The S.A.V.E. Anime Deal

[Mr Light]

So I was browsing Amazon.com today for Labor Day deals and stumbled across this. There's an entire grouping of anime complete series sets for about $9 to $14 each, they're called the "Super Amazing Value Edition".

Now I've sampled a lot of anime series and for most part don't like them, but I keep trying to find something I'd like. I mean Evangelion was good and all but I wanted to slit my wrists by the end of it. I enjoyed the humor of Slayers though.

I was wondering if any of these super cheapo series are well thought of here...

http://www.amazon.com/Aquarion-Comp...r_1_35?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1283772050&sr=1-35

The ones with interesting descriptions sounded like "Aquarion" and "S.T.R.A.I.N.", sound familiar to anyone?

 

[Whofan]

Never heard of must of those, to be honest.


If you're looking for decent box sets at a fairly low price, try the Anime Legends instead.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Out of those, I have seen...

Suzuka - gentle, entertaining rom com, nothing astounding.

Aquarion - mecha show, very dumb, very fun, very disposable

Ghost Hunt - slow, moody, atmospheric, supernatural mystery show, a little X-Files-ish.

Beck - Awesome rock music slice of life...

009-1 - cold war spy series set in an alternate future, got a nice sixties vibe to it.

Moonphase - Quirky vampire comedy show, very stylised, visual gag-centric, a little marmite (love or hate)

Gankutsuou - Anime retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo, set in the future. Very stylised and distinctive visuals. Could be the best thing since sliced bread.

Baldr Force EXE - Fun violent futuristic OVA, Matrix style. Disposable.

Solty Rei - typical Gonzo futuristic mystery show, but with nice characters and an interesting story. Fun.

Coyote Ragtime Show - Found this to be very dull and forgettable.

School Rumble 1st and 2nd Semester - 2nd more consistent than the first series, but not as good as its best. School comedy, love triangle, quirky sense of humour. Very enjoyable.

Rumbling Hearts - Angst laden romance show, tugs at the heartstrings, very soapy, but good with it.

Paniponi Dash - School comedy, offbeat sense of humour, same creators as Moonphase, so may not appeal to all. ADV originals essential for vidnotes explaining all the gags and references, Funi stripped them out, so avoid their release.

Welcome to the NHK - Comedy drama about a young social recluse with emotional and psychological problems, being redeemed by a random, but cute girl, lots of otaku references. One of my fave shows.

Heat Guy J - Underrated cop and his android action series, pretty predictable but a lot of fun with it.

Utawarerumono - Interesting enigmatic story about an amnesiac man in a mask waking up in a strange fantasy world with dog-eared girls. A lot better than the synopsis makes it out to be.


Out of those...

Must owns, a.k.a they'll have to take my copies out of my cold dead hands...

Beck
Gankutsuou
Welcome to the NHK
School Rumble

Well worth buying

Moonphase
Solty Rei

If you have money to drop

Suzuka
Heat Guy J
Utawarerumono

I have been entertained by, but may not rewatch.

Ghost Hunt
009-1
Aquarion
Rumbling Hearts


I'm sure someone will be along to tell me how wrong I am.

Incidentally, Anime Legends essentials if you are wondering, Cowboy Bebop Remix, Wolf's Rain, Planetes, Please Teacher, Witch Hunter Robin

 

[Pilot Ace]

Beck is a terrific show. I can't recommend it highly enough.

 

[zakkrusz]

SAVE is Funimation's line of bare-bones series. Usually they've been out for quite a while or they rescued them from ADV. A lot of them are very good yes, EX:

Particularly Good Ones Worth Buying:
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad-(Music, Slice of life, Romance) Good story and characters. Great music

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo-(science fiction, Drama, Romance) A classic story with some cool animated twists. I also loved the artstyle though I've heard it doesn't work for everyone.

Ghost Hunt-(Horror, Mystery) A genuinely creepy anime is rare thing. Good to watch with the lights out.

Kanon-(Drama, comedy, slice of life) Great characters and some excellent humor. You'll laugh and unless you are heartless, probably cry at various points too.

Kurau: Phantom Memory-(Science Fiction, Action) This is an epic near-Earth science fiction action series with a good story.

Red Garden-(Horror, Drama) This series contains some really great characters and handles them very well.

Rumbling Hearts-(Drama, Romance) Romantic dramas don't get much more interesting than this great series.

Welcome to the NHK-(Comedy, Drama, slice of life) A story about a jobless loser who meets a woman who claims she can give him counseling to cure him of his ways. Very funny and also hard-hitting and genuinely serious at times as well.

Worth Watching:
009-1
Aquarion
Coyote Ragtime Show
Hell Girl
Galaxy Railways
Glass Fleet
Solty Rei
StrAIn: Strategic Armored Infantry
Suzuka
Utawarerumono

Would Not Recommend:
Air TV
Air: The Movie
Baldr Force EXE
Magikano
Moonphase

I can't really comment on any SAVE editions because I already owned what I wanted to buy before they were introduced last year so I don't have any.

 

[melancholymecha]

a little OT but does anyone know whats going on with the Hellsing Ultimate OVA dvds? Are the rest of them going to get released in the US?(I think theyve only released 4 of them so far.)

 

[zakkrusz]

Funimation has 5,6, and 7 now. When they're releasing them is unknown. Next year most likely.

They licensed a whole slew of stuff in July and that was part of it.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Well, just placed an order for Kurau Phantom Memory and Kanon. Found the ADV singles and artbox for Kurau at Right Stuf, so went for those instead! Thanks for the recommendation...

Hold on! I'm not the OP!

 

[melancholymecha]

Funimation has 5,6, and 7 now. When they're releasing them is unknown. Next year most likely.

They licensed a whole slew of stuff in July and that was part of it.

cool thanks!
oh theyre gonna release the Trigun movie too! Id love to see that in theaters!

 

[zakkrusz]

Well, just placed an order for Kurau Phantom Memory and Kanon. Found the ADV singles and artbox for Kurau at Right Stuf, so went for those instead! Thanks for the recommendation...

Hold on! I'm not the OP!

You're welcome. Hope you like them. If you like Key/Kyoto Animation works you'll probabally like Kanon it's one of the better ones. If you don't mind a little shoujo Ai in your sci-fi, you'll probably like Kurau.

Funimation has 5,6, and 7 now. When they're releasing them is unknown. Next year most likely.

They licensed a whole slew of stuff in July and that was part of it.

cool thanks!
oh theyre gonna release the Trigun movie too! Id love to see that in theaters!

That whole announcement was full of grade A canned Awesome:

Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
Darker Than Black 2: Gemini of the Meteor
Hellsing OVA 5-7
Sekirei: Pure Engagement
Shakugan no Shana Second
Shakugan no Shana The Movie
Shakugan no Shana S
Toaru Majutsu no Index
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
Trigun: Badlands Rumble

And they rescued a bunch of good Geneon leftovers. I'd been looking to buy the Tenchi Muyo OVAs in particular.