Your Four Cents about Anime & Manga

Written by: Nessa

This weeks interviewees are robot & Lillie.

The idea of Your Four Cents is to present the opinions of two PPTers at a time. In order to be interviewed for this article, you must PM me and request the questions. Your answers will be put at the bottom of the list and published when there is a companion for it. At the time of writing, there is 1 person waiting to be published.

I popped into the Anime & Manga board a few days ago looking for inspiration for a Pink Ink article. Two of the threads I chose to incorporate are: "What was your first anime / manga?", and "What did you read / watch last?". I was hoping to get more than simple answers. I wanted people to go in depth and talk about these things. This week, I was not disappointed. Thank you robot and Lillie for answering these questions, your time is appreciated.

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What did you think about your last watched anime or last read manga?

:robot:

The last series I watched was Nanaka 6/17. It was a really cute series, but it ended abruptly. The story itself is about an overachieving 17 year old that reverts back to how she was when she was six and the childhood friend that helps her deal with high school life as a "born again child." It was funny and interesting, but I found myself wishing that she'd never go back to being the obnoxious 17 year old version of herself or hoping that the 6 year old personality took over majority of her brain.

::Lillie::

I've just been watching the second last episode of Ouran High School Host Club on YouTube. There aren't any subtitles yet, so I want to know what they're saying and I'm really anxious about how the series will end. It's an amusing series about a student who gets a scholarship to a school for the upper class. The student ends up working at a club dedicated to talking with young ladies and acting as their hosts. I think I'm going to have to wait for the final episode to come out before I watch the last two or I'll be upset over the cliffhanger for ages.

What's one anime or manga you would recommend to a newcomer?

:robot:

It depends on what sort of the thing the person likes to read. In regards to Shoujo or "girly" manga/anime, I think Ouran High School Host Club is a great series. The anime and manga are just different enough that they can keep you entertained even if you are enjoying both at the same time. It has a very common plot line, but it's done very well. A science-fiction/psychological series that I found really interesting was Paranoia Agent. It is complex, confusing, and has a lot of sarcastic/odd humor in it. If someone isn't sure of what sort of anime they would be interested in, I think Adult Swim, though having many extremely overrated shows, is a nice place to start. They have a bit of everything and it would give the curious something to think about.

::Lillie::

If you want a more serious one, I think Evangelion is very good. (I never watched it properly as it gave me nightmares as a child.) If you're looking for a love comedy, Love Hina! was the first one I watched. For younger viewers, I don't know how readily available this is, but I loved Mahoujin Guru Guru as a child. Though if you really want to watch an anime, I'd advise you to go to the Anime & Manga board on PPT and ask for suggestions there. They have much better ones!

What was your first anime or manga, and what did you think of it? Would you recommend it for another newcomer to anime / manga?

:robot:

I watched Astroboy on VHS with my dad when I was little. I can't remember why we even had it, but it was a bit strange. It's a fun little series, but it doesn't have a lot of substance. I watched a lot of random stuff in between, but my first complete anime series was Tenchi Muyo. This was... many years later. I'd recommend it, but it's definitely not for everyone.

My first manga was Cheeky Angel. I never finished it, but I've always wanted to. It was a nice action series that included a bit of romance for the "typical girl" hidden inside of me.

::Lillie::

I honestly can't remember what my first anime was. Anime has always been popular in Hong Kong as far as I can remember, and I used to watch Cantonese-dubbed versions on TV all the time. They were my cartoons, and that was what I called them back then. This was before they became popular internationally. I remember late nights staring in awe at Dragonball and not knowing what was going on, or being terrified of Evangelion. Yeah, that's one show you should definitely not show a young kid, but when you're older, I think they're pretty great.

Then there was Rurouni Kenshin at 11 PM onwards -- that's one anime I watched later on that I adored. There were pretty strict rules about how much violence and blood could be shown on TV before a certain time of the night when children are meant to be sleeping. Even then, they still cut most of the more violent scenes -- still do, actually. But most of the time I would watch Sailor Moon -- it was the craze for girls ten years ago -- or Saint Tail, Wedding Peach, Akazukin Cha Cha and Mahoujin Guru Guru, all very good shows for little girls, especially when it's nice and bright outside and there are no scary scenes. When I was really bored, I would also watch Doraemon (or Ding Dong, as he was known here back then), or Hello Kitty. I didn't like those quite so much.

Would I recommend them? The late-night shows would be good for older viewers, and if you want to get your kids addicted, especially the girls, then all the shows I watched as a girl are probably good places to start as well.

What is one anime / manga you would recommend someone to stay away from and what are your reasons?

:robot:

I read a series called Imadoki! once. It was a great series, at first, but the ending was crap. It felt like the manga artist just got bored with it and wanted to end it quickly. I was so disappointed. I felt like I'd wasted $50. Battle Royale is another series that threw me for a loop. It was nice and gory, as I expected, but it was so graphic that I had a hard time reading certain volumes and so the story was always incomplete for me.

::Lillie::

Possibly Dragonball. I still don't get what was going on there. To be honest, though, I don't remember watching any particularly bad anime. Most of the things I watch are recommended to me by others who have watched a lot of anime and know what's good and what's not.

Whats a anime or manga you'd just like to talk about?

:robot:

Hm... Full Metal Panic! has always been one of my favorite animes. It had comedy, action, drama, love, and robots all rolled into one perfect series. The characters were great, the plot was great, and the story was done really well. It wasn't at all what I expected when I rented it and I think I was actually glad that it wasn't. It comes across as a big robot battle show, but it is so much more. The Japanese voice cast is brilliant and the English cast is actually on the same level. Monica Rial, Luci Christian, Chris Patton, and several other ADV voice actors are in it. They are very entertaining. Oh... that reminds me of another really good dubbed series; Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. I've always loved that series. It is hilarious. Luci Christian and Tiffany Grant play the main characters and they have commentary on a few of the discs. Their commentary is almost as good as the series itself. The series parodies a lot of anime stereotypes and it's great for watching with other people. My dad and I rewatched the episodes at least three times just so we could try to pick out what other animes they were making fun of. There's a special feature on the discs that works like that VH1 show "Pop-up Video". It has a lot of great little Japanese and anime culture tidbits.

::Lillie::

Rurouni Kenshin was my favourite anime/manga for quite some time. It's about a wandering ex-assassin who helped bring the Meiji government to power in Japan. There's a lot of fighting and action, a cast of memorable characters, and most of all, the storyline is intriguing. After the second story arc in the anime, the anime gets really weird because it caught up to the manga at the time and I wouldn't recommend watching it from then onwards. Read the manga instead, because the story only gets better from then on (within the manga.)

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I’d like to once again thank robot and Lillie for their time in answering these questions and congratulate them on their recent promotion to Global Moderators! It is most deserved and we’re all very happy for the both of you.

Once again if you’d like to be interviewed for this article, please PM me and I will send you a set of questions to answer.

‘Til next time - nessa