All these series can be found on nyaa.si by the way.
2013 OP of Yamato Original for comparison
How do you bring back a series that been a figure of space Anime since the 80s? Update the graphics, have better sound mixing, maybe add stuff to the story to make it stronger but ultimately you have a good damn homage to the original you could say this is a worth successor. I can't understate how much this 2013 lives up to the original. Basic story of Yamato if you've never heard it is the Japanese without telling the Americans rebuild the Yamato as a space faring vessel as the Earth is dying. They have a year to journey to the star system of Iscandar to retrieve a revival seed that will let earth flourish again. The creator of this series took the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Yamato, and turned that symbol of Empire pride into modern national Japanese pride with his story. The Yamato has a history beyond being a sunk battleship. It's amazing in my opinion. Highly recommended. Avoid the movie sequels, as they kind of spoil the story.
If you can get Super Robot Wars V, also recommend that for Yamato.
Thunderbolt Fantasy S2 ED Roll the Dice
Thunderbolt Fantasy struck me like a thunderbolt when I saw this scene. The story goes that Gen Uruobuchi (Madoka, Psycho-Pass) was attending a con in Taiwan and saw the traditionally puppetry offered by Pili and was so impressed that he immediately went through his contacts and wrote up Season 1 with it to be shown in Japan to spread the puppetry beyond Taiwan. Pili have been doing this stuff since the 80s and there was one movie that made it state side but Thunderbolt is their most successful property thanks to Gen. With how successful it was in Taiwan, Japanese and the rest of the world, Gen worked on 2 movies and S2 with S3 on the way now. This project has been going for 6 years now and he still wants to write for it. The music is done by the guy who did the music for Attack on Titan, so alot of WOAHs and stuff in his music. My advice is watch S1, don't drop after the first 2 episodes as it needs to set the world a bit but continue afterwards it gets better, really better. God I love this series, the physical aspect of the puppetry, the tight wuxia script, the VAs especially Shou's are all good. They show outtakes in the movies, they throw around $10k puppets to get the effects of them being thrown by a sword attack.
One of the best series of 2017 and considering this was Kemono Friends and Girls Last Tour in the same year, that should tell you how good it is. The story is Humanity has been dead. They have been for thousands of years. But still life on earth exists, in 3 forms, crustaceans in the sea, gems on the earth and Lunarians who live on the moon. The story starts with a young gem called Phos, after Phosphophyllite, who goes up to her Sensei and asks what she can do. The other gems battle the Lunarians who come to break them, gather them up and return them to the moon for some purpose. Adament Sensei tasks her with cataloging all the local wildlife and eventually she meets Cinnabar, a gem in a positions like she is. Phos promises Cinna that they'll find something they can do together and then they get attacked by Lunarians. Why this series is beautiful, is not only the use of CD3G that still holds up or the gorgeous use of lighting that makes it look like a video game, it's also the buddhist themes inherent in the story. The pain and suffering one undergoes and who you have to lose to gain, you will ultimately not be yourself pre-suffering but at the end you'll ask if it's worth it. The manga has taken a dark turn recent so watch the series first before jumping into it.
I also wanted it noted that Houseki first came out 2012, and Steven Universe came out 2013, so you're getting an uncorrupted by a certain female of ethnic persuasion and her biased views on sex. The Gems themselves are sexless, I use female on them because female seiyuus but they address themselves with Boku which is mostly used by males so the books have alot of I's and he's. It's not a mess but just thought you should know, it's a translation thing than a weird gender thing like SU has.
Zone of the Enders, Dolores, I, cute moment just to show you what the show is like.
2001 tie in anime for the games that were big back that. Kojima didn't work on this but he regards it as canon. Anyway, story is James Links is struggling with his family, his son and daughter see him as a drunk which he is, his wife is dead, which might be and he's stuck ferrying parts between Mars and Earth. All that changes when Dolores, the pinkest cutest mech you've ever seen comes along and tells him her creator was his dead wife. So James with his new mech, picks up a book on how to be a better father, rounds up his kids and tries to get off of earth to his ship before the authorities find Dolores and capture her. Half the series is just getting to Mars and it starts to open up there but James himself is an instantly likeable protag because he's trying to juggle so many balls at once. The dub is pretty good also for the time which good in it's own right. Not much to say, it's just a solid mech anime.
Space Dandy is weirdYou'll either like it, loathe it or be indifferent to it. But that episode 8... that's the one I remember even now. Because in that Dandy dies and he goes on this weird surrealist wandering journey with other creatures discussing life and death as well. It doesn't come across as faux deep to me but is meant to get you questioning stuff like Entropy, Legacy and what's after death. I find it all fascinating. Even if you only watch one episode, that's a good episode to watch.
Another adventure one but I don't think you'll mind it. The world has taken to the sky in massive airships but tech is still just post-industrial so fighting in the skies is done Musketeer style of lining up men along a broadside and having them shoot these proto-rifle-cannons at the enemy ships. The world itself is probably the biggest draw here, characters and story can get a little week but it's 10/10 world design and detail. Again, not much to say, there was a sequel in 2012 but it's unconnected as far as I know.
Lain has a legacy in the Anime community. A show that people recommend and remember, it just seems to stick around but to put it down to why? I'd say it's because it's a weird show even by Anime's general wackiness of standards. Lain herself spends more time in the Wired, basically the internet if it was more all encompassing but as she does, things start to mesh a little strange, at least in terms of story. It's one you should watch at least once, even if you can't remember why you keep seeing the girl with the beanie in your monitor.
Code Pants is a guilty pleasure of mine. I know people tend to dislike it cause fanservice, pizza, Suzaku spinning kick and other things but I think they belies the what makes this series so great. First off is characters, Lelouch is a tactical genius who to the point of ruthlessness will walk over those that get in his way. When something does effect him though, like with Shirley, he really takes it heavily. C.C. is always there to poke at him and to remind him of their deal but he still walks to overthrow the Britannia Empire, that's mostly the continental Americas despite the name. The plot is tight, like victorian corset breaking ribs tight, every thing brought up or minor side character like Dalton, he runs into Lelouch few eps later, helps him when the Geass gets triggered. It's amazing in just how narrow the story with with how many characters, factions and motivations the story juggles. The mechs themselves I actually like, they starts off as gen 5 Sutherlands being better than tanks but then you get specially manufactured ones for the Black Knights then gen 7 becomes the default and it's an arms race to see who can make them fly and achieve dominance first. I am biased of this series, so I'd recommend it. It's worth your time.
Continued next post.
All these series can be found on nyaa.si by the way.
2013 OP of Yamato Original for comparison
How do you bring back a series that been a figure of space Anime since the 80s? Update the graphics, have better sound mixing, maybe add stuff to the story to make it stronger but ultimately you have a good damn homage to the original you could say this is a worth successor. I can't understate how much this 2013 lives up to the original. Basic story of Yamato if you've never heard it is the Japanese without telling the Americans rebuild the Yamato as a space faring vessel as the Earth is dying. They have a year to journey to the star system of Iscandar to retrieve a revival seed that will let earth flourish again. The creator of this series took the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Yamato, and turned that symbol of Empire pride into modern national Japanese pride with his story. The Yamato has a history beyond being a sunk battleship. It's amazing in my opinion. Highly recommended. Avoid the movie sequels, as they kind of spoil the story.
If you can get Super Robot Wars V, also recommend that for Yamato.
Thunderbolt Fantasy S2 ED Roll the Dice
Thunderbolt Fantasy struck me like a thunderbolt when I saw this scene. The story goes that Gen Uruobuchi (Madoka, Psycho-Pass) was attending a con in Taiwan and saw the traditionally puppetry offered by Pili and was so impressed that he immediately went through his contacts and wrote up Season 1 with it to be shown in Japan to spread the puppetry beyond Taiwan. Pili have been doing this stuff since the 80s and there was one movie that made it state side but Thunderbolt is their most successful property thanks to Gen. With how successful it was in Taiwan, Japanese and the rest of the world, Gen worked on 2 movies and S2 with S3 on the way now. This project has been going for 6 years now and he still wants to write for it. The music is done by the guy who did the music for Attack on Titan, so alot of WOAHs and stuff in his music. My advice is watch S1, don't drop after the first 2 episodes as it needs to set the world a bit but continue afterwards it gets better, really better. God I love this series, the physical aspect of the puppetry, the tight wuxia script, the VAs especially Shou's are all good. They show outtakes in the movies, they throw around $10k puppets to get the effects of them being thrown by a sword attack.
One of the best series of 2017 and considering this was Kemono Friends and Girls Last Tour in the same year, that should tell you how good it is. The story is Humanity has been dead. They have been for thousands of years. But still life on earth exists, in 3 forms, crustaceans in the sea, gems on the earth and Lunarians who live on the moon. The story starts with a young gem called Phos, after Phosphophyllite, who goes up to her Sensei and asks what she can do. The other gems battle the Lunarians who come to break them, gather them up and return them to the moon for some purpose. Adament Sensei tasks her with cataloging all the local wildlife and eventually she meets Cinnabar, a gem in a positions like she is. Phos promises Cinna that they'll find something they can do together and then they get attacked by Lunarians. Why this series is beautiful, is not only the use of CD3G that still holds up or the gorgeous use of lighting that makes it look like a video game, it's also the buddhist themes inherent in the story. The pain and suffering one undergoes and who you have to lose to gain, you will ultimately not be yourself pre-suffering but at the end you'll ask if it's worth it. The manga has taken a dark turn recent so watch the series first before jumping into it.
I also wanted it noted that Houseki first came out 2012, and Steven Universe came out 2013, so you're getting an uncorrupted by a certain female of ethnic persuasion and her biased views on sex. The Gems themselves are sexless, I use female on them because female seiyuus but they address themselves with Boku which is mostly used by males so the books have alot of I's and he's. It's not a mess but just thought you should know, it's a translation thing than a weird gender thing like SU has.
Zone of the Enders, Dolores, I, cute moment just to show you what the show is like.
2001 tie in anime for the games that were big back that. Kojima didn't work on this but he regards it as canon. Anyway, story is James Links is struggling with his family, his son and daughter see him as a drunk which he is, his wife is dead, which might be and he's stuck ferrying parts between Mars and Earth. All that changes when Dolores, the pinkest cutest mech you've ever seen comes along and tells him her creator was his dead wife. So James with his new mech, picks up a book on how to be a better father, rounds up his kids and tries to get off of earth to his ship before the authorities find Dolores and capture her. Half the series is just getting to Mars and it starts to open up there but James himself is an instantly likeable protag because he's trying to juggle so many balls at once. The dub is pretty good also for the time which good in it's own right. Not much to say, it's just a solid mech anime.
Space Dandy is weirdYou'll either like it, loathe it or be indifferent to it. But that episode 8... that's the one I remember even now. Because in that Dandy dies and he goes on this weird surrealist wandering journey with other creatures discussing life and death as well. It doesn't come across as faux deep to me but is meant to get you questioning stuff like Entropy, Legacy and what's after death. I find it all fascinating. Even if you only watch one episode, that's a good episode to watch.
Another adventure one but I don't think you'll mind it. The world has taken to the sky in massive airships but tech is still just post-industrial so fighting in the skies is done Musketeer style of lining up men along a broadside and having them shoot these proto-rifle-cannons at the enemy ships. The world itself is probably the biggest draw here, characters and story can get a little week but it's 10/10 world design and detail. Again, not much to say, there was a sequel in 2012 but it's unconnected as far as I know.
Lain has a legacy in the Anime community. A show that people recommend and remember, it just seems to stick around but to put it down to why? I'd say it's because it's a weird show even by Anime's general wackiness of standards. Lain herself spends more time in the Wired, basically the internet if it was more all encompassing but as she does, things start to mesh a little strange, at least in terms of story.
Code Pants is a guilty pleasure of mine. I know people tend to dislike it cause fanservice, pizza, Suzaku spinning kick and other things but I think they belies the what makes this series so great. First off is characters, Lelouch is a tactical genius who to the point of ruthlessness will walk over those that get in his way. When something does effect him though, like with Shirley, he really takes it heavily. C.C. is always there to poke at him and to remind him of their deal but he still walks to overthrow the Britannia Empire, that's mostly the continental Americas despite the name. The plot is tight, like victorian corset breaking ribs tight, every thing brought up or minor side character like Dalton, he runs into Lelouch few eps later, helps him when the Geass gets triggered. It's amazing in just how narrow the story with with how many characters, factions and motivations the story juggles. The mechs themselves I actually like, they starts off as gen 5 Sutherlands being better than tanks but then you get specially manufactured ones for the Black Knights then gen 7 becomes the default and it's an arms race to see who can make them fly and achieve dominance first. I am biased of this series, so I'd recommend it. It's worth your time.
Continued next post.