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The Giants of Anime are Coming
Wired is running a story about the Giants of Anime which discusses numerous things happening on the anime front, including the new Ghost in the Shell movie, and the upcoming Miyazaki release "Howl's Moving Castle". This is something of a background piece for people somewhat unfamiliar, but it also covers a lot of interesting bits that the fans might enjoy as well.
So what is the greatest full-length anime film ever made? Ghost In the Shell? Akira? Metropolis? Spirited Away? Wings of Honneamise? Anywone Know? I always figured it was Akira, but that's just me.
golgi 13!
cool CGI too
The only fun anime. All the others are either copies of the Gatchaman ideas, or drawn too 'hentai' for my tastes, or take themselves waaayyy too seriously (like their fans).
I think that one of the best things that could happen to Anime is the spotlight that Cartoon Network has put on it with Adult Swim.
I think that they should find more quality shows and expand Adult Swim.
"What the hell is an aluminum falcon?"
Personally, I find it interesting to see how anime is having a greater influence in all art forms with time. It has gone from a cult-ish art form to now being featured in music videos (Linkin Park's sensational "Breaking the Habit") as well as a majestic scene in Tarantino's Kill Bill. And these are the obvious ones. As the article says, we have seen it in the Matrix, etc. This is not something that is going away anytime soon...
...which discusses numerous things happening on the anime front...
I'll venture a guess that the top story on the anime front is some guy hovering in the air screaming at another guy hovering in the air - with various colorbursts displayed behind them all the while. They continue this for several minutes, building up to a short, rather anti-climactic fight.
But I could be wrong.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Where to watch the previews of all the movies listed above ?
Kenshin OVA: Trust & Betrayal. Watch it and forget about the rest of the series...
Although I did like Spirited Away, it had a very Alice in Wonderland sort of feel. I can't stand listening to the English dubs though- that little girls voice in the English dubs is so whiney and annoying. But yeah, Akira is the best. It is just fantastic. It's like blade runner and clockwork orange all in one. The manga is much better (because there is just so much more there), but the movie is just drop dead amazing. Next I would say Vampire Hunter D, and the sequel as well. Then would come Macross Plus. Then would Lupin the third and the castel of Caligastero The list goes ever onward after that, including some pretty weird and obscure ones.
click me
As opposed to, say, the midgets of anime? Now _that_ I would go to!
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
Lots of ASCII-art type Anime characters there, except that all of it is source code.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
I saw Steamboy a month ago, and wrote a small review for my friends on my blog. May be of interest to some here:
[Steamboy] is a new anime by Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira fame), set in England in 1851, around the time of the world exhibition in Londons Crystal Palace.
Visually, the movie is stunning. The characters are expressive and individualistic, the backdrops are beautiful, and, of course, the movie is replete with larger-than-life nineteenth-century steam technology. There is enough dramatic machinery and unlikely "science" in this movie to sate even the most rabid steampunk fetishist.
The story is complex and varied. I'm not going to detail it here - mainly because my Japanese just isn't up to the task of actually understanding all the twist and turns. I lost track about halfway through, to be honest, and Ritsuko too had trouble follwing it, in part because the speech tended to be fast and garbled. Nevertheless, they have managed to create believable characters with at least some depth, while at the same time all the clichés we know and love are well and truly fulfilled. The villain, for example, has an partial facemask and mechanical hand - I guess that adding a white cat and a monocle would have been a little over the top.
Did I like it? Yes, with a few reservations. This is a looong movie - 2h20m to be more precise. A bathroom break before seeing it is advisable. An of course, I can't really judge the story fairly when I don't really understand it - the end seemed to me to be a little artificial (not to mention wildly contrary to any scientific intuition), but as I couldn't follow the character motivations and interactions by that time, I can't be sure I understood it correctly.
Should you see it? If you like anime or steampunk, absolutely! And even if you don't, it has enough of an Indiana Jones kind of feel to it that I think you'll be entertained in any case.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
I don't get it either. But my attitude is if it ain't hurting anyone, and someone wants to do it, go for it.
:) Or watching TV.
I don't understand climbing Mount Everest either
Innocence
/. anyone who can't handle it...
Steamboy
Howl's Moving Castle
You'll find links onward to trailers from here...I'd paste the direct links, but I don't want to
--
Is it just the same as some people at the age of 40 still read comics?
Yes.
Ah yes, the words of someone who has not actually sat down to watch a good amount of it. Actually watch the movies. Get something directed by Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky. Princess Mononoke. Grave of the Fireflies. Nausicaa. You will understand.
(This comes from someone who spent about US$2000 on anime related expenses in their first year as a fan. And that's only moderate. I know hardcore people who spend $6K and more on DVDs, artwork, posters, figurines, toys, accessories, etc.)
It happened at DragonCon in 1996 when this 260 pound, middle-aged, hairy guy walked past me dressed as Sailor Moon.
...... gotta be End of Evangelion, folks.
Because- Hey, what are you doing? I'm using this thing!
No! I don't wanna go back there! I WANT TO BE FREE, NOT IN REHAB! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO #@$@&(#$(*@#^# - NO CARRIER
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
A lot? I'll give it to you that there are a few out there but when you look at the ratio of good anime titles to the entire catalogue and do the same comparison with a comparable movie category, I believe anime wins by a landslide. If nothing else, you have a large volume of enjoyable material.
I think the downside to Anime is the translation factor. I know that when I'm watching even the good flicks that I'm missing so much because I don't speak the native language. The phenominal visuals and character depth can easily be undermined by poor dialogue.
My favorite plus in regards to Anime is that it offers the ability to have rediculous character/monster design that would be impossible to fund/produce in the same live action genre. (At least in volume anyway.)
Are there any live action movies out there that have ninja's fighting horribly grotesque monster villians? Not that I know of... (If there are, I would bet the production quality and special effects are very poor compared against something like Ninja Scroll for example.)
::signature space for rent::
I've had "Anime" checked off in the "Block stories from homepage" for ages... but this showed up.
Anyone else seeing that?
...I'm loving Adult Swim. I came for Home Movies, but learned to love Family Guy (which I somehow completely missed on fox), ATHF, and Sealab 2021 but I remain totally uncompelled by their selection of Anime. Would you say Adult Swim would be any kind of decent primer where to start with Anime? If the answer is yes, I suspect this genre is not for me.
Er, can someone fill me in as to what this is all about?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I believe that it was the Spawn movie that first used CG in a well stated and obvious manner - and they did some amazing things with that cloak of his, but it still somehow looked "out of place" because of the unrealistically bright shading used in the coloring.
and really, anime isn't about the drawings, it's about the story and the charecters. It's those same basic elements that drive the appeal of the movie, it's just that using animation removes all restrictions on visuals because you can make whatever you want look however you want without having to make any sacrifices in trying to find a location or actor that fits the director's vision - they can simply DRAW exactly what they want to show.
Animation in movies is beginning to become very widespread in the past few years now that computers are capable of producing some very realistic looking renders. you didn't actually thing that was Toby Macguire or a stuntman doing all those amazing acrobatics did you? Even only a few years ago, you could not have readily achieved those effects on a believable level.
Even if you prefer live action, and that's your perrogative if you do, you're still seeing the effects of animation in live action.
This is Man-Faye.
Yes, it's a hairy man cosplaying Faye from Cowboy Bebop.
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
Not that I didn't like some anime movies I've seen, but a lot of people seem to be really obsessed with it. And a lot of those obsessed seem to fall into the geek category.
So here is my question:
What is so fascinating about anime (as compared to other movie genres) and why do animes have such an geek appeal?
An acquisition and release date haven't been announced, but are basically formalities. For comparison, it took about a year for Spirited Away to make it from Japanese theaters to US theaters.
The film is already scheduled for theatrical release in France early in 2005.
It's also making an appearance at the Venice Film Festival. I don't expect it to win 'Best in Show' like 'Spirited Away' did at the Berlin Film Festival, but it's great to see animation put on equal footing with live-action unlike the Acadamy Awards.
Ninja Scroll. That movie got me started on Anime. Will always be my favorite.
when is the Devilman movie coming out?
I scanned the article and saw no mention of the new ghost in the shell tv series, "Stand Alone Complex."
If you like anime, or liked the original movie. Go buy this on dvd. Now. Its simply the most remarkable anime I have seen in more then 5 years (and ive been doing this for more then a decade)
At a million-bucks-an-episode budget, this title is visually incredible. Almost movie-quality effects everywhere. The soundtrack is haunting and fits so well, as does all of yoko kanno's work.
The themes of the movie are better fleshed out, and the characters more developed. (and more accurate to the manga, by many accounts)
Oh yeah. The DTS track on the LE dvd blew my mind.
I was shocked to see this anime. Its the best Ive seen since Cowboy Bebop.
no
I'm going to have to agree, Nausicaä of the Valley of Windis perhaps the finest anime movie ever made. If you like Miyazaki's style, but found Princess Mononoke (and Spirited Away) to be somewhat dull, then give Nausicaä a chance -- it's much more gripping and adventurous. Second to that would have to be another Miyazaki film, Porco Rosso, which is just plain fun.
here's a sneak peek :)
Coming to the Staples Center! Stare in amazement as the Giants of Anime take on the Monsters of Rock! Can the vixens of Sailor Moon survive in the Spiked Cage of Death for three minutes with the hellcats of L7? Cringe in horror as the KISS Army takes a full frontal assault from the Red Ribbon Army!
As allways, we'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!
dont get much pussy huh :P
The TV series is 95 episodes long. The last third of the series has a bi drop off in story quality because the show outran the Kenshin manga that it was based on, so the storyline was no longer based on it.
-MDL
Happy meals fund terrorism
Great pick. I actually didn't like the series until AFTER I watched Trust and Betrayal. It actually made the series enjoyable for me. The second OVA (Seisouhen) was/is amazing too.
http://cryptome.org/rnc-data.htm
Wow... King Retard.
In what category would that be?
Sci-fi in manga (and probably other categories as well) has done much more imaginative things than anything I've seen in movies. The fact is movies are taking ideas from manga (The Matrix, Dark City... to mention a few). So RTFA and I hope you will look at anime with a more open mind and not think of it of a "children's cartoon" thing. Cartoons can take on adult themes (not just erotic) and do a damn well job at it too.
Oh shut up George W.!
Even then you aren't finished. Exactly what do you find entertaining. What does make a story involving. What stuff have you already thought about and don't need to be reminded by a movie?
The one that made me think was "Grave of the fireflies" a movie you could compare with the western "Empire of the sun". Both tell the what happens to kids in times of war. I liked one review that claimed fireflies was the best movie he ever watched and never wanted to watch again.
Of course if you like Akira and Ghost in the shell you might find fireflies very slow moving even boring. Perhaps. Depends for what reason you like the first two.
Another highly regarded movie you don't list is "Angels egg". One of the few movies you could watch without knowing any japanese and still be able to "understand" what is going on.
This will probabaly get me modded down but the movies you list are the typical "hollywood approved" anime movies people in the west have heard about. Doesn't mean the movies are bad or any less then their more unknown, in the west, siblings but if you really want to find the greatest anime movie ever you need to do a little bit more watching. Akira may then still be the greatest to you but at least you will have a longer list to show you watched anime other then the ones with a western approved release.
Oh and my favorite movie? I don't really have such a thing. There are far to many great movies I have seen that I like for different reasons. I am afraid that if I pick a single movie that "scores" best in all my catogories that I am falling into the hollywood trap of creating movies to appeal to everyone that end up appealing to no-one. Just saw a docu on Red Dwarf. American movie studie wants to cast Hugh Grant as Lister.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I still don't understand why Japanese cartoons fit into a geek news site. Am I alone in being a geek without a love for anime? Or does everyone just follow along with CmdrTaco's other interest?
Yes, the translation factor of anime is what turns off most people. One short sentence in Japanese could turn out to be a long sentence in English, and if you're watching a dub, they'll have to butcher the meaning to bits just to make it lip-sync.
Also, most dubs -suck-. Really, really bad. I don't think an American voice actor can come close to emulating a Japanese anime character. It's like they don't put enough heart into it, and that makes the character seem dull and shallow. Personally, I always watch subs whenever possible, although I know some people prefer dubs anyway simply because they cannot read the subs fast enough.
And responding to the grandparent's post, yes. There are different categories of manga in Japan. Shounen, which is mainly for young male teenagers; Shoujo, mainly for young female teenagers. And then there's Seinen, which is pretty much 'adult' manga. But don't think too far ahead; an adult manga doesn't necessarily mean nothing but tits and ass throughout, it just usually contains issues that don't interest the other two categories. That, or they do actually have T&A, or just a lot of gore (MPD Psycho comes to mind, known more for it's extreme detail in murder scenes). I probably missed some other categories, but those are the ones that come to mind.
I, on the other hand, love the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. Government conspiracies, crazy Matrix-style action scenes, funky A.I. tanks, and hacking scenes. And don't forget the little insights into each character's personal lives.
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
"Who needs the opposite sex, I've got you Jessy!"
Spirited Away has nothing on Team Rocket.
fortune -o
Just come clean; when they offered you the red pill and the blue pill, you took both, didn't you?
"Ah yes, the words of someone who has not actually sat down to watch a good amount of it. Actually watch the movies. Get something directed by Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky. Princess Mononoke. Grave of the Fireflies. Nausicaa. You will understand."
Have. Hated it. Don't understand the attraction at all. Subjected to endless hours of the drivel by several friends of mine who utterly love anime.
I find it chock full of nonsensical plots and bloated with mood-breaking utterly silly/stupid scenes.
Some anime (very, very little) I wouldn't mind, were it not for the fact that they set you up in a dark, moody universe, just to subject you to a bouncing girl with no face screaming at the protaganist for failing to do the wakawaka dance properly.
Lots of people will say other things just to be different or special.
Bu really Akira must be the father of Anime movies.
By the way if anyone knows where I can get English subtitles for Avalon, fwd a link..
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/ 9_11_toy
"It makes me angry"
Still wasting your time.
And still.
Time? Wasted.
Dear Slashdot: fix your shitty code.
I hate anime.
The end.
One point I found annoying about the article was it going on about the 'vision' of the director of Ghost in the Shell, and totally ignoring the fact that the vision of the GITS came from its original manga writer/artist Masimune Shirow.
People like you disturb me, and I'm inclined to think that it is not due to short attention span.
Anime geeks rejoice, your time has come!!
^_^
-_-;
>_<
<('_'<)
^('_')^
(>'_')>
I'd better get my Umbrella.
Gundam barely got a mention. No shoujo (girl's) anime mentioned at all. Not much mention of anime TV series...
Lot of good anime is based on novels too, though they're rarer. I feel that most novel conversions are great (though my Japanese isn't good enough to read novels) but I often feel let down by anime based on an original manga series. Patlabor, Hellsing, Azumanga Daioh and Gunslinger Girl are good examples of manga conversions though. I'm probably picker than average though.
Some examples of anime based on novels: Slayers (TV series a lot more slapstick than novels though), Read or Die, Scrapped Princess, Crest of the Stars (and follow-ons), The Tweleve Kingdoms.
Crest of the Stars is one of my favourite series - battles in a 2D universe, the interesting Abh culture and language (the author made up his own language and character set), and some very interesting characters. In pretty much any western series, if you have a race of genetically engineered people, it pretty much has to be a distaster - not so in CotS. Also, democracy vs royalty - democracy has to be superior... but not in CotS. Pretty fun. Ahh... if they'd only make another series...
The Tweleve Kingdoms is awesome too. Doesn't seem that way at the start, but it has some incredible plots and character development. More!
This is slightly off topic but while the Giants of Anime is coming to the U.S., people can go to the museum that showcases just what exactly makes Studio Ghibli tick at the Ghibli Museum. If you are lucky, you might even be lucky to meet the man himself, Hayao Miyazaki. You can get more information at the Ghibli Museum website. (Translated of course, but they also have an english version as well.) I wish I could have had the chance to go when I was Japan. From what I have heard, it is MUCH better than Disneyland.
I am not talking giant robots here. I am talking far simpler things. Scene at an airport. Scene at the busiest crossing in tokyo. Scene with a kid.
Ever notice how many of the live action series take place INSIDE? Because it is cheaper to film in a studio then on location. Canadian cities are very popular to shoot series that pretend to be in american cities because it is cheaper to close down a street for a shoot.
You might also notice that many anime involve childeren as the leads. This is a huge problem in live action as there are very strict laws about what you can and cannot make a child do. You might have noticed that series in the west about high school students have actors in their 30's.
Ultimately anime is just another media through wich a story teller can tell their story. There are a lot. Just like you can be told the story of "The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" through a radio-play, a series of books, a series of comics, a tv series, an upcoming movie and even a computer game. All have their own charms and give their own capabilities to the story teller.
I get the idea that you can't imagine those capabilites as you seem to think that only "real" movies are worth it.
Animation comes in with the live action but removes the need to find suitable looking actors and the need to build complex sets or get permission to film in real world location.
Animation gains the power of movie images without the restraint on the imagination of the author. If the author can imagine it then it can be done in animation.
As I said before this isn't just about special effects but about simple things like a war movie involving childeren. Filming in real life locations.
Ultimatly only a snob would dismiss a story telling media. It is the story that matters and how well it is told. If war and peace had been done in a comic would you not have read it? Read Lone wolf and cub sometime
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I'm fairly new to anime; I only started watching it maybe 18 months ago (I'm 35), and that was by happenstance that Ghost in the Shell was playing on the Independent Film Channel. I had never seen anything quite like it, and it had me riveted to the TV. I only caught the last 20 minutes or so. I started exploring more and different kinds of anime. I've found that, like most things, 90% of it is crap. But the good stuff is a refreshing change from vomit-inducing Disney fare.
;)
There's also the cultural aspect of it. I've learned more about Japan and Asia, and took a Japanese language course.
Plus there's all those cute schoolgirls in sailor uniforms
I think I just started automatically filtering those people out, so now I only see cute cosplayers.
The rarer stuff does not have a western release and force you to either learn japanese or get the "illegal" version from the net. There are plenty of fan subbed versions of anime series and movies out there. Often with better translations then the official releases. Fansubs ain't afraid to use explanations at the top of the screen when something said is to japanese to be translated.
So for the movies in the article search google for the official sites. Fansubs are techinaclly illegal but as long as no western company has licensed it it seems to be tolerated. At least the japanese don't seem to take action against fansubs. Fansubs do help to establish a market in the west I guess.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
An excellent film that my wife will never ever watch again. Another good one is Chinese Ghost Story.
click me
Since it's anime, shouldn't it be called "Moving Castle Howl" or something like that?
Tenkuu no shiro Laputa 3
Moll.
What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
Wired ignores the most creative figure involved with anime today -- Yoshitoshi Abe. Abe was scarcely out of school when his character designs helped bring "Serial Experiment Lain" to life. This groundbreaking work would have been a far more arid exercise had it not been populated by Abe's characters.
Abe (and part of the Lain team) went on to make the interesting, but not entirely successful "Niea_7". For this, Abe contributed not only character (and environmental) designs, but the basic story.
Abe then went on to create one of the most beautiful and moving animated series ever -- "Haibane Renmei". Inspired more by the films of Angelopoulos and Kore'eda than other anime, this understated story of young people reincarnated in a bucolic limbo is not only wonderfully animated but remarkably sophisticated theologically (in a fundamentally non-denominational fashion).
Most recently, Abe has teamed up with much of the crew from Lain to make his most visually compelling work yet -- "Texhnolyze". This dark dystopian work adapts the fragmented narrative methodology of John Brunner's greatest sf novels ("Stand on Zanzibar", "Sheep Look Up") in a thoroughly cinematic fashion.
Any discussion of anime giants that doesn't include Abe (and his colleagues) is incomplete.
Credo quia impossibilis -- Tertullian
I have been watching and collecting for about 25 years now. The mindless crap aside (Dragon Ball, NinjaScroll etc...)
.. the above are the way to go.
1. My Neighbour Totoro : Probably the movie I would like every child to see.
1. Akira : Probably the movies I would like every child to not see.
1. Nausicaa (whatever you want to call it)
These three are very closely tops....
2.Princess Mononoke - excellent film
3.Cowboy bebop the series, the movie was alright but the series is where it is at.
4. FLCL - a very nice piece of semi-modern japanese mixed art.
5. Ghost in the Shell - technically very nice and the story line is very good.
Most of what the North American eyes see are a "limited" version of the actual stories as Manga is the true story and the films are usually the mockup of that. Ottomos Akira is one of my favourite "comics" ever.
That being said I am waiting all the new releases from the masters of both Manga and Anime.
There are MANY films but I would say, if you don't know anime that well and would like to see some very nice classics
I really do know KungFu
I get the impression that Hollywood is blocking Anime. Could it be that they see it as a threat? My experience is telling me that Anime is no longer a cult thing. I'm 27, and my youngest brother (11 yrs) to people my age (30s) are watching and collecting anime. It's available in mainstream stores now (Best Buy, movie stores) and video rental places offer them.
But I don't see them in theaters. Spirited Away didn't even make it into as many theaters as Gigli! Live-action anime-like movies get even worse treatment. Granted, Kill Bill was successful, and the comic movies do well. But Shaolin Soccer was a hit in China and Japan, but it can't seem to make it over here. My younger bros wear Naruto t-shirts to school, but I hear that will never be licensed in the US.
What's going on?
I'm going to risk feeding a troll here...
As a person that has been watchng Anime for many many years I can easily say that:
1) Some Anime does suck - especially if we get "all your base" style translations. Or that wacky badly repeated motion animation. Red mouths with no teeth, etc.
2) There are as many reasons to watch Anime as there are anything else - for the most part the same reasons. Writing, artwork, animation, general insanity, very little taboos, etc.
3) Anime, like any other genre or style of media is a personal taste. I respect your opinion and your right to say it but saying all Anime sucks is like saying all movies suck. It's an opinion - nothing more.
"Bah!" - Dogbert
I agree. I bought the VHS 20th Century Fox version for my kids when they were little and we've watched it probably over 50 times. My daughter is 13 now and when we saw the DVD on the sales rack, she made me buy it, even though we're waiting for the Disney widescreen/re-dub/subtitled version next year.
You hit the nail on the head about the violence and conflict. It amazes me that this is a kid's movie that doesn't bore them (or any adult that I have met) despite the fact that it has no (a) slapstick humor, (b) fart jokes, (c) violence of any kind, (d) bad guys of any kind. Even in the bad Fox pan-and-scan dub, it is a beautiful film.
BTW, if you haven't seen it, Best Buy and Wal-Mart currently have the Fox DVD in their bargain bins for approximately 5 bucks.
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
I'm not 40.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
I find it chock full of nonsensical plots and bloated with mood-breaking utterly silly/stupid scenes.
You mean, just like "real" movies? Gosh.
hmmmph. One reason to start watching anime is to get away from the general entertainment consensus. If you insist I conform to your taste, I'm switching to Bombay musicals.
I survived the Dick Cheney Presidency 7 to 9 AM 7-21-07
excelent post. but i will hold off on modding it to add to it.
I havent seen this movie listed in anyones posts:
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093207/
Wings of Honneamise. its such a simple movie, with little action, but it was the first anime I had ever seen that had a "normal" plot. It told a story and did it extremely well, held my attention without resorting to giant robots and the like. much like some of the movies you listed.
Just wanted to through that out there... since noone else has.
still, my favorite movie might be Akira. I have seen it so many times I cant even count... The first time I saw it was in jappaneese without any sub-titles (I dont speak jappaneese) and I have seen it many many times since, every translation, every dub. I still notice something new every time.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
Agreed. Not to mention theirs nothing nerdy about it and it certainly doesn't matter. It's just Taco jerking off again.
The acid test is your non-anime life. If you're over 30 and like anime and *also* have a stable job, decent income, something approximating a social life, and actual responsibilities in the world which you fulfill, then by all means enjoy the odd bit of anime. Can't hurt you and it is pretty good.
If most of the above don't apply, then anime might represent an escape hatch which you should not be exploiting at this time in your life.
I thank you in advance for listing some movies ("a lot" shall earn you still more thanks) in the same category as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Something I've been looking for, for a long time.
Why would you eat sushi when you can eat steak? The problem is in the question. The correct answer is you can do both, you just need to apply Sturgeon's Law to cut through the 90% of anime, and the 90% of "real" movies which are crap.
-aiabx
Just this guy, you know?
I'm switching to Bombay musicals.
Wow, the Bombay musical strategy actually worked. Woot!
You had conflict. I'm sorry bub, you always have conflict.
Totoro was a brilliant movie. The plot was man against nature, or "man vs. forces he can not control". The baby sister getting lost was the climax of the movie. The mother being ill also provides some elements of this type of plot.
Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
...I'm going to take this chance to plug the DVDTracks audio commentary I did for Cagliostro, inspired by a Slashdot story about the site. (As well as the journal entry I wrote recently describing how I put it all together.) I did a good enough job with it that a representative from a movie company considering making a live-action Lupin III contacted me and asked if I would serve as a consultant. (I never heard anything back from them afterward, though, and that was a couple of years ago.)
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Using Winamp video streaming, there's a popular anime series called Love Hina.
In 2-3 sentences, aspiring Tokyo University entrant Keitaro flunks (yet again) his entry exams. With nothing to do with his life, his grandmother invites him down to an all-girls dorm to act as the manager in her absence.
The tension between Keitaro and fellow Tokyo U aspirant Naru (also multiple failings to pass entrance exams) is but one of the recurring plot themes.
Imagine a young guy surrounded by various college age girls and the temptations that follow.
Naru alternates between desiring and denying a relationship with Keitaro with the usual result - he makes a move, she doesn't approve, and she slaps/kicks/punches Keitaro.
Here's where the drinking game comes in. Every time Keitaro is pummeled, you can take a drink. For those who want a little faster path to inebriation, take a drink each time Keitaro flips over (multiple times per punishment).
Guaranteed to work faster than the Star Trek Red Shirt Death drinking game. And the added bonus is that Love Hina is still funny for those who are designated drivers.
And the religious monks are profoundly funny.
Enjoy!
This isn't the only case where this happened. Often, anime series get cancelled or change directions when they reach the same point as the manga. Kenshin is the epitome of this, where the anime folks essentially decide to make their own season/arc and go with whatever they want. I believe Trigun (but I could be wrong) did something similar, but in the end came out similar (with a few exceptions, including a major one I won't spoil for those who haven't seen the series).
Now Inuyasha in Japan has reached that point. Some people said that this would be the end of the series at episode 167, but it seems more likely that the animation company is going to let Ms. Takahashi finish the manga before going ahead with the rest of the series. (A smart idea, in my mind)
So, when the anime manages to outrun the manga, a series can do a number of things. Personally, my favorite is what Inuyasha will must likely do, rather than risk getting two entirely different stories.
If anything manga/anime is just another form of entertainment. If you look at a very popular manga like Maison Ikkoku you can easily see that is what just a coin flip wether they would have done a live action or a anime for the tv version. No real reason to go anime as it does not have any special effects or difficult to film bits (kids, animals, locations). In fact in many ways it is a pure sitcom. Most action taking place in a few rooms with a steady cast. Only advantage that anime gives is that a live action would have a missing wall (where the camera is in sitcoms).
Also I do not agree with your view of geeks being against popular things. We just don't like things just because they are popular or limit ourselves just because it is unpopular.
A true geek does not really care what others think. This should work both ways. Not care that others disapprove or approve. That is a geek. Someone who only cares about others disapproving is called an angsty teenager. Most geeks don't have the social skills to be angsty. Or the time.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
For more info see:= 2616
:/
http://www.tokyocentral.com/shop/exd.asp?id
Several years back Murata edited a collection of manga, something like 20 various artists, It was named "FLAT." A google search will get you more info. At any rate the 2 book set was a trip despite my not being able to read japanese. It was a collection of stories that were visually all over the place, both wonderous and often disturbing. But that's one of the appeals of manga/anime it's striking and causes you to feel something that is soften lacking in mainstream america.
I'll also add, buy a copy, that's cheap considering how fast Murat/Yoshitoshi stuff sells out. Buying used is expensive, I know
No account, but response. The title is that start, specifically the fourth, or the fifth if the television film is included in the numbering, film Final Yamato is thought appropriate for this title of best animated film. The only appropriate ending to such a vast and expansive collection of series and films as Yamato. Operatic drama on a galactic scale, the honor of service for the future of humanity, the noble deaths of many characters, and *SPOILER* the return of the first Captain after a failed rescue attempt and most human of endings; no opposition to it as a great if not the greatest film can be easily written. The production quality was astounding for its period, 1983 by memory. Of course, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu ties with it for first place, in series, film, and OVA forms.
...to the highly informative anonymous posting to which this is a reply. ;~}
(It tells us more about the Murata manga collection that another poster asked about)
MEK
Credo quia impossibilis -- Tertullian
For some reason the idea is in the west that only live action is capable of telling "real" stories. These people just like the author of this article always have to point out the turd fighting super giant robot girls. At the same time neatly forgetting that this kinda stuff appears in hollywood movies as well. Or exactly what is "Attack of the 50 foot woman" about again?
There are other reasons to, so here is my bullet lists of reason why anime isn't being seen in the rest of the world.
But while nudity and sexyness is more accepted in japanese anime, sex itself is far more restricted. Not at all unusual for at least one of the leads to be a virgin.
Simply put the people in manga/anime can behave to different for western tastes. Or at least that is what tv/movie bosses think.
All this may make it difficult to show most manga/anime in the west. Exactly how do you market an extremely popular series like Ranma? At kids? It got nudity. At adults? The main chars don't even kiss. Do you translate typical japanese things to their western equivalent even if that ruins any chance of the joke coming across? Do you explain the joke? Make up your own?
I already see such things when I watch The Muppets on dutch tv. 2 stories for the price of one. The english audio and the dutch subs.
Disney was a business man and story teller who really studied the art of animation. He certainly has tried to create animation that was not just for kids but sadly most people think disney == kids. There fore cartoon == kids.
To bad those people will miss out but it is there loss not mine. Disney isn't to blame. People that dismiss intresting forms of story telling because it takes a certain form are. It is like saying casablance is slapstick because laurel & hardy is black & white.
If you are going to blame anyone blaim the catogorirs. Who on earth would put Shindlers List in a category with Police Academy? Then why is Grave of the fireflies listed in the same category as Pokemon?
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
See here for the webcomic version of what you just described.
"Anime" doesn't have an accept over the "e"; it's not French. The syllables are fairly equally emphasized, actually.
C'mon, guy, can't you try a little harder than that? Very unoriginal. Thanks for the laugh though....The double post was a nice touch :)
If you are going to watch this movie I do recommend that you know this. It is not a feel good movie. The most important mistake you can make is to see it as important wich side the kids are on. It is easy to shrug off their suffering as the result of japans own actions. It is an absolute fact that japan has only the historians to thank for the fact that most of their war crimes are forgotten. They were in no ways less then those commited by the germans/austrians. In my personal opion in fact worse. The germans just gassed childeren. They didn't rape them time and time again in pleasure houses for their soldiers. The germans also have paid billions in damages. The japanese haven't even admitted that raping childeren is bad.
It is al to easy to go into this movie with the feelings that japan deserved to be bombed. It did. But these kids were not part of it. They had no more choice then the kids being raped by japanese soldiers. They are ultimately the victims of things outside their controle.
Just as the movie Tora Tora Tora shows how a series of events leads to the start of the pacific war, a series of events where at any time someone might have stopped it all from happening. Grave of the fireflies shows a series of events where two childeren end up dead. Not because of evil actions but because at several steps no-one took action.
Others are angry that the boy took not better care. This boy is not a movie hero, he is based on the author of the story. His owned sister died of starvation because he would when searching for food would feed himself first. He survived. She died. Just as he might have been able to save his sister in real life if he had been a better human being the movie brother might have made smarter choices. What I do think is missing in the movie is the emphasis that there simply wasn't any food to buy. Rice is not enough.
Ultimatly I think this is a road movie. You know from the beginning how it is going to end. What you watch the movie for is the journey. Do not judge the travellers. If you want to do that you better be 100% sure that you are a better human being then the characters. It is easy to blame someone in this story. That takes the guilt away from us. Because the real guilt is that this story is happening all around us today.
This is not an anti-war movie. That is to simple. It is a "this is what war is really like" movie.
If you have read the reviews and still go "but it is a cartoon" then you are one hell of shallow thing.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I like how articles like these focus on anime productions that exist outside of the mainstream. Flicks like Innocence, Howl's, and Steamboy are about as far from regular Japanese animation as you can get. Innocence and Steamboy mostly failed at the Japanese box office, but hope to do well internationally. Howl's will do as well as any Miyazaki film, but Ghibli movies have an appeal that reach far outside the anime fandom.
Contrast those works and some of the others mentioned here (like Yoshitoshi Abe's stuff) to what we typically see in the Japanese anime mainstream: giant robot that, magical girlfriend this, harem anime that, 150-episode fighting anime this. Sturgeon's Law applies here.
anyone else amused at how the article calls Production-IG the "Miramax of Anime"? I'm sure they meant that in a nice way...
Tastes differ of course, but you'll probably like the 2nd series more! The third series is very good too, but a change of pace, and is just 10 episodes.
There's a 3rd banner of the stars novel which hasn't been animated yet - came out in 2001. I'm not sure if any new novels are expected. There's also 2 short stories that haven't been animated (a third one is an OVA).
Its simply the most remarkable anime I have seen in more then 5 years (and ive been doing this for more then a decade)
.hack//SIGN (excellent, but a lot of chatter) in the same time period, but none of them reaches the quality of Last Exile.
h tm
Have you seen Last Exile? It is the best anime in more than 5 years.
I've watched Escaflowne (very good), Stand Alone Complex (some excellent episodes, but uneven quality overall),
Excellent, surprising, tight plot up to the very last minute (they had to remove the opening credits of the last episode and to redesign the closing credits to fit it all!). Excellent and constant design, graphics, and animation quality. Excellent music, not by Yoko Kanno or Yuki Kajiura for once, but by a group named Dolce Triade. Very original and memorable universe, as much as Cowboy Bebop.
If you enjoy top-quality work and great storytelling; if you enjoy planes, airships, wind and clouds; or if you want to pretend you know your stuff when it comes to anime, you just have to watch Last Exile, the best anime of 2003 (and maybe of a couple of years before and after that)!
Last Exile on DVD in the USA:
http://www.lastexiledvd.com/
Some pictures:
http://halo-productions.com/LastExile/multimedia.
(look at the ones marked "from Last EXILE website")
Final word of advice: try very hard not to learn anything about the plot or the universe! Just jump into the first episode, you'll be glad you did!
Let me qualify that. Watch them with subtitles, not the English dubbing. I watched Castle in the Sky both ways. With the dubbing, the characters were constantly making stupid comments where nothing was said in the original version. It came off very poorly.
I think it's unfair to lump together every single hand-drawn movie into one category. What if someone told you that they hated live-action films? Wouldn't you argue that some of them are worth watching?
So tell us specific anime titles which you couldn't stand, and some which you didn't mind watching. Then maybe we can better understand your point of view.
Watch Cowboy Bebop. A stupid title but marvelously done Anime. No sailor suited kids, none of the stupid comic-style mouths nor high pitched screams. It's cool.
I agree with you on 95%+ of Anime. It's crap. There is this wierd japanese hangup with sailor suits, high pitched non-sensical screaming, and calling out martial arts moves for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, some Americans have clung to this insanity, from Sailor Moon to Dragonball Z, avoid it like the plague. There's also the legacy of comic books that occasionally show up, with the bloated faces, enormous screaming mouths, and whatnot. I've never read comic books, but from what I understand, these are common there, as you have to show someone screaming loudly in a still imagine, so that's how they get the point across. Anime has audio, so it's unnecessary and childish to draw such things.
Another class of Anime is the artsy ones. These are the "Princess Monononoke" and whatnot that the poster mentioned above. I saw them, and honestly, I wasn't all that impressed. Sure, it was drawn well and the story wasn't terrible, but it just didn't do anything for me.
Personally, I'm fascinated by author's fantastic worlds. I like to see how people imagine a world that works differently than our own. Anime allows these sorts of things to come out far easier than live action. You need a blockbuster budget to pull it off right, and that's hard to come by. Anime can do it on the cheap, allowing for some very interesting worlds.
Anime also tends to be done in a one-season long series. In the US, every television series fondest wish is to come back the next season. With most anime series, they order one season and from the beginning, they know that's all their will be. This allows for longer stories than you can do in a single movie, but still have a beginng, middle, and end. It's like the show "24" here in the states.
It can be tough to find, but the best anime resides in the cracks between the kids stuff (Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z), the nonsensical stuff with the rabid fans (Evangelion, FLCL) and the artsy (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away).
Cowboy Bebop, despite it's title, is the best I've ever seen. Another great one with a horrid title is "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". Why the japanese can't be persuaded to have decent titles is beyond me. I also liked "Last Exile", "12 Kingdoms", "Inu-Yasha", and "Escaflowne".
Try watching Bebop or Bloodlust on your own, without the rabid anime-fan roomates. You might just enjoy them...
And the only difference between them and you is that they like anime.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
the wriring sucks
you anime fans and your crazy slang.
NOOOOOO!!!
I just saw the translated trailer and I am filled with dread. It looks like they have completely mashed it up. Former lover? Hover cars? The secret of Appleseed? WTF? I still can't wait to see it for the eye candy, but I have some serious misgivings about the story. Damn, I hope there is an Appleseed series!
I, for one, embrace the popularization of anime.
(my emphasis)
You can't say "I, for one" here without invoking everyone's "cliched meme" antennae.
Here's a clue; the meme wasn't the Natalie Portman hot grits one (haven't seen that for a while), or even "Soviet Russia".
At any rate, I, for one, welcome our new anime overlords.
What? Was it something I said?
Akira was the first anime I ever saw, followed the same night by a _lot_ of dominion tank police...
Now I have 70+ DVD's, 40+ tapes and more vcd's and files of unlicensed fansubs than I care to keep track of.
However, my favourite movies are all items generally considered 2nd rate.
Patlabor 1 (Patlabor OVA)
Beautiful Dreamer (Urusei Yatsura OVA)
Castle of Cagliostro (Lupin)
These three movies I can watch almost endlessly.
Project A-ko (the first movie) at number 4 is my guilty little secret.
I'm also a severe Rumiko Takahashi addict, which does tend to lessen my standing in the "serious" anime/manga circles, but *shrugs* I just love 'em all.
kartune85 : Incapable of reason, observation or learning. A kind of dim, drab, flightless parrot.
The CG in Spiderman 2 was utter crap. When Doc Ock climbed the side of that building, I thought I was watching a clip from the upcoming video game. It was shittier than The Hulk even, and that's really saying something.
Mine is Adolecense Mokushiroku aka Adolecense of Utena. Definitively something you have to be mentally prepared for.
Why am I seeing this Anime story ? I have it excluded in my preferences (which I just double-checked) ...
This is off-topic, but who is that blue-haired character that Slashdot uses as a symbol for anime?
Thanks.
Actually it's a quote, although I don't know where it's from. Besides kinky and perverted doesn't sound as funny.
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
well if you don't like it then you don't like it.
i myself like anime because it provides me a different sort of art than the usual hollywood drivel. plus, the fact that it is animated allows the filmmakers to get their message across better w/o relying on whatever talents the film can afford due to lack of funding or whatever.
you probably don't like the sort of surrealism that is a part of all anime series/movies. where characters go out of characters sometimes and act a little silly, often turning into poorly drawn, 2-d people that scream and flail and whatnot. i think doing this makes the characters seem more human. no one is ever serious 100% of the time. there are times when I want to flip out and act a bit silly etc and i want to turn into a poorly drawn, 2-d, arm-flailing psycho.
I'm a big Miyazaki fan, but I have to point out that this movie won't be entirely his; I assume it will be based on the book, of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Granted, I'm sure the movie will be as good as (probably better) than the book, but...
Murphy's Paradox... the more you plan for success, the more avenues there are for failure.
Mmmmkay dude - I'm 40 and like anime. Let's see --- wife, check. Kids, check. Good job, check. Pretty much happy with my life, (well there's always room for improvement but) check. Personally I haven't lived in anyone's basement for over twenty years.
Everytime you watch Pokemon 10,000 of your brain cells die. Eventually you forget how to breath and you die among convulsions while everybody thinks you're having an epileptic fit caused by the flashing screen.
Dragonball Z is to Anime as Poison Sandwiches are to Food.
Depends on how you watch it -- as a comedy or as a serious action show. Indeed, the Japanese version seems to have a lighter tone than the Americanized version, which tries to take itself too seriously. In any case, I think your analogy is overblown: I can think of plenty of worse shows than Dragonball Z, whereas there's not much worse to eat than poison sandwiches (mmm, sammiches).
Beyond the Clouds, The Promised Place. Info Here It's like waiting for Duke Nukem Forever... But it's going to rock.
Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.
It's drawn by Orientals who exaggerate the characters' BIG ROUND eyes.
If somebody drew characters with exaggerated SLANTED eyes, the Japanese would hit the ceiling in protest.
In short, I find it very offensive.
[n/t]
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
No simpsons for you Then
Saying Apple is better than MS is like saying Botulism is better than rabies.