Best anime of the decade 2001-2010

[jesse_custer]

Ursula K. Le Guin sounds like a moron.

[Robotech Master]

Ursula K. Le Guin sounds like a moron.

She's a pretty damn good writer and has commited several seminal works to Science Fiction and Fantasy, as well as outside genre fiction (though I'm not familiar with her works there). She also loved many of Miyazaki's films; just because she thinks he should have stayed retired after finishing Spirited Away--a sentiment shared by a number of people--doesn't make her a moron.

[jesse_custer]

Well, I think it's moronic to say that a great director who still makes good films should retire, assuming she said such a silly thing.

[Libaax]

Well, I think it's moronic to say that a great director who still makes good films should retire, assuming she said such a silly thing.

Its silly to say a legendary SF writer is a moron without being sure what she said. I have read her negative views on the movie but not seen any remark about retirement.

Earthsea thing is infamous in SFF circles. Its like Avatar the last Airbender movie situation. She made the series planning to create main characters of color that the animation changed to white. Plus Miyazaki senior came to her saying he would make the movie,promising and then giving it to his son afterwards.

Understandable she felt cheated by him and his people.

[Robotech Master]

Well, I think it's moronic to say that a great director who still makes good films should retire, assuming she said such a silly thing.

Well, that's an opinion based on a series of other opinions. Le Guin is likely one of the many who are of the opinion that his hallmarks are his earlier works, Castle in the Sky, Kiki, Totoro, and maybe Nausica. People who loved those films but didn't as much love his later works would naturally wish that he retire with nothing but peak films under his belt; especially since he *did* retire, he simply rescinded that to make Hayao's, and she was dissapointed that he did that.

Its silly to say a legendary SF writer is a moron without being sure what she said. I have read her negative views on the movie but not seen any remark about retirement.

She said it, but it wasn't meant as some negative critical commentary and it wasn't in response to the Earthsea film, so you won't find it in articles about that. She was simply talking about the fact that, long ago, Hayao had asked her if he could do an Earthsea movie, and she refused for a long time, then when she thought about agreeing, he said he no longer could do it, so that's how it got passed on to Goro. Later, when someone brought up that Hayao was breaking away from his earlier announced retirement, she said she was dissapointed that he decided to do so.

Keep in mind that she thinks Miyazaki is "A genius on the level of Kurosawa or Fillini." Her dissapointment probably largely stems from him leaving/retiring during the time that she was actually having talks with Ghibli and then returning spontaneously afterwards.

[jesse_custer]

Spielberg doesn't make a masterpiece every time he directs a film. Scorsese hasn't made anything as significant as Raging Bull. And one could say Kurosawa's later output doesn't compare to his earlier stuff.

But I would be stupid to wish that any of those filmmakers had retired at whatever arbitrary point I determine. A body of work is just that: a lot of work. And one has no idea what great film might come about from such talent.

Quite frankly, we need less negative bullshit pertaining to great directors.

Now, if one wants to argue that Miyazaki was never great and thus should never make films, that's different. But for Christ sake, show a little respect.

She said it, but it wasn't meant as some negative critical commentary and it wasn't in response to the Earthsea film, so you won't find it in articles about that. She was simply talking about the fact that, long ago, Hayao had asked her if he could do an Earthsea movie, and she refused for a long time, then when she thought about agreeing, he said he no longer could do it, so that's how it got passed on to Goro. Later, when someone brought up that Hayao was breaking away from his earlier announced retirement, she said she was dissapointed that he decided to do so.

Keep in mind that she thinks Miyazaki is "A genius on the level of Kurosawa or Fillini."

Well, you did a poor job of representing her words a few posts back.

[Robotech Master]

Well, you did a poor job of representing her words a few posts back.

Well I apologize. Its been 5 years so I had to go back to look up the verbatim.

[jesse_custer]

To be fair, Libaax has a point about my silliness. I should have looked up the quote in question anyway.

[Robotech Master]

To be fair, Libaax has a point about my silliness. I should have looked up the quote in question anyway.

My original read of it also came from a magazine or article of some kind where her quotes were pasted here and there. I just now looked up the original source of the quotes, which is like a fricken essay--seriously, she wrote like 10 paragraphs about her experience with Studio Ghibli.

Anyways, it seems most of her dissapointment with his coming out of retirement had to do with the fact that he retired while in the middle of negotiations with Ghibli and that both he and her were dissapointed that it would be handled by someone else, and without even his supervision. Then he unexpectedly returns after Tales was completed, so that probably felt like a slap to the face from chance.

[Ghost]

I didn't feel like there was much of a build-up at all with Ponyo. It was a very simple, unpretentious, kooky movie.

Sure it was, in hindsight, but that's my point. I had the impression I was dealing with a slightly more serious story then I was, you know, what with reality coming undone and the natural laws being on the verge of collapsing towards the end.

I dunno, I just expected that to be a rather bigger deal then it turned out to be.

Oh, and there's Ponyo's dad, who's hatred of humanity was never explained and never properly resolved. In the end he just seems to have mostly gotten over it for no apparent reason, as if it wasn't such a big deal after all.

What I saying is, it seemed to me as if the movie had this big conflict going on when in reality there wasn't much of a conflict at all and everything just kinda worked out on its own. Struck me as a slightly anticlimatic.

[Ghost]

Plus Miyazaki senior came to her saying he would make the movie,promising and then giving it to his son afterwards.

I was under the impression that Hayao wanted to make the movie for the longest time, but when he finally got the chance he was busy making Howl's Moving Castle. So instead the studio gave it to Goro, whom Hayao didn't consider up to the job, hence why the two didn't talk much around that time.

[Robotech Master]

I was under the impression that Hayao wanted to make the movie for the longest time, but when he finally got the chance he was busy making Howl's Moving Castle. So instead the studio gave it to Goro, whom Hayao didn't consider up to the job, hence why the two didn't talk much around that time.

More or less, though I think he was still in retirement and was only agreeing to produce stuff. Le Guin wanted him to produce the movie, but he was scheduled to produce Howl's. Then the director of Howl's backed out or something and Miyazaki decided to come out of retirement to direct it after that. I believe that's how it went down.

[Nik Hasta]

Sure it was, in hindsight, but that's my point. I had the impression I was dealing with a slightly more serious story then I was, you know, what with reality coming undone and the natural laws being on the verge of collapsing towards the end.

I dunno, I just expected that to be a rather bigger deal then it turned out to be.

Oh, and there's Ponyo's dad, who's hatred of humanity was never explained and never properly resolved. In the end he just seems to have mostly gotten over it for no apparent reason, as if it wasn't such a big deal after all.

What I saying is, it seemed to me as if the movie had this big conflict going on when in reality there wasn't much of a conflict at all and everything just kinda worked out on its own. Struck me as a slightly anticlimatic.

I'll agree with this.

There's an awful lot in Ponyo that's left unsaid or unexplained.

It manages to tell kind of an epic story through a very small lens, which is an impressive achievement but also feels a bit weird in places.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Ponyo as a film, but it is a bit anticlimactic.

[yeoman]

I'll agree with this.

There's an awful lot in Ponyo that's left unsaid or unexplained.

It manages to tell kind of an epic story through a very small lens, which is an impressive achievement but also feels a bit weird in places.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Ponyo as a film, but it is a bit anticlimactic.

I'd definately agree. It's not one of his better, but far from his worst. Course, his worst is still in the top 0.1% of movies ever made.

[Manga4life]

It's a toss up for me between Claymore and Naruto (original) as to which anime was my favorite between 2001-2010, I would also place the original FMA in there somewhere due to my love for the series and everything it did to help anime become even more popular, but I guess my pick would have to go to Naruto just because of the sheer ammount of time I put into watching it and the fun I had doing so. Claymore is a very close second, I've actually reviewd Claymore in my blog (link in signiture) and I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a great story and intense action, check it out and I'm sure you'll be happ that you did.