Topic: Do you enjoy anime?

[Phil]

I must say that I'm a pretty casual anime viewer. I don't experiment with watching shows that don't appear on television and only receive a DVD (or now Bluray) release. I find it harder and harder to enjoy most of what comes out nowadays. It feels so exclusionary, and for folks who are very much otaku in their tastes.

My favorite anime is without a doubt Cowboy Bebop. I love everything about the show, especially the music. Yoko Kanno inspired me to start composing my own stuff.

Anyway, I also liked Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions), various Gundam shows, Outlaw Star, Sailor Moon, Case Closed, Shin-chan, among others. I know I've picked very safe choices, but that's just what kind of anime fan I am. I love the traditional anime art style, but I find a lot of shows just uninteresting or plain annoying.

What anime do you guys and girls like, if any? What do you like about them? 

[Oblivion]

I am also a casual anime viewer. I am not a fan of the typical anime tropes so when a series or film can defy those tropes I usually tend to like them.


My favorite, like yours Phil, is Cowboy Bebop. I also loved both FMA series for different reasons. I finished Samurai Champloo a few months ago and watched Attack on Titan literally all yesterday.


Also me and my (now ex) girlfriend watched all of the Studio Ghibli movies over the last year.


The one thing that usually puts me off of a particular series is mindless pointless action scenes, or scenes that last twenty episodes but can finish in two or three, needless fanservice, and annoying j-pop openings.

[Phil]

I couldn't stand Dragon Ball Z because of one of your reasons: "scenes that last twenty episodes but can finish in two or three". That and the annoying voice acting and writing.

I didn't get to see all of Samurai Champloo, but I did dig what I did see of it. I'm also liking Space Dandy, and that's pretty much the only new Toonami show I care for.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Love Studio Ghibli. It is in a class all it's own. I don't really think of those films when thinking of "anime". Weird.


One of my kids is really into Black Butler so I have been watching some of those. I find them reasonably enjoyable.


Back in the day (waaay back) I loved Battle of the Planets and Starblazers.

[Oblivion]

Dub or sub? I used to only like dubs but since the Disney dubs of the Studio Ghibli films are all shitty I've decided that when I watch anime I will watch it subbed unless the dub is particularly good like FMA or Bebop.

All I know of black butler is when my girl friends draw some gay fanart of the show. I am not a fan. :

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

I used to be more into anime when I was younger but it kind of seems out of place watching it now. My favorites were Voltron Lion Force, Ronin Warriors, Sailor Moon (it was the 90's we all watched it), Dragon Ball Z (didn't like the others though), The Slayers, Project A-Ko, Wrath of the Ninja, Vampire Hunter D, Akira, Iria: Zeriam the Animation, Macross, Digimon, Bubble Gum Crisis, those weird Super Mario anime's that are hard as hell to find, and a few others I can't remember right now. Oh and all the Transformers stuff, Master Force especially and Car Robots is another great one. I used to get a new VHS tape in the mail from I think it was Columbia house or some such back in the day, I subscribed to their anime club and got all kinds of weird ****. I was so into it I studied Japanese in college.

[Wah]

Yes,........... and hentai

[Oblivion]

Yes,........... and hentai

How the **** am I not surprised?

[Phil]

There's quite a few anime that I own DVDs for, such as Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, both FMA series, Paranoia Agent, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Case Closed, Digimon, and more.

[terribledeli]

I really stopped watching anime in general when I finished high school.

Back when you had to know a guy to get you fan subs. I remember having weird bootlegs of Trigun before they were released domestically.

Not to sound like an ass about it, but I guess it really was a phase I outgrew.

With the exception of Shin chan. I could watch that every day if funimation didn't pull the plug on the US domestic releases.

[azeke]

I generally hate it.

Though i do make exception once in a blue moon to check out some new series.

I usually drop it disappointed and reinforced in my low opinion.

[Caliban]

I like a bunch of different types of anime. Sports, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. For each genre it could be one or many details attached to a show. It could be the animation style, it could be certain character's personality, it could even be its wackiness, or the premise. Most often then not I read the manga beforehand, so if I like the manga I will most likely watch the anime.

[Dan Laser]

With streaming services like crunchyroll, access to legal anime has become so easy, it’s great. But it's also terrible because I keep wanting to add more series to my collection...

So yep, I still watch a lot of shows, but I have a hard time with a lot of the zany, fanservicy, comedy mainstream stuff. Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo still remain some of my all time faves (Champloo is on Netflix if you need to finish it). The only Gundam series I’ve actually finished is Turn A and I loved it. I mean, biplanes and dirigibles vs giant mechs?! So great! I’d recommend the Escaflowne TV series to anyone looking for a good classic action/adventure series, too.

I’ve really been enjoying Space Dandy, too. It’s just a fun show and great seeing all of the different directors take turns with the characters.

I thought that the Ghibli english dubs are pretty well regarded? Not that that means everyone has to like them. I haven’t seen them all in english, but the only one that I remember not liking all of the voices in was Castle in the Sky. I usually prefer to watch things subbed anyways, tho.

I was able to see the latest Ghible movie, The Wind Rises, in theatres last weekend and it was great. The english dub never bothered me or took me out of it (well, maybe except hearing Werner Herzog, that was a bit of a surprise). It was a beautiful but slow and thoughtful movie, yet still had some surreal Miyazaki elements.

[Oblivion]

Concerning the Disney dubs:

It's mostly about the little things. Sure, compared to most bad dubs, they are some of the best. But Disney likes to add things that generally detract from the experience. For one, if there is a lot of silence or lack of characters making noise, Disney will add pointless dialogue or grunts when they move to break the silence. They tend to cast voice actors that are Disney stars that don't fit the character, but are popular at the time. In that vein, they tend to cat voice actors that can't even pretend to be the age of their characters.

For the more important things, they drastically change key characters or scenes to Disney-fy the movie. A big example would be Sheeta's speech from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. In the Disney version she says something about love and friendship when the Japanese version has her speech concerning what we do to the environment, changing the entire message of the film. Another example is the drastic change of Jiji's character in Kiki's Delivery Service. Another change that is probably the biggest would be the difference of the endings in Spirited Away between the Disney and original versions. In the Disney version they hint that she remembers everything that happened to you while in the original, she forgot about it all, along with her family, which changes the entire mood of the end of the film.

I haven't seen The Wind Rises in english yet but I've heard from fellow hardcore Ghibli fans that the dub is actually better than the original, for once. I'll have to see for myself.

...I think I'm a little obsessed.

[Dan Laser]

Ah, yes, I know exactly what you’re talking about Oblivion. It’s really annoying when dubs add extra dialogue to fill in moments of silence. I think most of the recent dubs have been pretty good about avoiding it though. I can only remember one extra line given to Chihiro in Spirited Away, but it was sort of to help explain things that may be lost in translation and not for the sake of filling in silence.

That is quite a change in Sheeta’s speech for Castle in the Sky and definitely did not remember that. I remember thinking the male lead’s voice sounded way too old though. It’s been years since I’ve seen Kiki’s…

That’s good to hear that most fans approve of the dub of The Wind Rises - hope you enjoy it! I missed the Japanese language screening, so I will have to wait for the bluray. The movie is more in the Whispers of the Heart, Porco Rosso, or From Up on Poppy Hill range of Ghibli. You're probably already aware of that, but if you liked those films, you will likely enjoy The Wind Rises!

[Oblivion]

Oh yeah, it was a fantastic movie. I actually love Ghibli's more "normal" films, like the ones you mentioned (I wouldn't call Porco Rosso normal though, haha!).

Oh! Another thing I forgot to mention about Disney is that they haven't localized certain films because of their "content". A big example is Only Yesterday, one of the only films not localized because it has a scene in the film where the characters discuss their periods.

And holy crap, I just thought of another issue (stop me please XD)! While this isn't unique to Disney, with the more "Japanese" Ghibli films (like Pom Poko) they try to Americanize the film. In Pom Poko they turned the tanooki's into transforming raccoons.

[Ceric]

We regularly talk about Anime on NFR.  I do enjoy anime in its own way especially since there is a good amount on Netflix.  I've watched plenty of series before.  Dragon Ball Z is a much better Manga.  Its pretty known around here that I am not a Ghibli fan.

[Stogi]

Finding a good anime is tough for me. Just like most of you, I like Cowboy Bebop, but my all time favorite is Legends of the Galatic Heroes. Then it's Cowboy Bebop and then it's Death Note.

I haven't found any anime similar to those and one's promising they were, were at a completely lower level. Like for example, I wanted to watch something like Death Note and people advised me to watch an anime about a German doctor trying to find some evil kid (I forgot the name). Some of it was cool but it takes forever to get from plot point to plot point.

So I've pretty much given up on the genre. The only "Anime" I watch now is The Boondocks which comes back this April.

[NWR_insanolord]

Honestly, I've never really given it a shot. I don't really know why, either.

[Halbred]

Only three anime series have clicked with me: Fullmetal Alchemist (the original series), Afro Samurai, and Cowboy Bebop. But even the latter has its ups and downs. Overall, very strong though. I try a lot of anime but I just can't get into it, mostly because the production values tend to be terrible, but there are so many tropes that I hate or have gotten sick of. Mechs, harem shows, there's ALWAYS a samurai guy, etc.

I like MOST of the Witchblade anime, but it was really edging into "this is kind of creepy" territory in the beginning before it got serious.

[bustin98]

My intro was with the older series Americanized: Battle of the Planets, Voltron, Tranzor Z, Robotech. Mighty Orbots was awesome looking yet so empty. Then Akira, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Bubble Gum Crisis, Vampire Hunter D. They were a breath of fresh air compared to the after school stuff of GI Joe and Silver Hawks. The nineties was pretty barren for me with anime. Ghost in the Shell was the big one, with some Street Fighter II. I couldn't get into MD Geist or Fist of the North Star. I really hated the transition of the look of most anime from what Sunbow was creating to being more silly like Dragon Ball. Still do, though Teen Titans grew on me. Studio Ghibli is where God works, even if all the characters from every movie look the same and everyone has the ability to raise their hair.

I picked up the latest Appleseed metal books when they were released a few years ago. The second one was directed by John Woo. The first one I enjoy quite a bit. The second has this boring love triangle arc, ugh. Who the **** cares, I'm here to see giant guns being fired by robots half the size of the guns while running and flying at the same time.

[Dan Laser]

...an anime about a German doctor trying to find some evil kid (I forgot the name)...

Monster? I really enjoyed the series, but it is slow. For a while Guillermo del Toro was planning an HBO series based on it, but I haven’t heard anything more on that. I think it could've worked well as a live action series, though. Del Toro has probably moved on to developing the TV series based on his own novel series, The Strain.


There are a lot of crap to average shows, so it is hard to find the good stuff. You can say that about all TV in general, though!

What about things like some of the recent remakes such as Gatchaman Crowds, Lupin the Third: The Woman Named Fujiko Mine, the new Jojo's Bizarre Adventures? Or shows like Mushishi, Kaiba, Kyousougiga, Tatami Galaxy, Shiki, Darker than Black, Baccano, Gankutsuou, Hakaba Kitarou, Mononoke, Twelve Kingdoms, Kill la Kill, Eureka Seven, Mawaru Penguindrum, Moribito, Steins;Gate, House of Five Leaves, Towards the Terra…

I should stop now, I’m feeling embarrassingly dorky

[Adrock]

I haven't watched much anime since freshman year of college. The last anime shows I really liked were Azumanga Daioh and FLCL. I've watched a few since. Samurai Champloo which was good though it puttered out at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons (and the filler episodes in between them) of the North American bastardization of Sailor Moon. The absolutely atrocious quality of the dub is actually pretty amazing. I've never seen the original Japanese version though I'm confident I wouldn't like it. Sailor Moon's dub is the epitome of "so bad it's good."

I really like Urusei Yatsura and last time I checked, someone uploaded the entire series onto youtube. I don't think the series is even licensed in North America anymore. Lum will always be my favorite anime character.

I have a hard time getting into anime due to the obscene amount of cliches and melodrama. My brother has been trying to get me to watch more anime.