[thechat] Champloo - wuz - RE: cats (was: yummy yummy yummy)

[Luther, Ron]

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.