Forum - View topicMature Anime (Not sexually speaking)
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
|
|||||||||||
|
I agree I often find "mature anime" very immature. One of the series that edid phenominally in Japan, but not as well in the US is Planetes. There are so many points where the series remind me of the trials that I have gone through during my first few jobs. I think the series really appeals to those out of school. It also reminds me of Patlabor, which also has some moments that remind me of my 20s. For some reason these series don't do as well in the US. They also have a very Japanese atmosphere.
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Kusanagi_Kei
 Posts: 230 |
|
|||||||||||
|
Okay, I see a moderator deleted my post earlier, which was located after Lasco's and before Digital Dreamer's first post.
Maybe because I was listing and not providing any explanation as to why I listed them? Or was it partly because the moderator(s) had THEIR opinion that MY opinions of what is classified as mature anime were "incorrect"? Fine. I shall do it "correctly" this time. Read Or Die (OVA): action anime. Purely science fiction, set in an espionage background, with international crisis etc. Impressive special effects and superb animation (since it's an OVA). Ghost in the Shell (movies and series): action/cop/sci-fi. Very futuristic, totally serious, little humor not including the Tachikomas. This franchise is a classic and is still highly popular up to now. Victorian Romance Emma: excellent drama, a story based in Victorian England times. Non-cute, non-chibi and non-ecchi romance series. Perfect Blue: psychological thriller. This is one a very well made movie. A masterpiece some may see it, since the view of what is happening can be subjective to how the viewer interprets the anime. So many turns and twists. Not for children and rather graphic and violent. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: school girl love triangle. Pure love drama, with little comic relief/humor. Realistic situations and one of the best tearjerkers around. SaiKano: war/apocalyptic anime. Depressing scenes and drama. Black Jack (movie): medical thriller. Story lies on a talented doctor with miraculous and phenomenal surgeon skills. Fantastic English cast including Kirk Thornton and Mary McGlynn. Patlabor (movies): I own all of these on DVD, and not much to say. Mobile Police force. Impressive mecha turned to serious crime fighting. Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu: another sad/tragic drama series. This reminds a little bit of SaiKano, but better. Although the animation and characters look small and cute, but the story and setting aren't. It reaches a climax in the middle to end, where it also gets a little graphic as well. Onegai Teacher: My #1 series. Many say that this is categorised as a comedy/fanservice series, but I do not. I see this more of a drama, because it is (IMO). The use of side characters aids the whole development of the story and also the supporting cute characters compliment highlight the romance and relationship between the main cast. The series gets sad towards the end, and a tearjerker for many too. This is drama! It took much longer typing this up. If a moderator deletes this post again, then I give up. Jeez. 
Last edited by Kusanagi_Kei on Wed Jan 04, 2006 9:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Iemander
 Posts: 443 |
|
|||||||||||
|
Crest of the Stars
The first thing that popped into my head really, it's basically about a human boy who gets adopted into another race called the Abh and starts liking an Abh girl. The story develops into a Human vs Abh fight and you'll see the inner doubts of our human boy and his choices in the war. It's quite mature, and one of the best pieces of Anime I've ever seen. First part of four, based on a novel. The Twelve Kingdoms Some people might get bored of me recommending this anime, however I've still got ways to go getting bored doing so. 12 Kingdoms is great on its design, its pacing, the portayal of its mystical world. One of the best fantasy animes ever made, and for once, not high fantasy. Another anime based on a novel, very mature. Texhnolyze,Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei. Mighty ABe trilogy, all three of them have a sort of mystical theme to it. Texhnolyze has an excellent naration, very dreary and bloody plot. Lain is more of a Matrix-like "WHAT IS THE REAL WORLD" confusing little thing. Haibane Renmei talks about Fallen Angels and their lost memories. All three are weird in a way that they're never literal, more about sub (sub) themes that might not be apparent the first time through. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18185 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||||||||||
|
Two series that haven't been mentioned yet: Human Crossing and Rumiko Takahashi Anthology (from the creator of Inuyasha).
Both are PG-rated slice-of-life anthology series aimed at adults, and both are available on DVD in the States. Quality and interest level vary from episode to episode in both but generally they're good. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
red stranger
 Posts: 184 |
|
|||||||||||
|
I think almost everything that Satoshi Kon has done could be considered "mature". Other people have mention Perfect Blue and Millenium Actress, but there is also Tokyo Godfathers and the Paranoia Agent series.
Tokyo Godfathers deals with a trio of homeless people who have found an abandoned baby. As they search for the kid's parents, they also end up running into their past lives (ie, why they became homeless). It's primarly a comedy, but there are some serious moments, as well some violence, homosexuality, suicide etc... Paranoia Agent revolves around a group of people who are all connected in some way to "Shonen Bat", a kid wanted for a series of random assaults. These people all have issues in their lives, like a cop who gets involved in illegal activities to fund his new home or a school kid who starts losing his #1 status. Not everybody likes the second half of the show, though, as it changes direction... |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Darth_Blade
Posts: 109 Location: Saint-Petersburgh, Russia |
|
|||||||||||
|
I'll entertain myself and try to brew something up %)
First and foremost, I say Kimi ga nozomu eien - it goes a long way out of the usual anime love drama style to be a little more realistic, making it in turn more "mature". Suprisingly, it's the characters' indecisiveness and stupidity that makes it that way. That's mature for you. And... uh... uh... well... that's all, I guess. Anime is aimed at children, first and foremost, but most good anime has enough food for though to be considered worthy of attention. In my not-so-humble opinion, for such anime, the only part which can be judged mature or immature is visual style. And people who put visual style before contents are to be pitied. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Iemander
Posts: 443 |
|
|||||||||||
I dissagree, just because there's more anime for young'uns than for +30 people doesn't mean that all anime is first and foremost meant for children. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Darth_Blade
Posts: 109 Location: Saint-Petersburgh, Russia |
|
|||||||||||
|
Provide me titles that have a 30+ target audience, then. I've yet to see any. As a matter of fact, such a target audience doesn't even exist as far as I know. There's pretty much nothing for the industry to hook up to at that age - people either watch what they like despite the target audience, or don't watch at all.
And the fact that the anime industry is aimed at children shouldn't get you so excited, anyway %) |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Iemander
Posts: 443 |
|
|||||||||||
I have a hard time believing something like Crest of the stars or Texhnolyze are aimed at anything younger than 20, closer to 30 would definitely be right. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Darth_Blade
Posts: 109 Location: Saint-Petersburgh, Russia |
|
|||||||||||
|
I'll leave Texhnolyze for now, but Crest of the Stars is obviously aimed at an audience of 12-16 year olds, probably of both genders.
You see, you judge by content what should be judged by form. Yes, it may very well be that the messages, ideas and thoughts of the authors were not intended to be understood by kids, but by adults. But "target audience" is a term on industry, while the deeper contents are more a term of art. In the latter case we can't generalize and say that such and such is "mature" and such and such is "immature". It is to be judged individually. And in terms of industry, anime, except maybe hentai, is just an entertainment product, sold mostly to children. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Iemander
Posts: 443 |
|
|||||||||||
Form? What exactly do you mean when you say Form. Are you talking about the amount of blood or nudity? These kinds of forms are completely irrelevant, as Japan has a completely different view on what is a mature "form" and what isn't. Naruto for example would be seen as mature in America in it's original form. A nice example of all of this would be Watership Down, it's not nearly as violent as 90% of all live action film. Hell, its seen often in the kids animation section. However the movie completely terrified me as a kid, and I know for sure I'm not the only one who thinks like that. What do you think Martin Rosen's target audience was? Forget who published it, it was most definitely not children. Crest of the Stars extremely deliberate and slow pacing are not meant for people who are very excitable, it's meant for people who like slow pacing and who value narration and depth instead of action. Are you saying that people being mature or immature has nothing to do with it? Are you still claiming that 16 year olds were the target audience in a slow moving, character centered, political space opera? |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Darth_Blade
Posts: 109 Location: Saint-Petersburgh, Russia |
|
|||||||||||
That too. Let's take NGE for example: the form would be a mediocre to good sci-fi mecha action series. Yet the topic Hideaki Anno was exploring was not big robots, but human personalities. He could've made it into... I don't know... something like a sitcom and put the characters into a realistic environment. But he's an anime director and anime is far better at exploring and transmitting complex emotions. Yet, an anime focusing on emotional problems of the characters in a realistic environment simply wouldn't appeal to enough people to have a good rating - nobody would air it. That's probably when the big robots came into play.
You overlook that most kids don't really think of character development or deeper meanings when they plop down in front of the TV to watch some cartoons. What terrified you wasn't the form, but the content.
The pacing is irrelevant when twenty minute long episodes are shown once a week.
Nothing at all. Maturity is an abstract concept, not unlike morality, religion and Santa Claus. A target audience is not an abstract concept, because it exists and you could even touch (but then you'd get a punch in the face and a sexual harassment case O_O)
Yes. Because of the last two words. Creating a fictional world only to allude it to the real world (as in politics) is a clear sign of trying to broaden the audience. The target audience is not meant to understand. It's meant to watch. And kids like to watch cartoons about spaceships and other sci-fi stuff. For 9 out of 10 such viewers, the words "political space opera" wouldn't mean a thing, but they would still watch. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
|
|||||||||||
A majority of anime (I'd say over 85%) IS aimed at children. However, that doesn't mean ALL of it is. Please don't try and tell me that Elfen Lied, Berserk, or Gantz are targeted at children as they are all clearly targeted at adults. Oh, and let's not forget hentai, as that is clearly for adults. Yoshitoshi ABe titles are all mature and aimed at older audiences. I also agree with Crest/Banner of the Stars. Few younger teens are going to appreciate such a series. Ebichu, a josei anime about a hamster living with a mid 20s aged woman, is aimed at housewifes (I think. But it IS clearly aimed at older audiences). |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
|
|||||||||||
which you could counter with an assualt case... |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Iemander
Posts: 443 |
|
|||||||||||
Wow, I don't mean to insult you, but saying the entire sci fi genre exists just because children like flashy lights and spaceships must be one of the most naieve things I've ever heard in my entire life. I have also never heard of children reading 2000+ pages books of sci fi before either, considering Crest of the Stars started off as a novel. About your NGE example, I did not take NGE as an example at all. I do not consider NGE mature in any way, even before you picked it up as an example. Form? Content? Explain, I have completely lost your meanings of either word. Watership Down had abstract imagery of dieing rabbits, I suppose it would be both content and form in my definition of both words, and judging on how I kept looking under my bed for bloodthirsty rabbits years later. Pacing is irrelevant? An extremely naieve comment. I'd like you to see a complete episode consisting of one conversation and yell "pacing is irrelevant", must be a great laugh. Maturity is not an abstract concept, it's very real. A writer can specifically say wether or not he wants to have a mature target audience or not, I think most people can imagine what kind of target audience that would be. After reading your comments on Crest of the Stars, I'm starting to doubt you ever even saw it. You make it sound as if it's about flying ships with lots of colors and vivid imagery. It's nothing like that at all, in the eyes of a kid (or anyone below 20 for that matter), it must be the most boring animated thing ever made, making Star Trek look like the next triple X. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group