who's Kio like, is there a series I've missed? Because there hasn't been a Gundam TV series since 00.
Oh, no, AGE is some sort of elaborate hoax. Clearly. This is too terrible to be real, even from the people that gave us The Advetures of Jesus Yamato and Pals.
I just decided to watch 00. Finished the first episode. First thirty seconds looked really cool. Than a stupid, overpowered Gundam showed up and went Wing Zero on the interesting, novel setting. Then Celestial Being showed up and didn't make a damn bit of sense. This is going to be a pleasant experience, no doubt.
Oh, man. These GN-X guys show up, and the Thrones are still kicking around, and it looks like maybe the fights are going to stop being so one-sided. So, of course. TRANS-AM. Fuck you Gundam by 00.
I fucking love when they go TRANS-AM. And, it does not stay one-sided forever. It's always been somewhat of a Gundam trope that, well, Gundams are practically fucking invincible. That is, until something comes along (usually strategically) that threatens the sheer power of a Gundam, and we get character development and feels and and and... well, it's a Gundam series. I didn't like 00 as much as some of the other series, but it proves itself to be better overall halfway through the first season and cements itself in the second.
I'm willing to accept that the Gundams are generally going to be stronger than most of the other mechs, but until the GN-Xs make their appearance the Gundam Meisters are pretty much battlefield gods. They don't have badass MSs that still get heads/arms/feet/legs/whatever blown up on a fairly regular basis. Victory 2 is the crowning example of that - it's ridiculously powerful, but a good hit can still cripple it; Uso needs some real ability to exploit his crazy bullshit weapons like the Wings of Light. No - you have scenes like Setsuna ripping the limb that should be crushing his head off and being essentially intact. Haven't gotten to S2, yet. Hopefully it does in fact get better, because I am not impressed. Also, if Setsuna is Gundam, shouldn't Bandai be giving us a MG of him? I mean, I AM SELLING THIS GUNDAM, and all. Bandai loves selling $80 worth of polystyrene! edit: also, why does every female character have like a Q-cup, and a completely skintight shirt
Because BOOBS. Actually, you'll notice as the series progresses, you basically encounter your standard anime trope where there is no middle ground between cup sizes: either they're boyishly small, or extremely large. I really have no comment on that except anime. The red faux-GN Drives on the GN-Xs versus the "true" GN Drives becomes a big player as things go on, because unlike the true Veda Gundams, the faux-GN Drives can be mass produced. Once an original GN Drive takes any damage, it can't be replaced. Extrapolate from that what you will.
So, just finished episode I of season 2. And, oh my god. They're going there. I mean, I'd seen the signs, but I figured that Sunrise couldn't do something THAT tacky. LOCKON STRATOS 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Identical twins! seriously, this series is fucking insane And that's actually one of the things is has going for it; it's certainly not dull. But, still!
Also: Graham MISUTAA BUSHIDO is even worse at hiding his identity than Char "Sunglasses and a vest" Aznable. So, it's pretty much Wing, minus the complete sincerity with which everyone espouses their stupid ideas and plus a batch of G Gundam style insanity. Okay, I can dig that. Not a favorite series so far, but that's a formula that works. I just wish we hadn't had like 20 episodes of: a) Wing-style sincerity and melodrama b) Completely one-sided fights Everyone's pulling ridiculous super robot tricks now. I can work with that! This series is playing out like someone reviewed the scripts near the end of S1, asked "WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE WRITING, GUYS", and proceeded to have fun with their shitty Gundam series. Ribbons and his Council of Ominous People With Stupid Names are fun in the way that Alejandro Corner wasn't. Prince Ali (Mighty Is He) is always fun, and was a bright spot in the early episodes. Graham has completely lost any character depth in favor of "KILL GANDAMU", but he's better for it. Setsuna is basically still a wooden board, though. Occasionally he says something silly (I AM GUNDAM) but he could really stand to ham it up more. And maybe get an alternate personality or an evil clone or something.
Okay, so apparently Setsuna/Gundam is a canon pairing. This is like a Gundam series on acid. It's terrible, but I can't stop watching.
F91 would actually be really cool if it was a proper series, as intended. Even in its current form, there are some good ideas there. It's just that the film is fucking incomprehensible due to the amount of plot it tries to cram in two hours. 13 episodes of scripts, plus the improvised ending. Crossbone anime has been rumored forever, though. Hopefully Bandai will actually decide to produce it if we get another underperforming main series a la AGE. (It'd actually be really cool to lead into that with a series that starts out by remaking the aforementioned shitty F91 movie over a 15/16 episode period before segueing into the discovery of the Jupiter Empire and the revival of the Crossbone Vanguard, too.)
Okay, so Death Note was good, Code Geass was better than it had any right to be thanks to the strong primary characters, and Steins;Gate was so pants wettingly awesome I could watch it again right now. Actually, Tiger & Bunny wasn't bad either, but it wasn't the best plotted of shows. Suggestions for something new? http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Quitch
Legend of Galactic Heroes. Not trolling. Or, if you don't want to have to memorize a gajillion character names, Toward the Terra. Or, for shorter series (13 ep or less), Jyu-Oh-Sei, and No. 6. And if you really want to go FABULOUS, Star Driver! It's actually pretty good. Also the creation of FABULOUS MAX. edit: Oh, forgot Kore wa Zombie desu ka? I really enjoyed it. High School of the Dead is great until episode 6 or 7 with the shower scene, and then I stopped watching. edit: I may be crossing the streams. Mawaru Penguindrum may have created Fabulous Max. It also has the most awesome (3+ minutes long) transformation sequence in all history. edit: NOT EVEN THE WHOLE SEQUENCE!
Something different from your list maybe: http://www.youtube.com/nozomient I like Revolutionary Girl Utena, Antique Bakery, Sweet Blue Flowers, and Maria Watches Over Us. Of course, since I'm not in the US, I'm not sure if the streaming actually works :(
MOTOKOOOOOOOO! Holy crap, did you guys see that there's a new Ghost in the Shell prequel on the way? Not part of the Stand Alone Complex continuity, which is too bad, but oh well. Trailer below: ETA: Legend of the Galactic Heroes is pretty taste-dependent, but if you like it, you'll love it. Think of it as a little like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but IN SPAAAACE -- it's a space opera of mythic proportions, set during a galaxy-spanning war. The space fleets number tens of thousands, the protagonists' talents, ambitions and egos are larger-than-life, and the show itself is 110 episodes (plus OVAs) :p. Never officially released in English, which is probably part of its cult renown.
I think I may have watched Jyu-Oh-Sei. I recall it starting out reasonably strong, then suddenly it leaps forward a number of years, forgets everything that made the original episodes interesting, and turns it into the usual super-power fighting rubbish. Assuming I'm thinking of the right series. Any series which is longer than 24 episodes or has a transformation sequence tends to set off my alarm bells, but I'll give everything here a try. Thanks for the suggestions!
More recommendations: Mushishi, xxxHolic, Natsume Yuujinchou, Level E, Air, Kuragehime, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. I'm slowly making my way through Mawaru Penguin Drum and Swort Art Online.
Jyu-Oh-Sei does have a time jump, but there's no super power fighting crap. There's a pretty major fight at the end, but they're just normal human beings.
Penguindrum's main problem is that it's not quite as good as Utena. Which is a pretty high bar to reach in all fairness.
Well, super in so far as they build up the bosses of each group to be incredibly tough, so tough the protagonist cheats to win a fight he unwillingly ends up in. Then time jump and some guy is just dispatching these bosses left and right and generally making them look useless. It's so completely divorced from the world built up to that point. Penguindrum lost me at the library episode, it just felt like it had lost its way with that kind of mysterious wankery.
Here's one that's not on your list and has never failed me: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, a low fantasy adventure about a spear woman and the young prince she pledges to protect. Gorgeous art and (apart from the opening) music, likeable characters, exciting plots, a warm, strong theme, and some of the best, most believable worldbuilding I have seen. Also, it's on Hulu if any of you guys in the States haven't seen it. :D
I'm really impressed with Apollon. It's not the usual type of anime I watch but I find myself enjoying it. It does a much better job of portraying realistic people in realistic relationships than I'm used to.
I couldn't get into it. I tried, but after about six episodes it just failed to grab me. It's not a bad series, just couldn't hold my attention.
