I am a fairly picky anime watcher, I usually check ratings and reviews to see if it's worth my time if it is not a new series. If I see that it's in the excellent/masterpiece range under AnimeNewsNetwork, then I'll usually pick it up to see if it really is that good. Recently, I picked up D.Gray-man, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch, and Fullmetal Alchemist. I must say that I really enjoy all three of them.
D.Gray-man: I am pretty much in love with D.Gray-man since I do find it pretty well done compared to other shounen series that suffer multiple filler arcs. However, unlike Bleach, fillers are usually around 3-5 episodes long and it doesn't really disrupt the direction of the story so that's a really nice thing about D.Gray-man. It's always such a headache to watch anime series that have incomplete manga storylines, but I really do enjoy what they did with D.Gray-man. I also like the additional episodes they make for minor characters like Kevin Yeegar, Daisya Barry, Suman, etc. so they can stretch out the story, but also give more information in a way. Some people may not like it, but I think it's pretty nice since the manga didn't really go into much detail on some characters. I felt a bit more torn watching the Togaochi arc since I knew more about Suman in the anime than I did when reading it in the manga, which makes me feel that the writers did a fairly good job adding things to the series even if it does slow down the progression. Some of the comedic elements that's added in the series is pretty good too, but not always, still it's pretty fun. Last week's episode (83) was not as good as it probably could have been, so I hope this coming week's episode is better. I'm also on the edge of seat wanting to read more of the manga (159 left me hanging T_T).
Fullmetal Alchemist: I just started Fullmetal Alchemist today and it's cute. My favorite female seiyuu, Paku Romi, is the lead and the story is really good. I haven't actually read the manga yet, but I've found that if I read a manga before I watch an anime, I usually can't enjoy the anime too much -- for a manga-based anime that is. It's kind of the same for the reverse. If I read a manga adaptation of an anime after I watch the anime, I usually can't really enjoy it too much compared to the original work (i.e. Romeo x Juliet, Escaflowne, etc). Therefore, I've decided not to read Fullmetal for the time being so I can just enjoy the anime and not bicker about whether or not it follows the original, etc. (I think that's why I enjoy D.Gray-man so much, since I never read it prior to watching the series and then picked up the manga after about 75 episodes).
Code Geass: Now... Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is really a series that's pretty much robbed me of my soul. I can definitely see where it can receive severe criticism, but I cannot deny the genius of storyline. It is definitely a hard-to-come-by piece and I am really impressed by it. I've only started watching the series last week so I wasn't with the craze back in late 2006 (I find it pretty interesting that this series was aired 2 days after first episode of Death Note). For those who enjoy mecha series like Gundam, Escaflowne, Neon Genesis, etc. and have also been exposed to the ingenuity of Death Note then this series is really a combination of both. You may like it, or you may hate it. Since CLAMP did character design for the series, we have really pretty people that look a lot like characters from other CLAMP works. The main character, Lelouch, really looks like another version of Shiro Kamui from X/1999, while his best friend and rival, Kururugi Suzaku looks a lot like Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. I like both characters despite whether others hate one or the other.
The storyline is simple, yet complex at the same time which gives it a bit of flavor. We have Lelouch who is kind of like the Yagami Light [Death Note] of the series. He obtains a pretty powerful weapon -- a Geass -- and uses it along with his pretty high intelligence to fight against the empire of Britannia (an allegory to the United States, but I prefer to think of it as imperialism/colonialism) in order to create a peaceful world in which his younger sister, Nunnally, can live in. It's similar to how Light uses the death notebook to kill people, except the purpose between Light and Leouch is different. Whereas Light ultimately did everything for himself, Lelouch was fighting for Nunnally and a part of it for himself. So this is how I categorize the two differently. DN is like watching a horror/thriller that just keeps you on your toes while CG is more like a philosophical/political type of drama like... Star Wars maybe? (I really can't think of a better example ^_^; ...) Though the storyline of CG is kind of like an evolved form of a simple story that we see quite often, the elements in it make it pretty unique.
I am always pretty amused when I see a western audience rant and rave over how much they hate Suzaku after watching the end of the first season & beginning of second calling him a traitor, etc., or having no aim, etc. He is actually pretty popular in Japan ^_^ and it so happens that I'm also actually a Suzaku fan -- something about athletically-able men attracts me (^_^). I love Lelouch too, he's really smart and his strategic abilities are really impressive, but I cannot deny that I love Suzaku too. People tend to antagonize the antagonist (Gee, I would have never thought of that) because well... they're the antagonist (Yes, pardon the awful explanation), but if we flipped the story to Suzaku's point of view, he really actually follows the traditional hero's path in comparison to Lelouch.
Suzaku reminds me of the hero from video games such as like Final Fantasy or something. These types of heroes usually are the ones who do things in accordance to what is right or what they consider is right by following the rules and such. Suzaku is the rule-follower, the outcast because of his identity as an Eleven, has a dark past (like some traditional protagonists i.e. Cloud Strife from FFVII, Tsuzuki Asato from Yami no Matsuei, etc.), and falls in love with a beautiful girl then loses her to tragedy, which makes him more resolute on what he wants and he ends up finding the path he needs to follow. There are times when the hero is unsure of what he wants, which is why there's even a story, because we are watching how the hero develops and comes to find a goal he truly needs to aim towards, or to reaffirm the direction he is going towards. In CG, Suzaku knows what he wants, but never really knew how he was going to do things. After losing the girl he loved, he finally came to a decision to how he would now proceed with things. Doesn't that just seem like a typical type of hero cycle?
However, because CG takes the story from Lelouch's point of view, Suzaku becomes the antagonist instead. This really impresses me, because there are times when watching a series that people say "Oh that antagonist is so much more interesting than the main character" and now we have a series where because the perspectives are reversed the once interesting antagonist is now the really interesting protagonist. Just this one element of the story design is really impressive to me. This is why I cannot dislike Suzaku. It's not like he's a bad guy anyway, it's more like he's following the traditional hero cycle in my mind. That's why I kind of find it amusing when people here say how much they dislike Suzaku, etc. I mean... when reading/watching DN, do people hate L? He's out to hunt and catch Light so he's basically the antagonist in the story (since we're in Light's POV), but I highly doubt the percentage of people who dislike L is high at all. So, it really is kind of interesting hearing people rant about Suzaku.
Also, two of my favorite seiyuu are in Code Geass: Sakurai Takahiro and Fukuyama Jun ^_^. Fukuyama plays Lelouch, and I must say it is the most impressive role I've ever heard him in. I like him in a lot of other works, but I think the role of Lelouch really gave Fukuyama much more versatility as a voice actor. It really is the most impressive role he's had to date, in my opinion. This is not the most impressive role for Sakupyon though, more like average -- though I really wasn't able to tell at first that he was the seiyuu since I'm more accustomed to his deeper voice. He has a pretty wide range of character types that he can do and he isn't restricted to any of them, which makes him pretty versatile to start with, but I guess if I were to pick, I would say that his role as Kanda Yuu in D.Gray-man is much more fun than as Suzaku. I think I was more surprised with Orikasa Fumiko. I haven't seen a whole lot of series with her in it, but the voice I'm most accustomed to is her deeper, Kuchiki Rukia-type voice so hearing her as Shirley really surprised me at first.
Anyway, for those who have not seen Code Geass and enjoy DN-like mecha drama, one really should check it out if they have time. I'm pretty glad I picked it up, but pretty sad that I couldn't resist the urge to watch the second season so now I'm stucking waiting for an episode every week =_=. Cliffhangers are emotionally straining for me.
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