Gazing Rabbit wrote:
Attractive female characters killing things with large swords? What madness is this?
What were you expecting? :)
It's your typical "monster who hunts monsters" setup. It does improve later, delves into Clare's past etc, and there's no real fanservice aside from the default Claymore outfits that I can see (and I suppose the whole phallic penis-envy giant sword thing, if you want to get freudian), but I wouldn't be expecting any brilliant insights about the nature of existence.
Also, I watch it with a brightness of around +6 in WMP. Helps with the "so atmospheric, you'll have
no clue what's going on!" scenes.
(Really, I can count the works of mainstream entertainment that I feel
didn't insult my intelligence on some level without running out of fingers. It's not something I get too hung up on, otherwise I'd have nothing to watch...)
For the record, I kind of like Kaze no Stigma as well, thus joining the idiot brigade. The "modern-day rich jerks" setting is unusual for the genre, and the main character's assholishness is starting to grow on me. Demanding a large sum of money to rescue your own little brother just to save face with the family you don't like much? Cold. Also, hilarious. Don't know if I'll continue watching it, but it's not bad.
In other news, Seirei no Moribito (aka Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) continues to be surprisingly good, despite taking about the last tack I would have expected-
[spoiler]Instead of going off on some action-filled quest or journey with the prince, Balsa has settled down,
bought a house(!), and is essentially raising him as her son in her own hands-off manner. This has been going on for several episodes, and doesn't look to be stopping soon. The show has achieved an almost lyrical feel, concentrating on smaller triumphs and tragedies of everyday life in a quasi-fantasy oriental kingdom, and it'll practically be a shame when their peaceful existence is no doubt put in danger again. The last episode (#11, "Flower Wine for Tanda") is one of my favorites so far, despite a slow start and having nothing that could remotely be called action. There are some really nice moments in the second half, like a heartfelt conversation between two people despite one being unobservable. I especially like the way the mystical elements are treated in a straightforward manner that doesn't detract from their impressiveness. And the show continues to have some of the most beautiful painted backgrounds I've seen in a TV series. I may have to buy it on DVD just to look at it on a widescreen.[/spoiler]
Actually Gazing Rabbit, you might like Moribito. It's not that intellectually challenging either, but it has subtlety and restraint, two things that aren't Claymore's strong suit.
The other new show I just started watching is
Denno Coil (Veoh link, reg to download, blah etc). For anyone who hasn't seen it, remember that Animatrix short about kids stumbling across glitches in the Matrix? It's like a whole series of that, except instead of the Matrix it's a virtual overlay on reality made possible by ubiquitous wireless internet and display glasses that allow one to see, hear, and touch (they haven't really explained that part yet) the virtual objects embedded in the real world. It's kind of like a
Lain that isn't trying to scare and/or fuck with you, or a version of
.hack that's actually interesting (zing?). I've also seen it described as what would result if Miyazaki made a show about kid hackers, which doesn't seem too far off. It's a bit cutesy at times, but it has charm and the premise is pretty fantastic. The only real drawback is that I keep trying to pedant the way the software and hardware work, which isn't really the point with this type of show.
EDIT: Oh, and-
Ezelek wrote:
Statistically speaking? The Xenosaga anime was horrible, but so was the game, so you really can't tell. The Disagea anime was great, and no shitty gameplay to ruin the story! :V Also the Star Ocean 2 anime was easily watchable, again based on an unplayable game by anyone with taste. Out of a tiny test group, we now have a stunning 2:1 in favour of the style!
Truly, I can never hope to counter such mastery of statistics!
(But seriously, you don't want me to make a list, do you? My god man, the Pokemon clones
alone...)