Anime & Manga Thread Vol. 2: Za Warudo!!!

[quote name='Kuroi Kaze']Used Canti on the new B&N Nook today. Nice job. Wish it had a UI like Calibre, though.[/QUOTE]
I've received requests from others for a GUI as well; unfortunately I had to move onto another project. If I get the time I will work on a GUI (Java GUI's are such a pita).

How is manga on the Nook?

[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']I just bought Genshiken 2 and Moribito. I'm happy.[/QUOTE]
I just started Genshiken 2. The story picks up where the first season left off but with two new members to the club. I've only seen the first episode, and it seems like they have maintained the feel/pace/art of the first season. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the episodes.
 
i dug genshiken 2.

Java UI's are totally a PITA, I feel you on that one. Even a super-rudimentary one that just gives you a couple buttons to browse to locations would be an immense help. Manga looks fantastic on the Nook and I've had no readability issues. Manga in Japan is often sold in roughly 5x7 books and the nook is 6x4 so it's not a world of difference in size.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']Has anyone heard anything about the NISA disc replacements?[/QUOTE]

Yup! Here's what NISA said in one of their latest news articles:

"Before we let you go, we'd like to let our fans and customers, who submitted their information for the replacement disc website, know that we will be shipping the re-mastered discs out at the end of September. For those who submitted your information, we will email you more detailed information regarding the replacement discs soon. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding."

Right Stuf also made an announcement about it last week.
 
Caught up on The World God Only Knows (currently 113 chapters) and loved all of it. The anime is starting in October and I think Crunchy will be streaming it, so check it out if you are into shounen romantic comedy with a video game otaku twist.

[quote name='Kuroi Kaze']Java UI's are totally a PITA, I feel you on that one. Even a super-rudimentary one that just gives you a couple buttons to browse to locations would be an immense help. Manga looks fantastic on the Nook and I've had no readability issues. Manga in Japan is often sold in roughly 5x7 books and the nook is 6x4 so it's not a world of difference in size.[/QUOTE]
Glad manga looks good on your Nook. I hope the manga industry adopts a digital market like American comic companies have. I will let you know if I make a GUI for Canti (currently on the backburner, but something I am interested in pursuing).
 
Finished Dragon Ball (153 episodes). Towards the end of the last season it started feeling a bit like Z (dragged out *groan* fighting), but other than those few episodes it was a fun series. I picked up the first few Dragon Boxes over the past couple months, but I just can't bring myself to watch them. I liked Z as a kid but now I think I would find it annoying.

Started El Cazador de le Bruja. From the first episode it kind of feels like a less funny Trigun mixed with Witch Hunter Robin.

Also started reading Yankee-kun to Megane-chan. So far it's very funny high school comedy with an interesting art style and clever story telling.
 
God dammit. I bought the Galaxy Railways Viridian Collection from Amazon, and it has the same packaging as the Kiddy Grade Viridian Collection, which means the discs are scratched even though it's brand new. Both of these shows have their discs in cardboard sleeves, and the sleeves are made so that the discs extend over the lip of the circular resting place of the sleeve, which means that the discs are able to scrape around on the cardboard, and that scraping creates scratches that run parallel to the direction in which the disc spins.

Here are some pictures to help everyone understand:

Sleeve with disc:
SleevewithDisc.jpg

Sleeve without disc:
SleevewithoutDisc.jpg

Disc 2:
Disc2.jpg

Disc 5:
Disc5.jpg
 
Ugh, I got Kiddy Grade the other day so I know what you're talking about. Luckily my discs weren't damaged nearly as badly as yours. I would ask Amazon for a trade... I've had to do that before with them (for MoonPhase) and they handled it no problem.
 
That looks really scratched up for being brand new.The Blue Gender Viridian Collection is the same kind of packaging.Although it looks really nice like a "book" I was worried about the scraping too but think luckily I won't be watching it that much enough to cause any real serious problems.The only kind of case I hate more is where they have a series boxset and like 4-5 disc crammed on top of each other with only one place to insert the dvds in.Everytime you go to take just a single one out if feels like you could possibly break the rest by having to get get them all out.

[quote name='lilman']Finished Dragon Ball (153 episodes). Towards the end of the last season it started feeling a bit like Z (dragged out *groan* fighting), but other than those few episodes it was a fun series.[/QUOTE]
Goku vs. Piccolo felt like to me a big letdown compared to previous arc finale's.The last few episodes fillers were pretty hard to watch.
 
Yeah, I knew about that crap before I ordered Kiddy Grade. A friend had the Gunslinger Girl Viridian collection that was like that. Luckily I still had another 8-disc case from ordering Moribito (had to get a 5 pack), and I still gotta decide whether I'll cut up the cover sleeve to fit as a cover or make my own new one.
 
I finished Highschool of the Dead. Except for all the ecchi stuff, I thought it was a good show. Everything minus the ecchi was like an anime version of George Romero. Sad thing is that I was wondering how they'd drag it out to 26 episodes, but since it ended at 12, i'm feeling like it wasn't enough.

They definitely left it open for continuation, but unfortunately one of the best characters on the show wont be there....

Mr Shido rules!
 
I've made some great (for me at least) manga progress this month. Considering I hadn't been reading much manga at all for so long , I'm surprised I've read as much as I did. Now I just need to do as good (if not better) next month.:)

My progress:
Read through Vol.1 of both Peepo-Choo and Twin Spica that I got from the Vertical sale a while ago. Twin Spicas "main story" was good , while not great , but good enough to want me to read more. However the prequel stories that were also included in vol. 1 were really good and really sad :)cry:) and helped sell me on the story. Peepo-Choo was strange. At first I didn't think I was going to like it and almost quit right away , but I stuck through to the end of the vol. I'm still not sure I like the story , but I'm intrigued enough to want to see where it goes and how it ends. I will say though that at times the story is so dark it's almost painful.

My biggest success though was that I finally got around to reading and finishing Death Note (I know I'm late to the party). Probably the first book (regular or comic/manga) that I've read in a while that really gave me that "just one more chapter" feeling. I just had to see what schemes Light would come up with and what L/N/M would do in reaction to them. Even though I kinda knew how it was going to end , not because I figured it out but because I had mistakenly saw part of the last episode of the anime , but it was still a tense moment and great to see it all pan out.
 
I have been reading Pluto by Naoki Urasawa on my Nook and it's quite a good manga. It feels a lot like Monster (also by Urasawa) which is one of the best manga I've read. Imagine a murder mystery set in the future where robots can resemble humans. I guess it is a little tiny bit like Blade Runner in that regard, but without the cyberpunk elements.

The translation I'm reading is a little rough, but I can't wait to see what happens next.
 
[quote name='Razzuel']God dammit. I bought the Galaxy Railways Viridian Collection from Amazon, and it has the same packaging as the Kiddy Grade Viridian Collection, which means the discs are scratched even though it's brand new. Both of these shows have their discs in cardboard sleeves, and the sleeves are made so that the discs extend over the lip of the circular resting place of the sleeve, which means that the discs are able to scrape around on the cardboard, and that scraping creates scratches that run parallel to the direction in which the disc spins.[/QUOTE]

That would be a big part of me avoiding Viridian releases right there... a lot of the older ones made a big deal about their 'plastic free' (aka garbage) packaging. I don't need an eco-friendly biodegradable case for a DVD I don't intend to get rid of!

I've had luck getting those kind of scratches off with at-home repair solution (like the stuff they sell at Gamestop.) It's crappy that you'd even need to consider that for a brand new set... but at least it's an option?

I would also like to express a minor complaint about my Hetalia part DVD that came the other day... firstly, they made the outer sleeve big enough to hold the DVD case and the bandanna bonus. So now I have to keep the bandanna with it, or they'll be enough space to hold a slimpack DVD case in there. I don't typically keep the goodies with the DVD, so this bugs me. (Plus, since the bandanna isn't folded DVD-size, my box got crushed in the mail due to the empty space.) Secondly- I was going to make my fiance wear the bandanna, becuase it would bug him but he'd do it since it was the Axis guys... except they lied about the color! It's supposed to be a red bandanna... it's pink! I can't make him wear pink! My box is crushed, and my plan is ruined! :cry:
 
Speaking of packaging, I just got my Toradora replacement discs. They were in just an envelope, not even a padded one. I'm glad they weren't cracked in half or anything.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']Speaking of packaging, I just got my Toradora replacement discs. They were in just an envelope, not even a padded one. I'm glad they weren't cracked in half or anything.[/QUOTE]

I can do you one better- my envelope was open when it arrived, so I'm lucky I actually got the discs! (It was just the discs and the note, right? I'd hate to find out I was supposed to get a freebie but it fell out/got stolen.)
 
I bought Kamichu! and Ah My Goddess season 2 yesterday. I'm hoping Kamichu will be the nice box art and not some gimped thinpak packaging.

Ugh, my backlog just keeps getting bigger and bigger....
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']I can do you one better- my envelope was open when it arrived, so I'm lucky I actually got the discs! (It was just the discs and the note, right? I'd hate to find out I was supposed to get a freebie but it fell out/got stolen.)[/QUOTE]
Right. Just the discs and note.
 
This is kind of long. Sorry!

It's been a long while since I reviewed a show, so here are one sentence reviews for the stuff I've recently finished:

Stratos 4 and its OVAs: Stratos 4 straddles the line separating decent and great; I don't expect many other people to like the show, but I thought the characters were usually endearing, and I enjoyed the premise and technological aspects of a world faced with fending off a constant barrage of comets and meteors.

Samurai Deeper Kyo: This is a terrible show; it's an incredibly generic and unremarkable fantasy-samurai story with awful, uninteresting characters.

Heroman: Heroman is fantastic; it's a fun show that knows how to use standard comic book archetypes to its advantage, which resulted in a fresh, sharp-looking superhero show despite what could have been typical and uninteresting.

Mitsudomoe: Mitsudomoe is a hilarious comedy that uses crude humor from misunderstandings between its characters as the basis for its skits, and it stayed true to its theme until the very end, which had some of the best skits out of the whole show, and I thought the ending was very fitting and endearing — I'm looking forward to the second season that was announced.

Occult Academy: Occult Academy is awesome; it has fantastic animation, interesting, realistic characters, and great comedic relief, such as the facial animations of the characters — I love their expressions! The story wasn't particularly spectacular, but it was good enough; I liked the ending, even though it was bittersweet and slightly odd, and episode 11 was fucking mind-blowing, like I mentioned previously.

Also, this is sweet: Netflix is getting more anime for its instant streaming service. Here's a list from 1UP:

009-1, Afro Samurai, Aquarion, Basilisk, Black Blood Brothers, Blassreiter, Burst Angel, Claymore, D. Gray-Man, Darker Than Black, Desert Punk, Devil May Cry, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gunslinger Girl, Hell Girl, Jyu-Oh-Sei, Last Exile, Le Chevalier D'Eon, Mushi-Shi, Origin: Spirits of the Past, Ouran High School Host Club, Samurai 7, Shigurui: Death Frenzy, Soul Eater, Speed Grapher, Trinity Blood, Vandread, Vexille, Witchblade, Xenosaga and XXXholic.

That doesn't include recent additions like Ghost Hound, Clannad, Golgo 13, Blue Drop, Now and Then, Here and There, and Gurren Lagann.

[quote name='DuelLadyS']The Viridian Collection releases are garbage.[/QUOTE]

I agree; that's why I've been avoiding them, but they were so cheap that I thought the inexpensiveness would outweigh the awful packaging.

[quote name='ChibiJosh']Speaking of packaging, I just got my Toradora replacement discs. They were in just an envelope, not even a padded one. I'm glad they weren't cracked in half or anything.[/QUOTE]

I received my replacement discs as well. The discs don't look pristine — they look beat to hell — so I'm gonna check for any read errors, and through the magic of the passage of time, there doesn't seem to be any read errors — here's hoping there aren't any playback issues!

[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']I bought Kamichu! and Ah My Goddess season 2 yesterday. I'm hoping Kamichu will be the nice box art and not some gimped thinpak packaging.[/QUOTE]

Which set did you buy? Shouldn't you already know what you're buying, haha? I bought the original set from eBay, and it's a really nice art box. It also comes with a cover that looks like real wood; it's a really cool effect.
 
[quote name='Razzuel']
Which set did you buy? Shouldn't you already know what you're buying, haha? I bought the original set from eBay, and it's a really nice art box. It also comes with a cover that looks like real wood; it's a really cool effect.[/QUOTE]I bought it off of Rightstuf and it says it's the Geneon release. At the same time, it was listed as a thinpak, so I'm not 100% sure. I've yet to encounter gimped packaging from Geneon, so here's hoping...
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']Viz canceled Reborn! vol17 :([/QUOTE]

What the hell? That sucks. I've been watching the anime, and it's pretty damn awesome so far. I guess Viz just can't ever get anything right. Damn bastards aren't going to release the rest of Monster, too.
 
I was wondering if any of you knew whether or not X'amd was upscaled for blu-ray, or if it is legit HD? I saw the 1st episode of the series on Anime Network VOD and it looks like a good show. I want to be able to enjoy in better quality, though.
 
Finished Genshiken S2, and it was great. I had forgotten how adult oriented Genshiken is... definitely not a series for the kiddies. Lots of otaku humor and slice-of-life elements.

Haven't decided what to start next, but plenty of options in my backlog :)
 
[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']I was wondering if any of you knew whether or not X'amd was upscaled for blu-ray, or if it is legit HD? I saw the 1st episode of the series on Anime Network VOD and it looks like a good show. I want to be able to enjoy in better quality, though.[/QUOTE]

No official confirmation yet, but it *should* be actual HD.
 
[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']I was wondering if any of you knew whether or not X'amd was upscaled for blu-ray, or if it is legit HD? I saw the 1st episode of the series on Anime Network VOD and it looks like a good show. I want to be able to enjoy in better quality, though.[/QUOTE]

Xam'd was animated at 1080p, and it was originally produced for the launch of the Playstation Network video service. I rented the first episode from PSN almost a year ago, and it looked absolutely gorgeous. I'm not at home right now, but if I remember correctly, the back of the box says 1080p; it wouldn't make sense if Sentai somehow put a lower resolution of the show on the Blu-ray, since it's originally 1080p.

If you're buying Xam'd, then you must buy the Blu-ray version, since the DVD version is the inferior product.
 
[quote name='Razzuel']What the hell? That sucks. I've been watching the anime, and it's pretty damn awesome so far. I guess Viz just can't ever get anything right. Damn bastards aren't going to release the rest of Monster, too.[/QUOTE]

WHAT!? They aren't finishing Monster?

God damn Viz is pushing me to scanlations....idiots
 
[quote name='MattJ1991']WHAT!? They aren't finishing Monster?

God damn Viz is pushing me to scanlations....idiots[/QUOTE]

It should go without saying that I meant the anime, since Viz did finish releasing the Monster manga in 2008. ;)
 
[quote name='Kuroi Kaze']the monster anime is waaaay too long and dry anyway. you're better off with the manga for sure.[/QUOTE]

It's really not. Having rewatched it again recently, it's as fantastic as it ever was, and superior to the manga in every way.
 
Been catching up on a couple series from the summer along with a series I've been wanting to watch.

Asobi ni iku Yo- Wow, this one pretty much fell apart halfway through. It seemed pretty interesting in the beginning, but rushed the story and relationships in the end. When they announced the OVA, I was hoping for more closure, but they went with fanservice instead.

Highschool of the Dead- Wasn't really expecting much from the series, although it did go overboard with fanservice with about 1/3 of the episodes. They did a pretty decent job with the story and characters. Really wasn't happy that the way they ended though. Although they've already announced a OVA & a second season is already in the works.

When They Cry- I'm only 14 episodes in so far, but it's definitely disturbing how horrific the stories become. I didn't know what to expect when I started watching this, but the stories get really dark.

[quote name='Razzuel']Xam'd was animated at 1080p, and it was originally produced for the launch of the Playstation Network video service. I rented the first episode from PSN almost a year ago, and it looked absolutely gorgeous. I'm not at home right now, but if I remember correctly, the back of the box says 1080p; it wouldn't make sense if Sentai somehow put a lower resolution of the show on the Blu-ray, since it's originally 1080p.

If you're buying Xam'd, then you must buy the Blu-ray version, since the DVD version is the inferior product.[/QUOTE]

I've watched a couple english dub episodes with VOD and it does definitely looks bad in SD compared to HD. It's like they trying to get people to watch the Blu-Ray version. It's not as clear and I noticed that it becomes pixelated depending on the scene.
 
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Thanks for info on X'amd Kirin and Razzuel. I saw it on VOD and it looked like it had been compressed to hell and back. So I'll definitely be getting the blu-ray version (once I scope things out and see official word on the PQ).

I also started watching Shigofumi. This show is pretty awesome so far. It's about how the dead send letters to the living with their last thoughts and feelings. Interesting to see how the living react to receiving the shigofumi.
 
[quote name='Kirin Lemon']It's really not. Having rewatched it again recently, it's as fantastic as it ever was, and superior to the manga in every way.[/QUOTE]

this is crazy madness. the anime drags and drags at the end. it put the other people in the room to sleep and i finished it as the only one awake.
 
[quote name='Kuroi Kaze']this is crazy madness. the anime drags and drags at the end. it put the other people in the room to sleep and i finished it as the only one awake.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you should hang out with less-lame people. :D
 
Been a while since I've visited this thread, and I haven't watched anything since summer ended.

I'm looking into either Blue Submarine No 6., that Haruhi shit that I see everywhere (is it worth watching?), or I want to try to find that Gundam series called 08th MS Team or something -- I remember loving it as a kid but I wonder if it's actually any good?

Any opinions would be great!
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']Been a while since I've visited this thread, and I haven't watched anything since summer ended.

I'm looking into either Blue Submarine No 6., that Haruhi shit that I see everywhere (is it worth watching?), or I want to try to find that Gundam series called 08th MS Team or something -- I remember loving it as a kid but I wonder if it's actually any good?

Any opinions would be great![/QUOTE]

All of those are on sale right now at DeepDiscount. 08th MS Team is probably my favorite Gundam, actually.
 
[quote name='Razzuel']It should go without saying that I meant the anime, since Viz did finish releasing the Monster manga in 2008. ;)[/QUOTE]

Thank god, haha. I've been slowly collecting the manga volumes and was about to nuke Viz :lol:
 
I just wanted to chime in and say everyone here needs to get Comic Jumper when it's released later this week. I got a DLC code a couple days ago so I could review it. The 3rd genre that you play is in a manga! I know that in itself is a spoiler but many gamers wouldn't check it out unless they knew that.
 
I'm considering picking up Eden of East on Blu-ray from the Funimation sale running over at RS. Any thoughts on the quality of the show?
 
[quote name='panzerfaust'] that Haruhi shit that I see everywhere (is it worth watching?),

Any opinions would be great![/QUOTE]

opinions are like assholes...this thread has 'em.

haruhi is a pretty significant departure from normal story telling patterns and that is probably why it garnered so much attention. i'd say it is really worth a watch if only to discover if it is up your alley.

i have to say the musical number sits in my memory as something really special.
 
[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']I'm considering picking up Eden of East on Blu-ray from the Funimation sale running over at RS. Any thoughts on the quality of the show?[/QUOTE]
I thought the show was really cool. Although, I thought it had a bit of a bad ending in a sort of a non-ending way, but a couple of movies were made that I assume address that issue.
 
[quote name='Razzuel']
Also, this is sweet: Netflix is getting more anime for its instant streaming service. Here's a list from 1UP:

009-1, Afro Samurai, Aquarion, Basilisk, Black Blood Brothers, Blassreiter, Burst Angel, Claymore, D. Gray-Man, Darker Than Black, Desert Punk, Devil May Cry, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gunslinger Girl, Hell Girl, Jyu-Oh-Sei, Last Exile, Le Chevalier D'Eon, Mushi-Shi, Origin: Spirits of the Past, Ouran High School Host Club, Samurai 7, Shigurui: Death Frenzy, Soul Eater, Speed Grapher, Trinity Blood, Vandread, Vexille, Witchblade, Xenosaga and XXXholic.

That doesn't include recent additions like Ghost Hound, Clannad, Golgo 13, Blue Drop, Now and Then, Here and There, and Gurren Lagann.
[/QUOTE]

I just noticed this while seeing what was new on Netflix and thought that it was about time I get back into anime again.

Anything I absolutely need to watch? Anything I should avoid like the plague?
 
So, Kodansha is apparently taking over Del Rey's manga catalog. It kinda sucks for the series that I was actively collecting of theirs. Thankfully Tsubasa will have finished before this happens.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']Been a while since I've visited this thread, and I haven't watched anything since summer ended.

I'm looking into either Blue Submarine No 6., that Haruhi shit that I see everywhere (is it worth watching?), or I want to try to find that Gundam series called 08th MS Team or something -- I remember loving it as a kid but I wonder if it's actually any good?

Any opinions would be great![/QUOTE]

Watch 8th MS Team. Definitely.
 
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