WK's Top Ten Favorite Anime films

Inspired by Mr. Carnelian's thread and some other discussions I've had with a few people. I have compiled a list of my ten favorite anime flicks of all time. I even have ten honorable mentions but decided I didn't want to put all the effort into doing a top twenty list. I did give myself some ground rules for myself:

• One film only for certain directors and Studio Ghibli - I could easily make a list of just films with Studio Ghibli and Satoshi Kon so I limited myself into choosing just one film for each.
• No OAV/TV Movies - I will not count a film that is basically a re-edited version of a TV series or OAV into film format, so no Mobile Suit Gundam Movie, Endless Waltz, or Macross Plus. With that said, an adaption of a series into film format is perfectly acceptable.
• One film per franchise - Basically if a film has a sequel or prequel, I'm only going for one film though to be honest, this rule is really only here for one particular entry since I'm sure it will raise some eyebrows.

Fun fact about my list:

• Only four are standalone films that are not based on a popular manga/book/TV series
• Two films are based on novels.
• Three are film adaptions of popular series
• The youngest film on this list turns eighteen next week.
• The oldest movie turned forty this month.
• One film has never received a Western release
• Only two films feature giant robots

OK, so I am positive Princess Mononoke is going to be here, so that kinda already drains our Ghibli stock. The youngest movie being 18 was kinda surprising, since I half-expected one of the new Eva movies to be here. That said though, I am now fairly certain End of Evangelion will be here. Also, the initial post pretty much states we'll see Satoshi Kon here, so my personal bet is Perfect Blue. Have no clue what the other giant robot anime will be, tbh, though I'm not really that knowledgeable about those old school robot shows. Also, can't tell if End of Eva counts as an adaptation of a TV show or not, so that leaves two or three of those left.

So yeah, looking forward to seeing the list!

10.

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I don't feel this film needs much introduction. Akira is a phenomenal movie that was one of the first anime to really break into the U.S. conscious since Astro Boy in the 60s. The film is a loose adaption of the manga from the same name, but unlike a lot of adaptions, the author, Katsuhiro Otomo insisted on writing both the screenplay and directing the film. Which probably explains why Akira is one of the best film adaptions of a manga in the medium. Despite this, I implore people to check the manga out because it's a very different beast than the film.

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Akira begins with the destruction of Tokyo sometime during the 80s by a mysterious explosion which sets off World War III. Jumping to 2019, Neo Tokyo has been built from the ashes and is getting ready to host the 2020 Olympics the following year despite massive public protests, a corrupt government, terrorist groups, and biker gangs roaming the streets. Wee meet Kaneda and Tetsuo, two kids who grew up together and became a gang. Kaneda leads the group against the rival Clown gang through the streets of Tokyo where his friend Tetsuo tries to prove himself by fighting one of the members only to come afoul of a strange grey skinned child who blows up his bike. When the others catch up to them, they are surrounded by the military who take the child and Tetsuo with them and hand the others over to the police.

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Tetsuo becomes part of a secret government experiment to try and replicate the power of Akira, a psychic child who was the cause of Tokyo's destruction in the distant past. Tetsuo escapes but begins to exhibit strange psychic powers which warp his mind and escalate his inferiority complex against Kaneda. Kaneda for his part, tried to rescue his friend by tagging along with the terrorist group which is trying to turn the people against the government, and not just because he found Kei super hot. Eventually the whole film escalates into Tetsuo's one man war to find Akira as he battles the army, the other psychic kids and Kaneda himself. Ultimately the film ends with one of the most graphic and memorable;e sequences that will make your stomach churn just thinking about it.

Having recently watched this film, I must say that Akira still holds up as a visual tour de force. It's actually mind boggling to think this film is over thirty years old with how fluid the animation is and how clean it looks. It was one of the most expensive films of its time and I'm sure with inflation, it's still one of the most expensive films of all time. Otomo also does a great job of really transforming his complex story into a film adaption. One of the biggest changes is that the manga is more of an ensemble piece with several plot threads involving the military, the psychic kids, and the resistance groups but here, Otomo ties everythign together by just focusing primarily on Kaneda and Tetsuo as the point of view characters that the film is seen through. While several plot threads are lost from the manga, the ones that were kept are still largely well told.

For me, it's no surprise this film has remained in the public conscious for so long, I'm even surprised by how much it's influenced my own works. If you have not seen this movie yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Next Entry: ...a journey to the stars!

I've yet to see this movie. It looks very interesting.

I'm assuming you're listing them in reverse, because there's no way Akira doesn't go right to the top. :colbert:

The sound track is amazing, the manga is absolutely better than the film, and the film is fantastic. Another very good manga from Otomo is called Domu.

If you haven't read Domu, go do it.

Cam Clarke dub ftw.

Yeah, I have to agree.

9.

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I'm sure this is a film some of you have heard of, but not many people have actually watched. Galaxy Express 999 is a hero's journey tale told in the backdrop of a space opera set in the imaginative world of Leiji Matsumoto. Set in a far future where mankind has not only perfected space travel and made friends with various galactic civilizations, they have also learned how to build immortal mechanized bodies and transfer their souls into it. Unfortunately, the bodies and process are incredibly expensive and thus Earth is trapped in a class warfare between the rich robot citizens and the regular human ones. Tetsuro Hoshino and his mother travel to the city to gain jobs and earn a pass on the space train Galaxy Express 999. This is due to hearing tales of the empire in the Andromeda Galaxy giving away free mechanized bodies to anyone who comes. Unfortunately tragedy strikes when Tetsuro's mother is murdered by Count Mecha and his hunting party who hunt regular humans for sport. Distraught, Tetsuro meets the mysterious Maetel who bears a resemblance to his mother and gives him a pass to get on the 999 if he would be her companion on the trip. Tetsuro agrees as he both wants immortality and the chance to hunt down the machine who killed his mother.

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The 999 takes them on a whirlwind journey across the galaxy and Tetsuro meets many people who begin to mold him into a better person as he meets tragic survivors of the mechanized monopoly, space faring heroes, space pirates, and even mother smurfing Captain Harlock. Tetsuro's journey makes him start to reconsider why he wants a mechanized body, why he wants revenge, and discover more about an individuals place in a massive unfeeling cosmos. What does he choose when he finally reaches the Andromeda Galaxy and meets Queen Metallia of the Machine Empire?Who is the mysterious Maetel and why did she help Tetsuro? You'll just have to find the film and watch it I guess.

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Based on the popular manga from 1977, I really don't discuss Leiji Matsumoto and his works enough on this forum. I love his universe and the space opera he's created with all of these characters and it was the introduction to the sequel manga for this film that got me hooked on it. This film is a very abridged adaption of the manga which focuses more on the pivotal stories of Tetsuro's journey as opposed to the manga which often had several stories about the various worlds and people the Galactic Train crosses paths with. The film did well enough to garner a sequel called Galaxy Express 999 Adieu, and while that film is really good in it's own right, it largely just retreads a lot of the themes the original film.

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If you've never had a chance to see what Leiji Matsumoto's work outside of maybe the Interstella 5555 videos for Daft Punk, then you should start here with this film as it gives you a fairly good idea of what his universe is like. If you want to start from the beginning, then check out Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers as it was his first work.

Coming up: I'm not sure what happiness really is...

Never heard of this one. Looks very old school, sounds quite intriguing. Might give it a watch sometime.

Also, could at be that the next entry will bring us tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down...? :bigsmile:

Anything with Captain Harlock and Emeraldas in it gets my thumbs-up.

Sorry this took so long. I had meant to rewatch this film before doing the write-up but sadly learned that my copy has some...issues.

So without further ado...

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#8

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If you've actually heard or even seen this film, color me impressed. This is a very old school flick that only recently started to see the light of day again. It should also be apparent that this story served as the inspiration for Leiji Matsumoto's Galaxy Express series I've already spoken about.

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The story slowly begins with Giovanni, a poor boy in small village. His mother has fallen ill and can no longer work, and his father has left to work on a fossil hunting expedition that has dragged on so long that rumors are spreading around town about his fate. To help ease the burden on his family, Giovanni has a part time job working at a paper making shop. Due to these circumstance, Giovanni has little time to be with his peers and is falling behind in school which makes him an easy target for bullies. His only friend is Campanella who does his best to help Giovanni and the only child at school who understands his loneliness.

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On the night of the Star Festival, Giovanni finally gets a break from work and is able to attend. He makes plans to meet with his friend Campanella to drink milk on the hill while they stargaze. While waiting, Giovanni hears a loud noise and sees a train descend from the sky before him. His friend Campanella arrives shortly after and the two enter the train which sweeps them away from their small village and takes them on a journey through the Milky Way where they meet several eccentric characters on the train's stops, as well as many figures they meet as fellow passengers. The true nature of the train and its journey is both beautiful and eerie as the story asks the question that is the story's main theme: What is true happiness?

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Night on the Galactic Railroad was a novel written by Japan's premier posthumous poet Kenji Miyazawa in 1927 a few years after his family was struck by tragedy. Miyazawa's life itself is actually fairly interesting and was given an anime biography in the form of the film Spring and Chaos, which I also highly recommend despite being a bit depressing. The story combines the man's love of science and astronomy with his poetic sensitivity. The film itself is largely a slow but haunting tale with religious symbolism, eerie imagery, and gorgeous set pieces that combines to make a film that looks like a children't film, but is really a philosophical dialogue about what makes people, happy, loneliness, and our place in the universe. If you're wondering why the main characters are cats, it's a stylistic choice by the director since many of Miyazawa's children's stories featured anthropomorphic characters. The film also utilizes Esperanto in it's text as Miyazawa was fascinated by the language and wanted to spread it.

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The film's pacing is actually both it's strangest and weakest point. If like plots that move along at a quick pace, then this is not the film for you. The first thirty minutes of the film are dedicated to the boring and isolated existence of Giovanni's life and it takes awhile before the train shows up. Yet once it arrives the film has a really good segue from the high spirited adventure story it begins as before slowly descending into a more eerie and somber piece concerning the films major themes. I appreciate the film's ability to be both lighthearted and unsettling at the same time, taking me back to a lot of the children's shows I grew up with that most modern parents would not expose their children to.

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I heard of the film when I first got into anime but even then, the VHS copies were hard to find. I obtained a DVD copy years later in college and found the film to be worth the investment, especially coming off of Galaxy Express 999 films. Thankfully, the film was re-released a few years back in 2016 so the film is much easier to come by, though I feel the original VHS cover is a far better representation of the film than the new one.This film tackles a lot of the same themes as Evangelion, but the mind screw is a bit less obtuse and the bittersweet ending is easier to swallow.

Coming up: Excuse me, who are you?

Okay let's finally do a film I'm sure you've all heard of...

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#7

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Released in 1997, Perfect Blue was the directorial full film debut of the late Satoshi Kon who got his start working on Roujin Z, the second Patlabor film, and even made a short for Memories. The film is loosely based off of a novel of the same name. This film embodies many of the things Kon would be known for, crazy editing techniques and surreal subject matter that blends dreams, madness, and reality.

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Mima is one third of the pop idol group known as CHAM! but has decided to quit the struggling group and try her hand on acting instead. Her manager Rumi along with many other fans and relations are against the move and it doesn't take long before Mima starts receiving threatening letters from a stalker known as Mi-Mania. She gets a part in procedural detective show called Double Bind which deals with heavy adult themes that run contrast to the squeaky clean reputation of her idol past. The show is a strange mystery where Mima plays a rape victim connected to bizarre murders that she might be connected to. Then actual murders start taking place around Mima involving people whom fans claim are ruining her former idol reputation and here reality and madness begin to blend as both Mima and the viewer can no longer tell which is which anymore. Is Mima really the victim here, or has her sanity slipped and she a murderer hiding behind an innocent face.

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Perfect Blue is some serious Hitchcock level psychological horror as the film beautifully keeps both the protagonist and the viewer completely in the dark with amazing editing and the the bizarre parallels of the events of Mima's life and the show within a show she stars in. There are several sequences where Mima questions her reality only to discover it's simply a line from the show and other times you think she's filming the show but it's actually her reality. The film is Kon at the top of his game and even though he never quite goes this dark again in his later films outside of maybe Paranoid Agent, the film is just a sheer thriller that inspired Darren Aranofsky so much he recreated the famous bathtub sequence in Requiem for a Dream, and largely used the themes for Black Swan as well.

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Even if you're not an anime fan but love psychological thrillers like Vertigo or Solaris, you should check this movie out. It has so many interesting levels to it that I can't really even begin to describe them here. I would say more, but this is really a film you should experience for yourself.

Next Entry: I believe I would like to fall in love.
What are you talking bout? I don't recall programming those words into you.

Good list so far, can't really argue with any of them.

Hope there's love for Tokyo Godfathers at some point.

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Originally Posted by Cell

Good list so far, can't really argue with any of them.

Hope there's love for Tokyo Godfathers at some point.

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I limited myself to one film per franchise/director because if I hadn't this entire list would only be Ghibli/Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon films. :lol:

Perfect Blue is definitely my favorite of Kon's overall incredibly impressive, if sadly much too short, body of work. I actually saw Black Swan first. It was pretty surreal seeing this later.

I never heard of any of them. Although I watched more Anime series than films, so that's probably why.

Ever since you posted about Perfect Blue, I’ve been trying to remember if I ever actually saw it. I’ve seen Paranoia Agent, Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers, and Millennium Actress for sure. I even read the manga Opus during my Satoshi Kon kick. I need to get a hold of Perfect Blue because I think I just didn’t have access to that one at the time, but it’s possible I’d start watching it and realize that I had already seen it.

Either way, I really like Satoshi Kon’s works.

Think I need to find myself a copy of perfect blue now. Sounds great.

Yeah Perfect Blue is an excellent movie. I should rewatch it sometime.

#6

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This is a film I know some of you have heard of despite being pretty obscure. Only because the question I get the most often nowadays is "what anime is you avatar/signature set from?" so I've talked about this one with a few of you. Robot Carnival is a bit of a cheat here for me. It's actually an OAV in Japan but got it's theatrical release in the U.S. by Streamline Pictures. The film is actually a collection of nine (technically eight since two of the shorts are continuations of each other) that center on the theme of robots and each features a different major director.

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The film is bookend by the main Robot Carnival short which takes place in the far future where civilization has fallen apart but relics of the glorious past still roam around in some shape or form. A village boy discovers the infamous Robot Carnival will be coming through his village and he tries to warn them so they can all escape. The Robot Carnival is pretty much what it says on the tin, a traveling carnival machine filled with derelict robots who have a bad pension of exploding and love audience participation. It's black comedy in its purest form. These sequences were directed by Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame.

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Franken's Gears is a comical parody of Frankenstein involving an old scientist trying to bring his robot creation to life via lightning. It's animated well and is childishly amusing as the robot apes his creator's movements to his detriment. It was directed by Koji Morimoto who worked with Otomo on a lot of his works and also has credits on Macross Plus, Fist of the North Star, and The Animatrix.

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Deprive is a sentai series style short that is very reminiscent of Casshern and Android Kikaider. An alien robot invasion strikes earth and kidnaps a young girl who is trying to be saved by a helper robot. Later, the aliens fortress is attacked by a powerful human warrior who is revealed towards the end to be the helper robot remade into a combat robot to save earth. This short was done by Hidetoshi Omori who is apparently a major animation director who has worked on more things than I can mention but highlights include Inu-Yasha, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, Cyborg OO9, Android Kikaider, Kill A Kill, and most interesting of all, he was the animation director for Final Fantasy VII.

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Nightmare (Chicken Man and Red Neck in Japanese) is a robot version of Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia which involves a strange robot (Red Neck) using it's powers to reawaken all of the broken and derelict robots within a city and lead them on a strange march through it. The Chicken Man is a lone homeless man who witnesses the event and eventually gets chased through the city by this macabre scene. It is both amusing and frightening at the same time. The short was directed by Takashi Nakamura who worked on Yatterman, AKIRA, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

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Cloud is one of two serious pieces directed by Manabu Ohashi who worked as an animator for Cyborg 009, Sailor Moon, and Doreamon. This is a simple story following a robot walking the earth while the clouds in the background tell of the rise and fall of human civilization. It is one of the quieter pieces in the whole film and helps to serve as a break from the more kinetic pieces.

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Star Light Angel is an amusing piece because it was apparently based off of the music video for A-Ha's Take on Me. The story is about two girls going to an amusement park only to discover that they are dating the same guy. One girl storms off and the short follows her as she tries her best to forget him while causing some surreal action throughout the park. The whole time she is being followed by a robot she's running from who turns out to be a concerned worker who is actually a human in a suit. The short was directed by Hiroyuki Kiyazume who worked on Zeta and ZZ Gundam which is incredibly obvious based on the character designs. He also worked on Moldiver and Super Dimensional Calvary Southern Cross.

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A Tale of Two Robots (Strange Tales of Meiji Machine Culture: Westerner's Invasion in Japanese) is a hilarious short about a western mad scientist bulding a steam powered robot to conquer Japan, but is thwarted by a Japanese steam powered robot that was oriignally built for a parade. The whole thing plays out as a strange combiantion of WWII era Japanese propaganda films, and Kaiju battle. It also one of only two stories actually voiced and the cast is pretty hilarious even if the original English dub feels a bit uncomfortable from the awful fake Japanese accents. In the film adaption, it's the final short before the ending. It was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo who worked on Black Magic M-66, Akira, Golden Boy, Roujin Z, and Blood: The Last Vampire.

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Finally we have Presence, which is where my avatar and signature come from. This is the other voiced short and tells the sad story of a robot engineer who yearned for femininity in his life. He builds a robot girl who becomes self aware and falls in love with him, but his insecurity and her psychological evoltuion leads him to do something terrible that haunts him until his final days. This piece is easily one of the most haunting pieces of the film and the most recognizable part in promotional materials next to the actual Robot Carnival short. It also my favorite piece and was directed by Yasuomi Umetsu who worked on L.I.L.Y. Cat, Casshern: The Robot Hunter, and is probably best known as the creator of the infamous Kite films.

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Overall, this is an awesome collection of shorts done by some really prolific animators and directors of 80s and 90s anime films. I love the range of all the pieces and its one of those films where there is probably something for everyone here if you stick with it to the very end. The animation quailty is also pretty top notch and really showcases the strngth of hand drawn works. I'd highly recommend it and it was thankfully recently re-released by Discotek Media four years ago, so it's much easier to find. I actually own both the VHS release and the original DVD release before Streamline Pictures went under.

Coming Up: It couldn't be, are you related to the Noble Ancestor?

#5

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In the year 1999, a nuclear war ravaged the earth and nearly brought everything to extinction. From the shadows, the vampires led by the Noble Ancestor rebuilt the world and enslaved the surviving humanity. in the year 12,090 A.D. the Noble Ancestor has vanished, the mighty vampire empire has crumbled, and humanity is slowly retaking back the planet. Unfortunately, there are still tons of despotic vampires running around as well as all of the monsters they brought back into the world roaming the lands, so people have to rely on hunters to get rid of these problems. The most powerful hunters are vampire hunters, and even among them, the beat are dhampire, the offspring between a mortal human and vampire, who obtain the awesome powers of a vampire but none of the weaknesses. Unfortunately, dhampire's are hated by both sides of their lineage with humans distrusting them due to their monstrous natures, while vampire's see them as filthy bastards that sully the noble vampire houses.

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Doris Lang is the daughter of a former werewolf hunter who runs afoul of the vampire Count Magnus Lee who gives her the "kiss of nobility" in order to enthrall her and force her to be his bride. Not wishing for this awful fate, Doris attacks hunters on the road until she meets the titular vampire hunter D. Agreeing to help her, D has to deal both the village politics who are split on whether to help Doris or leave her to her fate since no one wants to incur Magnus Lee's wrath. On the opposite side of the conflict, Lamika, the count's daughter, is opposed to the marriage with this filthy commoner and the mutant hunter Rei Ginisei is only helping the count for the promise to become an immortal vampire. D faces enemies on all sides, and even finds a few unlikely allies. Yet who is the mysterious D, and what's up with the talking hand and the fact he seems so much stronger than a mere dhampire should be?

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Okay so let's just get the main thing out of the way here and explain why I went for the original film over Bloodlust. There are a couple of reasons. First, pure nostalgia as this film was my first real introduction to the franchise known as D and I honestly like the production values despite how dated they are. Secondly, I feel the first film has a better story structure and does more to really emphasize the strange world these characters live in, especially since it follows the lore and mentions the series framing device better. Third and finally, I appreciate the fact the first film is a very faithful adaption of the first book, whereas Bloodlust takes the premise of the novel its based on and changes around a lot of things for better and for worse.

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I'm not the world's biggest vampire fan, but I love the story angle the VHD series takes on with a former vampire empire and D searching for his father while hunting down the last of the corrupted nobility. The film does a fairly excellent job of adapting the first novel pretty faithfully with a only a few minor moments removed or changed and some of the character designs not quite matching up like the fact Doris' design in the books is closer to Amano's interpretation of Maria from FFII instead of the hokey blond pigtailed girl in the film. Likewise, Lamika is actually meant to be the blond and more regal looking figure instead of the sea green haired dominatrix she looks like. The one nice thing about the films is that they do remove the flavor text that often falls into Mary Sue territory concerning D such as the fact that he's so beautiful everyone is attracted to him regardless of gender or sexual orientation. On the other hand, the films tend to underscore how monstrously abnormal D really is and by extension how overpowered vampires really are in this narrative.

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I also just love some of the background creatures and looks to the world which fits more into what the novels are going for. D storming Magnus Lee's castle filled with strange monsters and weird technological feats is actually pretty well done. While the original dub is laughably bad, I can forgive it since it was the kind of dubbing I grew up with. None of this is to say I don't love and appreciate Bloodlust, but the first film feels like an actual story, whereas the second film is more of an excuse plot with some gorgeously animated action sequences.So the first film leaves you with a little more content to chew on after the credits roll whereas the sequel doesn't.

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Overall, check out either film, but honestly I would suggest reading the novels the most because the series is pretty fantastic despite D's Mary-Sueish characterization.

Coming up: It's just that he was all alone. Always by himself. Never anyone to share the game. A man who lived in dreams—that's who he was.

#4

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I still chuckle to myself about the fact that hen Cowboy Bebop was initially released in the West, I didn't have much interest in it. I blame it on the early trailers making it look like an action crime drama when Cowboy Bebop is actually more of a strange Tarantino style hodgepodge of U.S. culture with a comical bent and one of the greatest soundtracks to ever grace an anime. I had a hell of a time trying to watch this film, but this is actually one of only two films on this list I've actually seen in movie theaters since it had a limited run in the art house scene.

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Knockin' on Heaven's Door is a feature length film set between the events of episode 23 and 24 or basically before the whole crew disbands and we get the tear jerker finale. It's not necessarily relevant to know this information but it does help a bit with Jet's own personal issues with the rest of the crew as it shows how dysfunctional this whole crew has become. While Faye is working on a routine small fry bounty involving a hacker, she ends up being one of the surviving witnesses of a terrorist attack involving an ex-soldier turned madman named Vincent and a mysterious virus that infects several people at the attack. Course a massive bounty lands on his head and the crew all split up to try and catch the guy on their own. Instead what they find is a conspiracy involving illegal weapons testing, a pharmaceutical company's shady deals with the government, and the revelation that Vincent might actually be a much bigger threat to Mars than anyone originally imagined.

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The movie for the most part feels like an episode of the series with just a bigger budget and more fluid animation. Oddly enough, Vincent is actually a bigger deal than you would think but out quirky crew of misfits still treat this whole situation like a normal day on the job. There are some parallels here from the series as the film borrows concepts and character types from the main series. Obvious ones is how Vincent feels like a weird combination of Spike, Vicious, and Gren combining Spike's outlook with Vicious' personality, and a variation of Gren's backstory involving the War on Titan and illegal experimentation he has to live with. The conspiracy theory aspect also class forth the episode Bohemian Rhapsody where the "villain" is really a victim of the local government and their whole plot is partly to expose them for it. So the film has some nice recycling going on here, but has enough length to make it feel like it's own thing here.

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Thankfully, each crew member gets their own moments to shine and classic running gags like Spike complaining about food, the shaman wiseman, and the three old men make their appearances. Vincent himself is a haunting figure and the side effects of the nano-virus gives him a strange philosophical bent to his madness. The fact he's the fourth character in the series to really just outright kick the trout out of Spike is also something to behold. Elektra is also one of the major figures in the story and serves as an interesting foil to Spike's own investigations. I do wish we could have learned a bit more about her and her relationship with Vincent.

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As I mentioned before, the animation and production values for the film are better than the TV show which is saying something considering Bebop has aged pretty well. The locations have greater detail and the film crew's trip to Morocco certainly paid off with some of the set pieces. The lighting effects are probably the most stand out parts of the animation. The music... well I'm certainly going to be bias here. Yoko Kanno delivers us another powerful score with some absolutely great tracks ranging from Vincent's Theme "Is it Real?", the parade sequences "Pushing the Sky", the completely underrated "Dijurido", the haunting butterfly sequences accompanied by "Powder", and of course the film's two main themes: the toe tapping laid back "Ask DNA", and the powerful gospel inspired ending track "Gotta Knock a Little Louder". Kanno's compositions help to cement the Cowboy Bebop feel for the fans and she honestly produces some of her best work in the series with this film.

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Overall, most fans of the series have probably seen it and loved it. For people who have never watched the series, the film isn't a bad test bed for you since it doesn't dwell too much on the backstories of the crew and spends more time really exploring more of the world the crew live in.

Coming up: Do you remember? The time when our eyes first met?
Do you remember? The time when our hands first touched?
That was the very first time I set out on the journey of love.
I love you so.

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Originally Posted by Scotty_ffgamer

Ever since you posted about Perfect Blue, I’ve been trying to remember if I ever actually saw it. I’ve seen Paranoia Agent, Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers, and Millennium Actress for sure. I even read the manga Opus during my Satoshi Kon kick. I need to get a hold of Perfect Blue because I think I just didn’t have access to that one at the time, but it’s possible I’d start watching it and realize that I had already seen it.

Either way, I really like Satoshi Kon’s works.

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Do you like Black Swan?

It's that, but anime and better.

I really liked the Cowboy Bebop movie. I was actually putting it off because I am usually wary of anime movie spinoffs, thinking they're little more than flashy cash grabs, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised with this one.

I never saw Black Swan either. I was always holding off to watch Perfect Blue first.

I still have yet to see the Cowboy Bebop movie despite watching the series multiple times. I’ll have to give it a watch at some point.

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Originally Posted by Fynn

I really liked the Cowboy Bebop movie. I was actually putting it off because I am usually wary of anime movie spinoffs, thinking they're little more than flashy cash grabs, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised with this one.

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It ties in with the series pretty well, if I recall.

#3

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If you've actually seen this movie, I'll be a bit surprised and assumed you either watched the awful Clash of the Bionoids dub, the better but extremely rare British VHS dub, or were like me and obtained the film through other means. My love of Robotech is no secret on this forum, and like most Robotech films, I agree that the part taken from Super Dimensional Fortress Macross is easily the highlight since Macross is just a phenomenal series. The studios behind the series thought so too so in 1984 they released a film adaption of the series. Unlike the Mobile Suit Gundam films through, they actually wrote a condensed and altered story while creating a completely new animation for the film.

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The film begins in medias res, with the SDF Macross deep in space and trying to get back to earth. The ship had made a risky space fold maneuver to escape the alien invasion and had accidentally taken the island the ship was on with it. Saving the civilians, they rebuilt their community within the gut of the massive alien ship. The all male alien Zentradi tracked them down and has been engaging the ship in small battles as they try to capture the ship unharmed from the micronoids (humans). Hikaru Ichijyo is one of the ace pilots for the ship but in the most recent battle he rescues the civilian Idol Singer Lynn Minmei but crashes them into a part of the SDF that cuts them off from the rest of the crew. Trapped down there days, the two bond over the expectations other place on them. They are eventually rescued, but now have a romantic bond formed between the two. Hikaru sneaks Minmei away and steals a Valkyrie trainer model so he can show her Saturn's rings, but the two are captured by the Zentradi along with Hikaru's two superiors Roy Föcker, and Misa Hayes, as well as Minmei's manager and cousin Lynn Kaifun.

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The group learns that the Zentradi are completely baffled by human culture and customs, as well as the fact that both genders intermingle. The intelligence gathered by them has started to cause confusion and mutiny among the crew who have only ever been bred for war and wish to learn more about this "culture" the humans speak of which may be linked to a strange music box the Zentradi commander has kept for centuries and is said to be linked to the fabled protoculture. The interrogation is interrupted when the Zentradi are attacked by the Meltrandi, their all female alien counterparts and sworn enemies who also seek the Macross. The humans try to make their escape but Roy is killed and Hikaru and Misa are caught in a space fold while Minmei and Kaifun escape back to the Macross.

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I won't spoil the rest but even if you're familiar with the plot of Macross. the film takes a few interesting turns that will keep you surprised. The film does a great job of capturing all of the really big moments from the series and the higher production values are much appreciated. While I'm not a huge fan of the Zentradi redesigns, the higher quality mecha designs and the character designs closer to Haruhiko Mikimoto's designs are much appreciated. The original Macross was plagued with off-model episodes thanks to outsourcing and budget issues, but the film is absolutely gorgeous and insanely well animated. It's no surprise that this was one of the films that really inspired Studio Gainax. The film also does a better job of making the love triangle work better as Minmei character alterations from the Robotech dub and just basic value dissonance from the original are kind of swept away and instead her relationship with Hikaru feels much healthier. Likewise, the film finds some good ways to really keep the love story with Misa workable since a lot of her backstory and character moments from the original were left out of the adaption. Also, the film's main theme song "Do You Remember Love?" is a way better song than "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" to be singing for the fateful battle and I am still grateful Robotech had the common sense to also change the theme song for that battle to something a bit more epic and fitting.

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This film is just a real awesome flick that reminds me why I love Macross and Robotech so much. While it's nigh impossible to find a legal DVD copy of this film unless you speak Japanese, I would certainly recommend it for anyone who loves Robotech, Macross, or just good space opera.

Coming Up: Well I can see once again that I made it just in time. The problem is in the past!
Everyone: *gasp*

Sorry this took so long. Life has been pretty hectic for me in the last week. ^^;

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#2

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I'm sure this will be one of the most controversial and most unexpected entry. I don't really talk about this series very much, at least until recently. Tenchi Muyo! was a series I got into back when I first got into the scene in the 90s. I'm huge fan of the first two OVA series, the manga, and to a lesser extent Tenchi Universe. The first film in the franchise was easily one of my favorite non-Ghibli films of the 90s and mostly embodies everything I love about the series; which is balancing great humor, with tender storytelling, and some cool Sci-Fi action. I still feel like the Jurai are some of the coolest galactic empires in science fiction as well.

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Quick rundown of the franchise for the people who don't know. Tenchi follows the story of a Japanese boy named Tenchi Masaki who runs afoul of a feared Space Pirate named Ryoko who ends up falling for him and deciding to hide out on Earth. Unfortunately she ends up attracting a host of other crazy alien girls to the planet who come looking for her and end up staying thanks to Tenchi.

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Tenchi Muyo in Love is set within the TV series universe and begins with the Galaxy Police HQ imploding and disappearing from space as the A-1 Class criminal Kain escapes. Shortly after, Tenchi Masaki begins to disappear from reality until resident scientist Washu uses her super science to keep him from fading away. Unfortunately, even her science can't save Tenchi and the group discover that something happened in the past that caused Tenchi's mother to die before giving birth to him. So now the whole group has to travel back to the 70s to keep an eye on Achika and figure out what happened while also trying not to interfere with her falling in love with Tenchi's dad. So yeah, it's basically Tenchi Muyo!'s take on Back to the Future.

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What really makes this an emotional story for fans of the series is that Tenchi's relationship with his mother plays a central part in all of this. In every series, Tenchi's mother passed away when he was very young, so Tenchi never really knew his mother and it's usually one of the only character building aspects of his character since most male characters in harem's have the personality of cardboard. Course, what really makes this movie a bit different is that it really is more of the story about Tenchi's mom Achika's daily life and meeting her future husband, so it's really more of a love story that just ends with a battle against an inter-dimensional space monster in a pocket dimension. So the film is more of a quiet slice of life romance flick than space battles, you just still get the fun high jinks of Ryoko and Ayeka fighting, Mihoshi being her usual ditzy self, and poor Kiyone being the token team butt monkey.

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The animation is really well done, and probably some of the best within the series outside of the original OVA series. The music was composed by Christopher Franke of German based electronica band Tangerine Dream, and it is fantastic with several great pieces that really fit the feel of the films themes and characters. It was actually one of the first CDs I owned back in the day. While there are two other films in the Tenchi series, the other two films just never set right with me. Daughter of Darkness felt too much like a filler story from Tenchi Universe with more laughs than actual feels; while Tenchi Forever lacked the energy and fun that made the series enjoyable, instead focusing on high drama and having a punishing slow pace.

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I feel the real reason why this film is so high on the list is that it does a few really interesting things here for me. I think this is the film that made me fall in love with Japan, and I still wish to visit sometime. This is also one of the very few films that actually makes me feel gooey inside, which alone is a pretty strong sentiment since I'm usually a fairly unfeeling machine about most subjects. Yet the ending really kind of gets to me each time, and watching Achika and Nobuyuki's blossoming relationship just garners some emotional investment from me. Overall, if you haven't had a chance to check this film out, you should, especially if you're familiar with the Tenchi franchise.

Coming Up: Honorable Mentions :jess:

Time for some honorable mentions:

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Ranma 1/2: Nihao My Concubine

This is a really fun film for longtime fans and is easily the best of the two Ranma films. It's pretty similar in concept to a few story arcs that appear towards the end of the manga with the villains having an animal motif. The animation is good and the soundtrack is pretty great as well. The Viz dub is also iconic for me with the iconic battle between Tatewaki Kuno and the infamous "Dog Man" that Nabiki Tendo ended up defeating instead. It's a fun film but doesn't quite tickle that need I want in a film.

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Memories

Another collection of animated shorts sponsored by Akira's creator. This one only has three films but each one is a treat with the final story about a child growing up in a country that obsesses over weapons used to fight an unknown enemy of the state. It's a surprisingly charming and fun "day in the life" tale despite the serious parallels to 1984. I almost wish this film had a few more shorts to help balance it better like Robot Carnival did, but it is still a great collection.

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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

This film is a bit weird for me. Animation and production-wise this film is pretty top notch, but something about it always felt uneven for me. I discovered why later after reading the book it was based off of and discovering that outside of the initial premise and names of the cast, the film is a major change from the much darker and grim original tale. With that said, I honestly prefer the films story over the books but it also kind of explains why the film feels awkward since the Markus family underwent serious character changes along with the mutant body guards, not to mention Carmilla was made for the film and never appears in the book. The film is much more optimistic than the "shoot the shaggy dog" story that is the book.

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Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer

For some of you, it may blow your mind to find out that this film was directed by Mamoru Oshii, the man best known for the Ghost in the Shell films, the second Patlabor film, Angel's Egg, and Jin-Roh of all things. But Oshii got his start on Rumiko Takahashi's first break out series and he directed both films. The difference here is that he actually wrote the plot for this one and it shows. Takahashi is known for romantic hi-jinks, hilarious characters, and slapstick comedy. Oshii transformed this into a surreal film about time loops, dreams, and philosophical discussions on reality. It still maintains a lot of the elements most love about Lum, but the film is much more philosophical.

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Project A-Ko

Probably one of the most quintessential early 90s anime films next to Akira for me, Project A-Ko drops us on the other side of the spectrum with a hilarious parody series that lampooned hits like Captain Harlock, Gundam, Macross, and Starblazers. Until recently, I didn't realize this film originally started as a short for the infamous Cream Lemon hentai series before being turned into a film with much less fanservice but the film is great for its absurdness and has aged far better than I had imagined.

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The Wind Rises

Easily my second favorite Ghibli film, the Wind Rises is a strange fictionalized biopic about Jiro Horikoshi, the inventor of the A6M Zero fighter planes used by Imperial Japan in WWII. What some people don;t know is that Miyazaki mixed historical facts about the inventor with a novel called The Wind has Risen which is about a man struggling to care for his fiance dying from tuberculosis. So most of the stuff about his wife in the film is not true. The film combines Miyazaki's beautiful flight animations with some really gut wrenching human drama, as well as avant garde sound design that uses only the human voice. This film really struck a chord with me though, but just can't unseat my favorite Miyazaki film.

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Millennium Actress

This is such an odd movie because it's difficult to really explain to people because the premise is pretty simple but the film concept is really artistic and out there. This film along with Perfect Blue is Satoshi Kon at his best in terms of editing and directing. While I enjoy the plot of Tokyo Godfathers more, I would genuinely be excited to see this film in theaters more because it embodies what I feel cinema is all about in terms of being an audio/visual experience.

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Metropolis

Loosely based on Osama Tezuka's manga, which itself is a very loose adaption of the original silent film. The movie takes a few more cues from the original film that Tezuka's manga but it's absolutely gorgeous to watch this film. Like the previous film, this is one that you need to see in an actual theater to really appreciate what it does with its fluid animation, awesome roaring 20s soundtrack, and tale of social injustice. If the story was just a little better, it would have made my list.

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Lupin III The Castle of Cagliostro

Easily my favorite Lupin film and the movie that launched Miyazaki's film directing career as well as film that inspired Steven Spielberg, this is Lupin at his best in both as a story and him living up to "gentlemen thief" which always varied from writer to writer. It's honestly a super fun action-adventure film and if you love Indiana Jones, you should check this film out sometime. It's had a few different dubs, but my personal favorite is the Manga Entertainment dub where Lupin III is voiced by David Hayter of Metal Gear fame. I also love the fact that Here is Greenwood did a shout out to the awesome climax of the film in the anime series.

Coming Up: My favorite Ghibli Movie

I think the most amusing thing about the Wind Rises was learning that the protagonist is voiced by Hideaki Anno.

Better late than never I guess...
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#1

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To no ones surprise, my favorite anime film, and in fact, my favorite film of all time is Princess Mononoke. This was not only my first Ghibli film but also one of the first anime films I ever saw in an actual theater when I first got onto the scene.

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For those who don't know the plot, PM is the story of Ashitaka, the last prince of the Emishi ethnic group who saves his village from the onslaught of a demon. The beast, in truth a former Boar God turned into a demon of malice by a strange iron slug found in its body, curses the young prince with his hate so that he too will die a horrible death. Ashitaka is advised by his elders to renounce his identity and leave the village to head west where the demon is said to come from to understand why it became a demon. Ashitaka travels and encounters some of the uglier parts of the Muromachi period of Japan, and meets a Buddhist priest searching for the Great Forest where the Forest God is said to reside. He wants its head due to a legend that it can grant immortality which the current emperor has offered a huge sum of gold for. When he reaches the Great Forest, he encounters San, the eponymous Princess Mononoke, who has been raised by the Wolf Gods and is in a bitter war against the people of Iron Town led by Lady Eboshi. Iron Town mines the mountains and clears the forest to gain access to its rich deposits of iron used to make guns, which the Lady Eboshi sells to the local daimyo's for profit to keep the town going. The town itself is home to former prostitutes, lepers, and other outcasts of society who can finally eke out a respectable living. This process of destroying the forest and mountains has caused the town the great ire of all the local gods and both are now in a constant conflict of survival. Ashitaka now finds himself as the outsider of this conflict and chooses to try to break the cycle of hate that these two factions cause for each other.

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Compared to other works by Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke is a very heavy movie. This isn't a film you turn on for leisure and to get the most out of it, it demands your full attention. Miyazaki was once quoted as saying that this film largely represents a big part of his world view and the conflicts he sees within it. It may say something how this is one of the darkest films by the studio, only beaten out by Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies in terms of tone and message. Still, I absolutely love the complex nature of the film's narrative which tries to subvert as much of the usual good vs. evil dynamics often found in films. This is something Miyazaki himself seems to be tired of as well as he had been actively trying to move his stories away from this kind of thinking since My Neighbor Totoro. Yet if Totoro and Kiki were films that had no antagonist of villain, then Mononoke is a film where no one is really good or evil. The situation is just complicated and the various factions simply fight for their survival and refuse to compromise with one another. This kind of thinking extends to other elements of the film as well such as the muted relationship between San and Ashitaka. The two obviously have feelings for each other, but neither lets those feelings interfere with their ideals. Ashitaka is often ridiculed by Eboshi for caring for San, but he doesn't let it stand in the way of him trying to be an impartial mediator to the conflict. Likewise San is confused by her growing feelings for Ashitaka but tries to plunge headlong into her vendetta against Eboshi and all humans. In fact, I find it fascinating that San seems the most eager among her comrades to get back at the humans compared to her mother and siblings. It's kind of a nice touch as it really draws home the human need for conformity.

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The writing and directing of this film has always inspired me, and this is the film that largely made me want to become a storyteller. It's animation is gorgeous and I love how almost every scene really reinforces the narrative by either showing us the plight of the world or the magical property of nature itself. It's all beautifully combined with Joe Hisashi's excellent score which has epic orchestral pieces like "The Legend of Ashitaka", quieter and quaint pieces like the "Tartara Women's Work Song", and the unsettling "Demon God" track that will make the hair on your neck rise up.

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I always recommend this film to everyone. It is my favorite film of all time and I still find the piece to be really inspirational. My one regret is that my first introduction to it besides reading a few magazine excerpts about it when it was still in its theater run in Japan, was an awesome AMV of the film done to Alanis Morrisette's "Uninvited". Super powerful video but sadly the creator has never uploaded it online to my knowledge. Still, check this film out if you can, and with that, you know my top ten favorite anime films.

Yay! Never been too big into any of the Ghibli films myself but they are pretty fascinating an introduction to anime for sure.