I seriously like it much better than it's predecessors! Simpsons is very dated now, and Futurama was good but suffered from the most intolerable main character Bender that almost ruined it for me. There is nothing I have to say bad about this new show at all, it's perfect for what it is!
Reviews
10 Reviews
Astro Boy
(1963–1965)
A classic series, a must-see for anime and classic cartoon fans
18 June 2009
I'm a little disappointed with the comments here. The negative comments seem to propose that the only quality that's important in a series is that it's well-animated and high-budget. This is not a Disney cartoon. This is, however, groundbreaking for Japan as it was the very first televised anime. The animation is not quality, but the art style is simplistically beautiful. What's honestly great about Mighty Atom AKA Astro Boy is the writing. The style may be outdated, but the messages are timeless and interesting to both kids an adults. Most of the plots of the show come from the original manga written by Tezuka. Tezuka is the god of manga and anime, without him neither would exist as it does today. Astro Boy was one of his best works, and certainly his most popular, but he also wrote fiction for adults and explored every genre imaginable. He even wrote an award-winning manga about Hitler. Personally I would recommend reading both Astro Boy and Phoenix, his other greatest work. Note that I am not speaking from nostalgia, nor am I Japanese. I found the works of Tezuka as an adult and appreciate him for both his adult and children's works.
Mushi-Shi: The Movie
(2006)
A beautiful, deep movie. Not for the impatient or new
20 April 2008
While I absolutely loved this movie, I feel I'm highly biased. The anime and manga were some of the best I've ever seen as a long-experienced anime/manga fan. I'm more than impressed that something from a manga series could be turned into such a beautiful masterpiece. But it's not for those expecting something lighthearted or fun. It's a very deep, very spiritual, and somewhat slow movie. It helps to have seen other classic Japanese film first. It helps to know something of their culture. Otherwise, I can understand why the film could be confusing to most. Realize that the plot of this film was lifted from various episodes of the anime and merged together in a way they were not originally written, which might account for it being confusing at times. But since I knew the stories already, I had no trouble seeing the genius it took to write it as it was. So this film is simply not for everyone. Yet, for what it's attempting, it hits the mark perfectly. I dare say it even improved upon the source. I was blown away. I imagine that even if I couldn't follow the complex spiritual story I still would have at least appreciated it for it's sheer beauty and originality. Realize also that purpose of the movie isn't about any particular message. It's merely a spiritual journey that is beautiful and unpredictable. The message is dark, but the anime wasn't always like that. I would still recommend the anime first, then watching this movie. It helps a lot. In comparison to the anime it's much darker, much less spiritually moving, and a lot harder to understand. But they really aren't worth comparing since they are done in such extremely different styles of storytelling and medium. Yet, if you enjoyed this movie you will definitely enjoy the anime. Please watch it, it's available on DVD in both excellent subtitles and excellent dubbing (I'd recommend the dub.) And specifically, this movies plot corresponds to episodes 3,7,12, and 20, although I would also recommend episode 1 as an introduction to the series.
Samurai Fiction
(1998)
Amusing but not great- Reminds me of Champloo!
1 October 2006
I've seen a variety of Samurai movies before, so I wasn't going into this ignorant (most of Kurosawa's movies, some Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub, etc). When I watch a movie, I don't like to read descriptions or summaries, I just rented it because it was a Samurai movie I hadn't seen (or even heard of.) I went here and read some raving reviews, so I was expecting something rather good. Before I continue, I'd like to mention that this movie highly reminded me of a modern anime called Samurai Champloo. If you liked this movie, you should *love* Champloo. They're very similar concepts, typical Samurai stories set to modern music (in Champloo it's hip hop, here it's rock.) However, Champloo is better. They both also have the occasional anachronism (in this film, it was the occasional modern slang, but that might have been because of the translation. And also probably that singing saw scene. Don't think that existed in the 1700s.)
Anyhow, now what I thought of this movie. Beautiful cinematography, with gorgeously composed shots and the black and white VS color shots were a nice addition, although sometimes overly symbolic. Generally bad editing, they clearly didn't have the budget to show decent fight scenes so they often cut away to make you think something happened that you don't even see. Occasionally they did show something real, but it wasn't very convincing. Nothing a few months of martial arts training can't do. The very beginning of the movie was confusing, with a lot of dialog based on ideas we know little to nothing about. I eventually caught on to the story, but the story wasn't very remarkable either. The typical moral of killing and revenge is bad, nothing particularly genius about it's execution. If it wasn't for the music and other certain effects, this could have easily have been mistaken for a mediocre classic Samurai film from the 50s or 60s. That much was interesting about it. The music added a rather unique and interesting twist to it, making the movie seem a bit cooler, and the action more fun. Samurai + rock music= cool. However, the music itself wasn't always so good, but overall average. Like I said before, if you've seen Samurai Champloo, there's almost no reason to watch this movie, although if you like one you may like the other. Champloo was just much better though.
Anyhow, now what I thought of this movie. Beautiful cinematography, with gorgeously composed shots and the black and white VS color shots were a nice addition, although sometimes overly symbolic. Generally bad editing, they clearly didn't have the budget to show decent fight scenes so they often cut away to make you think something happened that you don't even see. Occasionally they did show something real, but it wasn't very convincing. Nothing a few months of martial arts training can't do. The very beginning of the movie was confusing, with a lot of dialog based on ideas we know little to nothing about. I eventually caught on to the story, but the story wasn't very remarkable either. The typical moral of killing and revenge is bad, nothing particularly genius about it's execution. If it wasn't for the music and other certain effects, this could have easily have been mistaken for a mediocre classic Samurai film from the 50s or 60s. That much was interesting about it. The music added a rather unique and interesting twist to it, making the movie seem a bit cooler, and the action more fun. Samurai + rock music= cool. However, the music itself wasn't always so good, but overall average. Like I said before, if you've seen Samurai Champloo, there's almost no reason to watch this movie, although if you like one you may like the other. Champloo was just much better though.
A little overrated?
8 April 2006
May I be the first not to give this movie a rave review. Alright, first try to understand where I'm coming from here. I've been trying to see as many Samurai movies as possible. I've seen a few Zatoichi movies, a whole lot of Akira Kurosawa movies, and some others with Toshiro Mifune and others. And of course I saw the first Lone Wolf and Cub movie before I watched this. I did love the movie, although there was one scene that disturbed me, but it was a damed good movie. I've also read a little of the manga (just the first volume so far.) And I couldn't wait to watch this one. Everyone I know has given it rave reviews and they say it's the best of them all. And so I've just watched it. Upon reflection I might appreciate it a little more, but I doubt that.
My first BIG complaint is the cinematography. When I understood what I was looking at, it was gorgeous. At least 90% of this film was at night and there were quite a few long "scenes" where the picture just went pure black for a few minutes. I'm sorry but I didn't know what the heck I was looking at in all that darkness! But I certainly followed the decent story, I have nothing against it, although it didn't seem as deep as the first movie. It's the usual Ogami Itto getting hired to kill some bad guys, that's basically the entire plot boiled down to it's core. There's some interesting stuff with the Yaguu clan politics, but again nothing that really makes you think. I was looking forward to seeing female swordswomen, and I wasn't too disappointed, although it's no Lady Snowblood/Kill Bill.
Another big complaint from me is the laughable choreography. I think the cinematography purposely avoiding showing any scene where a realistic technique was necessary for plausibility. Basically, he would never focus on the action, and the little action that we are shown is usually not very realistic. At times it wasn't so bad though, but not the really important times. And the death scenes were a bit too drawn out, and again fake-looking. The manga probably does a better job (I don't really think I've read the part this movie covers.) So overall I'm unimpressed and pretty disappointed. I probably won't continue to watch the rest of the series, I'd rather catch up on my Zatoichi.
My first BIG complaint is the cinematography. When I understood what I was looking at, it was gorgeous. At least 90% of this film was at night and there were quite a few long "scenes" where the picture just went pure black for a few minutes. I'm sorry but I didn't know what the heck I was looking at in all that darkness! But I certainly followed the decent story, I have nothing against it, although it didn't seem as deep as the first movie. It's the usual Ogami Itto getting hired to kill some bad guys, that's basically the entire plot boiled down to it's core. There's some interesting stuff with the Yaguu clan politics, but again nothing that really makes you think. I was looking forward to seeing female swordswomen, and I wasn't too disappointed, although it's no Lady Snowblood/Kill Bill.
Another big complaint from me is the laughable choreography. I think the cinematography purposely avoiding showing any scene where a realistic technique was necessary for plausibility. Basically, he would never focus on the action, and the little action that we are shown is usually not very realistic. At times it wasn't so bad though, but not the really important times. And the death scenes were a bit too drawn out, and again fake-looking. The manga probably does a better job (I don't really think I've read the part this movie covers.) So overall I'm unimpressed and pretty disappointed. I probably won't continue to watch the rest of the series, I'd rather catch up on my Zatoichi.
Zatoichi's Vengeance
(1966)
Better than usual
1 April 2006
I've just started getting into the Zatoichi series, and while I haven't come close to seeing the majority this has so far been the best I've seen yet. It's interesting to get into some of the depth of character of Ichi, and not just the usual righteous swordfights. There's really no flaw in this film, only that if you've seen Zatoichi or any average Samurai flick before it's a little predictable. It doesn't disappoint though, it's highly entertaining and I'd watch it again if I didn't have 25 other Zatoichi movies to pick from. I may just see them all if they're all this good. Zatoichi is a good series, especially if you love swordfights, and is very popular for what it is. If you haven't seen any before, this one probably isn't bad to start with, although there may be better. Oh, and this is the 13nth of the 26 films, if you were confused, but they were all made so close together it really doesn't matter what order you watch them in, it seems. I'm no expert though, not yet anyway.
The Sword of Doom
(1966)
More intelligent than it seems
25 March 2006
With a name like "sword of doom" I expected a lot of bloodshed and cliché dialogue. This movie was much more intelligent and beautifully made than I expected. I would highly recommend it to anyone who takes film seriously, and even if you don't the duel scenes make it all worth it. The ending is especially remarkable. The only problem I had was the translation I got was pathetic, and at times I had a hard time following the subplots, which I heard is a common problem. It's enjoyable anyway, even if I was confused at times. I will not soon forget this movie. The only reason I didn't give this a 9 out of 10 is simply that it's still far from the best film in it's genre, that honor still goes to many a great film by Kurosawa, but on it's own this film is remarkable.
The 400 Blows
(1959)
Decent but not memorable
9 November 2005
I confess I didn't seem to like this film nearly as much as most people here seem to have, and unlike them I don't have much to say. I understand why people love/loved this film. When it was released, it was original and inspirational. Nothing else like it existed. The characters are easy to understand and relate to, the story as well. Nothing wrong there. However, it was mostly the way the film was shot that ruined it for me. It's full of long, metaphoric, unimportant shots that really just confused me rather than appealed to me. I often wondered just when is Truffaut going to end this overly-long shot, not out of suspense but out of frustrated boredom. Overall it's a simple, sad story that will leave you sad and confused. I respect it for it's craftsmenship, but it's not even remotely entertaining or thought-provoking. I'm sure people would accuse me for being shallow, but this is an honest opinion and I have studied and read about this film. I have thought much about it, and I'm still of the same opinion.
Bicycle Thieves
(1948)
Decent but not remarkable
2 November 2005
I have seen and studied this particular film as a milestone in film history and a good example of Italian Neoclassical film, and as I can see it was a remarkable film for it's time, it still doesn't really last the test of time. The story is simple and universal, a man against society, pursuing justice and driven to defy his fate. At the time this was an unusual view of humanity. Now it surprises and reaches only those inexperienced in film. It's certainly a good example of it's genre, but it's no longer unique. Also,many may find the ending unsatisfying (as it may have been intended to be.) The film offers only a problem and no solution. However, it's characters are noteworthy. The main character, the father, is a struggling, moral every-day joe, and his son is an impressionable boy who at times seems more adult than his parent. In fact, if their personalities were swapped the outcome of the story may have been very different. It's a film I will not soon forget, but the only impression it makes is just another reminder of how horrible the world can really be.
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
(2004–2005)
Beautiful and well-done
28 October 2005
I heard about this anime and was immediately interested. I know anime very well and I was looking for something that looked artistic, intelligent, and suspenseful. Unfortunately I have never read the book this was based on, but I found this anime's story so beautiful that I have picked up the 1,400 page book and plan to finish it all. If you see only one anime in your life, and you appreciate art and drama, than this is the best of it's kind. The unique art takes some getting used to, and is somewhat disorienting at times. Really, the only complaint I have about the art is it's Too beautiful, that it goes to fast to fully appreciate. This show would probably be best in slow motion just for the sake of the art. I have heard some say that although they loved the book, they loved this anime version even more. Don't let it's scifi setting disturb you. It has absolutely no negative effect on the story. The scifi setting really only seems to enchance it's overall beauty. The characters are extremely well-developed and fascinating. One moment they will be strong and courageous, the next moment crying, the next laughing. Every episode ends in an extreme state of unpredictable suspense (AKA cliffhangers galore.) I believe so far the entire show has not been released in America. I actually suggest watching the show in it's entirety, and wait until all episodes are released, and that you have a lot of time on your hands to watch it. The story is somewhat complex, certainly unpredictable, and always gripping. Even the seasoned otaku would highly appreciate this anime at least for it's impressive quality. It's not the cliché cheaply-made primitive-art anime about scantily clad lolicon girls. Speaking of which, all the characters are quite beautiful for both sexes, and I seem to have a personal crush on The Count. I highly recommend this to anyone whose looking for an intelligent, dramatic and classic story.
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