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Under the Dog sounds like it will be neat, if only for the good animation and Masahiro Ando's action scene choreography.

I don't have much to say about kickstarter funding as a whole. It's a neat alternative for less-mainstream projects to be green-light - often allowing individuals to create a piece that a large studio wouldn't want to undertake. The only repercussions to this process that I can think of off the top of my head is that the funding isn't guaranteed, and a kickstarted production will not have the same amount of resources as one backed by some of the industry powerhouses (although the same could be said about many independent works).

Uh, I don't really like the word "objective", as ultimately how one chooses to assess quality is subjective. My advice would be to continue to check out a wide variety of works from different directors, scriptwriters and animators, taking note of any styles of storytelling or presentation that resonates with you.

As for 2014 anime, there have actually been quite a few that I've enjoyed. Below are some of my top-picks for the year.

Nope, haven't seen either and have no plans to.

Yup.

I saw Kino's Journey a while ago but don't really remember too much about it.

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would you like to join us ?
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Heya. I'm enjoying Shingeki so far, though I feel the show is not without its flaws. It's probably a bit too early for me to give a definite opinion on the show.

Heya, nice to talk to you again. :3

I have checked out Shingeki no Kyoujin and it seems as though it could be promising later on. I wasn't too keen on the first two episodes since the pacing was a bit quick and didn't really allow the horrors of the titan attack to sink in. The third episode after the time skip was better since things have slowed down and they're now focusing on developing the characters and doing a bit of world building, which is key for any fantasy title.

Other than that, I've been really enjoying Suisei no Gargantia so far as it's been handling its sci-fi elements quite well and developing the setting and ideologies between the different characters nicely. There's also Maou-sama which is worth the occasional laugh since the humour is delivered well and Aku no Hana which is...interesting to say the least.

Ah, sadly I haven't had the chance to check out Game of Thrones yet but I have heard some good things about it from other people. I really don't watch very much television aside from the anime I download so I'm unfortunately not very informed of current media/pop culture. :(

Ah okay, gotcha. It is a known fact that Japan's economy isn't doing that well as of late, so it probably has affected the anime industry in many ways. My personal interpretation is that due to this, studios and directors are playing it safer in terms of the types of shows they decide to animate. So in short, this basically amounts to stuff they know will sell regardless of quality, which may explain why there aren't nearly as many innovative titles being produced as there were 10-15 years ago.

The fight scene from the live action Kenshin film you linked turned out better than I thought. Mind you, I haven't read the manga or watched the anime besides the OVA so I may not be the best person to ask in terms of it being a faithful rendition. With something like Kenshin which is set in a traditional time period and contains lots of Samurai sword fights, I would think adapting it into live action wouldn't be too difficult since there are lots of those types of films already produced.

Regarding the so called decline of anime, I don't necessarily feel we're exactly in a "bad" era so to speak, but a vastly different one from the last decade. While there still are a number of titles which come out each year that possess good writing and characterization (ie. last year's Steins;Gate and Usagi Drop), there has been a general decline in thought provoking works which really attempt to push the boundaries of the medium and challenge conventional thought. This could be mainly due to Japan's economic situation which has caused the industry to favour market demand over innovation. Another possible explanation is that huge fads such as moe have affected the types of works which get produced. I have read before that the otaku of this generation are vastly different from those of the 90's. And considering they are the primary consumers of anime, a lot of what gets produced is to cater to their needs.

While the industry's direction can be seen as a natural progression which is influenced by the culture's needs and changes, I would probably say it has affected the types of shows which get produced at the very least. That isn't to say everything that comes out nowadays is bad, just that the industry has adopted a different mindset. At the very least, we can still appreciate a work for its writing, production and characters even if it is a victim to recent tropes. I'd probably need to check out more titles from the 80's and 90's though before I can safely say anime is truly declining though.

Still, after completing more quality titles like Ghost in the Shell, I start to wonder if a show of its quality would get produced in this day and age. Would people be willing to sit through a work which really takes the time to develop its setting and has a large amount of relevant social commentary? Or would they rather be fed flashy action sequences and half naked lolis at every corner? If it's the latter, then we've certainly moved into a different type of anime from the days long past. That being said, it's important to be able to put everything into perspective by checking out a wide variety of shows before declaring that anime is on the decline. I'd certainly say I have a better view on the industry now than I did a year ago when I had only seen 100 shows.

Finally, in terms of anime from this past year, there really hasn't been too much that has stood out for me. But out of the lot, I'd say some of the better titles included: Mouretsu Pirates, Jinrui wa Suita Shimashita, Sakamichi no Apollon and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Wasn't aware that there was a live action Kenshin film made but it doesn't surprise me considering the franchise's worldwide popularity. To be perfectly honest though, I don't think I'll ever see it mainly because I've never been fond of live action adaptation of anime (Death Note being an example of this). There's also the fact that other than the Trust and Betrayal OVA, I haven't seen anything else in the Kenshin universe.

Oh hey, long time no talk. I thought you might have stopped using this site so I probably removed you by mistake while cleaning out my friend's list a while back. Anyway, nice to hear from you again. I've basically been the same old, still watching quite a bit each season and writing long walls of text. Any idea what you plan to watch next?

Happy Birthday!