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NEWS: Collins Design Prints 500 Essential Anime Movies Book


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Hi no Neko



Joined: 17 Sep 2004
Posts: 204
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:29 am Reply with quote
. . . have there even been 500 anime movies? That would be known/available to a Western audience, I mean. Heck, I'd find it a stretch to name 25 from the top of my head, including Ghibli, Satoshi Kon, etc.

Outside of Pokemon, One Piece, Doraemon, and Detective Conan films - all of which I assume would have little to zero representation in such a list - I can't think of much that would take it to such a high number!
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:51 am Reply with quote
Quote:
"500 Essential Anime Movies" reveals the huge range of titles available in English, making them accessible to everyone from newcomers to experts.

I assume that means this book will be limited to films which are licensed and presumably available. That'll cause some problems for titles that are either out of print or only available on one side of the Atlantic.
I'm hoping the number hasn't been bumped-up to 500 with western animation (under the assumption that most newcomers won't notice the difference).
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CorneredAngel



Joined: 17 Jun 2002
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Location: New York, NY
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:13 am Reply with quote
Zin5ki wrote:

I'm hoping the number hasn't been bumped-up to 500 with western animation (under the assumption that most newcomers won't notice the difference).


I highly doubt this - Helen is an avid and dedicated anime fan, and would not pull something like this. I've only seen a ocuple of sample pages, but looks like by 'movies', she means both theatrical releases and OVA's. Until I see the book, I won't know whether they will also be shoehorning in 'single volumes of anime series.'
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2434
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:22 am Reply with quote
Zin5ki wrote:
Quote:
"500 Essential Anime Movies" reveals the huge range of titles available in English, making them accessible to everyone from newcomers to experts.

I assume that means this book will be limited to films which are licensed and presumably available. That'll cause some problems for titles that are either out of print or only available on one side of the Atlantic.


I wouldn't assume that. The Anime Encyclopedia included a number of titles that have not and will not be licensed for Western distribution, spending ample time on important ones like Rose of Versailles or Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Writing in the style of a serious film critic, she tends to focus on a film's merits and doesn't get too hung up on commercial considerations. After all, lot of Miyazaki's movies weren't yet available in the west when she wrote her bio/filmography of him.
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ejlin34



Joined: 14 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:57 am Reply with quote
Rose of Versailles and Heidi have been broadcast in Europe. In fact, Heidi was an early anime hit in the West back in the 70s/80s.
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Lowlife187



Joined: 17 Dec 2004
Posts: 156
Location: New Macross City
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:14 am Reply with quote
Well, from the cover art I can tell they don't know what they are writing about. Steam Boy was good visually, but the story was awful!

I might still pick up a copy just to see what they got to say.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:53 am Reply with quote
Hi no Neko wrote:
. . . have there even been 500 anime movies? That would be known/available to a Western audience, I mean. Heck, I'd find it a stretch to name 25 from the top of my head, including Ghibli, Satoshi Kon, etc.


Not including OVA's, which may be included, the encyclopedia says there is about 350. Throw in OVA's and that rises to about 1100. Of course a bunch on that list are hentai, which I am sure won't be included. Except maybe Kite. And that's a big maybe.
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CorneredAngel



Joined: 17 Jun 2002
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Location: New York, NY
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:18 pm Reply with quote
Lowlife187 wrote:
Well, from the cover art I can tell they don't know what they are writing about.


Um, nowhere does it say they're writing about the five or ten best anime ever of all time. For all its faults, Steamboy would *easily* fit into a 'top 500.'

Throwing around accusations at people who are much smarter than you - *not* cool.
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eviltimes



Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 116
Location: Callisto
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:50 pm Reply with quote
I have to agree, 500 titles don't exist. I can't even think of 50 worthwhile titles. But I do like Helen's other work, especially the Anime Encylopedia (Revised) with Clements. She does seem to have a thing for older, "VHS era" anime though. I'll have to amazon it and see.
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Aura Ichadora



Joined: 25 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:59 pm Reply with quote
Awesome! ^^ I don't think I'll be able to pick this up right away, but I'll give my library some time to get this in and then I'll check it out from there. I'm interested in seeing what movies are listed, although I'm sure I already what some already are. =P
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Lowlife187



Joined: 17 Dec 2004
Posts: 156
Location: New Macross City
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:03 pm Reply with quote
CorneredAngel wrote:
Lowlife187 wrote:
Well, from the cover art I can tell they don't know what they are writing about.


Um, nowhere does it say they're writing about the five or ten best anime ever of all time. For all its faults, Steamboy would *easily* fit into a 'top 500.'

Throwing around accusations at people who are much smarter than you - *not* cool.


I'm going to get myself in trouble doing this, but oh well.

Now, we can not assume that the writers are smarter then me, you, or my dog Max, that much is true. I do not know what schools they attended nor do I know what grades they made in school.

Also you are right in this is the top 500 not the top 5 or 10. But riddle me this; wouldn't you want to put a picture of an anime in the top 10 on the cover of a book about the top anime movies? It just seems that it would be more logical in the presentation.

Take me for instance. As a moderate anime watcher who has seen Steam Boy (several times unfortunately) I am immediately turned off of this book by its cover art. It gives me the impression that somehow the writers of said book hold Steam Boy in higher regards then 499 other Japanese works.

Now which anime should have been on the cover is probably an endless question with endless answers, but I can think of a few titles that out shine the one they chose very easily.

So if I offended anyone, I am sorry. However, if you read the rest of my short comment you would notice that I do plan on picking up the book, probably on Ebay at a reduced price in a year, anyway. Cover or no cover.
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alifemde



Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:29 pm Reply with quote
Lowlife187 wrote:
Well, from the cover art I can tell they don't know what they are writing about. Steam Boy was good visually, but the story was awful!


Ha! Beat me to it. Yeah, are they just judging movies by animation budget? SB put me to sleep, and then when the fit hit the shan at the end, I just didn't care because I really didn't care at all about the characters or their goals. Not the best movie to put on your cover. Did Ghibli want too much for Porco Rosso or Kiki? What about Perfect Blue? And if it does count OVAs in the 500 list then what about Gunbuster or GR on the cover? Steam Boy? Really?
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Strephon



Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:52 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:
Of course a bunch on that list are hentai, which I am sure won't be included. Except maybe Kite. And that's a big maybe.


I wouldn't totally rule it out; McCarthy did co-edit the Erotic Anime Movie Guide, and at least in the first edition of the Anime Encyclopedia Cream Lemon got a longer entry than the entire Gundam franchise...
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:55 pm Reply with quote
According to MAL, I've only seen 82 anime movies, and a lof of those aren't stand-alone pieces either, but either recap movies or in a series.
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exedore



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:24 pm Reply with quote
eviltimes wrote:
She does seem to have a thing for older, "VHS era" anime though. I'll have to amazon it and see.


Not too surprising - she was watching anime before most of the people on this forum were born.
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