Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine "The Anime Thread" Thread

I never really hear a lot of talk about anime and manga on this website. That I can remember, at least.

I want to know what you guys think of japanese animation and comics, if you've ever watched or read any and what kind interests you.

That covers a lot of ground.

I like a lot of it, and about the only things I won't try anymore are the real hardcore titles like LA Blue Girl or Legend of the Overfiend.

What was the first one you ever saw?

Star Blazers, but I didn't know it was "anime".

The first series I saw once I knew a little more about anime was 3X3 Eyes. It made me a fan.

How about yourself?

Speed Racer and Voltron, and then Sailor Moon when it first aired on Toonami. Needless to say I'm a big Sailor Moon fan.

Speed Racer ran about the same time as Star Blazers in my neck of the woods. They were both pretty intense shows compared to most of the kiddie fare at the time.

When Sailor Moon came over, it ran at some ridiculously early hour. No way was it ever going to reach an audience that way.

I only watched Speed Racer and Voltron because the only channels I "knew" back then was Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and at the time those two played it was either them or Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which, me being very little, scared me.

I've seen both the dub and the original Japanese version of Sailor Moon, and I've bought most of the manga. They never dubbed the final season, Sailor Stars, because three of the new heroines, the Sailor Starlights, masqueraded as men. They literally were teenage boys when they didn't transform. In the manga they just dressed like boys to hide their identities.

There was two villains on that show who were both homosexual males in the original anime. Zoisite of the Dark Kingdom during the first season, and FishEye of the Amazon Trio, part of the Dead Moon Circus in season four. Zoisite was in an open relationship with another villain, Kunzite, and FishEye would usually target men and dress like a woman (He really could pass for one). In the dubbed version, the two were both turned into women because they were effeminate.

There was one episode, however, where FishEye was able to pass off as a cross-dressing male when his target was a fashion designer (who might have been gay himself, it was never stated). There was a scene where he ripped off his shirt to reveal his male chest. In the dub, they cut that scene out, but on the uncut videos and DVDs they kept it, only "she" claimed she wasn't like other "women".

Of course, all of the anime that I like that I can think of right now would be...

Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo, Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo, Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland, Bubblegum Crisis, Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, Blue Seed, Devil Hunter Yohko, Kimagure Orange Road, Fullmetal Alchemist, Sukeban Deka, G Gundam, the BlackJack OVA, Dirty Pair, Golden Boy

Cartoons from Japan! My first...

8TH MAN

We got our first-ever COLOR tv with UHF channels on Valentine's Day, 1966. Imagine, doubling the number of channels, and suddenly, SOME of the shows were in color. At 5 PM, Philly's Channel 17 was running this cool show that was both intense AND funny (often at the same time), about a private eye who'd been MURDERED, and his memories transferred into a ROBOT body. He could also change his appearance (via hologram? I was never sure of the technique) and could masquerade as his former human self. The only people who knew his secret were Police Chief Fumblethumbs (you can tell by that name the show had a sense of humor) and his creator, Professor Genius.

The show VANISHED from the airwaves around here when B&W shows fell out of favor around 1970... a real tragedy. 2 decades later, I got ahold of about 10 episodes via my video store, and was stunned that it was EVERY BIT AS GOOD as I remembered it! That combo of film noir intensity and slapstick comedy side-by-side really made a great balance.

What I still don't get is the opening and closing credits, done in a completely different animation style than the rest of the show! I guess some US studio must have done them. It tends to be jarring, and sometimes I just wanna fast-forward over them to get to the stories.

I think my dad remembers Gigantor and Astro Boy. I once recorded an episode of Gigantor on the DVR for him one Christmas. But he never watched it.

I've only watched a few anime so far, but my favorites are: Lucky Star, Azumanga Daioh, K-On, Karin, Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Strawberry Panic.

Also the original OVA version of Today In Class 5-2. I haven't seen the later version yet.

I've seen a couple of episodes of Lucky Star, about the beginning of the first episode of Azumanga Daioh, but that's it.

I forgot to list Project A-Ko and Gun Smith Cats.

I forgot Love Hina.

I borrowed the first volume of that from the library but never read it.

I used to really like the Astro Boy, Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion cartoons when I was young.

Haven't gotten into much anime since I've gotten older but I did think the few episodes I saw of Neon Genesis Evangelion were really impressive and have it on my To Do List to watch that whole series in order one day.

Movies-wise, I think the only one I've seen is Spirited Away and though I did like it, I wouldn't say I'm in a rush to see many more.

I never read the comics.

The manga can sometimes differ drastically from the anime.

In Sailor Moon, in order to catch up to the manga, they created an entire filler arc which dominated the first half of the second season. And the fifth season lacked most of the source material from the comic.

Revolutionary Girl Utena, the anime, was much more metaphysical and surreal than the manga. It was like it was written by Grant Morrison at certain times.

Bubblegum Crisis didn't have a manga.

The original Gundam trilogy of movies is excellent. I've seen some of the subsequent incarnations of Gundam, and while they've gotten more technically sophisticated, I don't think any of them are as inspired as the original.

Which ones were those.

Thanx.

It might not have helped nationally that he recharged his body by smoking "nuclear isotope cigarettes", but I wonder if those parts made it to the states.

There was a sequel animated miniseries some years called 8 Man After, featuring a new hero. It kept the intensity but lost the humor. Well, the intentional humor.

"Nuclear isotope cigarettes"? I love Japan.

I don't know the difference between anime and manga.
I remember Speed Racer but I didn't really watch it very much.
Were the Hurculoids or Thundar or Thunder Cats Japanese?
I watched the Hurculoids(sp) as a kid and my boys watched the other two and I watched with them.

I watched Pokemon, Yugio and Battle something Z with my older grandkids.
I played Pokemon with the boy and just gave all of my original Nintendo 64 and yellow, red, blue, gold, silver and crystal to my 4 little grand daughters (about killed me).
Yugio was big with Dorian, too.
I watche Sailor Moon with one of my older Gran girl, Dorian's sister.

On my own, I've seen and/or read Akira, Nausicaa (love), Princess Mononoki(sp), Crying Freeman, Tank Girl, Dirty Pair, Battle Angel and a number of shows on Toonami.

What's the show with the monkish kids who all fight each other?
I know there's a number of them but this was very teenish.

Anyway, my latest favorite has been Avatar, the Last Air Bender.
That, Nausicaa and Pokemon are probably my 3 favorites.

Anime's the cartoons. Manga is the comic.

No, I believe the Herculoids, Thundar, and Thunder Cats are American. I remember the Herculoids from Cartoon Network when I was little.

I still have Pokemon Blue, I also had a guide but I don't remember where it is. I think I lost it, which sucks because I tried replaying it a couple of years ago and made a mistake.

My brother loves the Miyazaki movies, although the only two he owns are Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle (he even has the book). We used to have Little Nemo in Slumberland and Kiki's Delivery Service on tape but we gave them away.

I think you mean Xiaolin Showdown, but that was an American cartoon as well.

So do I.

Even lesser Miyazaki (like, sadly, the recent Ponyo)is well worth looking into.