Anime Talk - 2008 Spring Anime Season
 

Any interest here? We don't have an anime forum, so I figured I'd just throw this in here. Are we allowed to discuss unlicensed fansubs as long as we don't talk about where they came from? I mean, people do talk about TV pilot screeners here.

Anywa, I haven't really paid much attention to anime in a while, but I've been getting back into it lately, and with a new season of anime starting up, I've been checking out some of the new shows.

Gonzo's giving a little gift to American viewers and getting out in front of the fansubs by actually streaming subtitled episodes of both of their two new series, Tower of Druaga and Blassreiter on Youtube. New episodes are popping up online about the same time they've aired in Japan. So far the first two episodes of both are online.

Tower of Druaga, Episode 1
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Blassreiter, Episode 1
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Blassreiter was fairly meh, I doubt I'll stick with that. Lots of bad CG coupled with a snooze-worthy plot and characters. D

I liked Tower of Druaga a lot better. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it reminds me some of Record of Lodoss War. I'll probably keep watching that one for a while. B+

I've also watched the new Golgo 13, Allison & Lillia, and Macross Frontier so far.

Goigo 13...well it's Golgo 13. You've got this cold, amoral assassin, who beds all the babes, kills all the baddies, and looks totally stoic while doing both. It's decent for manly men who want their anime like you want your biceps, hard and fast. B-

Allison and Lillia reminded me a bit of Last Exile. You've biplanes, feuding nations, and a spunky guy and gal caught up in the middle. I don't know if it'll be as good as Last Exile, but I'll keep watching it for a while to see how it develops. B

Macross Frontier is my favorite show so far. It's Macross so you know all the old standbys are going to be there. Transforming jets/mechas, huge city/spaceships, an intergalactic menace, and pop stars in danger. In the first episodes, it's already got all that covered. No new ground is covered, but it looks really slick and moves along at a quick pace. Definitely watching this. A

I've still got Real Drive, Nabari no Ou, Kure nai, Chiko - Heiress of the Phantom Thief, and Library War on my to watch list.

Isn't Tower of Druaga a videogame? Like one from the 80's (though I think a sequel was released on the PS2 just a few years ago)?

Yeah, Tower of Druaga was an arcade game by Namco in the 80's, and then there was a spinoff Nightmare of Druaga on the PS2. The anime is loosely based on the games, basically the evil god Druaga has rebuilt the tower and groups of adventurers have gathered to attack the tower and win fame and fortune. It's played fairly tongue-in-cheek, although after an extremely jokey first episode, it does get more serious in Episode 2.

Here's a good resource for the Spring season-

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2008-04-08 .

I'll have to check some of these shows out after I get a better handle on my massive backlog.:)

New Golgo 13 you say??
I must know more about this, I am a big fan.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...tov/Golgo1.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...tov/golgo2.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...tov/golgo3.jpg

:D :D

So I guess none of these will be on the cartoon network.

They're all airing in Japan only right now (except for the first two I posted which are also on Youtube). Code Geass, which is just starting it's second season in Japan, will be airing later this month on Adult Swim though. April 26th, I think.

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Golgo 13 was also a video game for the nes I think. There was one racy scene that my friend's mom overheard us talking about. We had to explain that it we were only playing a game and it didn't really show anything. Kind of funny.

I'm currently watching Death Note which is pretty darn good. It is about a guy that finds a note book that has the power to kill people. The boy then proceeds to try and become the god of the new world.

I find it odd that Adult Swim would put it new anime shows on at 5:30 am instead in the regular spot. I had thought they canceled morbotio or whatever it is called but no they just moved it to a stupid time. The only anime on at a normal time is bleach and they are in the middle of the crappy episodes.

I have lost all respect for adult swim. Sci Fi channel animonday is the place for anime now.

They have pretty much divested themselves of all things anime. They killed Toonami and aside from Bleach as you mentioned aren't airing any Anime in Adult Swim anymore. Its quite ironic as anime pretty much built their network.

In addition to Sci fi channel IFC has some decent Anime series.

I do enjoyed Death Note... but few episodes later, the storyline fell apart and it wasn't great. It's like they ran out of idea what to do next and they just threw it together.