Would anyone be interested in participating in an anime watching and/or manga reading club? It would be like a book club, just with anime and manga. We'd have a set period of time to watch an anime or read a manga and then we'd all discuss it and or swarm its works page and fill it in. Here's what I'm thinking:

(Edited for ease of seeing the rules decided below, also posted on our The Anime And Manga Troping Club page!)

Purpose: To share in watching an anime and/or reading a manga at the same time with friends, discovering new anime and manga, and filling up neglected works pages with the appropriate tropes. Oh, and having fun!

The Rules:

• Participation: No commitment is necessary. You aren't required to participate in reading/watching every anime or manga the club decides on, or complete the suggested quota. You can just do what you can, or after trying out the anime or manga, if you don't like it, there's no obligation to continue, and you can participate again when we move to a different work. All participants are however expected to make an effort to fill in the anime or manga's TV Tropes work page.
• Applicable Anime and Manga Series: One anime and one manga will be chosen for each two week session, you may participate in either or both. It is preferred that the works TV Tropes Pages be under filled-in, we're looking for the 'under-loved' and 'hidden gems' of anime and manga that the casual anime watcher/manga reader wouldn't necessarily be exposed to. An example of an anime with an appropriate sized page to nominate is Pumpkin Scissors (note that it doesn't have a character page, either). Also, no Hentai please, but non-explicit yuri and yaoi is allowed.
• Session Quotas: Each session lasts two weeks. If you do cannot complete the quota you are encouraged to continue on your own with it. Links for watching and reading the anime online will be provided. Participants are free to watch either version of the anime, subbed or dubbed (if it has been dubbed), and in any language, in accordance with their preferences. Sessions will be made up of:
  • Roughly 13 episodes of an anime, or a full half-season anime. (About a half season, usually there is a naturally break.) OR 2 anime movies
  • Roughly 2 to 3 volumes of a manga, or fifteen chapters.
• Anime and Manga Nominations: For the first few sessions, Nominations will be open to everyone. Once it's rolling, things may be changed to only allow nominations from tropers who have participated in at least one session in either manga or anime. Tropers are allowed to nominate one anime and one manga. If there are a lot of nominations, they may be capped at between 5-7, depending on how many participants. Nominations that do not win, may be renominated in the next session. Cases of borderline-length work pages require their nominations to be seconded, though this may be done by any participant, even if they've already made other nominations. To Nominate a work give write up a post with:
  • Name of work (also if it's an anime or manga)
  • Genres of the work:
  • Short description of the premise (between about one and three lines)
  • Short description of what makes it good/why it should be chosen. Pimping, basically (one or two lines)
• How It's Chosen: The choice is made by voting. We are currently in the process of asking if we can use the TV Tropes page Action Crowners, but if not an alternative means of voting will be provided by a Zoomerang poll. Voting for multiple series will be enabled, but not multiple votes for the same series. Upon Calling the vote, the club leader (me) will open a new thread int he forum entitled: Anime Troping Club Session [date of session] - [name of anime]: were discussion and participation will be open. Upon the start of the session, nominations for the next session will be open.

Nominations for the upcoming Nov. Mon. 14 - Sun. 27 session are closed! Please Visit Here To Vote!

Anime Nominations

1. Beet The Vandel Buster (Nominated by Crazysamaritan)

• Genre: Shonen/Fighting/Comedy/Fantasy
• Description: The world like a fantasy rpg. Monsters are some sort of alien race. Protagonist is your typical idiot hero who "will end the age of darkness".
• Why it's good: Luck is a skill.

2. Mouryou No Hako (Nominated by Noir Grimoir)

• Genre: Horror/Mystery/Supernatural
• Description: A small detective agency investigates the appearances of boxes in the hills containing the severed heads and limbs of female victims, while a girl has gone missing and there's a man on a train with a box containing a severed head that talks.
• Why it's good: Really nice animation, mind screwiness, interesting concept and smart plotting, a subtle hint of yuri for those who like that.

3. Rah Xephon (Nominated by Juan Carlos, seconded by Thenamelesssamurai)

• Genre: Mecha/Drama/Romance
• Description: Ayato is sucked out from his normal life in Tokyo by a military organization called TERRA after he is discovered to be the only one who's able to pilot the Rah Xephon, a powerful mecha of unknown origin which the Mu (a race of aliens who have taken over Tokyo in secret) housed within their HQ. Ayato has to decide whether to fight his friends in Tokyo alongside TERRA or go back home and accept who he is.
• Why it's good: While not particularly well written and suffering from anime's problem with exposition, it is an amazing experience, with beautiful art design and animation, and a very likeable, if uneven cast.

4. House Of Five Leaves (Nominated by Thenamelesssamurai)

• Genre: Jidaigeki (Period Drama)/ Samurai/ Action
• Description: A skilled, but timid ronin named Akitsu Masanosuke is hired to be a bodyguard of a man named Yaichi, who is the leader of a group who kidnaps heirs of wealthy businessmen and hold them for ransom.
• Why recommended: A distinctive art style, with an intricate plot and great characters. Also, the anime is 12 episodes long so we'll complete the whole thing in one session.

5. The World Of Narue (Nominated by Jen Kunoichi 351)

• Genre: Romance/Comedy/ Sci-Fi
• Description: It's a simple story about a boy named Kazuto and his first girlfriend, Narue, who happens to be an alien. Hilarity Ensues.
• Why recommend: Although the series can be a giant Cliché Storm, the slow moving misadventures can often be very heartwarming and charming.

6. Bibliotheca Mystica De Dantalian (Nominated by Liberated Liberater)

• Genre: Fantasy/Mystery
• Description: Ex-pilot Huey receives a letter saying that he has inherited his recently-deceased grandfather's mansion. With this inheritance, he is also tasked to take care of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian. Amid a ton of books in his grandfather's library, Huey finds Dalian, a girl with a large lock hanging before her. She says that she is the gateway to the Bibliotheca, and she has selected Huey to be her key-keeper.
• Why recommend: It's not exactly Studio Gainax's usual fare, but it has a couple of things going for it. First, the main character's relationship with Dalian is a pretty refreshing change to the usual Hero-Shana Clone dynamic and averts the usual "pathetic every-dude who gets beaten up" cliche. It's also episodic in nature, managing to squeeze in several different stories involving the Phantom Books that the duo has been set out to collect. The art style is also rather visually pleasing.

7. Ano Hana (Nominated by Tropers/Pokénatic)

• Genres: Drama, Slice of Life, Tragedy
• Description: A few years after Menma's death, Jintan finds himself face to face with her ghost, asking him to help her fulfill her wish. Unfortunately, she does not remember what said wish is and they apparently need the whole gang to fulfill said wish, which, sadly, has grown apart.
• Why recommended: This series is well written and quite heartwarming. Also, it's very relatable, as we've all had friends that we've gradually lost contact with.

Manga Nominations

1. The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Nominated by Ack Sed)

• Genre: Horror/Supernatural
• Description: 5 graduates at a Buddhist university, each with their own skill, go into business together when our everyman character reveals he can speak to the dead. Three guesses what they do for them.
• Why it's good: The realism of the art is unique and the story mixes the sheer weirdness of modern-day Japan with Urban Fantasy to create something quite special.

2. Eternal Sabbath (Nominated by Noir Grimoir)

• Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller/Drama
• Description: A neurologist meets a genetically engineered human with dangerous telepathic abilities from a project to engineer people to live longer. But while he seems relatively ambivalent towards normal humans, the other creation from this project is a murderous psychopath who needs to be stopped at all costs.
• Why it's good: Something for everyone! Romance, psychic mind-tampering, realistic presentation, psychic murders, a psychopathic child and it's completely finished!

3. Shoulder A Coffin Kuro (Nominated by Jen Kunoichi 351)

• Genre: Adventure/Fantasy/Seinen
• Description: It is a Yonkoma about a girl named Kuro who seemingly travels around aimlessly and always shoulders a large coffin. She is accompanied by a large group of bats (which represents one individual) and is later joined by a pair of Creepy Twins. As the story goes on, the reader begin to discover the dark truths and origins about Kuro and company.
• Why recommend: While beginning a bit light hearted, the series is full of Dark And Troubled pasts that make you care for the characters easily and the story gets pretty compelling (though very slow moving) the more we discover about Kuro.

4. Ane Doki (Nominated by Liberated Liberater)

• Genre: Romantic comedy/slice-of-life
• Description: From the author of Strawberry One Hundred Percent and Hatsukoi Limited, this is the story of middle-school kid Kouta who ends up having a high-school student take care of him while his father is away.
• Why recommend: I made the page some time ago and I figured that I could get more people to add to it. The ending is pretty predictable, but there's a whole lot of stuff that leads up to it, and it's both heartwarming and funny at the same time.

5. Shitsurakuen (Nominated by Tropers/Pokénatic)

• Genres: Action, Fantasy, Shoujo-ai
• Description: Shitsurakuen follows the story of Himoto Sora, a transfer student with a sense of justice and dreams of becoming a knight. Upon arriving at Utopia Academy, she learns of a virtual reality-like game played by the male students in which they use girls as weapons in battles for status and treat them as commodities. Seeing one of these girls being abused, she steps in and unwittingly becomes the first female participant of the game.
• Why recommended: Although the premise may seem very strange at first, the story starts out as a simple Knight In Shining Armour story, but becomes more complex as it progresses.

6. Beet The Vandel Buster Manga (Nominated by Crazysamaritan)

• Genre: Shonen/Fighting/Comedy/Fantasy
• Description: The world like a fantasy rpg. Monsters are some sort of alien race. Protagonist is your typical idiot hero who "will end the age of darkness".
• Why it's good: Luck is a skill.

7. Apothecarius Argentum (Nominated by Ack Sed)

• Genres': Fantasy, historical, Romance, Shojo,
• Description: About drugs. And chemistry. A poison-taster becomes the playmate of a little princess. After divers alarums he earns his freedom. When the princess is grown, the poison-taster comes back into her life, having learned to be a mediaeval druggist. The only thing standing between their relationship is his poison-filled body.
• Why it's good: It's a romance for the kind of geek who delights in science with his or her relationships.

edited 12th Nov '11 3:52:33 AM by NoirGrimoir

This certainly seems interesting. I'm not sure how much free time I'll have for this, but I'll definitely be giving it a try.

Don't know how much free time I have either, but I'll give it a shot.

I'm interested. I'm always interested in obscure anime. What would you consider a short trope page?

Though even if constant participation is not obligatory, we should have a rule that after choosing a first series, only those who watched that one and contributed to the discussion, should be able to vote for picking the next one. Otherwise, the thread will be all about random crusading fans butting in, forcing the object of their obsession on us, and then leaving.

College is getting rather demanding lately, so I'm not sure. But I guess it could be fun.

Is being complete/completely translated a requirement?

Sounds interesting. I'm in.

I'd be up for an anime one, although I'd prefer to not treat it like a book club and instead go for a stream and comment as we go thing.

I'm In, Although I'm very skeptical of small-works and tend to favor mainstream works for some reason. I wouldn't want to be forced through a series I find boring. Edit: After reading rule 2- I'm going to say you think of everything! n,n

That would exclude pretty much anyone that isn't from the Americas, because timezones are a bitch.

Welp, we can always try and run in an hour where we can all work together.

I run an IRC film club with an australian, a scotsman and a couple of Americans and we do fairly well. (I feel like this is the beginning of a bar joke...)

It depends on the members who join and the timezone, of course.

That does sound suspiciously like the beginning of a bar joke, Juan.

Oh, and that reminds me, should we set a date for our next Evangelion liveblog? I know I've been really bad and haven't come on IRC in forever.

Indeed you have been. Bad sporky. for shame >:[

I dunno, this weekend, when you're free and stuff?

Sure. Saturday or Sunday better for you?

sunday is shaping up to be a rather free day.

OK, awesome. I'll be there.

Concerning length requirements, I think we can play it by ear, we can decide on a case by case basis. Like if we really want to do one but the page is borderline, we can let it slide. I would say Heroic Age or Pumpkin Scissors is probably hovering around the high water mark. Not saying we couldn't do one with a longer, but I think we should try there for now.

Completely translated, I would say not a rule for the manga, so long as there is enough for one of our sessions. So at least 1 season of an anime has been subbed, if not dubbed, and at least three volumes of a manga has been translated (or if the actually series is shorter, than the whole thing).

Also for the anime, there would be no requirements about whether you watch it subbed or dubbed, so whichever you prefer, you can do that. Most anime and manga you can find on the internet without having to go rent or buy it, so I'm not too worried about that, though we'll make sure we can provide links for everyone.

I could agree to a 'no voting unless you've participated in at least session' rule. Other rules for voting, I'm thinking:

• Anyone who has participated (except for the first time) in at least one round/two week session can submit one and only one suggestion for an anime and/or manga (can do both, but only one of each).
• Anyone who has participated in (again, except for the first time) at least one round/two week session can vote. (Can we use crowners for this?)
• If we have a lot of suggestions, we may put a cap of 7 or so to vote between. If the one you want isn't picked you can always nominate it next time.
• Pumpkin Scissors, I'm thinking is ranked as being a longer page, but still acceptable. For, say, one like Last Exile, you guys would really have to push for it, and make an effort in convincing me to allow it the next time by troping the heck out of that page. If there's no character page, that would make it more acceptable as well.

The format for submitting a vote (my thoughts):

• Name of anime/manga
• The person nominating it
• Genre
• Short description of the premise (between one and three sentences)
• Up to one line of pimping to convince us.

edited 8th Nov '11 5:32:17 PM by NoirGrimoir

I'm not sure how much time I can devote to this (considering college schedules + time zones), but I'm interested.

Thread added to watchlist.

One question: some longer running series have been around and slowly gotten wiki love here, but it covers less than 10% of the actual series. In that case, would it be acceptable to recommend, say, a single movie to review and recap?

Movies? Movies seem fine. 1 movie = about 5 episodes at most so, I'd say if we ever did a movie, then we should do two movies, actually.

About long runners, I know it gets tedious to watch the same thing for months, so My thoughts are that hopefully if you hang in for the first 13 episodes then on your own you may continue with it or later we may revisit it and do the next thirteen to finish out the series. Most half season anime are about 13 sometimes as much 16 episodes. In the case of a single series only being 16 episodes then we would probably just do the while thing in one session.

So I'm looking at my calender and I'm thinking Nov. Mon. 14 - Sun. 27 would be the first session, so we get two weekends in there for everyone. And we get one weekend to hammer out what we want to watch and/or read for it.

Also guys, if you want to start making suggestions with the form I've provided in my earlier post, you can do so here in the thread (you are allowed one manga and one anime each!), I'm asking about us of crowners for non-TRS from the mods, but if that falls through I've found a free online polling place for us. We just can't have the whole form on it unfortunately, that will have to be on a separate page here in the thread.

edited 8th Nov '11 11:06:48 PM by NoirGrimoir

The tedious thing is why I was thinking a movie instead of season. More self-contained that way.

• Beet the Vandal Buster
• crazysamaritan
• shonen fighting
• world like a fantasy jrpg. Monsters are some sort of alien race. Protagonist is your typical idiot hero who "will end the age of darkness".
• Up to one line of pimping to convince us... Luck is a skill.

Leave out the name. It's redundant as it's on your post. With that said:

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

Genre: Horror/Supernatural
Description: 5 graduates at a Buddhist university,each with their own skill,go into business together when our everyman character reveals he can speak to the dead. Three guesses what they do for them.
Why it's good: The realism of the art is unique and the story mixes the sheer weirdness of modern-day Japan with Urban Fantasy to create something quite special.

edited 9th Nov '11 7:12:16 AM by AckSed

Cool! I was actually thinking of reading this on my own, actually. I think if that one and Mouryou No Hako won, that would be a cool Supernatural/Mystery/Horror combo for everyone.

I've added the nominations to my first post. I think we'll leave nominations open until we have five of each, or until Friday night, whichever comes first. We aren't allowed to use crowners, so I've made an account Zoombafoo and I'll make up a poll for us to determine the winner. Also remember everyone that if the one you nominate for this session doesn't get chosen, you can renominate it in the next session (though, you'll have to have participated in either the manga or anime watching/reading to make a nomination, though we may have that for these first few sessions, depending on how many people participate.)

Also I'm trying to think of incentives to make everyone put in the effort to fill in the trope page as they watch/read. Like the person who adds the most gets some kind of perk or something for the next round or recognition somewhere or something. Bragging rights, I dunno, just something that doesn't cost money.

edited 9th Nov '11 2:30:08 PM by NoirGrimoir

dude.

we can.

just holler up and pony g will come down from the sky, with his pegasus wings and his rainbow-dash-like demeanor.

At any rate, Imma suggest Rah Xephon Genre: Super Robot
Description: Ayato Kamina is sucked out from his normal life in Tokyo by a military organization called TERRA after he is discovered to be the only one who's able to pilot the Rah Xephon, a powerful mecha of unknown origin which the Mu (A race of aliens who have taken over Tokyo in secret) housed within their HQ. Ayato has to decide whether to fight his friends in Tokyo alongside TERRA or go back home and accept who he is.
Pimping:While not particularly well written and suffering from anime's problem with exposition, it is an amazing experience, with beatiful art design and animation, and a very likeable, if uneven cast.

edited 9th Nov '11 2:44:22 PM by juancarlos