=============================== Anime. Watching. At my house. =============================== :CreationDate: 2011-04-11 20:38:36 :Id: anime/london :tags: - anime I have several weeks' worth of anime that I want to watch. But watching it alone is no fun. So I call on my Twitter followers, the readers of my website, and their trusted friends: let's meet at my house, and watch some. Details: * I'm in London W13, DM_ or `e-mail`_ for the actual address * a Saturday, most of the day: get there before noon, go home when you want * lunch included, especially if you bring some * feel free to bring your own anime (DVD, or USB-connectible storage) We usually meet on the third (or sometimes first) Saturday of each month. Next meeting ============ April 21st. The mailing list ================ If you want to receive e-mail about upcoming meetings, `write me`_ and I'll add you to the mailing list. What we watched =============== April 2nd --------- * `Freedom `_ May 7th ------- * `Fractale `_ up to episode 5 * `Puni Puni Poemi `_ * `Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt `_ episode 6 June 5th -------- * `Fractale `_ from episode 6 to the end * `Oruchuban Ebichu `_ episodes 1-2 * `Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt `_ episodes 7-8 July 2nd -------- * `Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica `_, up to episode 3 * `Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei `_, first episode * `Meitantei Holmes `_, first episode * `Robot Carnival `_ August 20th ----------- We were only two, so we watched some random stuff that nobody would miss. * `K-On! `_, first 2 episodes Four high-school girls forming a band. More or less. Klutzy main character, plenty of moe. These first episodes are mostly showing the setting and the characters. * `Super Gals `_, first 2 episodes Gals in Shibuya. Funny with slightly jarring serious moments. I seem to remember the manga mixing them better. * `Charming Figures of the Magical Girl Trio `_ (OVA) 20 minutes total, of which about 5 are actual new animation, and the rest are collages from three mahou shoujo series. If you have never seen `Creamy Mami `_, `Persia `_, and `Magical Emi `_, this will make no sense at all. If you have seen them, it will just be a bit boring :) * `Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt `_ episodes 9-10 This one keeps getting more and more surreal. September 17th -------------- * `Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica `_, up to episode 5 The main character is still not a Magical Girl, people keep getting hurt, and I trust Kyuubee less and less. * `Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei `_, up to episode 3 Against all odds, Itoshiki & Fuura manage to do some good deeds. People still behave in incomprehensible ways. * `Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt `_ episodes 11-13 Episodes 11 and 12 are the usual randomness. Episode 13 would be a story-arc-end, if there had been any arc to begin with. Half of the premises are implied, and a seconds season in promised. October 15th ------------ * `Space Battleship Yamato `_ This is a live-action movie, not an animation. It tells more-or-less the same story as the first season of `the anime series of the same name `_. The acting is rather average and the pacing is horribly slow. The visuals are quite well done, though, and the aliens look alien enough. * `Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica `_, up to episode 8 I'm not going to put plot spoilers here, but I have to say that we guessed some of the big twists an episode or two in advance, mostly by assuming that Kyuubee is way more evil than we thought he could be. Right on the money… * `Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu `_ episode 1 10 years old slapstick-comedy series, I had forgotten the sheer craziness of it. November 13th ------------- * `Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica `_, to the end Oh my. They won. Kyuubee was even more of a bastard that we could have imagined. And Homura's backstory is a very good one. Just watch this series! * `Gamera: Guardian of the Universe `_ Yes, really. Not anime, not even old enough (it's from 1995!) to excuse the ugly props and the confusing story line. Also, the music was quite horrible and out of place, I hope it's just the edition we had. Quite the waste of time. December 17th ------------- * `Eve no Jikan `_ Very nice mini-series, from the same author as Pale Cocoon (see below), on the possible social consequences of the introduction of Asimov-style humanoid robots. The episodes of this series were watched thanks to `crunchyroll `_, an ad-supported streaming service for recent anime titles, with English subtitles. * `Detroit Metal City `_, episodes 1 to 4. Shy, melodic-songs loving boy becomes the frontman for a death metal band. Bad things happen. Hilarity ensues. * `Pale Cocoon `_ Short OVA, about the reconstruction of history through restoration of ancient archives. A few centuries in the future. Not a totally original premise, but an interesting take on it. January 21st ------------ * `Detroit Metal City `_, episodes from 5 to the end. More bad things, more hilarity. Worthy of been watched. Once. * `Eve no Jikan Gekijouban `_ Summary of the series, with some added details, and an almost-explanation of some unclear points, *during the ending credits*. * `Meitantei Holmes `_, episode 10 Yes, a random episode. And we chanced upon the one from which most of the scenes in the opening titles are taken. February 12th (Sunday) ---------------------- Just two people, we watched a few music videos that were mostly forgettable. Nothing interesting happened. March 3rd --------- * `Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Jo `_ and `Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Ha `_ We watched the first two movies of the new Evangelion. The story matches quite closely the anime series from 1996, especially at the beginning. Some events are changed significantly, but the "feeling" is the same. We'll have to wait almost two years before we'll get the final (fourth!) movie… March 31st ---------- * `Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho `_ Movie written and directed by `Makoto Shinkai `_. Alternate history SF, with dreams and quantum mumbo-jumbo. As in other works of his, the main focus in on the characters' growth and interactions. Slow and short on explanations, but worth the time. * `Kachou Ouji: Hard Rock Save the Space `_ first episode A salaryman with an exceedingly sad life get accosted by strange women who want him to perform the songs he was famous for when he was a rock star. There might be aliens involved. .. _DM: http://twitter.com/dakkar .. _`e-mail`: dakkar@thenautilus.net .. _`write me`: mailto:dakkar@thenautilus.net?subject=Please+add+me+to+the+Anime+London+mailing+list