[starbug]

Just finished watching the second series of Transformers Prime, WOW what a series and finale, roll on series 3. I love the fact that the writes aren't scared to properly kill of main characters, esp how shows like this come under constant crit from parents complaining how volient these shows are. Also love the mucher darker tone of the series, which has made Megatron a mucher darker and powerful character, again which is helped by the fact he can actually kill people instead of always failing or retreating at the first sign of trouble(G1). I just hope they release all the seasons in the UK, as tranformer DVDs are an oddity in the UK. They for some reason only release "the best of off" the last complete series was G1, all the others Beast wars, animated etc have had only partial releases in the uk.

Also watched and a weird but interesting anima film Detenator Orgun, thats a weird one.

[NGTM-1R]

You really want to see Kanade suffering for more episodes?

Maybe he likes that. Don't judge.

[Retsof]

Watched an anime called "Puella Magi Madoka Magica"  Which SpaceBattles convinced me to watch.
It starts looking like a magical girl show... then it tears out you heart, stomps on it, puts it in a blender, and sets it on fire for good measure... and it's good enough that you just can't stop watching it...

Seriously, forget manly tears.  This will have you sobbing in a corner...

EDIT:  IT does have more than a fair share of awesomeness and explosions too though...

[NGTM-1R]

This will have you sobbing in a corner...

I really didn't care about that series. There, I said it.

[Droid803]

This will have you sobbing in a corner...

I really didn't care about that series. There, I said it.

Really now? Then I ask you what you do care about.
Madoka was one of the few objectively good series from a writing standpoint to actually come out in recent times.

Maybe it just looks better in comparison because of all the absolute crap romcom/slice-of-life/moe****/borderline-porn that is more predictable than an atomic clock being passed off as actual shows and actually somehow becomes popular these days. I didn't end up sobbing in a corner but I did enjoy it a lot, it having an actual plot, characters, and character development instead of and endless pile of cliched (and possibly perverted and/or incestual) harem antics about a Yuuji Everylead in a high school setting.

Then again I'm like an Madoka Magica/Urobuchi Gen fanboy (if it wasn't immediately obvious from my uh sidebar thing), so my perception may be shaded ever so slightly. Though I feel I my standpoint is fairly robust, he's like one of the few people in the industry who still knows how to actually write a story that has a subtext, and not just something for the masses to mindlessly consume...

Actual writers seem to be a rare and dying breed in the anime industry these days. If you know of others do let me know!

[Dark Hunter]

Watched an anime called "Puella Magi Madoka Magica"  Which SpaceBattles convinced me to watch.
It starts looking like a magical girl show... then it tears out you heart, stomps on it, puts it in a blender, and sets it on fire for good measure... and it's good enough that you just can't stop watching it...

Seriously, forget manly tears.  This will have you sobbing in a corner...

EDIT:  IT does have more than a fair share of awesomeness and explosions too though...

I've seen Clannad.

Madoka has nothing on that.

Still, I must agree with Droid. Madoka is an excellent show. I've no idea when they're going to get around to releasing the movies here, but I'm definitely getting them!

EDIT:

Madoka was one of the few objectively good series from a writing standpoint to actually come out in recent times.

* Dark Hunter grabs popcorn

[NGTM-1R]

I'm sorry, did you try to state objective quality in an art, which is inherently subjective?

More seriously though, when one attempts to draw sympathy from the audience via repeated trauma, one can also draw apathy as the viewer wonders why exactly they should care when all are clearly doomed to suffer because the author wills it. PMMM was that sort of experience for me.

[redsniper]

More seriously though, when one attempts to draw sympathy from the audience via repeated trauma, one can also draw apathy as the viewer wonders why exactly they should care when all are clearly doomed to suffer because the author wills it. PMMM was that sort of experience for me.

That was kind of how Elfen Lied went for me. There was just so much gore and violence that it got stale pretty quickly. I loved me some Madoka though.

[Droid803]

I'm sorry, did you try to state objective quality in an art, which is inherently subjective?

Tell that the entire ****ing education/academic system that insists on sticking a mark on arts subjects. Because that just about all it has taught me. More interested in making a point about something else than being "right" in this case. There is obviously "bad" writing which has no artistic merit whatsoever, cue randomly generated meaningless poems etc. I'm not led to believe that it is entirely subjective. Certainly some, or a lot, of it is...

EDIT: Let's NOT turn this into "Art" 2.0. I'm sorry I brought this up.

More seriously though, when one attempts to draw sympathy from the audience via repeated trauma, one can also draw apathy as the viewer wonders why exactly they should care when all are clearly doomed to suffer because the author wills it.

I can't help but think that people being doomed to suffer because some greater power wills it (consciously or not) is a fairly good representation of the real world. I don't see it as fishing for sympathy, but more of a reflection of the state of being, thus I feel any strong emotion for it at all but did feel a connection with the meaning behind it. Or you could just go "hurk the author likes making little girls cry and punching babies he's an asssss" and stop thinking/caring but for me that's missing the point. The fact I could come up with a case that there even is any meaning behind it at all (which doesn't sound like a complete joke) is better than can be said for most things airing the past few seasons.

...I might not be thinking or speaking all too articulately here because I'm kind of tabbing between writing my honors thesis proposal and writing about animus on a forum, and as such I am unable to quite formulate a complete thought. Which is probably bad news for both sides.

[NGTM-1R]

Or you could just go "hurk the author likes making little girls cry and punching babies he's an asssss" and stop thinking/caring but for me that's missing the point. The fact I could come up with a case that there even is any meaning behind it at all (which doesn't sound like a complete joke) is better than can be said for most things airing the past few seasons.

I hardly think the author is an ass. In fact I sort of doubt anything where people suffer because the author is an ass is conceptually solid enough to survive television competition without being heavily modified. Evangelion is probably the closest anyone's come, being essentially the author hate****ing the audience, but I'm hard-pressed to name a live-action work that could be construed as people suffering because the author is being an ass.

Rather the author has instead subjected the characters to repeated trauma, and becoming jaded to trauma is a normal human response to being repeatedly exposed to it. It effects witnesses in addition to actual subjects (ER docs, EMTs), so that the audience possibly becoming jaded to repeated trauma as well shouldn't be a surprise.

Also your view of the world as higher powers causing people to suffer is obviously based on you and your experience, and as such will vary.

[FlamingCobra]

Lina Inverse~! <3

I mean uh... Slayers

[LordMelvin]

... essentially the author hate****ing the audience, but I'm hard-pressed to name a live-action work that could be construed as people suffering because the author is being an ass....

Battlestar S4.5?

(I'm just sayin...)

[Dark Hunter]

Almost through with Railgun, reading the Index light novels on the side now.

So, ordered Strike Witches season 2. Despite the overused fanservice, the show was fun enough to make me smile and I do like the character interaction, so why not?

[Ghostavo]

The 3rd season of MLP: FiM started with ridiculously heavy foreshadowing, but nice premiere nonetheless...

[headdie]

got Laputa: Castle in the Sky in the DVD player atm

[FlamingCobra]

Man... Angel Beats made me cry buckets of tears.

[butter_pat_head]

I just got and watched Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere on Blu a couple of days ago...

I liked the... character development... 

Wont be the first time I've bought an anime just for the looks...

I do like it when my retailer over here in the UK can ship out titles weeks before the US release date! 

[NGTM-1R]

Wargaming.net's latest fanart post confirmed what we always suspected about Girls und Panzer.

[FlamingCobra]

Bible Black is too scary for me. Not gonna watch any more of that.

[FireSpawn]

Isn't Bible Black one of Those kind of anime?