Time Travel Anime?

juliuspret · 06-08-2006 11:52pm #1

Hi,

I recently had the opportunity to watch a couple of episodes of a series called "Zipang"
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4649
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zipang&search=Search

Its mainly about a modern Japanes AEGIS destroyer and of what effect one might have had on the outcome of WW2 and deals with a lot of moral problems along the way.

What I'm mainly interested in if anyone knows of other similar anime(Im new to this scene) that deals with time travel in a similar real world scenario and not fantasy stuff?

TomCo · 07-08-2006 3:38pm

I didnt know that was about time travel, what a rip of The Final Countdown

juliuspret · 07-08-2006 6:32pm

TomCo wrote:

I didnt know that was about time travel, what a rip of The Final Countdown

I actually saw the Final Countdown on the TV listings a week or so ago which got me intereted in reading more about it in IMDB, eventually leading me to Zipang.

The comparisons between the two are minor as Zipang goes far deepers into WW2 involvement than the USS Nimitz ever did in the Final Countdown.

So any anime suggestions?

Maddzy · 07-08-2006 8:20pm

Er I saw one once where these guys go back to WW2 to stop the nuke being dropped on Hiroshima. Some other plot stuff may have happened. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're drunk. Also it had a huge giant floating head!

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108628/

sharingan · 08-08-2006 12:47pm

TomCo wrote:

I didnt know that was about time travel, what a rip of The Final Countdown

Except Zipang is actually good, and the time travel aspect is little more than a plot device to put the Mirai in the field of play. Rather than depicting an orgy of destruction when you place a modern warship in among WW2 antiques, this show goes much deeper than that. At its core is an exploration of what Japanese Nationalism means; whether it is better to be economically and technically superior, but a weak defeated power OR militarily strong, patriotic but economically weak and dependent on conquest gains. Or more accurately, which aspect has the superiour set of values, and whether the two can be rationalised.

This theme is epitomised by the main characters: Kadomatsu the XO of the Mirai, physically strong, dependable and of balanced judgement, or Kusaka, the IJN colonel rescued by the Mirai at midway, intelligent, visionary, but frighteningly ruthless in the pursuit of his goal. Depictions of supporting characters, and famous characters are quite good, on both sides also, though a modern attitude is reflected.

The depiction of the Mirai's weekend warriors under stress is particularly good - at the end of the day they just want to get home, and their actions can be viciously disruptive of history.

Also Zipang has officially the best battle scene ever bar almost none I can think of. Many of the scenes have real power, as the crew of the Mirai, while trying to steer away from conflict are forced to take lives. This is reflected especially in Kadomatsu and the ships Gunnery Officer.

About the only negative, is that the story isn't fully told; the Zipang manga is huge ~30 volumes. Its like an arc concludes but the story is still open. I don't know how popular the anime is, but the manga is very popular (its the star attraction in whatever serial it is in).

I am kinda hoping there is a second season.

Time travel anime in a historical setting (as opposed to a sci-fi/futuristic one) is extremely rare. I can barely think of any time travel anime at all beyond sci-fi stuff like Generator Gawl. Also Gunbuster and Voices of a Distant Star feature real/relativistic time travel.

There's also Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko which has a time travel gimmick going on, in much the same way that Inu Yasha has.

juliuspret · 08-08-2006 1:04pm

sharingan wrote:

Except Zipang is actually good, and the time travel aspect is little more than a plot device to put the Mirai in the field of play. Rather than depicting an orgy of destruction when you place a modern warship in among WW2 antiques, this show goes much deeper than that. At its core is an exploration of what Japanese Nationalism means; whether it is better to be economically and technically superior, but a weak defeated power OR militarily strong, patriotic but economically weak and dependent on conquest gains. Or more accurately, which aspect has the superiour set of values, and whether the two can be rationalised.

This theme is epitomised by the main characters: Kadomatsu the XO of the Mirai, physically strong, dependable and of balanced judgement, or Kusaka, the IJN colonel rescued by the Mirai at midway, intelligent, visionary, but frighteningly ruthless in the pursuit of his goal. Depictions of supporting characters, and famous characters are quite good, on both sides also, though a modern attitude is reflected.

The depiction of the Mirai's weekend warriors under stress is particularly good - at the end of the day they just want to get home, and their actions can be viciously disruptive of history.

Also Zipang has officially the best battle scene ever bar almost none I can think of. Many of the scenes have real power, as the crew of the Mirai, while trying to steer away from conflict are forced to take lives. This is reflected especially in Kadomatsu and the ships Gunnery Officer.

About the only negative, is that the story isn't fully told; the Zipang manga is huge ~30 volumes. Its like an arc concludes but the story is still open. I don't know how popular the anime is, but the manga is very popular (its the star attraction in whatever serial it is in).

I am kinda hoping there is a second season.

Couldnt have said it better myself!

That battle scene and the consequences for the USS ????....damn....!!!!!

I hope there is a second season made as well...but I think there was a lot of contrversey over its depiction of Japans actions in the War and of the general and scary lack of knowledge about Japanese atrocities, unlike in Germany where everyone knows exactly what the NAZI's did.
Such Japanese ignorance(changeing childrens textbooks) caused BIG protests in China recently!

I think a US company has bought the rights to Zipang and will release a DVD of it in September with English dubbing for those who dont like the idea of subtitles.

The ending of Ep26.....ahhh!!!

monkeyfudge · 08-08-2006 1:11pm

Maddzy wrote:

Er I saw one once where these guys go back to WW2 to stop the nuke being dropped on Hiroshima. Some other plot stuff may have happened. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're drunk. Also it had a huge giant floating head!

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108628/

Oh that was terrible. I saw that one years ago.

Lots of tentacle rape in it.

sharingan · 08-08-2006 1:45pm

juliuspret wrote:

Couldnt have said it better myself!

That battle scene and the consequences for the USS ????....damn....!!!!!

Yeah, but the thing is, that the Mirai's weapons are finite and cannot be replaced or even manufactured with the technology of the time period.

An AEGIS cruiser has around ~80 sea sparrows, and ~80 other missile types, combined between Harpoons (anti-ship), Tomahawks (really anti-ship and anti-ground) and ASROCs (anti-sub). You can consult Janes Ships or some other military encyclopedia for accurate information.

juliuspret wrote:

I hope there is a second season made as well...but I think there was a lot of contrversey over its depiction of Japans actions in the War and of the general and scary lack of knowledge about Japanese atrocities, unlike in Germany where everyone knows exactly what the NAZI's did.
Such Japanese ignorance(changeing childrens textbooks) caused BIG protests in China recently!

Well Zipang did nothing to depict this in a better or worse light. The controversy isn't coming from Zipang, but it is an overall historical issue. Have a look at Nambul War Stories if you want to see how the Koreans look at a similar story from their perspective (the resurgence of an imperial japan, contested only by the Koreans) - shall we say that the racism aspect is quite pronounced.

As for the atrocities aspects, the historical records for what did or did not happen in japanese occupied territories are all over the place. Its not like the highly documented exploits of Nazi germany. We have good reports for what happened to allied POWs, from surviving eye-witness reports and thats about it. Some of the most damning crimes levelled at the japanese by occupied countries was the chemical/biological weapons experiments on prisoners in Manchuria, and the japanese use of local 'comfort women' in Korea. Yet hard facts are actually rare.

But the story of Zipang is not based on the land occupation, so I dont see how it could have caused that kind of controversy. The manga is highly controversial, as it challenges Japanese Nationalism and obviously hits some sentiments.

juliuspret wrote:

I think a US company has bought the rights to Zipang and will release a DVD of it in September with English dubbing for those who dont like the idea of subtitles.

It will be dual audio, like all Geneon releases (who actually do decent dubs in general).

Oh yeah, some other titles worth mentioning in the time travel category:

Otogizoushi and Jojos Bizarre Adventure in Otogizoushi the story itself spans a thousand years. In Jojos Bizarre Adventure, theres an ongoing fight over centuries, with the fight being carried on by the descendants of the original.

Theres also DNA^2 though the tone of that show is a bit ahem sillier. With an agent from the future travelling back to the present date to deliver a retro-active spaying to a hyper-fertile japanese guy (whose fertility, inherited by his kids causes a runaway population crisis).