[LMB] Anime

[Karen L. Black]

I've been interested in anime for some 25 years, and so have amassed a
variety of shows and movies that I like to suggest to people.

1. Studio Ghibli (and pre-Ghibli Miyazaki and Takahata) -- This is the gold
standard we compare most other shows and movies with. You can find a
complete list at www.nausicaa.net, but here are a few I particularly
recommend:

"Future Boy Conan" -- On a future Earth racked by a terrible war, a few
remnants of humanity survive. Some have adapted to this new world, while
others try to keep the old technology going by tapping into the solar
satellites. When Conan's new-found friend Lana is kidnapped, he sets out to
rescue her. (Loosely based on Alexander Key's "The Incredible Tide.") This
has never been shown in English in the US; I first saw it as a Spanish dub
on Univision. I have the 26-episode series, fan-subbed, on VHS, and would be
happy to lend them out.

"Porco Rosso" -- In the Adriatic Sea before WWII, air pirates preyed on
ships. Opposing them was one man -- er, pig -- Marco Pagot, the "Crimson
Pig." The pirates robbed; Porco took the loot back and shot up the pirates.
After several go-rounds, the pirates hired a air cowboy from the States to
fly cover and take on their foe.

"Whisper of the Heart" -- In this contemporary movie, a junior-high girl is
trying to decide what she will do with her life. She likes music, and she
likes writing, but it seems she can't stick to anything. A tender and
believable look at adolescence. Sort of a prequel to "The Cat Returns."

"Only Yesterday" -- An office worker spends her summer vacation helping out
on her sister's husband's family farm. Her growing interest in country
living, along with the flashbacks of her life as a ten-year-old in the
mid-Sixties, fuel her desire to change her life.


2. Madhouse -- This is the animation studio that has done all of Satoshi
Kon's work that I've seen (and highly recommend), as well as

"Cardcaptor Sakura" -- Possibly CLAMP's best series. Ten-year-old Sakura has
a dad, an annoying older brother (with his dreamy pal), and a best friend at
school. She also has a secret: she's inadvertantly released the powerful
Clow Cards, and has to gather them back up with the help of Keroberos, who
can be a powerful ally, or a sarcastic, greedy nag. The great thing about
this series is the characters' relationships; there's nothing explicit, but
the gamut is there.

More Satoshi Kon:

"Paranoia Agent" -- Kon's 6-episode series. There's a kid on skates with a
baseball bat attacking people -- or is he imaginary? The borders between
reality, imagination, and insanity get pretty fuzzy in this series.

"Millenium Actress" -- A fan of a Japanese actress is making a documentary
of her career, and is able to visit her for an interview. As she talks about
the films she's done (from feudal Japan to space epic), the visitors find it
surprisingly real.

Other Madhouse:

"Master Keaton" -- If you are tired of watching teenagers in armored suits
save the universe, try this series. The protagonist is an insurance
investigator and former sergeant in the SAS, and he runs into all sorts of
interesting situations in the course of his work. (My husband and son think
the show is dreadfully slow, but I like it.)

3. Sunrise -- This is the studio that did my all-time favorite series,

"The Big O" -- Roger Smith is the top negotiator in Paradigm City, a place
where machines work but everyone's lost their memories of forty years
before. He can broker a deal with a kidnapper, find out why the power keeps
going off, or find a man who has vanished to give him his severance pay. And
if things get too tough, he can call up his 100-foot giant robot and do some
serious damage. So why can't he sleep as late as he'd like?

Another Sunrise show I've enjoyed is

"Cowboy Bebop" -- In space, no one can hear you scream -- when you find out
that your partner is trying to foist veggie stir-fry on you *one more time*.
Spike Spiegel and Jet Black have a tramp spaceship from which they try to
make enough money to keep it running and afford meat regularly. Aided or
impeded by Faye Valentine, Ed Wong, and Ein the dog, they mainly try
capturing fugitives for the bounty on their heads. The music in this series
is great, especially if you like jazz.

4. Other series

"Excel Saga" -- Cross a Tom & Jerry cartoon with Monty Python and throw in a
lot of references to contemporary Japanese culture and anime, and you'd have
something like this series. It's funny, gory, stupid, silly, and makes one
go "huh?" before throwing more stuff your way. 

"FLCL" -- You think growing up is tough? How about living in a town with a
giant flatiron? Getting regularly clocked in the head by a guitar-wielding
gal on a Vespa? How about having a large lump in the middle of your
forehead? Life's not easy for Naota, and getting mixed up in an interstellar
tug-of-war doesn't help.

"Project A-ko" -- There is a whole bunch of series about girls who transform
into superheros ("Sailor Moon," for one.) "Project A-ko" is a parody of
them. C-ko is desperately in love with A-ko and wants to make her happy.
B-ko wants C-ko, and would be happy to destroy A-ko to get her. Chaos
ensues.

Hope this helps!
Karen Black
Blodgett, OR