Teh anime thread

[PANZERCATWAGON]

What? What western animation are you referring to that is better than anime? All I saw was either feature-length animations like Dead Space, or lame kiddy series with nothing but fillers and with incredibly stupid annoying characters. o_O

dude you know what i meant. im just saying that i appreciate the amount of work that went into creating both death note and cowboy bebop and that in my book they stand along side movies like donnie darko and 2001: a space odyssey as being some of my all time favourites

i forgot about akira and metropolis earlier also oh well

[Clawbug]

JAPAN VITTU KAWAIII <33 ^^_____~;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[{LAW} Gamer_2k4]

My biggest problem with anime is its perpetually poor animation.  It can look beautiful (Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) and still be largely static when it comes to animation.  The only anime I've seen that ISN'T like that is Akira.  There's no excuse, either (well, none that doesn't come down to money).  Disney and Warner Brothers have had great animation since the 30s.  Akira was made in 1988.  Don't tell me the technology isn't there.

As for anime in general, most of it just doesn't interest me.  There's nothing inherently special about the medium itself, and, like I think someone else said, most of the plots are boring and generic.  For me, an anime is doing well if I see an episode on TV at random and decide it's worth staying for the whole thing.  My actually looking forward to and following of new releases, sequels, etc. is a rare occurrence afforded to only the best of the best (right now, only two or three animes have that distinction).

[freestyler]

I started watching anime in 2003, my first one (if you don't count Pokemon and other shounens broadcasted on TV) was Azumanga Daioh, then Death Note or Chobits, I don't really remember. And then *poof*, I started watching more and more. I have 261 completed series as of now.

MAL: (click!)

My favorites are Aria and, recently, Angel Beats!. While Aria has no real action, it's one of the most heartwarming series I've seen, surpassing all Ghibli movies combined (I don't really like this studio somehow). AB! has pretty good animation, plot, characters and humor, and the music is awesome. Basically, I'm a moeshit fan.

If any of you liked Death Note, then I suggest watching Code Geass (50 episodes spread over two seasons). Everyone I recommended CG said it's better than DN. You'll just have to get used to stickmen characters (as seen here).

[PANZERCATWAGON]

i did actually try watching code geass but like the title implies it was total ass

[{LAW} Gamer_2k4]

i did actually try watching code geass but like the title implies it was total ass

I kind of like the series, especially the second season, but holy balls do the character designs grind my gears.

[Espadon]

It was a conscious decision to make CG palatable to the widest possible audience -- in the end, that included BL fans.

[VirtualTT]

My biggest problem with anime is its perpetually poor animation.

Dude, you failed... In terms of both animation and drawing style Japan is way ahead of everyone else. Even those low-budget mainstream series are done (and look) way better than average modern western cartoons. They are just on completely different level.

[{LAW} Gamer_2k4]

I agree that a lot of modern western animation looks like garbage.  That doesn't mean that Japanese animation is good, and it's why I provided examples of animation that WAS good.  A Geo might be better than a Yugo, but that doesn't put it at the level of a Ferrari.

Also, remember that I am NOT criticizing the art or the backgrounds or the design or any of that.  My complaint was with the animation and only the animation.

[VirtualTT]

I dunno what are you implying by "largely static" and how this can be considered as poor animation, especially in case of such an action-less anime as suzumia... If you are looking for something not so "static" you can watch Pansto for example (that image on top of this page) - it's an example of unusual and creative approach to animation (and to plot / drawing style as well).

[Espadon]

I think he might be referring to some of the derpier animes that extensively slide a single cel around.

However I believe it's a bit unreasonable to be looking for a "good" medium by those standards though, since anything really good will always make everything else look equally bad. You'd just end up with mediocrity if you want to close the good-bad gap.

[{LAW} Gamer_2k4]

I dunno what are you implying by "largely static" and how this can be considered as poor animation, especially in case of such an action-less anime as suzumia... If you are looking for something not so "static" you can watch Pansto for example (that image on top of this page) - it's an example of unusual and creative approach to animation (and to plot / drawing style as well).

For one, Suzumiya isn't actionless; if it was, I'd toss it on garbage pile of all the other slice-of-life animes.  On of the reasons I like it is because it's such a genre-breaker.

But, that aside, it falls victim to something that a ton of animated works do: singular focus.  One person talks, they get some animation, and the others remain completely still (save for the occasional blink).  No one moves except at distinct points: a shift here, a sigh there, etc.  Maybe someone will have a sudden look of surprise or begin yelling.  Whatever.  The point is, that's not realistic.

You say MHS has an excuse because it doesn't contain action; I say that point of view underlines the problem.  Animation doesn't have to be lacking just because something dramatic isn't happening.  I remember a scene in Akira where a bunch of people were sitting around a table arguing with each other.  Even the people who weren't talking were moving around.  In all the anime I've seen besides that one, people not directly participating in something stay motionless throughout.

Yes, you'll have the bright points here and there.  In the second season of MHS, for example, there were two points where Haruhi had a yelling fit directed at Kyon.  Both times, the animation was above average.  Her whole body was moving, her facial expression was changing, and you could see it playing out like that in real life.  That's great.  It's also the exception to the rule.

In the Evangelion movies, sure, the Eva battles look great (they'd better; they're CGI, which doesn't have the same issues as hand-drawn animation).  But when characters talk, it looks like any other anime.  The character generally stands still, and only their mouth moves.  That's poor animation.  I don't care how sharp the art looks, or how the clouds are moving, or how the wind whips someone's shirt (in a repeating pattern, of course).  The point is, it takes too much time for the studios to do more than a tolerable job animating the characters, and they get away with it because everyone's used to it and thinks that it represents the top tier that animation will ever reach.  You only need to see the exceptions to understand how wrong that is.

[Tekidek]

I started watching One Piece (Baroque Works saga), and i have plans to watch Death Note and Cowboy Bebop 

[ds dude]

Sora no Otoshimoni the MOVIE

YES PLEASE

God I'm gonna like watch it you know and then burn like 10 copies of it.

For real this is gonna be good shit.










I haven't been this exciting since the day I watched my first porno.

[L[0ne]R]

Looking for something "family-appropriate". Miyazaki's movies have been watched many times over and now my family demands something new. Why anime - because they consider western cartoons to be too dumb and violent (I somewhat agree and will also add "unoriginal").
So I'm looking for something that:
1) doesn't have any inapproproate jokes (boob jokes for example)
2) doesn't have blood/gore/lots of violence (some violence and a little bit of blood is fine, like in spirited away, for example)
3) is english- or russian-dubbed

[iDante]

I've seen some that I liked: Geass, Death Note, Bebop, and all of Myazaki being all that I've seen.

I agree that sometimes the animation is bad-ish or lazy, but usually it's not so bad that I can't watch it.

[ds dude]

I'm pretty obsessed about Deadman Wonderland right now. Pretty fucking awesome.

[DarkCrusade]

I recently found an anime called "Ga-Rei Zero". It was so awesome I watched all 12 episodes in 2 days. You guys should definetly check it out!

[Horve]

deadman wonderland is good

[Shard]

I'm watching Chobits atm, I'm really enjoying it. I've seen Claymore, I loved it.