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I've got Akira and Spirited Away, love really good animation and a decent storyline etc. bit adverse to the extreme way anime sometimes goes when it comes to Japanese culture and translation, so could anyone recommend any other Anime DVD's in a similar vain to the above two?

Cheers

Princess Mononoke.

By the same director as Spirited Away.

Steamboy, from the same mob that did Akira but really different.  If you want to go for a series Trigun's a pretty good one, funny and has some really cool Hard Sci-fi idea's in it(and unlike alot of Anime quite easy to get you head around).
Blood The Last Vampire is a spectacular piece of animation only problem is it goes for 45minutes(when you get to the end your left feeling a bit..Is that it?).  Cowboy Beebop is another top series but its about 26 or so episodes so a big comitment if your gonna go for that one(It's kinda like a Western but in space) there is also a Cowboy Beebop Movie called Knocking on Heavens Door that holds up pretty well as a stand alone.  If you want just a big dumb action movie type anime see if you can get hold of Spriggan, cool ideas and top animation.
For something a bit more cereberal look out for Serial Experiment Lain, but be warned this one is an absolute slow burner, bugger all action and the idea's are maybe just a bit obtuse if you dont watch anime much.

tonnes more just cant think of titles at the moment(got a collection of atleast 100 DVD's at home)

CU Steamboy

Is Steamboy out on DVD then?

it is in OZ, its actually released by Paramount Pictures and had a fairly decent cinema release over here. Available on Region 4 DVD not sure about you guys though, I'm sure someone from over there will pop up and let you know.

CU Steamboy

Tokyo Godfathers If you enjoyed Spirited Away you should take a look at this. The story and art are both excellent.

Dead Leaves is like DR & Quinch meets Ren & Stimpy via Fritz the Cat. It's smutty, ultra-violent chaos that'll hurt your eyes.

FLCL (AKA Fooly Cooly or Furi Curi) is a six part TV show about two teen girls, and a boy who has robots coming out of his skull. It's quite lyrical, weird, and there's something very Roald Dahl about it.

Paranoia Agent is a 13 part TV show that is so well written that you don't even notice how beautiful it looks. It's about the hunt for a person on roller-skates who attacks people with a baseball bat, or rather it's about the people he attacks. You couldn't possibly not like this show, except perhaps for episode 5 which is bizarre. Made by the same guy who did Tokyo Godfathers.

Blood the Last Vampire is a showcase for digital techniques. It's very accessible in that it doesn't use the usual line style you'd expect in horror anime -- in fact bits of it look like Frank Quitely and Steve Dillon.

Last Exile this site (http://www.cwfilms.jp/movie.htm). These are films made by very small teams of people. I'm looking forward to seeing Kakurenbo, and Negadon (the one to the right of Kakurenbo. You've got to see the trailers for Negadon. It's like miniature vehicle SFX porn (except it's CGI).

Link: Anime on DVD

Just had a gander on Amazon, not available in Europe till January - I must get a multi region DVD player....

Thanks for the advice by the way, Anime is something I really like but have never had the time to look into what's hot and what's not and been meaning to ask the board for a while on what to get.

It all started after seeing the Floating Island of Laputia when i was about 13, then Akira and the other day I also got Memories out of the DVD hire place. Have also got the Animatrix which is quite good in parts...

Spirited Away is by far though my favourite, just to see the way my nieces were enraptured by it when I played it for them the other day, why can't other kids cartoons be more like this - you know, kind of subconciously moralistic but entertaining. Outstanding stuff and the techniques and dedication that go into making it are pheonominal.

Damn, Steamboy beat me to it.  Anyway, Blood: The Last Vampire is too short, and leaves a lot unanswered, but it's absolutely, stunningly beautiful.  Seriously, it's worth watching for the art alone.  

Cowboy Bebop (the movie) is pretty decent and, like Steamboy said, it works perfectly well as a stand-alone story; you don't really have to have seen any of the series to enjoy it.  There're some classy fight sequences, good art+animation, decent plot... oh, and the opening credits alone are worth watching the film for.

The series is similarly good, though the fact that it's 24 (or so) episodes spread over five DVDs might put you off.  Some of them can be watched as stand-alone stories, but about half tie in to a larger story arc and should be watched in order.  The plots are pretty high quality right the way through, and despite the simplistic set up--bounty hunters going after the baddies--the stories tend to be more mature and unpredictable than you might expect.  Overall, well worth a look.

a new one from Myazaki(sp) thats due out real soon is Howls Moving Castle, I haven't seen this one moving yet but the Character and world design is up there with spirited away(same guy).  I'll agree with Carnivore Dead Leaves is just one crazy mixed up cartoon which would definatly appeal to those that enjoy DR & Quinch type craziness, oh and its got a character named Drill Dick in it(exactly as the name sudgests).
Read Or Die is another good stand alone disk to look for, the Miniseries not the TV series(which is good too just long)good for Kids and dults.

CU Steamboy

Really *anything* by Hayao Miyazaki.



Porco Rosso (The Red Pig?!) is a personal favourite.

Found these model sheets on the net a while ago;







Blood TLV and Metropolis are also must-see films IMHumbleO.


B.

I picked up Appleseed a while back - the recent version, not the crappy 90's one.  A bit like a pop video at times, but on the whole, great stuff!  Great big robots / exo-armour and lots of guns - what's not to like?

Link: trailer

Samurai Champloo - Two samurai do their best to put off their fight to the death so they can accompany a girl on her journey to find another samurai who smells of sunflowers, all set to a hip-hop soundtrack and featuring some of Japan's top rappers in various roles in the show.
Last Exile - great retro-futurist show that expands on the steam-punk technology from shows like Laputa and Porco Rosso to create something unique, and atypical of Japanese anime in many ways - not least its lengthy backstory that demands the attention of the viewer.
Gundam Seed Destiny - the latest incarnation of the great-grandaddy of all giant robot shows.  You can stick your minimalist animation Evangelion bollocks up its overrated arse (where its head is) - this is anime that takes giant robots and has them smash each other's big robot faces in each week, whilst kids whine about how they don't want war and violence and stuff, completely missing the point of the show.  The producers make up for the limited animation budget (about one in ten episodes is a clip show) with some fantastic design work on characters and technology, and there are some great action set-pieces.
Spriggan - incredibly dumb action movie based on a manga from yonks ago, but enjoyable on its own terms, if only to make the viewer think that Hollywood should be making films as dumb and as entertaining as this on a regular basis, rather than Catwoman.
Samurai 7 - serialised version of the Akira Kurosawa cinematic masterpiece, with a few minor changes to modernise the story.  Instead of bandits, for instance, the samurai battle hundred-meter tall robots with office-block sized swords, one of the samurai is a foul-mouthed robot and it takes place on an asteroid several thousand years in the future.  Apart from that, though, the story remains the same.
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad - teenager discovers the joys of rock music.  That's all.  Daft as you like, but with a curiously believable air of teenage ennui that fortysomething American tv show writers have forgotten by the time they sit down to write the latest teen-centered crapathon featuring twentysomething and thirtysomething actors pretending to be teenagers.

i saw Sky Blue recently and thought it was very very good i think its korian
ive been meaning to have a look at the 'Ninja Scroll 10 anaversary' DVD as it is in my opinian a classic and am mulling over cheaking out the series

Ming - that looks awesome!

Thanks very much for all the advice here guys, looking forward to trawling and choosing...

Cheers
M

Link: amazon - out on the 19/09/05

++ Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad - teenager discovers the joys of rock music.  That's all.  Daft as you like ++

Heh heh, makes top of my to-watch list by that discription ;)

I should point out that it isn't some 'out there' animation with mad asides or girls' clothes dropping off every five minutes - it really is nothing more than a light-hearted drama about teenagers in a band.  So much so, in fact, you'll wonder why they bothered going to the effort of animating it at all, and didn't just do it as a live-action show.  It's full of indie-rock references, too, so if you don't know your onions there, a lot of the in-jokes might slip past.

Porco Rosso is studio Ghiblhi, but it's not actually Miyazaki. The next one coming out is his last too (WHY???). The purest Miyazaki film in my mind has to be My Neighbour Totoro - everything you want to understand about his worldview and characters can be gleaned in that one film, and to my mind it's the best children's/all ages film ever made bar none. Watch it in the cinema if you ever get the chance.

I'm currently working my way through Last Exile, which is fun in that same sort of 'steam-punk' way as Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky was. They certainly like their world building in Japanese fiction.

Samurai 7 was good, though it owed the obvious debt to Kurosawa, they worked quite hard to move beyond that, even if it did go a little topsy-turvey towards the end, it was good fun.

However, best animated series I have ever seen has to be, without a shadow of a doubt, Samurai Champloo. I knew I was going to love it when the title kicks in and they're using Fat Joe on the soundtrack. Then within five minutes one of the characters is breaking someone's fingers, and causing bloody mayhem with swords and chopsticks in a tea house. The show itself is very modern, full of jump-cuts that try and echo the scratching of record decks, as we reverse in time from the modern day to Edo period Japan. But don't take my word for it - just watch the bloody show. It's great!

Ghost in the shell: Stand-alone complex is quite good.

If you just ask for GITS: SAC they'll know what you mean...

Mm, I'd second that. It has its duff episodes but it's generally a very enjoyable series, with a nice mix of individual stories and an ongoing investigation.

I'd add Kiki's Delivery Service to the growing list of recommended titles. It may not be Miyazaki's finest, but it's a wonderful, sweet little tale.

ghost in the shell (the movie) is my favorite by far.  even though it's now 10 years old, i think the animation is still super-duper.  and the story is terrific.  i'm waiting for the box set of the series before getting it.

for tv series:  neon genisis evangelion.  i've just discovered this and am following the series with the release of each of the dvd's.  f'ing awsome!

how could i forget Big O? (it's not what the title suggests)  it's one hell of a kick arse anime that is as famous as some of the others mentioned, but it's one  of my fav's.  it's one of those giant robot things, but that's really only the surface of it.  it got a lot of philosophy in there too, kind of in a GITS kind of way, but different.  it was showing on toonami a while back about 10pm, don't know if it still is, but if it is, it's worth checking out.

...that is as famous...


that should read: isn't

another one not mentioned here, Giant Robo really cool retro super hero type action and giant robots you cant go wrong(except I've never managed to catch the last part).
If you want something without all the blood and death GTO(Great Teacher Onizuka) has got to be one of the funniest anime's I've ever had the pleasure of watching, Its about an ex bike ganger and Virgin who decides to become a secondary school teacher so he can pick up the girlies but they mae him a Junior HIgh School teacher instead, not as seedy as it sounds and actually very meaningfull.
From the producers of Blood there is also another short one out called Kai-doh-maru which has got to be one of the most visually stunning pieces of animation I've ever seen, its a Samurai story and it starts in a really washed out grey scale colour and as the story progresses gradually builds more colour up finishing in rich old style japanese watercolours absolutly stunning.

CU Steamboy

Giant Robo rocks
As does everything Miyazaki has ever done
Ranma 1/2 is very good, especially subtitled and episodes 1 to 15
 Byron is right about Tottoro

Both already mentioned but i still got to say both Cowboy bebop (in perticular the episodes Ballard of fallen angels and the final two parter some very powerful stuff) and Big O with all its biblical references which i totally missed until a friend pointed them out to me.

Ninja Scroll 10th edition is really well done remastering wise and the added Japanese soundtrack helps. The footage put back doesn't exactly improve the storyline though. The TV series was a bit... Well, your money, not mine.

Cowboy Bebop is basically Pulp Fiction on Mars and is very clasily made. Both versions of Appleseed are worth checking out too.

Finally, not a studio Ghibli film but directed by Miyazaki: The Castle Of Cagliostro. This is a Lupin III movie, the character is basically a master thief and lounge lizard.

just took up Carnivore's recommendation and watched the whole Paronoia Agent series.  Its really good. now I too can recommend it.

Paronoia Agent- Highly recommended.