The Worst Anime You've Watched Recently

[Phyrox]

I recently watched "super atragon," and that qualifies as the worst anime I've seen recently. I haven't been watching much, so that could be part of it, but it was so flat and boring. It didn't make my stomach turn, so it wasn't the worst thing ever, but it failed on every level to entertain me.

[Sundown]

Again, even though GOTF isn't intended to be propaganda, I dare say that it "works" in a similar way to how propaganda works-- by omitting bits of historical reality that might dampen the emotions the work's trying to invoke.

374400[/snapback]

Propoganda to what end?

374662[/snapback]

I like I said, GOTF isn't propaganda. It doesn't have a political end-- its chief aim is simply to show suffering, build sympathy for those who suffered in war (here, children in WWII), and to evoke emotion from the viewer. It's not propaganda, but it does rely partly on omission in order to achieve its artistic ends.

If they had wanted to make the argument that you're making, then the enemy would have been portrayed as something other than an act of god/nature. For all intents and purposes, you could easily substitute an earthquake or volcano for the bombs and the film's meaning wouldn't change a bit. Really, what the film is saying is not all that complicated: people treat each other like poo.

Well, it does seem like the "enemy" in GOTF was something other than an act of nature. It appears to be human apathy and war. I really can't view GOTF and feel like it's not making at least some commentary on war, especially given the prominent anti-war sentiments of the Japanese culture. And I think the creator knew that his message (whatever we think it is) wouldn't have the same resonance if he chose to use a volcano instead of historical WWII as the story's backdrop. It just wouldn't hit the Japanese psyche in the same harrowing way. That's why GOTF isn't an animated take on the last days of Pompei. But if he's going to be invoking history and tapping into the national psyche, then I think some responsibility falls on him to at least address those facts that might affect his telling.

Edited March 1, 2006 by Sundown

[VF-18S Hornet]

You're kidding, right?

374626[/snapback]

No not really, though i'll admit its been a really long time since i watched this.

Now that i really think about it. I'd have to say that Dragon Ball Z is probably my least favorite Anime of all time.

I liked "Dragon Ball" alot but "Z" i didn't like at all.

The characters (besides picolo), the story, the plot, the pacing, the locations, the animation, their diagetic world.. i didn't/don't (is it still running?) like any of it.

Maybe its just the american version but something that really annoyed me was how they constantly were saying "I'm going to send him to another demension". Couldn't they just suck up the nuts to say "I'm gonna kill him" or something?

I realize goku died (or something) and spent like 4 months as a halo wearing guy, but wasn't that because he was "dead" and not "sent to another demension"?

anyway DBZ ew.

374738[/snapback]

It was the Pioneer edited version of the Saiyan saga. Funimation released the uncut version wich was airing on CN's toonami block for awhile until the Pioneer version reared it ugly head. Some concerned parent must have complained because it was getting interesting for once.

[VF-18S Hornet]

for me the most recent bad anime i watched was Bobo Bo Bobobo or whatever it is spelled, i was waiting for Naruto to come on and i left the TV on and watched one episode, my brain is still hurting from the sheer stupidity of it.

372772[/snapback]

LOL, that's why Zeo-Mare I never watch it, hoping it gets cancelled after 10 episode. When it was advertised my thought was this. WTF were those F**(##(*&^**ing idiots at Cartoon Network thinking when they thought that this show was a good idea to bring on the air. like I said before Toonami hasn't been the same since they moved it to Saturday night

[VF-18S Hornet]

Not exactly Anime, (but given the amount of CG, it might well have been) But my friend and I had to shut off the Movie Casshern 3/4ths of the way through it was so bad. within 5 minutes we had already lost the plot, and no amount of fancy visuals was going to save that movie.

372468[/snapback]

Casshern, I heard about this. Was this some dude that looked like a mecha-ninja? It was a Japanese live action/CG production if I remember correctly?

372492[/snapback]

Yes, a very terrible live action with very heavy CG...

Graveyard of the Fireflies is a tough one. It was gutsy to show that perspective of the war. However the plot was a bit thin. The stuff that gets decent word of mouth and good reviews by US critics is usually the most plotless stuff.

Wow, I'm just speechless... Hotaru is one of the finest pieces of storytelling I have ever watched, and most people who have seen it say the same thing. How you could even consider posting it in a thread called "the worst anime" is beyond me, or say that "its success is based on word of mouth, but its really plotless" It deserves every accolade it gets.

It told war in a way that few films would ever dare to, and the story reflected that. There isn't any great climaxes or huge story lines, but it showed the true hardships of war, the stuff that you never ever see, that people should know about.

I guess once the B-29s passed by your interest in the film must have plummeted.

372675[/snapback]

The emotional content made it good

Father presumed dead, Mom gets burned & dies, Sister starves & dies ,and the Brother too. My female freinds have cried like babies watching this

372687[/snapback]

You think you have it bad, my sister Kathy cried at the end of Poke-mon the first movie talk about embarrasing it's just a cartoon.

[Seven]

Again, even though GOTF isn't intended to be propaganda, I dare say that it "works" in a similar way to how propaganda works-- by omitting bits of historical reality that might dampen the emotions the work's trying to invoke.

374400[/snapback]

Propoganda to what end?

374662[/snapback]

I like I said, GOTF isn't propaganda. It doesn't have a political end-- its chief aim is simply to show suffering, build sympathy for those who suffered in war (here, children in WWII), and to evoke emotion from the viewer. It's not propaganda, but it does rely partly on omission in order to achieve that artistic end.

374929[/snapback]

I don't believe that the story relies on the omission of the facts you speak of, its just that the movie would not be true to the original material or experiences if it injected something that was out of its scope. It is not an omission in any conscious thought of the director or screenwriter in my opinion, rather a detail that does not fit into the narrative. If one were to write a 2 hour movie about WW2, I doubt anyone could fit in all the details and miscellanea of such epic scale covering politics, suffering, technology, battle tactics, and etc etc. So people write stories that cover what they can cover. In this case, fitting in political commentary (even disguised as townpeople talk) would probably not flow well.

[Sundown]

Moreover the choice of adapting this book begs the question, why would someone adapt it in the first place. We're talking about Isao Takaha and Miyazaki here. I don't think these two individuals are anywhere close to the right wing propagandists or apologists that both you and sundowner are trying to paint them as, or even individuals who are minutely ignorant of history. Miyazaki has always had left leaning tendencies, and I suspect he would be the first to acknowledge Japan's culpability in WW2. Watching both of their films, there is a clear message towards the  aversion to war and violence. Look at Nausicaa, or Laputa.

I'm not painting either Miyazaki or Takahata as right wing propgandists or apologists. That should be pretty plain in all that I've blabbed on about. I don't think they're ignorant either. My hunch is that they're part of a conciousness that tends to dissociate themselves from the atrocities and actions that instigated WWII in the pacific, and because war has become a general and unspecific evil, it is something to be avoided for its own sake. Aversion to war isn't the same thing as taking responsibility for those many actions committed long before and leading up to the war. But still, they are certainly not the hawkish nationalists who defend Japans actions in WWII.

In Nausicaa, the protagonist is all about peace and understanding with nature. You can draw clear lines with Dorok empire and how "bad" empires can be, even when righteous in their retaliation.  Cooperation and understanding are key themes, and there isn't a wiff of apologizing for Japan’s atrocities in those films. To call Hotaru some sort of Japanese apologist piece, whether intentional or not, would be a major aberration from the themes these two artists have pounded over and over again.

However, when viewed through the lens of their other films, it is clear that this film does follow their long tradition in pacifism, and the view that certain individuals are the ones that are hurt the most by war.

I would agree with you completely. GOTF is absolutely anti-war, and isn't meant to be apologetic in the least. It's just missing certain parts of historical reality in its telling, parts that I think might actually affect the telling (for both good and bad). It suggests that we should avoid war in order to spare innocents from suffering and in order to avoid such suffering ourselves. But it fails to mention the other half of the historical equation-- that such wars were the inevitable consequence of causing others to suffer without provocation.

It really has the best of both worlds-- promoting peace without exposing the viewer to national shame, although I'm even less sure that this is the intent than I was before, now knowing that GOTF is based on a semi-autographical novel.

So really, the contention that these directors are ignorant of history, doesn't really hold any water. I think they have been quite perceptive in the past about the causes of war, in ways that very few other artists ever have. Read Miyazaki's Nausicaa manga, and you'll see that.

374680[/snapback]

Being perceptive of what causes war in general and wanting to avoid the suffering it could bring-- and being forthright in pointing out the actual things ones nation did to provoke justified retaliation, and then taking responsibility for that as a member of that nation, are in fact completely different things.

Miyazaki and Takahata are hardly ignorant. And I don't doubt that he hopes Japan continues to avoid repeating those past actions that brought upon war. But I have hardly ever heard a Japanese author or creator flat out say, "Look at what we have done to start this. Look at the suffering we caused before we ever became victims. And look at the suffering we received at the hands of those who had no other way to respond-- who indeed were justified in responding the way they did. But even with no retaliation, these acts would remain an evil even worse than war itself."

I get the impression from this quote that the book was never about war and who was right or wrong but about these two children’s personal struggle, and as jelenien so put it "how people suck." ITs not supposed to answer those questions you want to saddle it with.

Now that I understand that GOTF is based on a semi-autobiographical novel, it does change my perception a bit. I can understand that the original author might not even have had any thought of cause, effect, and national responsibility in his thinking. His only realities are his actual experiences and suffering. It would be difficult even for me to ask him to answer the questions the film itself provokes in context of history and in context of what we know about postwar Japanese attitudes.

But if the animated adaptation 30 years later does try to offer a view upon war, then I hardly think wanting those questions answered or addressed is "saddling" GOTF with something beyond its scope, as if we're simply supposed to be entertained and cry a little to a pictoral of a real person's suffering, and consider it a wrap. If GOTF can't answer something because they do not fit into someone's personal memoirs, that's one thing. But I hardly think it needs to be protected from the questions that it invariably makes us ask.

And I do think the animated GOTF offers a view on war, especially given Takahata's track record that you highlight above. It's apparent to me in the viewing, and it would be hard for me to buy that Miyazaki would be suddenly and conspicuously silent about war-- when the subject matter just happens to be the most prominent war in modern Japanese history.

Anyway, I do tend to view an animated feature made in the late 80's differently from the autobiographical memoirs of someone who actually lived through wartime Japan written in 1967. A short animated feature tends to impress quickly and attempts to wrap up the experience in the span of a few hours. It tends to make its point and then is done with the discussion. A book is something one spends time with, and reflection is a natural part of the medium. It's a different experience all together.

So, GOTF as an animation viewed in modern times can be a bit jarring in light of what we do know about WWII. And because it is an adaptation, I'm torn between whether it should be true to the spirit of the original, or whether it should offer at least hint at some historical realities given the years that have passed since the book was written. Perhaps hoping to preserve the "spirit of the original" is already a lost cause in the transition to the animation, where your main characters are hopelessly cute with little of the grit of real humans in suffering.

But I don't think that thinking a bit beyond what the film shows and finding the viewing to be jarring is something as easily explained away as "baggage"-- as if it's something we should leave behind in order to fully enjoy a cartoon about a boy and his sister dying. I'm not sure I can watch something like that with an empty mind, without bringing in the things that I know and the questions I have. And, well, I'm not sure I'd want to, either.

Edited March 1, 2006 by Sundown

[Sundown]

I hope you die in the second disc.

...

In a fire.

374714[/snapback]

VgCats fan? I'm not so sure I dig the new coloring. I rather liked the old black inks.

[Sdf-1]

I don't really understand what is so complex about GOTF. For me it's always been clear what it's about. Don't make it more difficult than it is. It's just the story about the poor kids, from the boy's point of view. I didn't need anything more than that. It's just a beautiful and sad movie. It doesn't comment the war much, because it's not about politics or such things. It has a good heart, and there's a feel of hope IMO. It makes me think about humanity, the suffering, the joy. Values of life. Of course that is just how I see it.

[yellowlightman]

Now that I understand that GOTF is based on a semi-autobiographical novel, it does change my perception a bit.  I can understand that the original author might not even have had any thought of cause, effect, and national responsibility in his thinking.  His only realities are his actual experiences and suffering.  It would be difficult even for me to ask him to answer the questions the film itself provokes in context of history and in context of what we know about postwar Japanese attitudes.

374971[/snapback]

The movie doesn't need to explain the cuases for the war, the point is that innocent people get f'ed by war. I fail to see why you insist on putting some Pro-Japanese slant on it. It's a movie that could have taken place in just about any war-- the point isn't the specific war, but the effect that war (in general) has on the innocent.

Ever been to Hiroshima Peace Park? It has a fairly elaborate museum documenting the atomic bomb and it's dropping on the city of Hiroshima. The point isn't to say "Dur, look what the Americans did, the Japanese are so innocent." The point is to say "No more Hiroshima's."

[Sdf-1]

Yellowlightman, that is pretty much what I wanted to say also.

Edited March 1, 2006 by Sdf-1

[Sundown]

The movie doesn't need to explain the cuases for the war, the point is that innocent people get f'ed by war. I fail to see why you insist on putting some Pro-Japanese slant on it.

Sigh. I'm not putting any pro-Japanese slant on GOTF. I think I've been pretty clear on that. I'm simply stating that GOTF reflects a Japanese psyche that tends to focus on avoiding war as the primary evil rather than looking at the evils of real actions that come before war. And the shame that comes with facing and taking responsibility for these acts, in and of themselves, apart from "war", might play out in Graveyard-- although I've come to accept that this might also be because it was an adaptation of real memoirs.

It's a movie that could have taken place in just about any war-- the point isn't the specific war, but the effect that war (in general) has on the innocent.

And in using WWII, GOTF makes a true but incomplete statement. It isn't war by itself that's responsible for innocent suffering. It's the actions that lead to war that are. And here, with this specific war, it's causing other innocents to suffer that escalates such wars in the first place.

In the end, the novel wasn't written expressly to show the evils of war. It was written by the author who was dealing with his own guilt over his own sister's death. War being seen as an evil was just a natural byproduct of that. But if the animated GOTF did switch focus from the author's reflections to inject a stronger anti-war message of its own, then it becomes fair to look at the actual war it uses to base its argument on.

Ever been to Hiroshima Peace Park? It has a fairly elaborate museum documenting the atomic bomb and it's dropping on the city of Hiroshima. The point isn't to say "Dur, look what the Americans did, the Japanese are so innocent." The point is to say "No more Hiroshima's."

Of course the Peace Park isn't there to absolve Japan of responsibility for its own suffering. But it does focus on a victim mentality as the motivator for avoiding war. It doesn't begin to address why the bomb was dropped nor the injustices that committed by Japan before it. It only says, "avoid war or we suffer" in vaguarities. All attention is upon Japan's suffering, rather than any of the many more that suffered due to Japanese cruelty.

Am I suggesting that the memorial be torn down in some sort of perverted fairness? No. But for the aggressors and losers of a war, Japan's acknowledgement for its past actions and its many victims is notably lacking. At least it's notable when we compare Japan against how Germany sees itself in WWII.

I don't think observing this, saying so, and noting how this plays out in Japanese culture and possibly in Graveyard is the same thing as accusing certain Japanese artists of being insidiously pro-Japan.

Edited March 1, 2006 by Sundown

[JELEINEN]

I recently watched "super atragon," and that qualifies as the worst anime I've seen recently.  I haven't been watching much, so that could be part of it, but it was so flat and boring.  It didn't make my stomach turn, so it wasn't the worst thing ever, but it failed on every level to entertain me.

374886[/snapback]

The ship designs and the gravity lenses are awesome. The story... eh.

[Sundown]

I don't believe that the story relies on the omission of the facts you speak of, its just that the movie would not be true to the original material or experiences if it injected something that was out of its scope.  It is not an omission in any conscious thought of the director or screenwriter in my opinion, rather a detail that does not fit into the narrative.  If one were to write a 2 hour movie about WW2, I doubt anyone could fit in all the details and miscellanea of such epic scale covering politics, suffering, technology, battle tactics, and etc etc.  So people write stories that cover what they can cover.  In this case, fitting in political commentary (even disguised as townpeople talk) would probably not flow well.

374945[/snapback]

Yeah, I concede that part of the reason for omission might be because it's trying to be faithful to the adaptation. I had thought that it was a totally original work written recently. I'm curious now about reading the novel for myself, if there's a translated version. But like I said, the transition to animation itself inherently wears at the faithfulness, and the two probably would read/view very differently, at least to me.

I'd guess I'd disagree about injected commentary not flowing. And German filmmakers seem to be able to offer a love story, show German suffering and point out German responsibility all in one movie, artistically even. In fact, they just did. =)

[Radd]

I hope you die in the second disc.

...

In a fire.

374714[/snapback]

VgCats fan? I'm not so sure I dig the new coloring. I rather liked the old black inks.

374974[/snapback]

Actually the quote was from Penny-Arcade, but I do read both.

I'm with you on the colouring for VG Cats, though. I was never a fan of coloured linework.

[Sundown]

Actually the quote was from Penny-Arcade, but I do read both.

I'm with you on the colouring for VG Cats, though. I was never a fan of coloured linework.

375014[/snapback]

Oh duh. I don't know what I was thinking. I read the both of them everyday back to back and got one confused for the other. =P

[JELEINEN]

I just watched an episode of something called Tactical Roar and it was bad. The show has some really awesome looking, near-future naval and aircraft technology, but that was enough to save it. The premise of the setting is a little hokey, but not enough that it couldn't have been ignored (basically a permanent typhoon covers most of the pacific making air travel difficult and resulting in a return of travel by ship which results in turn in the return of piracy). Then we get into the story... Basically we start with the all female crewed ship, except the new engineer who's a really nice if incredibly introverted guy who immediately is put into stupid situations where everyone immediately assumes he's a pervert. Oh and the captain is his childhood friend. So basically it has the same plot as umpteen bajillion other shows and is predictable as hell. Bleh.

[Sumdumgai]

I recently watched "super atragon," and that qualifies as the worst anime I've seen recently.  I haven't been watching much, so that could be part of it, but it was so flat and boring.  It didn't make my stomach turn, so it wasn't the worst thing ever, but it failed on every level to entertain me.

374886[/snapback]

The ship designs and the gravity lenses are awesome. The story... eh.

375006[/snapback]

I liked the main theme. Still can't find the damned soundtrack for it. I loved the gravity lenses. The submarine with a drill was cheesy but funny, although I don't think that was the point.

[myk]

Super Atragon, one of the worst animes watched recently? What are you talking about-they had two chicks sunbathing nude together while holding hands. What more do ya' want?

Edited March 2, 2006 by myk

[KingNor]

I got one. I'll probably get flamed, but my roommate was wathing Witch Hunter Robin.

He thought it was stellar out of this world awesomeness. I didn't see anything amazing.

Maybe not the worst, but after seeing other fans raving about it, i'd say its heavily over hyped, over rated.

[GreatMoose]

One series I REALLY wanted to love, but found at the end I couldn't, was Gunslinger Girl. Should have been an awesome frickin' anime, but when 8 of the 13 episodes have NO ACTIVITY OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, it has to go in the minus column. I realize the story is about the girls and not the action, but we really don't even learn anything about any of the characters. You never learn about any motivation for any of the conflicts and attitudes of the handlers and the terrorists, and the just seems to be no POINT, other than "Look at how sad these girls' lives are." Like I said, I really wanted to like it, but after it was over, I just wanted those 7 hours of my life back. Oh well...

Edited March 15, 2006 by GreatMoose

[TSP]

I just watched an episode of something called Tactical Roar and it was bad. The show has some really awesome looking, near-future naval and aircraft technology, but that was enough to save it. The premise of the setting is a little hokey, but not enough that it couldn't have been ignored (basically a permanent typhoon covers most of the pacific making air travel difficult and resulting in a return of travel by ship which results in turn in the return of piracy). Then we get into the story... Basically we start with the all female crewed ship, except the new engineer who's a really nice if incredibly introverted guy who immediately is put into stupid situations where everyone immediately assumes he's a pervert. Oh and the captain is his childhood friend. So basically it has the same plot as umpteen bajillion other shows and is predictable as hell. Bleh.

After finishing Tactical Roar I'm somehow into futuristic naval models. The mechanical designs were the only highlight in this show. Story was lame and a bid like Vandread/Nadesico/or everything else Kenji Gotoh did Character designs for. Animation was average althought they used Yukikaze style CGI. Luckily it ended after 13 episodes with one of the worst endings I've ever seen. Maybe I'd epected too much after my reentery anime watching debut Suzumiya Haruhi. Or maybe I should have red this thread first than pick the goldies. I should keep in mind too refine an Arleigh Burke Flight IIA Cl. or Murasame Class ship into the queen of the 7 seas.

[Dangard Ace]

The ship designs and the gravity lenses are awesome. The story... eh.

375006[/snapback]

I liked the main theme. Still can't find the damned soundtrack for it. I loved the gravity lenses. The submarine with a drill was cheesy but funny, although I don't think that was the point.

I've got it the OST CD somewhere. Loved the sub with the giant drill but then again I love old school battleships flying around in space fighting comet empires and such(Yamato for those of you who don't know). Music was good, mechanical designs were good, character/plot...not so good.

[bsu legato]

I thought Innocent Venus was a colossal waste of time.

I also watched 1/2 an episode of some new show, named something like Hitman Reborn, and never finished it.

[TSP]

I thought Innocent Venus was a colossal waste of time.

I also watched 1/2 an episode of some new show, named something like Hitman Reborn, and never finished it.

Phew, what a relief! So I wasn't the only one wasting downstream on this one. I managed to watch the whole 1st episode in double speed and was still able to push delete. After an active brainscan I rebootet my brains with only loss of 0.48% of braincells. This anime is way to heavy if your older than ...ergh BBC aproved Teletuby age(2~3).

Some ppl in japan need to be shot in their knees.

[Fort Max]

I thought Innocent Venus was a colossal waste of time.

I also watched 1/2 an episode of some new show, named something like Hitman Reborn, and never finished it.

Seconded, fell asleep during the second episode.

[CoryHolmes]

The most Waste Of Time Anime that I'd watched recently would have to be Gasaraki. The first few episodes started out promisingly enough, with a a very original mecha design and some great action, but then it very very quickly devolved into little more than a blatant Evangelion copy. I mean, they even copied the main female character's hair style!

[areaseven]

Demashitaa!! PowerPuff Girls Z is probably the worst I've seen this year.

[TSP]

Demashitaa!! PowerPuff Girls Z is probably the worst I've seen this year.

Oops! You're right. Just forgot about this one. Never an expected cartoon-goes-anime would end up so bad. Maybe this is Japans refund for Roland Emmerichs Godzilla.

[The Shade]

The worst show I've seen lately was Sousei no Aquarion. Whom was this show aimed at? The overacting seemed to me to be aimed at 10 year olds, but the excessive fan service looked more it was for a 15-18 year old? I just don't know.

[Mr March]

Sounds like a winner! Something to offend everyone

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Like Mr March, I can usually tell if I'll like something within the first seven or so episodes. Though if I see potential, I'll usually stick with it as I know some things develop slowly. I've rarely been wrong in this. I just don't like judging something too soon (mostly because I tie of people on forums that drop shows ater one episode [and I'm not talking about extreme cases like the above]).

That said, I rarely come across shows I hate. The worst I can think of is Baku Ten. I wanted to like this show. I've always had a problem with GONZO and their obsession with CGI, so I was looking at their recent titles for something I'd like.

This show is really awful. It's one of the only shows that I did judge after seven episodes. The CGI is awful and barely blends (I dislike CGI hybreds in general so take that with a grain of salt), the plot seemed to be going nowhere (it's one o those where it's episodic until the last few episodes). The characters were the most cliched stereotypes I'd seen in a long while. This has always been a big thing for me. Usually, if I like the characters, I'll enjoy a show no matter how weak it is (with the exception of the exceptionally). Here you had the mysterious, tough girl (Jo), the exuberent, wild girl (Meg), the smartalec, smart girl (I can't remember her name) [i remember a rather uncomfortable moment fcused on her that also helped to turn me against this show], and of course, the no nonsense, sexy leader (Sai). The worse or me though is that, out of all the bad, I love the character designs. So I'll probably wind up with figurines of these generic characters.

That was a few years back.

About the worse recent one I can think of is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. It's told in arcs, each seperate stories, and is one of those "nothing is as it seems" shows. So the first arc is four episodes. In this, you have scenes that work best with well developed characters, being executed with undeveloped new ones. The lead acts ather erratically. Sometimes he's paranoid, other times he's not. It starts all cute. Then he jokes with a perfect stranger about murder and learns that there is an unsolved case. Suddenly, he's all paranoid and suspects his own friends. It doesn't help that his friends start acting crazy as well.Apparently you have to watch the answer arc to understand.

The second arc was better. The characters acted, for the most part, consistently, and it was less bull. The ending kind of ruined it. Spoilers some jerk who actually wants people to love this show revealed confuse me a bit about the storyline.

I basically hear that most people who don't become true believers usually are either hooked or finally certain they hate it come the third arc.

The really sad thing is that I really want to like this show. My friend had been raving about it, it's described as one o the underappreciated gems of the year, and so far all I can see is some really bad direction and storytelling ruining a very promising concept. It's all about suspension of disbelief with me, and this is one of the few shows that didn't execute that well as I couldn't get into the character in that all important first arc.

There's a manga and a game series. I have heard that the anime cuts a lot of material and is unfinished. So I may enjoy this in a different format. I don't hate this show, and don't exactly think it's the worst. The verdicts still out.

I got one. I'll probably get flamed, but my roommate was wathing Witch Hunter Robin.

He thought it was stellar out of this world awesomeness. I didn't see anything amazing.

Maybe not the worst, but after seeing other fans raving about it, i'd say its heavily over hyped, over rated.

{ok, something happened, and I lost everything up to this point, will try to remember}

I agree 100% there. I watched a few and thought the characters were really lame, and the story uninteresting. It's set up as half monster of the week, and half coherent plot. Problem is that to get to the plot you have to sit through episode after episode of pointless story featuring character with about as much personality as a twig (except the blond [i think her name was Dojima], she was amusing), with bad character designs and cheap CG backgrounds with a color palatte of five shades of grey, black, and brown. It was touted as the mature, adult alternative to the recent fluff. I've seen said fluff exhibit far more engaging plotlines than this supposedly adult anime. Apparrent in order to be considered mature, a show most be shallow and dull with a seemingly dark tone.

I actually liked Aquarion, though I've yet to finish it. I do wish I'd have watched Eureka Seven instead, as I too have difficulty getting into the flavor of the month. Hype has a very adverse affect on me unless I'm already a fan. Same thing went for Last Exile. I got really tired of a show that used CG as a crutch being proclaimed "the most beautifully animated TV show ever". Great character designs do not make up for poor integration. So I haven't really watched that one.

One show I have been enjoying recently is related to an old show that I though was horrible. An uber popular show you might have heard of called Hellsing. I don't know when or how I wound up hating this thing, and do attribute my then hatrid of GONZO in part to it. Even when I tried to watch it with an open mind, I found it comically bad. The plot goes nowhere and is mostly uninteresting. The characters are undeveloped and shallow. Not quite the stereotype of BakuTen (with the exception of one), but close. A really cool concept (a youn girl becoming a vampire) is left largely unexplored and mishandled. The animation is bland and is covered up with a vague attempt at style. The only thing going for this show was vampire, a smattering of action, characters that could've been good but aren't, and a quirky soundtrack which is okay on it's own, but rather weak as a soundtrack. This show horrid.

The worst part is that thanks to a well orchestrated ad campeign by Pioneer, it became one of the most popular shows of it's time. Everyone seemed to love this dreck. Alucard and Celes cosplays were everywhere (and mostly still are). The worst for me is Alucard. Everybody spoke of him as if he were one of the greatest fictional characters of our time. Apparrently all a character need be to be popular is to be a badass. No development, no depth needed, just ass kicking ability. Alucard was easily the worse main character in any show I'd ever seen. He's one dimensional, over powered, and just plain psychotic. There's no real explaination as to why he's with Hellsing, why he took Celes under his wing, and what his motives are outside of a hatrid for fake vampires and the obsession for a challenge. So he's a one trick pony whose only purpose is to be the egnigmatic cool character. Yet without any depth, and no allusion ro any existing, I found him rather lame, boring, and simply a characature. Yet people loved him, which drove me nuts. Worse, The dub is really populat, and I felt that Crispen Freeman's vioce only solidified that Alucard was a psychotic jerk. At least the japanese actor brought some sort of balance and gentlemanliness to him. All gone in the dub.

I found out at AX 05, that I actually wasn't along in my hatrid of the show. The manga creator actually hated it too. Hence , with the show's inexplecable popularity, they were able to redo it as an OAV.

I approached it with an open mind, and was amazed to find that it was mostly GONZO's fault for why the show was so bad. This version actually has a coherent, advancing plot. It has insinuations that it will actually go somewhere. Better, the characters are actually showing signs of personality. It subtile, but there. Celes is no longer whiney about her position for the sake of charactrization (the best GONZO tried to do). Integra seems to have some depth to her outside of just the tough leader, though this still remains to be seen. The biggest improvement has gone to the character most in need - Alucard. While still weak overall, there's a bit of motivation added to him, as well as nightmares that he has, giving him significantly more depth than before. Sadly, Crispen Freeman will be returning for the dub, though I wouldn't be watching it anyway. All in all, the OAV is leaps and bounds over the old show, which should be buried and forgotten.

[chrono]

Plenty of anime to hate isn't there!

But agreed that much of the time of for some manga to anime it's directly the studios fault with thier re-creationship(and their towering lack of 3D computer training) and it's becoming more previlant that it's also the Korean art studios fault for bad art/animation work. But of course it doesn't help that the manga publishers basically have the mangka's by the globes when it comes to getting work published.

Now on "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni"....

I'm not gonna defend it. The technical animation itself is garbage, but everything else is solid. Except for the story which is like a bad acid trip and on par with NGE offal for "what-the-f&*(age!". What you find erratic character acting in one story arc makes sense in another story arc, which causes a lot of viewer confusion. And to be honest while it wasn't a great transfer from game/novel to anime, the game/novel isn't exactly as clear either NOR(and this is one of the key issues with 90% of the current anime) is the game/novel finished. If you think of the movie Groundhog Day and how it "resets" and then only give the characters a slight deus vu(spl) feeling of what they've done before it actually helps for enjoyment of the show. I franklly think that if they had gotten Satoshi Kon to direct this it would've been a HUGH amount better!

But it's absolutely like Evangelion in that you either love it or hate it!

----------------

Super Robot Wars: Divine Generation is absolute total FAIL! From crappy cgi, the extremely lame premise, and the massive lack of 'brand name' super robots that the name was orginally inspired from. Avoid it like a crazy, unless your drunk/high/VERY bored.

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Plenty of anime to hate? Nope, I'm just thorough in my explanations. I mentioned all of four shows. If counting those I didn't mention, that bring the total up to about five or six (I loathed Blue Sub 6 when I saw it ages ago). Considering that I've seen over six hundred different titles in whole or part, I'd say that there's far more to love. It's just that that's not what this thread is about.

Well, like I said, I liked the second arc (except for the lame, nonsensical last scene). My problem was that, in the case of the first arc, when you are just being introduced to these characters, it doesn't help when they act erractically. This is something that would've worked better had it been the second or third arc. I'm sure that if I had started on the second arc, I'd probably be enjoying it more, as the SoD would have been set up. It's just hard for me to care about what's going on when I have no feeling for the characters. It's kind of impossible to feel sad about fiendships being destroyed, when you don't really see the fiendship in the first place, and the balance between funny and psycho was not the best executed.

Groundhog Day is something of a poor analogy, as one gets a feel for the character before the weird stuff goes down, and it's the same story each time with him taking a different approach. Whereas in Higurashi, no time is really given on feel, and it's a vastly different story each time. It's kind of hard when you develop your cast one at a time by having them all act differently each time. So basically it's one of those that's impossible to truly enjoy until the whole thing is done, or so I've been lead to believe. These work best when one is given clues to work with, but the shows so vague... Don't get me started on the ridiculous "TIPS". A show should be able to be understood without reading a novelette of background material. ;;

Like I said, I really do want to like this show, and actually knew what I was getting into (the story arc thing, and had heard a few things about psychoness) it's just that I've never before been so badly derailed by the directing of a show (except maybe GANTZ, with it's lousey camera work, crummy CGI, and the fact that all the TV censorship caused plot holes).

I've stopped watching it once the second arc was done, to give me some time to maybe approach it with better, and more accurate expectations (like how I planned to wait on Last Exile until the hype died down). I hear the third arcs the make or break one anyway.

Actually, they just finished the game, or so I hear.

I also can never understand why so many animes are based off of mangas with tightly knit stories, yet are unfinished. It's like reading the story of a lifetime, then ripping the last chapter or two out of the book.

Again, I don't hate it, nor do I really think it's among the worse, but I certainly don't see where all the praise is coming from with such poor execution. I really think it probably has more to do with its originallity than its quality. Anime seems to always sell better on style than substance.

Edited November 26, 2006 by Mercurial Morpheus

[chrono]

I wasn't directing the 'plenty of anime to hate' part at you. Just generally agreein with the thread.

(except for the lame, nonsensical last scene)

Ok you've thrown me. I thought that scene made plenty of sense given the rest of the information from earlier in the same episode.

Oh and BTW the 3rd episode in the 2nd arc throws an interesting wrench at you, but you have to look for it. However with several of the scenes dropped from the anime I don't know if it's actually a valid scene or not!

As for your points about the first arc. If they would've stretched it into 8 episodes they could've established the characters more, so I do agree that it can feel disjointed, but sadly the game/novel is set-up much the same way. What is happening is that your being shown the endings first and then they spend the rest of the anime filling in the characters history(yeah supposedly the first arc is the beginning and ending of the story). Typical reveal mystery stuff. It works in a short-story fashion at best though, but I think that the writers throw in alot of horror in an attempt to cover-up poor writing. Basically the main issue is not enough series length to get a full story in. There's enough story for 48 episodes.

The concepts behind Groundhog Day and not it's execute is what I was referring to. The whole 'reset' and 'memory carry-over' ideas, but just like that movie did this show has me asking the question of "What's the benefit of this looping?". It's also why I was referring to Evangelion. It also have the same lame circular story BS.

Oh and the 3rd arc is delivering so far. I've been waiting to found out about this part. I think that people were turned off by both the lack of story completeness thus far and the sudden change of maturity that the anime requires of it's viewers.