Forum - View topicHistorical anime recommendations.
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Mazanpi-Enduva
Posts: 2 |
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As stated, I'm looking for some decent Japanese-history-based anime (With little to no fantasy influence), preferrably with a setting before the Muromachi Period (from Kamakura to even Jomon), though anything about Tokugawa Ieyasu would be fairly nice as well.
The most I've been able to find with Googling is Genji Monogatari Sennenki and Otogi Zoshi, both which take place in the Heian Period. Any others y'all might be able to suggest? ^^ |
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Please, don't throw it, just move to proper discussion. We rarely see such questions here.
Genji Monogatari has also movie adaptation. I'm afraid you won't find many pure historical titles, especially based on older history of Japan. Probably the closest thing you can get is Hyouge Mono , but that's historical comedy. House of the Five Leaves might also suit. The Hakkenden and Samurai Horror Tales have historical setting and are based on Japanese legends, but they are too close to fantasy. It's hard to find pure historical anime that takes place in Japanese past, and most of them were too obscure to be translated- if I were you I'd stick to manga. Last edited by EireformContinent on Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4632 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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Yeah, despite the fact that this is a badly composed recommendation thread (which aren't normally allowed, Mazanpi-Enduva- look here) , I notice that we apparently don't have an official Historical Anime Recommendation thread. So with a retitling and maybe rewording this could be made into one... [edit: Done, and Mazanpi-Enduva may do a little rewrite of the first post- not that it's as important now that it's been accepted]
so, just treating it as a "official" historical anime recommendation thread... I'll Recommend House of Five Leaves This is great historical fiction, set in the peaceful Edo period, it tells the story of a skilled but depressed, and depressing, samurai who is finding it difficult to keep a job and finds worth and friendship in a group that turns out to be running outside the law. It features atypical art and a slow story but is well worth the patience for the depth of the characters and intrigue of the story. For 20th century history, if you can find it, I'd recommend Furusato JAPAN / JAPAN, Our Homeland It's a little cliched and cheesy but I really liked this movie for it's peak into post-war Japan, circa 1956. It's just a coming of age story of some elementary school children who want to participate in a chorus competition of traditional children's songs and some problems and a personal tragedy that gets in their way. Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I'd recommend Rurouni Kenshin. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, but it's a good show nonetheless. It tells the story of a wandering samurai who's vowed never to kill again. The characters are likeable and it's pretty well written. It's set in the Meiji era. NB I've never seen the anime; this recommendation is based on the manga.
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Mazanpi-Enduva
Posts: 2 |
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Ah, sorry Minnow! ^^; My fault entirely.
I'm willing to make this into such a thread, however, provided I'm allowed to and with some advice. |
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Tris8
 Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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edited.
Last edited by Tris8 on Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11446 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Done. I've renamed the thread and added it to the list.
The anime takes a few liberties in the first season. They added a couple of characters not in the manga, made the overall tone seem a tad on the fluffy side, and overall has a fairly campy shounen feel to it. But look no further for some of the best, most epic storytelling in any anime when you get to the Kyoto arc. As a fan of both mediums, I'd recommend the anime to a certain point, and then just read the manga for the rest. Depending on your fluff tolerance, you can even skip the first season and read the manga for it, instead (only 6 volumes), but definitely watch the Kyoto arc. As st_owly mentioned, it is set during the Meiji era 10-ish years after Bakumatsu. The story follows Himura Kenshin, a wandering swordsman (not a samurai as so many people egregiously label him as), who was formerly known during the revolution as Hitokiri Battousai. To save his past for your own discovery, he's basically traveling around Japan helping the weak and repenting for all the killing he did back then. But one day he meets a tomboyish girl by the name Kamiya Kaoru, something of an idealist in her own right, but still a bit naive, Things happen, he decides to stay put for the first time in a while, and things take off from there. The Tokyo arc (episodes 1-27, or volumes 1-6 of the manga) essentially introduces you to the characters, some of their ideals, and sort of sets up for the darker impending Kyoto arc (episodes 28-62, or volumes 7-18). The Kyoto arc has a lot of characters with a lot of thematic layers and is essentially Kenshin's past catching up with him. It's dark, philosophical, epic, and a sheer masterpiece of writing. After Kyoto is where it gets a little tricky. My honest recommendation to you would be to check out the OVA, Tsuioku-hen, which covers volumes 18-20-ish and is a flashback of what made Kenshin the man you see in the anime. Many people have made the unfortunate mistake of watching this OVA before the TV series, which in my opinion is the worst possible decision you could make. I say this because Tsuioku-hen is even darker than Kyoto. It's bloody, gruesome, melancholy, and quite dreary in tone compared to anything from the series. The manga is certainly lighter than what the OVA portrays, but transition between the end of Kyoto in the anime to the OVA is striking, even haunting. Production value is higher, the mood is considerably heavier, but the eventual realization in themes makes it so worth the watch. Even though it's a prequel, don't watch it before the TV series. It will diminish the series because of the significant differences in tone, production quality, etc. And then you have "the rest." There's a 3rd season of the anime, a movie, and a 2nd OVA. Season 3 is all filler. It's total fluff. Don't watch it. They initially created this season to kill time until the manga was finished, but it received such low ratings that they ended up just cancelling the series. The movie is decent. It fits in around the Kyoto arc, but doesn't necessarily have any relation to the main story other than a few skills and techniques the characters learned. It tries to be somewhat philosophical as well, but with a mere 90-minute running time, it never really develops it as well as it could have. Then there's the 2nd OVA, Seisou-hen. A wonderfully-produced piece of animation with the most awful, horrible, and rancid shitbag writing I've ever had to bear witness to. Think about it: 10 volumes of manga crammed into an hour? Do you think that'll work? It didn't. I have no freakin' idea what Furuhashi was thinking when he directed that pile of excrement, when even the creator himself disowned the damn thing. Thankfully, though, you can complete the story via manga. Do it. Then watch this garbage heap and tell me you're glad you read the manga first. But yeah, this is what I recommend: TV series 1-27 (or 1-6 of the manga, if you want to avoid some filler) TV series 28-62 (definitely watch this) Tsuioku-hen OVA Manga volumes 18-28 |
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hyojodoji
Posts: 586 |
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Actually, Like the Clouds, Like the Wind is based on the novel Kōkyū Shōsetsu by Sakemi Ken'ichi, which is set in a China-like fictitious country. It received a Japan Fantasy Novel Award.
http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~BIJIN-8/fsyohyo/s_koukyu.html In Kōkyū Shōsetsu, a person died during sexual intercourse. Mr Justin Sevakis erroneously wrote, 'Based on a well-loved children's book' in an article about Like the Clouds, Like the Wind probably without actually reading the novel. |
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Tris8
Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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 That's what I get for not doing research 
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st_owly
Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I'd also recommend Hakuoki. It's set in the Shinsengumi era, just before the fall of the Shinsengumi, and most of the main characters are the Shinsengumi. They're joined by a girl who's cross dressing (not as cheesy as it sounds) and travelling to Kyoto to find her father who's been missing for years. Some of the Shinsengumi save her life one night, and she joins them, hoping they'll be able to help her find her father. It's fairly historically accurate as far as I can tell (real battles are depicted), although there's definitely some liberty been taken with some added fantasy elements. It's fairly enjoyable, especially considering it was based on an otome game.
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yotsubafanfan
 Posts: 653 |
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This isn't Japanese History ( ok it's got some japanese history but its got mostly world history) but I highly recommend it, Hetalia Axis Powers and World Series. Also there is Grave of the Fireflies if you want a more serious movie, it shows the life of two children in the aftermath of the bombings in Kobe during World War two, but if your weak against sad movies I recommend you keep a box (or two) of tissues because a lot of people have cried seeing this movie.
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Tris8
Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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The recent short movie Ojii-san no lamp is a gem of a historical anime. It begins with a young boy finding a very old lamp in storage at his house. When his grandfather sees the lamp, he tells his grandson the story behind this lamp. The grandfather was a child right before the big pushes toward westernization began. When he leaves his small village on a job for the city, he sees a lamp for the first time and becomes enchanted with its brilliance. He decides right then that he will start a lamp shop and usher in the new era of innovation.
This is one of the very few historical anime that doesn't have a supernatural, fantasy, or scifi twist to it. Everything is realistically portrayed, from the way everyone dresses to the people's superstitions. This is a great story set in a time of rapid change. -On a different note, when I looked for this thread in the list of official recommendation threads, I didn't see it. It should probably be linked there with the rest. |
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yuna49
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Hyouge Mono has comedic stretches, and certainly the depiction of the main character, Furuta Sasuke, one of Nobunaga Oda's vassals, uses exaggerated visages which add a comic touch. But I think it's unfair to call it purely, or even mainly, a comedy. The period beginning with the assassination of Nobunaga is almost entirely dramatic and focuses on the political machinations of the various contenders for power. This anime is also artistically brilliant with remarkable artwork, a complex story, an appealing score, and excellent voice-acting. Too bad we'll probably never see it available legally outside of Japan.
I'll also recommend the movie Millennium Actress by Kon Satoshi. Kon uses the career of a fictional film actress to recount 20th century Japanese history. It's by far my favorite of his films, more for the history than for the story about the actress's attempts to find and reconnect with a man she once met as a young woman. I also enjoyed the few available fansubbed episodes of a series by Tezuka Osamu entitied Hidamari no Ki. It recounts the story of Tezuka's actual great-grandfather, Tezuka Ryoan, who follows in his father's footsteps and tries to introduce Western ("Dutch") medical practices into Japan. These efforts put the Tezukas squarely at odds with the Shogun's official medical practitioners who fear that the adoption of Western methods like vaccination will further undermine the authority of the regime. I found the four episodes I watched quite fascinating; unfortunately those are all that are available unless someone else picks up the task of subbing this series. Given its age and older art style, I find that very unlikely. Let me close by mentioning the wildly anachronistic satire Oh! Edo Rocket. The story is set in 1843-44 after the institution of the Tenpō Reforms, a set of policies designed to curb political unrest. Along with the jailing of prominent opposition leaders, the Reforms included bans on Western learning, Buddhist practices, and popular entertainments. The anime focuses particularly on this latter aspect of the Reforms by telling the story of Tamaya Seikichi, a young fireworks maker who can no longer legally pursue his craft. (The Tamaya clan and its rival the Kagiya clan were the pre-eminent fireworks makers in Japan; even today fireworks displays are greeted with cries of "Tamaya!" and "Kagiya!" from their audiences.) This historical backdrop then morphs into a science-fiction comedy when a mysterious young woman approaches Seikichi and asks him to build her a rocket that can reach the moon. A number of historical personages appear in this show such as the magistrate in charge of enforcing the Reforms, Mizuno Tadakuni, and that mainstay of anime history, the Onmyougi mystic, Abe no Seimei. The characters also have modern technologies like televisions and internet blogs and break the "fourth wall" from time to time as well. As an example, the characters discuss how certain events will be explained if the show becomes available to foreign viewers! |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Souten Kouro covers the pre-Three Kingdoms period and Cao Cao's rise to power. It is hardly all that realistic but can be used as a springboard for proper research into the time period and the larger-than life historical figures who reshaped China. It is notable by having the often-derided Cao Cao as, well, maybe not the hero (although the show does gloss over his atrocities and does idolise him a bit), but he is definitely the protagonist. Then there was Lu Bu, who was absolutely awesome (that is, if you don't take him and his ridiculous abilities seriously).
As the series will probably never get an official release I advise people to hunt down the fansubs (one group finished the entire show) and watch it. Great with for those who don't mind their period shows to be historically-based rather than historically-accurate. |
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EireformContinent
Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Romance of the Three Kingdoms, on which SK was based on, was never about realism- it was about awesomeness. The Chinese text was written in XVII century so back then the Three Kingdoms Era had already been a myth, something like Arthurian Legends- we know that it have never existed in such a from but it's awesome to toy with idea of pure awesomeness.
Even if Souten Kouro takes liberties from the text it completely preserves the spirit, that can't be told about other Japanese interpretations. (Especially Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi that pretends to use the storyline and characters but literally castrate them from all traits that may be considered evil, use heavy morals and generally brings the story to 7+ arena. There's also Japanese-Chinese coproduction that had never been translated in any form. |
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