Anime recommendations

[Riggswolfe]

I used to have a friend who was my "source" on anime. Unfortunately, he joined the army and it's a bit hard to contact him now.

So...any good anime recommendations? I lean more towards action and less towards silly/weird.

The only animes I own are:

Record of Lodoss War
Legend of Cristania (A semi-sequel to Lodoss War)
Robotech : Macross Saga (had to have it for nostalgia reasons)
Macross Plus

I also enjoyed Ghost in the Shell the one time I watched it.

I have heard Vampire Hunter D is good. Same with Cowboy Bebop.

So...any recommendations for an anime semi-virgin?

[stray]

I'm not a big fan of Anime, but I do have a few old favorites . If you like blood, gore, action, and something with a complete lack of prissy characters, there's Fist of the North Star. Maybe you've seen it already (fairly old school -- late 80's, early 90's), but if you haven't, you can't go wrong with either the series or feature film (just stay away from the live action movie).

I'd recommend Captain Harlock, but the old stuff is very hard to find (the new stuff I haven't seen yet). It's not exactly action packed, but still, it's a great story with great characters...Kinda space opera-ish, except with pirates.

Vampire Hunter D is boring. It's a very beautiful film and all, but other than that: Too much melodrama for me. And like most anime, the characters are pussies.

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't recommend it.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot to add Ninja Scroll. I'd be surprised if you haven't seen it, but I thought I'd mention it anyways. Like I said with Fist of the North Star, if you like action, then check it out.

[schild]

I can list a ton as I've seen way too much fucking anime, but here's my top picks:

1. FLCL Probably the opus of Studio Gainax. Other notable works include Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai (Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade in America), Oruchuban Ebichu, Kareshi Kanojo No Jijou (His and Her Circumstances in America), and finally the favorite of many elitists and morons alike, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Any and all of which are worth purchasing in full.

2. Jungle Wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu TV & Deluxe. Unfortunately, the two studios behind this show don't seem to be able to make any other shit worth watching.

3. Anything by Hayao Miyazaki and by extension, Studio Ghibli. Notables include Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Though, I'd argue, Grave of the Fireflies is their best work and one of the best war stories ever put to film.

4. Azumanga Daioh. Genco, the studio behind Azumanga Daioh, also did Millenium Actress, Figure 17 - Tsubasa & Hikaru, and Kino no tabi ~the Beautiful World~. All of which are pretty goddamned good.

5. And I may be the only one that recommends this, but, Noir. It's highly, HIGHLY underrated. You can comfortably skip the other shows from the joint studios that made Noir.

Edit: Also, if you're looking at purchasing anime, might I suggest getting Hong Kong imports from Animeniacs and/or Discount Anime DVD. I just can't support the gouging prices of localized anime. The dubbing sucks half the time. There's no excuse for charging $29.99 for 3 episodes when for $50 you can get Hong Kong imports with decent to awesome subtitles for a full series. Which reminds me.

6. Colorful. The best American dub of anything is located on this DVD. If you're into sophomoric humor, this show is fucking awesome. The studio, Shueisha also did the hilarious Golden Boy, the positively astounding Ultra Maniac TV, the surprisingly addictive Hikaru No Go, and the overly cute Happy World!.

[Train Wreck]

Though Anime fans everywhere will hate my guts for saying this, I have to say that Robotech is the only series I really liked.

[UnSub]

My favourite anime series of all time is Giant Robo, which is only just coming out onto DVD. The first episode is a bit bland-ish, but once you start heading to the climax it's just fantastic.

Excel Saga can be quite funny, but you need to watch other anime to pick up some of the references. I still haven't finished this series, so can't guarantee that the quality stays high (since I've heard that things drop off towards the end).

[grebo]

Nobody said Naruto yet...  Have to get them off Bittorrent as there are no engdub releases.  
Link to season 1

#1 in Japan right now.  Pretty good stuff.

Second the recommendations of anything by Ghibli, and definately watch FLCL.  Best. Anime. Ever.

[Soukyan]

I like:

Last Exile
FLCL
Noir
Beck

[NiX]

Ones I liked alot:
Noir
Wolf's Rain

There's more but its been awhile and I can't remember their names.

I also didn't mind FMA. Very depressing from start to near the end, but still well done.

[WindupAtheist]

Just the other day I finally picked up the second season boxed set of The Big O, which is one I highly recommend.  No disgusting cuteness, no screeching J-pop soundtrack, no goddamn children, nobody with fucking animal ears or a tail, no schoolgirls, and no ethnically ambiguous characters with white skin, round eyes, and Japanese names.  It's primary influences seem to be Batman the Animated Series and The Iron Giant.

Plot synopsis:  Paradigm City appears to be the last remnant of human settlement on Earth.  Nobody knows how this came to be, however, because forty years prior to the events of the show, every single living person suffered simultaneous and complete amnesia.  Over time civilization was rebuilt, and the city that is pretty obviously the former New York is now ruled over by the Paradigm Corporation.  The protagonist is a guy named Roger Smith, a former cop who makes his living as a freelance negotiator (works a lot of kidnapping cases, stuff like that).  When things go to shit, he summons his giant robot and beats ass.  So with that, and his faithful butler Alfred... er... I mean Norman, and his ill-tempered android sidekick/possible love interest Dorothy, he eventually tries to figure out what the hell is going on, and who actually knows what happened forty years prior.

[Windurst]

You should try the new Xenosaga Anime series.

[Merusk]

You should watch Cowboy Bebop for the music if nothing else.  Best soundtrack I've ever heard for an Anime, and I understand it's all done by one guy & his band, Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts.  

I also second The Big O as a good series.  It had such a fanbase from the Cartoon Network that CN funded the completion of the second season itself.

Also, Robotech was fun but watching it nowadays is just painful.  I own the series because I enjoyed the story when I was young  (well, except for the second series with Dana)and you can't go wrong with giant robots but the animation just makes my eyes bleed now.

[SirBruce]

I prefer comedies myself.  So classic stuff like Ursei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Kimagure Orange Road, Koko Wa Greenwod, and Miami Guns make my list.

If you're looking for epic anime ala Lodoss War, nothing beats Escaflowne.

If you're looking for lighter action, Riding Bean and Gunsmith Cats are classics of the genre that deserve to be watched.

For a good Twilinght Zone / Horror series, Vampire Princess Miiyu tops the list.

And if you just want something truly strange, a quirky combination of magical girl anime, comedy, and gender-bending romance that is heavy (and I do mean heavy) on visual metaphor, then you want Revolutionary Girl Utena.  Let me warn you, though, that the series is so confusing most of the people who have seen every episode still don't know what it was really about.

Bruce

[Jain Zar]

Im a big fan of Patlabor myself.  Near future cop story with robots.  Cept the robots could be removed from the show and it would still kick ass.  Sometimes its a comedy, sometimes a techno thriller, and sometimes a drama.  Cept its all good.  Plus you have to love any show that makes references to Ultima and Wizardry in it.

[schild]

I prefer comedies myself.  So classic stuff like Ursei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Kimagure Orange Road, Koko Wa Greenwod, and Miami Guns make my list.

Urusei.
Greenwood.

Anyway, these titles are classic alright. And highly overrated. Easily avoided.

If you're looking for epic anime ala Lodoss War, nothing beats Escaflowne.

NERV beats both.

If you're looking for lighter action, Riding Bean and Gunsmith Cats are classics of the genre that deserve to be watched.

For a good Twilinght Zone / Horror series, Vampire Princess Miiyu tops the list.

And if you just want something truly strange, a quirky combination of magical girl anime, comedy, and gender-bending romance that is heavy (and I do mean heavy) on visual metaphor, then you want Revolutionary Girl Utena.  Let me warn you, though, that the series is so confusing most of the people who have seen every episode still don't know what it was really about.

Miyu.

Also, every single series you listed is fun to people that like old shitty stuff. No offense, but your taste is highly dated. HIGHLY dated. Catch up with the times, old-timer.

Oh, and a furry recommending Ranma 1/2 is just damned wrong.

[Kageru]

I have my anime reviews at http://amr.nextstudio.net even though I'm not watching any anime till I get L60 in WoW.... having a job would probably help too.

[Soukyan]

Oh, and Gankutsuou is a very, very cool one. The art style is really amazing and it's an interesting retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo.

[Azaroth]

You know the only thing worse than a furry?

Anime fans, attack!

Jk ;P

Rock on, you crazy, fun loving anime weirdos.

[Jealous Deva]

Cowboy bebop is just something everyone should watch, its atmosphere, character, and themes make it stand out as great independant of it's genre.

The same goes for Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2, though SAC doesn't match up to the movies IMHO (Not that it's bad, it just isn't at the same level as the movies.


I like what I've seen of Big O, though I haven't really seen enough of it to make a judgement.  Same for FMA.

[Margalis]

I like Big-O quite a bit, it's more than the sum of it's parts. Same thing with Trigun. (Which you won't like if you don't appreciate the wacky sense of humor sometimes)

Also Macross Plus totally rules. It's probably the best thing I've seen. It deserves some sort of award for sound as well. (Like, best use of sound in anything ever) I think what makes it so good is that I, and I would guess a lot of other people, can identify with both the male protaganists even though they are polar opposites in many ways.

[Lanei]

Series I watched/liked/own.  No particular order.

Trigun.  Action, fair amount of comic releif, good story anyway.

Hellsing.  Action, guns, less comic releif, fair story.  Vampire genre.

Ruroni Kenshin.  Historical fiction, late 1860s Japan. Kickass swordsman, vowed never to kill again.  Some people don't like the art style.  Often goofy, moderate to high amounts of romantic subtext.  OAV and movie were released in the US under the 'Samurai X' title.

Evangelion.  Big robots, existentialism, everyone is pretty sure theres a Big Deep Meaning but I'll be damned if I've ever seen anyone coherently explain it.  Its good anyway.

Gunsmith cats.  Cute chicks, cool toys, fast car, formulaic action, basically no plot to speak of.

[SurfD]

Man, I never realised Schild had such good taste in anime.  You have gone up a notch in my book.

Going to have to second anything by Miyazaki.  Schild already mentioned Spirited Away and Mononoke.  The others you might want to look into are Nausicaa (not sure if this was ever licenced for NorthAmerican Distro), Laputa (also known as Castle in the Sky), My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service.  His studio also has a new movie in the works, Howl's Moving Castle, which I am really looking foreward to.

If you like some deep thoughts kind of stuff, check out Night on the Galactic Railroad.

As for serieses, a lot of good stuff has been mentioned, I would like to add:
- OnePiece (Avoid the English dub like the plague, and get the Fansub version.  Sorry Schild, but fucking Foxbox, or whoever their supplier is, has butchered this show to the point where I dont give a fuck if they licenced it, their end product is a travesty that does not bear supporting).  Probably the best series of its genre I have ever watched.  Better then Naruto, and beats the livin shit out of DBZ.
- The Irresponsble Captain Tylor.  Absloutely awesome series.
- Read or Die.  The OVAs are just cool, and the TV series isnt too bad either.
- Mahou Tsukai Tai.  Great characters, romantic comedy, highschool magic club, and some well done sexual humor.  

For those macross fans out there, I would REALLY reccomend hitting AnimeSuki and grabbing the full run of Macross Zero before some company licenceses it and it dissapears.  (Just a note, that website hosts torrent links ONLY to non licenced anime)

[ahoythematey]

Kind of surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet(although then some people fucking hate the movie as I used to), but Akira is pretty much THE anime movie, despite being barely half as good(or understandable) as the manga series.  If you are into the action and can stomach some weird, then check out the movie.  This doesn't really have much to do with the topic, but I like the music as well.

[schild]

Akira and Ghost in the shell (it's sequel, and stand-alone complex TV) are all highly HIGHLY overrated. Style over substance. Though Akira has more substance underneath the surface than GITS.

[ahoythematey]

I'm not really sure why I dig Akira, particularly since I used to absolutely hate the movie.  The pacing is uneven, the story makes little sense even upon repeat viewings, and the ending is anticlimactic.  However, the lil' bastard somehow holds me now, so I figure it might be good for others, even if it is widely recognized(which is a trait that does not mean automatically something is overrated).

I absolutely agree with Ghost in the Shell, though.  The manga is good, the movie is fucking garbage.

EDIT: Oh, and the Ninja Scroll movie is a fun watch if you are in the mood for revenge, gore, and tight pacing.

[Furiously]

I can list a ton as I've seen way too much fucking anime, but here's my top picks:

1. FLCL Probably the opus of Studio Gainax.

Great story and music in this one. I bought it several months ago. If you know you like anime, you will love this. Otherwise you will just sit there asking yourself WTF?

5. And I may be the only one that recommends this, but, Noir. It's highly, HIGHLY underrated. You can comfortably skip the other shows from the joint studios that made Noir.

Total agreement on this - very underrated and very good. Bought the box set on ebay for $50 I liked it so much. Course I don't know what I will do with the t-shirt now. The pacing annoyed the wife, the constant flashback, with the ever growing length of what is revealed - but I liked that aspect. Very good series.

I'd also throw in my support for viewing Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.  Trigun, you really want to wade through the first 9 episodes to get to the meat. They really take too long to get going - but when they do - wow.

For a fun robot romantic series, I'd suggest full metal panic. Most people like the 2nd season, but I found the first to be much more enjoyable.  I'd clarify that by stating, I borrowed these from a friend, so I never paid a dime for them. If I spent money, I'm sure my feelings would be different.

***Spoiler***
Love to hear what people thought about the parting shots in Noir. The first time I watched it, I figured RIP them. (Not that I don't think they will likely die soon), but then I watched it again, and it's one shot from each of their guns, so I think its some odd Salute. Overall - I wish it wasn't there.

[Bunk]

I can list a ton as I've seen way too much fucking anime, but here's my top picks:



5. And I may be the only one that recommends this, but, Noir. It's highly, HIGHLY underrated. You can comfortably skip the other shows from the joint studios that made Noir.

I rented the first couple disks of Noir, and I found the story quite interesting. Problem I had was that it felt like each 20 minute episode used about 12 minutes of re-run footage from the last three episodes.

It was as though they couldn't afford to create new footage. Reminded me of the old Canadian Spiderman/Rocket Robinhood cartoons in that way.

So did they get any better as it went on?

[schild]

They keep showing the one flashback with them as children, but it changes as the series go on, if I remember correctly. I think there are about 7 episodes in the last 10 that make it completely worth finishing. Unless I'm losing my mind, episodes 23-26 were positively stellar.

[toma levine]

Fans of Ninja Scroll would probably also enjoy Berserk, which ranks pretty high in both sheer violence and WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED

[HaemishM]

My tolerance for anime has gone WAY down in recent years, probably owing to so much more of it being available in the States. It seems like they've run out the string on good shit, and the really bad, wacked out shit is all they can put out now.

I think the biggest thing that bugs me about anime is when they get all "whacky" and shit. Things like gigantic bug eyes when someone is surprised, or something just so goddamn absurb, it just doesn't fit. I tried very fucking hard to like Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I couldn't make it past the first disc. That goddamn penguin, Pepe the warm-water penguin just killed me. I mean, here you have this story that doesn't yet make a lot of sense about giant robots and some kind of demonic or angelic stuff, and I'm trying to get into it and this fucking PENGUIN just shows up and kills the mood. It's like watching a great porno and right in the middle of it, someone's grandmother comes into the frame. WHAT THE FUCK? I DON'T NEED THAT!

With that said, I must say I enjoy Cowboy Bebop, because when it goes whacky, it stays within its universe. I loved Robotech, still dig the Ghost in the Shell movie, like Ninja Scroll and Bubblegum Crisis. Patlabor was good. Even though it does go silly, I still love Moldiver.

[Soukyan]

I can list a ton as I've seen way too much fucking anime, but here's my top picks:



5. And I may be the only one that recommends this, but, Noir. It's highly, HIGHLY underrated. You can comfortably skip the other shows from the joint studios that made Noir.

I rented the first couple disks of Noir, and I found the story quite interesting. Problem I had was that it felt like each 20 minute episode used about 12 minutes of re-run footage from the last three episodes.

It was as though they couldn't afford to create new footage. Reminded me of the old Canadian Spiderman/Rocket Robinhood cartoons in that way.

So did they get any better as it went on?

Watch all of them. Noir is worth finishing.

[Furiously]

Very woth finishing. I'd say it's my favorite out of all of them. Then again, the last 4 episodes or so of Trigun are amazing.

[kaid]

I love ninja scroll. The funniest part about why I love it though is the fact that me and a friend when we first rented it grabbed the wrong copy. The copy we grabbed was all dubbed in spanish with ONE english subtitle.

It is very very odd watching a movie written in one language dubbed in another that you can sometimes understand but damn we had fun MST3king why the hell the big bosses kept sending minions into the grinder with arms and legs flying everywhere.

I have since seen it in english and it is still a very good anime film in an over the top gorey sort of way. The big stone guy gives new meaning to the phrase can lick anybody in a fight though.


kaid

[sidereal]

Venus Wars
Ninja Scroll
Spirited Away

If you value your sanity and/or your time, do not come within 200 yards of a theater showing the Ghost In The Shell sequel.  It takes the unfortunate anime tendency to try to sound profound by stringing random metaphysical words together and elevates it to a divine calling.  Never has a movie so bad sounded so self-important.  Yes, I'm bitter.

[Furiously]

It sure is pretty to look at though wasn't it?

[Jealous Deva]

Oh come on now, it's Ghost in the Shell...  Self Important philosophical rambling and pretty imagery is the point.