What Are You Watching?

[Turalyon]

Is anyone else as over Doctor Who as I am? It feels like it's just going through the motions at this point.

Well duh. You expect something fresh from a franchise that is 50+ years old? The modern series alone has been going on since 2005, afterall.

[TheEconomist]

Since VoK seems to be enjoying Psycho Pass, I'll give it a shot. If it's not awesome, I'm pulling all of your man cards.

Update: Nevermind. Just read the blurb. I don't think that would be the best place to try to get involved in anime. I've read this story a thousand times with my recent cyberpunk binge. Could some one who's not a deranged life-sucking tentacle monster (my new policy is to ignore list all such creatures), give me some better options in the hopes I might convert? And don't say Stein:Gates or whatever from the other thread because that has the same problem too, already read it done by masters of science fiction and I doubt some anime ripoff would appeal to me.

I'm pretty open minded, all I ask is that the female characters don't act like they're seven and actually demonstrate some personal fortitude.

Help me, VoK. You are my only hope. You could also just relay a list from somewhere else if you want.

[Visions of Khas]

I don't think that would be the best place to try to get involved in anime. I've read this story a thousand times with my recent cyberpunk binge.

Yeah, it's essentially Minority Report meets Ghost in the Shell, with ridiculous guns and body horror for viewing pleasure. Not necessarily original, but something decent to half-watch while working on other things.

I'm pretty open minded, all I ask is that the female characters don't act like they're seven and actually demonstrate some personal fortitude.

You won't be getting that with Psycho Pass, much less Sword Art Online. They're rather "misogynistic" -- ie most females are either damsels in distress, or "strong women" that need a male crutch.

I'm not sure how much help I'll be, Econ. I usually watch documentaries and stuff like that, as well as fluff movies when working on art. But I'll see what I can scrounge up. I watched some of Marco Polo, but on closer examination they took quite a few liberties with reality, so I lost interest.

EDIT Case in point, this is my watched list on Netflix:

Psycho Pass
13 Assassins
Automata
Hunting the Elements
10 Questions for the Dalai Llama
War on Whistleblowers
Kumare
Tent City
Black Mirror
Orphan Black
Frequencies
Absentia
Terms and Conditions May Apply
Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance
Sherlock
Dear Mr. Watterson

[DonnyZeDoof]

Since VoK seems to be enjoying Psycho Pass, I'll give it a shot. If it's not awesome, I'm pulling all of your man cards.

Update: Nevermind. Just read the blurb. I don't think that would be the best place to try to get involved in anime. I've read this story a thousand times with my recent cyberpunk binge. Could some one who's not a deranged life-sucking tentacle monster (my new policy is to ignore list all such creatures), give me some better options in the hopes I might convert? And don't say Stein:Gates or whatever from the other thread because that has the same problem too, already read it done by masters of science fiction and I doubt some anime ripoff would appeal to me.

I'm pretty open minded, all I ask is that the female characters don't act like they're seven and actually demonstrate some personal fortitude.

Help me, VoK. You are my only hope. You could also just relay a list from somewhere else if you want.

Try Legends of the Galactic Heroes.

Cheesey translated name but a very interesting anime overall. This one focuses more on its philosophical elements rather than its action.

- - - Updated - - -

Since VoK seems to be enjoying Psycho Pass, I'll give it a shot. If it's not awesome, I'm pulling all of your man cards.

Update: Nevermind. Just read the blurb. I don't think that would be the best place to try to get involved in anime. I've read this story a thousand times with my recent cyberpunk binge. Could some one who's not a deranged life-sucking tentacle monster (my new policy is to ignore list all such creatures), give me some better options in the hopes I might convert? And don't say Stein:Gates or whatever from the other thread because that has the same problem too, already read it done by masters of science fiction and I doubt some anime ripoff would appeal to me.

I'm pretty open minded, all I ask is that the female characters don't act like they're seven and actually demonstrate some personal fortitude.

Help me, VoK. You are my only hope. You could also just relay a list from somewhere else if you want.

Try Legends of the Galactic Heroes.

Cheesey translated name but a very interesting anime overall. This one focuses more on its philosophical elements rather than its action.

[Nissa]

If I could mix things up a bit, there's this Kdrama on Netflix that's pretty good. It's called Arang and the Magistrate, and it's about a ghost woman trying to find out how she died. It's full of Korean mysticism and drama, and isn't a tedious romance like a lot of Kdramas tend to be.

[DemolitionSquid]

Since VoK seems to be enjoying Psycho Pass, I'll give it a shot. If it's not awesome, I'm pulling all of your man cards.

Update: Nevermind. Just read the blurb. I don't think that would be the best place to try to get involved in anime. I've read this story a thousand times with my recent cyberpunk binge. Could some one who's not a deranged life-sucking tentacle monster (my new policy is to ignore list all such creatures), give me some better options in the hopes I might convert? And don't say Stein:Gates or whatever from the other thread because that has the same problem too, already read it done by masters of science fiction and I doubt some anime ripoff would appeal to me.

I'm pretty open minded, all I ask is that the female characters don't act like they're seven and actually demonstrate some personal fortitude.

Help me, VoK. You are my only hope. You could also just relay a list from somewhere else if you want.

God you're jaded.

Try Mushishi. Its like watching a supernatural nature documentary.

[Visions of Khas]

As a quick personal note, I watched Panzram when I was trying to get my head into the Islamic State mindset, trying to understand them. If Psycho Pass is any indication, I am now a criminal.

[DemolitionSquid]

As a quick personal note, I watched Panzram when I was trying to get my head into the Islamic State mindset, trying to understand them. If Psycho Pass is any indication, I am now a criminal.

Technically we're all criminals to some ruleset or another.

[Visions of Khas]

Technically we're all criminals to some ruleset or another.

See, that's my real draw to Psycho Pass, to understand Sybil's ruleset. It seems to me that the system is conducting something of a memetic cold war against the crime strain, isolating potential dormant carriers, and abjectly cauterizing those that show infection. I don't really believe most of the people in Psycho Pass are criminals as we understand it. Rather, it's a strictly regimented civilization where an Absolute exists for humanity -- the Sybil system -- and Relativism is shunned as deviant.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some 'Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil' parallels be drawn sometime soon: Simple knowledge of evil is enough for Sybil to consider you infected by the criminal memetic strain. I suppose its designers considered humans to be innately bad in nature, needing only a slight nudge to reveal, and revel in, that aspect.

[DemolitionSquid]

See, that's my real draw to Psycho Pass, to understand Sybil's ruleset. It seems to me that the system is conducting something of a memetic cold war against the crime strain, isolating potential dormant carriers, and abjectly cauterizing those that show infection. I don't really believe most of the people in Psycho Pass are criminals as we understand it. Rather, it's a strictly regimented civilization where an Absolute exists for humanity -- the Sybil system -- and Relativism is shunned as deviant.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some 'Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil' parallels be drawn sometime soon: Simple knowledge of evil is enough for Sybil to consider you infected by the criminal memetic strain. I suppose its designers considered humans to be innately bad in nature, needing only a slight nudge to reveal, and revel in, that aspect.

The show is ultimately all about the Sybil System, and its continuing evolution. You learn more about its creation in season 2.