Anime Discussion

[rustyjaw]

I recently saw Ghost in the Shell for the first time and was surprised to see that it is from the same Manga writer as Appleseed. I really enjoyed GITS, I'm now looking at getting GITS2 and probably Appleseed as well...anyone care to compare GITS to Appleseed.

[Romier S]

I'm now looking at getting GITS2

 

Make sure you keep an eye on the spine of the DVD when you pick up GITS2 Ed. The first batch was released with problematic subtitles (they displayed all over the screen and acted like closed captioning instead of simply subtitles). The DVD was reissued with correct subtitles and the rereleased DVD has "V4" on the spine. The current spine says nothing on it.

 

Aside from that I highly recommend Innocence. It can get extremely wierd but it has some gorgeous animation, an excellent story and some unexpected suprises for those that enjoyed the first movie.

[Mark E]

I've been quite enjoying the TV series based on GitS, Stand Alone-Complex as well. Very enjoyable, and it has great music by Yoko Kanno too. Lots of little 'slice of life' episodes detailing the procedural aspect of life in the future, intertwined with the so-called 'Complex' episodes that detail the investigation into what's known as the Laughing Man incident.

 

Was a big fan of the first movie, but I've avoided the second for now as I've heard lots of mixed things about it.

[ChoiceStriker]

Make sure you keep an eye on the spine of the DVD when you pick up GITS2 Ed. The first batch was released with problematic subtitles (they displayed all over the screen and acted like closed captioning instead of simply subtitles). The DVD was reissued with correct subtitles and the rereleased DVD has "V4" on the spine. The current spine says nothing on it.

Whew, thanks for the tip, Romier. I bought a copy of this when it first came out even though I'd heard about this problem (had to buy one more DVD to fulfill my Columbia House commitment), but I haven't opened it yet. I'll look at the spine on my copy tonight and try to exchange it if it's a bad one.

[rustyjaw]

It may be time to split this off the Appleseed topic, but I'm curious if you guys know how the recent release of GITS differs from the older one. I rented the older one and was hoping that the new one might look and sound better. one thing that bugged me is that the English sound is surround, but the Japanese is stereo. Does the new version have surround for the Japanese? Is the image quality improved?

 

Romier thanks for the info about the GITS2 DVD, very helpful. And thanks to Mark, I will probably get Stand Alone Complex too now. :-)

[rustyjaw]

I found a useful review of the new DVD at destroy-all-monsters.com, they basically say that the video is a wash compared to the previous release (which wasn't bad), but the audio on the new release is vastly improved, which is great.

 

So I went online and got the new GITS DVD and the first 2 DVDs of Stand Alone Complex. Since I can't read the spine of the DVD online, I'll buy GITS2 in-store.

 

Maybe this thread could be split into a general anime thread? I'd like to hear more recommendations for must-see anime.

[Romier S]

Split some of the posts off from the Appleseed discussion thread over here to a more general Anime discussion area.

[JoeyN]

I saw GITS a while ago on its original dvd release. At the time i wasnt a big fan of anime so really didnt pay attention. However ive gotten into it a bit and picked up the SE . Excellent movie. Going to pick up GITS2 and the series dvd's soon

 

capt

[rustyjaw]

Yay, thanks Romier.

 

So my anime experience is basically limited to Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell and The Animatrix, although I did see Akira years ago, I don't remember it well. Maybe I should find that again and catch up.

 

What else would you guys recommend?

[Romier S]

Ed,

 

First and foremost I would highly recommend you seek out "Perfect Blue". Best way to describe is Anime if done through the eyes of Alfred Hitchcock. A good friend of mine pushed me to buy it and I'm very glad I did. Make sure you listen to the original language track with subtitles though (you should be anyways ) as the English dub is HORRIBLE!

 

I'm also a big fan of the original Vampire Hunter D and the newer sequel Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. The original still holds up well with some great animation and a well though out story. The new one is like watching Castlevania come to life.

[GreenMonkey]

Yay! Anime discussion.

 

Personally my favorite anime is Berserk. 2nd runner up would probably be Crest of the Stars or Evangelion.

 

Anime recommendations are hard when you've only seen a couple. What kind of movies/TV shows do you like? That would be a better gauge for recommendations, IMO. Because anime is almost just a varied as anything else. What some people may enjoy a lot, others may detest (Lain, for example, is one of these types of shows, and Evangelion sometimes elicits a similiar response from its ****ed up endings, both series and movie endings...).

[rustyjaw]

I forgot, I saw part of Lain, it was intriguing, but I really didn't know what was going on.

 

What I like about GITS is the cyberpunk aesthetic, the no-nonsense sci-fi aspect. It borrows heavily from William Gibson, Bladerunner and even RoboCop, but it takes the best parts of each and blends them into a new story. It's influenced by the best, but not derivative of them.

 

Cowboy Bebop wasn't what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it after I got over my preconception of what I thought it would be. I liked the character development and the nostalgic, western-style stories...oh and the music was fun.

 

Perfect Blue - check

[Mark E]

Oh man, I love Lain, it's one of my favorite series primarily BECAUSE it's messed.

 

Unlike Eva, which starts off as mecha and turns into WTF, Lain is WTF straight from the get-go and it's much better for it. It makes no bones about what it is - total mindtrip. There are websites devoted to decoding the nuances of the series and they are fascinating, there's a lot going on that you'd never get without help I think .

 

If you want a mecha show that skirts that line, I'm currently 4 volumes into RahXephon and it's a much better combination of mecha and mindtrip than Eva was, in my opinion. It also has, yes, music by Yoko Kanno, who did the GitS: SAC opening and ending and also all the music for Cowboy Bebop.

 

If you want good fantasy, try El-Hazard: The Mysterious World. Make sure you get the OAV though and not one of the two TV series that came out .

 

Hmm, lessee. For good action, try the first Read Or Die (AKA R.O.D.) OAV. Set of three episodes, goes for quite cheap, well worth it. It's about a secret society of British librarians and the main character has the power to control paper, which is both novel and makes for some kickass fight scenes.

 

For movies, Miyazaki can't really be beat. The genius behind Princess Mononoke (great movie), and a bunch of others. Castle in the Sky is another excellent choice from his. Also, Castle of Cagliostro, which is a Lupin III movie Miyazaki did. Lupin III was a clear inspiration for Cowboy Bebop and Cagliostro has my all-time favorite car chase sequence.

 

That's just a random sampling of good anime I've enjoyed. I also like some more esoteric stuff, including a few series aimed primarily at females (hey, I have no issues with my masculinity ). But like GreenMonkey pointed out, the genre is insanely varied, like anything else.

[rustyjaw]

I guess I don't think of Miyazaki as being anime, not that it matters, his movies are great. I really really loved Spirited Away.

 

I think I'd probably like Lain, but I had borrowed it from a friend and didn't have time to see more than a couple of episodes.

 

I should clarify that I also liked the philosophical musings in GITS, there were moments when the dialog was a bit long-winded, but they were few and far between and the balance of it was just great.