Note on buying items:
Recommended Titles - Anime:
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Titles by number of DVD discs, or if not on DVD by number
of video tapes.
In some cases the link points to entries that include both single
discs and larger sets.
| 1-2 | ||
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Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack. |
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| 3-4 | ||
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FLCL. |
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| 5 or more | ||
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Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. |
Creators, Studios and Broadcasters, a select list
The creators, studios or broadcasters connected with a title can
be useful in determining which programs are worth considering.
Each creator, studio or broadcaster entry is linked to their section
in the Anime News Network Encyclopedia.
- Ah My Goddess - Movie See: Oh My Goddess
- Ai Yori Aoshi & Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi
- In the opening Aoi, very traditionally dressed, has gone to Tokyo to look for someone special she has not seen in years. This sheltered girl has never done anything so bold and is quite confused with all the bustle of the train station. In the midst of all this her shoe strap breaks and she does not know what to do. Kaoru, young man, walks up and offers to fix it. He ends up helping her find her way as she is going to the same station as he is. Aoi has an address he offers to help her find, when they arrive and turn the corner all they see is an empty lot, it begins to rain. At the Kaoru's apartment Aoi does not know how to find the person she was looking for and pulls out a photo of her and him from when they were little. Kaoru looks at it and says "Why do you have a photo of Aoi-chan and me?" Aoi had misswritten the address. So begins a love story of a couple who's families had decided when they were very little that they would marry, a decision that was unmade shortly before the story begins.
- Cultural Details: Contemporary urban life.
- Cautions: Very slight sexual humor.
- Order Ai Yori Aoshi from The Right Stuf
- Akira - Movie
- Famous for its historical importance in introducing anime to many in the English speaking world in the early 1990s when it played art house theaters. Many non-fans think of Akira as an example of the best in anime, which it was when it was released, it is now usually considered as an example of middle of the road animation which is an indication of how much anime has developed since it first came out. Akira is still a fun piece of work and likely to be popular in any collection with it's stunning graphics and highly innovative music track.
- There is also an Akira manga translation available.
- Cautions: One scene with upper torso nudity.
- Order Akira from The Right Stuf
- C
- Castle in the Sky - Movie
- Directed by Miyazaki Hayao. Sheeta has a gem that pirates and government agents are after. Pazu is an orphan living in a mining town with big dreams. Together they discover a common bond as they help each other and have an adventure the rest of us can enjoy watching.
- Order Castle in the Sky from The Right Stuf
- Castle of Cagliostro - Movie
- The Castle of Cagliostro is one of the most popular anime directed by Miyazaki Hayao before he went on to found the famous Studio Ghibli. The quality of this anime is so good it is hard to believe this is a title from 1979. The script was coauthored by Miyazaki and Yamazaki Haruya. Miyazaki also did the storyboards. And his touch shows with his trademark beautiful cloudscapes and flight sequences.
- While not intended for small kids they seem to enjoy the slapstick humor of this title.
- Order Castle of Cagliostro from The Right Stuf
- Chobits - TV series
- Based on a manga by CLAMP. Hideki failed his college entrance exams and has moved to Tokyo to attend a special school to prepare him for another try. Raised on a farm he had no one to talk to as he worked but the animals and has a habit of talking to himself, much to our amusement. In Tokyo he is amazed how humanoid common persocoms (personal computers) are, and disappointed how expensive they are. One night while heading to his apartment he spots one in a trash pile and takes it home. Can this technically inept young man cope with a persocom in the form of a very cute girl, a persocom that is an unusual model unlike any on the market?
- There is a manga available from the Right Stuf site.
- Cultural details: Everyday life in Tokyo.
- Cautions: Incredibly cute, includes humorous sexual situations and nudity.
- Order Chobits from The Right Stuf
- Cowboy Bebop - TV series
- Bounty hunters near Mars in a future gone a little seedy, but then bounty hunters often are not in the best parts of town. As the story goes on you discover more about why the future is not all bright and shiny. Excellent jazz music by Yoko Kanno and well done choreography for the fight scenes. Aimed at an adult TV viewing audience this show is popular with teens.
- There is a manga available from the Right Stuf site.
- Cautions: Violence and cleavage.
- Order Cowboy Bebop from The Right Stuf
- Cowboy Bebop The Movie - movie
- Set between episodes in the TV series the characters of the show are on the trail of a fugitive. A fugitive who has a very deadly weapon that already has killed hundreds, a fugitive who all reports indicate died years ago.
- Order Cowboy Bebop The Movie from The Right Stuf
- Crest of the Stars - TV Series
- Jinto's home world has been invaded by the Abh, a beautiful blue haired people who live for centuries with little sign of aging. His father makes a choice against overwhelming odds to prevent a war that is sure to be lost and Jinto has to live with the consequences. Then the story moves to seven years later when Jinto enters military training and meets Lafiel, an Abh trainee who is to be important in his life. Then war breaks out.
- A great piece of science fiction dealing with the contact between two very different cultures.
- Continued in Banner of the Stars
- Order Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars from The Right Stuf
- D
- The Dagger of Kamui - Movie
- The story of Jiro, a foundling whose adopted family is murdered and his quest for revenge. With the assistance of a ninja master Jiro learns to be a skilled fighter. But not all is as it seems and he has to determine who is in fact his ally and who is his enemy. Set in the late Edo Period as the government of the shogun is collapsing with locations ranging from Hokkaido to the United States.
- Cautions: Violence and mild nudity.
- Cultural Details: Late Edo culture and politics.
- Order The Dagger of Kamui from The Right Stuf
- Dirty Pair OVA series
- What can I say about a tongue in cheek science fiction series involving two attractive, underdressed female agents who always succeed in their missions with lots of collateral damage? Well I can say it's fun, action oriented and has some great lines as when one of our heroines said to a sexist marine "Gee you were good looking until you opened your mouth"
- What am recommending here is the older OVA series not the newer, and still amusing Dirty Pair Flash series.
- There is also an excellent Dirty Pair pseudo-manga by Adam Warren.
- Cautions: Violence and mild nudity.
- Order Dirty Pair from The Right Stuf
- E
- El Hazard: Magnificent World - Original OVA series
- Partially inspired by the pulp science fiction of Edmund Hamilton and the old Prisoner of Zenda movie this is the tale of a young man who finds himself transported to another world. A world where it turns out he looks very much like a missing princess. A princess who is needed for public appearances.
- (The original OVA series is recommended over the later TV and OVA series, The Wanderers: El Hazard, El Hazard 2 and El Hazard: The Alternative World)
- There is also an El Hazard manga series available from the Right Stuf site.
- Order El Hazard: Magnificent World from The Right Stuf
- Escaflowne ** TV series
- High school student Hitomi has always been good at predicting the future with tarot cards. One day at school she collapses while at track practice and has a vision. That evening she finds out the boy she is in love with is going to leave Japan suddenly decides to tell him how she feels before he leaves. But the evening when she does part of her vision becomes real and in the end she is transported to another world. That is the first episode, to find what happens to her I suggest getting the whole series.
- Order The Vision of Escaflowne from The Right Stuf
- F
- FLCL - OVA
- Jr High student Naota's older brother has gone to America to play pro baseball and now has a blond girl friend. Mamimi, the brother's Japanese high school girlfriend does not know this but is making moves on Naota. Then Hanako shows up on a Vespa with guitar. Oh yes then there are the robots, aliens, government agencies.and a space pirate. Throughout all of this Naota has to deal with the hormonal changes of being an adolescent.
- Cultural Details: Life in contemporary Japan. Comes with extensive liner notes
- Order FLCL from The Right Stuf
- G
- Ghost in The Shell - Movie
- The critically acclaimed adaptation of Shirow Masamune's manga of the same title remains a visually stunning science fiction tale of political intrigue. Directed by Oshii Mamoru one of Kurosawa's favorite directors. The special edition of the video and the DVD include extras such as a "making of" behind the scenes look at the production.
- There is also a TV series, not yet available in the US and a 2nd feature in the making.
- There are also Ghost in the Shell manga available
- Cautions: Violence, some nudity and skin tight body suits.
- Order Ghost in The Shell from The Right Stuf
- Order Ghost in The Shell Special Edition from The Right Stuf
- Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence - Movie
- Set several years after the first movie. The major is still missing, Batou and Tosuga are assigned a case which may or may not involve terrorists. A manufacturer of androids has been lending out test models to select clients. When the models break down and murder their new masters Section Nine steps in to investigate.
- Cautions: Violence, some nudity.
- Order Ghost in The Shell 2 Innocence from The Right Stuf (subtitles only)
- Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig (TV series)
- Set either before the movie or in an alternative storyline the TV series shows the major and her comrades carrying out their duty as a special security unit. Fans of the manga will recognise some interesting hardware used by the members of Section Nine.
- Order Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex from The Right Stuf.
- GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka - TV series
- Ex-biker gone to college Onizuka decides to become a high school teacher, motivated by desires that would upset the parents of any teen aged daughter. But this highly short tempered and violent fellow also has a sincerity and concern for his students that shapes his actions in virtuous, if very unconventional, ways.
- Cultural Details: Modern school and urban life.
- Cautions:
Sexual humor, often at Onizuka's expense, and some violence, often at Onizuka's hands.
However the manga is stronger and is not recommended for kids.- Order GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka anime from The Right Stuf
- Gundam See: Mobile Suit Gundam
- H
- Hakkenden OVA series
- An adaptation of a famous 19th century samurai novel, dense with Buddhist and Confucian symbolism this is the tale of eight men who are somehow connected to eight virtues through separate prayer beads each has had with them since childhood. A tale of vengeance and karma, excellent for fans of Japanese cinema.
- Available both subtitled and re-dubbed.
- Cultural Details: Traditional settings, clothing, locations, religious and philosophical views.
- Cautions: Violence.
- Order Hakkenden from The Right Stuf
- Here is Greenwood OVA series
- One of the first shôjo anime released in the US. This is the story of Kazuya who has missed the first month of high school and is assigned to the Greenwood dorm. A dorm with the odder students of his high school, he discovers how odd when he meets is room mate. A great short series of tales taken from the manga which is also comming out in the US.
Order Here is Greenwood disc set from The Right Stuf- Howl's Moving Castle - Movie
- Young Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and becomes an old woman. She leaves home and ends up in the castle of Howl a famous wizard, the castle is not in one place as it walks across the land.
Order Howl's Moving Castle from The Right Stuf
- K
- Kiki's Delivery Service - Movie
- Kiki is a young witch, according to tradition she must leave home at the age of thirteen, find a town with no witch and become independent. She doesn't have many skills but her cat Jiji at least can help by offering advice. This is a tale of maturation set in a fictional European style setting with some very stunning animation.
- Order Kiki's Delivery Service from The Right Stuf
- L
- Last Exile - TV series
- Claus and Lavie are a team, flying their vanship delivering messages to earn a living. Then an unexpected cargo lands in their hands with a request to deliver it, a very dangerous assignment that will involve them in a war that may determine the fate of not only their nation but of their world. Beautifully illustrated with animation by Gonzo, a company that is setting new standards for computer animation.
- Order Last Exile from The Right Stuf
- M
- Macross TV series
- The commonly used name for SuperDimensional Fortress Macross. A major classic work of anime. A massive spaceship crashes on Earth, obviously damaged in some sort of conflict. The United Nations recognizes a major threat to Earth and unifies the planet under it's rule, some nations resist and a decade of war takes place at the same time that the ship is studied and restored. Then during the ceremonies for it's test flight a fleet appears in space, then the ship automatically attacks.
- Order Macross from The Right Stuf
- Macross Plus OVA series
- Taking place decades after the events of the original Macross series this is the story of two young test pilots and a young woman who is the manager of the hottest music act in the settled parts of the galaxy. There is trouble in their past and it has come back to them as they find themselves together again after 7 years of separation.
- I recommend the 4 episode OVA series over the feature movie which is just a shorter edited version of the OVA tapes with a few minutes of new animation.
- Order Macross Plus from The Right Stuf
- Maison Ikkoku TV series
- Maison Ikkoku is the story of Godai, a young man who falls in love and has to deal with how to pursue the woman he wants. Godai is surrounded by a variety of characters, in more than one sense of the word, and has to deal with his own fears and emotional clumsiness, all of which provide an entertaining series.
- For a list of what is available see my Takahashi Rumiko Translations: Maison Ikkoku page.
- Cultural Details: Foods, etiquette, household items, schools, day to day life.
- Order Maison Ikkoku videos from The Right Stuf
- Millennium Actress - Movie
- Directed by Kon Satoshi. Tachibana Gen'ya is making a documentary and interviews Fujiwara Chiyoko, an actress who retired at the height of her career. This is a lovely homage to 20th century Japanese cinema as in a series of flashbacks tells the story of a young girl who accepted an offer to act and grew into a woman while in pursiut of the man she loved.
- Cultural Details: 20th century japanese history and cinema, household items,, day to day life.
- Order Millennium Actress from The Right Stuf
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- The Mobile Suit Gundam series of anime shows has been a major part of anime since 1979 when the first series was broadcast on TV. The quality of the shows greatly varies but many are excellent highly dramatic works worthy of consideration as among the best in anime.
- Universal Century Gundam:
- The titles listed here are all from the stories using the UC, Universal Century, dating system. These are in my opinion some of the best of the Gundam stories. Other Gundam series such as Gundam Wing, and Gundam SEED are set in entirely other fictional universes and have little in common with the Universal Century Gundam shows.
- The Background:
- The story is set in the not too distant future, space programs have advanced far enough to use materials from off the Earth, mainly the moon and asteroids, to provide needed resources. Using resources in space is called In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and is cheaper than lifting large amounts of material off the Earth. Such resources include metals, oxygen bonded to minerals and solar energy.
- On the Earth energy shortages, pollution and environmental problems complicated by a large population leads to an adventuresome program to build space colonies, not colonies on other planets but giant rotating cylinders, each colony large enough to comfortably house millions. These are called O'Neill colonies after the physicist who first proposed them in the 1970s. At the time the story begins the Earth is under the control of a large federation of nations, a government for the entire planet. It is decided that there is a need to save the Earth from further damage and to even allow nature to repair what damage has been done. To do this it is decided to relocate a large portion of the human population into clusters of colonies at Lagrange points, clusters called sides. Each side is composed of dozins colonies, the older smaller colonies holding about 3 million inhabitants the larger ones about 15 million or more. The relocation is not voluntary and many sent to the sides, or the Lunar colonies, are resentful at having to leave Earth.
- A new calendar is in use dating from the settlement of the first colonies. Many of the shows have titles containing references to the year in which they take place. In time the populations settle in and life goes one, some colonies specialize in raising food, some even develop tourism industries, trade develops and political movements adjust to the new conditions. Side 3, which is located opposite the moon from Earth had become the Principality of Zeon espousing grand ideals but in reality becoming an oppressive regime under the rule of the Zabi family. In 0079 Zeon revolts against the rule of the Earth Federation and attacks the Earth Federation with little warning.
- Early in what became known as the One Year War half of humanity is wiped out, 5 billion dead, mainly as a result of the destruction of many of the colonies. A result of this is the Treaty of Antarctica banning nuclear weapons, poison gas and the total destruction of colonies. Long distance combat has been rendered useless by the discovery of Minovsky particles which when scattered block radio and radar effectively eliminating many of the techniques of 20th Century warfare. A major new kind of weapon has come into existence, large, usually anthropomorphic, Mobile Suits designed for close combat and useable in space or on Earth.
- All of these tales have no faster than light drives, no aliens and all of the stories take place within the orbital range of the Moon.
- A major theme in the Gundam series is the effect of warfare on civilian populations. While the shows take place in war time they are not simple action entertainment as an entire environment has been woven into a complex setting for the tales.
- During the One Year War.
- Mobile Suit Gundam the Movies
- The TV show reedited into three movies. The fact that they did the story into three movies preserves much of the story that would have been lost if they tried to compress it into one movie. If you want the story in a subtitled version, or just don't want to sit throught the long re-dubbed version, this is the one to get.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam the Movies from The Right Stuf
- Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team OVA series
- Set in Asia in UC 0079, this side story deals with the war in a specific area and not only the people on the major sides but the local guerrilla forces. The story focuses on Shiro a young officer straight from the colonies in charge of the 08th MS Team.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team from The Right Stuf
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 OVA series
- The story of a young boy living on a neutral colony who is having to cope with the separation of his parents and trouble in school. He ends up befriending a young Zeon soldier who is actually part of a group investigating a hidden Federation research facility. Then the colony openly sides with the Federation and things get dangerous.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 from The Right Stuf
- After the One Year War
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 OVA series
- The war is over but some elements of the old Zeon troops feel that they cannot live with the peace treaty and attempt to start a new war by stealing and using a special experimental Gundam unit armed with a nuclear warhead. Among the Federation crew sent to recover it is a young woman engineer who is in charge of the stolen Gundam unit as well as experimental unit and the test pilots who were to have tested the new Gundams.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 from The Right Stuf
- Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta TV series
- Universal Century 0087 again conflict grows, the Earth Federation established the Titans after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083. The arrogance of the Federation and the brutality of the Titans is proving too much and a resistance is growing. A resistance in which former enemies are now allies, many are still determining the group they will support and which gives us more glimpses of the Universal Century settings of the stories.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta from The Right Stuf
- Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack - Movie
- More than ten years have passed since the One Year war ended. Suddenly Char reappears with a new army and threatens the Earth Federation. Amuro again takes on his old opponent in their final match.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack from The Right Stuf
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91 - Movie
- UC 123 after 30 peaceful years a new group, the Crossbones Vanguard, attacks and takes over the Frontier IV colony. A college student, Seabook Arno, finds himself not only in a war but that people he knew have been involved in projects that will reluctantly lead him into battle.
- Order Mobile Suit Gundam F91 from The Right Stuf
My Neighbor Totoro - Movie A tale of two young girls who move to a country house with their father in the 1950s to be closer to the hospital where there mother is staying. Released in the United States by Fox, the license for this title will soon expire and the distribution rights transfer to Disney at which point it may be unavailable for some time. This is highly popular with parents and children. Cultural Details: Household details, country life. Order My Neighbor Totoro DVD new multilingual subtitled edition from The Right Stuf
- N
- Nadia TV series
- The story is loosely based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, perhaps inspired by would be a better term. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is a rich and well crafted work about a young inventor, Jean, who meets a young dark skinned circus performer, Nadia, and helps her escape from a woman with two thugs who are trying to get Nadia and the blue gem she is wearing around her neck.
- After their dramatic escape Jean and Nadia end up setting out to find about her past, and so the adventure begins as they are pursued by more than one group after the gem. But I'm getting ahead of the events in the first few episodes.
- Made for NHK, the Japanese public broadcasting system.
- Order Nadia from The Right Stuf
- Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind - Movie
- The tale of a young princess from a small kingdom who is drawn into a war by a powerful allied state. The setting is a world where there are few places left for people to live, much of the world is covered by large poisonous forests inhabited by large insects, incests who when agnered attack and spread deadly spores enlarging the forest.
- Order Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind from The Right Stuf
- Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series
- The highly acclaimed TV series from Gainax this was aimed at an older audience and is a science fiction extravaganza that is more about human feelings and trust than dealing with some very alien attackers. Many of the staff who worked on Nadia also worked on this title. If you have seen Nadia you will recognize many references to that earlier series.
- There is also a manga series.
- Cultural Details: Foods, etiquette, locations.
- Cautions: Violence and nudity.
- Order Neon Genesis Evangelion from The Right Stuf
- O
- Oh! My Goddess OVA series
- A heartwarming and humorous story of Keiichi, a young man who has been granted a wish by a visiting goddess (Belldandy), thinking it is a joke by his dorm mates he makes an honest decision that has very unexpected results. As the story develops we find that the bond between him and Belldandy is deeper than he, or we, thought.
- There is a manga available from the Right Stuf site.
- Cultural Details: Foods, locations, architecture, household items, college life.
- Cautions: A few seconds of sexual humor in the second episode.
- Order Oh My Goddess from The Right Stuf
- Ah! My Goddess: The Movie - Movie
- Something or someone is causing trouble for Belldandy and Keiichi. And more than just her and her human friends are in great danger. This story takes place long after the OVA and includes characters from the manga. Well animated and worth getting after seeing the OVA or reading the manga.
- Order Ah My Goddess from The Right Stuf
- Otaku no Video OVA series
- A classic mokumentary of Japanese fan culture, including it's less savory sides. Otaku no Video is in the form of an animated story of a group of fans who turn pro, just as the makers did, and each chapter is framed by an actual interview with a 'real' fan. I know one teacher who is using this series in a grade school class. The DVD has the option of showing only the animation without the interviews.
- Cautions: Mild nudity, animated except for one scene on a TV screen in the background during one interview.
- Cultural Details: Urban live in contemporary Japan, fan culture.
- Order Otaku no Video on from The Right Stuf
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- Patlabor, a note:
- In the near future advances in mechanical and computer technology have resulted in the development of a new type of highly efficient construction machines called Labors. As these become more widely used for legitimate purposes there is also a rise in crime involving these machines. The Patlabor series is about a special police unit in Tokyo charged with dealing with Labor crime. Patlabor is a shortened way of saying Patrol Labor. The machines are secondary in the stories, the series revolves around the people involved in the unit.
- Patlabor is also known as Patlabor the Mobile Police and Mobile Police Patlabor.
- There is also a manga series.
- Cultural Details: Tokyo locations, etiquette, expressions of feelings, foods.
- Sequence:
- The 'Original Series' is an OVA series which came first.
- Then there was the 'TV Series'
- After that the "New Files" OVA series.
- The first movie seems to fit in late in the TV series and the second movie after the rest of the series. The third movie takes place sometime before the 2nd movie.
- Patlabor Original Series OVA series
- The first Patlabor series. It was after the success of this OVA series that the TV show came to be.
- Order Patlabor Original Series from The Right Stuf
- Patlabor TV Series
- The TV series reintroduces the characters in a different manner than the OVA series and takes places them in a variety of situations not in the Original Series OVA. More humor exists in the TV series than in the OVA.
- Order Patlabor TV Series from The Right Stuf
- Patlabor New Files OVA series
- This second OVA series continues the TV series finishing some of the story arcs.
- Order Patlabor New Files from The Right Stuf
- Patlabor 1 - Movie
- Labors require very complex software, so complex that the machines have to be 'trained' to work with a particular operator's style. What happens when a major upgrade to the operating system contains a virus, and how does the potential harm it can cause be avoided. Directed by Oshii Mamoru.
The numbered limited edition contains two books and an additional DVD for documentary material.- 100 minutes.
- Order Patlabor 1 from The Right Stuf
- Patlabor 2 - Movie
- Something mysterious is going on, a potential military coup involving elements in the Japanese military with American backing has the country on the brink of disaster. And someone in the Patrol Labor units has a personal history with a major player. Directed by Oshii Mamoru.
The numbered limited edition contains two books and an additional DVD for documentary material.- 108 minutes.
- Order Patlabor 2 from The Right Stuf
- Patlabor 3 (WXIII) - Movie
- Labors are being attacked in the vicinity of Tokyo Bay. As the death toll mounts two detectives come closer to a conclusion that would have been too fantastic when they began the research. The Patlabor team is called in late in the story to deal with an opponent that so far has eluded not only the police but also the military.
- Order Patlabor 3 from The Right Stuf
- Perfect Blue - Movie
- The story of a singer turned actress who's career decisions are not well liked by her earlier fans, one of whom has become very dangerous. Often compared to the works of Alfred Hitchcock this anime has scenes which some fans find disturbing, something which was intended by the director. This is not an anime for children, they would be bored throughout most of it.
- Cautions: Nudity and graphic violence. Includes a sequence where a rape scene is filmed for the TV show.
- Cultural Details: Urban live in contemporary Japan, entertainment industry.
- Order Perfect Blue from The Right Stuf
- Planetes - TV series
- In the future humanity has built space stations, a colony on the moon and sent several expeditions to Mars. And there is garbage, dangerous garbage flying in orbit at high speed, even a small piece can kill if it hits a space ship the right way. Hence there are garbage collectors. This is the story of Tanabe, Hachimaki and the other teem members of the Debris Section of a particular large company. An underfunded and understaffed section that has been given the nickname half-section.
- Order Planetes from The Right Stuf
- Pom Poko - Movie
- In the 1960s a massive series of planned housing expansions were built in the rural Tama region of Tokyo, yes Tokyo has a rural district. The local tanuki banded together to fight back and protect their environment. What is a tanuki? It is a native East Asian canine that in Japan has a long tradition of using magical powers to create illusions and trick people. For some strange reason, likely the facial markings, tanuki is translated as racoon in this version. Anyone who is familiar with racoons would see that they look very different.
- Cautions: Expect lots of earthy Japanese humor, including male tanuki testicles, and slapstick fun in this one.
- Cultural Details: Rich in references to traditional Japan, from entertainment, legend, art, religion etc.
Order Pom Poko from The Right Stuf- Porco Rosso - Movie
- Marco is a decorated ace from WWI, he honed his skills fighting against the Germans. Somehow cuirsed and turned into a pig he is now known as Porco Rosso and earns a living as a bounty hunter in the Adriatic, usually dealing with air pirates. A very funny and touching story with a political subtext of life during the rise of fascism. Great for the entire family.
Order Porco Rosso from The Right Stuf- Princess Mononoke - Movie
- One of Miyazaki Hayao's most lavish works available in English. Also one of the most expensive and commercially successful feature Japanese films in history. This is the story of a young man cursed by a boar 'god' gone mad. He travels to find the source of the madness in the hope of locating a cure before he dies.
- Cultural Details: Life in pre-Edo Period Japan, includes commoners, samurai and religious beliefs.
- Cautions: This was not done for children as it is a complex story and has a certain amount of combat and death in it, but Miyazaki came to the conclusion that children are perceptive enough to be able to understand and enjoy it.
- Order Princess Mononoke from The Right Stuf
- R
- Ranma 1/2 (TV series, OVA series and Movies)
- The third and most successful anime series adaptation of a Takahashi Rumiko manga series. Ranma is a young martial artist who has had an unfortunate accident. Akane is Ranma's fiance due to an arrangement between their fathers, much of the story is about how these two strong willed children deal with the situation they find themselves in..
- I recommend concentrating on the TV series as the movies and OVAs have characters that enter the TV series quite late. One unfortunate example of misleading wording is that the early tape boxes describe the series as a "sex comedy" a better choice of words would have been "gender comedy" since traditional gender roles are poked fun at in the story and there is no sexual activity depicted.
- For a list of what is available, with order links, see my Takahashi Rumiko Translations: Ranma page.
- There is also a translation of the manga series.
- Cultural Details: School life, martial arts, relationships, foods, clothing, traditional home and garden.
- Cautions: Some nudity.
- Roujin Z - Movie
- The Ministry of Health is trying out a new high tech automated bed for elderly patients, but the young nursing student in charge of the elderly man who has been chosen for the experiment has different ideas about what is best in patient care, and so does the bed.
- Cultural Details: Everyday life.
- Order Roujin Z from The Right Stuf
- Rurouni Kenshin Trust and Betrayal - OVA series (English redub titled and DVD labeled as Samurai X Trust and Betrayal)
- The end of the Tokugawa Era was set in motion as a response to US warships under the command of admiral Perry sailing into Japanese territory and negotiating a treaty under threat of bombardment. This event set into motion a series of violent actions by various elements in Japanese society that led to the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. This OVA is the story of one young swordsman who put into action his desire to better his nation by becoming an assassin in this bloody period of Japanese history.
- This actually is a prequel for the earlier TV series, there is a movie and later OVA series, Samurai X: Reflection, which takes place after the TV series, both of which many fans do not care for.
- Cultural Details: Set in mid 19th century Kyoto, many details relating to political forces of the time. I have a special supplement to the Anime Companion devoted to the OVA series.
- Cautions: Not for children, a sophisticated storyline & violence.
- Order the Rurouni Kenshin OVA series from The Right Stuf
- Rurouni Kenshin - TV series
- A very long series set 10 years after the events of the OVA series. With a less realistic style and much lighter at first than the OVA series this series grows on fans quickly. But don't expect it to stay light for long, this series takes on some serious tones rather quickly.
- The manga is also available in English.
- Cultural Details: Rich in details about personages and life in the Meiji era.
- Cultural Details: Everyday life.
- Order The Rurouni Kenshin TV series from The Right Stuf
- S
- Serial Experiments Lain - TV series
- An award winning TV series about human interaction with technology. Lain is a young girl whose interest in computers is sparked when she receives email from a girl in her school. Email sent after the girl had jumped to her death from a building. As the tale develops Lain discovers that much of her life is not waht it seems to be on the surface.
- Cultural Details: School life, relationships, foods.
- Cautions: Slight sexual situation in one episode.
- Order Serial Experiments Lain from The Right Stuf
- Spirited Away movie
- Winner of the 2002 Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The US re-dubbed theatrical release won the Oscar for the Best Animated Feature for 2002.
Chihiro and her parents are moving to a new home when they get lost on a country road. They explore an old building and emerge on the other side thinking they have found an abandoned theme park, in reality they are very much on the 'other side' and have found a place humans are not ment to be. The parents are turned into pigs and Chihiro has to find a job to survive or she too will turn into an animal and be eaten. She find courage and allies as she struggles to survive and rescue her parents.- Order Spirited Away from The Right Stuf
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- Tenchi Muyo OVA series
- I recommend the original OVA series over the later TV series, Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo. One day Tenchi sneaks into a cave on the grounds of the family shrine and ends up releasing a demon that has been imprisoned there for centuries. He believes he has succeeded in resealing the demon in the cave, until it visits him one night searching for revenge on the family of his ancestor who confined the demon in the first place. A mervelous science - fantasy.
- There are also Tenchi Muyo manga available at the Right Stuf site.
- Available both subtitled and re-dubbed.
- Cultural Details: Everyday life.
- Order Tenchi Muyo OVA from The Right Stuf m
- Tokyo Godfathers - Movie
- On Christmas three homeless people in Tokyo find a baby in a trash heap. Gin the grouchy drunk, Hana a cross dressing queer and Miyuki a teenage runaway have formed a household of sorts and now must decide what to do with the foundling. Hana takes command and they decide to search for the mother. Inspired by the John Ford movie 3 Godfathers this is a study of the relationships between and reasons these three have become homeless.
- Only in Japanese with subtitles.
- Cultural Details: Everyday life, homelessness, Metropolitan Tokyo.
- Cultural Details: Some strong language.
- Order Tokyo Godfathers from The Right Stuf
- U
- Urusei Yatsura TV-Continuing series, OVA series and Movies
- Very long series 50 DVD discs (100 minutes each), 6 OVA discs and 6 movies. This is a very popular series with fans and is the first anime series based on the works of Takahashi Rumiko.
- Ataru is far more than your typical high school sex fiend, when we first see him he is drooling after watching a beautiful woman walk by. The Earth is about to be invaded and the alien's computer has chosen him to be Earth's champion in a competition, he has to grab the horns of the alien princess Lum, who happens to have a great figure and wear a bikini. But no one told him she could fly, to encourage him his girlfriend offers to marry him if he succeeds. when he finally garbs the horns he says that he can finally get married and Lum, thinking he means her, accepts. So the long strange and very funny story begins.
- Part of the manga series is also available in translation.
- For a list of what is available see my Takahashi Rumiko Translations: Urusei Yatsura page.
- Cultural Details: Day to day life, school, foods, locations, folklore, gender relations. Comes with extensive liner notes
- Order Urusei Yatsura from The Right Stuf
- V
- Vampire Princess Miyu OVA series
- A sequential series of interconnected stories about a woman who is trying to track down a young female vampire. moody and dramatic. There is also a TV series.
- Cultural Details: Historical locations, architecture, school life. Comes with liner notes.
- There is a manga available from the Right Stuf site.
- Order Vampire Princess Miyu from The Right Stuf
- Vision of Escaflowne see: Escaflowne
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- Whisper of the Heart - Movie
- Shizuku is in her last year of middle school, one day she notices a familiar name in the checkout slips for the books she is borrowing for summer reading. She eventualy meets Seiji who has a clear vision of what he wants to do with his life. A tale of growing up and taking risks.
- Cultural Details: Modern urban life, school..
- Order Whisper of the Heart DVD (multilingual) from The Right Stuf
- Y
- You're Under Arrest OVA, TV series, and movie
- An up front fun series of tales about traffic police in modern Tokyo. A great combination of humor, action and drama.
- There is a manga available from the Right Stuf site.
- Cultural Details: Locations, foods, day to day life. Comes with liner notes.
- Cautions Some scantily clad women in one or two episodes and a cross dressing officer.
- Order You're Under Arrest from The Right Stuf
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Created August 8, 1999 | Updated September 22, 2007