Since the bandwagon for this has appeared...

[Captain Cadaver]

Would depend on whether or not it's including animated movies.

 

[Keedounan]

Would depend on whether or not it's including animated movies.

Everything is included.

 

[ahill1]

Do you like Harry Potter?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Everything is included.

#1 - The Shawshank Redemption
#2 - Ghost in the Shell (1995)
#3 - 1984
#4 - Watchmen
#5 - Borat
#6 - Oldboy
#7 - Team America: World Police
#8 - Pulp Fiction
#9 - Goodfellas
#10 - South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Might be forgetting a few key ones when making the list in a hurry, plus I seldom watch films compared to TV Series due to how many limitations they have in story/character writing by comparison.

Do you like Harry Potter?

Not at all. The school setting is a terrible trope already, regardless of the stakes being high, but that's just the tip of the iceburg as it features such cheap writing devices as fatalism through Harry being the chosen one (which means you already know the ending without needing to read/watch any further) and time resets (which get conveniently forgotten after the book/film they're introduced in). The characters are also too standard to keep me engaged with it. Harry is a bland self-insert who's given hype for doing nothing (surviving Voldemort due to his mother's magic, killing the Basilisk because the Phoenix was distracting it, killing Voldemort because the dark lord didn't learn a thing from their first encounter, etc.), Hermoine is a stuck up know it all (though not by enough to remember her Time Turner to save Sirius or Dumbledore), Ron is a standard idiot, Voldemort didn't learn from his first attempt to kill Harry and dies because of it (though at least the movies changed this). Only character I found interesting was Snape, and even he only has most of his deeper personality lazily infodumped after his death.
World building is also fairly poor. We're never given a clear grasp of the proper limitations on magic, leading to it being less of an interesting power system and just a constant source of plot conveniences. For instance, why can't every single item be used as a Portkey? We also know that most Wizards have no reliance or knowledge on Muggle technology. That's a foolish oversight as what's to stop a dark Wizard familiar with the Muggle World from doing something such as say, hijacking a nuke? Hell, that idea in itself is far cooler than anything we got in the finale.
Leading on from this, it was also terrible how much potential was wasted. The series would've been a dozen times better if the fan theory of Neville being the true chosen one was true.
It also doesn't help that many aspects of it just feel like a poor attempt at capturing Tolkien's Middle Earth. Aragog is basically Shelob/Ungoliant but without anything in his design beyond being a giant spider, Voldemort is a dumbed down Sauron, the Dementors look very similar to the Nazgul's hooded guise, etc. However, with Tolkien's Legendarium having no fatalistic prophecies beyond very misleading ones, excellent world building and consistent character goals and power systems, anyone who think it's fair to compare the two is out of their mind.

To sum up, the entire series is like Part 2 Naruto but with a far blander protagonist.

1.5/10 at best for the franchise as a whole.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

What are your favourite Christmas episodes of TV-Show, favourite Christmas movie and favourite Christmas song?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

What are your favourite Christmas episodes of TV-Show

Pretty much the majority of South Park christmas episodes, though Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics and Wooland Critter Christmas are the stand out ones. Other favourite christmas episodes would be the episode of Bottom called "Holy" and episodes 200-201 of Gintama.

favourite Christmas movie

Bad Santa

and favourite Christmas song?

For classic Christmas songs, either Silent Night or I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. If including any Christmas song, then Merry Fucking Christmas from South Park.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

This is also a beautiful overlooked Christmas song in my opinion. Kind-of sounds like a choir (actually I think it is one), but adds to the atmosphere of the song and nothing needs to be said about the composition itself.

Spoiler

[youtube]dm3xkiwC3Ao[/youtube]

Also what do you think of these two tracks, since you like Jazz? Digimon Tamers in-general had a really good sound-track, IIRC and the Yu-Gi-Oh! one stood-out to me when I was watching an episode, to the point I had to seek the piece out and know what the music was.

Spoiler

[youtube]EoiYIloeAHQ[/youtube]

Spoiler

[youtube]UENRuUzVUq8[/youtube]

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Also what do you think of these two tracks, since you like Jazz? Digimon Tamers in-general had a really good sound-track, IIRC and the Yu-Gi-Oh! one stood-out to me when I was watching an episode, to the point I had to seek the piece out and know what the music was.

Spoiler

[youtube]EoiYIloeAHQ[/youtube]

Spoiler

[youtube]UENRuUzVUq8[/youtube]

Both are good, especially the Digimon one. I'm quite found of when a series incorporates their opening/ending themes as instrumentals to their ost, so having that with a jazz instrumental was very good and helps build up the main section of the song even more.

The YGO one was good too. Helps present Jonouchi in a more respectable manner than most of the series shows him as with this track as a theme for him, though Passionate Duelist >>> All other YGO osts

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Glad you liked that. And I agree about the Jounouchi music. Since in that scene he kind-of reminisced about his growth as a duelist from the start of battle-city upto that point (the four-way with Yugi, Kaiba and Marik). Even better when you think from the very start of the series when Jounouchi was so frustrated that he couldn't win a duel at-all and asked Yugi for help to becoming one of the best in the world.

I'll have to go check that one out (Pasionate Duelist).

Are you looking forward to the new Yu-Yu-Hakusho OVA coming next year? People act like it's going to be some full-blown movie like thing, but I don't know just seems like some side-animation to complement the blu-ray series release and give people an incentive to buy it.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Not really. The series as a whole took a massive step down in quality from the end of the Chapter Black Arc and entirety of the Three Kings Arc, so having a sequel ala Eizou Hakusho would just be boring milking, especially when what good concepts it had, Hunter X Hunter has done far better. Only way I can see it being a decent watch is if it's a remake of the Dark Tournament or Chapter Black Arcs, and that'd just be a rushed job. In other words, it has no reason to continue it's story and no reason to reboot it, so there's no real reason for this new special to exist beyond a cashgrab.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Since I heard it's being talked about what would you think if the author of Rurouni-Kenshin came-back as if nothing ever happened so soon without any repercussions? :withheld :withheld :withheld

Is Rurouni-Kenshin any good to begin with?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Since I heard it's being talked about what would you think if the author of Rurouni-Kenshin came-back as if nothing ever happened so soon without any repercussions? :withheld :withheld :withheld

I honestly wouldn't be surprised given Japan's CP laws being a case of watching not mattering compared to performing. That's not to say I'd approve of the decision though, but I doubt being in prison or under house arrest would make his mental state any better. At the very least though, the authorities ought to put security cameras in his home or something.

Is Rurouni-Kenshin any good to begin with?

It is. You can read my short review of it on Page 19 of this thread for more details. I'd give it a 7/10 and rate it amongst the top 10 Shonen series, as well as in my top 30 for anime/manga.

 

[Pocket-God]

What's your opinion on waifus?

What's your opinion on the fact that people mostly ask for your opinion on things?

How is your day going so far?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

What's your opinion on waifus?

Kind've a degenerate thing when people obsess over fictional characters to the point they ignore real women.

What's your opinion on the fact that people mostly ask for your opinion on things?

Don't mind it, considering this is the kind've thread tailored towards such.

How is your day going so far?

Just woke up less than an hour ago and pretty tired. Hoping this Boxing Day turns out to be a good one.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

What do you think of Back to the Future? I thought 3 was easily the worst out of them.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

What do you think of Back to the Future? I thought 3 was easily the worst out of them.

As a work of writing, I find them poor since time travel and time resets are always a messy concept to deal with that create many contradictions. They work for the most part as dumb fun if you look past this due to interesting decisions on time periods such as 2015 or Biff's 1985, as well as it's meta aspect of being in on the joke that history keeps repeating itself. Also, Christopher Llyod's performance as Doc Brown makes almost every scene with him in good. I'd say the original is easily the best of them, 2 is a lot worse due to the time paradoxes becoming even more frustrating and 3 is slightly better than 2 due to the time travel paradoxes not being as abundant, but at the same time is far more boring due to having such a bland, sweet natured tone.

Back to the Future - 5/10
Back to the Future Part II - 2/10
Back to the Future Part III - 2.5/10

 

[ahill1]

Not at all. The school setting is a terrible trope already, regardless of the stakes being high, but that's just the tip of the iceburg as it features such cheap writing devices as fatalism through Harry being the chosen one (which means you already know the ending without needing to read/watch any further) and time resets (which get conveniently forgotten after the book/film they're introduced in). The characters are also too standard to keep me engaged with it. Harry is a bland self-insert who's given hype for doing nothing (surviving Voldemort due to his mother's magic, killing the Basilisk because the Phoenix was distracting it, killing Voldemort because the dark lord didn't learn a thing from their first encounter, etc.), Hermoine is a stuck up know it all (though not by enough to remember her Time Turner to save Sirius or Dumbledore), Ron is a standard idiot, Voldemort didn't learn from his first attempt to kill Harry and dies because of it (though at least the movies changed this). Only character I found interesting was Snape, and even he only has most of his deeper personality lazily infodumped after his death.
World building is also fairly poor. We're never given a clear grasp of the proper limitations on magic, leading to it being less of an interesting power system and just a constant source of plot conveniences. For instance, why can't every single item be used as a Portkey? We also know that most Wizards have no reliance or knowledge on Muggle technology. That's a foolish oversight as what's to stop a dark Wizard familiar with the Muggle World from doing something such as say, hijacking a nuke? Hell, that idea in itself is far cooler than anything we got in the finale.
Leading on from this, it was also terrible how much potential was wasted. The series would've been a dozen times better if the fan theory of Neville being the true chosen one was true.
It also doesn't help that many aspects of it just feel like a poor attempt at capturing Tolkien's Middle Earth. Aragog is basically Shelob/Ungoliant but without anything in his design beyond being a giant spider, Voldemort is a dumbed down Sauron, the Dementors look very similar to the Nazgul's hooded guise, etc. However, with Tolkien's Legendarium having no fatalistic prophecies beyond very misleading ones, excellent world building and consistent character goals and power systems, anyone who think it's fair to compare the two is out of their mind.

To sum up, the entire series is like Part 2 Naruto but with a far blander protagonist.

1.5/10 at best for the franchise as a whole.

You gotta agree Snape's death was pretty touching though.

What do you think about Lord of The Rings? Based on the end part of your analysis, it seems you think it's at least decent, right?

 

[Papasmurf]

How would you rate Neji's character?

Give him bonus points for being spot-on with his fatalism

 

[Captain Cadaver]

What do you think about Lord of The Rings? Based on the end part of your analysis, it seems you think it's at least decent, right?

To accurately review The Lord of the Rings, one must look further to Tolkien's Legendarium of Middle Earth as a whole. To put it bluntly, it's world building is simply the best. All the areas explored within Middle Earth have rich history to it, stretching back to the very creation of Arda, as do most of the races and beings of this world, with the few with vague history such as Tom Bombadil having enough necessary mystery to keep them interesting. This is easily it's strongest aspect. The laws and limits of magic and items are also very consistent.
It's also worth noting how Tolkien's works were meant to be written in the manner that it's read as a history book of Middle Earth, the main four books being written by Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and other characters and edited by historians, offering another layer to the aspect of world building.

As for the writing of the plot, it's best to start off by analysing the Hobbit. For the most part, it plays off as a typical adventure until the last third in which it completely subverts expectations. Rather than being killed by the protagonists, Smaug is slain by a minor character like Bard and the plot goes from a simple quest to find the gold to one in which many characters are consumed by greed and internal conflict is abound. This great turn of events is ruined by the arrival of the Orcs leading to things becoming simplistic by everyone uniting against a common enemy to resolve things. There's also such flaws such as Gandalf being removed from the plot for a few chapters due to being too overpowered and most of the Dwarves other than Thorin being pretty interchangeable and lacking in individual personality, but it's passable and decent as part of a bigger picture.

The Lord of the Rings is a series that truly deserves praise as both a work of fantasy and fiction. Despite so many authors having been inspired by it, standing the test of time and actually executing it's ideas far better than most of it's spiritual successors is quite astounding. For instance, there's no boring prophecy to ruin everything as the only two prophecies in the series are misleading and vague at best, being the prophecy that the Witch King would never be harmed by a man (and that's assuming Glorfindel was even prophecising it at all) and Dagor Dagoroth being highly debatable due to the records of Middle Earth never extending to its end. Character writing is also fairly good. Whilst most of the cast are pretty simplistic, I'd take these simplistic yet consistent characters over contradictive characters with loose motivations any day. They at least gain enough development to remain engaging, such as Legolas' friendship with Gimli or the War of the Ring gradually taking its toll on Frodo, plus there are still a fair share of complex characters. Smeagol/Gollum's internal struggle was always very engaging and Saruman is far more morally grey than those who've only seen the films would have you believe. It also helps that many of the characters help break the stereotypes of fantasy worlds and the "Planet of Hats" trope, as they present the ability to overcome their stereotype, such as Gimli being humble and selfless when meeting Galadriel despite the stereotype of greedy Dwarves.

The most engaging aspect of the series as a whole is how it truly embodies the term Magnum Opus. Once Tolkien started writing the Hobbit and expanding on it, the world of Middle Earth became his life's work and it really shows with him having crammed in almost every piece of influence from his life. His devout Catholicism greatly influenced parts of the lore found in the Silmarillion such as the one true God Eru Iluvatar, Melkor/Morgoth's fall mimicking Satan or the final battle, Dagor Dagoroth, being similar to the book of Revelations. His love for Germanic/Norse folklore shows in aspects such as Smaug's story and the Rings themselves drawing from the Norse tales of Fafnir and Sigurd, as well as many races such as trolls, elves and dwarves being far different, original takes on classic Germanic and Icelandic folk creatures. Many locations are based on many Tolkien visited, such as Isengard being based on the Black Country or tranquil areas such as the Shire, Lothlorien, Fangorn or Rohan being his tribute to the English countryside and it's main forests.
Most importantly, the characters within his tales represent key aspects of what his personal philosophies were. Thorin's last words as well as Sam's thoughts when watching Faramir's group fight the Easterlings, coupled with things such as Aragorn and Frodo's heroism in the face of their individual journey's pivotal moments show Tolkien's view of being anti-war, but not pacifistic in the face of danger. The Ents rage at Saruman's deforestation shows Tolkien's disdain at how industrialisation was gradually ruining the landscape. Frodo's constant fatigue and both physical and mental pain after the War of the Ring reflect Tolkien's own PTSD after having fought in both World Wars. The love story of Beren and Luthien, and to a lesser extent Arwen's love for Aragorn, in which an elf sacrificed their immortality for the man they loved is inspired by Tolkien's wife having converted from a Protestant to a Catholic to show her love for him.

Whilst there are a few works I like more or find critically better than Middle Earth, there are few that have the same feeling of it being a true life's work. Legend of the Galactic Heroes was still just one of Yoshiki Tanaka's works, as were Lone Wolf and Cub as well as Ashita no Joe for their creators. Same for A Song of Ice and Fire for George R.R. Martin, despite his deconstruction of the high fantasy genre being very good for the most part (though does somewhat go off course in some areas after the third book). That's not to say I'd rank Tolkien's Legendarium higher than them, but with the effort and passion Tolkien put into his work, I'd easily rank him amongst my favourite authors and his Legendarium amongst my favourite series.

8/10 at least for it's entirety.

As for the LotR and Hobbit movies in particular, the LotR trilogy is a decent adaptation even if removing some key events and I prefer The Two Towers slightly to it's book counterpart due to having multiple narratives occuring at once rather than separating the movie into two primary storylines like the book, plus giving Eowyn an actual role and characterisation beyond standing around until the battle of Peleanor fields. Hobbit trilogy was just milking and fanservice which completely fell apart halfway through The Desolation of Smaug.

How would you rate Neji's character?
Give him bonus points for being spot-on with his fatalism

Pretty meh during the Chunin Exams. His role of viewing his life as predestined was pretty fair, though less compelling than Naruto's opposition of it. He really should've died during the fight in the Sasuke rescue arc since he contributed nothing to the plot afterwards. Hell, the only reasons he died in the war were so NaruHina could happen (for which he could've still been killed off at any prior point anyway) and so the one character who could call out the shit the plot had devolved into wasn't there to preach the truth, which alone places him in the top 5 of Naruto characters. Still a 5/10 at best, but on retrospect he was as well seem like a 9/10

 

[Keedounan]

What would be your review on Kamina ?