What's so great about anime?

LordShaithis · Post by **LordShaithis** » 2003-09-11 01:52pm

I never liked that Gundam-style artwork. Too "sleek" for me. One design I liked from Big O was the Big Duo: A flying mecha with propellers and a bubble canopy. Makes no fucking sense at all, but when it's flying toward the camera it looks unusually similar to an oversized P-38.

(Hey, mecha are stupid to begin with. May as well throw sanity to the wind and design something that looks cool.)

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-11 02:49pm

Slartibartfast wrote: -Akira - overhyped, again trying to be over-profound (see Evangelion)

If you're disappointed by the Akira movie, it's no surprise.

I've read a great deal of the manga (roughly two thirds of it - I have some problems getting the last parts of it due to the fact that the later parts of "Akira" stocked at the local library usually are borrowed by somebody else) and enjoyed it. Even though I haven't seen the movie - from what I can gather about it, it cuts out a lot of interesting stuff. (Even worse - one site mentioned that in the movie, Kay was reduced to a hard-to-get love interest for Kaneda)

Many people find Akira to be much better on paper than on the screen. I still have to see the Akira movie, but currently I agree with them.

Grand Admiral Prawn wrote:I never liked that Gundam-style artwork. Too "sleek" for me. One design I liked from Big O was the Big Duo: A flying mecha with propellers and a bubble canopy. Makes no fucking sense at all, but when it's flying toward the camera it looks unusually similar to an oversized P-38.

(Hey, mecha are stupid to begin with. May as well throw sanity to the wind and design something that looks cool.)

You know, there are those of us who don't always need to take our sci-fi seriously.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-09-11 03:55pm

I like Akira as an anime quite a lot, actually. But yes, the manga is better.

At least it's better than Spriggan. What a waste of time that was...

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-09-11 04:15pm

XaLEv wrote:
Tekkaman Blade!

I miss that one.

I still curse whoever has kept it off DVD.

-Bubblegum Crisis - not great, but for some reason everyone watched it. One of those shows where apparently nothing ever happens in THIS episode but everything happens in the NEXT.

I assume you're talking about Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040? I know I got that vibe with that series but plenty happens in the original series.

Smiling Bandit · Post by **Smiling Bandit** » 2003-09-11 04:36pm

Here here! I can't think of *any* American TV show I've seen that had as much respect for the viewer as the *average* anime. The second Matrix movie might have, though (I'm suspending judgment on that till after Revolutions). Oh, gotta watch out for that anime that pretends to be deep by just not making any sense, though.

1) What are you watching? What about Nip/Tuck, or Samurai Jack, or either of the X-Men animated series, or Futurama? American TV is great!

2) Allow me repeat: you don't see the average anime, unless you live in Japan or deliberately seek it out.

LordShaithis · Post by **LordShaithis** » 2003-09-11 10:51pm

Simon H.Johansen wrote:You know, there are those of us who don't always need to take our sci-fi seriously.

Precisely. A flying mecha with propellors is preposterous, but it looks cool so I put that aside.

TrekWarsie · Post by **TrekWarsie** » 2003-09-14 08:09pm

In my opinion, what makes anime so popular is that many animes can be enjoyed by multiple age groups. For example, I enjoy watching Pokemon and DB/Z/GT, and YuGiOh. With Pokemon, it is enjoyable by people of many ages, especially the Orange Islands arc. I know that sometimes the main stories may seem childish, but there are some more mature themes in the series, and especially in the movies. With most American kids shows, they are aimed at a much younger audience and only appeal to that younger audience. I feel as if I am far too old to enjoy kids shows like Rugrats or Spongebob. There also seem to be very few American shows that can appeal to many ages, the only ones coming to mind right now are the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jackie Chan Adventures. To me, the appeal of anime is that it is generally designed to appeal to older and more mature people.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-09-14 08:46pm

Most of it's intended for kids. Not necessarily drooling rugrats, but kids. The thing is in Japan they don't believe in dumbing it down like in America. That's really the difference, anime can be enjoyed by kids but it's written well enough that most age groups can appreciate it.

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2003-09-15 05:07pm

Hmm... a semi-intelligent discussion of Anime...

For good anime, I'd personally suggest bopping around the various fansubbed anime providers, as they generally always have goood stuff (Scrapped Princess = Very good. Can't get GITS:SAC, since Bandai went around and had it pulled...)

Also, I would like to point out that the JApanese are still putting out InuYahsa (gah, 125 episodes... past halfway to Sailor Moon's 200 eps...)

Way back on page 1, there was a mention that Card Capter Sakura was just a cross between Sailor Moon and Either Pokemon or DBZ. I would suggest you watch the un-massively editted version, rather than the WB version.

I would also recommend Escaflowne, Scrapped Princess (You'll have to download the fansub, though. I'm not sure if it's against the rules of the board, so I'm not going say where. PM me if you want the link), I would also suggest Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed, although the mangas were better, IMO.

That and Miyazaki's Spirited Away had more creativity than Disney has put out in the last 10-15 years.

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2003-09-15 05:08pm

And I forgot to mention: Techono/Tekkaman rocks ass. No amount of bad dubbing could bash in the good storyline, and the best part was that it didn't have bad dubbing.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-09-15 05:31pm

....................
125 InuYasha episodes?

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Now, if only we can get them over here.....

Symmetry · Post by **Symmetry** » 2003-09-16 01:14am

Smiling Bandit wrote:
Here here! I can't think of *any* American TV show I've seen that had as much respect for the viewer as the *average* anime. The second Matrix movie might have, though (I'm suspending judgment on that till after Revolutions). Oh, gotta watch out for that anime that pretends to be deep by just not making any sense, though.
1) What are you watching? What about Nip/Tuck, or Samurai Jack, or either of the X-Men animated series, or Futurama? American TV is great!

2) Allow me repeat: you don't see the average anime, unless you live in Japan or deliberately seek it out.

Hmm, theres some justice in your words, I admit.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-09-16 01:47am

Symmetry wrote:
Smiling Bandit wrote:
Here here! I can't think of *any* American TV show I've seen that had as much respect for the viewer as the *average* anime. The second Matrix movie might have, though (I'm suspending judgment on that till after Revolutions). Oh, gotta watch out for that anime that pretends to be deep by just not making any sense, though.
1) What are you watching? What about Nip/Tuck, or Samurai Jack, or either of the X-Men animated series, or Futurama? American TV is great!

2) Allow me repeat: you don't see the average anime, unless you live in Japan or deliberately seek it out.
Hmm, theres some justice in your words, I admit.

Just as an aside, the second Matrix movie had ZERO respect for the audience. It was dishonest as hell, crammed full of fake symbolism and philosobullshit that we were supposed to think was meaningful. I could accept that stuff from the first Matrix (along with the ridiculous science and plot holes) because it was a fun movie, but by the time Reloaded came out, it was clear everybody involved in the project either thought he was a genius or was desparate for the audience to think he was. Fifteen minute blocks of nonsensical babble masquerading as deep thought was more than enough to ruin a car chase against traffic on the freeway.

generator_g1 · Post by **generator_g1** » 2003-09-17 06:09am

Has anybody here seen the anime versions of literary books like Little Men, The Dog from Flanders and Little Lord Fauntleroy? They make pretty good watching for kids as well as adults.

Archaic` · Post by **Archaic`** » 2003-09-17 08:03am

Singular Quartet wrote:And I forgot to mention: Techono/Tekkaman rocks ass. No amount of bad dubbing could bash in the good storyline, and the best part was that it didn't have bad dubbing.

Oh really? Did you get the US Dub, or the British/Australian dub?

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-09-20 02:50am

It's simple actually. Watch Serial Experiments Lain and you'll understand perfectly. Come into The Wired. Don't be afraid...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-09-20 02:53am

While I thought it was good, Lain was a little hard to watch at times. I found it to occasionally be a little too pretentious, and the limited and cheep Korean-based animation got irritating.

Not a good into title, but still pretty good.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-09-20 03:06am

Lain was a total mindfuck, but it was also very depressing and (IMO) a bit overrated. However, it's good if you want to be fucking confused for a bit. I left Perfect Blue less discombobulated than I did Lain.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-09-20 03:07am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:While I thought it was good, Lain was a little hard to watch at times. I found it to occasionally be a little too pretentious, and the limited and cheep Korean-based animation got irritating.

Not a good into title, but still pretty good.

I believe one of the objectives of the director was to make it look as realistic as possible, instead of having the generic cute girl with weird hair type person. I've watched every episode about 3, 4 times, and am still a bit confused on some subjects...

Yeah, good anime. Now if you'll excuse me, Naruto 50 awaits...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-09-20 03:09am

I wasn't confused at all by Lain or Perfect Blue.

*shrug* Maybe I'm just smart like that.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-09-20 03:12am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I wasn't confused at all by Lain or Perfect Blue.

*shrug* Maybe I'm just smart like that.

You're an Eva nut, I'm sure untangling that series makes you an expert at thinking at right angles to reality.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-09-20 03:15am

I saw Perfect Blue about two years before Eva.

Maybe it comes from watching so much PBS as a kid.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-09-20 03:19am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I saw Perfect Blue about two years before Eva.

Maybe it comes from watching so much PBS as a kid.

Maybe you're just abnormal

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2003-09-20 03:31am

I had friends who used to like this stuff when it was called "Japanimation" !

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-09-20 03:57am

Lain was boring~ real boring

One Piece is teh homeslice