Anime Discussion Thread

Did a quick search and could not find a topic based solely for anime, so decided to start a thread, if one already exist than please merge them admins.:)

Anyways this thread would be dedicated to the discussion of anime. Got an anime worth recommending to watch? Than post it here.

I recently bought the entire collection of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, just finished watching it today with the OVA's and The Sacred Star of Milos movie. I enjoyed it all but I find that this series which was based off the manga to be rather convuluted and less thought out than the original anime. I prefer the original anime more even though it's not based off the manga.

Some other anime's I would recommend to watch:

Code Geass
Deathnote
Monster
Trigun
Cowboy Bebop

No thread that I can see either so I'm going to post away!
I'm a huge Otaku, I've seen so many series that I had to catalogue them lol, so let me have a think.

I would have to agree that FMA:B is a little convoluted but it's still a good watch, the pacing for the first quarter or so sucked but I think that's because compared to the original it's so compressed and you miss out on a lot of great character development.
I can't decide which one I would suggest others to watch first, probably FMA:B then FMA, only because you get a deeper insight I feel watching them that way around.

From that list I've seen Deathnote, Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.
Loved Deathnote, though really hated the anime ending, they screwed it up badly compared to the way the manga ends.
The best way to watch that one I think is to either stop watching after the first arc, the show could be done at that point, or if one feels the need to keep watching to ignore the last two episodes and read the manga from that point.

I was rewatching Fullmetal Panic but I got distracted by TFPrime and started watching TFAnimated, but I'll go back to it after finishing S3 of TFA.

Some of my picks-
Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny
Tsubasa Chronicle
Slayers
Rurouni Kenshin

the list could go on lol but suffice to say I like mecha and fantasy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarkHyren

I was rewatching Fullmetal Panic but I got distracted by TFPrime and started watching TFAnimated, but I'll go back to it after finishing S3 of TFA.

Some of my picks-
Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny
Tsubasa Chronicle
Slayers
Rurouni Kenshin

the list could go on lol but suffice to say I like mecha and fantasy.

---

I've seen Full Metal Panic (fumofu and the second raid as well) I did enjoy them both but never felt like it was an anime that is worth recommending to others. But i did like how Sousuke with anti-social tendency had to go through and learn all things related to emotion.

Rurouni Kenshin, hmm i don't know how to feel, i did watch all of it, but dislike the anime as an entirerity. But I loved the OVA, it felt grim, dark and had so much depht to it. I was hoping that the anime would be similiar. Some episodes were very close, when Kenshin would go into his battousai mode.

You mentioned that you enjoyed deathnote. I strongly recommend you give code geass a go than, it has the same 'chess like strategy battle of the minds' vibe going on and is a really well thought out anime.

I was considering giving evangelion a go but theres a few versions and I'm not certain where to start.

Yeah I've heard several people say to me to try CG, it's definitely on my watch list as it's two things I like, mecha and Studio CLAMP.

With Evangelion it is indeed tricky to say what to watch first, I watched the original when it came out and I was liking it up until it started turning weird.
Supposedly it makes more sense if one watches the original movies but those didn't come out till a fair while after the series and by that time I was fairly put off.
I'd suggest just watching the most recent reboot, I have heard it's the best of the Evangelions so far, but I personally won't be giving it another go any time soon.

Cool, noted down. Also a particular favorite of mine is GoldenBoy (6 episode mini series), its a bit crude but its funny and smart in its own way for being an old anime. Another one i forgot to mention earlier which got me into anime was GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) loved it and i think I live my life very similiar to him.;)

Also how could i forget to mention DRAGONBALL Z my all time favorite anime, it might not have depth but will forever be my favorite action anime. Watched it back in the days on Cheese TV

kool i remember watching DBZ on cheese tv that was when the anime/cartoons on ten were presented by 2 talented guys , watched a few good things on that show but atm i cant remember it all sadly.

i havnt had much chances to watch anime so im still a bit noobish in terms of knowledge on whats out there.

my bro darkhyren has introduced me to anime like full metal panic and black lagoon i like them heeps i like mech and hot chicks with guns heh heh so they was good for each of those things currently watching TFA and prime with dh luvin it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tommahawk79

kool i remember watching DBZ on cheese tv that was when the anime/cartoons on ten were presented by 2 talented guys , watched a few good things on that show but atm i cant remember it all sadly.

i havnt had much chances to watch anime so im still a bit noobish in terms of knowledge on whats out there.

my bro darkhyren has introduced me to anime like full metal panic and black lagoon i like them heeps i like mech and hot chicks with guns heh heh so they was good for each of those things currently watching TFA and prime with dh luvin it.

---

Awesome, glad to hear other people with enjoyment to animes or just general otaku's beside myself. How is black lagoon? I've heard alot of praise towards it, but still don't know much about it.

I've heard that the Rurouni Kenshin live action movie is now out on DVD. I've yet to find it, although I haven't checked JB Hi Fi... they're more likely to stock this as a foreign film rather than generic dept stores like Kmart. :o

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kazza

Awesome, glad to hear other people with enjoyment to animes or just general otaku's beside myself. How is black lagoon? I've heard alot of praise towards it, but still don't know much about it.

---

im loving it t ho havnt watched it all yet still its worth a look

Yeah Black Lagoon is pretty cool, I think the best way to describe it is Hollywood action movie meets anime, lots of gratuitous violence and explosions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

I've heard that the Rurouni Kenshin live action movie is now out on DVD. I've yet to find it, although I haven't checked JB Hi Fi... they're more likely to stock this as a foreign film rather than generic dept stores like Kmart. :o

---

A quick check of JB Hi Fi's online store shows that it is indeed in stock.
I haven't heard much about it, is it any good, is it just a retelling of what the anime already went over or is it a new story?

I haven't seen the film. It was only shown for a briefly at Event Cinema on George St., and it wasn't at a time when I could go see it. Suspectimus Prime said he tried to book tickets, but they were sold out! :eek: It was an inflight movie when I flew to Cairns last summer, but the flight was too short to watch the film (i.e. the film would've ended prematurely by time we were ready to land). Gah.

I've heard it's really good though... but yeah, I've yet to see it myself.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tommahawk79

kool i remember watching DBZ on cheese tv that was when the anime/cartoons on ten were presented by 2 talented guys , watched a few good things on that show but atm i cant remember it all sadly.

---

I can refresh your memory.
Fight scene in the air.
6 eps later
Same fight scene in the air. (someone may have a black eye and Goku might have gone Super sayan).

Not a huge anime fan myself, but I do enjoy watching it, it's juts a matter of finding the time and one that doesn't bore me to death.

Currently watching
Space Ship Yamato 2199 and the second season of the original.

Recommend:
Gurren Lagann. trigun. Fruits Basket (Hilarious!!!) Best watched with subs as the US voice actors sound BORED OUT OF THEIR HEADS. Awful, awfull dub.
Thermae Romae. very funny and educational as well.

Hmm thought there were more, but can't think of them right now.

I suggest avoiding the anime adaptation of X-men, Wolverine and Blade. Iron Man is watchable, but only just.

Anime? what is this thing you call anime?












.........kidding :D:D:D

black lagoon is awesome. season 2 is coming soon i think.

particularly love sports anime

As far as Evangelion goes, I think the original series is the best of all of them, sure the Rebuild movies are more polished and not as dated, but for its time it was an amazing anime that had a bit more story to it than just sensless robot violence.

SDF Macross is also good, again its dated now but im my opinion it mops the floor with Macross Frontier.

Akira, Ghost in the shell, Patlabor, Elfen Lied, High School of the Dead are also quite enjoyable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kaiden

black lagoon is awesome. season 2 is coming soon i think.

---

Are you referring to the Roberta's Blood Trail OVA or The Second Barrage or something completely different?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

As far as Evangelion goes, I think the original series is the best of all of them, sure the Rebuild movies are more polished and not as dated, but for its time it was an amazing anime that had a bit more story to it than just sensless robot violence.

---

omg... Evangelion was so difficult to understand! I first watched it in raw Japanese -- no translation. I remember even watching it with native Japanese speakers... they found it hard to understand too. That would not have been an easy series to translate!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

SDF Macross is also good, again its dated now but im my opinion it mops the floor with Macross Frontier.

---

+1. The new Macross series are visually more consistent, but the original's story is better (the TV series moreso than the movie). Although learning about the reasons why some of the poorer animated episodes and clip shows were done that way was interesting (RE: DVD audio commentary) ;)
Check out the 30th anniversary remake of the original Macross theme ;) How cool would it be if they did a similar remake of the original Transformers theme for the 30th anniv.? :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

Akira, Ghost in the shell, Patlabor, Elfen Lied, High School of the Dead are also quite enjoyable.

---

I was part of the group that fansubbed the latter episodes of Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex... gguuuhhh... I was living with a Japanese girl at the time who was helping me translate, and even then it was haaaarrrd! (we had no copy of the script -- translating purely by ear!)

Akira is something that I've always visually enjoyed, but could never get into the story. I've heard that it's a compression of a really expansive manga series. But I personally find Otomo Katsuhiro's anime to be rather long winded. I felt the same about Patlabor (though their stories aren't as disconnected as Akira's).

Anyone else here seen the live action Space Battleship Yamato (re: Star Blazers) movie? ;)
Star Blazers intro
New Space Battleship Yamato opening
live action movie trailer
...yes, that's Nishida "Pigsy" (from Monkey) Toshiyuki as the ship's chief engineer. ;)

Just finished watching Muv-Luv Alternative ...it pretty good... sexy girls in mechs :D The first epi really really good then the the story change making the boy the main character :confused: and becoming like gundam...:mad:
Gundam 00 is the best one for me, it had a better story and more relatable main character ..... all the other gundam just all the same thing ... Sexy girl and mech again---> Infinite Stratos not bad...:D
The new rebuild Evangelion i think alot better as the story abit more understandable as they link and explain alot of things , the old series was good but just got too spiritual at the end and then confused everyone by releasing another ending :confused: the movies were just plain bad trying to compress the whole series in to 50min !! ahahha
Had to add Claymore pretty good as well... :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

As far as Evangelion goes, I think the original series is the best of all of them, sure the Rebuild movies are more polished and not as dated, but for its time it was an amazing anime that had a bit more story to it than just sensless robot violence.

SDF Macross is also good, again its dated now but im my opinion it mops the floor with Macross Frontier.

Akira, Ghost in the shell, Patlabor, Elfen Lied, High School of the Dead are also quite enjoyable.

---

Evangelion is fantastic. I have watched all of them and I agree that the original series was very good. The movie versions later (Death/Rebirth) and the other one were good and provide another version in closing the series. WIth Rebuild, the animation is brilliant and the plot does go fast compared to the series but I suppose you have to do things quickly in the movie compared to fleshing things out in a series.

Ghost in the Shell movie, GitS Stand Alone Complex and GitS SAC 2 and the GitS SAC movie are fantastic and another I would recommend. The GitS second movie is a little slow and it focus' on Batou and not the Major. Akira was another good movie but it can get a bit weird.

Patlabor series and movies are good, Elfen Lied was not the best so read the manga as it beats the anime hands down. High School of the Dead was so-so but I think its me as I am over the zombie crap.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarkHyren

No thread that I can see either so I'm going to post away!
I'm a huge Otaku, I've seen so many series that I had to catalogue them lol, so let me have a think.

I would have to agree that FMA:B is a little convoluted but it's still a good watch, the pacing for the first quarter or so sucked but I think that's because compared to the original it's so compressed and you miss out on a lot of great character development.
I can't decide which one I would suggest others to watch first, probably FMA:B then FMA, only because you get a deeper insight I feel watching them that way around.

From that list I've seen Deathnote, Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.
Loved Deathnote, though really hated the anime ending, they screwed it up badly compared to the way the manga ends.
The best way to watch that one I think is to either stop watching after the first arc, the show could be done at that point, or if one feels the need to keep watching to ignore the last two episodes and read the manga from that point.

I was rewatching Fullmetal Panic but I got distracted by TFPrime and started watching TFAnimated, but I'll go back to it after finishing S3 of TFA.

Some of my picks-
Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny
Tsubasa Chronicle
Slayers
Rurouni Kenshin

the list could go on lol but suffice to say I like mecha and fantasy.

---

I enjoyed FMA:B better then the original series for some unknown reason. I did enjoy the old series but I think the new one was better. Full Metal Panic was good as well. First and Second series were very good with both action and plot with good ecchi moments and Fumoffu I enjoyed as it was really stupid slapstick moments. Tsubasa Chronicles and xXxHolic are two more from Clamp that I woudl recommend as well. Both are in the same universe and both merge at certain points.

Slayers is also good but there is so much of that as series and movies.

With SDF Macross, you can either go by the original Japanese series or the bastardisation which we call Robotech. Again both have their weak points but both are still good. Also the Japanese had Macross II, Macross Zero, Macross Frontier, Macross Plus and the other one with the cheezy music and the bad hair :D:D:D

Bloody Code Geass gave me the shits. It annoyed the hell out of me but yet I could not stop watching. You start to like a character *BAM* dead and rage for a day. Another character comes along that you like *BAM* another dead one and rage for another day but yet the crap characters keep on bloody going.......BASTARDS!!!!

I have a varying collection that I enjoy:

K-on
Hayate no Gotoku
Nagasarete Airantou
Index and Railgun
Shakugan no Shana
Tora Dora
Valkyria Chronicles
Haruhi Suzumiya
Bubblegum Crisis and BGC 2040
Chobits (another Clamp anime)
Claymore
Darker than Black
Dennou Coil
Escaflowne series
Girls Bravo (english dub is a lot better than the Jap)
Gunslinger Girls
Higurashi no series
Ikki Tousen
Lucky Star
Maria+Holic
Monster (good horror/drama type series)
Onegai Teacher and Twins
Spice and Wolf
Tetsuwan Birdy Decode (original wasnt bad but the new one was good)
Witch Hunter Robin

Thats a few of the top of my head.

oooh anime!

Personally I keep track of Naruto - now Naruto Shippuuden coz he's all grown up. :D Bleach - but Im reduced to reading the manga coz every site that before had it couldt upload anymore, somehow it's all being blocked by the makers. I used to watch one piece, but after the Great War arc ( where Luffy's brother dies SPOILER) I stopped. Although Ive watched all the movies of these 3 anime too.

Other Anime's Ive enjoyed watching - some already finished

1)Highschool of The Dead

2)Ben-to - all that martial arts just for a day old food, hahaha only in Japan!

3)Chobits ( I really like the opening theme song)

4)Cardcaptor Sakura

5/6)Full Metal Alchemist and FMA: Brotherhood - I do prefer the Brotherhood version (based on Manga) coz the first one was too brooding and negative, dark and just doesn't leave a good feeling once you've finished watching it.

7)Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt - for those not into powerpuff girls motif this wont suit their taste - but I just love that they had an entire episode dedicated/homage to Transformers! Awesome! Valkyrie76 did you forget to add this hehehe - you have Stocking as your avatar there now :p

8)Fairy Tail - still ongoing and awesome to watch, I just started watching it because Bleach took so long to update and months later Im hooked! The characters grow on you.

9)Blue Exorcist - anime has finished, but the manga still is going.

10) Nurarihyon and Nurarihyon no Mago- the anime is kinda in limbo. The Manga already finished - finally! took them long enough. I really like the concept - yokai and all that, plus I just really like the singers Monkey Majik (Canadian Jap band from Sendai) which the series used 3 of their songs for opening and closing themes.

11) Kimi to Boku and 2nd season as well.

12) Flame of Recca

13) Occult Academy

14) Fruits Basket

15) Sailor Moon (which was translated and dubbed in Filipino) so funny! I watched it again in English and ... meh I didn't continue after the first 3 episodes. I prefer the jokes in Filo :p
Lets just say I prefer supernatural themed ones more than mecha anime.

I usually just watch these and review them from animeflavor.com - the site also has the whole Avatar series, TF Prime, JL animated, Young Justice, Green Lantern and a lot of the anime movies (including the Ghibli ones) all in their files. Best thing is, its free! hehehe

Some more:

Bakamongatari and other series
Hyouka
Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan (funny little anime about Osaka-ben)
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
Muv Luv
Girls Und Panzer
Jormungand
Persona 4
Hagure Yuusha
Queens Blade (Tetsuwan made me say that :D)
Hellsing series
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Fate series
Gosick
Setokai Yakuindomo
Lupin the Third
Psycho Pass
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka
IdolM@ster

Also my little favourite atm........my guilty little anime is Puchimasu (spinoff from Idolmaster)

More I can recommned if you want :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by valkyrie_76

Queens Blade (Tetsuwan made me say that :D)

---

Ahem
I did not.

Quite hoping they make a HighSchool of the Dead Season 2. Quite enjoyed HSOTD!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by liegeprime

oooh anime!

Personally I keep track of Naruto - now Naruto Shippuuden coz he's all grown up. :D Bleach - but Im reduced to reading the manga coz every site that before had it couldt upload anymore, somehow it's all being blocked by the makers. I used to watch one piece, but after the Great War arc ( where Luffy's brother dies SPOILER) I stopped. Although Ive watched all the movies of these 3 anime too.

---

I read only the manga for both Naruto Shippuuden and Bleach, i avoid the anime due to too many filler arcs.

On another note, Basilisk is a decent clan/ninja war between each other trapped in a love story. I recall watching requiem but didnt enjoy it too much. And i for one did not enjoy Hellsing and Devil May Cry, episodes felt bland and like they were just making up random stuff just to get something out to air. Watched vampire knights when it was on ABC, which was a pretty whacky school/action/love anime.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by valkyrie_76

Some more:

Bakamongatari and other series
Hyouka
Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan (funny little anime about Osaka-ben)
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
Muv Luv
Girls Und Panzer
Jormungand
Persona 4
Hagure Yuusha
Queens Blade (Tetsuwan made me say that :D)
Hellsing series
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Fate series
Gosick
Setokai Yakuindomo
Lupin the Third
Psycho Pass
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka
IdolM@ster

Also my little favourite atm........my guilty little anime is Puchimasu (spinoff from Idolmaster)

More I can recommned if you want :D

---

Ohh i got the persona 4 game on vita. Also go ahead and recommend what ever you feel is worth a watch, this thread is intended to discuss all things anime, ones worth watching and ones worth skipping.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

Quite hoping they make a HighSchool of the Dead Season 2. Quite enjoyed HSOTD!

---

+1

I'm not a avid anime-watcherer but heres some recentish ones that I enjoyed.

Code Geass
Gurren Lagaan
Gundam 00
High School of the Dead

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarkHyren

Are you referring to the Roberta's Blood Trail OVA or The Second Barrage or something completely different?

---

ahaha, i've gotten my info mixed up, the manga is resuming soon and so there should be more anime made of it.

i watched black lagoon years ago - seasons 1 and 2 in one sitting... so they kinda just became one season to me xD

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

Ahem
I did not.

Quite hoping they make a HighSchool of the Dead Season 2. Quite enjoyed HSOTD!

---

unfortunately, highschool of the dead manga only has 29 chapters which is why the anime is so short...

Oh excellent! - A great topic for a thread & really, I can't believe that it hasn't come up until now? :eek::D

My 1st curiosity with Anime (That I actually identified as Anime ;)) was when I was about 6 or 7 y/o with the 12 part OVA series The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor. :cool:

From then on it's been a bit of a love affair ever since, as Guyver introduced me (& my younger Brother :p) to what we basically rationaled it to at the time as 'Cartoons for Adults'. :)
Guyver was quickly followed up with both of the Battle Angel: Alita OVAs, one of the Devil Man OVAs as well as the original Appleseed OVA, it has been a long road since these but allow me to share with you some of my favourite Animes:

• Ghost in The Shell
• Ninja Scroll
• Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
• Akira
• Lupin The Third: Castle of Cagliostro
• Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor (2005)
• Tekkaman Blade (Teknoman)
• Porco Rosso
• Hellsing (TV Series)

A trio of series that I've not all too long ago viewed that I thought were friggin' awesome & highly recommend are:

• Black Lagoon
• Darker Than Black
• Panty & Stocking with Garter Belt

...and for those whom like Robots and/or even Super Robots! - I've recently partaken in a Mecha Madness Marathon, which contained the following BOTastic Animes:

• Giant Robo (90s OVA Series)
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
• Aquarion

(*NOTE: Actually seen prior to marathon ;))

• The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar
• Aim for The Top!: Gunbuster
• Marriage of God & Soul: Godannar
• New/Shin Getter Robo
• Patlabor OVA 1
• Patlabor OVA 2
• Aim for The Top!: Diebuster
• Furi Curi/Fooly Cooly (FLCL)
• Shin Getter vs. Neo Getter OVAs
• Change! Getter Robo (Armageddon)
• Shin Mazinger Shougeki Z-Hen
• Mazinkaiser SKL

(*NOTE: The Above seen as part of Marathon :D)


I've neglected to mention DragonballZ until this point namely because I feel that it is a series that everyone should see in one form or another because as with many others I saw the series via CheezeTV & is the reason for being late to SO many classes during High School :p, but a couple of other shows that I've seen bits of that I want to actually checkout properly at some point are Cowboy Bebop & the Super Robot Wars OVAs (+ the 2 series). :)

At present though, I'm currently going back through and watching Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex & Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 2nd GIG as well as Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society; as when my youngest Brother & I watched each series the 1st time, we had procured some 'digitally relocated' copies of the episodes and were playing them on a DVD Player that for some utterly perplexing reason decided t play them in an order that I've still not been able to rationalise or replicate... :mad:

So now I'm watching them in Proper Chronological Order, I've very recently completed GITS:SAC after having acquired the US Boxset (To my door, literally half the price of the Australian Release :rolleyes:) so having this arrive yesterday:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BFr9OyhCAAAI-Te.jpg:large


...and with GITS:SAC-SSS on its way from Madman Entertainment's warehouse, along with Ghost in The Shell: Arise due later this year/early next year! :eek:, I pretty confident in saying that Ghost in The Shell is my defining favourite Anime series. :D:cool:
(Extremely closely followed by Guyver ;))

Appleseed, great film. Second one was ok but i felt not as good. Now you make me wanna watch it again lol.

I have to post what i got when i get home from work, but i really enjoyed Fist of the North Star series. I gotta find the rest. And Vampire Hunter D was good but i really liked Bloodlust better. Only thing was the book was quite different to that movie, alot darker and badass.

The movie Ninja Scroll was brilliant.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kazza

The movie Ninja Scroll was brilliant.

---

True, first time I saw it was when I was on a bus trip back home in Philippines. They show free movies coz the trip is 3 hours long :p. I thought this is an interesting albeit really violent and graphic anime to show on a bus hehehe.

I saw a comic adaptation of this as well but didn't feel I needed to buy it, it kinda picks off where the movie ends a few months or years after the events in the movie.


Also nice Wicked city, prolly as graphic but Ninja Scroll feels better.

In the same way I first saw Spirited Away - a bus trip from the city to my hometown :D

The Western version of Ninja Scroll is cut (even if subtitled). I've seen the uncut version of Ninja Scroll in raw Japanese and it has extra bits that are deleted in the Western version (probably for censorship reasons). So yeah, if you wanna see it uncut, try and watch the raw version. I think I might still have a copy on VHS somewhere... (problem is I don't have a working NTSC VHS player anymore :p) I've got boxes of anime on NTSC VHS that I really need to transfer to DVD (including several Transformers series that hasn't been released here on DVD).

Damn... everytime I think of Ninja Scroll I wanna eat Onigiri. :p (likewise sometimes when I eat Onigiri I imagine that I'm Jubei :p)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by valkyrie_76

Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan (funny little anime about Osaka-ben)

---

I had a girlfriend who was from Kansai, and she once complained to me about how anime always mocks Kansaiben/Osakaben... i.e. every character who speaks these dialects are portrayed as fools. I just laughed out loud. ;) It even occasionally happens in Transformers! Classic example being Car Robot's Gusshar (RiD Slapper).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

omg... Evangelion was so difficult to understand! I first watched it in raw Japanese -- no translation. I remember even watching it with native Japanese speakers... they found it hard to understand too. That would not have been an easy series to translate!


+1. The new Macross series are visually more consistent, but the original's story is better (the TV series moreso than the movie). Although learning about the reasons why some of the poorer animated episodes and clip shows were done that way was interesting (RE: DVD audio commentary) ;)
Check out the 30th anniversary remake of the original Macross theme ;) How cool would it be if they did a similar remake of the original Transformers theme for the 30th anniv.? :D


I was part of the group that fansubbed the latter episodes of Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex... gguuuhhh... I was living with a Japanese girl at the time who was helping me translate, and even then it was haaaarrrd! (we had no copy of the script -- translating purely by ear!)

Akira is something that I've always visually enjoyed, but could never get into the story. I've heard that it's a compression of a really expansive manga series. But I personally find Otomo Katsuhiro's anime to be rather long winded. I felt the same about Patlabor (though their stories aren't as disconnected as Akira's).

Anyone else here seen the live action Space Battleship Yamato (re: Star Blazers) movie? ;)
Star Blazers intro
New Space Battleship Yamato opening
live action movie trailer
...yes, that's Nishida "Pigsy" (from Monkey) Toshiyuki as the ship's chief engineer. ;)

---

The first time I watched Evangelion, and I still remember it so clearly was with my step brother in the late 90s or early 2000's. It was on SBS on a friday or saturday night and i didnt want to watch it, but my step brother sat me down and said " watch it, you'll never looks at regular cartoons the same way again" And I havent. I remember after I watched that first episode I didn't quite understand what I had just watched, but i knew it was awesome and I knew he was right.

That Macross opening is pretty killer. I wish they'd remake the original series, I think it would be even greater with todays animation. I'll be honest I think Akira is very over rated, its a good anime, but I don't think it deserves all the hype that comes with it. The only part of it I ever really enjoyed was the bike chase.

I've heard of Battleship Yamato, I've never watched it though, I may give it a look over the weekend. I recently watched Sword Art online, the first half of it was great, I didn't dig the second half though.

As someone else said, the Fate series are pretty cool. Claymore is also pretty enjoyable. Thinking back to those old SBS anime nights I also watched Castle of Cagliostro and Porcco Rosso which were both pretty neat =]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

I'll be honest I think Akira is very over rated, its a good anime, but I don't think it deserves all the hype that comes with it. The only part of it I ever really enjoyed was the bike chase.

---

Akira gets a lot of hype because it was the anime that went mainstream in the West and catapulted the anime craze in Western countries. I remember seeing adverts for cinema screenings for Akira in 1988... I wanted to go see it, but I was far too young so my parents wouldn't let me. I later watched Akira in 1991 on VHS and was blown away.

But yeah... Akira is popular because it was the "first" as far as most Westerners were concerned. It 'broke the ice' so to speak. A lot of people loved it at the time cos they hadn't seen much better... it was the best that they'd ever seen. Of course, since Westerners have been exposed to a lot more anime, we can look back and see that Akira wasn't that good.

Akira is to anime what Bruce Lee is to martial arts. ;) (or Bumblebee to Transformers? :p)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

The first time I watched Evangelion, and I still remember it so clearly was with my step brother in the late 90s or early 2000's. It was on SBS on a friday or saturday night and i didnt want to watch it, but my step brother sat me down and said " watch it, you'll never looks at regular cartoons the same way again" And I havent. I remember after I watched that first episode I didn't quite understand what I had just watched, but i knew it was awesome and I knew he was right.

---

I spent a lot of brainpower trying to figure this show out when I first saw it...

I saw it on SBS as well (Saturday night, IIRC), and although I had seen snippets of episodes 2 and 4 (they had showed two episodes back-to-back, so I never saw eps 1 and 3), but I took notice after eps 5 and 6, and by 7 and 8 I knew this was worth following.

For Eva fans, this will be worth keeping an eye out for.

Just off the top of my head, some of the other stuff I've seen:

Gunsmith Cats - the first anime I saw after Evangelion. This one really 'sealed the deal' for me as far as anime was concerned.

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 - also on SBS.

Burn Up! W - Not particularly deep or sophisticated, but still kind of fun.

Martian Successor Nadesico - I'd probably appreciate the parody of other anime more if I'd seen them, but still enjoyable in its own right.

Excel Saga - Random, hilarious.

Full Metal Panic!/Panic? Fumoffu - The first season was ok, but I really liked Fumoffu.

Noir - a good show, and it's realistic (by anime standards, anyway). I recommend it, but be aware that the first half is pretty slow and repetitive.

Madlax - Similar premise to Noir (the same studio), but with a twist. Nice animation, but very slow to get moving.

Azumanga Daioh - I kept reading about this one, and watched it to see what the fuss was about. Pretty funny and enjoyable.

Cromartie High School - Random, hilarious.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dkaris

I've heard of Battleship Yamato, I've never watched it though, I may give it a look over the weekend.

---

I prefer the Starblazers (english dub)story to Yamato. It is editted a bit differently to focus more on the characters whereas Yamato is on the Space ship itself. Plus the voice work is more entertaining. Desslar, the leader of teh bad guys is generic-old-Japanese-man-voice, but in the English version he has this crazy high pitched English accent going on. Adds a lot more character to him. The live action movie isn't bad either and the ship now looks fantastic! Especially when they use the hadou-hou (wave motion gun). But it does compress the series quite a bit.

What I liked about Yamato though was that the guy looking after the engine of the ship was named Tokugawa. And Yamato was (is?) the 'central race' of Japan. Tokugawa was also the Shogun of Japan (i.e unofficial king of sorts) during the years of isolation and is generally considered the guy who brought the warring states of Japan together into one country. So Tokugawa drives the engines of Japan. </end history lesson>

I remember Battle Angel Alita! i thought that was a great anime!

Also in regards to Akira, at the time (iirc), it was the most expensive film ever made in Japan. Probably now exceeded

I always forget just how hard to watch Angel Beats! episode 9 is.;_;

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

And Yamato was (is?) the 'central race' of Japan.

---

The Yamato are the dominant ethnic group in Japan. When people think of Japanese people, they usually think of the Yamato. During WWII Japanese soldiers and people often shouted, 大和魂、天皇陛下万歳！("Yamato-damashii, Tennou-heika Banzai!": "By the Yamato spirit, long live the the Emperor, the heavenly sovereign"). "Yamato-damashii" is often translated as "Japanese" spirit. This expression is considered somewhat distasteful by most Japanese people today, as it's widely associated with the ultra nationalism in wartime Japan (somewhat similar to how "Sieg Heil!" is frowned upon by most Germans today).

But while the Yamato are the predominant ethnic group in Japan (they certainly have political supremacy), not all Japanese people are Yamato. Other ethnic groups include:
+ Indigenous races, e.g. Ainu/Utari, Yezo, Emishi etc. In the anime movie "Princess Mononoke" the protagonist Ashitaka is an Emishi. He leaves his village and encounters the Yamato (as well as gods/spirits ;)).
+ Ryukyuans - indigenous peoples of Okinawa and Kagoshima. Their traditional culture is actually more heavily influenced by the Chinese than Japanese. For a long time Okinawa was a tributary state to China during the Qing Dynasty. Okinawa didn't fall under Japanese sovereignty until 1609 when it was conquered by the Shimazu samurai clan. Japan lost Okinawa which was taken over by the Americans after WWII, and then returned to Japan in 1972.

Here are some photos I took from last year's Matsuri in Sydney...
Examples of Japanese costumes - these are Yukata (light cotton kimono)...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psf6318b04.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps6cece6a7.jpg

And here's a performance by some Ryukyuan/Okinawans... their clothing style, colours (re: abundant use of red) and instruments (and movements) have a more Chinese influence (yet distinctly Ryukyuan) compared to their Yamato counterparts.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps3aaa271b.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psf3ab05c5.jpg

Oh... and here's a picture of some little kids in Yukatas. ;)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps1179afaa.jpg
(the one in red is my daughter :D)

-------------------------------------------------------

In other news, I picked this up from JB Hi-Fi today! :)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps24aa7c48.jpg

Has anyone managed to check out the live action Ranma 1/2 yet? If so -- thoughts?
I saw the DVD at an Asian store... most likely unlicensed (and most likely with "Engrish" subtitles :rolleyes:). I wonder if Madman will release a legit version.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ama_Poster.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Has anyone managed to check out the live action Ranma 1/2 yet? If so -- thoughts?
I saw the DVD at an Asian store... most likely unlicensed (and most likely with "Engrish" subtitles :rolleyes:). I wonder if Madman will release a legit version.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ama_Poster.jpg

---

Oh that was the first anime i ever watched as a kid, all the seasons as well. It was a pretty whacky and pervy based anime.:p;) As for the live action, no i havent seen that. Wasnt aware there was one at all. The only live action anime movies that i have enjoyed were the GTO ones.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kazza

Oh that was the first anime i ever watched as a kid, all the seasons as well. It was a pretty whacky and pervy based anime.:p;) As for the live action, no i havent seen that. Wasnt aware there was one at all. The only live action anime movies that i have enjoyed were the GTO ones.

---

GTO -as in great teacher O.?.. man didn't know that was live action as well.... have to sauce both of the film out and watch them.. I wonder how Rama would be like in live action....:rolleyes: