Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Op Intensify]

Penguindrum got licensed by Sentai Filmworks, bitches! US Blu-ray release by the end of the year.

[KAI]

And still no info about this shit

[Hagane]

Which one really stands out for you in terms of drawing and which one writes compelling stories?

All the ones I mentioned do compelling stories. It all boils down to which genres you like best I guess.

As for the best artists among those, Samura and Takehiko Inoue (who I forgot to mention before) are easy picks. Kenji Tsuruta does amazing stuff, both in color (excellent watercoloring) and meticulous black and white art (he's a very slow worker though, probably for that same reason). Yukimura and Hiroki Endo are good at a more traditional manga look. Then there are more unique styles which are great but not for everyone, like Daisuke Igarashi, Atsushi Kaneko and Jiro Matsumoto.

As for artists who are really good at drawing but can't write for shit, I'd mention Shigeki Maeshima and Oh Great!. I'd include Boichi in this category too, though his short Hotel is nice. If you like well drawn pervy stuff without regard of plot all of these are good picks though.

[Raytrace]

Is Dragon's Heaven good?

it looks good

[Op Intensify]

Seems there's been release problems with the Kite Blu-ray. I preordered shortly after it was listed and it still says it's not going to ship until 4 to 6 weeks. Must be very limited.

[Raytrace]

Imma check out Ariel Visual and Ariel I think...

[Raytrace]

watched first episode of Ariel Visual - like it so far

[GaijinPunch]

Is Dragon's Heaven good?

it looks good

Old school, right? I remember it being pretty cool. I think I have it somewhere. Been on an 80's kick lately. Too bad the stories are usually really boring and predictable.

Need to throw that in the queue if I can dig it up.

[chempop]

Finished:
Moribito - was a lot better than I was expecting, B+
Durarara - truly absurd yet highly entertaining, A-
Un-go - mixed feelings, quality production but felt rushed and was hard to follow at times, B-
Redline - A masterpiece, would watch again and again, instant classic for me, A+

Started:
FLAG - just a few episodes deep and I like it so far, very mature show
Denno Coil - just saw the first ep, hilarious/quirky, totally digging the augmented reality stuff

[drauch]

Is Dragon's Heaven good?

it looks good

That does look pretty sweet. I think I've had that in my bookmarks for quite some time. Looks like a cross between Moebius and early Miyazaki. Just don't watch Dragon Half...but definitely watch Dragon Pink

[DaneSaga]

Can someone give me a list of movies that are made up of stand alone short stories? I’m talking about stuff like Neo-Tokyo, Memories, Robot Carnival and such.
I’m about to watch Genius Party and Genius Part Beyond, and have also seen Twilight Q, so I’m not sure what’s left to see.

[Raytrace]

Finished:
Moribito - was a lot better than I was expecting, B+
Durarara - truly absurd yet highly entertaining, A-
Un-go - mixed feelings, quality production but felt rushed and was hard to follow at times, B-
Redline - A masterpiece, would watch again and again, instant classic for me, A+

Started:
FLAG - just a few episodes deep and I like it so far, very mature show
Denno Coil - just saw the first ep, hilarious/quirky, totally digging the augmented reality stuff

Redline and Flag are amazing - in obviously totally different ways.

[Raytrace]

Is Dragon's Heaven good?

it looks good

Old school, right? I remember it being pretty cool. I think I have it somewhere. Been on an 80's kick lately. Too bad the stories are usually really boring and predictable.

Need to throw that in the queue if I can dig it up.

yeah I'm deffo going to check it - it has that French comics/Heavy Metal type look to it

[Raytrace]

Is Dragon's Heaven good?

it looks good

That does look pretty sweet. I think I've had that in my bookmarks for quite some time. Looks like a cross between Moebius and early Miyazaki. Just don't watch Dragon Half...but definitely watch Dragon Pink

cool

I watched 1 and a half episodes of Ariel Visual there can be no doubt its a pretty heavy influence on Evangelion not just themes/plot wise, but also cinematograpically/scene setup(ly) :p

[moozooh]

Can someone give me a list of movies that are made up of stand alone short stories? I’m talking about stuff like Neo-Tokyo, Memories, Robot Carnival and such.
I’m about to watch Genius Party and Genius Part Beyond, and have also seen Twilight Q, so I’m not sure what’s left to see.

Well those are more compilations than movies. There's also Batman: Gotham Knight, The Animatrix and Halo Legends for some Western-oriented anime, then Ai Monogatari: 9 Love Stories... Some shorter compilations as well such as Ani*Kuri15 and Digital Juice. I haven't seen all of them personally. Both Genius Parties are brilliant though, and I've greatly enjoyed most of Memories and Neo-Tokyo.

[DaneSaga]

Can someone give me a list of movies that are made up of stand alone short stories? I’m talking about stuff like Neo-Tokyo, Memories, Robot Carnival and such.
I’m about to watch Genius Party and Genius Part Beyond, and have also seen Twilight Q, so I’m not sure what’s left to see.

Well those are more compilations than movies. There's also Batman: Gotham Knight, The Animatrix and Halo Legends for some Western-oriented anime, then Ai Monogatari: 9 Love Stories... Some shorter compilations as well such as Ani*Kuri15 and Digital Juice. I haven't seen all of them personally. Both Genius Parties are brilliant though, and I've greatly enjoyed most of Memories and Neo-Tokyo.

Regardless of them being compilations, I would still classify them as movies. In fact Neo-Tokyo got a 1.85:1 theatrical release in the US did it not?
Anyway I'll look into said suggestions thanks.

[ancestral-knowledge]

Folktales from Japan -Furusato Saisei Nippon no Mukashi Banashi

very good obscure stories...

btw Durarara, FLAG and Denno Coil are awful...

[Hagane]

Dunno about the other two, but Denno Coil is great.

[KAI]

Durarara is the gayest shit I've ever saw.

Rewatching Diebuster and Patlabor 2 and enjoying Tsuritama so far.

[Op Intensify]

Durarara is the gayest shit I've ever saw.

Yeah, Baccano! is a much, much better series in every respect. The show's concept of immortality was incredibly cool. It didn't catch on the same way simply because it takes place in Depression-era America and it doesn't have TEH SEXII BOIZ.

[GaijinPunch]

Toki no Tabibito (Time Stranger) is a good one from the 80's, although if you're not at least vaguely familiar w/ the unification of Japan you might be left scratching your head a bit.

Oldie but a goodie: The Crusher Joe movie. A bit long-winded, but 80's goodness.


Now, please decide my fate for my next flight.

Ariette or Gedo Senki?
Those are the only full features at my finger tips and I will watch one.

[Raytrace]

Durarara is the gayest shit I've ever saw.

Rewatching Diebuster and Patlabor 2 and enjoying Tsuritama so far.

Patlabor II is one of my favourite films - just amazing...

[Op Intensify]

Toki no Tabibito (Time Stranger) is a good one from the 80's, although if you're not at least vaguely familiar w/ the unification of Japan you might be left scratching your head a bit.

I literally just bought this, gonna have to watch it. It's actually the conclusion to a forgotten mecha series called GoShogun (the Central Park Media DVD has an overview of the plot).

Ariette or Gedo Senki?
Those are the only full features at my finger tips and I will watch one.

Do you mean Arietty? Go for that, it's a lot more memorable than Gedo Senki/Earthsea, which is just a passable but boring fantasy romp. Goro Miyazaki really improved as a director between those two movies.

[drauch]

Toki no Tabibito (Time Stranger) is a good one from the 80's, although if you're not at least vaguely familiar w/ the unification of Japan you might be left scratching your head a bit.

Oldie but a goodie: The Crusher Joe movie. A bit long-winded, but 80's goodness.


Now, please decide my fate for my next flight.

Ariette or Gedo Senki?
Those are the only full features at my finger tips and I will watch one.

Really pumped for Time Stranger. It should actually be here in the mail this week! And yeah, Crusher Joe is one of my favorite animated movies. Really great action and humor. If you're enjoying Dirty Pair, Raytrace, I certainly recommend you check it out. Some OVAs were made as well.

[GaijinPunch]

Yeah, Arietty. I don't keep up w/ the romanizations. My bad. Meant to see it at the theaters (and every other Ghibli movie since Kamikakushi) but didn't make a single one. :-/

[DaneSaga]

eww Gedo Senki. Just soooo boring. Poor Gorou, seems like talent isn’t heredity in the Miyazaki family. Kokurikozaka kara is admittedly a decent effort though, there may be some hope.

Kite Blu-Ray now delayed 'till 2013

[KAI]

Yep, Arietty is less worse.
On a side note, I enjoyed Ponyo, that mix of Miyazaki with Gainax-style animation is a perfect combination.

Re: Cutie Honey is really good. Anno should be doing more anime.

[xbl0x180]

90s Shin Cutey Honey is good... because it is antithetical to the crap Anno directed at that time

[Raytrace]

90s Shin Cutey Honey is good... because it is antithetical to the crap Anno directed at that time

Neon Genesis Evangelion > *

[/troll]

[KAI]

IMO Anno is a genius and his art direction is awesome.