Let's nerd it up

(I think I had this exact poster. In scroll form...)

When I was in high school, I watched a fair bit of anime. I even went to the comic convention once and bought wall-scrolls, which I then adorned the walls of my bedroom with.

I never said it was a proud time.

Kitschy decor aside, I have recently kind of rediscovered a bunch of the old anime that I used to enjoy, and been pleasantly surprised to find that some of them are not only still relevant and entertaining, but are in the process of being completely redone and remastered. It's good to know that classics never really die.

Now, I realize I am not an anime connoisseur. To be honest, I haven't even seen that much, but of what I have enjoyed in my brief experiences, here are my top five favourite anime:

5) Macross

Space fighting, lasers, robots that transformed into airplanes. What more could you ask for? A classic.

4) Voices of a Distant Star

Admittedly, this 25-minute movie is kind of emo. It's about high-school kids in love, separated by time and space due to an intergalactic alien battle. The animation is even kind of simple. But take into account it was made entirely by one dude, on a G4 Mac computer, and everything becomes much more impressive. The story is also told in a very unique way, making use of text messaging to convey time, and a great theme song makes this a particularly unique, emotional and entertaining piece of work.

3) Dragonball Z

Another classic. Yea, it eventually ran kind of long, and there are episodes where nothing happened except angry staring contests. But those lulls where easy to overlook. When this was good, it was really, really good. It's an iconic franchise, even here in the western world. Debatably, it's the most popular serialized anime of all time. It was also blatantly racist, arguing that we'd all be more powerful if we could unlock our latent Aryan powers. Hmmm....

2) Princess Mononoke

Probably the most riveting cartoon movie I've ever seen. Well, it's up there, right up alongside the Lion King, at least. Also, it was environmentally friendly before being environmentally friendly was cool, yo.

1) Neon Genesis Evangelion

I just re-watched this series from beginning to end. I distinctly recall being a huge fan when I was younger, but being thoroughly and utterly confused by the existentialist ending at the time. Actually, I wasn't just confused. I was disappointed. I wanted giant robots fighting. And that was absolutely not what happens at the end.

I won't ruin it, but suffice to say that on my recent reacquaintance with the series, I had a much more nuanced and reflective experience. I was more aware of the philosophical queries and moral quagmires posed by the creators. I was challenged by the complex and patently dysfunctional characters as human beings, and not just pilots of giant fighting robots.

Basically, I really, really enjoyed watching this. Much moreso than even when I was younger, and I feel there was a deeper appreciation for it this go around.

The plot is confusing, convoluted and complex. There is no arguing this. But in terms of character development and arc, cinematography and artistic endeavor, Neon Genesis is right up there not just as anime, but one of the best pieces of television I have ever had the pleasure of watching. I'm glad I watched it again.

I know lots of people love Naruto, but I've never really gotten into that. Should I? It seems like Dragonball in that there's just too much ground to cover at this point. I also always wanted to watch Love Hina and Cowboy Bebop. Anyone watched those? Are they good?

Just as an aside, Neon Genesis is currently being redone as a movie quadrilogy, with each two-hour movie basically retelling 6 episodes of the original series. I just watched the first one (the only one out right now, the second releases this summer) and although some scenes are shot-for-shot reproductions, there is also a fair amount of tonal change that helps makes the plot much more accessible.

The drawing is redone really well, and apparently the final movie is going to completely redo the ending to appeal to a more mainstream audience. I'm excited.

ALSO, apparently DBZ is in the process of being remastered in HD as well. I wonder if I'd consider buying that. I have fond childhood memories of watching that show at my cousin's house every week, and renting each movie on laserdisc (!) as soon as it came out.

Pure nostalgia.