# Recommend me some Japanese animated films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550 "2008-03-08T01:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/21 "2008-03-08T23:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] **koeeoaddi** –give us some feedback. [/QUOTE] I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I don’t want to overload, but I am going to watch as many of the ones recommend here as I can find and hopefully more. So far I have the following on order both at Amazon and my library (which has more than I dreamed it would): Whisper of the Heart Princess Mononoke Castle in the Sky Porco Rosso The Castle of Cagliostro Kare Kano Grave of Fireflies Perfect Blue looks like something I’d really like, but the cheapest copy I can find is almost $50, so that one will have to wait. I bookmarked this thread so I can refer to it when I finish the ones above. Thank you all and if you can think of any others, keep 'em coming! [I want to move to animated Japan. :)] ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/22 "2008-03-09T00:05:18Z")
\*\*Paprika \*\* has been mentioned a couple of times. I’m not an anime fan, but this was one I was really looking forward to based on reviews and other conversations. But I didn’t care about any of the characters. Oh, the premise was great, but it didn’t develop at all (at not least that I could comprehend). I think I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more if I just watched it with no dialogue or subtitles. Just the animation and the accompanying musical score. This has got to be some of the catchiest movie music I’ve come across in a long while. I played the opening credit sequence over and over and over and ended up ordering the CD off Amazon. I found [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnkvMKl1y9M&feature=related) on YouTube if you are interested. It’s a fan edit sequence set to the music. About 5 minutes. If these visuals capture your imagination, you might want to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/23 "2008-03-09T00:36:24Z")
[QUOTE=divemaster] I found [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnkvMKl1y9M&feature=related) on YouTube if you are interested. It’s a fan edit sequence set to the music. About 5 minutes. If these visuals capture your imagination, you might want to check it out. [/QUOTE] While I thought that the big fantasy parade was well done, it didn’t strike me as being quite as magical as the one in Ghibli’s **Pom Poko**. Of course, that might just be because I’d seen it first. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/24 "2008-03-09T04:12:13Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I don’t want to overload, but I am going to watch as many of the ones recommend here as I can find and hopefully more. So far I have the following on order both at Amazon and my library (which has more than I dreamed it would): Whisper of the Heart Princess Mononoke Castle in the Sky Porco Rosso The Castle of Cagliostro Kare Kano Grave of Fireflies Perfect Blue looks like something I’d really like, but the cheapest copy I can find is almost $50, so that one will have to wait. I bookmarked this thread so I can refer to it when I finish the ones above. Thank you all and if you can think of any others, keep 'em coming! [I want to move to animated Japan. :)] [/QUOTE] This has been recommended already, but I would definitely add **Nausicaa** to your list. I just saw this, and it’s one fantastic piece of post-apocalyptic fiction. It was released in 1984, and from what I’ve read is essentially the start of the Golden Age of Miyazaki (and Studio Ghibli, though this formed a bit after the film was created). ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/25 "2008-03-09T16:17:17Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] Getting back to the Studio Ghibli films, one not yet mentioned is “Only Yesterday”, which is a charming character study of a young woman and her reminiscences of country life. Subdued, introspective and beautifully animated. Also very highly recommended is the SF TV series, “Cowboy Bebop”, about a rag-tag band of bounty hunters or “Cowboys”. Great action and drama with an awesome jazz-tinged soundtrack by the great Yoko Kanno. [/QUOTE] I recommended “Only Yesterday” in my post, #7 above. And I second “Cowboy Bebop.” ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/26 "2008-03-09T17:13:53Z")
When someone asks the question of the title of the OP, I always recommend (in this case, fourth) Cowboy Bebop. It is hardly the same kind of show as any of those listed in the OP. But its damn good television nonetheless. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/27 "2008-03-09T17:54:32Z")
Metropolis! I can’t recommend this anime enough. It’s kid-friendly (YMMV) but has definite appeal for adults. Plus an amazing soundtrack that doesn’t really mesh with what you would expect from an anime. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/28 "2008-03-09T19:18:07Z")
[QUOTE=freekalette] Metropolis! I can’t recommend this anime enough. It’s kid-friendly (YMMV) but has definite appeal for adults. Plus an amazing soundtrack that doesn’t really mesh with what you would expect from an anime. [/QUOTE] The use of Louis Armstrong’s _Beautiful World_ as counterpoint was devastatingly effective, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/29 "2008-03-09T20:59:11Z")
**Bosda** I don’t remember that song being in there, but it’s been awhile since I watched it. I was thinking more along the lines of Ray Charles’ I Can’t Stop Loving You. S’cuse me, I think I’ve got somethin’ in my eye. _sniffle_ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/30 "2008-03-09T21:32:00Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] When someone asks the question of the title of the OP, I always recommend (in this case, fourth) Cowboy Bebop. It is hardly the same kind of show as any of those listed in the OP. But its damn good television nonetheless. -FrL- [/QUOTE] My library has six “sessions” and a movie. Which should I start with? _Pom Poko, Metropolis!, Only Yesterday_ and _Nausicaa_ are on my ‘order next’ list. Oh, and **divemaster** , that _Paprika_ clip was really fun! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/31 "2008-03-09T21:42:35Z")
[QUOTE=freekalette] **Bosda** I don’t remember that song being in there, but it’s been awhile since I watched it. I was thinking more along the lines of Ray Charles’ I Can’t Stop Loving You. S’cuse me, I think I’ve got somethin’ in my eye. _sniffle_ [/QUOTE] When the Ziggurat is collapsing? That’s when Louis starts. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/32 "2008-03-09T22:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] When the Ziggurat is collapsing? That’s when Louis starts. [/QUOTE] That’s the scene I meant, but my version has Ray Charles. Is yours a special edition or something? (Damn if there’s more than one version I need to get my hands on it, that’s my favorite anime!) ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/33 "2008-03-09T22:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] My library has six “sessions” and a movie. Which should I start [/QUOTE] Session 1 thru 6 is the TV series. Start at 1 and go in numerical order. The movie was made after the TV show but it takes place some time before the events of the final TV episodes. It is self-contained and could be watched on its own, but I recommend watching the series first. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/34 "2008-03-09T22:52:31Z")
[QUOTE=freekalette] That’s the scene I meant, but my version has Ray Charles. Is yours a special edition or something? (Damn if there’s more than one version I need to get my hands on it, that’s my favorite anime!) [/QUOTE] Ray Charles on my edition, too. I wonder if **Bosda** is mis-remembering? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/35 "2008-03-09T23:02:08Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] Ray Charles on my edition, too. I wonder if **Bosda** is mis-remembering? [/QUOTE] My memory **has** been getting worse & worse lately. Still, I went out & bought a CD, by Armstrong, explicitly because of that one song. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550/36 "2008-03-09T23:14:51Z")
That’s it, **Bosda** , we’re yankin’ your card!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-japanese-animated-films/440550.md?page=1)