Any anime fans?

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I finished Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. I like that they tried to do something quite different from other anime, even though they did utilize one of my least favorite tropes, the romantically clueless protagonist. I got very caught up in the story toward the end, when things got intense.

Question: How difficult is it to learn Japanese?

Damn. That looks EPIC.

Speaking as one who's lived in Naka-ku (Yokohama) for the best part of 2007, Japanese isn't the easiest language in the world, especially with grammar and phonetics. It took me about a year getting tuition from my university room-mate (from Kobe) to get to be fluent enough to not sound like such a gaijin (foriegner) and translate things by ear (came in handy when I briefly got into fansubbing forgotten-anime back in 09). Alas, as with any language, you'll need to expose yourself to it often or you'll start forgetting it (as I learnt to my cost with primary school French and secondary school Spanish) so it's fortunate I enjoy a wide range of anime and drama. I'm not as adept as I used to be, so I could never be an official translator but it's a fun excercise watching anime raw sometimes.

Also, yeah, my advice to not to be a dub-only watcher -- granted, we've come a long way from the early days of dubbing thanks to the likes of Sentai Filmworks and Funimation, but there's a lot more on offer than what gets dubbed into English.

I've started Severing Crime Edge, but after two episodes I still don't know what to think. It didn't waste any time in getting weird, which I like, but I don't know if it will hold my attention.

I prefer subtitles myself, although I have watched a few shows with dubs that I liked or could tolerate. FLCL stands out as the best I've heard, but I've also enjoyed Tsuritama and K-On!.

Any Black Rock Shooter fans amongst us?

It depends on the context of the show with me -- if it's stuffed full of dajare (old man puns) or honorifics or Japanese mythology/history/comedy that wouldn't translate into English very well, I prefer subtitles (ie Negima?! Arakawa Under the Bridge, Crayon Shin Chan, Keroro Gunso) ; though, that said, I always find it rather amusing how dub-writers get around the awkward language conflict (ie. Okube in Steins;Gate trying to talk to a black man -- in Japanese, he awkwardly tried speaking Engrish; in the dub, he tried speaking rap ie. 'word to your muvva, yo'). But if the show itself has a more neutral/Western setting or is very heavy on complicated dialogue, dub all the way - it worked with me for Jyu-Oh-Sei, Wolf's Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist, BECK Memories of Xam'd Psycho-Pass, etc.

Anyway,

@ JrJones: glad you enjoyed BECK.

@ Equestriatola: Black Rock Shooter was amazing!

Of course, I went to a number of stores trying catch a copy when it came down here. I wish there was more of a way I could show how much I enjoyed the anime.

OMG, I just found a fan made video that puts BRS with the Attack on Titan opening song, it is pretty epic.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSaTrfT2Ncc[/youtube]
Although the song makes anything epic, that was one of the best I have seen.

Now I have been wasting my time looking up AoT parody openings instead of the half a dozen anime episodes I have to watch today.

@ jrjones9933
About Severing Crime Edge, I hope you can stand fetishes as every episode seems to introduce a new one.

I've given up on Cuticle Detective Inaba. I could watch it if someone else put it on, but it doesn't appeal to me enough for me to prefer it to other shows I could watch instead.

I've picked up two shows which both have the word flower in the title, but it seems they could not have more differences between them. Flowers of Evil has an incredibly spooky atmosphere, but so far it deals with rather mundane events. I want to hear more from the artist who composed the ending theme! Sweet Blue Flowers appeals to my yuri moe, and I expect to see a really convoluted plot if the anticipated love-tetrahedron materializes. I've only watched a couple of episodes of each, but the main characters seem to have a lot of depth; I guess they have that in common, and I tend to like shows with such characters.

I won't lie, Flowers of Evil isn't an easy watch for people more accustomed to... shall I say, the more usual anime paraphernalia.

Perhaps I've the advantage of growing up with a lot of contemporary and performance art, where you have to go away and think about what you've seen so I personally enjoyed ruminating on the limited information presented by Zexcs' adaptation to understand the characters - so if Flowers of Evil not everyone's cup of tea, that's understandable (I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with Japanese culture, or isn't involved with the arts); judging by Bluray and DVD sales in Japan, it's not looking likely there'll be a Season 2...

At any rate, I congratulate Zexcs (who are known to be very experimental with their storytelling in anime) on adapting such a difficult story and for using rotoscoping in a time where moe-style and CGI-integration are the mode.


Moving on, I haven't quite made my mind up with Tari Tari as of yet, having only watched the first episode - the story seems a bit... light, but I like the animation and voices. PA Works' material take a bit of time to find their footing (as proved by Hanasaku Iroha and Another - shame about the OP song there), so maybe I'll feel different after the next 2 episodes.

I'm the same way inclined with Sankarea: Undying Love; I tried it again in English (I really don't like Maaya Uchida's voice) and found the story flowed much better, so much so I got to episode 3. But Ranko Saoji is putting me off watching anymore... maybe I'll read ahead in the manga to see if she develops into anything beyond Ms Fanservice...?

At any rate, me and a friend are currently enjoying Asatte no Houkou (Living for the Day After Tomorrow) and Gigitsune (Silver Fox) so it's not all bad.

I recently started Moonphase. I have mixed feelings about it, but for the most part, it's okay.

Sword Art Online is my fave new anime so far. It's pretty gripping!

Why is there such dislike for Another's OP, I don't see what is so wrong with it and I in fact like it.

My favourite shows after the first week are Outbreak Company and Yu-Shibu (Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku wo Ketsui Shimashita.), basically has what I need, moe and fantasy. with also Log Horizon, which has the coolest OP yet.

Well, I already finished Sweet Blue Flowers. I liked it so much and I feel really glad that I bought it on a whim! The story had a lot of heart, and took some surprising turns. I found the characters awfully cute, but it had much more that that to offer.

I also started Toradora, and I expect I'll blaze through that one as well. I haven't dug into my copy of Sankarea yet. Evidently, Funimation used the wrong set of masters to make the DVD/Blu-Ray, so I have the TV version. They're sending out the corrected release as soon as they manufacture it, though. I gave up on streaming it out of frustration with the Funimation site's crappy user interface, but I liked what I've read of the manga.

Tomorrow, I get the next episodes of My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Tsuritama, and Flowers of Evil via DirecTV On Demand, so I have that to look forward to. I watched the dub of Xam'd: Lost Memories that way, and it worked for me. I really liked the artistic inventiveness of that show. The dub of Dream Eater Merry bothered me a little, but again the art won out and I liked it a lot.

In my opinion, Ali Project's song just doesn't fit with Another's overall musical tone. I mean, the darkness and seriousness is there but the rhythm, the synthesisers, even the strange enunciation of the lyrics; I find it all a bit jarring (even somewhat cheap) compared to the more Kow Ohtani's (Shadow of the Colossus) more muted underscore in-show by, and Annabel's (Canaan) ending theme. If I had judged Another on the opening alone, I would not have watched it, presuming it was just an adaptation of some Japan-only PC/PSP game. But that's just my personal opinion, so don't worry about it - everyone's got their own tastes.

Xam'd Chronicles I'm actually reaching the tail end of and... hmmm..... make of it what you will. BONES animation is top-notch, the OP is pretty good, and other than one voice I felt was seriously miscast (see if you can guess who), the dub voices are actually OK. But as for story and characterisation.... ummm... judge for yourself.

I just watched the first episode of NouCome (Ore no Nōnai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Come o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru) aka (My mental choices are completely interfering with my school romantic comedy ), it was hilarious, had me laughing through most of it. Kind of reminded me of a mix of Haganai and Date A Live.

Coppelion has both of its songs done by angela, it got quite emotional in its second episode.

Kyoukai no Kanata had an improved second episode.