What animes will be the ones to watch in 2004?!

[Last Exile]

Well, I thought I'd do this topic to see what everyone is keen for.

Here aresome of the ones released in Japan in 2003 (or earlier) that will be out in the English speakign world on DVD in 2004 for those that can't download stuff:

Last Exile
Scrapped Princess
Demon Detective Loki Ragnarok
Full Metal Panic? (Fumoffu) (Hopefully!)
Stellvia of the Universe
Kiddy Grade
Earth Defender Mao-Chan


And if anyone knows stuff that will be out in Japan in 2004, I'd love for you to post them here so we can know what to look out for.

My hot tip is to look out for Maburaho! It looks very good from the reviews I've seen. It focuses around a world where magic is taught in high school. It revolves around three girls, all powerful magic-users, who are after one guy. One loves him for real, one wants to capture him and the one one jsut about feels like killing him. They all want his genes because despite his ineptness, he has very pwoerful magical lineage. If you thought Love Hina and Full Metal Panic? (Fumoffu) went too far, wait till you see this one, because you'll love it!

[Azura Stardust]

I posted a link in the Otaku/best of '03 topic - a Japanese link which lists some 2004 anime.

2004 things to watch:

Mousou Dairinin aka Paranoia Agent
Looks good, and if I remember correctly, has Satoshi Kon as well as... aah, what's his name, he did the animation directing for Spirited Away and Mononoke Hime, except now he's the character designer? Eyaaah... However, it seems to be funded by Geneon USA which means it might be pre-licensed. Gah.

This Ugly and Beautiful World *
Interesting title, and I might as well just see what GAINAX will do. This also is apparently pre-licensed too though.

Howl's Moving Castle
Dude, you suck if you're not going to watch a Ghibli movie.
It probably won't be openly subbed because Disney probably owns the rights. If they magically release it in Singapore shortly after though, ... I will be uber-uber-uber happy and that is a severe understatement. I heard though, that the release of this movie has been pushed back some more - according to nausicaa.net anyway.

Stellvia of the Universe 2
I'm not a big fan of Stellvia, but since I watched all of Stellvia I might as well check this out, and see if Shima gets that goddamn stupid hairstyle of hers off (not the usual one, just see the last episode and you'll know what I mean)

If I had actuall ywatched any Initial D stuff I'd be looking out for the 4th stage.

[Roarkiller]

Wait, i thought Maburaho was already airing in japan? Or am i mistaken, cuz it seems that way according to JCstaff's website?

All ghibli movies, as far as i know, only arrives in singapore bout 6 mths after japan's release, Azura, so no point getting ur hopes up too much. Sorry if it sounds too pessimistic, meh. But anyway, take the word of a ghibli otaku.

For me, i guess i might start watching pointless hilarious anime w/o solid storylines. After all, animes like Scrapped Princess and Tsukihime only come once in a while, and i might be missing a bit if i skip the rest.

Btw, im playing Tsukihime right now, yay! Managed to find the game. IMO the game's storyline doesnt really differ that much from the anime. But there r more funny parts in it, or at least so far of what i can read (WHY CAN'T I READ KANJI?!?!?! ;_

[Azura Stardust]

Ah well. Still, it's a lot lot better than places like the UK where it came out more than I think a year and a half since it came out in Japan. ^_^

Can't wait for Howl's Moving Castle man... squeak.

[Dark-San]

Maburaho? Hey I'm next in the line of borrowing this anime from my friend lolz... If I'm not wrong only 8 episodes are shown so far~ Neat show from what I heard from a friend. But whos cares... I want Last Exile!!!! Can't get it even through MIRC now~

2004 is gotta be a great card just to ignore the fact that I would be leaving everything behind for National Service ;_; . But hope that I could finished downloading and watched Intial D Stage 4 just in time ;P

[Azura Stardust]

Darkyouth: I could send through to you by snail mail... wait, my friend 'chope'd it first too bad

It shouldn't be hard to get last exile on fserv channels even though it is licensed; it has lots of fanboys



Roarkiller: One good thing about learning Chinese is...?


Hehe, not like this is a NEW anime, but

January 21: Condor Hero airs on AXN. Hallelujah.

[Dark-San]

Condor heros? Man I've watched that stuff in dramas lots of time. Be it whether its from Hong Kong or Singapore -_-" So wats the use of them screening the anime in AXN? Ain't the storyline gotta be the same?

[Roarkiller]

.....

U dont have to rub in the fact that i cant read enough chinese characters. But even 100+ characters can get me somewhere already, so im not complaining.

[Azura Stardust]

Originally posted by Darkyouth
Condor heros? Man I've watched that stuff in dramas lots of time. Be it whether its from Hong Kong or Singapore -_-" So wats the use of them screening the anime in AXN? Ain't the storyline gotta be the same?

Because for once AXN got it right:

1. Show something watchable
2. Show something that is also... ACTION... you know, it's supposed to be an ACTION channel for god's sakes
3. Show something that... hasn't been repeated for the umpteenth time.

I've never watched the dramas so happy happy joy joy for me. I always wanted to watch them and read the books though.


Roarkiller: Yes I am evil. ÆäʵÄãÈÏʶһ°Ù¶à¸öºº×ÖÒѾ_Ï൱ºÃÁË¡£

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[Roarkiller]

Originally posted by Azura Stardust
Roarkiller: Yes I am evil. ÆäʵÄãÈÏʶһ°Ù¶à¸öºº×ÖÒѾ_Ï൱ºÃÁË¡£

¤Ç¤â¡¢¤Ò¤é¤Ï¤Ê¤¬¤µ¤¤¤³¤¦¤À¤è¡£¤Í¡«¡�E

I had to manually change to all the japanese encoding to get ur message. Dont get the chinese, but...

"Naga saikou" tte... Ano na, sore wa chigau ja nai ka. Saikou wa "best/maximum" na no ne. Soretemo... omae mada jouzu ja nai? >D

[Azura Stardust]

SOmehow, "hiragana wa" became "hirahanaga".... asdf123.

Anyway we're all just lame posers trying to be Japanese. Where can I get a life from?

[Dark-San]

Well at least I'm not~ lolz...

@Roarkiller~ Yoz where episode 12 for Ai Yori Aoshi Enshi? Thats the last episode right? If you hav a blank CD, can you burn it inside? I'll will proberly return you either 30 cents or a blank CD~

[EngiMatikul]

I heard that Negima Magister (Negi Magi) comes out on anime in Springtime. And I also hear they have a Seiyuu for each different girl in the classoom. That's 31 seiyuus, not counting the teachers and boys (which there aren't a lot of anyway). O.O
FYI, Negi Magi is made by the same person who did Love Hina (Ken Atsumasu? Sp?). I just hope that the anime doesn't ruin the manga, as it did with Love Hina. Ah well.

And Stellvia comes out as Azura said. Of course no one really cares about that...

Just watch out for Negi Magi. Good Manga it is.

[Last Exile]

Don't notice Stellvia?!

Didn't Stellvia go Top 2 in Japan while it was being shown? It was in a major poll I saw. And most of the people I know are really into Stellvia. Still, nothing from 2003 will ever stand up to Last Exile! If you don't watch that, you're the biggest 'baka!' in history!

[EngiMatikul]

Originally posted by Citrus Crush Chikorita
Don't notice Stellvia?!

Didn't Stellvia go Top 2 in Japan while it was being shown? It was in a major poll I saw. And most of the people I know are really into Stellvia. Still, nothing from 2003 will ever stand up to Last Exile! If you don't watch that, you're the biggest 'baka!' in history!

Excuse me. If you ever notice any of my posts, I'm the biggest praiser of Stellvia on this board. My remark was a frank remark to the rest of you who seem to disregard Stellvia and dismiss it as a mediocre anime not worth watching.

[Last Exile]

Originally posted by EngiMatikul
Excuse me. If you ever notice any of my posts, I'm the biggest praiser of Stellvia on this board. My remark was a frank remark to the rest of you who seem to disregard Stellvia and dismiss it as a mediocre anime not worth watching.

my apologies

[Roarkiller]

Its nearing the end of january, and although it may be a little too early, if anyone watched any of the newer series, how bout posting a summary, since this is what the topic is supposed to be about? After all, rave reviews r nothing if the anime hasnt even been released anyway. Id rather listen to reviews after the series have been released.

[Last Exile]

I'm doing one for Last Exile, but it's taking forever, because I'm writing it kind of like an essay. It's at 8 pages currently, and I still have a fair bit of character detail to discuss. I'm gonna do oens for a lot of others, but it'll take time. Hopefully I'll have the Last Exile one done soon. Then I wanna do ones one Please Teacher, Full Metal Panic? (Fumoffu) and Scrapped Princess along with some others. But it'll take a while, because I like to be thorough.

[Azura Stardust]

Well, let's see, for anime that just came out..... hm... didn't check em all out. But here's what I hear of some of them:

Yumeria - Apparently quite ecchi, many jokes are based on ecchi. I haven't watched it really, it's only subbed by AJ. Okay, I'm biased...

Mezzo DSA - A little fanservice (as well as an ending song obviously describing sex) ; it's a sequel (I think) to the already-licensed Mezzo Forte OVA (which was more graphic in terms of sex.). Very fluid and nice animation... It's about these 3 people, Mikura, Harada and... damn, I forgot the other guy's name but he's called Ojii-chan iirc. You should know what that means. Anyway, they form the DSA - Danger Service Agency, which is something like the A-team...
The first two eps are all that's out and all I've seen so far, it seems to be an episodic case-by-case thing but I'm not sure. Most anime start out like that a little though they do reveal an underlying story not much later on. These two cases have got a supernatural touch to them, they both involve things that would almost never happen in real life... It's somewhat predictable, but it's not bad. The second ep had some rather painfully bad moments plot/script-wise, but anyway... I'll keep watching for now... (P.S. Watch the AnimeOne version, even if AJ has improved since back THEN, I still didn't get half of what went on in Episode 1 when watching their version...)

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue - Only one ep out, but it seems ok. Can't say anything about the plot yet, but it's up to the viewer - some hate it, some like it. Nice OP and ED Animation's not bad too. However, there are some ridiculously revealing outfits featured... too extreme really... Try watching it, it's not bad for the first ep. Subbed by Lunar. (gogo simple karaoke!! \o/)

Diamond Dust Drops - Edit: After watching this, I dunno... It seems nice and it's pleasant... Seems like an anime about a slice of life, but it is interesting... How do I say it? Well, its only the first episode. Animated by Studio Deen... damn you Studio Deen, I will still never forgive you for ruining Kenshin. ;D Well I'll watch out for future episodes.... Subbed by FrothBite.

Cosmopolitan Prayers - 12 minute episodes, this show... and personally it has very little going for it... blatant fanservice that does not impress me, very confusing first episode with rather cliche characters and eh... I'm running out of vocabulary... forgot who it's subbed by...

P.S. Somebody watch the Preview for this 3-part OVA (first episode coming out only late spring though, unfortunately!!) called Le Portrait de Petit Cossette (it should be Petite from what I heard, but that's the way the creators [mis]spelled it.) ? It looks like it really does have potential.

I haven't watched any of the GITS shows so I didn't go hunting around for a GITS 2nd season fansub.

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Yeeeee!!!! Condor Heroes! Yang Guo! *happy* *watches too many versions of condor heroes...*
^_^;;; For once I watched an anime that wasn't... 2 or 3 years old...

Matantei Loki Ragnarok - The 26-epi first season is out subbed by Seichi fansubs (and some others but I was too lazy to go look), but with my connection, it's gonna take me at least a week to finish downloading and watching it. Still, what I have seen of it [All of... 5 episodes? heh, heh, heh.... *sweatdrops*] is.. interesting. The art style reminds me of CCS, what with the ribbons, adn the main characters having almost the same hair and eye colour, and costumes with ribbons on, and etc. The animation isn't half bad. The plot is.. well, if you don't mind cute anime, occasional no-brainer plotlines and guys wearing big floppy ribbons, and/or you like Norse mythology, you'll be fine. [This concept to be revised as I actually finish following the plot.]
Loki, the god of mischief (and fire, and chaos, and womanizing) has been banished to earth by Odin because he did something not very nice (I don't think they explained exactly why...?). Oh, he's also doomed to remain in a kid's body. He now runs this detective agency that solves supernatural cases in his mansion, along with his (butler? servant? o_O) lackey, Yamino. The 'token love interest' (I'm fairly sure of this.. she has long, pink hair, wears school ***u, appears in the 1st episode AND she's a complete ditz) is a girl called Mayura, who is a klutz and possessor of little brain and obsessed with mysteries. (I kind of like her dad tho ^^') His rival apparently is the one-eyed god Heimdall, sent by Odin to kill Loki, who for some reason is also in a kid's body. There're some other gods too, including Thor (Mwee!!) and Freyr. I luffit.

Additional irrelevant note: The pink marshmallow thing is soooo kawaii~~ *melts*
Additional note: To be expanded upon as soon as I get all the episodes. No, really. I'm getting addicted to this anime.

[Last Exile]

Originally posted by Emotional Faun Chiko-sai
Yeeeee!!!! Condor Heroes! Yang Guo! *happy* *watches too many versions of condor heroes...*
^_^;;; For once I watched an anime that wasn't... 2 or 3 years old...

Matantei Loki Ragnarok - The 26-epi first season is out subbed by Seichi fansubs (and some others but I was too lazy to go look), but with my connection, it's gonna take me at least a week to finish downloading and watching it. Still, what I have seen of it [All of... 5 episodes? heh, heh, heh.... *sweatdrops*] is.. interesting. The art style reminds me of CCS, what with the ribbons, adn the main characters having almost the same hair and eye colour, and costumes with ribbons on, and etc. The animation isn't half bad. The plot is.. well, if you don't mind cute anime, occasional no-brainer plotlines and guys wearing big floppy ribbons, and/or you like Norse mythology, you'll be fine. [This concept to be revised as I actually finish following the plot.]
Loki, the god of mischief (and fire, and chaos, and womanizing) has been banished to earth by Odin because he did something not very nice (I don't think they explained exactly why...?). Oh, he's also doomed to remain in a kid's body. He now runs this detective agency that solves supernatural cases in his mansion, along with his (butler? servant? o_O) lackey, Yamino. The 'token love interest' (I'm fairly sure of this.. she has long, pink hair, wears school ***u, appears in the 1st episode AND she's a complete ditz) is a girl called Mayura, who is a klutz and possessor of little brain and obsessed with mysteries. (I kind of like her dad tho ^^') His rival apparently is the one-eyed god Heimdall, sent by Odin to kill Loki, who for some reason is also in a kid's body. There're some other gods too, including Thor (Mwee!!) and Freyr. I luffit.

Additional irrelevant note: The pink marshmallow thing is soooo kawaii~~ *melts*
Additional note: To be expanded upon as soon as I get all the episodes. No, really. I'm getting addicted to this anime.

YES!

Another Demon Detective Loki Ragnarok fan!

Here's a few more points on it:

The little pink guy is called Ecchan. He can float at will, can carry immensely heavy loads with ease (he once caught Mayura after she fell off a ledge), he says 'Punyan' instead of normal talk, and he's incredibly smart (he loves to read and solve puzzles during his spare time)

Hemidall is the only God sent by Odin that actually wants to kill Loki. And like Loki, all the gods and godessess also appear on Earth in child form. On Loki's side (kind of) are Thor, who cycles through part-time jobs like crazy to make ends meet, and Freya, who's usually timid and unaware of who she is, but when she assumes goddess form, she goes completely mushy over Loki. The other player is Freyr, Freya's brother. He tries to help Heimdall but always stuffs it up. He flies around on his pig(gy bank!) Gullinbrusti, trying to find Freya. He's also very attracted to Mayura.

Plot-wise, it is based on Loki trying to find out why so many gods and goddesses were booted out of Heaven and him trying to get back there to face Odin once and for all. But on a deeper level, the anime focuses on believing in oneself, the reason for existence and believing in a higher power and Heaven.

It has wicked intro and ending themes. The opener is a mix of mysterious and soft instruments with vocals that drift between sombre and hopeful. The ending theme is a rough, dark rock affair loaded with spritey keyboards, shwoing Loki in his true form. It starts dark but ends hopefully, enforcing the mantra "Believe In Heaven!"

This was a big ratings-winner in Japan and deservedly so. This was one fo the most original animes to come out in a long time. When most animes are reusing tried plots and themes, seeing Norse mythology tried out is really refreshing.

9/10 for me. Will reside in my Top 10 list for a long while.

[Roarkiller]

Speaking of CCS, i wonder if theres any sites that still distributes them, especially the movies/OVAs if any. I aint buying any DVDs or VCDs, cuz the only versions sold in my country r bootlegs.

Asking cuz i juz watched the 2nd movie in chinese. Only got the general idea tho. And i only watched bout 60-70% of the entire series anyway.

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Continuing Matantei Loki Ragnarok fans session thing (heeheehee..) -
*has Thor Fangirl written all over her face* His odd jobs amuse me. I want to know the name of his seiyuu... *starry eyes*
Heheh!! Freyr goes all 'Oh, my Yamato Nadesico!' when he sees Mayura... ^^;; that's so cute. I think his seiyuu is that guy who voiced Hotohori in Fushigi Yuugi... Koyasu Takehito?? I was watching the episode with Kaitou Freyr with my friend and she was gushing alternately about the seiyuu and Freyr's cuteness to me. And the pig... The mechanical pig... *chokes* *tries not to laugh hysterically*
If Freyr is this crazy, I really wanna see what his sister is like, especially since she's supposed to be goddess of love *cough*... and she's madly in love with (8-year-old) Loki... yeah...

[Last Exile]

WHA?! Loki's 8 years old?! I thought he was 10!

Holy....

And yeah, Gullinbrusti was a riot! Remember him on the cooking show and how he stuffed up everything Freyr and Hemidall tried to come up with? Oh, that was hilarious! And just seeing Freyr ride around on Gullinbrusti was classic! Who could've thought a piggy bank could be so cool?!

Still, I still root for Ecchan over Gullinbrusti anyday.

[tidalwave837]

Pokemon only.I'm keeping both my eyes closed on other anime.

[Last Exile]

Originally posted by tidalwave837
Pokemon only.I'm keeping both my eyes closed on other anime.

Watch it, pal. You SPAM here again like that and you're in it deep.

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Shippai, shippai!! I recently watched the Loki anime up to episode 21, (<------ gooooooosh such a 'short' time I took -_-;;) and he's not 8, he's 10 ^^;; no difference though.. the girls still love him. *snicker* I like the effect when the grown-up Loki winks once and all the fangirls swoon.
Gullinbusti makes 'buuhi buuhi' sounds so I like him better. xD;;;
Oh, and Odin must be the laziest god on in the multiverse if he can't even get off his butt and kill Loki himself ^^; he tried everything else, even through Mayura!!