looking for an anime recommendation

[threeplusfire]

Many of my fine friendslist gave me excellent leads on good anime in the past. I now have a very specific question, and hope some of you will be able to point me in the right direction. My friend is looking for some anime to show 11th & 12th grade students in a school environment. (So about 16-18 years old, no tentacle rape) She is especially looking for stories that have strong female characters, and stories of individualism versus conformity.

My first thoughts were Serial Experiments Lain and Death Note. I think both of those have solid, fascinating stories that present large ethical/moral issues. Lain is probably one of my favorite female anime characters ever. Any others I should add to the list?

Comments

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

The Tanuki just turned me on to Death Note and I think it would be perfect. She could show some movies...Princess Mononoke is superb for a strong female character, as is Nausicaa. I also really liked Kamichu. Wolf's Rain would be good for individualism.

[halfacork.livejournal.com]

I really want to see Death Note on my own but we have a slight problem with one of these student running around threatening other students with, "IF I HAD A DEATH NOTE--"

Followed by well. Threats.

We're working on that in counseling =)

I googled the Lain one and that looks several shades of awesome.

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're contemplating something as violent as Death Note, then Gunslinger Girl might be able to pass muster as well. It's a 13-ep series:

On the surface, the Social Welfare Agency of Italy finds terminally ill, severely injured, orphaned, or otherwise neglected adolescent girls and brings them to a small private school for recooperation and rehabilitation. In truth, this is a cover for a special operations unit called Section Two, whose job is to handle the government's dirty work with an elite group of assassins: those same adolescent girls.

When Section 2 takes the girls - usually severely wounded or injured from illness, accident, deliberate mutilation, or trafficking in child snuff films - from their hospitals the girls undergo a process called "conditioning." They are supplied with large quantities of drugs, repaired with cybernetic implants, and their memories largely erased. Each girl is paired up with an agent as her handler, and they are collectively refered to as "fratello," or "siblings." The agent is responsible for the training of his own charge, deciding how to train each and how much of the "conditioning" drug to use on the girl. While the drugs aid the girls in healing, speed, agility, enduring pain, self-control and obedience to their handler, the drugs also vastly reduce the girls' lifespan and has adverse effects on memory. The agents must carefully balance using the conditioning against the cost of using up a girl too quickly - plus the emotional toll involved, for even the most hard-bitten of the agents find themselves growing attached to their extremely deadly but vulnerable charges. It's tough enough raising an adolescent girl, but when you add in the fact that the girl has been trained to kill at a second's provocation with dozens of different weapons, it makes dealing with a young teen all the more difficult. Any one of these 9-13 year old girls will take a bullet or kill to protect her handler, or will do either on her handler's command. There is one particularly chilling episode, "The Death of Elsa de Sica" that peels back the layers of this relationship, and takes a hard look at what can go wrong in a fratello relationship.

In spite of the conditioning, the girls are not automatons. They all have personalities, histories, and feelings, and they each need to learn to cope with their emotions towards their handlers as well as the often stern natures of their handlers, who are understandably reluctant to get too attached, although that attachement is a necessity to create the trust and skills of a good fratello. The entire series is extremely good, but it might be a little too... troubling? to a 16-18 year-old audience. On the other hand, having just come through their own adolescence, they might relate to it in a different way than most adults watching it.

From an artistic standpoint, the animation is amazing. The animators paid very close attention to the weaponry the girls use, and they must have had a pretty high budget for the artists. My icon is of one of the girls of the series, Henrietta.

[antebellumcafe.livejournal.com]

Raul says:
Saikano, deals with war and death, and shows the transformation of a little girl used as a tool into her own woman through visions of death and horror
she maintains her innocence
and thats the most powerful thing of all
definitely
its a love story too
so its perfect for teens

[brienze.livejournal.com]

Rick suggests Ghost in the Shell. I actually watched that one too, so it's more accessible to non-anime types like me (by way of contrast, I take Princess Mononoke and the other well-known movies as a challenge and sit there and MST3K through the whole thing to show how unimpressed I am).

GitS definitely has the strong female character, but I'd say conformity issues are more on the governmental/organizational level than individual most of the time. I have a vague feeling that there might be some sex with non-US-approved age ranges involved, but Rick couldn't remember the episode when I tried to describe it.

[state-monkey.livejournal.com]

If I can add my two cents, I would recommend "Millennium Actress" or "Tokyo Godfathers." Ghost in the Shell is also a good set of movies and TV series. Another good series is "the Planates," but it is not a movie but a whole set of TV episodes, so it may not be right for a classroom setting.

[jeskaeli.livejournal.com]

Revolutionary Girl Utena. The name sounds cheesy, but it's a REALLY good anime which combines interesting swordfights, hilarious comic relief, and an intriguing plot I have never seen the like of. Conformity/individuality issues abound, and the main character is a very strong female. It's set during the equivalent of high school. I think it would be completely perfect according to the necessary elements you described. I would definitely give it a look.

There are a few controversial parts, but nothing graphic. There's "outline" nudity I suppose, but it's all done quite tastefully and not very often.