Recommended Anime/Manga?

[Hagane]

Watched a couple of episodes of Library Wars. Feels kind of like a sillier, anime-fied version of Fahrenheit 451 and the SD bits are pretty annoying, but it's enjoyable.

And when I thought Blade of the Immortal couldn't get any better, I read chapter 214. Makie is awesome till the end.

[Raytrace]

haha that's it - I'm definitely watching dub version of Tank Police, flicked through it there and the guy who voiced Gogol in Cyber City Oedo 808 is voicing someone in it

loving it so far - even from a purely aural perspective - workstation and sampler sounds, especially those great pads/choir noises, big SH-101 basslines and 909 beats - great stuff

finished first episode - very good

[Raytrace]

watched some SD Gundam (the Counterattack one) with my children, emm not amazing, but still pretty funny if you're a UC fan, and the kids loved it.

[drauch]

Mad Bull is so awesome. Get ready for the DVD this year!

[Op Intensify]

Can't remember if I posted about this in the past, but there's new info anyhow.

Seven Seas has been finally putting out the remaining volumes of the Gunslinger Girl manga in English, the ones that ADV never bothered to. They're being sold in two-volume omnibuses, and the earlier volumes have been given retranslations.

Volumes 7-10 are already out. 11-12 will be out September 4, and the final two will be January 8.

Amazing series that the anime couldn't do justice to. Well, it was mostly Il Teatrino that sucked. A completely soulless production when compared to the original series and its unforgettable OST. Neither of them quite capture the manga's superb characterization or atmosphere, though. Most of the more subtle or secondary scenes of dialogue are excised.

The first series' DVDs were sold in Japan bundled with an episodic Playstation 2 game, which appears to be a NAM-1975/Wild Guns-type cursor shooter with a scoring system. I'm almost interested enough to track them down.

Also, I heard the (still unfinished!!) Evangelion manga is restarting soon.

[xbl0x180]

I think what's sorely missing now are those random, one-shot OAVs that were popular in the 80s and 90s, a few of which were licensed here in North America. Nowadays, it's mostly series and movies of stuff that's already big in Japan.

These would never be made in today's Japanese animation industry.

could you recommend a good few of these one shot OVA's or even ones which are up to 3 maximum, as I really like that format.

And is there more stuff like Black Lion? o_O

Black Magic M-66: Based on the Shirow Masamune short manga. It is unexplained ultraviolence galore from beginning to end




Genocyber: Crazy, mindless bioweapon violence. If David Cronenberg was to direct an animated work, it would be called "Genocyber"




I also second the M.D. Geist recommendation. It spawned an American-produced sequel, but you only need to see the first one. The mecha for this was also the mascot for the now-defunct Central Park Media's U.S. Manga Corps. Other one-shot OAVs and miniseries you should check out:

Metal Skin Panic Madox-01: The animation and chara designs for this are beautiful late-80s styled with a full colour palatte.



Dangaioh: The only reason I liked this one was because it was directed by Hirano Toshihiro - the same guy from Iczer and Vampire Miyu. Otherwise, it is a very weak series, but still noteworthy because of its hand-drawn fluid animation that's almost on the level of Urushihara Satoshi.




Hades Project Zeorymer: Same as Dangaioh - great animation and decent chara designs by Hirano Toshihiro (you should already be able to tell I like this director), but that's pretty much all it had going for it. I still dig it because of its look.




Man, I could be listing here all day. I don't even know if you'd have the time to sort through this junk since you have, like, a lyfe. For the rest of you kids, check out the OG Sol Bianca OAVs (avoid the Legacy crappy remakes):




Lastly, one of the best OAVs from the golden age of... OAVs has to be Devil Hunter Yohko. She was Buffy: The Vampire Slayer before there was a "Buffy." I'm not gonna lie, Yohko was kinda moe, but it had juuuust enough sex and violence to place it above the rest of the crap:



It also helped the chara design looked pretty good and was voiced by Hisakawa Aya, one of the best and most popular seiyuu at that time (although her high-pitched voice is kinda weird when you see the real life actress).

[EmperorIng]

haha that's it - I'm definitely watching dub version of Tank Police, flicked through it there and the guy who voiced Gogol in Cyber City Oedo 808 is voicing someone in it

loving it so far - even from a purely aural perspective - workstation and sampler sounds, especially those great pads/choir noises, big SH-101 basslines and 909 beats - great stuff

finished first episode - very good

Yeah, the dub is great.

Leona's voice (Toni Barret) is great and very fitting, as is the amazing work of Capt. Britain/Brenten. His ham fits the character very well, and is really entertaining.

The episodes get even better, so enjoy! Wait till you see the anti-tank mines in ep2!

[neorichieb1971]

Any manga films on blu ray worth getting?

I noticed the UK is getting Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro on November 12 2012.

I like films more than series.

After searching amazon I found these of interest -

Girl who leapt through time/summer wars
The Sky Crawlers
Higanjima - Escape From Vampire Island
Eden Of The East
Professor Layton And The Eternal Diva

[EmperorIng]

The Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind blu-ray looks astoundingly gorgeous, but that is unfortunately only been released in Japan.

[Op Intensify]

Genocyber: Crazy, mindless bioweapon violence

No.

Shallow, maybe, but not mindless.

Though yeah, Koichi Ohada will forever be the guy who directed M.D. Geist. I don't know how he was able to push out a classic like Genocyber while having that trash under his belt. But I'm glad he did.

[xbl0x180]

GENOCYBERrrrRRrrRRr


Speaking of one-shot OAVs, here's the preview to Guy, which was only 2 45-minute episodes and never finished. I thought it was good back then and I still think it holds up today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyMSmbJxQ2w


Moe was also prevalent in the mid-90s. I remember getting this video and thinking how bloody awful it was:

Girl From Phantasia (2nd preview on this video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZVU8KeTtY

[Raytrace]

I think what's sorely missing now are those random, one-shot OAVs that were popular in the 80s and 90s, a few of which were licensed here in North America. Nowadays, it's mostly series and movies of stuff that's already big in Japan.

These would never be made in today's Japanese animation industry.

could you recommend a good few of these one shot OVA's or even ones which are up to 3 maximum, as I really like that format.

And is there more stuff like Black Lion? o_O

Black Magic M-66: Based on the Shirow Masamune short manga. It is unexplained ultraviolence galore from beginning to end




Genocyber: Crazy, mindless bioweapon violence. If David Cronenberg was to direct an animated work, it would be called "Genocyber"




I also second the M.D. Geist recommendation. It spawned an American-produced sequel, but you only need to see the first one. The mecha for this was also the mascot for the now-defunct Central Park Media's U.S. Manga Corps. Other one-shot OAVs and miniseries you should check out:

Metal Skin Panic Madox-01: The animation and chara designs for this are beautiful late-80s styled with a full colour palatte.



Dangaioh: The only reason I liked this one was because it was directed by Hirano Toshihiro - the same guy from Iczer and Vampire Miyu. Otherwise, it is a very weak series, but still noteworthy because of its hand-drawn fluid animation that's almost on the level of Urushihara Satoshi.




Hades Project Zeorymer: Same as Dangaioh - great animation and decent chara designs by Hirano Toshihiro (you should already be able to tell I like this director), but that's pretty much all it had going for it. I still dig it because of its look.




Man, I could be listing here all day. I don't even know if you'd have the time to sort through this junk since you have, like, a lyfe. For the rest of you kids, check out the OG Sol Bianca OAVs (avoid the Legacy crappy remakes):




Lastly, one of the best OAVs from the golden age of... OAVs has to be Devil Hunter Yohko. She was Buffy: The Vampire Slayer before there was a "Buffy." I'm not gonna lie, Yohko was kinda moe, but it had juuuust enough sex and violence to place it above the rest of the crap:



It also helped the chara design looked pretty good and was voiced by Hisakawa Aya, one of the best and most popular seiyuu at that time (although her high-pitched voice is kinda weird when you see the real life actress).

cool I'll check them all out -Dangaioh was already on my list

[drauch]

I can vouch for most of those as well, as well as the original Mazinger Z manga. You really just can't go wrong with Go Nagai. Black Magic as a manga is really hit or miss, though, but I still haven't ever watched my copy of the OVA. I could go on about Yohko and recommend more OVAs as well, but it looks like you've got quite a bit on your plate right now--as do I! I will say, though, certainly skip M.D. Geist II. The first one is mindless fun; the second one is mindless garbage.

[Raytrace]

haha that's it - I'm definitely watching dub version of Tank Police, flicked through it there and the guy who voiced Gogol in Cyber City Oedo 808 is voicing someone in it

loving it so far - even from a purely aural perspective - workstation and sampler sounds, especially those great pads/choir noises, big SH-101 basslines and 909 beats - great stuff

finished first episode - very good

Yeah, the dub is great.

Leona's voice (Toni Barret) is great and very fitting, as is the amazing work of Capt. Britain/Brenten. His ham fits the character very well, and is really entertaining.

The episodes get even better, so enjoy! Wait till you see the anti-tank mines in ep2!

haha yeah the 'ultimate deterrent' - loved it

[KAI]

Neo Tokyo/Meikyū Monogatari
3 excellent pieces of animation produced by Mad House and directed by 3 icons of the 80', Otomo, Kawajiri and Rintaro.

Watching this at 4 AM was a weird experience.
Pure Japanimation.

Also, I heard the (still unfinished!!) Evangelion manga is restarting soon.

I'm sure it will end on 2014, at the world's end.
Almost 20 years of Evangelion. I like the transition from psi-fi (the original series) to sci-fi (the latest movies).

[moozooh]

Also, I heard the (still unfinished!!) Evangelion manga is restarting soon.

Uhh, where is that info from? What does "restarting" mean in this context?

[BIL]

Cool stuff, thanks for the recommend xbl0x. Reminded me of BGC's final episode (cat and mouse with killer robots). Loved the animation on the androids, especially the first one's creepy quadrupedal movements.

[Raytrace]

is this:

http://subatomicbrainfreeze.typepad.com ... d-gig.html

worth a giggle?

[shmuppyLove]

is this:

http://subatomicbrainfreeze.typepad.com ... d-gig.html

worth a giggle?

Ahahahah I lost it at the opening scene in the restaurant. The girl on the right starts twitching at one point, I guess she's supposed to be cutting the (what I assume is) okonomiyaki in front of her?

[KAI]

worth a giggle?

Yes, he also directed boku no piko, YAY

[Raytrace]

I can vouch for most of those as well, as well as the original Mazinger Z manga.

I am reading that atm, I kinda have to as the anime's subs are so bad so I need it to help me watch it. It's a lot darker at the start than the anime - also pretty shockin jokes - 'What's he shaking for? - he's too young to have Parkinsons..' ( !)

I'm liking it though,and I've never really fully read a manga before well apart from Crossbone Gundam, I did read a lot of 2000AD when I was young though...

I finished Dominion Tank Police just now - brilliant - though I didn't like end getting all esoteric. 3 and 4 were still great, just not as great as 1 and 2. Man I love how the lieutenant sits atop the tank with his sashimono - proper epic. I also love that thing where it has totally testosterone bursting characters being forced to suddenly admit their sensitive or something - those bits are hilarious.

[Raytrace]

is this:

http://subatomicbrainfreeze.typepad.com ... d-gig.html

worth a giggle?

Ahahahah I lost it at the opening scene in the restaurant. The girl on the right starts twitching at one point, I guess she's supposed to be cutting the (what I assume is) okonomiyaki in front of her?

has anyone watched it?

- finished Mazinger Z episode 4 - pretty cool - only another 88 to go o_O

will probs watch one of The Cockpit or Black Magic M66 next...

seriously thanks to all of you for telling me about all these smallish OVAs and stuff - esp. in the last week, there's tonnes of stuff there that just doesn't seem to be talked about on the internets anymore, and I'd never have discovered a lot of em I don't think.

[Raytrace]

worth a giggle?

Yes, he also directed boku no piko, YAY

is that teh yaoi?

[Ruldra]

I can't help but lol @ this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... XGA#t=223s

If you're gonna put a chess game in your anime, at least learn the goddamn rules.

[BIL]

Mad Bull 34 is amazing. It's like I'm watching an NC17-rated episode of Heathcliff. Starring Mike Haggar.

[xbl0x180]

I can vouch for most of those as well, as well as the original Mazinger Z manga.

I am reading that atm, I kinda have to as the anime's subs are so bad so I need it to help me watch it. It's a lot darker at the start than the anime - also pretty shockin jokes - 'What's he shaking for? - he's too young to have Parkinsons..' ( !)

I'm liking it though,and I've never really fully read a manga before well apart from Crossbone Gundam, I did read a lot of 2000AD when I was young though...

Wow, you're not reading any manga There's way more stuff in manga format than on video. I couldn't even begin to list what I'd recommend... or could I

Definitely Iwaaki Hitoshi's Kiseiju ("Parasyte"): It's kind of a mix between The X-Files and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. The mystery keeps the story moving along well. The designs are rough and plain, but, much like Blue Gender, that's part of the charm of the manga - the warped violence in this story fits the designs. It treads the grey area between popular and underground




I also dig Ikegami Ryoichi's manga. His style is kind of realistic and stands out to me. You can't go wrong with popular stuff such as Crying Freeman and Mai, The Psychic Girl down to his less popular works such as Strain.





On cartooning alone, I like U-Jin. The stories aren't quite all there or they're harem, fan-serviced to death, but the way he draws these is what saves them from being total rubbish. U-Jin has a colourful, "cheerful"/"playfully lewd," rounded-shapes style you cannot miss.

[Raytrace]

imma check Crying Freeman, I think I remmeber a film of that - isnt there on with Marc Decascos in it?

|Parasyte sounds cools too.

To be honest though in general I just kinda prefer the colour and music of anime usually, plus I find it hard to understand the 'noise' drawings as they're not translated - i.e. things like 'screeeechhh' 'grrrrrrrr' etc.

[trap15]

Just don't watch the Canadian live-action; what a stinker that was

[Raytrace]

Just don't watch the Canadian live-action; what a stinker that was

yeah thats what I was speakig of i think - Mark DeCascos is a great martial artist in fairness, but when I saw it in 'IMPACT' magazine back then it did look terrible...

are there UC Gundam manga that tell different stories to the animes?

[Raytrace]

just watched first episode of The Cockpit - really liked it, the mechanical animation was incredible, and no corners seem to have been cut (i.e. the aircraft constantly change 'angle' etc. rather than one cel sliding across screen).

Is it drawn by same people as Harlock?

finished all 3 episodes now - man I really liked all 3 - in fact episode 1 was probably my least favourite and I liked that a lot already...

also reading Gunsmith Cats manga, very much like so far...