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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
| The Greatest and Classic Japanimations |
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Please suggest the best Japanimations (based on the quality in story, theme, technical, directing, etc).
Based on some suggestions by film critics and reviewers, i bought several Japanimation DVD titles:
- Akira (1988)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- Spirited Away (2001)
And indeed, except Princess Mononoke (i haven't watch yet) all are very good or excellent movies. Those are not regular Japanimations you saw on T.V such as Pokemon. They have depth and intelligent storyline, complex and sophisticated themes (thus suitable for mature audience, but some still watchable for children), memorable characters, and contribute considerably in term of technical achievements.
If you watch Ghost in the Shell, you'll find that The Matrix series actually borrowed few elements from that film. This film is not some cutesy and sugary cartoon from Disney, it uses some film noir visuals to portray our future society, which already deeply depend on cybernetics and nanotechnology. Its characters talk about the nature of human and cyborg or some other abstract concepts, with political intrigue (some similarity to the Deus Ex universe). Technically, the film also successfully combining traditional cel animation with the CGI to present some very nice scenes. It's the most impressive Japanimation i have seen so far.
Couple years ago i'm disappointed by Final fantasy: The Spirit Within. It got pretty graphics but mediocre or uninspiring in term of plot, theme, etc. Another animation in the same league is Wonderful Days, a big budget film from South Korea. If you're looking for impressive graphics and nice sound effects, then buy it. Otherwise, it's no worth your money to buy a DVD version for collection.
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 6:09 am |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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"Japanimations"? That's a new one to me. I thought they were called animes.
And, Wonderful Days was pretty darn excellent in terms of characters and plot.
Anyway, a few other good ones are:
Nausicaa of the valley of the wind
Grave of the fireflies
Spirited Away
Porcor Rosso
And, unlike Akira and Ghost in the Shell, those are NOT based on mangas, and thus not as hard to get into (Ghost in the Shell was horribly geared to the manga readers, and very quirky to someone new to the concept). |
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:23 am |
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Jaz
Late Night Spook
Joined: 20 Jan 2002
Posts: 9708
Location: RPGDot |
Well, they cut Ghost in the Shell down to size for the movie, taking just one of the plots of the manga (which has several episodes), and streamlining it a bit by getting rid of side characters.
My personal favorites would be Ghost in the Shell, Cyber City Oedo (especially part 2) and Monster City.
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Jaz |
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 8:16 am |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell inherited many of their ideas from William Gibson's Neuromancer; (especially in the case of the Matrix, most of its ideas came from Neuromancer--almost to the point where I'd say the franchise steals Gibson's ideas with serious IP infringement). (In Neuromancer, hackers plug into the "Matrix" of the future, heavy Asian influence, such as Molly, the street-samurai with razors beneath her nails, Buddhism, Christianity, philosophy, and even Jamaicans in Zion get mentioned, etc.) Published in '81 or '82, long before the Matrix or Ghost in the Shell, and helped start or build up the "cyberpunk" movement. I enjoyed Ghost in the Shell, even if it didn't realize its potential. Its biggest problem is that it never dwells on or explores further the issues brought up. Mamoru Oshii made up for it in some of his other films.
Anything by Miyazaki is great. His animated movies appeal to all ages and so many different backgrounds, yet he never needs to compromise his stories or quality. I think it's a sign, a miracle if you will, that I could take my father, who's 50, to watch Spirited Away and have him enjoy it...and talk about it later.
I thought Lain: Serial Experiments was good. Confusing, abstract, disjointed...but I liked it.
My number one favorite at the moment is Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. It's a political thriller driven by a thick plot and punctuated by some incredible action sequences. Unpredictable, sad, and lonely--yet a masterpiece. Without a doubt, Mamoru Oshii's best film. Shame more people haven't seen it. I highly recommend it to anime afficionados who believe story is everything. It's hard to find a more plot-driven anime than this one. And it has unforgettable music. If you liked Grave of the Fireflies, you'll probably like Jin-Roh.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:50 am |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
Just saw Princess Mononoke and WOW, it is excellent movie if not a masterpiece. It have strong story and i am glad that it's NOT just another "Good vs Evil" theme. It's an epic, with very nice and beautifully done music (i love the movie's theme song). Probably even more interesting than the Spirited Away by Miyazaki.
@Namirrha: Thanks for suggestion for the Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. I will checking further...
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 3:16 pm |
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Rattlesnake
Village Dweller
Joined: 09 Nov 2003
Posts: 12
Location: On top of spaghetti |
I'd just like to thank you for using the correct term for so-called "animes." Calling the style Japanimations distinguishes it from the cheap American crap that's produced, and helps in arguments against self-declared "otakus" (a Japanese word meaning, basically, "loser" or "guy with no life," though the otakus don't know it.)
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<Guo_Si> Hey, you know what sucks?
<TheXPhial> vaccuums
<Guo_Si> Hey, you know what sucks in a metaphorical sense?
<TheXPhial> black holes
<Guo_Si> Hey, you know what just isn't cool?
<TheXPhial> lava?
Bash |
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:41 pm |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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Heh, correct term? Uh... yeah, we all know that's what the japaneese call it, right? 
And, what western animes? Do they call it "Disney animes" or something? |
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 8:42 pm |
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Rattlesnake
Village Dweller
Joined: 09 Nov 2003
Posts: 12
Location: On top of spaghetti |
Probably whatever's Japanese for "retarded."
_________________
<Guo_Si> Hey, you know what sucks?
<TheXPhial> vaccuums
<Guo_Si> Hey, you know what sucks in a metaphorical sense?
<TheXPhial> black holes
<Guo_Si> Hey, you know what just isn't cool?
<TheXPhial> lava?
Bash |
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Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:29 pm |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
@Remus: All of the ones you mentioned are great. You might also want to check out Castle in the Sky from Miyazaki. It's more a kid film, but still enjoyable for adults. I loved the pirates. 
Perfect Blue isn't bad. You might want to check that one out. It was good enough to convince me to pick up it's director's next flick, Millennium Actress. I'll let you know if I thinks it's any good after watching it.
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Freeeeeeedom! Thank heavens it's summer!
What do I have to show for my hard work? A piece of paper! Wee!
=Guardian, Moderator, UltimaDot Newshound=  |
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Mon Nov 17, 2003 2:10 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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I know it's a 'classic' but I really didn't like Akira much. It was ok, but I've seen ones I liked better.
If you want cutting edge graphics in an Anime, check out Macross Zero. Woah.
Princess Mononoke is one of my favorites, no doubt about it. I also liked Valley of the Winds and Castle in the Sky. I haven't seen Spirited Away yet.
Ghost in the Shell was... well... interesting. The movie looked like it was a series hacked down to movie size but I'd never followed up on that suspicion. I love cybertechnology and such so the movie was right up my alley.
And while William Gibson did coin the name Matrix (as well as many other buzzwords) to describe a world wide network where users directly plugged their consciousness in to an artificial world of constructs and symbolism... it's really not much like the movie The Matrix (save in name). The RPG Shadowrun (my favorite, ever) is the one that ran with that concept, buying the rights to many of Gibson's elements.
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Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Nov 17, 2003 12:44 pm |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
Princess Mononoke - beyong good and evil.
Watching this movie made me think of another movie: The Red thin Line. Similarity in the theme i guess. Lady Eboshi (leader of Iron Town), San (protector of Forest) really didn't represent a clear-cut good vs evil characters.
Anyone remember the monologues during the opening scenes of The Red Thin Line?. The protagonist muttering about strange manners, mysterious and paradoxical circumstances of the nature?. Those scenes showing a beautiful greenery, peaceful forest, with all its living harmoniously in their own ecosystem. We also shown to the life of an indigenous people in their carefree existence, with children laughing and singing.
But if we take a closer look at the beautiful greenery and peaceful forest, we'll also can see the cruelty in nature. Nature never protect the weaks, but only gives advantages to the stronger one, and plants always competing to get more sunlight or food through various
means. And while the indigenous people live their carefree lives, sooner or later you'll see petty quarrels among them, just as their childrens now are crying and diseased.
What is bad/evil and what's good?. Where it begin and where it end?. Only a thin line between them?. Or there is no bad/evil and good, but ony chaos and amoral/unmoral (not subject to morality)?. Or both evil and good exist together in nature and human, simply unseparated?. Or we're asking the wrong questions?.
BTW; Music/Theme song - beautiful, etheral. Some similarity to music by Enya, and maybe Gregorian, too; Except of course, it's by Joe Hisaishi.
Theme song lyrics.
In the moonlight
I felt your heart
Quiver like
A bowstring's pulse
In the moon's mere light
You looked at me
Nobody knows your heart
When the sun has gone
I see you
Beautiful and haunting
But cold
Like the blade of a knife
So sharp, so sweet
Nobody knows your heart
All of your sorrow
Grief and pain
Locked away
In the forest of the night
your secret heart
Belongs to the world
Of the things
That sigh in the dark.
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Mon Dec 01, 2003 12:04 pm |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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quote:
Princess Mononoke - beyong good and evil.
Watching this movie made me think of another movie: The Red thin Line. Similarity in the theme i guess. Lady Eboshi (leader of Iron Town), San (protector of Forest) really didn't represent a clear-cut good vs evil characters.
Even though they don't represent good or evil (even though Eboshi is clearly more evil than good) the main character was a bona-fide' good guy. The priest/monk was clearly "bad".
No use trying to see things that aren't there. Peace is the main thing here.
Furthermore, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door > all.
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Like some bold seer in a trance;
Seeing all his own mischance |
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Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:49 pm |
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Secret Agent Lawanda
The last thing you see...
Joined: 23 Oct 2003
Posts: 1041
Location: World of Darkness (LA) |
@Hexy: I totally agree.
@Remus: Glad you enjoyed the movie!
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Moderator of The Anime and Manga Fan Club |
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Tue Dec 02, 2003 12:58 am |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
No, i don't see that way. At least in comparison to some fantasy movies like LOTR series, and many other action films.
The monk isn't clearly bad, only at the end of the film he seem rather evil, but never totally evil. Same with Lady Eboshi. And i also didn't see Ashitaka as bona fide' good guy. I see him more like a neutral character - he tries to prevent war and didn't want anyone hurt: the monk, Lady Eboshi or San or anyone else. If you want further explanation, refer to an article by Roger Ebert at Chicago Sun-Times.
But then again, of course, you can make your own interpretation about the movie.
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The other potential films that i'm looking forward to:
- Grave of the Fireflies
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Castle in the Sky
- Whisper of the heart
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Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:38 am |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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Yeah, Ashitaka isn't the kind of hero who kills spiders to save butterflies, right (know what I mean? know what I mean? Say no more! nudge, nudge)?
I think being courteous and friendly with everyone, trying to save them all is way more goody-two-shoe... ish than doing a hack'n'slash style approach.
Advice: save some time and don't see My Neighbour Totoro. It's sooo overhyped. It's just a sort of Disney style kiddie movie. Even Kiki's Delivery Service is better.
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Like some bold seer in a trance;
Seeing all his own mischance |
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Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:44 am |
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