THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: Streltsy on 05 Mar 2008, 19:48

Title: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Streltsy on 05 Mar 2008, 19:48
Not sure if this is the right community, but these are pretty much the only forums I actually read.
I don't really know much about anime, used to be a hater. But being bored a while ago I decided to checked some out stuff and I liked it, now I am bored again but don't really know what to get.

I have watched, in order of enjoyment:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop Series + Movie
Ghost in the Shell Series + Movies
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Jin-Roh (I didn't like really like this)
Paprika (This was horrible)

Can I get some recommendations based on this? Preferably something in Shinichirō Watanabe's (samurai champloo, cowboy bebop) style.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 05 Mar 2008, 19:52
Well, if you like Cowboy Bebop the extremely obvious recommendation would be Outlaw Star.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Cartilage Head on 05 Mar 2008, 19:56
 If you don't like Paprika you can just get the hell out right now.

 But uhh.. there are plenty more obvious ones.. Trigun, Paranoia Agent, Gokusen and Blue Gender to name a few of my favorites.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 05 Mar 2008, 20:08
Well I said Outlaw Star was obvious because it is similar in a way, only less serious.

Trigun is good, yeah.

I tend to like the less action-y stuff.  I really enjoyed The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Risky/Safety and KEY: The Metal Idol (if you liked Ghost in the Shell you'd probably like that a lot).

Rozen Maiden is good in a hilarious and kind of creepy way.

Great Teacher Onizuka is a funny and heartwarming one.

Ouran High School Host Club is very amusing.  Also rather gay, if that offends you or appeals to you.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 05 Mar 2008, 20:30
I recommend Serial Experiments Lain, but I've been told it's not something I should recommend lightly.
And I mean, if you haven't seen FLCL, that's kind of essential. Everyone should see FLCL.
Wolf's Rain had a lot of the same people as Cowboy Bebop working on it, but it is way different and sullen and whiny. I liked it. But I don't imagine many other people did.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: thegreatbuddha on 05 Mar 2008, 20:59
Check out Rurouni Kenshin. The series itself leaves room for improvement, and isn't really what your looking for I think, but the 4-episode OVA is phenomenal and should be right up your alley.

In a completely different Style, Ai Yori Aoshi is pretty decent, if only for how unintentionally misogynistic it can be.

Although I never got to finish the series, the first few episodes of Rah Xephon were pretty damn good for mechanime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 05 Mar 2008, 21:02
I recommend Serial Experiments Lain, but I've been told it's not something I should recommend lightly.

Ohhh, yeah.  That is one Hell of a freaky/awesome show.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 05 Mar 2008, 22:01
Uhm, Neon Genesis Evangelion?  It's one of my favorites and like most everything that's been mentioned in this thread that I know of.

And I mean, if you haven't seen FLCL, that's kind of essential. Everyone should see FLCL.

Seconded.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 05 Mar 2008, 22:06
I honestly find Neon Genesis Evangelion pretty hard to get into or sit through.

Yeah, it's amusing when you get to the part where the author went batshit insane and all that, but for me it just isn't that appealing on the whole.

As far as old classics, StarBlazers is some good kitschy fun.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Johnny C on 05 Mar 2008, 23:04
Evangelion is boring hormonal garbage. It's good when you're thirteen. Lain's pretty fantastic.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Fletch on 05 Mar 2008, 23:09
I liked Evangelion until they ran out of budget & started scribbling with internal monologues. The movies were ok, though. Heh ... 2008 ... 1997 ... saw it in 2000 or so ... I was in high school at the time, at least. :P
Bleach? If you can handle knowing that the main characters are in an endless cycle of not quite being powerful enough to beat the next bad guy ... it's good. (breath)
I enjoyed Hikaru no Go ... it's something a bit different, considering it's all about Go. (also suffers from the same condition as Bleach, etc :roll:)
One Piece - I've never seen it, but heard it's good.
Patlabor - the first one was good, after that it got a bit too artsy for me to do anything but fall asleep. I watched one (second? not sure if it was second or third) with my cousin; afterwards I turned around and the only thing I could comment on was how well drawn the backgrounds were.
RahXephon, Appleseed ... I really haven't seen anything recent, have I? What exactly has come out of Japan in the last year?

Thirded for FLCL.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Blue Kitty on 05 Mar 2008, 23:15
My one problem with One Piece is that it is long as hell.  I remember that I stopped watching it for a few months, turned it back on, and they were in the same exact storyline.  I can't say which version is better, but I will have to lean more towards the Funnymation version as they got rid of the horrible rap intro.

FLCL is unanimous

Oh, also try Air Gear, Death Note, and Coyote Ragtime Show
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 05 Mar 2008, 23:21
I prefer Excel Saga to FLCL in the "wacky" category.

Welcome to the NHK is pretty hilarious, too.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: beat mouse on 06 Mar 2008, 00:16
I don't know much about anime series other than that they go on for 800 episodes. I like 4-6 episode minis/movies a lot more, since they generally make for awesome wastes of an afternoon.

Afro Samurai - To be honest I don't know anything about any hype revolving this mini, it has Sam Jackson and Kelly Hu in it, it's fucking awesome, and it is incredibly badass. I can't think of any reason for someone to hate on it.

Macross Plus - Way more japanese, about two rival military companies developing jets that transform into mobile suits in which they use for outer limits skirmishes over resources in asteroid fields. The two test pilots go back through to being rivals in high school who both love the same woman who comes back into play and it escalates into a very awesome and unexpected series of events.

Gundam Wing Endless Duel - I don't remember as much about this one, though I remember liking it quite a bit more than the series (more politics/war, less homoeroticism taking precedence over said politics/war) and was also about giant mech suits with big guns. Pretty wicked all around.

You already mentioned the Miyazaki animes, so I can only back those recommendations.

Cowboy Bebop is awesome, always recommended, always good.

There is an incoming Batman miniseries being produced by varying anime directors and animators that I'm looking forward to very much. The western developers have described it as springing from the much grittier detective aspect of Batman's now assumed incredible ingenuity and intelligence, and focuses a lot on the samurai-esque relationship between Batman and the parallel villain Deadshot. It's called Batman The Gotham Knight, and is released June(july?) 6th.



now for what I don't personally back: Ghost in the Shell (movie). I thought it was totally garbage and overhyped considering how bored I was watching it. Maybe it was bad timing but I thought there wasn't enough follow through to back it up. Evangelion as mentioned by Johnny earlier is all good and fun when you're 12-13, but totally loses any appeal following those years.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CamusCanDo on 06 Mar 2008, 01:50
Berserk guys.

Berserk

I'm actually watching Escaflowne right now. A friend gave it to me 6 months ago and I'm only starting to watch it now, up to the third episode. It's alright. I'm not afraid to admit it but I love Naruto. First seasons are pretty much dry balls, and then it gets good. Really crazy good. Dragonball Z without the 10 episode powering up.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 06 Mar 2008, 02:14
I don't know much about anime series other than that they go on for 800 episodes.

Then you don't know much at all because the VAST majority of animes are 11-26 episodes in length.  Only crap like Dragonball Z and Pokemon go on "forever".
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CEOVanilla on 06 Mar 2008, 03:44
Princess Princess is fun if you're into crossdressers. I'm pretty sure you can find it on YouTube or Veoh. Gravitation's pretty cool too, but it's about . . . I guess bisexuals falling in love. If that's not your thing, I always remember Outlaw Star being pretty good as already mentioned. I've heard in a chat room I go to that "Elfen Lied" is good, though I've never seen it. I don't like much anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 06 Mar 2008, 11:27
Whoa, whoa, whoa...Graviation is a yaoi (well...shouen-ai) about a ROCK BAND. Suichi falls in love with Yuki, who is a famous writer, except that Yuki is running away from a horrible past where he was nearly molested by a tutor whilst in America, so he doesn't want to get involved ith Suichi.... Jeez. No one is bisexual, where did that come from?

Princess Princess is cute --about an all-boys school where the cutest (prettiest) boys are asked to dress as girls for special occasions to boost the boys moral (There is obviously a bigger story, but that's why they're cross dressing).

Elfen Leid is supposed to be very graphic --we were going to watch it at my anime club, but then they were like, "Nooo, lets not chance getting into trouble". I'm not sure if it's graphic sexually or if it's very gory --I have an inkling it may be both?

...Now that I'm done commenting, may I also suggest Rosario Vampire, which is of my new favorites (I like cute monsters!), Pumpkin Scissors, Blood+, Welcome to the NHK, Cardcaptor Sakura, and everyone should watch Honey and Clover. It's adorable.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: rancidhooligan on 06 Mar 2008, 12:32
Ninja Scroll, Fist of the Northstar, Initial D.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 06 Mar 2008, 12:54
Given that you like Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, I'd recommend Guardian of the Sacred Spirit (or Seirei no Moribito), a fantasy story about a female body guard taking care of a prince targeted for assassination. It's a good story (way more coherent than the sun flower samurai chasing of Samurai Champloo), and the animation is first class. It's from the same people that did Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex, and you can sort of see it in the art.

Another samurai based show is Peacemaker Kurogane, which is a bit on the comedy side. Well worth seeing.

Then there is Full Metal Panic, which is a fantastic mix of counter terrorism, mecha fights and romantic high school comedy. It's run for three seasons, and each has a slightly different flavor - first season more serious, second season full on wacky comedy, third season in comparison really grim in tone.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: singeivoire on 06 Mar 2008, 13:10
Bleach? If you can handle knowing that the main characters are in an endless cycle of not quite being powerful enough to beat the next bad guy ... it's good. (breath)

I second this - Bleach is not flawless, but it is good times. I recommend skipping the bount arc, though - it's pretty lame filler crap. Once they start talking about vampires, just jump to episode 110 and don't look back.

Death Note

Haha! I like Death Note. I recommend if you can tolerate a neverending stream of convoluted quasai-logic and intellectual manouvering. Seriously - that's every episode. It does keep one on one's toes, though - suprisingly enough.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 06 Mar 2008, 13:47
Oh, and Black Fucking Lagoon. I can't believe forgetting it. It's so kick ass you'll wonder what hit you.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 06 Mar 2008, 13:50
Also I am so insanely disappointed this thread has gotten to 19 replies and noone has mentioned Hellsing! It is a pretty excellent anime.

Hey, yeah!  What the hell?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 06 Mar 2008, 14:00
Because Hellsing isn't very good?

Eh, I don't know, ignore me.  I tend to dislike most of the anime that most people seem to like, with the rare exception like Cowboy Bebop.  Honestly most of the things being recommended in here are either really old, really "geared toward teenage males", or both.

I'd recommend getting an account on aznv.tv (it's cheap) and watching some much more recent stuff that isn't about vampires or giant robots or whatever.  But that's just me.

(Seriously, Welcome to the NHK)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 06 Mar 2008, 14:04
I never really thought that there was anime geared specifically towards teenage males.  I mean, I'm not surprised by it, I just thought that Japanese culture kind of had a sort of subjective or objective view of women in their culture.  I'm pretty positive there is anime geared towards teenage females, though.  Fruits Basket or Ranma 1/2, for example.  Inuyasha could probably be lumped in there, even though I liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 06 Mar 2008, 14:05

Death Note

Haha! I like Death Note. I recommend if you can tolerate a neverending stream of convoluted quasai-logic and intellectual manouvering. Seriously - that's every episode. It does keep one on one's toes, though - suprisingly enough.

Yeah to me it's like a more dramatic, but slightly less convoluted version of the GITS series.  Which makes it better in my opinion

Oh and seconds to Hellsing, Bleach sans Bount arc, Trigun, and especially FLCL </avatar reference>
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 06 Mar 2008, 14:26
Hellsing is kinda fun. It's best approached as a "brain off, eyeballs on" type of show. It pees on your petty demands for maturity and nuanced narrative.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 06 Mar 2008, 14:33
This is a pretty good place to start looking for shows: http://myanimelist.net/topanime.php
That list is based on user ratings. Not all of those shows fit your request - there's not a lot out there that is "Watanabe-like", but I'm sure you can find something you'll like.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aceandcups on 06 Mar 2008, 14:42
You didn't like Paprika, but someone else mentioned Paranoia Agent. Both are made by the same person, but Paranoia Agent is really much more approachable. Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue - all from the same director.

And of course Akira.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 06 Mar 2008, 14:52
I never really thought that there was anime geared specifically towards teenage males.  I mean, I'm not surprised by it, I just thought that Japanese culture kind of had a sort of subjective or objective view of women in their culture.

All I can say is that it sounds like you haven't actually watched a wide variety of anime or Japanese things in general, because - and this is not an insult, just an observation - what you said up there is very ignorant.

(And, for reference, anime/manga geared towards teenage boys = shonen, anime geared towards teenage girls = shojo.  They are equally large genres.  Other than those, there are animes which span all genres and styles.  It is a factor of which anime has been brought over to America and promoted here that people have such a biased view of "what anime is".)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 06 Mar 2008, 16:50
I realize that was a sort of ignorant statement, and you are correct to assume I haven't seen a very wide variety of animes.  I did not intend to offend anyone with what I said, it isn't what I actually believe, but more of a passing observation or assumption based on the way women are usually drawn in animes.  Which is surely a very poor way to derive a conclusion about an entire group of people.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 06 Mar 2008, 17:12
I prefer Excel Saga to FLCL in the "wacky" category.

FLCL is like a wackiness rocket launcher, Excel Saga like a wackiness machine gun turret. There's something in both for everyone, but choosing between the two is ultimately a matter of specialization.

I second Fist of the Northstar, FMA, Trigun, Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue (Did anyone else like Millenium Actress? Cus I did), Ninja Scroll, and Hellsing up to as point, but not actually the whole thing. At some point the storyline shifts and the show becomes not as good. if you don't mind mangas, the Hellsing mangas I find are more entertaining.
Oh, and Rurouni Kenshin. But really, you could just watch season 2, and ignore the rest of the show.

What else? Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is basically better than the movie.  Seasons 1 and 2 of that are both great. 

Finally (this is getting kind of long) people should watch Kino's Journey. It's very episodic rather than serial and every episode is like a weird examination of a hypothetically posed philosophical dilemma. It's awesome, do it up.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 06 Mar 2008, 17:43
Ghost In the Shell: SAC is awesome.  I haven't seen it in forever, but I remember loving every bit of it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 06 Mar 2008, 18:15
I tend to stick with OVAs since they don't suffer from the billion episode syndrome and generally have higher production values. Really though, as Zerodrone said earlier, it's quite rare that billion episode syndrom becomes a big problem, and it usually only affects anime adaptations of manga series, particularly super popular ones that are still in production (unfortunately, these are some of the most visible anime productions of all, hence why so many people are misled into thinking this is common). Although I haven't watched it myself, I'm under the impression that Rurouni Kenshin is one of the best examples of this phenomenon. Basically, the manga was incomplete and the anime production schedule eventually resulted in the television series catching up with and outpacing the manga author. The resulting filler episodes resulted sapped the show's popularity and eventually resulted in cancellation, despite the initial success of the series. See Also: Naruto, Inuyasha, One Piece, etc.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 06 Mar 2008, 18:36
This is quite true, exactly what happened. But still, there was a time for RK when everything fell into place. The 2nd season is really awesome. And the OVAs of it are good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KharBevNor on 06 Mar 2008, 19:04
Because Hellsing isn't very good?

OUR MISSION IS TO PUNISH ANY HERETIC WHO WOULD DENY THE WORD OF GOD! WE WILL CRUSH YOUR UNHOLY BODY AND SALT THE EARTH WITH YOUR DUST. AMEN!

Most casual fans exposure to Hellsing is probably through the 13 episode series produced by Gonzo. Though there are some very good points to this series (the soundtrack, use of colour and voice acting, at least on the Japanese version). It also falls short in a number of ways. The story is schizophrenic, mixing elements of Kouta Hirano's original manga with new storylines and characters invented by writers with little feel for Hirano's original material. Although the attempts to heighten realism are brave at times, especially in the first half of the series, it all falls apart when they tried to wrap the series up. It's a classic example of why you should never start a series when the manga is not complete. Additionally, the art is not up to scratch at all. Animation work was carried out by at least two seperate studios who apparently never met, leading to inconsistent colour matching and character design. The CGI animation is extremely crude, and most of the budget seems to have been blown on a few short, though impressive, combat sequences. It's what got me into Hellsing, but it isn't HELLSING.

Fortunately, kids nowadays have another option: The Ultimate OVA. Matching Hirano's manga pretty much word for word and frame for frame, with a huge animation budget aided by slick, modern CGI. Yes, it is still basically about the Knights of the Round Table using Count Dracula to kill Nazi Vampires and the Inquisition. If you do not think that is an awesome premise for a media franchise, you quite patently suck.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: IronOxide on 06 Mar 2008, 19:06
Evangelion is boring hormonal garbage. It's good when you're thirteen. Lain's pretty fantastic.

You see, I still like Evangelion. Maybe it's because I'm still emotionally a thirteen year old, or maybe it's because I just remember how much it spoke to me at that age, but it'll always have that place. I'm not sure how good it would be for somebody who didn't see it around that age, though.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 06 Mar 2008, 19:16
Evangelion's angst meter is over 9000.


About the only episode I remember enjoying from start to finish was "Dance like you want to win." Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it managed to stay true to the already established characterizations without wallowing in doom and gloom as much as in other episodes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 06 Mar 2008, 20:30
I didn't know there was a "new" Hellsing.  I am intrigued.  Too bad they don't have it on aznv yet apparently.

I have had a girl telling me for almost 2 years to watch Honey and Clover, so I'm going to give it a shot.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 06 Mar 2008, 21:02
Evangelion is boring hormonal garbage. It's good when you're thirteen.

WAY TO MISS THE POINT but you've probably heard that a thousand times.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 06 Mar 2008, 21:31
I have had a girl telling me for almost 2 years to watch Honey and Clover, so I'm going to give it a shot.

Watch it!!! Hagu is sooooo cute!! It totally doesn't end the way you would expect. It is great. I highly reccomend it. Shojo-Jump has also started to run the manga, if that is something you are interested in.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Streltsy on 06 Mar 2008, 21:52
Ho~ Lots more replies than I was expecting, thanks everyone, it'll take awhile to go through this. Also, thanks for the link to that site, good to know a place where I can just float through stuff until I find something I like instead of always asking for recommendations (this is what I do with music usually).

Just to pitch in on the 'thousand episode syndrome' thing, this is actually what biased me againest anime at first when I was a kid (pokemon, DBZ, Gundam, etc.). And also when I was a bit older I knew a couple of people who were into anime, but it was stuff like Naruto, Bleach, and Inyuasha (I saw the last there, and even though it was  better than DBZ it still seemed a bit silly).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 06 Mar 2008, 23:53
The comparison between FLCL and Excel Saga is interesting. I wouldn't have thought of that, because I've always felt that there was a thematic heft and depth to FLCL - though, of course, parts of it are indeed wacky and hilarious - that separates it from other anime comedies. Maybe it's the tinge of angst, which Excel Saga lacks completely (to glorious effect - it's probably the funniest anime I've ever seen). Regardless, I'd wholly endorse FLCL, as it's absolute genius and my favorite anime. By all means see Excel Saga too.

And I gather the OP has already seen both the GitS movies and series, so I'll just send out a big ol' WTF to those of you who think the series is better. I gather that it's closer to the manga, but I just love the movies so stinkin' much. I thought the series was pretty bland by comparison.

No love for Jin-Roh, though? Come on! Talk about gut-wrenching. It's beautiful.

Also a yes for Serial Experiments Lain; although be warned: it's weird.

Finally, if you've got the time (it's 74 episodes all told - not quite a billion), I'd say that Monster is well worth checking out. Great psychological drama/horror.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 07 Mar 2008, 02:25
All I remember about the first Ghost in the Shell film, and this is based on watching it once about 10 years ago, is that after it was over my friends and girlfriend and I were not very happy and I think I said something like "Well, that was a very boring French art movie, only animated."   :-)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: LadyFirelyght on 07 Mar 2008, 04:08
I am currently watching One Piece and Naruto. I was skeptical of both at first, but they've quite grown on me. So much so that I long for the next episode to be released.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 07 Mar 2008, 04:47
I think the Ghost in the Shell movies get better and better - the first one was novel only because it was among the very first anime I ever saw. In comparison, the latest of the movies was really good.

Same thing with the tv series, really. Stand Alone Complex was good, but the ideas were clearer and the story more focused in the Second Gig. I preferred them both to the movies though.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CEOVanilla on 07 Mar 2008, 05:04
ThePQ4: Well, I called the characters in Gravitation bisexual because they're obviously not card-carrying homosexuals based on their past relationships and the dialogue. What I've always wondered how much money the N-G Corporation was losing in that series. I'd imagine their business model is similar to Warner Music Group (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=wmg), and I think we all know how well that company is doing.

Imapiratearg: I always liked the Fruit Basket and Ranma because of the ridiculous antics the characters are always getting in to. Maybe I'm the only one, but I thought Ranma was particularly hilarious in particular.

Zerodrone: You can watch the Hellsing OVAs on YouTube. Check them out. They're a lot better than the series was.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: singeivoire on 07 Mar 2008, 06:38
Naruto.

Yeah, I'm roped into keeping up with this one too, but the anime is PAINFULLY slow. I think I clocked a single battle lasting 12 episodes once - granted, it was interrupted by flashbacks etc., but still - a bit excessive. I stick with the manga now - it wastes less of my time. There are a whole slew of good characters though...

Also, as was mentioned before, beware of the filler episodes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 07 Mar 2008, 06:57
ThePQ4: Well, I called the characters in Gravitation bisexual because they're obviously not card-carrying homosexuals based on their past relationships and the dialogue. What I've always wondered how much money the N-G Corporation was losing in that series.

LOSING? On Gravitation? Ha! I doubt very much that they are losing money. Gravitation is one of the most highly reccomended yaoi anime series --especially since there are so damn few of them. Manga is in great supply, but finding a GOOD anime is hard to come by --OVAs are around in abundance, but a series are rare --there's only a few of them, and most of them are only shouen-ai, or suggestive (like Ouran High School Host Club).  You have no idea how many yaoi-fan girls there are in the world, and we're creating more every day.

Oh, and I would definantly call Suichi "card carrying". Yuki may be bi, but Suichi is pretty gay.  Either way, thats not what the series is about.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 07 Mar 2008, 07:39
If you're absolutely set on watching Naruto, watch it until Sasuke leaves the village, then skip forward to Naruto Shippuuden where the story picks up again. You'll save yourself some hundred episodes of nothing happening.


Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Muskrat121 on 07 Mar 2008, 10:21
Last Exile is fantastic.  I highly recomend it.  I saw a couple episodes on G4 late night one night a couple years back and was hooked.

Iria is pretty good too.

Alexander Senki (Reign: The Conqueror) is just totally messed up.  It was done by the same guy that did Æon Flux, which I also recomend.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jeph on 07 Mar 2008, 11:35
I'm slowly working my way through all of Outlaw Star and not enjoying it very much.

I fuckng hated Key the Metal Idol- any series where you have to have TWO ENTIRE FUCKING EPISODES of one character EXPLAINING THE PLOT to another character just for it to make any sense is utter bullshit.

Serial Experiments: Lain is everything Key tried to be, only good (and quite creepy in parts).

I dislike Evangelion because JESUS GOD THE ANGST. It's like the Japanese Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

You basically can't go wrong with anything by Miyazaki. I enjoyed the hell out of Haibane Renmei, but it is depressing as fuck.

I have probably watched and rewatched all of Azumanga Daioh a hundred times by now. It's like the Japanese version of Peanuts. Also, it's really fun to go through and watch all the different tricks they use to skimp on animation.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jeph on 07 Mar 2008, 11:47
Oh, also Dragon Half.

And if you're not reading the Vagabond manga you're missing out on the greatest thing to happen to comics since Watchmen.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 07 Mar 2008, 12:30
I've wanted to check out Vagabond, but I'm still broke and disillusioned from all the cash I spent on Blade of the Immortal.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KharBevNor on 07 Mar 2008, 14:19
I dislike Evangelion because JESUS GOD THE ANGST. It's like the Japanese Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

That's hardly fair. JTHM is quite funny at points.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 07 Mar 2008, 14:57
Azumanga Daioh is really great, despite the fact that it launched a thousand memes.

@PQ4 - I'm a guy and I like Ouran Host Club.   :-(
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Kwang on 07 Mar 2008, 15:16
Spriggan is worth checking out. It's a movie, not a series, so it's short and to-the-point, and the animation is top-quality.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 07 Mar 2008, 16:13
Hmm. The few people I occasionally talk to who are way into anime tried to push Ouran Host Club on me but I haven't really had time. Come to think of it I haven't really watched any tv in months. Maybe I'll make that the next thing I pick up.

Having only seen pictures and not actually knowing anything about it, I've wanted to think it has a feel kind of similar to Furuba. Is that at all true?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 07 Mar 2008, 16:31
@PQ4 - I'm a guy and I like Ouran Host Club.   :-(

Not strange, since it's simply freaking funny.

Quote
Having only seen pictures and not actually knowing anything about it, I've wanted to think it has a feel kind of similar to Furuba. Is that at all true?

Er, I wouldn't exactly compare the two, but sure. In the loosest sense. There are more dark undertones in Furuba than there are in Ouran though, which is more pure comedy. It's really a parody of the reverse harem genre. All the bishonen archetypes are there, taken to their extremes and made fun of.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CEOVanilla on 07 Mar 2008, 19:05
PQ4: I think you didn't understand what I meant. I meant the fictional record company in Gravitation, not the series itself.

I also like what I've seen of Ouran Host Club. Admittedly, I stopped watching after two episodes of magical fairytale land or whatever. That was a bit too much for me.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Streltsy on 07 Mar 2008, 19:40
FLCL... wtf? Hella incoherent, but fun.

Going to start with (if anyone cares):
Trigun
Serial Experiments Lain
Black Lagoon
Shigurui (got this last one from the site, saw first episode and I really liked art style)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: DavidGrohl on 08 Mar 2008, 00:51
  Watch Kanon 2006.  It's not action oriented . . but expand your boundaries. 
 
   Monster is another good different genre series.  Great mystery series, though a touch on the long side.

  Back to the action (in no order):
      Baccano!  (This is a confusing anime at first, but it DOES all make sense by the end.  It's good . . great even.  And it's unlicensed.  d/l it http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1057.html (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1057.html)
      Fate/Stay Night
      Ghost in a Shell
      Death Note (first story arc)
      Naruto (until filler) OR Bleach   -   Only watch one of these because they're huuuge.  Go with Bleach, imo.  Naruto is more childish and annoying after a while.
      Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit   -   I can't suggest this one enough.  It's a great story, great animation, drama/action, season 2 based on book 2 coming up.
      Code Geass  -  The ending will piss you off (cliffhanger for 2nd season)

   Stay away from:
     Neon Genesis Evangelion  -  I can't even explain to you my hatred for this series.  It reminds me off emo power rangers
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: pilsner on 08 Mar 2008, 07:50
I like how people are mentioning these movies as if they have nothing to do with each other.  You're going to notice certain trends running through these lists.  First of all:

-- Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095327/) directed by Isao Takahata is one of my favorite movies full stop, and is included by many Western critics in their "best ever" lists.  If you haven't seen it, it's probably going to make you cry.  It's about a brother and sister trying to survive the aftermath of the Allied bombing of Japan at the end of WWII.

-- Satoshi Kon directed Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and the series Paranoia Agent.  I think all of these movies are worth watching, with Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers and Paranoia Agent being among my favorite anime ever.  In all of Kon's movies you're going to see an inquiry into what is real, what is fantasy, how fantasy can twist reality, and also the man loves trannies.  Just loves 'em.

-- Hayao Miyazaki, founder of studio Ghibli is probably the most beloved anime director on these forums and in the world, and has directed an incredible number of exceptional movies (which he continues to do despite being theoretically retired) including: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, and Spirited Away.  Most recently he did Howl's Moving Castle, which I can't really recommend but which I know a lot of people on the forum enjoyed.  Spirited Away is up there with Grave of the Fireflies among my favorite movies ever -- it's an epic of a young girl whose parents were turned into pigs and who has to work as a maid in a bathhouse for the spirits to rescue them.

-- Mamoru Oshii directed Patlabor, Patlabor II, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence, and the live action movie Avalon (sort of the Matrix but way, way better).  His movies tend to involve themes about the definition of humanity, the consequences of rapid adoption of technology and robotics, the  conspiracies that inevitably crop up in politics, and what happens when you fire really, really big guns.  Also, for whatever reason, invisibility in an Oshii film seems to require getting nekkid.  I love Oshii for his ability to combine excellent action sequences with philosophical inquiry but for a Fist of the North Star fan it must be excruciating.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 08 Mar 2008, 08:12
I honestly find Miyazaki's work to be tolerable at best, from a story standpoint.  There's no denying his visual skills, but I just find his films fairly tedious.  I fell asleep during Princess Mononoke.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 08 Mar 2008, 09:54
Princess Monoke is really up and down.  It's terribly boring in some parts and pretty awesome in others.  Howl's Moving Castle is his best, in my opinion.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 08 Mar 2008, 20:33
Definitely Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind for me.

I think a lot of people must find his movies intolerably slow, but I love his pacing. He makes room for a lot of characters.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: bryanthelion on 08 Mar 2008, 20:38
Perfect Blue.
And I really loved the whole thing of Princess Monoke! Same with Spirited Away.

Also, alot of the anime on adult swim were really good.

Not fuse though, their anime is shit.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 09 Mar 2008, 18:29
Before G4 and TechTV were fused into one, the latter of the two had this show on called Anime Unleashed.  It played some pretty awesome stuff sometimes.  I watched this one series called Betterman on it.  It was really weird, but kind of cool.

And I really loved the whole thing of Princess Monoke! Same with Spirited Away.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Princess Mononoke, and yes, Spirited Away is absolutely wonderful.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: bryanthelion on 09 Mar 2008, 18:31
Also,

Ergo Proxy was the most confusing, most whiny, most emo show ever.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 09 Mar 2008, 19:54
You're wrong. I'd go into more detail, but we already covered NGE.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: HarperLufro on 10 Mar 2008, 03:06
Denno Coil
and
Mai-HiME
are both really great animes.

They're of the "starts-light-hearted-but-takes-a-serious-turn-a-number-of-episodes-in" strain.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 10 Mar 2008, 12:26
I'll especially second the recommendation of Denno Coil. It's fantastic.

Beck should appeal a lot of people here I think. It's a coming of age story about a kid that gets an electric guitar as a gift, and about that period of his life, dealing with high school bullies, with first love, and of course, rock music.

Some other good ones: Oh! Edo Rocket, Minami-Ke, Clannad, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: camelpimp on 10 Mar 2008, 19:08
I dislike Evangelion because JESUS GOD THE ANGST. It's like the Japanese Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

That's hardly fair. JTHM is quite funny at points.

To be fair, JTHM was actually trying to be funny.

And I'm so glad that people finally seem to realize en-masse (although this perception will likely change when I read the WHOLE thread) that Evangelion fucking sucked. I would say fuck Anno, but he did direct the GOOD part of Kare Kano. And a sex comedy with hamsters.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StreetSpirit on 10 Mar 2008, 20:35
Monster.

Mushi-shi.

Gankutsuouo.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: imapiratearg on 10 Mar 2008, 21:50
Evangelion fucking sucked.

:[

But the giant fighting robots!  Surely, bad ass fight scenes in End of Evangelion make up for the whiny-ness of the rest of the series?

Right guys?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KharBevNor on 10 Mar 2008, 22:32
Asuka's last stand (which, admittedly is 100% unadulterated bad-ass) lasts almost exactly ten minutes.

How long is Evangelion as a whole?

To be fair, Evangelion is intended to be sort of a deconstruction of the cliches of the giant robots genre, but it doesn't exactly make for a particularly fun viewing experience. If you want that kind of stuff, I'd go for Hideaki Anno's directorial debut, Gunbuster. The heroine admittedly goes into a Shinji-like break-down, but then she pulls herself together and starts killing space monsters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GN_b9Ra6o&feature=related)

MILLIONS of space monsters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLFCbAXA1I4&feature=related). With J-Pop and fanservice and massive fleets of battlecruisers and lasers and atom bombs flying fucking everywhere.

I rather like Gunbuster.
 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 11 Mar 2008, 00:04
On the opposite spectrum of things...

If you want to subject yourself to a ton of pain, watch A Little Snow Fairy Sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Snow_Fairy_Sugar)



Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StarmanJr on 11 Mar 2008, 13:47
come on. no one has mentioned gantz yet?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PUFlhekafT4 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PUFlhekafT4)

okay, so it is frustrating to the max, and is a bitch at drawing out action and such, but the brazen rush it delivers in some of the episodes makes it golden in my opinion. like ichi the killer, some things need to be seen at least once for shock value. yeah, they can put that shit on tv. heavily edited, but you get the point.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: HarperLufro on 11 Mar 2008, 15:35
I'd go for Hideaki Anno's directorial debut, Gunbuster.

Or you can go for his hilarious, yet ridiculously and overwhelmingly perverted, anime Ebichu the Housekeeping Hamster (Oruchuban Ebichu).
It's surprising how constant sexual innuendos and explicit violence done right can make for lots of laughs.
I forgot about how I came across it and I remember being somewhat disappointed in myself for watching it
as some parts are downright gross.

But the hilarity. It is redeeming I guess.
And so is Ebichuman (muh avatar).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 11 Mar 2008, 19:00
-- Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095327/) directed by Isao Takahata is one of my favorite movies full stop, and is included by many Western critics in their "best ever" lists.  If you haven't seen it, it's probably going to make you cry.  It's about a brother and sister trying to survive the aftermath of the Allied bombing of Japan at the end of WWII.

I think the most apt description I've heard is that "[Grave of the Fireflies] makes you want to crawl into a hole and not come back out."  Oddly enough it didn't make me cry, but I saw it when I was already kind of dead inside.

But yeah. Basically a ridiculously good movie.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 11 Mar 2008, 20:12
If you want to subject yourself to a ton of pain, watch A Little Snow Fairy Sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Snow_Fairy_Sugar)

What's wrong with Sugar?  For what it is, it's cute.

Not as good as Bottle Fairies, but still.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Statik on 11 Mar 2008, 21:35
I am by no means "hardcore" into the anime world, so Ill stick to reccomending what I know, and try and provide information to possibly assist you in watching/not watching something I reccomend.

Some of what I will reccomend have been mentioned, but I will reiterate:

Berserk  - My favorite anime series ever made.  HOWEVER, this comes with a warning.  The anime series is almost entirely character build up, and the story STOPS after the biggest turning point.  If you do not read manga, this anime WILL dissapoint you.  However, if you do enjoy/read manga, and are willing to read through about 8000 pages (33 issues x ~200-250 pages per) the story is fantastic, the action is amazing, and the little bit of lighthearted humor (via Puck).  If you have no intention of reading the best currently running manga in existence(IMO), don't bother watching the Anime.  (for reference, my folder of unzipped Berserk manga is just about 2 gigs).  Also, the scene in which Gatsu gets the Armor of the Berserk (where my icon is from) is an amazing issue.

Elfen Lied - Another one with a warning.  It is INCREDIBLY violent, and contains many images of young female nudity.  I enjoyed the plot from start to finish and I enjoyed the character of Lucy/Nyu, but it certainly is not for everyone.

Perfect Blue - Mentioned before by someone else, a great Hitchcockian thriller.  If you like psychological thriller/mysteries, its a great watch, and at least in my experience, something completely atypical of a "standard" anime drama / movie.

Texhnolyze - a weird, but intriguing collection of episodes... explaining them doesn't at all do them justice, but it focuses around an underground world and the technology there.  Made by many of the same people who gave us the fantastic Serial Experiments: Lain, so take that however.

Spriggan - there is some plot, but its far more of a turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the-amazing-action-sequences.

S-Cry-Ed - the manga for this series is shit, but the anime took a shitty manga and turned it into something amazing.  On the surface, its a mindless action foray dealing with people with powers known as "Alters" that allow them to take matter around them and reform it into something else (usually representative of their character)  the main character wraps his arm in armor and punches things, another characters alter is to make a giant smashy robot, etc.  It isnt the deepest anime ever made, but it does touch on a lot of public issues, and the characters are incredibly well developed.  The plot gets a bit goofy towards the end, but all in all, an amazing series.

Neon Genesis Evangalion - as other people have said, its VERY angsty, so its definently not for everyone.  And the series does kind of fall apart towards the end, gives you more questions than answers, and the two "follow-up" movies dont help very much.  However, I still find it interesting and enjoyable (if a bit tedious at times).

RaXephon - Neon Genesis Lite.  It is very nearly the exact same story, a lot faster paced, better action, and less "God" thrown around.  A much more enjoyable watch than NGE, if not as deep.  Also, don't bother with the movie, its the same story as the TV show, condensed into ~2 hours.

Wolf's Rain - Very heavily seeped in Japanese mythology / culture.  I've read that the series makes far more sense if you know a lot about Japanese history / culture / mythology, but all in all, still a good series, if approaching the angsty side a bit much.

Hellsing - watch the Ultimate version, no contest.  Vampires, big guns, action, Alucard, etc.

Vampire Hunter D - similar conceptually to the "Blade" movies, but more atmospheric, a VERY non-traditional plot, set in the future, despite how it looks.  But, theres still a decent bit of action and blood, so if you are into that, its definently worth watching.

Ninja Scroll - Both the first move and the short series (I wasnt a huge fan of the second movie).  Predominantly action oriented, but a decent story as well.

Other titles of note:

Gantz - I dunno about this one... Ive watched the first 8 episodes, and Im having an incredibly hard time staying interested in it.  Everything involving the room and Gantz itself is interesting, but the whole subplot with the main character and the girl is awkward and distracting IMO.

Burst Angel - Ive only watched one episode, so I cannot truly make a "OMG U SHUD WATCH DIS" reccomendation, but it did catch my interest, I just havent had time to keep watching.  Seems (and I could be off base) to be action oriented / less plot.

The SoulTaker / Soul Taker - I remember enjoying watching this series, but getting so lost watching it, and having a hard time keeping up with the story.  Its weird, and I remember it being a bit convoluted, but possibly something worth checking out.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 12 Mar 2008, 01:02
RaXephon - Neon Genesis Lite.  It is very nearly the exact same story, a lot faster paced, better action, and less "God" thrown around.  A much more enjoyable watch than NGE, if not as deep.  Also, don't bother with the movie, its the same story as the TV show, condensed into ~2 hours.

see this is why i've been avoiding this series...the god stuff is what makes evangelion worth watching

in terms of recomendations i've noticed that although individual film's are getting mentioned no one seems to have recomended satoshi kon's work as a whole so i'll go ahead and do that
(in case you don't know)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Statik on 12 Mar 2008, 06:29

He said in the first post he didn't like Paprika, so he may not like the others.  I think they are great, but I picked Perfect Blue over the others to reccomend simply because I had seen it first, and it had such an impact on me.

RaXephon's central theme is music which may or may not be appealing to you.  I guess saying it is the exact, or nearly the exact same story is a slight exaggeration, but it is very very similar.  A kid, related to someone in a secret/public organization reluctantly takes the reins of a giant robot to fight strange invading giant things (in NGE, they were angels, in RaXephon, they are "Mulians" (IIRC).  Also, unlike NGE, RaXephon actually EXPLAINS WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.  It actually explains, and even attempts to get you to sympthize with the antagonists.  Thats a big plus in my book.  Like I said, I felt it a far more enjoyable watch than NGE.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: pilsner on 12 Mar 2008, 12:16
in terms of recomendations i've noticed that although individual film's are getting mentioned no one seems to have recomended satoshi kon's work as a whole so i'll go ahead and do that
(in case you don't know)
  • perfect blue
  • milenium actress
  • tokyo godfathers
  • paranoia agent
  • paprika

Quote from: pilsner
-- Satoshi Kon directed Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and the series Paranoia Agent.  I think all of these movies are worth watching, with Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers and Paranoia Agent being among my favorite anime ever.  In all of Kon's movies you're going to see an inquiry into what is real, what is fantasy, how fantasy can twist reality, and also the man loves trannies.  Just loves 'em.

A for taste.  F for reading comprehension.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StarmanJr on 14 Mar 2008, 16:26
Ninja Scroll - Both the first move and the short series (I wasnt a huge fan of the second movie).  Predominantly action oriented, but a decent story as well.
that makes sense. the "second movie" is a completely different anime. ninja resurrection was a movie about jubei the samurai, not the crazy mutherfucker ninja jubei from ninja scroll. but come on, it deserves a little more credit. people who hate anime sometimes like ninja scroll for its shocking arterial blood spray filled scenes. and they are constant, which keeps them interested enough because they can not appreciate the drawn out long fucking story of most boring anime.


Gantz - I dunno about this one... Ive watched the first 8 episodes, and Im having an incredibly hard time staying interested in it.  Everything involving the room and Gantz itself is interesting, but the whole subplot with the main character and the girl is awkward and distracting IMO.
pshaw. the kei and kishimoto relationship is ass-grabbingly hilarious. what isn't funny about the sexual tension? the only problem with gantz is that it draws out the action too much. out of nowhere will be splatterville and corpse tsunamis that rape your eyeballs with gore. and then someone will hold a gun in front of another's face for two episodes. other than that, it's a great fucking watch. i mean, come on! the english dubbing is some of the best i have ever heard. A+++ for gantz. give it another shot!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Statik on 16 Mar 2008, 22:19
I went in to Gantz expecting a bit of sexual tension type stuff, but predominantly focused on their situation (in the room) Blood Tsunamis and such dont bother me, but, as you said, the build up...  to me it just gets tedious.  It wasnt what I was expecting out of the series, and for whatever reason, I just dont really find it all that interesting.  You are trying to tell me that my opinion is somehow wrong.

You seem to be implying that I cannot appreciate a good story...

I didnt think Ninja Scroll 2 was bad, I just didnt like it as much(as the first movie and the short series).  I dont like Ninja Scroll for its massive amount of blood, I like it because I find it appealing, both visually AND narratively (?).

I am confused at your use of bold and italics.  My favorite anime/manga (Berserk) has been going on for about 18 years.  There are few others that have that much content.  So if you are somehow implying that I only like action, and cant appreciate a drawn out story...


Back on topic:
I watched a couple episodes of Gilgamesh, and so far I'm enjoying it.  Its a bit slow, but I enjoy seeing all the references to the actual Epic of Gilgamesh.

Also, I watched 2 more episodes of Burst Angel, and so far I am enjoying it.  Lots of action, but still some interesting plot developments.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Helios05 on 19 Mar 2008, 00:40
Even though you might not like it, NGE, as has been said. It's a staple classic, still, years later, recieves good reviews, and it has some interesting philosphical points to make if you can get past the whiny bitch Shinji is. I did it, and was glad I did, because the later episodes were the ones to watch.

Your Under Arrest is pretty good, and is into its third season, its a drama about two female cops, and while a lot of moments are exaggerated or silly in typical anime fashion, its still good and has a few real serious moments that make it more than worth it.

Hellsing is a god choice, but it is solely hack and slash em up, no real depth beyond that, but solid for its action.

Sin the Movie, I liked it, though I often find myself the odd-man-out on that one, but that may be because I liked the game it's based off of.

Shuffle! if you need harem/fanservice, but not much else.

Speed Grapher, the first episode or two has some gratutious sex scenes, and there is alot of gore, but the plot is interesting and the social points are deep, and the animation quality is solid. And with the intro song "Girls On Film," how can you go wrong.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: a pack of wolves on 19 Mar 2008, 13:47
the only problem with gantz is that it draws out the action too much.

The pacing is tortuous but it wasn't that which made me give up on Gantz. It was the fact that it was so massively sexist, it just got too annoying and frankly downright creepy (and not in a good way).

Most of the best stuff I know has already been mentioned but I feel compelled to bring up Tekkonkinkreet. The basic plot is nothing special, two kids end up battling gangsters and proving their close bond of friendship, but the execution is incredible. Visually I've never seen another anime quite like it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: The Cheesinator on 21 Mar 2008, 12:19
Anime feels like a guilty pleasure for me. But that said, it's an awesome guilty pleasure.

Cowboy Bebop - only seen a few episodes but I loved them. My torrent is taking a while. Life would be better if more people seeded.
Ghost in the Shell: SAC - Have the first season, seen a few of the second. Obviously good.
Beck - Japanese rock stars that don't dress up like women? Okay! Was on TV, but I ended up seeing it online, undubbed, French subs. A challenge, but a worthy one.
Macross Plus - Visually amazing. Loved every minute of the last part.
Black Lagoon - Pure kickass illegal action.

Anime that I sort of like, but find mildly confusing: Gun X Sword and Last Exile. Mobile Suit Gundom: Seed & Destiny are kind of angsty, but the fight scenes can be cool.

I'd like to see the Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed movies. The new trailer has sparked my interest for the latter.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StreetSpirit on 21 Mar 2008, 12:30
Everything Pilsner said plus Monster would fit the bill for well rounded, intelligent anime - cheers to you, Pilsner, for taste.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 21 Mar 2008, 15:29
Most of the best stuff I know has already been mentioned but I feel compelled to bring up Tekkonkinkreet. The basic plot is nothing special, two kids end up battling gangsters and proving their close bond of friendship, but the execution is incredible. Visually I've never seen another anime quite like it.

yes yes yes yes yes
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StarmanJr on 21 Mar 2008, 17:12
frankly downright creepy

speaking of which, anyone else ever seen ichi the killer episode 0? quite possibly one of the cheapest made and yet most fantastically upsetting and macabre anime i have ever witnessed. it is strange to see something animated that makes you turn away, offended. i have not yet read the manga, but the dark side of me that gives the middle finger to children makes me want to.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Lines on 21 Mar 2008, 18:22
I scanned the thread, so I don't think anyone mentioned it, but I was introduced to Death Note by some friends and it's pretty good! It's a pretty good thriller series, if that's your thing. (Synopsis: A Death Note, a Death God's notebook for killing people, falls into the human world and is picked up by a student named Light. He experiments with it and finds that he likes the idea of killing criminals and so he does so en mass. The Death God who dropped the notebook also comes down to Earth because he's bored in his world and thinks Light is a lot of fun. More than that would be spoilers and I haven't gotten that far!)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StarmanJr on 21 Mar 2008, 21:18
I scanned the thread, so I don't think anyone mentioned it, but I was introduced to Death Note by some friends and it's pretty good! It's a pretty good thriller series, if that's your thing. (Synopsis: A Death Note, a Death God's notebook for killing people, falls into the human world and is picked up by a student named Light. He experiments with it and finds that he likes the idea of killing criminals and so he does so en mass. The Death God who dropped the notebook also comes down to Earth because he's bored in his world and thinks Light is a lot of fun. More than that would be spoilers and I haven't gotten that far!)

L will never catch Light.

ever.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 21 Mar 2008, 23:35
I have watched, in order of enjoyment:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop Series + Movie
Ghost in the Shell Series + Movies
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Jin-Roh (I didn't like really like this)
Paprika (This was horrible)

Alright.  Since you've seen Samurai Champloo and Bebop then you've really seen it all, anything anyone else recommends you for these series is....off the mark, these series have their own flavour that nothing else can ever touch.

Since you've seen a bunch of Miyazaki's films I'm going to recommend one more: Porco Rosso.  It's about a pig who flies an airplane during WWI, it's a great film, one of Miyazaki's finest.  However there is a director who is considered the "next Miyazaki"  his name is Makato Shinkai.  It's a terrible comparison because Shinkai's films are neither boring nor glaringly flawed.  Check out The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Cm Per Second, or Voices from a Distant Star.  They're all incredible films. 

Some people are choosing to diss Neon Genesis Evangelion. There is a very good reason why it's considered one of the greatest anime series OF ALL TIME.  If you don't believe me check lists and lists.  It took the creators 6 years to create this.  People complain about the angst how Shinji is such a whiny little girl.  If you can't get past that you shouldn't watch 80% of anime out there. 

Tekkon Kinkreet, Gankutsuou, FLCL, Mind Game, and Kemonozume will all visually blow your mind away.  Each one of them takes a radically different approach to what anime is, they're incredibly fun films, the visuals are just absolutely amazing, watch them just for the visuals except in the case of Gankutsuou.  Gankutsuou is almost point for point the adaption of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Christo, watch it, you will not be dissapointed.

You say that you didn't like Paprika or Jin-Roh.  Personally I thought they were boring as well. Ninja Scroll OR Wicked City both are by the same director and are....essentially the same sort of very violent, bloody film.  Wicked City, however, was the movie that made tentacle rape quite popular...if you're into that sort of stuff.  Someone mentioned Death Note which is....fine for the first 2/3, then it hits a brick wall and dies.  Monster is great, but it really drags in certain areas...anything over 40 episodes tends to do that occasionally. I don't think anyone has mentioned Mushishi but that one is incredible, even just for the art alone. And I'll finish by recommending my personal favourite anime.  Eureka Seven Watch and see how EVERY character is important and how EVERY character changes for better or for worse.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: LeeZion on 22 Mar 2008, 20:14
I just posted this on another thread, but here is a PARTIAL list of what's in my collection.

As a long-time anime lover (got hooked thanks to Akira when it first came out) mine is a long list. A few examples of what's in my collection:

Azumanga Daioh
Big O
The Cat Returns
Crest of the Stars
Giant Robo
Gunbuster
Haibane Renmei
Inu Yasha
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Last Exile
Maison Ikkoku
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neotokyo
Paranoia Agent
Perfect Blue
Porco Rosso
RahXephon
Serial Experiments Lain
Shamanic Princess
Vision of Escaflowne
Witch Hunter Robin
Wolf's Rain

I will WATCH just about anything, but I am very selective about what I will BUY. So if it's on this list, it's got a strong recommendation from me. Please note, however, that I like different things on this list for different reasons. Giant Robo is full of over-the-top action and larger than life characters. Haibane Renmei, by contrast, is gentle, subtle and slow. A lot of people don't like it because it moves so slowly. I, however, say that it is not only great, it is Miyazaki-great, and although it takes a long time to get where it's going, you will like yourself better as a human being once you allow it to take you there. It's that good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: LeeZion on 25 Mar 2008, 13:57
Other anime in my collection:

Arc the Lad
Castle in the Sky
Castle of Cagliostro
Ceres
Graveyard of the Fireflies
Magic Users Club
Martian Successor Nadesico (but you have to watch a lot of other anime first to get the in-jokes)
Noir
Porco Rosso
Puss in Boots (featuring a very young animator named Miyazaki)

By the way, since several people compared Evangelion and RahXephon, I must say I've seen both. Evangelion has the advantage of being the first, and it was such a landmark series that it influenced a lot of other robot shows that came afterwards. It single-handedly created the concept of "giant robots used as weapons, but later revealed to be tools to change the nature of reality."

Unfortunately, it hasn't aged well. A lot of shows since have imitated this concept of "giant robots used as weapons, but later revealed to be tools to change the nature of reality," most notably Gasaraki and Big O. As a result, it's become a cliché — so much so that it's rarely a surprise these days once the allegedly "mind-blowing" second half of the series kicks in.

Looking at RahXephon, I must say that it's one of the most shameless of Evangelion imitators. However, it's the best of the imitators, and it's actually an improvement the original. For these reasons:

Better animation quality
Better music
Ensemble cast of believable characters
"Bad guys" are real people, too (At some point you begin to feel sorry for Maya)
A plot that actually makes sense
A happy ending that makes sense
Better pacing — the RahXephon episodes where nothing "happens" are better than the NGE episodes where nothing "happens"
Better pacing — puzzle pieces are revealed over time, and things that seem insignificant at first have more weight on second viewing

By the way, someone came up with a very thorough Web site listing all the similarities between the two shows. Check here if you're interested:

http://evaxephon.com/gallery1.html (http://evaxephon.com/gallery1.html)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Butch on 25 Mar 2008, 22:19
So, where's the recommendation for Bastard!! among all the awesome suggestions?

And I've only seen two mentions of Berserk and a mere one for Fruits Basket.  How can these beautiful yet drastically different stories get so little love?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StarmanJr on 25 Mar 2008, 23:59
And I've only seen two mentions of Berserk

maybe because the animation was low-budget? it's much better in manga.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Butch on 26 Mar 2008, 11:52
Yes, the animation is low-budget and the manga is much better.  Yet the series still stands pretty strong and entertaining on its own and the ending just leads people into reading further into the manga.  It's the perfect way to trap someone into reading further to get the rest of the story.  Marketing genius, I say.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: spluk on 26 Mar 2008, 22:15
I am probably repeating what alot of people have said, but...
Eureka 7
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Trigun
Gundam Seed
Death Note
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion    -   kinda of like gundam but different (a good different), the second season starts in april (same title + R2). I wonder why nobody else mentioned it...
Appleseed, ex machina
Ghost in the Shell
Vexille
Full Metal Panic

I seem to find that there are 3 types of anime: good, bearable, and bad.
most people agree on a certain set that is "good" and the rest are tossed about between all three catagories at once.
so i guess just stick with the ones mentioned mmost and then try an episode before devoting yourself to watching the whole thing.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: LeeZion on 27 Mar 2008, 11:46
So, where's the recommendation for Bastard!! among all the awesome suggestions?

And I've only seen two mentions of Berserk and a mere one for Fruits Basket.  How can these beautiful yet drastically different stories get so little love?

Fruits Basket is also one I own. As I said earlier, I will watch just about anything, but what I will actually buy is something completely different. So the fact that it's in my collection is about as strong a recommendation you can get. Also, let's give a nod to Kiddy Grade and Fantastic Children.

As for Beserk, it's one of only two anime (not counting the ones that are deliberately dumbed down for American TV, like Pokemon) — one of only two anime I will actually walk out on if it comes on at an anime gathering. The other one is Excel Saga.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aminal on 27 Mar 2008, 12:45
Uh, I should warn you, whoever said Ebichu only had sexual "innuendo" is mistaken, it has tons of outright ball-slapping-noise-included-fucking.  But they were very accurate about the blood-spattering violence.  Honestly, I like the show.  The cartoon shtupping burned my eyes, but the sheer violence and cruelty made me laugh til my sides cramped and then cry because I'm such a terrible person.  But mostly the laughing.

I also feel like FLCL fits in with your tastes, since you placed Samurai Champloo at the top of your list.  It's easily my favorite anime, though admittedly I haven't seen a lot.  It's pretty, it's hilarious, it got me into The Pillows (great music) and it breaks my heart.  I know it's been mentioned, and you've probably seen it since the thread started.

Um...though I know people are creepy about it, I actually like Inuyasha.  It's the first anime I ever watched.  It had a lot of historical stuff in it (like Champloo) and I like that sort of thing.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 27 Mar 2008, 19:12

I seem to find that there are 3 types of anime: good, bearable, and bad.
most people agree on a certain set that is "good" and the rest are tossed about between all three catagories at once.
so i guess just stick with the ones mentioned mmost and then try an episode before devoting yourself to watching the whole thing.

Good.....bearable.....and bad?  Wow...clearly you either haven't seen a lot of anime, or the stuff you're watching isn't incredible.  If you don't like the first episode you stop watching?  It took me about 3 episodes to get into Mushishi, and it's one of the best I've seen.  It also took me about 3 episodes to get into Eureka Seven and that IS the best anime that I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 27 Mar 2008, 19:24
Agreed --You can't judge and anime on the first episode. Otherwise, you would never get through the awesomeness that is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or many others.

Always watch at least three episodes before you decide whether or not it's worth your time.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 27 Mar 2008, 22:39
Agreed --You can't judge and anime on the first episode. Otherwise, you would never get through the awesomeness that is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or many others.

Always watch at least three episodes before you decide whether or not it's worth your time.

That's just cause Haruhi is completely out of order.  Man...I watched that first episode...the video and I was like "wtf?  Did I download the wrong show?  People were telling me this is freaking awesome.".....but it is a great show.  I'm trying to think of other shows that you need to see more than one episode of to really get into.  Some of the shows I've seen are Monster of the Week type of shows (Witch Hunter Robin, Vampire Princess Miyu) and take 3/4 of the show fighting a different monster every episode until they get to a "story." 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MusicScribbles on 27 Mar 2008, 23:10

I seem to find that there are 3 types of anime: good, bearable, and bad.
most people agree on a certain set that is "good" and the rest are tossed about between all three catagories at once.
so i guess just stick with the ones mentioned mmost and then try an episode before devoting yourself to watching the whole thing.

Good.....bearable.....and bad?  Wow...clearly you either haven't seen a lot of anime, or the stuff you're watching isn't incredible.  If you don't like the first episode you stop watching?  It took me about 3 episodes to get into Mushishi, and it's one of the best I've seen.  It also took me about 3 episodes to get into Eureka Seven and that IS the best anime that I've ever seen.

Not only that! Good, bearable, and bad are very much what you can use to describe anything! It is like a scale! So, really, this guy is saying nothing insulting, although I gather that he is trying to. Good is like saying something is fun! Bearable is like saying that it is okay. Bad is like saying that something is no fun at all. This is basically how people learn to agree or disagree on certain things.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: spluk on 28 Mar 2008, 06:28
well, sorry for that last post...
I am going to try and rephrase that.
Some anime are just above and beyond perfect.  Everybody agrees on which ones those are.
For example, after watching the first episde of Cowboy Bebop you know that it is going to be good.  Some are just that way.
Granted, some take more than one episode, Eureka 7 you said needed three and that's really because the first three where basically built as a 1hr special.
Also, an anime should be fun, are you supposed to be a slave to the anime?
After that, it the anime can still be good, but not everybody likes it.
Fefnir, for example, was rated highly on the anime group that i belonged to so i started to watch it and just could not finish it.
I couln't even get passed episode one, it just seemed to be so bogged down to me.  However, tons of other people liked it.
Sorceror Hunters is really good but i haven't been able to finish watching it, i don't know why.  Eventually i will though.
And then, some anime are just bad.  I haven't seen them but this guy seems to hate them (http://www.needcoffee.com/2007/08/27/five-worst-anime-titles-of-all-time/) Off of the top of my head i can't come up with any becasue a friend usually recommends to me the anime that i watch, not that i always agree with him.  Such as Trinity Blood, i found it scattered and non-sensical with ultimately nothing accomplished but he thought it was really good.
so, i messed up saying you should just watch the first episodes, but besides a few anime that get consistently praised, youl just have to try them for yourself.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: muteKi on 28 Mar 2008, 10:22
Ah, the problem with the Trinity Blood anime is that because the art was, I felt, incredible, they had to rush to fit a whole lot of storyline in the few episodes they could make.

But yeah, it looks and sounds incredible. I have the soundtrack on my PC. It's very Final Fanatasy, which is not very suprising considering Takahito Eguchi did some of the music from X and X-2 before this project.

I don't know how much of the books the anime covered, but I do know that they tried to cram a lot of stuff in only a little space and as a result it suffered.

You should probably check out the manga or the light novels. I was actually impressed; the books were better written than I might have expected them to be.


Also, because I know a ton of crazy priests, the whole series is absolutely hilarious; there's a layer of almost meta-humor contained in it for me.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: camelpimp on 29 Mar 2008, 21:55
Ya know, I have to mention this one because I was so in love with this series when I was younger: Escaflowne. Why doesn't Escaflowne get any love?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CamusCanDo on 30 Mar 2008, 02:32
Ya know, I have to mention this one because I was so in love with this series when I was younger: Escaflowne. Why doesn't Escaflowne get any love?

I mentioned Escaflowne before, only briefly though. The series was lent to me from a friend who highly recommended it. So far I've watched the first three or four episodes and I gotta say, really not my thing. So far it's been a bit choppy with the story, moving somewhere interesting but taking its goddamn fucking time doing it. The characters really aren't all that interesting either, Allen may have been the only thing that caught my interest. I am determined to like this series. The soundtrack is pretty damn tits though.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 30 Mar 2008, 03:04
Ya know, I have to mention this one because I was so in love with this series when I was younger: Escaflowne. Why doesn't Escaflowne get any love?

Honestly I've never watched the series, but I was going to download it, then misremembered the name and downloaded Eureka Seven instead...luckiest mistake I ever made in my life.  From what I've heard it's very slow and doesn't really reach it's potential.  I've been hearing a lot of comparisons between it and Gundam....which for me at least isn't a great thing. I'll probably check it out soon....after I finish Dennou Coil.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Hannah on 30 Mar 2008, 07:52
I know this has already been said, but I would definitely recommend seeing Paprika and Tekkon Kinkkreet
The first time I saw the previews for these, it was in Japanese, so I had no idea what was going on.
After seeing them in English though, I was totally amazed at how good they were. The art is amazing and the story lines are entertaining, so definitely watch them!

Also a random question: I've been watching death note up until the part where L is killed (for people who haven't watched it yet, I'm sorry for spoiling it  :-P).
Is it worth watching after that or not? L was one of the main reasons I watched the show, so I'm kind of sad that he's gone now

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CamusCanDo on 30 Mar 2008, 20:33
Also a random question: I've been watching death note up until the part where L is killed (for people who haven't watched it yet, I'm sorry for spoiling it  :-P).
Is it worth watching after that or not? L was one of the main reasons I watched the show, so I'm kind of sad that he's gone now

Fuck you in your cunt.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: brainwrinkle on 30 Mar 2008, 20:37
*list, words*

Please note, however, that I like different things on this list for different reasons. Giant Robo is full of over-the-top action and larger than life characters. Haibane Renmei, by contrast, is gentle, subtle and slow. A lot of people don't like it because it moves so slowly. I, however, say that it is not only great, it is Miyazaki-great, and although it takes a long time to get where it's going, you will like yourself better as a human being once you allow it to take you there. It's that good.

Yes, yes, and yes.  Everyone should watch Haibane Renmei, especially if you like anime that is thought-provoking.  Out of the ten or so anime series I've watched, Haibane Renmei is definitely the most interesting and powerful; this is the only anime that I would describe as a masterpiece.

Also, Dennou Coil is pretty good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 30 Mar 2008, 22:54
Also a random question: I've been watching death note up until the part where L is killed (for people who haven't watched it yet, I'm sorry for spoiling it  :-P).
Is it worth watching after that or not? L was one of the main reasons I watched the show, so I'm kind of sad that he's gone now

Fuck you in your cunt.

What, you thought L was going to win?  PFFT.  As soon as L was killed, and I'm NOT sorry for spoiling it, you should have guessed it pretty quickly, the manga and anime should have ended.  I think it got way too popular so they felt like extending it for another 3-4 volumes which was, in my opinion, a terrible decision. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Statik on 31 Mar 2008, 11:27
I love it, three pages in, and people are still reccomending that the OP watch things that they have already watched (and whole heartedly reccomending things that the OP didnt like)

I know this has already been said, but I would definitely recommend seeing Paprika snip

Not sure if this is the right community, but these are pretty much the only forums I actually read.
I don't really know much about anime, used to be a hater. But being bored a while ago I decided to checked some out stuff and I liked it, now I am bored again but don't really know what to get.

I have watched, in order of enjoyment:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop Series + Movie
Ghost in the Shell Series + Movies
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Jin-Roh (I didn't like really like this)
Paprika (This was horrible)  <--------- PAY ATTENTION

Can I get some recommendations based on this? Preferably something in Shinichirō Watanabe's (samurai champloo, cowboy bebop) style.

I realize that the thread has basically become a "Lets talk about what anime we like", but people are still responding as if replying to the OP.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Trillian on 31 Mar 2008, 13:41
Samurai 7 is a really good series produced by GONZO and it is based off Seven Samurai (Kurosawa's movie that I have seen mentioned in here about ten times) so I figured people might be interested in that series.  I really enjoyed it. 

There are a bunch more that I enjoy, but I think I will leave it at that for now.  ^_^
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: LeeZion on 31 Mar 2008, 14:04
Ya know, I have to mention this one because I was so in love with this series when I was younger: Escaflowne. Why doesn't Escaflowne get any love?

I mentioned Escaflowne before, only briefly though. The series was lent to me from a friend who highly recommended it. So far I've watched the first three or four episodes and I gotta say, really not my thing. So far it's been a bit choppy with the story, moving somewhere interesting but taking its goddamn fucking time doing it. The characters really aren't all that interesting either, Allen may have been the only thing that caught my interest. I am determined to like this series. The soundtrack is pretty damn tits though.

Escaflowne is one of the best damned series EVER MADE. I put it on my list; refer back to the previous page, because it's on the list in Reply #97. (You'll have to look at the letter V, though, because its full title in English is Visions of Escaflowne).

Once I described the show to a group of anime-loving friends, I said, "This is the show that's got everything. Giant robots fighting with swords. Bishonen warriors piloting the giant robots fighting with swords. A high school girls in a romantic triangle with bishonen warriors piloting the giant robots fighting with swords. Add cat girls, music by Yoko Kanno, and a story by Shoji Kawamori, and that's Escaflowne in a nutshell."

One girl said, "You had me at bishonen warriors."
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Hannah on 31 Mar 2008, 14:45



What, you thought L was going to win?  PFFT.  As soon as L was killed, and I'm NOT sorry for spoiling it, you should have guessed it pretty quickly, the manga and anime should have ended.  I think it got way too popular so they felt like extending it for another 3-4 volumes which was, in my opinion, a terrible decision. 

Well, I knew he was gonna lose, but... I still wanted him to live! At least until the end. I mean, it seemed weird that he would die that frackin' early in the show. L was pretty much one of the few entertaining characters in the plot, so the show would probably be kind of dull after that (and apparently I guessed right)

I love it, three pages in, and people are still reccomending that the OP watch things that they have already watched (and whole heartedly reccomending things that the OP didnt like)


Not sure if this is the right community, but these are pretty much the only forums I actually read.
I don't really know much about anime, used to be a hater. But being bored a while ago I decided to checked some out stuff and I liked it, now I am bored again but don't really know what to get.

I have watched, in order of enjoyment:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop Series + Movie
Ghost in the Shell Series + Movies
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Jin-Roh (I didn't like really like this)
Paprika (This was horrible)  <--------- PAY ATTENTION

Can I get some recommendations based on this? Preferably something in Shinichirō Watanabe's (samurai champloo, cowboy bebop) style.

I realize that the thread has basically become a "Lets talk about what anime we like", but people are still responding as if replying to the OP.

Yeah, but it was also recommended by Gridgm on page 2. So there! *does victory dance*
And I still think Paprika is a really well done, entertaining movie.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Statik on 31 Mar 2008, 16:54
And, if you noticed then, I responded to him in kind.

I just find it silly that someone asked for reccomendations based on a list of things he has watched, and even put in order of preference, and despite the fact that he SPECIFICALLY said he thought paprika was horrible, people were still reccomending it to him.

Another example: People keep reccomending GITS, despite him saying he has seen it.

Its nothing against you personally, as I said, the thread has kind of evolved into a "lets talk about what anime we like" but in contrast, its rather silly to respond to the thread as if replying to the OPs question with "Hey, you should watch a movie you didnt like"
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 01 Apr 2008, 02:13
Yeah, but it was also recommended by Gridgm on page 2. So there! *does victory dance*
And I still think Paprika is a really well done, entertaining movie.

would there be any objections to turning this into a general anime recomendations thread instead of just one for this guy?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 01 Apr 2008, 15:02
Yeah, but it was also recommended by Gridgm on page 2. So there! *does victory dance*
And I still think Paprika is a really well done, entertaining movie.

would there be any objections to turning this into a general anime recomendations thread instead of just one for this guy?

Well....I would be all for an anime discussions thread because this essentially is a reccomendations thread for everyone even though it started out for one person. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 02 Apr 2008, 19:47
I mentioned Escaflowne before, only briefly though. The series was lent to me from a friend who highly recommended it. So far I've watched the first three or four episodes and I gotta say, really not my thing. So far it's been a bit choppy with the story, moving somewhere interesting but taking its goddamn fucking time doing it. The characters really aren't all that interesting either, Allen may have been the only thing that caught my interest. I am determined to like this series. The soundtrack is pretty damn tits though.

Allen's character has an unfortunate curse that doesn't come up much in the story though. He can never kiss anyone without poking them in the eye with his nose.

If you're already something of an anime person, and enjoy pervy Japanese humor, or can at least appreciate balls-out ridiculous humor, you might like a show called Golden Boy. The six-episode OVA centers on a character named Kintaro Oe who wanders Japan on his beloved bicycle "studying life" (not biology). Be warned though, the show is super NSFW, and while the anime at least never veers far enough to be hentai, if you're curious about the manga, that's basically devolves into porno by the second volume. But maybe It's still funny? I didn't read it.
Bottom line: short, sweet, seriously hilarious.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StreetSpirit on 03 Apr 2008, 03:08
I have to give some props to Genshiken, because I don't think I've seen anyone else mention it yet and it is not only a great otaku's anime, but also hilarious due to the amount of goofy references that are made and also the interesting characters that you get to follow through their nerdy escapades. Cheers.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 03 Apr 2008, 15:27
I have to give some props to Genshiken, because I don't think I've seen anyone else mention it yet and it is not only a great otaku's anime, but also hilarious due to the amount of goofy references that are made and also the interesting characters that you get to follow through their nerdy escapades. Cheers.

I do like Genshiken....but it's definitely not something I would reccomend someone who hasn't seen anything else or someone who doesn't really know much about the anime culture.  I've heard the manga gets REALLY boring after a while though. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 03 Apr 2008, 20:43
The heroine admittedly goes into a Shinji-like break-down, but then she pulls herself together and starts killing space monsters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GN_b9Ra6o&feature=related)

MILLIONS of space monsters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLFCbAXA1I4&feature=related). With J-Pop and fanservice and massive fleets of battlecruisers and lasers and atom bombs flying fucking everywhere.

I rather like Gunbuster.

Man you got my hopes up, but that really kinda actually sucked
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 03 Apr 2008, 21:04
The heroine admittedly goes into a Shinji-like break-down, but then she pulls herself together and starts killing space monsters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GN_b9Ra6o&feature=related)

MILLIONS of space monsters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLFCbAXA1I4&feature=related). With J-Pop and fanservice and massive fleets of battlecruisers and lasers and atom bombs flying fucking everywhere.

I rather like Gunbuster.

Man you got my hopes up, but that really kinda actually sucked

umm...wow....uhhh to a guy who's only other contribution to this thread has been bashing someone for not understanding Evangelion that's a little hypocritical.  And the only think that's sucky about Evangelion is that Shinji ends up alone in the world with Asuka...the girl who would beat the shit out of him before he could ever touch her...not that he would.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 03 Apr 2008, 22:43
Did I come off as bashing? Sorry.


In any case, I thought it just wasn't particularly good, just bizarre. I was thinking "Holy SHIT, BILLIONS of aliens destroyed by a giant robot?" but it ended up being mass explosions, all energy weapons and stuff.

What I'm saying is that for an anime robot battle where the casualties exceed millions, it lacked brutality. That said, I'm criticising it outside of context in term of time, but even then you had stuff like Akira. Which didn't even need robots to be be world-destroying and awesome, it was kind of just unashamedly cool. Like Strapping Young Lad's live shows.

In short, Khar got my hopes up.  :-(
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: frunK on 04 Apr 2008, 02:29
Labyrinth of Flames.
I have it on VHS and me and my buddies have a drinking game that gets you loaded faster then an American in Winnipeg(ZING).
You see a panty-shot, you take a shot. recommended everyone has their own drinks because there is a lot of panties in this anime.
Also it's funny as hell.
This inspires me to make a drinking game thread...Think I'll do that.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 04 Apr 2008, 17:38
I don't think anyone has rec'd it yet --but i just finished watching I My Me Strawberry Eggs! And I think it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Streltsy on 04 Apr 2008, 20:37
So has anyone watched this Shigurui anime I mentioned? It was good in a few ways (mostly the art I think) but honestly, fucked up in so many more ways.
Also, lots of thanks to whoever recommended Black Lagoon first, it was absolutely badass.
Trigun = interesting start, but ultimately disappointing

In case you didn't catch it, I did watch FLCL (awesome) last time, so no need to recommend it again, in case you are actually still recommending and not just listing stuff you like.
Gonna move on to 5 Centimeters per Second, Mushishi, and Eureka Seven.

Yeah, but it was also recommended by Gridgm on page 2. So there! *does victory dance*
And I still think Paprika is a really well done, entertaining movie.

would there be any objections to turning this into a general anime recomendations thread instead of just one for this guy?

While 'general' threads are fun to post in, problem is that are usually pretty shitty as a read. Eventually almost every post in those type of threads is just a list of favourite stuff instead of dialogue. But I'm not gonna fight it, certainly I got what I came here for, there is plenty of stuff for me to see :).

Edit:
BTW, I also would very much like to know some kind of site for subs for these animes (like some kind of nexus for subs must exist right?). I hate the stupid soft-subs I get sometimes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 04 Apr 2008, 21:09
Just do a general search, or get a torrent. There are a lot of anime-message boards out there that also have links for subbed-downloads.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: frunK on 04 Apr 2008, 23:20
I My Me Strawberry Eggs!

Sounds like something a lolcat would say if you got it drunk.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 05 Apr 2008, 08:25
Yeah, I don't really understand the title... It's about a guy who tries to get a job as a gym teacher, but the school only hires female teachers, so he dresses as a woman to get the job and then there is a a lot of romance floating around. It can seem a little yaoi/yuri at times, but it's very cute.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 05 Apr 2008, 09:52
Cross-dressing and gender-bender anime really, really don't appeal to me at all.  It just feels like a really boring plot-line where all the jokes derive straight from the fact that it's a dude dressing as a girl and trying to fit in or a girl trying to act like a guy.  For me it's like a lot of harem anime (Love Hina especially) where the guy lives with a bunch of girls and they beat him up because they decide to go around undressed all the time. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: brainwrinkle on 05 Apr 2008, 12:09

BTW, I also would very much like to know some kind of site for subs for these animes (like some kind of nexus for subs must exist right?). I hate the stupid soft-subs I get sometimes.

I used to hate soft-subs too until I found the Mplayer for Windows pack (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=839965).  With the correct options turned on, it renders softsubs as well as regular subs.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Dimmukane on 05 Apr 2008, 12:30
As far as anime goes, I've only ever watched Rurouni Kenshin.  Mostly because at the time my sleep schedule got turned around, and I needed something to do while my roommate slept, and a friend recommended it to me.  I'm not going to start watching anything else.  It's alright, but from what I gather, pretty old, and will probably seem weak in comparison to other stuff out there.  It got really formulaic after about 8 episodes, but it was still pretty enjoyable.

Oh, and I did see Spirited Away once.  Better, but it kind of presented its plot a little one-dimensionally.

So don't take anything I say too seriously, because as far as anime goes, I'm not actually a fan, this is just what I've seen.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: frunK on 05 Apr 2008, 21:48

Oh, and I did see Spirited Away once.  Better, but it kind of presented its plot a little one-dimensionally.


Spirited Away was only that simple because they wanted to appeal to children as well as adults. It was meant as a modern day fairy tale.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 06 Apr 2008, 18:48

Oh, and I did see Spirited Away once.  Better, but it kind of presented its plot a little one-dimensionally.


Spirited Away was only that simple because they wanted to appeal to children as well as adults. It was meant as a modern day fairy tale.

I will challenge that directly.  ALL of Miyazaki's films are like this.  Every single one of them.  Spirited Away just happens to be his most beautiful film, but all of his films have shallow plots.  Almost all of his films are also directed more to children but have issues that adults take away from them as well.  I say that most are kids films because Princess Mononoke has some....non-kiddy scenes of violence.  But all of his other films have that very annoying kiddy quality.  Like Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa....
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Dimmukane on 06 Apr 2008, 19:54
And from what I gather, Howl's Moving Castle was practically lifted from the Hungry City books, which I read, and they aren't that deep either.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 06 Apr 2008, 20:28
And from what I gather, Howl's Moving Castle was practically lifted from the Hungry City books, which I read, and they aren't that deep either.

ACTUALLY Hungry City is completely, completely different.  It's steampunk, and it's set in a post-apocolyptic world.....don't really know where you got that connection from.  It's actually based on the fantasy novel by Dianna Wynne Jones.  It was published in 1986 (The first Hungry City novel: Mortal Engines, came out in 2001) 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 07 Apr 2008, 09:01
So has anyone watched this Shigurui anime I mentioned? It was good in a few ways (mostly the art I think) but honestly, fucked up in so many more ways.
Also, lots of thanks to whoever recommended Black Lagoon first, it was absolutely badass.

Not sure if it was I, but I'm glad you liked it, Black Lagoon is awesome. Don't miss the second season, called The Second Barrage. If anything, it turns things up a notch.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Dimmukane on 07 Apr 2008, 13:21
And from what I gather, Howl's Moving Castle was practically lifted from the Hungry City books, which I read, and they aren't that deep either.

ACTUALLY Hungry City is completely, completely different.  It's steampunk, and it's set in a post-apocolyptic world.....don't really know where you got that connection from.  It's actually based on the fantasy novel by Dianna Wynne Jones.  It was published in 1986 (The first Hungry City novel: Mortal Engines, came out in 2001) 

Wherever I read it had Miyazaki saying something about the Hungry City books.  That's all I know.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Saiokuo on 07 Apr 2008, 15:49
I recomend a few that have already been said
-Rurouni Kenshin
-Deathnote
-Fullmetal Alchemist
-Witch Hunter Robin
-Azumanga Daioh

...and a few that haven't
-Nana; note-I haven't watched the entire anime series but if they stay exact with the comics there is sex so be aware of that
-Noir; I think it may have been mentioned once but its a great plot once it gets going. Starts kind of slow, though
-.Hack; Any and all. Twilight is far more cutesy while Sign was more angsty but still good
-Cowboy Bebop; Ok, this one might have been said and I missed it but its a classic in my opinion
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 07 Apr 2008, 16:00

...and a few that haven't
-Nana; note-I haven't watched the entire anime series but if they stay exact with the comics there is sex so be aware of that

From what I know Nana turns terrible around halfway, but before that it's pretty awesome. I watched the first episode and I thought it was pretty cool, just be aware that's it's geared very much towards girls.

-Noir; I think it may have been mentioned once but its a great plot once it gets going. Starts kind of slow, though

Noir is great, but i've only seen a couple episodes.  From what people I know say their main complaint is that the storyline is "too" confusing, which I can understand.  I've heard it being compared to a girl version of Bourne.

-.Hack; Any and all. Twilight is far more cutesy while Sign was more angsty but still good

Hack!  How could I forget Hack?!  This show is....amazing.  It's made by the same people who made Evangelion so you're guaranteed some wtf moments.  But it's absolutely incredible, but if you don't like the first 4 episodes, don't bother watching any further.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 07 Apr 2008, 20:44
Has anyone mentioned Rosario Vampire yet?  I'm watching it now and so far it is really good.

It's a shounen comedy/romance about a guy who accidentally gets sent to "monster school" and falls in love with a sweet pink-haired vampire who isn't so sweet when she takes off the cross that keeps her in human form.  The animation is really amazing and the story is quite heartwarming and humorous.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 08 Apr 2008, 02:54
I recomend a few that have already been said
-Rurouni Kenshin
ok let me clarify this  JUST THE OVA's
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 08 Apr 2008, 07:38
Has anyone mentioned Rosario Vampire yet?  I'm watching it now and so far it is really good


I may have mentioned it back on the first page. We were watching it at my Anime Club, but because of protests from this really loud obnoxious girl about all of the pantie-shots and her big boobs, we stopped watching it just so we didn't have to listen to her bitch anymore. I'm going to get the rest of the season from one of the other guys in the club though 'cause I thought it was really cute too (even though the pantie-shots DID get kind of old after like episode three...) The art is gorgeous though!!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Saiokuo on 08 Apr 2008, 15:07
I recomend a few that have already been said
-Rurouni Kenshin
ok let me clarify this  JUST THE OVA's
Ok, yeah, sorry for the lack of clarification.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: spluk on 08 Apr 2008, 19:17
I just watched Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 epsiode 1 last night and it was insane.
perhaps one of the best series I have ever watched, and way better than any gundam series. (as it is mecha)
However, the first episode wouldn't make sense without watching the first season.
Still, it was great.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 14 Apr 2008, 19:37
I'm personally not the biggest fan of Mecha anime.  I tried watching Gundam WAY too late.  For me it's something that you can watch when either 1. You're not really into anime, or 2. Something you watch like...right at the beginning of your anime life. The only mecha anime I've ever really enjoyed were Evangelion (let's not argue about this) and Tengan Toppen Gurren Lagann (which turned insanely terrible after episode 17 or 18).  Mech, Harem, and Gender-Bender anime all seem to have the same problems and the same angsty characters and they all just seem to be the same to me.  That being said one of my favourite anime is Ah! My Goddess, and another is Evangelion....

Right now I'm watching Baccano! And I'm REALLY enjoying it.  It's got that whole American Gangster vibe that was hanging around in the 20's and the 30's (I believe).  I'm about 7 episodes in and it's just great.  It reminds me a little bit of Chrno Crusade, but that's just because they're set in the same time, Baccano! doesn't have demons or the church or any of that other stuff that Chrno did.  Why has no one talked about Chrno yet? That was a great anime, much better than the manga.

Kino's Journey and Mushishi are really similar and both are COMPLETE must-watches.  Kino's Journey has this really interesting animation style that still weirds me out when I watch it.  Mushishi is really cool, a LOT of girls I know are in complete love with Ginko.  The art is absolutely beautiful and the stories are really nice.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aminal on 14 Apr 2008, 20:14
I now recommend Afro Samurai.  It's got Samuel L. Jackson!  And seriously, a bitchin' story.  For a 6 episode anime you get a surprising amount of closure.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: frunK on 14 Apr 2008, 20:34
Has anyone mentioned Rosario Vampire yet?  I'm watching it now and so far it is really good


I may have mentioned it back on the first page. We were watching it at my Anime Club, but because of protests from this really loud obnoxious girl about all of the pantie-shots and her big boobs, we stopped watching it just so we didn't have to listen to her bitch anymore. I'm going to get the rest of the season from one of the other guys in the club though 'cause I thought it was really cute too (even though the pantie-shots DID get kind of old after like episode three...) The art is gorgeous though!!

Make her watch Labyrinth of Fire. That should shut her the hell up. Anime is about titties, panties and killing! none of this yaoi cuddle crap(it's funny because frunK is hopelessly addicted to yaoi IRONY LOL) Or make her play the LoF Drinking Game, every time there's a pantie shot she takes a shot!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 15 Apr 2008, 07:14
...I am fairly certain that wouldn't be approved of at our Campus-based Anime club...
She is already annoyed because we can't watch ultimately gory stuff, or hentai (she was disappointed by this, she is the ultimate hypocrite).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: talon on 18 Apr 2008, 17:53
steamboy... i thought it was a fun movie.

also excited to see gotham knight this summer, i love how american entertainment has been apreciating how good anime can be and how well american stories can be expanded and told through new eyes in anime
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 20 Apr 2008, 04:46
Full Metal Panice! Fumoffu was hilarious. I just finished watching it today and was thoroughly amused. Apparently military applications to high school are infinite.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: muteKi on 28 Apr 2008, 13:59
Has anyone mentioned Rosario Vampire yet?  I'm watching it now and so far it is really good


I may have mentioned it back on the first page. We were watching it at my Anime Club, but because of protests from this really loud obnoxious girl about all of the pantie-shots and her big boobs, we stopped watching it just so we didn't have to listen to her bitch anymore. I'm going to get the rest of the season from one of the other guys in the club though 'cause I thought it was really cute too (even though the pantie-shots DID get kind of old after like episode three...) The art is gorgeous though!!

Just so we're clear, I just caught a bunch of this on vimeo or whatever, fan-subbed.
It's really cute, even if the best description is "fan-service with an occasional action shot" (seriously, they have a chibi bat come at the end of each fight scene to tell you how long it was, in seconds).
A bit formulaic at the start but it gets better; I'm reading the anime now for comparison, which is a bit more subtle and calm (especially in the sexiness) and is paced differently.

But the art. Every few minutes of watching it, I was all "WOW. This may not be the most action-packed, but the artwork is incredible."

I am curious as to what the second season is going to be like.

I want to find episodes of Labyrinth of Fire so that I can compare the panty-shot ratio, though.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: godinpants on 28 Apr 2008, 15:47
I really recommend the rosario vampire.
At the anime club I'm in, it's regularly referered to as "rosario fanservice" but that aside its still awesome.

But, TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN. Watch it, watch it all, theres a small rough patch around episodes 8 - 12, but dont let that stop you from finishing it.
I watched the last 10 episodes in one night because it just got that epic.
If you like giant robots and girls, and shouting things, you will love it.
Even if you dont, you will love it.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
I love this show. If you have a sense of humour, you will love this show.
End of story.


watch it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: muteKi on 28 Apr 2008, 22:03
Also the R + V manga is really awesome.

After around Ch. 20 it becomes what feels like more than slightly derivative of Bleach, but without all the Dragonball-esque "we must train to get stronger" segments. I like, as a result.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Dinosaur Star on 28 Apr 2008, 23:00
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

Great, great show. Personally, it lost a lot of steam 3/4 through the first season though. It became ridiculously direction-less and the jokes weren't as funny. I just started the second season and it's seemingly following that suit.

The first 8 or so episodes were golden for me though.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: sakanapan on 29 Apr 2008, 00:03
Recommendations:  Some of these have already been mentioned, but they bear repeating.

Baccano!
Higurashi no naku koro ni (In the US, they're calling it: "When They Cry")
Genshiken (An anime about otaku.  It's pretty hilarious.)
Key the Metal Idol
.hack//sign
The Slayers (For nostalgic reasons.  This was the first anime I fell in love with.)
Black Lagoon
Trigun
FLCL
Serial Experiments Lain
X: The Series (But for god's sake.  Do not watch the movie!)
Azumanga Daioh
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 29 Apr 2008, 00:46
Man...I need to finish more series soon....

on my watch list I have Kanon, which I've heard is like the biggest harem anime ever and is completely corny. 
Nodame Cantibile, which I haven't even started watching yet.

I guess I might consider watching Bleach....but is it actually worth it? Personally I enjoyed Naruto up until the filler saga and I'm just wondering if it's worth it to watch Naruto's competition. 

I cannot in any good conscience recommend Serial Experiments Lain to anyone.  I bought it on sale for 20 bucks after seeing it on a top 200 anime list.  It's really, really confusing and the animation is Evangelion-esque.  My only warning is if you're going to watch it, make sure you don't watch more than 3 episodes at once...otherwise you'll get a migraine.

FMP is good, Fumoffu tends to be people's favourite because it doesn't really take itself seriously at all.  I haven't seen second barrage yet but I'm planning to one of these days.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: muteKi on 29 Apr 2008, 14:54
Bleach is interesting, but near the end of the Bount arc I stopped watching.
Man, that arc started out really awesome and eventually just got really long, and bit uninteresting.

There's some good stuff with Bleach, though, and it's worth checking out, but not if you like really long DBZ-ish stuff at times (see above).
The Bleach manga has this problem less though, apparently, because it comes out less quickly there's no specifically "filler" manga as such.

Still, there's a lot of good music associated with the anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aminal on 29 Apr 2008, 16:56
If you like giant robots and girls, and shouting things, you will love it.

Wait, do you mean if you like shouting things, or if you like things that shout?  I guess it doesn't really matter to me because I like all four, and I'll probably try this out.  I'm merely curious.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 29 Apr 2008, 19:18
Still, there's a lot of good music associated with the anime.

This would be true if there weren't that one terrible song that's used during several action sequences.  You know, the one with the female vocal singing "If you wanna see some action"

Oh and I'm sort of meh about Bleach right now.  Sometimes it can get to the old ways of "fight guy - fight stronger guy - fight even stronger guy", but overall the series is enjoyable.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 04 May 2008, 15:19
Bleach is not worth the effort if you consider that you could use your time to watch better anime. And there is plenty of that.

This spring season, I can recommend the new shows Soul Eater, Kurenai, Kanokon, Daughter of Twenty Faces, Library War, Tower of Druaga, and the campy but fun Kamen no Maid Guy...
They have all just started over in Japan, so you'll only find a few translated episodes so far, but new episodes trickle in every week.



Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 04 May 2008, 15:55
I've made the decision to start watching Bleach during the summer.....it should only take me a couple weeks (depending on how bored I am and how much I like it)  But right now I'm not really "watching" anything.  I've put everyting on hold until the summer (gotta finish school first) but I have a list of 100 anime that I need/want to watch.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: TheHempInvader on 07 May 2008, 00:22
Ive seen alot of Anime, i'd advise;

Deathnote - Absolutely great series, for the lovers of suspence and elaborate plans
Full Metal Alchemist - Pretty good, worth the watch
Naruto - Only if its in Japanese, the english translations make Naruto's voice unbearable
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni - Freaky as alll hell. Involves many killings of children... Kindof... Must see to beleive.
Lucky Star - Great - better if you're a nerd
Azumanga Daioh - Not sure if Daioh is spelt right, but HILARIOUS series. But it all depends on your sense of humour.
Elfen Lied - If you don't mind gore and partial nudity, very good. DO NOT be swayed by the first 9 minutes of the first episode. Its all gorey ripping people into peices stuff...
Honey and Clover - Haven't finished yet but is so far looking really good.
Trinity Blood - Its just good.
Hellsing - Better than nothing, its worth the watch.
Claymore - Not too sure what to think... Its good though.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Brilliant, but we are STILL awaiting the second series that was going to be aired in March. Apparently not.

Thats my list of recomendations...
Enjoy
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: knives on 08 May 2008, 11:24
Shadow Star/ Narutaru is good, despite the angst. The first episode or two is kinda crappy though. Memories by the Akira fellow is also fun in a not so fun way.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: OcculusExInferni on 11 May 2008, 00:00
For anime itself, as in animations, I would recommend the Vampire Hunter D films, Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate, Code Geass, Nadesico for humorous mecha material, Gundam 00 if you'd like a dirtier and more socially focused Gundam series, and Busou Renkin.  The last one was done by the fellow who did Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki, and it was a swift departure away from the norm of his to that point work.  Entertaining, though, lots of humor.

If you have the time to read, I'd reading these instead of watching: Berserk, Basilisk, Rurouni Kenshin, Claymore, and especially Sanctuary.  Sanctuary is about two middle-aged men (hurray for departing from the youth with special powers!) who work from the Japanese government and the Japanese underworld respectively to create their own ideal land and country.  Very much a political, personal, social and inter-character relations based series. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 15 May 2008, 04:54
Glad I found this thread. I watch waaaaay too much anime and can fully recommend:
Full Metal Panic! (all three seasons)
Ah! My Goddess
FLCL
Rizel Mine
Tsukuyomi Moonphase
Ergo Proxy
Black Lagoon
Berserk
Desert Punk (Sunabouzu)
Ghost in the shell (all of it+ the movies)
Bleach
Yu Yu Hakisho
Trigun!
Suzuka
Chrono Crusade
Excel Saga
Great Teacher Onizuka
Last Exile
Raxephon
Record of the Lodoss War
Samurai Shamploo
Samurai Seven
Samurai Deeper Kyo
Tenchi Muyo
Slayers
Gunslinger Girl
Grenadier
Detective Conan (you won't ever finish it, believe me)
Inuyasha
Blue Gender
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 15 May 2008, 22:03
I'm going to slash off a few of your recommendations....some of them because they shouldn't be "fully recommended" and some because they shouldn't really be recommended at all.

Rizelmine.   Dude....This is possibly one of the worst anime I've ever seen, it's the same thing done OVER AND OVER AND OVER until death.....and it's not funny.  The animation is terrible, the characters are shallow...eugh.  And what was up with those pink explosions?

Black Lagoon: If you don't like the first 2 episodes...don't bother watching the rest of the series, I made the mistake of watching the whole thing....both seasons.  It tries hard to be like Cowboy Bebop but fails horribly.

Desert Punk:  I kept hearing about this series and I thought "hey....sounds kind of cool."  Watched twelve episodes and then skipped till the last two.  I don't know if I've ever forgotten a series quicker in my entire life.  It's just REALLY typical.

Trigun: If you didn't see Trigun 10 years ago when it was still "excellent" there's absolutely no point in watching it now.

Suzuka: Please....read the manga instead, it's MUCH better.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 16 May 2008, 21:05
just listing a wide variety dude. different flavors ya know. i tend to enjoy any kind of anime. (specially the cheesy romance ones)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 16 May 2008, 22:13
Cheesy Romance FTW.  Midori no Hibi (Days of Midori) was pretty awesome too....although the ending bugged me a little bit. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 16 May 2008, 22:35
Trigun: If you didn't see Trigun 10 years ago when it was still "excellent" there's absolutely no point in watching it now.

Um... no.  It's by no means high art but it's still a classic.

Seriously, am I the only person in this thread who has seen Welcome to the NHK?  It's frigging brilliant.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 17 May 2008, 10:00
speaking of cheesy romance: REC is a great one.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 17 May 2008, 10:51
I loved Fullmetal Alchemist. I haven't seen the movies yet, but the series had a really great story. Different from the manga, though, which is still ongoing.

Full Metal Panic! (first and second actual seasons, as well as the purely comical FUMOFFU is also one of my favorites. It's very true to the original light novels (so far, anyway, only the first two novels have been released in the U.S. I am currently reading the second).

I recommend Chrono Crusade. It has NUNS WITH GUNS!!!

Mahoromatic is flat-out hilarious.

Saikano is interesting, but kinda depressing.

Oops!  I left out Gunslinger Girl!  First one I ever watched. Loved it. Cute little cyborg assassins, FTW!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 17 May 2008, 17:28
Saikano is one of my favourite series.  It would be my all-time favourite if the main character wasn't so damn forgettable.  You know that for practically the entire series I couldn't remember his name?  Still can't.  It is possibly the best romantic tragedy I've ever seen in my life.  It is definitely not happy, there's like.....no comic relief and it's just really heavy. I recommend it.....but only if you're really up for watching it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 17 May 2008, 20:29
Saiku Heiki Kanojo- not for the faint of heart. it's extremely depressing. a great love story tragedy.
Haibane Renmei- a very cute anime with very good artwork.
Hellsing- hot vampire on vampire action (figuratively) 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Tom on 17 May 2008, 22:31
Different from the manga, though, which is still ongoing.


Arakawa said something about finishing at around 100 chapters, I know that 84 have been translated on onemanga.com and it doesn't seem like it'll stop for a long while.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 18 May 2008, 08:22
Not sure which chapter I am up to. Have read 13 volumes. Have 14-16 sitting my the couch to read next. Can't get enough of it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 18 May 2008, 08:27
I heard that she's starting a new one soon, but that's from a couple freinds who scanlate manga.  I would prefer that FMA ends while it's still amazing and doesn't just continue on and on.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Boro_Bandito on 18 May 2008, 23:45
I used to watch some anime. All that funimation stuff that used to come on Toonami, and then Adult Swim. But I haven't really watched much since I moved up to Maryland. That may be because my anime geek friends weren't around to show this stuff to me, though.

Recently I've been watching on Youtube videos of this one anime called Legend of Black Heaven, the dubbed version has the voice of the older guy with the metal arm (can't remember his name to save my life at the moment) from Cowboy Bebop as the voice of the main character. Its a show about a middle aged cubicle worker who has a past as the lead guitarist for a successful but for some reason short lived rock band, which apparently had the power to power up a super weapon that these alien people (who seem to all be really hot anime girls, go figure) need to defeat these other people in a galactic space war. So they're sent to earth to dig up him and his other band members to play the music again (why they can't use recordings, who the fuck knows). Anyway there's like 13 episodes total and I'm on the third one, I'm just usin' it to waste time.

Yu Yu Hakusho  (how it was spelled on Toonami anyway)

I enjoyed this series a lot, never got to finish it. I should dig it up somewhere. Reminded me quite a bit of DBZ back in the day but hey, a lot of them do.

Quote
Samurai Seven

I've been meaning to check this one out too.

Quote
Tenchi Muyo
Dear god, you can't be serious.


Quote
Blue Gender
And I'm sorry, but utter crap. No one needs to watch another post-apocalyptic Mech show with grim survivors fighting giant mutant aliens who all have mouths that seem to have a case of Vagina Dentata.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 19 May 2008, 03:56
What's wrong with Tenchi Muyo?  I'd rather watch 100 episodes of that than one episode of Bleach or Naruto or anything like that.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Boro_Bandito on 19 May 2008, 09:44
You have a point there, watching Naruto is somewhere on my list of fun things to do a bit above having my eyes gouged out by magpies and a bit below sitting in a bathub full of scissors. What's wrong with it to me is that I've seen too much of the harem type show. Not to mention how many spinoffs/alternate stories does Tenchi have? And you want mysognistic much?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 19 May 2008, 15:18
in my experience,  if you've seen one unfortunate love anime with one guy and a bijillion girls, you have seen them all, but that doesn't change the fact that you'll watch 'em anyway. i haven't seen tenchi muyo since it was on tv in the evenings like 5+ years ago
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 19 May 2008, 15:54
IRecently I've been watching on Youtube videos of this one anime called Legend of Black Heaven

Finished that one a short while ago. It was OK. Not my favorite. I think it will be a long time before I want to watch it again. Not like some other series that I could watch on continuous loop and be happy. Some of the animation from that series  was used for a really good Anime Music Video for the song "Code Monkey."

It's pretty hilarious and can be found here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W_wd9Qf0IE)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 20 May 2008, 07:56
The best AMVs ever are the Cowboy Bebop "Dust in the Wind" and the Trigun "Disarm"
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 22 May 2008, 14:47
What's wrong with it to me is that I've seen too much of the harem type show. Not to mention how many spinoffs/alternate stories does Tenchi have? And you want mysognistic much?

There's nothing misogynistic about Tenchi Muyo, or even Love Hina or anything "dirtier".  Misogynistic is as poorly-used a word as "pretentious".  If anything, most of the harem shows portray women as being smarter and more capable than the male protaganist.

There's a big difference between misogyny and fantasy wish-fulfillment.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 22 May 2008, 18:33
Love Hina is just terrible......but I still love the manga.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Boro_Bandito on 22 May 2008, 20:40
Plumbob, where do you think I found the show from in the first place?

And zerodrone, the very fact that its basically a show where a bunch of different girls who are in fact all smart and capable are fighting for the affections of an idiot, it goes beyond fantasy wish-fulfillment. These girls have nothing better to do with their time than try and backstab each other to get married to this guy?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 22 May 2008, 22:13
Disclaimer: people being really unimaginative in how they spend their time is not a surprising thing, even if they are intelligent and capable.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 22 May 2008, 22:38
Boro_Bandito, That's where I found the show, too. But I didn't think it out of the realm of possibility you could have just stumbled across it in a store. I saw the video and bought the anime for the girl with glasses.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 23 May 2008, 22:43
Oh, wow, I must have skipped over a couple of posts.  Legend of Black Heaven is in my all-time favorites as far as anime goes. Or even television shows, period.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 25 May 2008, 03:50
just started watching welcome to the NHK and wow...it's insane...it's also good but...insane

*EDIT* upon continueing to watch the second and third episodes maybe i should retract thepart about it being good and jsut replace it with clinically insane...also slightly perverted
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jepser on 25 May 2008, 06:56
A fresh new series that is owning hard is Soul Eater. (http://www.zomganime.com/soul-eater.html) At first you think it's gonna be a rip-off of Bleach, but it really proves itself. As of now, 7 episodes have aired, 52 are planned. If you want to go on with the story, you could also read the manga. (http://www.onemanga.com/Soul_Eater/)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: itsrabid on 25 May 2008, 08:01
Not sure if this is the right community, but these are pretty much the only forums I actually read.
I don't really know much about anime, used to be a hater. But being bored a while ago I decided to checked some out stuff and I liked it, now I am bored again but don't really know what to get.

I have watched, in order of enjoyment:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop Series + Movie
Ghost in the Shell Series + Movies
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Jin-Roh (I didn't like really like this)
Paprika (This was horrible)

Can I get some recommendations based on this? Preferably something in Shinichirō Watanabe's (samurai champloo, cowboy bebop) style.
Watch Porro Rosso, Castle In The Sky and Grave Of The Fireflies, by Hayao Miyazaki (as are Mononoke and Spirited Away)
You might also like The Boondocks show.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 26 May 2008, 14:00
Although Studio Ghibli did the animation production for Grave of the Fireflies, Hayao Miyazaki was not the director, nor did he write the script or screenplay, nor is he credited as a producer.  To the extent it can be said that a film is "by" a single person, Grave of the Fireflies is not "by" Hayao Miyazaki.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 26 May 2008, 14:16
It also has none of the charm or humor that Miyazaki is known for.  It's pretty damn depressing.  Ghibli does a very good job with the animation (usually I hate Ghibli) But yeah, it's definitely something that should be recommended.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: itsrabid on 26 May 2008, 16:50
Although Studio Ghibli did the animation production for Grave of the Fireflies, Hayao Miyazaki was not the director, nor did he write the script or screenplay, nor is he credited as a producer.  To the extent it can be said that a film is "by" a single person, Grave of the Fireflies is not "by" Hayao Miyazaki.
Sorry for the mistake.

Quote
It also has none of the charm or humor that Miyazaki is known for.  It's pretty damn depressing.  Ghibli does a very good job with the animation (usually I hate Ghibli) But yeah, it's definitely something that should be recommended.

Just because it is dismal and gloomy doesn't mean that it isn't great. It's extremely sad, yes, but it was very well done.


On another note:
Stay away from Naruto, it is stupid and full of fail. The dubs are cheesy, and so is the plot and script.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 26 May 2008, 17:04
Although Studio Ghibli did the animation production for Grave of the Fireflies, Hayao Miyazaki was not the director, nor did he write the script or screenplay, nor is he credited as a producer.  To the extent it can be said that a film is "by" a single person, Grave of the Fireflies is not "by" Hayao Miyazaki.
Sorry for the mistake.

Quote
It also has none of the charm or humor that Miyazaki is known for.  It's pretty damn depressing.  Ghibli does a very good job with the animation (usually I hate Ghibli) But yeah, it's definitely something that should be recommended.

Just because it is dismal and gloomy doesn't mean that it isn't great. It's extremely sad, yes, but it was very well done.


On another note:
Stay away from Naruto, it is stupid and full of fail. The dubs are cheesy, and so is the plot and script.

Look at what I said?  It's VERY depressing and should not be at be said in the same sentence as Miyazaki.  A lot of the time people mistake a director the movie has a very similar feel to the directors work.  So someone might have seen "oh... Grave of the Fireflies, oh it's not Miyazaki..." but since Miyazaki was mentioned they might have thought that GotF feels like a Miyazaki piece.  I do think it's great, and I do recommend it.

And if you decide to watch Naruto....watch it in Japanese....and keep it to yourself.  By all means enjoy it (I know I did) but don't tell people how much you like it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Seigea on 27 May 2008, 03:33
Have you guys seen Lupin III Castle of Cagliostro? It was a Miyazaki before Studio Ghibli. Way good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MusicScribbles on 17 Jun 2008, 20:15
So, what's the opinion on Ghost Stories, the 20 episode comedy/horror series? My library has very recently started stocking a surprising amount of anime that I have never heard of before, or that I've heard the name of but never bothered to look up.
So, the entire show of Ghost Stories is available now and I'm guessing not leaving the shelf any time soon. My card can take three DVD's and right now I have out Zodiac, Ikiru, and that sexy special edition of Brazil.
So, is Ghost Stories worth the library check out next time? Or should I just pick up Sunshine, Veronica Mars Season 1, and a random Criterion Collection DVD?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 19 Jun 2008, 12:04
If it's the Ghost Stories with the ADV dub then I've seen it.
I believe there was some controversy with the ADV dub since they ignored the original script and went with their own.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Stories_(anime)
I didn't know this when I first watched and I was a little confused. However once I got used to it I did find it funny and I would recommend you see it once. Especially if you're just checking it out of the library and not paying for it. I don't think it's the kind of series that bears repeated watching.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MusicScribbles on 19 Jun 2008, 12:33
I just checked it out yesterday, and it is the ADV dub.
This series is, considering that the script is different than the original, quite funny and enjoyable.
If there was ever a time where you wanted dearly for someone to make those annoying children in kids' anime shows say something dirty or completely askew from what they should be saying, then this is a silly series. (As long as you watch it with the ADV English dub.)
So, yeah, some of the episodes are pretty great, and some a little more meh than others. This is definitely worth checking out of the library though, so I may be enjoying this series more due to that. If it's available online I recommend watching at least the first two episodes.
Anyway, Ghost Stories, yeah!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: angel14995 on 23 Jun 2008, 19:52
If no one has mentioned it, try Death Note. Set in modern day Japan about a guy who can kill on demand. The series isn't fully finished in anime form (we're on like episode 34 or 35 of 40), but you could finish it off with reading the manga.

I'm trying to finish Full Metal Alchemist, but it takes a while.

Again, FLCL is needed.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 24 Jun 2008, 02:18
firstly...and i hate to say this...do a quick read of the thread before you post in it

back to the responce to said post...i assume you're talking about the english dub of death note then as the subbed version has been out for about a year now, personally i thought it was entierly too contrived...it reminded me more of passions than anything else, possibly the wosrt thing you'll ever see in your life but you're drawn into watching it just to see how bad it will actually get

at the moment i'm watching persona: trinty soul considering it's based on a video game i'm amazed as to the quality it's actually ended up with
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 30 Jun 2008, 02:06
Someone mentioned Narutaru a while back. I'm going out of my way to strongly recommend avoiding this show. Not so much because it isn't a very good show (which it isn't) as the fact that I felt like my humanity was being sucked out with a straw at the end of it. And there wasn't any point to it. It was horrible.

Basically, it's a cute kids' show. Until they all start getting massacred.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 30 Jun 2008, 05:13
i recomend you have a little look at what you're getting yourself into before you start watching a show, and narutaru itself won't actually suck your soul out as much as trying to watch naruto

point two that theme song is awesome

point three at least you didn't accidently start watching moetan like i did becasue when someone recomended that show there wasn't a wikipedia article on it yet
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 30 Jun 2008, 17:02
Fair enough. Still.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ludovician on 03 Jul 2008, 02:02
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu

The question mark is intentional, and the serious series that bookend it provide far less necessary viewing. Don't let the title throw you. It's not particularly esoteric and hyper-japanese or anything, it's just honestly one of the funniest television shows I've ever seen. Sagara is a military man, born and raised, and he's assigned to protect a girl named Chidori - they're both high school age, so they attend school together. Sounds like breeding ground for every cliche imaginable, and it is ... but the show recognizes this and turns up the melodrama to devastating and ironic lengths, with the added twist of a main character who's incapable of approaching any situation, however mundane, from a non-military thought process.

I also consider myself partisan of the pro-FLCL cause.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 03 Jul 2008, 08:33
FMP?F is fantastic. I love the art teacher. He's fantastic, and the kind of art teacher I always wanted and never got.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 03 Jul 2008, 09:24
I concur. FMP?F is excellent.
I saw it without having seen FMP! so I didn't understand some of the references. Namely Captain Tessa and the sub.
I still thought FMP?F was hilarious though. When I got a chance to see FMP! I didn't like it nearly as much. As a matter of fact I didn't even watch all the episodes.
I recently started rewatching FMP?F and I was laughing out loud at the scene where they've dragged Sousuke out of the pool and Captain Tessa was rationalizing the need to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "It's what you have to do!!!"

Currently I'm looking through the list of Noteworthy Anime at TvTropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoteworthyAnime) and I'm going to attempt to see all the ones that sound interesting. It might take awhile.



apparently I enjoy typing FMP?F alot.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 03 Jul 2008, 16:24
I concur. FMP?F is excellent.
I saw it without having seen FMP! so I didn't understand some of the references. Namely Captain Tessa and the sub.
I still thought FMP?F was hilarious though. When I got a chance to see FMP! I didn't like it nearly as much. As a matter of fact I didn't even watch all the episodes.
I recently started rewatching FMP?F and I was laughing out loud at the scene where they've dragged Sousuke out of the pool and Captain Tessa was rationalizing the need to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "It's what you have to do!!!"

Currently I'm looking through the list of Noteworthy Anime at TvTropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoteworthyAnime) and I'm going to attempt to see all the ones that sound interesting. It might take awhile.



apparently I enjoy typing FMP?F alot.

wow...that lsit is horrible...but then again i have a bias against shounen...something to do with me actually likeing to think
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 03 Jul 2008, 19:27
wow...that lsit is horrible...but then again i have a bias against shounen...something to do with me actually likeing to think

I'm glad you like to think. Bravo. Well done. I'm sure your mother is proud.

Not everything on that list is something I'm going to watch. I mean Neon Genesis Evangelion? Please.
The list is a handy thing to scan looking for something I might like though. Case in point I just watched the first couple of episodes of Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. I really like it so far.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 06 Jul 2008, 06:05
I just saw the first episode of the new Hidimari Sketch, given the subtitle x365. Fucking brilliant little slice-of-life show. Quirky, funny, intelligent. Great animation (for a show that wouldn't really need it). Highly recommended, even if you haven't seen the original anime, x365 looks quite able to stand on its own.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 07 Jul 2008, 01:45
That "Noteworthy Anime" list is absolutely horrendous.  I mean I like Ah! My Goddess but................noteworthy? I think not.  And I saw Yu-Gi-Oh in there too.....definitely not something I would recommend to anyone.  Pretty sure when I scrolled through it I saw Street Fighter.....and I can ONLY HOPE that I was mistaken.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 07 Jul 2008, 05:05
Please note that it says Noteworthy not Recommended. As a matter of fact they explain themselves right at the top of the page.

Quote from: TvTropes
The following series and OVAs are significant because they provide good examples of given anime tropes, or because at least one of our contributors enjoyed them thoroughly. For a list of "core" shows which can be used as a basic introduction to the medium, see Essential Anime. Many are adapted from Manga.

Again, I am using the list as a convenient list of anime. I can easily go down the list and read the synopsis and then decide whether or not I want to check it out.

Take a look at their list of "Essential" anime and see what you think. I doubt that there's any list that would satisfy everyone. Goodness knows I don't agree with the "essential" list.   

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 07 Jul 2008, 18:59
The ONLY thing I agree with of that of that Essential Anime list is Evangelion (I didn't look at the movies, I mean come on, they're movies)  I saw AMG on there AGAIN.  I also noticed that I saw Azumanga Diaoh.  I love that show, every time someone mentions it I can't help but chuckling because it holds a special place in my anime heart.  However I would never throw the tag of "essential" onto it...it's fun but it's not.....essential.  I'd throw Gankutsuou up in that list for having a completely revolutionary art style AND still having a great story. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 07 Jul 2008, 21:54
Dude are you kidding? I read the list it is pretty much and an A-OK beginner's guide to anime, if you don't really know what the whole "anime" thing is about.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 08 Jul 2008, 01:58
my opinion is the last thing we need is more midless narutards and that lsit seems to be gearing people in that direction
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 08 Jul 2008, 02:40
At the moment, I'm feeling like people would be fine just watching FLCL, and Kino's Journey.

Everything else would be icing on the cake. And a fair bit of styrofoam. And a roomful of styrofoam scraps.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 08 Jul 2008, 21:21
Kino's Journey........wow that was incredible.  It's absolutely incredible and honestly it's SO underrated it hurts.  That list really does seem to push the mediocre "feel-good" thoughtless anime.  The anime recommended by that site isn't.....bad...but it's only something I'd recommend to someone who's seen stuff that can show the depth of what anime can be.  I think that Kemonozume is definitely something that people should watch more, the art-style is completely different from anything I've ever seen before and the dude who did it made another thing called Mind Game which was equally if not more awesome. We don't need more Narutards, whoever came up with that name deserves a medal, but the thing I want EVEN LESS than Narutards are the people who think they're better than Narutards because they watch Bleach.....those people are way more annoying.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 09 Jul 2008, 15:58
I seriously hate this thread now.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 09 Jul 2008, 16:48
That "Noteworthy Anime" list is absolutely horrendous.  I mean I like Ah! My Goddess but................noteworthy? I think not.  And I saw Yu-Gi-Oh in there too.....definitely not something I would recommend to anyone.  Pretty sure when I scrolled through it I saw Street Fighter.....and I can ONLY HOPE that I was mistaken.

...I don't think you can really call that a "noteworthy list" at all. A "noteworthy" list is like...ten, maybe twenty tops. That listed just about every anime that had been even mildly popular in the last 10 years or so (Okay, so I am exaggerating, but still...). It didn't seem like there was any kind of standard either.

In other news, I just finished watching Lucky Star --which was really cute. It ist plot driven or anything so it's kind of easy-going. I managed to watch the whole thing all of the way through without getting frustrated/annoyed with the characters.

I am also 26 episodes into Inuyasha which I am, scarily enough, enjoying. I am waiting for the remainder of the series to download.

I also started watching Kimikiss Pure Rogue again, which is cute but after 16 episodes or so I'm just like, "Aaaah, shut up and just get together already, you're pissing me off!" ...It's very frustrating and I'm sick of the love triangles.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 09 Jul 2008, 17:28
<sigh>
Please note that it says Noteworthy not Recommended. As a matter of fact they explain themselves right at the top of the page.

Quote from: TvTropes
The following series and OVAs are significant because they provide good examples of given anime tropes, or because at least one of our contributors enjoyed them thoroughly. For a list of "core" shows which can be used as a basic introduction to the medium, see Essential Anime. Many are adapted from Manga.

Again, I am using the list as a convenient list of anime. I can easily go down the list and read the synopsis and then decide whether or not I want to check it out.

Take a look at their list of "Essential" anime and see what you think. I doubt that there's any list that would satisfy everyone. Goodness knows I don't agree with the "essential" list.   



And because it didn't seem to"take" the first time:

Quote from: TvTropes
The following series and OVAs are significant because they provide good examples of given anime tropes, or because at least one of our contributors enjoyed them thoroughly.

Now, perhaps you don't feel they followed the standard but that's different than not having a standard.

In other news, I finished watching Lucky Star recently and I thought it was pretty damn good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 09 Jul 2008, 17:42
Quote from: TvTropes
...because at least one of our contributors enjoyed them thoroughly.

Okay then to that, I have to ask how many contributors do they have? The list could see be deeply narrowed down by putting some better guidelines in place for assembly --like something only makes the list of 5+ contributors enjoyed it by a certain number of stars or something.
(Basically, we're saying this was a really bad list, okay?)

And yeah, Lucky Star -was- pretty damn good. I liked the different songs on the end credits (that guy made me crack up on the second half of the series. Hilariously adorable).

Edit: I was looking at TVTropes again, and I noticed this on the essential list:
Quote
This differs from Noteworthy Anime in that the only real rule for that section is "if it's mentioned somewhere in the wiki".
--I don't know what you want to take from that, but I thought it should be mentioned.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 09 Jul 2008, 17:51
Did you intentionally ignore the first part of that sentence?

Did you intentionally ignore the "I doubt that there's any list that would satisfy everyone. Goodness knows I don't agree with the "essential" list." part of my quote or do you actually think there is a list that would satisfy everyone?

Why is the list really bad? Are Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hotaru No Haka, Howls Moving Castle, and FLCL really that horrible or is that things like Naruto and Dragonball are sullying a list that includes them?

Could I possibly ask more questions?


Edit: Back to Lucky Star, Tsukasa trying to find her phone number on her new cell phone made me chuckle. Goodness knows I've never had trouble finding my phone number on my cell phone. Much.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 09 Jul 2008, 18:02
I'm not saying the list has to please everyone, but I just don't think they really did that much of an effort, and just compiled a list of all the anime they thought of off the top of their head.

(I didn't care much for their essential list either, but maybe I'm just picky).

Oh yeah, Tsukasa and her phone... Her obsession with texting was cute too --I loved how excited she was when she got to teach her Dad how to do it, hahaha.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 09 Jul 2008, 18:18
The list (Noteworthy) works perfectly for me because I can go down the list, read the descriptions and then decide whether or not I want to look into the show. The shear number and variety works in my favor I think.
Do you know of another list anywhere that may be better? (another question, what the hell? Wait, that's another question....DAMMIT)
Plus the list of anime tropes really did help me understand some of what I was seeing.




Full Disclosure: I liked Lucky Star so much that I ordered Volume 1 and 2 of the show. Not the deluxe versions though. I'm not THAT far gone.


Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 09 Jul 2008, 20:34
I am also 26 episodes into Inuyasha which I am, scarily enough, enjoying. I am waiting for the remainder of the series to download.
unfortunatly at about htis point each fo teh characers decides to start declaring when ever they do a special moved...if you've watched long shounen series before you'll be aware of how annoying this is...seriously is there any need to announce you're opening up the wind tunnel

The list (Noteworthy) works perfectly for me because I can go down the list, read the descriptions and then decide whether or not I want to look into the show. The shear number and variety works in my favor I think.
Do you know of another list anywhere that may be better? (another question, what the hell? Wait, that's another question....DAMMIT)

http://myanimelist.net/topanime.php => anime sorted by average score given by users
http://myanimelist.net/favorites.php => anime sorted by number of users who have said it's they're favorite

also clicking on the title links provides you with a short synopsis, indetail user reviews, and anime that other users think is in a similar style for if you liked it
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 09 Jul 2008, 20:46
Ooooh, I think after watching the entire series of Yu Yu Hakusho in nearly one sitting (breaks for class, and the such. Probably took me a good two weeks), or Card Captor Sakura, I can handle a little annoyance like that.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 09 Jul 2008, 21:18
A "noteworthy" list is like...ten, maybe twenty tops

There are way more than twenty noteworthy animes, though granted most of them weren't on that list.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CardinalFang on 10 Jul 2008, 04:46

http://myanimelist.net/topanime.php => anime sorted by average score given by users
http://myanimelist.net/favorites.php => anime sorted by number of users who have said it's they're favorite

also clicking on the title links provides you with a short synopsis, indetail user reviews, and anime that other users think is in a similar style for if you liked it


Thanks Gridgm!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 10 Jul 2008, 12:33
We're bored. Start talking about actual shows again.

Haibane Renmei - worth my time?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: De_El on 10 Jul 2008, 18:31
Yes. The art is good, and the ideas are solid and intriguing.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 10 Jul 2008, 23:37
Aria The Natural
Clannad
Code Geass
UFO Princess Valkyrie
Detective Academy

I'm downloading all of these right now after taking a 4-5 month haitus from actively watching.  Has anyone seen them and are they any good?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 11 Jul 2008, 11:49
Code Geass is the only one I've heard of...I think we watched it in Anime Club but it didn't really catch my interest so I don't remember much about it. I am obviously not too helpful.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 11 Jul 2008, 12:38
I've only watched the first few episodes of UFO Princess Valkyrie but yes, it is very good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: beat mouse on 11 Jul 2008, 13:33
everybody shut up and watch Paprika.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 11 Jul 2008, 23:51
I've started watching Trinity Blood. It's quite entertaining but it suffers from two distinct flaws that hit a lot of SRS BZNS anime

1. The humour and clumsinesses can be genuinely amusing and cute, but the instances feel very familiar and thrown in for the sake of completeness, like some kind of emotional fanservice.

2. Clearly, the studio that throws in the most pretension gets to bukakke The Greek God Athena for all eternity because it seems like a fucking competition at this point. Seriously fuck. If there's going to be pretension, at least make it the artsy-fartsy kind that makes me feel special inside, instead of the frankly quite boring dick-measuring contest that precedes every major conflict. You know, maybe that's one of the things I liked about the combat sequences in Evangelion: you can't communicate with aliens so they just took their giant robots and fucked them up quicksmart. There was lots of blood, explosions and brutal combat that reflected the process of tearing apart a giant demon quite well.
Another anime that had good combat sequences was Full Metal Alchemist. It was just fun to watch, and when the characters talked beforehand it was a genuine exchange of information relevant to the plot. And then a giant suit of armour and a small guy with metal limbs killed the bastard children of a parakeet's dick and an Abrams tank. Instead, we get pounded with productions that can never reach the level of sheer ridiculousness of Dragonball Z and probably shouldn't try because DBZ sucks dick. In summary:

- I hope Athena likes cum in her eyes
- Combat pretension is unimpressive, but philosophy still makes me feel like a superior dickwad so go with that
- Combat sequences that reflect actual physics and use clever choreography are always a plus
- DBZ really, really sucks but I love it


But yeah, that Trinity Blood anime seems to be a good watch so far. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 12 Jul 2008, 01:34
I've been avoiding Trinity Blood for a long time.  I saw it on a commercial for Razer television and I thought "yay, another white anime....that's JUST what we need."  At that time however I was convinced that Hellsing was the only vampire anime/manga that needed viewing. I might start downloading it, but then again I might just keep avoiding it.

Haven't we already had a discussion about Paprika?  Ok, it was good.....but it wasn't amazing and it most certainly didn't blow me away.  If you said something like "everyone shut up and watch Mind Game" which everyone should do because you'll never see anything else like it, then I would let it go.  Go watch The Place Promised In Our Early Days or 5cm Per Second.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 12 Jul 2008, 03:02
The Hellsing anime is fantastic but splits so far apart from the manga that it's not funny. The OVAs are the real required watch if you want the actual storyline. Or read the manga. Your call.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Tom on 12 Jul 2008, 14:58
I really want to read Hellsing but Darkhorse doesn't want millions of people with a considerably reasonable understanding of the English language reading low resolution scans (including ones not yet released in tankōbon or translated into English for commercial distribution) that onemanga.com would pay a sum of money,from advertising space sold on the site, to them for it. The giant that is Viz Media doesn't really seem to care that their products are there on the internet and there is no way in hell that they don't know about.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 12 Jul 2008, 18:02
I own up to volume 6 of the manga and the linework just bugs me, the dude is a messy drawer.  He used to/probably still does draw hentai magazines and I can totally see how it's influenced his drawing of females but I still just don't like Hellsing.  The Hellsing anime is meh for me, it felt way, WAY too short.  Honestly if they had taken the time to make a convincing storyline and follow through with it Hellsing would have made a splendid 24 episode series.  But then they decided to end it with a Dragonball Z fight that bored the hell out of me.  Plus Seras is cooler in the comic because she's not as much of a whiny little brat.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 28 Jul 2008, 03:32
OK, saw Haibane Renmei and really enjoyed it. As with Kino's Journey, I thought the plot and characters were intelligently crafted and engaging enough; what really got me excited about both of these series, though, was the palpable sense of atmosphere that they managed to evoke. Great use of silence and stillness, ambiguity, and complex yet cohesive realities that dominate, unexplained, in the background. I love that. Can anyone recommend other shows that share a similar feel: subdued, intelligent, flowing, introspective? Preferably avoiding angst, complicated relationship subplots, and a lot of drama.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Phaedra on 04 Aug 2008, 04:33
I must comment that I hate everyone who recommended Elfen Lied. Never getting those hours of my life back...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 04 Aug 2008, 14:41
Okay guys... I watched most of (like...all but two) FLCL...
Am I the only person in the world who wasn't blown away by it's brilliance or whatever?
Frankly, I liked the animation and the characters were cute, but as a whole...I thought it was kind of stupid. I don't even know why I watched more then two episodes of it...

I finally saw all of Full Metal Alchemist though. That was pretty darn good. And I watched all of Devil May Cry (great!).

Has anyone mentioned Black Blood Brothers yet? (I forget...). I've seen three or four episodes and I remember it being funny, but I haven't watched more of it yet. It's on my list.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 04 Aug 2008, 18:43
Nah, I know plenty of people who hate FLCL.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Phaedra on 04 Aug 2008, 18:55
I loved FLCL, but I was 17 when I first watched it. I re-watched it recently and thought it was still awesome - I can sympathise with the feeling of being so bored/depressed that the weird and wonderful things happening around you just have no effect.
That said, I do have problems with anime that use bizarre concepts like giant robots fighting god (Eva)/aliens who bash people up with boutique bass guitars as allegories for the nitty-gritty parts of everyday life. It's like the people who wrote the scripts were all university philosophy nerds who never matured mentally past the age of 15. Well, this could indeed be true of Hideaki Anno...

Edit - NB: I loved Evangelion and just rewatched the entire series, including the fucked up films, within a week last month. Screw all you haters.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 04 Aug 2008, 19:56
I loved FLCL because it self-consciously uses a lot of anime tropes to tell what is at the heart of any serious coming-of-age story: that life really is crazy and weird. And along the way it gets to have plenty of laughs at itself. I've still never seen anything quite like it. I think you should really watch it all the way through. "All but two" in this case is four, and I feel that each episode has an amount of material packed into it that most other shows would take at least four or five episodes to cover.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: akashacatbat on 05 Aug 2008, 23:20
Quote
Finally, if you've got the time (it's 74 episodes all told - not quite a billion), I'd say that Monster is well worth checking out. Great psychological drama/horror.

YES. jimbunny is right and I don't know if anyone has seconded him (it's late and I am too tired to go through six pages of posts), but Monster is one of those shows you can watch over and over again and discover new things every time.  I've watched the series all the way through twice now and it still freaks me out. Not only is it my favorite anime of all time, it is one of my favorite shows period.

I also liked Le Chevalier D'Eon. It's sort of this weird mix of themes; historical, supernatural and a slight smattering of cross-dressing and confusing gender roles. It is set in pre-revolution France and is about this knight who gets possessed by the spirit of his dead sister who was working for the King. It's swordfights, zombie prostitutes and talking skull babies... pretty much something for everyone.  :wink:

Also, yes to Ruroni Kenshin, Ouran High School Host Club, Gravitation and Excel Saga.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Calaveth on 20 Aug 2008, 11:17
Aria The Natural
Clannad
Code Geass
UFO Princess Valkyrie
Detective Academy

I'm downloading all of these right now after taking a 4-5 month haitus from actively watching.  Has anyone seen them and are they any good?

A bit late to the show but I've watched 4 out of those 5. Aria is wonderful, a feel-good story about a group of girls apprenticing to become gondoliers on a future terra-formed Mars. I love it, but it's sugary sweet. Perhaps not everyones taste.
Clannad is a harem show based on a dating sim. It's really quite funny. One of the better shows of last year.
Code Geass is a mecha show, about an occupied Japan (by the evil Britannica, which really is USA, despite the name) and the protagonist Lelouch who acquires a powerful mind-control power with which he leads the resistance. Really, the show is decently well made but the writing is beyond silly. Watch it as a drinking game, laugh at the idiocy that saturates the show, and it might be enjoyable.
Not seen UFO Princess Valkyrie.
Detective Academy Q is a bit dated, but enjoyable if you like mystery detective stories - it's pretty formulaic, but that's to be expected when you try to mimic Agatha Christie/A.Conan Doyle type stories. The crimes are a bit contrived at times, and certainly convoluted (why does every criminal feel the need to create a locked room mystery in order to murder someone? Why not just make sure to leave no trace of themselves? I digress...), but I devour everything of this kind, and Detective Academy Q is one of the better anime takes on the genre.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Insectile on 20 Aug 2008, 16:44
If someone hasnt mentioned it http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime is a great site for anime

I'd recomend : Ju Oh Sei ( good action with a great plot)
                      Sayonara Zetsubo sensei ( Funny in a pestimistic way)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 20 Aug 2008, 19:22
Okay guys... I watched most of (like...all but two) FLCL...
Am I the only person in the world who wasn't blown away by it's brilliance or whatever?
Frankly, I liked the animation and the characters were cute, but as a whole...I thought it was kind of stupid. I don't even know why I watched more then two episodes of it...

I finally saw all of Full Metal Alchemist though. That was pretty darn good. And I watched all of Devil May Cry (great!).

Has anyone mentioned Black Blood Brothers yet? (I forget...). I've seen three or four episodes and I remember it being funny, but I haven't watched more of it yet. It's on my list.

I'm sorry, I respected you when you said that you didn't like FLCL, personally it's one of my favourites.  However....as soon as you said you liked DMC I started getting confused.  You said that FLCL was stupid...and DMC was great?  Explain to me how DMC is great....I know the videogames are sweet but the anime is absolutely horrible.

Black Blood Brothers is fun but there's absolutely no depth to it.  The world is flat and they don't really try to add any depth or feel to it.  It would have been so much more fun if they had made it a bit longer and had actually tried to expand the world and give it more depth.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 20 Aug 2008, 21:02
Dude, what wasn't great about DMC? The lead is a cute. Big Guns. Swords. Lots and lots of blood!
PLUS, the female roles weren't all docile and sweet like they are in so many of these crappy animes. They were powerful (and hot) chicks.

Anyway, since then, I still haven't watched more of Black Blood Brothers. I've been watching mostly movies.
I love torrents...but I hate not finding what I want! Grrrrr
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Phaedra on 15 Sep 2008, 17:58
I don't think this one's been mentioned, but I've been watching the new-ish CLAMP series, xxxHolic, which I think is pretty damn awesome. Not as good as the manga though, alas.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Warcrackaddict on 24 Sep 2008, 08:46
I'm sure these have all been mentioned by now but I thought I would add in a few things. My favorites so far have been Berserk, Elfen Lied, Naruto, Hellsing and Wolf's Rain so far.  I haven't seen a TON but from what I have seen, those are my favorites. I also loved Howl's Moving Castle, the Samurai X movies, several of Miyasaki's other movies. 

Some of the show's I've seen I liked because I love kid movies and enjoy just happy movies like My Neighbor Totoro but most of the series are kind of brutal.  Elfen Lied she's naked part of the time and for the majority of the time she is dominating people and blood is everywhere.  Same with Berserk... lots of fighting and blood but it's a good story.  I liked it a lot. 

I'm up for new recommendations too.  My friend who was really into anime and was getting me into it doesn't have much time to hang out any more and I need more input. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: satsugaikaze on 24 Sep 2008, 15:08
I used to watch heaps of oldies and stuff, but I'm recently getting into Black Lagoon, which is pretty damn cool.

The Hellsing Ultimate OVAs are pretty sweet stuff too. Blood-and-guts with an artistic flair. Although I wish the OVAs had cool music like the TV series...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 24 Sep 2008, 15:34
OK so now that Haruhi Suzumiya has been officially released in America, I am having trouble choosing between buying the first set of episodes in the collector's box and thinking that doing so would make me a complete retard.

I hate that American anime fanboys/girls will buy absolutely anything at any price because it creates an environment where a typical set of four 26 minute episodes of a show costs fucking $20 or more.  DVDs of popular movies don't even cost that much anymore.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 24 Sep 2008, 19:40
I've shelled out 100 bucks for a couple series.  Evangelion, GTO, Chrno Crusade, Azumanga....hell even FLCL was 86.  But hey, anime is getting FAR cheaper than it used to be.  I picked up Elfen Lied and Gunslinger Girl for 50 each (totally worth it, shut up)  Cowboy Bebop was 30.  Hell, they've just released Fate/Stay Night AND Ergo Proxy and they're each 50 bucks....that's pretty freaking sweet.

Also people: watch Kaiba...it has very simplistic art that's such a joy to watch.oh...and Yakitake! Japan.  That show is possibly one of the funniest I've seen in a long while.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: conn on 27 Sep 2008, 12:04
Personally, I refuse to buy anime unless I can get the entire season for $50, maybe $60. Anything more expensive than that is just ridiculous.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 27 Sep 2008, 16:37
I could buy my anime a lot cheaper...but I refuse to buy pirated copies of ANYTHING.  As much as me buying it legitimately just supports english voice dubs...I couldn't care less.  Does anyone know why anime is starting to get cheaper?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 28 Sep 2008, 00:04
Anime is getting cheaper because more people are buying it.  They don't need to charge $25-$30 a disc anymore because they know that casual anime fans, like myself, will flat-out not tolerate that kind of price-gouging.

Also, the popularity of sites like crunchyroll and aznv.tv probably has something to do with it.  I mean, for $15 you can watch 75 HOURS worth of anime on aznv, and they have just about every anime that exists, even if a lot of it is fansubbed because it hasn't been released outside Japan.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: BootsyMarie on 28 Sep 2008, 09:44
What about Gilgamesh? orrrr (please don't yell) Trinity Blood...I thought it was pretty good.

Hellsing is somewhere at the top for me, I saw that Neon Genesis Evangelion has already been mentioned(on the first page) but for the sake of refreshing memories...It's fucking amazing.

I would definitely suggest Gilgamesh to anyone who like Evangelion. Unfortunately, a lot of people associate the two because half of America has no idea what's going on ever in either of them, but I associate the two because they're both religious based anime, and because the character relationships are just as deep and confusing.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: tricia kidd on 30 Sep 2008, 13:33
jackie bought me the complete series of negima before he went to work today!  i am going to watch it nonstop.  i know it isn't really very good but i love it anyway, it is definitely more fun than love hina but i guess that's not saying much is it?   :lol:
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 30 Sep 2008, 15:11
My entire experience with Love Hina is limited to memes and the time I got the flu and watched a fuckton of episodes while running a high fever and smoking roughly a quarter ton of pot. So really, I remember the series as being simultaneously both the greatest and worst thing ever, despite my complete inability to remember the name of a single character.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: tricia kidd on 30 Sep 2008, 16:29
that is probably the best way to experience love hina!   :lol:

actually LH is not bad, it is just wayyyyyyy to long (especially the manga).  supposedly he did negima just because he was being pressured to do "another love hina" so he went over the top and made a harem manga with 31 girls!  also it is much more wacky.

watching it now!  i will have to be extra nice to jackie when he gets home.   :-)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 30 Sep 2008, 19:52
Yeah, Negima is fun enough.  I don't understand being able to watch more than an episode at a time, though.  It's too fluffy for me, or something.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jepser on 13 Oct 2008, 07:11
TORADORA!

Go watch it.
Finally good tsundere again.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 13 Oct 2008, 10:53
tricia convinced me to get the Haruhi Suzumiya complete set (which is actually pretty cheap) and, uh...

...the American voice acting is actually good.  Not that I won't watch it in Japanese half the time, but aside from Kyon sounding too old, it's quite well done.  Haruhi, Itzumi and Yuki in particular have perfect voices.

I think it's the first anime since Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and Trigun that I can think of as having particularly good American voices (though granted most of the anime I watch I don't even have the option to listen to in English).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 14 Oct 2008, 04:20
I hated the dub.

When you have a dub set in a non-English speaking country, you have the opportunity to do something with voice actors that more western settings don't.

I'm referring to accents. Every anime has a goddamn American accent. Most of them. I know, I know, most are dubbed in the USA so it stands to reason, but I think it would be great if there was more innovation when it comes to the human voice, especially in a comedy series where particular accents could be used to bring out qualities in the characters, especially where the difference in culture might diminish them.

Basically, I'm saying that Itsuki should have had a French accent.

I watched in Japanese first, though. That's always a huge influence.

(I generally think that all teenage characters tend to sound too old in most anime)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 14 Oct 2008, 08:26
I've heard a lot about certain dubs being "absolutely great compared to other anime" and yet EVERY time I try watching an episode of any of these "better dubs" it sounds exactly the same to me.  Every dubbed series sounds exactly the same to me and it has the exact same feel.  Death Note and Love Hina, both are completely different but when I watch them in English they feel exactly the same.  At Anime Evolution this year I heard some of the interviews of these English VA's and MAN are they full of themselves...and I'll never be watching anything in English ever again.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 14 Oct 2008, 19:03
Dude, even most Japanese people watch the English dub of Cowboy Bebop.  Seriously.  It's so much better it's ridiculous.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 14 Oct 2008, 19:23
I have no interest in watching the dubbed Cowboy Bebop. I watched subbed and it was pretty damn fantastic...
I think it depends a lot on who the fan sub group is when it comes to watching subbed anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 14 Oct 2008, 19:35
Dude, even most Japanese people watch the English dub of Cowboy Bebop.  Seriously.  It's so much better it's ridiculous.


No...No it's not.  I own and have seen Bebop at least 4 times (series AND movie) and I have chosen to watch it in Japanese every single time.  I have seen a few episodes in English and although it wasn't heinous, I will still choose to watch it in Jap EVERY single time.

I've never had a bad experience with subbed anime...ever.  Is some of it really bad?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 14 Oct 2008, 19:38
Yes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 14 Oct 2008, 19:59
Dude, even most Japanese people watch the English dub of Cowboy Bebop.  Seriously.  It's so much better it's ridiculous.

No...No it's not.  I own and have seen Bebop at least 4 times (series AND movie) and I have chosen to watch it in Japanese every single time. 

To each their own.  I think the guy who voices the English Spike is so much better at conveying the character than the Japanese guy it's not even funny.

Anyway, I wasn't kidding that a large number of Japanese people prefer the English dub.  I think that says something.

And while I do almost always watch anime subbed (as stated because I usually have no choice) I also totally and completely hate people who watch it subbed but don't speak a word of Japanese because it's "the only real way to watch it".

God, American anime fans give anime such a bad name.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 14 Oct 2008, 21:12
Yeah, I couldn't take the Japanese Spike seriously. He sounded to me like some kind of strange, slightly greasy lounge lizard rather than a laconic but wounded drifter.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 15 Oct 2008, 09:21
I also totally and completely hate people who watch it subbed but don't speak a word of Japanese because it's "the only real way to watch it".

...What does speaking the language have to do with it? I watch Foreign films all of the time and I don't speak anything but English.
Why is subbed anime any different? It's the way it's SUPPOSED to be viewed, not with American (or sometimes British) voices. It's JAPANESE. I'd rather hear a JAPANESE voice and language.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 15 Oct 2008, 10:27
That's different.  The Japanese language, in its construction, is completely different from English/French/German/Spanish/etc.  If you speak English, it's not hard to intuit the quality of someone's acting when they're speaking French because the language is so similar to your own.  Also, with live-action films, you can see the actor's body language.

You're right; I don't really ever consider watching Asian live-action films and TV shows in English, because it takes away from the acting of the character.  But anime doesn't have actors, it has VOICE actors, and the person doing the voice didn't draw the physical movements or facial expressions you're seeing.  So you're listening to a language you don't understand and just assuming they're doing a good job.  In all reality, they could be the Japanese equivalent of Pauly Shore for all you know.

I have no problem with people who prefer the actual sound of the voices on a case-by-case basis.  As said above, the Japanese Spike sounds horrid compared to the English.  But, on the other hand, I far prefer the Japanese voices of the actors in Risky/Safety.  That doesn't mean I know or believe that they are better actors, just that they have a more pleasing voice.

Oh God why am I arguing with an animu.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 15 Oct 2008, 10:32
Just because I prefer watching almost all anime with it's original sound doesn't mean I'm anything other then a regular anime fan. I don't need to justify anything either.
And I think the arguement that movement doesn't match voice (or whatever it is you're trying to say...) in anime is lame. It's illistrated. If nothing, it actually is easier to watch and understand beacuse it is so overly exaggerated.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 15 Oct 2008, 10:44
Live acting requires using body language, facial expressions and other visual cues that are unique to the actor.

Voice acting requires trying to fit your voice to what somebody else drew.

What is there not to understand?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 15 Oct 2008, 11:20
Yeah, the practice of basing a character design and animation around a voice actor's capabilities is a luxury traditionally limited to big budget western productions (it's practically a Disney trademark, honestly). Even then it's hardly as useful a technique as people make it out to be; it's not uncommon to hire a voice actor or amateur to help with the syncing process and the character development only to have a bigger name VA or movie star come in and attempt to match up with the animation at a later date. Basically, production schedules are busy enough as it is without trying to do everything concurrently. Voice actors face the same hurdles regardless of what the original language may have been.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 15 Oct 2008, 14:41
IF an anime sounded better in English to me, I would watch it. I watch anime in Japanese because I can actually enjoy it then.  When I watch a Jackie Chan film I will ONLY watch it in English because the dubs are absolutely hilarious.  But almost always I would prefer to watch whatever program in it's mother language.  Would you watch Pan's Labyrinth in English? Would it be the same. No, no it would not.  Would Clerks be as funny in French as in English? No. 

->Jackie,
I'm gonna watch Cowboy Bebop right now, in English.  I already know it's not going to change my opinion but maybe I might start watching Bebop in English.  Oh and animu? Are any of us going "OMG THAT IS LIKE SO KAWAII!!!1?" No.  No we are not.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 15 Oct 2008, 15:28
Those are live action movies and again, there isn't the quite same connection between an actor's voice and what you're seeing onscreen with anime. I can understand if we're talking about a musical or something here, but honestly, with anime the only real stumbling block that English versions face that Japanese versions don't is translation problems, an issue that won't go away simply because you subtitled it rather than dubbed it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 16 Oct 2008, 01:17
Precisely.  With anime, both Japanese AND English voice actors face the exact same problems, so there is no reason to make an immediate, blanket statement that one is always better than the other.  The guy who voices Spike (and a million other characters in various animes) is an amazing VA and to ignore his talents because he's not doing it in Japanese is absurd, especially among people who, again, don't speak Japanese.

There can be argument made that watching Asian things in their original language but that argument requires one to have at least a basic grasp of the language and culture involved.  Having been privy to many translation problems/issues, I can say with decent certainty that if you're listening to it in Japanese because "it's the right way" then you need to consider that the "right way" to listen to Asian languages - and all their vastly different metaphors and modes of expression - is to learn the language and live in their culture.

And there is certainly no argument to make that subtitles are any better translated as dubs as a general rule.  Lots of subtitled anime is translated horribly, so you're still not getting the "real" experience anyway.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: InvisibleChess on 25 Oct 2008, 17:01
Anyone here seen School Days?

If you answered yes wouldn't you agree that it was one of the most fucked up animes currently in existance?



Well, if you like Cowboy Bebop the extremely obvious recommendation would be Outlaw Star.


Thanks for the recomendation. I needed a good anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 25 Oct 2008, 18:09
What is School Days about?? It sounds familiar, but I'm not positive...

I am watching Kodomo no Jikan right now. ...I was all "Aw, it's so cute and pervy, I love it!" --and then fuckin' episode seven...about Reiji and Rin-chan's Mom...goddamn it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 26 Oct 2008, 21:49
I liked Elfen Lied. It probably gets a bit too weepy at the end. But I liked it, it made me laugh and I could sympathise with the characters. Also, breasts and violence I guess.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 27 Oct 2008, 00:05
Elfen Lied is, in my opinion, the perfect anime to get into anime.  After bashing anime for a long time my friend finally said "shut up, watch this." And I spent two hours on MSN receiving the first episode of EL.  That got me completely hooked into anime and I've been watching ever since.  Alright, it's not as deep as many other shows are but it is entertaining and really good for introducing people to anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KvP on 27 Oct 2008, 00:36
Elfin Lied killed anime for me. It's all the awful tropes of the art form, condensed into a single series. There's nothing in it that hasn't been done in a series with actual positive qualities.

In that sense, yeah, it's a great entry point. I guess you'd enjoy a hearty meal that much more when you've been forced to consume dog mess beforehand?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CamusCanDo on 27 Oct 2008, 00:54
I'm watching Genshiken right now. It's pretty fun guys. I'd also be willing to check out Kujibiki Unbalanced.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 27 Oct 2008, 15:12
Linds is right about Elfen Lied.  It's "perfect" in the sense that it perfectly epitomizes certain types of anime, but not the artform as a whole.

Seriously people, talking about "anime" is as nebulous as talking about "movies" or "tv shows".  Contrary to what everyone outside Japan was led to believe until, oh, 10 years ago or so, "anime" is not "cartoons with giant robots and/or ninjas".  There are animes for every taste, which is why it's silly when people say they "hate anime" because it usually means they've seen two or three stupid shonen animes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 03 Nov 2008, 14:17
I recently watched School Rumble. I find it to be hilarious.

The only time I have ever wished I watched a show subbed is when there's a a lot of translated printed text in lots of scenes, because it's hard for me to read everything and watch, but that's what pause and review are there for.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 03 Nov 2008, 15:41
School Rumble is great!!
In fact, I think i may re-watch it tonight...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 04 Nov 2008, 15:43
For people like me, at least, watching anime in Japanese and with subtitles takes away some of the effect of ridiculously bad dialogue that's more or less unavoidable in genre shows, most times made worse in translation. At least then you can pretend that the characters sound semi-dignified; subtitles give you a little more room for imagination.

Also, I hate hearing English speakers pronounce Japanese names. It's just this thing.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Coffee_Kaioken on 04 Nov 2008, 18:03
I might be going a tad off topic from the course this topic has surely taken a turn for, but,

I just finished watching Death Note and am now currently trying out Rozen Maiden. After someone sent me "Hikari No Rasenritsu" (the full version of the closing theme for the 2nd season), I fell in love with the song and decided to see which anime it was for. Lo and behold, Rozen Maiden.

My friends also recommended One Piece, saying it was better than Death Note. *shrug* Really, after DN, I saw the hype and understood why everyone loved it. L was the shit.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 05 Nov 2008, 01:22
My friends also recommended One Piece, saying it was better than Death Note.

Your friends are silly. All of them.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 05 Nov 2008, 06:52
Yeah...your friends are pretty silly.
I mean, One Piece is OK, but 1. it's really frickin' long, and 2. It's not even the in the same LEAGUE as Death Note...

Watch the first couple episodes and if you like it, keep going, but I'm serious when I say it is long as hell. (Wiki says that there aer 143 original episodes, but they were edited down to 104 for a US audience...or, at least I think that's what its saying). Plus, I kind of preferred reading the Manga. You can find that online for free.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Coffee_Kaioken on 05 Nov 2008, 21:43
143?

I was told that right now there are 500+...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 05 Nov 2008, 22:20
Perhaps that is volume of Manga??
THat would be pretty insane for an anime...
But I just went off what it said on Wiki.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 06 Nov 2008, 03:30
wikipedia says 375 episodes of anime and 51 volumes of manga each with about 8 chapters in them

so yeah it's fairly long and it's faily inane, i just lump it in with dbz, naruto and bleach and then go back to ignoring it, a few episodes enough to see the whole series in all honesty the only one i've watched alot of was dbz and i was aged in single digits at the time
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 06 Nov 2008, 06:38
Oooooooh, I see it now. My bad, I read this part:
Quote
4Kids Entertainment licensed the series for an English language dubbed broadcast and release in North America. The 4Kids episodes aired in the United States on the Fox network as part of the Fox Box block, premiering on September 18, 2004. The episodes were heavily edited, with the first 143 episodes cut down to 104

Either way, that is a crazy number of episodes. I mean, I liked One Peice well enough, but it would probably take my entire external harddrive to download and save all of those...(or, well, pretty close) and that's just not worth watching...

I don't know what everyone has against Bleach...I mean, I kind of liked it...mind you, I haven't seen more then about 20 episodes, but still...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: sandysmilinstrange on 06 Nov 2008, 08:00


My friends also recommended One Piece, saying it was better than Death Note. *shrug* Really, after DN, I saw the hype and understood why everyone loved it. L was the shit.

Have you read the manga as well? That's where it's at (well, actually, the anime is really good too, but Mello and Near are not fleshed out quite so much).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 06 Nov 2008, 12:07
Generally I hate all animes that are longer than 26 episodes.

This rule has not really failed me yet.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: CamusCanDo on 06 Nov 2008, 12:37
I find if I catch an anime early, like I did with Naruto, I'll be more inclined to follow it through if I think it's good enough.

Fuck catching up on 375 episodes though.

Also, I'm re-watching Samurai Champloo for the first time in about 2 years. Fuck goddamn, Samurai Champloo.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 06 Nov 2008, 23:44
Yeah, there's nothing worse than the nasty combination of serial plots AND a ridiculous number of episodes. Most decent long running television programs consist of largely self-contained episodes for good reason; it's a bitch to plan out events over many episodes. It only gets worse when you consider the threat of cancellation or in the case of many manga adaptations, working to stay relatively consistent with a seperate ongoing work. Besides, there's no way in hell you're not repeating yourself by 300+ episodes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 07 Nov 2008, 05:57
Generally I hate all animes that are longer than 26 episodes.

This rule has not really failed me yet.


Which ones have you hated? GTO, FMA, Death Note, Blood+?  Have you seen Eureka Seven?  If that doesn't fail your rule then I really don't know what will.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 07 Nov 2008, 06:00
Generally I hate all animes that are longer than 26 episodes.

This rule has not really failed me yet.


Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist tentacle rape your rule in all openings.

But it is actually a pretty good rule.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 07 Nov 2008, 16:22
Well, I don't hate FMA.  I just don't particularly like it either.  And I can't remember much of what I've seen of Death Note, so.  Not too keen on Blood+ either.

As I think I said earlier in the thread, I tend to like a bit of Shoujo and a lot of the quirky, non-action stuff like Bartender or Welcome to the NHK.  Not too big on most Shonen.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Malek on 07 Nov 2008, 16:36
I recommend Lucky Star,i watch it Every Day =D
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: n0tj3sus on 11 Nov 2008, 15:43
I myself have been meaning to get back into watching anime, but a few anime's  I can recommend from back in the day are;
elfen lied, trigun a few others but I’m blanking right now so this post is basically a waste of bandwidth >_>
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Coffee_Kaioken on 11 Nov 2008, 21:01
Which ones have you hated? GTO, FMA, Death Note?

I read the first two anime abbreviations as "GTFO". /random



My friends also recommended One Piece, saying it was better than Death Note. *shrug* Really, after DN, I saw the hype and understood why everyone loved it. L was the shit.

Have you read the manga as well? That's where it's at (well, actually, the anime is really good too, but Mello and Near are not fleshed out quite so much).

I read a bit of the manga. After the part where L intro'd himself, I just switched to the anime. When I finished the anime, I skimmed the last two manga novels - 12 and 13 (the "how to read" novel). It was fun to read the profiles of characters.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 12 Nov 2008, 07:00
Ummmm...the second comment was directed about One Piece, not Death Note...

I would have another rec. but unfortunately i cannot spell (or say actually) my newest favorite anime...I'll write it down tomorrow at Anbu and relay it back...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 17 Nov 2008, 20:25
I bought the first season of Bleach and finished it in a day. I'd been dead set against watching that show, then went crazy one day and picked it up. Glad I did. I'm watching Great Teacher Onizuka now, and am pretty happy with it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 17 Nov 2008, 20:40
Doki Doki High School
Comartie High School

Those are two favorites right now at Anbu.
Also, my boyfriend keeps going on about Trigun. I dunno, I haven't watched it yet.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 18 Nov 2008, 04:46
Great Teacher Onizuka is a good anime, but honestly the live drama of it completely kicks its ass.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ampersandwitch on 18 Nov 2008, 06:11
PQ, you're thinking of Cromartie High.  That's a pretty funny show, I guess, been a while since I watched it.

In gabbly last night I was trying to talk about Mononoke.  This was met by multiple agreements that yeah, they liked Mononoke and that they all had mad boners for Ashitaka.  They, of course, were talking about Princess Mononoke, which is good too, but you guys certainly don't need Miyazaki recommendations, because he's so famous. 

I'm talking about the show that's a spinoff of Ayakashi, and it's got this amazing storyline for every episode.  It's like if Poirot were in the Edo period, was surrounded by really fascinated Japanese mythology, had magical powers, and lost the mustache.  He would also be very interestingly animated in this instance.  It only has six episodes too, so it won't take up too much of your time.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Blue Kitty on 18 Nov 2008, 06:14
I recommend Lucky Star,i watch it Every Day =D

I don't know why it is, but I dislike Lucky Star.  Love Azumanga Daioh though.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: ThePQ4 on 18 Nov 2008, 06:40
PQ, you're thinking of Cromartie High. 

Yes. I simply cannot spell, that's all.
It is one of the only animes that my club will watch in English --simply because it is hilarious (it is an added bonus for me since I then only have to listen, I don't have to actually pay attention to know what's going on).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Usopp on 23 Nov 2008, 15:20
Gonna say...

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and you might enjoy more if you can get the light novels
One Piece
Berserk, better in manga than anime
Fullmetal Alchemist
Black Heaven, if you can find it
Ouran High School Host Club for teh funniez
Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 23 Nov 2008, 15:24
I started watching Death Note the other day and it does seem pretty good so far, for a shonen anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 24 Nov 2008, 03:28
Death Note, as I believed we've discussed, is great and amazing up until a certain point where it just majorly falls apart.  It's clever and extremely tense and many of the scenes between L and Light are nailbiting. Then it gets to the point where you're bored and tired and just want the damn show to end.  Honestly it would have worked a lot better as a 26 episode ordeal rather than a 37. 

My friend recommends that everyone watch Casshern and Soul Eater, I haven't watched them yet but I will be soon.
She's also convinced me to start watching Shippuden...apparently that shit is DARK and Naruto actually grows the hell up.  Is anyone still watching it?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Usopp on 24 Nov 2008, 11:42
Methinks I'd prefer the reading of Deathnote than the watching, because you can keep up with it at your own pace. I got all 12 of the books, and they were pretty text heavy, no matter what way you slice it, so I shudder to think what the anime did to alleviate that. However, I have heard some pretty good reviews of the anime, so I might be wrong.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: PizzaSHARK on 27 Nov 2008, 05:19
Most (well, all) of the handful I like have been mentioned.  So I'm just gonna back them up.

Ghost in the Shell, entire thing.
Cowboy Bebop.
Samurai Champloo.
FLCL (the timing with the music is what makes it so amazing.)
Berserk (manga is a thousand times better.)
Bleach (just don't pay attention to the plot or any dialogue and your brain should survive intact.)
Naruto Shippuuden (see above.)
Trigun.
Noir (friend recommended it.  I don't like it much, but she loves it.  Music is okay.)
Full Metal Alchemist (recommend English dub, Japanese people trying to pronounce English names is amusing at best.  Lots of dead spots and ending sucks, but pretty good overall.  Extremely addictive theme.)

Plenty of others that have good and bad parts.  Trinity Blood's plot and action sequences suck, but the animation and art style are pretty fun.  Wolf's Rain does not come close to meeting expectations, but at least it's pretty.  Same for that "new" anime on Adult Swim with the spear lady.  Very pretty, but nothing of worth inside (how like life.)

Evangelion, any Gundam, and Macross are fun for the HAHAGIANTROBOTCAGEMATCHFAPFAPFAP aspect.  Eva gets bonus points for the protagonist just completely fucking losing it at the end.  I think I would've been having too much fun tearing shit to pieces to be worried about some classmate or whatever.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 27 Nov 2008, 09:14
Quote
Trinity Blood's plot and action sequences suck, but the animation and art style are pretty fun.

I forgot to come back to this.

Trinity Blood would be passable if the characters didn't fucking bother me so immensely. Seriously, everyone's an angsty fuck who can't control themselves enough to do their goddamn jobs. It's as if the entire characterisation was designed around appealing to shallow goth kids, which isn't surprising given the aesthetic slant of the anime. At best, the characters are typical and predictable, and mind-numbingly rage-i-fying at worst.
Just about every stereotype is there.

In fact, all of Trinity Blood is basically based on skullfucking stereotypes into one another.

By the way, I bought the whole thing, six discs. I didn't get the last two discs - they simply weren't in the case. It says a lot about this anime that I simply don't care enough to go back to the store to bloody well show them what's up.

At least the design is absolutely fantastic, but that's where the awesomeness ends. From the robot saying "Positive" instead of "Affirmative" to the disgustingly unoriginal and pretentious attempts at philosophy, this anime is entry-level at best, and utter shit at worst.

One more nail in the coffin of the modern Vampire. It's a pretty huge shame to see such a potentially awesome monster crash and burn in shitty media.

/deep breath.

And I'm done.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 27 Nov 2008, 11:49
Hmm...Considering I was JUST about to go and download it too...ahh well. 

Useless protagonists are starting to bug me in anime....as well as whiny females and the super-cool angsters.  Amnesia as a character device has stopped bugging me.

What has happened to vampires in popular culture?  The only really good vampire anime I can name off the top of my head is Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust...Are there any others? Please don't recommend Black Blood Blothers or Blood+...both of those were annoying with Blood+ being one of the angstiest things I've ever watched.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: PizzaSHARK on 27 Nov 2008, 20:53
Hey, like I said, it's pretty and that's about all it's got going for it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 28 Nov 2008, 09:25
What has happened to vampires in popular culture?  The only really good vampire anime I can name off the top of my head is Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust...Are there any others? Please don't recommend Black Blood Blothers or Blood+...both of those were annoying with Blood+ being one of the angstiest things I've ever watched.

Hellsing. I can't believe you didn't mention it. Hellsing. HELLSING.

As for the answer to your first question:

It's quite simple. Vampires have been oversexualised. Now, I have no issues with sexy vampires. Any Mistress Of The Night is quite welcome to take her teeth to my neck. The issue arises when their pretty traits conflict with their status as hated and feared monsters. Anne Rice's "Interview With The Vampire" worked because, while Louis was a good-looking guy and very eloquent, he couldn't get past the instincts that threatened to destroy his ties with his mortal values.

"Hellsing" is great because while there are vampires acting as protagonists, they are not quite as clear cut as in stuff like Underworld and Twilight. Alucard is a morally bankrupt weapon bound to an agent of the Church, while Seras is infantile in her power and still clinging to her own mortal values. Plus, she's smokin' hot. The anime is kind of divergent, but the manga (and thus, the OVA of Hellsing) is about the Knights Of The Round Table using Count Dracula to fight against Nazis and the Inquisition.

I gotta thank Khar for that phrasing.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jackie Blue on 28 Nov 2008, 17:23
The only really good vampire anime I can name off the top of my head is Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust...Are there any others?

I believe I already mentioned Rosario Vampire.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 01 Dec 2008, 12:02
Hellsing. I can't believe you didn't mention it. Hellsing. HELLSING....

"Hellsing" is great because while there are vampires acting as protagonists, they are not quite as clear cut as in stuff like Underworld and Twilight. Alucard is a morally bankrupt weapon bound to an agent of the Church, while Seras is infantile in her power and still clinging to her own mortal values. Plus, she's smokin' hot. The anime is kind of divergent, but the manga (and thus, the OVA of Hellsing) is about the Knights Of The Round Table using Count Dracula to fight against Nazis and the Inquisition.

I gotta thank Khar for that phrasing.

Hellsing Ultimate is very good. IMO, don't bother with the TV series, they had to make up a bunch of shit because the manga was still ongoing. The TV series doesn't have the Nazis.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: PizzaSHARK on 04 Dec 2008, 01:16
I always liked the Nosferatu style of vampires myself.  I always thought undead should be more like animated rotting cadavers more than basically not-living-but-otherwise-normal.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 04 Dec 2008, 02:36

Hellsing Ultimate is very good. IMO, don't bother with the TV series, they had to make up a bunch of shit because the manga was still ongoing. The TV series doesn't have the Nazis.
havn't gotten round to watchign the ova yet (was going to wait till all parts were out and get a boxset) but the original series is still worth watching
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 04 Dec 2008, 07:28
Plus, the TV series has pretty bitchin' tunes.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Tetsu on 14 Dec 2008, 22:53
To anyone if you liked Death Note, I'd highly recommend Code Geass. Its just as good if not better cause: Lots of drama and thrill and mindgames as well as having one of the best freaking endings i've ever seen! <.< And i've watch alot of freaking anime....around 150+

Most (well, all) of the handful I like have been mentioned.  So I'm just gonna back them up.

Ghost in the Shell, entire thing.
Cowboy Bebop.
Samurai Champloo.
FLCL (the timing with the music is what makes it so amazing.)
Berserk (manga is a thousand times better.)
Bleach (just don't pay attention to the plot or any dialogue and your brain should survive intact.)
Naruto Shippuuden (see above.)
Trigun.
Noir (friend recommended it.  I don't like it much, but she loves it.  Music is okay.)
Full Metal Alchemist (recommend English dub, Japanese people trying to pronounce English names is amusing at best.  Lots of dead spots and ending sucks, but pretty good overall.  Extremely addictive theme.)


I'd suggest Baccano! its only bout 13 eps..and 3eps for the ova, but its full of excellence. Also Haijime no Ippo since you got a few long running animes with a strong main character, it could be something you like, I have no idea if either of these are dubbed yet but both of them are full of excellence.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: plumbob78 on 15 Dec 2008, 14:46
I saw an AMV at a con this year that used Baccano!. I've really wanted to see it ever since. But I try to wait for series to come out as bricks rather than buying single discs.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: keikun496 on 15 Dec 2008, 23:22
I am amused, Jeph's twitter says he is watching SHnY. I wonder if he goes with subs or dubs? Hmmm..  :roll:

Anyways, wanna-be anime guru here. Stuff I'd recommend?

Depending on the genre you're interested in..

FLCL
Gurren Lagann
Berserk
Monster
Lucky Star
Hidamari Sketch
Kannagi
Tora Dora
Death Note
Haruhi Suzumiya (Melancholy of)
Honey and Clove (both seasons)
Chobits
Code Geass
Fist of the North Star
any of Miyazaki's works
Grave of the Fireflies
5 cm's per second
The girl who leapt through time
Clannad
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Jigoku Shoujo
Mushi-shi
Evangelion (obviously)
Excel Saga
Kanon
Ouran High School Host Club
Nodame Cantabile

nothing else really comes to mind at the moment.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Tetsu on 16 Dec 2008, 01:52
If anything funny needs to be watched its gonna be in this list:
School Rumble (season 1 has been dubbed) , and the first season is even dubbed. The amount of awesome that is in that show is just great. >.>
Lucky Star (has been dubbed) , its pretty funny but alot of people won't get a good chunk of the jokes if you don't watch at least some subs
Ouran High School Host Club (has been dubbed), its just funny on quite a few level but at the reverse harem just makes it great.

 And i'll have to second any recommendation of Honey and Clover...just cause its one of the best animes EVER made...though it will make you sad as hell in the end.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: keikun496 on 16 Dec 2008, 02:16
If anything funny needs to be watched its gonna be in this list:
School Rumble (season 1 has been dubbed) , and the first season is even dubbed. The amount of awesome that is in that show is just great. >.>
Lucky Star (has been dubbed) , its pretty funny but alot of people won't get a good chunk of the jokes if you don't watch at least some subs
Ouran High School Host Club (has been dubbed), its just funny on quite a few level but at the reverse harem just makes it great.

 And i'll have to second any recommendation of Honey and Clover...just cause its one of the best animes EVER made...though it will make you sad as hell in the end.

Oops, I forgot School Rumble.

Ouran and LS both require some involvement in watching anime before the jokes are that funny. Especially LS, where you'll miss a lot of the humor if you don't watch a lot of anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 22 Dec 2008, 00:16
Ok I'll put it on here since no one else has but Inuyasha really is a great series. I have to agree with most of the other posts Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Full Metal Alchemist, and Lupin the 3rd are my facorite series.

Favorite Movies are: Grave of Fireflies, Ninja Scroll, Princess Mononoke, Akira, Metropolis, and Vampire Hunter D,

*edit*

Ok so someone did already mention Inuyasha but only in passing. But wtf people no one even mentioned Grave of Fireflies. I actually cried watching this. You people are dead to me....
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 22 Dec 2008, 01:49
Ok I'll put it on here since no one else has but Inuyasha really is a great series.

It's cool, some people think One Piece is better than Death Note.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 22 Dec 2008, 09:01
Ok I'll put it on here since no one else has but Inuyasha really is a great series.

It's cool, some people think One Piece is better than Death Note.

Not really sure which either had to do with my post about Inuyasha but I was never a big fan of Death Note. Never watched One Piece so can't say it was any better or worse...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 22 Dec 2008, 14:44
What he's trying to say, I believe, is that Inuyasha is not great.   I will go a step farther and say that Inuyasha was one of the reasons I was turned off anime for such a long time.  It's a series that's riddled with cliches and sap and spawned a generation of weabos. 

And I've pretty sure we've discussed Grave of the Fireflies.  If not here...than somewhere else.  Pretty sure it was heavily mentioned in the Movies that Made You Cry thread.

I'm currently watching Welcome to the NHK and while I find it watchable and I'm going to finish it I just don't understand why people go nuts over this show.  My girlfriend finished it and didn't particularly enjoy it all that much. 

I'm currently downloading Maison Ikkoku, Fist of the North Star, Bleach, and something else.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 22 Dec 2008, 15:56
Blaming Inuyasha for being liked is silly. There's definitely cliches and sap involved, but there's also bits that are occasionally funny. I never liked it all that much but I'd say overall it's a good cut above Naruto or DBZ.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 22 Dec 2008, 16:06
Blaming Inuyasha for being liked is silly. There's definitely cliches and sap involved, but there's also bits that are occasionally funny. I never liked it all that much but I'd say overall it's a good cut above Naruto or DBZ.

I'll admit Inuyasha has a lot of sap and sure there are some cliches as well, but as far as story goes, I still really like it. DBZ and Naruto both seemed to be geared towards a much younger crowd than me so I never got into either.

My apologies if Grave of Fireflies was already discussed in another thread but I assumed at least one person would have mentioned it in here. Fist of the Northstar is a good call though. Anyone like MD Geist?     
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 22 Dec 2008, 16:21
To me it's not really an issues of percieved maturity that puts Inuyasha ahead of Naruta or DBZ. It's really just the simple fact that any given episode of DBZ or Naruto is quite likely to devolve into characters standing around watching people fight and saying things like "Wow, that's the super secret Kamehameha Spirit Bomb Jutsu!"
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 22 Dec 2008, 16:27
To be fair Inuyasha had one trademark attack as well, can't remember the name of it right now. He did learn a few more much later in the series but that really was about it. Inuyasha I always thought dwelled more on the relationship side of things and thats where I think the maturity of it came into play.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 22 Dec 2008, 16:32
Oh, Inuyasha definitely had its moments of technique fetishism, and as with any serial anime they tend to remind you of the drawbacks of things like Miroku's wind tunnel every time the damned thing comes up. Still, if you were to compare the most egregious examples from each series to eachother, Inuyasha wouldn't even be a real challenger to a show like Naruto or DBZ.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 22 Dec 2008, 17:44
good point from what little I did see of DBZ seemed that ever 5 seconds or so somebody was doing some crazy neverbefore explained move.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: keikun496 on 22 Dec 2008, 19:27
I tend to avoid following series that are so endless. Case in point:

Summary of Bleach: reinforcements of reinforcements of reinforcments

Summary of Naruto: the answer is ALWAYS shadow clones. And Naruto is always the reason for EVERYTHING.

Summary of DBZ: I'm going to power up. Oh yeah, well I'll power up more than you power up. Really? Then I'll power up even more than you'll power up.

Actually, scratch that, I tend to avoid most generic shounen animes because once they reach a certain length they always follow the same pattern of power levels and dues ex machina.

I'm a bit miffed at the mainstreaming being discussed. Anyone watch things that have yet to be licensed/dubbed?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 23 Dec 2008, 10:14
So I just watched Afro Samurai and it was pretty fun, but I don't think I've seen something so overrated in my entire life.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 23 Dec 2008, 17:56
So I just watched Afro Samurai and it was pretty fun, but I don't think I've seen something so overrated in my entire life.

But it's also super pretty?  A million dollars per episode.  Sure the story is terrible and they didn't do NEARLY enough as they could have I still enjoyed it.  I want to watch the directors cut, it's got like...15 more minutes and considering the full thing is only about 100 minutes long it's good enough.  Personally Afro Samurai would have made a better movie than an OVA and I'd love to actually watch it with the Japanese voices. 

I'm kind of in the mood for some harem/ecchi stuff.  I've seen Love Hina and AMG and can someone recommend some other good series.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 23 Dec 2008, 18:50
Sometimes any given work can contain many technical aspects that are fairly impressive on paper but prove to be underwhelming or merely masturbatory in practice; E.g. guitar wankery. Afro Samurai is pretty neat, but in terms of raw storytelling it's hardly ambitious.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 23 Dec 2008, 19:30
Oh, Inuyasha definitely had its moments of technique fetishism, and as with any serial anime they tend to remind you of the drawbacks of things like Miroku's wind tunnel every time the damned thing comes up. Still, if you were to compare the most egregious examples from each series to eachother, Inuyasha wouldn't even be a real challenger to a show like Naruto or DBZ.

in my opinion inuyasha became crap as soon as they started announcing every single move they did instead of just doing them...unfortunatly this happened about episode 20 of 150 something...in an act of massochism i still kept watching till about episode 100
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 23 Dec 2008, 21:01
Oh, Inuyasha definitely had its moments of technique fetishism, and as with any serial anime they tend to remind you of the drawbacks of things like Miroku's wind tunnel every time the damned thing comes up. Still, if you were to compare the most egregious examples from each series to eachother, Inuyasha wouldn't even be a real challenger to a show like Naruto or DBZ.

in my opinion inuyasha became crap as soon as they started announcing every single move they did instead of just doing them...unfortunatly this happened about episode 20 of 150 something...in an act of massochism i still kept watching till about episode 100

I followed it up to when he was fighting the  guy with the cross on his face. Dont know what series number. I just walked away at that point...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: keikun496 on 25 Dec 2008, 20:12
So I just watched Afro Samurai and it was pretty fun, but I don't think I've seen something so overrated in my entire life.

But it's also super pretty?  A million dollars per episode.  Sure the story is terrible and they didn't do NEARLY enough as they could have I still enjoyed it.  I want to watch the directors cut, it's got like...15 more minutes and considering the full thing is only about 100 minutes long it's good enough.  Personally Afro Samurai would have made a better movie than an OVA and I'd love to actually watch it with the Japanese voices. 

I'm kind of in the mood for some harem/ecchi stuff.  I've seen Love Hina and AMG and can someone recommend some other good series.

Ai Yori Aoshi,
Golden Boy,
Negima (plenty of pantyshots there)
tenchi muyo (ehh, whatever)
Ouran (reverse harem, but it's hilarious, and I strongly recommend it)
Kage Kara Mamoru (worth a watch)
girls bravo
To Love-Ru

and that's what I can think of off the top of my head
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 27 Dec 2008, 00:17
->keikun

wow...thanks.  I've never seen any of them, I've heard of a couple but never actually seen any of em.

Also Fist of the North Star is great but they put in a little sidekick who's gonna really irritate me.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: satsugaikaze on 28 Dec 2008, 05:44
I wish to find out when the Hellsing OVA V comes out and I'm too lazy to wiki or google.

Can someone tell me the date? =P
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 28 Dec 2008, 11:12
Released on DVD? They haven't released it yet and they haven't stated a date.  It was released in Japan in November....and so far there's been a huge difference between the two release dates so you might be waiting for a while.

If you're looking for a torrent...it should be up on the interwebs somewhere......
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 14 Mar 2009, 23:27
I'm resurrecting this thread for a single, simple purpose.  I haven't watched anime in a while and I was wondering if people could give me a bunch of recommendations.  The stuff I want is stuff non-typical and as free of anime cliches as can be.  I'm sick of starting a series and then getting bored of it within the first 5-7 episodes.  The genre doesn't matter so much, but if you can recommend stuff with great plot and/or great characters, it would be really appreciated.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 15 Mar 2009, 05:52
i think what you're looking for is the genre known as seinen...also known as not aimed at 10 year olds

though it is an aquired taste try watching the satoshi kon stuff, gankutsuou is pretty good and baccano was probably the best thing released last year so try that as well
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: JD on 15 Mar 2009, 18:34
I recommend the Hare & Guu series if you like comedy. xxxHOLIC is worth a try too if you like demon/ghost/mystical beings crap.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: kozmonaut on 19 Mar 2009, 01:38
I liked

Macross Zero
Final Fantasy Advent Childern
Vampire Hunter D - but not the sequel
Akira
Ranma 1/2 - the entire series is wicked!
Gunbuster - one of my all time favorites
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 19 Mar 2009, 09:23
I'm resurrecting this thread for a single, simple purpose.  I haven't watched anime in a while and I was wondering if people could give me a bunch of recommendations.  The stuff I want is stuff non-typical and as free of anime cliches as can be.  I'm sick of starting a series and then getting bored of it within the first 5-7 episodes.  The genre doesn't matter so much, but if you can recommend stuff with great plot and/or great characters, it would be really appreciated.

Kino's Journey Haibane Renmei Serial Experiments Lain
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Avec on 19 Mar 2009, 12:10
I hate to associate myself with anime, but I've watched some of the titles mentioned above and loved every second of it. My trouble has been separating out the rubbish. In a true cliché fashion I'll answer a question with a question; can we get some links to legit web sites that permit downloads or viewing the whole series / season of a specific show?

So far I've seen Samurai Champloo, FLCL, Full Metal Alchemist, Case Closed, Avatar, and Miyazaki's work.That's all my cable permits so any help will be appreciated.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: JD on 19 Mar 2009, 15:37
Here is what I use for anime in general (http://www.onepieceofbleach.com/)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 19 Mar 2009, 15:48
Samurai Champloo, FLCL, Full Metal Alchemist, ... and Miyazaki's work.

beyond Ghost in the Shell (the first movie and the series), you pretty much covered all the best ones.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Avec on 19 Mar 2009, 16:12
I've tried watching it on Adult Swim, the plot felt dull and I just couldn't keep up with it.

Edit; a friend just showed me this one, but the majority of it seems like kid's cartoons. To anyone who's interested.

Quote
http://www.dbz-zone.org/index.php
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 19 Mar 2009, 16:13
yeah, it's not for everyone.

it takes a special kind of person to listen to people talk about non-existant computer programs and shit for a half-hour straight.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Reed on 19 Mar 2009, 19:36
I'm pretty siimilar to you, Avec, in terms of anime. If you liked samurai champloo you really need to check out cowboy bebop. It's by the same guy, and I actually thought it was a little better.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Radical AC on 03 Apr 2009, 21:55
I think Cowboy Bebop is so beloved in the west because it has a very western tone to it, as opposed to a purely Japanese mindset that permeates the majority of anime.

I enjoyed Blue Submarine 6, it was kind of like Water World without the suck, but also sans cult appeal.

Has anyone else noticed the striking similarity between Outlaw Star and Firefly?  Both start with a girl with a mysterious past and special abilities naked inside a box.  The crew dynamics and the way they operate have some parallels as well.

I was always a fan of FLCL for the soundtrack and ridiculous cultural references(Which I like much better in the dub - seriously who the hell references Richard Cheese?), but other than that just never really cared for comedy anime.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was enjoyable, and had an endearing quality to it despite having a lot of anime cliches in it.

My favorite is probably Evangelion, especially toward the end and the movies.  And, it was the characters and character development that did it for me.  You get to fully see most characters motivations, and it really delves into the human psyche while raising a lot of interesting philosophical questions.  I can see why people wouldn't like it, though, but it really worked for me and I'm excited to see the retelling through the new movies.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 04 Apr 2009, 13:21
On the one hand, I get that FLCL is supposed to be a comedy - and it is. On the other hand, it could just as well be called a subtle, complex, and symbolically rich coming-of-age tale told through a brilliant postmodern pastiche. I'd seriously consider it the best anime production I've ever seen, bar none.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Be My Head on 04 Apr 2009, 15:26
I'm looking for movies similar to "5 Centimetres Per Second" or "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and NOT by the same directors, as I can find that out by myself.

If you haven't seen either of those, then you're a tool who I wouldn't want recommendations from anyway! :P
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Radical AC on 04 Apr 2009, 16:10
The only one I can think of like those two is Whisper of the Heart.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Be My Head on 04 Apr 2009, 16:13
Yeah, damn, I've seen Whisper of The Heart, it was good...not as good as those two...but good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Trauco on 28 May 2009, 20:06
Byôsoku 5 senchimêtoru

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0983213/

Very beautiful realist anime, not really something i would recommend to a Bleach/Dragon Ball/Trigun/Evangelion/Akira/action stuff fan.

But if you like the medium for something else than action, if you are really interested in human emotion, it's worth cheking out.

PD: Next time i should really read the whole thread before jumping into recommending something, as i see someone already posted it :-p

PD2: To redeem myself, i'll recommend you:

Metoroporisu (2001)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293416/

Gorgeous, it only kind of fails with some CG sequences, that i think that weren't needed nor really accomplished, but besides those 30 seconds, the movie is Awesome, action packed, beautifully colored, etc, etc, etc...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 28 May 2009, 23:05
Evangelion/Akira/action stuff fan.

what
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 29 May 2009, 00:59
Four words. All Caps.

TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN

It's the anime where the whole time you're thinking "man, if they did anything more awesome than this it'd just get silly." And then it does get more awesome. Several times. Every episode. And you thought that at about episode 3.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 29 May 2009, 01:19
Can I second that? Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is just amazing in that regard.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Cartilage Head on 31 May 2009, 02:54
Mushishi.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Kugai on 31 May 2009, 17:00
Hmmm

Thanks to my financial situation I haven't been able to afford any Anime in a while

Some I have seen - such as GiTS (all iterations), Cowboy Bebop - I won't bother to mention again.

Others?


Gasaraki - Got a soft spot for that one since it's the one that really got me hooked
Bubblegum Crisis:2040 - First one I ever watched - And that was on Adult Swim before I bought the Boxset
Ikki Tousen - A good bit of fun
Tenshi Muyo
R.O.D - Both the original OAV and the Series
Gunslinger Girl
Strawberry Panic - Watched that rather disjointedly via YouTube - Liked it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 02 Jun 2009, 06:20
I feel compelled to recommend Cromartie High School.

Why, you ask?

(http://www.homemademech.com/Uploads/Areview/26851111356844.jpg)

That's why.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Kugai on 02 Jun 2009, 22:40
Good grief!!

Sean Connery!!!!!
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: satsugaikaze on 03 Jun 2009, 03:56
Good grief!!

Sean Connery!!!!!

+1 for truth! =O

I'm going to google this series right away.


Also, the Trigun feature film is going to be awesome fun.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 04 Jun 2009, 02:10
No you fools it's Freddie Mercury.

There is also a gorilla. And a robot.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Kugai on 04 Jun 2009, 16:25
Looks more like Sean in the costume from Zardoz
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Llewellian on 08 Jun 2009, 01:06
Looks more like Sean in the costume from Zardoz

Definitly.  :-D

Btw: If you have some time spare for cinema, in 2010 i recommend "Cat Shit One" (in USA renamed to Apocalypse Meow, like the already available Mangas).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOAPKxqutv8    (Trailer starts after 40 seconds)

If you have a knack for a Mixture between Watership Down and Desert Storm... but i have the naggin feeling that Stan Sakai and his "Usagi Yojimbo" had some influence here.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 08 Jun 2009, 19:57
k I just watched the series Tengo Tenge and have to say it was horrible. The ending of the series was gay the plot contrived the fight scenes were decent and that was about t 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 09 Jun 2009, 07:44
I think you're missing the point a little.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Llewellian on 10 Jun 2009, 15:31
I'm looking for movies similar to "5 Centimetres Per Second" or "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and NOT by the same directors, as I can find that out by myself.

If you haven't seen either of those, then you're a tool who I wouldn't want recommendations from anyway! :P

if you liked those films, i have some recommendations for you:

Haibane Renmei: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAQA0Bws1rA

An anime about people that are "awakening" in a very special city behind high walls that they cannot leave as "Angels". They have to live among normal humans there until they found out why they are here. It has action, but is very unbloody, more focussed on a great story. And it has a terrific soundtrack.

Millenium Actress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpGrD5wUzKE

What a rollercoaster ride. You cannot really describe it - any detail would total spoiler it. Wonderful soundtrack and an amazing storyline about an actress playing herself.

Paprika: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT9wAtCe8Oc

Lets say: It is the anime version of "The Cell". Nearly the same story. But the animations are far more "mindboggling" than "The Cell" ever was. And: Great soundtrack.

Tokyo Godfathers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxCvrzVBuXw

Christmas in Tokyo. Three Homeless people and a baby they found in the trash. Hilarity ensues.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Aurjay on 10 Jun 2009, 18:08
I think you're missing the point a little.

if your talking to me yeah i know it was more about cute girls with swords but still even that felt silly to me
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: MadassAlex on 11 Jun 2009, 06:51
Asking (or expecting) a series like that to be anything other than mindless eye-candy is like buying a Megadeth album for its subtlety.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Jepser on 26 Jun 2009, 16:52
SHE HAS RETURNED.

OBEY


http://www.zomganime.com/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya-season-2-episode-1/ (http://www.zomganime.com/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya-season-2-episode-1/)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Be My Head on 26 Jun 2009, 20:15
*snip*

Awesome stuff, I'm going to check these out once I'm done watching my back-catalogue of downloaded films. (Rashomon, Vampire Hunter D, and Seven Samurai)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: BurningSky on 10 Jul 2009, 23:41
I still feel like Cowboy Bebop was the greatest collection of media ever created. Plot, characters, animation, sound, direction, cinematography--it has it all. I immediately fell in love with Joss Whedon's Serenity because it reminded me so much of Cowboy Bebop.

I was a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z as a kid, now I watch/read it for nostalgia. Anybody see that awful live action movie? Epic fail.

Miyazaki is an obvious favorite. Has anybody noticed recent Pixar movies' tone greatly resembling Miyazaki? Up reminded me so much of Castle in the Sky. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Be My Head on 11 Jul 2009, 00:02
Yeah, I did notice that. Up was a great movie, it did have the same feel as Castle In The Sky, but didn't really have the whole environmentalism theme going, like Wall-E.

On the dvd version of Castle In The Sky one of the animators from Pixar introduces the movie.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Mr. Doctor on 12 Jul 2009, 09:29
Mmmm I don't really like anime that much. At first I was really a fan but not now.
But there's some really good stuff, that's for sure imo those would be:

- Neon Genesis Evangelion [Only for those who love mindfucking plot, the movie is insane]
- Elfen Lied [Gorish! and the intro is such a piece of art]
- Rurouni Kenshin [Classic...]
- Hunter X Hunter [amazing anime, really nice adventures, blod, characters and with a really well thought plot]
- Shaman King [Spirits and such... quite fun actually]
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 13 Jul 2009, 20:03
The new Haruhi series is pissing me off massively. They're repeating the same episode over and over, with some superfluous changes, and it's incredibly annoying. But, the episodes are individually of such a high standard that I can't help but watch and enjoy, and then angry up afterwards.

Also, I found the Bebop OST1 in an anime shop and bought it, twenty Australian dollars. Brilliant stuff, works almost as well as a CD as it does as backing music.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: holmez54 on 15 Jul 2009, 17:46
I haven't been watching as much anime as I used to. I've been through Eureka Seven probably 5 times and love it every time I see it. Xam'd is along a very similar line, but half as long. I watched it all online since the only other place I ever saw it was downloads on PlayStation Network. I always was a big fan of Gundam Wing (I have a thing for giant robots). A friend of mine turned me on to Eyeshield 21. It's pretty funny if you like the idea of a skinny little Japanese boy playing American football at a Japanese high school, but I can't find the episodes for it online anymore. I've watched almost all of Gantz, it's pretty weird and not very long. I prefer my anime in the 25-50 episode range (Eyeshield 21 has over 100, though). I feel it's a good length. People tell me I need to watch Robotech, but I get overwhelmed by its mass.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 23 Jul 2009, 01:13
I'm going to go ahead and say it and then get burned by the Miyazaki fans....but I thought Ponyo was very dissapointing.

For me it lost points from the get-go because the art style is so painfully simplistic and isn't even presented in a way that would make it acceptable.  After watching Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Howl's Moving Castle reverting to such an art style really destroyed a lot of the visual charm that makes Miyazakis films so unforgettable.  The characters are, for the most part boring and in the case of the young boy at times very annoying.  It's also a straight kids movie. There really isn't a lot here that the older generation can really pick up on and really enjoy. I might watch it again and I'll let you know if I still really dislike it. 
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 14 Sep 2009, 10:49
So, yeah, I know I'm bumping an old-ish thread, but I didn't want to start a new thread just for myself.

I got into anime thanks to the 4Kids dub of Yu-gi-oh. I know 4Kids is the devil, so overlook that a bit. Right now I'm trawling for recommendations based on the stuff I've liked from my sparse experience so far (I prefer dubs to subs, unless said dubs are of famously bad quality):

Death Note
Code Geass
Paranoia Agent (Somehow, I absolutely loved this)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Mr. Doctor on 14 Sep 2009, 13:05
The new Haruhi series is pissing me off massively. They're repeating the same episode over and over, with some superfluous changes, and it's incredibly annoying. But, the episodes are individually of such a high standard that I can't help but watch and enjoy, and then angry up afterwards.

Hahhahahaha Yeah, that was a hell of a serie. But the last one is worth it, I liked it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Gridgm on 14 Sep 2009, 19:14
So, yeah, I know I'm bumping an old-ish thread, but I didn't want to start a new thread just for myself.

I got into anime thanks to the 4Kids dub of Yu-gi-oh. I know 4Kids is the devil, so overlook that a bit. Right now I'm trawling for recommendations based on the stuff I've liked from my sparse experience so far (I prefer dubs to subs, unless said dubs are of famously bad quality):

Death Note
Code Geass
Paranoia Agent (Somehow, I absolutely loved this)

if you liked paranoia agent i always recomend the rest of the satoshi kon stuff they're very similar except movies instead of series
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 14 Sep 2009, 19:52
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk208/still_life_moves/Tekkonkinkurito.jpg)

Have I mentioned Tekkonkinkreet yet? Because it is really, really good. No, really good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Be My Head on 14 Sep 2009, 20:15
I downloaded a copy of it. I need to watch it still though. I loved two other movies from the same studio, Mind Game and Princess Arete.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Kugai on 14 Sep 2009, 21:40
I'm feeling lazy tonight, did anyone (or me) mention Strawberry Panic?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Melodic on 17 Dec 2009, 02:07
So, I need suggestions.

-I liked Cowboy Bebop's characters, but found the 20-minute stand-alone plots really bland.

-Outlaw Star was boring. I could have cared about the relationships between a few of the main characters, but they were all so fucking boring.

-I tried desperately to like Big O, and I love its art direction, but its absolutely batshit storytelling and plot management skills made it frustrating to watch outside of a monster-of-the-week sort of show.

-I really loved Eureka Seven for its character development. It felt like a well-written soap opera with giant fucking surfing robots thrown into the mix.

-FLCL was fantastic. The art was good, it was completely original, but what really stood out was its literary themes.

-Full Metal Panic season 1 was stupid cliche nonsense, season 3 was pretty good.


Knock me out, nerds.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 17 Dec 2009, 02:26
Mushishi and Kino's Journey are both very similar, they follow the main character as they travel distant and strange lands.  Both have very beautiful styles of art, Kino is simplistic and Mushishi is very...green. 

Ergo Proxy has an awesome story and a great world with relatively alright characters.  Some are definitely better than others.

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is an incredible drama that was the first anime I well and truly hated.  It has a few of the anime cliches that really break the mood a few times but the main chunk of drama is absolutely incredible.

Now for the weird ones:

Mind Game is an absolutely incredible movie.  If you like really weird and strange art, then this one is for you. By far one of my favourite anime movies.  It's right up there with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which you should also see.

Kemonozume.  It has the exact same art-style as Mind Game but is a series instead of a movie.  It's a basic Romeo and Juliet story that kind of dips in parts but overall is awesome.

And that's about all I can recommend.  I stopped watching anime over a year ago and now I'm just kind of focused on obtaining the sets and movies that I really, truly enjoy.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: DavidGrohl on 17 Dec 2009, 06:53
Baccano! 

Spelled with the '!', short, sweet, on animesuki, and rewatchable.  Action / Mystery / Contemporary fantasy
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 17 Dec 2009, 07:52
Have I mentioned Tekkonkinkreet yet? Because it is really, really good. No, really good.

Listen to what this man has to say.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 17 Dec 2009, 10:17
Tekkonkinkreet was nonsensical to the point of unwatchability. I still watched the whole damn thing because the art was absolutely beautiful, but I feel like that's all it was: pretty pictures.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: tricia kidd on 17 Dec 2009, 10:47
anyone who thinks they don't like anime because they think it's all the same should watch Bartender.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 17 Dec 2009, 14:57
If you couldn't get what was going on in Tekkonkinkreet, I'd suggest watching it again. It's a great story about two kids, the connections between them and their environment, about preservation vs. change, and of course, good vs. evil. The plot is a little thick, but essentially it's nothing you haven't seen before - just presented with a great amount of imagination and style.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: pilsner on 17 Dec 2009, 15:25
I just saw Sky Crawlers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1056437/).  I'm a big Mamoru Oshii fan, and I thought the movie was excellent (mostly for the same reasons a lot of people hated it), but now I need to be held.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: FIXDIX on 17 Dec 2009, 20:44
Gurren Lagaan and Bakemonogatari, for everything.

Oh man, also Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: FIXDIX on 28 Dec 2009, 03:02
Came across Bakemonogatari while on a hentai site, if you can believe it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 27 Jan 2010, 14:20
anyone who thinks they don't like anime because they think it's all the same should watch Bartender.


Saying anime is all the same is like calling all movies the same genre. Ffs (not at the quoted poster), anime is a format, not a genre.

Next thing you know, they'll say that adopting a puppy is a the same as adopting a toddler...
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: tricia kidd on 27 Jan 2010, 17:50
Saying anime is all the same is like calling all movies the same genre. Ffs (not at the quoted poster), anime is a format, not a genre.

exactly.  granted it doesn't help that for a very long time the only anime that made it to the Western world was shonen/mecha crap - which are genres - but it's goddamn 2010 and you can buy The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in best buy.

i watched Howl's Moving Castle the other day and while i admit i was rather drunk i absolutely hated it.  well, "hated" is a strong word, but there's so much "oh look isn't this so weird and nonsensical" shit in it that had me wondering if i was supposed to be laughing at it or if it was supposed to be some kind of deeply symbolic anime equivalent of Finnegan's Wake.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 27 Jan 2010, 21:51
Sometimes it felt like, through the morass of incomprehensibility, there was magnificent truth shining just out of reach. I thought for a moment that I was in the grips of some cosmic joke, crafted - no, revealed - by an obscure master. As I lay in the darkness, illuminated by the pale, flickering light of the screen, reality seemed to me a thin thing.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: pharmmajor on 01 Feb 2010, 21:44
Here are a few I'd recommend:

- Case Closed
- Pani Poni Dash
- Those who Hunt Elves
- Paranoia Agent
- Darker than Black
- Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (skip the "Endless Eight" arc, though)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Tom on 01 Feb 2010, 23:19
Look, instead of just listing names you could write/ctrl-V a blurb or half paragraph recommendation at least.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Tom on 01 Feb 2010, 23:20
Otherwise it's just a stupid post, it may seem like you're padding your post-count.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: FIXDIX on 02 Feb 2010, 01:08
I see what you did there.

I've been watching Dance in the Vampire Bund and Durarara!!! which have just started showing as of the new winter season.

Dance in the Vampire Bund is produced by SHAFT (Pani Poni, Maria Holic, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari). It's basically about the queen/ruler of all vampires outing the existence of vampires to the human world and then declaring that she plans to establish a haven for vampires in Japan, this place being The Bund.

Durarara!!! is produced by Brain's Base, and I'm pretty sure has the same animation team that did Toradora. I find this series much more light than the former, but still as serious as Bund. At the urging of a long time friend a young student transfers to a school in Tokyo. On his first day in the city he's a witness to an urban legend in the form of a headless rider on a black motorcycle.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Caleb on 02 Feb 2010, 06:09
Have I mentioned Tekkonkinkreet yet? Because it is really, really good. No, really good.

I got that for $3 at Big Lots!

So does anyone have an opinion on Morbito?  The complete series (8 DVDs) is on sale for $29.99.  Should I consider getting it?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: DavidGrohl on 02 Feb 2010, 15:00
Have I mentioned Tekkonkinkreet yet? Because it is really, really good. No, really good.

I got that for $3 at Big Lots!

So does anyone have an opinion on Morbito?  The complete series (8 DVDs) is on sale for $29.99.  Should I consider getting it?

I love that series.  I'd buy it at that price.  It's not for everyone, but the fighting animation style, story, and music are incredible.

I hate shows where a battle will last several episodes or explain exactly what happened (I'm looking at you Naruto).
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 02 Feb 2010, 15:03
I actually like the absurd explanations in Naruto.
The overly long and drawn-out fights though....not so much.



jesus christ am i seriously talking about naruto on the internet? i need to change my life, pronto
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: FIXDIX on 02 Feb 2010, 15:08
I hate shows where a battle will last several episodes or explain exactly what happened (I'm looking at you Naruto).

Basically why I try to avoid most Shonen manga/anime.

jesus christ am i seriously talking about naruto on the internet?

It's how the internet recieves worship.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 15 Feb 2010, 11:27
I am now in love with FMA: Brotherhood after one episode.

I <3 fight scenes with choral/orchestral music swelling tragically over people dying. (that and the grayscale coloring during the scene with Isaac and the Fuhrer was a nice touch).

EDIT: Just noticed the English dub started airing. Wasn't watching that, but some fansubs. Hopefully they're accurate.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Prince of Space on 15 Feb 2010, 20:34
I am now in love with FMA: Brotherhood after one episode.

I <3 fight scenes with choral/orchestral music swelling tragically over people dying. (that and the grayscale coloring during the scene with Isaac and the Fuhrer was a nice touch).

EDIT: Just noticed the English dub started airing. Wasn't watching that, but some fansubs. Hopefully they're accurate.

THIS.  Don't watch the 'original' FMA anime.  Watch Brotherhood.  The first one they made was inaccurate to the manga, though that's not the reason it was bad.  The reason it was bad is because the writing was terrible and the story ended up not making a lick of sense. 
I mention the inaccuracy to the manga because the writer/artist is pretty much as fantastic as they could hope to find and there's no need to improve upon or change what she's written.  But when they were first making it, she was only a few issues in...so they had to make something up in order to keep it going. :(  What a bunch of impatient dumbs.
FMA: Brotherhood all the way.

I also ditto Gurren Lagenn.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 15 Feb 2010, 20:39
Seen the first anime already. I'll say nothing more in order to avoid the war between people who think the manga is far better than the first anime and vice versa.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: FIXDIX on 15 Feb 2010, 20:54
I'll say nothing more in order to avoid the war between people who think the manga is far better than the first anime and vice versa.

Pretty sure you won't find them here.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ikrik on 16 Feb 2010, 01:07
The original FMA anime was still great, it was one of the first series I ever watched.  I'd say that there is no point in watching it now if Brotherhood is so good, I haven't checked it out yet though.

Has anyhone seen the Casshern anime, how is that?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 16 Feb 2010, 09:57
I am now in love with FMA: Brotherhood after one episode.

I <3 fight scenes with choral/orchestral music swelling tragically over people dying. (that and the grayscale coloring during the scene with Isaac and the Fuhrer was a nice touch).

EDIT: Just noticed the English dub started airing. Wasn't watching that, but some fansubs. Hopefully they're accurate.

THIS.  Don't watch the 'original' FMA anime.  Watch Brotherhood.  The first one they made was inaccurate to the manga, though that's not the reason it was bad.  The reason it was bad is because the writing was terrible and the story ended up not making a lick of sense. 
I mention the inaccuracy to the manga because the writer/artist is pretty much as fantastic as they could hope to find and there's no need to improve upon or change what she's written.  But when they were first making it, she was only a few issues in...so they had to make something up in order to keep it going. :(  What a bunch of impatient dumbs.
FMA: Brotherhood all the way.

To be fair, the author encouraged the writers in making the alternate ending, which I found coherent. ( possible spoiler)(Also: Roy Mustang is a motherfucking badass. Taking on a homunculus with his only hope of victory being that he kills Pride enough to use up his red stones? That takes some real stones)(/possible spoiler)

Since the first dub episode of Brotherhood came out, I compared the dub to the Funimation subs and a fansub that I've been told is good quality. The sub pairs are fairly well matched, but I find it odd that the dub script is different than the subs made by the SAME COMPANY. Anyone know why that might happen?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StreetSpirit on 16 Feb 2010, 13:16
I wouldn't be surprised if the dubs were different to make the phrasing better fit the already existent mouth movement, whereas the subs can be more of a direct translation.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 16 Feb 2010, 15:46
wait, there's a new FMA series?

I love FMA.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: StreetSpirit on 16 Feb 2010, 23:23
Yes sir, the new series follow the manga more or less to a T minus the first episode which is acts a nice introduction into the seriousness and beauty of the "new" series. It is on Hulu subtitled a week after broadcast in Japan, under the moniker: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Hope you enjoy it SWM.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 17 Feb 2010, 10:24
Hulu's delay is two weeks, actually.

Just watched up through the episode with Shou Tucker. The scene with the chimera at the end made me bawl my eyes out, even though I really wasn't too affected by the same scene in the first anime.

(And I love the score to this adaptation as well. I will have to go buy some soundtracks eventually.)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Prince of Space on 17 Feb 2010, 17:01
To be fair, the author encouraged the writers in making the alternate ending, which I found coherent.

 I know she encouraged an alternate ending, but that don't mean it turned out good. ;)  I'm not hating on the people who liked it.  I'm just saying I really disliked it.  It seemed like the manga was/is so well thought out and pretty plot-hole free (whereas the first series was rife with holes..).   I understand they had to do what they could though, so props to'em for trying (because I sure couldn't have done any better).

There's a really good article for anyone who wants to read what a lot of the 'haters' feel (as in *actual* reasons other than selfish/idiotic ones)... http://mangapunksai.com/site/fullmetal-alchemist-manga-versus-anime/

Though I *am* biased, so don't expect it to be fair or balanced.

Another good anime: Denno Coil  (It's kind of kid-oriented..but still good! Though I have to be honest, it's got kind of a weak ending.)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 17 Feb 2010, 17:09
Yes sir, the new series follow the manga more or less to a T minus the first episode which is acts a nice introduction into the seriousness and beauty of the "new" series. It is on Hulu subtitled a week after broadcast in Japan, under the moniker: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Hope you enjoy it SWM.

oh shit i know what i'm doing tonight.

wait does anyone know if hulu works on the PS3 browser? also what the fuck is hulu?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: pilsner on 17 Feb 2010, 17:11
An online flash rebroadcast of dozens of TV shows that is blocked to non-American IP addresses.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Prince of Space on 17 Feb 2010, 17:18

wait does anyone know if hulu works on the PS3 browser? also what the fuck is hulu?

What pilsner said.  Still, if you're going to watch FMA: Brotherhood, I'd recommend the Funimation site as it's usually at least an episode ahead.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 17 Feb 2010, 20:40
fuck you episode #10 i was not ready to deal with that guy dying again

bawwwwww
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 18 Feb 2010, 20:08
I didn't mind the ending to the first version, except that it gave pretty much no closure to the sub-plots that had been running through. And especially with the "every time you use alchemy somebody dies" thing.

The movie was awful though. If you make a movie at the end of a series that didn't give much closure, then make sure the fucking movie gives closure. Don't mix up the characters a bunch in the interim and then bring them back to exactly where they were before the movie started.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 23 Feb 2010, 11:36
There's some slight Fridge Logic to that, I think. When juxtaposing the timelines of Earth and Amestris, wouldn't that mean that World War I was about the same time as the alchemy-heavy slaughter in Ishbal (or is it Ishval? I've never been sure)?

Also: I dislike the Xingese characters so far.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 23 Feb 2010, 11:44
man, I've been having a real bitch of a time trying to watch the new FMA episodes. I managed to catch Episode 2 on Adult Swim on Saturday but I've been unable to watch any of the other episode online on my PS3 (no fucking way I'm sitting in front of my computer to watch anything).

However, they are on Youtube but for some reason wouldn't work the other day. I think my internet might have been geeking out.

That said, however, I really liked episode 2! I think it explained the beginning of their story much better and I like that Mustang came to recruit them, rather than the other way around. Would have liked to have seen the exam though, that was one of my favorite scenes from the first series.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 23 Feb 2010, 11:58
Brotherhood's exam scene was better than the first, to be honest.

Especially with King Bradley.

He makes everything better.

I am aware that he's Wrath. He's still cool.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Prince of Space on 24 Feb 2010, 07:50
I am aware that he's Wrath. He's still cool.

Secret messaaaage!

Just wait until you find out who Pride is. :)  It'll knock your socks off, guaranteed.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 25 Feb 2010, 01:26
Damn that was a spoiler for manga/BH which I haven't read/seen yet. Oh well, time to drink it away.

Certainly puts an interesting spin on the Mustang/Bradley showdown in FMA Anime 1.0, what with the skull in the bag and all. I know they're separate, but still.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 25 Feb 2010, 07:32
Forgot my headphones while in a college (also happens to be public) library for a day, so I couldn't watch any more, but I discovered their collection of volumes and ended up inhaling volumes 9-12.

I still don't like the Xingese.

Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Caleb on 01 Mar 2010, 07:33
Baccano is pretty awesome.

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/ir/jo/jar/17882-baccano-review

Big Lots in the USA sometimes sells this anime for really cheap.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Ferc Eater on 06 Mar 2010, 18:51
Baccano is pretty awesome.

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/ir/jo/jar/17882-baccano-review

Big Lots in the USA sometimes sells this anime for really cheap.

The series is very good, but watch out, the first episode is extremely slow.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: friend on 25 Mar 2010, 02:12
i'm a really big fan of naruto you should give it a shot :)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 25 Mar 2010, 12:12
I wish people were generally less knowledgeable around here so I could get away with recommending really terrible anime.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 25 Mar 2010, 13:12
You watch really terrible anime?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 25 Mar 2010, 19:20
No, I'm just feeling passive aggressive.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: yellowfoliage on 26 Mar 2010, 07:08
I wish people were generally less knowledgeable around here so I could get away with recommending really terrible anime.

Hurr durr Ninja Scroll.

As far as less stupid anime goes, though, has anybody ever seen My Dear Marie? It's a pretty light but very entertaining little romantic OVA. Definitely one of my favorites, very rewatchable.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 26 Mar 2010, 20:07
Ninja Scroll is awesome.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: yellowfoliage on 26 Mar 2010, 20:23
No it's not.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 26 Mar 2010, 21:37
I was thinking more along the lines of Dragonaut. Saw a bit of it at a con. I guess the big selling point is that it had the same character designer as the guy who did the anime adaptations for Witchblade. Yeah.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: yellowfoliage on 26 Mar 2010, 22:16
Hahahahahahahaha Witchblade!

Witchblade (comic and anime) used to appeal to me for the same reasons Ninja Scroll did: tits and gore. Then I turned 14. Although I must admit Witchblade/Dragonaut and the like are on a whole different plane of suck than Ninja Scroll.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 27 Mar 2010, 08:06
Bobobo-bo bo-bobo?
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Alex C on 27 Mar 2010, 11:58
Yeah, see, I'm careful about criticizing Ninja Scroll and Wicked City because they are very competently something I have no real interest in. They're simple minded, but they're ultimately about visceral reactions. It doesn't really interest me but I must admit that the character designs and animation are pretty damn effective and they don't really pull any punches. Do I prefer more restraint? Yeah, I guess so, but the imagery certainly gets the idea of what they're trying to accomplish across loud and clear.

Dragonaut is just kind of a big dumb and surprisingly high budget anime. It's built around fan service while managing to be completely unsexy. Even if you were looking for something that fills the boobs and action template I would have to think you could do better. Definitely worse than Ninja Scroll.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Sorflakne on 11 Apr 2010, 22:10
I dunno if I'll catch flak for saying this, being a guy and all...but I thoroughly enjoyed Azumanga Daioh.  First learned of it through the newspost for this QC comic (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1613) and out of curiosity decided to check it out.  I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of anime or manga (bad first exposure to it when I was younger (though I am more open to it now), and no it wasn't with hentai you pervs), but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  It was humorous, touching, weird and sad in its own way.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: yellowfoliage on 12 Apr 2010, 13:49
You don't deserve any flack for that at all. The reason you liked Azumanga Daioh is that Azumanga Daioh is awesome.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Damnable Fiend on 13 Apr 2010, 00:08
hey, a question

usually I'd want to watch anime in japanese with english subtitles, but I'd heard that Neil Gaiman wrote the dub for Princess Mononoke, so I assume it's pretty good.  which do you think would be a better choice?

(keeping in mind that, at least for the first viewing, I'm going to be downloading it, and I assume I won't have a choice to switch between the two)
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Be My Head on 13 Apr 2010, 00:19
Try them both. It doesn't matter which one is first. I've seen both versions, and they're both good.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: look out! Ninjas! on 13 Apr 2010, 03:54
The dubs for the Ghibli movies are usually handled pretty well, I can't think of one which was particularly bad; although some of them weren't to my liking. On the whole subs or dubs thing, it's the shonen shows that cop the most flak for good reason and the reputation of dubs as a whole  gets dragged down because of it.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: jimbunny on 13 Apr 2010, 07:13
I don't know. In some cases, I'll agree, a good dub can be acceptable or even improve on a few characters. But they don't ever (in my experience) really quite fit, somehow, even if the timing is right on. I'd say even in some cases that the very idea of the dialogue being in English seems wrong to me. Maybe it's the content of the dialogue (which is sometimes tailored specifically to either Japanese culture or even to the language itself) or just my blind prejudice. I'm sure there's a debate on orientalism here somewhere.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: yellowfoliage on 13 Apr 2010, 08:58
I find that the amount I feel like a dub fits correlates directly to just how "Japanese" the show feels (Ghibli movies excepted, the dubs on those are always top notch). A show like Evangelion or Azumanga doesn't sound right with English voices, whereas in my opinion shows like Cowboy Bebop, which have obvious heavy American influences, tend to sound better in English.

Of course, a lot of it can also have to do with how you first watched the show. If you are used to the characters sounding a certain way, chances are if you hear them in another language it will sound wrong.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 13 Apr 2010, 09:18
It pretty much boils down to how it was animated for me.  A lot of anime is simply animated so the Japanese language fits the way the characters' mouths move.  Try watching Akira with a dub if you need a good example.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Theriandros on 14 Apr 2010, 07:00
Clearly the highlight of that dub was Crispin Freeman.
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: KickThatBathProf on 14 Apr 2010, 08:21
This is true for anything with Crispin Freeman
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: philharmonic on 26 Apr 2010, 23:41
Goes something like this...
Oh look at that there's an update for Firefox
Hmmm OK Lets download it.
5 minutes later
Personas ?! Shure why not
20 minutes later
Woah She's cute
Huh what's "K On!"
there's anime of it
5 hours later
what? it's midnight? Damn

.......Anyway um ya so um...... I recommend K On! and just released episodes of season 2 "K On!!"
Title: Re: Anime Recommendations?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 27 Apr 2010, 13:04
man, I just watched some absurd shit called Dead Leaves and while it made no sense and bordered on annoying about 60% of the time, it had some of the freshest and slickest animation and art style I've ever seen. It's a movie, but it's only an hour.

I think I might buy it off Amazon just to confirm that I saw what I actually saw, because I'm still in disbelief.