The Giants of Anime are Coming 392
Wired is running a story about the Giants of Anime which discusses numerous things happening on the anime front, including the new Ghost in the Shell movie, and the upcoming Miyazaki release "Howl's Moving Castle". This is something of a background piece for people somewhat unfamiliar, but it also covers a lot of interesting bits that the fans might enjoy as well.
Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:5, Funny)
Mod parent insightful! (Score:3, Funny)
Spirited Away has nothing on Team Rocket.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:5, Funny)
People's mothers, including thier mating, and eating habits will not be mentioned at all.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Informative)
If you like Ninja Scroll you should see Wicked City. Many don't rate it as highly but I found it to be quite original and well, wicked. Both are excellent and quickly wipe the "cartoons are for kids" grins off the uninitiated.
Other favorites of course include Akira and Ghost (though I prefer the manga) and Appleseed but also Golgo 13 and Angel Cop.
Battle Angel was a disappointment, after the wonderful manga.
Like most other cases of book to film adaptations, sometimes the book is better, other times the
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Interesting)
Akira is way overhyped. Spirited Away was long and boring. Even Perfect Blue has lost it's charm for me. But any movie with the song 'Tank' in it is a good movie...
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Insightful)
Akira was a fantasdtic comic but didn't make it on a screen.
I do not know the other you mention but there's ONE anime which actually carried me, it was Hotaru no haka" [imdb.com].
Very few anime were THAT convincing.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Interesting)
Guess that ties into the aforementioned psychological effect.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Informative)
I've seen the opposite effect--utter shock that something as mundane as a "cartoon" could tell that kind of story, and an interest in more of the genre.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't remember "Tank" being in the movie.... just the series.
Fo those who don't know, "Tank" is the song played at the beginning of the TV episodes....awesome, just awesome, and like Farscape, any show that has the balls to be that creative and get away with it deserves my respect.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Funny)
" 'oh, the book was much better than the movie.' yeah but you know what i liked about the movie? no reading" - jim gaffigan
(note that i agree with you, though)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Insightful)
Ghost in the Shell
and
my Neighboor Totoro
and I'm not anywhere near
to make up my damn mind.
Akira. (Score:3, Interesting)
I forgot to add Graveof the fireflies. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Insightful)
A great (second) ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
IF you watch it I dare you not to cry.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:3, Insightful)
Pushing too hard? It's based in a true story. That's hard...
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure, the movie can be amazing and very cinematic, but 1.5-2 hours is not enough time to build a character with the sophistication some anime builds them.
Sure, movies can build very complex ideas and characters (regardless if it's JP or US movie/series) but usually it makes you think "well, that's a character I only seen for the first time an hour ago..." instead of learning about the character from 10-20 episodes, in many different situations and mini-stories.
Ofcourse, this applies to movies vs series regardless of their origin and ofcourse there are also stupid, shallow series and good, complex movies.
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
More like 13 episodes. Most 26 episode series these days break it up into two major story arcs, and manage to give you two good stories in 26 episodes. But there are a lot of 13 episode series lately. And for what it's worth, Cowboy Bebop was like this, only they mixed in the episodes from the Vicious story arc (which I didn't care for) throughout the entire run.
Recent good recent an
You mean most -influential- anime film (Score:4, Funny)
Because- Hey, what are you doing? I'm using this thing!
No! I don't wanna go back there! I WANT TO BE FREE, NOT IN REHAB! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO #@$@&(#$(*@#^# - NO CARRIER
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
Totoro Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2)
You hit the nail on the head about the violence and conflict. It amazes me that this is a kid's movie that doesn't bore them (or any adult that I have met) despite the fact that it has no (a) slapstick humo
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Informative)
It's funny this topic came up today, I just read my Wired magazine last night in bed and really enjoyed the article about the new anime coming out this year. I'm especially excited about Steam Boy.
As someone who's seen most of the major Anime films, I would have to put my vote for story with Lensman, overall narative with Spirited Away, and animation wise I'd go with Final Fantasy (it really is a good movie, though I think they should of made it fantasy based instead of sci-fi based, but oh well).
With
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:5, Informative)
Taking away non-animé animated animations, we come up with:
* A Hayao Miyazaki film.
^ Not a film about giant robots, ninjas, or robot-ninjas fighting each other. Not a film set in a dystopian future or filled with demons.
So, of the top 50, we've got 19 features being animé (and half of the Bottom 10 are animé). Of the top 10, 5 are animé, 4 are by Pixar, and one is Shrek.
What a loaded question. What makes a movie great? (Score:5, Insightful)
Even then you aren't finished. Exactly what do you find entertaining. What does make a story involving. What stuff have you already thought about and don't need to be reminded by a movie?
The one that made me think was "Grave of the fireflies" [imdb.com] a movie you could compare with the western "Empire of the sun" [imdb.com]. Both tell the what happens to kids in times of war. I liked one review that claimed fireflies was the best movie he ever watched and never wanted to watch again.
Of course if you like Akira and Ghost in the shell you might find fireflies very slow moving even boring. Perhaps. Depends for what reason you like the first two.
Another highly regarded movie you don't list is "Angels egg" [imdb.com]. One of the few movies you could watch without knowing any japanese and still be able to "understand" what is going on.
This will probabaly get me modded down but the movies you list are the typical "hollywood approved" anime movies people in the west have heard about. Doesn't mean the movies are bad or any less then their more unknown, in the west, siblings but if you really want to find the greatest anime movie ever you need to do a little bit more watching. Akira may then still be the greatest to you but at least you will have a longer list to show you watched anime other then the ones with a western approved release.
Oh and my favorite movie? I don't really have such a thing. There are far to many great movies I have seen that I like for different reasons. I am afraid that if I pick a single movie that "scores" best in all my catogories that I am falling into the hollywood trap of creating movies to appeal to everyone that end up appealing to no-one. Just saw a docu on Red Dwarf. American movie studie wants to cast Hugh Grant as Lister.
Re:What a loaded question. What makes a movie grea (Score:3, Interesting)
excelent post. but i will hold off on modding it to add to it.
I havent seen this movie listed in anyones posts:
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093207/
Wings of Honneamise. its such a simple movie, with little action, but it was the first anime I had ever seen that had a "normal" plot. It told a story and did it extremely well, held my attention without resorting to giant robots and the like. much like some of the movies you listed.
Just wanted to through that out there... since noone else has.
still, my fa
Re:Greatest Anime Film? (Score:2, Insightful)
just my 2p
Re:Greatest Anime Film: Kenshin OVA (Score:3, Informative)
The TV series is 95 episodes long. The last third of the series has a bi drop off in story quality because the show outran the Kenshin manga that it was based on, so the storyline was no longer based on it.
-MDL
One of the Best things for Anime... (Score:5, Interesting)
I think that they should find more quality shows and expand Adult Swim.
Re:One of the Best things for Anime... (Score:3, Interesting)
The only anime they show (once again, exclusing Cowboy Bebop) is senseless crap like Inuyasha in its cut-down, edited-for-TV format, and Trigun, which, well, let's face it - TriGun is just Dragon Ball Z +1. The animation sucks, the story sucks, the wriring sucks, the voice acting sucks... it's just there to serve as an idol for socially akward 14 year
Re:One of the Best things for Anime... (Score:2)
Re:One of the Best things for Anime... (Score:3, Informative)
There are a few shows I left out that were borrowed from Toonami, and some on that list migrated back to Toonami in the end. However, my point is that many of those do not suck and are not DBZ clones, and are not meant for children.
They us
Re:One of the Best things for Anime... (Score:5, Informative)
Their line-up of 15 minute shows is pretty twisted. The episodes I've seen of Harvey Birdman have been very... wrong... But they're all very hit-or-miss. I guess it's hard to keep up that level of twisted humor consistently across an entire season. I like 'em though.
Re:I must admit... (Score:2)
Re:One of the Best things for Anime... (Score:3, Informative)
Greater influence (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
My litmus test for anime becoming mainstream is when people will talk about a film like Spirited Away or Perfect Blue (that is to say, no fighting robots), and not call it an anime film -- or see it because the story is good, not because it's "anime".
Re:Greater influence (Score:5, Interesting)
For Amine, I really can't see the genre maintaining it's geek cred as it becomes widely accepted and influential (note: I'm reffering to the west here, not Japan where Anime is obviously percieved quite differently). Ask youself: if this was Pokemon specifically, would it be featured on
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
What you haven't taken into account is that there are lots of 'streams' of anime. Things like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Miyazaki (i.e. Spirited Away, Totoro, Mononoke, etc.) have been a lot more mainstream and accessible to North Ame
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
Where's your source for this? Really, how do you know? I've seen it mentioned in trollish articles written by ignorant folks, but I have no reason to believe that it's anything other than an urban lege
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
Miyazaki is a living national treasure. Everyone loves his films, but they are usually considered children's films.. and they are, but not stupid ones.
Using eva as an example is pretty poor, as that drew in _a lot_ of 'fans' of the show, that would not consider themselves anime fans.
Of course, miyazaki also dislikes the state of the anime industry.
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
I, for one, embrace the popularization of anime. It makes more anime easily accessable for less money. Its a lot nicer then having a friend on a military base in japan ship you raw tapes off of tv.
I suppose I can be snobby and say "I remember back in the day.." but I dont wish for those days any longer. Holding a script in your lap while watching an anime is more difficult then it is often worth.
But, yes, just like anything else, 90% of anime is crap.
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
Wait till it is though, the disks will be awesome.
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
All the same the stuff you're talking about represents the worst of the form.
Take a look at things like the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex episodes, or Planetes, or Cowboy Bebop (though I'm not as in love with that as many are), or alternate reality stuff like Last Exile. There's some impressive storytelling and amazing animation.
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
What anime have you actually watched? And by that, I mean something like a few episodes or more, not just 5 minutes before you formed an opinion.
And chill with the tentacles and the schoolgirls.
Again (even though you're probably just trolling), I have to wonder what you're watching - the only stuff I know of with lots of tentacles and schoolgirls is hentai (porno) stuff, which d
Re:Greater influence (Score:2)
Additionally, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was animated in Japan, though it was a show conceived and run by americans. FWIW lots of animation for 'Japanese' anime is now outsourced to Korea.
My Guess (Score:4, Funny)
I'll venture a guess that the top story on the anime front is some guy hovering in the air screaming at another guy hovering in the air - with various colorbursts displayed behind them all the while. They continue this for several minutes, building up to a short, rather anti-climactic fight.
But I could be wrong.
Re:My Guess (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:My Guess (Score:3, Informative)
Obfuscated Anime code (Score:4, Interesting)
Lots of ASCII-art type Anime characters there, except that all of it is source code.
Steamboy (Score:5, Interesting)
[Steamboy] is a new anime by Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira fame), set in England in 1851, around the time of the world exhibition in Londons Crystal Palace.
Visually, the movie is stunning. The characters are expressive and individualistic, the backdrops are beautiful, and, of course, the movie is replete with larger-than-life nineteenth-century steam technology. There is enough dramatic machinery and unlikely "science" in this movie to sate even the most rabid steampunk fetishist.
The story is complex and varied. I'm not going to detail it here - mainly because my Japanese just isn't up to the task of actually understanding all the twist and turns. I lost track about halfway through, to be honest, and Ritsuko too had trouble follwing it, in part because the speech tended to be fast and garbled. Nevertheless, they have managed to create believable characters with at least some depth, while at the same time all the clichés we know and love are well and truly fulfilled. The villain, for example, has an partial facemask and mechanical hand - I guess that adding a white cat and a monocle would have been a little over the top.
Did I like it? Yes, with a few reservations. This is a looong movie - 2h20m to be more precise. A bathroom break before seeing it is advisable. An of course, I can't really judge the story fairly when I don't really understand it - the end seemed to me to be a little artificial (not to mention wildly contrary to any scientific intuition), but as I couldn't follow the character motivations and interactions by that time, I can't be sure I understood it correctly.
Should you see it? If you like anime or steampunk, absolutely! And even if you don't, it has enough of an Indiana Jones kind of feel to it that I think you'll be entertained in any case.
Links to IMDb (Score:5, Informative)
Steamboy [imdb.com]
Howl's Moving Castle [imdb.com]
You'll find links onward to trailers from here...I'd paste the direct links, but I don't want to
Re:Links to IMDb (Score:2)
Re:Links to IMDb (Score:2)
I can't watch Anime, I'm scarred for life... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I can't watch Anime, I'm scarred for life... (Score:5, Funny)
That night the theme was "anime".
Our male waiter, dressed as as a sailor moon character, arrives at the table:
"Hi, I'm Thailor Uranuth and I'll be your waiter thith evening..."
Needless to say eveyone cracked up...
Re:I can't watch Anime, I'm scarred for life... (Score:3, Informative)
(The joke of course, for those who don't know, is that Sailor Uranus is a lesbian. :P)
That's funny... (Score:2)
Re:I can't watch Anime, I'm scarred for life... (Score:2)
Why are geeks so fascinated by anime? (Score:2, Insightful)
So here is my question:
What is so fascinating about anime (as compared to other movie genres) and why do animes have such an geek appeal?
Re:Why are geeks so fascinated by anime? (Score:5, Insightful)
Another reason I like anime is that much of it is not watered down as most hollywood fare is, when someone dies it isn't some quick event that is glossed over; it's messy, it's gory, and it looks painful. I think one of the most unhealthy concepts I have ever seen in mass media is the "looney tunes" treatment of violence. Portraying violence as harmless and fun is much more disturbing to me than seeing more realistic violence with reprecussions attached. I could go on and on, but it would likely fall on deaf ears anyway.
"Howl" in the US (Score:4, Informative)
An acquisition and release date haven't been announced, but are basically formalities. For comparison, it took about a year for Spirited Away to make it from Japanese theaters to US theaters [nausicaa.net].
The film is already scheduled for theatrical release in France early in 2005.
It's also making an appearance at the Venice Film Festival. I don't expect it to win 'Best in Show' like 'Spirited Away' did at the Berlin Film Festival, but it's great to see animation put on equal footing with live-action unlike the Acadamy Awards.
nothing beats (Score:2)
Re:nothing beats (Score:2)
Vampire Hunter D
which led to Akira which led to countless others.
FYI, did anyone else who saw Blood wish that it had been much longer?
Devilman - coming soon? (Score:2)
GITS: Stand Alone Complex (Score:5, Interesting)
If you like anime, or liked the original movie. Go buy this on dvd. Now. Its simply the most remarkable anime I have seen in more then 5 years (and ive been doing this for more then a decade)
At a million-bucks-an-episode budget, this title is visually incredible. Almost movie-quality effects everywhere. The soundtrack is haunting and fits so well, as does all of yoko kanno's work.
The themes of the movie are better fleshed out, and the characters more developed. (and more accurate to the manga, by many accounts)
Oh yeah. The DTS track on the LE dvd blew my mind.
I was shocked to see this anime. Its the best Ive seen since Cowboy Bebop.
Re:GITS: Stand Alone Complex (Score:2)
Sunday Sunday Sunday! (Score:4, Funny)
As allways, we'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!
It has to be said (Score:2, Funny)
^_^
-_-;
>_<
<('_'<)
^('_')^
(>'_')>
What, no mention of Gainax? Etc... (Score:3, Interesting)
Lot of good anime is based on novels too, though they're rarer. I feel that most novel conversions are great (though my Japanese isn't good enough to read novels) but I often feel let down by anime based on an original manga series. Patlabor, Hellsing, Azumanga Daioh and Gunslinger Girl are good examples of manga conversions though. I'm probably picker than average though.
Some examples of anime based on novels: Slayers (TV series a lot more slapstick than novels though), Read or Die, Scrapped Princess, Crest of the Stars (and follow-ons), The Tweleve Kingdoms.
Crest of the Stars is one of my favourite series - battles in a 2D universe, the interesting Abh culture and language (the author made up his own language and character set), and some very interesting characters. In pretty much any western series, if you have a race of genetically engineered people, it pretty much has to be a distaster - not so in CotS. Also, democracy vs royalty - democracy has to be superior... but not in CotS. Pretty fun. Ahh... if they'd only make another series...
The Tweleve Kingdoms is awesome too. Doesn't seem that way at the start, but it has some incredible plots and character development. More!
poor naming choice (Score:2)
Yoshitoshi Abe (Score:4, Interesting)
Abe (and part of the Lain team) went on to make the interesting, but not entirely successful "Niea_7". For this, Abe contributed not only character (and environmental) designs, but the basic story.
Abe then went on to create one of the most beautiful and moving animated series ever -- "Haibane Renmei". Inspired more by the films of Angelopoulos and Kore'eda than other anime, this understated story of young people reincarnated in a bucolic limbo is not only wonderfully animated but remarkably sophisticated theologically (in a fundamentally non-denominational fashion).
Most recently, Abe has teamed up with much of the crew from Lain to make his most visually compelling work yet -- "Texhnolyze". This dark dystopian work adapts the fragmented narrative methodology of John Brunner's greatest sf novels ("Stand on Zanzibar", "Sheep Look Up") in a thoroughly cinematic fashion.
Any discussion of anime giants that doesn't include Abe (and his colleagues) is incomplete.
Anime successful in US theaters (Score:5, Interesting)
But I don't see them in theaters. Spirited Away didn't even make it into as many theaters as Gigli! Live-action anime-like movies get even worse treatment. Granted, Kill Bill was successful, and the comic movies do well. But Shaolin Soccer was a hit in China and Japan, but it can't seem to make it over here. My younger bros wear Naruto t-shirts to school, but I hear that will never be licensed in the US.
What's going on?
"It is the fault of disney" (Score:5, Insightful)
For some reason the idea is in the west that only live action is capable of telling "real" stories. These people just like the author of this article always have to point out the turd fighting super giant robot girls. At the same time neatly forgetting that this kinda stuff appears in hollywood movies as well. Or exactly what is "Attack of the 50 foot woman" about again?
There are other reasons to, so here is my bullet lists of reason why anime isn't being seen in the rest of the world.
But while nudity and sexyness is more accepted in japanese anime, sex itself is far more restricted. Not at all unusual for at least one of the leads to be a virgin.
Simply put the people in manga/anime can behave to different for western tastes. Or at least that is what tv/movie bosses think.
All this may make it difficult to show most manga/anime in the west. Exactly how do you market an extremely popular series like Ranma? At kids? It got nudity. At adults? The main chars don't even kiss. Do you translate typical japanese things to their western equivalent even if that ruins any chance of the joke coming across? Do you explain the joke? Make up your own?
I already see such things when I watch The Muppets on dutch tv. 2 stories for the price of one. The english audio and the dutch subs.
Disney was a business man and story teller who really studied the art of animation. He certainly has tried to create animation that was not just for kids but sadly most people think disney == kids. There fore cartoon == kids.
To bad those people will miss out but it is there loss not mine. Disney isn't to blame. People that dismiss intresting forms of story telling because it takes a certain form are. It is like saying casablance is slapstick because laurel & hardy is black & white.
If you are going to blame anyone blaim the catogorirs. Who on earth would put Shindlers List in a category with Police Academy? Then why is Grave of the fireflies listed in the same category as Pokemon?
outside the mainstream (Score:3, Interesting)
Contrast those works and some of the others mentioned here (like Yoshitoshi Abe's stuff) to what we typically see in the Japanese anime mainstream: giant robot that, magical girlfriend this, harem anime that, 150-episode fighting anime this. Sturgeon's Law applies here.
anyone else amused at how the article calls Production-IG the "Miramax of Anime"? I'm sure they meant that in a nice way...
Re:What's the fun... (Score:3, Informative)
Ah yes, the words of someone who has not actually sat down to watch a good amount of it. Actually watch the movies. Get something directed by Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky. Prince
Re:What's the fun... (Score:2)
"Ah yes, the words of someone who has not actually sat down to watch a good amount of it. Actually watch the movies. Get something directed by Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky. Princess Mononoke. Grave of the Fireflies. Nausicaa. You will understand."
Have. Hated it. Don't understand the attraction at all. Subjected to endless hours of the drivel by several friends of mine who utterly love anime.
I find it chock full of nonsensical plots and bloated with mood-breaking utterly silly/stupid scenes.
Some anime (v
Re:What's the fun... (Score:3, Insightful)
A lot? I'll give it to you that there are a few out there but when you look at the ratio of good anime titles to the entire catalogue and do the same comparison with a comparable movie category, I believe anime wins by a landslide. If nothing else, you have a large volume of enjoyable material.
I think the downside to Anime is the translation factor. I know that when I'm watching even the good fl
Re:What's the fun... (Score:5, Interesting)
I believe that it was the Spawn movie that first used CG in a well stated and obvious manner - and they did some amazing things with that cloak of his, but it still somehow looked "out of place" because of the unrealistically bright shading used in the coloring.
and really, anime isn't about the drawings, it's about the story and the charecters. It's those same basic elements that drive the appeal of the movie, it's just that using animation removes all restrictions on visuals because you can make whatever you want look however you want without having to make any sacrifices in trying to find a location or actor that fits the director's vision - they can simply DRAW exactly what they want to show.
Animation in movies is beginning to become very widespread in the past few years now that computers are capable of producing some very realistic looking renders. you didn't actually thing that was Toby Macguire or a stuntman doing all those amazing acrobatics did you? Even only a few years ago, you could not have readily achieved those effects on a believable level.
Even if you prefer live action, and that's your perrogative if you do, you're still seeing the effects of animation in live action.
You don't understand the power of animation (Score:5, Insightful)
I am not talking giant robots here. I am talking far simpler things. Scene at an airport. Scene at the busiest crossing in tokyo. Scene with a kid.
Ever notice how many of the live action series take place INSIDE? Because it is cheaper to film in a studio then on location. Canadian cities are very popular to shoot series that pretend to be in american cities because it is cheaper to close down a street for a shoot.
You might also notice that many anime involve childeren as the leads. This is a huge problem in live action as there are very strict laws about what you can and cannot make a child do. You might have noticed that series in the west about high school students have actors in their 30's.
Ultimately anime is just another media through wich a story teller can tell their story. There are a lot. Just like you can be told the story of "The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" through a radio-play, a series of books, a series of comics, a tv series, an upcoming movie and even a computer game. All have their own charms and give their own capabilities to the story teller.
I get the idea that you can't imagine those capabilites as you seem to think that only "real" movies are worth it.
Animation comes in with the live action but removes the need to find suitable looking actors and the need to build complex sets or get permission to film in real world location.
Animation gains the power of movie images without the restraint on the imagination of the author. If the author can imagine it then it can be done in animation.
As I said before this isn't just about special effects but about simple things like a war movie involving childeren. Filming in real life locations.
Ultimatly only a snob would dismiss a story telling media. It is the story that matters and how well it is told. If war and peace had been done in a comic would you not have read it? Read Lone wolf and cub sometime
Re:What's the fun... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Watching previews (Score:2)
Here are a few teasers of Howl's Moving Castle [nausicaa.net].
There's a 2-minute trailer floating around from a pay-per-view channel in Japan. It can't be found at the previous link due to 'requests' but with a little digging...
Re:Watching previews (Score:2)
There's definitely one or tow floating around on the bittorrent networks here and there. I saw the GiTS:Innocence preview at Otakon [otakon.com] 2004 in the Production I.G. panel and it looked FANTASTIC.
On their websites. (Score:2)
The rarer stuff does not have a western release and force you to either learn japanese or get the "illegal" version from the net. There are plenty of fan subbed versions of anime series and movies out there. Often with better translations then the official releases. Fansubs ain't afraid to use explanations at the top of the screen when somethin
Re:Flaming Anime (Score:2)
As a person that has been watchng Anime for many many years I can easily say that:
1) Some Anime does suck - especially if we get "all your base" style translations. Or that wacky badly repeated motion animation. Red mouths with no teeth, etc.
2) There are as many reasons to watch Anime as there are anything else - for the most part the same reasons. Writing, artwork, animation, general insanity, very little taboos, etc.
3) Anime, like any other genre or style of
Re:Nice! (Score:2, Funny)
Sincerely,
Japan
Re:Turd firing giant girls? (Score:3, Informative)
Tatakae! Dainippon Teikoku (The Japanese Imperial, Go!) by Shintaro Kago. This story is an alternate history of WWII by one of the artists who appeared in Secret Comics Japan. The Japanese army have perfected a technique that turns human beings into giants, but for some reason they can only enlarge females. Patriot girls dedicate themselves to their great emperor and become giant weapons against the inhuman Allies. The girls are customized for each purpose. Some girls are made into tanks
Listen to the experts, not a slashdot troll (Score:5, Interesting)
If you are going to watch this movie I do recommend that you know this. It is not a feel good movie. The most important mistake you can make is to see it as important wich side the kids are on. It is easy to shrug off their suffering as the result of japans own actions. It is an absolute fact that japan has only the historians to thank for the fact that most of their war crimes are forgotten. They were in no ways less then those commited by the germans/austrians. In my personal opion in fact worse. The germans just gassed childeren. They didn't rape them time and time again in pleasure houses for their soldiers. The germans also have paid billions in damages. The japanese haven't even admitted that raping childeren is bad.
It is al to easy to go into this movie with the feelings that japan deserved to be bombed. It did. But these kids were not part of it. They had no more choice then the kids being raped by japanese soldiers. They are ultimately the victims of things outside their controle.
Just as the movie Tora Tora Tora shows how a series of events leads to the start of the pacific war, a series of events where at any time someone might have stopped it all from happening. Grave of the fireflies shows a series of events where two childeren end up dead. Not because of evil actions but because at several steps no-one took action.
Others are angry that the boy took not better care. This boy is not a movie hero, he is based on the author of the story. His owned sister died of starvation because he would when searching for food would feed himself first. He survived. She died. Just as he might have been able to save his sister in real life if he had been a better human being the movie brother might have made smarter choices. What I do think is missing in the movie is the emphasis that there simply wasn't any food to buy. Rice is not enough.
Ultimatly I think this is a road movie. You know from the beginning how it is going to end. What you watch the movie for is the journey. Do not judge the travellers. If you want to do that you better be 100% sure that you are a better human being then the characters. It is easy to blame someone in this story. That takes the guilt away from us. Because the real guilt is that this story is happening all around us today.
This is not an anti-war movie. That is to simple. It is a "this is what war is really like" movie.
If you have read the reviews and still go "but it is a cartoon" then you are one hell of shallow thing.