Animation

[Rather Dashing]

Let's talk about some animated shows, shall we? I've been watching one recently that I'd like to talk about, so I'm just going to gush about that, but feel free to veer off into whatever animated thing you think is awesome.

Conversation about manga got me thinking about a show I've been watching recently, The Tatami Galaxy. I stumbled on this completely by mistake, I was checking the new shows up on Hulu when the character designs in the preview thumbnail really caught my eye. Considering most modern anime character designs do a lot to turn me off to a show, this was a pretty big thing.

The show's art design is superb. It doesn't feel as cheap as the stuff made for kids, even if it may use many of the same cost-saving tricks, it hides them well. The character designs make me think of Ukiyo-e prints, which in the current homogenized anime world is extremely refreshing. They also include some live action film, which due to what they do with it actually looks really cool intermingling with the animation.

The show's story and narrative style took me almost the whole first two episodes to "get", but by the end of the second episode it became obvious what they're going for. Seems like a trick better suited to a short film than a series, but I'm really interested to see if they go any further with this and what paths they'll take this thing in. Even if it's just episodic from here on in The episodes almost REQUIRE either constant pausing or a second watch just to get everything, the show and spoken narration goes REALLY fast. It's worth a look just for the art, though, it remains visually interesting throughout the whole thing.

It has only aired through the second episode in Japan, and Funimation is posting subbed within 8 hours of the Japanese airing. It's the first Japanese show to really grab me since...oh, Paranoia Agent, I guess? It's really hard to recall these things and when they fit chronologically sometimes.

[GuruGuru214]

Huh. I don't have nearly as much to say about this subject as I would think. I haven't really been watching much of anything lately, but maybe I'll be able to drag up more from my past once the conversation gets going a little more.

[GuybrushWilco]

I like Family Guy sometimes

[Secret Fawful]

Cartoon Network is soon to be airing some shows that will really interest me, such a a reboot of Looney Tunes called the Looney Tunes Show, which stars Daffy Duck ad Bugs Bunny and features shorts and music videos called Merrie Melodies again. Other shows that interest me are of course Adventure Time with Finn and Jake, MAD, and Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

MAD will take place in the universe of MAD magazine and feature classic characters such as Spy Vs. Spy and Alfred E. Newman.


Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. Episode 1: Beware The Beast From Below

Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. has had a preview pilot out already that showed off a lot of neat ideas, like an episodic series with an overarching plot, Shaggy and Velma being a secret couple, actually creepy monsters with real victims, a direct sequel to Scooby Doo: Where Are You, being set in one central location, and various other neat ideas. the first episode was notable for being the only Scooby Doo episode that didn't start with a theme song, but instead with a creepy misty logo and an episode title.

Rather Dashing, you should check out Funimations show House of Five Leaves. It also has a unique style that reminds me of Ukiyo-e prints.

Right now, as far as anime I've been watching

XXXHolic,

B Gata H Kei, and

Ergo Proxy.

I was wary of B Gata at first as the premise sounded very lewd, but it turned out to be a rather tastefully done romance premise if you can get past episode one's fanservice. About as tastefully done as its premise could be done anyway.

I also recommend Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Brotherhood butchers its first 14 episodes and the first series does them so much better, but it does get way way better. I recommend watching the first series before Brotherhood though. It's also famous for some of its fights, that mix science, deduction, and stylish acrobatics. Characters don't just beat away at each other, they have to use their heads to figure out how to beat their foes.

The series juggles more themes than I know how to count. Science vs. religion, what is taboo, revenge, genocide, greed, ambition, military and war, serial killing, the seven deadly sins, scientific laws, segregation, racism, etc etc.


Fullmetal Alchemist - Episode 1

I recommend this more than any other series I can recommend on the face of the planet Earth.

[Kroms]

Heh, Ergo Proxy. A while ago my brother tried getting me into anime. I saw Death Note (I don't know why, the more time passes the more I hate it) and the first five episodes of Ergo Proxy. I was really enjoying that and being generally happy with where it was going, but all the set-ups for philosophical or just halfway intelligent questions were duds; they never explored anything, so I got bored and switched off.

(I didn't finish the story because I guessed everything that would happen, and find Japanese anime story to be very lacking in general. I get that sensibilities are different in different cultures, but even as an Arab, whose culture comes between Japan and American/British, I find anime badly thought out and structured 99% of the time. I'm sure there's an anime out there for me, but I'd be lying if I said I was bothered with looking for it anymore.)

I love animation, even if I haven't seen anything besides a few select movies lately. I've been watching Wallace and Gromit over and over lately; I have a three year old sister who just demands to see it, but she gets lonely watching it alone. I've seen that, My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service around 100 times each in the past year (and read the same five story books far more often; kids are demanding, but they have short-term memory). In that time I've read five of my own books and seen five of my own movies, summer vacation included. Fun!

But I started watching King of the Hill today (don't know what episodes, just rando ones). Not much in terms of animation and the designs, while effective, aren't going to win any big awards, but goddamn the show is good. I laugh out loud a couple of times every episode, and I at least smile, or laugh a bit, at every other line. The writing and characters are top notch. I'm watching it in between bouts of studying, and it gets your mind off the books and makes it fresh for knowledge. I know it's a popular show, but I wanted to give it props.

[Alcoremortis]

I also recommend either of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. In addition to having great stories and pretty believable characters, the art is really pretty.

[Rather Dashing]

What's the opposite of recommend? Because I can't do that for either of the Fullmetal Alchemist series enough. I hate it. I hate it with a firey, burning passion.

If you are looking for an awesome anime movie, Kamui no Ken is the way to go.

[tredlow]

Frankenstein's idea of bringing life to a dead body using lightning is deeply flawed. I've tried it with my fr-

Oh, animation as in cartoons? Let's see...

After 2 years of not watching The Simpsons, I finally watched The Simpsons. I thought it was good. Sure, it's not as fresh as it used to be, but they try, and more than occasionally they deliver great laughs. The plots get a little weaker, though, as each episode feels more like a series of connected events rather than a full story.

I've recently watched The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie, and while I love how they kept the animation style good while using Flash, I really didn't think it was that funny. Frankly, I never like the show that much. Not because it was vulgar and violent, but because the vulgarity and violence had no contrast, since they use it every scene, which kinda weakens their effect.

And despite being criticized by Drawn Together for "Only being popular because it's preachy", South Park's latest episode, Crippled Summer, had me in stitches, and it didn't have any message or moral whatsoever, and it barely offends anyone (well, disabled people and their relatives, maybe). It was just plain funny.

I've been watching Comedy Central's Ugly Americans, and it's a pretty cool show. I like the animation and art style, and the writing is pretty funny, though some pop-culture references may feel forced. But, I still think the overall show is really fun, I mean, c'mon, it has Jack Mcbrayer as Kong with OCD.

I also like Archer. I love how it's basically a live action show, but animated. All the characters' gestures, their facial expressions, are subtle and not too exaggerated like most cartoons, and the humor really just rely on their voice acting. And it's dirty and violent enough to be funny, but not too much to lose its class. I never saw Frisky Dingo or Sealab 2021 before, but after seeing this, I kinda wished I had. Also, it has Jessica Walter.

Homestarrunner.com has the best flash animation I've ever seen on the internet, considering how often they make new episodes (well, until recently). In fact, the only time I've ever seen flash animation better than Homestarrunner.com without doing too much traditional animation is Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. The characters in HR.com don't look like a bunch of body parts tacked together and moved like puppets, but they really look natural when they move, as if it's one whole being. Also, while the jokes and the dialogs uses plenty of random and absurd humor, it has its own style of randomness and absurdity that it feels like it makes total sense when it happen.

But most importantly, I love Venture Bros. Everything about the show is great; the characters, the writing, the art design, the animation, everything. I love its retro-science fiction style. I love the universe it takes place in, and I love its "GI Joe enlists Hunter S. Thompson and The Village People to fight an evil organization lead by David Bowie".

I'm also waiting for Futurama. I love the show, and I hope it can still maintain its quality in the revival.

Yeah, the cartoons I watch are usually adult American cartoons. I don't really watch Anime that much. Though My Neighbor Totoro is still one of my favorite childhood movies of all time.

[Fealiks]

I have to ask, what's with all the youtube links being posted with a little thumbnail above them? Is that automatic voodooery or something?

[Secret Fawful]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

What's the opposite of recommend? Because I can't do that for either of the Fullmetal Alchemist series enough. I hate it. I hate it with a firey, burning passion.

I shouldn't, but I have to ask. I just have to ask. Why?

You couldn't have seen them both fully. I think you're going off of some sort of presupposition. You'd have to be. If you hated it that much you couldn't have seen it all the way through. I can understand someone hating that series so little its like trying to make a monkey hate bananas. I can't even grasp the concept; its not in my realm of understanding. You may not even be able to explain it to me, the concept of hating it is so alien to me.

[tredlow]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

I shouldn't, but I have to ask. I just have to ask. Why?

You couldn't have seen them both fully. I think you're going off of some sort of presupposition. You'd have to be. If you hated it that much you couldn't have seen it all the way through. I can understand someone hating that series so little its like trying to make a monkey hate bananas. I can't even grasp the concept; its not in my realm of understanding. You may not even be able to explain it to me, the concept of hating it is so alien to me.

I smell a war coming on.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

I shouldn't, but I have to ask. I just have to ask. Why?

You couldn't have seen them both fully. I think you're going off of some sort of presupposition. You'd have to be. If you hated it that much you couldn't have seen it all the way through. I can understand someone hating that series so little its like trying to make a monkey hate bananas. I can't even grasp the concept; its not in my realm of understanding. You may not even be able to explain it to me, the concept of hating it is so alien to me.

I read scanslations of the manga when it first showed up on Toriyama's World, before Viz and Funimation licensed the series. I've seen a larger portion of the first animated series than I'd like through obsessed friends and my sisters, I've probably seen most of it. I've seen the Shambala movie. I've seen teh first three episodes of the redone series to know that I like this one even less than the first go at it. I'm just not into the magical clapping amputee midget show. It's not my style, I guess. Maybe it's better than the average tournament show, but it's just so...shonen.

[tredlow]

And how about those old cartoons, huh? Remember Samurai Jack? Now that was badass. The art style is breathtaking, the action scenes are awesome, that one episode where Jack turns into a chicken was... unusual, and the story is classic. I miss that show. I hope the movie comes out soon.

Also, I love The Tick, but, let's be honest, who doesn't? right? The Tick is my favorite superhero growing up. Though I don't remember 90s cartoons much. I remember The Mask, Project Geeker, Sam and Max, of course, and those Steven Spielberg show I don't watch much.

[Secret Fawful]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I read scanslations of the manga when it first showed up on Toriyama's World, before Viz and Funimation licensed the series. I've seen a larger portion of the first animated series than I'd like through obsessed friends and my sisters, I've probably seen most of it. I've seen the Shambala movie. I've seen teh first three episodes of the redone series to know that I like this one even less than the first go at it. I'm just not into the magical clapping amputee midget show. It's not my style, I guess. Maybe it's better than the average tournament show, but it's just so...shonen.

It is shounen. I mean it is targeted toward boys. To be honest, putting aside that series, I don't get your style when it comes to anime. You seem to be pretty strict. As far as the series, it sounds like there's more going into your annoyance than just the series itself. I won't bore you with some long winded explanation about why people love the show or what its about in the heart of it, as I'm sure you get that well enough, so I'll just say I hope someday you can view it from a fresher perspective.

[Giant Tope]

Originally Posted by tredlow

And how about those old cartoons, huh? Remember Samurai Jack?

Samurai Jack is old?

[tredlow]

Originally Posted by Giant Tope

Samurai Jack is old?

Well, it's not on air anymore, anyway.

[Giant Tope]

This is old in my opinion. Great, btw.

[tredlow]

Originally Posted by Giant Tope

This is old in my opinion. Great, btw.

...Fine...

Actually, when it comes to old cartoons, I always liked Hannah Barbera 80s shows. Especially Jonny Quest and Blue Falcon.

[Secret Fawful]

Since we're talking old shows, these are some gems I grew up on. Thank goodness for Boomerang channel.


I Love To Singa


The Funky Phantom


The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo


Snagglepuss


Mysterious Cities of Gold


The Pink Panther

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

Mysterious Cities of Gold

Ohhh, yes! This was an absolute must-see when I was a child. I used to dream about the golden condor... the theme music still thrills me.

I'd really like to watch the series again, considering I was so young when it was on that I don't really remember much of the story. People tell me it holds up well.