When I was about 14 though, I found something so good that it has followed me ever since: Anime. Animation where characters actually die, the bad guys are ruthless, anyone can swear, the stories are tight, the animals are quiet and the heroes are just as flawed as everyone else. In the words of Homer Simpson (The American champion of animation)... Mmmmmm..... An-I-Me. So, ever since my initial contact with Anime (Akira which I saw seven years after its release) in my sophmore year of high school, I've been a total Otaku (the japanese equivelent of "Fanboy").
But wait a minute! Back to the topic of opinions again. This page happens to be a list of my opinions on Japanese Animation. So feel free to peruse my list (be kind, I've seen a lot but those damned tapes are too expensive so see everything!) and see what I think really counts in the world of Japanese Animation.
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10 - Ninja Scroll
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9 - Dominion: Tank Police
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8 - The Slayers
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7 - Ruin Explorers
As far as OAV's go, this one is great. It does what the Japanese television show "The Slayers" couldn't. It combined Dungeons and Dragons fantasy with humor, which the Slayers did, but in Ruin Explorers, it's just done better. The animation is fluid, the character designs are excellent and story is wonderful. Rent this as soon as you can. |
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6 - El Hazzard
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5 - Macross Plus
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4 - Giant Robo
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3 - Ghost in the Shell
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2 - Vision of Escaflowne
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1 - Akira
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I have so many anime tapes anymore that I need more shelves just so I can hold it all. I made some damn tough choices cataloguing my favorites. So here are the honorable mentions: Starblazers, Robotech, Macross: Do You Remember Love, Appleseed, Bubblegum Crisis/Crash/AD Police, Ranma 1/2, Gundam Wing
Ninja Scroll just rocks. Period. It has everything from medival intrigue, demons, ronin samurai, political overthrows, reincarnation and no small amount of intensely graphic violence. you gotta love it. It is also beautifully drawn, fluid and captivating animation. Bar none, the best animated samurai flick you're going to find. RENT THIS NOW!
Big guns, bigger women, little tank. Really... honest, the tank, Boneparte is really small, a midget, but much like the state of Delaware: Small but mighty... It's just cool. Big tanks are cool too, but for the most part, the series revolves around Leona and her afore mentioned tank. It has cool characters and is based in a dark (yet strangely humorous) cyberpunk environment. It's also the brainchild of Masamune Shirow. Nuff said.
Hey now, gota give some credit over to Linna Inverse and her bumbling swordsman/sidekick Gourry. The first time I saw this I hated it. I mean I fell asleep during it. That could have been because I had three hours of sleep that night. But seriously, having gone back over it again, it's really pretty good. The animation quality is pretty low, but that's to be expected of Japanese television anime. Not everything can be perfect. But the story itself and the characters are memorable enough to make a lasting impression, which leads me to the next anime selection.
Another classic introduced to me during my college years that this past year I finally caught up on. The story elements are wonderful, the characters are great ("Oh shit! Someone else is out of alcohol!" -- Masamichi Fujisawa) and it is impressive just to watch the animation flow. I've watched these videos to the point of the tape wearing thin. Give it a try, I guarantee you'll like it.
The only thing better than, Macross: Do You Remember Love? is Macross Plus. It has everything, love triangles, a deadly, artificially intelligent pop star, experimental aircraft, chows (cross between a chicken and a cow), old grudges, mad scientists, cool planes, Zentradi halfbreeds and action that is not to be believed. It has the smoothest computer generated effects and the coolest animated logo you will ever find. The traditional art still takes the show though, with intense composition and well executed movement. Everything just clicks into place.
Many people blow this off as another giant robot film. DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE. RENT IT NOW! you want to see this, but you just don't know it yet. The robot isn't even on screen most of the time. The heroes are heroes and the villans are evil shits. The designs for everything are simple, but its movement is fluid and the story is addicting. You'll be walking around talking about Bashtarille for days while whilspering "the beautiful night..." while in classes. God help me... I'm such an Otaku.
This is bad-ass, thinking man's, sci-fi anime. The animation might as well be real life, the story is deep and complex and the special effects will knock you on your ass. The philosophy of it alone is worth the price you'll pay to rent it, and once again, it is set in the dark, cyberpunk settings made by the master, Masamune Shirow. Once again, RENT IT NOW!
This is just really neat, bar none, well animated, story driven action/sci-fi/romance anime. It is already a classic as far as I'm concerned. It has something for everyone from romance for the female viewers to savage fight scenes which will appeal to testosterone latent people across the globe. Go out and get the 26 episode series in its entirety, not the three tape knockoff compression I've seen surfacing lately. Trust me, it's worth it.
The original, and still the best, Akira is just cool. Where else can you see a giant, gooey, melting baby thing eat Neo-Tokyo? Where else can a motorcycle gang and a revolutionary group meet psychic powers and government experimentation? Where could you ever find a street gang dressed up as circus clowns? To this day, I rewind the motorcycle chase in the beginning over and over and over again. The animation is smooth and convincing, leaving nothing to chance. It was the idea of another god of the anime industry, Katsuhiro Otomo. This is the most widely known of all of the Japanese Animated flicks to come out in the states. GO RENT IT! DO IT NOW!