Happy Atheist Forum

Couldn't see a thread on this subject here so I thought I'd make one. My favourite anime series, fairly typically, is Death Note. It's utter genius - consistently suspenseful and intensely clever throughout; the one problem being that if you miss a single episode you'll have no clue what's going on from that point onwards. Another couple of gooduns are Wolf's Rain (epic sci-fi, gloriously cheesy but charmingly so and very engrossing) and Black Lagoon (the closes thing anime comes to resembling Tarantino movies - then again I could say that Kill Bill was the closest Tarantino could come to recreating an anime). Also, I like the Ichi the Killer anime but that could partly be because I enjoyed Takashi Miike's live action movie as much as I did. I ended up getting a bit carried away in following the characters.

Anime movies: Akira comes above all things. Then it'd probably be Miyazaki's films.

Manga wise, I'm a big fan of, again, Death Note. Shintaro Kago's stuff is also fabulous. Dark surrealist satire in guro form  He's extremely funny and very interesting but be warned, if you read too much of his stuff in one sitting then you're guaranteed to have nightmares. Check these out:

"Springs"
http://pics.livejournal.com/kc_anathema/gallery/0008c5b7

"Abstraction"
http://pics.livejournal.com/kc_anathema/gallery/0007c99r


Anyone else here an anime/manga person? If so, any recommendations?

I will have to check those out.As for anime I enjoyed the Idoit Adventures..It was so short though.I do admit I like Dragonball Z and GT not the greatest but still amusing.Spirited Away was a great movie.And Howl's Moving Castle ...I like alot of  Studio Ghibli stuff.I watched alot of Sailor Moon stuff when I was younger.But it's to cute now.

I'm probably the only anime nerd in the galaxy that can't stand Akira. I believe it to be massively overrated and the story needs a lot of work.

I'm watching Blue Gender right now (as I type this, actually). It's not bad. Admittedly it's a bit derivative, but it's well drawn and the characters are engaging.

I really love the first two Patlabor movies, especially the second. The writing is top level and the directing is phenomenal. I'm always amazed when a movie can completely captivate me.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is amazingly complex and really gets you ready for the head trip that is Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I'd recommend those to anyone who is willing to pay 100% attention. If you miss even 3-4 minutes, expect to be totally lost, though. The series can become quite complex at times.

Transformers the Movie (1985) Optimus! NOOO!!!

Quote from: "afreethinker30"I watched alot of Sailor Moon stuff when I was younger.But it's to cute now.

Oh, wow, yeah. Same here. I still have every Sailor Moon episode, in order, on VHS...somewhere.  :hail: Oh, and I used to love The Irresponsible Captain Tylor. So great.

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"

Quote from: "afreethinker30"I watched alot of Sailor Moon stuff when I was younger.But it's to cute now.

Oh, wow, yeah. Same here. I still have every Sailor Moon episode, in order, on VHS...somewhere.  :hail: Oh, and I used to love The Irresponsible Captain Tylor. So great.

I couldn't get in to DB it just wasn't as good as z and GT.I think it was slower then Z and GT.The names on the show are great Pan,Trunks,alot of food and veggie names.Tenchi Muyo was another I watched but it's much better uncut.I showed my boys Sailor Moon and they thought I was nuts   .Oh Tuxedo Mask  you saved me!

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi245.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fgg63%2Fcook125%2FFamily%2Fstars.jpg&hash=05dc0ddd1a4ff74f3d02dc3b2164d32bca39893f)

Good topic - thanks Mister Joy!

I like Akira all right.

Death note sounds good - I'll have to check it out.

My current fave is "Bleach"... but that's mostly because I'm in it:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joeactor.com%2Fimages%2FSawatari_Bleach_100x100.gif&hash=84e2574bde034110e805522c87a251de2a5b16cc)
(He's named "Sawatari", but I don't appear until episode 80 or so...)

Curious: dubbed, subtitled, or original Japanese - how does everyone watch?

I like dubbed, but am ok with subtitled too.  My Japanese isn't good enough yet to watch the originals...

Toony Guy,
JoeActor

Quote from: "joeactor"My current fave is "Bleach"... but that's mostly because I'm in it:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joeactor.com%2Fimages%2FSawatari_Bleach_100x100.gif&hash=84e2574bde034110e805522c87a251de2a5b16cc)
(He's named "Sawatari", but I don't appear until episode 80 or so...)

Is that you in voice or kindred spirit?  :D  Those old Rankin & Bass films were amazing.

Fun post!

Quote from: "Mister Joy"Couldn't see a thread on this subject here so I thought I'd make one. My favourite anime series, fairly typically, is Death Note. It's utter genius - consistently suspenseful and intensely clever throughout; the one problem being that if you miss a single episode you'll have no clue what's going on from that point onwards.

I'm not a big anime/manga fan, but I occasionally watch some anime.  I did watch the Death Note anime series up to a point (fansub episodes posted on the internet).  Very interesting story, makes me wonder what I would do if I had a death notebook.  I watched it from the beginning, but I didn't get to the later episodes.  I think new episodes are still being made.  I also saw the two live action Death Note movies based on the anime.   Otherwise, I have seen some of the Miyazaki anime movies (Totoro, Mononoke Hime, Spirited Away, etc), Ghost in the Shell, and some others I can think of right now.

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"

Quote from: "joeactor"My current fave is "Bleach"... but that's mostly because I'm in it:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joeactor.com%2Fimages%2FSawatari_Bleach_100x100.gif&hash=84e2574bde034110e805522c87a251de2a5b16cc)
(He's named "Sawatari", but I don't appear until episode 80 or so...)

Is that you in voice or kindred spirit?  

... it's my voice (in the English dub version).  I also do the voice for a talking sword named Nieder (sp?).

You've got an interesting option - Chinese dubbed anime.  Never even occurred to me!
Must be nice to be able to read another language.

This thread has so many I've heard of but not seen.  Guess I've got my work cut out for me ;-)

Rankin-Bass is a classic, in an odd kinda way.

Off for now,
JoeActor

Quote from: "crocofish"I'm not a big anime/manga fan, but I occasionally watch some anime. I did watch the Death Note anime series up to a point (fansub episodes posted on the internet). Very interesting story, makes me wonder what I would do if I had a death notebook. I watched it from the beginning, but I didn't get to the later episodes. I think new episodes are still being made. I also saw the two live action Death Note movies based on the anime.

I think the point that Death Note tries to make is that you'd abuse it. Yamigami Light starts off as an ordinary student but develops this huge God complex in his quest to rid the world of the 'bad men', and becomes increasingly psychopathic throughout. You should see him by the end, jeeze :lol: Sooo bad. I've heard rhomors that the Americans are looking to have a go though... which should be interesting.

And no they're not making new episodes. It finished aaaaages ago on ep. 37 (though there is a 38, it's a bonus I think) & the plot is decidedly and unquestionably concluded. Bare in mind, the whole thing is based on a manga and sticks to it reasonably loyally, give or take a couple of things. If they were to make new episodes then it wouldn't be Death Note any more. It'd just be a crappy spin off that disregards the manga.

You should carry on. Wait for the battle of the wits to really set in between L and Kira. Keeps you on the edge of your seat. :)  

I have encountered exceptions though. Certain dubs are ok. Hellsing, pour example. Although some of the fake English accents were laughably bad, this was only the case in the minor Characters (Hellsing is Japanese, dubbed by mostly American voice actors & set in the UK, incidentally). With all the major characters they either got English voice actors, good impersonators or simply didn't bother pretending. I don't mind it when they just stick to being American even if they're in a non-American role - that's hunky-dory - but when they start putting on these stupid gimmicky voices it pisses me off. Not because I find it offensive but because it completely takes away all suspension of disbelief.

Quote from: "WillRavel"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is amazingly complex and really gets you ready for the head trip that is Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I'd recommend those to anyone who is willing to pay 100% attention. If you miss even 3-4 minutes, expect to be totally lost, though. The series can become quite complex at times

Agreed. They don't come as high as DN, Black Lagoon or Wolf's Rain, though. Those three are the trio of supreme goodness, in my mind. All very different from each other but equally fab. Death Note is distilled suspense and paranoia, Black Lagoon is a morally ambiguous cultural assimilation machine (which is partly why it reminds me of Tarantino - it has subtle plot references to hundreds of books and movies throughout, most commonly Stephen King's The Dark Tower) and Wolf's Rain is pure epic fantasy adventure, with elements of steampunk, cyberpunk & even western movies. The latter is very cheesy and takes three or four episodes to really get into but once you're in, you're in - comprende? Plus the 'nobles' - an ubermensch race that rule over the commoners keeping technology and what not to themselves - are all entertainingly insane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yi2JO_QLQ poor Darcia.

Quote from: "Mister Joy"Incidentally, I only know about Sailor Moon because my sister used to watch it... I'm male! Honest! Ok, I'm slightly androgynous but... actually fuck you all. I watched it. HAPPY!?

 :beer:

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"

Quote from: "Mister Joy"Incidentally, I only know about Sailor Moon because my sister used to watch it... I'm male! Honest! Ok, I'm slightly androgynous but... actually fuck you all. I watched it. HAPPY!?

 :beer:

I know alot of guys who watched it.I think for the lesbian couple on there.Sailor Uranus and Neptune.