Anime Review Thread

[Guest ntraveler2]

[EDIT: Deleted. User has left.]

Edited August 31, 2004 by ntraveler2

[Yui-chan]

Wow. Now, there's a list... Let's see if I can add anything to your extensive reviews.

 

Neon Genesis Evangelion - I've seen probably more of it than you have, though even I haven't seen it all. If you take into account the fact that I have owned the entire series for ... many years, that says a lot. I couldn't make it very far into Eva. It's too painfully-angsty and downright depressing. Now, I don't mind a little bit of drama... heck, I generally love drama and suffering and good, gut-wrenching angst. However, it has to have something else as well, and the portion of Eva that I've seen has nothing else. Well, except maybe giant organo-robots on extension cords. I'm sure there's a reason that Eva's much-loved by the anime masses, but I have yet to discover it...

 

Rurouni Kenshin - What's wrong with the opening track? I really like the Kenshin music as a whole, though to be honest, there are better songs on the OST than that bouncy opening. And... oh, lords of everything... if you're listening to it in English, that would explain a lot. It's only good in Japanese, which I consider to be a general rule of all things anime, writing and dialogue included. Dubbing kills it in more ways than one. >_

 

Full Metal Alchemist - I'm about 2/3 of the way through the current stockpile of episodes, and I really enjoy this one. The characters are so lovable, yet also spiced with some of that good old angst and suffering. I look over Aegon's shoulder every once in a while, so I know that it's still going to be good when I get to the most recent episodes (He's always ahead of me. *sigh*). I'll be surprised if it does go downhill, as thus far, I can't find a single aspect not to like.

 

Naruto - This is another mega-popular one in Japan right now that's just making its appearance here in the US. I've watched about 1/10th of it and 'skimmed' (meaning, watched over Aegon's shoulder) the last 1/10th, and I think it's great. At times, I can't help but start thinking about DragonBall Z when the fight scenes involve large explosions and take five episodes, but to be fair, it's not really a good comparison. Naruto has about 5-gajillion characters that all are worthy of development, and the scripts sprinkle backgrounds, thoughts, weaknesses and strengths for each and every one of them in the midst of ninja-test tournaments and life-threatening battles. The best part, though, is the fact that, despite having a generally heavy and serious plotline, the anime is really good at being funny. Uzumaki Naruto is a cheerful prankster of a kid even in the face of curses, enemies, mortal battles, shocking revelations, deaths, possessions, and the general nastiness of a magic-ninja-riddled world.

 

Fushigi Yuugi (or The Mysterious Play) - I know this is a little old-school by now, but I have to mention the anime that got me into anime in the first place. If you want a little bit of a love story, a lot of adventure, a bevy of fascinating characters and complex relationships between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys', and no small amount of tragedy, this is the anime for you. Every time you think you know where the plot is going, it twists. Every time you think you understand how characters feel about each other, they do a dramatic shift.

 

The story bounces back and forth between ancient China (in which they speak Japanese, apparently. Don't ask me. ) and modern Japan, following a pair of Japanese schoolgirls who get sucked into the past and become part of two different sets of people who are questing to try to resurrect two of the four celestial gods and gain three wishes by doing so. Best friends become enemies. Strangers become best friends. Enemies become allies. Love becomes hate, becomes love, again. ... I love complexity.

 

Full Metal Panic (and Full Metal Panic Fumofuu) - This is a story about a 'special' schoolgirl who's been targetted by terrorists and gets a young man assigned to serruptitiously guard her. Of course, said young man, despite being high-school age, has lived a military life since childhood and has no idea how to be a normal human being. 'Serruptitious' doesn't last very long with him pulling guns on people and blowing up shoe lockers at school. The rest of the story is split between budding feelings between the guardian and the guardee, anti-terrorist missions with the independent military organization he works for, and defending the girl against the people who are after her.

 

Humor is a large part of this anime, but by no means the extent of it, as there is everything from that tense, behind-the-sleeve anime romantic interest to mecha battles to kidnapping and murder and heroic self-sacrifice. Every character is well-established and interesting, and though the pace may start out a bit slow, the plot is mysterious and suspenseful. I really enjoyed this one. Oh, and the OVA (...Fumofuu) is just hilarious! After all the serious plot stuff was done, they added a teddy-bear suit and a lot of blanks to the militaristic main character's arsenal. Who knew a love-addled teen could make such good use of them?!

 

Okay, that'd better be the end of my list. I hope it's been useful and a little bit comprehensible.

 

Yours,

~Yui

[Tamaranis]

Irresponsible Captain Tylor People! No one has heard of this one, but this is where it's at.

 

I mean... In the future a guy named Tylor decides he's going to join the space force and end up put in the pension department, and he'll have a nice cushy carreer ready to go for the rest of his life. Due to his complete disregard for everything, he accidently diffuses a hostage situation he wasn't supposed to be anywhere near on his first day, and is made the captain of a starship. But fate always plays tricks on Tylor and he becomes captain of the Soyokaze, a dumping ground of members of the space force who were too insubordinate or dangerously incompetent to be wanted anywhere else. (This includes Jason of the Friday the thirteenth movies, oddly enough)

 

Hijinks ensue, the crew of the Soyokaze face such threats as superior Raalgon forces, robot assassins, genetically engineered diseases, vengeful space-ghosts, and a beauty contest. The golden rule keeps seeming to apply, and Tylor ends up a legendary hero.

 

It's not serious, at all. But it's hilarious. And the "final battle," which takes place several episodes from the end, is the best final battle of any anime. Ever.

[Vigil StarGazer]

Serial Experiment Lain

Not only it's origional, it's very deep and refreshing. For a while I thought the series will spiral to a super hero type girl guarding the world of web space from the evils of "Order of Eastern Calcalus" but no... it goes much deeper and complex then that... right into existancialism. IT's even a bit of self sacrifice in the end... sacrificing her existance by erasing herself from everyone's memory. I feel Lain's lonliness from her understand and knowledge she gained in the internet, even if she's schophrenic at time. In short... I luv you Lain =)

 

Neo-genisis Evangelion

Another series that touches a bit on existanclism, especially the struggle of the main character shinou as he trid to find the purpose besides being his father's pawn in driving a giant robot. The origional ending was a bit abrupt but it could be considered as an ending consider in the end everyone appauled him for his self-discovery. Perhapse what's 'good' about the series is the shock effect as most high tech machinery, including the eva units and the central processing unit for the station is actually made out of...

 

Gundam SeeD

Sure everyone says that all Gundam SeeD is the same story and it might as well be. However I still think Gumdam SeeD is a pretty good anime. Okay the plot developement is slow and sucks. The main character seems so fragile and weak in the beginning, and there's too many useless epsoides and somethings are just unnecessary. Still as a whole it's good... The art is nifty and there are many fresh concepts in this anime like different theme songs throughout the series and the fact that the gundams are not really ultimate weapons power ups.

 

Hikaru No Go

This anime is not for those who liked hack and slash, but for those who love character developement and intellectual thinking then Hikaru No Go is an anime for you. The characters in the series is as rich and intellectual as the Game itself. Sai is also very comical and even lovable, but i'm sorta disappointed by the ending because Hikaru never really fulfilled his destiny yet. Sure he's a powerful Go player by his own right but he hasn't claimed any titles yet not did he battle Akari's father in Go again...

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Since I read manga and watch anime along and I did watch a couple.

 

Serial Experimentation Lain

This one is extremely incredible. While at the beginning it is extremely easy to be lost, but at the end of the serie, everything makes sense and this is where lies the genius of this serie.

 

Ruruni Kenshin

I read the whole manga, which is not constant. The Kyoto Arc is indeed the best part of the whole serie and the historical reference are extremely interesting. The artist loves this time period and it shows. However, I strongly suggest to see the OAV which is excellent.

 

Cowboy Beebop

This is a jazzy, sexy, fun space cowboy anime. The music is great, the character are awesome as they are different. Everything is fun and it is pretty original story wise.

 

Trigun

While the beginning of this serie is more of an introduction to the character, when the plot thickens, it does at a point you can cut it with a knife. The fight are amazing and it features the coolest priest I've ever saw.

 

Ninja Scroll

This is not for the faint at heart. It's a brutal, face paced violent movie. There's amazing fight scenes in it (the most memorable one is when the hero fight an amazing blind swordman). It features a very unusual cast of characters which includes a bisexual main badguy. There's also a very solid scenario backing up this 1994 classic.

 

There's more series and film that I want to see thought.

[Finnius]

S-Cry-Ed- Slick, cool, superheroesque action with surprisingly deep characterisation. Just don't expect the manga to be anything like the anime. Completely different. Both of them good, though.

 

Noir- Very deep, very slow-paced, very goooood. If you don't mind sitting still and paying attention, and you can get into a good spyish cat and mouse kind of series, this is excellent.

 

Samurai Deeper Kyo- Guilty pleasure series. Lots of humor, action, drama, and more flat-out badassness than should be possible in one series. Some of the best anime outakes ever.

 

Last Exile- With only two DVDs out, I can't express how good this is. Most of the voice acting is quite good, with only a few horrible exceptions. Excellent pacing, and an engrossing story.

[The Portrait of Zool]

I adored Akira.

[Lady Celes Crusader]

About Akira: The movie was one hell of a ride but the manga (it's a huge serie of book) will let you understand what is going on because the movie crammed in a couple of hours lots of mangas.

 

Other manga suggestions:

 

Monster: The action is happening in Germany. On one night, Dr. Tenma, who is the hospital top surgeon, had the choice of either operating a young boy, who had been shot in the head but is still alive or the town's mayor who's having a cardiac crisis but who arrives later. Tenma choose the kid and his destiny will change forever...

 

This manga is a grippling suspense which reminds me of the 1940's novels but with a sickier twist. If you like both police novels and Alfred Hitchkock, this one is definatly for you.

 

Gunnm: Excellent sci-fi that follows the story of a female Android who's looking for not only her identity but also for the secrets of the society she lives in and what she unfolds will disturb her whole world.

 

Also available in Anime, although I havent watched it, this is Sci-Fi like we're not that use to see but it is solidly well done.

 

Ayashi No Ceres: On their 16th birthday, Aki and Aya, twins brother and sister learns a horrible truth about the Mikage family: their very ancestor stole a fairy feathered gown that allows her to go back in heaven in order to marry her. However, the fairy is living through some of the females of the family and vows to destroy the Mikage clan while looking for her gown. Since generations, every 16 years old women who are possessed by the feary is slained. Aya is possessed by the faery and she must leave her beloved brother and family in order to survive the grim doom her own clan destined her.

 

Yuu Watase makes a very romantic and action packed manga. The story is intriguing although I must admit that the romance is a tad soapy. But if you dig the romance, you'll dig this one.

[Zariah]

[/b]I'm new with Animae, really. I became interested in the style of the animator who created Spirited Away. I saw Spirited Away and loved it, so I watched Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro.

 

Each are different in their own ways, but not only did I appreciate the animation style and characters, but the fact that he was interested in appreciation of nature and nature's Spirit(s). For Castle in the Sky, it was the robots that cared for the tree and wildlife. For My Neighbor Totoro, it was the totoros who brought forth the forest. As well as in Princess Mononoke, the Wolves, Boars, and spirit creatures...sorry I don’t remember the name for them, and of course the Great Night Walker, who gave and took away life. For Spirited Away, it was about all kinds of Spirits....but I was appreciative of the River Spirit....not only b/c the main character's friend was a river spirit, but also b/c the girl saved the river spirit from pollution. It really made me realize that the Asian culture appreciates nature and tries to preserve the Earth from mistreatment.

 

Anyway, I may not have any of the names right or anything.....but I love plots with deep meaning.

 

Also, when watching Metropolis, I could see how dependant our society is on electronics and 'making life easier' and can see how humanity could destroy itself....it was really a thought provoker.

[Guest Oujisama]

Eee, anime. I've watched some new stuff recently, so I'll contribute. =3

 

Cowboy Bebop

 

I like the style, definitely. I like how the storytelling and characters seem so alive, and it just kinda pulls you in with its charm. Very enjoyable overall, even though some of the philosophy irks me.

 

Vandread

 

Guhr, this was a GREAT idea, although it wasn't pulled off as well as I would've liked. I mean, while enjoyable and cute, it just goes...randomly evangelion-ish. Which doesn't really fit the theme of the show all that much, or at least as far as I can tell. It's based in the future, and men and women have their own seperate planets, and regard each other as enemies. It becomes a boy meets girl kinda thing almost.

 

Samurai X (Kenshin OAV's)

 

These were really spiffah. Very entertaining, and like Cowboy Bebop, really attractive with style and presentation. It was kind of a shock at first with all the violence, cuz I'm used to seeing Kenshin being all happy and positive...but this was all dark, and gloomy. There's good reason of course though, so...yeah =3. Really good though in my opinion. Worth seeing, and owning.

 

Revolutionary Girl Utena

 

This series was really important to me, and connected to me on many levels. Not so much for the content itself, but what it reminded me of in my life, and some of the things I've always wanted to be. It's really charming, fairly deep, and loaaaaaded with symbolism. It's definitely one of my favorite series.

 

Trigun

 

First of all, does anyone know why it's named Trigun? My friends and I came up with the theory that it's about the relationship between Vash, Knives, and Rem. But anywho, this series is just really good overall. I watched it, and it left with a really wholesome, feel-good-about-myself kinda...feeling. Yeah =3. I want to get some manga...@_@

 

Serial Experiments Lain

 

Gwooooooh...very heavy indeed. It's been mentioned enough in this thread, so I won't even bother to explain shtuff. I really liked it though, the mood and all that is really cool.

 

Fruits Basket

 

This made me feel really, really happy. It's really cute, teaches stuff about love and forgiveness, and goes from being delightfully simple to surprisingly deep. It's just a really cute series. Tohru's eyes...so...large. @_@

 

Neon Genesis Evangelion

 

I pretty much liked the art and presentation, but I didn't much like it after that. It was pretty enertaining I suppose, but I don't really like the message it's sending. I did really like the ending to the series though, or at least what I interpreted it to mean. =3

 

Pokemon

 

Mmm, many people don't like pokemon, but I really do...the TV show is really funny when Team Rocket shows up, and games are really fun to play...

 

Furi Kuri

 

I luuuuuuurved this. The mood, the music, the overall feel just speaks to meh! I just got a really good vibe from Furi Kuri, and can't wait until I have enough money to purchase it on DVD. @_@

 

Excel Saga

 

So funny! Excel is always good for a laugh...such an OUT THERE series, a great parody of all the anime cliche's. =3

 

Magic Knight Rayearth

 

Very cute, happy, and just cheesy-love-lessons. That's cool though, curze I like cheesy-love-lessons =3. Just made me feel really positive afterward.

 

 

 

...Hrmm...I think that's about it. @_@ All I can think of anyways.

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Whay Trigun is named that way? I think it's because of Vash's three guns: his regular gun, his arm gun and the angelic gun.

 

I'd like to mention about two more movies:

 

Princess Mononoke: A strange illness is attacking Gods that are shapen into large size animals. A young boy who contracted the illness by fighting one of them leaves his village and tryies to find out what is the cause of this plague. This is an excellent and captivating anime that criticizes the world's actual take on ecology but in an subtle and intelligent way.

 

Graves of Fireflies: In Japan, during World War II, two children lost their parents during the American's attacks. Hosted by a cold-hearted aunt for a moment and then thrown out, the older brother try to survive while taking care of his little sister on his own. This is a huge "Kleenex alert" as this is a very harsh story about a reality seen in Japan at that time. It is a must see but keep that tissue box nearby.

[Tamaranis]

The thing I found about Hellsing is this anime is where they finally realized when you're completely invulnerable to small arms fire, you don't need to try and avoid bullets and act like it's not the case.

[Madoka]

Kimagure Orange Road

 

My favorite series!

 

The adventures of Kosuga Kyosuke, a teenager blessed with psychic powers but cursed with clumsiness. The entire series revolves around his love for his classmate Ayukawa Madoka, who loves him in return, but is afraid to say it because her best friend, Hikaru, is madly in love with Kyosuke.

 

On a personal note: I grew up watching this anime, and Madoka is my favorite character. This is where my namesake is from!

 

Appleseed

 

By Masamune Shirow, this is a manga, adopted into a movie in 1988. He just released a re-make on April 17 for theatres in Japan, and reviews are good.

 

After a nuclear holocaust, the world government builds a utopian metropolis called Olympus, where humans and bioroids (advanced genetic humans) co-exist. However, there are terrorist groups who want to destroy the fabric of society, and in comes Deunan Knute, the famous female ESWAT police officer who hunts down the terrorists with the help of her cyborg partner Briareos.

 

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and

Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GiG

 

1st and 2nd season also by Masamune Shirow. In the original movie adaptation, Major Kusanagi dies or is dis-embodied. In this parallel storyline, what if the Major survives? The series deals with the exploits of the Major and her unit as they solve crimes commited by cyber terrorists.

 

Great plots, stories, and action!

 

Ghost in the Shell: Age of Innocence

 

Movie released in 2004 for theatres, this is the sequal to the original Ghost in the Shell movie. The story focuses on the Major's second in command as he struggles to solve the mystery of robot servants all of a sudden committing crimes they are literally incapable of. Are they being hacked? Are they being controlled by ghosts? Or are they becoming sentient?

 

This movie is heavy on plot and intrigue; not so much on action. There's a lot of political intrigue and technical storyline; I still have trouble following the story, and I'm Japanese!

Edited April 18, 2004 by Madoka

[Lewis and Simon]

Paranoia Agent I can't give a real genre on it, nor can I give it a complete review. All I can say is that it's very different from the general kind of anime released these days. It is a very adult anime, consisting of themes I would not consider suitable to the untwisted young minds of tomorrow (themes include rape, prostitution, and pedophilia). But it is unique, and it's very interesting.

[Rune]

SELain was my first anime and remains at large one of my favorites. While I'm not a review writer, I can say that I liked it and at the end.. I understood it. Ask me to explain it though, and you’re asking for too much. ^^;

[Falcon2001]

So I've been watching Cowboy Bebop again, and I am again totally impressed with quite a few things about the show. I figured I'd present a case to everyone - this should be the first anime you show people that don't know or don't like anime.

 

First off, the setting is very impressive and fairly easily accessible. Nobody in the anime is an odd blood-sucking alien, a succubus, or any other of the popular and odd anime archetypes that can be rather shocking if you're not used to the idea. Granted, there are some animes that still shock me to this very day, so Cowboy Bebop's straight human population is pretty nice, especially to the new guys.

 

The feeling that the show gives you is something along the lines of Star Trek meets Dick Tracy - especially the music. From the opening theme to the in-show music, it fits extremely well with the noir theme. For those of you who haven't heard any of it, look around for the main theme online or something (It's called Tank) as it's quite impressive. There's a glorious saxophone solo in there that just sends chills up my spine, and the whole musical genre swings between blues and folk and jazz and bebop, all while working incredibly well with the anime.

 

Unlike traditional animes, the main storyline of bebop surfaces very rarely, once in every few episodes except for four of them - Jupiter Jazz I+II and The Real Folk Blues I+II, the 12th, 13th, 25th, and 26nd episodes of the series. In the meantime the series follows the adventures of Spike Spiegel and Jet Black along with Faye, Ed, and Ein, the data dog. In very few animes do you find it possible to associate with the characters like you do in Bebop - It's very easy to see how human each of the characters are. There are no superhuman feats aside from Spike's martial arts, and even he's not jumping thousands of feet in the air or punching through solid walls. Somehow the more personal approach to their lives allows you to really start appreciating and connecting to them, to the point where I've cried during some of the more serious parts of this series. The storyline isn't anything new, but it feels just right, not stale or overused.

 

The voice acting for the english version is, as I've said before, absolutely amazing. Another turn-off for newer anime watchers is that they don't want to read their way through movies - which I understand. I'm generally a fan of dubbing unless it's horrid or if the japanese voices sound better...but in this case, the voices almost consistently sound better in english. Jet and Spike in particular are much, MUCH more realistic feeling than the japanese. The script doesn't sound cheesy even though there's enough one liners to kill a bad comedian in here, as all of the characters seem completely natural saying them.

 

The main villain, Vicious, is also one of those incredibly badass anime villains that everyone loves to cheer on. His ties with Spike and a mysterious girl named Julia drive the main story along, and at times it seems hopelessly sad and fatalistic.

 

All in all, if you're a fan of anime you shouldn't miss out on the opportunity to pick this anime up, or at least to watch a few episodes to convince yourself to. If you have friends that refuse to watch anime, I'd say this would be the perfect opportunity to show them how good anime can be.

[Lewis and Simon]

I will and always shall recommend the Crest of the Stars Trilogy. It's slow, it's got almost NO action, no seriously dark and troubling themes, and it isn't very funny. But. It has an wonderful, romantic story set in an intricate, war-torn (sci-fi) environment. This 39 episode series is one of my all-time favorites.

 

Hoshi no Koe/Voices of a Distant Star No one's said it yet, so I have to. I should've said it the first time I posted here. It's one episode, half an hour long. It was made almost entirely by one person. And it is incredible. Themes include romance/mecha/sci-fi/drama.

Edited September 27, 2004 by Lewis and Simon

[Appy]

Watched Twilight of the Darkmaster yesterday.

 

I thought I knew what to expect when they mentioned Demons on the cover but they actually handled that quite differently. The movie is so dark that you won't see much demon action... the only things you see are silhouttes and some close up teeth shots.

There ofcourse is the almost obvious nudity and squirting blood, but for a change these aren't the main ingredients

 

The story was both impressive and interesting. Plus they did a pretty good job with compressing the story into 90 or so minutes. Some anime-movies tend to skip a lot I think, but this one didn't... it's all there, all you need to know.

Won't go into any detail because of spoilers, but it's your basic fight over mankind, protect or destroy story. From the side of the big guys. Which is why I thought it interesting.

 

The end, however, was abrupt and - of course - strange. A bit of a pity, but when you think about it some more, appropriate and logical. Ofcourse there wouldn't be an epic battle in the end.. we - the people living here - would have noticed

 

Recommended to all those who're somewhat used to anime's graphical nature and philosophical story-telling.