Television The Caf' Anime Thread

Art

Art the artist
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Surprised there's not a dedicated thread just like the movie review thread. A thread which is basically for all Anime Discussion and Anime reviews and recommendations.

(Both movies and shows)

I'm sure a lot of you have watched the classics like Ghost in the shell - Masamune Shiro's masterpiece, Akira, Princess Mononoke..etc



But I am going to start with something more recent -

Full Metal Alchemist- A story set in the 1800's in Europe and is about two brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, two insanely gifted alchemists who at the start of the show loose their mother and try to resurrect her back from the dead ( something that is strictly forbidden to do using alchemy) and in turn end up losing their parts of their bodies in the process. They go on this journey trying to retrieve their bodies back. The animation was done by Bones Animation studio (one of the best in Japan) and surprisingly the English dubbing for this show is absolutely excellent. The first few episodes might not be completely coherent but it will eventually make good sense.

The music, the plot,the fight sequences, the emotion and everything about this show is just a really fulfilling experience that goes for about 50 odd episodes, each of about 20 minutes. Artistically this show is just such a treat to the eye and this show does not resonate the typical generic Japanese girly voices or the ladyboy character designs.

This show revolves around the two brothers and the bond that is shared throughout the show. If you have free time and are open to a seriously brilliant Anime, I would highly recommend FullMetal Alchemist.

8.5/10.


P.S - Apologies if you think I gave out spoilers in my review. They really tell you all of it in the first episode or so.

For those who are interested below is the first episode of the show :)

 
still watch anime when I can, though been so busy of late not had much time to finish some of the shows I was part way through sadly!
 
duffer said:
Is "Anime" just a pretentious word for cartoons or is there a difference?
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Japanese animation aimed for an older audience than normal cartoons. As such can be a lot more adult content as you would find in movies aimed at an older audience.
 
I'm half way through with Fullmetal Alchemist. I've watched various anime show and I generally like it but It rarely grabs me. Death Note did. Brilliant show. On par with some of the HBO stuff imo. I also still watch Shippuuden. Have yet to finish Fullmetal Alchemist and Berserk and got somewhat on with Bleach and One Piece.
 
Most movie buffs on here have watched the Miyazaki films. If I remember correctly most rated Princess Mononoke as the best one, even the best anime, whilst others counted Akira as the best anime.
 
For anyone who is interested I highly recommend these shows

Amazing/Must see

Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop
Paranoia Agent
Samurai Champloo

Pretty Decent

Big O
Rurouni Kenshin
Gungrave
 
Monster is probably the best anime I've seen.

Steins gate, Clannad, Code Geass, Ghost in the Shell: SAC are also all very good.

Meh I've seen too much anime for my liking, but the ones above stand out as being particularly memorable.
 
Monster is the one anime most suited for a live-action remake imo. The guy who wrote the screenplay for A History of Violence was attached to write a film adaptation at some point but it's in development hell right now it seems.

Cowboy Bebop is probably the most brilliantly conceived anime series. The direction, story, music, stylistically choices, all terrific.

I've barely watched any anime in like 3 years, just the odd film now and then. I pretty much engulfed everything worth seeing during a half year period.
 
Kaos said:
Monster is probably the best anime I've seen.

Steins gate, Clannad, Code Geass, Ghost in the Shell: SAC are also all very good.

Meh I've seen too much anime for my liking, but the ones above stand out as being particularly memorable.
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love that series, though the ending was really sad

Death Note is great as well that people have mentioned, I also really liked Neon Genesis Evangelion and Haruhi Suzumiya which is just epic :D
 
Death Note was amazing until it went all silly in the last 7 or so episodes. Introducing key characters that late on was a massive faux pas that massively ruined it for me.

I was scavenging around my apartment today and found a DVD of of the Armitage III OVA. Great, underrated cyberpunk flick, will probably give it another watch when I have time :)
 
Death Note went silly after about 5 episodes, until then it was pretty riveting stuff.

Angel's Egg is an underrated gem (same creator as Ghost in the Shell). I wish they still made artsy anime like this.
 
Kaos said:
Monster is probably the best anime I've seen.

Steins gate, Clannad, Code Geass, Ghost in the Shell: SAC are also all very good.

Meh I've seen too much anime for my liking, but the ones above stand out as being particularly memorable.
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This is really good. On my first season. Also, think the third installment has begun recently.

edit: not really a third installment. Its a standalone story.
 
Ekeke said:
Japanese animation aimed for an older audience than normal cartoons. As such can be a lot more adult content as you would find in movies aimed at an older audience.
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Anime is japanese animation and has different audiences. Some are more aimed to children like Pokémon or Detective Conan/Case Closed (though I always wonder how we can easily have a manga/anime that can be viewed by children and that has usually a corpse/murder in more or less half of its cases). Some are more family-oriented (like some Ghibli movies) or some are adult-oriented (Monster). But I think an important part of the anime series is teenager-oriented.

This year, I am trying to watch some anime movies like Steamboy (some things are quite unbelievable but really nice action) or From up on poppy hill.
Since I usually follow some manga, I usually avoid watch their anime adaptation, especially if they are faithful and long shonen.

I really enjoyed the first anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist but the manga is meh for me :/ . I think the anime gave more time to viewers to feel fond feelings for some characters like Nina or Hugues.

My favourite anime is Code Geass even if at the beginning the influences of Death Note and Gundam Seed are quite obvious.

The recent anime series I would recommend are :
- Shiki (Corpse Demon) : even if the mystery isn't really one to viewers, it's interesting to see the different points of view.
- Mawaru Penguin : an unusual anime that let viewers make lot of hypothesis. Quite fun sometimes with a stalker, dramatic with a illness and the missing parents, weird with a ET...
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica : magical girl anime that isn't recommended at all for little girls, even if it looks so childish and girly. The 2 first episodes are quite boring and only at the 3rd episode, we see the true atmosphere of the anime.
 
Haven't watch many but I recommend Ruroni Kenshin (Samurai X)

It's very beautiful (specially the final third, the kyoto arc), lighthearted, and interesting as they're made in the Meiji Restoration era. Thoroughly, I really enjoyed that Anime.


And the fabled Saint Seiya (Zodiac Knights), although this could be nostalgic, as when I was a kid, I always miss this show, and dreaded to have to wait 1 week for a mere 20 minute screen time.
 
Favourites would be:

Claymore
Chobits
Love Hina
Fairy Tail
Death Note
Shiki
Sword Art Online
High School of the Dead
Dragon Ball (Mainly Z)
GANTZ

As for films

Spirited Away, Akira, Howl's Moving Castle, The Secret World of Arietty were all brilliant.
 
I thought Elfen Lied was shite myself. Quite predictable and cliched for an anime, although if you're new to the genre it might not be. Loved the theme tune though.
 
Dante said:
I thought Elfen Lied was shite myself. Quite predictable and cliched for an anime, although if you're new to the genre it might not be. Loved the theme tune though.
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I'm downloading Naruto right now, I've watched Black Butler, Highschool DXD, and Death Note, what do you recommend me to watch?
 
A lot of the suggestions above are good. Fullmetal Alchemist, Ergo Proxy (not actually mentioned in this thread but good nonetheless), Code Geass, Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo (I loved this, totally underrated imo). If you don't mind going American, the animated versions of Avatar and Korra are as good as anything I've seen from the Japs.
 
Top 11 shows

One Piece
Cowboy Bebop
Rurouni Kenshin
Wolf's Rain
Fullmetal Alchemist
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Monster
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Samurai 7
Darker Than Black

Top 11 films

Princess Mononoke
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Castle in the Sky
Millennium Actress
Spirited Away
Paprika
Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
The End of Evangelion
Memorizu
 
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