Anime recommendations

[Hoax]

Yeah but it was a great cliffhanger, and a great leadup and they ditched all the cutesy stuff in favor of white knuckle crazyness.

Right?  You've got to give them some credit for that.

[Yoru]

Yeah but it was a great cliffhanger, and a great leadup and they ditched all the cutesy stuff in favor of white knuckle crazyness.

Right?  You've got to give them some credit for that.

It was the most cliche cliffhanger imaginable and I expect season 2 will have just as much cutesy shit - this is CLAMP we're talking about after all. Not that I won't watch the first few eps, if I remember it by the time they come out.

What they did well was to start playing up CC's background and the layers of mystery and treachery surrounding that, which has been muted for most of the series as the rebellion and school plots took the foreground. What they may be doing, given the last few eps, is tearing down all of the supporting cast and shit surrounding the main characters, allowing them to have another escalating power curve for season 2.

[Simond]

TTGL20. BSS has really improved since they linked up with Anon.

I'm not quite sure which was the best part of ep20 - prison fight, shotgun sequence, the return of the prodigal redhead, or {Spoiler} Leeron, Lord-Genome's-Head-onna-stick or Kittan basically pointing out that every decision Rossiu's ever made was the wrong one: "Yeah...your plan of hiding most of humanity underground? Not so good. Let me introduce a phrase to you - 'Extinction Level Event'", "Of course my ship has a forcefield - it was a battleship of the Spiral Knights" "Of course the 'obsolete' ganmen can kick the crap out of the anti-spirals - that's what they were originally built for", and "Give me the core drill so the Gurren-dan can go and save the day again".{/spoiler}

Speculation: Rossiu dies a heroic death in the next episode as a partial redemption for all his screw-ups.{/speculation}

[Stormwaltz]

this is CLAMP we're talking about after all

CLAMP did the character designs for Code Geass, but nothing else. The story is the original work of the lead writer (Ichiro Okouchi) and director (Goro Taniguchi) of the Planetes anime. That's why I was so hot to see it.

[Yoru]

this is CLAMP we're talking about after all

CLAMP did the character designs for Code Geass, but nothing else. The story is the original work of the lead writer (Ichiro Okouchi) and director (Goro Taniguchi) of the Planetes anime. That's why I was so hot to see it.

I couldn't stand Planetes, actually, so your mileage with the series will probably vary significantly from mine.

[Simond]

TTGL 21: "WHO DO YOU THINK WE ARE!?!"
Utterly awesome. Plus bonus hothot teacher action as well.

[Yoru]

TTGL 21: "WHO DO YOU THINK WE ARE!?!"
Utterly awesome. Plus bonus hothot teacher action as well.

The ending of 21 blueballed the entire community. Must have 22...

[Simond]

Oh, it's worth it.

<--Just finished watching the raw of ep22.

[Yoru]

Oh, it's worth it.

<--Just finished watching the raw of ep22.

I'm grabbing the 720p clockless raw now, and it looks like ADTRW is assembling a sub file, since BSS-Anon announced that they won't be releasing subs for 22/23 for another week and a half.

The nice part of the Comcast fuckery is that, for all us non-Comcasters, a huge chunk of potential competition for high-speed peering slots are now freed up. Even with my upload capped to a paltry 35k/s, as soon as I started uploading my download speed jumped to over 200k/s.  :-D

Edit: ADTRW subs are complete. Here. A little ingenuity with Tokyotosho will get you an MKV.

Edit2: Just watched it.

This is quite possibly the greatest thing ever animated IN THE HISTORY OF TIME.

[stu]

Cowboy Bebop and Great Teacher Onizuka are my favorites.

La Blue Girl was the first anime I ever saw and will forever be ingrained in my mind, so I have to recommend that as well. That Miko Mido- she's so crazy.

[Furiously]

For Schild..

http://web.mac.com/eric.calderon/iWeb/Site/The%20Five%20Killers/The%20Five%20Killers.html

[schild]

For Schild..

http://web.mac.com/eric.calderon/iWeb/Site/The%20Five%20Killers/The%20Five%20Killers.html

Too many American hands in that shit. We'll see how it turns it. It could be fine, it could go TERRIBLY bad.

Bomb, Gun, Sword, Knife, and Vampire are stupid dumb motherfucking names though.

[rk47]

there was afro samurai. http://www.afrosamurai.com/

[angry.bob]

Afro Samurai was the earthly avatar of everything that's complete shit in the entertainment industry. You should be banned for even mentioning it.

[Megrim]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned so far (i'm sorry, but i'd rather not trawl through 18 pages), but i've recently started watching Ergo Proxy. I am not a big fan of anime, as i find most of it to be insufferable dreck, but this one has struck a note. Has anyone else seen it, and if so, what have your impressions been?

[Strazos]

I was sort of lukewarm on it. They sort of tried a bit too hard to inject a lot of philosophical stuff into the series, and mostly for no good reason.

Also had some dull spots....loved the animation though.

Overall, the series is better than most.

[Kitsune]

The original El Hazard OVA is re-released at a decent price, $26 for the entirety.  Anyone who hasn't watched it yet, should.  It's one of the only animes ever where the voice actors and translators were so good that the dub is actually better than the sub.  Good-quality animation, a whole pile of fantastic characters, and a very clean, concise seven-episode story that covers everything with no wasteful filler time.

Another one I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is Inukami, one of the 'guy and girl behave like oil and water but everyone knows they'll wind up fucking eventually' genre, but not as much of a giant cocktease about it as Rumiko Takahashi's stuff.  It's not deep, but it's fun, and full of rampant nudity.  The catch being that it's rampant male nudity, a funny twist on how much fanservice of the naked girl variety is on the market, and how seldom the guys are forced to deal with being caught naked.  The show goes to very great pains to have not one instance of frontal female nudity, while the main character winds up parted from his clothes in almost every episode.  (Luckily for everyone's eyes, dangling parts are censored, but the method the show uses for the censoring just adds to the humor.)

[Simond]

just realised I haven't made my obligatory TTGL post o' the week: Inventing/rediscovering FTL dimensional travel just to punch someone in the face quicker is as good a reason as any.

Also: New uniforms = Stolen from a circus.

[Hoax]

@Ergo Proxy:  I am a fan, great atmosphere, amazing visuals, solid characters and an ok sci-fi story.


@Inukami!:  Yeah its a sort of nice twist on fanservice but the show sort of drags along and I wouldn't have ever thought to mention it in this thread...

[Fabricated]

Afro Samurai was the earthly avatar of everything that's complete shit in the entertainment industry. You should be banned for even mentioning it.

Eh? I thought it was pretty decent for animation and action if not for a mind-rendingly retarded plot and some awful voice actors.

[NiX]

So, I haven't been into Anime for awhile now and just realized there's been some good stuff around. Just looking for a list of some good ones to watch that aren't the love themed ones. I've seen way too many of those.

[Strazos]

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

Full Metal Panic

Welcome to the NHK

Higurashi no naku koro ni

Black Lagoon

Elfen Lied

Bartender [lmaonade]

[Yoru]

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

Full Metal Panic

Welcome to the NHK

Higurashi no naku koro ni

Black Lagoon

Elfen Lied

Bartender [lmaonade]

I'd remove Haruhi and FMP from that list. The romance subplots are too strong if he's not looking for that sort of thing. Possibly also NHK.

I strongly recommend Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann if you're looking for explosions and over-the-top action. Black Lagoon is also solid. You may want to give Death Note a shot. It's more of a thriller, but I'm not quite done with it yet.

[Strazos]

When he said "love themed," I thought more along the lines of, say....Kanon.


Can I replace one of my earlier choices with Lucky Star?


I still haven't touched TTGL. Haven't had the time, and I'm still a bit cautious of it being similar to...Gundam, or something.



Also, you can't remove NHK - it has a MMO subplot for the auto-win.

[schild]

It's nothing like gundam.

It's a story about DRILLS and MANLINESS.

[Yoru]

It's nothing like gundam.

It's a story about DRILLS and MANLINESS.

It won over a very skeptical Schild. That should be enough for anyone.

Seriously, it's the series that reminds you of what it's like to be a kid, just having fun watching something awesome on TV Saturday morning while munching sugar-laden breakfast cereal soaked in chocolate milk.

[Fabricated]

So, I haven't been into Anime for awhile now and just realized there's been some good stuff around. Just looking for a list of some good ones to watch that aren't the love themed ones. I've seen way too many of those.

I can tell you what to avoid and that is Haruhi and Lucky Star. I watched a few episodes of both after seeing people cream their pants over both of them at pretty much every online community I visit, and I want that 3 hours of my life back. They're both awful and insipid. Don't buy into the hype.

Bartender I've seen some of and I liked it a lot but I'm pretty sure it's not for everyone.

[Stormwaltz]

My very short list of excellent series (YMMV) I've seen this year - none of which were actually released this year.

Kamichu! - A junior high girl wakes up one morning to discover she's a goddess. This is no maho shoujo with transformation sequences and talking plush toys - it's a wry, gentle slice-of-life show about friendship and Shintoism, where tiny gods are everywhere. It has the same general tone as the Ghibli films.

Paradise Kiss - Superficially, Ai Yazawa's tale is about the world of fashion. But its heart lies in the experience of college/university - that evanescent period of freedom and possibility between living at home and starting a career.

Planetes - Set about 70 years in the future, this is a "hard science" show that explores many things. Primarily, it's about what drives individuals to live and work in the hostile, lonely environment of space. But it's also about crazy office politics, and even about how the third world is being left behind by the inevitable march of progress.

Zipang - Remember the ~1980 popcorn flick The Final Countdown, in which a modern US aircraft carrier is transported back to the day before Pearl Harbor? This is the inverse - a modern Naval Self-Defense Force AEGIS destroyer gets sent back to the Battle of Midway. They're marooned in 1942, and have to find a path between their loyalty to Japan and their repugnance for the Japanese militarism of the period.

[rk47]

So, I haven't been into Anime for awhile now and just realized there's been some good stuff around. Just looking for a list of some good ones to watch that aren't the love themed ones. I've seen way too many of those.

I can tell you what to avoid and that is Haruhi and Lucky Star. I watched a few episodes of both after seeing people cream their pants over both of them at pretty much every online community I visit, and I want that 3 hours of my life back. They're both awful and insipid. Don't buy into the hype.

Bartender I've seen some of and I liked it a lot but I'm pretty sure it's not for everyone.

it's aya hirano. i don't really know what other reason a lot of people like those two series so much.

[schild]

I still stand by Lucky Star being pretty great.

I enjoyed Bartender a good deal.

If you want something long, but heavy on the lulz and totally self-aware, get Yakitate Japan. I might just start watching that again tomorrow. Yes, I think I will.

[Oban]

I just started watching Phoenix, apparently it will be coming out in October in English.

It is based on the buddhist concept of rebirth.  However it is not too preachy, concepts are not shoved down the viewer's throat, as of yet.  The only downside is that the animation seems kind of hit and miss so far, but the opening sequence is pretty amazing.

Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28manga%29

[Viin]

Been watching Samurai 7 (yes, I know, old news to you guys) but it's pretty good - even in English. (The wife won't watch it with subtitles).

[Oban]

Samurai 7 was really quite good.  Nothing quite like anime that offs main characters.   

[Strazos]

So, I haven't been into Anime for awhile now and just realized there's been some good stuff around. Just looking for a list of some good ones to watch that aren't the love themed ones. I've seen way too many of those.

I can tell you what to avoid and that is Haruhi and Lucky Star. I watched a few episodes of both after seeing people cream their pants over both of them at pretty much every online community I visit, and I want that 3 hours of my life back. They're both awful and insipid. Don't buy into the hype.

Bartender I've seen some of and I liked it a lot but I'm pretty sure it's not for everyone.

Maybe you just don't "get" them. Or perhaps you simply have different tastes. Maybe they're just Not For You.

Now, if you had said that about Naruto, Inuyasha, or Bleach, I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. 

[Viin]

Now, if you had said that about Naruto, Inuyasha, or Bleach, I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. 

Hey! The first few seasons of Inuyasha kicked ass! Now they are pulling a Rurouni Kenshin .. :(