What anime are you currently watching?

[KitsuAccalia]

[Kimiko]

Still waiting on the final ep. of Macross Frontier. Watching the second season of Higurashi now, and just started Pani Poi Dash!.

[Maxine MagicFox]

[noodles]

Hidamari Sketch

best thing ever

[Kimiko]

I ♥ Hidamari Sketch. Still waiting for the subbing of Hidamari Sketch × 365 to complete.

[heprea]

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Archaic Sage]

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Archaic Sage]

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Kimiko]

Whoo, long update. Let's start with the Macross franchise:

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Whoa, it looks so '70s. Or is it early '80s? Ancient in any case. Low-quality animation, outdated hairstyles, damsels-in-distress who get saved by heroic oafs, and overly dramatic storylines. I bet the makers of SDF Macross thought Buck Rogers and Star Trek looked pretty cool. I don't know if I'll really watch all of this. It's so bad that it's funny at times, but I doubt that'll last 36 eps. Maybe there's a condensed version somewhere?

The echo effect whenever someone is speaking in a large space is annoying. The science in general is rather flawed. Aside from sound in space and wings in space, there's also TV broadcasting in a metal ship that can be received outside it. The social attitudes shown are disgustingly primitive. In short, only watch this as an introduction to the Macross franchise or for hysterical raisins, but don't expect it to be anything good.

Macross Plus: Oh goody, another anime starring obnoxious assholes with way too much testosterone. And the women act like they are actually interested in them. Blech.
Well, at least the music by Yoko Kanno is decent. The animation is good too, although the art itself is a little off at times (faces and hands especially).

Macross 7 starts off as a generic 80s pop band story, then morphs into a super sentai series about half way. Near the end it becomes a little weird, but overall it's a decent series. It is very long though (49 eps.), so expect bits of boredom here and there. Most, if not all, episodes do progress the story though, so the boring bits are mainly the battles, and in the beginning the concerts. The music is mostly meh pop, but a few songs are better, and you'll come to like them anyway since they're repeated over and over. The main character Mylene Jenius starts out tsundere, but becomes more likeable over time. Nekki Basara starts out as rude and inconsiderate and doesn't change at all. He's probably supposed to come across as cool and visionary, but I wish he'd died in the first episode (without being revived).
All in all I wouldn't say it's a top anime, but it's not totally bad either.

SDF Macross: Do You Remember Love? distorts the original SDF Macross story rather a lot and is definitely not as deep. It is however the source of some things referred to in later Macross anime. An interesting watch for the Macross trivia fans, but not a real substitute for the SDF series.

Macross Zero: Gorgeous art and animation. The music isn't especially great, but visually this is a masterpiece. The story is set before SDF Macross, but since Zero is from 2002 it isn't referenced until Macross Frontier. There are definitely a lot of references, so be sure to watch Zero first. Even if you don't care for the whole Macross franchise, this one shouldn't be missed for its visuals.

Macross Frontier: Overall, a very good anime. Great 3D CG of course, as expected, nice art too, although there were some places where it sagged. The story is mostly good as well, but could have done with better pacing in my opinion. Sometimes it goes nice and slow to give depth to the characters, but very often it zooms by so fast that you have to watch scenes several times to get all the info. That does increase the tension of course, but I think the series could easily have been 40 eps. long without becoming boring. For the Macross fans there are tons of little references to earlier parts of the franchise. The ending was okay, but didn't answer all my questions.
Definitely worth watching.

And because it is kinda confusing for newcomers to Macross, here's the order to watch them:
Macross Zero - A prequel OVA; awesome CG and art
Super Dimension Fortress Macross - The original series; rather dated art, animation, and social attitudes, since it was made early 80s
SDF Macross: Do You Remember Love? - An alternative (and distorted) version of the original series in movie form; optional, but later series contain some references to it
Macross Plus - An OVA set after the first series, but before the others; optional, but very good CG and music
Macross 7 - Continues the story; 90s animation and art, so better than the first series
Macross Frontier - The latest series; awesome CG and art, very good music; just finished airing/subbing

Of course Macross wasn't all I've been watching lately:

Dennou Coil: Charming and cool. It's nice to see kids being kids for a change, even with some more serious subjects thrown in. There is rather a lot of exposition going on at all times. I suppose it can't be helped given the setting, and it's mixed into the story nicely, but still, it's a lot of exposition. The art style is very distinctive, but the colors could have been a little more lively instead of 'next-gen' shades of grey and beige. Those are minor complaints though. This anime is definitely worth watching.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (aka When They Cry): Nice structure (repeating similar events in the same setting, but with different viewpoints and victims), nice combination of mystery and thriller/horror too. Reminds me a little of those British and Swedish police/psychological murder mysteries actually. From seeing some screenshots and fan-made pics, I was expecting to find blood dripping from my monitor, but I wasn't quite expecting it to be this gruesome. Not only are there numerous bloody murders, but also torture and abuse (both physical and verbal/psychological). A little jarring is how the story switches from cute to gruesome and back again. Or maybe the violence hits you harder because you come to care about the sweet characters. This series is well-made, but a little past the top for me. Recommended for adult anime fans who can stand it, but definitely not for kids.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai continues where Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni left off and finishes the story. It's a little lighter than the first season, more cuteness and less blood and paranoia. Instead it focuses more on the characters figuring out what is going on and escaping the murders. There is still quite a bit of violence and abuse though, so not for kids or others who can't stand it.

And I decided to shorten my to-watch list a little by mixing in some OVAs and movies:

Re: Cutie Honey: Fanservice gone wild = ecchi. Any excuse will do to strip the heroine (and many other women) of her clothes. The story is as flimsy as a random episode of Powerpuff Girls: villain wrecks city, heroine fights villain. The art shows a large American influence. Why did I watch crap like this? Because it was said to have some shoujo-ai in it. Isn't it sad that we have to stoop this low to find characters that remotely resemble lesbians? *sigh* At least the heroines do love eachother, even if they don't exactly say it.

Battle Athletes: Bleh, sports. I watched this short series because it was said to have some shoujo-ai. It does, but in the end it's once again not explicitly stated as lesbian love, but only as 'best friends'. Otherwise this anime isn't worth watching really, unless you like sports-themed anime. The backstory/science is crap anyway.

Project A-Ko: Yet another anime that was reported to have some shoujo-ai. It's there, sort of, but the characters are so lacking in depth that I never actually cared for them. Shiko is an annoying (I wanted her to die from the first five minutes) crybaby who is protected by her friend Eiko. For no apparent reason, Eiko has superhuman strength. There's also Biiko, who for no apparent reason wants to defeat Eiko and steal Shiko away from her. Yep, that's the plot. Oh, there are also aliens who kidnap Shiko, again for no apparent reason. The art style is Ranma ½ meets SDF Macross, the music is 80s synth-pop. All in all I'd say this isn't really worth watching. I didn't bother with the three sequels, the last two of which apparently turn the girls straight anyway.

I'm now watching Pani Poni Dash! and have Please Save My Earth, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Blood+ lined up next.

[Maxine MagicFox]

So, I stopped the one download since they were too slow and went with gg Fansubs since they had the most peers. <_< Dear fucking GOD, they were AWEFUL!!! What the hell is it with n00b fansubbers and their desire to put in crappy side notes. *rolls eyes* Their translations were only about 85% accurate as well and that's just based off of my minimal knowledge. Definitely am looking for another fansub group if at all possible.

however, as for the anime.

:3 YOU'RE GONNA ENJOY, ARCHAIC!!

XD It was GREAT! I think this one is definitely going to prove to be a keeper if they keep the same pace that they started with the first episode, but then, first eps are usually always kick ass and the disappointments come later. Still, the story was a little TOO cliche/beyond reason in some areas, but, meh, we'll see how it goes. :3 Aisaka with bed head = totally adorable!! ... And Takasu wasn't too bad to look at, either. :3

[Kimiko]

gg are speed subbers. They try to be the first to have subs of current anime. They're useful that way, but if you want quality subs you're better off waiting a few weeks.

[Maxine MagicFox]