[thechat] Anime Update: Millennium Actress

Ben Dyer bendyer at swbell.net
Wed Sep 10 10:17:35 CDT 2003


An additional quick note on Millennium Actress first: I found out today 
that it's also opening in Chicago and Toronto, so a few more of you 
might also be able to check it out.

On Wednesday, Sep 10, 2003, at 08:16 US/Central, Luther, Ron wrote:
> Thanks also for the prior suggestions ... I'm up to 10 titles now that
> cover about 17 discs.  I just finished the Cowboy Bebop saga - most
> excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed that. However, I think the quality
> 'spoiled' me a bit ... it took a while to get 'into' the Trigun series.
> (I'm about 2/3 of the way through it now and enjoying it quite a
> bit ... I just think I may have been a bit slower to warm up to it
> since I don't think it's quite up to the Bebop level.)

Cowboy Bebop does seem to reset the bar for quality in an anime title.  
I experienced a similar, brief problem with other shows.  Also, a 
number of fans keep comparing Cowboy Bebop and Trigun together (also 
Outlaw Star), but the series aren't really comparable on many levels.

Trigun is an interesting breed.  It seems like you've gotten past the 
point in Trigun where it changes in direction and mood, which is good 
because a lot of people write off the series based on the first few 
episodes of silliness.  It's one of my early shows and just one of 
those series where all the characters just endeared themselves to me.

I'm very much a Milly fan.  The only keychain on my keys is of her. :)

> It took forever (5 weeks for delivery!? No replies to my emails to the
> vendor - even after threatening to dispute the charge? Grrrr.) but I
> finally got my hands on a used copy of Bubblegum Crisis ... so I've got
> that queued up once I finish Trigun.

Jeez.  Who was the vendor?  I'm pretty wary about who I trust selling 
anime stuff online - lots of fly-by-nighters, lots of bootlegs.

> [Oh, thanks for the 'anime music' project also!  I cut a CD and 
> listened
> to it on a flight to Baltimore over the Labor Day holiday ... I've got
> it sitting in my truck now - had to listen to "Ask DNA" on the way in
> this morning. Great tune.  Even better after seeing the video.]

Weeee!  I love hearing about people enjoying the music.  It makes my 
day. :)  Ask DNA is such a terribly fun song, too.  Took me forever to 
find it because it wasn't released on the movie soundtrack, but as a 
separate single.

> I had been thinking that 'Perfect Blue' and 'Boogiepop Phantom' would
> probably be my next forays into anime ... but I think I'm going to have
> to add 'Millennium Actress' to the short list now.

Ah, two excellent choices.  I really enjoyed Boogiepop Phantom, but if 
you plan to get it, get the whole thing at once (some Best Buys still 
have the limited edition box set if you hurry, they're sold out 
everywhere else) and then watch it at a pace of about one DVD per day 
(any more and it's too much to digest).  The greatness of Boogiepop 
Phantom is in the fact that it takes something like 10 individual, 
entirely separate stories and slowly draws them together into an 
overall plot.  Beautifully crafted, even if it's sometimes difficult to 
follow, it's my personal second favorite behind Bebop.

On another Satoshi Kon note, he recently wrapped up his third film, 
Tokyo Godfathers, which also premiered at Big Apple Anime Fest (along 
with Millennium Actress).  No word on a DVD release for this one yet 
(the BAAF release was the *world* premiere! - not even in Japanese 
theaters yet!), but it sounds really promising, too.

> Yeah!  Thats what I needed ... another obscure expensive hobby!  ;-P

That's what I'm here for: proselytizing how I spend my free time. :D  
Like the anime fans say: anime is like crack, just cheaper.

And you're barely scratching the surface of fandom on a lot of this 
stuff.  I'm still waiting for someone to bring up fansubs... :)

--Ben
(Currently downloading episodes 6-10 of ZZ Gundam, got eight more 
episodes of other, more current shows to do after that)

--------------
Radical Bender
http://www.radicalbender.com/



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