Yeah, I definitely enjoyed Samurai Champloo, although I still think that Cowboy Bebop beats it in a lot of respects. The thing that I think Samurai Champloo did well was to mix the samurai genre up by adding a hip-hop flare without making it overbearing. Personally, I've never gotten into the hip-hop culture, but I can appreciate the show for what it is. I think the hip-hop influence is a good thing, because it opens up the genre to younger kids, more influenced by the modern hip-hop culture prevalent in middle and high schools, who might otherwise dismiss good shows like Rurouni Kenshin as being "lame" or "old". Despite this modern edge, it still has a lot of elements (in terms of presentation, character development, and art style) traditionally found in the genre. So in a way, the show is able to rejuvenate the samurai genre and let kids see it for what it is, without being bogged down by time-dependent influences. That Samurai Champloo pushed the boundaries of the samurai genre is not a surprise, as it was directed by the same person who did Cowboy Bebop. Additionally, although I can't confirm it, I'd think that such a show like Samurai Champloo would have had an influence on more recent productions like Afro Samurai (which I haven't seen yet, but plan to in the near future), which has been highly successful in America. I remember that when I was a kid (like 12 or so) Samurai Champloo was on Toonami, during the Adult Swim block. I only saw one episode (the one where Jin helps a woman escape from a life of prostitution, and falls in love with her), but it left an impression on me because of the sexual content, the modern edge and smooth animation, and the sincerity of that particular story.
Serial experiments lain is just awesome, though i understood little the first 12 episodes, the 13th episode cleared up allot of the plot holes ^^
i see you where recommended High School of the Dead , I love the manga but the anime is really flawed, even episode 3 or 4 is like half filler! and cheap cgi .in a 13 ep series! and it doesnt even have a real ending ( the manga is ongoing , but slooowly) and they focused too much on the ecchi bits, ecchi can be fun but man it really ruined HOTD .
Ever heard of City Hunter? it aired from 1987 based on a shounen jump manga ( shounen jump has made alot of their mangas into animes) with late 90's drawing style/tech and beats the hell out of almost all 90 and 90's animes in animation, sure it has some uh cant really call it ecchi but yeah...
Hey Assiman, sorry for the lack of response for the last week. It's finals weeks so everyone at my school is spending most of their time studying for their tests or getting their final projects together, myself included. Anyway, your last post wasn't as bad as you made it out to be, at least in the sense that there weren't so many mistakes that it was hard to read. Whether or not I actually understood what you MEANT to say is another matter that almost everyone has some trouble with. But for the most part, I think your last post was fine. To make up for my silence over the last week, I'd like to make a bit of a recommendation, take it or leave it. Have you by any chance heard of High School of the Dead? One of my friends recommended it to me a while back, so I just started to watch it. The beginning episode is SO cliche that I almost stopped watching it right there (which I rarely do), but I'm glad I didn't. The rest of the show that I've seen so far is fairly entertaining, putting a rather humorous spin on the zombie genre (the show takes itself so seriously that at points it is hilarious), with a few moments of seriousness and genuine humor punctuating it throughout, and if you accept the show for what it is (a horror/action flick kinda mixed with your typical anime high school structure), the show has been enjoyable thus far. Also, expect a LOT of Ecchi. Where normally ecchi can be something of a turn-off by distracting from the seriousness of a show (e.g. I think Shikabane Hime has slightly too much ecchi at points), after a while it seems to fit almost naturally in the show, enhancing the show's self-cynicism. Anyway, I'm back to work!
Classes have been hectic for me the last few days, but I finally found some time to sit down and write a little bit. I've never seen Angel's Egg, although as soon as you mentioned them, I "wanted" both Angel's Egg and Mononoke on my profile. It's always refreshing and a welcome treat to watch things that are a little out of one's comfort zone (as I think I mentioned, these days I tend to stick to shows from the 90's and 00's, but more because they are the shows I grew up on and can most easily identify as anime), so as soon as I get the chance, I'm watching at least Angel's Egg. I wouldn't worry too much about others having a bias against anime, as long as you don't encourage the stereotype by excessive viewing to the point that it obstructs your life (honestly, I do that from time to time, but as I said, it's socially encouraged where I attend school). The idea of "nerdiness" is kind of silly anyway, since it seems to implies a lot of things that aren't necessarily true about oneself, and in general has a negative connotation (although from time to time one might actually take pride in calling themselves a "nerd"). In particular, I don't like the term when it is used to describe a person who devotes time to a particular area of study, such as mathematics, physics, literature, etc, beyond the time that a student would be expected to spend. Although it is true that students who do this tend to be socially awkward, (trust me, there are plenty of people at my school with aspergers) I believe the earnest pursuit of knowledge should not be made fun of in and of itself. Anyways, I don't really want to preach so I won't say anymore on that, but that's my two cents. Lastly, I recently watched Princess Mononoke (late 90's can't remember exact release date), and was astounded by the contrast in the animation style (and dare I say, "quality"?) between that show and a contemporary movie (Escaflowne: the Movie, 2000), while at the same time noticing the similarity between Escaflowne and a much lower-budget, older show (Twilight of the Dark Master, not a great movie) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-swbJ_omARE (the way the character looks at around 2:56 particularly comes to mind). It's not to say that I think the escaflowne movie was any less beautiful or detailed than Princess Mononoke, but Mononoke looks like something more from the 2000's while Escaflowne clearly has a 90's flare to it (I actually thought Mononoke was at least 4 years newer, before I checked the dates). Since then, I've been wondering, although haven't had the time to really research, how much of the difference is because of budget and time limits, and how much was the result of the artist's (from completely different studios, Gihbli vs Sunrise/Bandai Visual) conscious choice of drawing styles. Any input?
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Yeah, I definitely enjoyed Samurai Champloo, although I still think that Cowboy Bebop beats it in a lot of respects. The thing that I think Samurai Champloo did well was to mix the samurai genre up by adding a hip-hop flare without making it overbearing. Personally, I've never gotten into the hip-hop culture, but I can appreciate the show for what it is. I think the hip-hop influence is a good thing, because it opens up the genre to younger kids, more influenced by the modern hip-hop culture prevalent in middle and high schools, who might otherwise dismiss good shows like Rurouni Kenshin as being "lame" or "old". Despite this modern edge, it still has a lot of elements (in terms of presentation, character development, and art style) traditionally found in the genre. So in a way, the show is able to rejuvenate the samurai genre and let kids see it for what it is, without being bogged down by time-dependent influences. That Samurai Champloo pushed the boundaries of the samurai genre is not a surprise, as it was directed by the same person who did Cowboy Bebop. Additionally, although I can't confirm it, I'd think that such a show like Samurai Champloo would have had an influence on more recent productions like Afro Samurai (which I haven't seen yet, but plan to in the near future), which has been highly successful in America. I remember that when I was a kid (like 12 or so) Samurai Champloo was on Toonami, during the Adult Swim block. I only saw one episode (the one where Jin helps a woman escape from a life of prostitution, and falls in love with her), but it left an impression on me because of the sexual content, the modern edge and smooth animation, and the sincerity of that particular story.
yeah, but still you gave deeper kyo 2.5/5 :P
Serial experiments lain is just awesome, though i understood little the first 12 episodes, the 13th episode cleared up allot of the plot holes ^^
i see you where recommended High School of the Dead , I love the manga but the anime is really flawed, even episode 3 or 4 is like half filler! and cheap cgi .in a 13 ep series! and it doesnt even have a real ending ( the manga is ongoing , but slooowly) and they focused too much on the ecchi bits, ecchi can be fun but man it really ruined HOTD .
Ever heard of City Hunter? it aired from 1987 based on a shounen jump manga ( shounen jump has made alot of their mangas into animes) with late 90's drawing style/tech and beats the hell out of almost all 90 and 90's animes in animation, sure it has some uh cant really call it ecchi but yeah...
Hey Assiman, sorry for the lack of response for the last week. It's finals weeks so everyone at my school is spending most of their time studying for their tests or getting their final projects together, myself included. Anyway, your last post wasn't as bad as you made it out to be, at least in the sense that there weren't so many mistakes that it was hard to read. Whether or not I actually understood what you MEANT to say is another matter that almost everyone has some trouble with. But for the most part, I think your last post was fine. To make up for my silence over the last week, I'd like to make a bit of a recommendation, take it or leave it. Have you by any chance heard of High School of the Dead? One of my friends recommended it to me a while back, so I just started to watch it. The beginning episode is SO cliche that I almost stopped watching it right there (which I rarely do), but I'm glad I didn't. The rest of the show that I've seen so far is fairly entertaining, putting a rather humorous spin on the zombie genre (the show takes itself so seriously that at points it is hilarious), with a few moments of seriousness and genuine humor punctuating it throughout, and if you accept the show for what it is (a horror/action flick kinda mixed with your typical anime high school structure), the show has been enjoyable thus far. Also, expect a LOT of Ecchi. Where normally ecchi can be something of a turn-off by distracting from the seriousness of a show (e.g. I think Shikabane Hime has slightly too much ecchi at points), after a while it seems to fit almost naturally in the show, enhancing the show's self-cynicism. Anyway, I'm back to work!
Hey I couldnt help but to notice your long comments on Minai99's profile and i couldnt help but see this and i quote :
"When I was watching Samurai Deeper Kyo I realised that "wow, anime can suck pretty bad" :D"
Totally agree, one of the worst animes I have seen, and just because beaca-a-a... (gah spelling sucks) of that I like you allready !
Btw awesome toplist, though i tend to like gundam 08th ms team better than 0080, just my opinion though.
Classes have been hectic for me the last few days, but I finally found some time to sit down and write a little bit. I've never seen Angel's Egg, although as soon as you mentioned them, I "wanted" both Angel's Egg and Mononoke on my profile. It's always refreshing and a welcome treat to watch things that are a little out of one's comfort zone (as I think I mentioned, these days I tend to stick to shows from the 90's and 00's, but more because they are the shows I grew up on and can most easily identify as anime), so as soon as I get the chance, I'm watching at least Angel's Egg. I wouldn't worry too much about others having a bias against anime, as long as you don't encourage the stereotype by excessive viewing to the point that it obstructs your life (honestly, I do that from time to time, but as I said, it's socially encouraged where I attend school). The idea of "nerdiness" is kind of silly anyway, since it seems to implies a lot of things that aren't necessarily true about oneself, and in general has a negative connotation (although from time to time one might actually take pride in calling themselves a "nerd"). In particular, I don't like the term when it is used to describe a person who devotes time to a particular area of study, such as mathematics, physics, literature, etc, beyond the time that a student would be expected to spend. Although it is true that students who do this tend to be socially awkward, (trust me, there are plenty of people at my school with aspergers) I believe the earnest pursuit of knowledge should not be made fun of in and of itself. Anyways, I don't really want to preach so I won't say anymore on that, but that's my two cents. Lastly, I recently watched Princess Mononoke (late 90's can't remember exact release date), and was astounded by the contrast in the animation style (and dare I say, "quality"?) between that show and a contemporary movie (Escaflowne: the Movie, 2000), while at the same time noticing the similarity between Escaflowne and a much lower-budget, older show (Twilight of the Dark Master, not a great movie) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-swbJ_omARE (the way the character looks at around 2:56 particularly comes to mind). It's not to say that I think the escaflowne movie was any less beautiful or detailed than Princess Mononoke, but Mononoke looks like something more from the 2000's while Escaflowne clearly has a 90's flare to it (I actually thought Mononoke was at least 4 years newer, before I checked the dates). Since then, I've been wondering, although haven't had the time to really research, how much of the difference is because of budget and time limits, and how much was the result of the artist's (from completely different studios, Gihbli vs Sunrise/Bandai Visual) conscious choice of drawing styles. Any input?