Cowboy Bebop (from futureblues.com)

Comment

Comment by c0wb0y b3b0p on April 6, 2009 at 2:03am

whew, the problem w/ good anime is always the time-factor;
just like other gr3at web stuff--like the music oriented sites like this one of yours, and other tech/music/sci fi---
sooo much discipline is needed to keep from spending TONs of time away from various work & for me, the grind of graduate school, etc.

Comment by Dave Wesley on April 5, 2009 at 1:47pm

Great thread. Lots of cool sounding stuff for me to check out.

Comment by c0wb0y b3b0p on April 5, 2009 at 1:18am

well, i guess it does sorta give me hope for western [[insert-term]] civilization that we've actually had stuff as good as Bebop, Samurai Champloo or R.O.D. delivered via some cable channels^_--

In fact, i was kinda surprised that Paranoia Agent even reached sorta-mainstream-tv...i can imagine most of duh-Merica just wondering what they were watchin' b4 they switched channels, whew, yeah that show is serious anime.. btw, i'm always trying to remember to rent all of Miyazaki's films---I liked Spirited Away alot....
was also really happy to see so many folks that also liked-it even tho they'd normally kinda wince at anime.

What's really a good sign, it seems, is when ur watching the way that a hip hop show like Boondocks has so much anime + leftist ideals packed in it---the sense that even some macho-hungry kids in pop culture would still laugh & hopefully get all of Macgruder's references to Jedi wisdom & dudes like Che;-)

The other sorta general-aspcet of anime that i really appreciate is the way that Japanese studios are allowed to show such a huge array of different visual style even when the budget & audience is mainstream/$$, etc...
as compared to even-some-of-our-best toons in which the visual-style is soooo conservative except for perhaps a few eps here n there.

Though one thing was really a breath of fresh stuff:: about 3 or 4 years ago, i somehow managed to catch an episode of Teen Titans [i'm pretty sure it was that show..] & i watched in amazement as this wave of Mod-British-music/humor was written throughout the show---even the visuals were packed w/ classic cool Brit rock style & if memory serves me, they even managed to throw in a few PYTHON-Terry-Gilliam-ESQUE images, it just amazed me.

Comment by John N Broniecki on April 4, 2009 at 6:17pm

R.O.D. is a good one, Bebop is by far my favorite, story-sound-art all top notch. Also Paranoia Agent is great; the movie Paprika is great, and if you need a Bebop fix try Samurai Champloo, thats awesome as well. I also really like the Lupin III series and movie. Akira needs no explanation, just needs to bee seen.

Comment by Dave Wesley on April 4, 2009 at 11:19am

Wow... I will check out R.O.D. for sure. LUPIN is cool. I think I've watched that on Hulu? The Miyazaki film to see is Spirited Away. Actually, the older ones are worth seeing too. Kiki is the lightest of them. Castle in the Sky is also amazing. I have kids, so it's great to be able to watch true art with them - so we can all enjoy. : )

Comment by c0wb0y b3b0p on April 4, 2009 at 5:28am

h3y g00d point re: Miyazaki---whew, that guy's a genius!
i couldn't remember all the projects he's worked on (director as well as writer, etc.) so i did a search & a few odd-shows turned-up:

one is "Kiki's Delivery Service" which is a funny/cute type of light hearted story that i remember just a little bit because an "otaku" friend of mine was into it;

but the one that really surprised me was LUPIN..!.. i never thought a guy like Miyazaki would have been involved---written or directed--features or tv-eps of a story like Lupin...
however,,
it might just be the case that I'd only seen some tv episodes that were perhaps some rip-off comedy show that got good-mainstream ratings yet was only a copy/rip of original work by Miyazaki & his guys perhaps on an older film or whatever.

--here's another recommendation:
"R.O.D." which has a film(s) as well as tv series...
it has 2 similar meanings-for-the-acronym:
- Read Or Die, and
- Read Or Dream...

i can't recall which one goes w/ the film & which goes w/ the series,
in fact i still have never rented the original film that preceded the
series.

But the story/show is REALLY unique---
it's about 3 sisters who all meet & form a kind-of-hero-group because
their "power" thing is the ability to control paper which, I think, is referred to
as 'paper magic.'

And the "Reading" tie-in is that they are geek-bibliophiles, which related to and drives
alot of the plot & some nice minor-storylines in it as well.

Oh yeah--
the series is titled "R.O.D. the Tv" which is a bit odd/lame-sounding, h3h, yet it's still a
damn good story/series.

In one episode, they actually show a Noam CHOMSKY book next to
the book that is actually the key element in that shot/scene;-)

Another element of the series is that there is the MUSIC::
the soundtrack--in lots of background-music throughout the show--
is a bit of a tribute to classic James BOND music/ambiance^_--)
Also there are quite a few British
characters in the story, so i guess one of the writers or directors/creators must
have been an old school spy-movie-fan of Bond & British shows,
how bout that.

Comment by Dave Wesley on April 2, 2009 at 9:41am

Wow... Thanks for the recommendations. I've tried anime here and there but nothing has compared to CB for me... except Miyazaki movies. I'm on Netflix and will definitely rent all on your list. I feel the same as you... It's tough to find the good stuff... so, again, recommendations much appreciated. If you think of any more... : )

Comment by c0wb0y b3b0p on April 1, 2009 at 10:28pm

well it turns out that i'd rented the DVD of that CB feature film and of course, i got $hafted by Blockbu$ter ala their typical "no late fees even though we DO charge late fee$ that our lawy3rz somehow helped-us-invent" ..yeah that kinda CRAPOLLA...oi....;-(

So it turned out to be cheaper to spend about 20 bucks & just KEEP the movie rather than pay nearly the same yet give it back..

...that's why i'm yet another fan of NETFLIX..;-)...

btw, are you into lots of anime?---
originally,, i'd actually not liked it much at all---besides rare stuff like AKIRA;

But when i moved out to San Fran/Bay Area, to work on videogames & other computer/3d graphics jobs, i met a guy at work who needed a roomate
((hah, tons of artists always go to Calif. with almost no money & end up sleeping/living
on their friends' couch for a few months ---
while trying to break into all that exploding-economy of the
computer/art/programming scene from videogames, movie Fx, etc)).

so my new roomate was a hip hop overgrown-kid from L.A. who was an otaku---he had TONS of anime eps & feature/movies on ole VHS;

at 1st I saw some of the not-so-amazing stuff ---& i kinda felt as tho ALOT of the anime "world" must be just surviving due to selling-kids-toys + various popular games/D&D, etc;;

then of course, like so many artists, musicians or other sci fi & creative folks-- I fell spellbound by the cool stories & amazing artwork that
so many anime-studios were producing.

What really helped was actually the tiny segment of broadcast/cable tv that began slowly airing anime now & then,
like Bebop or Ghost in the Shell or a few others---
though of course i'd avoided the cheezy junk like POKEMON & DragonBall, etc,,, hah.

I think the feature film version of GITS really got me interested & once it morphed-into GITS:SAC on Saturday nite tv, well i was definitely hooked by then i'd guess.

HERE's a trick---EVEN if you don't spend much time grabbing anime via t0rr3ntz, you can still checkout TONS of stuff by looking around uTube & similar sites (perhaps DailyMotion, etc.)

I'll try to recall some fave's & list 'em here---then, if i can get some of my graduate-school work outta the way---i'll try to uLoad some images from a few of these shows...

ok, a partial list for now:
- Cowboy Bebop
- GITS:SAC (tho i haven't seen the 2nd season, called GITS: 2nd Gig))
- Wolf's Rain---Kawamoto designed the characters for Wolf's Rain & of course, YOKO Kanno composed/created most of the soundtrack---she's a genius!!
- Last Exile (great artwork, whew, unique storyline too)
- Paranoia Agent (VERY "adult" somewhat scary-edgy AND unique storyline, whew)
- Samurai SHAMPLOO ^_--)

....well, that's all 4 now....

Comment by Dave Wesley on March 31, 2009 at 10:58am

Cool, man. From the animation to the sound fx, CB is absolutely top notch. I hope the live action film doesn't stink. I enjoyed the CB feature movie that came out several years ago... I think I have a copy of it around here somewhere and should watch it again! Looking forward to your posts.

Comment by c0wb0y b3b0p on March 30, 2009 at 1:03pm

h3y Dave, i'm just a wannabee "otaku"...tho I do have some friends who are, basically, otaku. I've done some 3d/anim work on a few videogames over the years, but unfortunately no work for anime/manga or even 3d-games that were in that style.. whew, i would indeed like to, much0.

Luckily, i have a manga/anime pal on fbook that's planning on creating a business or studio for publishing in the areas of manga & anime & related games/products/etc., but that won't be attempted for quite a few years, whew..

I'm hoping to post quite a few more images here, of various anime stills AND if it's not too out-of-bounds, i might have a few OST's or AMV's or perhaps just plain audio-files w/ soundtrack music^_--)
......btw....
have u heard the "big" news...looks like a live-action feature will be produced sometime soon of COWBOY Bebop,, yep. Turns out that Keanu Reeves is an anime fan & has apparently ALREADY signed-on as one of the PRODUCERs as well as ACTOR for the film;

man, they'd BETTER not screw up a classic like BEBOP!
=][=

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last