newbie - anime movies - where do i begin
Philip Yff
In article <6729bq$k3u$1...@newsd-142.iap.bryant.webtv.net>, Fals...@webtv.net
says...
Before I bore you with a lot of stuff, let me answer your questions:
>I have been noticing that video stores are
>selling more and more Japanese anime
>movies.
>I would like to try one. Is Ghost in the Shell
>a good start - it was on sale for 19 bucks
>or Akira?
I'd buy Ghost in the Shell or Armitage, the Movie before Akira.
Akira is an important work, but it is not representative and I
recommend you start with some more recent stuff.
>Also i noticed that some of these movies
>have warnings in back for parents.
>Is Japanese animation more permissive
>then American?
Yes, in general. But that is also because it targets an older audience
than most North American animation.
Now for a long (perhaps boring) treatise of what you might want to sample.
I would urge you not to make up your mind, one way or another, until you
have had an opportunity to get a feel for the breadth and depth of this
art form.
Science fiction: Bubblegum Crisis
(Don't get turned off by the name)
Ghost in the Shell
Macross Plus
(Try the movie, if you like it, get the series)
Akira
(Very intense maybe not a good introduction but
awesome special effects set a standard for the
industry)
Armitage III (if you want a very recent release)
The movie is a great buy--dub only
If you like it, try the four volume series.
Tenchi Muyo
(if you want comedy with your SF)
If you want to invest in a 13 volume series that
Gets very intense and controversial towards the
end, get Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Romantic comedy: Oh My Goddess!
Kimagure Orange Road
Comedy: Ranma 1/2 (you can't go wrong, this is a perennial favorite)
Slayers
Horror: Vampire Hunter D
Vampire Princess Miyu (Recommended most highly who like their
horror subtle and enchanting)
Action: Gunsmith Cats
Riding Bean
Metal Fighters Miku (for those who like a little lighter fare)
Supernatural: Phantom Quest Corporation
Blue Seed (the 13 volume series has just been completed.
Zenki (recommended for those who want a little ligher fare)
There are of course many more, but these are the ones that just popped to
mind. With the exception of Akira (which I've included because you
mentioned it) all the titles are good introductory ones for the genre.
Most come in subtitled and dubbed formats. Ranma has only a few subtitled
episodes while Kimagure Orange Road, Metal Fighters Miku and Zenki are
only available in subtitled format.
There are strengths and weaknesses to each format. My advice is to
try both until you decide on your preferences. Don't immediately
dismiss the subtitled format. You can get a lot from the quality,
tone, and emotional content of the voice even if you cannot understand
the language. In Japan, where there's lots of animation as well as
radio shows, voice acting is a highly developed art form and is part
of the appeal of the anime genre. If you prefer English voices
all of the above movies that have a dub version are at least credible,
though some are better than others. The Bubblegum Crisis and Vampire
Miyu dubs are probably the dubs that compare least favorably to
the subs.
Mata ato de,
Phil Yff
JL Gomez
Anime from Pioneer Entertainment is very good as well.
I.e., El Hazard, Tenchi Muyo OAV series, etc.
Darth Vader
On 15 Dec 1997 16:12:41 -0800, Philip Yff <yf...@wizard.net> wrote:
>Science fiction: Bubblegum Crisis
> (Don't get turned off by the name)
[..]
>Romantic comedy: Oh My Goddess!
> Kimagure Orange Road
Marmalade Boy too!!!!!! (not too much a comedy)
>[..]
SF: Patlabor 1&2 (awesome graphics comparable to Akira -same director
(Katsushiro Omoto)
Robotech (Macross & Co...)
Comedy/SF : Project A-Ko (I think it's a 6 volume series...)
Fantasy/Martial Arts/SF : Fist of the North Star (my favourite)
Martial Arts/VideoGame :
- Street Fighter 2 The Animated Movie or Victory (but I don't like it
too much)
- Virtua Fighter (here in Italy it's a 17 volumes series)
> Darth Vader
E-Mail : gio...@geocities.com
Web : www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9301
(home of Hokuto No Ken)
Fido : 2:335/388.79
Neil Cumbie
Darth Vader <giofil...@geocities.com> wrote in article
<34981a9c...@news.flashnet.it>...
> On 15 Dec 1997 16:12:41 -0800, Philip Yff <yf...@wizard.net> wrote:
>
> >Science fiction: Bubblegum Crisis
> > (Don't get turned off by the name)
> [..]
> >Romantic comedy: Oh My Goddess!
> > Kimagure Orange Road
>
> Marmalade Boy too!!!!!! (not too much a comedy)
>
> >[..]
>
> SF: Patlabor 1&2 (awesome graphics comparable to Akira -same director
> (Katsushiro Omoto)
Uh, I'm afraid this is not right. Mamoru Oshii was the director of both
Patlabor movies. He also directed Ghost in the Shell.
--
Neil Cumbie
Ghost...@mindspring.com
trakal
Well, I can't speak for others, but from my humble POV:
Tenchi Muyo! in Love
Mermaid Forest
and
Ninja Scroll
aren't half-bad for movies.
For OAV series, I recommend Ranma 1/2 and You're Under Arrest.
I've only recently started on Oh My Goddess <dub title> but
so far it's out of this world!
BTW, a lot of people don't like the Manga video series "Angel Cop".
I admit that some of the artwork isn't up to par, but the storyline,
IMHO, is superb.
Paul Lampshire
Just a few suggestions...
Movies:
[Official Releases]
First Ranma Movie
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
Caglisostro Castle.
[Fansubs]
Char's Counterattack.
OAVS
Ushio & Tora
1st Tenchi Muyo OAVs
Macross Plus
Dragon Half
TV Series
Blue Seed
Evangelion
Tenchi Muyo
Urusei Yatsura
KOR
--
Bad or Missing Auto.Sig: (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore?
Darth Vader
On 1 Jan 1998 06:58:52 GMT, "Neil Cumbie" <ghost...@mindspring.com>
wrote:
>Darth Vader <giofil...@geocities.com> wrote in article
>> >Science fiction: Bubblegum Crisis
>> SF: Patlabor 1&2 (awesome graphics comparable to Akira -same director
>> (Katsushiro Omoto)
>Uh, I'm afraid this is not right. Mamoru Oshii was the director of both
>Patlabor movies. He also directed Ghost in the Shell.
Uh....where the hell did I take that name from? you're right...
>Darth Vader
>(Merry XMas + Happy New Year + Happy Hannuka)
E-Mail : gio...@geocities.com
porko...@usa.net
shitei...@geocities.com
Web : www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9301
(home of Hokuto No Ken)
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/6434
(home of 2nd MB-HNK-CH-Son May site)
ICQ N. : 6486772
Fidonet: 2:335/388.79
Darth Vader
On 4 Jan 1998 23:26:22 GMT, "Paul Lampshire" <gb...@dial.pipex.com>
wrote:
>Just a few suggestions...
>Movies:
>[Official Releases]
>First Ranma Movie
>Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
>Caglisostro Castle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Cagliostro Castle :-)
+ City Hunter (all of it) + Patlabor (all of it)....
Brian E. Angliss
In article <34afd...@204.71.19.13>, trakal <tra...@map.com> wrote:
>
>BTW, a lot of people don't like the Manga video series "Angel Cop".
>I admit that some of the artwork isn't up to par, but the storyline,
>IMHO, is superb.
Some of the artwork? Only some?
In my not currently particularly humble opinion(IMNCPHO), Angel Cop is one
of the worst anime I've seen. It's in what I call my Bottom of the Barrel
anime collection, the ten worst anime I've seen. It isn't the worst,
though. That dubious honor is reserved for Wanna Be's.
Brian
Jeffrey Speer
You are refering to the Y's series, yes? I had questions with that ending
too.
>Aw, I had fun watching the Wanna Be's (though I did have my problems with
the
>ending -- I like happy endings as much as anybody, but what's that girl
doing
>alive and well in the last scene when we just saw her fall twenty stories
to
>her doom?).
Deklane
Many of the suggestions in this thread have been good for newbies, but I have
to wonder about some of them, like the first Ranma 1/2 movie and the second
Urusei Yatsura movie. Both are based on long-running TV series and assume a
great deal of prior familiarity with complex situations and large casts of
characters (not to mention what they turn into). Seeing one of the movies cold
could drive a newbie nuts ("What IS this?!"). Of course...the first Urusei
Yatsura I ever saw was a fan-subbed tape of the first OAV shown at a convention
-- you know, the one that speculates various possible marital combinations of
the characters while positing that human destiny is shaped by human-sized
talking rabbits? Even with the subs, I was hopelessly lost ("How can that woman
be married to something that looks like a gigantic cross between a tiger and a
cow?!"). On the other hand, it did pique my curiosity... The second UY movie
really depends on prior familiarity, too, and has a different feel from the
knockabout comedy of the regular TV series (though I've found episodes of the
TV series that Oshii directed that have some of the same feeling of existential
terror that UY#2 did) -- I'd go so far as to recommend the first movie as a
more representative example of the series, since it really is just a TV episode
with a bigger budget and longer running time. The Tenchi Muyo in Love movie is
another one that depends on familiarity with the characters, from either the
OAV or TV series. I suppose a reasonably bright viewer can pick up a lot of
what's going on as most of these movies unspool, and somebody already
interested in anime is going to make the effort to understand and find out the
background that a more casual viewer wouldn't -- so less than total
understanding may not necessarily be a bad thing. It's just that so many of
these movies are continuity-dependent and assume prior familiarity that
recommendations for a newbie should keep it in mind.
--Dwight Decker
Deklane
>It's in what I call my Bottom of the Barrel
>anime collection, the ten worst anime I've seen. It isn't the worst,
>though. That dubious honor is reserved for Wanna Be's.
Aw, I had fun watching the Wanna Be's (though I did have my problems with the
ending -- I like happy endings as much as anybody, but what's that girl doing
alive and well in the last scene when we just saw her fall twenty stories to
her doom?). I take it you haven't seen the Ultimate Teacher, featuring an epic
conflict between a girl gangleader who gets her strength from her Lucky Pussy
Brand panties (though I think the US version changes that to Lucky Kitty gym
shorts -- it's been a while since I've seen it) and the teacher of the title,
who's part cockroach? Oh no, the Wanna Be's is nowhere close to the bottom of
the barrel -- there's plenty more to be scraped!
--Dwight Decker
Arnold Kim
Brian E. Angliss wrote:
>
> In article <34afd...@204.71.19.13>, trakal <tra...@map.com> wrote:
> >
> >BTW, a lot of people don't like the Manga video series "Angel Cop".
> >I admit that some of the artwork isn't up to par, but the storyline,
> >IMHO, is superb.
>
> Some of the artwork? Only some?
>
> In my not currently particularly humble opinion(IMNCPHO), Angel Cop is one
> anime collection, the ten worst anime I've seen. It isn't the worst,
> though. That dubious honor is reserved for Wanna Be's.
No wonder they're going for 10 bucks a video.
Arnold Kim
thought it must have been horrible
William Geoffrey Miller
Here's my pick of suggested beginner anime by genre:
Drama: Wings of Honneamise, and A Wind Named Amnesia
Cyberpunk: Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Cyber City Oedo
Mecha: Macross Plus, Patlabor, Orguss 02
Comedy: El-Hazard, Tenchi Muyo!, Ranma 1/2
Horror/Thriller: Genocyber, Wicked City, Vampire Hunter D
Gangsta: Riding Bean, Sanctuary, Gunsmith Cats
Martial Arts: StreetFighter II:The Animated Movie, Ninja Scroll
(taken from my soon to be up and running anime web page)
- Jeff Miller