Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Anime

What's some quality surrealistic humor from Japan?

jtron — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:32:30 -0800

Recommendations for surreal Japanese humor? Although I've been hep to the anime since Battle of the Planets in '78, there're no anime/manga fans in my peer group to get recommendations from. I dig the brooding minimalism of Gatchaman, and the beauty of Miyazaki, but what's really been floating my boat is the surreal humor of Azumanga Daioh and Cromartie High School (and Junko Mizuno's manga, but not much has made it over here). Is there anything else out there I should check out that's sorta the same flavor*?

Note: this doesn't mean I'm looking for yonkoma, or high school stories, necessarily - the weird laughs are what I'm looking for. Anime or manga OK, and I'm OK with recommendations of stuff that's not commercially available in the US so long as there's a fansub out there somewhere.

*I also like Kure Kure Takora, movies like Funky Forest, Karaoke Terror, and Wild Zero, and DDT Pro Wrestling, if that gives you more of an idea of my wavelength

Who can predict moves and lost?

kaozity — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:45:57 -0800

Silly Request. Can you moments in anime series where an opponent is able to see/predict the moves of the enemy, but is too slow to do anything about it? I wish I had more information than that. It is a faine memory and it is bothering me enough to post this. I remember the "hero" was fighting someone and the enemy boasted that he can predict any move the hero will make. In the end, he was able to predict the moves, but still got beaten up because he was too slow to do anything. I also *think* i remember it being a very trivial and comical fight.

Anyone remember a situation and a popular anime/manga?

I want to give off a vibe of 'anime' without being a particular character.

jacalata — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:23:57 -0800

[AnimeCostumeFilter] What are some elements that could make up a 'generic anime costume'? The main plan is crazy blue spiked anime hair, with halloween as an excuse (suggestions on how to accomplish this aspect welcome). But I can't think of any particular anime characters with blue hair I want to dress as, so I was thinking 'generic anime figure'. My main requirement is that the costume doesn't go anywhere near 'school uniform' or 'cleavage/slutty' themes, and apparently that is cutting out all the ideas the google is giving me. (I'm going to have the hair, so I want to be able to wear the outfit to work, where normal dress is jeans and tshirt but some people will be in costume for the day).
me: 24, female, needs long sleeves and pants for warmth, blue eyes, wear contacts but could put on glasses if it fitted in. I would like it to be recognisably 'a costume' not just look like 'what those crazy kids wear these days', but it's going to be DIY.

Ideas so far
- really bright colours? I have shiny blue trousers and a bright orange gaming tshirt.
- karate style outfit? I'm sure someone I know has one.
- particular logos/symbols/details I can add that people would associate with anime?
- is it possible to do the eye makeup without looking as weird as all the photos of people trying it on the net?

AniPod?

Oktober — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:29:15 -0800

I have a substantial amount of anime that I'd like to watch, but a less-than-perfect system for doing it. Pretty much all of it is in .mkv files (h.264 video and AAC audio) with subtitles, and I'd like to transcode them to a format that's playable on either my iPhone or my PS3 with subtitles intact. I've tried both handbrake and VLC, and I either get 1) no subtitles in handbrake or 2) encoder errors in VLC. So, hive mind, what am I doing wrong here?

Help Me Waste Time with Japanese Cartoons, Please!

joelhunt — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:04:44 -0800

I'm trying to find the name of an anime series I read about on Ain't It Cool News earlier this year. Help! Here's what I remember from the opening sequence:

-pretty jazzy theme song (Cowboy Bebop-ish?)
-tons of characters, often in pairs
-it was set maybe in the early 20th century (fictionalized, of course)
-there was a pair of gamblers, and a pair of thieves
-it was set (at least partially) on a train
-it was reviewed on AICN Anime in the past year or so

So, yeah, based on that I have been unable to successfully Google it. Can anyone assist?

Give Me Anime-Induced Nightmares Again

spamguy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:10:35 -0800

Help me identify a anime from my childhood about a superhero alien with boob death lasers. Everyone had 'that' childhood friend whose mom let him get away with everything. In my case, I went over to his house, stayed up crazy late, ate ice cream, and watched a truly fucked up anime series. I couldn't sleep that night. Help me reproduce this memory.

All I remember is a vague plot. The main character is a normal dude who goes to school. He encounters the crash landing of a mysterious object, which turns out to be a tentacle monster. It attacks him, and somehow he turns into an alien with super powers. He fights crime and monsters and stuff. His coup de grace in every episode is his chest (which my friend and I endearingly called 'boob missiles'), which opens up where boobs normally go to fire death lasers.

God, I love Japan. I have to see this again!

What anime did I watch as a child?

doctor.dan — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:56:54 -0800

Some time around 1992-1995 I watched a japanese cartoon on German TV that I'm trying to hunt down again. I can't remember what its called, or all that much about it, so it's been somewhat impossible to hunt it down. I remember that it centred around a girl who is not human in some way (either by being an alien or artificially created or supernatural or something like that). She has some magical blue crystal/gem that the bad guys want and are prepared to fight for. The thing with the blue crystal is that it is very powerful in some way, but if a normal human were to touch it, they turn to salt.

I don't remember much of the actual plot, but one thing I remember is that one of the bad guys gets the crystal, at which point he figures out that he's a stock-standard human (as opposed to whatever the protagonist is) and turns into salt. The only other thing I remember is that in the prologue it is revealed that some of the good guys (the protagonist and her friends) get married.

Anyone have any ideas what this show might have been?

When did Kakashi get his eye?

milqman — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:40:57 -0800

NarutoFilter: Please help me confirm what I thought I saw. The recent (in the anime) depiction of Kakashi's acquisition of Obito's eye goes against what I recall seeing earlier in the show. In Kakashi Gaiden (the most recent double episode) they showed the circumstances leading up to Kakashi receiving the Uchiha Sharingan eye. I recall, in an earlier episode (perhaps a _much_ earlier episode), that they already did a flashback to where he acquired the eye and both Kakashi and Obito were both much older than the gaiden story might suggest.

What I recall is a scene in a field (probably with trees nearby) where Obito (though I don't think you know his name at this point) had fallen, and Kakashi was in the process of retreating from some enemy. They spoke briefly, and then the viewer makes the assumption that the transfer took place at that point. There a lot of flashback in the Naruto universe, and this one might require hundreds of hours of my time to find. Does anybody remember this? Can you point me to episode numbers?

The thing is that both Kakashi and Obito were full grown at this point. I have a bet with a buddy, and I need the filter to help me!

Who is this mystery image from?

Mr.Encyclopedia — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:07:43 -0800

Please help me identify this anime-esque image. I'm fairly certain it's not from any anime I've ever heard of, plus it doesn't really strike me as being from an anime. If I had to guess, I'd attribute it to an online artist somewhere.

I found the image quite a while ago on Stumbleupon, hosted on an image hosting site with no context whatsoever. Recently I pulled it out and made a wallpaper out of it, and I'd like to be able to attribute the image to the original artist.

If anyone recognizes the artist, or could provide a lead better than "go check deviantart" I'd appreciate it.

What is this cartoon from my childhood?

doublehappy — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:48:25 -0800

This has been driving me crazy, and I'm obviously a weaker google user than I thought. I used to watch a cartoon on Saturday mornings and I have no idea what it was, or even if it was real. My recollection is hazy and may incorporate any number of other childhood memories and red herring elements, but I'm hoping someone can help me out! [I'm going italicize any element I'm unsure about - i.e. those elements that my memory may have fabricated.]

Each episode was about a race between groups of 2 animals/people. The races may also have been rescue missions of some sort.

The races were monitored by a boss type character at hq. The boss type character had scouts that would report the progress of each team back to him. The progress was recorded on a map (each team had a statue on the map and would be knocked over if they were out of the race).

There were malevolent crows that may or may not have been competing as well. They set up traps and sabotaged other teams. There is also a chance that the crows were not malevolent at all, and were in fact the scouts mentioned earlier.

In my memory, the animation is similar to Samurai Pizza Cats

Usually a different team won each episode, as they each had unique strengths and weaknesses.

Please don't suggest Wacky Races/Racers. The animation was less sparse, and the characters very different, and I hesitate to say there were no vehicles, but I don't think there were vehicles.

Please help! I realise that I haven't given much information - but I am almost sure this show existed in real life and someone must have seen it! (I was born in 86, so I imagine I watched it sometime between 91 and 99, but I grew up in New Zealand, where television was aired sometimes years later than in the US for example.

Thanks!

Where is Morestuff?

Nonce — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:41:52 -0800

Point me towards realistic, gentle, lightly comedic, probably viewed as boring to some, human relationship oriented anime. For some reason I consistently return to Here Is Greenwood as a fabulously guilty pleasure. I think it's targeted toward adolescent girls or something, and as neither of those, that's kind of surprising. But I'll take what I can get.

What other anime is there that is along the same vein? No mechas or goddesses popping out of TV or whatnot, please. No Ranma 1/2. Magic/other impossibilities are not entirely verboten, but they should be minimal I think. The older the characters the better.

Random related recommendations of any sort may be interesting as well.

What is this robot-girl-filled anime?

cheesegrater — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:20:19 -0800

Can you help me identify this anime? I only saw maybe ten minutes of it, more than a decade ago, and I can't figure out what it was. The main characters seemed to be a boy and an older girl. Here are the details I can remember:

-They were heading somewhere on a train whose dining car was staffed by robot girls.
-They stopped somewhere to speak to yet another robot girl, who showed them the frozen or sleeping body of a beautiful woman--she may have had her brain transferred to this robot to preserve her beauty. This scene may have taken place on a frozen lake or a similar large, open space with a glassy floor.
-At one point the boy was frightened or possibly hurt, and the girl hugged him, and he told her his memories of how when he was little his mother would hold him when he was frightened.

Thanks for any ideas!

Help me find even more anime to watch!

Citrus — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:12:18 -0800

What anime series are still out there that I haven't seen yet? (I already tried everything that's been recommended here before.) I've been flying through serialized anime vie my iPod as a way to make my train commute suck less. It's starting to look like I'm going to run out of series soon, though.

So, having already gone through all the previously existing AMF questions on Anime recommendations, I'm looking for more shows that I haven't seen. Anyone got any good ones? I'll try anything that isn't total Shoujou I-can't-believe-he's-got-a-crush-on-me stuff. In particular, if there's something really recent (or, even current) that I haven't watched, I'll give it a try. Thanks, everybody!

[p.s. I'm already current on Bleach and 07 Ghost, and I actually don't care much for Naruto. (Which is a shame, because they've made a ridiculous number of episodes.)]

Nerd Alert in the PDX!

phredgreen — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:05:38 -0800

I've read all about where to eat, drink, club, stay, and chill in Portland - now I wanna get my geek on! The missus and I are driving out to the PDX next week as a scouting mission for an eventual move sometime in 2010. We'll be checking out places to live, local attractions, and some of the nifty places to eat and drink, but what I'll really need in my new hometown are places where I can fly my nerd flag.

I've read a bit about Ground Kontrol and Backspace, and they're already on my to-do list. What I really don't know much about are the best comic shops, the gamer stores that do board games and MTG nights, the anime shops that have screenings and sell the coolest new figures and other otaku goodies. I want the places that feed my geek need and that will make me excited for my move.

What are your favourite spots in the Portland area for geek culture?

All done with Azumanga Daioh and jonesing...?

St. Alia of the Bunnies — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:56:40 -0800

I know next to nothing about anime or manga. I do know, however, how much I enjoyed Azumanga Daioh. What else is out there that I might like?

What is striped timeline time travel?

es_de_bah — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:53:06 -0800

What is the "striped time line" theory of time travel? My coworker keeps talking about it and can't quite catch it. It is apparently explored in one of the Dragonball series, but I can't find anything about it online. This is, of course, flabbergasting because, well, Anime + time travel /= Google paydirt?!?!?! Anyone got the skinny? I like to think of myself as pretty geek-friendly (ok, so I'm a geek), and I like time travel logistics problems, but I don't know what the hell my co-worker is talking about.

Anime and Japanese Folklore

RubyDoom — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:40:37 -0800

Are these anime characters rooted in Japanese folklore? I've recently been watching an anime series named Hell Girl. I've noticed that there are some striking similarities in some of characters in this series to another series that I've seen called Requiem from the Darkness. The characters Mataichi, Ogin, and Nagamimi from Requim are all too similar to Ai's companions Wanyūdō, Ren Ichimoku, and Hone Onna in Hell Girl. I figure since both series have similar themes and symbolism that these characters have to related to some sort of folklore in Japan. So any explanations or stories that anyone knows of would be most helpful.

Exploring Japanese Film

keith0718 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:10:06 -0800

What are some of the best web & print resources to aid my exploration of Japanese film? Besides resources that go into depth, I'd like some quick overviews. I'd especially like to find a statistical breakdown of films by highest-gross, awards, critical acclaim, etc.

While you're at it, feel free to recommend your favorite Japanese films (anime included). (Kurosawa & Miyazaki are givens.)

Oh cool-watched astronaut, what were you!?

losvedir — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:52:42 -0800

animated movie or cartoon filter: 15-20 years old, astronaut, had a cool watch, maybe some anime stylings. I just finished watching an episode of SpeedRacer and something about it teased out ever-so-fleeting memories of a VHS tape I used to watch over and over as a little kid. I'd love to try to track it down again and watch it for nostalgia's sake, but am at a loss as to what it could possibly be. Help?

It was definitely animated, though I'm not sure if it was episodes that we taped, or a movie. It featured an astronaut who flew around in a spaceship. I think he was white, but I have a vague idea of orange -- maybe his spacesuit or uniform. He may have had somewhat pale orange tights. I remember he had a neat watch. I think at one point he used it to hypnotize someone by making him look at the watch and follow this light that spun around in circles. I think there were others in his spaceship, though they may have been robots.

Sadly that's all I can remember right now. Anyone have any guesses?

Looking for romaji script for Totoro

snarfois — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:53:17 -0800

Where can I find a rōmaji script for My Neighbour Totoro? (Slightly different question from last time.) My toddler is addicted to My Neighbour Totoro, so we watch it (at least partially) several times a week. I don't mind, since I don't get tired of it, but it would be nice to use the opportunity to get more familiar with Japanese (we watch it subtitled). Basically, I'd like to have a printout of the script in rōmaji (Japanese in Latin alphabet).

Searching the web, I've only been able to find this for the opening and closing songs.

Request for Suspenseful Anime

I Foody — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:32:55 -0800

With very few exceptions I have never really liked anime. Recently I watched Death Note on hulu and got a huge kick out of it. I'd like to watch some more anime that isn't about people who are awesome at fighting fighting other people who are awesome at fighting and is generally suspenseful and tightly serialized. I have also have penchant for works of art with convoluted stories, bizarre premises, and strange narrative conceits. So Death Note, despite some pretty serious flaws, was almost exactly up my alley. Any recommendations?

What do the numbers in this manga refer to?

mumblelard — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:55:56 -0800

In the manga Black & White (Tekkon Kinkreet) by Taiyo Matsumoto what is the significance of the "96" shirt worn by Black and the "46" shirt worn by White? Black's shirt says Love on the front and White's shirt says Peace on the front. The characters are frequently associated with these numbers in promotional materials and toys. The "96" on Black's shirt is even depicted in a highly stylized script that resembles some sort of calligraphic character. Are these numbers some weird pun visual or otherwise? Do these shirts exist in the real world or are they a recognizable reference to some Japanese shirts?

Which Akira should I buy?

phaded — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:08:39 -0800

Which version of Akira should I buy on DVD? I've been looking to get Akira on DVD for quite some time, but there are a few different versions floating around that I've seen, so I'm wondering if someone who knows more about anime than I do can help me decide.

There's the DTS version, the special edition, and the Geneon Signature Series edtion, which I've also seen a deluxe edition of.

Does anyone know which one I should grab? I'm hoping it's either the DTS or the Geneon, as I found a site that's closing both of those out for $5 a piece.

Squirtle? Bulbasaur.

ignignokt — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:00:41 -0800

Was there a falling out between Squirtle and Bulbasaur? So, this is stupid, yet I have to know. I've watched this strangely compelling clip a few times, and in it, Squirtle is resigning from the Pokemon team. The drama is ratcheted up while he's saying goodbye to his co-workers. Bulbasaur is hesitates to wish him well, unlike the rest of the team. He decides to shake Squirtle's hand anyway but looks disdainful as he does so. Or possibly forgiving?

Does anyone know what happened between these guys?

Googling the web in general and searching Bulbapedia is not bearing any fruit. Unfortunately, I've seen a few other episodes of Pokemon, and the quality is kind of not bearable. So, I'd rather not watch a hundred episodes to find out what the beef is. If someone just told me what was up, it'd be Super Effective!

Name that anime!

olinerd — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:10:33 -0800

My friend is looking to find the title of a 1980s era anime she loved. Can anyone help? From my friend: "In or around 1988, I watched a cartoon (anime) that still stays with me to this day. The main characters included really cute kittens who traveled all over the place.. maybe in between worlds. At one point they we are in a basket floating down a river. At the end of the movie, they travel through a rose thorn path to get to a dark prince character. I think one of the kittens turns into a girl. Does anyone know what I am talking about?"