>>9 I used to be rather enamoured of Japanese culture and all that crap... starry-eyed geek, I guess you could call it. And then I went and lived there, and saw just how uncool the Japanese can be.... So I guess that experience kind of jaded me to all this current Japanese cultural exportation. I just sort of shake my head... Having lived there, I just don't see it as 'cool' anymore....
Kind of an 'innocence lost' sort of thing, if you will... some of the magic kind of leaves your world. At least, that's how it was for me.
I'm sort of with Gnollman here. Even though I haven't spend more than two months in Japan, there's been enough going on to make me take a less glamorized stance on things. Don't get me wrong, I immensly enjoyed the experience, but it also made the shells fall off my eyes.
A lot of Japanese, not all mind, ARE very phobic of foreigners and don't mind letting you know it.
Why, I remember a horrible shopping experience at the very same Mandarake mentioned in the article. In the hustle and bustle after shopping there with some friends (you need to put your own bags in a locker, prior to entering the store), I lost track of a bag with stuff I bought there. We immediately contacted the store staff. A friend of mine who is fluent in Japanese explained what happened, what was in the bag, handed over the receipt and left contact information, should someone return the bag to the store.
Well... they did, but not in a form we hoped for. A few days later, we went to the same store and saw the same goods (some of which were pretty rare) back up for sale again. We could tell so because they all had the price tags in exactly the same spot, were worn in the same places, or had small holes in the wrapper plastic in exactly the same locations. I felt angry and taken advantage of, but there was nothing to prove. Of course, losing sight of a bag is stupid, but I wonder where the fairytale came from in which left luggage is never removed in Japan.
So for all you all you good otaku kids out there: Japan is not a dreamland, it's inhabited by real people, who can be real asswipes if they choose so. Enjoy manga, games and anime, but don't believe the hype.
The U.S. market for Japanese animation was worth an estimated $4.3 billion in 2002, the Japan External Trade Organization said. That's four times greater than the value of Japan's steel exports to the U.S., for instance.
Revenue from royalties and sales of music, video games, anime, art, films and fashion soared to $12.5 billion in 2002, up 300 percent from 1992. During the same period, Japanese exports overall increased by only 15 percent. Its cultural exports are now worth three and a half times the value of all the televisions this nation exported in 2002, according to a report by the research arm of the trade conglomerate Marubeni.
A record 3 million people around the world are now studying the Japanese language, compared with only 127,000 in 1997, according to the Japan Foundation and Tokyo's Marubeni Research Institute.
独立したテレビアニメとしては悪くないけど、て事だね。 OVAの大ファンからは同じような評価を間々聞くよ。 John > And the R.O.D. TV series, while not bad in isolation, >hasn't lived up to the energetic vitality of the original OAV series it's a sequel to.
>>269 Johnはガングレのゲームの方のヒュージなファンだったみたいで。 Likewise the Gungrave anime seemed to consciously avoid doing everything that made the original Playstation game so outstanding.
ギルガメッシュは話しはともかく、アニメーションの質が低すぎるし… そもそも、アニメなんだし。 Gilgamesh has been a mixed bag of intriguing story told with ugly character designs and shockingly poor animation quality.
1a) LastEXILE, episode 4, when Alvis is investigating the toy sheep. 1b) Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, last episode, all.
Worst character animation:
1) Gilgamesh. It's so bad, it must be a conscious stylistic choice. 2) Tsukihime. The inbetweening for this show, something I normally don't notice, is obtrusively awful. Look at some of the times Arc turns her head - she'll goes from face-on to a side view with only one intermediate frame.
東京ゴッドファーザーズ ttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2058425 Borrowing from John Ford's "Three Godfathers," the title characters are not yakuza gang leaders but three troubled homeless people who find an abandoned baby and try to track down its mother. It's a touching movie that, like the best animes, transcends the limitations of the genre.
Meitantei Conan: tape/DVD/digi; A; still watching; The Great (little) Detective is still going strong with a marvelous supporting cast and good mysteries.
One Piece: tape/DVD/digi; A; still watching; The wannabe pirates are still having great adventures with ingenious lands and opponents.
Hanbei Renmei: DVD; C; stopped watching; Glum story of a purgatory of sorts; I just couldn't care for the main characters and their stories.
A Tree of Palme: DVD; C; finished; Strange post-apocalyptic movie of a plant boy. Great animation but the characters are less than compelling.
Millenial Actress: DVD; B; finished; Fascinating look into the life and times of an actress who spent her life chasing a phantom. Superior movie up until the final statement.
King of Bandits Jing: DVD; A; finished; Strange sci-fi/fantasy about a wandering thief. Oddly erotic for an NHK kid's series.
Hikaru no Go: tape/DVD; A; finished; Grand series about the game of Go and a ghost who changes a boy's life through it.
Stop! Hibari-kun: DVD; A+; finished; Incredibly funny old series about a cross-dressing teen who happens to be the only son of a yakuza.
Tenshina Konamaiki: tape/DVD; A; finished; Very funny modern series about a beautiful girl who thinks that she is a boy, sort of the other side of Stop! Hibari-kun.
Inu Yasha: tape/digi; C; finally stopped watching; After watching over 100 episodes of this Takahashi fantasy about a modern girl and her medieval dog-demon boyfriend I gave up out of boredom.
Juuni Kokuki 3rd Season: tape; B; finished; An up-and-down fantasy about a mythical ancient Chinese land - I liked the parts with Youko but not the rest.
Atashi'n chi: tape; A; can't find more; A funny look at an ordinary Japanese family. Unfortunately not available on R2 DVD.
Witch Hunter Robin: DVD; A; still watching; A dark and brooding look at a world where psionic powers are not well received but still a fact of life.
Princess Tutu: tape/DVD; A+; finished; Grand, unforgettable fantasy about a little duck who wants to be a ballerina and save a prince. Incredible music, graphics, story and characterization.
Overman King Gainer: tape/DVD; A; finished; Funny, action-packed shaggy dog post-apocalyptic story from Tomino. A huge cast, and even disco mechas.
Puchipuri Yuci: tape; C; finished; Minor, game-based fantasy from Gainax and NHK about a girl who can't grow up.
Heat Guy-J: DVD; B; still watching; Action sci-fi about a cool operative and his robot partner.
Naruto: tape; C; stopped watching; Fight-of-the-week fantasy anime about ninja kids in a world of ninjas.
Tsuribaka Niishi: tape; B; stopped watching; Salary-man comedy about a fishing nut and his bosses.
Piano: tape; C; stopped watching; Quiet, cute girl plays piano, watches the world go by. Not my cup of tea.
Big O Season 2: tape/DVD; A; finished; Grand finale to this retro-robo series of a land that forgot the past.
Wolf's Rain: tape/DVD; D; stopped watching; Wolves hide as people in this dreary psuedo-bishi post-apocalyptic story.
L/R (Licensed by Royal): DVD; D; stopped watching; Mediocre take on super-spy stories. Not cool, not fun.
.hack//Tasogare: tape; D; stopped watching; Even more mediocre sequel to the previous on-line game-world sci-fi series.
Nanaka 6/17: DVD; A; finished; Warm, sweet and poignant story about a 17 year old girl who reverts back to her 6 year old mental self when under stress and the friends who help her through.
Mouse: DVD; F; stopped watching; Unbelievably bad fan service series about a super thief and his gravity-defying-anatomy equipped assistants.
Mahoutsukai ni Taisetsuna Koto: DVD; A; finished; Warm, sweet and poignant story about a 17 year old mage who goes to the big city to get her magic diploma.
Konjiki no Gashbell: digi/DVD; B; still watching; Goofy shounen fighting fantasy about an overconfident teen who is sent a little demon as a conscience of sorts.
Fire Storm: tape; D; stopped watching; Overly old-fashioned retro-sci-fi anime about a force of super fighters.
Croquette: tape; D; stopped watching; Yet another indistinguishable TV Tokyo shounen action series with strange kids/creatures in a strange world.
Last Exile: DVD/digi; B; still watching; Good looking but somewhat distant sci-fi story about a future world with a steam-punk sensibility and antigravity machines.
Kino no Tabi: tape; B; stopped watching; Well done and intelligent set of fables about a dark and hopeless world that is a little too depressing to watch to the finish.
Scrapped Princess: tape; C; stopped watching; Colorful sci-fi fantasy about a girl who might be the key to the end of the world. I've seen the same thing too many times before.
Ninja Scroll TV: tape; C; stopped watching; Energetic and erotic but not particularly original ninja fantasy.
Tantei Gakuen Q: tape; D; stopped watching; Dumb, badly plotted kid-detective show with obnoxious characters.
Technolyze: digi; D; stopped watching; Murky mystery set in a bleak depressing world. Style over substance.
Ultra Maniac: digi/DVD; B; still watching; Bright, fun mahou shoujo comedy about a magic girl who comes to earth to try to improve her magical skills.
Cinderella Boy: digi; D; stopped watching; Badly derivative and fundamentally unfunny Lupin clone about a detective who gets a "big change" after botching an investigation.
Rumiko Takahashi Theater: digi; C; stopped watching; Overly ordinary anthology slice-of-life series based upon Takahashi short stories.
Da Capo: digi; D; stopped watching; H-game adaptation. Lots of cute girls throw themselves at the lead male, who happens to have some psychic powers.
Narutaru: digi; A; finished; Chillingly bleak divergence from the typical "alien friend" type of series as a young girl finds herself and her alien friend in a very dangerous world.
Popotan: digi; C; stopped watching; Cute-girl fantasy series about three sisters on a quest, who come and go like dandelion flowers.
Avenger: digi; B; still watching; Post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale of a woman fighter and her quest on the ruins of Mars.
Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito: digi; D; still watching; Muddled, badly plotted and generally disappointing H-game adaptation about a girl searching alternate worlds for her older sister.
Saiyuki Reload: digi; D; stopped watching; Horrid continuation of the reasonably enjoyable TV series from a few years ago about the old Chinese tale of Gods, Priests and Demons.
Battle Programmer Shirase: digi; D; stopped watching; Dumb, unfunny and boring tale of a lazy "super-programmer".
Bottle Fairy: digi; D; stopped watching; Pure "cute-girls-doing-dumb-things" series about little fairies.
Mermaid Forest: digi; C; still watching; Update and extension of the old Takahashi OAVs about an immortal and his search for mermaids.
Kimi ga Nozumu Eien: digi; D; stopped watching; Soap opera about a love triangle, with broken promises, comas and the whole lot.
Gunslinger Girl: digi; D; stopped watching; Pre-teen girls are turned into killing machines. The series pretends to be more than just voyeurism.
Gilgamesh: digi; D; stopped watching; Post-apocalyptic psychic-powered-kids nonsense combined with really bad artwork.
Maburaho: digi; D; stopped watching; H-game harem show adaptation with magic thrown in to try to make it different.
Full Metal Alchemist: digi/DVD; A+; still watching; Great shounen fantasy set in a world where alchemy works, and two alchemist brothers search for its greatest secret.
Planetes: digi; C; stopped watching; Hard sci-fi about orbital debris collectors. For Patlabor fans.
Tsukihime: digi; B; still watching; Vampire girls, killer boys and a murky plot. It remains to be seen if everything can be pulled together in the final episodes.
Ebichu: digi; B-; stopped watching; Very raw farce about a desperate single woman and her perverted hamster.
First Kiss Story: digi; D; stopped watching; Cloying and brainless shounen romance OAV series.
Tenchi OAV 3: digi; D; waiting for episode 2; Very mediocre return to the original sci-fi harem OAV series.
Peace Maker Kurogane: digi; C; stopped watching; Uninspired samurai series with a boy hero.
Hyaku Monogatari: digi; A+; still watching; Brilliantly imaginative horror series set in the Edo Period. A must buy when the box set comes out in February.
Usagi-chan de Cue: digi; D; stopped watching; Silly fan service sci-fi/fantasy series about a rabbit who becomes a girl.
Magic Fairy Persia: digi; C; stopped watching; Old mahou shoujo series about a girl from Africa who is given magical powers.
Cromartie High: digi; A; still watching; Very off-the-wall parody of "tough guy" high school anime and manga stories.
Metal Armor Dragonar: digi; D; stopped watching; Very dated mecha-in-space series.
ROD TV: digi; C-; stopped watching; Disappointing TV sequel to the great OAV series with different and uninteresting heroines.
Mujin Wakusei Survive: digi; C; stopped watching; Ordinary NHK variation on an old Heinlein kid's sci-fi theme about kids in a future space school.
Godannar: digi; C; still watching; Parody of mecha hero series that should be in a 1/4 hour time slot, but then they couldn't fit in all the fan service.
Kodomo no Omocha: digi; C; stopped watching; Famous shoujo series about a motor-mouthed girl and her strange family and friends gets repetitive early on.
Noiseman Sound Insect: digi; A; watched; Almost indescribable visuals and music in this head-shaking short about a monster that gets rid of sounds. Unfortunately unavailable commercially.
Bastof Lemon: digi; D; stopped watching; Kid's sci-fi fighting series with skate boards from Korea.
Twin Spica: digi; C; stopped watching; Another earnest NHK series, this time a fantasy about a girl who wants to be an astronaut.
Miyuki: digi; C; stopped watching; Old seinen romantic comedy. For fans of MI or KOR only.
Saint Beast: digi; F; stopped watching; Putrid rip-off of Saiyuki, with some scenes and dialog identical to the words and scenes in the first Saiyuki episode.
Chrono Crusade: digi; C; still watching; Nuns-with-guns fantasy series. May have potential but I still don't like most of the characters.
Kikou Sennyo Rouran: digi; D; stopped watching; Painfully bad mecha/fantasy cross that is still too long in a 1/4 time slot.
Hanada Shounen Shi: digi; A; still watching; Fresh, funny and earthy story of a little brat who gets cursed with the ability to see and hear ghosts.
ゆめりあ The promo for this is a little bit corny, but the one take on the chicks ass was nice. Also, that one person keeps saying "MONE MONE!!!!" is REALLY annoying.
Anybody agree with me that this could become a really great anime?