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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:58 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for the recs so far! Made my list(s) public to hopefully make things easier.

Should also mention that I pretty much only watch dubs, but I will make an exception for absolutely must-watch shows/movies if there is no dub available.

I have Perfect Blue and Hell Girl on DVD, so I'll probably make those my next endeavors!
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 4:54 pm Reply with quote
Gosick doesn't have a dub, but it is definitely worth making an exception for.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:17 pm Reply with quote
If you've seen Kino's Journey, then my best recommendation is already taken. Nevertheless, I also mostly watch dubs and there seems to be some overlap in our tastes, so I'll take a shot.

I haven't watched it yet, although I am eager to, but I think that Michiko & Hatchin might be the sort of thing that you're looking for. I know that it might seem ridiculous for me to recommend something that I haven't seen, but I think that it's a safe bet on the strength of its pedigree. It was directed by Sayo Yamamoto, a protégé of Shinichirō Watanabe, who was also an episode director for several episodes of Samurai Champloo. It also fits some of your criteria, being a series about a woman who escapes from prison, rescues an orphan from her abusive adoptive family, then goes off in search of a man common to both of their pasts.

It will be released this month by FUNImation. An English dub trailer is available.

You might also consider Lupin III ~The Woman Called Fujiko Mine~, which is from the same director. Although I get the impression from some of your prior opinions that you might not care for it, if you're interested in Michiko & Hatchin, you might want to give it a look as well. It also fits your criteria as it has, obviously, crime as a theme and becomes interested in the mysteries of Fujiko's past. It's part of a larger franchise, but you don't know to be familiar with that to enjoy it. ANN posted reviews when it streamed and for the home video release. It has already been released and there is an English dub trailer.

I also suggest considering Noir. It's a little polarizing, but I love it, so I always go to bat for it. It's about a pair of assassins, Mireille and Kirika, one of whom, Kirika, has no memory of her past, as such the series has both episodes dedicated to particular assassination missions, which are structurally similar to crime procedurals, and a larger story about solving the mystery of Kirika's past. It's in some ways best thought of as a psychological drama, not an action series, as it depends upon the mindset and relationship of the leads. It's a very stylized series with expressionistic backgrounds, heavy use of leitmotifs and a distinct lack of blood, which the liner notes assert was a stylistic choice. It's a slow-moving show and I must in good faith warn that the first nine episodes tend to make almost comically excessive use of flashbacks at time. It's a little risky, but if you can get into it, it's very compelling. FUNImation produced a trailer for their release, but what sold me all those years ago is the opening. The English dub is very well done. Shelley Calene-Black and Monica Rial give very fitting performances as Mireille and Kirika that made me a long-time fan of both.

If you watch and like it, consider Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja, which have the same director,Kōichi Mashimo , and theme, girls with guns, but very different styles. It's from the same studio, although not the same director, as Murder Princess.

I'm going to take a little chance and recommend Kurau: Phantom Memory. I'm being typically loose with your criteria in suggesting it, but I feel that it has some stylistic commonalities. I also think that it's a really good show that gets overlooked. It's about a woman name Kurau who becomes merged with an alien energy being known as a Rynax during a laboratory accident. This imbues her with many extraordinary abilities. As an adult, she works as an 'agent', a sort of freelance general-purpose operative. What makes the story distinct is that Rynax come in mated pairs, but the pair to the Rynax that merged with Kurau was too weak to emerge until Kurau became an adult, when it manifested as a girl whom Kurau names 'Christmas' and as a very emotionally deep relationship with. The larger story is a sort of science-fiction thriller built around a hunt for Kurau and a military conspiracy. It has a sturdy story and very strong characterization. It also has an excellent English dub. Monica Rial gives what I consider one of the finest performances I've ever heard as Kurau. There is an old, slightly daft, ADV trailer, which FUNIMation reused for their rerelease.

I haven't seen it and I have little to say, but you might want to look into Pyscho-Pass, which is an honest-to-goodness sci-fi crime procedural with themes purportedly redolent of Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner. FUNImation will release it on home video next year. The studio has announced that a sequel is in production.

You might want to consider the Bubblegum Crisis franchise as well. I've written more than I probably ever should have about it before. A.D. Police Files and Bubblegum Crisis 2040 are probably the best out of it, although the original is of some historical significance. It also includes A.D. Police, which was mostly nothing special with a small glimpse of light in the middle.

If you don't object to films, then I very highly recommend Patlabor the Movie and even more highly recommend Patlabor the Movie 2. Patlabor is ostensibly a mecha franchise about the mobile police division of the Tokyo police, but it's mostly about very smart stories and characterization. There's a larger franchise, which is slowly becoming available again via Maiden Japan, but the films stand alone. I saw and feel in love with them years ago. The first is a mystery story about an engineer's suicide, the second is a political conspiracy thriller with some heavy rumination on the costs of peace and role of the military. Both have an English dub with dodgy supporting players, but good leads, especially Peter Marinker and Blair Fairman. (The English dub that I'm referring to is on the old Manga Video releases, which might be hard to find, but I consider to be worth it) The series got ranked several times on the best of the 90s episodes (I and II) of ANNCast.

I hope that something that I have recommended proves to be of interest.
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:52 pm Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:
I haven't seen it and I have little to say, but you might want to look into Pyscho-Pass, which is an honest-to-goodness sci-fi crime procedural with themes purportedly redolent of Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner. FUNImation will release it on home video next year. The studio has announced that a sequel is in production.
I was thinking of recommending this also. I just finished it last week and it was very good. The reason I hesitated though is because in most instances they already know who the criminal is due to their Crime Coefficient (a scale for measuring a person's likelyhood of committing a crime). But there are cases where they can't use it for one reason or another so this probably would fit.

It certainly has a twist ending that shocked me. If you are in the mood for something very serious this is what you want.
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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:20 pm Reply with quote
Awesome. I have several of the titles Surrender Artist recommended, so I will definitely be moving them to the top!

I'm always keeping an eye out for when sub stuff that seems interesting releases a dub version, but it can get kind of tedious. Is there anywhere (on this site or otherwise) that accurately tracks which series are getting dub releases and when they're slated to be released?
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getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9117
Location: Bedford, NH
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:25 pm Reply with quote
well, WTK maintains several threads in the retail forum that list release dates by company. As for a dub, follow the link for each show and it takes you to its product page on rightstuf, which tells you the languages tracks that are provided.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:45 pm Reply with quote
Sohma_Curse wrote:
Awesome. I have several of the titles Surrender Artist recommended, so I will definitely be moving them to the top!


Oh, great, now if you end up disappointed, it's my fault.

I'm glad that I was on to something.

I thought of one more thing to recommend: Le Chevalier D'Eon. It's another stretch, but it might work. It is, loosely speaking, historical fiction set in eighteenth century France, but it takes liberties with the history and introduces creepy mysticism and magic. It's the story of d'Éon de Beaumont, a real historical figure who worked as a sort of diplomat and secret agent for the king of France and at the end of his career was given permission to live as a woman, although it reinterprets him in a rather interesting way. It begins with d'Éon investigating the death of his revered, badass sister Lia, who did not exist in history, which leads to an international conspiracy that sees d'Éon and his companions traveling from France, to Russia, then to England. It's a sort of tense, exciting intentional spy thriller with frock coats, frilly lace and an extremely interesting, also rather clever, reimagining of d'Éon de Beaumont's ambiguous gender identity. (It comes up early in the series, but it's cool enough that I don't want to give it away) It also has remarkably well-captured swordfights, with considerable attention paid to the footwork. There is an English language trailer (although its last thirty seconds or so gives the thing that I was being coy about away) and I will attest that the English dub is very excellent.

Sohma_Curse wrote:
I'm always keeping an eye out for when sub stuff that seems interesting releases a dub version, but it can get kind of tedious. Is there anywhere (on this site or otherwise) that accurately tracks which series are getting dub releases and when they're slated to be released?


There's a list of upcoming DVD & Blu-ray releases under the New Anime tab at the top of the page. If it's from FUNImation, it will have an English dub. If it's from Sentai and a Blu-ray, it will probably have one, although they're going to start experimenting with subtitled-only Blu-ray discs soon and Sentai's dubs have been pretty shoddy for a while now. Older titles from the boom era (2001 to 2007, more or less) that have been rereleased generally have an English dub. Otherwise, all you can do is look at specific encyclopedia or RightStuf pages for information.
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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, the Retail threads and the upcoming dvd & blu ray page are basically my go-tos for checking up on new stuff.

And don't worry Surrender Artist, I've had a lot of series in queue for almost a year now, so I won't hold it against you if I end up disliking them Wink I've got a backlog of close to 100 series on dvd and blu ray that I've amassed over the past year or so (since I only got into anime last year around this time). I'm lucky enough to have a job where I freelance a few days a week and make good money (though some of those days can be 12, 14, 15, 18 hours long). Couple that with a moderate amount of off-days, and I've been able to maintain a steady diet of anime watching. Unfortunately, my purchasing outpaces my watching, which is how the backlog came about. TBQH, many of my purchases are complete and total blind buys based solely on description, themes, creators/studios, and even certain voice actors I like.
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GDFan



Joined: 31 Jul 2010
Posts: 254
Location: North of Boston
PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:32 pm Reply with quote
Sohma_Curse wrote:
Unfortunately, my purchasing outpaces my watching, which is how the backlog came about. TBQH, many of my purchases are complete and total blind buys based solely on description, themes, creators/studios, and even certain voice actors I like.


And so it begins...

animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=2393903#2393903
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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 6:44 pm Reply with quote
I'm back for more.

This time, I'd like recommendations for some good original anime/movies (not based on manga/novels/etc). I seem to enjoy originals a lot more because they tend to have a more well-rounded structure and are better at detailing/explaining subtle nuances and plot points that adaptations would otherwise have the reader look to the source material for answers (not to mention continuations/conclusions of stories left hanging). Any genre but straight up mecha.

Consult my anime list for what I've already seen (and enjoy) and please try to recommend titles that have an English dub. As I mentioned earlier in the topic, I've got a HUGE backlog, so I may even have things that are recommended in my collection already (in which case, they'll be moved to the front of the queue). Thanks!
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:57 pm Reply with quote
Sohma_Curse wrote:
I'm back for more.


Pardon my not noticing this until a few days ago and not acting until now. I think that I can make a few suggestions that you'd might like. I, once again, play rather loose with your criteria, but I think that my suggestions are worth a little latitude.

The first thing that I recommend is Galaxy Express 999. I can't help it, I love Galaxy Express 999. I wrote about my love for it and still stand by that. Justin Sevakis also wrote a good article about it. I'll grant that it's derived from a television series that's adapted from a manga, but don't worry. The film is entirely self-contained and the connections among Leiji Masumoto's works are so tenuous that they might as well all be original. There's nothing about it that isn't comprehensible and clear within the film. (I got what was going on watching a cut-up version on the Sci-Fi Channel when I was 12, so you'll be fine) It's a pure, wondrous and fulfilling adventure story with tremendous atmosphere, animation and artwork. The English dub is an Ocean Group work and very excellent. Kathleen Barr is especially effective as Maetel, beautifully capturing the melancholy and mystery of the character and hey, there's Scott 'Dinobot' McNeil' in a supporting part as Captain Harlock. There's a DiscoTek sale at TRSI now! You can get Galaxy Express 999 on DVD for less than $11.97! BUY IT NOW OR I WILL SEND FIRE BREATHING DEMONS TO LAY WASTE TO ALL THE LAND!

In continued defiance of the guidelines that you've set, I will also recommend Patlabor The Movie and Patlabor the Movie 2. This is another case of loving something too much not to recommend it. Once more these are derived from a larger franchise, but they stand perfectly alone. I've never seen anything else of Mobile Police Patlabor (I intend to, but I've got my own pile), but that has not affected my experience at all. They're both great, but Patlabor the Movie 2 is one of my true favorites. They're 'real robot' anime about a sort of misfit special police team responsible for dealing with 'Labor' (this franchise's word for 'mecha') crimes, but funnily, fightin' robots are a secondary element in the first and even more marginal in the second. The first is a smart mystery thriller. The second is an even smarter conspiracy thriller, but rather than excitement, it trades more in questions about the costs of peace in a prosperous, advanced society. It can be a very heavy film to watch and admittedly very 'talky', but its ambitions are impressive and its dialog, although not easy, can be mesmerizing. The best English version is the long out-of-print Manga video releases (1 & 2), chiefly for Peter Marinker's masterful portrayal of Captain Gotoh, which especially comes through when the focus falls to him in the second film. The later Bandai special editions (1 and [url]2[/url]) have a different dub that I've never heard, but it regarded as 'acceptable'; they might still be worth it for the awe-inspiring special editions, which offer exceptional video quality, despite being on DVD, a lot of supplemental material and are so substantial that you could use them to bludgeon people to death. (Do you do a lot of murdering?)

The second-to-last of my recommendations that plays fast-and-loose with your criteria and the last of the ones that I have a great, peculiar passion for is GoShogun: The Time Étranger. You might as well start by reading The Buried Treasures article about it, because that's what drew me to it. I tried, awkwardly, to express my opinion on the series here. It's technically the sequel film to a super robot show that was only released in the west in the form of a weirdly mangled television edit called Macron One, but that doesn't matter. The titular giant robot never appears and the events of the past are relevant in a vague way, so you need no knowledge of the series to enjoy it. The film is very hard to describe, because it's not straightforward or linear. It's the story of the one female member of the team, Remy, but rather than a simple biography, or 'day in the life' story or simply telling a story with her as the perspective character, it alternatives among phases of her life as well as something that might be a dream. It captures her tragic, difficult childhood, indirectly explores her relationship with her colleagues during their time together as well as delves into her anxieties and doubts through a surreal adventure, that constitutes most of the throne, in a strange city where the inhabitants are all trying to kill her and her colleagues. It's a remarkable, strange and ultimately emotionally moving film. The release from Central Park Media is long out of print, but not too hard to find and it has a surprisingly good English dub, which you can sample several scenes from by watching this recording of one of Mike Toole's Dubs That Time Forgot panels from Otakon 2009. (The relevant part starts a few minutes in and occupies most of the first quarter hour of it) I know that might be confusing, but it's really excellent and remarkable.

One last film that probably breaks the rules is Space Adventure Cobra. This is another case of it being part of a much larger media franchise, but being entirely understandable and enjoyable on its own. Space Adventure Cobra is like an old-school pulp science-fiction story animated as progressive rock album covers. It's about a roguish, manly man named Cobra (ha-DOY) with a mysterious, powerful weapon built into his arm. The story is easy-to-enjoy, pitch-perfect pulp, but what makes it stands out is the animation and art. Its animation is mostly fluid and dynamic. The designs are imaginative and distinctive; there's always something worth looking at. Its women are surprisingly well-represented given its vintage, although it's not exactly a progressive anime, and old-school sexy in every way that modern fanservice girls aren't, if you're into that kind of thing. It has a competent English dub, which you can watch on Hulu if you care to, and is also available for a mere $11.97 through TRSI's DiscoTek sale.

I finally have something purely original to mention... although it might actually be the one that you need the most background in anime to understand. (This one has a Buried Treasures article too) Project A-ko was my first anime. I had watched other anime before, but it was the first one that I knew was and thought of as anime. It's a little odd, because it's a comedy, but you might not realize this, because its jokes rely upon references to other anime of its era. For example, one of the villainess' henchwomen is a huge, muscular girl who looks like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. When I saw it for the first time on The Sci-Fi Channel while home sick from school, I knew none of this, so I just enjoyed it because I saw a red-headed schoolgirl throwing giant robots around with her bare hands and making her way up to a ridiculously giant spaceship by jumping on incoming missiles as though they were rapidly-moving explosive lily-pads and thought it was cool as Hell. It's a pretty insubstantial film, but incredibly well-animated and fun to watch. The protagonist is the aforementioned red-head schoolgirl. Her name is A-ko; she has absurd super-strength, but is just a bumbling, if slightly brash sweetheart. She's friends with C-ko, a loud, childish crybaby with a secret that she's unaware of, who I concede is one of the most annoying characters ever. Her nemesis, it happens, is B-ko (see the running gag?), the evil genius daughter of the president of the financial group who wants C-ko for her own (God knows why) and so she tries to defeat A-ko with a succession of mecha. Don't worry too much about the plot, just wait for the crazy exciting shit to go down. It has an English dub, but it's more 'tolerable' than good, but I consider it worth it. Besides, it's only about eighty minutes, easy to digest and yet another title available for $11.97 via TRSI's Discotek sale.

Next, I recommend the 1987 Gainax classic, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise. It was an improbably creation in a way. Bandai gave some passionate, talented young animators a generous budget and let them do as they pleased. They created something that flopped, but has become widely acclaimed, at least among older fans. It's about a kind of dumb kid in a kingdom of war who isn't able to get into a prestigious military position, so he joins the space force, which is considered something of a hopeless joke, pursuing a militarily useless dream of a spacecraft. Besides the obvious themes that suggests, it also has spiritual themes and idealistic sincerity. Everything is lovingly drawn and animated. The creators put tremendous effort into creating their world, including little details like idiosyncratic silverware. It's a representation of the wild, creative daring that the bubble allowed Japan to indulge. I think it's really good and some, most of all Carl Horn, think that it's amazin. There is, however, one very troublesome, unfortunate rape scene that I don't feel ruins the film, but it's so jarring and out of place that it does impinge upon my enjoyment. A more detailed, although not spoiler-scrupulous, essay on the subject is here. It has another of those 'tolerable', not good English dubs. It had been out of print, but Maiden Japan recently released it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Lastly, I think that you might find They Were 11 interesting. In case you were worried that I wasn't too predictable, this is one of those that has a Buried Treasures article. I just realized that this technically breaks the rules as it was adapted from a manga, but you might be able to give that a pass because it's was a single volume long and this is a self-contained adaptation. The source was a story by the esteemed mangaka, Moto Hagio. It's a story about eleven cadets at a prestigious school who's final task is to survive, isolated together on a decrepit space ship. I liked it a lot for the tight confines of its swift-moving story, the ever more paranoid atmosphere and the compelling environment provided by the dark, mysterious derelict space ship. It's dressed as a science fiction story, but is really character-driven, not consumed by the mechanisms of its story. Its English dub, although featuring old reliables like Wendee Lee and Steven Jay Blum, is very much of the era before Cowboy Bebop raised the bar, but it's respectable enough to watch. The DVD is long out of print, but reasonably attainable.

I hope that some of that proves of interest. I feel quite strongly about most of what I recommended, so my perspective is warped, but at least know that I'm sincere.

Oh, and, you could always just scoop some Hayao Miyazaki movies up. My favorites among those are probably Porco Ross, Princess Mononoke and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds.

There are also Satoshi Kon's films, but Perfect Blue is hard to find on home video and Millennium Actress was dubbed only in the United Kingdom, very badly too from what I hear. Paprika isn't too hard to get and although some loathe its dub, I liked it well enough.

I am terrible at following directions.
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djvenom



Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 6:48 am Reply with quote
i have a ? about this so if i am reading this right if i have a anime list with lot of animes that i have watched and rated i can't post it here i am asking before i do so the list is 500 long right now
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getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9117
Location: Bedford, NH
PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:54 am Reply with quote
djvenom wrote:
i have a ? about this so if i am reading this right if i have a anime list with lot of animes that i have watched and rated i can't post it here i am asking before i do so the list is 500 long right now


if you want people to be able to view all the anime you have seen, then go to the my ANN tab, click My Anime, under Organize and Discover on the right side click customize my categories, click on edit next to seen all, scroll down, check the box at the bottom that says allow public to see this category, then hit save category and your list list will then be visible to everyone who clicks the my anime (next to profile and pm) tab at the bottom of your posts
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Tony K.
Subscriber
Moderator


Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 11265
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:44 am Reply with quote
djvenom wrote:
i have a ? about this so if i am reading this right if i have a anime list with lot of animes that i have watched and rated i can't post it here i am asking before i do so the list is 500 long right now

If you post a list like this:

Quote:

In other words, an actual link to your My Anime page, that's okay.

But this:

Quote:
Azumanga Daioh
Hajime no Ippo
Neon Genesis Evengelion
Rurouni Kenshin

[something else]
[something else]
[something else]

In other words, a big jumbled list of names that you copied and pasted from your My Anime page, then that's a definite "no."
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djvenom



Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:37 pm Reply with quote
ok i see i don't like my anime so i just keep my list on 1 long list lol
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