Recent Anime
Jan. 3rd, 2012 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eastofthemoonIt occurred to me that I haven't discussed the recent anime I've been watching, so I figured why not now.
First off, it's Fate Zero. This requires some explains, Fate Zero is the prequel to the series Fate Stay Night. (It was originally was a visual novel which I'm told is ten times better than the anime version that was made by Studio DEEN. However, the Fate Unlimited Bladeworks movie and Fate Zero are made by UFO Table.) To put it in simple terms, Fate Stay Night is about magic users summoning heroic spirits so they can fight for the Holy Grail. The main character Shiro summons a female king Arthur (no, I'm not kidding), one summons an Irish hero, etc. I'm not going to give too many spoilers.
The creator of Fate Stay Night gave permission to Gen Urobuchi to write a prequel novel which takes place in the Grail War ten years before the current series.
For those who don't know, Gen Urobuchi work Puella Magi Madoka Magica and that was considered a happy series for him. So, yeah, you can imagine this is a dark series.
I'm watching it due to both Stu and Jon being big fans of Fate Stay Night and honestly...I'm enjoying it greatly. It has a lot of interesting characters, but I really watch it for Iskander and Waver. Iskander is awesome and hilarious to watch, they just steal the show.
It also has a good plot going on, and even though I know it's not going to end well, I do want to see how this ends. I will warn people, this is a really, dark series at times. Due to one of the spirits summons being Gilles de Rais, there are child deaths in this. You don't see them on screen, but it's heavily implied. (There was a scene I had to ask the guys to tell me when it was over, because I had shut my eyes.) So, just keep that in mind.
Here's a scene of Iskander to show off his awesomeness, be warn this is a bit of a spoiler, but I just had to share this.
The other anime we've been watching is Persona 4 The Animation. It's an anime version of the game of the same name. I haven't played the game myself, but Jon has and he thinks it's a good version so far, and I'm loving it. I'm thrilled to hear it's been picked up for a North American release already.
It has an interesting ongoing mystery and a great cast of characters. The show so far has a nice mixture of humour, drama and action. There are filler episodes, but even I would argue that they're more for character development and just to give us a break. One thing I particularly like is what the writer does with the main character, Narukami. In the game, from what I understand, he's a blank character so the player can answer questions to whoever they want.
In the anime, the writer still were able to make he seem like a blank character, but he still has a bit of his own personality. There are plenty of times when he's snarky, but his blank facial expressions to situations are really funny.
I would say this is a good show for people that liked Slayers, Tales of the Abyss, etc. This show gives me a similar vibe to them.
We're also currently almost done Utena which we are greatly enjoying. I am glad I chose now to watch the series and now when I was younger because I doubt I would have understood the hidden meanings to the story and characters. I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much then as I do now.
To finish things off, there is an anime series that is suppose to air this month and I want to check out. It's called Bodacious Space Pirates and seems to be about a girl that inherits a space pirate ship and crew from her late father. I'll save final judgement until I see it, but it looks interesting.
First off, it's Fate Zero. This requires some explains, Fate Zero is the prequel to the series Fate Stay Night. (It was originally was a visual novel which I'm told is ten times better than the anime version that was made by Studio DEEN. However, the Fate Unlimited Bladeworks movie and Fate Zero are made by UFO Table.) To put it in simple terms, Fate Stay Night is about magic users summoning heroic spirits so they can fight for the Holy Grail. The main character Shiro summons a female king Arthur (no, I'm not kidding), one summons an Irish hero, etc. I'm not going to give too many spoilers.
The creator of Fate Stay Night gave permission to Gen Urobuchi to write a prequel novel which takes place in the Grail War ten years before the current series.
For those who don't know, Gen Urobuchi work Puella Magi Madoka Magica and that was considered a happy series for him. So, yeah, you can imagine this is a dark series.
I'm watching it due to both Stu and Jon being big fans of Fate Stay Night and honestly...I'm enjoying it greatly. It has a lot of interesting characters, but I really watch it for Iskander and Waver. Iskander is awesome and hilarious to watch, they just steal the show.
It also has a good plot going on, and even though I know it's not going to end well, I do want to see how this ends. I will warn people, this is a really, dark series at times. Due to one of the spirits summons being Gilles de Rais, there are child deaths in this. You don't see them on screen, but it's heavily implied. (There was a scene I had to ask the guys to tell me when it was over, because I had shut my eyes.) So, just keep that in mind.
Here's a scene of Iskander to show off his awesomeness, be warn this is a bit of a spoiler, but I just had to share this.
The other anime we've been watching is Persona 4 The Animation. It's an anime version of the game of the same name. I haven't played the game myself, but Jon has and he thinks it's a good version so far, and I'm loving it. I'm thrilled to hear it's been picked up for a North American release already.
It has an interesting ongoing mystery and a great cast of characters. The show so far has a nice mixture of humour, drama and action. There are filler episodes, but even I would argue that they're more for character development and just to give us a break. One thing I particularly like is what the writer does with the main character, Narukami. In the game, from what I understand, he's a blank character so the player can answer questions to whoever they want.
In the anime, the writer still were able to make he seem like a blank character, but he still has a bit of his own personality. There are plenty of times when he's snarky, but his blank facial expressions to situations are really funny.
I would say this is a good show for people that liked Slayers, Tales of the Abyss, etc. This show gives me a similar vibe to them.
We're also currently almost done Utena which we are greatly enjoying. I am glad I chose now to watch the series and now when I was younger because I doubt I would have understood the hidden meanings to the story and characters. I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much then as I do now.
To finish things off, there is an anime series that is suppose to air this month and I want to check out. It's called Bodacious Space Pirates and seems to be about a girl that inherits a space pirate ship and crew from her late father. I'll save final judgement until I see it, but it looks interesting.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 03:49 am (UTC)The title and trailer for Space Pirates make me a liiittle unsure, but I'd like to check it out once it airs.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 02:24 pm (UTC)Fate Stay Night is the least liked of the three and of course that's the one they chose to make an anime from first. Fans of the series REALLY don't like what DEEN did with the anime version.
Titles can often be
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 03:09 pm (UTC)I think part of your reply got cut off there! But titles can be misleading, so I'll at least check it out.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 03:36 pm (UTC)I was going to say, titles can be misleading. Look at Princess Tutu, who would have thought it had the deep plot it did with that for it's name. It could very well be a fanservice show, but I'll save final judgement after I see the show.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 03:48 pm (UTC)Princess Tutu is a pretty good example! I don't think I ever would've looked at it based on the title until I got the recommendation. At least all the new ones are starting soon, so it won't be long!