TRSI Bandai Sale Recommendations

[sedorna]

I'm surprised a Bandai recommendations thread isn't up yet, what with the Right Stuf sale. (Either that, or I completely missed it. If that's the case, please feel free to lock this.)

So, any recommendations on Bandai shows? I'm especially interested in Fantastic Children, Mars Daybreak, Spirit of Wonder, and My-Hime. I will admit, I am a bit wary about My-Hime. It looks interesting, but is the characterization good? Or is it just a "look at these cute, sexy girls saving the day" type of show?

So, what are my recommendations? Well, I enjoyed Vision of Escaflowne, Jubei-chan, Gundam 0080 (that's my favorite Gundam, in part because I'm not a huge mecha fan and, if I'm not mistaken, 0080 is least mecha-y Gundam. The others are still good, though.) Also, I liked Plantes, Scrapped Princess, and Tsukikage Ran.

[balthier2012]

I highly recommend Scrapped Princess for anyone who hasn't already checked it out.

[Vicserr]

of course for the Mecha inclined: it's Mobile Suit Gundam All the Way!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img]

[The Creation]

i myself ordered blue submarine 6, crest of the stars anime legend complete, outlaw star complete, and stratos 4 complete. i think you will also like gundam 08th ms team because of the characters.

you see i always go for the boxsets. so series like scrapped princess or planetes have been on my wishlist for a long time, but i will only get them when the boxsets are out

by the way, avoid Arjuna. it's piece of junk that i don't think i will ever touch again. the characters are unlikeable and i hate the life action scenes to death (can't believe it's the same guy who created escaflowne.) damn i want my time and money back...

[AbeChinchilla]

Witch Hunter Robin (hint: she sleeps in le nude!)

Outlaw Star just purely kicks major ass.

The Big O

Stay Away from:
Love Hina

[Puppet Master]

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AbeChinchilla said:

Stay Away from:
Love Hina

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I agree avoid Love Hina at all costs. Theres a lot better ways to spend your $.

[BluWacky]

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Sedorna said:
So, any recommendations on Bandai shows? I'm especially interested in Fantastic Children, Mars Daybreak, Spirit of Wonder, and My-Hime. I will admit, I am a bit wary about My-Hime. It looks interesting, but is the characterization good? Or is it just a "look at these cute, sexy girls saving the day" type of show?


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Fantastic Children- best show of 2004/5. Yes, better than My-Hime IMHO. It's a slow epic adventure with a rather old-school production (incredible background art but slightly simplistic (although generally well animated) character designs); its strengths are the labyrinthine plot and the characters. No-one's talking about it because very few people have seen it, but I recommend at least picking up the first disk.

Mars Daybreak - quite generic but good fun; it's a very ensemble-based show which is mostly just random pirate hijinks, but it's nicely done and occasionally excellent. The first disc doesn't really show the series off that well (aside from perhaps episode 4) so if you're not totally grabbed by then the second disc is worth a try too; the humour has a similar feel to Scrapped Princess (although it's nowhere near as dramatic).

My-Hime - it's very good, but massively over-hyped; the show is a big bundle of cheese and cliche with an absolutely top notch production behind it. The "cute, sexy girls" thing is quite inconsistently treated; the first episode seems to emphasise the fanservice and shounen cliches, and there's a couple of filler episodes which might make you roll your eyes, but for the most part the series is pretty fanservice-free. The characterisation is excellent, incidentally, and the plot has layers upon layers of intrigue (it's not as mysterious or fascinating as Fantastic Children by any means, but it's very well constructed). Definitely check out the start of the series.

Unfortunately, I've never seen Spirit of Wonder, so I can't tell you anything about that.

I would recommend Arjuna because I loved it, but it's one of those shows that tends to polarise viewers so I can't recommend it whole-heartedly; at its current price it's an absolute steal. Other Bandai shows I've really enjoyed would include Witch Hunter Robin and Wolf's Rain but I'm not sure if I'd recommend them based on the series you've mentioned.

[chloes_fork]

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The Creation said:
by the way, avoid Arjuna. it's piece of junk that i don't think i will ever touch again. the characters are unlikeable and i hate the life action scenes to death (can't believe it's the same guy who created escaflowne.) damn i want my time and money back...

[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, the ever-controversial Arjuna. Personally, I liked it a lot. The animation's beautiful, and the environmental message didn't bother me a bit. I mean, is there anybody actually opposed to saving the Earth?

Interestingly, though, it was the more mundane scenes and settings I liked best, rather than the big mystical-action setpieces. Some of the small moments and emotions were beautifully observed. I'd love to see the director tackle a straight romantic drama.

[something]

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Sedorna said:
I will admit, I am a bit wary about My-Hime. It looks interesting, but is the characterization good? Or is it just a "look at these cute, sexy girls saving the day" type of show?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hahahaha XD Your fears are comlpetely unfounded, don't worry. My~HiME is heavy on characterization, and does it damn well even with a huge cast. And it'll put in your in a great position to enjoy My~Otome all the more when it comes out =D

My~HiME is not fluff, not by a long shot. It has cute girls, but that means nothing. You want HiME.

Edit: and for what it's worth, I completely and utterly disagree with BluWacky's charactization of HiME as cheese and fluff, as totally as is humanly possible. But that's just me =P Opinion is split (of course), but definitely in favor of it being great at charactization and story, in my experience.

[sedorna]

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BluWacky said:
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Sedorna said:
Fantastic Children- best show of 2004/5. Yes, better than My-Hime IMHO. It's a slow epic adventure with a rather old-school production (incredible background art but slightly simplistic (although generally well animated) character designs); its strengths are the labyrinthine plot and the characters. No-one's talking about it because very few people have seen it, but I recommend at least picking up the first disk.

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Well, that's another show on my to-order list. So, is it worth getting the special edition with the CD, or is the soundtrack not worth it at all?