Anime

[Albertosaurus Rex]

There's this strange phenomenon that in the west, animation is generally kids' stuff. I recently wrote how much I enjoyed Avatar: The Last Airbender and I still stand by it. That show is awesome. However, while it transcends what kids' tv usually does, at the end of the day, its still a kids' show. (Leading to strange phenomena like surprisingly few on-screen casualties in a world at war.) Any other western animated show is a guilty pleasure to me.

(I recently watched the entire run of W.I.T.C.H. and I enjoyed it much more than I should have. I think 22 year-old guys are really not the target audience for this show. Apparently it's based on a comic book, but Dutch or English translations appear to be unavailable. Too bad, as I'm kinda curious about it. Anyway, like Avatar, W.I.T.C.H. is heavily influenced by anime. Coincidence?)

Which brings me to anime. I finally took the plunge last year and watched an entire anime series. One could argue that I was cheating, though, because what I watched was Gankutsuou, a series based on the French novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Albeit reimagined as science fiction. (I really don't get the point, but whatever...)

It was a revelation to me. Here I was, watching an animated show, which was aimed squarely at adults. Needless to say, this has awkened a new interest in me. I tried watching some other stuff, but haven't really found anything interesting yet. Supposedly Cowboy Bebop is a good show for getting people interested in anime, but it left me cold. Ninja Scroll (the series, not the movie) I found to be just plain weird, and a little gross too. A friend of mine who is much more into anime has recommended Code Geass to me, so I'll be watching that soon.

Does anyone else have a recommendation? Or an experience to share?

[joost]

Stuff I like to watch:

Movies
- All Studio Ghibli stuff
- Ghost in the shell
- The girl who leapt through time
- Vampire hunter D: Bloodlust (much better than the first VHD movie)
- Steamboy
- Akira

Series:
- Haibane Renmei
- Nana
- RahXephon
- Ghost in the shell: Stand alone complex
- Death note

[joost]

I forgot one of the coolest anime's I've ever seen: Serial experiments:Lain.

[Farseer]

Not being a big TV viewer, I have little to contribute here but I have seen many of the most obvious ones, at one time or another, and enjoyed them to varying degrees:

* Avatar: The Last Airbender (I haven't contributed to the other thread because I can't remember enough but, yes, I watched this when it first came out in Australia many years ago and really enjoyed it the times I saw it. In fact, when I first heard that there was to be a movie released called 'Avatar', I thought it was going to be based on the TV series and got rather excited! )

* Robotech

* Pokemon (sad to say, I have even had to play this of late...I stood firm against my sons' obsessions with it all for lots of years but am folding with my daughter's and have even battled with her this week!!!!)

* Digimon

* Yu-Gi-Oh (am still to learn the card game though)

* Dragonball, Drabgonball Z etc

* Astro Boy (loved it growing up!)

* Kimba the White Lion (loved this as a child also!)

* The Mysterious Cities of Gold (as above!)

* Deltora Quest (have bought all available DVDs as I loved the fantasy series of the same name that was written by Emily Rodda)

A paltry list, and all targeted to kids, but there you have it.

I have no qualms viewing anime as an adult though, just as I don't mind admitting to thoroughly enjoying novels targeted to children or youths - a good story is a good story no matter where it is found or what format it is told in.

['thul]

no anime can beat the classical looney tunes...

[redchild]

It's been forever since I've watched any anime but here are some I really recommend:

Movies:
Miyazaki films l've seen that I like: My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart (I think you would like this one, as the protagonist is an aspiring writer like yourself, AR.) Some are very epic, like Mononoke, and Howl's Castle. Others have a more nostalgic sense of childhood and youth.
Satoshi Kon's films are so different from one another: Millenium Actress (a kind of historical fiction/fantasy,) Perfect Blue (a psychological horror,) Tokyo Godfathers (something more lighthearted and Christmasy,) and Paprika (sci-fi on an acid trip)
Akira: very visceral, highly graphic sci-fi

Some series I liked were:
-Fullmetal Alchemist: The anime is somewhat different from its manga source. I thought the manga was a lot better. I stopped reading it at some point, however. Updates were far and few inbetween and I lost interest.
-The Twelve Kingdoms: an epic fantasy set in an alternate medieval East Asian world. I warn you though that the anime never really "finished" as they are based on novels. But it's very good, nonetheless. The world is highly developed and seems kind of like LOTR, but set in China, with a predominantly female perspective, actually.
-Naruto: the series has grown so much its like beating a dead horse. But I was a fan initially. Read the manga if you want to avoid the fillers. It has better artwork anyway.
-Monster: Very, very good psychological thriller series. Setting is early 1990s in Germany. Very long, but very good. It's really good. Whether you watch it or read it...just get to it. It's good.

[Nuytsia]

Ninja Scroll (the series, not the movie) I found to be just plain weird, and a little gross too.

Hahah this is the natural reaction to much Anime in my opinion!!!!!

But hey I liked Cowboy Bebop, but just as a fun bit of entertainment, it's not going to change your life or anything.

Spirited Away was 'just plain weird' !!!! ok it was good, but the giant headed woman and the turnip man freaked me out.

Howl's Moving Castle was pretty good, and I liked Kiki's delivery service.

Death Note started ok but went a bit crazzzzzzyyyy.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I have no qualms viewing anime as an adult though, just as I don't mind admitting to thoroughly enjoying novels targeted to children or youths - a good story is a good story no matter where it is found or what format it is told in.

On some level I agree with you. Good storytelling is good storylelling. It's not like I was watching Teletubbies. Still, I really wouldn't want to explain watching stuff like W.I.T.C.H. to anyone I know IRL. (Except that one friend of mine who went out and bought dvd box sets of Winx Club that he watched with his older brother.)

I've heard Miyzaki's films mentioned before. I'll go check them out some time. To clarify on Ninja Scroll: I had heard that Ninja Scroll was highly regarded. Only later did I find out that it's the movie that is so highly regarded and not the series that I found. Apparently they're not even directly related to each other, just share some underlying ideas and a few character names.

[joost]

Of Ghibli(/Miyazaki)'s movies, I like Kiki's delivery service, Ponyo, Only yesterday and Howl's moving castle the most. Grave of the fireflies is also brilliant, but very very dark for an anime (it's about a boy and a girl during WWII in Japan). Castle of Cagliostro (although not officially a Ghibli movie) is very funny too.

I forgot to mention Paprika, I really like that movie, although I agree it's a bit trippy from time to time. If you like Paprika, you should definitely check out Serial Experiments: Lain, Redchild. Paprika reminded me of SE:L from time to time (both dealing with alternate realities, SE:L about virtual reality, Paprika about the dreamworld).

[redchild]

On some level I agree with you. Good storytelling is good storylelling. It's not like I was watching Teletubbies.

You don't want to know what that sort of things the teletubby does with his bag? Or what kind of goop they ate for breakfast? It's very deep stuff.

Grave of the fireflies is also brilliant, but very very dark for an anime (it's about a boy and a girl during WWII in Japan).

I forgot about that one. If you're prone to cry during sad movies, you're bound to be bawling at the end of the movie. I wouldn't say it's very dark, but brutally realistic.

I'll look into SE:L sometime.