RepentantSky Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I've been watching some anime films recently, all ones I've seen before in the past like Akira, Kiki's Delivery service and like, and then I started watching a few that are a bit more obscure like Dallos, or the short film, Voices of a Distant Star. After watching this kind of variety in film, I can't really decide what I like the most anymore, popular films that are good throughout because of animation, acting and all that, or obscure films that tend to be a bit more artsy without showing off. What do you all think based on what you've seen? I'm honestly very curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imogen Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 To be honest I don't ever really think about it. If a movie seems to catch my attention I'll watch it regardless of whether it's popular and I won't watch something that doesn't look interesting even if it is considered "required viewing". That said I typically think popular anime movies are popular for a reason - due to quality of animation/voice acting/story/what have you so I suppose those are the ones I most often watch or at very least are the ones I revisit time and time again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RepentantSky Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 To be honest I don't ever really think about it. If a movie seems to catch my attention I'll watch it regardless of whether it's popular and I won't watch something that doesn't look interesting even if it is considered "required viewing". That said I typically think popular anime movies are popular for a reason - due to quality of animation/voice acting/story/what have you so I suppose those are the ones I most often watch or at very least are the ones I revisit time and time again. Can't argue with any of that. It's all logical thought. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etyo Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Personally, I really enjoy a movie with a very artsy plot and design. I like popular works, but to be honest, I am not a big fan of Ghibli he has some interesting stuff and his artwork is really well choreographed however I find his plot to be a bit all over the place. Not to say that I don't enjoy some of his movies it's for sure that it is fantastic as an achievement but over-hyped in my opinion, his works have the same feeling to them it becomes a bit dull. Shinkai is also fantastic, I do think he is different to Ghibli in the sense that his newest movie "Your Name" has a completely different feel to it in light of his previous works, where he intertwined sci-fi with a romance mystery, which I think is unique in light of his previous stuff which was mainly romance, mystery, and drama. I was really surprised with Kyoto Animation coming out with "A silent voice" because of its excellent execution, bar a couple of directing mistakes. I deem these as the popular area of Anime Film. I prefer however Short story works because it takes a lot more effort to fit a coherent story within a 20-30 minute slot. In my opinion also more artistic value within shows like that. There have been some very fascinating ideas that came out of the short story genre in Japanese Anime, some that range from existential to mundane lifestyle. I am yet to come across a short film/series which I didn't enjoy. I also like particular OVA episodes because of its unique ability to retell a story/series with a different perspective, one that comes to mind is Black Rock Shooter OVA. From what I see is superior to the series as a whole, and also very well done in directing art and mise en scene to help assist telling a story. I classify the TTGL movies also in this section because of its reuse of the original plot with slight improvements, these are also great films. There is also the section of Movie continuation of series, or additional background or story. I really have a love-hate relationship with this section of Anime film production. Because it can either make you love a series and its characters, even more, giving you a truly enjoyable movie which fits in with the series well. Or it can literally just be a cash grab, which had potential but was used as a ploy to just make the franchise grow to make more money. Two films as contrast to one another in my mind are, Cowboy Bebop the movie and Sword art online ordinal scale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RepentantSky Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 Just to clarify, Ghibli's not the name of a person or anything. It's the name of a Studio made by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata with funding from Yasouyoshi Tokuma and it later added in Toshio Suzuki while their first film as a team was being made. I assume the works you are referring to are Miyazaki-san's with the he, given that despite his talents, Takahata-san's work was rarely received as well, or even nearly as well. Studio Ghibli has also had several directors over the years, including Miyazaki-san's son Goro. I would have thought that maybe you miss typed, but you said it so often I have a feeling that's not the case. That said, the rest of your post I can agree with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etyo Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 (edited) Just to clarify, Ghibli's not the name of a person or anything. It's the name of a Studio made by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata with funding from Yasouyoshi Tokuma and it later added in Toshio Suzuki while their first film as a team was being made. I assume the works you are referring to are Miyazaki-san's with the he, given that despite his talents, Takahata-san's work was rarely received as well, or even nearly as well. Studio Ghibli has also had several directors over the years, including Miyazaki-san's son Goro. I would have thought that maybe you miss typed, but you said it so often I have a feeling that's not the case. That said, the rest of your post I can agree with. I have gotten the same feeling from all Ghibli films regardless if it was Miyazaki or not. I think they just have a niche that they don't grow out of regardless who their director is. I did however in my mind type as if I was referring to Miyazaki, even though it is just his shadow throughout the works of Ghibli. Edited June 29, 2017 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Fool Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I'm a simple person, so I tend to gravitate towards movies that have an emotional punch to them. There are a lot of great anime films out there, but only a few of them have really stuck with me. Sword of the Stranger's emotional score has always resonated with me and Summer Wars tugged at my heart strings for quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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