Akazora

Yes, I'm aware of that. That's why I specified it was the movie anime and not one of two series right in the title. And it's not just "a" live action movie; there are at least seven different versions.

The Dog of Flanders (movie) This movie is a simple one. It's a simple tale, adapted from an 1872 novel of the same name by Marie Louise de la Ramée, of the loyalty between a boy and his dog. It's so simple in fact, one might brush it off as childish. However, this is far from a movie to take lightly. It's greatest strength lies in its simplicity. It's accessible enough for children, but poignant enough for adults. It is a story of simple happiness, simple sadness, simple triumphs, and simple losses. It is a tale of the powerful and the powerless, and it is one that, despite being nearly a century and a half old, resonates in the hearts of people to this day. It it truly a timeless tale, and this 1997 adaption does it justice. The art is fairly good given the movie is as old as I am, and the character designs are clearly European. I watched the Japanese dub, but I'll be checking out the English dub in the future. The music is atmospheric and really helps with setting the scenes. Speaking of which, the atmosphere of this movie is fantastic. It's soft, easy on the eyes, and even a bit nostalgic. I haven't even been to Belgium (let alone 19th century Belgium) but the portrayal of the rustic town of Hoboken and city of Antwerp give off warm feelings generally associated with childhood memories. The passage of time and change of the seasons are also executed amazingly in this movie. I absolutely loved this movie and recommend it anyone looking for a heartfelt and emotionally stirring film that has unfortunately fallen into obscurity. It has single handedly motivated me to visit Antwerp, Belgium, specifically the Cathedral of Our Lady. It has also gotten me interested in Peter Paul Rubens' paintings. The ideal time to watch this movie would be during Christmas. While not a specifically holiday-themed movie, the message and story are perfect to experience on a cold winter's night, snuggled up in blankets with a warm cup of hot chocolate in hand.

I take that back, this one is pretty sweet too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo3jXx43T60

The only acceptable song for the Duck Hunt stage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgs6NEdVYWg

Why did anon rep my Sugar Plum Fairy post? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huE5YRr1l2E (Edit: wait, hold up, already posted that song...)

Did somebody say K-On?! Gosho doesn't usually reference relatively new anime (if you consider an anime that aired in 2009 to be new), so this is interesting to see.

Tekkon Kinkreet All throughout the movie I couldn't help but think, "Man, these characters look a lot like those in that Ping Pong anime." After looking it up, I realized it wasn't just a coincidence. The manga this movie was based off of was written by the same man who wrote the Ping Pong manga that Ping Pong: The Animation was based off of. Ahhh, it all makes sense now. This was an interesting movie, to say the least. As expected of the Ping Pong man, the character designs are very simplistic and, generally speaking, unattractive. But the animation and the scenery are where this movie stands out. The frames are blurred in such a way that gives the fast paced and frantic movements a smooth look and the background art is fantastic, in both the "amazing" sense and the "crazy" sense. This movie provided more of a dream-like and visceral atmosphere than even Paprika did, and Paprika is the original Inception. The background draws you in, and makes you feel like part of the story. It's very difficult for movies, anime especially, to be able to pull this off. While the plot can sometimes be predictable, the high-tension, raw emotion of the characters as brought to life through the amazing directing makes up for it. This was a fascinating movie to watch late Tuesday night as a way to officially end my fall break. I'm curious to see how this will hold up to Ping Pong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sX_54hHcEE I died.

Pfft, What Child Is This, O Christmas Tree, Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, The Christmas Waltz, and The Christmas Shoes are much better, heheh. Oh my geez, Tchaikovsky! Continuing with the Christmas theme, how about some Nutcracker selections? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0iP6j6nhjY (...dammit Kenzi, I can't stop listening to holiday music now, thanks...)

This glorious monstrosity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXNzGOdGwKg

I am currently not eating any mangos.

I didn't even start browsing reddit, let alone make an account, until just earlier this year, soo... And apparently there are only 36 million reddit user accounts compared to the nearly 42 million teenagers in America alone, so I wouldn't go so far as to say "most".

Those Quad City DJ's parodies are really catchy and actually make me very productive with my work, for some reason... Jam Sign - Quad City DJs vs Fate/Zero https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT0CGTYbDT0

(^spoilered to cut down on size) Pfft, why would you ruin it for yourself like that Kenzi? Nah, just playing. It's an anime that took a long time to grow on me. The first episode was okay, the first half was pretty good, but by the time the series was over I realized how much I had come to love the entire cast. It's simply a feel-good romance that does enough to keep things fresh and funny. No heavy handed drama to get in the way of the cuteness. It's not entirely realistic, but then again just looking at Takeo's design should tip you off to the fact that this anime can be a bit extreme with it humor and themes. It's a relaxing breath of fresh air that's good for giving you nice, warm, fuzzy-feelings, heheh. Anyway, on to my fall season first impressions! As always, I've ranked everything from best to worst. 1. One Punch Man - No surprise here, OPM is at the top of the list. There was a lot of hype from before the anime started because the manga was so popular and successful, so I was a bit afraid that the anime would flop and not live up to its expectations. I must say though, I am pleasantly surprised to find that the first episode was quite stellar. It just lays down the groundwork of the premise, so nothing too impressive in terms of plot that wasn’t already obvious, and the only character introduced so far is the MC. But where it stands out is the animation and music. The animation is some of the most fluid, dynamic, action-packed and exciting work I’ve seen to come out of a television series. This is animation on the level of theatrical releases, not weekly shows. Paired with the music, it makes for quite the epic experience. It's supposed to be a parody of shounen shows, but the humor has yet to really show itself. If the animation maintains its current level and the humor starts to pick up, then this will end up being a fantastic anime. 2. Osomatsu-san - The funniest anime no one is watching, not even me at first. A quick Google search will lead you to some hideous, decades-old character designs, and you're probably thinking to yourself "eww, no way am I going to watch this." Just do yourself a favor and watch it. It's made by the director of Gintama and references a nearly uncountable number of anime at breakneck speed all in the first episode. The more anime you've seen and the more anime-savvy you are the better this series is going to be for you. It's already rearing up to be the most underwatched anime I have ever seen, and if it plays its cards right it might even be able to top OPM as anime of the season. It's a "sequel" to Osomatsu-kun, but knowledge of its predecessor isn't necessary to enjoy this. If you're looking for insane and over-the-top gags and humor, check this out. 3. Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru - Did you like Gosick? Did you like Hyouka? Did you like Detective Conan? (well, duhh...) Did you like the beginning of Ranpo Kitan before the plot went down the pooper? Did you like Sherlock Holmes? Did you like Sherlock (the Cumberbatch one)? If so, then hold onto your boot straps because Skurako is the anime for you. The anime follows the story of a woman with a sharp deductive mind as well as an obsession for bones along with her high school Watson-esque side kick. If you're craving some good ol' mystery that isn't the same old Detective Conan stuff, then I'd highly recommend this anime. The art is nice, the music is pretty good, and the characters are fun. The plot hasn't really kicked into full force yet, so there's not much to say there. This suffers the same tropes as most detective shows, but if you're fine with that then I think you'll enjoy this. 4. Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider - Every season there's always that one anime that tries to find success by being as un-anime-like as possible, and The Perfect Insider is this season's nonconformist. This anime is really slow paced and more dialogue focused than most, so for those with short attention spans or those who are looking for something energizing I suggest you look elsewhere. I'm not even entirely what the plot is at this point. From the looks of it, it's a mystery but much unlike Sakurako-san. The atmosphere is an interesting mix of Steins;Gate, Kara no Kyoukai, and Psycho-Pass, and the philosophical talks are engaging enough. There's also a noticeable lack of music, which is an interesting directional choice. That it's so different from most anime and more dialogue heavy than most is likely due to the fact that this is actually based on a novel instead of a manga or light novel or video game. There's room for this anime to grow and develop into something impressive, so I'll be keeping an eye on this. 5. Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou - As the title implies, this is a parody spoof of Shingeki no Kyojin. It's cute and entertaining enough, but not impressive or as fast paced as Osomatsu-san. If you've seen SnK, then this might be something fun to check out. If you haven't, then you shouldn't be considering this anime at all; it wouldn't make any sense even if you tried. The characters and voice actors return to reprise their role in some weird alternate universe, and there are parallels with scenes and music. It's slightly shorter than your average anime and fun enough. It's not outstanding, and the gags might get kind of old, but it's a nice way to get your SnK fix as we await the arrival of next year's second season. 6. Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou - This is everything anime squeezed into one really weird anime-original show. It's a mahou shoujo and a mecha and a super power anime all at once, and I feel like it's trying to be over-the-top in a good way but it ultimately just comes off as confusing. It has a colorful style and the animation is okay. I don't really follow the plot, or at least I'm not making much of an effort right now to figure it out. The ending theme is trippy, which I guess might be a good thing for those just looking for absurd stuff. I wouldn't personally recommend this, but it could be worse. 7. Noragami Aragoto - The first season of Noragami was pretty bad. I'm only watching the second season because people insist it's better than the first and the plot actually starts to pick up. I hope they're right, because I really don't have much motivation to get through another 12 episodes of this. The characters are the worst, especially Hiyori Iki, oh my gosh. She's just a Ran Mouri clone, and I know that's not really a good reason to dislike a character, but after being bogged down by such a plain and watered down character as Ran for so long, any characters that resemble her personality-wise give me PTSD. Yukime used to be really whiny, but I'll give credit where it's due; he's maturing a bit. His voice actor is still Yuuki Kaji though, so that's a bit grating. And as for Yato, Hiroshi Kamiya has voice acted much better characters before. The animation is okay, the art is really plain, the characters are bland, the plot is just kinda in limbo right now, and the humor isn't funny. It's not worth your time unless you liked the first season. 8. Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen - This anime is just discount Shingeki no Kyojin: Vampire Edition, Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry Series, & Kuckles. The second half starts right where the first left off, and that's God knows where, because I can't be bothered to remember. The animation is bleh, the characters are even worse than their SnK counterparts (I know, it sounds like a lie, but believe me), the music is cheesy, and the plot is a mess. There's nothing redeeming about this anime. Don't watch it unless you've already seen the first half and want to suffer. 9. Kagewani - I wasn't going to pick this up unless someone decided to simulcast this, so thanks Crunchyroll. Or rather, no thanks. This is a horror anime made in the style of Yami Shibai, except it's really not that good. Each episode is mercifully short at least, but there's no plot in sight even after two episodes. It's supposed to be scary, but it's not scary, at all. It's not even disturbing or cringe worthy, it's just... bad. I guess it'll be a fine replacement for the now concluded Japan Animator Expo shorts. 10. Komori-san wa Kotowarenai! - What is this, Pupa the slice of life version? Why is each episode only 3 minutes, including the opening and ending? How can you mess up an anime so bad? And I was actually kind of intrigued by the premise. Is there a plot? I don't know. Is it funny? No. Is it cute? No. Should you watch this? No.

Found out machine has a reddit account.

You expected Akazora, but-- But seriously, yeah, it was me. After all...

H-How could you Kenzi...?? This is the song my high school's wind ensemble played every year and is pretty much their theme song... [triggered] Y-You better take responsibility for this, b-baka... -- "Excalibur/Zero" -- WAVE

Ah yes, the meme I always happen to stumble upon at four in the morning that serves as a reminder that I should seriously get off YouTube and actually finish my damn homework, Jesus Christ almighty. It's a very good indication of when I've ventured too deep into the Interwebs and should stop before I mentally traumatize myself. Mega Jam 2 Medley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnf-konNTPs

Somehow find the time to watch my first completed show in nearly two months. Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin Better known as, or more easily known as, Occult Academy, this hodgepodge mixture of random stuff totaled to thirteen episodes and honestly wasn't very good. The premise is pretty cheesy: in the future the world has been taken over by aliens and some guy is sent back to the past to prevent the Mayan 2012 prophecy from happening by destroying the Nostradamus Key. In all fairness, this is a premise that might have worked if done right, but it wasn't. The characters were pretty typical and predictable, and those that didn't align with any major tropes were flat and cringey. The humor is poorly done and undermines the seriousness of the situation and the filler was definitely not needed in a thirteen episode anime. If it was an attempt at character development, it was a shoddy one. Because the comedy was so poor, I didn't know when to take the anime seriously and as a result many of the dramatic and emotional moments fell flat, not that they would have been that much better without the humor. The plot is full of holes, as is to be expected of your standard apocalyptic/time-travel story. Some story points were pretty interesting, but the lack of cohesiveness and thought put into stringing together a narrative that made sense ruined the standalone "okay" moments. The music was decent at least, the art was fine, and the animation occasionally displayed relatively impressive levels of sakuga. I wouldn't recommend Occult Academy, but if you decide to watch it then expect to be turn off your brain and be bored for a good portion of it.

"Angel With a Shotgun" -- The Cab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua830TJ1jxA

It's fine, I gushed about it over in the other movie thread.

sthap doin dis 2 urself Kenzi -- "The Prayer" -- Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli