Suggestions and General Discussion

[Michael Kerpan]

Longest I've watched is Chihayafuru (also 74 eps) -- but that was spread out over several seasons over several years. Not sure I could cope with watching 74 episodes in a relatively short period of time.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah that’s why I switched my proposal to Evangelion, though there are far more inclusive reasons that’ll aid participation there

If we did Monster, the first leg (I forget what ep it ends on, but right around 25ish- I can go through and find out if people want to do it) would be good, since it has a pretty definitive endpoint, and if anyone gets there and decides they don’t want to continue, well, I’d be surprised!

Back when Guillermo del Toro was set to adapt the manga into a live action series for HBO, I tried to map how he’d rush through a first season to get to that moment for a finale, since it would be strange coming any later but would rush too many key periods of development to get to within ten hours. I always secretly believed that’s why the series failed to gain traction - struggling with that impossible situation - though I’m likely wrong

Unfortunately I think the series peaks here (the first third is overall its strongest section) but it’s possible I was so blown away by it on a first watch that I was disappointed when the next sections didn’t escalate things further. The narrative trajectory the first section takes on essentially makes it a western noir that actually works, so any expectations I had of besting that were surely unrealistic

[Mr Sausage]

A couple other animes that might work for a Film Club:

-Flip Flappers

-The Heike Story

What do you think of these?

[knives]

Welcome to the NHK as well.

[Mr Sausage]

That one sounds really interesting. Anyone got any others? I can select five, put it to a vote, and we can do another watchalong thingy if people are down. I had a ton of fun with the last one.

[therewillbeblus]

A couple other animes that might work for a Film Club:

-Flip Flappers

-The Heike Story

What do you think of these?

I liked Flip Flappers, and think it could be really interesting to hear others' impressions of, plus it's short. Haven't seen the other. FLCL comes to mind as another short fun one.

[knives]

Kaiba by Masaaki Yuasa is another great choice.

[Mr Sausage]

Keep 'em coming. I'll give a list to swo to get five random choices from.

[beamish14]

Dennou Coil (perennially underrated)

Boogiepop Phantom (which I think fans of Lain will really enjoy)

Kids on the Slope

Samurai Champloo

[therewillbeblus]

Although it's not necessarily a hurdle for me, should we be considering accessibility before whittling down what goes into the randomizer to increase the likelihood of participation? I'm trying to refrain from recommending anything that isn't cheap and available

[Mr Sausage]

Yeah, availability is key. The goal here is really participation as much as anything.

[therewillbeblus]

Alright, I'm going to consolidate my recs/seconding-ideas based on accessibility and digestibility:

Neon Genesis Evangelion
FLCL
Flip Flappers

+Paranoia Agent

[Michael Kerpan]

I just got the BluRay of Heike Monogatari, but never mind that...

Yuasa has some amazing work. Kaiba is VERY retro stylistically and very surrealist/absurdist in terms of content. But I must say I like Ping Pong and Tatami Galaxy even more. In terms of visual distinctiveness, I think Ping Pong has the edge. His latest, Inu-oh, has also just come out on BluRay -- and it is pretty wild.

[vsski]

I have been watching more and more anime since Lain and would second Heike Monogatari and also found Pat Labor more interesting than expected (at least the OVA episodes).
But I’d be down to any of the other suggestions here except Netflix only series, as I can’t access this at the moment.

[Murdoch]

I would love to see this forum's insights into the Monogatari series, so Bakemonogatari is my recommendation. It's short but visually dense. The creativity in the opening credits is reason enough to watch, with each character's arc having a different intro.

[Boosmahn]

I'll second Monogatari, which is one of my favorite series (anime and not). I love all of the arcs in Bakemonogatari, but I would argue the final episode (15) is television perfection.

I feel obligated to link this helpful guide, which gives the correct order and streaming availability. Funimation is the way to go for Bakemonogatari, and maybe further -- Crunchyroll uses the scuffed TV version of Nisemonogatari, but I'm not sure about Funimation.

[Mr Sausage]

Hey everyone. I had originally planned to have a vote up today and a discussion thread by Monday, but that’ll have to be pushed back. I’ve been without power since Wednesday, and have no reason to expect any in the next few days. Hopefully I can get this going next week.

[therewillbeblus]

No rush, take your time, and good luck!

[Mr Sausage]

We have power again! I'll see if I can get a vote up sometime today or tomorrow. Thanks everyone for their recommendations.

[Mr Sausage]

Out of 16 suggestions, here are five randomly selected animes for you to vote on.

For the people whose suggestions were chosen, you might want to give a brief writeup on your choice to help guide us less knowledgeable members.

[therewillbeblus]

I've only seen (and own) Samurai Champloo, which was fun but I don't think I'd have much to say about it. I'll be interested to know the various available means to see the other four, as that'll likely drive my vote.

[Mr Sausage]

If someone could post availability for each of the five, that’d be much appreciated.

[therewillbeblus]

I know Samurai Champloo is available on blu-ray from Funimation, pretty significantly discounted, as well as on Hulu and Funimation's streaming service, the latter of which I think is free with ads?

[Michael Kerpan]

Funimation is on its last legs as a streaming sevice. A lot of its content has migrated to Crunchyroll -- but there are weird omissions (like bonus episodes in series that have otherwise moved already) and some seasons have not migrated at all. One wonders if licensing for some material doesn't allow the transfer (even though Funimation technically acquired Crunchyroll -- but is giving up its identity and most of its staff). Strange situation.

Ping Pong, however, is available on both Funimation and Crunchyroll -- as well as on BluRay. Kaiba is also on Crunchyroll and BluRay. Dennoh Coil is on Netflix, I believe (in SD) and on BluRay (but I wonder if it is just an uprezzed and oversharpened version -- as are many anime from that period).

[feihong]

I voted Bakemonogatari, because I haven't seen it and the visuals look interesting. Ping Pong offered me nothing, I was less than impressed with Den-noh Coil, and, like therewillbeblues, I have nothing much to say about Samurai Champloo.

Looks like Crunchyroll has Bakemonogatari and Samurai Champloo, also.

Edit: On second thought, I'm changing my vote to Samurai Champloo. Watching the first episode of Bakemonogatari, I recalled I had seen the show, and quit before the first episode was over. Gonna vote Champloo. I just want to watch a show that's at least sometimes a little bit funny.