A little help (Anime)

[Garaen]

Hi all,

I've decided to buy a few Anime films from amazon.co.uk since i've enjoyed watching Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star so much on Cartoon Network / Toonami. I've got a 50 - 100 pound quota and need a little help selecting some films.

So far i've picked for certain the Cowboy Bebop Film. Clicky. Now what i need is a little help from some Anime fans on selecting a few more films to buy. I'm mainly interested in Anime which contains a bit of action, possibly bits of comedy (nothing cheesy) and an interesting story line (Anything much like Cowboy Bebop or Outlaw Star basically). I've been thinking of buying Ghost in the Shell upon reading Sharma's thread. Also thinking of buying Akira as i've heard nothing but good about it, except from reading ECA's reply in the Anime thread. Only problem with Akira is that looking at the picture the Animation looks a bit shitty and basic (in my opinon), but i suppose thats to be taken for granted from an old Anime.

So if anyone could recommend a few decent Anime films could you give me a name and possibly a quick review (no spoilers)

Cheers.

 

[Sharma]

As far as i know you cant get Stand Alone Complex in England just yet however you can still buy the movie which is fairly good anyway.

 

[Uncle Sick]

[imfo]You can't be helped if you like Anime...
[/imfo]

 

[Tom]

Only problem with Akira is that looking at the picture the Animation looks a bit shitty and basic (in my opinon), but i suppose thats to be taken for granted from an old Anime.

There is no such problem. Akira looks fantastic. The special effects are used sparingly, to good effect.

 

[Nos]

Akira is the best known anime feature film for a very good reason.

Spoiler

(it rocks)

 

[Alithiel]

As far as i know you cant get Stand Alone Complex in England just yet however you can still buy the movie which is fairly good anyway.

You can order it from overseas, though... I have it on order from the USA!

But if you're restricted to buying in the UK, I usually find that Play is better value for money.

Top of the list of suggestions for you to buy would be Read or Die...

 

[shanks]

The Trigun series is often mentioned together with cowboy bebop and outlaw star. Tho it's more slapstick comedy then say cowboy (cant comment on star since I have yet to see it). It carries the same "future with with wild west elements" and is really worth checking out. Also Vash the lead character is very charismatic.

Plot Summary:

The remnants of humanity have washed up on a desert planet. With only their spirit and ancient technology to keep them alive, humanity struggles to survive. Amongst them walks a legend. This legend is considered a force of nature, a humanoid typhoon. Where he walks, destruction follows. Is this legend the end of the world, or ultimately the savior of humanity's new world?

More Info:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=88

 

[ECA]

Akira, its not a good film, but it will render anyones thoughts of "animation is for kids" useless.

Its considered a classic by a lot of people, but in my opinion its pretty mediocre.

Everyone should own it, but that doesn't make it good.


Stuff you should buy?

Trigun is much classier than Outlaw star although both are good, outlaw star is aimed at a younger anime market in Japan. Trigun is another "must have". Its also more emphasis on the "western" bit of the western+future than shanks points out.


Initial D is fantastic, if you have the slightest interest in cars you'll love it, just MAKE SURE you watch it subbed, the US dubbed version they changed the music ( from euro dancebeats to hiphop ), they changed the names, and the voice acting sucks.


If you like the comedy side of things a bit more I cannot recommend enough Great Teacher Onizuka you will be laughing your ass off at some episodes. Onizuka is probably one of the most charasmatic leads apart from Vash ( Trigun ). Chobits is a nice romantic comedy. Angelic Layer although aimed at the same younger market as Outlaw Star, has a really good ending, which is rare in a good anime series, and makes it worth watching.



rereading your post i see you want films.

This is more problematic because there are not many great anime films.

Initial D has a movie which is good. but series is a must or you wont "get it".

Vampire Hunter D is worthy of a good mention.

The first film is 6/10 its better than average but its not great, the second film is a lot better.

Lupin the third films are pretty good as well.

You can find a good selection on amazon ( .com i think )
Castle of Cagliostro is considered the best, and I'd have to agree, although the rest are still good, the series is also good as well and has recently come out on Region 1 DVD.

Perfect Blue is a MUST, its not your average anime fare, its a thriller and it works really well, don't want to give too mucha way.

Anyway i could list 50 series but i'll leave it at that ^^

 

[Garaen]

Thanks alot for the advice so far, i'll make my mind up tonight.

 

[ECA]

Tell us what you decide on ^^

 

[Sharma]

As you said ECA, Lupin the 3rd, very classic films!

Id also like to reccommend a new animé series which is RahXephon, ive finished watching it last night and i have to say, its really quite impressive.

 

[ECA]

Havnt had time to watch Rahxephon yet ^^

Got last exile, rahxephon and some other stuff in my queue.

I did just finish watching Berserk and FFU though.
Berserk was good, you have to give it a few episodes though, FFU is......pleh.

Not great ^^

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Get Princess Mononoke!

 

[Tom]

I really liked Akira, but I've tried a few other Anime features (Golgo 13, Urotsukidoji), and found them a bit cack. Is there anything else with the same kind of story and attention to detail as Akira? Preferably something that doesn't fly off on a tangent with some fanciful bollocks about how some guy with a gun can leap 30 feet into the air while simultaneously fastening his bootlaces.

 

[Sharma]

(Golgo 13, Urotsukidoji)

Golgo 13 was good i thought, But Legend of the overfiend.. *cough*
Well, its good if you like hentai!

 

[Garaen]

Well i've mostly gone with my initial choice of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell. I was'nt going to buy Akira but since i've heard good things about it i also bought that. My final choice was a decision between Perfect Blue and Trigun. I decided to go for Trigun because of the vague similarity to Outlaw Star. I've done an express delivery so they should all be here by Wednesday/Thursday and if i enjoy all the DvD's i'll buy a couple more, starting with Perfect Blue.

Thanks again for all the help/advice. I'm sure i'll use it as a reference point for many months I'll also let you know how i find the DvD's i've orderd once i've watched them.

 

[gremlin]

Sci-fi chan always used to have random anime on friday/saturday nights after midnight. Doesnt look like they do any more

 

[shanks]

I really liked Akira, but I've tried a few other Anime features (Golgo 13, Urotsukidoji), and found them a bit cack. Is there anything else with the same kind of story and attention to detail as Akira? Preferably something that doesn't fly off on a tangent with some fanciful bollocks about how some guy with a gun can leap 30 feet into the air while simultaneously fastening his bootlaces.

Well, as a adult viewer there are a few series I could recommend.

Serial experiments: Lain

Woh, this is hard to describe in words but if you like a slowly enfolding series about the isolation that the net creates this is the series for you, some really interesting use of sound and visuals without them being prominent can also be found here. It has some really interesting issues that remind me alot of matrix without the action. Maybe abit to "artsy" for the casual viewer but it sure took me for a freaky ride. Thought-provoking. If it has much similiarities with Akira I dont know but it's certainly worth the time. Dont know how the english dub is since I always watch the original dub.

Edit, was gonna write more but something came up, will write more tomorrow

 

[Sharma]

Sci-fi chan always used to have random anime on friday/saturday nights after midnight. Doesnt look like they do any more

Saturdays, 12midnight, used to be 1/2 animé movies on, pity they stopped it, i was rather pissed to find out they did that, only bloody channel that actually put on decent movies. :|

 

[Yaka]

Well, as a adult viewer there are a few series I could recommend.

Serial experiments: Lain

aye that aint everyones cup of tea but is a solid series.

id also recko mend Grave of Fire Flys, i'd be supreised if it wont make you cry.

an theres another lesser known animer series around on R1 DVD called Here and Now, There and Then. its got great depth and story line. but for some odd reason not many peeps have watched it.

Wolfs Rain, Last Exile and Withc Hunter Robin al also worth getting

 

[shanks]

Yaka stole most of what I was going to say so I guess ill leave it there. Especially grave of the fireflies is worth seeing.

 

[Wij]

Fist of the North Star !

 

[Squalion]

Fist of the North Star, Ninja Scroll, The Guyver, Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion

cant think of anything else off the top of my head, but these are excellent ;o

 

[Bubble]

Okay Animes

Heres my list of fav ones-

Fruits Basket
Princess Mononoke
Naruto
Girls Bravo (Series 2's out soon \o/)


heres some info for you leechers who want free anime

Bubbles very fast Guild to leeching

First thing, If its available on DVD, go out and buy it! Licenced anime is Illegal to fansub/download, even if you hate Funimation with passion for releasing FMA on 4 episode a DVD(52 episode series)

What anime and where do i get it! -
a good review site for anime is www.animenfo.com, you can normaly find a review/pictures of the newest anime released and sometimes some information and links to fansub details. It has a nice search facility for look for information about an anime.
Lets use Naruto as an example.
Put Naruto in the search Box and search for it, When it displays its results, click on Naruto. A page will be displayed about naruto with some information about the series and actors etc, your notice a part near the top called US Distribution. If the anime was Licenced it would tell you which company has baught the rights to this anime (This is where you would look to buy the anime....) If the anime isn't licenced, instead of a Company name, it will have Available on Fansub. This means you can download the episodes ^^
Click on the Available on Fansub Link, it will then show you all the Various Fansubbers, click on one of the names for more details (I'll use Anime-one as an example)
After clicking on Anime one you will be given some more details-
IRC : #AnimeONE @ irc.rizon.net
This is the IRC location of the fansub group.

What is IRC and how do i download(Leech) anime from it.

IRC stands for Internet delay chat, think of it as multiplayer notepad, basicly an online chat program that also has xdcc and fserve facilitys. mIRC is the most common client used and is fairly simple to download and install.
The Above #AnimeONE @ irc.rizon.net is the channel (#animeone) and the IRC network (irc.rizon.net), When opening IRC for the first time it will ask you to fill in details such as a nickname and email address, it will also ask you what server you wish to connect to.
After filling in these details and Clicking Ok, it will connect and ask you to choose another nickname(Naruto is normaly taken... ) pick one thats not taken this time.
When connected to the network, you now need to connect to the channel so type /j #(Channel name) so to connect to anime one i'd type /j #animeone.
After joining the channel you will notice a list of users down the right side of your screen, the ones with the @ in front of there name are the Channel Moderators. read the Channels Message, this will normaly have the channels rules and information about the bots. A few channels have Links to webpages with what they call 'Bot Lists' The Bots on the channel normaly have a [Tag] infront of there name, you can also find bot lists sometimes by using this command-
/msg [tag]botname xdcc list (for example- /msg [Aone]akira xdcc list)
After you find out which Pakage you wish to leech from the bot message the bot requesting it by using this command-
/msg [tag]botname xdcc send #1(where 1 is the packet number you want)
You will then get a message about the download, make sure before you do this, in the IRC options make sure your DCC Transfers Accept AVI files. After clicking on Ok the file will begin downloading.

Yay I have a 170 MB anime episode on my HDD...but windows media player doesn't play it -

This is probley because the Episode is compressed using Xvid Codec.
The easyest way to solve all Codec problems is to install FFDShow, This normaly contains all the codecs for most compressed movies/episodes.



Closing crap

This is a very Sketchy walkthrough, will do a better one when i get home from work. If you haven't already, install bittorrent on your computer, Torrents are the most common method for anime distribution, lots of Fansubbers release episodes on Torrent format.

 

[PLightstar]

Fist of the North Star !

So good. oh and Vampire Hunter D, also try Gundam Wing, I think it leans more towards a younger viewer, but its still quite good.

 

[babs]

Recently Bleach has proven to be great, i thoroughly recommend.

A good place to get nice proper anime is animesuki.com and your BT client of choice.

 

[Yaka]

the Evanglion series is class, thio the end bit is a bit mind fucky.

shows creator aprently tried to top himself on a couple of occasions after finishing the orignal series. the blokes meant to be compleatly off his rocker

 

[Deacan]

Get Princess Mononoke!

Agree! Ninja Scroll was good aswell.