, Fate/Stay Night, Gun Sword, Genshiken, Le Chevalier D'Eon, Fullmetal Alchemist, Getbackers, My Hime, Kaliedo Star, DNAngel, Baki the Grappler S2, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Mushi-Shi, Samurai 7, Hellsing, Black Blood Brothers, Trinity Blood, Basilisk, Witch Hunter Robin, Hell Girl, Gantz, Afro Samurai, Peacemaker, Witchblade, Utawarerumono, Phantom Memory Kurau, Devil May Cry, Solty Rei, Strawberry Marshmallow, Hell Girl, & Black Lagoon.

The What the Heck Was I Thinking List:

Neo Ranga, Gravitation, ES Otherwise, Samurai Gun, Ninja Scroll, Fooly Cooly

In Progess/Currently Watching List:

Gilgamesh (started)
Mushi-Shi (started)
Wolf's Rain (On Deck)

The To Watch List:

Gunslinger Girl, 009-1, Heat Guy J, Madlax, Cromartie High School, FaFner, Noir, Black Cat, Desert Punk, King of Bandit Jing, Gad Guard, Yugo The Negotiator, Galaxy Angel, To Heart, X, Shinchan, Saiyuki, Saiyuki Reloaded, Saiyuki Reloaded Gunlock, Zipang, Excel Saga, Boogiepop Phantom, Karas, Banner of the Stars, Crest of the Stars, NowandThenHereandThere, Gankutsuou, Argentosoma, Kaze no Yojimbo, Ai Yori Aoshi, Koi Kaze, Full Metal Panic, Full Metal Panic TSR, Peach Girl, Chrono Crusade, Doki Doki School Hours, Tsubasa...(whew!)

I'm not sure where Nobue and Chika's parents are - maybe that's why Nobue is "babysitting" them. Miu is hilarious - that's why I liked the show because of her.

As for Black Lagoon, you won't see much of characters' background in second season. However, there's lot of action than first season.

First of all, the "lack" of parents in anime is more common than you think. It's often times not explained of why parent(s) are not present.

I don't find Nobue hanging around with Chika and her friends being too odd/creepy. If I remember correctly, Nobue's portrayal in the manga is a younger character (maybe around 16 or so, high school freshman). It was changed probably due to some bad everyday habits such as smoking (I believe it's also the age to legally buy cigarettes and alcholic beverages in Japan). In the beginning of the series, Nobue did joke about her age (was 16, but really 20).

real quick i just watched the new bandai standard disc limited edition release of the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and its incredible and totally worth the wait

^^^ That's good news to hear. I own 3 different versions of it and plan to pick up the Steelbook release as well.

The cover art on the release is far superior (relevant, artistic, interesting) in every way compared to the crap Dreamworks released. I'm assuming the subs aren't a problem on the Bandai release ...?

Yes, I'm aware of it and most of them had an explaination why there's no parent(s).

the subs look great and they are not the hard subs from the dreamworks release
and there are TWO english 5.1 tracks, one made exclusively for this edition with the usuals from GITS SAC from last year and the track used on the region 2 uk edition.
so clutch!

I though to post this here as well...via ICv2
EDIT: List of affected store can be found here.
EDIT 2: THE LIST IS NOT FINALZED!

thanks for the info! but could they not list by state? sheesh!

Ctrl F.

I missed last month's sharing of top 10 lists .. I hope it aint too late to share my favorites

10. Mazinger Z
9. Voltes V
8. Astroboy
7. Gantz
6. Initial D
5. Monster
4. Death Note
3. Voltron (Go Lion)
2. Hellsing/Hellsing Ultimate
1. Berserk

Abe, here is a dvd diorama of Berserk Box of War




The reasons why I chose it as #1 are as follows:

5. It was an after effect of playing Sega Dreamcast's Sword Of The Berserk (Guts' Rage)

4. Probably one of the most expensive DVD set I purchased (it was about 6yrs ago and bought it at Frys for $100+) and Well Worth at its cost! (Yeah Yeah.. even after 5yrs a "remastered slim packaged is coming out")

3. The Gore, Blood and Action of Guts huge sword.

2. Puck and Skull Knight's omittion in the anime series did not do any effect with the series' story phasing.

1. The Anime is true to the Manga and... I like how they emphasize the depthness of The Band Of Hawks up until its demise (it an F'd up ending.)

I just read the Fullmetal Alchemist DVD Box 1 Review and i wanted to know if the video quality is better than in the old dvd boxes.

Is it worth it to sell the old DVD boxes (Season 1/Part1/2 & Season 2/Part1/2) to get the "newer" boxsets with 4DVDs each?

That's a nice collection there, Xage. I just have the regular slim-case. I had the new set pre-ordered on Amazon, but I read that the new discs weren't that much of an improvement, so I cancelled. Unless I read somewhere that the changes are massive, I probably won't get it.

I've never played the Dreamcast game... I've heard it's really good.

Thanks Abe, the Dreamcast game was good.. but I heard the PS2 game was better (but it didnt arrived / released here in US)

Thanks WTK for this post... I completed the Deathnote series in a discounted manner.

Got Vol. 7, 8 and 9 for $14.99 each

interesting, thanks

Does anybody has information about the "Full Metal Panic DVD Heavy Metal Collection"?

It has 6DVDs and includes FMP and FMP Parody.

The FMP has 7DVDs and the Parody has 3DVDs...4DVDs less

Is it better to buy the "old" 7DVD box of FMP?

This new release was re-authored. All possible extras have been stripped from this release. The brick packaging is different than usual. It's one long hub for all of the discs. It's similar to the ones that you seen in cases for gaming. There is also a slipcover for this release.

Thanks for the info.

The old, black DVD box set of FMP! is sold out @ TRSi (5 sets left).

Is the red DVD box the same?

It's the same in terms of disc contents for the first season. The only changed is the artwork used on the release.

Thanks for your knowledge, WTK.

I mean the black box was looking nicer, but the red box of FMP! matches good to the red box of FMP! FUMOFFU

RockJack

yes nice thread i heard that bestbuy was having a sell on anime to im definately a big fan of it but seems the disc is a bit high

i didnt realize you can get the box set and all that was available for purchase i feel crazy lol

I just read that the re-release of Last Exile will have all 7 Volumes of the GENEON release.


Release: Funimation / Geneon Entertainment

Last Exile, The Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Re-Release) (Pre Order - Release Date May 5, 2009)

Contains all 7 volumes in individual thin-pak cases.


And for a pre-order-price @ 37 bucks @ rightstuf its fucking cheap. It looks like that FUNi didnt change anything, cause they are using their own "way" of releasing animes on much less discs (2-3) like the re-releases of animes like School Rumble or FMA

I think its good for people who couldnt catch the thinpak dvd box or dont want the big normal dvd cases