Forum - View topicAnime last year? Hit or Miss
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lumfan
Posts: 6 |
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Hello,
I was wondering what everyone thought of the Anime coming from Japan in the last year. My friends and I have been watching Anime, in one form or another, since the late '80's and have started to think that the story lines are becoming less entertaining and more predictable :i.e., as the Animation quality goes up (visual) the story goes down. Maybe i've seen one too many 'harems, mecha, alien conquests, school days, and girl falls/appears/delevered/created/..." in my lifetime (never wanted to live that long). Where, at least, in this year of disappointments is a solid story. And what is the deal with 'sibling love/dating sims' this year? (No, if I want to see this kind of thing I would watch Hentai). Sorry, to go on a rant. I just feel that i'm the only one not liking most of what i'm seeing right now. What do you think? Thanks for the time, Darryl G. |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Hmm. I won't say you're completely wrong, because I've definitely seen some stinkers this year. However, there are always bad anime in the crop. I disagree with your implied conclusion that it is the increasing slickness of the animation that is driving down the quality of the storytelling. Some of the best stories of the year have been almost ordinary in their animation style and quality.
Still, although there were many disappointments over the year, there were some very good anime, too: Windy Tales has an interesting, semi-abstract animation style that might take some getting used to - but it grows on you, and the story is incredible. It's early days yet, but by the time I've seen all episodes, I expect I'll have to rank it Masterpiece. Kurau: Phantom Memory is done in an altogether very traditional animation style, with very realistic illustration. The world it portrays is straight science fiction with a strong character-driven plotline. It's truly a loveable anime. Genshiken is one of those anime that remains very true to its manga basis - and a good thing, too, because both manga and anime do a fine job of placing the Japanese otaku under a magnifying glass, to great comedic effect. At the lightweight end of the spectrum, the year still gave us plenty of anime that might not have been great art - but they certainly qualified as great entertainment: Aishiteruze Baby, Gantz (they screwed up in the second season, though), Pretty Cure, Samurai Champloo, Mai HiME, Samurai 7 and others - all of these were worth seeing. Looking back at the year 2004, I won't call it quite as good a year for anime as the preceding year, but I can't say it was all that much worse... maybe these things just come in waves. - abunai |
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biliano*
Posts: 0 |
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A great example of this comment (based on the anime that I've seen in 2004) is SaiKano. Although SaiKano contained possibly the most emotional and powerful story of any anime title released in 2004, the animation was sketchy at certain times. This was unusual for a series produced by Gonzo, since they're well known for the quality of their animation. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Um, SaiKano is vintage 2002, not 2004. I don't think it's really relevant to judge the year's anime quality by U.S. DVD release dates - only by Japanese air dates . Not all of us are Americans, I'm happy to report. - abunai |
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biliano*
Posts: 0 |
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Oops, sorry! My bad 
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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気にしないで下さい。  It's a natural mistake to make, and after all, SaiKano is one of the all-time greats of the anime medium.
There were a number of otherwise fine anime that I didn't include in my list (for instance Planetes, Futatsu no Spica and Mujin Wakusei Survive!) precisely because they started airing in Japan prior to Jan. 1st 2004 - even though the majority of their broadcasts occurred during 2004. - abunai |
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AncientDragonValgaav
 Posts: 33 |
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I can see some validity to your point about how as the animation quality increases the overall story decreases, but that is not quite common enough to be problematic in the emerging animes from 2004. Every year has its share of hits and stinkers. This year my favorites are Genshiken and Beck.
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kainzero
 Posts: 309 |
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i wasn't too fond of the anime released during spring and summer. as for spring, i dropped everything except sensei no ojikan, and during summer, i barely picked up 2x2 = Shinbouden, which was good but not necessarily great.
however, i really like a lot of the fall programs this year. i'm actually watching a lot more than my usual one or two series a season. yakitate japan, seed destiny, uta-kata, my/mai - hime, gakuen alice, and school rumble are all pretty good =P spring was just filled with way too many harems and i didn't think anything was really interesting during summer. |
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Well, I'm sorry some of us don't download & actually wait for the licensed release, so we aren't up on what aired last week. So Saikano is actually 2002. Does it really matter? (No, I haven't watched it, anyway) And I know the way the rest of the world views America is pretty much the way the rest of America views California, so I don't really care. I'm glad everyone here isn't American. Of course you get to see some stuff before we do, just as we have the ability to see all our domestic titles before they're released around the world. Do you think it matters we see Charmed & other shows before they play in England & other countries? I've seen some of my fav va's listed as Sopranos & Simpsons characters--I'm sure we see them first here. Whoopie.
A show is new to you as long as you haven't seen it. Since Fruits Basket boxed this year, more people seem to be seeing it--I'm one of the ones who bought it as it was released a couple years ago. I think it's great people are discovering it. Same with Excel Saga. A good show is a good show. I do try to check the copyright on dvds. I don't really care that Greenwood is from the early '90's--it's still fun. Demon Lord Dante wasn't stupendous, but I like Go Nagai, so I enjoyed it. Requiem From the Darkness & 12 Kingdoms are excellent. I have been dying to see GetBackers & haven't been disappointed. I'm enjoying Saint Seiya & Wedding Peach-both older titles. Every new DBZ dvd I get as they're releasing them (Cell Saga now) has my daughter & I in tears laughing, I enjoyed the New Fist of the North Star even though it's not a usual title for me. Lunar Legend Tsukihime looks promising off 1 dvd, but I pre-bought the next 2 to see. Kiddy Grade was a disappointment since it turned out to be mostly a fan service title) Mouse, as an expected fan service title(Satoru Akahori) wasn't stupendous, but I expected nothing beyond the usual bondage girls chasing geek from M. Akahori, so it worked for me--actually Mouse was more bishie than usual for the lead in his titles. Samurai Deeper Kyo came nowhere close to the manga, but the Japanese cast made it worth my investment. My 14 yr old loved Dead Leaves far more than I did, but I loved the extras so I was happy. She's ecstatic over Gravitation('99, isn't it) & is anxiously awaiting the OVA summer 2005. She loves Peacemaker Kurogane. InuYasha continues to look amazing for my money. I want to see Bobobo Bobo(however many), but am waiting patiently-if it's never licensed, god knows there are enough other titles to waste my money on. Since I don't download, I'm paying my hard-earned cash for this stuff & I haven't been too disappointed with a majority the titles I've been adding to my collection this year. (about 200 dvds-added. I have 1000 anime dvds) Of course, if I pay $10 for a dvd, I don't expect as much from it than if I pay $20(I rarely pay more than $20 per dvd). Stuff is getting licensed sooner these days, though it can't keep up with the downloaders. I do notice downloaders seem a bit pickier, maybe because they're seeing so much "free" anime, they're burning out, I don't know. They all give lip service to the "When it's released, I'll buy it", so maybe nit-picking makes it easier to justify not buying everything they've downloaded. I found the end of Demon Lord Dante a bit of a letdown, but I still don't regret buying the entire series. I was very upset with the end of Pretear, but it's just a bishie fest(bought it to drool over bishies. You mean there's a plot?), so who cares? Maybe the rush to get the fansubs out are affecting the quality of the translations(don't know. Don't download). I saw a bootleg of Azumanga Daioh & was unimpressed(Seems to basically be the manga animated & 4 volumes of manga is cheaper than 6 volumes of anime). Bought the first 2 dvds for my 14 yr old & she loved it. Humor is a difficult translation since cultures differ-ADV has gotten pretty good with making the humor(yes, they have to change the joke) work for the American audience without really altering the feel of the show. I do know the licensed releases seem to be doing better with their scripts. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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CCSYueh, you miss the point. If the topic of discussion is "best/worst anime of last year" (i.e. 2004), then it does matter when an anime was released. I agree, there are plenty of older anime that are fine - but that is beside the point. They aren't "anime of last year", and therefore they aren't part of the subject matter of this discussion.
- abunai |
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jfrog
 Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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Yeah, you do have a point - a lot of anime has been getting more and more oriented towards the sexual fantasies of fanboys who will die virgins, but there's still lots of great stuff being made. Maybe it's partially in response to this, but there's been a strong push to do more artistic stuff. Paranoia Agent is by far the easiest of these to find (since it's liscensed), it's a Twin Peaks-style mystery, with all kinds of weird, surreal fantasy sequences that take place inside different characters' heads. There's also Mahou Shojo Tai/Tweeny Witches, which is really just a lot of fun - especially in the way that the series will briefly flirt with anime cliches and then head off in a completely different direction right when you think you can see where it's going. Abunai already mentioned Windy Tales, which is one hell of a series - if you like it, also check out the (much older and more visually plain) Yokohama Shopping Log. And if you can't get enough semi-abstract visuals from that, there's also Mind Game. It was released to theaters last year and no one went to see it, but those who did have been raving about it almost nonstop. People have said that "the world looked different when I stepped out of the theater" and such, and it's got one of the trippiest trailers I've ever seen. I'm ordering my copy of the DVD this week. 
Last edited by jfrog on Sun Jan 02, 2005 3:42 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4660 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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I think the only anime released in Japan last year I'll likely end up owning on DVD will be Planetes (which I haven't really seen but I like the manga), Steamboy, and the Tenchi Muyo OVA episodes, though I doubt I'll like those nearly as much as Tenchi Universe from the spoilers I've read.
I'll give Howl's Moving Castle a chance, but personally I feel that Miyazaki's greatest work was Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbour Totoro, and his two most recent films prior to making Howl are unfocused, overlong, and pretentious, with characters that are becoming increasingly too grotesque for my tastes. EDIT: The Oh My Goddess! TV series alone means I will probably like 2005 more than 2004, even if I won't actually get a chance to see it for a while unless I go to an anime club. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Now, now - to a certain extent, it's been that way for many years. And hey, some of us old married types have sexual fantasies, too. Ahem.
Ah, another favourite of mine - and my kids love it, too, although they miss a lot of the (really awful and therefore great) puns, even when I take the time to explain half of them.
Ah, how appropriate. Actually, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou the manga, and the two OVAs that came out of it, is my all-time favourite. In my totally unhumble opinion, YKK is the best manga I've ever seen. Betcha my avatar gave that away.... 
BTW, there are a number of similarities in animation style between Windy Tales and Mahou Shoujo Tai Arisu. It seems to me that we are seeing the emergence of a new school of anime illustration, in these two...
Planetes (actually a 2003 release, but it aired well into 2004, so let's not quibble) is brilliant - easily among the best hard science fiction anime ever made, and with a wonderfully moving and well-told plot. Buy it, you won't regret it.
I haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle yet, but when it comes to "best of Miyazaki" discussions, I'll have to say that I'm entirely with you on this point. - abunai |
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kainzero
Posts: 309 |
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i agree. more of the harem romance comedy anime sucks now than it did before. to me, there is post-love hina and pre-love hina, and everything post-LH sucks... including LH. this season isn't much better... with the bombs of Futakoi and Kakyuusei 2. furthermore, (and this REALLY annoys me) is how they use sex to sell off what would normally be a good series anyway. like uta-kata... i haven't totally caught up, but episode 5 was one of the most screwed up i've ever seen... but it seems lost in the wake of pre-teenage girls with gigantic boobs and panty shots all around. |
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jfrog
Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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That, and you seem to mention it in every other post you make. It's in the running for my favorite, mainly because the fact that the character you took your avatar from never changes his expression ever quite frankly freaks me out. But it's still a really wonderful series and everyone I've introduced it to has loved it.
Now I'm going to go all animation nerd on you, so don't say I didn't warn ya, but this new school has been around for ages. Animators have been using that style for years and years (check out the scene in the second episode of FLCL right after the eyecatch), it's just that only now have these guys been influential enough that character designs are being modeled on their style. Apparently it's been around all the way back to Mamoru Oshii's uber-obscure 80's OVA series Gosenzosama Banbanzai! (but I haven't seen it, so I can't comment). If you like the look, also check out Princess Arete - it's by the same studio that put out Memories, Mahou Shojo Tai, and Mind Game. I'd say that I'm in love with their work, but then Wong Kar-Wai would get jealous. |
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