I watch only one thing that could be possibly seen as anime.

Howl's Moving Castle.

Over and over and over and over again. Call me weird. I love it.

I'm watching Elfen Lied now.

It's interesting.

It's crap... I really have no idea what people like about it.

Elfen lied was too fanservice-y for me.

My favourites happen to be some of the sadder anime. Humourous ones are always fun to watch, too!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (Rumbling Hearts)
Air TV
Kanon/Kanon 2006

There are a tonne more but those are the one's I've watched more recently so they pop into my head.

I'm watching "Welcome to the N.H.K." right now and wanted to share. It's enchanting, I've seen 12 episodes straight as of now. Weird mixture, but it sure got me for good. I recommend, look it up if you haven't seen it yet.

On another note, they're messing up with original Bleach plot... there was no Byakuya or Karya (well that one's obvious) in the Ichigo-goes-hollow process, damn it.
Also, I'm kinda disappointed in the animation, it looks way better in the manga. It was better at the beginning, for example the scene with Ichigo beating Renji and facing Byakuya in the real world. Or when he faced Menos Grande for the first time. Effects really used to be better, as well as drawing probably.

One more thing, has anyone seen Gungrave?

Bleach has been bothering me even since the fillers stopped. What a waste. I'll have to check out welcome to the NHK if you're recommending it, hmm.

I'm starting on Saiunkoku Monogatari and Innocent Venus atm, and trying to get hold of Giniro no Kami no Agito and Gedo Senki. Darker than Black and Seto no Hanayome seem kind of nice for their respective genres too.

I recall you saying something about how it worsened long time ago. Well, I can see it now.
I'll check out the stuff you listed. After I'm done with N.H.K. that is.
Speaking of which, time to continue (my poor eyes).

PS. What's with all the crowns? I liked previous emoticons better...

Hmm, I downloaded all of NHK a few weeks ago. I should actually get around to watching it...

Oh, and for those who like romance drama, Kanon (the 2006 remake) was amazing, in my opinion. Probably the most beautiful thing I've read/watched in a very long time.

I finished watching Welcome to the N.H.K. today near dawn, and this series is just beautiful. It engaged me emotionally, to the point where I sorta can't get it out of my head till now (after midnight in here), therefore I thought of writing the post.

I'm not sure if you need to have some hikkikomori symptoms at least a bit to be drawn into the story, but even though that's the main story arc, there are also different problems that other characters face. Big part of narration comes from inside hikkikomori mind of main character, Sato, but surprisingly, besides moments of paranoia kicking in, it's rational and it's an accurate self-analysis. Don't get the idea it's a heavy drama though - it is a psychological drama in its core, but comedy is about just as much present here, time-wise, and it's a good kind of humor here, one that doesn't make you smirk in a "how silly" or "how stupid" way (at least for an anime). The ending can bring a tear to your eye (unless you're a tough guy who wouldn't admit to any emotions).

Animation is good, characters aren't too manga-like (no chibi or anything like that). As for soundtrack, music fits just great, helps a lot in creating an appropriate atmosphere. I'm listening to a few selected tracks atm, actually.

To sum it up, it's just as funny as it is sad, and just as serious as crazy, but most importantly it makes a captivating and coherent (which may not be clear judging from the first episode) story. I haven't seen anything so brilliant in a long, long time (I actually thanked the person who pointed it out in a different board).

To be fair though, I was browsing some blogs today and found out that opinions vary. What seems to be a focal point is manga on which this was based on; apparently manga is quite different, more rough and disturbing, main character is drugs and porn addict in there, and others have darker personalities as well. Anime was toned down, also some story arcs weren't in the manga at all (I haven't noticed anything that I would consider added content, and nothing that would be out place during watching). I haven't read it, and... what can I say, I'm glad I haven't, as I feel it wouldn't allow me to enjoy it like I did. It's perfect as it is, I wasn't bored at any point, and I wouldn't change anything.



I've also seen Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) today. This movie is done Gibhli style, and tells a story of a girl who finds herself able to slip through time. Doesn't sound too attractive, but it's not a typical time travelling story - what she does is just stepping back here and there, trying to fix some little things (and obviously, turns out it ain't that easy). Anyway, nearing to an end the mystery unfolds, mood changes, and I must say I was actually surprised (though in retrospect, I could have seen it coming). Even though it's a sci-fi motive, it doesn't really focus that much on the whole time travelling thing, but rather on people.

I think I'm gonna see Genshiken next, I believe it's kinda classic, isn't it? I stumble on it often.

You watched the whole thing while my download was at like 1%? And you started after me? Ah well, I'll get it in a couple WEEKS.

(WttNHK looks good, but only got up to episode 2 so far...)

I loved the books, but I heard the anime didn't follow the storyline -at all- so that upsets me.


Naruto/Bleach right now are on the top of my list, but it's only once a week(I prefer an anime that's complete so I can zip through it), so that's a little :\\ made up for by where in their story lines they are.

Was that directed at me or Shorlen?

You! You hadn't even started it when we were talking! x_x

I already had the whole NHK when I wrote the first post here.
If you mean Tokikake, it's just one movie...

Is your internet really that slow?

The current snail-paced Naruto arc has finally pushed me to read the manga, which is actually pretty good! I'm reading it off of an MSN group though, is there a place where there are better downloads? (though the subs and quality of this one is pretty good too)

http://narutofan.com/index.php/content-multimedia,manga.

You probably need to set up an account, but there isn't any mail that gets sent to it.

I've seen the first few episodes of "Welcome to the N.H.K.!" and I'm really not sure I can watch it.

I honestly don't care about the main character's mastabatory habits. Seriously, I don't.


EDIT: And the openness of japanese hentai culture really disturbs me. o_O

What I decided when I forced myself up to episode 8 is that it reminds me of a sitcom. The guy does so much stupid crap and it just makes me cringe. Actually it's like Mr. Bean.

I mean, the concept is pretty good, and some of the characters are kind of fun, and parts of the episode are fine, but I have to force myself to watch through it all.

Guh? And you're recommending this anime to me?