Anime

[greg]

I've heard Ninja Scroll is a classic. One of my friends has watched that one and a bunch of slightly older ones than the ones I normally watch- and since he's a few years older, I make fun of him for that.
I also hear it's extremely graphic... 

[CD]

Ninja Scroll is good.

[greg]

Here goes me gushing over another anime...
I finally finished Clannad After Story. The only reason I watched was because of the fact that it is the top rated anime out there (the only other one rated so highly is Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal, which is just a 2-hour long thing I'll watch tomorrow).

Ok, first of all- thing I didn't like about it:
1. A lot of the humor is pretty lame and repetitive.
2. While at the same time a strength, at times the whole daily life of the main character, Okazaki Tomoya, seems to be a bit of a drag when you're looking to escape in anime that's supposed to bring you out of reality.
3. The additional episodes at the end of both seasons are very much lame and pointless. They just seem like stories for lame shows that teenagers would watch (like teenage dramas, I suppose). I do see their point in making them, though- to satisfy the alternate story routes for fans of the original visual novel.
4. There is a LOT of J-Pop, kawaii, dumb, cute, cheap elements especially in the first season. While it's a turn-off, it seems only natural, though.
5. The plot itself, when explained in words, sounds awfully dumb.


What I did like about it:
1. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life, if not the most- which is the ending.
2. The absolute profound depth and emotion.
3. It feels like you get to know the characters very intimately.
4. This show can make a piece of paper cry.
5. The characters are very much likeable.

Doesn't sound like the pros outweigh the cons, but they do... quite a bit.

Overall, I like it enough to alter my top 10 favorite anime list: it's at a solid #5 now. 

I'll post the whole plot from beginning to end in the next post.....

[greg]

In the very first episode of Clannad, a high school delinquent (though he's actually quite nice), Okazaki Tomoya, one day walks along a path to school with cherry blossoms flying all over the place. This girl, Furukawa Nagisa, starts talking to them and they become friends.

During the first season of the show, they make a lot of friends and form a Theater Club and a lot of stuff happens. At the end of the show, they finally decide to start dating.

Clannad After Story- Tomoya and all of their friends graduate while Nagisa is left behind because she got sick again with this mysterious fever that lasts for months and she has to repeat her last year for the 3rd time because of that. So, Tomoya moves in with her parents and works at the bakery with them, while waiting another year for Nagisa to graduate. Here, he finds something he isn't used to, since he was raised by just his dad after his mom died when he was little (his dad being a drunk that had to work all the time and never spent time with him)- a welcoming, fun, interesting family.

After Nagisa finally graduates, they end up living in another apartment and he's working as a telephone pole maintenance guy, and then they eventually get married and she gets pregnant. Then, while giving birth, she dies. (It's that mysterious illness thing being the cause).

Devastated, Tomoya spends the next 5 years drowning himself in work and going day to day just trying to distract his mind from reality. He doesn't even live with his daughter, but lets Nagisa's parents take care of her. So, one day, he goes on a trip with Ushio (his daughter) and realizes something that snaps him out of his depression- his reason for living wasn't Nagisa anymore, but Ushio.

Then, later, Ushio develops the same type of fever that lasts for months just like her mom did. One day, she insists Tomoya to take her outside for a walk. They go outside and it starts snowing, and then she just stops walking and dies.

Then, the scene shifts to an alternate reality where it shows the very opening scene of the show where Tomoya and Nagisa meet. He keeps on thinking, "If I never would've met her, none of this would have ever happened," and he walks past her at first. Then, he can't control himself and rushes back and him embraces her- despite all of the endless pain from her and their daughters' deaths, he chooses to still have that as his reality just because he loves her so much. Then she said, "I was worried you wished you'd never have met me."

And that scene was possibly the most profoundly deep and moving thing I've ever known. 


Here's part of the scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/xwlRyKhpf7Q

though of course, it's only possible to really get the impact when you've went through the series, experiencing what the guy had to go through- such as Ushio's death:

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/1IwN67M4UGQ

[greg]

Watched Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal yesterday morning. It's just an OVA that lasts less than 2 hours total, but it's basically the second top-rated anime.

Months ago, my friend (who doesn't actually watch much anime) posted a link on my facebook to it, and I didn't feel like watching it at the time, but I finally did. 

It's a really good one. I can't say it shocked me or anything, but it was really well made- a great prequel to the Rurouni Kenshin series.

For me, the dialogue was strange being so formal and almost poetic, and some lines just sounded silly. I watched the English dub, so it's probably just that.  Also, I didn't really get a feel for the characters, but it was still a good one anyways...

[greg]

Today I finished watching Spirited Away and watched all of Summer Wars.

Summer Wars is a new movie that seems to be critically acclaimed, so I was expecting a lot, but didn't really think it was that good. It really didn't have anything to offer, and the ending was just ridiculously cliched and cheesy.

Spirited Away really is a good movie. What can I say about it? Everything about it is good, and everyone likes it. 

I had a plan to stop watching anime except for a day or two each month- days in which I'd be completely free to do nothing all day, and I could watch a complete 24 episode series in 8 hours. I don't know how well I'll be able to stick to that, though... it seems like the experience of going through a series is such a rush that I don't know if I can quit.    The effect it has really is greater than anything in totally taking you away from everything and putting you in a different place. Honestly, it's the only thing that I really look forward to, so I'll give this plan a shot at least. 

[greg]

Finished watching Baccano!, Akira, and Grave of the Fireflies- all of them were really good.

Baccano! is a pretty short series (16 episodes) full of tons of violence and humor. Akira was fun to watch, and Grave of the Fireflies was a really tragic one, being an anti-war film and all. Basically, the whole storyline in that one was this boy and his little sister fending for themselves after the air raids in Japan, and in the end, the little girl dies.

Next I guess I'll watch one of the ones recommended to me (out of Samurai Champloo, Afro Samurai, S-cry-ed, Ninja Scroll, and Rahxephon, to name a few)...

[Ciel_Rouge]

I heard of an anime where someone finds a magic piano in a forrest. Any info on that?

[greg]

Well, I just googled "magic piano forest" and easily found it. 

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7466

The ratings look so-so, so it's probably nothing special (and typically, I can trust the ratings on this site although there are exceptions- I thought Akira was a bit underrated, coming in at #380  and Summer Wars was way overrated) .



Probably the only anime I'd consider (but don't really see myself) watching that involves something likes sports or music would be Nodame Cantabile:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7010

just because it's so highly rated (#11) and because it's all about classical music. I don't think I'd like that scenario- but of course, I do like it when they actually have classical music in the anime (last time I saw that was in Clannad where they turn on a Ravel orchestral work and one of them said the title, and I was ashamed I didn't know it!) 


On a side note, why does everyone from Poland here speak such good English? Is everyone in Poland so fluent in English and I just didn't know? 

[Ciel_Rouge]

Greg, I saw some Nodame Cantabile clips on YT and I think it is worth a try.

I am not sure if there are any members from Poland besides Maciek (who is not IN Poland) and Aramis...

[greg]

Maybe... one day... 

Oh yeah, actually, I did have in mind just you and Maciek, even though I probably made it sound like there's some huge Polish community here. But, does everyone in Poland know how to speak perfect English? (just wondering) 

[eyeresist]

Next I guess I'll watch one of the ones recommended to me (out of Samurai Champloo, Afro Samurai, S-cry-ed, Ninja Scroll, and Rahxephon, to name a few)...

S-Cry-Ed.

[greg]

I watched Ninja Scroll a few days ago. It was alright, though very, very nasty.

Just finished watching Princess Mononoke... at the beginning, I felt like this was going to be incredible, but I just lost interest as it continued. It wasn't bad at all, but it just left me a bit apathetic.

I also watch the first episode of S-CRY-ed yesterday, and plan on watching the whole series. To me, it looks like some silly kids show, but I'll give it a try anyways.

[eyeresist]

Too bad you didn't like Mononoke - I think it's one of Miyazaki's best.

S-Cry-Ed is not one of those anime that pretends to be "adult" by being pretentious or featuring super-cool gun action. It's just one of the very best shows in the shonen genre, unpretentious, well-crafted in every production aspect, and a lot of fun to watch.

[greg]

Well, the next two episodes seemed a lot better. I'll just take it for what it is, and then form an opinion by the time I'm done with it. 

That speed guy.... and that scene where this guy asks for this woman's name, and her last name is "Kiryuu"(which sounds like "Kill you") LOL

[greg]

I finished watching s-CRY-ed yesterday.

I don't plan on watching another series until the earliest at Monday after next Monday- and then, I'll be watching the second season of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni- which is called "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai." It's 24 episodes, so that's 8 hours and I plan on going through it in a day.

So, s-CRY-ed was good for what it was (though I'm not so sure about the English voice acting). It was an enjoyable show that would have been nice to find on TV. Of course, it's not in the same league as a sophisticated show like Higurashi or Clannad After Story, but it was still an enjoyable one.

[greg]

Watched My Neighbor Totoro a few days ago and Howl's Moving Castle just now.
I MUCH preferred Howl.

My Neighbor Totoro was charming at times (such as the crazy cat bus), but it just didn't have enough content to keep me interested. Looking at the pictures and the title (for some reason, i don't know why) for this movie, I thought I would love it, but most of it just bored me.

Howl's Moving Castle, on the other hand, was probably my favorite anime movie I've seen yet (if not my favorite, a tie with Akira and Grave of the Fireflies). It's just like Spirited Away but better (screw consensus).  The artwork is probably the best I've ever seen- the whole thing is like magic.

[CD]

I started last night this anime series called Mushi-shi. "Mushi" are these tiny sentient blobs that are below even microbes on the evolutionary scale that take on different forms (some impersonate humans) and can only be seen by certain people, such as the lead character Ginko, who is a mushi-shi (which is like a ghost hunter or exorcist for mushi). The show follows Ginko as he travels to different locations to solve problems people are experiencing through encounters with mushi.

I've watched three episodes so far and really enjoy the "stillness" of it (it's very slow and there's almost no music), and the art style is painterly and beautiful.

[greg]

I've heard that is a really good one- another one I plan to watch one day.
Based on what I've read, it seems similar to Kino's Journey. Both are about a main character who travels the world, and the episodes of both series aren't connected to one another- more like individual tales each episode.

and:

Staying in one place too long will gather a potentially dangerous amount of mushi. He also smokes constantly in order to keep mushi away. In terms of personality, Ginko is rather laid back.

Kino only spends three days and two nights in every town, without exception, on the principle that three days is enough time to learn almost everything important about a place, while leaving time to explore new lands. Kino says in The Land of Visible Pain that this principle is probably a lie, specifically noting "if I stay any longer, I'm afraid I will settle down."

(not to mention that Kino has absolutely no personality)

Although there is no direct influence (Kino's Journey coming out slightly later but being influenced by something else). Weird...

[greg]

I watched both Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai and it's sequel "Rei." I said I'd watch them in one day, but I couldn't put it off any longer, since I was too desperate to watch the show.

And, to put it briefly, as expected, it was satisfying beyond my wildest dreams... Watching anime like this is probably the only experience in life that is comparable to the awesomeness of Mahler symphonies. Now, for me, that's saying a lot.