The General Anime/Manga Thread

[JonathanL]

Bleach is better.

Bleach is the most generic shounen ever to come out of Japan. Atleast HxH has some character.

[Darth Executor]

lol that coming from a hxh fan. The fact that bleach's protagonist isn't a 12 year old automatically catapults it out of the most generic contest. I dumped hxh precisely because it was bland and generic. Boring plot, boring characters, stupid setting. Even one piece, the gold standard in generic shounen managed to pull off at least a couple of good characters and some interesting worldbuilding. In hxh you could kill off the main character and nobody would notice.

[Teallaura]

<backs slowly from the room>

[JonathanL]

lol that coming from a hxh fan. The fact that bleach's protagonist isn't a 12 year old automatically catapults it out of the most generic contest. I dumped hxh precisely because it was bland and generic. Boring plot, boring characters, stupid setting. Even one piece, the gold standard in generic shounen managed to pull off at least a couple of good characters and some interesting worldbuilding. In hxh you could kill off the main character and nobody would notice.

How long before you gave up on HxH?

[Yttrium]

Currently watching:

Ghost in the Shell: Arise
Showing the origin of Major Kusanagi and her Section 9 team. Great stuff, as always. Cybertech science fiction, action and suspense.

Rin-ne
I'm a big fan of a couple of Rumiko Takahashi's previous works, Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura. I was a bit disappointed in Inu Yasha, though. Rin-ne doesn't match the great characterizations in the older stuff, but it has some charm with a warped outlook on ghosts, shinigami, and reincarnation.

Sailor Moon Crystal
I don't care for this series as much as the original, despite the fact that it follows the manga much more closely. Or maybe because it follows the manga more closely. The original series had a wacky quality that made it fun to watch, even with the endless transformation sequences and long, drawn-out plots. The new series doesn't have all that filler, and condenses the plot nicely, but lacks that wackiness. Plus, Sailor Moon becomes an emotional wreck whenever she's concerned about her precious Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask/Endymion, which annoys me. On the other hand, I do like the fact that Sailor Moon Crystal treats Sailor Venus with much more respect than the original series.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
The manga will soon become my favorite ongoing comic, once the last volume of Claymore comes out. I've been anxiously awaiting the anime, which so far is following the manga pretty closely. Yamada is a delinquent schoolboy who finds out over time that there are seven girls in the school who each has a different psychic power, activated with a kiss. For some reason, they're called witches, even though they don't really resemble traditional witches. The first witch he encounters can swap bodies, which needless to say causes all sorts of problems, especially since Yamada has a power too: he can copy witch powers.

Speaking of which, I notice that different anime can have very different versions of witches. You have Yamada-kun with the psychic powers; Witch Hunter Robin, with witches that each have a different mystic superpower (such as controlling fire) but are actually tied into the old style witches; Puella Magi Madoka Magica, in which witches are horrific eldritch abominations; etc.

[Darth Executor]

How long before you gave up on HxH?

Uhh, I think it was soon after the exam duels.

[JonathanL]

Uhh, I think it was soon after the exam duels.

That explains why you think it's just a bland and generic shounen. Give it another shot and I almost guarantee you that your opinion of it will change. Atleast you won't be able to claim that it's bland and generic with a straight face.

[Darth Executor]

That's what One Piece fans said too and I got conned into watching half (at the time) the anime. It never got better.

[JonathanL]

That's what One Piece fans said too and I got conned into watching half (at the time) the anime. It never got better.

There are two arcs after the Hunter Exams that are ok, but not exceptional (The Zoldyck family Arc and Heavens Arena arc). The story gets much better at the Yorknew story arc, which is after those two arcs.

[T-Shirt Ninja]

I watched Fate/Stay Night on Netflix and wasn't terribly impressed. It seemed like a PG teen version of Fate/Zero. It had cool effects and some good story, but I felt like it was ultimately a let down from the original.

[Teallaura]

A young man came through my line Thursday with three posters. I noticed the Funmation sticker and commented on his anime choices. We had a brief conversation about our respective favorites. He liked Cowboy Bepop and I suggested Trigun.

No, no point to this post. It was just nice to be able to chat with another fan in person.

[T-Shirt Ninja]

My boss said it was creepy the other day that I like to watch anime. I really hate the bias that if you watch anime, you're watching either kids shows or hentai.

[Teallaura]

My boss said it was creepy the other day that I like to watch anime. I really hate the bias that if you watch anime, you're watching either kids shows or hentai.

You mean like gamers that assume all Christians are narrow minded rednecks or computer nerds who assume anyone who can't program in C+++ is a Neanderthal?

Bias lives in every group - best to check for our own logs and not worry about the other guy's sticks.

His loss anyway.

[rogue06]

My boss said it was creepy the other day that I like to watch anime. I really hate the bias that if you watch anime, you're watching either kids shows or hentai.

A few years back the brother-in-law of my sister-in-law was complaining about his son's "obsession" with manga and anime. That was kind of ironic coming from a man who turned one of the bedrooms of his house (forcing his three kids to share one room) into a shrine to his favorite college football team (a school he never attended).

[Teallaura]

Like father like son... And not in a good way...