What's Your Favorite Japanese Anime

Van Dom · 27 January, 2011, 03:04:07 PM

Heartcatch Pretty Cure is massive in my house...but then, I DO have an 8 year old daughter who is crazy about it. And we HAVE just got back from Japan where we were overwhelmed by it. Even went to see the live-action show (must post some pictures later.) It's really geared towards pre-teen girls I would say, in the same vein as Cardcaptor Sakura, Sugar Sugar Rune etc. (Yes, I see them all.) Cardcaptor Sakura was quite clever though, once you got into it, and had a pretty intelligent story. And Sugar Sugar Rune is probably my favourite of these kind of shows as the main character is such a psycho.

Spaceghost · 27 January, 2011, 03:14:02 PM

Quote from: Van Dom on 27 January, 2011, 03:04:07 PM
Heartcatch Pretty Cure is massive in my house...but then, I DO have an 8 year old daughter who is crazy about it. And we HAVE just got back from Japan where we were overwhelmed by it. Even went to see the live-action show (must post some pictures later.) It's really geared towards pre-teen girls I would say, in the same vein as Cardcaptor Sakura, Sugar Sugar Rune etc. (Yes, I see them all.) Cardcaptor Sakura was quite clever though, once you got into it, and had a pretty intelligent story. And Sugar Sugar Rune is probably my favourite of these kind of shows as the main character is such a psycho.

Ha Ha, you poor sod. I've got a little boy so I can at least get away with watching Dragonball Z and Heroman which don't melt your brain with pink sugar.

Cyberleader2000 · 27 January, 2011, 03:20:03 PM

Heartcatch Pretty Cure only watched because a friend recommended it to if it had not been that I was bored and had to down load the first 5 episodes in one go I might not have bothered but sitting thro the first 5 episodes in one sitting was good it had some good jokes and decent action sequences but theas later episodes are pure gold just finished episode 47 and was blone away by how much I enjoyed it which is strange as usichily I stick to things like Gundam, full metal panic and Evangelion looking forward to this evening as tv-nihon will be releasing the next subbed episodes.

O and am I the only one whos seen Gundam Evolve

Van Dom · 27 January, 2011, 03:39:42 PM

Probably.

Anyone ever see Geroro Gunsou (Corporal Frog I think its called over here)?
Now that's just mental. That fries my brain.

CYCLOPZ · 27 January, 2011, 04:09:38 PM

Gungrave: Alot like Once Upon a Time In America with mutants.

Perfect Blue: Darren Aronovsky might as well have called his Black Swan Perfect Black it was so influenced by this film.
Funnily enough he bought the rights to Perfect Blue back in 2000 so he could emulate its bath scene in Requiem for a Dream.

Professor Bear · 27 January, 2011, 04:37:27 PM

Quote from: Lee Bates on 27 January, 2011, 03:00:06 PMI think it should be preserved in its original form. The Japanese language reads top to bottom/right to left after all so the format makes perfect sense to them.

I'm not having a pop at you, Lee, but that's not how the English language reads, that's how Japanese reads and their comics pages are laid out as a result of that. The Japanese original has artwork that 'flows' in the same direction as the words and translating it into English without flipping the pages to match the flow of dialogue takes the work further from an authentic reading experience rather than recreates it.
The biggest financial successes like Sailor Moon and Dragonball have been adaptations for their target audience rather than straight translations aimed at purists, but to be honest western comics are dead on their arse. Carving out a niche as something separate and apart from them probably seemed a sensible idea.

Quote from: Cyclopz on 27 January, 2011, 04:09:38 PMPerfect Blue: Darren Aronovsky might as well have called his Black Swan Perfect Black it was so influenced by this film.

Heh. It is remarkably similar in many ways, isn't it?

Spaceghost · 27 January, 2011, 08:52:38 PM

Quote from: Professah Byah on 27 January, 2011, 04:37:27 PM
I'm not having a pop at you, Lee, but that's not how the English language reads, that's how Japanese reads and their comics pages are laid out as a result of that. The Japanese original has artwork that 'flows' in the same direction as the words and translating it into English without flipping the pages to match the flow of dialogue takes the work further from an authentic reading experience rather than recreates it.
The biggest financial successes like Sailor Moon and Dragonball have been adaptations for their target audience rather than straight translations aimed at purists, but to be honest western comics are dead on their arse. Carving out a niche as something separate and apart from them probably seemed a sensible idea.

God no, I wouldn't have thought you were having a pop at me! It's a matter of personal preference I suppose. For me, and many others I would imagine, it's as much about manga being Japanese and different that attracted me to the medium. Having books that read 'backwards' seemed more authentic as that is how the Japanese volumes are presented.

Manga artists have said they don't like the 'flipping' process as it can reveal flaws in their work such as in perspective, not to mention the pain in the arse it must be for the translator to reverse any text in the artwork so it reads the right way round.

From my experience, it only takes a couple of pages to get used to the 'backwards' layout and then you don't even notice it. Neither method is perfect and I suppose it's down to the reader to decide which way they prefer, although it looks like, judging by all the Japanese format books on the shelf in the comic shops, most people like 'em 'backwards'.

Van Dom · 27 January, 2011, 09:34:58 PM

Im well used to the backwards style now, after many years of reading them. Still get odd looks though from people on the train, who see me reading backwards. Though I suppose the odd looks could be for a number of reasons, such as the fact I'm reading a comic, in Japanese, backwards, that has lots of scantily clad females on display. Oh well! I'm not ashamed!

Spaceghost · 28 January, 2011, 08:50:23 AM

Quote from: Van Dom on 27 January, 2011, 09:34:58 PM
Im well used to the backwards style now, after many years of reading them. Still get odd looks though from people on the train, who see me reading backwards. Though I suppose the odd looks could be for a number of reasons, such as the fact I'm reading a comic, in Japanese, backwards, that has lots of scantily clad females on display. Oh well! I'm not ashamed!

Are you fluent in Japanese? I can read it (not including kanji, although I know a few) but I can't understand all of it.

I've read most of the Dragonball manga in Japanese but I'd struggle with anything more complicated I think.

Van Dom · 28 January, 2011, 09:50:07 AM

Well my wife is Japanese and Im married 10 years so I SHOULD be fluent by this stage...but I'm not. I'm okay, I can certainly survive out in the big bad world of Tokyo by myself and cope with anything that arises, linguistically. Wouldn't be able to have a big political or economical debate with anyone though! As for reading, yeah, I can read most of it, I spent 1 solid year studying nothing but kanji when I lived in Japan for a while. I still come across words I don't know the meaning of, but the old electronic dictionary is always at hand!

Do you have a Japanese connection too, Lee, or was it just something you learned as a hobby/for fun?

Spaceghost · 28 January, 2011, 09:56:48 AM

Quote from: Van Dom on 28 January, 2011, 09:50:07 AM
Well my wife is Japanese and Im married 10 years so I SHOULD be fluent by this stage...but I'm not. I'm okay, I can certainly survive out in the big bad world of Tokyo by myself and cope with anything that arises, linguistically. Wouldn't be able to have a big political or economical debate with anyone though! As for reading, yeah, I can read most of it, I spent 1 solid year studying nothing but kanji when I lived in Japan for a while. I still come across words I don't know the meaning of, but the old electronic dictionary is always at hand!

Do you have a Japanese connection too, Lee, or was it just something you learned as a hobby/for fun?

I've also been married to a Japanese woman for coming up to 10 years so I know where you're coming from. I've been to Japan about 8 or 9 times and lived there for about 6 months in 1998-99 where I studied at a Japanese language school and became pretty fluent. I've forgotten most of it now from lack of practice but I can hold a rudimentary conversation with my wifes parents on the phone.

I've started to practice a bit more now as my wife wants our kids to learn Japanese while they're young. They know a few words but can't understand much of it. Hopefully they'll pick it up.

I did learn about 100 kanji while I was in Japan but I've almost totally forgotten all of them now. Kudos to you on learning so many, even the Japanese find them difficult!

JOE SOAP · 28 January, 2011, 10:00:19 AM

Quote from: Cyclopz on 27 January, 2011, 04:09:38 PMPerfect Blue: Darren Aronovsky might as well have called his Black Swan Perfect Black it was so influenced by this film.
Funnily enough he bought the rights to Perfect Blue back in 2000 so he could emulate its bath scene in Requiem for a Dream.

Yes, they're both about [spoiler]talented young girls with dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities) who live a fractured reality populated by doppelgängers.[/spoiler]

(Mod edit- spoilers for both. No need to watch Black Swan now!)

Van Dom · 28 January, 2011, 11:02:58 AM

Quote from: Lee Bates on 28 January, 2011, 09:56:48 AM

I've also been married to a Japanese woman for coming up to 10 years so I know where you're coming from. I've been to Japan about 8 or 9 times and lived there for about 6 months in 1998-99 where I studied at a Japanese language school and became pretty fluent. I've forgotten most of it now from lack of practice but I can hold a rudimentary conversation with my wifes parents on the phone.

I've started to practice a bit more now as my wife wants our kids to learn Japanese while they're young. They know a few words but can't understand much of it. Hopefully they'll pick it up.

I did learn about 100 kanji while I was in Japan but I've almost totally forgotten all of them now. Kudos to you on learning so many, even the Japanese find them difficult!

That's cool! Yeah we have 4 kids, our eldest is fluent in Japanese because she lived there for nearly 2 years when she was 2-3. The boys can understand it okay but can't speak very much at all. Although we just got back from a one-month stay and you could see by the end of the four weeks how they were starting to say the odd sentence and converse a bit with there grandfather. I'd say if we moved back there fulltime it wouldnt take them long to pick it up.

Hey, what part of Japan is your wife from? It's not Tokyo by any chance?? If it was, would be cool to co-ordinate trips sometime and hang out in Akihabara!!!!

TordelBack · 28 January, 2011, 11:20:02 AM

Some refresher classes for you both:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZEA54VJEdE&feature=player_embedded

Spaceghost · 28 January, 2011, 11:23:47 AM

Quote from: Van Dom on 28 January, 2011, 11:02:58 AM
Hey, what part of Japan is your wife from? It's not Tokyo by any chance?? If it was, would be cool to co-ordinate trips sometime and hang out in Akihabara!!!!

Ha Ha! No, she's from Onoda in Yamaguchi, a quiet, rural city near Hiroshima. When we visit, we spend time there and also in Osaka where her sister lives.

She does have friends in Tokyo so we usually go for a couple of days whenever we're in the country, but I prefer Osaka. It seems friendlier. Osaka is the Manchester to Tokyo's London.