A Much More Interesting Post, Hopefully

Well, I'm at an impasse here. I'm unable to sleep, but just finished a long-ass writing session. What to do... Keep writing I guess. I suppose I should properly introduce myself, first. I'm Jim. Ron is my twin. Anything Ron said in his bio pretty much is ditto for me.

So, Ron's more of a music nerd than I am. When he began retreating to music more and more, I began reading and playing video games in order to isolate myself. In college, when Ron's interest in music really picked up, I started getting really heavily into anime. I'm not really much of a fanboy in the normal sense, I guess. I'm not really into a lot of action anime or anything. For me, what's most important in anime is the story. If the universe is well-presented, the story is coherent, the meaning is actually discernible, then I'm pretty sure I'll like it.

Simply put, I like anime that tries to say something true and meaningful, not just boring and cliche. To give an excellent example right off the bat, the finest anime I have seen to date, hands down, is Urusawa Naoki's "Monster". The main character in the anime, Dr. Tenma, has to choose between following orders to protect his status and position, or throwing it all away to save a young boy's life, proving to himself that all human lives are equally valuable. This is all in the first episode. From there, it only gets better.

Later, Tenma finds out that the defining moment of his career in which he saved the young man was the cause of horrible tragedy. Shockingly, the young man, Johan, is revealed to be a highly charismatic, hyper-intelligent, sociopathic, monstrously manipulative serial killer. Dr. Tenma is faced with the hard truth of his own culpability in the young man's crimes- he is responsible for bringing that monster back to life. His journey to discover the roots of the monster and atone for his own well-intended sin span several years and many countries, ultimately culminating in a shocking final showdown in which the true origin of the monster and his ultimate intentions are finally revealed.

Simply put, Monster is the most perfect story I have seen to date in any anime, or most other media. Spanning 74 episodes, the plot is intricate beyond belief. Of the various characters that are presented in the anime, all are convincingly portrayed, with their own foibles and personality traits that make them all truly memorable. Even incidental characters are given surprisingly detailed motivations and personalities, and some characters that seem to be one shot characters have a tendency to pop up anywhere from 10 to 30 episodes later with fully realized stories building around them.

Every episode in the series is absolutely essential to the plot, which may put some casual viewers off at first, but I tend to despise filler in shows anyway. Also, given the vast and complex nature of the plot, and the various flashbacks and back stories needed to maintain that level of complexity, the show can get overwhelming over time. However, the series is made for, and deserves, repeat viewing. If I had to recommend any one anime that I've seen over the years to anyone, regardless of their liking anime or not, this would be it. A friend of mine described it best when he said that it transcended the bounds of traditional anime. It was a drama that happened to be animated. But enough talking about it. This is the point where everyone who reads this should simply go and watch the series.

Now, to move on to other anime of similar caliber. One of my favorite current shows is a boxing anime called Hajime no Ippo, which translates literally to "The First Step". In America, the series was licensed under the title "Fighting Spirits". The problem with the change in title is that the name of the anime and the main character (Ippo) have a sort of pun-ish similarity in Japanese. The main draw of this show is the excellent artwork and great fighting action, though the characters and plot aren't slouches either. The main character, Ippo Makunouchi, is a shy high school boy who is often bullied because of his quiet and wilting personality. However, when he is saved from a gang of his punk classmates by a professional boxer, Ippo begins to wonder if he too could learn what it means to be strong. His journey from bumbling, shy youth to confident professional boxer is the main focus of the story.

The characters in the anime are all very well presented, with each being a fully fleshed out individual with their own ambitions in the ring. Some fight for glory, others for money, but no two dreams are exactly alike. Another surprising aspect of the show is that there really aren't any clear antagonists for the viewer to immediately dislike and wish failure upon. Each character's story and motivations are convincingly presented, with no "obvious bad guy" stereotypes. Even one of the more menacing boxers with a rougher, dirtier fighting style is given a very good reason for his savagery- having taken up street fighting to protect a sibling, as both were orphaned at a young age.

One important item to note is that the anime series first aired several years ago and was based off a manga, as is usual in many cases. However, the anime consisted of 72 episodes and 2 follow-up animations- one OVA and a TV movie, while the manga is still being produced. At more than 845 chapters to date, the manga was at least twice as long as the series at the time of its airing, and is now edging even further away. Therefore, reading the manga is necessary in order to get the full story, which is in itself still incomplete. Good news abounds, though. A second series has recently started this year, and resumes exactly where the first left off. Eventually, the series may even catch up to the manga, or even possibly reach the end of the entire story, if we are lucky and the manga finishes up before the show's budget does.

To say that the animation is excellent is no understatement. Much of the action portrayed is pretty realistic, albeit with some over-the-top effects to add emphasis. Any fan of boxing or fighting anime would do well to give this one a try.

These two serve as my current two picks for best of all time, and best I'm currently watching, respectively. However, I could go on for quite a while on this subject, so I'll try to just give a brief overview of some other recommended series.

For mecha anime, that is with giant robots and such, I'd have to recommend Evangelion, especially the new theatrical release of a 5 film series that is currently in the works, with only the first film released as of yet. Or perhaps one of the Gundam series- an old fan favorite. Everyone has their favorite Gundam, be it the original Gundam 0079, Turn A Gundam, 08th MS Team, Gundam Seed, Gundam 00, or Gundam Wing. I've liked quite a few, but the most often cited one for me is Wing. 0079 has the points on originality, but Wing has a better political intrigue dynamic going on, with constantly shifting loyalties and conflicting motivations on all sides. Most of the Gundam series are good in their own way, but there are a few that are considered sub-par. Seed, in my opinion, wasn't as good. Not enough originality, lack of quality animation. G-Gundam wasn't really a Gundam series in the traditional sense. Gundam X was too rambling. However, the others are pretty much all good.

In the area of comedy, I'd say Excel Saga is one of the greats. However, I'm accused of being stuck-up when I say that I refuse to watch anime in English. I prefer Japanese with English subtitles, and maybe some cultural notes up top or in the background. This series is one of the reasons I hate English dubbing. Excel's voice actress in English is just too grating. In Japanese I could stomach the extreme speed and pitch at which she talked, but in English it sounds too forced and aggressively annoying. That, and I hate English dubs having to change dialogue to fit mouth movement. It never works and detracts from the meaning. Most of the puns only work in Japanese anyway, like saying "I am like scrub brush". This was just left out in the English dub, but the play on words here is that the word for I in Japanese- "watashi", is very phonetically similar to the word scrub brush- "washtashi". Now, add to that the enormous list of character names which are puns on other Japanese words or other anime characters, and it's obvious that the original format is superior.

For anime that doesn't really fit into any other category, I can name a few interesting ones right off the bat. First off, a zany action comedy rock anime called FLCL (pronounced variously as fooly-cooly, or furi-kuri, or even just phonetically spelled F-L-C-L). The plot is nonsense, and proud of it. The main draw for the series is of course humor and general anime parody, but the soundtrack is what most people tend to remember the most. This tends to happen because the anime was devised around the soundtrack in many parts, scripted to follow the timing and mood already established in the songs. That, combined with the star power of the band that made the soundtrack-The Pillows- and the fame of the animation studio that produced the anime- Gainax, of Evangelion fame- the whole production was a pretty much surefire hit.

Next, for the realistic sci-fi genre, PlanetES comes to mind. Given that the plot sounds absolutely mundane- the retrieval of space debris and the lives of the debris workers- the whole production is far more entertaining than one would expect by description. The tone is very nice, alternately showing some pretty good comedic dynamics between the odd ducks who end up the the debris collecting occupation, and switching to really moving poignant stories that ponder the role of humanity in outer space, where the future will take us, and what our responsibilities to each other as human beings will mean in the context of the new frontier of space. Very well done animation, realistic portrayals of technology progression, and great interpersonal relationships between characters make this a great watch.

To continue in the vein of great character-driven stories, another great watch is the mystery/horror series Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, which translates to "When the Cicadas Cry". This one has a weird tone to it. First scene is a brutal beating by baseball bat. Next is a flashback to a few weeks earlier, where the tone shifts to lighthearted cuteness and school slice of life comedy. Then, things just get weird. Shrine gods, festivals, curses, murders, paranoia, and horrible brutality ensue. Things that can't be undone are done, and the story wraps up... in 4 episodes. Then, for absolutely no discernible reason, time rewinds, the story starts over, but certain things are different...

The structure of the series turns out to be pretty amazing. Each arc of 4 or 5 episodes tells a story leading up to a series of murders, with certain details changing every time, and a different culprit and theory behind the brutality. Each of the first 4 arcs corresponds with a later arc that presents an alternate version of the story. The interesting aspect of the series is that in the beginning, supernatural explanations are all that are given, but later explanatory arcs offer more natural ways that certain events play out. By the end, the entire truth behind the case is (almost) completely explained by watching and interpreting each arc together. Very neatly done.

The anime's unique structure comes from its origins as a mystery game and sound novel, meaning the game is mainly presented through spoken dialogue and auditory ambiance. The game features several branching paths and multiple endings, each of which is necessary to achieve the true ending. It is from this structuring that the anime takes its cue.

Well, I could go on, but bed calls. Expect more soon, in the vein of "cerebral cat-and-mouse, plot-counter plot" anime.