Anime

[OrangeShoes]

I liked The Garden of Words and Your Name. They are excellent productions.

I prefer things like Neon Genesis Evangelion. But like Icarus, that anime flew too high and the wax melted. I think that may be why we're seeing simpler anime that doesn't wrestle with angels.

We have a new kind of animation now in digital special effects that exceeds the strengths that anime used to be known for. Now you have Thanos, Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix productions that boggle the imagination of people who grew up watching George Reeves playing Superman back in the 50's.

I remember watching Neon Genesis Evangelion when I was still a kid. It was good, given the vast imagination it gave to me back then, I'd say I'm glad I was able to witness that anime. :)

[James Y]

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000). Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri.

My favorite anime horror.

Opening scene:

https://youtu.be/bIqpp3_fTnc

Another favorite scene (warning: spoiler if you haven’t seen it and plan to):

https://youtu.be/wmskV9CGTOM

Jim

[James Y]

A Silent Voice (2017). Director: Naoko Yamada.

I had heard of this movie for awhile now, and had seen the publicity art for it, but was never interested, because I thought it looked like a “kiddie” anime. But it turns out the movie is deep.

It is about an elementary school boy who mercilessly bullies a new transfer student, a deaf girl; how he eventually suffers the social consequences of his actions, and years later seeks to find her and make amends. Social anxiety, the consequences of bullying, and a small group of outsiders who come together seeking friendship and connection, and personal redemption, are all well-presented. In fact, I haven’t seen any movie, live-action or animated, in which all of these combined subjects are covered so well; although the anime When Marnie Was There covered the social anxiety aspect down pat. TBH, I wasn’t “into” the first quarter of this movie as much (the movie is approximately 2 hours long); it only started to grow on me after the first half hour or so.

When I learned what the plot was, I became interested in this movie, because from 1998-2005, I worked as a real-time closed captioner (not a sign language interpreter) for late-deafened student clients in local colleges and universities.

https://youtu.be/nfK6UgLra7g

Jim

[The Mastiff]

James, thanks for giving some depth to my anime watching interests. I am usually set in my ways mostly because I don't know much about what's out there.

The bullying theme is almost everywhere in anime. They must have a problem with it in real life. I mean more than you and I had when we were growing up .

The things I dislike in anime is the kids stuff. Teenage boys squealing and acting stupid when they see a girls panties or some nudity. I also notice their ideas about relationships is a bit strange, as is their opinion of what women act like and want etc. :) It's pretty obvious some of the writers and even illustrators need some anatomy classes and a real girlfriend/wife. :o

On the other hand some of the anime I see is downright beautiful. They can make fall foliage and high latitude skies and the ocean really beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the real thing and that is saying a lot.

[Sumdumguy]

Lupin the Third, anyone?

I love "classic" Anime. Mainly pre modern, hand drawn films and shows.

[cbrstar]

As a kid in the 80's the first Anime I watched was "Robotech" which was on super super early on Saturday mornings. It blew my kid mind seeing actual characters get killed etc. It was just so grown up that it made it feel that much more real. Suddenly other shows like GI Joe seemed so pointless to me.

in the 90's I watched a lot of Anime but it was still hard and expensive to get. I stopped watching in the late 90's and early 2000's. But I just started watching again a few years ago. Middle aged guy...But I love the stories, and to me it's no different then people watching Xmen etc.

[James Y]

James, thanks for giving some depth to my anime watching interests. I am usually set in my ways mostly because I don't know much about what's out there.

The bullying theme is almost everywhere in anime. They must have a problem with it in real life. I mean more than you and I had when we were growing up .

The things I dislike in anime is the kids stuff. Teenage boys squealing and acting stupid when they see a girls panties or some nudity. I also notice their ideas about relationships is a bit strange, as is their opinion of what women act like and want etc. :) It's pretty obvious some of the writers and even illustrators need some anatomy classes and a real girlfriend/wife. :o

On the other hand some of the anime I see is downright beautiful. They can make fall foliage and high latitude skies and the ocean really beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the real thing and that is saying a lot.

Joe,

I also dislike the kiddie anime stuff. As far as the boys squealing, drooling, making contorted faces and acting in other odd ways around women/girls, I suspect that those are comic depictions of repressed feelings. When I lived in Taiwan in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, some of the people who trained kung fu at the same schools I did, were high school kids (boys and girls). I also taught kids and teens at an English language school. At that age, the boys and girls had mostly platonic friendships, and more shyness around dating, etc. Much more so than you’d see in the West. I’m pretty sure similar happens in Japan, although Japanese generally get started much earlier than Taiwanese. Note: This is only my observation, and also what I’ve heard from others (both Taiwanese and Japanese), and not meant to be a sweeping generalization of everyone there. I’m Japanese-American myself, and I am loathe to stereotype others across the board.

As far as the exaggerated female anatomy depicted in some anime, IMO, most of that is catering to fantasy images that the artists know many anime junkie fans seem to be into, both in the East and in the West. There are some very weird people out there who treat anime characters as almost real.

Yes, I have heard that bullying is a big problem in Japanese schools, and even in society. It’s too bad, really, but anywhere where someone doesn’t fit in and sticks out, they are often singled out. Same here, too.

I hadn’t intended to post a rambling cultural study, but there are definitely cultural differences between here and in countries like Japan that Westerners may not be aware of. In many anime, love is often depicted in much deeper ways. Which is why many anime movies with romantic themes aimed mostly at young adults, like Your Name/Kimi no Na wa, can depict love and romance without the need for sex scenes, or even much physical intimacy at all; unlike Hollywood movies, which seem to require them.

Jim

[The Mastiff]

I recently came on a website that "explained' anime. Or the different types meant for different age groups, gender and sexual preference. It really surprised me. I guess as an action type fan I was limiting myself which is why I ran into mostly anime made for younger males. That's one of the reasons I'm glad you and others are bringing examples here for me to try. :)

It's gotten very available here which it didn't used to be. Now I'm running across availability lists that I get lost in they are so long. I do think it's funny that almost everyone I run across has the usual harem of blue, green, black, pink, etc. haired girls and invariably there is one that is always eating. I find the personality representative types very amusing. :D

:)

[James Y]

I recently came on a website that "explained' anime. Or the different types meant for different age groups, gender and sexual preference. It really surprised me. I guess as an action type fan I was limiting myself which is why I ran into mostly anime made for younger males. That's one of the reasons I'm glad you and others are bringing examples here for me to try. :)

It's gotten very available here which it didn't used to be. Now I'm running across availability lists that I get lost in they are so long. I do think it's funny that almost everyone I run across has the usual harem of blue, green, black, pink, etc. haired girls and invariably there is one that is always eating. I find the personality representative types very amusing. :D

:)

:)


If you like adult-oriented action anime, here is a classic:

Golgo 13: The Professional (1983).

This movie’s animation may appear dated, but IMO, its sequences are brilliant. I also believe it’s the first anime that incorporated CGI, in the helicopter sequences. It looks crude now, but in its time, it was groundbreaking. In this clip, Golgo 13 (AKA, Duke Togo) also fights a creepy assassin, Snake.

Back in the day, I liked this movie a ton. I still like it, but not quite in the way I used to. The Golgo 13 character was first featured in manga (comics), which has been ongoing for over 50 years.

https://youtu.be/wx5FB95fhaI

Jim

[Gsg9]

All Miyazaki movies are relevant. Like:

https://youtu.be/awEC-aLDzjs

https://youtu.be/oCIeWol8jVk

https://youtu.be/ByXuk9QqQkk

[James Y]

All Miyazaki movies are relevant. Like:

https://youtu.be/awEC-aLDzjs

https://youtu.be/oCIeWol8jVk

https://youtu.be/ByXuk9QqQkk

Very true.

Of those three movies, my favorite is Spirited Away.

Jim

[James Y]

Wolf Children (2012). Directed by Mamoru Hosoda.

This is another very good anime. At first glance, it looks just like a kiddie anime. But don’t let that fool you. It’s about a young female loner who falls in love with a man who turns out to be a werewolf, and they end up have two children (who are also werewolves), whom she must eventually raise alone. The difficulties she faces as a young single mother in society with this doubly-complicated problem are presented in a fairly realistic manner. The mother is an easy protagonist to root for.

What is especially interesting is how the children grow and change during the course of the story, all the while the mother going above and beyond to keep her family together. The kids act “cutesy” as babies/toddlers, but as in real life, they change as they grow up. The clip below shows a beautiful scene in a beautiful movie. But this movie also contains darker scenes and plenty of heartache as well.

Personally, I have to watch anime in Japanese language w/English subtitles. Just my preference. The original language truly captures and fits the characters and their emotions much better than any English dub. Also, in many anime movies, not everything translates properly into English, and meanings can get lost or changed. The only anime I prefer in English language offhand is Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, which was dubbed in English first, anyway.

https://youtu.be/YGWzwpVBZSE

Jim

[Gsg9]

I just hope that Miyazaki manages to finish probably his last movie he's working on, How Do You Live?, he's almost 80.

Other movie that I enjoyed and I recommend, Journey to Agartha , director Makoto Shinkai.

https://youtu.be/9HRyw7ThD7k