Nanoha Aces; The Verge Loves Anime

Today is the Japanese debut of the second Nanoha theatrical remake. Its meme-tastic “Friendship through overwhelming force” concept will now join its first iteration as  the namesake protagonist befriend even more fan favorites on the big screen.  I always thought seeing things in the theater provides another dimension home video screenings just tend to lack. At my own home, my meager, sub-2k home theater is sufficient but it does not replace the experience of a proper movie-going experience. I thought that was the ticket in terms of giving Nanoha’s theatrical remake a real reason for existing.

The first film, I think, adds little to the experience of the original series, at least when it comes to what it was good for. Plainly put, if you’ve seen the series before, it is just not worth watching unless it’s in theaters as it adds that extra little bit and can really alter your impression. But don’t take it from me, take it from someone who has seen it there.

In light of that, same can be said of seeing the Evangelion films in that way, despite that both of the home video transfers on Blu-ray achieve enough of a facsimile to the theatrical experience, enough that it really doesn’t warrant much of a note. With Evangelion Q on the queue this winter, hopefully Japanese theaters will replay the first two and give people another chance to experience those gorgeous and emotive Khara works.

It’s along those lines that makes me want to experience things like the K-ON movie or the to-be-released Mouretsu Pirates film, in theaters. It’s going to be a grand ol’ time! I can see some theaters do the Kara no Kyoukai marathon too, when Mirai Fukuin goes live…

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I took a look at the very long (and getting longer) promoted forum post on The Verge about anime recs. It’s really just people listing shows they like. I’ll keep this to a list.

• The OP: I’d say whoever asked for recs knew a thing or two, or at least knows people who know a thing or two about anime. That image came from somewhere? I don’t know how the Verge forum works.
• The comments: Basically it’s just people posting what their favorites are. It stopped being a recommendation thread when like, 50% of the titles mentioned were repeated by the OP. Com’on guys.
• The lowdown: Most titles are the usual couple dozen of early 00s bubble-era pieces. You know what they are; we all know what they are, at least if you spoke English.
• The old: Not a lot of older titles being recommended! I think it breaks pretty clearly into the late 90s, and that’s it.
• The new: A few 2006 or newer titles represented, but largely landmark crap (Redline gets a few nods, fewer than I’d expect actually) and things like the usual Post-Haruhi hits like Madoka or Gurren Lagann. Kyoani wagoneers move on chronologically: very few Lucky Stars (if any) but a lot of Hyouka, I guess that’s just what’s on their minds. Strangely enough Fate/Zero makes a strong showing, which is good on them. Steins;Gate too.
• The usual: Invariably a thread like that in a place like that you will get the usual archetypes posting stuff. Like the guy who says Gungrave is the best anime he’s ever seen, but he’s only probably see 5 titles ever. Or the guy who just lists a subset of the OP list and forgets to add “Cowboy Bebop.” Or the person who recommended Night Raid (whattt). And invariably people will be listing shows I forget about from the mid ’00s, like D.Grey-man, Abenobashi or Otogi Zoshi. Seriously? I guess what takes the cake is the one person recommending Ergo Proxy. I mean, it’s not bad I guess. It’s just so niche.
• Elfen Lied: is this why (some) people like anime? I think so. Like CLANNAD I guess. It’s gotten to the point where I think those moefags who are super wota are less disgusting than actual CLANNAD fans, those who don’t even know who are the (Japanese) voice actors of the show or what Kanon 2002 was. Maybe this is why people like Urobuchi? :-)
• My favorite thing about the post: the top image