What's the most philosophical anime?

[SSJVegeta]

I think the most philosophical anime are Rurouni Kenshin, Mobile Suit ZetaGundam, Robotech: Macross Saga and GTO.

Rurouni Kenshin- defines the concepts of honor and compassion and the battle between good and evil.

Both Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Robotech: Macross portray the war as tragic, costly and evil but sometimes necessary because in Macross Humans are fighting for their survival although I know a little about the war between Anti-Earth Union Group, or AEUG and the Earth Federation in Mobile Suit Z Gundam except for the political reasons and very little philosophical aspects of the war both vaguely since I only just saw a dozen episodes. They also preach that the peace is hard to get. "It is easier to start a war than to end a war."

Robotech: Macross Saga not only philosophically shows the consequences of war but also equally philosophically of love. It explains how threesome relationships are very difficult to cope, endure and live with and also how important it is that you should realize your feelings.

The cornerstone of GTO's philosophy is about life, and GTO also lectures about the bonds between friends and between family members and between the teacher and students, and between adults and children. But The GTO manga is much more philosophical than its anime counterpart.

[Arilou]

Depends what you mean by "philosophical"....

Political philosophy? Twelve Kingdoms, Infinite Ryvius or Gundam SEED: Destiny comes to mind. (at least partially) PlanetES is another good bet, though it's not really central there. Especially Infinite Ryvius is interesting (It's made by the same studio who made Gundam SEED&Destiny....) It's a kind of "Star Trek meets Lord of the Flies" as a bunch of space-cadets are trapped on an strange spaceship and (sort of) has to organize their own society... They try a few models, certainly :p

For more generalized philosophy Kino No Tabi is an excellent watch. It deals with a girl (though she looks remarkably androgynous) and her talking motorcycle (don't ask....) who travel around the world, encountering different "countries" and various situations...

[Buzz Dixon]

The original GHOST IN THE SHELL movie was an extremely profound look at human identity and what makes us "us."

[The Drunkard Kid]

For more generalized philosophy Kino No Tabi is an excellent watch. It deals with a girl (though she looks remarkably androgynous) and her talking motorcycle (don't ask....) who travel around the world, encountering different "countries" and various situations...
That actually sounds kinda like Galaxy Express 999. Well, vaguely, anyways.

[jboncha]

The original GHOST IN THE SHELL movie was an extremely profound look at human identity and what makes us "us."

I'd have to agree with Buzz.
GitS was a very philosophical movie.





J B

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Seconded, GITS marked my rebirth into anime with its gorgeous art, stunning sounds and pertinent message.

All that followed, Ninja Scroll, Wings of Honeamise, even Akira.... GITS is what started it all for me.

[jboncha]

Seconded, GITS marked my rebirth into anime with its gorgeous art, stunning sounds and pertinent message.

All that followed, Ninja Scroll, Wings of Honeamise, even Akira.... GITS is what started it all for me.

I think GitS had a lil to do with me checking out more anime as well.
I dont really think it was until RahXephon came out though that I decided to watch more series instead of just the movies.
RahXephon was the first series that I bought in its entirity on DVD.




J B

[Robotech Master]

GITS: Stand Alone Complex: Deals with Issues of Memory, Truth, the line between man and machine, and other issues that creep up as a result of technology increasing.

Kino no Tabi: Each episode tends to force Kino to deal with some issue regarding the human condition.

Evangelion: Existential Philosophy; Philosophy and Psychology of social interaction and society on the individual.

Infinite Ryvius: Its basically a Sci-Fi rendition of Lord of the Flies: looks at chaos and disorder among humans who have been seperated from society and laws.

Rahxephon: Metaphysical stuff; borrows from philosophical ideas from another country, but offhand I can't remember what culture its from.

Full Metal Alchemist: It can get surprisingly philosophical at times. Thought provoking at the very least.

Now and Then, Here and There: The right and wrong of the world, and whether or not right and wrong really exist; whether accepting the bad things of the world and letting them be is better or worse than trying to ignore their effects and fight against the bad things (even if its in vain).

[Paploo the Ewok]

Anything movie length by Mamoru Oiishii ispretty philosophicla.

Dream ponderings in Urusei Yatsura [his TV episodes get out there once in a blue moon too, like the episode with Ataru's Mom, and her neverending dream]
Ghost in the Shell's cyborg and individuality/soul ponderings
Ghost in the Shell 2 in General
Patlabor Movies [and some of the TV episodes]

Neon Genesis Evangelion's last 2 TV episodes [Movie ending=screwed up, TV Show ending=screwed up, but brimming with post-modernist dialogues!]

Galaxy Express 999 Manga- VIZ's edition is the most recent version of 999 from Matsumoto is brimming with one mindblowing 20-ish page visit to a planet after another. My favorite is the planet where Tetsuro meets his unborn sister. Kooky stuff.

[The Herald of Torrent]

Mobile Suit Gundam 0079: Emphasizes the cruelty and devastation of war, the changes in the personalities of the White Bases's crew throught the war, the advancement of humankind and the tension it creates, as well as how much the loss of a single life can affect people on a personal level (Ryu's kamikaze attack in ep. 21).

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: It dealt even more with the more human side of the OYW, namely Al losing a good friend at the hands of another good friend, who didn't even know they were fighting each other (literally).

Funny how I'm the only one for whom "Gundam" came to mind...

[Pikachu]

The Ghost in the Shell films.

Serial Experiment Lain

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Animetrix

But the most philosophical Anime I've ever seen is Spring and Chaos. :o

Pika!

[Violently Apathetic]

Night on the Galactic Railroad- It was essentially a two hour long mediation on death. Er...I hope I didn't just spoil the ending...

[yeoman]

Depends what you mean by "philosophical"....

Political philosophy? Twelve Kingdoms, Infinite Ryvius or Gundam SEED: Destiny comes to mind. (at least partially) PlanetES is another good bet, though it's not really central there. Especially Infinite Ryvius is interesting (It's made by the same studio who made Gundam SEED&Destiny....) It's a kind of "Star Trek meets Lord of the Flies" as a bunch of space-cadets are trapped on an strange spaceship and (sort of) has to organize their own society... They try a few models, certainly :p

Oddly enough, Airs Blue's dictatorship seemed to work best for them, though still flawed, mostly due to his cronies. Given that they were mostly teenagers, and in a horrible situation, that's kind of unsurprising.

[Arilou]

Oddly enough, Airs Blue's dictatorship seemed to work best for them, though still flawed, mostly due to his cronies. Given that they were mostly teenagers, and in a horrible situation, that's kind of unsurprising.

Someone I talked with made the point that the fundamental reason the "governments" keep changing is that *resources are limited* as they go on they start running out of food, so yeah, Airs Blues' "laissez-faire dictatorship" worked well.... But how much of it was because his "reign" came during the relatively early stage when food was plentiful?

[saintjon]

Getter Robo.

That was some deep stuff man.

[Zeta]

GiTS anime productions: How did they get deep philosphy about technological process, human identity, and human relationships from a joke manga about a slutty robot prostitute cop, anyways?

[NinjaJJ]

I always thought. . . . . .

But it depends on your view of "philosophical." After all, these are Animes, not full treatises in philosophy. Therefore, we should never be bogged down by the simplistic messages presented in ANY anime (and believe me, I have come up with arguments against the themes presented in virtually all animes I've seen since I'm a philosophy/theology nutjob).

Neon Genesis Evangelion, RahXephon, Blue Submarine No. 6, Wolf's Rain, Great Teacher Onizuka, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell, Trigun, the Gundam series, yeah. . . . . .

I need to watch more. I know of a few others when I watched them as a child in China, but I don't know the English/Japanese names.

I will make a thread asking about them though through a description.

[Gabriel]

The Japanese have always seemed fascinated by philosophy and God, but I think the best messages have come from Kenshin, and Full Metal Alchemist. Non-violence, repentance, and equivalent exchange.

[yeoman]

Someone I talked with made the point that the fundamental reason the "governments" keep changing is that *resources are limited* as they go on they start running out of food, so yeah, Airs Blues' "laissez-faire dictatorship" worked well.... But how much of it was because his "reign" came during the relatively early stage when food was plentiful?

Actually, I felt his dictatorship worked best because he was dealing with a bunch of teenagers who needed someone to tell them what to do.

Part of the reason why he was so open with reasources was, IIRC, because he thought they would be reaching a safe port fairly soon.

Still, all thier models had faults.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Where would Big O rank here?

[Siegzon]

Haibane Renmei-Dealing with Redemption a little more theological than philosophical, nevertheless still da best.

Shakugan no Shana-Dealing with the nature of Identity through fiction.
Deft since it works more through the characters choices than straight exposition though there is some of that too.

[RickThunderclees]

One of the most philosophical animes I've ever seen is Cat Soup....short and sweet.

[MJC]

Where would Big O rank here?

Depends. If WTF?=Philosophical, then pretty high.

[Deskad]

Saikano is up there, especially the manga.

[Shaman from Serbia]

Well, oddly enough, there is no Manga with simple explanation. Even those of newest production (witch I won't be naming) have several points that are present in every Anime I know.

Every single one of them is talking about two things: ancestry and faith.

As much as I noticed every one of the animes has at least one character that hates his family from the depts of their hearts. Utchita Sasuke (Naruto), Tao Len/Ren (Shaman King), Android 17 and 18 (Dragonball Z),... Although many of them sonner or later have "chandge of heart".

Faith part I won't comment.

And there are often anti rasistic points hidden here and there...

As for witch Anime do I count as most philosophical, it's Ghost in the shell.

[Naraku]

The anime is not very philosophical, but the manga is. Shaman King.

[MilkManX]

Most of Miyazake's films deal with spiritual philosphy of both Mankind and Earth harmonizing and not destroying.

[Arilou]

Well, oddly enough, there is no Manga with simple explanation. Even those of newest production (witch I won't be naming) have several points that are present in every Anime I know.

Every single one of them is talking about two things: ancestry and faith.

As much as I noticed every one of the animes has at least one character that hates his family from the depts of their hearts. Utchita Sasuke (Naruto), Tao Len/Ren (Shaman King), Android 17 and 18 (Dragonball Z),... Although many of them sonner or later have "chandge of heart".

Faith part I won't comment.

And there are often anti rasistic points hidden here and there...

As for witch Anime do I count as most philosophical, it's Ghost in the shell.

The interesting point is that a lot of japanese manga is, well, if not outright racist, at least very stereotypical.

Moreso, I think a lot of manga/animé is deeply sexist. Japan seems to be a terrible place if you are a woman, not Saudi Arabia terrible, but still pretty bad, at least by Scandinavian standards.

[Shaman from Serbia]

Moreso, I think a lot of manga/animé is deeply sexist. Japan seems to be a terrible place if you are a woman, not Saudi Arabia terrible, but still pretty bad, at least by Scandinavian standards.

I agree, for most of it. But, in some manga/animes, smost felame characters are hysterical, dominant over main character (although not phisicaly) and some are even quite powerful. But evil female characters are mostly imcopenant...

[Leslie Lee III]

Berserk gets my vote. It's why it's also my favorite Anime.

[Young Avenger]

Paranoia Agent. I still don't know what the hell that show was about.

[jboncha]

Paranoia Agent. I still don't know what the hell that show was about.
Thats definitely a great philospohical series.
I'm still not quite sure what the moral of that story is or if its a metaphor for something specific but it defintely has a great amount of re-watchablility.




J B