Anime On Trial

[Reply #40 on:]

Do yous like buy this stuff or something? Cause I can't find any anime on the box over here. I live in the UK and all i get to see is evangelion. Which i really like.

[Reply #41 on:]

Woah Woah Woah!

Tell me that no-one is putting Evanglion on the air in Britain.  Having lived there I would be too shocked to accept they would do that to themselves.

Save your imortal soul, do not watch Eva.

[Reply #42 on:]

What's wrong with Evangelion? Do you want to start a fight or something?

My problem with putting Evangelion on TV is that the show would be chopped up and edited way too much. Heck, it could hardly make it on TV in Japan unedited. On British TV, or even on American TV, the show would be almost incomprehensible to someone who hasn't seen it before. Each episode would probably be like 8-10 minutes long, max.

[Reply #43 on:]

 

Originally posted by evan:
What's wrong with Evangelion?

For me?  I guess I can say that Love/Hate doesn't even begin to describe it, but it's a step in the right direction.  The idea of putting this briliantly thought-out animated, yet painfully angst-ridden program on public for anybody to see will just damage the innocent youth of [Insert country here].

[Reply #44 on:]

Damage Britain's youth?

'Scuse me.

*Walk's to the Far North of Scottland and laugh's his head off*

[Reply #45 on:]

Meh, guess you're right.  Kids are tough.  They can bounce back from a little soul crushing every now and again.

[Reply #46 on:]

Eh, it'll teach kids that there's no hope for the future and that they should just roll over and die. That's what "Evangelion" taught me.

Oh, btw, on the IMDB page for "End of Evangelion," apparently the tag line is "Why Can't Everyone Just Learn to Die?" I've never heard that before, but I think it's hilarious.

[Reply #47 on:]

I think that's a miss-quote. The Tagline I remember is "Wouldn't it be great if everyone just died?"

could be wrong, or it could be part of the eternal battle between knowledge and Engrish.

[Reply #48 on:]

Remember, they don't have R's.

[Reply #49 on:]

 

Originally posted by nasteve:
Do yous like buy this stuff or something? Cause I can't find any anime on the box over here. I live in the UK and all i get to see is evangelion. Which i really like.

The internet was invented for a reason. *cough*file-sharing*cough*
If I continued watching anime on local television, I would have remained an anti-anime activist.

[Reply #50 on:]

Anime on normal TV has put many people off.

[Reply #51 on:]

*BUMP*
Haibane Renmei

Story: A girl dreams that she is falling and awakens to find herself in a different world. She is in a town surrounded by a wall that is so tall one cannot see over it. She grows wings from her back and is given a halo, as well as the name Rakka. She is no longer a human but a haibane, like many others in this town. Rakka remembers nothing of her past life before coming to this new town, as none of the other haibane do. Another haibane named Reki helps Rakka to fit in and find a job, but warns Rakka that she must never, ever, go near that wall.

Review: Haibane Renmei, is the latest work of Abe Yoshitoshi, renowned creator of Serial Experiments Lain. This anime is so enthralling that it grabbed my attention after the first episode and didn't let go until the last one ended.

Haibane Renmei is directed well. I felt so many emotions while watching; you will laugh, you will cry, you question the way you live your life... all in a single episode. Most importantly, you will think.

This anime uses very powerful symbolism and is entirely theme driven. You don't have to have gray wings and a halo to be able to relate to what the characters go through. Everyone who has felt isolated, different or just scared can relate to this story on a personal level.this anime has an amazing musical score that compliments the mood perfectly. There is also plenty of eye candy which can be seen in the great character designs and the amazing fantasy town that the haibane live in. The art is drawn with somewhat dull colors, giving the show a feel that is one of a kind.

Haibane Renmei is the kind of anime that makes you think... and keeps you thinking even when it's all over. It is a nice change of pace for those who are accustomed to action or comedy shows. While this show has none of either, it is anything but boring. This is truly the best drama I have seen in a long, long time.

Overall: A. A thinker of an anime that doesn't "brain rape" you like S.E.L, which is a good thing.   

EDIT: Can someone review "Wolf's Rain" for me? I've heard rave reviews about it.

[Reply #52 on:]

*Saved from delete bump.*

(no kidding it was last on the seventh page)

Shamanic Princess:  Tiara needs to get the throne of Yord back from Kagetsu, and she must kill him if need be.  Problem: She's in love with him.  Another problem: He's recruited her Rival Leena to help him.

Enough plot.

OK, we have yet ANOTHER magical girl show, complete with transformations, extensive attack introductions, the occasional re-used footage, mascot, a final moral about the goodness of people, virtue of teamwork, and at least one to die for Bishonen.  Anyone who knows anything about the "machick" formula has already seen all of this, so is it really worth your TV time?

I say yes.  With character designs from Atsuko Ishida who worked on MKR, direction by outlaw star's Mitsuru Hongo, and a plot centering around the duelist nature of humans, it's a great ride. 

Action is packed.  The outlaw star style fight scenes herk in and jerk out so smoothly that they never look herky jerky.  The downright pure and organic movement of the characters, combined with some featful coreography make this a welcome addition to the genre.

The reccomendation on the back of the DVD box says "A must have for CLAMP fans."  That maybe so, The chraracter designs, deep love and suffering rendered plot, a number of exceptional summoning sequences.  This anime has everything a CLAMP fan would love, save one: CLAMP.  The four women who form the quartet of manga visionaries known as CLAMP have absolutely NOTHING to do with this production.  Still, when seen, one can't help but be reminded of their work.  File Shamanic under "I can't believe it's not CLAMP"

Want to see what would happen if anime characters took a wrong turn and ended up in a gallery of Neoclassicist art?  This is it.  I'll be honest, the most alluring thing about this anime to me is the background art?  Now how much anime can you say that about?  While most other anime sticks to simple lines and filled colors, or sometimes just an outline on a pallate color Shamanic goes directly against the grain, eliminating the use of line, and emphasising clean, detailed brush strokes (Or what appear to be brush strokes, since I know what photoshop is capable of).  In any event, the only other animator who truly astounded me simply by the background art was Shinichiro Watanabe, who incorperated layers upon layers of background, buildings, people, traffic, adding to the work amasing realism and detail.  Shamanic takes this same concept of providing great detail, and applies it to surrealism.  The backgounds are seldom multi-layered, but always presented like nothing I have ever seen in animation.  ANY animation.  If you hate anime, if you don't want to listen to Japanese or a just-par dub job, rent this, ignore everything and just look at this beautiful scenery.

As for weaknesses, Shamanic has a few.  First of all is the story telling, which narrates Tiara's quest for the throne of Yord, then extends to a 2 episode prequal about how the throne was stolen in the first place.  This "Prequal" ending is not very satisfying, if you ask me.  It seems tacked-on unnessicary and irrelivant, having the only positive detail of narrating the life of Tiara's twisted first attempt at summoning.  Shaminic also bears Outlaw Star's brand of confusing ending for the overal series.  In wich you know what happened, you know how it happened, but are left in the dark as to how the characters figured it out.  Not a total weakness, but if it's not your cup of tea, it'll rub you the wrong way.

All in all tho, for a fairly good magical girl story with outsanding art, and some solid animation and Action, here's my recc. for you.

B+

(Now if only poor Mitsuru could have avoided Pilot candidate T_T)

[Reply #53 on:]

At first I didn't 'get' what Anime was/is about... After a co-worker lent me some Macross and other series tapes in the 90's, it opened my eyes to the cool, sophisticated story lines, and of course the very awesome animation (much better than what Disney or most studio/network cartoons are releasing these days, IMO. Wonder where/if some animators ever learned to draw?). The backgrounds especially are real art, whereas most animation for some time has plain (ugly) background art.
Futurama a rare exception!

So far the Anime I have bought (on DVD) are:
Blue Submarine No. 6 - the movie
Cowboy Bebop - Best Sessions

I plan on renting more series in the months ahead, as I'm a true believer in the artform now.   

[Reply #54 on:]

i watch silent mobius on techtv (cause im starving for some good anime.) and it USED to be about a special police force. i guess you miss a couple episodes and you get so way fucking lost.

[Reply #55 on:]

Good choices Moonbus, beware of The Evil that is Dragon Ball Z.

[Evan]Hey![/Evan].

[Reply #56 on:]

Feel free to mock DBGT all you want. That's more of the evil than DBZ could ever be...

edit/ don't we have a newer, less-likely-to-be-deleted anime thread?

[Reply #57 on:]

 

Originally posted by evan:
don't we have a newer, less-likely-to-be-deleted anime thread?

We do have another anime thread, here, but it's actually older than this one.

There's also the old anime pic post thread, over here.

[Reply #58 on:]

Meh don't care as long as there is an anime thread.
Firstly what are people's views on RahXephon. It looks cool but I want to know soem stuff before I uhhh aquire it.

Secondly. There is a Cowboy Bebop best sessions DVD? Insane, almost all the episodes are great.
Then agian I don't what's on the DVD. I would put these episodes on personally.
Ballad of Fallan angels
Jupiter Jazz pt1 & 2
Wild Horses
Pierrot Le Fou
Hard luck woman
The real folk blues pt 1& 2

[Reply #59 on:]

What, no "Toys in the Attic", "Mushroom Samba", or "Cowboy Funk"?   

[Reply #60 on:]

I agree with David, outrage!

Spike lighting a cigarette with a flamethrower is one of my favourite Bebop moments.

[Reply #61 on:]

Ballad of Fallen Angels is my personal favorite, I just love the end... *enter music, exit spike from 6th story cathedral with bombs a blazing*

That flamethrower moment was great too... although not very believable in real life, as you'd probably burn your entire face off. 

[Reply #62 on:]

Those episode are great but those ones are my faves.
Like I said how can you make a best of when they are all great.
Bang

[Reply #63 on:]

*Sees 2 month old thread get bumped from oblivion*
*Salutes Pitt Clemens*

Anyway, it's time for me to review another series.

Onegai Twins

Story: Kamishiro Maiku has a mysterious past. After losing his parents at a young age, he lived many years as an orphan. The only thing he has to remember his family by is a picture of himself and of his long-lost twin sister, whom Maiku has no recollection, in front of the house that they grew up. Now a high school student, Maiku lives alone in the same house until the day a girl shows up at his door claiming to be the one from the picture. That same night, however, a second girl shows up and claims the very same thing. Which one is really Maiku's twin, and which one is just a stranger?

Review:I'm going to be blunt. I was tricked into watching the series by my bunkmate. Do not be fooled by the fact that this anime is tied to the highly entertaining Onegai Teacher. A similar locale and a few common characters are all that the two shows share. In every way that its sister show excelled, Onegai Twins falls short of being even remotely appealing.

I suppose the best starting point would be the anime's biggest problem: the characters. I did not think it was possible to create a cast of characters this useless and poorly developed. Most of the characters from Onegai Teacher make cameo appearances, but their personalities are so badly butchered that I wished they had stayed out of sight. Our protagonist, Maiku, is as predictable as they come; going from bad to worse we have Karen and Miina, two girls who could not possibly have been more fake and irritating. Their emotions just are not convincing, nor could I feel for these characters.

With the help of an ill-fitting cast of characters, the plot goes nowhere very fast. In a mind-numbing twelve episodes, there is almost no actual content. The story intentionally stalls for several episodes for no reason other than to take up time. The entire show could have fit into one movie without anything significant being cut.

Onegai Twins is like getting coal for Christmas; the wrapping may look good, but what you actually receive is worthless.

Overall: C-. Excuse me while I beat the crap out of my bunkmate and demand 4+ hrs of my weekends back. 

[Reply #64 on:]

I didn't like Onegai Twins either. Once I saw the quirkiness that happened in the 3rd episode with Miina, Karen and Maiku, I knew it was gonna go downhill.

[Reply #65 on:]

my favourite anime film is wings of honamease. i'm too lazy to do a review right now (partly because the tape is lost in the passage of time... and my room, allong with vol 1 of orguss 02, another great film, anyway)
basically its about mankinds first steps into space, its set on a very similar world to earth. The design and thought that have gone into this film is amazing, there are many objects in that world that are subtly different from those in our own. For instance, their coins are long cylinder shapes, their spoons are triangular. Amazing art and animation and a hard hitting story line. The main character finds that he is ultimately just a pawn in the ultimate scheme of things, this is after he has joined the space programme because his grades wer'nt good enough to get into the air force. He rises to become the first man in space, where he delivers his final broadcast to mankind, reflecting on their past up to that point. its special.  I can tell you that anyone who has seen this film will never forget the g-force training scene in the plane. good stuff. Buy it! BUY IT NOW!

[Reply #66 on:]

I've been busy lately, but fret not. Here's another review for the pool.

Golden Boy

Story: Oe Kintaro is a 25-year-old freelance worker. It's not that he's incompetent or that he doesn't care, but once he learns something, he moves on. He dropped out of Tokyo University law school (only after finishing his graduation requirements early) to learn more about life. With his trusty mountain bike and notebook in hand, Kintaro's adventures have just begun.

Review: In the realm of ecchi humor, Golden Boy reigns supreme as king. In the years since its release, there have been many imitators, but none have managed to top the sidesplitting comedy found within this six-episode OVA. Sure, it may not be everyone's cup of tea because of the crude, sophomoric humor, but for what it sets out to do, Golden Boy is a brilliant success.

This short OVA series has plenty wrong with it, though. Animation usually ends up on the wrong side of the standards scale for an OVA. The soundtrack felt like random songs were pilfered from the bargain bin at a low-rent music store. The story, if you can call it that, is repeated again and again in each episode. The brand of humor leans far into the adult spectrum, with plenty of fan service and nudity scenes. If this is not your forté, you really need to skip this because there isn't anything else here.

But, you know what? Who cares!One of the anime's strongest assests is its leading character, OE Kintaro. Despite the fact that very little is ever revealed about him, he still manages to be a really memorable character. He takes pervertedness to new heights throughout the series, and some of his antics will have viewers torn between disgust and hysterical laughter. Even though many of his actions are a bit on the obscene side, deep down inside he has a heart of gold, and it is almost impossible not to love his goofy grimace. Nothing much is ever revealed about Kintaro, but what he lacks in substance he makes up with personality, making him a character fans will not soon forget.

Overall: A If you like your humor a bit naughty (OK, a lot naughty), you must get your hands on this anime!

[Reply #67 on:]

Ah, sounds like the Japanese Carry On of there day.

[Reply #68 on:]

As it was pointed put to me that this thread had not disappeared into obsucrity. I feel since I will not beabl to see soem anime for a while, that I sahll transfer my last few reviews into this. As review thread.

Revalutionary Girl Utena


Now this is one strnage anime. Strange but fairly good. To be onest I like strange anime, such as FLCL but the weirness in this series sometimes seems out of place. Strange things can be happening in apparently serious sceens. This series also has quite a few things that could offend some people (well middle America really). The main character Utena wishs to be a prince (she the girls with pink hair by the way) which is odd but not quite as out there as some of the things in the show. Towards the end of the series these become more prononced, these thing include incest, homosexuality both male and female. Now this does not bother me but I do think some people may be offneded by this.

Now this series comes from the creators of Salor Moon, so youm cna expect pleantly of costume transformations (which there are an ample amount). Even the character designs hark to some of the Salor moon designs. Now I was kinda annoyed that many of the charater looked the same but got over it. The genral design of the backgrounds and settings are quite interesting and look like they spent quite abit of time on them. Problem is with so much time speant on the backgrounds that the animation suffered.

The easiest thing to say about Utena is repetition. Many things are repeated throughout the series especially animation, which could be very annoying at times. Thouugh towards the end I began to see this repeatition was thematic and kinda made sense.

The story is confusing at points and some times some episodes seem to have nothing to do with anything. That said it got very good towards the end.

All in all quite a good series but not for everyone.
B

Utena the movie aka The adolecence of Utena.


First things first. This is not a continuation of the series or evena prequal. It is a stand alone film, which retells the stiry although slightly diffenrently (much like the Escaflowne movie). Some ofthe characters are diffent indeed (For example in this Utena and Tojga were young lovers but in the series Utena disliked hime alot).

As far as I could tell this flm is quite symbolic and I probabaly missed alot, in fact there are quite a few things that seemed not to make sense.

The settings and backgrounds are far more impressive than the series. The character designs have also been tweaked for the better. The whole thing has a sort of arty feel to it, which I liked. One thing I thought was odd about how they showed the characters was when they were nude. In series they usually show the character as barbies (ie no definition) and make them anatomically correct in the movies but this was not the case, which looked quite odd at points.

Like the series, this has some themes that could be considered offensive (I just wishpeople were more open minded). So of the ones from the series have been toned down while others have been increased. For one Anthe's advances on people are much greater (in the series she was very passive) especailly towards Utena. If you are open minded then you will not have a problem with this.

As for the plot. Well like the series it is quite odd. Problem is (as was the problem with the Escaflowne the movie) is that it is difficult to condense a full series into an hour and a half movie. Alot from the series is lost (mostly the characterisations) alos soem characters are pushed into the background (Chu Chu only really makes a chameo apperances). Otherwise it is a fairly complicated plot to describe here.

One of the main problems I had with the movie was the last few sceens. They seemd to amke not sense and adid not seem to be necessary

Show spoiler

Utena gets changed int a car then she and Anthe try to escape their world. I mean that is jsut to odd

Ah well. Still a fairly interesting movie. If you get the chace watch it.
B

Love Hina


Now admitidly I have nto seen the specails and the OVA so I do not know how this really ends yet but as I a sereis I feel I a can pass judgement.

Well if you can see the pic I found, then you may be wondering why I choose such a picture. Well because I think it sums up the series pretty well. One big fan service.

Ok on the series. Well it's quite good but I did feel like it was borrowing alot of stuff from other anime. To me it seemed like they took the girls from Tenchi and mixed around with their personalities and put an Ed like character in just for good measure. Apart from that little niggle i have, the characterisation is quite good. Although as I will say latter I felt that some episodes added nothing.

Now before I get to the story lets' stay with the aethstetics. Like most modern anime, the animation is quite crisp and it uses vibrant colours. All in all it looks very pretty, oh and they love to put mist everywhere.

Now as for the story. Well it your usual, a helpless student ends up sharing a house with a buch of attractive women and they each start falling for him in some way. Of course this is hardly an orginal idea but it is done fairly well so it's alright. The major problem I had was that many of the episdoes seemd to add next to nothing in terms of plot or characterisation. When they did do episodes with plot and characteristion it works really well. I definitly felt that they could of done without some of the episodes and extended the ending episodes with a few mpre episodes, which could of built on some of the themes that were sneaking in.

One thing that did strike me (or didn't while I was watching) was the music. While there is some great anime music out there, this si not the place to find it. The score for the whole piece is quite weak.

I realise that most of this review seems quite negative but I did like Love Hina. It is jsut I am aware that it could of been so much more than it let itself be. It is a fun little series and if you get the chance then I recomend you watch it.

I will give this a respectible B

[Reply #69 on:]

First I'm sorry for the double post.
Secondly I know this is an anime review thread but I don't think that some people would appreciate a thread dedicated to manga reviews as well. So here's a manga review.

Trigun: Deep space planet future gun action by Yasuhiro Nightow
Volumes one and two



I am reviewing the first two volumes together since they complete the first arc before the manga's become Trigun Maximum.

Now I love the Trigun anime and I was ecstatic when Dark horse announced they would be printing the series in English. When I began reading I started to realise that the manga was quite different from the anime. The anime for the most part is fairly light hearted and not that violent. The manga on the other hand, while yes the humour is there, it is allot darker and the violence is allot more pronounced.

story

This story tells the story of Vash the Stampede, a man with $$60 billion on his head, and his quest for vengeance. He is followed by two insurance girls (Meryl Strife and Mille Thompson) who try to stop Vash from causing too much property damage.

Vash is also being hunted by the powerful Gung ho guns led in part by the nihilistic Legato. Who will do anything to stop Vash to please their master Knive's (Vash's brother).

Vash is also joined by the unconventional priest Wolfwood. A man who is not who he seems to be.

Review

Like I said earlier. This is quite different to the anime. In fact it seems the anime creators added and extra 4 or 5 episodes onto the beginning since the manga begins considerably later on. Also, where as in the anime Vash has the bounty on his head for more than half of the show, the bounty is removed at the end of chapter 3. The manga also reveals allot of things far earlier in the course of the story (Vash's heritage for example). Some of the character’s backgrounds are also different

Show spoiler

Wolfwood is Chapel of the Gun ho guns not a disciple

.  The pacing of the story is also different but this is to be expected considering the medium.

Okay enough of the differences, down to the review. First let’s start with the art. Now Mr Nightow seems have a lot of talent when it comes to detail and character designs. Some of his pictures seem to me to be similar to Todd Macfarlne’s Spawn, this is not a criticism however since it seems to work for the style of the story. One problem I have is with the action scenes; sometimes it can be very difficult to see exactly what is going on. Now this may be intentional due to the style but it can be very distracting.

As for the plot, it does seem to work quite well. It answers a lot more questions than the anime does. The problem is, that by the end of these two volumes there are even more unanswered questions, which means I can’t wait for the next volume. The story often mixes reality with dreams and memories of the past, which is useful in revealing the past of some of the characters. At this point in the story, the characterisation seems not to be the priority of the writer. Although there is some characterisation, most of the volumes are dedicated to progressing the plot. The odd thing is that in the manga Vash seems to care more about revenge than he did in the anime.

One thing that did strike me was the violence shown in the manga. While some things are hinted at in the anime, they are shown here in very graphic detail. For example you see someone rip their own heart out in quite a lot of detail. Now some people may see this as too much but I believe that is necessary to show the degradation that man is capable of, which is one of the main themes of the story.

All in all I am very much enjoying the manga quite a lot and am really looking forward to the publishing of the translations of maximum. Also if it matters to you, these volumes are good value for the normal price of manga graphic novels you get pretty chunky volumes (both around 300 pages)

If you liked the anime and you’re a manga fan then you’ll like this. I do suggest that you treat this as a separate entity to the anime. As I have said this is quite different from the anime and the difference may annoy some people.

All in all I am going to give this an A

[Reply #70 on:]

I havn't found this mentioned here, but fans of Evangelion might like to check out the AICN news report on the new (live action, so not really anime) film, with some totally kick ass production designs from Weta Workshop (of LOTR fame)...

See here

[Reply #71 on:]

Hmm the designs look pretty cool but what is this crap with Asuka being called Kate Ross and Rei as Ray. Bah stupid americans.

[Reply #72 on:]

  What have they done to my beloved Asuka?   

[Reply #73 on:]

 

Originally posted by wu_konguk:
Hmm the designs look pretty cool but what is this crap with Asuka being called Kate Ross and Rei as Ray. Bah stupid americans.

There's stuff going round /. that Kate Rose is listed in the IMDB as a costume designer at WETA...

[Reply #74 on:]

i would post a review of the ghost in the shell manga, but my head is still spinning.
I've only read the first volume of akira (they are soo expencive!) i've read a few blade of the imortal, thay stustain a pretty good quality throughout. and some other stuff, i dont read that much manag, and i'm... lazy

[Reply #75 on:]

I highly recomend the Akira manga. In many ways it is much better than the movie, your right thought they are expensive (cost me nearly £120 to get the lot)

I'll review Ghost in the Shell 2: Man machine interface as soon as I get the last few issues.

[Reply #76 on:]

In Japan, didn't some boy kill his mom because of Evangelion? I read an article about it.

[Reply #77 on:]

   

Originally posted by sheep555:
I havn't found this mentioned here, but fans of Evangelion might like to check out the AICN news report on the new (live action, so not really anime) film, with some totally kick ass production designs from Weta Workshop (of LOTR fame)...

See here

I've always said this would be a bad idea, now it looks like I'm right. Hopefully, this movie will be stuck in developmental hell for all enternity (like the Sandman and DBZ movies).

edit -- Kate Rose? Susan Whitenail? Rey with black hair? Excuse me, but what in Jesus Tap Dancing Christ is going on here? Are they trying to make Evangelion "more American" or something? (Which is completely against the series, as the angels can be seen as the encroaching American Christianity) I mean, the series is Japanese, so is it hard to keep the characters Japanese?

I will admit that the Eva sketches look alright, although all the cool graphics in the world won't make up for the rushed pace this movie'll have to go through...

double edit -- maybe the names Susan Whitnail and Kate Rose are just the names of the people who posed for said drawings, not the "new" names of Misato and Asuka.

[Reply #78 on:]

Ew, live action movies baised on anime!?

[Reply #79 on:]

It's like the rumors of a live-aciton Akira movie. It would neither be animated or feature Japanese characters, so what makes it anime then? Leave animation to animation, and don't attempt to condense a super-dense anime series into a 2 hour movie...