Anime Most Visually Stunning Anime

[lavonia]

[B]Who do you think makes the most visually stunning anime? [/B] If your a super anime buff (seen everything from A to Z), it'd be interesting to here some of the less obvious choices.

So, covering the obvious...I'm a big fan of [URL=http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen]Miyazaki[/URL] and the Square team (Final Fantasy Video Games). Also, the various teams that brought the [URL=http://www.intothematrix.com]Animatrix[/URL] . Visually stunning. I'll shut up now and let someone else talk.


Miyazaki, Spirited Away (US title)-
[IMG]http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen/synopsis/Garden.jpg[/IMG]

[Otaku Princess]

[color=DarkOrchid]Now, I know this one is main stream but I just love it so much, Tenchi Muyo. It is very great, the movies were well, stunning. Brilliant. The series' were equally great.

I do love Dominion Tank Police. It may not be stunning but, I guess I just have a taste for the past. If I'm correct, it was made in the late 1980's. The same can be applied to Patlabor. Great for thier time. Anyway.

Gundam SEED is also breath taking, though main stream.

Blue Submarine No.6 I saw that when I was younger and It freaked me out. Everything just looked so real. The same goes for Last Exile. The both seemed to be real. Breath taking.[/color]

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Why, ROD, of course!

Even my father, who knows nothing of anime, commented on how amazing the animation was. He sat down to watch it with me because it was the only movie that came out perfectly un-pixilated on the projector.

The motion is so fluid, it makes me want to cry. T_T

And, of course, Paranoia Agent, because of how unbelievably [i]realisitc[/i] the characters look.

The "frog man" (yes, I remember that post, Skippedry : P) is so ugly it's [i]inspiring[/i].[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Dagger]

Anything and everything related to [b]Ghost in the Shell[/b]. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is possibly the best-looking television series I've ever seen. It flawlessly incorporates cel-shaded CG with fluid digital animation. The action scenes are always breathtaking, and the characters never, ever go off-model (one of my biggest anime pet peeves). Ghost in the Shell: Innocence just radiates beauty--it's visually innovative, with lush, richly detailed backgrounds and a number of scenes which were obviously thrown in simply for the sake of showing off Production I.G's CGI prowess. The original movie is, of course, also smoothly animated and a real pleasure to watch.

[B]Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie[/B] has such fantastic artwork and visuals that I would recommend it to any fan of animation. The film won't make much sense to people who haven't seen the thirty-nine episode television series, but it certainly looks stunning.

EDIT: Oh, I can't wait to see the Frog Man on DVD. October 26, baby! :D

~Dagger~

[Eclectic]

Personally, I love RahXephon. It was among the few anime movies I have seen, but it still is, in my mind, the best. I love the colors, animation, and generally everything about it. The plot helped quite a lot.
Another I quite enjoy is Blood: The Last Vampire. I'm a bit fuzzy on it since I haven't seen it in a while, but I still enjoyed it.
So there's my narrow opinion, what's your much broader one?

[Delta]

[COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]
[b]Wolf's Rain.[/b] If anime series could be songs, WR would sound like a quiet ballad.

The colors are subtle and blend very well together. Also, the animators paid close attention to the way things should move (just watch the running wolf in the ending sequence). Beautiful yet uncomplicated.

[/size][/color]

[ghostlightning]

almost always, oavs and movies look better.

cowboy bebop: knockin' on heaven's door is really beautiful. two things stand out: fight scenes and dogfights. the fight scenes here (spike vs. elektra, spike vs. vincent) look more fluid and well-choreographed than any of the "fighter" anime that i've seen (dbz, street fighter, fatal fury, etc.). the production team's investment in a stunt/fightning coordinator really paid off. the dogfight scene is awesome, besting even the macross dogfights i grew up loving.

even though this is a visuals conversation, it's the musical score that makes the supreme entertainment experience. kanno-san really outdid herself here ("what planet is this?" is such an awesome track).

macross plus oav series is another supreme visual treat. the final dogfight really is quite something: the way it serves as both exposition and resolution of the conflict of isamu and bowman makes it such a compelling scene. as visuals go, the mecha specs go all-out in lush animation in breathtaking pace. (the concert scenes with sharon apple are great as well; special mention goes to sdf-1 reactivating)

if you notice, i like older anime...

and the oldest being macross: do you remember love? movie

for something done in the mid-80s, it's animation really holds up to macross plus. that's really quite a feat! again, great minmei music makes every beautiful frame go down better. massive carnage in the mother of all mecha battles animated really well, *sigh* that's the game...

[Flashlight]

Easily Grave of the Fireflies. Studio Ghibli, 1988 (Not Miyazaki though), it still stands firm against even the giants of today, in both story and animation. I highly reccomend this movie to, well, everyone! :)

[Panda]

I agree with ghostlightning on Macross: DYRL. I am a fan of the Macross series and the fight scenes are truly amazing and visually exciting. The music adds to the excitement of the final battle. Definately animation you can't keep your eyes off of.

Another film that I find absolutely beautiful is Vampire Hunter D : Bloodlust. The character design by Amano is breathtaking. The storyline and animation is blended seamlessly. The begining scene of the movie passing by the grave markers sets the pace for the entire film. Truly a work of art.

[Kaze]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is the best looking Gundam anime/movie I have ever seen. Gundam 08th MS Team definately nice to look at also, being an OVA. Gundam 0083 is nice too even though it was made sometime in the early nighties or late eighties.

The animation in Akira is still some of the best even though it was made in what, the eighties? I also liked Street Fighter 2: The Movie. And Hellsing's animation.[/FONT]

[EVA Unit 100]

Of things I've seen, Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. I've seen the preview for GitS:SaC and the animation looks beautiful, but I'm waiting for the AS run until I watch the actual show.

[Sword Breaker]

FLCL was pretty damn well done, the wierd thing was i downloded a 32mb RM version, and it wasw completly unpixilated, which had never happened, except with the OMG's, (which are around 220mb) and stunned me completly. Akira is also one that was extremly well done, it was really well animated. Finally, i cannot not mention good ol' Scryed! I love the animation in Scryred, it was just beautiful and stunningly done, everything seemed so well done! (Plus the show kicks royal ***!)

[Kei]

[color=darkblue]I agree with Godelsensei by saying Read or Die was one of the most fluidly animated series I have ever seen (the OVA, not the R.O.D. the TV). Every time I see it, I'm always amazed by the overall smoothness of the special effects and other things looked. They did an extrordinary job on it, in my opinion.

I also agree the 08th MS Team also had good animation. It was refreshing to see Gundams and characters drawn in such a way after having seen them all in older forms of animation (though GW was pretty good, it was still released in '94, so it does leave modern animation fans with somewhat of a desire).

The Candidate for Goddess/Pilot Candidate animation was also very good, in terms of the character design. The Goddess CG work didn't seem to mesh well with me, but the parts involving the human characters were very well put together.

That's my two cents, anyway.[/color]

[Guest phan]

Tenchi Muyo....of course....

and Akira, and Cowboy Bebop...

>.<

[b][color=#503f86]Welcome to OtakuBoards, phan. Please try and add more detail to your posts in future; ones this short are running the risk of being deleted as spam. Not to mention longer posts are more interesting for everyone else to read. -Solo[/color][/b]

[vegeta rocker]

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, is whithout a doubt very gorgeous. After awhile, you just want to stop blinking and take in all the splendor.
Theres video and CG and 2D in it, though the CG takes up most of it.

[lavonia]

[QUOTE]Grave of the Fireflies[/QUOTE]

I read about this one, but still haven't seen it. It's on my to-see list. The visuals looked very worth watching.

[Princess_Keiko]

I really think Vampire Hunter D is an stunning dark anime. The fighting is awesome ..I loved the movie.

[Solo Tremaine]

[quote name='KiraStrike29']i think gundam seed has some of the best looking effects around.[/quote][COLOR=#503F86]Guys, please watch the length of your posts. If they continue to get shorter I'll close the thread. I know it's merely stating an opinion, but it's much more interesting to think about [i]why[/i] you think a particular anime looks great- what about it in particular makes it better than other high-budget animes, for example. Detail is appreciated.[/COLOR]

[tattoi nobori]

Tch! Got here too late... You guys have scarfed up all the best feature-length anime! Ah well. ^_^

Movies like [b]CB:Knockin' on Heaven's Door[/b], [b]Grave of the Fireflies[/b], [b]Ghost in the Shell[/b], and Tezuka's [b]Metropolis[/b] definitely top my list...

As far as series go, I'm always pimping [b]Samurai Champloo[/b], and lately I can't seem to stop thinking about [b]GITS:Standalone Complex 2nd GIG[/b]. (Especially the Tachikoma/attack helicopter chase at the end of the fourth episode!) Just amazing, both in terms of visceral response, and the technical perfection of the blending of 2- and 3-D animation.

[KarmaOfChaos]

[color=deeppink][size=1]Totoro. No, it doesn't have drop-dead, stunning animation. However, the sheer imagination and creativity that went into the scenery and characters is what made it so visually attractive to me. I enjoyed immensely the interesting settings, with the traditional Japanese house and magical forest.

And let us not forget the cat bus.

The visuals in that movie made me really and truly want to be a young child again, and believe in such beautiful things.

-Karma[/size][/color]

[Syk3]

When it comes to visually stunning anime, there are a few that stick out clearly in my mind.

Cowboy Bebop is an amazing anime in visuals as well as story. The animation is just so detailed and beautiful, and the body parts and movement are simply so fluid. All you have to do is watch one of the amazing fight scenes and you'll know. I find the visuals alone to be rather ground-breaking in the anime industry.

Samurai X clearly had a lot of support behind it, and was able to use that much higher quality due to the fact that it was a movie rather than a series. It outdoes the animation in the series in every regard, and like Bebop, it's very fluid. The visuals are just.. wow. :o

On the other end of the spectrum, Nurse Witch Komugi's visuals might not be particularly detailed or anything, but it's just so pretty to watch, heh. The colors are so clear and fluid, and it fits with the story's goofy feel. So very, very easy on the eyes. ^_^

[Billy Shears]

Definetly the R.O.D. OAV's, and the show. The colors are great, and the animations are fluid. Hellsing has cool animations, and FLCL's quirky art is pretty good, too. Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain have really good backgrounds and enviorments. A also like Akira's artwork, especially when [spoiler] Tetsuo turns into that giant, pulsing...uh...pink thing[/spoiler]

But the BEST looking anime I've seen is definitly Chrono Crusade. The transition between CGI and normal animation is stunning! Last Exile is the same way, but nothing comes close to looking as good as CC (now only if they took that much time on the dub O.o).

[WW2]

Well there are quite a few visually stimulating anime series/movies out there, which is one reason why anime is so great.
For me, as well as many other, I have to say [B]Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust[/B] is one of the best animated movies out there. The dark and gothic look the artwork has, and the crisp, fluid animation come together to create a feast for the eyes.

As for anime series, the best looking one I've seen has to be [B]Last Exile[/B]. The blend of CG and animation gives it a great look, and the series has some truely beautiful visuals, such as the rain of rose pedals dropped by the Guild.

Everyone else has pretty much covered all the other animes I was goin' to mention, so I'll just end it here.

[MaineOtakuNo2]

Although everything that has been said is very visually appealing I have to note on one of the two series I've seen that includes manga. Most of you know I'm about to say FLCL (Fooly Cooly), and many of you may think its not deserving. I think that it does well in the first and fifth episodes incorporating the manga. Also when you read between the lines of the script you find that there is a very deep story. The animation may contradict this at times but it makes the more depressing parts seem more entertaining to me. I mean the guys going through immense pain pulling a guitar out of his head but isnt it funny?

[liubei013]

[COLOR=Blue]The animation in [U]Last Exile[/U] just blew my mind away. I first found out about the series from reading a brief review at some site or another, didn't think much of it at first. Bought Volume 1 for the heck of it, popped the disc in, selected play and....whoa. The CG/2D art is so seamlessly blended together, the machines are very interesting, that whole Jules Verne aspect. The characters, plot, and music was also wonderfully done.

I'm glad that most anime don't follow the trend of American movies where more visual eye-candy usually = crappy movie. *cough* Sky Captain *cough* :p [/COLOR]