Sci-Fi Animes

[calvin]

are there any STV users who enjoy Gundam, Ghost in the Shell, or any other sci-fi animes? i doubt there are any anime fans here, but i thought i'd ask anyway.

if you're not familiar with japanese anime, there're a lot of great sci-fi animes out there. if you live in the U.S. then you've probably only seen the stereotypical stuff that's geared towards kids (pokemon, dragon ball z, etc.), but they don't represent the huge range of higher quality animes in japan, the vast majority of which are actually geared towards adults.

anyone interested in cyberbunk in general should check out Ghost in the Shell, which deals with themes of human consciousness and the sociological implications of a cyborg society, particularly one in which everyone is directly hooked into "the net" via brain implants. the movies, in addition to being dubbed better, are also very well-animated and explore interesting philosophical issues as well as showcasing some intense action sequences.

another powerful anime film is Akira, which is set in a post-World-War-III neo-Tokyo. the whole movie is a massive mind-trip, and it's considered one of the most influential works of anime ever made. i won't even attempt to describe the plot as no synopsis could ever do it justice. i'll just say that it has a little to do with bio-engineering, human-mutation/evolution, and crazy telekinetic children.

lastly, the Gundam franchise is one of the most well-known and longest-running series in anime history. it is credited with popularizing the "Real Robot" genre. basically, before Gundam all robot-themed animes fell into the "Super Robot" genre, in which the robots were considered superheroes with fantastical powers--much like similar american children's cartoons.

Gundam was the first series that took a serious or realistic approach to the robot/mecha genre. in Gundam, the mecha suits are merely vehicles or tools used by the human characters to accomplish their objectives. they weren't anthropomorphized or given miraculous qualities. they were simply machines that were designed for combat. this really opened the door for hard science fiction in the field of anime. for instance, the space colonies in the series are generally of the O'Neil cylinder design--a real space habitat design proposed by Princeton University physicist Gerard K. O'Neill.

Gundam storylines deal with political conflicts, human nature, and employ realistic story mechanics. the protagonist/antagonist isn't always clear, either. unlike most cartoons, the conflicts in Gundam stories usually deal in shades of gray. no villain is entirely evil, and nor are the heroes entirely good.

anyway, if you want to check out a good mecha anime, Gundam would be a good choice. stay away from Gundam Wing and G Gundam, however. they tend to stray from the hard-sci-fi/real robot roots of the franchise and are more geared towards the childrens' cartoons demographic. personally, i would go with the UC (Universal Century) timeline, which is the official timeline. if you want to try the Alternate Universe timelines, Gundam SEED/SEED Destiny is not bad. but personally i really enjoyed the more oldschool stuff like 0083: Stardust Memories.

oh, and i'd recommend watching most of these in the original japanese with english subtitles, since most dubs are done with terrible voice acting. and if you have any favorite animes please post them here, or (more likely) just tell me to shut up already with the anime stuff.

[Arellia]

Cowboy Bebop was a pretty amusing scifi-ish anime. I never got to see a whole lot of it (and I don't have cable anyway), but I did like what I saw. Somewhat comical if I remember correctly.

[calvin]

i've only seen a couple of episodes of Cowboy Bebop, and the Movie, but i really enjoyed it. it's probably one of the few Animes that has good voice acting in the english dub.

and if you liked Cowboy Bebop, then you might also enjoy Trigun, which is also a sci-fi action/comedy (it's technically classified as a "Space Western").

and i don't have cable either. i just download most animes i watch off of bittorrent. you can find a lot of high quality fansubs on mininova.