Wonderful stuff...
 

I saw the first Sol Bianca movie way back when and I enjoyed it immensely. All those pretty women! :) Now I have to find the second movie...

And for the Beginner's Anime suggestions, I would also like to add Macross Plus to that list. It is definitely 'new anime', as it was released in the '90s and was I think one of the first series to use computer graphics to enhance the animation. I recommend seeing the 4-part series first, and then the movie version. The movie version condenses the 4-part series, and while some parts are cut, they added a little more to make it worthwhile.

I also highly recommend Patlabor The Movie. It is very well done and was a very entertaining movie.

Question for the experts: What is your pick for the definitive 'mecha'-type anime out there? Robotech? Appleseed? Gundam? Evangelion? Bubblegun Crisis? Does one even exist yet?

-BT

As for Kite, you have to remember the national consenting age for sex is 12 y.o.. Of course, provinces can overrule it and make it higher, but accordingly, Tokyo follows the national average. The main female character is 13 y.o., and by the national standards, she is legal to have sex at her age. However, Media Blasters had to up her age to 17 (or was it 18?) in the subtitle and edit some sex scenes out. The Japanese edition is full uncut and worth the price of purchase if you like Kite.

As for new anime, Love Hina...think Tenchi, but w/o all the fantasy stuff happening around the main guy character. It's a cute romantic love story with one guy and so many girls. He is a caretaker of sorts for a girls' dormitory. There are 24 episodes, plus 1 X'mas Special Episode in total. Initial D is on my recommendation list as a must watch series. There are two series, and one movie that came out earlier this year. The first series consist of 26 episodes, the 2nd series consist of 13 episodes. And as Fen said, it is highly popular, and a great joy ride, especially for those who love the thrill of car racing and Eurobeat music in the background. :P Mamotte Shugogetten is kinda cute, like Aa! Megami-sama (Oh! My Goddess), but it's pretty bland. Yeah, there are funny parts here and there, but overall, it really doesn't go anywhere.

Rurouni Kenshin has to be watched, TV series, first, then OVA's, then movie. When you have finished off the TV series, and watch the OVA's and then the movie, it will explain a lot. Watching the OVA's first will lose you because the way the creators did is that they expected you to already have seen the TV series, and know most of the legend of Himura Battousai (aka Kenshin), which was always alluding to his past, but they never spoke much of it. The OVA talks about Kenshin's past, and how he became a "hitokiri" (a character assassin), and why he stopped killing, and became a "rurouni" (a nomad/wanderer of sorts). The movie takes place within the crust of the TV series, gapping certain events...but you won't understand the movie until you are well into the movie (like 20-30 episodes into it at least).

Galaxy Express has a really good story plot, albeit it was made in the 70's, so the animation quality reflects that decade animation style. However, the story compensates for the lack of animation. Most of the best anime story plots were in the 70's and 80's. Galaxy Express 999 is still popular even today, just like Space BattleCruiser Yamato (aka Starblazers in the States). Both of these are still worshipped even to this day by old and new anime fans alike.

There are so many new anime coming out of Japan right now that I can list that are great to watch like: FLCL, Vandread, Gatekeepers, Now and Then, Here and Now, Argent Soma, GTO, Hunter x Hunter, etc.. So many new anime, so little money. :(

macross plus
 

i feel macross plus has the best mecha design. gundams are cool but they look a little chunky, and some of the series like gundam wing can drag.
initial D sounds cool are there any links or pics anywhere?

yeah, i'm an action/mecha kinda guy.

cowboy bebop: my friends have that and i will definitely look into that series.
gasaraki and dual and sol bianca: haven't heard of those really.
jubei chan: more hilarious than anything. i've watched some and i kinda like it but not enough to make me buy the dvds for it. i guess i like more serious anime.

hey, any good review sites out there? i have a few:

http://www.asu.edu/studentprgms/orgs...ews/index.html
http://animeworld.com/
http://www.abcb.com/
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/

thanks for all your input guys. much appreciated

I would have to agree on this matter. Me and my friends would get into fights over which show is better than the other and if the subbing is better than the dubbing.

What is a Shoujo? I am missing that word from my vocabulary.

As for FY, what anime series do you think it is closest related to? What is it's target audience age? What's the setting? Is it fantasy? Mecha? Time period? Age of characters? I appreciate all the info you dished out already though... Thanks

I just watched The Legend of Black Heaven DVDs 1, 2, and 3. I don't have 4 yet. When I got it, I just watched the first episode and part of the second - I wasn't impressed at all. In fact, the opening scene was so poorly animated - I thought I was watching Voltron or something... however - the animation improves and is very decent. There are a few moments of unique artistic style here and there that really add to the show. The story really develops and hooks you by the 3rd or 4th episode... It's actually a really good series. Having been in a band myself and now practically married - I saw a lot of similarities in my life. It's pretty funny and has some romance as well. I change my original opinion and now I think it's a great series and I recommend it to anyone.

I saw Patlabor 1 and 2 and I wasn't all that into it. Mecha stuff leaves me cold (with a few exceptions). I don't understand the attraction. Nadesico was simply annoying.

I already watched Samurai X OVA and I kinda liked it. I didn't like it after watching only the first DVD, but after watching the second DVD - it rounded out the story and made the whole show enjoyable. I'm wondering if the TV series will be interesting enough to invest the time and money in.

I also want to start a new topic (well really an old topic) - Sub vs Dub... Personally - I don't speak Japanese, so typically I tend to watch anime Dubbed. I watch foreign movies and kung fu subtitled mostly because it's too distracting to see the mouth say something different than the voice. Anime is different because I can't tell usually. Their mouths just open and close usually instead of expressing the formation of the sounds. It looks like they could just be saying "MA MA MA MA MA MA MA"... It's not that I don't like reading subtitles - I don't mind usually - I just prefer hearing it in my own language as long as the voice actors aren't too sucky. Also - sometimes the Japanese voice actors are just as annoying as the english voice actors. In a review I saw somewhere - the guy said that they chose the Japanese voice actors perfectly for the characters and they were great actors but the english dub actors were terrible and poorly chosen for the characters. Well - since I don't speak Japanese, I don't see how I can tell how good the japanese actors are or aren't. I've watched about as many dubs as I have subs and lately I think I've just decided to go with dub more. I know the translations get mucked up, but it's not like the subtitles do much more justice... In Black Heaven for example, they were telling jokes in the form of puns based on rhymes... while some worked out good - a few got lost in the translation - the sub provided no better answer. However, some people are die-hard sub fanatics and wouldn't listen to a dub if their life depended on it... I don't get it.

Oh yeah - also... I didn't care for any of the Macross stuff I've seen. Yawn-fest. I'm just not into mecha stuff.

Anyone see the new Vampire Hunter D?

Important Anime Vocabulary (Which I tend to take for granted, and should therefor make clear):

Shounen - Created for boys (Most Popular Example (MPE): Dragon Ball Z)
Shoujo - Created for girls (MPE: Sailor Moon)
Seinen - Created for college-aged men (MPE: Maison Ikkoku)
Josei - Created for women (Not really anything popular in this catagory in North America.)
Mahou Shoujo - Magical Girl shows (MPE: Sailor Moon)
Ecchi - Slightly perverse. Think pantyshots, lots of fanservice.
Hentai - Anime Porn! Woohoo!
Bishounen - Cute boys. Usually, bishounen look very feminine. (MPE: Any male ever drawn by CLAMP)
Bishoujo - Pretty girls.

While technically incorrect, the terms are commonly used so that shoujo is anything aimed at females, and shounen is anything aimed at males.

Aaaaanyhow. Shoujo is really anime aimed at teenage-and-younger girls, which tends to focus heavily on relationships, and that kind of thing. If you've seen Escaflowne at all, that show is a pretty good mix of shoujo and shounen, with episode one being tilted in favor of shoujo. Other titles released in the US that qualify as shoujo:

Please Save My Earth (which is one of the best anime OAVs I've ever seen, period, even with the lack of a conclusive ending)
Revolutionary Girl Utena
(Bishoujo Senshi) Sailor Moon
Cardcaptor Sakura (important to note that the WB's Cardcaptors has edited out most of the shoujo stuff, so Cardcaptors is not really a shoujo title)
Magic Knight Rayearth
Gestalt
Vision of Escaflowne (okay, so this one has both shoujo and shounen elements, so it gets to be both. Ain't it special?)

FY isn't really close to any of the above series (no more close than Outlaw Star is to DBZ), but it shares the tendency to be more character-driven than plot driven. It's also important to note that, despite being aimed at younger girls, many shoujo fans are males in their fourties. So, it's a random thing. And stuff like Rurouni Kenshin, and Gundam Wing, are nominally shounen, but have huge female followings, due to the bishounen factor.

People in search of a good fighting/stuff blowing up/fanservice/girls-with-back-problems-in-spandex anime will probably not like most shoujo, and almost definately not FY. If, however, you like complex-ish characters, intense and tangled relationships, don't mind movies that have scenes worth crying over, and can tolerate a smidge of melodrama, FY *might* be your cup of tea.

Brief-ish FY Plot Summary:

Miaka is 14 (or right around there), irresponsible, and possessed of a bottomless pit for a stomach. High school entrance exams are coming up, and she's nervous as heck. Her best friend, Yui, is super-smart, and viewed as very likely to get into one of the most exclusive high schools-Thus leaving Miaka alone, which is bad. On a trip to the library, Miaka sees something and ends up wandering into a room full of old books. Yui finds her, starts reading the book, and the two girls get sucked in, finding themselves alone in a world somewhat similar to ancient China. At some point, Yui gets pulled back to Earth, and Miaka is alone. In a strange land. More stuff happens, and Miaka finds out that she is Suzaku no Miko (Priestess of Suzaku), and it is her job to find the Suzaku Seven, and have them help her summon the god Suzaku, who will grant her wishes. And from there, the series takes off, and all sorts of things happen. Lots of comedy, very strong characters (How can one not love Chichiri and Nuriko?)

Does that help, at all?

Now, Sub Vs. Dub:

I'm a huge sub fanatic. I will listen to dubs, if my little brother wants to watch, but I will always listen to the original language track first. I've got a *huge* problem with most female dub voice actresses, in that they try to pull off little-girl cute, and end up sounding ludicrous in the process, and name mispronounciation bugs the heck out of me.

Dub scripts are almost always toned down (I'm not saying this to be snobby; it's just something I've noticed watching shows in both languages, and something ADV seems to really, really like doing), and there are subtleties in Japanese, especially related to politeness, that just don't translate. If you watch enough anime, you learn to pick up on the different speech patterns, and add in that I've had some Japanese courses, and I personally get a better feel from a series subbed.

That said, I'm not vehemently anti-dub; I just won't buy a DVD without the original language track on it.

About Black Heaven:

Love the series, have the first two discs (will get the third whenever my wallet allows), and found it pleasantly adult, in some strange way. As for the preview, are you talkin about the one with the 'uchu/fuchu/whatever' joke? I thought the sub translation, English meaning followed by Japanese words in parantheses, worked fairly well, myself, and wish companies would do it more often.

[Edited by Jlbkwrm on 03-21-01 at 01:51 AM]

Kite. Kite. Kite.

I felt like adding this bit o' info:

Kite was released in Japan as two OAVs. These were uncut, but edited. Namely, people's naughty bits had been mosaicd out (digitally blurred).

There are now two versions of Kite in the US. The first one, released by Anime Works, is missing all of the sex scenes. Ones with consenting adults, unconsenting adults, and unconsenting kid are all cut. There are a couple brief flashes of nudity, but say bye-bye to explicitness. This is available on Sub and Dub VHS, as well as DVD.

The second, more recent, release is by Kitty Media. It's called the Director's Cut, so you can tell it apart from the normal version. This has everything but about twenty seconds of the original footage in it--And those twenty seconds all feature underage (obvious no-friggin-way-to-hide-it underage) sex. This release is also, apparently, minus the digital blurring over the naughty bits. So, you get to see the naughty bits, but you are missing the child porn. This release is currently only available on sub and dub VHS, and so nice e-mails to Kitty asking for a DVD release would be a Good Thing.

And with that, I shall declare my spammage done for the evening.

Thanks for all those answers... I think after what you said - I'll pass on FY. It sounds like something I would perhaps enjoy watching once, but not lending itself to repeat viewings for me. Perhaps I need to watch Legend of Black Heaven again in Sub. My girlfriend refuses to watch anime in anything but Dub because the female voices bug the hell out of her. At least she watches anime with me. Know a good place to find the Kitty version of Kite cheap?

^bump off page 3^

Got BioHunter SPecial Edition, Saber Marionette J Disk 1, Sol Bianca disk 2, and Dancer in the Dark (not anime)... I will watch them and report back what I think - anyone watch these and have an opinion?

I have no idea what BioHunter is...I just wish they included the Japanese title... Sometimes they make more sense.

As for Saber Marionette J...it's cute...very much for guys, but overall...bland...your typical guy-type anime with some stuff strewn here and there...

Sol Bianca the OVA series is definitely much, much, much different from the first set of movies back long ago (like 10 or so years ago). It has an interesting plot. Very CG. I would have to say that the plot in the early ones were better. The animation in the new one is, naturally, better than the older ones, but it is good relatively.

Cardiac 161 asks:

My answer to these questions are as follows:

If you're only interested in movies, you're going to miss out on some of the best anime has to offer. I understand not wanting to invest in series and have them span to the end of time and drain your wallet. Despite this though (and I know everyone will agree with me), you would be doing yourself a favor by picking up the Cowboy Bebop series. It's 6 discs total... will not be any more. You will like it. It will be your favorite anime ever. Period - end of story.

Beyond that, if you just want a few movie suggestions - I could say things like Castle of Caligostro, Princess Mononoke, and Patlabor - but these aren't going to be nearly as good as Cowboy Bebop. Akira isn't as good as Cowboy Bebop. Neither is Ghost in the Shell or Ninja Scroll. Perfect Blue is very good and I like it about as much as I like Cowboy Bebop.

Ranma 1/2 on DVD...
 

I've only seen the OAV and 2 moives on DVD. Is there any news about releasing the TV series on DVD?

I know the animation is not the greatest (at Pokemon level) but the story is fun and different.

Bumperooni
 

^----^

For a little visibility... :)

Since I'm bored, I'll just say you should still try to watch FY... the second season especially is fantastic, very few series go the way this one does during the second season. The only real complain I've heard for FY is that Miaka and Tamahome spend their time yelling out each others' name and it's too melodramatic... but otherwise, it's a fantastic story. Although the series Ayashi no Ceres which is made by the same people as FY is apparently much better suited for an older audience and will hopefully be released in late 2001. As for me, I'm going to watch the new Oh! My Goddess movie which a friend sent me last night, that could be interesting :)

Pioneer is releasing a Ranma 1/2 DVD in May. I don't know if its a TV series or not. (it sounds like it based on the title - Random Rhapsody - Who do?) Anybody know for sure?

BTW, I was a big fan of Blue Seed. Is there anything similar to it coming out soon?

I've been thinking about purchasing Revolutionary Girl Utena recently. I saw a music video someone had made with some of the scenes(I think from the movie) and they looked rather intriguing. Can anyone recommend this anime? For reference, I didn't like Fushigi Yuugi: I thought it was too angsty and cliched, and the story was a little boring. I did like Escaflowne a lot, however, and thought it had a nice balance of story, action, and romance.

For those interested in more in-depth conversations, you can go to the following USENET newsgroups:

Bishonen & Yaoi
<none> I know of although there is a alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.anime.yaoi newsgroup.

Shoujo manga & anime
alt.anime.shoujo

You can also look at the various newgroups beginning with "rec.arts.anime." in their names. Your usenet client should be able to give you a list of those.

I recently got Irresponsible Captain Tylor box set, Saber Marionnette J, Samurai X (the movie), and Biohunter - I'll be kinda busy for awhile. Saber Marionnette J is good. Haven't watched the others yet. I need to give it a rest for awhile - I've been ordering too much stuff.

The TV series for Ranma 1/2 is Ranma 1/2: Nettouhen series that came after the original 12 episode series. The 2nd series is long winded (around 70 or 80 some eps? I can't remember, I stopped watching after episode 50-something).

As for shoujo, if you don't like Fushigi Yuugi then you won't like most shoujo stuff. Revolutionary Girl Utena is a shoujo series, and most shoujo series is very angstsy. That's the great part of shoujo is the intense melodrama behind everything.

Due note Trigger, Irresponsible Captain Tylor boxset has an error on Vol. 4, Episode 23. There is a chapter missing...chapter 3. In order to get a correct DVD, you have to send a $3.50 check and original receipt to TRSI (The Right Stuf International). Address to send for corrected DVD is at their website. Also due note, Trigger, Rurouni Kenshin: the movie (Samurai X: The movie) takes place someplace within the "Rurouni Kenshin" TV series, so unless you have watched the series, you won't understand most of the significance behind it because they don't do character intros...the creators already think you have watched the whole series already.

[Edited by The Eigeman on 03-30-01 at 02:35 AM]

1-Is Tyler a good series along the lines of bebop? Is is mostly action, comedy or drama?

2-do you recommend watching the RK series BEFORE the OVA? I heard the series is kinda funny/cheesy for the most part with the excption of the kyoto arc, and I hate comedic filler episodes....is the RK series ultimately worth getting?

1) Yep, Tylor is a good series. It is an old series, about 7-8 years old from the early-mid 90's (around '93 or '94). It is very funny and a great watch altogether. This was made when storyplot still counted in anime (which most new anime seems to be lacking...although, some anime seem to be drawing in a better script these days). Tylor is predominantly space opera comedy. Funny as hell and just very enjoyable to watch. The animation is pleasant to watch for such an old series. Really great.

2) To really appreciate the movie and OVA's for Rurouni Kenshin, you need to watch the series. The TV series allude to everything about Kenshin's past on how he became a "Hitokiri Battousai" (not sure on the translation they used on the DVD, since I haven't watched it yet) and shows you his master in the series and shows you why he chose Kenshin. The OVA goes into more detail about Kenshin's past and explains how he got his cross-scars on his cheek, and also explains why he gave up being a "hitokiri" to become a "rurouni" (a "nomadic wanderer" of sorts). The movie can be watched by itself...but it takes place right before the big-arc storyline and gives more explanation as to why Kenshin had to go, so it does give some spoilers....not a good thing though.

As for the series, yeah, there are comedic episodes in between serious ones, but that is how it is like in the manga which the anime is based off of. The Japanese always have to use some comedic element to lighten the mood when it gets too serious. That way the emotional balance won't be too hard on teenagers (and kids) watching the series on television in Japan. The series is worth getting (all 93 episodes worth) just to watch the cool story-arc in the middle. :) However, you may get a little frustrated with the little action sequences because the characters do talk a lot rather than fight but tha is very "japanese-style". It gives more tension to the fight than an outright fight itself.

3) As for Yoko Kanno, she is the composer of BGM (BackGround Music) songs to such hits as Cowboy Bebop, and Escaflowne, etc.. She has a variety of talented compositions that she composes for anime series. A highly talented woman who doesn't speak much, even at the conventions she attended.

Thanx for the reply...

1-Tylor looks like a future purchase for me later this year when I get the dough.

2-Based on your description of Kenshin, it sounds similar to DBZ, especially the part about lots of talking before the fight to mount the tension. Which believe it or not, is what I kinda like about DBZ. So I think I'll get it.

3-Yoko Kanno...hehe, I know who she is. I sat next to her for like an hour during the Meet the Guest Reception at AX'99 and was in the front row at her concert recital where she performed a MAGNIFICANT piano rendition of Voices... It's just that I like throwing people off with that clever little question so even MORE people will discover who she is. I use this sig on EVERY forum I'm a member of. That way more people will get curious and wonder, "Hmm, who *is* this Yoko Kanno person?":)