Anime Apolyton

[loinburger]

Originally posted by monolith94
What??? No thematic discussions on Metropolis vs. Blade Runner??? For shame!

To tell the truth, I thought that both movies were "pretty good bordering on mediocre" -- they both get a 6 or 7 out of 10 in my book. I forget why I didn't like Blade Runner all that much (it's been several years since I've seen it), but Metropolis suffered in my mind by (among other things) having the robot chick (whatshername) go through such a rapid 180 between "clueless innocent" and "disillusioned killing machine." It's like the writers had an idea for making the transformation more believable/interesting/whatever, but just didn't have the time to implement it.

[DanS]

"If you're determined to keep buying on eBay"

I'm not at all. I would like to save a couple of dollars on these box sets, since they're so expensive. But if it harms resale value, then it doesn't make any sense. In my view, I would have been further ahead spending $160 (or whatever) on the boxset, knowing that I could resell for $80 through accepted channels.

[Wraith]

--"I would like to save a couple of dollars on these box sets, since they're so expensive."

I've been using Bestprices.com for most of my DVD purchases. They do live up to their name. Every few months I go through several online stores and put together an order to compare prices, and even with their shipping rates they win every time. That's my purchasing pattern, of course, so it may not be for you. It's really hard to beat their ADV prices, though.
I will warn you, however, that this is a small online store with razor-thin margins. Their warehousing is outsourced (Ingram), so they don't have any direct control over their stock. They're cheap, and I personally haven't had any problems with their support, but it can take a while to get your order (several weeks depending on how bad the backorder buildup gets, but usually not that bad).

If I'm ordering a DVD that I need (for some reason) in a hurry, I go with Robert's Anime Corner Store. Excellent service and turn-around time (never more than 2 days on in-stock items). Their prices are better than places like Right Stuf (much better than places like Suncoast), but not as good as many of the online retailers like DVD Empire or whatnot.

Right Stuf is worth keeping an eye on. Their regular prices are too high, but they sometimes get good exclusives, and their weekly specials are sometimes great (like Irresponsible Captain Tylor TV box set for $50).

Wraith
"A bath? Whats a bath?"
-- Goku ("Dragonball")

[monolith94]

Hmmmmm… and I'd give both movies a ten… I guess I'm just a push over when robots are involved…
I say as I listen to kraftwerk…

[Alinestra Covelia]

Currently I'm watching Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (I'm enjoying it more than SnowFire did!).

Other anime that I really liked include: Ghost in the Shell (the film not the series), Perfect Blue, Patlabor 1 and 2, Ninja Scroll, Dragon Pink, and the Elven Bride.

The last two are works of erotica, but don't let that put you off. They're quite witty as well.

[loinburger]

Anybody heard of the titles
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika)
or
His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano no Jijou)?

[ixnay]

I haven't seen them, but once again, my trusty encyclopedia to the rescue:

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, dir Hayao Miyazaki

A thousand years after a great war, in a world dominated by the pollution-induced Sea of Corruption, Princess Nausicaa grows up in a peaceful valley shielded from the devastation by its prevailing winds from the sea. These keep the deadly spores that spread the Sea of Corrutpion away from its fertile lands - survival by a combination of geographical and meteorological chance. Terrible insect-like creatures roam the Sea of Corruption and the desert lands around. Mightiest of all are the huge crustaceans, the Ohmu. One of these can wipe out most human threats, but in a herd, they are unstoppable. Outside the valley, while smaller communities struggle to survive, factions within the Tolmekian Empire are fighting for supremacy. Princess Kushana of Tolmekia finds one of the superweapons that made the ancient war so terrible, the last God Warrior embryo, and plans to use it to ensure that her people stay on top, even if it means upsetting the fragile balance Nature has struggled to regain after the long-ago war.
After his initial success as a director-for-hire on Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki directed this short segment of his own epic 1982 manga, orgininally serialized in Animage magazine. Despite an ending that seems to owe a debt to David Lynch's movie of Dune (1984), Nausicaa draws on a variety of other sources, including The Princess Who Loved Insects and, for its scenes beneath the poisonous-yet-cleansing Sea of Corruption, the 1959 adaptaion of Julse Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It even pastiches Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) with an opening montage that ends with Nausicaa in flight where Disney has a witch.

And so on. This entry is huge.

His and Her Circumstances

Yukino Miyazawa is the most popular girl at school and a permanent straight-A student, her frantic home life hidden to preserve her seemingly effortless perfection. Her classroom kindgom is invaded by a newcomer, the handsome Soichiro Arima, who competes with her for every prize and accolade. Both are appointed as class reps and forced to work together. Behind icy masks of politeness, the pair fight a private battle of wills and slowly begin to fall in love.
Based on a 1997 manga by Masami Tsuda, H&HC effortlessly outlasses its lookalike US cousin Ally McBeal in its dramatic inoovation and use of surreal "cartoon" effects in a contemporary sitcom. In Japan, it owes a debt to earlier comedies of manners such as Goldfish Warning and Reiko Shiratori I Presume, throwing in Greek choruses of cynical siblings, split-screens, and squashed-down cartoon versions of the lead characters. In terms of off-the wall experimentation, it rivals the earlier Fist of the North Star - not just stop-motion and live action, but one episode features a character whose head is a photograph of a Gainax staff member, while another is animated with paper cutouts, until Yukino bursts into real flames. As with director Anno's earlier Evangelion, onsceen captions and subtitles comment on the action and warp the characters' meanings, perfectly caputing the adolescent power sturggles and hypocrisies of the orgininal. A very funny satire about unblikable people who are nevertheless sympathetic characters. Though an English-language version from Right Stuf is forthcoming at time of writing, the authors doubt whether the show's chaotic onscreen action could survive translation intact.

[Wraith]

--"Currently I'm watching Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Laputa"

I've seen the first couple episodes of Urusei Yatsura. I need to watch more of it, but that's one of those rather long series. I'll have to start collecting the DVDs soon.

Ranma 1/2 I've got the first two seasons. Pretty good stuff.

Haven't seen Laputa yet, but it is Studio Ghibli, so I will sooner or later.

Ghost in the Shell and Perfect Blue are both good films. Ninja Scroll is okay but quite violent (better than Fist of the North Star for sure ). I haven't seen the Patlabor movies, but I understand Oshii worked on at least one of them, so I need to.
I've heard of those other two titles, but not in glowing terms. More along the lines of "well, that wasn't as bad as I expected from a hentai story".

--"Anybody heard of the titles"

Nausicaa, as Ixnay points out, is a Miyazaki movie. One of the ones I haven't seen yet
The encyclopedia entry sounds accurate judging by what I've heard about it. I believe this just came out on DVD in Japan (with English subs).

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) I've seen some of. The entry is not quite accurate, since they fall in love quite early in the series (one of the things that sets this apart from most anime romances). More of the story is about them coping with love and a relationship than about forming it. What I saw of it was very well done.
From what I've heard it does decline in quality near the end of the series, where they caught up with the manga and had to do their own stories. Still, I liked the earlier eps enough that I'll be picking up the set once Right Stuf is done with it.

Wraith
"I really love this person. He cannot help hurting himself to protect his loved ones."
-- Miyazawa Yukino ("Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou")

[loinburger]

Originally posted by Wraith
--"Next on the list is "Key." Just gotta get paid for landscaping first."

Another good one. The second-to-last episode is a bit long-winded, but other than that it's a good series. One of the creepiest villians you'll ever see, too. Fits the dark trend you seem to be in, as well.

For the villain, do you mean Ajo, or Sergei ('D')? Or both?

[Alinestra Covelia]

I just watched Princess Mononoke last Saturday.

It blew me away! It also left me rather confused, because so much was not explicitly stated in the film. Are all Studio Ghibli films like this?

[Wraith]

--"For the villain, do you mean Ajo, or Sergei ('D')? Or both?"

Ajo. D isn't that creepy. But Ajo...

--"It blew me away! It also left me rather confused, because so much was not explicitly stated in the film. Are all Studio Ghibli films like this?"

Well, Mononoke is atypical of Miyazaki's work. His stuff is usually more family-oriented, and he usually doesn't push the ideology buttons quite as hard.
However, the "not explicitly stated" part is pretty common. Anime as a whole does this a lot more than US movies (animated or not). All the Studio Ghibli films I've seen do this to some extent.
Japanese writers are just more open to the idea that their audiences aren't complete idiots who need to have every little thing spelled out for them

For those following the End of Evangelion problems, US Manga has finally made a non-response. Note that this isn't an official annoucement, just an e-mail they're sending people who actively complain.
All in all, it's a fine example of How Not To Handle Customer Service. "It's not our fault, you must not know how to work a DVD player, but send it to us and we'll replace it if we feel like it. Oh, and look at all our satisfied customers." US Manga just permanently lost a rather large chunk of the fanbase, and I bet the retailers are even starting to get pissed off at them.

Three weeks. It took them three weeks to get this out. Their head PR guy really needs to be fired. Ack. When Bandai had problems with Escaflowne the movie they had a replacement scheme running in three days. They even paid for postage on the returns.

Looks like it's time to buy Read or Die imports...

Wraith
"So that's your plan, nuke the psycho? Well that's original."
- Hiyami (Blue Submarine #6)

[loinburger]

Good recommendation on Jin-Roh -- the local video store had a DVD copy, so I watched it tonight. My initial rating would be an 8 or a 9. (I love how old fairy tales always manage to incorporate cannibalism.)

I also saw Blood: The Last Vampire (the same store had a copy, and I had a 2 for 1 coupon), and my initial (and final) rating is a 3 or 4. The animation was superb, but the story was all but non-existent. I kicked myself after renting it, since the back of the rental box said something along the lines of "If you enjoyed this movie, then you will probably also enjoy X", which would imply that if I think that X is a worthless movie then I shouldn't bother with Blood: The Last Vampire. Oh well, that'll learn me to read the warning labels next time.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Wraith
Japanese writers are just more open to the idea that their audiences aren't complete idiots who need to have every little thing spelled out for them

[Zero]

Originally posted by Wraith
--"It blew me away! It also left me rather confused, because so much was not explicitly stated in the film. Are all Studio Ghibli films like this?"

Well, Mononoke is atypical of Miyazaki's work. His stuff is usually more family-oriented, and he usually doesn't push the ideology buttons quite as hard.
However, the "not explicitly stated" part is pretty common. Anime as a whole does this a lot more than US movies (animated or not). All the Studio Ghibli films I've seen do this to some extent.
Japanese writers are just more open to the idea that their audiences aren't complete idiots who need to have every little thing spelled out for them

Love miyazaki's work.. didnt you say before that his older films are making a reappearance in theather? if so which ones?

For those following the End of Evangelion problems, US Manga has finally made a non-response. Note that this isn't an official annoucement, just an e-mail they're sending people who actively complain.

Thats one series I can watch over and over again. So EoE on DVD is not out? That and my ex reminds me of asuka. Gainax must have known her personally its too much similarity!

[Seeker]

Hey Calc, what is the good Korean anime and manga?

Koreans seem to devour the stuff, but if you ask them about Made in Korea stuff they get all defensive and claim it's Japanese or something.