Rena is a human who can turn into a cat-girl, and is one of the helpers of the Skull Man.

Tetsurou - he looks like an anthro doberman dog, and is the brother of Rena.

Sayoko - an anthro bird-girl appearing in episode 03.

Anthro lizards - there are quite a few of them, especially in the last few episodes.

Tried looking for this, as it looks very well done, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Skull Man, while in my opinion a good anime, was an overlooked anime and didn't get much attention. I believe the anime diverged from the spirit of the manga it was based on. Surprisingly, the anime included more mammal based anthros than the manga, whose characters were more insect or reptilian. Go figure.

I just binged this anime, because I could.
It wasn't good.
It wasn't good at all.

>>30164
Wouldn't surprise me, I've learnt not to trust recommendations by furries when a game or cartoon features anthros.

>>29791
Furries like furries, watcha gonna do? Anyway, watch (AIA) anthros in anime :P Most of what this guy adds to his furry videos are actually good anime http://www.youtube.com/user/Mephistin?feature=mhee

Also, this new anime is pretty good for us :3 http://www.nwanime.com/2653/shirokuma-cafe/

>>29798
Try Tehparadox. I found the whole thing there. But I can upload it to rapidshare for you as well.

I have to disagree with people who said it's not good. I am not a big fan of anime, actually - there are maybe 5 series I actually like - but I really enjoyed this one. It's a good mystery investigation story, there are some good plot twists, and the epynomous Skull Man is not really a 'hero' as some would assume based on the whole vigilante/superhero costume.

>>29792
I have a picture of her i need finish, but im currently over worked with commission :(
I´ll post it on FA when im done.

>>30171
The Skull Man is Speed Grapher, just haphazardly developed and with Kemono in the place of monsters. Speed Grapher was not good, but where its atmosphere and story placed it on the high/middle end of mediocrity, The Skull Man's haphazardly developed plot, clashing slapstick/serious atmosphere, and (even more) formulaic episode structure placed it on the lower end of the mediocrity scale.

http://anilinkz.com/series/the-skull-man
All episodes if you don't want to bother with a torrent.

>>30174
Then let us agree to disagree. Granted, some things fall short. But at least it's not Maple Story - The Anime *shudders*. I praise the show at least for the kemono designs (which the appearance of kemono's alone is a rare sight in animes as it is) and not skimping on the animation budget. Believe it or not, this show was a prelude to Cyborg 009, if anybody even recalls the name.

>>30180
And Last Action Hero was a better movie than Kazaam. This does not make Last Action Hero a good movie.

The writer of Cyborg 009/The Skull Man was long dead when this anime came out. I'm happy about that, because if he hadn't been, seeing what his work had become would have killed him.

Finally, it did have good kemono designs, but saying that something is a good anime on account of good kemono designs is... naive? I can think of several better words to fill in that blank, but even I don't want to sound that much like an ass.

>>30172
Wow, that's good to hear! I like your art. :)

Me, I want to draw a three-some between Rena, Sayoko and Tetsurou.

Watching it right now. I only have this to say:

Furries need to set their standards higher and not scrape the bottom of the barrel and desperately chewing on anything kemono. I'm siding with >>30174 and lament at how the art style and animation being the only thing that's worth a bit of praise. The kemono designs are uninspired, the story expects people to be familiar with it (note, failed to get me invested, much less knowing what the hell is going on), and seeing Sayoko die so easily put a serious dent on my interest.

In the end, it seems Geneon just put this together half-heartedly. Not recommended.

>>30186
Very well. I concede to your point. Regardless, let us try to respectfully oblige Swift's request and not discourage his interests in this topic.

>>30188

I'm already making an effort to respect his tastes, otherwise I would've called him an idiot right off the bat. Unfortunately, I must still urge other furries to up their standards in the future.

>>30190

Personal opinions aside, I merely created this topic just to make people aware that this anime exists. If it wasn't for a link a guy sent me to Animevice, I would have never have heard of it.

>>30186

Damn, and here I was hoping that the animation would also mean good writing... since you'd think a good studio would pick up a well-done piece.

Oh well...

>>30192
The original was very well-written. This animation is an adaptation of an adaptation, bearing little resemblance to the adaptation and less to the original. They contracted their writing out to a concept artist with no writing experience, probably to save on royalties.

Fuck the haters. Skull Man 2007 is great but hot damn OP you're spoiling alot of stuff for new viewers. I don't know why people saying you need to be familiar with anything aside from a quick nod to another show at the very end, it pretty much stands on its own.

If you liked this, Try Darker than Black, no anthros but it has a similar feel and made by the same studio (BONES) but it felt more complete overall in terms of its conclusion

>>31305

What haters?

>>31307
Welp, here's DK's progress on one of the characters so far.

>>31305

I'm not sure. I got 6 episodes in, but I can't say I was too pleased with it. Everything felt like it was just left hating.

Now, considering the mystery style of the anime, it's likely all of it gets revealed in the end, but I couldn't help getting a feeling that a lot of things were just going to be lampshaded.

More Skull Man kemono pics please.

I will draw one soon enough. Will post it here when it's done. :)

>>30193

I just read the original 1972 manga, and... are you serious? Good writing? The main character is a constantly sniggering evil bastard who kills everyone, and from the first page where the yakuza youth appears, it is quite obvious who the Skull Man's real identity is. It was such a badly written story, that I am very glad the anime bears very little resemblance to it.

>>32582
And it's obvious from minute one who Tuxedo Mask is. But despite hackneyed lines and a repetitive nature, Sailor Moon will remain the quintessential magical girl. For what it was trying to do, the original Skull Man was a paragon of its genre just as Sailor Moon was in hers. It delivered its message efficiently and effectively. For what the animation tried to do, it was sub-par in relation to its contemporaries in all areas excepting animation.

>>32585

Well, I could never take Sailor Moon seriously even back when I saw it as a kid. Same goes for this manga, it is just silly despite trying to be grim and dark. Compare this with some classic Batman comics from the same 1970 era, and you'll see that it hasn't aged well.

Found this scan online yesterday, btw... apparently there is an Artbook/sketchbook from the series, with designs for all the characters inside. If anyone has more scans available, please share.

Nice scan ^^ this is a good material to practice my coloring skill :D have any more?

>>32591
Ya see, them there's personal preferences. This here intelligent criticism thing we're trying to get going on ain't based on that. Plus, you don't seem to grasp how media has to be compared to its contemporaries in order for the comparison to carry any weight.

>>32596

I am sorry, but comparing a remake that has very, very little to do with the original (apart from the Skull Man's costume, and the name-drop of Kagura Tatsuo, everything is totally different) is not real criticsm. If you'd compare this anime to say, others of the same genre, that'd be the proper comparison. I am actually curious about that, per se, as I don't watch much anime alltogether, I especially shirk away from 40-50 episode long ones due to the padding, but if you can name some that have such an ongoing plot compressed into about 13 episodes, with quality writing, I'd be interested to check them out. (If they have anthros, that'd be the icing on the cake). ;)

>>32598

This was posted on a message board, some 2 years ago. I contacted the poster, as he said he'd post more if people could identify the names of some of the characters for him (like Tetsurou or Rena). I'll keep you posted if I get more, of course.
I took about 60 screenshots of Sayoko for reference yesterday ('cause Diablo III once again had a server update, darn you Blizzard), I will probably sketch her soon.

>>32600
I had mentioned Speed Grapher earlier, but it was an example of something that is only slightly less mediocre than Skull Man (the similarities in plot are uncanny, the main difference being that SG actually connected everything in a coherent manner). A modern series with the psychological aspects displayed in Skull Man done properly would be Monster, but the writers recognized that it would take almost 80 episodes in order to pull it off.

The problem with Skull Man was that they tried to pull off too much. It was a mixture of superhero genre, psychological drama, the supernatural, monsters, cults, detectives, etc. etc. They took a thousand successful ideas and tried to mash them all together, but a chimera like that will never be any good because it has no real focus. There is no direct positive equivalent to what they were trying to do in Skull Man because there is no way for such a scattered premise to be pulled off positively.

I don't know about Skull Man anime but Speed Grapher was indeed an icredibly overrated, mediocre anime and very annoying.

>>32611
Overrated? I've only once ever heard anyone call it anything but mediocre, and they called it bad but striving towards mediocrity. Where are you going that they would actually sing praises of SG? Are you sure you're not thinking of a different anime?

It seems that a lot of us are at an impasse. I believe it is true that if a person who has no interest in anything anthro related were to watch this anime, they would be more dissatisfied of how the series progressed and concluded. The anime started out as something of a mystery, then it turned into a plot point of maniacs in power armor and chimera beasts which the viewers who started watching it did not expect to happen, nor would they have been okay with the sudden shift in genre.

I know a few people who were not aware of the mood whiplashes in animes like School Days or Puella Magi. They were not used to sudden changes, and disliked the anime because of that. Skull Man however did that at least four times. Mystery-->Fighting Beasts-->Those four crazy guys out of nowhere-->to walking tanks.

The only reason why it's getting attention in this board is because fans of anthro works would overlook the flaws. And despite being level headed, I find myself enthralled at the monster's designs. Let's bear in mind that the style is not too abstract ala Samurai Pizza Cats or Zorori.

ALSO, I strongly believe that the appeal to anthro lovers is because the female beasts are prominently feminine with their upper curves. Whereas in some other animes they'd transform completely into non-anthro beasts or something unattractive. And I think that's the redeeming thing in an anthro fan's eyes, the beasts are exotic looking, which is quite frankly, a rare sight in anime. So yeah, you all have the right to disagree with my opinion. Because it is just opinion.

>>32619
I totally agree with it. In fact, it's noteable that this anime actually portrays anthros in a style that is closer to a western look of traditional were-beasts (human+animals features) as opposed to the usual japanese way (like Inuyasha or all those catgirls).

For me, the genre change in the series was not that jarring - after all, the beasts and the supernatural were present from episode one, where Hayato first encounters the Skull Man. The whole series slowly but surely ESCALATES. Each time the stakes are higher, the involvement of various characters in the plot deeper, the enemies tougher. And after the finale, if you think back on the plot, it all makes sense in retrospect. Small hints are all over the place... you just could not put the puzzle together without the final piece.

And obviously, for a guy interested in furries, the females being portrayed as proper females is also important. :-) I have not seen many anime that does it so well. Other noteworthy examples are in Sailor Moon (Falion, for example), Tokyo Mew-Mew (many Chimera Animas), and even Aquarian Age (there is a nice Lizard girl Darklore in that, see pic).

>>32620
>the involvement of various characters in the plot deeper


!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

The way that the skull man's character was completely developed in the same episode in which he was killed off? Genius. And the way that the officer's relationship was completely developed in the same episode that it was killed off? Genius. And the way that the girl's relationship with her brother was completely developed in the same episode in which he was killed off? Genius. And the way that the actress was completely developed in the same episode in which she was killed off? Genius.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

>>32627 *sigh*, ので、失礼な

For any of you who haven't seen this anime, you can already tell there's a big split of opinions.

At best, don't expect a masterpiece if you decide to watch this series. Those who can't help but notice the shortcomings can at least acknowledge the fresh kemono material which is in scarce supply in japanese anime.

And Swift, don't be discouraged by the overtly negative comments. The reasons you have for liking Skullman appears to have a lasting positive effect on you.

Is "otaku" the synonym for Anonymous here? Kinda new to the site... So anyway Otaku, NO, I am talking about how we learn how deeply involved "uncle" Kuroshio is in things, and how Hayato is first involved in the cases (and often deaths) of people he barely knew, and how this escalates to him being witness to his childhood love's death, etc. Also, if you have watched the whole series, you can realize who the old detective was actually working for.

>>32628

Thanks Andante, I learned a long time ago not to let other people's negative opinion dissuade me from enjoying something I like. Take John Carter of Mars for example - it was Disney's biggest flop ever, and critics panned it, but me (and a lot of likeminded nerds) loved it as a great adaptation of a 100-year old book.

Look me up on Furaffinity if you feel inclined to. ;) I am up as Swift12.

Also, here is another example of the anthro style I was talking about - a very sexy chicken from Tokyo Mew Mew. (I skimmed through oh so many horrible episodes of this boring show to get these anthros...)

>>32686
There are a couple of good things in the anime. I'm only too happy to admit that. But that's what ranks it as a mediocre anime as opposed to a godawful one.

Also, Disney and publishers are assholes for waiting for the copyright to expire so they didn't have to pay royalties.

>>29791
He finished it btw

Just finished my line-art of Sayoko. Colored version to come later... ;)

Need more pics of these characters they look hot in a certain way