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Does anyone besides me watch Japanese animation?
- Thread starter Enchantress
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jdavis
First Post
I've got a closet full of Anime on VHS (over 100 tapes). I don't keep up with it as much as I used to, as is obvious by the fact all my anime is on VHS, although I pretty much watch anything on cartoon network, I'm a glutton for punishment I guess (not all Anime is created equal).
Has anyone seen the new Evangelion movie? I heard it was much better than the last episode of the series.
Has anyone seen the new Evangelion movie? I heard it was much better than the last episode of the series.
Enchantress
First Post
Mark said:
If quoting someone in the thread, click on the button directly below and to the right of their post as in the image below and delete the text that you do not wish to quote, leaving what you consider quotable. Hope that helps.
Sure hope this works, and if it does, I'll worship you 4 ever Mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Enchantress
First Post
YAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!! It worked!!!!!! 
WizarDru
Adventurer
jdavis said:
Yeah, VHS is being phased out, with some releases ONLY coming out on DVD at this point. It just makes sense from a technology standpoint, and from an economic one. DVDs don't cost that much more to make the VHS tapes, can have BOTH dubbed and subtitled version on one release, and are smaller/lighter, which makes for reduced shipping, stocking and packaging costs.
I haven't actually watched the two Evangelion post-series releases (one of which, I think, is a reworking of the final three episodes, and the other the capstone to the series). Essentially, they are the producers kicking you between the legs, if friends are to be believed. They were apparently somewhat irritated by fan reactions to the final three episodes to the series.
My anime tastes have changed somewhat over time, but not too dramatically. The nature of anime releases has also changed pretty significantly. The dramatic shortening of series' length is a new wrinkle that I don't mind, if the quality is maintained. The sophistication of some shows has dramatically deepened, while some shows are just rehashes of 30 year old material (and I don't mean redux shows like Gatchman here, I'm talking soulless copycat shows, for which anime is duly famous). An interesting recent trend are anime shows that deconstruct...anime shows. Nadesico, for example, while not always satisfying as a story, was terrific as parody of anime tropes and conventions.
Tsyr
Explorer
I have mixed feelings about the shortening of anime series...
On one hand, a lot of anime series really needed to be shortened. There were some collossol ones that didn't need to be near as big as they were. DBZ comes to mind...
On the other hand, there are some anime that you really can't shorten much without ruining it... Ranma (Because it's a very episodic show, this is questionable... basicly most of the "Core" ranma story was told after season 2... That is to say, the main characters were all introduced and fleshed out... But that would be like canceling Star Trek The Next Generation after season 1)... Hana Yori Dango would have been ruined if you tried to shorten it...
And there are some more recent examples of longer anime, of course, it's not totaly a thing of the past... Inu Yasha, Slam Dunk, Hikaru No Go, One Peice, Seikai no Senki, Vandread... (Ok, those last two were technicly multiple series I suppose, but they are so inter-connected that you can't really seperate them.).
Now, the recent boom of 13 episode series (Hellsing, for example), I'm not so sure about... It works for some animes, but if they try to apply that format too universaly, you're going to have a lot of anime that feel really rushed.
Of course, a lot of it depends on the source of the anime... If it comes from a manga, you have to at least try to fit most of the major parts in, or you wind up with another X: The Movie fiasco... Which tends to dictate how long the anime is. Inu Yasha is a good recent example of that.
On one hand, a lot of anime series really needed to be shortened. There were some collossol ones that didn't need to be near as big as they were. DBZ comes to mind...
On the other hand, there are some anime that you really can't shorten much without ruining it... Ranma (Because it's a very episodic show, this is questionable... basicly most of the "Core" ranma story was told after season 2... That is to say, the main characters were all introduced and fleshed out... But that would be like canceling Star Trek The Next Generation after season 1)... Hana Yori Dango would have been ruined if you tried to shorten it...
And there are some more recent examples of longer anime, of course, it's not totaly a thing of the past... Inu Yasha, Slam Dunk, Hikaru No Go, One Peice, Seikai no Senki, Vandread... (Ok, those last two were technicly multiple series I suppose, but they are so inter-connected that you can't really seperate them.).
Now, the recent boom of 13 episode series (Hellsing, for example), I'm not so sure about... It works for some animes, but if they try to apply that format too universaly, you're going to have a lot of anime that feel really rushed.
Of course, a lot of it depends on the source of the anime... If it comes from a manga, you have to at least try to fit most of the major parts in, or you wind up with another X: The Movie fiasco... Which tends to dictate how long the anime is. Inu Yasha is a good recent example of that.
WizarDru
Adventurer
Tsyr said:
Well, the thing to keep in mind with DB/DBZ/St. Seiya and their ilk is that the anime covered much more ground than the manga, time-wise. Dialogue is much slower in anime than manga, but fight scenes (which DBZ is centered around) take far less time...the solution the animators devised (remembering how successful the franchise was)? Filler episodes and padding. This was especially a problem when the manga was still in production, and the anime would catch up to it, as often happened with St. Seiya and DBZ.
Ranma is like Urusei Yatsura, in that the main way the plot changes is that extra characters are added. Eventually you have a gargantuan cast, and most plots boil down to 'add event X, and show how everyone reacts'. There's nothing wrong with that, but Ranma didn't really have a central story so much as a central relationship, and it's resolution was the only real issue. This is markedly different from something like, say, Blue Gender, where it's pretty obvious the story is headed somewhere, and that lots of changes occur with the characters.
Agreed. If shows are forced into a certain length, it can really affect their quality. That said, I think this is a combination of budget constraints and consumer demand. Further, shows like Big O, Vandread and others are using the 13-episode format as more like a season the way the BBC does. If the show is successful enough, it gets another season. If it doesn't, then they had a reasonable run. The animation quality certainly seems to be higher on the 13-run series that I've seen. However, having come in on the boat a long time ago, I'm not as tied up with the visuals as some fans are. Some of today's fans just refuse to watch anime from before the 90s, for this very reason. Which is a big loss for them, but to each his own.
DarkSoldier
First Post
I'm a big fan, but I don't own a lot of material. My collection is as follows (all dubbed and on VHS, unfortunately):
MD Geist Director's Cut
MD Geist II: Death Force
Wrath of the Ninja: the Yotoden Movie
Slayers vol.1 (first 4 episodes)
Project A-ko Versus Battle Vol.1: Grey Side
Fatal Fury: the Motion Picture
Street Fighter II (not Alpha, not V; the original)
Dragonball Z: the History of Trunks (Xmas gift from fanboy cousin)
Mobile Suit Gundam: the 08th MS Team (subtitled! First 3 eps)
I've seen tons of others; the list is extensive, containing good and bad (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Blood: the Last Vampire, for example).
The Americanized stuff is garbage of the worst calibre; I strongly recommend that you avoid anything playing on TV (except Gundam Wing, since that's relatively uncut, but it's still fodder for fanboys and yaoi-deprived fangirls).
Find stuff that is not in the mainstream yet: the classic Universal Century Mobile Suit Gundam stuff, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and the Guyver, to name a few. The stuff that American studios haven't had a chance to butcher yet is the good stuff. Steer clear of anything on kids' TV.
There is a group of fans I suggest you avoid: the fanboys and fangirls. These people are the drooling, screaming yutzes with 5-second attention spans, and make websites that say "Dragon Ball Z rox!" The only exposure to anime these people get is stuff on Cartoon Network, FOX, and YTV. They watch the heavily censored, stupified, and Americanized anime and think that's how it is. Oh, how I would like to sit them down and show them raw Dragonball, so they can see just how mangled their "favurit cartoon" is.
I'll talk about almost any genre, but my knowledge of anime is extremely limited compared to the vast knowledge of some people, like John of AnimeNation's Ask John column. Y'know, I have't checked that column in ages! I should go see what's been added!
MD Geist Director's Cut
MD Geist II: Death Force
Wrath of the Ninja: the Yotoden Movie
Slayers vol.1 (first 4 episodes)
Project A-ko Versus Battle Vol.1: Grey Side
Fatal Fury: the Motion Picture
Street Fighter II (not Alpha, not V; the original)
Dragonball Z: the History of Trunks (Xmas gift from fanboy cousin)
Mobile Suit Gundam: the 08th MS Team (subtitled! First 3 eps)
I've seen tons of others; the list is extensive, containing good and bad (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Blood: the Last Vampire, for example).
The Americanized stuff is garbage of the worst calibre; I strongly recommend that you avoid anything playing on TV (except Gundam Wing, since that's relatively uncut, but it's still fodder for fanboys and yaoi-deprived fangirls).
Find stuff that is not in the mainstream yet: the classic Universal Century Mobile Suit Gundam stuff, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and the Guyver, to name a few. The stuff that American studios haven't had a chance to butcher yet is the good stuff. Steer clear of anything on kids' TV.
There is a group of fans I suggest you avoid: the fanboys and fangirls. These people are the drooling, screaming yutzes with 5-second attention spans, and make websites that say "Dragon Ball Z rox!" The only exposure to anime these people get is stuff on Cartoon Network, FOX, and YTV. They watch the heavily censored, stupified, and Americanized anime and think that's how it is. Oh, how I would like to sit them down and show them raw Dragonball, so they can see just how mangled their "favurit cartoon" is.
I'll talk about almost any genre, but my knowledge of anime is extremely limited compared to the vast knowledge of some people, like John of AnimeNation's Ask John column. Y'know, I have't checked that column in ages! I should go see what's been added!
DarkSoldier
First Post
Tsyr said:
I don't get Cartoon Network, so my knowledge of cable anime is limited to FOX and YTV (whose idea was it to make a Kirby anime?).
Mobile Fighter G Gundam is pretty bad, from what I gather.
www.arcticnightfall.com/ has sections with lots of information and pictures on some good series; Ninja Scroll (which does not have a sequel called Ninja Resurrection), Rurouni Kenshin (avoid "Samurai X" at all costs!), Berserk, and Vampire Hunter D all have relatively complete sections.
Another of my favourite sites is www.anipike.com/, the Anime Web Turnpike. If you're an anime fan and don't know about this site, you aren't a real fan.
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