My (late) introduction to anime series...

[Onderhond]

Oh, it's not just Japanese animation. Watch some live action dramas (surely the rural ones) and it's everywhere too. It's just like the "Japanese people riding on a bike" scene. Trademark!

[burneyfan]

I've spent an August in Japan in the late '80s as a teen, and that was exactly like what the suburbs and country sounded like -- cicadas everywhere, so loud. My friend's father used to jump and clap his cupped palm to the trees along the sidewalk near their house to grab cicadas to show me.

[mjf314]

We should do a favorite anime list-poll on this forum that includes both films/series/OVA/limited-series.

I would be interested in a poll, but I think I would find it hard to rank movies and series in the same list, so maybe 2 polls would be better.

[Onderhond]

I was thinking a while ago how an anime poll would be interesting, but somehow I expect we'll end up with a Top 20 full of Ghibli movies and maybe two Satoshi Kon films + GitS/Akira/Angel's Egg, so it would probably just end up being more frustrating than fun for me. Don't think there's enough fans here to come up with an interesting list.

[OldAle1]

I was thinking a while ago how an anime poll would be interesting, but somehow I expect we'll end up with a Top 20 full of Ghibli movies and maybe two Satoshi Kon films + GitS/Akira/Angel's Egg, so it would probably just end up being more frustrating than fun for me. Don't think there's enough fans here to come up with an interesting list.

That's true for most polls to one extent or another really. The south Asian list being full of Satyajit Ray is just the most recent example. Not that the majority of folks don't agree that S. Ray is a great filmmaker in India, or Ozu is a great Japanese director, etc, etc, but a list compiled by voters who were *really* knowledgeable could be a lot more interesting. Maybe the top 10-20-30 would still be fairly similar to what we usually get in our non-experts polls, but I'll be the lower choices would show a few more odd and off-the-wall examples.

[mjf314]

but a list compiled by voters who were *really* knowledgeable could be a lot more interesting.

Are there any good Indian movie forums? If such a forum exists, maybe we can go there to run an Indian movie poll. I would be interested in seeing the results.

[OldAle1]

but a list compiled by voters who were *really* knowledgeable could be a lot more interesting.

Are there any good Indian movie forums? If such a forum exists, maybe we can go there to run an Indian movie poll. I would be interested in seeing the results.

I'm sure there are but I'd have no idea where to look. Everything exists somewhere on the internet, right?

[Onderhond]

That's true for most polls to one extent or another really. The south Asian list being full of Satyajit Ray is just the most recent example. Not that the majority of folks don't agree that S. Ray is a great filmmaker in India, or Ozu is a great Japanese director, etc, etc, but a list compiled by voters who were *really* knowledgeable could be a lot more interesting.

Well of course, the difference being that I'm not knowledgeable about Indian cinema and so I didn't really care, but I would consider myself knowledgeable on anime features, so that would be really frustrating

[OldAle1]

That's true for most polls to one extent or another really. The south Asian list being full of Satyajit Ray is just the most recent example. Not that the majority of folks don't agree that S. Ray is a great filmmaker in India, or Ozu is a great Japanese director, etc, etc, but a list compiled by voters who were *really* knowledgeable could be a lot more interesting.

Well of course, the difference being that I'm not knowledgeable about Indian cinema and so I didn't really care, but I would consider myself knowledgeable on anime features, so that would be really frustrating

I wouldn't call myself knowledgeable about either. I guess it's hard to define what makes one an expert or even an amateur expert. The one area I know better than most probably is Iranian cinema, and there I find myself frustrated that my likely favorite director, Bahram Beizai, remains just barely known, and only one of his films (albeit maybe his best) has any kind of real recognition. It's a good example of this phenomenon though - people who just watch the occasional Iranian film, or those that are on lots of lists, know only 3-4 directors max and know almost nothing of pre-1980 cinema, which is just as rich as the last 40 years. So I think it's probably true with almost any niche, large or small - the more you get to know, the more favorites you're likely to have that are obscure or totally unknown to the general (cineaste) public, and the more frustrated you may be at polls that keep favoring the same few films over and over - even if you like those films yourself.

[mjf314]

When we do the anime movies poll, maybe we can create two versions of the list, a regular version and an "experts-only" version.

The experts-only version would only include people who have watched at least X anime movies (X can be decided later), and it would have a higher half-life.

[Onderhond]

I guess it's hard to define what makes one an expert or even an amateur expert.

There might be a grey area that is a bit hard to define, but I've been passionate about anime for the past 25 years and 10% of my Top 600 is Japanese animation, with a higher percentage (25%) when looking at my 5* ratings. I don't really have a problem calling myself knowledgeable, though I do realize this is the internet and there are always people who know more/have seen more/are bigger fans.

[OldAle1]

I guess it's hard to define what makes one an expert or even an amateur expert.

There might be a grey area that is a bit hard to define, but I've been passionate about anime for the past 25 years and 10% of my Top 600 is Japanese animation, with a higher percentage (25%) when looking at my 5* ratings. I don't really have a problem calling myself knowledgeable, though I do realize this is the internet and there are always people who know more/have seen more/are bigger fans.

I'm guessing that within this forum you're among the top 5-10, at least from the people I see actually posting about anime from time to time. That's expert enough I'd think, for any poll done on this forum. I'm certainly way outside the mark with less than 50 total anime features/OVAs seen and no series seen complete, and my top 10 or 20 of that would be pretty much the usual, expected Ghibli plus a couple from Shinkai, Hosoda, Oshii, etc. I'd actually be more interested in the results of an anime poll than most other polls here at this point, simply because it's an area I'm still a relative novice in, but where there's a whole lot that interests me and I don't necessarily know what direction(s) to proceed in apart from watching stuff I already have (which isn't too much).

[Onderhond]

Well, if you want a Cipp-like take on anime, I can easily link my own top 60. Just checked my stats and I'm close to 300 features/OAVs (but mostly features), not counting a bunch of shorts (never tracked them) and TV series (haven't seen many lately, but watched a lot in the 90s/early 00s).

If you're talking off the radar stuff that I think would perform nicely on this forum, a film like Spring & Chaos (Shoji Kawamori) springs to mind, since it's somewhat experimental and has a literary/biographical background. I know Yuasa is a forum favorite, rightfully so, but that's already a bit more "vintage" anime. I think films like Jin-Ro and Wings of Honneamise might do well too, since they're a bit more serious and quite moody. The Case of Hana & Alice by Shunji Iwai is also pretty interesting, Iwai really managed to capture his typical live-action style in animation, which isn't that easy to do.

The biggest revelation in the past few years for me is the Tatsuya Oishi/Akiyuki Shinbo combo. They make core/weird anime stuff (including monsters and pervy stuff), but in a very conscious way. There's something about the pacing and editing in their work though that I've never seen anywhere else, anime or live action. Don't think they'd do very well here though.

And then there's basically just anything Studio 4°C makes. They're not that well-known in general, but they are the ones that are constantly pushing the boundaries of the genre.

[Armoreska]

I've spent an August in Japan in the late '80s as a teen, and that was exactly like what the suburbs and country sounded like -- cicadas everywhere, so loud. My friend's father used to jump and clap his cupped palm to the trees along the sidewalk near their house to grab cicadas to show me.

What about the bird sound that's usually heard in serene moments like sunsets? Which bird is that? I've been thinking about it because I can hear a similar birdsong in the morning. Google wont help.

[mjf314]

I just made a list of my favorite anime feature films: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls099802210/

I didn't make a list of my favorite anime shorts, but I'll list them here:
Kigeki
Fantascope 'Tylostoma'
Panda kopanda
Dimension Bomb (one of the segments of Genius Party Beyond)
Tales of a Street Corner

I've seen 263 anime feature films in total (including single-episode OVAs), and probably between 200 and 300 anime shorts.

[Knaldskalle]

I saw Death Note a few months ago, but felt it started going downhill rather quickly after the first five or six episodes. Still watched it until the end, but it was a bit of a chore, as I heavily disliked all the high-octane attention-grabbing maneuvers it kept going for (which seems to be a constant in most anime, and the main reason I always kept it at bay).

I'm two episodes from finishing Death Note, and I completely agree with your take -- it started off with real promise, and then it went seriously downhill and got ridiculous.

Yep. I thought it started out as some of the best anime I'd ever seen (and I still think the basic concept is really cool), but then it just goes straight to hell. I finished it, but man it was a chore. I guess the creators found themselves unable to solve the basic premise so they just ended going in circles.

[PGonzalez]

with the cicadas sound effect repeating for the entire duration

One of the sounds of Japanese cinema/TV. If you want more, there are 10-hour YouTube vids with just that.

Ah, now that you mention it I seem to remember hearing it in some other Japanese films, but the sound of cicadas is frequent in Southern Europe so I guess it never particularly struck me until now as it is a very familiar sound. Thanks a bunch for the video though, it's extremely relaxing

[outdoorcats]

Finished (or caught up on) three more series:

1. The Promised Neverland (Season 1) - Repeating my thoughts from before, a good mainstream show with nice production values. If you tried to reduce it to a quick soundbite, it's like The Great Escape but with super-smart kids and monsters. If Season 2 also gets good press I'm interested. 7/10



2. Samurai Champloo - The final third or so really catapults this into the all-time faves for me. Finishing this one, like Cowboy Bebop, is bittersweet, as I had grown deeply attached to the characters (and soundtrack, and aesthetic). 9/10



3. FLCL - Insane, experimental alt-rock-opera coming-of-age miniseries with some of the greatest animation I've ever seen. 9/10




It's been an embarrassment of riches recently.

[outdoorcats]

@OldAle1 - watched any good anime recently? I think either Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion or Monster would be solid recommendations for you. Cowboy Bebop and NGE are shorter time commitments of course.

[Onderhond]

@outdoorcats: have you seen any of the xxx-monogatari series? Not quite the same as FLCL, but they felt just as novel to me. My favorite so far are the Kizumonotagari "films", but the series I've seen are also great. No guarantees, as it is the kind of thing that is extremely polarizing, but definitely worth checking out.

[funkybusiness]

what? there's nothing polarizing about brushing your sister's teeth.

[outdoorcats]

@Onderhond - I have not, though I have heard of their reputation.