Anime Suggestions?

[WDeranged]

I've been longing to watch some anime that really absorbs me, it's been years since I've seen something new and exciting so I thought I'd list a few of my likes/hates and see what people recommend.

 

Fullmetal Alchemist - My favourite easy watching kind of anime, traditionally I've been into the darker stuff but this one is a perfect blend of light hearted and sinister, I watch this show (and Brotherhood) every year.

 

Ghost in the Shell - This was an obsession for me a few years back, the movies are great but the series is very close to how I imagine the future will be, I love how it delves into social trends and perversions, like the guy who hired a sex bot so he could view himself having sex with it...through it's eyes

 

Evangelion - There's been quite a lot of "philosophical" anime and this one is about as far as I can go, it walks the line between pretentious bull**** and deeply cool, I love it but I have trouble watching it.

 

Serial Experiments Lain - I watched this one all the way through and constantly wanted to turn it off, don't know why I insisted on finishing it...hoping for some kind of satisfaction, didn't get any though.

 

Elfin Lied - Guilty pleasure, I grew up watching all the sick "Manga" imports in the early 90's and this one hits the spot but it would be complete garbage if you're not into cute anime girls performing a bit of the old ultra violence.

 

Darker Than Black - I wanted to like this one but it suffered from old anime problem of completely falling apart in the third act, so many shows start off being insanely cool, then they start to sag in the middle, very few manage to pull back and deliver a satisfying (or comprehensible) end.

 

Trinity Blood - I try to watch this one now and again but I can't seem to get into it, I have no idea why, it's got good characters and some truly epic scenes.

 

Besides those listed above I generally like Studio Ghibli films, Mononoke, Nausicaa and Howl's Moving Castle are classics, I should add that I'm totally not hardcore, I prefer dubs because I can do other things while I'm watching

 

Thanks.

[Calax]

Full Metal Panic would be a good one. If you like more zaney things, try out Sengoku Basara.

[kirottu]

Hellsing Ultimate - What's more evil than nazis? Vampire zombie nazis.

 

Rurouni Kenshin Trust & Betrayal - My favourite anime. 4 episodes of ultimate samurai goodness. Also known as Samurai X Trust & Betrayal.

 

Azumanga Daioh - My favourite comedy series. Give it more than one episode to grow on you.

[Meshugger]

Pretty much what has already been said, and then add:

 

Monster - A doctor searches for one of his former patients that has turned into the most horrible sociopath imaginable. The man has an unknown past and no name, and the story takes place throughout several years in Germany and the Czech Republic. Excellent if you like murder mystery/thriller/horror.

 

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - A story of a boy growing up to be a man...a lot of mechas. This anime is not an ironic poke at 80's action or action in general. It is a celebration of it. This is the only anime that i know of where explosions explode.

 

Hunter X Hunter - An anime about a boy looking for his father, who is presumed lost. It turns out that the father was a member of an elite organization of "Hunters" and the boy wishes to become one himself. Best damn adventure feel that i ever got from any medium. Watch the older version for a better soundtrack and pacing.

 

Death Note - A kid finds a book that happens to belong to a shinigami (="death god"). It turns out that when you write a person's name in it, he or she will die shortly thereafter. The kid soon starts to exploit the power that the book has. Did i mention that the kid was a megalomaniac with a ridicolously high IQ and charms?

Edited July 17, 2012 by Meshugger

[Oner]

Hellsing Ultimate and TTGL were already mentioned.

Then there's Berserk - Medieval fantasy about the leader if a mercenary band aiming to become a king with the help of his right hand.

Vision of Escaflowne - Fantasy with steampunk mecha (better than it sounds). A girl is transported to a different world, where an empire is apparently looking for Atlantis.

Redline - Awesome racing IN SPACE!

Ano hi mita hana don'tremembertherest - A group of friends drift apart after one of them dies in an accident. Years later, her ghost appears before her closest friend, looking to get into the afterlife. Expect lots of bawling and an overexaggerated ending.

Then there's good ol' Cowboy Bebop - Cowboy headhunters IN SPACE!

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - This one defies classification. It's a story about a girl who announces that she doesn't care about ordinary people, just ESPers, aliens or time travelers. Next day, she meets them.

Black Lagoon - Mercenaries being mercenaries.

Armitage III - Oldschool Cyberpunk.

Afro Samurai - Samuel L Jackson. That is all.

 

Also, shame on you. Darker than Black is awesome.

[WDeranged]

Thanks for all the replies, I just got home so I'll start looking into them in a bit

 

Also, shame on you. Darker than Black is awesome.

 

Weeeeell, it's entirely possible that I wasn't paying full attention during some crucial scenes but ultimately it didn't grip me, I need to track down the sequel series...

[Oerwinde]

Its been a while since I actually watched Anime. Animation school ruined it for me, all I see is the flaws now. But I was a huge fan of Fushigi Yuugi, Trigun, Golden Boy, Escaflowne and Those Who Hunt Elves. And as much as I hate to do it, I recommend the dubs of Golden Boy and Those Who Hunt Elves. The english voice actor for Golden Boy is magic and there are very few script changes, while Those Who Hunt Elves the english scripts are actually better than the Japanese ones.

[Oner]

I need to track down the sequel series...

No! No! Nononononono!

There's a manga interquel, read that if you want an extra fix.

 

I'm not sure what your problem with it was though, could you describe?

 

Berserk's english dub is awesome, too.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Oner

[HoonDing]

Record of Lodoss war

Samurai Champloo

Queen's Blade

[entrerix]

Cowboy Bebop

 

 

 

 

also: Outlaw Star and Samurai Champloo

 

you already listed Ghost in the Shell, or i would have that show right below cowboy bebop

[Labadal]

I'm currently watching Cowboy Bebop and enjoying it despite the animations not being the best. But then again, it is an old series.

[Oner]

Queen's Blade

The second season, if you must.

 

Oh right, forgot Gungrave. It's an adaptation of the video game of the same name, but focuses on the events preceeding the game. Suffer through the first episode and you get a genuinely great mafia story.

[WDeranged]

Full Metal Panic would be a good one. If you like more zaney things, try out Sengoku Basara.

 

I've watched a fair amount of Full Metal Panic and I did enjoy it, even if the school setting (wtf is it with anime and schools?) got on my nerves, Sengoku Basara doesn't look like my sort of thing, maybe it's the computer game connection, I'm fickle with anime

 

Hellsing Ultimate - What's more evil than nazis? Vampire zombie nazis.

 

Rurouni Kenshin Trust & Betrayal - My favourite anime. 4 episodes of ultimate samurai goodness. Also known as Samurai X Trust & Betrayal.

 

Azumanga Daioh - My favourite comedy series. Give it more than one episode to grow on you.

 

I enjoyed the original Helsing series and I've been meaning to give the remake a go, Samurai X looks like it could be my sort of thing so I'll check it out, I'm not so keen on comedy anime though, I'll check out Azumanga Daioh too but I'm wary of any anime with so many huge eyes and school uniforms

 

 

Pretty much what has already been said, and then add:

 

Monster - A doctor searches for one of his former patients that has turned into the most horrible sociopath imaginable. The man has an unknown past and no name, and the story takes place throughout several years in Germany and the Czech Republic. Excellent if you like murder mystery/thriller/horror.

 

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - A story of a boy growing up to be a man...a lot of mechas. This anime is not an ironic poke at 80's action or action in general. It is a celebration of it. This is the only anime that i know of where explosions explode.

 

Hunter X Hunter - An anime about a boy looking for his father, who is presumed lost. It turns out that the father was a member of an elite organization of "Hunters" and the boy wishes to become one himself. Best damn adventure feel that i ever got from any medium. Watch the older version for a better soundtrack and pacing.

 

Death Note - A kid finds a book that happens to belong to a shinigami (="death god"). It turns out that when you write a person's name in it, he or she will die shortly thereafter. The kid soon starts to exploit the power that the book has. Did i mention that the kid was a megalomaniac with a ridicolously high IQ and charms?

 

Monster sounds like exactly my kind of thing, I'll give that a look as soon as possible, Gurren Lagann I have watched but only a few episodes, It looks like the sort of thing I should like but at the time it annoyed me, my tastes change all the time though, I'll rewatch it one day.

 

Hunter X Hunter seems a bit too Yugioh/Pokemon-ish for my tastes, I'll check it out but I don't hold much hope, Death Note however was bloody brilliant, at least until they killed off one of the cooler characters and replaced him with an almost identical but less interesting version, it felt so pointless...still, I've been meaning to watch it again.

 

 

Hellsing Ultimate and TTGL were already mentioned.

Then there's Berserk - Medieval fantasy about the leader if a mercenary band aiming to become a king with the help of his right hand.

Vision of Escaflowne - Fantasy with steampunk mecha (better than it sounds). A girl is transported to a different world, where an empire is apparently looking for Atlantis.

Redline - Awesome racing IN SPACE!

Ano hi mita hana don'tremembertherest - A group of friends drift apart after one of them dies in an accident. Years later, her ghost appears before her closest friend, looking to get into the afterlife. Expect lots of bawling and an overexaggerated ending.

Then there's good ol' Cowboy Bebop - Cowboy headhunters IN SPACE!

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - This one defies classification. It's a story about a girl who announces that she doesn't care about ordinary people, just ESPers, aliens or time travelers. Next day, she meets them.

Black Lagoon - Mercenaries being mercenaries.

Armitage III - Oldschool Cyberpunk.

Afro Samurai - Samuel L Jackson. That is all.

 

Also, shame on you. Darker than Black is awesome.

 

Wow, that's a good list, lots of that stuff sounds like my thing but I'll have to do some googling before I know what is what, Darker than Black just lost me at the end, I couldn't see the point in it all, I felt like they were just inserting ideas at random, the strange thing is that I can't even remember the details now, somehow I've suppressed the memory

 

 

Its been a while since I actually watched Anime. Animation school ruined it for me, all I see is the flaws now. But I was a huge fan of Fushigi Yuugi, Trigun, Golden Boy, Escaflowne and Those Who Hunt Elves. And as much as I hate to do it, I recommend the dubs of Golden Boy and Those Who Hunt Elves. The english voice actor for Golden Boy is magic and there are very few script changes, while Those Who Hunt Elves the english scripts are actually better than the Japanese ones.

 

Golden Boy was hilarious and had some really energetic scenes, I shouldn't have liked it but I really did, I'll check out your other suggestions but Escaflowne is the one that jumps out at me.

 

 

Cowboy Bebop

 

also: Outlaw Star and Samurai Champloo

 

you already listed Ghost in the Shell, or i would have that show right below cowboy bebop

 

Cowboy Bebop is one of those shows I know I should like but don't, I keep it around in case my mood changes, Outlaw Star is one of my old favourites though, I still watch it now and then, Samurai Champloo is currently being watched and enjoyed

 

 

Queen's Blade

The second season, if you must.

 

Oh right, forgot Gungrave. It's an adaptation of the video game of the same name, but focuses on the events preceeding the game. Suffer through the first episode and you get a genuinely great mafia story.

 

Dunno about computer game anime, it's a weird bias I've got but I'll check it out just in case

 

 

Record of Lodoss war

Samurai Champloo

Queen's Blade

 

Strangely enough I just looked at Queen's Blade on youtube, that could be a guilty pleasure...maybe, I'll see if I can find any episodes.

Edited July 18, 2012 by WDeranged

[ShadySands]

One that I enjoyed but don't see listed is Ergo Proxy

 

EDIT: Possibly Gantz too but the aliens are usually really silly

Edited July 18, 2012 by ShadySands

[WDeranged]

One that I enjoyed but don't see listed is Ergo Proxy

 

EDIT: Possibly Gantz too but the aliens are usually really silly

 

I'm enjoying The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, so far at least, it's bat**** crazy and self referential, looking at it's IMDB page led me to Ergo Proxy so that's next on the watching list.

 

*edit*

 

Yeah, Ergo Proxy is exactly the kind of futuristic nightmare I'm into, more like this please

Edited July 18, 2012 by WDeranged

[kirottu]

Yeah, Ergo Proxy is exactly the kind of futuristic nightmare I'm into, more like this please

 

You can only say that because you haven't seen it. After episode 10 or so it changes to contain way too much mind**** episodes. Everything becomes needlessly complex, nothing gets explained and it spams "raison d'

[WDeranged]

Yeah, Ergo Proxy is exactly the kind of futuristic nightmare I'm into, more like this please

 

You can only say that because you haven't seen it. After episode 10 or so it changes to contain way too much mind**** episodes. Everything becomes needlessly complex, nothing gets explained and it spams "raison d'

[Oner]

Yeah, Ergo Proxy is exactly the kind of futuristic nightmare I'm into, more like this please

Blame, it's possibly even more nightmarish.

Oh and Needless. It's a Dragon Ball sorta thing, completely bat**** after the 6th or so episode. :D

[kirottu]

There's anime of Blame? I so want to see it!

[Oner]

There's anime of Blame? I so want to see it!

Hm, seems like they're just some animated scenes from the manga. My bad.

[entrerix]

currently watching Berserk. good so far, big swords, lots of gore

[Orogun01]

currently watching Berserk. good so far, big swords, lots of gore

Prepare to have your spirit crushed and raped!

[HoonDing]

Elfin Lied - Guilty pleasure, I grew up watching all the sick "Manga" imports in the early 90's and this one hits the spot but it would be complete garbage if you're not into cute anime girls performing a bit of the old ultra violence.

Watch/read Claymore then.

[Tel Aviv]

Finished watching Gantz just now. On the one hand I enjoyed it but I can't help thinking it the kind of series that gives anime a bad name. It's extremely violent, often ridiculous and embarrassingly fan service-y. Having said that Kurono's arc is pretty satisfying. I just don't know that I can recommend it to anyone. How's the manga?

[Orogun01]

Finished watching Gantz just now. On the one hand I enjoyed it but I can't help thinking it the kind of series that gives anime a bad name. It's extremely violent, often ridiculous and embarrassingly fan service-y. Having said that Kurono's arc is pretty satisfying. I just don't know that I can recommend it to anyone. How's the manga?

Like Gantz just more violent, fan service-y, rapey, crazy...is the kind of thing you look for the shock value as entertainment, like B movies.