Anime Suggestions Thread

[Mr Bekkler]

Anyway I've been watching Last Exile and Bacanno. Any more legit suggestions? "Guessing" is really just listing names, which is pretty spammy honestly.

[tushantin]

Fruits Basket!

... I actually kind of really love Fruits Basket.

Ho ho ho! Romance/Comedy lover!  

In that case, you just might like School Rumble. The story's Love Triangle Quadrilateral Connect-the-dots, about a girl who falls in love with a guy, who falls in love with another girl, who falls in love with another guy, who simply LOVES pie! Aaaaaaaand they all have issues.

Anyway I've been watching Last Exile and Bacanno. Any more legit suggestions? "Guessing" is really just listing names, which is pretty spammy honestly.

Duuude! Code Geass and Rurouni Kenshin! XD (Refer to my previous posts)

[GenesisOne]

Recently, my two japanohile friends introduced me to Ouran High School Host Club. I fell instantly in love, and now I come recommending it, not merely suggesting it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouran_High_School_Host_Club#Anime

[gatotsu911]

Okay, fine, I guess there aren't a lot of fellow fans around here. It's Neon Genesis Evangelion - the anime that redefined anime, and understandably so. Fascinating plotting, perfect pacing, great characters, provocative themes and unforgettable imagery - it has everything I could ever want from an anime series, and is quite likely the reason I'm still an anime fan today. Be warned, though, that by the end it gets extremely dark, introspective and mind-screwy, so I hope you like that sort of thing. (If you like Chrono Cross and Xenogears, then you probably will.)

Rurouni Kenshin is also gooood stuff, although I vastly prefer the manga to the anime (the TV anime, at least - the OVAs are fantastic) and there's word of a new anime coming down the line. But really, aside from broadly recommending "the classics" (Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ranma 1/2, Evangelion, Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc.) it's kind of hard to make specific suggestions without knowing what exactly you look for in anime/film/fiction.

[wiz Khalifa]

Yo has anyone watched a show called "K-On" its got these girls who eat cake all day without gettin fat. Straight crazy if my bitches ate that way i'd be tappin the biggest asses on the planet

Okay, fine, I guess there aren't a lot of fellow fans around here. It's Neon Genesis Evangelion - the anime that redefined anime, and understandably so. Fascinating plotting, perfect pacing, great characters, provocative themes and unforgettable imagery - it has everything I could ever want from an anime series, and is quite likely the reason I'm still an anime fan today. Be warned, though, that by the end it gets extremely dark, introspective and mind-screwy, so I hope you like that sort of thing. (If you like Chrono Cross and Xenogears, then you probably will.)

Hahahahaha i watched this the other night, what the fuck was up with that ending?

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

Can I recommend you play an anime game rather than watch an anime?

Here's the opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQQzUlsaCE&feature=grec_index

And here's a great trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENhS2lhNk-c&feature=grec_index

[tushantin]

Can I recommend you play an anime game rather than watch an anime?

Here's the opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQQzUlsaCE&feature=grec_index

And here's a great trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENhS2lhNk-c&feature=grec_index

Fragile Dreams, aye? Man, I loved the artistic ingenuity in the opening shot! It's given me some production ideas. 

[KebreI]

Mr Bekkler I came out of the wood work just for you pal.

I am gonna say that Last Exile is indeed one of my personal favorites and the praise it is getting it justified. More so though I'd recommend "Spice and Wolf". It is VERY nonstandard. First of no fighting at all really, but it isn't a slice of life or cute little girls and boys show. It is about trade and economics of pre-Renaissance Europe, a very unique topic to be sure, but that isn't the only thing selling it. The Characters, oh man the characters they all have AMAZING depth and detail to them. The rapport between Lawrence and Holo, is definitely not a cliche anime romance it is something is much more realistic and an honest connection.

Even if you don't end up watching the anime, you could also pick up the books which the anime is based on. It is a extremely faithful adaption so both are legitimate options.

[Mr Bekkler]

Thanks bud that sounds great!

[Syna]

Ho ho ho! Romance/Comedy lover!  

In that case, you just might like School Rumble. The story's Love Triangle Quadrilateral Connect-the-dots, about a girl who falls in love with a guy, who falls in love with another girl, who falls in love with another guy, who simply LOVES pie! Aaaaaaaand they all have issues.

I'm more into character development and character-based humor than romance per se, which Fruits Basket has in cute spades (GOD I love the Snake), but I do find Wacky Japanese Student Shenanigans to be inherently hilarious, so I will take a look!

I haven't mentioned this so far because I doubt it's Mr Bekkler's style, but my favorite anime is actually Revolutionary Girl Utena. It has a number of qualities many find offputting: 1) it's cheaply animated; 2) it's a simultaneous deconstruction and riff on shoujo tropes (repeat costume-change animations ahoy!); 3) it's among the most surreal and strange of all anime. Eat your heart out, FLCL.

However, if you can hang on til the third arc, it's just jawdropping. It's high metaphysical theater in the Greek style, with character development as profound as any I've ever seen-- character development tied to deep philosophical contexts and archetypes, in fact. It's a painful, fucked-up ode to idealism with a bunch of playful occult references thrown in for good measure. It's really, really, really good, for those who have enough sympathy, and a keen eye. I'm done now. (Also, I'm tempted to make an Utena avatar...)  

[Mr Bekkler]

Don't worry about me, if you like it, suggest it! You make Utena sound like a compelling ride.

[alfadorredux]

"A compelling ride" is a good way to put it. Utena is one of my favourites as well--incredibly, even the recap episodes that are three-quarters made up of clips from earlier episodes manage to contribute to the story. However, I wouldn't say that it's cheaply animated--more that the artwork is often rather stylized.[1]

Syna, have you ever seen Princess Tutu? It's somewhat similar to Utena (right down to the surrealism).

Another favourite of mine that fails to meet Mr Bekkler's criteria but might be of interest to some people here is Noein ~ Mou Hitori no Kimi e, a science-fiction series that deals heavily in parallel universes, time travel, and quantum physics. One of the main characters is in a situation weirdly similar to Fargo's, actually (except that we also get to see him as he was before the event that broke his world apart). It also has good characterization and some interesting fight choreography. The official translation apparently dropped the ball in a big way on the quantum physics terminology in the show, so anyone interested in watching it should search out the Shinsen-Subs version if possible.

[1] If you want to see what "cheaply animated" really looks like in anime, try Violinist of Hameln, whose makers forced a budget intended for 13 episodes to stretch to cover 25. It often looks more like a set of storyboards strung together than any kind of animation. This is probably the main reason it has never gotten an official translation. (It's a shame, actually--if you like fantasy drama, it's a pretty entertaining show.)

[tushantin]

GHIBLI YAY!
[youtube]rq7NQ0qs7N0[/youtube]

[1st Mate Bob]

What I'm currently watching: Fairy Tail and Deadman Wonderland.

Fairy Tail is about wizards/mages. It's almost like it takes place in an MMO world. All of the wizards form guilds where they form teams (parties) within the guild in order to go out and do jobs (quests) for rewards. They are currently around the 80 episode mark and still going. The story focuses around 4 main characters with their own special abilities.

Deadman Wonderland is about this boy who gets convicted of a crime he didn't commit, and is then sent to life in prison at a place called Deadman Wonderland, which is an amusement park where the convicts are forced to entertain to make money to support the facility. There is a secret about the place, conspiracy theories abound, and the main character is stuck in the middle of it all due to his newly found powers.

[maggiekarp]

Everyone needs to stop what they're doing and watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Nutbladder subs if you can get them. It's a deconstruction of Magical Girl anime, and it made me cry. Especially for people here who dig the Chrono series, I think you'll get a lot out of the themes and settings. If it doesn't look like your thing, stick with it, you'll be hooked by episode 3. Try not to be spoiled!