Because older anime is the best. Compiling this list, I didn’t realise that 3 of 5 were directed by Osamu Dezaki, otherwise known as The Master in these parts. If you like what you see below, please go ahead and dig a little deeper into our archives, there’s much more where these came from.
Can you see those stars, Felix? Or are you just drunk with blood-colored dreams? (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) by bateszi
During the very last scene of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, baby Felix gazes up at the night sky and grasps at the stars. “That might be an action that’s been repeated endlessly in any era, in any world,” the narrator poetically explains, adding that “Humans always pursue things that they can’t reach”, yet the knowing expression on Mittermeyer’s face is almost heart-breaking, “Felix, you too…?” This is, perhaps, the most emotional moment of the entire series, expressing everything that there is to love about Legend of the Galactic Heroes in a matter of seconds. [Read more]
You’re gonna carry that weight (Cowboy Bebop) by bateszi
No-one lives a perfectly happy life, yet every day we’re faced by choosing either to live by striving for a better tomorrow, or to retreat by lamenting yesterday. At the end of Cowboy Bebop, Spike’s eyes are trained on yesterday, but Faye’s on tomorrow. It makes for an ostensibly cool finale, yet the more one thinks about it, the more it feels like such a pointless, tragic waste. Life is for living, after all! [Read more]
Because her soul is enslaved to a goddess; Oniisama E by Celeste
While I have no doubt that the long wait before an adaptation of Oniisama E into an anime in 1991 (after its original publish date in 1975) was at least partially due to content and subject matter, suicide and drug addiction not being the least of those subjects, the delay allowed Osamu Dezaki to produce one of his last major works. His visual style is at its height in Oniisama E, where he makes ample use of the video mixing techniques, as well as his trademark ‘postcard memories’ in a highly refined way. The animation is highly detailed; often spending the extra effort to animate individual strands of hair in detail, or the shimmer on a girls’ eye. [Read more]
Aim for the Ace! by bateszi
Her hand bloodied and blistered, she bandages it up, ties it to her racket and keeps going. Giving up isn’t an option. This is her moment! Her chance! Her dream! This is Aim for the Ace!. [Read more]
The interconnectedness of anime, and adieu, my beloved Oscar (Rose of Versailles) by bateszi
Watching anime is like connecting the dots of a picture; one leads to another, forever changing the picture’s shape. Some dots are out on their own, but others are connected to everything else, making the overall picture that much clearer in my eyes. One obvious example here is Mobile Suit Gundam, the first real-robot anime, another is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Anime such as these I’m proud to say I’ve seen, because they forever shape my understanding of the medium today. [Read more]
