Dru's Current Anime Favorites

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

So, would you consider it a worthy anime to buy for $45 for the whole box set?

Its well worth it.

...I'm currently enjoying my bootleg Gundam DVDs....as usual

 

[Enchantress]

Its well worth it.

...I'm currently enjoying my bootleg Gundam DVDs....as usual

So does the whole female ass-kickers theme do it for you?

GUNDAM RULES!!!! *ahem* Er, sorry.

 

[WizarDru]

So, would you consider it a worthy anime to buy for $45 for the whole box set?

I suppose so. It was pretty good, but my plate is pretty full, viewing and time-wise. Understand, I'm a tad jaded about some shows. I've seen over 20 years worth of shows similar to BG 2040, and while it was good, I wasn't as interested in that particular show. I've seen it's predecessors and it's imitators, and while it certainly seemed pretty spiff, it's lower on my proirity list.

I think it's worth $45 for the set, sure. If it's the DVD set, definitely.

 

[Enchantress]

Yeah, it's a DVD set.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

So does the whole female ass-kickers theme do it for you?

GUNDAM RULES!!!! *ahem* Er, sorry.

...I won't get into this one except to say the only Gundam that I cannot stomach is Wing, X, and F91. Good to see Gundam fans out there, even if I can't stand the series that got the most attention(and shouldn't have) here in the States.

 

[WizarDru]

Another facet of getting old: you forget stuff.

Like I forgot one of the best series currently available: LAST EXILE. While I won't say Gonzo can do no wrong, they sure don't miss a trick there. They've honed their cgi to integrate on a new level and it works extremely well. One part Laputa, one part Yamato and a whole lot more to boot. Claus and Lavie are two couriers, flying in their 'vanship', when they choose a dangerous assignment from another courier that unintentionally involves them in an intrigue spanning two worlds and the mysterious 'Grand Stream' that separates them. What is the secret of the Exile, the war and the mysterious guild? Excellent story, excellent characters, fantastic visuals and a top-notch job all around. THIS is where Gonzo was meant to go. Let's hope they keep going.

 

[Pants]

Gungrave really suprised me, in that it shows superheroic butt-kicking in the present day, then immediately jumps back, for about 15 episodes, into the past. From episode 2 to episode 9 or so, you don't see ANY fantastic elements. When the 'necrolyze' techonology starts appearing, it's pretty creepy stuff. Imagine a mob war with zombies. Yeah.

Awesome. Mob zombies? If it has BIG GUNS too then there's no way that I can resist something like this.

Why you can find it at your local video store, on Tuesday . As it has been licensed, all copies of the digital files have been, for the most part, purged from the online community. I plan to pick up the dubbed and subtitled version. I got the first 8 episodes via a Hong Kong release, but will pick up the US version as soon as possible, for the better subtitling and bonus features.

Tuesday the 6th? Damn, same day the Wolf's Rain box comes out!

Here's my list of my favorites right now:
1. Berserk!
2. Trigun
3. Bebop
4. Inu Yasha
5. Hellsing

My list is small. I tend to only buy shows that I REALLY like. I also several DBZ DVD's that I really want to liquidate, plus the entire Evangelion series (which I think is okay). Plus, I used to own both of the Lodoss War boxsets, but a friend of mine lost them.

Here's the list of shows that I have seen only small parts of that currently look cool.
1. GTO - I own the first disc, pretty funny stuff
2. Wolf's Rain - Only seen 2 episodes and I was pleasantly surprised that the 'villain' didn't have silver hair! Go nonconformity!
3. Full Metal Panic - I saw only the first episode and my immediate reaction was 'This is how Giant Military Robots should look!' and then it was funny and I laughed.

Here's what I'm waiting to see.
1. Samurai Champloo
2. Gungrave

 

[Rackhir]

...I won't get into this one except to say the only Gundam that I cannot stomach is Wing, X, and F91. Good to see Gundam fans out there, even if I can't stand the series that got the most attention(and shouldn't have) here in the States.

You gotta remember that a lot of people just won't look at stuff with older/poorer animation. That was especially a problem with MSG which wasn't spectacular animation even by the standards of the 80's or 90's. Also since Wing essentially recapitulates the MSG-Char's UC storyline, it's not a bad way to introduce Gundam to the heathens.

The thing about the new series that has bothered me the most is that they have been almost utterly lacking in any cool mecha. The Wing and the Mobile Dolls are about it for neat mecha and neither of them comes anywhere close to mecha like the Quebbely, Psyco-Gundam Mk.II, Z-Gundam, ZZ (espec the full armor), S-Gundam Ex, Sazabi, Nu-Gundam etc....

 

[WizarDru]

Awesome. Mob zombies? If it has BIG GUNS too then there's no way that I can resist something like this.

The thing of it is, that for episodes prior to this, there hasn't really been anything fantastic going on...just internal battles among mob factions while Brandon and Harry begin their rise in the organization, as 'Big Daddy's' golden boys. So when the Lightning Cartel uses a captured scientist to create 'necrotized' button-men, the Millenion organization doesn't know what him them. Essentially, the show hit the super-science button, and they didn't get the memo. Imagine the scene from Scarface, with Al Pacino telling them to 'say Hello to my little friend' and mowing them down....and then they get back up.

1. GTO - I own the first disc, pretty funny stuff
2. Wolf's Rain - Only seen 2 episodes and I was pleasantly surprised that the 'villain' didn't have silver hair! Go nonconformity!
3. Full Metal Panic - I saw only the first episode and my immediate reaction was 'This is how Giant Military Robots should look!' and then it was funny and I laughed.

GTO is the shiznitz. It's just damn funny. It's also a pretty funny commentary on the Japanese school system, and the state of life for teens in modern Japan. The cultural notes are often necessary to figure out what would be obvious to a Japanese viewer, but it's well worth the investment.

FMP doesn't follow the manga's order, which is to it's credit frankly. They get right to some of the giant robot material, and that's GOOD. The show alternates between classic goofiness and deadpan serious...similar to Trigun, but with ratio favored more towards a serious tone more often. The mecha designs are my favorite, and for some reason I just love naming the one robot Arbalest. I just think it's a great name.


I tried to watch Gundam Seed, honest I did. But it's just so....done before. And before that. And that. If it was at least a new take on the concept, I might be down with it...but it seems to just be a soulless rehash, to me.

But what do I know: I love Cyborg 009. It was my first anime, and decades later, I still love it. And the manga's being released here in the US, which makes me happy happy.

 

[mmadsen]

Kaze no Yojimbo: Ostensibly a retelling of the Kurosawa tale "Yojimbo", but in a modern setting and with no Toshiro Mifune, I was very leery of this show. I expected to be underwhelmed, but instead found it to be an excellent show that captures the spirit of the original, sometimes very subtly and sometimes very obviously. Essentially, the core story is this: a mysterious stranger wanders into the small rural town of Kimujuku, looking for the engineer of a train that was part of a mysterious occurence 15 years ago. Said stranger George Kodama, walks into the middle of conflict between two rival gangs, vying for control of the town....a town with a dark past and plenty of secrets. Kaze no Yojimbo most closely resembles a more whimsical version of Twin Peaks, without the overdone weirdness. There is a tension here, and more than one mystery to solve. There are, or at least haven't been yet, any fantastic elements. This show probably could have been done as live action, although anime works just fine.

The "original" Yojimbo was based on "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett -- a story about a nameless "Continental Op" who wanders into a small northwestern mining town taken over by rival gangs.