I don't want to be forced to lock the thread, but I will. You can critique a show or defend it without taking things personally or getting into personal attacks.
I don't want to be forced to lock the thread, but I will. You can critique a show or defend it without taking things personally or getting into personal attacks.
What the old geezer with the walking frame said.
NGE seems to be a show you either love or hate. I'm an Asuka fan so I'm afraid it's easy to tell which camp I'm in.
You want good anime to watch: 1.Full Metal Alchemist, this anime is excellent even if it takes liberty to the original manga. 2.Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, it's not a remake but the original plot of the manga adapted into an anime, Each character are well developed and play an important role, and develop complex ans strong relationship between each other. 3. Hajime no Ippo, it's a anime about a young boy who decide to become boxer, during the story there are many reference to real professional boxer, they explain and show the different stance, technique and style which can exist in boxing, the main character Ippo and his opponents show strong determination which make each match has a unique flavour.
Last edited by gwadahunter2222 on Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:44 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : minor rephrasing)
Avoid anything like Code Gaess, Evangelion, or the later series of Gundam. They're just random Angst ridden emo-fests with douchebags who cry every single moment they get when they're not busy cutting themselves.
I must seriously disagree with you about Neon Genesis Evangelion. (Obviously, serious spoilers ahead.)
Spoiler:
While Shinji might indeed be an angsting emo to start out with (but honestly, the kid was all but abandoned by his father and then, when his father calls for him, his father is a mega-jerk to him and forces him to fight monsters using a machine that transmits all of its pain to him. He doesn't really have a choice in the matter, as is made very clear when Shinji refuses to fight the angel in the (4th?) eva, and Gendo says "Fuck you!" and turns on the autopilot (of sorts)) Anyone would be a little angsty emo if that happened to them and they didn't already have a strong emotional foundation to stand on.
Inspite of this, he does begin to mature. At the beginning of the series he is a terrible loner, but his emotional attachments to Misato, Toji, Rei, Auska, and the others slowly drag him out of his shell. Why do you think he didn't actually get on the train and leave in that one episode? A good example of Shinji caring more about others would be the fight against the Diamond shaped enemy that hits Rei with its killer beam of doom; in his rush to save her he rips off her Eva's back armor and seriously burns his hands opening her cockpit plug. While Shinii, Rei, and Auska are often a dysfunctional team, as the story progresses you can see how they act more and more like a team; a good example would be when they work as a team and defeat the spider enemy all by themselves.
Probably the best example of his advancement would be when he takes his eva and plows through a wall inside of headquarters in order to attack the "Cow" angel that is about to kill most everyone he actually cares for. Even when under serious pain he pushes that angel on to a lift and gets launched with it to the surface, where he continues attacking it until he runs out of power... which is when things get ugly. ^^; Would Shinji from early in the series have had the courage to fight a far more powerful adversary? I don't think so.
Sure, he gets more angsty and emo when Rei dies (and then he discovers she is a clone): one of his best friends died and is "reborn", but all of the warmth and friendship they had is gone; months worth of hard effort on his part to get out of his shell wasted in a mere moment.
Then finally, there is the ultimate demonstration of his progression: during the END OF EVERYTHING, when all humanity is becoming one and Shinji has absolute control over what sort of world he lives in, what is his ultimate choice? Does he live in a pleasant world where he and his friends are normal schoolkids? No. Eventually he decides that, while it would be pleasant, it wouldn't be reality. Eventually he decides to return to and face the ugly and imperfect real world. That's a pretty mature thing to do, especially when compared to his choices earlier on in the series.
Auska is a good character to compare and contrast Shinji with; she might seem more mature and emotionally stable, but its all a front. Her mother's suicide caused her to create a tough outer shell, but inside she is a broken person; half of the reason she fights with Shinji is because he both threatens her outer shell (by being a better eva pilot than her), and because he reminds her of a "deshelled" version of herself. Unfortunately for her, the "High Orbit Music Angel" sees right through her tough shell and forces her to confront herself, which breaks her. (But notice how she recovers in the movie through her realization... which leads to the awesome "Invincible, Untouchable Auska" fight.
And this is just a simple overview of just two of the characters. Misato, Dr, Risuko Akagi, Rei, hell, even Gendo Ikari (douchebag father) all have character development over the course of the series, often involving "emo"tion.
So I dispute your claim that they are "...just random Angst ridden emo-fests with douchebags who cry every single moment they get when they're not busy cutting themselves". There often are emo moments, and much of the time is spent angsting, but it is always with a point and rarely random; people emo and angst when one of their friends dies, or they realize that their father doesn't love them and is just using them. You can clearly see how the "emo" and "angst ridden" characters progress over the course of the story as they make choices (and mistakes), and mature as people, usually becoming less "emo" and "angst ridden", but not always.
TL;DR non-spoiler version: While Shinji might start out rather angsty and emo (with good cause), you can see by his choices over the course of the series how he matures as a person, until at the end he doesn't much resemble the Shinji at the beginning. To say that Evangelion is "...just random Angst ridden emo-fests with douchebags..." is untrue, unfair, and to miss or ignore the maturation of the characters.
I do have a question for you though Pendragon; what were your thoughts on the book "Ender's Game"?
To be honest I found NGE a little slow at first and I was seriously considering giving it away. And then I saw the episode in which they meet Asuka Langley Sorya.
>.<
Well-that was it for me. I was hooked. Many anime's later I'm still a fan of the young pilot. She's like a firecracker crossed with Leppy.
Jætte_Troll Friend of the Jotun
Posts : 2769 Join date : 2009-02-02 Age : 32 Location : Over There
That is my point as well. Comparing NGE to Twilight shows a lack of attention. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but some things are just plain wrong and it's wronger still to say them to someone new to the field of anime.
FalconJudge Hero
Posts : 1040 Join date : 2008-11-07 Age : 32 Location : Work
I don't want to be forced to lock the thread, but I will. You can critique a show or defend it without taking things personally or getting into personal attacks.
What the old geezer with the walking frame said.
NGE seems to be a show you either love or hate. I'm an Asuka fan so I'm afraid it's easy to tell which camp I'm in.
Anyone else like Happy Lesson?
I'm SO glad someone else here knows and likes that series...
Not really a series...but Macross Plus. Golden Boy, very well done. All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (1st series...the other 2 are...weird). Dragon Half...sadly the creator HATED what he had created and never completed the series *tear*. Oh...and even though it's very girly...I REALLY did like Sailor Moon (at least the first 3 seasons).
I liked Dragon half after Tora044 forced (I mean) "encouraged" me to watch it.
Good fun.
Geneshaft is another great show. I liked it so much I made a naga out of one of the characters.
(Karbo knows who I mean)
DeviantDiscordian Hero
Posts : 1234 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 34 Location : Tokyo-3
Subject: Re: I'm finally considering getting into anime. Fri Apr 02, 2010 12:23 am
I think I've brought it up before, but I suggest Bakemonogatari.
The main character is a high school student who is human again after becoming a vampire for a short time, and quickly finds himself involved in the business of unusual apparitions.
Mark-12 Tasty morsel
Posts : 8 Join date : 2009-11-23
Subject: Re: I'm finally considering getting into anime. Fri Apr 02, 2010 12:41 am
Wow...I think I vomited kyoot cartoon chipmunks. Like ALL over the place. Repeatedly. And because of that, I forgot what other anime I was going to bring up. Oh yeah...SORT of a hentai-ish...but not really. But very beautiful up until the last few episodes...Sakura Diaries. Really beautiful story...until the end...at which point I wanted to just SLIT my wrist. Also...DNA 2'd. Really awesome anime.
TL;DR non-spoiler version: While Shinji might start out rather angsty and emo (with good cause), you can see by his choices over the course of the series how he matures as a person, until at the end he doesn't much resemble the Shinji at the beginning. To say that Evangelion is "...just random Angst ridden emo-fests with douchebags..." is untrue, unfair, and to miss or ignore the maturation of the characters.
I do have a question for you though Pendragon; what were your thoughts on the book "Ender's Game"?
Never heard of it.
And on topic, I feel I have a right to say that Evangelion is garbage to me. I watched the entire series and even suffered through the movie.
I hate anime that takes itself so seriously, puking bible related events everywhere and everyone turning to jello as Shinji goes through all this crap and everyone around him gets a free trip to rape him mentally and nobody gets reprimanded for it. I don't care what development they go through. I really don't. It's a disgrace to all mecha anime (especially since they're NOT EVEN REAL MECHS). Deconstruction? More like a piece of crap.
And I know what you're going to say.
"Ooh, but it has so many meanings and it's fun to watch and they make such deep moral choices about living in the real world hur hur" I'm just not into that.
I'm sorry, but I wish that series dies a horrible death for wasting my time. And I want to verbally castigate the person who came up with it. I've had it up to here with anime like that. It will always cause me to feel ill. Can't I have one mecha series that doesn't throw away the concept of giant robots fighting in favor of showboating their own political views in talking scenes that rival the boredom I feel when I watch Dragonball Z?
Last edited by Pendragon on Sat Apr 03, 2010 9:18 am; edited 1 time in total
Archmage_Bael Mara's snack
Posts : 4158 Join date : 2009-05-05 Age : 35 Location : Shatterock Caldera
excluding the aforementioned animes i'll list some others
1. Hikaru no Go - it's so intense that it made me look up the game online, and now after months of practice im finally starting to get somewhere. (personal favorite) 2. Hunter x Hunter - It's kind of old, but it's still entertaining. It's a fighting anime, similar to yu yu hakusho (made by the same guy) 3. Samurai 7 - Good if you like rediculous fighting XD 4 Spice and Wolf - Karbo recommended this to me, the plot is kind of confusing, but there's some vore elements in it, and I never thought I'd get into an anime that involves an economy. It's really good. 5. Spiral of Destiny - 25 ep mini series. It involves a student looking for his brother who vanished, and gets into a complex plot involving the blade children. It's very intellecutal. 6. Peace Maker - It's about two brothers not long before the industrial revolution in Japan. The Shinsengumi play a big role. 7. Black Cat - It's about a mercenary. 8. Tales of the Abyss - Anyone play the game on gamecube? 9. Afro Samurai - Like bloody anime with Samuel L Jackson Dubbing over the main character? Watch. Nao. XD 10. DNAngel -This one's about a theif named dark.
there's like a bazillion others i've watched but here's a few for ya XD
Subject: Re: I'm finally considering getting into anime. 
Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:40 pm
