- last update 24 Sep 2024 -
I think I should start this with a rant about otaku culture and weeb shit, and perhaps that funny misquote of Miyazak saying "Anime was a miskate, it's nothing but trash", and "Those who identify as otaku, they sicken me deeply". Yeah, I'm totally doing that.
So anyway, Japan has produced a huge amount of amazing cartoons and comics, and because of their distinctive style I made a separate page only for them, and here I'm listing some of my favorites that I've posted so far.
• Cyberpunk, Transhumanism, Androids and shit
• Post-apocalyptic and other Sci-Fi
• Fantastic Thrillers, Dramas and weird Psychedelic and Psychological stuff
• Dark Fantasy and Supernatural stories
• Kinda cute or heartwarming, I guess
• And of course, I love them anthologies!
• Cyberpunk, Transhumanism, Androids and shit •
By the master Katsuhiro Otomo. A cyberpunk classic that influenced generations of anime and sci-fi. Set in a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo, it follows a biker gang who get involved in a secret military project. The Akira manga ran from 1982 to 1990 and is a fantastic piece of history, with an immense world building and just marvelous artwork, but it was the 1988 movie that really shook the world, and opened the West to the Japanese animation invasion.
Akira the movie is a masterpiece in every way, from the sheer scale of parallax backgrounds and frames, with fluid and vivid animation rarely seems, small details as face animations being created after the voice-actors work, to its superb directing and iconic scenes and imagery that are cemented in pop culture and cinema history. Akira is a landmark, but also a damn fun and compelling story in an immersive world of neon lights, urban decay and social unrest.
[I will comment on the games when the section is ready]
By the cyberpunk master Masamune Shirow. Ghost in the Shell is another cyberpunk classic, following a Spec Ops team in a world AI, androids and cyborgs are the new normal. The original manga ran from 1989 to 1991, it got a sequel named Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (1991-1996), that is quite good - but I don't want to talk about Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2001), I prefer to believe it does not exist. Since 2019 a series taking place between 1.5 and 2, named The Human Algorithm, and writen by Junichi Fujisaku (worked on several Ghost in the Shell adaptations before), is being released, but I can't yet comment on it.
What really put Ghost in the Shell in the world map was the fantastic 1995 movie directed by the master Mamoru Oshii. It just took everything to a complete new level, dropping the humor of the manga and focusing on its thought-provoking exploration of the nature of consciousness, identity and technology - not to mention, it's a damn great work of art as well, with astonishing directing and animation. Its sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) double down on its philosophical approach and is another great movie.
From there, we got several serial animations, with different cuts for TV and cinema, and so much stuff that I lost count. The Stand Alone Complex anime series is kinda beloved, but I found the first season pretty weak, although it got better in the second, still felt like a more generic police drama with awkward fan service. I remember liking the Arise series better, although still not finding remarkable. I couldn't get into the CGI action series that followed, and all of them got manga spin-offs too. Lastly, there was a Hollywood adaptation as well, with it's own promotional manga Ghost in the Shell Comic Tribute (2016-2017).
[I will comment on the games and the live-action movie when the sections are ready].
The Kerberus Saga is a violent and complex alternate history political thriller created by Mamoru Oshii, a massive series ranging from radio dramas to live action movies. Here we are going to talk about the manga and the animation, though.
The manga Kerberos Panzer Cop (1988-2000), and its sequel Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs (2003-2004), were never scanlated by the fucking weebs, so all we have available is the masterpiece movie Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999), directed by Hiroyuki Okiura. Another great and beautifully animated production that is at the top of this list for a reason - and, although not cyberpunk, it just fits the vibe of Akira and Ghost in the Shell movies.
Based on a 1949 manga by Osamu Tezuka, the god-father of anime, inspired by the 1927 Fritz Lang movie of the same name, adapted by Katsuhiro Otomo, and directed by Rintaro. If you are familiar with Japanese animation and sci-fi, these names should be enough for you to get an idea of how great this production is.
The Metropolis (2001) movie carries all social and technological commentary these guys are known for, combined with stunning and very complex animation mixing art déco and steampunk visuals. A real eyegasm but also a great adventure to watch and enjoy.
[I will comment on the Fritz Lang movie when the section is ready]
By Toshimitsu Suzuki. What if magical girls went cyberpunk? The original Bubble Crisis (1987-1991), and its sequel Bubblegum Crash (1991), series are about magical cyber girls fighting boomers that went crazy - and it actually predates magical girls going superhero. I do find vehicles design of thoses series sick, but my unpopular opinion is that its alternative version Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (1998-1999) is a way better series in every other aspect, including changing the soundtrack from 80s city pop to 90s industrial metal.
But what is reallyg great is the violent and gritty down-to-Earth neo-noir police thriller AD. Police, it has a manga series from 1989 and an OVA series from 1990. The 1999 TV series, though, pretty corny.
Finally, the real cherry on top is Parasite Dolls (2003), by far my favorite entry of the whole universe and the most underrated. It has the seriousness of original AD. Police OVA, but with a great animation, and overall way better atmosphere and directing. A real cyberpunk gem.
Bubblegum Crisis also somehow got a comic mini-series by Dark Horse, which I commented here.
[I will comment on the games when the section is ready]
Another work by Masamune Shirow, Applessed has several version, and they are very different from each other. Taking place on a post-apocalyptic world, where a few hyper-developed cities are rendering humanity obsolete, the original manga ran from 1985 to 1989, and got a few more chapters on Appleseed Databook (1991) and Appleseed: Hypernotes (1992), and was also adapted to an OVA in 1988.
The next entry is the 2004 CGI movie, directed by Shinji Aramaki, which is a quite good action flick, and the CGI is even pretty good for its time. The next on this series is Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007), but this one is so damn corny it's embarassing.
Next is the Appleseed XIII (2011-2012) series, by Akira Miyagawa, with another completely new take. It's also CGI, and ok for its time. It also has a manga that ran from 2011 to 2013, but the weebdom never got around to scanlate it, so I can't comment.
Lasty, is Appleseed α (2014-2015) manga by Iou Kuroda, another new take, this time more post-apocalyptic, and I quite liked (I'm not much of a fan of the previous verions), then Shinji Aramaki made another movie called Appleseed α (2015) that, if it's an adaptation, it's a very loose one, and it kinda threw out of the window most themes about society and technology. It's more of a fun kick-ass post-apocalyptic action flick with real eye-candy CGI (quite impressive for the time).
[I will comment on the games when the section is ready]
By Yukito Kishiro, and known in the West as Battle Angel Alita, this is another essential cyberpunk anime - although it's very post-apocalyptic as well. The original manga ran from 1990 to 1995, and its first two volumes, out of nine, were adapted in an OVA series in 1993 (which are basically what they put in the 2019 Hollywood movie as well, with a few pieces of the third and fourth volume).
Kishiro wrote a story for a Playstation game in 1998, and from that he expanded the manga, starting Gunnm: Last Order (2001-2014), which is visually very great, but although having some very nice plot points, it turned into a weird battle shounen the characters keep pulling invincible power ups every other day. Unfortunately, Last Order is a must read to get to the current, and totally awesome ongoing series Mars Chronicle (2014-????) - my favorite by far.
There is also a collection of short stories called Gunnm Gaiden (1997-2006), that the weebdom never scanlated properly, and all I could find is one chapter. And finally, there is a 3min long CGI animation called Gunnm 3D Special (2000), that was released with the manga reprint.
By the great Chiaki Konaka, another cyberpunk anime essential. Armitage III is an OVA series from 1995 that was later condensed in the Armitage III: Poly-Matrix (1996) movie, but just check the OVAs for the full thing. It also has a sequel Armitage III: Dual-Matrix (2002), that was very meh.
There was also a manga version in 1995, Zarae Ohtana.
Brutal cyber biotechnological esper experiments led to the creation of a weapon that changes the world. A Koichi Ohata adaptation of deadend lame manga dropped in 1992, Genocyber is a childhood favorite of mine. Here in my country they aired it at 6pm on over-the-air television, between Sailor Moon and Saint Seiya, so all the 5-6yo kids could watch.
Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990-1991)
By Yoshiaki Kawajiri, one of those 90s gems. Cyber City Oedo 808 is three stories about convicts taking dangerous police jobs in exchange for sentence reduction.
Psycho Diver: Soul Siren (1997)
By Mamoru Kanbe. A cool mix sci-fi, horror and film noir on this dark, gritty and violent anime that might remind you a bit of Dreamscape or The Cell. The real problem with OVAs is that they are too damn short!
Download: Devil's Circuit (1992)
By Rintaro. Another obscure cyberpunk anime, and it got the internet just right.
Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
By Yasuyuki Ueda, directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, and written by Chiaki Konaka. A unique, surreal and avant-garde cyberpunk anime that explores reality, identity, and communication in the age of the internet way before social media was even a thing. Lain weights heavily on philosophy and psychology and may not be for every viewer.
A short manga called The Nightmare of Fabrication (1999) was released in the artbook An Omnipresence in Wired.
[I will comment on the game when the section is ready]
By Shuko Murase. With a cyberpunk dark atmosphere surrounded by a desolated post-apocalyptic wasteland, Ergo Proxy at first seems very influenced by Blade Runner but develops in more philosophical and psychological ways about humanity and reality. It also got a manga miniseries called Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker (2006-2007), written by Yumiko Harao.
"Creepy" can barely define this animation by Chiaki Konaka. It's a CGI anime that purposely looks like stop motion. The visuals feels like he was inspired by Fred Stuhr and Adam Jones, sad it wasn't real stop motion puppets, but still, a pretty crazy and grotesque story and concept full of body horror. A great watch if you are into the weird side.
Eden: It's an Endless World (1997-2008)
By Hiroki Endo. Post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, neo-noir crime thriller, psychological drama, existential dread, with a lot of well based geopolitics and ethnic conflicts background. Eden went through a lot of themes and literary genres during its run.
An imposing and brutal ever expanding structure is the scenario of growing despair and existential dread, but not on the characters. A very unique cyberpunk post-apocalyptic dystopia manga, Blame! is a highly experimental and complex story told more through the masterful illustrations of Tsutomu Nihei than his words.
Later, it was released a collection of ten short stories, with a few parodies, but also some pure mindfuck expanding the mythos, and even a short sequel to the manga, named Blame! Academy and so On (2004-2008).
There has been a collection of six short animations in 2003, they adapt a few scenes of the manga, and are as crazy and surreal. They also made another short called Special (2003), but not as interesting, neither the two Prologue (2007) shorts.
They made a CGI movie in 2017, it couldn't really translate the experimentalism of the manga, it's more of a post-apocalyptic action flick, but still a very nice watch. They also made a manga version o the movie, called Blame!: The Electrofishers' Escape (2017), with the one-shot epilogue Blame!: Fort of Silicon Creatures (2017).
By Tow Ubucata. A human trafficked, teenage sex-slave, becomes an accessory on an investigation to stop a criminal organization... and by accessory I mean a cyborg killing machine!
The original manga ran from 2009 to 2012, and it was very well adapted to three movies: Mardock Scramble: The First Compression (2010), Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (2011) and Mardock Scramble: The Third Exhaust (2012). There is another manga entry called Mardock Daemons (2016-2018), but the weebdom never touched it, so I don't know what it is about.
By Keikaku Ito. A sci-fi mystery thriller about ethics and nature on an utopian future. Really nice anime movie.
Altered Carbon: Resleeved (2020)
Altered Carbon fans don't miss this animated Takeshi Kovacs action flick - that could have been such an awesome game.
I commented on the series here.
Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 (2017), directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, is an absolute awesome short animation introducing the events that led to the movie Blade Runner 2049.
Shinji Aramaki also directed a series called Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021-2022), that is also linked to the movie.
By Bartosz Sztybor and taking place in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, inspired by the original Cyberpunk game by Mike Pondsmith, on the iconic Night City created by William Gibson for Neuromancer, and adapted and animated by the Japanese... can it get more cyberpunkish than that!?
There is also this awesome short story/music video Dawid Podsiadło - Let You Down (2022)!
[I will comment on the game when the section is ready]
By Imai Toonz, directed by Hiroyuki Imaish. Two amnesiac criminals escape from a prison on the moon. A chaotic and absurd dystopian sci-fi adventure full of humor and action.
• Shorts that fit just right •
Dimension Loop (2001): A Koji Morimoto's Studio 4ºC crazy short animation
Zoo (2005) Poetry of Sunshine: The fourth part of the five-part film Zoo, adapted from the first volume of Otsuichi's novels of the same name. It is the only animated part.
• Damn awesome music videos, seriously! •
• Ken Ishii ‑ Extra (1995) • • Mylène Farmer ‑ Peut‑être Toi (2006) • • The Bluetoness ‑ 4‑Day Weekend (1998) •
• Post-apocalyptic and other Sci-Fi •
• Fantastic Thrillers, Dramas and weird Psychedelic and Psychological stuff •
• Dark Fantasy and Supernatural stories •
• Kinda cute or heartwarming, I guess •
Princess Mononoke Spirited Away Porco Rosso Castle in the Sky Kiki's Delivery Service My Neighbor Totoro
• And of course, I love them anthologies! •
