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Any anime remotely close to Bebop quality release in the past 5 years??
- Thread starter Brandon F
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Crazymoogle
Member
Chrono said:haha that's like the opposite of EVA. I heared once that Rahxephon is "eva done right" or something like that. Awesome last two episodes fit perfectly in that description. And it's made by BONES? They did Scrapped Princess right? I loved that Scrapped Princess.
Yeah, its pretty hard to argue with Bones. I mean, look at their title list:
Angelic Layer
Full Metal Alchemist
RahXephon
Scrapped Princess
Wolf's Rain (some story questions but the detail is certainly there)
Kenran Butoh Sai: The Mars Daybreak
DeadStar said:
Word to that. It royally pisses me off that my favorite audio track is not on any of the three OSTs (the theme playing during the final air battle), but otherwise I was enough of a basket case to buy the entire DVD set. The movie is charming in its own way but not nearly as good - the only reasons I'm buying it for are completeness and the ultra cool booklet and hard box that come with it.
Yeah the box is beautiful, the old one is crap so its definately worth it for a series of that caliber, and hey a bonus 56 page bookCrazymoogle said:
on a related note, is there any word on a Scrapped Princess DVD release yet? im pretty sure its liscenced but nobodys said anything
Lemurnator
Banned
I don't like Cowboy Bebop that much at all... I'm such an outcast.
I've never seen One Piece or Naruto either.
I've seen Love Hina and Ranma 1/2 though which I love.
I've never seen One Piece or Naruto either.
I've seen Love Hina and Ranma 1/2 though which I love.
The Promised One
Banned
Bebop is one of those rare series that does absolutely everything right, to the point of ruining other anime for you. From it's great animation, it's excellent story telling, great voicing acting even in English, and unsurpassed character personalities, Cowboy Bebop is the best anime series ever, IMO. I honestly feel it will be a few years before we see anything as appealing, and simply put, brilliant.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Gungrave (sans ep 1), Hajime no Ippo, and Planetes are what I'd consider the best anime of the past couple years, aside from the somewhat-flawed-but-still-great Last Exile. Backed with a massive budget, a competent director(Oshii = hack), intelligent writing, an interesting plot arc, and a fair share of action, Stand Alone Complex redefines the Ghost in the Shell franchise. Bear in mind that the series length has been doubled twice since production began, from 13 to 26 to two 26ep series, and it kinda shows in the general area of 14-18. However, once the main arc kicks in again it more than makes up for the dip in quality. Gungrave is about the lives of two childhood friends and their relationship as they start out as a small gang then join a syndicate with aims for the top. The show combines a well-planned story arc with scene coreography to deliver on both style and substance. Changes tone a little over halfway, but remains coherent. Hajime no Ippo, the penultimate boxing anime, may not be your tightly written 26 ep serial or exactly fall under the critera you want, but it is by far the best extended-run series around. Planetes(greek for "Wanderer") is predominantly about a team of space debris collectors in the late 21st century. It starts relatively slow and disjointed while still being entertaining, but as it progresses into the second half of the series, it begins pulling everything together into a focused and compelling plot arc with more than its fair share of moments that make you go "Holy Shit".
Oh yeah, and definitely give Gasaraki a shot if you haven't already.
One Piece, while being one of the better executions of its genre, is still an endless manga-trailing fighting anime. It certainly has merit, but it doesn't have what you're looking for in this thread. FLCL is a short drug-assisted comedy. Escaflowne isn't terrible, but gets stupid at times and isn't something to make a priority.
Oh yeah, and definitely give Gasaraki a shot if you haven't already.
One Piece, while being one of the better executions of its genre, is still an endless manga-trailing fighting anime. It certainly has merit, but it doesn't have what you're looking for in this thread. FLCL is a short drug-assisted comedy. Escaflowne isn't terrible, but gets stupid at times and isn't something to make a priority.
They are different kinds of shows, so it's not really a fair comparison.
Crazymoogle
Member
DeadStar said:Yeah the box is beautiful, the old one is crap so its definately worth it for a series of that caliber, and hey a bonus 56 page book
on a related note, is there any word on a Scrapped Princess DVD release yet? im pretty sure its liscenced but nobodys said anything
Yeah I can't believe I got suckered in by that original box. The tshirt was junk. The only things in anime purchasing I look forward to over the new box is Gainer DVD1 (not due for awhile) and SAC DVD1 Special Edition (next month around the same time as the rahx box). The latter comes with OST1 (by Yoko Kanno) which pretty much blows away most of the Bebop OST work. Not that I don't like the Bebop soundtracks, but damn, you guys really need to hear "Rise" and "Inner Universe".
It's widely believed that Bandai has Scrapped Princess and will be announcing it on their expo tour this summer, DeadStar. I'm not sure if I want to buy that series but it definitely has one of the most eye popping twists I can think of before the end.
Ok I should expand on the Gungrave reasoning.
Its got the whole syndicate thing going
Guy chasing after girl (similar to spike and julia)
Somewhat similar artstyle
Awsome plotline
Fast moving
Ton of character development
Cool plot twist in the middle and end
Great music combined with the artsyle gives the viewer a very nice sense of atmosphere
Unlike most animes I've seen, this one has a an amazingly perfect ending
Main characters name is Brandon and as you know Brandons are pimps right?
Now, if your one of those people whos played the game and think it sucked, yea I was in the same boat but I gave this anime a try anyways and let me tell ya:
Gungrave Anime (infinitly >>>) Gungrave game
Its got the whole syndicate thing going
Guy chasing after girl (similar to spike and julia)
Somewhat similar artstyle
Awsome plotline
Fast moving
Ton of character development
Cool plot twist in the middle and end
Great music combined with the artsyle gives the viewer a very nice sense of atmosphere
Unlike most animes I've seen, this one has a an amazingly perfect ending
Main characters name is Brandon and as you know Brandons are pimps right?
Now, if your one of those people whos played the game and think it sucked, yea I was in the same boat but I gave this anime a try anyways and let me tell ya:
Gungrave Anime (infinitly >>>) Gungrave game
Crazymoogle
Member
Hitokage said:
I can never in good mind recommend a show like Gasaraki. Hell, I'll dump my boxset for 40 bucks. (I got it on a sale last year...sigh) For Patlabor fans only.
I haven't watched more than a few eps of PLANETES, but wouldn't it qualify as manga trailing to a point?
I get the feeling GAF is going to induce me into feeling guilty about giving up Gungrave after episode 1. That first ep was really that bad, and didn't give me the slightest hint of a show worth watching.
True, but sometimes you have to make blanket comparisons.
SolidSnakex
Member
Here's another, forgot all about it.
-Gasaraki was a fav of mine several years back.
-I've watched Escaflowne a stupid number of times.
-Gungrave and Ghost in the Shell:SAC are now on my MUST SEE list.
-I guess I'll have to check out the final few episodes to Rahxephon soon. Also didn't realize they made a movie, and even more surprising, the movie is getting R1 DVD treatment next month. Holy shit.
-Kenshin OVA was fab, Kenshin TV was ass, even the Kyoto arc didn't really do much for me. (How was Kenshin OVA 2 BTW?? Never did check it out)
-Excel Saga had its ups and downs, but it was kinda cool.
-Boogiepop Phantom I know nothing about...cover sorta intrigues me.
-What is Scrapped Princess?
-I've watched Escaflowne a stupid number of times.
-Gungrave and Ghost in the Shell:SAC are now on my MUST SEE list.
-I guess I'll have to check out the final few episodes to Rahxephon soon. Also didn't realize they made a movie, and even more surprising, the movie is getting R1 DVD treatment next month. Holy shit.
-Kenshin OVA was fab, Kenshin TV was ass, even the Kyoto arc didn't really do much for me. (How was Kenshin OVA 2 BTW?? Never did check it out)
-Excel Saga had its ups and downs, but it was kinda cool.
-Boogiepop Phantom I know nothing about...cover sorta intrigues me.
-What is Scrapped Princess?
Sax Russel
Banned
Full. Metal. Alchemist.
Best. Anime. Ever.
That is all
Best. Anime. Ever.
That is all
JackFrost2012
Banned
Crazymoogle said:
IAWTP
I personally wouldn't say One Piece just cause it's such of a different kind of show than something like Bebop. Of course, One Piece is very, very excellent (and HUUUUUGE over here in Japan...I can vouch for that from first hand experience now), so if you want something a little bit on the lighter side with a marvelous cast of characters (best main ensemble cast ever? possibly), a keen sense of fun and adventure, and a surprisingly strong capacity for real emotional drama, then One Piece is a good choice. Of course, this is kind of a bad time to get into One Piece because all of Kaizoku Fansubs' torrents are currently temporarily down, but it's still worth checking out if the above intrigues you.
Otherwise, the very, very obvious answer is clearly...
Samurai Champloo
Episode 2 was kinda eh, but episodes 1 and 3 were off the chart awesome, and given the end of episode 3, episode 4 (which aired in the wee hours of this past morning over here) is guaranteed to be much the same.
And the first episode by itself is quite possibly the single best episode of any anime ever.
Otherwise, the very, very obvious answer is clearly...
Samurai Champloo
Episode 2 was kinda eh, but episodes 1 and 3 were off the chart awesome, and given the end of episode 3, episode 4 (which aired in the wee hours of this past morning over here) is guaranteed to be much the same.
And the first episode by itself is quite possibly the single best episode of any anime ever.
JackFrost2012
Banned
Crazymoogle said:
Scrapped Princess is made of PEOPLE! SHE'S PEOPLE!
JackFrost2012
Banned
MetatronM said:
YESSSSSSSS!
Champloo will push your Bebop buttons, don't you worry your pretty head.
I think Cowboy Bebop is a bit overrated. It's a really good series, but it also had some slow moments and it didn't totally hook me. And Trigun is just decent, it wasn't that funny and the shift from comedy to some serious drama/action half-way felt bizarre.
The best choices have already been mentioned:
Samurai Champloo is an obvious one IMO.
And well, Gungrave has kind of that same "cool" stylish feeling. Only that it totally lacks comedy, and tells a rather gruesome, serious and touching story. Great series BTW.
The best choices have already been mentioned:
Samurai Champloo is an obvious one IMO.
And well, Gungrave has kind of that same "cool" stylish feeling. Only that it totally lacks comedy, and tells a rather gruesome, serious and touching story. Great series BTW.
heavy liquid
Member
Outlaw said:
Outlaw speaks the truth.
Ghost in the Shell:SAC is also very good, but much more serious in tone than Bebob. Samurai Champloo is shaping up to be right up there as well.
cvkpaladin
Member
I hear Episode 4 of Samurai Champloo is really good too. Anyways, I've started watching PlanetES and so far it seems like a really good anime. For what it lacks in action (so far there hasn't been any), it makes up in visual presentation, story, and characters. Also, there is Last Exile, which is really high quality, but I personally found it pretty boring to watch. I will try again and finish the series however. Oh, and Cowbo Bebop will always be my favorite anime series. I can't see how any other series will be able to match the world of Bebop and its badass characters.
Lucky Forward
Member
When I was in Best Buy yesterday, I saw an anime labeled something like, "From the creator of Serial Experiments Lain." I wanted to search for some reviews on it, but I can't remember the name. Anyone know what Lain's creator did next?
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
His Name is Yoshitoshi ABe. He did Serial Experiments Lain, then he did Niea Under 7, then he did Haibane Renmei (Based on one of his own doujinshi works), His most recent work is Texhnolyze.
Lucky Forward
Member
Thanks! I think the one I saw was Haibane Renmei. I'll look for some reviews on all of them.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Just be warned, Haiabne Renmei is nothing like Lain. Out of his 4 shows, you coul groups Lain and Texhnolyze on one side being sci fi and pretty dark , and Niea under 7 and Haiabne Renmei on the other side being a more slice of life show.
That said I loved Haibane Renmei. The show is about a yougn girl named Rakka who waked up in a coccon in an old run down school with no memory of how she got there or even her name. Shortly after comming out she meets other people who live there. All the people have halos and grey wings, and shortly after being born Rakka grows wings of her own. They live in a town surrounded by a huge wall that no one can cross, in the main part of the city live normal humans. The show deals with the ups and downs of life as Rakka learns more about this new world in which she finds herself.
That said I loved Haibane Renmei. The show is about a yougn girl named Rakka who waked up in a coccon in an old run down school with no memory of how she got there or even her name. Shortly after comming out she meets other people who live there. All the people have halos and grey wings, and shortly after being born Rakka grows wings of her own. They live in a town surrounded by a huge wall that no one can cross, in the main part of the city live normal humans. The show deals with the ups and downs of life as Rakka learns more about this new world in which she finds herself.
Re: Paranoia Agent
A special gift to the GAF anime geeks: "Yume no Shima Shinen Kouen", the Paranoia Agent opening theme, by Susumu "Berzerk, Millennium Actress" Hirasawa. I'll be pulling this down shortly, so get it while you can. Meanwhile, unreleased songs that didn't make it onto the official soundtrack, plus a full track from the OST, are available at Hirasawa's website.
For my own recommendations for recent shows, I'll second what a lot of other folks have already said:
Paranoia Agent - I've only seen half the series so far, but so far that half has been freakin' astounding. It centers around a series of folks who have one thing in common: they're being assaulted by a bat weilding, roller blade wearing person known only as "Shounen Bat". Cue high weirdness. I suppose there's a chance it could fall apart near the end, but otherwise I have complete confidence in Satoshi Kon to pull this off. Anyone who has yet to see all three of his films - Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers - should go do so posthaste; they're all amazing films, yet in entirely different ways. The first volume of Paranoia Agent should be out in the US sometime later this year.
Planetes - Space garbagemen! Ecoterrorists! The first manned mission to Jupiter! And some hard science fiction for a change. If you have any interest in space exploration whatsoever, you should be watching this series; and, even if you don't, this show has enough heart to win you over anyway. Directed by Goro Taniguchi, who did a great job directing the Lord-Of-The-Flies-In-Space series Infinite Ryvius a few years back. Ryvius juggled an ensemble cast with great SF about a helluva lot of teenagers who find themsleves on the run in a renegade spaceship. Five of six volumes are out in the US courtesy of Bandai; give it a shot while you're waiting for Planetes to be released. Oh, and the Planetes manga is excellent.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - As I've said about a gazillion times: the one-shot episodes range from pretty good to pretty damn dull, but the "Laughing Man" plot episodes are astounding, and make the series as a whole crucial viewing; while things do get a bit slow in the middle, once you get to around, say, episode 20 or so the rest of the series is non-stop ass-kicking. (And, on a side note, Episode 26 has my second favorite name-check in all of anime; my first favorite is the episode of Lain that references Ted Nelson.) The DVDs are due out any time now. As for Oshii being a Hack, I have one word: Patlabor.
FnordChan
bjork said:
A special gift to the GAF anime geeks: "Yume no Shima Shinen Kouen", the Paranoia Agent opening theme, by Susumu "Berzerk, Millennium Actress" Hirasawa. I'll be pulling this down shortly, so get it while you can. Meanwhile, unreleased songs that didn't make it onto the official soundtrack, plus a full track from the OST, are available at Hirasawa's website.
For my own recommendations for recent shows, I'll second what a lot of other folks have already said:
Paranoia Agent - I've only seen half the series so far, but so far that half has been freakin' astounding. It centers around a series of folks who have one thing in common: they're being assaulted by a bat weilding, roller blade wearing person known only as "Shounen Bat". Cue high weirdness. I suppose there's a chance it could fall apart near the end, but otherwise I have complete confidence in Satoshi Kon to pull this off. Anyone who has yet to see all three of his films - Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers - should go do so posthaste; they're all amazing films, yet in entirely different ways. The first volume of Paranoia Agent should be out in the US sometime later this year.
Planetes - Space garbagemen! Ecoterrorists! The first manned mission to Jupiter! And some hard science fiction for a change. If you have any interest in space exploration whatsoever, you should be watching this series; and, even if you don't, this show has enough heart to win you over anyway. Directed by Goro Taniguchi, who did a great job directing the Lord-Of-The-Flies-In-Space series Infinite Ryvius a few years back. Ryvius juggled an ensemble cast with great SF about a helluva lot of teenagers who find themsleves on the run in a renegade spaceship. Five of six volumes are out in the US courtesy of Bandai; give it a shot while you're waiting for Planetes to be released. Oh, and the Planetes manga is excellent.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - As I've said about a gazillion times: the one-shot episodes range from pretty good to pretty damn dull, but the "Laughing Man" plot episodes are astounding, and make the series as a whole crucial viewing; while things do get a bit slow in the middle, once you get to around, say, episode 20 or so the rest of the series is non-stop ass-kicking. (And, on a side note, Episode 26 has my second favorite name-check in all of anime; my first favorite is the episode of Lain that references Ted Nelson.) The DVDs are due out any time now. As for Oshii being a Hack, I have one word: Patlabor.
FnordChan
Hitokage said:
Admittedly, I find myself unable to stay awake throughout the Ghost in the Shell movie. About the time they're chasing the garbage truck I pass out. Fortunatly, I wake up just in time for the big finale, so that's okay. And, sure, Avalon wasn't what you would call great, but Malgorzata Foremniak is attractive enough to make up for a lot of that.
...
Okay, okay, Oshii was probably hit in the head sometime around 1993. Patlabor is still fantastic. So is Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer for that matter. And, since he recovered from being hit in the head after directing Angel's Egg, I'm hoping he recovered in time for Innocence.
Oh, come on, let me have my illusions.
FnordChan
BlackClouds
Member
Yeah, not sure what's up with the Oshii hate, oh, you're talking stuff like Jin'roh? Completely understandable, though Patlabor remains my favorite anime of all time. Everything, OAV's, TV, Movies is topnotch. That's the type of anime I tend to like, stuff with a more serious tone to it, which elminates probably 95% of all anime. Trying to find that 5% has been extremely tough, with the overwhelming number of series out there. Doesn't help when people are mentioning the very aloof and pointless (not to mention annoying and not funny) Cowboy Bepop as something great. Only watched the first 4 dvd's of that series, rented for free at the local library but because it felt so pointless, I could not hold interest at all. Wasn't very mature either, though I did see a clip of the show that was pretty good, too bad those dvd's were so goofy.
I can vouch for Champloo, that series started with a bang, but then revealed some potential problems in the 2nd episode. Certainly has a lot of potential to be great.
I can vouch for Champloo, that series started with a bang, but then revealed some potential problems in the 2nd episode. Certainly has a lot of potential to be great.
SolidSnakex
Member
FnordChan said:Re: Paranoia Agent
A special gift to the GAF anime geeks: "Yume no Shima Shinen Kouen", the Paranoia Agent opening theme, by Susumu "Berzerk, Millennium Actress" Hirasawa. I'll be pulling this down shortly, so get it while you can. Meanwhile, unreleased songs that didn't make it onto the official soundtrack, plus a full track from the OST, are available at Hirasawa's website.
For my own recommendations for recent shows, I'll second what a lot of other folks have already said:
Paranoia Agent - I've only seen half the series so far, but so far that half has been freakin' astounding. It centers around a series of folks who have one thing in common: they're being assaulted by a bat weilding, roller blade wearing person known only as "Shounen Bat". Cue high weirdness. I suppose there's a chance it could fall apart near the end, but otherwise I have complete confidence in Satoshi Kon to pull this off. Anyone who has yet to see all three of his films - Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers should go do so posthaste; they're all amazing films, yet in entirely different ways. The first volume of Paranoia Agent should be out in the US sometime later this year.
You've seen Boogiepop, right? The stories starting to seem alot like that once you've seen all the eps till now. You know the completely nonlinear, sequence out of order "you put this together" type storyline. It uses a similar set up where it's using a different cast of character each time, but they all have 1 thing in common (in the case of PA, it's Shounen Bat). You're given all the clues you're needed and you have to put them together to figure out the plot. Which is good and bad because they can do some cool things since they aren't following a linear plot like alot of shows (like I said, Episode 9 and 10 are really good), but bad because they'll give you a massive headache if you don't figure out what they're doing and are just trying
One big difference though (good or bad depending on your taste) is that the plot to PA seems to be alot more fleshed out overall than Boogiepop was. It moves much more fluid through one episode and one characters story to the next. I don't know why it took me awhile to notice that they were pulling something similar to Boogiepop when the script writer for both shows is Seishi Minakami. Can't wait to see how they pull everything together.
JackFrost2012
Banned
FnordChan said:
Damn straight! Batou is so awesome that one night, while drunk, I cosplayed as him using Ramune Sour bottlecaps!
BlackClouds: you should definitely see Now and Then, Here and There, if you haven't already. It is, as my 8th grade science teacher often said, serious as a heart attack.
BlackClouds said:
Well, Oshii only wrote the script for Jin-Roh, so I don't use that as part of my "Has Oshii succumbed to the brain eater?" yardstick.
SolidSnakex said:
Actually, no, I never got around to it. I'll add it to my to-watch list; thanks for the heads up!
JackFrost2012 said:
Best. Cosplay. Ever.
Oh, and I second the recommendation of Now and Then, Here and There, but with a few reservations. Overall, it's great, but there's one insane character who is just way too over the top. I'm all for chewing the scenery, but after all while things just got goofy. That said, it's still one hell of a series.
FnordChan
JackFrost2012
Banned
FnordChan said:
Yeah. That character - and the unfortunate name "Hellywood" for the fortress - are the only slightly marring parts on what is otherwise a wonderfully soul-destroying soul. I watched the end credits after every episode just to give myself space to breathe and thing; to this day, that song is probably one of my most associated things with feelings of catharsis.
JackFrost2012 said:
I watched N&TH&T with a local anime club. Every single week the audience would be completely dead silent during the episode, and then when the closing theme came on you'd hear folks making anguished noises and muttering about how they could never be happy again. Yeah, despite all the flaws, that's still one hell of a series.
FnordChan
SolidSnakex
Member
FnordChan said:
If you liked the way PA's plot structure was you should like Boogiepop. Although unlike PA, Boogiepop is completely serious in it's storytelling and not lighthearted. PA basically takes a similar formula but does it in a more light hearted way despite the fact that it's still dealing with very serious issues.
Only 3 more eps to go for PA though.
Hopefully Satoshi's working on something new right now.SolidSnakex said:
While Paranoia Agent's main draw for me is Satoshi Kon's direction (followed closely by Susumu Hirasawa's soundtrack), I do like the way it's structured. And, having heard Boogiepop being compared to Lain (which I adore) for years, I've been meaning to give it a go. I'll definately check it out.
FnordChan
Crazymoogle
Member
For beating the Patlabor horse, what can I say except that Patlabor 2 is basically a natural narcoleptic? Last time I tried to watch it (at an anime festival no less) I fell asleep shortly after the opening sequence. Gasaraki isn't as bad, but its dog slow for basically six DVDs and doesn't really have anything great thereafter.
Boogiepop Phantom was really good, but its even more a treat for guys with Dolby Digital 5.1 hookups. The series has the best use of the rear channel ever as far as anime releases go.
Okay, BONES was really clumsy about the execution of their twist concept, but are you trying to suggest some sort of fanfic concept here? ;-)
Boogiepop Phantom was really good, but its even more a treat for guys with Dolby Digital 5.1 hookups. The series has the best use of the rear channel ever as far as anime releases go.
JackFrost2012 said:
Okay, BONES was really clumsy about the execution of their twist concept, but are you trying to suggest some sort of fanfic concept here? ;-)
Crazymoogle said:
In Patlabor 2's defense, what you get out of it depends on how much Patlabor you've seen and how much you get into the mood of the film. Personally, I love Patlabor 2 and think it's the perfect epilogue to the series. It's also worth mentioning that the mood of Patlabor 2 is significantly different from the rest of the series, so if you liked Patlabor 1 but passed out during Patlabor 2, don't let that deter you from watching the TV series, OVAs and whatnot.
Which isn't to say that Crazymoogle may not have seen every last bit of Patlabor and just can't stay awake through Patlabor 2, of course.
FnordChan
FnordChan said:
It wasn't that depressing.. o__O
Ok there's rape.. villages erased... and the main characters ending up killing friends that are with the enemy reluctantly. However, the end of the series wasn't like Saikano, for example.
Man the ending theme was beautiful though. This thread reminded me of it and now I'm d/ling it.
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