Forum - View topicANNCast - Revenge of the 90s Part I: Life Finds A Way
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2568 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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Leave it to Mike to start this show off with a "bang"... Anyway, I'm sure Mike is ready to just toss his money at Discotek for their upcoming re-release of Mad Bull 34 on DVD.
To be honest, I haven't seen many of the "must-see/everyone knows it" animes of the 90s, but I am at least familiar with them. I remember seeing an episode or two of Cardcaptors, the Fox TV edit of Cardcaptor Sakura, but I hear it was a bad edit so I'm not surprised to remember not caring too much for it. The Fox edit of Escaflowne, though, did catch my interest, so naturally I did eventually see the original version of the show. I never saw Cowboy Bebop, outside of an episode or two on Cartoon Network, but I did really enjoy the movie... But the movie was 2001, so it doesn't count for this list. And I agree with Mike that it's great to see G Gundam get a larger appreciation now. Gundam Wing, more than likely, is now just remembered for its characters (good reasons or bad) and it's mechs, while the story has not held up; my friend tried re-watching it a few years ago, and he had to stop after the first 20 or so episodes. G Gundam, as much as Zac probably can't/won't/doesn't believe it, had more to it than just "Hurr, look at the silly Gundams!" and has stood the test of time as being one of the those truly memorable mech animes, at least. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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As much as I like Bebop, it probably wouldn't make myself because too many other entries would takes its place. I'm not entirely sure how it would go in order, but Patlabor 2, Escaflowne, LoGH (given that they had issue with it being on the 80s show, the next three parts are full 90s), Iria Zeiram, Crest of the Stars, Nadia, Macross Plus/7+extras, probably Eva as a whole, Berserk, and then maybe either Bebop or Mononoke Hime. Overall, I didn't find as much to fully embrace like I did with the 80s, I can pick a favorite anime for every single year from that decade without thinking. I wish I could include Gundam 0083 on the list, for all of its massive flaws I probably enjoyed it more than any other in that franchise. |
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Rigamortis-chan
 Posts: 26 |
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For movies surprised nobody brought up Pulp Fiction.
90s movies I would go with 1. American Beauty 2. Pulp Fiction 3. Forrest Gump 4. JFK 5. Boogie Nights |
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DRWii
 Posts: 636 |
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Just wanted to point out "Gosenzosama Banbanzai" is actually '89, so it doesn't really count.
Anyway, fun show, but I wish there was a bit more diversity in the lists. Looking forward to part 2. |
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ZenAmako
Posts: 92 |
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I didn't see it mentioned: Serial Experiments Lain wasn't a digipaint show. The show was made with hand painted cels except for the CG bits (like Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal). That's how the Japanese Blu-ray can look so good.
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Mai Yukino
 Posts: 217 |
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I have too many favorite 90's shows/movies I love, as it is my favorite decade of anime, so to name them all and say why I love them would take forever.
Aside from the dislike of Gundam Wing by some people, I still love the series and it holds a great amount of nostalgia factor for me, as I did enjoy the story it told and how the characters developed, especially through their relationships with the other characters, and changed over time (also counting Endless Waltz) and how they weren't the same person they once were in the beginning. Reading about the Gundam pilots through the Episode Zero manga gave me a deeper understanding of them and their struggles while growing up in a war and I liked how the series showed the varying psychological states of their characters. Gundam Wing was one of the first Gundam shows to ever have a fully animated closing sequence, while most others have a dull and simplistic closing with pictures that look more like a slideshow. |
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Anime World Order
 Posts: 389 Location: Florida |
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The above is a sentence that had never been written before until now! 
But it's good to mix it up. Although I often hear from the true old-timers that the 90s was when they started losing interest due to lack of per-capita quality, I'm actually a 90s-era fan and so picking out any listing for the decade would have been murder. It turns out I'm actually liking things from that era MORE now that it's past and gone. That is to say, things I used to dislike are now things I love. I was rather surprised that The Big O didn't make Mike's list at all, as he's one of the biggest fans of the show I can think of. He did cosplay, ran panels, got in touch with the Japanese creators, and so on. But if it was for the sake of including Mad Bull 34, I can understand. (Incidentally, what IS an Anime Jump? I think it's some sort of Big O fansite.) Glad to see a few more people know about Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai. That's one of those that I like which most people find absolutely BRUTAL to sit through, but the recent trend in enthusiasm with regards to key animation has led to it being rediscovered. Or well, "discovered." But yeah, if you're going to pick a representative for Mamoru Oshii, it's got to be Patlabor. I personally don't think of Patlabor 2 as divorced from the remainder of the series. I think of it as "The End." Apologies to any advocates for the baseball dropping, which is apropos in its own way.
I have no respect for those spoiler tags, so I'm taking 'em out! Of COURSE the interviews are fake and are acted out by Gainax staff! That's Craig York as the American otaku "Shon Hernandez" who's named after Shon Howell and "The Diva" Lea Hernandez. You didn't need to "hear a story" for this; it's in the liner notes. Without checking the video, I can almost guarantee you that the OAV's character designer Kenichi Sonoda was in there too. But Zac's point is dead-on. Once upon a time, I was a member of a small anime club. We went once to the local college anime club--a huge one that filled an auditorium-sized lecture hall--and brought with us Otaku no Video because "hey, this is an eternal fan classic that we can all laugh at together and everyone will love it because of how easy it is to relate to." Except nobody--NOBODY--had any idea what the Hell this was supposed to be. They didn't relate to it at all and looked at us like we were psychopaths. It was at that moment I realized...they were right. That was in 1998. I was 17 or 18 years old, still in high school, and already an "old man" even in the company of people in college years older than myself...
As I alluded to in my Macross Plus article, when people see those heavy-hitter mecha franchise names in front of a new project, it always gives them pause because it invites the question "can I even watch this and care about it given that I've never seen any of the rest of it?" But of all the Macross anime there is, Plus remains the single best introduction to it. |
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walw6pK4Alo
Posts: 9322 |
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Luckily for Patlabor 2, compared to Gundam or Macross, you the barrier for entry is rather limited. Just 7 episodes of an OVA and another film and you've got all the facts and characterizations laid out perfectly. What causes Patlabor to lag behind the other two franchises; no new real work in a while to grow the fanbase? Not enough mecha action too much Oshii, or that the robots are too mundane and small and certainly don't fly or have laser swords? Out of the three, it certainly has the best characters, the most human characters put into situations that the viewing audience can relate to. Patlabor needs more love, and licenses of all of the BluRay materials; although that's definitely not happening. On the key animation note, will that also lead people back to Birth? That OVA needs some rediscovering as well. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15358 |
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Zen: Ah Megami hasn't been extended into a bunch of shitty spin-offs, and it's got better art than Tenchi. Though the manga is clearly running on fumes at this point. I recently asked the creator if he was going to do anything for the 25th anniversary, and he Tweeted in the negative.
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infiltration.cru
 Posts: 321 |
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i don't get all the hate for oshii. yeah, stuff doesn't blow up every ten seconds and the characters actually have conversations longer than half a minute(gasp!) but the action bits are flat out amazing.
and i damn well hope someone has wicked city on the list. thanks, anime world order, for getting my soul sucked into the bottomless void that is kawajiri's work. |
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CG-LOVER
 Posts: 355 Location: East Lansing, MI |
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I feel the same.
Wha?...I just....what? But........really? But it's...it's Bryan Cranston and.....just.....what?! Does anyone else here agree with this sentiment because it is just baffling me. I mean maaaybe Myung's VA was a little off, but I am in complete agreement with Justin on this one; that this is one of the best anime dubs I've ever heard, and that Bryan Cranston (unsurprisingly) gives an amazing performance as well.
I should definitely rewatch Wing cause I've got a lot of fond memories of that show. Maybe if I go back I'll find the flaws more apparent. One thing is clear to me though! G Gundam is WORSE GODDAMMIT! I mean C'MON! How can so many people be so in love with G Gundam?! You have GOT to be kidding me! I am watching it right now, and it is mediocre at best. Most of the enjoyment I get out of it is ironic anyway...I mean, it's not like you can take any of the Gundams in that show seriously right?  Not to mention that the writing is so predictable and childish that I believe I could have written something of that quality back when I was in 7th grade. Additionally, it has some of the most poorly choreographed and lazily animated Gundam fights I think I've ever seen in a Gundam anime. How so many of those twitter lists included G Gundam is ludicrous to me.
Last edited by CG-LOVER on Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:41 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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bravetailor
Posts: 817 |
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I have. Overall, the usual suspects in these lists. Not much to say. As for Ghost in the Shell...it is a classic and absolutely deserves to be on any 90s list, but the reason why it's not universally loved is that Oshii was never supposed to be this big James Cameron type who'd kick anime into the mainstream. He always was...or is...an arty, Tarkovsky type of director. People who liked arthouse films responded to his style of directing, the rest of the people were like "Well the action is good. The animation is good. The visuals are great. The story...ehhhhh." Personally, I actually preferred Innocence, which was even more artsy fartsy, but I'm in the minority here. Still, nobody can deny the influence and historical relevance of the first Ghost in the Shell film. Last edited by bravetailor on Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CG-LOVER
Posts: 355 Location: East Lansing, MI |
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Agreed. |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2568 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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Hey, it's your opinion, but G Gundam is a great show. I found it to have memorable characters & mechs (partially because of the stereotypes), an amazing soundtrack by Kohei Tanaka, a great sense of fun combined with a true love & respect for old-school hot-blood (not surprising, since the director [Yasuhiro Imagawa] is mostly know for his hot-blooded action titles, usually mecha, and the original character designer [Kazuhiko Shimamoto] is usually all about hot-blood and action), and the story actually knew what it wanted to do. True, the second half does get a bit more complex, though still not overly so, but overall G Gundam knows what it wants to be and strays little from that path. It's purposefully simpler, yet at the same time is more focused in its execution. Granted, that easily means that it's not the most complicated or political title in the Gundam franchise, and it most certainly won't appeal to everyone (especially if super robots aren't something you normally get into), but at the same time it delivers a lot more enjoyment and fun that most of the other Gundam series aim for; let's be honest, Gundam usually isn't about enjoyment & fun, it's about war, politics, & character drama more often than not. Really, though, it's not exactly hard to see why G Gundam has become more respected as time went on, while Gundam Wing (and even Zeta Gundam, as indicated during the 80s show) have started to go down in popularity & respect. But this is simply my opinion regarding G Gundam, and it's a short explanation regarding it. I'm sure others have their own reasons, too. |
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CG-LOVER
Posts: 355 Location: East Lansing, MI |
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Yes or course, it is my opinion and perhaps I expressed it in a little too much of a heated manner in the previous post, for that I apologize.
Now, you could certainly say that the stereotypes are memorable, though I wouldn't consider that a plus really. It can actually be difficult to get past them and actually focus on the story/characters. Additionally, I could take or leave the soundtrack, and I'm not sure you could call much of the story in this show complex by any means, even the second half. In fact, one of the biggest issues I have with the show is that the script can try way too hard to explain every little thing to the viewers as if they were in middle school, regardless of whether or not it actually needs explaining (which, most of the time, it really doesn't). And if that is the focus of its execution, I would say the show makes it pretty clear that it is designed for a younger audience. That's not to say that most of Gundam isn't aimed at a younger age group. I'm just saying it's very obvious in this show compared to some others. So much so that in my opinion I think older audiences might have more trouble easing in to a show like this. And don't get me wrong, I am a certified Gundam fan, as I've seen almost all of the Gundam there is to see. So there's no doubt I do enjoy a well-executed super robot show. I guess I am just looking for something deeper perhaps, as I could say that most of the enjoyment stemming from G Gundam is from...superficial content. And I can still get a feeling of fun with other Gundam titles even though they are steeped in drama. I mean there are plenty of opportunities in say...Gundam 00 (one of my favorites), where you don't necessarily need to be thinking about the drama all of the time, and you can just enjoy the beautifully choreographed fight scenes (and there are plenty of them). I just still want the drama to be there for when my "fun" enjoyment reaches that inevitable limit, that's all. All in all, based on these reasons I still don't quite understand that respect you mention I'm afraid. I mean I'd love to understand it...but when I watch this show I just can't. |
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