Appleseed (Anime film)

[IBBoard]

Just watched Appleseed, and I must say that it was a good film. The people on LoveFilm only give it 60%, but the styling was great and the plot line worked well. Unlike some other films I've watched recently (mainly Akira), as the plot line unfolded then you actually went "ahhh, yes, that's what that meant - it makes sense now" rather than "I'm guessing that was important and was a reference to something, but I have no idea what".

As with a lot of the anime that me and my fiancee enjoy, it had a good post-apocalyptic styling (images) and the suits (called Landmates) are stylistically similar to the Tau (and from what I know also Gundam Wing, which is probably the real inspiration).

The whole film seems to be computer generated, but the characters still have a standard anime cartoon style. Things aren't quite smooth at the beginning (the vehicle looks a bit 'fake' compared to the very grim and well rendered background) but it soon settles out and looks stunning.

One thing I did notice was a couple of brief background references. When they're in a bar there are some scrolling LED signs. The first one I noticed scrolled "APLSD" up it, then a little bit later one scrolled "ghost hack" up it (which is a Ghost in the Shell phrase). Makes me wonder what other scrollers said that I didn't notice.

So, for anyone who enjoys anime, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic films or just a good sci-fi film in general, I'd recommend Appleseed (and Ghost in the Shell - we've watched the two films and the entire first series of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex)

[stfas]

it must have been good.

p.s: anime is my favorite genre, acutally its more like an greater genre, for anime has every kind of genre

[IBBoard]

One thing we've noticed with Anime is that they can tell a lot of story with just a bit of background music and a few different shots. There definitely seems to be more storytelling skill involved in Anime than in most Western cartoons. I guess it's probably because Anime is an entertainment for adults (often with quite graphic violence at times) where as Western cartoons are aimed mainly at kids.

[stfas]

uh you know some animes are for kids too?

[IBBoard]

Pokemon being the most obvious one, yes. But cartoons in the culture of Japan for adults is much more acceptable than it is in the West for adults, and hence there's a definite 'non-childrens Anime' collection. The majority of Studio Ghibli films I've seen are probably somewhat surreal and scary for a child who watches Pokemon and the like, for example.

Adults who like comics and cartoons tend to be seen as "comic book guy" geeks in the West but its apparently quite normal to see a suited business man in Japan reading a manga comic on the train ride to work.

[stfas]

OMG pokemon sucks..


i still wonder when stormwalker comes back v.v