The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime

[DragonmasterDan]

I don't really watch anime much anymore.  Most of the new stuff just doesn't appeal to me.  I think the detail and animation was better back in the day when they were using cel animation.  Now it's all digital.  I feel the detail can get lost doing it that way.  When I did watch stuff it was usually Streamline pictures stuff if it was dubbed.  Regardless of translation, they brought over some great movies and had good voice actors.  I am big on 3x3 Eyes, Robot Carnival, Fist of the North Star, Akira, Venus Wars, Wicked City, Goglo 13, Doomed Megalopolis, Crying Freeman, Castle of Count Cagliostro, Lensman.  I really love Lensman.  Titan A.E. is a total rip off of Lensman.  Also I am a huge Doc E. Smith fan, so it was nice to watch Lensman back when Streamline brought it out. 

Non streamline stuff I love is Green Legend Ran, Genocyber, Guyver, Baoh, Mermaid Scar, A.D. Police Files, Record of Lodoss War,  Dagger of Kamui, Battle Angel Alita, Otaku No Video, All of the Lupin anime, the Captain Harlock stuff, Crusher Joe, Project A-ko, Gunbuster, 5 Star Stories. 

Did you get started watching the Streamline stuff on TV?

Here in Chicagoland in the early-mid 90s we used to get edited Streamline movies late at night on weekends on local TV. Also random other anime that wasn't Streamline showed up occasionally.

[Digi.k]

oh there was another show I really enjoyed called El Hazard check that out if you can.


I am currently watching Fushigi Yugi (or Fushigi Yuugi,) aka the Mysterious Play while downloading Nadia episodes (although this show is kinda expensive to get hold of now, and runs at 52 episodes).  

It's also one of my favourite shows.. especially if you can stomach lots of melodrama, love triangles and japanese middle-school girls who start of being bested friends who mysteriously  get transported back into ancient china and then end up trying to kill each other... O_o




This main Heroine Miaka with her 7 bishonen Celestial Warriors


and this is the opening theme song of Fushigi Yugi.. anyway I really love this show but then I like stuff like Sailor Moon..

[DragonmasterDan]

oh there was another show I really enjoyed called El Hazard check that out if you can.


I am currently watching Fushigi Yugi (or Fushigi Yuugi,) aka the Mysterious Play while downloading Nadia episodes (although this show is kinda expensive to get hold of now, and runs at 52 episodes). 

It's also one of my favourite shows.. especially if you can stomach lots of melodrama, love triangles and japanese middle-school girls who start of being bested friends who mysteriously  get transported back into ancient china and then end up trying to kill each other... O_o




This main Heroine Miaka with her 7 bishonen Celestial Warriors


and this is the opening theme song of Fushigi Yugi.. anyway I really love this show but then I like stuff like Sailor Moon..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-spe3sv5OKo

I checked YouTube for Nadia episodes and all I am finding is dubs ugh.

[geise]

@DragonmasterDan:  No I didn't watch them on TV.  Around 1989 was when I started buying all the Streamline Stuff on VHS.  Most of the comic shops in the Cleveland area sold them.  We didn't have an awesome local station that showed that stuff.

The Hakkenden was another one I forgot to add.  I need to buy them on DVD.  I still own all the pioneer vhs tapes of these.  Haha I need to get with the times.
The original story by Kyokutei Bakin is amazing!

[DragonmasterDan]

@DragonmasterDan:  No I didn't watch them on TV.  Around 1989 was when I started buying all the Streamline Stuff on VHS.  Most of the comic shops in the Cleveland area sold them.  We didn't have an awesome local station that showed that stuff.

The Hakkenden was another one I forgot to add.  I need to buy them on DVD.  I still own all the pioneer vhs tapes of these.  Haha I need to get with the times.
The original story by Kyokutei Bakin is amazing!

Heh, the local TV station was, outside of running those Streamline movies anything but awesome. They mostly showed old 1960s and 1970s reruns of sitcoms. It was only at midnight on Friday and then later Saturday nights if my memory serves me correctly that they aired censored Streamline movies (really only blocking out boobs and bush) peppered with commercial breaks of literally nothing but phone sex ads. They called it Japanimation, eventually the station switched formats to a Spanish language only station and around 1996 or so we lost the show.

[ParanoiaDragon]

oh I wonder if the op will like these too:

Big O
Elfen Lied
Chobits
Fushigi Yuugi
Darker than Black
Full Metal Alchemist
The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya

I got a lot of anime catching up to do myself..

Back when I was still in college and didn't have to work in the morning I often left the usually terrible programming lineup on Cartoon Network called Adult Swim on as background noise.

While I just stated it's usually terrible, Adult Swim did have a few anime shows running on it I did like. Big O being one of them (it's a ripoff of Batman TAS with a giant robot, I love Batman TAS), I also like FLCL and Lupin the Third a lot. I've also seen Full Metal Alchemist and never got into it. I am unfamiliar with the others you mentioned.

Some people complain about Big O's 2nd season, but, I recall loving it!  I believe the 2nd season was actually made after the 1st recieved alot of positive feedback outside Japan, or something like that.  BTW, still gotta recommend Code Geass.  I'm sure they have the whole series available on either crunchyroll or dubhappy.

[DragonmasterDan]

So I found the whole series of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 rather cheaply, I didn't realize it's not the same as the 80s Bubblegum Crisis I watched when I was younger.

Has anyone seen this before? And any impressions of comments on this version?

[td741]

So I found the whole series of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 rather cheaply, I didn't realize it's not the same as the 80s Bubblegum Crisis I watched when I was younger.

Has anyone seen this before? And any impressions of comments on this version?

I've watched the whole series a while back.  It's sort of a re-imagining of the original. It almost hints as being a sequel as there is something said in an episode that could be interpreted as such...

My vague recollection is that the show gets intriguing and interesting for the first half.  I seem to remember not liking the second half.  The turning-point/plot twist half-way sort of killed the series for me...  YMMV.

Oh, and the music that played a large part of the original series is not present here...

[DragonmasterDan]

Oh, and the music that played a large part of the original series is not present here...

I have a strange campy fondness for the 80s stylle the "BIG CITY I WANNA HURRICANE" from the original series.

[SignOfZeta]

That "new" BGC...it isn't actually bad, but it's as gutless as Tenchi Muyo. I consider it pointless.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I just finished up Magic Knight Rayearth Season 2.  It was ok, got kinda boring at times.  I'm just now starting up Gun X Sword.  So far, liking that alot better!  It's kinda serious, but not.  I'd call it a Western Mecha series.  Kinda reminds me slightly of Big O, which is a good thing, also reminds me a lil of Trigun, which is a REALLY good thing!  I'm only 2 ep's in so far though.

[16bit]

I'll never forget seeing Akira for the first time in the late 80's, that pretty much sold me on the world of anime.

Here's a few that I've enjoyed through the years:

Demon City Shinjuku - Just a great mindless romp in a city full of demons, great action.
Black Magic M66 - This has become one of my favorite works of Masamune Shirow, starring a female android assassin with a license to kill.
Record of Lodoss War - The first series was pretty epic and unforgettable. It's like anime's nod to Dungeons & Dragons.
Berserk - One of the most insanely violent cartoons I've ever seen. Think that's bad? Read the manga...
Blue Gender - Contender for my favorite anime ever. Love the sci-fi feel of a desolate Earth overrun by giant bugs. Bugs you say? Bring out the mechs!
Devilman Lady - Surprisingly underrated, a model turns into the devil lady to fight monsters...and her own madness along the way.
Ergo Proxy - High quality sci-fi anime here.

And here are a few I'm considering buying in the near future...any advice on whether these are decent or not would be great!

Casshern Sins
Blassreiter
Heroic Age
Claymore

[ParanoiaDragon]

Ergo Proxy...I have that one, maybe I'll watch that after Gun x Sword.

[DragonmasterDan]

I picked up the whole series of Blue Seed cheaply, is it any good? I also picked up all the Cowboy Bebop sessions, back in the mid 2000s they frequently served as background noise to late night gaming and net surfing, I've never sat and watched them all the way through.

[sunteam_paul]

I don't know about Blue Seed but you'll not regret Bebop.