manga/anime movies

[thomear]

Hey guys

I'm learning Japanese and have an interest in manga/anime. When I was a kid (ie 5 or 6 years ago) I used to watch Dragonball Z, and a year or 2 back Tokyo: Bubblegum Chrisis 2020 (or something with a similar name) was on late night TV. Anyway, seeing as though there's never anything on TV, was wondering if you could recommend me the best anime/manga movies you have seen. Also, suggestions for series would be nice. But series take longer to get, and take longer watching.

At the moment, someone has recommended The Ghost in the Shell movie.

edit: whoops, perhaps this should be in the entertainment forum? sorry

ps love your editorials az

[Monkey]

Best I've been watching recently is Bleach. It's a great ongoing series which is a shonen anime like DBZ and Naruto but has the advantage of the main protagonist being a decent age (15-16 or so).

Naruto isn't bad. If you watch it from the beginning it is really quite good. Howver it has seriously declined in recent episodes.

I can recommend a lot of others if I try. A great small series is FLCL (Furi Kuri). Samurai Champloo is another good series. Cowboy Bebop likewise is a good one to watch.

I'm trying to think of some decent anime which might actually help Japanese learning but it's tricky. All animes seem to use stylised Japanese to distinguish their characters therefore it can be hard to learn from them. Maybe an Anime such as Air might be slightly better spoken than most?

One of my favourites however is the GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) Live Action series. This is great series that is well worth watching :D

[Daishikaze]

Urusei Yatsura
Maison Ikkoku
Ranma 1/2
Kimagure Orange Road
Dirty Pair
Project A-ko
Macross
Southern Cross
Genesis Climber Mospeada
Aura Battler Dunbine
Megazone 23
Saint Seiya
Armored Trooper Votoms
Gatchaman
Hades Project Zeorymer
Crusher Joe
Crying Freeman
Demon City Shinjuku
Robot Carnival
Nausicca
Laputa
Zeta Gundam
Gundam Movie Trilogy
Gundam: Char's CounterAttack
Gundam 0080
ZZ Gundam
Dagger Of Kamui
Arcadia Of My Youth
Gundam 0083
Gundam F91
Victory Gundam
Casshan Robot Hunter
All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku OVA
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Vampire Hunter D
Tenchi Muyo

That should cover alot of ground, alot of Essential material IMO

[Chuplayer]

Aside from Princess Mononoke, I can't really recommend anything. Maybe the Fatal Fury movie.

For a short series, check out Gundam 08th MS Team. It's short. And good.

[Faumdano]

十二国記
灰羽連盟
エルフェンリート
鋼の錬金術師
君が望む永遠
クロノ・クルセイド

Are all great IMO, especially the first three.

[Scott]

Movies:

Grave of the Fireflies (Warning: Sad)
My Neighbor Totoro
Voices of a Distant Star (Hoshi no Koe, 星の声) [Dir: Makoto Shinkai]
Beyond the Clouds/The Promised Place [Dir: Makoto Shinkai]

Series:

Azumanga Daioh
Yakitate! Japan
Hajime no Ippo
Read or Die (OAV, 3 Episodes)
Read or Dream (AKA R.O.D. the TV, 25 episodes)
Shadow Skill (the series, 26 episodes)
Honey & Clover (Not finished)
Full Metal Alchemist (Long, 51 episodes)
Full Metal Panic (26 episodes)

Manga:

H2
Naruto
Bleach
Yakitate! Japan
Yotsubato!
Mr. Fullswing

[Scott]

十二国記
灰羽連盟
エルフェンリート
鋼の錬金術師
君が望む永遠
クロノ・クルセイド

Are all great IMO, especially the first three.

Just a quick rundown for the Japanese/East Asian Languages-impaired...

Juuni Kokki [Twelve Kingdoms]
Haibane Renmei
Erufen Riido [Elfen Lied] (Warning: Violence and sex)
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi [Full Metal Alchemist]
Kimi ga Nozomi Eien (Slightly shoujo)
Kurono Kuruseido [Chrno Crusade]

[mediocre]

Katsu!


one of the few, by one of the few, that I can bear to read

[thomear]

Aside from Princess Mononoke, I can't really recommend anything.

My Neighbour Totoro

Yeh we watched them in class. The only problem is we watch about half... and then next year watch the same half again. So I've yet to see the full thing of either :(

What are your favourite mecha/medieval/fantasy movies?

Fansubs/captions or dubbed?

[NERD]

Ghost in the Shell (the first movie) and Innocence.

[Scott]

Mecha: Voices of a Distant Star - easily one of the best movies I've ever seen.
Medieval: Ninja Scroll
Fantasy: Vampire Hunter D (original), X, or Spirited Away

I personally watch either fansubs or subtitles with Japanese audio - that's just personal taste though. Being hearing impaired, it's easier for me to make out Japanese audio and the subs ensure that I do know what's going on.

Purely personal taste, though. There's no ethical stigma attached to either.

[Varia]

Lodoss war is pretty cool
All Ghibli movies
Original Bubblegum Crisis
Iria
Armitage (I like the older one better)
Appleseed (same)
________
HERBAL VAPORIZER (http://vaporizers.net/)

[kyaa the catlord]

Kimi ga Nozomi Eien (Slightly shoujo)


WTF? Its based off an ero-game. KimiNozo is totally shonen.

[Scott]

WTF? Its based off an ero-game. KimiNozo is totally shonen.

When I watched it, I got some shoujo vibes off of it sometimes... dude, AIR is based on an H-game and was slightly shoujo at times.

[Daisuke]

Erufen Riido [Elfen Lied] (Warning: Violence and sex)

There was sex? I only saw nudity in it. It was a VERY GOOD series to watch though. Violent.



Bastard

Fist of the North Star


Movie: Battle Angel Alita - better known in Japan as Gunnm
(Supposedly there's a live action movie being made? <perk>)

[Shii]

I suggest you watch Azumanga Daioh. That is the funniest show I have ever seen. Beat to Death Angel is pretty funny too.

[NERD]

Movie: Battle Angel Alita - better known in Japan as Gunnm
(Supposedly there's a live action movie being made? <perk>)

As a Battle Angle fan, I think the mangas are supreme to the animation- the animation didn't have enough story, and was not able to capture the awesomeness of Alita.

And for the live action movie, that is supposedly the next movie to be directed by James Cameron after Titanic. I'm looking forward to it, more than the Evangelion live action film.

[stsparky]

http://www.animeboredom.co.uk/Uploads/Areview/1671085318749.jpg

Track down Royal Space Force - Wings of Honneamise (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000JKVI/qid=1128470438/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6035420-3113764?v=glance&s=dvd)
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000JKVI/qid=1128470438/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6035420-3113764?v=glance&s=dvd)http://www.animeboredom.co.uk/Uploads/Areview/1671085318771.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000JKVI/qid=1128470438/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6035420-3113764?v=glance&s=dvd)

- Many anime fans acclaim writer-director Hiroyuki Yamaga's Wings of Honneamise as a masterpiece, but general audiences may react less enthusiastically. Honneamise is a small country in a parallel world very similar to Earth. Shiro Lhadatt, the least impressive cadet in the air force flight school, volunteers to become the first astronaut in a controversial space program. Training toughens his body, while the priggish evangelist Riqunni challenges him to discipline his spirit. In one distasteful sequence, Shiro attempts to rape her. The next morning he starts to apologize, only to have her apologize for braining him with a candlestick, a scene certain to infuriate feminists. Despite an invasion by a hostile country, Shiro gets into space and delivers a ponderous homily from his capsule. Wings was made by a group of young artists in 1987, and with a record- setting budget. Art director Hiromasa Ogura's lavish designs blend '80s high-tech with art nouveau, and Yamaga's leaden pacing gives viewers the time to study every detail. Fans of Honneamise acclaim it as a critical meditation on the illusions and follies of the human race, which suggests that profundity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. (Ages 13 and older for violence, attempted rape, and occasional profanity)

--Charles Solomon