One other Ghibli film, with a strong environmental theme, that I haven’t noticed mentioned here is “Pom Poko”, relating the story of a large pack of raccoons whose homes are threatened by a huge housing development in Tokyo and what they do to try and stop it. It has some absolutely hilarious sections, along with some sad ones. Some of the youngest peanuts might have a problem, but the older ones will love it.

My favorite for more adult anime is “Witch Hunter Robin”. I bought the complete series not too long ago, but haven’t had time to watch them all.

Well it would help if you got your facts right. GotF is NOT about Hiroshima at all. Go back and take a look at it again. See all those little firey black cylinder things falling all over? Those aren’t hundreds of little atom bombs. This movie is not about the atom bombing of Hiroshima, but about the firebombing of Tokyo (which, similar to the firebombing of Dresden, caused all kinds of hell, made worse because so much of the regular houses in Japan were all wood).

I have heard this kind of comment before. I heard Dr. Susan Napier talk at University of Texas Austin and she recounted an earlier lecture she’d given on anime to older adults (basically “How to understand what your grandkids are watching”). One of the attendees came up to her and asked “Now, the kids do understand that THEY attacked US right?”

Now I know a pretty decent amount of military history and am well acquainted with Japanese war crimes, including their horrific medical experiments in China that rival Mengele. I personally find it slightly grating when I see anime and manga that refer to Nazi atrocities and discrimination while glossing over their own. (At least the master, Osamu Tezuka, in his ADOLF series, talked about harassment of Koreans in Japan and violent repression of internal dissidents).

But I don’t fault GotF for this. I look at it as an indictment of war in general. After all, what did these kids (the protagonists) have to do with all that? Though it’s amusing to note the messages people get from it – the director, Isao Takahata, intended it to also be a criticism of the elder brother, who Takahata took as emblematic of what he felt were lazy Japanese youth, not willing to work hard enough. (Of course, from my view, what kind of job could a teen boy get in the war-ravaged country that would support his sick sister?)

I’m totally–TOTALLY–addicted to Nana right now. Before that, it was Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango). Some other favorites are Paradise Kiss, Twelve Kingdoms and Ouran High School Host Club. I liked His & Her Circumstances (Kare Kano), up until disc 5 or so, when the quality started falling apart. If anyone wants plotlines, I can give ‘em, but I doubt anyone will ready this.

Waaaah!

And Princess Mononoke, while pretty, was a content disaster. I saw it in Tokyo when it first came out, and I remember that many people from northern Japan were deeply disappointed that Miyazaki, rather than presenting real Northern or Ainu myth, had elected to simply make everything up from whole cloth. Those cute tree spirits, the wormy boar, the white wolf…. all on the level of cigar store Indians. Of course, it would have been tricky to do real Ainu myth, for instance, since there isn’t any complete agreement on details even among the native people. But that’s no excuse for launching into a free-form craptacular fantasy that loots the mythologies of a dozen countries in search of cool and cute.

And was anyone else bothered by the fact that the important characters all got saved and forgiven, while the common soldiers killed in the battles just, well, stayed dead?

The Japanese have been interested in the environment for a long time. Remember Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster? Even their haiku poetry always has an element of the season embedded in it.

It seems the Edwards campaign is getting a bit more attention now. They’re path the “First they ignore you.” stage and on to the “Then they laugh at you.” stage. Next up, “Then they fight you.” stage and finally the, “Then you win.” stage.

Whitehouse did great, and had Leahy’s approval, in the fantastically surreal questioning of our Attorney General who can’t recall anything of importance. I’d guess the citizens of RI are pleased with their choice.

The Edwards haircut story also indicates an interest in California-based voters and their reaction to celebrities who spend a lot on haircuts and makeup. I’d say they’re definately taking him serious for the California primary. Look next for some stories saying he doesn’t have the money or notoriety, or something else silly, needed to win CA. Maybe he should be seen with some prominent CA politicians named Brown: Kathleen, Jerry or Willie. Hey, even a meeting with the Gropinator could be interesting political theater. I wonder how much Ahnold spends for a haircut?

They are apparently testing a trial balloon about Gore jumping in the race. I’m guessing he’ll make a decision about running and if it’s ‘yes’, then he’ll make a decision about when to go public. All-in-all we might find out by July 4th (a nice day for an announcement).

Bush is still preznit. Dang!

McCain’s bombastic ‘bomb bomb bomb’ comment has certainly bombed. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of his withdrawal from the race before long. Is his jaw still growing?

Really! Why *do* they put Newt Gingrich on t.v.?

What’s Hillary’s next move? Any predictions? I can’t see it. Once she committed to the Iraq war it seemed to me she left herself no maneuvering room. Hey, she shoulda ‘left all the options on the table’.

Speaking of anime…shouldn’t there be one of the Bush administration? I mean, it’s all so bizarrely surreal and cartoonish.

As for some other anime works I find worth watching, and I should note these range from very serious multilevel writings to those aimed at more juvenile audiences as well as older ones. Naruto would be a good example of that. My wife and I just watched a 24 part series called Chrono Crusade which just blew both of us away, set in 1928 USA dealing with a 16 yr old Sister bound to a devil in an order fighting devils and looking for her younger brother taken by a devil wanting to bring the apocalypse. It was amazingly accurate in its use of proper idiom and in representing the period and environment, and the storyline was excellent, spiritually rich without being heavy-handed on the religious aspect inherent in the storyline. It was incredibly well done in our views, and is one we plan on owning. This is also one I think would not be hard for younger viewers as well as older, but that is ultimately the choice of each set of parents for themselves.

Then there are shows like Gundam Seed, a 50 part series of the more classic transformable humanoid battle armors with a conflict being gengineered humans living in space known as coordinators and the humans of earth, alas being driven by an extremist group called Blue Cosmos whose rallying cry is “For the preservation of our blue and perfect world” who believe that gengineered humans are an abomination to be wiped out totally. There is a follow-up series that was recently released called Gundam Seed Destiny, but I have only seen the first 7 eps so far, but it certainly appears to be on a similar par with the first.

Some of the more classic animes would be Dirty Pair, Appleseed, Patlabor, Project A-Ko, Black Magic M-66, Record of Lodoss War (this is really old, but it was also one of the more interesting ones of its time and kind IMHO) Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (was the source material used to create G Force and Battle of the Planets, but totally different and thankfully no 7 zark 7), Ninja Scroll, The Castle of Cagliostro. There are many more but these are some of the better ones IMHO that come to mind off the top of my head.

More recent series would be like Bleach (a 16 yr old boy gets drafted as a “Soul Reaper” fighting hollows and helping dead spirits cross over), Full Metal Alchemist, Eureka 7, Inuyasha, Ghost in the Shell and GITS: Stand Alone Complex, Serial Experiments Lain (this is an odd one).

Those are just a few of some of the ones I have enjoyed. Anime is a wonderful thing and one of the things I enjoy most in this world. The blending of excellent writing and visuals really works for me, be it hard core action SF to old fashioned feudal era Japan work to deeply mystical to just silly, I find I enjoy work in all these anime genres. I hope I have provided a few useful suggestions to the many excellent works others have already posted in this thread. I am just sorry I came to this site so late today…:(

In other anime news: Lately we’ve been watching Neon Genesis Evangelion together. We just finished the 3rd DVD of ~9.

official evangelion site
evangelion on wikipedia

One thing I’ve noticed about Miyazaki films is that people either love them or hate them. Twice I’ve tried to share Spirited Away with friends only to find them either perplexed or appalled by the strangeness of the plot.

Personally, I love them and find them incomparable to any other works of animation. They contain moments of pure magic and thrall that I rarely experience in cinema of any sort, animation or not.

My Father-in-law, god rest him, was thoroughly confused by anime. The adult topics, the unashamed crotch shots and shower scenes (’fanservice’) and even the matter-of-fact assholes on the animals were more than he could take. To him, animation was cartoons and therefore for children. He freaked when Mr HotFlash and I (then merely engaged) watched Golgol 13. And he loved/hated Kekko Kamen, “The thing that is more splendid than panties.” Some of my old favourites are Plastic Little, Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell (movies and series), Bubblegum Crisis, Sol Bianca, Battle Angel, Gall Force, Demon Hunter Yoko and Appleseed. I also love all the Go Nagai stuff. Pat Labour and Dominion Tank Police. Riding Bean. More recently Last Exile, Jubei-chan, Coyote Ragtime, Bakamatsu and Master Keane.

Good stuff, all of it. Not much of it for kids, though.

“. . .But, for my money, even better than the artwork in this particular film is the story and the accompanying musical score. Amazing stuff. (For a longer look at the film, try this. Just gorgeous — well worth the rental if you have not seen it.). . .”

seconded — we’ve owned it ever since
our middle son was old enough to
“get it” — over five years, now. . .

exquisite.

that is all. . .

ps: i see the iron giant mentioned
almost immediately above mine –
“coffee-zilla” is my favorite line
in that whole fun movie. . .
“there, now. . . commander, sport,
admiral, skipper, captain, scout,
boss, honcho. . .”