Forum - View topicGetting into anime
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Gunfan9x19
Posts: 3 |
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Alright, so I'm trying to get into anime. I've tried before, but ran into snags in finding shows/movies that I would enjoy. I'm trying again now because I just reconnected with a good friend from high school who is really into it, and I'm pretty nerdy to begin with, so I figured it was worth a try.
I eventually found my way to this site, where I used exceptionally helpful encyclopedia search engine to find anime in genres and subgenres that I like, and I came up with a list of several shows and movies that I would like to start watching. The problem is that money is a little tight right now and I would prefer if I could avoid blowing $40+ dollars on a dvd set for a show I don't even know for sure if I'd like. So, my question for all of you is: Is there a way I can LEGALLY watch like the first episode of a certain series before I go out and buy them? Specifically, I'm looking to start out with Blue Gender and Cowboy Bebop. I also checked Funimation's website and they will not allow you to view any episodes of Blue Gender, and Bandai's site won't let you watch Cowboy Bebop. I would appreciate any help in this matter. |
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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I think you're out of luck for those series as far as previewing online. How about a subscription to a rental company like Netflix instead? Just checked and they have the Cowboy Bebop remix and Blue Gender available.
It's cheaper than buying anime blind for the series you can't preview, and you watch a lot of shows without actually buying them. Although you can run into a few snags like these guys are discussing. They also have a few things available for viewing on their website (although with a much more limited selection) with membership. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18572 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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One option you might consider is signing up for a rental service. Netflix and Rent Anime are both online services known to have quite broad selections of anime (including the titles you mentioned) for a reasonable monthly fee, and the latter has a two week free trial period. It would be a very cost-effective way to sample the first volume of multiple series before committing to buying any of them. It's also quite possible that a local library or brick-and-mortar video store might have volumes of those two series, as both have been popular in such environments in the past.
I also recommend checking Amazon, doing a search for the first volume of each series, and looking for Used copies on the display. For many older (i.e. more than 4-5 years old) series, you can find used volumes so cheap that the S&H fee may actually cost you more than the DVD itself; that is currently the case with both Blue Gender 1 and Cowboy Bebop Remix 1. |
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Chesty La'Rou
Posts: 18 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
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If your less interested in actually collecting all the dvd's yourself, you could do what me and my friends do. We pick a series to start buying dvd's from and then as we finish them we share them with the other friends.
I do realize this kind of defeats the purpose of collecting the box sets and single dvd packs. |
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cool3865
 Posts: 770 Location: Austin, TX |
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and if you wind up likeing anime, make sure you get a high paying job to support your habit...........i know i need one now
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Im not sure if episode summaries are legal, but they could be a helpful way to see if the content of a series is something you could be interested in.
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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They're as legal as spoilers and talking about anything else on the internet. 'Course they're legal! But they're not any good for deciding if you'll like a show. In the case of Blue Gender, you'd ruin a lot of the atmosphere and all the good surprises in the show by reading even the first episode summary, and in the case of Bebop, reading about the plot doesn't give you ANY idea about how the show flows, because the plot is really not the point in Bebop, it's the atmosphere/attitude, which it has coming out the wazoo. |
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BrothersElric
 Posts: 1996 |
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Also it wouldn't hurt just simply looking at the anime section (typically listed under "Special Interest," or at least it is in my local rental stores anyways) of your local rental stores (Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, ect.), see what they have there. That actually is what indeed helped me evolve my own anime tastes in fact. I was already a fan, but browsing the rental store for other, less known stuff I might like helped expand it a little bit more. In fact I still kind of do that even today.
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Gunfan9x19
Posts: 3 |
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I already like anime, or, I should say I like good entertainment, I've just always had a tendency to overlook anime. The problem for me is going to be sorting out GOOD anime that fits my tastes from anime that wouldn't interest me and the unimaginative/stereotypical crap (though, like I said, that's less of a problem due to the fact that I can search by genre/subgenre in the encyclopedia here and read descriptions of titles that come up). As a matter of fact, I already own Gunslinger Girl Season 1 (friend recommended it to me, saw some of the action scenes on Youtube, and I was hooked  ), as well as the Zone of the Ender series and movie, as I have been a fan of the game series since it was first released for PS2 in March 2001 (haven't watched Dolores, i yet, but Idolo was fraking awesome!).
Also, it is worth knowing that my local Blockbuster carries almost nothing in terms of anime. Anyway, I caved and bought the Blue Gender box set. I'll let you know what I think of it, and please post any additional suggestions you might have, I appreciate it. |
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G-mofactor
 Posts: 797 Location: Atlantis to Interzone |
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Getting back to the habit can be a drag. It was for me at least, I had to get used to English dubs when I came to the US to pick up.
Anyway, its awesome that you have some animes to work and fimiliar with. I suggest looking up the kind of genre you would like to prefer. Could it be mecha mayhem, or fantasy perhaps? Best thing in picking up anime is that its quite diverse. So, getting addicted is no surprise. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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There's a number of sources available if you want to find series that are good. The best source for me is actually this very forum and another anime forum that I visit. I've come to know the tastes of many of the regulars here and can often gauge what I might like based on their own comments regarding a series. I also dig up info and reviews on various series that catch my eye, and read peoples anime blogs as well. Only thing to watch out for is spoilers of course.
Otherwise there's not many legal avenues available to test out a series unfortunately aside from the few series that get runs on channels like Cartoon Network and renting through a site like Netflix. Youtube can often provide some clips and such to view to get a brief glimpse of a series. Then there's the less than legal methods, which really aren't such a bad thing so long as you still buy what you like and support the industry. |
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Showsni
 Posts: 641 |
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If you want to watch Cowboy Bebop, it's currently showing on Sky channel 199... I've no idea what episode they're up to, though.
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fullmetal biologist
 Posts: 61 Location: north carolina, usa |
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I would re-iterate that Netflix is a good way to get into anime. I am somewhat new to anime and found it the best way to try out different series. It's probably more mainstreamed anime available there and their distribution isn't perfect. But on the whole I've been happy to add entire series to my queue. Cowboy Bebop is an excellent series to get you hooked! It worked for me!
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