talkmagic.co.uk

I quite like this and have done since the days of Akira and Ghost in the Machine, however I have recently been watching the likes of Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away which are both excellent in their own right.

Does anyone else like this kind of stuff, if so do they have any recommendations?

Also I seem to remember seeing something very, very, very late on Channel 4 once which I would like to see the conclusion too. I only remember vague bits, there was some sort of party/orgy and this guy deliberately became possessed with a demon (the monkey thing in little man made me think of it) so he had it's powers. Everyone else just got possessed and went nutty and the demon kid killed them all in gory anime style.

Firstly I admit my knowlage of anime is very mainstream western, and you've probably already heard of any titles I name. However since you didn't list it here I recomend 'Princess Mononoke' written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (wiki him for titles not mentioned). Who also did 'Spirited away' and 'Howls moving castle'. In fact I would recomend every movie he's done (but especially 'Princess Mononoke') except 'Whispers of the heart' which was less of a psychedelic fantasy joyride and more of an animated chick flick. Honestly I sat though that entire film bored silly and waiting for the spirits, demons and creatures of myth to appear to great disappointment, my brother recomended that film to me and I haven't spoken to him since.

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:my brother recomended that film to me and I haven't spoken to him since.

Haha excellent.

I'll check out the Princess. My knowledge is also limited, if I were an expert I would not be asking!

Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke (superb), My Neighbour Tororo, Spirited Away, are all excellent. Grave of the Fireflies is also great and will quite possibly move you to tears. Anything by Miyazaki is well worth watching.

Metropolis is also very good, as is The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Ninja Scroll is brilliant and so is Samurai X Trust and Betrayal. I love Japanese animation.

I look at my Anime collection and I'm mystified by some of them. I can see on the shelf Urotsukidoji (Don't ask), Great Teacher Onizuka (Great fun), Sailor Moon (It was £2, I couldn't resist the awfulness!), Serial Experiments Lain (I still have headaches from that one), Read Or Die (Only 3 Episodes!? Damnit!) and Plastic Little (Under the DVD Extras is something ominously called a "Jiggle Counter". Very Ronseal, that name is...)

Although it's no strictly Anime, I love the trailer for the movie version of manga (comics not the company) Apocalypse Meow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr4QBZfjtqs

Apart from the ones already mentioned, I'd recommend Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika. Two excellent anime TV series are Kino's Journey and Haibane Renmei.

Has anyone mentioned Ninja Scroll yet?

By the way anything directed by Hayao Miyazaki is always a good deal however dont confuse Studio Ghibli with it being a Hayao film.
There are several such as Grave of the fireflies and Cat Returns which are not Directed by Mr. Miyazaki but are just part of his Studio Ghibli. Some of these films are rubbish but some are also pretty good.

Good Miyazaki ones include:

Princess Mononoke
Castle in The Sky
Porco Rosso
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (although similar in tone to Mononoke)
Castle of Cagliostro (his feature debut and very different from his later films)

I personally found My neighbour Totoro and Kiki enjoyable but certainly aimed at a younger market

I grew up on all the classics mentioned above but have found some newer ones equally as good.

Highlander: Search for Vengeance
(Made by the same studio & artists as Ninja Scroll)

Karas: The Prophecy
Karas: The Revelation
(Cutting edge 2 part Manga with a nice blend of cgi and animation)

Bleach
(For me, the best anime series ever. The Guyver & Dragonball Z share second place)

everyone seems to love studio ghibli!

i second princess mononoke and grave of the fireflies - top films

watch them in japanese though, with the subtitles - is better

Jing wrote:watch them in japanese though, with the subtitles - is better

Watching anime subtitled is always better and I won't hear otherwise!

Jing wrote:watch them in japanese though, with the subtitles - is better

I agree but some of the English dubs are really very well done indeed. Some of the best quality dubs you will find anywhere are on Studio Ghibli titles.

And yes, foreign films should always be watched in their native language with subtitles. Unless you're watching a badly dubbed martial arts film, which are in a class of their own and absolutely hilarious.

Full Metal Alchemist is very good, I seriously recommend the Brotherhood series though as it follows the manga better. One Piece is very well done once you get past the first 20 episodes, plus only watch the Japanese version for your own sake. A personal all time favourite goes out to Ouran High School Host Club, again only watch the Japanese but I adore this anime more than any other, watch with a open mind however just a warning

Chris Tennant

Hello Kitty every time !!!

The Rough Guide to Anime (
) has a list of:http://www.mania.com/rough-guide-to-anime_article_115358.html
* Top 10
* Top 50 canon of must-see anime (with synopsis)

The top 10 are:
1. Akira (1988)
2. Astro Boy (1963)
3. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
4. Jin-Roh (1999)
5. Only Yesterday (1991)
6. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
7. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
8. Mind Game (2004)
9. Wings of Honneamise (1987)
10. Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

I'm sure you have The Anime Encyclopedia (http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews ... edia.shtml) , so check out the writings of Jonathan Clements who has done the quality filtering for you.

Spirited Away won one of those american award things which indicates its production values, but has has been said look out for Miyazaki, Tezuka and Studio 4. Oh and anything with tentacles in it ...