Anime Recommendations for someone trapped on a Couch...

[Legato Endless]

Alright Playground. I've got a friend going through some medical issues, and the current forecast places her laid up in bed for maybe a week.

She's frenetic in the extreme, and a workaholic to boot. So I've got to get some good ideas for keeping her from going completely bonkers and attempting to do something laborious that could inhibit recovery. I've got some ideas for other activities, but a new anime would be do quite well...and I have no ideas here, so assistance would be appreciated.

As she's something of a recent convert to anime, this is based on a rather limited pool of experience.

Things she likes:

Fate Stay Night
Fate Zero (significantly less so)
Code Geas
12 Kingdoms
Studio Ghibli in general
Princess Tutu
Scrapped Princess
Special A
Nabari no Ou
Rahxephon
Summer Wars

Suggestions?

[Lethologica]

Everything Satoshi Kon. Mamoru Hosoda's other movies. Obligatory Death Note mention since code geass is on the list. Bebop, Champloo, Baccano, Durarara. That's some of the low-hanging fruit, anyway.

EDIT: I hate autocorrect. (Incidentally, it just tried to correct 'autocorrect' to 'math'.) Champloo is not 'Champion'.

[DoctorFaust]

Based on the list, I'd recommend Wolf Children, Madoka, and maybe the Kara no Kyoukai series.

[Magatsu Izanagi]

Which version of F/SN are we talking about here, the original 2006 anime or UBW?

[JCarter426]

Going by what's similar to the list, I'd say Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Steins;Gate, Eureka Seven (I liked AO too, but nobody else did), Madoka, and of course Unlimited Blade Works is a given. Darker Than Black probably qualifies also, but I've yet to watch it myself. And then there's stuff I'd recommend to anyone, like Haruhi or Spice & Wolf, but that's a good mix already.

I tried to think of something similar to Summer Wars, but I can't think of anything similar to Summer Wars.

[Duck999]

Madoka

Agreed.

Also, I'm not the best with making connections between what may be liked, but going off experience, Durarara!! may be good. Baccano! too.
maybe Akame Ga Kill!
Have they seen all the Studio Ghibli films, because i recommend those if they haven't.

[TheThan]

Standard issue answer:

Cowboy Bebop
Trigun
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Dragon ball/ Dragon ball Z
Slayers

[Douglas]

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
I'll second this one, with one caveat: It might be a good idea to watch the first Fullmetal Alchemist show first, up to the point where the two shows substantially split the plot (when the Elric brothers meet their teacher). Brotherhood rushed that portion, compressing and even skipping some stuff, on the assumption that most of the audience already saw the first anime and would get bored watching it all get repeated.

[Lethologica]

I'll second this one, with one caveat: It might be a good idea to watch the first Fullmetal Alchemist show first, up to the point where the two shows substantially split the plot (when the Elric brothers meet their teacher). Brotherhood rushed that portion, compressing and even skipping some stuff, on the assumption that most of the audience already saw the first anime and would get bored watching it all get repeated.
You know, I rewatched the first part of FMA, and they were right, because I got bored fast. And it's really the other way around: Brotherhood follows the manga's pacing exactly, while the '03 version adds a bunch of fluff episodes. When Naruto does that, we call it filler.

[JCarter426]

Yeah, when I first watched Brotherhood almost immediately after watching the first anime, I thought it rushed through the opening, even though I thought the first anime's opening was rather slow. For a while I was tempted to edit the two together, to create a unified opening, but I decided the differences would make it too difficult. And then when I rewatched Brotherhood some time later, it seemed absolutely fine. It doesn't skip anything vital, and the manga is paced about the same.

I would consider skipping the first episode of Brotherhood, though. They threw all the characters in without introducing them properly, and the Freeze Alchemist's dialogue is almost word for word ripped off from Father Cornello's in the next episode. And because it was an anime addition, it's not vital to anything later on. As I recall there is one brief flashback to the Freeze Alchemist incident, but it's a few dozen episodes later, by which point you would've forgotten the specifics anyway.

[Cespenar]

I personally think that the way the first FMA did it, Hughes' death had much more of a kick behind it due to the longer time we had to familiarize ourselves with him.

[Douglas]

I would consider skipping the first episode of Brotherhood, though.
Yeah, that was essentially "remember all those characters you know and love from the first show? Here's every single one of them being badass in the same episode." Fun for people who watched the first show, but mostly just confusing for anyone new to the show.

[Lethologica]

I personally think that the way the first FMA did it, Hughes' death had much more of a kick behind it due to the longer time we had to familiarize ourselves with him.
Would have been nice if Brotherhood didn't cut out the train episode. That one was in the manga, and would have helped alleviate this problem. Still, yeah, there's the Alchemist Exam episode, and the first Barry the Chopper episode, and Fullmetal vs. Flame. A fair amount of extra Hughes screentime. (Also, a fair amount of extra Mustang screentime, which makes his reaction more poignant.)

Anyway, um, this is a rec thread, right? Now that I have access to my watch history, let me add a few:
Wolf's Rain
Ano Hana
5 Centimeters Per Second
Mushishi (esp. if she loved the kodama in Princess Mononoke)
Gatchaman Crowds
Haibane Renmei (not for fit in particular, just on general principle)

[Sith_Happens]

Things she likes:

Fate Stay Night
Fate Zero (significantly less so)
Code Geas
12 Kingdoms
Studio Ghibli in general
Princess Tutu
Scrapped Princess
Special A
Nabari no Ou
Rahxephon
Summer Wars

Suggestions?

I see several mecha shows on this list, none of which are Gurren Lagann.

[thorgrim29]

Not really related to the list you posted, but I'd recommend Black Lagoon to pretty much everybody who likes action. It's like if Tarantino directed an anime. Just, don't watch the original version, watch the dub. It has a translation convention that everybody speaks english in the town it takes place in, and when they go to Japan in the show they try to have the VAs speak english and it's just godawful.

If she's into over the top action, gore, pseudo-philosophy,, and cool for the sake of cool Hellsing Ultimate is worth a watch (and you can find it on Youtube too). For this one I'd say it's a toss-up between the original and the english dub. The dub is mostly excellent, but a certain glaswegian priest is way more entertaining in japanese (probably because the english VA has actually met a priest IRL)

Other then that... Spice and Wolf was mentioned, excellent show, don't let the cover fool you into thinking it's about a titillating wolf-girl, it's actually about a fairly mature romance, religious intolerance, and renaissance economics of all things.

And FMA Brotherhood is very good.

[Mr.Moron]

I see several mecha shows on this list, none of which are Gurren Lagann.

It certainly doesn't have universal appeal. I generally like mecha stuff and tried to watch it on reccomendation. I think I made it like 3/4ths through the first episode or so before the screen got filled with some character's insane jiggle-phsyics titties on a rampage. *click*


Anyway my suggestions:

Moribito (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/SeireiNoMoribito)
Eden of the East (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/EdenOfTheEast)

Knowing a bit more about why you think your friend would like those things would help.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Fate/stay night, you say?

Have her watch this OP, then see what comes of it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvbaM-URygs)

:smallbiggrin:

(Yes, it's probably funnier if you've seen the non-Fate works as well, but I frankly found it to be a blast, and the main plot of the show is the one that relies on Fate knowledge. The Tsukihime bits didn't seem nearly as prominent to me. They gave enough background in the episodes for me to be at least mildly amused.)

[Sith_Happens]

It certainly doesn't have universal appeal.

Maybe not, but it does have universal you-should-give-it-a-try-ness.


Fate/stay night, you say?

Have her watch this OP, then see what comes of it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvbaM-URygs)

:smallbiggrin:

If that doesn't hook her than this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSdm0rE3nWU) will.:smallwink:

[Hiro Protagonest]

Gurren Lagann you can't really say you dislike until they actually form Gurren Lagann anyway. They quickly knock off the fanservice cam, and are pretty equal-opportunity about the outfits since Kamina walks around shirtless and older!Simon wears an unbuttoned officer's jacket with no shirt underneath. The real theme is the fighting spirit logic.

[Grinner]

If she's into over the top action, gore, pseudo-philosophy,, and cool for the sake of cool Hellsing Ultimate is worth a watch (and you can find it on Youtube too).

Correction. You can find most of it on YouTube. I think the last two episodes are missing.

But yes, it is great fun.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

If that doesn't hook her than this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSdm0rE3nWU) will.:smallwink:
GAO!

:smallbiggrin:

Darn. Lancer died.

[Sharoth]

Sword Art Online
Blood+
FMA, THEN FMA - Brotherhood
Witchblade anime
the melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

plus the others that have already been mentioned.

I will go through my anime collection tonight and see if there is anything else that is good.

Oh, and High School of the Dead is a fun series.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Sword Art Online

Too bad it didn't get more than two episodes.

[mallorean_thug]

Hmm, based on the list of shows your friend likes, I would highly, highly recommend

Revolutionary Girl Utena.

I think that the first two episodes do more than enough to sell the show, so I'd just suggest she give it a shot rather than try to listen to some pitch from me on why its amazing.

[Flickerdart]

Angel Beats is surprisingly good, despite being surprisingly sappy. Durarara is also good.

From the "ripped dudes beat each other up in unexpected ways" genre, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi was pretty fun.

[endoperez]

Enough things to last a workaholic a week?

Series aside, the problem will be trying to keep her interested. Throwing her from one random series to another most likely won't work for all of it.

For example, if she's watching something that's some sort of a mystery, perhaps you can arrange it so she can talk to someone about what she thinks is going to happen next, or something like that. Some shows are fun to watch alone, others benefit more from having someone to talk to.

Stein's Gate would be a good example of a series that has a mystery going on, and enough hints dropped about the mystery during the show, so it's fun to think and talk about it.

Or, after a series with lots of action, maybe something calm and slow and emotional for a big change of pace.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, a Ghibli film based on an old folktale, is a great choice for a slow, emotional, melancholic change of pace BTW.

Steven Universe might work too. Very lightweight, happy, friendly show. Aimed at kids too, not big on sex and violence. It's Western, but borrows heavily from Anime and other things, making lots of references. It's mostly focused on characters and their relationships. There's currently about 60 episodes at 10 minutes each.


If she's into romantic comedies, Lovely Complex is one of the better ones. Funny, hilarious, takes place at school. The female protagonist is tall and lanky and that makes her feel out of place.

Itazura na Kiss has a super-cliché plot about a silly, clumsy girl falling for the beautiful, rich genius of a school-prince and then the stars aligning in an ever less and less convincing manner.

REC is a short series where the protagonists are actually working, not studying.

Speaking of working, Planetes is a scifi anime about working in space, instead of heroics or saving the word.

None of these are as action-packed as the shows listed in the first post. They might not be what she'd usually watch, but as I said, I think she will need occassional palate cleansers if she's going to do this for a whole week.

[Legato Endless]

Thanks guys. This is massively appreciated. :smallsmile:


Which version of F/SN are we talking about here, the original 2006 anime or UBW?

The 2006 and the UBW film. She hasn't seen the new anime.



Oh, and High School of the Dead is a fun series.

Indeed, though she tends to be put off by shows with more overt fan service, so I don't think I'd be able to make this one fly.



None of these are as action-packed as the shows listed in the first post. They might not be what she'd usually watch, but as I said, I think she will need occassional palate cleansers if she's going to do this for a whole week.

Ah, hadn't thought of that. That's a great point.

[Lethologica]

Palate cleansers/breathing room? I'll add K-On!, Nichijou, Natsume Yuujinchou, and Bartender as some slower, less arc-focused, and/or lighter fare. (I was going to put Mushishi and Kino no Tabi here, but they're not exactly lighter fare.)

[CarpeGuitarrem]

The 2006 and the UBW film. She hasn't seen the new anime.

Oh, she'll totally appreciate the new series, then. From what I hear, it does a good job fleshing the story out, compared to the movie (which I haven't seen).

On the topic of palate cleansers, I will unilaterally recommend HaNaYaMaTa as a palate cleanser.

[JoshL]

Hmm, based on the list of shows your friend likes, I would highly, highly recommend

Revolutionary Girl Utena.

I think that the first two episodes do more than enough to sell the show, so I'd just suggest she give it a shot rather than try to listen to some pitch from me on why its amazing.

I can second this, because it's one of my favorites, but it took me nearly to the end of the first arc before I really got hooked on it. Definitely worth a little effort. And on a tangential (deconstructionist magical girl) note, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was fantastic too (some absolutely visually stunning stuff). Also seconding Slayers and Baccano! and for the latter, don't worry that the first episode doesn't make sense, just let it wash over you; it will all make sense at the end.

And because it's my favorite thing ever, I feel obligated to say Record of Lodoss War, but not sure if it would really be to her tastes from that list.

[zorenathres]

Last Exile is pretty good, steampunk/ magitech setting with lots & lots of airships.

Escaflowne is even better, the series not the movie, fantasy/ magitech setting with mecha & a girl with mystic powers.

Those two series should keep her occupied for a while biggrin