Legend of Galactic Heroes has pacing issues I have trouble looking past, but I'll be the first to admit I'm an instant gratification tool and lack appreciation for slower paced media.
I agree with a lot of what you said here, though I would say that the falloff of quality didn't didn't really spin out of control until the mid 2000s (late 2000s if you go by the American release dates). There are a bunch of good series from the 1997-2005 range such as Gasaraki, Tweleve Kingdoms, Speed Grapher, Ergo Proxy, Wolf's Rain, Blood+, and Le' Chevalier Dion. The only series I'm keeping up on right now is Bleach, and only because it's a guilty pleasure of mine. I'm also through episode 33 of Nana, which is also very good.
It's not that good series are gone, it's that the signal to noise ratio is all fucked up - I mean series like Eden of the East are certainly decent, it's just for every one of those there's a K-ON
Yes, I agree with this. In fact, if you look at my favorite series, it's exclusively between 1998 (Cowboy Bebop, Berserk) and 2008 (Kaiji). Things only really got desperate by 2009, and they have stayed that way through 2012. Not that there haven't been some good shows here and there (I personally liked the toilet humor parody Panty and Stocking), but as rei noted, the signal to noise ratio is completely fucked up. You're lucky if there is one watchable series for 30 pandering, underage softcore porn series nowadays. I've only seen one of the shows you mentioned though, Wolf's Rain. Honestly, I felt it was awful and painfully boring. I've only read the Nana manga, so I'm curious how far the anime goes into the story. I was a big fan of the comic; it started out original and refreshing. However, the author started feeling the pressure of meeting deadlines (NANA was originally supposed to be just a few volumes, not a long series), and started injecting more and more day-time soap melodrama, and less of what originally made the series so good. The pregnancy arc was an utter train-wreck, and reading the manga from then on became so tortuous, I dropped it.
The soap drama made it more popular to a lot of people and was maintained for the anime unfortunately.
Of the ones I mentioned that you haven't seen I'd rank them as follows: Twelve Kingdoms, Speed Grapher, Blood+, Le Chevalier D'Eon, Ergo Proxy, Gasaraki. Twelve Kingdoms is absolutely outstanding and probably my second favorite anime of all time. It's based on a series of light novels, not manga, and the central premise is the ordeals of a girl who gets taken to another world where she becomes the queen of a kingdom - not original, I know - but done very well in my opinion. There are for story arcs covered in the anime and the 1st and 3rd are excellent, while the 2nd, though good, unfortunately isn't resolved because at the time the series was produced the author of the novels had not resolved it. The 4th arc is just kind of there, but it's not bad. Speed Grapher is pretty original in my opinion. It's kind of hard to explain the plot but it revolves around people who gain powers based on personal fetishes or obsessions of theirs. The tone is very noirish and has an [intentional] sleazy feel to it, which I really liked. It's not hentai or ecchi, despite the subject matter. Blood+ is based on the movie Blood, the Last Vampire and its story is expanded to fill a complete an entire series. It's very good, although long at 52 episodes. Le Chevalier D'Eon is a historical fantasy series that takes place in France during the reign of Louis XV. The main character is based on an actual historical figure and most of the main characters are as well. In terms of story and style it feels like watching something Alexander Dumas could have written, and it's obvious his works were an inspiration for this anime. Ergo Proxy gets a lot of its inspiration from Blade Runner, so if you liked that you'll probably like Ergo Proxy. It's a slow series however. Gasaraki is more grounded mecha (as opposed to pure fantasy mecha in terms of physics and realism) anime. It revolves mostly around a pilot and his relationship to his family, which happens to be the owners of a large corporation that produces most of the mecha and is involved in a war against another company in another part of the world that also produces mecha. It's been a long time since I've seen it so my memory is probably off, but it's another rather slow paced anime. The last episode I saw was several episodes into the pregnancy arc, so I guess I'll see how that goes. So far it seems alright.
Does anyone know anything about Puella Magi Madoka Magica? The way it's being described to me is coming across as looking visually like stupid-moe crap but subverts and plays with it at every turn, getting incredibly dark and is apparently very well written - can anyone vouch for that?
My biggest problem with moe isn't the creators or the shows - it's that anime fans eat this shit up, so it continues to be produced. Anime is fundamentally treated as a product, and even if some auteurs (Watanabe, Kanno, Kajiura, etc) do it for the art, whatever sells is going to be produced. It's no wonder every anime season seems to be composed of mostly pedobait, cliched shonen, shitty 4koma adaptations and harem fanservice. Good taste seems to be in short supply. Madoka to me is really a tour de force of pure storytelling. It's only 12 episodes long, but it manages to effectively and grippingly convey its themes and create characters that are easy to care about (no small feat when they're all schoolgirls like every other anime). What you've heard is basically dead on - with the addendum that it's animated by Shaft, so expect surreal visuals which immediately set it apart from typical "moe" shows. There's a huge spoiler in the first three episodes, so watch it before you get spoiled. I think it's pretty easily the best anime of 2011. Between Madoka and Fate/Zero, it's no wonder Urobuchi Gen is suddenly a huge name in the industry. The guy can write. I'm kind of ashamed that I haven't really started watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes yet. I've watched the two prequel movies and they were fantastic (albeit only buildup to the main series), but it's the kind of show you want to sit down and really appreciate. For some reason I keep putting it off.
You can pretty much say this about every entertainment/artisic medium. I think the particular problem with anime is that due to cultural snobbery or whatever, a lot of the good stuff isn't available outside of Japan.
I've been meaning to write this up for a while now but it took me a while to figure this one out. Usagi Drop Daikichi, a thirties something bachelor, travels home for his grandfathers funeral only to learn that the old man apparently fathered an illegitemite child in his old age. No one knows who the mother is and with the old man gone, the members of the family argue over what is to be done with little Rin. The tawdriness of the situation complicates matters as it effects the way the family acts toward the child and finally, annoyed with them, Daikichi decides to take in the little girl. Not being that well versed in the different styles of animation within the genre I'm hard pressed to say exactly what Usagi Drop looks like but it definitly veers away sharply from your typical glossy standard anime: This story of a man coping with raising a child hit home pretty hard for me, oddly enough since I'm not big on children. It might be that I'm around that age, or it might just be that there are very few false notes here. The show doesn't go overboard creating artificial difficulties for the duo, it just plays out the scenario of Daikichi making the transition into a responsible parent and Rins developement as she learns to trust him. At its heart this is a story about the parent-child bond that could've become sickeningly sweet but that feels very genuine due to its low key approach to the subject matter. Normally I tend to feel manipulated when shows and movies go for the big emotions because they're so clumsy with it but this had me swallowing past a lump in my throat more times than I could count and feeling pretty good about it too. Maybe I just need to run out and stock up on maxi pads or something... Edit: I forgot to add, if this show even exists as a dub, do yourself a favor and ignore that version. You definitly want the original voice cast here.
I'm not sure what you mean. Nowadays, any notable series gets subbed pretty quickly by a fan group and can be found online. And the moe plague IS primarily popular in Japan, not here. Sadly, there isn't some treasure trove of great anime that has never been translated. I've never seen the anime, but I've read the entire manga. (Which goes much farther than the series, with a time skip to when Rin is a teenager) I'll echo your sentiments; I never thought I would care about a story in which a single, 32 year old man adopts a little girl, but I did. It's a very well-written, engrossing manga with relatable, interesting characters and situations.
This aired on Japanese TV pretty recently (Summer 2011), and dubs usually only come out with the second Blu-Ray release or so. I've been hearing a lot of good things about this series. Well, new stuff tends to get subbed pretty quickly. However, I'd say the Western hardcore fanbase eats moe up - not to the extent of the Japanese, but still. There might not be a "treasure trove", but there's at least some great stuff out there that has yet to be fully translated. A couple: Ashita no Joe, a great boxing anime from 1970, has only been subbed through episode 31 out of 75. It's like Hajime no Ippo crossed with a spaghetti Western. The animation's dated as hell and the art style takes getting used to, but somewhere around episode 6 it really started to grow on me. Unlike Ippo, Joe's just a thorough rapscallion - he doesn't take shit from nobody and resists his "destiny" of becoming a great boxer every step of the way. It's unexpectedly refreshing. Hyouge Mono. I actually haven't started watching this one yet, but it finished airing pretty recently and I've seen nothing but hype. With that kind of praise, you'd think three different fansubbing groups would be on it simultaneously, but only 11 of 39 episodes have been subbed.
Probably true, but anime production companies make their decisions on what series to greenlight based on economic figures domestically, not internationally. Strange, I was certain that Joe had been fully subbed. There are a couple of other classic shounen anime from 1968-1971 that haven't been subbed yet either, most notably Tiger Mask and Star of the Giants. That being said, when we're talking about 40+ year old series, I don't think we're not missing a great deal. Also, keep in mind that more and more classic series (and manga) are being translated all the time. A few years ago, Joe didn't even have a single episode subbed. That's not an example of an unsubbed work at all; Hyouge Mono only finished airing in January 26, 2012, and the fansub group that took over it is notoriously slow. Hence why they have only completed 11 of 39 episodes. Also, the reason there aren't 3 fansub groups at once is that it's generally considered a faux pas; once one group takes over a series, others are expected to back off. (Obviously, certain very popular series are an exception) Anyways, that's an issue with the speed of translation, not whether a translation is completed or not. (Hyouge Mono most definitely will be)
A couple of recent thoughts: Ano Natsu de Matteru is a really good 12-episode high school romance story. If you liked Toradora (don't see it mentioned in the thread, but it's also a well-done high school romance) then you will like Ano Natsu. And it's goddamn rare to get a romance anime that doesn't feature a tsundere as one of the main heroines. Grade: ++ Chihayafuru, a romance/sports anime that I really liked but made no money, has somehow been greenlighted for a second season. Woo hoo! Fate/Zero still rocks, and you should still watch it. It has fighter jets and holy swords and legendary heroes and maniacal villains. What's not to like?
I haven't watched Chihayafuru (or any anime at all during the last 18 months), but I would just like to mention that Toradora is one of the worst TV series (not just anime) ever made, and represents everything awful about modern anime and the "moe" trend. (Where a girl who looks like she is 8 is treated as a sex fantasy and primary love interest) So okay, it's a standard brain-dead high school romance with pedophilic undertones. And the 8-year old girl above is also a nasty, violent bitch who attacks men that are excessively kind towards her, but then becomes tender and shy at random times. (This is known as a "tsundere" character in Japanese anime, for those lucky enough not to have seen these abortions) But this show goes beyond that, by being completely content-less. Every episode is about 5 minutes of actual content stretched out to 23-24 minutes. I know this because I watched the first 6 episodes before I tapped out, and since they were so slow and boring, I watched them at X4 speed. At that speed, I still had plenty of time to read all the subtitles and follow everything that was going on, something I can't even do at X2 speed for most anime. However, it was still monotonously, painfully slow. While I applaud you for being open-minded enough to watch shoujo-inspired anime, (shoujo literally means "little girl" in Japanese) I don't think that means embracing every horrible shoujo (which is 95% of them) that they pump out.
You butchered my quote there. I was referring to the other show. (Chihayafuru is in the josei demographic, females ages 15-44.) Toradora is actually a shonen series, meaning it's aimed at adolescent boys. The LN was serialized in Dengeki Daioh, a shonen manga magazine. "Shoujo-inspired" is basically meaningless in this context. It's got the same features as many anime high-school romances. If you've watched a couple, you know what you're getting into. Failed confessions, misunderstandings, etc, etc. Whether a show adheres to or deviates from genre conventions, it can still be judged on how well it does these things - its execution. I don't remember anything particularly hateworthy about the first 6 episodes, but you missed a lot of the development that happens later in the show. Your call to watch or not watch - if the show irritated me as much as it did you, I wouldn't either - but making claims like "represents everything awful about modern anime and the 'moe' trend" after watching six episodes of a show centered around character development is pretty laughable. In any case, Ano Natsu de Matteru doesn't have tsunderes or pedophilic character designs, but it does have the requisite childhood friend character, love triangle drama, misunderstandings, high school setting, etc. And it's significantly faster paced than Toradora was. Generic but well-executed.