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Anime!

Started by Regular Chicken, September 18, 2007, 10:01:04 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I thought I'd bump this as Empire is reporting that a live action Cowboy Bebop is in the works with Keanu Reeves as Spike. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=24013

It'll be near impossible to overshadow the cartoon versions of the characters but Reeves might not be such a bad fit for the role. I think it would be better to use a time machine and cast a young John Cusack, but that's probably not going to happen. I reckon either Ron Perlman or Clancy Brown would make a good Jet. Eliza Dushku for Fay, and maybe a CGI'd Ahmed Best as Ed.

Consignia

Quote from: Frankie on July 20, 2008, 09:30:18 PM
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.

I'm currently watching this. It's excellent. I've rewatched the first 9 episodes waiting for next 9 to arrive. I can't enough of it. The Bathhouse episode is especially good for it's cameo's of other Gainax characters. 10 nerd points for each one you get.

Vitalstatistix

Has anyone seen Ghost in the Shell 2.0 yet?

I watched GitS 2: Innocence recently and thought it was excellent, though I had no idea what was going on by the end. Mamoru Oshii's live action Avalon is wank though.

munkybitch

Girlfriend and I are currently watching Xamd and also Natsume. Both are pretty good animation wise. Xamd is probably the best anime I've watched since Death Note ended.

Natsume is on it's second series now and is pretty chilled very much like Mushisi another one of my favs. Think of a sprited away series.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En1gAmHZNcc[/youtube]


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-QmbBFZQDw[/youtube]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTWwIO1BQE[/youtube]  Trailer for the live action film of Mushishi

Glebe

Quote from: Vitalstatistix on January 16, 2009, 07:55:58 PM
Has anyone seen Ghost in the Shell 2.0 yet?

I watched GitS 2: Innocence recently and thought it was excellent, though I had no idea what was going on by the end.

Wasn't all that impressed with Innocence. It looked nice, but felt insubstantial, dspite it's efforts be be profound. Haven't seen GITS 2.0, apparently it looks pretty great though.

Pedro_Bear

Excuse me?



What the fuck are you all doing?

TOP 5 TV ANIME IN ORDER OF AWESOMENESS THAT YOU MUST SEE

1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Episodes 1-6



The most perfectly-scripted, character-driven anime series ever, EVAR!

Not a scene out of place, not a word wasted, not a gesture or expression too much or too little, and it's funny, really, really funny.

It takes as many of the anime standard templates as it can squeeze into a school setting, and mocks them mercilessly, whilst at the same time revelling in it all.

Basic plot: over-achieving, emotionally-overbearing, sociopathic schoolgirl bully finally meets someone on her wavelength

Except this is anime, so...



... yeah, it's not going to be that easy, is it? She overcomes her sense of adolescent displacement from a world devoid of interest or importance by literally forcing her will on reality... she's a goddess or something... except she doesn't know that she does it, and is blithly unaware that her desire to meet extraordinary aliens, time travellers and espers is granted, as indeed at one point is her desire to withdraw from reality completely with the only person she feels understands her passion for something, anything out-of-the-ordinary to happen.



Except this is anime, so... that person is himself unaware that he shares this passion, and has in fact been keeping a sense of bewilderment at her interest in him hidden behind a deadpan, Fox Mulderesque mask, bluffing his way through at the eye of the storm, outwardly calm and understanding, but all the while bemused.



This isn't a love story, and there is a heart-wrentching, missed ahah moment when she doesn't understand what it is that she really wants despite it being right there in front of her, holding onto his hand as he is attempting to lead her away from her self-destruction in the form of giant energy monsters ripping apart her conjoured reality. The scene is framed as a traditionally patronising "all she needed was love" type revelatory sickbag affair, and there is a single kiss involved, but the revelation for both characters isn't about their desire for each other or whatever, it's far more subtle than that.

The writing for this series is off-the-scale for getting at purpose and meaning in its two main characters who don't really know what they want, staggeringly so. The friendly flirting that they engage in along the way develops naturalistically, and it is through this that we discover at the end of episode 6 that they both finally "get it" about their seemingly strange relationship with each other and the even stranger world around them.


[close]

Did I mention that it's funny, really, really funny? And has rape jokes? And over-blown, hyper-kinetic classroom battles between supernaturally powered schoolgirls? And mocks just about every other element of anime it possibly can whilst not breaking the character-driven narrative? And that I completely identify with Haruhi? Fuck Totoro, that slack-framed shit's for tourists, this is the good stuff!

Spoiler-free, beautifully over-dubbed E1 clip:

Haruhi steals a clubroom, and kidnaps moe jailbait to decorate it with
[youtube=425,350]BxKVvXmYZZo[/youtube]


2. Toradora!



Okay, so it's a ludicrously overblown, classroom-set, doinit rong comedy of romance-driven errors, piling cliche onto cliche, but it twists and stretches the themes into beautiful shapes. Taiga is the best new anime character since Haruhi, and basically you tune in to watch her kick off in among all the other OTT characterisations.

Basic plot: hyper-kinetically violent, emotionally-overbearing, sociopathic schoolgirl bully finally meets someone on her wavelength falls for the right guy no, wait, okay, so that was odd uh... just what is going on now, anyway? They are going to get it on eventually, right?

Except this is anime, so...



...uhh, nope. That's pretty much it. It's a classroom anime melodrama comedy of romantic errors with comical fight scenes, but it's an awesome classroom melodrama comedy of romantic errors with awesome comical fight scenes.



The characterisations of the secondary characters is strong, despite the OTT nature of it all. Ryūji's crush on the girl who isn't Taiga but traditionally he's not going to find happiness with because blatantly he and Taiga are made for each other is given so much credibility that she sometimes eclipses the diminutive anti-heroine off the screen, and it is entirely feasible if this series ends differently than we expect. Naturally, Taiga fixates on a totally inappropriate, emotionally-vacant plank of wood, yet it is his very over-drawn nature that makes it all the more entertaining to watch the chaos that ensues as she hopelessly tries for his non-existent affections.
[close]

Despite being relatively new on screen, this is going to be the series that anything remotely like it is going to be compared against. It's still going on, and the translated rush-copies don't help clarrify things in the just-ripped episodes, although it's pretty obvious by now what to expect. Essentially, Taiga kicks off spectacularly in every other beautifully framed scene, much to Ryūji's discomfort. We all know how this series could end, but the getting there is a mix of slapstick Lupin-style comedy, tear-jerking unrequited love, explosive emotional outbursts, exaggerated anime combat, and other awesome unsubtle stuff that people who hate anime really hate.

E2 unusually quiet, relatively pain-free scene: "I don't... dislike him."
[youtube=425,350]9ApMlC5WcZc[/youtube]


3. Lupin III S2 - S9001



Yeah, it's old fashioned animation, yeah there are 9001 episodes of it, and every episode is pretty much the same thing in a new setting, but when you have characters this good, who needs variation, eh? Plus the episodes that do vary the plot template stand out a mile.

Basic plot: see spoiler

Pretty much everything anime has been done to death with class and panache by Lupin III, so to say it's influential is an understatement.

Almost every Lupin III episode plot, ever




Lupin III (the world's greatest jewel thief) pisses off either Jigen (the world's greatest gunslinger) or Goemon (the world's greatest swordsman) that Lupin's obsession over bedding Fujiko (the world's greatest kick arse anime seductress) is getting in the way of their next job, and that character stomps off in a huff. Policeman Zenigata closes in to catch them all in a new, exotic setting. A new adversary unleashes something supposedly indestructible to kill everyone. Lupin wears a disguise. Jigen grunts and shoots something. Goemon says something comically profound, and then destroys something impossibly vast with his sword. There is an extended chase sequence, using props from the locale. Whichever character stomped off in a huff comes back, and they all overcome the new adversary's minion. Lupin steals whatever it was they were stealing, and Fujiko steals it from him. Everyone escapes Zenigata.



All the characters apparently have their memories wiped clean of this plot in time for the next episode.
[close]

Lupin is a comically hideous monkeyman who exudes insane confidence and wisecracks. Much of the humour is elicited from his shortcomings, and he is possibly the most endearing male anime protagonist of all time. Zenigata develops into the most interesting character as the endless episodes proceed, far from the bumbling fool or the obsessive lunatic usually reserved for such a role. Jigen and Goemon remain willfully two-dimensional throughout, and Fujiko is the most knowing anime seductress ever to grace a kid's show.

The stlying is utterly gorgeous 60's glamour, filtered through Japanese eyes:

[youtube=425,350]qyxc18fyp58[/youtube]

Early S1 Lupin III is quite extraordinary, and is well worth watching after you've sampled the others. The characters are radically amoral versions of their later selves, and the humour is far more bleak. There is a lot more killing, and many of the victims are bystanders. The original comic is similarly jarring, too jarring in fact, give it a miss.


4. Rosen Maiden S1 & S2



DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU

Basic plot: DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU

DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU


DESU DESU DESU DESU DE- yeah, okay, there's more to it than that, but that's all you're going to remember after a while, which is a shame, as Rosen Maiden is pretty good, and Shinku is the best doll, anyway.



This is anime. Magical gothic lolita dolls drink tea, smash stuff up, vandalise walls and floors with crayons, and have gravity-defying flak-gun battles with each other fighting for the attention of their socially withdrawn adoptive owner who is flirting with an incestuous relationship with his sister.



The magical essence that animates each doll can be absorbed upon losing a duel to eventually become the doll "Alice", the mysterious creator's favourite or something, and the doll who defeats all of her siblings gets to meet this maker, or whatever. Yet for the most part the dolls are happy enough to sit around squabbling with each other, drinking more tea, and representing abstract elemental forces, that sort of thing.

The characterisations in Rosen Maiden are superb...



...and the broad humour is excruciating, but so bad it skirts around the back and becomes funny in and of itself.



Through their flaws the dolls exhibit a satisfying emotional depth in stark contrast to their adoptive owner's inability to express his own, and as the series progresses, he lifts out of his depression and humanises.

But never mind all that, you'll only remember DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU...
[close]

[youtube=425,350]FkVYHUMCCwc[/youtube]


5. Gunslinger Girl S1 & S2



I don't want to hear about how derivative it is, Gunslinger Girl does it better. And I don't want to hear how BAAAAAAWWWW it is either, with good anime, you're supposed to get tearful at some point.

Basic plot: hyperkinetically violent, emotionally stunted, combat-enhanced, Italian loli schoolgirl assassins kick arse and fall in unrequited love with their male tutors

umm... well...

... there isn't anything much to spoiler in overview, scenes rotate from awesomely violent killing sprees to tearful girly chats about feelings from the start. The style of animation is clearly focused throughout, even in the complicated combat scenes, and the characterisation of the main loli protagonists develop deftly, especially when they grow up between series.


[close]

There is a lack of characterisation in support roles, however, not that this detracts from the main enjoyment of the thing, and this is addressed a little in S2, but not nearly enough.

I don't care what this is supposedly ripping off, the source isn't as good as Gunslinger Girl.

E1: Henrietta fucks up the mission in style
[youtube=425,350]IXOeON8mEAA[/youtube]


Other stuff that might be worth a torrent

Strike Witches

Just the concept alone is worth a look: alien invaders are opposed by an international force of 1940's combat-enhanced, flak-gun wielding, flying loli witches, styled after historical war figures. Personally I've found it fairly unengaged beyond that so far, but what a concept!




Bleach S1 and any episode that focuses on Rukia

So... yeah... Bleach... hmm...



... Bleach has some great characters tucked away in a massive, sprawling mess. Rukia is awesome, and her scenes elevate an otherwise plodding anime of battles between various factions of demonic hollows and guardian Soul Reapers into noteworthiness.



The initial plot arc is excellent, full of light touches of humour and decent characterisation, but the thing just falls apart after that for some reason. Series 1 is certainly worth a look.



Oh, and for goddess' sake, watch the original with subtitles, or your tears of laughter at the worst overdub imaginable shown on Adult Swim will get in the way.


SHIT TO AVOID

AVOID: Elfen Lied

Hmm... this should be a lot better than it is, telekinetically enhanced, cat-eared loli killing machine takes revenge on her creators and all that, but I found the style sloppy, the characterisation piss poor, and it goes for frankly lame s-p-e-l-l i-t o-u-t shock tactics in place of emotional depth it pays only lip service to attempting. Boring and prurient, but a boring sort of prurient.

KILL WITH FIRE: Lucky Star

Fuck off with this shit. They canceled my Haruhi in favour of THIS?! Boring, unfunny junior school kid's show about boring, unfunny junior school kids. If you're over 12 and you like this shit, you are a pedophile. They canceled my HARUHI in favour of this pedophile shit, pedophile. Get out of my sight, you disgust me.

Smackhead Kangaroo

Have to say I have the niggling feeling there's some sort of japanese terminology for the taste you have, any chance you know it?
I'm genuinely not anime mad enough to know most of the terms that exist. Except Moe and Tsundere and even then very very vaguely.
I wouldn't really recommend any of your choices to people as I really don't like them with the possible exception of Lupin.

Baxter

I recently watched most of Ergo Proxy

It seemed to be a great concept you've got a flawed utopian sci-fi city in a dome, androids which suffer from a virus that gives them free-will, dark conspiracy in the background, social segregation, goth girls with guns.

but..

The first 14 episodes were mostly without flaw (aside from some instances of sloppy cell animation which generally I was engaged enough with the plot to forgive) the plot is moving somewhat slowly forward with revelations and new mysteries in equal measure.

But then it all goes to shit in a shoe.

The proxies are brought out into the light as it were and serve as little more than reasons to have a bit of an impressive scrap, episodes turn from being interestingly unique to being totally unconnected to the story arc, with one example being that an episode is given the format of a Japanese quiz show which serves as a huge backstory dump.

I'm actually still rather angry.
[close]

I agree with PB on how ace Rozen Maiden is, the doll's love of Detective Kunkun is particularly funny.
Spoiler alert
[close]

candlelightoptometrist


Quote from: Baxter on February 02, 2009, 02:04:35 AM
I recently watched most of Ergo Proxy
I'm actually still rather angry.

Good job, I knew there was a reason why I hadn't watched past ep3, even though it didn't seem too bad. Now I won't bother, probably...

Quote from: Smackhead Kangaroo on January 31, 2009, 08:06:00 PM
Have to say I have the niggling feeling there's some sort of japanese terminology
Shounen?
...not really, i'm joking, the aforementioned are not all young boys' shows.

Toradora is o.k. but it seems to be becoming yet another generic Kugimiya Rie voiced 'tsundere becomes dere-dere show' now. Some of the C75 doujinshi are amusing, though..

I can't think of any anime from the last few seasons that is particularly worthy of recommendation IMO.
Eve no Jikan, perhaps, though there's only been 3 episodes...
Its director's previous work; Pale Cocoon, that's pretty good (if depressing).
In a similar vein to Pale Cocoon, Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu had some nice artwork but was also rather depressing.
Also, Spice and Wolf was gorgeous in 1080p but incredibly tedious in parts, due to being mainly centred around the vagaries of medieval currency exchanging.

Smackhead Kangaroo

Detroit Metal City.
A send up of heavy metal myths. Primarily about a lame trendy wannabe fashion lad  whose only successful work is as the Demon King Johanne Krauser II
Episodic half length episodes that are fairly amusing in a puerile way. The manga is somewhat less amusing, poorly paced and irregularly plotted. as is most manga.

Cack Hen

i think i've probably dragged on about this one before bbbbbbbbbbbbut:



5 centimeters per second

if you found lost in translation a bit unpalatable, WATCH. i mean watch until the end because the ending is

Spoiler alert
not that great
[close]

but my fucking god, the whole thing is my wet dream. i've got this romanticised affection for transport and this film taps into that so well it physically hurts, the kind of detail in the train animation, it's like it was made by somebody who also gets emotional wood over trains. and the sound, don't even get me started. there's a scene in the train terminal which is some of the best foly work i've ever ever heard, it's so easy for film-makers to sling that shit together but it just nails it. you have to listen on headphones to know what i mean.

or if you want something a bit less oh isn't the world so beautiful,



gooood luck 

Pedro_Bear

My taste is called 優秀, actually.



It combines character-driven awesomeness with flashes of wholesale destruction and knowing humour, and if it gets a bit weepy along the way then that's also a bonus.

It is also very, very difficult to achieve.

Furi Kuri was mentioned earlier, and is a case in point of missing the mark: it's a knowing anime about anime, and in particular animation style, but the second you twig this it instantly becomes tedious because the characters are as two-dimensional as they are drawn.

FLCL E5:
The very bestest bit in blocky 'tube vision
[youtube=320,240]XgR0OgWMiv8[/youtube]
E5 has a smart Southpark parody, too.

It is a glorious rout through genres, yet the over-all effect of watching the series is like seeing a commercial for another show that doesn't exist, and specifically a very American show at that, betraying far more about the origins of contemporary anime than was meant, I think.



Hayao Miyazaki does things with anime that can only be done with anime, his visual imagination is without equal, and when things kick off on screen they explode beautifully. Yet without the characterisation behind the lines, what we end up with is activity in place of action. This leaves a cold space where the heart of the thing should be.



This is nothing to do with the standard bullshit line of his vision being directed at insular Japanese themes or whatever (which is just bullshit, because his other stuff, like, anthropomorphic raccoons fighting each other using their swollen testicles, is in fact universally entertaining). When he turned his talent to the established, cherished characters of Lupin, the result was amazing, even though it did sideline Fujiko, quelle surprise, the more complicated, female, personality.

MOAR HARUHI!
Compare the genre parody in FLCL with that offered by even the pilot episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi Susumiya. Before we have even met the cast of Haruhi in a meaningful way, or know anything about their relationships, the entire episode focuses on the secondary characters, openly spoilering everything revealed later on about them, and openly mocking the very idea that anything so convoluted could have meaning.

It takes about 10 minutes to twig we are watching a school AV club film of the characters involved playing themselves woodenly and unconfidently, demanding that the viewers have the intelligence to figure it all out without any obvious clues, doubly difficult given that at the original broadcast, we didn't have any clues as to what was going on at all (unless we were tweenaged Japanese girls who'd read the novels).


Haruhi Pilot: after 10 mins the hints become less subtle...
[youtube=320,240]21ytHVFTbLQ[/youtube]

The sheer confidence in presenting the minor roles up front in this manner, and the effortless communication of what the lead characters are like - they remain almost exclusively off screen behind the hand camera -  is a staggering demonstration of confident, character-driven narrative. And this on top of playing with the theme: does the world really need yet another magic-fueled, seifuku melodrama? The pilot rips out the innards of what follows and giggles openly at them, reveling in all the anime goodness, and this knowing theme remains throughout the series without detracting from what is going on.



With FLCL, the only thing apparent is the giggling, detracting from all the clever visual magic at every step of the way. Which is a shame, as a tweenaged, pink-haired, space police enforcer running amok with her bass guitar laser gun on a scooter dressed in fetishy outfits is a concept that in other circumstances really shouldn't fail to be entertaining.
[close]


So... uhh... shall we all stop pretending to be cool and have a little chat about real anime, then? None of the clever, knowing stuff would work if the world wasn't full of the following:


Sailor Moon

Oh dear... the first dozen episodes are actually watchable, uhh, so I'm told, not that anyone will openly admit to doing so.



Basic plot: seifuku wearing teens channel the reincarnated forces of good and evil battling across time for a kingdom that spans the solar system, or something. Epically gay, high-frequency shrieking, magical girl anime, with specific emphasis on the magical ability to apply make up and instantly restyle hair, the casual viewer is saved from utter brain paralysis and IQ death by the inclusion of Sailor Saturn, who is dark haired, moody and troubled, has an awesome theme tune, and and even more awesome glaive, but is all too quickly side-lined when it becomes apparent that she's eclipsed the (need I point out: blonde) star of the show. 

[youtube=320,240]PMPZiBrMPKI[/youtube]

There is a talking cat. So, a proper girl's anime then.

Ultra Maniac

[youtube=320,240]N_EKfUJjwHI[/youtube]

Ridiculously named, I fucking loved this show years ago, and wanted to be Ayu Tateishi. This is an all-out girly love and romance story, with a magical girl super heroine who is not as cool as her friend who has awesome hair, and there's a talking cat, a secret kingdom etc etc. This is the shit if you're a bit of ronrey young teenager, but you'll grow up all wrong with a 10GB guro folder not too soon afterward. A gateway anime of innocence that leads to /c/ and then inevitably to utter ruin when your cursor slips left or right.




Ah! My Goddess

[youtube=320,240]oj-gT2kqeEw[/youtube]

This is alright, surprisingly. If this had been out when I was watching Ultra Maniac, I'd have loved this too. It's a girly, romantic comedy that dabbles with Norse Mythology, which is how I came to get given the box set by my mad Odinist cousin when he found out I liked anime. The basic plot is standard anime bullshit: impossibly lovely and understanding yet put-upon anime college guy accidentally summons the goddess Belldandy and they have a bunch of misadventures and fall in love, and chat about feelings and stuff. And of course, the world is always on the brink of all out destruction thanks to people casually summoning the likes of The Lord of Terror and some such, so there's plenty of fighting, too. Not good good, but not bad for a contemporary-ish kid's show, and it typifies "overly-angular nose in profile" anime styling.



[youtube=320,240]vZ3gPXVMWRY[/youtube]

I've never watched any Dragonball Z, apart from that one OVER9000 clip, and have endured about three episodes of ^^youtube-related. Oh, and I retract my blanket statement about Gunslinger Girl's plagiraism influences, having just seen Nikita for the first time ever this week. Why doesn't that shit ever happen to me? I'd be good at that sort of thing.

alan nagsworth

Samurai Champloo.

Any good? Because I was considering buying the first volume but then realised it'd be cheaper to buy the whole set. It looks great and I have a friend who raves about it whenever I see him, but... who knows? It's a broad spectrum and I've been burned by the man before. I'm just a beaten-down old information super-surfer looking for the good stuff.

Also, what would I be getting for my money? I hear the episodes are 15 minutes apiece with only four episodes to a volume (what a waste of a disc) making that an estimated 7 hours for around £50.

Graaagh I don't want to spend so much impulsively but it's increasingly tempting, I've been watching through my Ghibli DVDs and pretending to have some knowledge on the subject, so this seems like a good venture.

Tell me to spend, o ye generous givers of wisdom.

Consignia

Quote from: alan nagsworth on February 23, 2009, 05:59:28 AM
Samurai Champloo.

Any good? Because I was considering buying the first volume but then realised it'd be cheaper to buy the whole set. It looks great and I have a friend who raves about it whenever I see him, but... who knows? It's a broad spectrum and I've been burned by the man before. I'm just a beaten-down old information super-surfer looking for the good stuff.

It's alright. I'm not a fan of the style in general, but the whole thing kept me entertained for the duration. It's certainly worth a look, and if you've liked Cowboy Bebop in the past, then it's even better.

Quote
Also, what would I be getting for my money? I hear the episodes are 15 minutes apiece with only four episodes to a volume (what a waste of a disc) making that an estimated 7 hours for around £50.

This is untrue. Each episode is standard length (~24 minutes long each), and there are 26 episodes in all. I would have you might have been able to get for slightly cheaper than that though, as I think I paid £40 for the boxset.

Pedro Bear is right:

The Melancholy of Harumi Susumiya is absolutely fantastic.

Consignia

Speaking of Haruhi, has anyone been following the Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san ONAs on youtube? Their not too bad, considering they are based on 4-panel gag comics, and I was impressed that they all they original voice actors back. I suspect they maybe virals for the upcoming sequel to the actual main series.

Haruhi-chan Ep 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7_80zTM3Dg
Churuya-san Ep 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPuQkWUYeTM
Haruhi-chan Ep 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi-y9S_6c1s
Churuya-san Ep 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVBldwbad0

Pedro_Bear

^^I love them, great use of chibi. The voice talent loves this series, that's abundantly clear in the way that they extend into all of the spin-offs in a way they don't always with their current projects. The set up is so beautifully alive that Haruhi just bundles them all into various situations, like forcing them to record a pretend radio show, and the characters neatly kick off in their new surroundings, producing something recognisably SOS amateur, but at the same time flawless.

Let's talk about Kyon, and do indeed watch that if you haven't already, it's his long-suffering take on Hare Hare Yukai, and it's very welcome after the straight takes of the song by the preceeding eight character discs.

Actually, I really want to chat about Kyonko.



Rule 63 went insane with this anime, and spat out a full gender-alternative universe in a way that just hasn't happened with anything else to the same extent or recognition.



Male protagonists in school-based animes tend to be girly anyway, and part of the whole conceptual joke about Kyon is that he's drawn (and nicknamed: Kyon (f) "brightness") in recognition of this. So the initial leap of imagination wasn't that wide, especially not for adept hentai scribblers. Under normal circumstances we'd have bland H-Doujinshi and that would be that.



It's what happens when you pace the gender-swapped characters through key scenes that has given this spin on the series a life of it's own.



There is something inherently amusing with the way Haruhi carries on as a boy, hilariously so, and the recasting of Mikuru as moe shota is effortless. Then having Kyonko react as a girl opens the plot up for even further knowing interpretation.



Kyonko herself is beautifully, lovingly drawn by internet nutters, and utterly her own character.



Again, this doesn't really have precedent in the way it's taken off. Certainly the hentai fiends have raped the concept into the ground, but even in these, Kyonko is afforded her own fan-developed personality, so strong is the pull towards playing with the new idea, and the unexpectedly rich results that it produces.

The other characters are similarly well suited to the alternate universe with their new personalities. For instance, the sublty gay character Itsuki Koizumi is blatantly so when drawn as a girl, it's suddenly obvious.



What does this reflect about the series that other animes don't exhibit to the same extent? The role of gender in the show isn't clearly signposted, yet with a simple flip, we can see that it is very important to how it all holds together.



The swap characters still work together, albeit with a different dynamic, and I think this has a lot to do with how specifically drawn they all are in the first place. The girls are identifiably girls in their intent and behaviour, and the boys are very much boys. Compare that with the more traditional boy-drawn-as-girl type of female characters, or child-drawn-as-girl type, and the difference becomes clearer. The gender swap in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya becomes real, in a way that bending Toradora! for example wouldn't produce to the same extent.





Oh... and just a quick word about the new(ish) Rozen Maiden DVD English overdub edition:



Don't watch it... NO DESU! What were they thinking?

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Baxter on February 02, 2009, 02:04:35 AM
I recently watched most of Ergo Proxy

It seemed to be a great concept you've got a flawed utopian sci-fi city in a dome, androids which suffer from a virus that gives them free-will, dark conspiracy in the background, social segregation, goth girls with guns.
I just got the (hopefully) English-dubbed version of this, as I watched a few subtitled ones and I kept forgetting to read the words as the visuals were so awesome. I first saw it in the advert breaks for a "Whitest Kids U Know" episode, and thought it looked pretty interesting. And it is- another thumbs up from me.

And cheers for that post Pedro, I'll check some of what you posted out.

Pedro_Bear

^^welcome (back, indeed).

Fanservice in Lucky Star: in a cafe scene with Kyon, Yuki is replaced by Kyonko.

The fact that the producers are more aware of their "extended" fanbase than Rozen Maiden's still doesn't excuse the fact that they cancelled my Haruhi for this crap.

Probably the best piece of fanart ever drawn (check it out at full size):

American fan dub: Kyon duets with Kyonko on Hari Hari Yukai.

Very good American fandub of Kyon, and a neat one of Kyonko singing new lyrics over the opening credits.

A beautiful Japanese Kyonko version, mp3 and another song here, both need a little cleaning up with a crackle filter.

Glebe

Recently went on a mini anime spending spree, thanks to spotting some tasty DVDs in a sale-picked up Paprika, Appleseed (the film), Toyko Godfathers (which I watched last night, and really enjoyed), and the Ghost In The Shell: SAC trilogy collection-I'll have to 'shell' (giggle) out for the Gig 1+2 series boxsets first before watching these. Actually, have a number of anime films lying around unwatched for yonks, including Laputa, Castle Of Cagliostro and a few Manga titles.

Marv Orange

Watch Death Note reecently very good although I felt the last third with
Spoiler alert
Ls successors
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a bit redundant. I'd also recommend the live action movies the endings are different but I found the movie ending more satisfying.


In order to save time i will parapharse every naruto episode 'i made a promise'


In order to save time i will parapharse every bleach episode 'i gave my word'


I'd also recommend MAchine girl a sort of live action anime with more than a hint of troma and to a lesser extent Tokyo Gore Police.


Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I was chucking out a load of old games magazines the other day and saw an ad for the Guyver on the back of a few of them, so I've been watching that recently. It runs a fine line between cool and silly, the English dub in particular is often quite awful. Overall though it's quite a fun mix of superhero action and body horror. The big fight against Enzyme was messed up highlight.

Glebe

Paprika - very imaginative, kind of a comment on the way technology has overtaken society. Stunning animation to boot!

I couldn't get past the first fifteen minutes, it utterly bored me from the start. Maybe it's because I hate circuses. I keep meaning to give it another go.

Vitalstatistix

I love Paprika and find it very unsettling, the music especially. It's a very odd film, thinking about it. I liked how:

Spoiler alert
The scene with the fat dude falling on the lady was restaged again at the end when they're both massive entities
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hundred

Paprika slightly bored me too, and I find all this computer animation a bit soulless. This was also a problem with the second Ghost in the Shell film.

I loved Paranoia Agent though, and there are similar themes in both. I kinda wanna see Millenium Actress and Perfect Blue, by the same writer, but Paprika has turned me off. Does anyone know how they compare?

Consignia

Quote from: hundred on May 12, 2009, 06:15:52 PM
I loved Paranoia Agent though, and there are similar themes in both. I kinda wanna see Millenium Actress and Perfect Blue, by the same writer, but Paprika has turned me off. Does anyone know how they compare?

Perfect Blue is one of my favourite films ever, just as a disclaimer. It's also not without it's similarities to Paprika (the weakest of Satoshi Kon's works). That said it's a very good film, and I think if you liked Paranoia agent, you'll like Perfect Blue. It's the most straightforward of Kon's psychological films. Millennium Actress is a good film but it is a comedy-drama, so it's quite different stylistically. I'd also strongly recommend Tokyo Godfathers, which is a straight comedy/satire, but is absolutely brilliant.

Frankie

Movie wise - Cack Hen mentioned 5 Centimeters Per Second above, which I found beautiful but ultimately it didn't catch me like another film by the same director; Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place aka The Place Promised in our Early Days, which has much more of a sci-fi element that gripped me and kept me interested until the end.
I think someone mentioned Tekkon Kinkreet some time ago - another favourite with an amazing Plaid soundtrack (probably my favourite Plaid album in fact)
Also I'm starting to really enjoy the ongoing Kara no Kyōkai adaptations. Somewhat hard for me to get in to at first thanks to the wonky chronology, but definitely has moments of brilliance.
A lot of popular anime films are available in HD. If you can play them they are delicious to watch.

Series wise
All mentioned here before, Detroit Metal City, Natsume Yuujinchou and Eve no Jikan are probably three of my absolute favourites of the past year. Even if you don't watch anime usually, DMC is only ten to fifteen minutes per episode and often laugh out loud hilarious. I laughed so hard at one episode I felt quite sick, something I haven't done in flipping years. Natsume Yuujinchou, sad but very moving and sweet. Eve no Jikan, released in short web episodes, takes on the well-trod near future living-with-androids idea and still somehow makes it riveting and humanised in short bursts without a second wasted.
Currently watching Monster, probably the longest series I have ever sat through at 74 episodes. European stylised, intelligent psychological thriller with truly excellent characters and a fantastic villain. I can't say it flies by, but travels at a very even and easy to follow pace with bursts of greatness.
Kino no Tabi / Kino's Journey was released in a full set recently, I picked it up for £24 the moment I saw it on Play. For a full anime series that is a great price, and doubly worth it for the content. Philosophical, rather pondering, often surprising and poignant with a near ambiguous lead character I fell in love with.
Mononoke

May or may not be an odd recommendation, but just look at it. I LOVE this series. It's beautiful, disturbing, touching, well paced and sticks in your mind long after watching it, with a fascinating protagonist. Just looks and feels different to everything else.

I rambled again. Anyway, if you're looking for intelligent anime, try searching out good ones tagged "seinen", unlike shounen or shoujo it's aimed at an older audience.

Glebe

Watched Appleseed (2004 movie) the other night-was expecting it to be something of a letdown, seeing as it looked like your typical futuristic action anime (I certainly enjoyed the 1988 OVA, though). The first 20 odd minutes were not particularly inspiring, but it actually picks up from there on in and I didn't think it was so bad after all. The much-hyped CG techniques (which are old hat by now) were in some cases impressive, but some of the characters looked a bit too cartoonish and gaudy too me. May try and pick up Appleseed: Ex Machina if I see it going cheap. Meanwhile, bought Tekkonkinkreet the other day, looking forward to watching that.

The second Appleseed movie put me to sleep three times. The first was weak enough plot/character-wise but the visuals (at the time) kept me interested. The second is very weak. Tekkonkinkreet, on the other hand, is top to bottom fab.

I'm rewatching Haruhi again with my girl, managed to find Mandarin subs and an English dub (the only way we can feasibly watch it together) and loving it as much as first time around. Just a quick question, if Pedro's sniffing around: Is this definitely cancelled? I was reading somewhere that a second series was due this year...