Holiday Binge Watching Lists: Part 1 Introductions
Following a major holiday like Thanksgiving we all pretty
much know what we’re in store for. Lots
of food during Christmas and yes unlike the holiday we just passed, present
exchange but what about the time leading up to it and even the time afterwards.
More likely than not it would mean a lot of time on the sofa whether alone or
with friends or with family on some serious binge watching. Maybe even lots of
traveling with major downtime, perhaps you can watch a few things on apps on
your phone or watch things on your computer if you’re the lucky sort.
Hey maybe your looking for a few things to buy and carry with you to watch. Even better! If you’re wondering what might be a great choice, the 1-2 days off might be a good chance to start or catch up on Anime with high episodes count. If not high episode count than just something you’ve been meaning to watch. Maybe this means continuing what you’ve already started but perhaps the one to choose or continue just might be on this list.
Part 1 will incorporate shows, some with the holiday factors others just simply because though Part 2 will be a selection of holiday episodes, I'm sure it'll be hard to squeeze in everything so feel free to post your favorite holiday anime episode.
Hey maybe your looking for a few things to buy and carry with you to watch. Even better! If you’re wondering what might be a great choice, the 1-2 days off might be a good chance to start or catch up on Anime with high episodes count. If not high episode count than just something you’ve been meaning to watch. Maybe this means continuing what you’ve already started but perhaps the one to choose or continue just might be on this list.
Part 1 will incorporate shows, some with the holiday factors others just simply because though Part 2 will be a selection of holiday episodes, I'm sure it'll be hard to squeeze in everything so feel free to post your favorite holiday anime episode.
For this one where going high on the episode count but have
no fear other shows with lower episode counts await, don’t let that deter you
from some truly fantastic shows.
One Piece – There’s a lot of reasons this could be an ideal
binge watch. Compelling characters, long arcs perhaps but they all go into each
other and man is there foreshadowing. One of the unique things about One Piece
is that it never repeats itself and you can watch something on episode 50 and
find it coming back to it closer to episode 300. The show is long I mean really
long and still ongoing but take heart, it isn’t the longest show ever and it’s
not something anyone expects to finish in a day.
The point of binge watching isn’t always to finish but the journey itself and to make a little headway with all the free time and sometimes waiting time we have. Another great thing about the show is that it’s available at a click of the button from Cruncyroll to Hulu. It's American distributor Funimation also streams it and like other online services streams news episodes straight from Japan.
Let’s not forget that Funimation has repacked the sets so far in several types of collections which is a nice way to get a jump start on the series and on the horizon is another set that will put even more episodes together if you want to make less purchases and get more episodes out of it. Not to mention it's the perfect gift idea for that Otaku you know, whether they're somewhere in the middle or just own it at all, choosing One Piece isn't a stretch, pun intended.
The point of binge watching isn’t always to finish but the journey itself and to make a little headway with all the free time and sometimes waiting time we have. Another great thing about the show is that it’s available at a click of the button from Cruncyroll to Hulu. It's American distributor Funimation also streams it and like other online services streams news episodes straight from Japan.
Let’s not forget that Funimation has repacked the sets so far in several types of collections which is a nice way to get a jump start on the series and on the horizon is another set that will put even more episodes together if you want to make less purchases and get more episodes out of it. Not to mention it's the perfect gift idea for that Otaku you know, whether they're somewhere in the middle or just own it at all, choosing One Piece isn't a stretch, pun intended.
Rurouni Kenshin- There
are times when looking back is looking ahead. Why not get around to some shows
you never had a chance to see. Rurouni Kenshin has a mythos to it that is all
of it’s own and the show definitely transports you to a unique era for Japan so
in some ways you get to see what life was sort of like back then. It’s not as
long as some of the modern day long running shows but that isn’t always a bad
thing. With the third live action trilogy officially out, this
is one of those shows everyone knows about but doesn’t always mean everyone has
seen. It’s great for those that have come into anime only a couple of years ago.
Kenshin Himura is also a very original main character, loosely based off of an actual historical character you can sympathize with his philosophic out view of the world, he’s seen the war, he’s seen humanity diminished on both sides of war and truly he wants a simpler life, one of atonement of the things he’d done in the past. His choice to do this has him kind of settle down around a cast of characters that truthfully need someone with that sort of out view. What exactly happened to him in the past, what’s to atone for and what connection does it have to the people around him, well that’s why you have to watch it.
Sure those answers are in an OVA detailing Kenshin past before he was a humble wanderer but whether you see it or not you should still see the show. An assassin during the war before the Meiji era, he has become a rurouni, when he begins to live and assist a young girl trying to keep alive her father's discipline, it seems the perfect humble place to reach out to those affected by the war but for those around him they will see that Kenshin's past will become a part of all their futures.
Yes the show had other reasons for the series ending during it’s run but it shouldn’t take away the accomplishment that it established by breeding a legendary character from a legendary anime. For a great show doesn’t only show conflict but questions the conflict as well, you have that with Rurouni Kenshin.
Kenshin Himura is also a very original main character, loosely based off of an actual historical character you can sympathize with his philosophic out view of the world, he’s seen the war, he’s seen humanity diminished on both sides of war and truly he wants a simpler life, one of atonement of the things he’d done in the past. His choice to do this has him kind of settle down around a cast of characters that truthfully need someone with that sort of out view. What exactly happened to him in the past, what’s to atone for and what connection does it have to the people around him, well that’s why you have to watch it.
Sure those answers are in an OVA detailing Kenshin past before he was a humble wanderer but whether you see it or not you should still see the show. An assassin during the war before the Meiji era, he has become a rurouni, when he begins to live and assist a young girl trying to keep alive her father's discipline, it seems the perfect humble place to reach out to those affected by the war but for those around him they will see that Kenshin's past will become a part of all their futures.
Yes the show had other reasons for the series ending during it’s run but it shouldn’t take away the accomplishment that it established by breeding a legendary character from a legendary anime. For a great show doesn’t only show conflict but questions the conflict as well, you have that with Rurouni Kenshin.
Galaxy Express 999/ Captain Harlock- Galaxy Express 999 is a classic and for good
reason, in a near future a boy named Tetsuro Hoshino manages to get the usually
impossible chance to ride the Galaxy Express 999 and decides to travel it in
search of a way to turn his body into one that is mechanical, a direct influence
from the way his mother was murdered, as if this would solve all his problems.
In this future, brains can be transferred to a mechanized body, with this
Testuro could live forever. Accompanied him
as a sort of motherly figure is the mysterious Maetel who seems to have a vast
knowledge of the many planets they visit, she’s said in many ways that he would
not be as pleased to live forever with a mechanical body although it seems a philosophical
journey from planet to planet is better proof.
Of course Maetel doesn’t seem to force the boy to understand it either, at times she’s passive in other respects she can be stern but in a silent way it does seem as though she’s guiding him. Immortality is often a question that comes up in the show since it’s shown in other lights in front of Testuro that show it to not be a great as it seems, there's an extra dimension to the character's and you'll question morals, ambitions, with many endings bitter sweet but always leaving you to ponder.
Of course Maetel doesn’t seem to force the boy to understand it either, at times she’s passive in other respects she can be stern but in a silent way it does seem as though she’s guiding him. Immortality is often a question that comes up in the show since it’s shown in other lights in front of Testuro that show it to not be a great as it seems, there's an extra dimension to the character's and you'll question morals, ambitions, with many endings bitter sweet but always leaving you to ponder.
So it goes that this boy and the mysterious Maetel travel through the stars, in search of the planet
where he can change his body to a mechanized one, his determination unwavering. You also get to learn about
the train itself and others trains that run through the galaxy. Part of the inspiration for Galaxy Express
stems from the novel Night on the Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa where a
train also travels across space. Leji Matsumato has made many other creations that
have been just as important to anime as Galaxy Express 999, all of them show a
running theme that is constantly revisited, the value of life.
That is why though some episodes go a dark route and seem hopeless, truly they are showing the value of life in them. We will ignore the one where Maetel blew up a set of duel planets because that doesn’t count. The animation is done in a different style having been made so many years ago, to some it will seem dated but the imagination within it has no bounds and any other show from Matsumato’s works has his easy to recognized style, long slender characters, males with hair on their face, determined eyes, woman with long faces and large eyelashes. A contrast with the small stubby, mash potato faces of some of the characters which mixes imperfection with the perfection, in fact Testuro is one of the stubby character designs.
Galaxy Express 999 can be viewed surprisingly in a lot of places, among them is Crunchyroll and Hulu. Another classic show that can be viewed on those two sites by Leji Matsumato is Captain Harlock and Netflix has the recent CGI film interpretation of the character. So go to town. If that isn’t enough for you there has been remakes, live action adaptions and further expoloration of the characters and the worlds he’s created, although not all the ones he wasn’t behind himself have made him very happy.
That is why though some episodes go a dark route and seem hopeless, truly they are showing the value of life in them. We will ignore the one where Maetel blew up a set of duel planets because that doesn’t count. The animation is done in a different style having been made so many years ago, to some it will seem dated but the imagination within it has no bounds and any other show from Matsumato’s works has his easy to recognized style, long slender characters, males with hair on their face, determined eyes, woman with long faces and large eyelashes. A contrast with the small stubby, mash potato faces of some of the characters which mixes imperfection with the perfection, in fact Testuro is one of the stubby character designs.
Galaxy Express 999 can be viewed surprisingly in a lot of places, among them is Crunchyroll and Hulu. Another classic show that can be viewed on those two sites by Leji Matsumato is Captain Harlock and Netflix has the recent CGI film interpretation of the character. So go to town. If that isn’t enough for you there has been remakes, live action adaptions and further expoloration of the characters and the worlds he’s created, although not all the ones he wasn’t behind himself have made him very happy.
Hunter X Hunter- The holidays are usually supposed to be
filled with wonder. Hunter X Hunter has plenty of that and adventure and a
moving story. The manga by Yoshihiro Togashi has been running for a long time,
with his frequent breaks for health reasons, it’s still ongoing and has seen a
show in the 90’s. Along with an OVA. However it wasn’t until the recent Hunter
X Hunter anime a couple years back that it really hit it wide over here in the US
anime wise in my opinion.
Enough so to spawn two movies and about 148 episodes. I guess that means it had to become even more popular in Japan too. Needless to say the manga isn’t finished so there’s always a chance Hunter X Hunter will bring more to the anime world. The story follows Gon who journeys to take the Hunter Exam in order to follow his father’s footsteps thus finding his father Gin one of the greatest hunters of them all. They don’t ignore the fact that it seems as though his father had left him when he was little, in fact they don’t ignore anything which is what I love about the show/manga.
Which doesn’t come as a surprise for me because although the world is wide, filled with people and hunters of all sorts, the show can be very personal which reminds me of Yu Yu Hakusho, which I always thought had deep storytelling that set it apart from all the other mainstream shonen shows. Also not surprising since it's from the same creator. What a Hunter is, where Gon‘s journey takes him are things you’ll just have to see for yourself. See you can too. Hunter X Hunter is on Cruncyroll, Netflix and many other places., while your at it see the other Yoshihiro classic, Yu Yu Hakusho.
Enough so to spawn two movies and about 148 episodes. I guess that means it had to become even more popular in Japan too. Needless to say the manga isn’t finished so there’s always a chance Hunter X Hunter will bring more to the anime world. The story follows Gon who journeys to take the Hunter Exam in order to follow his father’s footsteps thus finding his father Gin one of the greatest hunters of them all. They don’t ignore the fact that it seems as though his father had left him when he was little, in fact they don’t ignore anything which is what I love about the show/manga.
Which doesn’t come as a surprise for me because although the world is wide, filled with people and hunters of all sorts, the show can be very personal which reminds me of Yu Yu Hakusho, which I always thought had deep storytelling that set it apart from all the other mainstream shonen shows. Also not surprising since it's from the same creator. What a Hunter is, where Gon‘s journey takes him are things you’ll just have to see for yourself. See you can too. Hunter X Hunter is on Cruncyroll, Netflix and many other places., while your at it see the other Yoshihiro classic, Yu Yu Hakusho.
Salior Moon Crystal – It’s very hard to watch anime
and not know what Salior Moon is or at least know the name, it’s about as big
as they get. One chosen girl Usgai Tsukino seems to be just another ordinary
awkward teen except that she transforms to become a defender of good against the
forces of evil. Along the way she will meet other guardians as they unite in
their effort. The manga has been coming out in droves and has been a bestseller
ever since so it was obvious that there are plenty of people hungry for the
girls that gave magical girls that extra bump up in cred to return.
Need an extra reason then maybe consider your switching from time to time in your binge watching and maybe the other is Hunter X Hunter or Yu Yu Hakusho which would mean you’re keeping it all in the family since Yoshihiro Togashi and Naoko Takuechui are married. Two creative worlds that have colloberated on things, nothing released here except the first volume of Hunter X Hunter which she had for a short time helped behind the scene of things. However it’s interesting to see Salior Moon and Hunter X Hunter and know they are connected in some way.
Those are some of the stables and of course there are other seemingly obvious shows that could be worthy binge watches whether because of length or how massively popular they are. Something we'll dive into one the next parts of our Holiday Binge Watching Lists- Stay Tuned.
Need an extra reason then maybe consider your switching from time to time in your binge watching and maybe the other is Hunter X Hunter or Yu Yu Hakusho which would mean you’re keeping it all in the family since Yoshihiro Togashi and Naoko Takuechui are married. Two creative worlds that have colloberated on things, nothing released here except the first volume of Hunter X Hunter which she had for a short time helped behind the scene of things. However it’s interesting to see Salior Moon and Hunter X Hunter and know they are connected in some way.
Those are some of the stables and of course there are other seemingly obvious shows that could be worthy binge watches whether because of length or how massively popular they are. Something we'll dive into one the next parts of our Holiday Binge Watching Lists- Stay Tuned.
A Podcast Companion
*Need more otaku time, well for more ideas why not hop on to the newly minted podcast Rats On A Plague Ship. A podcast that speaks on all matters of geekdom with yours truly and my fellow co-host Sal Almaraz. The true cure to when the hours feel like they drag!
No comments:
Post a Comment