Lesser-Known Anime Gems

Anybody with even a passing interest in anime has watched Akira, pondered Ghost in the Shell, and felt nostalgic about such old-school animes as Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets, and Robotech. Perhaps, fan that you are, you've also watched some of Full Metal Alchemist, rented Ninja Scroll, and stayed up late to see old Cowboy Bebop episodes.

But beyond these semi-mainstream features and well-known series, many anime fans don't know where to turn for their next fix. But there are many, many great anime films and series out there floating in the ether. Most are dismissed by distributors as too esoteric for American audiences, or else just never got the publicity of a Steam Boy or Princess Mononoke. Here are a few:

Last Exile

In a fantastic world run by the malevolent Guild, the young "vanship" pilots Claus and Lavie get tangled in events that will either be their deliverance or their deaths. Cutting-edge animation combining both classic anime styles and CG graphics make Last Exile a thrill to watch, especially in the numerous sky battle scenes.

However, the strong characters and dreamy setting are what make this series truly remarkable. Beyond Claus and Lavie, the brooding Captain Alex Row, the dignified Duke Mad-Thane, and the truly frightening Queen Delphine are all anime classics. And the fast-moving, often-twisting plot will keep you fixed on the couch through the very last episode.

Wolf's Rain

Part environmental allegory, part magic fable, the Wolf's Rain series comes from the same team that created Cowboy Bebop. Like that classic, Wolf's Rain features crisp and interesting animation but not much that will strike a viewer as cutting-edge. Also like Bebop, Wolf's Rain features the sometimes haunting, sometimes humorous music of Yoko Kanno.

But there the similarities end. Rain takes place in a post-apocalyptic crash of a world tearing slowly tearing the last bits of itself apart, where mystic wolves are hunted by paranoid humans and elitist nobles strive to find a gate to "Paradise"-only to find it's a gate only the wolves can open.

Tokyo Godfathers

The feature film Tokyo Godfathers is unusual for an anime, in that it offers no giant robots, post-apocalyptic dystopias, or vampire hunting schoolgirls. Instead, Tokyo Godfathers gives us three homeless people-Gin (a former professional cyclist), Hana (a transvestite), and Miyuki (a young runaway)-who find an abandoned baby in a dumpster on Christmas Eve. Part comedy, part tragedy, all drama, this film would have won an Oscar if live actors had given comparable performances to the animated cast. A great movie for second dates. Honest.

Millennium Actress

A must for fans of Japanese cinema, Millennium Actress relates the story of an aging and reclusive actress who is being interviewed by an adoring reporter. Along the way, the actress and the fanboy re-imagine some her greatest roles. These include overt references to many classic Japanese films, including the work of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. But threading these roles together is the millennium actress's very real, very painful story of an old loss that she could never accept.

Berserk

Going back to 1997, Berserk was largely lumped in with Fist of the Northstar and its ilk as an over-the-top saga of violence and testosterone with more in common with Dragonball Z than Samurai X. However, the story of the poorly named "Guts" and his progression from obsessive, cold-blooded mercenary to a man in search of redemption has as much to offer as any anime of the late 1990s in terms of character development and a soul searching story. Not for the faint of heart, Berserk does offer its share of decapitations and splattered blood.