Posts made by Sen

By losing coherence I meant that they lost sight of the original plot, and that the central themes were stretched and warped beyond the original vision to the point where the story loses any meaning.

Something like Hajime no Ippo. Sure the plot makes sense on a superficial level. But the past 700 chapters haven't contributed to the story in any way, shape, or form. Recent chapters have as much value as your average Rorschach inkblot.

(Not entirely relevant… but I wanted to use it somewhere.)

There are genres where this is a bit more acceptable. But the vast majority of those titles (that I've read) are long runners for the sake of being long runners. By the end of the story they're unintentional self-parodies. If you described the ending of Dragon Ball to a fan at the beginning of the story, they'd laugh at you.

From the series I've read on that list, it doesn't inspire confidence.

To be fair, not many can. 300 chapters is a long grind.

I can't think of many series that maintained any semblance of coherence past that point.

I'm inclined to say Bleach but I dropped Bleach after Rukia was rescued so…

Up to the same point, I'd say Naruto was better.

La moitié du vocabulaire anglais est d'origine française, alors je suppose qu'il n'y aura aucune problème si je commence à poster en français.

L'ignorance des anglophones ne cesse jamais de me surprendre.

Chinese and Japanese are very different languages. There's a far bigger difference between Chinese and Japanese than there is between English and French.

They partially share a writing system (where enough characters are used differently enough for it to be not that useful). Partially, because there's a complete alphabet (well two) in Japanese that doesn't exist in Chinese, which means that they're completely unintelligible. At most, you'd get the occasional word you recognize like you would in English and French. In the first two sentences that I wrote, I'm guessing most posters would recognize some words like "vocabulaire", "suppose", "problème", etc., but that doesn't mean that you'd understand what I wrote because they're two different languages.

And that's what they have in common. Spoken Chinese* is closer structurally to English than it is to Japanese.

*I use this term loosely, Chinese dialects can be further apart than English and French. Chinese words are for the most part monosyllabic, change the pronunciation of one syllable in every word and the result is obvious. Not to mention changes in sentence structure, vocabulary, etc.

(Note: Je suis anglophone.)

J.C. Staff can do a good job when they want. I'd have more faith if Nagai (Honey and Clover, Toradora, AnoHana, Railgun) was the director, the material seems like something he'd do well with. Alas, he's not.

@KzTxL7:

I feel nothing from this.Is that normal?

Yes, perfectly normal.

Schizotech. Not that odd or uncommon.Mediocre ending but that's Naruto for you. Best part was the Straw Hat Jolly Roger.

The story is set in Lockville, home to the superhero Keyman. It starts with his murder. So begins our noir mystery featuring the scaly Detective Alex and the mysterious Dr. Necro and their investigation of the keymen.

If you're looking for an action manga, this blows anything that I've found within the last few years out of the water. It's got great world building, the right amount of mystery, and a colourful cast of characters.

Chapter 1

Japan. Naked loli. Reason? Naked Loli.

Barakamon, and Nozaki-kun.

But honestly it's a pretty vague request. Why short? Would movies/stand-alone OVAs be better? Because you want it to be punchy (high-paced action)? Because you want something light (SoL)?

To be fair, when I tried to read WoT the first time, I was the type of guy who would doggedly finish a series no matter how much it'd make me want to kill myself. I finished a few anime series without subtitles just to make them more interesting. I'd be less apprehensive to start it today. (Not that I'm particularly interested.)

Well, you got that far. I never made it past the first page. The mere thought of having to go through 13 door-stoppers when the first page doesn't capture your imagination is overwhelming.

I was talking about The Warded Man by Brett. I didn't get past the first book, it was pretty plain and tried too hard to be edgy.

But now that you mention it, I do think the themes in Lord of the Rings are a bit dated. Still, it's not a bad series, even if the writing is ponderous at times. The Hobbit aged better imo.

I found it to be a pretty average fantasy novel tbh.

Honestly, I don't think there's any need to "force" yourself to read "shoujo" manga. Just read what you like. That being said I dislike classifying manga that way. Hmm… anyway onto recommendations. Off the top of my head:

Natsume Yuujinchou: You like Mushishi, right? If you don't read it or watch it. Then you will. This is pretty much like Mushishi except more flowery.

Taiyou no Ie: Kind of standard romance with a gender gap (older guy, younger girl if it matters--I prefer the opposite). Very cute without being cringe inducing for the most part. I feel it appeals to guys as well so~

Skip Beat & Ouran High School Host Club: Both are long and drag but for the first 10 volumes? Very much worth reading for the comedy.

3Gatsu no Lion: Technically seinen by the author of Honey and Clover (also recommended--just watch the anime), about a (sorta) prodigious shougi player going through a rut.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso: There's an anime adaptation airing right now. It's good. Go watch it. (It's about music so audio enhances the experience. They're adapting the whole thing.)

Glass Mask: Classic but great. Weird how lots of classics aged well today while more modern works aged terribly.

1/2 Prince: I'm not too fond of it but if you're into the whole MMO craze, it's decent.

Fruits Basket was really popular when I just got into manga. I never did quite see the appeal but it's not bad. I know some girls who swear by it.

There are some 90s shoujo like like HanaKimi (my mind still want to recommend this but it does drag), Mars, Hana Yuri Dango (might as read Cat Street: shorter, similar themes, more modern), etc. Not sure how well they've aged. I mean Dragon Ball (not Z) was good but I wouldn't call it anything more than decent today.

If you're interested in josei too:

Chihayafuru. Technically, it's published in a josei magazine (I think); although, thematically there's no reason why it couldn't have been published in a shoujo magazine (or a seinen magazine for that matter.) It should be an easy transition if you like sports manga. Not to be read for the romance... being Taichi is suffering.

Sakamichi no Apollon: BFF's play jazz. Honestly, don't know why this wasn't published in a seinen magazine. I mean there's bromance but there isn't any bromance. Seems like it'd appeal to guys more. The anime is pretty good and there's music so I'd watch that.

Nodame Cantabile: You've probably already read or watched but if not.

Kuragehime: Has an anime (but I haven't watched it.) The manga is pretty funny. One of the MCs is a crossdresser (male) so if that turns you off stay away. (This doesn't seriously explore that theme in any way, shape, or form.)

Usagi Drop: Watch the anime.

And some more SoL-ish shounen/seinen:

ARIA: About girls rowing boats and discovering the joys of life. A calm and peaceful manga. There's an anime, which is pretty good if you prefer that. I also like Amanchu! by the same author.

Stuff by Sahara Mizu: In particular My Girl. Heartwarming story about a man raising a daughter he didn't know he had.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: About a robot in a post-apocalyptic world running a cafe.

If you want to "expand your horizons" I could recommend some stuff that's pretty bizarre or stuff that explores some uncommon themes and topics. Above was mostly a list of popular stuff. I could also recommend some more niche anime. Stuff like La Maison en Petits Cubes.

I spent a lot of time and years on Naruto. I was pretty apathetic for over half of it but I can't hate it, and I don't feel I wasted my time (mostly). 2~5 minutes a week adds up but I probably would have read something worse in its place. I stopped trying to find anything good to read 2~3 years ago.

To me Naruto is a good childhood friend and over the years the differences have piled up and I no longer see eye to eye with it. But that doesn't mean I hate it; well, in my case I've never hated anything fiction (maybe Wolf Guy but even then the furthest I would go is call it rapey bullshit.)

The ending is about as good as one could have hoped for at this point. That doesn't mean it's good but… it's Naruto, I guess.

Barrel and his close relatives rope, chain. jail, and handcuff have more plot armor than Luffy. How could one expect a mere side-character like Caribou to break out of one on his own? Even Luffy needs help with a hindrance that big.

Isn't it a small studio? And this is their first (second?) full show. They probably don't have the proper infrastructure in place yet. It's somewhat understandable.

And it is a show. They're not going to be a 'gets everything done well in advance, problems are dealt with in timely fashion' type studio or it'd be kind of boring.

Off the top of my head:

Recent: Cross Game (baseball), Yowamushi Pedal (cycling), Baby Steps (tennis).

Old but good: Slam Dunk (duh) and Hikaru no Go (go, board game but similar story structure)

Not shounen but recommended: Ping Pong (duh), Chihayafuru (karuta, card game).

Manga without adaptation that I know of: Real (baskeball), All-Rounder Meguru (MMA), anything by Adachi (mostly baseball).

I'm not really sure how good the adaptations are for any series but Ping Pong and Chihaya. I highly recommend both.

Log Horizon would have done better if Kanami was the lead girl. Akatsuki is cute enough as a mascot character but she has a huge inferiority complex, a roleplay fetish, and acts half her age. Minori is 14 (?). Japan likes its lolis comparatively but I imagine most people there won't find them very appealing. If they were side love interests it'd be one thing and would boost popularity but on their own I don't think they're charismatic enough.

The whole series has low-key characters for the most part and the only place where it goes over the top is politics and you can't expect the average anime viewer to be interested in politics. Those who are interested in politics won't find the politics compelling.

It was likely put through some kind of text processor. No effort required.

Is it wrong for me to read every post in this thread like it's written by tsundere masochist?

I'm tempted to say this isn't actually the worst anime this season but I'd actually have to watch this first. I won't mention the other show because some people here can't help themselves but out of curiosity would watching paint dry for 22 minutes a week be more or less entertaining? Y'all seem to be having enough fun with this in any case.

@Sander:

Seriously though, while I can get not digging Parasyte, I can't quite get how one can say it doesn't have any interesting ideas, when the premise itself is a novel idea.

It's about a dude who has to deal with having John Carpenter's The Thing for his arm and he and The Thing have to co-exist for their mutually assured survival as other Things prowl the neighbourhood.

I mean it's different from say a talking lizard randomly attaching itself to you and asking you to save the world, but at the same time it's really the same idea presented in a different manner. A foreign object/entity attaches itself to you and then a fight for your survival occurs whether you want to or not. It's a cosmetic difference that doesn't really change anything for me.

Can someone tell me what makes Parasyte good? I read it 10 years ago and recall it being extremely mediocre.

Or someone agree with me so I don't feel crazy. Usually I can at least understand why someone would like a series, say Death Note, even if I don't agree with them. But I really fail to see why Parasyte seems to have such a positive reception.

I'm not saying it's bad, but I don't see what exactly people would find appealing about it. Everything about it seemed pretty pedestrian from my memory. No outstanding features, no memorable characters, no interesting ideas, etc.

Hmm….

1st fan: Genos (no rank)
2nd fan: Licenseless Rider (Class C, Rank 1)
3rd fan: Fubuki (Class B, Rank 1)
4th fan: Sweet Mask (Class A, Rank 1)
5th fan: ???

There are Asians with darker skin colour. In China and Japan (at least), lighter skin is considered fairer and more attractive. This has nothing to do with Western culture.

Unless explicitly stated a character is probably 100% pure Japanese. This isn't just because Japan is pretty xenophobic (it is) but because Japan is almost completely Japanese. The majority of foreigners are either Korean or Chinese. This might represent 1% of their total population.

Subaru is Japanese. Anything else is just projection like how many readers think manga characters are Caucasian. They aren't, the default in Japan is Japanese. A Japanese person would see Subaru as Japanese. They wouldn't even consider the possibility that Subaru might be of a different nationality. If anything, he's an attempt to draw a non-pretty boy delinquent. Notice how all his features simply oppose those of the average pretty boy male character? Wide jaw instead of angular, thick lips instead of thin, muscular instead of lean. That's it, that's all.

I am not saying Africans are well portrayed in Japanese media. And the same holds true for Chinese, Caucasians, etc. They aren't. But this has nothing to do with Subaru.

It helps that the Fate franchise is a license to print money. But when you look at the abortion of a job Toei does with One Piece and you have to be glad that some studios have standards.

Although, I do acknowledge that making 500+ episodes is slightly different from ~25.

ufotable. bows down We are not worthy.

Besides, UBW is actually has a good plot if you don't try to squeeze it into an hour and a half. cough Deen cough

Although, Deen did a good job with the first episode of SAO 2 so I'll stop bashing them.

Amber lead reminds me of lead for some reason. Can't quite put my finger on the reason behind it.

Murata would be relegated to background duty in the name of artistic integrity. We'd all be wondering why the duo put so much effort into scenery porn when the characters look like sketches.

I like OPM more than anything Togashi wrote anyway.

I don't see where people ever got the impression Yagi would write about the mainland. That's never what the story was about.

Still bummed he killed off all the interesting antagonists and decided a mindless child-woman was a better villain.

I love how Miria says, "Let's go commit genocide," and everyone just cheers. My headcanon is they all turn into ABs in the future and kill each other while lamenting the fact that there's no way they could have prevented it from happening.

So he tried. Initially.

I wouldn't really call it a surprise. More a matter of when not if.

@Black:

Eh the show could be worse, it could have been like Garagantia where it was really evident that different people wrote different episodes. But by and large it's a pretty generic series that's entertaining enough to watch week by week but in all honesty is pretty lackluster. This season has been full of disappointments really, I was expecting a lot more out of AZ and Glasslip and I'm even losing interest in Zankyou no terror. At least the comedy trio of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Sabagebu and Barakamon has remained strong.

Sabagebu was hit and miss. It wasn't bad but I much prefer a few of director's other series (Minami-ke, Love Lab). A lot of scenes were duds. Momoka is awesome in an asshole-ish way but otherwise not particularly likable and she was the best character of the lot. I was hoping it would be better but I'm not particularly disappointed. It made me chuckle at least once an episode.

I had low expectations from AZ and ZnT. Urobuchi is a mediocre writer overall so I'm not sure why expectations were high, and he only wrote like 3 episodes anyway. ZnT seemed like a story about martyrs without a cause starring emo teenagers. Pretty much what it ended up being.

Knew Barakamon would be good, it was. Hoped Glasslip would be good, it wasn't. Nozaki-kun was a pleasant surprise. All in all a normal season.

I don't see why people are so critical of Mashima. He's clearly a robot. If writing a weekly and monthly series simultaneously wasn't enough proof, then somehow finding additional time to write a 32-page one-shot is.

I've never seen someone exhibit so much passion for Fairy Tail. If I didn't know any better…

Random-Webtoon-Fan's correction on Batoto. No full script up that I know of. But why would anyone bother when the official release is published simultaneously with the Korean release?

Bad translation. Missed the "maybe."

Best character makes her glorious reappearance. Imagine what the judging would be like without Hinako? We'd get old men stripping every other panel or something.

To be fair, I can't really think of many great adaptations of manga in this genre. I can name plenty of SoL, sports, comedy and romance adaptations that turned out well. The only action series that turned out well off the top of my head are FMA: Brotherhood, Hellsing and the new Jojo. Throw in HxH if you want (haven't watched it) and you'll notice a trend: they only get it right the second time around. Not that the first FMA was awful mind you.

Usually, these are all adaptations of unfinished long runners with uncertain budgets mostly made to promote the source material. If they waited until Seven Deadly Sins finished it'd be on thing but as it is…

Not enamoured with the first episode of Glasslip. I was looking forward to watching a lighthearted series like Hanasaku Iroha and not the angsty love hexagon this show seems to revolve around. It doesn't help that they replaced their nice, shy big breasted girl with a quiet flat chested girl, which throws off the group dynamic that was in their two previous original SoL shows. Wasn't a huge fan of AnoHana so if it goes in that direction, I might drop.

No, October is Fall. (It kinda follows the actual seasons and stuff.) The list probably isn't complete.

At first glance, it looks better than Summer.

Some good sequels in Log Horizon 2 and Mushishi 2 2.

Also interested in Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso because the manga is being scanlated at a snail's place.

Wary, but willing to give Sanzoku no Musume Ronja a shot. I haven't actually watched anything directed by Miyazaki's son before so I'm willing to give him a shot before crucifying him.

Ufotable animated f/sn will be worth watching purely for eye candy.

If anyone could draw two series at once it's Mashima, he's a machine. Not that either one would have anything resembling a half decent plot.

Disappointed Hisako lost, but I'm satisfied with the explanation. (Caveat: that's not a hamburger, it's a pita. If Alice lost because of glorified sushi, Hayama should have lost because he didn't even cook the right dish.)

Megumi lost because she wasn't good enough. Pretty simple.

Hopefully, the girls improve and some of them win next time or I'll start flipping tables. Girls are useless enough in fighting manga, but this is a cooking manga. Cooking. There aren't any inherent physical handicaps to justify the sausagefest.

Hunger Games was pretty huge before it ever went into theaters wasn't it? I recall it being the biggest teen hit since Harry Potter and Twilight?

And ASoIaF was a bestseller. (Although, I'd probably like to think it was more popular than it ever was before the TV series.) Perhaps, the average joe hadn't read it. But if he had a nerdy fantasy book reading friend then he'd definitely have read ASoIaF. And if he asked his friend if it was worth following his friend would have tried to (unsuccesfully) recommend reading the books. I got a few people to read it. Failed with a few others.

! Boros's "Planet Destroying Roar" or whatever it was wasn't really done justice in the original. It's possible ONE told Murata to make the fight bigger and badder.

@Ukimix:

Since when being naked after tasting a dish is a sign you'll vote for that dish no matter what?

When someone has a shtick where they strip when a dish is good enough and don't when it isn't.

I mean it could just be a red herring and everything that's been done and said up to this point is just a diversion to make the surprise of Megumi's victory that much greater…

All You Need Is Kill is an adaptation of a fairly short novel.