An Anime Movie for a newbie

[Gunbuster]

Can anyone recommend an anime movie for a newbie?

No studio Ghibli Movies please. The movie has to be funny as well as good characters development. A movie that can stand on it's own without reference to a series or manga.

Thanks in advance

[1st Border Red Devil]

Project A-ko.

[zeo-mare]

someone recomend the King of Braves Gaogaigar Final to me, apearently the movie (as well as the series) is quite good, alot of action and a very high quality of animation, i also heard there is a sense of humor to it. i have yet to see it but i have heard very good things about it.

chris

[Pat Payne]

Not Ghibli but Miyaziki nonetheless: I'd suggest Lupin III Castle of Cagliostro. I't s a nice, light-hearted adventure that needs no introduction to the Lupin III universe. Then again, any of the Lupin movies are like that.

Oh and -- d'oh! -- I shoulda also suggested Project A-Ko...good one, 1BRD.

Edited March 11, 2005 by Pat Payne

[wolfx]

Can anyone recommend an anime movie for a newbie?

No studio Ghibli Movies please. The movie has to be funny as well as good characters development. A movie that can stand on it's own without reference to a series or manga.

Thanks in advance

What do you mean by newbie? New to anime?

Anime movie , not ghibli...and can stand on its own without reference to a series of manga....wow...you really drilled it down there.

Well...I can think of:

1.) Voices from a distant star

2.) Beyond the clouds the promised place

3.) Akira

4.) Ninja Scroll

5.) Appleseed

[zeo-mare]

not much of a sense of humor but if you like scifi Venus Wars was good, alittle old but was really neat. i agree about Akira.

[JELEINEN]

The first two Patlabor movies are watchable without having seen the series (I've met a lot of people who like them that weren't aware there was a series or manga).

Crusher Joe would probably be a surefire bet.

Steamboy is supposed to be out this month in theaters, and it's excellent.

Macross Plus (duh).

They Were 11.

Leda.

Weathering Continent

[gerwalk25]

3.) Akira

5.) Appleseed

Akira is totaly based on a Manga series, almost 2000 pages worth and there's far more depth than the film (Obviously ). Debuted in Japan in 1983 and released in the US by Epic comics (A Marvel Imprint) in 88, 89 in color when the film premiered and in 2001 Dark Horse put out all six volumes (with new translations) in Black and White. I'm re-reading it currently, an excellent read IMHO.

Appleseed same story. I haven't read it yet. Seen the movie and it's pretty good. Recommended.

Edited March 11, 2005 by gerwalk25

[NERV]

if short OVAs are good enough, i would say rurouni kenshin OVA

[wolfx]

3.) Akira

5.) Appleseed

Akira is totaly based on a Manga series, almost 2000 pages worth and there's far more depth than the film (Obviously ). Debuted in Japan in 1983 and released in the US by Epic comics (A Marvel Imprint) in 88, 89 in color when the film premiered and in 2001 Dark Horse put out all six volumes (with new translations) in Black and White. I'm re-reading it currently, an excellent read IMHO.

Appleseed same story. I haven't read it yet. Seen the movie and it's pretty good. Recommended.

Yeah...but you don't have to read the manga to understand the movie, so i guess it qualifies.

[terry the lone wolf]

One word....Gravion!

[Ali Sama]

Can anyone recommend an anime movie for a newbie?

No studio Ghibli Movies please. The movie has to be funny as well as good characters development. A movie that can stand on it's own without reference to a series or manga.

Thanks in advance

ko century beast. small ova. 4 or 6 eps. really funny scifi.

lot sof slapstick

[Noriko Takaya]

I can't believe none of you out there have recommended the psychological thriller Perfect Blue. While it is not a comedy, it is a very good movie. Probably one of the best things I can say about Manga Entertainment who released the film.

[NERV]

battle angel alita, geobreeders, plastic little, voices of a distant star, ah my goddess movie, goldenboy, vampire hunter D bloodlust, dominion tank police, kite, question, why no ghibli films? theyre all pretty damn good

[gerwalk25]

Z.O.E. I'dolo is another good short movie (it's about an hour). It's the prequel to the events leading to the first Z.O.E. game on PS2.

[Noriko Takaya]

battle angel alita, plastic little, ah my goddess movie, dominion tank police, kite

All based off manga.

[Gunbuster]

Thanks everyone for your recommendation (sp). The reason why no Ghibli is because he watched them all already. He likes them and wanted more films like that.

I already showed him:

Battle Angle (he sort of like it)

Akira (that was too much, it wasn't fun ^__^;

Blood last vampie (is was too short and no character development

Ninja Scroll (was too much..he couldn't take the "female disgracing" scenes)

Vampire Hunter D (he doesn't understand..see below)

and many other ones he didn't understand (I'll ask him tomorrow what he borrowed from me ^__^;

I'm trying to remember what I gave him (I gave him a tons of DVDs movies) and most of the time he didn't understand it because the movie expected the viewer to know some sort of background on the characters already. He doesn't have time to watch a series, that's why I asked for a movie that can stand on its own.

[wolfx]

Thanks everyone for your recommendation (sp). The reason why no Ghibli is because he watched them all already. He likes them and wanted more films like that.

I already showed him:

Battle Angle (he sort of like it)

Akira (that was too much, it wasn't fun ^__^;

Blood last vampie (is was too short and no character development

Ninja Scroll (was too much..he couldn't take the "female disgracing" scenes)

Vampire Hunter D (he doesn't understand..see below)

and many other ones he didn't understand (I'll ask him tomorrow what he borrowed from me ^__^;

I'm trying to remember what I gave him (I gave him a tons of DVDs movies) and most of the time he didn't understand it because the movie expected the viewer to know some sort of background on the characters already. He doesn't have time to watch a series, that's why I asked for a movie that can stand on its own.

He's not a newbie.....he's just fickle and doesn't seem to want to watch stuff that make you think too much.

My original recommendations still stand....minus akira and ninja scroll. Maybe take away Beyond The Clouds too since its long and character driven. Perfect Blue is another good movie but i don't think he'll like it.

Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust was short and sweet. I don't understand why you imply he needs to know more about D to watch it. I watched it with zero knowledge about D and still came out satiesfied. (iffy plot aside)

Really...you narrowed it down for us. I can't think of anything your friend might be interested in.

[MSW]

Okay...this is an old, OLD one...but well worth it as it has comedy, action, and adventure, some sexy character designs (but no..um...sex scenes like in Ninja Scroll..that I remember anyway), and although its basied on a manga you don't need to have knowledge of it to follow the film...so check out Space Cobra, its quite entertaining.

Course there is also Galaxy Express 999, My Youth in Arcadia, Millenium Actress, and Wings of Honneamise.

[NERV]

battle angel alita, plastic little, ah my goddess movie, dominion tank police, kite

All based off manga.

but you dont need any previous knowledge form the manga to watch the movie, cept maybe AMG

[Radd]

someone recomend the King of Braves Gaogaigar Final to me, apearently the movie (as well as the series) is quite good, alot of action and a very high quality of animation, i also heard there is a sense of humor to it. i have yet to see it but i have heard very good things about it.

chris

Gao Gai Gar Final is an OVA, several episodes. 8 episodes.

However, any Lupin movie stands well on its own.

The first two Patlabor movies also rock, and though they're based on a series, you don't need to see the series to enjoy the movies (I've still never seen the series, though I'd like to someday). The third movie, wich is even further detached from the tv series, is also excellent, but not quite as good.

Arcadia of My Youth is related to the series and manga Captain Herlock (also known as Harlock), but is in itself a stand alone product (it doesn't even have any continuity between itself and any other Herlock show).

Tamala 2010 is a very strange movie. Very slow movie. Almost no plot until about midway through when it's all thrown at you at once. It's very quirky. Most of the people I know either love it completely, or hate it.

The Cowboy Bebop movie requires no knowledge of the tv series, and does not really spoil anything.

Interstella 5555 is kind of a movie length music video set to Daft Punk music. Leiji Matsumoto handled the animation. Same guy that did Herlock, Galaxy Express 999, and Space Battleship Yamato.

Grave of the Fireflies is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and also one of the most depressing. Have tissues on hand.

Either Vampire Hunter D movie is good and you don't need to see the first one to enjoy the second. I think the second movie is much better than the first, however it's only available dubbed if that matters at all to you. A shame, because while the voice acting isn't really terrible as far as anime dubs go, it's still not great.

Edited March 11, 2005 by Radd

[NERV]

i was under the impression that bloodlust was originally done in english then the japanese was done

[Nightbat]

Visions of escaflowne

never saw the series but could enjoy it on it's own

though not funny, a good watch nonetheless

[ly000001]

Can anyone recommend an anime movie for a newbie?

No studio Ghibli Movies please. The movie has to be funny as well as good characters development. A movie that can stand on it's own without reference to a series or manga.

Thanks in advance

You would probably be limited to mostly movies made during the 80's, when it was easier to get financing for a project not based on an existing property. You can show your friend "Wings of Honneamise" (not "ha-ha" funny, but has a few humorous moments and development of the central character), and "Robot Carnival" (the Meiji period short is funny, and "Presence" has a little character development). Some of the others mentioned "Project A-ko", but IMO half of the humor comes from its parodies of Hokuto no Ken, Macross, Leiji Matsumoto's works, etc.

[Gundamhead]

Duuudes?!!

"Macross: Do You Remeber Love?"

And you call yourselves Macross fans?

"Patlabor 1 and 2" are pretty funny and strong together, and seperate.

[Keith]

Not a movie, but Gunbuster fits in perfectly.

Galaxy Express 999

Adieu Galaxy Express 999

Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Movie Trilogy

Tenchi Muyo In Love

Gall Force

Otaku No Video

Megazone 23

etc

[Radd]

i was under the impression that bloodlust was originally done in english then the japanese was done

An American company funded Bloodlust. My understanding is that it was written, scripted, produced, and animated in Japan, but since Urban Vision funded it, the voice acting was first done by an english speaking voice cast so it could be released sooner to the U.S. market.

This wouldn't be so bad, had the voice acting been at least the quality of decent non-anime voice acting. Unfortunately, it was par for the course of anime dubbing and no dual audio w/ subtitles DVD has yet been released.

[Jolly Rogers]

"Patlabor 1 and 2" are pretty funny and strong together, and seperate.

???

I don't see any comedy in any of the Patlabor movies, these were designed from the get-go for an adult audience (get your mind outta the gutter) as you can tell from the political subject matter and level of sophistication in its character treatments, unlike the TV series and the "new OVA" it spawned, which relies more on comedy for its target audience (kids & teens).

I'd recommend the Read or Die movie. No prior knowledge of the manga or TV series is required, a good standalone 2 hour movie with plenty of action and fun.

[ewilen]

Some of these recommendations need to be taken with a grain of salt. Otaku no video is only entertaining if you already know a fair amount about anime and otaku culture. And familiarity with Ghibli movies isn't sufficient introduction. Project A-ko is also questionable on these grounds, but maybe not if the viewer is willing to go with the general flow of zaniness.

I'd recommend Wings of Honneamise--completely self-contained story, humor, action, depth, good animation, etc. All you have to say at the beginning is "This story takes place on an alternate earth with mid-20th century technological and political development."

The original Ghost in the shell movie is also pretty self-contained, although again I'd recommend a brief introduction about how the Major is a full-body-replacement cyborg, and what a "ghost" is. But if he didn't like Akira, this might also be too serious.

I think that DYRL may not work well without knowledge of Macross TV, but, again, a brief intro could at least make it more comprehensible at the beginning.

Lupin III movies are a great idea.

Personally, I wasn't too crazy about Megazone 23 Part I, but it meets most of the criteria.

[Fort]

Patlabor 2 then patlabor 1. I have to say out of all of the patlabor movies 2 was the best. Try to steer clear of WXIII.

Macross plus is fine if you have never seen any other macross before. until the last 2 parts, the you'll probobly wonder what the macross is and why it's so important.

Akira, is really a must see. but you probobly wont under stand it unless you see it two more times. Ghost in the shell are able two stand alone with out any refrence to GITS SAC or manga. And of course Macross DYRL? but thats a given.

[Fortress_Maximus]

Wicked City movie

Ghost in the Shell movies

Patlabor movies 1 & 2

Perfect Blue movie

Tokyo Godfathers movie

Spriggen movie

Vampire Hunter D original movie

City Hunter .357 movies

Gundam 0079 trilogy movies

Gundam Char's Counterattack movie

Escaflowne movie

Roujin-Z movie

Fatal Fury movies

Ninja Scroll movie

Street Fighter 2 movie

Macross Plus movie

DYRL movie

Dirty Pair Project Eden movie

Urusei Yatsura movie 2

(The) Castle of Cagliostro (movie)

Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy (movie)

BlackJack movie

The Professional movies

Guyver movie

Tenchi in Love 1st movie

Kimagure Orange Road 1st movie

Slam Dunk movies 1-4

Not movies but great OVAs:

Gunbuster

Iczer-1

BGC

Dangaioh

Gundam 0083

GUNNM aka Battle Angel

Kite

Guyver

Ah Megami sama

Video Girl Ai

Arislan

Mermaid Forest

One Pound Gospel

Fire Tripper

Bastard

Iria

Orguss 2

Megazone 23

Shamanic Princess

Cowboy Bebop

Urusei Yatsura

Kimagure Orange Road

ZeGuy

That's a lot of quality anime to watch! And yes I've seen them all, ok ok I have all of them too.

Edited March 13, 2005 by Fortress_Maximus

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

As a casual anime fan I thought my advice might be helpful. Here are 3 no brainer anime action movies to get him quick started:

Street Fighter: The animated Movie. Good fight scenes. Vega vs Chunli assasination attempt was my fave. This is like the equivalent of the movie "Blood Sport" for anime.

Spriggan: great action sequences and no thinking involved.

Ninja Scroll: although there is horror and rape scenes(well they are Demons, what do you expect?), the sword fighting and characters are worth it. The main character acts like a lone cowboy, smart alecky maverick type with no aim. The manner in which he talks to the bad guys is like that of a wisecracking spiderman. If you were a fan of the game samurai spirits you will see the characters design here looks similar. I'm surprised nobody has made a Ninja Scroll fighting videogame!

Macross Plus: Forget the original story: ie the events of Space War I that happened in the tv series. That would be history when macross plus starts and those characters don't have any role here. It is unecessary to the main characters in this series so this is something anyone (even non-anime fans) can enjoy. If you liked top gun and giant transforming robots this is a must see.

Akira: The story is pretty simple. In a post apocalyptic city, rebuilt anew from the ashes of a past catastrophic event, (it is thought at first to be a nuclear bomb going off?) government MIBs have been abducting kids in order to study thier potential for psychic abilities (ie like telekinesis) It happens a member of a bike gang; a wimpy kid called Tetsuo, is taken by these MIBS to be worked on in secret by the government for study into awakening some kind of new-agey mind powers in an effort to create a prophecised god man. Because this test subject has had a unhappy upbringing from the times of being bullied and made fun of, his anger gets the better of him and he decides to turn his ability against the world and challenges Akira: a god worshipped by cultists for his destructive ability. Throughout the story we see beautifully animated sequences (bike race in the city, the DBZ fight with the chic in the stadium) in this dark future city, and lots and lots of destruction with great sfx and detail in the animation. (i like the bit where Tesuo creates an energy barrier inside the underground labs and the floor and walls crack and split.)

Think of akira being similar to "The hulk" story but with a wimpy kid with telekinetic powers rather than a guy with radioactive super strength whenever he gets mad and that basically sums it up. There is a lot of mention of men with super powers (supermen?) as being the "next stage in evolution" from normal men and the idea is that once that is achieved scientists will have ultimate control - quite the opposite as you will find out in the end.

Personally, I think the government may have wanted to create thier own army of super soldier? I have not read the manga but it seemed like that was thier goal. The real purpose wasn't stated in the movie

------

Note that none of this requires you understand the backstory of characters or past events to enjoy, the pace is fast, there is a good dose of action and things going on, and because they are one-off stories with no intention of sequels this means they are pretty self contained, with the audiences' only commitment being the length of the movie itself.

I wouldn't recommend something like Wings of Onneamese (sp?) since that to me is a slow-paced story. (especially compared to macross plus) Nor would I reccomend ghost in the shell, because to me that is confusing and the story was too compressed for a first time anime watcher who knows nothing of how some of the organisations in the government were structured. (in sections) I also think it was too short and brief.

Maybe something like Appleseed (the new CG one) would be a better choice since the world itself and how the government is structured is explained for the viewer so they know what the characters are talking about when they refer to certain groups of people. I thought some of the animation was beautifully and smoothly done (especially the scenes with mechs, you get a good believable sense of how fast they would move if real and what kind of freedom the pilot would have. I always thought Shirow's suits and the amount of detail he puts in his comics were very easy to believe could be real: with mech limbs' motions synchronised to the human form rather than being slow and jerky like your typical mecha with vehiclular controls. After seeing "Aliens" I would expect a powered suit to follow something similar to his designs where the person control every motion manually with thier own body.)

Edited March 12, 2005 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[areaseven]

Well, since no one mentioned this...

The Dagger of Kamui

[Gui]

Arion

[Gundamhead]

"Patlabor 1 and 2" are pretty funny and strong together, and seperate.

???

I don't see any comedy in any of the Patlabor movies, these were designed from the get-go for an adult audience (get your mind outta the gutter) as you can tell from the political subject matter and level of sophistication in its character treatments, unlike the TV series and the "new OVA" it spawned, which relies more on comedy for its target audience (kids & teens).

I'd recommend the Read or Die movie. No prior knowledge of the manga or TV series is required, a good standalone 2 hour movie with plenty of action and fun.

There's a bunch of comedy in Movie 1. Ohta vs. Tyrant, Kanuka claiming her reason for coming to Japan. In Movie 2 there's fewer, but Ohta at the target range comes immediately to mind. I don't mean they're a comedy, just that there are genuinely funny moments.