Anime appreciation thread~!

Let's discuss the wonderful world of japanese animation. Although this is an "appreciation" thread, you can still come in here to voice critical opinions of the shows (if not the viewers!) =)

I'll go first; mostly I love the romantic side of things, both happy and sad. Fruits Basket and Clannad are my current favourites but I have just as many pleasures rooted in the girlier shows. Next, I can't resist certain comedies, although it looks like I've only just begun to adventure here and am most familiar with the ones everyone should know - Azumanga Daioh and FLCL. Less laplace-like, I can be in the mood for horror or introspective, science-fiction-type drama and from here I'd recommend Serial Experiments Lain, Boogiepop Phantom and When Cicadas Cry (which straddles the line between horror and romantic comedy so I love it all the more.) As in music, I stay away from the more action-oriented brands. ;)

I'm only a journeything in the world of anime so if anyone more immersed has any recommendations for me, I'd love to hear them. =)

(I'm sorry if there was a previous anime thread; I tried to search for them but the server simply won't behave.)

I love FLCL (can't you tell?).

While I like some comics, somehow anime is not for me. The contrast between the at times violent plot and the childlike faces is too much for me. Even if there is no violent plot I simply can't get over these faces.

Trouserpress wrote: For me, and I imagine a lot of people, anime is the perfect thing to switch off your brain to. I'm not a big fan of anime which tries too hard to be clever, profound or in any way important. I gave Ergo Proxy a go the other day and was NOT impressed. Yes, it looked pretty, but it just wasn't worth the effort! Give me a couple of robots pointlessly smashing the hell out of each other and some crazy-haired girls with massive guns any day!

Really? I prefer anime that makes me cry. =)

I gave up after the third episodes of Ergo Proxy and of Dennou Coil because they were too self-consciously clever and gimmicky. It's a shame.

laplace wrote: heyitsthatguy wrote: what are people's thoughts on Akira? I've heard good things about it... I saw a short part of it on a Chinese bootleg (you read right, Chinese) so the language was doubly b*****dized to where it made no sense (there was a line like "YOU ARE ANGRY CAR NOW" or along those lines) I liked Akira and I remember that the plot is followable from the action alone other than during a few surreal moments. I certainly prefer it to most live action thrillers. =)

Akira's excellent. It took two views and a wikipedia check to get what happened, but it's great nonetheless. Brilliant animation.

the problem people have with it is that the fans usually put it on a higher pedestal than other forms of art simply because it's anime, rather than just another story telling medium. The bigger problem is that many shows as of late seem to believe this as well and make me want to die
shows that follow this:
Naruto
Yugioh
Inuyasha

shows that are kiiinda like this but hilarious so its forgivable
Pokemon
Dragonball Z


I'd have to say the one I enjoyed thoroughly all the way through was Miyazaki's "Spirited Away". It was hard to follow, but didn't follow all too many cliches and was a trip

BaldFriede wrote: While I like some comics, somehow anime is not for me. The contrast between the at times violent plot and the childlike faces is too much for me. Even if there is no violent plot I simply can't get over these faces.

There is a fair amount of variation in anime character design.


Monster


Akagi


Cowboy Bebop

Anyway, I'm a big anime fan. My favourite shows are, in rough order:

1. Azumanga Daioh
2.�Cowboy�Bebop
3. Death Note
4. Code Geass: The Lelouch Rebellion
5. Monster
6. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
7.�Akagi
8. Elfen Lied
9. Haibane Renmei
10.�GANTZ

Or�something�like�that.

And films:

1. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2. 5 Centimeters Per Second
3. Grave of the Fireflies
4. Howl's Moving Castle
5. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
6.�Perfect�Blue
7. Princess Mononoke
8. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
9. Ghost in the Shell
10. Spirited Away


Edited by Forgotten Son - January 22 2008 at 17:56

I wonder if anyone could recommend a starting point to a total newcomer - or to someone who has become convinced that anime is not for them without actually watching any? All we have so far are lists. ;)

If you like action and samurai, i highly recommend the Rurouni Kenshin OVA's.
If you like action and post-apocalypse, then Akira (preferably the manga).
If you like epic and touching, watch anything by Miyazaki.
If you like touching and mundane, then there are tons of animes about kids crying you can be sad with.
If you like funny and cool, then cowboy bebop is your best bet.
If you like 12 year old ninjas and nunchuks with the power to fry the entire planet, try Naruto.
If you don't like anime at all, get "Ghost world" by Daniel Clowes.

So there are a lot of options for you, Laplace, however.. if you like purple-haired girls getting their orifices stuffed with slimy tentacles from monsters with a thousand arms or flying bat-like monsters shooting laser with their joysticks whilst parting people in two or less pieces before coitus whilst the Nazis are trying to take over the world with help from their giant "death rape machine" then... there's really only "Legend of the overfiend.

Edited by Evans - January 22 2008 at 17:47

I'm only a newcomer to anime - though I'm an avid reader of comics - but I finally got around last week to watching Princess Mononoke, primarily for the Neil Gaiman connection, and would heartily second the recommendation for that; it's simply a wonderful film.  I mean to try some of the other Studio Ghibli stuff like Spirited Away, but could anybody recommend something else in the same style?