Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

animationobsessive.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 236 posts

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#51

Post by ojhughes »

YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #46
nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

All these people giving recs are doing it wrong. You can determine if an anime is worth your time by merely looking at the title and what the source material is and the following simple system: Candidates start with 5 points. If they have a positive score after applying the system, they're at least worth checking out (although they will not necessarily be good). If not, you are likely wasting your time. 1) Every word…

I really enjoyed "Re:ZERO - Starting Life in Another World" despite it scoring -11.5 using your system (Isekai translates to another world)

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#52

Post by ogurechny »

nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

> What am I missing?

Everything that is not in “Studio Ghibli” wide angle fairy tale style? A number of external films have imitated it, some of them better than the other.

As a side note, “Studio Ghibli” is also not at all equal to “Hayao Miyazaki”.

Say, “Madoka Magica” is certainly large scale, but in totally different style. “Denno Coil” and “Eizouken” has that sense of adventure you can't really describe. And “Drifting Home” is magical, nostalgic, and colourful in its own manner.

I you need some “respected opinion”, here's a list:

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/lists/50-key-anime-fi...

It's… okay. Everyone — for a certain definition of attentive viewers — knows most of those.

It is not wise to limit yourself to movies. As mentioned, animated movie is a big investment that can flop at once, while series can be steered somehow in a different production/financing direction, or can become a good merchandise source. Therefore, a lot of movies are more or less straightforward derivatives of existing hit works which rely on the fan crowd. Those make money for more experimental original works.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#53

Post by photochemsyn »

GITS is highly relevant today, but I can understand why the Hollywood remake gutted the original story, because GITS is a highly subversive work that directly attacks the authoritarian state's bureaucratic power structure. It's also the story of the transformation of a loyal servant of one of the state agencies, Major Kusangi, into an independent rogue agent who abandons that power structure in alliance with some form of synthetic intelligence, Project 2501.

What sets it apart from similar rogue spy stories is the heavy emphasis on philosophical concepts - the Ship of Theseus in the context of a cyborg human whose every part has been replaced over time, the nature of self and other in the context of the merger of the Major's identity with that of P2501, the point at which obedience to the authoritarian state is abandoned and the rationale for that choice - all notions that make established power structures uneasy, and which accounts for the atrocious garbled plot line of the Hollywood remake.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#54

Post by bpiche »

nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

Browse some ranked lists (series and OVAs) over at MyAnimeList.net. Tons of good stuff out there. Though, things were better in the old days. No arguing that.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#55

Post by kagakuninja »

rekabis wrote: post #35

The author fails in their understanding of Animé’s history in North America. While certain series such as The White Lion, Astroboy, Space Battleship Yamato (marketed over here as Starblazors) and Captain Harlock did see airtime first, it was Robotech - the Harmony Gold Frankenstein of three completely unrelated Animé series - that kicked off the process in 1984. It was Robotech that threw rocket fuel onto the burning…

As a member of the underground anime scene, starting in the late 70s, I have a different perspective.

Harmony Gold did nothing to actually promote anime, beyond hyping their own products. Robotech was the English translated anime that happened to be on air in the US when the necessary conditions for the anime explosion were in place.

Those conditions were:

Affordable VCRs (in the 70s, they cost as much as a small car).

The Usenet / internet (for coordinating, sharing information, and creating tape sharing networks).

Low cost computer video platforms for subtitling (e.g. Amiga + Video Toaster).

In terms of popularity, people forget that Speed Racer, Kimba, etc were broadcast on network television, and had far more impact on popular culture than Robotech, which was syndicated.

Captain Harlock ironically what got me interested in anime in the late '70s. It was not widely broadcast in the continental US, until Harmony Gold's despicable hack job which came after Robotech.

One source of subtitled anime in the 70s was from Hawaii, which has a significant Japanese population. But to get that required having contacts with one of those very expensive VCRs.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#56

Post by msp26 »

YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #46
nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

All these people giving recs are doing it wrong. You can determine if an anime is worth your time by merely looking at the title and what the source material is and the following simple system: Candidates start with 5 points. If they have a positive score after applying the system, they're at least worth checking out (although they will not necessarily be good). If not, you are likely wasting your time. 1) Every word…

Petty much yeah. Agreed on historical anime/manga generally being higher quality by default. The research required tends to filter hack authors.

Have you read Magus of the Library?

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#57

Post by sterlind »

YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #46
nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

All these people giving recs are doing it wrong. You can determine if an anime is worth your time by merely looking at the title and what the source material is and the following simple system: Candidates start with 5 points. If they have a positive score after applying the system, they're at least worth checking out (although they will not necessarily be good). If not, you are likely wasting your time. 1) Every word…

I'm amused that Hetalia: Axis Powers gets the highest possible score.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#58

Post by livueta »

nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

If we're specifically talking stuff from the last few years, and if shows count, I gotta put in a word for ODDTAXI. Feels like a mashup of the best parts of Yuasa Masaaki and Kon Satoshi works.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#59

Post by spacechild1 »

mauvia wrote: post #31
nanna wrote: post #4

I feel like I haven't seen an anime in years that's been in the same league as Akira or the great Miyazakis (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Totoro). Yes i'd be brutal and include Miyazakis following works in that list, from Howls Moving Castle to The Boy and the Heron. Ive seen lots of incredible animation, sure, but nothing like the cinematic depth. What am I missing? What should an old fart who's becoming convin…

Have you tried any of Satoshi Kon's movies? Tokyo Godfathers is an amazing and deeply human christmas comedy about homeless people in the Tokyo streets, filled with magical moments of cinematography. Paprika is a less lighthearted story about inner lives, dreams and ambitions set across a sci fi backdrop where people are learning to enter each other's dreams and link them together. It has gorgeous dreamscapes and an…

I was just about to recommend Satoshi Kon! Unfortunately, he only directed four movies before he died of cancer at the age of 47. What a tragic loss!

I also enjoyed "Your Name".

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#60

Post by satvikpendem »

maxglute wrote: post #47
Shinchy wrote: post #34

I'm not sure what others are saying, I re-watched Ghost in the Shell again recently and I had forgotten just how brilliant it is. There is something pure about it that you just don't find in modern anime, something that really resonated.

Every part of GiS has been, per article "endlessly ripped off, referenced and remixed". Whatever one liked about original GiS, there's a derivation out there that turns dial to 11 and makes the original feel basic in retrospect. But that's testimony to GiS greatness.

There is a common trope about this very effect: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnceOriginalNowC...
Post reply on HN