T5W#163-Top 5 Anime Double Features

Imagine this: It’s Friday or Saturday night.  No plans to go out and a wall full of Anime to peruse.  So…why not make it a double feature evening?  Yeah this weeks kind of a throwaway week for T5W but I still think this would be a fun subject to talk about and throw out some mini marathon suggestions.  These are the pair ups that can be shared between newbies or at a long time Otaku hang out.  Either way, a fun evening can be had.  Welcome to my list for the Top 5 Anime Double Features.

#5-Rurouni Kenshin (Live Action)/Gintama (Live Action)

Hey normal live action movies are always a good double feature idea, so how about two of the best live action Anime adaptations out there?  Both RuroKen and Gintama feature a lot of rapid fire and well choreographed swordplay.  This goes double for RuroKen, which basically rewrote the book on how to film any kind of action scene ever.  Gintamas self referential humor is second to none and is sidesplitting hilarity.  After watching a bunch of back to back misfires including Ghost in the Shell, Death Note and Fullmetal Alchemst, the Rurouni Kenshin/Gintama double feature is a solid reassurance that, in the right hands, we can bring our favorite Anime tales to life.

#4-Pokemon: The First Movie-Mewtwo Strikes Back/Digimon: The Movie

This just popped to mind and would be one helluva nostalgia trip.  While it was arguably brief, Pokemon and Digimon did rival each other in terms of popularity.  I personally loved the energy and creativity of early Digimon but Pokemons first couple of seasons and those addictive games are eternal.  So how about a double feature of their first theatrical outings?  Digimon is a unique case as it’s three Digimon movies reedited almost Robotech style into one semi cohesive feature…with varied results including a second third that would become the template for Summer Wars (no lie, look it up).  Pokemon: The First Movie still remains one of the more darker entries in the franchise with a climactic battle that made every kid cry in theaters.  If you want to remind yourself of Anime in your childhood, take a gander at these two timeless (kind of) classics.

#3-Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack/Mobile Suit Gundam F91

I had to think a bit about what kind of Gundam entry id throw on this list.  After all, most Gundam films are not just compilation movies, but they usually come in sets of 3 or more.  Trying to keep all entries to two selections (double feature duh), I decided to choose these near back to back theatrical features (Gundam 0080 would pop up in between).  Char’s Counterattack closes out the grand first chapter of the Gundam mythos, detailing the final battle of longtime Gundam rivals Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.  Gundam F91…trieeeed to start things off fresh with a new chapter…but it was almost a poor imitation rehash of the original series.  The film is worth a watch just for the errors and edits that were the cause of much behind the scenes turmoil (one of those cases where the making of the film might make a better movie).  So yeah, its an example of Gundam at its best, followed by Gundam at its worst…but its still a hella good time if your watching them with friends.

#2-My Neighbor Totoro/Grave of the Fireflies

This was an actual double feature back in the day, no lie.  And man, can you think of two opposite films than these two?  You have My Neighbor Totoro, one of the most innocent, child friendly, feel good movies in all of Anime.  Then you put on Grave of the Fireflies and watch the heartbreaking tragedy of two siblings struggling to survive in World War II Japan with their only hope being their unbreakable bond.  Grave of the Fireflies contains one of the most realistic and saddening endings in all of Anime…so maybe you should switch these around and watch that first followed by Totoro.  I think we’d all need a giant tree spirit plushie to hold after watching that kind of masterful dark reality.

#1-Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone/ Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance

Toonami actually did this a few years back and I was lucky enough to catch it.  Let me tell ya, it really works.  It would have been easier to place Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion in this spot…but really it bothers me that D&R’s Rebirth portion is just the first quarter of End of Eva and nothing more substantial (you could just pull D&R out after Death and just run End of Eva no prob…im ranting).  The first two chapters of the Rebuild of Evangelion series, by comparison, are the full package in two separate but equally amazing features.  1.11 offers a familiar reintroduction to the world of Eva with a few twist setups towards the end.  2.22 is the locomotive that is unleashed once that setup is completed.  This is one instance where while these are the first 2 parts of a 4 part tale, there’s no need to include 3.33-You Can (Not) Redo…cause it pails in comparison to the high bar set by this two part epic return of one of the greatest Anime franchises of all time.