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

[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! ^^)