What anime are ya watching?

[Exa]

well watched the first two episodes of StrikerS. Words cannot quite sum up how I feel about this anime... oh wait, yes they can; overrated shit. Its pretty clear that my fav character in Nanoha, Vita, is going to be completely sidelined. I have to say I think As was a fluke. The original series was mediocre but at least As redeemed it. StrikerS is just... well, fail. There I said it. The new characters, Cliche Tsundere and Whiney Tomboy have so far added nothing to the series. Would not recommend.

Two episodes and you already consider this as a "fail"? Oh well. Maybe the series started a bit slow (especially comparing As), but don't forget, StrikerS going to be 26 episodes long. Some of the characters from the previous series may have sidelined , but the new characters are not that bad, in my opinion - maybe have some cliche-ish parts in their personality, but that's not makes them completely failed characters (We can find cliche-ish parts in almost every series' characters) So I can recommend than try at least 3-4 more episodes. If you still don't like it, then all right, drop it.
Side Note: Even though we're not on the same line, I liked how you argue. You confirmed your opinion, and you don't use some poor "OMG ITS OVERRATED IT SUCKS"-style "proving". Constructive criticisms are welcome!

[Laevatein]

I agree it's slow at the moment... but it's only three episodes in, and three episodes does not make a 26 episode series. It's typically best to watch at least 6 episodes before deciding whether to watch or not.

And I like many of the new characters, dunno whether it's all the Super Robot references they have, or because their character archetypes are new to the Nanohaverse.

Seems like the actions starting to simmer with episode 3 though, and this I gotta see in 4 next week:

[quzak]

Negima! Magister Negi Magi

[Exa]

And I like many of the new characters, dunno whether it's all the Super Robot references they have, or because their character archetypes are new to the Nanohaverse.

Super Robot references? o_o I'm not very experienced in Super Robot stuffs, but this sounds cool. Anyway, I like that magician "army" system they have. And I lol'd on "Nanohaverse"

[Silentbob]

Just watching 1st episodes from random series.  (To see what they're like).

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu, Claymore, Hidamari Sketch are the latest.

[Nidas]

Two episodes and you already consider this as a "fail"? Oh well.

haha for most series I make snap judgments based on the first ep, the only reason StrikerS lasted longer was because I wanted to see how much Vita was going to be in it :p Turns out barely at all. And my other fav character, Arf, hasn't been in it all yet! Maybe I'll watch another ep just to see her actually xD

Maybe the series started a bit slow (especially comparing As), but don't forget, StrikerS going to be 26 episodes long.

see, the 26 ep thing endears me to it even less. A series has to be VERY good for me to watch it past 30 eps, and frankly Nanoha doesn't make the cut. Oh sure, from a technical standpoint its very well made, but really the series offers nothing that hasn't been done before (the magical girl genre is looking extremely tired now sadly) and no likable main characters imo since Fate stopped being an anti-hero. Nanoha especially is such a blatant ripoff of Sakura from CCS shes not even worthy of being called a parody. In the original series and As, Nanoha was little more than Sakura with all the life and charm drained out of her and now shes just seems completely lifeless and two-dimensional. gah, I'm ranting now, I'll leave it there. If I'm not making any sense, its because I'm tired and caffeinated, never a good combo :p

Side Note: Even though we're not on the same line, I liked how you argue. You confirmed your opinion, and you don't use some poor "OMG ITS OVERRATED IT SUCKS"-style "proving". Constructive criticisms are welcome!

lol thanks ;P

...Hidamari Sketch are the latest.

great series, easily in my top 5 animes ever actually If anyone feels like watching it, I've uploaded the current eps here

[::RenRen::]

Jigoku Shoujo.

[Exa]

haha for most series I make snap judgments based on the first ep, the only reason StrikerS lasted longer was because I wanted to see how much Vita was going to be in it :p Turns out barely at all. And my other fav character, Arf, hasn't been in it all yet! Maybe I'll watch another ep just to see her actually xD

I see, and I find that interesting. When I started to watch the first Nanoha series, I wasn't amused at first. After Fate's appearance, I became excited, because the ordinary "monster-of-the-day" plot was changed to a much more interesting rivalry between the two characters. Also, the background stories were quite unique in that genre.
About the missing characters: Yes, that's true that some characters' role have been lowered a bit, and some of them aren't appeared at all yet, but I think they have some important roles later in the storyline.

see, the 26 ep thing endears me to it even less. A series has to be VERY good for me to watch it past 30 eps, and frankly Nanoha doesn't make the cut. Oh sure, from a technical standpoint its very well made, but really the series offers nothing that hasn't been done before (the magical girl genre is looking extremely tired now sadly) and no likable main characters imo since Fate stopped being an anti-hero. Nanoha especially is such a blatant ripoff of Sakura from CCS shes not even worthy of being called a parody. In the original series and As, Nanoha was little more than Sakura with all the life and charm drained out of her and now shes just seems completely lifeless and two-dimensional. gah, I'm ranting now, I'll leave it there. If I'm not making any sense, its because I'm tired and caffeinated, never a good combo :p

Nanoha is a Sakura ripoff? Hm... In fact, I judged CCS after one episode (I know, it's not good  ;140 ), and I threw it away. (Somehow card collecting in a cute magical girl outfit wasn't enough for me.). In fact, I found the Nanoha series quite different from other magical girl series (no power of love and fewer other cliche-ish moments). In StrikerS, Nanoha's role changed much, but I don't think, this made her two-dimensional. Maybe she doesn't have the same charm and cuteness that she had earlier, more like, she has an other type of charm - it's hard to say in words. And you're making sense, you're a model of smart and calm criticist.

[Nidas]

I see, and I find that interesting. When I started to watch the first Nanoha series, I wasn't amused at first. After Fate's appearance, I became excited, because the ordinary "monster-of-the-day" plot was changed to a much more interesting rivalry between the two characters.

well if you follow the CCS comparison through, Fate is actually little more than a more restrained female version of Shoaran =/

Also, the background stories were quite unique in that genre.

This is true and was one of the things that kept me watching the first season.

Nanoha is a Sakura ripoff? Hm... In fact, I judged CCS after one episode (I know, it's not good  ;140 ), and I threw it away.

XD

(Somehow card collecting in a cute magical girl outfit wasn't enough for me.).

Although I'm probably going off topic a bit here, CCS for me was a great series, not so much because of the plot, but because of the sub plots and character development. The characters felt... well so much more real I guess than Nanoha's characters. I don't think I ever thought of any of them as stereotypical or foil characters (even if some of them probably are in hindsight). And at 70 eps and two films, its by far the longest series I've ever seen and I still love it :p Anyway, going off the point here, back on topic.

In fact, I found the Nanoha series quite different from other magical girl series (no power of love and fewer other cliche-ish moments).

hmm I guess the problem is that magical girl as a genre tends to have little variety. The main character tends to be bland enough for the target audience (lets not kid ourselves, its preteen girls in most cases) to project themselves onto the character. Some cute animal spirit/guardian usually comes along for the ride. Theres usually a rival of some kind. The main character usually has one or two "best friends" that get more screen time and character development than other characters. Theres usually an older love interest (I guess this is where Nanoha departs form the norm more than anything else, Nanoha seems to all intents and purposes pretty much asexual so far). Etc. Personally I think that Nanoha fits the magical girl mold very well, although it usually gets darker towards the end of each respective season. It just seems to lack the charm that most magical girl animes have. Maybe that is what I dislike about it thinking about it. It tries too hard to break the mold and be a seinen anime and ends up losing the charm of traditional magical girls and not quite achieving the seinen transition it sought. It ends up being stuck between the two genres and as a result, has the advantages of neither. Imo of course :p

If I'm sounding overly negative, I don't mean to. The tweaks they made to the genre in the original series kept the series interesting and watchable; especially considering how slow the series was to start, this alone is impressive. And the introduction of the Wolkenritter in As brought some much needed variety to the cast (even if Hayete is just as boring as Nanoha). And as I said earlier, from a technical standpoint, the anime is impressive. So if anyone hasn't watched any Nanoha yet, I'd say watch the first two seasons then drop it.

tl;dr, long post is loooooooooooong, etc

[Exa]

hmm I guess the problem is that magical girl as a genre tends to have little variety. The main character tends to be bland enough for the target audience (lets not kid ourselves, its preteen girls in most cases) to project themselves onto the character. Some cute animal spirit/guardian usually comes along for the ride. Theres usually a rival of some kind. The main character usually has one or two "best friends" that get more screen time and character development than other characters. Theres usually an older love interest (I guess this is where Nanoha departs form the norm more than anything else, Nanoha seems to all intents and purposes pretty much asexual so far). Etc. Personally I think that Nanoha fits the magical girl mold very well, although it usually gets darker towards the end of each respective season. It just seems to lack the charm that most magical girl animes have. Maybe that is what I dislike about it thinking about it. It tries too hard to break the mold and be a seinen anime and ends up losing the charm of traditional magical girls and not quite achieving the seinen transition it sought. It ends up being stuck between the two genres and as a result, has the advantages of neither. Imo of course :p

If I'm sounding overly negative, I don't mean to. The tweaks they made to the genre in the original series kept the series interesting and watchable; especially considering how slow the series was to start, this alone is impressive. And the introduction of the Wolkenritter in As brought some much needed variety to the cast (even if Hayete is just as boring as Nanoha). And as I said earlier, from a technical standpoint, the anime is impressive. So if anyone hasn't watched any Nanoha yet, I'd say watch the first two seasons then drop it.

tl;dr, long post is loooooooooooong, etc

Excellent post! You really understand the weakness of the magical girl (MG for later) genre. After a while, they couldn't make more variations around the similar storyline, that's why most MG's are quite similar to each other. As I told earlier, I don't know much about CCS, so I have no idea about sub plots and character developments there. Maybe I'll try it again... On the other hand, you are right that Nanoha is a bit of hybrid between a MG and a seinen anime. Maybe I like the series because of that, because it provides me cute characters, somehow well-developed storyline, and amazingly done fighting scenes - a little bit of everything, but that's enough for me.
I respect your opinion and accept your reasons. You're not sounding negative, you just said what you feel about the series.

[zjhentohlauedy]

shocking to say but i'm finally going to be watching Rozen Maiden and Haruhi......

[95Direct]

I normaly watch eather Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell. I find myself more drawn towards the Sci-fi/Cyberpunk genre.

[NejinOniwa]

shocking to say but i'm finally going to be watching Rozen Maiden and Haruhi......

Maa, better late than never, i guess! Haruhi is TEEEH awesomeness! (I'm such an addict i've even loaded the six chronologically first eps onto my iPod )'

I've also started watching the brand new Lucky Star anime from KyoAni, where we get to see moar shiny Hirano Aya goodness. Honestly, she's got to be one of the best seiyuu i've ever seen...

[Thurosis]

shocking to say but i'm finally going to be watching Rozen Maiden and Haruhi......

Maa, better late than never, i guess! Haruhi is TEEEH awesomeness!

That's true! !!

ROZEN MAIDEN IS GREAT!!!!! XD XD XD

Right now i'm watching betterman (and i'm going to watch utawarerumono after betterman)

But my favourite genre are: Fantasy, Drama, and Sci-Fi

[Gussy Keniji]

Well, I'm currently watchin Keroro Gunsou, and some good ol'One Piece (I was watching Naruto but I got tired of it...)