Anime Club

[redbrunja]

So I went to anime club yesterday, which was incidentally the first time I've ever sat through the whole thing (sort of).

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to really like the beginning and ending animes, but not so much the middle.

First, we watched something about the man with 20 faces? And the rich girl he rescues? *thumbs up* He has crazy awesome eyebrows, and I could literally feel my Gunslinger Girl kink switch being flipped.

Next, we watched this anime (Nana? something with an N) about a dick piano player and the luna lovegood-esque girl he gets partnered with. (Randomly, does hair start to smell after four days of not washing it? I'd go crazy if I left it that long, but I always wash my hair because if feels dirty or it looks greasy - I've never noticed a smell.)

Then there was this anime about this boy who can see microbes that everyone else thought was hysterical and I thought was the longest twenty minutes of my life. Even considering that's when I went to the bathroom and got snacks.

And then we get to the highlight of the evening: pilot for Last Exile. OH MY FUCKING GOD! It was steampunk, and there were girls, and Mullin who makes my overies just *wibble* and the war and the piloting and-

When it was over I was like, 'one? We only get one? Play one more, please!'

TTGL was next, and I left because I'd already seen the first episode and was STARVING, but anime club will be a good way to watch that show, which I've been assured is good, but am not quite interested enough to watch on my own.

Comments

[pikabot]

That would be Nodame Cantabile. I haven't seen the anime, but the manga it's based on is amazing and makes me wibble a lot. Chiaki's not really a dick, he's just...an obsessive perfectionist. You warm up to him a lot as the series progresses.

And oh yes. Last Exile. Last Exile is AMAZING. Goddamn I love the animation, it's so expressive and OOGH!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

And girl pilots! And first mates! *and spoilery good Sophia stuff after that one unfortunate bit with her*

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Say no more!

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, and hot guys who manage to make their capes flap dramatically just by the power of their overwhelming angst!

Last Exile is really quite, quite nifty. I'm surprised you haven't seen it already and heartily third the rec.

(I need to watch it again myself -- I saw it back when Cartoon Network was running it a couple years ago so I've only seen the dub and missed a few random episodes here and there; I'm sure I'll like it even better if I can watch it all subbed and in order with no gaps...but even dubbed and disjointed, it was very cool.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You know, I am kinda suprised too. Because awesome girls + steampunk and I'm into it after the first episode? I can't believe no one told me about this one before.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

There was a lot of discussion of it in Megan's journal, um, last year when she was watching it? I think I just sort of assumed that you'd either already seen it or at least heard of it at some point, since with it running on CN for a while I didn't think it would count as something terribly obscure...

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm pretty sure I didn't, if only because I kinda keep track of manga/anime to try, and that one was completely off my radar.

[pikabot]

And lesbians!

I mean OK it's not official or anything but the gay wafting off of Tatiana and Alister could choke a horse to death.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Indeed. It's almost as potent as Claymore. They're at least as gay for each other as Dio and Luciola. Which makes that one *spoiler redacted* bit about midway through confusing and a bit annoying. But then, I think they gave *spoiler* pheromones out off "all the girls paying attention to *spoiler* means *spoiler* is important and interesting." Which never works. And, thankfully, didn't last long.

[pikabot]

I'm not going to get too into it here, because quite frankly it would involve redacting so many spoilers that it would become indecipherable, but I will say that the first time I watched the series I felt pretty annoyed at that, but upon rewatching (several times) I find that I don't think that that's what they were going for at all, and feel rather a lot better about it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it would be *spoiler redacted* every few words. I don't feel it nearly as strongly as I did originally, and each bit on its own doesn't quite give that impression. It's just having all the bits so close together.

[pikabot]

It does get kind of soapy, which is my only standing aggravation at that part.

Some people try to rope Alister in as being a part of that, too, to which I can only say...no. Not at all, what the hell.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think the proximity to the other makes it look like she's a part of that at first glance, and is also what pushes it to the annoying stage. Separating yourself from it, you can see that that's not what's going on with her at all, but when you see that happening all at once for the first time...

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You made me lol.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have the feeling I'll end up really liking or really dislking Nodame.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Second is Nodame Cantabile. I enjoyed the live action, but haven't seen the anime, and the manga didn't really grab me.

Don't know the others, save for Last Exile, which I'm exceptionally fond of, despite the confusing ending. (When you finish it, immediately go to the wikipedia page.) Mullin is a doll, and I like what they do with him. The second half of my OTP doesn't show up until the second half of the series though, and sadly, his (quite devoted) love shall be unrequited until/unless someone gets over angstboy. (Though I'm fond of angstboy himself, he's just no good for her for various spoilery reasons, and he knows it.)

The first might be Hayate the Combat Butler (Was he thinking he would kidnap her, and she thought he was declaring his love? If not, then I'm completely wrong.) but I don't know.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I am so intruiged. I have the feeling I might crack and watch Last Exile without waiting a week for each new episode.

And I don't think it was Hayate the Combat Butler.

[pikabot]

Angstboy's not good for anyone. He basically exudes an aura of emotional toxicity. Get close to him at all, and you get hurt. Only the mechanics seem to be immune to this effect.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Well, the angst bounces off Vincent. Vincent is immune to angst. it's part of why I love him. That and the coffee. And his devotion to his queen.

Angstboy, at least, seems to realize how bad he is for others, which is more than a lot of his type can say. (Of course, the funny thing about it is that she really shouldn't remove her supervision, no matter how bad for her he is...look what he gets up to when she isn't around...)

[pikabot]

Oh, that's true too. (Don't forget his apparent clock fetish)

Yeah. I mean, I love Angstboy (hell, I play him over at theskytides), but...he's bad for people and he knows it.

I sort of want to shove Kishimoto at the series and say 'This! THis is how you write and angst-ridden revenge-obsessed character who is ruinous to everyone around them without sucking!'

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The fact that he's bad for people and tries to put them first is what saves him.

Kishimoto and a lot of others could learn from Angstboy.

[yumi-maki.livejournal.com]

TTGL? What's that?

Oh you watched Gunslinger Girl too? I only saw volume 2 but I love it already. And you know when I was in the States, I saw Vols. 1-3 on sale (very reasonable!) and I didn't buy them! Oh, I really regret that now.

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I've read a couple volumes of the manga. It's not my favorite series ever, but I use it to describe my apparent older male/ much younger female kink.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The things I've seen you mention it to in relation alo (like GG itself) have amazng girl!angst that laughs in the piddly normal man!angst.

(I haven't read the GG manga because when I first noticed it, it was at that time when various titles-including it-were having the plug pulled on then by their original licensing company, but I have seen and liked the anime.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I've seen one of two episodes of the manga, and while it was very pretty, it was slow. I think I enjoyed the manga more because it was a faster read, and didn't feel as static.

Do you know if it's online anywhere?

And yeah, I like the girl!angst that totally > the man!angst. Not only is it way more awesome, but it's prettier. (Speaking of, I'm reading claymore, and I just watched Claire kill her only friend in the world.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

MUWAHAHAHA! Yeah, that chapter is the one that makes us all go "ooooooooooo......." Just wait. By about vol 5-6, your criteria for impressive angst will be much stricter. And then you'll get to Pieta. As far as GG anime goes...uhm...no idea, actually.

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

I plan on bringing reading for the music and microbe ones. The microbes and the two boys may be cute, but the rest is No, Just No.

The girl in 20 Faces reminds me in looks of Haruhi from Ouran, but not so much in personality. I like that the first episode starts with her successfully deducting an attempt at murder.

We're both totally going to wind up fangirling Last Exile massively, aren't we?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Same. It just doesn't grab me.

The girl in 20 Faces reminds me in looks of Haruhi from Ouran, but not so much in personality. I like that the first episode starts with her successfully deducting an attempt at murder.

Word. And I really, really liked the reveal that what appeared to be a petulant, spoiled brat attitude was really her saving her own life. You kind a rock, girl.

We're both totally going to wind up fangirling Last Exile massively, aren't we?

I think we are, yes.

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

It's not so much not grabbing me, as seriously grossing me out.

Yeah! That was awesome. I though the Uncle Figure being violent was gonna explain the withdrawn-ness, but no, she's not eating because it's fucking poisoned. That's awesome.
I hope she keeps deducting things. And that the younger man in the car doesn't annoy me, because if he doesn't I may like him.

Wheeeeeeeee airships!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I heard it's a caper anime, so hopefully there will be more of her being clever, which I approve of greatly!

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweet.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

I haven't finished either one, yet, but I really like Daughter of Twenty Faces and Last Exile. Oh, thank you so much for seeing the first episode of Twenty Faces! Now I can gush over it with somebody! Of course, I'm only to episode 5 thus far.


The microbe one wasn't Mushi-shi, was it? Because that's something I'm actually interested in, especially after a fantastic clip I saw.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that plot outline sounds kind of like Mushi-shi, but the crowd reaction seems really off unless this group was full of kids who were so drunk they'd laugh at anything. I've seen the first half-dozen episodes or so of that and loved it; it's kind of slow-paced and lyrical and just gorgeous visually, and often more than a little eerie or disturbing. There may be the odd funny scene here or there, but it's definitely not a laugh-a-minute hysterical comedy riot. This site (http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/mushishi/index.html) has a pretty good rundown of the episodes, non-spoilery if you don't click the "read the rest" links and with lots of preview images.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you! Hulu, the free legal streaming site that FOX created, has the first half of Mushi-shi up right now, so I've been considering trying it out there, since it recently got recommended to me. I was confused by the reaction, too, if it was Mushi-shi, but I just figured that you never really know with college anime clubs.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, do give Mushishi a peek if you can, it's absolutely lovely. (I still haven't read the manga yet, tho' I have a few volumes sitting around waiting for me to get around to 'em; but the anime's just gorgeous, it's almost got a bit of a Miyazaki feel in the lushness of the natural world.)

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

I went and saw episode one yesterday. That's..that's magnificent. And my friend says it gets even better, so I'm definitely watching this. Thanks!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Was the title actually Daughter of 20 Faces? Cool. And no, I don't think the anime was Mushi-shi, because I remember someone else talking about how they both came out around the same time.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the title. The Japanese title is Nijū Mensō no Musume. I love how it has a little girl as a main character and never gets into moe or loli, and how un-fanserviced it is, and how it's like one big caper film, but cooler, and the art is awesome, and the plotting is awesome, the the villain is basically Sabretooth with Wolverine's claws, and the only thing I really dislike is that they skip over huge chunks of time at a time, but that's not such a bad thing.

Mushi-shi sounds very good. Hulu has the first half of it.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

the the villain is basically Sabretooth with Wolverine's claws

That is exactly what most of the club was yelling when he was introduced.

[terenewen.livejournal.com]

Oh, good, I'm glad you'll get another chance to watch Gurren Lagann. I just finished it recently and it seriously blew my mind...I was actually gonna make a post begging you to give it another try since there were so many awesome!girl moments. XD

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That is awesome to hear!