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YamadaKun's Anime

Seen all Rating Comment
Castle in the Sky (movie) So-so (dub), Excellent (sub) A fasted pace, adventure, with solid visuals, good animation, compelling characters and a great, imaginative story. Castle in the Sky is about a princess, named Sheeta who holds the key to the Castle in the Sky known as Laputa. A man by the name of Muska wants to power to conquer Earth and it's up to Sheeta and a boy named Pazu to stop him. Ghibli's first movie was an excellent first. Though long, it moves at a fast paced and the action is never forced. The original music by Joe Hisaishi is particularly excellent and offers an Indiana Jones feel. The voice acting, save for Mark Hamill in the dub is not very good, but the Japanese version is very good. Mayumi Tanaka of Dragon Ball fame does Pazu and is very emotional and sounds like an actual boy. Whoever played Muska is amazing and deserves all my praise. Overall, it would be wise to watch this movie. You'll have a blast. As John Lasseter of Pixar has said "You are in for a treat!"
Howl's Moving Castle (movie) Bad (dub & sub)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (movie) Weak (dub & sub) I know I'm gonna have a lot of people shitting on me, but hear me out. I just do not find this movie to be as good as what others say it is. The visuals, while good in certain areas, are dull in others, the music is good, but is cheap sounding, the animation isn't very fluid, Nausicaa isn't really compelling, nor does she have flaws. She's a Mary Sue. The art is good, but the designs would later be recycled for use in Ghibli movies* which is rather bothersome, since the character designers are different and instead of being more detailed and dynamic like Gundam 0083 or Macross Plus, they seem to recycle the detail, which dates a lot of Ghibli movies IMO. And I use an asterisk on the Ghibli point, because this isn't a Ghibli movie. This film predates Ghibli by well over 2 pregnancies in a time period. The movie was produced by Topcraft, as it clearly says during the ending credits and makes no mention of an entity, which did not exist at the time. But I digress. I also find the plot to be cheesy. Stop fighting and polluting the Earth? Yeah, great, compelling message. Kushana is perhaps the most compelling character, strong and fearsome, but she alone can save this movie. It's not BAD, but it is sub par and weak and is no way as good as Princess Mononoke.
Princess Mononoke (movie) Weak (dub), Excellent (sub)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV) Bad (dub & sub)
Spirited Away (movie) Weak (dub), Masterpiece (sub) Miyazaki's epic about an apathetic girl, named Chihiro who must survive in the adult world to reclaim her identity. The movie is well paced and the characters are likeable and unique. Chihiro development is so natural and so well done. She's a typical spoiled brat, but the way she matures is fantastic. Yubaba and Zeniba are more than meet the eye. Haku is sorta bland, but he does his job to stand out. The animation is fluid for an anime and the CG is never used out of place. The music like of of Hisaishi's works is powerful and emotional and is never used out of place. The voice acting in the dub is pretty laughable and the sub isn't perfect either, but the sub is better and is LESS annoying, as well as more accurate and doesn't have to explain shit to me that I already knew. Overall, this movie exceeds the hype. It is easily on par with Disney's Lion King and Beauty and the Beast in terms of overall enjoyment, story and laughter.
(The) Vision of Escaflowne (TV) Weak (dub), Masterpiece (sub) A show about a young woman named Hitomi Kanzaki, who winds up in a fantasy world must help a young man by the name of Van Fanel save the land of Gaea from the evil Donkirk, who wants to rage war using the power of Atlantis. This show is fantastic. The visuals and character designs are on par with OVAs such as Gundam 0083 and Gundam Wing Endless Waltz and the animation, while not the best is better than most other anime, The characters are compelling and complex and they mostly develop in good ways. Hitomi may seems annoying, but she's lovestuck and can't decide who she loves and in addition is away from home. Milerna, a princess of one of Gaea's kingdom wants to prove to her father that she needs no help and is a capable and strong young lady. The pacing is pretty smooth and the fight are great, though repetitive at times. The music by Yoko Kanno is solid work and very fantasy like. The opening by Maaya Sakamoto is beautifully sung and addicting. The dub is pretty weak, but with a sub cast like Tomokazu Seki, Toru Okawa, Shin'ichiro Miki, Joji Nakata, Minami Takayama, Maaya Sakamoto and Mayumi Iizuka, it makes it all the worthwhile.