Sword of the Stranger - Streaming on Hulu

Hulu is currently streaming Sword of the Stranger for free. It's considered "mature audience" so you have to sign in with your Hulu account. I would post the link, but Blogger's new post editor isn't letting me do it. 

Gateway Animes - Luring In the Unsuspecting Newbie

Last week, when I mentioned Crunchyroll's streaming of Voices of a Distant Star, it made me think about which animes would be the best ones to show to anime newbies. I came up with two criteria:

1. The anime would have to make anyone who says "Oh, anime - that Japanese cartoon stuff?" - never be able to say that again;

and

2. The anime would have to invoke deep emotion, as the greatest filmed entertainment does (i.e., the best live-action movies and TV).

Until now, I probably would have considered myself still a relative newbie to anime and not able to fairly judge. But if the records of my anime watching that I keep on MyAnimeList are accurate, I have now watched a total of 145 anime series and feature films. So I think I finally have enough standing to do "best of" type lists. ;)

So in that respect, I thought about "gateway" animes, the animes you'd show someone to convince them that anime can be both great art and great entertainment, and I came up with one OVA, two series, one short OVA series and two feature films.

Voices of a Distant Star, pictured above, was Makoto Shinkai's first work. He wrote, directed, produced and did the animation in this solo tour de force OVA.

The premise: In 2047, Mikako and Noboru are junior high school students. Mikako, the girl, is chosen for a space expedition to fight mankind's alien enemies, while Noboru, the boy, goes on to enter high school. As the years pass, the two send messages to each other but due to Mikako's journey into deep space, the time it takes for her messages to reach Noboru begins to increase, to the point where it takes years.

It's a "gateway" anime for newbies because: At only 25 minutes long, this anime presents beautiful imagery, a compelling and believable love story and a fantastic science-fiction concept: that of time passing at different rates for the girl and boy. I like that it's the girl who goes to space - and the boy who stays behind on Earth. ;) And it evokes a surprising amount of emotion for such a short anime, and different emotions too - sadness, joy, contemplation, but most of all - a deep feeling of longing. It's simply stunning.



Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the anime adaptation of the completed manga series by Hiromu Arakawa, is one of the most thrilling anime series you will ever see.

The premise: In Amestris, a fictional European country in the early 20th century, two young brothers experiment with forbidden alchemy in an attempt to bring their mother back from the dead. The experiment goes horribly wrong and the older brother, Edward Elric, loses an arm and a leg and his younger brother Alphonse loses his entire body to "The Gate," a mysterious doorway leading to the "other side." The two seek to restore their bodies by finding a special "philosopher's stone," and become caught up in political and metaphysical mysteries hidden in Amestris' unexpectedly dark past.

It's a gateway anime because: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has everything: shonen adventure, beings with fantastical powers, compelling characters and a story that draws you in from the start and never lets you go. Despite the story going in seemingly many directions, by the end it all comes together. The climax is perfectly played out and the ending is completely satisfying on an emotional level. The story is too complex to discuss briefly and sound like you're making any sense ;) - but trust me, no one could watch this series and not be moved and deeply impressed.



Death Note is a brilliantly-told suspense tale, a cat-and-mouse story with a supernatural twist.

The premise: Light Yagami, a high school student, finds a notebook dropped by a shinigami that contains the power of life and death. By writing a person's name in this notebook while picturing their face, that person will die.

It's a gateway anime because: Death Note is a dark, cold story, one with an evil protagonist and a good antagonist (L, the detective) and moments of real horror. But it's enormously compelling due to the build-up of suspense, the what-will-happen-next that kept me watching episode after episode, unable to stop. At 37 episodes, the anime series is just the right length for the story it tells. The presentation is cool and contemporary, making it a good gateway anime for teens and young adults.



The movie Paprika is the most visually compelling and easily accessible of the late Satoshi Kon's works.

The premise: A research device called the "DC Mini" allows users to view people's dreams. Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a psychologist, uses the device to help patients by adopting a dream persona, a girl named "Paprika," who enters their dreams to assist them. One of her patients, a detective, has a recurring dream about a murder that he cannot solve. Before the device can be made available to the public, three prototypes are stolen...

It's a gateway anime because: It's a complex story telling the interwoven stories of both Dr. Chiba and the detective, with stylish imagery that makes it a visual feast. A perfect blend of fantasy, mystery, humor and unexpectedly at the end - a little romance - Paprika is a great way to introduce adults who aren't familiar with anime stories for adults to - well, anime stories for adults. ;)



I rented Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal) from Netflix a few years ago, not knowing anything about it except that I'd never seen any of the Rurouni Kenshin anime episodes before and I was in the mood for a samurai anime. What I saw was an anime I can never forget.

The premise: (This is the prequel to the Rurouni Kenshin anime series.) Ten years before the start of the series, when Kenshin is still known as the Hitokiri Battosai assassin, he kills a bodyguard named Akira Kiyosato. On the run, Kenshin meets Tomoe Yukishiro, unaware that she was Kiyosato's fiancee. A spy is suspected to be in their clan, the Choshu, and arrangements are made to hide Kenshin and Tomoe away in a remote village...

It's a gateway anime because: You can watch Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal without knowing a single thing about the Rurouni Kenshin storyline; it stands alone as a classic Japanese romance-tragedy. Unlike the manga and the anime series, which contain a lot of humor and are somewhat light in tone, Trust and Betrayal is deeply serious and transcendently beautiful. The four OVA episodes comprise, in essence, a two-hour movie. The maturity of the story and the presentation would appeal to any adult-age audience.



Finally, Sword of the Stranger, my favorite anime movie of recent years.

The premise: Kotaro, a young boy, is fleeing from the Ming Chinese, who are seeking him for an unknown reason. Along the way he meets "Nanashi," or "No-Name," a mysterious taciturn samurai who, despite his mild manner, possesses deadly skills. Nanashi reluctantly becomes Kotaro's bodyguard as the mystery of why Kotaro is a target is gradually revealed.

It's a gateway anime because: Breathtaking action sequences, an intriguing story and great performances make Sword of the Stranger an impressive and satisfying anime feature film. Nanashi is played by Japanese live-action actor Tomoya Nagase, who had never done voice acting (as opposed to live action acting) before, and he's wonderful. The child actor Yuuri Chinen also stands out as Kotaro. But it's the amazing action scenes that bring the film alive, including one moment toward the end that threatened to stop my heart (really). Any fan of action movies and good storytelling would appreciate this anime movie.

What would be some of your gateway animes?

Anime Expo 2010

Anime Expo was a great experience for me this year. Here are a few notes and impressions of the con.



L.A. Live

I can recall when the old cliche about Los Angeles, "40 suburbs in search of a city," pretty much applied to the whole place. But with new centers of nightlife activity like L.A. Live above, one can believe that the City of Angels offers at least a few genuinely urban experiences today.

Nokia Plaza is composed of the state-of-the-art Nokia Theater, various restaurants, and finally this year - the brand-new J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live hotel. The buildings of L.A. Live are covered with an array of enormous video screens, and the trees are adorned with beautiful small blue lights. It looks like Blade Runner come to life, and being only two blocks from the L.A. Convention Center where AX was held, it provided the perfect futuristic Tokyo-style backdrop and gathering place for the anime fen.



You Know You Really Love This Movie When...

... You're about to leave the con for the evening on Day One, when you suddenly notice in the program guide that they're showing this movie in one of the screening rooms.

... And even though you actually own this movie on DVD at home, you find yourself literally running up the stairs to get to the screening room, because it's so much fun to watch this movie with an audience.

That's just how much I love Sword of the Stranger.

The Exhibit Hall and Artist's Alley

Although there were many dealers exhibiting this year, there's no question that there were fewer of them than last year. The space around the edges of the Exhibit Hall was... spacious. In other words, there weren't enough dealers to fill the hall to the edges.

The Artist's Alley was simply enormous this year - nearly a third of the entire Exhibit Hall. Someone told me that this was because some of the people that were dealers last year couldn't afford to pay the fee this year to be regular dealers - and so they were now "artists" in Artist's Alley. Uh, yikes.

Gundam Unicorn

The latest Gundam anime series has begun!

Apparently, there will be six one-hour episodes. Episode One played to a solidly-packed ballroom full of Gundam enthusiasts and curious others.

Gundam Unicorn is set in the original Gundam universe's timeline, and so the character design is deliberately somewhat dated-looking; a bit '80s-ish, but not annoyingly so. As is typical, Banagher, the main character, is a boy with some self-doubts, and the girl character Audrey is one of those determined and plucky types who rejects him at first. She loftily turns down his offer of help (after he's already rescued her once), sending him into a spiral of depression. (One suspects she's just trying to protect him... but we know that won't stop him. ;))

At one critical moment, Banagher is asked if he's ready to accept the challenge of fighting in the war that has just begun. Banagher replies that he's not sure, but that he just knows that he needs to make Audrey need him (causing a chorus of groans and cheers from the audience) - and that that's all that's important to him. I almost felt like yelling out, "Dude, you're the one who needs her - just admit it." Someone should write a book on the boy-girl relationships in Gundam...

There's always that fangasm moment of bliss in the opener of every Gundam series when the mecha gets revealed for the first time, and Gundam Unicorn is no exception. The slow pan from the mecha's feet all the way up its body, until the entire mecha from head to toe is revealed... complete with bombastic music played at a deafening volume (still barely heard over the screams of the fanboys, which were even louder)... it's corny and wonderful and just so... Gundam.

I'll be watching the rest of this series. ;)

The Last Episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I'll be writing a post about FMA: Brotherhood soon, but just on the experience of watching the final episode in a room full of nearly-hyperventilating fans - it was something I was glad I didn't miss.

First, Romi Paku, Rie Kugimiya and Shinichiro Miki recorded a special video just for the screening, which was the U.S. premiere of the final episode. As they had just recorded the episode (and were in fact still sitting in the recording studio), it felt as fresh as if they were being shown live from Japan.

Next, they first played Episode 63 for those who hadn't seen it yet - and then rolled right into Episode 64. I won't spoil anything, but the final episode is as satisfying as you hoped it would be - plus a few surprises, too.

I was caught off-guard by the amount of emotion that came up for me, watching the final episode. The original Fullmetal Alchemist series was one of the first anime series that I fell in love with as a new anime fan. It's hard for me to admit, but in almost every way Brotherhood has topped the original. But again, I'll write more on that later...

I spent time with old friends and made new ones, cosplayed for the first time - for a few hours anyway ;) - and unexpectedly - had the best time I've ever had at an anime convention. It wasn't the same old, same old at AX for me this year; this one was special. I will definitely be back next year. :)