Jap school kids + spirit world = success formula?

[Ishamael]

Been watching Bleach recently via Tivo. I like it. I loved Inuyasha and enjoyed Yu Yu Hakashu. All of these shows have the same basic formula. They each feature high school kids who are somehow able to jump into a spirit world and fight ghosts/demons/fairies.

Can anyone think of any more series that feature this formula?

[Don]

First of all an action anime/manga that stars 'Japanese school kids' covers something like 75% of all action based Anime so it's not exactly a specific pattern.

There's also nothing really 'spirit world' like with Inuyasha or Bleach. I mean yes it says those guys are spirits but they might as well be fighting on Planet Namek or whatever and you wouldn't notice anything different. I guess it's a convenient way to explain why no one ever notices all these massive destruction going on though if it takes place in the spiritual world.

[Ishamael]

First of all an action anime/manga that stars 'Japanese school kids' covers something like 75% of all action based Anime so it's not exactly a specific pattern.

Did you say something shows up in 75% of all occurrences and conclude there's NO evidence of a pattern? Just making sure I heard you right.

There's also nothing really 'spirit world' like with Inuyasha or Bleach. I mean yes it says those guys are spirits but they might as well be fighting on Planet Namek or whatever and you wouldn't notice anything different. I guess it's a convenient way to explain why no one ever notices all these massive destruction going on though if it takes place in the spiritual world.

Yes, there no spirit world in Inuyasha, but as you said, all these kids go some other place and blow shit up without affecting the real world. Don't you think it's kind of interesting that anime TV producers have settled on this equation?

(Of course the Planet Namek comparison is largely irrelevant to this discussion because Goku and crew aren't kids going to an alternate universe to fight bad guys...but yes I suppose if you squint hard enough, you can make a specious comparison between the two ).

[Julius Seeker]

It's because the anime they release in North America is geared towards children. We don't get the vast majority of shows released in Japan. I do think that these types of shows are generally more popular in North America than they are in Japan; i.e. Neon Genesis became more popular in North America than in Japan.

[Zeus]

Can anyone think of any more series that feature this formula?

Serial Experiment Lain. That was a great anime

[Don]

There's nothing spiritual about the world Lain is involved. It is just a warped rendition of the Internet.

[Zeus]

There's nothing spiritual about the world Lain is involved. It is just a warped rendition of the Internet.

True, but it's very close and is essentially the same formula

[Chris]

There's nothing spiritual about the world Lain is involved. It is just a warped rendition of the Internet.

True, but it's very close and is essentially the same formula

except with a hell of a lot more crack. that movie was the weirdest fucking anime I have ever seen. and I've seen crazy lesbians who transform into cars wha....huh?

[Don]

It's true that most Anime takes place in a totally surreal world that doesn't remotely resemble ours or even our imagination. The world of Bleach for example doesn't really resemble how you think spirits ought to work (it's more like an eternal struggle of blah and blah since the beginning of time) but they at least said it's supposed to be the spirit world.

[Chris]

speaking of anime. I got a question for you Don. I'm looking to get back into it with either movies or limited series. What anime would you suggest as being some of the best that consists of one season with a start middle and end

[Zeus]

speaking of anime. I got a question for you Don. I'm looking to get back into it with either movies or limited series. What anime would you suggest as being some of the best that consists of one season with a start middle and end

Death Note is 37 eps. It's excellent and is intense from the first ep on. It was just finished last week and you can find all of them in one torrent.

[Chris]

I've been reading the manga. does the anime turn to shit as well after the first couple arcs?

[Zeus]

I've been reading the manga. does the anime turn to shit as well after the first couple arcs?

There's only two arcs in the anime. The L arc lasts to ep 25 and the N arc ends at 37.

Although they did dumb down the ending. I was a little disappointed when I found out what the ending in the manga was like

[Don]

I tend to stick with just manga, and Death Note is one of the better manga to come out recently at least until the L arc is over.

I recommend checking out Liar Game if you like Death Note. There's an animated version of Liar Game but I'm not sure if it's anime, might be live-action. Despite being fairly predictable I don't feel Liar Game was an insult to your intelligence compared to Death Note, though the Yokoya arc is getting to be pretty dumb.

[Chris]

cool. I'll have to check em out.....are there any really good ones that are more along the lines of a good space opera? I'm really into the cosmic geekyness with all the aliens and shit. rewatching cowboy bebop over the last couple weeks made me want to start checking out new stuff....

[Don]

I'm not aware of any big mainstream space operas, though I also don't have the time to read the hundreds of manga out there. If there are massive piracy sites in English like they do in Chinese, I'd try to look there first and see what people are talking about and go from there.