Martial arts in Anime

[冠木侍]

I did a quick search and found various threads I thought it a good idea to have one single thread. As the topic is set forth, what are some of your favorite martial art-themed anime? A lot of it is unreal and sometimes ridiculous but those of us who are anime fans just can't seem to get enough.

Please, let me remind everyone that this is a forum meant for discussion. Each one of us has our own personal opinions.

[BlueTravesty]

1. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
My personal favorite. Every once in awhile, it'll get into "supernatural" stuff, but that's mostly because it's from the main character's perspective, who's a total noob in Martial Arts (so anything the Masters do will seem supernatural.)

2. Fighting Spirit/Hajime No Ippo
Because Boxing IS a martial art. I like this one because it approaches boxing from a very interesting angle. Again, some of it gets into unrealistic effects, but mostly for the purpose of hyperbole.

3. Ranma 1/2
Because even though it has fake MA styles, it's still funny and entertaining. For an anime, especially one so old, the fight scenes are very creative, and of good quality. I'm particularly fond of the "Gymnastics Battle."

Those are my personal favorites, though I'm also fond of Avatar, though some people tend to dispute its status as Anime.

[doug maverick]

i started a thread like this but had to erase it. do to an idiot.

[冠木侍]

i started a thread like this but had to erase it. do to an idiot.

Sorry to hear about that. Let's hope that doesn't happen again (whatever it was that transpired). What are your thoughts?

[doug maverick]

i've been a fan of anime since 93, when my father showed me akira and dragon ball all with no subs just in plain japanese and i ****ing loved i didn;t know what the story was about and i didn't care, i just loved it. dragon ball i pretty much got its simple any nimrod can understand it. as of right now i'm more into reading the mangas of some anime like tenjo tenge which is an amazing peice of work. other anime i like is battle vixens naruto(like the manga better) bleach(they lost me a little with the bonto and then with the other fillers but i still love it), cowboy bebop is an anime i would love to make into a live action film(the killer meets blade runner meets bruce lee). i've always loved anime and i will continue too. people say they don;t like it now because its so popular and i'm like what you don;t like something because its popular thats the stupidest sh!t i ever heard of.

[冠木侍]

Akira I first saw in '97. It was the old dubbed version but it was a great story and the animation (for an 80's anime) was top-notch (comparable to others made in the same time. Still a classic I watch it every now and then (subbed on DVD of course).

*Doing that helps a little to reinforce my Japanese training.

DBZ...what can I say? I was a fan when it was first released in NA. Now, obviously the fights are ridiculously unrealistic and the story is simple, but it is one of those action-packed animes that are just cool.

What I thought was better though, was the original DragonBall. Syndicated for a short time before DBZ's mega blitz, it had a small following. I was able to catch some of it on all Spanish channels (helped to reinforce my espanol and it was shown UNCUT. I had bought some of the dvds, and the things leading up to the events in Dragonball Z are comical, interesting and somewhat action-packed (since i'm sure you know that they had a better storyline in lieu of over-the-top fights).

I can't believe I forgot to mention this one. Thank you for reminding me.


Anyone else got any favorites?

[冠木侍]

1. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi
My personal favorite. Every once in awhile, it'll get into "supernatural" stuff, but that's mostly because it's from the main character's perspective, who's a total noob in Martial Arts (so anything the Masters do will seem supernatural.)

2. Fighting Spirit/Hajime No Ippo
Because Boxing IS a martial art. I like this one because it approaches boxing from a very interesting angle. Again, some of it gets into unrealistic effects, but mostly for the purpose of hyperbole.

3. Ranma 1/2
Because even though it has fake MA styles, it's still funny and entertaining. For an anime, especially one so old, the fight scenes are very creative, and of good quality. I'm particularly fond of the "Gymnastics Battle."

Those are my personal favorites, though I'm also fond of Avatar, though some people tend to dispute its status as Anime.

I've heard of boxing (are you referring to Western) being described as a martial art before. Being the sport that it has evolved into today, it is difficult for me to look at it from that point-of-view. It sounds correct though, what you said.

I've yet to see Hajime No Ippo. It is def on my list.

Avatar is a good series from what I saw. I've not been able to keep up with the story. It was deeply influenced by anime, so we can let it slide.

Fake, over-the-top, realistic...it's all good here. I was just curious about what seems to be the favorites among martial artists.

Here are some of mine;
Street Fighter IIV
Street Fighter Alpha and Generations
SF II Animated movie
Shootfighter Tekken (High School Stories)
Tekken
Toshinden
Ninja Scroll
Rurouni Kenshin (especially the KYOTO story arc)
G-Gundam
Grappler Baki (original movie)
Hokuto No Ken is a classic
Virtua Fighter was amusing but I had to see it just once

[SevenStar]

I can't believe I missed this thread. However, a big WTF was raised when I read this one...

I've heard of boxing (are you referring to Western) being described as a martial art before. Being the sport that it has evolved into today, it is difficult for me to look at it from that point-of-view. It sounds correct though, what you said.

why wouldn't a martial sport be a martial art? Does that mean also that mma, muay thai, judo and sambo are not martial arts? Where is that definition drawn? Most avg boxers would kill an MA, but boxing is not a martial art?

I've yet to see Hajime No Ippo. It is def on my list.

AWESOME series

Avatar is a good series from what I saw. I've not been able to keep up with the story. It was deeply influenced by anime, so we can let it slide.

avatar is good. Avatar is "amerime"

Fake, over-the-top, realistic...it's all good here. I was just curious about what seems to be the favorites among martial artists.

Here are some of mine;
Street Fighter IIV
Street Fighter Alpha and Generations
Shootfighter Tekken (High School Stories)
Virtua Fighter was amusing but I had to see it just once
Tekken
Toshinden

I didn't like any of those at all.

Ninja Scroll
Rurouni Kenshin (especially the KYOTO story arc)
Hokuto No Ken is a classic

those were all awesome. However, after the kyoto arc, kenshin started to suck because there was no real story line.

SF II Animated movie
Grappler Baki (original movie)

those were pretty good

G-Gundam

This is my least favorite of the gundam installments...I take that back. 008th MS team is my least fave, but this one is second to it.


Anyway, here is my list:

Hajime No Ippo
Cowboy bebop
Samurai Champloo
Yu Yu Hakusho
Crying Freeman
Ranma 1/2
Samurai Seven
Ogre Slayer
The Hakkenden
*DBZ
Spriggan
Inuyasha
Bleach
Fatal Fury (all three of them) - Probably one of my favorite anime that was spawned from a video game
Wolf's Rain
Fist of the North Star
Battle Angel Alita

*Kinda cheesy, but DBZ is classic.

There is a lot of really good anime around man. You just gotta find it. I am sure there are other I like, but these are the ones floating in my head right now.


I have a game called "Rival Schools" that I know was based on an anime... Has anyone seen the anime?

[Wildwoo]

I did a quick search and found various threads I thought it a good idea to have one single thread. As the topic is set forth, what are some of your favorite martial art-themed anime? A lot of it is unreal and sometimes ridiculous but those of us who are anime fans just can't seem to get enough.

Please, let me remind everyone that this is a forum meant for discussion. Each one of us has our own personal opinions.

Sprigan

Samurai Champloos

Cowboy Bebop

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Series

Wonderful Days (Sky Blue in US) Korean ( Same Company to animate Avatar TLAB) The opening motorcycle ride beats the crap out of Akira, plus the "sky bikes" were so awesome and there is a martial scene where the female heroin closes the gap and executes a flawless seize and control/ disarm that is so d a m n kool. My friend Oh Seung-hyun was the director on that sequence.
http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movi...ing=9&add=f_87

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER HAS THE BEST MARTIAL ARTS OF ANY ANIMATED SHOW EVER UNDISPUTED IMHO

[冠木侍]

I caught some random episodes but haven't followed the story. I def liked what I saw and decided to purchase the Book I season set (this was a while ago). Still hav yet to open it though. I will someday.

I still need to get the second book.

[SimonM]

1: Dragon Ball Z

That is all.

I don't really watch Anime at all but I've had a soft spot for this seires since I was a teenager.

[冠木侍]

1: Dragon Ball Z

That is all.

I don't really watch Anime at all but I've had a soft spot for this seires since I was a teenager.

That's cool. I've always liked that show as well, ever since I first saw it during my teenage years. Very interesting interpretation (albeit very loosely) of the legend of the Monkey King.

What I also like, maybe a little better, is the original ドラガンバ一ル. Slower paced compared with it's predecessor but still a great story..

[Lokhopkuen]

I did a quick search and found various threads I thought it a good idea to have one single thread. As the topic is set forth, what are some of your favorite martial art-themed anime? A lot of it is unreal and sometimes ridiculous but those of us who are anime fans just can't seem to get enough.

Please, let me remind everyone that this is a forum meant for discussion. Each one of us has our own personal opinions.

Samurai Champloos one of my all time favorites