- last update 30 Oct 2024 -
I've always loved animation so much. On this page, I'm compiling all I've posted so far on the blog, including shorts and music videos. Out of convenience, I'm making a separate page just for "anime" (read: Japanese cartoons).
• Don't underestimate cartoons
• USA does too many sitcoms
• Good kid's stuff
• Awesome short animations
• Cool animated music videos
• Don't underestimate cartoons •
Created by Peter Chung and produced by MTV when it was on its peak, Æon Flux has three seasons of pure experimentalism and awesomeness.
Crazy, dark and though-provoking narrative, bit by bit, and very subtle, reveal a lot about the world and its characters. Surreal, sensual, dramatic, violent, and often comic and tragic. Æon Flux is truly a unique experience.
[I will comment on the movie and the game when the sections are ready]
By Christian Linke and Alex Yee, produced by the French animation studio Fortiche. A stunning adaptation of League of Legends!
Superb visuals, but also great characters and a rich narrative. A very fun watch.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)
Written by Beau DeMayo, directed by Kwang Il Han and produced by Studio Mir. An awesome and brutal animation spin-off of The Witcher that follows the story of Geralt's mentor Vesemir.
A French-Japanese co-production between Ankama Animations and Studio 4°C, directed by Shōjirō Nishimi and Guillaume Run Renard, and based on Run's short animation and comic series that followed. It has a very unique art style, heavily inspired by Hip-Hop culture, and a whole lot of GTA San Andreas feels. A very sarcastic action comedy with just amazing animation - and don't waste your time with a Japanese dub just because this is an "anime". The Japanese can't swear for shit nor have all the slangs associated with the culture. Either watch it in French or English - and as it takes place in USA, I say go for English.
By Will Speck and Josh Gordon. The best thing, by very very far, that came out of Disney Marvel!
You may know Hit-Monkey from Deadpool pages, and his own miniseries introduction was cool, but the cartoon is so much better.
The original comic was actually quite lame, a mix of Ben 10 and Dragon Ball Z, and while the TV show still has a bit too much of teenage drama for my taste, it can be overlooked by how fun the whole thing is with its pumped up violence and language.
By Todd McFarlane. The cream of '90s comics' edginess, and like the comics, the cartoon is also dark and brutal, and our anti-hero full of sorrow and regret violently takes on the vile scum. It's edgy, yes, but quite refreshing for the superhero genre back then, and makes the Batman cartoon look like the Care Bears.
I commented on the comics here.
Star Wars has quite a few cartoon spin-offs. I'm not much of a fan of 3D Clone Wars series, but the 2003 Genndy Tartakovsky's one is awesome. The tag have all Star Wars related stuff, so you won't find only the cartoons there.
[I will comment on the movie when the section is ready]
Directed by Gerald Potterton. A Canadian iconic adaptation of some of the stories of the magazine with bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Nazareth and more doing the soundtrack. Heavy Metal broadened the horizons of animation, exploring mature themes and different art styles... and yeah, it's sexist and juvenile too...
It got another movie in 2000, directed by Michael Coldewey and Lemire, named Heavy Metal 2000.
I commented on the comics here.
A post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure cartoon... musical?
Directed by Clive A. Smith, another Canadian animation and in the same vein of the Heavy Metal, but without all the popping tits.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
An America-Japanese production, directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi. A sci-fi adventure with stunning visuals for its time.
Lately there has been a lot of very good cartoons. There are some I'm still to post, and some that I'm still to check, but some I can mention that are cool but I don't think I'm going to be posting are Dota: Dragon's Blood (2021-2022), Primal (2019-????), Blood of Zeus (2020-????) and The Legend of Vox Machina (2022-????).
• USA does too many sitcoms •
By Jonathan Katz and Tom Snyder. A very underrated show that a bunch of heavy weight artists and standup comedians participated in - Louis CK, Ray Romano, Joan Rivers, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dave Chapelle, Winona Ryder, Jeff Goldbum, Dom Irrera... to name a few...
By Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Sarcastic and unapologetic, South Park is one of the best things that happened to television.
[I will comment on the movies and games when the section is ready]
By Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. Absurd and dark comedy meets sci-fi, tackling complex themes and philosophical concepts that authors have developed entire works to discuss, and making them commonplace.
I commented on the comics here.
By Matt Groening. A great mix of sci-fi and comedy that unexpectedly hits you in the guts with some powerful and unforgettable episodes.
I commented on the comics here.
[I will comment on the games when the section is ready]
Matt Groening's classic. Probably the most famous family on television, and likely the one that has been on air the longest… The Simpsons has had its highs and lows over the years, but it’s always a good watch to relax.
I commented on the comics here.
[I will comment on the games when the section is ready]
• Good kid's stuff •
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008)
The Legend of Korra (2012-2014)
By Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. A one-of-a-kind cartoon with amazing characters, storytelling, and world-building. A show that you can enjoy at any age.
Don't forget the awesome and more mature sequel!
The games are all very enjoyable, and I'm particularly fond of the GameBoy Advance ports. I've commented on the comics here.
By Pendleton Ward. Adventure Time is a cartoon that depicts a bleak and violent world where a boy and his dog struggle to survive in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The Land of Ooo, where they live, is filled with mutated creatures, evil tyrants, and ancient horrors. Finn, the last human, and Jake, his loyal companion, must fight against the forces of darkness that threaten to destroy the remnants of civilization.
It has a bunch of games but I can't comment on any. I commented on the comics here.
From the Ben Edlund's comic book pages, a funny and unpretentious superhero parody.
I commented on the comics here.
By Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon. A cute sci-fi adventure movie.
It won an Oscar and a Golden Globe, but most importantly it won the Hugo Award.
I commented on the comics here.
By Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. Earth got blown up and humanity is scattered across the galaxy, but a hidden map may give humans another chance. One of these movies you gotta be nostalgic about... but hey, it's pretty fun.
When I heard there was an animated series from the 70s, I immediately thought of Kirk, Spock and Bones running from monsters while the same background rolls on repeat, and a furry mascot doing something silly at the end of every episode and the whole crew laughing and saying "Oh, you...". Turn out the animation writing and overall tone is very similar to the original, and the psychedelic imagery of the very first episode already got me hooked. Odds are, if you like the Original Series, you are going to like The Animated Series.
As of this moment, I can't comment on the other cartoons.
I commented on the series here.
• Awesome short animations •
"One of the must-see gems making its premiere at our festival, Midori-Ko is adored Japanese animator Kurosaka Keita's whimsically nightmarish vision of 21st-century Tokyo on the brink of apocalypse. Ten years in the making and entirely, single-handedly rendered in colored pencil, Kurosaka's fantastical labor of love is a marvel to behold. Emerging from the staggering detail and craft flooding every frame is the story of a young woman who sets out to engineer a dream-food that can put an end to the world's famine. Synthesizing Frederic Back's subtle, haptic textures with Bill Plympton's frenetic mutations and David Lynch's haunting wormholes, Kurosaka’s work still retains its own singular, luminous potency."
I can't add much to this summary by the Los Angeles Animation Festival.
Midori-ko is a crazy, surreal, beautiful and very unique piece.
Kill Bill Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren (2003)
Amazingly brutal and very stylish, a Production I.G animation written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It's not a movie, but a chapter of Kill Bill: Vol.1 (2003).
Perhaps it should be in the Anime section, but it's Tarantino, so nah.
Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios’ amazing three-episode project to showcases Unity engine. It presents a really trippy vision of the future.
The Future is Now Artbook Volume Two Trailer (2016)
The name says it all, it's a promotional trailer Josan Ganzalez made for his artbook, that I found pretty cool.
A short animation by Hiroyasu Ishida. Melancholic but pretty cute. A little girl finds a friend while exploring a rainy and monochromatic town.
The Diary of Tortov Roddle (2003-2006)
Another Kunio Kato work. A series of short episodes about a man traveling through a whimsical and surreal world, observing the strange and interesting things that happen along the way.
By Mo Se. A damn crazy cyberpunk animation, very reminiscent of those 00s stick-figure fighting videos, but insanely well made, with beautiful art, colors and fluid animation.
A beautiful experimental work by the master Koji Yamamura.
Actually this a full-length movie, but I felt it would fit better in this section with the rest of the more experimental stuff.
Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor (2007)
"A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient."
Another work by the experimental animation master Koji Yamamura, this time adapting Franz Kafka, at first look you would think it's an European production and not a legitime "anime".
Indie Anibox is a collection of three independent short stories by Korean directors.
• More kickass, crazy and trippy shorts •
• 00:08 (Yutaro Kubo) • • 2005 Space Odyssey (Michio Mihara) • • Apartment (Jun Aoki) • • Beginning of Fashion (Jun Aoki) • • Blindfold (Akifumi Nonaka) • • Calm (Ryo Kato) • • Crazy for It (Yutaro Kubo) • • Crazy Little Thing (Onohana) • • Cornelis (Ayaka Nakata) • • F L Y (Tetsuro Kodama) • • Future Man (Ryo Hirano) • • Gondora (Katsuhiro Otomo) • • I Like Ducks (Q‑Rais) • • Ki‑No‑Ko (Akira Yamaoka) • • Man In The Tunnel Alley (Kenji Iwaisawa) • • Mormorando (Tomomi Komazaki) • • Night Lamp (Saori Shiroki) • • Odd Hotel (Michio Mihara) • • Oshiruko (Jun Aoki) • • Ouch, Chou Chou (Onohana) • • Pianoman (Tetsuro Kodama) • • Street of Millimeter (Masaki Buma) • • Television (Jun Aoki) • • The Lost Breakfast (Q‑Rais) • • The Researcher's Search ‑ Perspectivenbox (Koji Yamamura) • • Tokyo White and Black (Naohiro Takahashi) • • Tuzki Love Assassin (Eiji Abiko) • • Usalullaby (Asame Ike) •
• Cool animated music videos •
• Against Me! ‑ Haunting, Haunted, Haunts (2016) • • A‑Ha ‑ Take on Me (1985) • • Archie Bronson Outfit ‑ Two Doves on a Lake (2014) • • Billain ‑ Infinite Blue (2022) • • Cage The Elephant ‑ Aberdeen (2011) • • Capitaine Révolte ‑ Jardinfernal (2003) • • Capsule ‑ Space Station no.9, Portable Aiport, Project: City Flying in the Sky (2005) • • Dawid Podsiadło ‑ Let You Down (2022) • • Flower Travellin' Band ‑ Hiroshima (1972) • • Flying Lotus ‑ More (2019) • • Gorillaz ‑ 5/4 (2001) • • Gorillaz ‑ Dare (2005) • • Gorillaz ‑ Tomorrow Comes Today (2001) • • Gram ‑ Você Pode ir na Janela (2003) • • Heavenstamp ‑ Decadence (Animal Collective remix) (2012) • • High on Fire ‑ The Black Pilot (2015) • • Ken Ishii ‑ Extra (1995) • • Korn ‑ Right Now (2003) • • Matryoshka ‑ Monotonous Purgatory (2012) • • Municipal Waste ‑ Grave Dive (2022) • • Municipal Waste ‑ You're Cut Off (2012) • • Mylène Farmer ‑ Peut‑être Toi (2006) • • Nação Zumbi ‑ Bossa Nostra (2007) • • O Rappa ‑ Instinto Coletivo (2001) • • Obituary ‑ Violence (2014) • • Pearl Jam ‑ Do The Evolution (1998) • • Peter Pan Speedrock ‑ Crank up the Everything! (2010) • • Pixies ‑ Catfish Kate (2019) • • Queens of the Stone Age ‑ Go With The Flow (2002) • • Queens of the Stone Age ‑ Feel Good Hit of the Summer (2000) • • Ramones ‑ Commando (1977) • • Ratos de Porão ‑ Problemão (2002) • • Radiohead ‑ Paranoid Android (1997) • • Royal Blood ‑ Out of the Black (2014) • • Sepultura ‑ Ratamahatta (1996) • • Tankard ‑ Don't Bullshit Us! (2017) • • Tankard ‑ Fooled By Your Guts (2014) • • Testament ‑ Children Of The Next Level (2020) • • The Bluetoness ‑ 4‑Day Weekend (1998) • • The Breakaways ‑ Girl Electric (2016) • • The Donnas ‑ Do You Wanna Hit It (2001) • • The Offspring ‑ Hit That (2003) • • The Pillows ‑ 1989 (2009) • • The Pillows ‑ Instant Music (1999) • • The White Stripes ‑ Fell in Love With a Girl (2001) • • Toxic Holocaust ‑ Acid Fuzz (2013) • • Tool ‑ Prison Sex (1993) • • Tool ‑ Sober (1993) • • Tool ‑ The Pot (2006) • • Vampillia ‑ Endless Summer (2013) • • Vampillia ‑ Lilac Bombs (2014) • • Velvet Revolver ‑ Dirty Little Thing (2004) • • Yusuke Odagiri ‑ Nicky (2008) •
