come talk to me about anime and manga?

[athenejen]

Events have conspired to get me on a bit of an anime and manga kick at the moment. The last time I watched anime with anything even close to approaching regularity was college -- which qualifies as long, long ago, at this point -- and even that was pretty sporadic and mostly based on what my friends felt like making me watch. It turns out, some

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[desireearmfeldt]

I watched Revolutionary Girl Utena back in the day -- I enjoyed it but it does get....weird towards the end. I think someone told me the manga makes more sense, maybe? (There's a movie; it pretty much dives off the cliff of surreal, sort of like 2001, from what I remember. :) )

[athenejen]

Good to know! I had been planning to check out the manga anyway -- they're putting out a new box set of it next February, and I often like reading the manga of something even more than watching the anime. It's nice to be able to go at my own pace, and there's usually little added details and scenes. But if the Utena manga and anime diverge more than most, then that should be especially interesting.

[desireearmfeldt]

I think they might diverge a lot but I haven't actually read the manga -- going on a memory of a long-ago conversation with someone who had. :)

[elsane]

WELL you just name checked the two manga series I actually love enough to buy, Hikaru no go and Saiyuki SO if you want to talk about them, please! I am here for discussion (...if very intermittently, I admit -- I don't think I have told you The Big News that is making me even more scatterbrained and overtasked than usual) Big caveat, though, I have extremely limited tolerance for the animated versions and I more or less only read the manga for these.

I have heard amazing things about Full Metal Alchemist too and one of these days I will actually read it!

[athenejen]

The reason I picked up Hikaru no Go was remembering that you'd mentioned it! And I also remember you wanting to discuss Saiyuki Gaiden specifically, so hopefully I'll manage to keep this momentum long enough to get there. :)

I've heard good things about FMA as well. It's a bit daunting at 27 volumes of manga, though. Maybe someday!

So far I've just read the first three volumes of Hikaru no Go, but I'm planning on acquiring the rest as soon as I get the chance. I'm really enjoying it!

It's been interesting going back and re-reading the early volumes of Saiyuki. I'd forgotten so much about the actual plot, but the characters themselves are just as I'd remembered them. Pleasing.

[rachelmanija]

Samurai Champloo! Hip-hop meets Japanese history. Hard to describe, funny and heartbreaking, wonderful characters, like nothing I've ever seen before or since. One of my very favorite animes, with an incredible soundtrack. Also, short (13 episodes.)

Mushishi. Absolutely beautiful in every way: visually, emotionally, musically. Incredibly atmospheric anime about a man who is basically a traveling naturalist of odd, magical creatures, sometimes intelligent, sometimes not. Ecological fantasy, also like nothing I've ever seen before or since. Somewhat standalone but best watched in order. 13 episodes in the first season. I haven't seen the second yet.

Princess Tutu. Revisionist, metafictional fairy-tale about a duck who becomes a girl, ballet, and the power of story. The first season is a marvelous, funny, weird fairy-tale; the second is about fairy-tales, and both deconstructs and continues the first. Two 13-episode series, I think.

[athenejen]

Okay, those all sound amazing. Thank you for the recs! :D

[soul_cake_duck]

Seconding the Samurai Champloo rec! A friend got me onto it ages ago and I still love it. The other classic I always heard about was Cowboy Beebop (jazz soundtrack!) but for some reason I never really got into it.

[athenejen]

You know, I gave Cowboy Beebop a shot back in the day because several of my friends liked it and it combines a number of things I like (noir, bounty hunters, music, spaceship crews, existentialism) but somehow it never hooked me. I think I only watched one or two episodes, though, so I always thought I'd give it another chance. But maybe I'll try Samurai Champloo first. :)