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If you liked Grave of the Fireflies...try Voices of a Distant Star. It's short, only thirty minutes...but extremely well done, very powerful. Extremely depressing, but so is GotF.
Posts: 3658 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Voices of a Distant star or Hoshi no Koe was a feature made entirely by one person and his wife. It was very critically acclaimed, though I have yet to see it.
I actually saw the Esca movie before I saw the series, so I am favorably disposed towards it... The plot's not altogether great, but I love the character designs. It doesn't hurt that Dilandau comes out of it unscathed, with a few of his soldiers still intact. It gets brownie points from me for that. I was greatly disappointed by what happened to him in the end of the series... It was a huge let-down, but a great plot twist.
As for Folken, he's great. Definitely one of the most complex and hard to figure out characters in the show. I just love him. He's very very cool. Like I said earlier, I love almost every character from Escaflowne, barring Emperor Dornkirk, the madoushi (the sorcerers), the guy with the pink hair and the snake, and King Aston.
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No, I was rather surprised at that, too. Interestingly enough, it was based on fact. Apparently in his later years, he dabbled in alchemy... Who knew? Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote: Well, I couldn't find this movie to rent, so I bought it and watched it. You were right. It was very well made. Beautifully filmed, and it brought me to tears. I watched it with my wife, and she's inconsolable, even now, an hour after it ended.
Thanks for the recommendation. Now I just have to convince you all to see After Life.
Speed: Yay! I'm happy you took the leap of faith and discovered this film. This is what I hoped for when starting this thread . Perhaps I'll look into 'After Life.' Could you give me a little detail on it?
quote: I rented “Grave of the Fireflies” this last week, but about 20 minutes into it I had to stop.
I can watch dismemberment, immolation, walking zombies and the like without any problem. But show me a four-year-old asking for her mommy and knowing she will never see her again alive, and I collapse like a house of cards. It was just too intense for me.
AndrewR: Don't worry, that's only one of the least intense moments... While I completely understand, I'd still recommend that you summon the courage to watch it all the way through. It is very intense and soul-wrenching, but sometimes pain can be a beautiful thing. Strange isn't it?
Ryuko and Eduardo: The little I know of Escaflowne is from the dubbed version released on Fox a couple years ago. I was wondering if either of you saw it then and whether or not it was a good presentation of the series. Personally, it looked just like about a hundred other 'giant-robot-piloted-by-teenager-trying-to-rescue-the-princess-and-save-the-world' animes out there, but it might just be a bad impression from the Fox version.
again, Eduardo: Actually, yes I do know of Serial Experiments: Lain. In fact it is the series that brought me back to anime after several years. I saw one of the first episodes, it haunted me for days, then I bought the DVD boxed set. I tried stopping in the middle since it was midnight when I started watching it, but I couldn't get it out of my mind and had to watch it through to the end. (all 13 episodes) I'm very glad I did: it was a powerful experience on many levels, including philosophical, emotional, and spiritual. I then commenced to watch it several more times, though spread across weeks and months instead of hours. It is my favorite anime series (so far) and Lain is one of my all time favorite characters. Call me strange but towards the end I really did care for her. I cried when she cried and was elated when she was elated (and exalted... props to any who know what I'm referring to ) This is a mind-bending and intense series. Definitely a must see. Just be prepared for some wierdness!
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Mormonaiacal: !!!! God, no!! That's a terrible representation! For one thing, the dub is BAD... Painfully bad. For another thing, they cut it to shreds to put it on TV. They even cut out the entire first episode... It sort of seems like that at first, but if you look beyond it, there's an incredible amount of well-characterized characters and plots and wow. You should watch it.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Heh heh, I kind of figured as much. Unfortunately I don't have cable or directtv or anything, so to watch it I'd probably have to buy the dvd's... which is currently an investement I'm not willing to make. Forgive me!
Posts: 41 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Have you seen any of SE: Lain Ryuko? If not, do so. Maybe it'll get you off your Escaflowne addiction, and on to something a little more moderate... like Accela... Once again, props to any who have any clue as to what the heck I'm referring to! Posts: 41 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Accela, moderate...yeah, right... sheesh, do know what you are talking about, Mormonical, what I am now? Maybe I've been too much surfing the "wired", you know
Oh...fortunatelly I've bought Escaflowne boxed DVD series at Amazon.com . From what I know about anime series aired on tv, they must have cutten it to shreds all right.
Rent the dvd. You will have great fun. Watched "Voices of a Distant Past" again, this saturday. Man...it IS sad. 30 minutes of a very, very emotional movie.
And Lain IS weird!
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I'll take your advice, Mormoniacal--in about 10 years, when my little's boy's childhood pain is but a fond memory of the "good old days." Posts: 2473 | Registered: Jan 2000
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I get the concise feeling that there is something in your background to make gotf even more devestating that i know nothing about...
Posts: 41 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Lain is weird? No. No no no. You have not seen weird anime until you've seen Evangelion. Period.
Posts: 3658 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Hi. Just thought I'd resurrect this thread since I never gave the film an appropriate response. As I said earlier, I couldn't find it to rent, but I found a store about a half hour drive away that sold it. Having confidence in such strong Jatraquero opinion, I drove out there and bought it. I found it to be powerful and well made. Fascinating to see WWII from a Japanese point of view. I thought it was a little emotionally manipulative, but it worked despite it all, so I didn't mind.
My wife, on the other hand, will never see that movie again. At the end of the movie we were both crying. I calmed down a while later, but she didn't. I stayed up for several hours trying to console her, but finally I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning and she was still sobbing with as much intensity as she had the night before. She hadn't slept all night. She went to school, and when she came back she was still whimpering and her eyes were red and puffy. She had to wear dark glasses so no one thought I was abusing her. In all, I think she got about 18 hours of crying out of that movie, and even now she can't be reminded of it without getting choked up.
I'm glad it was recommended to me, but if any of you b@$#@rds ever do something like that again, I'll smack ya. Thanks, though.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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I'm very fond of this topic. It's one of the firsts in wich I've posted. And it is interesting to see how people react to such a powerful movie. Well...I said it before and I will say it again: "Voices of a distant Star". It is a short movie (about 30 minutes or so), very sad but not as "emotionally manipulative" as Grave of Fireflies.
Posts: 1785 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Someone other than me finally mentioned Jin-Roh! Wow. Well if anyone's lumping this Grave of the Fireflies with it, then I'll definitely see it. That was an excellent film, 'haunting' is a very good word for it. I still think about the protaganist's last act in the film from time to time, it's stuck with me.
As for Disney's The Jungle Book, I've read the book and seen the film. I enjoyed both tremendously, but I think the film was mostly because of all the songs, lol (Sorry Noemon)
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It sounds like a radically different kind of film, though (aside from being animated in Japan ). Jin-Roh had elements of suspense, history, politics, action, and intense personal crisis and conflict. And although I usually latch onto the second two items, it was the first and last items that I always think about when I think about that film.
Is Grave of the Fireflies widely available? Could I pick it up at Blockbuster or Hollywood, or would I need to buy it online or find it at an anime shop?
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Rakeesh, I wanted to get it for my brother for Christmas, and the only way I found to get it was with it included in a Studio Ghibli DVD boxed set for around 65 bucks.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Grave is a powerful film, and I must add watching the entire series of Cowboy Bebop to the list. Overall, that is my fav anime series.
I believe I picked up Grave at Best Buy, and had to order Cowboy from Amazon.com. But to my dismay, I caught Cowboy on adult swim on the Cartoon Network.
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You can get Grave of the Fireflies from Best Buy. We rented it from Netflix about a month or so ago. A few Blockbusters carry it - but call them to ask first (or search the inventory of your closest stores online) - there was only one that carried it within about 10 miles of me.
I thought is was very powerful. I was somewhat prepared for it (having read a very detailed synopsis of the plot), but it still had me in tears at several points. I don't know if it's a movie I will ever watch again, but it's one I know I won't ever forget and would definately recommend it to those who haven't yet seen it.
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Thanks for the tips, all:) And ack! at the price for the gift, Saxon! Hate it when that happens (unless you or he wanted the rest of the set, in which case cool)
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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As long as we're recommending powerful and brilliant Japanese films, I'm going to throw something out again. I've mentioned this on this and several other threads before, but I don't think anyone has seen it yet, so I'm going to say it again. If you liked this movie, see After Life. It's great. But don't expect to be convinced by reading the blurbs on imdb or Amazon. You really must see it to understand. Watch it. Let me know what you think.
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Well, I'm sorry I wasn't able to find the movie by itself, but in retrospect, it's a pretty awesome deal. The DVD set includes everything done by Ghibli, so you get something along the lines of like ten or twelve films that include gems like Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Best Buy has GOTF for $20 ($5 less than Amazon), and if you select the bottom link in the blue box under the picture of the cover art, you can find out if your local Best Buy carries it. That's how I found it.
After Life, on the other hand, is the same price at Amazon and Best Buy, but you might have to wait a couple weeks to get it from the Best Buy online store, and it ships within 24 hours from Amazon, so that seems to be the better deal.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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Storm - I've actually been thinking about getting a set like that. Where did you get yours and what are the movies that it has in it?
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I can't vouch for this seller, I'm just pointing out an example. There are lots of sets on ebay at any given time.
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No, I was rather surprised at that, too. Interestingly enough, it was based on fact. Apparently in his later years, he dabbled in alchemy... Who knew? ![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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. Perhaps I'll look into 'After Life.' Could you give me a little detail on it?![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
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