[LMB] Anime

[David McMillan]

Lois McMaster Bujold wrote:
> [LMB] Anime
> Vincentalienzk at aol.com Vincentalienzk at aol.com
> Fri May 30 03:01:02 BST 2008
> 
>  >>>>> (sorry, cut and paste, me an my 'puter and AoL are having issues!)
> 
> You MUST watch:  (snip assorted recs)
> 
> 
> ***  For the goofiest ever, yet strangely compelling:  Kyo Kara Maoh.  
> OMG, Conrad's a-a-a-rm!!!
> 
> Excellent all-round, but dark:  Fullmetal Alchemist   Col. Roy Mustang 
> was my favorite character.

	Haven't seen the "sequel" movie yet, but I've heard mixed reviews.  The 
animation's supposed to be great, but some fans were left cold by the plot.

> A very nice ( brilliant animation) historical-contemporary fantasy blend 
> (which you can do when you have reincarnation) :  Otogi Zoshi   I liked 
> this one a lot, despite certain plot flaws.

	Not familiar with that one at all.  Have to look it up.

> And now for something completely different:  Fruits Basket    Shy 
> Japanese high school girl heroine.

	Great stuff.  I just wish the anime hadn't cut off so soon -- the manga 
goes on quite a ways, and I've been obsessively picking up each volume 
as the translations come out.

> Guilty pleasure:  Mirage of Blaze.  It's like canonical slash.

	<blink>

> Contemporary Japan:  Hikaru no Go  I adored the Heian Go-master 
> ghost/geek, Sai.

	Heh.  Never got into that one, but there's a more recent series in the 
same vein to look for that I kind of liked: Shion no Ou, IIRC.  It's an 
ensemble story revolving around a young female rising star in the sport 
of competitive Shogi named Shion, who is mute due to a Bad Event in her 
childhood (which is handled cutely but respectfully by the writers). 
It's only 12-13 eps, IIRC, and worth at least taking a look at.

> Best ever quasi-historical I've yet seen, if you can find it:  
> Saiunkoku.  Young girl makes good -- by her brains! -- in a land 
> resembling ancient China.  Excellent on every level.

	Gah!  Another for the checkout list.  It keeps getting deeper, just 
like my to-read pile....

> The adventures of a Goth girl to whom all fans can relate:  Wallflower.  
> *Seriously* surreal.

	I just wanted to crawl through the screen and slap everyone silly, but 
different strokes and all that.  I do know a lot of people who liked it.

> *Everything* by Studio Ghibli

	Sometimes I just want to shake even their characters, but there's no 
denying that the storytelling and artwork are excellent, done by people 
who really care about the quality of their work.

> Edo-period historical, with hip-hop (and it works) :  Samurai Champloo.

	With the profanity "bleeped" out by DJ-style "scratches" -- yeah, that 
was fun.