Anime!

[munkybitch]

DEATH NOTE

probably one of the most engrossing anime series i've watched recently. The first 15 episodes are completely encapsulating but then it gets a bit wayward (though still pretty damn good by anyones standards)

also check out Ergo Proxy if you like your dark sci fi shit,

Paranoia Agent for fans of Satoshi kon

and Tekkonkinkreet which is on a par with the best film that came out last year together with Paprika.

[Garfield And Friends]

Paedotentacle Harvest Device 53: Mega Brave Z
[youtube=425,350]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_7iyk91FjP0[/youtube]

Kind of like Ghost In The Shell, only with extra bug eyes, motion lines, sweat drops, insta-rage, and knock-kneed skimpy schoolgirls giving 'cute' Victory-signs...

[alan nagsworth]

DEATH NOTE

Aaah fack, been meaning to stay up to date with this after my mate gave me the first 9 episodes. Seriously engrossing, edge-of-the-seat cliffhanger stuff. *searches frantically*

[sirhenry]

I've never been overly fond of anime, but I would highly recommend a film called Mindgame.

Thank you so much Lt Plonker.
Just watched this and all I can say is that I feel like I did when, all those years ago, I saw Akira for the first time. Unlike anything I've ever seen and gorgeous. Instantly up there in the top 3 anime. Any anime fans who haven't seen it - do. Now.

[its not cool to be weird]

Bah, yet another thread where I just plonk my opinion down and leave. Sorry, although being fairly new to Anime (although with the best introduction, Akira and Bebop) there's plenty here Ill be following up.

Just wanted to plug the Ghibli films, in case there's anyone here who by some appalling mischance hasn't seen them. They're all pretty good (that Ive seen), but I can't recommend Spirited Away enough. Except for its somewhat camp ending it has an atmosphere that puts all Western children's films to shame, and many adult one's too. And if you like classical music the score is astonishing.

[mcbpete]

RE: Mindgame

Thank you so much Lt Plonker.
Just watched this and all I can say is that I feel like I did when, all those years ago, I saw Akira for the first time. Unlike anything I've ever seen and gorgeous. Instantly up there in the top 3 anime. Any anime fans who haven't seen it - do. Now.

I've just finished watching it right now. It's so fantastic that words just can't do it justice, the bit right near the end when they were doing all that there running where the drums go wild, I was just so excited. Brilliant brilliant stuff, so thankyou so much for the recommendation Lt. Plonker.

[j_u_d_a_s]

If you can find it then Dominion Tank Police was pretty much what go me into anime. There's only the english language option on the dvd but the dub was excellent.

My favourite anime of all time is Urusei Yatsura mostly because I'm a sucker for 80s style of anime. But it's one of the most inventive series ever. Mamoru Oshii who directed Ghost in the Shell, was in charge or the start of the series and he 2 movies he worked on were amazing!
It's not an easy series to get into though, there's a ton of backstory that is VITAL to understanding the later episodes but it is really worth the effort. It puts a lot of newer series to shame.

[Glebe]

I have a Dominion Tank Police DVD left unwatched for ages.

[mister_enmity]

I recently completed the series of the anime, Fullmetal Alchemist, and it is awesome.  Call me a sap, but I doubt I can recall myself being freaked out as much as I was with the whole Homunculus thing and the truth behind the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. The haunting, albeit banal choral music bolstered its effect even more.

[Glebe]

Twitch - Manga adaptation of 'Twentieth Century Boys' most expensive Japanese film of the year?

[Lt Plonker]

Heh, no problem chaps. My work here is done.

[The Widow of Brid]

Everyone has to watch Nerima Daikon Brothers. Everyone.

[sirhenry]

But no-one's seeding it. No-one.

[The Widow of Brid]

If I hadn't acquired mine legally I'd be seeding like billio. Gah.

[samadriel]

Heh, sounds interesting.

God, it's criminal that no-one's released Keroro properly in English.  It's a license to print money!

...Until we all pirate the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tOnAhZpcdo

[Consignia]

Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunso) has been sat on by an american company for release for over year, and now that company's facing possible bankrupcy, so we're unlikely to see any sort proper release, as it's too sodding long for any group to fansub it in it's entirity.

And if Nerima Daikon Brothers and Excel Saga tickles your fancy, it may be worth giving Hayate no Gotoku (Hayate the Combat Butler) a look. It's for a slightly younger audience, but it's still packed full anime parodies and off the wall slapstick. Even Nabeshin makes a guest appearance one episode (an actual appearance unlike Nurse Witch Komugi, where he get's a look-a-like to voice him), and some cameos there after.

[sirhenry]

Porco Rosso - this afternoon at 4.55 on Film 4 for those who missed it over Xmas.

[its not cool to be weird]

Porco Rosso - this afternoon at 4.55 on Film 4 for those who missed it over Xmas.

Bah, why couldn't you tell us that yesterday.

[sirhenry]

Bah, why couldn't you tell us that yesterday.

Well it's being repeated on Saturday at 1pm if that's any better.

[its not cool to be weird]

Ah, much better. Cheers.

[Vitalstatistix]

Finally got round to seeing this:



and it's really fucking good. Easily the best anime I've seen outside of Ghibli. The animation is stunning, the story suitably bizarre and twisty, and at points it's also genuinely creepy. Anyone else seen this little gem?

[hundred]

I just bought Paprika yesterday after seeing it once ages ago, but I was surprised how much I didn't enjoy it compared to the first time. I find the CGI a bit much with Anime, the hand drawn films look much better to me. This was the main problem I had with the second Ghost in the Shell film, it all looks a bit too clinical. Having said that, Paprika does look beautiful, but I didn't really find the story engrossing second time around.

[The Boston Crab]

I'd like to see that just for the visuals, though I know what you mean about the CGI imbalance. I thought the first Appleseed looked absolutely amazing, though the story was dullness itself. I recently picked up the second one Appleseed:Ex Machina I think it's called. I think John Woo had a part in directing/producing it, can't remember. Anyway, utter chod. The CGI is well overboard, it doesn't even feel like anime. The story was even less engrossing than the first one. Japanese animation guys, beware: I don't like this and I will refuse to download/buy pirate DVDs of your productions if the trend continues!

Has anybody seen Tekkon Kinkreet then? I seem to vaguely recall a discussion of it on here but it seems to have not been in this thread. It's a strange movie, at times very thought-provoking and as moving as any anime I've seen, occasionally quite dull and cliched. It does look absolutely amazing though, I've not seen that loose sketchy style used in such a massive production before. There are moments, as with Mindgame, where you will shake your head in disbelief.

[Vitalstatistix]

I wasn't put off by any CGI mix in Paprika, barely even noticed it to be honest, I was too engrossed.

Haven't seen Tekkon Kinkreet, Crab, but I've heard good things.

This looks fackin amazing:

Genius Party Beyond

trailer


http://twitchfilm.net/sit...party-beyond-trailerized/

[Frankie]

Allow me to lavish more praise on Death Note - I've been watching it with Mr F every day for the past few weeks, and while my interest in the story has been all over the place since about episode 20, we now have one episode to go and I'm still absolutely riveted.

Now, please excuse the long post. For those interested in recommendations for anime series, I will make a list of my own, mostly of anime from the last few years. I'm not a great movie watcher, but thanks to renewed interest in anime I've been dipping into quite a few different series over the past few months. You can probably see any of these at veoh if you have a good look. I can't comment on dubbing; any American dubbing I've heard has grated horribly with me so I seek out subtitles.

It was Saiunkoku Monogatari (Story of Saiunkoku) that was recommended in the first place and got me hooked on an anime for the first time since I was about 14. Basically if you like the idea of a strong female lead, medieval empires, politics and little romance (at least in the first series - the second hasn't been completely fansubbed yet) then you should try and check it out.

Darker than Black was one of the next ones I moved on to. This one has a darker, sci-fi feel ("supernatural neo-noir" according to Wiki I guess) - I downloaded the lot in HD and it's beautiful to look at; Bones, the studio who made it, did fantastic work. Plot-wise it can be difficult to follow completely, but the complexity and emotion are the draws and we found ourselves sucked in. Unfortunately so much was left unexplained at the end and it's really in need of a second series.

Most of what I'll mention now will be things I've only seen a few episodes of. Welcome to the N.H.K.! is about an apartment-bound loner who has resolved himself to a life of masturbation and television. He happens to meet a girl who says she'll cure him of his ways if he signs a contract saying he'll put himself in her hands. I've only watched three or four of these but it's great - funny, but rather sad and moving as well.
Gankutsuou (The Count of Monte Cristo) is a gorgeous-looking anime based on the novel(ish). The main draw of this is just the look of it. It's so rich in textures and colour that it's a pleasure to watch. The music and story can only add to it.
Speed Grapher is a rather interesting and nice looking series about a war photographer who's lost his taste for photography, only to be granted the power to destroy things through the lens. There's a lot more going on in this series but I have only watched a few and I don't have many thoughts on it to share here. Definitely worth a mention though.
One thing I've never been interested in is mecha anime, but Code Geass is well loved and rightly so from what I've seen from the first few episodes. A quick summary for those who don't want to click: in the near future the fictional mighty empire of Britannia conquers Japan and renames it to Area 11. A 17 year old outcast son of the Emperor of Britannia is granted the power to try to overthrow the Empire with mechs and shit I guess. Oh God how long have I been writing this.
If you don't mind vampires then Trinity Blood is definitely one to check out.

After watching Darker than Black I've looked into a lot of studio Bones' work. The Daughter of 20 Faces (Nijū Mensō no Musume) is a brand new anime that is currently on its third or fourth episode. It's about a girl who is kidnapped from her evil aunt and uncle by a notorious gentleman thief called 20 Faces. She's led into a life of crime with him and his thievery crime buds, and will no doubt become some thieving crime master. So if you like gentleman thieves and crime then check it out.
I'm enjoying Fullmetal Alchemist quite a bit. I can't really elaborate on that but I will mention it.

However, something I've enjoyed greatly by Bones is Ouran High School Host Club. the only reason it lives this far down on the list is the subject matter. I can't say I'm particularly enamoured with high school based romantic comedy, but I find Ouran so bloody amusing I just can't help myself. It's about a highly intelligent, very poor and very un-romantic girl who finds herself in the headquarters of the Host Club (that is, a club of rich male students who exist only to entertain rich female students) one day, only to accidentally break an incredibly expensive vase. Mistaking her tatty jumper and short hair for that of a boy's, the club recruit her to pay off the debt as a member of the club. Hilarity ensues, etc. I can only say this is one of my favourte animes of the moment.


I hope someone found something useful in there. I think it's a pretty varied list. Assuming this post doesn't sink this thread without a trace completely I'm sure I'll be back with more bits I've watched in the future. A tip: when I'm looking for new anime, I just tend to go to anidb and sort by rating, I usually find that's a sure bet to find something interesting.
Anyway, enjoy.

[The Boston Crab]

Nice post! I've not heard of any of those, bar FMA, so I'll have a dig around, see what I can find.

[alan nagsworth]

No kidding, on the Laugh Out Loud factor, this might just be the funniest damn show I've ever seen.

Kintaro, despite having met the requirements for a degree, left Tokyo University without graduating. Golden Boy depicts his living the life of a free spirit, roaming Japan from town to town, job to job. During his travels, Kintaro meets several women whose lives he dramatically changes, despite poor first impressions. He constantly observes and studies the people and events around him, recording his findings in a notebook he carries on his belt.

...

Each volume and episode of Golden Boy places Kintaro opposite a young, beautiful woman, whose interest or disdain for him acts as the conflict of the plot. Some of these women initially dismiss Kintaro as an idiotic and clumsy pervert, and either give him or accept from him some challenge to prove their superiority. Kintaro invariably lusts after these women, but he is principally driven by his desire to be of actual service to them and to thereby learn more about the world. Despite his outward appearances, Kintaro is an incredibly clever and resourceful individual, and consistently exceeds what the women in his encounters thought possible, winning their hearts despite his outward awkwardness. But due to chance, necessity or a sense of honor, Kintaro never takes advantage of these newfound feelings.

This is also one of the very few occasions that the English dub is better than the subtitled Japanese version. The voice-overs are fucking inspired and I think they might actually account for the majority of spit-on-my-screen guffaws, just thinking about it makes me laugh. He gets into such stupid situations with his bizarre fetishes, the episodes are bordering on hentai without being extreme in any way, it's a very sensual affair with women in revealing positions and Kintaro acting out his fetishes by rubbing his face on their toilet seats or trying on their bras.

The funniest parts are where his wild thoughts take over and he starts talking in this extremely absurdly OTT way in his head, almost like he's some valiant knight here to save all the women. It often features "extreme" imagery with speedlines, vivid background imagery and hardcore anime poses, but they are all used tongue-in-cheek as opposed to "serious" use in stuff like Dragon Ball Z.

Here's a really good review with some outright hilarious clips included. 1:30 of this video makes me cry with laughter:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vWR1qMew13s

I really cannot recommend this show enough, it's extremely funny and the end of each episode turns out to be profoundly insightful with Kintaro actually greatly enhancing the lives of the women he meets. Sadly it doesn't have a Region 2 DVD release and doesn't look like it ever will so you'll have to look for it in the less obvious places for this, and do try and find the English dub!

Are there any fans here? I read that it's fairly popular in America and UK, mostly because of the excellent dub I presume.

[Consignia]

Are there any fans here? I read that it's fairly popular in America and UK, mostly because of the excellent dub I presume.

I'm not particularly a fan of it, but I did find it vaguely amusing. Interesting fact, the manga it's based on starts already less wholesome than the anime, but the last few volumes it descends into out and pornography.

[alan nagsworth]

Ha really? That's bizarre but not unbelievable in the slightest. It's so smutty at times I have to watch it with headphones in case my ma thinks I'm having a wafty crank. Although I think the amount I'm laughing at the time would discourage that thought.

[Frankie]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann


One of the most ridiculous, fantastic and entertaining series I've seen in years, in the spirit of all the mecha anime classics I never even had an interest in. I believe an English dub is in the works but whether you want to wait for it or not you must watch it if you like silly air-punch-inducing action.