Are there any fans of Japanese anime here?

My all time favorite series is Neon Genesis Evangelion, with Monster and Texhnolyze tailing behind.

I still need to read Satoshi Kon's manga. Never got around to it.

Last anime I watched was Higurashi When They Cry. I can't help but get a kick out of over the top violence in horror anime.

Paranoia Agent. I discovered it years ago when I had insomnia while it was airing on Adult Swim. I was cleaning my room at the time, and the episode that was on caused me to stop and focus on it. It's what got me into Satoshi Kon and helped me get into anime.

 

Uh yeah, sorry but I absolutely cannot stand either of those series. In my opinion, a really good music anime to watch is Hibike! Euphonium, which is similar with its "cute girls", but actually has real characters and plot. Another great music anime is Your Lie in April. As far as Sakamichi no Apollon goes, I'm sorry, but I couldn't stand the characters in that series. Cool animation and setting, but the characters really kill it for me.

 

Don't forget Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.

Not to mention that it pretty much guts a lot of the manga's content due to time restraints.

 

Actually haven't seen that one yet, though I've heard of it. Another one I've heard good things about but haven't seen very much of is Nana.

 

I understand and respect that. And yeah, I plan watching Your Lie In April soon. I liked the snippets that I saw a while ago.

 

My all time favorite anime quote
From Steins Gate

 

This one should be mentioned here. Interstella 5555 by Leiji Matsumoto. A film from the early 2000s with music by Daft Punk.
I have both the album Discovery and the film. Love it!

 

Anime is certainly a form that, as I was growing up, was much harder for an American to get comfortable with. Kind of like a newb reluctant to get into Zappa, because from his perspective it seemed to be all poodles and poop jokes.

And, like Zappa, once you "got in", there was no coming back out without immersing yourself, to the point where you can't relate to encountering another newb reluctant to getting into Zappa, because from his perspective it seemed to be all poodles and poop jokes.

My young niece dove deep into it early in her life, and I was probably into my 30's when I asked her (now a college sophomore) how I should approach anime to get the best exposure to its' best characteristics. And true to a fan of a Japanese artform that practically re-doubles in size every other year...she sent me about 33 recommendations, and followed-up with a few more in a note: obviously a daunting challenge for even a 30+-year-old newb who had been barely scratching the surface of manga for a few years. And, obviously an even bigger challenge for her, to just narrow it down to 5 or so, because I sure as heck wasn't going to buy 40 examples of anime just to get the gist of what it was all about!

 

Japanese Animation...Yes. Japanese Anime...No. Japanese Animation is NOT what they are doing today in my opinion. In my opinion Japanese Animation ended when Ninja Scroll came out. I think the last really good animation/story I watched was probably Akira and Harmageddon. Can't get into the ultraviolence of Japanese Anime. Probably the reason I don't care for anything from Ninja Scroll and up when it comes to anime. Give me Akira, Harmageddon, Lupin, Captain Harlock, Gatchaman, Yamato and Macross ANY DAY over anime. Again...just my opinion.

 

Kinda boggles the mind that an industry icon looks at his own field with despair, considering there is always mediocre work at the bottom of any commercial artform - and frequently, it's this lesser material that provides the base for the giants to stand on. For every Looney/Merrie series of quality, there's twice the amount of Silly Symphonies, Harveytoons, Terrytoons, Walter Lanzietoons, Van Buren, um, whatever-they-were's, and more, not nearly worthy of note considering the average human still only lives about 82 years.

But for Miyazaki to take his own artform for granted, knowing he probably wouldn't be where he was at his peak were the Japanese animation story different by just one little chapter (butterfly effect, y'know), makes me even sadder. Sometimes, in a Beatles' climb to the top, there's just gotta be a Tremolos in their way. Or, a lucky rabbit...

 

With respect, that's the opinion of somebody who doesn't investigate much.

I've already mentioned Your Name which features no violence whatsoever. There's all of Ghibli's output which, with the exception of Mononoke Himei and to some extent Porco Rosso, does not feature violence. For instance, Kiki's Delivery Service is the coming of age story of a 13-year old girl.

Your Name which I've mentioned a number of times which is the story of a teenage boy and girl linked via a comet who switch lives every day or so and try to find each other. There's A Silent Voice which is the story of a boy who bullies a deaf girl relentlessly until he understands the repercussions of his cruelty and tries desperately to make amends.

The list is extensive and never-ending. To say anime is synonymous with violence demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of how incredibly diverse it is. The thick irony of your post is the list of anime you gave which feature lots of violence.

 

I like drawings of it, but with the show being borderline-exotic with Japanese voice overs is really weird...

 

If you reread the quote attentively, you'll notice that he bemoans the absence of emotional gravitas in what he considers to be an artform. Anything good takes time and creativity to shape so it's easier to replace it with something flashy and vapid, in this case super-deformed artwork, CGI, and/or exaggerated gore and action sequences. Instead of giving substance, much of the industry provides mere eye candy.

I will state that there's never been more anime, ever. Therefore as much as there is a ton of nonsense out there, there are some beautiful examples as well. And since Miyazaki is such an icon and has had so much influence on so many directors, there are some who are taking a cue from him.

It takes more attention and dedication from an audience to sit through a meaningful slower paced story with substance than it is to have a parade of strange, sexy, violent, or flashy things happen. The same phenomenon has occurred here with Hollywood releases. Gone are the days of releasing The Godfather onto the masses. I'd say a solid 70% of movies are just comic book or CGI kids movies and the rest isn't much better, most of the time. Still, there's never been more of a choice and access to independent or international movies so I wouldn't judge an entire industry based on the loud output of a concentrated section of it.

 

Strange opinion considering there are English dubs for most of them. Still, I don't see what the issue is as it is commonplace for a lot of them to occur in Japanese cities either reminiscent or actually Tokyo.

Grave of the Fireflies develops after the bombing in Hiroshima. What would be so bizarre to have the characters speak in Japanese?

 

I have a question. Trying to put this into words that don't sound "racist" or derogatory. Why is it that the characters have generally large, wide open eyes when the opposite could said to be the more generally accepted norm? I am guessing that it is to show more "emotion" etc. but to me it looks ridiculous and clichéd. Tried to watch a few early examples years ago but quickly tired of how all the characters looked exactly the same, including the wide open eyes, and the "gasps" emanating from said characters whenever something untowards happened. I appreciate things may have moved on massively since then.

 

"Marine Boy" being a perfect example of what I am trying to say. I hated that back in the day.

 

My son says its because they can make the eyes most expressive with a larger palette.

 

I fell in love with Studio Ghibli, watching them with my daughter when she was a child. We both still watch them and more recently Your Name & Silent Voice two films which have taken up Hayao Miyazaki mantle following his retirement from Studio Ghibli. Absolutely essential that you see the subtitled release.

Can't think of any that don't have great wit and charm. If I was single one test of suitability, a love for Ghibli!

Just remembered Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most compelling films about war, my daughter cried and needed counseling.

 

Yeah, Silent Voice is really really good. Honestly, that movie made me cry a little bit.

 

Often the sign of a great film and rarely found in animation.

 

Yes, I agree, that's pretty much what I wrote. Still find it unrealistic, and frankly boring.

 

*cough*Clannad*cough*

 

Haven't seen it.

 

May or not be to your liking based off of preference, as it’s a romance anime with your standard tropes, but the characters themselves really make the series, and the story, while a sort of slow build, is really good imo. Also, the soundtrack is pretty good.