post by Martins at Sep 1,2009 10:14pm edited Sep 1,2009 10:15pm
I've been getting into Miyazaki hardcore lately and this is easily my favorite so far with only Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Ponyo left to go. I really couldn't believe that a movie could be this good. I was blown away by everything: the animation, the voiceovers (though I'm going to rewatch it with subs), the story, the characters, everything. If you haven't seen this, see it. If you have, let's talk about it.
Kiki's Delivery Service was his only movie that I watched before this spat of HOLY SHIT MIYAZAKI IS THE MAN and I remembered it being good but on a rewatch, I feel it is subpar to films like this one and Princess Mononoke. The ending wasn't very resolute. My main problem with Howl's Moving Castle was that details seemed to be thrown in at the last minute to complete the plot like the whole prince thing.
So surreal, nobody can touch Miyazaki. Princess Mononoke being my favorite one because it's the most badass. I haven't seen Nausicaa, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, or Castle in the Sky yet.
I have that, tried watching it but passed out quick, looked great though.
Are there any other animated movies that even come close to Miyazaki's...Pixar stuff comes to mind but they miss on the grandeur and style, that sweeping epic feel. As far as other anime, Bebop comes close, but most everything that comes out is fan service crap, trying to cash in by making so many episodes following the same formula. Not worth my time. I could watch Lynch and Miyazaki over and over.
post by aril at Sep 2,2009 8:15am
Princess mononoke is definitely one of my favorite animated movies ever.
Nothing holds a candle to fern gully though.
SM: 10
Up is the best Pixar movie by far. If you haven't seen that, see it immediately. Spirited Away and Up are on equal planes of existence for me. Pixar did well with Ratatouille and Wall-E, too.
As far as animated/anime stuff, Ghosts of the Fireflies (also by Studio Ghibli but not by Miyazaki), Samurai Champloo (if you like Bebop), Akira (BADASS), Rurouni Kenshin's first two seasons and the depressing OVAs, Gundam Wing and Gundam 00, and FLCL.
That's almost it for good animated movies and shows as far as I can see. I'm trying to get into more but it's harder to find quality stuff that people don't dress up as at anime conventions.
Anything by Satoshi Kon! Perfect Blue (especially if you like Lynch), Paprika, Millennium Actress (came out the same year as Spirited Away, but is far superior) and Tokyo Godfathers are untouchable
Champloo is decent, Akira is one of my favs, Kenshin and Gundam were my intro to anime, and FLCL is fucking hilarious, what a mindbender. It seems like I've already seen all the good stuff. Haven't seen UP yet but I will. Same with Satoshi Kon but I do have Perfect Blue somewhere...
I mean stuff like Yu Yu Hakusho and Full Metal Alchemist are supposed to be good but... eh
I kind of remember Yu Yu Hakusho maybe being good from when it used to be on Cartoon Network. Same thing with Bleach but I don't want to spend the time to find out the hard way.
post by MikeOv at Sep 2,2009 8:37am
Evangelion is still the pinnacle, and Gantz was the last good anime series I got into. Eventually I sort of came to dislike Gantz (anime) after reading the long-running manga.
post by aril at Sep 2,2009 8:40am
I've always liked anime but absolutely hated about 90% of the bandwagon fans that just watch them to fit in with other social outcasts
Yu Yu Hakusho is a money machine for that fucking card game. Full Metal Alchemist is AWFUL. I watched about 25 episodes of Bleach but now they have about 200 of them...I'd rather have a good arc with closure than waste anymore time on substandard fan service...same with Naruto (the true Jap version), that show was fucking amazing when it came out, the battles would last multiple episodes, so much strategy and action, great character development, but after about 60 episodes I was done with it. A watered-down English version for kids was ran here and that was the end of that.
Now can we talk about how good Spirited Away is again? I remember hearing about it a few years back and thinking LOL ANIMATED MOVIE NO WAY. stupid of me.
post by MikeOv at Sep 2,2009 8:54am
No, but we can talk about how this guy is the man.
If you're watching Nausicaa in English, make sure you get the newer version and not the old one that came out as "Warriors Of The Wind" - that one has a bunch of parts missing and fucked up editing and doesn't make any sense.
Also, I would DEFINITELY recommend "Laputa, Castle In The Sky" which is one of my favorite Ghibli movies. It reminds me a lot of Nausicaa (but more stripped down).
ghost in the shell is on that list, but i saw it with english dubs, the voice acting was terrible so i didn't watch it. i think 8 of the 10 movies on here are in the thread already, spirited away is #1.
The only thing wrong with that link is that Disney has a deal with Studio Ghibli and does the US releases and voiceovers. Either way all those movies/series blow away anything the US has tried to do animation-wise and story-wise.
Have you read Nausicaa though? The original manga (by Miyazaki) is like the "Lord of the Rings" of fantasy manga epics. There's obviously no way they'd be able to do all seven volumes justice in a single movie.
I don't know, "Spirited Away" is really pretty and has some cool imaginative parts but I don't think it's particularly impressive aside from its (awesome) visuals.
post by Dankill at Sep 8,2009 11:43pm
For Miyazaki's work, I love Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle.
Akira was amazing. First anime movie I'd ever seen. Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ninja Scroll, A Wind Called Amnesia, Record of the Lodoss War, Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star, ect
I'm more of an old school fan, myself.
If I remember correctly, Fist of the North Star was hilarious even though it wasn't trying to be but yeah Neon Genesis Evangelion is keyyyyyy. I started to rewatch the first of the new movies last night. There's definitely some scenes skipped over but it's true to the original for the most part.
Have you read Nausicaa though? The original manga (by Miyazaki) is like the "Lord of the Rings" of fantasy manga epics. There's obviously no way they'd be able to do all seven volumes justice in a single movie.
I don't know, "Spirited Away" is really pretty and has some cool imaginative parts but I don't think it's particularly impressive aside from its (awesome) visuals.
I haven't read the Manga. I might consider it but I'm reading all Lovecraft right now.
In regards to Spirited Away, it was the story that did it for me. It was cute but it had real emotions and there was a lot of catharsis in many of the characters. It was just a feel good movie that I liked more than others.
Just finished watching Porco Rosso. It was amazing. Definitely in my top Miyazaki movies. It felt like a long episode of an anime but better. Really good.
post by MikeOv at Sep 13,2009 9:31am
The original Fist of the North Star TV show and the condensed film version are unbelievably epic. Solidified me as anime fan when I was a kid. Take the best elements of Mad Max and couple it with martial arts mysticism and bingo: BRUTALITY. The live action version was the most horrendous piece of shit I've ever witnessed and the recent remake of the show was not up to par either. Fans of FotNS should check out Riki-Oh (the anime put out by bandai way back in the 80's). It's like Fist, only it takes place in prison. Really violent stuff. Since we're on the subject of films released Streamline Pictures..
The original Fist of the North Star TV show and the condensed film version are unbelievably epic. Solidified me as anime fan when I was a kid. Take the best elements of Mad Max and couple it with martial arts mysticism and bingo: BRUTALITY. The live action version was the most horrendous piece of shit I've ever witnessed and the recent remake of the show was not up to par either. Fans of FotNS should check out Riki-Oh (the anime put out by bandai way back in the 80's). It's like Fist, only it takes place in prison. Really violent stuff. Since we're on the subject of films released Streamline Pictures..
Doomed Megalopolis FTW.
FACT across the board.
Also, look for the original Grappler Baki, similar feel as Fist.
