Ourchair's Awesome Anime Thread

ourchair

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
13,105
Location
Philippines
[IMGL]http://www.sunshinebreakdown.net/ourchair/temp/07-planetes01.jpg[/IMGL]I've decided to start a thread to promote the awesomeness of anime, especially since there is so much ambivalence toward the stuff on the board in general. It's sad really, because now that Marvel and DC are busy trying to outgeekgasm each other to death, it's my only reliable source of pop culture 'awesometity' these days.

So here's some of the awesome anime that ourchair is watching and why you should watch them too!

PLANETES

Planetes is basically about the working class that makes sure that the pioneer fantasy of outerspace travel remains logistically safe and practical. It focuses on the Space Debris Section, a section that collects loose hull plating, stray bolts and other miscellaneous interstellar garbage littering the spaceways, and the working class anxieties of the people that staff it.

Although no one would deny the tremendous importance of their job --- its stated that the debris floats at such high speeds as to be a hazard to all spacecraft --- the people who work at the Space Debris section are generally looked down on as 'The Half Section', named for the fact that they receive half the funding, half the manpower and half (maybe less) the respect of other divisions.

The characters who act as the viewer's anchors are Hachirota Hoshino, a jaded veteran of interstellar cleanup, and Ai Tanabe, a newcomer who believes that love and hope can solve all problems. Both are field crew from the cleanup ship Toy Box They're polar opposites who serve to keep the themes groundedly present at all times.

[IMGL]http://www.sunshinebreakdown.net/ourchair/temp/07-planetes02.jpg[/IMGL]Hoshino, who is nicknamed 'Hachimaki' or 'Headband Guy', used to have a boyishly optimistic attitude towards outerspace life, having long dreamt of owning a spaceship of his own. But with his meager salary and lack of connections, such a dream seems impossible to accomplish.

As such, he's grown tremendously cynical about his lot in life. For him, space is not a source of aspiration and hope but disappointment and desperation.

Tanabe on the other hand serves to remind the viewers of some of the more optimistic views of space that speculative fiction has handed to us since before the Soviets and Americans started launching small animals into the void. She firmly believes that humanity can hold onto the power of hope that space travel is meant to afford us.

But she's no sentimental wimp, as she shows on more than one occasion that she can stand up for the dignity of her thankless job by knocking some sense into those who would burden her existence with cynicism.

The other members of the Toy Box include Captain Fee Carmichael, a take-charge no-nonsense chain-smoker who pilots the Toy Box and generally acts as leader and fields communications from their superiors.

Yuri Mikhairokoh is a taciturn fellow who also works in the field and is the most level-headed of the bunch. He lost his wife to a shuttle accident involving space debris and is driven to collect debris in the hopes of one day finding his wife's keepsake, a small compass just as the other characters try to find their dreams and self-worth in the drudgery of their work.

The technical strength of this anime lies primarily in the amount of technological detail and realism invested into its universe. Its premise of space trash as a future hazard is grounded in the concerns that many present day futurists have expressed.

A high frame rate is used to communicate the weightlessness of scenes without gravity both indoors and outdoors, and the lack of sound in space is also a nice touch. Plus, much of the outerspace hardware is rendered with great technical detail, particularly the environmental suits used by the cleanup crews.

The theme song is totally ace as well. I'm one of those people who recognize that Star Trek: Enterprise's "Where My Heart Will Take Me" was essentially a bad song, but at the same time I've always loved it without irony because it was very appropriate for the explorer/voyager spirit that the series and the franchise as a whole embodied (or was supposed to embody). Planetes' "Dive in the Sky" strives for the same optimistic spacefaring sentiment.

Anyway, it's an excellent series that I highly recommend for fans of comics like Warren Ellis' Ministry of Space and Orbiter or even for those of you who have a soft spot for things like Star Trek (and I do) and Battlestar Galactica.

If you're still not sold, check the Wiki entry too.
 
I fell outta anime for a while. I started getting back into lately but I'm not impressed with a lot of movies or series.

Case in point----when I started getting back into it I tried checking out "Spriggan" and "Blood". I was not impressed.

I hope to find something in this thread beyond the immature, cliched, yet entertaining Naruto recommendations.


I think the biggest hinderance that I have is that there is no place for me to rent anime DVDs anymore. I really don't wanna spend $15-30 on a DVD and then be disappointed.
 
I fell outta anime for a while. I started getting back into lately but I'm not impressed with a lot of movies or series.

Case in point----when I started getting back into it I tried checking out "Spriggan" and "Blood". I was not impressed.

I hope to find something in this thread beyond the immature, cliched, yet entertaining Naruto recommendations.
I don't mean to sound like a total elitist, but that's because the people who tend to recommend Spriggan and Blood (regardless of how good or bad they may actually be) are the kind of people who enjoy anime as 'cult' material that emphasized over-the-top violence, sex and mature themes. (I'm not kidding, in my world, there's such a thing as 'over the top maturity', and I don't mean hentai).

That or their enjoyment of anime is cornered within anime itself and not just within the larger scope of pop culture enjoyment. They're too obsessed about the fandom, or the big studios or which manga what anime is based on or does it feature ninjas/swordsmen/exorcists and which conventions does it play with? Their enjoyment of anime is largely predicated on being 'in' anime.

It's not unlike comics culture as well, where the enjoyment is how a certain comic fits in the scope of comics literature history and which archetypes it plays with or how self-aware is it in relation to panel layout, the concept of 'continuity', or even the fact that many covers are sometimes intentional references to 'classic' comic book covers. The enjoyment of such comics depends on how conversant you are with comics culture as a whole.

Which is why it's hard to talk about comics to people who aren't converts, and similarly, it's hard to talk anime to people who aren't anime converts either, especially because anime is currently in a stage in Western culture where it's just invading and people have all sorts of weird responses to that.

But anyway, yeah. Rambling is me.

Victor Von Doom said:
I think the biggest hinderance that I have is that there is no place for me to rent anime DVDs anymore. I really don't wanna spend $15-30 on a DVD and then be disappointed.
Two words: Bit Torrent. My girlfriend likes the anime a lot and Bit Torrents like a maniac.
 
i didnt realise it was pop culture. ive been watching it for about 2 years now and have never met anyone from the west who has seen it.

still you shouldnt deprive yourself of it. keroro is too funny when you get a well translated version of it.
 
Fullmetal Alchemist
The best anime in the history of ever. Very tragic filled with great characters. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll cheer. I know I did.

Trigun
A western sci-fi anime. This thing that really makes this show is how loveable the lead man Vash is. One minute he is a complete doofus and the next such a hardcore badass. It's scary. This was my the good guy don't kill long before I read any comics. And it works better in the western mindset of kill or be killed.

Big O
Giant robots fighting each other is probaly the most clique thing in anime. But this is the only entertaining i ever seen. A lot of Batman parodies in here. But the show has fantastic action and a great mystery that I admit is hard to understand but it cool none the less. The music is really good and great characters.

Hellsing Ultimate
The greatest vampire story to ever be made. Now this is the typical gore and blood. But that's why it's great. So over the top and entertaining. Aucaid is one of my favorite characters.


I've also started watching Ergo Proxy, Afro Samuari, and Karas.

Ergo Proxy is slow starting but as a hot goth chick as the lead. That's all I need.

Afro Samuari with Samuel mother****in Jackson. It's entertaining. But clique samauri.

And I only seen one dvd of Karas. But it's some of the best animation I've seen. I really looking forward to another. It's like a Iron Man hunting demons while on speed and shooms show.
 
Hellsing Ultimate
The greatest vampire story to ever be made. Now this is the typical gore and blood. But that's why it's great. So over the top and entertaining. Aucaid is one of my favorite characters.

Is that the new one? I watched the old and dug it, but I was doing alot of World of Darkness RPing then and the whole things just snapped right into that.
 
Fullmetal Alchemist
The best anime in the history of ever. Very tragic filled with great characters. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll cheer. I know I did.

Trigun
A western sci-fi anime. This thing that really makes this show is how loveable the lead man Vash is. One minute he is a complete doofus and the next such a hardcore badass. It's scary. This was my the good guy don't kill long before I read any comics. And it works better in the western mindset of kill or be killed.

Big O
Giant robots fighting each other is probaly the most clique thing in anime. But this is the only entertaining i ever seen. A lot of Batman parodies in here. But the show has fantastic action and a great mystery that I admit is hard to understand but it cool none the less. The music is really good and great characters.

Full Metal Alchemist- Just complete awesomeness

Trigun- I enjoy this series as well, had some really good voice acting scenes and I love it when these show dedicate themselves to a moral question. Good stuff.

Big O- Yep giant robots are very cliche, but its really the only cliche in there. It has a very interesting story but the last episode leaves you looking at the screen like the dog at the record player. Because they needed a third season to end it and Adult Swim hasn't decided to fund it, but instead they fund the Squidbillies. This is what I hate about animes they usually have a great story with an actual ending its writing towards and you get so interested to see how it all ends. That's why I tried to never watch Inuyasha, I knew it'll go on forever. I really want to know how Big O ends and the big mystery!
Two words: Bit Torrent. My girlfriend likes the anime a lot and Bit Torrents like a maniac.
Definitely, once I got that I immediately downloaded all episode of Fullmetal Alchemist= awesome

I also enjoy Ruroni Kenshin- The samurai with a bloody past makes an oath to never kill again. Anyone see the Samurai X dvd? I saw it on youtube, even though the subtitles were hard to read I really liked the prequel part but the end story was pretty depressing
 
Last edited:
Wha??? Cowboy Bebop far surpasses FMA. It is good though and I enjoy it. Alphonse is my favorite. but you can't beat Spike and Faye. Bebop is the best. Don't make me go l33t on your candy ***.
 
Wha??? Cowboy Bebop far surpasses FMA. It is good though and I enjoy it. Alphonse is my favorite. but you can't beat Spike and Faye. Bebop is the best. Don't make me go l33t on your candy ***.

You said it, Space Cowboy.
 
I've only seen an episode or 2 of Cowboy Bebop, and some of a movie. Never really interested me
 
I've only seen an episode or 2 of Cowboy Bebop, and some of a movie. Never really interested me

I really enjoyed mushroom samba and pierre lefot. The movie was good but my ex at the time made me watch it so much i got sick of it. Right now im into FMA Naruto and Bleach. i wouldn't go out of my way to see this but, when i see it i enjoy it. Rukia is a cutie.
 
I really enjoyed mushroom samba and pierre lefot. The movie was good but my ex at the time made me watch it so much i got sick of it. Right now im into FMA Naruto and Bleach. i wouldn't go out of my way to see this but, when i see it i enjoy it. Rukia is a cutie.

Naruto is annoying. Full Metal Alchemist is pretty cool. I've never seen or read bleach.

But in general, I really don't like Anime. So I should probably stop posting on this thread.
 
Some of my favorites

Cowboy Bebop - Already said, but who cares. It's that good.

The 08th MS Team - by far and away the best Gundam series ever, and one of my favorite series. It's like a Vietnam movie that just happens to use giant robots.

Noir - Title speaks all for itself, it's an extended film noir, but an interesting one considering the primary cast is all female. Very good and well done series.

I got others, post 'em later.
 
I really enjoyed mushroom samba and pierre lefot. The movie was good but my ex at the time made me watch it so much i got sick of it. Right now im into FMA Naruto and Bleach. i wouldn't go out of my way to see this but, when i see it i enjoy it. Rukia is a cutie.

Toys in the Attic was the best one, hands down.

You should check it out Random, its really very good.
 
Wha??? Cowboy Bebop far surpasses FMA. It is good though and I enjoy it. Alphonse is my favorite. but you can't beat Spike and Faye. Bebop is the best. Don't make me go l33t on your candy ***.

CB is probably my favorite anime ever. The jazz theme, the characters. . .awesome. Even if it is kind of mainstream now. Oh, and its one of the very few dubs that's just as good (Or maybe even better) than the original language version.

Trigun. . .was good until the end. The whole Knives storyline was crap and ruined the series for me.

Even though its really cliched and oversaturated. . .I've always enjoyed One Piece. It's very light and the pirate theme amuses me.

Never got into FMA. Tried, but it wasn't to my liking.

There's a bunch of other stuff, mostly mainstream, that was decent to crappy, but its not worth discussing really.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top