Anime

[Hachimitsu]

Awwww!!!! Yeah I got it for my birthday I was so happy!! It's such a wonderful movie!!!

[Crucifer]

I loves it so much...

But I can't watch it at the mo because a friend has it!!!

[Tyrhael]

A friend of mine recommended "Avatar" — has anyone seen it or have an opinion about it?

[Crucifer]

Seen it in a shop but never had enough to buy it... Can't offer an opinion on it I'm afraid.

[Alatar]

Is that the Legend of Ang? My 6 year old watches it sometimes. seems remarkably kiddie?

[Crucifer]

It might be.

That or the last Airbender...

[Hachimitsu]

Has anyone seen Ouran High School host club? Or Azumanga Daioh? I have heard they are great comedies but I just can't seem to really find them publicly available on DVD (ex library).

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

Azumanga Daioh is great! Very funny, cute slice-of-life story-telling, and occasionally surreal (e.g. the dream episode).

I saw a little bit of Ouran because I heard people raved about it, but it wasn't my thing at all. What little I saw really irritated me.

Going back a bit:

Ones I've been recommended to see:
tengen toppa gurren lagann
code geass
bleach
weiss kreuz
tsubasa (chronicles)?
ergo proxy
blood+
elfen lied
monster
trinity blood

Elfen Lied is possibly the most violent show I've seen, whether anime or not. It is also very difficult thematically, dealing with eugenics, child abuse and other touchy topics.

I saw 1 episode of "tengen toppa gurren lagann" and I thought it was terrible, though it appears to have developed a large following.

BrianIs AtYou

[Hachimitsu]

Is Blood + Any good? All I know is that it has a guy with a cello.

[Hachimitsu]

OK Tyrhael, I was re-reading the thread and I noticed you asked if Tsubasa is any good. I can say for sure the manga is excellent. A real page turner (I am at volume 18). The anime I have heard wasn't the greatest as it had a lot of fillers. There is a page that lists which episode corresponds with which manga chapter so I would recomend using that as a guide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ts ... story_arcs

Unfortunately it only covers season 1

After 2 seasons they stopped the anime and now produce OVA's which stick to the manga and are significantly better I have heard. I would like to rent it but my local rental place sucks for anime so I may have to crack under pressure and do mail order renting.

[Tyrhael]

Hmm ... maybe I'll have to watch some of those recommendations, though right now I'm on an anime re-watching marathon while I wait for more new Shippuuden episodes to come out.

I just watched Princess Mononoke and Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind for the first time, the first dubbed and the latter subbed — I loved them! Has anyone else seen them? Do you know of similar movies that I might enjoy?

[Hachimitsu]

Considering I haven't posted here in a while I will list what I am currently reading/watching.

Buddha - (I know Brian is reading it I wanted to know what he thinks). I just finished volume 2. There some really comedic things in the text and I wanted to be sure who were the fictional characters. Some things I don't understand and right now I feel sorry Siddartha's wife. I think the only reason i keep reading it, is that in the first volume a bunny sacrificed itself to save an old man. About the art style I find it OK but in India I am pretty sure people wore clothes back then. Also I wanted to give it a try since some of my friends are Buddhists. I distinctly remember a friend telling me about when the Prince saw a person die and how shocked he was. Some of the fictional stuff made me laugh since I can't imagine tinkle wars in the actual text about Buddha.

Absolute Boyfriend - just discovered it's 6 volumes and I am already at volume 4. I think I need Yuu Watase's stuff in small doses. This one is really well written and I am stunned the woman is doing that and some Fushigu Yugi stuff all while having chronic fatigue syndrome!

Ranma 1/2 - Just started reading volume 8 and hilarious as usual. I hope Akane finds out the truth about her pet P-chan soon. Why the hell won't Ranma say anything?

I finally read the last volume of Cardcaptor Sakura master of the Clow and I am so happy I did. I am afraid to see the anime as in North America they re-edited the show to make it about Syaoran (the boy) instead about Sakura the girl (they titled it just "Cardcaptors" in North America)

Magic night Rayearth- It's pretty cute

Mushi-Shi I like tha manga pretty well but I find the anime just seems to work better for me. Maybe because I saw it first (they stick very very closely to the manga). I did like the story at the end of volume 3 a lot.

xxxHolic. I have finally read up to volume 11. I find it's growing in popularity and I am loving the art style. I inadvertantly spent $270 US on xxxHolic stuff. I haven't got to anime north yet. Fudge. I have learned my lesson about eBay. Why don't they make posters for xxxHolic? I knows it's aimed at young men but so was Chobits and they have posters for that. THe art is so pretty it's a shame it is not easily available. (example)

Fruits Basket - I love re-reading this series. There are so many layers to this story. I am re reading 13 right now. I am sort of slow because I know volume 14 is a sad volume and I am avoiding it.

There are a whole bunch of other series and sort of reading and a couple that are unavilable at the library so I have to figure out if I want to buy it. Particularly Love Hina which I really liked but I couldn't finish volume 1 since it was horrbly vandalized. Also I am waiting on Ouran High school host club volume 11 to come out in North America. ALso I have sne t in purchase request for Yotsuba!& and Azumnaga Daioh I have only seen a 10 minute clip but it made me

Bleach I am up to the Japanese manga and I am pleasantly surprised by the risk they took with the manga stopping the story and doing 8 chapters of flashbacks. It's actually good!!! Not up to date on the anime (although i have heard that certain violent scenes that were censored in Japan are uncensored in the US version I am very surprised since the US censors ALOT of the diologue.

I have started to secretly watch Full Metal Alchemist on YTV. The most recent episode was so shocking my mouth was hanging open for 15 minutes. It was just shocking and so depressingly sad. Considering the main characters are 12 and 13 I would think ending of eps would be all happiness and rainbows. Hell no!!! It's made very clear these kids are living in an adult world. Dang!

Tyrhael I think I am the only person who did not love Nausica. I liked Princess Mononoke. Those are both Miyazaki movies and you pretty much can't go wrong with his movies. I think earlier in this thread several people have listed his movies.

Also I have decided I am never going to watch Grave of the Fireflies. I know what it is about now and I don't need to be depressed. I do want to check out The Girl who Leapt through Time though.

[Pippin4242]

Ones I've been recommended to see:
tengen toppa gurren lagann
code geass
bleach
weiss kreuz
tsubasa (chronicles)?
ergo proxy
blood+
elfen lied
monster
trinity blood

Bleach is so much fun. The Tsubasa anime I've watched so far (from the main series, not the OVAs) is pretty awful, but has a kind of camp glory. I'm watching it for the lulz and the fetish fuel. Monster is one of the greatest things ever made. You absolutely have to see it. Weiss Kreuz is a pile of pants, but one of the first anime I ever watched. It's a pretty interesting introduction into the celebrityhood of voice actors, if nothing else. I don't really recommend it on any level, but I still derive a measure of pleasure from the fandom, so who am I to scorn?

On the subject of Tezuka... Brian in particular, and possibly Wilma... did you know that there's going to be a re-release of the Black Jack manga this Autumn? Viz published it in the mid-90s in left-to-right one-shot magazine format, and then as two tankubon, which are increasingly hard to get hold of. I really adore Black Jack, for all its quite obvious failings. It does what it sets out to do, and it does it with great gusto. If you haven't read it before, I highly recommend that the two of you check out the new release of the manga.
I'm cosplaying Black Jack soon.

Really though, rather than jumping in, I should perhaps introduce myself and my tastes a little... I guess I don't really know everybody here any more, ne? :waives: Dozo yoroshiku.

I like all kinds of anime and manga, though I seem to gravitate to crappy shounen series more often than a girl ought. I'm not afraid to mock what I like, but I'm quite passionate about my fanfic and fanart, and I use both to try and improve my skills. The first anime I watched were Trigun and Full Metal Panic!, both of which I still adore, and my favourite anime films are Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo/The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira/Knockin' On Heaven's Door. Favourite series is harder to choose... right now I'd say Wolf's Rain, Bleach, Yami no Matsuei, Monster, XXXHOLiC, Eyeshield 21, Rose of Versailles and Black Jack 21. Favourite manga... Fake, Battle Royale, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Death Note and Yakitate!! Ja-Pan.

To get back to the old topic, one great Miyazaki film that people have neglected in this thread is Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro. It's got a great dub for something so dated, and it's absolutely hilarious. Lupin III is a franchised anime based on the old Monkey Punch manga, which in turn stole a lot from an old French novel series about the gentleman thief Arsene Lupin. Cagliostro was the first (first successful?) film derived from the magical formula of the gentleman-thief Lupin, the gangster buddy backup Jigen, the fish-out-of-water samurai Goemon, the hapless but dogged Inspector Zenigata and the Bond villainess Fujiko. Cagliostro was made before Studio Ghibli was founded, and it's missing a lot of later traits which make Miyazaki's films so recognisable - there's a very clear villain, the heroes are adults, and ruthlessly immoral, and it's altogether a raunchier affair. It's absolutely fabulous. Compared to the series, it's quite child-friendly, but all the same, it's no Totoro. I highly recommend it to everybody but those who would wish to watch with very young children.

*~Pips~*

[Hachimitsu]

I just thought I would bump up the anime thread since this is for anime discussion by those who are familiar with it. I mentioned the dub for Cardcaptor Sakura in the anime styles thread. Dear lord I went to the panel on CLAMP at Anime north and they told me how Canada and the US both masacared it. Apparently they were trying to re-edit the show to make it about Syaoran rather then Sakura. Also they took out all the romance and they basically destroyed the friendship between Tomoyo and Sakura (Not to mention renaming the characters. Tomoyo is renamed Madison and Yukito is renamed Julian Star . What freaking soap opera were they watching!!!)
Lord help us all. I have heard Funimation may do a redub of it. (Funimation always does a good job) I have heard the French dub for Cardcaptor Sakura is excellent and they maintain the greatness that is the actual story.

Someone summed it up as, "Imagine if Japan bought the license to My Little Pony and tried to make it into a Shounen action series"

I saw the first episode for the anime of Tsubasa. Oh lord it is terrible. The animation sucks, Yuuko looks horrible, and they messed up the pacing so there is no ugency. In the manga, they have a major emergency since someone is on the verge of death. In the anime Syaoran is strolling with Sakura in his arms. Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 No wonder they stopped the anime. I hope the OVA's are better.

Also I got to try Persona Trinity soul (I likes) and Mnemosyne (I sort of like, I wanna see more). Video rooms are the best at an Anime con!!

I will eventually post my thoughts and comments on Anime North (to sum it up I already have a reservation for next year), but the weekend coming is real busy so I may be a while.

EDIT: I would like to hear Brian's thought on Geneon closing if he is wiling.

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

Wilma, I'm certainly no expert on Geneon's closing, but I read up on it a bit at Anime News Network and elsewhere.

What I have gathered is the following:

1) Geneon usually put a lot of effort into its titles, with exceptional quality in dubs, transfers, extras etc

2) Some people speculated that as a result of this, the wholesale cost of its titles was higher than most other distributors due to the need to recover the higher costs associated with a premium package. This made it harder for a retailer to discount, which made the average cost to the end purchaser higher, or forced the retailer to accept a smaller profit, both of which acted as disincentives

This is hard to verify without being privy to corporate details that are not public; however, a representative of an anime retailer chimed in on a thread on Anime News Network explaining how he saw it:

While wholesale contracts vary, Geneon has always typically offered a lower discount to retailers than other studios. We've always priced Geneon to the public at a base 20% off MSRP (give or take depending on the title). We price other lines including ADV and Funimation at a base 25% off MSRP. This formula is based on our typical gross cost structure from the studio and includes other cost factors such as % of defective returns, stock overages, and buy in risk across that studios catalog (that means how many unsold DVD's we might get stuck with that have to be further discounted as in the case of an unpopular title, for example).

In general, Geneon titles have typically carried a wholesale premium over other lines, and their retailer terms have not been as favorable as other studios, making them more expensive to stock and sell. Thus the slightly higher base pricing point in our catalog. I have told our Geneon reps for a couple of years that they should bring their retailer pricing strategy in line with the other studios.

This has been a long day.

3) In addition to some of the more well known titles that they marketed, Geneon put out a lot of niche titles. This was appreciated by the "otaku" community, but some of the more niche titles did not achieve more mainstream appeal, which limited profitability, but the costs for dubbing, licensing etc were often just as high as for better selling series

4) Some suspect that the more niche material might not have sold well enough to cover fixed costs for other reasons, as niche material would be more likely to be downloaded/fan-subbed/torrented/youtubed, as some of the more hard-core otaku may also be into the that kind of scene. Some people see this as a problem that may not be exclusive to niche titles, and see the Geneon collapse as a harbinger of things to come.

On the other hand, I've watched a number of things online that I would never have considered purchasing otherwise, simply because I would never have known anything about them. Free advertising.

For example, I'm still hoping for "Only Yesterday" from Ghibli to come out in a Disney dub. (It is covered in their deal with Ghibli). However, Disney thinks it would have no market. I would guess it would be considered a josei demographic (not a kiddie film). Plus, Takahata is harder to make appealing to kids than Miyazaki, and Disney assumes that anime=cartoon=kids. Note that Disney did not pick up "Grave of the Fireflies", Takahata's masterwork from Ghibli--it was put out by Central Park Media. (Disney had reservations about Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" as well, but they did at least release that film under the Miramax label if not under the Disney label. And they bent over backwards to cover touchy cultural issues with Takahata's Pom-Poko.)

In the meantime, "Only Yesterday" is on Youtube in low-res broken in 10 parts or whatever. I would buy it if it came out. But Disney doesn't know how to market it, so they won't release it. TCM has it listed as #14 in its list of the most requested movies not on DVD that people would like to see on DVD (out of approximately 145,000 titles in its database that are not on DVD--that seems to me like a demand would exist).

5) Geneon was counting on a deal with ADV that fell through. They had already let go their sales staff, counting on ADV handling that for them. When the deal fell through, they had already gutted their employee ranks. Why they did this, I don't know. Maybe they felt that the deal was a sure thing.

6) According to what I've read, the anime industry in the US was contracting somewhat at the time, and Geneon, as the third largest distributor, still only had 11.1% of the market. With the various other issues mentioned above, it just may not have been sufficiently profitable without something like the ADV deal.

BrianIs AtYou

[Hachimitsu]

Wow thank you so much Brian!!! That is really an eye opener. All I keep hearing is that it was downloading that brought down Geneon. I never really knew much about their business practices, not to mention letting go of staff, counting on a deal with another company.

It's sad they are gone but I think the business practices had a lot to do with it. Were they involved with dubbing? Were they responsible for the dubbing and re-editing of Cardcaptor Sakura?

If you feel like listing any unknown series I would be interested to hear about it (the one you mentioned in the Anime styles thread seemed interesting.

[Crucifer]

Brian, 'Only Yesterday' is out on DVD with Optimum. It's a pretty good dub.
They did Princess Mononoke too. (They did all the Ghibli, in fact) Neil Gaiman wrote the dub, and it's one of the best Dubs I've ever seen. Did he do the Miramax one aswell?

I should know. I have the entire collection. (almost... Tales of Earthsea, for some reason is far too expensive atm)

[MithLuin]

I've seen Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle and liked them both well enough. There is a certain level of 'no one's the good guys or the bad guys' that can be a bit refreshing, but also terribly frustrating. In Princess Mononoke, the main character refuses to pick sides. That's fair enough, but it means he ends up trying to help everyone at once, even when they are working at cross-purposes to one another. For Howl's Moving Castle, it involves a rather wholesale reinterpretation of part of the book, because that ambiguity was not present there. But Sophie is a very endearing character, book or movie. I started out watching it saying 'she's too young!' because she looked about 12 and it was clear there was going to be a romance at some point. But they fixed that problem fairly quickly. But what was cool was that I'd recently been to the Cotswolds in England, so I recognized the yellow stone of the buildings and such...the setting was very appropriate to the story.


I love Fullmetal Alchemist

It is not a happy children's story. The whole point is dealing with death (or failure to deal with death, as the case might be), and also dealing with guilt from past mistakes. You don't realize right away precisely what kind of country they are living in...the people seem decent, and the landscape is nice....but it becomes evident in not too much time that it is a military state run by a dictator. How benevolent he is is not really clear, which is a good thing. No one is automatically painted as a demon when you first meet them; the characters have depth, and even the bad guys have motivations. For instance...there is a serial killer/terrorist, so when you first see him, it's easy to condemn him. But later it becomes more clear why he's so hell-bent on revenge. (Not that revenge is a good thing, of course.) Some of the good guys would have been condemned at Nuremburg, also.

Avoid spoilers for anime episode 25 or manga chapter 15, if possible. Ditto with end-of-series spoilers for the anime. This means you can't look for AMV's on YouTube or read anything on ff.net .

The anime is good, but branches off from the manga with episode 29. Several earlier episodes are either not in the manga, or diverge significantly from it. The anime is followed by the movie, which feels like it is a movie based on a TV show. They try to work all the characters in and give them little mini story arcs, which makes for a lousy, disjointed movie....but if you are interested in what happens, it's well done. It changes a tragic ending into a bittersweet ending, basically.

I prefer the manga. The story has more depth to it. Also, the backstory is introduced much more gradually. You don't really learn what the brothers did (or why) until volume 6 of the manga, but this content makes up episode 3 of the anime. That being said, the anime does a better job of introducing characters and letting you get to know them. The manga tends to just drop people in your lap.

The manga is ongoing, so I can't really spoil the ending . Right now, 16 volumes are available in the US in English, and they put out a new volume every 3 months. More are available in Japanese, where a new chapter is published every month. Online scanlations (fans scan the Japanese version and then edit in an English translation) are available online up to chapter 83. These fan translations are uneven. Some of them are really, really bad! They're also of dubious legality, since they are reproducing the original artwork without permission. But I do intend to buy them as soon as they are available in English, so I don't feel too badly about that.

One Manga and Manga Fox provide these online scanlations. They are a good way to check out a new series to see if you are interested. But please, don't judge the writing of the real thing on these (often awful) translations!



My Fullmetal Alchemist fanfics can be found HERE. "Haircut" and "Warning Signs" have no spoilers at all; I can't say the same for the others.

[Crucifer]

I believe the reason the Manga and Anime diverge is because they started making the anime after the manga had only been out for a shortish time, so they caught up with the Manga quite quickly. They had to sort of make it up a bit as they went along while they waited for the Manga-ka to draw more.

[MithLuin]

Yes, that is true. They decided to make the anime when only 2 volumes of the manga were out, and I think the third came out before they started on anything. They did talk to the manga-ka, so that some of the characters she hadn't drawn yet show up (accurately) in the anime, and sometimes the direction they decided to take the story matched some of the themes she was setting up. For instance, I think Basque Grand doesn't make an appearance until volume 15 of the manga, which just came out last fall. But it means that the story (including the identity and motives of the chief villain!) are completely different . The moral or point of the anime isn't something I'm necessarily comfortable with, but the manga is great. It isn't over yet, but based on the direction she's taking it in...I think I won't be disappointed.