Must-See Films at L.A. Anime Festival

May Kasahara writes "The first annual Los Angeles Anime Festival is being held May 2-15. Among other films screening at the festival are Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns (making its US debut), Memories, and all nine episodes of The Animatrix. However, the film I really want to see is the trippy-looking Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat In Space. More information, including a full schedule of events, is available here."

Comments

Anime??

[Anonymous Coward]

Im not trying to troll, but...

I was wondering, just how popular is Anime amongst /.ers?

Is this really something that everyone likes?

Or is it just a category because Taco likes Anime?

Same thing with The Matrix? Is it really needed that there be a whole category just for the matrix?

There seems to be a HUGE range for these suject categories. Apple is a big category, so is Hardware. But I am confused why we have such general categories for most things, yet specific cetegories for others.

Re:Anime??

[tdelaney]

Obviously, I can't speak for slashdotters as a whole, but I can give my experience.

When I was a child (mid-70s - 80s) I found that there were some cartoons that I really enjoyed, and some that I didn't.

Somewhat later (when Robotech came around) I discovered that nearly all the shows I had enjoyed originated in Japan - Kimba the White Lion; Astro Boy; Voltron (vehicles and lions); The Mysterious Cities of Gold; Star Blazers; Battle of the Planets; Ulysses ...

OTOH, the shows I disliked were universally from the US - Scooby Doo; Flintstones; Jetsons ...

As time went on I discovered that I *still* didn't like most US animation, but I did enjoy most Japanese animation I watched. There were some US shows I enjoyed (e.g. Simpsons) and some anime I detested (e.g. Debutante Detective School).

Eventually I worked out the major things I liked and disliked. I enjoy story- and character-driven shows. I dislike episodic shows with no connection between the episodes and no character development. Of slightly lesser importance is character design and the overall look of the show - I *like* most of the anime character designs (esp. Miyazaki and CLAMP designs) and anime shows tend to look better in general - more attention to background detail, etc. OTOH, I'm currently watching "The Soultaker" and I don't overly like the look ...

There is a *much* greater percentage of anime which is character- and plot-driven than US animation. The Simpsons is a character-driven show - most of the episodes don't have much to do with each other (though they often refer to previous events), but the characters are well-developed - they have real (caricatured) personalities. There are others, but they're few and far between (and of course, there are shows such as "King of the Hill" that I'll never watch because the ads just turn me off).

I just finished watching "Burn Up Excess" today. It's a show with ridiculous storylines, huge breasts and unrealistic hair colours. It's also a lot of fun, with an on-going storyline that develops over the series, and characters whose stories draw me in *despite* the huge bouncing breasts. Of course, it's not a patch on shows such as "The Irresponsible Captain Tylor" or "Crest of the Stars" or "Kiki's Delivery Service" to name a few excellent shows. It's a (mostly) lightweight bit of fun, and much higher quality than most of the crud I occasionally catch on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.

My personal collection is about 300 or so DVDs, and about 400 VHS (used to be more VHS, but I've managed to sell quite a few ...). All up I have about 200 complete series and movies. I tend to pick and choose my shows quite a bit (for example, I never got the El-Hazard TV series because everything I read said that it wasn't nearly as good as the OAVs) but I've got quite a few in there that I'll never watch again (fortunately, most of those are VHS). There are a number of shows though that I watch time and time again.

Fortunately, Madman is releasing lots of anime here in Australia now - importing was prohibitively expensive. Oh - and I have lots of manga as well - Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind is definitely my favourite manga. However, the US comics I've enjoyed over the years have also tended to have strong storylines and characters - I don't find *that* great a disparity although no US comic I've ever read has had the depth of "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind".

Good starting point?

[rf0]

I'm trying to get into anime and I've watched things like Akira and TBH thats about it. Whats a good series I should try to get to help into another spending habit? :)

rus

Re:Someday

[C.Maggard]

Not all anime is about huge breasts and sex. I'm a huge fan of the Trigun series because it depicts a tormented hero struggling to help a world that believes he's the worst thing to happen to it, ever. People never seem to hear about the good deeds he performs, yet, they all want to talk about any destruction that might result from those good deeds, and of course, the tall tales are often exaggerated.

The Real Story

[mib]

Is it just me, or should this really have been called the "Los Angeles Anime Advertising Fest". A significant proportion of the program is excerpts from forthcoming DVDs from American distributors (ADV Films, Manga Ent., Pioneer).

Here's my take on the real "must-see" films of the festival:

• Tamala2010 A Punk Cat in Space.
  Has an outside chance of actually being great, but at least it'll be strange and a good conversation piece.
• Jungle Emperor Leo.
  This became "Kimba" in its Americanized form. A chance to see some of anime history in its original form that you may not get again.
• Castle in the Sky/Kiki's Delivery Service.
  Do yourself a favor and see this superior double-feature instead of the lacklustre "Cat Returns."
• Arete Hime.
  Worth a look for the animation, for which it won an award at the Toyko Anime Fair in 2002.
• Memories.
  As anime films go, this one is a brilliant work of art.

I found some more PR guff about the fest at anime-tourist too.

I guess fanboys will want to see Animatrix as well (I probably would), though the three released online episodes don't seem anything to write home about.

Now, anyone want to buy me a trip to LA?

- mib

Re:Must-see anime?

[offpath3]

If you think all anime has neon pink colors, whiny girl voices and epilepsy inducing flashing scenes, you've been missing a lot. I would recommend any of Miyazaki's works. If you're in for a rather depressing yet amazingly well-made anime, my personal recommendation would be Hotaru no Haka (Grave of Fireflies). Or if you want less artsy-fartsy, you could try Cowboy Beebop or maybe Ghost in the Shell.

Re:Must-see anime?

[nathanh]

But crap anime animation sucks in the suckiest way that can suck, and ruins a story that doesn't need neon pink colours, whiny girl voices, and flashing scenes that last a microsecond.

Shrug. I didn't care for anime myself until 3-4 years ago. I'd seen Astroboy and Transformers as a kid but I had boycotted anime from high-school onwards. I shared the popular opinion that anime was "cartoons" and "cartoons are for kids".

My opinion changed with a single anime. With a great deal of prodding from a fanboy friend I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion on SBS (an Australian TV station devoted to foreign films and shows). I'm a big sci-fi fan but stuck with the books because movies didn't and still don't do the stories any justice. Evangelion changed my opinion because it had a story on multiple levels; that's something I wouldn't expect from a Hollywood movie and definitely not from a "cartoon".

I've since realised that if you are careful in your selections then there is plenty of anime that is more than "cartoons for kids". Perfect Blue, Graveyard of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke: these are all examples of anime that tell a great story without using the stereotypes of "neon pink colours" and "whiny girl voices".

Re:Chojin Densetsu Urotsukidoji ..

[johannesg]

As far as I can tell this film single-handedly destroyed anime in the Netherlands. It was off to a promising start, until Uro... Iru... "Legend of the Overfiend" appeared. And then suddenly whenever you mentioned anime people would go "Ah yes, tentacles demons rape little girls, why do you watch that crap? Are you sick in your head maybe?" Soon after the video rental shops stopped carrying all anime.

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to see Spirited Away on the large screen. The way things are going I guess I never will :-(

For those who don't "get" Anime

[dWhisper]

I've never been able to really get into Anime since I watched Robotech as a kid. I loved that show, and still love watching it. It's not because I love Anime, but it reminds me of those cartoons.

For me, my cartoon loves are strictly American for the most part. I haven't been able to figure out why that is, since most of my friends love the Anime. I love classics like Transformers, G.I. Joe, things like that. I have quite the collection of downloaded episodes, and also have DVDs of my childhood cartoon loves.

I still watch the modern adult cartoons: South Park, KOTH, Simpsons, but don't really consider them cartoons. I have enjoyed some Anime movies, but to me, most seem watered down, or geared towards another culture and mindset. I can only watch so many cartoons with giggling girls, food jokes and the like. I enjoyed Ghost in the Shell, though I suppose that's qualified as Magna (I do not know the difference).

As for the other things, the Matrix rules, but it's just as much Sci-Fi as anything else.

Re:Define Watered Down, please

[dWhisper]

I think the main reason for the censors cutting American Import "Anime" is the difference between audiences in America and Japan. There, Anime is part of adult culture. Here, cartoons are still overwealmingly targeted to kids.

Sex, violence, nudity, and adult themes are cut out because it's still not in public circles that Anime is an adult art form. With the most popular cartoons being things like Pokemon, it's getting harder to convince people. DBZ in America is targeted to kids and teenagers (personally, I've always hated that show, then again, I'm 25 so that could be it), but the Japanese versions I've seen are plainly adult.

It's not just about the actual show though. For a cartoon series to be successful in America, there has to be some marketability for toys, videos, video games or the like. Go to Target, and you see Dragon Ball, Gundam, Pokemon, but you don't see Slyaers toys anywhere.

The anime I've always enjoyed has steered towards comedy and a little bit more "mature" action, for lack of a better word. I've enjoyed Ranma, mostly because the premise is funny. I've also enjoyed Slayers and the Lodoss War series. Gundam is a straight hack ripoff of Robotech, though I'm basing this on their toys and the 10 mintues of the show I've seen.

Transformers was a Japanese comic book that won appeal as an American Cartoon. The toys ruled, and I had them. I don't forsee any of the modern cartoons having the sort of lasting appeal that Transformers has (and the modern, lame, cartoon of Transformers doesn't count). Kids that are growing up aren't going to talk about how Pokemon and DBZ affected their lives. However guys my age still talk about seeing Optimus Prime die, though typically among men or when drinking.

Batman (and Batman Beyond) are probably the most unique american cartoons that have aired recently. I watched them in college, and they were unique because they placed storytelling above animation and the "pizzaz" factor of other cartoons. If you ever had a chance to watch the series Gargoyles, it was very similar in the storytelling aspect. If you can dig up some of those, I recommend it highly.