I have this list I maintain of shows which might be raidable for the top sequence. One that's been on that list for a long time is MM! and just now I gave it a try.
I'm sorry, I can't do it. It's just too strange. Between the pettanko blonde beating the crap out of the hero something like five times in the first episode, I just couldn't bring myself to keep going.
So I tried jumping ahead to something like the 5th episode. And Our Hero is wearing some sort of belt that a Mad Scientist girl created for him. The pettanko beats him up, and he accumulates so much perv energy that he becomes a super saiyajin, complete with spiky blonde hair. He flies, fights a mech by firing a kamehameha at it, and eventually forms a genki dama.
Or maybe we should call it an ungenki dama. The energy comes from all the other perverts in the world, so the energy is not exactly healthy. Sheesh...
Sorry, there's got to be something else I can raid. I haven't gotten to Maji de Watashi yet; that should probably be next.
Usually when you compare translations you find at least a few differences, but they mostly agree. (If one circle is "borrowing" the translation from the other, of course, then the differences are negligible.)
But there are a couple of scenes in Dog Days where the translations are wildly different.
Probably a combination of both (more laziness than difficult language, though.) The 3rd line of the 2nd set of quotes; is there really a word that translates simultaneously as "unimportant" and "boring" and "undesirable"?
The compact nature of the Japanese language causes problems, too. Entire conversations without mentioning the subject, 4-kanji idioms; the sort of stuff that Mr. JList puts on his store blog every few days.
Posted by: Mikeski at May 31, 2012 12:09 PM (1bPWv)
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Though I watch far less anime than you, I have started to pick up a few Japanese words and phrases. It was interesting at work the other day when I said "Hai!" in a meeting, and not everyone was confused...
Posted by: Siergen at May 31, 2012 12:13 PM (PuIGa)
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The FFFpeeps translation is pretty liberal, while the Japanese BD seems much more literal. Ayako seems to hold closer to the literal side of things.
On Eclair's injury, I'd probably roll with the BD's take, just because the implication from "honorable" is one of those harder things for a non-native to really grasp in context. It's obviously about wounded pride, so that's one of those subtle ones.
On the second set, I'd probably roll with FFF's text. Aside from being an easier read (which should be the benefit of a liberal translation), the text feels like it gets the scene better. I especially liked the "best yet mediocre efforts" construct.
As for what Godwin said... the VA was in scene-stealing-camp mode in every scene he was in. It was his Hayate Narrator voice, taken up a notch. That anyone understood it means the TL should get a metal. Haha.
Posted by: sqa at May 31, 2012 01:25 PM (TCkUS)
4is there really a word that translates simultaneously as "unimportant" and "boring" and "undesirable"?
Packers.
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 31, 2012 03:49 PM (V/OLv)
As for what Godwin said... the VA was in scene-stealing-camp mode in every scene he was in.
These days Wakamoto is nearly always in that mode. He's the Japanese poster-boy for the TVTropes "Large Ham" entry.
It's not totally his fault. To some extent he's been getting typecast into those kinds of roles (see e.g. Ninja Nonsense). But when they announced DBK and said they were going to redo all the voices, I was a little afraid that he'd screw up Cell this time around by camping it up. Fortunately, he didn't. So it's still possible for him to play a role straight. It's just that no one wants him to anymore.
6
Having listened to him narrate the first season (52 episodes) of Hayate, I can get why everyone would want him to ham it up. In the right context, it's a complete riot. But there is taking it a tad too far.
At least they didn't Godwin the series, haha.
Posted by: sqa at May 31, 2012 04:32 PM (TCkUS)
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Satomi Arai is his female equivalent basically, these days. Last time I remember when she got to play it straight was in Railgun.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at May 31, 2012 04:41 PM (5OBKC)
I don't think I would agree that she was completely straight even in Railgun. There are certainly a lot of scenes where Kuroko is serious, but she's also played for laughs a hell of a lot. And the affected upper class accent isn't "straight" in any way.
By the way, I think Kuroko was the best performance in that series (even though she wasn't my favorite character).
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Kuroko was played "straight" in Railgun? In a chunk of it, she did. But a lot of the rest called for "Ham 5000". I'll never hear "Oneeeeeeeee-samaaaaaaaaaa" in the same way. She pretty much owned the phrase.
Yeah, Kuroko was definitely performed the best of all of the characters in Railgun. Very memorable. Though Saten & Misaka were much better characters given their progression and depth.
On a side note: I ended up watching Railgun first, on suggestion. Then I went and watched Index 1 & 2. Can I just say how insanely better Railgun is compared to the Index series? I was actually hoping Index 2 was going to become "Accelerator & Last Order" for the duration. Was a much more enjoyable watch, hehe.
Though that entire universe takes a bit to accept that characters are powerful as armies just walk around town all of the time without supervision. Once you accept that, then you're good. haha
Posted by: sqa at May 31, 2012 07:20 PM (TCkUS)
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Please try to avoid topic drift. This thread is not about the Index/Railgun universe.
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There is such a term, though I can't check it from Vegas. It can mean anything from "trivial" to "boring" to "no fun". Varies quite a bit by context...
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at May 31, 2012 10:00 PM (SeUTZ)
Posted by: J Greely at May 31, 2012 10:33 PM (2XtN5)
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I've been noticing pretty radical differences in the translations of the series I'm reviewing. Usually the meaning is pretty similar, but the subtleties are wildly different.
Although sometimes it's really not that important that "Tsuboshi!" get translated as "Bingo!" or "Bullseye!"
The one that always gets my attention is when the characters' names are used but don't appear in the subtitles.
Posted by: Mauser at May 31, 2012 11:49 PM (cZPoz)
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All 3 of the Fairy Tail OVAs should be good source material. Which is hilarious when you realize they're actually based off the mangaka's omakes. He actually storyboarded the 3rd one himself.
It also goes with a trend in his own work. He took his work on Rave Master and added bigger breasts, which is how we got Fairy Tail. It's noticeably more popular.
The third one was actually a pretty neat story. As we all know, it's hard to do a good job of a time travel story, and absolutely wrap up all the loose ends, but this was pretty decent.
It was kind of too bad that
Grey didn't have any interaction with his younger self. On the other hand, it was neat that each of the other three had a different kind of interaction.
Erza spoke to her younger self and nudged the kid towards being less irritable. Lucy saved her younger self, and talked to her, but not face to face, and didn't realize who it was. And Natsu...
I'm not actually sure how far I'm going to get in this. Last time I think I gave up after two episodes (though it might have been three). This time I just finished the second episode and the pain is already excrutiating.
4
I barely made it through the first episode. The insertion via helicopter (I think it was a helicopter) just made me sad, as did the male lead's "disability."
Mayu's quite the looker, though.
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 30, 2012 04:44 AM (q2lfL)
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Hey, I remember that show! It was... okay it was really dumb. But it was fun enough in its way. I remember the ending getting pretty gloomy, though.
Posted by: tellu541 at May 30, 2012 05:24 AM (q5Mzl)
There is nothing highbrow about this series. It is kind of funny at times, but it doesn't try to explain anything. If nothing else, watch the omakes at the beginning of each episode. The first couple are pure fanservice, but then they get funny. The "cult of DFC" had me in stitches.
The Bachelor Chef knows that prepared food is better than home made, and relies on it whenever possible. (At least when the home made would be made by the Bachelor Chef.)
I love guacamole. Yummy stuff; I put it on my quesadillas, which are one of the few things I make that's worth eating. Making guacamole itself is well beyond my abilities, and I don't even try. But finding a satisfactory brand of the stuff was a challenge.
Chachies Guacamole is my current steady brand. They sell it at Fred Meyer, where I usually shop. It's very tasty, and they include big chunks of avocado in it. It isn't pureed within an inch of its life like some brands, and they don't make it out of frozen avocados, which completely ruins the texture. I just got back from a shopping expedition and bought four packages of it.
But sometimes I get my groceries delivered by Safeway, and Safeway doesn't carry it. Last time I got a delivery from Safeway I was out of guacamole, so I tried one package each of two kinds that Safeway offered.
The first was "Signature Cafe", which appears to be a Safeway house brand. It was excellent. It was thicker than the Chachies, which was nice, and it likewise had big chunks of avocado in it.
The other was "Wholly Guacamole", and I didn't care for it at all. Onion overwhelmed all the other flavors. I ate it once, and the rest has been in my refrigerator ever since. Just now I put the rest of it in the garbage disposal -- and now my entire apartment reeks of onion.
The primary flavor of guacamole should be avocado, with secondary flavoring from jalapeno, and for the first two that's what I got, and why I like them. Onion should be light if at all present; just enough to make the flavor more complex.
"Which one's Kato Marika?" "I can't tell. Shoot them all!"
You flaming son of a bitch, burn in hell.
I thought sure that Marika was going to be in the Silent Whisper, but she didn't use it this time. Despite how it looks, I wonder if the Silent Whisper isn't really designed for atmospheric operation?
1
Thsi episode also confirm just how strong
pirate ship armor is. Being able to shrug off hitting dust particles at interplanetary velocities meant the enemy machine gun bullets were no threat to the hull itself. However, I wonder why they had their main antenna deployed - do they need it for their sensors?
Posted by: Siergen at May 26, 2012 12:28 PM (PuIGa)
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Bentenmaru:
I think they had the antenna mast down because that was the only way to even out the atmospheric drag. Without it the drag on the ship would have been unbalanced and the ship would have tumbled.
5
Awesome episode. The whole "Bentenmaru security gig" doesn't survive a trip to the refrigerator, but
having Lynn's rep as a hacker tie back into this was terrific.
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Ubu, I think I can let that one pass.
The Bentenmaru has been in the news lately. So when the old hag was thinking of bringing in another lawbreaker, and thought "pirate", Bentenmaru is who she thought of.
It won't remain that way, but right at this particular time Bentenmaru is the most famous pirate ship in the galaxy.
I can believe that she wasn't aware that the captain of Bentenmaru was a student at Hakuoh. Yeah, that was in the news, too, but while it would have been in the headlines on Sea of the Morningstar, not so much so on the old hag's planet.
So though it's a bit strange, I can let that one by.
7
As hectic and preoccupied as the hag was, I can easily believe that
she didn't really pay attention to who the insurance company hired, just that they sent someone for extra security who could handle those delinquents from Hakuoh Academy.
Posted by: Siergen at May 26, 2012 04:39 PM (PuIGa)
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I really like how this definitely-non-filler arc is going. It makes good use of plot points that had looked abandoned, as well as further developing the yacht club (something apparently missing in the books, where only Jenny and Lynn got names).
Why not use Silent Whisper?
Meta-reason: because the bad guys wouldn't have had to attack innocents if they knew which ship she was in. In-story reason? Marika had already made up her mind to be in the race in the previous episode, and using the latest military fighter wouldn't count.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at May 26, 2012 05:26 PM (2XtN5)
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It's hard to see how the books could have done the "Hakuoh Pirates" arc without naming at least some of them. Did Sato massively change that story?
I really like how this definitely-non-filler arc is going.
I do, too, except that it's about to get really, really tragic. I'm not looking forward to the next episode at all. (Of course, next-ep teasers have been known to be edited to be highly deceptive, but there's one event coming which I think is going to be really unhappy.)
11
From the wikipedia entry, it sounds like most of the other yacht-club girls never got names or individual descriptions in the books, and even in book 3 were just filling roles ("bunny-girl pirate", "maid pirate", "sexy-cop pirate", etc), so it looks like a significant change for the anime (and for the better).
Reading the anime-only section in more detail, there's a note in Natalia's entry that she was the only one of the new first-year girls who was not named in the books. So Ai and Yayoi got names, but likely weren't fleshed out.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at May 26, 2012 06:50 PM (2XtN5)
I suppose so, but that kind of sleek shape screams "aerodynamic" to me.
If it's only going to operate in vacuum, why is it shaped that way?
Could be radar cross section concerns.
I think she took the dingy for two reasons...she wanted to fly unofficially in the race and wanted to be unobtrusive. A rocket flying amongst a buch of gliders might cause turbulence issues.
I was of the impression that we're actually in non-book territory. But, upon rewatching the ep 22 preview, I think I know what you mean: Marika is going to have to give kill-orders.
Sato has, generally, had a good handle on that aspect, at least in series past. So I hope it gets handled well.
On Ai-chan:
Okay, Ai-chan got a Moment of Awesome, but it was really the star-nav and "no hat" bit that was really cool. And they also upped the key-frame amounts during that phase, so the animation was really good.
She obviously didn't come back to win the thing, but that was still awesome. It's probably the last time we'll get a lot of time with the Yacht Club, so that was probably the send off. Still, that was awesome.
On the race result:
Really didn't surprise me. Chiaki was very capable of pulling off something like that. Grunhilde is a very good mimic and would single out who to follow. That person would be the pilot would the most real-world experience, which is bound to be Chiaki.
And Gruier starting the race is one of those "that just makes so much sense" moments.
Good episode. They used everything they had available in the series and put it all here. Including Kane beating an underling with a shinai in the bathroom. Haha.
Posted by: sqa at May 27, 2012 12:28 AM (TCkUS)
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Next episode:
The yellow ship is another pirate. I think it shows up to help Bentenmaru, and then gets blown up by someone else, not by Bentenmaru. And everyone on the yellow ship is going to die.
15
Referring back to comment 2
The antenna mast is probably down because being a non-atmospheric ship, the ship has no need, and therefore probably no means to retract it. Aerodynamics are not a factor in the Bentenmaru's design.
Posted by: Mauser at May 27, 2012 10:48 PM (cZPoz)
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Mauser, they retract the antenna before making FTL jumps. We've seen it happen. It was also retracted just before
they entered the docking bay of the Golden Ghost Ship.
17
Here's the problem I found in my fridge: Just how slow are those gliders moving that Ai-chan can take the wind full in her face and still function? And how do ships sturdy enough to take reentry stay up at such low speeds with the little wing area they have?
20
"Rule of Cool" had to be the reason for her to not pass out from lack of oxygen at that altitude too. (For the sake of the remaining catgirls, I'm ignoring the deeper gravity well and denser atmosphere that was hinted at.)
However that old hag of a race chairwoman
should be banned for life, if not imprisoned for reckless endangerment. What she did with the race course was bad enough -- she recreated Lynn's hacked course from six years ago -- but then she flew incredibly dangerously around Marika. It looked like she was deliberately trying to crash into her.
Which almost lead to two more refrigerators...
First, I was wondering why there were so few crashes this time around, then I remembered that everyone trained extra hard after they discovered that Hanukoh was racing... just in case. Maybe the old bat was counting on that. Still, you have to figure there will be a lot of ticked off parents. Especially given that,
Second, the only reason there was a threat to the race for the security team to deal with was that someone tried to kill the security team's captain...who wasn't supposed to be in the race.
I'm being entertained by the not-a-filler ending, but it doesn't allow for the kind of close scrutiny and castle-building the original author's work does.
Steven, I have a friend who's an experimental plane pilot (small, usually home-built vehicles) and remember him commenting once that open canopy incidents were Very Bad Things. Other than that, I have no specific knowledge, but the site below gives an idea of the kind of thing he meant. Of course, what compensatory technologies the vehicles in this show might have are anybody's guess.
Posted by: Dave Young at May 28, 2012 07:51 PM (ZAk0Z)
22
I think the "implausibilities" (to put it gently) with the race can be handwaved by pointing to the extremely high level of background technology. The dinghies are sophisticated training spaceships with lots of hidden high-tech safety features; just look at
the picture of the previous race (4:42) where the ships are trashed but the worst injury they show is an elbow being bandaged. Then, when the course is revealed (9:00), they remark how it exceeds the fuel capacity of a dinghy, which implies that they can land safely on "empty". Also, the hag loses a wing when she's shot down (15:55), but somehow ends up landing safe and upright, with a working radio. And of course Ai-chan's canopy goes black after the EM burst takes out most of her systems (19:32), but her thrusters and radio were hardened. She also tests the allegedly-mechanical sail controls, even though it's now at a pretty useless angle if it's just a "sail".
-j
Posted by: J Greely at May 29, 2012 08:57 AM (2XtN5)
The big reveal in this episode was that the three girls were all castaways, too.
It did turn out that the reward for Rick and Neris was money. It was more than needed to repair the furnace (in part because Hank dropped his price). They've also installed a counter where people can sit and eat. Hank the dwarf did a fine job rebuilding their furnace, and at the end of the episode Rick and the girls are once again baking in their own house.
Rick is bothered by his own skill with the sword. It's evident, even to him, that it goes far beyond the abilities of an ordinary man-at-arms. Xiaomei refers to him as a knight when they have their talk.
Turns out that she's the one who paid for the repairs to the church orphanage's roof. (A classic "pet the dog" moment.) Between that, and his own skill with the sword, Rick spends a lot of this episode thinking. In the end he decides that he's a baker, or at least that's the life he wants to live.
I read about the game, and it involved a lot of quests. In one of them he was accompanied and supported by Alvin the elf. Hank was involved in another one. But we haven't seen anything like that, and at this point I don't expect we will. It looks like there was a serious rewrite in the translation to anime.
They're sure taking their time unrolling the story. This show really seems more about spending time with the characters, which is a characteristic of iyashikei.
I really like the fact that this isn't a harem show. At this point we've got seven, and arguably eight, desirable girls around Rick but no one is talking romance. No one is flirting with him. It's pleasant once in a while to not have that complication. And I like the fact that such fan service as this show has is subtle and gentle, just like everything else in the show. The eight girls are all easy on the eyes, but no gainaxing that I remember. No upskirt shots. And no accidental compromising positions. I really hate those, and it's nice that this director doesn't feel any need to include them.
There are a lot of strange threads dangling: Rick's past, Rick's fancy sword, Kaguya and her pendant, the strange creature hanging in Hank's workshop, the plaque they got from the sea floor which was seized by the castle guards, and that battleship. Presumably they're all going to come together in some meaningful way, but I sure don't know how yet. Which is also nice; too many series telegraph their endings.
UPDATE: Actually, the potential harem count is nine so far:
Amil
Airy
Neris
Xiaomei the catgirl
Kaguya the castaway
Rana the elf girl
Rouna the doggy girl maid
Princess Rufina
Melty the loli witch
In real unoriginal harem shows based on H games, there's always at least one loli, so if this show were going in that kind of direction, Melty would be included too.
1
They changed the events of the story, but the tone is the same. A lot of the music is the same too. I watched episode 5 a few days ago and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time.
I guess the biggest change is that the three baker girls were originally one character, who just wore a different outfit depending on what class you picked.
The ending was actually kind of dark, though. It'll be interesting to see what they do with that.
Posted by: tellu541 at May 25, 2012 10:33 AM (Nu03Y)
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She was. Her ultimate attack was bringing down an ice cream cone the size of a building on top of the enemies, while screaming "Single Double Triple Ice Cream!"
It hit every enemy, and did something like four times as much damage as Rick's ultimate attack, "Shining Heart."
Posted by: tellu541 at May 25, 2012 11:34 AM (Nu03Y)
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Episode 5 (Melty) stands alone, and it really is a delight. Kaneda really got into that role and obviously was having a blast doing it.
Pete sent me a link to a Youtube. There was a "preview" once before, but that one was entirely made up of clips from the first series. But this one really is clips from the new series.
The most interesting thing in it for me was the fact that Manami gets summoned separately, by Leonmichelle. Becky and Shinku get summoned together by Millefiore. So both nations get heroes this time. Presumably this means that Shinku and Manami will eventually meet in battle, but you never know.
That also mostly solves the problem of Rico and Manami having the same seiyuu. If they're in separate kingdoms, there aren't likely to be many scenes with the two of them together. (It's been done. There was an extended sequence in Kiki's Delivery Service with two characters that shared a seiyuu. But they had a lot larger budget.)
Oh, and Shinku gets glomped by Yukikaze, lucky bastard.
UPDATE: I made a mistake. Her name is "Nanami". Pete made a mistake, too: she's his cousin.
1
Poking around on YouTube after I watched that, I might be liking next season. Dog Days looks like it's going to be good fun, and some of the other shows were intriguing too.
2
Ep 1 is going to be so many levels of hilarious. Obviously, Shinku & Becky will have a conversation about going there. How do you break that one? "Yeah, want to join me in a magical alternate world for summer break?"
Becky and Nanami watching all of the girls interact with Shinku is going to be great for reaction shots. While Shinku actually isn't a harem lead, he's more like a good friend to most of them, they're all much higher on the physical interaction than any normal Japanese would be. That should be great.
Though Becky is going to present an interesting dynamic and hope it doesn't hurt the series. Though the dynamic I do like is aerial bombardment. That should be fun.
Posted by: sqa at May 24, 2012 04:27 PM (fYnLL)
3
The trailer gives us a pretty comprehensive spoiler on how Shinku chooses to broach the subject.
He basically never explains to her what the trip entails, and then just catches her in his hands and jumps in while she's screaming "USOOOOOOOOOO!"
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at May 24, 2012 04:34 PM (5OBKC)
How do you break that one? "Yeah, want to join me in a magical alternate world for summer break?"
He already asked her, at the end of the first series, and she already said "yes" without him even describing the place. But presumably there will be some sort of conversation where he goes into more detail with both Becky and Nanami. (And he didn't ask Nanami in the last series.)
Becky and Nanami watching all of the girls interact with Shinku is going to be great for reaction shots.
Nanami got summoned to an entirely different location by Leonmichelle. But it's going to be interesting to see how Becky reacts to all the cute girls hugging Shinku.
It'll be interesting to see just how they schedule everything, and how they arrange to have Leonmichelle summon Nanami. Nobody's being kidnapped this time; all three of them have packed bags to take with them. (Shinku had a bag last time, but it was stuff he was taking home from school.)
My fear is that Becky's big role in this is going to be angst. I truly hope it doesn't turn out that way.
I wonder if Leonmichelle will give Ex Machina to Becky to wear, the way Shinku has Palladion?
5
If you look closely, it appears that Nanami is being summoned at the same time. She's the blue streak in the background as Becky and Shinku are falling in the pink one.
Many of the words for family relationships are used rather loosely in Japan, and that may be the explanation. It could mean "I'm a girl that Shinku knows well and likes who's older than he is".
Once we see that scene come July, it may be more clear.
8
The intro block for her at 0:35 introduced her as "Shinku's master (shishou), rival, and cousin", so when at 1:31 she accepts the hero job by saying "because I'm Shinku's onee-chan", she's describing how she views her role in that triple relationship. Much the way the maid explains the big-sister/little-sister dynamic between the two princesses in episode 12 of the first series (19 minutes in).
-j
Posted by: J Greely at May 26, 2012 12:27 AM (2XtN5)
I've been trying to put together a reasonable number of new images to add to the top rotation. In terms of raw captures, here's what I've gathered so far:
I won't be able to use all of those; maybe 80%. It isn't really enough, so I've been hunting for at least one more show's worth. Right now I'm downloading Maji de Watashi ni koi Shinasai, but it's going slowly. At the rate it's going it'll be Saturday before it's finished.
I might also end up going through one of the Ikki Tousen series that I haven't used here before. Haven't decided on that. And High School DxD is on the list.
I had a list of several other series I thought might be usable that didn't turn out to be:
Aquarion Evol
Rinne no Lagrange
Baka to Test
Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls
High School of the Dead
Angel Beats
Mayo Chiki
There were lots of cute girls in all of them, but I just couldn't find reasonable candidates in sufficient number to make it worth looking any further.
I'm pretty sure that Maji de Watashi will be suitable, though. I only watched two episodes of it but I remember seeing a lot of usable images in them.
UPDATE: The first four episodes of High School DxD were good for 32 candidates. But what's far more surprising is that I'm getting into the story.
Issei begins the series as a despicable lech, but after he meets Asia he starts changing. Also, in the 4th episode he begins to understand his power.
I think I'll download more of it.
UPDATE: End of ep 6. 38 total candidates, and I've had enough. After the Asia arc ended, they started doing silly fillers.
1
Episodes 9 - 12 of High School DxD actually represent a decent arc, if you want to skip ahead. You may need the context of episode 8, but I can't remember for sure. There's a definite filler feel to that episode, though.
Posted by: wahsatchmo at May 24, 2012 03:54 PM (BINpU)
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If you take a liking to anything I've posted, feel free to take it, or ask me for a higher rez picture if you want.
Posted by: Mauser at May 25, 2012 08:31 PM (cZPoz)
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I appreciate the offer, but I don't get my pictures that way.
