I can forgive that.

And there's nothing wrong with that. It brother IS an idiot, in fact killing his sister. They could have lived a good life with the aunt if he had stayed there and obeyed her rules. The author kills his younger self because he's ashamed he lived.

As far as being anti-war, any film that deals with those affected by war is almost anti-war by definition. It may not be the main point, but it is there. The director need not have intended that message for it to, in fact, be there, especially when we are dealing with a film where others working on it may have injected that feel. I DO think some of our admiration of this film comes from comparing it to Barefoot Gen, the other auto-biographical kid in WWII anime. That movie, about a boy who survives Hiroshima, is incredibly upbeat and hopeful in its ending. I haven't seen its sequel, or even knew it existed until looking at Wiki. The fact that one never made a splash among the US anime community probably tells me a lot about it

It's important to note that in most cases, the creator was against the idea of a franchise. The first Elm Street ended with Freddy Dead, before the studio-mandated last shot, both John Carpenter and Sean Cunningham wanted the Halloween and Friday the 13th series to be anthologies, etc. The problem you point out goes back to the original Universal horror films. Usually the only way to keep using a character well is to just say, outright, "fuck continuity". This is the Godzilla and James Bond model, as well as Doctor Who in its previous incarnation. (both Godzilla, in the 90's, and current Who flirted with continuity, to their detriment.)

Finally got around to watching Pacific Rim.

I came away with two thoughts. First, it was impressive how much the CG monsters looked like guys in suits. Not all the time, naturally, but in many of the fights you could replace the mechs with a suit Godzilla and he'd fit right in. Second, it's definitely a "name that reference" movie. The hero mech being nuke powered while the rest aren't is from Giant Robo, and the ending reminded me of Gunbuster. That doesn't make it a great movie, but it does make me want to watch those anime again

Yes it does. I apologize for mentioning its one absence

Well, yes, but you have to tell that to everyone coming to this from elsewhere. I just posted a promo for it, and realized anyone just following the link wouldn't know when it actually started.

Nope, that should do it. First I've seen that link, but then I haven't gone through this entire thread

And, if you watch the dub, you get to hear Cary Elwes battle Tim Curry, the matchup you've all been waiting for!

A problem when casting child actors a decade before you realize there's going to be a romance between the characters.

OK, finally listened to all of it, and so yes, thanks for the unexpected shoutout

As for dropping anime knowledge, all three shows that made up Robotech are available in their original form. Southern Cross (which was originally canceled before they could come up with an ending) and Genesis Climber Mospeada are available subtitled, and the ADV release of Macross has subtitles as well as a new dub. All are well worth watching. The biggest change made to turn them into Robotech, besides deciding all the Black characters were related, was to change "proto-culture" into the fuel used in Mospeada. Originally, in Macross, it's literally the culture both humans and the aliens are descended from, and the aliens react to human culture the same way many around the world react to US culture (leaders are repelled, some of the people love it).

For me, actually, what Robotech was for Eddie STARBLAZERS was in my life. The first two series of Space Battleship Yamato were brought to the US under that name in 1978, and it was incredible. They toned down the death a bit, but not much. Characters still died, actions have consequences. It was my first real exposure to serial storytelling. The dubbing still holds up, even if "Captain Avatar" sounds like McGruff the Crime Dog.

Miyazaki didn't direct Grave of the Fireflies. It IS from Studio Ghibli, which tends to only release Miyazaki movies, so the confusion is understandable.

I like the analogy of The Muppet Show to WWE. It reminded me of one of the most monumental moments in my childhood TV viewing life. The 70's were when a bunch of old kids shows tried to make a comeback. They did a new syndicated Mickey Mouse Show, as well as a new Howdy Doody. My dad had loved the show as a kid, so naturally I watched the new one (from the dates, I was about 7 when it started). Each episode had Buffalo Bob trying to put on that week's show, and the clown Clarabell would keep interrupting. At some point, as I watched, I thought to myself, "Man, they have NEVER actually finished an act!"

At which point, I realized the horrible truth: Clarabell, and all the interruptions, were scripted.

A part of me died that day...

There is also an availability divide. Our house did not have cable until both us kids were in college. Thus, no nick, no disney channel. We DID get Fraggle Rock, as it was a HBO and CBC coproduction and thus was available on Canadian TV. Other than that, if it wasn't syndicated or on a broadcast network, we didn't see it. We got a VCR in the mid-80's, when both of us were in high school.

My father used to tell the story of how, when Sesame Street started, one of his fellow teachers refused to let his own kids watch it because it had Black kids playing with the Whites. Dad had his own issues, but he took it as a point of pride that he wasn't THAT bad!