Really? I'm not one for trashing shounen( I think Naruto is underrated - that doesn't mean good, just it's better than people think), but Bleach has utterly gone down the gutter - there's a reason its sales have crashed so badly that you really can't call it one of the Big 3 anymore like it used to. Wasting three to four weeks fighting some wrestler that they hadn't introduced in the past, isn't some important plot character, and doesn't do anything? That's just a recent example. Anyways, going back over older series. Recommending Azumanga Daioh to anyone who still hasn't seen it at this point. I wonder if some might think it's dated given that it's over a decade old, but I still laugh at it.
Do you watch Japanese movies? I've seen samurai 7 and I want to see yojimbo next. What are some of the greatest that are must watch? I want to start a collection of both the greatest Japanese film anise and real. I like akira and ponyo also so if you can base it around that. No scary films though lol. Hate the grudge type horrors or Japanese horrors overall.
The Mask de Masculine fight was all about establishing his power level in order to then introduce Renji's new power and bankai & illustrate how far his training has taken him. I didn't mind. Since the War arc started the Bleach manga has been up there in terms of quality and storyline. Of course it hasn't recovered its sales after the disappointing Hueco Mundo and terrible Fullbringer arcs. No manga that loses that many regular readers is just magically going to get them back. Doesn't mean it hasn't had a really good year. Most manga reviewers have rated this arc pretty well. I've enjoyed it, and to be honest, that's all I really give a damn about anyway. I have the 1st 2 episodes on my pc but haven't watched them yet. Guess it's time I checked it out.
Favorite animated films are Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, Princess Mononoke, and Madoka Magica Rebellion. Miyazaki is of course the one you likely know; I personally am not really a fan of him, but a lot of that is due to my personal disdain of his pacifist/environmentalist message, so if you liked Ponyo ( I didn't), you should be fine. Will also go out of my way to NOT recommend Grave of the Fireflies. I can't stand that film, and not in the "Oh the film is so sad that I hate watching it" way. Problem I have with Grave is that contrary to what you would think, it's not actually an anti-war movie. It's a film basically b****ing about how the youth don't obey their elders, or at least that was the intended message, which given the setting I find utterly hypocritical.
Um... not seeing it. At all. When the two kids went to live with their relatives, their aunt were awful to them, and basically forced them to run away. Are you saying that the aunt was being portrayed sympathetically? I honestly have no idea where you're getting this. In any case, I thought it was great movie, albeit hard to watch. Should be on any list of great animated movies. I'd definitely recommend pretty much anything by Miyazaki. My personal favorite of his is Howl's Moving Castle, but there are a lot of close runner-ups for me: Porco Rosso, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away. And those are just my very favorites. Almost everything else Miyazaki has done is great as well -- I'm not that crazy about Castle of Cagliostro and I think Castle in the Sky is a bit overrated, but that's about as much complaint as I can muster as far as Miyazaki is concerned. In addition to Miyazaki-directed works, throw on Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, Arrietty, and From Up on Poppy Hill as other great Ghibli works to look at. If you like Akira, I'd also check out Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. All classics. Sword of the Stranger is a bit more recent (2007), I wasn't the hugest fan, but a lot of people really liked it. Kojirou already mentioned two Satoshi Kon films, Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers. Those are both good ones. So are his two other films, Millennium Actress and Perfect Blue. But personally I think his very best work is his short series Paranoia Agent. But again, here's a guy that never made a bad movie or a bad series. That's why his premature death due to pancreatic cancer at the age of 46 was so tragic. Then there's Mamoru Hosoda, who has been releasing an excellent film every three years like clockwork since 2006: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, and Wolf Children. Makoto Shinkai also deserves a mention. Check out The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, and The Garden of Words. Personally I think 5cm is the best of these. Also, I should mention Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal. It was technically a four-episode OVA series, but it also saw re-release as a single film, and a very good one. As for Japanese live-action classics, I'm pretty lacking in knowledge and experience as far as that goes. About the only thing I can tell you is to check out Sanjuro, which I actually liked better than Yojimbo. Also, a lot of people seemed to really like Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins (2010)... personally, I felt it was lacking something. Still worth a watch.
This is why I like kojirou and atheistpreacher. Most knowledgeable people of Japanese entertainment of a broad variety. I'm going to start working on a list. Honestly, in terms of live action sword films, it will be hard to top seven samurai. Miyazaki's work is definitely good in my book, but I didn't want to have a collection of mostly his work. Maybe just some of my personal favorites. The classics are definitely what I'm looking form
That was the director's intention, yes - and he explicitly denied that this was an anti-war movie. It was supposed to be the boy's fault that the sister died out of his stubborn pride and refusal to return to his aunt, not to mention his goofing around. That fact leaves a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I watch that film.
Harem in that there are many girls who like Raku and may be the girl from his childhood (and some that aren't possible childhood candidates but still like Ichijou. I don't think that all of them will appear in the first season of the anime though, but you will probably see the third girl and the fourth... depending on the number of episodes and how far they get into the manga content. I haven't seen Rosario Vampire yet, so I can't tell if it's comparative. As for LC&OD yes, all of the fight scenes are in their imagination. I really recommend going back to watch the first season. There is a lot of information that helps you to understand the two main characters... like why and how they became chunibyo in the first place.
Ah, I see the Wikipedia line where you're getting this from. But you're very seriously misreading it. It says "Takahata had intended to convey an image of the brother and sister living a failed life due to isolation from society...," which is certainly true. The aunt drove them away, and they couldn't survive without society's help. It's certainly not their fault that their aunt was awful to them. Then it says: "...and invoke sympathy particularly in people in their teens and twenties, whom he felt needed to straighten up and respect their elders for the pain and suffering they had experienced during arguably the darkest point in Japan's history." In other words, it was supposed to make the young people of today sympathetic toward the kids in the movie, and anyone else of that generation who suffered horribly during the war. It's about helping today's generation respect the suffering of the WWII generation; it's not even remotely saying "it's all those damn kids' fault that they suffered." Seriously, there is no way that the aunt was supposed to be a sympathetic character, or that the kids were supposed to be unsympathetic. If you think otherwise, then you're either emotionally tone-deaf, or you must think that Takahata himself is a complete moron for not portraying the characters in the film consistently with his supposed intent. Because if he was trying to blame the kids for their own fate, he shouldn't have made the aunt such an obvious total b****, and he should have made the kids brats (which they weren't at all). The fact that he didn't do either of these things precludes your interpretation. You're seriously misunderstanding the point of the entire movie due to a few Wikipedia lines that you've similarly misread. Saying that Grave of the Fireflies is about blaming the kids for their own fate is like saying that Braveheart was about William Wallace deserving to die for being an uppity Scotsman. For live action swordplay, the six Lone Wolf and Cub films definitely qualify as classics. I didn't list them because they're not really my personal favorites. But you should probably watch at least one of them if you're going for cultural literacy.
don't watch a lot of anime but I have a dbz obsession. I own all the manga and all of the anime on DVD
I'm honestly very interested in grave of the fireflies now. I get the vibe of controversy, tragety, and gore to it. There is this part of me that will not like the tragedy and gore. Can't seem to think of a comparison. Checking to see if they'll have a Blu-ray of it.
Hey when you say you've seen Samurai 7, do you mean the anime or the movie by Akira Kurasawa called 7 Samurai? If you want some classic live action movies, you can't go wrong with Akira Kurasawa films. Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Rashomon, 7 Samurai, The Hidden Fortress(supposedly an inspiration for Star Wars). I also liked Battle Royale and The Girl who Leapt through Time. Though my favorite category of foreign films is French films. Classics like the often ripped off La Femme Nikita, Le Pacte des loups(Brotherhood of the Wolf), Les Visiteurs, La Rivieres Pourpres, etc. The French are good at putting together a gritty action film. Anyways, saw HxH today already...a bit disappointing that the fights are not progressing very much, seems to be going kinda slow. Just started watching Magi, it's a cute interesting adventure show.
Seconded, that's one I forgot to mention. A great movie and a modern classic. Precursor to The Hunger Games.
Yup, akira kurasawa's film. He and miyazaki are the only film makers I know of. Lol I've got a lot of kurasawa's films on my list, will add battle Royale, but I feel like I'd be disappointed with the girl who leapt through time if I've seen the anime. Is the live action just as good? Better or worse? HxH was pretty slow, they seem to be either milking the hype of netero/king and pitou/gon or truly sticking close to the Manga (which I've read online to be true). I hate anime forums sometimes. All they like to do is whine and whine. First they want to stick close to the Mangaand when they do they pull out the "the pacing sucks" comment. Like I mean, what more do you want. I sort of enjoy the pace and detail they're going into for each fight. (I'm not talking about yall btw, just the crunchyroll people).
I actually have not seen the anime, only the live action, so I can't answer your question I thought the lead actress did a good job in the movie. Have you seen Magi? I just started watching it. I like it so far.
Hah, I had assumed that when you mentioned Girl Who Leapt Through Time you were referring to the anime. I didn't even know they had made a live-action version. The only anime-become-live-action film I've seen is the first Death Note movie. I wasn't that impressed. But I admit to being curious as to what they did with the live action versions of Mushi-Shi and Great Teacher Onizuka.
I'm currently on episode 11,but have not watched in a couple months. I can see why people like it, but it just doesn't really keep my attention as much. The love the OP though.
