The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime

[xelement5x]

Heh, it's funny that you watched A-Ko recently because I decided to grab an older title myself recently.  I started watching Magic User's Club and it's another one of those that you can tell there was definitely some time spent on doing the animation by hand since it's an OVA.  I'll easily admit that it was seeing a picture of Akane that made me research the show a bit more before starting it though.



Something about that anime from that period just gets me!

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, sorry, not even in the same universe. Granted, I've only ever seen the TV version and it wasn't terrible animation-wise but honestly once you get past 1990 or so anime was already over the hill and rolling down fast. All those insanely high end cuts in things like DYRL, MADOX, Riding Bean, Five Star Stories, To-y, Angel's Egg, etc were becoming very rare to extinct...the kids who drew them for free, after school, for the love of it, had to move to actual paying jobs. New fans/staff had the same drive, but less of the background. By the end of the decade Korea had inherited the industry as it was.

[xelement5x]

Lol, you know I actually even debated posting my previous comment (and picture) because I had a feeling you were going to rip into it about the animation being mid-90s instead of 80s or earlier. 

I spent a lot of time when I was younger watching probably more 90s anime than anything else, and while I will easily admit that the difference in quality is noticeable, I personally don't mind too much.  I still like the character styles and the animation quality from that time, and to use an oft-overused meme:

[Gypsy]

That reminds me I'm hoping for a Madox-01 blu-ray via kickstarter. I backed BGC and Riding Bean. I was very happy with BGC and I'm sure Riding Bean will be a fine release as well. I wish I had been following AE before Kickstarter back when they restored Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. A blu of that would be a dream. I'd support pretty much anything Macross if they put it out through Kickstarter.

[SignOfZeta]

I sorta forgot and missed Riding Bean but I sure as hell got the Otaku no Video one. MADOX is way up on my list of OVA faves and I still don't have an LD so I'd fund that for sure.

[SignOfZeta]

Lol, you know I actually even debated posting my previous comment (and picture) because I had a feeling you were going to rip into it about the animation being mid-90s instead of 80s or earlier. 

I spent a lot of time when I was younger watching probably more 90s anime than anything else, and while I will easily admit that the difference in quality is noticeable, I personally don't mind too much.  I still like the character styles and the animation quality from that time, and to use an oft-overused meme:

I wasn't trying to make a value judgement. I enjoy the You're Under Arrest OVAs from the same time and they have very good animation, much better hand drawn animation of passenger cars that just about anything from any era.

However, the simple reality was that nearly all the money was gone by the time those OVAs came out and people had stopped working for free. I remember at the time (let's say 1997) I knew people in the industry who were constantly complaining about how nobody would fund good ideas anymore, how the labor was being offshored, and at the time I didn't really see it as someone who's just a consumer. Now that time has passed and I've seen a lot more anime and have had time to take a broader view of the whole situation it seems super obvious as hell when the bottom fell out.

Great anime came from the 90s (Giant Robo, Beebop, etc) just as it's being made today but when it comes to stuff like A-ko...well, it was already over by the time it came out. That's why it's 90 minutes of theatrical grade animation and all the sequels are shorter and cheaper. Many of the really top tier shit from the 80s was too lovingly crafted to make a profit. Five Star Stories and To-y come to mind. By now of course pretty much every studio has gone under or was bought out, it was a slow progress with them cranking mediocre stuff to pay the bills. Sunrise only exists because Bandai owns them now. Ghibli is only still here because they are able to work with Disney for international distribution.

[Gypsy]

I sorta forgot and missed Riding Bean but I sure as hell got the Otaku no Video one. MADOX is way up on my list of OVA faves and I still don't have an LD so I'd fund that for sure.

If you want it, you can still buy it via the kickstarter page. Or just wait for it to go up for sale on their web store. If you don't need it on blu the dvd is only $8 off their web store.

I'm actually not as familiar with 80s era oavs in general and our tastes seem to intersect, so I'm definitely down for some recommendations.

[Medic_wheat]

Just finished rewatching Blood C tv show. Will watch the movie/ending to the show this weekend.

I remember when it came out it was pretty much hated especially compared to blood + (never saw it in full just a episode or two on tv many years ago). Also I use to own and enjoyed the original blood the last vampire movie when it was a new release.


But back to blood c


I greatly enjoyed it. 12 episodes no filler or crape. People tend to think it's bad because the characters are "hollow" uninteresting and slow.

However I tend to look at it similarly to Madoka Magica as a slice of life Anime with a twist.

The characters are playing (literally) stereotypical arcatyoes of a typical high school slick of life Anime similar to say Card Capture Sakura or xxxHolic.

You have a "typical" naive high school student who at night fight evil with super powers. A shrine maiden with a sacred sword. Never been done!  And who's father can sense evil and sends his daughter out I. Missions with little explanation as to why or how

The unacquainted love interest

The hard to get love interest whi doesn't like to talk or army he likes the girl.

The chibi/Moe character who is there to be relatable this time twins who are interchangeable

The jock girl who is like a bi sister or mother

The teacher who acts more as a friend then an adult or educator.

And lastly a seemingly random coffee shop owner who seems to have a store just for he main character. With a flirting possibly love interest in the main heroin.

So it starts off with seemingly cardboard archetypes. You'd expect them to play their roles. However. Slowly. You start to realize. They are doing just that. Playing a role. A deeper mystery is around each corner. Even in the first episodes you get the sense things are being watched. Scenes are shown in a fish eye lense. He town is stated to be mostly empty. A ghost town. There is "one of everything". The population is reported to be the size of nearly 2,500 and people seem to almost break character at times.

I found it to be enjoyable after the second viewing. I first watched it off YouTube two years ago and didn't pay much attention. I just sort of fat forward through the "slow parts" and speed group 12 episodes just because I heard he ending was "messed up and full of gore". People would say just watch the last episodes he rest isn't worth it. However, after watching it and paying attention his feel like a under rated and falsely hated anime.

[ClodBuster]

I was surprised to see the Golden Boy anime had pretty good animation for its time in the mid nineties.

I got my hands on the Otaku no Video blu-ray last year and have backed the Riding Bean blu-ray this year.

By the way, have you guys seen Roujin Z? I remember having seen it in some cinema around 2000, I think. Was amused by how much Sony brand placement was in this movie.

[SignOfZeta]

Roujin Z is pretty cool. These days the most remarkable thing about it is that it doesn't have any high schoolers in it. It's a really good movie in general, but the (IIRC) total lack of high schoolers...kinda nice.

[ClodBuster]

Exactly!

[TR0N]

I wish I had been following AE before Kickstarter back when they restored Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. A blu of that would be a dream. I'd support pretty much anything Macross if they put it out through Kickstarter.

Macross is still a license nightmare thanks to harmony gold and there bs.Don't ever expect to see it on bluray for the west at least.

[ClodBuster]

But SDF Macross has been released twice on DVD (Animeigo and ADV). Also there had been Macross VF-1 toys for the west by Toynami. All officially licensed through Big West and Harmony Gold. I think that shows everything is possible.

[Gypsy]

Well there are usually even more hindrances with bluray. The spectre of reverse importing and whatnot.

[ClodBuster]

What I'm saying, and I've said it before, people are pretty quick in blaming HG for anything. Plus, I don't worry too much about that reverse importing thing for something as old as a 1982 animated tv series. What eventually counts is: Can a product sell well enough?