Post by: jboekel on September 03, 2004, 02:56:23 AM
[ better not include download links here, but we can continue this thread, I reckon ]
Post by: KDR_11k on September 03, 2004, 04:53:34 AM
I don't have a favourite show, but I'm not the kind to have a favourite anything. I'm more interested in games than movies (mostly because DVDs are a waste of money).
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 03, 2004, 06:33:31 AM
My favorite animes are Fullmetal Alchemist and I My Me Strawberry Eggs dress up as woman everyday
, though I do like others(Naruto being one of them)
Post by: PaLaDiN on September 03, 2004, 07:03:43 AM
Has anybody watched Samurai Champloo? New anime from the makers of Cowboy Bebop... not as good as CB yet, but it is pretty awesome.
Post by: odifiend on September 03, 2004, 08:16:53 AM
Macross Zero = Best OVA EVER. Find it if you haven't seen it.
KDR, PS2 has a series (Narutomett?) and Gamecube has its own (Gen-something). Sorry about not looking up the proper names. Tomy makes the GCN Naruto games. I don't know whether Bandai factors in or not. But Naruto is huge among people of all ages and that describes Nintendo's (published) demographic, so it makes sense to develop it for the cube.
Post by: CHEN on September 03, 2004, 09:17:24 AM
What an awfully refreshing anime, even more after seeing countless cliché ones.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 03, 2004, 09:21:00 AM
BEST NINJA ANIME EVARRRRRRRRRaaaaaaa!!!!! iT'S got this round yellow ball dude that's like PAC-MAN ON CRACK!!!> friggin' HILARIOUS. New show.
See "Girls Bravo" to increase the KAWAII stats in your life.
Post by: S-U-P-E-R on September 03, 2004, 09:22:34 AM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 03, 2004, 09:30:09 AM
~~~~~
Poor Sakaki-san...
Post by: couchmonkey on September 03, 2004, 09:30:38 AM
Post by: Caliban on September 03, 2004, 02:08:15 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R
I've been watching Initial D and Naruto, and some certain other ones with lots of tentacles. Azumanga Diaoh is also pretty funny.
I've got some of those certain others but without tentacles and in both animated and manga format.
Anyway, my favourites now are Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto(specially the manga), and Samurai 7.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 03, 2004, 02:33:19 PM
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 03, 2004, 02:37:44 PM
Post by: KnowsNothing on September 03, 2004, 02:42:17 PM
Fullmetal Alchemist is awesome though, as was Cowboy Bebop. SO I'll have to check out Champloo. FLCL is awesome too.
Gunslinger Girl is a favorite of mine becasue it's very artistic and the music is great. And it takes place in Italy. 
Peacemake Kurogane was also cool, and the OP and ED were awesome. Onegai Teacher and Twins were both pretty good, and very cute. ^_^But I think my favortie anime ever is Scrapped Princess (with Fullmetal Alchemist being a close runner-up)
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 03, 2004, 03:06:12 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Then I assume you've seen UFO Princess and Hand Maid May?
Close.
Hand Maid May + Mahoromatic.
~~~~~
The Onegai series(s) were super cute. Schoolgirls sharing a bathtub rock.
Post by: odifiend on September 03, 2004, 06:48:16 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on September 03, 2004, 10:00:33 PM
Mahoro is cute. I guess the guys who drew her figured that out, too, Hikari from This Ugly And Beautiful World looks almost exactly the same with a few recolors.
Oh, and Galaxy Angel owns. Only seen a bit of season III, but it's one of the few animes with actually good humour.
Post by: Syl on September 04, 2004, 05:11:46 AM
I'm not a fan of longer anime series, i haven't found a single series over 4X episodes that I didn't think was boring and stale (Kenshin, Inuyasha, DBZ, Naruto,Ranma etc.) I have yet to see full metal alchemist though i have heard great things about it. I don't watch series unless theyre completely out, cause i like watching them all in a single sitting.
Has anyone seen "Twelve Kingdoms"? That show looks really interesting to me and i'd love to see hear some opinions on it.
My favorite anime series (I know i've said this before)
Great Teacher Onizuka
Last Exile
Haibane Renmei
At home i have a list of everything i've seen, but i'm currently not at home at the moment.
Post by: CHEN on September 04, 2004, 05:45:28 AM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 04, 2004, 12:57:19 PM
The new standard in ero-baka-ninja anime.
!!!PILDER ON!!!
Post by: KnowsNothing on September 04, 2004, 01:11:05 PM
This was a very very strange anime (very short too, only 12 episodes). The girls in it were super cute (as was one of the guys =x), but other than that it's not all that great. The first 8 or so episodes were just building on the character's relationships, and then around episode 9 the actual story kicked in.....and then it ended. Left a sour taste in my eyes and ears.
Another great anime is Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu (I think it got liscensed...). I never really got into the main Full Metal Panic serires, but this side series was very fun. Made me lol a few times, especially on the first episode.
I've heard good things about Girl's Bravo (very funny, apparently). From what I've heard, it's very similar to Green Green (which I didn't get past the first episode of). And I liken Green Green to Love Hina (which is another great and humorous series). So I guess if you like Love Hina you should check out Girl's Bravo..............maybe? Something like that.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 05, 2004, 03:02:34 AM
Post by: Uncle Rich AiAi on September 05, 2004, 11:34:42 PM
I've noticed in this thread people have bad tastes in anime!
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on September 06, 2004, 12:48:38 AM
Girls Bravo has well done, icing-on-the-kawaii-cake fan service. I'm the fan, so give me service. Right, Daisy?
[Daisy]: Of course.
2x2 = Shinobuden has 4X the service of Girls Bravo, and infinitely more teh funny.
Post by: Uncle Rich AiAi on September 06, 2004, 05:16:29 AM
Stealing panties?
*tries to prevent himself from DL it*
Post by: BlkPaladin on September 06, 2004, 01:42:16 PM
Some of my other favorites Knight Hunters, Vandred, One Piece. Almost anything in the relm of Anime.
Post by: Syl on September 06, 2004, 04:38:48 PM
Of course, that does mean later on i'll have less of a chance of getting something like Viewtiful Joe 2. bah, damn sale and its good timing.
...Have i mentioned how much I love haibane renmei? If not, I need to tell everyone to watch it.
Post by: BlkPaladin on September 06, 2004, 07:06:42 PM
Post by: Eminem on September 30, 2004, 11:08:46 PM
I'm a huge fan of DBZ. It's fun to argue about that show.
Post by: PaLaDiN on October 01, 2004, 12:01:11 AM
The last few episodes have redeemed it... it's totally awesome now, and I like it more than Bebop because I like samurai more than Space Cowboys.
Post by: KDR_11k on October 01, 2004, 05:57:49 AM
Post by: mantidor on October 01, 2004, 12:33:46 PM
Im tired of the regular animes of samurais swords, although I do like samurai 7.
Post by: Draygaia on October 03, 2004, 06:17:19 AM
Post by: Perfect Cell on October 03, 2004, 07:57:04 AM
Post by: odifiend on October 03, 2004, 01:38:11 PM
Post by: Hostile Creation on October 03, 2004, 03:37:38 PM
Post by: Syl on October 03, 2004, 04:34:21 PM
(I now own all of Haibane Renmei, w00t)
Post by: Uncle Rich AiAi on October 04, 2004, 07:14:47 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on October 04, 2004, 07:59:14 PM
I love damn-near everything about the series, and bought the soundtrack. I find the language jokes even more interesting since I'm learning Japanese now.
Try GTO now. It's completely different, more mainstream.
Post by: Uncle Rich AiAi on October 05, 2004, 04:31:58 AM
Ohhhhhhhhhhh............learning Japanese! Sugoi desu ne.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on October 05, 2004, 02:05:54 PM
Sugoi desu YO.
Reggie-sama wa PSP o tabemasu.
Post by: S-U-P-E-R on October 05, 2004, 02:55:27 PM
You can also see Mako's boobs in it
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on October 05, 2004, 03:03:53 PM
Post by: DrZoidberg on October 05, 2004, 03:15:19 PM
Post by: Athrun Zala on July 10, 2006, 09:07:42 PM
)Favorite animes? quite a few actually....
- Gundam (everything.....yes, even GSD ¬¬.....although I haven't watched Turn A yet...)
- Mai HiME (Amazing.....I really love this one! ^^)
- Rurouni Kenshin (mainly the OVAs)
- Saint Seiya (not really a fan, but grew up with it =P)
- Cardcaptor Sakura (she is so cute *-*)
- Digimon Tamers (really liked it, obviously the original, the dubs changed many things...)
- Shin Seiki Evangelion (Asuka FTW!)
- *NEW!* Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Agressor (finished this one today, although it has a certain Eva feeling, it's nothing like it, and in the end I like it even more....a lot more ^^)
Next on the "to watch" list:
- Full Metal Alchemist
- RahXephon
- Mai Otome OVAs
- Patlabor: WXIII
- and a lot more....
(yeah, I have a thing for mechs ^^U)
Post by: Kairon on July 10, 2006, 11:10:30 PM
I grew up with only a limited exposure to anime.
For example, I watched Akira at 6 or younger (incidentally, it seems I watched a bunch of stuff at an early age, like when I got Ninja Scroll as a christmas gift when I was 10).
I practically had a crush on Nausicaa at around 10 years old, when I was able to comprehend the few beautiful Hayao Miyazaki mangas my uncle left behind with my family.
And I had this movie I'm desperate to track down called "Gigi" which starred a little girl who could transform into characters, like more grown up cat burglers or princesses. The little girl was apparently a princess from another world who had two short stubby fairy god parents and, when her earth parents were away, traveled in a flying winnebago. The story of the movie was about this strange floating resort, which turns out to be a bit of a never-never-land where the peter-pan figure it the little girl's romantic interest and the military are defeated when peter pan uses whole armies of toys to shoot everyone with ray beams that turns everyone into kids. ... I consider this movie an early example of certain conceits used in Sailor Moon, but also vastly more complex than that sort of...urgh....
So..uh...yeah. Those 3 animes/mangas were my childhood, and ever since then I've rarely seen a manga/anime I liked and I even got sick of FF7 (and Chrono Trigger) because I saw it as a cross-over into mediocre over-used anime cliches... but I loved the Miyazaki stuff of course!
Seriously, it's almost a crime to call Miyazaki stuff anime. He's heads and shoulders above anything else on the market now.
[edit]Oh, and how could I forget loving the Harmony Gold version of Robotech. That was awesome. I hate almost anything Macross I see now because it just pales in comparison to how Harmony Gold cut up what Japan did and put it together as 6 volumes to be greater than the sum of its parts.[/edit]
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: oohhboy on July 11, 2006, 06:33:11 AM
Ghost in the Shell first Gig. Better than the movie by a long shot.
Already mentioned Gunslinger Girl.
Area 88 is good for a quick fix of top gun.
Slayers for abit of fun fulled fanatsy.
Cromarite High. For sheer randomness.
Mezzo Forte. For a dash of violence. The TV series is only average.
Gundam SEED. Mobile mayhem. Besides the SD this is really the only Gundam series I like. Wing was utter trash.
Elfin Lied. WTF.
Anyone know a good place in Auckland to get Anime? Those who are going to suggest the internet don't bother. Looking to blow a paycheck or two.
Post by: KDR_11k on July 11, 2006, 09:01:13 AM
Oh and they tend to make heroes way too overpowered (Utawarerumono is very excessive at that), sometimes you wonder why people even bother fielding ordinary soldiers when heroes could take down an army alone.
Seriously, try setting up a ruleset and follow it, don't go "but we like his character so an entire salvo from five machineguns isn't going to hit him just because he's running". If the character is immune to bullets, sure. If the character is like Neo, of course. But an ordinary human running through heavy fire and not getting hit ONCE?
Oh and why the hell do they insist on making characters change their appearance when they change sides (see e.g. Bleach Byakuya without his hairclip, Aizen without his glasses)?
Post by: Athrun Zala on July 11, 2006, 08:24:58 PM
QuoteKira Yamato says "hi"....
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Oh and they tend to make heroes way too overpowered (Utawarerumono is very excessive at that), sometimes you wonder why people even bother fielding ordinary soldiers when heroes could take down an army alone.
Post by: oohhboy on July 11, 2006, 10:53:03 PM
Post by: Bill Aurion on July 12, 2006, 05:54:59 AM
Well there is also the flood of anime/manga that have a main character that is absolutely worthless in every regard...
Post by: Athrun Zala on July 12, 2006, 07:45:30 AM
QuoteI was thinking in SEED Destiny, where Kira is basically unstoppable (he only lost to plot devices). Shinn had the same problem.
Originally posted by: oohhboy
I reckon that the heros from Gundam SEED aren't that overpowered at all. The internal rules that they follow are fairly constant. Intially they are limited by power time. Then later they are simiply limited to where they can be at any one time.
But in SEED he was as well, as evidenced by the fact that he only had a hard time when he was outnumbered by other Gundams (against the ZAFT Red Coats, the Druggies or Raww and Providence
Post by: Kairon on July 12, 2006, 08:04:19 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
"Oh and they tend to make heroes way too overpowered (Utawarerumono is very excessive at that), sometimes you wonder why people even bother fielding ordinary soldiers when heroes could take down an army alone."
Well there is also the flood of anime/manga that have a main character that is absolutely worthless in every regard...
Yeah, but that worthless characters is, for some strange reason, the only one who has the strength of spirit to combat giant uber pseudo-psychological mechs that, by sheer force of will, overcome impossible odds to defeat the baddies.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: bustin98 on July 12, 2006, 08:57:10 AM
Post by: Bill Aurion on July 12, 2006, 09:36:50 AM
Shakugan no Shana is awesome, too, but I'm finding it near-impossible to compare anything to the pureness of Haruhi...
Post by: Kairon on July 12, 2006, 10:05:28 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: bustin98
Aside from Miyazaki, Steamboy from the creator of Akira is an excellent piece of work that stands above the crowd. The only downer for me is Anna Paquin doing the voice of the boy. How hard can it be to find a boy that can do the job? Whoever had the bright idea that a girly girl like Anna could pass as a boy should be looking for a new job. At least Patrick Stewart does an as always teriffic job.
No. Steam Boy sucked. It was transparent and sophomoric and tried to be all over the place resulting in it failing to maintain a single powerful narrative thread.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: oohhboy on July 12, 2006, 04:49:55 PM
Post by: Athrun Zala on July 12, 2006, 05:14:11 PM
Quoteit's considerably worse, a lot of plotholes, unresolved things, and badly developed characters (I blame all that on Fukuda giving up to fan pressure and letting his wife do whatever she wanted with the script). But overall it isn't so bad and quite entertaining (and the first 13 eps are awesome), and it's not the worst Gundam serie/movie/whatever either (that "honor" goes to G-Saviour)
Originally posted by: oohhboy
I haven't watched SEED Destiny yet. How does it stack up to the first series?
I forgot Shakugan no Shana! that one was after FMA in the "to watch" list....
EDIT: clarified some things...
Post by: bustin98 on July 12, 2006, 08:43:19 PM
Quote
No. Steam Boy sucked. It was transparent and sophomoric and tried to be all over the place resulting in it failing to maintain a single powerful narrative thread.
I didn't come away from it feeling like that at all. I didn't go into it with any expectations, nor read up on it before hand. So I was easy to please. I thought the art was clean, the animation fluid, and the story was what I expect from anime. After all, who keeps a little girl in a war machine?
Perhaps my judgement is flawed from years of exposure to Bubble Gum Crisis and the likes of Voltron and Tranzor Z ?
Post by: Kairon on July 12, 2006, 08:55:30 PM
Now... I wonder what will be the next anime I watch that I hate utterly and completely?
Oh, I also hated Metropolis and Cowboy Bebop the Movie...
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: KDR_11k on July 13, 2006, 04:28:16 AM
What's your problem with Fritz Lang?
(The anime movie had to be renamed in Germany because people wouldn't like such a bastardization of the classic. That's like having Arnold Schwarzenegger star in a Citizen Kane remake.)
Post by: Caliban on July 13, 2006, 06:19:59 AM
Kairon > Have you watched "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust"?
Post by: Kairon on July 13, 2006, 08:44:35 AM
Indeed, there seems to me something more pure and less contemptible in older, non-modern anime. They seem somehow less... spoiled by the commercialism, sensationalism, and rampant mediocrity that runs amok these days.
Yes.... quite right.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on July 13, 2006, 10:21:05 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Oh, I also hated Metropolis
What's your problem with Fritz Lang?
(The anime movie had to be renamed in Germany because people wouldn't like such a bastardization of the classic. That's like having Arnold Schwarzenegger star in a Citizen Kane remake.)
Was it really supposed to be based on the old silent movie? I noticed the similarities, but the differences were great enough that I didn't think it was supposed to be a remake or retelling. It seemed like an homage at most.
Post by: Caliban on July 13, 2006, 12:03:46 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
Am I to understand that you're recommending me the Vampire Hunter D: BLoodlust series?
It's a movie.
http://www.vampirehunterdbloodlust.com/
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,864,khbolp,vampire_hunter_.html
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=238
Review: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/reviews/display.php?id=255
I'm a fan of Miyazaki too, but I'm open to other artists too. Let's just say that Miyazaki makes animation of a certain theme but that theme alone isn't enough to satisfy my mind.
Post by: mantidor on July 13, 2006, 03:38:32 PM
And I also saw Metropolis as a homage not only to Lang's work but to Tezuka as well, as I understand the story was written by him inspired by the original movie, but he never finished it. I also have vague memories of Astroboy so the film made me feel kind of nostalgic. I disagree that it bastardize the original it was a very well done movie.
And it has been a while since my first post in this thread, now that Monster has finished I cannot recommend it enough, is the best series Ive ever seen animated or not.
Post by: Caliban on July 13, 2006, 06:27:30 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on July 13, 2006, 09:41:34 PM
Post by: wandering on July 13, 2006, 10:03:19 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
I am a hater of anime. This is because I loved 'em as a child.
I grew up with only a limited exposure to anime.
Interesting that I was kind of the exact opposite. I started with Dragon Ball Z (edited and dubbed, no less). Back in the day, I told anyone that asked how much I hated Japanamation. After telling one such person, he recommended Cowboy Bebop. I wasn't that big on westerns (or anime, obviously), but I made a note of it.
...when I caught Bebop on TV a year later, I was surprised (and not just because it was more science fiction that western.) It wasn't like any animated series I had seen before. Yes, there were fight scenes between people with weird hairdo's. But between them....there were characters sitting around... bored, hungry. Real people, doing what they would really do in the situation they were in. And even the fight scenes...they didn't involve static pictures of people shouting as a blurry backdrop moved behind them. They were well choreographed, fully animated and, of course, set to jazz music.
Bebop was the beginning of a whole new world for me. I rented Grave of the Fireflies (and was moved to near tears). I drove 50 minutes to a screening of an acclaimed film from an apparently famous director who I'd never heard of: Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (and was blown away).
Nowadays, when I hear someone like you say they hate anime - I think of them the same way as someone who says they hate books or film. It's such a broad and diverse genre, I think saying you just outright hate it is silly. Sure, baseline anime sucks...but so does baseline film, books, paintings, and what have you. With anime, you have to cherry pick, just like you do with any other entertainment medium.
Quote
Seriously, it's almost a crime to call Miyazaki stuff anime. He's heads and shoulders above anything else on the market now.
I think it's a crime to say Miyazaki's stuff isn't anime. It is. And Orson Scott Card's books are science fiction/fantasy. And the Mona Lisa is a painting. Yes, Miyazaki's work is exceptionally good, but to say it isn't anime is an insult to the genre.
Post by: Kairon on July 14, 2006, 09:40:11 AM
Also, Grave of the Fireflies is friggin' cathartic man. I mean...yowza. Dear god.
And Cowboy Bebop did have the strong points of their musical choices and their slight twist on the future-western genre (which, really, is not exactly brand new), but in the end it still contains anime throwbacks like funny/silly/non-sensical/genderless Ed, self-pity in the form of "we-can't-afford-food-let's-eat-the-last-ramen," and stereotypical femme Faye. Again, all this IMHO after watching a handful of episodes and watching the movie.
The thing that irks me most about most anime is how much it panders to it's own cliches, panders not references or pays homage to, and how transparent an attempt it is to capture a sense of hip coolness that it can translate into merchandising and a fanbase almost as if it had been demographically studied. In essence, I rarely see art in anime, and I rarely see an attempt at it, and I much, much, rarely, see any success in that attempt.
All inmo of course.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: couchmonkey on July 14, 2006, 11:22:29 AM
Post by: mantidor on July 14, 2006, 02:58:20 PM
Death Note is amazing, just in terms of quality I think its equal to Monster, but Death Note is more fast paced and its more like an intellect battle, Monster is much more full of suspense and takes its time to develop. Ive read the anime is an excellent adaptation of the manga so I guess the manga or the animation are both good choices.
Post by: Caliban on July 14, 2006, 05:13:23 PM
Post by: mantidor on July 14, 2006, 09:50:25 PM
Post by: oohhboy on July 14, 2006, 10:38:02 PM
I don't need some high brow crap here. I am looking for enterianment.
Post by: bustin98 on July 15, 2006, 04:51:21 PM
So, any love for Legend of the Overfiend and all its glorious tenticles?
Post by: Athrun Zala on July 15, 2006, 09:47:30 PM
QuoteNot truem, in all honesty, you're generalizing way too much
Originally posted by: Kairon
To say Miyazaki's stuff is anime is to insinuate that his work is at the same level as the commercialized factory work that most anime and manga is in Japan.
By saying that Bach's stuff is music, am I insinuating that it's at the same level that Britney Spears' ?
Or by saying that the GC is game console, does it mean that it's at the same level as the PS2?
in any case, I'd reccomend any of the following...
- Shin Seiki Evangelion
- Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuioku Hen
- Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Agressor
- Mai HiME
- Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED
- Elfen Lied
- Tokyo Godfathers (this one is a movie btw)
all of them great, and not typical in any way ^^
Post by: Kairon on July 15, 2006, 10:05:47 PM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: wandering on July 15, 2006, 10:54:40 PM
Quote
The thing that irks me most about most anime is how much it panders to it's own cliches
Have you seen a James Bond movie recently? Or an american animated film? Or an american TV show? Or played a videogame?
Quote
that it can translate into merchandising and a fanbase almost as if it had been demographically studied.
Ever notice how Miyazaki has been putting 5000 walking plush dolls in each of his movies lately?
.
.
.
.
I already hate myself for saying that.
On an unrelated note, is Serial Experiments Lain any good? That's next on my must-watch list.
Post by: Kairon on July 15, 2006, 11:55:39 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: wandering
Have you seen a James Bond movie recently? Or an american animated film? Or an american TV show? Or played a videogame?
To whit, anime lacks wit. It is self-effacing without tact, self-celebrating without subtlety, and self-referential without irony. It takes on the form of humor, but doesn't attempt to mold it with any complexity instead relying on broad brushstrokes of accepted and market-tested comedies and caricatures and also relying heavily on an emotionally uncomplicated study of straightforward gender inversion that masquerades as modern gender-equality to its viewers when it is instead little better for our youth than a one-step-forward-two-steps-backward Cinderella-is-a-tank-girl type of bedtime story.
Quote
Originally posted by: wandering
Ever notice how Miyazaki has been putting 5000 walking plush dolls in each of his movies lately?
.
.
.
.
I already hate myself for saying that.
You should. You are a horrible horrible man.
But as you can see above, I'm a pretentious ... yeah.
STILL! Miyazaki's stories are almost always told from the point of view of a child. And as a child, full of innocent imagination and naive wonderment, cute and cuddly is wherever you want to find it. (Like in Radish Spirits, imaginary Soot Sprites, or even rampaging Ohmu)
Quote
Originally posted by: wandering
Lain
I saw a couple of the beginning episodes at the anime club I ran. It seemed to me to be gunning for the slightly more psychological intrigue, in the sense that I can't remember specific scenes of dramatic action in the beginning of the series, but instead well-executed "set-up" vignettes of the main characters and their world that hinted at a fuller and richer intrique down-the-line. Quality-wise, I saw little to complain about, I remember pretentiously calling it "nouveau" and thought that the art style was nice and edgy.
Still, it did feature as it's main character, Lain, who I cannot for the life of me be intrigued by since I don't buy into the whole "she's so closed and non-responsive and almost a human robot" bit.
... Which reminds me... for some reason I enjoyed Key: The Metal Idol... hmm... now how in the world could that have happened?
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: wandering on July 16, 2006, 01:21:41 AM
QuoteI suppose I can agree with that....excepting parody like Fooley Cooley and Paranoia Agent.
Originally posted by: Kairon
To whit, anime lacks wit. It is self-effacing without tact, self-celebrating without subtlety, and self-referential without irony.
But okay, it's formulaic without being self-aware. Fine. So was Hamlet.
I like anime because, unlike mainstream american entertainment, it...tries to explore...stuff. Your average anime series...even the trite, mediocre ones...demand thought. They slow down for reflection on life, love, war, memory, etc. That has to count for something.
Quote
STILL! Miyazaki's stories are almost always told from the point of view of a child. And as a child, full of innocent imagination and naive wonderment, cute and cuddly is wherever you want to find it. (Like in Radish Spirits, imaginary Soot Sprites, or even rampaging Ohmu)
I couldn't agree more.
Quote
I saw a couple of the beginning episodes at the anime club I ran.
YOU ran an anime club?
Post by: Kairon on July 16, 2006, 01:59:28 AM
The actual anime club was showing Witch Hunter Robin (or... probably not that, but something with Robin in it that involved a female cop/detective) which made me sick to the stomache to have to sit through. So I instead gravitated to the Sailor Moon Fan Club, whose officers were leaving, and I helped retool that club into the Shoujo Animation Society. For the longest time, we showed Fushigi Yuugi. We tread water for a semester or two, then we went mainstream, renamed ourselves the Japanese Animation Society, launched with a showing of Pokemon The Movie in the fall semester, grabbed tons of Freshman, showed Evangelion (which I eventually came to loathe) and beat the original anime club into bloody submission! muahahaha!
Oh, and we always had a Miyazaki month. No-brainer.
I think I only really started to hate anime in Senior year. I finally realized the extent to which DragonBall Z was commercialized, perceived this as endemic of the entire industry, and at the same time got fed up with Neon genesis Evangelion's "oh-boo-hoo-for-shinji-and-co" psychobabble nonsense. That felt like utter betrayal because the theme song was so friggin' cool!
But yeah, before that I believed that I had to turn to Japanese animation for deeper subject matter. Then I discovered Batman: the animated series! LOL. No, seriously, some nice american animations came out (I wish I'd watched more of Spawn) and there was a very short-lived Disney Revival (Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch), and of course, the rise of Pixar, the NEW Disney! Also, by that time I'd been able to completely absorb most of the common anime formula in such a way that they no longer surprised me or entertained me. I started anticipating jokes and predicting outcomes.
Never good. This is the same reason why I no longer watch Gilmore Girls.
But enough about me, what about you? Have you read the oh-my-gawd-so-good Nausicaa mangas by Miyazaki? Spanning more than 1200 pages, he finally has enough canvas to fully examine mature issues that felt shallowly-understood in 2 hours films. Man... actually, don't read 'em. They'll steal away about 2 days of your life that you'll never get back.
Oh and uh...what's your opinion on Rumiko Takahashi? Not her new latest stuff (Inu-yasha? *yeck* it's been done!), but her original more wacky less "refined" works. I almost want to call her a trailblazer because it feels like everything copies off of her romantic comedies, from the soulful Maison Ikkoku to the more uproariously comically inventive Ranma. And if you go back far enough, Uretsei Yatsura and Lum, pure crazy wackiness that's off the wall and unrestrained. And through all her stuff, an underlying warmth of character and human feeling that emerges now and again that for a split second washes away the veneer of comic relief to let us believe in the character's real depth of experience...
AUGH! YOU GOT ME MONOLOGUING!
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: wandering on July 16, 2006, 02:38:18 AM
As for Rumiko Takahashi....well, I haven't seen Ranma. (Remember my anime awakening happened around the time of the US theatrical release of Spirited Away...so I'm behind.) But I like Inuyasha. Bit of a guility pleasure (but easier to admit to than my love of Hamtaro. ...err...whoops...) Haven't been watching Inuyasha lately, though. It's just the plot......well, let's just say if you tie a carrot on a stick to my head, it'll only be so long before I realise that, no matter how much I walk, I'll never get to the carrot.
edit: BTW, I wonder if you've ever seen Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water? I've only seen an episode or two, but I thought it might be your kind of thing. Possibly.
Post by: Famicom on July 16, 2006, 05:08:43 AM
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Originally posted by: Kairon
And Cowboy Bebop did have the strong points of their musical choices and their slight twist on the future-western genre (which, really, is not exactly brand new), but in the end it still contains anime throwbacks like funny/silly/non-sensical/genderless Ed, self-pity in the form of "we-can't-afford-food-let's-eat-the-last-ramen," and stereotypical femme Faye. Again, all this IMHO after watching a handful of episodes and watching the movie.
Well IMO it's success in America is really because it does one thing that most anime can't (and don't try to) accomplish, and that's feel sort of American. The music, the visual style, and I guess even the stereotypes are stuff the general public over here can relate to, making it a no-brainer for TV and being a key component in the anime boom in the states this decade. The good in Bebop is just that it's a whole lot of fun. Mostly self-contained stories about a likeable cast that gets into hijinks; a very American way of cartoon storytelling.
The movie also played out in this fashion, as a very long episode.Quote
The thing that irks me most about most anime is how much it panders to it's own cliches, panders not references or pays homage to, and how transparent an attempt it is to capture a sense of hip coolness that it can translate into merchandising and a fanbase almost as if it had been demographically studied. In essence, I rarely see art in anime, and I rarely see an attempt at it, and I much, much, rarely, see any success in that attempt.
Well truthfully, most anime are straight adaptations of popular manga stories, which are published in very demographically studied manga magazines.
Many of the most popular anime adaptations come from the Shounen Jump weekly (in Japan) publication, which is targeted at a younger teenage, typically male crowd. That's not to say a Death Note (which is getting an anime in the fall) that is totally opposite in theme and style doesn't come along every once in a while though. If you're looking for more stories that have more artistic value, manga would be the way to go if you aren't averse to the comic medium. Plus the current manga boom has brought over a ton of niche titles that wouldn't otherwise have made it over here. Though honestly many of the off-beat artistically driven ones are still few and far in between. Not unlike hollywood movies these days though!There's been a growing trend of novels being converted into anime as well, and from what I've seen in people's reactions some of these shows can sway even the most hardened anime hater.
Stuff like the Crest series (Crest of the Stars, Banner of the Stars 1-3) and Twelve Kingdoms on the surface may feature typical sci-fi and fantasy themes, but very atypical storytelling for an anime. Kino's Journey, Gankutsuou (Count of Monte Cristo; I suppose this counts), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Shana and Trinity Blood, all from novels, all have a quality story underneath.I would also recommend the aforementioned Monster. It's lengthy and features an unconventional plot and cast for an anime, and is targeted at an older crowd. Therein lies the problem though; its audience isn't the average anime buyer here in the states, and during the current anime downturn where only stuff pegged to be huge TV hits can survive, it may be a long while before it ever sees the light of day here. The manga is available however.
And since you mentioned Tokyo Godfathers, perhaps check out Satoshi Kon's other works like Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and the TV series Paranoia Agent. For the latter I can attest to it's quality, and it is especially similar to Tokyo Godfathers. Maybe even check out Yoshitoshi Abe's catalog, being Lain, Texhnolyze and Haibane Renmei.
Post by: wandering on July 16, 2006, 12:04:26 PM
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The good in Bebop is just that it's a whole lot of fun. Mostly self-contained stories about a likeable cast that gets into hijinks; a very American way of cartoon storytelling.
Also, the 5000 other things that are great about Bebop.
