Anime

[Roz]

@Bobotron said:

@Roz
Huh. The last anime movie I can think of that was released locally was Arrietty.

Man, you didn't even get The Wind Rises?

ETA: Are you excited about the new DB series, Dragonball Super (looks to be set after all the God Battle and F movies)?

Yeah, Super's the show I was referencing as enjoying watching now. It's actually set BEFORE the F movie, which is why it was weird and confusing at first.

[Bobotron]

@Roz
Oh, I didn't realize it had started. Thought you were watching Kai.

And I don't recall it; though now that I google the theatre that shows those movies, it looks like it did air. So I recant my statement; looks like the last one that aired on that theatre was The Wind Rises.

[Roz]

@Bobotron Nah, Super's got four aired episodes! Just watched the most recent. (They're easy to find if you Google.)

[Bobotron]

@Roz
I might watch the first episode and see; I started to like Dragonball with Kai due to the pared-down nature of it. I have to catch up on YuGiOh Arc-V at some point too (though I did finish Sailormoon Crystal finally).

[Thenomain]

So I let my Crunchyroll membership lapse back down to unpaid, after not even watching one season of Attack On Titan. As it was the only reason I paid for the 'Roll, it was a bit sad.

It was interesting, but even after the 5 episodes I try to give any anime, as they often work on the slow build philosophy, I still didn't see much to watch. I think I made it to episode 14? Hard to remember now.

[Arkandel]

I have a confession to make. The only anime movies I've ever watched is Akira and Ninja Scroll. I was okay with the former and I liked the latter.

What am I missing out on? Any recommendations to start watching? Am I opening a vast can of worms by asking you freaks?

[Roz]

@Arkandel What kind of movies do you like generally? Have you watched anime series that you like, or just no anime at all other than those two films? There are certain series/movies that I tend to think of as having broad appeal, but, like anything else, most of it just comes down to taste.

[Templari]

@Arkandel For a series? Full Metal Alchemist. good story arc with enough humor in there to keep it from always getting too overly serious. (And there are some tense serious ongoings)

[Thenomain]

Which FMA? I tried watching the first (FMA) and the second (FMA:Brotherhood) and found the second far more approachable as an ongoing story. With the above statement about Attack on Titan, I think it's notable in my head when I want to finish a series, and I desperately wanted to finish FMA:Brotherhood (and did).

Take this with a huge grain of "My Opinion Only", but I felt that FMA:Brotherhood had a similar overall feel as Akira, as to its pacing and beats between high tension and easing off. In typical Anime fashion, tho, the last three or four episodes are all the finale. It will tear your heart out and eat it in front of you, tho. I loved it.

[Arkandel]

@Roz said:

@Arkandel What kind of movies do you like generally? Have you watched anime series that you like, or just no anime at all other than those two films? There are certain series/movies that I tend to think of as having broad appeal, but, like anything else, most of it just comes down to taste.

No anime at all other than that. As for what kind of movies... well, good ones. My suspicion is that there are some celebrated classics I haven't watched and I might be missing out on to get me started.

Like, if I was a new comic book reader I'd have liked to be told to take a look at The Dark Knight Returns or The Killing Joke even if I wasn't a Batman fan. Or Watchmen.

[Roz]

@Arkandel said:

@Roz said:

@Arkandel What kind of movies do you like generally? Have you watched anime series that you like, or just no anime at all other than those two films? There are certain series/movies that I tend to think of as having broad appeal, but, like anything else, most of it just comes down to taste.

No anime at all other than that. As for what kind of movies... well, good ones. My suspicion is that there are some celebrated classics I haven't watched and I might be missing out on to get me started.

Like, if I was a new comic book reader I'd have liked to be told to take a look at The Dark Knight Returns or The Killing Joke even if I wasn't a Batman fan. Or Watchmen.

Yeah. My first suggestion is one big broad Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli one. Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and others.

For series, Cowboy Bebop is one of my favorite perfect classics, and it's a fairly digestible size.

[ThatGuyThere]

@Arkandel
Vampire Hunter D.
It is a classic and older. I watched for the first time in 1993 so it might be visually dated now for a first time viewer though.

[HelloRaptor]

@Templari said:

@Arkandel For a series? Full Metal Alchemist. good story arc with enough humor in there to keep it from always getting too overly serious. (And there are some tense serious ongoings)

Only watch Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, not the original. Mind, I liked the original, but there's a point where it sort of jumped the rails. It had the problem that they were animating it while the manga was ongoing, and so when they caught up they had to choose between a million filler episodes while they waited for it to continue, or just guessing where the story was going and possibly getting everything pretty horribly wrong, and they went for the latter.

FMA:B was done after it was over, in more direct cooperating with the guy responsible for the manga, and has both a better paced, more complete story and much better animation. It's also a pretty good jump in point to anime. A lot of the 'classics' like Vampire Hunter D and Cowboy Bebop are starting to show (or have been showing for quite some time) their age, which matters to some folks. I still suggest giving them a try, I just always like to tack on stuff that came out in the last decade or so as well.

It does sort of come down to what kind of shows and movies you like in general, though. There's a pretty ridiculously wide array of themes and approaches in anime, even when dealing with the same subject matter, and taste can vary pretty wildly if you aren't like me and essentially consume almost all of it equally (with some notable exceptions).

[Thenomain]

I think Cowboy Bebop is still very watchable. The music is still incredible. The animation style is waning. The story and world are still solid.

[Bobotron]

@Arkandel
On the note of The Killing Joke, there's going to be a DC Animated Movie of that soon. With Hamill reported to be returning as the Joker.

Some anime movies I've greatly enjoyed:

• Just about anything by Ghibli (Nausicaa, Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spiirted Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service are some of my favorites)
• Vampire Hunter D (dated, but interested)
• Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (really well done and super well animated)
• Demon City Shinjuku (a little dated, but interesting concept)
• Highlander The Search for Vengeance
• Project A-ko Series (comedy plus superpowers plus girls fighting over a best friend plus aliens)
• Venus Wars (dated, but an interesting sci-fi concept)
• Street Fighter II anime movie (the dub is really superb, and has a boss soundtrack)
• Macross Frontier: The False Songstress and Wings of Goodbye (watch these after you watch Frontier proper)
• Macross Plus (probably one of my top 10 movies ever)
• Galaxy Express 999 series (visually dated, but Leiji is an awesome storyteller)
• Appleseed
• Rebuild of Evangelion (you MIGHT want to watch Evangelion first though, just because)
• Wings of Honneamise
• Macross :Do You Remember Love (though it helps if you have watched Macross itself)
• Voices of a Distant Star

Some series...

• Macross Frontier (might have to look into proir Macross series though)
• Log Horizon (if you like studies on human psyche this is pretty good for that, though it can be slow)
• .hack//SIGN (the original stuck in a video game anime)
• Outlaw Star (spaceships WITH ARMS and superpowered cat girls and Japanese culture in space)
• Vision of Escaflowne
• Yona of the Dawn
• AIR (this will make you cry your eyes out)
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When Cicadas Cry, this will freak you the fuck out)
• Black Butler (skip Black Butler II) and Book of Circus

[Arkandel]

Thanks for the recommendations, people! Much appreciated. Feel free to keep'em coming.

[Roz]

pulls face

I have been on such a Dragon Ball nostalgia fest with the new series and new movie so now I am watching Dragon Ball Kai (experience of the original but with slightly less filler, thanks) and ugh guys it's like I'm in middle school again. My affection level is so high for this dumb show.

There's nothing quite like the things you fell in love with as a kid.

[Tempest]

...New DB series?

[Roz]

Yeah, there's a new series airing currently that takes places after the Buu Saga in DBZ. Pretty much retconning GT.

[HelloRaptor]

@Roz

Dragon Ball Kai (experience of the original but with slightly less filler, thanks)

Hahhahaha 'slightly less filler' is one way of putting it.

DBZ was 291 episodes, Kai pared it down to 159. At roughly 18 mins an episode, they shaved off just shy of 40 hours from the series. ^_^