EVA Unit 100

I haven't seen FMA, but I will definately catch it's airing on ASA. The American VAs seem good, possibly Furuba-good, and the preview (on the FUNi section of AS.com) makes the series sound great. Plus it seems to be #1 on the Japanese Newtype surveys month after month, so it must be doing something right. I REALLY want to see it.

[quote name='pbfrontmanvdp]Hopefully Gundam Seed Destiny will also be a great series since I heard [spoiler] every character from Seed is in Destiny including Kira and Lucas [/spoiler'].[/quote] Although I haven't seen the 2nd half of SEED, I hear some characters die in SEED.

The ideal anime...: 1. Has multi-dimensional characters that you can either love (if they're a protagonist) or love-to-hate (if they're an antagonist) 2. Has an original plot, or an original angle on pre-existing plot 3. Has stylistic, detailed artwork 4. Can carry both comedy and drama equally well 5. Keeps you excited and wanting to see more 6. Doesn't become too repetitive and has a proper ending Cowboy Bebop fits all of the criteria.

[quote name='pbfrontmanvdp']Ummm even though i didn't think Wolf's Rain was the "best" anime out there it was still pretty good. Plus from what your tellin me you still havent even seen all the episodes since theres 30 in total. Even thought there are around 4 filler episodes in a row, they anime is still pretty good plot wise and with the final episode being shown today maybe it will end in a great way.[/quote] Episodes 27-30 were the OAV.

I dislike Wolf's Rain for the following collection reasons: 1. Although the plot had lots of potential, the series doesn't go anywhere. No progress is made towards any goals any goals and the characters hardly develop at all. This is particulary unforgiving in a 26 episode series with a pretty straightforward plot, since the 26-ep trend pretty much started because longer series didn't seem make much plot progress until around the very end. 2. I just couldn't care for the characters. With other series of higher quality, you get to know about the characters backgrounds and see them change and grow and thus you can sympathize with them. This doesn't happen with the cast of WR, and in result they come off as flat and unlikable. 3. The pacing. Some series like Gundam or .HACK// have uneven pacing but that's OK because you can get some plot or character development or something to think about or keep you entertained during the slow moments and it all pays off in the end. WR has no real substance and without real substance, the slow momments are dull instead of deep and there is no payoff. 4. A terrible ending. I've faced terrible endings in the past, heck, I loved Evangelion and Samurai Jack (two shows with bad endings), but without a strong build-up and the fact that not even the OAV concludes it, WR's bad ending just adds to the list of problems. It's a shame such beautiful potential, music, and animation get wasted on such a dull series.

Gundam SEED is my favorite. It seems that the UC series and Wing put the most emphasis on plot, and G put the most emphasis on action. SEED, however, put the most emphasis on the characters. I'm not saying other Gundam series haven't had cool characters (heck, Char is one of the coolest anime characters period), but SEED's characters were so human, so relatable, so real that they really helped the plot be at it's best. And the plot was already decent in the first place. SD is terrible. The comedy isn't funny and the action isn't exciting.

I don't consider a typical person who watches anime only on [as] or some other source to be a poser. Just like I wouldn't consider the average guy who plays baseball and doesn't play basketball, soccer, or football a "poser". But I wouldn't consider them a fanboy/fangirl either. Here is my personal dictionary of terms to use for different anime fans: [U]Casual Fan[/U]: Someone who watches two or three animes (probably Sailor Moon or Dragonball or Bebop or Akira or something along those lines), likes them, and then just walks on with appreciation [U]Poser[/U]: Someone who might watch two or three animes and then suddenly thinks they know everything about anime when all they do is rant and rave and go crazy about the few animes they have seen and spurt out facts about ones they haven't [U]Junior Fanboy/Fangirl[/U]: Someone who has seen a few animes and wants to see more, and actually watches new things as opposed to posers [U]Closet Fanboy/Fangirl[/U]: Someone who loves anime but just won't admit it in public [U]Fanboy/Fangirl[/U]: Someone highly obsessed with anime, and goes to all the cons, collects things, has heated internet debates, and watches a lot of anime, and still somehow has a life to varying degrees and wants to get others interested in their obsession (this would likely be where I fit) [U]Otaku[/U]: Has a lot, if not more, of the obsessive fanboy behavior, but refuses to do anything beyond their anime obsession and often just wants non-fans (or fans of lower degrees of fanhood) to go away rather than to convert them [U]Afficianato[/U]: Someone who knows a lot about and watches and critically reviews a lot of anime, but lacks the obsessive behavior of fanboys and otakus

I have to say that anime shouldn't be banned. First of all, anime ranges on a huge scale of content. You have the Totoros and Card Captor Sakuras at one end, the Lupins and Inu-Yashas somewhere in the middle, and the Beserks and GANTZes at the opposite end. If banning all anime means banning all things of the same content, than pretty much every form of entertainment would be banned if this was an equal world. But it isn't an equal world. Funny enough, people seem to ban anime because of excessive FANTASY violence. Series showing real violence like crime shows and stuff on the news not only is not being banned, but parents encourage their kids to watch the stuff. Gundam is violent, but a kid can't go out to buy a giant robot and destroy an entire town. However, the mass murderer all over the news is real and can be imitated. But the newscasters are against murder, so that makes it acceptable. Oh, wait, Amuro hates the entire concept of violence and war. The logic of why the news is good for kids and anime isn't backfires into why anime IS good for kids. Go figure. You know, several professional psychologists wrote a book titled "Fighting Monsters: Why Fantasy Violence in Movies, Video Games, and Cartoons is Good for Children." The book suggests that showing the consequences of violence teaches kids that use of violence is a dangerous thing, and that how action cartoons show that the feelings of agression can be used for good things instead of being used for bad.

Of things I've seen, Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. I've seen the preview for GitS:SaC and the animation looks beautiful, but I'm waiting for the AS run until I watch the actual show.

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news: As of October 23rd, Rouroni Kenshin will return to Toonami. The bad news: As of October 22nd/23rd, Gundam SEED is being given the death pennalty by having the premieres moved to 1 AM on Friday late nights/Saturday early, early, early mornings. Funny enough, the only two ways I can easily see SEED returning to the Saturday primetime slot would be either: A) Kenshin bombing worse than SEED, or B) Kenshin succeeding beyond DBGT. If Kenshin fails, SEED can take its spot. If Kenshin does greater than GT, then GT could be moved down to make room for Kenshin at 10 and SEED at 10.5. Because if Kenshin does good but not as good as DBGT (their top show) then SEED is stuck where it is and is easily dead in CN's eyes. And I'm scared SEED will die. If this was reruns instead of premieres I'd be fine but with premieres in the death slot I'm more pessimistic. However, they can change the schedule to make SEED be reruns I'd be fine (perhaps they could pull a Wing and have editted episodes air earlier and the uncut versions late at night, that would be cool). I wouldn't be surprised if they were making room for SD Gundam on Miguzi and then once it gets switched in for a new show then SEED will return to Toonami. Plus if .HACK// or 009 got a Saturday night run it could help SEED's cause. Or maybe if the timeslot became a packaged block (a new Midnight Run perhaps?) and advertised for then it would at least be tollerable late at night. New Years would be a good time to launch the new block. Me wonders if SEED fails Bandai will pitch SEED 2 to CN without the "SEED 2" part of the title and labels it "Gundam Destiny" or something.

Hayao Miyazaki. IS THIS EVEN A QUESTION!?! No matter how ridiculous Rumiko Takahashi can get, no matter how depressing Hidaki Anno is, no matter how much brilliance Shinichiro Wattanabe can put into his work, Miyazaki, with his beautiful artwork and master storytelling that can handle everything from the cute (Totoro, Kiki) to the funny (Lupin, Porco) to the adventurous (Laputa, Spirited Away) to the epic (Nausicaa, Mononoke) and always turn out great, just can't be beat!

[quote name='iggypopD']The only beef I had with "Cowboy Bebop" waws there were too many filler episodes. There were only 7 or 8 episodes actually about the story. There are too many animes like that. I'm not saying that all epsiodes should be about the main plot, just too many leaves a thin plot. That's the problem I had with "Hellsing", almost every episode towards the end were semi-story. Then, most story episodes were mainly dialouge, and that did bore me a bit. But, all in all, they're both well worth watching ;)[/quote] Well, it was meant to be an episodic series. They gave it a connecting plot as a way to carry along the viewer and be able to show a proper ending, but overall it was meant to be stand-alone stories. If you have that beef about CB, you could have that beef with Futurama. And I don't see anyone complaining about Futurama.

[quote name='Sword Breaker']Well, as far as anime go, i dont think that Yu-Gi-Oh! is that bad. And CCS is really good. You jsut dont apreciate the subtltys. The art was fantastic, the storyline better then some i could name, and besides, it was just kool. Plus the new Manga out, the followup of CCS, Tsukasa (Or somthing like that) really owns deep. Especially since it crosses over with xxxHolic which is the best manga in my opinion.[/quote] CCS is a quality manga (if a bit overrated), no doubt about that (and I want to read the sequel, which is officially called Tsubasa: Resivior Chronicle, by the way). Most people must be refering to the Nelvana massacre that was "CardCaptors". Multiple episodes were skipped. Li was changed to the main character and given a dumb "boyz rool, girlz drool, I must collect the CardsTM!" personality, while Sakura was turned into a Brittney Spears clone. Several characters were completely elliminated. Tons of edits were made to an already G-rated anime (unless you declare constant scenes of sick characters and minor shoujo-ai undertones to really be THAT bad (which they aren't at all)). One time 4 episodes were crumbled together into an 18-minute "mini-episode". Just another reason for me to think Kids' WB killed itself after the death of Animaniacs. But sorry, Yu-Gi-Oh IS that bad. I haven't seen the original version, but lack the motivation, and even what I've read in the faithfully-translated manga wasn't that good. First of all, the concept goes into two deep pits. First of all, the 2nd series at least was just a way to sell a card game, which is a bad point of the show. I know the 1st series existed before the real cards (I actually semi-WANT to see the original Toei series) were made, but the only reason they made new episodes of a show that already bombed was to sell the cards. Even if you get rid of the fact YGO is made to sell cards, the plot is still a rather cliche gaming anime. And then they have to force in MORALS!?!@#$@*@)@(!#(*_&%*?! I swear that they yell out "HEART OF THE CARDS! I MUST BELIEVE IN MY FRIENDS!" every other ****ing line! Other shonens often have messages about friendship, but they put it in logical places and never try too hard to shove it down your throat! When they aren't saying that junk, it's always announcing their moves (which don't even follow all of the games rules) without even fighting! Those monsters just stand still and then disappear when they are defeated! [SARCASM]How exciting.[/SARCASM] I can't think of a single pro about YGO (the 2nd series editted at least), and I usually can say 1 good thing about something.

[quote name='Inuyasha7271']I also miss my Toonami not that Meguzi thing or whatever but the old school toonami[/quote] You can still watch Toonami on Saturday nights from 7.0-11.0 PM. This Saturday they'll be airing the final 4 episodes of Samurai Jack alongside Clone Wars, though this is an event thing, and normally the schedule consists of Duel Masters, Rave Master, Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, MEGAS XLR, Yuyu Hakusho, Dragonball GT, and Gundam SEED. Eventually they'll be bringing back Rouroni Kenshin and add the new show Flame of Recca. Right afterwards there's an Adult Swim Saturday block including The Venture Brothers, Futurama, Inu-Yasha, Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun. In October they'll show a few movies and then in November Inu-Yasha premieres and Wolf's Rain will be replaced by the new show Full Metal Alchemist and the Ghost in the Shell series.

I guess it's fair to say that Gundam SEED is overrated by mainstream Japan and the Newtype writers (they put it on the cover EVERY SINGLE ISSUE, for godsake!). However, within fancircles, I could say it's somewhat underrated. DBZ/Inu-Yasha fans tend to dislike it for uneven pacing (which is one of the shows' faults that I can agree on) and the lack of action in the slower parts (which can be annoying sometimes, but I find acceptable when they use the time for character development). Wing fans tend to hate it for having a much lower level of angst and bishounen-iness than ther favorite show (too much angst and bishounen at expense of development and interest was actually a major gripe I had about Wing, and I like how SEED has created 3D leads (and 2D supporters that are at least fairly interesting) despite the minimal required level of angst and bisuhonen). Hardcore otaku tend to hate it for the fact it uses lots of elements from 0079 (I am not upset by this; I like to think of SEED as a quality remake of 0079 only changed for character quirks, more modern animation, and clearer view of the future, and that was what it was made to be and did a fine job at it). Only a few people in the fancircles tend to look at it for what it is: a quality remake of 0079 only changed for character quirks, more modern animation, and clearer view of the future only truely faulted by post-Wing/EVA sensibilities (which are gotten past) and uneven pacing.

[quote name='Morias Skult']Looney Toons[/quote] In case you didn't know, the Looney Tunes WERE made for adults! Try telling your parents that! In fact, next to anime, the classic Looney Tunes suffered the most from the "cartoons are for kids" mentallity (which was started by H-B's Saturday morning-exclusive output). For one thing, the Pattie-DeFrelang shorts (which were made with a kids' TV audience in mind) seriously toned down the violence and got rid of the self-knowingness and cerebral humor of the imput put out from 1936 to 1963 from the Termite Terrace studio. For another thing, nearly every TV compilation of the classic Looney Tunes after the primetime version of The Bugs Bunny Show up until CN's Toonheads 1-hour late-night specials had to edit down the Looney Tunes for violence, stereotypes, and current events humor. During the uber-PC era in the '70s and early '80s, they got extremely butchered. And nearly every made-for-TV spin-off (sans Tiny Toons and the Speilberg output) was made VERY differently than the originals.

My parents aren't oblivious to the violence, language, and nudity in anime. However, their censorship of anime is really loose and open. Usually if something was WAY too violent for me to handle I'd probably not want to watch the show becuase it would likely scare the crap out of me. Language they are fine with, as long as I don't copy it too often. Nudity is no problem with them as long as it's partless and nonsexual. Anything sexual that I don't know they'd explain and anything really intense they wouldn't let me watch (although they sometimes keep it to themselves ;) ).

[quote name='*GaLxY-GiRl*']Oh, and sheesh... My Neighbour Totoro is one of Miyazaki's first productions and a classic in Japan. Most people wouldn't talk dirt about, say, Disney's Bambi because it was revolutionary for its time and has a place in most's hearts. I don't know what grounds you're basing your logic on, aside from personal opinion, but don't be so harsh! :/[/quote] Don't get me wrong. I loved Totoro. It's a great movie, and I didn't mean to insult it. However, all of the other Miyazaki movies I've seen have blown me away in some form or another, be it the comedy of Cagliostro, the adventure of Laputa, the heartwarmingness of Kiki, the epic grandeur of Mononoke, or the fantasy and horror of Spirited Away. I highly respect Totoro. It was a movie that broke ground for its time and was a cute and fun viewing. However, it wasn't able to blow me away like the other Miyazaki movies I've seen did, so great just wasn't great enough for this Miyazaki viewing of mine.

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]Um... Gundam Wing started airing several months [I]before[/I] Neon Genesis Evangelion. I don't think Witch Hunter Robin "tricked" me into anything (I'd also like to defend Wolf's Rain and Gungrave, but haven't seen enough of either series to engage in a serious discussion of their faults). It's not fast-paced, but the plot is fairly substantial and the middle set of episodes was--at least for me--suspenseful, dramatic and captivating. I don't really understand where you're coming from when you accuse these shows of being overly slow; in terms of pacing, they aren't markedly different from other series with similar thematic material and the same approximate length. Actually, now I'm kind of bewildered that you like .hack//SIGN and Gundam Wing, which have their merits but can hardly be described as fast. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] Oops, I got a bit confused with the fact nearly every mecha series after EVA went crazy trying to create the next Shinji Ikari. I actually thought the middle episodes of WHR were OK, but the beginning episodes and the episodes towards the end provide most of my problems with the series. As I said in my last post, I don't hate slow shows, just slow shows with minimal substance. And despite creating a very deep feel, WHR actually is a rather thin story until the last few episodes, and the endings in anime are almost always more plot-heavy than the rest of the series (the ones that have endings, that is). Basically the complete opposite of FLCL, a show that feels crazy and fun but really has some really deep thought-provoking material. Had it been a deep-looking show with a deeper plot I would be hailing it, but a deep-looking show with a thin plot that barely expands isn't that great. But at least WHR gets points for making me want to watch to see if more stuff happens next time, which WR couldn't even do for me. .HACK//sign and Gundam Wing are both slower series. However, I enjoy them because while they move slowly, the have more layers to their plot than WHR, WR, and Gungrave. .HACK//sign has smaller plots concerning different characters that link together in a bigger story and is a show that can be rewatched to pick up the subtler psychological details. Gundam Wing provides some interesting material concerning different perspectives of terrorism and patriotism and is able to fit in much more plot than WR, WHR, and Gungrave.

[quote name='iggypopD']That is an ignorant statement. "Wolf's Rain" is a great series; it's very deep, original, and has a great pace. The writers don't push you into a "trap", thats the overall mood of WR. But, I guess serious shows aren't your type, which is sad. Most serious show are great, like WR or WHR.[/quote] I like lots of serious shows. Cowboy Bebop is a great series. Evangelion is a great series. The Big O is a great series. .HACK//sign is a great series. I like tons of serious series. However, I don't like WR and WHR. WR, at first glance, is a very good show. It has a great concept, the artwork is beautiful, and it has an amazing score. However, beyond that, there are several problems. First of all, there's the characters. None of the wolves are interesting when we first meet them, and we barely find out anything interesting about them as the series progresses. The human characters are actually more interesting than the leads, and that's a shame since they are shoved into the background after the first few episodes. Had the show been through there perspective, it would have been more interesting. Yes, the character interactions feel just right, but don't add anything much, and the characters themselves so shallow they make the cast of Gundam Wing seem like a fully-formed formed cast. I'm fine with slow-moving shows, I think that a mellow pace can allow for some development or fine thought-provoking moments. Take away those things away from the slow pace and the show changes from deep to boring. However, sometimes the slow pace of shows like WR can make the viewer think they're watching a deep show when they really aren't. Wolf's Rain lacks Evangelion's psychology and free-interpretation, Lain's heavy sci-fi, Kino's Journey's philisophical statements, Gasaraki's commentary on war, .HACK//sign's look at human interaction, The Big O's political and religious thoughts, Ghost in the Shell's look at the wonders and horrors of the future, or anything really thought-provoking or deep. Heck, even FLCL has more meatty material and got it done in a more entertaining way than WR. So without the meat and potatoes, WR's slow pace doesn't have much use other than spreading the story out for 26 episodes. And with the way the managed the plot, cut out the recap episodes (there were 4 of them, for Pete's sake!) and the bits that lead nowhere and you have a series of 13 episodes of less. Well, if they wanted to make it 26 episodes, perhaps they could've added in the meat and potatoes to make the slower eps more interesting, and perhaps given it a better ending that actually concluded the series and answered all the questions they could within a few half-hours (of course, they'd have to do something to make you ask the questions earlier). Story and characters are everything, and WR lacked that. It had great potential, and the technical non-storytelling aspects were amazing. However, without deep thought to make the story better or characters who were interesting and developed a bit, we get an empty shell of a series. With WHR, the main problem I had with that was that it went nowhere for a long time, and then at the end going everywhere to the point it's hard to keep up. Trigun had a similar problem, but it ultimately was a more fun and exciting series with more memorable characters that was able to give the viewers enjoyment when it went nowhere and motivation to follow when it went everywhere. WHR also has WR's problem to a slightly lesser extent of using a slow pace and moody look to get the viewers to think it's deep but still lacks a certain depth it could have used. I dislike WHR, but I dislike WR more.

The most overrated anime series of all time has to be DB/Z/GT. DB was actually pretty good with some fun battles and humor but was still overhyped. DBZ was more repetitive and dragged out than DB and oddly enough it was even more overhyped. DBGT wasn't even needed, and lacked any redeeming qualities it's predicessors had and yet it was still popular. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh certainly don't deserve the popularity they get but since nearly everyone over the age of 8 hates those shows I'd say they aren't as overrated as the Dragonball series. Wolf's Rain, Witch Hunter Robin, and Gungrave all fall into the terrible trap of being slow and moody to trick the viewer into thinking the shows are good and dramatic when they barely move anywhere and lack any development or meaning to make the slow ride worthwhile. Gundam Wing is actually good but it has several weaknesses that come from trying to use extreme angst at expense of character development (yet another case of trying to imitate EVA without following what made EVA good). Inu-Yasha (and nearly everything else by Rumiko Takahashi) is also a decent show but it does get repetitive later on and 90% of its fans go way too crazy for it. And, although you are all going to kill me for saying this, Totoro just didn't blow me away the way all of the other Miyazaki films I've seen have.

[quote name='AnimeDesire'] c like my dad knows i watch a show called inuyasha but he doesn't know wot it's about :eek: shhhh! don't tell.....[/quote] My mom and dad both love Inu-Yasha and think it's one of the nicer animes they let me and my sister watch and we own the movie on DVD and watch new episodes every Saturday.

Although I can't think of many truely non-episodic American cartoons, I can think of tons that have episodes that can stand alone, but are strongly linked by a long story arc. Here are some (not counting the ones others have said): Justice League S2/S3 Teen Titans (although that's broken up into story arcs every season/2 seasons) Spawn: TAS Invasion America Futurama (yes, it's a comedy, but it is linked together by longer plotlines i.e. the war against the Brain Scum, Leela's parents, Fry and Leela's growing romance) Samurai Jack (although that's more of a going-in-circles Rumiko-type cartoon) MEGAS XLR (although it's long-lasting plot is about as loose as loose can get without untying)

I'm 90% sure Sony has Naruto. The remaining 10% says FUNi has it. Either way, I hope Naruto goes to CN. As for what CN block should air it, I'd have to say Toonami. It just doesn't belong on AS. Yuyu Hakusho didn't belong on AS, and I'm glad it moved to Toonami (although the edits bug me a bit). Inu-Yasha doesn't belong on AS, but it's stuck there. Detective Conan didn't belong on AS, but couldn't air elsewhere unless the BS&P evolved brains and CN put it on in the hour before AS. Full Metal Alchemist is stuck on AS, but I guess it could stay there given the censors and the fact that it's possibly the most violent shonen anime that could reasonably be called a shonen anime. AS has aired more fitting anime in the past such as Bebop, FLCL, The Big O, and Trigun, and they will be airing anime that fits the block well in the form of GitS:SaC, Milk Chan (which fits the comedy portion of AS, although not the action portion), and hopefully Champloo, but one more huge mistargeted show such as Naruto would hurt AS. However, Naruto will help Toonami. Assuming it's reruns will run on weekdays as well as Saturdays, Dragonball GT will be finished by Spring, and Toonami definately needs "The Next DBZ" more than ever and if Naruto isn't that then I don't know what is. Naruto wouldn't be out of place, since Toonami is one of the only American programming blocks targeted at 9-16 year old boys, which is exactly who Naruto aims for. Now that Toonami is in primetime and several episodes of Gundam SEED and Justice League have been said to be TV-PG, several Naruto episodes could air at TV-PG. Plus, unlike some shows, it could be editted. Kenshin in its original form was more violent, and it got reasonably editted to TV-Y7FV and even then it still contained some blood and death and profanity and stuff. If Naruto aired at TV-PG at 10.0 at night, it could air nearly uncut.

[quote name='Kid Anime']The only other thing I don't like is the one episode where Megas XLR makes fun of Halo. Halo is a highly respectable video game, easily outdoing any giant robot show (except the Gundam series).[/quote] Please people! Have a sense of humor! Parody is simply a way of getting humor off an existing source, and is not always insulting. I mean, if it was saying "LOL Halo sucks" then it would be an insult to the game, but the episode wasn't doing that. It was just intentionally copying the events of the game with a sense of humor. I know that George Krstic and Jody Schaeffer, the creators of MEGAS XLR, are huge fans of Halo and did the Halo spoof as a tribute, not as an insult. Also, since they know the game so well, it gave them an easy time making jokes related to Halo. The show has also spoofed Cowboy Bebop, Gundam, Godzilla, The Big O, Transformers, G-Force, FLCL, Clerks, Celeberity Deathmatch, Downtown, The Matrix, Star Wars, and mutiple other things. The creators like those things, they know about them, and they spoof them. Simple enough.