The three essential anime movies
May 14 '01
The Bottom Line The following advice is aimed at those who would like an introduction to anime.
The following advice is aimed especially at people who want to try out anime. All they have seen was some Sailor Moon or Pokemon, but they decided not to give up and try some real anime, in the (foolish) hopes to experience higher quality. Well, sometimes it is worth to be naive, and here is a list of the three essential anime movies everybody should see before digging deeper. All three titles are available in the US and elsewhere, so you won’t have to dig through some obscure Japanese import shops.
1. Princess Mononoke
This movie is poetry put into pictures. If you don’t fall in love with it, you should give a try to one more anime movie and call it quits, because it won’t get any better. As in most anime movies taking place in the past, this movie is about the struggle of a lone hero to save the nature from technology. The movie is beautifully drawn, with one of the best and most touching soundtrack ever created for an anime movie.
Princess Mononoke represents a relatively non-violent approach to anime movies. While it does have its share of violence, all this violence is necessary to advance the story. This movie does not depict blood and gore as one of its main motives. This slightly unusual approach in an anime movie puts Princess Mononoke more into the mainstream of movie production; something like an animated Disney movie for adults. It is the perfect introduction to anime, as you will stay in a relatively known ground, instead of plunging headfirst into a hard-core manga movie.
2. Ninja Scroll
Ninja Scroll is in some sense the exact opposite of Princess Mononoke, yet they have a lot in common. Again, there is the lone hero and his love interest. Once again, this hero fights an enemy that threatens to destroy his homeland by advanced technology (cannons bought from the Spaniards this time). Still, this movie is as bloody as it gets. While there are worse movies like this one in the sense of blood, Ninja Scroll is so far the most brutal yet watchable movie I have seen.
In this movie, the hero fights against an army of eight demons, each with his own style. You will witness every single gory scene you can put your finger on – from dislocated limbs to chopped heads, exploding people, to an attempted rape by a demon. This movie represents the other extreme of anime, and you should see it to decide which way you want to go in the future. The only gripe I have about this movie is a terrible editing, which could also provide about some insight about what to expect from other anime movies.
3. Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell is your best introduction to futuristic anime movies. By now, you realize that the main theme of anime movies stays the same – a lone hero with a sidekick fight against a much stronger opponent, only to die or be harmed by the end. In this movie, the main hero is trying to take out a hacker who hacks into people’s brains. Too late the hero discovers that the hacker is a super-software and as such cannot be contained.
This movie will introduce you to two aspect of anime movies – technology and a novel movie style. Technology in this movie is represented not only by the environment the characters live in, but also by the fact that the characters themselves are scarcely human – most of their organs have been replaced by technologically advanced artificial organs, and the mind became a set of data available for download. The novel movie style is a combination of animation on the top of real backgrounds. This creates a visually appealing combination that seems to be used more and more in the recent movies.
Other movies
There are many other movies you may want to watch. Please check the many great reviews in this category to find more about them. The only other I would mention is Akira, by some considered as the grandfather of modern anime movies. It is another futuristic movie, with an extraordinary strong story, relatively little blood and gore and a great deal of the portrayal of paranoia and angst. However, this movie is not available on DVD yet, and VHS tapes are hard to get by.
To conclude, I have pointed you to the three essential anime movies. Princess Mononoke will make you love anime and introduce you to its relatively pacifist version. Ninja Scroll will show you the action side of an anime movie – along with all the blood and gore. And finally, Ghost in the Shell will show you how a futuristic anime looks like. It is up to you to decide then with path to take.
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