anime recommendation Created 14 years ago2010-05-05 17:56:41 UTC by 2muchvideogames

Yes, this is an off center topic.

Can anyone recommend some good anime? By good I mean really good. And of course, I can certainly define what "good" means.

• no excessive fanservice. In fact it's best that there be next to none of this.

• no giant battle mechs. You know I am not into that kind of stuff.

• no harems. Clannad is great, but most are not.

• please, not anything before 1990. I'm sorry the art is just too old. DBZ is good example.

• I know about that one called charcoal feather federation, or something. I know many, many people say it's good, but I am not to watch that because I am a jerk and spoiled the plot to myself by surfing wikipedia. Sorry.

Feel free to discuss about any anime you would like to talk about. This is a general thread isn't it.

The only anime I've watched is Hellsing. I thought it was pretty good.

Edit: Dammit, I didn't read your last bullet.
Watch it anyway. Be a man.

why dont u give a look on Naruto?? it has a good storyline and there are a lot of sacrifice and struggle for the friendship.. and there are no evil characters at all well the anime shows why a bad guy become evil.. not like in Dragon Ball where we have no idea about freezer and cell past^^ yea i love Dragon Ball and it owns any anime but i have placed Naruto on the second place.

and there is a link to a battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n-RBQQ_1j4#t=0m18s so u can see there are no tech-mechs

on the third place: Deathnote.. anyway u can read a little of manga so if u find it interesting u can watch anime version
http://www.onemanga.com/Death_Note/1/00/

ps. stay away from "Fillers" and watch japan versions with subtitles ^.-

Just something from the top of my head. I do have something more to recommend, but can't remember that now.
Kurozuka
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Ergo Proxy
Freedom
Yukikaze
Planetes
The sky crawlers
Jin-roh: the wolf brigade
Moonlight mile
5 Centimeters Per Second

edit:
Black lagoon

Niea_7 is next on my list because it's another Abe work, though I don't have particularly grand expectations of it. From what I gather, it's mostly just a feel-good show at the end of the day.

Also,

Click the picture for the ANN page. No anime recommendation thread would be complete without this fucker. It seems like everybody on the face of the planet knows about this show, but nobody has actually seen it.
If you haven't, do yourself a big favor and check Azumanga Daioh out. You'll know if it's for you by the end of the first episode.
And normally I wouldn't care what language you watch something in, but the English dub is just so inappropriate and terribad here... just watch it with subtitles. You won't have any trouble keeping up, I assure you.

wow thx, this is alot of recs, I might take a while to check out the more obscure titles

I've seen that daioh one up to, like ep8 I think. It's catchy, but to be honest I am more interested in serious ones, because usually anime comedy doesn't really ring with this old gamer.

on a side note, I am not sure how anyone on the face of earth can possibly finish Naruto. we are talking about the hundreds of episodes. I rather not watch anything that I can't finish..

but, yeah like I said gonna take a long while to check all the titles.

but to be honest I am more interested in serious ones

You refuse to watch my serious one, though. I am disappoint

If you're not afraid to check out a chick-flick, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a really good, down-the-Earth movie. Well, other than the time travel, of course

Naruto and Bleach are pretty good. I watch those quite often. Give those a try.

Naruto and Bleach are pretty good.

Hahahahhhahahaaahahhahaahahha ahHhahahahahhaha, hahahaa......
...SNXXXX AHAHHAHhahahahahahahaaahahahahaaa.... ahahhahahaaaha...

I have Ponyo now, haven't watched it yet.

take the piss why don't you. I like both, doesn't meen you have to offend me because you don't.

I've caught Naruto a handful of times and watched it for the sake of being able to say it's bad. I've never seen Bleach, and never wanted to, but have only heard good things about it.

The thing about ongoing mainstream anime, though, is that they rehash so much so often. It's like the band Nickelback. They sound nice for two or three songs, then you find out that they only have one sound, and there's really nothing special about it. Then you see that they're dragging on this style, unchanged, with no end in sight.

A lot of the anime that's popular in the US and Canada isn't worth watching, really. Naruto is a perfect example- Try to find some ones that you can't get on TV in North America, and see if you can find english dubs somewhere.
Haven't seen bleach, so I'm not going to judge it yet. Too much.

There's this underground anime series called Poketto Monsuta that's really worth checking out. Deep, engaging storylines with well-written characters and plots.

Nah, really though. The only anime I've really liked a lot is Elfen Lied, a short series (13 episodes) about a girl with invisible arms who cut people in half and stuff. It's really very engaging, and with a great story. To be fair, the occasional nudity and incredibly grave violence help, too.

Give the first episode a try. You can catch the first scene here, it's pretty powerful. If you don't like it, you probably won't like the rest of the show.

And please, whatever you decide to watch or not watch, watch it in its original language. Dubbing is the bane of animated series.

Oh, ghost in the shell was fantastic. I'm not big on anime but I've seen all of that one, its awesome, deep and cerebral, and well written.

Cowboy Bebop was fun I thought.. The setting is pretty cool and the action is good.

Same thing with Outlaw star. Another space setting like coyboy bebop. The setting is awesome and the story is also pretty cool.

Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood are also pretty good, although watch the regular FMA first. The second one starts a bit rushed and identical to the first.. but then it diverges and gets pretty good.

Coyboy Bebop? Sounds like a porno remake of Cowboy Bebop.

Hot Spike-on-Jet action.

u should give a reason why naruto and bleach sucks a lot of dumbs watchs the naruto version with english dubbing and cutted scenes + fillers

The fact that there even is filler material is enough to discourage me from even trying it. Just not attracted to endless series, especially not when they're rude enough to offer you filler episodes instead of real story.

First impressions of NieA_7 have been good. The show was made by exactly the same team as Lain, but is pretty much the total opposite. It's sporadic, relying heavily on comedic timing ala Azumanga, but much calmer. Not necessarily more dry, though. The English voices are actually really good, except for Niea, which made me want to cut myself. Not that I watch it with the dub anyway, but it's good to know for potential viewers, yes?

The scene following the opening scene put me off quite a bit, honestly. It was really, really corny and relied too much on common anime tropes such as quick, angry speaking and slapstick beatings. The rest of the first episode was very much so redeeming of the first 5 minutes. I also really don't even like Niea's character so far, but the protagonist and newly introduced supporting character express a great deal of depth right off the bat.

Also, the animations is superb and consistent, and the soundtrack is spot on. There was also a bit of fanservice

Of course, this was only the first episode. No time to watch any more right now, though. Head is killing me and I've got some serious chills. Time to go to bed, goodnight.

wow, I was going to start this same thread.

My knowledge of anime is zero, and the extent of viewing was watching a very engaging anime at 3am on SBS (australian tv station that plays foreign productions) that made me want to see more. (the description of what I saw is very similar to what I have written below). In school I remember we watched spirited away, which I really enjoyed, but is not particulary what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for an engaging, serious storyline with well-thought out characters. Something that makes you think, set in a place that is earth but is strange and almost magical (not to the extent of Spirited Away however)
Nothing out of this planet though, nothing not involving humans, and I expect sword wielding.

I would rather the anime not be mainstream and really well known, I don't want it to stretch on forever, like Naruto, and I would prefer it to be in Japanese with English sub-titles

As a side-note, I am 18 and male if it matters, and so I would be looking for something with a target audience of around 18 or older

Hopefully you can make sense of my ramblings (its past 3am) and match some titles with my description. A link is not necessary but would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance

OK.
U should give a look on "Deathnote" the anime has 37 episodes!

---

Light Yagami is an intelligent young man who resents what appears to be a relentless increase of crime and corruption in the world around him. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a human's name is written within it, that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the notebook's authenticity, but after experimenting with it, he realizes that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the New World" by passing his keen judgment on those he deems to be evil or who get in his way.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (キラ?, derived from the typical Japanese pronunciation of the English word "killer"), is located in Japan. He also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a nuanced game of psychological cat and mouse between the two begins.

---

just thot I'd give a heads up: I've only seen few anime series, because, if you haven't figured out from post 1, I am very selective about this stuff. But let me tell you about the one's you guys rec'd that I already watched.

Bleach: I think bleach is pretty intense. It suffers however, from too many filler. You can see this in action when, just before a grand battle, they diverge from this to a completely unrelated alternative storyline FOR TWO DAM SEASONS

Elfen lied: Oh boy. This one. Yes, the first scene. Everyone knows that one. However the beginning eps suffer from gratuitous fanservice. Sad face. Also, the flashback sequence was used, like 3-4 times. That's stretching it, isn't it? Of course when I first watched it it seemed really good. But since then I have seen better, more profound ones with no fanservice.

5 centimeters: this is a movie, it's really nice, you should watch it. It's about two teens romance being tragically forced apart by distance. Very touching. Unfortunately the director apparently only produces movies revolving around this single theme.

I've seen ghost in the shell: intense, counter-terrorist cyber warfare. Every one of those words should make you want to watch this.

Cowboy bebop is good. However I can't say intense as I haven't seen all of it.

spirited away: I didn't watch all of this movie which I guess makes the effect that much less effective for me. same occurrence with howl's castle.

---

so let's see, you want

• serious storyline
• good chars
• fantasy world
• swords

Well, I know 3 along those lines.
Tsubasa chronicle: You prolly don't want this one, it's targeted younger children. Uses filler. Not alot of action, but sometimes plot is good and unpredictable. The premise is these guys and a princess going around many different fantasy worlds looking for her memories. The characters are distinctive. But like I said, targets younger audiences, and not alot of action, and not too engaging. (52eps I think, I didn't finish but I think there isn't a conclusion yet.)

murder princess: It's six eps long only, so maybe you have time for it. Premise is a princess and a skilled bounty hunter switches bodies, just when the princess's castle was being stormed. The setting is magical, since there are both robots and a medieval layout. You'll find out how this happens. However the characters are kinda cliched, as is the plot.

Ga rei zero: Omg, everyone should watch this. This show will define for you the true meaning of friendship, I swear. The first episode, omg that is the best way to start a show, seriously. There are swords, very good characters, and the enemies are similar to those in bleach (dark shapes, but not wearing dumb masks) 12eps, and if you are looking for good one this is worth your time. Beware though there are some lesbian moments (but not integral to the series as a whole) and one more thing: IT HAS HEADCRABS

wow thanks for the quick responses, by magical I don't mean monsters and things like that, I just mean, slightly unrealistic, like the way that 10 enemies with samurai swords run out of a tiny random building.
Gai rei zero sounds like something worth watching, and Light Yagami sounds a bit different, but good enough to download. Any more suggestions would be good.

Watch these

Kenshin: legend of kyoto
Afro samurai
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Death Note

that's all I've seen.