entertainment

[cornerofmadness]

First, the books I've read recently
reading list


And now i have netflix which means I've been getting a lot of anime lately, let me give a rundown

Chevelair D'Eon vaguely based on real historical events and a person in the prerevolutinary days of France. D'Eon in real life was a cross dresser. In the anime he's actually possessed by the spirit of his murdered sister and like the titles says he's a knight. It's very interesting. I'll be looking forward to volume 2 (i've been getting one vol. of each selection so I can sample)

Witchhunter Robin - I had found the back half of this series in a used bin in IN and it was boring but my flist loved it. Well after seeing #1 I do like it better (horrid voice actor in English for Robin) Basically they hunt down errant magic users and Robin herself does use magic (unlike her new companions).

Rurouni Kenshin set in the Meiji period it's part sword's action adventure melded with romantic comedy. It doesn't really work much for me (I know my Flist adores this). It's okay. They gave Kenshin an even more annoying speech eccentricity than he has in the manga.

Gunslinger Girls rather disturbing. Young (and I do mean young) girls who are dying from sickness or injury are turned into cyborg assassins under the control of their male handlers. It's creepy but interesting.

Slayers: return I thought this was something else, something i had seen when I was in Madison so it's been about 10 years...It wasn't this. This was easily one of the worst anime I've seen in years. It's badly drawn. It did have a plot. A ludicrous one but it was there...and worse the two main characters were so obnoxious. They're demon hunters/witches/who the hell knows what in it for the money, two women, one so big boobed you don't know how she stands up. She also has a laugh like a halloween witch bred with a donkey. Run from this. Somehow it earned 3 1/2 stars on Netflix. Gah.

D.N.Angel was one I had heard a lot about but I think it's too 'young' for me. The main character is 13. And apparently all his relatives are wizard/thieves and in him is Dark (a taller more handsome young man with black wings) and whenever he thinks about the girl he loves he turns into this creature. It's so odd. my REAL problem with this is the girl in question is so unworthy of anyone liking her that I just can't feel sorry for anyone in this.

Samurai Deeper Kyo almost wished it was as perverted as it sounds. This is another sword adventure where Demon-Eyed kyo is somehow melded with another young man, a rather perverted little pharamcist (i think) and of course everyone wants a piece of Demon-Eyed Kyo. I might get the next one just to see...

Get Backers This i liked a lot. They're both two unusually powered individuals (with lousy money sense) one has the ability to make you have nightmares at a glance and he has a super strong grip and the other is like a human electric eel. What do they do? If you lost something, they get it back. Has a jazzy sound track too.

(and yes I should be talking about the first day back but I'm tired so tomorrow)

Comments

[lyricnonsense.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I found Chevalier D'Eon really interesting at first, but by the end of the first disc, my interest had waned, though this might be due to the fact that I was watching it around finals week. So I'll be interested to hear more about it.

As for DN Angel, I agree wholeheartedly about the stupid long-haired twin. But I like watching the Dark parts in dub just for the sheer weird-out factor of hearing Ed's voice come out of Dark's mouth, saying very suave, non-Ed things.

We watched Get Backers in anime club a year ago, and I found the first season fun, but the second one dragged on a bit. The premise really couldn't support two very long power-up style arcs, at least for me.

The boy's been trying to get me into Rurouni Kenshin for absolute years, but I've never found it as good as everyone else seems to think. The OVA Samurai X, I thought was fantastic though.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

oh i've always found that things in my life effect my viewing pleasure. Then again maybe by the end I'll not like ANY of these (I'm only on disc one of each)

But yes DN ANgel the premise is weird and his lady love is practically cruel to him. I can't get into that.

Get Backers like i said I'm only on Disc one but i could see how this would be limited.

i have no clue what everyone sees in Kenshin. It's all right but whatever.

I'm sort of the same with Ouran High School Host Club (the manga since netflix doesn't seem to have the anime). It's like okay, it's kinda cute but it's more annoying

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

I've heard of Witchhunter Robin, Gunslinger Girls and DN Angel. HAven't gotten to check them out yet. A friend of mine watches Samurai Deeper, but I can't get into it. I love Rurouni Kenshin, I'm a sucker for culture and history even if they do warp it a bit. I just tune it out when he keeps saying, "That I do".

Oh, and I just found out which Saiyuki character Vic does, It's Kougaiji. I can see that. How weird would it be hearing Ed's voice from someone else?

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Yep Vic does a lot of voices,Kougaiji being one and lyricnonsense just mentioned he does Dark in DN ANgel too

I love history and culture too but I don't see RK in that sense even though I know it's what it's famous for. Maybe if the villians weren't so ridiculous looking.

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the RK villains don't even look human. Doesn't it drive you crazy?

I've read the first and possibly second volume of DN Angel. Now that you've mentioned that, I will obsessively surf for the English version. I did rather like Dark.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yes that is one of the things I dislike the most about RK.

Maybe DN Angel's manga is better. I did like Dark and whatever the hell the boy's name is but it's a little too...youngish for me and like I said, the love interest is a bitch so...

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

Bwahahaha, she annoyed me too. Ever see/read Fullmetal Panic? She's obnoxious too.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

no i haven't and i understand there's two very different series for FMP

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

So I've heard.

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

> How weird would it be hearing Ed's voice from someone else?

Oh man. As I mentioned in another comment, I've started watching series on our local Anime-on-Demand network, and boy. Vic doing voices!

Jin in Innocent Venus
Raven in Gravion
Yukito in Air TV
Benawi in Utawarerumono

The last is actually my favourite. After hearing him only as Ed, you'd not think he could sound so...well, noble. But wow. Is he good!

Actually, my preoccupation with the voice actors has put a germ of a cross-over fic idea in my head: pulling several characters done by one actor, and putting them into a story in one of the worlds of one of the characters. It would be a blast!

But anyway. Vic as anybody is pretty impressive.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

you know I've not heard of ANY of those. I'll have to go look them up.

you and my friend flippy. I'm so blind to VA I barely recognize them when told.

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

I get so that I can start watching a new series, and after a few minutes I'm yelling, "That's Jay Hickman! Woo!" or "There's Chris Patton again!" (Two of my top four voice actors, including David Kaye, the guy who does Sesshomaru (sp?) on Inuyasha, and Sam Vincent, the guy who does Athrun in Gundam Seed; Chris Patton did Greed, on FMA. Among a gazillion others.)

After a while, all the previous characters I've seen, that a particular VA did, start colouring my view of the new character I'm seeing. So I find myself thinking, "Do all of Jay Hickman's characters end up victimizing younger people in some way?" (To which the answer is: Yes; well, except for when he's Mytho, in Princess Tutu.)

So the voice actors become a very large part of my enjoyment of a series. I can put up with a lot (see: Gravion, and jiggle) for favourite voice actors (Vic Mignogna, and Greg Ayres).

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

snort you and my friend, flippy. I think the only time i even recognized a voice actor was to think 'hey I think the kid doing Eon on Trinity Blood' is Alphonse...

About the only VA I've ever sat there thinking, wow great voice is Mustang's.

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, yeah. I can't think of a better match of voice and character. (Like melted chocolate. Num!)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

exactly

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

yes, vic is the man. OooOoers, crossovers. That would be funny. I've never heard of those anime, I'll have to look them up.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

netflix had the latter two

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

On the channel I'm watching, they're about halfway (maybe less) through Utawarerumono, and I've heard it alters character somewhat in the second half (some liking that, and others not as thrilled). I can't comment on that bit, but I can say that I'm really finding it great so far.

The intro and end music are so beautiful that I can never fast-forward through that, the way I usually do for most series. The colour in this series is amazing.

I've only seen two episodes of Air TV so far, so I can't comment on whether it's ultimately a good series or not. Vic's character in that (the main character) is sort of like a much milder Edward Elric though with, um, a bit less of a work ethic. :-) It's a "search" type of story, with him seeking some kind of mythical "girl in the sky," and so far there are several young girls who could be possible incarnations of this person. So I would guess that it's got a bit of a "younger" flavour to it. Though even that type of series always has interesting dramatic moments. We'll see.

As to the other two series, Gravion and Innocent Venus, I've also only seen two episodes of I.V. It looks to be rather darker than Air TV, being a post-apocalyptic type of story. I'm looking forward to seeing if it lives up to that promise; I tend to prefer darker series, or at least ones with complex stories and a lot of drama. /vulture

And then Gravion. *sigh* Yes, it's definitely a "jiggle" anime (all those maids in their skimpy uniforms; all the big boobs, grrr!). And yes, it's got the robots that join up to become a bigger robot, and fight the aliens, blah blah. Not always my cup of tea (though Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, and Gundam Seed Destiny were my first love, till I discovered Roy Mustang. But I digress...).

But even in that series, there are some high drama moments. It, and its followup (Gravion Zwei) together comprise a complete 24-episode story, and the second half gets quite dramatic and reveals a pretty intense back-story to the whole thing. So...despite the jiggle and so on, I do rather like it. Sort of a guilty pleasure, I think.

But I'd never recommend buying that one till you've seen it somewhere first. Utawarerumono, on the other hand, I'd recommend very highly so far. (By the way, apparently it's going to be released in the U.S. under a different name: something like Shadow Warriors. That's the rumour I read, anyway.)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Utawarerumono and Air TV are on Netflix so I added them to the cue. Gravion doesn't sound all that interesting (thanks for letitng me know what it was) Innocent Venus sounds interesting. Netflix doesn't have it (and surprisingly doesn't have Ouran High School Host Club either)

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

I've watched 12 or 13 episodes of Le Chevalier so far on my Anime-on-Demand channel, and I'm loving it. For me, it took a while to build up, but it's really gotten intriguing now.

I also loved Witch Hunter Robin. I wanted it to go on, actually, because I felt that they could have developed it further. But I enjoyed it, anyway.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

i have a feeling trying to come into Witchhunter mid-series was a bad move on my part. Might think about watching it only in Japanese too since i don't like the VA.

I was going to write historical fic based on D'Eon years ago then realized I didn't know enough FRENCH history to do so and really France doesn't interest me enough to warrant the research

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

And really...even after seeing 11 or 12 episodes, each time a new one ends, I find myself thinking, "I have no idea what this series is about." Hee! I know a bit of the history, but there's so much going on underneath this story that I'm sure I won't really understand it till it's all over. If then. Heh.

But I really like the characters. And I love the idea of D'Eon's sister possessing him. I'd like to write a story with that element, just to try to capture the struggle.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yes that is interesting. D'Eon makes for a compelling character.

i got less interested in the real D'Eon when i found out his crossdressing days started after his spy days

[kashicat.livejournal.com]

So he really did do the crossdressing thing in real life? (Obviously, I haven't gotten around to googling on this one.) That's fascinating. So the anime story was obviously using that as the motif upon which to build the plot. Very interesting.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

ohyes, he lived the latter half of his life as a woman

[absolutefiction.livejournal.com]

I tried watching the anime for Samurai Deeper Kyo but I couldn't stay with it. I found that the manga was a lot better in terms of pervertedness. But I'm glad that you're giving it a shot. I really like this manga.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

the anime was okay. I haven't seen the manga yet (but honestly, i've yet to see an anime as good as the manga it comes from)

[absolutefiction.livejournal.com]

(Yeah, you got a point there.)