(no subject)

[timepiececlock]

I had someone on the Adult Swim board today tell me emphatically that Inu Yasha and Ranma 1/2 were shounen anime.

Let's stop and think about this. Now, "shonen" anime means "boy" anime. Intended for young-adult or teen male audiences.

For example, Naruto. Dragonball Z. Anything Gundam.

But IY or Ranma 1/2 ?

Yeah, Ranma had a lot of fighting. And yeah, IY has a good amount of fighting.

And yes, they might be or have been run in a shonen manga magazine (I don't know if they have or not, but it's certainly possible.)

But anyone who thinks that Rumiko Takahashi is writing for boys probably doesn't know very many girls.



Also probably hasn't seen/read very much of either series.

Comments

part 2

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I did enjoy episode 8, because of the believable display of Edward's fear, as opposed to the usual young shonen "I'll beat you down no matter how dangerous you are!!" approach.

I know. My head is always breaking for Ed and Al, because they have so much fear and pain and guilt and grief. And if you got a kick out of that... wait till you get to episode 15. Or episode 22. Or... gah! There's so much to talk about with this show. And it's so sad because they are really only children when the plot begins, just 12 and 11. And any 12 year old in Ed's situation would be terrified.

That's what's really great about FMA. It's very believable...realistic. Not the alchemy part, but just that the characters behave in a very realistic manner for their situations. Ed when he's 12 acts like a real 12 year old. When he's 15 he acts 15, and Al acts 14. And the adults act their age too.

This is a common gripe I have with some anime shows-- having 15 year old kids behave like adults for inexplicable reasons. GW was like that, though I love that show to pieces. :) Thankfully that's another way FMA and Naruto are similar... just when I think Sasuke's acting so unbelievably stoic and mature, he does something to remind me that he's only a boy and not half as in control as he wishes he was.

Cowboy Bebop I thought was okay when I was watching it (I was mostly in it for the music), but I only started to love it once I saw how it ended. I think in many ways CB is superior to typical anime, but I think it fell just short of being the greatest of great (the way FMA and Escaflowne are great) because the flow of its main plotline was not well mixed with the subplots... you had the bounty episodes and then you had the Spike episodes. I still can't decide if I thought it should have been cut back by a few episodes, or a few more episodes added. Thankfully the last three episodes managed to tie most everything together, at least everything really important and were beautifully executed. Also, I admire any show that can kill its hero off in such an old fashioned literary way. Cowboy Bebop is a show I enjoyed retroactively more than when I was watching the bulk of it.

FMA is liscenced now, yes, so a lot of sites don't carry it, or only carry the latest eps. But you can download a pack of episodes 1-40 on www.suprnova.org.

Re: part 2

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ri/]

Thanks for the link! I'll pass it on to my brother and his buddies for download. I'm definitely interested in seeing more FMA.

I pretty much agree with you on everything you said abaout Bebop there; on a side note, I too think Spike had died in that last scene.... only after the credits, the words "You'll have to carry that weight" (in place of the familiar See You Space Cowboy) I find weird, because if he's dead he won't need to carry anything at all anymore... hrm.

By the way, have you ever heard of the anime series "Now and Then, Here and There"? Reading about what you like in anime series', and if you're interested in seeing what is said to be one of the most psychologically heaviest anime ever, well, maybe it could be of interest for you.

Re: part 2

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

only after the credits, the words "You'll have to carry that weight" (in place of the familiar See You Space Cowboy) I find weird, because if he's dead he won't need to carry anything at all anymore... hrm.

dude....Right click, Save As.

And then, go to http://www.spikeisdead.com. And don't cry, laugh.

By the way, have you ever heard of the anime series "Now and Then, Here and There"? Reading about what you like in anime series', and if you're interested in seeing what is said to be one of the most psychologically heaviest anime ever, well, maybe it could be of interest for you.

Heavier than Evangelion? ::raises eyebrows:: What's it about? I've only heard the title before.

Re: part 2

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ri/]

I don't suppose it's purpouse that the URL isn't working? '_'
But at least I know where the quote came from, thanks.

It's difficult to say whether NTHT is heavier than Evangelion, because the angst type is kinda different... there aren't such things as "Internal Angsting Out Loud", but it's still pretty damn heavy.
The main character is this highly optimistic 15 yo boy, who would be an "I'll beat you down no matter what!!" shonen type, but the thing about this is, things don't exactly go the way he wishes them to when he suddenly gets ripped from his homely world of Japan and finds himself again in a strange, new world, which is dominated by war and misery, due to it's lack of water supplies. A Rei-type girl, whom the boy has taken on himself to protect, can control/create water, which is why this dictator (who is arguably the greatest nutcase in anime ever) is eager to get his hands on her.... and as the process of having the water created doesn't go as quickly as it should, everyone seems to blame the boy for their suffering and make him feel for it...
The thing about this series is, that the characters are mostly children. Child soldiers being forced to live in a militant hierarchy and to sacrifice their lives for their fanatical leader. It's very well animated, but not very well known, prolly due to it's lack of commercial value or maybe because it got fansubbed back when downloading anime wasn't as popular as today, so it the word didn't spread much. It's long been licensed and has 13 eps.