Favourite animes thread

[Scott]

In the favourite movies thread, I brought up an anime, and then Runic Wolf brought up several more.. so without further ado, this will be the favourite animes thread. It may have a short life as a thread, but I'll still be watching more animes regardless -.-...

For those who don't know, animes are japanese cartoons; in general they're a lot more serious then their western counterparts.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

Although now if we're going to pull anime and series into this...

Woot! Long live animes :-).

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

Neon Genesis Evangelion: For all it's flaws I highly enjoyed this series. The main protagonist is actually a fairly typical, traditional Japanese protagonist. The story itself chugs along at a good clip and, as long as you pay attention to detail and keep an eye on symbolism, it's a fairly solid series (even with the creator having a mental breakdown half way through production). While I know there are multiple endings, I tend to prefer the much more subtle original ending.

I loved Neon Genesis. It was the first anime I ever saw. Could you tell me the original ending? I'm not sure which ending I saw. In the ending I saw, a bunch of the um.. mechas? from other countries (representing the allies I'm guessing, metaphorically) take out the girl in the mecha from Germany. Then there's like a happy ending thing..thing at the end of the world or something. I liked it anyway :-).

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

Rebuild of Evangelion: A reboot movie series, of which they've only done 2 of 4 so far, that takes a lot of the themes, characters, and even whole events from the original series and plays around with them. It's a new look at that old story and the events that could of been. What drew me in was watching the first one after having seen the first series a half dozen times. While none of the plot really changes, the second movie does a lot of that, the small little shifts in tonal inflection and the like made some of the scenes do a total 180 in meaning. I simply had to see what they did, and boy did 2.22 deliver.

I see :-). I'm not even sure if I saw the original movies, let alone the new ones.. this will definitely be something to consider watching.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

Bubblegum Crisis 2040 and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: I list these two together because they do have a lot in common in terms of theme and ideas explored, a main one being "What does it mean to be human", even if the flavor of the series has changed.

I just finished watching everything in Ghost in the Shell. Absolutely awesome. I actually ended up buying the Solid State Society OVA on itunes because I couldn't get a complete streaming version online, laugh :-). So I just may watch that Bubblegum Crisis anime.. I must saw though, Bubblegum Crisis doesn't sound nearly as serious as Ghost in the Shell was, laugh :-).

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

Record of Lodoss War (and the follow up series, Chronicles of the Heroic Knight): Traditional Western fantasy as seen through an anime lens. Not much more to say about it then that. It's a fun watch if you like epic fantasy.

I think I've heard of it.. may give it a look later.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

The Slayers: This is a series that's been a long time favorite of my wife and I. It's a "Dramadey" set in a western style fantasy setting. The first half of each season starts off lighter, with some jokes and it pokes fun at itself and the genre, and as the season goes on it gets more and more serious and drama filled as it comes to it's climax. The fact that the series doesn't take itself too seriously is major points for it.

Cool :-). Will keep in mind.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

I saved the best for last:

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (or just Gurren Lagann in the US): Such an amazing mecha series. It's got plot twists, big drama, the characters are memorable, it's got great one liners, and by the end it's gotten so outrageous but you don't care because of the way the story is told. It's the kind of series that builds up the insanity and is very self aware of the genre it's in and the conventions there of. The first few episodes where kind of slow because it builds the base that it works from, but put in the investment, it does pay off big time. My wife HATES mecha anime, but I sat her down to watch this and she got sucked in and enjoyed the hell out of it.

I see, heh :-). Will also keep in mind.

[Scott]

Here's my favourite animes, in order of my esteem:

1- St. Luminous Mission High School (tv series)
I'll quote wikipedia's description of it:
*******
When his grandfather dies, Kaihei inherits the post of chairman at an eccentric private girl's school which emphasises the personal freedom of its students. But he arrives to find that one of the students has gone missing. As he investigates Melina's disappearance more students vanish, strange events occur and his position is placed under increasing pressure from teachers and parents.

Despite seeming to have many of the elements of a typical school harem anime, St Luminous instead focuses on plot.
It also really focuses on the characters. The subject of teens going missing can be interpreted as something else, a subject that they do bring up if briefly: suicide. It does have some immature discourse, but nevertheless, in the course of 13 episodes, the series does an excellent job of describing the effects of caring for someone/love, how not having it can take people to "a place that is not known", which could be interpreted as possibly madness, and having or getting it can get them to come back. It speaks of both the fragility and power of love in a time of great emotional turmoil for most people (their teen years), not by intellectual discussion but by the actions of the characters themselves as well as the story line.
*******

2- Grave of the fireflies. It's based on a true story... the ending, which goes back to the beginning is.. depressing as all hell. But life isn't always roses and I think it's good to see how a community can engage in small cruelties that can ultimately kill someone.

3- Rah Xephon

4- Wolf Brigade; Another tragic anime film.

5- Ghost in the Shell; I loved it all; the 2 season, the films and the OVA. I think it's speaks of issues that are present today, thinly disguised as issues sometime in the near future :-p.

6- Spirited away; written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who's done several great animes. This was actually recommended to me by a female homeless activist back in my activist days (aka, when I was living in a shelter, laugh :-p). It involves a girl who finds herself in a fantastical land and her many adventures where she triumphs over many adversities by being kind to the people around her, who in turn return the favour.

7- Princess Mononoke (film) From wikipedia's entry, with a bit of editing:
Princess Mononoke is a 1997 epic Japanese animated historical fantasy feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. "Mononoke" is not a name, but a general term in the Japanese language for a spirit or monster. The film was first released in Japan on July 12, 1997, and in the United States on October 29, 1999. A human girl adopted by wolves is given the name of "Princess Mononoke" by the villagers of Iron town, where a lot of the story takes place. Metaphorically speaking, this movie can be seen as what happens when humanity disregards mother nature; we may be able to kill off a lot of the wildlife, but if we mess things up too badly, our own lives will be lost as well.

8- Howl's moving castle, also written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Really nice story. Again from wiki, with some editing:
The heroine, Sophie, starts out as an 18-year-old hat maker, but then a witch's curse transforms her into a 90-year-old gray haired woman. Sophie is horrified by the change at first. Nevertheless she learns to embrace it as a liberation from anxiety, fear and self-consciousness. The change leads her to seek out a wizard with mysterious powers, feeling that he's the only person who could help her. In the end, she finds that he needed her just as much as she needed him.

9- Evangelion: Neon Genesis (series) Somewhat like Rah Xephon and Runic Wolf likes it too, so 'nuff said :-)

10- Hellsing- the original (series) Basically, a vampire slayer series.. and the head vampire slayer is a vampire himself, much like Blade in a way.

11- Bleach- An ongoing series involving certain high school students who can see ghosts and (soon enough) do battle with the bad ones. It's not always the best, but has some great music and it can certainly keep you busy for a while; currently there are 358 english subbed episodes :-).

12- Berserk (series) - Been a long time since I've seen this.. my brother was a real fan. I liked it but it's been so long I had to go to wikipedia to remind me what it was about, laugh :-). Here's the link to the wiki entry for anyone interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)

[RunicWolf]

Originally Posted by Scott

Man, talk about looking at things from a different perspective, laugh :-). I never read the mangas, so the original was all I had to go by. Because of what you said, I'm now thinking I may give the new version of Hellsing another chance. I admit that I liked the fact that there was more sexuality involved, it's just that.. well in the first one, it seemed Alucard respected Seras more.

You're right on the Seras point. However it makes sense when framed in the mindset of an immortal, life taking, blood sucking monster. You've got to earn his respect and as of the first episode, only a handful of people had.

Originally Posted by Scott

I loved Neon Genesis. It was the first anime I ever saw. Could you tell me the original ending? I'm not sure which ending I saw. In the ending I saw, a bunch of the um.. mechas? from other countries (representing the allies I'm guessing, metaphorically) take out the girl in the mecha from Germany. Then there's like a happy ending thing..thing at the end of the world or something. I liked it anyway :-).

You saw the End of Evangelion/Death and Rebirth ending. In one version of the series they chopped out the last few episodes and replaced them with two movies. That's the ending where Seele wins and Third Impact happens.

In the original ending Gendo uses his son to win by succeeding in Human Instumentality, Third Impact is adverted, and he is reunited with Shinji's mother. The downside to the original ending is that it's hard to follow if you're not paying attention, as like with the rest of the series it relies heavily on symbolism, questions, and philosophy.

The whole series is one big tangled knot of plots in plots, Gendo being awesome, and the like. The Evangelions are only a story telling device to help keep the series framed with something and the plot moving along. The real focus is on the people in this situation.

[Monochrome]

Evangelion is probably my favorite of all time, though Bubblegum Crisis is a close second. BC 2040 is great, but I have a soft spot for the original Bubblegum Crisis (and Bubblegum Crash, and AD Police Files...) The art in the original is a little softer, both colors and line work.

Some of my other faves:

- Ranma 1/2. All of it it great. Incidentally, I am usually pretty strict on the whole "subtitles are better than dubbing" debate. This is an exception. I still really like the sub-titles, but this has the best voice work for the English dub I have yet found.
- Tenchi Muyo. The original series, the sequels like Tenchi in Tokyo just didn't do much for me.
- Escaflowne
- El Hazard
- Magic Knights Rayearth. Perhaps a little more aimed at a younger audience, but pretty fun.
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Nausicaa, Valley of the Wind
- Laputa
- (Basically, any Studio Ghibli/ Hayao Miyazaki.)

By the way, Grave of the Fireflies is possibly the most moving movie I have ever seen. I do not know if I can ever watch it again, but I am very glad I watched it the one time.

[RunicWolf]

Originally Posted by Monochrome

Bubblegum Crash

For as much as I love all the Bubblegum Crisis related material, this is by FAR the worst one of the series. It took me a week to finish it because i kept falling asleep during it. Even Parasite Dolls was more interesting to me.

Originally Posted by Monochrome

By the way, Grave of the Fireflies is possibly the most moving movie I have ever seen. I do not know if I can ever watch it again, but I am very glad I watched it the one time.

We have a long running joke/test here. If you can watch Grave of Fireflies and not cry you are either evil or have no soul what so ever.

[BrigidsDaughter]

Originally Posted by Monochrome

El Hazard

By the way, Grave of the Fireflies is possibly the most moving movie I have ever seen. I do not know if I can ever watch it again, but I am very glad I watched it the one time.

El Hazard was one of the first anime I ever saw.

Grave of the Fireflies was a powerful movie. I don't know that I could watch it again.

Obviously I've seen all the anime Runic Wolf posted since we rented or owned most of them shortly after we were married.

Also, Hellsing kicks ass!

[ThatGirlInGray]

I've seen a lot of the same anime MC has- we met in the Anime Club in college. But he forgot my personal favorite:

Irresponsible Captain Tyler

I have not seen Grave of the Fireflies, and it's unlikely I ever will.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

You're right on the Seras point. However it makes sense when framed in the mindset of an immortal, life taking, blood sucking monster.

I guess so, laugh :-). And I did like that extra sexual element in it for sure.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

You've got to earn his respect and as of the first episode, only a handful of people had.

Fair enough. The thing that actually got me in both the first and the second version was, was he really unable to save her normal life? Oh, certainly -after- he shot her it would have been impossible, but did he really need to shoot her to get that baddy? I'm not so sure. I think he wanted a vampire companion.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

You saw the End of Evangelion/Death and Rebirth ending.

Ah ok.

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

In one version of the series they chopped out the last few episodes and replaced them with two movies. That's the ending where Seele wins and Third Impact happens.

In the original ending Gendo uses his son to win by succeeding in Human Instumentality, Third Impact is adverted, and he is reunited with Shinji's mother. The downside to the original ending is that it's hard to follow if you're not paying attention, as like with the rest of the series it relies heavily on symbolism, questions, and philosophy.

I see, heh :-). Maybe one day I'll get into all of this again...

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

The whole series is one big tangled knot of plots in plots, Gendo being awesome, and the like. The Evangelions are only a story telling device to help keep the series framed with something and the plot moving along. The real focus is on the people in this situation.

I also think that the series is talking atleast in part about what happened during World War II. That german girl, the way she makes her final stand against all of those white evangelions, how the japanese force is pretty much wiped out by the end of it. I felt there were elements of all of this in Rah Xephon as well, although I think they did a somewhat different take on it. As mentioned, I liked Rah Xephon more.. there was just some element of it that I thought was so awesome.. hard to put into words I guess :-p.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Monochrome

Evangelion is probably my favorite of all time, though Bubblegum Crisis is a close second. BC 2040 is great, but I have a soft spot for the original Bubblegum Crisis (and Bubblegum Crash, and AD Police Files...) The art in the original is a little softer, both colors and line work.

I still find it funny that everyone likes this "Bubblegum Crisis" series.. name sounds so funny, laugh :-).

Originally Posted by Monochrome

Some of my other faves:

- Ranma 1/2. All of it it great. Incidentally, I am usually pretty strict on the whole "subtitles are better than dubbing" debate. This is an exception. I still really like the sub-titles, but this has the best voice work for the English dub I have yet found.
- Tenchi Muyo. The original series, the sequels like Tenchi in Tokyo just didn't do much for me.
- Escaflowne
- El Hazard
- Magic Knights Rayearth. Perhaps a little more aimed at a younger audience, but pretty fun.
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Nausicaa, Valley of the Wind
- Laputa

I haven't seen any of these. Man do I have a lot to see still, laugh :-).

Originally Posted by Monochrome

- (Basically, any Studio Ghibli/ Hayao Miyazaki.)

Now Studio Ghibli I know, heh :-).

Originally Posted by Monochrome

By the way, Grave of the Fireflies is possibly the most moving movie I have ever seen. I do not know if I can ever watch it again, but I am very glad I watched it the one time.

Aye. I'd watch it again, but only with someone who hasn't seen it before. I love watching movies with someone else if atleast one of us hasn't seen the film before.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by RunicWolf

We have a long running joke/test here. If you can watch Grave of Fireflies and not cry you are either evil or have no soul what so ever.

Lol, good one :-)