Board 8 > Save My Favourite Anime Series 6: Round 98[SMFAS][RULE CHANGE]

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've watched the first episode of Madoka a couple times, but never past that. Maybe I'll try again.
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GenesisSaga posted...

I lied, I do have but one regret

And that is @theiceisnice not making this round

Boo hoo

Well crap, I have a pretty spotty voting record on weekends
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voltch posted...

Aizen started off really hot.
Great way to introduce his villainous actions, didn't really let you breath or process the big reveal because within a few mins the entire game had changed on us.

Though after a while I kinda got sick of him and all the memes came true. He just stuck around too long and he went past his sell by date.
I like my great villains to have either a final definitive end like Shishio or a face turn that fits well enough with where the fights are going, like Piccolo.

I was really hyped for Chairzen during the Quincy arc, but it ended up going pretty much nowhere. I think if they ended the series on Aizens defeat in the Arrancar arc it would have had a stronger impact. Maybe just add a few chapters after that to tie up stuff and bam! Perfect.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDgYW1hLYfQ" data-time="

Welcome to my Soul Society

I still get hyped for Aizen. I thought he was some of the best part of The Thousand-Year Blood War arc.

Now theres a new voice for Yamamoto, who sounds a lot like his old one.
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voltch posted...

Madoka however does have an elite tier ending song.

actually the first ending theme might be my favorite thing about Monster
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The first ending theme is truly a great one. The second ending theme...I remember hating it so much, among the worst of all time for me.

Monster making the finals, damn. I hope it can win. I love Death Note too, those two are inextricably linked in my summer memories, Monster in 2006 and Death Note in 2007... I don't even remember why I started watching it, surely Mumei hyping it up wouldn't have been enough for me? And yet I did and the rest is history. Can't believe it's not available anywhere for people to watch it, I gotta get it out there and spread the word, somewhere, somehow...

I did some googling just now and I had completely forgotten that Guillermo Del Toro had the rights and was planning to do a live-action adaptation but HBO passed on it, damn. Could've been so good! That's someone I would trust to do a decent adaptation.

In what I'm sure is a bad case of "judging a book by its cover", at the top 20 I googled to see what Madoka was and saw chibi girls in frilly outfits, so I instantly thought, hard pass. Just another, to quote voltch, "cute girls doing cute things" anime in the contest. But then wikipedia has it classified as "dark fantasy" and "psychological thriller"? What deceptive appearances, just like Girls' Last Tour...

Maybe I'll still give it a watch when all is said and done, but at least based on everything I've seen, Monster is without compare in terms of:
-The characters
-The story
-The atmosphere
-The writing
-The villains!!

Serious drama that legitimately goes toe-to-toe with any of the best Emmy-winning television shows from its time era (which in the mid 2000s, I guess were The Sopranos and The West Wing?), I remember saying recently that I tried recommending it to a few non-anime watchers at that time just because it was legitimately gripping television. Nobody wants to read subs though.

But that was a long time ago, maybe I'll try getting more people on the Monster bandwagon, continue what Mumei started all those years ago...

MartinFF7 posted...

(which in the mid 2000s, I guess were The Sopranos and The West Wing?)

The Wire. come on now, dude.
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I mean, I did say "Emmy-winning"...

(is it too soon for that joke)

but yeah, you're right!

though i guess one could argue Monster is on par with any show except The Wire
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Monster's most famous character is either Johan or Dr Tenma, but man does the rest of the cast like Anna, Lunge, Roberto etc create a solid backbone.

The show is dark, but it never feels overly reliant on shock value the way an Udel Blatt or Akame Ga Kill does.

It's noir, but the style reminded me more of Fincher's works than your 1940s/50s Film Noirs. With Monster the framework, inspiration and all that clearly draws more from film.

Madoka meanwhile goes for dark within the anime scope. I kinda feel that Madoka works better if you have some frame of reference with Magical Girl shows, but with Monster the narrative is strong enough that you don't need to know what Urasawa might be referencing.
Even though I don't particularly like it, I get why people would enjoy Madoka and I'm not gonna tell them they're wrong to like it.
You get a hell of a shaft looking show that's short, builds up to a singular moment and delivers on its climax.

This is the darkest finals we've ever had, though I suppose you can argue that as far as the contestants go, From the New World might be a darker show.

Finals up in a bit
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Monster has maybe the strongest opening hook in anime/manga too.
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The other side characters in Monster are great, too. I know some people had an issue with it, but I loved when Urasawa would suddenly shift focus and introduce a new character seemingly totally unrelated to the main plot and then slowly weave them in to the larger narrative.
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