So, I managed to watch the first episode of Trapeze (or Kuchu Buranko), and... um... Are there any smilies here that fit my reaction?.. Oh, great, there is: Okay, let's try to do it step by step. The plot... Well, I didn't quite get it, as I'm still waiting for the subs, but I really like the episodic concept of wacky doctor's cases (hello there, Fran-san~). The first case is pretty nice, and manages to show the concept of isolation in a couple of different ways (like the patient's colleagues who talk in weird languages, including Russian). The music consists of classics and groovy songs, and it actually fits the show. Finally, the graphics... Wow. Yes, it does combine 2D and 3D, but it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, it's like Mind Game all over again, but better. There's no way to put it into words, but I did try. Oh, and that 3D doctor made me laugh each time he popped up for some reason.
WOW. I have to say that I was mostly disinterested in the new fall shows... and then I found Kuchuu Buranko (Trapeze). Holy mother of peanut butter banana sandwiches on a pogo stick. My faith in anime and in the ability of Japanese people to out-weird every other country by miles has suddenly been restored. This is like watching a combination of Lain, Colorful, Gankutsuo, and Mind Game, if you can imagine that. It's so awesome, it's like... sauce. Trippy, psychedelic, delicious sauce.
yes indeed, however it feels like they are dragging things up.... its ok but they really need to pick it up... the way they going they will hit episode 12 before the bad guys are shown fully.
Also Itachi i dont know about you but I A) Prefer it when the Yuri actually look like they are kissing (not slapping their tongues on each other like over eager puppies) and B) Like to see the girls enjoying or at least pretending to enjoy it, not pull the 'Tortured Cries Volume 5' Audio File and loop it over and over their "Can you hurry it up I got another shooting in 10 minutes" faces
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Oreo, Glazing people better than Dunkin' Donuts since 2009
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange eons even death may die.
yes indeed, however it feels like they are dragging things up.... its ok but they really need to pick it up... the way they going they will hit episode 12 before the bad guys are shown fully.
Also Itachi i dont know about you but I A) Prefer it when the Yuri actually look like they are kissing (not slapping their tongues on each other like over eager puppies) and B) Like to see the girls enjoying or at least pretending to enjoy it, not pull the 'Tortured Cries Volume 5' Audio File and loop it over and over their "Can you hurry it up I got another shooting in 10 minutes" faces
O.o"
Where exactly did all this pr0n talk come from? This is the anime clan ...
Although I guess that kinda speaks for itself ._."
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Hey, lolis with katanas are awesome, and I don't care about their home country.
Trying to watch Garden of Sinners this weekend when I get the chance... I've heard good things.
Alright, after catching up, I'm going to watch this thing again this upcoming weekend, as it was really good. There aren't many action sequences in the series, but the few minutes each episode are probably the best action sequences I have seen in anime. (not counting the final trippy sequence in Outlaw Star, the ending to the 5th episode is easily the best progression and action sequence I've seen in anime) It really feels like an experiment in a story where the staff isn't restricted to 20-24 minute chunks to tell their story. After 6 episodes, it feels like 6 episodes have gone by; there's a lot of interweaving between storylines, and (not knowing anything about the novel storyline) there are a bunch of places the final chapter could go towards that would make an amazing ending. My only complaint is really that the universe built in the story feels like it could deserve a much longer storyline than it appears to be heading towards.
So, I watched First Squad in a cinema this Sunday, and it's actually much better than I expected. Sure, the characters are one-dimensional, and the dub is far from being exciting (or lip-synched), but it still manages to be original and fun. Actually, creators' bravery is one of the best traits of FS, as they dared to choose a theme like that, dared to insert some pseudo-documentalistic episodes (like a psychiatrist speaking about retrospective visions), and still dare to have plans for a sequel after some of the reviews. So, while all I can give it is a 7/10, I do recommend everyone to check it out. You should make your own opinion about it.
Oh, and there is also some Umineko-like ambiguousness: is everything that happens true, or is it just Nadya's visions? Alas, there are no Battler or Beatrice around to solve that.
@Singer:
However strange it might seem when talking about partially-Russian film, I'll wait for the Jap-sound rip...
Yeah. I could barely get through but it's still probably better than the English dub will be. Although in all honestly that could be moreso influenced because it was like a hangover induced nightmare at some points. Also, loli-russian-heroine-with-a-katana is awkward ._."
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Hey, lolis with katanas are awesome, and I don't care about their home country.
1942, the Second World War. A girl called Nadya travels with frontline artists as a psychic to entertain the soldiers. During one of their shows, the Nazis come and bomb them, so she loses consciousness and sees flashbacks about her childhood, when her parents were alive and her friends were training psychic powers with her. She also remembers the first attacks, when her friends died. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist tells the audience about the retrospective visions between life and death...
Nadya wakes up in a small hut and sees a monk who found her after the bombing. The monk tells her that the Nazis want to revive the spirit of duke fon Wolff, a fallen crusader and a black magician. He tried to conquer ancient Russia 700 years ago, but we managed to defeat his army during Battle of the Ice. Now he seeks revenge, but ordinary people can't see spirits, so only she and her dead friends can defeat him. The monk orders Nadya to get on his horse and go to Kremlin, where she must find general Belov. Suddenly, two female Nazis come to the hut and try to shoot Nadya, but the horse is fast enough to get away. The monk does some kung-fu, but is shot down and falls into a frozen river.
Nadya gets to Kremlin, but falls unconscious because of the extreme fatigue. This time, she wakes up in a hospital, where she is told that there is no general Belov in Kremlin. She tries to tell them how important this matter is, but gets some sedatives and goes to sleep. The "real" (alive, not animated) doctor then tells the public that sedatives can cause hallucinations if the brain is damaged enough.
The night comes, and general Belov himself comes to her room and takes her to his secret base...
I will edit more when I come back from university. Until then, sorry for the cliffhanger.
Hey there Alexzander don't let some of these freaks scare you away :sweat:.
I don't think they could if they tried.;)
So I just recently picked up the complete Robotech series.
It was recommended to me because I am such a fan of Gundam (only UC, thanks), and I like old Sci-Fi, and hand drawn stuff.
I am about 1/2 through the Macross Saga, and I have to say I am not really that impressed thus far.
I love the original Gundam because of how gritty and real it feels, but this is kind of wanky, it jumps all over the place (Yes I understand that it was redone for the US and it was originally 3 separate shows)
But Gundam has a time line that is well played out, one episode picks up right where the last left off.
But in Robotech, they will be in orbit around Saturn and have a skirmish, then next episode they are all the way to Mars with no explanation of how they got there, save a sentence from the narrator.
Another thing I don't like is there seems to be more Fantasy (The best way I can put it) involved in this anime then there is Sci - Fi. People messing with the Space/Time Continuum and the weird ass "shield" things that are left after the execute the "Fold"
There are also too many liberties taken in this anime. In one of the first few episodes, right after the "Fold", they accidentally transport 1/2 a frickin island into orbit around Pluto. Which what ever sure I'll get behind that. But all of a sudden they are pulling in survivors, from deep space? WTF? Then the frickin main chararacter decides I am going to go out into space in a flight suit (not equip for space) to catch a giant floating Tuna. All he had to do was hold his breath.
Character Development is so bad in this anime too, I really don't know what to say about it. Gundam had clear characters that were perfectly defined.
Now a know Gundam 0079 wasn't dead accurate either but I had an easier time buying into it. It seems like the people who did this just put no R&D into it, and that leaves me feeling jaded.
I can only pray that this series will get better and not leave this horrible metallic taste in my mouth. One that can only compare to, the one I had after watching Gundam Wing.
08th MS Team was awesome, and somewhere I had hoped the Gundam series would take further. I liked it more when Gundams were considered more like evolved tanks, and would wage brutal warfare on the ground, rather than godlike warriors that are indestructible, sword wielding (wtf... why bother with swords/knives as anything but a sidearm, as cool as they look), blah blah blah. Wing is just terrible as far as this goes. The only semi-interesting thing about Wing was Zechs, but he was just a rip-off of Char, so Wing really does just fail at everything.
I can't find First Squad anywhere right now, though I was sure it had been out a while. I've been wanting to watch it ever since those trailers were out.
Robotech is a really bad version of Macross honestly. It's seriously not canon to Macross at all, the script is extremely butchered and the show doesn't even feel the same. The original Macross is still a great series by today's standards unlike the older Gundam series. I do agree that the rest of the Macross universe is pretty weak until Frontier. Both Macross Zero and Plus were good, but all of Macross 7 was pretty terrible.
No. Never. Ever.
Any such feelings can be tacked up to nostalgia. About the only positive thing you can really attribute to Macross nowadays is the concept. The scripting and animation have aged horribly and it's impossible to enjoy merely on its own merit. It's a good deal better than Robotech, but it hasn't aged well at all. If anything it's mostly good as one of those series where you can sit down and crack jokes at it all night long.
(wtf... why bother with swords/knives as anything but a sidearm, as cool as they look)
Said shows were made in Japan O.o
That's like saying, " Damn those Hollywood movies and all their guns and explosions."
Sorry for the wait, I had some problems with Internet connection. Here goes the second spoiler round!
After arriving at the base, Belov tells Nadya that they have built Sputnik 01, a machine to send one's mind into the Underworld. With its help, she can contact her friends (yes, I'm tired of speaking about Marat, Zina, Valya and Leo as "her friends", but there are literally no scenes where they are apart, so bear with it) and get their help to defeat fon Wolff. Of course, she gets all the things that she may need there: a katana (with a pink bear accessory!) and a red necktie. Hooray. She takes a seat in a weird mix of a space suit and an electric chair and loses consciousness yet again. Of course, the watchers are given yet another explanation of her visions from a "real" psychiatrist.
The Underworld looks familiar to Nadya - it's actually a ruined version of VDNH where she had fun with her friends in the past. When she gets into the forest surrounding the park, a pair of zombie knights attacks and captures her. Of course, these two knights serve fon Wolff, but he gives no interest to her when she's brought to him. Instead, he rallies the troops and leaves the girl to a Bible-citing, pig-mask-wearing butcher. Alas, we don't have enough time to enjoy his awesomeness, because a charging car breaks the slaughterhouse's wall along with the butcher. Of course, it's Nadya's friends, who followed her after the forest, and, of course, think that she died, too. Of course, she tells them about the machine, about fon Wolff and all that stuff, and of course, they agree to help her if she summons them.
Nadya is brought back to reality and gets another information dump from Belov... and the monk, who managed to survive the fight and get to Moscow. Apparently, the Moment of Truth is coming, and the Nazis want to use it and fon Wolff to win the war. But, of course, Belov and his men don't know the exact time when that will happen, and the only link to that is the face of a commander from one of Nadya's earlier visions. Alas, she can't remember anything about him, so they just send her to the frontline at the lake where fon Wolff's troops lie.
Nadya gets in the car and talks a bit with the driver, who seems to know her parents. He doesn't get much time to tell her anything, as the two female Nazis from before shoot him through the car window. Nadya rushes out of the car and goes down to the subway, so the two lose her for a while. Catching her breath, Nadya sees a newspaper in one of the passenger's hands. In it, there is a note about a commander who returns to the frontline after sirviving the bombing. Indeed, he was the only alive person in Nadya's vision right before the bombing, and of course, that is the commander from the Moment of Truth.
Nadya arrives at the train station, but is chased by the twins yet again. Some pretty cool-looking chase scenes occur, and Nadya gets on the rooftop of a train leaving to the frontline. Meanwhile, her friends get some weapons at Hunchback's, a shooting range worker who was selling some weapons in the past. He doesn't sell it now, though, so he trades it for a badge instead. Apparently, the badge is rare enough to be worth a flamethrower, a couple of handguns and a machinegun. Armed and ready, the squad arrives at the ruined VDNH, gets into the haunted attraction carts and watches some scenes from Nadya's past.
Finally at the frontline, Nadya tries to summon the First Squad, but seems to fail. Or maybe not, as the "real" psychiatrist tells the audience that a human brain can make psychedelics all by itself. Right at that moment, the commander rises from the hideout to lead the troops... And the time freezes. While the time is frozen, the ice breaks open, and the horde of zombie knights charge to the Russian side of the lake. Their charge is soon halted by an attraction cart falling from the sky, and the fight begins. It goes well, but fon Wolff finds Nadya and knocks her down after a short western-sword-versus-katana duel. He swings to finish her off, but Leo (who is actually Nadya's boyfriend. Yeah, I know, it's way too late to say that, but this doesn't matter that much) jumps between him and Nadya and shoots him. Fon Wolff's yet-again-dead body falls, and the knights retreat to the lake. The time returns to its natural course, and the commander rallies the troops to attack the Nazis as nothing happened.
The First Squad celebrates the victory, but the end of the war is still far, and fon Wolff's corpse is found to actually be one of his goon's. Look forward to the second movie... or not.
See I thought the mecha design was terrible in this series.
And I have to say I felt more about of the Gundam (once again the orignal) Series, then I could ever see my self hoping to feel in this one.
I do think they did some cool stuff with visual perspective though.
Like in the 2nd (I think) episode Rick is in a Veritech and he is trying to rescue Minme.
When he drops her and they are falling the camera does this really cool spin with them.
At least it caught my eye, I think it was fairly advanced shot for the 80's
Thought I responded already, but apparently I never made the post O.o
Honestly I have no idea how you reach that conclusion. The animation is god awful but it's a series that is almost 30 years old now. On the bright side there's fantastic mecha design in this series, if you can get over the really poor animation.
a) Age is not a reason to cut a series some slack.
b) Mecha design is roughly the least important part of any given show.
c) The animation and the writing in Macross are subpar by any standard.
It's honestly one of the only series that's still watchable from the 1980's behind legendary shoujo works Touch, Maison Ikkoku, Kimagure Orange Road (and to a MUCH lesser extent) Urusei Yatsura, the great action series in City Hunter and still possibly the greatest space opera of all time in Legend of the Galatic Heroes.
None of said shows are shoujo ^^;
And trying to compare dramas/comedies to space opera isn't really all that great of an idea. Touch for example hasn't aged much aside from the character designs, and City Hunter is going to remain funny regardless of how much it ages (Mokkori and all that). Shows like Macross rely on their production values too much, and other than that the only real thing it had going for it is the Zentradi, and they're basically equivalent to Star Trek rejects.
I'd argue it's aged much better than series from the 90's like Trigun and Evangelion, but obviously it's a matter of personal preference.
See, I'm probably in the minority that didn't entirely enjoy either of those shows all that much either. If I'd throw something out for comparison it'd be Cowboy Bebop, which has aged terrifically.
What makes Macross truly amazing in my eyes is that even though it's a classic anime series that's 30 years old with animation and music that feels older, that's been copied over and over to this day, with action scenes that feel incredibly dull and boring by today's standards, it's still quite enjoyable and a must watch for any true anime fan. But keep your hands off Robotech.
Boring actions scenes+horrible animation+horrible music = ?
Seriously, if you addressed how horribly it's written I don't think you could really say anything particularly positive other than, " It was great when it came out." Anyways, Robotech is more important for American audiences given the role it played in bringing anime over here. Macross+Southern Cross+Mospeada are really only important for perspective.
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Hey, lolis with katanas are awesome, and I don't care about their home country.
I am not trying to be rude but I really don't understand the concept of "not aging well" when it comes to anime.
I personally like a lot of the "older" stuff.
I am a sucker for hand drawn animation.
I mean yeah the animation now a days is killer that I can't deny, and I like, but I would just as soon sit down and watch old episodes of Yu Yu then watch anything that's on Adult Swim right now. (except maybe Morbito, but it is on WAY TOOOOO LATE)
I think there a lot of things that are really cold with dated anime.
Take the aforementioned Yu Yu, I used to hate this show, but once I started to really watch it I really got into the animation.
I adore the stylized look that pops up every now and again in this show.
For example I can't remember all the details of it but I remember Yusuke Urameshi running down the hallway of an abandoned hospital.
I remember just stopping the game of MTG me and my brother were playing and just ADDing out on it because it was so........not like anything I have seen from that time period.
I am not trying to be rude but I really don't understand the concept of "not aging well" when it comes to anime.
I can understand it on a case by case basis, especially when it comes to contemporary parody shows. Many parody shows dig soooo deep into recent otaku culture, and they really aren't that funny outside of the context of contemporary trends; meaning, they don't age well.
Things like Macross, Bebop and Evangellion... Well, to me they are masterpieces of the genre, and on top of that I tend to respect innovators.
Also, no offense meant to anyone at all, but generally many anime fans tend to have very specific and strong tastes (like me!). If they don't like something, for whatever reason, they are going to be vocal about.
Personally, I really love the cassics, especially given the shape of contemporary anime. I mean, there are some brilliant things coming out from time to time, but I can only take so much moe clones and self indulgent parodies before I wanna go bust out the Escaflowne, or get nostalgic for the opening song of Record of Lodoss Wars, and so on.
There is a real pioneering spirit in the old stuff because they were too busy creating, rather than building on top of tropes, simulacrums, and an ever growing list of specific archtypes.
P.S. I'm apologizing in advance if I've been rambling senselessly, or offensive any any way. I've been awake for two days.
Oh! I had time to watch the latest Umineko. The pace is definatly slowing down, and this is a good thing. I believe the first 10 episodes were as much about throwing the viewer off balance as setting the stage and plot. I'm really digging the show and anticipating the next episode.
I can understand it on a case by case basis, especially when it comes to contemporary parody shows. Many parody shows dig soooo deep into recent otaku culture, and they really aren't that funny outside of the context of contemporary trends; meaning, they don't age well.
See now that I can understand, it's just when things get labeled as "dated" for there animation values I just can't understand that.
Finally, my main autumn show. Feels good, man.
Yes.
Although, my friend did show me something German on his laptop called "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" one time that was...
*hangs head in shame*
Sig by awesome Mr.Stuff of High~Light Studios, avatar by not-so-awesome me.
Also Itachi i dont know about you but I A) Prefer it when the Yuri actually look like they are kissing (not slapping their tongues on each other like over eager puppies) and B) Like to see the girls enjoying or at least pretending to enjoy it, not pull the 'Tortured Cries Volume 5' Audio File and loop it over and over their "Can you hurry it up I got another shooting in 10 minutes" faces
O.o"
Where exactly did all this pr0n talk come from? This is the anime clan ...
Although I guess that kinda speaks for itself ._."
Two Words: Queen's Blade
actually any time yuri or ecchi is mentioned it can link to pr0n
That and making mention of the weirdness thats JPN
Alright, after catching up, I'm going to watch this thing again this upcoming weekend, as it was really good. There aren't many action sequences in the series, but the few minutes each episode are probably the best action sequences I have seen in anime. (not counting the final trippy sequence in Outlaw Star, the ending to the 5th episode is easily the best progression and action sequence I've seen in anime) It really feels like an experiment in a story where the staff isn't restricted to 20-24 minute chunks to tell their story. After 6 episodes, it feels like 6 episodes have gone by; there's a lot of interweaving between storylines, and (not knowing anything about the novel storyline) there are a bunch of places the final chapter could go towards that would make an amazing ending. My only complaint is really that the universe built in the story feels like it could deserve a much longer storyline than it appears to be heading towards.
静
Oh, and there is also some Umineko-like ambiguousness: is everything that happens true, or is it just Nadya's visions? Alas, there are no Battler or Beatrice around to solve that.
//Otakingu, check your inbox, please.
However strange it might seem when talking about partially-Russian film, I'll wait for the Jap-sound rip...
Sig by awesome Mr.Stuff of High~Light Studios, avatar by not-so-awesome me.
Yeah. I could barely get through but it's still probably better than the English dub will be. Although in all honestly that could be moreso influenced because it was like a hangover induced nightmare at some points. Also, loli-russian-heroine-with-a-katana is awkward ._."
Oh-kay, though there is not much to spoil...
Nadya wakes up in a small hut and sees a monk who found her after the bombing. The monk tells her that the Nazis want to revive the spirit of duke fon Wolff, a fallen crusader and a black magician. He tried to conquer ancient Russia 700 years ago, but we managed to defeat his army during Battle of the Ice. Now he seeks revenge, but ordinary people can't see spirits, so only she and her dead friends can defeat him. The monk orders Nadya to get on his horse and go to Kremlin, where she must find general Belov. Suddenly, two female Nazis come to the hut and try to shoot Nadya, but the horse is fast enough to get away. The monk does some kung-fu, but is shot down and falls into a frozen river.
Nadya gets to Kremlin, but falls unconscious because of the extreme fatigue. This time, she wakes up in a hospital, where she is told that there is no general Belov in Kremlin. She tries to tell them how important this matter is, but gets some sedatives and goes to sleep. The "real" (alive, not animated) doctor then tells the public that sedatives can cause hallucinations if the brain is damaged enough.
The night comes, and general Belov himself comes to her room and takes her to his secret base...
I will edit more when I come back from university. Until then, sorry for the cliffhanger.
My name is Alexzander and I am a huge anime fan, I have been watching it all my life, pretty much.
Really started to care about it in my teenage years.
Well I will write more later, I just wanted to drop by.
Trade Thread
I don't think they could if they tried.;)
So I just recently picked up the complete Robotech series.
It was recommended to me because I am such a fan of Gundam (only UC, thanks), and I like old Sci-Fi, and hand drawn stuff.
I am about 1/2 through the Macross Saga, and I have to say I am not really that impressed thus far.
I love the original Gundam because of how gritty and real it feels, but this is kind of wanky, it jumps all over the place (Yes I understand that it was redone for the US and it was originally 3 separate shows)
But Gundam has a time line that is well played out, one episode picks up right where the last left off.
But in Robotech, they will be in orbit around Saturn and have a skirmish, then next episode they are all the way to Mars with no explanation of how they got there, save a sentence from the narrator.
Another thing I don't like is there seems to be more Fantasy (The best way I can put it) involved in this anime then there is Sci - Fi. People messing with the Space/Time Continuum and the weird ass "shield" things that are left after the execute the "Fold"
There are also too many liberties taken in this anime. In one of the first few episodes, right after the "Fold", they accidentally transport 1/2 a frickin island into orbit around Pluto. Which what ever sure I'll get behind that. But all of a sudden they are pulling in survivors, from deep space? WTF? Then the frickin main chararacter decides I am going to go out into space in a flight suit (not equip for space) to catch a giant floating Tuna. All he had to do was hold his breath.
Character Development is so bad in this anime too, I really don't know what to say about it. Gundam had clear characters that were perfectly defined.
Now a know Gundam 0079 wasn't dead accurate either but I had an easier time buying into it. It seems like the people who did this just put no R&D into it, and that leaves me feeling jaded.
I can only pray that this series will get better and not leave this horrible metallic taste in my mouth. One that can only compare to, the one I had after watching Gundam Wing.
Trade Thread
I can't find First Squad anywhere right now, though I was sure it had been out a while. I've been wanting to watch it ever since those trailers were out.
Art Page
Alters for sale
I mean it's been like 4 frickin years since Zeta was released.
WHERE IS ZZ ALREADY.
I was completely underwhelmed by 08th MS team to tell you the truth.
In order my personal favorites are
0079
Char's Counter Attack
0083
Zeta
Trade Thread
Also, speaking of lolis w/ Katanas, new Shanatan today ^^
No. Never. Ever.
Any such feelings can be tacked up to nostalgia. About the only positive thing you can really attribute to Macross nowadays is the concept. The scripting and animation have aged horribly and it's impossible to enjoy merely on its own merit. It's a good deal better than Robotech, but it hasn't aged well at all. If anything it's mostly good as one of those series where you can sit down and crack jokes at it all night long.
Said shows were made in Japan O.o
That's like saying, " Damn those Hollywood movies and all their guns and explosions."
And that makes the first time I'm sigged. Cool.
Sorry for the wait, I had some problems with Internet connection. Here goes the second spoiler round!
The Underworld looks familiar to Nadya - it's actually a ruined version of VDNH where she had fun with her friends in the past. When she gets into the forest surrounding the park, a pair of zombie knights attacks and captures her. Of course, these two knights serve fon Wolff, but he gives no interest to her when she's brought to him. Instead, he rallies the troops and leaves the girl to a Bible-citing, pig-mask-wearing butcher. Alas, we don't have enough time to enjoy his awesomeness, because a charging car breaks the slaughterhouse's wall along with the butcher. Of course, it's Nadya's friends, who followed her after the forest, and, of course, think that she died, too. Of course, she tells them about the machine, about fon Wolff and all that stuff, and of course, they agree to help her if she summons them.
Nadya is brought back to reality and gets another information dump from Belov... and the monk, who managed to survive the fight and get to Moscow. Apparently, the Moment of Truth is coming, and the Nazis want to use it and fon Wolff to win the war. But, of course, Belov and his men don't know the exact time when that will happen, and the only link to that is the face of a commander from one of Nadya's earlier visions. Alas, she can't remember anything about him, so they just send her to the frontline at the lake where fon Wolff's troops lie.
Nadya gets in the car and talks a bit with the driver, who seems to know her parents. He doesn't get much time to tell her anything, as the two female Nazis from before shoot him through the car window. Nadya rushes out of the car and goes down to the subway, so the two lose her for a while. Catching her breath, Nadya sees a newspaper in one of the passenger's hands. In it, there is a note about a commander who returns to the frontline after sirviving the bombing. Indeed, he was the only alive person in Nadya's vision right before the bombing, and of course, that is the commander from the Moment of Truth.
Nadya arrives at the train station, but is chased by the twins yet again. Some pretty cool-looking chase scenes occur, and Nadya gets on the rooftop of a train leaving to the frontline. Meanwhile, her friends get some weapons at Hunchback's, a shooting range worker who was selling some weapons in the past. He doesn't sell it now, though, so he trades it for a badge instead. Apparently, the badge is rare enough to be worth a flamethrower, a couple of handguns and a machinegun. Armed and ready, the squad arrives at the ruined VDNH, gets into the haunted attraction carts and watches some scenes from Nadya's past.
Finally at the frontline, Nadya tries to summon the First Squad, but seems to fail. Or maybe not, as the "real" psychiatrist tells the audience that a human brain can make psychedelics all by itself. Right at that moment, the commander rises from the hideout to lead the troops... And the time freezes. While the time is frozen, the ice breaks open, and the horde of zombie knights charge to the Russian side of the lake. Their charge is soon halted by an attraction cart falling from the sky, and the fight begins. It goes well, but fon Wolff finds Nadya and knocks her down after a short western-sword-versus-katana duel. He swings to finish her off, but Leo (who is actually Nadya's boyfriend. Yeah, I know, it's way too late to say that, but this doesn't matter that much) jumps between him and Nadya and shoots him. Fon Wolff's yet-again-dead body falls, and the knights retreat to the lake. The time returns to its natural course, and the commander rallies the troops to attack the Nazis as nothing happened.
The First Squad celebrates the victory, but the end of the war is still far, and fon Wolff's corpse is found to actually be one of his goon's. Look forward to the second movie... or not.
And I have to say I felt more about of the Gundam (once again the orignal) Series, then I could ever see my self hoping to feel in this one.
I do think they did some cool stuff with visual perspective though.
Like in the 2nd (I think) episode Rick is in a Veritech and he is trying to rescue Minme.
When he drops her and they are falling the camera does this really cool spin with them.
At least it caught my eye, I think it was fairly advanced shot for the 80's
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a) Age is not a reason to cut a series some slack.
b) Mecha design is roughly the least important part of any given show.
c) The animation and the writing in Macross are subpar by any standard.
None of said shows are shoujo ^^;
And trying to compare dramas/comedies to space opera isn't really all that great of an idea. Touch for example hasn't aged much aside from the character designs, and City Hunter is going to remain funny regardless of how much it ages (Mokkori and all that). Shows like Macross rely on their production values too much, and other than that the only real thing it had going for it is the Zentradi, and they're basically equivalent to Star Trek rejects.
See, I'm probably in the minority that didn't entirely enjoy either of those shows all that much either. If I'd throw something out for comparison it'd be Cowboy Bebop, which has aged terrifically.
Boring actions scenes+horrible animation+horrible music = ?
Seriously, if you addressed how horribly it's written I don't think you could really say anything particularly positive other than, " It was great when it came out." Anyways, Robotech is more important for American audiences given the role it played in bringing anime over here. Macross+Southern Cross+Mospeada are really only important for perspective.
I personally like a lot of the "older" stuff.
I am a sucker for hand drawn animation.
I mean yeah the animation now a days is killer that I can't deny, and I like, but I would just as soon sit down and watch old episodes of Yu Yu then watch anything that's on Adult Swim right now. (except maybe Morbito, but it is on WAY TOOOOO LATE)
I think there a lot of things that are really cold with dated anime.
Take the aforementioned Yu Yu, I used to hate this show, but once I started to really watch it I really got into the animation.
I adore the stylized look that pops up every now and again in this show.
For example I can't remember all the details of it but I remember Yusuke Urameshi running down the hallway of an abandoned hospital.
I remember just stopping the game of MTG me and my brother were playing and just ADDing out on it because it was so........not like anything I have seen from that time period.
It was truly amazing.
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Also anybody see that Funimation is finally releasing the Dragon Boxes State's side?
I would be all for it if we didn't just get repacks of DBZ for the last 2 frickin years.
Seriously, do they really think after buying the 1080p Remasters we are going to run out and buy this?
The only real difference is the aspect ration and a booklet but the boxes cost twice as much.
I just don't get it.
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I can understand it on a case by case basis, especially when it comes to contemporary parody shows. Many parody shows dig soooo deep into recent otaku culture, and they really aren't that funny outside of the context of contemporary trends; meaning, they don't age well.
Things like Macross, Bebop and Evangellion... Well, to me they are masterpieces of the genre, and on top of that I tend to respect innovators.
Also, no offense meant to anyone at all, but generally many anime fans tend to have very specific and strong tastes (like me!). If they don't like something, for whatever reason, they are going to be vocal about.
Personally, I really love the cassics, especially given the shape of contemporary anime. I mean, there are some brilliant things coming out from time to time, but I can only take so much moe clones and self indulgent parodies before I wanna go bust out the Escaflowne, or get nostalgic for the opening song of Record of Lodoss Wars, and so on.
There is a real pioneering spirit in the old stuff because they were too busy creating, rather than building on top of tropes, simulacrums, and an ever growing list of specific archtypes.
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P.S. I'm apologizing in advance if I've been rambling senselessly, or offensive any any way. I've been awake for two days.
Oh! I had time to watch the latest Umineko. The pace is definatly slowing down, and this is a good thing. I believe the first 10 episodes were as much about throwing the viewer off balance as setting the stage and plot. I'm really digging the show and anticipating the next episode.
See now that I can understand, it's just when things get labeled as "dated" for there animation values I just can't understand that.
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