MovieChat Forums > Gangureivu (2004) Discussion > One of the best.

One of the best.

posted 18 years ago by merqabah
2 replies | jump to latest

One slepless night i turned on cartoon network and came across an Anime Called samurai champloo, the only mature anime i had seen and loved was Neon Genesis Evangelion, apart from that and some episodes of dragon ball z i couldn't stand japanese animation, so Samurai Champloo made me get a little into it.
I saw all of samurai Champloo, and became addicted, so i searched for other animes with this quality, i found three which were the ones i was recomended the most, Trigun, which has one of the saddest characters ever (Vash), Cowboy Bebop, which i liked, and Gungrave.
Of all the above, Gungrave has to have the most human and rounded characters ever, NGE are twisted, perverted and screwed, Samurai Champloo, doesn't have the characters change that much and there presonality is not really complex, and as for Cowboy Bebop, Spike is just...well weird.This series has a great mixture of action and character development, i mean they actually change phiscally and mentally trouhout time, Harry is not the same in chapter 2 than around chapter 14 or 20, my only complain wold be the over the top mutations near chapter 20, also couldn't understand why maria made that last unecesary stand.
So after seeing all these masterpieces im looking for another series this good, and not crap like Naruto or yu-gi-oh, so what would you recommend me?

[–] helios_eclipsed 18 years ago

Actually, you and I are in the same predicament. I like all the ones you just mentioned (actually, I have some issue with Champloo, which is the newest of all of them, and actually rips Bebop off on more than one occasion. Don't believe me? Watch Episode 7, "A Risky Racket" and then watch Bebop episode 8, "Waltz for Venus." Mostly, it's the same SCRIPT, with a few alterations), and the trouble is that they seem to be the best ones. So now there's nowhere to go but down, or so it might seem at least.

I have seen Ghost in the Shell the movie, and Akira. I really like Ghost (I own it), and Akira is interesting, if not great (totally excellent animation, though. Top notch). But it is very strange.

Also, the show Escaflowne is pretty good, solid without being great, but good nonetheless. The ending is kinda weak, and in all fairness the tone is just a little bit girly, but never bad at all, just a softer tone to it, I guess. That would be less sexist of me. The main character is a girl, so I'm sure that's what it is. Not bad, but not as good as the ones in your list.

I have a couple leads for shows that could be cool, but I haven't had the chance (aka MONEY) to check them out yet. One is called Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, which is based on the classic Alexandre Dumas novel, with some sci fi twists. It's got great reviews, but I haven't seen it. The following also look interesting:

Serial Experiments Lain
Texhnolyze
Bubblegum Crisis
Haibane Renmei
Spirited Away

Just keep in mind that I'm not recommending any of these, but these are ones that I have been referred to, and may be worth looking into.

Also, these I have seen some of:

Ghost in the Shell SAC
Big O
Princess Mononoke

I personally thought that The Ghost in the Shell series was somewhat boring, but I didn't get very far into it, and some people swear that it gets really interesting. The Big O is kind of odd looking (kind of like Batman with giant robots), but it looked intriguing enough that I may be interested in checking it out. Princess Mononoke looked pretty neat, but I missed the beginning so I stopped watching. I'd rather watch it all the way through.

It may be kind of a long list, but I was just throwing out what I have turned up. Some of it may be crap, but at least it might be a jumping point (you have to start somewhere). And since we like some of the same things, that may count for something.

If you do check any of them out, let me know what you think! I'd be interested in a viewer review.

"...and everything under the Sun is in tune, but the Sun is Eclipsed by the Moon...." -DSotM.

[–] joker489 17 years ago

I've seen a lot of the anime you speak of.
I thought NGE WAS pretty good but really liked the End of Evangelion which retells the last two episodes of NGE from the worlds perspective rather than Shinji's thoughts.

I watched Cowboy Bebop first time and was a bit disapointed as the only narrative progression was episodes 5, Jupiter Jazz part 1 + 2 and The real folk blues p. 1 + 2. However it grew on me and the thing that i like about Bebop now is there is someone for everyone or what ever mood i'm in.
Pretty much the same story with Champloo.

Gungrave however stood out i thought with a large percentage dedicated to the development of narrative and character development. At this moment in time it is one of my favourite animes.

Other anime that I think all Anime lovers should get into are as follows:-

1. Samurai X - Trust and Betrayal (known to many as the greatest anime of all)
2. Full Metal Alchemist (Rent the movie not that fantastic)
3. Furi Kuri (AKA. Fooly Cooly or FLCL)
4. A number of Studio Ghibli films (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and maybe Holw's Moving castlw whcih i personally enjoy)
5. Akira (Anime Classic)
6. Wolf's rain
7. Eureka Seven (started to get into it and am enjoying so far)