Genius Party

[Dagger]

I live near the Kennedy Center, and I've already bought tickets. Very excited about seeing this.

[bicyclerace]

I think this project deserves all the "OMGWTFBBQ!!!1111one1" it can get (as stated in the trailers ). After being rather disappointed by Tekkon Kinkreet I´m sooooo looking forward to this. So there, Studio 4°C, you can have all my cookies and internetz.

[Dagger]

Just got back from the second night (Mahiro Maeda~ <3). I missed Atsuko Fukushima and Shoji Kawamori's films (as well as most of Shinji Kimura's), unfortunately, but managed to catch everything else. Obviously they were all amazing in terms of animation, but for sheer virtuosity, I was most blown away by Masaaki Yuasa and Shinya Ohira. The weird thing is that their shorts were very very similar in terms of motifs and such.

Taken as a whole (story + visuals), I think Yuasa's stood head and shoulders above the rest, but Maeda's worked brilliantly in how it came together at the end.

My companion (not particularly an anime fan) enjoyed Shinichiro Watanabe's the most.

[Dingo]

My companion (not particularly an anime fan) enjoyed Shinichiro Watanabe's the most.

Watanabe has that gift, he's always able to pull in fans and non fans alike.Bebop, Samurai Champloo were the same way.

Can't wait for dvd release.

[eyemohini]

So the DVD just came out. My copy is on its way. Anybody heard any news about groups that have expressed interest in subbing it?

[Dingo]

Everyone's too busy translating big-tit-girls fighting each other and look-at-this-loli-and-jerk-off-anime#XXXX

I mean did you think people would stop translating their seasonal under aged girls anime for this!?

[Navel]

Dingo, that made me laugh out loud!

[gianna]

Same here with Baby Blue (and all the others though Watanabe's the most)
Saw them with someone who hasn't seen much anime and she really enjoyed it

Originally Posted by eyemohini

So the DVD just came out. My copy is on its way. Anybody heard any news about groups that have expressed interest in subbing it?

Mind mentioning extras or any special when you get it please

[MrProphet]

1. Genius Party (Atsuko Fukushima)

A glorious mindfuck parable of the "genius party". A something that looks like a wooden stork (God?) sucks the heart out of little stone balls (people?) and achieves some form of enlightenment. The little stone ball regains its heart and infects other stone balls with its newfound creativity. Then they proceed to have a party.

Yes, it makes as little sense as my description of it.

2. Shanghai Dragon (Shoji Kawamori)

Cute, but very "anime"-like short about evil robots, space cyborg heroes and Chinese orphans. Made in Tekkonkinkreet style.

3. Deathtic 4 (Shiji Kimura)

Harry Potter meets Nightmare before Christmas. This thing will creep you out at the beginning, but then it gets kinda hilarious.

4. Doorbell (Yuji Fukuyama)

Simple, but to the point. There was this old play (and a movie) by a Russian playwright Eugene Schwartz, called "Shadow", about a scientist whose shadow became real and took away his life. This is something similar, but less fairytale-like.

5. Limit Cycle (Hideki Futamura)

Pretentious unwatchable crap. Interesting technique (sort of like rotoscoping, but without actual actors), but the author destroys it by making it 20 minutes of nothing but babbling about probabilities.

6. Happy Machine (Masaaki Yuasa)

A bit like "Genius Party", but less mind-boggling. Depicts the world from the point of view of an infant (not just any child, specifically an infant child). Funny, engaging, actually interesting to watch despite not really being about anything in particular.

7. Baby Blue (Shinichiro Watanabe)

The best way to describe this short is to say that Makoto Shinkai's vision transcended its creator and now has found a more perfect vessel.

Basically, imagine any of Shinkai's works, then make the characters more interesting and the narrative less dragging and self-indulgent. I'm not saying Shinkai is bad (love his work to death), but I am saying that Watanabe is better at it.

My favorite short is Baby Blue, no question about it. Kawamori's Shanghai Dragon and Yuasa's Happy Machine come close.

[what_apath]

I do indeed know of a fansub group working on Genius Party!

[Dingo]

Originally Posted by what_apath

I do indeed know of a fansub group working on Genius Party!

There is hope! I've been trying really hard not to watch.

[Haohmaru]

The musical piece at the end of Watanabe's short really reminds me of another piece I've heard before. It's on the tip of my tongue. Anyway know what I'm talking about?

[Dingo]

Originally Posted by Haohmaru

The musical piece at the end of Watanabe's short really reminds me of another piece I've heard before. It's on the tip of my tongue. Anyway know what I'm talking about?

e-^ It's chopin

You and me both, been bugging me for a while.Anyone?


Anyway I loved every single short.

But Watanabe's was undoubtedly the brightest star out of the bunch.I love it's OST, Yoko Kanno + Watanabe again, a sure winner.

[sangofe]

So which Genius Party is your favorite? Mine I think was 2, even if it was a major pain to time since most was in Chinese...

[Navel]

The piece at the end of Watanabe's short resembles a bit the opening sequence for Gankutsuou. It's not the same, but it feels the same way to me. (flac 19MB)

[psycho bolt]

ah very good its subbed. now i can go watch them

[aorta]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

7. Baby Blue (Shinichiro Watanabe)

The best way to describe this short is to say that Makoto Shinkai's vision transcended its creator and now has found a more perfect vessel.

Basically, imagine any of Shinkai's works, then make the characters more interesting and the narrative less dragging and self-indulgent. I'm not saying Shinkai is bad (love his work to death), but I am saying that Watanabe is better at it.

I totally agree. This was 5cm Per Second. but faster and with an explosion.

[Ultenth]

I just got done watching the episodes subbed so far, and I have to say that Baby Blue was especially amazing. I have to agree with the above sentiments, and the emotions portrayed in it were very poignant and amazing.

Spoiler for ending:

I really loved the way that he basically just wanted to go somewhere and bury the last remnants of their time together, and have a final moment with her before they both moved completely out of each others lives. The whole idea of chances at love, and missed chances and moving on was very well portrayed in a non-cliched manner in my opinion, and it really brought back some memories of my own of similar events in my life.

I also really liked the unique idea of Doorbell as well, and thought it was a very interesting idea that I would actually kind of like to see a longer version of.

[Thyrz]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

2. Shanghai Dragon (Shoji Kawamori)

Cute, but very "anime"-like short about evil robots, space cyborg heroes and Chinese orphans. Made in Tekkonkinkreet style.

I'd say this one was the funniest. I think you're underrating this maybe a bit. This seemed to me a parody on shounen anime nowadays. Some childish brat gets thrown into a unique situation where he's the center of attention and he has to face obstacles. Countless times I've encountered this type of storyline. Near the end of the fight, the adult character says "this is annoying", which is what a lot of people think of these cliche anime. The child then proceeds to cry, then it hits you. "This is a shounen anime, it's for children, why am I moaning about it?"

I agree with the other summaries, also had the Shinkai experience in Baby Blue. Haven't seen the third and fifth, couldn't find 'em subbed.

[ragnarokr]

I guess Good Morning was my favorite. Satoshi Kon did an incredible job at putting something completed in 60 seconds and the result was perfect.