Best Japan Animation

[zamboe]

Do not watch UROTZUKIDOJI. (Yes do it !:))

Once my mother caught me watching that ( a friend of mine had borrowed it to me ) I had so much problems for doing that. It's for adults only.

BTW I know that LA BLUE GIRL (Manga) is xxx too, but i am not 100% sure i haven't watched it yet.

[Desert_Eagle25]

Thats two out of maybe...1000 different anime series. Yes, some are lousy and totally suck. Some are the best entertainment you could find. Just like all cartoons, shows, movies. I suggest you watch the deeper anime series such as Evangelion. Or try watching Gundam(older series and newer ones). Those are both great.

[ordos45]

My personal view on Mobile Suit Gundam and the horrors of war that it portrays.

Yep, Mobile Suit Gundam. The more than a dozen Gundam series and movies show the horrors of war far better than most shows and movies.

Look at Mobile Suit Gundam as an example of that. It is a thought provoking series. At the beginning of the first episode we hear the background of the war, and that half of the Human race is dead because of fighting. We see a colony dropped on a city of innocent people.

Then as the series progresses we see how war changes people. How they either harden or have emotional breakdowns. It also shows the resilience of the Human spirit. Most of the low level troops on both sides wish only for peace in the middle of all the horror, but the politicians are in control of whether or not there is peace.

Love is found and lost in the show. Lost usually to a violent end, and in that we can see heartbreak. By the end of the series a person can understand war better by watching it than say, Pearl Harbor the movie.

In Mobile Suit Gundam the 8th MS Team the leader of a Federal Forces unit falls in love with an enemy. Yet the war drags them apart. In it we see how a village is caught between the fighting powers, and how the villagers think violence is the only way to end it. Throughout this short lived series one officer writes to his girlfriend, telling her of what horrors and wonders he has seen. In the final episode, the Commander and his Zeon love work together to stop a project and then after they do, they drop off the radar so to speak. The officer in the final episode tells in his letter, how the war has ended with a treaty and that he is coming home.

However by Gundam 0083, we see that peace is a fragile thing, just as it is in real life. When a small faction of Zeon forces steals a Gundam and a nuclear weapon. We see a budding relationship develop between the pilot of the remaining Gundam and the woman who helped design it, as well as how politics work with the political intrigue in both the Zeon and Federation High Commands. Everyone has their own agenda, no matter how unimportant the character. That is what makes this show real.

Gato shows very convincing emotion, much like a real grieving officer when visiting the site of his greatest defeat. A site where hundreds to thousands died under his command. This shows no matter how much someone seems detached from war, it will break them in the end. Even if it is in private, or even within one's own mind.

We learn at the end of the end of the series that doing what is right, isn't always good. The colony still crashed into North America, battle was still waged, all records of the Gundam Development Project were classified (how much does that sound like a failed weapon project in real life?), and the Captain of the Pegasis Class Assault Carrier was executed for disobeying orders.

The end of this series shows the futility of war. Everything Zeon set out to do was accomplished. The crashing of the colony a success. Yet, by fighting, the Federation and Zeon both took more casualties than they should have. If the Federation hadn't fought back, they would have lost far less in the way of equipment and humans.

G Gundam, Earth is used as a ground of competition so war does not erupt between the Colonies. However, this competition to stop wars, is in fact a war in itself which has devestated the Earth greatly. The people of Earth are generally downtrodden and angry, and oppressed by these Elite Gundam Fighters. Sorta like the conquored people in wars.

Now let me skip to Gundam Wing. We have teenagers fighting a guerilla war. This closely matches what occurs in many countries every day.

They are all hardened or broken by the war that they fight. Some feel sorrow for what they have done in the name of duty. From killing a single enemy, to the deaths of a shuttle full of pacifists who were ready to make peace with the colonies.

One young girl even becomes leader of a pacifist country. But, this is shown to be foolhardy. As with real life, the Gundam series shows that Pacifism is nonexistent in war. When the pacifist country is tricked into sheltering troops from one of the warring factions, they are attacked in return. And deserting pacifism in the face of annhialation, it uses its own hidden military forces to fight back, proving the myth of pacifism. One scene from that episode sticks in my head, showing one horror of war, it is a burning house and a child's teddy bear burning with it as stray fire hits a house.

By the end of the series it comes down to two Mobile Suits and their pilots fighting in falling wreckage. That is when all of the colonies and everyone on Earth is watching the battle on big viewscreens as it comes on. An announcement is made that the battle has nothing to do with Earth or the Colonies, yet it has everything to do with it. The hero named Heero wins the battle and then destroys the platform that would destroy Earth. Peace reigns and Heero is seen walking away with a napsack, having nothing to do and nowhere to go now that there is no more fighting.

In Endless Waltz it begins anew. A Colony declares independence and the Earth is invaded on Christmas Eve. The President of Earth has a conversation with his granddaughter as they watch the news about how she thought there wasn't going to be any war, he tells her people are irrational. Secretly he knows people are rational and is despairing over the return of violence.

Meanwhile our heroes go for their Gundams. Hidden on a platform bound for the Sun. Much like real life, after your superweapons are disbanded officially, you hide them for future usage.

After intense fighting the charismatic leader of the Colony is killed. Peace returns again. This time though, the Gundams really are destroyed so they can never be used for violence again. The young fighters who have spent the last two years of life in war, are finally free of it, except one. Quatra goes back to manage the family company, Duo and his wife/girlfriend Hilde go back to their scrap dump and salvage operations, Heero gets a job with some shuttle service I think (as he is in their uniform and leaves Releena a birthday card in her shuttle), Trowa goes back to the woman he loves and their circus, but Wufei joins what amounts to the Police, never to be free of the need for war. Noin and Zecks still love each other and go off to work on a project to terraform Mars into a second Earth. Peace is restored again, but this time, unlike harsh reality, it lasts.

That is my synopsis so far on how Mobile Suit Gundam relates to real life. How it shows the horrors and effects of war, and how it never ends.

[Desert_Eagle25]

Hey Ordos, whuts ur AIM, or MSN ?? I want to talk to u sometime. :)

[Alia_of_the_Knife]

Ordos, you really made me think with that one. I never realized how much that series is true. Thank you for opening my eyes.

For you people who have only watched Pokemon, Digimon, or DBZ, I highly recommend finding something else to watch. I'm not dissing those three, though my personal opinion is that Pokemon and Digimon are as stupid as they come. Anyway, if you want something like the Gundam series, but a little shorter, try Grave of the Fireflies.

Grave of the Fireflies is a movie. It has English subtitles, and that may make it harder to watch, but it is worth it. It is available on DVD as well. Anyways, for a plot synopsys. Grave of the Fireflies is set in WW2 Japan. It starts with the ghost of a young teenager telling us the date that he died. Then it skips back a couple years, to where he was living happily with his mother and little sister, who is probably three or four. His father is at war, trying to save a country or two. Anyway, his mother is ill, but that doesn't matter really. They are living in a suberb of Tokyo, and the alarm for air raids goes off. The boy, whose name is Seito, runs to make sure that his mother is taken to the shelter, which she is. He looks after his little sister, but that time there are fire bombs dropping from the sky. He can't get to the shelter, so he runs out of the town and takes his little sister to a cave. They hide there, then head back to the ruin of the town. They find that the shelter was hit, and burned to the ground. They also found that Seito's mother is dead. That leaves a teenager and a three year old to fend for themselves in a world were everything is rationed, and you can't expect to live. Seito and sister move in with an aunt, but she is awful to them, so they move to an abandoned fishing house near a lake. Everything is fine for awhile, because they are selling everything they own for food. When Seito's little sister is as thin as a rail, and Seito is so weak that he can barely stand, Seito resorts to stealing food. He is caught, and taken to a jail, but is let out. Meanwhile, Seito's sister is growing insane. She is so hungry that she is sucking on rocks because she thinks that they are fruit drops. Seito takes her to a doctor, but he can't do anything for her, so Seito steals again. He comes back to the cave one day to find her sucking on a rock. He has some watermelon, but she won't eat. She lies down, and she never wakes again. Seito goes insane. He keeps the body next to him at all times, and still thinks that she is alive, just sleeping. The final push is that he finds out that Japan has lost the war, and that his dad is never coming back. He abandons the cave, and goes to the city. The final scene is of a sweeper in some office building with a floor COVERED with starved dead teenagers, muttering to himself: "here's another one. I can't believe it."

That movie is true, and worse than that, it was common in Japan. Now, I know some of you think that the Japs deserved it, and all that good jazz, but those were innocents. It isn't fair.

So, if you are tired of the boring, everyday, unmeaningfull anime, here's one for you. Another is Vampire Hunter D, though I don't think I'll get into that right now.

[Desert_Eagle25]

Thats some saaadd....sh!t...

[exatreide]

japs had it coming....

bomb pearl harbor will ya.....

[Desert_Eagle25]

Man, Ex, your a a dumbass. For one person's faults, a whole country has to suffer? I was enraged as u were about Pearl harbor and such, but that was their last resort. We Blockaded them, and blocked off ALL incoming resources and trade. We slowly ate at them until they couldn't fight back, and that was their last resort. Yes, you may hate the japanese, but give a viable reason. One person was leading them, not the entire country. The japanese who were int he waar probably only wished for peace. So dont say thousands of innocent people deserved to die. >:(

[exatreide]

actully it was more than the emperor.he was just a pupet ruler

actully a counclil was ruleing over japan and such. He had no real power from 1933 to 1945.

[Desert_Eagle25]

Cool, i learned somethin new. But still aint a viable reason for sayin thousands of innocent ppl deserved to starve and die.

[exatreide]

i ment the bombs.

not the starving part. they had the bombs coming.

[Desert_Eagle25]

What? I say that the decision to bomb the hell out of em was bad...ahh well, i guess we all have our own opinions.

[exatreide]

better bomb them then to let ther war machine function and the war going on for 5 more years. or better bomb them then invading them with ground forces which would resault in the deaths of millions of japanease and american lifes. ::)

[Desert_Eagle25]

Like i said, opinions.

[exatreide]

why would bombing them be bad? help me understand that.

[Desert_Eagle25]

Well, as i said we all have our opinions. My opinion is it did more pain then it should have.

[exatreide]

actully it saved more lives bombing the hell outa japan then it would not to.

millions of nato troops would die in the invasion. Which would be alot longer than it should normaly take becouse of japans war industry could churn out tanks,guns,ships, and planes with out any second thought. if we didnt bomb them it would have killed many more.

That is a fact. not a opinion ;)

If we never bombed japan the planes carying the atom bombs would never make it through the jap anti aircraft and fighter sqauds which would resualt in a costly ground invasion of japan. resualting in the deaths of millions of nato and jap military personal and civies.

another fact.

Not to mention the fact that when japan did surender it was when russia was finaly taking interest in atacking japan. russian forces slaughterd the japs in the manchurien paninsla. if we wouldnt have ended the war when we did and let jap forces continue to slaughter the chinise ect. There would be a comunist north japan. and a capitilst south japan which would probebly have resualted in the korean war in japan.

:)

now how was bombing a bad thing?

[nemafakei]

Ex, I noticed your post and... well...

"millions of nato troops would die in the invasion"

Not millions, and not NATO, either.

"That is a fact. not a opinion"

Neither. It is your judgement.

"If we never bombed japan the planes carying the atom bombs would never make it through the jap anti aircraft and fighter sqauds"

That implies paradox.

"There would be a comunist north japan"

No, a capitalist Manchuria.

"if we didnt bomb them it would have killed many more"

Think not just of deaths but also of pain caused by the radiation, and all the after-effects on those who lived within 50 miles of the bombed cities.

"Not to mention the fact that when japan did surender it was when russia was finaly taking interest in atacking japan. "

So, in fact, you're saying the bombs had nothing to do with it?

"now how was bombing a bad thing?"

Very easily.

[Acriku]

The US wanted to do anything that would cause the less hurt to their country and their allies. It was a war, you don't know anything till you have been in it. Of course I haven't, but I do know it's a whole different world. Sure it wasn't in the best interest of Japan, but they were the enemy, and if bombing them would result in no more killing and the war would come to an end, and would not send millions to their deaths in ground/air assaults, then that's what they rationalized to do. About 100,000 deaths/radiation sickness compared to the possible 1,000,000's seemed right. I'm expressing my views on why the US did it, and IMO it was a strategic decision, but not exactly a morally good one.

[exatreide]

Ex, I noticed your post and... well...

"millions of nato troops would die in the invasion"

Not millions, and not NATO, either.

"That is a fact. not a opinion"

Neither. It is your judgement.

"If we never bombed japan the planes carying the atom bombs would never make it through the jap anti aircraft and fighter sqauds"

That implies paradox.

"There would be a comunist north japan"

No, a capitalist Manchuria.

"if we didnt bomb them it would have killed many more"

Think not just of deaths but also of pain caused by the radiation, and all the after-effects on those who lived within 50 miles of the bombed cities.

"Not to mention the fact that when japan did surender it was when russia was finaly taking interest in atacking japan. "

So, in fact, you're saying the bombs had nothing to do with it?

"now how was bombing a bad thing?"

Very easily.

American troops were not the only ones fighting the japanease nema. Austraila helped quite a bit as did the philopeana troops

And yes millions, i am not talking about the landing i am talking about the march on tokyo ect.

How would there be a captiliist manrchura? Russian forces had already engaged japanease forces in manchura near wars end. if the war had continued they would have pressed them out of korea(north and south) And the japanease mainland itself.

I was trying to say when japan surenderd russian forces were asaulting the japanease forces. not that the russian forces were the reason for the jap surender. they were probebly a small factor in it.

[quoudam72]

Spelling and your sentence structure would help your side of the debate greatly Ex. And I think this is the first time an animation thread went off on a serious topic.

[exatreide]

yes i think it is the first time anything beside flame wars has came out of a anime thread....

[DjCiD]

i think its funny everyone spouting off like they were alive when it took place ::) ;D

when in actuallity most of us werent a twinkle in our daddys eye.... hell even if your father was alive back then mine wasnt born till '47 ;D and im pretty sure i wasnt around back in '41 when it happened... or i was to drunk to remember

[ordos45]

Actually Ex, during recent years reports have been discovered that Hirohito was more than a puppet figure, and directly ordered several of what is now considered atrocities, it was in a "US News and World Report" magazine article.

Thousands to millions of dead versus a few hundred thousand at best, who can say really?

I think the US military didn't realize the potential of the atom bomb fallout. I say this because of the Bikini Atol, where US ships stayed within the fallout zone, and only later did the soldiers show signs of illness. Also, the public was allowed to watch atom bomb tests within fallout area after WW2 was over.

Pearl Harbor was a sad moment, but not completely unnexpected. The Admiral in charge of the Japanese Fleet had been to the US before and had played poker with Yamamoto. They knew if Japan got into the war, he would do something that they should least expect. How little they knew his mind even after expecting what not to expect.