Anime (JAPANESE ANIMATION)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by MacGyver, Mar 6, 2009.

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  1. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    Great recommendations! :thumbsup:

    Grave of the Fireflies especially should appeal to about anyone.
     
  2. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    It's nice to see some anime discussion going on here. I'm a big fan of anime, turned onto it in my youth by the U.S. incarnations of Space Battle Cruiser Yamato and Gatchaman (i.e., Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets).

    I love all of the Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films, and am EXTREMELY fond of Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku. If you've never seen Maison Ikkoku, you need to treat yourself to some Netflix action and check the series out. While the English dub by Viz is marginal, it is still a joy to watch - especially if you're interested in a change of pace from balls-out manic anime offerings. Maison Ikkoku does have some manic moments, but it's a quieter, gentler romantic comedy series the likes of which I have yet to see in any other anime series that I've watched. The DVDs are hybrid, and also offer original Japanese with English subtitles (my preference most of the time).

    For the record, and as a gauge, my other anime likes are:

    - Cowboy Bebop
    - Macross
    - Angelic Layer
    - Inuyasha
    - Haibane Renmai
    - Noir
    - Master Keaton
    - Fullmetal Alchemist

    ...and the list goes on and on.
     
  3. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014

    Nice try, and I hate to break it to you, but Old Men have liked young girls in school girl outfits for decades in ALL cultures, not just the Japanese. I smell a bit of Romantization of Japanese Culture here, as justification for their love of school girl sexuality. Just pointing this out, not anti-Amine or anything... :angel:
     
  4. Curiosity

    Curiosity Just A Boy

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I intend to get it - the R2 is out of stock at amazon.co.uk
     
  5. Curiosity

    Curiosity Just A Boy

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    The anime adaptation of Fruits Basket grows on you although sadly it only goes to episode 8 of the the manga and is available in a R1 and R2/4 boxset. There are some powerful messages in it.
     
  6. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    I really enjoyed Fruits Basket. Not as silly as it may seem at first. It grows on you. It's been three or four years that I have watched the series and I still remember it fondly.
     
  7. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
  8. phish

    phish Jack Your Body

    Location:
    Biloxi, MS, USA
  9. Curiosity

    Curiosity Just A Boy

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    If you like a story around the paranormal, Ghost Hunters available in R1 and R2, comes strongly recommended as it has a lot of suspense, plot turns, exorcisms and genuinely scary moments. The UK rating is 15 would most likely be US 13+
     
  10. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Mystifying
    Bordering on soft juvenile porn
    Not the greatest artform devised by man
    That would be Matt in the Daily Telegraph........
     
  11. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    I loved japanese animation growing up,Battle Of The Planets,Star Blazers,Force Five,Robotech,Those series had so much imagination to them back then.The Comet Empire was thought up even before the Death Star. I used to hunt down any collectables I could find.There was this store Mr.Big Toyland on Moody St. in Waltham Mass,we used to buy the plastic model kits.We had building these things down to a science spending hours upon hours on them and airbrush painting and superdetailing everything meticulously.Oh God now you have the world at your fingertips with the internet.I still have the yamato andromeda and a star destroyer down in my basement.But those cartoons were so much fun to watch as kids.I remember we had such bad reception on the channels they were on,I got to rent some dvds. one of these days
     
  12. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
  13. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    To me it is mostly dreck. It is way too formulaic, and uniformly stylized to a prescribed standard, too be truly original. Some of it is fun, but I overall I consider it one of the worst influences in popular culture, illustration, and animation.
     
  14. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Why do the Japanese always make their cartoon characters with those big goofy doe eyes?
     
  15. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    Not always.
     
  16. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    It must be something you had to grow up with to get into. It doesn't move me at all, what I have seen of it. Glorified cartoons. I'd rather watch Looney Tunes, that's my era.
     
  17. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Everytime I see that Japanese cartoon stuff, it's always about 5 frames of animation a minute. Seems like a lazy way to make cartoons to me.
     
  18. MacGyver

    MacGyver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    IRRIGON, OR. U.S.

    because it's cute, and the japanese are enamored by cuteness. americans have traditionally been too hard-edged to be able to relate, and that is what makes the unbeliveable U.S. popularity of Anime during the last decade so amazing. i was there, back in the early/mid ninties, when Anime in the U.S. was still very much a niche commodity. i was also there to witness the sudden, seemingly overnight mainstream popularity of the medium during the late ninties/early thousands. it was nothing short of a miracle. apparently there must've been quite a generational change during those years...
     
  19. MacGyver

    MacGyver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    IRRIGON, OR. U.S.
    also, perhaps it is due to the hard-edged societal standards that the japanese people lived under for centuries that formed the current Anime and Manga based culture of cute, with it's human female characters that have large, expressive eyes, and convey a childlike sense of innocence, that permeates the fabric of japanese pop-culture. read JAMES CAVELL's "SHOGUN" to get an idea of what i'm talking about...
     
  20. Curiosity

    Curiosity Just A Boy

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    From the way I see it in the West of animation all forms has been judged very much on the traditional market - Children and the syndicated cartoon strips in the popular press - rather than a medium for older teens and adults.
    The idea of animated cartoons as a medium for the expression of complex thoughts has scarcely been scratched.
    The appreciation of Cute is beginning to catch in the West
     
  21. Matthew B.

    Matthew B. Scream Quietly

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    They don't. See below for stills from Studio Ghibli's My Neighbours the Yamadas and last year's Oscar-winning House of Blocks, both excellent. The many artists who do use huge eyes are copying Tezuka Osamu, the creator of Astro Boy, who in turn was influenced by Disney.

    God knows there's plenty of anime I can't stand, but it's crazy to dismiss the genre outright. Ghibli's Miyazaki Hayao and Takahata Isao have done lots of brilliant work. I love Porco Rosso, despite the rushed ending; it's like a fantasy film from Howard Hawks. Oshii Mamoru is also quite talented, though I tend to prefer his side projects such as Avalon (live action) and Jin-Roh to more famous films such as Ghost in the Shell. And Kon Satoshi has done impressive work too (Paprika, etc.).

    It's worth watching Anno Hideaki's stuff as well. I'm not sure that I actually like it, but Neon Genesis Evangelion is still pretty amazing — it gradually transformed itself from completely formulaic entertainment for young boys into one of the most avant garde series ever to appear on commercial television.
     

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  22. Curiosity

    Curiosity Just A Boy

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Saying all Anime is lazy is no more accurate than suggesting all Hollywood is and for same reason. Prejudice.
     
  23. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    That's probably true, but I've seen a lot of the kiddie cartoons on TV and they use so little actual animation, it's laughable. I'm talking Filmation Studios level of cheapness.
     
  24. Matthew B.

    Matthew B. Scream Quietly

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Well, that's true of kiddie cartoons everywhere. Things are a lot cheaper that way. Guys such as Kon Satoshi have actually tried to make the slow frame rate work in their favour, with a stripped-down, minimalist style. Take a look at Perfect Blue for an example of this. It's not a great film, but it's a good one; kind of an anime version of a De Palma thriller.
     
  25. DetroitDoomsayer

    DetroitDoomsayer Forum Middle Child

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Perfect Blue is one of my favorites. Also try Grave of the Fireflies for great animation and a truly heart-wrenching story.
     
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