Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence

timbloid writes "I spotted on Ain't it cool news that Mamoru Oshii's new anime Innocence Ghost In The Shell 2's website is now open! The trailer is beautiful! But I can't help thinking a translated version is some time off from the 2004 Japanese release... Maybe it would be faster for me to learn Japanese?"

Ghost is great non anime lovers.

[Godeke]

I love the original ghost because it convinces many who didn't think they would like anime that it isn't "just a cartoon". Although today anime is becoming "cool", when I was in high school it was pretty fringe. When ghost came out, I showed it to quite a few people who didn't know what anime was, and most had a much better appreciation for the fact that "cartoons" could tell a compelling story.

Of course, it isn't for the squeamish...

Learning Japanese

[Squeebee]

"Maybe it would be faster for me to learn Japanese?"

I would say that you can't really grasp Japanese language without living in Japan for a while. I can say that after taking Japanese in High School and College and getting top marks in both, my Japanese skills turned out to be pathetic when I finally got to Japan.

That being said, after a few years of diving into the language (by which I mean being thrown in the deep end of the pool), I could function fairly well as an interpreter.

The big thing is to go to Japan and speak Japanese, even if you can't. Hanging around with other English speakers all the time and/or copping out and trying to get them to speak English will get you nowhere. The average english teacher I see in Japan can't speak a lick of Japanese even after several years. Why? because they either do not want to learn or constantly take the easy way out.

yes, indeed.

[mirko]

Subject is in answer to :
trailer is beautiful!

Looks like there's a lot of computer graphics in it...

BTW, Lots of us see the original GITS as the movie that got plagiarized by the Wachowskis.

It's nice to see an incoming sequel of the original thing.

Re:Ghost is great non anime lovers.

[diersing]

I'm not trolling, but curious.

What is the draw for anime? From my uninformed opinion, what little anime I saw was rather lame and I have a distint seperation from cartoons (which are humerous and enjoyed immensly by my 4 year old). Anime, on the other hand, is clearly targeted at the fantasy adult crowd. Is it because I'm not into fantasy that I don't get anime?

If someone could break it down for me maybe I'd give it chance, until then I'm going to assume anime is meant for the overweight white guy living in his mom's basement (not a general prejudice, just a couple of freaks I saw at Best Buy loading up on anime DVDs the other day).

Re:Learning Japanese

[Otter]

Of course, it would be irresponsible of me to make any sweeping generalizations about such alarge group of people, but ALL Japanese people have three characteristics: they "speak" English, they dress very nicely, and they're short...Lastly, the Japanese are all short. Really, really short. It's kind of funny.

Not in my experience -- Japanese (under 35, anyway) are huge! Not huge like Dinkas or Hutus, but my impression is that they're much taller than Asian-Americans, on average.

Other than that, though, that site is dead on. Yeah, those students with Japanese girlfriends are an absolute PITA in class.

Re:A Friend Suggested GitS as Example of Good Anim

[nanojath]

Hmm... I think your full of shit. Or more to the point, I think you've got just as much of a knee-jerk reaction against anime as you accuse fans of having in favor of it. Sure, as with any form or genre there are those who will forgive any shortcoming out of pure dedication to the form. But there are plenty of legitimate critics of cinema who recognize the highest acheivements in anime as taking a valid place alongside live action films.

I'm particularly bemused by your criticisms of "iconic visual style." Apparently you judge a visual presentation based on your assessment of the technical complexities of acheiving it? I judge it based on the visual impact the composition has on me. Who the fuck cares if it was easy or difficult to make (like you know shit about the relative complexity of creating an effect in one medium versus another anyway... offhand I'd say drawing fog beautifully is a fuck of a lot more effort than paying some tech to plug in a fog machine)? Either it works visually or it doesn't. Maybe you're missing some of the subtle nuances because you're peripheral vision is being blocked by that enormous chip on your shoulder.

Re:Ghost is great non anime lovers.

[Moonshadow]

I'm a casual anime fan (ie, most of my anime experience comes from my relatively-normal roommate's DVDs), and to me, the draw is that anime can be used to tell stories that simply aren't possible (well, at least not easy) to tell with traditional filmmaking techniques. It's just another storytelling medium, and as with any such medium, it's not the medium itself that makes or breaks the whole experience, but rather, the story behind it.

Really, there are as many subgenres in anime as there are in traditional live-action film - you can find everything ranging from fantasy to sci-fi to soap operas and everything in between. The trick is to find the right series. There's a lot of fantasy, sure, but if you know which series to look at, you'll find anime that covers most any genre. Just like any art medium, though, there is a lot of crap that tends to obscure the real gems. You say you don't like fantasy - not sure what your genres of choice are, then, but two popular series you might try are Cowboy Bebop (Almost a kind of "western" in space) or Trigun (More of a sci-fi type series, but also has that "western" feel). I've seen neither in its entirety, but I have enjoyed what I've seen of them. It might be worth seeing if you could rent a DVD or something.

I dunno - I guess if I could give you one "draw", it's that anime is just another medium - it's used to tell stories, and there are some excellent stories told with it. Enjoy the stories. You don't have to like anime because it's anime, or because it's Japanese and seen as a geeky thing. Just approach it as you would any other type of film - evaluate it as a film, and if you don't like it (or you find that it is crap), then find something else. The sheer volume of anime out there guarantees there is something out there that you'll enjoy.

Anime vs Hollywood

[xtermin8]

Some posts mention how Anime still hasn't gained mainstream acceptance. Although from my perspective, this is probably a good thing, there's a lot more to the issue than some assume. Hollywood is built on promoting "personalities." Americans have always been attracted to films by the Actors, which is why some get paid so much! The whole concept of Anime is foreign to this culture, being more "oriented" (ouch) towards visual art than performance. Mainstream acceptance is bound to be very slow.

Re:Fansubbing

[Microlith]

Bullshit.

The only groups that will be doing the new movie are warez groups, because all the respectable groups won't touch it because its licensed.

Right now fansubbing groups do work that far surpasses commercial releases in terms of translation accuracy and subbing quality.

Right now fansubbing is at its lowest point since its inception, focusing on SPEED and quantity over quality. As I've said before, fansub translations these days are equal or poorer than any official translation.

I've heard no argument to the contrary that can't be whittled down to "I'm an elitist who hasn't a clue" for its origin.