Three films?!

No, it's a TV series from 2003/4, with a film in 2005 to tie up lose ends from the semi-cliffhanger of an ending.

It's also got 3 PlayStation 2 games, which might be what you're thinking of zeden. No idea what they're about, but the story is completed at 51 episodes and a movie, and there's no way there'll be any more of it.


If you guys are liking it at the first few episodes, just wait until the proper story arc kicks off. Brilliant stuff. Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my top 5 favourite anime series, and rightly so: it's brilliant.

I've only seen a bit, so I may be wrong, but is that a circle of tranmutation?

Could have sworn that I read about a second and third film being on the drawing board, maybe its just wishful thinking.

Your right about waiting for the proper story to kick in. I'm up to showing my mate Beezer episode 16/17 and he's loving it. Everytime he says how good it is I just say "wait till it really gets going". I always laugh at him trying to figure out whats going to happen. To guess the ending of the series you'd have to be magic, it's such a shock.

I'm curious now, what are the other 4 anime that hold a special place in your mind then?

I'm getting intrigued by this Full Metal Alchemist thing.

How much do youreckon the entire series and film would cost?

Expensive if your buying the UK dvds. They're of the 4 episode for £20 variety, not value for money by anyones standard. In terms of quality, I dont know what the English dub is like, I've only seen it in Jap with subs. The film isn't out over here, I would doubt that it will get translated to English any time soon, though the series is supposed to be quite popular in the US so you never know.
I still need to get my bloody paypal account sorted so I can get a copy of the film from Japan, that special box set is still calling my name.
It is certainly an anime you should strive to see but I would suggest a look on ebay before getting the UK dvds.

The dub is terrible, as is often the case with 50-episode shows. I think there's going to be a boxset coming soon, which would cost about £100 I'd imagine. Well worth it, but not if you've never seen any I suppose. The only way to get the movie officially at the moment is the Japanese Limited Edition set, which will set you back a mighty £50 (and I've a feeling it's sold out now). So, £150 for the full thing, on official DVDs.


Jubei, if you're on about my avatar (which I can't see anymore so I thought the link was dead), then yes.


zeden, my others would be Mobile Suit Gundam (classing it as 1 thing), Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, (though not in that order - not in any real order actually), and the 5th slot chops and changes around. I don't like listing things in an order I like, because it depends on my mood. But Gundam, FMA, Eva and Bebop will always be the tops for me.

Cool cool. I'm the same, listing my favorite anything is impossible. I like too many different things for different reasons. What I've seen of Gundam was incredibly confusing. I'm interested in it but dont know where to start. Care to advise?


Talk of Bebop reminds me. Chrissy-poo! ( )Have you finished/started it yet? Whats the verdict?

I got the first 2 GTO mangas yesterday. They be top quality. The artwork is great and theres more than enough extra stuff to justify getting them after watching the series.

If you've only seen what's on TV in the UK then it's no wonder you're confused. Gundam has a long and odd history. From 1979 to 1991-ish, all the Gundam series and movies made follow on from each other (more or less), with different characters and locations, but set in the same timeline and events. A bit like how each Macross series/movie is set in the same timeline.

After those stories (called Universal Century) had all ended, Sunrise wanted to make more, so they started making stand-alone shows. These had all the trademark icons of Gundam, but were set entirely apart from Universal Century, and indeed each-other. This is like how many Godzilla films are direct sequels to the original, but have nothing to do with each-other and can't really be followed on from one-another (the 'original' in Gundams case being present-day Earth). The only show shown in the UK is Wing, one of these stand-alone series, and is a far cry from the originals in terms of seriousness and quality. Comparing the 2 is like comparing Band of Brothers with a flashy action film.


I'd recommend getting the original Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy. These are available on DVD in the UK for about £15 each, here is a link to the first one, or you can get a box set in US R1 for £40 (which has only Japanese soundtrack, and that's a good thing as the subtitles are proper Japanese translations rather than just the English dub words written down). In terms of official UK DVDs, the next thing would be Char's Counterattack, but there are 5 series between the 2, so it's not worth getting as yet.

If you don't mind some dated animation, the Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy of movies are a really good watch, especially the later 2. Just don't watch it dubbed - Gundam dubs really are terrible.

Hmmm, I might just wait until I get a propper job.



Ok I'll have a nosey.

@Zeden:I can't seem to get into Bebop. I mean some parts of some episodes are really cool but theres also a lot of shit which seems pointless and many boring parts.
I definetly need to give it more fo a chance,but it certainly didn't capture me with the first episode like FMA,Bleach and others did.Ive only watched 4 episodes so far.

@Gundam:I disagree on your opinion of the FMA dubbing. Perhaps my Fansubs were shit on my Japanese version (of which I have the full set) but the dialogue seemed a lot more interesting in the dub. The acting was fine,but perhaps some of the characters that are introduced later on (ive only seen the first two dubbed) are too cheesy. But Al and Eric's voices were good.

So you're saying this is a good dub? Sure, the lines are technically okay. But they both have stereotypical "I'm a baddie in a cartoon" voices.

Al and Ed's voices are fantastic in the English dub.

Gundam; I don't want to look at that clip in case it ruins any of the story.

Yeah, best to avoid.

I just don't like dubs. In most dubs (including this one), everyone just sounds like Americans putting on silly voices, instead of characters. They're not acting, they're just talking. There are exceptions; the Cowboy Bebop dub is really good, and I even prefer to watch it dubbed because it's such an Americanised show anyway the characters feel more natural speaking English.

But Fullmetal Alchemist and most shows don't need to be dubbed anyway. Just release them on DVD and have people read subtitles. It's cheaper, they'll make just as much money on sales, and it makes it seem like they're treating it with a bit more respect.

Would you want Amélie or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon to be shown on TV dubbed? No. So why dub anime? Shows like Pokemon and so on that are targeted at kids, sure. But FMA and others are meant for late teens-adults, so why can't they just read subtitles?

So I'm very anti-dub, really. Especially when DVDs use dubtitles instead of subitles. That really annoys me. "Amuro, launching" becomes "Gundam, let's do it!", and the subtitles say the latter. Makes me cringe every time I read it... as does "L'il Slugger". Those 2 words are what stops me from buying Paranoia Agent. It's such a great story, but the fact that they changed the antagonists name into such a stupid one just makes me so annoyed. I'll never buy the DVDs of a show I'd get in a heartbeat if it had just been released with a bit of respect.

Dubbing is fine as long as it is done well.

The problem with Subtitles is that with a frenetic show you often miss things,sometimes just an expression or a slight movement or action. Not always but sometimes.

When it comes to Live action movies I wan;t them Subtitled all the time,as the lack of lip synching gives me a headache,as does seeing Bruce Lee being voice acted by some American Douche.

With animation the lip synching generally goes unnoticed anyway so i don't mind dubbing. And with some subtitles they are utter shit.Like they properly don't rlate to what is said in the dub, or as a Japanese friend of mine said,what was said in the original Japanese.

If the Subtitles are good I'll watch it in the original language,but if they lack detail or are poor i'd prefer dubbing.

The Hellsing Dubbing is good,as is the Berserk one.

Ah, back to the good old dubs Vs Subs argument again. In general I think you get more of a feel for a show if you watch it in its native language, although I don't mind dubbing at all. I'm watching FMA dubbed. Also, Cowboy Bebop, as has been mentioned, is a wonderfull dub and takes absolutely nothing from the series. I've even heard someone here say that Ed is better in the english dub than the jap dub, although i've only heard the english.

Also, like monkeyman said, the reason it's popular to dub anime is because it's animated. Dubbing live action looks horrible, but with anime, as long as the length of each sentence fits, dubbing won't look wierd.

(monkeyman, i can't recommend Cowboy Bebop enough, it would also be in my top 5 all time animes)

When I see a badly dubbed live action I cant help but laugh no matter what it is about. The sheer lazyness of some people, that they would rather listen and watch a bad dub instead of actually engaging their brains and reading, is terrible. As you say, seeing Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan et al defiled through dubbing is crap.

I pick the subs almost everytime myself, unless of course they are transcripts of the dubbing. Advent Children is the biggest offender I've come across in recent times. One phrase- "dilly-dally shilly-shally" . Words cannot express my confused rage when I heard Tifa say that. Where the fuck does it come from? Which tit wrote it? The fan sub I first saw was so much better in terms of characterisation and consistency. The dub and subs on the western dvd are a joke. Character voices changed for the sake of putting Scottish accents and utterly pointless rubbish in, lines changed or left out as well as a variety of other offences, Tifa's voice acting in particular.
On the flip side of this you get series like GTO, Trigun and Berzerk which are perfectly done, with great voice acting and very little change to dialogue.
I want to find the casting directors and script editors who fuck up the shows I like and just explain to them why the fucked up and how they could do better, surely they are unaware of how bad some of the stuff they do is when seen from the eyes of a fan.

On the topic of Advent children.They left the line "Your late bitch!" out.
Though I guess that was probably just added for the hell of it and wasn't actually what was said.

@Jubei:I still haven't written it off,just need to take time to watch a couple in a row and really get into it.

FLCL!!

Or Fooly Cooly as it is well known.

5 episodes into FMA now. Doing Alchemy would be too cool. Although, in the first couple of episodes they allude to people being able to do alchemy without a tranmutation circle as special, but after that, going back in time, any and all alchemists seem to have gloves or wristbands with TC's on anyway, so it's kind of besides the point. Just an ickle thing in an otherwise pretty cool set up. The names are cool too. Roy Mustang! Woo!

Yah All should etch a transumation circle into his "armour" so he doesn't need to draw one every time.

Afro Samurai

Mr L Jackson + anime about samurai = wet pants for Chris.

Looks pretty cool going by the trailer.

Currently downloading Get Backers. Details once I've watched some of it.

10 episodes into FMA now, although the rest are trapped on my mp3 player because I keep leaving the cable at work. However I dl'd Gantz and I've started watching that now. Kuroko is one messed up kid, he really needs to get laid. I'm enjoying it immensely so far though. Spring onion dude was a bit bizarre. I think I've watched 7 or 8 so far. They're about to get called back to the Gantz for the second time. Can't wait for some more action to go with all the sexual tension, even it out a bit.

From what I can see of the wallpapers the style looks awesome. The trailer wont start for me,or even become available to click =/

Try looking for it on ign.com, that's where I watched it. Certainly looks to have potential.

Yah i just searched for it and found it

Here if anyone else is interested:http://media.tv.ign.com/media/843/843116/vids_1.html

Stylisticly it looked frikkin awesome and the music there/on the website was cool.
Looks like something I will enjoy a lot.

I recognise the guys name from somewhere as well. The creator. Takashi Okazaki.

A whole episode of the new Guyver series. I've got a great fondness for the original, ultra-violent series so this change to make the program more youth friendly is a bit crap to my eye. Still worth a watch, though it's left me with a strong hankering to watch the originals now.

Looked pretty interesting at least.

Ooh, and I'd sort of lost track of whats happening with Afro samurai. That looks like its going to be so goddamn good.

November it is for Afro Samurai according to my research, in the US at least. Can't find any new footage unfortunately, I'd like to get a better impression of it.

Have you read the manga? I think it's quite hard to get hold of translated now, but it was so, so much better than the OVA series. The story was far more involving and convoluted and some of the designs in it were absolutely mindblowing. Well worth tracking down. Unlike the live action Guyver film starring Mark Hamil.

Unfortunately I've never come across the manga, though your recomendation has given me a hankering to get it.
Guyver: Dark Hero is so very bad isn't it? I watched it with my brother, who is also a fan of the original anime, and we laughed so much. It reeked of cheapness.

I can't see it sucking to be honest. The animation loooks great and Samuel Jackson is the win.
Not to mention I have several friends who read the manga and said it was really mindblowing.

I'll ask my friend about those Guyver Mangas as well. He collects al sorts of obscure releases through P2P programs. He hooked me up with all those Punisher comics I gave you.

AFRO SAMURAI UPDATE!

Episode 1 review.

If someone can figure out how to get the link to the free episode to work outside of the US/Canada I'll do a little dance.

Found it on Youtube split into 3 parts.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=afro+samurai

EDIT: was pretty damn enjoyable.

You're not wrong there. Very cool. I recognise the voice of the guy with the crossbow thing, I'm sure he's done a few different anime. I look forward to seeing it with a decent picture quality, if the $1,000,000 per episode is right then I'm sure the animation will wow me far more than it has, the jerky low rez picture on youtube deminishes the quality somewhat.

An update on something Nitefall (at least I think it was Nitefall!) reported in the Last Movie... thread.

Channel 4 are showing Studio Ghibli films in the morning next week, they are:

Kiki's Delivery Service (Monday, 9.55am)
The Cat Returns (Tuesday, 10.35am)
My Neighbour Totoro (Thursday, 10.20am)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Friday, 9.35am)

Ooh, I havent seen the Cat Returns yet.

Cheers

Finished Trigun for the third time on the weekend. Once again, it was fantastic. It builds from being a goofy comedy action series into an emotionally loaded sci-fi story, raising a few interesting moral questions along the way.

Still loving Cowboy Bebop.
Also getting into Avatar rather heavily.

I really coul dnot get into Cowboy Bebop. I am not suggesting it is shit I just really didn't find myself interested, not even after the first five episodes

I adore Cowboy Bebop. It's also the only anime I choose to watch in English rather than Japanese.

It just has that special something that grips me.

Monkeyman, maybe give the movie a shot, and if you still don't like it just abandon it.

Perhaps I will.

It is such ashame as I can see a lot of good things about it, it just doesn't seem to....click with me if you get what I mean?

Me too. And I second watching the movie first. Initially I found the series to be a bit dissapointing compared to the movie, however the more you get into it, and the bigger a role Ed plays, the better it gets.

Also, I think it's an anime that really works well in Englishg as well. AI actually think it would lose something if you lost the gravelly narratives and had it subbed.

i'll just chip in and say that i absolutely loved 'cowboy bebop'.

i've never watched the english dub, though, as it's not on the dvds that i have. needless to say, being used to the voices in japanese dub, i'm not sure i'd like it...

Maybe. It is incredibly well done though, and all the little comedy bits just seem to work better in English.

Usually I'm all "Must watch anime in Japanese, it's the original language!", but to be honest I've never sat through an entire episode of Bebop in Japanese. Why bother, when the dub is so fantastic?

It really is the best anime dub by a long shot. The Disney dubs of Studio Ghibli are decent too, but most of the time you can tell an anime has been dubbed by the same 5 people who dub everything, and they just put on a different silly voice to make it a different character.

I'm working my way through the first series of Cowboy Bebop, and so far I'd have to say I'm very impressed.

Good stories, stylish characters, plenty of action and a good dollop of humour - I'd recommend it to anyone!

What're peoples thoughts on Love Hina?

I'm halfway through the third episode and I'm quite enjoying it myself.

So, I remember reading some comments about Bleach on here in the past so I thought I'd give it a go as I was bored of Gantz and had nothing else to watch. I downloaded th first series, and was utterly blown away. Although I would like some resolution. I'm 46 episodes in and the story is still unravelling. I'm preparing to download 51 to 70 now although I notice there's about 130 released so far!!! Anyway, I've really enjoyed what I've seen so far.

I know we've had this debate before too, but is it wrong to fancy cartoon characters? Yoruichi? Inoue? Kukaku Shiba? I feel slightly wrong.

Bleach is pretty kick ass. I'm still on episode 70 something after a few months of not watching it, I ought to pick it back up again. Though I do have 7 seasons of Buffy and two of Futurama to watch right now...

I can't say I'm attracted to cartoon characters as such but I guess I do from time to time take an attribute from a character and mentally transpose it onto a mental image of an imaginary real person.

I guess the short answer is no, but I can almost see where you're coming from.

I'll have to give that a watch!