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Anime
Apr 26, 2021 19:29:40 GMT -8
Post by Incandescence 112 on Apr 26, 2021 19:29:40 GMT -8
Well, I have absolutely checked out of the Academy Awards. On the other hand, I have gotten sucked down the rabbit hole of the little surrealist comedy Welcome to the NHK. It's not perfect, as some of the subplots are strange and don't go anywhere satisfying, but it's refreshingly weird and funny, and like nothing else I've really seen.
Also...I learned not to judge something by its cover. Puella Magi Madoka Magica gets off to a weak and unconvincing start, but takes a Steins;Gate-esque turn for the dramatic about halfway through and just keeps ramping up the quality from there. Aside from the beautiful Celtic music, the conflict is relentless, the plot is beautifully paced, and the overall package is ludicrously good for a moe anime. Never thought I'd be saying this, but it's genuinely top-tier.
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Anime
Mar 23, 2022 15:23:02 GMT -8
Post by Jay on Mar 23, 2022 15:23:02 GMT -8
Cripes, it's been almost a year since anyone's added anything? This isn't a TV show per se because I haven't gotten into it yet (keeping track of what's legal and who owns what rights is a pain of contemporary streaming), but I went out and watched Jujutsu Kaisen 0 today and enjoyed it, which wasn't all that surprising as I'm a sucker for supernatural anime and think that this one probably is the closest to carrying on the better parts of Bleach's legacy (while Undead Unluck settles for a more formal imitation). It's a quick 105 minutes trying to cover a lot of Yuta Okkotsu's backstory, but it's timed pretty well not just for the anime introducing him, but for the manga where he's taken a prominent role of late. There were good action scenes and a blend of humor and I generally appreciate how Gege Akutami manages to avoid having female characters that are just straight cheesecake but instead tries to make them respectable on their own. I also appreciate the character arc of Okkotsu at large as a guy who opens the film thinking that his mere presence puts others in danger and comes out the other side having found a reason to live, even if Gojo in typical fashion initially told him that he could always kill himself later.
I also noticed while listening that Suguru Geto was played by Takahiro Sakurai, whom I'm more accustomed to hearing in the weird antihero role that is Meme Oshino, so cheers for him getting more straight villain work.
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Anime
Nov 21, 2022 16:29:21 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Nov 21, 2022 16:29:21 GMT -8
I finally bit the bullet and watched Akira today. I've never read the manga (heck, I don't think I've ever read most any manga apart from Pokemon Adventures when I was a kid), but my understanding is that the film is trying to fit 2,000 pages of comics into two hours of story? And... it kind of shows.
Don't get me wrong, there's a lot I liked about this film. It's got some dynamite visuals, great sense of scale and spectacle, and it's constantly, endlessly throwing something new at the screen. (Including a fair amount of grossly violent somethings, but somethings nonetheless.) The pace never lets up, and keeps the action flowing enough to forgive the constant yelling of "Kaneda!" and "Tetsuo!" throughout.
But on a story level, the film feels... oddly fragmented? There are a lot of characters and plot threads to service here, and the film doesn't give each the time it needs. The government agents, for example, are mostly treated as window dressing, even as it is their actions that drives the story. Several of the reveals about Tetsuo's powers feel glossed over and confusing, which blunts some of the climactic impact when everything comes to a head. (At least, I think it all comes to a head; I didn't quite figure out the ending, either.)
This is probably a film that works better on rewatch (at least I assume, considering its vocal fandom and the multiple rereleases* it's been given over the years). But it was still pretty good on first viewing.
Moving along the anime list, I'll probably watch Tokyo Godfathers or Princess Kaguya next. And still need to check out those last few Cowboy Bebop episodes at some point.
*For reference, I watched the 2001 English dub, which is the one streaming on Hulu. I know there's an earlier dub somewhere as well. In any event, the dialogue felt a little forced in spots (the "fish out of water" exchange made me wince), but it wasn't a major issue.
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Anime
Nov 23, 2022 18:22:54 GMT -8
Post by Jay on Nov 23, 2022 18:22:54 GMT -8
I finally bit the bullet and watched Akira today. I've never read the manga (heck, I don't think I've ever read most any manga apart from Pokemon Adventures when I was a kid), but my understanding is that the film is trying to fit 2,000 pages of comics into two hours of story? And... it kind of shows. .... This is probably a film that works better on rewatch (at least I assume, considering its vocal fandom and the multiple rereleases* it's been given over the years). But it was still pretty good on first viewing. Moving along the anime list, I'll probably watch Tokyo Godfathers or Princess Kaguya next. And still need to check out those last few Cowboy Bebop episodes at some point. I'll continue to venture unpopular anime opinions given my high level of exposure... I think that the film version of Akira is a piece that in our moment doesn't make sense without nostalgia. For a lot of folks, this was their first major exposure to anime-- I know my aunt bought me a copy of it on VHS back in the day and it was either that or My Neighbor Totoro that she tried to used as a first introduction. There are a lot of aspects of Akira that are forced and highly abridged, but it also engages in a lot of tropes (name shouting, Tokyo getting blown up, weird gov't programs) that permit it to remain accessible even as it is highly condensed. I think it might benefit from a reboot that took more of its time, much like NGE has benefited from longer movies as a result of the franchise's popularity with actually bother to explain things (FTR, I think Neon Genesis Evangelion is an awful anime but an okay psychological study and I will accept and "Cruel Angel's Thesis" memes). I'd be hard pressed to point to any anime franchise which survives most of its material being omitted; even Nausicaa, which has a decent film-length adaptation, really served as a proof of concept for a much more expansive manga. Fullmetal Alchemist remains arguably the only franchise to have an early, truncated adaptation that made up a lot and a second, faithful adaptation based strictly on the manga and have both of them work.
Do tell what you think of Tokyo Godfathers!
On the topic of what I've been watching, it's been pretty basic in that I've been on Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War and Chainsaw Man. Bleach was the only of the former Big Three I ever paid attention to, but then I've always preferred supernatural-themed content over just about anything else. I kept up through the manga of both, but Chainsaw Man has a sort of charm to it in that the main character lacks the noble intentions of most shonen protagonists and is instead shallow in his motives, though poignant in moments. It's a tonic in its own way to have a character lack that big picture aspiration, but Denjji succeeds in that he's not particularly annoying, just stupid in a broad sense. Not lacking in moments of heroism, just stupid. Tatsuki Fujimoto has an interesting way of leaning into tropes while still managing to twist them in compelling ways.
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Anime
Nov 24, 2022 8:32:44 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Nov 24, 2022 8:32:44 GMT -8
I know my aunt bought me a copy of it on VHS back in the day and it was either that or My Neighbor Totoro that she tried to used as a first introduction. That's an... interesting pair to choose from. Depending on how old you were, I hope she made the right choice. It even birthed a few of the tropes for modern anime, as I understand. I actually did not know before watching the film that it is the originator of the famed "motorcycle slide" shot that has been used time and again in animation both Japanese and Western over the past thirty years. I'd imagine many of the early uses were pure homage, but at a certain point it just became ubiquitous to the genre. (It's even now been translated to live-action - Nope, which I watched a few nights ago, includes the slide in what has to be Jordan Peele's direct homage to Akira.)
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Anime
Nov 26, 2022 17:26:36 GMT -8
Post by Incandescence 112 on Nov 26, 2022 17:26:36 GMT -8
I finally bit the bullet and watched Akira today. I've never read the manga (heck, I don't think I've ever read most any manga apart from Pokemon Adventures when I was a kid), but my understanding is that the film is trying to fit 2,000 pages of comics into two hours of story? And... it kind of shows. .... This is probably a film that works better on rewatch (at least I assume, considering its vocal fandom and the multiple rereleases* it's been given over the years). But it was still pretty good on first viewing. Moving along the anime list, I'll probably watch Tokyo Godfathers or Princess Kaguya next. And still need to check out those last few Cowboy Bebop episodes at some point. I'll continue to venture unpopular anime opinions given my high level of exposure... I think that the film version of Akira is a piece that in our moment doesn't make sense without nostalgia. For a lot of folks, this was their first major exposure to anime-- I know my aunt bought me a copy of it on VHS back in the day and it was either that or My Neighbor Totoro that she tried to used as a first introduction. There are a lot of aspects of Akira that are forced and highly abridged, but it also engages in a lot of tropes (name shouting, Tokyo getting blown up, weird gov't programs) that permit it to remain accessible even as it is highly condensed. I think it might benefit from a reboot that took more of its time, much like NGE has benefited from longer movies as a result of the franchise's popularity with actually bother to explain things (FTR, I think Neon Genesis Evangelion is an awful anime but an okay psychological study and I will accept and "Cruel Angel's Thesis" memes). I'd be hard pressed to point to any anime franchise which survives most of its material being omitted; even Nausicaa, which has a decent film-length adaptation, really served as a proof of concept for a much more expansive manga. Fullmetal Alchemist remains arguably the only franchise to have an early, truncated adaptation that made up a lot and a second, faithful adaptation based strictly on the manga and have both of them work.
Do tell what you think of Tokyo Godfathers!
On the topic of what I've been watching, it's been pretty basic in that I've been on Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War and Chainsaw Man. Bleach was the only of the former Big Three I ever paid attention to, but then I've always preferred supernatural-themed content over just about anything else. I kept up through the manga of both, but Chainsaw Man has a sort of charm to it in that the main character lacks the noble intentions of most shonen protagonists and is instead shallow in his motives, though poignant in moments. It's a tonic in its own way to have a character lack that big picture aspiration, but Denjji succeeds in that he's not particularly annoying, just stupid in a broad sense. Not lacking in moments of heroism, just stupid. Tatsuki Fujimoto has an interesting way of leaning into tropes while still managing to twist them in compelling ways.
Dang, hot takes on both Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion! Not really. My opinion on Akira has always been similar to Jeremy's: it's visually stunning but narratively rather poor. The characters are pretty thin, and parts of the film are really vague and poorly explored, even on a re-watch. It's worth it for the visuals though. I think a lot of people feel that way when they actually watch the film instead of reading 'best anime film' lists.
Similarly, Evangelion's always been controversial. Even the rebuild film series (which I think is much improved, and pretty excellent on the whole) is controversial. The original series starts off pretty well, with an impressive looking world and atmosphere. Unfortunately, while the world looks impressive, the world-building isn't. It's almost impossibly convoluted, and the series almost loses interest in it in the middle to provide us with some unbearable fan-service. Some of the worst I've seen in any anime, outside of maybe outside of the atrocious Steins;Gate 0. But I did really enjoy the psychological stuff in the back half, minus the finale (yeah, I know they ran out of money--there were other series that had their budgets and episode counts slashed too, and handled it better--the original Mobile Suit Gundam, for example). Thankfully the subsequent film series cleans up the details without sacrificing Anno's avant-garde vision.
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Anime
Jan 11, 2023 19:36:12 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Jan 11, 2023 19:36:12 GMT -8
So I watched Tokyo Godfathers today - rented it from Hoopla, which I think is the only way to stream the film online without getting interrupted by Hyundai ads every ten minutes. All in all, it was an interesting film - kind of a broad, farcical (yet still dramatic) take on Three Men and a Baby, with good animation throughout.
Still, I didn't find it quite as compelling as Millennium Actress or Perfect Blue. Part of the issue might be the subject matter - Satoshi Kon's other films deal with more abstract subjects on life and the fuzzy lines of reality, and this one (while it flirts with the ethereal nature of Christmas miracles and whatnot) is more grounded in both subject matter and tone, which leaves it feeling a bit uneven in spots. This is most noteworthy in the characters' facial expressions, which are often way too over the top, as though they're trying to compensate for some of the story's more serious underpinnings.
There were some funny moments, to be sure, and the serious moments usually hit their marks. But as a whole, it feels less introspective and impactful than Kon's other works, with the screwball comedy feeling somewhat at odds with the more serious underpinnings. A decent film all around, but not one I'm in a hurry to revisit.
Also finally watched Tale of Princess Kaguya a few weeks back; that's a really good - and visually gorgeous - film that's a bit long and heavy on world-building exposition, but still compelling throughout. (Watched the English version of that, and James Caan's performance as the dad is hilarious. I miss him already.)
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Anime
Jan 26, 2023 16:51:00 GMT -8
Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 26, 2023 16:51:00 GMT -8
So I watched Tokyo Godfathers today - rented it from Hoopla, which I think is the only way to stream the film online without getting interrupted by Hyundai ads every ten minutes. All in all, it was an interesting film - kind of a broad, farcical (yet still dramatic) take on Three Men and a Baby, with good animation throughout. Still, I didn't find it quite as compelling as Millennium Actress or Perfect Blue. Part of the issue might be the subject matter - Satoshi Kon's other films deal with more abstract subjects on life and the fuzzy lines of reality, and this one (while it flirts with the ethereal nature of Christmas miracles and whatnot) is more grounded in both subject matter and tone, which leaves it feeling a bit uneven in spots. This is most noteworthy in the characters' facial expressions, which are often way too over the top, as though they're trying to compensate for some of the story's more serious underpinnings. There were some funny moments, to be sure, and the serious moments usually hit their marks. But as a whole, it feels less introspective and impactful than Kon's other works, with the screwball comedy feeling somewhat at odds with the more serious underpinnings. A decent film all around, but not one I'm in a hurry to revisit. Also finally watched Tale of Princess Kaguya a few weeks back; that's a really good - and visually gorgeous - film that's a bit long and heavy on world-building exposition, but still compelling throughout. (Watched the English version of that, and James Caan's performance as the dad is hilarious. I miss him already.) Yeah, I think Paprika and Perfect Blue are pretty unbeatable as far as Kon films go. I think he still offers a lot of depth, creativity, and emotion even at his 'worst', which you can't say about many filmmakers.
Kaguya's a little too long for a relatively simple story, but I love pretty much everything about it otherwise. Maybe not Ghibli or Takahata's very best, but still very very strong stuff. The art style!
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Anime
Jan 26, 2023 17:01:58 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Jan 26, 2023 17:01:58 GMT -8
Still need to see Paprika; I don't think it's streaming anywhere, though. Also should probably catch up on some of Takahata's other films - haven't yet seen Pom Poko or Only Yesterday. Not sure I like either his work or Kon's as much as Miyazaki, but can definitely see why their films have resonated with so many.
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Anime
Jan 26, 2023 17:34:17 GMT -8
Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 26, 2023 17:34:17 GMT -8
Still need to see Paprika; I don't think it's streaming anywhere, though. Also should probably catch up on some of Takahata's other films - haven't yet seen Pom Poko or Only Yesterday. Not sure I like either his work or Kon's as much as Miyazaki, but can definitely see why their films have resonated with so many. I wouldn't really recommend Pom Poko too much--it's charming at points but fairly mediocre. Only Yesterday is terrific, but you should watch it when you're really in the mood for a slow-burn slice of life story.
Once you're done with those three, I'd recommend Mamoru Oshii and Mamoru Hosoda. The 1995 Ghost in the Shell and Summer Wars are must-watch.
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Anime
Jan 27, 2023 7:17:42 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Jan 27, 2023 7:17:42 GMT -8
Ah, not familiar with either of those. The only Hosoda film I've seen is Mirai (which was... fine); I wanted to catch Belle in theaters - the animation looks absolutely gorgeous - but guess I'll have to settle for streaming it.
Don't have any connection to Ghost in the Shell (except for the live-action ScarJo film, which I think I once caught about 15 minutes of), but perhaps I'll give the anime film a look.
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Anime
Feb 2, 2023 16:40:53 GMT -8
Post by guttersnipe on Feb 2, 2023 16:40:53 GMT -8
I finally bit the bullet and watched Akira today. I've never read the manga (heck, I don't think I've ever read most any manga apart from Pokemon Adventures when I was a kid), but my understanding is that the film is trying to fit 2,000 pages of comics into two hours of story? And... it kind of shows. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot I liked about this film. It's got some dynamite visuals, great sense of scale and spectacle, and it's constantly, endlessly throwing something new at the screen. (Including a fair amount of grossly violent somethings, but somethings nonetheless.) The pace never lets up, and keeps the action flowing enough to forgive the constant yelling of "Kaneda!" and "Tetsuo!" throughout. But on a story level, the film feels... oddly fragmented? There are a lot of characters and plot threads to service here, and the film doesn't give each the time it needs. The government agents, for example, are mostly treated as window dressing, even as it is their actions that drives the story. Several of the reveals about Tetsuo's powers feel glossed over and confusing, which blunts some of the climactic impact when everything comes to a head. (At least, I think it all comes to a head; I didn't quite figure out the ending, either.) Oh yeah, so this happened! I actually last watched this at the cinema in the midst of the 2020 lockdowns, where its weirdness and dystopia took on new meanings, even twenty-five years after I first watched it. As emblematic formative films go, I still hold that I began to really understand the nature of cinema off the back of this, because cerebral issues regarding its obviously messy script and uneven characterisation simply evaporated against the momentum and power of its visuals. It simply cannot and will not date.
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Anime
Feb 2, 2023 16:51:55 GMT -8
Post by guttersnipe on Feb 2, 2023 16:51:55 GMT -8
So I watched Tokyo Godfathers today - rented it from Hoopla, which I think is the only way to stream the film online without getting interrupted by Hyundai ads every ten minutes. All in all, it was an interesting film - kind of a broad, farcical (yet still dramatic) take on Three Men and a Baby, with good animation throughout. And with that I realise a connection between Three Men and a Baby and 3 Godfathers that I'd never thought of before. Huh. As a Kon fan, it took me a couple of viewings to pick up on what my prevailing issue was with this otherwise good film: there's far too much murky grey-green in the colour palette. It's an unusual practice to pursue, when it's set in perhaps the most visually-dazzling city on Earth (I can vouch), but I tend to find the general drab-and-dreariness of overuse of this colour has a subtly wearying effect and displaces me spatially in getting properly immersed in the picture. (Incidentally, my gf was recently impressed with Perfect Blue.)
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Anime
Feb 2, 2023 19:03:31 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Feb 2, 2023 19:03:31 GMT -8
I mean I'm probably never going to love anime as much as some other folks on this board, but if I do watch Akira again at some point, it would probably be on the big screen. The scale and spectacle of the film is undeniable, and the story and character issues would probably be easier to forgive if the mega-scale production they're wrapped in looks especially mega.
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Anime
Nov 24, 2023 12:50:15 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Nov 24, 2023 12:50:15 GMT -8
The new Scott Pilgrim anime series on Netflix is pretty solid all around - it's creatively animated in the style of the original comics, with some creative setpieces and well-staged action. The voice cast is also stellar - the series (produced by Edgar Wright) managed to rope in almost the entire cast from the live-action film to voice their characters here. The scripts are tight and funny, feeling distinctly Canadian and early 2000s without being overbearing on either front.
It's hard to talk about the overall story without veering into spoilers, and it indeed would be spoiler-y even if for those who've read the comic and seen the movie. But I'll say that Netflix has - once again! - pulled something of a bait-and-switch on their audience. This show is not a direct adaptation of the comic/movie, nor is it a sequel. It's something different, and while there may be some contention over the changes, I was mostly onboard with them.
I say "mostly" because while I was entertained by this series, I don't fully cotton to the message the finale seems to be pushing. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting (having never been a video game nerd myself), but at least one development near the end of the season feels like an overcorrection, a way of "modernizing" Scott Pilgrim for a post-Gamergate world. It doesn't entirely work, and loses the detached sense of irony that typified previous incarnations of Scott Pilgrim; the writers seem almost embarrassed by a key aspect of the source material.
Anyway, I'm being vague in my critiques, but overall I don't think they detract that much from the overall show. It's a fun series! Only eight episodes, 25 minutes each. It's a breezy watch, and one of the better animated shows I've seen this year, Japanese or otherwise.
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