Manga (maybe Anime): Random Babbling

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Reminds me of Red Garden, which I never quite got around to watching seriously. Only the girls were American (fancy that, an anime NOT taking place in Japan) and they all had a nightmare.

 

There's a few of these. Noir takes place almost entirely in France (with a few trips to other countries, though I don't remember Japan being one). Both Gundam Seed series take place all over the world (and space) and Japan is barely even mentioned in the series. Then there's Cowboy Bebop, where you barely get a glimpse of the Earth to begin with, and Trigun, Slayers, Magnetic Rose and Last Exile, which take place in other galaxies entirely. Anime where Tokyo isn't the center of the universe are about as common as Hollywood movies were New York isn't the center of the universe, but both do exist

 

I just finished watching Elven Lide...
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I am not a fan of either Manga or Anime. Many people talk about the stories and it sounds like they are actually good pieces of literature. My problem is that I cannot get past the artwork. It does nothing for me and in fact weirds me out. I'm no art critic but every time I see a manga book (I used to stock them at the bookstore I worked at) or a cartoon here in Canada that has Japanese or Korean conventions I just can't get excited about getting involved, no matter how good the story might be.

Any hints? I want to expand my mind and be more broad in my tastes. Anyone else ever heard of anyone else with this perspective?

 

If you don't like anime/manga then you don't like it. Some people love it others don't get what all the fuss is about. I cant convince you to watch/read it but I do recommend some of the more popular series and movies (This is anime as I don't have much to do with manga):
Neon Genasis
Hows Moving Castle (and all other Studio Ghibli movies)
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Bleach (do NOT watch the dubed version, watch subtitled)
Death Note
Soul Eater (that one is new and you'll have to hunt around for fan subs on the net as you wont find DVD's)
Code Geass (same situation as soul eater however it's a bit older)

But this is just my selection of popular anime, you make like them you may not.

 

Also, if you don't like the typical anime style Jin-Roh may be worth watching.

Anyway, I just watched the first episode of the Blade of the Immortal TV series. I hope it will live up to the manga, which is one of my favourite series, but I'm not sure... It seems that at least some of the mature content of the original (and I'm not talking blood or breasts here) may be preserved, but I have a special feeling for that series, and I'm not sure the producers' interpretation will work for me.

I mean, just read chapter one at http://groups.msn.com/ATU-BOTI/volume1.msnw. Manji is a world-class badass in more ways than one, and a very nuanced character (like quite a few others in that series, mind you). Not to mention his language - in the manga, which was translated with a lot of cooperation from the author, the guy's got a mouth a foot wide and a tongue as nasty as his blades. If that gets lost in an attempt to appeal to 15-year olds and their parents, it'd be a serious letdown.

@Ziad: Noir does have at least one mission in Japan. You are right though, it takes place in quite a few countries, and the duo is based in France. Thanks for referencing one of my favorite series, though . Now that I think about it, Monster takes place pretty much only in Germany, although the protagonist is Japanese.

 

There's a new Slayers series being broadcast in Japan!

I watched the opening credits and it seems really cool. Several items got me instantly curious. There's a brief scene that's almost identical to one from Next, when Lina is in contact with the Claire Bible. There's Xellos in his true form (a black cone), which is barely shown in the earlier series. There's the Sword of Light at the very end of the clip, floating by itself. The icing on the cake: the final shot of the characters, which usually has the main characters and the villain shown together, has Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis... and the symbol of the Lord of Nightmares floating in the background.

And, of course, it wouldn't be Slayers without a so-not-subtle joke about Lina's chest

 

Mother of Kopyrka on a jet-powered pogo stick! What is it with there being so many of my favourites getting a second life ? It's like they will do a good RoLW series now or continue Berserk!

 

I've gotten to like a number of animes, through a friend who showed them to me. It's an aquired taste, but once a series grabs you, you want to see the rest of it.

The best anime movie I've seen is Mononoke Hime, or Princess Mononoke. Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are good too.

I'm following the continuous anime series Naruto and Bleach.

But the best series are finite ones. Cowboy Bebop is by far the best, with great atmosphere and music, and an unbelievable ending that moved me to tears (never thought a cartoon could do that.)
Berserk is another good one, and I watched Berserk: the abridged series on youtube for a good laugh

 

Had a marathon read of a series called 3x3 eyes, although I don't have the entire series. I recommend it, it is exotic and has quite alot of asian (particularly hindu) mythology mixed in it. There's also 2 anime OVAs for the series that are pretty old (1992 and 1995) that cover the first five or so books from the series. Its quite violent though, so be warned. The book's protagonist is an immortal and the author loves throwing him in the blender. Literally.

 

Hmm, I've heard it, but haven't actually sought it out. I have pretty much given up on anime, to be honest. I follow Seirei no Moribito every now and then, and might actually give Madlax a try one of these days, but I don't know when that will be.

 

I've watched the 3x3 Eyes OVAs and they were... odd. I thought they were interesting but not enough to get me to hunt the books.

 

True though, its a rather odd series with its heavy influence of asian mythology and mysticism. What really got me hooked is how much the story is about love and friendship.

But its more of a retread for me. I haven't found any new anime that I liked enough to invest my time recently either.

 

I would also recommend the Ghost Hunt anime. The manga is good but the anime does improves on it a lot. One of the creepiest shows I've ever seen (once you get past the introduction episode). Pretty good characters too.

I like anime that don't have too much fan service or emphasis on "cute" stuff or extreme disfigurations.

 

No anime I've watched have ever trumped Boogiepop Phantom in terms or creepiness (Lain Serial Experiments came close though). The whole series is in a dark depressing sepia tone with blacked out borders with excellent sound design and absolutely no fan service. One heck of a head trip too.

 

I was just going to suggest Lain after reading SI's post! For sheer creepiness with zero graphic violence nothing beats it. No fan service and certainly no cute to be found there either. It was a low-budget production, and it shows, but that doesn't detract from the story, in fact the minimalism makes it even creepier. A brilliant series.

 

I'm not sure if it was a low budget production though. Sure, its minimalist, but I think it was a calculated move.

 

Ghost Hunt is a ghost-based anime so when I was searching for similar anime I guess I'd been looking in the wrong kind of genre. Most of the other "ghost" stuff was childish/romantic/vampire-esque/too-far-gone-into-the-fantasy-setting stuff.
I'll be sure to check out Boogiepop and Lain, so far the trailers look promising. I found a nice-looking anime called Petshop of Horrors in related articles too.

Anyway I think the nice thing about Ghost Hunt was how the characters remained systematic and level-headed (none of that Saw/Halloween "no reason...let's split up, forget that there's a killer on the loose" or "I deny this obvious evidence"-> ends up dead a few minutes later, stuff) which strengthens their credibility.

There is less emphasis on blood and gore (leaving room for imagination, which can be terrifying for me) and the show tries to create contrast between reality and the supernatural, comedy and horror, laid-back atmospheres and serious ones to emphasize significant points and events. The end part was a bit disappointing though... it was nice enough but could've been better.

Anyway at least now I'll have other shows to compare it with once I finish watching the other stuff.

 

Be warned that Lain is not really horror though. You can try Vampire Princess Miyu as well (there is a TV series and an OVA, I have not watched the TV series). It is horror of the mystical kind with supernatural creatures steeped in Asian folklore.

 

Unfortunately the majority of horror anime are either gorefests or tentacle monster hentai. The ones I have seen and like tend to be closer to thriller or suspense with a touch of horror, not full-blown horror. If you don't mind the horror not being the dominant factor there are some very good ones out there: Virus (series), Perfect Blue and Magnetic Rose (movies). There's also the "classic" Vampire Hunter D (the original one), which is closer to traditional vampire horror; it's alright but I didn't think it was great. Virus is probably the closest thing to a horror anime series that I really like, it has a pretty complex story where everything fits very nicely together; its only weak point is the Power Rangers-style suits (something of an old anime trope), but it's dealt with much better than other silly power suit anime.