Anime that I like

I was asked about what anime I liked in a comment to my Ghost in the Shell review. It was starting to get too long to reply there, so here it is.

I find Ghost in the Shell to be an excellent example of the genre, one that shows the art and intricate story without getting too wrapped up in either Japanese culture or anime culture. Some of the TV series can be very self-referential, doing parodies of other series. I've watched a few of them and it can be very funny, but requires a lot of background.

It's been a long time since I've seen Akira and I only saw it once. If I remember correctly, it is something like 2.5 or 3 hours long, so the details have become fuzzy. I remember that I liked it, but I can't recall details.

There have been other anime movies that I've liked. There was "Metropolis" which was a remake of the classic 1920's film and pretty much anything by Hayao Miyazaki. I liked the sequel to this film called "Ghost in the Shell: Innocence" but I'm planning to write a review of it sometime soon.

I just checked the credits for "Princess Mononoke" which is my favorite Miyazaki film and found out that Niel Gaiman did the English adaptation. I really liked the English version - it is much better than most I've heard. One great thing about Miyazaki (and his Studio Ghibli) is that the distribution rights to the films was purchased by Disney - and championed by John Lasseter, and he only agreed if Disney would not change the films. Lasseter did this while working at Pixar and before he was brought into the studio executive because he loved Miyazaki's films so much. All his films revolve around young characters, going through a big change in their life. One of the best Studio Ghibli films is "Grave of the Fireflies", by Isao Takahata (who is Miyazaki's partner in Studio Ghibli). This is a difficult film to watch, about a boy who struggles to keep his sister alive near the end of WWII after their mother is killed in an air raid.

One thing I really like to do is to watch them in Japanese because the mere sound of the dialog fits better. There is something compelling about the different intonation, voices and urgencies done in the original language. As I said above, "Princess Mononoke" is one of the best adaptations I've heard, preserving the sense and feeling of the original. Sometimes you have to wonder at the voices they choose (I didn't really like Gillian Anderson as Moro - the Japanese actor is much more ominous). I liked the "Ghost in the Shell" translation as well, but as it didn't have too much dialog, it could be done well.

Enough rambling for this evening - I intend to post more reviews of anime that I've enjoyed. I just hope that people don't get hung up on "Sailor Moon" or "DragonBallZ". There are films that well done and leave a completely different impression.