The Anime-Fag Thread

[Sosarin Demar]

Been watching too much animoo (anime) lately. Thought I'd share some recommended, rather recent shows for those who casually peruse animoo or are just curious. I encourage other peeps to do the same. (However, if someone recommends a stupid anime I will call them out on it.) You can watch some of these series at www.animeseason.com , which is a pretty reliable site. Not a definitive source of everything, but pretty good.

I am going to place them in two categories accompanying a summary. I suggest anyone who posts a show recommendation does the same.

[Must Watch] -- This particular animoo is so good, you would stake your life on it. Literally. If Jason Voorhees "The Otaku Slayer" would spare your life if you could show him one truly awesome anime, this would be one of those. This is an animoo you wouldn't be afraid to recommend to people who typically don't watch anime. Do not be foolish and put most of your recommendations in this category.

[Check It Out] -- For whatever reason it's really great and awesome, but it has its quirks that may put some people down. There's probably a schoolyard in there, or an annoying character or two, or a twelve-year-old romance, or very little character development, or oxnoxious panty worship. Most anime you recommend should be in this category.

Black Lagoon [Must Watch]

Synopsis: "The story follows a team of pirates/mercenaries known as Lagoon Company, that smuggles goods in and around the seas of Southeast Asia in the early 1990s." One japanese business schmuck finds himself betrayed by his corporation and pretty much left to dry. He finds himself in their employ and goes out to kick some ass, finding more about himself and how to make his balls drop.

This show doesn't fuck around and it's a good, short length. It doesn't take three or five episodes to get into it. It gets straight into the meat at episode one. There's a lot of references to popular culture and some good, serious comedic moments. Among the flurry of rich characters is the female protagonist is Revy, who is just as dark as she gets. She's a true bloodthirsty psychopath who looks like she's going to turn on the main boyman on any second if he pisses her off. And, she gets ticked off easily.

A worthwhile investment of your time.

Code Geass [Check It Out]

Synopsis:

Wackepedia: The series is set after Japan's conquest by the Holy Britannian Empire on August 10, 2010, a.t.b. with their powerful new robot weapons, the Knightmare Frames, stripping Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renaming the country Area 11. The titular Lelouch is a Britannian prince who was disowned by his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, after his mother was murdered, and has vowed to kill his father, the Emperor, and destroy Britannia. He gains an ability through the mysterious power of the Geass, becoming the leader of the resistance movement to fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

There's a lot of hype with this show, which is a shame. People equate it to Death Note, due to the deus ex machina super conquer-the-planet power, but the story is altogether worlds apart and the main character is infinitely superior in manliness and intellect than that pussy-shit Light or whatever the fuck his name was.

Even though the main dood gets a super power, he uses his wits foremost to devise strategy at both the strategic and tactical level. You watch the show to see what happens next -- what stunt he pulls and whether he succeeds or fails. The super power is just a gimmick on the side and not the only thing that makes the show interesting, which is a GOOD thing.

The soundtrack is superb and the animation quality is equally so. The art style of the characters suffers at times (rice bowl chin, anyone?), but that's not why I didn't mark this as a "must watch." There are schoolyard parts and the treacherous need to somehow include all characters, allies or no, in the same fucking academy. However, this schoolyard stuff thankfully doesn't last and doesn't detract horribly from the show -- however, it didn't need to be there. At all.

One of my more favorite anime's of all time, despite its imperfections. Certainly has one of the most epic endings, with Lelouch being one of the more darker and likeable heroes in the histories of ever, donning an outfit that would make Cobra Commander jealous and wet in the boycunt. If you like anime, fucking watch it. Today.

It's in two seasons, the second season probably being a little weaker than the first but still glorious. You can watch it at www.animeseason.com in the "full series" listing.

Claymore [Check It Out]

Synopsis:

In a world where humans coexist with sentient monsters called Yoma (妖魔?) that feed on human innards, an organization has created an order of half-human, half-yoma warriors to protect humans from the yoma, for a large fee. The people of this world have dubbed these warriors "Claymores" based on their swords. They are also referred to as "Silver Eyed Witches", based on their appearance and seemingly cold nature toward others. Each Claymore has a rank number which is based on their strength and ability. There are 47 ranks corresponding to the number of regions of the land/world.

A Claymore known as Clare saves a small town by killing a Yoma living there, and meets Raki, a boy whose parents were killed by the Yoma. Out of gratitude, Raki ends up following Clare from town to town during her Yoma-killing jobs. The two travel together until they are separated when Clare is forced to battle a sadistic Claymore named Ophelia. Before parting, Clare promises to find him if she survives. The story becomes a tale of revenge, as Clare seeks to confront someone from her past.

Awesome demon slaying. Great animation, good music. A good gothic fantasy series with entertaining action and powahs.

Kuroshitsuji [Check It Out]

Synopsis:

In a manor house on the outskirts of Victorian era London, butler Sebastian Michaelis serves Ciel Phantomhive, the twelve-year-old head of an English noble family and a toy and candy empire, who serves directly under the Queen. Sebastian carries out any task required by his master while solving the problems plaguing England with ease and perfection, because of his demonic lineage and Faustian contract with his master.

It's anime anime with some engineered humor, but a good'un. Recommended if you like anime. If you're a casual watcher, probably not so much. For a little boyman Ciel Phantomhive is srz bzs and isn't immature, so that's good. It really is a Faustian story, with Ciel damning himself to achieve his own revenge for the plight that befell himself and his house. He's given multiple chances to somewhat redeem himself, but he remains steadfast in his convinction. Or does he?

Bottom line, I think a handsome ass-kicking demon butler person who can do anything and everything is awesome.

I'd do Sebastian.

I would.

Monster [Must Watch]

Synopsis:

Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, had it all: incredible skill at his work, a rich and beautiful fiancée, and a promising career at his hospital. However, after becoming disenchanted by hospital politics, he chose to save the life of a young boy who got shot in the head over the life of the mayor. As a result he lost the support of the hospital director, as well as his position in the hospital and his fiancée. A short time later, the hospital director and the doctors that replaced him were murdered, and once again he was catapulted back onto the top. But as the chief suspect of the murders, Tenma did not get a easy life. As a matter of fact, it seems that the boy he saved was much more than he had appeared to be... Now to clear his name and to correct his past mistake, Tenma must get to the bottom of these and other murders, and investigate the truth of the Monster who is behind all of this.

If I had to choose a favorite anime of all time, this would be it. It is rather long though -- close to 75 episodes. Thankfully it isn't like Bleach of One Piece in duration.

The funny thing about most anime is that they're usually telling riveting stories with science fiction or fantasy elements in them. This one has none of that. It's a suspense thriller based on history -- particularly the divide between east and west Germany and the fall of the wall. It delves into psychology, mind control experiments, and all that whacky stuff.

The synopsis above doesn't do the show much justice. That just covers the first four or so episodes.

The characters are rich and develop well. They're all likeable in their own way. The villain, Johann, is mysterious and quite evil.

Even neo-nazis saw him as the second coming of Hitler.

He's just that ebilly awesome.

With that pretty face of his, I don't blame them fascist fanboys.

Samurai 7 [Check It Out]

Synopsis:

Samurai 7 tells the story of a village named Kanna. Every year during the harvest a group of bandits come and steal away almost all of the rice that had been harvested that year. Not only that, the bandits are becoming more demanding, now taking women and children in addition to rice.

The elder of Kanna Village has decided that to protect the village they must hire samurai to fight against the bandits. However, the village has no money and thus must find samurai willing to protect the village for a payment of rice. Three members of the village leave to attempt to recruit samurai. They travel to the city and search for samurai willing to work, and after finding several samurai and having a few encounters with the local government they return to Kanna village to prepare defenses against the bandits.

A re-imagining of seven samurai in animoo format, with mechs and stuff. The mech bandits steal the rice for batteries and ... well it sounds stupid but it's fucking awesome. If you want to watch stupid samurai mech fighting with like samurai swords cutting three story robots in half ... it's stupidly awesome.

Watch it, stupid.

Also has nice music.

Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) [Check It Out]

Balsa the spear woman is a wandering warrior, who takes on the task of saving lives in atonement for a past sin. On her journey, she happens to save a prince and is tasked with becoming his bodyguard. Her services as bodyguard become necessary, as his father, the emperor, wants him dead.

A linear story with probably one of the more realistic approaches to storytelling I've seen in a long time. The child the bodyguard is charged to guard isn't retarded and annoying. Great character development and a story that takes itself and events seriously. It's just good stuff, overall.

Animation and soundtrack is superb. I'm tempting to put it into the "must watch" category.

[Cygna]

I don't watch Anime series or television, although I have seen some brilliant and genius Anime films. Anything by Miyazaki. And only in English subtitles, never English dub. Disney ruined Miyazaki's Spirited Away in this manner (not to mention turned a brilliant any-audience film into a children's film). Also Oshii's Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2 are amazing films.

[RazorFox]

Pokemon lol

[Lanny Ansar]

I don't watch Anime series or television, although I have seen some brilliant and genius Anime movies. Anything by Miyazaki. And only in English subtitles, never English dub. Disney ruined Miyazaki's Spirited Away in this manner (not to mention turned a brilliant any-audience film into a children's film). Also Oshii's Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2 are amazing movies.

Ghost in the Shell was indeed a very good watch. I actually own the movie on DVD, along with Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

Haven't seen the second Ghost or anything past that, because i've overheard that the franchise slipped away after the first movie.

Claymore's good.

I enjoyed Princess Mononoke as well, although it's been almost a decade since i've seen it.

I read a good portion of the original manga version of Akira. (They had it at my high school's Library, which was AWESOME.) The Anime film adaptation was a hit, although they had to try to cram a World Book Encyclopedia's worth of page detail into a medium-length movie.

One series i once saw, that my father actually had caught onto and showed to me, because at the time, they had the series airing on Toonami (Yes, Cartoon Mo'fuckin' Network).. Blue Submarine Number 6, or Blue Sub 6. It only lasted a few episodes on Cartoon Network though, which was a shame.

My Dad got me into Anime, to be quite honest. But the selection we prefer is a very slim selection, because we, as Graphic Artists (My father doing it for a living) prefer the Movies and Anime that were completely innovative for their time. (Such as Ghost in the Shell, where the original movie integrated the classic hand-drawn manga style of anime, with Computer and CGI modeling.)

[Inoue Katsu]

I've seen a bunch of anime so far but i cant remember all the names >.>

The ones i can remember that i liked and are not mentioned above already

in the combat genre:

Utawarerumono

Murder Princess

High tech-ish:

Flag (bit of an odd series)

Humor:

Those who hunt elves <- this made me cry from laughter at some point.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu

Movies:

My Neighbour Totoro

As for ghost in the shell, both series were good, 2nd movie was a bit meh but the first and 3rd were ok :-)

[Sosarin Demar]

The second Ghost in the Shell movie is definitely a good one. It's much different than the first one, but it's still dazzling in its own way. It's definitely worth checking out.

And yes, I agree anything by Miyazaki is a "must watch". They're just great "feel good" movies. You walk away from them feeling uplifted in some way for most of them.

Ghost In The Shell 1 & 2 [Must Watch]

Cyberpunk galore.

Shit-Done-By-Hayao-Miyazaki [Must Watch]

It's fun for the whole family. And your pants.

Some of his films:

Castle in the Sky

Princess Mononoke

Spirited Away

Howl's Moving Castle

[Tsume Xiao]

Cowboy Bebop: A classic anime series that is just amazing.

Wolf's Rain: From the same studio as Bebop, and also exceptional.

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM

A FANTASTIC Set of series, though some are much better than others

These are the epic ones, that deal with war. They are listed in order of how they fit in the Universal Century (UC) universe:

Prequels:

Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: The Hidden One Year War

Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front

Main:

Mobile Suit Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (Movie Only)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (Movie. The Suits here get a drastic size reduction)

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (Again, Much smaller than normal suits.)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

A stand alone in its own universe. No guns, and gundams are used for World-Cup type tournaments.

People fight with Chi and other crazy power stuff... Its almost like Dragon Ball Z in some ways.

Its a bit to emo and "OMG I LOVE HER BUT SHE IS EVIL" etc for me, but some of the suits are cool, and if you are more into giant fighting robots fighting with varius styles of martial arts rather than various types of guns, then check it out. Each country uses a style unique to its nation. (Example, the French uses fencing, the American is a boxer, etc)

---------------------------------------------------------------

After Colony Universe

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

Now your main characters are a set of 5 younger people (teens to mid 20's) who are guerrilla fighters against an evil dictator. They have guns but their suits are so stupid OP that they mostly just massacre stuff. Some of the suits are neat, but would get ripped to shreds in a real war. Heavy Arms and Wing would last (Wing is pretty much identical to Zeta Gundan in the UC time line.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cosmic Era Universe

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

These series are ok. The CE era deals with a racial supremacy via those who have genetic enhancements and those who don't.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Most of the Super Bad-Ass mobile suits are seen in Universal Century, such as Gouf, Zaku 2, Gundam, GP02, EZ-8, Full Armor ZZ Gundam, to name a very few.

However, HeavyArms and Heavy Arms Custom from Wing Gundam is a fantastic suit as well.

[Sosarin Demar]

Nice compiled list, Tsume. Could you point out which are the more really good ones and which ones you would recommend to someone new to Gundam? I've been interested in getting into Gundam but I have no idea where to start, honestly.

Anyways, here's a few more to tack on. I'll add more periodically when I feel the muse.

Macross Plus [Must Watch]

Synopsis:

Shitty Wackepedia Synopsis: Three decades after the great war between the humans and the Zentradi, the U.N. government is developing new technologies to use in their transforming fighter aircraft by running tests on the colony planet Eden. Military test pilots and former childhood friends, loose cannon Isamu Alva Dyson and the Zentradi mixed race Guld Goa Bowman, are selected to each pilot a new aircraft (Shinsei Industries' YF-19 & General Galaxy's YF-21) for Project Super Nova, to choose the newest successor to the VF-11 Thunderbolt ... Their own personal grudges end up disrupting the tests, and begin to wreak havoc on the program.

Their rivalry heats up when a mutual friend, Myung Fang Lone, shows up. Myung was a childhood friend of both pilots, but the three of them had a falling out, and quickly grew apart ... When they meet again, they discover that Myung is now the producer of Sharon Apple, the hottest entertainer in the galaxy, who just happens to be an AI hologram.

Probably the only series or OVA I would recommend to anyone out of the Macross Franchise. Macross has its quirks with its love triangles and "song will save the universe" bullshit. However, Macross Plus is like the Silent Hill 2 of the Macross universe. It's the most mature and best portrayed tone of the franchise in my opinion, despite the fact it doesn't tell a massive space opera and feels like a side story. The characters are rather stock, but their relationships develop and blossom as the story progresses.

The soundtrack is done by Yoko Kanno and is excellent in its ambiance. The animation is superb for the time (1994). It's safe to say that you can watch it without knowing much of the Macross universe. It's a nicely self contained story.

I probably should have marked it as a "Check It Out", but I just like it too much for my own good.

Macross Zero [Check It Out]

Synopsis:

Macross Zero is set in 2008 A.D., one year before the events of the original Macross series, depicting the final battles of the U.N. Wars[1] between the U.N. Spacy and the Anti-UN forces, and is also set in the South Pacific, where a gigantic alien spaceship crash landed 9 years earlier. Amidst the violence, a U.N. Spacy F-14KAI pilot named Shin Kudo is attacked by a strange enemy aircraft that can transform itself into a robot. Crash landing on Mayan Island he learns that this remote island and its peaceful native inhabitants hold a great secret linking them to the alien space ship and would become the focus of the war, whether they like it or not. Shin eventually returns to his carrier fleet and joins the Skull Squadron, who also operate brand new transforming fighters, the VF-0 Phoenix. He trains and engages Anti-UN forces operating from a converted ballistic missile submarine as both sides fight to locate and control alien artifacts, with the peaceful and agrarian Mayan caught in the middle of the war.

It's a 5 episode prequel OVA series and as far as storytelling goes ... well, let's just say that I don't really find any memorable characters in this one. Except for maybe Roy Fokker, but even then he seems to be rather toned down in this one. You'll also suffer if you go into it not knowing much about the Macross storyline. There's a lot revealed in this one that makes you strain your eyes paying close attention to the subtitless.

I put this in the list for its beautiful marriage of CGI, lineart, and action. This is one of those you watch if you want to see some awesome aerial combat with those lovable variable fighter transformer airplane robots.

But if you want to watch something with a memorable story, you might want to pass.

I'm too afraid to add Macross Frontier to the list, being the newest release. Macross isn't everyone's cup of cheese.

[Sosarin Demar]

Strait Jacket [Check It Out]

Synopsis:

Based on the novel by Sakaki Ichirou. In a world where magic and technology coexist, both sciences are used in the fields of medicine, warfare and research, but with differing results. Overuse of magic is forbidden as it causes mutations which transform the user into violent, uncontrollable and unstoppable monsters. Rayot(to) Steinberg is a lone wolf ‘tactical sorcerer’ dedicated to destroying these demons. Armoured and plated in his metal "mold", a straight jacket designed to keep him human, he walks a fine line between magic and madness as a rogue monster killer.

A short, 3 episode OVA. Moral of the story: don't fuck with the warp. It will fuck with you. Wee~! 8D

I'd like to see them spawn a series out of this.

[Trinity Heckroth]

I heard the ruroni kenshin movie made people want to kill themselves when it was over... in a good way.

[MikeMurdock McMillan]

For you mecha head I have a couple I recommend

Patlabor (Ova, TV, 1st Movie , 2nd Movie, pretty much everything except the 3rd movie)

Patlabor is one of my favorite mecha animes. Mostly because it dives into the idea of Mecha for everyday purposes from construction, firefighting, to even Police duties. the Series is serious yet comical at the same time and focuses on a Police Division using Labors (the Mecha in the show) It also dives into various subject and is a blast to watch and the Movies are very well done. I recommend this series except the 3rd movie since the 3rd movie isn't that good and miniplato (unless your a fan of chibis)

Armored Troopers Votoms

This is a anime series I love because the Mecha is grime and gritty. Votoms is like WWII with mecha. which the story drells into war. The story is pretty interesting and the mecha design is very down to earth. I recommend not only the tv show but palisan files, and the other OVAs/Movies you won't be disappointed

Gasaraki

Gasaraki is created by the same person who did Votoms with the mecha designer that did not only the labors in patlabor ,but some of the mecha from the gundam series. Gasaraki takes place in a alternate Gulf war and talks about a experimental squad testing out assault mecha. Just like votoms the story focuses on war and the mecha designs look like something that can be done. the story is very good minus a few time diving into the mystical side. still a fun one to watch.

Gunbuster

I love this OVA heavily and has a wonderful story. the art is very nice though the show borders the line of super robot due to the gunbuster mecha. if you want a 80s feel with a bit of retroness (due to the retro designs of the mecha) this is one to watch

Bubblegum Crisis series

I can't beleive this one isn't put up. Bubblegum crisis is another pinnacle of how to do Cyberpunk right. Bubblegum crisis talks about the knight sabers a mercenary group hunting down boomers (think terminator like robots with bio mechanical stuff) I recommend giving the original OVA a look along with 2040, A.D. Police (80s ova not the series), crash, and parasite dolls.

Cyber City oedo 808

another good cyberpunk series sadly it's a short 3 episode OVA. this anime talks about prisoners doing police work that the ordinary cops can't do.

Starship troopers OVA.

Yes. japan made a OVA based on StarShip Troopers and yes minus a few things this one stays true to the actual book. The anime covers 6 of the 12 chapters in the book and sadly they didn't have money to finish the other 6 chapters. I would of love how this would completely turn out ,but still this one you should give it a watch,but sadly it was only released on laser disk so i recommend torrenting a fansub (which is really good and not shitty and fill with shitty moving text like a few known anime fansubs) or checking out on youtube with someone posting the fansub on there

[Cyphre Iredell]

Claymore was good, however the manga was definitely better, more thorough, and didn't have that retarded ending that they basically thew into the series in the last two episodes... just to have an end. They tweaked a few things in the story itself which basically did away with any future connections.

Patlabor: Awesome, but damn the release they put out a few years ago was ridiculously overpriced.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (and Second Gig): Really good series' as it placed more of am emphasis on the basis of they unit they were a part of: Section 9. It was closer to a detective series and even showed the backgrounds of all the members of the immediate unit throughout the series. Also great action and storyline.

Perfect Blue: Great realistic type psychological thriller (nothing really anime-ish, more of a serious plotline). Worth picking up, and in many parts, the dub was better than the original voice actress.

Full Metal Panic: Hilarious series with a classic high school atmosphere with military personnel. Main character is a hardened war veteran who is overly cautious and carries a real firearm and explosives. Otherwise some interesting mecha action that takes a somewhat different approach than the classic mecha stylings that obey no laws of physics; such as main guns firing cannon-sized shells (rather than sounding like an assault rifle, even though its a gigantic machine).

Escaflowne: Amazing movie and series. Fox actually put out the first four episodes in all their ridiculously censored glory, but gave up shortly thereafter because there really is no way to censor all the blood and cries of pain throughout. XD

Hellsing Ultimate OVA: Ignores the stupid mini-plots of the original Hellsing series that was produced by Geneon and got on with the story of the manga. Although the first series did have some of the most interesting music around and probably the best OST to date. Not that Ultimate OVA doesn't have amazing music, but there were whole songs in the first.

Mahoromatic: Funny series that, on the surface looks like some sort of romantic comedy with a maid, but the main character has a slowly revealed background about her participation as a combat android. Lots of hilarity, though a few cliche character types. More nudity than most as it does away with the generally acceptable 'convenient censorship' And with Gainax at the helm of animation, the combat scenes are superb.

Trigun: Should be mentioned and should be watched as soon as possible if not already. Classic series of the same generation as Cowboy Bebop. Amazing storyline, great musical scores. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be astounded and amazed. Way back in the day when things were animated without computers.

[Tsume Xiao]

Nice compiled list, Tsume. Could you point out which are the more really good ones and which ones you would recommend to someone new to Gundam? I've been interested in getting into Gundam but I have no idea where to start, honestly.

Start with the original series "Mobile Suit Gundam".

If you don't like the full out war of it, then switch to G Gundam or Gundam wing. However, I don't find those to be as awesome.

[MikeMurdock McMillan]

also tsume i would recommend checking out the patlabor labors. Izubuchi Yutaka worked on the designs which he also did the designs for char's counter attack and 0080

[Sosarin Demar]

Claymore was good, however the manga was definitely better, more thorough, and didn't have that retarded ending that they basically thew into the series in the last two episodes... just to have an end. They tweaked a few things in the story itself which basically did away with any future connections.

Yeah, that's an often cited complaint, which stinks. I haven't read the manga, but I can agree that the ending didn't tie up enough ends or tie up ends properly.

Trigun: Should be mentioned and should be watched as soon as possible if not already. Classic series of the same generation as Cowboy Bebop. Amazing storyline, great musical scores. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be astounded and amazed. Way back in the day when things were animated without computers.

Do not watch the English dub as it's extremely obnoxious. The English dub made me avoid this anime for a decade.

Start with the original series "Mobile Suit Gundam".

If you don't like the full out war of it, then switch to G Gundam or Gundam wing. However, I don't find those to be as awesome.

Oh lordy, I dont know if I want to start at the very, very beginning. Haha! I yet may. And Gundam Wing ... that one has kiddies I think.

I'm so tired of barely pubescant boymans piloting the robots. Le sob. ;.;

Anyway, danke!

[MikeMurdock McMillan]

Hench why I recommended Votoms. No barely pubescant boymans piloting mecha here ^w^

[Aelus]

2nd movie was a bit meh

wat

[Zero Itamae]

This many posts and no recommendation for Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood? Just wow, that is the end all right there! If you haven't already watched it go do it right now, stop reading this and do it.

[RazorFox]

Trigun: Should be mentioned and should be watched as soon as possible if not already. Classic series of the same generation as Cowboy Bebop. Amazing storyline, great musical scores. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be astounded and amazed. Way back in the day when things were animated without computers.

Cowboy Bebop and the anime adaptation of Trigun both originally aired in 1998, however, unlike Trigun, which used mostly traditional cel animation, Cowboy Bebop made extensive use of computers in its production.

Cowboy Bebop is also not something I would consider to be anime, as Cowboy Bebop is good and anime, as a rule, sucks. Ergo Cowboy Bebop does not suck, so it cannot be anime.

[Trinity Heckroth]

This many posts and no recommendation for Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood? Just wow, that is the end all right there! If you haven't already watched it go do it right now, stop reading this and do it.

Full Metal kinda really sucks :/

[Scarlet Flaks]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pupTowgpVVo

[Cyphre Iredell]

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood was AMAZING. I was avoiding mentioning it since it barely finished so I'm not expecting to see it imported all that soon. Trinity, it is basically an OVA based entirely on the manga, not the first series that was put out. It take careful aim to include all the humor as opposed to something horrendously sad happening every episode. Like I didn't cry as hard when the chimera died, or the Maes Hughes thing, because they didn't attempt to emphasize or further dramatize the events themselves. The ending was also beautiful and less gut-wrenching.

[Anlysia Gregoire]

I was going to throw obscure shit in here just to be an elitist dickbag, but then I saw Sosarin props'd Monster and I was like FUCK SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THEIR SHIT and I was sad.

So instead I will list actual good stuff.

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. It's like K-On if K-On wasn't fucking terrible. It's about a band, and shit, except actually realistic because the main character doesn't pick up a guitar and know how to play it in 30 seconds.

Cromartie High School. It's...fuck. It's Cromartie High School. It's basically a parody of all the pompadour-displaingy "fighting school" anime/manga genre. And Freddy Mercury is also a character.

Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu. It's Full Metal Panic with the funny parts only, and the SRSBZNS ROBOT FIGHTAN WARZZZ parts stripped out. IMO a better series.

Elfen Lied. Shit is fucked up. The first seven minutes of the first episode are like the most violent thing ever.

Last Exile. FUCK YEA STEAMPUNK (sort of).

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Amazing show for the first half. Then it gets kind of stupid but you finish it out of a sense of duty. Ending's fucking terrible. If you could somehow only watch the first half (you'll be WELL AWARE when that half ends, trust me) you'd be better for it.

[Cyphre Iredell]

Elfin Lied? Hell no.

To Aru Majutsu no Index/To Aru Kugaku no Railgun: Index is a pretty interesting original theme about basically a 'high school city' (containing several schools) and the students within practicing the arts of... psionics, basically. The intent was that all things have the ability to perform things like telekinesis, telepathy and all those other mind tricks and developing scientific methods for their explanation and use. The wrench thrown in the works is 'magic' which is pretty well laughed at and still a joke. Really interesting cast of characters and a great original storyline (that is somewhat dumbed down from the manga if I recall). Railgun is a spinoff story about the other female lead character (who is one of the most powerful around, nicknamed the Railgun for eletricity and electromagnetic manipulation) and a whole different plot line. Only briefly bumps into the male lead of the first series every so often... they kinda flub about that whole premise itself unfortunately, as to whether they already know each other or otherwise. Equally interesting story and more 'girls life' style antics.

Detroit Metal City: OMG Hilarious series... about a guy who is the lead guitarist/singer in a heavy metal band, but who really isn't hardcore at all and wants to play happy songs and other ridiculous stupidity. Insanely hilarious and there is a guest english voice actor in the original series for this 'legendary' rock dude whose name escapes me. Definitely funny along the lines of Cromartie High School, though Cromartie has a LOT of cultural reference that even I didn't quite understand at first (like cigarette censorship). Either way, they try pretty hard with the dub to make some new jokes, though quite a bit is lost there.

Gurren Lagann was a pretty awesome series as the underlying theme was pretty much a parody on every other theme about 'going all out', breaking the limits, doing things with all your heart, etc etc. The premise is ridiculous, the combat is insane and sometimes wacky, but the overall feel is intended to be way way WAY over the top on purpose. The ending is kind of... strange. Really wasn't anything else that could have fit there though.

[RazorFox]

Cromartie High School. It's...fuck. It's Cromartie High School. It's basically a parody of all the pompadour-displaingy "fighting school" anime/manga genre. And Freddy Mercury is also a character.

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrI7QUJfkvI