@“edward”#p112237 is this real?
@“yeso”#p112240
One funny thing about anime is that no one can be sure
googled Virginia Woolf anime and it looks like she and André Gide are characters in something called “Bungo Stray Dogs”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bungo_Stray_Dogs_characters
And many many more
yeso A.K.A. the patron saint of the anime thread
nah not gonna be a grinch in 2023
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@“yeso”#p112334 nah not gonna be a grinch in 2023
Of course you won't--when the Grinch Stole Christmas, he then realized the error of his ways, and his heart grew three sizes
It was cool how the Super Milk Chan DVD came with both the US dub and an english dub that was more faithful to the original script… Especially cause the US one hasn't aged as well, lol.
@“wickedcestus”#p112182 @“wickedcestus”#p112188
Someone already suggested Escaflowne and while I think Escaflowne is overall better than Aura battler Dunbine, if you are interested in a fantasy mecha show the latter has more of that 80’ies Tomino flavor. Not sure if that is what you want, but simply based on liking Zeta and 0079. Another show which has a somewhat similar tone is armored trooper votoms, although reading your second post I am not sure if it necessarily reproduces the aspects of early Gundam that you like. It does go in a somewhat weirder direction towards the end which you might end up enjoying, and one wouldn’t expect from the initially more grounded than Gundam feel.
Someone already mentioned Eureka Seven, but when I think mecha and romance this (and the original Macross, which is also my favorite in the franchise) is definitely a show that comes immediately to mind and which is quite good.
An alternative suggestion which isn’t strictly mecha would be to watch the 2010’s remake of Yamato, i.e. Space Battleship Yamato 2199. The original has it’s own charm and I watched it like 17 years ago, but don’t remember the details. What I do know is that when I first watched the remake around 10 years ago (man, these time-frames make me feel old), I thought it was the perfect version of a remake, improving on the original while keeping much of what kept it charming. Yamato 2199 has lots of bombast, melodrama and fun space opera stuff. I re-watched it recently in order to watch the second season and the movies that came out last year and my feelings haven't changed, it's a good show (this includes the second season and movies by the way). Definitely less grounded than Gundam, however, if that’s important to you. The tone is not too dissimilar to something like Macross though, so I feel like you might enjoy it.
For bombast, super robot style shows might also be interesting, but they obviously feel very different from early Gundam in other ways.
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@“connrrr”#p112210 it sounds like you might really like The Witch from Mercury! Have you seen Escaflowne?
I have tried Escaflowne, but I stopped halfway through. I think there was a character I started finding really annoying? I can't remember the details. Maybe I should give it another shot. The general concept just blew me away with how cool it was.
I haven't tried The Witch From Mercury, and come to think of it, still haven't got around to Iron Blooded Orphans, which seem like two of the recent Gundams that I'd be most interested in.
@"SU2MM"#p112340 Thanks for the recs! Definitely interested in a few of these. I'll make sure to post when I try some out.
I‘ve been very sporadic with my anime viewing recently; I can’t seem to commit to anything. Last thing I watched was the first episode of Oshi no Ko. You may have seen people say it‘s good. It’s good. Though I think its idea of idol culture is just a bit outdated.
Other stuff I've looked at recently:
First 2 episodes of Jobless Reincarnation
First 20 episodes of Hajime no Ippo
First 10 episodes of Legend of the Galactic Heroes (rewatch)
The first episode of Witch from Mercury
SK8 the Infinity (the only one I managed to watch all of)
Some of my favorites:
A Place Further Than The Universe
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Kemono Friends (first season)
Ping Pong: The Animation (just include everything by Masaaki Yuasa here)
Yuri on Ice
Like many kids who grew up with Toonami, I found myself loving anime. Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, and eventually Cowboy Bebop and so on, but I eventually just sort of stopped paying attention and have only watched anime in fits and spurts since, like, 2006.
My first memories of anime, though, were late on Saturday nights when I was a wee lad sneaking downstairs to watch TV because I couldn‘t sleep. Channel surfing midnight cable didn’t offer much for a child but I was struck by this strange gothic castle and a beautiful man fighting a vampire there. It was all so strange an unreal, like nothing my babybrain had ever experienced, but I found myself seeking this out on midnight channels for a long time. I discovered busty women fighting robots and maybe being robots and a boy whose body began unfurling to suck up metal and matter, and I felt the hinge in my jaw unlocking and the top of my head opening up and filling with these surreal, violent, sexual oddities.
I don't even know if I had seen Pokemon yet. But one day I couldn't find them anymore and then I forgot about them until, I think, I was watching Vampire Hunter D for what I thought was the first time.
But I mostly struggle to watch anime. I sometimes find it great, but often find the _good_ ones made for adults to be pretty bad and the _bad_ ones made for kids to be **real good**. And at this point, I don't even know what I like about anime or even what I want it to be. I often find it to be an artform so inside itself that it almost requires some understanding of anime storybeats to really appreciate. I often think, now, that this has to do with something Miyazaki said once upon a time about otaku making anime and now I just always feel that anime makers don't know how to talk to people and so they make characters who speak to one another like aliens mimicking humanity. But if you're inside this conditioning of narrative and characterization, you just kind of accept it and keep going.
It doesn't matter that the protagonist speaks like they were born three days ago because everyone else talks that way too.
There are exceptions, of course, and I often think those few exceptions are rightly considered the best of all time, but I find this bar sometimes painfully low. Some of this, no doubt, has to do with translation, but I think less than I'd like to believe.
I'm watching Vinland right now, which is pretty good and mostly seems to avoid this, at least so far, with the exception of Thorfin's father, who is the MOST ANIME FATHER that I've seen in a while. Also, the silent prince reminds me of a dozen other anime characters I don't particularly care for and find alienating.
So I usually just go back to watch anime meant for kids when I feel like watching anime, because I think the artifice of the genre feels more naked and therefore more palatable, for whatever reason.
Anyway, the anime I really enjoy:
Musashi
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Serial Experiments Lain
Neon Genesis Evangelion (or do I? maybe not!)
Sailor Moon
Trigun
Fullmetal Alchemist
Vampire Hunter D
Most Ghibli and Oshii Kon films
But I think I'm going to watch Inuyasha again because there was a very particular image I really liked from it once Inuyasha's brother begins showing up. Also Trigun because I like the way that show breaks in half. I've been thinking of rewatching Dragonball Z too because I think I might actually like that the most of any anime, partly because it's real dumb.
But Musashi is really my favorite. I could watch that forever.
Oh boy oh howdy
I love anime.
I watched "Kiki and Totoro" (as I called them then) as a kid, unaware there was even a difference between animation industries and studios. I wouldn't have been able to say then why I liked them compared to other things, and in fact we forgot about them for a while!
Dragon Ball / Z, Rurouni Kenshin, and Yuu Yuu Hakusho were staples of my after-school television experience. When I was like 5 I'd wear this big undershirt of my dad's and pretend it was Kenshin's kimono and hakama (the shirt was white, the hakama are white).
Watched some 4Kids stuff a little later (age 8-10): Shaman King, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sonic X....... One Piece was too much for me. Around this time I was aware they were from Japan I think.
I'd been aware of Naruto when it was on but never watched too much of it. When I was around 11 or 12 I saw Princess Mononoke, which I became somewhat obsessed with. Shortly afterward I saw a friend's older brother watching Death Note on Adult Swim, and subsequently needed to know whatever this moody talky thing largely about two men sitting in chairs internally monologuing was.
I looked for "adult stuff" and ended up renting Jin-roh: The Wolf Brigade from the video store, which I of course did not even slightly understand (nor finish). Then came Elfen Lied. I forced myself through Ghost in the Shell 2.0, which I bought for too much money at Barnes & Noble, and didn't get it at all.
Between late middle and early high school I watched what for me was a large amount of TV anime: Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist 03, Baccano!, Gankutsuou, Monster, Welcome to the NHK, Angel Beats, more Dragon Ball, Cowboy Bebop, Haibane Renmei, Haruhi Suzumiya, Steins;Gate, and more I can't remember. Also a handful of episodes of Darker Than Black, Ergo Proxy, Code Geass, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, Bleach, Higurashi, Naruto, etc. Early on I was most interested in melodrama: I can remember, age 11-13, looking for lists of "the saddest anime" and "anime which will make you cry."
In 2009 I saw some video on Youtube which showed footage of Akira, but didn't name the movie: for a while I had to wonder what in the world featured [these sounds](https://youtu.be/De3cWcjZ0Q0) and images of a kid turning into a bloated fleshy monster.
In 2010 I heard about this Summer Wars movie, couldn't figure out how to watch it, but found the song connrrr posted, which really activated my imagination. Around this time too I watched 5 Centimeters Per Second, whose first two shorts I found really powerful. Even today I think it captures something about being a certain kind of young teenager. Did I find it relatable because it described my experiences, or because I interpreted my experiences in the language movies gave me to understand them?
In college I watched much less. Wolf's Rain ("all vibes" as they say), Evangelion (don't like large parts of it, loved the last handful of episodes), Clannad (after seeing After Story mentioned on all those sad anime lists, which I still have not seen on account of this first series being so bland). I still loved animation of course but wondered whether the kinds of stories being told in anime were something I'd outgrown. I went to two meetings of my college anime club. For the first screening they picked Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back—what??—and for the second they picked the first few episodes of Kill La Kill. I didn't go back—discussion was very shallow and the material didn't grab me. Shortly afterward I saw the first Ghost in the Shell movie again and remembered oh yeah, I love anime.
I've listened to a lot of music because of anime. Truckloads. Massive, massive quantities. I'm listening to `"nc17" - Youko Kanno` as I write—feels trite to extol Kanno's virtues forever and ever but she's real good.
There was a moment in the past few years when I realized, despite loving things described by the umbrella term "anime," I don't care about pretty much any show released after 2010 (not a hard cutoff, but still). Frankly I'm at complete peace with this, there's so much interesting old stuff to dig into. If they would only stop making movies and games too I'd be fine with it. On the other hand maybe there's stuff out now that I'd like; Devilman Crybaby is the most recently released thing I've enjoyed; these new Gundam shows sound cool. But I'm taking the opportunity to dig into older stuff and see what's up. During the 2021-22 school year I (re?)watched half of Yuu Yuu Hakusho and loved it. The Takahata Anne of Green Gables series seems nice.
Here are my favorites series:
Here are my favorite films:
In this moment I want to see Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Samurai Champloo, Serial Experiments Lain, Ping Pong, and Belladonna of Sadness. And much more!
No more top fives from me!!! But there were a couple animes I really wanted to mention:
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@“edward”#p112402 I often find it to be an artform so inside itself that it almost requires some understanding of anime storybeats to really appreciate. I often think, now, that this has to do with something Miyazaki said once upon a time about otaku making anime and now I just always feel that anime makers don’t know how to talk to people and so they make characters who speak to one another like aliens mimicking humanity.
I think you ought to watch more josei and shojo! Like pick anything written by Mari Okada or that aired on the noitaminA block if you're looking for less stilted machismo in your anime diet.
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@“captain”#p112403 Around this time too I watched 5 Centimeters Per Second, whose first two shorts I found really powerful. Even today I think it captures something about being a certain kind of young teenager.
I remember my erstwhile friend at the time telling me about 5cm/s, whose first episode had come out when we were in college, and when I watched it it made me cry a lot. I told him about it later and he called me a slur lmao. He's a pretty unsavoury fellow, and now you know why he's erstwhile a friend.
I really am thankful to be able to discuss anime with cool people and to no longer have to suffer the company of gross dudes anymore haha.
I have some more in depth anime thoughts, but I wanted to urge folks who otherwise enjoy tropy but fun shonen anime to consider some sports anime! I’m far from a real life sports fan (you will never see me commenting in the real life sports thread), so it took some convincing, but Haikyuu! And Yowamushi Pedal are really good and well done!
My fav sports anime/manga is Initial D and I would heartily and easily recommend the first season to anyone who wants a fun show to watch with shonen trappings but done with a little more finesse than some. After the first season it gets significantly uglier to look at which is a real bummer because the story does remain good throughout. I think the manga is better overall but that first anime season is the best.
Sports anime is my jam! I started with Slam Dunk and was hooked ever since. So far I've watched:
Hajime no ippo
Yuri on ice
Ace of the diamond
Most of initial d
And I just started haikyu
What I love about sports anime is that it has high drama and low stakes. Perfect for getting invested while chilling to the max. I really want to check out sk8 soon, but I try not to juggle too many shows at once.
So I‘m definitely an elder anime wizard who has been watching an episode of anime every day since around 2008.
I’m currently watching Golden Boy, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Kodocha (with my girlfriend), and One Piece (I'm caught up)
Here are ten series and movies that define my taste:
Urusei Yatsura (1981)
Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984)
Aim for the Top: Gunbuster (1988)
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988)
Blue Sonnet (1989)
Devilman (19897)
Record of Lodoss War (1990)
Slayers Next (1996)
Hajime no Ippo (2000)
Mawaru Penguindrum (2011)
I feel like I could make a larger list but I might as well stop at ten! I love all types of anime: girly stuff, fighting stuff, robot stuff, drama, comedy... my tastes are extremely broad! I tend to focus on older series but I have no problem with newer shows. Typically I don't go for super-long Shonen Jump type shows because life is short and there are other things I want to do with my time but Dragon Ball is another favorite and I'm caught up with One Piece as I mentioned earlier.
I also collect physical media and prefer watching anime on blu-ray or laserdisc. I've imported a number of series and have watched them raw (eg Fairy Princess Minky Momo, Macross 7)
I just recently finished a series called From the New World which is *extremely* good speculative fiction.
I'm used to mostly keeping to myself about anime because my taste falls outside the mainstream, even among other anime fans, but maybe I'll start posting little reviews of things I watch in this thread!
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@“wickedcestus”#p112182 Kinda wanna watch a mecha anime soon. Idk if I wanna do another Gundam. I’ve seen a heck of a lot of those, and none of them have lived up to 0079 and Zeta. I liked the original Macross, but then couldn’t get into any of the sequels. Anyone have any ideas? Saw someone somewhere mention Metal Armor Dragonar. Is that any good?
It sounds like you're mostly experienced with real robots but if you want to give super robots a try, I'd recommend New Getter Robo (2004) as an extremely edgy updated take on a 70s series. If you know you prefer real robots, you might like Armored Trooper Votoms. Or, since you like Gundam 0079, you could give Space Runaway Ideon a try since it's made by many of the same people! I watched that one not long ago and enjoyed it quite a bit more than original Gundam (although I'm also not the biggest Gundam fan). I also think Gurren Lagann is a great modern super robot series but I've found a lot of folks are divided on that one.
@“Nemoide”#p112508
*Golden Boy* is so funny!! Kintaro is the horniest goodhearted boy in anime history, and I love the attention to detail on his bike (an off-brand Yokota Grizzly Peak).
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/F6cKLsQ.jpg[/IMG]