...and where better to express my anger than the internet? Well alright, aside from the having expressed it for a good half an hour in the house already. Ventation explanation will be forthcoming after some backstory.
We have been watching filums. Lots of lovely filums, as usual. Perhaps the easiest to deal with is Millenium Actress. I've wanted to watch this for a while but hadn't got round to it. However, it is quite wonderful. The animation is spot on, and I love the way they present the story: a bit convoluted, but purposely so. The characters are likeable (where they should be) and the designs give a wonderful feel of what Japan has been through in the past 100 or so years. So thumbs up, particularly if you like your anime very Japan-centric.
Next on the film line-up, Ghost in the Shell. Now, I've not really made much of a secret of the fact that I adore Stand Alone Complex, but I'd never bothered watching the film because it fell into my "far too hyped" category. I've just not wanted to see it for the admittedly snobbish reason that it always seems to be the only film anime newbies have seen and tends to be idolised out of all proportion. >_<
However if this had been the first anime film I'd ever seen, I have no doubt I'd feel the same way. It *is* good. ^__^ As far as I'm concerned, the animation holds up exceptionally well for a ten-year-old film and presents an incredibly enjoyable mix of action sequences and beautiful scenery shots. I love the way Tokyo is shown in the film, it's certainly distinct compared to other areas of the Ghost in the Shell series. Most of the action takes place in very Chinese-influenced suburbs, complete with fantastic animation of the masses of people and advertising everywhere. And y'know...I could go on about how much I love the characters but that's not exactly news to anyone.
In typical Shirow style, it does delve quite heavily into the "graphic violence and nudity" bag a few times, but to a certain extent, if you're going to design a series with a character like Motoko in, sooner or later the laws of anime say she's going to get naked. o_0
Which leads me to my next article of business, Ghost in the Shell 2 : Innocence Batou the Movie. It's not that I don't like Batou or anything but YOU DIDN'T SEE MOTOKO IN IT ONCE!! >_< The first Ghost in the Shell film is to fanservice what this film is to gritty futuristic detective stories. Which is fair enough, apart from the fact that I LIKE MOTOKO!! >_< Continuity with first film blah blah blah artistic integrity further than naked android women blah blah blah. With animation as utterly sublime as they have in that film they could have at least had a Motoko flashback. *cries* She's so cool. >_<
But aside from my rabid Motoko fangirlism, Innocence is a good film. The animation is absolutely stunning and the storyline is interesting enough, if filled with the usual horde of philosophical quotage. But hey, Ghost in the Shell does it a darn sight better than The Matrix. :p Which reminds me, I have a vague memory attached to Ghost in the Shell of someone from animesoc wondering where the more significant quote they use in the film comes from because they'd mangled it in the English dub. 's 1 Corinthians 13, the ever-so-slightly overused quotation about the difference between what once can see now and after death. ^__^ So there you go, that's something interesting for you.
Anyway, in summary, films good. Films would be better with more Motoko in, but never mind.
Going to eat things now.
Posted by Katyjag at January 17, 2005 1:45 PM