Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - Anime At The Movies
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BeanBandit
Posts: 303 Location: Canada |
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I was lucky enough to catch Evangelion 2.0 in theaters in Japan back in 2009, lets just say I'll be planning my next trip to Japan around Eva 3.0 lol
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wandering-dreamer
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Um, in the article you mention a show called Reideen but it links to a 2007 show, do you mean Yuusha Raideen instead?
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Charred Knight
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The only anime I have seen in theaters are the first two pokemon movies. In particular the pikachu short for the second movie needs to be seen on the big screen to cement the fact that the people who made it where on drugs.
Personally I don't think we should judge a movie's reaction on what other people think, in particular Tank Girl is a horrible movie and I am not going to base my feelings by what a bunch of drunk frat boys think. |
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ljaesch
Posts: 299 Location: Enumclaw, WA |
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This was an interesting article about anime in the theaters.
However, I do have to point out an error in regards to Robotech The Movie. America did not do two songs for the film; those two songs were done by Three Dog Night. |
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Jrittmayer
 Posts: 304 Location: New Jersey |
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Thats was some intense history right there. Very VERY interesting.
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Thunderbird-
 Posts: 60 |
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After reading this I feel cheated that I've only gotten to see the YuGiOh movie in theaters.
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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I've seen Ponyo and the first two Evangelion movies- watching anime at a theatre definitely tops watching at home, or even at a Con. Comfy seats and sound surrounding you on a gigantic screen is hard to beat.
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The Nagabuchi
Posts: 103 |
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Great work as always Mike. The historie of theatrical anime isnt something I've seen covered in much depth in the past at ANN and your piece had a lot of great nuggets of information - I was fascinated to hear that The Last Unicorn and Jack and the Beanstalk - two of my favourite 'cartoons' as a kid way before I even knew what anime was - actually had anime roots.
I'm in a somewhat different situation, being located in Japan, in that all the newest releases get theatrical releases although some are still rather limited (Redline was only screened at a handful of cinemas, as was the recent Macross movie. Similarly Mardock Scramble was only on at ONE cinema in all of Tokyo and sold out every screening). So I completely understand where you are coming from in terms of the experience of seeing a theatrical anime at the cinema as opposed to at home. I first came accross this experience in the mid-90s when I was lucky enough to catch screenings of Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell at my local independent cinema - and decided then that I would make a point if seeing anime in the cinema whenever possible. Fortunately I am now in a position that makes this possible
Its actually seeing older stuff at the cinema thats relatively rare and that I enjoy the most - managing to see the old Gundam trilogy for example, gave me some idea of how fans must have felt back in the day. Some recent highlights, if you are interested: Eva 2.0 - while I saw both 1.0 and 2.0 at the cinema, Evangelions popularity had REALLY rebounded by the 2nd movie. The line to get tickets was an hour long cinema was packed. The electricity in the atmosphere when it played was unbelievable and resulted be seeing it 2 or 3 more times. Fist of the North Star movies - I caught all 3 of the FotNS movies at the cinemas back when they came out a few years back. The highlight was the 2nd one which also coincided with an actual 'funeral' for Raoh. Complete with an actual Buddhist service, a funeral portrait, and a mob of crying schoolgirls, what would have otherwise ben a regular anime flick gained weight and meaning far beyond what it otherwise would have - the feeling of the passing of a legendary character was palpable. Macross Frontier: Wings of Farewell - I'm an admitted Macross fan and, as such, have seen this at the cinema 5 times (with a 6th screening coming up this weel, lol). Having said that, I managed to see it day 1, complete with a small talkshow by the cast and director (Shoji Kawamori). The reactions of the crowd were amazing - only in Japan do you get rabid fans yelling out 'THANK YOU!' at the top of their lungs to the director. Macross-Do You Remember Love - Last year a cinema in Roppongi Hills did a 1-off screening of a 35 milimeter print of DYRL. It was a midnight screening, wollowed by a digital print of Macross Frontier - The False Songstress afterwards at about 02:30. Seeing DYRL on the big screen was a revelation - so much love was put into that movie. I could see details in the print that I had never even noticed before. And the best thing? The fact that 25years after its release the film still got a standing ovation from the packed cinema. Akira @ Sydney Opera House - OK so Im cheating here since this one happened in Sydney last year. While the print was quite bad (looked like a DVD rip) all music was done live by a local rock band in a pit in front of the screen. While their take on the music different from the original, the bass they did on the action scenes was mind blowing. A stall in the lobby was selling the recent reprints of the manga. It almost felt like I'd stepped back in time to the beginning of my anime fandom in the early 90s. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1335 |
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Sadly, I can't stand going to the movies, and I haven't since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Well, I did go see Avatar because my Mom wanted the 3-D experience, but nothing else since then. The reason why Mike loves going to the movies, as a shared experience with other people, is exactly why I got fed up with going. It didn't matter when and where I went to the movies--there were always jerks that chatted or heckled through the thing, and while I may say something to get them to shut up, nobody else ever does. I remember going to see Welcome to the Space Show at Otakon. While this movie got mixed reviews, I liked it a lot, but I would have enjoyed it that much more if not for the chatterers that were right behind me and the picture-takers from everywhere. It may not be the 'shared experience' that Mike was putting a positive light on, but for me that was what always came with the package, and it's just not worth it.
So it came to a point where I preferred watching all my movies, including Anime movies, in the quiet comfort of my own home. This may sound strange, but watching a movie either by myself or with a crowd of people doesn't normally make a difference for me. If the movie is good or entertaining, and in the case of Evangelion 1.11 and 2.22, if the movies flat-out rock no matter what, I'm enjoying myself regardless. Last edited by pachy_boy on Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:09 am; edited 1 time in total |
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glomag
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I went to see Eva 2.0 and I'm pretty sure the theater I was at used a DVD. The picture wasn't that great and it had the standard yellow DVD subtitles. I don't know how the film was supposed to be distributed or what a blu-ray would even look like on a movie screen but I would like to know if anyone else who saw the film was disappointed by the picture quality. I saw the Eureka 7 movie at a different theater and the picture quality and presentation of that was amazing so I was expecting Eva 2.0 to be at least as good and it wasn't.
I really do enjoy the "anime in theaters" experience, I just wish more titles would get wider releases. I would have loved to have seen Summer Wars, Redline, or The Disappearance of Harhuhi Suzumiya but I would have had to have traveled hundreds or thousands of miles. |
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Animerican14
 Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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It's been... sheesh, I think the last anime that I actually saw in theaters was Howl's Moving Castle. Or was it Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence? (Man, that was a weird yet awesome experience, seeing that alone as a young teenage. Even if I barely understood it
 .) I might've tried to see Summer Wars when it showed at that lone Landmark theater in St. Louis, but I was in school in Kirkville school at the time (and still am).
A funny little thing: the last time I saw anything anime-related in theaters was actually when I saw District 9 at an AMC theater with my neighbor (who passed a way within the next couple months, God bless him). Specifically, it was a Fathom trailer for the Eureka Seven movie  ... deep down, I was pretty excited, but it still felt kind of awkward seeing it, since I was probably the only one in the crowded theater that really knew about E7, period. The super melodrama in the trailer didn't help alleviate that awkwardness, either...
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GATSU
Posts: 15550 |
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I caught Summer Wars a few months ago. 
Wow, I can't believe even anime shows like Reideen were still on 16mm... RE: Littlest Warrior. Looking @ the ANN Encyclopedia summary and I'm wondering why they thought that what would be for kids.
That's ironic, given what they got away with in the 80s, not to mention with Fritz the Cat.
Except they didn't give it a "wide" release, and sat on it for at least a year. Plus, their marketing for it sucked.
Actually, even if you just peg it as an animated movie spin-off from a popular kids show, it was unusually successful for its kind. There are a lot of American cartoon movies off of equally popular franchises which never took off the way that first Pokemon movie did. For example, the original Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoon, or even the more recent Powerpuff Girls theatrical spin-off. Nabaguchi:
Well, that's how it's been in the States with Redline, so you're not missin' anything. 
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Sailor S
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I agree with pachy_boy, in that I don't enjoy watching movies with other people at all. Shared experience? Other people's opinions tend to annoy me, so I don't wish to share my experience with anyone. When I go to the movies, I always go in the early afternoon on weekdays when all the stupid kids should be in school in the hopes that I'll have the whole theater to myself. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes not. But I don't feel that I enjoy movies more when I'm in a packed house. To the contrary, I find I enjoy them less.
Also, as someone who doesn't enjoy dubs, most anime movies that I could have gone and see were dubbed instead of subbed, so those are out. I'm quite content to buy my DVD or blu ray and watch them in the comfort of my own home, and where I can have popcorn and a soda for less than $1, as opposed to $10 at the theater. |
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The Nagabuchi
Posts: 103 |
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Ahaha, good point. Personally I found it surprising given that Takuya Kimura was in the lead role. I mean, they normally market the crap out of anything he is in - Howls Moving Castle, Yamato - he was heavily linked to both in these movies promotion. Redline? Nothing. I went on opening day when they were giving out commermerative strips of film and the cinema was still only 1/3 full! I wish it had marketing more akin to Eva or even that awful Gundam 00 movie because Redline was so damn good. Oh well, at least Summer Wars got a packed house (even if they did shoot themselves in the foot later by releasing the Bluray at a 10,000 yen price point!
Wow, personally I cannot fathom this attitude, sorry. I've never had anything but great experiences with anime at the cinema. I've only been to the cinmea in the US a handful of times though, and I must admit it was really strange how people there talk during movies. Unfathomnable here in Japan and pretty rare in my home country of Australia too. I can understand the noisiness of a convention viewing putting you off though. But as for cinema screenings, its not about others opinions unless you take friends with you to the cinema. Its about the shared reactions. I've been in Macross screenings where over half the cinema was crying at the climax. That makes for a pretty powerful viewing experience imo. But hey, to each their own. |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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Two reasons 1. Anime fans are incredibly easy to get over which would tend to distract you or simply piss you off if you're watching something bad. 2. I am an anti-social human who more resembles a troll (the kind that's found in Northern Europe mythology not internet trolls) than a normal human. |
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