The Anime/Manga/Related Merchandise Thread

I bought Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery Service today as I may have spoken before on here that I would like to get into Anime more and from the outside Studio Ghibli seems the best jumping on point.

I've watched as you know Cowboy Bebop, Attack on Titan Season 1 & 2, Armitage III: Poly-Matrix along with the obvious stuff like Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon, Animatrix, Persona 4, Afro Samurai etc

That anime isn't new to me and I had been watching (I need to go back to it) Samurai Champloo on Netflix but I'm not one for series unless I'm jumping on near the start or it's short (like Bebop) that films are what I would prefer, do you guys think me picking up Ghibli is the right idea and is there any I should be getting first or anything else?

Double Combo

Watched Princess Mononoke the other night, I enjoyed it and I'm excited to watch Kiki but at the moment not in much of hurry to get more. I don't know if it was just hyped a bit too much for me.

Bebop is in the 26 episode margin correct?  That's typically the average length for most anime series actually, while long running shows like Naruto and Dragon Ball Super and One Piece pick up most of the gossip in more casual circles they're the sort of shows that are in the minority.  

As for Ghibli movies, I'm sure they're fine and all (can't comment as I've never actually watched one), but they've never struck me as "gateway" films to the medium at large.  They're the sort of films that have a mass appeal that expands beyond the medium, and typically aren't really what one would use to say "see, this is anime!" to a newbie.  Not that you shouldn't watch them of course, they're likely critically acclaimed for a reason, more that I'm saying if you've watched shows like Cowboy Bebop and Attack on Titan then you've passed the gate that mandates you be introduced to the medium through them.  (That said I really should sit down and watch some Ghibli films someday)

You've seen one gateway show already in Cowboy Bebop, other famous gateway series would include (off the top of my head): Fullmetal Alchemist (and its manga-faithful adaptation Brotherhood, overall it's a long journey but most would agree that to have the definitive FMA experience you would start with the original even with a third of it being "filler" due to its impeccable adaptation of the beginning of the story), Death Note, Attack on Titan, and so on.

From there you take the leap beyond series that have broad mass-appeal and would start to delve further into anime-anime.  These sorts of titles are for the slightly initiated that want something more and would include smash-hit shows from the 00's including: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (26 episodes excluding the recap episode that splits the two arcs), Code Geass (two 25 episode series), and more.  

More recently we had Steins;Gate (brilliant character-driven series involving a fantastic time-travel story) and Madoka Magica (excellent deconstruction of the magical girl genre).  There was also Kill la Kill, made by the same genius's who came up with Gurren Lagann.  

If it's movies you want though then you might want to check Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.  Both by the same mastermind and both are very wholesome films that are sure to please anybody from a hardcore anime fan to a newbie.

I could name a few other series, but those are definitely more for fully-indoctrinated fans.  They're the sort of shows that if you don't already know you're up for them then they're not going to be your thing.  Technically Madoka Magica's getting into that territory, but it's such a good series I feel compelled to give it a shout-out anyway.

I've seen Death Note and I own The Girl Who Leapt Through Time on Blu Ray as heard good things same with that Summer Wars.

The 20-30 episode length is about right for me for a series and got loads of added to my watch list on Netflix but I think films is more for me which includes one called Blame which is meant to be one of the best of 2017.

Paprika's a good one if you're looking for anime movie recommendations, Mas.

I bought 5 Blu Rays for £40 this afternoon from eBay which one of them is that.

Finished watching Samurai Champloo last night and it did grow me in the end & well worth a watch.

I might give that Devilman Crybaby a go next as heard lots of buzz around it.

Did not like the art style of Devilman Crybaby at all and just couldn't watch it. I have just finished watching Violet Evergarden on Netflix which I really enjoyed and one episode gets you right in the feels.

Persona 5 The Animation has started airing this past weekend on Crunchyroll, so I'll be checking the first episode out this evening. I've not watched a full series of a Persona animation yet, but I do like how they use the game's UI in the anime. Hoping for more of the same with P5's stylish menus bleeding into the anime.

I'm currently enjoying one punch man:

It's good fun and it's strong humor keeps it from getting old (4 episodes in) even though the overall plot of each episode is basically the same. When the formula is engaging though, it doesn't really matter.

That on Netflix, Muss?

I watched all of Persona 4 and Golden, both really good anime. I did watch the dubs which had the English cast back and I'm hoping the same happens for Persona 5 and I've been tempted to watch the 4 Persona 3 movies instead of actually playing the game.

Muss wrote:

I'm currently enjoying one punch man:

It's good fun and it's strong humor keeps it from getting old (4 episodes in) even though the overall plot of each episode is basically the same. When the formula is engaging though, it doesn't really matter.

WAN PAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNCH

Awesome anime - seconding this recommendation.

masofdas wrote:

That on Netflix, Muss?

Yes, get it watched Mas I think you will really enjoy it.

TOP baldness.

I've been staying mostly in Hostels here in Japan, with the occasional brief stay at a capsule hotel (or regular hotel). What most of these places have in common is a big manga collection for guests to read in the common area. However, mostly I've been going out and using my days to explore, so I've not done a great deal of reading.

Recently though I've stopped in Kyoto, where I'm applying for jobs, and bouncing from hostel to hostel. The last place I stayed actually had a couple of shelves of English language manga. Combine that with the fact that job applications are really boring and, well . . .

I read the first 30 volumes of Dragon Ball/ Dragon Ball Z.

Unpopular opinion: Buu arc was the best dbz arc

Toriyama went back to the whimsical sillyness that made the first 16 volumes so fun, and Buu was a great villain until his final form showed up and overstayed its welcome.

One Punch man is godly, hilarious and filled with badass action. It was also the last anime from modern times I watched besides Konosuba.

I haven't reached Buu yet so that's promising! I enjoy both sides of Dragon Ball, the whimsical silliness and the edgelord action, so I'm glad to hear it doesn't lose the former entirely.

I'm still a sucker for the Freeza arc - I can see why Toriyama wanted to wrap it up and call it a day after that as where could he go from there for a villain? It's why Cell felt a bit damp by comparison, I reckon.

Let me know if you get into it enough that you want to watch Super - I've got a fair few 48 hour guest passes for Crunchyroll Premium so you could power through it without ads, although I don't know if it'll be region locked in Japan.

Since my mangathon I've been watching some of the anime (I haven't watched anything past where I got up to in the books yet) and man, it is incredibly slow paced compared to bashing through it at a reading pace! Lots of pausing and not really doing anything, but when kung fu does happen it's exquisite.

I've never been convinced that Toriyama wanted to end it with Freeza, that thing* was left completely unresolved by Namek's end.  Cell suffered from a lot of executive meddling that undoubtedly hurt the arc, but the core of the story (Goku's past actions coming back with a vengeance) and especially how the Cell saga ended felt more like an intended conclusion.  

That said without the Buu saga we wouldn't have had the utterly fantastic developments involving Vegeta.  

As far as the anime vs the manga goes the manga can't be beat for pacing, but with that said the anime absolutely nails the legendary moments of the show, especially that scene near the end of the Cell saga.  A lot of people find Goku going ssj for the first time as the landmark moment of the series, but for me I feel a certain scene in the cell saga was more impactful.

If you do continue after Z I'd recommend to try and see Battle of Gods before super, as the movie was superbly paced compared to its anime adaptation and some of the moral subtleties of the main antagonist were lost as the anime directors wanted to cast him in a much more black/white light.   Super plays him much more as a straight villain whereas the movie shows it more as an understandable difference in moral values.  All of that and the fights are far better animated in the movie (understandably, it is a movie after all).

*That thing:

Athrun888 wrote:

I've never been convinced that Toriyama wanted to end it with Freeza, that thing* was left completely unresolved by Namek's end.

If you do continue after Z I'd recommend to try and see Battle of Gods before super, as the movie was superbly paced compared to its anime adaptation and some of the moral subtleties of the main antagonist were lost as the anime directors wanted to cast him in a much more black/white light.   Super plays him much more as a straight villain whereas the movie shows it more as an understandable difference in moral values.  All of that and the fights are far better animated in the movie (understandably, it is a movie after all).

*That thing:

Totally fair point about the thing. It would have been pretty short in comparison to the original Dragon Ball too, I suppose.

I second skipping the first arc of Super and just watching the movie instead. Some people would even recommend skipping the second arc and watching Revival of F instead, but I think the anime handles the whole arc better than the movie. Alternatively, the Manga is still chugging along at a steady rate and is working its way through the last arc in Super as we speak - by all accounts, it's really good, so might be worth a read.

My current thinking is to stick to mangas and movies for as long as I can, just because after whizzing through 30 volumes at breakneck speed, the glacial anime is absolutely killer for me. I'll probably watch big fights on youtube where I feel the need, but I can do without waiting for people to read out the dialogue at 1/10th the speed I can read it, then standing around making noises like they need a shit for five minutes to convey what the manga gets across in a panel

I've also hovered my finger over downloading Xenoverse 2 on my Switch a few times now . . .

JayMoyles wrote:

I'm still a sucker for the Freeza arc - I can see why Toriyama wanted to wrap it up and call it a day after that as where could he go from there for a villain? It's why Cell felt a bit damp by comparison, I reckon.

Let me know if you get into it enough that you want to watch Super - I've got a fair few 48-hour guests passes for Crunchyroll Premium so you could power through it without ads, although I don't know if it'll be region locked in Japan.

Anything on Crunchyroll, I should check out a part from Persona 5? I really should actually watch all the anime I can on Netflix first though as there is tonnes like One Punch Man which seems like the sort of Anime Athrun was talking about after the gateway stuff like Cowboy Bebop to watch.

There's only one Anime you should be watching and that is Neo Yokio on Netflix.

It's on my watchlist and I will now be the thing I watch after One Punch Man.