watch anime?

I was on an anime binge recently and I think I have enough experience now to blog about it. A very small fraction of my friends watch "anime" - animation works [series, movies] primarily from Japan (well, a succinct description for anime would be "anime = japanese cartoons"). This is the case for most people in general; almost everyone would know about cartoons and can mention a few from the top of their heads - Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse etc. but only a few can shoot off the name of some anime series. The people who belong to the the majority group above are missing a neat form of entertainment, and at the very least, a few mind-blowing movies.

To me, the most appealing feature about animes is their novel and diverse storylines. Every anime has a distinctive storyline and boy are the story writers imaginative! There is so much creativity in the concept of some animes that, you feel that it is outright foolish, and yet, once you get comfortable to the radical idea, you get truly absorbed in the anime. Another vital aspect of an anime is the character development; there are no stars to bank on in an anime, the character itself becomes a star provided the anime is good. I guess this paragraph is becoming more of a sales pitch for the anime genre. So, I will just list out a few animes that are must watch for each and everyone (the animes are listed in descending order) and you can judge for yourselves.

1. Grave of the Fireflies : This is one of the greatest anti-war movies ever made and you were "moved" by Schindler's List, you will get "teleported" by this movie (by the way, I forgot to mention that I like cracking PJs [poor jokes] ).




2. Perfect Blue: A gripping psycological thriller with an amazing sound track. You might think that the movie is going a bit slow in the beginning, but rest assured, you will be totally hooked by the time it reaches half-time.




3. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: A futuristic sci-fi movie that emaphasizes the importance of having a balanced ecosystem where humans coexist with other species on Earth. This is one of the first movies by legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Take it from me, if an anime is directed by Miyazaki, it is got to be good.



4. Castle in the Sky: The first movie produced by Studio Ghibli (again, if an anime is done by Studio Ghibli, it is got to be good), this movie delves into an alternate history on Earth and presents an immensely novel and fresh story. This was again directed by Hayao Miyazaki and you will notice that the Miyazaki-Ghibli combo produced some awesome movies over the years.


5. Spirited Away: This movie transports you into another world and the animation work is just amazing. The imaginative prowess of the writer of this film is to be experienced to be believed. No wonder this is the first anime to win an Academy Award (Oscar for Best Animated Feature) and no wonder, it is a Miyazaki-Ghibli creation.


I haven't delved on "anime series" at all; there are so many wonderful anime series that discussing them warrants an entire blog by itself. I was first officially introduced to anime by my very good friend Dipro and it was the anime series Naruto. I mention "officially" since I had seen anime like the Robotech series, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Heidi (on Cartoon Network) on TV without realizing it. I forgot to mention, all the animes are subbed (the language spoken in the anime would be japanese) and most of the popular ones are dubbed in english.

If you haven't watched any of the above movies, do watch them and post a comment if you want me to add more movies to the list. If not for experiencing anime, you can watch the above movies purely on merit of their quality, just like the way you watched so many of the Pixar movies.