Unpopular Opinions You Hold About Anime

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I agree. I'm just saying that going on about how they're OOC is kind of pointless considering what the movie is about. It serves the story for them to be how they are in the movie.

Personally, I like those versions of the characters. It seems to be how Miyazaki thought of them, so I think it's a valid interpretation.

Oh, okay! I feel the same way.

From what I remember, Secret Of Mamo Lupin is just like 2nd series Lupin.

Mamo is weird. Lupin and Zenigata are much darker characters than usual, and Fujiko is oddly submissive in the second half. Awesome film, though.

[gunswordfist]

Hmm, I'll have to compare the two some day then.

[goody2shoes]

Ehh, I'm probably being too harsh on the film. I just have some set expectations about Lupin, and CoC didn't match them.

This analysis heightened my appreciation of it as a standalone work. The script, cinematography etc. holds together a lot better than the other Lupin works I've seen.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Part of the reason why I don't like DBZ as an anime, besides just bad dubbing, is because I largely blame it for giving the series such a negative representation outside of Japan. Toei's cheap budget animation does Toriyama's lively artwork no justice, and on top of that it makes people think of it as a mindless battle shonen with episode-long power-ups and lots of long fights when most of those things were only prolonged in the anime version to a pretty ridiculous extent.

Take the Namek arc for example. This often gets criticized by haters of the series as just a long series of fights, but that's actually not quite true considering how story-driven it is up until Freeza finally decides to fight. Up to that point, it's actually a pretty interesting three-way struggle for the Dragon Balls as Krillin and Gohan try to keep it away from Freeza's men, Vegeta tries to get them for himself but has to outwit Freeza and his top-ranking officers who he can't take down with brute strength if they all gang up on him, and Freeza himself as he tries to take down anyone who opposes him via his minions, which forces Gohan/Krillin, Vegeta, and the remaining Namekians to form an alliance to even stand a chance. It's a lot more about intense situations against more powerful foes, and thus relies more on characters trying to avoid fighting until they inevitably have to in a way that's natural to the progression of the plot.

When Goku shows up then yes, fighting does take center stage, but it's hardly mindless power battles until the end where he goes SSJ,  and even that has some strong emotional moments to go with it. Before that, though, the fight is kept interesting through a sense of desperation, in which Goku and the others must utilize their wits and strategy to even survive against Freeza.

Of course, the anime was dragged out and over-emphasized power-ups and fight scenes, so that's all that some people tend to remember about it, which is a shame, because there's much more to it than that. I mean, I could honestly make the argument that Stardust Crusaders is more battle-happy than Dragon Ball, yet I don't see anyone ever complaining about that; with my point being that there's nothing wrong with it, but it seems a bit hypocritical to excuse that and berate DB for being almost nothing but fighting when it has considerably less of it.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Actually, I've seen a lot of people who got into JoJo's through the first anime not being nearly as fond of the villain of the week structure of Stardust Crusaders. Nowadays I think the popular opinion is to prefer Battle Tendency over it (though I still like SC more myself).

To be honest, I feel that the animation aspect of DBZ is a little too maligned by some circles. While it isn't particularly great, especially compared to many much better looking series produced even earlier or around the same time, there are a lot of good bits of animation in many key battles (Goku v. Vegeta, for instance), and many other well-done moments that stand out as memorable and iconic because of their execution. I think DBZ actually looks better and has much better animation than the original DB, but the reason it's much less watchable compared to that (imo) is more because of it's poor pacing choices and much less well integrated and additive filler. I think the biggest crime it commits as an adaption is having many battles stretch on for episode after episode with barely anything changing in between. It was at it's worst in the battle with Freeza, especially after the point where Goku became a Super Saiyan, and the whole "5 minutes = 10 episodes" colored a lot of people's perception of the series and the Namek arc in a really negative fashion, and what gave DBZ that reputation of being strictly a mindless battle series.

As for an opinion that's been on my mind recently (it's not necessarily unpopular, at least among UY fans), I think anyone who claims that Mamoru Oshii's half of Urusei Yatsura is the best and Yamazaki's is not as good or that Beautiful Dreamer is the pinnacle and the best part of the series is flat-out wrong. People who say this seem to me like they either haven't actually watched the series or that think Oshii's involvement improved the series somehow, which is is simply untrue. The anime improved as it went along not because Oshii took more control of it, but because the original manga itself improved over time, and honestly Oshii dropped the ball towards the end of his run in adapting a lot of the stories and Yamazaki did a much better job of it when he took over (I really wish he could have handled The Miss Tomobiki Contest instead of Oshii, honestly...). The most important thing Oshii brought to the series as a director was giving it a sense of polish in it's animation, direction, storyboarding, and the general look of the show as it went on; aesthetic embellishments. All the serious and artsy stuff some people seem to believe color Oshii's half is limited to only a few select episodes, and otherwise while some stories were altered in order to flesh out a single chapter into a full episode and such, they mostly kept the same tone as they did in the original manga.

As for BD, don't get me wrong, it's my favorite anime movie and one of my all time favorite movies in general, but while it's true to the characters it's a different beast tonally and in style from the main series and is more a Oshii-style film featuring UY characters, much like how Castle of Cagilostro is a Miyazaki-style film that happens to feature Lupin characters. While it's a phenomenal film, it's not really representative of what the series is, not even Oshii's half, and people who regard it as the best thing to come out of UY generally seem to only say so because most anime critics tend to have elitist/artistic leanings, and Oshii's work is highly regarded among such people because of their artistic merits. Personally, I feel the film's success lies equally in the strength of the characters themselves as much as it's artistic and intellectual elements. It might be a more story-driven than character-driven film overall, but to get the most out of it I think you really do need to have an understanding of the key characters involved, since what the movie says about them is equally as not more meaningful as the philosophical messages it has. Oshii might not have really loved the characters, but he did at least understand them well towards the middle of his run (Ryuunosuke aside), which is why most of the anime original/"serious" episodes he did work as well as they do. At any rate, I'd say the first movie, Only You, is easily a much better representation of Oshii's work on the series as well as the series itself.

As far as which half is better, I think most fans of UY will tell you that Yamazaki's half is such, and I definitely agree. Yamazaki did everything Oshii did well in his half and did it even better, fixing some of the weaker elements as well (such as the occasional mis-representation of certain characters, namely Ataru and Ryuunosuke). His half is easily more consistent and at it's best even funnier. How the myth that the series isn't as good after Oshii left got started mind-boggles me, and I assume it has something to do with how Oshii is a more recognized and lauded name among western anime fans and critics than Yamazaki or even Takahashi herself. And while I love Oshii's work, I seriously disagree with anyone who dares claim he is what made the UY anime the series that it is, much less as popular as it was, and disregards the parts of the anime and the series he wasn't involved in, because everything that made and makes the series the important, influential, and timeless classic that it is can be found and is presented more consistently in Rumiko Takahashi's original manga. With or without Oshii, the anime wouldn't be as great as it is if it didn't already have such a strong source material to work from.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I re-read the RK manga about 2 years ago and have been re-watching parts of the Kyoto arc, and I must insist on sticking with my long-time opinion that it's an excellent adaptation of the manga. I honestly can't understand why some people here specifically seem to insist otherwise. And honestly I can't help but feel that there is bias when it comes to the fact that the Tokyo arc is inferior in the anime, and the post-Kyoto filler drags the anime down in general, so with Kyoto smacked in the middle of a "generally" inferior adaptation, people just kind of lump it in with the rest.

Here's why I completely disagree with that:

-First off it's directed by Furuhashi, who also did HXH, and who knows how to adapt source material to work best in an animated medium. Now, the first arc had lots of changes and anime-exclusive material dragging it down, but that's something to blame on the writers. With Kyoto, they stayed incredibly faithful to the source material, so Furuhashi's direction could finally begin to shine with better material to work with.

-Not only is the music/soundtrack great, but the anime actually knows how to use it. So many modern adaptations are plagued with inappropriate music, and the few that actually have good music have absolutely no clue when it is and isn't appropriate to use it. Take MadHouse's HXH for example. Great music, but the soundtrack is rarely given a rest, and too many themes either get overused or used during inappropriate scenes. Now look at RK. Take the scene where Kenshin is fighting Seita. At first the music is a more neutral choice and more in the background, but slowly yet subtly ratchets up in intensity as the fight progresses. This isn't done at random. Pay attention and you'll notice that the music is in tone not only with the action, but also with Seita's emotional state, as he slowly loses his calm composure and becomes more frustrated and enraged throughout the battle. I promise, you won't find little touches of brilliance like that in modern shonen adaptations, save for a few, and that's just one example from RK.

- The use of lighting and cinematography is outstanding. Just think of how many modern adaptations take this for granted, and it's even more amazing to see how well it was done, here. This article explains how it was put to good use for HXH '99: https://twolongfourtwitlonger.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/hxh-99-hxh-2011-btw/
Now just apply that to scenes like the fight between Kenshin and Saito. A modern adaptation would just copy/paste the panels from the manga in a well-lit room and have all of the same events take place but without any care or thought put into using the advantages of animation to properly supplement the tone of what's actually going on from the perspective of the characters. Remember, this is our first true glimpse into Kenshin's dark side in the story. Everything in that scene manages to visually portray the changing mood without the need for dialogue to tell us about it. The setting sun establishes the change in tone to something much darker about to take place. The dim lighting and violently bright glow in Kenshin's eyes (which call back to the glimpse of that which we saw in his fight with Jin-Ei) are a reflection of his former personality beginning to emerge, and is once again a use of visuals that take advantage of animation (you couldn't portray that in a colorless manga). It's not like the animation budget was even there. The animation itself is very limited, but the way in which it's utilized is what counts, and it shows that you can make scenes great when the people working on it genuinely care about what they are doing, have the talent to do it, and put in the effort to get it done right. And, once again, that scene is just one example of many. Scenes like Kenshin's goodbye to Kaouru with the fireflies in the background, the use of tonal lighting during the scene where Sanosuke's former leader gets betrayed, and various other scenes get paid off big time with the effort put in to portray them in the anime.

I remember Avaitor once saying that RK wasn't as good as I made it out to be until he read the manga, and then wasn't sure why I insisted that the Kyoto arc was so good in the anime. Well, while I didn't fully realize why, myself, now I can put it into words; so, that's why. I remember CX calling the first arc in the anime a disappointment, and I believe had the same stance on the rest of the series, which is fine, but it's a shame then that all of that effort meant nothing in the end. I also remember how Desensitized/Spark will openly criticize the anime for not getting it right, not just with the filler, but with Kyoto as well, and while you have every right to do so, it does rather dishearten me that you see no merit in all of the love, attention to detail, and clear passion that went into adapting that arc of the anime. It's now a relic of a time when anime adaptations could take creative liberties to enhance the experience while staying true to the source material. Maybe I'm the only one here who views this arc of the RK anime in that light, but I firmly believe that even if they were to remake it with a bigger budget and modern animation quality, you still wouldn't get a better adaptation of the Kyoto arc than you did with the original anime. Criticize it all you want, but never deny that this was an adaptation with some sense of creative passion behind it, whether it worked for you or not (and I'll still never get why this is considered "inferior").

It just saddens me to see some of you guys brush off the Kyoto arc in the anime like it's not worth anything compared to the manga. I just....strongly disagree, in this case, and my recent revisiting of it is cementing that notion in for me more than ever before.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I remember CX calling the first arc in the anime a disappointment, and I believe had the same stance on the rest of the series,

I just didn't care for the filler episodes added in the Tokyo arc, which I found tedious to watch, and didn't like some of the censorship and pacing decisions made to the canon material (primarily in the Oniwaban portion of the arc). Don't know where you are getting the last bit from - I think the Kyoto arc was far better adapted and in many respects improved on parts of the arc in the manga. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I agree about the Tokyo arc, but like the filler, I blame it on the anime writers rather than Furuhashi and the animators. Also, a fun fact (which you probably already know) is that Furuhashi got his earliest animation experience working on various Takahashi anime adaptations like UY and MI (not as a director but in the positions of key animator and story boarding).

Glad to see that you also enjoyed the Kyoto arc in the anime.

[gunswordfist]

I'm not sure which version I prefer so I can't really compare them overall. I know I like the Saito and Seijuro fights more in the anime. I'm pretty sure I like the Seita and Shishio fights more in the manga. I have to rewatch and reread to give a real opinion on this.

[Avaitor]

Wow, this is a great defense, EK.

Honestly, it's been so long since I've seen the anime that it likely deserves another shot. Give or take the post-Kyoto material.

[Foggle]

I have only seen the anime of Kenshin but I liked it a lot, especially the Trust & Betrayal OVAs.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thanks, Avaitor!

If you ever get the time, you can just re-watch the Kyoto arc alone since that's the stand-out of the series. It's all streaming for free on CR.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I have only seen the anime of Kenshin but I liked it a lot, especially the Trust & Betrayal OVAs.

Kazuhiro Furuhashi did those as well. I think that his direction is brilliant when he has good material to work with. When you have awful writing like with the RK filler or the Reflection OVA, then he can do nothing to save it.

That said, the manga is the best overall version. The Remembrance arc (adapted into Trust and Betrayal because it was just THAT iconic of a story arc), is one of the greatest origin stories ever, IMO....and it came from a Shonen Jump manga. Just process that for a moment....

[gunswordfist]

Damn, Furuhashi is good. I need to rewatch Trust & Betrayal.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, I love his work on HXH '99 specifically, though I also can't call him perfect. I've heard that he didn't do such a great job on Get Backers, though since I haven't seen it, I can't comment.