Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks Anime Movies II

(+) Yeah! (+)

GenesisSaga posted...

I like that it was able to make me feel things, but ultimately I did not like any of the things it made me feel.

This is interesting to me, because even if I ended up agreeing with you after watching it, that's something I'd give a high ranking to because of how well it does what it wants to do.

---

Colorful is one of the movies I watched and I thought it was...okay, maybe? Really neat idea that lacked in execution for many parts. I can't remember specifically what I thought was lacking because it was a long time ago and I found the movie really unmemorable as a whole, but yeah.

It doesn't particularly strike me as a divisive film like the results here suggest, though I guess I can see it really resonating with some people while others might respond more like I did.

I do remember really not liking the voice work here, though I actually can't remember whether I watched it subbed or dubbed...
---

Probably dubbed. I stand by my criticism of Greg Ayres being the worst possible casting choice. He's just not leading man material. You might as well have put Gilbert Gottfried in the recording booth, he'd fit just as well. Though I can't imagine it would've been much better subtitled unless the dub changed the entire script to make Makoto even more of an awful example of a human being, but this isn't Ghost Stories so that probably didn't happen.

profDEADPOOL posted...

This is interesting to me, because even if I ended up agreeing with you after watching it, that's something I'd give a high ranking to because of how well it does what it wants to do.

You and I have different ranking criteria then. There's very little chance I'd rank a film that made me feel SEETHING HATRED over one that merely made me feel bored or annoyed, hence why This Corner and 2772 didn't clench that coveted bottom slot.

---

I will definitely trash movies or shows that successfully execute terrible ideas.

That being said I would not group Colorful into this category because I don't think it was very successful in doing what it was trying to do and think that its ideas were quite good.
---

24. Vampire Hunter D

Inviso: 16
Charon: 17
Karo: 18
Red: 19
Genny: 27
Jona: 33
Johnbobb: 38

Total: 168

Inviso: This was a reasonably enjoyable movie. I admit that this opening is gonna come across as lukewarm, because I do have some criticisms, but the fact that this had a coherent narrative, interesting enough characters, a cool lead, solid animationit makes the film stand out compared to some of the other earlier offerings from this list. Really, even my main complaint isnt necessarily the worst thing ever. I just feel like this story doesnt completely work as a solitary movie, or at least not an eighty-minute movie. Its rare that I would argue a movie is too SHORT, but I feel like you have some interesting characters and interesting plot twists (the face turns from Rei and Lamika, the Dhampir reveal of D, the Dracula reveal of D) that would just be served better in a longer form of narrative. As it stands, the end result is still acceptable, I just think it couldve been that much better.

Charon: Not as good as Bloodlust, but still fairly entertaining despite its age. It lacks the entertaining battles of the aforementioned film but it still has the same moody protagonist and dark world. The supporting cast is fairly interesting, though the main villain himself is kind of lacking, I do think Lamika and Rei are pretty neat. I'm still not certain D, as a piece of media, has ever really been properly adapted in the best possible way but I still always find these enjoyable.

Karo: What It Is:
Castlevania - the anime.

What I Think:
Even with the film's low budget it still manages to evoke the haunting atmosphere of its world of vampires and monsters perfectly, something its polished, commercialized sequel couldn't.
Yes, many of the characters look wonky and animation shortcuts are everywhere, but it is beautiful in its own strange way, and it is known as one of the old anime classics for a reason.

Score: 67/100

Red: Honestly, it really felt like weve seen this movie before, D is a half-vampire that, whenever in trouble, will inevitably be saved by his weird hand thing to cheat death and then kill whatever monster is currently trying to kill him. It happens a couple times that I recall. Meanwhile, surprise the girl that looks pretty human is in fact also part-human because of course the human looking girl raging against humans would be. The random quest to go kill what essentially is the head vampire here is entertaining enough to keep you entertained, if never extending this more shallow level of entertainment.

Genny: While not as polished as Bloodlust, which we watched first for some reason, Vampire Hunter D is still an experience. As I watched this shortly after coming off season 3 of Netflix's Castlevania I couldn't help but note the myriad of similarities between D and Alucard's backstories which prompted me to question who ripped off whom. I'm too lazy to look up the answer, but if you know please tell me. Anyway the action is quite good for someone who loves her some gratuitous violence and flashes of nudity in her horror. The plot and the characters might be paper thin, but dammit I enjoyed the ride.

Jona: Theres definitely a good atmosphere and some decent action along with some okay story moments but most of it is rather forgettable.

Johnbobb: Gratuitous panty shots mere moments in. Keep it classy, Vampire Hunter. Also is that the Nightmare on Elm Street theme? The whole movie just screams "low-budget 80s action anime" from the bad voice acting to the fight scenes that are primarily just closeups of still faces repeating. Nothing is worse than Larmica's face though. Giant forehead, tiny mouth. Fuckin hate those snake women.

---

Outlier:

Johnbobb: 184
Inviso: 145
Karo: 128
Genny: 127
Red: 124
Jona: 111
Charon: 97

---

Charon still the last one in the double digits division. Hopefully I'm going on down there to meet him. I don't think I have too many more controversial picks... ??

---

GenesisSaga posted...

You and I have different ranking criteria then. There's very little chance I'd rank a film that made me feel SEETHING HATRED over one that merely made me feel bored or annoyed, hence why This Corner and 2772 didn't clench that coveted bottom slot.

I mean if I think the goal is to make me feel that, it's not an issue. I'll never watch Schindler's List again for those reason, it's way too upsetting and real, but it's still a film I love.

---

Man, we were doing so well, and now we're picking off movies in my top half while there's still genuine garbage left on the board.

---

Another one I've seen. Bloodlust is better though.

---

I would say they're about even. Bloodlust obviously looks better, but this one had the cooler plot and better atmosphere. Both have great action and interesting characters that aren't really all that deep. I think I appreciated this sassy version of D more than the angsty mysterious D that Bloodlust presents.

Alucard still the best dhampir

---

Holy shit I agree with Gen again, what is happening

I liked Colorful less and less the more I thought about it, and what's upsetting is it could've been great. It was a powerful concept done so poorly it's almost offensive

---

Snake5555555555 posted...

I'm really surprised this was ranked that low. I thought it was fantastic!

We needed you :'(
---

Inviso posted...

*looks at who ranked it highly compared to who did not*

I think it still is. >_>

To be clear, the people that made that split happen is what inspired my comment.

---

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. Colorful
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???
11. ???
12. ???
13. ???
14. ???
15. ???
16. ???
17. ???
18. ???
19. Vampire Hunter D
20. ???
21. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
22. ???
23. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
24. ???
25. Liz and the Blue Bird
26. ???
27. Mirai
28. In This Corner of the World
29. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
30. Appleseed
31. ???
32. Blood: the Last Vampire
33. Children of the Sea
34. ???
35. Miss Hokusai
36. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
37. Phoenix 2772
38. Fireworks
39. Angel's Egg
40. Dead Leaves

---

23. The Wonderland

Genny: 10
Charon: 10
Red: 17
Inviso: 22
Johnbobb: 30
Karo: 33
Jona: 39

Total: 161

Genny: Birthday Wonderland features the most subtle character development I've ever seen in a Bildungsroman tale. It's kind of a blink-and-you-might-miss-it sort of deal, as the main conflict that needs to be resolved factors only into the beginning of the film and after its conclusion. Our heroine Akane begins the film by sulking on her birthday, refusing to look at her phone because it only reminds her of a recent time when she spurned a friend over some dumb mean girl drama. She didn't really do anything when she could've easily stuck up for her, and I don't like the way that conflict is resolved, but the movie doesn't exactly focus on that anyway. All you need to know is that Akane's entire arc centers around being "braver". It's very vague, and if I'm being honest it lacks depth, but I enjoyed the movie nevertheless for its exquisite animation and colorful cast of side characters like Chii, Doropo, and Pipo (I desperately want my own Pipo or Doropo, and no I don't mean a plushie I mean an actual tiny flying magical humanoid so somebody indulge me). The film as a whole is reminiscent of Howl's Moving Castle, albeit an inferior version of it where the worldbuilding and general sense of fantastical whimsy is more appealing but the characterization is absent for the most part. Still I had a good time with this one.

Charon: A really neat, quirky take on a classic fairytale. Probably in the neighborhood of 100 times better than the Disney animation version, this feels like an alterated tale of Alice where the protagonist has some character and not just randomness incarnate. There is still plenty of charm to the world, with the various creatures and inhabitants of the land accessed through the ground. The character designs here are all very neat; I liked Hippocrates and Pipo and especially the designs for the story's villains. It's a classic feeling fairytale with some modern liberties and sensibilities taken to it, which is generally what I'm looking for in animation.

Red: For being an entire world hidden in a basement, it sure ended up boring. This gets points for the neat twist with the villains at the end, but the world itself outside perhaps some of the ending never really hits the most interesting of places. Most of the characters did grow on me a bit, but it feels like in a world that is obviously somewhat magical, were somehow shown the most boring places they could possibly come up with. I cant leave this writeup without mentioning the cats sleeping as a great gag though.

Inviso: Its funny that this movie is called The Wonderland, because to me, the main character feels about as bland and boring as Alice herself. And honestly, this movie goes on too long for the content it provides. It could EASILY have been half an hour shorter and not lost a damn thing along the way. Basically, Akane is an underdeveloped character who is kind of cowardly, but we dont get to know her well enough before the trip to Wonderland to notice any sort of transformation over the course of the movie. There isnt one, by the way. After building up this robotic bad guy all movie, Akane just rescues him with the power of love, a good fifteen minutes before the ending. And then the ending happens and its just really forced and rushed and stupid. It makes those first eighty minutes feel like they were just filler and padding that dont serve to better the actual plot of the film. At least Chii-chan was funny, as was Hippocrates. Those two are the saving graces by stealing the show from a dull protagonist.

Johnbobb: Blah. I'm burnt out on this very specific subgenre of anime. This definitely suffered from being the last one I watched on the list, but it's also one of the most recent, so that isn't totally unearned. While this movie certainly wasn't bad, it's just not something that hasn't been done hundreds of times, many of which did it better. The entire last half an hour is just such a predictable drag. There's aspects I enjoyed, like some of the characters and the giant bouncy sheep, but I also just don't really care.

Karo: What It Is:
Young people are spirited away to a fantastical world for the umpteenth time (and for at least the sixth time in this project alone).

What I Think:
This film flops around like a dying fish in a futile attempt to impart any sense of titular wonder for its fantasy world, and considering that this is the movie's big attraction that is a fatal flaw.
The story is so arbitrary and incomprehensible that the film's big plot twist has little effect, as few will be surprised that that writers stacked on more random bullshit when there is no coherence whatsoever to begin with.
Basically the story is that a prince doesnt want to take part in a royal ceremony because it might kill him, so a wizard turns the prince into a doll, and another wizard tries to change him back and turns him into General Grievous and he tries to destroy the source of all life in the world which would result in him dying anyway. Sigh.
Toss this all together with forgettable characters and embarrassing CGI that is absolutely not ok to be looking at in 2019, and you should take a hard pass on this pointless exercise in ghibli supermarket brand mediocrity.

Score: 51/100

Jona: More like Birthday BLUNDERland. ROLF! While the art can be great, the story and characters are just plain dull and take away the sense of wonder. Akanes a really terrible main character. Shes just so generic. They attempt to show what her character is like via an awkward scene where shes in school, but it doesnt amount to anything until the credits where it shows a picture. The climax of the movie acts like she went through some character development throughout her journey but its very poorly conveyed. The rest of the characters are just kinda there. The story is very generic with it just being about Akane saving the world and the events of the film dont feel like they flow naturally. Theres a twist in the story revolving the antagonists but it didnt utter any reaction from me. Probably the most interesting part of the movie is the implication of Akanes mother experiencing the journey before. The art of this movie really deserved better.

---

Outlier:

Johnbobb: 191
Inviso: 146
Genny: 140
Karo: 138
Red: 130
Jona: 127
Charon: 110

---

How do you have a world based around Alice in Wonderland, and it's the most generic fantasy realm imaginable? It's like setting an anime in the marvelous realm of Final Fantasy XII.

---

But... The setting of XII is cool... V_V

---

GenesisSaga posted...

But... The setting of XII is cool... V_V

It's REALLY boring and brown and lifeless. >_>

---

In Dalmasca and the desert that surrounds it sure. I don't recall any other dull and brown locations in the game, and even the desert is teeming with life, albeit not the most diverse of life.

People give XII a lot of flak for being boring, but I'm tired of the setting getting the brunt of that criticism. I'm gonna compile a list of interesting places in XII. Be back soon.

---

I dropped FF XII after the first mine. Maybe people dropped it because the early areas were dull. Well, nothing can be done about it.


---

22. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Jona: 1
Genny: 19
Charon: 22
Inviso: 24
Johnbobb: 24
Red: 24
Karo: 36

Total: 150

Jona: As weird of a sequel to Ghost in the Shell sounds, this feels like a good companion piece to the original with this focusing on Batou and Togusa. While the original focused on the Majors identity, this deals with the concepts of how humanity gives life to things in their image. Its definitely a fascinating subject that really makes you think. If you found the first movie pretentious, boy do I have some bad news for you. The movie kinda doubles down on its thoughts with characters saying relatable quotes out of nowhere. I do think it kinda makes sense though since the characters brains are connected. Speaking of characters brains, the scenes of Batou and Togusa getting hacked are amazing and mindfucks. Really cool to see it from their perspective when we didnt get that in the first movie. This has a bunch of callbacks to the first movie which is nice to see. The big tourism scene with Kenji Kawai music doesnt exactly have the same impact here though considering the different subject matter. Is this as good as the first movie? No. It is still incredible though in its own right but also serves as a really interesting comparison and contrast to the first movie.

Genny: I know this will likely come as a complete shock to you all, but I didn't like Ghost in the Shell. It was far too cerebral for my tastes and what little action it contained was shrouded by an insane amount of philosophical dialogue. When it comes to Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, most of those trappings are avoided. Yes there's still philosophy regarding the nature of what it means to be human and at what point of technological augmentation one ceases to qualify, however this takes a backseat to some amazing action sequences and trippy sci-fi experiences. It's a lot more balanced than the previous film is all I'm saying, and therefore I prefer Innocence. Blasphemous, I know. I quite enjoyed the additions of Togusa, and Batou's basset hound to the cast of characters. I'm not sure which humanized him more.

Charon: Remarkably, I think this film is actually better than the first one from the other project. I think the story is easier to follow, even if sometimes I think it still is a bit convoluted and some of it goes over my head. The overarching plot is what I just find too complex and weird; like the best part of this film was Batou and Togusa at the mansion. I like the playing with time and memory that's done here but once we get to the end and Motoko shows back up inhabiting the body of one of the girls... it gets strange once again and I can't really wrap my head around what's going on. In short, GitS is somehow better when the main character is actually not around. Maybe I'd get it more if I watched the show, but without that context, this remains pretty weird to me. I want to like it, but I can't quite grasp some things.

Inviso: Its weird in retrospect to have both this and Appleseed from 2004 on this list, because watching them so close together made me feel like they were very similar in general concept, even if they had wildly differing tones. Im gonna be honestI dont even remember the first Ghost in the Shell. Looking back on my write-up from the first anime project we did in 2016, I seem to have a lot of similar thoughts as I did this time around: It reminds me of Blade Runner, I wish there was a more coherent narrative and less of the overwhelming philosophy aspect. If I recall correctly though, the original movie had a very defined motive: track down a terrorist or murderer or something. This time, theres a case involving malfunctioning androids, and its really unclear what the hell is going on with the investigation, until the VERY last minute, when everything is explained.

Its REALLY confusing, and even though GitS2 is very stylized, it made it difficult to follow and enjoy the film. Thats not to say it was all bad. Once I kinda turned my brain off and just started enjoying the imagery (because I wasnt understanding the story at all), it became easier to accept what was being offered.

Johnbobb: Biggest takeaway here is the music. That's some straight Nier: Automata shit and I'm here for it.

Red: There is a plot in this movie to distract you from the fact that at its core they are solving the case of some out of control killer sex dolls. The movie supplies some interesting moments in between with some crazy mindhacking and reality questioning, and the main duo are an enjoyable enough pair, but the overall movie never quite comes together on its own.

Karo: What It Is:
A followup to the classic anime movie, where there is an investigation into why sex robots are killing their owners.

What I Think:
Though we return to the incredible world created in the first movie, everything wonderful about the original is gone and replaced with pretentious psychobabble, early 2000's computer graphic tech demos, and copious amounts of weird mystic chanting.
Hey, did you hope that maybe we'd get to expand on Makoto's story from where it left off in the first movie? Haha, nope, she is completely absent other than a brief cameo near the end. I guess somebody thought it would be a great idea to take the best character from the original and cut her out completely except a few scenes in the body of some creepy geisha marionette.
In Japan this film is just called 'Innocence', which is just as well because to sully the name of a great movie with this bullshit is a travesty.

Score: 42/100

---

honestly my biggest issue with Ghost in the Sheel 2 was just that is was surprisingly forgettable. There are a lot of really unique and memorable movies on the list (in good and bad ways) and this just unfortunately wasn't one of them.

---

Outlier:

Johnbobb: 191
Karo: 152
Jona: 148
Inviso: 147
Genny: 143
Red: 132
Charon: 112

---

I'm not gonna lie, both of the day's updates are movies I wasn't expecting to see out today, but not because I thought they were GOOD or anything. It's more because I forgot about them amidst a sea of similarly-forgotten movies.

---

PrinceKaro posted...

copious amounts of weird mystic chanting.

First movie had that too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0z08OpmEPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meTqIYVHAkI

PrinceKaro posted...

Hey, did you hope that maybe we'd get to expand on Makoto's story from where it left off in the first movie? Haha, nope, she is completely absent other than a brief cameo near the end.

Her story and character development were over in the first movie. Also, you completely missed out on her being Batou's "guardian angel." She was in the scene where Batou gets hacked in the store and she helped him figure out he was getting hacked later on in the movie.

---

GitS2 is definitely one I want to watch.

---

21. Giovanni's Island

Jona: 3
Inviso: 9
Karo: 20
Johnbobb: 20
Charon: 28
Genny: 30
Red: 31

Total: 141

Jona: While I appreciated the subject matter of the 1985 adaptation of Night on the Galactic Railroad, the movie itself left a lot to be desired. I really like how well the themes and quotes are integrated here and how they relate to the history-based drama of Junpei and his family. It can be a bit too in-your-face about it though and there can be times where a quote is narrated and then immediately said by a character. The movie has its heartwarming moments but its also dramatic and really heavy. It can be heavy to the point of hopelessness of seeing the characters turn out well. The ending is poignant yet uplifting and really feels appropriate for the movie.

Inviso: I had to go back and check, because as I watched this movie, I was relatively certain that I hated Night on the Galactic Express when I watch it for the previous anime list. Yet, despite heavily referencing the book that movie was based upon, I never hated this movie. Referencing a completely DIFFERENT anime list, when we watched Grave of the Fireflies, I loved it for its emotional tone and because I find Japanese media discussing the end of World War II from a Japanese perspective to be fascinating. The same is true in this movie. Were viewing the world through a lens of two children who are stuck in a shitty situation after Japan lost the war, and Russia over their home. At first, theres some minor adaptation, and Junpei even develops a crush on a Russian girlbut things start to get much worse very quickly. The gets split apart, theyre forced to live in a concentration camp, and its just rough watching the impact on innocents. Im not sure if I prefer this to Fireflies though. This certainly has a happier ending, so thats gotta count for something. Still sad, butyou knowhappier. And it was very good and enjoyable film.

Karo: What It Is:
The story of two young boys who live on an island in WWII era Japan. This will end well, right?

What I Think:
Basically the russians take over the island at the end of the war, and horribly oppress the islanders. The protagonist befriends a young russian girl but they still get sent to concentration camps and a bunch of characters die randomly.
It is a decent movie that is not quite as depressing as Barefoot Gen (and a lot better made), but like most of these anime films about WWII it is too much a downer to ever want to see again.

Score: 65/100

Johnbobb: No, YOU'RE crying.

Charon: Just what I never wanted to see: another Galactic Railroad film. Thankfully this one only makes allusions to the apparently popular Japanese entity, because if I had to endure another of my #40 of the first projects I'm not sure I could handle it. This movie is still full of death though, thankfully without the cats this time. My biggest hangup with this movie revolves around the plotline for Junpei and Tanya. This was seemingly going to be the basis for the main part of the plot, yet it sort of gets abandoned halfway through and they instead go down a darker rabbit hole where we get a Weekend at Bernie's moment crossed with some Grave of the Fireflies. It's a poignant film, but as was the case in a few others like this on other projects, the death elements unsettled me but didn't quite move me as I wasn't really invested in the characters prior to their deaths.

Genny: Having nothing to do with the anime feature film of the same name, but everything to do with the book it's based on, Giovanni's Island only alludes to Night on the Galactic Railroad with the given names of two of the main characters and sprinkles of other references throughout. Unlike the other period piece/slice of life anime on this list I've seen, this one takes place just after the atomic bombing and begins right as Japan surrenders. It follows the subsequent Soviet occupation, and I've gotta say this is the most fascinating aspect of this film for me. I enjoyed watching Junpei's fear of the Russians progress into tolerance and acceptance, and his unease with Tanya blossom into friendship. After they are forced off their island the movie loses a bit of steam for me. Thereafter there's way too much focus on uncle Hideo, a character that rubbed me the wrong way even though he didn't do anything morally reprehensible. Kanta's death didn't hit me as hard as I feel like it was intended to as well because, despite enjoying many aspects of the film, I couldn't connect emotionally with any of the characters. The one moment I felt anything occurred when the Japanese school children, confined to the spare room, begin to sing the anthem the Russian children perform each morning and visa versa.

Red: Not quite as boring as the needlessly cat populated train it frequently makes reference to, this film is still pretty boring. Long periods of setup with questionable consequences are frequent and little payoff on anything until a couple people die while making outrageously bad decisions near the end. And then, despite nothing but bad stuff happening, everyone celebrates these events like they were sunshine and rainbows at the end.


---

Outlier:

Johnbobb: 192
Jona: 166
Inviso: 159
Karo: 153
Genny: 152
Red: 142
Charon: 119

---

1. ???
2. ???
3. Colorful
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???
9. Giovanni's Island
10. ???
11. Fireworks
12. ???
13. ???
14. ???
15. ???
16. Vampire Hunter D
17. ???
18. ???
19. ???
20. ???
21. Blood: The Last Vampire
22. The Wonderland
23. Appleseed
24. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
25. Miss Hokusai
26. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
27. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
28. ???
29. In This Corner of the World
30. Liz and the Blue Bird
31. ???
32. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
33. Phoenix 2772
34. ???
35. Children of the Sea
36. ???
37. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
38. Mirai
39. Dead Leaves
40. Angel's Egg

The list hasn't been TOO bad, outside of the unfair hatred of Colorful. Looking at my 21-30 range, it seems like generic movies were more hated this time than they usually are.

---

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. The Wonderland
11. ???
12. ???
13. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
14. ???
15. ???
16. ???
17. Vampire Hunter D
18. ???
19. ???
20. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
21. ???
22. Dead Leaves
23. ???
24. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
25. ???
26. Mirai
27. Angel's Egg
28. Giovanni's Island
29. ???
30. Blood: The Last Vampire
31. Appleseed
32. Fireworks
33. Liz and the Blue Bird
34. Miss Hokusai
35. The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon
36. Colorful
37. In This Corner of the World
38. Children of the Sea
39. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
40. Phoenix 2772

Nothing unfair about it. One of the worst leads in any film from the projects so far. Everyone who hated it hated it for basically the same reason; Makoto.

Happy my top 9 is intact heading into the top half, that's pretty good! Only 4 films remain that will finish higher than I ranked them (well, for now). I'm not surprised with two of them being here still, given the gauntlet cast that appeared for this project. The other two are surprises though; for my #25 I'm just not sure how enough people ranked it more than middling to still be alive. For my #23, I'm actually pleasantly surprised it is alive after all despite me ranking it there. I really had it pegged as a bottom 10 film with this group.
---

1. ???
2. ???
3. Children of the Sea
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. Fireworks
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???
11. Dead Leaves
12. ???
13. ???
14. ???
15. ???
16. Mirai
17. ???
18. ???
19. Blood: The Last Vampire
20. Giovanni's Island
21. ???
22. Ghost in the Shell 2
23. Miss Hokusai
24. ???
25. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
26. In This Corner of the World
27. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
28. Angel's Egg
29. ???
30. The Wonderland
31. ???
32. Liz and the Blue Bird
33. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
34. ???
35. ???
36. Phoenix 2772
37. Colorful
38. Vampire Hunter D
39. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
40. Appleseed


---

Comparing my bottom five from this project to my bottom five from the first project:

26. Millennium Actress
27. Wings of the Honneamise
28. Barefoot Gen
29. 5 Centimeters Per Second
30. Night on the Galactic Railroad

I just realized the first project only had 30 films, huh. I imagine some of the film left off this list and inserted into the project would have... yeah I don't know. I think ultimately the worst film from either project to me was Galactic Railroad, but as a whole I think the bottom 5 from this project would have an overall worse score from me. A lot of the films from the first project here were either very boring or... really, most all of these were just boring to me. Barefoot Gen is just a bit aged and I don't think it did it very well. The films on this project in my bottom 5, really only 1 of them was actually boring. The other 4 actually did something to offend me in some way, shape or form.
---

Millennium Actress was great!

---

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. Colorful
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???
11. ???
12. ???
13. ???
14. ???
15. ???
16. ???
17. The Wonderland
18. ???
19. Vampire Hunter D
20. ???
21. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
22. ???
23. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
24. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
25. Liz and the Blue Bird
26. ???
27. Mirai
28. In This Corner of the World
29. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
30. Appleseed
31. Giovanni's Island
32. Blood: the Last Vampire
33. Children of the Sea
34. ???
35. Miss Hokusai
36. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
37. Phoenix 2772
38. Fireworks
39. Angel's Egg
40. Dead Leaves


---

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???
11. ???
12. Liz and the Blue Bird
13. ???
14. ???
15. Colorful
16. Mirai
17. ???
18. Vampire Hunter D
19. ???
20. Giovanni's Island
21. ???
22. ???
23. Children of the Sea
24. ???
25. ???
26. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
27. Angel's Egg
28. Miss Hokusai
29. In This Corner of the World
30. Phoenix 2772
31. Dead Leaves
32. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
33. The Wonderland
34. Fireworks
35. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
36. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
37. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
38. Blood: the Last Vampire
39. Appleseed
40. ???

---

20. Mind Game

Johnbobb: 1
Genny: 9
Jona: 11
Charon: 12
Inviso: 34
Red: 34
Karo: 40

Score: 141

Johnbobb: Wow. Edit: Holy shit this movie is so goddamn good holy fuck what the fuck was this why am I just now finding out about this goddamn goddamn fuck fuck this is so good

Genny: At the time I'm writing this (with only 4 films left on this list that I've yet to see) Mind Game has clenched the crown of funniest film on this list. I'll be honest, the art style was a huge deterrent for me initially with its sudden shifts between stylized cartoonish frames and those that were hyper realistic. I had almost written this one off completely, but I'm so glad it was included on this list because it was a freaking treasure trove of joy and laughter for me. The pacing is all over the place, but the movie reaches its zenith in the moments ensuing Nishi's death. Thereupon he's tortured with visions of his own death from multiple angles and in various artistic styles by yet another in a long list of shapeshifters that I adulate: Kami-Sama. The literal God is only in the film for about seven minutes, but he stole the show for me. Though Mind Game does lose a bit of steam after Nishi gets his second chance at life- and, might I add, I loved his redo- there are flashes of that same quick-paced brilliance throughout.

Jona: I definitely predict that this movie wont do well in this group but this really felt imaginative and fresh. Its just so insane, chaotic and unpredictable that I cant help but really like this movie. The soundtrack is great and the animation is amazing and can match the insanity that is on screen. It definitely can be too insane and uneven though although I also feel that its like that on purpose. What an experience.

Charon: In one of the strangest surprises to myself, this was really an enjoyable film. I had zero hope for this because as it became, it seemed to be full of nonsense and I did not like the art direction in some parts (thankfully they took it easy on that front, especially as the film progressed). This film is all of the place with action, comedy, drama and even horror here and there. I'm almost at a loss of words on how to really describe it or say why I liked it as much as I did. The cast is narrow which I think makes for strong characters and despite some of the perceived randomness and silliness, I think there's a deep story that's told here.

Inviso: I genuinely have no idea what the fuck was going on in this movie. Its likethe art style is pretty bad and everything is so chaotic and randombut it COULD have still worked. The movie feels like they had an idea, said idea only really worked for about thirty minutes, and then the writers decided lets throw everyone in the belly of a whale and just let em live theyre on a deserted island for a while. You have this AWESOME concept of a guy resurrecting himself by sheer force of will, and he uses that information to go on a badass car chase. And the whole Im not ready to die storyline just gets dropped for some weird, whale-based, slice-of-life story. Dont get me wrongonce theyre in the whale, I actually dont MIND the slice-of-life. Butthis whole movie is just so confusing and aimless. Its REALLY weird and such a wasted opportunity.

Red: A coward gets a second chance at life and just when you think maybe this is going to go somewhere everyone gets swallowed by a whale and weirdness ensues. Then more weirdness ensues. At a certain point I just kind of gave up on what was going on. At least it finally stopped with the weird looking faces from the beginning. Probably another movie with some deeper intended meaning that my brain just never felt invested in enough to care about.

Karo: What It Is:
Masaaki Yuasa's first movie, which is about being people being eaten by a whale. It otherwise defies description, and that is probably for the best.

What I Think:
Yuasa shows great inexperience as a director here, you can't just throw out random plot points to be weird and expect it to work in any way. His later movies have some structure to the story other than 'crazy shit happens for no reason', but this is just one giant mess in every measurable metric.
The animation is janky, unappealing and low budget, and contains some of the most disturbing animated facial expressions outside of Shark Tale. The characters are all a bunch of unrelatable fuckwads and I was actively rooting for the whale to win and digest them all.
You can't take a bunch of random images and call it a story. You can't take the scribbles of a lobotomized monkey and call it art. You can't take LSD and call it creativity. And you certainly can't take a lump of shit and call it a movie.

Score: 7/100

---

Well. I was right about it being Johnbobb's number 1, even if it outlasted JONA's number 1.

Just gotta take out my 31 and 36 and this is looking pretty good.

---

Oh. I see everyone "did the thing" while I was away doing birthday things instead. Hold please. I too shall "do the thing" shortly.

Alright I'm done.

P.S. I can understand this ranking, but I don't agree with it.

P.P.S. Y'all dirty for Angel's Egg though

01. ???
02. ???
03. ???
04. ???
05. Angel's Egg
06. ???
07. ???
08. ???
09. Mind Game
10. The Wonderland
11. ???
12. ???
13. ???
14. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
15. Blood: The Last Vampire
16. ???
17. ???
18. Dead Leaves
19. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
20. ???
21. ???
22. ???
23. ???
24. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
25. ???
26. ???
27. Vampire Hunter D
28. ???
29. Children of the Sea
30. Giovanni's Island
31. Liz and the Blue Bird
32. The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon
33. Miss Hokusai
34. Mirai
35. Appleseed
36. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
37. In This Corner of the World
38. Fireworks
39. Phoenix 2772
40. Colorful

---

Outlier:

Johnbobb: 211
Jona: 175
Inviso: 173
Karo: 173
Genny: 163
Red: 156
Charon: 127

---

I still have to watch Mind Game. On the whole I haven't enjoyed Yuasa's films nearly as much as his TV series, but they've still all been pretty good watches either way.
---

I don't tend to watch anime movies very often, but I think I'll check Mind Game out! Sounds like my cup of tea.

---

What TV series has Yuasa done other than Tatami Galaxy and work on Devilman: Crybaby? I'm too lazy to Google at the moment

---

The biggest one is probably Ping Pong the Animation.

Off-hand there's also Kaiba, which I haven't seen, and more recently Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, which I wasn't actually super big on myself but was pretty well received.

Edit: Oh there's also Kemonozume, which I forgot about.
---

Would you recommend Ping Pong over Tatami? I rather enjoyed Devilman and half of the Yuasa films on this list so I could be convinced to try out a Yuasa series after a couple more anime in my backlog. I chose to ask you because l3fty's opinion is gonna be blatantly biased ha ha.

---

I liked The Tatami Galaxy more, which is one of my all time favorite series. It sort of depends what you're looking for though, and imo you can't really go wrong with either.

Stylistically The Tatami Galaxy is extraordinarily similar to The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, so if that's one of the movies from the list you liked than I'd definitely say Tatami Galaxy is a good choice. (In addition to animation and thematic similarities, the source material is by the same author and there are even some overlapping supporting characters)

Ping Pong is a somewhat more down-to-earth sports series, though I will say that it's much more about the players and exploring their characters/personalities than it is about the sport itself. The animation style can be a bit of a tough pill to swallow, but once I got used to it I think actually does a good job and lends a pretty distinctive style to the series. I would say don't judge the animation style by looking at images from Google or something though, because it looks much better in motion than it does in still images.
---

Thanks for all the input. I'll probably check out Tatami next then, after I finish up a few anime I absolutely NEED to watch with Charon.

---

Quick aside: regardless of your feelings on the two movies, can we just give a big shout out to both Castle of Cagliostro and Memories for sticking it out into the top half, even though every other pre-2010 movie has been eliminated by this point?

---

Yeah I'll clap it up for those two. I'm not sure how they managed it given the older movie massacre, but I'm glad.

---