Appleseed - What Else?

[robertc88]

I dabble with anime from time to time with not much luck to tell the truth on what I tried till now! Wow! I really liked this movie and the Japanese DTS audio track and the PQ were quite good.

What else to try similiar to this movie as this where I'd like to continue? I'm going to forget about anime movies like Castle In The Sky etc. for the time being.

[P@t_Mtl]

I just got the Robotech movie last week. I am planning to watch it probably tomorrow night. Review for it are not bad.

[matriq]

Vexille
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movie...05&show=review
Ex Machina was better but still a good animated movie

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I just got the Robotech movie last week. I am planning to watch it probably tomorrow night. Review for it are not bad.

You mean the real Macross that just came back out with a new dub and print cleanup, or the fake American-produced one that borrowed the corporate-marketing "Robotech" name, just because it was on Blu?
(Which is pretty much the reason the OP saw Appleseed in the first place.)

Originally Posted by robertc88

What else to try similiar to this movie as this where I'd like to continue? I'm going to forget about anime movies like Castle In The Sky etc. for the time being.

Please...please...PLEASE do.
(Well, "Castle", you can watch that, just tend to stay away from the impenetrably snooty Sony-import theatrical features that aren't Disney/Studio Ghibli dubs--
Although "Castle of Cagliostro" and "Beautiful Dreamer" are more than newbie-safe for viewing.)

The "What more audience-appealing and genre-safe TV series to recommend to relative anime newbies" list keeps being updated, but the short-list usually keeps Slayers, Death Note, Azumanga Daioh, Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop on permanent rotation.

(Oh, and if any overeager anime fan insists you watch "Neon Genesis Evangelion" as your first experience, punch them in the face. HARD. Try to draw blood.
We've been trying to get rid of such counterproductive Helpy Helpertons for ten years, and with a little education and prevention, we can eradicate this scourge in our lifetime. )

[mikejet]

What's wrong with Evangelion? As long as you watch the uncut series and see the movies instead of the too open to interpretation tv series ending you're fine. End of Eva provided a pretty good ending.

I would recommend:
FLCL
Haruhi
Cowboy Bebop
Hajime No Ippo

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I just got the Robotech movie last week. I am planning to watch it probably tomorrow night. Review for it are not bad.

Good luck with that. It pretty much butchered the post Invid Invasion era timeline. It was a barely watchable movie and I've been watching Robotech for years. Also if you've read the novelizations, it butchers End of the Circle up too.

[DavePS3]

Get Ghost In The Shell (the second installment) and also Sky Blue. Both are CG backgrounds with cel-style character. Both Appleseed films are great as well, which I'm sure you know. Also, when Final Fantasy Advent Children comes out on BD, grab that one as well. It's still great on SDVD though.

[DavePS3]

I like the stuff that has finely rendered backgrounds at LEAST. I'm not a fan of the usual cel-style anime like some titles listed here although I will say the original Ghost In the Shell was okay as was Blue Submarine #6 and Howl's Moving Castle. Those are 3 non-cg style that I enjoyed.

[doctorD]

tekonkreet and Paprika

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

Good luck with that. It pretty much butchered the post Invid Invasion era timeline. It was a barely watchable movie and I've been watching Robotech for years. Also if you've read the novelizations, it butchers End of the Circle up too.

oh no please don't tell me that

[The Gnome]

Is There more than one appleseed on Blu????

[P@t_Mtl]

And I agree also with the post above, Death Note is amazing.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by mikejet

What's wrong with Evangelion? As long as you watch the uncut series and see the movies instead of the too open to interpretation tv series ending you're fine. End of Eva provided a pretty good ending.

The problem is, that most overenthusiastic fans recommend it to harmless, innocent first-time viewers who did nothing wrong and never hurt anyone in their life.
Evangelion is a preening, punishing, humorless, pretentious mess even most FANS can't watch. Your humble servant most fervently included.

(Used to be, back in the day, we used to warn first-timers not to watch "Project A-Ko 1" right off the bat, since it was a comedy about recognizable old-school 80's anime cliche's, and might fly over the head of new fans who didn't know the Classics...
But given a shotgun choice of the two, I know which one I'D choose for a first viewing.)

[doctorD]

Originally Posted by The Gnome

Is There more than one appleseed on Blu????

Currently there is only Appleseed: Ex Machina on Blu ray.

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by EricJ

The problem is, that most overenthusiastic fans recommend it to harmless, innocent first-time viewers who did nothing wrong and never hurt anyone in their life.
Evangelion is a preening, punishing, humorless, pretentious mess even most FANS can't watch. Your humble servant most fervently included.

(Used to be, back in the day, we used to warn first-timers not to watch "Project A-Ko 1" right off the bat, since it was a comedy about recognizable old-school 80's anime cliche's, and might fly over the head of new fans who didn't know the Classics...
But given a shotgun choice of the two, I know which one I'D choose for a first viewing.)

I think anyone willing to try can understand Eva. I don't think everyone will "get" Haruhi or FLCL but I still think they should watch it.

[robertc88]

Thanks for the recommendations as I'll see what I can find at Blockbuster (Monday thru Wednesady is two for one rental) and I also have Netflix to try some things as well though I use that for BDs mostly.

I watched some of Appleseed again last night. Never really thought I'd be so impressed with it.

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by EricJ

The problem is, that most overenthusiastic fans recommend it to harmless, innocent first-time viewers who did nothing wrong and never hurt anyone in their life.
Evangelion is a preening, punishing, humorless, pretentious mess even most FANS can't watch. Your humble servant most fervently included.

(Used to be, back in the day, we used to warn first-timers not to watch "Project A-Ko 1" right off the bat, since it was a comedy about recognizable old-school 80's anime cliche's, and might fly over the head of new fans who didn't know the Classics...
But given a shotgun choice of the two, I know which one I'D choose for a first viewing.)

Please Eric J, talk for yourself only.
I have probably been dabbing in Anime longer than you have, and although not an Otaku by any stretch, I can say without a doubt and with a straight face that Evangelion has been a cultural landmark on Anime on the scale of an Akira.

This being said, Evangelion is pretty heavy for a first timer, I would agree on that.
But for anyone willing to open their mind, and who are not afraid of using their brain while watching animation, this is a must see, still to this day.

As far as your recommandations go, they are the ones I'd expect from an average Cartoon Network fan. Ok, nothing more.

The following are real must see for whoever wants to see what Japanimation is about imo.

- Akira (Post-Apoc/ Sci Fi)
- Venus Wars (Sci Fi / War)
- Evangelion (TV series, SciFi / Giant Robots - Do -not- watch the movies first)
- Laputa, Castle in the Sky (Fantasy - one of my fav movies of all time)
- My Neighbor Totoro (Fantasy, geared towards children but awesome)
- Mononoke Hime (Fantasy)
- Howl's Moving Castle (Fantasy)
- The Ghost in The Shell (SciFi Cyberpunk - stay away from GitS2:Innocence for a while. It is downright gorgeous, but the story and pace will make you want to shoot yourself imo)
- GitS: Stand Alone Complex / 2nd Gig (TV series - SciFi Cyberpunk)
- Eureka 7 (TV series - SciFi Giant Robots)
- Macross DYRL movie / Macross Plus / Macross Zero / Macross Frontier (SciFi, Giant Robots - If you think you can dig a show with Giant Robots and Idol singing)
- Serial Experiment Lain (SciFi Cyberpunk - Weirdo / Maybe not for the beginner in anime, but awesome OAV series)
- Ninja Scroll (OAV Ninja/ Fantasy)
- Claymore (TV Series - Fantasy / Horror)
- Guyver, New 2005 Series (Horror / Sci Fi Bio Armor vs monsters)


Those are a few good choices I think for whoever liked Appleseed I think (there is another CGI movie of Applessed made recently, depending on the one you got. Appleseed the CGI movie was produced in 2004 and is the adaptation of the first volume of the manga, while Appleseed Ex Machina was produced in 2007, and is available in Blu Ray).

To finish on Evangelion, it is a show that exacerbated love (up to pure idolatry) and hate, that's for sure. But when you take a good, hard look at the show, there is still a wonderful artistic vision from a genius artist (in the middle of a depression at the time, many would argue that the tone of EVA is coming from that), and not only there are more than enough episodes that would satisfy any fan of Sci Fi/Giant Robots, but also more than enough episodes that will leave you thinking about the tribulations of the Hero, Shinji, and by extension the journey of any adolescent into adulthood.

You may end up thinking that Shinji is a whiney 14year old perv, and that the show spends way too much time about showing him wondering what to do or wondering if he is any good. In the end, even if one would end up hating the show, I'd still say it's worth watching in the first place.

Far better than a FLCL on acid or even a ridiculous Gurren Lagann in my humble opinion...

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

The following are real must see for whoever wants to see what Japanimation is about imo.

A: Anime hasn't been called "Japanimation" since Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures went out of business, and
B: There has been more anime released on SD since 1997 than:

- Akira (Post-Apoc/ Sci Fi)
- Venus Wars (Sci Fi / War)
- The Ghost in The Shell (SciFi Cyberpunk - stay away from GitS2:Innocence for a while. It is downright gorgeous, but the story and pace will make you want to shoot yourself imo)
- Serial Experiment Lain (SciFi Cyberpunk - Weirdo / Maybe not for the beginner in anime, but awesome OAV series)
- Ninja Scroll (OAV Ninja/ Fantasy)

(Just the other week, one anime column asked "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO Serial Experiment Lain?", as it appeared to have dropped off the face of the otaku planet since 1999...
Bringing up the theory that maybe the reason we were all throwing the recommendation around like candy a decade ago really was because it was The Only Thing On DVD, just like Akira and Ghost. And the first "Appleseed". Oh, and Eva.)

I toyed with the idea that you were deliberately posting Every 1998 Cliche' just to annoy me, but no, let's just say that, yes, you have been a fan "for a very long time".
Whereas I've been one since then and also watched NEW things in the last seven years. Hence my earlier posted links to "real" anime, most of it readily available on Netflix...Oh, I'm sorry, real "Japanimation". (Go, Speed Racer!)

To finish on Evangelion, it is a show that exacerbated love (up to pure idolatry) and hate, that's for sure.
You may end up thinking that Shinji is a whiney 14year old perv, and that the show spends way too much time about showing him wondering what to do or wondering if he is any good. In the end, even if one would end up hating the show, I'd still say it's worth watching in the first place.

Not only is life too short, there are MUCH more options available than Forcing Yourself to Do Things You Don't Want to Do--
Watching Them Anyway, Even Though You Might Hate Them was the buzzword of 1998, when you just plain didn't have much choice in the DVD rental section of Blockbuster. It's a different world now, Rip, so quit watching "Venus Wars" and "Ninja Scroll".

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Bringing up the theory that maybe the reason we were all throwing the recommendation around like candy a decade ago really was because it was The Only Thing On DVD, just like Akira and Ghost. And the first "Appleseed". Oh, and Eva.)

I remember a time when the only thing to watch was bootlegged VHS tapes from a chinese video store of subtitled DBZ and Power Ranger vids.

I don't want new Anime fans to go through the horrors of what I had to watch. Episode after episode of filler until you finally get a fight that is over in a couple minutes.

Eva is a great heavy story. So is something like My Neighbor Totoro.

I remember watching Otaku no Video the first time and that's when you know how much of a fan you are. By how much of that movie you can relate to.

To the OP, you want to get into Anime on a light scale? GO SHONEN JUMP. There I said it. I hate to say it but it's true.

Want to play with the real stuff? Want to see why people watch Anime instead of regular cartoons? Watch Eva and Gantz. Gantz will blow your f'n mind.

Want something in between that has some depth but is kinda cliche? Initial D and Hajime No Ippo.

My personal recommendation? Go watch Akira then come back and give your honest opinion and we can go from there.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by mikejet

I remember a time when the only thing to watch was bootlegged VHS tapes from a chinese video store of subtitled DBZ and Power Ranger vids.

I remember when there was rarely any such thing as subtitling, and you had to guess at what was being said, which was why easy genre-friendly shows like Ranma 1/2 caught on so early--
My first anime hook was at a gaming convention (yes, this was a long time ago ), someone showed a Dirty Pair laserdisc raw...And not only could I "understand" what was going on despite not knowing exactly what they were saying (although I had a pretty good idea), my jaw dropped to discover that the "robot-obsessed" Japan of Robotech and Akira had an actual functioning sense of humor.
...Remember this point, as I'll be alluding to it later in the post.

I don't want new Anime fans to go through the horrors of what I had to watch.

Unfortunately, that's what every other poster seems to be inflicting.

I remember watching Otaku no Video the first time and that's when you know how much of a fan you are. By how much of that movie you can relate to.

I remember OnV parodying an overseas underground 1992 US anime proto-fandom as an entire nation of smitten stalkers obsessed with Lum from "Urusei Yatsura".
I was there at the time. Guess what: IT WAS TRUE.

Want to play with the real stuff? Want to see why people watch Anime instead of regular cartoons? Watch Eva and Gantz. Gantz will blow your f'n mind.

Unfortunately, that ^^, in a single sentence, is part of what almost killed off mainstream anime in the mid-90's:
Pipebomb-throwing fans who wanted to lure fans into the "revolution" with "You'll never see THIS on Cartoon Network! ", and forcing them to watch the exploding-head scenes from Fist of the North Star.

As we learned from history, most mainstream anime acceptance DID come from watching it on Cartoon Network in the late 90's, which explains how Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Tenchi Universe and Death Note stayed on the first-timers' recommendation list so long--
New fans (well, the clean-and-sober ones, anyway, which is rapidly leaving out the current CN) don't want to be "bludgeoned" with new anime experiences, they want to be "fooled" into thinking they're watching real US genre-archetypal action/comedy animation, just with that little twist that makes it better...Which could only come from a different cultural-evolutionary path rooting back to comic books being more popular over there.

You don't GET new fans with Gantz, Eva or Akira. You get them like you got me--With Kei & Yuri.
Or Lum. Or Lupin III. Or Lina Inverse. Or Ranma-chan. Or Spike Spiegel. Or Osaka. Or even L.
Most of us watch shows that contain things we like to watch, and even if we "force" ourselves to watch something that literally "assaults our senses" for our own, quote-fingers, "good", it's the things we like that we watch a second time. That's how you build CONTINUING fans, who keep watching new shows.
The "revolution"'s over, and blessed are the peacemakers who won.