Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 09 Aug 2015, 11:03

Ha, no, see, Grave of the Fireflies looks to be a lot more my kind of thing than Nausica. Part of my difficulty is that my tastes tend not to line up very well with what is considered "universal." :P
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 09 Aug 2015, 11:05

Heather:

Oh, hey, I'm glad you got an interesting conversation out of this, at least.

I've finally managed to get Bell to fix my DSL connection, so I'm going to be able to start checking these things out, soon. I'm looking forward to it. Once I've watched a few, I'll check back in here with my impressions.

Thanks again for your help! (That goes for everyone in this thread, too, by the way)
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Elomin Sha » 09 Aug 2015, 13:59

No spoilers but you better be emotionally ready for Grave of the Fireflies.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Darkflame » 09 Aug 2015, 14:09

Yeah, that was more my point. So I meant universal in terms of mood, not person.
Didn't explain that very well.

Nausica, incidentally, I listed as its considerably less fantasy/more serious then Spirited Away, Howls Moving Castle, Castle in the Sky etc.
(that is less "magically fantasy" as apposed to "post-post apocalyptic environment where the wildlife has all gone funny" fantasy)
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 19 Aug 2015, 17:49

Well, I finally got around to watching something. I finished The Wind Rises about five minutes ago, actually. I thought it was an absolutely lovely film. It's exactly what I was looking for. Even the fantastical elements were to my taste - understated, metaphorical, almost magical realist. Not high fantasy and magic, in other words.

All in all, I was very impressed. I think it was a good start for me, and I'm looking forward to other similar stuff.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby MetricFurlong » 20 Aug 2015, 15:49

Arclight_Dynamo wrote:
Well, generally, I like things with good plots, good characters, and good arcs. I'll put up with anything for a good story, well-told. Even the stuff up there that I said I don't like.

I do find this line somewhat ironic, given how you've responded to essentially everything not suggested by someone from the LRR crew :P



Darkflame wrote:Watch Dennou Coil, its short, fun, creative and very accessible. Its a fairly "small" story (in both meanings), but I liked it a lot. VERY realistic near future too imho. Everyone has AR specs, but other then that its just present day setting.

Only 1 season and it all wraps up.
Not many people seem to have seen it sadly.

It was never officially released outside of Japan, which might have something to do with it.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Tapir12 » 20 Aug 2015, 16:02

OK, I'm getting a better sense now of what you are looking for, so allow me to try again. I know you have a list already (and some great selections there), but I have a couple more suggestions.

If you are looking for another Ghibli movie to try, I would suggest Only Yesterday. It's not one of the more famous or popular Ghiblis, but I really like it. It's about a woman who lives in Tokyo who goes to work on a farm during her summer vacation. While she's there she reflects back on several episodes that occurred when she was 8 years old that helped shape who she is today. It's fairly slow and more personal than The Wind Rises, so you won't get the politics, though it does illustrate some aspects of Japanese culture in the 1960s. This film is by Takahata, the major Ghibli director, other than Miyazaki. Takahata also did Grave of the Fireflies. [Trailer]

If you want to try a non-Ghibli film, I would back Heather's recommendation of Millennium Actress. You have Perfect Blue on your list already, which is by the same director, so try that one first if you want. Millennium Actress is a little less intense than Perfect Blue but features some excellent directing, a gorgeous soundtrack and a wonderful exploration of Japanese history and cinema. It's about an aging actress who tells her life story through remembering the movies she starred in. It has a little more comedy than Perfect Blue, but it's in the background. Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller (with at least one very disturbing scene), where Millennium Actress is more a beautiful celebration of art and life. Both are amazing films. [Trailer]

Back to series, I didn't suggest this one before because of it's length, but Beej mentioned it, so here goes. At over 70 episodes, Monster is a big commitment, but it might be a really good fit for you. It's about a Japanese doctor working in Germany in the 90s. One night he has to choose between saving a young boy or the mayor of the city, and he chooses the boy. He suffers professionally for this choice, which is bad enough, until several years later when the boy re-enters his life in an unexpected way. He's a serial killer and when the doctor is framed for one of his murders, he goes into hiding and tries to catch the boy himself. It plays a lot with the history of central and eastern Europe during the 90s. The story goes from Germany to Czechoslovakia and involves a huge cast of different characters. It's broken up into several story arcs that add more complexity to the tale. It does take about 10 episodes to get going, so you have to give it a little time, but the writing is fantastic and it's one of my favorite all time anime. [Trailer]

(Master Keaton, suggested by Beej, is by the same author, and is also good, though not quite as complex as Monster. It is shorter though, and more episodic.)

Lastly, a new suggestion. Planetes is kind of a sci-fi slice of life. It takes place in the future when humanity is living on the moon and traveling to Mars. With so much space travel, the debris from old ships and satellites now poses a real threat. Our main cast are space garbage collectors, gathering the debris before it causes an accident. Their department is underfunded and it's not exactly the jobs they had dreamed of. One of the characters dreams of being selected for the Jupiter exploration team. The first half of the series is a little lighter and the second half gets more serious, but it treats space exploration in a very realistic manner and has some politics mixed into the story. It's 26 episodes. [Trailer]

I hope I'm closer to the mark this time!
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 20 Aug 2015, 18:26

Tapir12:

Oh, Only Yesterday looks quite good. And I'm pretty well sold on any Ghibli film at this point. I'll absolutely give it a watch, though I think I want to make Grave of the Fireflies the next one of theirs that I take a look at.

I also took a look at Millennium Actress, and already have it on my list, so... good recommendation, there. :P

I am going to ask you to tell me something about Perfect Blue, though... you say there's a disturbing sequence in it. Given that, as I understand it, the plot has to do with a stalker, could you tell me, yes or no, if the scene you're talking about contains sexual violence? I, uh, can't watch that sort of thing. At all. I need a trigger warning for it.

Monster I had a peek at... I'm not sure about it. The synopsis I read left me flat (it seemed, I dunno, generic?), but the clips I've looked at seem maybe interesting. Could you give me a bit more to go on with this one? Tell me why you're suggesting it?

Planetes I'd heard of before, and even remember looking into a bit. I also remember deciding against it... though, for the life of me, I can't recall why. I think I may have conflated it with Star Blazers, somehow. The combination of the two was... off-putting. Thanks for having me take a second look - now that I've got what it actually is straight, it seems like something I'd enjoy. Whoops. :lol:

Also... yep. You seem to be doing a bang-up job of dialing in on my tastes. Thanks!
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby MetricFurlong » 20 Aug 2015, 19:46

Arclight_Dynamo wrote:I am going to ask you to tell me something about Perfect Blue, though... you say there's a disturbing sequence in it. Given that, as I understand it, the plot has to do with a stalker, could you tell me, yes or no, if the scene you're talking about contains sexual violence? I, uh, can't watch that sort of thing. At all. I need a trigger warning for it.


It does, yes.
Monster I had a peek at... I'm not sure about it. The synopsis I read left me flat (it seemed, I dunno, generic?), but the clips I've looked at seem maybe interesting. Could you give me a bit more to go on with this one? Tell me why you're suggesting it?

I would imagine he's suggesting it because Monster is one of more critically acclaimed series out there. That it's often held-up as exemplary in its overall quality and competence in writing.

This is similar to the reasons most of the series so far suggested have been mentioned. You asked for intelligent, well-executed works and you got that. My knowledge of anime may not be not encyclopaedic (about 110-120 works seen to completion, similar amount watched and either abandoned/dropped), but it's enough to recognise that just about everything that's been put forward, even the things I don't particularly care for, falls within this area.

But you don't seem to trust that people are capable of suggesting those sort of works. You seem to be trying to resist every suggestion that hasn't come from Beej. Even the few you haven't dismissed out of hand due surface details, you sound like you're only taking them on board reluctantly. It looks almost like you're approaching this as a challenge, that people need to hard sell you on things rather than just suggest them.


Maybe that's an incorrect reading, and this is just how you approach things generally. I don't know you after all, so I can't tell.
What I do know though is that you would be best using your time by watching the first episode or two and decide based on those whether it would be worth sticking with that series. Maybe run the series things through one of the larger anime review sites if you're unconvinced that it might have some merit to it

Yes, this would mean stepping outside your comfort zone. You cannot avoid doing that if you're trying to get acquainted with a genre or medium you know nothing about. But you if you're actually interested you will need to start watching things, and doing that will be a much better use of your time than typing hundreds of words about how you want to watch things and then hundreds more about how you're not going to watch most of the individual suggestions that fit the criteria established in your first post.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Tapir12 » 20 Aug 2015, 20:15

Perfect Blue is quite graphic in terms of violence and yes, it does have one scene of sexual violence. As much as I admire the movie for so many other aspects, I've never been able to quite enjoy watching it because of that.

For me, what really makes Monster work is the characters. They are all really well written and well developed. The Japanese doctor, Tenma, is the heart of the series. He's a doctor, and his whole purpose is to save lives, yet he is thrown into this whirlwind of death and finds himself hunting someone himself. The conflict he faces about what he feels he has to do is really well done. Another example would be his fiance, who you meet at the beginning of the series. At first she seems like your stereotypical awful person but as the series develops she goes through a surprising character arc and really grows. There's a lot of other characters that Tenma meets along the way as well who are compelling and endearing. The plot is also one of those stories that reveals itself very slowly and purposefully. There's a lot going on that the characters have no clue about until later in the series. The villain is super creepy, but kind of fascinating at the same time in the way he manipulates people.

I suggested it because it's a serious drama with no silly antics, but a very well written and planned out plot with great characters. It's a psychological thriller, which seemed to interest you. There is violence, but it is generally not too graphic, except one short torture scene (if I recall correctly, it's been a while since I watched it). It isn't any worse than what you would see on TV is a show like CSI or 24 or something.

EDIT: I wrote this before I saw the above response. I do agree that it would be best to just give something a try.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 20 Aug 2015, 21:53

MetricFurlong:

Well, I seem to have irritated you. I'm sorry; that's not my intent.

You're right to say that this is going to involve stepping out of my comfort zone. Thing is, I'm not good at stepping out of my comfort zone. This is me genuinely trying to do that. That's why I seem resistant; I am. This isn't easy for me. Maybe that seems silly, but it's true.

I honestly don't know what to say, here.

If it helps at all, I've absolutely not dismissed anything out of hand. I've read up on, and watched clips of, every suggestion that has been made in this thread. Yes, even the ones Beej and Heather suggested. About half of Beej's and Heather's suggestions are things I've decided aren't for me. And some of the suggestions from others in the thread were things I didn't think I was interested in, but became interested in after looking into them.

But... yeah. I've seriously considered everything that's been sent my way. Maybe it seems like I'm only looking at "surface details," but those things are all important to me. I want to make sure that I can have a solid base well within my comfort zone that I can slowly venture out from. Jumping into the deep end doesn't work terribly well for me.

So... I'm confused. I have no idea what to tell you.

I honestly thought this thread was going well. I'd narrowed things down to a list of stuff I'd like to watch. I even really enjoyed the first thing on that list that I decided to watch. I thought this was a good start.

:(
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby MetricFurlong » 21 Aug 2015, 02:45

Arclight_Dynamo wrote:MetricFurlong:

Well, I seem to have irritated you. I'm sorry; that's not my intent.

You're right to say that this is going to involve stepping out of my comfort zone. Thing is, I'm not good at stepping out of my comfort zone. This is me genuinely trying to do that. That's why I seem resistant; I am. This isn't easy for me. Maybe that seems silly, but it's true.

I honestly don't know what to say, here.


You don't have to say anything; you don't need to tell me anything.

That's my point. It seems you're spending long enough going over every reasons not to watch anything, that you could have just watched the first episode of any given series instead - something which, incidentally, would typically give the best indication of whether a series is going to be interesting for you or not. You're in Canada, you have access to probably the largest array of legal, free streaming options outside of the USA.

But... yeah. I've seriously considered everything that's been sent my way. Maybe it seems like I'm only looking at "surface details," but those things are all important to me. I want to make sure that I can have a solid base well within my comfort zone that I can slowly venture out from. Jumping into the deep end doesn't work terribly well for me.

Fair enough, but that really isn't "I will put up with anything for a good story, well told". In fact that statement does not gel with the above quote; nor does it fit with a good chunk of your rejections.

The thing is, for how much time you clearly spent on the first post, it seems to have contained little that's particularly useful to what you want.
I can recommend things that are exactly what you're asking for in the opening post; I know people online and offline who can suggest the things you're asking for in the opening post; almost everyone so far in this thread has suggested things you're asking for in the opening post.

The problem is you don't actually want what that post is asking for. What you want is a narrow list of things, and to avoid anything that deviates from those even on a surface level.
That might work for you perfectly fine, and if it does then more power to you, but it's difficult for someone who might want to recommend things to run into this attitude with no warning. Unfortunately, that's exactly what most of this thread has been.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Moussefilledkitten » 21 Aug 2015, 09:03

I do have a recommendation after this, but I think I want to comment on the recent discussion.

I think what it boils down to is, from what I've read, people are giving suggestions as to what they think fulfills your requirements and some of the responses are essentially, "Thanks, but I don't want to watch something with x" where x is something that violates your requirements (spiritualism, giant robots, etc.) which seems to contradict your earlier statement that your willing to watch anything with a good story even if it has some of those things you don't like. That's at least the impression that I'm sometimes getting.

However, if you say you are watching some clips and that's what you are basing your judgement on, then that's another story. Though I will say that sometimes a clip won't always give you a good representation of a show. Like basing your opinion of DS9 from a clip of a really bad episode, for example. Granted, you are trying to go through a lot of information and for your own sanity clips and wikipedia is probably the best way to go about it. I also understand just not liking something even though others insist it's great. I have a lot of friends who really love Seinfeld. I can't stand it, saw one episode and decided it wasn't for me and I can't even explain it. So I get it if something is just not something you like. On the other hand, those clips you gave at the start, with the excessive anime-ish stuff, are also things I don't like. I tend to find it off-putting. What amuses me is that one of those clips came from one of my favorite series (and the other from an earlier versions of that series, I think, anime is confusing, isn't it :) ) an almost steam-punk action-adventure where the magic system is very science based which really appeals to me, but I don't think is what you are looking for. I am willing to overlook those things in the clips because I enjoy the story enough and those anime-ish thing are conventions of the genre that I just force myself to overlook.

Another point I want to make is that anime is very much a form of entertainment that is made by a culture that is not western culture. In my experience, in western entertainment, something is either very down to earth and mundane or very very fantasy/magical/mystical. Obviously there are some exceptions (urban fantasy, etc.) In anime, there is a much greater mixing of the spiritual/fantastical and the mundane, and I believe it's because of the cultural differences between Japan and the western world. So there are a lot of stories that have a touch of magic and fantasy elements in them, but aren't truly what I would call fantasy stories as you saw with The Wind Rises.

Similarly, I've seen well done anime where giant mecha are used as an allegory for nuclear weapons (which obviously has significance in Japan) and I've seen anime where giant mecha are just put in because it wants to appeal to teenagers. For example Gundam 0080, an older anime, has giant robots in it but it's really a six episode story about a young boy learning about and realizing the horrors of war (I'm not necessarily recommending it as a starting anime, but I'm using it to illustrate a point) and is not using giant robots the same way Transformers does. On the flip side there are plenty of anime that do just use it because action sequences appeal to the masses.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you aren't going to get a "perfect" recommendation and you need to decide whether or not the stuff that puts you off about it is enough to just not make you able to watch it, which is absolutely a legitimate stance to take, or whether the story is good enough to overlook those things and you might not be able to determine that by just watching some clips.

So, my recommendation is, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". On the surface, it's story about a girl who gains the ability to move backwards in time. In reality, it's a very well done coming of age story that happens to use a fantasy/science fiction element to tell that story (see the above discussion about the magical intersecting with the mundane in anime) and has her doing what most teenage girls would do with it like relive an awesome day or avoid an awkward phone call. It's not a comedy (it's described as a science fiction/romance though the only science fiction part is that ability and the romance seemed pretty light to me), though it does have comedic elements in it like many modern movies and sometimes plays the time travel for laughs. I have no idea if this type of movie would appeal to you at all, but I figured I'd through it out there.

Thanks for suffering through my amateur analysis and abuse of parenthesis.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 21 Aug 2015, 10:30

See... I think part of my problem is that I don't see a contradiction between saying there are certain elements I don't like, but that I'll watch something with those elements in it if it has what I consider a good story. It's just that an anime needs to have something going for it that will overcome the things I don't care for. Sometimes, it won't be able to overcome them; unfortunately, that's an entirely subjective thing. That's what I meant when I said "I'll put up with anything for a good story, well-told."

For example, I don't like giant robots. But an anime with mecha as an allegory for nuclear weapons, like you mentioned? I'm immediately interested. But I need that little bit of information to become interested. That's what overcomes the elements I generally don't like. Frankly... it's that sort of information that I was hoping to get. It's what I was asking about when I asked Tapir12 why they recommended Monster.

That's what I thought I was saying with the phrase that seems to have irked people. It's what I meant to say, at any rate. Obviously I wasn't clear, and I'm sorry that by being unclear I've annoyed people. That was the last thing I wanted to do.

Maybe I'm just digging my hole deeper with this.

I don't know why, but trying to get into anime has been exceedingly difficult for me. It's well, well outside my comfort zone for some reason. I've been trying to not let that cause me to unintentionally come across like an asshole. That's why the first post was so long, by the way - I was trying to explain where I was coming from on this, and why it's hard for me.

Apparently I've not succeeded.

:(

Edited to add:

I don't much care about anime at the moment. I just want to not be a jerk.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby MetricFurlong » 21 Aug 2015, 12:36

Arclight_Dynamo wrote:See... I think part of my problem is that I don't see a contradiction between saying there are certain elements I don't like, but that I'll watch something with those elements in it if it has what I consider a good story.

It's just that an anime needs to have something going for it that will overcome the things I don't care for. Sometimes, it won't be able to overcome them; unfortunately, that's an entirely subjective thing. That's what I meant when I said "I'll put up with anything for a good story, well-told."


To me, the statement "I will watch anything with a good story well-told" is one that's indicative of a broad-minded attitude. An openness to trying unfamiliar things, willing to broaden one's own horizons. Every time I've seen someone genuinely express that sentiment, that is the attitude they have had.

You yourself have stated that this is not how you approach things.

Maybe it's just a case of each of us have different connotations for that phrase, but from how I'd read that, it's at odds with being very reluctant to leave one's own comfort zone. Its presence would mean something along the lines of "Having listed those things I'm not a fan, I'm still fairly open to trying things anyway as long as they're good".
This does not appear to have been what you meant, however.

For example, I don't like giant robots. But an anime with mecha as an allegory for nuclear weapons, like you mentioned? I'm immediately interested. But I need that little bit of information to become interested. That's what overcomes the elements I generally don't like. Frankly... it's that sort of information that I was hoping to get. It's what I was asking about when I asked Tapir12 why they recommended Monster.

And here we have the heart of the problem.
In a lot of cases this reads not so much as asking people for suggestions as it does challenging them to try and make you interested in things. The problem here is that your opening post doesn't give any real indication of this; in fact it looked like a fairly open call for suggestions. It wasn't until your first rounds of responses that it became clear this was not the case.

I don't begrudge for being that way inclined; if that's how you are then that's how you are, and I'm not bothered if you end-up not watching any specific good work because of that.
The problem is that you gave basically no indication that this was going to be an issue in your first post. Since it's now pretty obvious this is the biggest hurdle anyone who wants to give you suggestions needs to overcome, I think that may not have worked.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 21 Aug 2015, 18:17

Look, it's clear we both have different expectations for this thread. That's in very large part my fault; I was evidently not actually saying what I thought I was saying in the initial post. If I had, there would be no issue. I've apologized for that. I'll do it again now: I'm sorry. I should have been clearer. That's my fault.

It's partly that we simply understand things differently. We don't see the "good story, well told" line the same way. I don't see any contradiction between genuinely meaning that and wanting to choose which shows or films I actually watch. You may disagree. That's fine. And I can understand your perspective on it, and where difficulty could arise from mismatched expectations.

I also want to make clear that I'm in no way "challenging" people to make me interested in things. I believe you when you say that's how you interpreted this thread, but that was absolutely not my intent. I just wanted to know why people were interested in what they were recommending, so I could have more information to judge the anime on. If I came across as insulting or challenging or whatever else, I'll apologize for that, too. It was absolutely not my intent to do that; I'm sorry if I came across like that.

I really didn't want this to become a thing. I didn't want to argue with anyone, or annoy anyone, or rub anyone the wrong way. Obviously, I screwed that up, somehow. I didn't think I had, but apparently I did. I've annoyed you. I'm sorry for that, too. But I don't know what else you want from me.

:(
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Tapir12 » 21 Aug 2015, 18:48

Guys, I'm not sure this is worth getting into an argument over. Yes, perhaps the original post was a bit misleading and caused some frustration, but it's been pointed out. Can we move on and get back to talking about anime now?
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 21 Aug 2015, 20:41

I'd like that.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Moussefilledkitten » 22 Aug 2015, 06:33

Sounds good.

A lot of people all ready recommended what I would mention, so these might appeal to you less or might be better once you've gotten into the media.

Recommendations:

I would really second (third? fourth?) the rec for Cowboy Bebop. I can't say more about it than what's all ready been said, to be honest. I only worry that now it will have such high expectations for it.

Wolf Children: A story about a woman who falls in love with a werewolf who dies and she's left to raise their children on her own. It's about her struggle to raise children of two worlds and some of the problems therein (such as dealing with social workers because she can't take them in for vaccinations) and about the children trying to make a decision about whether to live as wolves or humans. The supernatural elements are there to set up the conflict above, but they are not the central theme/point of the story.

Monster: I again agree with other peoples recs. Tapir12 had a good explanation of why I think it's good.

Planetes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetes - The wikipedia description is pretty good. I like it because it really tries to get the science correct and I think the character development is very good. It starts off being about a group of people who clean up debris in space and goes on to be about one of the characters trying to get accepted for a mission to Jupiter. There are also some political issues revolving around tensions between first world and third world countries.

Jih-Roh: The Wolf Brigade: It's very cynical about politics, which I like. It's a grim anime, don't expect a nice happy ending. It can be slow paced at times and be aware that it's older (1999) so the art style may look dated. Wikipedia description - "The film follows Kazuki Fuse, a member of a special police unit during the alternate history 1950s Japanese riots. Failing to follow an order to execute a frightened young girl only to see her commit suicide by detonating an improvised explosive device before his very eyes, Kazuki is trialled and sent back to the training camp for re-evaluation. Visiting the grave of the suicide, he meets Kei, the girl's sister, who doesn't hold Kazuki responsible for her demise. The film proceeds as the two develop a peculiar relationship."

Eden of the East: The best description of it plot wise is an anime version of the "Bourne Identity" novel. Likable characters, a lot of political machinations, but again, the plot is somewhat derivative. I enjoyed it, but if spy thriller isn't your thing then this probably isn't for you.
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MetricFurlong
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby MetricFurlong » 22 Aug 2015, 13:30

Tapir12 wrote:Guys, I'm not sure this is worth getting into an argument over. Yes, perhaps the original post was a bit misleading and caused some frustration, but it's been pointed out. Can we move on and get back to talking about anime now?

Fine by me.
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FITorion
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby FITorion » 22 Aug 2015, 20:45

Anime is very broad. It's not like cartoons which are pretty narrow in their target audience and subject matter. It's more like ALL of TV that incidentally happens to be animated. It spans nearly all genre's.

When recommending anime to people it's important to really delve into what types of regular TV and movies they like. Because you can probably find an anime that is nearly the same thing... only difference being that it's animated. I usually also start with things that have an English Dub to remove that barrier as well. People who haven't gotten used to subtitles can sometimes be taken out of a film by them.

To anyone who wants one I have a couple free trials to Crunchyroll an anime streaming site. It's a 48 hour trial of premium. No card is needed and after the trial is over you just have their regular free access without the premium benefits.



Some of my recommendations... First off most people who are asked for a recommendation to a noobie are going to start off with the lighter more easily accessible stuff. If you like the complex deeper meaning stuff that's going to take getting to know you to really find out what you like.

So... I've got 2 for you. 1. Patlabor

I recommend the English Dub. The English dub succeeds in conveying the humor and light moments that subtitles and bad dubs can sometimes fail to convey. Patlabor the Movie is about a squad of misfit police. They patrol their area and uncover a major flaw in the latest operating system for labors. Labors are used in construction, the military, and police... they're giant robots. Now I know what you're thinking and I would usually agree with you. I hate most giant robot things. This anime is more about the characters and the motivations behind the man who put the flaw into the OS and the corruption of the company aware of it and trying to cover it up. The robots are a set piece of this sci-fi drama and the plot and characters are rich and nuanced instead of being tacked on and paper thin like most robot shows. As an example... the villain commits suicide at the start of the movie. It's a challenge to those who would attempt to foil what he has set in motion.

2. Serial Experiments Lain

Not something I would usually recommend to a new person. The surrealist visuals trying to convey concepts such as the expansion and interconnectedness of consciousness are usually too much for people. It's hard to describe it without giving away the whole plot. The main character is girl in her early teens... She goes to school. She... or a version of her goes out clubing... She builds a supercomputer in her bedroom... the start of her journey of transformation is triggered when she gets an e-mail from a classmate... sent after said classmate had died.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby ch3m1kal » 23 Aug 2015, 11:48

I'd suggest pretty much anything by Makoto Shinkai.

*5 centimeters per second - is basically just a simple story of young love and loss. There are no robots, no samurai, no mystical anything, no violence, just a story about normal people, told in what I personally consider to be a breathtakingly beautiful art style, with animation to match.

See the trailer, judge for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdM7athAem0

*The place promised in our early days - shares the same beautiful art style, but the story is a bit more complex, taking place in an alternate history, where Japan is divided between the US and the Soviet Union, and there's a general cold war kind of atmosphere and some fairly obvious parallels to the Berlin Wall to be made.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61QFAyTXDqE

*Children who chase lost voices - if you like the other two, maybe give this one a chance. I guess you could call it Makoto Shinkai's attempt at making a Studio Ghibli film? It has some of the same fantasy elements and themes, while retaining the same beautiful visuals of the previous 2 films.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmHo_0mgos0

And finally something that not everyone might agree with: Jin-Roh: The wolf brigade.
I'll just paste a synopsis because I don't know of any better way to explain it:
The film follows Kazuki Fuse, a member of a special police unit during the alternate history 1950s Japanese riots. Failing to follow an order to execute a frightened young girl only to see her commit suicide by detonating an improvised explosive device before his very eyes, Kazuki is trialled and sent back to the training camp for re-evaluation. Visiting the grave of the suicide, he meets Kei, the girl's sister, who doesn't hold Kazuki responsible for her demise. The film proceeds as the two develop a peculiar relationship.

Don't be fooled by the nazi stormtrooper armor you see associated everywhere with the film, those guys are in basically 10 minutes of the film and the rest is essentially a spy thriller.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Moussefilledkitten » 24 Aug 2015, 10:49

ch3m1kal wrote:
And finally something that not everyone might agree with: Jin-Roh: The wolf brigade.
I'll just paste a synopsis because I don't know of any better way to explain it:
The film follows Kazuki Fuse, a member of a special police unit during the alternate history 1950s Japanese riots. Failing to follow an order to execute a frightened young girl only to see her commit suicide by detonating an improvised explosive device before his very eyes, Kazuki is trialled and sent back to the training camp for re-evaluation. Visiting the grave of the suicide, he meets Kei, the girl's sister, who doesn't hold Kazuki responsible for her demise. The film proceeds as the two develop a peculiar relationship.

Don't be fooled by the nazi stormtrooper armor you see associated everywhere with the film, those guys are in basically 10 minutes of the film and the rest is essentially a spy thriller.


Huzzah! Someone else likes this. It tends to get mixed reactions, but I find it so good. I enjoy dark political spy games, I guess.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Elomin Sha » 24 Aug 2015, 12:24

I haven't seen the anime of Ji-Roh, but I watched the first half hour of the live action film. Need to go back to it.
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Re: Arclight_Dynamo's Anime Frustration

Postby Arclight_Dynamo » 25 Aug 2015, 10:50

I do have a question:

I'm perfectly happy watching things with subtitles. They don't bother me in the least. So... apart from rare exceptions where the tenor of the show is entirely changed by dubs (for example, as I understand it, Samurai Pizza Cats was entirely chopped up and changed to be comedic when it was dubbed), is there any reason why I might want to watch a dub over a sub, when the choice is available to me?

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