[thechat] Anime commentary (was: sharks (was: rationality))

Ben Dyer ben_dyer at imaginuity.com
Wed Jan 8 09:40:26 CST 2003


At 12:24 AM 1/8/2003, you wrote:

>   ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~
>   |No, in fact, among most long-time anime fans, the three Dragonball
>series
>   |(Dragonball, Dragonball Z and Dragonball GT) are considered to be some
>of
>   |the lowest of the low (at least for those who haven't seen the Tekken or
>   |  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~ +  ~
>
>We get a series called "Samurai-X" on TV, the hero is called Batusai (or at
>least it
>sounds like that), is that a good anime series?
>What about power-puff girls and speed-racer are they anime too? (they look
>kinda
>japanese)

Ah yes.  The inaccurately named "Samurai X" (the real name is "Rurouni
Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen", Kenshin was never a samurai) is a prequel (of sorts)
to the excellent TV series Rurouni Kenshin.  Rurouni Kenshin (the TV
series) is set 10 years after the Meiji Revolution, which overthrew the
shogunate in Japan and installed Emperor Meiji (my history here is a bit
rusty, but that's about right).  Kenshin Himura was a Manslayer, one of the
best killers ever with a sword (where he acquired the nickname, "Battousai
the Manslayer") and fought for the now-emperor Meiji.  However, one day, he
just disappeared and became a wanderer, a rurouni (or ronin, I forget which
is the correct term grammatically).  Samurai X backtracks to the Meiji
Revolution and follows Kenshin during revolutionary times.

Whereas Rurouni Kenshin switches back and forth between light-hearted
comedy and dark action, Samurai X is all dark action.  Samurai X is
supposed to be excellent, but I can't honestly vouch for it as I haven't
seen it (I have seen Rurouni Kenshin).

Powerpuff Girls isn't anime but it does have obvious anime influence.

Speed Racer is old-school anime, one of the first I remember
seeing.  Another stupid fact: the Japanese name of Speed Racer was "Mach Go
Go Go" which is a play on words.  The last "Go" is like the English word,
"go" (as in, "Go, Speed Racer, Go!").  The second "Go" is for the main
character, whose name was "Go Mifune" (not "Speed Racer" like in English)
and finally, the first "Go" is the actual word "Go" in Japanese, which
means five, as in "Mach 5", which was the name of the car.  :)

--Ben




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