Author Topic: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime  (Read 30710 times)

shawnji

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #615 on: November 01, 2015, 04:39:37 AM »
I honestly don't remember if I've posted in here before, so forgive me if I end up repeating myself in places.  Here's some of my personal favorites:

Trigun - A show that heavily influenced me, and I still collect merchandise for it to this day.  It caused some friends of mine and I to have a very long conversation on the moral issues it brings up, which to me is the mark of something truly great.  I won't go into a lot of detail, as it's a very popular title, but if you haven't seen it I would definitely give it a go.

Master Keaton - This is an excellent, episodic story of a half-Japanese, half-British jack-of-all-trades.  Like another of Naoki Urasawa's works, Monster, it's set heavily in Europe and the writing is some of the best you'll find in the manga or anime world.  Unfortunately, most will never get to see it, as Pioneer released the DVDs in limited quantities, and they're somewhat expensive these days.

Hajime no Ippo (AKA Fighting Spirit) - This is probably the best shonen anime out there, in my opinion.  It's directed by Satoshi Nishimura, of Trigun, with music by Tsuneo Imahori, who also worked on Trigun and provided guitar work for Yoko Kanno on Cowboy Bebop.  It's about a teen who helps his single mother with her fishing boat business, but is shy and gets bullied a lot.  He's rescued one day by a heavyweight fighter who proceeds to tell him that he has less respect for him than he does for the bullies because he wouldn't stick up for himself, which gives him the push he needs to try and better himself through boxing.  The fights are fantastic, and the great thing about it is that you almost never encounter a completely unsympathetic character; meaning you always end up wishing both could win.  It's great stuff.

Boogiepop Phantom - This is an awesome, highly atmospheric, supernatural horror story.  I love to put this one on around Halloween.  The style is very reminiscent of Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei (which I also highly recommend).  I won't say any more, as this is one best experienced for yourself.

Now and Then, Here and There - I forget the Japanese title (maybe something like: Ima, Soku ni Iru Boku), but this is an incredibly harrowing and heartbreaking story of a boy who gets drawn into another world.  If you're familiar with Future Boy Conan, it's almost like someone took that and made it a million times darker and more depressing.  I know that's not a high selling point for all, but it really is an incredible show.  Again, the less known going in, the better.

Planetes - A story about a future where space travel is prevalent and NASA has its own debris collection unit, which turns out to be highly dangerous, yet extremely important work.  It's handled with such care and attention to detail that it even became popular with astronauts on the International Space Station.

Please Save My Earth - This is a hard one to find, as it has been out of print almost since Viz released it at the dawn of the DVD era, along with Video Girl Ai (which really tugged at my heartstrings when I was a teen).  I absolutely love this six episode OVA.  It involves reincarnation, psychic powers, and a bit of a love story thrown in.  It's based on the shojo manga of the same name, which is much more readily available than the DVD.  The whole thing may be on YouTube, though.

Madoka Magica - This was a recent one for me.  I had heard people rant and rave about it, and was like, "What the hell are you people on?  This looks like pandering crap."  Well, when it ended up on Netflix, I decided to give it a chance, and I finally got what the big deal was.  It takes the entire "Magical Girl" genre and flips it on its head.  This is another one where it's better if you just see it for yourself.  I'll just say that it gets suprisingly dark (like most of my favorite anime series are).

ClodBuster

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #616 on: November 01, 2015, 05:13:55 AM »
So if this appears to become a "look what I got to make you jealous" thread, I think I need to post this to stop you guys.



From left to right:

1. SDF Macross Collection (ADV Films 2008). Contains the whole series in its original Japanese format with sub and a whole new dub, about 900 minutes runtime not counting all the bonus content. Got this in 2010 when ADV just went defunct and the pricetags for this set went mental. They still are, if you can find this somewhere, good luck.
2. SDC Southern Cross / Genesis Climber Mospeada Double Collection (ADV Films 2008). Similar story to the Macross collection.
3. SDF Macross Perfect Collection (OVA Films 2001). Contains Do you remember Love? and Macross II. The one and only official and 100% uncut DYRL release outside of Japan. Has German subtitles. Very sought after, though the price went down since when the Blu-ray of DYRL was released in Japan.
4. SDC Orguss - just for the fun of showing all the "Super Dimension" TV series/movies in one picture and for bowing down to Discotek that they finally released this on DVD in 2015.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2015, 05:29:13 AM by ClodBuster »

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SignOfZeta

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #617 on: November 01, 2015, 06:01:10 AM »
Nice!

Don't worry, you won't make me jelous. I have the DYRL BR, as well as two different versions on LD and the TV series.

I should get that Orgus DVD though. I've never owned that series, but I do have the Mospeada LD box.

DragonmasterDan

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #618 on: November 02, 2015, 04:06:39 AM »
I got Hulu Plus fairly recently and have been watching Space Adventure Cobra the series.
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xelement5x

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #619 on: November 02, 2015, 09:14:52 AM »
I just finished Nadia after finally making it over the filler hump.  Solid show, which was well paced and I even enjoyed the ending.  It seems a bit contrived, but I think that's only because I am watching it after seeing so much other stuff that has followed it.
Gredler: spread her legs and push her down to make her more lively<br>***<br>majors: You used to be the great man, this icon we all looked up to and now your just a pico collecting 'tard...oh, how the mighty have fallen...<br>***<br>_joshuaTurbo: Sex, Lies, Rape and Arkhan. A TurboGrafx love story

DragonmasterDan

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #620 on: November 02, 2015, 09:18:52 AM »
I just finished Nadia after finally making it over the filler hump.  Solid show, which was well paced and I even enjoyed the ending.  It seems a bit contrived, but I think that's only because I am watching it after seeing so much other stuff that has followed it.

So much was influenced by it. Whenever I see Team Rocket I immediately think of the Grandis gang.

The fact that it derived from an unused Miyazaki idea became a bit more apparent after I saw Future Boy Conan.
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SignOfZeta

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #621 on: November 02, 2015, 11:07:12 AM »
Yeah, Laputa and Conan make up over half of Nadia. I'd honestly say it was more dirivitive of past works than inspirational to stuff that came after. Most of the stuff that seems based on it could just as easily be inspired by Laputa.

I love the ending to this series, btw.

DragonmasterDan

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #622 on: November 02, 2015, 12:11:12 PM »
I love the ending to this series, btw.

And for any other fans of the series. Don't bother with the Nadia movie. It's terrible!
Let the story end where the series ends it.
--DragonmasterDan

SignOfZeta

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #623 on: November 02, 2015, 02:19:33 PM »
It's true. It's terrible. The art book is worth owning, but not the movie.

Digi.k

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #624 on: November 04, 2015, 02:50:28 AM »
Finally after being recommended by a friend to watch Attack on Titan I got round to finish watching the first season of Attack on Titan in two nights viewing and I would say I was hooked and I found that after watching each episode they always leave a cliff hanger and I just couldn't stop watching.

The main character Eren really does remind me of Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion while his adoptive sister Mikasa evokes vibes of Rei Ayanami and if you are veteran of anime you might find a lot in this series that evokes feelings that you may have felt from other animes. Despite this I do like it.

Give it a go if you haven't already.  The atmosphere, characters, story and settings are decent.  There is also something about this anime that gives me a 90's vibe but technically it's bang up to date.

« Last Edit: November 04, 2015, 02:52:25 AM by Digi.k »

SignOfZeta

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #625 on: November 04, 2015, 04:35:30 AM »
I simply cannot fathom willingly exposing myself to a character that instantly reminds one of Shinji from Eva. I hated that kid from the first second I saw him. Also, giant skinned humans is not a draw for me, personally, and that part is extremely similar to Eva's "robots should be gross and totally unappealing" axiom.

xelement5x

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #626 on: November 04, 2015, 08:19:27 AM »
I personally had a mixed reaction to AoT, I watched the first like 13 episodes or so and then came to the realization they were doing the same cliffhanger shtick on every episode and I knew where the second half was leading up to.  I read a synopsis of the second half online and was not surprised to see I was right. 



I just finished an anime called Golden Time which I thoroughly enjoyed.  It's about some college students and starts out pretty innocuous, and goes through some interesting ups and downs about the friends, their feelings for each other, and how their struggling sometimes to transition from "adults in the eyes of the world" to "actual adults" who understand what the world is going to expect of them. 

There's plenty of comedy and romance, plus the latter half of the series is dominated by a large psychological issue, but it seems to tell two stories at once sometimes, and didn't drop the ball on either for me.  One of the best things though is that at the end everything seems to wrap up decisively.  There is no teaser for a second season put out, it simply tells it's story and finishes which is quite refreshing.  I'd definitely give it a solid 8/10 for the story and the silly but fun characters.
Gredler: spread her legs and push her down to make her more lively<br>***<br>majors: You used to be the great man, this icon we all looked up to and now your just a pico collecting 'tard...oh, how the mighty have fallen...<br>***<br>_joshuaTurbo: Sex, Lies, Rape and Arkhan. A TurboGrafx love story

_joshuaTurbo

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #627 on: December 29, 2015, 08:49:01 AM »
Not sure if it was already mentioned but,

Dead Leaves?-
https://youtu.be/TB87PwTKJyc

So bizarre

ClodBuster

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #628 on: December 30, 2015, 03:01:36 AM »
Haha, Dead Leaves. I think I saw it on DVD some years ago, had a great time with friends who couldn't believe what was happening right in front of their eyes. Recommended.

I just tried to watch Iria on DVD yesterday, but the picture quality of the official German/French release by AnimeVideo was as horrible as a Hongkong VHS bootleg. I can live with a lot, but this was so pathetic, I had to turn it off after five minutes of blurry fuzzy colourbleeding video.

I guess I'll sell it on, maybe to fund the new release from Discotek Media (if I recall right).

I also got Patlabor 1 yesterday on Blu-ray.

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deubeul

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Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime
« Reply #629 on: December 31, 2015, 01:31:10 PM »
Lately I had good times watching first seasons of Kekkai Sen Sen and One Punch Man.