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LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 15 Jul 2015, 21:26
by James
Beej, Heather, Cori and Ian are back to talk about this seasons offerings in the world of Anime.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 15 Jul 2015, 23:42
by Dusk_Shine
I'm certain someone has already said this to Beej before, but Shokugeki no Soma actually does get more serious fairly soon into the series, and eventually the fanservicey bits do become more about the comic relief factor that one would expect. Personally, I just kinda pushed through it in the early episodes, even sort of scrubbing through those sequences when I could.

I can understand how one might be turned off by it based on personal preferences, but I would still recommend the series to others, on the provision that you kinda have to be willing to accept some very odd comic relief for a couple episodes to really get invested into the show.

Still, to each his/her own. :)

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 16 Jul 2015, 06:19
by HeyZootie
You guys mentioned a couple of shows which are getting into my area of interest, so I thought I'd toss in a couple of shows you might find enjoyable.

I really only like shows with adult-level stories, and way prefer those with a good setting that gets explored. I also love me some sci fi, so I'd like to mention Psycho-Pass. It's along the same future-society level as GITS / Minority Report, but I think it's way more "pure sci-fi", as in an exploration of how people react and adapt to new techologies. Psycho-pass is about a look into a future society where Big Brother can literally scan your mind to determine if you're a person who is mentally capable of committing a crime. If so, it takes immediate action. Warning, it's got a strong murder-mystery element to it which goes right into horror in a couple of places, so take that into consideration.

I also love me some historical period pieces where we really get a slice of the life. So I'd like to mention Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit as a beautiful example of this. It's a historical fantasy, but if you took the fantasy out you'd still have a great historical experience, and that's the attraction for me anyways.

Just wanted to put those in there.

Edit: found out both shows are on Netflix, so cool :)

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 16 Jul 2015, 10:09
by nubrain
I'm a little surprised that you didn't mention Blood Blockade Battle front or Assassination Classroom's second half which along with My love story were my top 3 of the last season.

Also unless there are two shows with the premise of an English family eating food in Japan than I think that the show that Bejee was talking about is on www.viewster.com as Sushi and Beyond or atleast is is in the US so hopefully it's there in Canada too. I don't use that site much myself as most things I want to watch are on crunchy roll or funimation's sites

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 16 Jul 2015, 10:23
by Jonci
Yeah, definitely should keep going with Food Wars. This is the anime all my anime-watching friends are talking about. That first episode was a little extreme, probably to catch people into an anime about dueling chefs.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 18 Jul 2015, 09:02
by LunarJade
HeyZootie wrote:You guys mentioned a couple of shows which are getting into my area of interest, so I thought I'd toss in a couple of shows you might find enjoyable.

I really only like shows with adult-level stories, and way prefer those with a good setting that gets explored. I also love me some sci fi, so I'd like to mention Psycho-Pass. It's along the same future-society level as GITS / Minority Report, but I think it's way more "pure sci-fi", as in an exploration of how people react and adapt to new techologies. Psycho-pass is about a look into a future society where Big Brother can literally scan your mind to determine if you're a person who is mentally capable of committing a crime. If so, it takes immediate action. Warning, it's got a strong murder-mystery element to it which goes right into horror in a couple of places, so take that into consideration.

I also love me some historical period pieces where we really get a slice of the life. So I'd like to mention Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit as a beautiful example of this. It's a historical fantasy, but if you took the fantasy out you'd still have a great historical experience, and that's the attraction for me anyways.

Just wanted to put those in there.

Edit: found out both shows are on Netflix, so cool :)


I have seen Moribito. Really enjoyed that series when it came out. Netflix has a decent selection of anime so I'm glad that one has also made it to their list.

Psycho-Pass I've heard mentioned every now and then. I'll add it to my list of things to check out. Thanks for the recommendations!

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 19 Jul 2015, 02:48
by Antitonic
Beej dropping the anime bombs here. Same as last time, I was listening like "Oh, that sounds interesting. Yeah, I could see that, I guess." with nothing really leaping out at me. Then Beej casually drops Gakkou Gurashi like it's no big thing.

Last anime-cast it was Yamada-kun, this time it's Gakkou Gurashi. What evil news do you have to ruin and hype up my day do you have next, Beej?

(Also Truthism, but I knew about that one :P )

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 19 Jul 2015, 06:25
by Eric the Orange
Cmon Beej, you like snake tits but you can't deal with the overt fan service in cooking battles?

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 20 Jul 2015, 14:48
by Beej
Eric the Orange wrote:Cmon Beej, you like snake tits but you can't deal with the overt fan service in cooking battles?


Yup.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 20 Jul 2015, 16:49
by sacred_rhino
I listen while I am driving long distance and was wondering, if there isn't a list somewhere already, would it be possible to get a list of the shows mentioned so once myself or anyone in my shoes gets a chance to look into them they have somewhere to start. Listening with a piece of paper sitting in front of me to jot down notes I would most certainly spell incorrectly isn't very possible. If not I understand. Thought I would ask.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 21 Jul 2015, 02:53
by MadWaltz
After listening to the podcast, I went and watched Inferno Cop. I have no idea what I just watched, but whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it was awesome.

LunarJade wrote:I have seen Moribito. Really enjoyed that series when it came out. Netflix has a decent selection of anime so I'm glad that one has also made it to their list.

If you liked Seirei no Moribito, you might also want to try Kemono no Souja Erin (Beast Player Erin) which is by the same author. Basically, it's about two kinds of beasts that are important to the country the show is set in, and follows a girl who wants to become a veterinarian for beasts. Personally, I enjoyed it about as much as Moribito.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 21 Jul 2015, 11:44
by HeyZootie
LunarJade wrote:
HeyZootie wrote:<snip>


I have seen Moribito. Really enjoyed that series when it came out. Netflix has a decent selection of anime so I'm glad that one has also made it to their list.

Psycho-Pass I've heard mentioned every now and then. I'll add it to my list of things to check out. Thanks for the recommendations!


You're most welcome :) I don't actually like horror (like at all) and I'm not too fond of what they made the central system of Psycho-Pass out to be. But I made myself endure those parts on a rewatch because I enjoyed the rest of it that much. Especially the serious sci-fi questions (panopticon civilization, filtering people for violent tendencies until the population literally doesn't comprehend violence, how authority can shield someone from psychological responsibility for killing, how the inevitable crack in the system will be exploited, etc.). Lot of concepts I think are applicable to the not-so-distant future being explored there.

Hope you enjoy it!

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 27 Jul 2015, 05:48
by Odyzeus
Thank you for this show! This was a lot of fun - enough for me to go back and watch the Winter anime recap and the Best of 2014.

I liked a lot of your recommendations, including Assassination Classroom and Yamada and the 7 witches (did you know there's a Live adaptation to that? less fan servicey obviously).

I'm also gunning now for the Fate series and Knights of Sidonia, an crossing my fingers for more JoJo (still surprised at how much I like this show).

Earlier this year I've watched an old show because of it's relation to a great board game "Tragedy Looper". The show was Higurashi (When they cry) and I was wondering if any of you ever watched it.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 28 Jul 2015, 11:02
by Beej
Odyzeus wrote:Earlier this year I've watched an old show because of it's relation to a great board game "Tragedy Looper". The show was Higurashi (When they cry) and I was wondering if any of you ever watched it.


I've not watched Higurashi and I probably won't go near it. Something about the violence *I've heard about* in that show didn't make it that appealing. It's by Urobuchi Gen, right? The only thing I've watched of his is Madoka Magica and while I thought that was good, I don't think I could watch more of his style.

Heather's got all of Higurashi, but I don't think she's watched any of it.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 28 Jul 2015, 20:52
by Odyzeus
Actually I don't think he's related to Higurashi at all. All I can find is that he worked on Fate/Zero.

Madoka Magica was indeed disturbing, in some ways it was more psychologically troubling than most shows I've watched, quite besides the physical violence.

The way Higurashi is built, while there is violence and despair,it is not always the main focus of the show for the viewer, while the mystery of Higurashi is. That mystery tugging at me was the main draw point of this show, and it's connection to the boardgame.
Also, because of how the show is built it is not a constant downward spiral into misery and pain, but more like a sinus wave, rising and falling at intervals.

Perhaps the biggest downside, is that we only stat getting any real resolutions after 20+ episodes.

But it's probably best if you get a proper recommendation from someone who both knows your tastes and dislikes and had already seen this show.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 08:25
by LunarJade
Beej wrote:
Odyzeus wrote:Earlier this year I've watched an old show because of it's relation to a great board game "Tragedy Looper". The show was Higurashi (When they cry) and I was wondering if any of you ever watched it.


I've not watched Higurashi and I probably won't go near it. Something about the violence *I've heard about* in that show didn't make it that appealing. It's by Urobuchi Gen, right? The only thing I've watched of his is Madoka Magica and while I thought that was good, I don't think I could watch more of his style.

Heather's got all of Higurashi, but I don't think she's watched any of it.


I've watched the first couple of episodes. It was a long time ago I saw them though. I've been meaning to get to that series. I have a large backlog of things I want to watch, read, and play. I go through a lot of spurts of watching stuff and then watching nothing which also doesn't help decrease that backlog.

Personally I thought it looked interesting and I do want to watch it at some point. At least more of it than I have.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 13:43
by Odyzeus
LunarJade wrote: I go through a lot of spurts of watching stuff and then watching nothing which also doesn't help decrease that backlog.

Personally I thought it looked interesting and I do want to watch it at some point. At least more of it than I have.


I go through similar cycles, especially regarding anime. I'm happy to say that thanks to your recap I'm back on the "right" side of the cycle: Yamada and the seven witches is behind me, as is assassination classroom (1st season and the rest of the manga), as well as half of Fate/Zero :roll: .
The rest of the shows are lining up for their turn :oops:

As for Higurashi, the whole show is divided into arcs. If and when you get back into it, I highly recommend not stopping at the end of an arc, but rather after a couple of episodes into it, as you have - otherwise you'd be left with one of two feelings "Oh god why?!" or "WTF did I just see?!" with answers a long time in coming. A new arc help sooth that feeling :lol:

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 05 Aug 2015, 15:24
by Beej
I just now - JUST NOW - realized that this episode should've been titled "2015 Spring Anime Recap (Summer Preview)". Since I gave James the title, I have no one to blame but myself.

For the next one we do, I'll make sure we get it right. Or come up with a better naming convention.

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 05 Aug 2015, 17:26
by Antitonic
2015 Summer Anime Recap 2: Recap Harder?

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 06 Aug 2015, 05:46
by Odyzeus
Wow the naming conventions in the LRRcast are really strict! who knew?

Re: LRRcast - Summer Anime Recap

Posted: 12 Aug 2015, 01:32
by SixFootTurkey
I find Ian's hatred of K-On to be rather silly. I'm not saying he should like it, but it seems he had gone into the show with incorrect assumptions and then critiqued it based purely on whether or not it met his expectations. I found it to be a cute and fun anime, that knew exactly what it wanted to do, and then did it.

The critique I heard other than focusing on the characters and the macro elements of music rather than micro, was something along the lines of them 'being good without ever practicing.' While Yui doesn't from the start and is a bit of a scatterbrain throughout, there's a definite shift early on. I'm curious if Ian finished the anime, or if not how far he got, as a lot of what he said about it didn't really match up with my experience.

(One other note: love Nodame Cantabile, but I'm not sure why Ian seemed to be expecting the same level of focus on 'making it'; one is about college students at a music conservatory aiming to go professional, the other is comparatively about 'a bunch of casuals having fun.')