Rough Into to Anime: Action!

I finished up my original “Rough Intro To Anime” series a few months back, but didn’t want to leave it at that quite yet. I looked over the titles again and realized that the highlighted shows are rarely series filled with action and adventure — one of the reasons a lot of people get into the medium. That’s just a personal preference, but I noticed that barring a few episodes here and here, I really didn’t mention shows that gave off a sense of adrenaline-pumping excitement. Instead of going through another five episodes at length, I thought I’d list a few anime series that are known for being fun and action-packed.

Neon Genesis Evangelion/Evangelion Movies
Talking about Evangelion is a little like talking about Star Wars. Both had a massive effect in their respective genres, and both had an effect on pop culture in general that can be felt many years after their release. Both spawned many imitators: some quite good, some hilariously bad. Both have had numerous re-releases and remakes, thanks to a creator that was unsatisfied with the initial product. Both have spinoffs and sequels that go into semi-authorized games, comics, and movies. People have tried to reconcile religious views with both, others know every detail about the series to the point of obsession. Just like you can find Yoda and C-3P0 on Pepsi bottles in the US, you can find Evangelion characters on Doritos in Japan.

The series Neon Genesis Evangelion (usually called NGE or Evangelion by fans, since something is lost in the English translation) deals with an apocalyptic setting, where much of the Earth was damaged by giant beings called Angels, and a shadowy organization called Nerv has the assignment of defending the Earth against future attacks by Angels. To do this they use giant robots called Evangelion Units piloted by teenagers, with the reason given they were best used by those born after a previous attack. The main character for the story is Shinji Ikari, a young teenage boy thrust into piloting an Evangelion Unit by the head of Nerv: his father with whom he hasn’t spoken in a decade. Shinji is a sullen, withdrawn boy who seems to have little self-esteem. His new job of saving the world makes him a hero and celebrity at school, but his estranged father only gives passing approval. As the series progresses, two other pilots (both girls his age, adding to his problems) join him as they fight the uphill battle of preventing another damaging attack that may take out the entire world.

The production of the original series is almost as legendary as the show itself in anime circles. Hideki Anno, the series creator, was dealing with depression that lasted for years and was coming up against budget constraints and creative disagreements. Episodes became darker and darker, and obvious budget issues (including a scene where characters in an elevator do not move for nearly one minute) were on screen for all to see. The final episodes were so controversial that Anno received death threats from irate fans. An additional movie to remake the final episodes was equally controversial, but even more morose than the original ending. For years episodes were tweaked and movies were re-released with minor changes. Recently it was announced that the entire series would be remade in four movies – with some changes of the story again. The first is slowly debuting in theaters across the country, with a DVD release in November. While the entire series and movies are available already, a movie remake might be the best way to digest this sprawling franchise.

Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop might have one of the easiest premises out there: bounty hunters in space. Set in a future where humanity is scattered across the galaxy, former policeman Jet Black and his friend Spike Spiegel scrape together an existence on a ship called The Bebop by going after bounties. Along the way they pick up a con-artist woman with a mysterious past, a welsh corgi puppy with abnormally high intelligence, and a bizarre girl who hijacks their ship so she can join them. Each of them them has a reason for resorting to picking up low-lives for a living, and it becomes clear that most of them are running from their past to one extent or another.

The “Bebop” aspect of the series comes from the Jazz music that makes up a huge part of the score, and all of it is original. Musician Yoko Kanno made enough music to fill all 26 episodes a few times over, and the series theme song Tank is one of the best original theme songs to any TV show in any country. There’s a good chance you’ve heard it as bump music on a talk show, between innings at a ball game, or in any practice room by a kid trying to work out the sax solo. In a show with only four main characters, the music is one of the major reasons this show works.

Another reason for the show’s popularity in the US is the English adaptation. Since the show is largely influenced by American buddy cop shows and exploitation films, the dialogue and situations relate well in English. This is one of the rare series where a re-dub of the show is considered better than the original. A live-action remake starring Keanu Reeves is apparently in the works with the original creators closely involved.

Read or Die/ROD The TV
A short series (sometimes called an OAV — Original Animated Video) followed by a much longer sequel make up this selection. In Read or Die, mild-mannered substitute teacher Yomiko Readman is a severe bookophile. Her cramped apartment is stuffed with literature, and most of her paycheck is spent in the local bookstores awaiting new releases and poring through used sections. However, she leads a double life as secret agent for the British Library, going on dangerous assignments to retrieve important written artifacts and lost books important to the United Kingdom. The reason she’s in demand is that she has a secret power: she can manipulate paper to her will — stop a bullet, open a lock, create a giant paper airplane, shield people from an explosion…anything she needs. She’ll use this power to save the world from a few crazy madmen who happen to steal the book she was reading.

The sequel deals with three sisters with the same powers and their detective agency. Set seven years after the first series, Yomiko has gone missing and her best friend is despondent and suffering writer’s block. After saving her life from a stalker, the sisters act as the author’s bodyguards and fall into a mass international conspiracy to steal just enough important books and documents to be dangerous.

These series owe more than a little debt to the James Bond films. From the theme songs to the outlandish plots to the names of the characters (Yomiko’s code name is “Agent Paper” while her partner is named “Miss Deep” and looks and acts exactly like a Bond Girl) to the fight scenes, the show is something of an homage to the secret agent shows of the West. Double agents are revealed, silly gadgets save the day, and more than one megalomaniac attempts to take over the world while sipping tea and calmly talking to their enemies. Netflix has the OVA available for live streaming.

Last Exile
Claus Valca and Lavie Head are two orphaned teenagers stuck in the middle of a civil war between factions that have been fighting for years. Claus and Lavie also happen to be very good “vanship” (a small aircraft) pilots who earn money by working as couriers and racing their ship in contests. Much of this is done with the dream of flying across The Grand Stream — a dangerous, stormy expanse that took the lives of their fathers years before. During one race they come across a fallen pilot and agree to take over his mission of delivering a young girl to an infamous aircraft called The Silvana where the shadowy Captain and his crew seem to have motives beyond fighting in the civil war. Fearing for the girl’s safety and rendered homeless after an attack they stay on the ship and find themselves in the middle of both the war and the Captain’s mission.

Visually, this is a stunning series. Much of the show takes place in the air — aboard Claus and Lavie’s ship, aboard The Silvana, and fighting between factions. The feel is neither fully futuristic nor retro and gives off a Steampunk vibe. The ships (The Silvana in particular) are foreboding and much of the anachronistic technology is simply shown instead of explained. Bright blue skies contrast with the ugly wars happening below. Beyond the visuals, the show gives details to the crew of The Silvana including other pilots, the officers, and the colorful crew who keep the place running. It’s a very busy show for the first half, takes a few episodes to breathe, and then jumps right back in for an exciting conclusion. If this were a film (and rumors of a live-action American adaptation exist), you’d expect it to be out in the middle of summer with a few Oscar nods to the design and effects people. This series is currently available to watch on Netflix streaming and Crunchyroll.

Noein

When’s the last time quantum physics played a major part in a story you were watching or reading? 12-year-old Haruka is a fairly normal girl who spends time with her friends and goes to school while planning for junior high. Like other kids her age, she’s got a best friend, parents who confuse her, and a friendly boy nearby who can be a bit confusing as well. Unlike other kids her age, she and her friends are accosted by a group of adults who are looking to take Haruka with them in an attempt to bring peace to a dimension devastated by an attack from an enemy called Noein. Oddly enough some of these adults seem to be familiar — a few of them claim to be grown-up versions of Haruka’s friends, including a much older version of the boy she likes. They’re from another dimension and timeline and want to bring her to their future to avert a total collapse of their worlds. Why she’s at the center of this disaster is still uncertain to all involved, but everyone from the strangers to her father to her friends’ teacher find a way to be involved in making sure she and her friends are safe.

Remember those episodes of Star Trek where a dimensional rift would open and we’d see evil versions of characters or dead characters suddenly back as if nothing happened? Remember how Geordi or O’Brien would chalk it up to a “temporal anomaly?” That doesn’t happen here. Characters (mostly the adults) bring up Schrodinger’s Cat, many-worlds theories, physics, Albert Einstein, and plenty more. I was never that good at these forms of science so I don’t know how accurate it all is, but they certainly play with the idea that infinite possibilities and infinite realities may exist. Don’t get the idea, though, that the show is all talk and theorizing; it’s almost evenly split between a dystopian future,  its inhabitants fighting to keep it alive, and Haruka and her friends living their lives. One of the nicer aspects is that it seems to understand that a 12-year-old is going to view being taken to another world and a blowup with her best friend as equally important in her mind. For a series filled with action, it’s also rather grounded in the characters it presents – provided you can wrap your head around the idea of infinite worlds and possibilities co-existing.

I hope these five series will help out those of you with a penchant for big action to find a jumping-on point for the world of anime.  There’s a lot of great stuff out there, and most of it is easily accessible.  Enjoy!

Have you tried out any of these shows?  Did I leave out your favorite?  Talk about it!