Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks Anime Movies II

(+) Yeah! (+)

Xeybozn posted...

They definitely made some bad choices regarding which stuff to cut from the manga. I don't get why they would cut that subplot and still spend so much time on the side characters who now have no reason to be around. Would have been a much better movie if they'd cut most of that and kept more of the stuff with Shoko's family.

Yeah that's exactly why it was near the bottom of what I've already watched from this list... tho tbf having actually read the manga is def part of why its flaws were so noticeable to me.

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I like the movie more than the manga personally.

The movie's greatest sin is probably failing to characterize Shouko as well as the manga does, but I feel like the direction, music, etc more than make up for it. Also the movie uses sound design (particularly periods of silence) in ways that just can't be done by manga at all and I love it.
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Genny's Top 3 Anime II Characters

Honorable mentions are in no particular order

HM 1. Aoyama-kun - Penguin Highway

http://www.nozomientertainment.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PH-SCREEN-02.jpg

I am not a fan of the "wise beyond their years" AKA precocious little brat trope at all, but Aoyama manages to avert the usual criticism a character of this archetype would normally receive from me by being ridiculously self aware to the point where it gets comical surprisingly. The focus on boobs does get a bit overdone by the movie's end, but he's hilarious and clever enough that I'm willing to forgive him. In a better movie he wouldn't stand out as the only good character, but a leading man is only as good as the supporting cast can make him look.

HM 2. Tomohiro Nagatsuka - A Silent Voice

https://youtu.be/c15f8uEl-DA

Honestly the supporting cast for A Silent Voice is so strong I almost want to give the HM nod to the entire cast sans Ueno Naoka, but that would be the cheapest of cop outs. If I had to pick just one stand out it would have to be Tomohiro. He barely edges out Yuzuru by being the most supportive best friend anyone could ask for, I mean this man is such an angel.

HM 3. Nagi Amano - Weathering with You

https://66.media.tumblr.com/2653ead62ab7d77fd8d08632316264ec/66567fa54e02d827-11/s540x810/a73ed531c5afc81566ec454cce8888fae64289f8.png

3. Shouko Nishimiya - A Silent Voice

https://i0.wp.com/insiliconjurer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/communication.gif?w=640&ssl=1

Shouko is probably the most important character on this list. The plot of the movie revolves around her even though she's not the protagonist, and she represents a minority in media as a prominent member of the hearing impaired/deaf community. Beyond making huge strides in representation however, she is also quite a good character. It's hard to put into words why I love her so much so just watch the damn movie so you can see for yourself. I just... I like the way she gives it her all despite her shortcomings and the lot in life she was given, which is why I chose this gif to represent her.

2. Taki Tachibana - Your Name

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/151262938622423583/79D15C4537D0002B1557521034B7A9EB7A0AAEF2/

While he's not the objective best protagonist nor is he the most important deuteragonist on this list, Taki is my favorite character, particularly when he inhabits the body of Mitsuha. Perhaps I'm far too easily entertained, but the booby-groping gag never once wore out its welcome. However though he hits my highest highs in his comedic moments, he produces some scenes with gravitas as well. In particular the scene that takes place at twilight in the crater of Tiamat is one of the most chilling moments of all. The movie would've been over if he just wrote his damned name on Mitsuha's hand, but instead he thought it more important to write his confession and that tore my heart into pieces and I hated it and loved it at the same time.

1. Shoya Ishida - A Silent Voice

https://pa1.narvii.com/6990/a6674ec561caa0cac0c7db00753912c043ebdfb9r1-480-260_hq.gif

I said as much in my write-up for the film itself so I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but Shoya is such a compelling protagonist that he manages to take two archetypes I generally don't enjoy and spin them in a way that not only endears me to him, but makes me love him. I don't like gloomy protagonists. I hate bullies. However a former bully showing genuine remorse for their past behavior to the point where they are willing to atone for it through their own death is not something I've seen before, let alone seen done well. Shoya is a multifaceted individual who's personality is sometimes grating, but never borders on insufferable. For example, when he intentionally pushes all of his friends away in a moment of weakness I never feel annoyed by him: I only pity him. I just can't help but root for him to find happiness because frankly as much crap as he's been through, he deserves it.

Nobody wanted to join me in discussing their favorites and least favorites of the project? I sad...

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Genny's Bottom 3 Anime II Characters

3. Kun - Mirai

https://otakucalendar.com/Images/Items/ccfbd466-3f59-452c-aa35-177611fe79a4.jpg

Kun begins as this cute kid who's world is turned upside down when he's no longer the center of attention in his nuclear family. At first he tries to connect with Mirai as though she is another child, but of course the baby has no idea what's going on and as Kun isn't that much older he can't grasp why she's such a big deal. Whenever his attempts to steal the attention of his parents away from his new sister fail, he ramps up his obnoxious behavior culminating in what would've been an attempt on Mirai's life had his mother been even less attentive (which would have been quite a feat indeed as she's barely in the movie). Kun is a pretty realistic portrayal of a toddler presented with a situation they'd rather not be dealing with, but this is not the kind of protagonist I typically find compelling. Thankfully through a series of educational flashbacks, glimpses into potential futures, and genuine attempts to be less of a baby and more of a role model he does eventually mature, which is why he lands here.

2. Makoto Kobayashi - Colorful

https://imgur.com/Sw1R7SS

I've said so much about Makoto already I really need not put another essay here so I'm only going to spare a couple sentences more. I don't recall hating any protagonist more than him in any medium, and I have plenty of experience with unlikable protagonists in literature, film, and video games. Part of it is that he reminds me of the worst aspects of myself at the worst period of my life, but dialed up to an 11 yes, but the fact that the movie never makes an active effort to redeem him outright and merely rather "sets him on the right path" hurts. It's roughly an hour of watching "Makoto" being an insufferable, judgmental misogynist, and about ten, maybe fifteen minutes if I'm being generous of watching him take baby steps in the right direction and it's just not enough to forgive him for all the agony he put me through.

1. Crack - Phoenix 2772

https://dubbing.fandom.com/wiki/Space_Firebird?file=Space_firebird-1980-1h.jpg

Of course, even the worst protagonist still has a purpose unlike this waste of space in a space film that had no space to spare. I accidentally called him "Jack or Jacque" in a previous post, but his name was actually Crack, and he can lick mine. This is the B.E.N. of Anime II, but instead of actively dragging a decent movie down he makes a mediocre movie infinitely worse. You wanna know the worst part? He didn't even need to be included. Crack added nothing to the cast or the film as a whole, and the only thing they needed from him was some phoenix-luring space juice they could've just stolen from him if only their moral compasses had led them astray. This dog-inside-a-die was the character I wanted to die the most so imagine my frustration when it managed to outlive most of the cast. Finally the phoenix eats him, and just as soon as I finally breathed a sigh of relief that I'd never have to see the damned dice dog again the phoenix only revives him along with everybody else in a Utopia all her own. Absolutely. Infuriating.

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pyresword posted...

I like the movie more than the manga personally.

The movie's greatest sin is probably failing to characterize Shouko as well as the manga does, but I feel like the direction, music, etc more than make up for it. Also the movie uses sound design (particularly periods of silence) in ways that just can't be done by manga at all and I love it.

Yeah I mean all those things are great... but it's still a bit disappointing because I really do feel like they just... failed a bit too much in the editing floor for me to truly love it. I actually feel pretty confident I would have preferred it if they said fuck it and kept more subplots and made it a three hour+ movie.

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I'd definitely say they erred on the side of cutting too much if anything. I think the side characters are really critical to the story overall, and it wouldn't be the same to me if they were gutted too much.

Mashiba really did get the short end of the stick though. Same with Shouya's 2 friends from elementary school.

Also there's one scene in the manga where Shouya and I think Mashiba(maybe? Not 100% sure) go to talk to Shouya's old grade school teacher and I really wish that scene was actually in the movie.
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I like the manga more than the anime for the most part I think, though I don't super love either. I did 100% love the ending scene of the movie where all the Xs fade away though. That scene was incredible.
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pyresword posted...

I'd definitely say they erred on the side of cutting too much if anything. I think the side characters are really critical to the story overall, and it wouldn't be the same to me if they were gutted too much.

Yeah I mean I'm not a film editor, nor do I know what they actually only cut in post production vs what they didn't even animate, but I think if they wanted to keep all the side characters, they cut too many subplots, and if they wanted to cut all those subplots to keep the runtime down, then they should have cut some of the side characters wholesale. They didn't find the right runtime for this story imo. They cut either too little, or too much, and I think a world where it had a longer runtime is also a world where I would like it more frankly.

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Let's see what I've watched and how I'd rank them...

Dead Leaves (2004)
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Promare (2019)
A Silent Voice (2016)
When Marnie Was There (2014)
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (2018)
The Anthem of the Heart (2015)
Mind Game (2004)
Your Name (2016)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
Welcome to the Space Show (2010)
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Weathering With You (2019)
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Memories (1995)
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)
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Blood: the Last Vampire (2000)
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Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017)
Liz and the Blue Bird (2018)
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The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
Colorful (2010)
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Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Unwatched:
Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon (1963)
Phoenix 2772 (1980)
The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981)
Angel's Egg (1985)
Vampire Hunter D (1985)
Appleseed (2004)
Giovanni's Island (2014)
The Boy and the Beast (2015)
Miss Hokusai (2015)
In This Corner of the World (2016)
Fireworks (2017)
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)
Lu Over the Wall (2017)
Napping Princess (2017)
The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2017)
Mirai (2018)
Okko's Inn (2018)
Penguin Highway (2018)
Ride Your Wave (2019)
The Wonderland (2019)
Children of the Sea (2019)

Looks like I've got 19 watched, so just about half? Actually watched three in the past week, one of them because of this list (and another partly because of the list)! They were Marnie, Pancreas, and Anthem, all of which were quite good, and Pancreas made me cry. Felt like Pancreas basically got better as it went, especially after she died. Anthem could've been higher - I liked most of it, but wasn't too into the scene where she ran away from the performance (everything before and after that was good). Marnie was quality all the way.

I don't really love anything on this list - I marked tiers with the ---s, each one basically being a score point. Dead Leaves is a 9, the next tier is 8s, and Maquia's all the way down at a 2/10 (I found all the rape stuff in Maquia super creepy, though it's an aspect that doesn't seem to bother most people). Pretty sure the other anime lists you guys have done have had more movies I'm into than this one.

This list made me realize that I haven't really been that into anime movies in the 2010s. My favorite "independent" one is probably Hotarubi no Mori e (Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light) - not sure you've done that one on a list. The others I'm into have all been series stuff, like Mardock Scramble or Heaven's Feel or Nanoha or Sengoku Basara or whatever. Oh right, also Garden of Words, which is my favorite or second favorite thing from Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star is also fantastic).
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Quick ranking of the movies I've seen.

1. In This Corner of the World
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2. Your Name
3. The Castle of Cagliostro
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4. The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
5. Mind Game
6. Weathering With You
7. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
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8. Memories
9. Giovanni's Island
10. Lu Over the Wall
11. When Marnie Was There
12. The Boy and the Beast
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13. A Silent Voice
14. Colorful
15. Mary and the Witch's Flower
16. Mirai
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17. Napping Princess
18. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
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Mac Arrowny posted...

My favorite "independent" one is probably Hotarubi no Mori e (Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light) - not sure you've done that one on a list. The others I'm into have all been series stuff, like Mardock Scramble or Heaven's Feel or Nanoha or Sengoku Basara or whatever. Oh right, also Garden of Words, which is my favorite or second favorite thing from Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star is also fantastic).

All the non-series ones you mentioned were on our first anime list. It's been quite a while since it though.

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Best:

1. Shoya Ishida
2. Haruki Shiga
3. Taki Tachibana
4. Shouko Nishimiya
5. Hinako Mukaimizu

Honorables:

Hodaka Morishima, Hina Amano, Tomoshiro Nagatsuka

Worst:

1. Crack
2. Naoka Ueno
3. Yuho's Father
4. Makoto Kobayashi
5. Unico

Dishonorables:

Kun, Pincho, Keiko
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Thank you sweetheart

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I might do my top 5 scenes as well... Maybe. No point in doing my bottom five as they'd all be from the same film.

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Onward!

Isn't likely to win the Western Animation 3 project.
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