Anime Apolyton

[Tattila the Hun]

Originally posted by Colonâ„¢

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell:_Solid_State_Society

Seems like there's another GitS movie. Any good? Hopefully Kusanagi gets her original body back. Rrrrrrr.

From that, I can only assume, that you assume this to be a sequel to Innocence? (As SAC's Major has had same body for the duration, except that one undercover bit... Well, her boobs seemed bigger after the Laughing Man-incident... Might be my imagination.)

Anyway, SSS is a sequel to SAC 2nd gig. And a great movie.

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by DanS
Just noticed that Trip changed handles. More respectable now.

Hehe. I'm not quite the "Trip" I was when I signed up to Apolyton in 2002 and got involved with all the DGs back in the day, so I figured it was time to move on from that.

[Wraith]

Well. Definitely not the most recent anime thread I've posted, but since it has the most recent activity, guess I'll post here ^_^

--" When you got a lot of those meditative sequences (which I love BTW) the movie should last at least 2 hours."

You should definitely check out Mamoru Oshii's other works, then. I'd definitely recommend Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, an alternate history political thriller, and the Patlabor movies (I and II anyway. The third one was an attempt to make an Oshii movie without actually having Oshii involved, and that didn't work). They can be watched without the series, but do assume you already know the characters, so it's probably worth watching the first OVA at least (which also has heavy Oshii involvement and is only 7 episodes). The series, both OVA and TV, is more of a Hill Street Blues with mecha, but the movies tend towards a different space closer to the Ghost in the Shell movie.

--"I come to these threads for recommendations, but the stuff you're talking about is often hard to find."

Well, I live in the US, so I don't keep track of what's out in Canada. Still, give me some more ideas of what you like and I'll give it a shot.

--"Man, Fullmetal Alchemist is high up there. I'll have to check it out."

You might like it, and it is very popular, but it's not one I got very much in to. It was one of those ones you don't mind watching once too much, but it's not something I ever plan to watch again.

--"Any recommendations for sci-fi flicks that aren't overly cliché?"

If you're only considering movies and not series, not many. The Oshii movies, as mentioned, although none of those are "hard" science-fiction.
Check out Memories, though. The "Magnetic Rose" and "Cannon Fodder" segments should be interesting for you, but the middle segment, "Stink Bomb", is eminently skippable.

If you're willing to extend to short OVAs, you might want to try Gunbuster (6 episodes). It definitely has its cliches, but mostly so it can make fun of them and distort them, and it's about the only sci-fi movie I've ever seen that dealt well with the concept of time-dilation at near-light speed.

If you're willing to try series, the Crest/Banner of the Stars is probably your best bet. Unfortunately, it got treated pretty horribly. The dub is about as bad as they get, and even the subs have some pretty ridiculous mistranslations (among other things, mistaking a measure of distance for a measure of the pressure of a vacuum). The novels they were based on are being translated as well, but are being treated even worse. Tokyopop make the wonderful decision to retarget them from a 20s and 30s sci-fi crowd to a teen market, and have thoroughly butchered them.

A better bet hasn't released yet, but will starting next month. It's called "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". Basically, it's the first day of high school, and the teacher has the kids all introduce themselves. So when Haruhi stands up, she proclaims that she's not interested in normal humans, but that all aliens, espers, time travelers and sliders should come to her side, and people aren't quite sure if she's joking. She isn't. Most entertaining new series in quite a while.

--"Good sci-fi anime movies are pretty rare, or at least I have not been exposed to many."

The majority of anime sci-fi seems to tend towards mecha, and I'm not too horribly fond of the genre. There have been some good titles (like Gunbuster), but not that many. Especially in the movie format.

--"Watched Spirited Away."

That's a good one. My favorite Miyazaki film is still Porco Rosso, though. Princess Mononoke is another of his must see movies.

--"Voices of a Distant Star was good, albeit short and with an unfulfilling conclusion. "

The first time I saw it, I thought it was pretty much like an attempt to concentrate Gunbuster into a single episode ^_^

BTW, his latest release, Byousoku 5cm (5 cm/second), just started.

Anyway, new season is ramping up, so I'll probably be back this weekend to talk about some of the new and recent shows.

Wraith
"Weren't you fed up with that boring world? Just an ordinary world where nothing special ever happened. Didn't you want something more interesting to happen?"
-- Haruhi ("The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya")

[Nostromo]

You should definitely check out Mamoru Oshii's other works, then.

His latest opus, "Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters", intrigues me. He's experimenting with weird, new animation techniques.

[Nostromo]

I saw Appleseed recently and it sucked. So that means I'm not an unconditional Shirow Masamune fan. I was suprised when I heard that he considers Appleseed to be his life work. Ghost in the shell is vastly superior, IMO.

I also watched the first DVD from Hellsing last night. Its OK, but I don't think I'll watch the rest.

[Jon Miller]

I just got Boogiepop Phantom

I expect it to be good, but am a little worried (I haven't unwrapped it yet) sinc eI have never seen one

Jon Miller

[DanS]

I'll second Wraith on Jin-Roh. Excellent movie.

Wish they had made a series.

[Q Classic]

I recommend in triplicate Haruhi Suzumiya.

[Jon Miller]

yeah, Jin-Roh rocked. As did Perfect Blue. Also, the 1st and 3rd in Memories that was already mentioned.

Jon Miller

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Originally posted by nostromo
I saw Appleseed recently and it sucked. So that means I'm not an unconditional Shirow Masamune fan. I was suprised when I heard that he considers Appleseed to be his life work.

We just watched that based on a recommendation from a co-worker. It was bad on so many levels...

[Nostromo]

- Jin-Roh is on my Ziplist (the Canadian Netflix)

- They sent me Samurai X a couple of days ago. I should receive it soon.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Wraith
Anyway, new season is ramping up, so I'll probably be back this weekend to talk about some of the new and recent shows.

This season the mecha come back with a vengeance...

[DanS]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
I recommend in triplicate Haruhi Suzumiya.

It's only 14 episodes, so it might be worth a look for Colon.

[Sirotnikov]

you guys must like this then

[Q Classic]

Nah, the Bible's much to graphic. *rimshot*