Wildcat’s Favorite Anime/Manga

(Work in progress, will expand and revise after it’s posted!)

ANIME

I find that I am an old-school anime fan.  Well, maybe not quite old-school, as that implies I was watching Akira and Vampire Hunter D back in the 80′s, with Gatchaman and Gundam wallscrolls on my walls as a wee 6 year old. XD  I didn’t have much of a clue about anime until the early 2000′s. The first anime I watched was definitely retro, though – Speed Racer and G-Force, the Americanized Gatchaman, back in the mid-1990′s.  At the time, though, beyond noticing how fast the characters talked (man, did you have to pay attention watching Speed Racer XD ) and a definite style difference, it didn’t really dawn upon me that I was watching anything different from my usual cartoon fodder.

When I got my PC in 2001, I decided to dive into the world of anime proper, inspired by Toonami’s anime blocks.  I admit to watching more Dragon Ball Z than I should have, and also really liked Gundam Wing, despite the incredibly unemotional dub.  However, it took Outlaw Star to convert me.  And, after some research and discovery, it took Princess Mononoke to completely win me over.  Outlaw Star’s Toonami airings removed 98% of the coarse language and the perverted side of Gene Starwind’s character (which was a shock upon rewatching the uncut DVD’s to discover), but I just really got into the plotline and characterization.  Looking back, I can see it’s not Sunrise’s shining moment (that would go to Cowboy Bebop, but we’ll get back to that), but it’s still a solid anime series with interesting ideas and a good tale to weave.  And the Caster still rocks.

Princess Mononoke was what cemented my love for anime, though.  I’ve never, EVER been so overwhelmed by a movie’s beauty until I watched Mononoke.  The talented animators of Studio Ghibli really outdid themselves with this gorgeous, emotional film.  Everything I watched since, real or animated, has to compare to this film.  It’s my benchmark.  The casting was excellent (I for one don’t mind Billy Bob), the plot was incredible, and the music splendid.  I will always love this movie.

Thanks to Mononoke, I’ve become a massive Ghibli fan, and would easily consider them the finest in the business.  I’ve adored every other film I’ve watched of theirs, save one – Castle in the Sky.  The movie itself was fine, but the dub was just awful.  I mean, James van der Beek?  Why?!?  Not even switching the language could erase the connection.  Augh.  Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is my second favorite, with Spirited Away not too far behind.  I’ve also heavily enjoyed The Cat Returns, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbors the Yamadas, Whisper from the Heart, and Howl’s Moving Castle.  I enjoyed Grave of the Fireflies, but I seriously doubt I could put myself through the emotional ringer once more to watch it again.  That was a hard, hard movie to take.

To return to my introductory sentence, I find myself to be pseudo old-school because I tend to really like anime that was released in the US during its most popular time, 2001 – 2004.  That’s when I bought the most, and the majority of my purchases I haven’t regretted.  Here’s some of what I’ve loved:

Rurouni Kenshin – Kenshin Himura is my favorite cartoon character of all time.  He is just an amazingly well-designed character.  He comes across as a real, flawed human being, one that repents his past, and does everything in his power to protect the Japan he helped create.  He can be a sweet, loving, sensitive person, or he can be one of the most awesome badass heroes in all of anime.  He has flaws – his tendency to lump his friend’s problems onto his own shoulders to solve, the occasional lapse into his dark past; these are counterbalanced by his compassion for peace and his strength, both of mind and body.  It was the original anime TV series that won me over, especially the second arc that nearly replicated the Shishio section of the manga to perfection.  But the first arc, even its silly original subplots that were merely filler for the more dynamic manga chapters, manages to be mostly excellent.  I suppose now is as good a time as any to reveal that I am one of those bizarre people who prefer to watch anime with English dubs, unless it’s absolutely terrible or lacking that option.  I find that the Kenshin dub was cast well (I carried those voices to the manga), particularly Richard Cansino as Kenshin, who captures all of Kenshin’s various personas and emotions very well.  The script has its hokey moments, to be sure (a Japanese Sword?  Was Katana too hard to shove into the lip sync?…just an example), but all and all, it’s likable enough for me to enjoy.  Samurai X is a thing of beauty to watch, with exquisite animation, but the tone is radically different from the TV series, highlighting Kenshin’s past in all its gory glory.  Trust and Betrayal are the highpoints here, while the others are not all that pleasurable to watch for one reason or another, truth be told.  And I’ve never watched the third arc from the TV series, as I’ve heard more than one Kenshin fan recommend skipping it to not lose respect for the show, so I’ve done exactly that.

Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, FLCL, Fruits Basket, Wolf’s Rain, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, the original Tenchi Muyo, Code Geass, Le Chevalier d’Eon, Ouran High School Host Club, and Serial Experiments Lain are some of my other favorite TV series.

Movie-wise, I love pretty much anything Ghibli (as I’ve already mentioned), and I also dig Steamboy, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, Akira (animation moreso than anything else), Tokyo Godfathers, Battle Angel, Millennium Actress, Paprika, Ghost in the Shell, and others I’m sure I’m forgetting. XD

MANGA

As one may gather, I adore Rurouni Kenshin in manga form even more than the anime.  The artwork is stunningly beautiful, improving as it rolls along, and the three major arcs are all exquisitely plotted, packed with plenty of intriguing heroes and villains.  Really like it.

Also liked what I’ve read of Fruits Basket, Trigun, Le Chevalier d’Eon, Battle Angel Alita, Apocalypse Meow (aka Cat-Shit One), the Phoenix Wright manga, the original Disgaea, FLCL, Ranma 1/2, Stone, Full Metal Alchemist, Read or Die, and Nausicaa Of the Valley of the Wind.