Just finished watch Last Exile for the first time

Freejack

Thanks to Netflix.

Great series, I had seen a couple different episodes and was drawn in by the airships, but never had an chance to watch it all the way through. Really a fun story to watch and several times I was pacing around the room which was a first for me watching an anime. The fight scene with Licciola and Cicada is a work of art in an of itself.

Jake

Biggles

The whole series is a work of art.

Messiah

About time. Me and Biggles have discussed this already. :p

Really, it is one of those must see animes. If you enjoyed this, see both Full Metal Alchemist animes too. It is not quite as beautiful, but still steampunk, and great.

Watch brotherhood after youve finished the series and the film. The first series and film are what the anime creators thought the creator of the manga wanted (he wanted to give them free reign of the anime) and the second one is a true adaptation of the manga (they diverge a ways in). So far, I have to say the first anime is better, but they both have their charms. :)

Freejack

I've watched some FMA and I found the story interesting, unfortunately not available in streaming on Netflix.

OK, here's the list of Anime that can be streamed from Netflix, anyone have any suggestions? Maybe something unique that wouldn't have had the chance to catch before (ie not Blood or Ghost In The Shell). I'm not necessarily looking for steam-punk (though I like that aesthetic), just compelling story, good visuals and mature characters.

Blood+: Part 2 (25 episodes)
Blood+: Part 1 (25 episodes)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (26 episodes)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Gun Sword (26 episodes)
Noein (24 episodes)
Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig: Individual 11
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
Angelic Layer (26 episodes)
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (24 episodes)
Macross Plus (2 episodes)
Read or Die (3 episodes)
Tokko (13 episodes)
Black Jack: The Movie
Final Yamato
Ghost in the Shell
Memories
Saiyuki (50 episodes)
Be Forever Yamato
Gilgamesh (26 episodes)
Mezzo (13 episodes)
Blood: The Last Vampire
Karas: The Prophecy
Karas: The Revelation
Megaman: Upon a Star (3 episodes)
Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie
Best Student Council (26 episodes)
Ninja Scroll
Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage
Stan Lee Presents: Mosaic
Chance Pop Session (13 episodes)
Dead Space: Downfall
Macross 2: The Movie
Lady Death
Perfect Blue
Virus: Virus Buster Serge (12 episodes)
Magnos: The Robot
Sin: The Movie
Dead Leaves
Sword For Truth
BASToF Syndrome (26 episodes)
Ellcia (4 episodes)
Nurse Witch Komugi (6 episodes)
Kai Doh Maru
Parasite Dolls
Vampire Wars
Princess
M.D. Geist / M.D. Geist: Death Force
Psychic Wars

There's a lot more in the DVD only section, but the SWMBO's queue is so long it will be a while before I can drop any anime in. When we get to that point there are some I will get like Steamboy and some of the Miyazaki movies.

Jake

Biggles

Perfect Blue
Noein (24 episodes)
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (24 episodes) [Another work of art]
Macross Plus (2 episodes)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (26 episodes)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig: Individual 11
Ghost in the Shell
Read or Die (3 episodes)


In that order.

Messiah

Biggles knowledge of these things is far greater than mine. Trust in the Biggles.

Freejack

Thanks Biggles! I will add those to my view list! Though I am curious why you placed the GITS series before the movie. I thought the movie was first?

Jake

Stingray

[QUOTE=Biggles;187235]Ghost in the Shell[/QUOTE]

I'm still trying to figure out what people see in this piece of work... I was expecting so much more when I first saw it.

Biggles

[QUOTE=Freejack;187246]Thanks Biggles! I will add those to my view list! Though I am curious why you placed the GITS series before the movie. I thought the movie was first?[/QUOTE]

The theatrical movies and the series are pretty separate. The movies were made by a director who wanted to explore existentialism and all that stuff (to the extreme that I found the second theatrical movie to be a bit pretentious). The series is closer to the original source material, in that it deals mainly in two things: mysteries (of the criminal sort) and guns. Lots of guns.

You can watch them separately. Perhaps, if you want an introduction to the world, watch the first theatrical movie first. Skip the second unless you just want to watch the pretty pictures.

DarthCaligula

Perfect Blue. I absolutely recommend Perfect Blue.

Stingray

Sounds like I'd enjoy the GITS series more. I didn't really care for all that existentialist stuff.

Freejack

Just finished Perfect Blue, definitely a good recommendation. I wasn't into it at the start, but a finished out as a great story. I'm surprised someones not done a live action version.

Now onto Noien

Jake

Biggles

Perfect Blue originally was a live-action movie, but budget restrictions forced it down to an animated movie (which ironically kick-started the director's career: see also, [i]Millenium Actress[/i], [i]Tokyo Godfathers[/i] and [i]Paprika[/i]). A separate live-action version that is apparently closer to the original novel was made a few years ago.

Freejack

OK, finished Noien, had to blitz the final 6 episodes last night, as they were no longer going to be available on Netflix as of today. Anyway, good story, I liked the whole use of quantum theory as a basis for the plot, but sometimes the technobabble got a bit heavy in the later eps. The visuals were very nice including the rendering of the Japanese city of Hakodate which from what little I can remember visiting there 15 or so years ago, seems just right. In the end the story didn't draw me in like Exile, but I think the romance of Exile's airships just endeared me in a way that is unique to that series.

Unfortunately GITS:SAC is also apparently off of Netflix for the time being, but I gotta get through Monte Cristo now.

Jake

Biggles

I've been to Hakodate a few times. The rendering of it in the series is stunningly accurate.

Freejack

I also liked the two cars that showed up regularly, a Lancia A112 and a Lancia Delta Integrale.

Jake'

A2597

[QUOTE=Biggles;187249]The theatrical movies and the series are pretty separate. The movies were made by a director who wanted to explore existentialism and all that stuff (to the extreme that I found the second theatrical movie to be a bit pretentious). The series is closer to the original source material, in that it deals mainly in two things: mysteries (of the criminal sort) and guns. Lots of guns.

You can watch them separately. Perhaps, if you want an introduction to the world, watch the first theatrical movie first. Skip the second unless you just want to watch the pretty pictures.[/QUOTE]

Dare I even mention the 3rd movie?
Oh gosh that one ticked me off...

the first I thought was good, in line with the Anime. 2nd was nice since we got to see what happened to the Major after the 2nd gig, but plot was thinner than the 1st.

3rd was just a piece of crap.

Biggles

The "3rd" movie is actually a sequal to the series. It isn't connected to the first two movies. As for whether or not it's good, I can't say, as I haven't seen it.

Freejack

Ok, just finished SAC, finally nice to see the conclusion since I'd seen the early eps numerous times. I gotta go back and get the Macross Plus, since I inadvertently skipped that one. It will give me a nice break from GITS for the moment. I only got to see one episode of the Count before it was pull off Netflix streaming. I know I should look past it for the story, but the use of fixed patterns in the clothing bugged the snot out of me.

Jake

Freejack

Started watching GITS:SAC 2nd GIG....and the cast change for the english voicing just knocked me clear out of the movie! I was ok with the Major's voice being different, but when I heard Aramaki's voice, I had to stop. It was a subtle change, but just went the wrong way for me

I know it shouldn't matter, but still...

Jake

A2597

The English dubs in general suck...bad voice acting and they have some of the best lines totally wrong.

Come to think of it, the only series I can recall being very good as a dub is Samurai Champloo, that had a really good voice cast.

DarthCaligula

It seems that dubbing has gotten better than it used to be. Or maybe it's just that some recent good ones are sticking out in my mind and blocking out the sucky ones.
Oh man, that reminds me, Dragon Ball Z Kai! All right! Now I get to see all the screaming and ridiculous fights again, with all the dead air taken out! No, I don't own this, I've just managed to see some of it on TV. Managed to see quite a bit I've never seen before. I'M POWERING UP!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Ha! This show's hilarious!
Getting serious though, recently I saw an anime called Higurashi. I really liked that. I've only seen the first season though. It's amazing how used to the graphic murders in that show I got. I'm also watching Lost Universe now, which is by the same people that made Slayers, and very much the same style. I like it so far.
Oh yeah, and getting to dubs again, whenever I have the choice I always go for subtitles.

DarthCaligula

Have any of you seen Serial Experiments: Lain? It kept coming up while I was looking up Boogiepop stuff online (I actually bought all the translated Boogiepop novels pretty recently. Sucks that they didn't sell well), and I remembered my brother talking about it and owning it, so I've started watching it. I'm four episodes into it and really enjoying it.

Freejack

Finally went back and finished the 2nd series for GITS, definitely liked more of the origin stories it had.

Just started Heroic Age, about 3 or 4 eps in. Appears to be a good solid space opera, which is just what I was looking for.

Jake

Biggles

That was what I thought, too, at that point. Unfortunately, the only good thing about that series turned out to be the music.

Capt.Montoya

I love Ghost In The Shell.
Both anime series were great. I bought the DVDs and I watched with Japanese audio and English subtitles so I didn't have the shock of hearing the voice acting change that Freejack had.

I also liked the movie that is a sequel to the series (Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society) which A2597 didn't like.
Not as good as the series, but it is good in following the same themes and showing more of the characters and what happens to Section 9 after Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG.
If anything it shows too much in too little time, maybe if it had been expanded to a full series it would have been more nuanced and easier to understand (I had to rewind in some scenes to catch well what was going on).

And regarding Last Exile: an excellent work. I watched it first on Tech TV's Anime Unleashed, and when I had a chance to buy the DVD boxset I didn't give it a second thought, I did it. I've only watched the DVDs once (Japanese dialog) but I plan to rewatch soon (English dubbing then).

Another series I liked was Witch Hunter Robin. It starts as a monster of the week series, but then it goes into a nice SF-adventure-mistery storyline (which the first episodes set up too subtly: witches have powers that come from their genes and are inherited, the organization that captures and tries to control witches is not what it appears to be).

I've also enjoyed Cowboy Bebop.

Biggles

Witch Hunter Robin is very well laid out. The underlying plot creeps up on you.

Cowboy Bebop is pure awesome.