Anime+ Podcast Episode #014 (53:29)
Reviews:
- Kaiba
- Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
Anime+ Podcast Episode #012 (12:05)
Site Discussion:
MyAnimeList Club:
News:
- Nyoro~n Churuya-San: http://wiki.sos-dan.com/wiki/Nyoro~n
- Kadokawa Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/KADOKAWAanime
- Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari Trailer
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Anime+ Podcast Episode #011 (18:34)
Reviews:
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
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Anime+ Podcast Episode #010 (35:17)
Introduction:
- Eric’s Upcoming Editorial
- Gundam 00, Macross Frontier Seasons
Reviews:
- Clannad
- Byousoku 5cm
Outlook: Itazura na Kiss
A brief preview of a recently released, ongoing and unlicensed anime available through bittorrent.
Itazura na Kiss
Usually when I write Outlook previews I am trying to let you know about an anime you may want to watch. Itazura na Kiss is different. Let’s just say I am trying to protect you from an anime you shouldn’t be watching. First, however, what is Itazura na Kiss… besides total crap? The main protagonist is a girl named Kotoko Aihara, a high school student, who has been in love with Naoki Irie, a genius at the top of the class, since she first saw him. She finally summons up the courage and presents Irie with a confession letter which he promptly rejects. Then, after a series of unfortunate events, she somehow arrives at Irie’s house to live with him after her house gets destroyed in an earthquake. Itazura na Kiss is based on an extremely popular manga written by Kaoru Tada. The manga was adapted into two TV live action dramas, however, the author died in a tragic accident leaving the manga unfinished. The manga is still serialized without Tada with permission from her husband.
The Truth The animation is horrible. Let’s rewind to the early 90’s and use their animation shall we? Let’s say it’s Sailor Moon (Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn) except without the flashy transformations. In a time of the extravagant settings of Hayao Miyazaki, the spectacular battle sequences of Seirei no Moribito, to the wondrous landscapes of Makoto Shinkai it’s hard to imagine animes like this exist. It’s not funny at all. I didn’t laugh, chuckle… hell, I didn’t even smile while I watched the entire thing. The voice acting is atrocious. I’ve never heard such plain, uninspired voice acting since coming across Itazura na Kiss. I can’t help but wonder if the seiyus were so bored with the dialog they weren’t compelled either that or they just suck along with the anime.
Redeeming Factor There is one redeeming factor. All the stuff I listed above is bad, yeah, but the anime is based off the manga. Not all the plot could be lost right? Naoki Irie is a total jerk. He’s just a plain jerk. It’s really quite interesting to see a romance anime where one of the partners isn’t your total make-the-right-decisions-robot. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to like Irie, but I sure did since there was nothing else I liked in the anime. It was glorious watching Kotoko get shutdown over and over again.
Bottomline This anime is really bad. It rivals the hideously awful Fighting Beauty Wulong. There are so many better romance/drama animes out there you could be watching instead of hoping that Itazura na Kiss picks up. If you really want it you’re better off reading the manga or even watching the live action TV adaptations.
Where can you get it? Wait… you really want it? Even after all that? Here it is… have fun… Bakawolf & m.3.3.w
Anime+ Podcast Episode #009 (22:13)
Introduction:
Batman: Gotham Knight is an animated direct-to-DVD anthology film of six animated short films. Like the Animatrix, the films are written by American writers and animated by Japanese animation studios.
Preview:
- Batman: Gotham Knight
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Links:
Seeking contributors!
Hey guys, Alex here. As you might have heard on the 8th podcast we are looking for a feature writer to cover manga for us. What does the job entail? The only thing we can promise is if we have tons of spare money lying around we’ll split it among us, though, don’t bet on it. This can be a good opportunity for you to be able to actively work and publish your work online to add to your portfolio.
- You must be able to produce a feature article at least once per week (though you are expected to do more than that)
- Have and be proficient with Photoshop (particularly working with screencaps)
- Have extensive knowledge of manga and be up to date with recently released manga
- Be able to communicate through e-mail, AIM and Skype
- Be able to write in perfect English with a good vocabulary and a journalistic tone (big plus is knowledge of AP Stylebook)
Additionally, if you want to cover just anime we may have a position open for you. If you are interested please send us an e-mail at animepodcast@gmail.com or head on over to the contact page.
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Outlook: Bus Gamer
A brief preview of a recently released, ongoing and unlicensed anime available through bittorrent.
Bus Gamer
When I first approached Bus Gamer I thought it was maybe something along the lines of Lucky Star, maybe an otaku that played games on the bus? I was quite wrong. Bus Gamer is an anime about with an original idea. Corporations put trade secrets on a minidisc (I suppose regular CDs or DVDs are too fragile) and have two teams of three fight over the disc. One team starts with the disc and must keep it safe while the other must take the disc within the time limit. Meanwhile the corporation bosses watch comfortably from a distance. The team that wins gains a large sum of money which exponentially increases with each win. The premise, in itself, is quite interesting. Curiously the anime lays in an odd place. Even though the manga was quite popular it was released only in one volume due to serialization issues. It is expected that the writer, Kazuya Minekura, will finish the manga, however, it is not known exactly when. The anime, thus, has only 3 episodes.
Animation The animation is “shōnen” so you ladies out there who like animes like X and other CLAMP related animes may enjoy watching the pretty boy protagonists running around searching for discs. Also there is quite a bit of action as the disc serves as just a mechanism to initiate the inevitable street brawl between the two parties. Though, the animation is not particularly good and the animation studio working on it, Izena, is quite unknown. They worked on Tactics and Law of Ueki but only as helping hands and not with animation. The animation does, however, serve its purpose.
Why pick this up? The place where Bus Gamer really shines is its characters. The three members of the team, called AAA for anonymous, are made up of Mishiba Toki (the reticent cool guy), Nakajyo Nobuto (the badass), and Saitoh Kazuo (the lighthearded nice dude). The uniting factor between these three that really don’t share too much in common is the need for money, a large sum of money. This driving factor serves to bind the team, but not only that, to advance the plot. The question posed at the beginning of the anime is “Why do each of them need so much money?” This serves as a clever plot device and will encourage you to find out the answer to this question as each member struggles to protect his secret. Furthermore, the companies too seem to have their own secrets. I suspect that the characters are mired in a network shrouded by mystery.
Bottomline This is a shōnen anime that is character driven. If you watch the first episode and find yourself curious about each of the characters, or in some cases attached to them, this is probably for you. The animation isn’t so great and the plot has yet to prove itself, though the premise may engage you. Oh yeah, the intro song is horrible.
Where can you get it? Shinsen Subs
Anime Outlook
We’re going to take a quick look at a few unlicensed anime available right now through bittorrent.
Spice and Wolf
Spice and Wolf (Otami to Koshinryo) is an anime based on a Japanese light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura and
produced by IMAGIN, a smaller studio. It features Craft Lawrence a traveling merchant in what appears to be a historical feudal society. So, that’s the basis. No real big change from any other anime. But, wait, get this. Craft has an unfortunate encounter with Holo, a wolf god who controls the harvest of a small town. Holo is supposed to be an angry looking mean wolf god (think Mononoke Hime) but she transforms herself into a cute human-like figure (Suprise suprise! Avant garde!). Holo ends up tagging along with Craft. Yup, that’s the entire premise. Not especially ground breaking.
Strong point Sure the animation is run of the mill but Spice and Wolf is more about story. Though it seems simplistic now remember, the anime evolved from a light novel so expect the plot to really pick up. The interactions between the down-to-earth Craft and the spicy and spunky Holo are humorous and interesting. Though Craft and Holo don’t break traditional anime archetypes they do provide for an interesting atmosphere given the twist of the plot, Holo is, of course, a wolf goddess. In the end, however, expect a well-written plot.
Why should you pick this up? I’m going to recommend this to people who enjoy feudal society animes. Moreover, if you like animes that focus on relationships between different personalities pick this one up. I know you all are suckers for animes where a relationship between two people slowly evolve over time until they are truly tested.
Where can you get it? BSsubs
They Are My Noble Masters
They Are My Noble Masters (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de) has a rather curious name, but it accurately describes the anime. The anime really does exhibit the fascination of master-servant relationships that some Japanese (well… some people in general) enjoy. The story goes like this, Ren and Mihato Uesegi run away from home due to their abusive father and start looking for a job. By some “wacky” (as it is often put) circumstances they end up at the Shinra (FFVII?) Kounji’s, a 
famous conductor, household. The estate is filled with mostly females of which you can expect your stereotypical Ren to interact with, help, etcetera as male anime characters are ought to do when surrounded by tons of females. Of course, having sex with any of them is out of the question as an idea like that is totally outlandish in Japanese standards. I mean… living in the house with tons of good looking women and trying to hit on them? No way!
Strong point Think of it like a harem anime except the usually dominant female is also dominant in status not just personality. In Japan, it appears, gender roles are likened to be reversed and it’s kind of refreshing to see a male character grovel, though this is not necessarily uncommon (see Keitaro in Love Hina and any other harem anime).
Why should you pick this up? I’m going to recommend this to harem anime lovers everywhere. If you love seeing one guy being mercilessly hammered by multiple females, one of which stands out as the alpha-female and his obvious future partner, get this anime now! In all honesty, it’s one of the better harem animes out there given just how many there are!
Where can you get it? Anime Yoshi
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Starting fresh.
Yes, we’re back. It’s about time. Luis and I have finally been able to work the podcast into our schedules. The podcast never left our minds and we had always been knocking around ideas to bring it back. We have a lot of ideas we hope will come to fruition ahead of us. First and foremost, however, we are looking to get the podcast back to its former glory and even beyond that. I expect to record my next podcast soon and Luis will be recording his first podcast this weekend so there’s a double header coming up.
To be truthful, I was not pleased with the quality of the 7th podcast. It came down to this: either I would have to re-record the podcast and start from scratch or I could just hammer it out and get a podcast released. I chose the latter, we just had to get something out there and I’m glad we did. The next podcasts coming from me will have much, much better quality and I am looking forward to editing them. I really had to just sit down and relearn everything from when I first started casting.
We’re going to be getting new equipment soon so expect the quality of the podcast to really increase. Particularly, we’re getting some condenser microphones. The microphones really put a hole in my pocket and I really can’t even afford a stand, shock mount or pop filter to go with it but, hey, better than what we got now.
Anyways, that’s it for the updates. If you are interested in helping or have any questions, anything at all, drop by our contact page and shoot us off a message.
What would you like to see more on the podcasts?
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Where do you get most of your anime?
Where do you get most of your anime?
- Get it off bittorrent though fansubbing groups. (79%, 30 Votes)
- Buy it on DVD once it comes stateside. (21%, 8 Votes)
Total Voters: 38
Loading ...How do you prefer dialogue on your anime?
How do you prefer dialogue on your anime?
- Subbed. (Japanese seiyuu only please!) (70%, 37 Votes)
- Dubbed. (I don't want to read subtitles!) (30%, 16 Votes)
Total Voters: 53
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Hey everyone.
Hey everyone. Spring break is coming up. You know what that means? PARTYING, GETTING ON THE BEACH AND HAVING FUN. Wohoo! But also, maybe, a podcast or two? I’m expecting to get together with Luis to release a podcast over spring break. Can’t wait! Also, expect to see another RAGED article, once I can figure out how to send fanboys on a mindless rampage once again. Come to think of it, the hate from my previous RAGED articles hasn’t stopped at all. Anyways, Luis and I have been really busy with college but we’re trying to get back into some animes. If you want to talk to me please send me a message at our email address or you can even IM me on my AIM SN IHaveCrayons!
FMA Raged Interesting Comment
The following is an interesting comment I received from someone who read the FMA Raged Article. This is the e-mail I sent in reply, I received no e-mail back.
Dear Ehren,
Thank you for your comments about my RAGED articles. Before I reply to anything about your comments I want to say that I could not publish the comment because of the large amount of profanity you used. If you could please take out the curse words and the like if you are inclined I will publish it. You are entitled to your opinion. For your convenience I have provided the text below:
“First off, watch the raws, everyone knows CArtoon Network eats anime alive. Second, READ THE MANGA IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE ANIME!! For christ’s sake, what is the matter with you that you take one look at something that is in fact an action anime and say there’s nothing in it? What about all the times Ed and Al have to fight to survive? What aobut the fight between Hohenheim and DAnte before she blasts him through the gate? What about the fights with Scar? What about the fights with the homunculi?
And the manga is almost completely seperate from the anime; same characters, different plotline, but similar. And… it’s still going, getting a new greed and the homunculi father/hohenheim look alike is yet to be explained, while Roy and Riza and Ed and Al are caught in a trap by Pride/King Bradley.
If there was no plot, then hardly anyone would watch it, let alone me. FMA forces you to think and think very hard about what’s going on, makes you try to figure out what’s happening for yourself. The anime AND manga do that, the manga even more so.
The characters are blah? No character development? No variation between the charcaters? Roy is a smartass, uber controling, yet incredibly lazy colonel with very slow burning temper. Riza is a calm and collected sharp shooter with more going on with her than we know (She has a very elaborate fire transmution circle tattooed on her back), Ed is a short, pretty young man with cat like eyes and a hair trigger temper, but is otherwise a good guy at heart even when he’s being an evil little bastard, Al is his younger, sweeter and generally calmer brother, caring more about Ed’s welfare than his own, even when he may at any second have a soul to armor rejection and possibly blow up from it. (He is a very adimrable, but both are somewhat stupid at times, because they’re boys.) Winry is a very sweet and loving girl, wanting to improve in her automail work so she can make sure Ed will always be protected by her, since she feels that is the only way she will ever be able to do anything for him. She loves him dearly and Ed does the same toward her. He keeps her from sullying her hands with Scar’s blood (kept her from killing him because she found out he killed her parents) because her hands were meant for letting people live, not for killing.
As for cosplaying the characters, I love seeing how people come up with ways to dress up like the characters; I want to one day go to a convention dressed as Ed because I’m supposed to be almost exactly like him. When I saw my friend’s little sister dressed up as Ed ( and she IS him), I wanted to take as many pictures as possible, though I never was able to get a camera on her. She looked exactly like him, including the hieght. The only thing missing was the automail arm and I’ve seen some really nice automail arms and legs and even Al’s armor in my time as an FMA fan.
If you have a problem trying to find plot in this series, I suggest you try reading things meant for little children, because obviously, you never learned reading comprehension, you shitfaced moron.”
-Ehren
Regarding your first paragraph, I did not watch FMA on Cartoon Network. I do not know how you derived this information but I was not even aware that FMA was shown on CN. If you had seen the other posts and the like you may have noticed the trend of animes I watch, fansubs such as Noein and Fate/Stay Night that are not presently availible in the US. I watched FMA when it was being fansubbed. Also, the article is about the anime not the manga. I’m only talking about the anime, why would I read the manga? I’m not talking about the manga. I had a cordial conversation with someone who read the manga and I am aware that they are very different, but I still have no interest in reading the manga. I’m not a manga reader that is my personal preference.
I would like to make it clear that the article is an editorial not a factual objective review. If you had caught in you may have noticed the sarcastic tone in my writing, in all seriousness what does a random picture of a guy cosplaying Edward have to do with the anime? Nothing.
I didn’t like the characters. That is my opinion, but I am not going to back up on editorial with objectivity. The editorial is meant for entertainment, so again, there is no point. You like the characters, I don’t. That’s all. I do, however, like Winry but I didn’t mention her in the editorial.
I don’t know much about cosplay, I just said that people cosplay it too much.
This all aside, your opinion was somewhat helpful. It would be nice to have a comment where someone disagrees with me so that everyone can see all sides of the editorial, however, you wrote this: “you never learned reading comprehension, you shitfaced moron” Now, I am not sure why you wrote that. I was not aware that a person could be so upset over something so trivial as an opinion over a bunch of animated characters. Are you really upset over the article? If so maybe you should get your priorities straight. There should be no reason to be offended over and editorial about anime. There IS reason to be offended if someone insults you directly in a fashion totally unwarranted. Reading comprehension? I scored a 740/800 on the Reading Comprehension section of the SAT putting me in the top 3 percentile in the nation. But, there should be no reason for me to be telling you that. You do not even know me, yet you insult me over an anime?
Your other comment about fanservice again brings up issues near the end when you had an almost solid argument. You like fanservice, I don’t. Same thing as I said before, I’m ok with that. I am not offended. Then you wrote this…
“you get the picture? Probably not because you’re still bitching like a little girl and not doing anything about the problems you see, or finding out if that is all there is to what you’re seeing. you fail at life, moron.”
I do not get the picture. I don’t understand how I am ‘bitching.’ I don’t like fanservice, so what? Why would I need to do something about the ‘problems’ ? There is no problem. I don’t like fanservice, that’s just my opinion. Do you want me to call up BONES and say, “You shitfaced morons don’t put fanservice in your anime!” Why would I do that? I would just not watch any BONES anime. Furthermore, how do I ‘fail at life’? Do I fail at life because I don’t get off to animated characters’ titties? Do I fail at life because I don’t get a hardon when I see the drawn panties of an imaginary character? If so then I get a F-. Furthermore, what do I need to FIND OUT about fanservice? If you could please enlighten to me about what I’m missing, the deeper meaning of fanservice.
Now, a cordial and polite comment would be as follows. You said “Evangelion is a complete waste of time.” I disagree, this is why:
Evangelion is a heavily introspective and philosophical anime. It requires, to be fully understood, knowledge of Biblical references, mythology, and Freudian psychology. The allusions to the Bible and other Christian elements are extensive as well as the status of ‘man’ in the eyes of the creator of the anime. Evangelion is a very deep anime and in fact, to fully explain many questions present in the anime it took up to 7 pages typed (located at Eva Monkey.) Evangelion requires much though into the interrelationships of characters, the protagonists and antagonists as well as the relative plot devices. These must be connected with the aforementioned resources (Bible, Freud, Mythology) to understand truly Evangelion.
Now am I going to call you a ‘moron’ because I disagree with your opinion on Evangelion? No. I disagreed and I said why, nothing more. I did not make it personal. There is no need to get personal over an anime. But in actuality, all anime is a ‘complete waste of time.’ There is nothing productive in watching anime. Working at a job is productive. Writing an editorial about FMA is not productive. Cleaning the house is productive.
Don’t take anime so seriously. Chill.
Your Anime+ Host,
Alex
College
Yup. We’re at college. If you’re ever at the UT campus check me out! You can find Luis at Baylor. (Update: Luis’ photo added)
Yeah, not even I can believe Texas lost to Ohio. Oh well.
————–
Luis, and stuff. (I’m in the middle)
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Where the hell are we?
Some of you may be asking, “Where the hell are we?” Well, as you may have noticed, we have not been releasing our weekly podcasts. It may be even more correct to ask, “Where the hell is Alex?” because in reality it is me that is gone. And by gone, I mean gone to college and away from Houston. We started the podcast while we were still in high school for our senior year and at that time I received my acceptance to the University of Texas in Austin where I am at presently taking summer courses. There is no possible way for Luis and I to create the podcast on a weekly basis even if I had the necessary time to edit and watch anime. You may have noticed that on our first podcast episode the voice quality was significantly lower than our subsequent podcasts the reason for this being that we attempted to do our podcast on Skype. This was ultimately more convenient but ended up being quite trashy if you ask me since we don’t have the necessary equipment than the guys, say, at Diggnation. The rest of the podcasts were done at our studio in Kingwood, Texas aka my room. It could be possible for us to do the podcast on Skype but it will be bad quality. If it risks the quality of the cast, I will not do it.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast. It was a great experience and for me I was finally able to release my opinions on anime. Some of you may have hated me for some of my RAGED articles (Full Metal Alchemist ring a bell?) but I did receive many, many encouraging emails commenting on the quality of our podcast. I agree, as far as my ego will permit, that the podcast we released was top quality. One of these qualities I particularly enjoyed was the background music which is often frowned upon because it can distract the listener. I played often with the music, picking different ones and searching for what was the best. It also let me put into action many of my favorite songs.
So, you may be asking, what of the future? I will be releasing articles every now and then but the podcast will be on HOLD until the SUMMER OF 2007 when I will be free to work on the podcast.
Thanks everyone.
On a short note, we have more subscribers than we have ever had… ever.
Delays and spring break
So, we recorded the sixth podcast just as we usually did. We were doing some animes, I don’t even remember what they are now. After we recorded it, it came time for me to edit the audio. See, this is the part that is messed up. I didn’t edit the audio. Reason? Well, I started it and was about half-way through it and then spring break started. I said to myself, “Well, I’ll have a lot of time to do the podcast.” And I had LOTS and LOTS of time. Luis went on vacation so the pressure was kind of off. More like, there was no pressure. During spring break, I did absolutely nothing. Seriously. My friend came over one day and we were messing around. He wanted to look at his stupid MySpace so I said go ahead. I had the sixth podcast opened (unfinished mind you) and he closed it like an idiot. I tried to recover it but all I could get was the fifth podcast. Total letdown. In short, we haven’t released a cast in a really long time, basically all my fault. However, look forward to a revitalized set of podcasts coming up soon and stay tuned. I think we have a good lineup for everyone. Again, I appreciate all the feedback and I do read all of them. Thanks guys.
Fanservice: RAGED
What is fanservice? That’s a good question, a question I wondered when I first watched Evangelion. At the end of each episode they kept having Misato say, “And be sure to watch the next episode there’s fanservice.” I never felt serviced at all, even though the episode would be pretty good I wanted the fanservice. After watching anime for about a year or so I finally figured out what fanservice was.
Anime + Definition of Fanservice:
Fahn – sehur – vycess (breasts, panties, shower scene)
The showing of animated characters’, usually female, sexually provocative regions. This subliminal message is intended to be addicting and usually has no purpose otherwise. Fun rating: 0
Shower Scenes Make a Good Anime
When a character steps into a shower you know it’s going to be good. Once that steaming water hits that naked body with carefully picked camera angles you will be forced into submission.
Anime + Definition of BeingWhipped:
Bee-ying Whihihi-pp-eeeed
You grab your ankles and happily take whiplashes to the back. You do not think. You do not have free will. You were with the animals that did not eat from the Tree of Knowledge. You love being told to buy merchandise. You always watch commercials, especially GoDaddy.com commercials. i.e. Shinji Ikari
Anime Whips You and You Like It
An anime is saying to you that you are perverted and all you think about all day is sex. You will try to get a peek at any part of the female anatomy anywhere. That means even if it isn’t real. Examples of this would be:
- Two oranges placed closely together.
- Two balloons placed closely together.
- Two watermelons placed closely together.
- Panties.
- Bra.
- Spandex.
- Colored Pictures of Characters.
Served
I don’t know if it’s Japanese culture or the target audience of certain anime, but it seems to be a prevalent thing. If someone is watching an anime and says, “Whoa her tits are huge!”I would most likely reply, “I can draw bigger ones. I mean, my intention of watching an anime is to see something fun and exciting not to see a gargantuan amount of circles. If I wanted to see that I’d go to the Olympics, just the Olympics aren’t fun and exciting.
Conclusion
I have learned from fanservice, therefore right now I will be providing YOU with REAL fanservice. Please enjoy and be forever engrained with the thought of ANIME +
OO
Anime+ Podcast Episode #005 (40:23)
Introduction:
- Polls
Previews:
- Kage Kara Mamoru!
Reviews:
- Azumanga Daioh!
- Ghost in the Shell (1st GIG)
Feedback:
- Jeffery
- Coral
- Jake
Anime+ Podcast Episode #004 (40:34)
News:
- Shiokazecon (link
)
Previews:
- REC
- Noein – Mou Hitori no Kimi e –
Reviews:
- Scrapped Princess
Should we go to Shiokazecon?
Should we go to Shiokazecon?
- Yes. (95%, 40 Votes)
- No. (5%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 42
Loading ...Do you cosplay?
Do you cosplay?
- No, I hate cosplay. (45%, 117 Votes)
- Yes, I love cosplay. (39%, 103 Votes)
- What is cosplay? (16%, 42 Votes)
Total Voters: 262
Loading ...Anime+ Podcast Episode #003 (29:36)
News:
- Full Metal Alchemist: RAGED (link )
Previews:
- Fighting Beauty Wulong
Reviews:
- Ah! My Goddess OVA/Movie
- Last EXILE
Full Metal Alchemist: RAGED
Everyone has seen or heard of Full Metal Alchemist, the insanely popular anime released in 2003 that captured the hearts of anime viewers everywhere. It focused on a short main character named Edward Elric and his brother who was unfortunately turned into a walking piece of armor, Alphonse. But everyone knows that. Do you know why everyone knows that? Everyone watched it. People were pulled in immediately to a vortex of alchemy and hardcore action. Edward rips off his cloak and becomes a total badass and all are seduced to the typical Naruto/Bleach ‘totally sweet’ factor. Once sucked into this spinning mass of awesomeness you can’t escape. The thing that you don’t realize is that it ISN’T awesome, it’s just CRAZY overrated and you think, “Well everyone else is cosplaying it so I better watch it…”
The Characters SUCK
The characters really do suck. I mean Edward is as stereotypical as you can possibly get and he is not dynamic at all. He’s boring and entirely predictable. Furthermore, he doesn’t look cool. I would go on about the rest of the characters but they are all the same, predictable and annoying. They just have this seemingly “badass awesome” factor that people are suddenly attached to. What is so good about Envy? Nothing he looks like a girl. What is so good about Alphonse? He is annoying and makes no contribution to the series at all, not to mention being an absolutely flat character. His armor isn’t even cool. It’s hideous and not only that but he has incestuous thoughts about his brother. Tell me I’m wrong…
JJanime writes:
“The characters are so likable, this alone is enough to give a reason just to watch this show. They grow on the viewer and you actually care for what happens to them. There is somthing about the characters that makes them seem belevable and realistic, therfore, you can relate to them all in some way or another. They are all well developped in every aspect to.
The reason I gave the character ‘9’ instead of ’10’ is because there is not enough of a variety of characters.”
This is a good example of someone sucked into the vortex, he seems to realize that the characters do indeed suck but thinks because they are “cool” that they are good. Are the characters really believable and realistic? Are they well developed? Ok, just think back a second and think about how god damn lame it was when Alphonse thought he wasn’t really Edward’s brother.
The Action SUCKS
By the action sucking I mean there is no action. You watch a few episodes and you see Edward fight some guys and you automatically think, “OH BADASS!” but then you forget to realize BONES is doing this to you on purpose. They stack the action in the beginning and make long annoying episodes that go nowhere in the middle. Sound familiar? Think back to one fight in the anime that was awesome. “Greed vs. Edward?” Oh I didn’t see that one coming since it was basically the only fight scene in the anime and lasted thirty seconds. Think about how many fricking times you thought a fight was going to start and it didn’t. They did it to you on purpose just to keep you watching in order to push their ridiculously weak plot.
The Plot SUCKS
Cataphract writes:
“In all actuality, 51 episodes probably was a bit too short for FMA; by the end, quite a few ends are left undone, as they simply did not have enough airtime to be fully explained. However, while on the topic of the ending, I say this: bravo. While not perfect, it certainly merits recognition, as most series often suffer a crippling, much-to-be-desired conclusion. FMA, though a bit rushed, ends with both originality and tact, leaving a very open end for a sequel while, at the same time, properly ending FMA as is.”
You know he’s heading in the right direction but he spends his time just praising FMA because he loves it while not being able to look at it objectively. You know why 51 episodes wasn’t enough? Because nothing happened. FMA rode an easy ride; they had a lot of viewers so they took it easy with the animation when they suddenly realized they had to end it. They created this so-called “complex” plot and tried to tie up the loose ends the best they could at the end. At the end did you think, “What the hell? That was stupid.” You probably did, or you probably tricked yourself into think “TOTALLY AWESOME”, but even you realized that there wasn’t even an ending fight scene to save face.
Bottom-line
FMA is overrated, pure and simple. The plot was poorly executed. There was no action. The characters are not dynamic. Everything is predictable. People cosplay it too much.
Anime+ Podcast Episode #002 (16:38)
Reviews:
- Suzuka
Previews:
- Black Cat
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Anime+ Podcast Episode #001 (37:35)
Note: This was our first podcast, episodes 3+ are much better.
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Previews:
- Fate/Stay Night
- Lemon Angel Project
- Aim for the Top 2! DieBuster (aka Gunbuster 2)
Reviews:
- (None this Week)
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