Forum - View topicThe List - 8 Works by Masaaki Yuasa & Where to Find Them
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Yuasa's works always seem to leave a glancing blow on me, as if something important has just passed me by that my wits were not quick enough to discern. I've yet to have a clean run with watching something of his, so to speak: Kaiba is plentifully charming and exploratory though mildly frustrating towards the end, Mind Game lives up to its name by being both incredible and utterly bewildering, and The Tatami Galaxy's rapid pace and verbosity led me to stop after a single episode.
Given what I've heard about his latest series, avoiding it is one of the easier decisions I've made. Such a combination of director and subject matter makes for the very antithesis of what I'm likely to enjoy. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 2228 |
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Trigun takes my vote. One of the best original endings I've seen in animes even though it is a bit ambiguous
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v1cious
 Posts: 6237 Location: Houston, TX |
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*Hipster voice*
I liked Masaaki Yuasa before he was cool. Seriously though, I'm glad Devilman's bringing more people to his work. He's gotta be one of my favorite animators of all time. Hopefully now Funimation will finally dub Tatami Galaxy. Last edited by v1cious on Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:08 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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uguu
Posts: 220 |
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What? "Everyone in Mind Game is dead" makes about as much sense as TVTropes-style creepypasta theories like "everyone in Ed Edd n' Eddy is in purgatory" or "Ash is comatose and the events of the Pokemon anime are all in his head" - meaning, absolutely none.
Mind Game is not a remotely deep movie. And yet, it's also my favorite animated movie of all time. The simplicity of its story and message mixed with the mind-blowingly inventive audiovisual execution are why it's a work of pure genius - it takes a simple premise and turns it into a hilarious, beautiful and unforgettable ride. It's very closely based on the original Mind Game manga by Robin Nishi - that's right, the protagonist is the creator's self-insert and likely based on an actual emotional journey he personally underwent. So even though its motivational message is one that's rampant in fiction, it's executed in a very personal and honest way which actually makes it effective. Mind Game is simply meant to be a positive story; there's no secret dark subtext. Read this Yuasa interview if you wanna know more. http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php/masaaki_yuasa_interview
I watched Mind Game when I was 14 back in 2006 and it was my second or third anime movie ever. Would've watched it earlier if the online descriptions didn't make it sound like a Japanese Waking Life. |
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belvadeer
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Happy 20th Anniversary to Blue Submarine No. 6, Outlaw Star, Silent Möbius, Steam Detectives, and Trigun! : )
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4174 |
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I have to admit this got my attention faster than ping pong. Now, is that demons with boobs or boobs that are demons? I think its an important distinction but I suppose either could work. 20 anniversary series...1998... Ok, no one is going to believe this but my favorite series from 1998 is Steam Detectives. I was mildly watching with some interest when this fantastic version of Amazing Grace started playing. So I started to pay more attention and then I noticed that the rogue's gallery of rotating villains were just anti-villains if not anti-heroes, kind of like a comic book. But there was this one guy who was just out and out scum, he's bitter, he's dark, he's buff, he's totally crazy and he blames the death of his parents on the main character. He's Batman but just not any Batman. He's the Frank Miller Batman from "The Dark Knight Returns" that's been ruining the character since the 80s. The one that V'd Superman. That one. What happens next is like if Batman's rogue gallery teamed up with Gordon to take the Caped Crusader down... wow, that would be quite a movie... There's also a giant steam powered robot but it's not as important. |
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1601 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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You sir make a convincing argument and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
As far as '98 animes go, my faves are Cowboy Bebop (obviously) and Initial D. You gotta love that winning combination of low-quality CGI and catchy Eurobeat. 
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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Aside from the new Devilman, the only works of Yuasa I've seen are Tatami Galaxy and Ping Pong. I regret putting Tatami Galaxy on hold for a while after seeing the first three episodes, as I ending up liking it a lot, and I plan on seeing the related Night is Short, Walk On Girl when it comes to theaters around here. Ping Pong was the show that got me into sports anime, and even if it hasn't remained my favorite of the genre, it did set the criteria that I look for in sports anime, at the very least in terms of effective character drama. While I do like his work and respect him as a director, I'm not absolutely in love the way his biggest fans are, and I wouldn't really say that he is my favorite anime director.
As for '98 anime, of course, I will go with Bebop, and I'll also pick Jin-Roh, Serial Experiments Lain, Trigun, and Blue Submarine No. 6. I'm currently watching CCS so I'd like to see all of it before I'd name it one of my favorites of that year. |
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CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
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I really like all of Yuasa's work that I've seen (except for Kick-Heart, which I thought was just okay), but I love Mind Game.
I can hardly believe Serial Experiments Lain is turning 20 this year considering how relevant and modern its themes still feel. |
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Terrible90sDub
 Posts: 168 |
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This list is useful, as I've never seen any of these, but after Devilman Crybaby am curious about his other work. One of the links seems to misdirect though:
The Amazon Prime link goes to a page to purchase the blu-ray. Here is the streaming link. |
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erith81
Posts: 17 |
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Genius Party actually had a short run on Netflix a while back, as well as Mind Game. Sadly, it has been pulled down in recent months.
While I loved Mind Game, it is the only successful KickStarter I’ve backed that I regret backing—GKids announced their American release less than a month after my KickStarter copy arrived! Oh well, the GKids release will look nice on the shelf beside the other, just like my Discotek Kaiba looks nice next to my Madman Ent. Version I imported from Australia when I thought we weren’t ever going to get it here (at least I have a while longer of only having one copy of Tatami Galaxy. |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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After recently giving Crybaby a Masterpiece rating here and fluctuating between a 9 and 10 on MAL for the series, I realized that I've literally LOVED everything directed by Yuasa that I've seen. I was introduced to his work through Mind Game when I was in my "rent every anime DVD that Netflix has" phase back in 2011-2012 and it stuck with me very vividly all these years. Not too long after that I, surprisingly, watched Kemonozume as my followup, rather than Kaiba or Tatami Galaxy, which both definitely had more popularity. But anyway, to date, I've loved all of his stuff, and DEVILMAN Crybaby definitely makes my love only grow ever stronger. Even if it's not something that people would usually attribute to the director, there is definitely a distinct way that Yuasa approaches character writing that came be seen in all of his work, and it works for me better than almost anyone else's does.
I also love the different aesthetics that he dabbles in. I think it's strange when people say that he has a specific aesthetic, because, other than the 3 things he's made since founding Saru, every one of his shows has had a very unique look to it. Kemonozume's scribbly lines, Kaiba's extreme cartooniness and bold/thick line work, Tatami Galaxy's flat shapes and bulbous round/soft character designs, Mind Game's angles, and Ping Pong's dirty, wobbly lines. All equally interesting and unique, but all different from each other. Oddly enough, I've never been huge on his actual animation, but the work that he directs is always wonderful. |
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AholePony
 Posts: 330 Location: Arizona |
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A large chunk of Yasa's works center around "what am I doing with my life? Where am I going?" questions, and for me, he does a very good job exploring the subject matter vs. someone like Shinkai who seems obsessed with NTR via distance and time but can't decide how to best convey his ideas.
As a sci-fi in a world where you can swap bodies and memories at will, Kaiba is amazing imo. I voted for Lain in the poll. As @catsword said above, it's amazing how prescient it was. |
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phia_one
Posts: 1663 Location: Pennsylvania |
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Only thing I've seen on the list is Tatami Galaxy and I enjoyed. It's been a few years since I've watched it, so I think I'm about due for a rewatch and see if it's any different.
I really want to see Night is Short, Walk On Girl. |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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If you liked TG you should like Night Is Short. On the advice of a friend I watched TG for the first time just before I saw Night is Short at the cinema and I'm very glad I did. |
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