chrisc31

Last night I watched Grave of the Fireflies It was not what I expected but it was good. I just bought The Secret World of Arrietty, I am about to watch it I can't wait to see it again.

Ash Ketchum

I'm curious to know what you expected from GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES. Feel like sharing?

Thanks.

chrisc31

Ash Ketchum

Yeah, he's kind of a typical 14-year-old boy in that regard, isn't he? Thinks he doesn't need any help, that he can do everything on his own. The movie, to its credit, doesn't try to soften that aspect of his character or come up with excuses. Nor does it flinch in its stark portrayal of the primitive level to which Japanese society descended in the final stage of the war when food, medicine and basic supplies were so scarce. Kinji Fukasaku was 15 when the war ended and his experience in that time later infused the making of his 2000 film, BATTLE ROYALE, which is about 14-year-olds also and their forced descent to a primitive level. These two films would make an interesting double feature.

Thanks.

TheBigDave

Just finished Kannagi. I wanted to like it. There were some funny moments. But I couldn't connect with the story or any of the characters.

I started watching Kanamemo. So far it's pretty funny.

Is anyone watching SKET Dance? Is it any good? I was thinking about giving it a try.

WTK

I'm keeping up with the episodes. Early on there are some arcs that are too long. There were also a few serious episodes. Overall it's a rather fun series. Whether one likes the humor may vary.

JGaitan82

When I get home a little later today I am going to start... Basilisk. It is just sitting on my shelf, unopened!

TheBigDave

Just finished Sora no Woto (aka Sound Of The Sky). A lot of people call this "K-On Goes To War". But aside from a few superficial similarities, the two shows are very different. Personally, I thought it had more in common with Haibane Renmei. Anyways, it was a good show.

coyoteblue

Re-watching Princess Jellyfish (just got the box in). Three eps in and it's just as much fun as the first time.

TheBigDave

Currently watching The Familiar Of Zero (aka Zero no Tsukaima). Just finished the first season. So far I'm really enjoying it. On to the second season.

TheBigDave

Finished the series. Overall it was pretty good. I wouldn't recommend watching all 4 seasons in one stretch. As it goes on, a lot of the tsundere/romance/harem stuff gets repetitive. But if you took each season on it's own, with a break in-between, I think it would flow much better.

PhantomStranger

I've been thinking about watching that series. I just finished Ef - A Tale Of Memories. Heartbreaking teen love drama with multiple layers to the story and central themes. It has a haunting emotional core that quickly wraps you into the plot.

TheBigDave

Started watching My Bride Is A Mermaid (Seto no Hanayome). I'm about 5-6 episodes in, and I don't know if I'm gonna finish. It's a little too manic with non-stop parody.

So then I switched over to A Certain Scientific Railgun (Toaru Kagaku no Railgun). Only watched about 3-4 episodes, but I'm enjoying it. The storyline is pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with it.

Thrush

In the middle of Book of Bantorra, not bad so far.

Just started "Legend of Legendary Heroes". After 1st 2 eps it almost has a Berserk vibe if Berserk was a comedy.

PhantomStranger

Watching Okami-san and Her Seven Companions. I have real problems with the dub and many of the reviews I read of the series were spot on, which is disappointing. A couple of episodes to go, but I don't think I'm going to end up liking it too much.

TheBigDave

This is on my Watch List too. I think I'll watch the sub instead of the dub though.

http://www.funimation.com/okami-san-...ven-companions
http://www.hulu.com/okamisan

big e

I'm currently watching Mobile Suit Gundam and Guyver (OVA) and yesterday I watched Galaxy Express 999 (movie).

It's been a few years since I watched any of these animes, but I'm having a pretty good time revisiting Guyver and Gundam. Gundam is as good as I remember and Guyver, despite being a little corny at times, is good bloody fun. Galaxy Express 999, on the other hand, left me feeling flat. I hadn't seen the movie in over a decade and was looking forward to revisiting it yesterday, but for whatever reason, I just couldn't get into it. I don't know why, maybe I wasn't in the right mood?

chrisc31

I started to watch Chobits on blu-ray, this anime is really good.

big e

I rewatched Galaxy Express tonight and my opinion didn't change: the movie felt very ho-hum to me. I didn't think it was all bad; there were a few scenes that had the markings of a great film. Tetsuro's flashback, the scene where Matel holds him around the 45 minuet mark, and Tetsuro's escape from Count Mecha's castle were all scenes I thought were done very well. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie never rises to the same level as these scenes and instead feels very... bland, for lack of a better word. I have the sequel sitting in my backlog, but I'm not sure if I'm going to watch it. Most of the reviews I've read pretty much say it's a very mediocre movie.

WTK

Home media

• Black Butler II - It feels slightly weaker than the first season. It's a must watch for those who enjoyed watching the first season.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVAs - Decent. Probably must watch for those who (really) enjoyed the FMA franchise.
• Ghost Sweeper Mikami (TV) - Very glad that Sentai Filmworks licensed this. It was fairly entertaining series to watch.
• Infinite Stratos - Nothing too serious, but it was fun to watch.
• Okami-san & Her Seven Companions - It's actually as bad as some people make it out to be.

Streaming

• Fate/Zero - They really couldn't have done a better job with this adaptation. It's a must watch for Fate franchise fans.
• Is This a Zombie? of the Dead - More fluff. If you liked the first season, you make like the second one.
• Medaka Box - I wasn't expecting of this series and it still underperformed for me. And there is another season coming...
• Upotte!! - The series was pretty subpar for at the beginning. As the series progressed it felt a bit better.

TheBigDave

Which of the Summer 2012 shows are you planning to watch?

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-new...12-anime-chart

I'll probably check out:

YuruYuri
Natsuyuki Rendezvous
Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate
Tari Tari
Kokoro Connect

Anything else looking good?

Koby

At the moment I'm interested in:
La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia
Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
Hagure Yuusha no Estetica
Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online has my interest the most however.

WTK

Home Media

• Fate/stay night: UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS [re-watch on EngDub] - I still think this would be something that Fate fans should watch. There is a lot of materials to cover for the movie. I think they did a good job for the most part.

Streaming

• Cross Game [re-watch] - One of the best sports anime that I have seen. It's too bad that it may not see a physical media release in the U.S.
• Dusk Maiden of Amnesia - The start of the series was rather mediocre. However I loved how the series finished up. It's one of the better Spring '12 simulcasted series for me.
• Hiiro No Kakera Season 1 - Very slow moving anime (plot wise). It's just very mediocre at best right now. And now Season 2 won't happen until October.
• Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos - Nothing too fancy and deep. It was entertaining enough to watch though.
• Shakugan no Shana III -FINAL- Late on finishing this up. It's great to see the franchise wrapping up here. Overall I though the series was all right. It feels like at certain times they are trying to cover too much ground (plot wise).
• You and Me 2 - One of those series that don't get talked about too much. It's definitely a hidden gem.
• ZETMAN - It really feels done before. The characters for the part just don't grab me.

WTK

The date for Ebiten is wrong. It should be on the 14th instead.
To be honest, I'm not sure. There are couple series that seem to have potentials like Tari Tari. I'm going to see what gets simulcasted legally here and go from there...

PhantomStranger

I started watching Seikon no Qwaser. It would be a fairly normal series not unlike other shows built around superpowered agents fighting one another, if not for one crazy element that puts it very close to being hentai. The main character gets powered up drinking the breast milk of girls with a certain type of energy, straight from the source. The story is fairly good if you can get beyond that one point.