Interest Stacks

My favorite work of fiction. My opinions of it are very personal, but just know that it's an incredible work of art

Goes hand in hand with EoE.

Rebuilds aren't nearly as good as the originals in my opinion but Thrice Upon a Time is still something special.

A warning that humanity ignored.

A masterpiece about the nature of faith made by a man who had just lost his. It's interpretation about faith is oddly optimistic considering this.

Some of the best writing in the medium. It deals with the problems of government and power-hungry politicians, without depicting any one side purely as "the bad guy". It's hard to pack in a 110 episode OVA into a little blurb, but just watch it.

One of the most deeply human stories I've ever experienced. It made me feel emotions that I still don't know how to describe.

All of KnK has this dark yet beautiful, sort of ethereal feel to it. This one is my favorite.

Heaven's Feel is peak Fate.

How the fuck to I describe Fate?

^ditto^

You don't need some sad backstory to like the cast of characters. You care about them right from the start. Cowboy Bebop takes it's ensemble of complex characters, and uses them to the fullest of their potential.

Another portrayal of the direction our godawful timeline is heading towards. Incredible animation, direction, music, and one of the coolest worlds in the anime medium.

Onizuka stopped me from killing myself one time.

The most intense thriller not just in anime, but in the animation medium. Incredible that this was Satoshi Kon's first film. A god among men that was taken from us tragically early.

Hauntingly beautiful story and world. It's simple, but it's executed so incredibly well. It's hard to find those kinds of stories.

Satoshi Kon once again. The film blurs the actor's life with her acting roles, leaving the viewer to interpret what is and isn't real. Her real life stories make the acting scenes have another layer of meaning to them. It's an absolute joy to watch, and it'll stick with you long after you finish it.

Intense political thriller with a fascinating world, stunning animation, and a thought provoking story. It's Oshii, what did you expect?

The best of the magical girl genre that I've seen so far. It's dark, but not in a tryhard edgy way, which is a balance that is hard to find in the anime medium.

A sequel that builds off of the original TV show perfectly, and explores the characters and world even deeper.

Based off a story over a thousand years old, it's proof to me that human emotions conveyed through storytelling have always been the same.

Between Nisio Isin's original material, Akiyuki Shinbou's direction, and the overall talent over at Shaft, the Kizumonogatari trilogy completely immerses you into it's world. And it's a world that you want to be immersed into.

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Shingo Tamagawa's work of protest to an industry that has shifted it's focus from making art to mass producing cheap content for viewers to consume and spend money on.

"There’s a discrepancy with the recent trends, where you’re asked how to generate profits, or when told the process is cumbersome as it cannot be streamlined. Those arguments tend to win too often. I understand they’re important, but I’m not making animation in order to be efficient. I make animation to create new things and generate new emotions that I haven’t felt before. I believe everybody has that joy inside of them. I think the whole industry could be happier if we could pivot in that direction, just a little more.”

Does a brilliant job at depicting just how stupid humanity can be, and how conflict will always exist within it. It tackles war, loss, and finding one's place in a world that's an absolute fucking mess, all in a very mature and beautiful way.

Watching the trilogy of Gundam movies after having finished the 1979 TV series greatly enhanced my appreciation of Gundam as a whole. Better production quality, same Gundam.

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Instant Happiness. Pure and innocent.

Same as Kiki. We need these kinds of stories.

There are always 2 sides of a conflict. This telling of Japanese civilians' perspective during WWII is devastating. It's a good thing it was released as a double feature and Totoro was played immediately afterwards.

“In the past, humans hesitated when they took lives, even non-human lives. But society had changed, and they no longer felt that way. As humans grew stronger, I think that we became quite arrogant, losing the sorrow of 'we have no other choice.' I think that in the essence of human civilization, we have the desire to become rich without limit, by taking the lives of other creatures.”
I interpret Princess Mononoke as a representation of how human society and nature would conflict with each other and balance each other out. A depiction of the way things used to be, and the shift in that balance.

Pure storytelling fun. The world is incredibly immersive, and the viewer is taken on an adventure in that beautiful world.

Similar to Mononoke Hime in the way of how it depicts humans and nature in conflict, as well as humans in conflict with other humans. Nausicaa is a little more optimistic, though. Every side has it's motivations. No one is inherently good or evil. We should try to understand each other more before we rush to argue with them.

A movie full of imperfections, but a core story and message so good that it overcomes that.

The movie makes you feel like a child again. The world looks like a coloring book. It makes life feel a little more simple.

Anyone who has ever dealt with the loss of a loved one will resonate with this 6 minute music video. It's able to accomplish an incredible amount in a very short amount of time.

I'm overusing the term "deeply human" on these little blurbs, but I can't think of another term to describe Wolf Children. It's about a mother's relationship to her kids, when she's supposed to guide them, and when she should let them make their own decisions. It's a moving story with beautiful animation and art direction to go with it.

The main character is is a total brat of a kid, with the young, naïve worldview that "my parents need to give me all the attention, as well as anything that I want", and is forced to challenge this mindset into one of being able to contribute something to his family. Most of Hosada's works focus on the importance of family, but Mirai focuses on how our view of our role within our family is so important.

The finale of Violet's journey to understand what love means. It's heartmelting by itself, but thinking about how the team of people working on this film were dealing with the loss of their coworkers and friends that they loved, it just becomes all the more tearjerking and beautiful.

A Silent voice is a story we need in today's time. To some extent, we all shut out the lives of those around us. We bottle up our own emotions, focus on how miserable we are, and fail to ask or even care about how the people around us are doing. Naoko Yamada's adaption of this story is absolutely perfect.

Similar to Lain in the way how it's characters have become apathetic and emotionally disattached, living in a dark and often unfeeling world. There's a lot up for interpretation, and each viewer is going to take away something different from it.

The show does a great job at making you feel emotions very strongly, both the good and the bad. The cast of characters have stuck with me for some reason.