The new, official, stand-alone anime thread!

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

Gundam Wing. Ugh.

 

Out of the Gundam Series I've seen, the 08th MS Team is the best.

 

..as far as the Escaflowne Movie goes..I agree. It's nothing like the series.

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

RickyChosyu - Gundam 0083 is definitely part of the main (Universal Century) storyline.

 

pocho - Sorry, but it looks like you're still the resident Mazinger expert in these parts. I'm not near close enough to this series to be doing a commentary on it, though I'd be interested in seeing more in the future..

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

Someone clued me into this website on another forum.

 

It's called AnimeNet, and though it takes a while to set up, it's a neat little system. You grade anime you've seen, and the website will suggest five shows according to your tastes and those who enjoyed similar animes. AN says I should get my otaku-ass in gear and check these out:

 

Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba)

 

Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)

 

Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta)

 

Rurouni Kenshin OVA 1 (Samurai X)

 

His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano no Jijou)

 

 

The site's kinda slow right now since it's still in the development stages, but they're working the kinks out as they go along. Thought y'all might want to check it out and see if you agree with the movies/shows it spits back out.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Actually, that brings up a good point: are any of the alternate universe series for Gundam worthwile? I enjoyed Wing at times, but it's hardly on the levle of works like Char's Counter Attack and the 08th MS Team. It felt contrite and flashy, and the characters were way too one-dimensional. Is the current 0083 part of the central storyline? I'm pretty sure it is, but not possitive. From what I've seen, G Gundam, Gundam X, and Turn A Gundam are total abominations that undermine the entire purpose behind the Gundam saga. Thoughts?

0083 is a part of the central storyline, I believe. I think it's one of the last Gundam series to deal with the Federation/Zion War as Wing doesn't reference it at all and G Gundam makes no damn sense whatsoever. Does anybody know what year 08th MS Team is based in? I haven't seen it in a while and completely forgot.

 

Good call on the Wing characters, Ricky. As I've said before, I like Hiro, but dammit, his emotionless monotone seriously pisses me off almost as much as the pacifist theme running throughout the entire series. Thank Jeebus for Duo, though, as he's probably the only reason I even made it through the series without breaking my TV set.

 

A sidenote: How come damn near every Gundam main villian has to white hair? Eh, it's a minor thing, but I always wondered about that.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Hey Kagato, here's what they suggested for me:

 

Banner of the Stars

 

Giant Robo

 

Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta)

 

Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)

 

Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba)

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

Does anybody know what year 08th MS Team is based in? I haven't seen it in a while and completely forgot.

 

Eps 1-11 run from October to December U.C. 0079, right alongside MS Gundam. It ends around the beginning of Gundam 0080.

 

The last MSG: 08th Team ep happens sometime later, since it tells who won the war.

 

APO - Heero Yuy is a friggin' nut. Have I told you how much I enjoy his self-destruct scene? I do. That sociopath blows up *real* good.

 

His "girlfriend" is no prize either.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Heh, the scene wear he fixes his own broken leg was gold due to Duo's usual wise-cracking ass...

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Kagato, just went through the process on that website and they suggested all the titles you got except Banner of the Stars replaced Laputa. It's definitely in development right now.

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

Finished my registry. Here's the decisive, final, concise and vital list of shows BEGGING for my fandom (for now).

 

GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka)

 

His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano no Jijou)

 

Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro

 

Escaflowne TV

 

Dragon Half

 

I've actually been thinking about picking up Kare Kano and Dragon Half, so I've got no probs with this list.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Since they keep popping up no matter what I rate on that site, can anybody give me a summary about the following?

 

Banner of the Stars

Whisper of the Heart

Spirited Away

[Guest Grenouille]

I just started out watching DBZ and DB on Cartoon Network this week. Does anyone know of a good site that can inform me on the backstory of what led to what's happening now?

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Ah, it's like coming home,

 

Spirited Away is the latest Miyazaki opus that is supposedly one of his best works yet. While it seems like every new movie he comes out with is "his best work yet" this one seems to have lived up to the hype, as I have a friend who's seen a sneek preview of it (there's a few airing in American theatres) and she said it's deffinitely a wonderful film. It's about a girl who gets lost from her parents and enters the spirit world, and the adventures she encounters there. Miyazaki seems to love depicting the lives of children, and considering how great he is at capturing their spirit, this one should be well-worth seeing.

 

short summary: it's Miyazaki, go see it now.

 

Whisper of the Heart, while not directed by Miyazaki, but it's a Studio Ghibli Production and he wrote the screenplay for it, so it's said to have a lot of his incluence. Go here for a good review and summary of the film.

 

As for Banner of the Stars, is that at all related to Crest of the Stars? If so, I can help you out a bit, but otherwise I'm in the dark on that one. Sorry.

 

The other big problem with Gundam was that it had three architypal "stoic angst-ridden dude who doesn't know his purpose" characters and none of them were compelling at all. Then with Quatre being doomed from the start as an annoying and whiny character, Duo is left to make the show interesting. While he's a pretty solid character in his own right, the situations he's put in and his interactions with the rest of the cast just isn't that compelling, and neither is most of the plot. Stuff happens, people get mad, other people scream preachy tripe about peace, and I go to make myself a sandwhich.

 

As for info on DBZ, I would just run a search on Google, man. I used to know a ridiculous amounts of websites on the subject, but most of them have since gone under or are in the process of rebuilding. Trust me, you'll find something. Waaaayyyy too many DBZ fans out there for there not to be a summary of it somewhere.

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

Banner of the Stars would be a sequel to CotS.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Thought so. Haven't seen BotS, but Crest is stellar. A very intricate look at the future with a tremendously deep and vibrant universe to explore. It also manages to create a human drama with great characters. This one is slow at times, and it's the type of thing that gives you lots of time to think about what's going on and let it all sink in. If you're in the mood for something like this, I would highly recomend it. Trekies will love this stuff, especially, but don't let that deter you from it if you're not.

 

Sounds like this website is very-much a work in progess. Everything it suggests you see is worth seeing, it just doesn't show any variation in what it recomends.

[Guest Doomsault]

Does anyone know if there are any plans for another sequel to the Vampire Hunter D movies?(VHD and Bloodlust) Or do you know anywhere where I can get the series on tape, bootleg or otherwise?

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

There's not much of the series to collect. VHD and VHD:BL have been the only films released.

 

I've heard nothing of a third 'D' movie. There are the original novels (VHD based on the first; Bloodlust on the third) but they're in raw Japanese, with no plans of translation at this time.

 

Both movies are available on DVD/VHS. But Urban Vision's releasing a second version of Bloodlust with the Japanese audio track and some extra stuff later on this year or early 2003, if you can stand waiting a wee bit longer.