Spike Lives! (Anime talk)

[#80 :]

I watched Sky Blue (Wonderful Days) yday. Ok, ok, its Korean, but that doesnt make it any less amazing. The animation is spectacular and you can see why it's the most expensive animation film ever made from Korea. The story is nothing groundbreaking, but good to sit and just not require too much processing. The music is gorgeous as well, and fits.

I've started watching Kurogane Communication (after having developed a taste for the Post-Apocalyptic style), but can't find any further than ep 4, which is annoying.

I also really want to watch shibawanko no wa no kokoro. I've seen two episodes and they are SO CUTE. It's based on books of how to behave properly and observe japanese traditions. Ok, ok, so it's for children, but it's adorable. But again, can I find more episodes without using torrents? CAN I HELL.
*frustrated*

*TOTP* dan-tsu in my pan-tsu!

[#81 :]

Two words Hookie, OV Guide .

Gragh, why is Detroit Metal City so hard to find online. Sounds awesome. I also wish somebody would upload subbed Tenchi Muyo or Universe .

[#82 :]

http://www.animevice.com/news/writer-peter-craig-speaks-on-cowboy-bebop-flick/1552/

[#83 :]

Wow, could that movie possibly be good?

Still wish they'd picked somebody else for Spike though.

[#84 :]

Like who though. I've been racking my brain trying to think of someone who'd actually be a good fit... nobody comes to mind.

[#85 :]

I'm sure Asia has quite a few good Actors who have mastered English.

If I had a good memory, this would be the bit where I'd make a quote from the anime and throw in a Reeves 'Woah' as a reply. But my memory sucks.

[#86 :]

Despite being in  the Triads, I'd never pegged Spike as Asian...though, come to think of it, Chow Yun Fat miiiiiiiiiiiiight be acceptable.

[#87 :]

A young Chow Yun Fat as Spike would have been awesome. Still, considering that article shows the studio and the writers behind the show will actually work together and pool influences we won't get an aborted reject like that Dragon Ball Z movie that flopped recently in the cinema.

If I had my way though, this movie would fine some small name actors that'd more suit the roles. One question remains, will Reeves dye his hair green?

Also, woe, Amazon had the whole series of Excel Saga on a single disc for a few quid but alas they were sold out .

[#88 :]

I thought his hair was already naturally green.

I'm really more concerned about how they cast Ed... or if they just give up and CGI her.

[#89 :]

Dakota Fanning!

::Kills everyone::

[#90 :]

Don't Nix me, bro!

[#91 :]

Also, woe, Amazon had the whole series of Excel Saga on a single disc for a few quid but alas they were sold out .

I think its safe to say if somebody was offering the whole series on one disc it wasn't legit.

I see they have the boxed set on sale at £31.47. Although it's not in stock now I suspect the fact that its listed suggests it may become available again

[#92 :]

Despite being in  the Triads, I'd never pegged Spike as Asian

His surname is sort of Jewish. Not that it really matters in the future setting though, I guess. Also, not to be racist, but I find it hard to see most manga/anime characters as asian, even when they are depicted as such, because of the big eyes.

Viscious could be Asian - his narrower eyes might be seen as an epicanthic fold.

[#93 :]

I always find it kinda odd how some anime art styles, everyone looks vaguely caucasian.

Then again, emulation of Walt Disneys animation style.

[#94 :]

Well yeah, that's it exactly. The Japanese copied the Western style and made it infinitely better.

[#95 :]

Except for the 'animation' part, by and large.

[#96 :]

Not to mention that it's thousand times more complicated than that.

[#97 :]

Speaking of movies, Vash is back baby!

Reminds me I still got to get Bebops Knockin' on Heavens door on DVD.

[#98 :]

Trigun movie... that's been a long time coming.

[#99 :]

Viscious could be Asian - his narrower eyes might be seen as an epicanthic fold.

His narrower eyes are to show that he's a villain.  There's a direct correlation between the size of an anime character's eyes and how sympathetic that character is supposed to be.  Bad guys always have narrower eyes than good guys.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure that none of the Bebop crew are supposed to be Asian.  Ed might be Turkish, but I don't think that's the kind of Asian you guys meant.

[#100 :]

I knew that. I just meant for representation by an actor.

[#101 :]

http://www.animevice.com/news/writer-peter-craig-speaks-on-cowboy-bebop-flick/1552/

Interesting. I had no idea the makers of the original show were involved in any way.

Still, if they don't get Yoko Kanno (is that the right name? It's been a while since I've watched the show) to do the music, then the whole project is pretty much guaranteed failure.

[#102 :]

Agreed. She is the show.

[#103 :]

The movie would automatically suck without the hip jazz, blues and easy listening soundtrack. The Seatbelts are part of Bebop along with Spikes green afro, Fayes revealing clothing and Jets sparse cooking.

Dammit, now I want to dig out Bebop too. Also, I heard rumours that Outlaw Star might come back. Which is also pretty awesome.
  

[#104 :]

I have a feeling they are going to try for a "hip" soundtrack from a bunch of contemporary american bands.

...which could actually make for a successful/popular movie, so I completely understand why they would go that route. But I would be so sad.

I saw an official complete collection at Best Buy the other day. Almost bought it, but I am kind of poor right now so I held back. Tomorrow is payday, so I think I'm going to shell out the 40 bucks. I'd already bought the complete series a few years ago, but I'm not convinced it was legit. I think it was some kind of fan-made bootleg.

[#105 :]

^
Did you get it from eBay? I heard a lot of Chinese Bootleg DVDs of Bebop cycled through it a few years ago.

[#106 :]

I have a feeling they are going to try for a "hip" soundtrack from a bunch of contemporary american bands.

And now, singing "Call Me Call Me," Kate Perry!  ::Kills self::

[#107 :]

Oh for the love of science... I really hope not.
The Real Folk Blues, by Evanescence? You can fuck that with a broken bottle.

[#108 :]

Mushroom Hunting by Amy Winehouse?  Actually ...

[#109 :]

My Neighbours the Yamadas

This is one of the less well known Studio Ghibli films which is a shame as it is delightful and rather funny. Unlike most films their is no real plot, in fact there is no story arc at all, just a series vignettes showing incidents in the lives of the eponymous Yamada family. Some of these like the one where they leave Nonoko, the young daughter, at the shopping mall go on for several minutes and others such as the very funny part where son Noboru has what his parents think is his first glass of sake are under a minute long.

As with Isao Takahata's other Ghibli films this will probably appeal to adults far more than children; while it doesn't contain anything unsuitable for youngsters I suspect they might find the subject matter boring. The animation style is totally different from any other Ghibli film or indeed any other animation I can think of. The computer animation looks like a water-coloured comic strip, with fair less detail than usual; this might make it sound inferior but it actually works surprisingly well for the subject matter.

While the episodes are humorous they are almost all the sort of things that could happen in any family, the only ones that aren't are fantasies such as the father imagining himself to be a masked super hero or illustrative such as the charming opening where we see the family taking a fairly fantastical journey. I certainly recommend this for any older Ghibli fans.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

8/10

[#110 :]

Straight up, just the use of Duran Duran might get me into speed grapher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSTphPlzZp4

[#111 :]

Finally caught Detroit Metal City and I got to say it is now in my top ten favourite list.

Negashi can be such a jerk ass sometimes.

[#112 :]

Finally caught Detroit Metal City and I got to say it is now in my top ten favourite list.

Negashi can be such a jerk ass sometimes.

KRAUSA SAMA!!!!!

[#113 :]

Finally caught Detroit Metal City and I got to say it is now in my top ten favourite list.

Negashi can be such a jerk ass sometimes.

KRAUSA SAMA!!!!!

DEMON KING DEMON KING DEMON KING

[#114 :]

Noir

I recently purchased this series and having now watched it all I must say I have no regrets. The story was fairly action packed from start to finish. The earlier episode were individual stories for the most part, but later episodes follow a story arc that was hinted at in the opening episode.

In the first episode solo assassin Mireille meets Kirika, an amnesiac who is even more deadly than she is. It is apparent that the two are some how linked as Kirika has a watch in her possession which belonged to Mireille's murdered parents. Mireille tells her that they can work together until Kirika's past is revealed; then she will kill her. The episodes contain a lot of shooting but we almost never see any blood which means this series isn't too gory for younger anime fans. Just under half way through the series another assassin is introduced; the mysterious Chloe who becomes a recurring character who appears to be connected somehow to Kirika.

While the animation isn't the best I've seen it is still pretty good and the music is great. The only weakness of the series I found was the over-use of flashbacks although it wasn't enough to spoil it. Given that the protagonists are girls in miniskirts it is surprising that there is no fan service to speak of, even the one scene that involves nudity is done in a non-gratuitous way that doesn't really show anything. I'd certainly recommend this series to anybody who likes animated action which doesn't include unnecessary comedy moments.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

8/10

[#115 :]

Negima!?

I had not heard of this series till I saw it on Funimation's site (and their YouTube channel) where it can be viewed legally on line. I was immediately impressed by the high quality of the animation and that even though there was a large cast the characters were fairly distinctive, so I could tell who was who even though I had difficulty remembering their names.

Negi is a ten year old Welsh wizard who is given the task of teaching at an all girl high school in Japan where he is in charge of class 3-A for the most part they are fairly ordinary girls, exceptions being that Evangeline is a vampire, Sayo is a ghost and Chachamaru is a robot. Much of the story takes place in a parallel magic world where the class has been taken by a strange item known as the "Star Crystal". In order to combat this Negi enters a contract with each class member which enables them to become his magical assistants. Unfortunately the series seemed to drag quite a bit in the middle and while I liked the characters of Negi and the girls I wasn't so keen on his talking pet ermine and two strange creatures which were apparently a frog and a cat which didn't really look like either and were rather annoying.

It seemed rather strange that he entered these contracts by kissing them... after all he is only ten. Apart from that the series was fairly free of fan service, there was some nudity in the transformation scenes as the girls magical contracts are activated but this is soft focus showing nothing. The same can't be said of the two OVAs which are almost nothing but fan service. This came as quite a shock after the innocence of the series, they were pretty funny though. Don't turn off when the end credits start as there are comedy shorts after they finish, some of these are one-offs, others like the "Baka Rangers" have several episodes.

I guess this wasn't the series for me although I wouldn't advise others to avoid it, especially as it can be watched legally for free on line, give it a go you might like it more than me. As I haven't seen the original version I can't say how this compares.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

[5/10]

[#116 :]

That guy gets more ass than a young Harry Potter. Wizaaaaarddds!

[#117 :]

School Rumble

When I found this series on Funimation's YouTube channel I though it might be similar to Azumanga Daioh which I really enjoyed. There are a few similarities; they are both set in a Japanese high school and have a similar style of animation but that is about it. Instead of being subtle with no romance this is all about romance and is as subtle as a kick in the head... it is funny though, very funny.

The story follows the lives and loves of Class 2-C, the problem for the students is that everybody seems to be in love with somebody that doesn't love them back and few of them can find the courage to tell the objects of their desires how they feel anyway. The main characters are Tenma who is besotted with otherworldly Karasuma and tough guy Kenji Harima who only returned to school because he is obsessed with Tenma. There is quite a large cast of secondary characters but they are drawn in a way that makes it easy to remember who is who. While these may be secondary characters many of them appear in most episodes so they don't feel like lesser characters; they are all lots of fun.

While nobody is saying how they feel about each other everybody is jumping to conclusions about who likes who and almost always being wrong leading to a few amusing confrontations. While somewhat exaggerated most of their activities are believable although a few are pushing the boundaries of believability.

I'm not totally sure whether this is aimed at boys or girls, many of the romantic elements seem aimed at girls but the girls do appear in their bikinis in a couple of episodes and these look as they are meant to appeal to the male viewers... don't worry that is the limit of female flesh on show. I guess it might appear to both equally. I'd certainly recommend it to anybody who likes madcap anime, it does for the school genre what Excel Saga does for the action genre.

These comments are based on watching the English dub of the series, I normally prefer my anime subbed but it was unavailable. I still thought the English voice artists did a good job though.

8/10

[#118 :]

Akira - Blu

i'm sure everyone here knows the movie anyway, so i'll just rate it.

Story: 10/10
Picture Quality: 10/10
Sound Quality: 10/10

however they got the sound and picture this awesome, i don't know... but it's on of the best i've ever seen/heard, even more so considering the movie is from 1988

[#119 :]

Oh, I actually watched Akira the other day-v impressed, although I preferred the second half of the movie.
Also, I'm going to check out School Rumble.
And yoko kanno=FTW. I love the Wolf's Rain soundtrack, check it out.