not my cartoons! *whimper*

[xparrot]

Shounen Jump just announced that the Gintama anime is ending - not going on hiatus again but actually ending. Now, this could be trolling the fans (wouldn't be the first time) but the wording is...awfully final. And the show did get in trouble a few times this year for pushing the envelope of offensiveness that much further...

...But why now? Right before it got to the Kintoki arc that I desperately wanted to see - and it's not going to adapt the current manga arc either (which I had been avoiding since I prefer to watch anime unspoiled, but had to check it out and oh my god it's got Joui flashbacks and backstory with Shouyou-sensei - that is to say, it's in the full-out shounen action mood that it does so very well, and the anime does even better...) The thing is, if the One Piece anime was canceled, I'd be unhappy, and I'd miss the seiyuu dreadfully - but we'd still have the manga, and the anime has never reached the original's quality, in art or pacing or anything else. But Gintama is one of the only series where I outright prefer the anime to the manga - it's such a loyal adaption, but the jokes are funnier animated and the art is far prettier (Sorachi's art has improved somewhat over time, but writing is still where his talents lie). Not to mention Gintoki without Sugita's voice is like...chocolate without peanutbutter! Fries without ketchup! Metaphors without food! (hmm, maybe I should go get lunch...) (Plus, it's really hard to find raws of the manga, and I can barely understand them as it is. The official manga translation was discontinued, and while there is a group scanlating it, the level of translation is about at my own - no offense to the translators; the series is a nightmare, but comparing to the raws I've found multiple lines that even I know are wrong, elementary Japanese mistakes like mistaking an emphatic 'ja nai' for a negative. The fansubs for Gintama aren't fantastic but better than the scanlators, so without the anime I'm going to be lost...)

There is always the hope of movies, of course, or endless OAVs like Hunter x Hunter. And yeah, until I know for sure otherwise I'm still going to keep a little hope we're being trolled. But all the same...sigh.

Also my silly cartoon Generator Rex has apparently ended; haven't watched the last eps yet, but I don't see how they could tie up the whole arc in the few they have left. Plus it means we'll never get the Rex-goes-to-Ben-10's verse x-over I craved, with Rex flirting with Gwen and Kevin flipping out and Ben & Rex making out... ;_;

In better animation news, am about halfway through Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and loving it! Such an incredibly creative and unique story, and it's so much more satisfying than the first anime; the plot actually hangs together and is going somewhere. Plus Roy Mustang is 100x more badass, gaaaah Roy. (Also there is a particular character of whom I hadn't realized how fond I'd become, until suddenly that character wasn't that character anymore and I realized how very upsetting I found it. I do so enjoy it when a series can do that to me, sneak up and make me fall in love before I even realize it's happening (though man I am hoping said char is restored somehow, and being FMA I have no guarantee...!))

Comments

[velkynkarma.livejournal.com]

Oh the irony! I preferred the first anime series for FMA. I tried to watch Brotherhood a few times and just...did not like how they handled adapting the manga. I couldn't finish Brotherhood as a result. It felt like they couldn't decide if they wanted to fast-forward things for old fans or carefully establish things for new fans, so they tried to do both simultaneously and crashed and burned on both. :( The manga is fantastic, and I liked that the first anime was able to still make a pretty concise story with only like, 7 volumes worth of manga material to work with at the time.

(But I agree, Roooooy....and he gets to do SO much more in the manga storyline than in the original anime, so obviously he does more in Brotherhood lol).

~VelkynKarma

[sholio]

Well, one problem with Brotherhood - and I should note that I'm only basing this on hearsay, since most of what I've seen was later eps - is that they made a creative decision to rush through the early parts that were already adapted more-or-less faithfully in the original anime, then to slow down once they hit the "new" parts. So the first, oh, 10-15 eps are really rushed, and then the series starts to really hit its stride once it gets into the new stuff. At least that's my understanding; like I said, it's mostly later eps I've seen, since I watched the eps for my favorite parts of the manga but not the whole thing. ^^

[velkynkarma.livejournal.com]

Based on this description I might have to go back and give Brotherhood a second chance. Maybe just...bull-rush through the first episodes and get to the new stuff.

I was put off when it was first airing because the first eps felt rushed and repetitive at the same time, and I don't think they handled that re-adaptation well...but, if the newer stuff that didn't make it into the original anime is handled better, then maybe I'll try it again some time.

~VelkynKarma

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

See, I loved the beginning of the FMA anime (and the manga that was out at the time it first aired) but then got so frustrated with how the plot fell apart in the later stuff that I lost interest in following the manga. Then when I started hearing how good it was, I was going to, but then heard Brotherhood was happening, and I tend to prefer watching anime first if I'm going to watch at all (I tend to be more disappointed/bored by manga->anime adaptions than vice versa.) So I decided to wait.

--That being said, I found the beginning of Brotherhood a bit rushed, but was intrigued by how they adapted the same things in different ways, and once it hits its stride (somewhere around ep 15, as Sholio said) I'm liking it better than the original anime. But I haven't read the manga yet, so can't say how it compares to that.

[velkynkarma.livejournal.com]

Based on what you and Sholio said, I think I'll have to give Brotherhood another shot...I originally tried watching it when it was first airing via subs, and just...couldn't stand the way it started. It felt redundant and rushed at the same time. But, if it starts to smooth out right around the time the manga started to diverge from the original anime, maybe the latter half will be more worthwhile?

I'm told that Brotherhood is fairly faithful to the manga in the later stages, but obviously I don't know if that's true or not myself.

What I always loved about the first anime was the fact that the manga's creator knew she wasn't going to be done with her series for a long time, and told the anime studio to write a different ending based on the facts that had already been released in the manga. She did share some things with them (several of the characters' endings are disturbingly similar, for example in regards to Roy), but for the most part the anime studio was writing blind. That said, the story they come up with was surprisingly coherent and had a lot of very interesting alternative interpretations to the original. As a fanfic writer that plays with tie-ins myself all the time, I found this very intriguing.

~VelkynKarma

[sholio]

Awww, that sucks! :( Shows being cancelled -- that's never good!

But isn't Brotherhood awesome? :D I started reading the manga with a sort of "meh" attitude because I'd watched and loved the first anime, so I felt like I'd already seen the whole story. But then I completely fell in LOVE with the awesome of all the Brotherhood-only characters (Olivier! Ling! Miles! EVERYBODY!), as well as all the really fantastic scenes, especially the Roy and Riza stuff, that only happens in the manga/Brotherhood. ♥ ♥ ♥

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Well, with Gintama at least there's still the manga! And hope for OAVs. But still, sigh!

And yes, Brotherhood! Wasn't sure how I felt about it at first (I had the opposite problem; I was so disappointed by how the first anime went that my initial love turned to disinterest, but then everyone said the manga lived up to its promise, so...) but right around the point it diverges from the first anime it hits its stride. I don't think I've met Olivier or Miles yet (not well enough to recognize their names, at least?), but Ling!! <3333 He and Roy are vying for favorite character status (I do tend to pick my favorites by max badassness, but there's so much of that to go around in FMA! ^_^)

[sholio]

Crud! *claps hand over mouth* I didn't realize it was that far along in the series before they were introduced. NEVER MIND ME.

But Ling, yeah. :D I thought he might be the one you were talking about! I absolutely love most of the characters; she's really got a great mix of them, a huge variety of different personality types, but all very vivid and fun to watch.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

No worries, I don't mind spoilers as basic as names (and if Olivier is related to Armstrong I think I've heard of her anyway, somewhere?)

Yeeeeah, I was liking Ling, but I didn't realize how much until he *SPOILER*ed the *SPOILER* and now is *SPOILER* and I was all OH NOOOOOOES!!! D:D:D: (and I have no idea how that works out and don't want to know! but am crossing my fingers so hard anyway~!)

But yes, so many fantastic chars! I want to see more of Izumi! And Roy and all his men (Riza~! <3) and Hughes *sniffle* and of course I still love Ed & Al (I will always be weak to siblings, and Ed works to me somewhat like Zuko - if he were an adult I'd find him hopeless, but he's just a kid, dealing with all this awful stuff, he's totally justified in falling apart now and again...!) And I am loving the way the world is developing, Amestris's strange steampunkish military culture and Xing and the politics of Ishvar...it's very original fantasy (and to get that coolness along with all the great chars - it reminds me of Avatar and OP, very much a have your cake and eat it too show ^_^)

[sholio]

When I originally watched the anime, I was really into Ed, Al and Winry - and Roy, of course, fangirl bait that he is ^^ - but with my renewed fascination with Brotherhood and the manga, my primary fangirl fixation is the military characters, especially Roy's team. Not that I don't still like Ed et al, but I adore the team dynamic in Roy's group, and there's something really appealing to me about the way that they're still brave and badass even while completely lacking powers. (I'm generally a sucker for Badass Normal characters in a superpowered world ...)

And yeah, the world-building is great! Western animation/books/comics are really lacking in original, fully-realized fantasy worlds that are more original and complex than just "medieval Europe + dragons" (if you even get that much). The FMA world is really original and fun, and I love that!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Well, I wouldn't say entirely lacking - Avatar was a Western animation, after all, whatever sources it was drawing on! (it's amusing because in some ways Avatar is almost a reverse FMA, Westerners writing an Asian-inspired fantasy world, while FMA is an Asian author writing a European-inspired fantasy world!) But yeah, it's very original and very cool!

I'm finding a similar thing, that my interest in Roy-tachi is greater than my interest in Ed & Al (or even at least!) - last time I liked Roy, but not like I do in Brotherhood. Some of that I suspect is because in the past few years I increasingly tend to prefer older chars to teenagers (I am finding that while I still like kid's stories with kid/teen protagonists, the chars that interest me most are the adults dealing with those protagonists...)

[sholio]

Oh, yeah, I didn't mean to imply ENTIRELY lacking, and A:tLA is one of the great counter-examples! It's unusual to find authors/writers/creators who really step out of the genre conventions and build an interesting, different sort of world from scratch, though. (Actually, come to think of it, I think that was one thing I didn't properly appreciate about '80s cartoons when I was a kid. *g* They might not have put a lot of effort into the details, but there were tons of interesting, original secondary worlds ... most of them based on toys, but they were still there!)

Some of that I suspect is because in the past few years I increasingly tend to prefer older chars to teenagers (I am finding that while I still like kid's stories with kid/teen protagonists, the chars that interest me most are the adults dealing with those protagonists...)

*nods* That's true of me, too. I think it's always been true of me to some extent, but it's become a lot more pronounced the last few years.

[gure.livejournal.com]

I am having the same feelings you are regarding the Gintama anime ending. I've always preferred watching the anime to reading the manga because the voice cast is so awesome-- they make the characters come to life, and the jokes are 100 times funnier animated. I'll also miss Sugita's Gintoki soooo much, because really, Sugita IS Gintoki. Without him voicing Gintoki anymore, it would be like Mac 'n Cheese without the Cheese. And the quality of the anime compared to other animated series is so much better with Sunrise at the helm. I am still partly in denial right now and hoping that this is all just giant giant trolling on their part, but ughh...what to think. I just want Monday to come so I can get some kind of closure.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yessssssss to all of this. I'm holding out a wee little bit of hope for a trolling...but more hope that they will just switch to doing OAVs. Some series have had whole seasons of OAV eps, so maybe... Because yes, losing Sugita's Gintoki will be such a blow...especially the most recent stuff in the manga, OH GOD WANT IT. (the tragic thing is if they had to do OAVs and decided to only adapt the dramatic arcs...I really wouldn't mind all that much. Worst Gintama fan evah! XPXPXPXP)

[gure.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking all this would be settled if they can just show an episode once a month, lol. But of course, they'd have the problem of people not remembering the previous episode and having to include a flashback that would interfere with the episode. That, and the level of impact won't be the same.

Or another more effective way is to just cut the anime season to a quarter-system rather than a year system, where the series is only shown during one season, for example, during the summer only. So one Gintama season would be, let's say, 13 (or 26) episodes rather than the 50-some episodes they do now. That would give more time for the manga to expand ahead AND give them plenty of material to cover in the future without having to worry about catching up too quickly. Truthfully, I don't think they can really continue with the one-year hiatus system. Just look how quickly the anime caught up in just one year!

But yeah, haha, you can see how desperate I am about them keeping the show. OVAs could work, but to be honest, I haven't seen many series go on too long with OVA style format. I can't even name any on the top of my head.

To be honest, a lot of the times, I enjoy the funny parts of Gintama more than the dramatic parts, which is why I'm so insistent that they cover everything in the anime. But ugh, at this point, I'll take whatever they can give us. Just don't kill the anime! Anything but termination is fine!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Well, Hunter x Hunter had 30 OAV episodes...and then they restarted the show from scratch with a whole new cast (guess they figured it worked for FMA...?) And it is another WSJ series...but yeah, it's pretty unusual. I wouldn't mind half-seasons or quarter-seasons either...just as long as it's not gone off the air for good! Please! I need my Gintama fix! ;___;

[gruskek.livejournal.com]

I also say they can chose whatever format they want... just don't end it yet T____T

FMA is one manga that I need to finish. It was published in Poland and translated well, so I don't feel like reading scanlations. I need to put some money aside, tough. I have only the first 6 volumes and read three more years ago through scans (when it hadn't been announced we were getting an edition).

The first anime also aired here but I watched only bits because I didn't like the changes. I'm kind of protective of the manga in this case.

Nice to hear Roy gets a lot of screentime in Brotherhood. He was always my favourite.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Gintama must continue! The silver soul burns enternallyyyyyy~!

I haven't read the manga past the first few volumes, but my understanding is that the Brotherhood anime follows it quite closely - certainly it's extremely different from the first series. I would definitely recommend it!

[gure.livejournal.com]

https://twitter.com/#!/eli_ossan2

See Eli ossan's twitter posts! Everything reeks of a troll troll troll troll troll!

eli_ossan2 (Takamatsu Shinji) posts this comment: "終り？ バカ言ってんじゃねぇよ。 まだ始まってもいねえよ。"

"The end? Don't be a f*cking idiot! We haven't even started yet!"

The same exact words he said when the Gintama anime was going on hiatus. :)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

*fingers so very crossed~~~~!!!*

[nenya85.livejournal.com]

I love FMA Brotherhood. I never got into the first anime because it started veering so far from the manga. I later found out that was by design – to create a separate story with the same beginning – but for some reason following two different stories about the same characters just didn’t appeal and I preferred the manga. So I was excited when Brotherhood came out. I got the set for Christmas and me and family have been slowly getting through it. It’s a bit slow because me, son and daughter have a pact we’ll only watch it when we can all watch it together. We’re midway through the 4th season.

And yes, the whole thing hangs together. I remember reading the end of the manga and as I started each episode part of me would be saying, “Don’t fall apart now…. don’t fall apart now…” and I’d get through each new episode with this kind of surprised relief. That’s not to say I don’t have quibbles, but it was really an amazing accomplishment to create such a long, intricate story and pull it off.

Total Roy fangirl here – and yeah the Brotherhood anime really… well… illustrates his character. Like the manga gives you the impression that Roy’s ability is among the most terrifying, but the anime shows you why – and seeing it in color in action carries quite a punch. You can also see a lot more clearly why he’s haunted – I can’t quite explain it, but it’s the difference between knowing something and feeling it, because the anime is just more intense there.

I’m curious though… if you don’t mind saying, which character were you wondering if they’d be restored in Brotherhood?

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

Butting in to say that I agree! Seeing Roy go absolutely psycho on some of the baddies, just, yeesh. 8D D8

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I didn't know the manga particularly when I watched the first anime, and still got disappointed when it departed from it; the plot seemed to fall apart for me at that point, lost the threads that interested me most and eventually stopped making sense entirely. I don't remember it clearly (I was watching when it originally aired, a while ago now! going on 10 years, I think?) but yeah, not impressed. Brotherhood, though, is really working for me. We just got the reveal of what the homunculi and not-Hoenheim are actually trying to do with the country, and yeah, wow (and THAT's why the country is a circle! It was bugging me, how weird it looked on the map...but now it makes horrible sense!)

(If you appreciate long, involved, complex storytelling, I would suggest One Piece - which you've probably heard me rave about before, but just in case you've missed it, yeah...what initially seems to be a ridiculous pirate story slowly unfolds to truly epic proportions...)

I liked Roy in the original series (he's way too much my type for me not to) but he is so much more in this one, am moving to true character love. And my other favorite is the one I was talking about, Ling - who is currently Greed, but I am hoping that doesn't take! It surprised me how upset I was, to see him not being himself anymore, made me realize how much I'd come to like him - I love it when a story can sneak up and steal my heart like that! (Haven't seen Ling for a bit now but I'm hoping eventually that will come to something - please don't spoil me whether or not it does, right now enjoying the hope & speculation! ^^)

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad! I loves a lot of things about the first FMA anime - the animation quality, the music, the storytelling pace - but Brotherhood follows the manga, and as such, just ends up with a better plot and character development. (/biased)

I adore the strength it gives Ed/Roy/Riza and the new characters (GENERAL ARMSTRONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG) and also the way it wraps up the story, because clearly Arakawa had been planning it for a long damn time.

I remember when one of the last chapters came out, my main reaction being "Kishi (who writes Naruto), you WISH you could plot like this." XD

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the plotting is a lot more intricate and solid than your average shounen series! (The only one I can think of that compares is One Piece, which is a high compliment indeed!) I'm really appreciating how well it is keeping together, and building both the world and the characters - very nicely done, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it's going, as pretty much everyone I know was thoroughly satisfied with the end. Just about every episode of Brotherhood has made me more appreciative of the storytelling; I'm really glad they did decide to redo it (...and also that they kept Ed & Al's seiyuu; I prefer Miki's Roy to who they had before, but I don't know if I ever could have adapted to an Ed who wasn't Paku Romi...)

[topaz-kat.livejournal.com]

I loved Brotherhood in comparison to the original anime, but there were still some things at the end of the series that I wasn't happy with. For me, there were components to the end that were less satisfying (however, still better than the original).

The show I've been watching recently has been Soul Eater (which is a mix of badass, cool characters (even some REALLY neat female characters-not easy), and someone else's acid trip ^_^

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Will have to see how I feel about the end of Brotherhood!

Soul Eater, eeee! I loved the first half of that one, and then got disappointed where it went. But still, oh so badass (and the manga is great fun and definitely worth checking out!) - and yes, the female characters are awesome (Maka!!! <3333333) though I admit my fangirl heart was thoroughly stolen by Stein (GIANT BOLT THROUGH HIS HEAD and all ;)