Need Anime, or at least good cartoons or something!

[slexlollar89]

Hey playground,

I am pretty much stuck in my house forever and don't have the means to leave very often... I have been thusfar great at keeping myself entertained, but am starting to run out of stuff to watch on my downtime.

I really like cartoons and anime (though I have been wathing the original kung fu and 3rd rock from the sun) and have been getting some stuff to watch.

I already have seen most of the following stuff, and am almost desperate for any good recomendations on shows or anime:

FLCL
Trigun
Samurai Champloo
Claymore
Detective Conan
Samurai Jack
Harvey Birdman, Attourney at Law
Rocko's Modern Life
Outlaw Star
Cowboy Bebop
Ninja Scroll
Avatar
Venture Bros.

I realize that's a lot I've ruled out but any recomendations would help... A super awesome delicous lot :smallbiggrin:. Please help Playground!

[Innis Cabal]

Thats not much ruled out at all.

Scrubs
Berserk
Noir
The Nanny
Malcolm in the Middle
Futurama
M*A*S*H
Slayers
Mushi Shi
.hack//Sigm
.hack///ROOTS


Just to name some off the top of my head

[Eldan]

So, any genre or style preferences? Otherwise, there really is a lot.

[Lord of Rapture]

Megas XLR is always a good choice.

If you like long, intelligent series with lots of space battles, Legend of Galactic Heroes fits the bill.

And you must check out FMA. Anime* or manga, it doesn't matter, just read/watch one of them at least once in your life.

*Brotherhood not withstanding

[Fan]

Indeed.


Hellsing

Bleach

Elfen Lied if your feeling disturbed.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tegen Toppa. GURREN LAGAAN!

More of the Above.

Fullmetal Alchemist, Brotherhood.

[Atelm]

Just some general anime recommendations.

Last Exile
xxxHolic
Fullmetal Alchemist
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Record of Lodoss War
Kino's Journey
School Rumble
Anything by Studio Ghibli

In order to get more specific suggestions, you'd have to specify particular genres.

[Revanmal]

Hayate the Combat Butler - for your zany meta-humor/harem romance

Air Gear - Motorized rollar blades!

Black Lagoon - Gunnin, runnin, and a whole lot of expletives

Ouran High School Host Club - If you like girly men and manly girls with your insanity. :smalltongue:

Code Geass - Political power struggles, big robots, and lots of tasty cheesecake.

[mikej]

I second Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. It was one of my most favorite anime series I'd every watched. Other series I'd enjoyed would be the following;

Bleach
Clannad
Soul Eater
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Elfen Lied
Basilisk
Azumanga Diaoh
Trinity Blood
Hellsing ( OVA's )
Fullmetal Alchemist ( both )

[Lord Seth]

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tegen Toppa. GURREN LAGAAN!Watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, then right afterward, watch Gurren Lagann. Seriously. Gurren Lagann is the absolute perfect anime to watch after Evangelion.

[Lorien077]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Slayers were both great animes and hilarious! (seconds those suggestions)

Other good ones:
Kuro****suji
Daft Punk Interstella 5555 (its a movie)
Potemayo and Lucky Star if you are so inclined
Ouran High School Host club was funny too
Code Geass (hit or miss, people either really like it or hate it)
Samurai 7 was also pretty good, never saw the whole thing though
Princess Mononoke
Howls Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and other less violent Miyazaki films are also good.

Good cartoons:
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
Dexters Lab

Good live action stuff:
Pushing Daisies (ended recently, was pretty damn funny)

I tried to mostly suggest funny/ high action things, any other genres appeal to you?

EDIT:
Kuro... apparently caught the censors... oops. English Translation: Black Butler

More Edit: I'm an idiot for forgetting the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Be sure to watch season one in broadcast order, and potentially skip the endless eight sequence in the second season that's currently coming out.

[turkishproverb]

How are you guys missing THE cartoon?

BATMAN: the Animated Series.

Also, any of the other DCAU toons.

X is decent.
Transformers: Generation 1 season 1
Space Battleship Yamato.

[pita]

It's gone this far without mentioning Death Note. The show is brilliant. Literally. It has my third and fourth favorite manipulators ever (After The Nameless One and Littlefinger).

[Bhu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh7s32XRScQ

[Poison_Fish]

I'm gonna continue to plug Baccano. 1930's gangsters and immortals.

[TheBibliophile]

Star Wars: Clone Wars (note absence of "the") is brilliant. It was originally released in five-minute segments, but it's all been compiled together, so that it flows really well on DVD. If you're looking for some really awesome sci-fi, and aren't too fussed about plot, it comes highly recommended.

[JabberwockySupafly]

There are a distinct lack of Rouroni Kenshin recommendations. This should be rectified immediately, as you will be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable anime series. Also, Blood +, Paranoia Agent, LUM (aka Urusei Yatsura), RahXephon, Excel Saga, Ranma 1/2, and Escaflowne are all great animes that I would recommend that I don't believe anyone else has as of yet.

[Mando Knight]

Anything Everything by Studio Ghibli

Fixed it for you.:smalltongue:

[Terraoblivion]

Baccano is indeed great. It manages to be a cheerful, lighthearted show about gangsters killing each other brutally. It is generally hilarious with some of the most entertaining characters i have seen in a while.

Excel Saga is something i am hesitant to recommend. While it is really good and i like it quite a bit, i would imagine that a lot of people would get tired of the sheer mania of its humor quickly. That the voice actress for the main character had to be replaced partway through the dub due to straining her vocal cords by speaking too fast, is just one indication of how manic it is. But it is often hilarious with some not too serious parodies of most genres of fiction.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the one i am most surprised nobody has mentioned yet, though i can suspect why. The story about an ordinary, disillusioned Japanese teenager who begins in high school to hear the girl behind him introduce herself like this: "I am Haruhi Suzumiya. I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, espers or sliders here come talk to me. That is all." Due to various events he gets involved with her and learns that there is indeed aliens, time travelers and espers around, as well as another, even stranger thing. The show is generally known for a relaxed post-modernism used for comedy, lots of references to just about everything and some of the greatest attention to detail in the art of any anime out there. Just beware when you reach the second season, a monumentally stupid decision was made that means you will lose literally nothing skipping a whole ton of episodes.

[Douglas]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Naruto yet. Or did everyone just assume it's so well known the OP must already know about it and decided he doesn't like it?

[kpenguin]

Any DCAU show:
Batman: The Animated Series (and its continuation)
Superman: The Animated Series
Static Shock
Justice League
Justice League Unlimited
Batman Beyond

Zeta is DCAU as well, but I haven't seen enough of it to recommend it.

Gargoyles is very, very good.
Spectacular Spider-man, another Greg Weisman project, is, well, spectacular.

[pita]

Also, if you're watching non-toons, and want something serious, The Wire is the greatest TV show ever made, and it's 62 episodes plus a few shorts. Each episode is almost an hour long except for those that are a lot more.

[Dienekes]

One more for Batman: TAS. Truly a great cartoon.

Also I'll put another for Hellsing. One of the few times (possibly only time) where I was actually interested in a nigh unstoppable character. I generally find theme tedious and boring, but hell Alucard was awesome.

[Bouregard]

If you didn't mind blood:
Hellsing
Noir


Else:

One Piece

[Origomar]

Hey playground,

I am pretty much stuck in my house forever and don't have the means to leave very often... I have been thusfar great at keeping myself entertained, but am starting to run out of stuff to watch on my downtime.

I really like cartoons and anime (though I have been wathing the original kung fu and 3rd rock from the sun) and have been getting some stuff to watch.

I already have seen most of the following stuff, and am almost desperate for any good recomendations on shows or anime:

FLCL
Trigun
Samurai Champloo
Claymore
Detective Conan
Samurai Jack
Harvey Birdman, Attourney at Law
Rocko's Modern Life
Outlaw Star
Cowboy Bebop
Ninja Scroll
Avatar
Venture Bros.

I realize that's a lot I've ruled out but any recomendations would help... A super awesome delicous lot :smallbiggrin:. Please help Playground!

Theres a good story anime thats like 13 episodes long that is really good. Its called Elva Lied. Dont watch it if your not mature though. its on youtube also, or it was last time i checked.

[Guancyto]

One more for Batman: TAS. Truly a great cartoon.

In the same vein, The Tick.

Dooooo eeeeeet.

[Moff Chumley]

The Tick. Oh yes. Oh, yes.

Also, FUTURAMA!

[shadowxknight]

I recommend Air TV for some intense drama.

Another series that is good but isn't finished yet is Pandora Hearts. The animation reminds of Fullmetal Alchemist(which is also a good series that you should watch).

[Dogmantra]

If you're looking for a shortish series and you don't mind crying (and I mean crying a lot) I recommend Air. It's a brilliant anime.

[Ceridan]

Try these:

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Bleach
Inuyasha
Rah Xephon
The Last Exile
Code Geass
Cowboy Bebop
Ghost in the Shell

[nothingclever]

Well since you said "or something" here's some manga I'd recommend:

Crying Freeman
Strain
Berserk
Ichi the Killer
Hajime no Ippo
Bokko
Eden: It's an Endless World!
Battle Royale
Samurai Executioner
Vagabond
Riki-Oh
Pluto
Zetman
Shamo
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Blade of the Immortal
Homunculus
Araragi Express
Fist of the North Star/Hokuto no Ken
Fist of the Blue Sky/Souten no Ken
Shin Angyo Onishi
Glaucos
Bio Meat
Tough
Shigurui
Sanctuary
Mother Sarah
Bestia
Vinland Saga
Project Arms
Parasite
Rokudenashi Blues


If you want a long anime you could watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes since it has over 100 episodes plus a long OVA series.

[slexlollar89]

Wow, this is a much bigger response than I was hoping for!

I forgot to mention that I fudged my original post. The stuff I listed was stuff I really liked, not just stuff I've seen (though I also now realize that the selection I listed is so varied that defining my taste is quite difficult :smallbiggrin:).

Thanks for the advice too, keep em coming if possible!

Friends have been suggesting Neon Genises Evangelion for ages, but I havn't bothered to look at it. I hear good things.

Rouroni Kenshin always seemed intersting, though I've never seen any of it at length.

Saw the first episode of Blood + and was impressed (begins googling).

I've heard of Excel Saga but know next to nothing about it.

I've also gotta say, Inuyasha got very tired after the whole dark preistess dealie... I know there are fans of the band of seven and whatnot, but that show just... neede to end faster. I love epics, but I started to drift from that show, as well as bleach.

Finally, regarding Batman TAS, is this the one that played on the WB in the US for all those years, with the greay and black siuted batman and Mark Hamil Joker?

[EndlessWrath]

Hey playground,

I am pretty much stuck in my house forever and don't have the means to leave very often... I have been thusfar great at keeping myself entertained, but am starting to run out of stuff to watch on my downtime.

I really like cartoons and anime (though I have been wathing the original kung fu and 3rd rock from the sun) and have been getting some stuff to watch.

I already have seen most of the following stuff, and am almost desperate for any good recomendations on shows or anime:

FLCL
Trigun
Samurai Champloo
Claymore
Detective Conan
Samurai Jack
Harvey Birdman, Attourney at Law
Rocko's Modern Life
Outlaw Star
Cowboy Bebop
Ninja Scroll
Avatar
Venture Bros.

I realize that's a lot I've ruled out but any recomendations would help... A super awesome delicous lot :smallbiggrin:. Please help Playground!

Ghost in the Shell, stand alone complex.
I also enjoy Miyazaki's films. Spirited Away is supposed to be REALLY good, I've watched Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Deathnote i also enjoy. But after they killed off certain characters, i stopped watching. I just recently picked it back up.. so.. Definitely give that a try if you like.

[jlvm4]

Since others have mentioned Justice League, I would add Teen Titans. I think it was done really well.

Classic american anime like Robotech are also good. Though things like Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers make me laugh a bit when I watch them with my kids.

Lastly, try Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers. It was an animated series from the 80's. American but great fun and it holds up pretty well when watched again as an adult.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

FMA for sure, and Noir, and Code Geass....you might also want to try an anime called Scrapped Princess.

[Auroragriffon]

For animation I suggest Noein: To Your Other Self, Jackie Chan Adventures (for kids, but I think it’s very fun), King of the Hill, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from a few years ago (before they sold out to become Fast-forward) and Ghost in the Shell (it may have been mentioned). For live action stuff, I love Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother as short comedies.

Oh! And if you can find it, Mystery Science Theater 3000. It’s awesome!

[Atelm]

Anything Everything by Studio Ghibli


Fixed it for you.:smalltongue:

That is true, should've noticed that. :smallwink:

[LurkerInPlayground]

Saw the first episode of Blood + and was impressed (begins googling).
It has a really nice Cain and Abel story in there, although I feel the plot tends to drag on a bit longer than it really needs to.

My list:
Monster, The Twelve Kingdoms, The Vision of Escaflowne and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Season One).

Season Two of Haruhi is disappointing so far, to say the least.

[Amiel]

I've heard good things about Hetalia.
Ghost Hunt is also rather very good.
Karas
Trinity Blood
Berserk
X
Spriggan
Chrno Crusade
Fate/stay night
Saint Seiya
Scrapped Princess
Hayao Miyazaki films


Stay away from the Final Fantasy anime. Stay away!

The Fairly OddParents
Spongebob Squarepants!
South Park
Invader Zim
CatDog
Rugrats
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (this show was brilliant)
The Angry Beavers

[Roxlimn]

Genshiken
Kiki's Delivery Service (early Miyazaki work)
Cyborg 009
Claymore
Hikaru no Go (literally: Hikaru's Chess)
Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles
Bleach: Soul Society Arc
Ruroni Kenshin: Onii Gang Arc and Kyoto Arc
Nodame Cantabile
Love Hina
Ah! My Goddess
La Corda d'Oro
Prince of Tennis
Slam Dunk
Initial D
Clannad
Crest of the Stars
Shaman King
The Diary of Tortov Roddle (arthouse anime - not for everyone)
Great Teacher Onizuka
Koi Kaze
Paradise Kiss
Paranoia Agent
Planetes
Princess Tutu
Samurai 7
Stellvia of the Universe


That's a few of the anime I liked. Hope you find something new.

[endoperez]

Finally, regarding Batman TAS, is this the one that played on the WB in the US for all those years, with the greay and black siuted batman and Mark Hamil Joker?

Yes. Batman: The Animated Series or Batman TAS is the old one. Some episodes are more memorable than others, but e.g. "Heart of ice" or "His Silicon Soul" are generally called good.
Batman Beyond is set in the same continuity (and had same people working on it), but it takes place several decades later. Bruce Wayne as an old man was such a fantastic concept.

A newer cartoon called "The Batman" had a joker with spiky green hair. :smallyuk: A recent cartoon called "Batman: Brave and the Bold" has Batman go to awesome bat-adventures with various superheroes like Green Lantern(s), Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Atom, Elastic Man, Aquaman etc. Very different, but I was sold when an episode started with aerodactyls, with gorillas riding the aerodactyls, the gorillas lead by Gorilla Grodd, who threatens the world with his "e-ray", used to "evolve" humans into a higher lifeform - the walking ape! :smallbiggrin:

[nothingclever]

I've got the perfect recommendation; 1960s Spiderman. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clc6KDrBfPo)

[chiasaur11]

Transformers Animated is up on the Cartoon Network website, and is pretty awesome.

And if no one has mentioned Brave and the Bold yet, it's pure 100% awesome.

[theMycon]

No new recommendations*, but to highlight my favorites of those already listed:

Record of the Lodoss War- The OAV is, far and away, the best of what's on video. It's epic fantasy in the DnD vein, with a so-so story, unbelievably fantastic characters, and beautiful artwork. Afterwards, you can spend a few hours on its wiki working out the background story- it's one of the few mangas I truly found worth it.

The Slayers- Especially Slayers Next- Don't let the first ten episodes fool you. They're the equivalent of the "pilot episode", a sample produced straight from the light novels** to "test the waters" before they gave it a budget. It goes from "good" to "fantastic", and keeps improving 'til the end of season two. If you haven't seen Prince Philonel or Xellos yet, keep going.

Crest of the Stars is short, slow moving, most of it is a vehicle to show how awesome the female lead is and how much better her space-elves are compared to us jerk-ass humans, and ends with a huge part of the story not resolved. But it's got class. It creates her character with style & grace, gives her a clear & believable, three-dimensional personality that you come to admire. I've caught it all in three-or-four episode snippets whenever it popped on G4/TechTV for a week (before getting pre-empted by something else), and it always resulted in my planning every weeknight around catching the next episode, and never been disappointed. I'm usually in awe and wanting more.
There is a (still good, but inferior) sequel series, "Banner of the Stars", which I've caught the first two episodes of. It's got a completely different tone


*Okay, "first two seasons of Ramna 1/2, and the Urusei Yatsura movies, especially the second". But after Inu Yasha was recommended, any older Rumiko Takahashi series is just apologizing for that. Not that IY is that bad, it's just... so damn slow. And, like all her work, it's the story of her relationship in a high-fantasy setting where someone relatively normal just gets caught up in it. I believe IY's problem was that she tried to focus on the story & have the relationship a distant second, rather than focus on the innate surrealism of the situation and have the relationship a close second (with the story occasionally popping up, whenever she wants to remind you why it's all so silly).

[Cheesegear]

No mentions of Xiaolin Showdown yet? For shame Playground. Shame, shame, shame.

I really quite enjoy Ben 10 as well. What? Don't look at me like that. A lot of the episodes are quite good.

Kim Possible - especially the second movie, and the following last season - and Darkwing Duck are pretty amazing too.

[Roxlimn]

There are way too many good anime to be wasting time on Xiaolin Showdown. It won't make you want to claw your eyes out, but it is kind of boring.

Ben 10 is decent, but the episodes don't have an overarcing plot, and the story quality varies greatly - some are quite good, and some are just downright bad.

Kim Possible is actually the best recommendation of the three, in my opinion. The slice-of-life nature of the work jives well with the episodic structure and light-hearted dialogue.

[PumpkinEater]

Anything by Studio Ghibili is good. My favourites, though, are Princess Mononoke and a Whisper to the Heart (not actually sure why). Howl's Moving Castle actually wasn't really all too good, although the music is great.

Cowboy Bebop was the first and best anime I've watched. It's about bounty hunters in space. Lots of variety between episodes (in a very good way), and it's all wrapped up in about 26 episodes.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is also pretty good. It starts out kinda plain, where kids pilot mechs in order to fight off invading aliens, called Angels. However, the plot deepens quite a bit later on. I didn't actually finish the series, as I've only watched episodes 1 - 20. Never got a chance to watch the last few in the decade I've known this anime for.

I remember watching Bleach. I thought it was good. Unfortunately, it got extraordinarily repetitive. I thought it was pretty cool when Ichigo was getting all beaten up, and then he was like "OH WAIT I GOT THIS COOL ABILITY, I WAS JUST HOLDING BACK". And then he proceeds beat up the bad guy. But this happening every damn fight is just too much. And sometimes, it turns out that the enemies were holding back too. And, if IIRC, the good guy actually had something else up his sleeve once.

Even the plot is repetitive. "Oh, look, we need to rescue someone we love, because the bad guys managed to capture them. Damn it."
Oh well. I guess each person is entitled to his or own opinion.

I thought Spriggan was a pretty good movie, although some of my friends thought it sucked. I thought it was pretty cool how they used Noah's Ark for the story.

[Terraoblivion]

Another recommendation i would make that i was simply too lazy for when i wrote my first post would be Full Metal Panic. In my opinion this show is quite simply the best mecha show there is paired to humor that can be truly hilarious at times. Set in an alternate Earth where the cold war didn't end and teenagers born at a certain time have knowledge of advanced technology locked in their brains, the story focuses on the former child soldier Sagara Sousuke. Sent undercover as a student at an ordinary Japanese high school he is charged with protecting one of the girls who is believed to be one of the people possessing such knowledge.

The humor of the show is largely derived from all the possible situations where someone with fine-tuned military instincts and no knowledge of civilian life could go horribly wrong. This leads to situations such as the main character horribly failing at impersonating the rather metrosexual boyfriend of a girl in the school he is undercover at and delivering the line: "I love wearing silly, impractical clothes that serve no useful purpose in battle. I also love spending time doing nothing together with girls. That is the type of person i am."

The dramatic parts on the other hand center on the toll that growing up a soldier has on Sousuke's mind as he grows increasingly attached to other people. Especially his relationship with the girl he is sent to defend comes into play here, as she gives him something that truly matters rather than just fighting because it is what he knows. That much of this is carried out through some truly impressive action, just further makes it enjoyable. At least i think that the very first battle in the forest is one of the most impressive mecha battle ever.

While all this could sound rather trite and stereotypical, great writing and especially great characters carry it beyond that, supported by some impressive artwork in the later seasons. While working with many of the archtypes of anime characters, the main characters of the show manages to be consistently interesting and in possession of genuine individuality. Few people would mistake Sousuke for the Heero Yuy he is to some degree based on or the Setsuna F. Seiei loosely based on both of them.

The first season has some problem with the mix, each part occasionally detracting from the other as well as each part taking on its own generally being slightly weaker than in the next two seasons which instead chooses to focus on either comedy or drama. However, even so the first season is a truly excellent show that i can definitely recommend anybody.

And something entirely different. I would imagine that Hikaru no Go means Hikaru's Go, rather than Hikaru's Chess, Roxlimn. Especially seeing as it is a show about people playing go which is a fairly different game than chess.

[Cheesegear]

There are way too many good anime to be wasting time on Xiaolin Showdown. It won't make you want to claw your eyes out, but it is kind of boring.

Still, XS deserves a mention. I didn't think it was boring.


Ben 10 is decent, but the episodes don't have an overarcing plot, and the story quality varies greatly - some are quite good, and some are just downright bad.

Towards the end there is a decent plot. You're right, some episodes are really quite good (and I said that), and some are bad. The best episodes make mention of previous episodes or have recurring characters (like Kevin). And those episodes are excellent.


Kim Possible is actually the best recommendation of the three, in my opinion. The slice-of-life nature of the work jives well with the episodic structure and light-hearted dialogue.

Again, the second movie and following last season are fantastic. Partially because the creators, after running their show, realised that their demographic was now three years older than when they started. As such they made their characters older (Unlike most cartoons where characters are locked in permanent age-stasis for years)...The plot in each episode was...Better. Still a bit High School-y, but much better than previous...And even then, a lot of 'messages' in the previous seasons even flew over my younger brother's head.

And I mentioned four. Darkwing Duck. :smallwink: