Hacker Cinema
Mind Game
マインド・ゲーム
2004 · Film · 103 min
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa
AnimationRomanceComedyDramaFantasyAdventure
Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.
3 positivefrom 3 commenters
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3 comments on Hacker News
I'll give two series and a movie, since everyone has mentioned Kon. I think these are also going to appeal more to someone who hasn't been intimately involved in anime fandom.
-Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
It single-handedly revived interest in the game for a reason; it's excellent, particularly as a foil to GITS and a spiritual successor to FLCL (which I'm sure you've heard of). The animation style is VERY different from GITS, but no less technically impressive, and while the story is not quite as philosophical, it's still no less complete and satisfying.
-Sonny Boy
Tinges of Nolan, Kurosawa, Carroll, Cheever's The Swimmer. May seem like a slog at some points, but hang on for the sequence during the last episode. You'll know it when you see it. I don't want to give too much away.
-Mind Game
Again, don't want to spoil. I recommend watching late at night, Adult Swim-style. A prime example of anime that can't exist in any other medium.
An animated film, "Mind Game", now finally available in an edition that won't cost an arm and a leg, is a high-ranking favorite of mine by any measure.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452039/
The idea's simple: a young man hooks up with a girlfriend he lost touch with, and then dies because he doesn't have the nerve to act when the moment demands it. But God decides to toss him back into the world a few moments before his death to give it another shot, and ... and then things truly go off the chain. (Pay VERY close attention to the montages at the beginning and end of the movie; they make it worth a second viewing, since they snap a great many things into focus.)
It's not just thought-provoking, since it tackles all kinds of issues about free will and the meaning of one's life, but it's also animated with wild abandon and gleeful energy.
I can't recommend this movie highly enough in general, but this is as good an excuse to talk about it as any.
(edited to add IMDB link)
Mind Game is a good one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Game_(film)