Speed Grapher

[Neko Rae]

I'm suprised there isn't a thread for this already since I've heard so much about this anime

Genres: drama, mystery, psychological, romance, supernatural
Themes: Photography
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Plot Summary: Ten years after the Bubble War, the dichotomy between the rich and the poor in the world becomes more prominent and Japan is no exception. The rich seeks to satisfy their desires and derive pleasure for themselves, and Tokyo has materialise into such a city as a result. Saiga, once a war photographer, works for Hibara Ginza in the capitalist state of Tokyo. He infiltrates into Roppongi Club, a secretive base located in the red district area of the city, to collect information about them. However, he was caught in the process and brought forward to a girl called Kagura who was in the midst of a ritual. His contact with Kagura awakens his special ability: the power to make things explode once photographed. In order to unravel the mystery behind the Roppongi Club and Kagura, Saiga begins his solitary battle.


I've only seen 4 episodes and it's really strange but it's really interesting too. It looks like it will be a cool anime

[M_Ghey]

i saw it, its a solid anime, though a bit repetitive/uncreative in its concepts. there is a great episode about the villain's past though.

[Princess Gheyfu]

It's an okay series, with loads of potential but it doesn't know how to hit emotional chords well at all. Also, if you pay close attention, you'll hear almost the same exact phrase about the "city favoring the rich" or give them pleasure, or soemthing along those lines, an umpteenth amount of times per episode. It gets so damn repetitive and annoying, and shows the writing staff clearly does not know what they are doing at times. =/

As for animation, it's a decent series, with some very fluid parts and a few shortcuts here and there, and the art is decent too. The story has its ups and downs, despite sounding ridiculous and cliche if you try to explain it to someone, and the characters are likeable or hateable when the creators want you to feel for them, but the soundtrack seems a bit sub-par. I would only recommend it to fans of gratuitous violence or just someone who wants to be disturbed, but in all other regards, it's too average to make a mark. If you want psychological, mystery, nd drama with a smidge of supernatural, watch either Death Note or Monster, and if you want an intense series about photography or film, watch FLAG, imo.

[Neko Rae]

or just someone who wants to be disturbed

I would fall into that category. I like disturbing anime so I'll keep watching it for awhile longer.

[nx6]

There prolly wasn't a thread for it because it's been out for a few years now. It's on my "want to see" list (and my DVD rental queue) right now. But it's going to be a little while since Hell Girl is queued before it.

[Evanesque]

Who exactly subbed the series? Links would be appreciated ^^;
I remember seeing this anime being compared to Mnemosyne somewhere..can't remember where though :S

[nx6]

Who exactly subbed the series? Links would be appreciated ^^

http://btjunkie.org/search?q=speed%20grapher :rolleye09

[Gojira]

I've seen it a a while. It has one of my favorite Opening Theme Songs from any anime so far "Girls on Film" by David Bowie. As a show, I'd say it was decent and it had some pretty original ideas but I felt it could have been executed a little better. It started off strong with a pretty compelling storyline and interesting characters but in the end it fell short of anything spectacular and became an average Anime.

I sort of wish some of the other villains he faced were a little bit more creative(Killer Dentist?). The coolest villain he faced for me was the rubber man in the earlier episodes. But yeah, as Mr.Saturn said if you want to be disturbed watch this show.

[Neko Rae]

I still think it's pretty interesting so far. I haven't watched much though. I'm only on episode 8. I wish I had a camera like Saiga's. That would be so awesome. And I liked the engrish part in episode 7

[nx6]

*revives*

I'm watching this now. I've gotten through the first four episodes. I thought it was going to be an interesting neo-noir type thing but the superpower-with-my-camera bit is slightly laughable. I'm staying with it though. All this extra perversion is reminding me of Mnemosyne.

Music's funky though. :D Reminds me of '80's cop dramas from TV.

As for the ED, I don't think being compared with a twtiching horse's tail is good imagery, no matter what language you're singing in. :rolleye09

[Kazmiz]

I've always wanted to watch this, but I somehow never managed to find it.

[Evanesque]

Ditto, how'd you get hold of your episodes nx6? From which fansub group?
:3

[Kamina]

Here is a link to shinsen's torrent of 1-24, but it only has 2 seeds:
http://www.mininova.org/get/947104

Other than that, I cant find many other links on it. I have a premium account at anime-eden, so I can get it there, but that doesnt help you guys at all.

[nx6]

Ditto, how'd you get hold of your episodes nx6? From which fansub group?
:3
I'm renting the DVDs actually. It was licensed and dubbed quite some time ago. I'm watching it subbed, though.

It's interesting how much the titles were changed for the English version (it's a two angle DVD, so you set it to English credits and then activate the full subtitles so you get the printed English title and the subtitles translated what the Japanese title screen said).

AnimeA has them all as well:
http://www.animea.net/download/736/Speed+Grapher.html

Edit:

Noteworthy for anyone who really liked this series, about a week ago a new box set for Speed Grapher was released. $63 gets you the entire series.

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Grapher-Box-Set/dp/B00127R2Y2/

[Kamina]

Animea's links are dead, at least the megaupload ones are. This anime is sot of hard to find on the net.

I dont buy anime, who do you think I am? :p

[nx6]

Here's another torrent everyone. (http://dl.btjunkie.org/torrent/Speed-Grapher/377471175410655b93409cd6f8f6aba8d1bd19e5bbd8/download.torrent) Seventeen seeds and it's higher quality files than the other one. No CRC or subgroup notation on it though, so God knows what group it is.


I don't buy anime, who do you think I am? :p
It's for other perspective purchasers. I really like it when one of these all-in-one box sets come out as it lets you own a series for half to a third the original cost. Plus it takes up much less room on your DVD shelf. SoltyRei had one come out recently, too.

Ima gonna go to YouTube now and try to find the opening. Apparently the one on the DVDs is not the original one. The original is a Duran Duran song. Ironic that the Western Audience can't get an English rock band on their DVDs due to licensing issues.

Edit: Did they do a broadcast-only opening?

YouTube - Speed Grapher OP 1

The one below is the one from the DVD. Except this has the Duran Duran song on it, so it's not the U.S. DVDs, but same visuals.

YouTube - Speed Grapher noncredit Opening (complete ver)