Anime

[Guest RickyChosyu]

No, I saw Metropolis at home. The movie lost my trust in the very first scene, when the guy is talking in English, but the subtitles read a somewhat different version of what he's saying! If they got THAT wrong, then logically the rest of the movie contains mistranslations as well.

 

The storyline was just standard stuff to me, they just took the plot of the original silent film and then added in some standard Asimov androids stuff. However, my chief gripe with the movie was its visual style, which was a clear tribute/ripoff of Ralph Bakshi. I've never been Bakshi's biggest fan, but at least he redeemed his really, really ugly movies with clever dialogue and interesting characters. Metropolis didn't do that, in my opinion, and I literally had a hard time watching it.

Actually, from what I read they were pretty good about the translation, but you can't have everything translated perfectly every time. Generally speaking, the plot wasn't changed, and the voice actors portrayed their characters almost the exact way the Japanese ones did. For me, that's all that can be asked for, as far as translation.

 

Well, considering how ground-breaking the originial silent film was, what made you view the plot as standard? I thought that it was simplistic at times, but the overall story was very inspiring and the plot moved along fast enough to keep me entertained. It had a very light-hearted atmosphere to it, but it was actually very profound at times. Well, the movie was based on a Tenkuza manga, who probably did get a large amount of his inspiration from Bakshi, but to me it only added to the charm. No other anime I've seen duplicates it, because it added perfectly to the feel of the anime without being distracting. Also, I thought the characters and the dialogue were all quite clever, as was the entire movie as a whole. But, to each his own, ya know?

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

This one helluva thread!

 

The first anime I EVER saw was Galaxy Express 999. I was so young I didn't even remember the name, I only found out 2 years ago (I'm now 26) that that's what it was. Like everyone else my age, my other anime experiences were probably things like Speedracer, Robotech, Tranzor Z (Mazinger Z) and Voltron. I got reintroduced to anime in High School by a friend of mine who had a really bad copy of MD Geist in japanese. I was like "Man, if all anime is like this we have to get some more." I was in shock. Nudity, graphic violence and what my friend knew to be profanity; all the hallmarks of anime and why we all watch it today! After that me and him always talked about how we were both going to go straight to Japan after graduation. I made it, I don't know if he ever did. Even though it's not anime, I also recall getting hooked on the Aeon Flux shorts on Liquid Television on MTV at that time.

 

Before I left home, I managed to see Wicked City and Demon City Shinjuku (sp?). Both of these have yet to be mentioned and in my opinion are CLASSIC. Especially Wicked City.

 

Next for me, it was off to Sierra Vista, AZ where I saw things like AKIRA, Vampire Hunter D and Ninja Scroll for the first time due to my asian roommate from Pasadena, CA. Those three movies are AMAZING. We must've worn out my tape of Fist of the North Star, too. We'd quote that movie like it was going out of style: "It's all mine. And your woman, too."

 

In Pensacola, FL another friend of mine started to find more anime that was bordering on Hentai, like Cutey Honey and Twin Dolls. We got a real kick outta Twin Dolls. It was here that I made the mistake of renting the live action version of Wicked City. Do not rent this movie. Unless you just LIKE to waste money. I think that is one of the few rentals that I took back the SAME day. Might've even been 20 min later. I believe I saw Battle Angel for the first time here, too.

 

I was in Japan for the original televised run of Dragonball Z and recorded them all (in japanese) plus all of the movies, too. While I've never seen them in English (I don't watch Cartoon Network), I really don't have the desire to. It just loses something (besides violence and blood being cut) in English to me. I'm a big-time Vegata mark and he sounds like a pussy on Cartoon Network. I can't abide by that. I'm fine with seeing it how I saw it.

 

I also saw the original runs of Samurai X and Neon Genesis Evangelion in Japan also. I had the opportunity to see the uncut version of the first Street Fighter anime (the fight between Vega and Chun Li has some nudity that was cut outta the US release) I rented alot of anime there, so I got to see things like Gunsmith Cats (who haven't been mentioned), Riding Bean, Blue Seed, Plastic Little, Giant Robo, Doomed Megalopolis, all of the Fatal Fury movies (which are actually okay) and Bubblegum Crisis. Princess Mononoke (or Mononoke Hime as it's called in Japan) I actually saw in the theater in Japan. It was a HUGE deal when it came out there for reasons I didn't know. Posters and cardboard standees were EVERYWHERE for this movie, I swear to God. And it stayed in theaters FOREVER.

 

I got familiar with Masamune Shirow here, too, seeing things like Appleseed and Dominion Tank Police. Nothing could prepare me for Ghost in the Shell, though. Upon first viewing that movie is a definite mind-fuck.

 

Speaking of mind-fucks, no one has mentioned Devilman. For some odd reason, my wife absolutely adores this anime and insisted that we buy it. The DVD has two episodes. The first one is pretty old, it looks like it may have been from the 70's originally, but seeing as how the japanese are light years ahead of us as far as animation, it could easily be the 60's. The second episode is noticeably newer and the story...is OUT THERE. I felt like I was on drugs or drunk. It's weird. It's like someone animated a nightmare.

 

Speaking of animated drug-induced nightmares, has anyone here ever heard of The Legend of Chinese Gods? This is another flick I saw as a youth and only recently found out what it was callled. If anyone can get their hands on a copy (and find ME one, too!) please tell me what you think. You can find a review here.

 

In Alice Springs, Australia I rented all of Neon Genesis Evangelion to see in English and watched it in one sitting. My head hurt for three days after that. I must buy those DVDs. I did the same thing with the Street Fighter series. My head hurt after that, too, but for a different reason. I just believe it's NEVER a good idea to watch that much anime at once.

 

I'm not really into Gundam, Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo, The Big O, Outlaw Star, Ranma 1/2. I saw Trigun recently and liked it, and I've caught occasional episodes of Cowboy Bebop on Adult Smim. I haven't seen Perfect Blue but I want to because of all the good things that I've heard about it. I just may purchase it sight unseen on DVD. The same goes for Beserk. I'd like to recommend Grappler Baki for fans of fight anime. I didn't see it mentioned and it is worth checking out if you like the senseless violence and bloody gorry fight scenes. It defies logic, but what anime' doesn't?

 

I want to see or purchase Jin-Roh as well. I've heard good things but have yet to see it and the Special Edition DVD is upwards of $50.

 

I guess that's it.

 

See Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Blood: The Last Vampire if you haven't. While Bloodlust is a full-length movie, Blood is only about 45 min. so beware if you're looking to buy it. While it is good and shows off some revolutionary animation techniques, it may not be worth your $24.95 for just 45 min., though.

 

EDIT: OMG OMG *mawrcs out* Look what I found: Chinese Gods for sale. A DVD that plays in ALL regions. They have all region DVD of the Twin Peaks Pilot as well. It was never released in the US and it's not in the Twin Peaks set that is availabe here.

 

EDIT 2: I BOUGHT IT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Crucifixio: I've heard lots of good stuff about Galaxy Express 999, but the space travel and style in general might not be my cup of tea. I guess I'm just hesitant because it's such an old series. Ah well, maybe I'll give it a look.

 

How was Japan? I've always wanted to go there, but the opportunity hasn't really presented itself ever.

 

Shockingly, I've never seen Wicked City. I've heard it's very Ninja Scroll-ish in it's goar and raunchy stuff. I'm afraid I haven't heard of Demon City Shinjuku, either.

 

Yeah, Akira, Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll and Fist of the North Star were some of the very first animes I saw. I really didn't like Fists of the North Star very much, but it was quite the movie for unintentionally-funny lines and what-not. The other three deffinately have nostalgia value for me, especially Akira, which damn near blew my mind at the time. Unbelievable stuff.

 

I head a friend show me Battle Angel once, but I was largely dissapointed. I was enjoying it quite a bit until it just ended suddenly and I was left unfulfilled. I've heard the manga actually has a climactic ending, but they cut a lot of it out to save time. I dunno, I kind of what to watch it again, but I think my friend taped over his copy. Ah well.

 

Crap, there was a point when I would have killed to see the entire DBZ series in Japanese. And you got to see the originial runs of Eva and Kenshin? That's just not fair. Not fair at all.

 

I'm afraid I haven't seen many of the series you mentioned next (though I've rented plenty of the Fatal Furry movies along with the Street Fighter Anime). However, I'm not at all suprised with the huge deal over Mononoke as it was said to be a bigger deal than any Star Wars movie ever was hear. I think that can mainly be attributed to Hayo Miyazaki being a God among men and the movie being hyped as his life's work and most important movie.

 

Yeah, I liked Ghost in the Shell. Not one of my favorite movies, but certainly a mind-fuck, that's for sure. I've seen two episodes of Devil Man, and I found it to be incredibly strange. I had no idea who any of the characters were, so that may have contributed. I think I pretty much got the gist of what the show is about, but the show was just out-right bizarre at times.

 

I watched all of Eva in one sitting at a friend's house, so I feel your pain on that one, brother. I don't think my brain was fuctioning properly for a week afterwards. Yeah, that much anime at once = very, very bad.

 

Perfect Blue is deffinately worth your time. This movie the mind-fuck to top all mind-fucks, as far as I'm concerned. I haven't seen anything as engrossing, yet shockingly horrifying ever since. The guy who directed this is a protige of Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira fame) and it's pretty obvious from this movie the influence that Otomo had on it. Anyway, Berserk just rules and Jin-Roh is a really intruiging little drama with lots of blood and stuff. Basically, YOU WANT ALL THIS.

 

I haven't seen Blood, but Bloodlust is just awesome. I know I already said this, but it takes everything that was good about the originial and multiplies it ten fold. Great, great stuff.

[Guest pochorenella]

Crucifixio, you are one lucky, lucky dog. My best chance to go to Japan was for the World Cup. My home team (Ecuador) actually had to play their three games over there, but I came short with the money so I blew my chance. I'm still planning to go, sometime, hopefully.

 

Since I'm nothing more than a casual anime fan, I'm not too familiar with those names like Galaxy Express, but the premise sounds awfully familiar to me because I've seen many anime series since way back but I mostly recall their spanish titles. Now I'm catching on to their english or japanese names.

 

Also, since you mention Giant Robo, I've seen the live action series years ago (he actually dies at the end), but I've never seen the anime. Is it good? Is it similar to the live action?

 

About Battle Angel Alita, I've only seen the first movie and I kinda liked it, but having read most of the manga material beforehand I have to say that the manga completely blows away the anime. Check it out if you can.

 

I've also seen a couple of Gunsmith Cats movies, and they weren't so bad.

 

Blood I already gave my opinion: too short and familair plot. How many half-human/half-vampires can there be anyway? I lose count. On the other hand, Bloodlust is very good.

 

Finally, another Mazinger Z fan! Alright! Maybe we can swap ideas about it's spin-off series like Great Mazinger and Mazinkeiser.

 

Anyway, I welcome you to this thread, Crucifixio. Peace.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

So how many anime fans do we have on the board now?

[Guest razazteca]

how many Galaxy Express 999 movies are there? Is this a long running series of spinoffs like Gundam or Macross? I seen 2 movies, and a spinoff called Sight DNA on Stars movie channel.

 

I saw Demon City Shinjuku and thought is was average for an Anime, there are better videos than that in my opinion.

 

As a general rule for Anime......most live action movies based on OVA or movies will be bad. The Dragon Ball, Wicked City, Zerim (IRIA), Fist of North Star movies were all bad.

[Guest J*ingus]

The same guy directed Demon City Shinjuku, Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, in that order, and you can really see him getting better from movie to movie. Although how he could top Bloodlust, I have no idea.

[Guest Doomsault]

Anywho, I am a complete n00b to Anime, having seen very little, and I'm also kinda turned off at the dozens of Anime's about giant fighting robots. I've found two series that I really like, Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star. Can anyone point me to more in the same vain as those two?

 

Trigun should be your next pick. It starts off with a little too much emphasis on comedy, but it quickly picks up and becomes very intense. It's quite similiar to Bebop and Outlaw Star with it's episodic pacing, and I would pit it somewhere inbetween the two as far as quality is concerned. Just a really great show overall.

Yes, you should definently see Trigun next, I've only seen three episodes and I already like it alot.

 

Has anyone seen the last few episodes of Dragon Ball GT? I've got a few pretty rare tapes of Super Saiyjin Vegeta and Goku fighting a big guy called Ii-Shenron, if you can get a hold of these episodes you will almost definantly be pleased. The action is great and you get to see the fusion dance. I've actually got alot of rare DBZ/GT tapes, I've also got the Bojack, Dragon Fist, and the Cooler movies, and I'm trying to get the Lord Slug movie also.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

razazteca: While it is true that there are certainly better anime available than Demon City Shinjuku, it'll always hold a special place in my heart simply because I saw it when I was new to anime and quite frankly, when it came out, there wasn't much better available. This was 1993, almost 10 years ago now. Sure it pales in comparison to Ghost in the Shell and Blood and such now, but back then? Oh boy. The only thing better back then was the revolutionary AKIRA and that's a special case, as it is still better looking than most anime released even today. That aside, I've never seen Demon City Shinjuku get a negative review. Unless it was by someone who has been spoiled by more recent anime and can't appreciate or understand that this one is a little older.

 

As Jingus said, Wicked City, Ninja Scroll and Bloodlust were yet to come and further down the pike for Yoshiaki Kawajiri. But just like all of any director's films deserve credit, Demon City deserves its mention amongst the rest of his better films.

 

It's like looking at Mean Streets and then watching Goodfellas. While Mean Streets is technically inferior, it's still just as good. Hell, appearance-wise, CASINO blows them both outta the water. The same applies to Demon City. I like to admire the evolution. Wicked City looks alot like Demon City but better (in fact, the two movies are often sold together they look so much alike). Ninja Scroll was a tremendous leap forward and Bloodlust is like CASINO; just beautiful.

 

Doomsault: I'd wanna tell you that I have everything you are looking for, but since I'm lazy and don't wanna record or send'em out to anyone, I won't bother. But I did record DragonBall GT as well while I was in Japan. On my tapes, there is a DragonBall GT episode after every two DBZ eps because GT only came on Wednesdays. So it'd be a pain in the ass to track down each episode on top of me not really wanting to in the first place. I have YET to find my tape with the VERY LAST episode of DBZ on it...I have no idea where it is, but I'll find it. The last story arc of GT was the only one I actually enjoyed. Both Gokou and Vegeta go SS4 and then FUSE to fight the last creature created by the evil dragonballs. It's something else, even despite the animation I thought was inferior to the DBZ series. I'm sure if you look around the net (I've seen them at my comic shop even, to be honest), you can track them down. Mine are in japanese with no subtitles cuz they came straight from Japanese TV. I'd want to see them dubbed or subtitled if I were you. So I'm no good to you.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

While it is true that there are certainly better anime available than Demon City Shinjuku, it'll always hold a special place in my heart simply because I saw it when I was new to anime and quite frankly, when it came out, there wasn't much better available. This was 1993, almost 10 years ago now. Sure it pales in comparison to Ghost in the Shell and Blood and such now, but back then? Oh boy. The only thing better back then was the revolutionary AKIRA and that's a special case, as it is still better looking than most anime released even today. That aside, I've never seen Demon City Shinjuku get a negative review. Unless it was by someone who has been spoiled by more recent anime and can't appreciate or understand that this one is a little older.

 

As Jingus said, Wicked City, Ninja Scroll and Bloodlust were yet to come and further down the pike for Yoshiaki Kawajiri. But just like all of any director's films deserve credit, Demon City deserves its mention amongst the rest of his better films.

Sounds like I need to see Demon City Shinjuku. Now that I think about it, I do remember seeing previews for it on a few releases. While his movies aren't exactly the most provocative animes there are, Kawajiri is notorious for the goary, fast-paced anime that's the perfect thing to watch when one is totally brain dead (from, say, watching Eva for nearly thirteen hours straight). Maybe I'll go for that two-pack, considering I really need to see Wicked City also.

 

Yeah, simply looking at the differences between Ninja Scroll, and Bloodlust, it's easy to see that he took all the ideas that were working for him, built on them and got rid of everything else.

 

I bought twelve episodes of DBGT via fansub and I couldn't stand it. I mean, it had it's moments, but, as if the show hadn't worn-out it's welcome by the time they finally ended Z, they decided to just re-hash everything in GT. I mean, they try to re-capture the originial Dragon Ball charm by turning Goku into a kid again (WHY!?!?!) and launching another quest for Dragon Balls. Then, they try to re-capture the popularity of Future Trunks by essentially duplicating his character and saying that he's a slightly-aged Chibi trunks. Then they change Vegita into a prick again, because after wating through all of Z for his character to actually admit his weakness, the change wasn't worth keeping, apparently. Oh, and apparently Gohan has become a nerd and thus, has lost the Mystic status and become a wuss. Way to go. Just cop-out city everywhere. The end sounds worth seeing, though. Looks like I'll have to track down a free down-load web site again.

 

Anyway, on something completely unrelated: Has anyone heard of Ceres: Celestial Legend? I'm pretty sure the originial manga was called Ayashi no Ceres, and it was written by Watase Yuu, who's most well-known for Fushigi Yuugi. I got the first DVD and I have to say I'm liking it. It's style is excessively shoujo, but in a good way, if that makes any sense.

[Guest pochorenella]

Has anyone seen the last few episodes of Dragon Ball GT? I've got a few pretty rare tapes of Super Saiyjin Vegeta and Goku fighting a big guy called Ii-Shenron, if you can get a hold of these episodes you will almost definantly be pleased. The action is great and you get to see the fusion dance. I've actually got alot of rare DBZ/GT tapes, I've also got the Bojack, Dragon Fist, and the Cooler movies, and I'm trying to get the Lord Slug movie also

 

I've seen the entire series about three times, and true, it's an unnecessary continuation of the DBZ series, even though I think the ending for this series is really, really good, and some battle are great and there's some funny stuff as well. But Gohan turns into a wuss, Trunks is not Future Trunks, and there's some more stuff that bothered me also. But if you want to ask any question about DBGT, I'm your man, so fire away.

[Guest caboose]

Speaking of mind-fucks, no one has mentioned Devilman. For some odd reason, my wife absolutely adores this anime and insisted that we buy it. The DVD has two episodes. The first one is pretty old, it looks like it may have been from the 70's originally, but seeing as how the japanese are light years ahead of us as far as animation, it could easily be the 60's. The second episode is noticeably newer and the story...is OUT THERE. I felt like I was on drugs or drunk. It's weird. It's like someone animated a nightmare.

I've seen two epidosdes of Devilman, one was cool, while the other was plain strange.

The plot however to the whole Devilman series makes no sense to me.

 

I almost purchased Ninja Scroll and Perfect Blue two days ago for about £5 for both (approx $8), but my friend has both already and he lent them to me.

Ninja Scroll is bearable, but Perfect Blue sucks.

I'm glad I purchased neither.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

The end is the only reason to see DBGT. If I had only seen 12 episodes and not the entire run, I would've more than likely been disappointed as well after seeing DBZ. 12 episodes is not a fair representation. Hell, after about 5 episodes I was wondering why I even bothered to record it. (The Baby Series wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination)

 

I mean, I was expecting to see kickass Future Trunks with the long hair and a version of Gohan that would defy description. Instead, the whole series focuses mostly on a chibi Gokou and his granddaughter, Pan. Gohan is a glasses-wearing wimp, you hardly see any of the supporting cast at all. Trunks has a bob hairdo and dresses like the Crocodile Hunter. Not my cup of tea originally.

 

But DBGT gets so cool during its final saga with the cracked Black Star Dragonballs it's sickening. I'd put it up against anything in the DBZ series to be honest. The evil Shenlong (Ii-shinlon) series "r0x0rs my b0x0rs" for lack of a better term. I really didn't get into DBGT until the next to last arc, the one that involved Super Android #17.

 

The VERY last episode is so good it...it's just good. It's better than the end to most movies. It's worth seeing just to see all of the highlights from all the other series. I'm not afraid to say it: after spending so much time with Gokou, I got a little misty when it was all over.

 

Dragonball was scheduled to end officially after DBZ. But, rumor has it that DBZ was so popular in Japan, that the producers simply wanted to keep the series going by any means necessary (or to keep fan interest high until the Dragonball Final Bout PS game came out). Unfortunately, Akira Toriyama was burned out and had lost interest. So they came up with DBGT and Toriyama wasn't a part of it this time. Japanese fans, just like us, were upset that Toriyama wasn't onboard and by the early episodes that were churned out but they eventually warmed to it and it got fairly popular by the end.

 

I think it's because the story got considerably better by the end. Had it continued like it had previously been going, I'm sure the fans would've burned down the TV studio or whatever it is they do when they get upset and deem something a failure (probably just write a lot of nastygrams to the creators). They are DEADLY serious about screwing with their anime and the beloved characters contained within.

 

Pochorenella: I also got to go to the winter Olympics in Nagano when I was in Japan.

 

Giant Robo's animation style is similar to The Big O in terms of look. It looks retro but it's very modern, sort of like a japanese Batman: The Animated Series.

 

I've always heard that the Battle Angel Alita manga blows away the anime, but this is often the case. Manga has the unique opportunity to tell a longer and more involved story than a 45 minute episode or a 2-hour movie. Adaptions will ALWAYS suffer in the translation from the source material.

 

I haven't picked up the Battle Angel manga yet but I more than likely will; it's a good concept that interests me. Two manga that I have read that go into alot more detail than the movies are Fist of the North Star and AKIRA. Instead of making movies, more creators ought to do TV series like DBZ so that things don't have to be cut from their stories. The DBZ TV show almost follows the manga panel for panel/frame for frame.

 

Finally, I wouldn't call myself a Mazinger fan, per se. I just happened to watch Tranzor Z before Voltron back in the day. To be honest, I don't even remember that much about it other than that female mecha, Aprodite, having missles for tits. Heh.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

I almost purchased Ninja Scroll and Perfect Blue two days ago for about £5 for both (approx $8), but my friend has both already and he lent them to me.

Ninja Scroll is bearable, but Perfect Blue sucks.

I'm glad I purchased neither.

Ninja Scroll is only barrable in it's mindless action. There's very little plot to get excited about there. Again, I admire the entertainment value of anime and how some people can love an anime based on action alone, but for me to truly enjoy an anime, it has to have some substance behind. I don't mean though-provoking or ground-breaking, just a compelling plot and dynamic characters. Ninja Scroll had neither, and that's why it's forgettable.

 

Perfect Blue, on the other hand, has dynamic characters who change through-out the movie and motivations that make sense. The skitzophrenic parts of the movie are only compelling because they make sense; Mima is torn between what she wants to do and what is expected of her, and doesn't know how to be true to herself. I'll take this kind of engrossing character development over Ninja Scroll's "I want to kill this dude because he's blind and smokes me with a sword" plot that, while serving it's purpose, fails to do anything to seperate itself from every other sword-fighting anime ever made, accept that the fighting scenes are done better than all of those. Perfect Blue is horrifying, interesting, provacative, and overwhelming all at the same time. I know a lot of people don't like most thriller movies (me included) but what exactly did Perfect Blue do wrong? I'd really be interested to know, because other than how wierd it became at the end, I didn't see a single thing wrong with it.

 

But hey, to each his own, I guess.

[Guest Doomsault]

Doomsault: I'd wanna tell you that I have everything you are looking for, but since I'm lazy and don't wanna record or send'em out to anyone, I won't bother. But I did record DragonBall GT as well while I was in Japan. On my tapes, there is a DragonBall GT episode after every two DBZ eps because GT only came on Wednesdays. So it'd be a pain in the ass to track down each episode on top of me not really wanting to in the first place. I have YET to find my tape with the VERY LAST episode of DBZ on it...I have no idea where it is, but I'll find it. The last story arc of GT was the only one I actually enjoyed. Both Gokou and Vegeta go SS4 and then FUSE to fight the last creature created by the evil dragonballs. It's something else, even despite the animation I thought was inferior to the DBZ series. I'm sure if you look around the net (I've seen them at my comic shop even, to be honest), you can track them down. Mine are in japanese with no subtitles cuz they came straight from Japanese TV. I'd want to see them dubbed or subtitled if I were you. So I'm no good to you.

I've got the same thing, mine are also straight from TV, there are no subs and the quality kind of sucks. I'm going to some expo in Charlotte to see what they have available.

[Guest Doomsault]

I've seen the entire series about three times, and true, it's an unnecessary continuation of the DBZ series, even though I think the ending for this series is really, really good, and some battle are great and there's some funny stuff as well. But Gohan turns into a wuss, Trunks is not Future Trunks, and there's some more stuff that bothered me also. But if you want to ask any question about DBGT, I'm your man, so fire away.

I'll take you up on that. At the very end of GT is shows what looks like a small Goku and Vegeta fighting, did Vegeta turn into a kid just to fight Goku or are those there grandkids or something? This is always something thats confused me.

 

Forgot to mention I also have both of Brolly movies as well, these are a real treat.

 

Has anyone ever seen an anime by the name of Casshan: Robot Hunter? And do you have any idea where I can get it? I've scoured ebay and numerous other sites but I can never find a trace of it.

 

Sorry about the double post.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

I'll take you up on that.  At the very end of GT is shows what looks like a small Goku and Vegeta fighting, did Vegeta turn into a kid just to fight Goku or are those there grandkids or something?  This is always something thats confused me.

 

Forgot to mention I also have both of Brolly movies as well, these are a real treat.

 

Has anyone ever seen an anime by the name of Casshan: Robot Hunter?  And do you have any idea where I can get it?  I've scoured ebay and numerous other sites but I can never find a trace of it.

It's late, and I have nothing better to do, so I'll answer. Those are Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. fighting, who are indeed distant decendants of their name-sakes. After GT ended they aired a "Goku Jr. TV Special" (similiar to the Bardock and Trunks specials that they did for DBZ) where it showed his way of life and how Son Goku Sr.'s spirit lives on in him. Or something. It seemed quite stupid to me, but then again so did everything GT-related I ever saw, so whatever. Goku Jr. is Pan's grandson, so that makes him Goku's great, great grandson, I think.

 

Vegeta Jr. is a bit more unclear, since no TV special was ever released about him. I believe he is Vegeta's great grandson, and decended from Trunks. I'm not possitive on that, though.

 

Oh, and there are three Brolly movies. I'm assuming the two you have are DBZ movies 8 and 10, which were the good ones (though DBZ movies pretty much have to be rated on their own scale, anyway). DBZ movie 11 was about a group of mad scientists who wanted to take over the world with clones, one of them being a clone of Brolly. The usually bad-ass looking Brolly is reduced to something out of a B-rate horror movie, being covered in green slime. Trunks and Goten fight him again, and some other people, can't be bothered to remember who. Suffice to say, it's a load of crap, and should be avoided by everyone, unless you really want to see everything DBZ-related.

 

I'm afraid I haven't heard of Casshan before. I ran a search on Google (did I happen to mention that I haven nothing better to do?) and found this review, though, which doesn't have too much good to say about it. However, if you're still bent on getting some, I found Volume 1 here. Hope that helps.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Damn, Ricky got to you before I could.

 

In the last episode of GT, they fast forward 100 years into the future and to the latest Tenka-ichi Budoukai where Pan is watching her grandson, Gokou Jr. and a kid who looks just like Vegeta, Vegeta Jr. get set to fight. She's suprised to see a Vegeta, Jr because apparently she didn't know of him. (maybe Chi Chi and Bulma's family's lost contact somehow, so Pan didn't know of Trunks' kids if he had any). Pan thinks she sees Gokou Sr. in the crowd watching, but of course by the time she makes it through the crowd in an attempt to catch him, he has disappeared.

 

I really hate the Brolly character, to be honest. I mean, for a bit, the characters in DBZ just seemed to get more and more powerful to the point of absurdity. Brolly was one of the most souped-up and needless characters EVER. I hate some of the characters created just for movies and Brolly falls into this category. Some deserve the fan worship they get, other's don't. Brolly doesn't. He's the type of character that reminds me why wrestling marks loved Goldberg. Good thing the movies aren't considered part of regular continuity and therefore I like to tell myself that Brolly doesn't really exist.

 

OK, the movies:

 

My favorites are: DBZ the movie #7 (it has the best fights IMO; it's where Gokou fights androids #13, 14 &15). DBZ the movie #12 (where Gokou and Vegeta FUSE in heaven and all the evil spirits get released and return to Earth), and DBZ the movie #14 (I think this is the last one and it goes back to the beginning and condenses the start of the DB saga, including the first meeting between Bulma and Gokou, Yamcha, etc. and Gokou's battle against the Red Ribbon army. The animation is TERRIFIC).

 

Actually, all of animation in the movies took a tremendous leap forward at about #10. While some people can't stand the two Brolly movies that are #10 and #11, I can't help but watch them because they look so damned good. Besides, Trunks and Goten ARE funny. #11 is easy to ignore since Brolly isn't really himself in it, but some sort of monster.

 

For someone that doesn't like to talk DBZ and hasn't seen much in English, I'm surprised I've added this much.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Hey, Crucifixio:

 

The Brolly character is pretty stupid, what with his deep seeded hatred for Goku that makes no sense (he was CRYING? well shit, lets all kill him too!) and his rediculously-high power. But then again, DBZ, from the very beginning, falls privey to the problem you mentioned: everyone becomes powerfull to the point of obsurdity and it all becomes a game of "stronger dude beats weaker dude, weaker dude evolves, becomes stronger, beats previously stronger dude, ect." until it just stops being anything compelling at all. As for the movies, the only reason they're so popular is because they're short and to-the-point, avoiding the endless waiting for fights to JUST END that the series contains. The characters in the movies always suffer, though, so it's give and take. And while some movies could have realistically fit into the DBZ unverse, so to speak, none of the Brolly movies do, so you're correct in believing that he doesn't exist.

 

#7 is pretty much the difinitive DBZ movie, with the villains being products of Dr. Gero even though the movie couldn't have really happened. It's fairly enjoyable because of the villains wacky constumes and the fights, I guess. #12 has a value all it's own because of the comedy element, with Trunks and Goten fighting HITLER~! while Goku and Vegeta fuse to make a giant fat guy who's best attacks are FARTS~! Janemba is so forgettable, though. Does he ever say anything? I'm pretty sure #14 isn't really a movie, but another TV special, which are pretty much made-for-TV movies. I've seen it too, and I really enjoyed it. It cut out most of the borring stuff from Dragon Ball and re-lived the most exciting parts.

 

I like #10 because of, again, the comedy element. Trunks pissing on Brolly and mooning him really had me laughing the first time I saw it, and Krillin dressing up as Piccalo was a clever stab at all the previous movies (was there ever a movie before that where Piccalo DIDN'T save Gohon in some way?) I just couldn't get into #11. I know it wasn't really Brolly, but it just seemed to so tired at that point to bring him back in any form. I felt the same about the second Cooler movie. Time to move on.

 

Since everyone here seems to be very high on the DBZ train, I'd like to propose a poll: Who is your all-time favotie character from Dragon Ball Z? Personally, I always marked for Piccolo. The Saya-Jins always seemed too one-dimensional to me, with the only exception being Gohan, who I can sometimes tollerate depending on what part of the series it is.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

I've said it once before and I'll say it again...I'm all about Vegeta. He's an arrogant and regal cocky fuck bastard and I LOVE him for it. He makes my asshole antics look like something from the Get-Along Gang.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Heh... damn, it's been a while since I posted in this thread.

 

I gotta concur with CJ, Vegeta is one of the best anime villians ever. That royal prick attitude(and the fact that he can back it up) makes him just insanely awesome.

 

I like Gohan and Goku a lot, but there are times(I've only been exposed to the American-ized DBZ, so please don't hold it against me) when they are just flat out irritating when they start acting goofy out of the blue.

 

Also, I kinda have a soft spot for Krillian because the lil guy gets into shit that's WAY over his head, but he always shows up(unlike that bitch Yamcha), so he'll always be a fav of mine.

 

Off-topic: Has anyone here ever downloaded anime songs and burned them onto a CD? I just want to see if I'm the only loser who's done this before...

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Heh... damn, it's been a while since I posted in this thread.

 

I gotta concur with CJ, Vegeta is one of the best anime villians ever. That royal prick attitude(and the fact that he can back it up) makes him just insanely awesome.

 

Off-topic: Has anyone here ever downloaded anime songs and burned them onto a CD? I just want to see if I'm the only loser who's done this before...

Glad to have you back, man.

 

Here's my deal with Vegeta: For the short time that he is a main villain and is just rediculously powerfull compared to everyone else on the show, I really liked him and nearly shit my pants in joy when he double-crossed Nappa like the Ruthless Prick Who Doesn't Give A Crap that he was. However, after that, it becomes apparenty that Vegeta isn't that strong at all and is really just being manipulated by Freeza (who, by the way, totally smokes Vegeta as far as villains go; if you see the originial Japanese version, you'll understand). Pretty much from that point on, Vegeta becomes untollerable to me, because right then he stops being able to back up his arrogant prick attitude, and gets his ass kicked by Freeza like everyone else. Not only that, but he's clearly surpassed by Goku, and refuses to admit it. This is believable at first, eventually every time he comes on screen acting smug you want to smack him and remind him how weak he is compared to Goku. Even for the short time that he actually does surpass Goku in the Cell saga, he's so damn stupid that he decides to let Cell become Perfect because, "he wants a challenge." Now how fucking stupid do you have to be to let someone who has already killed thousands of people achieve his ultimate form, just so you can have more fun fighting him? Vegeta is just so obnoxious through all of that because he attempts starting a familly, treats them like crap most of the time, and lets his envy of Goku turn him into a slave of someone else. I mean by the time he finally admitted that Goku was better than him, I had totally lost interest in his character.

 

Oh, and you're not alone; I too have downloaded anime songs and burned them onto CD's. I can tell you're shocked.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Thank you, Ricky for outlining exactly why I love Vegeta so much. You saved me a bunch of time.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Thank you, Ricky for outlining exactly why I love Vegeta so much. You saved me a bunch of time.

Hey, I know you're not the only one. Lord knows there are plenty of people in love with Trunks for lesser reasons.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Despite being weaker than Goku, I still like Vegeta's superdick attitude. And I may be one of the few Hercule/Mr. Satan marks here. The guy provides great moments of comic relief.

 

Ricky, not sure if you've already answered this, but since it's in your sig, I can't help but ask what are your personal thoughts on Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door?

 

Without spoiling any of it, I thought that it had a pretty good storyline, but I still feel like there should've been a little more closure to the characters that appear in this movie only.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Mr. Satan is actually pretty funny, despite being an obvious stab at pro wrestlers. The "re-enactment" of the Cell Game was hilarious stuff.

 

I really liked it. For all intents and purposes, it was really just like any Bebop episode, but obviously longer. But, I would rather have that than something that tries to re-tell the entire story in one movie while also changing the style it's presented in like the Escaflowne movie did. Yeah, I thought that Vincent and Electra could have been given more closure, but I thought they worked in their respective roles. In a way, it's kind of annoying that the main cast were all essentially given supporting roles with minor involvement (expect for Spike, of course), but that's the way the TV series always worked, usually focusing on one character while adding new characters for the character to interact with. So, I guess I'm happy that the creators didn't stray from what made the TV series brilliant, and I wouldn't mind watching it over and over again just like the TV series.

[Guest pochorenella]

Damn, I really have to start checking out the board on weekends (I never do because those are my only days off), I'm missing some good stuff and people are answering question aimed at me! No fair!

 

Anyway, everything's already been answered so I won't waste space with my opinions about DBGT. Suffice to say, I only liked the Evil Dragons Saga and the ending, which had me misty eyed. Most DBZ movies I haven't seen so I cannot comment.

 

Favorite character: Gokuh, no doubt, and in second place Gohan. I know Gokuh's stupid and all, but for some reason I always liked him. And Mr. Satan is hilarious. As far as villians go, Frieza was great, followed by Cell. Majin Boo I really didn't care much about, although he was funny sometimes.

 

I too have dowloaded anime mp3s and burned them. I called the CD "Anime Themes" and made a DBZ cover and a collage in the back cover with Saint Seiya, Ghost in the Shell, and Mazinger Z. How cool is that? So that makes three of us nerds.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Well, three makes a crowd, so here's a new one: What are your favorite anime themes? I'd go with these as my top five:

 

5) "Rush" from Cowboy Bebop - Really cool and jazzy song that doesn't get old, for some reason

4) "Voices" from the Macross Plus OVA - I really like this song, and Yoko Kanno is is just awesome.

3) The first Outlaw Star ending theme - can't be bothered to remember now, but it's the song Melfina sings and is a very beautiful and soothing melody.

2) "Heart of Sword" the third (??) clossing theme to Rurouni Kenshin - One of those songs that pops into your head randomly; quite catchy

1) "Cruel Angel Thesis" the opening to Neon Genesis Evangelion - I don't really know why, exactly, but I've always loved this song above all others and will probably always hold it as my favorite; it's just so damn catchy.

 

Man, I'm leaving off so much; I didn't even get any Trigun on there. Ah well. Glad to have you back in the thread, pochorenella.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

Oh man, now we're getting into it...

 

My top 5:

 

5) Slayers - Get Along: It's the opening theme for the first season. Don't ask me why, but I just loved the way the images of the opening video went with the song.

 

4) Outlaw Star - Through The Night/Digimon Tamers - Biggest Dreamer: Like "Get Along", both of these are opening themes. "Through The Night is so awesome that it's the very first song on my CD. On Biggest Dreamer, I just wish I had some episodes Tamers with English sub-titles so I could figure out what the fuck it's saying.

 

3) Neon Genesis Evangelion - Cruel Angel's Thesis/Digimon Frontier - FIRE! : Eva's upbeat song sure takes on a different outlook once you actually get into the show and see some of the REALLY fucked up shit that goes on. And on FIRE!, I just mark out for it for some reason. It's one of those songs that I could listen to over and over and over again and never get tired of it.

 

Digimon Frontier(man, I must really like Digimon, don't I?) - Innocent: This would be the ending theme and I just like the way they did the ending video to accompany it. Also, much like "FIRE!", it's one of those songs I can listen to over and over again while never tiring of it.

 

And finally... My favorite Anime theme.....

 

1) Cowboy Bebop - The Real Folk Blues: Greatest. Theme. EVER. When you can have this blaring inside your head while just walking around and not even thinking about it, that's a fucking great song.

 

 

A few other notables:

 

Records of Lodoss War - Miracle of the Ocean

 

Sailor Moon - Power of Love ::::: ducks all the garbage being thrown his way :::::

 

Slayers Try - Take Your Courage

 

Cowboy Bebop - Tank

 

Tenchi Muyo! - Opening theme

 

YuYu Hakushu - Opening theme

 

Gundam Wing - Ending theme

 

Gundam 0083 - Fire(opening theme)

 

Digimon Tamers - Evolution!

[Guest pochorenella]

Well, AlwaysPissed mentioned some I' ve never heard, but Ricky named some really great ones thata I agree with, namely:

 

Cruel Angel Thesis: Markout time! Great opening song, always gets me fired up for an episode. Special mention for Fly Me to the Moon, but it's not really an original anime song. Still a good song, though.

Voices - from Macross Plus.

Yoake Mae (Heart of Sword). I agree, very, very catchy.

 

Now for my other choices:

 

Cha La Head Cha La - from DBZ: Well, Duh! Either in spanish or Japanese, this is a great song that really gets me going for every episode. The guy that sings in spanish even sounds just like the japanese guy.

Robotech Main Title: Nothing needs to be said here.

Duvet from Serial Experiments Lain.

Mazinger Z Theme: Maybe not many people on this board have heard it, but trust me it's a great one. Truly unforgettable, epic sounding.

 

Sorry, no Digimon, Pokemon, or Bebop, for me.