Viewing Journal: Old stuff and older stuff

I made a deal with myself about a year ago that I would not start watching any new series until I had completed the series I was currently working on. Well, in a couple weeks that promise will nearly be fulfilled when the last volume of Samurai Champloo comes out. I just have to watch that, the last volume of Stellvia, and the last 4 volumes of Twelve Kingdoms and I'll be able to gorge myself on all kinds of new stuff (much -- if not most -- of which I've already bought at the Media Play going-out-of-business sale).

I guess you can say that there have been some acceptions to the rule. For example, I did watch some bittorrent downloads since I figured I didn't actually have to pay money for them. And I didn't count the sample DVDs that came with my Newtype magazine. And then there's the re-released collected versions of shows I've already seen (eg, Trigun and Evangelion Platinum Edition). And I don't count the free stuff I can watch on Comcast On-Demand or on TV in general. And I already started watching Stand Alone Complex: 2nd Gig, though I don't really have a viable excuse for that one. So I guess I wouldn't exactly call it a solid Lenten-type promise, but I still think I've shown plenty of self-restraint anyway, thank you very much.

That being said, here's what I've wrapped up watching recently:

Trigun Limited Edition 1
I forgot what a fun series this was to watch. I know some people complain about it not having a lot of substance, and that the animation quality varies, but I just think that Vash is such a great character. It's impossible not to love him. Even my non-otaku wife likes it, so there you go. This first collected edition only includes the first 13 episodes. The second set comes out January 17.

Evangelion Platinum Complete
This is worth getting if you are a big Eva fan, especially if you haven't seen the series in a while. Right from the opening credits you can tell a huge difference in sound and picture quality.

I watched the subtitled version all the way through, which I have never done before (though I had seen a few episodes subbed before). In general, I found the subtitled version easier to watch than the dubbed version. I think it's because, as in most series, the Japanese voice actors have smoother, more subtle voices. In the English dub, Asuka and Shinji's voices tend to just be annoying at best, and ear-peircing at worst. ADV also cleaned up the translation in both sub and dub which helped make some plot points easier to understand.

The only crappy thing is that since I got the "thinpak", there were no cool extras on the DVDs (like the voice actor commentary, etc). I only included the episodes (with director's cut) and some trailers. Ah well.

On a good note, though, this has re-kindled my interest in finding out the details of the background of the story. As a result I've been questioning the good people at this forum and have gotten some great insite. It's really been eye opening.

Haré+Guu Episode 1
From off of the January Newtype DVD. It's weird but interesting. I can tell there is more weirdness to come, but it has piqued my curiosity at least. Also, the english voice actors do a great job! Regardless, though, I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll continue with the rest of the series though.

Macross Episode 1
Also on the Newtype DVD. It's the series that was re-cut to create Robotech. This episode is esentially the same as the first episode of Robotech. It's a classic, and good stuff at that; but I doubt I'll be getting the rest of the series, unless they show it on Comcast On-Demand.

Misakii Chronicles Episode 2
Another one from the Newtype DVD. The story looks pretty interesting, but I just don't know if I can take the plot seriously with those monster-size boobs jiggling all over the place. It's like half the show's budget went into to animating those things! Yeesh.

Revolutionary Girl Utena (up to episode 8)
I started watching this only because I aways hear about it and how wonderfully deep it is. But I just don't like it at all. It's stupid. I don't know what else to say. But I'm going to stick with it anyway just (as with so many other disappointments) in case it was a super-cool payoff at the end. Am I a sucker or what?

Initial D Volume 14
Another series marked off my list. The storyline actually ended with volume 13; so this latest volume is just a couple of "extra" episodes that deal with the Mako and Sayuki, the chic racers in the Sil-80. It was a nice little wrap up (though there are still as-yet-to-be-licensed iterations of Initial D to come).

So with that I remove the series from my "currently viewing" list. (*Lone audience member lets out a quiet whoop*)