Hey, remember this thread? Bump.
I just watched a Netflix Original Anime series that made me think it would be appropriate to mention here,
Blood of Zeus.
This thread was inspired by a conversation between @"addiesin", @"mnkykungfu" and myself in which Addiesin expressed some frustration at being unable to pin down what exactly they liked in an anime. With this thread I hope to provide some signposts towards some readily available anime and invite you to watch it with an open mind and honestly review it.
There are many ways to approach anime:
Director
Genre
Franchise
Studio
Aesthetic
Format (TV, OVA, Movie, Short etc)
Malthus started off by discussing a Director, then others commented and we looked at recommendations by Studio, then a Franchise, a Format, and finally I recommended a Genre. You could argue that Aesthetic came up in a few posts, but more notably in terms of things that didn't appeal to people, for example not starting off with wacky teenage comedy vibes. In brief, some of these main recommendations were:
-
Director: if a film-lover is looking to follow an anime director, "everything by Satoshi Kon rocks"
-
Studio: obviously Ghibli came up as a good gateway, and not just the films by Miyazaki (incidentally, Netflix now has almost all Ghibli's movies streaming in most regions, including ones that didn't originally get a Western release)
-
Franchise:
Ghost in the Shell has releases of varying quality, however the series
Stand Alone Complex was recommended (personally I prefer the
ARISE origin series of OVAs, but I know
SAC fans would disagree)
-
Format: TV series are great if you find something that hooks you in the first couple episodes, but film fans might be better getting the immediate payoff of a good Original Video Animation (OVA)
-
Genre: anime has probably a higher percentage of really quality sci-fi than any other genre
Finally, I want to recommend something that really addresses the Aesthetic category. If people have had trouble finding a lot of anime that they really dug the stylings of,
Blood of Zeus is something a bit different that might help ease in a Western viewer. Rather than some of the wilder, more outlandish styles in much anime, this is a story based in Greek mythology with artwork and character designs to match. There are no anime stereotypes here and no reliance on anime story tropes instead of actual character-building. It's far better than I expected when I first threw it on.
Don't get me wrong, this is still a story about Greek gods, so it's got all the mythical, Jungian psychology which has embedded itself across generations. It's something of a "hero's journey", and it leans pretty hard on Zeus being an old horndog and Hera being the scorned goddess. But I love how much of a tribute it is to old fantasy films like
Clash of the Titans,
Jason and the Argonauts, and a bit of
God of War thrown in. It's an action-packed, violent series that tells a complete story arc in just a few binge-able episodes, written by some Greek brothers with a real love and affection for playing with their own mythology. I give it a strong recommend for anyone dabbling in anime but looking for something with maybe a more Westernized vibe/look.