The Anime/Manga thread...

[Kstat]

For the first time...ever, A basketball anime that isn't terrible. Shoot, it's just a great basketball story in general, if you can deal with the anime style it's written in.

Normally I'd just post this in the anime thread, but since there's hoops involved...



Just picked this title up and can't put it down. It was obviously written by someone who really loves the game and I respect that.

That said...yeah, some of the "surprise tactics" used by Kuroko's team have been used in every American highschool gym for the last 50 years. Japan's still lagging behind the rest of the world in basketball, and the show actually teases itself in that regard.

Story-wise, it's exceptionally well-written. The main character being a pure point guard who's only great skills are floor awareness and court vision is something that's never been tried in American cinema. In %99 of them, it's the same old narrative of the superstar showing up to carry the team to victory. The main character of this show actually is useless on his own, but is great because he makes the teammates around him better. The basketball itself is pretty primitive, but it captures the spirit of the game flawlessly. There's something neat about celebrating that.

[Kstat]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

I figured since it's been years since the old Ranma 1/2 thread died off, I'd just go ahead and make this the new home for all anime/manga talk.

Aside from Kuroko no Basket, I just finished watching Guilty Crown, which Sony obviously poured a ton of money into, but apparently couldn't find writers worth a **** to build a better story around the breathtaking animation and sound/music.

Also...and it pains me to say this...but I've started reading Nazo no Kanojo X at the behest of my girlfriend, and i cannot put it down. The story is just amazing. I've never seen anything quite like it.

[Suaveness]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

The only anime I've watched in the past year and half was Getbackers, and that was just recently. I'm suffering anime withdrawal...tremors, diaphoresis, twitching. At least I've been keeping up with Naruto/Bleach manga.

[Kstat]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

I only started to get back into it a few weeks ago.

[Sparhawk]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

I'll definitely give it a shot. I love Naruto and Bleach. Can't get into OnePiece or SoulEater.

I'm really digging Moribito, which is a short series Anime (26episodes I think). Almost done with it. It's pretty slow pace, but I've enjoyed it.

I'll need to check out Getbackers too.

/Cowboy Bebop is probably my favorite anime of all time (and I've never seen the last episode!)

[Kstat]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

Ongoing Manga I'm following:

Kuroko No Basket
Nazo No Kanojo X
Naruto
Bleach
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
Fairy Tail
High School of the Dead

Manga I've completed:

Battle Royale
Fullmetal Alchemist
Soul Eater
Ranma 1/2
Maison Ikkoku
Genshiken
Death Note
Rurouni Kenshin

Ongoing anime I'm following:

Fairy Tail
Kuroko No Basket
Kaze No Kanojo X
Naruto

Anime I've completed:

Bleach
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Ranma 1/2
Maison Ikkoku
Genshiken
Kujibiki Unbalance
Full Metal Panic
Vandread
Guilty Cross
Kaze no Stigma
Chrono Crusade
Spiral
X
Infinite Stratos
Tenjho Tenge
Code Geass
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Pumpkin Scissors
Basilisk
Azumanga Daioh
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun
Excel Saga
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
Gungrave
Hellsing
Love Hina
Samurai Girls
Kiddy Grade
Rurouni Kenshin
Witch Hunter Robin
Slayers
Scrapped Princess
Blood-C
Kore Wa No Zombie Desu Ka
HighSchool of the Dead
Afro Samurai
Samurai 7
FLCL
Madoka
Denetsu no Yusha no Denetsu
Steins; Gate
Samurai Champloo
Gurren Lagen
Basilisk
Blood-C
Black Blood Brothers

[Sparhawk]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

I find more and more that the Japanese just can't end a manga/anime epically. They always get really weird (Blue Gender anyone) or just fizzle.

Avatar The Last Airbender, did a combo of anime art style and japanese mythology, and mixed it with American storytelling. What happened was the most episodes were excellent and then ended with a pure epic fight.

Blue Gender started out so cool and by the time I got to the end, I wondered why I was even watching this crap.

Death Note started out epic, but I found the ending to be pretty lacking too. It's still a great series though.

Full metal was awesome, but the ending was more of a fizzle to me. Even the movie after the end didn't set things right. I'm not sure how different Brotherhood is, but I haven't watched any of it yet. Full Metal is still a great.

Just have no idea how the endings just don't get the attention they deserve.

Naruto is already like that. If you're caught up in the manga, you'll see that there are major boss fights now and they are typically only lasting like 1 manga chapter. These are powerful ninjas and are getting beat so quickly. It really seems like Kishi just wants to be done with the series rather than crafting great battles. And it's pissing me off that they've totally ignored Hinata's confession for Naruto. Ahhhh!!

Love Bleach, no problems other than they skip over the stuff about Ichigo's dad. Glad the anime is NOT cancelled, rather the anime caught up too quickly with the manga and is on hiatus for awhile.

[Kstat]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

Death Note started out epic, but I found the ending to be pretty lacking too. It's still a great series though.

I thought Death Note's ending was spectacular. Did not watch the anime version though, so maybe they messed it up.

Full metal was awesome, but the ending was more of a fizzle to me. Even the movie after the end didn't set things right. I'm not sure how different Brotherhood is, but I haven't watched any of it yet. Full Metal is still a great.

Fullmetal Alchemist died a slow painful death because they decided to create their own storyline instead of waiting for the Manga to finish. It was a horrible mistake and was rectified when FMA: Brotherhood re-booted the series.

Anime producers need to understand they they are supposed to be adapting a manga for TV. They are not supposed to crate their own story. If they could do that effectively, they would be writers and not producers.

Just have no idea how the endings just don't get the attention they deserve.

Because %99 of anime suffers from either not staying true to the Manga they are based off of (See: FMA), or being canceled before the end of the Manga and being forced to cram in their own ending (See: Soul Eater) as a rushed substitute.

The book is the source material. If you want a better ending, go read the manga and you'll likely get one.

Naruto is already like that. If you're caught up in the manga, you'll see that there are major boss fights now and they are typically only lasting like 1 manga chapter. These are powerful ninjas and are getting beat so quickly. It really seems like Kishi just wants to be done with the series rather than crafting great battles. And it's pissing me off that they've totally ignored Hinata's confession for Naruto. Ahhhh!!

Naruto is driven by popularity. It's why they have character polls in Japan every year. Hinata has fallen off the map because, well, nobody likes her.

Love Bleach, no problems other than they skip over the stuff about Ichigo's dad. Glad the anime is NOT cancelled, rather the anime caught up too quickly with the manga and is on hiatus for awhile.

Bleach's popularity in Japan has completely tanked since 2009. It's no longer considered a must-read. While it's probably true that they will go back and animate the final manga arc after its conclusion, there's a reason for that. As of right now, the anime is canceled, and Kubo Tite has been given his orders to wrap the Bleach Manga up sooner rather than later. This was not his call.

[Sparhawk]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

That's pretty strange odd about Bleach. It's pretty awesome if you ask me.

What are the most popular manga right now then? Bleach is sooooo much better than OnePiece, I have no clue how anyone can stand it. It has some of the worst art I've ever seen, like a 3rd grader draws it.

[Kstat]

One piece is by far the most popular manga on earth. I dont care for it either but facts are facts. Naruto is second, but the gap is enormous. After that, it's a toss up between Blue Exorcist, Fairy Tail, and the series that has replaced Bleach as Shonen Jump's #3 series, Toriko.

Naruto sold roughly 7 million copies last year, making it the second-most popular manga series in the world. One Piece sold 38 million. That's more than the next seven series in the list combined.

FYI, Bleach came in 8th, down from 5th in 2010 and 3rd in 2009. This year, it likely won't even finish in the top 10.

[Suaveness]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

Full metal was awesome, but the ending was more of a fizzle to me. Even the movie after the end didn't set things right. I'm not sure how different Brotherhood is, but I haven't watched any of it yet. Full Metal is still a great.

FMA: Brotherhood is a lot better than the original series. It followed the manga better, was better written, and had better combination of comedy and action. Much better show.

Naruto is already like that. If you're caught up in the manga, you'll see that there are major boss fights now and they are typically only lasting like 1 manga chapter. These are powerful ninjas and are getting beat so quickly. It really seems like Kishi just wants to be done with the series rather than crafting great battles. And it's pissing me off that they've totally ignored Hinata's confession for Naruto. Ahhhh!!

The problem with Naruto is that it's so big and there's so many storylines that they can't spend so much time on boss battles anymore. For Kishi, it's not about the individual battles as much as it is about the bigger picture, which is the war. If they focused on individual battles, it would take forever for them to finish the series.

Love Bleach, no problems other than they skip over the stuff about Ichigo's dad. Glad the anime is NOT cancelled, rather the anime caught up too quickly with the manga and is on hiatus for awhile.

I think Bleach is pretty awful honestly now. I think the manga should have ended awhile ago, it takes too long for things to get going in the series, and the storylines just are not as interesting anymore. It's kind of disappointing for me.

I thought Death Note's ending was spectacular. Did not watch the anime version though, so maybe they messed it up.

The end of DN in the anime wasn't very good. Not sure if that's how the manga ended, but the DN anime series was very good until the early 20s episode....then it stopped being good. It was pretty disappointing.

[Cactus Jax]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

I agree about Death Note, it's great for about 3/4 of it then the last part kind of sucks. I like Code Geass, Cowboy Bebop, Twelve Kingdoms, Berserk, Lucky Star, and Azumanga Daioh. There's a bunch more anime (I don't really do manga too much) that I like but those are some of my favorites.

[Kstat]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

Maybe they just ran out of time and rushed the ending? I thought it was one of the great endings I've ever read.

Go out and read the last volume if you haven't already.

[Sparhawk]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

Maybe they just ran out of time and rushed the ending? I thought it was one of the great endings I've ever read.

Go out and read the last volume if you haven't already.

I know I've see the anime, but I don't think I've read the manga. I'll have to double check on that. If I haven't, I'll read the manga and see where the differences lie.

[Suaveness]

Re: The Anime/Manga thread...

K, how was Otakon last year? Anything good this upcoming year?