toxin.: | Sputnikmusic

toxin. 08.29.14	sup guys here's my MAL if you want to check it out: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/jgsa&show=0&order=4
ChoccyPhilly 08.29.14	Attack on Titan Shaman king CORPSE PARTY
CoolCalmJoe 08.29.14	Started watching Evangelion again since I hadn't seen it in over 10 years. Not really digging it, as it doesn't seem to stand up to the other anime's i've seen. Never really delved any further than the surface level entertainment though. FMA: Brotherhood is easily my favorite anime to date. Any recommendations around that? I've only seen a few all the way through. Evangelion (when I was younger), Attack on Titan, FMA: Brotherhood, Death Note. Saw a bunch of Naruto before it became pointless with all the fillers, and 2 seasons of Soul Eater before I got bored.
CoolCalmJoe 08.29.14	That ping pong one actually sounds really dope, as I just recently wondered how people can devote their entire lives to a sport.
silentstar 08.29.14	man i've been slacking with my anime recently (for the past ~2 months or so). i just started one called Dennou Coil and it's really interesting but work has been taking over (but that's ending next week, so I should be good) pretty cool list - will definitely end up watching Ping Pong (you should check out The Tatami Galaxy btw: it's another show by the person who wrote Ping Pong) Mushishi is gorgeous - need to get on that season 2 material Uchouten Kazoku is easily top 5 material for me, largely because of how easy I could relate to it (family with four brothers, father who is absent often enough etc) Kyousou Giga had the potential to be a top 5 but it kinda fell flat near the end - still wonderful I'll still stand by Evangelion being way too overrated and I find that a lot of the meanings found are generally excuses for the bad production (like, I'm pretty sure the creator said he added all the christian references because it was cool and nothing else) aside from Tatami Galaxy, you might like Kuragehime and Watamote
toxin. 08.29.14	ye ping pong is sweet, there's no over-romanticization of sports which is nice. evangelion is great but yeah from a surface-level exam it's not great. it's the psychological aspect that makes it so acclaimed. fma: brotherhood is my favorite anime or second favorite as well. i'd definitely recommend avatar: the last airbender if you didn't watch that. besides that, i hear the other similar show with a similarly high quality is hunter x hunter (which gets better and more mature after first few episodes). i haven't seen it personally but that's what i hear. if you liked death note you might like code geass too (i didn't like it at all but a lot of people seem to). or maybe try steins;gate, it's tied with fma:b as my favorite. a little slow in the beginning as you get to know the characters. it's a rad time travel show. i hear the dub is pretty good too. @choccy, lol i've only seen titan of those three
ChoccyPhilly 08.29.14	Corpse party is amazing man. It's famous for being brutal and you'll finish it in less than 2 hours because it's only 4 episodes long. I highly recommend you watch it and shaman king, both fantastic animes What did you think of attack on titan? I personally loved it because you weren't quite sure about the titans motives, so it was impossible to favour a side
toxin. 08.29.14	and yeah i've watched tatami galaxy, i wasn't a huge fan when i watched it... i thought the first couple episodes were sorta meh, although the ending was fantastic. i'd probably like it more if i watched it again. i'll check out kuragehime (is that princess jellyfish? i hear good things about that), but i hate hate hate cringe humor so watamote is out. re: evangelion, well the christian imagery is easy to ignore. it's fantastic as a psychological show, and the symbolism might be pointless (and yeah there's a lack of production) but there's a ton of thematic discussion in the show (especially, like i said, about leaving the mother's womb as a metaphor for coming of age)
DikkoZinner 08.29.14	Hokuto no Ken
toxin. 08.29.14	@choccy, i liked titan. it was a fun show, though i preferred the horror direction of the first few episodes over where they actually took it. i don't know about it being ambiguous, the titans were to me basically zombies (impossible to root for) but maybe a little more interesting, but yeah the antagonist of the final arc (don't wanna spoil) was pretty morally ambiguous. it was definitely a fun popcorn show to watch with friends, imo. re: the other two, i've heard of them both. i was never really interested in them but i'll think about it.
jefflebowski 08.29.14	working through death note atm as my first anime, any recs on where next? from what i've seen cowboy bebop and steins;gate look like good choices
emester 08.29.14	Only Anime I've ever loved was Fist of the North Star. I like people exploding
toxin. 08.29.14	jeff, what kind of stuff do you like outside of anime? and also, how "critical" are you about your media? for example, death note is often compared to code geass, in that the protagonist has a supernatural power and is a genius who can outwit people. code geass however has a lot more anime tropes like high school stuff, a harem (multiple girls attracted to the protagonist), etc. that might bother you. plus the plot of geass is even more flimsy than death note. bebop is always a good choice imo. steins;gate is good if you like sci-fi that's focused on characters rather than the "science" (although its explanations are good). i find you really appreciate steins;gate if you watch it for the characters. the first couple episodes are them dicking around with a time travel thing and basically establishing characters and their relationships. around the second half the plot kicks into high gear (you'll know exactly what i mean). i would definitely recommend both.
YakNips 08.29.14	FLCL is like the only anime i still like
jefflebowski 08.29.14	well i mean for the moment i'd like stuff that's fairly westernized and mostly character-based - i like death note for the plotting and cod-philosophy stuff (and the art direction) rather than the concept/supernatural stuff what what you wrote i think i'll try steins next, thanks for the detailed recs
ChoccyPhilly 08.29.14	I agree about the horror elements. I was hoping the show would portray a psychological struggle that was a bit more terrifying than what eren has to go through, but sadly not. Once we got to the elite corps, it basically became an action anime. If you want the horror that was in the first few episodes then definitely check out corpse party, you'll love it. Based on attack on Titan,do you have any recs for me? I'm a fan of the horror/thriller type that isn't very cheesy
toxin. 08.29.14	@yak, still on my list to watch! @jeff, if you prefer western/character-based stuff, you'll love Bebop. Steins;Gate isn't westernized (in fact it directly addresses "moe" and Akihabara which is sort of the nerdy otaku capital of the world) but it's definitely character-based. You'll probably also like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. If you watched & liked Avatar: The Last Airbender, then it's fairly similar (using "magic" to control your surroundings... in FMA it's alchemy). super high quality stuff set in an alternate Germany. @Choccy, yeah I agree with you re: Titan. I'll consider Corpse Party since it's only four episodes but gore/brutality usually isn't my thing (versus horror which I feel is a little more understated). I don't have very many great horror/thriller shows. What I feel comfortable recommending is Shinsekai Yori (From the New World). I wrote it about in the first edition of this list, but it's basically about an alternate dystopian future where civilization crumbled when humans discovered the ability of PK (psychokinesis). It's not strictly a horror/thriller (though one episode is) but it definitely evokes an eerie vibe. I haven't watched it but I hear Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is pretty eerie too. If he still goes on sputnik, ask sixdegrees (the user). He's an expert in that type of anime.
YakNips 08.29.14	Kyousougiga sounds pretty interesting actually
jefflebowski 08.29.14	isn't there that one anime where sharks with motorized legs take over the world can't remember the name but i'd watch the hell outta that
ChoccyPhilly 08.29.14	It's more horror than gore but the gory parts are used very well. I'll warn you that episode 1 is pretty boring but necessary but it gets so much better after that. Will see what those animes are like if I can remember how to spell them
bach 08.29.14	my fave is rush hour
jefflebowski 08.29.14	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IArqEx9DNwY there we go! it's not english but i mean it's motorized fuckin sharks with legs so who needs a script
CoolCalmJoe 08.29.14	Avatar is one of my favs as well. I didn't list it cause some elitists bashed me for calling it an anime in the past. It sounds like we have pretty similar tastes when it comes to this, judging from your comments. Will definitely check out the ones you mentioned. My roommates are actually watching hunter x hunter right now. Also, completely agreed on your assessment of Titan. Was a huge fan until the turn.
YakNips 08.29.14	what's that korean movie about the house i thought that was good
CoolCalmJoe 08.29.14	the tale of two sisters?
CoolCalmJoe 08.29.14	or the house?
toxin. 08.29.14	lol jeff what the hell is that. yak, check it out for sure. it's like 4 hours total so there's not much of an investment. Joe, yeah people who say that drive me crazy. I mean I don't really care if it is or isn't anime but the point is it has the same aesthetic and is fucking quality stuff. I think it's always relevant to any anime conversation. And yeah my suitemates last year were obsessed with HxH. I was too busy to watch much of anything last year though so I didn't get into it
Angelboros 08.29.14	Kyousougiga... I haven't actually seen the TV series, but there was an ONA I saw about two years ago; and fuck, was it trippy. This is coming from someone who's seen Dead Leaves and Paranoia Agent.
17WordHaiku 08.29.14	Welcome to the NHK is my favorite anime. It is definitely silly in some parts, but it really hit home with a lot of people. It's a true gem that gets lost in a sea of mediocre yet insanely popular crap.
emester 08.29.14	Been meaning to check bebop
Gestapo 08.29.14	no jo jo :(
toxin. 08.29.14	@Anglboros, yep that ONA is awesome. If you really liked it, I really recommend the entire show. It's based on the ONA. I think the plot of the TV series makes more sense than the ONA but it's still trippy, just to a lesser degree. @Haiku, yeah NHK is a great one. Personally I think it's one of those things that you really need to relate to to fully appreciate. It was definitely a well-written thing, but for me personally, there are certain moments about depression and such that were simply not fun to watch. Which is fine, depression isn't supposed to be fun to observe. But it never quite resonated with me. @emester, definitely do it. It's just svelte and cool as fuck. Soundtrack is great, characters are great. There isn't exactly a plot (though there are arcs) but man it's great. @Gestapo, I hear great things about JoJo! Haven't checked it though.
ChoccyPhilly 08.29.14	Wtf was that, jeff? That's like sharknado territory
Gestapo 08.29.14	jojo is the best anime/creation of the modern mad scientist japs
emester 08.29.14	Soundtrack was reason why i wanted to check it in the first place
toxin. 08.29.14	Anno is amazing. If you enjoy jazz, try Kids on the Slope too. It's also directed by Watanabe and scored by Anno (both are Bebop if it wasn't obvious). It's about a three high schoolers in the turbulent 1960s and how their mutual love for jazz created a basis for a strong relationship. Also some interesting stuff about general 60s-era politics in Japan (surprisingly not that different from America) although it's tangential to the jazz and character relationships.
EasyModeDX 08.29.14	damn it you've nailed the things I like, except for ping pong, we've already got a laundry list of sports anime and I thought ping pong didn't add nothing to the genre as well as being a quite mediocre in the art department. I guess if you want the elitist holy grail then that would be haibane renmei. It's basically an anime that doesn't really explain itself, and half of the time nothing really happens... And I love it actually XD. Also Madoka, has a great deal of appeal in the mainstream but as a whole and especially the third movie is something hard to digest. Then you've got Psycho Pass and Kino's Journey. They all pose interesting questions to the viewer in a non canon way. So I guess that's why I like them? Also Kuchuu Buranko
toxin. 08.29.14	Haha man, Ping Pong was phenomenal. I usually don't like sports media period, but Ping Pong (and Cross Game) is the exception. I really enjoyed how it wasn't about the sport itself but rather the players and their motivations. In general I found the characterization to be superb. And the art was kind of ugly yeah but I found the show to have an excellent sense of style and direction. Like when Kazama turned into a dragon, for example, or the ball representing the airplane for Kong. But hey, to each their own. Madoka was pretty good, it was fantastic from a critical level but I thought on a plot level there was a lot to be desired from the characters. Haibane and Kino's are on my plan to watch! I hear good things about both. Psycho Pass I'm less interested in, since I hear it's basically a wannabe GitS: SAC, and I didn't like GitS so I doubt PP would be my style. I haven't heard of Kuuchuu Buranko though, will check that one out!
Snowdog808 08.29.14	It's missing Mushishi and Rurouni Kenshin.
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	I don't get the appeal of anime at all
Angelboros 08.29.14	Yoko Kanno's soundtracks are always a THRILL to hear every once in a while. Still can't get enough of the Cowboy Bebop theme to this day, man. I'm also a bit of a Taku Iwasaki fanatic...
toxin. 08.29.14	"It's missing Mushishi" "#2: Mushishi" lol. Rurouni Kenshin's OVAs were pretty good. @Sea, um I mean it's like saying "I don't get the appeal of western television at all." I mean I do prefer it as a medium because I think in general animation looks nicer than shittily produced TV stuff/ green screen (stuff like GoT doesn't apply). And there's a lot more flexibility when it comes to what you can represent as pictures. That said, what's nice about anime is there are so many diverse categories that everyone can find a couple things they like, even if they avoid the vast majority of stuff. Something like Cowboy Bebop is something that most people in the west, even those who dislike what they perceive to be anime, can enjoy.
17WordHaiku 08.29.14	Eureka Seven was pretty good too. It's too bad the second series was really bad.
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	"um I mean it's like saying "I don't get the appeal of western television at all."" is it? I get the impression that it has a distinct style; unlike the Whole Western Television "animation looks nicer than shittily produced TV stuff/ green screen" ugh watch good shows then and I like animated stuff too, just not anime but yeah not trying to shit on what you enjoy maybe I'll give cowboy bebop or sth a try sometime the whole 'scene' and its fans is the biggest thing holding me back, along with the fact that errything looks really cliche but, again, speaking from limited perspective
EasyModeDX 08.29.14	yeah, not to mention anime is not bound by the preconcieved notion that cartoons are for kids, for it's actual appeal is pretty wide in the age department. And we have to also understand that it was never meant to be for kids anyway. Just look at the soviet animation scene in the 20's and you'll notice the whole experimentality of it. The almost non-simplified artwork, the wide array of themes and abstract "stories", the whole trippyness of the resulting atmosphere... The western world just looked at that and thought "we should totally get this for kids, we don't even have to put an effort, they'll watch anything!" and so we got Hanna Barbera. Obviously not to bash the western cartoons, they have value in their own way but these were the studios that brought that stereotype in.
toxin. 08.29.14	" I get the impression that it has a distinct style" Erm yeah I'd say as a whole, it has a certain style. But there are certainly directors who break the mold though. The most obvious example is Miyazaki. But there's also Watanabe, which is why something like Cowboy Bebop might be up your alley. You also might want to check out Baccano! I wasn't the biggest fan but it's supposed to be pretty Tarantino like, and it's non-chronological. Those two shows I think you would like quite a bit. And maybe if you want to see the advantages of anime over live TV, watch an episode of Mushishi. There's a lot of creative freedom where you don't need CGI to have weird effects, so you can have alternate lifeforms like in Mushishi that look "native" to the work of medium. Oh, and maybe Serial Experiments Lain if you want something really cerebral. Those four give a pretty solid experience of what anime can accomplish as a medium.
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	"yeah, not to mention anime is not bound by the preconcieved notion that cartoons are for kids" uhhhh that's definitely not unique to anime dude
toxin. 08.29.14	And yeah the anime "scene" definitely has its issues. I mean I've met plenty of IRL anime fans who are normal. I'd argue most are. But the loudest and most salient fans are also the obnoxious ones that give anime a bad rap, and there are a lot of embarrassingly bad anime that I avoid. But there are so many productions per year that there is always some good stuff airing. Sorry about the format of the above post, I forgot how editing comments fucks up formatting on this site.
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	I mean (sorry to beat a dead horse here, with the amount of (well-deserved) praise this show gets) Rick & Morty is one of my fav shows as of late and the things they're able to do with animation and fucking dan harmon's creativity is pretty astounding
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	nah thank you for the thoughtful responses though, I appreciate it. don't think I'll be giving anime a try anytime soon but maybe I'll try going in with an open mind at some pt.
toxin. 08.29.14	I hear Rick & Morty is fucking fantastic, I need to check it out for sure. and NP, yeah no particular reason to get into anime, but def. keep an open mind if a friend wants to watch Bebop or something like that with you.
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	yeah take a look at R & M. it's the best new comedy I've seen in years, and there's only been one season. Harmon is a genius.
EasyModeDX 08.29.14	I didn't say it was unique to anime, I said it was widespread, but due to the japanese dictatorship at the time hanna barbera was founded and beyond, anime never got influenced by cheaply produced material. The only thing you get as a major reference in art style was before the dictatorship, in the early 1900, with the similarities in art style between disney and Ozamu Tezuka's work, but they never got into that hanna barbera period the western world was in. All this means that the japanese don't have this preconception ingrained because it was never there to begin with, so they are basically the only exceptions that come to mind.
SeaAnemone 08.29.14	wow never watching anime ever now way2go hepatitis kitty
EasyModeDX 08.30.14	Oh god toxin don't even get me started on weaboos, tumblr gifs and all that jazz, I live that almost everyday here in my country. It's not that truly informed and responsible people do not exist, but the obnoxious ones definetly speak the loudest and are the easiest to pinpoint, so i understand completely.
toxin. 08.30.14	@Sea, sweet I think you convinced me to check it out. @EasyMode, agreed man. I'm lucky enough to live in a place (SoCal) in an age group (college aged) where anime is so accepted that the weird folks are exceptions to the rule. Would be nice if more people stepped out of the shounen genre and watched some of the more interesting stuff like what's on my lists, but whatever I'll take it. But places like tumblr and /r/anime are nearly impossible to browse now lol
EasyModeDX 08.30.14	Yeah, it's not really worth it I guess. But we still manage to get our fix. And the fact that the only thing western television displays in anime is shounen is to be expected. It's all we spectators demand anyway because we don't know best. (probably not you and me but everyone who only knows anime for what is on tv) And because we don't know best we will continue to consume nothing but shounen, and that's what they'll keep transmitting because to even think there is other stuff beyond the mainstream is quite challenging both to the broadcasting stations to the spectator. But then again we have dissect the issue. Imagine suddently Bakemonogatari aired on western television! What would the appeal to our average citizen be? Almost none. There are certain cultural aspects that are unrelatable between us and them. One of them is comedy for example, you surely know how boke and tsukkomi is constant. It relies on a pretty formulaic and samey structure. Which is not familiar not to mention japanese comedy relies heavily on wordplay, so do riddles too, so trying to make these gimmicks work in a western world is nothing short of impossible. Also, japanese mithology, and the countless references that exist? Fan translation is already hard but at least with a fanub you're putting up material for a community that has a certain degree of experience in the medium. In the case of your average citizen, they know absolutely nothing and it would take a cultural leap of faith to make something like Sayonara Zetsubou sensei or Mushishi work here in the west. Not saying it's impossible, it's just highly unlikely and risky.
toxin. 08.30.14	I mean I agree there are certain shows that wouldn't become popular here like Monogatari since a lot of the appeal is dependent on cultural knowledge. But there are tons of stuff that definitely have appeal to the West. I don't see why Mushishi, or Baccano!, or Steins;Gate (this is a bit more iffy since it has some references to Moe/Akihabara), or Angel Beats! (to name something I don't really like) couldn't be big here. But I mean that said I'm pretty happy the way it is... with the internet there are always people to engage whatever anime with so it's not imperative that it achieves GoT or BB popularity where virtually everyone in my age group is talking about it. Though it would be nice if some of the more quality stuff got more popular (and more revenue and thus funding), so we have less shitty high school stuff and more interesting works
ashcrash9 08.30.14	damn, toxin. great lists, tons of quality stuff
EasyModeDX 08.30.14	Yeah, I guess that it's not all bad in the end. What guarantee would I have that if suddenly a show like Kara no Kyoukai was the norm here in the west? I probably would keep looking further to something in the underground that challenged me even more. Maybe you'd do that too. It's because our interest moves us. And as fans we inevitably want to know more. But regarding what I said earlier I was examining the feat of bringing anime to the west with a more technical emphasis, I mentioned fan translations because I'm kinda inside the vn translation scene (and the visual novel scene overall) and though I don't know Japanese in an acceptable way, I've worked my way with translation aggregators in the past and used quite a lot of ATLAS in the past too.
EasyModeDX 08.30.14	I looking back I think what bothers me the most now that you mentioned funding is the absolute crap of festivals we have here in Portugal. I usually have an independent stand at some of these so I know who manages these events... And let's that they don't really know what they're doing. We have had events at an abandoned factory in complete PITCH BLACK. and I was sitting there, selling art I had made. And no one could even see what I was selling and I had to be there because that was the artist's alley and nobody even knew there were people selling stuff there. Not to mention, walk up to any stand that represents any store that sells manga or figures in one of these events, ask them for something in particular and they won't know what to do, since they have 0 knowledge about things. They'll just grab anyone to represent their store and handle the sales and I frankly think that a bit more visibility and more funding as you very well said would improve the situation here in my country to a level that is mildly acceptable. Also, Comic con is coming to portugal! But wait, it's the same people who handle all the other shitty cons that ever happened, so it's basically the same thing, but even more low budget, it just happens to have the name comic con attached to it... sigh Yeah, kinda would like this thing to be a bit widespread, not so much because it's something I think everyone should be interested in, because I'm not even a supporter of that ideology but the improvement I would see in order for anime to be a bit more well known for the right reasons would have really good consequences for everyone who likes this thing.