Anime lovers

[Guest wildpegasus]

Any anime lovers out there? I just finished watching the original Record of Lodoss Wars which I throughly enjoyed. So, for all anime lovers out there what's your favorite piece of work?

[Guest wildpegasus]

One more thing I'd like to add to my previous post.What's your favorite anime moment? With imagination being the only limit in anime there's been a ton of classic moments that you simply wouldn't see anywhere else.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

it's close between Princess Mononoke and AKIRA (I love those little bobble-head things from Mononoke )

[Guest Flyboy]

*waits for Vester to appear*

[Mrnoitaull 0]

Those little bobble head inkblot smurf-ghost thingys made me sleep with my door tucked. UBt I have to give it to "Fatal Fury 3:Amour of Mars". Maybe because Im fresh into the anime section of interest.

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

I can't say for sure what my favorite is (possibly Escaflowne) , but right now I'm trying to finish .hack (both seasons) and Gundam Seed.

[Guest razazteca]

Lupan the 3rd is one of the greatest shows ever made as its series and movies from the 70s is withstood the test of time. Too bad it lost its Adult Swim spot to Yu Yu Hakushi and Inuyashi.

 

Macross Plus continues the storyline of the Macross Sega from Robotech in a OVA series. Set in the future on a training base with 2 companies working on getting the contract to supply the Ministry of Defense with new Valkyrie Fighters jets. Just like the old Robotech series there is a love triangle this time between the 2 test pilots and the celebrity singer.

 

Gunbuster is the basic mecha anime with girl being force to save the world, but 1st she has to survive the school training. I have seen the OVA but I heard that there a was a series after this with a plot twist

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

Was the main villian boss her father in the tv series

[Guest chirs3]

I haven't seen all that much, but Cowboy Bebop is the best I've seen yet.

 

Runners up: Neon Genesis Evangelion, .hack//SIGN

 

As for movies... well, I've seen maybe two, so I'll just say Princess Mononoke.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

The show that pulled me into anime was Sailor Moon, which, in it's first few seasons, actually made sense and had a great love story going between Mamoru and Usagi.

 

The cousin thing with Uranus and Neptune was fucked up, since they're lovers in the original version. Hell, they made Zoisite a chick, just so the "romance" between Zoisite and Malachite wouldn't seem gay, since Zoisite is actually a guy. Of course, they had to give the Senshi annoying-as-hell squeaky voices on the last season they aired.

 

Heh..I can't believe I remember the names.

[Guest SpiritualRemains]

Favorite series: Vandread.

Runners up: Excel Saga, Cowboy Bebop, and Akazukin Chacha.

I rated all these run shows as 10 out of 10 on AnimeNet, and those are the three. Revolutionary Girl Utena would be rated as a 10 if it wasn't for certain elements. Cowboy Bebop didn't make my favorite because of the lack of focus on a main villian. Akazukin Chacha didn't get my favorite partially because I haven't seen it all and partially because we'll (very likely) never see it released on R1 DVD due to its length and it relying on puns, thus making it nearly undubbable.

 

Favorite Movie: Cowboy Bebop the Movie and Spirited Away.

Course I have seen both of these in the last eight days in the theatre.

 

Favorite OVA: Oh My Goddess and Tenchi Muyo.

Both no-brainers, but Oh My Goddess was one of the few shows I went back and watched the DVDs a second time.

 

Favorite Moment: End of Cowboy Bebop.

Everyone that's seen it knows what I'm talking about.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Right now, I'm on episode 21 of Neon Genesis Evangelion and my head is spinning. DRAMA! This shit beats mostly every live-action series on American television RIGHT NOW.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

I got some categories:

 

Best anime movie: It's Akira, and you ALL KNOW IT. I mean, never before has a movie (and I mean any movie) made me think like that. This is truly a masterpiece of cinematic art, and it should be required viewing for anybody thinking that anime is stupid, because this movie will change their fuckin mind. Princess Mononoke was great, too, but I own both movies, and in my honest opinion, Akira is far ahead of it.

 

Best anime series: Neon Genesis Evangelion. As a Catholic, I find the Catholic allusions, the 12 angels attacking representing the 12 apostles, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the whole "Death/Rebirth" to be not only harrowing, but it scared the fuck outta me. I haven't seen much of Cowboy Bebop, but that definitely intrigues me, so far.

 

Best action anime: So sue me. I think Dragonball has some of the coolest fighting sequences in an anime, period. Of course, I haven't seen much, but some of those sequences were just great.

[Guest Renegade]

Trigun, to me its just a perfect balance of guns, humor and morale. The first ten or so episodes are filled with Vash's almost seemingly childish lust for food and women as is he being constantly chased for very sketchy reasons. The viewer is very gradually given some of Vash’s backstory as Vash blunders his way from town to town, until the series reaches the train episode. It’s from there where humor takes the back seat as the series has its first proper death. The viewer can see that Vash’s simple “love and peace” chant is a firm, personal belief, one which he bases his life upon and which taunts and tests him throughout the anime. The dialogue between the main characters is superb, from Vash and Woolfwood’s constant clash of ethics to the insurance girls’ often hilarious conversations. The series has some of the most memorable characters that I have seen in an anime and is my current favorite anime.

 

Best scene (s): The final fight scene in the last episode, Wolfwood at the chapel, any scene with the hornfreak and the coversation with Vash and Wolfwood after the demon gung ho gun is killed.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Um...there are 17 Angels in Evangelion and they don't represent the 12 apostles. They are even named for the actual 7 archangels and a few more actual angles (Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, etc.) and not the 12 apostles (Peter, John, Judas, etc)... But you are correct in that the japanese word used in the series, Shito translates as "apostle" or "disciple." Gainax translated it into "angel" in English themselves just as they translated "Shinseiki" to "Neon Genesis" and not "New Century."

 

While alot of the show is up for individual interpretation, this much is pretty clear. The members of SEELE say countless times that The Dead Sea Scrolls clearly state that 17 Heavenly Messengers will visit the Earth.

[Guest LJSexay]

Ranma

 

Trigun

 

Naruto

 

[Guest RepoMan]

SDF Macross

 

MS Gundam

 

Cowboy BeBop

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Cowboy Bebop didn't make my favorite because of the lack of focus on a main villian.

I find this funny, since Vandread had the same problem. You never really understood what was going on other than "Harvesting" and the Mysterious Kid Out Of Fucking Nowhere at the very end didn't help either.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

Um...there are 17 Angels in Evangelion and they don't represent the 12 apostles. They are even named for the actual 7 archangels and a few more actual angles (Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, etc.) and not the 12 apostles (Peter, John, Judas, etc)... But you are correct in that the japanese word used in the series, Shito translates as "apostle" or "disciple." Gainax translated it into "angel" in English themselves just as they translated "Shinseiki" to "Neon Genesis" and not "New Century."

 

While alot of the show is up for individual interpretation, this much is pretty clear. The members of SEELE say countless times that The Dead Sea Scrolls clearly state that 17 Heavenly Messengers will visit the Earth.

Ok. See, that whole Dead Sea Scrolls/Number of Angels thing kinda made me wonder...wasn't there the first angel (First Impact), then the second angel (second Impact), and weren't those both named Adam and Eve? The whole series is jus confusing...

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

No. The second Angel is named Lillith.

 

 

Do not try and make any sense of the Christian undertones in Evangelion. There is no hidden meaning or continuity to it all. Although there's a lot of hidden crosses and a lot of names and imagery used in the Christian religion, it all winds up meaning absolutely nothing.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Eat cum-filled ass, West.

 

 

 

Anyways, I've been wanting to bump the "one and only anime" thread back up to the frontpage since it has a hell of a lot of info for newer fans and great discussions on some of the more popular shows running now(DBZ & GT, Ruroni(sp?) Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop, and a quite a few others).

 

So, basically, it's up to you people. I can bump the thread up and combine it with this one. So if ya want me to, just let me know.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

This is sorta kinda a poll thread, and Thread Necromancy sucks.

 

 

I kinda don't really care in the long run, I guess. But if somebody says yes then put in a no vote for me.

[Guest Flyboy]

See?

 

I knew he would make his appearance.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Hardy, har, har, Adam... ya sorry bastard.

 

Anyways, I thought over what JotW said and he has a point, so I'll probably just link it in here when I have more time.

[Guest Human Fly]

Right now it is Cowboy Bebop. I haven't gotten all the way through it yet, but so far it is great.

 

I liked Princess Mononoke more than Spirited Away but both were excellent. There's something about Princess Mononoke, I can never get sick of that movie. My favorite part is when San is fighting Eboshi in the middle of Iron Town and Ashitaka gets pissed and he goes to break it up.

 

Next on my list to try and pick up over the Summer are Macross Plus and Evangelion.

[Guest EricMM]

Anyways...

 

Real Fave anime of all time: Ranma 1/2

 

Current "fave of all time": Lupin the 3rd, to bad it got KILLED but they kept that shitty Reign P.O.S. Castle of Cagliostro and Twilight Gemini were both cool movies too.

 

Past "faves of all time": Eva (in highschool) Cowboy bebop and Trigun as well.

[Guest NoCash]

Due to my job at Victorias Secret being cut off (yes, an anime geek working at vickies. It could never last), I havent seen much of the newer stuff. I'll just list some of my favorites and i'll try to touch on some not-so-well known stuff.

 

Rurouni Kenshin

I'm a sucker for histroical anime, and this is definately one of the best i've seen. Good character development and a nice simple story with a few interesting twists. The downside is the 3rd season, which doesn't follow the manga and believe me the quality drop is noticable after the Christain arc. I just finished this series a few weeks ago with the new OVA that came out, a very good buy. Pick up at least the first OVA, which is sold as "Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal".

 

Cowboy Bebop

Very original. WONDERFUL art. Easy anime to jump right into at any point in the series. It doesnt have a strong plot, and relies more on character development, which may not appeal to some people. Oh and did I mention the music? Do I need to? Download a sample.

 

Neon Genesis Evangelion

I have a personal theory with this series. I think Anno didn't like where it was going halfway and decided to fuck around with it. In any case, fasinating mind boggling series. Has a double appeal of psychology never before seen in any anime, and tons of symbolism. The plot is so well done later on in the series it leaves you BEGGING for more. Which leads to the downside, the end of the series is far too open for interruptation. The viewer isnt left with a whole lot to work with. I think the creators just dug themselves in too deep of a hole to try and explain the entire series so they left it as is.

 

Tenchi Muyo

As time goes on, the appeal of this show drains on me simply because this genre of romantic comedy, multiple women fall for the same guy, has been done to death. However, if you ARE in the mood for that kind of show, this is the one that started the genre and still one of, if not the best example of it.

 

Ebichu

A guilty pleasure of mine. Very "mature", this show features Ebichu, the housekeeping hamster who will do anything to please her master. Its not as bad as I just worded it, but tons of sexual jokes and situations. A very funny series.

 

Strawberry Eggs

A man is behind on his rent, so he dresses as a woman in order to enter a school which only hires female teachers. Sounds cliched, but this one really surprised me. It touches on some interesting issues. Its more enjoyable once you realize that japanese girls generally don't act like american ones (in some situations, you'll wonder why the hell the girls are acting the way they do). Downsides to this show are some very sappy moments and a weak ending. Not for everyone.

 

Ninja Scroll

Another guilty pleasure. If you haven't seen it, think of it as Kenshin dumbed down to DBZ level. Good action and a fun movie. Just don't expect much story or intellicual stimulation.

 

Serial Experiments Lain

Weird. Very weird. This is a hard series to describe. It deals with the real world and the "wired". If you want your brain turned into mush, this is the show for you. Not for everyone.

 

Perfect Blue

Another great movie with good, albeit odd characters and a excellent story going in. Obsession is the main theme of this movie, and it tries to pry into the minds of those that are. In my opinion, I think the movie tries too hard making the viewer guess whats actually going on. Lots of pyschological trips, but no transition in plot until the end of the movie.

 

Akira

My first anime, and I still can't describe it well enough to do it justice. Just watch it. Plenty of good, memoriable moments. The music isn't that bad either.

 

Metropolis

Probably the only anime i'll put on here simply for the art and music alone. It has a great soundtrack. Some may complain about the art being too "kiddy" looking but I find it alot more refreshing than most styles in anime. The plot isn't anything to write home about however it gets the job done.

 

Excel Saga

Hilarious and insane. A must watch if you're an anime vet.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

No. The second Angel is named Lillith.  Do not try and make any sense of the Christian undertones in Evangelion. There is no hidden meaning or continuity to it all. Although there's a lot of hidden crosses and a lot of names and imagery used in the Christian religion, it all winds up meaning absolutely nothing.

To say that the religious undertones in Evangelion ultimately mean nothing is not entirely accurate. Religion plays a major role in the story and the events that unfold. For example, who Keel Lorenz really is, why only 14-year-old children born after the 2nd Impact can pilot the EVAs, The Lance of Longinus, and the Magi computers.

 

And Lillith is technically the second angel, since she came after Adam, but to the humans in Evangelion she is the first, since SEELE and Keel Lorenz already had her in their possession long before Adam ever arrived (Lilith's mask has the 7 eyes on it which is SEELE's logo before 2nd impact even occurs, so they already had her) in Antarctica to either find her and/or warn mankind about its cloning/genetic experiments. To them, Adam is the Second angel.

 

I agree with NoCash, though, in that it is left entirely too open to individual interpretation and that Anno is, by his own admission, a mad man (at least at the time of Evangelion's conception.)

 

wasn't there the first angel (First Impact), then the second angel (second Impact), and weren't those both named Adam and Eve?

The first impact was thought to be caused by a meteor striking the Earth some 60 million years ago, eradicating the dinosaurs and started the evolution of mankind as we know it today. Actually, it was the splitting of a being that when it seperated, became Adam and Lilith. Adam's white moon embedded itself in Antartica and gave birth to all the angels (which is why they must return to him, but if they do it will start a destructive 3rd impact and simply KILL all of mankind) and Lilith's black moon, as you see in the movie, is under the Geofront and Tokyo-3 and gave birth to mankind. A third impact started with Lilith rather than Adam will cause a Constructive 3rd impact and will allow mankind to evolve, but still cease to exist as individuals as we currently do.

 

Adam caused the Second Impact when man captured him (he was awoken by SEELE testing an artificial S2 unit, which I took to be the angels "hearts" and would allow an EVA to operate without a power cable) and shrunk him to an embryo to better control him and set forth into motion the chain of events that would bring about Third Impact. (the 17 angels coming and their defeat, amongst other things that factor into making 3rd Impact occur)

 

Eve would be the "EVAs" since man tried to create their own angels from what they learned about Adam. Since they come from Adam basically, they are called "Eve" or "Evas." But the EVA's aren't direct or pure clones of Adam, they just used what they learned to create something similar but entirely different through various cloning procedures and super science to combat the other angels that they knew would be coming for him. Only an angel can defeat an angel and the humans didn't exactly have any angels at their disposal to fight the ones that were on their way to save ourselves. The suits only serve to contain the EVAs and keep them in control because while humans cloned them sorta, they still don't know their full capabilities or fully understand what they created. All they know is that they are their only hope in defeating the avenging angels.

 

Third impact was the next step in mankind's evolution, but it had to be brought about delibrately (which Gendo Iraki and Keel Lorenz of SEELE were each doing in their own way and for their own reasons, Lorenz to stop his own pain, I think and Gendo to be reunited with Yui, his wife) and it was supposed to make man one being instead of many different ones and they would feel no more pain (but also no pleasure). Third impact had a number of things that had to happen in order for it to occur, so it couldn't happen by accident. Mankind had to endure trials, be resourceful and perservere to reach then next step, as you can see and that was intentional. The Dead Sea Scrolls detail everything that has to happen, SEELE and Gendo simply forced the events along a little faster but had to keep their employees in the dark because honestly, who would work towards ending humanity willfully?

[Guest NoCash]

Ah, I should list some memorable moments shouldn't I?

 

Rurouni Kenshin

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

1. Kenshin killing Tomoe. 2. Hiko finding Shinta and the buried bodies. 3. Kenshin almost killing Kurogasa. 4. Kenshin fighting Saito. 4. Kenshin fighting Hiko, and the "He-looks-like-hes-dead-but-he-really-isnt" moment. 5. Soujiro snapping. 6. Shishio parrying Kenshins final attack. 7. Sano throwing a fish to Kenshin, and Kenshin missing the catch by a mile. Very emotional. 8. Karou covering Kenshin when Enishi was about to kill him. 9. Kenshin dying in Karous arms. I felt like I lost a family memeber.

 

Cowboy Bebop

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

1. Spike and Vicious' first fight, complete with Spike being thrown out the window. 2. The brother getting shot after getting the plant that saved his sister. 3. Le Fou regressing to a child, calling for his mommy. Very chilling. 4. Andy and Spike climbing the towers. 5. Eds farewell. 6. Faye finding her old house. 7. Faye and Juila meeting. 8. Juila dying. 9. Spike and Vicious' final fight.

 

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

1. Shinji "I must'nt run away!" 2. The thermal expansion bit. 3. Shinji feeling up a naked Rei. 4. Eva 02's first real beserker, prying itself free from the inside of an angel. 5. Gendo activating Eva 02's dummy plug, almost killing Toji and Shinjis subscequent scream. 6. Kaji talking to Shinji while watering melons while world world 3 is breaking loose in front of them. 7. Eva 02 taking in the S2 organ. 8. "Who shot Kaji?" 9. Asuka sitting naked in a bathtub. 10. Rei sacrificing herself against the 16th angel. 11. Ritsuko destryoing the dummy plug system. 12. Rei "Old hag". 13. Kawrou sacrificing himself after finding out the truth of the angel in Terminal Dogma. 14. Shinji jerking off in front of Asuka. 15. Seele ordering the invasion of NERV. 16. Asuka's awaking and battle. 17. Asuka "I'll kill you!" 18. Rei cutting off Gendos hand. 19. "I keep tumbling down tumbling down tumbling down." 20. "Congradulations. 21. "You disgust me".

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Lately I've picked up on three new anime titles.

 

Lupin the 3rd - Old school rocks the house. Given the animation quality shows its age, but just watching Lupin & Co. go to work makes for a fun viewing. Pretty disappointed to see this get the axe from CN, especially before Reign.

 

Inuyasha - Admittedly I am a mark for Rumiko Takahashi and like what I've seen so far in this series.

 

His & Her Circumstances - 9 episodes in and I'm hooked on it. Your typical high school love story except done really well. It switches between serious and comical tones at the drop of a hat yet the timing of it doesn't detract from the show. The potential is there for this to become my favorite anime of all time.

 

.hack isn't on here since I haven't seen past the first two episodes so I can't really say what I think about it. I do think the music rocks on Cowboy Bebop levels.

 

As for favorite anime moment, the first one that comes off the top of my head: Cowboy Bebop episode "Mushroom Samba" - Ein, a cow, and subtitles. So unexpected and random that I couldn't stop laughing.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

For example, who Keel Lorenz really is, why only 14-year-old children born after the 2nd Impact can pilot the EVAs, The Lance of Longinus, and the Magi computers.

While all these individual elements are all there, they add up to nothing.

 

Seriously, this is one of the most overrated and overhyped animes of all time. I'm suprised there's as many fanboys here for it. There are a billion fanboys who have been counting and trying to piece this stuff together since 98. It doesn't add up to jack squat.