This place is very nice, so I thought I'd come aboard

[cosmosamurai]

Hi everyone!

As a fellow weathered veteran and advocate of classic anime, this forum looks like loads of fun. The anime aesthetic stuck in my mind when I saw Voltron in 1985 (age: 5), and the subsequent Robotech cemented in my young mind the distinct look of anime as interesting cartoons with much nicer animation than other stuff (I could pick out cartoons like The Real Ghostbusters which used Japanese studios for animation even - they looked better!). Actually being conscious of my status as an anime fan would come later...

Mid 90's showings of Robot Carnival and Vampire Hunter D on TBS, along with G-Force on CN, and (especially) the Sci-Fi Channel started my serious interest in anime. Galaxy Express 999 on Sci-Fi's Anime Week introduced me to the haunting wonders of Leiji Matsumoto (my username is homage to Leiji's world of Cosmo-dragoons and Cosmo-warriors, and all the other Cosmo- prefixes therein) and their Saturday Anime block was great (Akira, Project A-Ko, and yes Odin!). Another great anime source was a local UHF station which broadcast an offbeat satellite station called "Network One" during this time. Network One had a anime block (called "Japanimation: the ultimate in alternative animation") which showed loads of Streamline properties: Lupin III (Cagliostro and Mamo), Zillion (series eps and Burning Night!), FotNS movie, Dirty Pair (Nolandia and Project EDEN), G13 movie, and more! N1 felt like such an underground anime source, and the fuzzy UHF added to the mystique. My big breakthrough in this time was a new laserdisc player in 1997, which introduced me to UY through the wonderful Beautiful Dreamer LD, and the stunning Animeigo gatefold Arcadia of my Youth LD was almost a religious experience to behold! I feel fortunate to have been such a late adopter of LD, because it really was special to watch anime on the big discs (and listen to the high RPM revving of the Pioneer D606!). Recently, I have been amassing a hoard of (now affordable) anime laserdiscs as the beautiful time capsules they are.

Anime of late has lost its diversity, beautiful analog cels, and much more. The tragic high adventure of Matsumoto echoes anime's golden age, and nowadays such work seems like the tale of some ancient mariner, lost upon the minds of those who care not to heed Leiji's vision (he foresaw the dangers of Transhumanism and Singularity worship back in the 70's! Count Mecha, anyone?) and eclectic storytelling (the GE999 series is mindblowing!). Theatrical anime like Patlabor 2 once pushed the limits for thoughtful animated film-making, and the GE999 films hold up wonderfully to this day (Y. Kanada's animation in theatrical 999 is breathtaking!). Anime is just too static in these days of digital animation all too often (the complex movements of good background animation are all but lost, for example some crazy moments in UY TV), and the organic quality of cels is sorely missed (digital ink and paint looks too clean at times: the aforementioned Kanada animation was ALIVE!). Industry pandering to later day otaku sensibilities has just pushed things further into decline.

So yeah, I'm old school. Arcadia...Hasshin! - music to my ears...

[greg]

Greetings! Welcome! Well-said!

I have AnimEigo's Beatiful Dreamer LD too. I'm a much later adopter of LDs though, maybe about 6-7 years ago.

[usamimi]

Welcome, welcome! Ah, Beautiful Dreamer...an amazing UY movie that had almost nothing to do with UY. XD I remember that was a lot of people's intro to the series back in the day. <3

Anyway, have fun and hope to see you around the forum!

[llj]

Beautiful Dreamer was the first real display of "Oshii Style". He's developed his personal style in various ways since this film, but all the traditional Oshii hallmarks--the long philosophical monologues, the emphasis on mood, the slow pace...it's all there.

Really needs a re-release.

[usamimi]

Beautiful Dreamer was the first real display of "Oshii Style". He's developed his personal style in various ways since this film, but all the traditional Oshii hallmarks--the long philosophical monologues, the emphasis on mood, the slow pace...it's all there.

Really needs a re-release.

SO true. I'm still bummed the blu-ray got canceled, for some reason. :/ I wonder if they'll re-release the movies now that the TV Series is being re-released?

[cosmosamurai]

Beautiful Dreamer's example of Oshii's radical improvisation upon Takahashi's source material is similar to some of his excellent series episodes. Episode 78 "Pitiful! Mother of Love and Banishment!?" is a great example of the philosophical Oshii style (and foreshadowed elements of UY: BD). "And then there were none" and "Scramble! To the Rescue of Lum!" (Oshii's final UY TV direction) are interesting, wonderful tangents also.

[yusaku]

Hello! I am new myself. Just beginning to settle in myself. I am big into anime soundtracks. Check out my introduction or my about me in my profile. I like to make friends.