Anime Suggestions

[Gorbash Kazdar]

With my new job not starting for a few more weeks, I've found myself with little to do. As a result, I've been watching a fair bit of anime - mostly new stuff from the current season and some of my old favorites. However, I've been underwhelmed by the recent season, and as much as I love Azumanga Daioh and Planetes, one can only watch them so many times in a row.

So, I'm looking for suggestions as to anime I haven't seen that is worth watching. I suppose I should provide a list of what I have seen to facilitate that. Anime listed in no particular order other than the categories below.

If anyone else is looking for suggestions as to what to watch, feel free to post here as well!

Favorites
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Planetes
Azumanga Daioh
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex & 2nd Gig
Full Metal Panic! (also FMP? Fumoffu! and The Second Raid)
FLCL
Black Lagoon
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
My-HiME
Last Exile
Haibane Renmei
R.O.D. OVA
Record of Lodoss War OVA
Paranoia Agent

Liked
Naruto (waiting for the filler to finish :P)
Ouran High School Host Club
Magikano
Cardcaptor Sakura
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Gundam Seed
.hack//SIGN
Vision of Escaflowne
Chobits
Rurouni Kenshin (including prequel OVA)
Wolf's Rain
R.O.D. TV
Full Metal Alchemist
Trigun
Tenchi Muyo
REC
Ergo Proxy
Utawarerumono
Eureka Seven
Excel Saga
Strawberry Panic (it's so awful it's hilarious)
Noir
Vandread (and The Second Stage)

Disliked/Stopped Watching
DragonBall, Z, GT, whatever
Initial D
Zegapain
Nana
.hack//(anything other than SIGN)
Love Hina (liked the manga)
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (started great, totally collapsed)
Bleach (startsed good, but got pretty bland lately)
xxxHOLiC
Blood+ (stopped watching for no real reason, probably should catch up)
My-Otome
Record of Lodoss War (TV)
Inu-Yasha

And I think that covers it. Sorry about the lengthy list.

[Poison_Fish]

First suggestion to that list:

"Fate Stay Night". For the first 10 or so episodes it's a little slow and near the end it goes to fast, but overall, a very good series in my opinion.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5394

There is "Welcome to NHK" as well, but that is... let's just say very insane. It's still coming out.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6357

Also that's still coming out is "The Third - Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo"
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6466

If you can find it, "Bastard!". Only six OAV's and it's a little more old style, but I can't stop from laughing at it.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=519

I'd suggest picking up Blood + again.. but that's just me. I happen to like it, but I notice it's hit or miss with some of my other friends.

I'd have more, but I can't seem to recall everything of mine. Those are my suggestions for now though.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

I'll have to see about getting ahold of Bastard!, it's been suggested to me a couple times but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'd heard mixed things about Fate/Stay Night, but I'll check it out. I have been looking at Welcome to NHK! as well as The Third, and will give them a try as well.

I was really liking Blood+ earlier, but I got busy with school last semester for a while and then never picked it up again.

Oh, and now that I have Bunny Girl Haruhi, we need to talk someone into getting a Mikuru avvie, Poison Fish (combat waitress, or perhaps maid, or maybe nurse...) ;D

[Flabbicus]

What, no Fooly Cooly? ;D

[Gorbash Kazdar]

What, no Fooly Cooly? ;D
aka FLCL? That's in there ;)

[Flabbicus]

Oops.

I'm going to go kill a robot with a guitar now...

[WampaX]

Series
Now and Then, Here and There
Giant Robo: The Animation
El-Hazard Series 1&2
El-Hazard: The Wanderers (to a lesser extent)
Record of Lodos War
Record of Lodos War (TV)
Vandread (and The Second Stage)

Movies
Neo Tokyo
Perfect Blue
Anything by Miyazaki-san you haven't seen

More will come to me later, I'm sure.

[Poison_Fish]

Oh, and now that I have Bunny Girl Haruhi, we need to talk someone into getting a Mikuru avvie, Poison Fish (combat waitress, or perhaps maid, or maybe nurse...) ;D

or maybe a cheerleader.. Yes! to find a target.. *glances about*

Thought up a few other series though.

Basilisk is ok, but it is something to check out at least.

Shakugan no Shana is also somewhat interesting, but can get a little confusing.

Scrapped Princess is pretty awesome

If you can find it, Junni Kokki is something I liked quite a lot.

A lot of people will suggest Noir, but I still haven't seen it, so I can't say for certain there.

RahXephon is sort of an Eva clone and sort of not. It's hard to describe, but if you dig giant robots, it's good.

Stellvia is a nice little sci-fi series.

Last but not least, Aquarion, if you want so many bad combining robots jokes that can fill a stadium. Also, it's a generally well done series, just nothing that amazing stands out to me.

Oh, and since you are a Melancholy fan, I don't know if you know this yet, but there is a web site out there currently translating the books. http://project.baka-tsuki.net//index.php?title=Suzumiya_Haruhi

[The_bard]

bobobo-bo bo-bobo

(jk ive never seen it, i only like the name)

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Should have tagged movies on there somewhere.


Record of Lodos War
Record of Lodos War (TV)
Vandread (and The Second Stage)
I have seen these, shall add them to the list! I liked the Record of Lodoss War OVA and greatly enjoyed Vandread, but was underwhelmed by the Record of Lodoss War TV.


Series
Now and Then, Here and There
Giant Robo: The Animation
El-Hazard Series 1&2
El-Hazard: The Wanderers (to a lesser extent)
I think I saw the first episode of Now and Then, Here and There, was intrigued, and never actually got ahold of it. I'll definitely check the others out as well.



Movies
Neo Tokyo
Perfect Blue
I'll be looking for these, then.



Anything by Miyazaki-san you haven't seen
Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and... uh... Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, I believe. I don't think I've missed any others :) Big Miyazaki fanboy here...


More will come to me later, I'm sure.
Looking forward to them!


or maybe a cheerleader.. Yes! to find a target.. *glances about*
I should just kidnap someone into doing it, given that I have the Haruhi avvie.


Thought up a few other series though.

Basilisk is ok, but it is something to check out at least.

Shakugan no Shana is also somewhat interesting, but can get a little confusing.
If Basilisk is the same one another friend was describing the other day, then I'll probably love it for those moments where I don't really want to think and just watch the pretty fight scenes.

I see Shakugan no Shana mentioned by people who like Haruhi a lot (apparently more because KyoAni did it then anything else). Of course, I've liked everything I've seen by KyoAni so far, so I'll have to check it out.


Scrapped Princess is pretty awesome

If you can find it, Junni Kokki is something I liked quite a lot.
Oh, fantasy. I've seen the first two eps of Scrapped Princess and really liked them, and again never actually got ahold of it (it may be that both this and Now and Then, Here and There were coming out when I fell out of anime fandom for a year or two in college). Juuni Kokki sounds like my cup of tea as well.


A lot of people will suggest Noir, but I still haven't seen it, so I can't say for certain there.
I have seen it (should add to the list); it's decent but can drag in spots and occasionally gets too angsty.


RahXephon is sort of an Eva clone and sort of not. It's hard to describe, but if you dig giant robots, it's good.

Stellvia is a nice little sci-fi series.
SciFi is good, and I've been told I'd enjoy RahXephon.


Last but not least, Aquarion, if you want so many bad combining robots jokes that can fill a stadium. Also, it's a generally well done series, just nothing that amazing stands out to me.
Sounds like a win-win situation to me.


Oh, and since you are a Melancholy fan, I don't know if you know this yet, but there is a web site out there currently translating the books. http://project.baka-tsuki.net//index.php?title=Suzumiya_Haruhi
Excellent! They're further along then the site I was checking, which only has the first book and the first part of the second up.


bobobo-bo bo-bobo

(jk ive never seen it, i only like the name)
It's really, really wacky. And you need to know a lot about Japanese culture, pop-culture, and politics to get a lot of the jokes - and I don't know nearly enough to follow more than half the time.

[Elrosth]

RahXephon is sort of an Eva clone and sort of not. It's hard to describe, but if you dig giant robots, it's good.


RahXephon is an Eva clone. It's made by the same studio. The Evangelion series was going really well until they completely ran out of money. You can kinda see it in the final episodes... The studio ran in the red for awhile, some of the staff actually staying on-board without pay, just so they could see it finished. So they shoved the last couple episodes out using mostly footage from earier episodes and hoped for the best. Then they released a movie (well, two I guess) to cover what they couldn't quite get to in the last episodes.

After that came RahXephon. RahXephon is essentially the creator of Evangelion giving it another go now that they have money. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an awesome anime, but it is essentially Eva with a Myan background instead of Christian. My friends and I made a game out of it. You replace names of people or things in the conversations the characters were having with names from Eva, and they sound completely normal. You can tell which character in RahXephon was supposed to be which Eva character, and they even used the exact same sound clip for those annoying birds in the background.

Once again, don't get me wrong. RahXephon is awesome. It just has an added level of amusement if you've seen Evangelion first.

[Deckmaster]

What? No mention of Inu-Yasha?

Why no love for the Inu-Yasha?

Oh, and I love Paranoia Agent, even though I don't understand it.

In the realm of anime not shown on Adult Swim, how about Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi? It's geek-tastic!

[Gorbash Kazdar]

What? No mention of Inu-Yasha?

Why no love for the Inu-Yasha?

Oh, and I love Paranoia Agent, even though I don't understand it.
Love Paranoia Agent. Liked InuYasha until it fulfilled its destiny as a Rumiko Takahashi story and refused to resolve anything, ever. I had initially refused to watch it based on that, but, in the end, got sucked in.


In the realm of anime not shown on Adult Swim, how about Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi? It's geek-tastic!
That I haven't even heard of. I'll check it out! (Looked into it... just tell me one thing before I get into it - does it have a patented Gainax ending? Or am I safe to enjoy the series without it betraying me at the end?)

On NHK - I think I'm just going to get the manga. The anime has too much "what the hell - Gonzo is making this, aren't they?" about it for my tastes. Also, a couple people I know who liked the manga have been panning the anime.

I think this spring season spoiled me for a while - two shows in my favorites (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Black Lagoon) three I like almost enough for that (Ouran High School Host Club, Ergo Proxy, Utawarerumono), one that almost made it but imploded in spectacular fashion (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), plus a number of what appear to be solid shows that I didn't even get to watch yet.

This season has... well, an NHK that apparently isn't living up to expectations, and Coyote Ragtime Show. It may actually be worse than last winter season, when Magikano was the breakout hit and I actually watched REC and Kashimashi as soon as they came out.

Finally getting to see Planetes, Full Metal Panic!, and My-HiME during the same span probably isn't helping, either...

[Elrosth]

I, too, was wondering why nobody mentioned Inuyasha. (and yes, I spell it like a heathen freak, meh.) The show does have a bit of stigma... Though it's been mentioned elsewhere on the board, I found the VGCats strip rather amusing... http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=191

Admittedly, I like Inuyasha. None of my friends do, and I see where they're coming from. It's a matter of taste. Personally, I have the first and second season on DVD, as well as the first three movies, and that is all I'm planning on getting.

I also have the Evangelion box set (platinum) and the movie-and-a-half; RahXephon (haven't got the movie yet); Akira; and Gankutsuou.

That last one is also called the Count of Monte Cristo, but mine was bought third-party. (read: probably some guy in korea with a dvd burner, a label-maker, and a lot of free time...) Overall it looks to be of professional quality, and any particualr section could hold up to scrutiny, but looking at the compilation as a whole you could tell that the actual studio would have done it differently. No extras, for one, and it has some interesting choices for languages and subtitles...

But I digress! From what, I don't know. Meh. I'll just throw more DVD titles at you. Lets see.. I have Family Guy, Samurai Jack, the Clerks animated series, Red vs Blue, and Strongbad, along with numerous other random movies. Of course, I have many other anime under my belt, just not the monetary means to grab all of them at once.

[Deckmaster]

That I haven't even heard of. I'll check it out! (Looked into it... just tell me one thing before I get into it - does it have a patented Gainax ending? Or am I safe to enjoy the series without it betraying me at the end?)


Not sure what you mean by that. I'm not going to give away the ending, but I can tell you that I found it satisfying.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

I, too, was wondering why nobody mentioned Inuyasha. (and yes, I spell it like a heathen freak, meh.) The show does have a bit of stigma... Though it's been mentioned elsewhere on the board, I found the VGCats strip rather amusing... http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=191

Admittedly, I like Inuyasha. None of my friends do, and I see where they're coming from. It's a matter of taste. Personally, I have the first and second season on DVD, as well as the first three movies, and that is all I'm planning on getting.
I like InuYasha; in fact, I like it quite a bit. The characters and the story concept are very interesting; I was extremely resistant to even watching an episode before I got into it, but it was so good I ended up following it pretty closely. I just got to the point where I was tired of them covering the same ground over and over again without really getting anywhere :P

(Oh, and my tendency to post titles in exactly the "correct" manner is merely a bit of anal retentiveness on my part, and I'm not going to freak on anyone for not getting it just so. Well, I probably won't - certain egregious ones might send me over the edge ;))

[Elrosth]

My friend and I were quite curious as to how you actually spell it. The internet turns up every variation of spelling (I believe we counted 6 in mass-use), and I ended up just spelling it as one word. The actual DVD boxes have it as InuYasha. I do Inuyasha. My friend does Inu-Yasha. So I dunno.

Edit: Oh yeah, anyone interested in AMVs here at all? I've made a few Inu amvs.

[BDO]

I have to agree with WampaX. Miyazaki ist cult. Unfortunately, there are only few RC-2 DVDs available over here in Germany. Plus, the prices make one cry. 25,99 Euros for Kiki's Delivery Service? Only German Voice Track? No Bonus Features? No Way! Have to wait 'til they get bored of playing this game... Or getting them second hand.

Also a pretty good choice is Cowboy Bebop. The story has some background, the action is REALLY hot and the characters are just plain crazy.

[WampaX]

Should have tagged movies on there somewhere.
I have seen these, shall add them to the list! I liked the Record of Lodoss War OVA and greatly enjoyed Vandread, but was underwhelmed by the Record of Lodoss War TV. I like how they reworked the last half of the first series, but I couldn't get into the new characters they introduced halfway through. But, the mains were all epic level and they needed a reset back to low level adventurers.


I think I saw the first episode of Now and Then, Here and There, was intrigued, and never actually got ahold of it. I'll definitely check the others out as well. It becomes something much more than that first episode. Very good, but also dark.

Okay, I remember some stuff now.
More TV/OAV
Phantom Quest Corp.
Dominion: Tank Police
New Dominoin: Tank Police (to a lesser extent)
Appleseed (the original 1988 one)
Dirty Pair Flash
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040

Umm . . . more to come, I'm sure.

[Poison_Fish]

Hmm.. I'll have to agree to sticking to the manga for NHK at this point.

Additional series

Serial Experiments: Lain.
Boogiepop Phantom.

Both have a different pacing per usual shows. At least the first watch through it'll be interesting, or mind blowing.

Also, Slayers. A bit old, but I still enjoy them.
On that note slayers, Lost Universe is another option. If you want slayers in space(or something akin to it)
Or, if you want yet another play on gender switching(a la Ranma 1/2) the series Maze is an option.

[sun_tzu]

I absolutely love Case Closed/Detective Conan...but I read the manga, I haven't watched the anime.
Digimon, I realize, is considered kids' stuff...but what can I say? I really liked it. Digimon Tamers in particular was more adult than other incarnations...
I second the mentions of Kenshin and Full Metal Alchemist.

[anphorus]

First, I'm going to recommend One Piece. Despite the horrible reputation the dub has, the subbed anime (and the manga) are one of the finest and most popular series to come from Japan. The characters are well developed and likeable and it is very intelligently written with some great action and humour. A must see.

Secondly I'll recommend Akagi. It's a mah-jong anime and focuses around a gambler who plays games against the yakuza for high stakes, like his arms. You don't have to know much about mah-jong to enjoy it though, as a lot of the appeal has to do with Akagi's ability to read people and manipulate them using simple words and phrases.

Since you mention Cardcaptor Sakura, I've also heard very good things about Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha although I've never watched it myself.

[ChubsMcGee]

Serial Experiments: Lain.

Woo Hoo! Lain is really about the only anime series I have watched all of. First episode or two is a little slow, but it's great. Still struggling to understand it all, and thats half the fun!

[Thiel]

Infinite Ryvius.
Not much to be said about it exept that it tends to be a hit or miss kind of thing.

[DivinelyFlawed]

Here's a few more suggestions:

1.Since you liked Card Captor Sakura, what about Tsubasa Chronicle (uses same characters, different universe)? I've enjoyed it so far.
2.Great Teacher Onizuka. I really enjoyed this one.
3.Sorcerer Stabber Orphen. Pretty decent fantasy based anime
4.Karas. Only 3 episodes out right now (I think), but what I've seen is really impressive.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I would mention something. But I'd be too hard pressed to look though what has already been said.

Anyone mentioned School Rumble? For something where the whole point appears to be to make the plot retreat as much as it advances it is completly brilliant.

I liked My-Otome, it was just as good as My-Hime. Only problem was I'd already seen My-Hime so have no real need to see My-Otome. The endings sucked just as much too.

R.O.D. TV gets good after episode 13. There are good parts before then but it just isn't consistant enough.

Spiral Bond of Inferance is good if you can get past the opening theme. Pity it has no real ending. Naru Taru also has an opening theme that doesn't do it any justice and no real ending.

Blood+ is excellant as a long series so it's a pity to stop. Way better than the movie in that it actually has characters.

I don't like Evangelion. I just don't see why I should let myself worry about it when there's so much that is better than it. If I want to be confused I'll re-watch Paranoia Agent. That show has the best opening theme ever.

[burrowowl]

Give Higurashi no Naku Koro ni another try. Each of the plot arcs has its own upsides and downsides.

But, since I see that you aren't afraid of comedy:

Another one to take a look at is Zero no Tsukaima (http://www.zero-tsukaima.com/), a swords and sorcery romantic comedy with pretty good production values. Basic premise is that an incompetant student-mage summons a commoner as her familiar. Hilarity ensues.

Also good for humor is Kamisama Kazoku (http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/kamisama/). Basic premise is that the main character is the son of an overindulgent god.

[Jibar]

Digimon, I realize, is considered kids' stuff...but what can I say? I really liked it. Digimon Tamers in particular was more adult than other incarnations...


I used to watch the first series of Digimon as if it were my god. I loved that show.
But when it got into the second series it...well, it lost it for me. Something happened and I don't know what.

And, I've, to date, only seen two anime movies but I thought both were really good. Porco Rocco, which was...crazy, and I think it was called Naussica, Valley of the Winds.
I need to watch more anime really...

[Dragonhighlord]

Series:
The slayers
Martian successor nadesco
Excel saga

these shows always get me laughing no matter what.

Movies:
Vampire hunter D!!!

[RoboticSheeple]

Angelic Layer is nice fluff.
So is Fruba (Fruits Basket)

But fluff only goes so far.

Another vote for Lain.

Someday's Dreamers is worth watching.

Both Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days should be watched (30 min and 90 min OVA respectivly).

And my favorite show of all time Kino's Journey is a must see.

[HealytheHealslime]

How about Cromartie High? It's a comedy series about the wacky going-ons at a school full of delinquents. It's got a gorilla and a Freddy Mercury clone, among other things, and it's really funny, so I highly reccomend it if you're in to the quirky and wacky.

[The Valiant Turtle]

Of everything I've seen the 2004 Appleseed movie is my favorite (disclaimer: I've not seen any of the other Appleseed stuff). For me it just has the right balance of action and philosophical musings and I really like the CGI-animation technique.

[Valda, Adlav and Samiam: the Jacked-Up Trinity]

I liked FLCL for the most part, but the ending dissappointed me a little. I was kinda hoping Naaba (sp?) would end up with the crazy chick who hung out under the bridge, instead of the other crazy chick on the flying moped.

[Deckmaster]

I liked FLCL for the most part, but the ending dissappointed me a little. I was kinda hoping Naaba (sp?) would end up with the crazy chick who hung out under the bridge, instead of the other crazy chick on the flying moped.

I believe it's Naota, and he doesn't really end up with either. It's kind of implied that he ends up with that girl who is, oddly enough, actually his own age. What's her name? Ninamori? Something like that.

[Valda, Adlav and Samiam: the Jacked-Up Trinity]

No. Minamori's the high-school girl. I forget the purple-haired girl's name, but I don't remember anything about Naota ending up with her. I could be wrong though.

[Tobaselly]

I have to second the subbed version of one peice. I've just started watching it and I've watched over 100 episodes in under a week. :)

[Casualgamer]

Mmm.... I see no Berserk. You should watch it, its really excellent, but you'd have to have a pretty strong stomach to handle the world (the gore is actually not that objectionable because its so over the top). With Berserk, you should beware of the first episodes, as they kinda suck. Oh yeah, the beginning and ending songs are horrible J-pop in engrish (yes, thats engrish, not english for those of you who don't know), so fast forward through those.

I'm glad that you like FMP, but I find it strange that you dislike Inuyasha, because FMP, and its sequels, suffer from the same problem: nothing gets resolved. Nothing is revealed about Black Tech, not much is revealed about Amalgam, and most importantly, Souske and Kaname's relationship fails to progress at all. If you read the books by Shouji Gatou, you'll find that the anime/manga has a long way to go until they even hold hands openly. That said, I don't like Inuyasha and like FMP simultaneously as well, but my dislike of Inuyasha comes from over the top action.

Other notable animes:

Outlaw Star (ending sucks though....)
Gundam: 08th MS Team (excellent action and realism)
Ninja Scroll (classic...)
The Animatrix (Most of the shorts were excellent)

Can't think of anything else.

Heh... I see My-Hime and My-Otome are on opposite sides of the spectrum.... so true...

[Poison_Fish]

Mmm.... I see no Berserk. You should watch it, its really excellent, but you'd have to have a pretty strong stomach to handle the world (the gore is actually not that objectionable because its so over the top). With Berserk, you should beware of the first episodes, as they kinda suck. Oh yeah, the beginning and ending songs are horrible J-pop in engrish (yes, thats engrish, not english for those of you who don't know), so fast forward through those.

No, no, no... You should read Berserk, not watch it. Because watching it will leave you sorely disappointed and having a lack of conclusion or any idea what happens after the long flash back.

Meanwhile, the Berserk manga is still going strong.

[Casualgamer]

It was teh anime that got me into the manga...

[Poison_Fish]

Haha, fair enough.

[fetfet]

Akira. Was. Cool.

So. Was. Hikaru. no. Go.

One piece got ripped in the translation.

[Martyr]

I'll second what Casual said about Outlaw Star: great series, terrible ending. :-[ If only there had been a second season! (weeps) Anyway, it's still lots of fun and has a great theme song. Make sure you see the original, not the kiddified Cartoon Network version!

I've only seen a couple of episodes of Desert Punk, but what I saw was hilarious, provided you don't object to ludicrous amounts of bosom humour (and bosom!).