Ask John: What are Good “Get Back Into Anime” Titles?

Question:
As someone who has not watched anime in five years or so, could you tell me what you consider some of the best films or short series (13 episodes or less) in the last decade? I have always respect your opinions and look forward to seeing what you have to say.

Answer:
Good recommendations need to respond to the interests and needs of the viewer rather than the person making the recommendation. Short and self-contained anime that would serve as an effective introduction to the contemporary anime scene is a very specific categorization that may exclude certain outstanding productions. For example, still limiting recommendations to features, mini-series, or one “cour” (broadcast season) shows, I’m inclined to mention titles including Mousou Dairinin, Aku no Hana, Amuri in Star Ocean, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Uchouten Kazoku, Kaiba, and Mind Game. However, for varying reasons, none of these exceptional productions are ideal for a viewer refamiliarizing with contemporary anime. These aforementioned titles are unusual black sheep that are most ideal for viewers that have an expansive familiarity with current anime and want to see something “different.” I imagine that a viewer rediscovering anime after a lengthy hiatus would be interested sampling excellent productions that quickly illustrate the best of contemporary anime.

Kamichu!, from 2005, may be difficult to find now because it’s out of print on domestic DVD and rather expensive on the collector market. The show is a whimsically charming slice-of-life fantasy about a well-intentioned but slightly ditzy high school girl who suddenly discovers that she’s become one of Japan’s endless number of minor gods. The lushly animated and visually elaborate show has strong characterizations and an even stronger sense of fanciful imagination. From cat fight clubs to alien visitation, the narrative wanders wherever it chooses, all while staying adorably lighthearted and joyful.

Likewise, Ryosuke Takahashi’s 2006 web anime series Flag may be difficult to track down because it’s also now out of print on domestic DVD. But the effort is worthwhile. Flag simultaneously is and isn’t representative of contemporary anime. The show’s documentary first-person perspective is unique in anime history. But its grimly realistic tone and intelligence are comparable to later mainstream anime such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Aldnoah Zero. Flag is a fascinating fictional documentary about international military involvement in a Middle-Eastern civil war. The series feels as contemporary and prescient today as it did eight years ago when it premiered.

Director Mamoru Hosoda’s breakout film premiered in 2006. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, an adaptation of Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel, is a sci-fi film with heart. It’s a truly compelling story about a high school girl who discovers the ability to literally “leap” through time. The strength of the film lies in its utterly believable characterizations and audience empathy for the protagonist when she comes to realize that altering the past can have devastating tragic consequences on the present. The original novel has twice been adapted into live-action features. The 2006 anime movie is powerful enough to appeal to typical anime fans and also extend to mainstream non-otaku viewers.

Regrettably, the 2007 dramatic feature Piano Forest, based on Makoto Isshiki’s manga, has never been licensed for North American release. The film revolves around two young boy piano players. One sacrifices to practice endlessly, the other is a wild-child musical prodigy. Viewers may expect the film to be a conventional coming of age story in which the rivals learn to respect each other, but the film is actually more nuanced and beautiful. Rather than concede to convention, the film illustrates these Japanese children recognizing and dealing with their own emotional conflicts instead of unfairly projecting their personal problems onto others. The movie is absorbing and affecting because its characterizations are so sympathetic. The beautiful film is about more than being yourself; it’s about understanding and accepting yourself.

Drastically different in tone and genre but no less exceptional, the 2007 samurai movie Sword of the Stranger (Stranger -Mukoh Hadan-) is arguably the greatest samurai action anime ever. Regrettably, it’s also out of print on domestic home video and rather difficult to find. The movie is essentially a superficial narrative framework allowing for numerous breathtaking hand-drawn sword fights animated by Yutaka Nakamura. The film’s many bloody battle scenes are simply peerless in the history of anime.

In 2008 I described the first, and arguably the best, season of Natsume Yuujin-Cho as a series that “simply got everything right. This balmy, painterly series evokes a glowing warmth consisting of humor, melancholy, kindness, and the temporal beauty of natural life and death. An episodic structure allows the series to exhaustively explore its protagonist through his interactions with a variety of characters expressing a range of personalities, motivations, and goals – ranging from selfish to benevolent to malicious. Natsume Yujin Cho excels at developing an absorbing, pervasive atmosphere that’s enthralling, engrossing, and affecting. The show draws in viewers and completely engages their heart and mind the way that very few other anime are able to. This is a beautiful series, both in terms of its visual design, and its affective impact on viewers.”

Creator Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s Time of Eve (Eve no Jikan) premiered in 2008 as a six-episode web anime series. The episodes were then re-released in a slightly extended edit as a 2010 feature film. Yoshiura’s visual design is comparable to Makoto Shinkai’s, and the way both animators focus on emotional philosophical concepts is comparable. But unlike Makoto Shinkai who frequently writes about love and heartbreak, and has a tendency to create weak endings, Yasuhiro Yoshiura prefers more scientific and speculative themes. Time of Eve is a fascinating story that suggests a large, societal controversy over extending rights and recognition to artificial intelligences but focuses the theme on singular relationships. The story is beautiful and engaging while suggesting a larger, more complex moral and scientific quandary.

Mamoru Hosoda may have topped his 2006 hit Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo with his 2009 feature Summer Wars. The speculative family film depicts an advanced social media website that unleashes its own destructive sentience. The teen boy who accidentally helped the software escape to wreak havoc struggles to repair the damage he’s done while attending a classmates’ family reunion. The charming film parallels cute conflicts inside the internet world and the real world, applying visual inventiveness and an increasing scale of believable absurdity that culminates in a rousing movie that celebrates family and individuality.

2011’s Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a milestone in anime history, one of the shows that will be used to reference an era. In effect, Madoka Magica did for the magical girl genre what Evangelion did for the robot anime genre. In another sense, Madoka Magica is the Evangelion of magical girl anime. While the show begins as a visually kinetic but ordinary magical girl anime, beginning with a shocking plot development in the third episode, the series descends into a horrific, tragic, devastatingly affective deconstruction of the tropes and traditions of magical girl anime stereotypes. The series is frequently brutally grim and sad, but it’s also mandatory viewing for every otaku that wants to be familiar with the major developments in modern anime.

2005’s Honey & Clover and 2011’s “AnoHana” (Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai) are the finest romantic drama anime of the past decade, but only AnoHana is a “short” series. AnoHana may be criticized for adhering a bit too much to conventional, mainstream anime tropes, but it’s also exactly that similarity to mainstream anime that allows the show to plunge more deeply into affective and emotionally incisive honesty compared to other shoujo anime. The show revolves around a group of friends who have grown distant from each other. In order to respark their friendship, each of them has to face and accept personal regrets and guilt, allowing the series to be very emotional, complex, and tearful.

Director Makoto Shinkai is a brilliant stylist, and he earns tremendous credit for aggressively dealing with tragic love stories. But particularly his Place Promised in Our Early Days & 5 Centimeters Per Second suffer with weak endings, and his Children Who Chase Lost Voices lacks a bit of vital development in its mid-section. Ironically, Shinkai’s shortest film since his two debut works, The Garden of Words, is among his very strongest productions. With a shorter running time, Shinkai keeps the movie concise, expecting and allowing viewers to recognize subtle clues and piece together hints to complete a story about two people who use love and heartbreak to ultimately grow stronger and more independent. The Garden of Words is an utterly beautiful film visually and narratively.

Last year’s wonderful film Majocco Shimai no Yoyo to Nene has been sadly overlooked by too many potential viewers. The candy-colored magical fantasy is a charming, fast-paced, energetic family film that’s willing to dip its toes into some mature character motivations. Narratively, the film is structurally and tonally comparable to Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service. Every aspect of Magical Sisters Yoyo & Nene is a treat for viewers, making this presently a contemporary hidden gem.

This list of recommendations isn’t comprehensive, nor can it be. In order that I not compose a dissertation, I’m deliberately leaving out titles that justifiably could also appear on this list, including From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), Wolf Children (2012), Gatchaman Crowds (2013), Witch Craft Works (2014), and Barakamon (2014). All recommendations are merely suggestions. Any and all anime viewers should watch whatever happens to appeal to their unique personal tastes and interests.