So it's official, Naruto Shippuden completed its run yesterday. Between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden that's 720 episodes and something like 10 movies across the two series, not including the Boruto movie.

That's a lot of episodes. I've started watching them on adult swim. But no telling where that is in the series... I mean, I guess I could look it up, but I'm lazy.


Bleach is finally done right? I felt the last arc with the badge was really disappointing.

Yeah, Bleach has been done for awhile now. Things kind of went downhill at the Hueco Mundo arc imo.

Read a post over at Crunchyroll in the forum section that Seven Deadly Sins in fact has another season coming, probably later this year. And I'm not talking about more OVA's, but if what I read was correct an actual new seasons with the 4 OVA's that were put up on Netflix allowed for them to bridge the gap in plot for the new season.

As I understand it, the first season of 24 episodes covered about 100 chapters of the manga. Another 24 episode season would bring the anime close to current with the manga, possibly.

Also, with Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans wrapping up next week with episode 25 for season 2, a new series is coming in June of this year titled Gundam Twilight Axis in the same continuity as Gundam Unicorn. It's supposedly set to take place a few months after Unicorn (Anime News Network article).

Just watched episode 1-148 of hunter x hunter this week. Man, the ant arc was way too long. Hopefully they come out of hiatus and get back to hisoka and the spiders. Felt a huge drop off after the 3rd arc.

The dub for the Steins;Gate movie "Load Region Deja Vu" gets released tomorrow, I preordered from Amazon so hopefully it will beat me home. I might rewatch the series before I watch it.

Also the new Beserk series got released for dubbed. I'm mostly through it, the visual quality is slightly a step down from the 3 movies, but it's still pretty good. I'm just glad they are actually tackling the Black Swordsman arc, from what I understand the original show and the 3 movies were just supposed to be prequels for the next 2 arcs which is the guts of the story.

I've never watched the 90's series, but as I understand it that was basically the prologue for the manga. It's on my list of things to watch eventually.

Berserk's manga is non-linear. It starts out with the main character as a 20 year old...flashes back to his birth/childhood and progresses forward to when he is 15 (which is the story that the 90s anime shows)...and then flashes back forward to when he is 22 or 23.

Ah I see, so it jumps around a good bit then?

I'm guessing that the manga flashed back so much that they had enough material to make the series. Even in this new series it flashes back a lot, which makes sense since Guts' relationship with Griffith is the cornerstone of the entire story.

jabberwalkie09 said:

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Ah I see, so it jumps around a good bit then?

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Doesn't jump around a ton. Just 2 major jumps.

Major arcs by published date:
Black Swordsman
Golden Age
Conviction
Falcon of Millemium Empire
Fantasia

Major arcs chronologically
Golden Age
Black Swordsman
Conviction
Falcon of Millemium Empire
Fantasia

90s anime covers only the very first chapter of the black swordsman arc. It's mostly focused on the Golden Age arc but does skip the first 2.5 chapters of the arc that cover the main character's birth and early youth.

The early chapters are very, very long so losing out on a single chapter is a lot of content missed out. At least a couple of the Black Swordsman chapters are 100+ pages.

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The early chapters are very, very long so losing out on a single chapter is a lot of content missed out. At least a couple of the Black Swordsman chapters are 100+ pages.

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Holy ****, 100 plus pages? Sweet Jesus... Most manga chapters these days are at max around 40 pages, 100 would blow my mind. Even then 40 pages isn't common. Welp, this just moved up the list and then I guess I'll go over to the manga.

96AgGrad said:

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In terms of series I've seen:

Cowboy Bebop
Evangelion
Hellsing
The Last Exile
Attack on Titan
Black Lagoon
SAO
Ajin
Steins; Gate

Ideally I'd like to find something short enough to complete or get current on without watching 400 episodes.

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I would go with Vision of Escaflowne along with Code Geass as mentioned.

Full Metal Panic, Gundam SEED, Rahxephon and Mai Hime are all solid as well


Has anyone else caught Konosuba yet? This show is freaking hilarious may be one of my favorite comedies in a long long time.

Thanks Denim. I appreciate the info. I need to expand my content sources so I can watch some more of these recommended series.

Throw in Jormungand in there as well if you liked Black Lagoon. Then there's also Psycho-Pass given the trend listed. I'm not sure where you can find the movie to watch for Psycho-Pass but you might be able to find it on Amazon to rent.

If you like SAO's trapped in a game/another world, there's Log Horizon (I haven't finished the second season), Overlord (only one season so far, second one is coming some time), Drifters, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (the series apparently adapted the first two or so visual novels of the series), and if you're looking for a series that is more comedic in tone there's Konosuba (two seasons, 20 episodes total).

Also, confirm to be coming this fall is Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory, the fourth FMP series.

jabberwalkie09 said:

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Also, confirm to be coming this fall is Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory, the fourth FMP series.

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Yes! fumoffu was the best series of them so far, only anime that is in the same ball park humor-wise would be Hetalia. So many funny episodes and the concept is just funny to begin with... Let's hope they stick to the humor side of it.

Also the Steins;Gate movie is between good & great, it stayed pretty true to the series and we see a story from the female protagonist's perspective. For essentially an OVA movie I really enjoyed it!

Also I can vouch for Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, I think fans that got hooked on SAO because of the first arc will really enjoy the show. It's only 12 episodes so far, but it's a lot more grittier than SAO because there's a higher focus on survival and the reality of death. I just wish they would make a season 2, I really enjoyed it so far.

Another suggestion for 96 would be Baccano! it an anime twist on mobsters in the 1920s/30s. It's a really awesome show because it has about 15 major characters and all have a satisfying story arc that intertwine and intersect with each other. What's crazy is it never felt crowded which happens a lot with an "ensemble cast".

hunter2012 said:

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jabberwalkie09 said:

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Also, confirm to be coming this fall is Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory, the fourth FMP series.

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Yes! fumoffu was the best series of them so far, only anime that is in the same ball park humor-wise would be Hetalia. So many funny episodes and the concept is just funny to begin with... Let's hope they stick to the humor side of it.

Also the Steins;Gate movie is between good & great, it stayed pretty true to the series and we see a story from the female protagonist's perspective. For essentially an OVA movie I really enjoyed it!

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I enjoyed FMP a lot. This new series coming gives me a reason to go back and rewatch all of the series before it comes in the fall. It's a little hard to believe that the first series came out back in 2002.

As for the Steins;Gate movie, it's on the list but I still need to finish the series. To be honest though, I kept hitting a wall for the first couple of times I watched it when the first episode made no sense until the second.

Crunchy
Funi
Netlflix
Prime
Prime + amazon strike

What is best and why?

I've enjoyed my share of Japanese video games but haven't ever really been able to get into anime. A few times I've looked at blogs posts detailing the list of currently airing anime for that specific season and it seems like the majority of the shows star young girls and just give me that all around creepy factor. I guess anime stereotypes don't help matters. It has always turned me away from the medium. I'm sure it's unfair to cast out an entire medium like this.

That said, seeing trailers for Ghost in the Shell and Death Note (Netflix movie) have made interested again. Is there a list of recommended shows that aren't full of young girls or any of the other stereotypes that turn so many people away from anime? I imagine Death Note is one from looking into it. Any other suggestions?

The two "gateway" shows tend to be Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Death Note is setup much like the trailer for Netflix, a teenager finds it and decides to use it to make the world a better place. People love this because there's a super Cat & Mouse element between the teenager and the super detective sent to find him

Full Metal Alchemist is about two brothers that are alchemists(duh!) and are trying to get their bodies back after one of their experiments goes horribly wrong. People tend to love this because a large ensemble cast(with no weak link characters) intertwines into an awesome story.

The way I came to view anime is its just a medium for storytelling, that medium is not just a cartoon based out of Japan. It's like reading a book, watching a movie, or watching a show. As a medium there's strengths and weaknesses to it. But I believe the main strength is anime can show stories that would shatter the budget for a live action show or movie. The main weakness being that the medium is originally in the language of Japanese, so not every show translates super well, but most do...

Also there's a anime for practically every genre so if you provide us with you favorite shows/books/genres, there are animes easily right up your alley!

carter4133 said:

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Crunchy
Funi
Netlflix
Prime
Prime + amazon strike

What is best and why?

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Netflix, funi covers most of the popular ones out there. Also don't forget adultswim.com as they stream practically every anime they've shown on Cartoon Network. I'm not a fan of crunchyroll just because I tend to watch only dubs so they don't have much to offer me.

Also, I have a prime membership so I need to check out Amazon strike.

IIRC Crunchy and Funimation have a partnership right now so there's probably some overlap between them. The difference is that I don't think Crunchy gets the dubbed versions that Funimation does.

I've made no secrets that Steins;Gate is my favorite anime, it does start convoluted and it remains slow through the first few episodes, but there's a reason it starts slow and if you stick with it I promise you it's worth it. I don't know anybody that's seen the whole thing and came away disappointed. There's a reason it's at/near the top of every "best anime" list out there.

I took a break the other day from pushing through Fairy Tail since Steins;Gate came up again and the movie came out, and made it up to episode 7 the other day. I'm hooked now.

ccaggie05 said:

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it seems like the majority of the shows star young girls and just give me that all around creepy factor. I guess anime stereotypes don't help matters. It has always turned me away from the medium. I'm sure it's unfair to cast out an entire medium like this.

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There's been a massive shift in anime over the last 10 years or so. I would say 2007 was the last truly great year where a majority of shows were still traditional sci-fi/action and dramas. Somewhere around this point they realized how much more money they can make pushing merchandise of scantily clad girls to ronery Japanese boys and thus the influx of moe, ecchi, and fanservice driven content.

Boiling Denim said:

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ccaggie05 said:

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it seems like the majority of the shows star young girls and just give me that all around creepy factor. I guess anime stereotypes don't help matters. It has always turned me away from the medium. I'm sure it's unfair to cast out an entire medium like this.

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There's been a massive shift in anime over the last 10 years or so. I would say 2007 was the last truly great year where a majority of shows were still traditional sci-fi/action and dramas. Somewhere around this point they realized how much more money they can make pushing merchandise of scantily clad girls to ronery Japanese boys and thus the influx of moe, ecchi, and fanservice driven content.

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I'd say that there's some truth to this, especially since 2007 had shows like Code Geass, Moribito, Baccano, Gurren Lagann, and Death Note. There's certainly been an influx of shows that focus around high school and magical girls over the last decade. Not to mention that for much of the last decade we've had Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece in the mix which are/were the big three.

jabberwalkie09 said:

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Boiling Denim said:

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ccaggie05 said:

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it seems like the majority of the shows star young girls and just give me that all around creepy factor. I guess anime stereotypes don't help matters. It has always turned me away from the medium. I'm sure it's unfair to cast out an entire medium like this.

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There's been a massive shift in anime over the last 10 years or so. I would say 2007 was the last truly great year where a majority of shows were still traditional sci-fi/action and dramas. Somewhere around this point they realized how much more money they can make pushing merchandise of scantily clad girls to ronery Japanese boys and thus the influx of moe, ecchi, and fanservice driven content.

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I'd say that there's some truth to this, especially since 2007 had shows like Code Geass, Moribito, Baccano, Gurren Lagann, and Death Note. There's certainly been an influx of shows that focus around high school and magical girls over the last decade. Not to mention that for much of the last decade we've had Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece in the mix which are/were the big three.

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Code geass and Gurren Lagann also had some unapologetic fan service. At least they still have plot.

Though I haven't seen Gurren Lagann, but from what I've seen from clips and posters so far, that seemed like an educated guess.

The worst I've seen so far in regards to moe, ecchi, and fan service is Kill la Kill. I have no idea why some people swear that it's a great show. the fan service was so obnoxious/ gratuitous that I quit the show 2 or 3 episodes in. I think it's the only anime that I quit before finishing.

Quote:

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Code geass and Gurren Lagann also had some unapologetic fan service. At least they still have plot.

Though I haven't seen Gurren Lagann, but from what I've seen from clips and posters so far, that seemed like an educated guess.

The worst I've seen so far in regards to moe, ecchi, and fan service is Kill la Kill. I have no idea why some people swear that it's a great show. the fan service was so obnoxious/ gratuitous that I quit the show 2 or 3 episodes in. I think it's the only anime that I quit before finishing.

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Well, that's the distinguishing difference isn't it right? That they have a plot which is interesting. Fan service has been a part of anime for as long as I can remember. Same with beach day episodes showing up in anime.

And you should watch Gurren Lagann. It's pretty good.

I started Kill la Kill maybe a dozen times and quit at the second episode. It's just so ****ing stupid and ridiculous. I mean FLCL was at least so ridiculous it was fun, but Kill la Kill just ugh.

Akame ga Kill on the other hand is excellent, feels like a mix of fma and Elfen Lied.

hunter2012 said:

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Akame ga Kill on the other hand is excellent, feels like a mix of fma and Elfen Lied.

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For an anime original ending it's fine, but it deviated from the manga a good bit. I'm still not sure which ending I prefer.

I haven't read the whole thread but has anyone seen GANTZ: 0 yet? I don't know why that type of animation is not used for more commercially acceptable products. You could completely build whole movies based on that animation technology and could really save some money on actors.