Anime

[Sessha]

The first set of Kenshin OAVs though (collectively called 'Trust & Betrayal') is some beautiful, if dark, stuff though.  Highly recommend that as a watch.

Kenshin is a series I otherwise wish would get a fresh new take in animated form, and give it the proper ending it deserves.  The original anime series, up through ep 62 was good, but I didn't even bother buying the 3rd season knowing it was all filler.  Such a shame it ended in a whimper.  Considering what's been going on with that series' original author though, my guess is as good as any as to what will happen going forward.

Yeah I did forget about Trust and Betrayal. They were really very good and do cover his origins pretty good. Though the last one they made Reflections isn't too bad either. It's two episodes, first of which is a recap of the manga series which then goes into some of the events of the final arc of the manga. Which also the events of Trust and Betrayal are covered in the manga. Then the second episode recaps the end of their story, I won't spoil how and the ending presented in Reflection does go beyond where the manga stopped with it's ending. Even including the Yahiko no Sakabato story.

As for the rest of the episodes...eh like I said having read  the manga I found some of the endings to be better for some of the arcs than in the anime. How he defeats Raijuta in the manga feels more satisfying than how he did it in the anime. Though most of the others do end roughly the same way so eh...well with the exception of how the series started out. That's a little different.

[Mirrah]

I was eyeing the live action film recently! I might have to watch it with some ice cream~

I like this idea! I should get ice cream next time I watch it. Good stuff.

One of the better live action anime's I've seen in recent years was the live action movie for Space Battleship Yamato. Good movie but I think I'll always prefer the anime better. Which for all of you to note Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is being released for dubbing now. It's actually not too bad all things totaled. I recommend for any sci-fi genera buffs give it a watch.

You won't have too much longer to wait. They just released episode 16 of the series today and they released episode 14 of the dub yesterday. So I'd say about another two months and you can binge watch the whole series on Funimation's website. Or Crunchyroll if you've got that instead.

Also a good series to put on if you are just looking to kill some time is Restaurant to Another World. The concept itself is actually kind of interesting. Though I have to say when you watch they kind of flip things on their head a bit. The title is a bit misleading, sort of. Like I said if you just want to kill some time and watching something fun give it a go.

Wow! I wasn't aware that they'd made a live action of Yamato!

I'll also make a note of those things! And save Restaurant to Another World for a rainy day. :D

I liked Trigun as it was. Kenshin, I never finished, now that I think about it.

[Sessha]

Wow! I wasn't aware that they'd made a live action of Yamato!

Yeah I wasn't aware they had made one till I saw it one night at a friend's place. He popped it in after game ended and we watched it. It wasn't bad but it was certainly different from the original series that much was for sure.

As for Restaurant to Another World. Yeah like I said it's kind of interesting and something you could put on to kill some time. Though here is the opening for it.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-7JarkA_3o

[Mirrah]

Yeah I wasn't aware they had made one till I saw it one night at a friend's place. He popped it in after game ended and we watched it. It wasn't bad but it was certainly different from the original series that much was for sure.

As for Restaurant to Another World. Yeah like I said it's kind of interesting and something you could put on to kill some time. Though here is the opening for it.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-7JarkA_3o

Oh, thank you! It makes me think of an RP I have even more now. XD And I am definitely going to watch it.

I like cooking and sports anime... >.>

[Sessha]

 No problem. I am always happy to help out and further the cause. Which you don't have to worry the series is completely out and has been dubbed.

Now if you want something more fun with a fantasy bent slice of life type affair I recommend Koybayashi's Dragon Maid. Case in point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A4IlwuuyyI

Linked for underage thumbnail.

[Mirrah]

I've only ever heard the name, never watched it. Thank you for the suggestions! :-)

[Sessha]

I've only ever heard the name, never watched it. Thank you for the suggestions! :-)

No worries. It's a fun light hearted romp of a series. The only real detractor I see about it is that the humor can get a little...questionable at times other than that it's a good series and the characters make it fun.

Though I am curious why the link got changed. I wasn't aware I was linking to anything questionable.

[Mirrah]

Ah, nice. The opening song gave some good indication of that, too. It is very upbeat. :-)

(According to the note that was left it seems it was turned into a link because a thumbnail on the video showed a character under 18 years old--likely a child. E's official rules don't allow embedding images of any characters that are not 18 and above in canon, and don't appear 18 or older at first glance. Chibis are also not allowed. They can be linked if they are safe for work, but are not allowed even linked if not safe for work.)

[Sessha]

 
Which more than likely means that the image that popped up on the link showed off one of the characters, namely Kanna Kamui.

I have a few others that might interest you that are decent if you are ever interested.

[Mirrah]

Ooh, okay. Well, that explains that. XD

Feel free to PM a list of suggestions to me if you'd like! I don't mind adding to my queue, and am always looking for more to watch! :D Right now, I'm also debating checking out the new Cardcaptor.

[Sessha]

 Mmm well it all depends greatly on what sort of things you might like. If you are a big fantasy buff then I can safely suggest to you something like Escaflone. It's one of the great fantasy/mecha animes and it's got  decently well done romance sub-plot to it. For a more modern fantasy I would suggest something like Silent Mobius. It's...a bit dated I won't lie(*cough20yearsago*cough*) but it's still pretty good. So just give me an idea of what you are looking for so I can tailor the list.

[Haruki]

Right now, I'm also debating checking out the new Cardcaptor.

I'm following this presently, and if you loved the original, Clear Card picks up right where that left off.  It's as if they didn't even take an 18-year break between series.  Recommend it for fans of older 'feel good' shoujo / magical girl stuff.

[Mirrah]

Mmm well it all depends greatly on what sort of things you might like. If you are a big fantasy buff then I can safely suggest to you something like Escaflone. It's one of the great fantasy/mecha animes and it's got  decently well done romance sub-plot to it. For a more modern fantasy I would suggest something like Silent Mobius. It's...a bit dated I won't lie(*cough20yearsago*cough*) but it's still pretty good. So just give me an idea of what you are looking for so I can tailor the list.

I wasn't that into Escaflowne, and the cat girl always irked me for some reason. >.>; I'll take a peek at Silent Mobius though. Thanks! :D

I watch different things... ^^; Anything from Fushigi Yuugi to My Hero Academia, One Punch Man, Naruto, Cross Game, Knight in the Area, Angelic Layer, Nodame Cantabile, SAO, Log Horizon, Houseki no Kuni, Noragami, Level E, Overlord, Log Horizon, Break Blade... the list of what I've seen and liked is pretty log... ^^;

Aside from Spice and Wolf, I've been eyeing Seven Deadly Sins, too.

I'm following this presently, and if you loved the original, Clear Card picks up right where that left off.  It's as if they didn't even take an 18-year break between series.  Recommend it for fans of older 'feel good' shoujo / magical girl stuff.

Nice! Thank you for the expansion on it, Haruki! I'll definitely check it out.

[Sessha]

 Well if you are interested in Silent Mobius here is the link to watch the opening for it. Which now that I look at it it's not really so much modern fantasy as well...futuristic fantasy. Yeah two words you don't usually see next to each other. But trust me it's a fun watch.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MdfjyKa7bU

However a couple of decent true fantasy series I can recommend are Tears to Tiara and Utawarumono.


Also a good modern fantasy would be anyone of the Fate series.

[Lux12]

So I finally started watching Darling in the FranXX and I said to myself "Where the hell have you been this entire decade?" It feels like the series that of previous eras that made me fall in love with anime and yet it feels as if it carries something new with it. I don't know how to describe it, but it has that feel I don't get enough of these days.  It brought forth a surge of something that I felt when I was quite a bit younger.  It's not often that a series or any piece of media has that effect on me.

I don't know what it is but in a decade that while not totally full crap and that has in fact contained truly great works of art, it feels as if something has been missing from much of the anime that has come out. So much of it feels as if it lacks the things that made me love the medium so much. So much of it felt underwhelming by comparison, but this year so far seems to be filled with unrelenting awesomeness. I haven't felt this positive about a period in anime history since I was quite a bit younger. Call me overly nostalgic if you wish, but I stand by my stance on most of the decade so far.

[Sessha]

So I finally started watching Darling in the FranXX and I said to myself "Where the hell have you been this entire decade?" It feels like the series that of previous eras that made me fall in love with anime and yet it feels as if it carries something new with it. I don't know how to describe it, but it has that feel I don't get enough of these days.  It brought forth a surge of something that I felt when I was quite a bit younger.  It's not often that a series or any piece of media has that effect on me.

I don't know what it is but in a decade that while not totally full crap and that has in fact contained truly great works of art, it feels as if something has been missing from much of the anime that has come out. So much of it feels as if it lacks the things that made me love the medium so much. So much of it felt underwhelming by comparison, but this year so far seems to be filled with unrelenting awesomeness. I haven't felt this positive about a period in anime history since I was quite a bit younger. Call me overly nostalgic if you wish, but I stand by my stance on most of the decade so far.

Actually to be perfectly frank with you Lux. You are not alone. Many fans that loved it when they were in their teens and such, as you mentioned roughly ten or so years ago. No longer like it for one reason or another. Though the most common has been honestly burn out. The last decade or so of anime has seen a good release of what has been deemed schlock anime. Or anime aimed at the lowest common denominator. This was also marked by a time where anime was being made and sold with a more Japanese audience in mind rather than an international audience. Anime in America came about at a good time. It found fertile proving ground and a market eager to just gobble it up. Toonami and other publishers of the genre were eager to sell to consumers here in the states. However as time wore on and companies made less than stellar business choices(Looking at you now Defunct ADV) along with the advent of mass high speed internet. (Yes that was a serious contributor to many an anime company's downfall) the market honestly became oversaturated. 

So as a consequence many companies decided to sell as much as they could, as fast as they could. Quantity over quality. Now that isn't to say a gem slipped through here and there. It was bound to happen and the statistics bare it out.

However you can only shovel that kind of stuff for so long, before people do eventually get tired of it. For a good example of this go look at the American comic book industry. So in the last we'll two of three years there has been a market shift. They have been trying different things to re-invigorate the market. In a sense there has been a slight shift back towards focusing on producing quality entertainment at a faster rate than before.

Darling in FranXX is one of those better made series. While it's relatively light on plot it's more of a character piece than a story driven plot. Which I'll be honest the idea of how the mechs are piloted was what first drew me to the series, but it was the characters themselves and the world it created that drew me in even more. It's a good quality piece of anime artwork that I honestly don't mind paying or the dvds and blu-ray when they finally hit the shelves. Which incidentally I watch series online and streaming to decide if I like the series or not before I'll commit to buying it. Also if you liked Darling in FranXX another title I'll suggest for you to watch is Simoun. Or something like that. It's an interesting premise and such and the world it creates is quite interesting and varied.

[TotesRider]

So one of my favorite Manga is getting an adaptation next year. Kengan Ashura. I can't wait for everyone to see how batshit insane this MMA series can get.
The premise revolves around businesses and companies settling disputes and making big mergers, etc, via unarmed MMA fighting.

Now I know what you're thinking... "Oh cool so it's like an octagon type deal. I'm imagining this kinda like Hajime no-"

Ah hell no. This is how nuts this manga gets...

There's a character named Hajime Hanafusa. Along with fighting he's an incredibly talented doctor. To make himself deadlier, he removed the part of his brain that feels pain, injected compressed gas in his heels to deliver power explosive kicks, implanted a pair of spring loaded blades (CARVED FROM HIS OWN FEMUR) into the palms of his hand.
"Wow gee Totes that's sounds overPo-"
Did I say I was done boy?!
He also has a ton of antibodies. Why is this important you ask? Well, his blood contains a number of highly lethal diseases that are transferred by blood.

Welcome to the batshit insane world of Kengan Ashura.
https://youtu.be/q2nllAUn6Ts

[Sessha]

 It looks like it might be interesting Totes,but it isn't my cup of tea. Now one of the manga series adaptations I am looking forward to is the one for a series called Goblin Slayer.

[Mirrah]

My siblings might be interested in that anime, Totes. Thank you for sharing! :-)

I've kind of been in the mood to watch Planetes again.

[Cold Heritage]

I'm following the translation of Kengan Ashura. One thing I really like about it is that so far it has not - unlike, say, Tough! - gotten into weird creepy biotruth territory.

I'm looking forward to Vinland Saga's anime adaptation though.

[Lux12]

I'm following the translation of Kengan Ashura. One thing I really like about it is that so far it has not - unlike, say, Tough! - gotten into weird creepy biotruth territory.

I'm looking forward to Vinland Saga's anime adaptation though.

Maybe it's just me, but does it remind anyone else of Grappler Baki?

[Cold Heritage]

I vaguely remember reading that the people behind Kengan Ashura were fans - someone was recommending KA in a Grappler Baki thread.

[Sessha]

Maybe it's just me, but does it remind anyone else of Grappler Baki?

You know, now that you mention it does kind of remind me of that series. I didn't honestly care for that myself either. Though I do have one question. If he has blades in his arms made from his own femur...how is still walking properly?

[TotesRider]

You know, now that you mention it does kind of remind me of that series. I didn't honestly care for that myself either. Though I do have one question. If he has blades in his arms made from his own femur...how is still walking properly?

*shrug* I kinda figured he put in replacements or something.

[Sessha]

 So I just got a glimpse of the new animation they are using for the new FMP series...and it's bad. Like really really bad. It's cheap cgi that you can obviously tell is cgi...ugh...almost not worth it to continue watching the series for this issue.