I am a fan of some "older" anime from the 80's and 90's... Ghost in the Shell, Bubblegum crisis, Akira, etc.
However, I have been curious about modern contributions and would entertain suggestions. Please no hentai, or bondage, or tasteless boy-meets-girl-boy-turns-into-tentacled-monstrosity- and-violates-girl foolishness... straight storytelling and cool imagry please.
Thanks!
-Ed
METROPOLIS (2000) is very good.
Well If you like Bubblegum crisis you can try the "remake" Bubblegum Crisis 2040. Blue Gender is pretty good too.
Anime is such a huge thing, as far as the sheer mass of programming. I worked at an anime con in 2000, and it really burned me out! I've barely watched any anime in the last 5 1/2 years because of it. I still like anime, but I've gone back to just watching it for myself, and not being really involved with the fandom - like I had been doing up until 1997.
Metropolis as Gerry said, really good film.
Steamboy - Lighter anime from the creator of Akira.
Perfect Blue - Not gonna say a lot about this one. Just watch it.
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence - Quite possibly the most beautiful piece of anime ever put together. Fantastic stuff.
Chobits - I'm not much from Clamp's work but Chobits is by far my favorite anime series. Hilarious and heart felt stuff. Seriously worth checking out.
Thanks guys! I have considered Steamboy and Metropolis already.
Also, I can understand fandom burnout, especially with a hot button cultre like anime. I just wanna watch cool cartoons!
-Ed
Yeah I am pretty burnout on anime myself. I restrict myself only to movies nowdays or series I really want. Before I just bought anything Anime.
You can also try Berserk, Dirty Pair or Ninja Scroll.
Gerry Wrote:
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> METROPOLIS (2000) is very good.
*double take*
Wha -- ?? Hu -- ?? Guh -- ?? You -- ??
Someone ... multiple people ... LIKE this?
My ... god.
Hmm, double post.
These days, I try not to criticize people for liking things I don't but, holy crap, I honestly can't see how anyone could possibly like Metropolis.
All three Guyver animations are quite entertaining. The Guyver has a lot of stuff that a lot of people like, guys with biological armor that has cool weapons, monsters, enemy bases, ladies, action.
1) The first version is a orignal video production. It does have a little hentai scene in it but it's not that bad. Lot's a of blood in it. This is from the 80's. I like the art style and music.
2) The 90's version. A 12 part series that was canceled. It's altered the original storyline quite a bit but it's still good. I like the animation of the first six eps but not so much the character designs. The last six episodes suddenly had a discrease in quality, however most of episode 11 and all of episode 12 suddenly got a research of great animation.
3) Then there's the new Guyver anime which came out in the August of 2005. It's not on DVD yet and only some of the episodes are viable by 'subtitles'. If you want to find it right now you can find it, if you look at the right sites. I really like this version for good animation, good music, it follows the story line much closer than the earlier two, still violent and more character devlopement than even the comic had.
they're not cheap to come by, but the three disc, 6-episode series FOOLY COOLY (otherwise known as FLCL, furi kuri, etc.) is pretty great stuff. check it out on cartoon network, they air it from time to time as part of the adult swim line-up. the discs are great in that they come with little zines that include essays on the series, definitions of obscure japanese references. also, the discs themselves have audio commentaries in japanese, with a second english subtitle track for the commentary itself. you can buy the discs seperately, or if you look around you can probably find them together in an "art box".
I've heard good things about Fooly Cooly, but haven't seen it yet.
As for more recent works, I didn't actually mind Metropolis [I bought it on a whim, so I'm stuck with it either way] I really enjoyed some aspects, but others were a bit thin.
Perfect Blue is fantastic, if you haven't seen it already, and as a Ghost In The Shell fan, I highly reccomend the Stand Alone Complex Tv series. I've heard there is a second season, but unfortunately for me, it won't [legally] be out here for a while [we haven't even got Innocence yet, which I'm itching to see]
The nutty short Anime 'Dead Leaves' is psycho, and therefore fantastic.
Otherwise, any of the recent Miyazaki stuff is great as well. I'm not all up on recent Tv series [we are a little behind here] so I guess you can ask the others, though I wouldn't mind hearing about some good anime TV shows of the last year or so, just to catch me up.
Of te ones that seem newer I like "R.O.D.", "Full Metal Alchemist", and "Cowboy Bebop", which are all series
I agree with Fearless, Full Metal Alchemist and Cowboy Bebop are both great shows. Ghost in the Shell : Standalone Complex appears to be pretty good, but I haven't really kept up with it.
Thanks, this should keep me busy at my current rate of movie watching.
-Ed
they're sort of short, but i'd also suggest "riding bean" and "grappler baki".
also, the series "tokyo pig" and "ultimate muscle: the kinnikuman legacy" are really childish, but a lot of fun.
There was also "Blood:The Last Vampire" that was incredibly well animated but I think it was intended to be part of a larger story, and of course "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" the later sequel to the classic.
ToyMan, there is nothing wrong with enjoying Ultimate Muscle. Love that anime.
Freep, I could never get into Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. I'm a huge fan of the original (first dvd I ever purchased) but Bloodlust has never worked well for me. I've never actually watched the DVD the whole way through.
Becuase of the way japanese anime takes forever to make it to the states, I have a hell of a time telling how new something is, but I'll give you a few of my recent interests.
Scryed: A close friend of mine introduced me to this and now I'm hooked. He seems to think I resemble Kazama in mindset and behaviours... I still don't know wether to feel flatttered or insulted. At first, the dubbing made each episode almost painful to sit through, but since I adapted, I've found it rather interesting.
Perfect Hair Forever: Not real anime (obviously), but an incredible simulation... this is more a parody for all those who just don't get anime. While completely mindless and bizarre, it has some hilarious moments that are well worth the fifteen minutes of your time on Cartoon Network. Come, hotdog, we must head for tuna mountain... nude.
Big O: I'm not usually a fan of giant robot anime, but the detective element, combined with a competent male lead and an interesting artistic style keep me coming back to this decidely old-school anime. Batman fans may appreciate how much like Bruce Wayne Roger Smith is; I appreciate the monster/robot bashings.
Battle Angel Alita: Released in 2000. Anime that, despite the premise (young robogirl with incredible powers often clashes with others like her) manages to maintain my interest in that it fleshes out the worlds of many of the supporting cast, namely her father-like creator and a love interest who makes the ultimate sacrifice for his ideals- twice!
I'm a fan of Vampire Hunter D as well, though I haven't yet seen the followup. I recently picked up a rerelease of Akira on DVD, and it was an almost jolting change to hear the original Japanese language track intstead of dubbing (is it me, or did the guy who dubbed Kaneda in the older- and I'm assuming VHS release- of Akira also do the voice of Leonardo in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series?).
It's very dark and deliberately paced, but I also enjoy JIN-ROH: THE WOLF BRIGADE by Mamoru Oshii (same guy behind GHOST IN THE SHELL).
The PATLABOR MOBILE POLICE movies are also very good (also Oshii).
If you want an interesting experience, track down AVALON, Mamoru Oshii's live action film which was made in Poland in Polish. A truly amazing film with some awesome visuals.
I'm a big fan of Avalon as well, though amazing visuals? I guess they're good, but I wouldn't go so far as to say amazing. Great way to end it though. Love the film regardless. About as anime as you can get in live action really.
Besides the likeness between Ash and Motoko Kusanagi is creepy