Under standing the hype

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I don't advise this movie for minors. It actually had to be cut to receive an R rating in America. The DVD is the uncensored version (I don't think the R-rated print is even available anymore). It contains full frontal nudity, sexual situations (though not pornographic) and graphic violence. While it is an excellent anime (one of the few I would call a classic), it really is one that minors should have their parents check out first at the very least (It's not one I would let my kids watch if I had any).

Agreed, for that reason. It is extremely hard for me to recommend it to people. One one hand, it was excellent. On the other hand, there was a lot of nudity and sexual situations.

[Tommy]

While I like the anime myself, I see alot of guys and girls at the mall wearing Naruto headbands.

[Joshua Christopher]

1. That's Monster. Not Paranoia Agent

2. Monster is most certaintly not a medical drama it has a lot of medical elements though.

3. There isn't much hype about Monster, seeing as not many people have even heard of it.

Woah man, I really hope that wasn't a serious post, dude.

[Nate]

I've got a few

Chobits
Fushigi Yuugi
Love Hina
Serial Experiments Lain

I liked Chobits, but I can see how it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Especially given all the fanservice. I liked Love Hina as well, but I also can agree with those who saw it as a typical harem anime.

Fushigi Yugi, now there's one I can explain. It starts out very dull and boring, even very similar to Inuyasha one might say, or to a lesser extent, The Neverending Story. I had a friend dismiss it entirely after the first DVD, and I guess I can't blame him. In the first ten episodes or so, there really isn't much to set it apart from other anime.

However, after those episodes, it picks up and FAST. Not only do the coolest characters get introduced (Tasuki and Chichiri), it turns from a dull "collect these warriors and your dreams come true" anime to one that focuses very heavily on betrayal by the main character's best friend. Why does Yui want to hurt Miaka when they've been friends since kindergarten? Why does Tamahome, one of the warriors needed for Miaka to summon Suzaku, want to kill her? It was things like these that kept me wondering how things would resolve themselves...especially since the death of one of the warriors Miaka needed would prevent her from summoning Suzaku. It starts out very slow, but it became my favorite anime of all time after the huge plot twists in the later episodes.

[Destroyer2000]

Joshua Christopher, we can do without your obvious, overblown sarcasm. THis is a thread about why people like it so much, and others don't, not about what YOUR opinion is.

[Splitter 2.0]

I liked Chobits, but I can see how it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Especially given all the fanservice. I liked Love Hina as well, but I also can agree with those who saw it as a typical harem anime.

Fushigi Yugi, now there's one I can explain. It starts out very dull and boring, even very similar to Inuyasha one might say, or to a lesser extent, The Neverending Story. I had a friend dismiss it entirely after the first DVD, and I guess I can't blame him. In the first ten episodes or so, there really isn't much to set it apart from other anime.

However, after those episodes, it picks up and FAST. Not only do the coolest characters get introduced (Tasuki and Chichiri), it turns from a dull "collect these warriors and your dreams come true" anime to one that focuses very heavily on betrayal by the main character's best friend. Why does Yui want to hurt Miaka when they've been friends since kindergarten? Why does Tamahome, one of the warriors needed for Miaka to summon Suzaku, want to kill her? It was things like these that kept me wondering how things would resolve themselves...especially since the death of one of the warriors Miaka needed would prevent her from summoning Suzaku. It starts out very slow, but it became my favorite anime of all time after the huge plot twists in the later episodes.

What confused me about why everyone loved Chobits and Love Hina was not the fanservice, but the needless filler for both. Heck, Chobits itself wasted more than half it's run on craptacular filler then brought the story back and tried to explain as much as it could in too little time!

Thank you for explaining Fushigi Yuugi... I too only watched the first DVD, so it looks like the second might be worth my time after all.

[skyblue]

I don't advise this movie for minors. It actually had to be cut to receive an R rating in America. The DVD is the uncensored version (I don't think the R-rated print is even available anymore). It contains full frontal nudity, sexual situations (though not pornographic) and graphic violence. While it is an excellent anime (one of the few I would call a classic), it really is one that minors should have their parents check out first at the very least (It's not one I would let my kids watch if I had any).

I understand. The only reason why I would want to see it is to see how good the drama is. How about Kon's other movies? Are they more suitable?

[mitsuki lover]

Yui thought Miaka had BETRAYED her first because she was deceived.Over all from what I understand of Fushigi Yugi I think Yui was a much better realized character.

I don't understand people who hate Inuyasha.

[Tenshi no Ai]

I liked Chobits, but I can see how it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Especially given all the fanservice. I liked Love Hina as well, but I also can agree with those who saw it as a typical harem anime.

Chobits is the most (and only will be) the most mature title of anime/manga I'll probably ever own. Got into it because I mistakened the robotic ears for cat ears, which was why I got into it (and Chii's cute^^) But I liked the whole mystery with Dark Chii and all that stuff that went on, and some of the romantic deals that went on (and really liked "A City With No People"). *shrugs* Oh, and it's CLAMP^^

What confused me about why everyone loved Chobits and Love Hina was not the fanservice, but the needless filler for both. Heck, Chobits itself wasted more than half it's run on craptacular filler then brought the story back and tried to explain as much as it could in too little time!

All I can say is, meh^^ I really didn't mind for this series. Although yes there were many fillers... and THREE recap eps :/... bought vol. 7 DVD to complete collection/artwork/Chibits mostly.


With RahXephon that's been mentioned a couple times, just started yesterday rewatching my DVDs... I got into it because RahXephon's angelish wings attracted me to it (yeah have a thing with angel wings and cat people etc... that's why I LOVE Utawarerumono, cause it's got both^^) But also I did realize it resembled Eva, which I had watched not too long before it. I was dissapointed with Eva for many reasons (mostly because of the pessimistic atmosphere, whining, and complaining, despite the fact I enjoy psychological themes :/) With Rah though, the mood seemed alot more... happier. Characters were more fun, interesting and mysterious plot, and I prefered the ending... oh and probably because it had a more of a romantic theme to it too. I'm not even into mechas, but I loved this one^^ (Ok, so I also own Escaflowne, Rayearth TV/OVA, Endless Waltz too... but only got that one because I LOVED White Reflection^^)

[Joshua Christopher]

Joshua Christopher, we can do without your obvious, overblown sarcasm. THis is a thread about why people like it so much, and others don't, not about what YOUR opinion is.

Okay, this is crazy. None of those reflected my opinions whatsoever. The entire point was purely humourous. Please just stop this already.

[Arnobius]

I liked Chobits, but I can see how it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Especially given all the fanservice. I liked Love Hina as well, but I also can agree with those who saw it as a typical harem anime.

Fushigi Yugi, now there's one I can explain. It starts out very dull and boring, even very similar to Inuyasha one might say, or to a lesser extent, The Neverending Story. I had a friend dismiss it entirely after the first DVD, and I guess I can't blame him. In the first ten episodes or so, there really isn't much to set it apart from other anime.

However, after those episodes, it picks up and FAST. Not only do the coolest characters get introduced (Tasuki and Chichiri), it turns from a dull "collect these warriors and your dreams come true" anime to one that focuses very heavily on betrayal by the main character's best friend. Why does Yui want to hurt Miaka when they've been friends since kindergarten? Why does Tamahome, one of the warriors needed for Miaka to summon Suzaku, want to kill her? It was things like these that kept me wondering how things would resolve themselves...especially since the death of one of the warriors Miaka needed would prevent her from summoning Suzaku. It starts out very slow, but it became my favorite anime of all time after the huge plot twists in the later episodes.

Yes, I thought it was very hard to get into FY, because of the awful beginning where they chopped out much of the beginning development of the manga. About part way into the first season, it dramatically improved. A shame it was only available on $200 box sets when I watched it. It's major weakness was the use of stills in many scenes.

There were two issues I had, the first dealt with Miaka's brother and his friend. The anime had the convention of them reading of what happened to Miaka and her companions. They would be horrified at some of the turns in the story worrying what would happen next. My reaction was "So flip ahead, moron"

The second was how they recapped every fricking previous episode.

However the OVA (The Oni Box and Eikoden) are a waste of time and money IMO

[Nate]

Yeah, I had to buy the 200 dollar box sets too. That sucked... XD;;

I agree on the OVA. It wasn't very good, except for the episode that focused on Chichiri's past (I really liked the song). But other than that, they tried to cram too much into too little time, and it got really confusing (and contradictory). I never did figure out

[SPOILER=Tamahome in the OVAs]First they said Tamahome couldn't exist in the real world with all his memories of being Tamahome...then in the second half of the OVAs, they said that he needed Tamahome's memories in order to exist! Talk about a contradiction...[/SPOILER]
I personally liked Eikoden, though it did end kind of weird. I mostly liked it because the music was good, and Maya was just so horribly evil...I found her to be more evil than anyone from the Seiryu Seven.

I've heard that when Eikoden got turned into an anime, the writers upped Maya's evilness a bit from the manga, so much so that even Yuu Watase was kind of shocked at how she acted. XD;;

[Bobtheduck]

Hmm... One thread that degrades into "What's your favorite anime" and one that's "what anime can you not stand"

Well, here's the shows I don't get:

Trigun
Kenshin


Well, there are more, but those are my biggest ones... Actually, I haven't really been able to get into FMA either, but I do have to give it a nod since the dub has a Christian VA! I mean, that says NOTHING about the show, but it's just a cool fact. I don't like most of the anime on AS... Inu Yasha was great before it went on for fgirgin ever.

As for Akira, I don't really like it, but I STILL like showing it to people simply for the incredible animation... The animation in Akira has not, IMNSHO, been matched to date by any work of traditional or augmented traditional animation...

[KBMaster]

I'm not trying to give a lecture or anything, but as humans, we are prone to like different things. There are many animes that I cannot bring myself to watch, but so many others will. There are some animes that others can't stand, that I love. God created us with different likings. This is what makes us special and makes us discernable from animals. Okay, I'm done ranting.

[bigsleepj]

I don't understand the hype with miyazaki in general! He's just way overrated. Yes he kind of change the views of anime in this country. But so what? His stories go too fast and just seem cheesy. Howl's Moving Castle was okay, just... so random.

Satoshi Kon is a MUCH better director than Hao Miyazaki. Perfect Blue was an amazing movie that was absolutely mindblowing.

Although I haven't seen Satoshi Kon's movies yet, I have to say that I love Miyazaki's movies for many reasons (though I haven't seen all). I find that his movies give me a sense of wonder (Nausicaa and Castle in the Sky especially). A lot of anime a lot of action and 'cool factor' but Miyazaki, despite his occasional laspses into pessimism, has a real wonder for nature, flying and this feeling comes through in his movies for me (except Castle of Cagliostro which is just meant to be entertaining). Because of these things his movies 'speak' to me (for lack of a better word to sum up my feelings).

That said, Princess Mononoke is overated (its just too weird) and Howl's Moving Castle has narrative problems and a poorly developed plot. Yes, the animation is excellent, but that make up for these faults. Howl is easily Miyazaki's weakest movie.

[freerock1]

On Trigun, initially I wrote it off as sort of a western (as in gunslinger, not as in American ) anime. Then I happened to catch Wolfwood's final scene on TV. So I thought this might be a title worth checking out. It's become one of my favorites.

[Arnobius]

On Trigun, initially I wrote it off as sort of a western (as in gunslinger, not as in American ]
With Trigun I liked the first half of the series (before the mid season summary episode). Then I thought it fell off a lot until the final three episodes. Not what I would call a classic overall, but I guess it's one of the above average series.

Although I haven't seen Satoshi Kon's movies yet, I have to say that I love Miyazaki's movies for many reasons (though I haven't seen all).

When you do try Satoshi Kon, I'd start with either Millenium Actress or Tokyo Godfathers. Paranoia Agent and Perfect Blue might be rather disturbing to some.

[Bobtheduck]

I'm taking a wager Perfect blue is gonna be disturbing to people who didn't blink through silent hill 2 and 3 combined (games, of course) I haven't seen the whole film yet, though...

I don't get the obsession with mecha... I see mecha as no different than any other impossible fantasy structure... Flying Dragons in most fantasy, the ring in LotR, adamantium and Mithryl, elephant sized insects, Ships the size of stars or large planets (with the exception of those actually shaped like planets, but even those would have a lack of locomotion) These things are all impossible, but I don't care that they are impossible. I'm ok with fantasy... Mecha fans, however, try to argue mecha as being not only possible (which they aren't, especially not transforming or giant mecha such as, oh, the power rangers megazoid, which happens to be both) but inevitable... I loved that moment in Metal Gear Solid 3, when Sigint discussed the reality of the mecha situation. There is no reason for mecha to exist, except on a VERY SMALL SCALE (like, human size or slightly bigger) Get them as big as they are on mecha shows (or on the Metal Gear series, love it as I do), and you run across all sorts of unnecissary problems... It's not so much the robots themselves that bother me, since I accept them as fiction, but it's the fans who argue these things as if they're hard fact. That, I will never understand.

[mitsuki lover]

Cromartie High School.I found it strange,plotless and the first several eps. seemed to be merely an overly long ad for the manga.As far as humor goes,to be honest I thought Colorful to be funnier.

[Radical Dreamer]

I bought the first box set for Kenshin...wow...back when it first came out, I believe. I haven't, or have rarely, watched it since then. It sits on my shelf collecting dust, and I haven't really had much of an urge to see the rest of it. It wasn't bad, but I can't understand people thinking it's the best anime in the world.

i never saw the big deal about kenshin to be honest. maybe i just need to see more. i've seen the first 13 episodes and i thought it was ok but nothing spectacular. does it get better later on or something?

Well, honestly, the first season of episodes isn't all that great. There are far too many filler episodes (I thought), and they aren't that well done. The show really kicks up when the second season comes around, which is the Kyoto Arc. I own the box set for that one, and love it! It's very similar to the manga (which is SO much better, in my opinion), and it has no filler eps. The third arc has nothing to do with the manga at all, and I was somewhat dissapointed by the final episode (though I haven't finished watching the entire 3rd arc in the anime). The manga]Last Exile[/B]--Yeah, so I've only seen one episode, and I had no clue what was going on, but it seemed kind of dull when I watched it. Maybe it's just that I got a bad first impression?

Ghost in the Shell--I've watched it on numerous occasions, and I must say, I do love the OP's for both seasons, but what is so great about this show, besides that and its animation? The majority of the episodes are basically a combination of diplomatic-type people talking in a meeting room, talking in a car, or talking in their cyborg-minds. I just don't understand why it's that interesting, and I've always found it hard to follow, though I did enjoy some of it.

Paranoia Agent--From what I watched of this show, I found that it was weird, confusing, and a little on the boring side of things. What makes it so great? *is shot by Mr. SmartyPants*

[GrubbTheFragger]

Ghost in the Shell--I've watched it on numerous occasions, and I must say, I do love the OP's for both seasons, but what is so great about this show, besides that and its animation? The majority of the episodes are basically a combination of diplomatic-type people talking in a meeting room, talking in a car, or talking in their cyborg-minds. I just don't understand why it's that interesting, and I've always found it hard to follow, though I did enjoy some of it

man i am a big fan and i really don't no why. I never saw the movie but the series i think i like about it is the pretty animations, the theme songs and the story

[Myoti]

I guess I am weird, I found the Bebop movie better then *most* the episodes of the series. I own both the series and the movie, and I just really enjoyed Vincents character. Then again, I had no hype going into it. I saw the movie before I saw the series.

I saw the movie first as well, though I still haven't seen any of the show itself (I have read most of the manga). I thought overall it was a pretty good film.

So, why can I not understand? Well, none really that hasn't been mentioned, I suppose....

[Arnobius]

I saw the movie first as well, though I still haven't seen any of the show itself (I have read most of the manga). I thought overall it was a pretty good film.

So, why can I not understand? Well, none really that hasn't been mentioned, I suppose....

In my case, the TV series was a well crafted set of stories (maybe one or two lame ones) with some suprisingly good character development. I was excited to hear of the movie, expecting the magic to come back. Well, I think the time the cast was away was too long, because it seemed to only be a shell of the original, trying too hard to be relevant and edgy and abandoning what made it good.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Can I also add in a few? Many mainstream anime such as Bleach, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Inuyasha, etc. I enjoy them and they are good. (Some better than others) but I do not think they are the best at all. I don't get why a lot of people hype over Naruto/Bleach/FMA/Inuyasha and such.

I also don't see why a lot of people love Cowboy Bebop or Trigun. I personally haven't seem much trigun, but I do find it sort of good. Cowboy Bebop I have seen all of including the movie. It was decent but I didn't like it that much. I guess it's more of a classic.

[FadedOne]

^ Ah yes, I'll second Cowboy Bebop. I've seen parts of the series, though not all. I find it enjoyable, but not great. Just good. In fact, the music is the only part of the series I can find rave-worthy. So what did I miss?

[GrubbTheFragger]

cowboy bebop i am watching now and i am loving it. It has humour and a pretty good story. I love the episode ballad of the fallen angels

[Radical Dreamer]

Can I also add in a few? Many mainstream anime such as Bleach, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Inuyasha, etc. I enjoy them and they are good. (Some better than others) but I do not think they are the best at all. I don't get why a lot of people hype over Naruto/Bleach/FMA/Inuyasha and such.

I also don't see why a lot of people love Cowboy Bebop or Trigun. I personally haven't seem much trigun, but I do find it sort of good. Cowboy Bebop I have seen all of including the movie. It was decent but I didn't like it that much. I guess it's more of a classic.

The mainstream anime are hyped because they're mainstream. XD People with no other access to anime will watch them and think they're the "Zee oh em jee best thing evorrrrrr!!!!1233551!" If that's the only anime they've seen, they're bound to think it's best. *shrugs* My 2 cents.

As for Cowboy Bebop, I'd say yeah, it's definitely a classic. It's not my most favorite series of all time, but it is good, and has a fantastic dub. Also, considedring that it caters to American audiences a little more than an anime that's full of Japanese inside-jokes, it would naturally get pretty high ratings in America. The same would go for Trigun, but I think people like that one so much because Vash is just hilarious.

[MasterDias]

Can I also add in a few? Many mainstream anime such as Bleach, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Inuyasha, etc. I enjoy them and they are good. (Some better than others) but I do not think they are the best at all. I don't get why a lot of people hype over Naruto/Bleach/FMA/Inuyasha and such.

I also don't see why a lot of people love Cowboy Bebop or Trigun. I personally haven't seem much trigun, but I do find it sort of good. Cowboy Bebop I have seen all of including the movie. It was decent but I didn't like it that much. I guess it's more of a classic.

RD basically hit the nail on the head about the mainstream anime. Also, the series you listed are shonen series whose initial demographic is a younger teenage audiance so they have rather broad appeal.

As for Trigun, I agree with you somewhat. It's a good series but I don't think that it's particularly a great one. I actually like Outlaw Star and what I've seen of Cowboy Bebop more. Ironically, I only own the Trigun boxset...
.

[ChronoShinobi]

For me, it's things like FLCL and Excel Saga that I don't understand. I mean, FLCL is basically a twisted Freudian sexual fantasy and Excel Saga (other than the first episode) wasn't that funny. That and pretty much anything with fanservice. I find that such anime's degrade my morality and cause me to think inappropreate thoughts of others, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy this site: For the reviews of the content that are helpful in choosing which series to watch and which to avoid.

As for a response, the majority of the anime that I enjoy are ones that make you want to watch them, just to see what happens, and also one's with a good story, like Trigun.
It starts out as "this weird guy keeps trying to be attacked by bounty hunters for no apparent reason" but you are allways left with the question of why. As the story progresses, you begin to understand more about the main character, and why he is who he is. The parts that I found the most gripping were Vash's backstory and that part with Wolfwood
[spoiler]
when Rem dies and you find out about the gun, and where wolfwood dies...
[/spoiler]

besides that, I find Vash's search for forgiveness and kindness to others particularly inspiring, and I would definitely reccomend Trigun to anyone, as it is one of my all time favorites

[skyblue]

besides that, I find Vash's search for forgiveness and kindness to others particularly inspiring, and I would definitely reccomend Trigun to anyone, as it is one of my all time favorites

Yes, I would agree with that. The only problem I had with the Trigun anime was that it lacked a ton from the manga. There were tons of filler in the first half of the series. Then, almost halfway though the second half of the series, the true turning point occurs:

[SPOILER]
The Fifth Moon Incident
[/SPOILER]

What's the problem with this? Well, the manga took only the first two volumes to get up to that point. From there, the manga (Trigun Maximum) goes on in an almost completely different direction than the anime and lasts around ~13 volumes if I'm correct. The anime lacks all of the Gung-Ho-Guns' backrounds. It's a shame really, because the manga almost makes you sorry for them. There are also some GhGs and tons of story arcs missing from the anime. All in all, I'd say that the anime would be a whole lot better if it were more like the manga. I just hope the Trigun movie does something about it.