The Anime Thread

[Josquius]

Dog of Flanders used to be on TV just at that time when I should be leaving for work so I only caught snippets. It had such a happy and wonderful opening credits.... But once I watched longer and it opened onto a dog suffering in the snow

[Monoriu]

Cowboy Bebop.  Humanity has colonized the solar system in the future.  An ex-policeman and an ex-criminal team up on the spaceship Bebop to make a living as bounty hunters.  A female fatale, a child genius computer hacker and a data dog join them along the way.  They face their pasts, dangerous criminals and interesting people along their journey.  Widely regarded as one of the best anime shows ever made.  I agree wholeheartedly.

It is almost as if it is made for a western audience.  The show is essentially cowboys in space.  It avoids most otaku anime tropes, like a highschool setting, teenage protagonists, harems, incest subtext, transforming mechas, cute girls with huge eyes etc.  Everything in it feels western, especially the music which is jazz style.

The show is largely episodic, with the main plot only covering 5 episodes out of 26.  Yet most of the single episodes leave an impression.  The reason can be a unique and memorable villain, hilarious moments, a signature scene of the protagonist remembering his past while falling down from a church window, homages to famous western/Hong Kong action movies, famous last words, crazy badass antics by the leads etc.  Many minor, enemy-of-the-week type characters stay in fans' memory long after some main heroes of lesser shows have been forgotten.  There is almost always something that makes each episode unique. 

The production values are excellent.  For a 90s show, the visuals have stood the test of time and still compares very well with the average show in the 2010s.  It is impossible to discuss this show without mentioning the music.  This is easily the magnum opus of Yoko Kanno, one of the most respected anime/video game music composers in Japan.  I think the soundtracks of this 26-episode and single movie series easily fill at least 4 CDs, and they are still being sold today. 

Am I the only one here who hasn't seen it until now?

[Eddie Teach]

I haven't seen it. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Cowboy Bebop.  Humanity has colonized the solar system in the future.  An ex-policeman and an ex-criminal team up on the spaceship Bebop to make a living as bounty hunters.  A female fatale, a child genius computer hacker and a data dog join them along the way.  They face their pasts, dangerous criminals and interesting people along their journey.  Widely regarded as one of the best anime shows ever made.  I agree wholeheartedly.

.Am I the only one here who hasn't seen it until now?

Among those who claim to like anime, or even be fans, yes 

[Agelastus]

Cowboy Bebop.  Humanity has colonized the solar system in the future.  An ex-policeman and an ex-criminal team up on the spaceship Bebop to make a living as bounty hunters.  A female fatale, a child genius computer hacker and a data dog join them along the way.  They face their pasts, dangerous criminals and interesting people along their journey.  Widely regarded as one of the best anime shows ever made.  I agree wholeheartedly.

.Am I the only one here who hasn't seen it until now?

Among those who claim to like anime, or even be fans, yes 

I haven't seen it; I've never been interested in doing so, despite the rave reviews. What I know of the concept, descriptions and characters doesn't grab me enough to make me want to watch it.

[Monoriu]

Cowboy Bebop.  Humanity has colonized the solar system in the future.  An ex-policeman and an ex-criminal team up on the spaceship Bebop to make a living as bounty hunters.  A female fatale, a child genius computer hacker and a data dog join them along the way.  They face their pasts, dangerous criminals and interesting people along their journey.  Widely regarded as one of the best anime shows ever made.  I agree wholeheartedly.

.Am I the only one here who hasn't seen it until now?

Among those who claim to like anime, or even be fans, yes 

I haven't seen it; I've never been interested in doing so, despite the rave reviews. What I know of the concept, descriptions and characters doesn't grab me enough to make me want to watch it.

Very often a premise of a show may not interest me, but I'll watch it anyway if the reviews are good.  Exceptions are sports anime, car racing, boys' love, and horror shows.  I am still wondering if I should watch Mushishi.  I hate bugs 

[Josquius]

Yes.
Many anime that I ended up quite liking had synopsis that just sounded terrible.

[Monoriu]

Yes.
Many anime that I ended up quite liking had synopsis that just sounded terrible.

That would be Suzumiya Haruhi for me.  Despite the rave reviews, nobody could say what the show was all about.  I watched it and soon found out why.  It is impossible to talk about the show without mentioning major spoilers. 

[Monoriu]

Strike Witches Operation Victory Arrow. The latest installment in this long-running military magical girl show.  The story takes place in an alternate Earth where WWII did not happen.  Instead, aliens invaded Earth in the late 1930s, and the various Earth governments joined forces to fight back.  So Tigers and Shermans fought on the same side.  While conventional military worked, the most efficient method to fight the aliens was teenage magical girls who could deploy magical shields, and fly using "fighter legs".  The magical girls are essentially moe anthropomorphisms of WWII fighter aircraft. 

It is also a somewhat controversial show with its huge amounts of fanservice and mild nudity.  Young females in this world don't wear skirts and pants, and they just walk around in their underwear.  While this is panty shot central, all the nudity takes place in female-only settings. 

Chronologically, the three extended episodes take place after the end of TV season 2, and before the movie.  Each episode takes the viewpoint of some of the side heroines, and showed what happened to them after their original unit was disbanded.  This is consistent with the focus on the different heroines in the rest of the show.  The quality does not disappoint, though the show doesn't do anything ground-breaking.  It could be the last chance to see the familiar characters in action, as the production company has hinted that any further shows in the franchise will feature a new cast. 

[Eddie Teach]

Strike Witches Operation Victory Arrow. The latest installment in this long-running military magical girl show.  The story takes place in an alternate Earth where WWII did not happen.  Instead, aliens invaded Earth in the late 1930s, and the various Earth governments joined forces to fight back.  So Tigers and Shermans fought on the same side.  While conventional military worked, the most efficient method to fight the aliens was teenage magical girls who could deploy magical shields, and fly using "fighter legs".  The magical girls are essentially moe anthropomorphisms of WWII fighter aircraft. 

Why didn't Turtledove think of that? 

[Monoriu]

Expelled from Paradise.  This is a standalone movie.  The story takes place in the distant future.  An unspecified apocalyptic event took place a long time ago that left Earth a barren wasteland.  The bulk of humans digitised their minds and now live on servers on space stations, enjoying a paradise-like existence in virtual worlds.  One day, somebody hacked into the computer of the spacenoids.  The government sent elite security agents to go after the hacker, who is believed to reside on Earth.  The protagonist, Angela, takes the appearance of a cute female and works with a guide from Earth, Dingo, to hunt down the hacker. 

The main selling point of the movie is the staff: it is directed by Seiji Mizushima of Gundam 00 fame, and the script is done by Gen Urobuchi of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero.  Urobuchi is known for his tendency to kill everybody in sight, but that has been toned down in recent years.  The script is good, and there is even a somewhat plausible explanation of why the protagonist uses the body of a young female.  There are spectacular mech fights and that's one of the reasons why Mizushima was hired for the job, though the eye candy is by no means the main focus. 

The real focus of the show is that it explores questions of humanity and society.  What price are we willing to pay for paradise.  The conflict is best illustrated by the interplay between Angela and Dingo.  On one side there is an elite officer who is mostly interested in advancing her career.  On the other hand is a laid back, cynical earthling.  This isn't Spirited Away, but is well worth a watch. 

[viper37]

I heard of something, Attack of the Titans, I think?  Is it as good as they say?

[Monoriu]

I heard of something, Attack of the Titans, I think?  Is it as good as they say?

Yes, well within my top 5 favourite anime.  This is what I picked to start this thread.

[Monoriu]

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Far Beyond the Voyage.  This is two 50-minute long OVAs and a direct sequel to the original story.  Redo is a child soldier of the Galactic Alliance which is engaged in a forever war with squid aliens.  During a failed assault, Redo escaped through a wormhole and ended up on an unfamiliar planet, Earth.  The Alliance people left Earth many centuries ago, and the planet is now covered mostly by water.  The Earthlings live on floating cities formed by interlocking ships.  Gargantia is the name of the floating city that took Redo in.  After the end of the original story, Redo stayed on Gargantia.  A new mysterious girl appears and joins Redo's group as part of the mail delivery team. 

The original Gargantia story consists of 13 episodes, plus 2 OVA side story episodes.  Far Beyond the Voyage adds the equivalent of 4 further episodes to the story.  I have always admired how Gargantia handles its additional content.  Whereas the majority of bonus episodes tend to be fanservice, Gardantia's OVAs add to the story.  Far Beyond the Voyage is well-animated, does well in answering the "how are the old characters doing" questions, and adds an engaging story to the mix. 

[Savonarola]

Strike Witches Operation Victory Arrow. The latest installment in this long-running military magical girl show.  The story takes place in an alternate Earth where WWII did not happen.  Instead, aliens invaded Earth in the late 1930s, and the various Earth governments joined forces to fight back.  So Tigers and Shermans fought on the same side.  While conventional military worked, the most efficient method to fight the aliens was teenage magical girls who could deploy magical shields, and fly using "fighter legs".  The magical girls are essentially moe anthropomorphisms of WWII fighter aircraft. 

If anyone but you had written that I would have sworn they had made it up on the spot.