5 off Beat Anime Shows that are 5 Star Worthy
http://phistars.blogspot.com/2011/09/5-off-beat-anime-shows-that-are-5-star.html
5 off Beat Anime Shows that are 5 Star Worthy
Off beat is a fancy term I made up in order to describe anime shows that in my opinion surpassed all expectations in the both technique, them and storyline. They are the Polaris (north star) of anime. Whoever whats to make an extremely good anime show they should have the above themes that are so predominant in these anime shows.
For starters, what a great anime show needs is technique. Some individualism in the face, speech pattern and personality is required in order to make original characters. They cannot be 2 dimensional. They have to evolve as the show progresses. Naruto is a perfect example. You remember how lil Naruto could not sit still for even a second. Look at him now, all mature meditating under the snow without moving a muscle in order to obtain sage mode. Can you imagine how hard this must be for someone who by nature is hipper active. It is not wonder his sage mode is so extremely powerful.
The next thing you need is an original global concept. A mode of existence that has not thought up by anyone until today. Or you can improve upon an old idea and exaggerate to such extent that it barely resembles its former glory. Let us gaze upon Escaflowne. I do not speak of Hitome's fortune telling, though between you and me her powers borderline on the surreal and the fantastical. No no, my friends, I speak of luck. Yes, lady luck plays a major factor in this anime show. By raising it to maximum it created in the world of Van a dream like state where everything was possible. Luck made all their deepest wishes happen, in the oddest realistic fashion. As you can see the mangaka artist is taking an old idea and improving upon it.
Another thing that you need, is to build up strange other worldly beings. Make them miserable make then eerie. As long as they are creepy they will do. Prime examples are the Shinigamis of Deathnote, the proxis of Ergo proxy and the Coralians (along with their zone). These "bad guys" are unique in the fact that just for existing they bring chaos upon the world. You need an element of chaos in order to create a good anime show. The bad guys and the good guys are secondary to these other forces. Think of it as if you where creating your own unique and ugly mother nature. All the above mention wierdoes since the beginning of times have been indifferent to humans. Like mother nature they do harm to us with indifference. Create beings like this and you have an off beat anime show.
The last and most important thing you need is a theme. You cannot write or draw any proper graphic novel without having a theme or two. What makes or breaks any anime show is the theme. For you see, you need have your watchers keep something of that graphic novel within them. You don't want them to look back on your creation and say "it was fun". You need them to say " Inuyasha taught me it was bad to mistreat halfbreed, or Eureka Seven taught me all races are equal". As you can see the best graphic novels in the world always leaves the readers with "something" after they are done reading it.
Oh and before I forget, a good graphic novel needs emotion. For some reason the most popular facial expressions in anime are those of anger and those of happiness. If you master the art of hate and sadness you can keep you viewers interested. Oh, and avoid unhappy endings. Make the main characters suffer so much and in the end they come out good. Or you can make them really happy and then kill them, that's what the mangaka artist of Death note did to light Yagami. Remember this and write a good graphic novel (for once). In any case, here are the 5 star worthy anime shows.
Death Note
Death Note revolves around two sorts of moralities. There is the vigilante perspective and then there is the rule of law. The Vigilante aka Ligth Yagami sees the world in black and white. There is the good and then there is the rest. "This World is Rotten, and anyone who is making it rot deserves to die". This is the mantra that Light Yagamai repeats himself over and over as he writes the death of men and women in his death note. But how did Light become a monster? Before he found the death note he blindly believed in the rule of law. He wanted to fight crimes just like his father. He realized that it was not the best system but that was the best he had to work with.
Parallel to Light's frustrations the monster Ryuke was also meditating on his world. Both saw their own worlds as being rotten. Ryuke is in essence is the physical manifestation of Light Yagami's soul. His super ugly Gemini cricket as it where. From time to time, Ryuke questions light motives and points out that his methods makes him as much of a monster as the criminals he seeks out. Light in his lust for power forgot that he too was human. In time he became a monster like those he sought to slay. Heck even his father and sister where not spared from his wrath. He too used them to reach his own twisted goal.
What is Light's goal you ask? Let me tell you. In the beginning, all he desired and expected was to rid the world of some bad apples and then be taken by whatever fein gave him the death note. After realizing that Ryoke was not there to take him to hell. light became more ambitions with his goals. In time he became the Leviathan of Death Note. The Leviathan is a political masterpiece by Hobbes who describes the ideal ruler as a god king who maintains order by any means. In Hobbes work the state of nature is a bad place. Light too experienced in Japan this state of nature. It is a place where mankind is afraid of their own shadow. With the power of the Death note, Light or Kira was able force mankind to forge a covenant under his rule. They where to serve as agents for him as he administered supreme justice.
The rule of law's on the other hand is embody in the person of Elle Lawliet. Elle or how we know like to call him L, was originally an orphan that was picked up by Wattari (the previous Sherlock Holmes). In Wattari's orphanage there were raising future Ls to solve the most bizarre crimes in existence. L after coming of age started performing his duties as the new vigilante. unlike light, he worked within the system with the cooperation of the FBI and CIA. Needless to say, Elle is American. Well.. unlike Light Yagami L has seen time and time again that the rule of law eventually works. All one needs is time and perseverance. Eventually justice sword falls upon all evil doers.
When light started killing off criminals, L saw it was his duties to stand up to him. Like any good cop, he recognize that criminals had rights too. It was not fair to slay them or pass judgment on them arbitrarily. To kill them off just like that, denies criminals the right to amend their evil ways. In my perspective to kill criminals just like that takes their deprives them the right to become goods. They die as sinner without any chance to amend their ways, and that in itself is the worse crime of all. As you already noticed I am pro L. Like any good investigator L started to close the net around light. Only by supernatural means was Light able to defeat and kill L. Otherwise, Elle would have been victorious over the Leviathan.
Now let me ask you this my fellow furies. Do you want to live in a world where without a trail your are put to death for a crime you might or might not have committed? IF the cops made a mistake then you are the idiot that ends up death. Do you want to live in constant fear of a supernatural power, a terrible judge that at any moment might slay you? Many say that it is easy to follow the law. But when a man is against a concern it is in his nature to fight back. I am not saying that criminals deserve forgiveness. However, they do deserve the chance to amend their evil ways. Death in itself is an escape. It truly does not solve anything. So I ask my furies, chose between the rule of law or the rule of Kira.
High School of the Dead
High School of the Dead is a pioneer in anime zombie shows. This is the handy work of Daisuke and Shoji Sato. Neither before or after this anime show has there been any anime show that ony might call truly zombie like. Like we already know, to have a proper zombie show you must follow the proper zombie guidelines that have been properly outlaid in the unspoken zombie tradition in America. Zombies, as I mention in a previous blog have finally invaded Japanese programing. anime too has not escaped this malady. This high school of the dead was the first comprehensive attempt at properly mimicking a traditional US zombie movie.
Like all zombie movies, it starts with a beautiful summer day. The day is so warm and the leaf fall ever so softly. This is a prelude before the storm. then it begins! The first infected person is banging in front of the high school railings. Someone recognizes him. They ask " professor, what is wrong with you". And then we have a second victim. If that person survives then we have another and another and another. By noon the entire high school is flooded with zombies. The first persons to notice that something is seriously wrong is Takashi Komuro and his friend Hisashi. Together after obtaining a bat or two sought out Rei and headed for the roof to try to escape the zombie onslaught.
during their escape Hisashi was bitten. The first episode tragically ends with Takashi killing his friend in order to keep Rei safe. The first episode is marked by a sort of surrealism. the anime characters cannot believe what it is occurring. It is rather lovely how Takashi compares this situation to an American zombie movie. Based on these sorts of films he sorta figured that he could not let himself be tainted by the zombies.
the general theme in the first and subsequent other episodes in high school of the dead is how disaster brings out people's true intentions. For example, a supposedly distinguished professor turned into a sadist cultist after the zombie attack. He promised his "followers" that he would make with them a new civilization. Takashi proved most adapting. In the face of war and carnage he took the harsh decisions that no one else could. In time he became the leader of the small entourage of main characters. kohta Hirano showed his true face during this crisis. He was a killer in potency. It was convention that was holding back his killer instinct. So when society breaks down and mankind enters the world of uncertainty we are able to see who is truly good and who is truly evil. This and many other themes makes this anime show. There are also some odd revelation references, but those are of lil consequence. I will speak about this and many other key details in later post.
Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied which literary means elf song is a short thirteen episode series created by the mangaka artist Lynn Okamoto. This was his one and only successful mangaka creation. He based the tittle and the anime show on an old German poem called Elfen Lied. In this poem a young elf boy was sleeping when he heard the twon guard yell "elf". This sound awoke him and he thus got out of the fire toward the town. He saw a big barn all lighted up and decided to take a peep. However, he was soon discovered and thus received a terrible trashing. The poem ends with the mocking line "Had enough yet!"
This cruelty and alienation is the dominant theme in the elfen lied graphic novel. In the world of Elfen Lied a new race of humans has began to appear. These humans are called Diclonius. What is so unique about the Diclonius is their unique psychic abilities as well as their two horns. Their power manifest in the form of invisible arms that can either smash or pierce through anything. The main character Lucy is the queen of this race. She is the only Diclonius that can produce others of her kind. All of her other kind born of human parents are sterile.
She was originally trapped in a military facility but one day she forced her way out to freedom. During the ensuing battle her head was seriously scraped and wounded by a high ballistic bullet. This cause her to lose her memory. So when she was found by the normal humans Kohta and Yuka she had none of her previous homicidal tendencies. She behaved like Chi. Like Chi, Nyu could only say Nyu and thus like a small pokemon her name became Nyu. Lynn admitted at trying to create a forte version of Chi. However, Lucy's personality could neither be restrained by Nyu or by the author. So instead of becoming some sort of cutesy chobits like romantic comedy it took on a more twisted and horrific form.
Despite Lynn's effort to make Nyu the dominant character, the twisted nature of Lucy kept resurfacing. Heck, it almost seems that his success is partly due to the uncontrollable demonic nature of Lucy. Even, Lynn the creator of Lucy could not control her! Ah it is nice to see an anime character run amok despite all the attempts made by the mangaka artist. What makes Elfen lied so successful is the fact that Lucy is alive and has a will of her own independent of her creator. And that in itself really freaks me out. We better keep an eye out for Lucy in the future. She is out there coming to get you normies.
Mnemosyne
How do I begin? Ahhh... The name. that is a great place to start. As all of you may not know, Mnemosyne was the infamous muse of memory. She was know to be quite sweat and mischievous. Ohh ... such a naughty girl ( in both mythology and within the anime show). The lady Rin who in the English version is called a daughter of this muse is said to be immortal. Her immortality can only be taken by an angel.
What this show calls an angel is a mutant man. Both the powers of the men and women of this show comes from the tree of Yggdrasil or the tree of life. Every once in a while the tree releases spores into the world some of them carry the power of immortality within them. Others of vermification. The woman can only obtain the spores of immortality, the men become feins.The immortal ladies feel naturally attracted to the male angels. But the men's monstrous nature makes them devour the object of their affection.
This show covers a large timeline (due to the immortality of the main character). Eventually, this show reaches a futuristic world that resembles Ghost in the shell in many aspects (with the cyborgs and the internet).
As for the characters, the nature of the mutant men and women keeps them apart. The women at times develop lesbian relationships. Immortal women feel safe with other immortal women. The main bad guy in the story is called Appos. He has a blend of both feminine and masculine aspects. I was shocked to find out he was a hermaphrodite. His fetishism with the immortal women appears in the form of sadism. He enjoys causing them terrible pain. He is the son of the guardian of the tree of life. It is for this reason he is immune to the influences of the insanity spores. He controls the angels and has them bring to him the spores of the immortal maidens. Some he eats. Others he feeds to the root girls of the tree of life. While the rest he lets them turn back into maidens for his own personal usage.
The main conflict of Mnemosyne takes place between Rin, the Angels and Appos. Appos desires to make Rin into his immortal bride. He wishes to have Rin give birth to the new guardian. Through out the ages Appos sends his angel minions to hunt Rin down. He also hired a female assassin that appears in the opening scene. Because she failed twice, he turned her into one of his immortal "brides" in order to make use of her "services" eternally. He never lets Rin have a moment of peace. Appos always finds a way to ruin Rin's relationships with regular humans. Truly as long as Appos lives Rin will not be able to find true happiness.
Once you get past the weird stuff. It is a really good show. Oh and the beginning song is quite good and so is the presentation. Despite all the brutal and harsh things I said about this show I find it to be of the highest caliber.
Wolf Rain
This is one of the best anime shows that I have seen. Its main topic is nature triumphing over men's attempt to control it. Men in this show wanted to monopolize Paradise. However, the Lunar Flower wanted to bring it for all creatures. In this post - apocalyptic show men try to overpower nature and eventually fail.
As for the characters, Cheska represents the fragility of spring. She must die in order for new life to spring forth. Like flower she will eventually wither and die. I found it rather odd the wolf man. He was a lycans in all forms. He was brutish and malicious toward Cheska. He hoped that with the lunar flower he might make his lover come back to life. However, her presence caused the girl to sink further in sleep.
It is rather cute how the book of the Moon says, " all was cute in paradise but then came the beast" . And he certainly did this time around. The wolf -man almost slew the Lunar flower before she bloomed. All hoped that she would lead them to some asterial other world. However, despite all the signs paradise remained in the terrestrial plane. She was simply spring and nothing more.
.
