Favorite anime?

[Rosemary_Hua]

A Catholic Manga publishing company called “atiqtuq” just recently launched it’s first book!!! It’s awesome and the graphics are amazing. Their first story is about St. Paul; it’s called “Paul: Tarsus to Redemption”

Check out a sneak peak of the book here, and the publishing website here! The book is on amazon for only a little more than $11. I highly recommend it!!!

 

[EphelDuath]

Sorry for reviving a rather old thread: I’m watching Hellsing Ultimate. I don’t know if I should find this offensive or not. All the Catholics are portrayed as being severely bigoted as Protestants, and I haven’t gotten very far into it, but it appears thus far that they’re antagonists, whereas the Hellsing Organization of Protestant Knights are the protagonists.

On the other hand, the Catholics are being consistent by refusing to employ the undead in their ranks, and the show tacitly admits Christianity is true since religious objects are directly harmful to the undead.

Any comments?

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Haven’t seen it, sorry. But in fiction, you can bend certain rules. In general I dislike anything either blatantly or subtly anti-Catholic.

BUT: I have two new faves, both clean, both revolving around intense psychological warfare, both featuring character development revealed through games/sports:

Hikaru no Go
Prince of Tennis

 

[Academia]

Sorry for reviving a rather old thread: I’m watching Hellsing Ultimate. I don’t know if I should find this offensive or not. All the Catholics are portrayed as being severely bigoted as Protestants, and I haven’t gotten very far into it, but it appears thus far that they’re antagonists, whereas the Hellsing Organization of Protestant Knights are the protagonists.

On the other hand, the Catholics are being consistent by refusing to employ the undead in their ranks, and the show tacitly admits Christianity is true since religious objects are directly harmful to the undead.

Any comments?

I’m pretty sure Kouta Hirano wasn’t meaning to be “anti-catholic”. Actually, I didn’t think Alexander Anderson was that bad. He’s certainly a favorite of mine (especially in the manga) and is a pretty awesome character as the story progresses. I believe I like him more than Alucard.

 

[EphelDuath]

I’m pretty sure Kouta Hirano wasn’t meaning to be “anti-catholic”. Actually, I didn’t think Alexander Anderson was that bad. He’s certainly a favorite of mine (especially in the manga) and is a pretty awesome character as the story progresses. I believe I like him more than Alucard.

He’s a cool character, certainly, but I’m still on the fence about whether or not this portrayal of not just individual Catholics but the entire Catholic Church is bothersome.

 

[Academia]

I’m not really sure whether any of the groups (the knights or Iscariot) are supposed to represent a particular sect of religion as a whole. You mentioned that you were currently watching the OVA (Hellsing Ultimate) so I don’t want to giveaway anything by clarifying any further by delving deeper into any of the characters past on Iscariot’s side, but I think (because it’s the anime and they can only fit so much into a few episodes) a lot of that has to do with the way they’re portrayed in the manner that they are: “bigots”, etc.

Granted, some anime’s poorly represent characters, so I recommend the manga. Of course, I’m not really sure how good of a job Hellsing Ultimate does of bringing the manga to life (though its supposed to be better than the first attempt), as I’ve only seen a few dvd’s of it.

 

[Suni_Moon]

You know, I come in here expecting to have to quietly cough out that I looove Hellsing, for fear of people being… offended…
Aaaaaaaaaaaand I find people talking about it.

To the whole offensive or not debate:
Hirano is… Many things… Maaany things… He is a lazy man. He does whatever the heck he wants with his story. He does not let anyone influence his story.
And he often only does what he does because he thinks it’ll be cool.

“Oh, Hirano, why’d you use an exert from the Ripley Scrolls, is it because of-”
“LOL NO… I just thought the line sounded cool.”

While we can all feel free to debate the content, Hirano till denies that it has any real meaning.

The Catholic and Protestant stuff?
Firstly, the Nazi’s are the antagonists.
Not the the Iscariots.

Secondly… Anderson is just awesome. He’s an awesome guy.
And, in terms of Hellsing characters, his moral compass is quite thaaaat off… Remember, everyone in Hellsing is completely effing insane, 'cept Integra and Seras.

Despite Andersons extremities, and his senseless killing, he’s still pretty good overall.
And in the manga, Alucard wants Anderson to kill him. A plot element that I looooved.
Alucard respects Anderson for the majority of the only series, and {spoiler}only kills him when Anderson makes the same mistake he did five hundred years ago.{/spoiler}

Now, here’s something to remember:
A japanese manga isn’t going to intentionally mock the Christian faith. Or Catholics in particular.

It’s not a religion Japan is familiar with. It is as foreign to them, as Shinto is to us.
As it is distant to them, they don’t write about it to express personal views on the matter, they write about it for entertainment value.
Most of the time Christianity is just another religion to be used as an interesting plot device, a novelty, really.

Which is why I’m pretty much never offended by subjects of Christianity in manga.
I don’t agree with it, and I often facepalm when they get things horribly wrong, but I don’t take it as a personal offense. Because it’s not.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanywho, you worry about how Anderson represents Catholics?
Woah boy, wait 'till you meet Maxell. A guy who gains power, skips off to stop the nazis, then in the middle of it decides “Oh hey, lets launch some more crusades while I’m at it.”

Enrico Maxwell is completely unhinged, the guys a nutso.

But {spoiler}Anderson is actually the one to stop him. And when he dies, Anderson feels bad about it. Maxwell was raised at Andersons orphanage, and he seems to show some regret that Maxwell became who he became.{/spoiler}

Again, another reason why Anderson is amazing…
Eh, but I ramble.

I quite like the entire Hellsing cast. They’re fabulously written characters.
Even if Integra and Seras are the only decent people out of the whole bunch.
(Well, apart from the decent people who got killed off.)
But really, I even like The Major: Because Hirano wrote a villain there that you just love to hate. The Major has no redeeming qualities, he’s a monster. And you don’t see that sort of thing too often.

BUT, drawing that to a close, and answering the OP’s actual question:
My favorite anime & manga aaaaare…
Hellsing,
Godchild, which is my favorite manga eveeerrrr,
Angel Sanctuary,
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo,
Grand Guignol Orchestra,
Kaine,
Boys Next Door,
X/1999,
Tokyo Babylon,
and Card Captor Sakura.

Wow, long post was too long.

@Academia
The first few Hellsing OVA’s were rubbish. Then they switched studios. And the quality became amaaaazing. It’s sort of my favorite AMV fodder ever.

 

[Laughing_Crow]

Hellsing ultimate though my favorite character was Rip Van Winkle

Afro Samurai - I liked it because it shows how blinded revenge can make a person.The basic [plot is there are two headbands of legend, the Number One and the Number two. The number one is basically a god, no one can challenge him except the number two. Problem is the number two can be challenged by anyone and everyone. Afro’s father was the number one, however he was killed by Justice. Now the nUmber two, afro begins his journey to kill Justice in vengeance for his father. Its interesting that he only seeks to fight and kill justice, but because he needs the number two, he has to kill anyone who fights him to keep it.

Afro is a love/hate character. He makes some really bad choices. I mean

Spoiler

he practically kills his friends, his adoptive family and anyone who gets in his way /spoiler.

What makes the anime interesting is the fact Afro has very little dialogue, most of it coming from his enemies or Ninja Ninja his ‘side kick’.

That said, its a violent anime, 8 minutes into the first episode and Afro has already slaughtered 50 men in graphic detail. And lots of cussing (mainly from ninja ninja, who over reacts to everything. Best example “Is that a mother****** RPG? You got a mother******* RPG!? An RPG in a a mother******* backpack!?”)

Paranoia Agent - My advise, if your studying for an exam or somethign similarily important, do not watch this anime as it completely takes over your mind. The basic story is Tsukiko Sagi, a young animator who has made a massive hit with her animated dog Miromi. However, now she needs to make a new character, everyone expecting it to be better then Miromi, however, she ant come up with anything. Also hated by her co workers for her success and disliking her rather bland attitude she begins suffering from stress. After cutting her arm one night trying to get a picture she drew from under a parked car, she begins sobbing fro mthe stress only to turn at a strange osund and be hit by a bat. The entire series focues around ‘Little Slugger’ Sagis attacker, and elementary school boy whho wears a cap and attacks people with a bent golden bat and rides arund on golden inline skates. The anime gets weirder and weirder as it goes along, going from a simple attack to making people wonder if Little SLugger is even a real person, a ghost or somethign else.

The most interesting characters are the two investigators of the little slugger attack. Keiichi Ikari, an old fashioned detective who is close to retirement, and Mitsuhiro Maniwa, a younger more new age detective. These two characters grow the most and are what link all the other characters in the series together along side Little Slugger.

What I found most disturbing about the anime is the opening animation, depicting the main characters standing around laughing while tragedy befalls them (Sagi on top of a roof during a tsunami, Maniwa falling through the air towards the ground, the most disturbing, Ikari who worked post war Japan standing on Tokyo Tower while a nuclear bomb detonates behind him laughing with the song chorus which translates to “A magnificent mushroom cloud in the sky” )

Rurouni Kenshin - A good anime about the Meji Era of japan. A powerful swordsman known as ‘Batousai the Manslayer’ who helped build that age disappears after the final battle. The anime follows Kenshin Himura (aka Batousai) through his life as he tries to live swearing to never take the life of another being again, despite many wanting him dead due to his actions during the war. Personally, After the Makota Shishio arc, stop watching, as the anime goes south from there becoming silly.

 

[Academia]

And, in terms of Hellsing characters, his moral compass is quite thaaaat off… Remember, everyone in Hellsing is completely effing insane, 'cept Integra and Seras.

Integra actually ties as one of my least favorite character(s), there’s something about her that rubs me the wrong way. The second would be Maxwell.

To be fair, Alexander Anderson is less “insane” in the manga. While in the anime (particularly their first attempt at it, he comes off as a mindless killing machine.) Regardless, he’s still a pretty cool character. You got to love the accent in the American version of Hellsing.

@Academia
The first few Hellsing OVA’s were rubbish. Then they switched studios. And the quality became amaaaazing. It’s sort of my favorite AMV fodder ever.

I think I saw the first few episodes. I own the first DVD of Hellsing Ultimate, and skipped around the the fifth DVD with the appearance of Rip Van Winkle. I found both to be exceptional. Because less face it, when you’re comparing Hellsing Ultimate to their first attempt at the story, anything is better than that.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Haven’t seen it, sorry. But in fiction, you can bend certain rules. In general I dislike anything either blatantly or subtly anti-Catholic.

BUT: I have two new faves, both clean, both revolving around intense psychological warfare, both featuring character development revealed through games/sports:

Hikaru no Go
Prince of Tennis

Unfortunately, the underlined anime there is one of those I associate with yaoi fan girls purely because their fandom has more of them compared to mainstream titles. >_>;;

That and, for some reason, I ain’t so fond of anime with too many guy characters. :\

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Anyways, searching this thread I realize I haven’t posted my list at all.
Well then, here we go!

Naruto
Bleach
D.Gray-man
Fate/Stay Night
Rurouni Kenshin
Gate Keepers
Air Gear
Tenjo Tenghe
Onegai Twins
Love Hina
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
Lucky Star
Shinryaku! Ika Musume
K-On!
Chobits
Fairy Tail
Soul Eater
Shugo Chara
Rozen Maiden
Mahou Sensei Negima!
To Love-ru
Shuffle!
The Sacred Blacksmith
Witchblade
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Shaman King
Digimon
Digimon 02
Pokemon
Howl’s Moving Castle
Black Rock Shooter
Voices of Distant Star
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu
Full Metal Panic!?: Fumoffu
Fruits Basket
Ouran Highschool Host Club
Ubel Blatt
Chrno Crusade

Hmm… I wonder if this list is too short or too mainstream?
Meh, then again, I’m really more into either shounen fantasy, slice-of-life seinen, or highschool romance/comedy. Hence, I’m afraid you won’t find a lotta sci-fi or historical drama for my preferences.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

It’s not as though Catholicism is unheard-of in Japan. Japan was evangelized by Francis Xavier. There are Japanese martyrs and saints.

On 15 August, 1549, St. Francis Xavier arrived in Japan, at the port of Kagoshima in Kiusiu, with two companions and three neophytes. By the boldness of his preaching, his sanctity, and his miracles, he renewed the marvels of the Apostolic age. He preached at Hirado, Yamaguchi, Bungo, and Funai, but he was unable to see the emperor or enter Miako (Kyoto). He set out for China on 20 November, 1551. In Japan there were then 3000 faithful, the feudal regime being favourable to evangelization. Ordinarily, when a prince was converted a portion of his subjects followed him. The celebrated Nobunaga (1565), the terrible enemy of the bonzes, was kindly disposed towards the Christians and a friend of the missionaries. When he died (1582) there were 200,000 faithful and 250 churches.

There’s more, but that’s just an intro (from the Catholic Encyclopedia). What’s surprising is that more people don’t know this, or discount it, or seem to dismiss the workings of the Holy Spirit in its influence on stories and artists.

 

[Suni_Moon]

To be fair, Alexander Anderson is less “insane” in the manga. While in the anime (particularly their first attempt at it, he comes off as a mindless killing machine.) Regardless, he’s still a pretty cool character. You got to love the accent in the American version of Hellsing.

He is, a lot less. Frankly, I find him very admirable in the manga.
I only say insane because… That’s just the general characterization that most of the Hellsing cast has in common… Anderson is simply on the lighter side of the crazyness.

He’s a lot more reasonable than the rest of the unhinged characters.

I’m gonna say something, though… I love the first anime adaption too.
The parts that strayed from the manga had a certain level of “so bad it’s good” for me.
And the parts that were accurate has a certain atmosphere that the OVA’s lacked.

Despite the poor animation, the writing was good, for the episodes that followed the manga.

And I really prefer the first episode of the original anime, to, say, the first bits of OVA 1.
There was something about Seras’s first encounter with Alucard in the original anime that gave me chills, be it the music, or the scene itself.

It’s really what got me into the series, so it holds a special place in my heart… No matter how ugly the animation and colors are, and no matter how retarded Incognito was.

@SailorKenshin - I never said it wasn’t unheard of, I just said it’s not widespread.
It’s hardly among the dominant religions there, like it is in western countries.
Most japanese citizens don’t know all that much about it.
There are Catholics in Japan, there are churches in Japan… It’s just not widespread enough to effect the majority of Japan.

dismiss the workings of the Holy Spirit in its influence on stories and artists.

I never do that… But… I have seen you do this before. :ehh:
Not trying to pick a fight or anything, just pointing it out.

Ehhhh, Aaaaaanyway, shifting gears… Any CLAMP fans in these forums?
And I mean, old CLAMP fans. Not Tsubasa/XxxHolic generation fans.
Because I don’t like CLAMP’s new work… At all… D:

 

[tantumquantum]

Ehhhh, Aaaaaanyway, shifting gears… Any CLAMP fans in these forums?
And I mean, old CLAMP fans. Not Tsubasa/XxxHolic generation fans.
Because I don’t like CLAMP’s new work… At all… D:

Being in a Gen XYer (generation between X and Y) I am familiar with some of pre-noughties CLAMP. I liked Rayearth, Card Captor Sakura and Angelic Layer.

 

[tantumquantum]

I have not posted on this thread either so here goes.

TV Series

1980-99
Tosho Daimos* ('78
Cho Denji Machine Voltes V*(79)
Dragon Ball/DBZ
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Yu Yu Hakusho
Ranma 1/2
Akazukin ChaCha
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Tenchi Muyo
Slam Dunk
Flame of Recca
Magic Knight Rayearth
Escaflowne
Fushigi Yuugi
Gundam
Zeta Gundam
Turn A Gundam
G Gundam
Martian Successor Nadesico
Rurouni Kenshin
Cowboy Bebop
Master Keaton
Mobile Police Patlabor
Trigun
Slayers
Initial D
Berserk
Ghost in the Shell

2000-Present
Ghost in the Shell SAC/2nd Gig
Juuni Kokki
Galaxy Angel
Hunter X Hunter
Black Lagoon
Kaleido Star
Kino No Tabi
The Big O
Samurai Champloo
Great Teacher Onizuka
Golgo 13
Ghost Hound
Planetes
Hajime No Ippo
Gintama
Monster
Capeta
Noein
Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
Mushishi
Natsume Yuujinchou
Genshiken
Moyashimon
Honey & Clover
Spice and Wolf
Nodame Cantabile
Darker Than Black
Dennou Coil
Last Exile
Eureka Seven
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Gankutsuou
Mononoke (Horror Anime)
Casshern Sins
Bakemonogatari
Katanagatari
Baccano
Durarara!

I probably left out a lot more but these are the shows that definitely left an impression on me. This list doesn’t include OAV’s though.
The list mainly shows how my show preference has evolved and expanded as I started out mainly on hotblooded shounen and ended up liking mecha,slice-of-life, sci-fi, historical/period pieces and even some shoujo (Nodame/Honey and Clover).

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

dismiss the workings of the Holy Spirit in its influence on stories and artists.

Really? Please do quote my own words back at me. I’m interested to learn when I said that.

 

[Academia]

I probably left out a lot more but these are the shows that definitely left an impression on me. This list doesn’t include OAV’s though.
The list mainly shows how my show preference has evolved and expanded as I started out mainly on hotblooded shounen and ended up liking mecha,slice-of-life, sci-fi, historical/period pieces and even some shoujo (Nodame/Honey and Clover).

That’s an impressive list you have there (a lot of the posters have lengthy list among their anime preferences.) I’ve seen 17/66 that you’ve listed. And only heard of 10/49 I have not seen.

Seeing all of these list makes me want to attempt one of my own.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Ehhhh, Aaaaaanyway, shifting gears… Any CLAMP fans in these forums?
And I mean, old CLAMP fans. Not Tsubasa/XxxHolic generation fans.
Because I don’t like CLAMP’s new work… At all… D:

Does Chobits count? >_<;;;

 

[Suni_Moon]

Really? Please do quote my own words back at me. I’m interested to learn when I said that.

I have no desire to delve through old posts and try to find an example…
I’ve just noticed, from what I can tell, that you seem somewhat closed minded when it comes to just how much God can touch.

If the morals of one character in a show are off, but not explicitly evil, you act as if it’s a negative message and something to be avoided.

From my few encounters with you, you just strike me as someone who looks too hard for the evil in everything, not paying enough attention to the good that is also there.

 

[Suni_Moon]

Does Chobits count? >_<;;;

Not for me. XD
I discount everything they wrote after Legal Drug.
(And I barely like Legal Drug.)

I thought Chobits was still a little better than Tsubasa and XxxHolic, but I felt the art was going down hill in those years.
They went from rich, gorgeous detail… To blank, black eyes, etc.
Sure, the clothing designs were nice, at least… But the rest… D;

Not a fan of the story, either.

• tantumquantum
  Yay, an old CLAMP fan!

I like CCS, Rayearth, Tokyo Babylon, X, Clover, and Wish.