Welp, Bleach is on Netflix instant, I think it's time I work up a good beating arm, grow some zits and watching anime in the basement again, I heard from several sources that it's undeniably awesome.
Bleach is good. You don't need all that other stuff, though. Being overweight combined with ownership of a wolf shirt trumps zits, and frequent masturbation. I guess you could be trumped with a Princess Leia blowup doll, but that's about it.
I watched enough anime when I was younger, and like just about everyone else I pretty much outgrew it. The best series in my opinion (and has been mentioned already) is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I still rewatch it from time to time, it's one of the few series that's permanently saved on my computer. If you're at all interested in anything, check it out. Yeah, Shinji can be a bit of a bitch sometimes, but that's kind of the point.
Elfen Lied is an average-to-above average series with a ton of fanservice - even moreso violence than porn (there's plenty of tits in Lied, but no fucking, meanwhile I think someone loses a limb every other episode) - there are a few great "holy shit surprise" moments, and at 13 episodes its not like it hurts to watch, but it's certainly not an Eva or a Bebop. If you want a really really good (Borderline Bebop level) series that's newer, Bacanno! might be where to start. All you guys getting into Bleach, I'm sorry. (Bleach starts out looking compelling and interesting, but then promptly becomes nothing more than a really boring Dragonball ripoff)
The biggest problem with anime is that so much of it is based off of ongoing mangas so you end up with a very unfinished feeling at the end of a lot of series. I'd probably stop watching all together if I didn't enjoy the medium itself like I do. Even so, the quality of the stuff that's being exported has been going up. There's a ton of really good anime out there of as many genres as you have in live-action shows, but the problem historically is that the creators have (and still have to some extent) a snobbish cultural attitude toward western viewers - many of the shows with complex, interesting themes remain unknown because they think we're too dumb to understand them. The best thing anime has going for it is that most of the shows have a single, overreaching plot arc that spans multiples episodes, if not the entire series. I originally was drawn to anime in the first place because I enjoy stories that play out over that kind of longer timeframe instead of the typical western format of every episode being its own self-contained story.
I find that the length of your typical OVA or series gives a lot of leeway in regards to the pacing of the plot - shorter, more contained stories (like Macross Plus, a 4-episode OVA) and longer character arcs (like Simoun, a 26-episode series) can exist without having to cut or pad too much of the story. I especially like how very few series run on for fucking years and years like Western shows tend to do - it's a lot easier to go back and marathon the show if you don't have to catch up on 9 seasons' worth of plot.
Like others in this thread, I used to be more into anime than I am now and feel that I've 'grown out of' a lot of it. One of my favorite series back in the day was The Vision of Escaflowne. It's kind of like a medieval NGE, but the protagonist isn't such a unlikable pussy. I haven't watched it in years so I'm not sure how well it's held up, but watching this clip brought back fond memories. The music is pretty bad ass too.
You'll be letdown on the rewatch to find it's a very, very girly series. Doesn't have the same kind of mind-fuckery as Eva either If you want a good Adventure/Medieval series, you might want to give Claymore a shot.
One Piece. Just, One Piece. The fact that Bleach and Naruto get more attention(here in the US anyway, yonder in Japan it just recently surpassed Dragonball in most volumes sold ever and it's 10th MASSIVELY outsold one of Miyazaki's films in spite of opening in less theaters). The only knock against it is the fact that at 632 manga chapters and 507 episodes the author is only half way done or so. Still, it's easily one of the greatest Action/Adventure animes ever made(I'm actually being VERY serious since it's likely this WILL go down as the greatest Shonen Adventure Manga/Anime in history). PM me for more info if interested.
One Piece. Just, One Piece. The fact that Bleach and Naruto get more attention(here in the US anyway, yonder in Japan it just recently surpassed Dragonball in most volumes sold ever and it's 10th MASSIVELY outsold one of Miyazaki's films in spite of opening in less theaters). The only knock against it is the fact that at 632 manga chapters and 507 episodes the author is only half way done or so. Still, it's easily one of the greatest Action/Adventure animes ever made(I'm actually being VERY serious since it's likely this WILL go down as the greatest Shonen Adventure Manga/Anime in history). PM me for more info if interested.
I've watched through the first 12 episodes or so of Noir, a 26-episode series about two female assassins. The first is a Corsican by the name of Mirielle Bouquet, who emigrated to Paris and became an assassin after her entire family was killed over a turf war. The second is a young Japanese girl who wakes up one day with no memory, owning nothing but a ID card that lists her name as Yumura Kirika, a musical pocket watch, and a loaded gun that she's amazing with. The only thing she remembers is the word Noir. She's basically Jason Bourne as a schoolgirl, and she's led by some impulse to contact Mirielle. The two team up to become the eponymous assassin team and attempt to uncover their pasts. Spoiler This show actually reminds me a little bit of Cowboy Bebop. For one, the English dub is damn excellent, and the show does a great job of painting its international settings in a believable way. For another, the stylized flashbacks that Bebop uses for its main arc are abundant here - far more so early on, but it gets a little better. The show also follows the one-shot format that Bebop used to set up the characters, but it's more of a slow burn - the mysteries surrounding Mirielle's family and the girl's origins are slowly uncovered, and as the show continues each episode reveals more about the mysterious organization that has set its sights on them both. I go back and forth on how I rate this show so far, almost halfway through - part of me says it's pretty good, around a 7 or so, but certain episodes show flashes of brilliance that could bump it up to a 9 or 10. A lot depends on the second half of the series. I'll come back to this one. On another note, I was wondering how you guys feel about the sub vs. dub debate - watching a series in the original Japanese with subtitles, versus watching a series dubbed in a language you know. I've seen a lot of people around the internet claim dubs are crap and basically laugh off people who recommend the dubbed version of a show. First off, while I would always watch a live action film in the original language, the syncing issues aren't the same - you're basically exchanging one set of voice actors for another. Unless there are major (detrimental) edits made to the English script in order to fit the animation, this shouldn't really be a big issue. Second, there's the cultural argument, that if you're watching a Japanese art-form in another language, you're not really getting the full Japanese experience. I am sympathetic to this for certain shows/genres. For example, I'd never watch anything set in a Japanese setting - say, a Japanese high-school or whatever - in English, even if there was a dub. There's too many subtleties of language and cultural things that go flying by. Name suffixes come to mind - the differences between calling someone "-chan" (friendly) vs. "-kun" (affectionate, diminuitive) vs. "-san" (respectful, elder) is something that plays a big part in understanding certain characters. And that's not even getting into things like the sempai-kohai relationship and similar. Dubbing generally fucks all these things up. So that's a point for subtitles. It can swing the other way, too - some shows have a very Western atmosphere and outlook, and may use many English words. It just feels right to watch these shows in English if they have a good dub. Watching them in Japanese, you get the sense that they weren't really influenced by that market as much as external sources. It kind of feels like watching an old-school samurai movie dubbed into English - you get that same sense of disconnect going the other way. However, one thing that should not be a part of that cultural argument is the argument that you should "watch anime as it was intended to be watched." Well, actually, most anime is intended to be watched by someone who actually understands the language and isn't looking at the bottom of the screen every 3 seconds. So that's kind of facile. The third thing to consider is the effect on your enjoyment and appreciation of the show itself. It should be self-evident that this is the most important factor. For example, Black Lagoon is a show that I recommend everyone see dubbed, even the die-hard subtitle fanatics.* Not only is it an excellent dub, but it's got a lot of profanity. When someone shouts "Fuck!", it hits you a lot better as audio rather than some text on the bottom of the screen. And the voice acting is brilliant. There are other shows where the English voice acting equals or exceeds that of the Japanese, and for the vast majority of people, shows like this will just be appreciated more in English than with subtitles. *Japanese title: Burakku Ragun. Says it all. So with all that said: for me, personally, it depends on the show. The most interesting example for me is probably Planetes: Initially watched it in English, found the dub to be above-average. Found I wasn't really connecting with the characters. Finished the show and found it objectively good but subjectively meh. I should have liked it more than I did. Rewatched an episode in Japanese. Found that I still hated the characters I hated - Tanabe in episode 3, for those of you who have seen it - but found it surprisingly much more endurable. Redownloaded it as a single-audio (Jap) version. There really wasn't anything pointing at the dub as the culprit, but it turned out to be part of the problem anyways. So now I'll start watching the dub, but if I should like something more than I do, I switch over to the Japanese and see if that's the problem. But usually I'll wait till I finish the series - I find you grow attached to the characters' voices in either language. Still, for me, a great dub is miles better than a great sub.
Company whose doing the dubbing, year of the anime release in the states, and like you said the genre all play into it. If it was dubbed before the 90's the dubbing is going to be quite rough(expect name changes and the such), mid 90's and onward the dubbing improves due to the growing popularity of anime and more emphasis being placed on quality(thank DBZ and Sailor Moon for that). The company doing the dubbing is also important. If it was done by Funimation, Pioneer, Geneon, or Bandai then you can expect it to by of high quality. If the anime is more based in a Japanese style setting then it's best to use subs and the opposite for western styled ones(Big O, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, etc.). Keep in mind this isn't a perfect assessment, it's just a hypothesis I've built based on what I've seen.
It's just another crappy shonen series, but with PIRATES! Seriously, you will have seen the plot before. What's that? A scrappy young hero has a great quest to undertake, and through his hard work, determination, deus ex machina, and some older companions that can both serve as mentor figures and as female eye candy will help him along the way? Shit, where have I seen this before. Oh yeah, every shonen series ever. Fuck.
Not to add to the huge fucking nerdgasm on this page, but I prefer subs. The original voices are almost always better, the language is intriguing to the ear. That, and to use Bleach as an example, I'd rather hear "Getsuga Tenshou!" than the English "Howling Moon Semen Explosion Cockbang Attack!"
So am I the only active Hayao Miyazaki groupie in the room? Anyone (anime fan or not) who hasn't seen Porco Rosso and Spirited Away - I really can't recommend them enough.
Porco Rosso and Castle of Cagliostro are probably my favorites of his. I've been meaning to watch Sherlock Hound since he worked quite a bit on that as well, but haven't gotten around to it. It's all on YouTube for those of you interested. I recently got hooked pretty heavily on One Piece. Yeah, it's a premise that's been seen many, many, many, times before, but it pulls it off pretty damn well. Cowboy Bebop's a huge favorite of mine, as the username more than likely indicates. I don't think I've seen anyone recommend Outlaw Star, which is a great show. Somewhat similar premise as Bebop - ragtag group of misfits in space, perpetually broke and always going on interesting missions. Not quite as good as Bebop, but still quite entertaining. One of these days I'll finish Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Death Note. Both are pretty entertaing and worth a watch. And for those of you who enjoy the sword and sorcery/D&D based media, Record of Lodoss War. I've also been working on Gurren Lagann which is such a hilariously over the top show I'd feel remiss if I didn't recommend it as well. A pretty great spoof of the Giant Robo/Mecha genre but also a pretty touching story as well.
Yeah, so the second half is excellent, and the last quarter of the series in particular (episode 20 through the end) is fucking flawless, gold-plated. 9/10.
It should be said that it was years since I saw Noir, but I wasn't impressed. Maybe it's because I came to it from watching Bebop but to me Noir always seemed disjointed. It had all the elements of something that could be great. The animation style, the pacing, the subject matter; it should work, but it just doesn't. What Bebop did best was informing without actually telling. No scene or set up is wasted, it's all there to describe and tell you about the characters but without ever really putting their relationships into words. Seen in that light Noir comes off as style over substance. But perhaps it's due a rewatch, maybe I just didn't get it the first time. Someone mentioned Elfen Lied, a thoroughly average show story wise. There are some kink elements, yes, but if you don't fall into the category that finds such things shocking and innovative you are left with a somewhat basic anime. It's competently done but not exactly innovative. As someone who lost the ability to be surprised by Hollywood when I turned 20, for me anime is all about story and characterization and it's what keeps me coming back for more. To be fair, anime has it's fair share of stereotypes and formulaic story that at first might seem fresh on account of the cultural differences, but if you step a single hour off from prime time, anything seems to go. Japan blew up 20 years ago and now the internet is some kind of thing that you dive into with a diving suit? Sure, why not. Usually the set up is nothing more than a backdrop for people to act the way people do. I guess I'm running the risk of sounding a bit pretentious but rather than presenting the viewer with idealized heroes and relationships, anime explores the human condition. One of the best animes I ever saw started off as a high school love triangle that turned into a slightly boring adult relationship when the boy settled for the second girl after the first girl had an accident and fell into a coma. Naturally, she wakes up a couple of years later. There's the love aspect of course, but mostly it deals with the disappointments of growing up and the drudgery of everyday life and how we idealize the past. If only I could remember the name of the show... A great example of a show that starts in one place and then takes you somewhere completely different is Desert Punk. Sunabozu, the demon of the desert, is a member of a mercenary guild called the Handy Men in a post apocalyptic world. His reputation is second to none, but in person he's clownish and of course, since this is Japan, obsessed with large breasted women. As the show progresses he meets a young girl that wrangles him into making her his apprentice by showing him a photo of a buxom woman she claims to be her mother and promising to introduce them one day. With Sunabozu constantly ridiculing a 10 year old girl for her non existent breasts they're off to confrontations with the world governement and rebels alike. Another thing anime can do really well are shows about nothing. Take Golden Boy for instance. It's a 6 episode OVA about Tatsuya Egawa, a university student that drops out and rides around Japan on his pink bicycle. Each episode he stops somewhere for work, meets a beautiful woman and manages to understand her in a way that no one has before. It's a stupid set up and I should really hate the protagonist, but for some reason it works. Round about the time the women fall in love with our hero and start making some serious sexual advances, he's off for the next place, all the while complaining about how he can never manage to get laid. It's a non story but it's pure fun.
I agree with you on the draw of Bebop being its subtlety. I wouldn't call Noir unsubtle though. I'll tell you what, having finished it and seeing how all the threads come together, it's fantastic. It's a very slow burn to start with, and a lot of the earlier episodes have you wondering what the point is. But from episode 5 on it comes together more and more, and by the end I was checking how much time had gone by so I knew how long the show had to put more plot developments in each episode. It's a level of anticipation I last felt when I watched Simoun, which was also a fantastic show. And it's not spoiling anything to say that Noir has a great, great ending. I gave the show a 9/10. I would rewatch it (maybe try the dub if you didn't before) and see how you like it - whatever you watch after Bebop is bound to disappoint; the same thing happened to me when I watched Planetes right after Bebop - felt kinda "meh" about it due to the timing. I finished Samurai Champloo recently. It's another Shinichiro Watanabe series (Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus), and the name translates to Samurai Remix. As the name implies, it's a great blend of Edo-period Japan with hip-hop culture, graffiti, baseball, and various anachronisms. Basically, this tea-shop girl named Fuu recruits two wandering samurai, Mugen and Jin, to help her find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers," who has some connection to her mysterious past. In fact, there's a lot of mysterious pasts in this show, and half the fun is seeing how they are revealed. Part of the problem I have with this series is the amount of one-shots and episodes that barely factor into the continuity. Certain episodes are just completely forgotten about (the zombie episode and the baseball episode stand out). A lot of the one-shots are just about how broke the crew is; this series takes the Broke Episode to a new level, but it actually feels like a plot point instead of a gimmick. There's also a couple of episodes where Mugen or Jin will get sliced into ribbons and be right back on their feet the next episode, or sometimes by the end of the episode. It's noticeable because it's not something that's generally done throughout the series; the serious tone of the overall plot belies this kind of immersion breaking. Depending on the viewer, the amount of anachronisms might also turn you off. But the overall plot is great - you care about each one of the characters, and there are enough close calls and mortal perils that it keeps you very invested. This series pushes enough of my buttons that I've got to give it high marks. It's got the awesome fluid action scenes that are Watanabe's trademark, pretty good characterization and character development, and a great English dub. There's a TON of characters who only appear once or twice, but somehow the show manages to keep them all distinct and easy to remember. Yeah, they tend to be one-note characters, but they're very distinct ones. There's: the Dutchman who travels to Japan and pretends to be Japanese; Manzo the Saw, a tough-as-nails but incompetent police inspector who is the ultimate straight man (and apparently a thinly veiled parody); a strangely pale man who runs a work camp where no one ever tires of working; and a ton more characters that I can't easily describe without spoiling the episodes. It's very impressive that these characters generally don't blend into each other over the course of 26 episodes. The "villain of the week" never feels that way, and overall the series is a joy to watch, not a chore. Overall: A great show stylistically, but the substance doesn't strive as high as it could, and it doesn't quite have the balls that Cowboy Bebop had. It doesn't feel like it's set in a coherent universe, by design. But it executes its premise wonderfully. 9/10. (It must seem like I'm handing out high scores like candy. All I can say is that I only review the stuff that I think is really worth reviewing. You can see my whole list here.)
I recently watched Azumanga Daioh, variously described as "Seinfeld in high school" or "Peanuts on LSD." You can watch the original web pilot to get a feel for the premise, but all you really need to know is this: OH MY GAH...