Anime

[Cluey]

Well, anyone who may have had the godlike delight of speaking to me on MSN may have descovered I'm starting to like anime, especially the films.

Start Article.

I saw Akira recently after taking a huge gamble and buying the DVD.  I'd seen a few Anime films before, notably Ghost in the Shell and Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (I've descovered, these films take a lot of attention to understand the ending).  Well, I really enjoyed Akira, I thought sometimes the dub was painfully bad, even the new redub was pretty bad.

Alot of people say, after watching Pokemon, think the Japanese can't animate very well.  I used to think that, backgrounds would be static except for the central characters on many of the animes I saw.

After seeing my first REAL anime film, which was Ghost In The Shell.  My opinion changed.  I saw the intro, and the main characters hair flowing smoothly in the wind while the lights behind her wavered and moved, it was a far cry from the shit fed to those american kids and their UGO or Pokemon cards, it was art.  Even after seeing the 1988 Akira, it was much better than what I was used to.  Seeing the painstaking attention to detail of the backgrounds, then painted by hand, was something I paused the DVD a few times to take in (and sketch for my Art coursework).

It pisses me off more than anything when people see me drawing anime characters at school, or reading a manga, and saying something stupid like "Why you still into drawing Pokemon?" or "Why are you reading a kids comic?" when I'm reading Cowboy Bebop or something.

I think more people should be aware of how anime is much more than the badly dubbed, heavily marketed world of kids crazes.  Akira is a great film as I'm sure anyone whos seen it would agree, it raises so many issues relevant today (plus its ultravoilent) and has some amazing action scenes.  I'd urge you to at least see a recommended Anime film before criticising it, because thats what I used to do, and I missed out on alot.

So, I just wanted to know your opinions on Anime and Manga.

Internation Movie Database Links:

Akira


Ghost In The Shell


Vampire Hunter D

[HillBilly]

I've watched everything from pokemon to sailor moon, love hina to dragonball, and I still haven't found anything I've liked. Still, I think it's stupid to say something like "I love/hate anime", because it can come in so many forms. It all depends on the creators, and not on the genre. Personally, I'm not too fund of the art style.  I guess I'm too much of a western cartoon Doug TenNapel kind of guy.

And everytime I state that opinion, people say I'm ignorant and "not able to relise the greatness of this Japanese art form". Heck, I'm cartoony, dammit!

[Nacho]

My opinion? Since it became really popular in Occident, 95% of the anime sucks.

Of course, there will be people who will love it. Many people does like strawberries, but I don't. Nobody is right when tries to say "it scientifically is good/bad".

[Flippy_D]

Deyam, but did I hate Akira.

On the other hand, go watch Spirited Away. Seriously.

[BMF-Inc]

I personally enjoy a few select works of anime, much the same as I enjoy certain select works from a certain genre of music. It really applies to the likes and dislikes of everything of mine; it must fit the mood I am in and strike a chord with me, be it stylistically, musically, or any other various ways. Personal ones I enjoyed have been:

1.Ghost in the Shell
2.Macross Plus (one of the greatest soundtracks I have ever heard in my entire life)
3.Golden Boy (best dubbed and dialogue I have ever heard from an anime)
4.R.O.D: Read or Die (a great artistic mesh of culture and time eras)

[Nine Toes]

I've only seen a handful of anime (if you don't count p0rn... ).

I like anime for the most part, but yeah, it is sometimes tough to understand exactly what's going on in some of them.

I've seen:
- Ghost in the Shell (not all of it, though).
- Lensman
- Spirited Away
- Armitage: The Third
- Vampire Hunter D

I didn't care for Vampire Hunter D at all.  Lensman was okay, but it was a long time ago, the last time I saw it.  Ghost in the Shell, Spirited Away, and Armitage are three that I would definetly recommend.

I've also seen various cartoons, such as Pokemon.

The only gripes I've got about anime are how the character's mouths don't always move with the character's speech.  The other gripe is how when I turn on Saturday morning cartoons, it's all anime nowadays.  Whatever happened to four hours of Bugs Bunny?  I like anime, but I like Bugs Bunny more.

[Flippy_D]

"I like anime, but I like Bugs Bunny more."

That is SO quotable.

[Las Naranjas]

As much as I like it, I don't think you can call GITS "Real Anime", since it was co-produced by Manga Entertainment [a British company], and subsequently was designed to sell in both Japanese and Western markets, which is one reason it lacks much of the signatures of most anime that wouldn't be recognised by many western viewers. Nonetheless, it's good. Watch the TV series as well, but do not read the manga. It sucks, as do people who like it who are called Kinoko.

Then just watch Ghibli films.

and Future Boy Conan.

[TheDude]

Next big anime = Naruto.

Wonderful Days - Amazing film technology wise (3D graphics), but only a decent movie, check it out anyway.

[Pelican]

If you liked Spirited Away, watch Castle in the Sky (made by the same guy). Love that movie - I vaguely recall seeing it on ITV when I was a kid? So its a bit of a nostalgia trip too.

Personally I just see anime as another genre. Some of it I like, and some I don't (IMO, most of the Manga stuff is a bit pants). I think I probably like some of it, because they can have such imaginative storylines without going mad with special effects. Its a more flexible medium?

[Cluey]

Yeah, I see the points, and I'd agree that alot off anime really sucks, it's just repititions of something thats been done before.  Haven't seen the original Vampire Hunter D, as I'm told the animation is terrible and the sequel is better.

I suppose people are wrong to say that anime is totally untouchable as a medium because its not, alot of it is very flawed, but when it gets good, its very good.

A great series I saw in Japanese with subs was Last Exile, I thought it was a great breath of fresh air, and for a series it didn't drag on and the animation was excellent

Naruto is good, but I see it being dragged on like Pokemon, plus the manga comic is better, much better.

Did anyone notice the deep meaning in GITS when the "tank" shoots along that mural of the evolution tree and the bullets stop at the mankind, as if we weren't supposed to go higher, or do I need my pills?

Farlander, you dont like strawberries?  You are a bad bad man  :'(

[SpacePirateCaine]

Living in Japan, I'm subjected to the best and worst that Anime has to offer. Personally, I don't really like to back it into a corner like most people do. Anime is just so diverse, just like animation from the rest of the world. In America, we have both crazy-ass stuff like Ren and Stimpy, and serious things like the Animatrix (Though admittedly this was heavily 'influenced' by the serious cartoons of Japan).

In Japan, one could even venture to say that the genres are even more diverse, with strange childrens' serieses like "Crayon Shin-chan" or "Daa! Daa! Daa!", all the way up to powerful Realistic serieses like "Berserk" or "Jin-Roh", and - as Mr. Hyde mentioned, porn as well. Anybody that's seen my artwork probably realises that 'anime' is a big part of my art form as well, but I in no way attempt to call it Anime or Manga except in the fact that the comic I write is written in Japan, in Japanese. The style is simplified, which was a convention that many contend was concieved of by Atom-Boy/Black Jack creator Tezuka Osamu, and though prolific in the Japanese cartoon scene, it is by no means the be-all and end-all deciding factor of Japanese animation.

I'm a fan of all animation. I'm also a cartoonist by trade, so I suppose that makes sense. I just don't think we need to pigeonhole Anime, it'd be like saying 'I don't like movies made in the USA' - doesn't work.

I'd like to also add that anything made by Studio Ghibli is worth a watch, in my humble opinion, aside from Spirited Away, they were also the ones who created "My neighbor Totoro", "Castle in the sky" (Mentioned by Pelican), "Porco Rosso", the recently released "Howl's Moving Castle" and many, many others. Don't watch it because you "like anime", watch it because it's just good animation and storytelling.

Edit:

In America, we have both crazy-ass stuff like Ren and Stimpy, and serious things like...

Whoops, didn't actually mean to leave a quotable like that, I was just going to try and think of something that would serve to get my point across and left it so I could finish working my thoughts out. Honestly. My bad.

[theyak]

I certainly won't watch a flick just because it is anime but I do enjoy a bit of it. I tend to dislike stuff that tends towards the chibi-style characters and can't stand it when a plot line sounds like it was written by middle school children.

Personal picks (at least those that haven't been mentioned more than once): Jin Roh and Grave of the Fireflies (Miyazaki).  I liked GITS but the second one was rather disappointing, it was much more dialogue-intensive and very pseudo-intellectual without exploring any interesting issues with any vigor.  The GITS series is far superior (IMO) to the second movie.

[Peter Thomas]

In America, we have both crazy-ass stuff like Ren and Stimpy, and serious things like....

Yeah, I couldn't think of any either....

now THAT is quotable. Because I just did....

[Las Naranjas]

Fireflies was Tatahaka, Miyazaki was making Tonari no Totoro whilst Fireflies was being made. Same company though.

[Blackthorne]

I've liked one Anime film I've seen:  The Professional: Golgo 13.  It was a good watch.....

Wait, I lied.  I liked Spirited Away too.

I just think Anime fan-boys ruin it all.

Bt

[sedriss]

Great Teacher Onizuka all the way.

[jetxl]

I've seen too many to remember. But here are some good ones.

Cowboy Bebop. serie
Street Fighter II. film
Slayers. series & films
Rurouni Kenshin. film (serie is good too but different)
Ninja Scroll. film (serie not so good)
Inu Yasha. serie
Noir. serie
Ranma ½. serie
Dead Leaves. movie
Trigun. serie

Not so good ones.

Boobiepop Phantom.
Kite.
Evangelion

These will make you kill yourself.

Click on the link in my signature for the newest anime. You download them using bitTorrent.
Free, no p0rn, legal and translated very good (they even describe the food).
Alot of them are girly and boring, but some (like bleach) are very good.
If a serie becomes licenced in the USA, they remove them instantly.

There is such a variety in anime, that there is something out there for everbody.
Saying that you don't like anime is like saying that you don't like magezines.

[Esseb]

Legal, Jet X.L.? I beg to differ.

[jetxl]

Legal, Jet X.L.? I beg to differ.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since there is no licence outside Japan, you can distibute it outside Japan as long as it's free. The product isn't SOLD.