howdy
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I finally got the courage to finish Madoka Magica (after talking to someone in class about anime, she recommended Madoka Magica, THANK YOU!). I always get stuck at ~episode 4. I can see why this is very popular and sometimes compared to Evangelion. It’s going to be up there in the my “masterpiece” tier of anime.
I really like how Madoka is essentially the definition of what a magical girl is, a symbol of hope. The writing is incredible.
I like Mami.
I watched Bakemonogatari first (well, the entire Monogatari Series) then Bunny Girl Senpai. I was surprised by the similarities. I prefer Bakemonogatari just because it’s more enjoyable to watch thanks to the unique animation style.
Go watch the rest of it :D The rest of the series doesn’t follow the same formula or structure as Bakemonogatari
I see you.
More Nadeko!
Cool I should really read this some day. I’ve read Flowers of Evil and Blood on the Tracks. Really like Shuzo Oshimi.
I read the manga from time to time. Learned about it from this group too. Can also recommend it for the dirt jokes lol
I was watching this late last night so I missed the first part and I didn’t realize that it was Patrick Galbraith on screen! I’ve been reading some of his works lately like Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan and his articles like Lolicon. I think everyone here on !anime should read his works.
Anyway, I’m too young to know what much of anime culture was like two decades ago, and my only trip to Akihabara was a few years ago so I never really saw what the “old Akihabara” was like. Though my experience was pretty much exactly described as the “current Akihabara” in the video so it’s pretty cool to learn more about it.
I should probably go back with a friend because I mostly just went around for a few hours looking at figures, searching for a particular monochrome Hitagi figure. Though it is true, there was a lot of ehh… sex industry stuff lol. Kind of funny how Galbraith mentions it in the video with such an ominous tone lol.
That’s odd. I’ve seen that “[email protected]” thing from Cloudflare but I don’t have it enabled nor should it be modifying posts this way.
I watched Kick-Heart the other day. Masaaki Yuasa is incredible (and his work is incredibly horny). It’s a lot of fun.
Interesting mix of responses here. I think it’s not a matter of copying art style though. I think it’s more to do with the death of creative labor. Especially with how labor intensive Studio Ghibli films are.
But I learned some time ago that we’re in “the age of curatorship” so maybe we’ll just continue filtering out AI stuff the same way we try to filter out “brainrot” or “slop content”. Unless of course, you actually like any of that (and I do like to watch these from time to time myself).
With the current situation, it’s also interesting that Studio Ghibli hasn’t said anything yet. Or at least I’m not aware of any legitimate statements yet. Maybe Sudio Ghibli isn’t bothered by it at all.
Anyway, I think it’s good people actively resist AI. It’s here to stay unless laws limit or prohibit it.
I watched two movies the past few weeks:
This is a collection of animated short films from different directors. The two notable ones here for me were Masaaki Yuasa and Shinichirou Watanabe. Happy Machine (Masaaki) was my favorite! The little baby character (and the overall vibe of it) reminded me of Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time.
There were other really quirky ones in the collection too. Deathtic 4 was different from the rest. It was 3DCG and I don’t know the language (it sounds European). Interestingly, there’s a scene there where the zombies said they were fighting “injustices” and it shows them trying to pick a fight with two girls wearing a US flag and USSR flag suits (it was funny). Genius Party (same title as the collection) was chaotic and fun while Limit Cycle was really (intentionally) boring (it’s about a salaryman).
The more “normal” ones were Shanghai Dragon, Doorbell, and Baby Blue (Shinichirou). Shanghai Dragon was partly in Chinese because it’s set in China. I think anyone familiar with Japan-China relations will raise eyebrows here because it portays a poor China and a technologically advanced Japan, but at the end it was the Chinese boy who saved everyone through his imagination as opposed to the technology of Japan. Doorbell reminded me of Satoshi Kon, and Baby Blue was maybe my favorite for the “normal” shorts.
I had this in my watchlist for a looong time (because it’s a certified classic) and I’m happy that I did not watch it earlier. I don’t think I would have appreciated this at a young age. I think this is the second Oshii Mamoru movie I watched. The first was Angel’s Egg which was pretty much the ending of GITS. There’s already a wealth of information and reviews on GITS especially by Western writers so I don’t really have to say much here.
But I noticed how spirituality or religion always ties with technology in anime. People who’ve seen Serial Experiments Lain probably know what I mean. It’s very similar to GITS. Evangelion is another example. Also, it might sound a bit odd but it reminds me a bit of the “programming” in Angel Beats too which I complete last month.
(Also Major Kusanagi is very beautiful. Holy shit.)
This week I might watch Genius Party 2 and maybe look for an older series to finish (maybe more Masaaki Yuasa stuff).
Though they couldn’t even manage to do that without sticking the bitch in the scene
I read the Scum’s Wish manga. If I recall correctly, there’s an extra chapter of her some time after the events. I think that was the very last chapter too. Now that you point it out, it does kind of seem like the story centered around her a lot.
For some reason though, I actually enjoyed this manga lol
I found this video essay interesting. The style is a bit different where narration is text on screen but I found it enjoyable without an audible narrator.
I never really thought about the trains in Hideaki Anno’s works but now I’m a lot more conscious about it.
In my opinion, the cause of “the burden of animation” is being underpaid and overworked. If there were better laws that can address these issues, we wouldn’t need to resort to AI.
But for in-betweening, I assume you’re referring to something like CACANI but that’s a bit different from generative AI I think. It behaves more like 3DCG because the lines are vectors.
The clip is from a documentary where Miyazaki works on a 3DCG short film (something completely unheard of). You can watch the documentary here. I do like the point he makes:
(Suzuki) “So, what’s your goal?”
(Guy) “Well, we would like to build a machine that can draw pictures like humans do.”
(Miyazaki) “We humans are losing faith in ourselves.”
Could you send an email to [email protected] so I can take a look? Thanks!
Monogatari Series
Oh boy I (finally) finished Angel Beats! You know, it’s a terrible idea to watch this in the library. It’s hard to hold back those tears when there are people around.
During the graduation scene, I realized that maybe the reason why I enjoy watching anime a lot lately is because it often focuses on people in their last years of high school. The Coronavirus pandemic kind of took that away from me, so I didn’t get to experience a graduation like most people have.
At the time, I didn’t really think about it. I thought it didn’t matter much but maybe it does.
Anyway, there are worse things in the world so I don’t want to dwell on it too much. Maybe it’s just media’s fault for romanticizing high school life :P I tend to guard myself from thoughts like that but alas, I too have emotions.
The end credits scene made a lot more sense to me now, and I really like that feeling of anticipation on whether Otonashi decided to stay or not. I think Hiroshi Kamiya’s delivery of the line “Kanade!!!” will forever be ingrained in my head.
By the way, the ending reminded me of this video. It’s way too accurate lol
Anyway, this week I’m watching Genius Party and Ghost in the Shell.
I really have to see this. Haven’t found much time to watch long series(es?) lately but movies have kind of scratched that media itch. Finished Mind Game yesterday (incredible movie btw), maybe I’ll watch this tomorrow night.