[thechat] Champloo - wuz - RE: cats (was: yummy yummy yummy)
Luther, Ron
Ron.Luther at hp.com
Mon Dec 5 16:17:49 CST 2005
Iris, the fledgling otaku, chatted about anime:
>>totally loved [samurai champloo].
>>after i'd gotten through cowboy bebop i watched samurai champloo
>>because it's from the same director. i think they're both excellent.
>>i can't decide which one i like more.
Wow! That's a pretty strong recommendation! I've been 'into'
anime for about 2 years now. I found the whole idea of taking
off the Disney gloves and seeing how far the medium could be
pushed intriguing. I bought about 3 dozen discs, then I started
renting through Netflix (before my wife could complain about the
clutter! Or the cost) and I've seen about 115 discs though
Netflix now. But very few would hold a candle to Bebop.
Anime is like anything else, some are really good, some are really
bad, and a whole lot are somewhere in the middle. Starting with the
best can lead to some disappointments. (That's what I did too!)
;-)
>>got anything else you would recommend to a fledgling anime fan?
There are lots of 'top 10' lists out there and more than a few "anime
review" sites where you can get reviews, ratings and a plot synopsis
of just about anything available.
There are some very good single disc movies; 'Millennium Actress',
'Spirited Away', 'Princess Mononoke' are all exceptional. 'Voices of
a Distant Star' and 'Ghost in the Shell' are very good older classics
as well. The "Read Or Die' OVA (and the TV series) were very good.
As far as series go, it would probably depend on what subgenre you
like. I really enjoyed 'Martian Successor Nadesico' - a comedy in
space.
'Crest of the Stars' and the sequels 'Banner of the Stars I' and
'Banner of the Stars II' are fun, (space battle action with some
humor) but kind of slow moving. [A lot like the old Babylon 5
TV series in pacing.]
Maybe 'Tenchi Muyo' or 'Love Hina' for a harem anime comedy without
too much fan service?
'Ai Yori Aoshi' for more of a romance story?
Ah! How about 'Boogiepop Phantom'? A bit strange. A fractionated
story of the supernatural where each episode seems to add to the
same story from a different point of view. Very well done but a
bit demanding. (You really need to pay close attention.) I think
it would definitely pass your 'adult' filter!
>>i've also seen some of 'trigun', which already borders on what
>>i don't like in manga/anime. cowboy bebop and samurai champloo
>>seem more 'adult'.
Yeah. I own 'Trigun'. It's a bit inconsistent. Some of the
episodes are very good. Some of the episodes are pretty bad.
Then the series kind of morphs from "western" to "space utopia"
towards the end. Not bad, but from an artistic perspective, it's
not up there with Cowboy Bebop or Boogiepop Phantom.
>>i also only recently found out what 'adult swim' means.
>>that's a hilarious term.
Public swimming pools in the US used to have a pretty standard policy
where, at the end of every hour, the life guard would blow the whistle
to make all the kids leave the pool. That way the life guards could
take a ten minute break. Only adults were allowed to swim during
the break time because there were no life guards on duty.
Some private swimming pools over here also have a policy of 'reserving'
the pool for 'adults only' during certain hours of the day. Mostly so
folks could swim laps without worrying about running into small fry
diving in off the sides of the pool.
>>>Who just finished watching disc one of 'Gunslinger Girl' at lunch
today.
>is that good? look like bug-eyes girlies again. damn them cute little
noses!
It's okay. I've got a few more discs to watch, but I'm guessing
maybe a 3.9 or so on a 5 point scale. It's a Japanese anime set
in Italy, (odd enough right there). Almost a series version of
the classic anime film 'Kite' - but probably not as, uh, 'harsh'.
A mysterious gov agency takes broken young girls from hospitals,
brainwashes them, turns them into cyborgs, and then trains them
to be assassins. The twist here is that the series is supposed
to focus on the relationship between the girls and their
trainer/handlers rather than on the blood and guts. The first
disc was okay, but I'll want to see the rest before giving it
a 'thumbs up'.
[It's gonna be tough getting away from the 'big round eyes'. There
are a lot of theories (and arguments) about why the Japanese want to
have big round {Western} eyes on their animated characters. Some
point the blame at Disney. Some go past Disney to the "altricial"
element where big round eyes evoke a subconscious 'protect/preserve'
response in most adults. Some place the blame on Japanese cultural
history... There are a LOT of theories and arguments. For most
anime (and pretty much _all_ of the older stuff) you are probably
gonna have to put up with the bug-eyes. <shrug />]
HTH,
RonL.
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