NationStates Jolt Archive

I remember seeing there was some amount of people that watch/tolerate anime on this board, so I thought I'd mention this topic.

Miyazaki (the mind behind the uber-popular Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away) has a bunch of other manga, some of which have been made into less well-known movies. I started reading one of his manga (Nausicaa) just a few weeks ago at the prompting of a friend and was delighted by the amazing quality of the story. Then more good news came because Disney was going to release Nausicaa and two other Miyazaki motion pictures on the 31st of August! (Nausicaa actually came out in 84, but I guess this is the official US release) Then, all of a sudden, distributors that had been offering preorders for the August 31st release changed the release date to unknown and Disney removed all mention of the three movies from their webpage :(

So I sobbed.

And now I hear rumors that they'll be released in just a little while. I've also heard a conjunct rumor that says the reason for this slightly delayed release is so that they can come out at the same time as a few other anime by a guy named Takato(?) who I suppose did Grave of the Fireflies. I guess that rumor is assuming Disney will convince all the fans of one to just buy the others while they're at the store. /wtf But these are rumors, so.. eh.

I just figured I'd bring this up to see if any of the nation staters had heard anything.

Anime rhymes with gay. Just my two cents.

No-one knows anything except politics on this forum.
http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/xwtfpwnedx/nicepillow.gif

Miyazaki Hayao doesnt do anime. He does art.


Anime would be like pokemon or yu gi oh. those rhyme with gay. Hands down.



However, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are incredibly realistic, therefore not anime. (the illustrations don't have those bug eyes)


Ive been to japan, seen all his films.


Grave of the Fireflies is really sad and it is by him.

I've seen Mononoke and it was *nice*

However, I refuse to see Fireflies. One of my friends saw it and told me that he was outright sobbing at times. I already get depressed enough as it is, I don't need to be worst o.o

I used to like anime, but it was all too serious, I liked Fooly Cooly, but that's because I don't understand it.

I've only seen two episodes of it, but FLCL looks like the coolest thing in the universe ;)

Actually, if this is an anime topic, is ^_~ better?

in grave of the fireflies, the two kid's dad gets killed at war and mom gets blown up. they go live in a cave, but don't even have enough money to bury her ashes.

trust me. you will be sobbing your head off.

I loved FLCL/Fooly Cooly/Furi Kuri (Less nicknames, more talk), but it made less sense because the volume on my TV only went up to 2, so I could barely hear ANYTHING unless I was 4 inches away from the screen. Anyway, so where was I? Cats, yes, you see, they are amazing because they snore funny...

in grave of the fireflies, the two kid's dad gets killed at war and mom gets blown up. they go live in a cave, but don't even have enough money to bury her ashes.

trust me. you will be sobbing your head off.


Which is exactly why I WON'T be watching it -_-

I dunno...for some reason I only like an anime if it has at least one sexy girl in it.

And that applies to almost all anime...

All Anime has to have at least one sexy girl, it's a formula...

While "Grave of the Fireflies" is indeed quite sad, I think it is still worth a viewing, as a response to the chap who said he (she?) wouldn't see it due to its "depressing" factor. The story is poignantly told and well-done. (I can't speak to the quality of the English track, 'cos I don't watch dubbed anime. Yes, I am a snob in that regard.) Oh, and the animation director of "Grave" also has worked on Miyazaki anime, which explains the similar look. "Grave," however, was actually written by Akiyuki Nosaka, not Miyazaki. (I was confused about this as well.)
Regarding the issue of "what is anime?", Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are anime, as are Miyazaki's works. They're not of the same calibre, but this is similar to comparing "Lawrence of Arabia" and, oh, "Star Trek V", which are both still movies even if one was a masterpiece of film and the other was... well, not, to put it succinctly. Having said this, I've watched Pokemon and gotten a snigger or two out of it. (Oh, the cheese factor!)
For those interested in the Disney releases of Miyazaki anime, I believe the three titles are:
Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind), a post-holocaust ecological fable. The manga is being re-released by Viz in a larger format, similar to the original Japanese publication. The current printing is also being printed right-to-left and retains the original katakana sound effects;
Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro), which has been released before on tape, but only dubbed; and
Porco Rosso, a story about a flying pig set in inter-war Italy.
All three anime are quite good, and worthwhile. There may have been a hold-up with Nausicaa due to the fact that some dolt got the US release rights back in the '80s and mangled the hell out of it to make a rather substandard pastiche called "Warriors of the Wind." (Blaargh.) The less said about it the better.

Well, obviously, anime is a pretty flawed category of entertainment and we shouldn't go calling it a genre. As if you could do that with any country's cartoons. Family Guy, Scooby Doo and Beauty and the Beast have some differences.

Anyway, I didn't want to start a war about whether or not japanese cartoons rhyme with various sexual preferences. I was more aiming for something like, "I think Disney's delay rhymes with corporate doggy-style." I don't think that makes sense, but it has a certain amount of flavor.

In all seriousness, I'm wondering if I should be angry at Disney or not. At the current time there's no actual news and I think being peeved is legit since they don't mention any of the movies anywhere on their page. I suppose time will tell. But I've been looking at Disney pretty critically of late. They didn't really push that Dali short after the big split with Mr. Disney and I didn't know if that had anything political behind it. And Pixar left them. Of course, I'm not actually getting educated on the issues between these companies. I like ignorantly posting about them on message boards much more.

I would say you have every right to be pissed with Disney. After all, they have invested a great deal of time and effort in preventing anime from reaching the US, (by purchasing the US distribution rights through a sub-company and then never releasing it), probably for fear of competion, but now that they can't make a decent movie to save their arses, they jump on the bandwagon and pose as the otaku's friend. I didn't realize that Pixar had left, but I guess they probably got tired of propping up the rest of the company.

Oh, and the director of Grave was Isao Takahata, not Miyazaki. It was just published by Ghibli, so Miyazaki gets attached by default. :)

Anime is Japanese Animation. Anime has many styles. Spirited Away IS anime and so is Yu-Gi-Oh! They're just different styles of the same thing. Heavy Metal is an American cartoon but it doesn't look like Batman.

Miyazaki rocks. I can't wait for more of his films.

Grave of the Fireflies is depressing. I've only seen half of it. I haven't finished it yet.

My Neighbor Totoru is creepy. Totoru is cute, the Cat Bus is creepy.

I adore Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Laputa, and Kiki's Delivery Service is cute.

I used to like anime, but it was all too serious, I liked Fooly Cooly, but that's because I don't understand it.

If you want non-serious anime, watch "Ebichu, the housekeeping hamster". Preferably when stoned and/or drunk, and if you're not too easily offended.

...
My Neighbor Totoru is creepy. Totoru is cute, the Cat Bus is creepy.
...

Come on, Tonari no Totoro is great, and Cat Bus is pretty sweet. To really enjoy it, though, you need to watch it with little kids or with a kids mind set. After all, the main theme is that adults just don't get some things.

I think I may in fact be insane. I watched FLCL in Japanese and English (the dub isn't very good :( ) and I UNDERSTOOD IT ALL, the first time. It made sense. It would take a year of explaining + visual aids, to describe it...but I understood it.

The show, FLCL...is brilliant. Every little camera motion, like a good novel, effortlessly pushed the viewer to understand the inner meaning. For example;

The "firestarter" episode (#2 I think), Naota tells Minami (sp?) that "Firestarter" is a dangerous game, about a black angel that burns down houses. She replies that she thought it was cool. He misunderstands her and replies, "Well, you do have a thing for games" the camera cuts real close to Minami and she half opens her mouth to contradict him, before he changes the subject on her. Thus the show is helping you understand that she's the arsonist that plays such a big part in the Episode, that she burned down the school, which is when she first met Naota's big brother.

I adore Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Laputa, and Kiki's Delivery Service is cute.

Your vote to crown Jiji the cat master of the universe goes here. [And the Goliath Air Destroyer from Laputa has to be one of the coolest mechanical designs in anime]

I just watched Princess Mononoke today. It was good, but I can't say I particularly liked it but it certainly wasn't bad.

i rule cartoons and anime stay 500 feet apart

i rule cartoons and anime stay 500 feet apart

That's a useful and well thought out distinction.

Well, obviously, anime is a pretty flawed category of entertainment and we shouldn't go calling it a genre.

What? It's a definate genre, with many sub-genres. Thousands of anime films have been produced, and their not all filled with doe-eyed girls in tiny school uniforms. Anyhoo, the big eyes are for a reason. Japanese feel that emotion and sometimes intent or character can be seen and conveyed through eyes; much more so than in western culture.

If you want to get away from that sort of style though, there is a varied range of anime to be found. Kai-Doh-Maru is a personal favourite--a lovely piece of watercoloured anime--or go for Akira by Katsuhiro Ôtomo, possibly the most influential piece of animation ever.

Anime is far from 'all the same'. You can draw a hell of a lot more than any Hollywood budget can pay for.

Another meeting of Disney and anime:

Kingdom Hearts

Which isn't that bad, actually, if a bit juvenile. We'll see how 2 turns out (it's supposed to be more FF, less Disney...)

While we’re on the subject of anime, I need to expand my collection. Any good action recommendations?

Also this damn SOB on ebay won’t respond to any of my emails for an anime that I won. And he already put an identical item up for bids yesterday. I told him that I wasn’t going to pay for it until he responds, but he’s still ignoring me. If I do pay for it I’m afraid that he might just ignore the payment received notification as well. And the lousy bugger only accepts paypal too. He didn’t even list any price for shipping, and that’s what I’m trying to contact him about.

What? It's a definate genre, with many sub-genres. Thousands of anime films have been produced, and their not all filled with doe-eyed girls in tiny school uniforms.

That's kind of my point. The term "anime" as a genre doesn't do much for me. If I say "romantic comedies" people have a pretty good idea of the kind of movie I'm talking about. Two people will enter a relationship which will blossom over some period of time before a conflict gets in the way and they temporarily separate before rejoining and having a happy ending. "Greek Tragedy" also narrows the field quite a bit. "Film Noir" is typically going to be a suspenseful detective story where the woman's evil at the end. But "anime" really only means that it's a Japanese cartoon. So it's a less useful term to use as a genre. It's like saying "All American cartoons are..." that's a hard sentence to make accurate. Unless you plan on saying "are American and cartoons." ya?

That's kind of my point. The term "anime" as a genre doesn't do much for me. If I say "romantic comedies" people have a pretty good idea of the kind of movie I'm talking about. Two people will enter a relationship which will blossom over some period of time before a conflict gets in the way and they temporarily separate before rejoining and having a happy ending. "Greek Tragedy" also narrows the field quite a bit. "Film Noir" is typically going to be a suspenseful detective story where the woman's evil at the end. But "anime" really only means that it's a Japanese cartoon. So it's a less useful term to use as a genre. It's like saying "All American cartoons are..." that's a hard sentence to make accurate. Unless you plan on saying "are American and cartoons." ya?
I suppose anime can be broken down into four or so groups. Child anime (Pokemon), people of all ages anime (Cowboy Bebop), Not quite for children anime (Akira), and definitely not for children anime (La Blue Girl).

I was always partial to the full length films, myself. I'm an animation junkie, though, and like anything particularly well done.

I'd suggest those of you out there who want to explore the genre look into Toshiro Maeda's Urotsukidoji, or maybe something like Ghost in the Shell or Perfect Blue.

I love all of the Miyazaki films I've seen. They're something amazing in their scope and imagination.

Don't limit yourselves to just japanese animation, though. There are many fine independent animations which are worth seeing. Ralph Bakshi is a name you might want to check out if you're interested in the homegrown anti-Disney.

I suppose anime can be broken down into four or so groups. Child anime (Pokemon), people of all ages anime (Cowboy Bebop), Not quite for children anime (Akira), and definitely not for children anime (La Blue Girl).

Well, there's so far only two distinctions. Hentai and not-hentai :p