Hey Anime Freaks? Give A Schmoe Some Advice...

[Psychocandy]

Hi folks. I'm a member of I Love Film (a kind of UK equivalent to the US Netflix). The popularity of DVD has seen a resurgent interest in Anime in the UK and never in all the years of VHS were there even a tenth of the number of Anime titles available as there are now thanks to these beautiful shiny discs. At the moment I have all of the following on my queue. What i'm asking is this. How would y'all rate these shows? Are there any shows (available in the UK) that should perhaps take precedence over the ones in my queue? Any advice appreciated.

Rahxephon Vol. 1-7
Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Comlex Vol. 1-5
Gasaraki Vol. 1-8
Serial Experiments Lain Vol. 1-4
Samurai Champloo Vol. 1
Paranoia Agent Vol. 1-2
Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 1-4

I'm going to drown my senses in Anime for the next few months. Looking forward to it.

[X-Nightcrawler]

Not sure which 'volume' is which, so I'll just tell you my thoughts on the series.

Rahxephon Vol. 1-7 - Haven't seen it, but it's supposed to be a great 'replacement' if you liked Evangelion.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Comlex Vol. 1-5 - A kickass heroine, eye-watering animation, fantastic music (LOVE the opening song), bizzare technology I wasn't ver familiar with. Mostly, it's about the action, the rest is just all right.

Gasaraki Vol. 1-8 - Haven't seen it.

Serial Experiments Lain Vol. 1-4 - Bah, it's all right. Pretentious as hell and nowhere near as good as it's rival, "BoogiePop Phantom", but it has a tight plot, a great main character and some interesting philosophy if you can look over the pretentious ramblings.

Samurai Champloo Vol. 1 - Haven't seen it, supposed to be great.

Paranoia Agent Vol. 1-2 - Look above.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 1-4 - Fantastic series, eventhough it starts slow. If the Volumes in the UK are the same as in the US, 1-4 is the not-so-fantastic part of NGE (which would be episodes 1-17). Eventhough you do get episode 9, 15, 16 and 17 which r0x0rz. Trust me when I say it will get much MUCH better.

As for shows I reccomend, check if you can get "BoogiePop Phantom", fantastic if you're into psychological horror. "The Vision of Escaflowne" has been great as far as i've seen (17 episodes). "Wolf's Rain" and "Full Metal Alchemist" are must-sees, eventhough the former's OVAs (the ending) are hard to get and the latter hasn't been completely released (I believe there's been 6 volumes out of 12 out).

[Psychocandy]

Originally posted by X-Nightcrawler
Not sure which 'volume' is which, so I'll just tell you my thoughts on the series.

Rahxephon Vol. 1-7 - Haven't seen it, but it's supposed to be a great 'replacement' if you liked Evangelion.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Comlex Vol. 1-5 - A kickass heroine, eye-watering animation, fantastic music (LOVE the opening song), bizzare technology I wasn't ver familiar with. Mostly, it's about the action, the rest is just all right.

Gasaraki Vol. 1-8 - Haven't seen it.

Serial Experiments Lain Vol. 1-4 - Bah, it's all right. Pretentious as hell and nowhere near as good as it's rival, "BoogiePop Phantom", but it has a tight plot, a great main character and some interesting philosophy if you can look over the pretentious ramblings.

Samurai Champloo Vol. 1 - Haven't seen it, supposed to be great.

Paranoia Agent Vol. 1-2 - Look above.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 1-4 - Fantastic series, eventhough it starts slow. If the Volumes in the UK are the same as in the US, 1-4 is the not-so-fantastic part of NGE (which would be episodes 1-17). Eventhough you do get episode 9, 15, 16 and 17 which r0x0rz. Trust me when I say it will get much MUCH better.

As for shows I reccomend, check if you can get "BoogiePop Phantom", fantastic if you're into psychological horror. "The Vision of Escaflowne" has been great as far as i've seen (17 episodes). "Wolf's Rain" and "Full Metal Alchemist" are must-sees, eventhough the former's OVAs (the ending) are hard to get and the latter hasn't been completely released (I believe there's been 6 volumes out of 12 out).

Cheers. I've added Boogiepop Phantom and Full Metal Alchemist to my queue. I'm not sure that Escaflowne would appeal to me. Wolf's Rain ain't out over here yet (soon though). I'm also planning to revisit on DVD some of the movies that I bought on VHS way back when. Venus Wars, Wicked City, Vampire Hunter D, Fist Of The North Star and the like. There are also some classic flicks i'll be checking out as well. I've yet to see a whole slew of Ghibli movies. Laputa: The Castle In The Sky, Kiki's Delivery Services, Nausicaa And The Valley Of Wind, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko & My Neighbours The Yamadas. So i'll have plenty to keep me busy.

[Dead Halloween]

-Rahxephon Vol. 1-7
I started watching it recently, but I got bored after the first 5 episodes. It resembles a lot to Evangelion from what I've seen. I'll give it another try soon.

-Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Comlex Vol. 1-5
Haven't seen it.

-Gasaraki Vol. 1-8
It seems like the creators had a lot of ideas and tried to put them all together. They tried to make an Evangelion clone, but with Sintoism instead of Christianism and some heavy political drama. The mecha designs are good and so are the battle scenes (the few ones it had).

-Serial Experiments Lain Vol. 1-4
I really liked this series, has some creepy moments and intriguing story. The middle episodes gets very confusing, I still don't get a lot of things.

-Samurai Champloo Vol. 1
If you liked Cowboy Bebop, You'll probably like this too. It's funny and with awesome fighting scenes. The overall plot is kinda slow.

-Paranoia Agent Vol. 1-2
Haven't seen it.

-Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 1-4
What can I say? A classic.

[Psychocandy]

Need a bit more advice. Has anyone seen an Anime called Detonator Orgun? I saw it on sale today and think I recall reading some positive reviews way back. Anyone seen it?

[Cronos]

Originally posted by Psychocandy
Need a bit more advice. Has anyone seen an Anime called Detonator Orgun? I saw it on sale today and think I recall reading some positive reviews way back. Anyone seen it?

ive been wanting to see this for a while but never got round to it, i have read some very positive stuff, but also some very negative


as for any other shows, i found Gungrave to be an excellent series, it has some really goot action scenes but is mainly and very character driven

[blk_flower]

Rahxephon- never seen it but classic gundam is always the best

Ghost In The Shell- this is half excellent and half okay, the tachcomas destoryed the show for me, I thought they were too corny to work.

Gasaraki- never seen it

Serial Experiments Lain- it seems to be popular so I'm assuming there's something to it

Samurai Champloo Vol- annoying characters/ over good animation/ soundtrack isn't as good/ an okay story/ but it has a lot of cool likings of Wantanabe the creator. Of cowboy bebop too.

Paranoia Agent Vol- odd and I couldn't get into it/ it's odd though its from satoshi kon

Neon Genesis Evangelion- entertaining/ great action/ lovable characters and it gets deeper as you watch it not at first but eventually it gets better/ this is probably the best out of anything in your qeue

I'd also add samurai x: trust and betrayel if you haven't so already.

[krazy drako]

Originally posted by Cronos
as for any other shows, i found Gungrave to be an excellent series, it has some really goot action scenes but is mainly and very character driven


Gungrave is defentley an amazing choice. MIght I mention Hellsing too. HIghly entertaining anime with awesome characters, decent story, and pretty groovy music.:D